#where i rate all the manhunts out of 10 too

[nonsubstantial]

2023 book log (part 2/3)

++++July++++

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang ~ A really meta and 'internet drama heavy' thriller. It's about an author who steals the manuscript for her (dead) friend's upcoming book. I don't think I've read anything like this before, so I thought it was pretty interesting. ~ my rating: 8/10

Persepolis Rising (the expanse 7) by James S.A. Corey ~ The first in a trilogy of books that form the final story arc of the expanse series. I thought it was a decent story, but I don't care for extended fight scenes, and it felt like a lot of it was setting up for the 8th book. ~ my rating: 7/10

++++August++++

Tiamat's Wrath (the expanse 8) by James S.A. Corey ~ The second book in the Laconian trilogy. The main characters suffer so much. But they persevere. I liked this one more than the past few books. It seemed like character development was given an extra amount of consideration. ~ my rating: 8/10

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin ~ A book where anyone with too much testosterone turns into a fucking monster. Horror, gore, and trans discourse. Extreme trigger warning. ~ my rating: 8/10

Leviathan Falls (the expanse 9) by James S.A. Corey ~ The final expanse book! I had a lot of fun with this series, despite feeling like the authors could have cut 100-200 pages out of each book. Their compulsion to overexplain everything was both their greatest strength and their greatest weakness. Oddly, the side stories that bookended this book ('Auberon' and 'The Sins of our Fathers') were both highpoints in the series history, and I liked them almost more than the final book itself. The Expanse is truly a sci-fi epic. (worth mentioning that I also have a favorite quote from the expanse; it's when Amos says "Everywhere's Baltimore") ~ my rating: 7/10

The Light Fantastic (discworld 2) by Terry Pratchett ~ A direct sequel to the first Discworld book, which I read a couple years ago. It seemed to me that this book achieved pretty much everything that the first book did, but to a much greater extent. It's mostly a lot of riffing on early fantasy tropes. Fortunately, this book solidified my belief that Discworld is a series worthy of slowly making my way through. ~ my rating: 8/10

++++September++++

Equal Rites (discworld 3) by Terry Pratchett ~ At first, it seemed like an attempt to tell a more focused, character driven story in the setting of the Discworld. And yet it remained unfocused, and retread some of the same ground as the first two books. Near the end, I realized that the true purpose of the book was just to explore the ways that magic functions in the Discworld, and to make it a more believable setting. I also loved the eldritch horrors at the end. ~ my rating: 7/10

Babel by R.F. Kuang ~ I loved this author's 2023 book, Yellowface, so I knew I had to check this out eventually. The worst parts, of this alternate history thriller, are that parts of the plot feel a little contrived, and the reader is led along a very narrow path, so to speak. The plot itself is a very well researched and well reasoned dive into themes of translation, colonialism, and scholarship. The real magic of this book is in how it blends its message with its characters, who were all endearing and had stories that were both gripping and believable. I usually don't fall this hard for books that are 'all plot', but Kuang managed to pack so many good things into this one that I ended up really enjoying it. The one thing that I'm unsure of is what to rate it, because while I initially put it at a 9/10, it hasn't remained as memorable as I expected, and I'm starting to think that Yellowface had a stronger impression on me. So, I guess ~ my rating: 8/10

#book recommendations #personal

[literaphobe]

I don’t think I can pick between the horse, parrot, or axolotl one of which is my favorite. They’re all so good.

the ‘minecraft, but my friend is a _______’ series rated according to how much i like them:

minecraft, but my friend is a dog:

dog!dream flip flopped between :D and >:( every 5 seconds n it was beautiful to watch

one second he’s cuddling w a minecraft puppy and going ‘baby 🥺’ the next moment he is viciously attacking george n attempting to murder him in frustration from how much damage he took because of george’s accidental hits. next moment he is sheepishly apologizing because george made him sit down and won’t let him back up until he behaved. and in the moment after that he tells george if i were ur actual dog i would have bitten you by now :/ (??????????)

i love the game mechanics of george being able to freeze dream so that dream can’t move n the ability to teleport dream to george when he’s too far away. v cute. fun balance of dream needing george to save him but also him being able to help him and also be so silly and goofy.

shoutout to the ‘RIP dog Dream :(‘ subtitle when they failed the challenge. 10/10

minecraft, but my friend is a parrot:

dream going BAKAWK n repeating everything george said my beloved. my minecraft youtuber is so annoying 😍

him going ‘my strategy to survive? well im a parrot so :) if anyone comes i can just go BLRRRRRRR’ stole my entire heart

him pretending he needed to eat and letting george feed him only to go JK xD and fly away. so many things about dream were so endearing n funny in this video

i am a big fan of him calling a wolf a ‘woof’ and also his harry potter messenger owl bit. when he sang that i will lead the way parody about being a parrot…. that changed the landscape as we know it :( he is a silly little birdie :( my little wackadoodle :(

also funnily enough this is the only friend is a mob video where they actually beat the game LMAO 12/10

minecraft, but my friend is a horse:

i love the running bit of dream badly mimicking the animals he’s meant to play. also a big enjoyer of him seeing another mob and going omg MY BROTHER…. MY UNCLE…. MY FAMILY….. and like giving names to all the other horses. he is so adorable

dream riding a boat as a horse and singing about it….. he is a disney animal princess. i love him. he is Silly. he is Whimsical. he sang so much more and even reprised songs from the last video. he Galloped. he Yelled. he made Incomprehensible Noises

‘the skeleton could Not touch this 😌’ proceeding him singing can’t touch this as he juked mobs was truly something

‘it’s dinner time and ur papa bird give me the worms! BLURPBLURBLURPBLURVBLURPVLUR’ changed me as a person

shoutout to ‘🎶we’re going on a trip my enderman friend, we’re going to the end, me and my enderman friend :D🎶’ my little parody song writer <3

idk why dream was so quotable but big love for him saying ‘i’m not a communist it’s not OUR food :/ sharing is caring but i don’t CARE >:(‘

george hitting an mlg horse on dream n them joking about how dream experienced what the horse in manhunt experienced n how much his back hurt was. JDJSJDJDJ

when they did risky horse parkour as part of their ‘victory lap’ and george told dream ‘i want you to get the last hit 🥺’ only for horse!dream to DIE trying and george stared in disbelief before killing the dragon w one axe hit….. a masterpiece. 15/10

minecraft, but my friend is an axolotl:

im sorry but george using facecam in this video really boosts the experience. they r getting SO many points for this alone

dream popping up going AHHH :D is SO cute but george thinking dream was green is fucking HILARIOUS. the fact that he didn’t even KNOW throughout the whole editing process because he BEGGED dream to edit it but he said no. so neither of them knew until the video was posted

dream finding other axolotls and going my brothers 🥺 my sisters 🥺 my uncle 🥺 why does he always find his uncle. why is he so cute

‘you’ll never find me >:) [gets found instantly] STOP :(‘ hits so hard

‘you need to Protect me :)’ completely destroyed me :( im trying so hard not to quote the whole video. im very in love w this video

every time they found a glow squid…. dream’s excitement…. him not wanting to kill it at first…. ‘it INKED 🥺’

dream’s whole ‘omg there’s DIAMONDS… oh nvm that’s not diamonds. it’s the glow thingy. There’s Iron!! there’s a creeper. get the creeper. i need food. im on one heart. i need food!!’ journey that led to george calling him Bad and him saying Take It Back :( was everything to me

the clown music playing. them finding actual diamonds and dream falling into the water and getting attacked and crying for george to save him as he escaped into a tiny Hole was so incredibly BABY :( why was he so baby this whole video :( everything he said was chock full of 🥺🥺🥺

him finding out he could only eat fish and not meat :( him going no 🥺 yeah 🥺 yum 🥺

his silly AXOLOTL SONG :( followed by him taking damage from lack of water n them SCREAMING DJDJS every time george scolded him for hitting mobs and had to save him and dream was all thank you… THANK YOU :( please why did i think it was a good idea to watch this. why is it so endearing

george nagging dream to be careful in the fortress as he went ‘im exploring! im exploring! :D HOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOOHOO’

dream being a silly little navigator who very clearly didn’t know where he was going as george complained n he insisted repeatedly that george follow him…. <3333

‘look just tell me that i’m good :( tell me i did a good job :(‘ —> them going back to the overworld n him saying ‘just give it to me raw’ —> ‘what’d you say you said u were gonna say something :/‘ ‘you… you did good dream’ ‘yay :D’ i am on the floor. please i cannot take this anymore

dream going im stuck in a pool 😔 and george teasing him about needing help before saving him… them racing w george in a boat and dream swimming as an axolotl…

dream punching him into the end and being so excited to beat the game only for the video to end super abruptly because dream fell 😍 JDJSJDJ 48283828372737/10

#ask #dreamwastaken #georgenotfound #mcyt #this is so long im sorry #welcome to me test running a concept that i was gonna use for a post about manhunt #where i rate all the manhunts out of 10 too #askplus

[ambassadorquark]

ALL OF LWAXANA TROI’S APPEARANCES RANKED BY HOW GOOD HER OUTFITS ARE

this rating system has nothing to do with the actual quality of the episode in question and is entirely based on how iconic a given lwaxana outfit is and how many there are in the episode in question. altogether lwaxana appears in nine episodes, which i will list here in order of least to most powerful aesthetically

TNG season 7 episode 7, “dark page”

total number of outfits/costume changes: 3

while this episode is fantastic in my opinion, it definitely lacks looks. one of the costume changes is just the hospital gown everyone in star trek wears while in a telepathically induced coma of some kind, and the other two are certainly not flashy. i actively dislike the brown dress since i feel that even lwaxana’s simpler looks ought to have an elegance or flair that this one lacks. her other dress in this episode is actually quite nice, simple and dark-colored to demonstrate that she’s depressed but also just fashionable & shiny enough to give it a couple points. cumulative rating: 3/10

DS9 season 3 episode 10, “fascination”

total number of outfits/costume changes: 2

“fascination” contains only two lwaxana outfits, both of which are charmingly tacky but unfortunately some of my least favorites out of her wardrobe. the purple dress is sort of shapeless and her headdress is kind of a fumble, and the orange dress is just kind of ugly. while i love DS9’s commitment to giving lwaxana an extensive collection of wigs in addition to her many extremely good dresses, the one she wears in this episode is pretty bad. a point or two added for how truly buckwild these looks are. cumulative rating: 4/10

DS9 season 1 episode 17, “the forsaken”

total number of outfits/costume changes: 3 (including a repeat of a dress from TNG)

first of all, this one loses a lot of points for having a repeat outfit in it; the pink and purple dress, to the best of my knowledge, also makes an appearance in one of her TNG episodes, “ménage à troi”. luckily, the dress in question is great and has been paired with an EXTREMELY powerful pink wig. the wig game in this episode is actually solid as hell and is basically the only reason i don’t hate the weird blue lace thing she wears at one point. i mean it’s certainly iconic but it also kind of sucks. and as beautiful as this episode’s most emotional moments are, the dress she wears during them is way too plain for me to rate this one too highly. overall the looks are decent and memorable, and the introduction of wigs is a legendary move on the DS9 folks’ part. cumulative rating: 5/10

TNG season 4 episode 22, “half a life”

total number of outfits/costume changes: 5

although this episode has a LOT of outfits, i don’t really like most of them too much. the teal dress she starts the episode out in is my favorite, but the others are either a bit uninteresting or like, not great. i guess i appreciate her belt game in this one, but the purple dress is kind of weird all in all. i also guess her wearing a plain-looking nightgown makes her seem a little realer and more down-to-earth but it does require me to suspend my disbelief that lwaxana doesn’t go to sleep in like, a prismatic hot pink negligee or something, so that takes some points off. cumulative rating: 6/10

DS9 season 4 episode 21, “the muse”

total number of outfits/costume changes: 5

while the maternity outfits in this episode are classy and characterful, they’re not very memorable or particularly #iconic. the remaining two looks, however, are pretty great. although the wedding dress IS simple, it’s pretty and the weird face veil is a nice touch, and i also love the addition of a glowing orb as an accessory. the final outfit of the episode is beautiful, though; the textures of the fabric add a lot of interest to a neutral-colored look... also notice that she’s wearing beige to match odo’s colors! this is a good one for outfits that aren’t quite as much weird fun as the usual but still genuinely stylish and nice-looking. cumulative rating: 7/10

TNG season 1 episode 11, “haven”

total number of outfits/costume changes: 2

this episode gets points, despite only having two looks, for its commitment to a striking color scheme. also, this is lwaxana’s debut episode, and it establishes her as That Bitch right out of the gate. the sequined shoulder cutouts of the top dress and the extremely icon backless look AND top notch accessorizing on the second are pretty choice. cumulative rating: 8/10

TNG season 5 episode 20, “cost of living”

total number of outfits/costume changes: 5

NOW we’re getting somewhere! the looks in this episode are all over the place but include one of my ABSOLUTE FAVORITES, the ridiculous silver Glinda the Good situation in the middle there. the topmost outfit is charming and stylishly coordinated if kind of a weird thing to wear specifically to hang out with a small child. the remaining two are kind of weird as hell and i can’t decide if i like them, but they get points for being huge. lastly, the most iconic move in the whole episode, when lwaxana crashes her own wedding nude for basically no reason, puts the looks in this one FIRMLY Up There. cumulative rating: 8/10

TNG season 3 episode 24, “ménage à troi”

total number of outfits/costume changes: 4

this episode straight-up sucks but of course, the most important thing is that lwaxana is killing it the entire time which is why it’s the second most powerful on my list. on the top: i just kind of love this one. the asymmetrical cleavage window and sequin/animal print energy of the top have some powerful energies. and on the bottom: at one point she loses her clothes and has to wear a patented Star Trek Shiny Blanket, and then changes into a pretty choice outfit that’s like the exact same color for absolutely no reason. the fact that only one of the sleeves has sequins on it is what makes this one shine in my opinion. also, you’ve already seen the pink one in the middle there because it was so good she also wore it on DS9. i included the picture of her wearing it to a picnic because everyone in that picture looks extremely stylish except for riker. cumulative rating: 9/10 GET IT TOGETHER RIKER

TNG season 2 episode 19, “manhunt”

total number of outfits/ costume changes: 4

every single look in this episode is SO GOD DAMN GOOD. she shows up in an incredible like, sexy fairy godmother ass glittery dress WITH some rhinestone nonsense going on in the cleavage window for no reason except that she’s That Bitch, and all her subsequent outfits, while not going quite as hard, still rule indiscriminately. the shiny multicolored dress & return of the shoulder cutouts is ICONIC. the hot second where she tones it down for her hot date with picard bc she read his mind and figured out that he was boring i guess is still ELEGANT and PEERLESS. and i am going to be thinking about whatever is going on with that purple dress and its enormous fluffy shoulders for the rest of my life. also, not relevant but the outfits she puts her little attaché guy in are also pretty cute. lwaxana troi invented fashion. cumulative rating: 10/10

#beep boop #lwaxana troi #long post .

