#and play video games until an inadvisable hour

[wabblebees]

it should be a human right to get a little high and game without a shirt on sometimes. imo

[bats-and-the-birds]

I made a post involving young/feral/perceived cryptid Dick Grayson and someone tagged something about Barry Allen losing his mind when this terrifying child befriends his nephew and I have NOT stopped thinking about this since.

Because like, imagine you're Barry Allen. You've been doing this hero thing for a while, and you've seen a lot of things, but now your nephew has gotten himself wrapped up in this too, and goddamnit, you're worried because you know this life isn't easy.

Then he makes a friend - Ollie's boy, Roy Harper - and you breathe a little bit easier, because you know that however rough this life is, it's worse without friends. Besides, it's sweet. They're young boys, and they roughhouse, and tell stupid jokes, and play video games together sometimes. It's nice to see Wally just be a kid with someone that he doesn't have to hide from. And, yeah, sure, they get into trouble sometimes, pull pranks that go too far, get themselves in danger because they think they can take on something they can't, but it's still a net positive, because you need friends in this line of work, and that's exactly what they've found.

And you think about Robin. Not often, but you do think about him. Because you know nothing about him, and you don't want to, but he still has the face of a boy that's younger than your nephew. You wonder if he has friends.

But really, you don't think about him that much. You don't want to. He's freaky, and generally, thinking too hard about anything to do with the Bat is inadvisable.

Then there's a fight. A big one. You don't even really know who's fighting on your side until everything has cleared. It was basically the entire Justice League, no one dead, but a few injuried. And your nephew's there too. And Roy. And Robin.

No one really goes near Robin, ever. It was an unspoken rule, of sorts, and you're pretty sure it's just because everyone's scared of messing with Batman's little bird, though whether that was due to fear of Batman or the bird himself, you're not sure.

But Wally doesn't seem to know this. Wally doesn't seem to care. He runs up to Robin with a big grin on his face and grabs his hand, trying to tug him over to where Roy was patching up some injuries.

You notice that Robin doesn't go with him immediately. In fact, he looks confused. But if you know anything about your nephew, he's persistent, and eventually Robin lets himself be dragged over. Roy seems unconcerned, but you can tell that the other adults in the vicinity shift uncomfortably, unsure of what they should do, or if they should do anything at all.

It doesn't last long anyway. Batman calls for Robin and he bounds off, but you notice he stops and hesitantly waves a gloved hand at your nephew before he leaves. Wally waves back.

You don't think much of it.

Then, the next time you and Ollie catch Wally and Roy fighting something they shouldn't be, Robin's right there with them. It's the first time you've seen Robin without Batman in close proximity, and you think he looks just a little bit more human. He smiles sheepishly with the other boys when they're chastised for fighting things that they shouldn't, and you watch Roy ruffle his hair like there's nothing to be worried about. You're still worried.

You still don't think much of it though. Even when Robin's there with the two of them the next time, and the time after that.

But then, oh dear god, he's in your house. You don't actually notice him at first, for two whole hours, because it's normal to see Wally and Roy sitting on the couch and playing video games. You just don't realize that there's a third head in between them until you sit down in an adjacent armchair to see what they're playing, because Robin is just short enough that his head doesn't peak over the back of the couch.

You have to blink a few times to make sure what you're seeing is real, because nestled in between the two slightly older heroes in their civilian attire is Robin, sans his gloves, cape, and boots, but otherwise still in full uniform with his mask still firmly in place, holding a video game controller and laughing while Wally elbows his side to try to make him lose.

And you just sit back in your chair and stare, because what the hell are you even supposed to do in this situation? Your nephew has decided to make friends with Batman's goddamn son - the boy that you've seen sneak up on League members with super hearing, break a grown man's femur, and somehow fade into shadows in a bright yellow cape - and it worked. And now he's playing video games on your couch. And you don't know what to do about that.

[feynites]

*sneaks some more reincarnation dirthalene in*

It is after Pride is born that Dirthamen starts writing letters to himself.

He has been taking note of things, of course. Keeping the usual mementos of a life well lived. But this is different.

The thought comes to him one long evening, when Pride is in the midst of teething, and is therefore troubled by pain and discomfort. He is allergic to most numbing gels, their doctor finds, and so the process is doubly uncomfortable for him, and is best eased by having either Dirthamen or Selene use cooling spells on his gums, while he chews on his teething rings. Or cold sticks of sweet, mild pepperoni.

Pride’s cries have a way of wrenching at Dirthamen’s heart, particularly when he cannot find an immediate solution to whatever crisis has assailed his tiny son. Selene is no different, though she is, in this, more experienced.

Thoughts along those lines are what guide Dirthamen to his current train of thought.

