Yearly Archives: 2015

The Extensive Timeline for “Tales from Jabba’s Palace”

1 Reply

I can’t believe it but I finally achieved what I wanted to do for almost ten years. I finally constructed the timeline in Tales from Jabba’s Palace. As mentioned Yesterday, I love this book and all its glorious characters and I even reread the novel solely so I can reconstruct the timeline. Without further ado, here it is!

Tales from Jabba's Palace Timeline, Star Wars, Jabba the Hutt, Jabba's Palace, Tales from Jabba's Palace

If you’re at this point in the article then you probably want to hear how I constructed the timeline. It wasn’t hard but it certainly took awhile.

I decided fairly early on that I wanted two things to be represented in the timeline. The first one was when each of the Tales happened and the second one, and the one I was most interested at, was when each of the major book events happened and at what order. Many times, the protagonists would meet up at crucial plot points that affected their story. I wanted to record these events and know how they fit into the overall grand story.

The first step was to, obviously, become familiar with the events that transpired in Return of the Jedi. All of the characters, with the exception of Melvosh Bloor because his Tale takes place at a completely different time than the others, reference at least one of the movie events during their respective Tales. As such, knowing the order and the relative time these events happen is quite important. C-3PO and R2’s arrival, Oola’s death, and Luke killing the Rancor are probably the most referenced movie events.

Once I got that going, I had to establish relative dates in reference to a certain event. Star Wars fans like to use the Battle of Yavin from A New Hope as a reference point for the overall Star Wars timeline. For Tales from Jabba’s Palace though, we need something more exact. Luke’s Arrival was chosen as the zero mark because the book made a special case at the beginning how

“Jabba is always on his guard, but little does he suspect that his greatest nemesis will come in the form of a single Jedi Knight, who walks in alone from the desert…”

            Indeed, many of the protagonists in the novel plot against Jabba and all fail because of Jabba’s cunningness. However, even Jabba’s intelligence was no match for the unstoppable force that was Luke that day. Jabba planned against many things but a Jedi Knight was definitely not one.

Pictured: A Thorn in Jabba’s Fat Ass. Picture from http://piximggif.com/luke-skywalker-return-of-the-jedi-wallpaper

One thing I struggled with fairly early on was if Luke came two days or one day after Leia arrives as I was initially under the impression that Luke came two days afterwards judging from Malakili’s Tale. Halfway through the novel, I realized this was not the case and I had to adjust because of which. Many of the other movie events, however, were easily interpreted time-wise and naturally built the framework for my two goals.

The protagonist’s Tales were very easy to build on the timeline as the characters would react to a movie event early on in their story and usually react to other movie events as their Tale progressed. Some adjustments were made along the way to account the major book events or if an another protagonist clarifies when that event happened. A good example of this be when J’Quille killed the monk and took the thermal detonator (TD) he was holding. J’Quille’s story ends there but we don’t know when exactly that is. Well, we know this happens shortly before Luke kills the Rancor because Bib Fortuna mentioned how he stole the TD from J’Quille during the Luke vs. Rancor commotion.

Some protagonists’ Tales, admittedly, are unclear when they begin or end and this is represented on the timeline with a question mark. For instance, Max Rebo and co. become Jabba’s Band after Carbonite Han was delivered to Jabba but other than that we have no idea when they were hired. Dannik Jerriko is another example as his POV is very hazy and time progress either very slow or fast depending on the scenario (and in general his Tale is very dreamlike which adds an extra level of confusion to the whole thing).

The book events were definitely the most difficult part of the whole thing as I had to take constant notes who was where at what time. Phlegmin’s death is probably in the top three most important book events as so many characters are affected by his death in one form or another. Hell, soooo many protagonists were present at one time or another when his body was discovered. First Dannik killed him, than Porcellus discovered the body, then Ree-Yees, and finally Gartogg comes by and takes the body to figure out who killed him. All the while, J’Quille and Bubo watch from afar as they witness this strange scenario.

Image from http://imgkid.com/boushh-thermal-detonator.shtml

Even trickier to figure out was Leia’s TD. That weapon jumped from person to person and weaved an unclear mesh on who has what. Though it’s not 100 percent confirmed, I believe a monk steals Leia’s TD shortly after she’s unmasked and gives the weapon to J’Quille. I again believe this weapon was stolen by Bib Fortuna but I’m unsure as Bib only said he stole it off of a Whiphid guard. But considering we’re only familiar with one Whiphid, we can assume that was J’Quille.

Even more confusing is the second bomb that was planted on Jabba’s Sail Barge. Tessek gets Barada to plant a bomb on Jabba’s Palace but we’re unsure if this is the same bomb that the Weequay people find in their Tale. Their “God” Quay said it was a bomb planted by J’Quille but we know that’s not true because Bib Fortuna stole it, right? And it also can’t be the same bomb because Bib planted the bomb shortly before their attempted execution of Luke and co. and the Weequays had already found their bomb by then. I thus assume this was the same bomb planted by Barada then.

One thing I realized as I was finishing up this timeline was that a certain degree of interpretation has to be made in order to fit everything as best as it could. Unfortunately, not all of the Tales perfectly line up with each other and may even have some slight transgressions from the movie itself.  For the most part though, things lined up easily enough

In the end, I’m pretty happy with the end result as I think the timeline looks good, albeit amateurish, but it gets the message across well enough. I can finally check this off of my bucket list and now get back to my life…this took too long to make…haha

If you have any suggestions or improvements to the timeline then I will be more than willing to hear them!

My Love for Tales from Jabba’s Palace

Leave a reply

Happy Star Wars Day everyone!

The Star Wars’ anthology novel, Tales from Jabba’s Palace (TfJP), is probably one of the most underrated stories ever to be produced in the Star Wars’ universe.  So many funny, clever, and important stories happen in this oft-forgotten book that I wonder why it’s not discussed more often.  I daresay, this is the book that help got me into Star Wars back when I was in Junior High (a time that I hardly ever read to begin with).  After reading this book, I read the other two Tales books (Tales from Mos Eisely Cantina and Tales of the Bounty Hunters) and played great Star Wars video games.  TfJP was my definitive first look behind the movie’s curtains and peer into the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

Why?  Why did this book capture me and drive me towards my eventual Star Wars obsession?

Well, remember in Return of the Jedi when Luke killed the Rancor and while he was hustled away, a chubby, shirtless guy ran forward to the now dead Rancor and begin crying?  That scene, both humorous and poignant, spoke volumes about a character, about a history, that we as an audience have not been nor will ever be exposed to.

