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I have been enjoying the new trend of more multicultural romances, and Ana Maria and the Fox is a refreshing addition. Ana Maria Luna Valdés and her sisters are Mexican heiresses with connections to the democratically elected government. When the French invade in 1863, they are secretly sent to England to lie low until they can return to Mexico. But their uncle, who also happens to be the Mexican ambassador, has other plans: Why not use his beautiful, lady-like nieces to gather support for the Mexican regime?
Experiencing their first taste of freedom in London, the sisters are tasked with entering society and attempting to shine a sympathetic light on Mexico’s plight. Member of Parliament Gideon Fox is also trying to rally political favor, attempting to secure the votes he needs to put forth a measure to abolish the Atlantic slave trade once and for all.
For context, the Atlantic slave trade involved the transportation of enslaved African people by slave traders mainly to the Americas. The slave trade regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Passage and existed from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Britain was one of the most successful slave-trading countries. Together with Portugal, the two countries accounted for about 70 percent of all Africans transported to the Americas. It is estimated that Britain transported over three million Africans (of whom fewer arrived alive) to the British colonies in the Caribbean and in North and South America and to other countries.
With that being said, the historical setting and political landscape get a lot of attention in this story. Ana María’s sisters are also highlighted in such a way that they will be the subjects for future books. Because of this, the book feels like it slants more towards historical fiction. The romance sometimes feels secondary. Ana María and Gideon’s relationship doesn’t really pick up and go until more than halfway through the book.
Gideon Fox, whose grandmother was enslaved, has worked hard to become a member of Parliament. On Ana Maria’s side, she’s engaged to be married to one of her father’s political allies. Gideon is devoted to his career, and a foreign wife would not help his cause. Nonetheless, these two find themselves constantly drawn to each other. Ana María and Gideon share an attraction, but neither are free to act on their feelings.
Despite having a fiancé — handpicked by her father back home — Ana María can’t help but be attracted to Gideon. He has his own political storyline, fighting for a cause that is close to his heart as the grandson of a formerly enslaved woman. Gideon has to decide what’s more important: his heart or his votes.
The Luna sisters have been isolated and controlled in Mexico, completely under their father’s thumb, and are not close at the beginning of the story. But their sibling relationship develops and grows. They start to stand up for one another, like when their chaperone suggests that sister Isobel needs to lighten her complexion or after a situation arises at a house party.
Ana María is an interesting woman. As the oldest daughter, she has been raised to do her father’s bidding and has lived with the pressure to be perfect in his eyes. The strain of this follows her through various points in the book, and I enjoyed the progression of her coming into her own. She’s witty, charming, and full of fire. I also love that she seems to have an amazing fashion sense.
Her interactions with Gideon were always beautiful. Gideon is driven, ambitious, and cares deeply about his cause. He wants to help make the world a better place and is using all his political power to abolish slaver ships docking at foreign ports. While he is a man of little emotion to others, he blossoms when he is around Ana María. She is determined to expand her mind, and Gideon grows to appreciate her opinions and world view.
Historical fiction is not a genre I read very often, but this book has changed my mind. The writing is so descriptive and fluid. There is some spiciness to the book, appropriate to the place and time. The author, De la Rosa, does an excellent job of writing the dual perspectives and giving each their own voice. The plot was exciting and full of tension. This book takes place over the course of several months but the time does not drag at all.
I give this book at 5/5 stars and recommend if you’re wanting to expand your reading horizons into more multicultural stories. It’s a slow burn, for sure. But, if you can stick with it, there’s a lot to love about this story.
Ana Maria and the Fox is available April 4, 2023, wherever books are sold.
Dungeons & Dragons is an amazing game. It helps people make friends, helps people work on social skills, has a role in some therapy. However, for all of the awesome stuff that Dungeons & Dragons does, it also holds a dark power. Yes, friends, our beloved RPG can not only create relationships, but it can also destroy them. Once, it nearly destroyed a Major League Baseball team from within (via Royals Review). I’m not even joking.
