Who else has been following the Doctor Who news?!

New Doctor!
Byq Qbpgbe!
QBAAN ABOYR?!

Personally, I've loved Jodie Whittaker, but I am so excited for the next era of Who!
Anyone else have thoughts or feels?!

Lol, I feel you. I started following in early Campaign 2 since my friend wanted me in her D&D campaign and wanted me to understand the storytelling and mechanics, so she said I should watch it. And I was like, "Well I'll watch bits and pieces, but 4 hours? Heck no."

That went down the drain fairly quickly XD (though I still often skip episodes and just watch the highlights - it's on late for my timezone).

I've been a little uneven with watching Campaign 3, I think because it's still early days, but I love all the characters so far.

Ooh, that's a good one! I know I visited Sleepy Hollow at least once as a kid, but I have a hard time remembering anymore. I backed a Kickstarter for a modern Sleepy Hollow comedy series a few months ago, though it isn't due to come out until sometime next year: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shipwrecked/...

Shipwrecked Comedy on Youtube has a number of spooky, literary, comedic offerings. My highlights:
- Edgar Allen Poe's Murder Mystery Dinner Party turns five this year! This 10-part comedy-horror web series features some of your favorite classic authors (Edgar Allen Poe, Mary Shelley, Oscar Wilde, Emily Dickinson) and puts them in a murder mystery party that turns very real. Def plays fast and loose with time period, but it's so fun and well-done. http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs2T_dNZ-XW...
- This music video they just released yesterday will be a particular delight for Dracula fans:[youtube CUKmd50_niI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUKmd50_niI youtube]

Holy cow! Good for him!

I mean, I don't think it's just that Aang was upset he was portrayed by a woman - he was portrayed by a very high-pitched woman in an incredibly silly manner ("Avatar state, yip yip!"). This is both a reference to the fact that young male characters in animation are commonly played by older women (which Aang was not), but to stage versions of Peter Pan.

Between that and the "like a little brother" line, it trivializes everything Aang has had to struggle through. Aang is a kid who likes a good time, sure, but he's also had to deal with the genocide of his people - which the play "conveniently" leaves out. Aang has struggled to feel adequate as the Avatar when he is so young, has had less than a year of training in the other elements, and already feels like he failed the world once. To have a twelve-year-old, no matter how powerful, turned into a laughing stock by what I assume is an adult playwright ... it's actually a little cruel. I don't blame Aang for taking it personally, though his reading of the Katara situation is definitely a bit odd.

The twisted genius of it all is that the whole thing at first plays like it's inaccurate because the writer was working off of some unreliable sources (the cabbage merchant, the pirates, the singing nomads) and because the company is already not the best (Zuko says they butcher "Love Amongst the Dragons" every year).

But there's another layer - this is still the Fire Nation, at war with the rest of the world, especially the Avatar. The inaccurate, ridiculous portrayals are partially on purpose - the Fire Nation certainly wouldn't want their citizens to sympathize with their enemies. So, they make them ridiculous, incompetent, over-emotional. And then have them get soundly defeated.

It's flat-out propaganda. That that doesn't become apparent until the final scene is incredibly interesting to me, especially in a children's show.

It's mind-blowing news! I'm so conflicted. On the one hand, it seems like a good choice for the 60th anniversary year, and RTD is what got me into the show, and I liked what he was doing with Sarah Jane Adventures before that sadly ended. (Praying for some SJA cameos for the anniversary- Sarah's son Luke would be amazing)

On the other hand, after what RTD did to Martha and Donna, I'm not sure my heart can handle another RTD run! And I've liked Jodie's run, so I don't love that so many Whovians are already disregarding her last season.

But it's certainly a game-changer, no doubt!

Fun fact: This episode was released as a a sort of Halloween special for Avatar. I get why, it does have a particularly spooky element to it.

Okay, sure, the blood bending power is a tool, but it's essentially forcing people to do things against their will. If you had that power inside you, especially as someone like Katara, who is all of 14 and who has always tried to do good, that's a scary power to have. Especially when the person who it taught to you and the only other person who has this power is so cruel and twisted. It's not just a fear of the power, it's a fear of turning into Hama, who Katara had related to up until things went sour.

[spoilers for the rest of S3 and Korra] Unzn vf n qnex zveebe bs jung Xngnen pbhyq orpbzr vs fur yrgf ure ovggrearff gbjneqf gur Sver Angvba srfgre. Jr frr guvf bapr Mhxb wbvaf gur grnz naq Xngnen nffbpvngrf ure natre jvgu gur zna jub xvyyrq ure zbgure, cyhf nyy gur Sver Angvba fbyqvref jub unir orra tvivat gurz nyy tevrs sbe zbaguf, jvgu Mhxb. Gur bayl bgure gvzr Xngnen hfrf oybbq oraqvat va gur frevrf vf va chefhvg bs gung xvyyre, juvpu qrsvavgryl fnlf fbzrguvat nobhg gur cnenyyryf gb Unzn.

Nyfb, vagrerfgrq gb frr jung ehxong jbhyq guvax bs oybbqoraqvat bapr gurl frr ubj vg'f hfrq va Xbeen.

I still think the reveal of Zuko being Roku's great-grandson as well as Sozin's was freaking amazing, one of my fav twists in this series. But yeah, he's not ready for that yet. But sometimes, I find our elders tell us things not for our present selves, but for our future selves. Even if we're not ready in the moment we're told, we'll have it the moment we need it.

Wow, Mark. I've been following you on and off since the Mark Reads Harry Potter days, so it's nuts that we're at the end (for now at least). Even more nuts that you've been able to do this for so long, so glad you've been able to stop this on a positive note.

Your reviews and people here have definitely helped me see another perspective on fiction and life I hadn't considered before, and I'm glad it helped you the way it did. And even as reaction videos have become more common, you are still one of the few who has watched Princesss Tutu, which I will be forever grateful for because it was such a great experience to watch you go through that.

Stories are important. Sharing and discussing stories, equally so. I'm oddly (or maybe not so oddly?) proud of you, that you've been able to share your writing and make a career the way you have, in a way that's meaningful for you. And if I know if I ever decide to dive into one of the many, many works you've covered that I haven't experienced yet, your reviews will be here to come back to.

I wish you all the best, and, as I have still not attended an in-person event of yours, hope to meet you in person someday.