The Odyssey

The Odyssey (2026)

Big, Loud. Smart. Sad. Gloomy about the possible fall of civilisation but not hopeless. At times heckin creepy. Cuts the best joke in the original but has a couple of laughs along the way.

Matt Damon plays against type as the tricksy Odysseus, less so the troubled one. Momentarily distracted by knowing we can have a double bill of Jon Bernthal as a tetchy elder to Tom Holland next week.

Standout side trip to Hades.

The island of the Stormcast Eternals Laestrygonians was a bit much, but the behind the scenes story if hiring regular tall guys for the role and short buff women for the Ithacans is fantastic.

Tell me about a complicated man. Shaft!

(Okay, recent translator Emily Wilson brought that on and considered changing the word when she realised.)

The Haunting Of Hill House on stage

A world premiere, no less, at the Lyceum. A couple weeks after Halloween. Announced a hundred days before it...

Universal licences Atari

Having been unable to make a cinematic universe based on their successful, er, cinematic universe of actual stories, Universal just licenced ten 1970s-80s Atari games, including the story-friendly Adventure and Asteroids and the... less so Pong.

I guess it’s cute that they keep trying.

Good Society second edition

Good Society has a second edition coming soon with a quickstart at the Kickstarter. Which reminds me I never got around to getting the first edition.

Cara action figure happening

Found the long-haired Black Widow head, looked at available bodies that might work, bought one - X-23 from Deadpool & Wolverine. Right sort of height, decent articulation, plain grey trousers, black T-shirt and combat boots. The head is a bit high on the neck, but probably fixable. Now to look out my bits box for a sword, and separate the fingers and thumb on the right ungloved hand to hold it. Might remove the vest and T-shirt decal and repaint the sleeves so the T-shirt matches. if I get really ambitious, might Milliput on cargo trouser side pockets.

I would like to get a leather jacket torso and arms for her signaure look, maybe keeping the legs I got here, but given the current Jessica Jones is (a) in a two-pack with Daredevil for 55 quid and (b) sold out, that might have to wait.

There’s a reason I mostly did this for The Watch House during the run of Buffy and Angel figures.

Update update: found a Buffy figure jacket. Will see if the joints are at all compatible.

Update update update: found upper torso, took off X-23’s, not a perfect fit for lower torso or neck so some work still to be done. After that might go all in and paint her face.

White Wolf Dev Diary #1

Text overview and video roundtable a week out from Gen Con.

Sating positive and negative things about Hunger Dice and Blood Points. Hmmmmm.

A commitment to human made art, good.

More black and white?

Tim Bradstreet portfolio mention!

Vampires will probably be able to light their own cigarettes.

“This community really likes to suffer.”

“It’s part of the fun!”

Blooper reel!

It took me FOUR takes to stop saying "flom"

Debbie

Leaving the house achieved.

Leaving the house achieved.

Getting the new Buffy issue 1 not achieved as delayed by a week and seeing The Odyssey not achieved as the three in the afternoon Wednesday IMAX screening was sold out.

But leaving the house achieved.

Witch of the Vale and Melanie, All The Pretty Little Horses

Witch of the Vale and Melanie, All The Pretty Little Horses. An eerie sad take on a lullaby

Chelsea Wolfe, Cold

Chelsea Wolfe, Cold

I want the melancholy ghost movie this would be the trailer and end credits song for right now.

Merryshire Detective Club

Merryshire Detective Club, a cosy fantasy mystery RPG from Pelgrane, Backerkitting now.

You play amateur detectives in a cosy-fantasy setting. Your band of plucky investigators solves mysteries (quite often, murder mysteries) that crop up with remarkable regularity in the lovely little halfling village you design together.

One of the General abilities is called Risky Nonsense.

Anne Rice's Immortal Universe RPG

Anne Rice’s Immortal Universe coming to Backerkit this autumn starting with Interview With The Vampire.

From Renegade, so... a move away from them working on World Of Darkness?

Create your own stories of vampires, witches, psychics, and ordinary humans whose lives become forever entwined through love, loyalty, ambition, and loss. Together, you'll build chronicles that span decades, or centuries, exploring the emotional consequences and impossible choices of immortality.

The focus on drama and time sounds interesting.

(Update: I know someone working on it at the say-hello-online level.)

The Prince Of The City

Big fan of the “subvert expectations” Princes. The Gangrel terror who sees the domain as a personal hunting ground and the Kindred as their wayward pride. The Malkavian who hears every whispered secret and is pulled apart by its needs. The Solomonic Brujah classicist willing to sunder the infant. Tremere collecting occult gewgaws to destroy them in a manic scheme to buttress power. Oily Toreador sleaze in the model of Wincott’s Top Dollar. Lasombra who keeps a Domesday Book of every bit of prestation proffered or owed in the domain.

Justin Achilli

BLADE

How hard is it to make Blade? Come on!

Tacit acknowledgment that they just can’t find the current equivalent of that New Order Pump Panel remix.

Justin Achilli

I'd be curious to know what people remember from Blade that isn't Blade in black leather killing vampires

Kyle Marquis

-1 to movement checks

Based on podiatry advice I’ll be shuffling for a while, possibly a few months, but going to try not become even more of a recluse than I already am. I will go out and do a thing Wednesday.

Avengers Doomsday trailer

Behold. Doom is full clunky.

Little bit o' politics

“What’s today, my fine fellow?”

“Today? Why, today is New Prime Minister Who Didn’t Win A General Election Day!”

“... Again?”

Maybe it’s just me but the seventh Prime Minister in ten years announcing a glorious ten year plan seems... optimistic.

(I would probably be less snarky if I wasn’t pissed off by three of the four things he’s already announced.)

Football

Congratulations to the winner of Football, and that means no Football until the Winter Football in two years’ time, right?

Mage: Sunset City update

Stopped an ancient primordial nightmare putting humanity into an eternal troubled sleep.

Saving the world is always a nice feeling.

AP by T, playing Didi the Hollow One

Next, a miniseries of some kind.

Oh, and, I just realised I have an action figure head that would make a pretty good Cara. Hm.

Now looking for a body.

A deluxe Buffy, long OOP. The new Jessica Jones would work if not for the most ripped jeans knees ever. Might be too tall though. A plain clothes Yelena would be a better fit but they’d have to make one. X-23 but bare armed...

This hobby was easier back in the day.

Would need a gladius or similar shortsword too, obviously.

Jennifer Finch

Jennifer Finch, bassist of L7, has died at just 59.

Tone can be very important

The X Files theme in a major key

I am experiencing an indescribable emotion

Death Wishbone

The heartwarming story of a 1950s London family making a new start in Australia, from the perspective of the teenage daughter who falls for a roguish but good-hearted local lad.

Me

(To be fair most aren’t as dramatic. The Raiders March in a minor key just sounds like Indy’s in trouble.)