#everyone collectively deciding that he’s the root of all their problems was hilarious

[suzuma-side]

the mastermind… he’s called grain or something…

[textsfromthefifthbasement]

I finally finished MAZM: Phantom of the Opera! I’m leaving the review under the cut because it’s long and also spoilers for some elements of the game that aren’t in other Phantom adaptations.

General

First off, I loved the art style of the game. The character designs were quite adorable, and it definitely seemed like they made an effort to follow the original Leroux character designs. They had a blonde Christine and an olive-skinned, dark-haired Meg. I also thought they did a great job with Erik’s character design (though there was too much hair). The sets were beautiful. The majority of the main plot of the game does follow the Leroux book, which I really appreciated. There were some favorite moments in the book that I wish had been incorporated, such as Raoul waking up to find Erik watching him sleep (don’t judge I just find it freaking hilarious), but they incorporated so many other small scenes from the book, such as the managers trying to prevent Erik from taking his salary by using the safety pin. As a history nerd, I also really appreciated the collectible notes giving historical context to some of the discussions, including about three notes on the Paris Commune/Bloody Week. I wished the characters would have had different outfits rather than wear the same outfit the entire story. At the very least, I wished they had made a Red Death outfit for Erik during the masquerade.

I also want to point out and give a warning to anyone who has suicide ideation before they try this game. Pretty early on in the story, you play an episode in which you control Joseph Buquet after he’s dropped into Erik’s torture chamber, and eventually, you have to walk to the noose and pick it. The scene cuts right before he hangs himself. About partway through the story, when you control Christine, there’s a scene in which she has to talk Erik out of killing himself with a shard from a broken vase. At the end, when Christine and Raoul go down to Erik’s house to bury him, they found that he had committed suicide.

In all, I spent about 23 hours on the game from start to finish. I still need to go back and replay a few episodes to complete the achievements. I missed quite a few of the historical notes, and there are parts where you can make different decisions to influence what happens.

In this game, the studio added a lot of subplots that didn’t exist in the book and expanded on some canonical subplots as well. I did enjoy quite a few of these.

The Dancers

Meg, Jammes, and Sorelli are all major characters in the game, and I loved seeing them have more characterization and actual character arcs. Jammes, as a character, doesn’t change as much as the others, but she is only a child. As in the book, she is pretty frightened of ghost stories, strangers, and the Phantom, but in the game, she also loves and takes care of the stray cats living around the opera house and does turn into a bit of a spitfire when her friends are threatened by the various happenings at the opera. Sorelli has a knife and is not afraid to use it, and she comes to realize that her fear of being alone led her to stay with Philippe de Chagny in spite of the fact that he would never officially acknowledge her. Meg, in the beginning, seems afraid of her own shadow, but throughout the game, definitely comes into her own and also develops a much healthier relationship with her mother.

Union

This had to be hands-down my favorite subplot of the game. In the beginning, when Moncharmin and Richard first become the managers of the Palais Garnier, they mistreat Christine and mass fire anyone who mentions the Phantom of the Opera. When Christine goes missing for several weeks, Meg, Sorelli, and Jammes finally decide they have had enough and basically unionize the ballet dancers. There’s an entire protest, a performance in which the ballerinas refuse to perform, and they end up getting a promise from the managers to stop indiscriminately firing and mistreating people.

Christine’s Ending

GUYS. When I joked about Christine just traveling the world and performing instead I had no idea that was an actual choice you can make for her. It’s such a bittersweet ending, but I personally hope that one day she would have emotionally healed enough from her ordeal to come back to Paris and reunite with her old friends.

That being said, there were also a lot of additions/changes that I…really wasn’t a fan of.

Melek

So, for context. During Christine’s first stay at Erik’s house, she decides to do some exploring while he’s gone. While in his room, she hears a woman’s voice behind a wall and goes to investigate. She discovers a hidden door, and behind that hidden door is Melek. We find that Melek is a blind Turkish woman who had been one of Erik’s servants during his time in Constantinople. She had refused to marry him, and so he had kidnapped her and had kept her locked in that room for ten years.

Yes, I have a lot of problems with this.

I think the first thing is that when Melek was introduced is when I really realized that the game was never going to go in the direction of presenting Erik as a character who was sympathetic at times and not so much at others. The game had already painted him as a very unsympathetic character up until then through showing how he had gaslit Christine as the Angel of Music. Introducing Melek really drove that point home, which was kind of disappointing seeing as how the literal point of Leroux’s Le Fantome de l’Opera was that we should pity Erik for how he was treated because of his face.

Additionally, Melek’s character just…didn’t do anything. The more she was around, the more I wondered what the point of her character was. She does offer Christine support half of the time, and then the other half of the time is her being upset because Christine wants to change Erik rather than murder him. Ultimately, it’s my point of view that her character was not a great addition to the game and would have preferred a closer adherence to the book in that regard.

Hatim and PTSD

*sigh* This part seriously pissed me off. While Raoul and Hatim (the Daroga) are in the torture chamber, Hatim tells Raoul the story between him and Erik. We end up playing through a flashback of when Hatim discovers Erik living at the opera house ten years ago. As they discuss their past, we and Hatim quickly realize that Erik has PTSD, and mentioning the Shah of Persia is a serious trigger for him. Which, alright. That does make some sense story-wise.

And then through other flashbacks, Hatim proceeds to use this against Erik. Like he literally would trigger him purposefully as a punishment. And say that he was doing it for his own good.

Like, excuse me, but. What the fuck. What. The actual. Fuck. No. Don’t ever do that, that’s shitty.

Anyways by the end I was legitimately rooting for Erik to punt him.

Erik’s Ending

In the original Leroux novel, Erik presents Christine with a choice: turn the scorpion, and she will marry him, or turn the grasshopper, and the entire opera house will blow up. Christine chooses the scorpion, kisses him on the forehead, and he is so overwhelmed by the action that he saves Raoul’s life and lets them go together. The only promise he extracts from Christine is that she will come back and bury him when he dies, which he believes will be soon. Two weeks later, an ad runs in the newspaper that reads simply, “Erik is dead.”

Yeah. The game really went off the rails here in respect to following the Leroux book. After Christine turns the scorpion, Erik pulls Raoul into the lake and leaves him there, thinking he’ll drown or freeze to death, and then returns to force the marriage. He does eventually let Christine and Melek go, as Christine tells him that she will never love him and that she believes he is a monster, all while he is on his knees begging her just to love him a little. There is no forehead kiss. To the end, Erik writes and tells Hatim that Christine is the devil, and that she abandoned him in hell and wants her to suffer for the rest of her life knowing what she did to him. Yeah, I wish I was making that up.

There is one point where Christine tells Erik it’s not her job to save him. Which I agree with. I feel like whoever wrote the story had a misunderstanding of the ending of the book, or else thought the idea wasn’t explicitly stated enough. The forehead kiss does, in some respect, save Erik. It makes him realize how badly he’s treated everyone and yet Christine is still willing to extend kindness towards him. But it’s not Christine saving him, it’s him coming to that realization on his own. Ultimately, the game traded that idea for a way more heavy-handed “I am not here to save you, I am going to make my own decisions from here on.”

And then, in the face of all that, we’re also missing Erik changing and redeeming himself despite the fact that he’s close to death. Instead, he dies while leaving basically a suicide note to Hatim saying that Christine is the devil and he made her promise to return to bury him to hurt her. Which is so out of character if we look at the book characterization.

Like I knew I was signing up to get my heart ripped out, I just figured it was going to maybe be the brand of Christine having to choose whether or not to stay while Erik dies. And damnit, I just wanted a single forehead kiss.

Anyways, I really enjoyed the game up until the ending. I just seriously disliked the ending for the most part. If you’re more of a fan of the idea of Christine being on her own and finding her own path, that is an enjoyable option to go with. I still need to play through that episode with the marry Raoul choice and see what happens with that option though.

[haljordangreenjedi]

okay so somebody asked me to rank the green lanterns a couple days ago and i just did it based on the general Vibes i got off each one because i don't know enough about the lanterns and now i want to hear from an expert SO: RANK EACH OF THE GREEN LANTERNS (the human ones but if you want to include others go crazy) FROM NOT-SO-BEST TO BEST AND EXPLAIN WHY

OKAY SO, first off, i love you. you should know that. second off, there’s good and bad sides to all four human green lanterns and really this is just personal preference, and 3/4 of these are subject to change at some point, but this is where we stand as of right now:

4. Guy Gardner

first off, he was Hal’s case worker in Emerald Dawn II (1991), because Hal got in trouble for drunk driving and got sentenced to a maximum security prison for 90 days to be used as an example. And I just, I don’t like this plot in Hal’s life, it doesn’t make a ton of sense with his character or his profession (it would literally end a pilot’s career.) anyway, enough about Hal Jordan because I’m supposed to be talking about Guy here. Guy’s trying to help Hal out which, gets him points in my book, but he also ends up like hating Hal at the end of this arc and it’s just like, I’m sorry, that’s unoriginal, pls try harder. 

I also don’t understand this whole Vuldarian DNA plot that’s a thing with him, but his time owning a bar is cool. I just, I haven’t read a ton of his comics and i haven’t gotten attached to him yet, so that’s that. He’s in 4th, sorry Guy. Better luck next time. 

3. Kyle Rayner

Kyle gets third place for two reasons: he has some pretty great interactions with Hal, with some key points of believing in Hal when he needs it the most (and that panel with the stacked rings and Hal taking Kyle flying. That panel gives me life for reasons I can’t fully put into words.), and his girlfriend was literally murdered and stuffed into a fridge. I have to respect the trauma. 

