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ecargmura · 1 month

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Pokemon Horizons Episode 46 Review - Terastal Debut

What I like most about this episode is that so much is given out and it’s explained so thoroughly. Instead of having the kids go on a Treasure Hunt like in the game, Liko, Roy and Dot enroll in Naranja Academy’s Terastal Course. It turns out that the school allows students from all over the world to enroll in the course to learn more about Terastal as permitted by Director Clavell and Chairwoman Geeta.

Dendra gives an explanation of how the course works. To study Terastal, students must defeat Gym Leaders according to their aptitude. There’s also a condition as students can only have two chances to challenge a Gym Leader and if they acknowledge their skills, they pass. Also, students cannot terastalize outside of battles not revolving around the Terastal Course; this means that regular trainer battles do not permit Terastalizing. Liko gets paired up with Katy, Roy gets paired up with Brassius and Dot gets paired up with Iono. The kids get camping equipment as they have to camp out for the course. Dot is definitely not amused that she has to touch grass for a while now.

There are so many characters introduced here that it’s insane. Alex and Lucca, Liko’s parents, return and are actually seen together. It’s sweet that she has loving parents. Given that Lucca is a teacher, she doesn’t seem to work at Naranja Academy and probably works elsewhere. That’s an interesting detail. Then we have Clavell who wears the Scarlet version of his outfit. Then there’s the Pokemon League members with Geeta and the Elite Four showing up. It’s crazy how they all just show up at the school like it’s normal business to patrol the school or something. There’s also the debut of Penny who has no lines. I guess she’s forced to work for the League in this iteration, but it’ll be cool if Team Star gets implemented into the story. Jacq and Dendra make their debuts as teachers. They still teach their respective subjects of Biology and Battle Studies. Dendra is the one who explains the course to the kids while Jacq tells them that he wants reports from them as they are still students at the end of the day. Nemona makes her reappearance with a newly evolved Pawmot. In her first appearance, her Pawmo was the butt of a recurring joke where it got sprayed by Brassius’s Doliv’s oil twice. Here, Nemona is now the butt of the recurring joke as her desire to battle Roy gets interrupted by staff and the school bell.

The biggest surprise in terms of character returns is Ann who has transferred to Naranja Academy to partake in the Terestal Course with her newly evolved Dewott. The battle between her and Liko was really well-animated. Liko and Ann were very strategic and used various tactics to one-up each other. My favorite part of the battle was when Dewott used Aerial Ace and its fists glowed up and tried to punch Floragato. I hope Ann battles more in this arc because it’d be a waste to not let her battle when she’s very capable.

Another surprise is the Explorers coming in to partake in the course too. Sidian and Coral arrive late, and use very terrible pseudonyms in order to pass as students. Fortunately, they were able to get in because Chalce is disguised as a teacher and was able to hack them into the database. The Explorers are doing this because they were tasked to keep an eye on Liko. There were two things I liked about the Explorers segment. The first is Coral laughing her head off when Sidian introduces them as Onigiri and Sandwich, which she then accepts. The second is the fact that Liko, Roy and Dot recognize them and isn’t suffering from face blindness that Ash and his friend suffered through for 25 years when it came to Team Rocket’s disguises.

Last but not least, the Rising Volt Tacklers are doing their own thing right now. Orla is in charge of the Brave Olivine repairs. Mollie and Ludlow are caring for Pokemon. Murdock is working at what seems to be Patisserie Soapberry as his outfit looks similar to Katy’s. Friede is going to research the Six Heroes as he has the Ancient Pokeballs and Lucius’s belt in his possession as Liko goes to take the Terastal Course. It’ll be cool to see what the other RVTs will be doing in future episodes.

As a whole, the entire episode was a very good introduction to the third chapter. The pacing was great in terms of squeezing in everything that was needed. The new opening and ending songs were great too! I think it’s amazing how they managed to get IVE, a K-POP girl group, to sing in Japanese for Horizons. Since K-POP is rather popular in Japan and they have been using KPOP groups for different anime openings for various animes, it was about time that Pokemon would do the same. It shows that this arc will be one to remember with the new changes! It does feel like the quality has stepped up here. I’m honestly hyped up for what’s to come. What about you?

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punz4lyfe · 1 year

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Pokemon Journeys Episode 145 Review

Pokemon Journeys Episode 145. Let’s review:

An episode that started off pretty great but then ended up as shit. Let me explain.

The premise for the overall episode is really good: the Team Rocket trio reuniting with all of their past Pokemon that’s been kept at the TR Headquarters. As expected, it’s very grand to see many of these old faces again, as well as the Team Rocket Delibird too. We even get like a little montage of past Team Rocket mons that have been released or given away, which was a nice touch.

What follows after that is also pretty nice, showing us a rather competent plan and set up by Team Rocket, using their mons to slowly pick off Ash and friends until Mime Jr. eventually leads Pikachu to a trap. And along the way, we see a return from Brock and Misty’s teams as well. Brock gets Ludicolo, a nice (and funny) return and Misty gets... Staryu. Boring, but classical I guess?

And for Ash’s reserves this episode, he gets Infernape and Hawlucha... and no one else. Infernape and Hawlucha are both incredibly badass Pokemon and their appearances in this episode was nothing short of awesome, but seriously, why just two? Two episodes and 20 reserves left, just fyi...

The climax was really cool until the near end. Seeing Latias helping both Ash and Pikachu from the distance was heartwarming and Team Rocket’s giant combo attack (a possible reference to the ending of Best Wishes when Ash had his Pokemon do a similar trick to blast off Team Rocket) was badass. But things just took a dive bomb when Latias herself becomes the one who blasts off Team Rocket, quite possibly for the last time within context.

Firstly, the blast off animation is shit. Latias uses Psychic on Team Rocket and their Pokemon (ignoring the fact that Inkay and Morpeko are supposed to be immune to Psychic attacks), lifts them to the air without anyone changing expressions, and then Team Rocket literally zoom out into the sky like without movement on their bodies like it was some kind of old YTP transition.

And secondly, assuming this is the last Team Rocket blast off we’ll get, why Latias? With all these Pokemon, wouldn’t it be more satisfying to have Ash, Pikachu, and any other Pokemon Ash would have with him blast Team Rocket off? Going back to Ash’s reserves for a bit, recall Infernape and Hawlucha. Since the two of them fought TR mons that pertained to their respective region (Infernape v. Carnivine and Hawlucha v. Gourgeist), why not do the same for other mons, like Swellow for Hoenn, Krookodile for Unova, and Lucario for Journeys. At the end of the climax, Ash battles Team Rocket’s full teams with what he’s got, ultimately coming on top with a big Thunderbolt, Air Slash, Flamethrower, Stone Edge, and Aura Sphere combo launched towards Team Rocket by Hawlucha’s High Jump Kick, possibly countering and overpowering Team Rocket’s own combo move before blasting them off.

And now, for the most egregious part of the episode; Team Rocket’s split. For such an iconic trio, this really is NOT the way to send them off, chief. Team Rocket has had petty scuffles before that led to splits, but always got back together, so why do it again here? It literally feels shoehorned as well. And there’s absolutely no respect given to them at all. And look at the other Pokemon, they just look devastated here like a kid watching their parents argue, this isn’t going to leave a good taste in any TR fan’s mouth! And why does it look like TR are abandoning their Pokemon in the middle of nowhere? That’s just not in character in the slightest! I’m really hoping this is all just a rouge and Team Rocket will make a comeback together in either of these last two episodes, cause this is just unacceptable.

And because of that problem, giving this episode a 3/10. You can’t just disrespect characters like these in ways like that. Just... no.

