From MadCap's Couch - "Supernatural: Born Under a Bad Sign"

Oh, my god! Sam, I can see Jesus in your shirt!

Here we are, the final Supernatural review of 2021! In fact, depending on how things play out, it could be the last post of 2021! It's been a heck of a journey this year, hasn't it? Reapers, evil clowns that eat people, vampires, necromancy, psychic hullabaloo, ghosts, more ghosts, demons, a demonic virus, more psychic hullabaloo, more ghosts, a shapeshifter, and yet another ghost!

. . .seriously, there are a lot of ghost stories in the early seasons, but everyone gets some hung up on the angels vs. demons crap later on.

From MadCap's Couch - "Supernatural: Houses of the Holy"

Bliiiiinded by the light!

Happy Week of Christmas, everyone!

. . .yeah, there isn't a Christmas episode in Season 2. Sue me. You're getting this.

MadCap's Fiction Corner - Seattle By Night: "Lost Children, Part 3"

"She's taking too long." Anthony intoned, still looking at Molek's Light. The minutes were ticking by, something wasn't quite right. The Tremere could feel it in the pit of his stomach.

"You weren't a Sunday School kid, were you?" Sybil asked.

"I wasn't, no," Anthony said, "I was raised Jewish."

"And I guess that became less of an issue for you after your got the nip, right?"

From MadCap's Couch - "Supernatural: Nightshifter"

"Sam, why are we making this computer play tic-tac-toe?"

Night fever, night fever

We know how to do it!

. . .what's that? Oh, Nightshifter! Well, why didn't you just say so?!

From MadCap's Couch - "Supernatural: Playthings"

Recap of the last episode, Ava be gone and it's very sad.

Not as sad as what happens to her later, but just wait...

MadCap's Fiction Corner - "The Champions of Zobek, Chapter 6"

The next few hours were spent in traveling through the caves and away from the shuttle. With its power off, it likely wasn't going to come up on scans for active vessels and hopefully their attackers wouldn't be looking for it, or at the very least leave it be if they did.

"We still have the transponder." Briemi said. "We'll just find a good place to get a signal sent up."

"And make sure nobody who shouldn't get it gets it." Calen said.

What If. . .the Doctor remained Time Lord Victorious? (Part 6)

Last time, the Doctors and the Master were pulled away from a Gallifrey in distress by none other than the White Guardian, who tasked them not with seeking out the Key to Time, but instead to seek out an even more powerful artifact - the Key to Reality - to stop the Chronarch and his insane plan to consume and control all of Time itself in every universe. Will they succeed? Let's find out.

Oh, for everyone keeping score, we currently have...

• A Doctor from a timeline where he never met Rose Tyler. (Roseless Doctor - who resembles The Tenth Doctor)
• A Doctor from a universe where Jenny survived The Doctor's Daughter. (Jenny's Doctor - resembling the The Eleventh Doctor)
• A Doctor from a universe where the Empire of the Wolf caused a gigantic paradox. (Wolf Doctor - again resembling the The Tenth Doctor)
• A Master from a universe where the Master, instead of the Doctor, was the last survivor of the Time War. (resembling The War Master)
• A Doctor from an as yet unknown timeline where the Doctor is still in his fourth incarnation and is serving the White Guardian. (Guardian Doctor - resembling the Fourth Doctor)

For those not aligned with the main group, we have:

• The Chronarch, a version of the Doctor who appears to have become the Time Lord Victorious. (resembling the Tenth Doctor)
• The Chaos Doctor, a version of the Doctor from a universe where Rassilon was largely benign as we saw back in Part 4. (resembling the Seventh Doctor)

Got all that? Good.

From MadCap's Couch - "Supernatural: Hunted"

Sammy once caught a fish this big!

Do I lie, people? I say thee nay!

MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" (2021)

. . .remember when we used to be able to watch these in movie theaters?

Yeah, no, fuck COVID.