Reasons I don’t like Kyle: you know how in middle school there was always that kid who would show off in gym class? or like your favorite teacher would pick some new kid to champion and you just kinda... hated them on instinct? Kyle’s an artist, but he has that vibe. He’s the kid in school that suddenly everyone has decided is the Best and it’s annoying. I get it, he’s meant to be like the “best green lantern,” the one to restore the corps when Hal and Parallax tore through it and then he’s a white lantern. I just... idk, he’s nice, he’s cute. I want to read more about when he was teamed up with Jason and some people have made it so that Hal has become his bother father figure which is also adorable, it’s just instinct to not make him my favorite. I’ve already done the whole phase of liking the ‘Chosen One,’ I don’t need to go back to my Harry Potter phase. idk, please universe don’t hate me for this.

2. John Stewart

okay, I have mad respect for John Stewart. It’s also instinctual. He’s the brains of the human Green Lantern operation. No, like, literally. If the four of them have one collective brain cell, John has it at least 89% of the time. He’s an architect and a former Marine, he punched Hal in the face in a bar before they were both Green Lanterns, which is hilarious because as far as I’m aware, it’s never touched on as being something either of them remembers. Kudos for not holding onto that rage, John. Hal has something to learn from you. 

There’s also an interesting change in his way of thinking from when he was a Marine to his duty as a Green Lantern, and I like that growth even if it’s not always acknowledged. There is a bit during the Color Spectrum War arc where they go over his guilt at the destruction of a world, and it felt remarkably deep for a DC comic, even if it was technically part of a Hal series. He’s just one of those guys that you can’t help but respect because he seems to have all of his shit in one basket, and it’s a good counterbalance.

1. Hal Jordan

you knew this was coming. if you didn’t, then you need to go look back at what my username is and think for a while. I love Hal Jordan almost more than life itself and it might be because of how well i can relate to this man. he is the most cocky, depressed, stubborn piece of shit in the galaxy, and I LOVE HIM. okay, like, there are so many different arcs about Hal and I know people have a tendency to not like him because like he’s the modern OG and he can be a piece of shit, and like, he was the bad guy but he came back from it and I just want to say: my dudes, that’s the POINT.

Hal has flat out stated that HE doesn’t even like himself, and you think that you as a reader are supposed to like him all the time? The man's life is rife with trauma, okay. Not everything he does is going to make perfect sense if you’re not paying attention and it’s just like. Honestly I can’t explain it all. Hal runs on spite and coffee and the list of people he lives FOR is very short, but the list of people he lives IN SPITE OF is very long. 

The dude runs with his gut constantly because that’s what keeps him alive. Even Sinestro has pointed out that HAL DOESN’T MAKE SENSE. He acts on instinct, he doesn’t plan out a shitload of battle strategies, and that’s how Hal manages to keep besting these people over and over. 

Also just, he’s sad boy. He wants to protect people, even if it means staying away from them. He’s willing to take the blame and appear to go rogue MULTIPLE TIMES for things he believes in and to find the root of the problem and it’s just like... you really think a guy that was happy-go-lucky and didn’t sit awake at night because of how prominent his failings are in his mind would be willing to do that? you’re wrong. sorry. you don’t designate yourself as public enemy number one AFTER ALREADY FIGHTING TO COME BACK FROM THAT ONCE if you don’t have a part of your brain saying you deserve it.

ALSO HIS GRIEF FOR COAST CITY WAS JUSTIFIED AND THERES A LONG LIST OF PEOPLE THAT COULD HAVE HELPED PREVENT HAL FROM BECOMING/SUCCUMBING TO PARALLAX AND A LOT OF THEM ARE ON THE JUSTICE LEAGUE OR TINY ANCIENT BLUE SMURFS. 

THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK, GOODNIGHT.

(also i’m not sure if my answers were coherent towards the end but yeah!! send me asks about green lanterns because I have a lot of feelings. Anyway; Hal Jordan.)

[simsadventures]

Only Mine: Chapter 4: The Encounter Part I

Summary: You try to forget all about the night and the dinner you had with Bucky, but some people just won’t let you.

Warnings: mentions of violence, mentions of rape (trying not to be too explicit), angst, mobster AU

Word Count: 2244

A/N: Remember, you wanted it @sebbbystaaan​ and @kneel-begyourpardon​. Don’t stone me for this little cliffhanger. Part II of The Encounter will come out tomorrow. Let me know what you thought xx

Series Masterlist __ Masterlist

< Previous Chapter 

The next couple of days were a blur for Bucky. He couldn’t figure out how anyone would be so cold towards him, especially a woman. He tried to think back to the night the two of you spent together, that maybe he did something wrong, or that he maybe not performed the way he usually does. But he shook this thought off, remembering how your thighs quivered and how your whole body shook. This couldn’t be the reason then.

All the women always loved when he acted like an alpha around them, so he didn’t understand what your problem was with things like him ordering food for you. A weird thought appeared in front of his eyes. Maybe you really weren’t anything like the women he was used to, and that he genuinely had no idea how to treat a woman, but he dismissed this as well. Pff, he was Bucky Barnes, every woman would fall to their knees to just spend a night with him.

He was standing in his room, staring out the window at his backyard. He could see three gardeners trying to create something beautiful of the mess the grass and trees were at the moment, and he loved to see them work. It brought peace to his weary mind. But somebody disturbed the peace by knocking on his door.

“Yeah,” he rumbled but didn’t make any effort of looking who it was. He had the nagging feeling that it was either Steve, or Sam, or both, and he didn’t need to see their faces. He could get all the emotions just from their voices, especially when the three of them were together, his right hands always told him everything just like they felt it.

“Staring into the distance, thinking of your one try love, mate?” Sam asked, humour laced in his voice. He could hear Steve snicker behind him and Bucky just rolled his eyes at their childish behaviour.

“You wanted something particular, or did you come in to tease me?” Bucky growled, his eyes now closed, with his fingers massaging the root of his nose. They’ve been there for a few seconds, and they were already giving him a headache.

“Teasing? You think this is teasing? Teasing would be if we came back to the scene at the restaurant. Man! The way she sassed you and how you stay quiet, that was hilarious! We were a little worried that you bit your tongue. This, this would be teasing, old pal.” Steve was smirking at Bucky, who was now intently staring at the two of them, wishing they would turn into dust.

“Haha, so funny! You done, assholes? I do have better things to do than to listen to the two of you.”

“Like? Staring out the window like you’re the cover of a sad-boy’s album?” This time, Sam and Steve actually high-fived, and all Bucky could do was to sigh. He might have been the boss outside the room, but here, in his personal quarter, they were just three old friends, teasing the hell out of each other. Bucky just hated that it was now his turn to be in the burning seat.

“Give me a break, ok? I just never met a woman like her, that’s all. But she made it very clear that she wasn’t interested and I’m not gonna hunt her down. I’ve got better things to do than to think about some sassy-big-mouthed girl. Any word on Pierce?”

Both of the men in front of Bucky shook their heads. “Nope, nothing. Apparently, he is still very much on the West Coast, and if he likes his own life, he’s gonna stay there. Don’t worry about him, we’re gonna make sure he stays where he should. Speaking of shoulds,” Sam said, and looked at Steve, importantly.

“Right, we should get on the streets today. There are some bastards roaming the city, raping young women. We should make a purge and show them what happens to guys like them. I spoke to the Commissioner of the NYPD, and he said that their forces could help us, we just gotta call them. He told me, that they almost had the guys, but that they weren’t scared of the cops one bit, and the Commissioner thinks they would be scared of us. He also gave us full permission to do whatever we think is necessary. He just wants them out of the city.”

Bucky nodded and clenched his jaw. He hated men like that. He might have been a jerk, but all his women went with him willingly, or, at least, he wouldn’t push himself on them sexually. He also hated the fact that some asshole thought it was a good idea to start that shit in his city.

“Call the Commissioner, and tell him that the patrols that would see anything suspicious should call us directly and that we’ll handle it. Let’s hope it’ll be enough, and that it will be over with quickly. Do we know anything about them?”

Sam was thinking for a while, as was Steve. When they felt like they thought of everything that could be important, they switched between the two of them and told it all to Bucky.

“There are two of them, apparently taking turns at the girls.”

“They sometimes take two girls, one for each. Most of the time, they, however, take one girl, and when they’re done with her, they look for another one, so they have at least two girls a night.”

“Which tells us they must be on the younger side of the spectrum, having the stamina for two rounds, pretty quickly after each other.”

“They use condoms, so the hype is not in breeding the women, but maybe over-powering them? They apparently don’t have a type, their victims vary from the colour of their skin to their height.”

“But, we do know that their favourite part of New York is Brooklyn, only one of the 10 rapes they managed to do happened outside of Brooklyn, so we should be stationed somewhere around there.”

Bucky listened intently, making mental notes and preparing a plan for the night, or several nights ahead of them. For a second, his mind wandered towards you, if you were fine, and if you would be fine, but he quickly dismissed the thought and concentrated on the task at hand. They had an eventful night ahead of them.

—-

Getting Bucky out of your head was easier than you thought. Mostly because you were buried in your work, deadlines licking your heels and you knew you’d catch absolute hell if you didn’t finish in time.

What also helped was that you couldn’t meet him anywhere. Because the two of you lived such different lives, you were almost a hundred per cent sure there wasn’t a possibility of the two of you randomly meeting again. Once was enough and you didn’t need him threatening you go on another date with him. You inwardly rolled your eyes at yourself, reminding you that it wasn’t a date and that you definitely didn’t want it to be one.

Bucky was a mobster, and you definitely didn’t have his icy eyes in front of you when you were falling asleep. Not. At. All. But, to tell the truth, that was the only time you actually thought of him, otherwise being pretty busy.

Natasha loved every detail of that night, and you thought she would soon start writing down quotes from the date. She was obsessed with someone putting Bucky in his place, even more so that it was her best friend who did that, and she had first-hand details of the encounter.

You were sitting at the publishing house, with 5 other people, all of you catching up with your work. Among others, a new secretary of the editorial director. She looked like a sweet girl, even if you thought she was a little too dolled-up for pretty much an all-nighter at a publishing house, with a bunch of uninterested people. Your director was gay, so there was no chance she would be able to get to him, and other than that, it was you, Kate, and Bruce, who was currently single, but too shy to even look Tania’s way.

