Chelsea and Zach are back to talk about the news of the week and recap both Southern Charm Season 9, Episode 12 and The Real Housewives of Miami Season 6, Episode 6. They start today’s episode reacting to the drop of the new Vanderpump Rules trailer (01:41), before starting their recap with a discussion on the Page Six article drama in Southern Charm (09:28). Then, they transition over to Miami to chat about the awkward room-sharing situation (33:12).
Host: Chelsea Stark-Jones Guest: Zack Peter Producer: Ashleigh Smith Theme Song: Devon Renaldo
My late Peruvian grandfather was quite the traveling businessman in his day. I found a luggage in his apartment filled with old currency leftover from his travels.
American, the most likely to have collectors value, or at least their official value.
Latin American. Almost all have been superceded by a newer currency, or have been massively devalued. I made sure to grab one coin with each national crest.
The best seeds in Lego Fortnite offer everything from rich resource deposits and exploration areas to easy access for early biomes. But if the possibilities are endless — and they essentially are — where do you start?
In our Lego Fortnite guide, we’ll show you the best seeds in Lego Fortnite, plus explain how to start a game on one of those seeds.
What are Lego Fortnite seeds?
A “seed” is the method of identifying a particular Lego Fortnite map. There are tons of player-generated and -created maps out there, each one different from the rest, and that figure is only going to get bigger as Lego Fortnite’s popularity grows. Seeds are paramount for identifying maps.
Whenever you’re in a Lego Fortnite map or realm, you can see the seed by looking directly at the bottom of the screen, where you’ll see the seed details in low-opacity text. In the screenshot just below for example, the seed is the string of numbers to the left, while your individual location on the particular map is the string of numbers to the right.
Image: Epic Games via Polygon
Additionally, you can manually set a seed combination when you’re first establishing your own map. When creating a map from the Lego Fortnite home screen, click on the option to “override” the world seed, and you can enter any combination of numbers you want, as long as that number hasn’t previously been taken by another user.
How to enter a Lego Fortnite seed
If you want to visit an existing Lego Fortnite seed, there are a few steps you need to take. Below, we’ve listed them out:
Access Lego Fortnite’s main menu
Press up on the D-pad to select a World
Click on “Create New World”
Click on either “New World Slot,” or save over an existing world in the list
Click on “Override World Seed” under the “Advanced Options” menu
Enter the seed code
Image: Epic Games via Polygon
The best seeds in Lego Fortnite
Before, we’ve listed our picks for the best Lego Fortnite seeds.
It’s important to mention here that we’re judging them by the resources they offer up, and the access they provide to other biomes like the desert and ice areas early on. It’s these factors that really dictate which map seeds stand out from the crowd.
If you’re specifically looking to find caves, every single Lego Fortnite world will always offer up at least some. Some, however, will hide their caves out of sight, or potentially even further away from the spawn point, meaning you’ve got a bigger trek to reach the caves for some quick resources. Our guide on where to find caves can show you some of the best seeds that have caves near the start.
Here are the best seeds in Lego Fortnite:
Best seed for beginners: 14191128
Image: Epic Games via Polygon
This is a really solid seed to head straight to if you’re after a starting area with all the resources you need early on in Lego Fortnite, including wood, granite, berries, pumpkins, and much more.
Best seed for easy resources: 0942418202
Image: Epic Games via Polygon
This seed, as discovered by content creator AciDic Blitzz, is a veritable treasure trove of very quick resources. Not only is there a cave immediately north of the spawn point, which can offer up knotroot and other rare resources, but there’s a house even further north, and a whole town to the northeast, both of which feature chests for more resources.
Best seed for chests: 542354756
Image: Epic Games via Polygon
Here’s a neat seed if you’re after some chests. From the spawn point, follow the map northwest, and you’ll see a watchtower. This tower contains two chests, and from the top floor, you’ll easily be able to see a house just a short distance away, which also happens to contain two chests.
Best seed for new biomes: 1264970744
Image: Epic Games via Polygon
As proclaimed by Ouranked on YouTube, this seed is great because it features the desert and ice biomes on opposite sides of the spawn point. Keep this map seed in mind if you need to go and rapidly grab any gear or crafting items that can only spawn in either of the biomes.
Best seed for exploration: 1820364159
Image: Epic Games via Polygon
As captured by 1brecci on TikTok, when you spawn into this map, head to the west immediately. Once you’re across the lake, you’ll find several ruined buildings ripe for exploration, and if you keep heading west along the border of the desert biome, you’ll find a watchtower complete with a chest for looting.
Thousands of pro-Palestine protestors have gathered at Aotea Square in Auckland’s city centre this afternoon calling for a ceasefire to the Israel-Hamas war.
Dozens of Palestinian flags were seen among the congregation that included Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson and MP Ricardo Menéndez March.
The rally began walking down Queen Street to the US Consulate General on Customs Street shortly before 3pm today.
A large police presence is also monitoring and chaperoning the march down Queen Street which has completly closed the street.
Hundreds of protesters take their march down Auckland’s Queen Street. Photo / Alex Burton
The crowd also chanted: “Casefire. When do we want it? Now.”
A stage has been set up near the Queen Street side of Aotea Square with a “Free Palestine” banner with both the Palestine flag and the Tino Rangatiratanga flag, also known as the national Māori flag.
Fandom might be something people participate in during their spare time, maybe in the privacy of online communities or convention halls, but it undoubtedly has an impact on the wider world. In the past few years, the types of strategies deployed by politicians and those leading social movements have increasingly started to look like those used in fandom. This is particularly true of tactics pioneered within the digital and physical fan spaces in order to increase visibility and impact. All the while, fandom itself is continuing to change and evolve.
Powered by passion, fans make things happen. Sometimes those accomplishments are only important within each individual fandom — producing a zine, making a character or celebrity trend, starting a new meme. But other times they reach further than expected, outside fan spaces, and make things really move.
Taking a look at the accomplishments of fandom communities this year is a good way to get a bird’s-eye view of what exactly fandom is, at a time when more people engage in fandom than ever. In 2023, fans showed up and made their voices heard. They launched projects, saved shows, supported strikes, and even rescued historical figures from obscurity. Here are just a few of fandom’s most impressive accomplishments from this year.
Fans on strike
When the Writers Guild of America announced that its members would be going on strike in May of this year, fans took the news in stride. Of course, it was disappointing to hear that production on many fan-favorite shows, like Stranger Things,would be pausing thanks to the strike action. But it was more important that fans supported the actions of the WGA, and later SAG-AFTRA, which were necessary for writers and actors to earn protections and fair wages in their industry.
Though some troll posts led people to believe that fans were against the strike, that couldn’t have been more untrue. It was precisely the opposite: Fans worked hard to spread information about how best to support the striking writers and actors. Independent, fan-run blogs like sagwgastrikeupdates and fans4wga consistently communicated the latest news on the strikes and answered questions about how best to avoid crossing the picket line with fan activity.
And while some fans were sad that shows that came out during the strike, like fan favorites Good Omensand Our Flag Means Death, never got traditional actor- and writer-centric press tours that fans could obsess over alongside the new episodes, fans put their feelings aside in support of fairness. OFMD fans showed up in person to picket lines and were rewarded, when the strike ended, with a deluge of behind-the-scenes content that stars like Vico Ortiz and Leslie Jones shared on TikTok.
