Readers Request - Irredeemable, Ironheart, Outrage, Animals

You know the drill by this point, people. I asked for some questions, comments or topics - I will answer them. Got some good ones here. Without further ado.

Your 3 favourite characters from popular fiction that are morally problematic.

Megatron - problematic for obvious reasons, he's a tyrannical despot at the best of times, but like he's cool, you know. Roy Batty - yeah murder is sticky but if you want change, sometimes you gotta pop the mega-wealthy people's heads. The Emperor of Mankind - whoops I accidentally a galactic genocide.

Redeemable Tory Cabinet member.

...so I've stared at the list of current members of the cabinet and.... like... none. ...just... I can't. There are none. None. No. Sorry. None.

Separating artist from works - Harry Potter from J.K Rowling for example.

Ooookay. Well. ...if you want to like the art in question while not agreeing with the artist, that is probably okay - BUT - the art isn't actually separate. For one thing, they are probably still drawing royalties, every time you buy a Hufflepuff scarf or a Gary Glitter-themed mug.

For another - well, when someone creates a piece of art, it is almost never totally divorced from who they actually are. It is informed by their attitude, by their thought process, by their life experience. It's why books written by very wealthy people that include poor people - or vice versa - rarely feel terribly realistic, or clearly push a specific agenda relating to those people without any actual realism behind it.

Many authors do a fantastic job of worldbuilding but make a world totally informed by their worldview of this planet, and their experiences of it, however limited. It's hard to step outside of how you see things, and what things, specifically, you have seen. It's why a lot of the old sci fi books are, frankly, pretty racist and pretty sexist. It's why we renamed the Campbell Award to the Astounding Award - because scifi shouldn't be rewarded in the name of a racist and segregationist who didn't believe in lung cancer or medical regulation.

I, personally, have a hard time with it. But then I think too much about stuff. I can probably do a serious over-read into most things if you give me a title and an angle. (Wreck-It Ralph? Totally all about just staying in your lane and never wanting to change your life.) So if you the reader can read a book and be chill with the author being shit in the ways they are shit? That's different strokes I guess. But more importantly - be AWARE of the author's attitudes, the musician's angle, the director's bias. Be aware of it, so that you are informed as to why they might make certain decisions in their creative process.

And if you ARE going to keep loving the work and also recognise the artist's general shitness - do be aware that some people might want to make sure that your consumption of the work isn't tacit agreement with the author's attitude.

If that notion confuses you, well, try reading Mein Kampf on public transport. Yes yes Godwin's Law let's move on

Cannibalism for fun and profit.

This sounds like a guide book for private equity firms. Hey folks - if you don't know how private equity firms work, read Mortal Engines. The book about mobile cities chasing down other cities, stripping them for anything they want, then discarding the refuse. Then imagine this applies to companies that you use, like Toys R Us. Guess what the refuse is? Jobs and stores.

And how can this beeee?

FOR BEE IS THE BEESATZ HADERACH

(You'd best appreciate the 20 minutes I just spent photoshopping this)

Why have my bowels just exploded?

Poor life choices and the unyielding certainty of biochemistry.

Sci-fi movie plots with elements that don't make sense (eg. Movies that release sequels that contradict the premise of the others).

Okay so I was suggested Terminator for this BUT the moment that you bring in time travel everything gets screwy, especially if your premise doesn't specifically state that the Grandfather Paradox exists. SO. Terminator gets a pass - so does Back To The Future. However. Offenders include Transformers (The history changes every movie and a couple characters literally vanish or appear out of nowhere and one even DIES and then just comes back in the next movie for no apparent reason) and Universal Soldier (basically the fact that this even has sequels is a mystery to me but apparently they all kind of pretend the other sequels don't exist).

Not following that example - The Core doesn't make sense AT ALL. It's like a script writer saw a seven year old's plasticine model of the earth's inner workings and based the movie entirely on it without doing any further reading. The remake of Total Recall - so wait there's a train that runs THROUGH THE EARTH to AUSTRALIA? Angels & Demons - that's not how Antimatter works! Battlefield Earth, WHY BATTLEFIELD EARTH!? And do not even get me STARTED on Armageddon -

(It is at this point that a sedative was administered)

🔥🔥🔥🔥

🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

😭😭

(fire fire fire fire scream scream scream cry cry)

Yeah pretty much mate

Wild speculation about the overarching themes / plots of MCU phases 4 & 5.

So like I don't know about Phase 5 at all, because I believe a lot of that will depend on how Phase 4 is received. Eternals, for example, can rewrite EvErYtHiNg and introduce a whole new metaplot. I have no idea what they are going to do with Thor. I don't know if I will like what they are going to do with Spider-Man. I have hopes? But... like... the main drive of the thing has had a lot of its guts ripped out, so I think now there will be a bit of a flail about while the movie industry works out how everything works again. I want Black Widow to do REALLY well because they did her SO dirty with InfinEndgame. Outside of that. Powerless to speculate... but Black Panther II should be about Shuri taking over. And I want an Ironheart movie, dammit. I WANT IRONHEART.

Best book of 2020 as recommended by you please dear.

Got to be honest. I have found reading pretty difficult, this year. I am very much not caught up. And given that this year has been a trash fire I am going to reach back and claw back To Be Taught If Fortunate from 2019 by Becky Chambers, because, please god just give me this.

Ok of the last decade 😁

phew okay. The best book written this decade that I have read is either A Closed And Common Orbit, also by Becky Chambers - or This Is How You Lose The Time War, by Amal el-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. Runners up include Jeff Vandermeer's Southern Reach trilogy and Dessa's My Own Devices.

Required though about boobies, without using a picture or comment you've made before. Maybe if you fancy going serious instead of silly something to do with breast/testicular cancer?

A fantastic use of a trope that I was getting a bit bored of! Check yourself. Always check yourself. Get it checked. I know, I know, it's a pain. Do it anyway. If the idea of talking to your doctor about a medical problem makes you nervous, interrogate yourself about it - is it because of you or because of your doctor? Get a different doctor. Check yourself. Be safe, people. Have a grope.

How about an element (or two) of Magical Girl Manga that you think are good?

So you know what? I will admit that I am not speaking from a position of absolute knowledge here, I've not watched many - but I appreciate the fact that a lot of them are created by women, a lot of them thus feature some not-awful writing of women and girls in a genre that usually doesn't do that. And we like that.

The lack of mixed race heritage characters and npcs in things like dnd5e or pathfinder etc. Or the overabundance of mixed species characters in those games. Or even something about to what extent species and races are portrayed in d&d and how one substitutes for the other.

