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Review : UNBOX – NEWBIE’S ADVENTURE

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Review : UNBOX – NEWBIE’S ADVENTURE

Unbox : Newbie’s Adventure is a traditional 90s style 3D platformer in which you play as Newbie, a sentient cardboard box working for Global Postal Service, who are in trouble as parcels keep going missing and you are sent to collect them all and save the day.

Unbox isn’t really anything you won’t have seen before in a platformer, but it does have one unique mechanic, which is called “unboxing”. Whilst jumping, you can press a button to do a second, even higher jump which is caused by Newbie unfolding a layer of himself, which flaps him higher which I was a fan of. You get 6 unboxes and they can be replenished by using health boxes, which are luckily really easily found around the place.

The combat system is really simple and I quite enjoyed the fact that you just flop your butt down on enemies, or SLAM as the game calls it. Newbie also has the ability to aim fireworks at enemies sometimes.. though I couldn’t see how to do it, but still managed to do it right! This was a bit of a recurring theme to be honest, as I would often achieve something and not be entirely sure how it had happened.

The levels are quite open and I liked that you can go wherever you want – As long as you can jump there without falling in the sea, which may prove difficult more often than not. The main goal is to collect stamps, which you can do by rescuing little boxes from bad guys, races, fights and puzzles or just… finding them in a bush. There are also a hell of a lot of other collectibles, which I don’t think I will ever take the time to find unfortunately as I don’t think they get me anything. Games like the Arkham series reward logging in dozens of hours to collect riddles and such, so it would be something to look at in any future games… reward your gamers for crawling over every inch of the map!

Bright, colourful chaos rules supreme in UNBOXED.

It’s a very pretty game, cute and colourful, but has some problems with slowdowns and skipping in cutscenes. I like that you can customise your box, but I only realised this was possible on my second load as it’s a separate option on the main menu! The soundtrack is what you would expect from the genre, but very repetitive and once you notice that it’s hard to ignore! The characters have garbled, Crash Bandicoot style voices, which I didn’t get on with.

Unbox also features split screen multiplayer, which allows up to four players to battle across multiplayer maps but I didn’t get to experience this as patch on the release day nerfed my copy and I wasn’t able to get it to run again even after reinstalling it.

Unbox is pretty straightforward to navigate once you get a hang of the controls, but the challenges are really hit and miss. I found myself getting quite frustrated on occasion, when I felt like I had been wronged by the game. 

This being said I do feel as though I warmed to the controls as I played, but they weren’t set out in a way that you would be able to guess, which for me is quite a big thing as I have a terrible memory for things like that. 

On top of this I found that it was difficult to judge the distance of jumps and I often ended up in the sea, which is absolutely fatal for cardboard. You are given a second chance if this happens however, as the game bounces you towards safety and the unbox command saved me more than once from a wet end.

On the upside you can control vehicles at various points throughout and they are actually really fun, but again the controls left me very sad. Games like Marble Madness are present here in spirit, but balls roll better than squares… as a wise old man probably once said.

Pretty and cute game, with potential but sadly not my box of tea.

Unbox : Newbie’s Adventure is out now for PS4 and Nintendo Switch.

Displaced Review

Rach Griffiths
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Displaced Review

On the surface, Displaced has all the makings of an interesting game. You control a party of survivors hailing from a war torn country and your job is to lead them to safety. Each of your five survivors have their own particular strengths and weaknesses that could end up being a help or a hindrance as you progress through the world and meeting other groups of survivors, fighting for your life, trading for essential supplies or attempting to pass by them unnoticed. Unfortunately, whilst it is an interesting game, it is not particularly strong in its execution.

To begin with, your five party members are chosen for you and have traits that range from somebody being a chef and therefore able to feed the group with less resources, to somebody that is an alcoholic. More characters do unlock as time goes on, but with no real personality or further backstory than the specific traits you are given, you do not connect with them in any way as the game progresses, nor do you find them having any real effect on the game world.

In fact, the game is driven more by events than its characters. Displaced attempts to liven up proceedings by giving you an open world map to move through, and by employing RNG to give random results to each of your encounters. However, as you move through the game the results of such encounters repeat on such a regular basis that the gameplay stats to feel forced and predictable. For example, greeting other groups of survivors will usually mean that the meeting passes without incident, leaving these interactions feeling scripted rather than ruled by the RNG mechanic. Bearing in mind the volume of other groups and points of interest that appear on your map, dealing with these can prove to be quite time-consuming whilst not having any effect on the story or your party.

Another mechanic introduced to give some sort of challenge to the game is the eating and resting systems. The party will collect or buy food as it moves around the map and if you do not stop to feed your party regularly enough they will become ill or even die. A lack of rest will mean increased stress, but whilst this may lead to a scripted exchange between party members that threatens to have an effect, it never quite seems to do so. In fact, both resting and eating become one more chore that you do as part of a routine as opposed to being an engaging part of the gameplay, particularly once you get a few game days into your playthrough.

Combat is also quite straightforward, and once your party gains access to weapons often does not raise any real challenge. Whilst the game gives you the option to set each of your characters as attacking, in stealth or hiding, more often than not the combat is so easy that all the player needs to do is to set the game to auto-conclude any combat and collect any items dropped by the other party once the fight is over. The combat feels like is was meant to be so much more, bearing in mind you can choose the positioning of your party members prior to engaging your enemies, but in reality has no effect on the outcome.

Add to this a story which feels disjointed and non-cohesive, and the game begins to feel repetitive and doesn’t hold a player’s attention. This is not to say that Displaced does not have a good basis to its story. At the beginning of the game you choose from three different ways to complete the first part of the story that leads to you having to collect different items or a sum of money in order to reach that goal. The other parts of the game differ enough that some interest remains, but sadly jumping from one part of the story to the next with no real explanation leaves the player feeling pushed from pillar to post and does not garner any investment in the story as it evolves.

