#and the alphas and minuses...

[undermine-the-instinct]

Can you believe I'm in my early twenties and I'm only just now reading "A Brave New World"?

[onlycosmere]

Comatose: Kind of a similar question about the Midnight Essence, now that we have seen that crop up in Tress as well as in Stormlight Archive. Is something similar happening with the Midnight Essence? We have also the Nightmares, in Yumi, that appear similar, they're also mimicking things.

Brandon Sanderson: So, there's a couple of things getting interwoven here. The actual idea of Midnight Essence is a concept like lightweaving that predates the Shattering of Adonalsium, that various magic systems are basically "borrowing" a law of the cosmere and creating a parallel effect from the same basis, if that makes any sense.

Yumi is a little distinct from that. It's feeling similar; I would not call it true Midnight Essence. It's an awful lot more like a lightweaving that has - because lightweavings can have mass to them, because investiture can have mass to it - so you're looking a little bit more like... imagine a bunch of stormlight becoming tangible, you can touch it, because of a powerful lightweaving or something like that.

Of course, these things all bleed together because I'm using the same fundamental principles to make them. But, for me, Midnight Essence has this personality that comes prefixed. What the Midnight Mother is making, what you're seeing in the Midnight Sea and things like this, you're gonna get some similar personalities to these things, and not necessarily the same with the Nightmares.

Comatose: So it's more of a autonomous-- a lightweaving that's become autonomous and has kind of broken down a bit?

Brandon Sanderson: Yeah...  the problem is it's also got the Cognitive Shadow, right? It's a really invested cognitive shadow that is borrowing this investiture to interact with the world. Because these are their shadows; these are their cognitive shadows, all of these people's cognitive shadows. But the power is not themselves.

Remember, a Cognitive Shadow is a little bit like a fossil, like Vasher describes it. You've got this pattern there, and then the power kind of makes it manifest and be able to interact, and things like that. And, when that personality asserts itself with that power in the right place, you end up with a person that is the shadow running it. But at the same time, you've got this mass of power and energy that the machine is kind of controlling, which pulls back and overrides the personality sometimes. You've got a very weird set of circumstances going on here.

But it was very fun to figure out all the backstory and the behind on it, and get it all working. This one was a little complex, to get these things all working behind the scenes. I like how they turned out. Yumi, if you dig into it, it has both pluses and minuses.

The minuses is - from the beta readers and the alpha readers - the ending for non-arcanists was really overwhelming, which is why we have those Hoid scenes where he's like, "Okay, let me explain." It seems pretty obvious, I would expect that this is, like, "Alright, Brandon needs to do better explanations, Hoid's just gonna do it." But, because of all the work I did behind the scenes on Yumi, Yumi matches kind of cosmerological magic system stuff in ways that a lot of the side projects that I do just don't.

Yumi is very deeply intertwined and following all of these processes in a way that works really well for me. But it also gets you into where you start to need a master's degree in the cosmere to figure it all out, which is why to make it easier, we have Hoid just spell it out for people. It is a little clunky; I prefer the clunkiness to the previous version where you needed a master's degree in the cosmere to understand even what was going on.

[wildtige429]

Human Alternates of the Autobots and Decepticons

For @julayla and @neogirlart so you guys can add in your ideas.

So, I have been brainstorming on what Team Arcadia, the human version of Team Prime and the Arcadians will be like. Arcadia is a fantasy land in the human verse where the elf Kinjiru and her family and the elven Commission live. As for where the human verse Decepticons, they live in a very dark continent where demons of Ars Goetia and such dwelled, seeking to claim Arcadia as their own land called Nidhogg.

Human Verse Autobots:

Optimus Prime - Aron (He's a male descendant of the Amazons whose magic amulet turns him into a manticore. Has dragonkin blood)

Ratchet - Rustlen (A tanuki and his amulet helps hide his animal form)

Bumblebee - Beckett (A plains elf whose animal form is a jackalope and has lightning magic)

Bulkhead - Trayne (A minotaur. He avoids beef, cause he feels that its considered cannibalism since a minotaur is part bull)

Prowl - Kitsu (He's a kitsune ninja whose an expert in illusions and controls black fox fire. He can transform at will)

Jazz - Tenko (An arctic fox-type kitsune ninja who controls snow and ice)

Sentinel Prime - Cyrrus (A male descendant of the Amazons and his magic turns him into a tigon)

Ultra Magnus - Leonidas (King of Arcadia, leader of the Elite Knights and friend of Elf Kougato. He has the power of lightning and transforms into a Nemean lion)

Rodimus Prime - Akira (Male descendant of the Amazons, Aron's half-brother whom they share the same dragonkin mother, and animal form is a tiger)

Hotshot - Rammot (Fire elf whose animal form is a fire lizard)

Kup - Copper (A retired war veteran who still stays around to teach cadets and the members of the Elite Knights. He's a mountain elf whose animal form is a mountain goat)

Brawn - Knuckle (A dwarf with Herculean strength. His amulet changes him into a splinter cat, a pangolin-bobcat hybrid beast with a superthick skull capable of powerful headbutts)

Ironhide - Nero (A descendant of the Nemean lion and has the ability to turn his body into indestructible diamonds)

Red Alert - Nikke (A savannah elf, was mentored by Rustlen, and her animal form is a gazelle)

Jetfire and Jetstorm - Orobas and Eligos (Human Phango's mentees who look up to him as their father figure, raised in Arcadia as fellow Arcadians as well as the first demon Elite Knights, and they can fuse together to become Gamigin, a giant winged anthro unicorn with two horns and wings who controls both wind and fire. Orobas' true form is an anthro demon stallion with flames for a mane and tail and Eligos' true form is an anthro unicorn stallion with two horns and glowing blue wings)

Alpha Trion - Merlin (The one and only Merlin himself. His animal form is a majestic kirin)

Perceptor - Percival (A robot-like golem made of metal but is extremely intelligent despite his robotically monotonous character)

Blurr - Hermes (A storm elf birn with lightning speed and runs as fast as The Flash. His animal form is a cheetah with spots shaped like pluses and minuses and a lightning bolt-shaped tail)

Wreck-Gar - Rumpel (He's a troll who was an old elementary school drawing but was splashed by the waters of the Holy Grail, a very friendly but nit-witted troll who enjoys eating trash which helps the environment)

Grimlock - Sword (Leader of the Dino-Men, cavemen frozen and preserved in ice until they were freed into the modern world. Posesses a pyronite (lava magicked gems only found in prehistoric time) sword and has a pet T-Rex named Grimey)

Swoop - Flail (The smartest yet quiet member of the Dino-Men, wields a pyronite flail and has a pet pterodactyl named Flappy)

Snarl - Club (The strongest yet slowest but good-hearted member of the Dino-Men, wields a pyrobite club and has a pet triceratops named Growly)

Cliffjumper - Clifford (An iron elf whose animal form is a big-horned ox)

Omega Supreme - Zhu Long (A ginormous gold and red Chinese dragon who helped the Elite Knights and the kingdom of Arcadia to defeat Marbas and his army of demons, banishing them to the dark reaches of Nidhogg as well as sealing them away with his own breath. After the war, he transforms into his human form which is a huge dark-skinned man wearing Chinese robes and he only turns into his true form to help carry Team Aron on his back when they want to fly somewhere far and to aid them combating large evil forces)

Arcee - Himari (A light elf who suffered amnesia when she and Rustlen were captured by Sitri during the war. Now recovered, she works as a teacher to teach humans how to use magic now that both fantasy and human worlds are one. Her animal form is a mink)

Human Verse Decepticons:

Megatron - Marbas (His true form is a demonic lion-dragon-lizard hybrid)

Starscream - Astaroth (True form is a winged wolf-eagle humanoid hybrid)

Skywarp - Seir, Astaroth's cowardly brother

Thundercracker - Vassago, Astaroth's arrogant brother

Sunstorm - Vual, Astaroth's over-flattering brother

Ramjet - Valac, Astaroth's pathologically lying brother

Slipstream - Gremory, Astaroth's bitchy sister

Acidstorm - Sabnock, Astaroth's bloodthirsty brother

Novastorm - Flauros, Astaroth's seductive brother

Dirge - Phenex, Astaroth's greedy brother

Thrust - Raum, Astaroth's greedy brother

Lugnut - Dantalion (True form is a six-horned demon minotaur)

Blitzwing - Naberius, Aamon and Marchosias (True forms are demonic werewolves that can fuse together to become a three-headed demon wolfman with four arms and massive wings)

Blackarachnia - Vapula (Was an Amazon woman named Artime but was corrupted by dark magic in when she, Aron and Cyrrus ventured to Tartaros, a very dark land only inhabited by monsters and spirits corrupted by dark magic. Her demon form is a massive lioness with eight eyes with the first two above her original eyes and the second and third pairs on either sides of her torso, four massive spider legs on her back and massive insect-like fangs containing paralytic venom. Her spider legs can fuse together to become insectoid wings when she wants to fly.)