Haaaah sticky one. So. Um. RPG that originated in the mid-70s, based on tropes created by fantasy authors from a lot before that time, so race is... a bit... iffy. Given that a lot of the traits that make up each of the classic fantasy races were... let's say... influenced by the culture of the folks that concocted them, it's a big old hard-to-untangle mess. In short - mixed-species characters are often popular because it's a neat way to get stuff and have ready-to-go social acceptance (or censure) written into your background, AND you can look neat. While, a lot of game companies who (for decades) have had an overwhelmingly white male staff have felt uncomfortable in how to deal with race in terms of ethnicity. It's a big house of cards and a lot of the cards on the bottom of the house have "A Bit Racist" written on them in big letters.

The outrage surrounding 'Cuties' and whether it's founded on the facts or stirred up sensationalism...

Okay. So. DISCLAIMER. I have not seen this movie. I don't WANT to watch this movie, after having observed the outrage from an external perspective, and also learned about the actual subject matter (though to repeat, I haven't actually watched it, this has come from reading several reviews and summaries). It is about a sensitive topic - how the societal pressure on girls to be sexual entities influences girls that are clearly too young to be seen that way, and how they will be the ones that not only bear the cost for it but also get the blame. It explicitly ties into the director's experience growing up in France and being French-Senegalese. It's about how girls are sexualised, and how friggin wrong that is.

And then, it gets put up on Netflix, and the marketing department decides to just take a big steaming shit in everything the movie is trying to tell you. I'm just going to show you the posters that were used for this movie - the one on the left is for its domestic release, and the one on the right is the Netflix poster.

I apologise. This may well upset you.

And of course, everyone is taking a swing at the director for it.

I'm willing to bet she probably handled the subject matter with more thought and sensitivity than whoever came up with the poster on the right. And I'm willing to bet that a lot of people will be unwilling to direct their anger at the actual forces that make things like this happen.

Of course, there is no way to expect that sensationalism won't get stirred up - even on topics that aren't so emotive as this. News sites run on clicks, not accuracy; and people don't read full articles, or do any research. I, myself, have fallen into this camp repeatedly. Yes, dear reader, even your humble blogger isn't immune to outrage.

How Battlestar Galactica is still so relevant 17 years on (race wars, the role of religion in politics, there's even a pandemic! (The Woman King))

The writing for this show was super, super good. Like fantastic. It had its moments of rubbish, but for the most part, it was superb. Especially the internal politics; the power struggles; the creeping paranoia. It's very, VERY relevant. The entire plotline involving the military coup takeover, the elections, the imbalance between Galactica and Pegasus - just... so, so good.

And also how this could be linked to how much of battlestar was inspired by DS9 that is still relevant today and as a well made statement about world war 2 and the civil rights movement still being important then as well as now... and the comparison of these two for cultural and societal elements compared to the expanse as a series please x

Christ okay um. DS9 is probably my favourite Trek. I like Discovery a lot, but DS9 tops it if only for the actual content. Sure, there's a lot of Holodeck episodes, but every Trek has that, right? What I love is the politics of the thing. And the way that the Federation is not only not always the best candidate for the job, but also, not always even in the right. It's about military and civic authority, about what people do when pushed, about the ugly side of trying to bring peace and order to a place that classically didn't have any (or did have, at the end of a Cardassian rifle).

The Expanse... is probably my favourite scifi TV series? I think? The character writing is superb, the politics are believable, the science makes sense until the thing comes along that doesn't and that is ACTUALLY a plot point, it looks great, it sounds great, and essentially - it joins the aforementioned series in portraying facets of politics accurately through the lens of accessible characters. It shows various governmental interactions, diplomacy at many different levels too. It shows how regular people suffer the actions of the few and the powerful. It shows how, in the end, however alien the foe, the cruelest enemy to humanity is itself in its worst moments. So does Babylon 5, which also joins this list.

If someone wanted to understand how power and politics works on Earth, today, they would not be ill-advised to consume a smattering of the series discussed before. It will be, at the very least, insightful.

Summing up the past year using song titles?

...you asked for it.

• We Didn't Start The Fire
• Masters Of War
• Sickness
• Everything's Ruined
• Isolation
• Virus
• The Final Countdown
• Bulls On Parade
• Ten Thousand Fists
• Land Of Confusion
• The Sound Of Silence
• Fire & Rain
• Routine Pain
• Times Like These

...that's not actually a bad playlist, thinking about it.

First rain after a spell of dry weather.

Not a big fan of rain (it hurts my joints) but I know it's necessary - and in some cases lifesaving. So. Let it rain.

Current favorite song, album, artist, and genre. (Four different, though related, questions really in one.)

Favourite SONG - The acoustic version of Crabulon by Evil Scarecrows. ...just listen to it, you'll get it.

Favourite ALBUM - Moron Police - A Boat On The Sea. Like, their albums before this one, I can take or leave. This thing sounds fantastic.

Favourite ARTIST - Spanish Love Songs. Hands down. I've gone back and listened to their back catalogue and it's fantastic

Favourite GENRE - ...well, honestly, a mixture; but if forced to pick I suppose the music I throw on to listen to the most when not looking for a specific artist, right now, is synthwave in the vein of Timecop1983, Kavinksy, FM-84 and Night Runner - and adjacencies like Gunship.

1 Actor and 1 Actress that you think give the best 'smolder' look?

For the consideration of the Academy, Henry Cavill...

...and Eva Green.

With an honorable mention for Pedro Pascal.

Done and done.

RBG

May the memory of this righteous one be a blessing. Now push back. In memory of everything she ever stood for, and every right she ever fought to give you. Push back on all fronts. ALL fronts.

Worst offending countries using Covid to push through political agendas.

...see this is a difficult one because of all the countries that have been doing the worst, most heinous right-wing shit since the virus hit, they're all the ones that just ram through legislation they like anyway. And where a lot of it doesn't reach big news because, you know, global epidemic and measures specifically taken to make sure nobody notices...

Pretty sure we might be tied with the US though.

Can I get a review of my cats?

You wish to enter CAT BATTLE 2020!? CHOOSE YOUR FIGHTER!!!

1. PUMPKIN! Clearly very much needs to headbutt. A specialist in the arena. She hasn't been pet recently. Fix it. FIX IT. 12/10 for technique.
2. NOVA! Her fang attacks are more effective than headbutts, even if less commonly used. You get more pets with nuzzles than nips. 12/10 for music taste.
3. MR SMAUG! Clearly this cat's skin condition can't stop him being a speed demon. He did it all for the locusts. Gecko Theft Auto. 12/10 for peepers.

In summary. All of these cats are winners. Extra treats and pets for all. ESPECIALLY MISTER SMAUG.

The wonders of baconated grapefruit.

Do you mean two grapefruit stacked one on top of the other with cheese slices in a burger bun with several slices of bacon on top, as served in international fast-food restaurant chain Wendys?

Wouldn’t you be depressed if you were a dangerous alien cat lizard and your human stopped talking to you?

Mate I'm depressed now and my human still talks to me imagine the state of THAT. ...also I mean they stopped talking to Coeurl after he ate a handful of the crew.

If I sneeze in the woods and nobody else is there to hear the sound, do I have the virus...