[leap-loves]

🔪should you fight my f/os?🔪

Tagged by: @singingdeepinme​

I tag: @milo-and-their-fos​ , @mochidropss​ , @fishandships​ , @elizawritescrap​ , and anyone else who wants to!

Going under the cut, and I covered my platonic F/Os quickly too because why not

TFP / Knightverse Bumblebee

Bee is a trained warrior, raised in a war... and is also a, like, 20+ foot tall alien robot. So fight at your own risk. 

If you decided to try anyways, he’s a good fighter. While he’d be hesitant to fight you if you’re an organic, he will if he has to. He’s clever and creative, will use whatever he has to to win, taking advantage of his surroundings. However, he isn’t likely to kill unless you don’t give him an option. 

Rating: For training he’s pretty good, but for a genuine fight... 3/10. 

Nightwing / Dick Grayson

Again, trained warrior, extremely skilled acrobat, trained and raised by one of the most feared heroes of all time, and one of few without powers... Fight at your own risk. 

Should you still feel so inclined to fight him, you’re in for a helluva time. Not only is he skilled, plenty powerful, and well versed in most any weapon, but he’s talkative. He will tease and taunt you, it’s as much a battle of wills as it is a physical battle. He’ll add insult to injury by critiquing your outfit or style while beating you to Metropolis and back. 

Rating: Again, good for training, but in a genuine fight, would not recommend. 4/10. 

Android 16

16 doesn’t like to fight, but he’s programmed to. He’ll avoid it where he can, especially post the Cell Games, but he will fight if he has to. But considering that he was able to deal some damage to Cell, and was designed to defeat Goku... do you really want to take him on?

If you manage to coax him into a fight, it’s still not going to be easy. He has rocket arms for crying out loud! Plus he’s tall, over 7 feet tall, and big. He packs a punch in general, plus he’s made of metal. Dealing damage to him is hard, but he deals damage easily. So... have fun with that. 

Rating: I don’t know why you’d want to, but in a serious fight... 4/10 maybe? 5/10? He’d hold back unless you piss him off enough. 

For the fun of it, quick run down of my platonic F/Os:

TFP Predaking: You would quickly become his snack, he has no problems with that

TFA Prowl: He’s another large robot, known for his fighting prowess. The battle would likely be over quickly, and he’d have every move planned before the first twitch

TFA Wreckgar: He’s mostly a threat through his lack of understanding... but why would you want to fight him?

JLU Martian Manhunter / J’onn J’onzz: The only way for you to win is to cripple him mentally, because he can shape shift into literally anything. And he can fly. And has telepathy. He knows what you’re going to do as soon as you do. 

BotW Yunobo: Another one who doesn’t really like to fight, but he’d focus on going on the defensive until someone else steps in, or you get tired. But... why would you fight him in the first place?

DBZ(A) Vegeta: Depends on when in the timeline, on how much he’d restrain himself. But if you piss him off, you’re as good as dead. No doubts about it. He won’t stop until you’re dead, or defeated. Again, depends on when in the series. 

#text post #long post #thanks for the tag! #thanks for tagging me! #singingdeepinme #leap speaks #otp: float like a butterfly #otp: sunshine in the shadows #otp: fly away with me #brotp: dragonfly #brotp: queen of garbage #brotp: mind and heart #brotp: Diamonds in the rough #brotp: monkey say dragon do

[stained-carmine]

‘Come on, it’ll be fun!’

‘W-well, I’m not so sure...’

‘Trust me!’

...

‘Admittedly, I’m a little scared...but, if you’re by my side, then I don’t need to be afraid.’

‘Something like that...being a part of it? It’s like we’re pioneers in a new chapter of history...isn’t that exciting?’

‘As long as you’re here with me, holding my hand, I have the courage to face anything.’

“...ey”

‘Today’s the day! Are you ready to change the world?’

‘I-I won’t lie, I’m a little nervous...my heart won’t stop pounding...I’m afraid it might burst...but...I’m also excited, it’s so overwhelming...’

“Hey...”

‘Wait...Something doesn’t feel right...What’s going—’

‘AAAAAAAAH—’

‘It hurts...It hurts so much...I don’t want to die...! I’m scared! Where are you? I can’t...see you...anymore......Where are you...?! Please...don’t leave me....Don’t let me die here...Please...!’

‘BLAIRE!’

“Hey!”

A sudden touch brought you back to the present, and away from the nightmares of your past. You looked up to the individual who had shaken you from your trance. Before you stood the bartender, gazing at you with concern.

“Are you alright there?”

You stared at him blankly for a moment, like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle, then it dawned on you that he has asked you a question.

“Ah....N-no, I’m fine.“ You responded sheepishly.

The bartender frowned at you, unconvinced, but let out a sigh as he shook his head. “If you say so...” And with that he sauntered off, seeing to the needs of the other patrons.

As the man walked away, you lowered your gaze to the glass of whiskey you’d been nursing for the past hour or so. The ice cubes had all but melted away by now, leaving you with a mix of alcohol and water. It’s not as if you had your heart set on drinking the whole thing, but it was a little disheartening nonetheless.

Letting out a soft sigh, you pushed the glass aside. You thoughts wandered back to earlier that day, when you had told told Marcel you were leaving. Of course, he objected to it, saying you hadn’t full healed yet and that he could do more to help you recover—to help return you to your former self—at least physically.

You glanced down to your right arm, which was resting on the bar. The right side of your body had suffered quite a bit of damage from the fire, with scars extending from your neck, all the way to your ankles. While Marcel had told you that with skin grafts, you would be able to reduce the amount of scar tissue that covered your body, letting you return to the way you looked before, you weren’t ready for that. You weren’t ready to let go of the past, to forget what happened, to move on from your loss...

It was then that you heard something that caught your attention. The television in the corner of the room, anchored to the ceiling, had been set to a new broadcast since you entered the bar. It had mostly been local news, recent events and crimes, nothing of interest to you really—until now that is.

“It’s been six months since the tragedy that claimed the lives of over a hundred people in Hycasal, yet authorities are still no closer to finding the perpetrator.” On the screen were the remnants of a burned building, half collapsed in on itself, like someone had detonated a bomb in the building. “The man responsible for the disaster is Shin Kiromura, age 25, the former head of research and development at Alistarias Pharmaceuticals.” A photo of a man is brought up on the screen as the newscaster gives a verbal description of his appearance. A hateful glare replaces your sorrowful visage as you lay eyes upon that man, clenching your teeth as you scowled at his likeness. “He was conducting research into the effects of a drug his team was developing. Kiromura failed to report the possible dangers of a compound used in the creation of the drug to his supervisors, ignoring the risks and possible dangers this could pose to human health. With government funding, a clinical trial was carried out late summer of last year under the Caristalian Military’s watch. During clinical testing, an explosion occurred at the military facility located on the edge of Hycasal, causing a fire to break out in the lab. All 30 participants in the clinical trial died during the explosion along with 10 researchers who were in the lab monitoring the vitals of the participants. During the evacuation, the structural integrity of the building became compromised and the building collapsed, killing 73 more people, 16 of which were first responders. Eye witness reports from a survivor state that Kiromura fled the scene with the remainder of the highly volatile compound used in the manufacturing process of the drug. Authorities issued a warrant for his arrest and began a manhunt following the disaster, but have been unable to locate him.”

The screen displayed a series of shots, focusing on the building and the surrounding area, one of which caught your eye. At the main entrance to the building, a memorial had been erected in order to honor all the lives lost that day. You bit your lip slightly as you felt a twinge of pain in your heart. So many dead...and all for what? Some scientist’s hubris? A man who thought himself above the risks? Who didn’t care about how his choices would affect others? And to think that the police hadn’t caught him. For such a man to be free, to go unpunished for his heinous crimes, to still be out there with that reactive material, allowing him to create yet another tragedy if he so desired. It was infuriating.

“Kiromura is wanted for 113 counts of second degree murder, criminal negligence, and terrorism. This man is believed to be highly dangerous, and in possession of high explosives. If you see this man, contact authorities immediately, do not approach him. If you have any information regarding this man’s whereabouts, please contact—”

“Terrible, isn’t it?”

You flinched at the sudden voice coming from behind you, causing you to spin around swiftly. A man had sat down next to you at the bar, waving the bartender over to order his drink. You eyed the man with suspicion, ready to fight back should he have malicious intent, but he just gave you a friendly smile in return. “You seemed really focused on that broadcast, did you lose someone in that disaster?” He asked, raising the beer he had ordered to his lips.

You were hesitant to answer him. You didn’t know this man, you couldn’t tell if he had ulterior motives behind this idle conversation. Giving him another once over with your eyes, you didn’t see anything that would indicate he was armed. He also didn’t look like an officer, either of the police force or the military. Everything about him seemed ordinary, from the clothes he wore, to the way he carried himself. With a lingering doubt in your mind, you opened your mouth to answer him.

“...Yeah, yeah I did...” You replied, turning your gaze from him and lowering your head.

“Sorry to hear that...” The man’s smile faded, replaced with a concerned frown. “Can’t believe they haven’t caught the guy yet. You figure finding one man would be easy when his face is on every news station in the country.” The stranger took another swig from his glass before turning towards you. “You know, I heard that the military are offering a reward for his capture. Those meatheads and gun nuts can’t stand to have their pride sullied. Way I figure, they think if they can catch the guy, they can earn back the trust of the people. Like we could ever trust that shady general after that though. The military was supposed to be overseeing that trial right? How could they have missed that psycho hiding right under their noses?”

You had to mentally reel yourself in to stop yourself from snapping back at the man. Keeping a calm facade, you responded. “Is that so? How much are they offering?”

The man shrugged, downing the rest of what was in his glass before calling the bartender over for a refill. “Mm, not sure myself. Only heard about it from a friend you see. Don’t even know if it’s true.” Thanking the bartender, he raised the glass to his lips before pausing. “Though if it is, they’re awfully desperate. You’d figure they’d start by interrogating all the survivors first before offering rewards to the public.”

“They probably did already. Usually that’s the first thing they do in an investigation. Question witnesses, bring in the people that knew the culprit.” You had to catch yourself so as to not give away your former occupation. “...Or at least that’s what they do in police dramas.” If they hadn’t caught that man by now, interrogations probably turned up no leads. You felt your heart sink a bit. If you were going to go through with this plan of yours, that would have been your first course of action. You scowled slightly from beneath your hood, you might need to rethink your plan at this rate.

“My cousin’s friend was employed at the facility, and was in the building that day.” The voice came from across the bar, from the bartender who seemed to have overheard our conversation. After serving up some mixed drinks to a group a friends who had come into the bar to celebrate, the bartender wandered back over to the two of us. “Said the guy had been in a coma ever since.” Noticing the drink I had sat aside with no intention of finishing, the bartender took the glass and poured it out, washing and rinsing the glass out for a future customer to use. “Just the other day I heard the guy had just woke up for the first time in six months. My cousin was ecstatic. He was actually going to go visit him today actually.”

A spark lit up in your mind as this opportunity presented itself. “That’s great. Will your cousin be coming here to celebrate after?”

The bartender laughed in response. “You kidding me? He wouldn’t be caught dead in here. Too shabby of a place for him. If anything, he’d probably hit up one of the bars in the city.”

“Ah, your cousin is one of those guys. Too good for a small place like this. Needs one of those fancy restaurants where you buy a whole bottle of wine to go with your meal.”

“Well, I can’t deny that but still...” The bartender frowned at the man who had just finished his second beer, and was now demanding a third, garnering an eye roll from the man behind the counter. With a sigh he took the man’s glass and began to pour him another. “What about you? Did you want another drink?”

“Ah no, I’ve spent long enough sitting here, it’s about time I left. I have things to take care of.” You said, rising from you seat and waving the notion off.

“Is that right? Well, take care then. Thanks for the patronage.” The bartender said as he handed the man his third beer.

With a nod and a slight wave, you departed, making your way out of the building. One outside, the friendly smile you were wearing vanished, replaced by a stern frown.

With resolve in your heart, you stepped forward, away from all that tied you to this small town to the east of Hycasal. Taking what would be the first steps in a long journey, you pressed on, with goal in mind and a drive in your soul.

That broadcast, there was something off about it. The details didn’t add up. Memories of brief interactions with that man, with Shin Kiromura, flashed in your mind. He had seemed like a rather hopeful individual to you...so why would he suddenly sabotage his own experiment? It didn’t make sense.

You wanted answers—no, you needed them. If there was any hope of you being able to move forward, to accept the death of your dear friend and overcome the tragedy that befell you that day, you had to know why it all happened.

That was another thing the news had wrong, that no participants had survived that catastrophe. No, there was one participant that did survive.

You.

The burns that marred your flesh, the haunting memories of that day, and that feeling you had felt in the moments before the blast. All proof that you were there. That you survived. Against all the odds, you, and only you, had made it out of that room alive.

Out of the fires of hell you rose. Determined to get answers. And if one thing was for sure.

You weren’t going to stop until you found them.

#Notes of a Mysterious Researcher #Narrative #World Building #Original Story #Fiction #Original Fiction #The Game #500th Post #tw; death #tw; arson #tw; terrorism #tw; alcohol #The Phoenix

[letthesleepingdoglie]

The Long Road - 03

Title: Culmination

Part: 03 of 12

Rated: T 

“Stop it, KF.” Dick said through the psychic link, gripping the front his friend’s costume to keep him from J’onn’s throat. “I’ve been scanning for League and Team signals since we got inside. They’re not here. Artemis is gone.”

He let go and turned his back on Wally’s crestfallen expression. With so much at stake, he couldn’t afford to let himself get distracted.

“But our mission still holds purpose: to destroy this mothership.”

Dick led the way forward, towards the power readings his wrist computer had detected. Reluctantly, with a grunt of barely contained anger, Kid Flash followed.

———————————————————————————————————

“This is the power core. Blow this and the whole mothership blows.” Dick sent to his companions. Once they’d accomplished that, a significant portion of the alien’s strength would be destroyed. Any heroes who came after that could take it from there.

“You knew.” Wally’s disbelief resonated in their link. Dick ignored his friend’s statement, too busy setting the timers on the high explosives that he’d brought with in with him. “You knew from the beginning why we were really here.”

Dick gave his friend a look. Of course he knew. From everything they’d seen, it was clear that the invaders weren’t interested in subjugation, but conquest. Pragmatism dictated that any super-powered individuals who could give their forces trouble would be eliminated, rather than contained.

The truth had been evident from the beginning; this was a suicide mission, not a rescue. Dick said none of this. “Four minutes. Let’s go.”

M’gann and the Martian Manhunter lifted them up from the power core and carried them back to the entryway they’d come through. The four of them made their way back to the exterior of the ship as fast as they could.

They caught sight of the outside, right before having the alien blast doors close in their face. “Perfect.” Kid Flash thought.

Dick grabbed Wally and dove for cover as they were fired at by alien drones. “16 seconds and counting.”