Shockwave - Paimon (True form is a pale humanoid demon with horns taking the top half of his head with the eyes on his palms and wings. His elf form is called Pollux)

Swindle - Mephistopheles (MP for short; true form is a yellow and purple anthro cobra with a fox's face and tail)

Lockdown - Sitri (True form is a winged leopard with horns, claws and tail of a dragon and breathes black smoke that causes blindness, paralysis and causes the victim to fall asleep)

Spittor - Baal (True form is a giant demon toad with an insatiable appetite and three tongues)

Strika - Purson (True form is a bear-lion hybrid beast with a viper for a tail)

Cyclonus - Focalor (True form is an anthro tiger with eagle claws for hands, crocodilian tail, ram horns and feet like a velociraptor's)

Oil Slick - Crocell (True form is a black-winged angel wearing bone and skull trinkets, a leopard skin kilt and has a head of a hyena and a tail and fangs of a snake)

Blackout - Furfur (True form is a demonic anthro stag with metallic horns, dragon-like claws and wings and feet like an elephant's)

Scrapper - Agares (Was a normal construction worker named Igor until he, Sal and Zippo, their mean boss, accidentally drank from the Holy Grail (Human world version of the AllSpark) and turned them into demons. His true form is an muscular anthro crocodile with large boar-like tusks)

Mixmaster - Saleos (Was formerly Sal until the Holy Grail turned him into Saleos. His true form is a big bellied anthro alligator who can project cement-like vomit that quickly hardens to trap opponents)

Dirtboss - Zepar (was formerly Zippo until the Holy Grail turned him into Zepar. His true form is an anthro caiman in red armor and has a spiky tail that shoots quills. When the quills hit someone, they become his puppets)

Soundwave - Tsugumomo (A radio tsukumogami that bears a hatred to humans for how they treat their items and tsukumogami familiars and wishes to liberate all tsukumogamis to rule over them.)

[queenofcandynsoda]

Language(s) in Sol Fertilis

Language(s) in Sol Fertilis

Sol Fertilis has a multitude of languages on its soil due to its unique position in the Mediterranean Sea and history. To start with the basics, the majority of the population can speak Latin, though the type varies by their rank and not their primary language. These can be used for religious purposes, political speech, scientific research, jargon, and slang. 

Alphas and certain Omegas are fluent in Old Latin, Classical Latin, Late Latin, Neo-Latin, Contemporary Latin, and Simple Latin (more on that soon). Delta Pluses, Gamma Pluses, and most Omegas do not speak Old Latin as Delta Minuses and Beta Pluses only use Late Latin, Neo-Latin, Contemporary Latin, and Simple Latin. Beta Neutrals, Beta Minuses, and Gamma Minuses primarily use Contemporary Latin and Simple Latin with a heavy emphasis on the latter. 

As their primary languages, they speak Germanic languages, such as English, German, Danish, and Swedish, Romance languages, such as Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian, and Catalan, Hellenic languages, such as Greek, and Semitic languages, such as Arabic and Hebrew. Not every Sol Fertilian would speak the same set of languages as citizens would speak an average of five, plus their Latin variants, and that depends on which country they’re from. For example, someone from Messenia County would speak English, Spanish, German, Hebrew, and Catalan, along with their rank-appropriate Latin variants. In contrast, someone from Arcadia County would speak English, French, Italian, Greek, and Swedish. 

Simple Latin, also known as Latina Simplex, is a controlled natural language that was developed by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Academia, and the Ministry of Information. It is a variation of Latin that is designed to bring Latin words into “modern life” and to be mixed with other languages, particularly English. As it is a controlled language, Simple Latin is used to limit anti-Progressive Natalist Party and anti-Sol Fertilian thought. Similar to the ZanLang (more on that later), it is used to maintain orthodoxy and brings in syllabic abbreviation portmanteau words. However, it differs from it as Simple Latin brings in more complex words and abstract concepts (in comparison). Every two years, the Ministry of Academia would release the Latina Simplex Glossarium of Sol Fertilis. Each edition would become bigger than the last as more words are added. 

Examples:

Renocogitatio: (noun) Combining “reno-” (restructure) and “cogitatio” (thinking), signifying the process of restructuring one’s thoughts and beliefs to align with the ideology of the Progressive Natalist Party and Sol Fertilian Natalism.

Extraneus: (adjective) Derived from "extra" (outside) and "neus" (rank), signifying actions, thoughts, or behaviors that fall outside the conformity of one's rank.

Gratulari: (verb) Derived from the Latin word “gratulari,” meaning to congratulate or express joy for someone’s success or achievement.

[mood2you]

Lestat

Lestat : I'm in the Amazon River right now and I can't swim. I'm getting slowly eaten by piranas. Death would be a sweet release for me. With me is my colleague Nicki, a disembodied head.

Nicki : (noticable pause) Look. Pluses and minuses I think. I have to say. The pace of the eating is getting slower with how much less of me there is, they're, like, nibbling.

Lestat : Also with me is ex husband of the show, Armand, who is completely untouched. You're a fish scientist, so tell us, scientifically, with no factual mistakes that would make listeners write into us, how you managed this.

Armand : Direct eye contact, a solumn nod, and a bit of respect.

Nicki : Oh well I'm not good at that eye contact stuff, so that wouldn't have helped me.

Lestat : Are you like the alpha of the piranas?

Armand : Yeah I'm telling them that things are gonna be changing around here.

Lestat : The pirana boss

[christinaroseandrews]

This is one of those reviews where I need to give trigger/content warnings before I get started -- and to head things off at the pass, No Tumblr, those are not female presenting nipples -- I swear I fully expect this post to be flagged... all of the shirtless dude covers are.

Anyway...

Actual content warnings for the book because the author doesn’t have them, and I was bloody lucky not to get triggered myself. Oh, and spoilers, because let’s get that out of the way too:

Triggers: Past rape (Male on Female), Gaslighting, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse

Okay... everyone good?

At yet another Harvard/Ivy League facsimile of a school, Hannah’s living her life the best she can. As a former rape victim, it’s hard. It’s especially hard when your crush is a super popular football player who doesn’t even know she exists. She thinks she might have finally worked up the courage to smile at him when life throws a curveball in the shape of the captain of the hockey team and fellow classmate, Garrett.

Garrett needs Hannah’s help. She’s the only person he knows who’s passed a required class and he needs to maintain a full-time load and a certain GPA to play on the team. He needs a tutor, and Hannah is it.

When she blows him off, Garrett isn’t willing to let it go. He needs her help and he’s willing to go to any lengths, even pretending to be her fake boyfriend so that her crush notices her if that’s what it takes.

Lack of content warnings aside, I really liked this book. I know shocking, right?  Me enjoy a book... scandalous.

Hannah and Garrett both had really strong character voices. They had distinct ways of speaking. I could picture them easily in my head.

Hannah is a rape victim who has not really connected with anybody in a sexual way, which is incredibly common. She’s out there in the world, but it’s a little harder for her It’s nice to see it addressed in a story but not put down on. I even liked that her previous boyfriend wasn’t a complete dick, but that it just didn’t work. Which is sort of spoiler but also kind of not, it’s a refreshing change that I love seeing. I also appreciated that sexual intimacy took time with her. She wanted it. But it took extra effort. She’s also kind of adorable with her crush on the football player contrasting with her “exasperated to lovers” relationship with Garrett.

Garrett starts off as a bit of a pushy Alpha, used to getting his own way and always sleeping around. It’s who he is. He’s got limits, consent is a biggie, and he himself tends to keep the partying to a minimum. One thing I liked in this book was that his sleeping around wasn’t presented in a negative way it’s simply is who he was. It was a very sex positive book that didn’t shame people who had sex and didn’t put down people who didn’t have sex.  Both choices were considered valid, which is honestly the truth. As the story progresses Garrett started becoming deeper and deeper of a character. I don’t want to give away too much, but let’s just say those warnings in the beginning aren’t just for Hannah.

The sex was well written, and I was really pleasantly surprised to see how much consent was going on. Seriously, lots and lots of consent. Lots of checking in. Lots of setting boundaries. Even better, the guy was the one saying no equally with the girl as well as setting his own boundaries. And sexually, both the guy in the girl respect each other‘s boundaries. That matters. Consent matters.