Aesthetically however, Displaced is a good looking game. With a drab artwork style that fits perfectly with the games narrative, and with its excellent background music, it has a definite charm.

Displaced is not an unenjoyable game, but it does have many elements that could do with some improvement. However, for a price of just £4.79 on Steam, and the hope that later updates could improve its gameplay, it could still be worth picking up. For example, a quick tweak to the RNG mechanic to give more varied conclusions to the various interactions that you have with other survivors would improve Displaced massively.

Displaced is available for the PC on Steam now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RnRR-vK6jYc

The Geek Pride Cast #ThronesandMorty

Matt Geary
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The Geek Pride Cast #ThronesandMorty

This week Matt, Josh and Dave talk Game of Thrones, prediction about what is going to happen in episode 6 and 7 and we talk some Rick and Morty.

Don’t forget that all Geek Pride Podcasts, including this one and Pitch, Please! can be found on Itunes, Google Play, youtube and our website for download.

If you would like to see live streamed podcasts, then please check out our Facebook, Youtube and Twitch channels

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Dana Fredsti interview

Peter Ray Allison
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Dana Fredsti interview

To say Dana Fredsti is unconventional is an understatement. Before becoming an author, Dana was an actress and theatrical swordswoman. Dana’s most famous cinematic credits include Army of Darkness, where she was the armourer’s assistant and appeared as a sword-wielding deadite.

Since leaving the world of acting behind her, Dana started a career as an author.  Her most recent novels the Ashley Parker trilogy concluded with Plague World (reviewed here) and was described as “Buffy, with zombies, but different.” However, long before Dana became known as a horror writer, she was a writer of erotic thrillers under the pseudonym of Inara LaVey.

Dana’s latest novel is Spawn of Lilith, an urban-fantasy/horror novel set in a world where the supernatural lurk beneath the surface of an ignorant Hollywood (reviewed here).  The novel follows Lee Striga, an upcoming stuntwoman who is sidelined after a stunt goes wrong and she is forced to take on any roles she can find (and one that is just too good to be true) whilst juggling the challenges of being a woman in Hollywood.

With Spawn of Lilith taking place in Hollywood, I started with asking why she chose to set her novel there.

A supernatural Hollywood seems a natural fit, what was the inspiration behind this?

I worked in the film industry for a few years when I was younger (don’t ask how much younger or I’ll hurt you), So when Steve Saffel—my Dark Editorial Overlord at Titan—and I were having a brainstorming session for my new series and he mentioned I needed my protagonist to have a “Clark Kent” identity, we honed in on the film industry. Then we started tossing ideas back and forth of how much fun it would be if there was this whole secret underground of supernatural creatures that worked in film and television. I’m not sure who was more in love with the concept; me or Steve.

What I really liked about Spawn of Lilith was how Lee did not have a romantic love interest – why did you choose to forsake romance for Lee?

I didn’t actually choose to forsake romance for Lee. I mean, she’s got a few people she’s interested in, but as far as a primary romantic relationship… not the time for that yet. She’s still trying to figure out who she is and what’s going on with her life, and whatever relationships do occur along her character arc, I want to make sure they work within the story and not the other way around. I also really get tired of books that make it okay for male protagonists to sleep with women without necessarily wanting to procreate with them, yet don’t allow female protagonists the same choices. In so many books, if a woman sleeps with a man that she isn’t in love with, it’s either because she’s somehow sullied or damaged. Lee is neither. She’s just not ready to settle down yet.

You seem to be advocating more balanced attitudes and openness about sex in Lee’s liaisons in Spawn of Lilith.

I wasn’t consciously advocating anything one way or the other. Lee’s life is complicated so I didn’t want to rush her into a relationship per se because it doesn’t fit the story arc I have planned for her. I don’t always buy the romances in books I read because they seem generated more by ‘must have relationship arc started by such and such a point’ than what actually works for the characters and story.

That being said, I am totally in favor of balanced attitudes about sex and relationships in general; the double standard that women have faced for centuries (Whore or Madonna – you can be one or the other, and there’s NOTHING IN BETWEEN!) sucks the cosmic wang. And given that in the original Lilith myth, she’s punished for deciding who she wants to sleep with and taking action to live her own life, I’m not surprised that a strong subtext in Spawn of Lilith has turned out to be that of a woman struggling to choose her own destiny.

How much of the story did you plan in advance?  Or are you more fast and loose?

Fast and loose?  Hah! Are you trying to ask if I’m a plotter or a pantser? I am naturally a fast and loose pantser, but working with an editor has forced me to be less of a writing hussy and plan more in advance. Which isn’t to say I have everything planned out. In Spawn of Lilith, a character that was meant to be a one (maybe two) off, turned out to not only demand more of a role in the story, but is now an important part of the story arc for the trilogy. I was told by one of my beta readers that if I killed this character, she would never forgive me. I make no promises!

Did pantsing Spawn of Lilith present any problems in terms of structuring the story?

Nope, because I did have an outline for the story beats. They left me plenty of room to “pants” while keeping me focused on the existing structure.

How closely did your experiences as an actress influence The Spawn of Lilith – the story felt very grounded despite the supernatural influences?  Did you need to do any additional research?

A lot of things in Spawn of Lilith are definitely self-referential (my first movie was something very similar to Steel Legions, and my ex and I co-wrote a script called Pale Dreamer… and… well, yes, lots of things from my past experience influenced this book and this series. But I absolutely had to do additional research because a: I was a specialty player, not a stunt woman. My expertise was in fights, with a focus on swordfights (from broadswords to rapiers/rapier & dagger/ to small sword), and there is so much more to stuntwork than fights. So, I interviewed a stuntman (Jayson Dumenigo) and a stuntwoman (Alina Andrei) and read whatever books on stunt work I could find. I also interviewed Amber Benson (Tara on Buffy) about what’s changed, especially in the audition front, since the ‘90s. I feel very old now…

Did you have to change anything from your stuntwork research to meet the demands of the story?