He’d entertained the hope that they’d be able to make it away in time, but it becoming clear that escape was no longer an option. It was time to cut their losses. “Manhunter, take Miss Martian and go.” “No!” Megan’s voice was defiant. “We won’t leave you!”

“That’s an order!” Even as he said it, he knew that it wouldn’t convince M’Gann to leave. ”We’ll follow as soon as we blow those doors.” he lied.

Reluctantly, M’gann followed her uncle away from the ship, leaving Kid Flash and Dick crouching behind their makeshift cover. Only 10 seconds left before the charges blew.

Dick met Wally’s eyes. The look in his friend’s eyes told him that KF had finally caught on to what he was doing. And accepted it. In the end, Dick was grateful for that.

Silently, the two friends charged the aliens, determined to spend their last few seconds fighting.

The duo fought side by side for mere seconds before they were ripped apart by the explosion that destroyed the mothership.

———————————————————————————————————

Wayne Manor

July 2nd, 2016

7:12 AM

Dick jerked awake with a gasp. Coming out of the dream left him so disoriented that it took him several seconds to get his bearings. He was back in his old room, at Wayne Manor.

He took a shaky breath as he sat up, head held in his hands, feeling drained and exhausted. Every night since Wally died, he hadn’t been able to sleep. Rather, he had been able to sleep, but was plagued with constant nightmares that left him in a cold sweat. He’d only slept for a few short hours, but recent experience had taught Dick that any attempts at going back to sleep would be futile.

The dream had felt so real, so life-like, that his heart was still pounding in his chest. It took Dick some time to get his breathing under control, as he processed the vivid images he’d seen. He hadn’t thought about that simulation in years, and to have it jump out at him out of the blue like this was unnerving. All of his other nightmares thus far had put him back in the arctic, watching at Wally died, unable to do anything.

After Wally’s memorial, Dick had returned to Wayne Manor and refrained from doing any hero work, seeking to distance himself from the life that had cost him his best friend.

Most of the preparations for leaving had already been put made by Bruce years ago: hidden accounts and false identities for him and his adopted family, ready to be used in case anyone discovered the truth about their secret identities.

The only thing Dick had really needed to do was decide where to go, and when to leave.

The rest of the Team had been called into action alongside the Justice League to ferret out any remaining Reach ships hiding around the world, but it was clear to Dick that the Reach knew it had been defeated. The search was simple, and the few ships they found in hiding had all surrendered without a fight upon being discovered.

There were still hero related responsibilities he had to fulfill, like updating Bruce on several open cases that his mentor had missed while being held on Rimbor, or discussing the Team’s status with Kaldur so that his Atlantean friend knew what to expect as the Team’s new leader, but that was the most Dick allowed himself.

Friends from the League and the Team tried to reach out to him: Barbara and M’gann, of course, along with Rocket, and Dinah. He knew they were trying to see how he was doing, see if they could help him cope somehow. He also knew that they wouldn’t understand.

Apart from sending back simple acknowledgements that he’d received their messages, he ignored them. If there was an emergency, Dick would come running, but otherwise he tried to make it clear that he needed his space.

Day to day, he tried to make himself useful by taking care of Wayne-Tech affairs for Bruce and helping Alfred around the house. Of course, Alfred being Alfred, there wasn’t much to do in terms of house keeping or general maintenance around the Manor, but he pitched in where he could.

Dick knew he couldn’t be a real hero again, not with Wally’s death on his conscience, and he didn’t know how to do anything else.

With a grunt, Dick got out of bed and pulled on his workout clothes, figuring that he’d spend a couple hours in the manor’s gym. Some physical exertion would help him clear his head.

———————————————————————————————————

There were fewer than 10 people in the world who had access to the Zeta Tube located in the Batcave, and Zatanna knew it was a measure of how close her father and Bruce had been that she was one of those trusted few. Ever since her dad had been taken by Dr. Fate, Bruce had revealed his secret identity to her, and made it clear that she was welcome to call upon him for anything that she might need.

While she’d found the idea of staying in Wayne Manor with Bruce and Dick appealing, ultimately she’d decided against it and decided to live at Mount Justice instead. She felt like she’d be giving up on ever recovering her father if she stayed in Gotham.

Still, having been Dick’s girlfriend multiple times over the last six years, she’d spent a fair amount of time at the Manor. Which was why she wasn’t surprised to find Bruce sitting in front of the Bat-computer, fingers steepled in front of his face as he watched the Manor’s security feeds. Alfred stood slightly off to the side behind him.

“Zatanna.” Bruce greeted her without turning around.

“Hi Bruce.” Zatanna said as she moved away from the Zeta Tube. “Alfred.” She favored the old butler with a quick peck on the cheek.

“Miss Zatara.” The faithful servant smiled, giving her a slight bow of welcome. “May I offer you something to eat or drink?”

“No, I’m fine Alfred. Thanks.” She saw that the camera feed Bruce and Alfred were currently watching was from one of the manor’s training rooms. Dick was training hard on a set of gymnastic rings, sweat pouring off of his face as he held himself suspended in mid-air. “How long has he been at it?”

“Hours.” Bruce replied tersely.

She watched the feeds for a few seconds, marveling at the strength and coordination that Dick displayed. “How is he?”

Bruce didn’t answer. He didn’t even turn around.

Key to spending time with any member of the bat-family was the ability to read silence. Having honed her skills over the years, Zatanna knew that this particular stretch of quiet meant that both Bruce and Alfred were worried about Dick.

“Would it be alright if I spoke with him?”

Bruce turned and looked at her for a moment. Despite the semi-paternal relationship Bruce had with her, Zatanna felt herself wilt slightly under his appraising stare.

Some unspoken determination was made, and Bruce leaned forward and keyed the manor’s intercom. “Dick,” He said, startling his former protege from his focused state. “Hit the showers and get changed into your civvies. I need you to take care of something for me. I’ll explain when you’re finished.”

“Got it.” Dick dismounted from the rings with a flourish, somersaulting backwards and landing on his feet. “I’ll be ready in 10.”

Bruce inclined his head at her, as if to say “Your move.”

“Thanks.” Zatanna said, making her way over to the Batcave’s elevator up into the manor.

————————————————————————————————————

The instant Dick saw who was waiting for him after he’d showered, pulled on his clothes and emerged from his room, he knew that he’d been lead into a trap.

Zatanna was standing the in the main foyer of the manor. Instead of the usual vest, coat, and stockings that constituted her crimefighting costume, she was wearing a beautiful sundress, stylish sandals, and a determined look on her face. He considered beating a hasty retreat, but thought better of it. Their history together meant that he knew a losing battle when he saw one.

“Hey Zee.” he said, trying to sound enthusiastic about the rough conversation he knew she was there to have.  “M’gann send you to check on me?”

“Nope.” She replied, crossing her arms. “I came to worry about you all on my own.”

Dick gave her a soft smirk. “I’m whelmed by all the attention.”

A moment of silence passed between them. Dick watched her warily, as if he knew what she was there for. In contrast, Zee looked at him appraisingly, trying to figure out the best way to engage with the former boy wonder.

“C’mon.” She said finally, linking arms with him and gently pulling him towards the garage. “You look like you haven’t been outside in months.”

“Where are we going?” He asked lamely, letting himself be drawn outside.

“You’re taking me out for breakfast.”

————————————————————————————————————

“I know this is a stupid question,” Zatanna said as she sat down at a table at the street side cafe Dick had driven them to. She’d ordered for the both of them and waited for the waitress to leave before speaking. “But I think it’s obligatory at this point. How are you doing?”

“I’m fine.” Dick said neutrally as he sat down.

Zatanna gave him an annoyed look, softened somewhat by her obvious concern. “Dick, please, talk to me. You can’t keep shutting people out. Everyone is worried about you.” She placed a hand on her chest. “I’m worried about you.”

He met her eyes and sighed. “I’m not fine. I can’t sleep. I don’t eat. I’m in pain. My best friend died, Zee. How do you think I feel?”

Dick felt disgusted with himself as he caught her slightly hurt expression. He hadn’t meant to snap at her. “I’m sorry. I know you’re trying to help.”

“How’s Artemis?” he asked.

“Artemis is…” Zatanna struggled to find the right word. “Hurting. She tries to put on a tough face about it all, but you can still see how shaken she is.” She met his eyes. “You should see her. Talk to her. I think it would be good for both of you.”

“I want to Zee, I really do, but I can’t face her. Seeing her would remind me of Wally, and thinking about Wally…” His voice trailed off as he remembered his friend. “It’s hard enough for me as it is.”

“We had so many fights during those months that Artemis was undercover, you know? That’s what’s gonna stay with me for the rest of my life. Not all the years that we had as teammates, or all the good times we had on our own, but that he was angry with me, and that I never got him to forgive me before he died.”

“You know that he would have.” Zatanna said softly.

“Maybe.” He said ruefully. “Should he have, though? Pulling him and Artemis back into the life?”

Zatanna watched him, concern written across her face. She hated seeing him like this.

Dick held his head. “I don’t know what I’m doing anymore Zee. When Jason died, the only way I thought I could deal with the pain was to channel it into hero work. To making sure none of you had to make the same sacrifice that he did.”

He took a breath before continuing, trying to force the words out. “Everything I did; lying to you and the Team, bringing Artemis back, I did because I wanted to protect everyone. I almost managed to do it, but then Wally died saving the world, and now it feels like everything I’ve done, everything I sacrificed has been for nothing. It hurts.”

She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off.

“I know, logically, it wasn’t my fault he died.” He said carefully. “The Reach were going to react badly no matter how we tried to kick them off world. But I’ve spent the last two weeks thinking that if I had done something different… maybe, just maybe, he’d still be alive right now.”

“Hey.” Zatanna said sincerely. “I miss him too.”

The two of them were forced to break off their conversation as the waitress returned, furnishing them with their orders, and cups of hot coffee. Perhaps sensing the mood at the table, she worked quickly, and it wasn’t long before they were free to speak again.

“Dick. Look at me.” She said sternly, not liking how despondent he looked.

Despite her insistence, Dick wouldn’t, couldn’t, meet her eyes. She reached out and took one of his hands with hers, placing them both on the table. “It wasn’t for nothing. You know it, and Wally knew it. You and the Team stopped the terrible future that Bart came from, where Earth was under the control of the Reach. It was a terrible price that we had to pay, but Wally knew that it was worth it.”

She sighed. “I know that doesn’t make it better now that he’s gone, but…”

“Yeah.” Dick pushed some of the food around on his plate with his free hand, suddenly not hungry anymore. Internally, he was debating whether or not to tell her about his plan to leave. He’d originally planned to leave without a word and hope the rest of the Team understood why he’d left, but now that Zatanna was here…

“Don’t tell anybody,” he said hesitantly. “but I’m going to be taking a leave of absence from the Team.”

“You’re leaving the Team?” Zatanna sounded incredulous. “Why? They need you right now, and-“

“I know, Zee, I know.” Dick cut her off quickly. Once again, he knew what she was going to say. “Wally would’ve wanted me to work through it with you and the rest of the Team.”

He took a breath, trying to figure out the best way to explain the combination of logic, guesswork, and instinct that had led to his decision to leave.

“Look, one of the things that Wally always tried to do for me was give me perspective. When we argued, he kept going on and on about how I couldn’t keep taking so much responsibility on my own. He said if I kept doing things this way, I was going to snap. Now that the worst has happened…”

Dick shuddered. “He was right. I can’t remember the last time I just had breakfast with a friend, or a conversation longer than 5 minutes that wasn’t about hero work.” He squeezed her hand. “Wally’s death didn’t break me, Zee. I was already broken, and I just didn’t know it. His death just makes things that much worse. I could stay with the Team, but if I do, I know I’ll just go back to doing things the same way. I can’t be the leader everyone wants me to be, and figure out how to put my life back together at the same time. I owe it to Wally to figure out who I am without the mask.”

He met Zatanna’s eyes as he spoke, trying to show her the absolute determination he felt. “I need to go.”

Finished, Dick watched her expectantly, waiting for her to argue with him, try to talk him out of it. To his surprise, all he saw when he looked at her was understanding.

“OK.” She said simply, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. “I understand.”

He was taken aback. “Really?”

“Wally wasn’t the only one who was worried about you.” Zatanna admitted sadly. “Even when we were together I knew you were putting yourself under a lot of pressure, but I couldn’t figure out how to help you. That’s why I broke up with you.”

Tears began to gather in her eyes. “What I do know is that your sacrifices have made a difference, but they’ve also been killing you, slowly. I can’t watch that happen anymore, Dick. I won’t. I love you too much. ”

He gave her a small thankful smile. Gently, he brushed the tears from her face with his thumb before pulling her in for a strong hug. “Look after Artemis for me?”

“I will,” Zatanna said, hugging him back fiercely. “But only if you promise to look after yourself. For me, ok?”

“Of course Zee.” He said gratefully. “Anything for you.”

They held on to each other for a long, long time.

———————————————————————————————————

The Hall of Justice

November 26th, 2015

10:14 EST

Despite how close she was to Dick, and the Bat-Family in general, Zatanna always felt a sense of unease whenever she was in Batman’s presence. There was just something about the way you could feel him watching at you that gave her the creeps.

Zatanna took a calming breath and she entered the conference room alongside Rocket. Nightwing and Batman stood at the head of the table, with Connor and Megan standing on opposite sides of the room. The five of them had been specifically called in for this meeting.

As she entered, Nightwing addressed her. “Zee, could you close the doors please?”

She frowned as she keyed the door controls. Closing the doors usually meant secrets. She hated secrets.

Dick took a breath. “Alright, let’s get started.” He said, nodding towards Batman.

Batman was as impassive as ever. “The League has decided to invite all five of you to join the Justice League.” Typical Batman. He wasn’t a man to use five words if one would do.

There was a high-pitched squeal of joy from Rocket, who embraced Megan before turning to face Zatanna. “Alright! Give me five girls! We did it!”

Dick was smiling as he took in Rocket’s reaction, but Zatanna could see a small twinge of sadness in his voice as he spoke. “Being considered for membership in the League is a great honor, but comes with its own shares of responsibilities, and isn’t a decision to be made lightly. In other words guys, take some time. Sleep on it. We have two weeks before you need to give the League your answers. Batman will answer any questions you have.”

Zatanna managed to catch up with Dick after the meeting, before he could take the Zeta-tube back to Bludhaven.

“You’re not accepting the invitation, are you?” she said, her words coming out as more of a statement rather than a question.

Dick gave her a smile, but shook his head sadly. “No.”

“Is this about you and…” Zatanna gave a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure Batman wasn’t in the vicinity. She knew she wouldn’t have seen him if he didn’t want her to, but the act of checking gave her some comfort. “Him?” she said, dropping her voice down to a whisper.

Dick gave her a smile before shaking his head.

“No, actually. He’s fine with me staying on the Team. He likes that one of us is staying in the shadows, doing the work that needs to be done.”