It is this character’s history, Malakili, whose tale we read first (aptly titled “A Boy and his Rancor”) in TfJP.  A strong story to start on, we are given an in-depth look at Malakili and his developing friendship with his Rancor.  The story, one of the longer ones in the book, takes its time and shows how Malakili and the Rancor eventually trusted each other as more than just a master and his pet but as actual friends, as comrades.

As a reader, we are hooked into this story and empathize with Malakili.  He is a likable character that has goals and feelings.  All of our admiration with him, and even his Rancor, culminates in the end as the Rancor’s death leaves us even sadder than if we had only see the movie.  After reading his tale, you want to learn more about the tales that this anthology has to offer.

*sniff*

Malakili and his Rancor’s tale establishes the foundation that the rest of the anthology builds off of.  Not only do we have a good reason to hate Jabba (besides all the stuff he did in the movie) but we are exposed to the variety of characters whose journey we’ll also follow (e.g., Gartogg the Gamorrean and Porcellus the chef) later on.  Through these interactions, we realize that there is so much more going on in Jabba’s Palace than we realize and that Malakili’s tale is only a part of it.

Indeed, as you read through the anthology, a feeling of unease begins to creep into you as you read each of the characters’ tales.   The protagonists might run into a dead body with an unknown murderer or find out that their plot has gone awry by an unseen force.  Many of the questions we faced during their stories are not answered until much later in the novel though hints are certainly sprinkled here and there on who (or what) are the actual puppeteers.

Generally speaking, as you progress through the novel, the protagonists’ tales usually start or end later compared to protagonists near the beginning of the book.  Hell, many of the protagonists’ stories that make up much of the latter half of the book end with Jabba’s Barge blowing up or shortly thereafter.  Even the last two stories (Boba Fett and Yarna) take place after Jabba’s death and a majority of the time spent with these two characters does not even take place in Jabba’s Palace.  As such, the editor’s deliberate action in placing all of the tales in certain sections of the anthology give a sense of an overarching story in the novel that would seemingly be lost if the stories were randomly distributed.  The result of which is quite amusing to me.

This overarching story works really well for each of the protagonists’ tales.  The best example of this I would say is Ephant Mon’s Tale.  There seems to be a shift in our overall mood towards this novel as we read his tale.  Not only do we progress further in the timeline compared to the protagonists beforehand but we get to confront Jabba through the eyes of a friend, something that no other protagonist can claim.  It’s a different side of Jabba that we rarely see and really hones in how unique all of the characters are in this book.  More importantly, Ephant Mon’s Tale hints that the Force was acting very strong in Jabba’s Palace for the past few days.  Major events, whether seen or unseen in the movie, transpired in the awful establishment and it’s hard to believe they happened purely by chance.

Speaking of chance, I want to talk about one of my favorite protagonists, Gartogg the Gamorrean.  God, this guy is great.  He means so well but he’s just so stupid, haha!  He has this uncanny ability to stumble upon a freshly murdered body with maybe even the murderer to boot.  He’s so good at this that he found the crime scene for all four murders in Jabba’s Palace!  But everyone always tricks him for the sole reason that they don’t get into trouble with Jabba and he believes them!  And he’s just so cheery about it and wants to please his boss and oh my gosh this guy is hilarious.

Image from http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Gartogg

One of the underlying themes in TfJP is that not everything is as it seems.  Characters that the protagonists perceive as incompetent or inconsequential are actually quite formidable or intelligent.  Ree-Yees is an interesting example of this as he disguises his competence with his alcoholic tendencies and plays the fool most of the time.  Even though he’s an idiot, his plot goes unnoticed by many people, including the conspiracy-sniffing Ephant Mon.   Bubo is probably the best example though as even the reader does not give Bubo two cents until we realize he is a sentient being!

I have to talk about the B’omarr monks as they are definitely an important part in the anthology.  Though none of the protagonists are monks, quite a few of them interact with the monks to some degree such as J’Quille, Bib Fortuna, Bubo, Tessek, and Ree-Yees.  I think because we lack a monk POV we find them unsettling as we know little about them.  Even Bib Fortuna, who arguably is the most familiar with them out of anyone in the Palace, did not foresee the Monks takeover when Jabba was killed.  When we are revealed the fate of Jabba’s Palace, there is another uneasy shift in the novel as we wonder if the next protagonist will be able to survive both Jabba’s barge blowing up and unwanted removal of their brains in jars.

At least, that’s the way I feel, especially for the last Tale involving the fat dancer, Yarna, and the hunter, Doallyn. Just as we begin TfJP with a strong story starring a likable pair of protagonists, we end it once again with two protagonists only this time, the game has changed.  We fear that Yarna and Doallyn do not have much time in the Palace as they could easily be killed by Dannik Jerriko or operated on by the creepy B’omarr Monks.  What’s more, there is an actual risk for the two that we do not experience often in the previous Tales.  The previous Tales take place (mostly) during the events of Return of the Jedi.  As such, we know who may succeed and who may fail.  Yarna and Doallyn’s Tale, however, takes place afterwards, and therefore we venture into completely unknown territory with them.  Without the movie tying them down to any plot specific requirements, the author goes all out in making their tale stand out from the rest.

And what’s more, unlike Malakili and his unfortunate pet Rancor, they succeed, ending the dour novel in a heartwarming light.

Now…

Ever since I first read this novel, I was mesmerized and impressed on how every Tale matched the other Tales almost perfectly.  The protagonists meet each other constantly and as such, the exact same interaction can be found in two different chapters.  So many of these events, which go unnoticed in the movie, are of such importance to the characters that I’m willing to bet that someone made a grand, master timeline of the events and gave it to all the authors in making sure they follow it.  The fact that these interactions happen at all always surprises me.

But as far as I know, no one has recreated this timeline.  It’s quite daunting, that’s for sure, as you would have to be a big nerd to do that.  And guess what?  I did just that!  Tomorrow, I’m going to release my interpretation of the overall timeline of Tales from Jabba’s Palace!  Check it out because I’m super proud of the end result!

If you had read the novel, I would like to hear your opinion on it as I know only a few people who have.  Who are your favorite characters and Tales?  If I were to pick my favorite Tales/Characters it would Ephant Mon, Gartogg, Malakili and his Rancor, and Yarna and Doallyn.