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scifimagpie · 10 months

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Back on Ash Tree Lane: Revisiting House of Leaves

Art by Michelle Browne, 2023. Yep, I'm back on my bullshit.

An abbreviated version of this appears as a review for the book on my Amazon and Goodreads accounts, but I realised I had more to say.

Beware, because

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

for this 23-year-old book (jeez) abound.

I first read House of Leaves years and years ago, and then some friends suggested reading it for a book club this year. Naturally, I figured it was a good time for a revisit; it's probably been fifteen years or more since I picked it up. Maybe closer to twenty. (Jeez, I'm old.)

Vibe Check

As much as parts of the book do genuinely deliver a dizzying thrill ride, the beginning of the book actually didn't quite hold up for me. But I have to admit, this is a book you have to binge - try to read it in long sessions. Also there's a ton of content warnings for this book - child abuse, sexual assault mentions, sexual harassment, mental illness, animal harm and death, infanticide, attempted child murder...plus some good, old-fashioned gore and body horror. Lots of horrible, excellent, spooky stuff, and it's generally treated with some respect.

Once you start to "get" the book, the labyrinthine page formatting and the distracting footnotes - they're there for vibes most of the time, and to instill a sense of authenticity and realism - it's amazing.

Is this book the most accessible thing I've ever read? Probably not. I don't even know how it is from a disability perspective - I'm not even sure how you'd make an audiobook that captures the vibe. (Maybe with lots of sound effects and clever editing tricks? Actually, if that exists somewhere, someone send it to me.)

And yet, the overall story, about the mental health issues of Johnny Truant, and the possibility of the entire thing being his invention? Or the invention of his mental health? And the subtle nested story meta-structure thing - is really sad and really cool. There's something very visceral about this sad, sad guy's lonely wandering and search for answers.

A lot of people are tempted to skim Johnny's segments for some reason, but if at all possible, don't do that. Johnny's mother's institutionalization when he was young, his persistent struggles with poverty, mental health issues, substance use, and intimacy, as well as possible ADHD (just to take a few wild guesses), and the death of his "godlike" pilot father and the subsequent abusive monstrousness of his stepfather Raymond, are all essential parts of the narrative.

Some griping

Yeah, it's at least borderline "dick lit," i.e. a book about man-pain bordering on the fetishistic (i.e., your On the Road, most Hemingway books, Crime and Punishment, Catch-22, Fight Club, plenty of other literary fiction titles - those are just some I've read that fit the bill). But this is "dick lit" that actually shares something scared, vulnerable, and alone, and shows the holes in toxic masculinity - as well as the dangers of mythologizing male figures in one's life.

The creepy Oedipal stuff with Johnny's mother, as revealed in her letters from the mental institution, and the meta-fictional portrayal of Karen, as well as all the hookup girls, definitely fit too well into that Madonna/whore dichotomy. And it's worth saying that the book is extremely white and quite straight - for someone in LA, Johnny never seems to even encounter a queer person or drag queen/king, and homosexuality is only mentioned in a context of denigrating Will Navidson's masculinity, and questioning the fidelity of his wife, Karen. Even the book metatextually commentating on the mother/whore dichotomy, and having Johnny speculate on the inner lives of his hookups, does not succeed in fishing the book out of basic sexism.

I can only speculate about ableism a little bit, but the character Reston felt like pretty good representation, and the mental health stuff - well, at least for me, it worked. The visceral horror of developing a family member's mental illness and recapitulating the cycle of trauma? Compulsive lying or avoidance of personal history to hide the horrors within? Yeah, I get it. Not all representation has to be Perfect (TM), and the institutionalization horror of his mother probably has some problems to unpack with it, but the cloying and suffocating nature of her attachment, as well as her desperate hunger for connection with the outside world, also shone through.

I'll be honest - this is also a book that benefits from skimreading certain sections. I'm just not sure all the physics stuff actually adds to the narrative. I'm not a crunchy enough scientist to take value from it, personally. A lot of people hate Johnny, who is definitely not a Good Person, but I felt sympathetic towards the scrappy young man. I'm surprised Tumblr isn't all over House of Leaves, because he has "scrungly" disaster vibes for sure. (And possibly, considering how much he idolizes his friend Lude, a hint of coded bisexuality? For a book with a central focus on Greek mythology, it's agonizingly straight.)

The good stuff

My favourite sections are definitely the actual explorations of the house. It's no surprise that these are the segments that have resonated the most in pop culture - fans of the SCP (Secure, Contain, Protect) universe and HP Lovecraft have almost certainly run into the main concepts of this book already.

I guess I'm a sucker for a good gothic novel, because there is something decidedly gothic about this one - it's a House, and it's Spooky, and it's about a Family and their mental illnesses. But in this case, the house is something that travels with Johnny, not just the physical location on Ash Tree Lane. The problems with the house for the Navidsons are all part of the baggage they carry with them.

I've been sitting with the whole structural thing about the Minotaur, Theseus, Minos, and the whole stepson/stepfather hate thing, for a bit. There's this thematic element about Johnny being emotionally and mentally ill, and his mother being ill as well - that does seem like an intentional parallel? But there's also a thing about Zampano as Daedalus and a father figure, and Johnny as Icarus, soaring too high on his father's creation, only to be killed by it.

Is the entire thing an elaborate delusion? Is Zampano real? Who is this mysterious genius, this Daedalus-like figure whose invention - the book - ensnares and entraps Johnny, our humble Icarus and Minotaur? We certainly don't get answers, but he appears to be lonely, remote, and ripe for idealization.

Is the Navidson Record meant to be real, or all Johnny's invention? The "editor" character is particularly interesting, especially because at no point do they clarify the reality or unreality of the manuscript.

When, throughout his extended mental breakdown, did Johnny possibly have time to pen this missive? It certainly seems possible that he was doing little else. But when was it accepted and submitted to a publishing company? The book definitely wants to give the vibe of just "appearing" in print. It's very "done" nowadays, but at the time, it was particularly revolutionary.

Why does House of Leaves still work?

Well - in my opinion, HoL commits to the gothic and keeps you invested, but it also goes deep into the mental health issues that make up the backbone of both cosmic horror and the gothic novel.

This, then, is probably why military takes on Lovecraftian fiction and the SCPs all kind of suck. I've watched a couple of Youtube videos and listened to a few Actual Play podcasts of Call of Cthulhu games with a Delta Green focus (that's a special forces take on Call of Cthulhu), and all of them just left me absolutely cold. (Maybe other people will enjoy these live-action takes on SCPs more than I did.) In addition to the fact that I'm just not much into jingoism, and I'm kinda critical of that whole carceral-state structure and the military industrial complex, conservative politics really don't work with cosmic horror or gothic novels.

Sure, military elements can work great - in Lovecraft's Monsters, there's a rather good take on the story of Innsmouth that involves a military intervention - but it's also inherently critical of the role of said military. I do have some fondness for the Warhammer 40K universe as well, but that's also morally complex.

Any kind of military apologia in the face of cosmic horror just absolutely sucks the scare factor right out of stuff. It's too objective and impersonal, when it should be intimate and invasive. And above all - really good horror must come from empathy.

If you crave more

T Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon's What Moves the Dead, the HP Lovecraft stories "The Color Out of Space" and "Dreams in the Witch House" as well as the Shirley Jackson book We Have Always Lived in the Castle are pretty excellent classic read-alikes; I haven't read Grady Hendrix's How to Sell a Haunted House yet, but I loved Horrorstor, and that's another decent read-alike for building-based horror. The "Endless Ikea" SCP is available on Youtube in multiple reading formats, as well as videos, and of course, there's always the original version on the website.