“Then why aren’t you accepting?” she asked, genuinely curious. When they had been dating, Dick had told her about all of his quiet insecurities about turning into Batman. She knew she didn’t completely understand all the complexities of their dual father-son/crime fighting partner relationship, but surely joining the League as a public figure would have been a step in the right direction for Dick.

“I know I’ve earned it, but, I owe the Team my undivided attention.” Dick shrugged. “It hasn’t even been a year since Robin started, and he needs me around to help him build his confidence. Plus, Cassie’s still getting used to the hero gig, and we’re still thinking about expanding the Team roster.”

“That’s all?” Zatanna asked, sensing that something was being left unsaid. “You could still be a mentor to all of them as a member of the League.”

“I won’t lie to you Zee, there’s another reason I can’t leave the Team just yet. I’ve…” he paused as he took in her expression. Her eyes were wide as she listened intently for his explanation. He wanted to tell her about the plan he had developed with Kaldur, so badly.

But he couldn’t.

“Like I said, I’ve still got some things to take care of here. It’s not the right move for me yet. But I don’t want my decision to affect yours.”

She crossed her arm, as if she was cold, and averted her gaze. Dick resisted the impulse to tilt her head up and kiss her, the way he would’ve if they were still together. He settled for holding her shoulders reassuringly instead. “Should I do it?” she asked quietly.

He shrugged. “Do you want to?”

She sighed loudly, putting her face in her hands. “I don’t know… I really don’t know.”

It was subtle, but Dick could see she was truly scared about making a decision either way. This time, he couldn’t help himself. He pulled her into a hug, and she relaxed slightly into his embrace, leaning her head against his chest.

“I can’t make the decision for you, but…” he said a few moments later, when he felt her calm down slightly.

“Mmm?” she mumbled.

Dick was distracted by the smell of her hair. He still missed her, even after all this time. But he had made his choice, and he wouldn’t turn away from that. That didn’t mean he still couldn’t worry about her though. In a way, that was the whole point.

She looked up at him with her eyebrows raised inquisitively, as if reading his mind.

“I think you should join.” He said quickly, hoping that he’d covered the pause. “Joining the League is the right step for you. You’ve done great work as part of the Team, but you’re never gonna be the hero you should be as part of a stealth squad doing the missions the League can’t be seen doing Zee. You’re better than that.”

Zatanna nodded. Almost guiltily, he felt a surge of relief. By accepting the League’s invitation, she’d be out of the way of any backlash the Team was sure to receive when his plans came to fruition.

“Besides” Dick continued, trying to lighten the mood a little bit. “You’ll get to hang out with Batman a lot more.”

He laughed as she aimed a playful swipe at his head.

#young justice #young justice fanfic #young justice fanfiction #chalant #dick grayson #nightwing

[queer-and-dear-books]

Title: Late To The Party

Author: Kelly Quindlen

Genre: YA Fiction | Drama | Romance | Friendship | LGBTQ+

Content Warnings: Underage Drinking

Overall Rating: 7.2/10

Personal Opinion: Codi wants nothing more than to be a normal teenage girl. She wants to go to parties and have a girlfriend and have her first kiss. But she’s not one to take the initiative. Until she accidentally finds one of the popular boys kissing another boy. Suddenly, this unlikely duo end up becoming friends and decide to help each other find the things they lack. To the kids who are lonely, this is the book for you. To remind you that you definitely are not alone.

Couple Classification: Codi X Lydia = Nerd X Prep

Do I Own This Book? No.

Spoilers Below For My Likes & Dislikes:

Likes:

- I love the overall dynamic of the friends. In particular, Ricky’s friend group. They do give off this vibe, like he describes, of people who met in kindergarten. Loose and free and fun and happy. That’s how they want to spend their days. The Manhunt and the Don’t Judge Me, But  games really amplify their bonds too, like I can genuinely see this group of teenagers hanging out. The way each and every one of them loved Codi’s paintings and wanted portraits was just so sweet too. They accepted her into the group so easily.

- Codi’s initial bond with Ricky is pure. When they were just hanging out, no talk about their crushes, I think I really fell for them. They  felt like easy best friends. From their simple conversations to their teasing to them being the caretakers post-party. I think they have a really good basis for being the best of friends. Even if Ricky wasn’t open about his being a MLM at first.

- There is something real and relatable about Codi's strained relationship with her brother, Grant. They both struggled to be honest with one another. It got in the way of them having real conversations and they felt like they had to compete in a way. Because even if neither of their parents did it, siblings do naturally find themselves pitted against one another. At least, that’s how it is for me when I look at my brother. Like Codi, it felt like I was losing a contest in socializing when I saw his friends and his new romantic prospects. I felt like a loser. So in that sort of sad and pathetic way, I can relate to Codi. I understand her and it makes me want to root for her.

- The impromptu midnight drive to Alabama to fulfill a promise (that was never made) and fix all of Codi’s broken bonds was honestly hype. Like I got super excited at the prospect and it was honestly everything to me. The moment that I knew where it was going, I was thrilled. Predictability isn’t a bad thing.

Dislikes:

- Seriously, what year is this set in? Everyone is working so hard to hide their non-heterosexuality except for Lydia who was cool if anyone saw her kissing Codi and her best friend already knew too. I know the whole thing is about them not being obsessed with labels and all that but they acted so ashamed when Grant almost caught them watching some gay films. Not only that, but none of these kids mentioned using any kind of social media. Or even the use of smartphones. Netflix and Troye Sivan are things though so it has to be at least the mid to late 2010s. I don’t get how Codi was able to hide her new friends and shit if it was set in this time. Unless Gen Z kids have moved on from Facebook and Insta and Twitter completely. Do they just not post anything? I don’t know why this is such a sticking point to me but it just feels wrong for some reason. Like a piece is just missing from the quintessential modern teen experience. I guess it just removes me from the immersive-ness of this world when I have no idea when it’s set.

- Speaking of that, why was Codi and her friend group so obsessed with the idea of being “normal” teenagers. It felt like Quinden was saying there is a way for teens to be and if you’re not partying and having first kisses and having sex in restricted areas of parties and stripping after having two Lime -A-Ritas, then you’re not doing it right. I do regret my teen years greatly but I don’t think there is one way to be a teenager. Look at Lydia. She made no judgement when Codi confessed to never having kissed anyone! Why was it framed in such a serious light? It wasn’t just Codi either. Maritza waved her first kiss over their heads and JaKory apparently had to have his first kiss upon his first meeting with Daveon or else what? Why was it so important?

- I’m gonna say it, these friends are toxic. The co-dependency aside, I don’t like how they talked about one another. It really felt like Maritza (and even JaKory on occasion) were acting superior to Codi. So I can’t even blame Codi for pulling away from them. The way they talked about her, like she would forever be less than a mover and a shaker, was just so condescending. Although, part of it was Codi’s own fault, they still should’ve never treated her like that. Simultaneously, Maritza just shouting at JaKory that his bond with Daveon wasn’t real because they met online is bullshit. Most, if not all, relationships start out online these days. It is ridiculous to me to suggest otherwise. Is it dangerous and reckless and not usually the best way to find a s/o through Tumblr? Sure. But they were so fucking unsupportive, it’s hard to believe they were ever friends at all!

- I’m glad Ricky apologized and realized Codi was right but what the fuck man? I really don’t get what would’ve been so wrong with coming out to Cliff earlier at least. Maybe if they established that he had ultra-conservative parents or something, then it’d make a little sense? Actually, I’m still stuck on what year this is. I mean, Codi isn’t out to her folks either. But they don’t give off the conservative vibes. I do think that they might be neglectful or some shit. But seriously, Ricky treated Codi like a project and refused to let her near his relationship with Tucker. And he just… never knew he was MLM before? Really? I don’t know, the amount of repression feels disproportionate to the amount of homophobia (which is none) in the local setting.

#Booklr #Booksbooksbooks #Book Blog #Book Review #Late To The Party #Kelly Quinden #LGBTQ #Queer Books #Queer Lit #Queer Representation

[rewindfrequency]

Manhunt 2 Review

https://wordpress.com/posts/rewindfrequency.wordpress.com

Manhunt 2 Review

Developed and Published by Rockstar Games

Played on: PSP/PS VITA

Also Available on: PS2, Wii, and Microsoft Windows

Daniel Lamb and Leo Kasper have been imprisoned in the Dixmor Asylum for six years under the brutal conditions of the Pickman Project. But today they finally have a chance to escape. The patients of the asylum revolt, throwing the place into chaos. The cell door is open for Daniel Lamb, and his former partner Leo Kasper eggs him on to leave. This is Daniel’s chance to finally uncover what the Pickman Project did to him and what it plans to do to others. You will have to jump between time periods in Daniel’s memory and play as both him and Leo Kasper to uncover the truth.

The first thing I have to say about this game is that the story is great. It explores the human mind and how it can be manipulated and controlled. This game has no story connection with the first Manhunt. Manhunt 2 is considered a psychological stealth horror game. I have to disagree with this categorization. After playing through the entire game it’s more like an action game with stealth elements thrown in. There are two types of gameplay styles. Stealth exploration is the first. This form of gameplay dominates the first few levels. You sneak from the shadows, which are large dark spots of the level that enemies can’t see you in, and kill the hunters (the people looking for you) one by one. This is by far the best part of the experience gameplay-wise. In these levels most of the time you're only given one use weapons such as a pen or a shiv. You use these weapons to take down sometimes as many as five foes. The items respawn in certain areas so don’t worry about running out. When in the stealth levels you don’t have to sneak. You can actually walk right behind the enemy and kill them. But this is only for the handheld version. As you take down enemies you get their weapons and have more fighting power over your opponents. These levels are often in tight spaces and force you to isolate and distract your hunters to prevail.

The rest of the game is a mix of stealth and cover-based shooting with some levels being entirely cover-based action sections. Now, I’m a big fan of cover based shooters, but this one is just bad. The game will boil down to shooting galleries where you use a lock-on aim mechanic to tear your hunters to pieces.  I rarely died or took heavy damage in these levels because they’re just to easy. This part of the game is downright boring. The cover system is clunky, not allowing you to move back and forth quickly. To vault over cover is painfully slow. This game tries to be like Gears of War and fails miserably. Speaking of that lock-on aim, it not only makes the game too easy in some sections, but makes it harder in others. When using a shotgun, for example, you will fire at the nearest enemy. But in some cases depending on the height of your cover, the lock-on aim will fire at enemies far away. I can’t hit those enemies with a shotgun. Even worse is that since the game wants to be fair, they make you miss shots. And with some guns you can miss dozens of times. The pistol is complete garbage. It takes forever to have the firing reticle on a hunter and once you do, you miss a few more times before landing a hit that does little to no damage unless they’re two feet away. This is by far the worst part of the game and it’s the majority of the gameplay. This is why I don’t consider this to be a stealth psychological horror game. If stealth is a secondary feature and shooting dudes while behind cover isn’t scary, then it fails to meet its own classification.

But don’t worry, there is more gameplay to be had. If you are in a stealth section and get caught, you can fight your opponent hand to hand or use a melee weapon. This is terrible. Your character moves slowly and throws their punches even slower. Want to block after throwing a punch? Too bad. The game won’t let you. You have to sit there and take a beating. In hand-to-hand combat expect to lose at least half of your health. There is no justification for how sluggish it is. In later levels of the game, you can get a weapon like a shovel or crowbar and completely dominate your opponent. Even though the combat is still slow, now you can actually get out alive.

All the gameplay I mentioned above it severely hindered by the game's controls. Even when playing on the VITA you are still only allowed to use one analog stick. This makes the game almost impossible to play. That’s why you need the aggressive lock-on aim system. How can I make tight turns to avoid being spotted when I only have one analog stick to move my character and adjust their field of view? How can I move quickly from cover to cover in the shooting sections when I only have one analog stick to do it? This right here makes the game extremely frustrating and at one point almost unplayable. In Level 11, “Origins,” you have to shoot targets that are immune to lock-on aim. So you have to enter free-aim mode. This is awful when you only have one analog stick, especially when you have guys shooting at you and there is an incredibly short time limit to shoot the damn thing. The “boss battle” later in the level is impossible to beat without exploiting a glitch. You can’t shoot a scientist that you need information from so you have to pick up a tranquilizer gun to subdue them. But the scientist shoots you with his tranquilizer gun while you try to get the other tranquilizer. You can’t pick up items while tranquilized. Oh, and you have a very short amount of time before the boss instantly kills you and the level goes back to one of its poorly placed checkpoints. The only way I even beat this boss battle is by exploiting a glitch. I stood in a corner where the scientist couldn’t see me. Then I ran out and grabbed the gun before his AI could react. I shot him from the corner and then I won. The corner wasn’t even a shadow. And even if it was he saw me run to the corner. The controls in this game are ridiculously bad and ruin the entire expirience.

Now let's talk about the atmosphere. Like the first Manhunt, this game is meant to be gritty, dark, and over-the-top violent. Like I said before, the first four levels get it spot on. From the asylum, to Daniel’s burned down house, to the red light district, this game gets dark and gritty right. But the rest of the game is just running through neighborhoods shooting the cops. This is a very strange game because of its wishy-washy level and game layout. Why would you ruin your gritty atmosphere with random shooting in a brightly lit test lab or residential street. Overall I feel it fails in this respect because it throws away its gritty roots for more mainstream shooting galleries. As far as violence goes for the console versions, most of the brutal executions are blurred or taken out completely with the scoring system for how brutal you are taken out entirely. This was due to the ESRB originally giving the game an A for adult rating which would have technically banned the game because no major console manufacturer allows adult only games. But the PC version has all of the content in it.

Glitches are another common occurrence. There were many cases I would try to pick up a new weapon and it wouldn’t work or I would try to pick up a body and that wouldn’t work. But there were two glitches that really pissed me off. The first is that enemies wouldn’t spawn in immediately. They would randomly appear while I was sneaking and I would have to restart the checkpoint after they ganged up on me. And I know they randomly appeared because the mini-map tells you where the enemies are and there icons came into existence out of nowhere. The other is taking cover. If you can even get your character to get into cover. Sometimes the enemy bullets will phase through objects and hit you anyway. This really shocked me because this looked like a competently made game. The graphics and sound are of PS2 quality which is amazing for a PSP game. There are times, mainly during the shooting sections, that there are ten enemies on the screen with no slowdown whatsoever. This is definitely a strange game.  

Overall I feel that my experience with Manhunt 2 was soiled due to the device I was playing on. But even when you take that into consideration, I still feel that the game isn’t very good. If the game advertised itself as a stealth action game or an action game with stealth elements then I wouldn’t mind the constant shootouts and gunrunning. But that’s the problem. It advertises itself as a stealth horror game and uses the Manhunt name to attract gamers into buying it. While the story is great, you can always just read the Wiki and not have to spend a dime on the actual game. The controls on the handheld versions make the experience unplayable in many respects and makes this the worst platform to play on. But I hate saying that because even with its piss poor controls and various glitches the game looks incredible for a PSP game and can handle a great deal of processing stress with the wide open environments and enemies. I don’t feel good about hating on this game, but I have to judge it based on what it is. If you want a gritty game on your Wii or you want to complete your PS2 collection and see this game at a low price, give it a shot because it is going to be far superior to the PSP/VITA version.

