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Halloween has come and gone and almost overnight, so have the majority of news stories on “rainbow fentanyl” possibly appearing in the hauls of candy kids brought home after trick or treating. Urban myths and moral panics surrounding Halloween are older than the parents of this year’s current crop of trick or treaters, and most likely, as old as their grandparents. Warnings of nefarious individuals putting razor blades, poison, and drugs of almost every kind into bags of candy to be brought home by unsuspecting children hit the headlines like clockwork at the beginning of fall each year, and spread incredibly fast. Near the end of August, the DEA issued an ominous press release warning of “a new method used by drug cartels to sell highly addictive and potentially deadly fentanyl made to look like candy to children and young people.” The release went on to say this was “a deliberate effort by drug traffickers to drive addiction amongst kids and young adults.” While it doesn’t mention Halloween specifically, the inference was quickly made by local and national news outlets, and another urban legend was born. As time drew closer to Halloween, news stories about this latest yet very familiar panic spread like wildfire. Warnings and predictions became more dire. Law enforcement made a few large fentanyl busts, including one where the drug was found in candy boxes and another where it was found in Lego boxes. The DEA was all too quick to make the connection that it was a marketing ploy, rather than a convenient method of drug smuggling. “This is deliberate. This is a calculated, treacherous deception to market rainbow fentanyl like candy,” said Frank Tarentino, the DEA Special Agent in Charge at an October press conference, according to broadcast news reports. “This is every parent’s worst nightmare, especially in the month of October as Halloween fast approaches.” Several weeks and more than 1,500 news stories later, according to Washington Post journalist Paul Farhi, not a single credible confirmed incident of a dealer slipping fentanyl into candy baskets in order to get kids hooked on the drug has materialized. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, as killing one’s customers right off the bat would be a bad business model, and we can’t think of any situation where a rich person would want to give away tens of thousands of dollars worth of anything for free. “Drug dealers aren’t going to give away their drugs,” said Joel Best, a professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware, in an interview with The Atlantic. “And if they are going to give them away to try and attract business, they aren’t going to give them away to elementary-school students. What are they gonna do, get their milk money?” Best has been studying the urban legend surrounding intentionally contaminated Halloween candy for nearly four decades, with data he says goes back to 1958. Writing for CNN, Best said in all that time he “can’t find any evidence that any child has ever been killed or seriously injured by a contaminated treat picked up in the course of trick-or-treating.” The myth however, continues to not only persist, but is fueled and amplified by both news outlets looking for easy clicks on crime reporting and politicians and pundits alike looking for a boogeyman to strike down while appearing tough on crime. Senate Republicans released a PSA in early October practically dripping with fear and panic. “The powerful drug cartels are coming after your kids, your neighbors, your students, your family members, and your friends. No one is spared as fake pills laced with fentanyl are beginning to look like candy in an effort to lure young Americans,” said Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn. Both the GOP and its chief mouthpiece, Fox News, tried to tie the myth to President Joe Biden and Democrats. Lauding the infamously failed “just say no” campaign during President Ronald Reagan’s failed War on Drugs, one Fox columnist wrote “Former first lady Nancy Reagan built an entire anti-drug campaign urging kids to "Just Say No" in the 1980s, but President Biden just says "Yes" to drug traffickers pouring over the border illegally and going after our kids.” Democrats too, pushed the panic button, with Chuck Schumer saying in September “They’re trying to get children younger and younger to take this horrible, horrible drug,” Schumer said. “This is nothing short of despicable by these drug dealers, who are luring kids, young kids, to take this drug with terrible consequences for themselves.” Drug addiction, overdoses, and substance abuse at large are real problems in America that require thoughtful and careful solutions that address the root causes, and do so in a way that reduces harm. Moral panics based on flimsy or no evidence and hearsay do nothing to address this problem, and in fact, cause more harm. The stigma attached to drug use, which trickles all the way down to even legal or legal in some places substances like marijuana only push people further away from attempting to access what little resources might be available for help. Meanwhile, fake news stories pushing panics give life to grifters and opportunists all too eager to use the fear they create to move forward with an agenda that makes America look and feel all the more dystopian.