The podcasts Welcome to Night Vale, TANIS, and the Rusty Quill Archives also all offer some good horror content if you want to savour the visceral fear of something breathing down your neck, too!

***

A writer and professional freelance editor, Michelle Browne lives in Lethbridge, AB with her partners-in-crime and their cats. She is currently working on the next books in her series, other people's manuscripts, knitting, jewelry-making, and drinking as much tea as humanly possible.

Find her all over the internet: *Website * Mailing list * Magpie Editing * Amazon * Tumblr * Mastodon *Facebook * Medium * Twitter * OG Blog* Instagram * Paypal.me * Ko-fi

#hol #house of leaves #wtnv #horror #read alikes #ursula vernon #scifmagpie #book report #book rec

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adobe-outdesign · 2 years

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If I might trouble you, a review of my beloved treecko line? I fell in love with ashes grovyle and have never looked back

(Note: This is the last review request in the inbox right now. If anyone has a request, now's the time to send it in; otherwise, I might just randomly generate some Pokemon to review or something.)

Back before we got starters with super specific themes, we got the occasional starter that was just a really nicely designed animal with a type applied, as is the case with the Treecko line here. I don't mind either method, but I do have a soft spot in my heart for starters that are just cool monsters, and this line delivers. Or maybe I'm just biased because I like geckos. Who knows.

Anyway, Treecko's design is solid. The leafy tail is nothing special, but I like how it curls a bit at the end for some extra flair. The reptilian eyes are always appreciated, and that red underbelly is to die for.

My only real issue with it—and this is minor, mind you—is that the snout always looked weirdly bulbous to me, having a distinctive nose instead of the head just narrowing into a snout like its evolutions. It by no means ruins the design for me, but it sticks out never-the-less. Also, that line on the underbelly serves no purpose (other to tie it into its evos more I guess, which really isn't needed anyway). For the most part however, this design is really solid.

Also, side note: was anyone gonna tell me that Treecko's shiny is beautiful or did I just have to find that out myself?

I have to admit, I always liked Grovyle more than Sceptile (and no, it has nothing to do with the anime or PMD). I'll get into it more when we get to Sceptile, but I just feel like Grovyle's design is much more streamlined and visually striking.

I love the flow of the leaves on the head and tail; it looks like some kind of feathered raptor, which is an aesthetic I'm always down for. Plus the red underbelly still looks great, and adds some much needed color to the design. Mostly importantly, it fits and transitions between Treecko and Sceptile well while still having its own unique flair, which is something many other starter middle evos fail at.

Also, sometimes it's drawn in this really funky way that gives it a longer face and longer leaves, which frankly I'm a big fan of:

I only have two small complaints, both of which are nitpicks. First, once again, that underbelly stripe isn't needed, seemingly only existing for the sake of the final evo. And secondly, I wouldn't have minded seeing three leaves on the tail, seeing as Treecko has two, Sceptile has A Lot, and Grovyle's arms already have three anyway. But those are minor; at the end of the day, while the entire line's good, Grovyle is by far the standout member of the line.

While we unfortunately lose a bit of the dinosaur look with Sceptile, I do like the overall design a lot. The laid-back expression is a nice change of pace from the standard angry expression most final evos sport, and you can't really go wrong with a bipedal lizard dinosaur with leaves. Overall, it's quite nice.

However, I do feel like there are a few elements in the design that could've been refined a bit more, as well as a few things that feel like downgrades from Grovyle.

First: That random V-shaped line on the torso. Why is that there, exactly? If it was a red stripe you could make the second red stripe a V as well and have some parallel elements, but instead it's just There for no reason.

Secondly, the colors. Unlike on Grovyle, the leaves on the wrists are the same color as the body, while the tail leaves remain different. Why...? Same thing with the hind claws; why are they the same green as the body, instead of being yellow, a color already in the design anyway (all-green could work if they just didn't have the dividing line, like on the hands)? Even just the way the red reduces; I loved the red, and I feel like more of it could've been incorporated into this design without needing to really change much.

Also, the tail always felt a bit too overly-detailed to me, at least compared to the body; maybe if the wrist leaves had the same "double" look it wouldn't feel so off-balanced.

And finally, I don't know if this is just me, but the placement of the seed pods always felt weird. Why not put them on the tail, seeing as that's where the leaves are? They just feel kind of pointless as-is, even if I like the additional yellow. Like I said, the design is solid as a whole, but these little elements make me prefer Grovyle's design just a bit more.

The mega kind of fixes some of the stuff that bugs me about regular Sceptile, but it also has some elements that don't quite work.

First, more red is very much appreciated. And secondly, I love how the tail can be shot like a missile, as a nod to how IRL geckos can perform autotomy and drop their tails if needed. This also has the added bonus of making the seed pods feel much more purposeful, as they now visually lead up to the tail and serve as indicators of how close the "missile" is to firing. Super cool, love it.

However, like a lot of megas, it feels like a lot of design elements were changed just Because. For example, those random chunks taken out of the head and arm leaves; I guess it's supposed to look battle-worn, but that doesn't work unless the damage is from it battling a hole punch. Same goes for the X-shaped leaves on the chest; it's different, but not better, and it doesn't enhance the design at all. Sometimes, less is more, and the changes to the tail and the extra red feel like they're more than enough to cary the design as-is.

Also, while I like the idea of the tail stripes a lot, something about it bugs me visually. I think it's because the back stripe leads the eye down and through to the tail; except this flow is then abruptly cut-off by the horizontal stripes, creating a bit of tension. I feel like either the back stripe should've just gone straight down the tail, with the stripes being added to the underbelly from the front (seeing as that's where they were to begin with), or the back stripe should've been dropped in favor of keeping the tail stripes. Regardless, those two elements are good separately, but don't quite work together.

In other words, it's a good design, but it's brought down a bit by unnecessary details and changes that don't serve a purpose.

So as a whole, I'd say that this is a great starter line, and one of my personal favorites. Treecko is lovely, and Grovyle is definitely the best of the line. Sceptile is good but a little bit of a downgrade, and while the mega brings more of a concept and cohesion to the design, it's also a bit over-cluttered. Regardless, these are some excellent geckos.

#treecko #grovyle #sceptile #pokemon #pokemon reviews #long post

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robinplayspokemon · 1 year

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pokemon yellow, day 2: mt. moon & cerulean city

yessssssssssssss, it's my queers!

what up gay nerds!!

so yeah, as you might remember from blue, after pewter city it was time to head for mt moon! and that means it's also time for team rocket (in this case, including the team rocket we know & love from the anime!) to join the party!

but first, there's some pokemon to catch! i mean, that's what the game is all about, right?

(nicknamed toph, after my favorite avatar: the last airbender character. well, second favorite after azula.)

(nicknamed vengeance because of batman, yeah it's silly.)

(nicknamed boulder because i couldn't think of anything better.)

(nicknamed cthulu because i am incapable of nicknaming a clefairy anything else.)

but, yeah! eventually our favorite protectors of worlds from devastation/etc show up, and their party is an ekans, a koffing, and a meowth! cute! (of course, we did recently learn in the anime that meowth frequently forgets he's a pokemon, lmao.)

i mean, i would prefer to have you beat me while calling me a brat, if that sounds fun to you? no pressure.

oh COME ON, they knew EXACTLY what they were doing with this lmao.

anyway, that's a wrap on mt. moon! i'm always surprised on revisiting it how much easier it is than it seemed when i was a kid playing this on my gameboy. shrug!

next up is cerulean city, and a fight with misty!

unlike brock she doesn't get a long monologue to align her character more closely to her anime character, but she does get a new sprite. and like brock she already had the same team in red & blue that she used in her fight with ash in the anime. she's also still a beast that took me more than one attempt to beat! even though i thought i was definitely ready this time. wild.

after obtaining the cascade badge, you're off to see bill and then to fight a team rocket grunt to obtain the tm for dig, between the cerulean gym & all the trainer battles, tomboy & boywife evolved!

i also used the two moonstones you find in mt moon to evolve cthulu & fully evolve boywife.

and finally, there's plenty of pokemon to catch while you're wandering around north of cerulean city!