This book isn’t perfect.

The premise of Garrett having to keep his GPA up doesn’t work with the grades he is pulling in other classes.  (He needs a C+ average and assuming he is like other student athletes he has to be a full time student that means he needs 12 credit hours (I worked in higher ed). He’s got a minimum of 2 A’s, 1 C-minus, and an F. That gives him a 2.425 which is... dun-dun-dun... a C+ (As are 4.0, Bs are 3.0, Cs are 2.0, and Ds are 1.0 the Minuses are variations on .7s eg. 3.7 is an A- while the pluses are variations on the .3s eg a C+ is a 2.3.) So yeah, writers can’t do math.

I also wasn’t the biggest fan of Garrett pushing Hannah so hard to be his tutor. It bugged me.

But both of those things weren’t enough to bring it down a star.

And because I really enjoyed the book. Because I really loved how sex positive this was. I can cheerfully give it

Five Stars

You can get the book for FREE on most major retailers. 

If you like these kinds of reviews, you can get us a Ko-fi here.

[transformersaesthetics]

Gender in G1

Hey gang!  This article will be the first in a series going through the history of female transformers. We’ll be talking about character designs, relevance to the plot, and toys to analyze the role of female characters and figures in our beloved franchise. We will first observe traits, and then conduct analysis. I’m going to start with Generation One and work our way through the history of the brand. 

    There’s been a trend, starting in the 2001 Botcon fiction with the Beast Wars basic figure Sonar, of retconning toy only characters that were not explicitly established to be men as women, especially through Ask Vector Prime and more obscure fiction like the comics.(Crockalley) While this reflects an admirable desire to increase representation, it says more about our values today than it does about the history of the brand and the development of female characters, while still being an important part of that story. As we shall see, the existence of the conventions and exclusive toys complicates things a great deal. For example, technically, the first female decepticon is Nightracer, a Botcon 1994 exclusive go-bot, but most people never had the opportunity to purchase that toy, or have even heard of the character.(Elita2)   This does create, retrospectively, some ambiguity about who exactly gets to claim the title of first female transformer to have a toy, and other things of that nature. I started writing this essay with the intention of examining prominent female transformers, with the idea that, while people do indeed read the old 3H comics and scour Ask Vector Prime, the bulk of exposure most people, and operatively most children, have is to the primary fiction, and to the characters thrust into the spotlight by the good folks at Hasbro. 

So, without further ado, let’s jump right in with Generation 1! 

    While Arcee is the character who most immediately springs to mind when we examine female transformers in the Generation 1 fiction, there are in fact several others of note, and interestingly, several who appear first. The very first female transformers we meet are in the episode the Search for Alpha Trion.(ChrisMcFeely) We’re introduced to five whole female characters. The first one on screen, making her the first female transformer to appear anywhere, is Chromia.(Derik, Chromia) One of the first things we hear about them is that Shockwave thought they were extinct, and… There’s a lot to unpack there, and instead of doing that, I’m going to say “80’s cartoon sensitivity to issues of gender” and leave it at that.(ChrisMcFeely) These characters form a guerrilla unit of soldiers who have been harassing Shockwave as he tries to run Cybertron.(ChrisMcFeely) The character models are reasonably homogenous. The color palette used for them consists of traditionally female colors, such as pink, light blue, and lime green.(ChrisMcFeely) Rather than the blocky build exhibited by most of the G1 cast, they are slim and curvy.(ChrisMcFeely) Also unlike the rest of the cast, they wear lipstick and have sizible busts.(ChrisMcFeely) This really sets the tone for the majority of female characters going forwards. While the men exhibit a variety of body types and different degrees of blockiness, the women are almost invariably voluptuous and slender, and frequently rather busty.

 As far as the plot goes, there’s a bevy of pluses and minuses. In the opening scenes of the episode, the female autobots are shown operating independently.(ChrisMcFeely) However, Elita-1 is quickly captured and Optimus Prime races to her rescue. Later on, she saves him, but at the cost of her own well being, which forces Optimus to once again rescue her.(ChisMcFeely) Every named female autobot (Chromia, Moonracer and Elita-1) is romantically involved with a male autobot.(ChrisMcFeely)  A couple of the female autobots, Greenlight and Lancer, didn’t actually receive names for 25 years.(ItsWalky, Greenlight; Lancer) In the larger context of the G1 cartoon, these characters have essentially no impact. This is the only episode most of them appear in, with the sole exception of Elita-1, who would go on to appear in the episode War Dawn.(Omnisvalidus)

As far as toys go, Chromia didn’t receive a general retail toy until 2014.(Derik, Chromia) Elita 1 and Moonracer didn’t get general retail toys until 2018, although all of them did get a convention or Timelines toy in 2005-6 or so.(Vanguard; Derik, Moonracer) The most revealing thing about these paragraphs is that is more or less literally all there is to say. Elita-1 got a model kit in the 90s, but only in Japan, Chromia shows up in some BotCon comics… And that’s all.(Vanguard; Derik, Chromia)

    Then, in 1986, the transformers movie came out, and we got Arcee, the first really prominent female transformer.(S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47) She’s pink, she wears lipstick, and she’s got curves and a chest, planting her squarely in the traditional female aesthetic. Like Elita-1, she got a couple of model kits in the 90’s, but her history of receiving toys is famously abysmal. There were no fewer than 3 separate G1 toys of her that were canceled.(S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47) She finally got a toy in 2006, a convention exclusive redeco of Transmetal 2 Blackarachnia, but she only got a toy that actually turned into a car in 2008, again as a retool and only in Japan.(S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47) She only received a toy based on her character model in 2014, almost 30 years after her introduction.(S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47)

 We encounter here for the first time a pattern that will haunt us for the rest of our survey. Female transformers characters tend to not receive toys. In my personal collection, I have exactly 3, two of which are minicons. In my collection of approximately 200 figures, 3 of them are women, and only 1 is a deluxe. 

Arcee’s record of fictional appearances is not much stronger. In the ‘86 movie, Arcee basically hangs out and does vague crush things on Hot Rod or Springer, depending on who wrote the scene.(S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47) She also takes care of Daniel, and that’s pretty much it, not only for the movie but for the rest of her cartoon appearances.(S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47) I’m not sure she ever got an episode focusing on her, if she ever once drove the plot, or did anything much really other than hang out with Daniel, god rest her soul. 

    That’s actually not the bottom of the barrel yet. There are two other female characters of note in G1, both from the Japanese Super God Masterforce cartoon. The Masterforce characters were not actually transformers themselves, by and large, but human pilots of Transtectors, giant robot bodies that allowed Takara to sell headmasters and powermasters, figures where the head formed a separate little robot, represented in fiction by the human.(Singularity) Accordingly, the characters discussed here might not exactly count as Autobots or Decepticons, but, since they were main characters in a main show, they still form an important part of the history of women in transformers.  Minerva is part of the core cast of Autobots, and serves as a medic.(Derik, Minerva) The other is one of the primary antagonists, Mega, the… owner? Pilot? Of one half of Overlord. (Derik, Mega) 

Minerva is actually the first female character to receive a toy, in 1988, four years after the launch of the franchise.(Derik, Minerva) Minerva’s toy shares a mold with Nightbeat, and unfortunately we don’t have any information about who the mold was designed for “first”, as it were, so we’re going to have to wait a while for the first toy designed from the beginning to be a female character. Minerva’s toy is remarkable because it lacks many of the hallmarks of female toys released even today. It’s as blocky as any other Autobot car, doesn’t have high heels or a sculpted busom, etc.(Derik, Minerva) The proportions are also rather generic, rather than featuring the slender and voluptuous build that will haunt our survey. Minerva turns into an ambulance (Nightbeat’s Porsche mode with a lightbar), befitting her status as a medic. 

Mega’s toy is also very interesting. She controls one half of the rather generically proportioned Overlord transtector , which turns into a jet and a tank, two decidedly male coded vehicles. (Derik, Mega) Overlord is also absolutely bristling with guns, which is also not a traditional quality of female characters.(Derki, Mega) Indeed, Mega actually presents an intriguing dichotomy. While she herself is robustly and obviously female, Overlord is simply a robot, and in every subsequent depiction is male. 

