You can listen to the episode by clicking: Episode 132
So Reed has a big plan that he has developed with his less than trustworthy father, his over-intelligent and under-age daughter, and his mortal enemy. And he has invited his teams evilest villains into his house. What could possibly go wrong?
Let us talk about all of the things that go wrong. The first thing is food. You always think you have enough food in the house before guests arrive, and then you realize that you forgot to make head-cheese. It is even worse when villains are involved. If you do not have their favorite brand of knock off soda, they will probably threaten to invade a small nation.
The next is music. You need to have something on in the background, otherwise it just gets awkward. If you do not have some sweet sounds drifting behind the din (or lack of din) of conversation, there is the possibility that fighting will break out. This is a fact, music prevents bad guys from being bad. So, hook up that Wi-Fi set and play some funky music.
As far as the guest list goes, you do need to be selective. You want to make sure you are inviting the respectable villains, not just your garden variety goombahs. Do not let the hairy hordes of Helena just rampage on your carpet. Be sure you know what evil you are letting in your front door. Oh, and for your information, Google Dictionary does not like the word ‘goombah’.
And if you do invite the wrong kind of people, or if you think you may have party crashers, you may want to hire bouncers. This can help regulate the level’s of evil in your sitting room, not to mention your bathrooms. Of course, you will need to find some good bouncers. Check your local Angie’s list for suggestions.
If you do have a party with your enemies, be ready to face a little resentment from your friends. They may feel hurt or betrayed by your actions. This is normal and should be met with ignorance or shunning on your part. I mean…you obviously are smarter than they are and can make much better decisions. You know who your true friends are….they are your enemies. Jeez…read some Sun Tzu.
Above all else, make your enemies happy. Make sure they are comfortable, that they feel at ease. Allow them into your home and your heart. Make it an evening they will never forget. Make them a key to your front door. Allow them to wear their shoes inside. Give them their choice of all your bedrooms. You might as well….they are probably going to kill you anyway.
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Jeff and Rick Present 
Greetings!
This comment was conceived and grown over the course of the week as I listened to episode 132 on break at school. After school activities had been plenty though, so being able to sit in front of my MacBook and type out this missive proved a bit more challenging than I would had liked.
First, your beverage for the issue band geek… I was one in high school my freshman and sophomore year while my family lived in Minnesota! I played 2nd trumpet, froze to the bone at football games, sweltered in the gym during basketball games, and exchanged pranks on the percussion because they would start it lol! Jeff, your never-ending home remodel had me thinking of a friend from my church who has been waiting for his new home to be finished built. He and his wife were told by their contractor it would be done by November 22…. and he’s still waiting in late April. I think his house is nearly done, it’s waiting for interior work to finish up. It has sounded as big a headache as your situation.
Speaking of school… this past week 3rd grade has been learning all about idioms, onomatopoeia, as well as alliteration. As you may had guessed I almost edited your opening about analyzing adolescent adventures to students as an example. It’s an exciting scene to watch young minds click with language concepts. It was more exciting than the placeholder storytelling of this issue from the sound of it.
A difficulty for me as someone who enjoys good books or television or film is when you have a master of their craft seemingly hitting autopilot on what you are consuming. Some of my favorite shows like Mad Men or Twin Peaks would have these moments where the plot isn’t advancing but the scenery is changing or getting shades and hues added. Internally I am screaming to move on already, but employ patience to get through the narrative dry spot. Your breakdown of this issue of FF feels in line with the internal screaming. Hickman seems to be a great writer of a longer story, but his individual parts seem to be ill fitting at times. (This opinion is merely from listening to you both as well as comments online from readers)
I could be mistaken but it seems as if this book has too big of a cast as well as one too many plots running. The art is solid and clean to look at from your screen shots, but, it sounds a bit too stuffed as a monthly issue. I agree with you both regarding Alex as a character and the ongoing ignorance of his powers. The ever shifting goal posts or age gets a little frustrating as well. I would think given the interviews of Louise Simonson as well as Carl Potts, some form or semblance of a character bible should have been in the NYC office. At least its nice to think about… handwritten notes, sketches from June Brigman, leather cover.
A tip of my cap to Kid Perspectives with Carrie! Her takedown on Reed Richards was great, and the admission there were maybe a few Bentley’s in her school was funny. There are a few Bentleys at my job lol.
Well, until next episode! May you and your families be healthy and well.
Jeremy Dawe
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Hi Jeremy!
Curious as to what after school activities you have been doing. I know my after school activities are all kiddo based. Amazing how short a full school day is from the parent’s side of things.
I used to play clarinet way back in the day, but I was never a band geek. Plenty of my friends were in the band though so they can attest to the hardships of the marching band. During high school I was in the AV department though, so I would go and film home games. Always kind of neat to be up in the announcer’s booth or in other up high off limit areas. Never had to be out in the elements though, so I have nothing to complain about.
I am writing this while contractors are in the house and in the room I am in. Month 11 of 2 proceeding. No idea when this will get done, but every time they come back is another step towards completion…or at least that is the hope. Sometimes them coming and doing stuff leads to new and different issues. Also, after they leave and we check work sometimes we find old issues we hadn’t noticed. Throw in a healthy dose of shipping, manufacturing and supply issues and it makes for a less than stellar experience. We are so past ready to be able to reclaim our living environment. We have stuff everywhere and we have to keep moving that stuff to new areas for the work to be done. Spent yesterday pulling stuff away from walls for the painters to work. Le sigh.
My neighbor friend is a 3rd grade teacher at my daughter’s school. No real point there, just a random banter. My alliteration masterpiece is in issue 12: Underground I believe. I think I linked together 32 A words in it if I remember correctly. You could always use that, as I would get a kick out of my work being used as an educational tool. 🙂
There are so many moments in media that you can just watch the wheels spin to fill time. I can understand this, as sometimes you have X amount of story to fill Y amount of time, but it is always frustrating when you know that it is going on. Conversely, it is even more scream inducing when ALL THE STORIES are being jammed into too little time. Examples of this would be season 5 of Babylon 5 and the last handful of seasons of Game of Thrones. Admittedly, I still need to see the final season of GOT, but from what I know it really needed to be done over 2 or 3 more seasons.
The book really does have too big a cast and too many running plots, but I can forgive this. It gives the writer places to go and if something wraps up it isn’t the end of the story. It just gets to be WAY too much to handle. Especially when a lot of the characters are there to drop one line and then fade away back into the backdrop again.
I believe that Carl has the lore bible…I think…with some confidence. I have gotten to see it, but it is from the way back…like when the concept was in development stage. It doesn’t really account for everything that has happened with the characters and get into the nitty gritty with their abilities, so I get future people getting all wibbly with the details. That said, so many…few?… writers make choices that just don’t sit right with me. That said, at the end of the day, they are telling the story that they want to tell the way that they want to tell it. So once again….le sigh.
I think every school and grade has a Bentley in them. I know that there is one in my daughter’s class, and it is funny to see parents dance around the topic when politely trying to discuss things.
Hope life is treating you right. It was snowing a couple of weeks ago and then we had a couple of hot as Summer days and now we have slipped back into…early Winter? A cold flooding Spring? I don’t know what it is, but I do know that I have had to a weeding to my too big list of chores.
-Jeff
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