Every once in a while two albums are released and demand to be compared and contrasted. Co-Dependent Review brings together those albums as two of our writers give the albums a listen and rank the best they have to offer in a rotating lineup of categories. IN this inaugural edition Alex Orona and Julian Ramirez take on Taylor Swift's Midnights and Carly Rae Jepsen's The Loneliest Time. Julian Ramirez: A couple weeks ago two behemoths of pop music, albeit with very different fan bases, released some highly anticipated albums. Taylor Swift’s Midnights and Carly Rae Jepsen ’s The Loneliest Time. Both albums have been receiving their flowers since release and with good cause. Both albums are worth late fall records that will surely be playing well into spring next year. Alex Orona: Both are great pop music artists in their own right but Carly Rae Jepsen never really broke into the mainstream since "Call Me Maybe". Instead she continued garnering more underground and nerd cred to form a solid fan base while Taylor Swift still remains at the top of her game as far as being a prominent hit maker. Best Single JR: Carly Rae Jepsen - "Western Wind" I’ve always considered Rostam Batmanglij the secret sauce of anything he’s involved with and this song is no exception. While I typically shy away from songs that sound so different from the rest of the album, this just hit the spot. The constant percussion and much more chilled presentation is a nice respite from the more 80s twinged jams that the album is chock full of. Plus I’m a sucker for layered references and the Greek pantheon nods are perfect. AO: Carly Rae Jepsen "Beach House" I absolutely agree with "Western Wind" as a solid single. I feel like Carly works best when she leans into that 80’s aesthetic. For me Beach House was too funny and too dancy to not put it as my favorite single off this album. I still dance around my kitchen to this one when cooking. Most Danceable Track JR: Carly Rae Jepsen "Beach House" Who doesn't like dancing to a song about the terrors of the dating world and references to getting murdered in at a beach house? But seriously, the grooves on this song make you forget about the fuckboy/serial killer antics and make you lose yourself to dance. AO: Carly Rae Jepsen "Shooting Star" I don’t know, while Beach House is fantastic for dancing, the beat of “Shooting Star” just hits so hard. Plus that tiny bit of auto tune to Carly’s voice here adds some extra flavor. You could have told me that this was a one off Daft Punk or Black Eyed Peas song and I’d believe it. I expect to hear this in the future at clubs. Best Intro (Side 1, Track 1s) Taylor Swift - "Lavender Haze" AO: This really brings the vibes. A dark dance rhythm with some clear not giving a fuck attitude that makes you want to relax into a scene of smokey lavender haze. This is somehow both angsty and sexy in equal measure and I’m here for it. "Surrender My Heart" is a fantastic power ballad, I felt like Lavender Haze put me in a real mood that I didn’t want to come away from. Also considering Taylor uses a lot of vocal echo effects on this album, this was one where it felt restrained, which is good. JR: Completely agree! I think the hazy instrumentals mixed with the almost hip hop beat lead in make for an interesting track that grabs you right off the bat. The reference to lavender haze from Mad Men is certainly interesting, especially since the phrase has grown over the years and has a more specific meaning than just any two people falling in love. Best Ballad Carly Rae Jepsen "Surrender My Heart" AO: I feel both albums failed to bring the ballads but "Surrender My Heart" feels like the call out to the world that you are ready to love again. Real Lizzo "2 Be Loved" moods here and it feels confident. It’s putting your heart on your sleeve while emphasizing the 80’s synth that really punctuates CRJ’s style. JR: Again, I agree. Could you say that a lot of the tracks on Swift's album are close to being ballads since they are so ingrained with storytelling and themes of love? Sure, but "Surrender My Heart" is so unabashedly a ballad that it takes this category easily. Best Feel Good Track AO: Taylor Swift - "Sweet Nothing" Sometimes simplicity is best and in this case it’s just Taylor and a keyboard. It’s just a basic melody and lyrics but they speak volumes with their message. Sometimes a lack of expectations from your partner is all you need to feel welcome when the world feels so cold. Also the faint trumpets that punctuate the chorus are chefs kiss. JR: Taylor Swift - "Snow on the Beach " “Sweet Nothing” definitely has that easy go lucky feel to it but I think "Snow on the Beach" has this interesting fairy-tale quality to it. Lana Del Rey also adds a lot to the whole dreamy aesthetic the song (and album) is going for, really making it feel like it's floating as she and Swift serenade you with a tale of two people falling in love. Best Final Track (not counting bonus tracks) JR: Carly Rae Jepsen "The Loneliest Time" Much like the opening track going to Swift, I don’t think there's any denying the closing track goes to Jepsen. Swift’s “Mastermind” feels like it’s ramping up to something but never truly gets there despite that being everything that the song is about - “You knew that I'm a mastermind and now you're mine”. “The Loneliest Time” on the other hand has Jepsen at her most sparkly and determined sounding despite the song’s theme of being just out of reach. Plus how can you deny the Rufus Wainwright’s duets and the infectious TikTok anthem in the line “But you know what? I'm comin' back for you, baby, I'm comin' back for you!” AO: Carly Rae Jepsen "The Loneliest Time" Absolutely. While “Mastermind” almost felt manipulative, ”The Loneliest Time” felt like an agreement between two people to just be together and enjoy each others company. Rufus Wainwright being the perfect accompaniment to CRJ’s confident vocals while the rest of her band transports you to the neon lights of a discotheque. Best Bonus Track AO: Carly Rae Jepsen "Anxious" How do you make a song about being anxious about your partner’s reputation into a dancy funk disco track? I don’t know how but I was tapping my feet the entire way. It’s got a phenomenal headbob effect, where you can’t help but move to it. Top quality production with vocal drops, fantastic synth arrangements. JR: Taylor Swift "Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve" If there is any track that absolutely, positively, should have been included in the album proper: "Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve" is it. It feels like a great summation of a lot of Swift's songwriting about personal breakups. It's so layered with references and killer lines that are actually hold up Swift's lyrics properly with the driving rhythms haze. Final Thoughts AO: I felt like Taylor had more thematic elements, considering it was a concept album, I still found the voice echo effects overused. As a full project, Taylor’s is more fully realized, but I still feel like Carly Rae Jepsen’s music generally sticks with me longer as a singular song catalog. JR: I typically gravitate to the more album focused releases, so I should like Midnights more than I do. But I think Carly Rae Jepsen has been making some of the funnest pop music in recent memory and while The Loneliest Time may just be a collection on 80s inspired hits, it more than satisfies my need for bright sounds in my life.