In terms of character model, Minerva is quite interesting. One would expect that the model would be very similar to that of Nightbeat, and indeed to some extent it is. (Nightbeat never actually appears in the G1 cartoon, so he only has a character model for the comics and some commercial appearances.)(ItsWalky, Nightbeat) It features the same helmet, and hallmarks such as the chest and general kibble. However, some important liberties have been taken. Her color palette is not Nightbeat’s blues and yellows, but rather, white, pink and red, a decidedly more feminine set of colors.(Derik, Minerva) While not nearly as curvy as the original female Autobots, her proportions have been altered so that she fits a more traditionally feminine body shape.(Derik, Minvera)  Rather than the idealized Dorito of masculinity, Minerva's robot mode had relatively slender shoulders and waist, and relatively broad hips and large thighs, all hallmarks of traditional female body imagery.(Derik, Minerva) Minerva actually doesn't have breast analogues, largely because of the Nightbeat mold's aggressively flat chest.(Derik, Minerva)  

Minerva walks a fascinating line of being female while still clearly being a giant robot, and not a person covered in metal as with earlier G1 women. This represents a really interesting way of presenting female characters visually. They can have traditionally feminine characteristics without being consumed by them. Unfortunately, that's not something we really see too much more of in the brand, at least not for quite some time. In terms of her human character model, Minerva's got a suit, and her proportions aren't too disgusting, particularly for anime.(Derik, Minerva) It looks like she gets sexualized some of the time, but who doesn’t in anime (which is a can of worms quite outside of the scope of this article.) 

Mega is also an intriguing blend of different ideas. Her human character model wears a skin tight witch princess outfit, and is very traditionally feminine in terms of proportions, accessories etc.(Derik, Mega) The robot that she shares control of is a massive, male robot with guns poking out of every possible surface.(Derik, Mega)  Without consciously trying to make a statement about women and gender, the Masterforce team created a blend of signals of masculinity and femininity that, while not necessarily forward thinking, is at the very least a departure from the homogeneity of traditional portrayals. 

Minerva's character is quite a bit more disappointing, with the caveat that I have not personally seen Masterforce. All of the male characters run around trying to gain her favor, which she bestows occasionally etc etc.(Derik, Minerva) She is a pacifist, and this keeps her confined to the sidelines of battle, treating the injured. Her pacifism appears to be presented largely as her not having the stomach to do what needs to be done because of her womanliness and desire to protect everyone.(Derik, Minerva) Apparently she has also been given a very “traditional” upbringing, learning all sorts of feminine skills like dancing, music, and cooking.(Derik, Minerva) 

Mega, in addition to being eeeeeevil, also appears to feel very maternal towards the younger Decepticon cast, to the point that it hampers her fighting. (Derik, Mega) The evil aspect of Mega’s personality is actually really remarkable. There is a surprising dearth of female Decepticons, much less ones who serve in important leadership positions. Indeed, Mega is one of three or so evil aligned females to have a position of command, the other two being RID 2015 Glowstrike and Beast Machines Strika, and one of a bare handful of female Decepticons more broadly.(Abates; ItsWalky, Strika) 

    The character models, absence of toys, and almost non-existence in terms of plot weight all conspire to sideline the very earliest female transformers. For the first two seasons of the cartoon, female transformers appear in two episodes. After the movie, there is a single female character who, while frequently present, doesn’t really contribute anything. Moreover, she is placed in the traditionally female roles of maternal style care of a child and being a love interest to several male characters over the course of her appearances. Being female is the personality of these characters. They do not have any other defining trait or motivations. While eventually other female characters become present, and do have motivations and characters outside of being women, there are only two of them, and they exist only in Japan. Mega and Minerva do have intriguing character models and toys, but in terms of their fictional portrayals, they still are largely confined to the traditional role of women, either the sidelines of battle or care based roles. 

 The fact that not a single one of these characters received a general retail toy until 2014 also serves to minimize their presence. People remember characters in no small part based on the toys they had in childhood. The absence of toys eliminates the opportunity for this to occur for any female character, creating the possibility that people won’t even remember that they existed. Fortunately, the Masterforce does break this trend for the first time, giving us toys of not one but two female characters. Unfortunately, Minerva has yet to receive another full sized toy, and Overlord has since become a separate character, sharply limiting the influence of Minerva and Mega in the brand at large. 

The character models also directly contribute to this marginalization. They evoke some of the purest signals of womanhood, such as lipstick and breasts. Minerva and Mega buck this trend in some respects, but in others, especially in their human forms, they contribute to it. The models are also remarkably slight, which contrasts sharply with the warlike bulk of characters like Optimus Prime and Megatron. This contrast creates the impression that the female autobots are less capable than their male counterparts, even though they are depicted in combat situations. Their bodies are drawn to be aesthetically pleasing, whereas those of characters such as Grimlock are unequivocally designed for function. 

 Of course, these narratives of comparative weakness and strength tap into larger societal narratives. The G1 cartoon would not be able to communicate these things so readily if slight and curvaceous builds were not already associated in the larger culture with femininity and a lack of capability. Indeed, what the Generation 1 cartoon does with respect to women is to evoke the most essentialized and distilled version of womanhood -buxom, romantic partner, mother- and then unquestioningly transmit it and it alone, not out of malignant sexism (for example, the writers were not seeking to communicate that a woman’s place was in the kitchen as part of an ideological agenda) but because it simply was not the focus of the work, being targeted to young boys as it was. They needed female characters without exerting a huge amount of effort, and pulling the societal narrative from the ether was the simplest solution. 

    This is the core dynamic of gender in Transformers. We live in a world where there are gendered toys and concepts. It makes sense for Hasbro, Takara Tomy, and the supporting fiction to cater to those invested interests. People don’t buy things for their children that challenge their values. Interestingly, it is not that people actively seek to buy things that serve their values. Rather, they buy things that they can understand, things which make sense to them. Hasbro selling toys that are vehicles, robots, and war related, all things that are strongly male coded, makes intuitive sense to purchasers on a level below conscious understanding. It plays well with the societal narratives in which they live, and to a large extent have constructed their identities upon. Young boys will want car toys and robot toys, legitimately and from their own desires, because they have absorbed what society tells them it means to be men into themselves. For all of these reasons, Hasbro will always default to conservatism to turn a profit, and that means not trying to sell female coded things to boys, (creating a dearth of female characters), or trying to sell male coded things to girls, (creating a lack of representation that would appeal to a potential female audience.) 

However, all is not doom and gloom. As we will see in further installments of this series, Hasbro has been making an active effort to increase representation in recent years, especially since 2014. Moreover, since G1 is the source material from which much subsequent fiction draws, when people in more obscure settings, such as convention exclusive comics, do reach for female characters, they tend to reach for one of the female autobots established in The Search for Alpha Trion. Accordingly, in subsequent years, many versions of Chromia, Moonracer, Elita-1 and Arcee have appeared in various media. Arcee and Chromia in particular have had many incarnations. The Michael Bay films, Transformers Animated, Transformers Prime, and the IDW comics all feature their own iterations of Arcee, and the comics and the films feature Chromia. So, in some senses, the presence of female autobots in G1 gave writers a framework to build on in the future, even if the characters were not impactful at the moment of their inception. 

    The presence of female transformers in G1 is more or less exactly what you would expect from an 80’s cartoon. The women are voluptuous, irrelevant, and confined to romantic and maternal roles. Although there are some characters who do occupy an interesting space in terms of gender, namely Mega, and there are some that are not as overtly female in terms of design, namely Minerva, the overall impression is one of homogeneity of build and personality, as well as insignificance. Fortunately, these characters continue to appear almost 35 years later, and are increasingly receiving the attention and toys they once lacked. Many of these characters will be our near continuous companions in our examination of female characters throughout the history of the brand. That being said, in terms of an analysis strictly confined to G1 on its own, we find almost a complete absence of female characters and effectively no female characters of significance within the plot. Generation 1 is a boy’s club. Thank goodness it’s not the 80’s anymore. 