Other than adding a supernatural element, not really. Stunts are inherently interesting and exciting on their own so they’re a great foundation on which to add the abilities of supernatural beings.

The final arc felt like a mix of The Thing and Pitchblack – did these films influence you at all?

While I love both of those movies, if they did influence me, it was entirely subconscious. As mentioned above, my ex and I wrote the script for Pale Dreamer and the consistent feedback we got on it was how original it was. This was before Pitchblack came out.

Does Lee Striga exist within the same realm as Ashley Parker or is this a completely new world?

This is a completely new world. The only supernatural element in Ash’s world are zombies – and since their origin is science gone terribly wrong because greedy people suck, ‘supernatural element’ is the wrong term to use here. At any rate, in the world of Lee Striga, supernatural creatures exist and work in Hollywood, but the majority of non-supes aren’t aware of their existence.

I noticed Detective Fitzgerald was a reference to your husband, did you include any other references to people?

Well, I wanted to toss an Irish banshee in there and I knew Dave would get a kick out of the last name… and oh yes, there are a ton of references to other people in the book. Am I going to tell you which characters?  Nope!  Except I will say that Sean Katz’s The Ranch is a nod to Bob Yerkes “backyard,” which has been a training ground for stuntmen and women for years. Brian (my ex and one of my best friends) got to train there when he first arrived in Los Angeles, back in the ‘80s. The experiences he had, along with those of people I met during my years in Hollywood, totally inspired The Ranch.  And see my answer above to the question about whether my experiences as an actress influenced the series.

How long did it take to write Spawn of Lilith and how did it compare to Ashley Parker trilogy?

It’s hard to answer this question because my mom died at the beginning of 2016, and I’d just started writing the book the month before. I thought I’d just power through and lose myself in writing, but instead I spent a lot of time staring at my computer screen and not doing anything at all. I did that for three months, these gray patches broken up by panic attacks and pointless monkey brain antics at 3am. I started meditating every night before going to sleep (sometimes the guided meditations put me to sleep) and finally got a grip on things around mid-April that year. I was very calm from that point on and it took me until September to finish the draft.

I guess the way that it compared to the Ashley Parker books is I never had a “I hate this book! I can’t write! I suck! WAHHHH!!!” temper flares that I had writing all three of the Ashley books. I knew I’d finish it, I knew it was the book I wanted to write, and it was a weirdly Zen experience.

What was it about Spawn of Lilith that made it “the book (you) wanted to write”?

Everything. I love the characters, the world-building, the mythology behind it (soooo much stuff going on underneath the surface that I only hinted at in the first book), the concept of a supernatural “underground’ in Hollywood… and did I mention I love poking fun at Hollywood? I’m sure I did… I had total support from my editor, Steve Saffel, in creating this world and some gleeful collaboration by way of tossing ideas back and forth. Nothing beats that kind of support!

What was the hardest part of Spawn of Lilith to write?

The opening chapter. I futzed around with that for the first three months (January through March of 2016), and then wrote my opening scene (the movie “script” making fun of the Underworld movies) in ten minutes once I realized how I wanted to start the book.

What made you choose Underworld? Do you have any more parodies planned in future Lilith books?

That script segment practically leapt to the page (computer screen – sometimes I carbon date myself, I swear…) without any help from me. Took me ten minutes to write it, if that, after agonizing for a few weeks on how to start the book. The Underworld movies take themselves so very seriously.

There will be more script parodies in all the Lilith books. Although I’ve seen some movies that make the parodies look plausible. Kind of like how we seem to be living in an Onion article these days, what with our current administration.

What shows and films are you watching?

TV shows: Game of Thrones, Walking Dead (although I’m a bit behind), The Great British Baking Show, Archer, At Midnight, Jeopardy, Sense 8…  and I’ve started watching Rick and Morty (I had to get past the drooling so I could appreciate the writing).

Movies at an actual theater: Wonder Woman, Kong: Skull Island, Rogue One, Deadpool, Guardians of the Galaxy II, and I want to go see The Dark Tower.

On the TV/Netflix, oh, so many movies…  We put a lot of films on in the background while we work. Right now, it’s Practical Magic.  Recently watched With Fire and Sword (fantastic Polish film/mini-series), Alien, Aliens, Prometheus (what the hell was going on in that one?), and that’s a very very short list.

What do you have planned next for Spawn of Lilith?

In Book Two (working title is Tramp Stamp), Lee goes to New Orleans to work on film called Voodoo Wars, and encounters an evil tattoo artist intent on…  AND my husband just yelled “NO SPOILERS!” He never lets me have any fun…  But there is an evil tattoo artist and I am having so much fun describing the results of his artwork. If I wasn’t such a nice person in real life, I’d worry about the glee I feel when killing nice people in horrible ways. In my books, of course!

Dana Fredsti, thank you very much.

The Geek Pride Cast #Suchacon

Matt Geary
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The Geek Pride Cast #Suchacon

In this weeks live podcast, Matt, Dave and Jonjo talk MCM, LFCC, Autograph prices and Game of Thrones Theories.

Don’t forget that all Geek Pride Podcasts, including this one and Pitch, Please! can be found on Itunes, Google Play, youtube and our website for download.

If you would like to see live streamed podcasts, then please check out our Facebook, Youtube and Twitch channels

Http://www.youtube.com/geekpridetv

http://www.facebook.com/geekpride1

http://www.twitch.com/geekpridetv

Burning Rome – A preview

Bevan Clatworthy
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Burning Rome – A preview

Veni, vidi, vici! I spotted this little beauty whilst trawelling the wilds of Facebook, popping up in my FB feed like a Spartan assaulting a man-god-thing. But past the gorgeous artwork lies an interesting card game of war and tactics set in the ancient Roman era. Suitable for 1 on 1 or 2 v2 team battling and a run time of around 30 minutes, Burning Rome looks to be the ideal game for starting an evening of gaming when waiting for Joe Bloggs to arrive. So let’s dive in and take a look.