It’s so easy to compare one video game to another when writing reviews. While that’s something I try to avoid, it’s hard, especially when a game does little to hide its inspiration. Such is the case with The Entropy Centre, a game that is full of its own ideas, but one that also takes wholesale inspiration from the Portal series. The Entropy Centre is a puzzle game played from the first person perspective. In it you play as Aria, seemingly the last human left alive after a mysterious cataclysmic event. But that’s okay, because as an Entropy Centre Puzzle solver, it’s your job to save the Earth. And how do you do that? Through puzzle solving, of course. But while the Entropy Centre has been saving the Earth from cataclysmic events for decades, something has gone terribly wrong. Aided by ASTRA, your AI inhabited time reversing gun, it’s your job to figure out what happened to the Entropy Centre and its employees—and to save Earth. At the core of The Entropy Centre is a Sci-Fi mystery, and I can’t help but get wrapped up in those. While your AI companion ASTRA provides some levity and lore context, it never quite matches up with Portal’s GLADoS, despite some very on the nose parallels--there’s even a fat joke thrown in there at one point. While The Entropy Centre doesn’t make any overt references to the Portal series, it’s almost unashamed in how much it copies Valve, but changes just enough to make it its own thing. But what makes a great puzzle game isn’t just the set decorations, but the puzzles themselves. As an Entropy Centre employee, your job is to solve puzzles to create entropy, which powers the organization’s time-reversing technology, which they use on large scale to help Earth avoid destruction. On a smaller scale, this technology is used to solve puzzles. You can’t just go reversing anything and everything, however—only puzzle elements can be rewound, as well as environmental elements that have recently been changed. That usually means you can un-break walls, reconstruct walkways, etc. But the bread and butter of The Entropy Centre is its cube-based puzzle solving. The Entropy Centre does a good job easing you into its various puzzle mechanics. You start with putting blocks on pressure switches, and eventually move up to more complicated mechanics involving walkways, lasers, block transforming fields and more. You can carry blocks, and most importantly, rewind their position in space time—or even freeze them in place, stuck in time until you manipulate another object or release them. Each object can only be rewound a finite amount of time—about 36 seconds or so. I always say that puzzle games are easier or harder based on whoever is playing them. I found the puzzles in The Entropy Centre to be incredibly easy. I’m not sure why, but I was rarely stumped for more than a few moments. It feels like the nature of the time rewinding systems in The Entropy Centre restrict the possible solutions. And most puzzles simply require you to work backwards to make them work. Even towards the end of the game, when most of the puzzle systems are incorporated, there are only ever one or two parts to consider. Even when I completed a particularly difficult puzzle, I never really felt that “a ha!” moment that made playing Portal and Portal 2 so satisfying. More than easy puzzles, some of the puzzles felt a little half baked. Sometimes I found myself solving a puzzle while bypassing certain elements completely. I wasn’t intentionally trying to cheese them, but sometimes the most obvious answer felt like an unintended one—which makes the puzzles feel a rough around the edges. I didn’t run into any bugs in my playthrough, however, so at least from my experience The Entropy Centre is sound on a technical level. While The Entropy Centre takes a lot of cues from Portal, its time reversing puzzle mechanic is pretty different than the portals of Portal. However, its aping of Portal is probably some of its best parts in regards to the setting and lore. It’s too bad the puzzles themselves never felt as refined or engaging as Portal’s challenges. But if you’re looking for a decent puzzle game with a mystery at its heart, The Entropy Centre is a pretty good option. The Entropy Centre will release tomorrow on PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store and for PlayStation and Xbox. A Steam key was provided to us for this review

The Steam Deck is a runaway hit, and the best handheld console I’ve ever played. Even so, it was a bummer to have to wait for Valve’s official dock, so I decided to look around for alternatives. It looks like the Steam Deck Dock by JSaux does the job, and pretty well. If you saw the official Steam Deck Dock first look at the Tokyo game show, you’ll see that JSAUX has the right idea in terms of their docks. In fact, the JSAUX “upgraded” dock has a lot going for it. It has a HDMI 4k output at 60Hz, a LAN port that gives you gigabit speeds, three USB-A 3.0 ports, and the (unfortunately only) USB-C hookup to charge and connect your deck to the dock. I was hoping that somehow someone would come up with a dock that defied the Deck’s design–that top mounted USB-C input. Because of the Deck’s USB location, using the Steam Deck in a docked experience isn’t seamless like the Nintendo Switch. First of all, you have to plug the USB C into the upper port of your Deck–something that Switch bypasses by having a hardware connection on the bottom, making docking your Switch and getting into TV mode easy, and even a little fun. Conversely, the docked experience with the Steam Deck has been a mixed bag, but most of that has been fixed with new Steam Deck updates that have rolled out. While the JSAUX Dock does everything I want it to, it’s not perfect. I do wish it was a little heavier. I’m sure some will appreciate a light device, but for something that requires stiff cables to stick out of the back of the device, it’s surprisingly not as stable as a Nintendo Switch dock. It also doesn’t have a screen shield, which is something I was baffled by on the Switch until using this Dock. I also wish the JSAUX Dock had more USB-C ports, but that’s a problem even the official Dock looks like it’ll have at release–at least according to what we saw at the Tokyo Game Show. Docking the Steam Deck was not, and is not, a seamless experience–but I’m wondering if that’s more on the software side for the Deck itself instead of any product that is being put out. When I hooked the dock up to a 4k TV, I was forced to change the resolution for each individual game. Not only that, but the UI itself scaled to 4k, dragging the system performance down while in the menu. After the latest Beta and Preview updates, however, docking the Deck into a JSAUX Dock is almost great at any resolution. Games scale automatically, or based on the global resolution setting in the Deck itself. The JSAUX Dock is not only an excellent stopgap, but it might be just as good as the real thing. I’ll have to wait until I get my hands on the official Steam Deck Dock, but for now, the JSAUX Steam Deck Dock does everything I wanted the OEM dock to do, and with its newer model releasing with an NVME slot, it feels like JSAUX is beating Valve at its own game. A part of me wonders if the Steam Deck Dock is ready, but it’s the Steam Deck itself that is going through the necessary changes before the proper Steam Deck Dock is rolled out. That said, if you have a tiny bit of know-how, you can make the JSAUX Dock work for you. You can check out the JSAUX Dock here. A Jsaux Dock was sent to us for the purposes of this review.