Works Cited

Abates et al. “Glowstrike” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Glowstrike Accessed 5/11/2020

Crockalley et al. “Sonar (BW)” TFwikihttps://tfwiki.net/wiki/Sonar_(BW) Accessed 5/11/2020

Chris McFeely et al. “The Search for Alpha Trion” TFwiki.https://tfwiki.net/wiki/The_Search_for_Alpha_Trion Accessed 5/11/2020

Derik et al. “Chromia (G1)” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Chromia_(G1) Accessed 5/11/2020

Derik et al. “Mega” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Mega Accessed 5/11/2020

Derik et al. “Minerva” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Minerva Accessed 5/11/2020

Derik et al. “Moonracer (G1)” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Moonracer_(G1) Accessed 5/11/2020

Elita2 et al. “Nightracer (G2)” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Nightracer Accessed 5/11/2020

ItsWalky et al. “Greenlight” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Greenlight Accessed 5/11/2020

ItsWalky et al. “Nightbeat (G1)”, TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Nightbeat_(G1) Accessed 5/11/2020 

ItsWalky et al. “Lancer” TFwiki.  https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Lancer Accessed 5/11/2020

ItsWalky et al. “Strika (BM)” TFwiki.  https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Strika_(BM)#Toys Accessed 5/4/2020

Omnisvalidus et al. “War Dawn” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/War_Dawn Accessed 5/11/2020

S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47 et al. “Arcee (G1)/Generation 1 cartoon continuity” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Arcee_(G1)/Generation_1_cartoon_continuity Accessed 5/11/2020

S.H.I.E.L.D Agent 47 et al. “Arcee (G1)/toys” TFwiki. https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Arcee_(G1)/toys Accessed 5/11/2020

Singularity et al. “Transformers: Super-god Masterforce (cartoon)” TFwiki.  https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Transformers:_Super-God_Masterforce_(cartoon) Accessed 5/11/2020

Vanguard et al. “Elita one (G1)” TFwiki.  https://tfwiki.net/wiki/Elita_One_(G1) Accessed 5/11/2020 

[axelsagewrites]

Glee*When they get jealous

Masterlist HERE

Wattpad HERE 

Artie

He puffs up his chest and will wheel up next to you. He'll say hi and if he doesn't know who's making him jealous he'll introduce himself as your boyfriend. You'd roll your eyes, instantly knowing. Especially when he keeps calling you babe or some other cute nickname.

Blaine

Blaine will keep his face stern and his jaw clenched. He'll walk up next to you and wrap an arm around your waist. He'll only talk a little in the conversation and try and leave as soon as possible. Whenever he gets the opportunity he'll be passive aggressive to whoever is making him jealous. 

Finn

Finn tries to passive aggressive but its so obvious to everyone. Depending on the person, they'll back off and think he's weird, or if its someone like Puck he'll start trying to make him jealous till Finn ends up with an eye twitch. You end up dragging him away, complaining that he's always jealous.

Kurt

Kurt gets super sassy when he's jealous. He'll make 'jokes' about the person making him jealous but not laughing. After you've left the situation you can tell Kurt's really self-conscious about it so you assure him you love him. Kurt doesn't often get jealous though.

Mike

Mike while get super touchy when he's jealous. Kissing your hand, ruffling your hair, holding hands. Plus he'll try and be the 'alpha' and try to impress you. Whether it's him being really smart or even showing off a dance move. Once he challenged Puck randomly to a race because of jealousy.

Puck

Puck? Jealous? HAHAHA. He knows he's the shit. Well, he thinks he is. If some guys doing something that would make any other guy jealous he laughs. The only times he gets jealous is if you guys were fighting before. Then he gets nervous you'll dump him. He gets really sad real quick. He ends up mopping in the corner until you talk to him.

Quinn

Quinn will drag you away instantly. Something like "Babe, remember we need to meet with Santana" or "Sorry we've got to dip. We've got a date" You end up laughing at her jealous. After your away from the person, she'll start making out with you, saying 'you know your mine'.

Rory

He gets quiet and glares at the person. You notice this because he no longer has the seemingly permanent smile on his face. Rory can get self-conscious about it and is scared of losing you since your the closest thing he's had to family while being away from Ireland.

Santana

Santana will straight up walk up to you and start making out. No hesitation, no notice. She doesn't give a fuck. She'll keep it up till they walk away. If they don't she'll step up her game. Once that didn't stop someone and they stayed. She promptly cussed them out.

Sebastian

If someone makes him jealous but he knows it's not deliberate then he'll be a lot more subtle. Casually mention your dating or putting an arm around your shoulder. If the guys openly flirting with you (especially if you're clearly uncomfterble) he goes from 1 to a hundred. I'm talking picking a fight about anything. If they don't like lacrosse, if they drink a different beer than him, where they're from and looks. He isn't afraid to get petty and shallow. Or he'll openly tell the guy to fuck off. More along the lines of "That's cute. You think you have a chance with a 10 when you're in the minuses. Next time save yourself the embarrassment." He gets savage real quick. 

[jmgamesterm1year2random-blog]

To get the character to move in the center of each lane i started off in the master tile view port and put an arrow in the center of each lane and named them lane 0-2. Then i went into the event graph and put down a node for left and right which will be the buttons to move the character, from this i need to set the new lane from this you get lane then link that to a int+int node what this does is gets the current lane pluses or minuses 1 to move either left or right then its clamped with the min being 0 (furthest left lane) to 2 (furthest right lane) so it can you can only move between the 3 lanes. To get somewhat of a transition when moving to each lane we need to make a timeline. In the timeline tab click float and i set the length to 0.1 then put a keyframe at the start with time and value of 0 and put a second keyframe at time 0.1 and value 1. now you can plug in the previous code into the LerpTimeLine at play from start. From the finished socket of timeline you set lane then add get new lane onto the lane section. in update you set actor location and split transform pins to get individual values for the axis. you get the X and Z axis to get world location and reference that to capsule component. so to get the location of Y you need to make a float array and add 3 elements for each lane and the values here are the center location of each lane so where the arrows are on the master tile. get the array and the lane variable (valued 1) and drag off array and get ref then plug in the lane variable. do the same thing but instead put the new lane variable (valued 0) then put both of these to a Lerp where the lane one goes to (A) then new lane goes to (B), the alpha connects to the time line LaneY then the Lerp goes into the Y location so it sets the new position.  

[twoandsixteen]

Converse Minuse One Alpha

Size 37 38 39 40

Harga Rp.300.000

[alphalandrealty]

Need To Sell Land In Virginia? How To Sell Vacant Land The Easy Way

Need to sell land in Virginia?

There are a number of traditional ways that you can sell vacant land, each of which has its own set of pros and cons. More on these in a moment.

And then there’s the easy way to sell your land, where you can avoid all the hassles involved in the traditional real estate sales process.

To skip right to the easy method, just visit https://alphaland.realty/sell

Vacant Virginia land owners typically attempt to sell their land using the two most common methods:

Listing with a Realtor or selling “For Sale By Owner”.

Let’s talk about the pluses and minuses of each.

Listing it with a Real Estate agent is probably the most obvious method as Realtors are trained real estate sales professionals. They will handle the marketing of your property and when interested buyers are found, they will help with negotiating and facilitate a smooth closing.

Unlike selling a house, however, listing a piece of vacant land for sale typically doesn’t get near as much attention from an agent as properties that have improvements, or large parcels of land where they have an opportunity to make a big commission.

Listing it will also require you to pay a sales commission when and if it sells.

If you own a small property and want to get it sold quickly, you may be better off selling direct to a land buying company, like Alpha Land Realty, so you can avoid waiting for weeks, months, or even years to sell, paying property taxes during that time, and then paying a commission when it finally does sell.

Selling “For Sale By Owner” is another traditional way to sell your vacant land.

Handling it yourself will save you fees and commissions, but it does put the responsibility of marketing, negotiating, and closing on you.

Before marketing your land “for sale by owner” though, I suggest starting by offering it to your friends and family, maybe posting your intent to sell on Facebook to see if anyone you know is interested.

You can also contact the adjacent property owners and offer to sell it to them so that they can extend their property lines.

But you will have to know how to draft a Purchase and Sale Agreement, negotiate the sale, and setup closing all on your own.

Either of these ways can help you to sell your land, but there is a better way

Alpha Land Realty can provide you with a cash offer without any fees, handle all of the paperwork, pay all of the closing costs, and close on the date of your choice, saving you from a bunch of hassle.

Alpha Land Realty specializes in buying vacant residential land in Virginia and will provide you with an all cash offer, a quick and easy sale process, and close when it is convenient for you.

Just visit AlphaLand.Realty and complete our “online property assessment worksheet” and we’ll provide you with an offer to purchase your Virginia land within 10 business days.

You may also call us toll-free, 7 days a week at (866) 279-3335 and speak to one of our friendly advisers.

Again, you can always try to sell your land through traditional methods. But if you’re looking for the easy way, with no commissions or fees, and get it done when it is most convenient for you, contact Alpha Land Realty today.

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Power Rangers 2017 review

The past few years have sucked for reboots. There was Fantastic Four, the absolute worst iteration of the superheroes ever and a nadir for the superhero film genre; there was Ghostbusters, the excessively mediocre, casually sexist, and painfully unfunny all-female shitfest no one wanted; there are all the live-action adaptations of cartoons like The Smurfs, which lack all the soul of the original show; and don’t even get me started on horror reboots. Hell, the years to come don’t look much better, what with the cringe-inducingly bad Universal Horrorverse. So when I saw they were doing a reboot of Power Rangers, a series I’ve never been a fan of but know a little about, and it looked like it was going to be yet another tone-deaf, overly gritty, miserable reboot, I was not impressed and predicted that, like so many reboots before it, it was going to suck. HARD.