A lifetime ago, they had children together. Children who, by Selene’s accounts, grew and flourished, and lived and died. Children who Dirthamen cannot recollect. That is something that has always bothered him. But it bothers him more after Pride is born. Logically, he thinks, someday he will die, and he will forget Pride. He will forget Selene, again. He will forget all the wondrous details of his life – the surprises and discoveries, the revelations and affections.

It strikes him cold with fear, to think that he will forget about his son. To think that he has already forgotten about other children, that he cannot remember holding, or soothing, or raising.

He does not want to forget.

But he does not think becoming an abomination is the answer for him. He is not like Selene, who is good and strong, and he does not think he could find a spirit like Des, who might suit him so well. He does not think the parts of his nature that would appeal to spirits would result in a… good combination.

There are videos. Uthvir has most of them, it seems, hoarded away, but they have rationed a few out to Dirthamen. Selene prefers to keep pictures. Old photographs and records, and Dirthamen thinks of her, too. Thinks of what it would be like, to wait for years and years between seeing her again. To watch her grow old, and die, and leave him, and then wait, and wonder if she would love him again when she came back.

And he thinks of what is missed, in photographs and videos. What these things cannot say.

The first night, he settles into his desk with Pride napping in his lap. He is getting better at holding a baby with one hand and doing all manner of things with the other. Selene is sleeping, exhausted for her own part, and the house is quiet as Pride drowses with his teething ring still in his mouth, and Dirthamen picks up a pen, and begins to write.

Dear Dirthamen, he puts down.

This is a letter from you to yourself. Or rather, from a past incarnation of yourself to a future one. I hope Selene has informed you of the particulars of our situation. If she has not, now may be a good time to inquire after such things. And if you have not met Selene, but you have somehow come into possession of this letter, then you should speak with whoever gave it to you.

I am writing this letter so that you will know about the things which you cannot remember, but which I do not wish to forget.

Dirthamen hesitates, and wonders where to start. He glances down at his son’s sleepy face, and the drool on his shirt. The room is warm. Outside, it is windy.

He puts his pen back to the page.

As I write this, our son, Pride, is four months old. He is teething right now, which distresses him greatly. But he is a very patient and cheerful baby, I think. I have not had very many points for comparison, but he smiles often, and his laughter is infectious. His favourite toys are his soft blocks, with elvhen letters on them, and his plush wolf, and our family’s dog, Ein…

Once he gets going, Dirthamen finds it is not difficult to list things which he wishes to recall about Pride. And then, from there, it is easy to go on about Selene, and Ana, and Ein as well. Lists of pertinent traits branch out into anecdotes about them. By the time Dirthamen runs out of paper at his desk, Pride is fully asleep, and his hand is cramped, and he has written far more than he expected to.

He will need some notebooks, he supposes. Physical copies, and digital ones, too.

And, he thinks, he should probably take more care in when he writes, and how long for. Straightening up makes him vibrantly aware of how inadvisable it is to lean over a desk for more than an hour with an infant in one arm, craned at odd angles and scrawling away.

But it is a good idea, he thinks.

He goes and puts Pride in his crib, and when the next comes, he takes a brief trip out to pick up more disposable wipes and a six pack of notebooks.

Selene does not really question his new interest. Not at first. When he can spare the time to, Dirthamen adds to his ‘letter’. He finds there are always more things he can think of. The sound of Ein’s ‘hello’ bark. The way Pride likes to separate his froot loops by colour before he eats them. Ana’s triumphant dance whenever she wins at competitive video games. Selene’s inability to walk into a bookstore and not come back out empty-handed.

And there are other, more intimate things which Dirthamen wishes to recollect, too. Sexual things, and interludes, and encounters. But also things like what to do when Selene is sad. How to help with her grief, or tell when she needs space, or the comfort of someone who is not himself. What kinds of foods she likes, and books, and music. How to tell when Des is ‘piloting’, so to speak, and what to expect from that. What the different colours in her fire mean, and the things she prefers to leave unsaid, and the things she needs most often to hear.

He has gone through several packs of notebooks before Selene reads any of them.

Pride is toddling, by then. Navigating the sides of furniture with fixed intent, and a determination that makes Dirthamen think he will be climbing mountains one day. Watching him make his attempts is fascinating, and Dirthamen is utterly distracted by Pride’s tour around the sitting room’s padded coffee table when Selene comes into the room, holding one of his notebooks.

“I found this one in our room,” she says. “This is some project of yours, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” Dirthamen confirms.

Selene stares at the cover.

“Can I look?” she asks, in a way that makes him think she has been wanting to ask – and refraining – for some time.

He considers the matter. Someday, if things go the way they seem set to, he will die. And Selene will have these notebooks, and copies of them, and will be obliged, he hopes, to show them to his future self. But before he is reborn and grown again, she will have to wait. For years, at the least. Potentially, it would be very cruel to leave her with words he had written, and instructions not to read them herself. Dirthamen does not know if he could manage the restraint for that, in the reverse situation. He would likely break his word, and then feel guilty for it.