I’m a huge Warhammer: Vermintide 2 fan. It’s a game I’ve played almost weekly since its Early Access release. While my group and I have cooled on it a bit since the Bela’kor update messed with the balance of the Chaos Wastes game mode, it wasn’t something to worry about since Darktide was on the near horizon. Well, I finally got a chance to play Darktide myself, and let me say: the wait has been worth it. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is an upcoming first person four player co-op game, and a bit of a spiritual successor to Fatshark’s Vermintide games. Set in the Grim Dark future of the 40k universe, Darktide isn’t just Vermintide 2 in space–but it still brings that same great weapon feel as you fight off the forces of Chaos through the darkened, rusted corridors of Tertium’s underbelly. If you’re not familiar with Warhammer 40,000, its bleak techno fascist future, that’s okay, all you need to know is that the Emperor’s will is indomitable, and as prisoner “rejects” you’re in no place to refuse. You’ll be thrust into the bowels of the hive city Tertium in search of the source of the encroaching Chaos, fighting a dark tide of Chaos corrupted enemies along the way. One of the things that made Vermintide 2 so enduringly fun was its fantastic melee combat, and Darktide doesn’t disappoint. Enemies in Darktide feel a bit more formidable than those in Vermintide 2, however, and ranged enemies pose a constant threat, where they would mostly just be a nuisance or occasional danger in Vermintide 2. Ranged combat feels great, however, and the inclusion of genuine ranged threats really does a lot to make Darktide standout from Vermintide 2. While Vermintide 2 had five premade characters, Darktide has you create your own unique character with their own backstory selected from an arrangement of backstories. While I’ll definitely miss having established characters to play as, being able to create your own character with their own backstory is an equitable trade-off. At launch, there will only be 4 classes, with new classes being promised every quarter. But for those (like me) who have been waiting on Sienna’s final career in Vermintide 2, this might not be the most welcome news. Still, the four classes that were available during the Beta were fun and varied–but I don’t think it’ll be enough for a full release. Despite Darktide not officially launching into Early Access, it sort of feels like it is. Not only that, but Fatshark is undecided whether it will charge for new classes–and with a game that has a Premium Currency, that’s a little bit of a bummer. However, new game modes, areas, and missions are promised to remain free according to a statement Fatshark released on Friday. As a longtime Vermintide fan, I’m definitely excited for Darktide. If you’re at all interested in Left 4 Dead style co-op games, Fatshark has the formula figured out. I can’t wait until Warhammer 40,000 releases next month. After the fun we had in the beta, it’s going to be a long wait. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide will be available on November 30th. A set of Beta keys was provided to us for this preview.

I’ve been replaying classic horror games a lot lately, and there’s something about their low polygon, low resolution nature that makes them scarier than a lot of modern games. But Signalis isn’t a game that leans on nostalgia in any obvious way. It doesn’t even really bill itself as a retro experience, because while it has those elements, it’s more than a game that’s just banking on nostalgia. Signalis is a survival horror game mostly played from an isometric perspective. In it, you play as Elster, a synthetic person who is looking for her lost partner who is trapped on a frozen planet, in a facility full of walking nightmares. There’s an extra layer of horror as you uncover that the society in which you live is a fascist, totalitarian regime. Replikas work and live among the normal populace, serving as guardians and workers—not quite human, but resembling them. In classic survival horror fashion, you have to explore the facility uncovering the truth, while fighting off enemies with a variety of weapons, bypassing locked doors and other obstacles to progress. It’s very Resident Evil-like, but with a retro-glitch veneer and a little bit of anime flavor. There are puzzles to solve, and enemies to avoid or fight—ammo is scarce. And unlike some games that claim ammo scarcity, there were some moments in Signalis that I had to choose to avoid enemy encounters rather than use what precious few bullets I had left. While Signalis dabbles in both traditional horror and psychological horror, it’s more effective towards the latter. I just didn’t find Signalis to be a very scary game overall. There were parts that were definitely unsettling, but that was mostly despite its setting and environment instead of because of it. Signalis also relies heavily on horror tropes—but mostly uses them well. However, despite its attempts at a scary atmosphere, I was never so much scared while playing Signalis as intrigued. But Signalis does use its environments well, and uses shifting perspectives even better. Occasionally, you will shift into a first person view, usually to interact with a specific object, or to solve a puzzle. Sometimes, usually during flashbacks, there are entire sections played in first person. These parts really helped to amp up the psychological horror aspects of Signalis. There is an underlying mystery throughout Signalis, and you’ll get glimpses of it as you progress through each area. But at first, you start off with little information on the what, who or why of anything—and you won’t even be sure that if what your character is experiencing is real. Sometimes new clues will unlock new memories, and adventures into these different memories can even yield objects that you can take and use in the waking world, which deepens the mystique. While you can avoid much of the fighting in Signalis, there are times you will be forced to fight. Combat in Signalis works almost identically to how Resident Evil established third person horror combat way back in the 90s: aim your weapon to ready it, and then fire. There are tools to help you avoid combat, or survive if your HP hits zero. Which is good, because Signalis using a bit of an archaic-made-new-again save system—you can only save at certain checkpoints, in safe rooms, much like Resident Evil. The equipment that you carry in Signalis can actually be pretty powerful—and I found that the game was pretty generous with how it gives out items. To combat this, Signalis gives you an incredibly limited inventory space of only 6 items. You don’t have to play inventory Tetris to get everything to fit, however. In addition to the simplified inventory, like items stack to a certain number. However, weapons, tools, and consumables all take up inventory slots per item type. Therefore, you will have to pack carefully. If you want to bring extra health, you might not have enough room for extra ammo, too. And since ammo can be genuinely scarce, sometimes inventory management is where the real horror of Signalis comes in. Despite how familiar Signalis is, it does a few things differently, and the things it apes from other games it does very well. Signalis is an unexpected hit, and my favorite new survival horror game this year. It’s a little light on scares, even despite its limited ammo. But it has an intriguing mystery and excellent sci-fi world building. If you are looking for a survival horror game to play this Halloween, Signalis should be towards at the top of your list. Signalis will be available 10/27 on PC via Steam and is also available on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 as well as Xbox One and Xbox Series S|X through Humble Bundle. A Steam key was given to us for this review