A plaque for Hester Leggatt
West End comedy musical Operation Mincemeat has fostered a fandom of Mincefluencers ever since its off-West End days at Riverside Studios. It’s an oddball show, which, much like the Broadway hit Six,was written and developed by a company of Fringe Festival stalwarts.And like Six it was also inspired by real history. Like the Colin Firth film of the same name (which it otherwise shares no connection with) Operation Mincemeat was inspired by real events during World War II, when a group of MI5 operatives successfully diverted the Nazis by planting false information on a corpse.
The musical’s main characters are based on real historical figures, including Hester Leggatt, a secretary at MI5. She contributed to the wartime operation by helping create the false identity of the corpse, writing love letters to “Bill Martin” that were planted on the body. In the musical this work is immortalized in the tearjerker song “Dear Bill.” In the song “Useful,” Hester thinks that instead of a statue she might like to be recognized by “just a small plaque / Something tasteful and small.”
Something special is happening, folks!!!
On Monday 11th Dec, a plaque in Hester Leggatt’s honour will be unveiled following the dedicated research of some incredible fans!
You’ll be able to view the plaque unveiling from the entrance to the theatre. pic.twitter.com/6SPWsWoRLb
Unlike the male protagonists of the story, about whom biographical details abound, little was known about the real Hester Leggatt — just enough to create her character in the musical. But fans went much, much further, digging up biographical records at the National Archives and London’s Imperial War Museum in order to illuminate details of Leggatt’s life. Fans found census records, exam results, and handwriting samples that matched the real letter to “Bill.”
Finally, their research culminated in a letter from MI5 confirming Legatt’s employment, which had been classified information up until then. A plaque honoring Leggatt is set to be unveiled outside the Fortune Theater, where Operation Mincemeat is playing, on Dec. 11. Hester Leggatt is finally getting the recognition she long deserved, thanks to fans’ hard work uncovering her story.
Save the sapphic show
Fan campaigns aren’t new, but their persistence year after year is a demonstration not only of fans’ ability to self-organize and persevere, but the continued divergence of studios, networks, and streaming platform priorities from the desires of passionate fan communities. In 2023, the shows that fans rallied behind included animated show Star Trek: Prodigy and the CW’s Supernatural prequel The Winchesters. But the most notable fan campaigns have been behind the canceled shows A League of Their Own and Warrior Nun.
Passionate fans hungry for queer representation have helped rescue shows like Sense8; fans have also banded together to campaign for The 100 to change certain plotlines. A League of Their Own was renewed only to be un-renewed by Amazon in August of this year, and fans immediately started organizing, seeing that it was worth the effort to push back against this cavalier treatment. Fan campaigners behind accounts like @ALOTOHomeRun have kept the show trending, hoping for a second season that will continue to explore the queer and Black characters that made the show a powerful adaptation of the original 1992 film. They have kept the show trending on X (formerly Twitter), and in return the showrunners have promised that they’re still trying to find a way forward for the show.
Fans’ impressive show of support for Warrior Nun began late last year, when Netflix confirmed the beloved drama about an ass-kicking nun (played by Alba Baptista) would not return for a third season. After creating a Discord server called Sapphics in Pain, the fans began to organize — and didn’t stop. Well into 2023, they were spending hours of volunteer labor on professional-level analytics research papers and strategic analysis, aiming to prove conclusively to network stakeholders that their beloved show was well worth picking up for a new season. Their hard work was rewarded when executive producer Dean English announced the series would return as a trilogy of feature films — though, because of the lack of involvement of the original series’ writers, it’s a cautious victory for the hardworking fans.
Swifties united
Photo: Daniel Knighton/Getty Images
Thanks to the kickoff of the ubiquitous Eras Tour, and the steady (re)releases of Taylor’s Version albums, Swifties consolidated their power and emerged as an unshakeable and unstoppable bloc in 2023. Swifties are behind trends like trading friendship bracelets and wearing glittery boots, but there’s more to it than aesthetics — the huge community of Taylor Swift’s die-hard fans have also used their influence to attempt to create visible change and move the needle on issues that are important to them.
In early November, Swifties in Argentina spoke out against the right-wing political candidate Javier Milei, forming a group called “Swifties Against Freedom Advances” to try and convince other fans not to vote for him. However, in the end it wasn’t enough to move the needle, and he ended up winning.
Other Swifty fan efforts in South America are ongoing. A fan, Ana Clara Benevides Machado, died at one of Swift’s Brazilian shows during an extreme heat wave. Fan outcry after this event was widespread, but American-language media was slow to report on the incident beyond Swift’s initial statement about the tragedy. Fans rose to the occasion in order to translate Brazilian news stories regarding the timeline of events and venue issues, and even raised money for the family of the fan who passed. This culminated in Swift paying for the family to come from their rural home to see her concert, where they posed for a picture with her wearing shirts with Ana’s face on them.
Games Workshop retail staff have a rough job, from low pay to consistent unreasonable targets from upper management, so it’s with all the love and respect that I tell you about the animated lad that my 14-year-old friends and I used to make fun of for liberal use of the phrase “If a Space Marine walked in here right now…” It was always accompanied by wildly enthusiastic gesticulation meant to convey the absolute unit-tude of said Space Marines (8 feet tall in Warhammer 40,000’s lore). I bring this up because it perfectly sums up the thorny issue behind marketing these yoked stormtroopers: Space Marines are very expensive for something so small, forcing Games Workshop to make the legend of these tiny plastic soldiers tower over the reality.
And what a legend it is. The Horus Heresy book series currently consists of over 60 fat paperbacks worth of lore. There’s far too much nuance to unpack here, but it’s fair to say that when writers spend that long exploring something, they have to take it quite seriously, especially if they want to keep their readers hooked. To be clear, 40K is a fascinating, fun, creative, vast, and often extremely clever setting. But it’s also — at least as recently as 2021, according to its parent company — explicitly, intentionally satirizing the very faction that the vast majority of its lore seems so fascinated with. “Satire is people as they are; romanticism, people as they would like to be,” wrote the novelist Dawn Powell. As 40K grows and grows, it’s becoming more difficult to deny that the portrayal of the Imperium is at least somewhat aspirational.
Image: Owlcat Games via Polygon
A quick primer: Humanity’s overwhelming presence in the 40K setting takes the shape of the Imperium of Man, where staunch xenophobia, mindless zealotry, and outright hostility toward social or technological progress are among the highest virtues — a literal “cult of tradition”. Ordinary folk live in cramped “Hives,” toiling away until death, at which point they’re repurposed as tasty, nutritious “corpse starch.” The Imperial Guard, humanity’s most numerous military force, is best known for employing the Zapp Brannigan maneuver, i.e., throwing endless bodies at a problem until it sorts itself out. As such, individual human life is less than worthless. Terra’s more elite military are the Space Marines. As 2000 AD’s Judge Dredd is to law enforcement, so are the Space Marines to the concept of the Ubermensch — a grimly satirical warning about the pursuit of perceived physical perfection and ultimate strength.
Of the 36 playable factions in 40K, around half (17) are of the Imperium in some capacity, with a further nine being their direct foil in Chaos, leaving just 10 to split between the multiple nonhuman species that populate this mind-bogglingly huge universe. Sci-fi can vary wildly in flavor, but a unifying thread is that great science fiction is almost insatiably curious. 40K absolutely shines when it mocks the staunch anti-curiosity of its human protagonists. But as the company has gradually grown to value sales over artistic intent, that lack of curiosity too often seems to be adopted by Games Workshop itself.
