An Animal Crossing: New Horizons player has made an accurate in-game recreation of the main character’s bedroom from Pokémon Sword and Shield. Sword and Shield are the 2019 releases in Game Freak’s popular Pokémon franchise for the Nintendo Switch. In Sword and Shield, players travel across Galar to collect Pokémon, fight other trainers, and collaborate or compete with other players.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a versatile game that many players have used to recreate various scenes and maps from their favorite media. Most recently, a fan created a stunning replica of Breath of the Wild‘s Korok forest, complete with a shrine featuring the Master Sword. This feature is on top of the many activities that players can enjoy in-game, such as fishing, gardening, and interacting with the quirky inhabitants of New Horizons.
On Reddit, user LyrianTheWanderer posted an image of their character’s bedroom in Animal Crossing: New Horizons decked out in the style of Pokémon Sword and Shield. The user managed to recreate it with aspects from the game, such as the green comforter on the bed, a plushie, posters on the walls depicting Poké Balls and various Pokémon, and a cleverly placed Nintendo Switch in the corner. Many other users congratulated LyrianTheWanderer for the replica, though one did note that the Pikachu poster was a bit on the creepy side. In a reply, the creator specified that the poster was meant to portray Eevee, despite being placed in the same spot as the Pikachu poster in the comparison shot.
The customizable nature of the game is nearly endless, and with the seasonal Halloween festivities in New Horizons, players can now spruce up their island with spooky decorations. Many players collaborate on their designs using the game’s multiplayer, which was a major selling point for the title during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Animal Crossing allows such a breadth of options that players enjoy tending to their digital life in the game as a relaxing and comforting experience.
Aside from the holiday festivities, Nintendo has announced a new Direct focusing on Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which is dated for October 15. The Direct is expected to announce new content for AC:NH, so fans of the game are excited to see what new experiences are waiting for them in the near future. With new content, perhaps players will be able to make even more creative replicas that will go beyond expectations of what is achievable within the game. For the time being, fans have a lot to look forward to in Animal Crossing.
Revised versions of the core Dungeons & Dragons rulebooks are coming in 2024, which fans are already referring to as the 5.5 version of the game. This will give Wizards of the Coast the chance to alter the existing D&D rules, in order to improve them, following years of fan feedback and online discourse.
The new books were revealed during D&D Celebration 2021. The new D&D books will launch in 2024, to mark the 50th anniversary of the game. All that has been revealed is that the Player’s Handbook, the Dungeon Master’s Guide, and the Monster Manual will receive new versions. The rules in these books will be backward compatible with those in the existing 5th edition, so fans won’t need to trash their current library of tomes. The content in the D&D 5.5 books will be developed with the aid of fan feedback, which will be conducted via surveys over the next few years.
The fifth edition rules are solid and contain fewer exploits than previous editions of D&D. This is due to the developers having decades worth of playtesting information to work from, as well as a vocal fanbase that is more than willing to let its opinions be known about the game. The D&D 5.5 books have the chance to smooth out the remaining issues with 5th edition, in order to improve the game for all.
Even before it was confirmed that the fifth edition rules were being updated, there was talk of changing the Ranger class. This was discussed when Baldur’s Gate 3 changed the Ranger, which came with confirmation that plans were in motion for the class to be changed in D&D. The Ranger has already received a minor overhaul, with the Beast Master archetype being changed in an Unearthed Arcana article, as it was considered to be the weakest subclass in the game.
The changes made to the Ranger in Baldur’s Gate 3 were the result of many of its class features not gelling with the video game format, as many of them were tied to exploration, and were situational. The Ranger in D&D is overdue for a total rehaul and for it to be cemented in the Player’s Handbook. This would likely mean strengthening Favored Enemy, in order to bring it in line with the older editions of the game; changing Natural Explorer, so that it applies to more terrain types; and giving them a better level eight ability than Land’s Stride.