If you live in England, probably - the government has been gagging for you to catch it - but good luck getting a fucking test. Your nearest site might be IN the fucking woods.

Which county has the sexiest borders?

Italy. I mean. The boot is just kinda horny.

Milkshake choice if your favourite is not available

Uuuuuh... I guess... banana?

Carbonated milk with or without the pulp?

I absolutely hate that I have had to think about this. ...but never, ever with pulp.

And on that final, cursed question, I shall take my leave and ride into the sunset. Thank you for your contributions, folks. I will catch you next time.

Thank you for reading. Support your humble author via Patreon or Kofi, or follow social media on the right. See you next week.

Readers Request - Ace, Voyager, Jonathan Frakes

That's right, due to it being my birthday next Tuesday it's another round of Readers Request, so let me just get something out of the way.

There we go. Okay. Let's get to it.

Of all the Dr Whos and companions which are your favourites individually and the best pairing. - My favourite doctor is a hard choice, but I think I'd end up going with David Tennant - on the understanding that I haven't watched the most recent doctor - and my favourite companion is, was, and always WILL be Ace. Best combination? Tennant and Martha. Any day.

And why is it bonnie Langford? - Sorry...

Did you get any nice participation prizes for managing a whole year of meeting the minimum requirements for being not dead? - I got a Redemptor Dreadnought that I am looking forward to having anxiety over painting... and then actually painting, obviously.

Is Rasta Nav real? - Jah bless.

What was your best birthday gift ever? - This. I was on left of stage way up in the nosebleeds but it was mindblowing. The travel back was a bit of a lark, but...

Best Weird Al parody - I dunno about the BEST one - but my FAVOURITE one is this one:

Where were Voyager 1 and 2 when you were born and how far have they gone since then? What perspective does this knowledge give? - Buckle in for this one, folks.

When I was born, Voyager 1 was almost two years travel out from its encounter with Titan, and was well into its Extended Mission. Eight years from that point, it would take the last picture of the solar system needed for the System Family Portrait, below.

Voyager 2 was almost a year's travel beyond Saturn after its close encounter, and three and a half years away from its encounter with Uranus.

They are both travelling at different average speeds, so they have both travelled a different distance since I was born; Voyager 1 has travelled 20,386,209,600 kilometers (at around 17km/s), and Voyager 2 has travelled 18,587,426,400 kilometers (at 15.5km/s). Those are some big numbers. For comparison - that's around 136 and 124 AU respectively; that's 136 (or 124) times the distance between the Earth and the Sun. Simply a massive distance.

What perspective does this give me? ...well. ...we're very, very small, in terms of the universe. Perhaps we could ease up on the ego for a while, give everyone else a break.

What song caught you off guard in a moment? Not necessarily a song that made you remember a person, but say out in the world you suddenly heard a song and went 'wait what?' - The Disturbed cover of Sound Of Silence. I was listening to the album the day it came out; the rest of the album is just... okay, you know? Mediocre. Just listening away while I was doing something else. Then this song comes on and I am pole-axed for the entire runtime. Just absolutely blown away. I listened to it on repeat for the rest of the day - I must have listened to it at least two dozen times the day it was released. Just absolutely kicked my ass.

Favorite doughnut from Krispy Kreme? - Simple chocolate ring.

If limitations of covid/ space/ time etc weren’t existing - how/where/when would you spend your birthday? - So. If we also assume that my health was okay, aka no limb and joint failure and no lung issues - get a few rooms in a nice hotel in a city somewhere. A hotel with a nice hotel bar. Perhaps close to the beach. Spend a week just eating local food, occasionally buying funky things. Sounds like a ball.

What is your zombie apocalypse plan - Go jack a car. Drive it to Co-Op, ram-raid the doors, get into the back. Load as many canned goods, bottles of water etc as I can into one of their trucks. Drive the truck down to the harbour. Steal someone's boat. Boat out into the middle of the solent, not over a sand bank. Drop anchor. Wait. Zombies can't swim.

If you could learn one art/craft/making-skill, what would it be. - I would love to be able to play music. Guitar perhaps? I know I know cliche but... failing that, drawing cartoon-style.

If you could have any animal in the world as a tame pet (and assuming space/supplies etc weren't a concern), what would it be. - One of THESE bad boys

If you could institute one policy that every government in the world has to follow, what would it be. - Universal Basic Income funded by enhanced corporate and capital gains tax - and if those taxes are avoided or not paid, then your company gets nationalised, immediately. Time to start giving something back.

Are criminality and deviance the same? When does something cease to be deviant and become criminal? - Criminality is a breach of legality; deviance is a diversion from accepted standards. It bears mention that something being morally wrong is also separate and distinct from both of these factors. A deviance should be considered criminal if it is, well, against the law. If it's a deviance that nobody even thought to make illegal - well, how many people does it hurt? How much potential for damage does it have? Is it harmful to society as a whole? That's the questions you gotta ask.

Should scientists be looking for genetic explanations for criminality/sexuality etc? If not, why not? - Well... what if they find that there is one? ...can you trust that information in the hands of today's governments and corporations? Given that it is relatively easy to get genetic material from someone. Ask not how this technology would be used by the most benevolent ruler - ask how it would be used by the most greedy, autocratic, self-interested power-monger you can imagine. If they can determine behind closed doors that someone has a predilection toward criminality, then they will be able to justify doing something about it, or not, as they see fit. Which just means another tool with which to punish and persecute and oppress people. But of course, any Eton graduate's children wouldn't be subject to such scrutiny, surely? And thus the system becomes not only pointless, but dangerous. And in terms of sexuality - imagine Russia (and its current massively homophobic/traditionalist authoritarian attitude) mandating that every child be checked for genetic sexuality. Given how they treat anyone that isn't heterosexual, would it be ethical for that information to be in their hands? We all know what governments are capable of doing. That's also assuming that either of these genetic tests are 1) 100% accurate and 2) overriding of nurture or life experience. Nobody is born a criminal.

Should politicians be held criminally accountable for actions that they take within their roles? If not why not. - Yes. Absolutely. If that would make them afraid of doing things which could lead to people dying, or getting hurt, or committing fraud - GOOD. They're MEANT to be accountable. That's why we elect them. Not that you'd think it, given how much this current crop of bastards can get away with before even thinking about resignation; and I am pretty sure our local MP could literally stab someone in the street and still pick up a 70% share of the vote, because he has a blue rosette. They should also explicitly be viable targets for class action suits.

What is your favourite smell? - New book.

Which is your favourite emotional state/emotion? - Uuuuh... that's... a tough one. I guess... belonging, combined with happiness and satisfaction? I think.