Billed as a strategy card game, players can take one of the pre-built decks (or once you have some experience, a self-build) and set up opposite your opponent. Players then play units and tactics cards from their hands into one of three columns to try and out-muscle and out-manoeuvre their enemy.

In a nutshell!

What’s clever is the order the units are played in affects the Attack and Defence values they contribute to the column they are in. Each unit has a double row of stats. The top card will contribute it’s top row as it represents the frontline attacking troops, whilst the second and third card in the column will act as support and therefore contribute their second row. In this way, players will need to take care that units which are poor in support don’t end up behind weak attacking units and vice versa. Not only that, but the order a card is played will determine whether it will set off it’s special ability. It’s all about the maximising efficiency and dropping cards at just the right time to grab the advantage.

The game box looks glorious

Straightforward, beautifully presented and with four different factions offering completely different play styles (not to mention increased replayability), Burning Rome looks set to be an excellent addition to my gaming library (yeah, yeah, I’ve already backed, take that wallet!) and I hope you take a look too.

Firefly Cargo Crate 009: Going Mad

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Firefly Cargo Crate 009: Going Mad

Hey, everyone (all zero of you). I’m back with another review in the Firefly Cargo Crate series. This time, the theme is “Going Mad”, with a focus on Serenity’s resident doctor, Simon Tam.

As always, let’s take care of the sticker first.

 

Londinium, as you can see by the sticker, is the capital of the Alliance, and was one of the first two planets settled after the exodus from Earth-What-Was. Although the planet is essentially supposed to be comparable to the United States of America (according to Joss Whedon himself), the name and logo clearly have a London influence, and in fact the word “London” comes from the original settlement’s Latin name, Londinium. Although the planet is not explored much over the course of the show and movie, it was referenced in both, at the very beginning of the film, as well as in the pilot episode, “Serenity”, during a brief conversation between Simon and Mal.

Speaking of Londinium, we have another item bearing its likeness.

Although it looks like a mini-poster, it is in fact a functional postcard, which could make for a cool souvenir for fans. I really like the design, and am considering putting it in a nice frame to add to my ever-growing collection of stuff hanging on the walls.

The next item is a pair of gloves. Latex gloves.

There’s really not much to tell here. These are standard blue latex gloves, a reference to the Hands of Blue the mysterious contractors hired by the Union of Allied Planets to find the Tams in a pair of episodes of the series (“The Train Job” and “Ariel”)as well as the comic Serenity: Those Left Behind. There’s nothing special about these gloves, and they’re no different than ones you’d buy at a grocery or medical supply store; just something of a silly gag item for fun.

Item number four is the lapel pin, and I’m pretty happy about this one.

The iconic Blue Sun logo is one of my favourite designs from the entire franchise, so much so I’m considering getting it tattooed on me. Although not detailed much in the show, the Blue Sun Corporation is a massive company that reaches every planet in the ‘Verse, providing products of all types for all needs. That’s not to say there’s no shadiness or corporate espionage going on with them, however. According to the official Firefly: A Celebration book, there were plans for an episode of the show all about Blue Sun, explaining their past and influence across the ‘Verse. Sadly, the show got canceled before that happened.

There’s another Blue Sun item in this box, and by happenstance, one I needed.

It’s an exact replica of Jayne’s Blue Sun shirt, seen in “Bushwhacked” and “Ariel”, with the sleeves and neck pre-cut, making it especially good for cosplay. I had this regular t-shirt (albeit a different colour) and had to cut the sleeves off due to them not fitting right. I think the girl at the convention booth may have sold me a women’s cut on accident. Needless to say, it wound up becoming a gym shirt. Now, I’ve got a new one, and it has the added benefit of basically being a tanktop for regular wear, I don’t have a lot of regular tanktops, so this is good, especially with the warm weather here lately. Plus, it’s the same material QMx uses in all their other shirts, so it’s very soft and breathable.

Okay, three more items. Up next is the latest Qbits figure.

It’s Mal, in his spacesuit, first seen in “Bushwhacked”. Simon later adorns a suit as a practical joke by Jayne and Mal while exploring the derelict ship. This is actually the first Mal collectible that has appeared in these boxes, not counting pins with slogans on them. Not sure why it took them so long to get us a Mal item, but better late than never. I love these figures, and I especially love that series 2 is getting into more unique characters and costumes for them.

Simon gets his own Little Damn Heroes statue this month.

Pretty good likeness, and I like the addition of the steampunk-like work goggles (which he did wear in the show). I love these statues, and I’m happy to add this to the collection. We’re just missing Inara and Mal from the main cast, but I believe Inara is in the next box, so I’ll have them all soon enough.

Finally, we have an item that I am very interested in, as I’ve never had one before.

This is a paper-craft puzzle/model of the Alliance Cruiser, and I’m both excited and nervous to put it together. On one hand, I think it’s going to be a fun activity, on the other, I’m worried about bending or cutting the pieces in incorrect ways, because I know exactly how I operate. Still, this is really cool, and I’d like to see more stuff like this in future Crates (metal-craft would be sweet).

******

Well, that’s it for this installment. Some really great items this time around, and I really like everything that came in the box. The gloves are a bit silly, but at least they were appropriate with the theme. All the other items were really cool, and I continue to be impressed with this subscription service.

I’ll be back in two months with the next Crate, where the theme will be “Wicked Ways”, featuring Inara. See you then!