You and Kate were discussing the best approach to one of the Young Adult books you were currently trying to edit so that it could be sold in the shortest amount of time. You felt a light tap on your shoulder, and when you turned, you could see Tania sitting on your desk. You cringed inwardly, really hating when people invaded your personal space but tried to remain calm and collected. It was still a long night ahead of you.

“I thought I knew you from somewhere, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. You were out on Friday night, weren’t you?” She asked sweetly, but the smile on her face didn’t reach her eyes.

You smiled politely and nodded. Not that it was any of her business anyway. “Well if you saw me, then I must have been out, right?” You started to turn back to Kate, who was obviously trying not to laugh but failing miserably. Tania’s hand stopped you.

“So you’re the girl of the month, then? Huh, would never guess his demands got so low but good for you. The best month of your life awaits you until he decides that you’re old news and kicks you out like a stray dog.”

There was so much venom in her voice that you were surprised she didn’t poison you spitting at you.

“Sounds like you have the first-hand experience with that, sweetheart!” You smiled oh-so-sweetly at her, and she was now sending daggers through her eyes. “Look, Tania, I don’t know what you think you saw, but it was just one dinner, and I’m definitely the girl of no month. I bet Bucky is a great guy for the month, but I’m seriously not interested. So you can stop keeping me away from my job, and maybe start doing yours and bring us all coffee?”

You were a bitch, and you knew it, but you just couldn’t help yourself. You hated when people were nosey and would ask you unnecessary questions about your personal life. It was called personal for a reason.

She scoffed, but got up from your table (not before she “accidentally” pushed some of the papers from the table on the floor) and asked everyone around if anyone else wanted some hot beverage. Everyone hummed in agreement, but never stopped with their works.

Kate showed you thumbs up excitedly but otherwise dropped the case, knowing you two could gossip about what just happened after the deadlines were closed and your asses weren’t catching on fire.

It was around 2 AM that you could finally send out all the files you were supposed to, and despite your exhaustion, you couldn’t help but feel happy and relieved. Tania went home around 11 PM telling you all that she wasn’t cut out for such things, and that she better go home to be fresh and pretty the next morning. You collectively rolled your eyes at her but left it without a comment, feeling like she wouldn’t get the sarcastic comments that were on the tip of your tongue.

You said your goodbyes with Kate, and both walked in different directions. You would typically put in your headphones and zone out, but you were aware that it was quite late, and that even if New York acted as the safe city because of Bucky and his crew, you heard about few rapes around Brooklyn and you didn’t want to take a chance.

So you casually walked down the pavement, thinking about how you didn’t want to get up the next morning, knowing it would be a massive pain in the ass. Your mind also wandered towards your breakfast, trying to imagine the contents of your fridge to think of what you were gonna make the next morning.

As you were deciding between scrambled eggs and pancakes, somebody behind you whistled. You paid no mind to it, thinking that it definitely wasn’t at you. But when the whistling came from much closer behind you, followed by a low “pussycat”. You could hear a chuckle, which sounded like coming from a different man, and a cold sweat burst on your forehead, while a shiver ran down your spine.

You quickened your pace, hearing that they did the same, and you suddenly felt the rush of adrenaline in your blood. You didn’t want to die, or be used like that, and tried to think of anything that would get you out of the situation. You got to run. You knew you wouldn’t be able to fight them, especially if there were two of them, but you weren’t willing to take a look and lose time with it. But even without turning, you could hear them getting closer every second, and when you could feel a hand on your shoulder, harshly grabbing you, you did the only thing that was left. You let out a loud shriek, which was quickly muffled by a hand over your mouth. Your eyes watered instantly, you were trashing in the attacker’s arms, trying to get free, but he wouldn’t budge. You never thought you would end up here, and with this thought, your mind grew hazy, and your body went limp.

/ Next Chapter > 

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If you’d like to be tagged comment/message/send an ask. If you like the story, please reblog :) any comments are appreciated, even the critical ones. Always a space to get better, so let me know what you guys think.

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 192

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 43 - “Komachi’s Resolve and Nuts’s Future” Date watched: 9 June 2020 Original air date: 9 December 2007 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/iT40izm Transformation Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/6k6SzS0 Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

Poor Komachi. She was once so eager to write her love story, inspired by her feelings for Nuts and his unconditional support for her. Now she’s struggling with it, because she’s started to realize what her real-life conclusion is going to look like...

The Plot

Komachi is in the library, trying to write, but the words won’t come, and she looks very forlorn. Karen sympathetically suggests she talk to Nuts for advice, but she hastily rejects that idea, insisting she needs to finish the story herself. When they get to Natts House, Urara asks her about her book, and Komachi gets flustered and embarrassed talking about it. Urara asks if it’s based on anything, which Komachi ardently denies as she steals a glance at Nuts, and then she hastily turns around and goes home. Karen noticed Komachi’s wandering eyes and turns to look at Nuts as well, starting to put the pieces together.

Over in Nightmare, Kawarino bemoans to Hadenya about how he has to present the black paper to someone, and she says whoever it is should be glad because it enhances their abilities and they’ll surely be able to bring down Precure. Kawarino is so relieved to hear this, and he reveals it’s for her. Her mood changes instantly, as she swats away the black paper and storms out of Nightmare, insisting that she doesn’t need it. However, when we next see her, sitting on a park bench, she admits she didn’t really have a plan when she left and she needs a way to follow up that dramatic exit. Just then she sees a pigeon pecking at a Pinky, right in front of her, and she gets an idea...

At school, Komachi opens up to Karen about her specific problem. She explains how she used to be overflowing with ideas but now they’re gone. She wants to make “his” dream come true, but she knows that when she does, he’ll have to go far away. She tries to explain she’s talking about the characters in her story, but it’s clear she really means Nuts. She admits that if their farewell never arrived, she’d be fine with that, and Karen insightfully says that she may not know about the last scene, but it does sound like how it plays out will be up to Komachi. In the story, of course.

Later, at Natts House, Nozomi and Urara are berating Nuts for not going out of his way to help Komachi. He insists that giving unasked for advice is being nosy, while they say he needs to understand her feelings. Karen arrives and gently assures everyone that Komachi can find her own solution to her problem.

Nonetheless, Nuts shows up to find Komachi sitting on a park bench (what is it with park benches lately?) and he talks to her, promising to do anything he can to help. They have a really heartfelt conversation where he explains he’s nice to her because he’s powerless in other ways, so he does what he can to help her because she’s fighting so hard to help him. Komachi breaks down in tears, upset that he’s so nice while she was only able to think about herself, and she admits that she was afraid to talk to him about her concerns, because talking about it would make it real to her, and her potential future would crumble away with the knowledge that he has to leave.

Nuts placates her, saying she’ll find an ending that works for her, and she should stop worrying. (it sounds insensitive but in context it’s very sweet)

At that moment, Hadenya shows up and scoffs that she’d be happy to crush whatever future they have together and shows off the Pinky she’s captured. Nozomi, Rin, Urara, Karen, Coco, and Milk all show up and transform while Hadenya is in the middle of gloating. Annoyed, she turns the Pinky into a Kowaina, which takes the form of a giant concrete block that immediately falls on top of everyone. They avoid it, and Dream, Rouge, and Lemonade fight the monster while Mint protects all the fairies from Hadenya, who is trying to snatch the Dream Collet from Nuts. Hadenya continues to degrade Komachi’s dreams of happiness, and Aqua joins Mint in fighting the villain. Hadenya and the Kowaina manage to overpower Mint and break her barrier, leaving her exhausted. Hadenya scoffs some more at the idea that they’re protecting Coco and Nuts’s “worthless” dream, but Dream, Rouge, and Aqua show up to defend their friend and explain how reviving Palmier Kingdom is their shared dream. Komachi looks at her teammates fighting so hard for her sake and finds new strength within her, and manages to restrain Hadenya long enough for Dream, Rouge, and Lemonade to destroy the Kowaina mask and save the Pinky. Lemonade and Aqua notice Mint’s shield has appeared over her head as she blocks and fights Hadenya, suggesting she’s channeling her barrier powers into her body to overpower the villain. Hadenya tires to use strong air currents to outclass the Precures, but Mint holds her ground. Aqua uses Aqua Tornado to halt Hadenya’s charge, and Mint summons the Mint Leaf directly in front of her, unleashing a point-blank Mint Shield on Hadenya that blows her away as it expands.

Hadenya flees and when the smoke clears, a huge crater is left in the ground. Dream collects the Pinky.

A later date, at school, Karen visits Komachi again and realizes she isn’t writing anything. Komachi admits she’s decided to put her story aside for now, but she’ll be sure to find a conclusion that suits her, and the two share a half-hearted smile.

The Analysis

This is a good episode, but it’s a bittersweet one. Komachi seems to be the frequent subject of bittersweet plots, because they really want to emphasize to the audience that hey, writing is difficult, and so is navigating your emotions. When these struggles meet, well, the results aren’t pretty. Obviously, Komachi’s novel has always overlapped with her relationship with Nuts, and as she’s gotten to the departure and farewell scenes, she’s starting to realize what Coco realized a few episodes ago: that the closer they are to finding all the pinkies, the closer they are to saying goodbye, and Komachi is afraid and unsure how to put that into writing. She is afraid to write a conclusion, because that means acknowledging that her own relationship will come to an end, which she isn’t ready for. It’s a moving exploration of writer’s block, which is a particularly resonant phenomenon to me as I’ve been struggling to write this particular review. Anyway, her choice to simply set the book aside for now is somewhat astonishing. It’s a mature and somewhat sad direction for a generally optimistic kids’ show to take, but I respect it that much more for not taking the easy road and saying “Komachi magically found a solution to her ongoing troubles with little difficulty.” Sometimes there aren’t easy answers to complex problems, and since the matter of her book was causing her far too much emotional stress, Komachi decided it was best for her mental health to shelve it. Telling suggestible audiences that this is sometimes an acceptable solution is important.