What If. . .the Doctor remained Time Lord Victorious? (Part 5)

Last time, several of the Doctors had been cornered on a Gallifrey in a universe where not only was the Doctor an evil chessmaster psychopath, not only were the Daleks facing off against a far more benevolent Rassilon, but the Chronarch had arrived to bring an end to the War once and for all. . .by destroying the Time Lords. Gallifrey was being swarmed and all was definitely not well. More to the point, there seemed to be some trouble onboard the Chronarch's ship as Jack is captured, the Wolf is killed, and Dalek Caan has ended up in the custody of the Chronarch.

Bad news bears, right? Let's see what happens next!

From MadCap's Couch - "Supernatural: Croatoan"

That is the name of the episode.

Did you say "Resident Evil by way of Supernatural"?

What's that?

You didn't?

Oops...

MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "The NeverEnding Story" (1984)

Yes, children. Believe it or not, this did actually exist as something before being a reference in Stranger Things.

MadCap's Fiction Corner - "Seattle By Night: Lost Children, Part 2"

2013

"Come forward, Initiates!" Anthony moved forward nervously at the sound of the supervisor. "You will all be given your assignments and assigned your quarters." He moved forward, joining the group coming in. They followed the supervisor - a tall, thin man with a balding head - down the halls of this building, one somewhere within the university he had known for several years beforehand.

What If...the Doctor remained Time Lord Victorious? (Part 4)

Last time, the Wolf and Jenny's Doctor and Jenny had found themselves orbiting Gallifrey on what appeared to be the final day of the Time War. Elsewhere, there was a conga line of who was following who and for what reason. As you can tell from the picture above, we're looking at one first rather than the other.

From MadCap's Couch - "Supernatural: Crossroad Blues"

If it wasn't for bad luck...I wouldn't have...
No kind of luck at all!

Now we get some time in the Deep South, specifically Mississippi. Before that, though, we have the great enemy that all fans of Supernatural must one day face: the opening recap!

MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Dune" (2021)

Okay, so this is a thing that happened.

I'm actually a fan of the Dune books, at the very least the ones that were written by Frank Herbert. Being that this one is an adaptation of the first book, I had to admit I was intrigued. I was more so intrigued when I heard it was being made in two parts, which could be used to cover quite a bit of territory given that Dune is by no means a short story.

I was less enthused when I heard the director talking smack about certain film franchises when he himself has given us a grand total of a sequel that nobody wanted and a remake that we don't know yet if it's any good as all the mainstream things he's known for. Now, though, we've come to the remake. Is it good? Will I have to eat my words about Denis Villeneuve? Will we, for the first time in 21 years, be able to bring in Feyd and Rabban?

Let's have a look at Dune. Here, before the cut, is your final spoiler warning.

MadCap's Fiction Corner - "The Champions of Zobek, Chapter 5"

After that particularly sickening display, Calen and Briemi were escorted back to the suite that Zobek had set aside for them. Finding it cleaned, Briemi and Calen once more checking for any bugs before opening their mouths to speak.

"That was-" Calen started.

"Terrible, yes." Briemi nodded in agreement, likewise rather disgusted by what she had seen. "We're going to have to bring down the facility. We'll have to send out some of our men to scout it."

What If...the Doctor remained Time Lord Victorious? (Part 3)

Last time, we had a bit of a cluster as a few different Doctors and even a Master teamed up against an evil that was extending its power throughout the multiverse, hunting down different incarnations of the Doctor and stealing their regenerations for himself. However, his plans were further reaching than even that, extending out into the multiverse with the intent to conquer every universe and become the King of Time itself.

Will the Chronarch succeed? Or will the Doctors (and Master) be able to save the day and all of reality itself? Let's find out!

From MadCap's Couch - "Supernatural: The Usual Suspects"

So, for once, I actually have a neat story to relate about this episode. Linda Blair is well-known as Reagan McNeill from the original Exorcist and, well, that comes with a certain typecasting to it. She was apparently someone Eric Kripke, the series creator, had wanted for a while and an episode had been written specifically for her. When Linda Blair requested that no demons be involved in the script, the writing team fulfilled her request before officially pitching it to her, much to her surprise.

MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Wonder Woman 1984" (2020)

So it seems that the end of this year is filled with two things - me catching up on superhero films I haven't yet watched due to that whole COVID-19 thing that I'm personally hoping is (realistically) endemic or (unrealistically) is over by the time this review goes live and that anyone who uses the phrase "this is the new normal" automatically forfeits the right to not be punched in the mouth.

The other thing is apparently women main characters kicking large amounts of ass.

. . .okay, to be fair, Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity does actually have that, but it isn't exactly the first example I'd use of the genre.

Or any genre.

MadCap's Fiction Corner - "Seattle By Night: Lost Children, Part 1"

October 31, 2018

Anthony's eyes snapped open as he found himself once more in Lilah Brook's trophy room. He turned, seeing at his back the shattered Castaneda Mirror. At that mirror was Lilah herself, inspecting the shattered surface.

"Undamaged. Good. Good." She muttered.

"What?" Anthony blinked. "What just happened?"

What If...The Doctor had remained Time Lord Victorious? (Part 2)

Last time, we were introduced to not one but two version of the Doctor - each one very different from one another and one of them met an unfortunate end after discovering a terrible, terrible secret. Now, the Chronarch is poised to head to another universe to, presumably, consume the Doctor of that universe as well.

Meanwhile...

From MadCap's Couch - "Supernatural: No Exit"

Jeepers, creepers, where'd you get those peepers?

After a Jo-centric recap, we begin on a blonde woman in an apartment in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Calling her landlord over some electrical issues, see finds a black goo on her table that seems to have dripped down from the ceiling...and soon finds it gushing out of an exposed lighting fixture. When she looks into the fixture, an eye meets hers and she screams bloody murder.

MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity" (1987)

Okay, look...I like boobs as much as the next heterosexual red blooded male. Boobs are great. There, I said it. Y'know when that axiom really doesn't apply? When you're trying to make an entertaining movie.

I think we've had this discussion before, although I'm pretty sure it bears repeating. Cheesecake is a delicious and wondrous thing, but if you inhale too much of it, you get a stomach ache. Is Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity a stomach ache? Let's have a look!

MadCap's Fiction Corner - "The Champions of Zobek, Chapter 4"

"<Please. Drink.>"

They were seated at a lengthy table, something that clearly was not pulled out very often from the state of cleanliness it had over virtually everything else in the room. It seemed that Zobek did not entertain guests nearly so often. The serving staff poured them drinks.

"His Excellence Zobek invites you to imbibe." Pirc said, standing to the left of his master rather than being seated as they were. Briemi raised her glass.

"To our gracious host. May this be the beginning of a wonderful relationship between he and the Empire." She toasted.

What If...Sam Winchester killed John Winchester? (Part 1)

On another world, in another time...three men were trapped in a cabin at the mercy of a demon. One of those three, possessed by the demon, was shot in the leg by a gun that could kill anything. The two other men, brothers, attempted to recover from the ordeal only to find the third man - their father - alive and struggling against the monster within.

"Sammy! It’s still alive. It’s inside me, I can feel it. You shoot me. You shoot me! You shoot me in the heart, son! Do it!"

"Sam, don't you do it. Don't you do it!"

"You’ve gotta hurry! I can’t hold onto it much longer! You shoot me, son! Shoot me! Son, I’m begging you! We can end this here and now! Sammy!"

"Sam, no..."

"You can do this! Sammy! Sam..."

In that world, in that time, Sam Winchester did not pull the trigger and shoot John Winchester in the heart. The demon, Azazel, would go on to open the gates of Hell itself. While he would eventually die at the hand of Dean Winchester, the damage was done. The opening of those gates was one of the first steps on the road to the Apocalypse.

But this is not that world, this is not that time...

In this world, we get the answer to the question: What If...Sam Winchester had killed John Winchester?

Let's peer into the looking glass...