(nicknamed mei, after one of my fiancx's headmates. i know i used that last game, but i can't not name purple moth pokemon that, sorry.)

(not nicknamed anything because just a dex filler & i couldn't think of anything at the time.)

(nicknamed vorey, because, well, see my review of volume 2 of the pokemon manga.)

(nicknamed puff puff, because i'm so creative. and because it aligns with my pikachu being named chu chu. shrug!)

(nicknamed spoon, because i didn't want to reuse "nospoon" but am a thoroughly unoriginal hack 👍)

and i guess that's all for now! catch ya next time, gay nerds!

#pokemon #pokemon yellow #video games #nintendo #team rocket #pokedex #sandshrew #zubat #geodude #clefairy #nidorino #nidorina #nidoking #clefable #venonat #oddish #bellsprout #jigglypuff #abra

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wumblr · 1 year

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i find your posts about... uh. physics (idk what further specificity applies. astrophysics? quantum mechanics?) fun to read, and way over my head. like. shit is undeniably compelling even as most of it is pretty much impossible for me to conceptualize (at my present levels of familiarity anyway) or attempt to contextualize within my.. subjective experience of material reality.. i guess. any advice on further educating one's self, for someone in my position of finding this sort of thing cool and interesting as a layman high school dropout beset by dyscalculia and poor visuo-spatial ability? i feel patronized and condescended to by the like... reddit / neil degrasse tyson "science is badass and awesomesauce" pop science attitude, btw. just think itd be nice to have the means to build practical knowledge in a way that is actually Neither erudite to the point of elitism Nor cheesy and annoying. if you happen to have any "tips" or "recs"

thank you! i do have recs. i have a page of book recs on my music portfolio website. that covers several subjects but it may be obvious which ones are about physics

"cosmology" is probably the word you were looking for (i'm looking for a grad school with a focus on that while i'm saving up for it)

arvin ash and sabine hossenfelder have some good youtube videos on the subject if you don't want to jump into a whole book. pbs spacetime is good. sabine also has a couple great books out

i like eugene khutoryansky, his videos sometimes ask a lot of the viewer, but probably nobody else has made 3d animations to unpack the einstein field equations

as a general rule i really like books for a layman audience by nobel physics laureates. these usually don't involve math (in search of the ultimate building blocks by gerard t'hooft, quark and jaguar by murray gell-mann, relativity the book by einstein)

basically anybody who's famous enough that you know they're a physicist has published a good book (stephen hawking, roger penrose, michio kaku)

einstein's dreams by alan lightman is a collection of short fiction about relativity made tangible. really good

structure of scientific revolutions by thomas kuhn is a classic but it confirms something i've been grasping at (focus on the bare observables, theory is an attempt to explain these phenomena)

i don't know if anybody has published a good layman's review of LIGO black hole mergers yet (janna levin?), i've been doing the crash course the hard way and just keeping up with the GCN circulars email list, where they tell all the telescopes in the world to slew in some kind of general direction when they detect something

if you only want to read two books i would recommend warped passages by lisa randall and lost in math by sabine hossenfelder. i think they make an excellent paired set, they're like complementary opposites... warped passages does basically everything that lost in math critiques, but it also contains a gold-standard description of the standard model and the process of modeling

#apologies to a guy i like for giving the same recommendations to anyone who asks. lol. it's because they're good...

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shoppncarticles · 2 years

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The Grimer Family

Hell yeah!!! If you’ve got any taste, you ought to know every game series out there, nay, any media franchise on Earth ought to have at least ONE funny little slime creature somewhere in its deep, rich catalogs, and Pokemon was smart enough to knock that requirement out in the first generation. We were lucky enough to be blessed with Grimer, an oozing pile of toxic sludge with a big smile and almost manically small pupils in its eyes. Pokemon could’ve done anything with its first slime monster, maybe it would’ve gone for the far more basic water-based jelly ball, like Dragon Quest (no disrespect to DQ Slime of course!!!), but no. Pokemon makes absolutely sure to remind us that Grimer is pure filth. Several Pokedex entries make note of it eating raw sewage and garbage and drinking rancid wastewater. One claims that Grimer was born from sludge settling at the bottom of a seabed - delightfully making it a marine Pokemon by association! - but another explicitly mentions that it was brought to life by X-rays from the moon touching a rank stream. HUH??? How’s that even work??? WHO CARES!!! Moon magic is real in Pokemon, baby!!!

I know I throw the word around a lot in these reviews a lot, but there’s just something innately charming about Grimer’s huge smile and goopy arms. It always looks like it’s having the time of its life, which is an excellent personality for a terribly disgusting slime monster to have. There’s always gonna be horrid sludge somewhere, Grimer is never truly alone!

Special mention goes to one of the major cities in the original Kanto region which has a small pond which the player can ride their Pokemon in. Usually, water will give way to encountering various Water-type Pokemon, but this little pond? 100% Grimer. A nasty little still body of water in an urban city, a perfect playground for everyone’s favorite little sludgy buddy.

Once Grimer’s spent long enough sipping up some especially sickly sludge, it becomes Muk, an even larger pile of ooze with a particularly pained and pitiful expression. It lacks the pure glee and delight that Grimer had, but misery works just as well for this shambling heap of waste and excrement. Make no mistake, by the way, both Grimer and Muk are constantly rippling, oozing to the ground in a continuous flow wherever they go. The dripping string across is also an excellent touch, and really does a lot to sell that whole goopy globular monster look Muk’s got going on here.

Surprisingly, Muk was chosen as one of the few Pokemon that main character Ash caught and used at some point during the anime series, featuring as a member of his team at various points and even used during some of the tournaments that he participated in. Muk was also portrayed as being especially affectionate, out of all things. It’s probably a joke about how the last thing you’d want to cuddle with is the living pile of polluted water, but making Muk just as sweet and lovable as any other Pokemon is something I wouldn’t have expected to see, especially on top of giving it billing as one of the main hero’s few teammates. It shows that every Pokemon is worthy of love and kindness, even the thing that’s probably going to give you 30 diseases if you let it touch your skin.

And guess what?? We’re not done yet, because Grimer was lucky enough to also get an Alolan form! I really dig the sunken eyes the Grimer now has, and the toothy rocks it’s gained give it such a charmingly dopey appearance. Apparently, Grimer were imported to Alola to help cut down on waste, since they consume it and all. They began eating solid garbage, and all the various germs, poisons, and toxins they ate crystallized and hardened in their bodies forming the teeth they now have.

This is emphasized by Grimer now learning a variety of biting attacks. Just in case you didn’t think the living sludge pile was bad enough before, now it can bite you and get its poisons under your skin. Admittedly, the teeth don’t look too impressive on Grimer, but once we get to Alolan Muk…

Now, I know some people aren’t immediately captured by big slime monsters in games, but let me tell you Alolan Muk is absolutely fantastic. Solidified toxic crystals now decorate its body all over, as well as giving it a snaggly set of teeth and even claws on its arm to boot. Muk keeps a sunken in, now more menacing eye, and now also sports a devilishly vibrant striped color scheme. This is an especially monstrous design, helped by Muk’s artwork keeping it so only one side faces the viewer. It feels very animalistic, almost snarling with that expression. Where normal Muk looked pained, Alolan Muk looks pissed.