The Childhood Sweetheart Trope as Interpreted by 999 and Danganronpa

Leave a reply

One of the most predictable and used tropes for anime, and in general other media, is the Childhood Sweetheart Trope (CST). A pre-ten year old boy and girl meet each other for the first time, acquire puppy love, and then are tragically separated due to extraneous circumstances before they meet up again as young adults. They fall in love again through a series of mishaps or adventures and then get married. There can be some fidgeting with this but for the most part this is basically the sub or main plot for a lot of romantic/semi-romantic anime ranging from the humorous Love Hina to the very gruesome Elfen Lied.

I am critical of this trope though for several reasons besides its foreseeable conclusions. One is that the characters, especially the female ones, are quite dull or one sided and have no overall personal goals or conflicting feelings that paint them as actual people. Two is that we as the audience already expect them to get together and thus when we see the boy or the girl dating someone else we know it will end badly. Three is that the trope has a very predestined feel behind it, especially if the boy and girl make a marriage promise, as the girl and boy are fated towards this end result no matter what they do. Finally, the girl characters are treated like rewards or trophies for the boy, especially if we primarily follow the boy’s POV, and not as actual humans.

Now I know this is not always the case (e.g., Elfen Lied) but CST is certainly prevalent in the story telling community. As such, I want to discuss two stories, the DS game 999 and the visual novel game/anime Danganronpa, and their unique interpretation of this dry trope. These two stories have an interesting approach to this tired theme and I wanted to gush why I think these two nailed it (and of course, spoilers).

Lower row, directly in the middle is Makoto and to his right is the blue-haired Sayaka. Image from http://www.egmnow.com/articles/reviews/egm-review-danganronpa-trigger-happy-havoc/#

Let’s start with Danganronpa, our main character, Makoto Naegi, likes Sayaka Maizono, a pop idol girl, whom he became acquainted with in middle school. The two hadn’t seen each other until the events depicted in Danganronpa and they hit it off well as they’re the only people they’re familiar with in the whole cast of characters. There is an implied mutual attraction and support between the pair.

Though they didn’t know each other before middle school, this is still the CST at heart as they were separated at a young age before being reacquainted several years later. When the terrible events of Danganronpa unfold, the story seems to set up the notion that their relationship will only get stronger before they become an actual couple.

However, this does not happen as a fellow student murders Sayaka and as such, we see the first twist Danganronpa offers for the CST. Makoto and Sayaka’s relationship will not blossom but Sayaka now becomes a martyr for Makoto, a beacon to for Makoto to triumph in the end.

Although Sayaka’s death may be inspirational, she is still a rather flat character. That was the case until an episode after her death revealed her hidden intentions. Sayaka, in all her innocent goodiness, was planning on murdering a fellow student and then frame Makoto for it. Of course, the murder doesn’t go as plan and she got murdered instead. This shocks both Makoto and us the viewer. We are set up at the beginning that Sayaka would be an innocent, loving girl and yet her actions had proved otherwise. Why did she do it? Well, we’re shown in the previous episode that her band members were severely hurt/already dead and probably would not be saved unless she murdered someone and successfully got away with it.

This…is awesome.

Her reasons for murdering actually seem sensible (besides, you know, the whole murder thing). Her band members are in grave danger and she has known them for years, they’re probably like family to her! Seeing them in peril prompted her to act the way she did so she could try and save them. She tricked Makoto into switching rooms with her, lured a student to the said room for the promise of teaching him music, and then attempted to murder that student and blame it on Makoto. Since she barely knows Makoto, she didn’t have any strong emotional attachment to him and thus didn’t have a problem in framing him for murder. I actually want to see an alternate universe where she did murder the student and and how Makoto would react to that.

Though I kind of thought she would be the first one to get murdered, I definitely did not see her ulterior motives coming and was nicely surprised by it. These first few episodes definitely set the tone for the rest of the series. Well played, Danganronpa.

Guy in the middle frame with the blue vest is Junpei and to his right is Akane.  Image from http://zeroescape.wikia.com/

Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors just takes this trope though and blows it out of the water. Now, this game has so many ideas, themes, and morals behind it that I try to find any excuse to talk even just one of them. In this case, I want to talk 999’s interpretation of the CST as it’s just amazing.

Our main character is Junpei, a 21-year-old college student who is found on a rigged-to-blow cruise liner and must play the “Nonary Game” in order to escape from it. He meets eight other characters after escaping from his cabin room, one of which is Akane Kurashiki (alias “June”), whom he knew when they were kids. IMMEDIATELY, when Junpei explained who she was I was like “Ah, crap, here we go, another Childhood Sweetheart story.” I was not looking forward to Akane and I actively avoided her early on in the game. She seemed like such a flat character, another one of those innocent, sweethearts or whatever.

Well, as you may know, there are multiple endings to the game. After the first time through (I died of course), I went a different route but this time I actively engaged with Akane more often.

Holy crap, she’s funny, and a bit crazy too. Her sexually suggestive quips embarrassed Junpei (lol) and her crazy metaphysical concepts made him question her sanity. I was happily surprised how untypical she was while I was playing the game.

In fact, the more I played the game the more I realized that there was something really special about Akane but I couldn’t figure out why.

And then, wham, I came across the true ending to the game and my mind was blown. It was revealed that all along she was the one behind the “Nonary Game” and it was all an elaborate setup to not only get back at the people who hurt her ten years ago but also to save her from her own death.

Okay, where to begin.

When Akane was a kid, she was trapped in a room that was going to burn her alive. Her only way out was to solve a puzzle that she didn’t know how to answer. Her only way out was to telepathically communicate Junpei and have him solve the puzzle instead. How? Well, this is the part where things get crazy. One of the themes of the game is that the past is set but the future has multiple paths laid out. Akane tapped into that idea by communicating to Junpei ten years in the future and have him solve the puzzle instead. Her future self created an environment that was exactly similar to her past’s environment. This allowed Past Akane to look into the different future paths and try to steer Junpei to the puzzle that she could not solve. This is why the game has multiple endings (which blew my mind, this game did that a lot for me), Akane is trying to find that perfect ending. Once Junpei figured out the puzzle in the exact same environment, he telepathically communicated the answer back to past Akane and then she was able to figure it out.

This is actually why present Akane would inexplicably collapse when she and Junpei were exploring their environments. If the player chooses a wrong path (i.e., the path that takes them to the life-or-death puzzle) then present Akane would become sick because Junpei is not exposed to the puzzle, which means he can’t solve it, which means he can’t communicate the answer back to past Akane, which means she will die in the burning room, which means present Akane will die as well. Wrap your head around that one.