 

 

Denver Comic-Con 2017, Part 1: Celebrities

xdustineflx
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Denver Comic-Con 2017, Part 1: Celebrities

At the beginning of July, I attended the 6th annual Denver Comic-Con, along with my wife and daughter. We have attended every year since its inception, and it’s the one event in the area we do not miss every year. Tons of celebrities, cosplay, booths, artists, merchandise and more spread across three days of fun. For those that don’t know, Denver Comic-Con is one of the largest conventions in the United States, and the largest non-profit event of its kind. The entire event is put on every year by Pop Culture Classroom, an organisation that promotes encouraging reading and education, working with numerous schools, libraries and even correctional facilities (for more information, visit www.popcultureclassroom.org). This year, I decided to break my piece down into two parts, the two most people would care about: celebrities and cosplay. There was a ton of both to be enjoyed this year, and it definitely made for some memorable experiences.

As an aside, some changes were made to the venue and event from previous years. For starters, the entrance to event was changed to a different part of the building, as there was apparently another event going on at the same time. As a result, the usage of the bottom floor was cut down significantly for the convention, with a very limited number of booths available (mostly non-profit organisations, such as the 501st Legion). That was a bit disappointing, as in years past, the bottom floor has been used for gaming booths and retailers as well, giving them more space to ply their wares and give gamers a chance to test new products out, both of the tabletop and video game variety. In a more positive change, celebrities were only booking photo-ops in advance, as opposed to both those and autographs. This allowed more people to get autographs with their favourite celebrities and not have to immediately rush to lines to make sure they got into their slots.

Now that that’s out of the way, on with the celebrities.

There were a ton of celebrities on-hand this year, more than I can recall in any years past. They came from all categories, and if there was something specific you were interested, chances are there was someone there to suit your needs. We didn’t get photos or autographs with everyone we wanted, but we still got to meet many of them (plenty were just allowing fans to come up and say hi, which is always appreciated). We met both Gaten Matarazzo and Caleb McLaughlin from Stranger Things, and both were exceptionally nice kids. Gaten was on the quiet side, while Caleb seemed very excited to be there. He was hugging and chatting with everyone, as was his dad, who was there with him. Millie Bobby Brown was also there, but we didn’t get to meet her (she was charging way too much for photos and autographs, and was doing no meet-and-greets). We also caught up with Phil LaMarr (MadTV, Samurai Jack), who made a return to the convention after a few years. We got our photo with him last time, so it wasn’t a big deal to get one this time. He also did a story reading for the kids this year, which is always fun.

 

Greg Grunberg (Star Wars, Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Heroes) also did story time with the kids, but instead of reading a book (that he wrote; he is also an author), he instead talked to all the kids in attendance and asked them about being superheroes, hitting nearly every kid in attendance for his mini-panel before taking a group shot with all of them, which was really cool. We talked to him a bit at his table after, and he is a pure delight. Just a really nice, down-to-Earth guy and a big kid at-heart.

We also met Jon Heder (Napoleon Dynamite, Blades of Glory; I had to meet him for my mom’s sake, as she’s a big fan), who was really nice. Finally, Finn Jones (Game of Thrones, Iron Fist) walked by us as he headed back to his table. We tried to get a photo with him, but we couldn’t as the convention wasn’t allowing it outside of tables and professional photo-ops. Bummer, but he was at least pleasant about it. The convention was being really strict about photos in the celebrity area, BTW. It was a bit ridiculous. More on that in part 2.

Anyway, we decided to try and get as many photos with celebrities as we could afford, and also cut down our professional ones to three this year, as we didn’t want to wait in line so much like we did last year, allowing us to still enjoy the convention floor, check out the booths, hit panels, etc. We started with Clare Kramer (Buffy, the Vampire Slayer), as is just so awesome. Clare has been a celebrity guest at DCC nearly every year since its inception and has become one of the official panel hosts. This year, she was allowed more time at her table with fans as her panel duties were lightened up a bit. She remembered us from previous years, which was really cool from a fan’s perspective, and was as gracious as ever. We got our annual photo with her, as well as an autograph.

Teagan was trying to be “in-character” for the first few photos, so she did not smile.

Felicia Day (Dollhouse, Mystery Science Theater 3000) was another return guest, and yet another of many alumni of the “Whedonverse” in attendance this year. She came the second year of the convention, and admittedly, I knew very little of her work at the time. Since then, I’ve seen her in many things and she is wonderful, so we made sure to meet her this year. She was originally only supposed to be at the convention Saturday and Sunday, but got in an on early flight, so she wound up attending Friday as well. Now, Felicia recently had a baby, so anyone in their right mind would have understood if she had canceled ‘Con appearances. Instead, she has made every booking since then, bringing her baby along for the ride. At one point, she had to take a break from her table (while we were in line) to feed the wee one, and was so kind, she was apologising to everyone before she left that she had to take a break. We eventually got up to her table, and she was a total sweetheart. She was clearly having a good time and enjoying the interactions with the fans, not to mention gushing over any babies who were in line.

As an aside, we met a girl in line who was from out of town, and wanted Felicia to sign some stuff to be auctioned off for charity at her local Can’t Stop the Serenity event (which I talked about last year). The volunteers located by Felicia’s entrance told her absolutely no charity autographs. Once this girl (Hi, Halo!) got up there, she said she was going to try anyway. Felicia signed absolutely everything and was happy to do so, having signed stuff for this same event in years past.

Speaking of “Whedonverse” alumni, Enver Gjokaj (Dollhouse, Agent Carter) was also in attendance, and we got our photo with him as well. While in line, I also snuck a photo of Nathan Fillion at his table (which was right next to Enver’s), which was a big no-no, but screw it.

Anyway, Enver was very nice, if not a bit on the quiet side, and seemed genuinely grateful so many fans came to see him.

As I said earlier, we did three professional photo-ops, and they were three “must-meet” guests for us. First up was someone I have been a fan of for nearly 30 years, and an absolute icon in entertainment, none other than “Weird Al” Yankovic.