I do love the positive message, though. The uplifting and encouragement she receives from Nuts especially is really inspiring. His explanation for why he helps Komachi so much is emotionally resonant, as he says he’s weak in other areas so he helps where he can. He is still plagued by guilt for his role in the destruction of Palmier Kingdom, which informs his actions now, and he wants to do everything he can to help Komachi since she’s helping to restore his home. His support for her, and his reinforcement that all of her friends support her allows her to overcome her self-doubt in the battle against Hadenya. It’s also a clever reversal of her role in the team. Normally she wants to protect everyone, but in this episode, she’s the one who needs to be protected while she’s emotionally vulnerable, and the others are happy to help lift her spirits. Karen, her oldest friend, sees Komachi hurting and makes it a point to help her during the fight, double teaming Hadenya when Komachi can’t take her alone, and offering her the last push of encouragement she needs to power through.

Speaking of the fight, it’s a good battle. The Kowaina that just bodyslams indiscriminately is hilarious and what I expected out of the Kowaina from ep 40. Dream, Rouge, and Lemonade have to get creative when fighting it and it results in cool moments like Dream being trapped as it falls and the others having to save her before they hit the ground.

Obviously the main event is Mint’s fight against Hadenya, and it’s intense, with the general mostly having the upper hand despite being assaulted by both Mint and Aqua. When Hadenya kicks the barrier hard enough to break it (with some help from the falling Kowaina), it’s a visual metaphor for Komachi’s spirit breaking, but the follow up where Aqua encourages her turns her mood around results in a fantastic scene where Mint effortlessly blocks Hadenya’s attacks and then uses Mint Shield on her at point blank range, launching her into the atmosphere and creating a huge crater in the ground. THAT is badass.

I love this kind of creative use of their abilities and I wish we’d see it a bit more often. Between the emotional resonance and the incredible physical fighting, this might be one of my favorite battles from this season.

I want to briefly mention that Karen clearly understands the root of Komachi’s concerns, and knows she’s not just talking about her book. I think Komachi knows that she knows, but continues to describe it in terms of her novel for plausible deniability. This might be Karen’s first time realizing Komachi has feelings for Nuts but she definitely knows, and all her advice to Komachi is predicated on helping her friend with her real relationship woes. She’s a good friend to have around. I also love the use of lighting during most of their conversations, the twilight scenes are always beautiful and of course it lets them play with light and shadow in creative ways. When they’re talking in the library, Komachi is mostly seen in shadow, representing her sadness and uncertainty, while Karen is in the light, as the beacon of hope that can help her. After Karen offers her advice to Komachi, she is half-lit, as she’s beginning to come out of her sadness.

And lastly some bookkeeping. Hadenya was given a black mask today, but rejected it, and then failed when she went out to try to collect the Dream Collet. This is typical of her bravado and pride, but suffice to say this isn’t going to end well for her in the next episode.

Next time on Precure Daily, Milk tries to figure out just what a good caretaker is supposed to be like, and the answer may surprise you. Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 0 Kettei!

[vicehectic]

Manga I Read on the Reg

This is just a collection of manga I read regularly whenever they come out.

1. Boku no Hero Academia

Most of you know what this is. In a world where 80% of the population has these special abilities called “quirks”, our main character is part of the 20% that doesn’t have a quirk. The problem is, Midoriya Izuku, hero fanboy and enthusiast, has desperately wanted to be a hero since childhood. Without a quirk, Midoriya is discriminated enough as it is and everyone around him is telling him he can’t become a hero. But Midoriya refuses to give up and prepares for his future in order to become a hero. As high school entrance exams draw near, Midoriya is losing hope but in one miraculous encounter with Japan’s Number 1 hero, Midoriya is given an opportunity to obtain a quirk and pursue his dream to become a hero. 

I’m going to be honest. When I first started to hear about Boku no Hero Academia, I avoided it. I was already in too many fandoms and decided that with all that I had to do in my life: it wasn’t worth it. I pushed it away for later or potentially never. The most I did was click on a couple clips advertising BNHA and decided from those short clips that I despised Bakugou Katsuki. He was the classic bully character that I didn’t need reminders of. He’s the type of person I hate most in the world. I weighed the ethics and morality of this fantasy world way too heavily and moved on. Then, one day, having broken my ankle and forced to stay off it; I decided to read the Boku no Hero Academia manga in it’s entirety in one sitting. Since then I haven’t missed a new release. I think the reason I was so attracted to this series was how much it made me think of Katekyo Hitman Reborn which is one of my favorite franchises. I wanted to see more of a nervous and unsure main character despite being a badass and Boku no Hero Academia has certainly given me that.

This has an anime up to season 3 and a movie. Season 4 and a second movie has also been announced!

2. Haikyuu!!

One of the only sports manga! Haikyuu follows Hinata Shouyo, a short teenage boy entering his first year of high school aspiring to be the volleyball team’s ace despite almost never competing before, and Kageyama Tobio, a genius setter who has previously been abandoned by his teammates. Now, it’s not exactly that cut and dried. Hinata, despite being a nervous wreck and an idiot at times, along with practically being a beginner at playing volleyball with a real team, has incredible athletic ability. The only thing he can really do is jump and at the beginning of his high school career he takes to spiking with his eyes closed. Kageyama is a genius with a terrible personality. His insecurities after being abandoned make him standoffish to nearly everyone, but he always pulls through when aiming his set exactly to where Hinata will hit it. The team they join are full of fun and vibrant characters that have the title of the fallen crows because their school’s team has ��fallen from glory”. It’s a typical sports manga with lovable characters and interesting relationships.

I also avoided reading Haikyuu when my friends started talking about it. I had already invested so much time into reading The Prince of Tennis and I didn’t want to get sucked into another fandom. I caved of course. The characters just seemed so fresh and new to me. It was less about the volleyball and more about how the characters interacted with each other. I actually started reading Haikyuu because of two videos on youtube that I believe no longer exist. The first was a compilation of each jump serve layered on top of each other and for each second the character serving would change and it was like art. The second was a compilation of Iwaizumi and Oikawa bickering. That really sold me. 

This manga has an anime up to season 3! Season 4 has also been announced!

3. Akatsuki no Yona

God I love her. Akatsuki no Yona follows the sheltered princess of the Kyouka Kingdom, Yona. Yona has lived her entire life within the gates of Hiryuu Castle with her cousin Su-won, her bodyguard Hak, and her father: the King. All Yona wants in her future is to marry Su-won, despite her father’s insistence that she will not. The night of her 16th birthday, however, she discovers Su-won over her father’s body, pulling a sword out of his corpse. She escapes the castle with Hak and after gathering herself after her father’s death and cousin’s betrayal she visits a priest that tells her to find the four legendary dragon warriors. Kyouka has a legend, in which the first king was a red dragon in human form and was accompanied with four warriors with his dragon brothers’ blood. Yona, with the priest believing she is the reincarnation of the red dragon, sets off with Hak and the priest’s companion to find the dragon warriors. 

I was hooked on Yona the moment it came out. I watched the anime like five times and when I realize there wouldn’t be a second season I read the manga. I’ve said this before in another post but Yona isn’t just a shoujo manga. The main character is a strong inspirational female character trying her best to fix the country that declared her dead. The romance is sweet but also awfully comedic. The fight scenes and the dramatic scenes are intense and draw you in. But just like any other manga, it’s the characters and the relationships that drew me in. Besides Hak and Yona’s thing they’re avoiding talking about; everyone else acts like siblings just trying to stay together the best they can and help anyone they can along the way. The dragon dynamic is hilarious, the backstories are sad, the romance is soft, and the bishounen is a genius. 

This manga has one anime season!

4. Yakusoko no Neverland

The ultimate mind fuck. The orphans at the Grace Field House live peaceful lives with each other and their beloved Mama. It’s one big happy family. They spend the days like any other family would; breakfast, mind-wracking tests, tag, dinner, and rinse and repeat. But even to the children, somethings seem strange. They’re never allowed to venture beyond the gate that surrounds them like a ring in the forest around the house. By the time they reach the age 12, they have to leave their little house. The children that have left never write to them, despite promising they would. The story follows main characters Ray, Norman, and Emma as they find out the secret behind their little house and try to somehow change their pitiful fate. 

So, this is another manga I decided to read in one day. A friend and I decided that since the anime would be coming out soon we would read the manga together in one go. Needless to say we were nearly dead after reading through all of it. So much happens in this that you’re like “what just happened” despite having just read it. You literally have to expect the unexpected when it comes to Neverland. This series would be ruined if I said anymore but the fact that these children can go through that and still smile and have hope despite the odds against them makes my heart warm. 

This manga has an anime that is currently airing!

5. The Rising of the Shield Hero

The one that makes you angry almost immediately. According to legend, the holders of the four heavenly weapons are the heroes that will save Melromarc from the calamity that come in waves to the world. Iwatani Naofumi is just a normal university student when he picks up a book that transports him to another world. It’s entirely by bad luck that he’s given the role of the disregarded Shield Hero who can only wield shields and is ultimately useless offensively in battle. What’s even worse is that the companion who joined him at the start of his journey accused him of raping her and he’s been scorned by the kingdom and all its inhabitants since. The world seems so dark and Naofumi doesn’t want anything to do with the other heroes and incoming waves of calamity. The light in his life returns when he enslaves a sickly and depressed demi-human to fight for him. Raphtalia soon finds her master isn’t scary or cruel and becomes determined to make sure no one will suffer as she once did as a child while making sure Naofumi knows he is loved and appreciated by at least one person. 