This video of Jonathan Frakes asking you things -

No, no, happy, at least 15%, no, not very, no money whatsoever as long as I had a comfortable bed, no, yes his name is Tom, sorta, only that the 49ers lose whenever I watch them, no, no, no, no, they sure have the income for it, no, yes, yes, yes, yes, no, I think this question really dates this video because no, YES WHENEVER I SEE IT

What franchise did you have high hopes for, only for you to become disappointed as time went on? - God so many, but let's say that the biggest two were the Alien vs Predator movies and the Michael Bay Transformers movies. The rage I could vomit into the cosmos over those, I swear to god. How do you fuck up just about every single aspect of five whole movies and still make money?

What franchise/thing would you like revived (toys/cartoons/films etc) - Centurions, Jayce & the Wheeled Warriors, Swat Kats, Visionaries, the second run of Thundercats, the Patlabor anime, Animorphs, the Babylon 5 spinoff Crusade, a movie or TV series based on the Rising Stars comic by J Michael Straczynski, Squats in Warhammer 40,000, jeez all sorts...

Interesting bits of Steam Punk that you've come across? - I'm not massively into steam punk stuff myself; now if you ask me, the really cool shit is diesel punk. I think steam punk got very popular very quickly, which immediately 1) dilutes the initial ethos into something you can sell literally everywhere and 2) means that everything gets a steam punk iteration, which... kind of undermines the entire thing. Besides - Victorian values are icky, even if they do result in big rolling cities that eat other cities.

Top 5 things you've enjoyed about Doctor Who -  Daleks in general. The special weapons Dalek from Remembrance Of The Daleks, the first episode I ever saw. Some of the music. Some actual wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff. And this speech:

Well folks. That's it. That's this week. Thank you for coming along for the ride. Next week, we're back on it.

If you'd care to share my blog with your friends, I'd appreciate that! If you'd like to thank me in a fiscal form for entertaining you a little bit, I do have a Patreon right here, but please - no pressure. Thank you for reading, and check my social media to the right to keep in touch.

Readers Request: Poland, Dad Jokes, Kebabs, Wisdom

Sentient beings of all ages, it's time for another Readers Request - the first since July! We have several treats for you in this one, including about a quarter of the questions being submitted by one person who had consumed enough wine to intoxicate a rat with his breath?

So without further ado.

Best historical rant - This may be controversial, but here goes: The Prince, by Nicolo Machiavelli. Often cited as being a how-to guide for the budding tyrannical despot, it is also one of the most scorching and excoriating takedowns of tyranny that you can ever read, and may have had a hand in eventually unseating the Medicis.

Surprising Polish facts - Copernicus was Polish, and studied in Krakow. It is common to celebrate your Name Day in Poland, which is the Saint's Day of the Saint you were named after - which is a common thing as Poland is quite a religious country. It contains the last ancient forest in Europe which is the home of the European Bison.

The power of the pangolin and your own personal statement - Pangolins are wonderful beautiful creatures that deserve our care. The third Saturday in February is World Pangolin Day. I want these critters to be saved from their endangered status because god damn look at this little fucker what a BEAUTY (wait I've been asked this before too)

Lost skills you'd like to see come back? Either you personally or humans (of which you presumably belong) in general - My first instinct is to yell the words Critical Thinking or Empathy. I think, though, that maybe I am being facetious or illogical in thinking that either of those things was much more prevalent in the past than they are now. So let's go with the skill of knowing who to trust. (NASA over that guy you know who says the Earth is flat, e.g., or your family doctor over Suzanne from the MumsNet local page who says that vaccines cause homosexautism.)

What shows are you excited for this coming year? - Oh uh. I dunno. I haven't paid a lot of attention really. Masters Of The Universe? Picard? Next season of Dark Crystal?

Is global existential dread just a part of adulthood, and has it always been so? - Yes. It is my firm opinion that the human condition is centralised around insecurity, and existential dread is an extension of insecurity. The only way you are going to avoid such things is to either pay no attention to the world, or to have no awareness of anything. (I blog about this a lot.) (In fact I have been asked this one before I think?)

Various things John has wanted to set fire to over the years. - Parliament, myself, the US President, capitalism, the human race, myself, half of the villages and towns we come across in Pathfinder, myself, the human race, capitalism, elves, nazis, antivaxxers, chauvanists, homophobes, transphobes, racists, sexists, myself, capitalism, Michael Bay, the human race, Parliament, Tolkien, every building I can see, everything I can see, myself, whoever keeps signing off on the Anime live-action remakes, capitalism, the human race.

Favourite tabletop builds for various archetypes - Welder Cleric (offensive spells that can be fast-cast as healing abilities), Sword-And-Board Fighter (smack em with your shield), Rogue With Knives (seriously just rogues with knives), and one of my personal favourites, Combat-Centric Character With Psychological Issues In A Mostly Social Setting (because I like a challenge).

I read this as on the bog #mumofasevenyearold - I might be. You don't know.

The current political state of the world if it were a DnD campaign. - The world is falling to darkness. As hellfire sweeps continents and toxic taint seeps into the oceans, the dark powers ally with each other to take over one nation at a time, ruled by lords of deceit, greed and malice. This is not a quest to conquer a dungeon; this is not a quest to save a kingdom. This is a fight for the world, to prevent it from becoming the next level of the abyss.

Best "dad joke" - I bought some shoes from a drug dealer. I don't know what he laced them with but I've been tripping all day.

I've been told you shouldn't make dad jokes if you're not actually a father. Apparently it's a Faux-Pa - Included as a comment because frankly it's funny shit.

Favourite set of dice you've ever owned or come across - So rather than pick a set of dice that I own - if I play favourites the others will betray me - I will instead pick this set of dice that I would dearly love to own. Blacklight dice that, without a blacklight shining on them, just look like blank polyhedrons.

How can we divert course from dystopia to a utopian future? - I've been asked this one before - the answer is the same as last time.

You, the touch and the power -

Time to talk day 6 feb 2020 - Time To Talk Day is a day for us to start talking more about mental health and breaking down the taboos surrounding it. It is uncomfortable and it is upsetting but think about how much worse it is if someone is suffering? 123 people die by suicide every day on average - that is one every twelve minutes. Think about that. If even one of them can be solved by talking, then we should talk. That's what the day is for. We should ALSO talk about how government funding for mental health solutions seems to involve 100% awareness and precious little treatment, too.

Why Justin shouldn’t suggest topics when drunk - I mean he can if he wants.

Or me even - You're drunk?

Who is Justin? - Dave's not here man.

Is this his kebab? - A kebab? I'm hungry.

Irrespective of my previous answer can I eat it? - I want it. I want the kebab.

Why are the two old ladies talking about shoes in Cowes on the 22nd? - I don't know, I'm not privy to the secrets of the aged.

Is there always a bigger fish? - Almost always.

From your point of view are the Jedi a) evil, b) a bigger fish or c) a bunch of self destructive smack heads? - All three. The Jedi are just rubbish. One of the weaknesses of the prequels is having to include Jedi - like not just some smart guys hiding on moons and spreading their own personal wisdom but a bunch of dickheads in robes making poor decisions on an industrial scale. Why are they the protagonists?