There are internet articles out there that like to deconstruct this concept into pieces and explain why this is so amazing so I won’t go into that. But what I do want to say is that all of this…the telepathy, the puzzles, the multiple endings, and the character herself just utterly destroy the CST. Whether done intentionally or not, 999 builds up CST and then just tears it down piece by piece and I really liked that. It’s not often that a storyteller has effortlessly guided my initial opinion of a character into making me think one way of them and then pull the rug from me and reveal what truly lies there. So good.

Image from Amazon.com

Okay, so what do these two stories have in common?  Why do I like them both?

Both of them set up the boy and girl’s relationship very casually, almost as if they were simply cookie-cutting the trope into their twisted plots but still keeping true to CST.  In Danganronpa, Makoto and Sayaka would get out of the murder game alive and become a couple; in 999, Junpei and Akane defeat Zero through the power of a emerging love.  However, this does not happen.  We are given a scenario where both Sayaka and Akane have ulterior motives and are trying desperately to win no matter what the costs.  We see what makes them tick and why they acted the way they did.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that these two females felt like actual people to me.  They feared, they planned, they made hard decisions, and they are not defined by simply trying to find that special someone or being in love.  That may be a part of them yes but it’s not the full picture.  I really liked that but it’s unfortunate that these characters stood out to me because they directly oppose a rather flat trope.  Regardless, because of their actions, they are what help make 999 and Danganronpa great as they took this trope and punched it right in the face.  Now that is awesome.

Unapologetic Nerd will be on hiatus next week in preparation for an extensive Star Wars article for Star Wars Day.  It will focus on one of my favorite novels in the series.  Don’t forget to check it out!

Pokemon in the Biology Lab

3 Replies

I’ve been teaching introductory biology labs for several semesters now and if there’s one thing that I learned it’s that you have a limited time to teach your students the current week’s material before they get bored. Most of the time, this is not an issue as students have already become familiar with the topic thanks to the lecture. As such, lab lecture is more or less reminding students of the material and less of teaching them something new. After a short introduction we get right into the lab and have some fun.

But for the times when the lab is covering something new, things can get a little tricky. I heard somewhere before that you have five minutes to teach your students the pre-lab material before they begin to zone out. Five minutes, unfortunately, is painfully short and as such, I try to mix things up as best as I can so my pupils can continue to remain engaged (one time I even dressed up as a Eukaryotic cell and asked my students what each of my organelles do to keep me alive).

Such as the case two weeks ago when we tackled the vertebrate diversity lab. One of my favorite labs ever, the students were divided into three groups and each group dissected three different vertebrates; a lamprey, a dogfish, a perch, a mudpuppy, a frog, an anoles lizard, a turtle, a pigeon, and a rat. These animals represented the numerous broad groups of vertebrates; agnathans, chondrichthyes, osteichthyes, amphibians, squamates, turtles, archosaurs, and mammals. The overall message for that week’s lab, through the dissection of the nine animals, was that vertebrates have all evolved from a simple body plan to accommodate their environment and lifestyles.

Now, on the whiteboard, I had drawn a simplified version of a vertebrate phylogenetic tree as provided to the students by their lab book. However, as I was talking about each group of animals, I would slap on a printed-out picture of a Pokémon as an example of that animal such as Eelektross for agnathans.

pokemon phylogenetics, vertebrates, pokemon

Yes, I know this vertebrate tree is highly simplified but this was the level of education the lab was focusing on for the students. The class textbook goes into greater detail about the intricate relationships. All images are from bulbapedia.

Eelektross is always the first animal/Pokémon I would use as it represents the first branch off of the tree. Immediately, once I place this Electric-type Pokémon on the tree, everyone sits up and takes notice. I like to think that I have jarred them out of their sleepy, spaced-out zone and thrust them into something that they don’t know about (if they’re not Pokémon fans) or have much interest in (if they are Pokémon fans). Even if they’re not familiar with Pokémon, I would give my students a real life example of that animal it represents (lampreys) and then explain what sets this animal apart from all the other animals in the small phylum. After doing so, I would continue to the other animal branches and elaborate what makes them so special all the while continuing to slap on example Pokémon on the whiteboard.

Besides doing this for comedic sake, I like to use Pokémon for two reasons. One, using Pokémon is a way to get students interested in the subject manner at hand. Many of my students are pre-Med or pharmaceutical majors and that’s totally fine. But here, at the doorstep of all that is biology, where students are exposed to so many different topics that they will never tackle again in their future, I try my damnedest to show them how awesome those weird and unique topics are even if they may be as seemingly uninteresting as plants or population genetics. I know I will not convince many of my students to change their chosen path in life but if I have just one student that just stopped and ponder briefly whether they should pursue another topic in biology because of my lab, then I have succeeded. Using Pokémon is just one of many ways I try to generate excitement of all that is biology (paleontology is another one as well, of course).

The second reason why I like to use Pokémon is that I try to encourage a friendly, welcoming environment in my lab. I like to have a lab where people can be themselves. My icebreaker question even sets the tone for my labs as I ask each of my students what they’re nerdy about. Let me tell you, this question is great as I get to learn so much from my students and I get to relate to them for that particular hobby at hand or a hobby that’s close to it. I even like to chat to them as the semester progresses about certain news that may pertain to their nerdy hobby such as a recent episode in Game of Thrones or a movie update for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Be yourself and be open to new ideas. As gimmicky as these may sound, I adhere to them like a barnacle on a hard substrate. I don’t know how well these two ideas have been picked up by my students, but I will say that they…I don’t want to necessary say “enjoy”…but certainly like my labs judging by my evaluations. I hope though in the long run, maybe 10 or even 20 years from now, they’ll remember my lab lectures and one day recall, while playing Trivia Pursuit, that Mantine is a manta ray and all manta rays are chondrichthyes and then they’ll win the game! But I’m just fantasizing at this point.

One Year Anniversary for Unapologetic Nerd (with my favorite articles)

Leave a reply

One year ago to this day I published my first article for Unapologetic Nerd. This blog was a test. A test to see if I could publish an article every week for one year. So many blogs on the internet become inactive after only a few months of use. I resolved not to let that happen. And I’m happy to say that, beside a few minor exceptions, I was able to keep that promise! Today marks the 70th article of my year long blog.

The best part is how much this blog has grown since I first began. From April 7th to the 30th, 2014, I had less than a hundred views total. However, just last week on the 1st, I well exceeded that mark. I sympathize with a lot of bloggers out there who may get discouraged easily. Blogging is no easy task. Don’t expect instant and huge feedback. Even now, I’m still on the low end compared to a whole bunch of other blogs.