Image: Owlcat Games via Polygon
This fantastic look at the timeline of 40K, and how it moved from satire to something almost resembling celebration, puts it like this: “As the setting grew more mainstream, Space Marines’ [portrayal] as noble warrior monks became more and more prominent, resulting in a world where these abused, intolerant, mass-murdering child soldiers are only ever portrayed from the Imperium’s point of view,” and, in the vast majority of official artwork, “as genuine heroes.” Even the official website categorizes nonhuman armies as “the Xenos threat.” Look a little closer, and it’s easy to see the inherent satire in images of Primarch Roboute Guilliman with a Christ-like halo of light shining from the background. But unless you know what you’re looking for, this stuff looks suspiciously like the very propaganda that it’s making fun of.
This isn’t to say, of course, that modern-day Games Workshop has lost its sense of satire, and most certainly not its sense of humor. As we’ve seen time and time again in the games industry, shareholders misunderstanding or just straight-up not valuing the creative process is a depressingly prevailing theme — it’s easy for nuance to get crushed under the pursuit of easy profitability. The rule of cool sells plastic, not difficult themes. Plus, 40K is a wargame. In a setting that requires constant conflict, factions that think in absolutes become necessary. But that’s where video games like the recent, excellent CRPG Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader come in. It’d be a massive anticlimax to end a game of 40K with a conversation before it even starts, but as the setting is allowed to spread its wings in a new genre, some of that classic satire begins to flourish again.
Image: Owlcat Games via Polygon
40K is, above all else, ridiculous, and Rogue Trader hasfun with it without losing any of the campy grindhouse stuff that grimdark excels at. Characters speak in rich, baroque prose, at once excellently written and almost indecipherable to anyone not already indoctrinated into their bizarre religious neo-feudalism. You don’t even have to leave your own ship to encounter dehumanizing class structure, and each of your erstwhile associates is comically nefarious enough to be the main villain in any other setting. In Baldur’s Gate 3, for example, the evil path requires a deliberate, long attempt to stray into monstrous territory. Here, you can have several crew members executed in the first few hours without breaking character.
Rogue Trader isn’t even the first game to pull this off recently. Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, despite a rocky launch, is shaping up as an excellent successor to the Vermintide series, and portrays the horrific satire of existence in 40K’s horrendous hive cities masterfully. Loading screen quotes are such pointed satire you’d have to have accidentally super-glued your eyes shut building models to miss them, with lines like “A small mind is a tidy mind,” “Blessed are the intolerant,” and “Duty is vital, understanding is not.” It seemed only a few short years ago that the glut of Warhammer games felt like a punchline. Now, the scope and breadth these games offer are starting to feel like a better medium to portray the most complete version of 40K than the tabletop game itself.
In Lego Fortnite, you’ll need marble to both upgrade your village and build better structures and tools.
Below we detail where to find marble in Lego Fortnite and what tools you’ll need to harvest it.
Where to find marble in Lego Fortnite
You can grab marble in caves, which are scattered about everywhere. Notably, they’re the same caves that have knotroot. As you walk around, you’ll see huge rocky cavern entrances popping out of the ground, which you can enter. Inside, you can see the marble jutting out of the walls, like in the image at the top of this post.
Note that you do need an uncommon pickaxe in order to harvest marble. To make an uncommon pickaxe, you’ll need to upgrade your workbench and grab bone and knotroot, the latter which you can harvest with a normal axe. Once you have knotroot, you’ll need to use a lumber mill to turn it into rods to make an uncommon pickaxe.
Some of the marble may be on the ceilings, so you’ll want to bring some regular wood into the cave with you. This way, you can build some easy stairs to reach all that marble.
Image: Epic Games via Polygon
Remember to be ready for potential battles when you enter the cave, too. Caves are teeming with skeletons and spiders and you don’t want to die while you’re in there.
Once you have marble, you can use it to build bigger chests and upgrade your Village Square.
Juliet and Callie return to discuss the Bachelor in Paradise Season 9 finale (plus a few tangents)! First the ladies discuss the large amount of self-eliminating cast members, Kat and John Henry’s relationship, and some paddleboarding (1:51). They then chat about the cast members with the most appearances, which turns into a very interesting digression on caffeine and, of course, shopping (13:04)! The ladies also go deep into Kat’s character arc throughout the show and into Kylee and Aven’s relationship (20:54). They also discuss Rachel’s Bachelor journey, potential after-show love triangles, their final thoughts on all the cast members, and more (29:33)!
Feebas, the fish Pokémon from Hoenn, can be found in the wild in Pokémon Go. Yes, Feebas can be shiny in Pokémon Go!
Graphic: Julia Lee/Polygon | Source images: Niantic
To evolve Feebas into Milotic, you’ll need to your Feebas as your buddy and walk 20 km with it. After that, you can use 100 Feebas Candy to evolve it. It may seem like a lot, but since Pokémon Go has no beauty stat (or contest stats in general) nor does it have Prism Scales, this is what we get. :’(
What is the shiny rate for Feebas in Pokémon Go?
As per old research by the now-defunct website The Silph Road (via Wayback Machine), the shiny rate for Pokémon on a regular day is approximately one in 500. Feebas is not a confirmed Pokémon that gets a “permaboost” (meaning that it’s a rare spawn and thus gets a boosted shiny rate).
What can I do to attract more shiny Pokémon?
Not much, unfortunately. It appears to be random chance. Shiny Pokémon catch rates are set by developer Niantic, and they are typically only boosted during special events like Community Days or Safari Zones, or in Legendary Raids. There are no consumable items that boost shiny Pokémon rates.
Where can I find a list of available shiny Pokémon?
Ahamkara Bones are the collectible for the Warlord’s Ruin dungeon in Destiny 2, and are an essential part of the “In the Shadow of the Mountain” quest.
In this Destiny 2 guide, we’ll go over how to find all of the sets of bones so you can complete the “In the Shadow of the Mountain” quest and the “Heed the Whispers, O Vengeance Mine” triumph, and boost the drop rate for your Buried Bloodlines Exotic sidearm.
If you’re having any trouble getting to the locations described herein, check out our guide on how to complete the Warlord’s Ruin dungeon in Destiny 2.
‘In the Shadow of the Mountain’ quest steps
Unlike previous dungeons, where you can get all of the collectibles in one run, the collectibles in Warlord’s Ruin must be collected across three different runs. Once you beat the dungeon for the first time, you’ll receive the “In the Shadow of the Mountain” quest, which will require you to get 30 Dark Ether Tinctures, 3 Blighted Wishing Glass, and four Ahamkara Bones.
How to get Dark Ether Tinctures in Destiny 2
You get Dark Ether Tinctures by killing special Screeb-like enemies called Thieving Wretches, which will spawn in three locations:
The first is on the bridge before the first encounter.
The second is found in the maze after defeating the first boss.
The third is found on the mountain side after defeating the second boss.
These enemies can respawn, so you can farm them to get enough Dark Ether Tinctures.
How to get Blighted Wishing Glass in Destiny 2
You get one Blighted Wishing Glass per encounter completion from the loot chest. Once you complete that quest step, you’ll have to collect the next 3 bones and more Dark Ether Tinctures and Blighted Wishing Glass. Once you complete that step, you’ll have to do it again until you collect all ten bones.
Ahamkara Bones 1 location
Across the bridge inside the first fort, before an arresting Knight assails you.
Image: Bungie via Polygon
The first set of Ahamkara Bones is found directly before the first boss. Once you enter the fort, continue forward. You’ll see a door where you must remove a corruption level one. Directly behind this door is the first set of bones.