Wisest things said by fictional characters - I present to you a selection, beginning with Granny Weatherwax from Carpe Jugulum.

"It's not as simple as that. It's not a black and white issue. There are so many shades of gray."
"Nope."
"Pardon?"
"There's no grays, only white that's got grubby. I'm surprised you don't know that. And sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Including yourself. That's what sin is."
"It's a lot more complicated than that--"
"No. It ain't. When people say things are a lot more complicated than that, they means they're getting worried that they won't like the truth. People as things, that's where it starts."
"Oh, I'm sure there are worse crimes--"
"But they starts with thinking about people as things..."

In reality a self sustaining oligarchy is the only form of government the uk has had since at least 1568, discuss - The signing of the Treaty of Adrianople? I mean I agree but I fail to see how relevant -

I of course mean 1658 I’m embarrassed now - The death of Oliver Cromwell? ...oh okay.

Why I married Nicholas Wright - I mean he's a nice enough lad, isn't he?

The couple that ....... together stays together! - "Is Good". It's not to do with the things you do or don't do together - some people are inseperable to the point of creepiness, some people are fiercely independent. The important thing is, not only, that you accept each other for who you are - but that you are genuinely OKAY with each other being who you are. When you can accept each other without reservation, not because it is what you have to do, but because you are genuinely at peace with where you differ and where you overlap. That... is how you stay together. (I do however recommend gaming! It works!)

Can I get a rat drunk with just the power of wine breath? - Yes. I mean. Probably.

Best/worst/both pickup lines - "Are you a parking ticket? You got fine written all over you." Which is of course inviting the response: "Are you a parking ticket? You look like an expensive mistake that I'd rather not make."

Favourite quote and why. -

"Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding. Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain."

 Khalil Gibran, The Prophet. I don't want to lionise pain and suffering. I don't want to say that you can't hold wisdom unless you have suffered. At the same time - it is true, that without the context of what suffering actually is, you don't necessarily have the context to understand just how important it is to prevent or cure suffering. If you have never stared into the dark and known that you want your life to end, you can't grasp the full extent of what it is to save someone from the same. Without a crippling heartbreak, there is no You've Lost That Loving Feeling; without the darkest depression, there is no Black Hole Sun; without a plane crash, there is no Fire And Rain; without the tragedy of a painter at the mercy of his darkest demons, there is no Starry Night, and there is no Vincent. Would I rather be pain-free and have less context for, say, It Never Ends? Well yes - but if life is for poetry, if life means nothing without art, then I will take my enrichment where I find it. Especially given as the pain is a feature rather than a bug.

Favourite meme you've seen recently. - This one.

Studio Ghibli Netflix tie-in - ACCESS. Expanded audiences. YES. People can see some of my favourite animated movies that couldn't before, for whatever reasons. YES. And they started with two of my favourites (Castle In The Sky and Ocean Waves). YES.

That's it for this time, folks. Thank you for your contributions - something more personal next time. Thank you for joining me on this odyssey!

If you'd care to share my blog with your friends, I'd appreciate that! If you'd like to thank me in a fiscal form for entertaining you a little bit, I do have a Patreon right here, but please - no pressure. Thank you for reading, and check my social media to the right to keep in touch.

Readers Request - Perfidious Albion, Milkshakes & Pangolins

It's come round again folks - it's another edition of the blog you love the most, the show without the host, you asky and me talky - it's Readers Request! If you don't know, it's where I ask people to provide prompts or questions for me to address, and then I... address them.

And I got a boatload of them this time round, so let's crack on, shall we?

Boobs! - YAY someone did it! (For those not in the know, almost every time, someone suggests boobs.)

Favorite spider man film. Also favorite super hero film. - I blogged about the Marvel List recently, and... though I haven't seen Far From Home just yet? My favourite Spider-Man film AND my favourite super hero film are one and the same. Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse.

(Also bewbs) - Excellent, excellent. Yes.

Moobs - Also kind of a fan. I mean I have some. Picture not included.

A treasure Planet live action remake perfect cast and any other additional changes - So in 2002, when Treasure Planet came out, I loved it. I like my scifi, and this one had a main character that I genuinely saw a lot of myself in. I think it's one of the few Disney cartoons that could actually benefit from a live action treatment. Casting is difficult - but I think you could do a lot worse than having someone like Taron Egerton playing Jim, someone like Rory McCann as Long John Silver, and Captain Amelia - well I dunno, maybe Charlize Theron or Zoe Saldana?

A reboot of The Deerhunter ... using only boobs - I am... not sure that the average boob can convey the pathos required for the Deerhunter. (Which is an amazing film, if you haven't seen it.)

JourneyQuest season 4 Kickstarter. - Okay folks. JourneyQuest needs our help. Check it out on Kickstarter right here. It's a fantasy series that is made by folks well-acquainted with the tropes of the genre and of gaming inside that genre. They're a driven, talented bunch and they deserve success.

Favourite parts/moments of collectable card games - My favourite moments are when either myself or my opponent pull off the most weird and outlandish combo that you can possibly imagine. Like you are laughing halfway through the description of how it all works, and you aren't even mad when you have to concede. That's why I play these games.

Thoughts on 'Pirates of Darkwater' - NOY JITAT! I loved this show. Such a crime that it got done dirty. It deserved like a hundred episodes and a movie. If you don't know? Here's a link to a "history of" video that I liked.

If you could give any song the superhero treatment, like Immigrant song in Thor: Ragnarok, what would it be and how? - Hard question. I loved how Immigrant Song was used in Ragnarok (both times), and how The Chain was used in Guardians 2 (both times). So if we assume songs from a similar period, then I am thinking that a particularly emotive, introspective or soul-bearing moment would be suitably accompanied by Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. Perhaps something involving certain members of the Avengers or their compatriots who are no longer present?

Times when a creator has talked about something they've done that you found interesting/changed perspective/deepened your like of the thing. - I really enjoy listening to songwriters in particular talk about their songs and the creative process that goes into them. I like making-of documentaries in regard to movies, too; Dangerous Days about Blade Runner is particularly insightful. Actors, though - when you listen to an actor talk passionately about a role they've enjoyed playing, that juices me a lot. The one example I think of? Will Smith, talking about making Ali. About his respect for the man, his dedication to making it all look real. The results speak for themselves.

Really interesting director's commentary was my first thought but interviews, online posts anything firsthand really. I love Song Exploder podcast for exactly this ^.^ http://songexploder.net/ - This was an additional comment to the above, but deserves to be included, because my second example comes from Song Exploder - if you don't know I love Nina Cried Power by Hozier, well you do now, it's an AMAZING song. And my appreciation for it only grew when I heard him on Song Exploder, discussing how he wrote it and how it came together. You can catch that here.