God when I first read this I was so mad. Naofumi didn’t deserve any of this, especially when the arrogant king summoned him to fight a battle he had nothing to do with. The same friend introduced Shield-bro to me and practically begged I read it. Yes we call it Shield-bro, it’s a thing. Look up Shield-bro on google and this will come out. It’s just a different sort of isekai where instead of being the hero that’s being praised - you get a real person getting accused of a real crime he didn’t commit. He’s been handed the short end of the stick just for being the Shield Hero no one appreciates. He’s literally the underdog in everything. You just want to root for Naofumi. It’s a really good stress reliever. 

This manga has an anime that is currently airing!

6. Isekai Omotenashi Gohan

This one is so softtttt. Our main character and her little sister gets their literal house transported to a different world. Oh and their dog comes too! Their Japanese home is transported in front of a luxurious foreign-looking castle in which people greet Akane and her little sister, Hiyori, claiming to have summoned the priestess that will save their world from the miasma. Hiyori is delighted and starts her training as the priestess, but Akane has nothing to do as a normal office worker and their home’s homemaker in this new world. After spending a month feeling useless, Hiyori comes to plead her sister for her cooking - starting Akane’s adventure in cooking classic Japanese staples that somehow attracts the attention of the Knight Commander of the Chivalric Order, the King, the kingdom’s princesses and much more. That is, of course, while teaching her knight guard Jade how to cook as well. 

This isn’t very long and updates rarely but it’s so cute. All the antics are just so cute. The food is amazing and it’s just a story about how food brings everyone together. It’s masterful and done well. But it’s also not just a cooking story. Akane and Hiyori both struggle with Hiyori being the world’s priestess and her encountering danger. The sisterly bond is great in this one.

7. Koushaku Reijou no Tashinami

If you can’t tell I’m really into Isekai. This manga follows another regular office worker, but she’s really into otome games. Our main character dies from a car crash and when she wakes up she is in the footsteps of the villainess, Iris Lana Armelia, from a game she had just completed, in the middle Iris’ judgement scene from the love interests because Iris harassed the game’s main character: Yuuri. The original fate of Iris, after losing her engagement from the prince and being exposed of harassment in front of her whole school, leads to a miserable life at a church. Iris, this time around, as an efficient office worker from Japan, gets sent by the Duke, her father, to care for their territory’s fief as fief lord. From there Iris, along with her loyal companions and friends, care for the fief with all of Iris’ knowledge from Japan with plenty of bumps along the way from the game’s love interests and Yuuri. Yuuri may not be the sweet video game protagonist she is thought to be.

So, one day, I had read through most everything and I wanted a little bit of romance in my life. And while this didn’t originally have the romance I wanted, it still piqued my interest. The real appeal to this is how strong Iris is as a character. She doesn’t take shit from anyone and holds her head up with pride. But in the times she is weak she has supportive friends that would do anything for her in a heartbeat. Another appealing factor is how technical and political this manga is. The manga describes real life things to improve the fief such as a banking system and taxation, but also gets political with the two factions of the two princes. It’s a good mix a strong female lead, economics, politics, royalty, and friendship. 

There is also a Light Novel that some amazing people have translated online! Go support them!

8. That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime (Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken)

More isekai! Just like most isekai main characters, our main character is a simple corporate worker who lives a normal life in Tokyo. Unfortunately, after pushing his friend out of the way of an assailant on the street, our MC dies while hearing a strange voice responding to his dying thoughts. When our MC wakes up he discovers that he is now a slime in a new world and discovers a dragon in the cave he woke up, befriends him, and receives the name Rimuru Tempest. Strangely, Rimuru has abilities that a normal slime would not have - the most notable being his ability to devour anything and mimic its appearance and abilities. Rimuru starts his journey after escaping the cave and one thing leads to another and suddenly there are a bunch of monsters calling him “Master” and “Rimuru-sama” and Rimuru is the head of a monster country. 

I normally don’t like OP characters, but I strangely find Rimuru okay. Rimuru has plenty of over powered characteristics and abilities but Rimuru’s personality and demeanor makes it tolerable. It’s just fun seeing how everyone underestimates Rimuru because he’s a slime. Rimuru is also very morally aligned, in that he’s very clear with his desires and doesn’t tolerate it if the line is crossed. 

This manga has an anime that is currently airing!

9. I Reincarnated into an Otome Game as a Villainess with Only Destruction Flags

EVEN MORE ISEKAI! We follow Katarina Klaus who hits her head and awakens the memories of her past life as a seventeen year old girl in Japan. Katarina Klaus, however, is the haughty aristocrat villainess in a fantasy otome game with swords and magic. Having recovered her memories, Katarina cannot find it in herself to act the same as the old Katarina as she finds aristocratic society a pain. Unfortunately for Katarina, according to the game, death or exile awaits her for each and every route. Katarina decides the best thing to do is somehow protect herself by improving her magic and swordsmanship to escape the death flags. What follows are antics of farming to enhance her magical ability and her unintentional wooing of the game’s love interests. Oblivious and focused on matching the love interests to the game’s main character while avoiding a destruction flag, Katarina doesn’t notice how everyone, even the game’s main character falls for her. Farming, failed match-making, admiration from all sides, and a panicking main character awaits you. 

This is another one that I found looking for romance. This is more of a comedy isekai more than anything. Sure there’s magic and other abilities but the manga doesn’t focus on that. The manga focuses more on the strangeness that is Katarina as she is now. I would have never expected to find an isekai manga MC have a hobby in farming. The way Katarina is so oblivious to everyone falling for her is also pretty great. 

There is also a Light Novel that some amazing people have translated online! Go support them!

10. The Saint’s Magic Ability is Omnipotent (Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou desu)

God how much isekai do I read? Sei, a regular office worker, was suddenly summoned to another world by a saint summoning ritual with another girl she does not recognize. The prince of this country, despite there being two girls summoned to their world, completely ignores Sei and declares the other girl is the saint who will save the country from the miasma, without confirming his claim. Sei, outraged, demands that because she is apparently not the saint that she be sent back home but is told it is impossible. Sei lives a comfortable but restless life at the castle, having gotten used to the grueling work style of Japan. While exploring the castle she becomes interested in potion making. Her magic is overly effective to everything she does and creates without her meaning to - even her food gives people more energy. As time goes on, more and more people come to respect Sei’s good deeds and starts to think she is the saint while the girl parading around with the country’s prince is a fake. Sei, knowing she is the saint, only wants to live a quiet life creating potions.

This one is just so precious because of how amazing Sei is without meaning to. She knows she is the saint but doesn’t want to admit it. It’s also really fun seeing how she interacts with the other characters. Sei isn’t used to praise or romantic attention. A lot of things are new to her in this new world but all she wants to do is be useful in her own way. 

There is also a Light Novel that some amazing people have translated online! Go support them!

11. The White Cat That Swore Vengeance Was Just Lazing on the Dragon King’s Lap

This is sadly relatable. Ruri has forcibly been friends her neighbor Asahi for years. Ruri is the beautiful daughter to a foreign model and a diplomat of Japan. If you were to look up the definition of beauty in a dictionary, Ruri’s picture would be there. Platinum blonde hair, blue eyes, elegant Japanese features and all. Asahi, meanwhile, has been coddled and loved throughout her whole life because her approachable nature and cuteness that no one except for Ruri seems immune to. Everything Asahi does is somehow blamed on Ruri, even when she isn’t directly involved. Everyone is on Asahi’s side. Having tried to escape Asashi and the negativity of those around her on multiple occasions, Ruri has realized that Asahi is willing to follow her everywhere no matter what Ruri tries. While on campus at her university with Asahi; she, Asahi, and a couple of Asahi’s friends/admirers get transported to another world via magic and everyone rushes to Asahi calling her the lady priestess. Ruri, seeing this as her chance to escape Asahi, is told she is an idiot for thinking she could return to her own world. Almost immediately all those in the Kingdom of Nadarsia hate Ruri because Asahi herself keeps clinging to Ruri while ignoring them. Without Asahi’s knowledge they kick Ruri off the hidden forest and Ruri finds herself in the care of a kind, yet ugly, old lady from the dragon kindgom who takes care of her and teaches her about the magic the fairies grant in this world. Surprisingly, the fairies are seem to gather around Ruri and adore her. When Ruri has gotten used to this world she visits the dragon kingdom on her own, gets scared and wears an ancient bracelet given to her by a powerful fairy that allows her to turn into a cat and is given the title “Cherished One” and meets the Dragon King who falls in love with her cat form. Cue title and roll credits!

I say this is relatable because of a toxic frienship I once had. I broke it off with a friend and for a long time things were awkward among my other friends and a lot of people kept insisting that we would make up someday despite me not wanting that. These friends now have realized that it was a lot more than that and funnily enough they have broken it off with her as well. But this is a cute story about a victim finally getting her vengeance and the love and praise she deserves. There’s also cute cat antics and a sprinkle of romance in it.  

There is also a Light Novel that some amazing people have translated online! Go support them!

12. Boku no Hero Academia: Vigilantes

A very familiar title to another one on this list! In a world where 80% of the population has these special abilities called “quirks”, our main character is part of the 80% that does have a quirk. Unfortunately, not everyone is blessed with a quirk such as fire manipulation or engines in their bodies to fight crime. Himawari Koichi has the quirk known as “Slide and Glide”, giving him the average ability to slide over plain surfaces. Despite this, Koichi has always wanted to be hero and admires Number 1 Hero All Might as his role model. Despite not being a hero, Koichi uses his quirk in public areas, breaking quirk regulation laws, to get to his destination quickly and hates said restrictions. After a series of events Koichi decides to use his quirk, while wearing an All Might hoodie, to do good deeds for the public - all simple things. All he ever does for awhile is give directions, clean up litter, or return dropped items while utilizing his quirk. But things become dangerous when he meets freelance idol Pop☆Step and a quirkless, yet powerful, old man known as Knuckleduster and they somehow become vigilantes for their neighborhood while getting deeply involved in a quirk improvement drug known as Trigger.