Also, drawing attention back to those colorful stripes, they may seem pretty odd at first, but once you recognize what it is it becomes a bit more clear what Muk is going for.

Alolan Muk is meant to resemble what it looks like when oil touches water, resulting in a shimmering rainbow-colored surface that is quite surprising to see the first time. It’s easiest to see in parking lots during or after rainfall, thanks to oil that manages to leak out of car exhaust pipes. It fits well with Muk’s new island home, likely rife with liquid waste and runoff due to being so close to the sea. Those colored stripes also continuously flow down Muk during its idle animations, just in case you forgot how oozy Muk is.

Also, if you know anything about me you know I have to mention this, but ever since it was first revealed Alolan Muk always reminded me of the icky, paint-like Goop which is such an important part of Super Mario Sunshine. I know that Muk has nothing to do with it, but both are multicolored, oscillating, stripey oozes which characterize excessive pollution, especially in tropical island environments! The resemblance is just uncanny!! Sunshine is such an important game to me, and having the ability to control and command a monster in a game which so closely resembles the Goop from that game is so incredibly appealing to me, you have no idea. No one can stop me, I will take this parallel to my grave!

Also, before wrapping up this review, I absolutely have to draw attention to this Alolan Muk card. It captures everything wonderful about this lump of sludge.

Score: 5/5 - PERFECT!

Grimer and Muk do not disappoint the universal requirement for all franchises to have funny slime guys somewhere in them. They are without flaw.

[Gen 1 Archive]

#pokemon #pokemon review #grimer #muk #alolan grimer #alolan muk

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kabannoneko · 1 year

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Game Thoughts: The Rewinder by Misty Mountain Studio

I was supposed to post this review right after writing it on stream, but then I forgot about it.

Anyway, we put this on our Steam wishlist ever since I got into this Chinese point-and-click game fixation. And at some point, we decided to buy it (despite having a lot of other games in our backlog).

I did not regret it. - Kochan

What’s It All About?

You play as Yun, the last of the Rewinders, people who are given the ability to alter timelines by delving into spirits’ memories. One day, Mr. Black and Mr. White give you an assignment: to investigate a strange happening in Reed River Village, where several people have been stuck outside of the reincarnation cycle. When you get there, you soon find out that this first assignment of yours is more complicated than it seems.

World/Character/Story Development

At first, I thought this would be a typical saving people from a big problem sort of thing, but it breaks my expectations from the main character, Yun, alone. I would go so far as to say that he’s a pretty interesting character.

For one, I thought he would be the dutiful kind of guy, but it turns out, he’s more pragmatic, I guess? The reason he works for the gold from Mr. Black is to just have something shiny on display, not even for something to buy. (Then again, if you think about it, gold ingots don’t have any value in the Underworld, and therefore wouldn’t have any value to him, who was raised his whole life in the Underworld.)

He also has quite a bit of sass, which I like, and it’s blended with a bit of naivete as well. Being raised in the Underworld, he has almost no idea of how things work above ground.

I also find it interesting that even though he probably has a different set of priorities from the average human, he’s still pretty human. Like, he can still die, he gets hurt, and he also feels some insecurity regarding his abilities/duty as a Rewinder. And for me, that makes him pretty relatable.

It’s not just him who’s interesting, all the other characters have their own charm. And for something that deals with spooky stuff, even actually scary stuff, there’s a lot of love involved in this story.

You see a lot of relationships between people, most being romantic in nature, a few friendships, and even familial ones. And it’s nice that when you go back in time, you get to see how these relationships develop.

If you think about it, the problems in-game happen whenever these relationships are torn apart. For example, if Ash goes out without bringing Amber along, Amber eventually becomes a victim and becomes a resentful spirit. Another example would be Rusty becoming a beggar and eventually dying to the Yaoguai because he was ashamed of going back to his mother.

And in a way, solving the problems and altering timelines involves reconciling these relationships. Even Yun and Light go through something like it, despite being the main characters.

I guess that’s what makes this game beautiful for me.

Graphics

From the moment you open up the game, you’re treated to lovely pixel art. You’ve got scenic views reminiscent of those Chinese ink landscapes, and I love how they sometimes make use of foreground and background layers that move along with you.

It’s also worth noting that we played this windowed, and even then, you could still recognize objects. One set of objects that really made me realize this would be the animal stones when you go in this cave maze. You could tell for the most part what animal they are even if you don’t look at them up close.

Related to this, I also like that important things that you can pick up or interact with are highlighted without being too obvious that it would stand out like a sore thumb. Some hints are also visible but subtle.

Audio

The title screen alone has really good music (should I call it pretty???) and I knew from that point on, I was going to have a good time listening to the soundtrack. And it was even reinforced by the little tinkling sound when I moved the cursor between the options in the main menu.

All the themes and tracks are pretty nice, and my favorites are the theme for the Ghost Market (SUCH A BOP), and the music that plays while you’re exploring the cave maze and setting up the spell (this one makes good use of local instruments). The ending song is also something that you may not want to skip as the credits roll, kind of like that song for Devotion.

The worst part, though, is that the audio tends to reset to its default levels whenever you open up the game.

Gameplay

For the most part, it’s your usual point-and-click. You move your character by either using WASD or clicking with the mouse. Then you click on certain objects of interest with the mouse (the cursor changes depending on what it’s hovering on, which is nice.)

Sometimes you get dialogue choices, but it’s not that much of a dilemma, as most of them aren’t really choices per se, but questions of some sort. Some choices also lead to the same result anyway, so nothing too puzzling.

And speaking of puzzles… They’re the meat of the gameplay, the problem and puzzle-solving. I like that the devs had this in mind, as they made the puzzles challenging enough to make sure you pay attention to details and notes (some of which are given by the game) but not too difficult that you’d give up entirely.

The kind of puzzle that stands out as unique in this game is the memory stages, where you change the timeline by influencing what people do. And you don’t do it by actually moving things around. You do it by getting potential motivators and giving it to the right people at the right time.

It’s nice that you can start a section of the stage over in case you mess up, lessening the frustration of having to redo the whole thing from the start. Also, after you beat the game once, you can revisit stages and get flowers that you haven’t, since those are key to the secret good ending.

The worst puzzles for me, personally, were the rewind shrine puzzles because you have to do everything in reverse. Also, there’s the spinning wheel puzzle, which took me a few tries, and also the quick time events with the big spider, who killed me a few times as well.

Overall

It’s a beautiful game, with charming characters, lovely art and music, and solid gameplay. I would recommend it to anyone who is into point-and-clicks and loves lore and how things and events are intertwined. It also presents a good challenge, puzzle-wise, and makes you think quite a bit.

Pros

Great story and characters

Beautiful art and music (love the songs)

Challenging enough puzzles that aren’t too likely to make you ragequit, with enough hints to help you progress by yourself

Has some replay value

Cons

Audio resets to default loudness whenever you start it up

(If you’re going to stream it) it stops when you go outside the game

You can get it on Steam.

#video game review #the rewinder #misty mountain studio #point and click #point and click adventure #point and click games #chinese mythology

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thevindicativevordan · 1 year

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Weekly comic review ?

Nightwing #100 - A great artist showcase that Taylor manages to stay mostly out of the way of. No real narrative developments worth mentioning, the Titans shilling and obvious setup for a new Taylor written Titans ongoing just makes me roll my eyes but hey - whatever pries Taylor off of Jon I'm all in favor of.