I was wrong.

Power Rangers is the reboot I’ve been waiting for, a movie that fills me with a sense of fun, excitement, and even interest. This actually made me want to go and watch Power Rangers, something absolutely nothing before this film has ever made me want to do. Like yes, it’s not a perfect film, but for what it is, it does a lot right in my eyes. Hell, it actually does shit a lot better than its contemporaries; it handles elements reboots like Ghostbusters and superhero films like Suicide Squad and Fant4stic handled really poorly. I’ll explain what I mean in just a moment, but first, the story:

Jason the high school football star lands himself in detention after running afoul of the law; there, he meets an autistic boy named Billy as well as a pretty young lady named Kimberly. A series of eevnts leads them to a nearby mine, where they’re joined by Zack and Trini. They discover some funky coins and soon discover they have superpowers. Returning to the mine they discover an ancient alien spaceship, where the little robot Alpha 5 and the cybernetic talking head Zordon fill them in on their destiny: they are the Power Rangers, guardians of the universe, and they must stop the evil Rita Repulsa from destroying the Earth. Rita is searching for a crystal that will give her a shitton of power, and is out trying to reform her mighty ally Goldar; can the Rangers learn to work as a team via the power of friendship in time, or will Rita make her monster grow powerful enough to wipe them out?

The most shocking thing about this film is how it actually manages to get the teenage drama right for once. I actually liked all of these kids as characters; I can still easily recall their names without having to look up the IMDB page, which is pretty impressive as most film teenagers don’t really click with me. Out of all of them, my favorite was probably Billy; he’s a sweet kid who is on the spectrum, but he’s never really the butt of jokes and is always shown in a positive light. Hell, he’s basically the glue that holds the team together! This is definitely a step up from the last time I saw anything resembling an autistic character in a movie, which was Pistachio Disguisey in Master of Disguise… yeah, Billy is an enormous step up over the uncomfortable Turtle Guy scene. Overall though all the kids were really well written; they are basically The Breakfast Club gang if they were superheroes, and I’m all for that. Their development over the course of the movie from five strangers to five friends who can work together and call each other friends is, of course, condensed, but it still feels more realistic and believable than the bullshit from Fant4astic.

But that’s just our heroes; how fares the rest of the cast? Well, Bryan Cranston as Zordon is easily one of the highlights of the film, but that’s no big surprise since Cranston is one of the most amazing actors of all time and can sell you on anything, even a giant TRON-esque head on a screen. Elizabeth Banks as the villainous Rita is like a much better take on the Sorceress from Suicide Squad; she’s hammy and has personality, she’s actually amusing at some parts, and she’s just as campy and ridiculous as you would expect such a villain to be. Her big issue is she doesn’t get near enough screentime, but she’s still fun to watch. And then there’s Alpha 5, the goofy comic relief mission control robot; voiced by Bill Hader, he could very easily have been annoying, and yet instead, he’s rather amusing.

Speaking of the comedy, it is, for the most part, actually pretty good. Sure you have some rather tasteless jokes about jacking off bulls in the beginning (which is a step up from the last movie I reviewed, which actually SHOWED the animal jacking), and not every joke is a gutbuster, but there were a good amount of moments that made me laugh. This is in stark contrast to comedic hero reboots like Ghostbusters which, despite ostensibly being a comedy, was really light on laughs. The soundtrack, too, while having plenty of contemporary songs, is a lot better than the mess of Suicide Squad’s, and not nearly as oversaturated as that film’s soundtrack.

Now, with all this positives, there are still negatives. Goldar himself is sadly one; his design here, a giant goopy gold creature, is rather bland in comparison to the one from the original show. Sure he’s a kaiju, but he doesn’t have the same campy charm the look of the original had. The at-times rushed pace, underutilization of Rita to an extent, the somewhat underwhelming design of the Puttys, and the lack of a suiting up sequence until the last twenty to thirty minutes or so are all minuses on this movie’s scorecard; even the final fight was at times a bit underwhelming. Still, I feel like the best comparison this movie has is to Big Hero 6; yes, it is a superhero movie, but it is more about the characters and their journey than the superheroics. And while I do criticize aspects of the finale, from the moment you hear that “GO GO POWER RANGERS!” and the music plays and the Zords go charging into battle, you can’t help but get excited and overlook the flaws of that grand finale. And even if the entire final battle sucked, hearing Rita Repulsa hammily say “Krispy Kreme...” and then go into the restaurant and eat a doughnut as Goldar destroys the building is one of the greatest moments in any piece of media ever.

So wow… this reboot does things I hate so many other movies doing, but it does them WELL. This is the standard by which reboots should be judged, in my opinion. Even if this is wholly different from the show, it made me want to WATCH the show instead of just avoid it like a bad reboot would do. I was someone with no interest in the series, and now I must admit I’m curious. So, if nothing else, I need to praise this film for being a reboot that sparked my interest in things instead of nipping it in the bud. But no matter what, congratulations to the creators of this film; you made a reboot that was actually enjoyable, and that is a feat almost unheard of. It may not be a perfect film or the best action film ever, but goddamn if I didn’t enjoy it.

[trolling-since-chernobyl]

Troll watches 6x10 and loves it. Ha, ha, joking! Troll gets an aesthetic cancer :)

I clicked play and I regret it already. I’m breaking records, lol.

Liam casually strolling around the empty hospital, Ghost Riders suddenly lost interest in the kid? Or maybe they are drinking somewhere, because they know they are going to suck and their asses are going to be kicked. #GhostRidersDeserveBetter

Mieciu Stilinski, how I didn’t miss you :)))))

Aww, the first reunion with his daaaaad.  At least they didn’t fuck this up.

Cheesy music, shit is coming. Lowkey hoping the rift will shut up on his face.

When I kissed you… you died, because I shouldn’t have done that and after I flirted with bunch of other guys, because canonically I always chose other dicks over you. #YOLO

…Sorry I’m not sorry but Holland’s face was hilarious when Mieciu didn’t appear. She looked like a cat that almost caught a mouse, but then the mouse ran the fuck away and showed her a middle finger (claw?).

And she cries again. How I’ll remember princess Lydia from 6A – THE Crybaby.

LOL, Mieciu Stilinski has a better relationship with his jeep than with Lydia, I’m in tears. This is the TRUE LOVE.

“I can feel it” – how Teen Wolf writers try to convince us that Srydia has super duper connection, even if it’s not true, part 346542443.

Ghost Riders – building train tracks and train stations since middle ages... WAIT...

Wow, Jordan, likes to blow shit up. I’m sure he was frying ants with a magnifying glass when he was little. But seriously, can we leave poor hellpup alone and give him a fucking break?

Right, the freaking Alpha taken down by a human with a bat. Sweet. Maybe Poland should have bought baseball bats before WWII and just fuck Nazis up. If you can beat a werewolf alpha using a bat, then probably you can take down a fucking tank too.

Why princess Lydia doesn’t try screaming at the people at the station? I just wonder.

Hayden, can’t you smell Corey or something?

Right. If you can take down an alpha with a bat, then you can take a hellhound with an extinguisher. Makes so much sense!

Aww, Mieciu loves Jordan. 100 times better love story than Srydia.

Oh my god, Jordan said some LINES. Not growls, LINES! And he knows how to help, like, shit! Christmas came earlier this year!

It’s just me or Mieciu gives no shit about Lydia so far?

Theooooo to the rescue. He is still a motherfucker, but he is our motherfucker.

“Say it like you mean it”. Because of course, you can fake feelings. Here I was, thinking that princess Lydia can’t annoy me more. Boy, I was wrong.

Peter is the biggest motherfucker but he is our biggest motherfucker.

Ok, last time I checked when Peter crossed the rift, he was the king of barbecues, why Liam is not fried???

Layden kiss, the best thing is - it won’t be the worst kiss on this ep.

Malia saving princess Lydia, awww. Too bad Lydia doesn’t deserve such loyalty.

It’s not Peter’s best day in his life, but he is not fried so far, so it’s not the worst day either.

Did… princess Lydia just leave Malia and Peter alone and run away? AGAIN?