I am giving Manhunt 2 on the PSP/VITA a 3 out of 10

Pros:

A gripping story about manipulating the human brain

PS2 quality graphics and sound design on a handheld

Cons:

Terrible controls

Boring shooting galleries

Painfully slow melee combat

Glitches galore

A boss battle that can only be won by luck or glitch exploit

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#Game Reviews #Manhunt 2 #Manhunt 2 review #PS VITA #PSP #Gaming #Games #Reviews #Horror games #Action games #Stealth games

[atomau]

So I’ve been without a laptop for a month at the time of this writing. One of the things I’ve been doing to keep myself entertained is make my first DnD character ever and I wanted to share. Plus, I don’t actually have anyone to play with, so I’m using this post as some sort of public CV I guess?

Also I made a spreadsheet for them from scratch. It’s got some character-specific stuff, but it should be easy to get rid of it, so feel free to use it if you like

Name: Goes by Jiggy among other races. Closest approximation to their name would be Yigüirro (bc that’s our national bird and I am the actual worst at naming)

Race: Aarakocra (bird people, basically)

(I understand that having a character that can fly from the start could be a big issue, so I came up with a couple ways to nerf it. They’re under the cut)

Class: Alchemist (turns out this is not a thing that exists in first-party materials, so I had to look at a bunch of homebrews before settling on this one)

Alignment: Neutral leaning towards Chaotic Good

Background: The short version is, they had a very brief stint as a Cloistered Scholar-type, but have spent pretty much their entire adult life as, like, a Hermit with more of an Outlander’s lifestyle? Backstory below the cut

Age: 4ish (Aarakocra reach maturity by 3)

Weight: 40kg (~88lb)

Height: 1.44m (~4'9")

Wingspan: 3.32m (~10'11")

I’m no ornithologist, and just can’t wrap my head around this sort of thing in general, so if those measurements look off to you, I’d appreciate advice

Appearance: Pretty much looks like a Eurasian magpie. This isn’t lore-friendly but lbr here. I’d be playing a homebrew class with a character that can fly from level 1. Plumage should be the least of a DM’s concerns. Also Aarakocra seem to not have tails in the illustrations I found? Fuck that, too. Tails are pretty and really important for flying probably

Backstory:

Born on (in?) the Elemental Plane of Air and lived there until shortly before coming of age

Was accidentally brought into the Material Plane by some magic school students who were trying to summon a Djinni to get a wish

One of their wings got broken in the ensuing commotion

It seemed pretty fucked up to send them back injured and grounded, so the students decided to nurse them back to health

That said, the summoning was a violation of school rules, so they had to do this in secret

It went about as well as you might imagine

Aarakocra don’t like to stay cooped up (pun intended), so they’d constantly leave the room

Picture the Cheddar manhunt from B99, the dinner scene from The Iron Giant, that sort of thing

I’m sure it was hysterical

To help them stay entertained, the students brought them books from the library to read

This is how they initially learned/got interested in alchemy

They became fascinated with the Material Plane, so they decided to stay

After a heartfelt farewell, the students went back to their dorm and noticed Jiggy had robbed them blind

“The idea of ownership baffles most aarakocra. After all, who owns the sky?” (Sasquatch Game Studio and Wizards of The Coast. “Elemental Evil Player’s Companion.” 2015, p. 3)

Has been living a nomadic life since. Spends most of their time in the wilderness, occasionally staying near towns if they need certain supplies or if the people need someone with their particular skills. They’ve gotten a lot of practice in the healing side of the field thanks to that

They still don’t fully grasp the concept of ownership (but have gotten in trouble for shoplifting enough to learn not to get caught), but they do understand needs. They’ll only take something if they truly believe its “owner“ could live without it

So about those flight nerfs. The rules already say that Aarakocra can’t fly if wearing medium or heavy armor, but that limits your class selection more than the ability itself

Note that I haven’t had a chance to actually try any of this in a game, so they could be wildly unbalanced for all I know

Wing Health

Each wing has a health subpool. If either one is reduced to 0, they’re grounded until both wings have at least 1 hp

I haven’t decided how much they would be. I’ve been toying with either 1/4 or 1/5 of the total. 1/5 makes more sense because any less would leave the body with half the health at most, but I worry that would make it too easy to ground them

Flight Time

In battle, any flying they do would have to be hovering, which consumes a lot of energy. There’s a reason only the smallest birds can do it for prolonged periods and hummingbirds need to consume half their weight in sugar every day

So, flight time is limited to (level + constitution modifer) x 30 seconds. Assuming they start out with a +2 modifier, for example, this means they’d have 1:30 minutes available at level 1, up to a theoretical maximum of 15 minutes at level 20 with 30 constitution. Which would be ridiculous

I think you should be able to go over, at the cost of exhaustion levels. I haven’t fine-tuned the details on this part

Flight time replenishes after a short rest

Compared to hovering, soaring/gliding consume a tiny amount of energy, which translates to flight time being depleted at a rate of 1 minute per “second“ while doing those

Encumbrance

The rules include an encumbrance system, so I just used that as a guideline

If carrying over 5 times their strength score while flying, flight time depletes at double the normal rate

If carrying over 10 times their strength score, they can’t fly at all

This is to prevent the player from trying to solve every combat situation with “I grab the enemy, fly really high up, and drop it for massive fall damage,“ while allowing it in some cases

Sidebar, this is also why I decided to divide their inventory into three categories:

What is on their person at all times (armor, weapons, ammo, spell components, etc.)

A bag containing essentials and personal effects

A larger pack where they carry everything else

Assuming they carry the pack on their back, they’d need to drop it in order to fly, and they can also drop their bag at a moment’s notice if need be

#dnd #d&d #dungeons and dragons #dungeons & dragons #looking for group #is that still the thing people say? #so yeah I was hoping to hear some opinions #and maybe if you think you or anyone you know would be interested in having me I'd super appreciate hearing about it

[thatsnotcanonpodcasts]

Predator defecation, Digital Distribution & Poor Accounting

Deviboy has gone missing. What nefarious act has the DJ performed? Where is our co-host? Don't worry, he isn't dead, just busy.

It's enough to make your butthole clench. Or it would be, if you were a frog. A species of beetle has been discovered that used predator defecation in order to escape being lunch. It's a bit gross, but points for style.

It's time to enter the future and go entirely digital, according to Take Two's CEO. DJ likes his feelies too much to stop buying physical collectors editions though. Maybe we could convince him with a VR house full of VR collectables?

If you need motivation to get your accounting in order, it turns out animators in Japan are being short changed by the incompetence of the studios' finance teams. Poor business skills in a highly in demand creative industry? Say it ain't so!

This week DJ did nothing of note while Professor hiked across Iceland with a baby.

The beetle now has a special power : predator defecation

- https://www.inverse.com/science/scientists-discover-the-bizarre-way-this-beetle-escapes-almost-certain-death

- https://www.cell.com/current-biology/fulltext/S0960-9822(20)30842-3?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS0960982220308423%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

Take Two CEO’s digital warning

- https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-08-03-take-two-ceo-its-a-matter-of-time-before-the-business-is-entirely-digital

Poor accounting = Low animator wages

- https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2020-07-30/tokyo-keizai-poor-accounting-at-animation-production-studios-is-the-reason-behind-low-animator-wages/.162383

Games Played

DJ

– DNP

Rating: 0

Dev-i-boy

– DEATH STRANDING -https://store.steampowered.com/app/1190460/DEATH_STRANDING/

Rating: 4/5

Other topics discussed

Donald Trump signs executive order effectively banning TikTok, WeChat in US in 45 days

- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-07/trump-issues-tiktok-executive-order/12533938

Microsoft pushes ahead to buy TikTok after US President Donald Trump said he would ban the app in the US

- https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-08-04/tiktok-sale-to-microsoft-australia-us-impact-ban/12521546

Facebook launches its new TikTok clone, Instagram Reels

- https://www.smh.com.au/technology/facebook-launches-its-new-tiktok-clone-instagram-reels-20200806-p55izc.html

- https://www.engadget.com/instagram-reels-tiktok-rival-164624402.html

The Simpson : Homer is a giant

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_eRvJXw7b4

Wilson’s Flubber moment

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZhqwMmIBDY

Puffer Fish natural defense (The pufferfish's secondary defense mechanism, used if successfully pursued, is to fill its extremely elastic stomach with water (or air when outside the water) until it is much larger and almost spherical in shape. Even if they are not visible when the puffer is not inflated, all puffers have pointed spines, so a hungry predator may suddenly find itself facing an unpalatable, pointy ball rather than a slow, tasty fish.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetraodontidae#Natural_defenses

The Simpsons – In the Belly Of The Boss (From treehouse of Horror 15)

- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQT5YtI9ecA

Acid Tolerance in Amphibians

- https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article-abstract/35/4/239/225162?redirectedFrom=PDF

Take- Two Interactive (Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City and founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take-Two_Interactive

List of Take-Two Interactive games (It publishes games through 2K Games (Battleborn, BioShock,Borderlands,Evolve,Mafia, Sid Meier's Civilization, The Darkness, XCOM), 2K Play (Carnival Games), 2K Sports (NBA 2K,WWE 2K), Ghost Story Games, Private Division (Kerbal Space Program), Rockstar Games (Bully,Grand Theft Auto, L.A. Noire, Manhunt,Max Payne,Midnight Club,Red Dead) and Social Point (Tasty Town, Word Life).)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Take-Two_Interactive_games

Digital distribution of video games (In the video game industry, digital distribution is the process of deliveringvideo game content as digital information, without the exchange or purchase of new physical media.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_distribution_of_video_games

Cardboard disc included with Fallout 76 Power Armor PC edition

- https://www.shacknews.com/article/108552/cardboard-disc-included-with-fallout-76-power-armor-pc-edition

Playstation 5 : Digital Version vs Standard PS5

- https://www.pushsquare.com/guides/ps5-digital-edition-vs-standard-ps5-whats-the-difference

PlayStation Now (PlayStation Now (PS Now) is a cloud gaming subscription service developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. The service allows members to stream PlayStation 2,PlayStation 3, and PlayStation 4 games on PlayStation 4 and PC. PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 4 games can be downloaded to play locally on PlayStation 4.)

- https://www.playstation.com/en-gb/explore/playstation-now/

Google Stadia (Stadia is a cloud gaming service developed and operated by Google.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Stadia

Price increase for next-gen games is “justified”, says Take-Two CEO

- https://www.nme.com/en_au/news/gaming-news/price-increase-for-next-gen-games-is-justified-says-take-two-ceo-2720955

The G2A Controversy: What Actually Happened?

- https://www.indiegamewebsite.com/2019/07/23/the-g2a-controversy-what-actually-happened/

Digital Right management (DRM) (tools or technological protection measures (TPM) are a set of access control technologies for restricting the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management

Denuvo (Denuvo Anti-Tamper, more commonly known as Denuvo, is an anti-tamper technology and digital rights management (DRM) scheme developed by Austrian software company Denuvo Software Solutions GmbH, a subsidiary of Irdeto.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denuvo

Doom Eternal removes Denuvo

- https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2020-05-21-doom-eternal-removing-denuvo-anti-cheat-following-backlash

GeForce Now (GeForce Now is the brand used by Nvidia for its cloud gaming service.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_Now

You can play with mods on GFN

- https://www.reddit.com/r/GeForceNOW/comments/f3ber7/psa_you_can_play_with_mods_on_gfn/

Hollywood Accounting ((also known as Hollywood bookkeeping) refers to the opaque or creative accounting methods used by the film, video, and television industry to budget and record profits for film projects.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hollywood_accounting

Crunchyroll's Investigation - The Future of Anime Production in a COVID-19 World

- https://www.crunchyroll.com/anime-feature/2020/07/02/the-future-of-anime-production-in-a-covid-19-world

Japanese Work Environment (Many both in and outside Japan share an image of the Japanese work environment that is based on a "simultaneous recruiting of new graduates" and "lifetime-employment" model used by large companies as well as a reputation of long work-hours and strong devotion to one's company.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_work_environment

Average Animator Salary in Australia

- https://www.payscale.com/research/AU/Job=Animator/Salary

Average Salary for Pixar Animation Studios Employees (Pixar Animation Studios pays its employees an average of $85,154 a year.)

- https://www.payscale.com/research/US/Employer=Pixar_Animation_Studios/Salary

Death Stranding is pretty much Iceland roaming simulator 2019

- https://www.sausageroll.com.au/entertainment/death-stranding-is-pretty-much-iceland-roaming-simulator-2019/

Heartman (Death Stranding character) (Heartman is a Bridges member who researches the Death Stranding.)

- https://deathstranding.fandom.com/wiki/Heartman

Die-Hardman (Death Stranding character) (Die-Hardman, born John Blake McClane, is the third and current President of the United Cities of America and Director of Bridges.)

- https://deathstranding.fandom.com/wiki/Die-Hardman

Deadman (Death Stranding character) (Deadman is a main character in Death Stranding. He appears to be involved in the medical field for Bridges. He is an artificial human, created from a combination of cadavers and stems cells.)

- https://deathstranding.fandom.com/wiki/Deadman

Batman: Arkham Knight PC port was a disaster

- https://www.pcgamer.com/au/batman-arkham-knights-launch-appears-to-be-a-disaster/

How to upgrade your PS4 Hard Drive

- https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/how-to-upgrade-your-ps4-hard-drive/

Blair (The Thing character) (Blair was the Senior Biologist of the U.S. Outpost 31. He is portrayed by Wilford Brimley.)

- https://thething.fandom.com/wiki/Blair

All-or-None Law for Nerves and Muscles explained

- https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-all-or-none-law-2794808

John Hinckley Jr. (American who, on March 30, 1981, attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Washington, D.C.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hinckley_Jr.

John Hinckley’s release conditions (Hinckley was released from institutional psychiatric care on September 10, 2016, with many conditions. He was required to live full-time at his mother's home in Williamsburg, Virginia. In addition, the following prohibitions and requirements were imposed on him.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hinckley_Jr.#Release

Ricardo López (known as the "Björk stalker", was a Uruguayan-American pest control worker who attempted to kill Icelandic musician Björk in September 1996.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_L%C3%B3pez_(stalker)

Death of Garry Hoy (lawyer for the law firm of Holden Day Wilson in Toronto who died when he fell from the 24th floor of his office building in Toronto.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Garry_Hoy

The Lawmower Man (a 1992 science-fiction action-horror film directed by Brett Leonard and written by Leonard and Gimel Everett.)