Teagan is not super familiar with his work yet, but she will get there.

Al immediately commented on my suit, telling me I looked very dapper. Compliments don’t get much better than that. If that wasn’t enough, Al had someone passing out coupons as fans were exiting the area, giving each person a discount on an autograph on their professional photos. We ended up cashing it in the next day at his table. By that point, Al was visibly very tired (he had one of the busiest lines every day of the convention and multiple panels to boot), but was still really cool, and it was an honour to shake his hand.

He also had a really awesome display covering his career outside his table for fans to look at while they waited in line.

 

The second was Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Castle), who I have literally been begging Denver Comic-Con to get since the very beginning. I absolutely freaked out when he was announced, and we were determined to get a photo with him, damn the cost (he’s one of the more expensive guests, but so worth it). Before we met him, we attended his first panel of the weekend, and he spent the entire time answering questions from the audience. Most were about Firefly/Serenity, but there were a few covering Castle and the possibility his version of Simon Williams will get to appear in Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 or elsewhere in the MCU. He also tackled the possibility of being in the Uncharted film as Nathan Drake, something he and voice actor Nolan North (a friend of Nathan’s) have lobbied hard for.

A very entertaining panel, and one I suggest you attend should Nathan do a convention close to you. The next day, we got our professional photo with him. He complimented us on our costumes. Also, he’s bigger in real life than I expected.

 

Finally, the guest I was personally most excited about, which says a lot, given that Weird Al and Nathan Fillion were in attendance, that being one of the funniest women on the entire planet, Catherine Tate (Doctor Who, The Office) For those that know me (which is likely none of you reading this), I have a huge, HUGE crush on Catherine, and my wife is a big fan as well. Recently, we had seen photos of her at a convention with John Barrowman and David Tennant and were discussing how it sucks that she has never come to DCC. Lo and behold, the very next day, she was announced as a guest. I flipped out and sent a “yelling” text to my wife, and she responded by flipping out as well. In the days leading up to the convention, I watched countless videos featuring Catherine from a variety of shows and refused to shut up about her on Facebook. I’m sure I annoyed several of my friends, but I could care less.

Much like Felicia Day, Catherine was only supposed to be there for Saturday and Sunday, but she managed to get an early flight and got to the convention late Friday afternoon. We made sure to hit her table so I could at least talk to her for a few moments, and it was well worth it. We were just planning on getting an autograph, since we already had a photo-op booked, but then we saw she doing selfies with everyone at the table and thought that would make for a more unique memory to take home than an autographed photo.

She took about four with us, but on the last one, someone walked by behind in the pic and she said, “No, we can’t have that” and took a regular one as well.

We talked to her for a few minutes after the pics, and she turned out to be incredibly sweet, exactly what I was hoping for. At one point, she looked down at Teagan and asked her, “Would your parents mind if I gave you an autograph?” before signing a photo of her and David Tennant from the Doctor Who episode “Runaway Bride” (Teagan is a huge Donna Noble fan) at no extra charge. We thanked her repeatedly, and she said, “I know how expensive it gets at conventions.” Total class. Before we left, I got a hug from her after telling her I had a crush on her, and Heather asked if she could do just a bit of Lauren Cooper, one of her most popular characters from The Catherine Tate Show. Without even thinking, she went right into the character and had all three of us just rolling with laughter. She then gave us an autographed picture of Lauren at no extra charge, as we were apparently the first people she had talked to who knew of the character. How can you not love a person like that?

We had our photo-op with her on Saturday, and she remembered us from the day before, thanks in part to my costume.

On the last day of the convention, she held one of her panels first thing in the morning, so of course we were in attendance for that. Catherine forewent having a panel host and handled the entire thing by herself, almost immediately going out into the crowd to talk to people in the audience about where they were from, including my stepson, Kai.

Moments before Catherine pulled my stepson up to ask where he was from.

Before she started the main part of the panel, Catherine noticed a lot of people in the upper deck of the auditorium despite plenty of seating closer to the stage available, so she put it on hold and asked everyone to come up to get a better seat, which the upper-deckers seemed pleased about. After the first question of the panel, Catherine looked in my direction and said, “Now, there is a man in a yellow suit who told me he has a crush on me. Do you really have a crush on me? Come up here.”

And that’s how I ended up on-stage in front of a thousand people.

My question was if she preferred playing Lauren or Nan on The Catherine Tate Show, my two favourite characters. She said she enjoyed both, partially because she got to swear on TV. After doing a bit of Lauren for the audience, she interviewed me as Nan and, in typical Nan fashion, kicked me off the stage when I told her I wasn’t in show business, which got a big applause. I apparently started a trend, as she then called every single person who had a question to ask it on-stage with her. Again, total class. As you might guess, most questions were about Doctor Who, which you could tell she had no problem with answering, and it was obvious by her reactions that she loved her time on the show, especially with real-life friend David Tennant. When asked about returning to the show, her answer was simple: “Never say never.”

Later that day, as the convention was coming near the end, we decided to head back to her table one more time just to chat and thank her (she was wonderful about meet-and-greets with the fans). She remembered us from the previous days, as well as the panel and asked if we wanted even more autographs. During her panel, she talked about seeing John Barrowman’s bare butt while filming Doctor Who, so we made it a point to show her our pics with John from last year. She had a good laugh with us and said, “Oh, OF COURSE they were his idea!” after we told her.

As another aside, there were two girls in line behind us to meet her, and one was extremely nervous about it. We told her about meeting Catherine the previous couple days and how sweet she was, and that helped her calm down. We later saw the two girls exiting the convention center at the same time we were, and it turned out Catherine had given the one girl a free autograph as well, which damn-near made her cry. Again, how can you not love that woman?