By Alex Orona There’s really no question that the state of DC’s movie studios has been a mess in the last 5 years. Building a shared universe with conflicting timelines, giant glaring plot holes, recastings and disconnected side films and TV shows are just a few examples. Along with the confusion of continuity comes an even wider range of quality, from some of the best character writing in all of comics to the cringiest. Now in 2022, we take a look at what the future can hold for the underdog of comic film properties. The biggest news to come out of the last few months is that James Gunn (Director of Guardians of the Galaxy and The Suicide Squad) and Petera Safran (Producer of Aquaman and Peacemaker) have been made co-CEOs of DC’s TV and film division. This comes on the heels of CW’s Arrowverse finally wrapping up for good, which could mean we’re ready for a re-launch. After all, Gunn has already successfully spun off Peacemaker into a well lauded series that has been picked up for a second season. Gunn’s reign is comparable to the Kevin Feige role over at Marvel, which would put him in charge of a possible shared continuity. This could straighten out timelines, and give him an opportunity to continue his take on the comic characters since his take on The Suicide Squad lead to the Peacemaker show. Since then he’s connected it to the wider Justice League lore, connecting to the wider continuity. One wrinkle in these DC turnovers has been the wider Warner Bros leadership that has cut most of the cartoon series, and even a fully finished Batgirl movie. This was a shock to the creators and fans alike as it also promised a return for current comeback king Brendon Fraser (playing Batman villain Firefly.) Another ongoing issue has been Ezra Miller, whose erratic behavior has become increasingly problematic, including possible jail time. On the positive side, we now have a full confirmation of the return of Henry Cavill as Superman. This is massive news as he had previously stated he was done with the character. Now with a teased appearance in the new Black Adam film, and Instagram videos from the man himself, it’s starting to look like an exciting time full of possibilities for the DC extended universe. Let’s just keep our eyes on the skies but one foot on the ground.

By Alex Orona The latest in Marvel TV series, She-Hulk, stood out as their first comedy series in a massive slate of shows and movies. It focused heavily on a mix of procedural law satire with the occasional super hero action but it always felt at odds with our protagonist. You see, our hero, Jennifer Walters, for all intents and purposes, hates all things superhero. Any time there is a problem that calls for a swift punching, Jennifer has a tendency to roll her eyes and does everything in her power to avoid it. Herein lies the fascinating conundrum of She-Hulk: Attorney At Law. The twist of She-Hulk comes directly from the comics. Since her debut comic in 1989 (The Sensational She-Hulk,) she has been breaking the fourth wall. She would punch her way through the comic covers, address the audience directly and would even jump out of panels to turn the page herself. It was a compelling twist to the character that has since been adapted perfectly to the show. Jennifer is quick to comment on cameos or Easter Eggs that speaks directly to the fanbase. While speaking to the audience for quick bits of comedic fodder works in spades, it’s when Jennifer directly disagrees with the proceedings that the show takes a turn. There are several events, specifically when it comes to the super hero action sequences, where our hero specifically addresses the lowbrow nature of these actions. It’s an interesting juxtaposition as the most recent batch of Marvel shows have had a common issue of unsatisfying plots with sub par finales usually resulting in a big flashy action set piece. Here we have the conundrum. Like the previous Marvel shows and movies, She-Hulk continues throughout its run, barreling like a train directly towards the exact same resolution. Bound to make similar mistakes as its predecessors, and Jennifer Walters is fully aware of it. It isn’t until the final two episodes that we finally see her take agency for her own story. Like any coming of age tale, there comes a time when a person needs to make a choice to avoid complacency. Taking responsibility for their own life choices. It’s a show that is directly at odds with its protagonist. By the show's closing final episode, Jennifer Walters is someone who has chosen to embrace her double life as a lawyer and superhero, literally jumping out of the Disney+ menu to find the heads of Marvel and make changes to her story that better suit her own sensibilities. She doesn’t want to fall victim to the same mistakes of the previous shows, but also takes control of her story and where it should logically go, as opposed to shoehorning in a big flashy action sequence. Through a hilarious conversation with the head of Marvel, an android program named K.E.V.I.N., she is able to re-write her ending. It’s not the most sensical ending overall, but emphasizes her own ability to take the reins. This sequence speaks to the power of the character but also invokes a larger conversation regarding how these shows are written. Seeing a character fully aware of the inevitable displays She-Hulk’s duality. There have been other media that have followed similar trajectories. Stranger Than Fiction, the 2006 Will Ferrell film follows this troupe equally well. There’s something to be respected about a character that refuses to accept a subpar ending to their story and in this case that can be said about any person period. Seeing circumstances in your own life that seem inevitable, but choosing to make a change to what really makes you happy is an act of heroism a normal person like Jennifer Walters can achieve. This is definitely an admirable trait, and I respect She-Hulk’s writers all the more for it.

