Lots of Incomprehensible Cosmic Evils Around These Days…

The Lovecraftian mythos has become something of a thing in a number of video games.

When I say Lovecraftian mythos, I mean not only the specific collection of beings centered around H.P. Lovecraft’s writings, but ideas that draw heavily from it. Cosmic evils are an old fictional standard, of course, but the callously consuming and reality-warping nature of these cosmic evils is associated with Lovercraft’s writings in particular.  Any kind of entity with those particular traits is best called Lovecraftian. Tentacles seal the deal.

As always, when dealing with trends in storytelling, TV Tropes is your guide…and also your doom!

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Good Movies: Disney’s Robin Hood

Disney used to be less  of a ‘house of franchises’. This probably ended in the 90s, after the Disney Renaissance that produced The Little Mermaid, Beauty and The Beast, and my personal favorite The Lion King. There have been many direct-to-DVD (video?) sequels and spinoffs of these movies since they were made, but they were originally made as one-shots.

That’s the big names. Disney also made some really interesting movies that aren’t those big names. Tron, while having its own itsy-bitsy media fiefdom nowadays, is one, but there are others that have a special place in my heart.

The one I always think of during tax season (which at this time is past, but is coming around again, as always) is Disney’s anthropomorphic animal Robin Hood.

Why tax season? Because I think of the government as Prince John in this scene:

This movie was something my family watched a lot when I was a kid, to the extent that the jokes still show up in our conversation. Mostly from my dad, who has a terrible habit of making jokes that do not work even on a dad joke level. At my present remove, I think of this tendency with affection… anyway, he still uses the phrase ‘Hiss, stop hissing in my ear’ from time to time, generally apropos of nothing.

Who knew that anthropomorphic animals in the Robin Hood story would work so well? But it does. This is a good movie. Why?

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Book Review: Magic in Ithkar

First of all, aren’t those just beautiful covers? Lovely artwork.

The Magic in Ithkar books hit a certain sort of sweet spot for me. The setting pulls off something you rarely see anymore: coexistence of magic and technology. Well, really the muddling of the two, as the old saw of “any sufficiently developed technology is indistinguishable from magic” seems to be heavily in play.

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I Don’t Get the Harry Potter Thing

I am a bit late to the party, it would seem.

I suppose that will keep my generational peers from burning me at the stake, rather than merely denouncing me as a heretic.

You would think that an avid reader like me would be one of the fans of Harry Potter, considering that I was in the series’ target age bracket when it came to the States. Many others of my generation have been singing the praises of the series lately, talking about how it has affected their worldview, using related metaphors for current events…

I actually don’t care for Harry Potter. If it had an influence on me, it was that it enabled the publication of more and longer fantasy and science fiction novels. I read the first three years after they came out Stateside, if I recall correctly.

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The Frog Story

It was like one of the Plagues of Egypt.

Not one of the very dramatic ones, like boils or water turning into blood. It was the one with the frogs. Frogs everywhere.

I grew up in another, more picturesque desert, so I have known since I was small that there is a kind of frog that hibernates under the dry ground until it rains. When it does, they claw their way free from the earth and get to the business of eating and propagating until it grows to dry, whereupon they burrow again to hibernate. However, while I knew about this, I had never seen it before.

As it turns out, when rain does come to MacGregor Range, it is frog spring break.

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Gears of War 4 Review

I’ve been a fan of Gears of War for a long time. I love the gameplay, the characters, I love the story, the world’s aesthetic, everything. I was unable to play Gears of War 4 until just recently, and I have to say it was a blast. If you’re looking for a fun game, pick up Gears 4 for sure.

Why do I like it so much? Aha, now I get to do my nerdy rambling in response to a question you probably didn’t ask and wouldn’t for any reason whatsoever!

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