This is what I wanted Boku no Hero Academia to be when I first read BNHA. I wanted a quirkless character fighting crime with their own power. I have to admit I was disappointed when Deku got his quirk. The setting of Vigilantes (or Illegals) is before the BNHA timeline. Eraserhead has yet to become a teacher at UA and the original Ingenium is still running around. We get to see an other side of the heroes we love and hate and get to see how vigilantism effects this quirk filled world. Koichi, while also being an All Might fanboy is different from Deku.  Pop☆Step is a cute tsundere idol who is still trying to climb the popularity ranks. Knuckleduster is a mysterious man who fights crime with his own justice and abilities. It’s an eye opener to another aspect of the BNHA world. 

13. Bloom into You (Yagate Kimi Ni Naru)

The romance that isn’t supposed to be? Koito Yuu is a first year in high school who enjoys reading Shoujo manga. The problem(?) is that she doesn’t understand the feeling of love. Nanami Touko is a third year at the same high school that Yuu unintentional watches get confessed to but Touko refuses. Yuu gets recruited in helping the student council that Touko is a part of and realizes that Touko is the same as her. No matter how many people confess to either of them, be it one or dozens, they will never feel anything when it happens. Yuu goes to Touko for help, realizing that they are the same and gets advice to reject someone who confessed to her at her middle school graduation. But immediately after, Touko confesses that if it was Yuu, she could fall in love with her. What results is a story of a not-so romance and a refreshing coming of age story. 

This is one messed up romance story. Like the relationship Koito Yuu and Nanami Touko have is so messed up. The upside to this story is that it talks about homosexuality and asexuality with so much lax that it’s refreshing. This manga is cute and entertaining at times and the romance is unorthodox. The character backstories are interesting and heartbreaking and the way the characters interact with each other are interesting. You won’t see what happens in this manga in most manga you come across. 

This manga has an anime that is currently airing!

[lovelacemagazine]

Jay Guevara Talks to OG ILLA About Music, Life, Success and MORE

The East End of Richmond native, OG ILLA, has been one of the cornerstones within the Richmond hip hop scene. He’s more than a rapper. He’s also a graphic designer, former VCU student, event planner, and promoter. He has been featured on Season one of the HennyNCoke Podcast, featured in the 2017 VirginiaGotNow Vibe Out Festival, and created a wave last year with his single Kareem that got play on Richmond’s 106.5 The Beat radio station. OG ILLA is coming out with his next project Illegal sometime soon after releasing a surprise EP Emotions earlier in September. 

I decided to interview OG ILLA because of his journey through various obstacles within his life and specifically the past twelve months.

J: Let me start off with your most recent track 2k feat The Uth 2k has more of an R&B vibe compared to the more upbeat energetic tracks you’re known for. It reminds me of the track you did with Skinnyy Hendrixx called Hittin’ Fo. Can you elaborate what mindset you were going into when you and The Uth came up with the track?

OG: BammBamm (the producer of the track) heard “Kareem” on the radio and reached out to me. He sent me a beat pack and told me I could have whatever I wanted. I went through it and I heard this beat… it was the first one that truly stood out to me… At the time, I was in a toxic relationship, I was dealing with my court case (facing 5-10 years for gun and drug charges) and honestly, I was like I truly want something better out of life.. I wanted my dreams to come to fruition and this hook kind of just came to me. Even though I was going through a lot I wanted to put positivity into something and I came up with “2K”. I was working on my album ILLEGAL with UTH and I went over to his studio with it. And man, this was definitely a track I put A LOT of work into. We must’ve recorded it 15 times over a span of 6 months. I re-wrote my verse probably 5 times because it was one of those things I really HAD to say exactly what I wanted to say exactly HOW I wanted to say it…

J: Back in August, you and other artists such as Ms. Proper, Reppa Ton, Big Al Harrison, Black Liquid, and more held a RVA Success Drive to raise awareness and collect school supplies for Richmond Public Schools. Before the school year ended, RPS had a few weeks where schools ran out of toilet paper and had an inadequate amount of other supplies. Was that situation your main influence for the school drive or were there more influences that went behind the curation of the drive?

OG: It was a mixture. My friend Tye hit us up and said let’s do something for the youth, I’m purchasing a bunch of bookbags and I want to do something to give back. We discussed and came up with the idea for a school drive. Naturally, I was put in charge of putting the event together and we decided after a meeting w/ Ms Proper to name it #RVASuccessDrive because we wanted to push that narrative. SUCCESS. Considering the problems in Richmond Public Schools, we DEFINITELY felt that situation was serious and wanted to help our city. It’s important to protect are youth AT ALL COST. They are the future and the only way they can have a chance is if we provide the best opportunities for that to happen. But it also is a personal thing for me as well. I grew up in the ghetto with a single mother, her abusive boyfriend and my 2 sisters… We WERE those kids, even after we got put into foster care, we were the kids getting donations, eating 2 free meals a day and having to really rely on the community to help us. I swore when I had a chance, I’d give back, and it’s just the first of many. Got other things planned for the community as well. *Wink wink*

J: How did you think the RVA Success Drive event turned out? I felt like that it was a very successful event. I had a great time at the event. The comedian from DC who hosted was hilarious and I loved the painting that the artist from North Carolina did.

OG: It was just that. A SUCCESS. We raised 3 boxes worth of school supplies and $260 in money which we went to Walmart and spent all of that on more school supplies and delivered them to Elkhardt Middle School.

J: Let’s get into more about you and your trials and tribulations. You’re transparent about growing up in foster care within your interviews and in your music. If you could, can you elaborate on how some imperative experiences that came with it affected how you developed your mentality today.

OG: Well, I don’t let it define me. And I never liked being “that kid” but it shaped mentally because I had to survive. On my own. Bouncing from foster home to foster home, juvenile detention, and group homes. Really trying to process it all now still to be honest. Dealt with neglect, abuse and really trying to find my place in life. but I have to say part of it was a blessing. My mother was poor, and my father was non-existent so when I was put into foster care I went to a more affluent side of town and even though I still didn’t have money or “finer things” I got to see a different type of lifestyle that inspired me. I wasn’t stuck in the slums mentally or physically anymore. I saw there was more out there for me and I went to get it.

J: You started off 2018 with going through some jail time, got out in June, then performed on the same stage as The Roots and Mad Skillz at the 106.5 The Beat Fest. In under a year, you went through a literal one eighty as it pertains to the direction that your life was going. How did the jail time change you? Did it create any quiddities that you hadn’t had before about your life and the things you do?

OG: Man. It was an eye opener. It made me appreciate my time more. I wrote, read and worked out a lot. Trying to make the most of my bid. But I spent a lot of my nights reflecting on how I spent my life, planning on how I would work extra hard and get myself out of the situation I was in. I think I missed my nieces more than anyone and I couldn’t stop obsessing over my album.

J: With all that you’ve done within the Virginia music scene, where is one venue that you hadn’t been at, but would like to perform at and why?

OG: The coliseum. And one day it’s going to happen. On everything.

J: How do you feel about the Virginia music scene as it pertains to other cities showing love for each other? I personally think that the issue with the Virginia music scene is different for each region, but I feel like that the cross regional love is okay. It’s not an issue to me, but I think that more of the issues are within the regions themselves showing love to other artists, brands, producers, within that same region.

OG: I don’t think it’s that at all… I think the problem is everyone feels the ONLY way to show love is to agree on everything. The real way to develop unity and building together doesn’t mean we all have to “like” each other’s music or always agree on everything but we can show each other how to build, plug each other in the right opportunities, learn from each other’s mistakes and success… talk marketing and creativeness to each other... not everyone is going to be a fan but doesn’t mean they can’t be an asset.

J: One last question, when can we expect Illegal to come out and what is a piece of advice that you would like to give to any aspiring creatives in the Virginia hip-hop scene?

OG: The album is coming out on Halloween. I want to just tell everyone, stay true to your dreams. Grow and get your money and marketing correct. It’ll take you a long way.

[idthellyeah-blog]

A totally timely and significant review of Rancid’s “...And Out Come The Wolves”

(I honestly don’t remember when I wrote this, maybe 2015. Definitely just got jacked up on something and decided that I needed to write a track by track review of an album I loved when I was a cool punk teen. It has just been sitting in my Google Drive patiently waiting to be posted.)

 I remember the first time I ever heard/saw Rancid was when the video for “Salvation” off of their second album “Let’s Go” premiered on MTV. Such an 80’s/90’s kid thing to do, discovering a new band by seeing a music video on TV, ugh. I thought the leather clad mohawked bad boys were amazing and perfect and so cool...that I immediately tried to spike my hair using gelatin (tru punx only) and got a leather jacket (did not look that cool and was very sweaty).  When “...And Out Come The Wolves” came out the next year (1995, I’m old AF) I was totally enamored and had found my #1 favorite album of all time (that lasted for like a year until music got better).  I was supposed to go see Rancid at a big show in Omaha, I lived in a small town called Columbus that was roughly 90 minutes away from the big city...but the day of my mom didn’t let me go because I had bad math grades.  I reacted the way any entitled white teen did, by laying in the garage and crying and playing their album.  That show wound up being a huge to-do when fans tore up seats in the venue and threw cushions at the band leading to Rancid not playing Omaha for a long time.  I missed out on some cool bad-ass punk rock shit, first world problems. Fast forward to today when I decided that I, Ian Douglas Terry, needed to write out a song-by-song review of this quintessential punk album.  I’m a real music nut, and obviously very good at structured writing...so here we go!  (Rock on)

1. Maxwell Murder - Oh boy, this one starts with like a subway train sound and then the beginning of a killer/complicated Matt Freeman bass line.  That dude SHREDS the bass, and even has a wild solo in this song.  That’s tight.  Why did they stop letting him sing?  He sounded like a fun Muppet on their first album and I loved his songs.  Maybe he wanted to focus on just shredding the bass and using tons of pomade.

