On the Spelljammer note, I'd be remiss if I didn't point out Pathfinder, an effective "D&D 3.75 ed" borne out of issues with the game license for 4th ed, kind of plays as a "Greatest Hits of D&D Modules/Campaigns" and also plays up the science fantasy elements. Remember Expedition to the Barrier Peaks? Well, imagine…

Yeah, Mage kept shifting the central point on how much was mutable, and could probably use a more defined "parking brake." Some things were fundamental - disbelieving gravity doesn't mean things won't fall down, it just means there are different reasons why they fall and hey, now you can attain flight with just some…

On a similar British/fantasy/science note, I would recommend Charles Stross's The Laundry Series, though it veers more towards science. It operates on the premise that magic is more like a higher level of mathematics/a programming language, meaning it took huge steps forward and became a lot less risky when Alan…

They do at least straight out call what the Bellarians do "magic," even if it looks like The Living Theater.

Outlaw Star is probably the defining example of this. "Here's our crew of bounty hunters in a spaceship with a bunch of aliens… oh, and part of the crew includes a sorcerer, and they're chasing after a galactic conjunctions of ley lines. We give no fucks for your genre purity."

God, I've been watching The X-Files on Netflix, and it's hilarious how often that comes up. I had trouble watching "Duane Barry" (the one with CCH Pounder) because I wondered when Amanda Waller was going to get sick of this shit and blackmail Batman into solving the hostage crisis.

Well, there's that, too. I was more coming at it from the angle that I have seen SOOOOO many crime dramas that try to balance sympathy with incisiveness that always, fucking ALWAYS, make the brother the religious fanatic killer. So, even if we're avoiding anything along those lines, it's good to see said brother be…

On the Sheikh Abdullah note, I love the fact that the comic manages to subtly swerve around some of the old tired tropes of dealing with Muslim families/the Muslim community in media. For instance, in issue #2, Kamala comes back from the night out that gave her her powers looking like all kinds of rough. Her brother,…

Christ, I remember the Intro to Film lecture where we watched this, alternatively bored and repulsed for three hours. By the time we got to the end, with the absolutely bonkers visions of Heaven and Hell, everyone started cracking up. I just decided to follow in the example of Tom Servo and yell, "ENNND! ENNNNNND!"

There was an… interesting sorting algorithm of whitewash to THE GOOD EARTH. The producers figured they might not have gotten good star quality with an "unknown" Asian actor, so they cast a white guy. Miscegenation laws meant they couldn't cast an Asian woman as the love interest, so they cast a white woman. By the…

Sometimes that's the issue of sci-fi. Creators may have an idea that perspectives will shift, but don't understand how fast/slow it might happen. Either gay marriage is made law of the land by one thunderous out-of-the-blue decision by the Supreme Court, or Don't Ask Don't Tell gets repealed but there are several…

Hey, Grif. Chupathingy, how 'bout that?

"Wow. You were right. It's not subtle."

I think it particularly grates for us Millennials because we were the generation that was told by the generations before us that the sky was the limit. The people who bitched about trophies for participation were of the same generation as the people who handed them out. We were told to pursue our dreams, to not feel…

So, I didn't see the episode, but as an outsider, anyone mind telling me how they handled Kali? I've got a deep amateur interest in Writers Whose Knowledge of Hinduism Extends As Far As Watching Temple of Doom On Repeat.

Hell, USA PATRIOT Act is an acronym. Bend-over-backronyms are one hell of a drug.

"Oh, yeah? Well, here's your pumpkin hanging!"
"Ew."

"Because! Normal secret agents don't tell every harlot from here to Hanoi that they ARE secret agents!"
"Pfft. Then why BE one?"

The ending kind of makes the movie for me, in that it feels like Sturges is saying, "Yes, folks, I know EXACTLY what I'm doing, and I'm taking this one all the way down the trail."

AAAAHHH! GYMKATA MAKES ME WEEEEEET!