He would not wish that on Selene.

And besides which, he supposes she has some right to know what he is conveying about her.

“You may,” he decides.

“Oo bay,” Pride babbles, intently, to the coffee table.

Selene smiles at him as she heads over, and then settles onto one of the couches. Ein is currently in the yard, waiting for Ana to come home, as is usual around this hour.

Pride makes his way around the coffee table, and babbles at Dirthamen some more before giving up his current trek in favour of clambering into his lap. Selene opens up the journal, and reads the first page. And then she blinks, and flips it shut again, and raises an eyebrow at him.

“Are you writing porn?” she asks.

Ah.

Dirthamen recalls what he had been putting in that notebook, now.

“Somewhat,” he admits. “Mostly I have just been writing…” he hesitates. “…Everything?”

Selene frowns a little, and opens the notebook again. She flips through several more pages, silently reading, as Dirthamen plays with Pride. After a while she gets back up, then, and heads into the study, and when she returns she has several more notebooks. She glances towards him, as if double-checking her permission.

Dirthamen inclines his head, and then points towards the orange one, which he rewrote his first draft of his letter in.

“Start there,” he recommends.

Selene does.

And then Pride demands most of his attention again, seeking his help in organizing his blocks. Dirthamen obliges him, and after a half hour has passed, he scoops him up and feeds him his lunch, too. He puts together a few sandwiches, and Pride ‘helps’ bring them to Selene, but when they get into the sitting room, she is gone.

“Ma?” Pride wonders.

“Bathroom, perhaps?” Dirthamen suggests.

His son decides that they must find her, and so they set out. Dirthamen is rather hoping that Pride will not be one of those toddlers who insists upon following his parents to the bathroom at all times, but he is also somewhat certain that this is a vain hope. He is very inquisitive, and he dislikes being alone.

Selene is not in the bathroom, however. Their search eventually uncovers her in the bedroom. Sitting on their bed, with her face in her hands.

“Ma!” Pride calls.

Dirthamen approaches with him, cautiously. Is it Des, perhaps?

But when they get close, he sees the red rims of Selene’s eyes, and he does not think so. She looks at them both, and then she reaches out her arms. Dirthamen deposits Pride readily into them, before settling onto the mattress beside her. Their son pats at his mother’s cheeks, frowning worriedly until she manages a smile for him, and then kisses his cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” she says. “I just… I needed a moment.”

“I apologize, I did not mean to cause distress,” Dirthamen offers, wondering if he has committed some grievous – if unwitting – transgression. But Selene only shakes her head, and cuddles Pride; and then leans over, and rests herself against his shoulder.

She closes her eyes.

“I wish I could give your memories back to you,” she tells him. “I wish you could… you could remember them, too.”

Dirthamen watches as she holds Pride closer, and he knows she is thinking of their other sons. The twins. Felasel and Darevas.

Gently, he works his arm around her. And he pulls her to him, holding her and Pride, full of unspoken grief for things he should not even know about. For pains that most people are not meant to live with; and for all of that, he knows that for him, much of it is only a concept. But for Selene, is the reality of a very heavy grief.

They stay like that until Ana comes home.

And then life, as it must do, reasserts itself. No less pressing for all that has come before.

Dirthamen notes it down, too. Because his future self must know, also, that for all the knowledge he can attain, all the memories he has lost still live with Selene.

And that is a double-edged blade which cuts her deeply, at times.

[kurguardianz]

Voltron: Legendary Defender Season One Rant

Voltron: Legendary Defender Season One Rant

Originally I was just going to measure this season by both its pros and its cons. But then I thought “This show is getting enough praise as it is without my help.” And in all honesty, my analyzing the pros felt half-assed when I really wanted to focus more on the cons. I haven’t seen the 1980s cartoon, so I can’t judge ‘VLD’ as a bad reboot or not. All I’ve seen from the original cartoon is a video on youtube titled ‘Best Voltron Moments’. It looks dated and silly as all hell compared to ‘VLD’. And good god what did they do to Pidge’s voice??? However, I actually had more fun laughing at an eight to nine minute video displaying 80s cheese than I did watching this modernized reboot.

I’m not saying I don’t like ‘VLD’, because I do. I just didn’t love it. Rather than blasting through this season in a matter of hours, it became more of a chore to sit through that it took me days, if not weeks, just to finish it. Is this one of those shows that isn’t for me? Is there something that I’m missing? Or did they just not do a good job at distracting me from its faults? Keep in mind, this is all opinion based, and not everyone is going to like something everyone else loves. Also, I’m aware that there are comics based off of this show. I don’t care. I’m focusing on the cartoon, not the comics. And from what my dearest friend and fan of the show told me, they’re not even that good. With that said, here’s my rant.

