MATT - Thanks. I'm hoping that it's a case of "Everyone just happens to be busy this week" as well, and that in the next couple of weeks, things will pick up again.
Todd Jensen
posted @ Sun, May 18, 2025 8:52:11 pm EDT from 68.99.93.213

Don't blame yourself, Todd. Just seems like a lot of folks are busy or something. I'm sure things will pick up her in about ten days when Demona #1 drops!
Matt
"My daughter?! How dare you mock me! I have no daughter." - Demona, 1996
posted @ Sun, May 18, 2025 9:16:21 am EDT from 47.233.90.133

MATTHEW - [Hmm, been a bit slow this week.]

Yes, I hope my posts (which do focus a lot on medieval matters) haven't been discouraging everyone else.

One other tidbit from the latest "Voices from the Eyrie" podcast I forgot to mention. [SPOILER] The part about the lake in Central Park having no name, being known only as "the lake". I wonder what Hudson would have to say about that - a case at last of humans not giving a name to something. [/SPOILER]
Todd Jensen
posted @ Sat, May 17, 2025 9:12:58 am EDT from 68.99.93.213

Hmm, been a bit slow this week.

[SPOILER] The reveal that time would be spent between the modern day quest and back with the original Camelot is certainly interesting. I rather thought it would be similar to the narrative flow of "Awakening." Where the early most part of the tale would be set in the past, possibly involving the downfall of Camelot before transitioning to the modern day, much like the early episode was dedicated to the downfall of Castle Wyvern before shifting to Manhattan.

As loathe as I am to bring up anything from the CW-verse, this proposal sounds similar to the story flow (and I use the term "story" loosely) that Arrow used for most of the show. [/SPOILER]
Matthew the Fedora Guy
Ain't nothing crazy 'bout me but my brain!
posted @ Sat, May 17, 2025 1:20:49 am EDT from 135.180.3.149

Oh, and one other moment in the podcast I really liked: [SPOILER] the discussion of the part where Arthur yields to Macbeth's claim - before it turns out he hadn't pulled the real Excalibur out of the stone dragon - and its connections to how, back in Arthur's time, a lot of the minor kings and nobles had been sceptical about Arthur's claim to the throne after pulling the sword out of the stone - so sceptical that Arthur had to keep pulling the sword out numerous times, over the next few months, before they gave in - and Arthur realizing that he's doing the same thing they did and recognizing that he should acknowledge Macbeth's victory. That insight into that part of the episode hadn't occurred to me before, but I think it's a great touch. [/SPOILER]
Todd Jensen
posted @ Thu, May 15, 2025 10:28:40 pm EDT from 68.99.93.213

MATT - I enjoyed the "Pendragon" podcast on "Voices from the Eyrie" as well, [SPOILER] particularly the bit about the projected flashbacks to Arthur's original reign - I'd like even more now to see the spin-off from Dynamite Comics, and what role gargoyles had to play at Camelot. I've had a few speculations here in the past, including my review of "Pendragon" earlier this year [/SPOILER].

I was pleasantly surprised to learn about Dennis Woodyard having worked on the "Merlin and the Dragons" animated short, which I'd seen myself when it aired on PBS. (It's a high-quality animated retelling of the story of the young Merlin and the red and white dragons, done in the framework of Merlin sharing that story with Arthur just after the Sword in the Stone.) Since "Voices from the Eyrie" has included a link to it on YouTube, I highly recommend it to everyone here.
Todd Jensen
posted @ Thu, May 15, 2025 10:04:44 pm EDT from 68.99.93.213

New Voices episode posted today: "Pendragon". A regular poster or two here got a shout out and a great discussion as always.