The Royals are a baseball team out of Kansas City, Missouri, and prior to the 2016 season starting, the team started a D&D campaign. What started as a pleasant escape and a unique way to build camaraderie among teammates slowly deteriorated and caused such a huge rift among Royals players that it started to affect how the team played. Royals Review interviewed one of the players. They anonymously explained the situation in more detail.
Ned Yost, the Royals’ manager, took on the role of Dungeon Master. While it’s kind of awesome that the team’s manager stepped up to the DM plate, apparently Yost was no Matthew Mercer. Yost’s campaigns were confusing, according to the Royal Review‘s anonymous informant, and Yost also had a really bad habit of pitting the players against monsters that were far too advanced. However, the dice would always seem to roll just right, and the adventurers would find themselves victorious despite overwhelming odds. While the rolls were good, the team was happy—it was actually kind of funny to them. Of course, Lady Luck did not always bless the team’s rolls, and so tensions ran high whenever the natural 20s became more and more rare.
But a shaky DM wasn’t the only problem. There was also the issue of the team’s healer in the Dungeons & Dragons campaign, played by Royals shortstop Alcides Escobar. The role of the healer is crucial to a campaign, and they have to be careful about how they interact with threats. Escobar, however, adhered to the Leeroy Jenkins school of thought. He had a bad habit of plowing ahead, right into the clutches of danger. Much like Yost’s overly challenging monster fights, Escobar’s Leeroy Jenkins antics made the team laugh at first—until they didn’t stop. It didn’t take long for the joke to get old.
With issues like that paired with players who were really dedicated and invested in the game, it seemed this fun game of D&D pulled the Royals apart at the seams. Tensions weren’t only high on game night. The conflict also made the Royals play pretty poorly. The team had to work to repair their D&D-sized rift. We can only hope they switched to watching Critical Role together rather than actually playing D&D during the baseball season.
Originally published on August 2, 2016.
The post The Time DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Nearly Broke Up a Baseball Team appeared first on Nerdist.
Since first appearing on screen way back in the ’40s, Batman has worn many variations of his costume. And with many different actors wearing the cape and cowl of the DC Comics icon. But which version is the best one? We looked at almost 80 years of live-action Batman costumes, and ranked them from best to worst. We judged them on their accuracy at representing the iconic character, and just their visual aesthetic overall.
1. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
While we might not be the biggest fans of the film it came from, there’s almost no denying that the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Batman suit looks absolutely perfect. The costume, designed by Michael Wilkinson, looks like it stepped right off of the comic book page. And Ben Affleck simply had the perfect jawline for this cowl. He wore the mask, the mask didn’t wear him.
The BvS suit took bits of Frank Miller’s Dark Knight, with a dash of artist Jim Lee’s, and the result is the most comic-accurate Batman costume of them all. And one that actually looks good on screen (and almost comfortable) on the actor wearing it. Also, unlike many other Batman costumes on this list, the bat emblem stands out and isn’t obscured by armor plating or other things. This one just nailed it.
2. Batman, Batman Returns (1989, 1992)
Although the costume took some liberties with the source material, the Michael Keaton 1989 Batman costume creates one of the most striking silhouettes of them all. Yes, in the comics at the time, Batman wore blue and grey, or sometimes black and grey. The all-black suit was a complete Hollywood concoction. But it just worked. True, Tim Burton’s Bruce Wayne might not have been able to turn his head with that rubber mask, but it just looked so cool, we didn’t care.
The pitch-black body suit with the bright yellow emblem and yellow utility belt made a stark contrast that was extremely eye-catching. There were slight modifications for the Batman Returns version a couple of years later, but it was essentially the same outfit. When we saw Michael Keaton wear this one in the trailer for The Flash, we got all the nostalgic feels. Because it’s just that good of a Batman costume, even years later.
3. Batman Forever (First Suit) 1995
For almost 30 years, people have clutched their pearls over the nipples on the Batsuit, first seen in Batman Forever on Val Kilmer. And they use it to knock this costume down. But you know what? This is a pretty cool upgrade to the Keaton suit. The only downside we can see is that the oval is mustard yellow. It doesn’t really pop like on the Keaton suit. Also, the utility belt is black. It should be yellow to break up the absence of color in the torso. Otherwise, we might have ranked this one even higher. Oh, and every other muscle and contour of the human body is replicated in this rubber on this suit. Who cares if there are two tiny dots representing nipples? Go outside.