“The Galra.” I will admit, the Galra have some pretty menacing designs, chilling voice talent, and they prove to be more of a challenge for the Paladins. But underneath the surface, there’s really nothing to the Galra that we haven’t already seen in terms of an evil empire ruling the world — or in this case, the galaxy. It certainly doesn’t help that almost every villain introduced in this season has about as much character and personality as the gravity in space. I say ‘almost every villain’ because the only two characters that do anything remotely interesting are Haggar and Thace. One is a master druid and most trusted advisor to Emperor Zarkon, and the other helps the Paladins escape in the season finale.

With the exception of those two, everyone else like Sendak or Haxxus is just a cardboard cutout villain that our heroes have to fight. The biggest problem is that the main villain of the show, Zarkon, falls under the same trapping as any other evil ruler, where they have so much power and are not interesting because of it. Yes, he mops the floor with Keith and the red lion. Yes, we learn that he was the former paladin for the black lion. Yes, he is perhaps the most powerful enemy in the entire show already. But what does it matter when the villain himself is so boring to watch? I get their wanting to make him an all powerful baddie, but they should’ve made him captivating as a villain first.

Besides, being all powerful is not what makes a good villain. Take for example The Major from ‘Hellsing Ultimate’. The Major is a marksman for shit and is nowhere near as powerful as Emperor Zarkon. But what The Major lacks in vigor, he makes up for it with charisma. He has such undying passion for war; he has dinner while watching his vampire army wreak havoc; he’s always smiling because he’s having so much fun; and he has such a way with words that they flow like a river. You can argue that he doesn’t know when to shut up, but because he’s so fascinating as a villain, I could watch him give his speech on how much he loves war more than I would Zarkon wailing on the red lion.

While I can take each of them seriously, the Galra are just uninspired with very few of them really doing anything interesting enough that I want to know more about them. It might have something to do with the fact that they introduce six Galra in one season (Zarkon, Haggar, Thace, Sendak, Haxxus and Prorok) without giving a single one of them any time to develop or leave much of an impression on me. Perhaps if they were to make Sendak and Haxxus the main villains of the season while Zarkon was kept in the shadows or background to, you know, properly build him up as this evil tyrant, something might’ve stuck. But with what I was given, I dread who the Paladins are going to fight next.

“Side Characters.” Not only do they try to cram too many bad guys in the first season, but they do the same with side characters. Keep in mind, this is coming from someone who watches ‘Game of Thrones’ where its side characters galore. Unlike ‘GoT’ however where they can be interesting or play an actual role in the story, the side characters in ‘VLD’ are pretty much throwaways. Like candy wrappers. Take for example King Alfor. He has about five minutes of screen time — mostly as a hologram — with no real purpose other than to show that he and Allura are father and daughter. And instead of keeping him around for a second season to provide wisdom and such, they kill him off before this one is even over.

Sure, they’ll probably show him during a flashback or two next season, and his saying “Goodbye” to Allura was actually a pretty touching moment. Looking back at it now however, I feel like they could’ve held onto that until I actually, you know, got to know him better as an actual character. But hey, at least his getting killed off wasn’t so much a cheap ploy to get me bawling like it was with Rover. Yes, he was a helpful little drone to the very end, but Rover was no BB-8 or R2-D2. Plus, the execution with Pidge’s reaction was way off. Her shouting “No!” while moving in slow motion felt like something I would see from the 1980s cartoon. Except here it wasn’t unintentionally funny, it was just cliche.

Speaking of Pidge, we all remember her father and brother, Samuel and Matthew Holt, don’t we? I didn’t. It wasn’t until days after watching the season finale that I realized “Oh yeah, they’re still being held prisoner somewhere.” Then again, when given just one minute of screen time in the entire season, how could I not forget these two? Outside of being space explorers, Samuel and Matthew Holt have no actual character outside of their being family members that Pidge has to eventually find and rescue. On a side note, how is it that no one at the Galaxy Garrison looked at Pidge and thought “Hey, doesn’t that kid look an awful lot like Matthew Holt? One of our famous space explorers that went missing?”

Lastly, there’s the alien bounty hunter, Rolo, his partner, Nyma, and their cyber-unit, Breezer. Much like the Galra, their designs and voice work are really the only things they have going for them. Especially when they got Norman Reedus to do the voice for Rolo. Wait a sec, two actors from ‘The Walking Dead’ providing their voices in ‘VLD’??? Whoa. Mind blown. Other than that, I wouldn’t really care to see these characters again. I’d go into a lot of detail with Shay and her dick of a brother, Rax, but I don’t think we’ll be seeing them again anytime soon, if ever. Even so, I’ve already seen these type of characters before, and I can pretty much say the same for everyone that I’ve listed.

