Wednesday 1 May 2024

TV

Doctor Who
15x03 Horror of Fang Rock Part Three
[Watch it (again) on iPlayer.]

Fiction

Red Team Blues by Cory Doctorow
Chapter 17

Comics

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Volume IV: The Tempest
by Alan Moore & Kevin O'Neill
One: Farewell to Forever

This collected edition of the fourth and final LXG miniseries was released in late 2019, and... I think that's when I bought it? I intended to read it quickly, and I've had it ready to go here, templated up behind-the-scenes, all that time — i.e. four-and-a-half years. Jesus. Well, finally, here I go! It took some getting back in to — struggling to remember who everyone was (got there in the end, I think) and what the dangling plot threads were (honestly? Still not really sure) — but it's still good stuff, with striking art from O'Neill and dense storytelling from Moore.

Although I'm listing this as if it's one chapter, the collected edition presents it issue by issue — i.e. the bonus back matter, which previous League series have collated and included at the end of the volume, is here scattered throughout, as in its original publication. I'm certain there are good story reasons for that, but it's not worth individually listing every bonus comic and fake letters page and so on. So, take it as read going forward that "One" (etc) isn't really "The Tempest: Part One", it's "The Tempest: Issue One" (if that distinction makes sense).

Games

Box One
An "escape room in a box"-type game, specifically designed to be attempted by a single player, created by actor/author/magician/etc Neil Patrick Harris (so he's an actual toymaker as well as playing one!)

I've wanted this for a while, finally bought it thanks to a discount code, and it arrived yesterday — which seemed like perfect timing to play it as a birthday treat. (Oh, yes, today's my birthday.) So far, it's lots of fun, with at least one fantastic twist. I had sort of intended to play through it in one sitting, but I started later than intended in the end, and when I reached a point where you're asked to wait 24 hours*, it seemed a good jumping-off point.

* apparently you don't actually have to wait 24 hours (I looked it up on a forum, being careful to avoid spoilers), but, like I said, it was late and so on. I'll continue (and finish?) tomorrow.


The Leaf Riders of Wrenwood
29 April – 1 May 2024

Videos

Critical Role
2x15 Where the River Goes [1st half]
With this episode, I pass 10% of the way through Campaign 2, both in terms of episode count and running time (worth noting because, although most episodes are a similar length, they range from 3-hours to 7-hours across the campaign. Ok, there's actually only one of the latter, but there are half-a-dozen around the 5-hour mark). So far, I've watched almost 60 hours (not counting Talks Machina) and it's still just beginning!
[Watch it (again) on YouTube.]