Ahamkara Bones 2 location
Image: Bungie via Polygon
Across from imprisonment, after ascending through the ceiling.
After you escape the prison, continue forward until you jump through the ceiling into an orangely lit area. Walk forward, and the door blocked by corruption level one will be on your right. Remove the corruption and collect the second set of Ahamkara Bones.
Ahamkara Bones 3 location
Image: Bungie via Polygon
At the top of the summit, face back from the cliff and find shelter.
After the second encounter, make your way until you reach the outside again and see this view. Continue to the left, and instead of jumping down to the left to make your way to the room with the large Taken orb, continue straight.
Image: Bungie via Polygon
Climb up until you see a small hallway in the left wall of the mountain. The third corruption level one door will be in the small hallway, and behind that door will be the third set of Ahamkara Bones.
Ahamkara Bones 4 location
Image: Bungie via Polygon
In the snowfallen maze, through the broken wall, seek the banner of Kings.
After you break out of the prison, make your way through until you reach a hole in the wall that you must walk through to progress.
Image: Bungie via Polygon
Make a right (where you’ll have to jump over a stacked spike trap), then a left. The corruption level two door will be directly in front of you.
Image: Bungie via Polygon
Remove the corruption and collect the fourth set of Ahamkara Bones.
Ahamkara Bones 5 location
Image: Bungie via Polygon
Cross into the Tempest, through the portcullis, at the sewer’s mouth.
Before the second encounter, get to the doorway where you find the first secret chest.
Image: Bungie via Polygon
Turn to the right and follow the snowy path until you reach a sewer entrance. Right through the sewer grate is the next corruption level two door. Remove the corruption and collect the fifth set of Ahamkara Bones.
Ahamkara Bones 6 location
Image: Bungie via Polygon
At summits base, find shelter off the beaten path. Too far, and the Taken will descend upon you.
After defeating the second boss, progress forward until you reach a group of enemies as you start to head outside. It’ll look like the area pictured above.
Image: Bungie via Polygon
After you defeat the enemies, head into the cubby pictured above. There is where you’ll find the corruption level 2 door and the sixth set of Ahamkara Bones.
Ahamkara Bones 7 location
Image: Bungie via Polygon
Within the maze, stride panning a pitfall, light calls through the window.
After the prison section, get to the point where you see a pile of barrels below the hole that you must jump up through.
Image: Bungie via Polygon
Jump up through the hole, exit the circle room, and take the left.
Image: Bungie via Polygon
Head down to the end of the hall and dispel the corruption level three door to collect the seventh set of Ahamkara Bones.
Ahamkara Bones 8 location
Image: Bungie via Polygon
The Taken roil at cave’s bottom sends you to scurry over boulders into a ruined alcove.
Once you get to the room with the large Taken Blight, make your way through until you can look up and see the end. Below will be a platform that you’ll have to jump down to.
Image: Bungie via Polygon
Once you jump down, dispel the corruption level three door and collect the eighth set of Ahamkara Bones.
Ahamkara Bones 9 location
Image: Bungie via Polygon
Within a tunnel on the broken cliffs, brace the Taken storm.
After the Taken Blight room, there will be a section where you’ll have to jump around a smaller Taken Blight. Make your way to the room highlighted in the image above. The final level three corruption door is in that hallway; dispel it and collect the ninth set of Ahamkara Bones.
Ahamkara Bones 10 location
Image: Bungie via Polygon
After defeating the final boss, this set of Ahamkara Bones is found directly beside the loot chest.
Happy December, Polygon readers! The winter holidays are only a few short weeks away, but don’t fret: There’s plenty of presents in the form of movies new to streaming to enjoy in the meantime. With November now behind us, we’ve combed through the latest movies to stream on Netflix, Hulu, Max, and more to bring you the best of what December has to offer.
This month, we’ve got a bunch of DC Comics films arriving this weekend on Netflix, including Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel starring Henry Cavill and Matt Reeves’ explosive take on Batman starring Robert Pattinson and Zoë Kravitz. Hustlers, the comedy crime drama starring Jennifer Lopez and Constance Wu, comes to Hulu this week, while the modern slasher movie The Strangers: Prey at Night comes stalking its way onto Max.
Let’s dive in and see what this month has in store!
Editor’s pick
The Batman
Photo: Jonathan Olley/Warner Bros.
Genre: Superhero action Director: Matt Reeves Cast: Robert Pattinson, Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano
It’s a daunting task, creating a new incarnation of Batman. Since the character’s first appearance in 1939, the Dark Knight has become one of the most iconic characters in the entirety of popular culture, with several feature adaptations having taken their own unique crack at what makes Bruce Wayne, the man beneath the cowl, tick.
Matt Reeves’ 2022 reboot starring Robert Pattinson shows audiences a Batman younger and angrier than any they’ve seen before — a costumed vigilante who’s only two years deep into his campaign as a caped crusader for justice. This shift affords Reeves the opportunity to devote more time to Batman as a crime fighter and detective, piecing together clues and surveilling suspects as he attempts to uncover the truth behind a conspiracy at the heart of Gotham City and apprehend a vengeful serial killer, the Riddler (Paul Dano). From the film’s gothic modernist version of Gotham City to the ferocity of the film’s close-quarters fight sequences, The Batman feels like a brilliant distillation of all the qualities that have made the character such an enduring pop culture icon while carving its own niche in the broader universe of Bat-media. We’re still two years out from the highly anticipated sequel, but if it’s been a while since you last saw it in theaters, The Batman’s arrival on Netflix is the perfect opportunity to revisit it. —Toussaint Egan
New on Netflix
Man of Steel
Image: Warner Bros.
Genre: Superhero action Director: Zack Snyder Cast: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon
Stay with me as I share my journey with this movie. Like many others, when I first saw it, I hated it. I thought the violence and destruction were excessive and without thought, and it left a bad taste in my mouth. With the passing of time and the completion of the trilogy of movies, I have done a complete 180, and Man of Steel is now a movie I unexpectedly and unabashedly adore.
This is a deeply personal movie about feeling alienated from the world around you and wanting to be accepted, and about the failures of our parents while they try to look out for us. (Man of Steel could also be referred to as “Inside You There Are Two Dads: The Movie.”) All the elements that left me cold the first time around have since been contextualized thoughtfully in the movies that follow, especially in the opening scene of Batman v Superman.
Henry Cavill seems born to play Superman, bringing his natural charisma and good looks to the role in addition to an undercurrent of melancholy as he tries to navigate a world that seems to have no clear place for him. Michael Shannon is menacing as Zod, as is Antje Traue as his lieutenant Faora-Ul. With incredible fight scenes, a roaring score from Hans Zimmer, and thoughtful meditations on where our parents’ vision of our path in life differs from our own, Man of Steel deserves your reconsideration (or a rewatch, if you’re already in the “this rules, actually” camp). Now that it’s on Netflix (and with a new Superman on the way), that’s doubly true. —PV
New on Hulu
Hustlers
Image: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Genre: Crime comedy-drama Director: Lorene Scafaria Cast: Constance Wu, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Stiles
Based on an article from fellow Vox Media publication New York Magazine (hello, my colleagues), Hustlers is a colorful, exciting crime thriller about a group of strippers in New York City who scam wealthy clients. The movie features one of Jennifer Lopez’s best performances as the group’s ringleader and mother figure, and Constance Wu, Riverdale’sLili Reinhart, Keke Palmer, Lizzo, and Cardi B fill out the lovable group of women just trying to make it on their own terms. From our review when the movie was first released:
If anything, the film, based on a true story, feels more like the female reboot of a franchise than any of the actual remakes and reboots in that vein that we’ve gotten (Ocean’s 8, Ghostbusters, Men in Black: International, etc.) in that it tells the kind of story usually reserved for men with a cast full of women. Unlike those attempts, Hustlers never once feels like it’s just “a heist movie but with women;” it’s a full-fledged epic, made by and about women, and proof positive that female-centered films can flourish without being based on a pre-existing male-based IP.