The history of multiclassing in D&Dis varied, with it being more viable in some editions than others. Multiclassing is notably weaker in 5e, barring a few powerful combinations. The primary spellcasters in the game especially suffer when they try to multiclass, as diluting their access to high-level magic is a major downside that is hard to overcome. The current edition of D&D is focused on campaigns that are shorter, as the developers and players alike realized that not everyone can pull off a lengthy campaign. As such, the 5.5 rules surrounding multiclassing shouldn’t be so strict, or there should at least be an alternate option that is more forgiving. If storylines are going to be shorter, then why not make it easier for players to experiment and play the kinds of characters they want, without diminishing their effectiveness in combat.
Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything introduced race rules that offered new options for players. This was the book that introduced lineages and origins. The origin rules allowed players to ignore the stat bonuses in the Player’s Handbook and select ones of their choosing, as well as starting languages and certain skill and weapon proficiencies. The lineage rules allowed a player to create a race of their own creation, which came with +2 to a stat, a Feat, and a choice between darkvision or a skill proficiency.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see the origin rules incorporated fully into the revised 5.5 Player’s Handbook, with the original stat bonuses being offered as suggestions, rather than being set in stone. The D&D Adventurers League already uses these rules for organized play, so it would make sense to fully add them into the game when D&D 5.5 releases.
In 2020, Wizards of the Coast released a D&D book called Mythic Odysseys of Theros, which turned the Theros plane from Magic: The Gathering into a campaign setting. One of the most exciting new rule additions in Mythic Odysseys of Theros was Mythic traits, which made the strongest monsters in the game even more powerful. A monster with a Mythic trait essentially has two health bars.
Once the player kills a monster with a Mythic trait, it returns to full health and gains new powers. The Mythic trait has since been used in different campaigns, including Icewind Dale: Rime of the Frostmaiden, but it was used with new monsters. If a revised version of the Monster Manual is released, then it’s likely that the Mythic trait will be added to some of the existing monsters in the game. It’s likely that the Tarrasque will become a Mythic monster, turning the most terrifying creature in the game into even more of a threat.
The revised rulebooks have a chance to fix a lot of the smaller issues that have plagued 5e over the years. This is the perfect opportunity to alter the falling damage rules, which have never made sense in D&D fifth edition. The reason for this is that there is a cap on falling damage. A creature takes 1d6 bludgeoning damage for every ten feet they fall, for a maximum of 20d6 damage. 20d6 is a surprisingly survivable amount of damage for a mid-level character to take, especially the melee fighters of the group. This means that a character can fall from orbit and walk it off. The damage cap exists to stop players from abusing the falling rules, by dropping enemies from a great height and trying to instakill them with gravity. A 5.5 revised version of the Player’s Handbook is the best place to change the falling rules so that they make more sense.
Marvel Champions lets players step into the shoes of several famous Marvel heroes, but the game’s deck-building rules mean that it can be hard to assess the effectiveness of any given character. While each comes with fifteen cards that they must include in their deck for all games, players select the other 25 to 35 from an ever-growing pool of basic and aspect cards.
This deck-building method helps prevent power creep, and it also means that some initially underwhelming characters have since become much more playable. Also important to remember is that Marvel Champions plays very differently in solo mode compared to multiplayer. While more focused characters struggle to do everything themselves, they’re still powerhouses when teammates can help cover their weaknesses.
10 Thor
Thor may be one of the strongest Avengers in most Marvel media, but fans didn’t respond very positively to the God of Thunder’s initial release in Marvel Champions. While most heroes have some level of versatility built into their hero decks that allows them to explore various playstyles, the only thing that Thor did well was kill minions.
However, since Thor’s release, several minion-heavy villains and Aggression cards that synergize with minion killing have been released. Thor’s relatively limited playstyle still makes him a poor choice for solo games, but he now has enough tools available to make him a force to be reckoned with in multiplayer.
9 Iron Man
When he’s up and running, Iron Man is an incredibly powerful character. The challenge for many players is that it takes several turns to get Tony Stark combat-ready. As one would expect, Iron Man is all about upgrades. While his base stats are low, various tech upgrades boost Iron Man’s stats well above any other character in the game.