One particularly interesting new revelation is that [SPOILER] the Pendragon spinoff would partially happen in the 6th Century and partially happen in "the modern day" following the adventures of Arthur and Griff and others. I had always figured we would see the original Camelot in flashbacks, but I like the idea that the old Camelot falling and the New Camelot rising would be happening in tandem. [/SPOILER]
Matt
"My daughter?! How dare you mock me! I have no daughter." - Demona, 1996
posted @ Thu, May 15, 2025 4:16:39 pm EDT from 47.233.90.133

Fourth! on Thursday?
Phil
posted @ Thu, May 15, 2025 2:32:31 pm EDT from 50.192.123.171

Hello all! https://www.clarksvilledrywall.com/
Joana Davidson - [ampva300 at gmail dot com]
posted @ Wed, May 14, 2025 6:05:48 pm EDT from 110.54.197.130

Hello all!
Joana Davidson - [ampva300 at gmail dot com]
posted @ Wed, May 14, 2025 6:04:51 pm EDT from 110.54.197.130

MATTHEW - Thanks for sharing that with us.

I was reading up on Alnwick Castle (where Canmore was slain in 1093, which will be, from the evidence, the core event of Demona #1), and learned that he wasn't the last Scottish king to run into trouble there. Around eighty years later, in 1174, King William the Lion was raiding England and laid siege to Alnwick. One morning, he was out for a ride, got lost in the fog, and saw some horsemen up ahead. He thought they were some of his men and rode towards them, only to discover that they were some English knights instead. Even then, he might have gotten away, but instead recklessly decided to challenge them, and was taken prisoner. The lesson of all this is apparently "If you're King of Scotland, keep well away from Alnwick Castle".

(The consequences of William the Lion's capture had links to another Disney property, by the way - and one brought up here in connection to the upcoming "Demona" mini-series. William was turned over to Henry II of England, who granted him his freedom on the condition that William do him homage, making Scotland subject to England. Thereafter, William the Lion was a vassal to the King of England, until Henry was succeeded by his son Richard the Lion-hearted; Richard was desperate to raise a lot of money in order to embark on the Third Crusade, and so restored William and Scotland's independence in return for ten thousand marks (a unit of money in medieval times). When Don Rosa began writing "The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck", he originally opened it with an account of the contributions the McDuck family made to the history of Scotland; one of these was raising those ten thousand marks, which Rosa described as the "first leveraged buy-out" in history - but with the cost that it began the decline in the McDucks' fortunes, not to be reversed until Scrooge came along.)
Todd Jensen
posted @ Mon, May 12, 2025 7:54:55 pm EDT from 68.99.93.213

Matthew> Thanks for sharing. I was wondering if there was any real world connection there. It is humorous that that is what you came up with. Ha!

SECOND!
Matt
"My daughter?! How dare you mock me! I have no daughter." - Demona, 1996
posted @ Mon, May 12, 2025 8:23:12 am EDT from 204.184.178.1

Did a little bit of research and it only barely pertains to the FCBD issue, but I'll put it in spoilers just in case.

[SPOILER] Was looking into any more connections between the Vikings and the Japanese (there aren't many) but I did find an interesting bit of culinary history.

In Japan, the word "Viking" doesn't traditionally jump right to the seagoing raiders of medieval Europe, but rather to the term used to describe buffets. Buffets aren't something that's traditionally associated with Japanese cuisine and cooking, food scarcity and limited resources were a serious concern for most of the nation's history. But post-War Japan saw an economic boon in the 1950's and with that came more economic opportunities plus the changing cultural landscape brought in more foreign food and different perspectives.

In 1957, the restaurant manager of the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo was visiting Sweden and learned of the smorgasbord restaurant. When he returned and shared it with the hotel, they took to the idea but encountered a problem. The word "smorgasbord" was difficult to pronounce in Japanese. But 1958 saw the release of the Kurt Douglas, Tony Curtis film "The Vikings", an employee at the hotel saw the film and hit upon the idea of calling the buffet a "Viking Restaurant", reasoning that both Vikings and smorgasbord came from Northern Europe. The idea was a hit and soon other viking restaurants would spread across Japan through the 1960's.

So there's a little bit of Viking/Japanese history, so to speak. And if no one's seen it, I'd recommend watching "The Vikings" which is currently free on Youtube. If nothing else to listen to Mario Nascimbene's magnificent score. [/SPOILER]
Matthew the Fedora Guy
Ain't nothing crazy 'bout me but my brain!
posted @ Mon, May 12, 2025 2:11:53 am EDT from 135.180.3.149