Return To The Spider-Adjacent-Verse

Having given up on the Spider-Man adjacent live-action movies last year, Sony are rebooting them. This comes a couple days after news of an animated Venom movie from the writers of Final Destination: Bloodlines and the trailer for the live-action Spider-Noir series spinning off from the animated Spider-Verse.

I mean, some of them were fine in places. I liked most of Madame Web apart from the actual Madame Web connections.

Tortilla Chip Day

It is Tortilla Chip Day. And unusually I have some.

And behold, I reached into the bag and withdrew the Triangle of Triangles.

Tortillaception

The X Files (202X)

Ryan Coogler to direct a pilot for a new take on The X Files, Jennifer Yale as showrunner, starring Danielle Deadwyler as one of its leads.

“Two highly decorated but vastly different FBI agents form an unlikely bond when they are assigned to a long-shuttered division devoted to cases involving unexplained phenomena.”

So could be a soft or hard reboot. sequel, requel, etc. etc.

8500

8500 posts!

Got the RPGs tag to be the biggest ahead of Films.

a|state sale

a|state second edition with free PDF for 24.99, 15 off, at Handiwork Games to mark Blades In The Dark 68 coming out using the Trouble Engine.

The City loves a bargain.

Winter Olympics 2026

Closing ceremony relatively sensible.

The horror...?

This week’s Radio Times (UK's big TV listings mag) is a “horror special” due to the BAFTA film awards having some relevant nominations and the cover is a judge from Great British Menu cosplaying as Nosferatu.

Am I awake

Ken and Robin talk introductory adventures

Ken And Robin Talk About Stuff usually has something worth checking, but will add an extra plug for this week for the opening section on introductory adventures. They recommend going for the core activity and pilot episode. But how do you present that for something broad like, looking at a helpful example, Vampire? Examples are meeting to discuss big political change and the Prince giving them an annoying order and how to deal with it. Also blood-drinking as a terror tactic in war, disapproving father stock characters, and chess magic.

Game drought

Going to be zero for four this week. :/

Must not take this as a sign to start an online game. At least until I get the desktop’s fan fixed.

Buffy Vs. Big Foot

Wh*donesque asked what monsters wed like to see Buffy fight and Jane Espenson replied:

We used to joke about leprechauns. And I pitched a Big Foot episode once.

(Tell us more about the Big Foot episode, please)

Well the thing was, that was the pitch, pretty much. What if we did Big Foot?

--

Now given Big Foot is one the most widely seen and dismissed cryptids, I would imagine an episode with annoying cryptid chasers getting in the way of a regular monster hunt.

Alysa Liu is a big damn hero.

Alysa Liu is a big damn hero. As is her father, a political refugee after helping organise the Tiananmen protests.

I have seen the smiling fossil, thank you.

I have seen the smiling fossil, thank you.

Ghost In The Shell RPGs

You wait thirty-one years for a Ghost In The Shell RPG and then two come along at once.

Due to bitty licensing, one is based on the recent-ish TV series Ghost In The Shell: Arise and the other uses art from the original manga but the adjusted title of the next series The Ghost In The Shell.

So neither are directly the one from the 1995 anime which is the version I would be interested in.

The latter is from Mantic, with a miniatures game to follow.

Pancakes

Uncommonly, I actually had a pancake between this and last Pancake Day.

Year of the Horse

Happy lunar new year!

Babylon 5

Babylon 5 is now free on YouTube, a bold TV experiment with serialisation, CG space, riffing on and an early pitch allegedly being riffed on by Star Trek, and dialogue that I always thought nobody talked like until I read the creator’s book on dcreenwriting.

Yellowjackets

Due to the occasional weird licensing of streaming shows, Yellowjackets is starting on ITV. Heavily Lord Of The Flies it’s also like the evil child of LOST - plane crash, possibly mystery related to flashbacks, possible supernatural stuff, but with a lot more infighting and cannibalism than the network friendly series. I hear S1 is worth watching. Knowing as much as I do by unavoidable cultural osmosis, I appreciate the ominous foreshadowing not waiting around.

Valentine's Day joke 2026 edition

Roses are red

Other options are also available

Check local stockists

Winter Olympic 2026 update

UK first gold in throwing ourselves down a mountain on a tea tray. Wonder what this says about us as a nation.

V5: Stolen 2.02

Vampire: The Masquerade

Stolen

2.02

No Good Deed

Beck

Robin

Vince

A week passes and no apparent repercussions.

Beck watches the audience at his sermons.

Robin observes his family from a distance - not sure about this girl his son has started seeing.

Vince looks into the antiquarian book trade after Beck mentioned it.

He next sees Beck at Elysium, one of the smaller locations in a private art gallery. Noting Astor is there as well, he keeps his distance as they discuss business.

“Has there been any movement on my order? Time waits for no man.”

“Yes, I did hear you had some urgent business?”

Beck and Astor size each other up.

--

And at the same time, Robin is looking for a deserving victim when approached by Morland.