“Taking Flight” Stop me if you heard this one before. The party comes across one or few characters that need help with something and have a sob story to tell. One of the party members however has his doubts about the people they’re helping, but no one else ever listens to him/her and never have their own suspicions. Their inadvisable asses soon get bitten when the people they’ve been helping were lying to them the whole time. Gasp. They then apologize for not listening to said party member and waste a good chunk of time correcting their own mistake. You should know this cliche like the back of your hand, because every other TV show you can think of has beaten this trope to death.

‘Avatar: The Last Airbender’ wasn’t free from this cliche, neither was ’The Legend of Korra’. And now they’re written it in ‘VLD’ where they follow it paint by number. Not so much a creative angle to be seen anywhere. Be honest, were any of you really caught off guard when Rolo and Nyma stole the blue lion? Were any of you really at the edge of your seat when the Paladins gave chase to get it back? I certainly wasn’t, because I already knew the route they were taking as soon as Hunk had his doubts about Rolo and company. That’s how bad this cliche has gotten — it’s to the point where as soon as you see it you know it’s going to lead you to anything but surprising. Except for ‘Gravity Falls’.

What’s worse is that they threw away a golden opportunity for Lance to not get his lion back until later on in the season. Think about it, without all five lions, the Paladins can’t form Voltron. And without Voltron, the stakes would be much higher from then on as the Paladins would have only four lions to go up against hundreds of fleet ships, and perhaps a Robeast. But no, the blue lion gets stolen and retaken all in the same episode. Wasted opportunity, and a waste of an episode that could’ve been used to develop the characters. If it weren’t for the possibility of Rolo, Nyma and Breezer showing their faces again next season or so, you could literally skip this episode and wouldn’t miss anything crucial.

“Some Assembly Required” Again, stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Our band of heroes need to learn how to work as a team through a series of tests. Their instructor has a huge stick up their ass 24/7 through the ordeal, and almost all of our heroes fail miserably at every single test they’re given. Each test our heroes fail at results in their getting on each other’s nerves, leading to a lot of bickering, more failure, and more scolding from their instructor along the way. Yippee. They FINALLY pass one little test out of the many they failed at, their instructor cuts them some slack, and the heroes are now able to work together as a team from then on.

This cliche has reared its ugly head just about everywhere in any cartoon and TV show you can think of, and it keeps getting worse every single time I see it. It’s not that the Paladins have to learn how to work as a team that annoys me, it’s how they bicker, fight with each other and get scolded by Allura through the majority of the episode. Granted, they throw in a little humor into the mix to try and make this not such a miserable experience to watch — the key word being ‘try” — and once in a while Haggar would show up to create the Gladiator Robeast. But as painfully cliche and predictable ‘Taking Flight’ was, this episode was just painfully cliche, predictable and cringeworthy.

If they want the Paladins learning to work as a team, they should have them actually learn to work as a team! Have them bond with one another; understand one another; interact with one another; poke fun at one another; help out one another; be thankful for one another! But no, we can’t have that, because that would actually be fun and interesting. No, let’s instead have twenty minutes of unnecessary tension between the Paladins and Allura and have it all build up to a food fight. And then let’s have Coran spill a somewhat misogynistic line about how “A man can be driven to do almost anything if a beautiful women is just really, really mean to him.” Seriously, was I the only one not laughing at that?

“Princess Allura.” Before any of you scream bloody murder, I’m all for female characters that are smart and strong, especially princesses since they’ve been given a bad rap. One of my favorite female characters is Princess Leia from “Star Wars”, the first real female commando in film history. Much like Leia, Allura is a princess of a destroyed home planet and leads a team of rebels against an evil galactic empire. One of the major differences however is that Princess Leia didn’t have a nice helping of the “new powers as the plot demands it” trope to get things done or be in control. She didn’t need super strength, shapeshifting, or energy manipulation. All she needed was a blaster or two and her wits.

Plus, Princess Leia wasn’t a strong female character just for the sake of being a strong female character. No. She had a sense of humor; she warmed up to the men around her; she would celebrate; she would comfort; she would interact with friends and newcomers. She felt like an actual person. Princess Allura? She feels like a dull know-it-all by comparison, whose sole purpose is to spout exposition, give generic speeches, and put into action one of the many powers at her disposal. In short, she’s a cross between a plot device and a Mary Sue than an actual character. If you didn’t think of Allura as a Mary Sue, it becomes more apparent after reading the article down below.

http://thefederalist.com/2016/06/16/netflixs-voltron-reboot-the-best-modern-myth-makers-can-do/

Say what you will about Rey from ‘Force Awakens’ being a Mary Sue, but at least I actually felt something for the character and wanted to see more of her. For me, it’s the exact opposite with Allura. They focus too much on what they think makes a strong female character (i.e. lots of power and authority) that they forget to give her human qualities. The only time I really felt anything but apathy for Allura was when she had to say “Goodbye” to her father. Why? Because she was sad; she felt like a real person; and I could actually relate to her given the situation she was in. But that didn’t last long as she pulls another super power out of her ass in the next episode and we’re right back to square one.