Because he can get upgrades out more quickly in alter-ego form, many players prefer to put him in the Justice aspect. This lets Tony deal with building threat levels that come from staying in alter-ego.
8 Spider-Man
Like his comic counterpart, Peter Parker is a hero that villains have a hard time laying a hit on. Spider-Man may have come pre-paired with a Justice deck in the Marvel Champions core set, but he shines in multiplayer games in the Protection affiliation. Spider-Man’s base defense of three means that he can tank several hits with his normal defense, so he pairs well with cards like Indomitable or Expert Defense that let him ready after defending against an attack. His backflip hero card is also fantastic as it lets him take zero damage from an attack regardless of its strength.
7 Quicksilver
Pietro Maximoff is one of the fastest men alive, and his incredible speed is reflected in Marvel Champions by his ability to ready himself after performing a basic action. While this is good for attacking or thwarting twice, it also means that he can defend without sacrificing actions on his next turn.
Quicksilver also has a helpful alter-ego ability, Superpowered Siblings, that lets him discard two cards to draw two. This is a great way to cycling through dead cards for something more useful, and he gets to draw a third card if Scarlet Witch is also in play.
6 Gamora
Gamora is one of the bravest members of the Guardians of the Galaxy, and she’s also one of the most popular characters in Marvel Champions. Gamora is one of few heroes that can include cards from multiple aspects in her deck. This twist makes her a versatile character that’s able to adapt to different villains and schemes.
Gamora’s big bonus is that she does one free damage when she plays a thwart event and thwarts one threat when she plays an attack event (once per turn for each). This ability is fantastic in solo games where scheme threat limits and enemy health are low, but it’s slightly less impactful in multiplayer games since the power/thwart doesn’t scale per player like enemies do.
5 Captain America
Captain America was one of the earliest character packs released for Marvel Champions, and he immediately established himself as a powerhouse for both solo and group play. This is true for the Marvel Comics version of Captain America, who ranks as the best Avenger due to his masterful fighting ability.
Steve Rogers isn’t the single best character at anything in the game, but he’s good at absolutely everything. With the unpredictability in Marvel Champions, the lack of a glaring weakness means that Captain America players rarely find themselves in a bad matchup. Steve also gets to start each game with his famous vibranium shield, so he’s very consistent and can get into action right away on turn one.
4 Spider-Woman
There have been more since her release, but Spider-Woman, in any of her plentiful alternate versions, was the first character to use cards from multiple aspects simultaneously. Using multiple aspects gives her incredible versatility and lets her thrive in either solo or multiplayer games.
Her low basic stats may seem like a downside, but she gets +1 to her Attack, Thwart, and defense for each different aspect she plays a card from each turn. While this does mean that the occasional lousy draw can leave her temporarily hobbled, it’s not very challenging to boost her stats up to average or higher.
3 Ant-Man
Ant-Man and the Wasp were the first two heroes to have more than two forms. While both have hero and standard alter-ego sides, their character cards unfold to reveal a second hero form. Ant-Man has proven to be the more versatile of the two Pym-powered heroes, and he excels with several great character cards that take advantage of his tiny and giant forms.
Army of Ants (which Scott has three of in his hero deck) let players do one damage to anything per turn per card. While this doesn’t seem like much, it enables ant-man ping to Tough off enemies or take out low-health minions without using his basic actions. Ant-Man’s helmet is also fantastic and lets him draw a card or heal every time he changes hero forms.
2 Venom
Fans were excited and confused when data leaks showed the Venom was going to be releasing in the middle of several Guardians of the Galaxy packs, but it made a little more sense when it was revealed that this character is the Flash Thompson host of the Venom symbiote, who spent a bit of time with the Guardians.
Venom focuses on using weapons, and his unique Multi-Gun gives players several damaging and thwarting options. Venom’s ability to generate a wild resource in exchange for taking one damage means Flash can play more cards per turn than most heroes, and Project Rebirth 2.0 lets him draw or heal whenever he flips to his alter-ego.