Coping with existential dread. - Literally the only way I can do this is by not thinking about it. I know that's not a suitable solution but it's all I have. Also; if you have seen any of the recent articles talking about how likely it is we are living in a simulation, or seen Sword Art Online, or similar - well my answer to all that is, if your life is still here even if it's just a simulation, then you still have to live it. The risks and rewards are all just the same. Even if none of it is real, that means everything is as real as it is going to get. Your happiness is as real as you are, and that is why we exist. To be happy.

Perfidious Albion - I mean, yeah. We have a rep for backstabbing and self-interest, and we have that because we're self-interested back-stabbers on the world stage. Not much we can do about that if a significant swathe of the population keep voting for assholes.

Also perfidious albinos - The Other Being The Bad Guy is a trope that makes me kind of sweaty. Albinism gets kind of used like that. Matrix Reloaded, The DaVinci Code, The Princess Bride and Star Trek have all used this particular trope in a pretty shady way. Not a big fan. It's a shame when you have generally cool people like Yellowman (reggae artist), Anderson Cooper (news anchor) and Shaun Ross (model) doing their best in the face of this nonsense.

Also perforated albinos - Caliban in Logan gets perforated. I think. Shrapnel?

And perfidious albatross - YOU CAN'T FUCKING TRUST AN ALBATROSS

Bewbs -

Current favorite podcast - I don't listen to podcasts really, but I recently got referred to Start With This, a podcast for creative type folks from the Nightvale crew.

How you go about getting out of bed when every fiber of your being is screaming to remain in your warm, cozy, cocoon. - I kind of have to, the longer I spend in one position, the worse I hurt - so actually getting out of bed is sometimes an absolute blessed relief. Unless moving hurts more than laying still. Which I don't get to find out until I try it.

Mecha (or anything really) you'd love to see fight Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann - Well gee, I dunno - but I'd love to see Coop from Megas XLR throw down with TTGL. If only because I know he and Kamina would be instant friends afterwards. Can you even imagine?

For bonus geek points the tightness of ones shoes and the relevance of said fact in light of ones amnesia in relation to the methods of dancing -  "Something my father said. He was... Old, very old at the time. I went into his room, and he was sitting, alone in the dark, crying. So I asked him what was wrong, and he said, "My shoes are too tight. But it doesn't matter, because I have forgotten how to dance." I never understood what that meant until now. My shoes are too tight, and I have forgotten how to dance." I love Babylon 5.

Transformers gundam throwdown - Okay, do we mean Gundam universe, or actual Gundams? Cos like. In a fight, even the gruntiest Transformers are gonna win against Zakus and GMs. But the Gundam itself is a whole other beast. Not a lot of Transformers are powered by psychic craziness. I probably think Megatron would win against the Grandpa Gundam, but that's mostly because of who Megatron is rather than his actual capabilities - he'd use every single dirty trick and nasty ploy to get one up on the hapless Gundam pilot before blowing his ass out of the cockpit with the fusion cannon. (Optimus and Amuro wouldn't fight, let's face it.)

The inevitable heat death of the universe - SOON PLEASE

The "nice" weather that's indicative of the impending climate catastrophe - I mean... yeah? ...what's there left to say, we're fucking doomed.

Favorite milkshake flavor - Either whatever is splashed over the fascist it's been thrown on, or, strawberry.

How we can avert heading towards an even greater dystopian hellscape - Immediate and total revolution.

Favorite author (other than yourself ;) ) - HAH as if I would ever believe I am my own favourite author? Uh. But I digress. That's actually a hard question, but I think I'd have to swing for Terry Pratchett or Neil Gaiman. Not strictly because of their work, but because of who they are (or were), and the messages inherent in their work. And also they are (or were) both generally amazing people.

Which SINGLE member of the Tory party would you most like to give a swift kick to the genitalia? - Seeing as Maggie is dead? Boris Johnson.

Top three snack foods - This is a hard one. Uh. I'm tempted to go with the stuff that I can't often lay hands on in this country. So - flamin hot cheetos, chilli cheese fritos, and sour patch kids.

Your take on the current state of the human condition, and do you feel there is cause for optimism, cynicism, or a mixed bag? - The human condition is pretty much defined by insecurity. It's core to who we are. Now, if society as a whole was capable of dealing with that in a constructive or healthy fashion, then I'd be optimistic - but that would make the money sad, so we have to use it as a marketing ploy rather than recognising it as part of us and coping with it. So yeah. Cynicism all the way down.

The cultural normalization of casual alcoholism - This is a big thing in this country. Casual drinking to excess is accepted as basically being normal here, and alcoholism appears to be determined as "when I have a problem big enough that other people notice and talk to me about it" rather than its actual definition. So, not entirely surprised that it is a huge problem in this country. And as the financial problems mount up, it is only going to get worse. It always does.

Favorite candy color - Red. I like the red ones.

How long do you think we have before the technological singularity? Or do you think we're already there? - The date that was previously predicted was 2029; recently Ray Kurzweil of Google has predicted it will happen by 2045 in this article right here. I think that's hard to predict, though. The definition of the singularity is a point wherein "technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible", and... okay, imagine your life without microchips or combustion engines. Boom. We're there, already. There's just depths ahead of us.

Your best case scenario that ends with a unified Earth - ...I don't think there is one. Unless we see a total overhaul of our politics globally, which leads to an overhaul of corporation, industry and finance. Which - lets face it - simply isn't going to happen.

Will the be armed opposition to our eventual machine overlords, or will they simply take control of everything and people will barely notice? - If they are smart, they will take over long before we even realise they have done so. We may not even actually notice, ever. We may just start doing the stuff the machines want us to, because it's easier for them to arrange that than to make us accept machine rule. It's what I would do if I was an AI.

Happy Treason Day Ungrateful Colonials - You've got to laugh, or you'll remember our colonial past and realise that any success this nation has enjoyed on the world stage is built on the exploitation of others.

Bewbs² - Ah yes, yes indeed. Boobs squared. I prefer boobs rounded but all boobs are valid, including a lack therein.

Your arguments against violently seizing the means of production - I only argue with the term violently. Every chance to get it done without cracking any skulls. I think we owe that to our humanity. Necessary force only, people. We're not cops.

Top three colors - Magic, wind, red.

The effects of people enclosing themselves in like minded echo chambers and discrediting anything opposed to that as categorically false - Well, look around you. Our entire society is built on echo chambers. Our history is built on people only listening to the things they want to listen to, and mostly untroubled by the voices of those beyond the boundary. This isn't a new thing that the internet has helped give birth to. It's just easier to see it play out in real time, now. Humans like to be surrounded by those that think the same as they do. It emboldens them, it plugs that hole of insecurity in their hearts. It can be especially freeing to be surrounded by people that hate the same things you do. With some things (insert name of band here), that's something you can share with society; if it's something closer to racism, sexism, antisemitism or any other crime against people - you're likely to try and surround yourself with people that agree, so you don't suffer social consequences for expressing your (already shitty) views. CGP Grey did do a video on this though, which I was linked to in the comments.