A strong female character is welcoming, but making them all powerful is not the way to go. They have to be strong and interesting as an actual character first, otherwise there’s nothing to be emotionally invested in. Plus, not all strength comes from throwing robot guards like they were soft balls. Strength can also come from overcoming your flaws; your fears; your turmoils; personal struggles; and everyday troubles that keep getting in the way of what’s important to you. You can’t have good without evil, and you certainly can’t have strength without weakness. With the exception of that scene I mentioned with King Alfor, Princess Allura is nothing but strength, and ultimately that’s why she is a weak character.

“The Season Finale.” So now that I’ve established Princess Allura is not to my liking, you can imagine my disinterest in the season finale when the Paladins had to go and rescue her from Zarkon. Especially when Allura doesn’t even try to use her super strength to, oh, I don’t know, break out of her cell? Not so much a beating or kicking at the door, just sitting in a corner most of the time. Then there’s the whole song and dance where Coran gets on Shiro’s case for Allura’s capture, just to apologize a few minutes later, because drama. And of course Keith suggests they leave Allura in captivity, but I already know they’re going to rescue her regardless, so it’s just a time waster. Boy are we off to a great start.

Here’s a crazy idea. What if Shiro got captured instead of Allura? Sure, Shiro is borderline Gary Stu, but at least he has some PTSD shit going on for me to actually care about him. Plus, there would be a lot more at stake. Without Shiro to pilot the black lion, the Paladins can’t form Voltron. And without the one thing that can defeat Zarkon, the Paladins would be going on a suicide mission. Or better yet, have Keith pilot the black lion. We saw from the first trailer that they’re building him up for that in the next season. This could’ve been a golden opportunity to show his capabilities of doing so, giving Shiro all the more reason to say “Keith, if something happens to me, I want you to pilot the black lion.”

Would it have been a much better route? Maybe, may not, but chances are it would’ve been a lot less boring than what I was given. The whole time they had Voltron blowing up garrison fleet ships and Zarkon wailing on the red lion, I kept looking to see how much longer the episode was before I could watch something else, like Steven Universe or Gravity Falls. Either the stakes weren’t that high or I just wasn’t interested in ‘VLD’ anymore already, but when five mecha lions and a giant robot blowing shit up is as exciting to watch as a Michael Bay ‘Transformers’ sequel, something’s wrong. Really, the only intense moment in the entire finale was Shiro’s nightmare fuel of a fight with Hagar. Yikes.

And finally there’s the ending, or at least what they thought counts as an ending. Just as the finale actually starts to get interesting with the lions separating in the wormhole, it all cuts to black and the credits start rolling. Seriously? This is how they wanted to leave us hanging? Stopping right in the middle of something does not qualify as a good cliffhanger, or a season finale for that matter. It would’ve been better had they shown one of the Paladins all alone in parts unknown, wondering where everyone else was, and THEN they roll the credits. But no, this finale is pretty much holding me hostage to actually see that in the second season. A second season that, in all honesty, I won’t be watching anytime soon.

“Final Judgement.” I have to give them credit, ‘VLD’ has some of the best animation thus far in a western animated series; likable main characters; a fairly decent sense of humor; some intense action scenes; and I gotta give them extra points for throwing more ethnicity into the mix. But already the show is held back by muddled storytelling; generic villains; forgettable side characters; a boring princess; and an unsatisfying first season finale. I would’ve gone on to talk about the overuse of dialogue and the sloppy pacing, but I’ve already made my point loud and clear, and I’m sure all of you are wanting to decorate your bedroom walls with my blood and guts right about now.

I want to like this show, and I do. I like it enough to make a “VLD” AMV or two. It’s just not really doing anything for me. Granted, this is just the first season, but if I’m not engrossed in what was given to me, chances are I’m not going to be happy what comes next. Maybe the second season will fix some of the problems I’ve listed, maybe not. I still intend to watch the second season just to see where it all leads, I just won’t be in any rush to actually see it. If you still love this show after everything you’ve read, that’s fine by me. It means that you found a joy to “VLD” that I couldn’t, so don’t let my opinion tarnish that. You watch what you love, and I’ll watch what I love.