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lawnmower_Man_(film)

Scared Sh*tless Podcast (TNC Podcast)

- https://thatsnotcanon.com/scaredshitlesspodcast

Shout Outs

29 July 2020 – ‘Phantom of the Opera’ Closes in West End After 34 Years Due to Coronavirus Impact - https://variety.com/2020/legit/global/coronavirus-phantom-of-the-opera-london-west-end-1234719396/

“The Phantom of the Opera” is the latest victim of the coronavirus pandemic. After a 34-year run at Her Majesty’s Theater in London’s West End theater district, Richard Stilgoe and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical won’t be raising its curtains again, according to producer Cameron Mackintosh. However, Lloyd Webber appears to be more optimistic about reopening, tweeting on Tuesday: “As far as I’m concerned Phantom will reopen as soon as is possible” – ALW.

1 August 2020 – Wilford Brimley, ‘Cocoon’ Star and Quaker Oats Pitchman, passed away at 85 - https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/wilford-brimley-dead-cocoon-actor-937941

Wilford Brimley, a portly actor with a walrus mustache who found his niche playing cantankerous coots in “Absence of Malice,” “The Natural,” “Cocoon” and other films has passed away. InCocoon (1985), directed by Ron Howard, Brimley portrayed Ben Luckett, one of the residents of the Sunny Shores retirement home whose health miraculously improves after a dip in the pool next door. In the 1980s and 1990s Mr. Brimley was a television fixture as a spokesman for Quaker Oats, gruffly telling viewers to eat the cereal because “it’s the right thing to do,” and Liberty Medical, a company selling diabetes-testing supplies. He died from kidney conditions in St. George, Utah.

2 August 2020 – SpaceX Dragon Endeavour spalshdown - https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/schools/spacex-brings-nasa-crew-back-to-earth-in-first-splashdown-in-45-years-121561

Two NASA astronauts returned to Earth on Sunday in a dramatic, retro-style splashdown, their capsule parachuting into the Gulf of Mexico to close out an unprecedented test flight by Elon Musk's SpaceX company. It was the first splashdown by US astronauts in 45 years, with the first commercially built and operated spacecraft to carry people to and from orbit. The last time NASA astronauts returned from space to water was on July 24, 1975, in the Pacific, the scene of most splashdowns, to end a joint US-Soviet mission known as Apollo-Soyuz. The return clears the way for another SpaceX crew launch as early as next month and possible tourist flights next year. Test pilots Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken arrived back on Earth in their SpaceX Dragon capsule named Endeavour, less than a day after departing the International Space Station and two months after blasting off from Florida. Discovery and Science Channel’s simulcasted coverage Sunday of the return of the Space X Crew Dragon spacecraft from its two-month stint at the International Space Station was watched by 4.3 million viewers on the cable networks, Discovery said. To keep the returning astronauts safe in the pandemic, the recovery crew quarantined for two weeks and were tested for the coronavirus.

3 August 2020 – William English, Computer Mouse Co-Creator, passed away at 91 - https://hackaday.com/2020/08/03/william-english-computer-mouse-co-creator-has-passed/

William English, the man who was a key engineer in co-creating a computer mouse and gave the users the facility of moving images on screen, has passed away. Around 1960, English had joined Douglas Engelbart at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) to aid him in the development of a predecessor of what is today’s computer. Their version of the computer has a brown box with buttons or mouse which was a key piece of their model since it helped users control the objects on a screen interface. William’s mouse was utilitarian: a wooden block with two perpendicular wheels on the bottom, and a pair of potentiometers inside to interpret the wheels’ X and Y positions. The analog inputs are converted to digital and represented on the screen. The first mouse had a single button, and the cord was designed to run out the bottom, not the top. William had played an important role in the ‘mother of all demos’ in 1968, during which Engelbart had used a split-screen video to show side-by-side the movements of a hand-controlled mouse and the on-screen movement of the cursor. Engelbart said that he did not know why the device was called a mouse, as it had started that way and they just never changed. Bill designed all the audio-visuals for the demo, set everything up, and staged the 90+ minute presentation by speaking to Englebart and others through headsets. He died from respiratory failure in San Rafael, California, on July 26, 2020.

4 August 2020 – Frances Allen, first woman to win Turing Award for contributions to computing, passed away at 88 - https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/frances-allen-first-woman-to-win-turing-award-for-contributions-to-computing-dies-at-88/2020/08/06/7ea7d7a2-d7f0-11ea-930e-d88518c57dcc_story.html

Frances Allen, a former high school math teacher who became one of the leading computer scientists of her generation and, in 2006, was the first woman to win the A.M. Turing Award, considered the Nobel Prize in computing passed away. Renowned for her seminal work in optimizing the creation of computer software programs and high-performance computing systems, Ms. Allen earned her stellar reputation in the esoteric field of software compilers. Simply put, her efforts over a distinguished 45-year career at IBM helped software designers generate more-powerful and efficient code, which led to huge advances in the use of supercomputers and parallel processing, and eventually in all levels of computing. Her work, which set the tone for how people in the field think about compiler optimization, bridged the gap between how computers communicate and how people communicate, thus opening up the use of computers to scientists and engineers and others outside the glass-enclosed fortresses of the data centers. Allen became the first female IBM Fellow in 1989. She retired from IBM in 2002 but remained affiliated with the corporation as a Fellow Emerita. In 2007, the IBM Ph.D. Fellowship Award was created in her honor. She died from complications of Alzheimer’s disease in Schenectady, New York.

Remembrances

4 August 1875 – Hans Christian Andersen - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Christian_Andersen

Usually called H.C. Andersen, was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his fairy tales. Andersen's fairy tales, consisting of 156 stories across nine volumes and translated into more than 125 languages, have become culturally embedded in the West's collective consciousness, readily accessible to children, but presenting lessons of virtue and resilience in the face of adversity for mature readers as well. His most famous fairy tales include "The Emperor's New Clothes," "The Little Mermaid," "The Nightingale," "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", "The Red Shoes", "The Princess and the Pea," "The Snow Queen," "The Ugly Duckling," "The Little Match Girl," and "Thumbelina." His stories have inspired ballets, plays, and animated and live-action films. One of Copenhagen's widest and busiest boulevards, skirting Copenhagen City Hall Square at the corner of which Andersen's larger-than-life bronze statue sits, is named "H.C. Andersens Boulevard." At the time of his death, Andersen was internationally revered, and the Danish Government paid him an annual stipend as a "national treasure". He died from liver cancer at the age of 70 in Østerbro,Copenhagen.

4 August 1977 – Edgar Adrian - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edgar_Adrian

Edgar Douglas Adrian, 1st Baron Adrian, English electrophysiologist and recipient of the 1932 Nobel Prize for Physiology, won jointly with Sir Charles Sherrington for work on the function of neurons. He provided experimental evidence for the all-or-none law of nerves. Continuing earlier studies of Keith Lucas, he used a capillary electrometer and cathode ray tube to amplify the signals produced by the nervous system and was able to record the electrical discharge of single nerve fibres under physical stimulus. (It seems he used frogs in his experiments) An accidental discovery by Adrian in 1928 proved the presence of electricity within nerve cells. A key result, published in 1928, stated that the excitation of the skin under constant stimulus is initially strong but gradually decreases over time, whereas the sensory impulses passing along the nerves from the point of contact are constant in strength, yet are reduced in frequency over time, and the sensation in the brain diminishes as a result. Extending these results to the study of pain causes by the stimulus of the nervous system, he made discoveries about the reception of such signals in the brain and spatial distribution of the sensory areas of the cerebral cortex in different animals. These conclusions lead to the idea of a sensory map, called the homunculus, in the somatosensory system. Later, Adrian used the electroencephalogram to study the electrical activity of the brain in humans. His work on the abnormalities of the Berger rhythm paved the way for subsequent investigation in epilepsy and other cerebral pathologies. He died at the age of 87 in Cambridge.

4 August 2014 – James Brady - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Brady

James Scott Brady, assistant to the U.S. President and the fifteenth White House Press Secretary, serving under President Ronald Reagan. In 1981, Brady became permanently disabled from a gunshot wound during the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan. His death was ruled a homicide, caused by the gunshot wound he received 33 years earlier. On March 30, 1981, 69 days into his presidency, Ronald Reagan and his cabinet members, including Brady, were leaving the Washington Hilton Hotel when a gunman opened fire. The first of six bullets hit Brady. The gunman was 25-year-old John Hinckley Jr. Although Brady survived, the wound left him with slurred speech and partial paralysis that required the full-time use of a wheelchair. Kobrine, his neurosurgeon, described him as having difficulty controlling his emotions while speaking after the shooting, saying "he would kind of cry-talk for a while", and suffering deficits in memory and thinking, such as failing to recognize people. In 1996, Brady received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Bill Clinton, the highest civilian award in the United States. Brady died at at the age of 73 in Alexandria, Virginia. Four days later, the medical examiner ruled that his death was a homicide, caused by the gunshot wound which he sustained in 1981. Hinckley did not face any charges for Brady's death because he had been found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Famous Birthdays

3 August 1811 – Elisha Otis - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisha_Otis

Elisha Graves Otis, American industrialist, founder of the Otis Elevator Company, and inventor of a safety device that prevents elevators from falling if the hoisting cable fails. At the age of 40, while he was cleaning up the factory, he wondered how he could get all the old debris up to the upper levels of the factory. He had heard of hoisting platforms, but these often broke, and he was unwilling to take the risks. He and his sons, who were also tinkerers, designed their own "safety elevator" and tested it successfully. He initially thought so little of it he neither patented it nor requested a bonus from his superiors for it, nor did he try to sell it. After having made several sales, and after the bedstead factory declined, Otis took the opportunity to make an elevator company out of it, initially called Union Elevator Works and later Otis Brothers & Co. At the New York Crystal Palace, Otis amazed a crowd when he ordered the only rope holding the platform on which he was standing cut. The rope was severed by an axeman, and the platform fell only a few inches before coming to a halt. The safety locking mechanism had worked, and people gained greater willingness to ride in traction elevators; these elevators quickly became the type in most common usage and helped make present-day skyscrapers possible. He was born in Halifax, Vermont.

4 August 1834 – John Venn - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Venn

English mathematician, logician and philosopher noted for introducing the Venn diagram, used in the fields of set theory, probability, logic, statistics, competition math, and computer science. In 1866, Venn published The Logic of Chance, a ground-breaking book which espoused the frequency theory of probability, offering that probability should be determined by how often something is forecast to occur as opposed to “educated” assumptions. Venn then further developed George Boole's theories in the 1881 work Symbolic Logic, where he highlighted what would become known as Venn diagrams. He built rare machines. A certain machine was meant to bowl cricket balls. The machine was so fascinating that when Australian cricketers were visiting Cambridge, the machines were used to entertain their arrival. The bowl cricket ball machine that Venn built actually bowled out the top ranked player of the team four times consecutively. He was born in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire.

4 August 1975 – Andy Hallet - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Hallett

Andrew Alcott Hallett, American singer and actor who became known from playing the part of Lorne in the television series Angel (2000–2004). He used his singing talents often on the show, and performed two songs on the series' 2005 soundtrack album, Angel: Live Fast, Die Never. After moving to Los Angeles, Hallett worked as a runner for an agency and then as a property manager. He eventually became a personal assistant to Kai Cole, wife of Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon. When the couple and their friends saw Hallett singing at the "B.B. Kings" lounge at Universal City Walk, Whedon conceived a new character for his new show Angel: Lorne, an anagogic demon who reads the hearts and futures of his guests as they sing in his karaoke bar. Hallett was invited to try out for the part, and won it after three auditions. The character of Lorne was featured as a recurring character in 45 episodes before Hallett was added to the title sequence as a series regular for the last nine episodes of the fourth season, and all of the fifth; in total he appeared as Lorne in 76 of the show's 110 episodes. The character's demonic visage involved extensive prosthetic makeup and detailed coloring of his face, neck and hands, leading to early calls for at least two and a half hours of makeup before Hallett's filming day could begin. He was born in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

Events of Interest

4 August 1936 – Jesse Owens wins long jump—and respect—in Germany - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/jesse-owens-wins-long-jump-and-respect-in-germany

On August 4, 1936, American Jesse Owens wins gold in the long jump at the Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. It was the second of four gold medals Owens won in Berlin, as he firmly dispelled German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler’s notion of the superiority of an Aryan “master race,” for all the world to see. Owens would win his third gold medal and set his second Olympic record of the games in the 200 meters the next day. On August 9, he followed that up by helping his team set a new world record—39.8 seconds—in the 4 x 100 meter relay. Owens and Metcalfe replaced two American Jews, Marty Glickman and Sam Stoller, originally scheduled to run the relay that day. Later, the U.S. team was criticized for the move, which was thought to be an appeasement of Hitler and the Nazi party, who would likely have been even angrier to see Jews, already a frequent target of Nazi hate and harassment, bring home a medal.

4 August 1944 – Anne Frank captured - https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/anne-frank-captured

Acting on tip from a Dutch informer, the Nazi Gestapo captures 15-year-old Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family in a sealed-off area of an Amsterdam warehouse. The Franks had taken shelter there in 1942 out of fear of deportation to a Nazi concentration camp. They occupied the small space with another Jewish family and a single Jewish man, and were aided by Christian friends, who brought them food and supplies. Anne spent much of her time in the so-called “secret annex” working on her diary. The diary survived the war, overlooked by the Gestapo that discovered the hiding place, but Anne and nearly all of the others perished in the Nazi death camps. In 1947, Anne’s diary was published by Otto in its original Dutch. An instant best-seller and eventually translated into more than 70 languages, The Diary of Anne Frank has served as a literary testament to the nearly six million Jews, including Anne herself, who were silenced in the Holocaust.

4 August 1995 – Virtuosity premiered theatrically - https://www.scifihistory.net/august-4.html

Actor Denzel Washington has made a few quality stabs at Science Fiction.  One of his earliest -- Virtuosity -- premiered theatrically on this day back in 1995. Virtuosity had an estimated budget of $30 million, but only made $24 million at the domestic box office. Here's the plot summary: "A virtual-reality serial killer manages to escape into the real world."

Intro

Artist – Goblins from Mars

Song Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)

Song Link -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJ

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[gyrlversion]

London police chief admits youth stabbings at worst level shes known

London police chief Cressida Dick admits stabbings are at worst level she has ever known in 38 years as murder rate is tipped to rise in the summer

Most senior police chief told committee too many children are carrying knives

Head of West Midlands Police says he fears the summer, when violence spikes

Comes after another weekend of bloodshed in the capital and attack yesterday 

By Richard Spillett, Crime Correspondent For Mailonline

Published: 12:49 EDT, 26 March 2019 | Updated: 13:06 EDT, 26 March 2019

The country’s top police chief has said youth knife violence is at the worst level she has ever seen it.

Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, who joined the police more than 35 years ago, said it was ‘deeply worrying’ how many teenagers were carrying and using knives.

Violent crime rose by nearly a fifth in the year to September 2018, according to police figures, and the increase in knife killings has been particularly pronounced.

Speaking at Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee today, Ms Dick said: ‘I’d have to say that the last couple of years undoubtedly have been the highest and most worrying levels I think in my service.’ 

Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick told Parliament’s Home Affairs Committee today that knife crime among teenagers is at a worrying high level

The scene of the latest police probe into a youth stabbing after a 15-year-old was knifed yesterday afternoon in Lewisham

Ms Dick added: ‘There’s definitely more younger people involved and more knives involved in the serious violence on the streets. Just yesterday afternoon we had a 15-year-old stabbed, not long after school.’

She said that, year-on-year, the number of under-25s reporting knife injuries had dropped by 15 per cent and she felt police in London were beginning to get a grip on the problem. 

But, she continued: ‘If you look at stabbings of young people I do think that this is a new and tragic and worrying phenomenon. It’s been my number one priority and remains so.’

Ms Dick said county lines gangs – who use children to traffic drugs to rural areas and smaller towns – meant the problem was spreading out from big cities. 

She said some youths caught up in recent knife violence had no history of being in trouble with the police before.

Ms Dick said she hoped the police would be able to concentrate on and tackle the issue of knife crime in the same way that they had acid attacks and moped crime.

It comes after a weekend of bloodshed in the capital with six more people stabbed overnight from Saturday to Sunday

Graphs show how homicides have risen as police numbers and stop and searches have fallen

Dave Thompson, Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, who also spoke to the committee, said he feared the problem would get worse over the summer months, because people spend more time outside.

He told the committee: ‘Our violence rates will go up in the summer. We look at three murders we had in Birmingham they happened in a very hot 10 days, where street population grew hugely, so I brace myself for summer because I think summer is very demanding on violence.’

MP urges children to get fitter to run away

 Children should get ‘fitter’ so they are more able to repel the growing threat of knife attacks, an outspoken Tory MP told senior police officers today.

Sir Christopher Chope says more youngsters should be encouraged to try judo and taekwondo to avoid them feeling the need to carry a blade themselves.

The Brexiteer, who represents Christchurch in Dorset, suggested martial arts would help youngsters be ‘physically able to deal with the situation’ by either disarming a rival or fighting back.

Dave Thompson, Chief Constable of the West Midlands Police, told MPs today that the ‘best knife prevention technique is to run away, as fast as you can’.

Sir Christopher replied: ‘You do need to be fit to do that’.

Earlier this month, Chancellor Philip Hammond pledged an immediate £100million boost for police forces.

Police numbers have fallen by 20,000 in England and Wales since 2010. The number of knife-related deaths rose from 186 in 2015-16 to 285 in 2017-18.

In the last year alone, 27 under-19s have been stabbed to death, and there have been 285 knife killings in all – the highest level since the Second World War. 

A schoolboy was critically injured yesterday evening after being stabbed with an ‘eight-inch carving knife’ in south-east London. 

Police have launched a manhunt for the attackers – said to be two much older men – who stabbed the 15-year-old at around 4.10pm in Lewisham.

Witnesses said the boy was attacked in his school uniform while with his friends. He is critically injured in hospital.

Saturday and Sunday saw six people stabbed in another weekend of bloodshed for London. 

Shopkeeper Ravi Katharkamar, 54, was stabbed in the chest as he opened Marsh Food and Wine in Pinner, north-west London, on Sunday morning.

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[imgonnawatchsoyoudonthavetoo]

Titans, should you watch it?

Should you watch it? This is a really upsetting answer for me but no. I grew up with the original teen titans animation, followed by the young justice animated series, now i understand that this is a Netflix original remake and it’s meant to be a darker take on the original story. However I just couldn’t get behind it.

Are the characters interesting? Strangely enough yes, Robin (Dick Grayson) is re-living the tragedy of his parents death and wrestling with the fact that he is becoming too much like batman and alienating himself from the rest of the world, this simply leads him to becoming Nightwing as most people know, he didn’t share Batman's views and so became his own individual Hero, yet, it just seems like is being a bit too hooked up on this fact and though there is some development in his character it takes too long in my opinion.

Starfire is portrayed surprisingly well even if they have completely messed up her basic power and where it comes from.  In the original Starfire is an alien, this much is followed in the show. However in the show Titans Starfire’s powers are made out to come from the sun and to be literal fire. Though this ties in very well as her power is now literally ‘Star fire’ it seems so lack lustre in comparison to her energy bolts, flight, enhanced strength and her other ability to learn any language from a kiss (She seems too know a lot of languages in the show but it is never really touched on how)  But like i said i still find the characters interesting and the amnesia aspect of her character added some mystery and some interesting aspects to her.

Beast boy is literally that a boy with a single bestial transformation, this is not my lovable green joker and i am very upset, his veganism is there and i love that its a massive part of his character, as he transforms into animals he doesn't want to eat them as he feels it would be cannibalism, though why shouldn’t he if his one transformation is a damn tiger, he refuses to hurt people until late in the season which just makes him such a side character as his one transformation is that of a killing machine and not only that it takes ages to perform and undo making him super vulnerable, Beastboy’s strength in the animated show comes from his ability to change on the go quickly so that he can adapt to the fight. I get why it’s done, the entire backstory of his powers has changed because of the lack of the league and Martian Manhunter (His niece gave the original beast boy a blood transplant that martian blood turned him green and made him capable of the martian shape shifting skills which took on his affinity for animals to make him beast boy, but all in all though i like his personality i hate what they have done too my boy :( 

Raven again a super strong character relegated to a side character even though the story supposedly centres on her and her relationship with Trigon her father, she has non of her amazing magical powers and instead has some form of weird shadow ability, non of the awesome chants into hurling giant objects and no levitation, hopefully she gets her powers developed on if there is a second season.

How is the story? It’s pretty dry, i get there are four characters to explain and introduce but it just really hurts me that even with that and the ten episodes all of which are a round 50 minutes in length it seems to really just rush the last couple of episodes to get somewhere.

Final thoughts? Take my review with a pinch of salt, like i said, i wouldn't suggest you watch it but i think that is only true of those of us who grew up with the teen titans, this show is good in it’s own way and i understand that but i just don’t like that the characters i knew and loved in teen titans have become this. However if you haven’t seen the Teen titans animated series (It came out before Teen Titans! Go! So if you look it up don’t mix the two up) then i would give this a watch.

Rating? Personally 4/10 

              Objectively 7/10 has some great ideas the dark take is a nice idea as a lot of the characters really fit it but the story needs development as do the characters.

#netflix #titansnetflix

[flyingsaucersareswell]

Greetings, Earthlings! This week’s Freaky Flick comes from one of my favorite science fiction serials: Rocky Jones: Space Ranger! The movie is actually just three episodes strung together and renamed Manhunt in Space. There’s enough action in one episode for just one movie, though, so strap on your safety belts because this wild ride is filled with rockets, gorgeous dames, and space pirates!

Manhunt in Space: An Adventure of Tomorrow (1956) - Amazon Prime

Synopsis:

The movie begins with space girl, Vena, travelling in a rocketship with space ranger, Reggie. All alone in that spaceship, you’d think there might be a flame kindling between these two, but you would be dead wrong. Vena only has eyes for our hero, Rocky Jones!

We meet Rocky taking a little R&R with his goofy sidekick, Winky. Rocky is complaining that Vena spends too much time hogging her space ship’s “vizeograph” even though she knows he is supposed to call. Winky seems much more relaxed looking through his little black book and making plans for his “gay nightlife.”

What Rocky doesn’t realize is that Vena isn’t actually blowing him off. Her rocket has been hijacked by space pirates! 

These pirates disable her ship, take their cargo, and leave Reggie and Vena to drift helplessly in space for all eternity! Despite their grim circumstances, Vena won’t let the prospect of death in space get her down, so she decides to make lunch.

Rocky and Winky set out to rescue their missing friend, but before they leave Rocky stops by Professor Newton’s lab to see if he has any new space tech--which he does: cold light that will make Rocky’s ship invisible!

Bobby (who is likely overstaying his welcome at the lab) begs Rocky to let him come along on the mission to “help.” For reasons known only to Rocky, he cannot say “no” to Bobby and agrees to take him on this perilous mission. (I can only assume Bobby has very rich parents who foot the bills for Rocky’s beloved space adventures.)

With the help of some clever communication, Rocky Jones manages to rescue Vena and Reggie and tow their spaceship home to Kasa 7. There Vena is reunited with her brother, Paul, and Winky gets a much needed nap.

Rocky, in the meantime, stays up all night looking at solar system atlases trying to figure out where these space pirates are coming from. Vena does what comes naturally to her and makes snacks.

What Rocky does not know is that the nefarious space queen, Cleolanta, is directing the pirates in an attempt to capture Rocky himself! 

Although she refuses to explain to the pirates what she wants with Rocky, the pirates make a lot of off hand comments that seem to imply they have some ideas…

With the help of the “cold light”, Rocky and Winky are able to make their ship invisible and infiltrate the pirate base. Rocky is captured, but after some fast talk and fistfights, he is able to escape back onto his invisible ship.

Cleolanta and the space pirates are now set on capturing Rocky’s cold light technology, and they will stop at nothing to get it. Rocky is betrayed and captured, but as we all know by now, space rope won’t hold Rocky for long! 

Soon Rocky is free again to rearrange some pirate faces, and with the help of Winky, they set law and order right again in the solar system! 

Flying Saucer Rating:

2 out of 10 - Despite having some great rocket ships, there is sadly not a single flying saucer in this picture! Don’t get me wrong, I’m giving an extra point for the variety of rocket ships (three to be exact), but for ol’ Casey’s buck, if there’s space there should be saucers!

Aliens Rating:

2 out of 10 - Again, as much as I am a fan of the Rocky Jones series, it is a flat out failure for crazy looking aliens (at least in this adventure.) The closest thing we get is Queen Cleolanta, so I am giving an extra point because she’s a looker! Which brings me to my next category...

Most Gorgeous Dame:

10 out of 10 - Let’s face it: what Manhunt in Space lacks in saucers, it more than makes up for in gorgeous dames! This episode had two Rocky Jones regulars who were in a dead heat for most gorgeous dame, so I decided to just make it a tie! Maybe it has something to do with the fact that both these ladies look so similar that for awhile ol’ Casey thought they were the same actress with different hair dye. Either way, their characters were the best of their polar opposites: Vena, the bubbly, always-positive-beyond-explanation charmer; Cleolanta, the dangerously deceptive looker with a fiery temper men can’t ignore. 

But beware, gentlemen: These women are not to be trifled with!

Manliest Moment:

Rocky throws a lot of good punches in this flick, but his best moment by far is when he literally “knocks” his opponent out by ramming his head against a door! Bravo, Rocky!

Weakest Boy Moment:

Everything was going great and then Rocky Jones: Space Ranger pulls a scene like this! Winky singing a damn lullaby to Bobby to put him to sleep on the couch. If you know me by now, you know ol’ Casey has a short string for boys in his science fiction pictures, but this is just a slap in the face! More punching, less of this nonsense, Rocky!

Overall Rating:

6 out of 10 - It has a some good moments, but overall, I just can’t ignore the glaring lack of flying saucers AND aliens. Some great fistfights and double the regular amount of gorgeous dames push this one just over the midpoint for ol’ Casey. Let’s hope the next adventure delivers more saucers!

Is the movie alone not enough to keep your interest? Continue below for the ADULTS ONLY Featured Cocktail and DRINKING GAME!

Since Vena was a fan of serving milk with snacks, I thought why not feature a cocktail served with milk: a Milk Punch! This classic pre-dates Colonial times, but has become a post-hangover classic in New Orleans on Bourbon Street!

MILK PUNCH

INGREDIENTS 1.5 OZ BOURBON 0.5 OZ DARK RUM 0.5 OZ VANILLA SYRUP 2 OZ MILK GRATED NUTMEG, FOR GARNISH

DIRECTIONS

Add all ingredients save for the garnish to a shaker tin with ice and shake vigorously while thinking about what it would be like if your wife was a space princess instead of a spiteful nag.

Strain into a double old-fashioned glass and add fresh ice while thinking about that girl Lee Ann you dated in college and muse on how things might have been different.

Garnish with grated nutmeg and announce to your wife you just grated that nutmeg the way she grates on your nerves. If she doesn’t respond (she probably won’t), say it again louder. Repeat if necessary.

Ol’ Casey’s going to level with you: This flick goes down a lot better with a cocktail in your hand! So here’s a game to help you enjoy a “gay” night with the Space Rangers!

Drink - whenever someone says the word “vizeograph”

Drink  - whenever someone says “Kasa 7″ (WARNING: This rule is for seasoned drunks only! And people who love hangovers.)

Drink - when Vena says “robot control”

Drink - when anyone says “gay nightlife”

Drink - whenever Winky makes a joke about meeting girls (WARNING: This happens regularly, but no women appear.)

Drink - whenever someone puts on or takes off a space helmet.

Drink - whenever Winky says anything about rockets roaring.

Drink - whenever someone picks up a “space gun.”

Drink - whenever one rocket approaches another rocket to mate with it.

Drink - whenever Vena prepares food.

Drink - whenever a rocket lands on a landing pad.

Drink twice - if you hear Vena say “We were space wacked by pirates!”

Drink - whenever one of Cleolanta’s lackies makes a joke about how much she likes Rocky.

Drink - when Rocky starts explaining cold light to Winky. Start when he says, “I’ll have to brief you on it...” and don’t stop until he’s done. (WARNING: If you’re feeling light headed, you may want to sit this one out!)

Drink - whenever someone enters or exits the invisible rocket!

Drink - when Rocky knocks out a space pirate ramming him into a door.

Drink - if you hear Rocky say he’d like to have a look inside Rinkman’s boss.

Drink - when Winky sings a lullaby. (You’re going to need it.)

And as always, drink responsibly, Earthlings! Cheers!