2. The 11th Hour - This song is great.  It is poppy and upbeat and about a woman having dreams and demanding answers.  Hell yeah.  I love good punk music that supports women and feminism and figuring out where the power lies (spoiler alert, it starts and ends with you).  Remember how Brody from The Distillers left Tim Armstrong for the dude from Queens of the Stone Age? And then he got all fat and got a beard?  I can completely relate to that, and have been there sans beard.

3. Roots Radicals - This song RULES.  I had to look up what “Moonstompers” were and who “Desmond Dekker” was.  I remember trying to relate to this like it could somehow compare to living in a town with 20,000 people and the nicest Wal-Mart in the tri-county area.  Remember how there was that Spanish language cover of this on one of those “Give Em The Boot” comps that Hellcat put out? That was real tight.

4. Time Bomb - Hit single baby!  This had a huge hand in getting punk kids into reggae/ska for sure.  Killer organ solo, lots of rude boy shit going, I loved it so much.  Tim Armstrong totally re-used lyrics from the song “Motorcycle Ride” from the previous album...which is hilarious.  Like c’mon dawg...you should know your own lyrics.  I learned how to do the solo from this and felt like a guitar god (it is a very easy solo, like almost too easy).

5. Olympia, WA - I love songs like this that are about cities that the band isn’t from...so you have to fire up your imagination (or just read the lyrics) and be like, “What went down in Olympia, Washington????”.  Turns out it was mostly hanging out on different streets in New York and playing pinball with Puerto Ricans while wishing you were with a person who you were sleeping with in Washington.  Hell yeah, just like Shakespeare.

6. Lock, Step & Gone - Songs about docks were HUGE in my youth.  Dropkick Murphy’s had like eight songs about boys on them, and this Rancid song alludes to them.  I loved all of the blue collar, working class ideology that had nothing to remotely do with my comfortable upper middle class (not sure if that’s accurate because my parents were teachers, and like is there even a middle class any more?) life. This song definitely sums itself up at then end when it says “There’s a whole lot of nothin”.

7. Junky Man - Another theme that I could definitely relate to in a town of 20,000 people with like ten people who did meth...Junkies!  This song is pretty great because the dude from the Basketball Diaries does some sick poetry in it...that movie was nuts.  I like that song that he later wrote/sang about all the people he knew who died. The only way poetry can be cool is if the person is an insane drug addict with cool/sad stories to tell. Otherwise it is just loud diary reading.

8. Listed MIA - At this point I wholeheartedly agree with this song, “I’m checking out”.  I don’t know if I ever really liked this song or if this was just part of the “I accidentally left it playing after the first four songs that I liked were over”.  Lars says the derogatory f-word for homosexuals in it, because people called him that word...that doesn’t seem cool man.  I get that it rhymes with “maggots”, but maybe give white dudes in the Midwest less reasons to sing that word out loud.

9. Ruby Soho - This is one of the best songs ever, hands down.  It is beautiful and you can barely understand what Tim Armstrong is saying but it is wonderful.  I feel like deciphering his lyrics led me to be able to understand most speech impediments, so hell yeah.  This song is about loving someone a lot but having to leave them because it isn’t working out. This song was the blueprint for every romantic relationship I’ve ever had in my entire life so it might be a gypsy curse.

10. Daly City Train - Oh hell yeah, fun Reggae drums!  Through punk and ska I grew to appreciate Reggae, but through being bummed out about that culture’s deep seated homophobia and the fact that most of it is super repetitive and boring and for dad’s on vacation.  I’m just glad that 311 taught me to love those smooth Caribbean sounds again (oh god am I joking or am I serious, I can’t tell any more please save me).

11. Journey to the End of the Easy Bay - I can still play this bass line and was very proud of myself the first time I half-way pulled it off.  It doesn’t sound as smooth and nuanced as the way Matt Freeman plays it, but goddamn it I think that was the height of my skill as a musician.  This song rules themes about needing to belong and finding a place with people who thought and felt the same as you...and then losing it as everyone grows out of it.  This was most of my early 20’s. I grew up in a scene with similarly minded people, it eventually ended and I still have contact with some of those people but that point in my life will never be replicated. I finally belonged somewhere and was part of something bigger than me.  Now I do comedy and it is bleak, entitled, and sad and mostly alcoholics talking about their dicks.  Please take me back.

12. She’s Automatic - This is not a bad song but a very confusing way to describe a woman.  I get that it means she is effortless in “the way that she moves” but maybe I’m not giving Lars any poetic license because he looks like a guy who punched books. This woman sounds great though, and I’m sure they dated for three months.  Revisiting this and that era reminds me that I almost had sex with a girl at the first X-men movie...man, being punk ruled.

13. Old Friend - Back to the Raggae!  This song is pretty great, but they really missed an opportunity of selling this to a heartburn medicine company.  “Good morning heartache, you’re like an old friend come and see me again”...that would be perfect for a commercial of a guy eating a giant plate of lasagna and making a “Oh boy, I did it again!” face.  The Transplants sold a song to that fruit shampoo, maybe this is something I can retroactively help negotiate.

14. Disorder and Disarray -  I love when punk bands have songs about “business men” being evil and the industry being bad.  Like when Against Me were part of an Anarchist collective and then on a major label putting out really bad music.  Rancid was at least on Epitaph, which while arguably not “cool” it was at least run by a kind of punk dude who is responsible for the biggest/shittiest corporate garbage of a festival, The Warped Tour.  This song has a part towards the end where they talk to each other like David Lee Roth would do in Van Halen songs, that rules.

15. The Wars End - I get that this is a song about little Sammy being a punk rocker but at this point I think they should have admitted this album was fine with 10-12 songs and maybe some of these were super repetitive and unnecessary.  It's like you’re forcing it. I can’t imagine the dude who recorded it had a lot of fun and he probably fell asleep and was startled awake and had to pretend like he’d been paying attention the whole time.

16. You Don’t Care Nothin - This starts out with the exact chord progression from Journey To The End Of The East Bay….c’mon guys. You Don’t Care Nothin about being succinct and making your songs individual expressions of art! The themes even seem like something they’ve already gone over.  I’m going to eat some soup, brb.

17. As Wicked - Is this a different song or a weird breakdown?  Oh, it’s a different song.  Well...this soup is pretty good.  Chicken Noodle, but the chunky kind.  It isn’t amazing but it is good. I should really cook more.  Maybe I’ll order Chinese later.

18. Avenues & Alleyways - I don’t really have a problem with this song because it has the “Oi oi oi” chant that the bands I was in during High School would do and we had no idea why other than popular bands doing it.  It is very catchy.  It sounds like the other two songs were just building up to finally getting your attention back. Plus it has a breakdown with people clapping, that is always fun.  This has to be the last song right? It is the perfect last song on an album!

19. The Way I Feel -  FUUUUUUUCK!  What? Really should have ended the album on that last song, it had a good “anthem” vibe and at least wrapped this up into a somewhat sensible endeavor.  This song could have been stuck in the middle somewhere, or maybe just not recorded with about seven others?  The Way I Feel about this album is that there are some parts that hold up and are still fun to listen to, but the rest of it just seems like I’m being forced to read my own teenage diary and it is boring and sad. Nostalgia is a bummer, I can’t imagine having Rancid still be my favorite band.  I’d probably still wear a chain wallet and spiky bracelet and be one of those obnoxious old drunk weirdos I see at shows that stick out like crazy sore thumbs. Bummer dude.

    Oh wow, what a journey (to the end of the east bay, am I right?)...I’m glad I was finally able to get this review out so people could finally know what this album means to me and my generation of lazy weirdos. This took me six months to write and I should be congratulated for being a journalist with tons of integrity and great taste.  True punks never die, they just eventually chill out and shop at Kohl’s.

[innocent-thot-blog]

How were chosen the Names for Super Mario

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When I discovered that out I did 2 things. For starters, I whipped out the copy of mine (yes, I ensure that it stays which real/nerdy which I continue to have a well used NES hooked up in my room) and made positive I will be able to match the game at will. (I can. Childhood not wasted.)

Secondly, I initiated down a rabbit hole of looking at Mario internet sites as well as Articles and Wikis. In the procedure, I stumbled upon the etymologies of the labels of a number of the key players in the Mario universe. So, in honor of the video game which often changed the planet, right here they're, presented in handy 11 item describe form.

Mario.

When Mario debuted in the arcade game "Donkey Kong", he was simply known as Jumpman. (Which additionally is actually the generic name regarding that Michael Jordan dispersed leg Nike logo. 2 of the most legendary icons ever before each have generic versions of themselves called Jumpman. But simply at least one has today arrived at the effort of simply being very impressive that he shaved himself a Hitler mustache before filming a business and the balls were had by nobody to fix him.)

In 1980, as the Nintendo of America team brought in Jumpman to raise him straight into a franchise-leading star (Hayden Christensen style), somebody seen that he looked like their Seattle office building's landlord... a guy named Mario Segale.

Mario Segale didn't obtain a cent for being the namesake of one of the most famous video game persona perhaps, but he probably is not too concerned; in 1998 he sold the asphalt small business of his for around $60 million. (Or 600,000 increased lives.)

Luigi.

Luigi has one of the weakest name roots of all of the nintendo mario characters in the Mario universe (once again displaying precisely why, for life that is real, he would have a greater inferiority complicated compared to Frank Stallone, Abel or even that last Manning brother).

"Luigi" is simply the product of a group of Japanese males working to imagine an Italian brand to enhance "Mario." Why was the Italian name they went with? When they each moved from Japan to Seattle, the pizza area nearby to the Nintendo headquarters referred to as Mario & Luigi's. (It has since gone from business.)

Koopa.

Koopa is a transliterated variation of the Japanese rap for the opponent turtles, "Kuppa." Stick with me right here -- kuppa is the Japanese word for a Korean dish known as gukbap. Basically it's a cup of soup with grain. From what I surely explain to it is absolutely not related to turtles, particularly malicious ones.