But I like to think it’s not about view count. I like to think that this blog has been an accumulation of me as a person, who I am and what I love and what I like to think about. I may write about what’s popular every now and then but I also like to write about obscure things that I’m a nerd about such as Columbo, Chrononauts, and Harry Turtledove even if they are my lowest viewed articles.

Honestly, the biggest reason why I started blogging was so I could become an intern at the national parks. The applications for them always have a section for electronic media experience, something that I’m woefully unacquainted with. But this past year, I became familiar with both blogging and podcasting. The results? It was a success! This blog, the podcast, my teaching, and much more have helped me become an intern at Fossil Butte National Monument this summer! Needless to say, I’m looking forward to it.

Now, will I continue writing? I like to think so. This website has slowly become less of a chore and more of who I am and what I do. I might take a break now and then to recharge or to make higher quality articles but I still have ideas and articles that I can still write. Even now, I have been forcing myself to write more thoughtful and thesis-like articles and less on reviews for video games or board games (even though they’re still fun to write).

However, my current thesis work has been challenging and time engaging and has forced me to move away from my blog. Again, I’m glad this anniversary has come up as I’m worried the quality of my articles has been lacking as of late. I want to make sure my thesis is of high quality even if it’s at the cost of my blog. Regardless, I will continue writing on here cause I love doing it and I love seeing other people read it even if I still get less than a hundred views a day, haha.

Without further ado, I want to list my favorite articles from the past year. These are articles that I think were written well, or a lot of people seemed to like or comment on, or even ones that seem to garner consistent readers. I aspire to continue to make quality articles like these and maybe even surpass them one day. Link’s in the description!

02_Our_War_Game

Digimon Our War Game: Dub vs. Sub and Summer Wars and Digimon: Our War Game are Both Great Films: Both of these articles were popular on the digimon subreddit and even one of my favorite podcasts ever, Podigious, commented how they liked my Sub vs. Dub article! That was definitely a highlight for my blog. They rank high on the viewership, got some great replies, and I honestly feel like I have given both articles some fair and comparative analysis. These articles are probably my favorite on my blog. Plus, it didn’t hurt that the source material these articles came from was great quality!

The Cartoon Network Renaissance: This is my highest viewed article without any subreddit influence. I really appreciate the layout of this article as it doesn’t start off with some exposition. That’s one problem I’ve been facing while writing articles, a boring introduction caked with exposition. But the exposition that is in there is well placed and continues smoothly. And I just like this article in general.

My Feelings on Over the Garden Wall (Spoilers): Another good article that has a great opening. I really poured my heart into this one. Also, a lot of my articles, admittedly, were written the night before and it certainly shows. Even though this article was also written the night before, it’s still pretty good! I like this one.

Nostalgia Filter Test: Jackie Chan Adventures: My first Nostalgia Filter Test article. It was fun rewatching Jackie Chan Adventures (except season 5…) and the show held up better than I expected it to. I also just like talking about Jackie Chan Adventures so any excuse to do so is a good excuse. I need to do another NFT in the future…I got one in mind but I’ll cross that bridge when I have the time to do so.

If the actual ref was here, the turtle ref would have been used in kart racing.

Why Turtle Science is Good Science: I mentioned before how science articles take a long time to write so I haven’t written that many of them unfortunately. They can also be convoluted or heavy if not written well. This one though, my first science article, is really slick and I got a lot of nice feedback on it. It’s really a great article I think.

He Died as He Lived: Karl Patterson Schmidt: The turtle article may be my favorite science article but this one still ranks up there. This article especially needed to be handled carefully since it does involve a death after all.  I like to think I handled the circumstances surrounding Dr. Schmidt’s death well while still pointing out the irony of the situation.  I also like how short and to the point it is. I also like how its featured on the first page of Google which is a nice bonus.  I have another HDaHL article in mind but I won’t publish it until I know it’s ready.

steghost

Ancient Animals and their Fakemon: Stegosaurus: And finally, save one of the best for last. There have only been three AAatF on this blog. I wish there were more but these articles definitely take the longest to make. Mary has to draw the fakemon while I have to write an accurate, up-to-date article about the animal at hand. We’ve been kicking around with a few fakemon but they haven’t gotten off the ground yet.

Stegosaurus (and Steghost) is the best among the three as it’s nicely polished, well fleshed out, and the fakemon was nicely crafted. Everything about Stegosaurus I talked about affected Steghost in one form or another. I like how Mary interpreted Steghost and gave it a nice spooky vibe. Thagomize also remains one of my favorite fake-attacks ever, it’s so awesome and I wish it actually existed. Hell, Steghost is just so cool that I would train the hell out of it, haha. This article is definitely one of my favorites and I always like it when an article comes out so perfect (and if there’s an ancient animal you would like us to do then give a shout!).

 

Well, that’s it for my list. As for the future, well that’s still up in the air. I know I’ll be writing for a long time as I still have article ideas but when the internship happens, I might place the blog on hold or I might not. Really, I’m playing it by ear at this point. But for you, dear reader, I thank you for reading this and I hope you have a wonderful day!

One Year Later: Evaluating my Super Smash Bros Predictions

1 Reply

One year ago, I was preparing to start my own weekly blog by prewriting several articles to ensure I would meet my self-imposed deadline. Unfortunately, my blog started much earlier than expected thanks to an ill-timed Nintendo Direct video. The unlikely article that was now forced to become my first article for Unapologetic Nerd was “Possible New Smash Bros Characters.” I want to look back now and evaluate how good were my guesses. Some of them I got right, others I got close to, while the rest I was completely wrong about.

Image from http://www.smashbros.com/us/characters/mii_fighter.html

The Ones I got Right

Only two characters from my list were correct and granted, this is pretty good all things considering! The Mii Character was the first one and although I envisioned Mii using a variety of everyday objects such as a tennis racket or a golf club as weapons, Nintendo surprised us with a diverse character that could be a brawler, a shooter, or a swordsman. Still though, the inclusion of Mii into Super Smash Brothers was still an obvious choice thanks to their ubiquitous presence from the past seven years or so.

Less of an obvious choice was Mewtwo. Like so many other fans, I hoped dearly that Mewtwo would make a return even though it seemed unlikely thanks to the large amount of Pokémon fighters. Initially it seemed like he wouldn’t but that changed thanks to the Super Smash Brothers-only Nintendo Direct and its great reveal of Mewtwo. And let me tell you, I’m super looking forward to playing him again!