#moviereview #review #scifi #vintagescifi #sciencefiction #rockyjones #gifs #1950s #serial #serialization #humor #comedy #satire #characters #space #rocket #rocketship #spaceship #spaceranger #space ranger partners #winky #cocktails #drinking #drinking game

[terkildsenterry54-blog]

Darwin Project Becomes Entirely Free of charge On Steam TECH2

Scavengers Studio has announced that its manhunt and survival battle-royale game, Darwin Project, is now free of charge to play on Steam This decision was made in order to bring much more players to the game and make it simpler to locate matches in lesser populated servers. The most intriguing aspect of Darwin Project is that a human player can act as the Director, a puppet master who makes darwin project pc download decisions about provide drops, zone closures, and other random events that compel contestants to utilize their survival expertise. The part of the Director can also be filled by Twitch and Mixer viewers to let audiences make decisions about arena alterations. Scavengers Studio, the developer and publisher of "Darwin Project," announced that the "Hunger Games"-style battle royal game is scheduled to launch its Steam Early Access on March 9. As the Director, you happen to be in a position to influence the complete map of The Darwin Project by closing off zones, dropping nukes, causing gravity storms and fundamentally Where I Can Download Darwin Project becoming a wild card in the match. In order to carry out one of these actions, you have to wait until you gain an Potential Point. Parents need to know that Darwin Project is a downloadable online multiplayer third-person battle royale game for Windows Computer and Xbox One. Ten players face off against every other in a final-man-standing match, hunting every other with bows and arrows, bear traps, and axes, all even though attempting to survive the harsh cold of the environment. The game has a reality show presentation, with the system run by a player-controlled "Director," who has the ability to alter the game on a whim with particular Darwin Project PC Download skills, perks, and obstacles to use on the competitors. Due to the game's online-only nature, as nicely as its concentrate on interaction amongst the Director, the competitors, and even audience members watching by way of livestream, there is a danger of players getting exposed to offensive language and toxic behavior. Finally, the game is violent with some blood shown, but its artistic style is far more cartoonish and lacks any substantial gore. Darwin Project takes the battle royale genre up north, exactly where an impending ice age has provided rise to a twisted new reality show in which ten participants must fight to the death under the Show Director's gaze. You can let your kid play their favourite games, but make positive they don't commit all their time on a mobile or Computer How to Download Darwin Project. They must do their schoolwork in time and perform other Darwin Project Download activities. Our digital gaming options also contain gift cards for in-game purchases, which make wonderful gifts as effectively. Darwin Project Free of charge Download Computer Game setup in single direct link for Windows. It is an amazing Action, Indie, Survival game. So, if you are interested in playing Simply head to Steam to download Darwin Project. The games UE4 should How to Download Darwin Project be straight forward to setup by way of Wine. There you can to join the manhunt as a contestant or Show Director, completely Cost-free to Play. A separate Tweet by Scavengers confirms Darwin Project will be totally free on Xbox One subsequent week, also. Will Darwin Project be able to locate an audience in the increasingly-crowded battle royale marketplace that not too long How to Download Darwin Project ago saw Cliff Bleszinski's Radical Heights pop into becoming? So far Darwin Project's garnered a "Really Positive" rating on Steam, so that may possibly be explanation sufficient to preserve your eye on this beaut, eh. 10 of the most significant names in gaming and streaming took component in a second edition of the Darwin Project Invitational on Sunday, March 25th. Darwin Project is an exciting new take on the battle royale genre as it adds survival in to the mix and even provides stream viewers to directly where i can download darwin project influence it. The Darwin Project rewards aggressive play - clearing the map of other individuals as early as achievable will assist you down the line. So follow the clues and clean up. The Darwin Project, the 1st game from Montreal studio Scavengers, looks at 1st glance to be basically an early contender in the inevitable deluge of battle royale games. The important points of difference, judging by the trailers, are the chilly climate of the arena in which you play (cold damage darwin project pc download is a big element of play) and a cartoonish aesthetic that sits about equidistant amongst Group Fortress 2 and Overwatch. It is more a survival game that takes place to have PvP than anything else. The initial major threat when you spawn in Darwin Project is the cold. It is set in a post-apocalyptic take on the Northern Canadian Rockies. To keep warm, you have to construct a fire, but that calls where i can download darwin project for resources. Your trusty axe is great for felling trees, stripping leather from conveniently placed dilapidated couches (which at times reside outdoors for no distinct reason), and caving in skulls. The Darwin Project launched on Steam Early Access not too long ago , promising a new twist on the battle royale genre. This time, ten players are dropped into a snowy landscape with nothing at all but a bow, an axe, and their wits. visit homepage of the Berlin Wall that signaled the finish Darwin Project PC Download of the Cold War in 1989 opened a window in time foreshadowing the “might have been” world of the rest of Darwin and how I came to locate it.

[areasontosmileblog-blog]

Growing Up In Today's Society Is More Difficult Than Growing Up Back Then

Our parents just don't fully get it. We were your age once, you know, is a common statement that teenagers and young adults hear from their parents -- and sometimes on a daily basis (more often than not). This statement is very true, obviously, because everyone did grow up; I mean, thats just simple anatomy. However, this statement also irks me, and heres why: As much as adults may disagree and naturally argue this point, I strongly believe that growing up in todays world is much more challenging than it was for past generations. Social pressures are more powerful, competition is much greater, technology is skyrocketing and everything said or done can be made public in the span of 5 seconds. Violence and danger are also more prevalent, and it seems as if numbers define a child more so than their actual abilities. Young adults, teenagers, even children, are being faced with greater struggles than any of our parents ever went through. Social pressures these days are everywhere, and children at younger ages are being exposed to them. Everyone is growing up so much quicker, and childrens innocence is being swiped away at a much younger age than necessary. The topic of discussion at a middle school table is all about drugs, alcohol, and sex. Since when has that become OK? The pressure follows teens everywhere they go, from social gatherings to behind closed doors on the internet. Unfortunately, we have social media to thank for that one. Sure, our parents were also worried about fitting in and doing the cool thing, but the peer pressure they faced was not even close to the immense pressure teenagers feel today. Instead of running around outside and playing manhunt, young teens are in someones basement drinking alcohol. Middle schoolers are vaping instead of riding somewhere and getting ice cream. Going on a movie date for the first time creates the question of, Is he going to kiss me the whole time? instead of, Should I ask for popcorn? Kids are growing up too fast, and in todays society, being rebellious and doing bad things are becoming the new norm. Kids get tormented for going against the gradient, so they roll with the flow. Social media has also caused chaos -- a whole new element of drama that adults didnt have to grow up dealing with. Everything one says or does is immediately posted, or saved onto someones camera roll, and usually never gets deleted. Adults can whine to us about how everything is "the same as it was in the past," and how it just has to do with perspective. But that is in fact not true. Social media itself is causing greater social pressures and greater risks. With social media, nothing is private. Growing up today means you grow up in a spotlight, and that comes with great responsibility. You have to constantly be aware of what you are doing, what you are saying, and who you are associating with. Because if you mess up or are with the wrong crowd, even for 10 minutes, that may backfire quicker than you can say the word backfire. Similarly, social media goes hand in hand with giving todays teens false images of perfection and what is expected vs. what is weird. Todays society is obsessed with what makes someone fat or ugly. Models wearing a size 4 are considered overweight, and celebrities walking down the street without makeup on are attacked by being called sickly. Social medias role in this is to make sure these stories and images get shown everywhere, and I mean everywhere. Todays world is so focused on appearance that many young people growing up are brainwashed and manipulated into thinking that they are not pretty enough, not desirable and not wanted. This then leads to more cases of depression, and higher suicide rates. I am not stating that this did not occur back then because I know it did. Depression and the natural instinct to not like yourself (or things about yourself) is inevitable. However, in todays society and with social media crawling at you in every direction, the urgency to be perfect is a much bigger problem now than it was before. There is such an unachievable standard that this society has created for my generation, and all teens seem to fall into its depths to at least some extent. Switching topics, the competition is also greater. Everything is way more difficult than it needs to be, especially the entire process for applying to colleges. You cannot get into your dream school without having a 4.0 GPA, being a varsity athlete for four years, being the president in three clubs, doing 100 hours of community service and having two jobs. Being involved is great, yes, but I do not think that the requirements to get into certain schools should be the way they are. I understand there is a high demand and requirements need to be put into place, but I think this should be done in a more efficient way. High schoolers are constantly thinking about ways to fill up their resume and what they can do to make themselves better than the person sitting next to them. The. Pressure. Never. Ends. Got a C on a test? Thats unheard of. Try again. Only have a 3.4 GPA? Sorry, you must get all As next semester to even stand a chance. The academic pressure is exceeding what it has ever been before, and it takes a toll on students' happiness and freedom to just be a teen and enjoy life! Even after college, it never ends. The competition to get into grad school, or to land that big internship, is so great that it begins to be the only thing on a young adults brain. Our generation needs to learn to relax, breathe, and have some hope that everything will fall into place. Numbers have slowly taken over. Whether it be a simple test grade, a GPA, an ACT score or something as silly as how many followers you have on Instagram and how many comments you get on a post. Your abilities are defined by your ACT scores, because you are only as smart as your test score shows (obviously not true, but thats how it feels). Your popularity is defined by how many likes you get on a picture, and if you get a lot, youre obviously better than Sally who only got 5 (again, NOT true). But you see, we are surrounded by these numbers, and the pressure we face stems from those. It has turned into a life or death situation, and that is not healthy. This is also where social media comes in, again. You know every achievement and every award that someone has ever been granted. People growing up today are so focused on being better than the person beside them, and bragging to all their peers about how successful and amazing they are. Life for todays teens is one giant competition, and it seems to be never ending. Danger and violence are also spiraling out of control, and the political stuff around us. Yes, politics have always been a thing, and so has violence, but it is baffling how much of an effect those are having today. It seems we are moving backward, not forward. Teens have to fear going to the movie theater these days or walking home from the pool at night. You have to get patted down to enter a food festival, and you cant wear long necklaces at schools because they are considered weapons. What is happening here? Every night on the news you hear about a new shooting, or a new person getting arrested on your street; it is truly never ending, and it certainly does not seem to be getting any better. The point Im trying to make is that sometimes adults really dont fully get it. I know they understand similar aspects and have empathy for certain scenarios that we go through, but they will never actually understand what it feels like to grow up now. It really is so different, whether they want to believe it or not. Everyone encounters struggles and challenges, but today it is especially difficult because there is always someone else to please, someone else to compete with and another higher expectation to be met. Nothing nowadays is simple, or easy. Life is not easy, and I get that, but todays youth is growing up with issues and pressures that are greater than theyve ever been. We are constantly having to watch our back, be aware of who is watching us and potentially recording us, wear the best outfit to the concert and get the very best grades to stand a chance in todays competitive world. Numbers are becoming more important than skills, and teenagers are constantly striving for an unachievable goal of perfection. Sometimes I wish I could rewind time and grow up in the time my parents did, or at least wish that the adults in our lives would somehow understand the great pressure and challenges we are all being consumed by. Xoxo Sarah

[her-culture]

My Favorite Film and Why It's Important

"Back there I could fly a gun ship, I could drive a tank, I was in charge of [a] million dollar equipment, [and] back here I can't even hold a job parking cars." This is from the scene in First Blood, where John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) broke down in front of his former commanding officer, Colonel Sam Trautman (Richard Crenna) towards the ending of the film.

First Blood is and will be one of my favorite films and it's rather interesting just how much his character relates to some veterans today. The movie was released in 1982 and is based off of the 1972 novel of the same name, which was written by David Morrell. In the book, Rambo commits suicide at the end, but in the movie the beloved character was given an alternative ending in order to continue with the film's three sequels. Rambo was like every other soldier; well trained, disciplined, loyal to his country and ready to give his life for his fellow citizens. “[He was] a troubled and misunderstood Vietnam veteran who must rely on his combat and survival senses against the abusive law enforcement of a small town."-Wikipedia. After seven years of being discharged from the military, Rambo travelled on foot to visit one of his comrades in the small town of Hope, Washington. When he arrived, he found out that his friend had passed away from cancer, which he developed as a result of his exposure to Agent Orange during the war. Instead of leaving the town, Rambo continued to wander around only to come across the town’s vile sheriff, Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy). He asked the Sheriff for directions to a diner, but was driven out of town instead and because he refused to leave, he was then arrested. Rambo fought his way out of jail, which ultimately sparked a vicious manhunt. Based off of my limited knowledge in the field of psychology, most of his decisions in the movie can be looked at as those of someone with untreated Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)-a form of mental illness that some people develop after experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event, such as war and sexual assault. Sadly, most of our veterans today are suffering from this dreadful illness, which can lead to several other psychological illnesses, as well as, homelessness and addictions.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, it is estimated that "PTSD afflicts almost 31 percent of Vietnam veterans, as many as 10 percent of Gulf War (Desert Storm) veterans, 11 percent of veterans of the war in Afghanistan and 20 percent of Iraqi war veterans." The numbers may seem small in comparison, however it is enough to persuade the military to take more action into providing better care for our veterans. Based on recent PTSD statistics, it was reported that "17% of combat troops are women; 71% of female military personnel develop PTSD due to sexual assault within the ranks." Last summer, I met a young woman in Florida named Chrissy, who is part of the 11 percent of Veterans from the war in Afghanistan. Although she hadn't experienced rape, Chrissy lost her parents at an early age as a result of a car accident, and so she suffers from depression and addiction, as well as PTSD. She is also a mother to a beautiful baby boy, but due to her illness she often spends time away from him whenever she experiences an episode. During our discussion, we both agreed that the military isn't doing enough to reintegrate veterans back into society, something Rambo could’ve benefited from. They go through vigorous physical and mental training in order to be combat-ready and once they've passed all requirements, they're deployed to their specific locations around the world. Now, when they've completed their missions and are ready to be discharged, there's little to no counseling prior to their exit. According to Chrissy, they're given their discharge papers and a pat on the back wishing them luck on the outside, similar to the treatment prisoners receive. Although there are resources available to our vets, it's not always utilized. Many vets are sometimes too ill to even realize that there's a problem and so he or she may not seek help in time, which can lead to an array of additional issues. The consensus remains that upon dismissal, each veteran should be offered extensive counseling prior to reintegration. It's not only a good idea for the individuals, but also for communities nationwide because the violence and murder rates among veterans are steadily rising. According to a recent survey conducted by the Washington Post and the Kaiser Family Foundation, “nearly one-third say that their mental health is worse than it was before they left, and nearly half say the same of their physical condition. Almost half say they give way to sudden outbursts of anger. Only 12 percent of the surveyed veterans claim they are now “better” mentally or physically than they were before they went to war."

"After an argument about a leave denied, Specialist Ivan Lopez pulled out a .45-caliber Smith & Wesson handgun and began a shooting spree at Fort Hood, America’s biggest stateside base, that left three soldiers dead and sixteen wounded."-The Nation. We hear about these acts of violence being committed by our service men and women suffering from PTSD far too often. Although males mostly perpetuate these acts, women too, experience bouts of violence. Based upon data from 2011-2012 from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, roughly 1,400 female veterans were imprisoned with another 1,600 jailed. For every female jailed there are just as many, who are experiencing abuse and neglect from her spouse battling PTSD. It's also important to note that the unemployment rate is significantly higher among female veterans with an estimated 15 percent of females between the ages of of 18-24 and another 10 percent between the ages of 25-34. Sadly, 9.8 percent of our homeless veterans are females and this is a problem that our military should address.

In First Blood, Rambo was showcased as a nuisance, a lost soul, a troublemaker, a wanderer and a dangerous man. Behind his “damaged” exterior was a resourceful and fair man with great leadership skills, who would've thrived in a position of authority if given the chance. Never mind the sight of powerful machinery and a gorgeous human evading the law, Rambo was a hero to 12-year-old me because he consistently fought for what he believed in and never feared questioning authority. With proper care this character would've been a much better person and that too, is true for veterans like Chrissy. Our military needs to work harder at protecting and helping all veterans, but because women are at a greater disadvantage, they deserve to receive an extra 50 percent of the help currently offered. The treatment Rambo received from law enforcement is what we should strive to not do to our troubled veterans. Instead, be proactive and get him or her the help they so desperately need without ostracizing the individual.

 If you or any veteran alike is experiencing hardships, please visit these websites for more information:

http://www.nchv.org

http://nvf.org

http://www.endhomelessness.org

https://www.va.gov

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