1 Dr. Strange
When he was released, Dr. Strange was the strongest character in the game, and nothing has changed in the 15 months since. The Sorceror Supreme’s unique gimmick is his invocation deck, a set of five spells that exist apart from his standard hero deck. He can only play the top card and must exhaust after using a spell, but his deck contains multiple ways to cycle cards, ready himself, or reuse spells more than once in a row.
The result is that Strange wants to use most of his resources for playing spell cards, so his aspect choice is relatively inconsequential. One powerful option is to play Protection and fill his deck with healing cards to keep him from having to flip to his alter-ego too often.
The Google Pixel 6 (top) and Pixel 6 Pro (bottom) | Google
New leaks from a marketing site appear to confirm that the camera for the Pixel 6 will have a new Magic Eraser feature, and the devices will apparently get five years of Android security updates (h/t 9to5 Google)
According to reliable leaker Evan Blass, the Carphone Warehouse website was showing images of Google marketing materials for the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro (the images have since been taken down, but you can view the earlier versions of the Carphone Warehouse pages on the Wayback Machine here and here). Screenshots show the description for the previously leaked Magic Eraser, which will apparently be linked to Google Photos:
Magic Eraser makes distractions disappear with a few taps. Remove strangers and unwanted objects in Google…
The Apokoliptian warlord Darkseid has killed numerous heroes in the DCEU, as shown in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, especially in its hypothetical Knightmare future, but who are all the heroes who he defeated? The DCEU has set up Darkseid to be the ultimate villain. As a New God, Darkseid is extremely powerful and megalomaniacal and has conquered thousands of worlds in his lifetime, subjugating planets in his quest for power and the Anti-Life Equation. In a potential future, Darkside succeeds, adding Earth to his list of conquered worlds and finally obtaining the Anti-Life Equations, destroying the Justice League in more ways than one.
As shown in a flashback sequence, Darkseid visited Earth once before, upon discovering that the world held the Anti-Life Equation. In a massive battle against humanity and Earth’s greatest defenders, Darkseid was defeated, leaving Earth without the Anti-Life Equation. For millennia, Darkseid continued to conquer worlds, nearly returning to Earth via boom tube in Justice League when Superman’s death activated the Mother Boxes. The Knightmare, a possible future glimpsed by Batman and Cyborg shows a victorious Darkseid who, with the Anti-Life Equation, destroys the Justice League and takes over Earth, leaving a sinister Superman-led Regime in charge.
Darkseid desires the Anti-Life Equation because it’d become his most useful tool in future conquests. The Anti-Life Equation is an all-powerful cosmic formula that can remove the free will of any being, allowing Darkseid to turn his greatest opponents into minions. Darkseid’s acquisition of the equation and the subsequent Knightmare future was originally going to be depicted in Zack Snyder’s planned Justice League sequels. The films are unlikely to be released, but Snyder stated that the final film would have seen Batman’s DCEU ending include him sacrificing himself to prevent Darkseid from obtaining the equation, thus preventing the Knightmare and the subsequent deaths of the Justice League’s heroes.
In DC Comics, Yalan Gur was an ancient Green Lantern and one of the first to defend Sector 2814, which includes Earth. Gur was so renowned that the Oan Guardians of the Universe made his ring immune to the Green Lantern rings’ weakness to the color yellow (due to the Parallax being trapped within the central green power battery). Yalan Gur makes his cinematic debut in Justice League, defending Earth during Darkseid’s first attempt at conquering it. Though he fought bravely, Gur was overpowered by Darkseid, getting dismembered and impaled by the Apokoliptian’s polearm weapon. With its wearer dead, the DCEU Green Lantern ring flies off into space to find a successor, just as Abin Sur’s would millennia later, famously finding Hal Jordan. Since Gur’s death didn’t occur in the Knightmare, his is the only death that can’t be undone in Snyder’s planned sequels.