Magnets, how do they work? - "And I don't wanna talk to a scientist, y'all motherfuckers lying and getting me pissed!" ...honestly I still kinda love Insane Clown Posse, and I love the fact that they did a whole album trying to convince people that they were evangelical Christians AND IT WORKED.

Someone 40 years ago would never believe we can have incredibly powerful computing machines in our pockets and wisely available to the public. What do you predict to be similarly unbelievable in 40 years time? - That we all had such powerful always-online computers in our pockets and still so many of us believed in such stupid things and acted in such stupid ways. That every house and building that is built isn't absolutely covered with solar panels. That we were still using the internal combustion engine. ...the cynicism aside, I think there will be a space elevator in forty years, and the idea of that absolutely blows my fucking mind.

"Oh hi Mark" - "WHAT IS LINE"

Why rats make the best pets - They're friendly, smart, clean and affectionate. They're adorable. I know they get a bad press but I think we can kind of accept that it is nonsense. I speak from experience: the best pets I ever had were my rats. Don't get me wrong, I love dogs. I just. You know. I MEAN LOOK AT THIS LITTLE CUTIE PIE

The ethics of having a kid in a world with late stage capitalism - ...I mean... yeesh, it is a heavy one. Not that I am a kid-having kind of person, but at the same time, the world being as on-the-brink as it is has to be an additional consideration, right? Like, I am gonna bring a person into existence on a planet that may be unsuitable for sustaining our lives before the person reaches middle age. It's awful. There will be a collapse, it may well happen very soon, and when it does happen, shit is going to go sideways for literally everyone. Not sure I could advocate bringing a child into that battlefield.

PANGOLINS!!!!! - I LOVE PANGOLINS I love pangolins so much they're amazing. I actually had an NPC character in a Mutants & Masterminds game called Pangolin, who could grow the armour plating thing out of their skin. I love pangolins. PANGOLINS.

Boobies - I love boobies. Here's a nice pair.

Breasts. <3 - Oh lawdy yes. My favourite part. (of the chicken)

The fall of Cybertron - Superb game. Best depiction of Grimlock ever. Metroplex? Metroplex!? Just a great game overall, and a fantastic retelling of how the Autobots and Decepticons ended up on earth. Maybe not the best Transformers game - Devastation is amazing - but still. Get it. Get itttt.

Favourite fictional (!) post apocalyptic universe. - I love that you had to incorporate Fictional in that. Uh. That's hard, because I don't usually like post apocalyptic stuff? But in terms of media set in that universe - I have to say Mad Max. Fury Road is an EXCEPTIONAL film, and the Avalanche Studios open-world game is superb too.

Forgiving others and yourself. - I find this hard. Myself, specifically. I try and it just doesn't stick. I am still beating myself up over dumb shit I said when I was twelve, let alone mistakes I've made in recent years. Up to a point I'm very forgiving of other people. I like to think I am understanding in terms of people having things going on in their lives and how that may impact my interactions with them. Malice, though - malice I find very hard to forgive, nigh on impossible. And they say forgive and forget - like, no. If I forgive, I will forgive, but I will absolutely not forget anything that I have had to forgive someone for. Even if remembering it means I treat them kinder and have more understanding for them. If you fuck with me, and I forgive you, better not assume that I don't remember that you fucked with me.

The Emperor's New Groove - This was great. Really great. I liked the animation a lot, the musical number at the beginning is a classic, a lot of good lines, it just... always felt a bit like there was meant to be more? And of course now we know there was actually meant to be more. It just got rushed out. Which is a shame. Like there was a plotline involving Yzma trying to devour the SUN for god's sake.

The art of storytelling - I dunno if I can really cover all of that in the boundaries of this blog? But like... it IS an art. More of an art than a science. I could never get the hang of the whole arc structure, but you notice when it's done badly. If your story requires a different structure - give it that structure. Push it. See if it works. Readers are important for this. Get some! (Hey, if you wanna be one of my readers, you can totally hit my Patreon. Or just ask nicely.)

Should more artists stand up for their work. - This day and age makes it a lot easier for the consumers of media to contact the creators of that media, or for an artist or creator to see people's reaction to that work. Should you defend your work? I mean, that probably depends on the work, on the criticism raised against it, and on how you are going to stand up for it. Often what is called for isn't so much a "standing up" as an acknowledgement or a clarification. If only because outright haters aren't going to be pacified by anything whatsoever. It doesn't matter what you did or what you do, haters are just there to cause you misery, and then leave you on read while they go off and hate on someone else when you try and do right by them.

But, but, what if I want to do more?? - NO COLIN NO YOU HAVE HAD ENOUGH BAD COLIN

Things that have made you laugh out loud - Huh. Well. Usually it's goofy shit. So I am gonna include some examples below, from the playlist I maintain on youtube called "Shit That Makes John Snart" - also included, a link to the entire playlist...

And that just about wraps it up this week, and what a week it has been. I think that's a record. 56 entries! And some of them weren't suggested by Colin I'M WATCHING YOU COLIN

Anyway. Thank you for joining me. If you made it this far - thank you for your patience!

If you'd care to share my blog with your friends, I'd appreciate that! If you'd like to thank me in a fiscal form for entertaining you a little bit, I do have a Patreon right here, but please - no pressure. Thank you for reading, and check my social media to the right to keep in touch.

Reader's Request - Favourite Songs, Early Memories, Beautiful Trains

That's right, party people - it's Reader's Request again. The blog wherein you tell me what to write about, and I write about it. I love doing these. I love getting into the guts of a topic I hadn't previously considered writing about.

Without further ado.

A favourite song title for each letter of the alphabet - Oh christ, this isn't much of an ask. But luckily enough, I do definitely have one. Or twenty-six, specifically.

A - Alive (Pearl Jam)
B - Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden)
C - Chloe Dancer/Crown Of Thorns (Mother Love Bone)
D - Digital Love (Daft Punk)
E - Everything's Ruined (Faith No More)
F - Fire And Rain (James Taylor)
G - Goodnight Elisabeth (Counting Crows)
H - Hurt (Nine Inch Nails)
I - Innuendo (Queen)
J - Jessica (The Allman Brothers Band)
K - Kashmir (Led Zeppelin)
L - Learn To Fly (Foo Fighters)
M - Motown Never Sounded So Good (Less Than Jake)
N - No Rain (Blind Melon)
O - One Day Remains (Alter Bridge)
P - Purple Rain (Prince)
Q - Quality Control (Jurassic 5)
R - Recovering The Satellites (Counting Crows)
S - Shadow On The Sun (Audioslave)
T - The Touch (Stan Bush)
U - Under The Bridge (Red Hot Chilli Peppers)
V - Vincent (Don McLean)
W - Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd)
X - Xmas Day (Sevendust)
Y - You're The Voice (John Farnham)
Z - Zero Sum (Nine Inch Nails)

HAH. Here's a playlist for all of them.