Image from http://www.smashbros.com/us/characters/reflet.html

Characters I almost got Correct

Last year, I strongly predicted that Chrom from Fire Emblem: Awakening would be a new fighter. I was…not quite correct…Lucina was the first new character but the more new interesting character was Robin. Robin answered my problem with Chrom as I thought of him as too similar to the other swordfighters. Robin, however, was more diverse using both magic and swords to fight his opponents. And hey! Chrom makes an appearance anyway in the final smash for Robin!

Image from http://www.smashbros.com/us/characters/pac-man.html

Completely Wrong

Last year, I was predicting many favorite Third Party characters that starred in Nintendo consoles such as Simon Belmont, Bomberman, Professor Layton, and Banjo-Kazooie. I also guessed characters from already-represented franchises like Ryu and Phoenix Wright (CAPCOM) and Tails (SEGA). Third Party Characters were unfortunately low this time but I still can’t believe I missed one of the most famous video game characters of all time, Pac-Man (who is super fun to play btw!).

King K. Rool and Paper Mario also unfortunately didn’t make the cut despite how amazing both of them would be. I’m especially sad about the King K. Rool as we definitely need more bad guy as well as Donkey Kong representatives.

But…

The best part about all of this though is that there is still a chance that these characters can be in the game! Ever since Nintendo revealed in their latest Nintendo Direct that you can vote for a new Super Smash Brother character, I have seen a wide variety of requests from various screenshots promoting many of the characters I have talked about here. What’s more, Nintendo allowing third party characters to be included has open the door for a diverse set of possibilities. Many of the developers and owners of these characters have already expressed interest for their character to be featured in the game including WayForward’s Shantae, TeamMeat’s Meatboy, and perhaps most exciting of all, Xbox’s Banjo-Kazooie.

If I were to guess, we probably won’t be hearing about character selection anytime soon. Maybe at the earliest they’ll be announced in Autumn but more realistically speaking I’m thinking we’ll know by early next year. Still though, if my blog were to continue on for another year, I’m pretty sure I’ll be writing another article evaluating my predictions from the new DLC characters and I hope this time, Bomberman will finally be chosen.

Tomorrow, I’ll post my one year anniversary article where I pick my favorite articles I have written and a little about my experience on the website. Thanks for reading!

Luffy’s True Power

Leave a reply

Luffy.  He has taken down opponents that are the size of buildings, stopped a coup (or two) completely in its tracks, and has declared war on the World Government.  This guy is insane.  His unusual feats are credited from his indomitable will and his strong, durable body.  Many foes have fallen to him based on these two strengths alone.  But would it surprise you if I said that wasn’t his greatest power?  That there’s an even bigger power that lies within Luffy that he himself does not fully realize?

This was first brought to my attention when the events of the Summit War were brought to their peak when Luffy was rescuing Ace.  As Luffy was running to save Ace, Mihawk was about to kill Luffy when he was stopped by 5th Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates Vista.  Upon which, Mihawk remarked this little gem.

Luffy has an extraordinary gift to recruit allies and make friends despite his rudeness and inability to listen to people’s backstories.  This gift has manifested in various forms throughout One Piece such as

-Recruiting crewmembers who originally find him annoying but are won over by his charm in less than a day

-Making friends with sailors and high ranking officers of the navy

-Stopping a large, stubborn whale from killing itself

-Temporarily recruiting Princess Vivi despite her initial goal to kill Luffy and his crew

-Swaying towns and islands from hating the Straw Hats to adoring them

-Melting Boa Hancock’s cold heart and becoming the first guy she fell in love with

-Allowing the Franky Family and the Galley-La Company to join the Straw Hats in rescuing Robin and Franky despite the three groups mistrust towards each other

These are all small to moderate examples but the last one needs further mentioning as it was a mere taste of the events to come for the Summit War.  The fact that Luffy didn’t have any issue fighting alongside the Franky Family, despite them beating the crap out of Ussop, speaks volumes of his character.

Image from http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/File:Staw_Hat,_Galley-La,_and_Franky_Family_Alliance_Formed.png

Of course, the best example comes directly from the Summit War itself.  Luffy was able to bust out of the super prison Impel Down along with a whole bunch of powerful enemies-turned-allies pirates.  Buggy, Mr. 3, Mr. 2 Bon Clay, Mr. 1, and Crocodile; ALL of these guys helped Luffy break free of the jail and try to save Ace from the World Government.  The thought at the time that Luffy would even think of allying with Crocodile is amazing.

Then, Luffy and co. arrived at Marineford which had the largest gathering of sailors, captains, vice-admirals, and admirals yet.  Not only did he have them at his back but Whitebeard was also charmed by Luffy’s ferocity to the point that he commanded his entire crew to help and protect Luffy to ensure that Ace’s lineage will live on.

At this point, I want to stop and stress the fact that Luffy would not be able to achieve all the feats he had done if it weren’t for his friends.  Despite his will and strength, he would not have been able to escape Impel Down or get anywhere near Ace in Marineford if it wasn’t for his ability to form allies.

Even now, with the manga currently on the Dressrosa Arc, this ability is once again shown in full strength as Luffy helped the coliseum-gladiators-turned-toys into allies.  They have been tremendous help to Luffy and his crew in fighting Doflamingo’s powerful family.  Again, it’s thanks to them that Luffy was able to get as far as he is now.

But what does all this mean in the long run?

It’s hard to say at this point as Oda, author of One Piece, is very unpredictable when it comes to One Piece’s plot.  However, if I were to (punk) hazard a guess I would say that somehow, this is going to play into Luffy’s continual rise towards Pirate King.  We first saw inklings of this back at Fishmen Island where Luffy swore to protect the island and we will probably see it again here.  Luffy needs an army is order to protect his islands and his friends.  The Dressrosa Arc has given him the ability to do so as he has made friends and allies with not only powerful fighters, but captains, admirals, and even kings and princes of other kingdoms.  They’ll provide Luffy the army needed to take on the Navy, the World Government, and the Four Pirate Warlords.

Image from http://onepiece.wikia.com/wiki/Hajrudin

Now whether or not Luffy will act on those resources is hard to say.  He might do it if one of his crew members or someone wiser than him, like Jinbei, suggests it to him but I think he would want to keep his life simple and just keep on adventuring with his nakama.  Still though, wherever he goes, Luffy will continue to make friends and allies in the most unlikely places and they will help him through times of trouble when he is not able to do it by himself.

Does Columbo’s Wife Exist?