How many magic bullets the Ghost Riders have in their colts? Why they’re shooting at Scott and Mieciu if they were already taken…? Like… whatever *turns brain off*

Right princess Lydia, use your scream only when Mieciu’s dick is in danger. That’s SO ROMANTIC <3 <3 <3

“I didn’t say it back!” “You didn’t have to”…. Right. The way the writers forcing bullshit on us, part 937573424.

I should be disgusted by this kiss, but the cheesy music is super cheesy, they both look like fishes and Mieciu looks like he regrets the Ghost Rider hadn’t taken him before it. Srydia kisses – all are hilarious.

Slow burn, Srydia’s kiss edition :

Awwww, Chris and Melissa, this is my ship. SLoooow mooootiooooooooon…. Wooo hooooo, kissing, everybody is kissing everybodyyyyyy. But sorry, that was hot? That was cheesy, Melissa. You are not a teenager, for fuck’s sake. But the writer who forced you to say it, probably IS a teenager.

Holding hands, aww so romantic :))))) If I didn’t know better, I would think that writers want us to believe Srydia is the most epic love story or something.

Mama Stilinski looks like she put a little too much make up this morning. But seriously, why we need her here? This scene is pointless but hilarious, because this is the second time when princess Lydia begs Mieciu to not doing something, but he doesn’t listen to her (remember s3 and his nightmare?). Who said she was his anchor? :)))))

Can we exchange Srydia scenes for: how Malia and Peter fucked shit up together and how they met Theo? I can watch whole ep how together they beat the crap out of GR.

Jesus, princess Lydia is fabulously uselessssss.

Ok, when I said that they should give Jordan a break, I didn’t mean that Jordan should stroll through the woods and try to find a nice place for a bonfire. Or I don’t know, smell flowers. The writers don’t even TRY.

A Nazi Ghost Rider… Americans and their Nazi kink, sigh.

And just like that, Ghost Riders left… Like… No comments.

Where the fuck is Parrishhhh… oh, here you are. He got his uniform back! Aww, that’s so sweet, he doesn’t have to think about another excuse explaining why he needs a new one (“Well, umm, it shrank after the washing?”)

Anticlimactic – wow, finally Mieciu said something wise. But hey, whole fucking season was anticlimactic!!!

He gave the jeep to Scott, awww, if it’s not a love confession that I’m not the troll.

Pre FBI, lol. A guy who can’t hold a gun, breaks law for fun and doesn’t take responsibility of his actions. I’m not surprise why police enforcement in America SUCKS.

Aww, it ended with Sciles – writers want us to believe 6A was not only about Srydia, part 1.

WHERE THE FUCK IS KIRA?

Pluses:

+The worst tw arc is over.

+I rolled my eyes so hard that I have seen the insides of my skull – wonderful experience.

+It didn’t kill me, just a bunch of my brain cells, my fragile aesthetic, my faith in writers. It also hasn’t turned me into an alcoholic, yay!

+6B is going to be hopefully about SCOTT.

+DOB has better things to do than a show for teenagers and middle aged women who pretends they are teenagers.

+Srydia kiss was the funniest and most hilarious thing I have seen so far in TW. KUDOS!

+Chris and Melissa.

+Peter and Theo, Theo and Liam, Peter and Malia, Sciles.

+Jordan said some lines and his super duper hellhound form was awesome.

+Mieciu Stilinski, in some parts, was not annoying. And I have to give him a break – his face was sucked by princess Lydia. That for sure was a traumatic experience.

Minuses:

-Srydia. No comments needed. On the other hand, I got an impression that Jeff was forced to make Srydia happen, but he fucking hated it, so he made it so annoying, dumb, cheesy and cliché that even Srydia shippers have to admit it sucks.

-Princess Lydia who was useless dick’s decoration for not only this ep, but for whole fucking season. RIP. I hope in 6B she will return to her s5 self.

-Nazi werewolf, who was… I see no point why he was in this season, aside of being a bad, bad, stereotypical Nazi German who wants power and destruction and return of the Reich!!!

-Ghost Riders are PUSSIES.

-Stiles and Malia’s relationship was fucked up more than in s5, what is unbelievable. On the other hand, the lack of interactions is fishy. I expect Stalia reunion in the last ep of the season. Mark my words.

-No Marrish. Nothing. Zero. Nada.

-I seriously expected MORE from 6A. And my expectations were on a level of the Mariana Trench, but they managed to landed deeper, in a fucking Earth’s core.

Basically, we survived this shit. We can drink for it. Na zdrowie!

[queenofcandynsoda]

Sol Fertilis: Lovers' Day/Day of Red Roses/Valentine's Day

Lover's Day

Lovers’ Day, also known as Valentine’s Day and Day of Red Roses, celebrates the love that people has for each other, whether it is eros (romantic love), storge (familial love), philia (friendly love), and agape (unconditional love). It occurs on the fourteenth of February. The day holds special significance as it honors Amador, the third son of Mars Sol and Venus Bellona and the Omega god associated with love, sex, attraction, matchmaking, romance, and fertility.

Restaurants would have special menus for this day only for breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner. These meals can be skillet cod with lemon and capers, risotto, slow-cooked lamb, among many others.

In acknowledgment of the day's focus on committed relationships, Pleasure Venues are closed during Lover's Day. The sex workers would have to spend their time in either their Mauve Apartment or the Pleasure Hall for eating out or get-togethers.

Some people would make offerings to Amador with apples, grapes, honey, red roses, and chocolates, symbols of love. During a ceremony, a goat would be sacrificed to his altar. This would take place in Suadela county, where the Temple of Amador is located.

As it is also Valentine’s Day, some people associate it with the eros aspect. Alphas and Omegas celebrate by attending dinners or theater shows. Alphas would give their Omegas gifts. These gifts can be luxury clothes, jewelry, exotic foods, wine, etc. Due to their status, (unmarried) Alphas can also get gifts to their Concubina/Concubinus, their Gamma Minus concubine.

Delta Pluses and Gamma Pluses celebrate Lover's Day with refined gatherings, attending grand balls and cultural events. Delta Minuses and Beta Pluses engage in celebrations that blend martial displays with intellectual pursuits. This reinforced their roles while allowing them to celebrate the holiday. Beta Neutrals celebrate with modest yet heartfelt expressions of affection. Shared experiences, thoughtful gifts, and simple gestures are valued. Beta Minuses and Gamma Minuses partake in communal celebrations, such as neighborhood gatherings and small feasts.

[ryanjohnsondit-blog]

Another Week Gone By...

Welcome back again to my time in DT508. Last week began with a class based around feedback in Game Design where we shared the card game we’d been working on for the previous week and got feedback from the group who played it. We made up our own feedback sheets and split them into 3 columns; the type of feedback, how many times that feedback occurred and the severity of the feedback. We played one of the other groups games and gave feedback also. One thing that seemed to be pretty apparent with everyone’s game was the clarity in the rules. Every single group had some difficulty with the way the rules of each game were laid out or written out. I think that some of the feedback was helpful and the examples used will be useful for when we need to collect any feedback for future projects. This was followed by our Programming lecture. Our usual lecturer Bryan Duggan was absent, however, so we had a 3rd year student fill in for him and discuss the basics of arrays. My laptop was out of battery and so I couldn’t participate in the class and at the moment I’m struggling to understand how exactly to use the array function. Again, I struggled with the use of them in our lab on Tuesday again so I will have plenty of work to do with getting a grasp of these. We had the same lecturer as the week before in our Creative Practice lecture and we carried on the discussion from the previous week which was Plus Minus Interesting Thinking which was more or less a pros and cons list as well as what interesting thoughts one would have on the minuses. I actually enjoyed this class more than the week before and took a lot more out of the lesson this time around. He used simple examples, such as why we have the hairstyle we do, for us to think deeper about using our new thinking process and it was a fun exercise. In Ludology, we presented what we had prepared for the “My Life as a Game” assignment. I had decided to turn aspects of my social and sporting sides into games with a self-deprecating humour on top as well and I really enjoyed using my creative thoughts that I had and turning basic ideas into games. I scored 80/100 on the assignment so I was happy enough with it. Finally, our Friday Production Studio class ended the week with the assignment of a 30 second video which showcased the changes we had made to our game in the past 2 weeks based off any feedback we had received in the first playtest before the break. This is all in preparation for our alpha playtest this coming Friday and there are still things I would like to work on for the game but I am short on time. Thanks for reading!