World's Finest #11 - Solid ending to an arc that surprised me. Got thoughts to share on Magog now that it's over that I'll write up in a different post, but I will say I didn't expect him and Clark to part on such amicable terms. Of course Waid canonized the depower chamber from Superman II, should have seen that coming. Ending is definitely setting up some kind of follow up, be that in a future arc or in a spinoff mini like how Lazarus Planet is resolving the Nezha plotline.

Stargirl #3 - Continues to be great, guessing the Foster Father is Per Degaton. Eventually I'm sure Courtney will join the JSA book, only question is how many of these legacies will too.

One Bad Day: Bane - After Dark Crisis shit the bed Williamson needed this book to come out to remind me why I was on board for his Superman. It's solid and I love the twist that the "one bad day" for Bane actually ends up being the day he broke Batman. He peaked then and there, and never achieved anything as noteworthy ever again, something Bane himself recognizes and regrets. By the end he's become a quasi-Batman figure himself, taking in and mentoring a young man in an attempt to find a new purpose in life. Very much feels like an abbreviated DKR for Bane which is fitting given his status as the Evil Batman.

Lazarus Planet: Assault on Krypton -

Dreamer: Fine. Mostly just served as the story to explain what the hell is going on if you didn't bother to read Batman vs. Robin or the Alpha issue.

Jon - Wow actual chemistry between Jon and someone else! Almost forgot what that felt like after a year of utter blandness between Jon and Jay. God just break those two up already and put Jon with Ash, it would at least be amusing to see Jon dating someone who pushes back at his preaching.

Mercy - Good, I liked the flashes we get of her relationship with Lex and I approve of her becoming more like her animated Young Justice counterpart. Not quite a cyborg, more like Alex Mercer in terms of powerset.

Power Girl - Beautiful art, and Leah seems to have a good handle on Karen's voice. If she's getting telepathy I think she needs to give up one of the powers she already has in exchange. Looking forward to the backup.

The New Champion of Shazam #4 - Ending was a bit rushed but on the whole this was an enjoyable mini that left me feeling very optimistic about MAWS. I'm not thrilled that they seem to just want to have Mary go by "Shazam" too, come on surely we can come up with a better code name for her than just having her use Billy's. Especially since not only is he coming back, but his book is going by Shazam! Have Mary go by "Captain Shazam" if DC/Campbell is that opposed to a gendered name for her, it pays homage to Billy's original name and let's her be "Shazam" without literally having the same name as him.

Immortal X-Men #10 - Holy fuck I haven't been this eager for the follow-up since HoX/PoX. Gillen nails Xavier, there's no question that he is a good man, but his goodness doesn't stop him from taking actions that leave you unsettled. And that cliffhanger... looks like we're seeing the beginning of the end for resurrections.

Invincible Iron Man #2 - It's fine. I have no clue what is going on with Riri since I have never read anything with her in it, but she comes across as Tony's equal in arrogance alongside intellect.

Strange #10 - I was not familiar at all with Clea before this mini but now consider me a Clea fan. Great ending and i can't wait to see where McKay takes these two next. I've seen articles hyping up the new Strange series coming as being about Stephen as a wife guy, but brethren, it's Clea who is the husband gal. Look at that adorable psycho itching to slaughter an entire building this issue, but shows mercy because she loves her husband that much! Awwwww!

#weekly reviews

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tigerkirby215 · 2 years

Photo

Three of my favorite champions are getting really cute skins and also Ashe and Nidalee for whatever reason.

I guess I already gave a review of sorts for these skins on my Twitter but I’ll repost them here.

Yone

But it's hot so it's k. 7️⃣

Also Hat Yone is funny. Also Yone straight up stealing True Damage Yasuo's entire shtick lmao.

Nidalee

Give Nidalee an ASU plz it looks k but her old animations drags it down so bad 4️⃣

Zeri

A little sad Zeri is basically in two throwaway lines at this point. That being said this skin is super cute and fits her well. Love how she goes full blue when she ults, kinda hate that the splash is doing duck lips lol 7️⃣

Ashe

Why are you here...? Surprised we didn't have Pool Party Ashe sooner but ngl this just looks like Farie Dragon Ashe 2.0 3️⃣

Seraphine

Love the sandy colors, love the water VFX; absolutely adorable skin finally a Seraphine skin I actually like! 🔟

Prestige Seraphine

The skin itself looks better but I kinda miss the water VFX :( I might actually not grab this skin because the water VFX complete the skin imo 8️⃣

#league of legends #skins #league of legends skins #pool party #league of legends pool party #seraphine #ashe #zeri #nidalee #yone #league of legends seraphine #league of legends ashe #league of legends zeri #league of legends nidalee #league of legends yone

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ecargmura · 3 months

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Metallic Rouge Episode 7 Review - Immortal Nine Dumps

*Points to Jill* She’s an Immortal Nine. *Points to Aes/Alice* They’re an Immortal Nine. Who else in this show is an Immortal Nine? Like, why is this show suddenly dumping the rest of the Immortal Nine so fast? I guess it’s because it’s Episode 7, but holy heck! The plot is moving so darn fast all of a sudden!

Is Naomi a traitor? I don’t know! The story doesn’t seem like she has bad intentions, but the fact that Rouge doesn’t go to her when she escapes means something… Just what is Naomi doing? What is Jean’s deal? What is Dr. Chau’s deal. I don’t know!

It seems that Venus is where Neans were created and such. The lore behind their origins was nice, but is Venus going to be a place to go to or not? This anime just like dumping lore and lore but never elaborates.

I was surprised about Jill being a member of the Immortal Nine. I felt like that was out of left field. With Aes and Alice, I had a feeling they were split personalities and I was right; I didn’t expect them to be the orange Immortal Nine either. The scenes with Jill were surprising. She rescued Rouge and even showed off how Neans die if they break the Azimov Code. All in all, Jill’s sudden change in personality caught me off guard. She was really nice when she was introduced in Episode 2 but after saying things like “Woe to humans” and such was pretty mind-boggling—and how did she get to Earth? Also, I knew Giallo was alive. He’s too tenacious to die just yet.

It seems that Rouge is the center of everything, but no one is elaborating why she’s important. I guess it’ll be revealed later on? Despite that, I do like the black and white mindset that Aes and Alice try to implement into Rouge. Like, Rouge doesn’t think that she’s bad because she’s been doing what Jean has been telling her to do, but Alice scoffs at that and tells her that she has no will of her own if she keeps doing what others tell her to do, she’ll only be seen as bad. Because she kills Neans without second thoughts, she’s considered bad, but Rouge hates that idea. It’s nice to see some morality being implemented into Rouge’s mindset.

Rouge seems to have made unlikely allies in Ash and Noid. Ash and Noid have a rather interesting relationship. Ash hates Neans, but he still has one as an assistant. What Noid can do hasn’t been shown yet, but he’s mainly there to help and assist Ash. Maybe his true capabilities will be shown later?

Anyways, I have no clue what’s going on, so I’m going to have to wait next week to see what the heck is going on. Please let me know if you’re just as confused as I am.

#Metallic Rouge #Rouge Redstar #Naomi Orthmann #Ash Stahl #Noid 262 #Aes/Alice #Jean Yunghart #review #anime #anime review #ecargmura #arum journal

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punz4lyfe · 2 years

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Pokemon Journeys Episode 118 Review

Pokemon Journeys Episode 118. Let’s review:

For Ash’s first battle in the Masters Tournament and his first victory against a regional champion, how do things stack up? Hmm, pretty alright, but not toooo perfect.