From MadCap's Couch - "Supernatural: Simon Said"

What? I told you. The episode for this week is Simon Said.

Not all the lead ins to the next episode can be gold.

. . .so, anyway, here's Aurum...I mean, Simon Said.

MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Black Widow" (2021)

 

Yeah, okay, something else to check off the bucket list.

I was actually a fan Black Widow before it was cool. Legitimately thought she deserved to have a movie before certain other individuals, and not just because I'm the undying love slave of Scarlett Johansson.

. . .okay, not only because I'm the undying love slave of Scarlett Johansson.

Happy Halloween!

And so it is that we've passed another Horror Month. It's Halloween. The final day of October, the time of the festival of Samhain! 

Y'know what? I'm just gonna let Conal Cochran say it best:

So that's it. The day has finally come. Enjoy your candy, dress up in your costumes and your masks, watch something spooky, and have a Happy Halloween! As always, just remember:

"The dark side is always there, waiting for us to enter — waiting to enter us. Until next time, try to enjoy the daylight."

MadCap's Fiction Corner - "Seattle By Night: All Hallows, Part 5"

"We are two of a kind, you and I-"

"I've never killed anyone. Don't intend to start now." Sybil said as he eyed the blonde woman intently, ready to draw her gun once again the moment she made a false move.

"Oh, that's not what I mean and you know it..." The blonde woman chuckled. "I mean this..." She tapped her forehead with a single finger.

"We...moisturize?" Sybil asked.

MadCap's Game Reviews - "Prey"

Spooky! In! SPAAAAAAAAAACE!

So, you know that annoying feeling when you wake up in the morning and find out you're in the year 2032? Right? Absolutely sucks!

MadCap's Table Top Tales - Dean Winchester Build (5e)

And now, we have our final build of Horror Month 2021. Since we've spent the month dealing with monsters, I think it's only fitting that we bring in a monster hunter: namely Dean Winchester from the TV series Supernatural. Y'know, that series I've been reviewing for a while. You've probably heard of it.

Dean's a wise-cracking, ass kicking, good ol' boy in need of some major therapy. Life may get him down and even kill him on...many, many occasions, actually. . .but with Sam at his side and himself behind the wheel of his beloved '67 Impala, Dean is always ready to crank up the mullet rock and apply a boot to the ass of every demon on Earth and in Hell and more than a few other things, too.

Ready? Let's kick it in the ass!

What If...Michael Myers fought Jason Voorhees?

Why, yes, this is my reward for getting through Halloween: Resurrection. How ever did you guess?

From MadCap's Couch - "Supernatural: Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things"

I've never been a huge fan of zombies. Out of all the things in horror, they just don't really appeal to me like others do. Maybe I just don't care for them for the same reason that the Cthulhu Mythos has never struck a chord with me like it has with so many others. I like the thought of there being some kind of hope in the darkness of horror. The massive, uncaring eldritch beings that are so much more than anything human can understand and the innumerous hordes of the undead seeking to consume the flesh of the living really just don't hold the same appeal to me because of that.

And yes, I'm aware a major theme of the Cthulhu Mythos is regular humans standing up against the darkness and screaming "We matter!", but you get the idea.

MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Halloween: Resurrection" (2002)

Well...it's time.

Trick or treat, motherfucker.

. . .yeah, that line is still stupid almost twenty years later.

MadCap's Fiction Corner - "Seattle By Night: All Hallows, Part 4"

October 31, 2018

The previous night had ended with Lilah being eerily calm. She had gone through the rest of her vault, gathering together a few items of interest and setting them aside for use. She had dismissed Anthony, telling him to return the following night at sunset. The night had come, and he had returned to that office with the glass floor.

"Come in." Lilah spoke from within the still open space in the wall. Anthony walked into this room that should not exist, seeing that Lilah had taken out only one of the items in question: a goblet with its outer edges forged to resemble unnerving demonic faces.

"What is-"

"Secrets above your Circle, Wallace." Lilah said, pouring a now not smoldering bit of ash into the cup. "Give me your arm." Anthony raised a brow. "Your arm, Apprentice. Now."