During Cyborg’s vision of the Knightmare in Justice League, a deceased Wonder Woman is shown early on in the vision. At her funeral pyre, Queen Hippolyta is shown tearfully mourning the loss of her daughter. Also visible is Darkseid, arriving at Wonder Woman’s funeral in an Apokoliptian vessel. Considering how powerful Wonder Woman is and Darkseid’s appearance, the Apokoliptian warlord is likely the one who killed her. Wonder Woman’s DCEU ending is also notable as it is the first to be shown dead in Cyborg’s vision, further proving that she was one of the greatest threats to Darkseid and one of the first to die because of this.
The next death shown in Cyborg’s Knightmare vision was Aquaman. Darkseid is shown overpowering the King of Atlantis in his throne room, impaling Arthur with his second trident and simultaneously disintegrating Vulko, Aquaman’s Atlantean mentor. Aquaman is notably killed with the Trident of Atlan, instead of Atlanna’s trident, which Arthur used throughout the rest of the film. The three-pronged weapon’s original owner, Atlan, fought Darkseid with his famous weapon during the original Apokoliptian invasion of Earth. Mera later wields Aquaman’s trident, when she joins Batman’s insurgency.
While Superman was not directly killed by Darkseid, everything he stood for and believed in was. In the Knightmare scenario, Lois Lane is killed, breaking Superman’s heart and weakening his resolve. Taking advantage of this, Darkseid uses the Anti-Life Equation on him, annihilating Clark’s free will and reducing him to a brainwashed pawn. With his former self gone, Superman became little more than a puppet of Darkseid, enforcing his will on the conquered and terraformed Earth, fighting against everything he’d once stood for. Unlike the Injustice video games that inspired the Knightmare sequence, The DCEU’s Superman is fundamentally incapable of becoming a villain, despite Batman’s right thoughts on Superman in BvS. Zack Snyder’s Superman, like the comic version he’s based on, is an intrinsically good person who would have remained a hero, even if he lost those he loved most.
A formidable veteran Green Lantern, Kilowog’s body is shown towards the end of Cyborg’s Knightmare vision. Kilowog has a large hole burned through his chest, strongly implying that a brainwashed Superman killed him with his heat vision. Since Superman is essentially killed in the Knightmare, becoming an extension of Darkseid’s will, Kilowog is indirectly killed by Darkseid through Superman. In DC Comics, Kilowog is a close friend and frequent partner of the famous human Green Lantern Hal Jordan. It’s unknown if Hal became the Green Lantern in Zack Snyder’s plans for the Knightmare future, but he likely will at some point in the main DCEU.
The first time that viewers see the Knightmare scenario is in a vision that Bruce Wayne sees in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. Batman helps create the Insurgency, bringing together various superheroes and supervillains who survived Darkseid’s attack and mind control. In the Dawn of Justice vision, Batman is captured and brutally executed by a brainwashed Superman, finalizing Darkseid’s conquest of Earth. In the planned (but unreleased) sequels to Zack Snyder’s Justice League, Batman is directly killed by Darkseid. Bruce saves Lois Lane’s life and prevents the Knightmare from becoming a reality, and kills Darkseid as he dies from the warlord’s Omega Beams. Although he saves Earth and countless other worlds from Darkseid’s conquests, Batman is one of the few heroes who Darkseid defeats in both the main DCEU and the Knightmare.
Over the past several decades, Marvel Comics has introduced fans to thousands of new heroes and villains, and it seems like Spider-Man is having trouble remembering them all, and more specifically, Scarlet Witch. This isn’t entirely surprising considering the number of people he’s interacted with throughout his extensive history. Still, Peter Parker would certainly remember meeting a famous hero like the Scarlet Witch, right? According to a new series, this isn’t the case, as the wall-crawler acts like he doesn’t know Wanda Maximoff at all.