Okay, so getting the small bad parts out of the way first, I did not like how Dracovish went down. The dude has shown to be an absolute tank all season and he gets taken out after one move collision with Metagross (which didn’t look like it did anything to him) and a single Heavy Slam from Aggron. Does Ash’s Pokemon here just share some kind of fodder card they secretly pass around each other? Could explain why Lucario wasn’t that interesting before his Mega Stone or why Gengar kept jobbing until he learned to Gigantamax. (and replace Water Gun with Hydro Pump already!) Same complaint goes for Cradily as well. Yeah, the set up for its defeat was nice (which I’ll get into later), but it only got taken down by a single Iron Tail. For how much time it stalled, it should be to almost complete health due to Ingrain, so it would’ve made more sense if it took Pikachu multiple Iron Tails to finish the job.

Those are my only complaints for the battle as a whole, though. Everything else was pretty great imo. Fun to see Gengar’s efforts of learning Will-O-Wisp get proper payoff and many of the strategies used were on-point, like Dazzling Gleam being used as a shield multiple times and Pikachu trapping Cradily’s tentacles with Electroweb after baiting them to a Power Whip. Nice to see Steven battle as well, as like many champions, we don’t really get a lot of that as a whole in the anime. The big finish of the whole battle was incredible. 10,000,000 Volt Thunderbolt being used as a way to both block Metagross’ attacks and leave him vulnerable afterwards was absolute genius. And was Iron Tail being used as a finishing blow supposed to be a reference to the fact that Pikachu learned that move in Hoenn? If so, then nice touch!

Outside from the battle, of course, Team Rocket was fun as usual, it was awesome to see Iris hang out with Goh and Hop and cheer on Ash with them, the other Masters 8 members’ commentary was nice (especially seeing Leon and Cynthia become more interested in fighting Ash themselves), it was a blast seeing all of Ash’s Pokemon together at Oak’s Lab cheering him on with Oak, Delia, and... Tracey, and all the Hoenn cameos were not only great, but impressive! Like really, who would’ve guessed that the anime would’ve remembered the existence of Jimmy, Kelly, Kate, and Gym Guide Dan again?

Still, wish there could’ve been more with the cameos, like have them react to what’s going on instead of just Ash’s friends, family, and Pokemon. Like maybe have someone like Birch say something like “wow, who’d thought Ash would be fighting our champion?” or something like that. And I swear Tracey’s cameo only supports my theory that he and Ash deliberately try to avoid each other whenever Ash comes back home. And does anyone else wish there was an actual curry party after the tournament that Goh and Iris mentioned? Could’ve been a great way to have some interaction between Ash and the Master 8 members that couldn’t make the semifinals.

Oh well, I’d still give this episode an 8/10. Pretty great, just not that perfect. And next episode will be a proper resolution to- (SLAM)

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kulseerattalwarsblog · 2 years

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The Panic

HELLO EVERYONE AND WELCOME BACK TO MY BLOG AND I AM VERY SORRY I COULD NOT POST A BLOG FOR YOU IN SUCH A LONG TIME BECAUSE OF MY FINAL EXAMS AND MY HOMEWORK . BUT I HAVE POSTED BOOK REVIEWS ON MY TUMBLR ACCOUNT WHICH IS bookreviewsbykulseerat123 AND THERE YOU CAN READ ALL MY BOOK REVIEWS . SO CAN YOU GUESS WHY THE TITLE IS NAMED THE PANIC ? WELL ITS BECAUSE I AM ABOUT TO TELL YOU A INCIDENT THAT WIPED AWAY DINOSAURS AND ALSO ONE OF THE DARKEST TIME IN HISTORY . SO WE ALL KNOW THAT A ASTROID HIT EARTH AND ALL THE DINOSAURS GOT KILLED AND BLAH BLAH BLAH BUT WHAT HAPPEND AFTER A FEW MINUTES ? SO THE NAME OF THE ASTROID THAT HIT EARTH IS CHICXULUB CRATER , THE ASTROID WAS TRAVELLING 30 KM PER SECOND WHICH IS 150 TIMES FASTER THAN A JET AIRLINE . THE ASTROID LANDED ON THE COAST OF MEXICO . AND NOW THE REAL QUESTION , WHAT HAPPEND ? . ALL THE DINOSAURS AND OTHER BIRDS AND CREATURES WERE PANICKING BECAUSE THEY DID NOT KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON . THERE WERE BIG TSUNAMI'S AND WAVES AS BIG AS 5 STATUE'S OF LIBERTY , ALL LAND AND WATER ANIMALS WERE DEAD BUT ONLY THE ANIMALS THAT LIVED DEEP INSIDE THE OCEAN SURVIVED . MANY VOLCANO ERUPTIONS OCCURRED , THAT BURNT THE ANIMALS INTO ASHES . THAT TIME EARTH WAS SO HOT THAT IT WAS RAINING FIRE BALLS . MANY PEOPLE ALSO THINK THAT THERE WAS NO SIGN OF SUNLIGHT OR ANYTHING . WELL THIS IS THE END OF THE BLOG NOW FOR FUN FACT TIME AND I WILL ALSO ASK YOU ALL A QUESTION AFTER THE FUN FACT . DID YOU KNOW THAT THE ASTROID WAS AS BIG AS THE SIZE OF MOUNT EVEREST . SO COOL AND NOW FOR THE QUESTION . MY QUESTION IS AS I MENTIONED THAT THE ASTROID WAS TRAVELLING 30 KM PER SECOND SO IF YOU HAD A POWER TO TRAVEL THIS FAST WERE WOULD YOU GO AND WHAT WOULD YOU DO ? WOULD LOVE TO HEAR YOUR ANSWERS . THAT'S IT FOR TODY I HOPE YOU ENJOYED AND I WILL SEE YOU ALL NEXT TIME , BYEEE .

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unicornofthemidwest · 2 years

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Sorry to bug you but this is my first time writing so I would love if you could tell me some tips or things to change, thanks for reading! 😊

Daisy (part: 1)

Niko: “Pick up the pace!” The Ufficiale screams in my ear, his face red hot. Three men run into me. I look up a second at the ceiling, and wonder how my family convinced me to do this. I’m trying out to be a knight in the Allegiance of Ashnika official guard. Ashnika is a powerful kingdom and Ve Nikon wants it on their side. They were hoping I could get a high enough rank for that to happen. I have the physical strength and aggression of a bunny so slightly wishful thinking. The Ufficiale blows his whistle at me so I try to keep running. I’m not trying too hard though, I don’t want this, I couldn’t hurt anyone. I understand why some people have to but why do I have to be some people? I take of my shirt, put my hands on my knees and try to catch my breath. I need water.

Zane: “She asks you join her in the Ash library.” “But we just got here to meet her. She chose the spot.” I say disappointedly. I have never been around here before. Vi raises her voice. “It is a matter that needs close attention and she thought the library would be a better place to review it.” “Of course.” I say and grab my paperwork then run back to the limo. I’m usually more professional but today has been more than enough. “Sigh” some days are better than others and I don’t know why. Today has been a bad day. I turn my head while I pass a fountain. My reflection makes me nervous. Once I’m in the limo I take out my laptop to again review the peace treaty it seems perfect but reading it make my stomach ache, which makes me want to read it again and again. If it’s not perfect lives could be at stake. People think I don’t understand that but I do. More than most. I look out the window and see a long row of cherry blossom trees in front of clothing stores. There are kids climbing them and trying to jump from tree to tree. I smile and wave but the windows are too tinted for them to see me.