Lopez recently announced a new album and short film due this February, which makes it a great time to revisit one of her best roles. —PV
New on Max
The Strangers: Prey at Night
Image: Aviron Pictures
Genre: Slasher horror Director: Johannes Roberts Cast: Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson, Bailee Madison
Director Renny Harlin is taking a page out of the Fear Street playbook by spearheading a new trilogy of stand-alone sequels to 2008’s The Strangers, all scheduled to be released throughout 2024. What better occasion could there be to revisit the last time the series’ sinister trio of masked murderers last stalked their way across screens?
Bryan Bertino’s original 2008 movie was a hit: a lean, mean psychological horror film that felt like a much-needed back-to-basics serial killer thriller for audiences fatigued with special effects-reliant spectacles and the “torture porn” traps of the Saw franchise. The Strangers became a sleeper hit among fans and saw significant success at the box office, so it’s a wonder why it took over a decade for the sequel, The Strangers: Prey at Night, to finally come out.
Set 10 years after the original, the movie follows a family vacationing at a trailer park in Ohio who unexpectedly cross paths with three masked killers intent on adding them to their body count. With no other recourse and desperate to survive, the family must band together to fight back and escape with their lives. The sequel leans more into the tropes of slasher horror, and the sedate barebones aesthetic of the original gives way to a more neon-infused contemporary grunge, but overall, The Strangers: Prey at Night is still a wickedly fun and terrifying horror movie. Here’s hoping that Harlin’s trilogy is able to push the carnage even further. —TE
New on Prime Video
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Image: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Genre: Action comedy Director: Doug Liman Cast: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Adam Brody
Every once in a while, you’ll see people complaining about how there’s too much sex in movies and TV. The truth is very much the opposite — our mainstream entertainment has never been less sexy (even filmmakers during the Hays Code era worked around those restrictive standards to imbue sexiness into their work). Mr. & Mrs. Smith is a wonderful antidote to these times, a sexy movie about sexy people doing sexy things.
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie play a husband-and-wife assassin duo who are in the midst of marital problems — turns out, it’s hard to keep your home life spicy when your work life is as dangerous as it comes. When they’re both assigned to kill the same person, things go very wrong.
It’s a very fun time at the movies, but there’s another reason to watch Mr. & Mrs. Smith right now — Prime Video is working on a TV adaptation starring Donald Glover and Maya Erskine (Blue Eye Samurai), which will premiere next February. —PV
The hero of BBC’s long-running sci-fi series Doctor Who is, famously, not a real medical doctor, but they have been a bit ill. What should have been a promising changing of the guard in 2018 — with new showrunner Chris Chibnall and the first woman cast as The Doctor since the series’ 1963 debut — only served to accelerate a gradual downward slide that began in the latter half of previous showrunner Steven Moffat’s seven-year tenure.
In response, the BBC has decided the cure to The Doctor’s ails lies with the man who revived the show from a 15-year coma in 2005: Russell T. Davies. And with his first episode, last weekend’s hour-long special “The Star Beast,” Davies has delivered the goods. “The Star Beast” isn’t quite the reboot Davies is here to deliver — that’ll come in 2024 when Ncuti Gatwa takes over as The Fifteenth Doctor. Instead, “The Star Beast” is meant as catnip for lapsed and disappointed fans that were introduced during Davies’ first Who revival. It’s a blatant nostalgia play that, hilariously, carries on as if nothing has happened since Davies left the show in 2008. And you know what? It kills.
Loosely based on “Doctor Who and The Star Beast,” a comics serial by Pat Mills and Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons, the new special pulls triple duty: delivering a snappy, classic Doctor Who adventure, introducing an overarching mystery that will tie “The Star Beast” to two more specials coming in following weeks, and briefly introducing the Doctor to newcomers. It excels at its first two tasks, and stumbles pretty extravagantly at the third. Luckily, there’s so much charm here that “The Star Beast” never feels anything other than delightful, even at its clumsiest.
That charm is essential, because Davies’ first Doctor Who episode in 15 years is lampshading what, in most circumstances, would read as desperation. The mystery at the center of “The Star Beast” and the specials that follow is why — and how — did The Thirteenth Doctor (Jodie Comer) regenerate back into the same body she had as the Tenth Doctor (fan-favorite David Tennant). For a show built around a time-traveling humanoid alien who never dies but instead “regenerates” into a new body with a new personality so the show can explain away recasting its lead, “continuity” has always been more a suggestion than a rule. But Davies bringing back Tennant as the newly-christened Fourteenth Doctor and also Catherine Tate as beloved companion Donna Noble is extravagantly cheeky, even for this show.
Image: Disney Plus
What reunites them is the eponymous Star Beast, a giant Furby-lookin’ guy called The Meep, who crashes on Earth and befriends Donna’s daughter, Rose. The Meep is being hunted by insectoid soldiers who look like Power Rangers villains, catching Donna and her family in the crossfire and bringing The Doctor back into their lives again.
It’s all very silly, and an astonishing display from two actors who do not seem to have missed a beat since they last played these roles in 2008. Even with its messy exposition and open, lavish courtship of fans that grew to love the show during the first Davies era, “The Star Beast” is a good reminder that Donna and The Tenth Doctor were popular for a very good reason. Doctor Who has never had the biggest budget or the slickest sensibilities; it was and remains a childrens’ show that fans happily carried into adulthood. The most beloved of Doctors — Tom Baker, Matt Smith, David Tennant, and a few wild card picks — made this text, imbuing the character with a childlike whimsy, playing a very old man who never stopped believing there was magic to be found in the universe.
David Tennant is still remarkably good at this, and “The Star Beast” makes as good a case for The Doctor as any. He’s endlessly curious, always a little odd, and trusts that kindness and intelligence will win the day over violent antagonists. Tennant’s Doctor is not afraid to treat every square inch of ground as a stage from which he will play to the back of the room. There is no line too silly for him to bellow with conviction. There is no creature too strange for him to care about.
Image: Disney Plus
“The Star Beast” takes a little bit longer to recapture what makes Donna Noble such a great presence, but when she finally gets going, Catherine Tate is a force of nature: Never that impressed with The Doctor, happy to argue with him even with armageddon on the line, and fully capable of steamrolling anyone who looks askance at her or her loved ones.
It is hard not to love these two characters, to not want to travel all of time and space with them again. In a way we have, from 2008 to 2023, in a transition so seamless it’s shocking. Perhaps this shouldn’t be such a surprise. When Doctor Who is at its best, it’s like The Doctor has always been there: an old imaginary friend that still charms you as an adult. The earnest wonder and curiosity the character represents never really gets old. This is why the show endures: You don’t need a season of Doctor Who to be won over, you just need a moment. Those moments can come at any time, during runs both maligned and excellent. The Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble were incredibly good at making those moments in their time together. Here’s to a few more, before it’s someone else’s turn.
The Doctor Who 60th Anniversary specials are on Disney Plus, with the first now streaming and two more premiering weekly. Previous seasons of Doctor Who are available to stream on Max.