Though Spidey and the Scarlet Witch don’t cross paths too often, they’ve interacted more than enough times for the Web-Slinger to know who she is. For example, 1983’s Marvel Fanfare #6, by Mike W. Barr, Sandy Plunkett, Philip Craig Russell, and Jim Novak, sees the two heroes team up to take on the villainous sorcerer Xandu, with Spidey recognizing Wanda from past encounters and saying, “How’s your hubby, the Vision…” in the issue’s opening pages. More recently, though, Marvel’s House of M event should cause Wanda to stick out in Peter’s memory. After all, the new reality that resulted from Wanda’s mental breakdown caused Spidey to suffer some serious trauma, as she managed to bring Uncle Ben and Gwen Stacy back from the dead, only for them to disappear once again after everything went back to normal. After an excruciating experience like that, Spider-Man should easily recall who the Scarlet Witch is, but Darkhold Alpha #1 suggests that the two are practically strangers.
After Doctor Doom awakens the Elder God, Chthon, in Steve Orlando, Cian Tormey, Jesus Aburtov, and Clayton Cowles’ Darkhold Alpha #1, Scarlet Witch is forced to work with the Latverian ruler in hopes of stopping the ancient deity. While Doom decides to challenge the demonic foe head-on, however, Wanda decides to form a team of “Darkhold Defenders,” hoping that they will be able to repeat one of Chthon’s historic defeats. Her squad consists of Iron Man, Blade, Wasp, Black Bolt, and Spider-Man, who are all whisked away from their ongoing adventures and teleported directly to her. Immediately upon seeing the Scarlet Witch, Spidey asks, “Didn’t… you date a robot?”
Although it’s glossed over, fans are left to wonder why Spidey has seemingly forgotten Wanda. As mentioned, Spider-Man has had more than a few run-ins with the Scarlet Witch, so his question here is totally bizarre. In fact, other details suggest the story is firmly ensconced in Marvel canon. Victorious, a trusted subject of Doctor Doom who was introduced in 2018, is present; Tony is partnered with Hellcat, a new development in his current line of comics; and Doom and Wanda outright acknowledge the Children’s Crusade storyline wherein Doom stole Wanda’s powers. Considering all this information, Spider-Man should not only be fully aware of who Wanda is, but he should also know who Vision is, that calling Vision a robot (as opposed to a synthezoid) is offensive, that Wanda and Vision have faced prejudice because of Vision’s nature while together, that Wanda was married to Vision, and that their relationship ended because Wanda’s breakdown led to Vision’s brutal destruction and eventually the events of House of M.
Ultimately, the reason for Spidey’s sudden memory loss comes down to writing. Occasionally, comics writers will simply pretend that heroes don’t have decades worth of continuity and connectivity between them. This can absolutely be a useful writing device, but in a comic where continuity is clearly in play, it feels especially egregious and serves as a discordant note in an otherwise fine story. Hopefully, Marvel will steer away from this sort of inconsistency in the future, because if readers are to assume Spider-Man remembers his own life, then his question to Scarlet Witch just comes across as mean.
Tom Brooks from 90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way posted a new selfie on Instagram with his new girlfriend, Mariah, accompanied by a heartfelt caption. Tom appeared in seasons 3 and 4 of the show. Fans were introduced to self-proclaimed “British Boy” Tom when he appeared on 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days season 3 alongside Connecticut resident and longtime 90 Day Fiancé cast member Darcey Silva. The pair met online after Darcey’s split from Amsterdam-based personal trainer Jesse Meester. 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days season 3 aired in August 2019 and showed Tom and Darcey meeting up in England for the first time. The couple’s relationship was rocky from the start. Tom booked the couple an Airbnb but suggested that the two sleep in separate bedrooms in order to give Darcey her space, as they had met in person for the first time that day. However, Darcey felt rejected that he didn’t want to share a bed with her, so their relationship was off to a rocky start.