******
Overall, the celebrity experiences were great this year, and I greatly appreciate the selection of people who came. Much like John Barrowman last year, we ended up seeing Catherine Tate at least once each day of the convention, and also like JB, she made for an experience I’ll never forget. There were a bunch more we didn’t get to see or meet, as we only had so much time and money, but that’s okay. The fact that there were so many options is a good thing, and if DCC keeps up like this, we will make sure we do whatever we can to get around to even more guests in the years to come.

Dust and Decay – Chapter 22 – By Sean P. Wallace

SeanPWallace
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Dust and Decay – Chapter 22 – By Sean P. Wallace

Want to know what’s happening? The first book Dust and Sand was serialised here at Geek Pride. A summary is available here. You can also buy the definitive edition of Dust and Sand at all good eBook stores.

Sleep wouldn’t come. At most, Dust got ten minutes at a time. At most. His body wouldn’t shut off. Which was nothing new: before, when he was Dustin, he often got dog tired, yet he’d spend all evening staring at canvas, unable to escape the horrors to come for even an hour.

Insomnia was no stranger. No welcome guest, either.

Stretching his back and legs, he felt creaks and strains. Echoes of age. A new sensation for Dust. Something was wrong. During the day, his other gun’d felt heavy, spells and dodging took more energy. He doubted it was a holdover from that dream-controlling horror. No, something more fundamental was awry. Probably his tattoo. The damn thing’d controlled him, eschewed its ‘subtler’ interventions. His current state must be a toll for that.

Right?

Regardless, his tattoo sure felt… distant. There was something else too: the Dust it depicted was slumped, the chains that ripped through him now held him up, and his head was bowed so Dust could not see his expression. That was all new too.

Dust had to get to the bottom of this. Now. He stood, stepped away from his sleeping companions, and crept behind some dynamite crates. Crossing his legs, he found his tattoo’d already slid down his ribs. Like a bead of blood.

“It’s time you and me got reacquainted.”

Dust closed his eyes. Muted torchlight burned beyond them. Concentrating on the golden hue, he pleaded with his tattoo. Not for the power to achieve Resistance’s aims, but for a response. To engage as it had during his time with the Teotek. He’d tried this often at the Solution, but his relationship with Resistance was different now. Felt like it had been since he went for Penelope. He had to do more to avoid pain, but got more power when he asked. Healed a little quicker. That kind of thing. Dust’d taken to the new terms, but, now, he wasn’t so sure of them. Not if Resistance trusted him so little it’d take direct control of his body.

That was what really concerned him, that Resistance thought such stark interventions necessary. And it made him fearful of what else might happen whilst he slept…

He smiled. Well, that certainly explained his insomnia.

Dust refocussed on his tattoo. An age went by in mental prostration, prayer of a sort. Necessary discipline to commune with whatever his tattoo was. He’d mastered this wordless communication with the Teotek’s aid, growing an understanding with the thing inside his tattoo. And there was something there, a sort of intelligence. Alien but familiar somehow. Not a mind he could understand fully, but he didn’t need to in order to engage with it.

Normally, any road. This time, the communion failed outright. No wordless message, no emotional connection. A well of magic to use, yes, but no connection. Like the tattoo hadn’t understood him and just provided what it assumed he wanted. It should know he was in no danger and had no plan except to talk, so its dumb response made no damn sense.

Maybe he was at fault. He tried changing the tone of his thoughts. Then their directness. Sometimes, the tattoo needed to be courted. Wooed. But to no avail. Getting a mite frustrated, he hammered at the tattoo with his full attention. Iron will bending it. Still, it only responded with superfluous magic. Resistance was stonewalling him.

Dust tutted and gave up. Magic, useful as flies around a carcass, sizzled across his senses. Best to get rid. He concentrated it in his palm, a swirling ocean in a glass sphere, and slammed it back into the tattoo. This should’ve been simple too. Hell, his tattoo took far dirtier sources under far more trying circumstances. But the tattoo roared, wounded, angry. His hand was pushed away.

Frowning, Dust tensed his arm. Sought to overpower the tattoo. The magic tried to spill along the valleys of his ribs, but his wouldn’t let it. There was only one route the magic could use, but it was a locked door, a barrier.

“All right. Maybe I need to warm you up first.”

He pulled the magic back, steam rising from between his fingers, and activated the tattoo as though to feed it tainted magic. There was a… distant response, an echo from the far end of a mine. Tentative. Nervous. Words he’d never used for his tattoo before. He wasn’t some husband forcing himself on a virgin bride: they’d both done this plenty of times.

This time, his tattoo accepted the magic, but it was tough, like fitting five pounds of shit into a three pound bag. His tattoo was a damn glutton, a bottomless pit for leftover magic: some of the Nations held that Resistance thrived on those sacrifices, using them to help his chosen. Yet it struggled against accepting this offering right to the end.

“What the fuck is wrong with you? What’s wrong?”

His tattoo only crawled away like a scolded puppy in response.

Dust tutted. Maybe the tattoo’d over-exerted itself taking over his body. He hoped that was all.

This wasn’t the first time it’d acted all weird, but previously Dust had a Solution genius to talk it over with. Back then, these issues turned out to simply be part of being the Wanted Man, but at least he could appeal to an authority then. Now, he had no one: Penelope knew nothing of magic and Shadows Fade’s knowledge extended only to rituals and spells. Few in Texas had even an inkling of what the tattoo was and those who did were dead or thought Dust a murderer. Or an enemy.

He really was a twisted performer, wasn’t he? Like from those penny shows that sometimes wander through small towns. What’d Dick Ryman said? That people feared and hated him, thought him a part of the Dixie Problem? And yet they relied on him. Sounded a lot like a geek, a chicken’s head permanently stuck between his teeth.

What even was he? Nobody knew. What’d earned him this brand? What had brought him to Resistance’s attentions so?