Lechonk, the hog Pokémon from Paldea, can be found in the wild in Pokémon Go. Yes, Lechonk can be shiny in Pokémon Go!
Graphic: Julia Lee/Polygon | Source images: Niantic
Lechonk, like all the other Paldean Pokémon, is fairly fresh to Pokémon Go, but it’s not surprising that you can already collect a pink-colored friend, as Lechonk is super common in Paldea. (We typically see shinies of these early-game common Pokémon alongside launches of new regions in Pokémon Go.)
What is the shiny rate for Lechonk in Pokémon Go?
As per old research by the now-defunct website The Silph Road (via Wayback Machine), the shiny rate for Pokémon on a regular day is approximately one in 500. Lechonk is not a confirmed Pokémon that gets a “permaboost” (meaning that it’s a rare spawn and thus gets a boosted shiny rate).
What can I do to attract more shiny Pokémon?
Not much, unfortunately. It appears to be random chance. Shiny Pokémon catch rates are set by developer Niantic, and they are typically only boosted during special events like Community Days or Safari Zones, or in Legendary Raids. There are no consumable items that boost shiny Pokémon rates.
Where can I find a list of available shiny Pokémon?
Indianapolis, IN, is filled with an array of museums that capture this city’s rich history. From the iconic Indianapolis Museum of Art, where nature intertwines with art, to the adrenaline-pumping displays at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum, the city offers a handful of experiences for locals, newcomers, and visitors alike. Whether you’re looking to rent an apartment in Indianapolis or purchase a home in the area, these museums collectively bring knowledge, creativity, and inspiration to a city that’s truly one of a kind. Keep reading below to learn more about 7 fascinating museums in Indianapolis that are worth checking out.
1. The Children’s Museum
Renowned as the world’s largest children’s museum, the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis offers an immersive and interactive experience that blends education with entertainment. Boasting five floors, there are many different exhibits that cater to a diverse range of interests, from science and technology to arts and culture. Visitors can learn more about dinosaurs in the Dinosphere exhibit or explore the cosmos in the SpaceQuest Planetarium.
2. Indiana State Museum and Historical Sites
The Indiana State Museum and Historical Sites pays tribute to the rich history, culture, and natural wonders of the Hoosier State. This institution explores Indiana’s past and present through a range of exhibits and programs. Visitors can delve into the state’s geological evolution, discover the impact of Native American cultures, and trace Indiana’s role in shaping the nation’s history.
3. Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum
Nestled within the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum is a shrine to the world of motorsports. This museum is perfect for racing enthusiasts, offering the history of the famed speedway and the evolution of auto racing. Visitors can learn more about the legendary Indianapolis 500 winners, explore the innovations in race car design, and gain insights into the dramatic moments that have defined the Speedway’s legacy.
4. Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields
Nestled on 152 acres of picturesque grounds, the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) at Newfields seamlessly blends art, nature, and architecture to create an immersive experience for visitors. The museum’s collection spans over 5,000 years of artistic expression, featuring pieces from various cultures and time periods. From classical sculptures to contemporary masterpieces, the museum provides a comprehensive journey through the world of visual arts. Beyond its galleries, the IMA boasts stunning outdoor spaces, including the Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park, where visitors can check out installations and sculptures.
5. NCAA Hall of Champions
The NCAA Hall of Champions shares the rich history of collegiate athletics. This immersive museum features the stories of student-athletes who have exemplified excellence in their sports and academics. As visitors step into the Hall, they are greeted by interactive exhibits, multimedia displays, and memorabilia that highlight the achievements and dedication of athletes across various NCAA sports. From iconic moments on the field to the triumphs in the classroom, the museum celebrates the holistic journey of student-athletes. A central feature of the Hall is the Hall of Honor, where the accomplishments of outstanding athletes are enshrined.
6. Indianapolis Medical History Museum
Housed within the historic Old Pathology Building on the grounds of the former Central State Hospital, the Indianapolis Medical History Museum offers a glimpse into the evolution of medical science and psychiatric care. Housed in a beautifully preserved late 19th-century facility, the museum showcases medicine, history, and mental health. Visitors can wander through laboratories, pathology classrooms, and anatomical pathology museum, gaining insight into the medical practices of the past. The museum’s collection includes medical artifacts, equipment, and specimens, shedding light on the progress and challenges faced by healthcare professionals throughout history.
7. The Eiteljorg Museum
Named in honor of businessman and philanthropist Harrison Eiteljorg, The Eiteljorg Museum celebrates the diverse stories of Native American people and the art of Western and Native contemporary artists. Boasting an impressive collection of Western and Native American art, artifacts, and contemporary works, visitors can explore exhibits that delve into the intricacies of Native American cultures, the beauty of Western landscapes, and the dynamic fusion of traditional and contemporary artistic expressions.
Saltburn has the slick intrigue of a Gothic thriller and the icy wit of a comedy of manners. The eponymous estate at which bookish University of Oxford loner Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) works to ingratiate himself is a museum of decadence, its splendor concealing a depravity that only the wealthy can disregard. But the movie’s target isn’t straightforward. Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), the bewitching classmate who invites Oliver home with him for a rambling summer, starts out as a token of desire but becomes a heedless lodestar. Felix inherited his savior complex from his mother, Lady Elspeth (Rosamund Pike), a wannabe do-gooder with a vampy cruel streak. She’s married to a daffy lord (played by Richard E. Grant) whose lack of self-awareness rivals her own. As for Oliver, he spends his days at Saltburn currying favor among the Cattons, only to enact extravagant subterfuge.
Emerald Fennell, the writer and director of Saltburn, calls it a “vampire movie.” Oliver is the ultimate bloodsucker in question, yet his drive remains a sympathetic one. He wants what everyone wants: to belong. When Felix embraces Oliver, who talks of drug-addicted parents and a life without spoils, Oliver quickly leeches on to the most popular guy at school. Can you blame him? Grandeur is an aphrodisiac.
“It’s the same as constructing any love story. I mean, it is a love story,” Fennell tells The Ringer. “Can you completely believe why these two people would come together?”
Part of the seduction scheme that eventually leads Oliver to acquire Saltburn involves sex—the sex he witnesses, the sex he wants, the sex he initiates. If he has something to gain beyond corporeal pleasure, nothing is off-limits. That includes semen-streaked bathwater, menstrual blood, and grave fucking. With the movie hitting theaters, Fennell and Keoghan walked The Ringer through Saltburn’s three outré sex scenes, the ones meant to shock and titillate in near-equal measure.
The Bathwater
For the movie’s first kink to land, Fennell had to plant a few crucial seeds. Casting the right Felix was the first. Keoghan is well-known for playing shifty oddballs like Oliver (see: The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Green Knight, The Banshees of Inisherin), but Feilx is all about surface-level élan. Fennell needed an actor with a magnetism that leaps off the screen, someone so striking his mere presence can melt hearts—not unlike Bo Burnham in Promising Young Woman, her 2020 directorial debut. Felix, whom Fennell compares to Brideshead Revisited aristocrat Sebastian Flyte, doesn’t have a whole lot to offer beyond beauty, charm, and money.
Fennell was pleased to discover that Elordi, the Euphoria and Priscilla heartthrob, shared her take on the character. “Felix does something shitty in every scene,” Fennell says. “He’s casually misogynistic, he’s fickle, he’s snobbish. I was always saying to Jacob, ‘He’s not a good kisser. He’s not good in bed. He’s never had to be.’ When Jacob came in to audition, he [played Felix as] kind of a dope. The thing that’s important is that so much of what makes him interesting is Oliver looking at him.”