MadCap's Table Top Tales - Michael Myers Build (5e)

Another October Thursday, another October D&D build. I've seen a lot of Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger builds, but you know what I haven't seen a lot of? Michael Myers builds, and that's a shame. After all, Halloween is what popularized the slasher film genre and allowed either one of those two to exist, and yet for some reason Michael is always living in their shadow...which is where he likes to lurk and occasionally stab somebody from. 

Michael Myers was first brought to us in Halloween (1978) by filmmakers John Carpenter and Debra Hill as a boy who murdered his sister Judith at the age of six, spent fifteen years in Smith's Grove Sanitarium, and he's made his way through ten movies (as of this post) and two abominations that for some reason didn't get a legal ban on Rob Zombie ever making movies again since. So, today, we're going to be building a better slasher with applied D&D! So here we go!

What If...Evil Ed Returned?

Long ago, Charley Brewster had a vampire living next door. The vampire in question kidnapped his girlfriend and turned one of his only friends into a fellow creature of the night. Eventually, with the help of a charlatan turned do-gooder, Charley was able to slay the vampire known as Jerry Dandridge and bring and end to his reign of terror.

There was only one problem...despite the best efforts of the aforementioned Peter Vincent, Charley's friend Ed (unlike a certain heavy metal band's mascot) wasn't dead. Or, rather, was still undead. As Charley and Amy made out in Charley's room, the flash of a pair of eyes and a cackling laugh told us that Evil Ed would be returning to menace Charley...and then Fright Night Part 2 came along and...it didn't happen. Evil Ed was barely mentioned.

So...what if he came back to menace Charley and Amy once again?

From MadCap's Couch - "Supernatural: Bloodlust"

"Dr. Blake...Dr. Strange...you're needed in Ward 3.
Dr. Blake...Dr. Strange."

So, last week, we dealt with clowns. Now, we deal with something infinitely less terrifying - vampires.

MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Waxwork" (1988)

A little more of an obscure offering for Horror Month 2021. What? You've never wanted to see Billy from Gremlins take on Chancellor Gorkon?

. . .no?

. . .just me?

. . .well, you're getting it.

MadCap's Fiction Corner - "Seattle By Night: All Hallows, Part 3"

"Are you enjoying the show?" The man in the white suit, grasping the mic in hand. "I always like a...live audience."

"Oh, bad puns..." Grace groaned. "And I thought you were hot..."

"Hey!" Isaac snapped, raising a brow.

"Oh, hush!" Grace nudged her sire.

"Are we just ignoring the zombies or...?" Hope asked.

"What? You don't like your new clientele, Miss Devereaux?" The man in white asked.

"Dead men don't pay their tab." Hope replied.

"Witty. Very witty." The man in white chuckled as he got off the stage, holding the glowing green light in his hand. "I must say, I'm surprised that Brook caught onto my plot so quickly...the Tremere usually aren't so aware."

"What in the Hell are you talking about?" Isaac demanded.

MadCap's Table Top Tales - Dr. Frankenstein Build (5e)

It's alive! It's alive! . . .or so I'm told, anyway. For this week, we have Victor Frankenstein - the original doctor rather than the monster he created. . .which is also Frankenstein for those that want to be pedantic about it. Before Herbert West, before Maggie Walsh, before freaking Doctor Doom...there was Victor Frankenstein.

Victor Frankenstein was a role first played by Augustus Phillips in the silent 1910 film produced by Thomas Edison of all people. Most people tend to know him with the face of Colin Clive (pictured above) as Henry Frankenstein from the 1931 film adaptation of the Classic Universal Monsters vein. He is a scientist who perverted the very essence of life in order to create life all his own and now he knows what it's like to be God. . .depending on the adaptation you're going with. In the novel, he's a tragic figure whose creation causes him to lose his friends, family, and his mind. In most of the movies...well, he's the reason why we have the Mad Scientist stereotype.

So let's have a look at what we need to make Victor Frankenstein.