21 Replies

Update 6/22/2020: The article now contains a clip of actor Peter Falk who thinks Columbo does has a wife but his massive family is nonexistent.
Update 6/25/2019: This article contains some updated information which I think proves she exists, check it out at the bottom

Columbo is one of the greatest characters to grace the small screen and is definitely among the top five detectives of all time. His soft personality combined with his loquacious attitude mixed with his attention to detail makes him a standout among other, harsher detectives. He lulls you in a sleepy sense of security and then nabs you with your guard down. Through his bumbling appearance, absent minded persona and his cheap-looking cigars, Columbo can trick the murderer into revealing details and lies that would otherwise be unnoticed.

One of the ways he does this is through his constant conversations about his adored wife, known simply as Mrs. Columbo. Columbo finds someway to bring up his wife to the killer when they are discussing about the victim, the murderer, or anything in general. This usually agitates the murderer and can then lead them to tripping on their own lies.

But let me ask you this, does Mrs. Columbo actually exist?

She is and she’s in jail right now. Image from http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130725052442/orange-is-the-new-black/images/5/5a/Red.jpg

The answer seems easy to answer at first but once you think about it, you really have to question about her supposed existence. Just like last week’s article on the conundrum we faced towards the Batman-villain Poison Ivy and her diet, there’s more to this than it seems.

The thing is, we have never witnessed Mrs. Columbo before. We never see or hear her and yet she is one of the few reoccurring characters on the show due to her sheer presence brought by Columbo’s detailed descriptions of her life and personality. And it’s because of these intricate details that many have speculated that Columbo has made her up. It’s almost too coincidental that Mrs. Columbo happened to be a fan of Chef Paris or Maestro Benedict for instance. Columbo always has a right scenario for her to relate to the murderer’s life.

Unfortunately, to answer this riddle, we would have to dive into Columbo’s personal life, which is quite difficult given the show’s reluctance to allow us to accomplish that. It’s pretty funny actually. Many modern detective shows give us sooooo much information on the detective’s private life. They’re like an open book to us.

As such, it is these precious few moments of Columbo at his relaxed state that we must rely on. Particularly, before he meets the murderer and builds the slippery slope that will lead them to their demise.

One moment that we see this is in “A Stitch in Crime,” where Columbo briefly talks about his wife to a police officer before examining the body. Now, I find it hard to believe that Columbo would continue the Mrs. Columbo façade to a fellow officer. However, you could argue that he’s constantly on guard, so to speak, and he wants to be prepared when even a police officer murders somebody (which actually did happen in one of his episodes). Therefore, he can continue his shtick relentlessly without missing a beat.

A little bit more proof comes in the “Troubled Waters” episode where we see Columbo talking to his wife via a telephone. This is where we are getting into crazy territory if we were to assume that Columbo’s so devoted to having a non-existent wife that he keeps up this elaborate lie by talking to her on a telephone and lying to everyone on board that his wife won the both of them a pair of tickets to go on a cruise.

Thankfully, in that same episode, other characters have admitted they had seen his wife several times during the course of the episode. Granted, this is not total hard proof but I’m willing to be convinced by the evidence given in the examples I have mentioned and other that I haven’t. Columbo has a wife.

6/25/2019 Edit: A lot of people have commented on this article with their own hypotheses so read them when you get the chance but I found what I think is the proof that she exists in the episode “Identity Crisis.”  In this episode, Columbo’s murderer, Nelson Brenner, is a CIA operator who murdered a double agent.  In response to Columbo’s trademark persistence, the Brenner bugged Columbo’s home and revealed to him he knew many personal details about Columbo’s life. The scene is as follows

<Columbo is in Brenner’s lounge.  Brenner puts on “Madame Butterfly,” on his music box and its starts playing>
Columbo: “That’s ‘Madame Butterfly!’  That’s my wife’s favorite piece of music!”
Brenner: “I know!”
Columbo: “You know…?….you have my house bug…”
Brenner: “But since the Director met with you, I had it removed.”
Columbo: “…Just I’m glad my wife could know about that.”

Brenner has confirmed to us that Columbo’s wife does exist.  I would be HIGHLY surprise that if Columbo’s wife does not exist then Brenner would’ve revealed that information to Columbo or Columbo would have said it outright (“then you also know I don’t even have a wife…”).  I want to doubly stress this as Brenner has been intimidating and blocking Columbo almost every turn this episode.  He would’ve played this trump card (Columbo’s biggest lie) if it meant stopping Columbo from investigating him.

This piece of information gives me more confidence that his wife does exist.

As a bonus, here is a clip of actor Peter Falk from Inside the Actor Studio recorded in 1999 where he thinks Columbo’s wife exists.  Although this isn’t concrete proof it does play into how Peter Falk has been interpreting his character.

 

Poison Ivy, Harley and Ivy

So….what does Poison Ivy Eat?

4 Replies

In the pre-Batman television series, Gotham, we were treated to a small but amusing scene between teenager Salina Kyle (Catwoman) and street urchin Pamela (Poison Ivy). Despite Pam’s starvation, she will only eat vegan food even when she and Salina are raiding Barbara’s bountiful pantry brimming with food of all kinds.

I found the scenario quite funny but as Mary pointed out to me, why is Pam eating just vegan food if she’s a plant lover?

At first I was able to justify the situation but the more I think about it the more it was bothering me. Shouldn’t Pam, and in general Poison Ivy, eat meat if she’s a lover of plants? This question is harder to answer than you may think because we rarely see Pam eat, if she does at all, so trying to find direct evidence of her diet is pretty difficult.

Asking this question did not prove very useful...and was probably a bad idea

Asking this question did not prove very useful…and was probably a bad idea

This question can easily be answered if we are in a more fantastical version of Batman’s world such as the DC Animated Universe or the Arkham video games. In those magically inclined worlds, Poison Ivy’s relationship with plants is so extreme that she becomes part plant herself. Her green tinted skin and her love for sunlight propagates the idea that she may be photosynthesizing energy from the sun.

But Pam’s diet in a real world setting like Gotham or Nolan’s Dark Knight is bit trickier to discern. How can a bioterrorist, who goes stark raving mad when she sees someone pluck petals off of a flower, justify eating a salad? She could go all meat but I couldn’t imagine her justify a carnivore lifestyle since it would support domesticated crops for livestock use.

Poison Ivy, Batman, Salad, Poison Ivy's Diet

From “Harley and Ivy” in the Batman: The Animated Series

Thankfully, we witness Pam’s diet in the original Batman: The Animated Series. In the episode “Harley and Ivy,” we see Pam eating a bowl of salad with beet juice.  She serves a plate filled with carrots, tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, and what looks like the top of some peppers to Harley.