4. The Batman (2022)
We love the most recent cinematic Batman suit, worn by Robert Pattinson in The Batman. Yes, it has too much padding and extra details in order to be “realistic” looking for a more grounded Caped Crusader, which kind of bugs us on other Bat suits. But the cape and cowl are perfection, and bring to mind great DC Elseworlds comics like Gotham by Gaslight. We also like the gauntlets above the hands, which make it look almost like a steampunk Dark Knight. We’re not crazy about the Bat-emblem on this one, we hate when it’s hard to make out. However, the good outweighs the bad here. Nice job, Matt Reeves.
5. Batman Begins (2005)
The original Batman costume worn by Christian Bale in Batman Begins was essentially a more modern, more practical version of the 1989 Michael Keaton suit. He still had a cowl that didn’t allow him to turn his neck, but it sure looked cool. This one was made of more flexible materials than the rubber body suit from the Tim Burton movies, without being overwhelmed by all the extra padding of the follow-up films. It also has perhaps the best onscreen Batman cape, that actually flows in the wind. We would vote for this one as “most underrated live-action Batman suit.”
6. Batman TV Series (1966)
Yes, by today’s standards, the Adam West costume is a totally ridiculous relic of a bygone age. The tights, the cape, the cowl, all look like a cheap Halloween costume. But in 1966, the Batman TV series suit did its job, which was to bring the comic book look to life. And the comic book costume of the time pretty much looked like that. It was a blue cape and cowl over gray tights with blue trunks, just like a Carmine Infantino Detective Comics drawing of the time. Is it silly looking? Yes. But it’s oh so iconic, so we love it.
7. The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises (2008, 2012)
We understand all the reasons why Christopher Nolan updated the Batman suit for The Dark Knight, and later The Dark Knight Rises. He wanted even more realistic fighting gear for Bruce Wayne to use, and a cowl that lets him turn his neck for once. But just from an aesthetic standpoint, the armor looks way too much like the hockey pads his fanboy imitators used in the film, which Batman openly mocked. It works in the movie, but it loses all its sleekness for the sake of realism. It just isn’t that pleasant to look at overall. We do like the white eyes when he turns on his surveillance mode in his cowl. That scores it some points.
8. Batman v Superman Power Suit (2016)
We could easily go our whole lives without seeing Batman fight Superman in any media ever again. However, to give credit where credit is due, the folks behind Batman v Superman recreated the best Batman battle suit, from Frank Miller’s seminal 1986 story The Dark Knight Returns, to a tea. It genuinely makes Batman look like someone who could legit beat the Man of Steel in a fight. And the glowing white eyes? Again, we love when any live-action Batman suit gives us that. We wouldn’t want to see it all the time (or even ever again), but Zack Snyder deserves credit for bringing this iconic suit to life in such a faithful way. Martha would be proud.
9. Batman Forever “Sonar Suit” (1995)
As much as we loved the first Batman Forever costume we saw Val Kilmer wear in the film, the second chrome “sonar suit” felt like it was made for the Kenner action figure only. The extra details don’t look like muscles, just weird shapes that don’t make sense as armor-plating. If they were on a black rubber suit they might blend in, but in shiny silver tones, they just pop out and are distracting. Everything about this outfit screams Happy Meal toy. Also, why do the Bat-ears have all those ridges? That’s weirder than any nipples. Still, it’s better than our next entry, also from a Joel Schumacher Batman film.
10. Batman and Robin “Ice Suit” (1997)
The first Batman costume we see George Clooney’s Dark Knight wear in 1997’s Batman and Robin is basically the same one Val Kilmer wore at the start of the previous movie, with only minor alterations. No, the truly terrible Batman costume Clooney made famous was the ice suit that he wore in the film’s big climax when fighting Mister Freeze. There is just way too much silver plating all over this costume, for no real reason except, once again, to sell action figure variants. It’s just an awful design overall.