[ericlwoods]

Some time ago I exchanged the Sony 20mm f/2.8 that I bought when I purchased my a6000 not that long ago for the Rokinon 35mm f/2.8. My thinking was that the two lenses were redundant since 35mm (50-ish in full frame terms) was my preferred focal length and the Rokinon seemed barely larger than the 20mm (2.43 x 1.30″ (61.8 x 33 mm) vs 2.46 x 0.80″ vs (62.6 x 20.4 mm)) while gaining another full frame lens in my quiver. No brainer, right? Nope. I really like the Rokinon, but it was not a suitable replacement for the 20mm. Why? Glad you asked:

Despite its tiny profile the Rokinon better marries with the full frame Sonys in operation. Where focus speed seems adequate on the A7Rii it is less so on the a6000. No idea why. While not awful on the a6000 it is nowhere near as fast as the 20mm on the a6000. Had no idea how good that lens was until I no longer had it… The framework for an R&B or Country song right there.

0.5″ (12.6mm) does not seem like a huge difference in theory, but in application that turns a very pocketable camera into a somewhat pocketable camera. Also the slightly rounded front edge and metal build of the 20mm meant it went in and out of pocket far easier than the square cornered and plastic Rokinon.

Simple fix. Buy the 20mm again. One problem. Southeastern Camera had two tempting full-blown second-hand cameras (ones I always thought about buying) that barely cost more than the 20mm lens new that would be even smaller. The thinking was that for a little more spend than a lens ($350-ish) I could potentially have a whole camera ($500-ish).

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What to do? A comparison seems appropriate. Already being familiar w/ the 20mm on the a6000 well I focused on comparing the Ricoh GR and Rx100 IV. And I was able to do that in a brief real-world comparison courtesy the kindness of Southeastern Camera.

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Below I will post back to back shots taken with each much like the recent KEH.com legend/bootleg, Leica/FED comparison.

Arbitrary ground rules:

Both will be JPEG out of camera with no edits. I shoot in RAW+JPEG always but chose JPEG to test the in body processing rather than Lightroom and my ability to manipulate RAW files.

Both set to the way I typically use small cameras. Aperture priority, wide open, ISO on Auto topped out at 6400, no flash, AF-S, Average AE, and single shot.

In most photos I used the native focal length, and by default max aperture, when powered on.

Note: Chose not to make an issue of the varying apertures here (f/2.8 constant on the always 18.3mm GR and F/1.8-f/2,8 across the zoom range of the RX100 IV) since I did not see an appreciable impact on bokeh or light gathering when eyeballing the images. My layman’s opinion seat of the pants impression is that larger sensor/smaller aperture seemed mostly offset by the smaller sensor/larger max aperture at the wide end of the RX100 IV.

Photos taken back to back.

Ricoh GR

RX100 IV

Ricoh GR

RX100 IV

Ricoh GR

RX100 IV

Ricoh GR

RX100 IV

Ricoh GR

RX100 IV

Ricoh GR

RX100 IV

Ricoh GR

RX100 IV

Ricoh GR

RX100 IV

Ricoh GR

RX100 IV

Ricoh GR in Macro mode

RX100 IV zoomed in fully

Ricoh GR – Balu of Viva Mexico

RX100 IV Balu of Viva Mexico

Now on to pluses and minuses of each, final thoughts of each and my decision.

Ricoh GR

Pluses:

Feels fantastic in hand. Light. Quite a bit lighter in hand and pocket than the smaller RX. Truly a one-handed camera. Great ergonomics. Things like the one button effect button on the left that brings up a scrollable menu and other details make it very easy to get up and running. Worthy of the following.

B&W high contrast was very nice. Creating such dramatic images in camera is nice.

They jammed an APS-C sensor in this tiny thing.

Great lens.

Particular to this camera, but it came with a box of goodies including a wide angle adapter, hood, batteries, and charger. None used in this comparison.

Macro mode works surprisingly well.

Ricoh GR in Macro mode

Very quiet.

Minuses:

That APS-C sensor did not blow the smaller sensor away IQ wise as I expected.

There are JPEGs I took (that I now wish I had saved but did not) of a black plastic chair hit by sunlight where the GR rendered strange little blue and red splotches and the RX100 IV maintained all black and white. Don’t know why. Some may prefer it, but I did not like it.

B&W high contrast filter was very nice.

For some one focal length is a drag. But I shoot primes often on interchangeable lens cameras so this was no big deal. Admittedly given my druthers I would rather a fixed 50mm equivalent, or even a 35mm equivalent, rather than this rather wide 18.3mm (28mm equivalent) lens.

Focus, while not awful, could not keep up with the RX100 IV. You can also see in some images above that focus on the intended subject using center focus was missed, like the yellow flower on the cactus.

Note: If I had more time than a day I could have likely offset the focus speed issue by familiarizing myself w/ the zone focus presets I had read about. But quick AF is always preferable to me when available.

No EVF. No tilty screen. Hard to go back once you have had these.

No Wifi. Another feature hard to do without once you are used to having it. Available on the GR II as the only addition of that upgrade, but at a greater cost.

Sony RX100 IV

Pluses:

It has an EVF. I had owned and liked the RX100 II so I was already familiar with the RX100 line.

Has features like 4K, slo-mo, e-shutter that maxes out at 1/32,000 fps, and others.

Like the RX100 it has very good IQ for a 1″ sensor. Amazing detail retained in the shadows and dynamic range. Take a look at the ceiling pictures in the gallery above as an example.

Very small so easily pocketable.

Very quick and accurate focus. Astonishingly so.

Very quiet normally. Completely silent in e-shutter mode.

A rival to and even bests the feature sets of larger and more expensive cameras.

Wifi. Always nice to have.

Minuses:

No fault in general. This particular RX100 IV was in a rough state, but that was necessary to get the price in the same ballpark as the GR.

Common with e-shutters is that it has limited use and should be reserved for static shots.

May also just be this particular copy, but the EVF was a bit wonky. 2 step implementation requiring it first be popped up and then the viewfinder pulled out. Putting your eye up to the camera sometimes (and this is the part that may be isolated to this particular camera) pushed it back in slowing things down as you have to stop and pull it back out again. Not awful, but not great either.

Very small. Ergonomics a bit awkward for my beef mitts. True with the RX100 before, but passable. The addition of more features and the EVF did it no favors where I am concerned. Your mileage may vary. 

Make no mistake. Both of these cameras are great. Both are perfectly capable of producing great images. Could recommend both with a clear conscious.

Decision time. So which did I choose?… Er, admit I never should have traded the 20mm f/2.8 for my a6000 and buy it again.

Why? Came down to two things mainly. Ergonomics and IQ.

Ergonomics:

While only slightly larger than the GR it has many of the features of the RX100 IV like an EVF, Wifi, snappy AF, and tilt screen and is just as easy to use. And with those added features there is now enough body real estate to make proper use of them without feeling awkward. Turns out there is such a thing as a camera being too small.

IQ:

The GR and RX100 IV are great image-wise. But in my experience neither can match the a6000. The GR matches the a6000 in sensor size but, perhaps owing to the MP deficit (18.3 vs 24.3), not IQ. The RX100 IV almost matches the a6000 in MP count (20.1 vs 24.3) but, perhaps owing to the smaller 1″ sensor, not IQ. While I am not a pixel peeper per se I do like to crop an image occasionally. Neither can stand up to as much cropping as the a6000.

There you have it. I am quite smitten with the a6000. If I could only have one digital camera this would be a top contender. I never would have expected that considering that I purchased it as a backup to my full frame alpha mount camera. But as a camera that delivers blazing fast constant focus easily keeping up with 10 fps while extending the reach of my 70-200mm to 300mm, along with my other full frame lenses, it is a no-brainer. So it is a specific solution for my specific situation.

What would I do if was determined to buy a non-interchangeable lens camera and I had to choose between a second-hand GR and RX100 IV? Oof. That is a hard one. Because of the trade-offs mentioned neither camera pulled away from the other over the course of the day spent with both.

Both are in the same ballpark IQ wise so the best I can offer in this comparison is this.

Are ergonomics, feel in hand, and quick access to filters the most important things to you? Ricoh GR.

Are quick AF, photo specs like e-shutter and 1/32,000 top shutter speed, and video specs like slo-mo and 4K, and functional items like a tilt screen and EVF the most important things to you? RX100 IV.

On second thought after looking at the last 2 paragraphs it seems like I would choose the RX if I had to.

That is a purely logical decision. But let’s be real if someone has been bitten by the GR bug they want a GR and nothing I have said matters. And that is perfectly fine. If photography has to make sense we are probably doing it all wrong.

Happy shooting.

-ELW

      Tiny Second Hand Camera Smackdown: Ricoh GR vs. Sony RX100 IV Some time ago I exchanged the Sony 20mm f/2.8 that I bought when I purchased my a6000 not that long ago for the Rokinon 35mm f/2.8.