After a dramatic trip to Albania with Darcey’s sister, Stacey Silvia, and her partner, Florian Sukaj, it seemed like Darcey and Tom’s relationship was coming to a close. However, before the season ended, Tom surprised both Darcey and viewers alike by giving Darcey a key to his house in England before she returned back to her home state of Connecticut. Although giving her a key to his house made it seem like the two were getting serious, Tom revealed a secret during 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days season 4, which aired in August 2020. After Darcey left England, Tom began to see another woman behind her back. Before the season ended, Tom made it known that his new secret love interest was a woman named Shannon from Canada. According to Instagram, British citizen Tom and Shannon have now split up, and he is now dating a woman named Mariah.
Tom, who describes himself as a “British Boy” in his Instagram bio, posted a new selfie on Instagram with his girlfriend, Mariah. The photo showed the couple sitting very close together while smiling. Tom tagged his love interest in the photo and added the caption, “I could watch you for a single minute and find a thousand things that I love about you. You’re my happiness, everything I ever dreamed of.” A quick glance at Tom’s Instagram account shows that the vast majority of his posts over the last several months are with Mariah, who goes by the name “ladym_TV” on Instagram but has a private profile, as does Tom.
After cheating on Darcey during 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days season 4, Tom received lots of backlash from viewers. However, most of the comments on his latest Instagram post showed support for Tom and his relationship. One comment read, “So beautiful to see you two lovely people and a wonderful relationship. We need a TV show with you guys instead of all the hot mess people.”
The first selfie that Tom posted with girlfriend Mariah was back in late February, and he called her the love of his life. Viewers may wonder if Tom will appear in future seasons of the show with his new partner. It seems unlikely that this will happen since Tom got so much backlash after his last appearance. Fans will just have to keep watching the show to find out.
90 Day Fiancé: The Other Way airs Sundays at 8pm on TLC.
Welcome to the Blumhouseis back with The Manor, a film centered on an elderly woman who moves into a nursing home following a massive stroke and suspects a dark secret behind the deaths of the residents. The cast for the film is led by horror icon Barbara Hershey alongside Nicholas Alexander, Bruce Davison, Jill Larson, Fran Bennett, Katie A. Keene, and Ciera Peyton.
Screen Rant got the opportunity to exclusively speak with Bruce Davison for The Manor, the terror from writer/director Axelle Carolyn’s script, and his love for the horror genre.
Screen Rant: I love The Manor, it’s such a fun and really intriguing build to the final reveal. What about the film and the script really stood out to you as something you wanted to be a part of?
Bruce Davison: Well, there were a number of things. First of all, meeting Axelle, the director, she had a wonderful vision, she had a vision of a story she wanted to tell and it was clear to her. She had a clarity about the kind of story she wanted to tell. Secondly, Barbara Hershey. I did my first film with Barbara in 1968, so coming full circle with us in our lives was really, you know, kind of the seven ages of man of actors.
It’s just an intriguing story and it plugs into a fear that a lot of people haven’t really gotten a chance to look at, which is kind of special, which is who believes you when you get old? Who believes you and then who cares when you get old? We don’t die young, that’s what happens to all of us.
It’s definitely a theme that does not get explored as often as it could in the genre, so I’m glad that Axelle brought that to life. What were some of the biggest creative challenges for you coming into this project?
Bruce Davison: Oh, gosh, it’s not so much a creative challenge anymore, because I’ve gotten to the point in my life where pretty much what you see is what you get, you know? I don’t have to spend a lot of time in makeup unless it’s horror makeup and I just like to be able to find a character and something about the character that I want to enjoy.
The character I’m playing is filled with joy, he just has a blast and I love that. What was interesting is Axelle would encourage that in different scenes too. Something would happen and I find a joke in it or some funny twist on it and she said, “Yeah, that’s it. That’s good.” So this was one of the easier kinds of journeys that I’d had in a movie. I mean, I didn’t have to suffer a lot. Villains are always great, too, you don’t suffer as much as a victim or as the hero.
Since the chemistry between you and the whole friend group in the home is such a vital element of making this film so entertaining, what was it like building that rapport and chemistry with one another?