Oliver certainly can’t stop looking, first through a dormitory window where he watches Felix holding court amid a tribe of admirers. Felix’s poise screams privilege, which immediately beguiles Oliver. When he watches through another window at night while Felix has sex with a young woman, it’s blissfully unclear whether Oliver would rather swap places with Felix or the girl. (For whatever it’s worth, Fennell says Oliver is “absolutely bisexual.”) By the time he enters Saltburn’s imperial gates, he’s completely enthralled, only seldom betraying his underlying desperation. After growing acquainted with the family and their ostentatious house, which Fennell and cinematographer Linus Sandgren (La La Land) sought to shoot “like a fetish object,” he spies Felix masturbating during a bath.
The camera, mirroring Oliver’s eyes, lingers on Felix’s long torso and aroused face. But it’s what follows this voyeurism that’s most erotic. When Felix leaves the bathroom, Oliver slinks into the tub and guzzles the last of the ejaculate water as it drains, as if he’s harvesting Felix’s fluids and social status at once.
“The moment where he rubs his face along the plughole and wants to be in it, it’s sort of like, ‘I want to feel it, I want it to be part of me, I want it to change me,’” Keoghan says. “It’s a total obsession. He’s confused and lost. I don’t think he knows what he’s actually chasing.”
Keoghan says he channeled some combination of fox and snake while descending into the tub, and the sound team blended his slurp with the effects of raw octopus sliding against oil. Oliver’s animalistic excess was one of the first images Fennell thought of while brainstorming Saltburn. “It’s the impulse,” she says. “The moment he does that, it imbues him with this kind of wicked power. It also just felt, to me, so profoundly true of vulnerability, desire, and class envy: All of us can only ever really hope to lick the bottom of a bathtub. So there’s something pathetic, funny, incredibly sexy, and incredibly real.”
The Garden
As the summer continues and his stature among the Cattons swells, Oliver starts to see everyone as a potential dupe. If he can embed himself in the fabric of Saltburn, maybe he’ll never have to leave. He gives Felix’s catty American cousin (Archie Madekwe) a hand job as a sort of vengeful come-on after the cousin embarrasses Oliver at a dinner party. He even flirts with Elspeth, attempting to appeal to her affinity for waifs. She sees him as a sapling to protect, so Oliver then directs his persuasions to Felix’s troubled sister, Venetia (Alison Oliver), seizing on her fragility. As a self-conscious idler with an eating disorder, she’s anxious to find esteem within a family where Felix is the star.
Aware that she’s uncomfortable in her own body, Oliver uses lusting after Venetia as his ace card. Late one night, when he spots her stalking the garden, Oliver pounces. He treats her like a delicious talisman, fingering her on the fog-soaked lawn and smearing her menstrual blood across both of their faces. This act of demented flattery confirms Oliver’s mounting sense of power. Look at how far I’ll go for you.
“So much of the dom-sub thing is about taking care of the person,” Fennell says. “We see him giving people what they want, and that’s just being a good acolyte. What turns him on … is having control of the situation.”
Keoghan takes that sentiment a step further. “He’s abusing her, and he’s a master manipulator,” he says. “He wants to see how far he can take it: ‘I own you. You’re going to do what I say.’ He knows he wouldn’t get away with that with Felix.”
The Grave
Oliver’s quest to become an honorary Catton falls apart when Felix arranges to take him home to visit his parents on his birthday. Discovering that Oliver is nowhere near as Dickensian as he’s led on, Felix sours on his summer guest, sending Oliver into a spiral. If he can’t worm his way into Saltburn by feigning victimhood, he’ll go for the second-best option: killing the Cattons one by one and taking the whole thing for himself. Anything to avoid feeling once again like an outcast.
After poisoning Felix’s champagne during a blowout party, Oliver enacts a final act of longing: He leaves the funeral to return to the cemetery, pulls down his pants, and fucks the dude’s gravesite. For Fennell, the gesture is more about grief than sex—a visceral version of Heathcliff digging up Catherine’s body at the end of Wuthering Heights. It’s his last chance to touch Felix. Oliver can never have him back, and although he tells himself he wasn’t in love, the intensity of his sobs suggests otherwise.
Initially, Fennell imagined Keoghan rubbing his face in the grave and fondling the dirt, blending the bathtub scene and the garden scene into one showstopping desecration. But upon discussing it with the actor, they decided to be less coy. “I wanted to see what the next step was,” Keoghan says of Oliver’s farewell to Felix. “It wasn’t to get a wow factor. It was quite sad, because he’s lost at that moment.” Keoghan requested a closed set, meaning only essential people like Fennell and Sandgren were present. Shot from behind, he did the deed in one take, hoping to avoid the “sheer embarrassment” of needing to repeat it.
With the Catton clan eventually gone, Oliver is alone at Saltburn, having convinced Elspeth to will the property to him. He can dance naked through the house’s halls all he wants, but Oliver’s victory is hollow. After the movie fades to black, he’ll be left without companionship or a clear purpose. What was it all for? “I’ve always believed that what he wanted was very simple, which was just to be there with [the Cattons],” Fennell says. “The framing narrative makes it seem like he was always in pursuit of this specific end goal, but what he’s most interested in, even if he doesn’t know it himself, is the game of power. That’s why he’s interested in Felix from the beginning. It’s not just that he’s beautiful. It’s that he’s in the middle … That’s what Oliver’s preoccupation is: with being special. And aren’t we all preoccupied with being special?”
Matthew Jacobs is an Austin-based entertainment journalist who covers film and television. His work can be found at Vulture, Vanity Fair, The Hollywood Reporter, HuffPost, and beyond. Follow him on X @majacobs.
The Steam autumn sale has gone live, and is set to run through Nov. 28 at 1 p.m. EST. The Steam sale is always a good chance to catch up on games; with the sheer amount of new titles that are released every year, it’s impossible to play all of them. Luckily, the Steam autumn sale has deep discounts on some spectacular titles that demand your attention. If you have a little cash to drop before the holidays, you can do worse than indulging in one of these picks.
Image: Supergiant Games
Hades, one of 2020’s best games, is available for $12.49, 50% off its original price. But an even better deal is the Supergiant Games bundle for $35.63, or 73% off the total price of four games and five soundtracks. You’ll get Hades, Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre— with each of their soundtracks — and a 10th anniversary soundtrack featuring music from all the games. The Bastion soundtrack, which won multiple awards, is worth the price of the entire bundle, in my opinion; the music in Supergiant’s first game absolutely slaps.
The developer expects to release Hades 2 in early access in 2024, and what’s a better way to prepare than revisiting Supergiant’s back catalog? —Nicole Carpenter
Image: Strange Scaffold
El Paso, Elsewhere was released in September by developer Strange Scaffold, but you can get it now for $15.99, 20% off its original price of $19.99. If you’re a fan of Max Payne and PlayStation 1 visuals — or just original third-person shooters — it’s worth checking El Paso, Elsewhere out. Playing as James Savage, you can slow down time to blast away a bunch of different monsters. Not only is it a solid shooter, but El Paso, Elsewhere has a great narrative, too. —NC
Image: Geometric Interactive/Annapurna Interactive via Polygon
Cocoon is a game that surprised me a lot; it felt like it came out of nowhere and was all of a sudden in a top slot on my games of the year list. Released in late September by Geometric Interactive, Cocoon is a puzzle game about worlds within worlds within worlds, most of which exist inside orbs you can tote around. Beyond holding worlds, the orbs each have their own special powers, meaning they each have a different role in uncovering Cocoon’s secrets.