He thought of Father Kilkenny. The padre had insisted that Dust should free his Word. Become whole. Only then would he be himself again. Maybe he could answer these questions then? What if some hint to his predicament was locked in the memories he used to fight the Three?

Ought he recover lost memories, lost wisdom… His lost self?

Dust stood, cutting off that thought. The padre was wrong. Sacrificing his weapon, his ability to fight the Three, for himself? Even assuming Resistance allowed it, it was too damn selfish. Too risky for everyone he might end up helping.

Besides, he must’ve had good reason to tear his soul apart and form a Word. No one would undertake such a horror show lightly. He had to assume that he’d made the right call back then. Trust in himself.

Time to think of the present. This sepulchre that saved them. The group snored loudly, a huddle of warm caterpillars on dusty sandstone. Shadows Fade was the loudest of the bunch, but Penelope gave her a run for her money. He grinned. They were an odd lot, but he wouldn’t have anyone else at his side. Except maybe swapping Matthew for Father Kilkenny.

That was a harsh thought, but there was no punishment. It’d damn well deserved one. What was happening to his damn tattoo?

Nope, not a good idea to waste time on that. There were no answers here. Instead, he looked around the cache for something to occupy him. Anything. There weren’t many undone chores: Shadows Fade’s supplies were neatly organised and the clean, well-fed horses slept soundly. Wasn’t much to look at either, only boxes, rock, and the ancient murals and statues.

The latter’d do.

It made him feel reverential to approach these graves, of a kind, despite their rough, featureless natures. Like cheap mannequins. In honouring the dead, the sculptors had cared more about displaying their skeletons. The housings for every bone carved with exacting precision. Each had suffered breaks during their final weeks, and these breaks had been accounted for too. Splinters and fractures housed as though folks’ skeletons ought to be cracked for an honourable death.

Symbols laced each statue, presumably names or tales of their exploits. Could Shadows Fade read them? Likely not with the Nations’ many languages. No one probably knew their names, or only knew them as legends in old songs. Yet here they were.

The murals honoured their deeds to outsiders like him who couldn’t read their stories. In the first, fierce and sexual creatures aligned beneath a giant, red raven. Various warriors in magical splendour opposed them, standing proudly across a wide plane. They were led by a warrior who soared above them like the raven on black wings growing from her shoulders.

The fight unfolded across the other murals. The duel between the winged warrior and the red raven was given primacy, the rest relegated to background detail. The raven transformed throughout, became a scorpion, a snake, a woman. In the latter form, she broke the winged warrior’s arm. For naught: the survivors of the secondary fight joined their wounded leader to riddling the red raven with arrows and blades. One even used a Spirit Snake, rendered at the raven’s throat in a faded blue.

The final picture showed the red raven, now ten times larger, the earth distending its throat. Wounded, defeated warriors bled atop it. This was their death, their moment of triumph, albeit their final moment.

Shadows Fade woke and slipped over silently. “Good morning.”

“Good morning,” he said, glad of the company.

“The murals are fascinating. Did you notice it?”

“Notice what?” He realised he’d snapped. “Sorry, I’m not in the mood for games.”

“The crow-winged warrior? She had a tattoo like yours.”

Dust span to the mural. Sure enough, now he knew to look, there were small paintings on the winged warrior’s body. He squinted, but the tattoo was only a dark blob. It moved, which is why he hadn’t noticed it: appearing on her arm, ankle, and back. This was no mistake. The winged warrior had a tattoo like his.

Dust pointed to the statue with a broken arm. “What do you know about her?”

Shadows Fade shook her head. “Nothing. I am sorry. There are no records remaining of her exploits, and that written language on her statue means nothing to me.”

Dust sighed. Another dead end. Another mystery.

“Are you okay?”

Dust turned from the winged warrior’s remains. Reviewed her death. This testament to another linked to Resistance. How like him was she? Was she errant, punished, but ultimately there to help? And would he, like her, die fighting something tremendous?

Shadows Fade put an arm on his shoulder. A silent question. Dust nearly said something, nearly shared his concerns about his tattoo and his feeling of solitude. Nearly opened up, just a little, and sought some help.

But Penelope, bleary-eyed and dishevelled, stood up then. Blinking slowly, she struggled to say, “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

Dust stepped away from Shadows Fade. Her hand dropped to her side.

“Don’t worry,” he said, “we’re just not tired. Happens when you get older.”

Grumbling, Penelope lay back down. Shadows Fade and Dust watched her, waiting for privacy. She tried for less than a minute before sighing. “I guess I’m awake. But I’ll lie down for a while longer. Rest up.”

Shadows Fade snapped her fingers to get his attention, then circled her hand for him to talk. Her eyes darted to a tall stack of boxes, somewhere they could have more privacy. She was here for him. Eager to help.

Dust shook his head: the moment had passed. It was nice to consider sharing, but gushing his woes wouldn’t help any. Not until they’d gotten this Word to the Iron Soul. Having even considered it made him feel stupid. He wasn’t some washerwoman sharing gossip. He was the Wanted Man. Time to start acting like it again.

“I was just curious, is all.”

“Are you sure? If you have anything to discuss…”

“I’m sure.”

Shadows Fade gestured for him to follow her but he waved her away. Damn it, he’d said no. She should leave him alone.

The warrior shrugged and gave up. Instead, they made breakfast together. In merciful silence.

The Geek Pride Cast #MCMManchester17

Matt Geary
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The Geek Pride Cast #MCMManchester17

This weeks Geek Pride Cast was filmed and recorded at MCM Manchester and has to be one of the most eventful casts we have done to date. Including Batman, Stormtroopers, Darth Vader, a lot of Spidermen, Zombies and the death of Sean Wallace.

Don’t forget that all Geek Pride Podcasts, including this one and Pitch, Please! can be found on Itunes, Google Play, youtube and our website for download.

If you would like to see live streamed podcasts, then please check out our Facebook, Youtube and Twitch channels

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