11. Justice League Tactical Suit (2017)
This costume, which appears in both versions of Justice League, commits the biggest crime of all: it doesn’t quite look like Batman anymore. Yes, the extra armor plating is much like the Nolan suits, and is equally not aesthetically pleasing. But it’s not that which makes us rank it so low. The goggles and the ears on the cowl make Affleck’s Batman look way more like Nite Owl from Watchmen. Say what you want about the other suits on this list, they all instantly read like our favorite Gotham vigilante. He should never look like another famous superhero. We should never look at Batman and ask “hey, is that Batman?”
12. Batman Serials (1943, 1949)
Ok, this one is the worst of all. The Columbia Pictures Batman movie serials of 1943 and 1949 were done on the cheap, even by ‘40s standards. But still, there was no excusing that cape and cowl. The cowl literally slides down the actor’s face, looking extremely silly, and his ears don’t even look like bat ears. They look like horns on a devil costume. The Batman costume of the comics of the time looked much cooler, and unlike the ‘60s suit, this didn’t evoke the comics’ look sufficiently. We get it, it was a different time. But it’s still an embarrassing effort.
The post All 12 Live-Action Batman Costumes, Ranked appeared first on Nerdist.
I enjoyed Fall Anime Season 2022. I was elated to finally watch the goofy and delightful anime adaption of I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, yet my favorite series was Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury. I’d hadn’t touched a Gundam show in a while and had to pick up watching as all the anime heads were clamoring about it. What I found was a thrilling new series that had me equally on my seat waiting for more and devastated by such small moments. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury is THAT girl! Here’s the review!
A Formula That Shouldn’t Have Worked
Talking it over with my fellow anime watching BNP family, we all agreed that this was a formula that probably shouldn’t have worked but did. Not only did the Gundam “but make it in high school and also in space with actual children being involved with huge corporations and huge economic systems in place” work, but this first season has continued to build on blowing audiences away. Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury follows Suletta Mercury who transfers to to the Asticassia School of Technology, run by the Beneritt Group which dominates the mobile suit industry. She comes from the remote planet Mercury with a tragic backstory that we learn about from the prologue–that was a banger that had no business going that hard.
This Gundam show is set in an era when a multitude of corporations have entered space and built a huge economic system. By chance, Suletta is introduced to Miorine Rembran who is the daughter of the Benerit Group’s President, Delling Rembran. Miorine had been attempting to run away from her father and the school colony that made her feel imprisoned and without much agency. After her arrival, Suletta learns of the school dueling system which also plays a big hand in Miorne’s future: the student duelist that reigns supreme will be the future groom of said president’s daughter and the assets his company owns. Suletta’s arrival and continued interventions changes up the status quo at Asticassia causing waves and ripples to cliques in the student population to corporations all around.
And look narratively–the Gundam franchise has not shied away from having children or young adults in their media, historically. Sure, there’s nuance here and there: actual child soldiers from different factions in Gundam W, some young adults fighting in the tournaments that different colonies participated in to solve political strife instead of resorting to warfare in G Gundam. Yet, while there are a lot of moving parts of the plots and layers, it is mostly easy to follow. (Sorry Gundam Seed, I still think you are great!) Throughout this first offering of episodes, Suletta goes on to battle the three heirs to the three branches of the Benreit Group: Guel, Shaddiq, and Elan and it is a thrilling ride with all the teenage hormones and discoveries against a backdrop of angst caused by parents and political undermining.
A Main Character Who is Nearly Universally Loved
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury has a lot of heart! I was reminded by all the tweets and other posting on social media networks of how this newer series in the illustrious Gundam history became the gateway anime for several new fans. More surprisingly, people who I know have watched anime for years, and never touched Gundam, watched Witch from Mercury. Some of this is due to the appeal of “the new Gundam,” the catchy soundtrack, the glorious animation, but there is a great deal of love for the show because of the cast and its main protagonist Suletta. (She’s either the first female lead protagonist in Gundam media–or among the first.)
Timid, socially awkward with all the great one-liners, Suletta is a memorable character who is responsible for a dedicated meme factory each week a new episode aired. Living a childhood isolated on Mercury but also introduced to mobile suits and Gundam at such a young age makes her a gifted duelist and operator of such machinery. But because of that, her social skills are lacking, and we see this manifest in different ways: take her hilarious delivery when speaking in high stress situations at the school like being confronted or confessing. But I think you should also take note of the unfortunate scenes where she holds insecurities when she thinks she is the weaker link in the community she’s building.