[sherristockman]

Jet Lag Hurts Both Mental and Physical Performance Dr. Mercola By Dr. Mercola Jet lag, also known as flight fatigue, time zone change syndrome or desynchronosis, occurs when travel across time zones disrupts your internal body clock, resulting in mental, emotional and physical symptoms such as:1,2 Daytime sleepiness and lethargy followed by nighttime insomnia Anxiety, irritability, confusion and poor concentration Constipation or diarrhea Headache, nausea, indigestion, dehydration and/or general malaise The mental effects are fairly well-established, but recent research suggests jet lag can have a significant effect on your physical performance as well — a finding of particular importance for athletes who travel to participate in games and races. Jet Lag Takes Toll on Physical Performance Looking at Major League Baseball data culled from more than 40,000 games over two decades, including the players' travel schedules, researchers found "subtle but detectable" effects when players traveled across one or two time zones for a game.3,4 As reported by Time Magazine:5 "For example, teams from eastern states who had just returned home from a game out west tended to have fewer stolen bases, doubles and triples, and were subject to more double plays, than those who hadn't traveled as recently … The effects are enough to erase a team's home-field advantage … The effects of west-to-east travel were stronger than those of east-to-west travel, supporting the argument that they are due to the body's circadian clock — not just time on an airplane or scheduling issues in general …" According to Dr. Ravi Allada, associate director of the Center for Sleep and Circadian Biology at Northwestern, the reason for this decline in physical performance is likely due to the fact that your muscle cells are tied in to your circadian clock. Hence, "it makes sense that one might see an impairment in muscle activity or muscle efficiency, as a result of this misalignment," he says. Helpful Tips to Minimize Jet Lag As a general rule, your body will adjust to the time zone change at a rate of one time zone per day. To prevent athletic deterioration due to jet lag, Allada suggests baseball teams may want to make sure their starting pitchers are on location a day or two earlier when cross-country travel is required. This would allow their internal body clocks to adjust to the local time zone, allowing them to perform at their best. Other athletes would be wise to follow the same advice — especially if you're traveling eastward, which tends to desynchronize your internal clock more severely than westward travel. If you cannot squeeze in an extra day or two, you could fake it by pretending you're in your destination time zone while still at home.6 This suggestion may be particularly helpful if you're traveling with young ones. It's hard to rest and recuperate when you have one or more bright-eyed and bushy-tailed children rearing to go at 4 a.m. once you reach your destination.7 To do this, simply wake up and go to bed according to the destination time rather than your local time. In the morning, be sure to expose yourself to bright full-spectrum light. If the sun is not yet up, use a clear incandescent light bulb along with a cool-blue spectrum LED to shut down melatonin production. As an example, if you were to travel from New York to Paris, start going to bed an hour earlier each day, three days ahead of your flight, and avoid bright light for two to three hours before going to bed. This may necessitate closing the blinds or shades, and turning off all lights and electronic screens. Avoid stimulants such as caffeine and nicotine. When you wake, be sure to get some bright sunlight exposure. If it's still dark out, use a light box or the artificial light combination mentioned above. Also be sure to shift your mealtimes accordingly. Wear your blue-blocking glasses on the plane if you are traveling at night and continue wearing them until you get to bed. The excess blue light without the balanced red and near-infrared will seriously impair your melatonin production. Once you get to your destination, it is best to get up close to sunrise and go outside and look in the direction of the sun. You can safely do this for about an hour after sunrise. This will help to reset your melatonin production. If weather and circumstances allow, it would be best to do this outdoors with your bare feet on the ground. Effects of Chronic Jet Lag Can Be Severe Other research has investigated the health effects of jet lag by focusing on airline professionals like pilots and flight attendants, who end up struggling with jet lag on a chronic, long-term basis.8 Here, population-based studies have found flight crews have higher rates of cancer than the general population, including melanoma and cancer of the breast and prostate. While cosmic radiation exposure is thought to be a factor that increases this risk, circadian rhythm disturbance also plays a significant role. Animal research has confirmed that chronically jet lagged mice indeed have higher rates of breast cancer than non-jet lagged controls. Chronic jet lag also appears to speed up cognitive decline — an effect associated with elevated cortisol levels. In one study, long-distance flight crews were found to have higher cortisol levels than ground crews, and flight crew members who had worked there the longest scored lower on memory tests compared to those with fewer years on the job. Inconsistent Sleeping Habits May Have Similar Effects It's worth noting that you don't necessarily have to go anywhere to experience the effects of jet lag. A very similar scenario is created if you stay up really late and sleep in on the weekend and then have to get up early on Monday morning. If you have something important going on that day, say an athletic competition, written test or a presentation, your performance may suffer. Ditto for those who work night shifts on a rotating basis. I reviewed the ill effects of working the night shift in November last year, and why you'd be wise to avoid working them if possible. If you have no other choice, then the following suggestions can help minimize the health