Okay, she eats vegetables, but why?  Again, I say, doesn’t she hate the destruction of anything plant related?

Let’s take a step back.  What I want you guys to do is separate all sense of logic from reason.  Let’s think like a Batman villain.  Let’s think like Poison Ivy.

From http://www.comicvine.com/poison-ivy/4005-1697/

Poison Ivy believes she can communicate to plants.  Whether or not this is true is hard to say but one thing for sure is that she believes it.  I believe she has found plants, by communicating to them, who were willing to be eaten by her.  Her goal in saving plants from humanity can only be sustained if she eats other organisms.  I think she has convinced herself that her diet is for the greater good.  She can fuel herself by sacrificing a small amount of plants in order to save the greater biosphere.  I think in this case, when she eats plants she knows they don’t mind being eaten by her because they have accepted it.  A rose with its petals being pulled out, on the other hand, is unnatural and has no overall purpose.  It’s similar if you were to slaughter a cow for the hell of it and not for the nutrients it can provide you.

Does she feel bad?  Very likely.  It’s probably the main reason why she’s trying to become a fully photosynthetic organism.  She wants to eliminate that final connection to her humanity and embrace that final step to plant hood.  In doing so, she will no longer have to sacrifice plants, by eating delicious salads, to complete her quest of plant domination.  And when she does, she and us will no longer have to ponder and worry about her unusual diet.

Harry Turtledove’s Worldwar Series is Among the Best Alternate History Stories

3 Replies

Aliens invade Earth during World War 2.

So is the basic, and awesome, concept behind one of Harry Turtledove’s greatest novel series, the “Worldwar” series. First published in 1994, this 8-book series is one of the most famous alternate history stories written and poses one of the most delightful what-if questions ever asked. What if aliens invaded Earth during World War 2?

image from http://www.amazon.com/In-Balance-Alternate-History-Worldwar/dp/0345388526

Now, WW2 is like a magnet when it comes to alternate histories. Soooooo many authors have written about this war posing various what-if questions but they’re usually about what if Nazi Germany won the war.   No other topic in history, not even what if the Confederate States of America won the American Civil War, comes even close to matching the popularity of this topic. As such, alternate historical WW2 stories oversaturate the genre and make it hard to find good stories from this small pool.

What Harry Turtledove does to differentiate himself from other writers is focus on the point of divergence (the point in history where something happened differently than from our own timeline). It’s not Roosevelt or Hitler that gets assassinated, it’s not Nazi Germany refraining from declaring war on the U.S.S.R., it’s not Japan refraining from bombing Pearl Harbor, it’s an alien invasion. Freaking aliens.

Now at this point, you might be saying to yourself, “but they’re aliens! Shouldn’t they be able to steamroll over us and conquer Earth no problem?” You might be right, BUT, these aliens are practical…sensible…and not farcical. These aliens have technology similar to ours right now but with an added bonus of say…50 years from now or so. They have interstellar but slower than light travel, they have large spaceships for holding armies, and they have cryonics to preserve the soldiers during the long flight. So their technology is not too-farfetched.

More importantly though, the aliens, known as “The Race,” were not expecting this degree of advancement from the humans. When the Race sent their first probes to Earth, they sent back pictures and videos of humans riding horses while wielding swords and bows. The probes painted an image of the human race as relatively backwards and not a threat to the more technology advanced the Race. As such, when the Race arrived to the war-torn world of Earth, they were expecting an easy conquering of a backward species.

This is one of the reasons why the Worldwar series is a great series of novels to read. We are presented with a believable science fiction setting that offers a conflict that is not one-sided and can be viewed from multiple protagonists. Oh yeah, the protagonists. In typical Turtledove fashion, we are presented many different protagonists to follow from various walks of life, both human and the Race. They offer us a glimpse into their world and paint us a picture on what events are affecting them and what events they are affecting in return. My favorite POV is probably Molotov though Atvar, the Fleet Overlord of the Race, is a good character as well.

The second reason why this series is so great is that it does not overly rely on parallel historical events to tell a story. Let me give you an example of what I mean. Some authors, like Harry Turtledove, like to use events in their storyline as analogous to the actual historical events. In Harry Turtledove’s other famous series, Timeline-191, where the C.S.A. won the American Civil War, we see A LOT of parallels between the C.S.A. and Nazi Germany during the 1930s and 1940s and in the 1940s’ war between the C.S.A. and the U.S.A. In all honestly, it’s kind of annoying. I like my alternate history stories to progress like they naturally would and not just on some parallel track that was already determined by our timeline. This is why I like Timeline-191’s storyline during the Great War more so than the rest of the series because those parallel events are played down to the point of nonexistence.

Image from https://kickass.to/colonization-series-by-harry-turtledove-complete-epub-mobi-azizex666-t6770726.html

Now, to be fair, the Worldwar series does have analogous events but they are portrayed as events similar to what has already happened in human history. Many of the human characters compare the Race’s colonization of Earth relative to British Imperialism in the 19th century. Topics like Social Darwinism and racism are prevalent in the Race’s attitude towards humans. The humans disgust the Race with their non-seasonal mating, long-term romantic relationships, high amount of liquid waste, and ability to handle change easily. But these events do not directly portray one or two significant events that happen during the course of history. In fact, many fans of the series more often than not compare the Race War to that of the Vietnam War. Even then, this is more of just a point of observation rather than directly comparing battles or weapons that the two wars may have.

As such, we are given two strong reasons why the Worldwar series stands out from other alternate historical novels. An original concept combined with a story that is unchained from our own history provides a delightful read that can keep the readers on edge. When I read the Timeline-191 series or other similar stories, I can get a relative idea what may happen and who might be killed at the end of the story. Worldwar pushes this to the side and keeps us guessing what may happen in each exciting new book.

And finally, in the television world where more and more companies like Netflix or Hulu are providing us with original, unhindered shows that can give us exciting and new series, I say this. The Worldwar series would be phenomenal if it was adapted into a television show. We already have shows with multiple protagonists, such as Game of Thrones, and there hasn’t been any good, strong science fiction shows in recent memory. What’s more, the tagline that I gave you at the beginning of the article is enough to entice anyone to at least check out the first episode

Aliens invade Earth during World War 2.

Someone has to make it. This series is awesome.

My only request is that you make the aliens chameleon-like cause god damnet, sooooo many book covers make them just reptilian-like. Make it happen!

Boo I say, BOOOOOOOOO. Image from http://bookcoverimgs.com/harry-turtledove-books-in-order/