And I understand that we all have different readings of the media texts we consume. I know that I wasn’t the only one pleased with this hot take of Suletta and Miorine as the main protagonist and deuteragonist of the show. On a more serious note, I do love that neither girl is a ‘strong female character’ type and they both have some heartfelt moments of vulnerability that give them enough depth to make me care about them and root for them. I also mostly love the dynamic Suletta and Miorine create not just as partners (groom and bride) at the school colony but as friends and protectors of each other. To paraphrase a fantastic tweet that I can’t find now because Twitter is on a new level of broke: I love the focus and emphasis the two girls have for each other, especially Suletta towards Miorine. Whereas Guel, Shaddiq, and Elan only saw Miorine as a tool or person to obtain, protect, enforce rules on, Suletta chose to do differently, instead offering her a hand in gaining agency for her life and her goals. Suletta Forgotta Mercury as in “Suletta… Forgotta” is my child and I would fight you to protect her.
A Near Perfect Start
My main and very valid criticism of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury is that for all the cute moments, for all the awe inspiring moments–it is still very dark at heart. Yes, yes, hear me out. While watching, I really felt emotionally knocked around–like my emotional tether was all over the place. This translated to certain episodes capitalizing on spectacular character development and making the pacing of certain episodes a tiny bit of a chore to endure because of the tensions created. Smaller instances of Suletta running into petty conflicts between other students and even Miorne do drag some parts of certain episodes. On the more extreme end, I want to point out the very insidious way the parents and guardian figures in this show manipulate their children.
From the more oblivious way Guel and Mironre’s fathers publicly demean their children and make them into chess pieces for their own goals (dueling, arranged marriages) to the slyier ways Suletta’ mother uses her daughter’s innocence in turn to create violence against other people. (Looking at you episode twelve and the after credit scene I hope viewers did not miss) Suletta’s mother is presented as an underdog and more caring of her child than the other adults but each reveal in this first cour of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury cut me deeper than I expected–not that I was expecting them! Now this is not terrible writing, I deem it the opposite! Great commentary on parental relationships, in fact! It makes for storytelling that leans into thought provoking story-lines yet emotionally audiences are going to feel weathered by the emotional load not giving them a break. An inside joke I remember hearing with many viewers is that “the hits keep coming! EMOTIONAL DAMAGE!”
What should not be overlooked is the animation that Sunrise put their entire foot into! Not only do I adore this look of this new Gundam show but I love the attention to detail in its character designs: from this insightful nod to the handful of larger/fat female characters in the supporting cast who are not made into jokes to the very deliberate designs of Suletta and Miorne and how the complement each other. (I’m also very happy to see Black/darker skinned characters without the caricature-like visuals that can sometimes be found in anime. Always a plus!)
The animation in Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury is stunning. The fight sequences are amazing and make mecha in animation, a priory to watch. I’m not sure how much CGI was used in the animation process, but I’d like to guess a minimal amount as what I watched was a very polished product. I sincerely hope this consistency continues in the next leg of this story.
As someone who has occasionally dipped into the giant mecha franchise here and there, I love this entry’s take on technological innovation and the greed and destruction that follows. In the prologue and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury we learn about the damning and banning of Gundam. While it is revealed that the technology had origins that were meant to be a medical assist to help human bodies endure the harshness of living in space and also help with prosthetics, the movement to literally kill those working with the Gundam format proved to be lethal to the work.
The introduction of Suletta, Aerial, and those who back her on this new stage at Asticassia makes for a daring fire-starter of a move. This reclaiming of Gundam and its storied history by Suletta and her fellow students makes for incredible watch and an interesting update in the Gundam lore. And in all, as stated by most: Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury is a fresh entry in the long running history of Mobile Suit Gundam and one that continues to be a standout. You should be watching this one!
Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury is streaming now on Crunchyroll. The Second Season is set to premiere April 9, 2023.
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The post A Standout in the Gundam History: ‘Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury’ First Cour Review appeared first on Black Nerd Problems.