Bruce Davison: It was so great. It was Jill [Larson] and Fran Bennett and Katie Amanda Keane, all of them brought their own characters so thoroughly to it. What was wonderful about Axelle is she puts four people around a table and she’s cast, people that have their own agendas and their own ideas and their own, as actors, great creativity. Then, you know, it’s just bouncing a ball into the middle of that and see who swats it around and that’s what was fun. Because we’ve been there a while and we’re all looking to find joy in whatever life is left.
This is not the first time we’ve seen you in the horror genre, of course, but what is it about this genre you feel keeps bringing you back to it?
Bruce Davison: Vincent Price. I always wanted to be Vincent Price. I met him at a dinner one time and he was just the sweetest man. And I said, “Did you enjoy it all” and he said, “Yeah, some stick to the wall, some didn’t. But they were all fun. It was just fun to do it. And I got to make a name for myself in that genre.” And I thought, “Yeah, I love something like that.” That’s great.
Google has warned about 14,000 of its users about being targeted in a state-sponsored phishing campaign from APT28, a threat group that has been linked to Russia.
The campaign was detected in late September and accounts for a larger than usual batch of Government-Backed Attack notifications that Google sends to targeted users every month.
Fancy Bear phishing
Shane Huntley, who is at the helm of Google’s Threat Analysis Group (TAG) that responds to government-backed hacking, notes that the higher-than-usual number of alerts this month comes from “from a small number of widely targeted campaigns which were blocked.”
The campaign from APT28, also known as Fancy Bear, lead to a larger number of warnings for Gmail users across various industries.
In a statement sent by a Google spokesperson, Huntley says that Fancy Bear’s phishing campaign accounts for 86% of all the batch warnings delivered this month.
He explains that these notifications indicate targeting of the recipient, not a compromise of their Gmail account.
“So why do we do these government warnings then? The warning really mostly tells people you are a potential target for the next attack so, now may be a good time to take some security actions” – Shane Huntley
Huntley says that these warnings are normal for individuals such as activists, journalists, government officials, or people that work national security structures because that’s who government-backed entities are targeting.
All the phishing emails from the Fancy Bear campaign were blocked by Gmail and did not land in the users’ inboxes as they were automatically classified as spam.
“As we’ve previously explained, we intentionally send these notices in batches, rather than at the moment we detect the threat itself, so that attackers cannot track some of our defense strategies,” Huntley said.
APT28 has been operating since at least 2004 on behalf of Russia’s General Staff Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) 85th Main Special Service Center (GTsSS) military unit 26165.
The group is typically engaged in data theft and espionage activity. Among its more recent targets are members of the Bundestag, the German federal parliament, and of the Norwegian Parliament.
Google’s goal with these alerts is to inform individuals that they are being targeted so they can improve defenses. The company’s recommendation is to enroll in the Advanced Protection Program for work and personal email.
Jade Raymond, the producer of the beloved action game franchise Assassin’s Creed, spoke about her new studio Haven’s first game since forming a partnership with PlayStation.
In an interview with GI.biz, Raymond said that the decision to join hands with PlayStation proved to be the right one as it gives the companies full autonomy for their projects.
Assassin’s Creed producer claimed that the project will be coming up with huge file size, adding that the game streaming technology might play a role in its execution. The producer did not share specifications for the game but said that it will have a social element to the story.
“The pandemic has proven that gameplay is the social glue that binds communities,” Raymond was quoted saying in the report. “Especially for the younger generation, this is what you do and how you make friends and hang out. That is something that we really want to build and design for.”
She said that their aim is to create a franchise that would be remembered by generations to come and would be highly meaningful.
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A post shared by Assassin’s Creed (@assassinscreed_us)Raymond added: “But how do we create an IP that has that depth, but it is designed to be owned by the fans from the start? When we created Assassin’s Creed, we were really thinking about creating an IP that can be owned by creative teams in the future.
“We thought if we create a framework of anything that takes place in a moment in history and has the Assassins behind it, [that] will be consistent with the brand so teams can evolve that and own it.”