Niko: “God!” My hands are throbbing after climbing the rope. I got done pretty fast though. Now I get a chance to catch my breath as the other trainees finish. These people want to do this, why? They look pretty young too, like early teens. I guess they want to start them young, they wouldn’t have a use for someone almost 18 then. When I’m done I can’t wait to tour Ashni- “Woods move it” the couch screams. They are done already! No… We start running laps uh, again.

When I run past the door I peek through to look at the castle. It’s so beautiful, it looks like indigo crystal. The floors are so shiny, the air smells so shiny, the lavender flowers hanging from the window are so pretty, it makes me drool. I flinch when a person walks across the floor. But then I notice how tall and handsome he is. *boom* I collapse from exhaustion. My legs tremble and my vision gets funny. I get up as quick as I can, and embarrassingly wipe of the non-existing dirt from my shirt. When I look up he is right in front of me. I take a couple steps backwards. “Are you okay!?” He asks. His face looks genuinely concerned. His eyes are piercing, mitch-matched brown and blue like earth and sea. His dark blue hair is lapis lazuli set on fire. I try to say “Yes, thank you.” but it comes out too quite. He somehow still knows what I said, he smiles and says “Good, let’s take a walk.” My legs already start leaving before I had the chance to think.

Zain: I have to meet with Hygie I can’t afford to waste time like this. But he’s so cute, his pink sweater and blonde hair makes him look like a piece of strawberry shortcake. His cheeks are so pink and they remind me of the cherry blossom trees I saw. And he’s so tiny, like a bunny. He doesn’t belong in the Ashnika guard he should be picking flowers and singing with animals. “Well, let’s get you some um, water.” I say. “Uh.. we’ll yeah, um sure I guess.” He says. I probably creeped him out. We walk to my office. “I’m Niko by the way, sorry about that.” he says smiling. My chest feels like some organs are malfunctioning his smile is so cute. His freckles are scattered all over his face like stars. “Oh no problem, I was bored anyway.” Oh no! Hygie is here. I push him into the locker room and turn off the lights. “I’m so sorry. Someone I’d rather not talk to today is in the hall so I panicked.” He tries not to laugh too loud “I was bored too!” I finally notice our situation were in the dark. Pressed up against each other. In the men’s locker room. Why didn’t I think this through. “She’s, um. She’s probably gone now.” He says. “Oh yeah, good.” I peek out and no one is there. We walk outside and he bursts out in laughter. I am hesitant but then join in.

Niko: “oh wait what’s your name!?” I say. “Oh, yeah it’s Zane.” He says. We both look at our feet for a second. “So my office is just down this hall, it’s air conditioned and a water fountain.” He says. We start walking, I wonder if he likes boys. His hand pushing my shoulder felt so good, and now I miss the sensation. “I um, I really like your name, Nika. My friend has a cat with the same name.” Oh he forgot my name, I should correct him. But I won’t ever see him again so it fine I guess. “Thanks I like yours too.” I really do like his name though it must be an Ashnika name because I have never heard it before. I step into his office. Wait he’s the KING! How did I not know that, I’m a fricken prince I should’ve known that. I’m the second born prince, me and my brother were taught this stuff. A guy like him is way out of my league. I’m such an idiot. He is staring, I stopped in my tracks and now I feel bad for being rude. He gets me a cup of water when he passes it too me I feel his hands linger on mine for a bit too long. The water is so cold and his hands were so warm, sigh, I need a boyfriend, I got way too excited just by him touching my finger tips. “So you’re the prince of Ve Nikon, I like it there, it’s pretty.” He says. He recognized me, that’s kinda weird. “You look a lot different from your photographs”. “Yeah I guess it’s pretty, it gets boring though it’s pretty much the same everywhere you go. I love the city and there are no cities there. The only reason I agreed to go to tryouts is because the shopping here.” I say. “Yeah I get that I love Ashnika but it’s hard to make the most of it when you’re so busy. I guess that’s why I skipped my meeting I’m still a kid and I feel like I’m missing out you know.”

Your characters overall are very fun and interesting! I would love to know more about them.

Grammar-wise, especially commas, you might need a bit of work. I’d recommend using a word processor (such as Google Docs) or using Grammarly. Tbh though, if you’re just writing for fun, the grammar and punctuation doesn’t matter that much.

Sometimes your dialogue can feel a little awkward, but in general, it portrays the meaning and characters well. If you want it to sound more natural, I’d recommend reading it out loud or “hearing” it in your head, and thinking about how it would sound if real people were saying it.

This is a fun beginning to a story, and I would love to read more of it!

-Moon

#answers

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drizzileiscool · 19 days

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keroro movie 1 review

6/10

it's a sgt frog movie, as advertised

short, spoiler free review: just another power of friendship type movie. i do not like the whole power of friendship trope

spoiler filled review:

subtitles and other stuff

i get that this isn't a fansub like the rest of the anime, but the subtitles give off netflix vibes. that's a bad thing. i would at least like to be able to read anything

mois's name was changed to moa, lavie is now rabi.

plot

keroro and fuyuki go buy a gundam model together, suddenly they find a weird shrine and it has a portal in it. keroro tries to make an offering of 100 yen but it falls through the portal so they go through and accidentally break some crystal that guards an ancient super weapon. for some reason everyone has x's on their faces and can do telepathy now. at first the telepathy is cool and everyone is doing it. there's even a koyunatsu scene where natsumi does the telepathy thing with koyuki and asks what she likes and koyuki responds with "natsumi". it's followed up with a natsugiro scene with the exact same thing and I don't like that because natsugiro makes me uncomfortable.

the next day the telepathy only starts working on negative thoughts so everyone is much less happy and more depressed. a new keronian called mirara comes in and explains the situation. the super weapon, now known as kilulu, will destroy earth because everyone's telepathy stuff gives off negative energy because they're depressed. mirara is all like "you're all doomed and also you can't save the world because humans and keronians can't live together because keronians are aliens so you can't get along" to which fuyuki responds with "actually me and sarge are besties so yes we can".

uhhh. more stuff happens that I can't be bothered to write, mirara tells them that she knows how to deal with kilulu, fuyuki and keroro's x's are gone and replaced with o's, mirara turns into a key, and a really long scene where they try to get mirara (now a key) into this large space ship thing to stop kilulu. saburo is here and has an important role for once instead of being a joke character that natsumi is in love with. natsumi uses her ultimate warrior super hero weapon outfit thing we saw several episodes ago in season 1 and then never again so it's cool that they brought it back.

another natsugiro scene that I hate happens but that's over quickly and we cut to fuyuki and keroro in the ship trying to get key mirara to the thing. we get a scene where they're all friendship and stuff and fuyuki's like "we're gonna buy gundam models. Together." they get the key into the thing and everything is done woohoo movie's over yippee the end. but their house is completely destroyed from everything so keroro's still in trouble. the end for real this time

art stuff

it's nearly identical to the original, but now in 1080p. that's cool I guess but it doesn't really.. fit.. if that makes sense. I mean I'll probably have to get used to it by the time the new keroro anime comes out but I don't wannaaaa.

final thoughts:

6/10

as stated before, I do not like the power of friendship trope. i get that it's a movie aimed at children and they can't have scenes that are too emotional but pokemon has ash fucking die in the first movie. and then he died again in another movie I think. why can't this movie kill off someone and bring them back. kill off dororo so the platoon realizes "oh shit, dororo exists. we kinda need him" and bring him back for a scene where everyone is crying over his death only to realize his death was faked. or something like that

this movie is exactly what you'd expect from a sgt frog movie.

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