How would you imagine a shrine to an old school deity look like in a far flung futuristic world? - Depends on the deity and the far-flung future I suppose. And also the old-school deity. Let's nail it down a little bit.

Assume a Star Trek style world, very utopian, very nice, very stuff. No scarcity any more. No currency. People don't really get sick unless they are fucking about on a science vessel. So what kind of deity - old-school - gets worshipped here? That's the problem. Deities existed to explain holes in people's understanding or as methods to control people from doing specific things.

So instead we look at a future more like Star Wars - where you still have weird religious and mystical shit going on. People flying around with dark and light wizard powers. Stuff that science can't explain. Economic disparity, somehow. Mostly because of empire and people being shit I suppose. This place seems a lot more likely to worship an old deity. I have a great candidate, but the Jedi won't like it.

A Star Wars temple to Dionysus, I daresay, would be stuck out in the middle of a desert somewhere. The Empire wouldn't like it, the First Order would hate it, the Republic wouldn't approve - but people are down for it. And because Star Wars is a universe in which different species mingle a lot, even if humans get to be the stars because you know movies and such, I daresay a temple of Dionysus would have a lot of different representations of the winey one. Lots of different versions of the same entity, scattered about this big cave, in statues carved out of the rock, surrounded by cushions and empty amphora and bottles.

Sounds like fun.

If not too late: Most iconic Simpsons quotes and why? - Not too late. A selection follow.

"Hello there, my name is Mister Burns. I believe you have a letter for me!"
"Certainly, sir, what's your first name?"
"I don't know."

"I don't even like Japan."
"You like Rashamon."
"That's not how I remember it."

"It's just a little airborne! It's still good! It's still good!"
"It's gone, dad."
"I know."

"I ordered you, I begged you, and god help me, I even tried reasoning with you."

"Max Power! He's the man, the man that you'd love to touch - but you mustn't TOUCH!"

Changing entertainment media's, which do you think is the toughest to adapt. Ex. Anime/ manga to film. - ...see, that is difficult, because I am super biased. I think, though - one of the toughest things to adapt well, is a movie into a TV series.

There's a TV series of Das Boot. I mean. What? Das Boot. One of the most tense, most well-paced movies I have seen in my life. It's a self-contained story about a U-boat crew, that is defined by the literal confines of the vessel they exist within. It's a singularity of place, which means that each individual room matters so much because there just aren't that many. It's why Crimson Tide and bits of The Hunt For Red October are so tight.

And then... and then there's a TV series. About the circumstances surrounding the sailing of U-96, and the Old Man, and some side-plot stuff that TV series always seems to crowbar in around the actual plot because, heaven forfend, the main plot might have enough meat on it to fill up an entire season.

That said I think Anime-To-Film fails because, frankly, the people that want films to be made don't like or watch Anime.

Earliest memory you have :) - Walking or crawling across a room in one of the houses we lived in when I was (obviously) super young. I remember the carpet was this light beige. There was a raised step between the room and the hallway beyond. I was heading toward that step. I don't remember context or anything else.

I think I know which house it was based on process of elimination, but I can't be sure.

Binge watching - ...see, I personally find it difficult.

Once I have seen two episodes of something, I start getting pissed off with the formula. I start seeing patterns that irk me. Any small thing that bugs me about a single episode gets multiplied if I watch more than, say, two in a row. I find it hard to pay attention and stay invested. Another thing I start noticing is the lack of consistency in terms of the writing - like, if you watch four episodes of Star Trek in a row, half the characters change personalities to fit the plot. Which annoys me, enough that I check out.

I don't know how healthy it is as a hobby, or if it's a good thing for people to do in their daily life - but more and more shows are adapting to the fact that people do this. Mystery Science Theater 3000 actually putting together its most recent six-episode series with the actual intent for it to be binge-watched, for example.

I just dunno, really. I'm a weird one for this.

Also, originality in science fiction - Huh. Well.

See, originality is difficult, because - and I know I have talked about this before - while people want original things, people are also scared by original things. It's why most cars on the road look very similar. They all look like a not-quite-4x4 or a Ford Focus. People want a new thing, with a sat nav and electronic lane assist and the ability to stream music wirelessly and painlessly from your phone to your speaker system, but not if it looks slightly weird.

So... Star Trek Discovery is serving up some delicious plot right now, and I hope people are enjoying it - I sure am. The plotlines remind me of old Trek but done properly with modern, capable writing and characters that I actually enjoy. Several bits of it break ground that I haven't really seen broken on TV before. Except... for the really groundbreaking science fiction stuff, you need to go back a few decades... and these days, it is a bit dated.

Originality doesn't always necessarily get rewarded. New stuff gets left in the weeds, and then people come back and look at it in ten years and wonder - why didn't this get a better run? Why wasn't this better supported? And the reason is because people often want the thing they know, the thing they are familiar with. Which isn't necessarily a sin. It just creates a stagnation market, rather than a driving one, and I would like science fiction to be the driving point rather than a trailing edge.

Remasters yay or nay? - Depends, frankly. On several factors.

Are you taking a thing that was originally kind of broken and dusty and a bit rubbish, and polishing it, up-rezzing it, making it look like it deserves to be on our brand new 4K TVs and gorgeous sparkling laptops? Are you making Blade Runner look like it deserves a BluRay? Then you should get a remaster.

Are you polishing a thing slightly that has a large fan following, adding in a couple of scenes that maybe don't need to be added in, cramming in some special effects which will be dated before the box reaches the shelves, and then charging us double the original price for this article? Then you should fucking not.

Try buying Evangelion on DVD and see what I mean.

The most beautiful train you've ever seen - The image speaks for itself.

Arguments will be destroyed.

Favourite natural weather phenomenon and why - A very, very slight breeze, on a scorchingly hot day. Oh yes. Oh yes indeed.

If I won the lottery is always a fun one. - Oh shit.

So it depends how much. Definitely depends how much. But I know that if you win over a certain amount, you get two options - either they manage you, and they help you with the press, or they keep you private and just give you the money. I'd definitely go with the second one.

I would split the money in half immediately, half of it goes into savings, like straight away.

As for the rest...

Well, suffice to say, everyone I know with a Kofi account is going to get a big bump, everyone with a GoFundMe or Kickstarter or Patreon, and everyone I know that needs a little extra who has an email address that I can send PayPal to.

Also I'd pay my rent for as many whole years as I can afford (or buy a house if I get enough money).

But then I am more likely to win a small amount so I would probably just use it to buy a couple nice things, and get takeout for my buddies.

And that, dear people, is another Readers Request in the bag. Not many asks this week. Which is no big thing. After all if I only did this blog for the attention, I'd go crazy and delete it immediately.

I'll catch you next week for something more curated.

If you'd care to share my blog with your friends, I'd appreciate that! If you'd like to thank me in a fiscal form for entertaining you a little bit, I do have a Patreon right here, but please - no pressure. Thank you for reading, and check my social media to the right to keep in touch.