For most of us, at least some of the time, fast food is a fact of life. Whether it’s because you’ve got very little time but still need to eat, are on a road trip, don’t feel like cooking or simply because you just enjoy it (which is totally okay, by the way!) everyone from journalists who forgot to eat all day to politicians and celebrities get in those drive through lines. The pandemic changed a lot of things, not all for the better, but one thing that’s a perk is the rise of the fast-food app. Apps not only mean you can take time and think about your order – they offer an opportunity to take advantage of some seriously great rewards systems. Many offer Apple or Android Pay or at the very least an option to store a card, and some even offer detailed tracking so you know just when to show up to grab your grub. One of the very best features of the fast food apps we’re featuring though? They save you tons of money! On top of the rewards you get for signing up for their loyalty programs and ordering for the first time, like a free sandwich from Jimmy John’s or free fries on Fridays from Mcdonald's, many of the major fast food apps have exclusive deals only available to those ordering via mobile/online. These deals mean instead of spending nearly 20+ dollars on a quick trip to Taco Bell, for example, you can end up spending 10 and not feeling like you’re eating a kid’s meal. Whip out your phone and follow along to get freebies and find the best way to enjoy your fast food forays! Taco Bell Taco Bell’s a big guilty pleasure of ours, but setting aside food preferences, the rewards are nigh unmatched. Taco Bell’s Taco Bell Rewards program awards you free food early and often. You’ll get food for signing up, for special occasions, during sports events (we recently got a free taco when someone stole a base during the World Series) and when there’s new items. There are web exclusive deals that are perennial and exclusive first-looks at new items. Sometimes, rewards pop into your account without you doing anything at all. And when your free rewards can be something like a Nachos Bell Grande, it’s pretty rewarding overall to use this app. Pros: Frequent Rewards, even without making purchases. Exclusive deals that offer deep discounts. New items offered to members first. Cons: If you ever use the app at multiple locations, it can be pretty easy to order from the wrong one again. Also, the order tracker that was added in a recent update does not really seem to work on iOS. McDonald's If you’re lovin’ it, try lovin’ it for less with the app. McDonald’s has somehow become one of the higher priced fast food joints nationally as late, and the app does a lot to mitigate that. McDonald’s, using its MyMcdonald’sRewards program, loves to come up with reasons to give away free things, which is great for anyone who has the craving and doesn’t want to get too spendy. Also, McDonald’s has some pretty robust technology packed into its app, with location services and a ton of options for ordering and paying inside and outside the restaurant. Oftentimes, there’s some pretty great offers and the points system is pretty fair, earning us free Big Macs and McFlurries (when the machine isn’t down.( Pros: Tons of ways to order, location based services, can use Siri to order on iOS, uses Apple and Android Pay as options. Plenty of free giveaways including large fries on Fridays. Cons: While there’s a lot of savings and freebies, there’s been a lot of strange and sometimes super irritating bugs - orders repeating, not going through, or even a sort of butt dial reorder. In some cases we’ve had to contact support to resolve them. Location services prove to be great in some cases and terrible in others. Burger King With a slogan like “Have it Your Way” you had to expect Burger King to show up with its app, and along with its rewards program, Royal Perks, brings goodies to the table. Burger King already had a great thing going via paper coupons, but if you’re the sort who tosses the junk mail and couldn’t remember to clip anything if your life depended on it, some of those same great deals appear in the app, too (though the family meal deal in paper mailouts is still unbeatable, and still traded on eBay and NextDoor apps to this day). One of our favorite things about Burger King’s Royal Perks is the code - you can use this to pay cash and not have to scan any receipts after to get your points. Still another great feature is its free upsize for Royal Perks members - don’t forget to mention it at the window and you’ll have yourself a large fry or drink just for signing up every time. Pros: Royal Perks members free upsize, tons of great offers, and the ability to easily use cash and still reap rewards (which is somewhat of a problem with many apps) Cons: Still doesn’t beat the paper coupons, prone to slow loading and crashing Little Caesars On top of having extremely decent pizza at its price point, Little Caesar’s has the pizza technology thing down pat. When you order online, your pizza will be trackable and safely and contactlessly placed inside the Pizza Portal, a wondrous device that has automatic garage doors that only unseal when you either scan the proper QR code once your pie’s done or enter the 3 digit code that’s texted and emailed to you. There’s no attached loyalty program (a plus for some folks) and prices are already shockingly low, with promos running pretty regularly. And there’s CRAZY BREAD! There’s hardly more that needs to be said. Pros: Great technology, multiple ways to get alerted your pizza is ready, can choose contactless delivery easily. Uses Apple and Android pay. Great prices, frequent offers. Cons: Tracker doesn’t always work. Shake Shack Ok, so this one’s a little higher-end and not quite as nationally ubiquitous, but its simplicity and elegance is to be admired. No loyalty programs here either, but there are exclusives and push notifications alerting you to whatever devilishly delicious things are upcoming at the nearest Shack, like the current Hot Ones. And though the price points are obviously higher, there’s free delivery on $35 orders and it’s fairly often that they go BOGO on shakes, which is a great deal and a great excuse to get you in the door. On top of this, you can save allergy and dietary preferences in the app, and save favorites for easy reordering for in store pickup or drive up window pickup where available. You can also peep the nutritional facts plainly. It streamlines getting Shake Shack to your mouth, and who wouldn’t want that? Pros: Easy to locate nutritional info and inclusive to those with specific dietary needs. Good offers, “first look” exclusives. Cons: Fewer offers than other apps Jimmy John's If you’re a freak for the freaky fast, and you’re not in the app, what are you even doing? Seriously, Jimmy John’s and apps go way back. They haven’t always had a great rewards program though, and now that that’s locked and loaded we love to get our sandwich fix from them even more. This app’s pretty no-frills too, but offers a great tracker and a rewards system that gets you free sandwiches fairly frequently. If you’re like us and need at least a weekly sandwich fix for your work-from-home or eat-at-cube lunches, you’re gonna need this in your arsenal. Pros: Great tracker, good rewards system. Cons: Not a ton of offers Starbuck's Starbucks is another fact of life. If you’re a caffeine person, you’re going to land here at least once in a while. And to be honest, even if coffee’s not your bag there’s a great array of tasty seasonal drinks to get your paws on, and some pretty decent breakfast options. The point is, you’re going to be there anyway at some point - get the app! Starbucks has been in the rewards game a while, and their Starbucks Rewards system is fantastic for frequent caffeine fliers. It only takes 25 stars to get your first taste of rewards, and the tech is there to make using the app a great experience. Order ahead, scan in a gift card, send a gift to someone else – even link your Delta SkyMiles account and get double rewards on days you’re taking to the skies. They’ve thought of everything and it shows. Not only that, it’s easy to customize your drinks from inside the app, which means you can add your 4 pumps of chai and extra hot milk without getting eyerolls from people behind you in line. Pros: Great tech, tons of customization options, robust rewards program Cons: Starbucks gift card balances don’t update in real time, so you’ll have to wait 24 hours before using that latest gift from the office manager. Truth be told, this list is just a primer – the bottom line is, though you will run into bugs and not all apps are created equal, almost all offer exclusive deals and the ability to skip the speaker screaming and get down to your tasty business sooner, for less. Who doesn’t love that? If you’ve got a hot tip on a great app we missed, don’t hesitate to leave it in the comments for others to benefit from!

By Alex Orona The Green Lanterns have been a catch all for most intergalactic space adventures in the DC Comics universe. Their main Lantern, Hal Jordan, has a storied history of ups and downs but now with 8 different Green Lanterns from earth, there’s always been a lot to explore in those pages. Now in the year of our lord 2022, we have not seen an ongoing dedicated Green Lantern book since Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps was canceled in 2018. Part of that has been the watering down of the brand over time. While inclusivity has been a welcome change to the Corps, being a Green Lantern member from the Earth sector always felt like a rarity but now we’re up to 8 members. Add to that, the fan favorite Hal Jordan has had so many twists and turns as a hero, villain, savior and everything else under the sun. Still, this still doesn’t explain why the book has had a consistent ongoing comic. Another thought is the popularity of the one off mini-series format that could better explore the universe in separate short adventures, which could include different writers and artists. Since the cancellation of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps in 2018, we’ve seen The Green Lantern and the Black Stars, and the critically acclaimed Far Sector. Each of these acted as limited issue stories that explored short experiences that wrap up as quickly as they start, with Far Sector only going for 12 issues. There could always be the obvious hypothesis that there isn’t an ongoing Green Lantern series because there isn’t a movie out, which is more an advertising and possibly political move ( see how Marvel killed off 90% of the X-Men when Marvel wanted the film rights back from Fox.) For this premise, there’s at least hope on the horizon, as there is a TV series in the works at HBO Max following the Green Lantern John Stewart. While that has been in production hell since 2019 (and they just lost their showrunner,) there’s at least a glimmer but we will have to see. Whatever the reason, I feel that there’s still a lot of stories to tell within the Green Lantern universe. Each Lantern deserves the spotlight and can easily headline their own ongoing series with interesting twists and turns on their galactic adventures. Even when there’s little hope, that’s especially when the Green Lanterns shine. Remember: In Brightest Day, In Darkest Night…

Whether it's troubles with in the group or the difficulty in maintaining the lifestyle of musician, it's always a bummer to see bands disband and disappear from the limelight. But every once in a while groups get back together and treat their fans to a beautiful evening filled with those old familiar songs and maybe a few new ones. Such was the case last week at Thalia Hall when Yellow Ostrich and Voxtrot returned to perform for a devoted crowd. I had seen Yellow Ostrich, the musical project of Alex Schaaf, perform back in 2014 as they opened for The Antlers. I was immediately a fan of their sound and was looking forwarded into diving into tier work. Unfortunately they disbanded later that same year. In the years following their were the random posts here and there, but never a full on comeback until last year when Alex Schaaf announced the revival of the Yellow Ostrich project. An anthology collection and a new album Soft emerged and earlier this year Schaaf toured with a full band in tow. For this set it was mostly Schaaf on stage alone, save for the final few songs where he was joined by Jared Van Fleet of Voxtrot . The mostly one man show did not disappoint as Schaaf had the crowd smitten from the get go. While there were a few older tracks in the night like magnificent "Marathon Runner" the set really shined brightest as the newer Yellow Ostrich songs held the spotlight. "Julia" and "Birds" off Soft were truly gentle and touching displays of Schaaf's songwriting. "Muscle Memory" in particular hit a high spot in the great set. When it finally came for Voxtrot to hit the stage, the already packed crowd grew. There is something to be said about a band being gone for 12 years making a return as anticipated as this one. Especially since the singer-songwriter Ramesh Srivastava brought together the original members of the band: Jason Chronis, Matt Simon, Mitch Calvert, and Jared Van Fleet. Even better was that it felt like they hadn't missed a