I love the Touch Detective games and the spin off Nameko games and merch so this really was a holy grail figure for me.
Mckenzie/Rina comes with two additional faceplates, three additional sets of arms – two of which are joined together, and a smaller pose able Nameko figure that comes with it’s own stand and two additional arms – one of which is holding a coin. Mckenzie’s hat attaches via a magnet and is easily removable, as are her scarf and skirt parts. Her arms, legs and torso offer minimal movement but her head has more articulation.
I’m very pleased with her and look forward to taking more pictures with her soon! Check out my instagram to follow my past and future figure adventures.
My new obsession are these figures called Nendoroids made by The Good Smile Company. They’re mainly figures based off of existing properties from anime and video games and they have this really unique and cool design style. They’re also super poseable and customizeable as literally every part of them from the feet to the sleeves pops off to be replaced by one of the many other additional options that come with each Nendoroid.
So I finally got hold of a Nendoroid of my very own and my first choice was the Majora’s Mask Link. I believe there are also a Wind Waker toon Link and a Breath of the Wild Link too. I’m super happy with Majora Link though as he comes with so many additional props and items such as several masks, a health potion, Navi the fairy, an additional face plate with a different expression, multiple other limb options, and most importantly of all – the bunny hood.
When playing with Link and taking these quick shots on my phone I was surprised by the effort it took to pose Link. Literally every part of him can be moved or removed and swapped, so it left a ton of choices for posing. I found I’d move one thing only for the sword to pop off or some other limb to also move. Once I get this figure into a studio and take my time with it vs messing around with it on the sofa, I’m sure I’ll get some really choice shots.
Make sure to follow me on Instagram to catch my future Nendoroid pictures.
So proving once more that The Magicians is the greatest fantasy show ever, we kicked this episode off with Quentin and Julia meeting a freaking talking dragon. Of course modern dragons live in cathedral like treasure troves inside the sewers of New York that require an entrance fee of baby teeth for the dragon’s collection. (I was a child stamp collector so who am I to judge?) It looked like Julia uninhibited by petty bourgeois things like having a soul was about ready to go sneaking into kiddies bedrooms but thankfully and hilariously Quentin’s jaw was there to provide the goods. “Was that evil?” Julia sort of signals, perhaps… But it sure was funny.
Amateur dentistry over with we finally get to see the freaking dragon and oh my god yes it was so good. The show has probably now blown it’s entire CGI budget and from now on to save money; like we see later in the episode Penny and the other magicians will only be practicing less effects heavy butthole magic. The extremely prim and sassy dragon asks for “The Button”. This is the guys only way of getting back to Fillory as a fare for passage into the underworld and cryptically says that the original portal is still open – the grandfather clock the Chatwins used perhaps? With a huff and a puff Julia and Quentin are astrally torn from their bodies and sent to the underworld with a warning that the dragon is probably going to eat them if they’re not back within 24 hours.
Meanwhile the rest of the gang are involved in their own missions.
Eliot is preparing for the arrival of his future husband the king of Loria and wondering why his wife is absent. Then during an intimate moment with him the Lorian king and most of the other people in the castle turn into rats and you really don’t need that during foreplay. To get to the bottom (no pun intended, Eliot) Eliot “truthies” the high council, including Margo and the deal with the fairies for Fen’s baby is spilled! Margo gets sent to the dungeons, but the nicest part of the dungeon and Eliot makes sure she gets her coconut oil which is a funny touch that hints that things might not be entirely ruined between them. Which I really hope as I always love their interactions. Margo owns what she did though and gets the creepy sloth dude to give her a potion that’ll transport her to the fairy realm where she’s going to get Fen back.
Penny still unable to use his hands to do magic is er… Learning how to do sphincter magic in the library, because that’s a thing. We also get introduced to a new character Silvia who despite being a teenager is now Penny’s supervisor in the Library. Penny and Kady are still on a mission to break into the poison room, to get the god killing spell book and hatch a plan to get the code for it by reading the head librarian’s book of life. This then gets thwarted by the fact that it’s also stored within the poison room. Silvia, who apparently likes to eavesdrop on people’s sex dreams agrees to help Kady and Penny break into the forbidden section. But what are her motives…? Is she really hiding from mobsters or is she working for them?
Reynard’s son Senator John Gaines has put the trickster god on staff and it’s slowly dawning on him that his innate godly juiciness has robbed everyone around him of all agency. Even his wife is his mindless yes-man. He’s also figuring out that his father might not be so great, thanks to Reynards dismissal of any ethical quandaries about everyone in John’s life being his puppet. Plus the whole going on a deranged rant in defense of his actions to Julia and the others whose paths have crossed Reynard. We do learn some more about the gods through it though, not loads, just a hint. But we do find out that Reynard may have loved Our Lady Underground. Later John goes back to Brakebills to find Kady and tells her he’s in on any plan to deal with Reynard.
Going back to Quentin and Julia it turns out the underworld is no paradise. It is in fact an extremely bureaucratic hotel lobby meets old peoples home, where those without a shade are not welcome. Getting no love from the reception desk Julia decides to check in with the dearly departed members of the Free Trader Beowulfs who are chilling in a bowling ally, like you do. But Richard is there too! And none of them but Q and Julia know that Reynard is wearing Richard like a glove – awkward!
Thanks to a distraction from Richard at the reception desk they find out that all the shades are living in Hades and Persephone’s mansion in Elysium, which thankfully for the shades takes after the Greek paradise over the Matt Damon distopian movie. When we get there we discover that shades are little kids performing sweet little miracles, it’s very hallmark. We also find out that Persphone or Mrs P as the shades call her, is also Our Lady Underground. This is an emotional moment for Julia discovering that she was actually real all along. But also a bitter discovery too in what was perhaps an oddly emotional reaction for someone without a shade to have. Perhaps it was being in the general area of her shade that enabled it to happen?
They sneak into Mrs P’s room and hiding in the closet is not little Julia but shock twist it’s Alice’s shade! In walks Q with Julia’s shade and it’s emotional reunions all round for everyone as little Alice goes running up to Q and hugs him. It all then clicks for Quentin why he couldn’t bring Alice back – He was missing her shade! They use a portal in the closet (find me a closet without a portal in it, I dare you) to get back to the reception and the elevator back to the mortal coil. In yet another twister Julia pulls off a selfless act and brings Alice’s shade instead of her own back with them to Earth.
Finally back in Fillory, Eliot manages with some difficulty to bring a rat back to human form and it’s Josh! El vents to Josh all his troubles, what with a castle full of rat subjects, Fen away with the fairies, and Margo in the dungeons. Josh then suggests Eliot starts delegating things to underlings, to democratize Fillory. Eliot thinks that’s a great idea and with a high five of agreement… finds himself transported back to Brakebills and the physical kid’s cottage. Oh. Now what?
So here we are, episode 11 over, and I loved it. I have some theories about this episode and what’s going to happen next. Like perhaps they could only take one shade with them in the elevator as it’s a one shade per person deal? I think Silvia has her own agenda with the poison room, perhaps she isn’t so much hiding from magical mobsters but is one herself and after some deadly knowledge. I also think that something is up with Josh and that he’s the reason everyone turned into rats. Maybe his mission to bring around the Foo Fighters last episode went wrong and he’s now like a double agent and tricked Eliot into democratizing Fillory. Which may be what instantly abdicated him as high king and kicked him out. Who knows?
Thanks for reading and do let me know what you thought of this post and the episode.
Cartridge Kat 