What If...Freddy Krueger had never resurrected Jason Voorhees?

Last time, we got to see a world where Tommy Jarvis stayed on as the killer for the Friday the 13th franchise. This time, we'll be moving to another killer in another universe not at all dissimilar to it. In this universe, after being destroyed by a pipe bomb in his "definitely final movie", Freddy Krueger was cast into the bowels of Hell. We know, in the main universe, he sought out and brought back Jason Voorhees, setting off the events of Freddy vs. Jason.

In this universe, though? Let's take a look.

From MadCap's Couch - "Supernatural: Everybody Loves A Clown"

You're never the same after your first pig in a jar.

And for the third time, no.

Alright. Now we've got that out of the way.

MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Friday the 13th Part 6: Jason Lives" (1986)

Okay, now this is actually really good.

No, I mean it. This isn't the set up for a punchline. Jason Lives is just really, really good. Besides the original, it's probably the best of the entire franchise.

MadCap's Fiction Corner - "Seattle By Night: All Hallows, Part 2"

If Grace could have breathed, her lungs would have been pumping air in and out very quickly in that moment. If her heart could truly beat, it would have been racing. As it stood, she was merely standing with panic slowly loosening its grip on her mind as the rail-thin Tremere Primogen knelt down and examined the ash pile.

"Just as I suspected..." Lilah Brook muttered as she moved what looked like a stylus or some other sort of rod about, as if she were stirring the ashes. She did not even bother to look back at the tense Toreador.

"Is there a particular reason you flash-fried my co-star?" Grace asked.

MadCap's Game Reviews - "Fright Night"

So...Amiga game emulated onto Windows 10? Amiga game emulated onto Windows 10.

Weird, right?

MadCap's Table Top Tales - The Creature From The Black Lagoon Build (5e)

Horror Month 2021 has finally come! Get your dice and get ready to roll, because it's time to get spoopy! As is fitting with our tradition at this point, we're going to make a character build based off of a fictional character and work them all the way up to Level 20! This month, we've got some horror builds! Let's see  what we can make of it starting with...

What If...Tommy Jarvis became the New Killer in the Friday the 13th Franchise?

A young man's mind shattered by the tragedies that had befallen him. A halfway house for disturbed teens laid waste by the blade of a madman's axe. In one world, he went on to finally confront his demon and send it back into the waters from whence it had come.

On another world, something very different happened.

But how would that story continue? Where would the story go from there, knowing what we know now?

As a certain Watcher once said, I invite you readers of mine, to pull up a chair and watch as we ponder the question...What If?

From MadCap's Couch - "Supernatural: In My Time of Dying"

"All I did was ask him - 'Who's on first?'"

So, last time, Sam and Dean and John had finally tracked down the Yellow-Eyed Demon who killed Mary. It claimed to have further plans for Sammy and the other psychic children like him. After Sam failed to follow through on John's order to shoot him in the heart, the three heavily wounded Winchester boys found themselves leaving in the Impala...and were promptly t-boned by a possessed trucker and his 18-wheeler, our final shot of the episode and Season 1 being John, Sam, and Dean unconscious and at the doorstep of death.

. . .y'know, when that was still something that still actually held some weight in Supernatural.

We pick up with Season 2's opener In My Time of Dying. Let's have a look...

MadCap's Reel Thoughts - "Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare" (1991)

Jesus Christ, what a depressing note to start Horror Month 2021 on! A poster for an incredibly terrible movie that has a tagline that's an outright stinking lie. Really, by 1991, what was anyone expecting out of this franchise? Well, New Line was apparently expecting money seeing as despite being a wonderful cure for insomnia, The Dream Child somehow managed to make enough money to be the highest grossing slasher film of 1989. Of course, with it's competition being such lauded films as Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (we'll be getting to that in a few years), C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud, and Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland.

. . .what's that? Why didn't I mention Halloween 5? Oh, that's simple: it doesn't suck.

Regardless, let's crack into "the best" that was saved "for last".