beat in all that time apart. They kicked off their lengthy set with "Introduction" and "Raised by Wolves", leading the crowd headlong into night fueled with incredible songs. While their actual performances were top notch, there were a few technical difficulties between songs, but Voxtrot dealt with them quickly and effectively, They shifted their set list from time to time as to never leave the crowd waiting without a song engulfing the venue. Srivastava introduced songs with a playful little gags leading the audience to think they were getting one song but got treated with another. "This one's from the EP Mothers, Sisters, Daughters & Wives" he'd say and the crowd certainly expected to hear the title track but were met with "Soft & Warm". Whatever the case, the crowd was eating it up, enjoying every second of every song. Save for a few rarities like "Kindergarten", the set stuck to the most popular Voxtrot tracks. "Your Biggest Fan" sparkled as bright as you'd hope and "Raised by Wolves" almost sped by the crowd with just how easily it absorbed the crowds attention.Towards the end of their set, the anticipation for one certain song had come to a head. Everyone knew it was going to take a while for what is arguably Voxtrot 's most well known song to land. Srivastava prefaced the song acknowledging just how important the song is to the band and it's fans, uttering it's name to a small joyful murmur. Even thought the crowd was beyond excited for "The Start of Something", their reverence for the band remained intact as Srivastava told the tale of playing a wedding the last time he was in Chicago. The couple had "The Start of Something" on one of their early mixtapes they shared and needed to have the man who wrote it sing it at their wedding. The happily married were in attendance, right at the front of the crowd, and much like the rest of the crowd were ready to be transported to the time that song meant the most to them. "The Start of Something" was a joyous release for everyone at Thalia Hall. Every passing line of this beautiful and tumultuous love song hit the crowd in just the right spot. The song isn't about the easiest of loves as Srivastava bellows out "Is this the end or just the start of something really, really beautiful". It's about trying again, returning to an old love and hoping to start again and maybe make it work. "Marianne, let the ghosts sleep tonight" he croons, hoping to let the past go and start anew. After 12 years, Voxtrot is in the very place that amazing song is. He and the band are returning, hoping beyond hope that their past love is still around and willing to reunite. And while the song is desperately ambiguous about getting back together, is no doubt that everyone in the crowd never lost a bit of love for the band. All photos by Julian Ramirez This review was originally published at Third Coast Review. You can check out more pictures here.

Let's cut to the chase here: to say that Divino Niño's newest album Last Spa on Earth was at the top of my most anticipated albums of the year would be an understatement. Their last album, Foam, was a perfect summer album that was determined to just chill out its listeners with its psychedelic indie rock mixed throwback sounds. Last year upon the release of "Drive", it was undeniable that Divino Nino was going to be trying something new with this album. "Drive" felt like a transitional song, embodying the indie psychedelia of the band while dipping its toes into electro-house, R&B, the stranger elements of modern Latin music. Last Spa on Earth takes that notion to heart as it turns that idea of laidback tunes on its head, delivering another sexy album that will have you dancing rather than relaxing. While Foam seemed to split the Spanish and English language tracks evenly, Last Spa on Earth eschews that and mixes the languages entirely. Every song on the album slides between the two with ease, not really caring to be tied down by either one and doubles down a wide variety of Latin music influences. I'm sure the extended presence of Spanish and dancier grooves will make some try to corner the album as just Latin Music, but it's so confident in the integration of elements that it supersedes any true definition. The album kicks off with the ethereal and hazy "LSE," an intro song luring you into the Last Spa on Earth with smooth lines: "Calentamo toda la piel / Aquí no hay tiempo / Aquí no hay hora" (We heat up all the skin / Here there is no time / here there is no hour). The song's final lines seem to underline the band's direction, "Won’t you come over? Need a makeover? Need to start over?". It's an invite to this new world that effortlessly slides into the following track "Nos Soltamos," an immediate highlight of the album. "Nos Soltamos" is Divino Niño at their most at ease. The song is an ode to letting go even as things seem to at their worst as they detail a car skidding on the road. With references to Blink 182, the Beach Boys, a pair of underwater friends and lines like "Cuando me dedicas esta canción con tu nalga fatal" (When you dedicate this song to me with your fatal ass), "Nos Soltamos" tows the line between insightful and absurd. The same could be said about the overall vibe of the album. The pop culture reference are abundant and there are moments of strange dissonance throughout that all somehow works out elegantly. "Mona", a song that at first feels like a lost track off Foam with tender vocals, soft guitars, and twinkling keys before it melts into that fast-paced and glitched out electro-house. "XO" is an R&B jam if I ever heard one, but laced with some Reggaton beats that fit in with the song's sexy blasphemous ("Sin religión, solo sazón" is maybe my favorite line in an album full of amazing lyrics). There are just so many standout tracks on the album. Each one has its own unique style while maintaining the Last Spa on Earth's cohesiveness (that of insatiable horniness). Some songs ooze with sincerity like "Tu Tonto", a complete embracing of just giving into someone (and a Ranma ½ shoutout). Others are just pure party anthems like live staple "Miami", which finally sees a studio version after years of making crowds shake their butts off. The song is as fun as it is live with its infectious chants of "Welcome to Miami" hitting just as strong. Last Spa on Earth is a dazzling new direction for Divino Niño. Whether it's the direction they'll be going in the future or just a pit stop, its adept mixing of styles makes for a necessary listen. You can listen to Divino Niño's Last Spa On Earth here. This review of Divino Niño Last Spa On Earth was originally published on Third Coast Review.