risks: • When you get up at night, get some blue light exposure, as this will help wake you up. I suggest using a conventional clear incandescent bulb in combination with a bright cool white (blue-enriched) LED bulb. You need both, not one or the other, as the LED will give you the blue and the incandescent the balancing red and near infrared spectrum. Ideally, start with incandescent light immediately after getting up, thereby simulating sunrise. After half an hour or so, add the LED light, mimicking the sun´s ascent toward high noon. Using the LED light for 15 to 30 minutes will help you to establish your new circadian rhythm. Once you feel the photonic energy boost, you can stop the LED use, since too much will do more harm than good. (Bluish LED light generates excessive amounts of free radicals if not adequately balanced by red and near infrared light.) • After this, avoid further exposure to blue light. This means using only incandescent bulbs at home and at work. Alternatively, wear blue-blocking glasses to avoid any additional exposure to LED or fluorescent bulbs. These strategies are better than nothing, but please be aware that by working nights, you are depriving yourself of natural sunlight, which is a really crucial component for health. The sun's rays not only are the catalyst that allows your skin to produce vitamin D, but sunlight also plays a role in mitochondrial health, biological energy production, and is really important for healthy vision. What About Using Melatonin? Your master biological clock resides in the suprachiasmatic nucleus of your brain (SCN), which is part of your hypothalamus. Based on signals of light and darkness, your SCN tells your pineal gland when it's time to secrete melatonin and when to turn it off. Melatonin is often recommended when traveling across time zones to help reset your internal clock. According to a government survey, 3.1 million Americans report using melatonin supplements for jet lag and insomnia. However, it's important to realize what you're really doing here. More than being a simple "sleep hormone," melatonin is a biological marker for darkness. Routinely exposing yourself to bright lights and simply taking melatonin is inadvisable. As reported by The Guardian:9 "Researchers at MIT, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, who originally patented synthetic melatonin as a sleeping aid in 1995, reported the ideal dose to be between 0.3 mg and 1 mg, and argued that prolonged use of larger doses could change how the body responds to the hormone, potentially undermining sleep." That said, if you're traveling or rotating on and off the night shift, it can definitely be useful for helping you realign your internal clock.10 According to a 2002 Cochrane Database review,11 people who traveled across five or more time zones who took melatonin close to bedtime at their destination experienced less severe jet lag symptoms compared to placebo. The greatest benefits were reported by those traveling eastward, those crossing the greatest number of time zones, and those taking doses closer to 5 mg (which is FAR more than typically recommended). Epileptics and those taking warfarin (a blood thinner) need to beware they're at increased risk for harmful side effects when taking a melatonin supplement. Ancient Trick to Eliminate Jet Lag In the short video above, originally taped in 2009, cardiologist Dr. Lee Cowden explains a simple technique that can help minimize jet lag. Here's a summary of the steps: 1. The day of your trip, set your clock to match the local time at your destination (depending on the time of your flight, you may have to do this a day ahead) 2. At 11 a.m. (the local time at your destination), stroke your heart meridian three times on the left and three times on the right. Your heart meridian begins just to the outer side of your nipple, up through your armpit and down the ulnar aspect (inner side) of your arm, down the outside of your pinky. Once you reach the end of your pinky, gently press into the base of the fingernail (heart point in Traditional Chinese Medicine). For a demonstration, please see the video above 3. At noon, repeat the heart meridian strokes Before and after boarding the plane, take a high-quality, broad-spectrum antioxidant. Astaxanthin may be an ideal choice, as it also helps shield against cosmic radiation exposure, provided you've been taking it for at least three days ahead of time. Once you reach your destination, take a fast-acting sublingual melatonin along with a slow-release oral melatonin around 10 p.m. (or just before bedtime if you go to bed earlier). Keep in mind that only a very small dose is required — typically 0.25 mg or 0.5 mg to start with, and you can adjust it up from there. Taking higher doses, such as 3 mg, can sometimes make you more wakeful instead of sleepier, so adjust your dose carefully. Also be sure to stay well-hydrated, whether you're flying or driving to your destination. Your brain controls sleep and it functions best when fully hydrated. Optimal Health Depends on Optimal Sleep Remember, when your circadian rhythm is disrupted, your body produces less melatonin, which means it has less ability to fight cancer, and less protection against free radicals that may accelerate aging and disease. Suffering from jet lag due to occasional travel is not going to have any significant long-term effects, but can certainly deteriorate your mental and physical functioning over the following day or two. If you're expected to perform at your best — either mentally or physically — it would be wise to take steps to re-synchronize your body clock to the local time at your destination, either by giving yourself a couple of extra days to reacclimatize, or by altering your wake-sleep schedule while still at home. Using melatonin and strategies such as the heart meridian stroke demonstrated above can also be helpful. If you're chronically jet lagged, either from shift work or frequent travel across time zones, you can minimize the health risks by working with artificially-created light and dark exposure — bright light when you're supposed to be awake, and darkness when you're supposed to be asleep.