Despite its recent release, Cocoon is available for $19.99, or 20% off, its original $24.99 price. —NC
Image: Motive Studio/Electronic Arts
When Dead Space was originally released in 2008, it received tons of praise for being a genuinely scary sci-fi shooter. The 2023 remake of the game, originally released in January, lives up to that legacy. Isaac Clarke’s terrifying trip through the USG Ishimura looks better than ever, even under a thick layer of grime and gore, and the narrative’s detour into new territory works well at humanizing Isaac. The Dead Space remake is one of the best survival horror titles available in a golden age for the genre, and at a full 50% off (making it $29.99), it’s worth the chills for the thrills of eviscerating hordes of scary Necromorphs. —Cass Marshall
Image: Hazelight Studios/Electronic Arts via Polygon
Two player co-op games are surprisingly rare, considering most of us have at least one friend. A Way Out and It Takes Two are exceptions to the rule that are built entirely around two person cooperative play. The stories are quite different, but the core mechanics are similar, and based around playing with a pal.
In A Way Out, players take the role of two convicts teaming up to escape prison and acquire revenge, while It Takes Two is the story of a couple on the verge of divorce who find themselves trapped in the bodies of dolls. Both tales force the players to work together to platform, solve puzzles, and overcome the odds. A Way Out is 85% off, down to just under $5, and It Takes Two is 75% off, making it $11.99. —CM
Dunsparce, the Land Snake Pokémon from Johto, can be found in the wild in Pokémon Go. Yes, Dunsparce can be shiny in Pokémon Go!
Graphic: Julia Lee/Polygon | Source images: Niantic
As of this writing, Dudunsprace (Dunsparce’s funny evolution from Paldea) is not in the game. Regional Pokémon, whether they’re an evolution exclusive to a region or an actual regional form, normally don’t take long to get added to Pokémon Go.
What is the shiny rate for Dunsparce in Pokémon Go?
As per old research by the now-defunct website The Silph Road (via Wayback Machine), the shiny rate for Pokémon on a regular day is approximately one in 500. Dunsparce is not a confirmed Pokémon that gets a “permaboost” (meaning that it’s a rare spawn and thus gets a boosted shiny rate).
What can I do to attract more shiny Pokémon?
Not much, unfortunately. It appears to be random chance. Shiny Pokémon catch rates are set by developer Niantic, and they are typically only boosted during special events like Community Days or Safari Zones, or in Legendary Raids. There are no consumable items that boost shiny Pokémon rates.
Where can I find a list of available shiny Pokémon?
Welcome to November, the mild hangover after October’s proverbial keg stand of awesome games. Even for a quieter month, if you gave the November’s game release calendar a thwap with the ol’ broom, a few huge AAA-tier games would drop to the ground. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Super Mario RPG, and more will kick up a cloud that overshadows the arrival of smaller games — potentially great ones, even, from developers you might’ve heard of and new indie creators alike.
We don’t want to let these games slip by (and you’d probably like to know about them, right?), so as we do each month, we’ve rounded up a handful of notable game launches that you shouldn’t overlook. Stay tuned near the end of every month for our next batch of video game deep cuts.
A RoboCop game in the year 2023? And it’s half decent? Polygon’s review calls out that RoboCop: Rogue City is a solid first-person shooter that attempts (with decent success) to serve as the RoboCop 3 film that we should have gotten, and is filled with underdog charm and personality. It even has Peter Seller, who played the original RoboCop, voicing the titular action character in this game.
Portal walked so 2014’s The Talos Principle could run. But now, after a long wait, The Talos Principle 2 is sprinting on a gorgeous, puzzle-filled path of its own. This sequel builds on its foundation, with fantastic, stop-you-in-your-tracks environments and visuals, a story that’s a stirring crash course in philosophy. Of course, it’s also packed with puzzles that’ll likely have you scratching your head before figuring out a clever solution.
If you’ve only seen video clips of Thirsty Suitors, you might think it’s a game consisting entirely of the quirkiest quick-time events imaginable. Those scenes, where your character is prepping South Asian-inspired dishes, or petting a dog don’t represent all that you can do in the game. The game’s director Chandana Ekanayake describes the game as “a baby Yakuza,” in the sense that it’s filled with an eclectic variety of activities that’ll leave players guessing. You can skateboard, cook, and then hop into turn-based battles — all delivered in a maximalist package, as our review points out.
League of Legends’ most recent spinoff comes in the form of Song of Nunu, a game developed by Tequila Works that’s friendly for all ages. Between fun (if occasionally frustrating) platforming sections, the game expands into a third-person adventure that incorporates brawling as Willump, the big yeti, and solving environmental puzzles with Nunu’s magical flute. It’s a heartwarming game that succeeds in more closely examining characters from League of Legends’ MOBA experience. Read our full review to learn more.
Teardown is a physics sandbox for pure destruction. Not since Red Faction: Guerilla have I had so much fun breaking, well, everything in sight. The game, which originally debuted on PC in 2022, includes a story more where you’re given missions that both expand your arsenal of weaponry and puts your expertise with explosions to the test. The fact that they’re time-based missions amps up the excitement. Beyond the missions, its free play mode never gets old, and can serve as some good ol’ stress relief when you want to blow everything up without the usual real-world repercussions.
It cannot be denied that The Invincible has some of the most stunning looks of any 2023 game. In addition to the graphical swagger of this adaptation of Polish author Stainisław Lem’s book of the same name, I’m taken by this title’s blend of calm-but-eerie atmosphere, the rad “atompunk” tech you’ll use to find missing crew members, and being stealthy to avoid facing down intimidating robots.
Limited Run Games is cracking open the gates of Jurassic Park so that gamers with modern consoles have a chance at the handful of titles that debuted during the franchise’s heyday in the early to mid 1990s. The Jurassic Park Classic Games Collection includes multiple versions of the original game, made for 8-bit, 16-bit (both SNES and Sega Genesis), and portable systems. It also includes Jurassic Park Part 2: The Chaos Continues and Rampage Edition for the Genesis.
I want to give a special shoutout to how frightening Jurassic Park for the SNES (the 16-bit version in this collection) was for me to play as kid. The game’s first-person mode that switched on while indoors successfully captured the dread of the famous velociraptor kitchen scene.
Even though Gangs of Sherwood sounds like the name of a Netflix show that I would absolutely skip, a playable version sounds like fun. It’s a third-person action game set in a futuristic dystopia inspired by Robin Hood. Gameplay-wise, it looks like Dragon’s Dogma, with its multiple classe, each with different fighting styles and weaponry, mixed with Bayonetta-like action games, given that Gangs of Sherwood features a combo counter and a grading system. You can play this game alone, or with up to four players teaming up for some co-op.
Battle to keep your squad alive against the deadliest foe mankind has ever faced! In Aliens: Dark Descent, command a squad of hardened Colonial Marines to stop a terrifying Xenomorph outbreak on Moon Lethe. Lead your soldiers in real-time combat against iconic Xenomorphs, rogue operatives from the insatiable Weyland-Yutani Corporation, and a host of horrifying creatures new to the Alien franchise.
Rachel Lindsay and Jodi Walker begin today’s Morally Corrupt with a breakdown of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Season 4, Episode 10 (00:53), before recapping The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills Season 13, Episode 4 (33:07). Then Callie Curry joins to chat about The Real Housewives of Potomac Season 8, Episode 2 (56:58).
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