In an interview, Mario's author, Shigeru Miyamoto, stated he was deciding between 3 names that are distinct due to the racing of evil turtles, each one of which were called after Korean foods. (The other 2 were yukhoe and bibimbap.) Which means one of 2 things: (one) Miyamoto loves Korean foods and was looking to provide it with a tribute or (two) Miyamoto thinks Koreans are evil and should be jumped on.

Wario.

I sort of overlooked the debut of Wario -- he debuted in 1992, right around when I was hitting the age just where I was way too awesome for cartoon y Nintendo games. (Me and the middle school buddies of mine were into Genesis only. I was back again on Nintendo within 4 years.)

Seems the title of his operates both in english and Japanese; I kinda assumed the English manner but did not know about the Japanese element. In English, he is an evil, bizarro community mirror image of Mario. The "M" turns to turn into a "W" and Wario is created. The name also operates in Japanese, where it's a combination of Mario and "warui," that means "bad."

That's a pretty good scenario, since, as I covered thoroughly in the list eleven Worst Japanese-To-English Translations In Nintendo History, don't assume all language distinction finesses back as well as forth very smoothly.

Waluigi.

When I initially seen "Waluigi" I assumed it was hilarious. While Wario was obviously a natural counterbalance to Mario, Waluigi felt extremely comically shoehorned (just tacking the "wa" prefix before Luigi) -- like a huge inside joke that somehow cleared every single bureaucratic phase and cracked the mainstream.

Well... based on the Nintendo folks, Waluigi isn't just a gloriously idle choice or perhaps an inside joke gone huge. They *say* it is based upon the Japanese word ijiwaru, which means "bad guy."

I do not know. I think that we would have to meet them much more than halfway to invest in that.

Toad.

Toad is designed to look like a mushroom (or maybe toadstool) because of the massive mushroom hat of his. It's a good thing the gaming systems debuted before the entire generation understood how you can earn penis jokes.

Anyway, in Japan, he's named Kinopio, which is a blend of the term for mushroom ("kinoko") as well as the Japanese variant of Pinocchio ("pinokio"). Those blend to be something along the collections of "A Real Mushroom Boy."

Goomba.

In Japanese, these men are referred to as kuribo, that results in "chestnut people." That seems sensible because, ya know, if another person asked you "what do chestnut folks appear to be like?" you'd most likely arrive at something nearly like the heroes.

When they had been imported for the American model, the staff tangled with the Italian initiative of theirs and also known as them Goombas... based off the Italian "goombah," that colloquially means something as "my fellow Italian friend." Furthermore, it type of evokes the picture of low-level mafia hooligans without too a lot of competencies -- such as individuals younger brothers and also cousins who they had to retain the services of or perhaps mom would yell at them. That also is true for the Mario Bros. goombas.

Birdo.

Birdo has nothing at all to do with this original Japanese name. Generally there, he's called Kyasarin, which translates to "Catherine."

In the training manual for Super Mario Bros. two, where Birdo debuted, the character explanation of his reads: "Birdo considers he's a girl and would like to be called Birdetta."

What I believe this all means? Nintendo shockingly decided to develop a character that struggles with his gender identity and then called him Catherine. When it was a bit of time to show up to America, they have cold feet so they decided at the last minute to phone him Birdo, even though he's a dinosaur. (And don't provide me the "birds are descended from dinosaurs" pop paleontology series. Not buying that connection.) In that way, we would only understand about his gender misunderstandings in case we have a look at mechanical, and the Japanese were convinced Americans were either way too idle or perhaps illiterate to do it en masse.

Princess Toadstool/Peach.

When everyone got released to the Princess, she was recognized as Princess Toadstool. I guess this made sense -- Mario was put in the Mushroom Kingdom, so why would not its monarch be called Princess Toadstool. Them inbreeding blue bloods are always naming their children after the country.

No person appears to be sure the reason they went the direction, however. In Japan, she was known as Princess Peach from day one. The term didn't debut here until 1993, when Yoshi's Safari became available for Super Nintendo. (By the way -- have you played Yoshi's Safari? In an unconventional twist it's a first-person shooter, the only person in the entire Mario history. It's like something like a country music superstar putting out a weird rock album.)

Bowser.

In Japan, there's certainly no Bowser. He is simply referred to as the King Koopa (or maybe similar variations, including Great Demon King Koopa). So where did Bowser come from?

During the import approach, there was a problem that the American crowd would not understand how the little turtles and big bad man might certainly be known as Koopa. Thus a marketing team developed a large number of choices for a title, they liked Bowser the very best, and slapped it on him.

In Japan, he's nonetheless rarely known as Bowser. Over here, the title of his has become so ubiquitous that he is even supplanted Sha Na Na's Bowzer as America's most famous Bowser.

Donkey Kong.

This's a far more literal interpretation than you think. "Kong" is based off King Kong. "Donkey" is a family friendly means of calling him an ass. That's right: The label of his is an useful variation of "Ass Ape."

[purecamp]

fic masterlist!

a collection of every rpdr i have ever written! contains much shalaska, some shillam, some witney, and dribs and drabs of branjie and taywhora

Oneshots

Sharon fucking Needles - sharon drunk texts alaska, who tells her to get her shit together if she wants to get back together. so that’s what she does.

Conflicted - (au) aaron’s conflicted because he has a secret: he’s a drag queen. little does he know, his boyfriend justin is conflicted too, for the same reason: he’s also a drag queen. one night in a bar, they find out the other’s secret.

Dead Girls Never Say No - after listening to the lyrics written about her in alaska’s bitch track ‘The T’, sharon is understandably upset. fame hardened alaska to the point where she feels like an emotionless dead girl, but as the song goes, dead girls never say no.

Would You Be So Kind - justin feels funny, and he feels funny because he’s in love. aaron feels funny, and he also feels funny because he’s in love. based off the dodie clark song

Vera Amoris - (au) alaska’s a brand new witch in town, who doesn’t know the other witches yet. after getting tricked by the evil phi phi to drink a potion she shouldn’t drink, jinkx rushes her to the town potion master, sharon, for help.

Soulmate - justin believes that in life, you have more than one soulmate, but each of your soulmates stay with you forever. so it still hurts when your first soulmate dies too young.

Weird - (au) alaska finds out her asshole boyfriend is cheating on her, and promptly breaks up with him. however, she’s left with a problem: she has no money, her phone is dead and broken, and she’s lost. a hooker by the name of sharon needles comes to the rescue, which in alaska’s eyes is frankly? a little weird.

Two Hearts and a Home - pure fluff and romance ensues in early december, when justin enlists the help of his lazy boyfriend aaron to put up the christmas tree.

Say Cheese! - sharon won’t smile for a picture. alaska is determined that, anyway she can, she will get the bitch to fucking smile.

Ferris Wheel - it’s not shalaska it’s witney. willam has a date perfectly planned out for courtney, but she ruins it by insisting they go on the fair down at the beach. willam totally isn’t afraid of heights, the ferris wheel doesn’t bother her at all.

Did You Miss Me Enough To Drink Or Did You Drink Enough To Miss Me? - sharon drinks far too much and sometimes can’t stop saying what’s on her mind. alaska doesn’t know if she misses her enough to drink, or if she simply drank enough to miss her. she never finds out.

Lost and Found - (au) it’s been five weeks since alaska went missing from her college, which she attended with girlfriend sharon and best friend jinkx. then, out on a walk at one in the morning, sharon finds her.

Turn Off The Lights - every time alaska calls, sharon answers. she swears she’s going to give her up, but she never does. she’s taking every chance she’s got, like the man she knows she’s not. based off the song by panic! at the disco.

Sensible - after falling for shea during the filming of drag race, sasha isn’t sure she’s made a particularly sensible decision, and a little fight ensues.

Mine And Yours - (au) stealing each other’s clothes goes from a fun little game to all-out war. alaska, naturally, intends on winning.

Hush Little Baby - (au) new parent alaska is left at home with her baby girl whilst her wife sharon goes out to work. the problem? alaska is convinced the sniffles and sneezes are something much worse than they actually are.

A-B-C-D-E-F-G - (au) alaska goes to her friend willam’s house for what she thinks is a halloween party. to her surprise, the “party” is more of a seance to chat with a guest who turns out to have more than a little bit of affection for one of the players.

Finding You - witney, in which the infamous willam and courtney fight is explored, and perhaps the root of it all is jealousy?

Piano Wire - (au) collab with @laskathunderfun - a dark sided piece based off of sharon’s song “piano wire” in which aaron is a murderer

Weather Girl - (au) alaska, a brand new weather girl, is a small fish in a big pond of tv news. sharon is the host.

As Long As You’re Mine - (au) inspired by wicked. sharon is always the bad one next to hilarious and well loved katya. for the first time, sharon does something that makes her feel as wicked as they say she is.

She Calls Me Your Highness - (au) the princess willam has a complicated relationship with young serving maid sharon.

What Do You Know About Love? - (au) sharon and willam are boarding school students and best friends who disagree, fundamentally, on their idea of what love is. eventually, they come to an understanding.

My Frankenstein - (au) mad scientist sharon is working on bringing her second creation to life while her first, alaska, watches. halloween fun and my first ever smut! 

The Land Of The Midnight Sun - (au) sharon wants to escape from the world and live where no one will ever find her again. she meets another lost soul who helps her to do so, and she and alaska reflect on how the world got so dark just for loving girls.

(Less Than) A Thousand Miles - (au) with the world in lockdown, alaska begins working from home, and makes a new friend over zoom who begins to brighten her world again.

Strangers - (au) sharon isn’t gay, even if she does hook up with this girl all the time, drunk or sober. she’s not. she swears.

Things That Were - (au) it’s christmas, and brooke reflects on everything that went wrong with vanessa during the awkward transition between xmas and new year.

Someone I Genuinely Love (au) - uni students tayce and a’whora attend lawrence’s house party, when an argument breaks out between a’whora and tia. even the bitch needs some love sometimes.

Multi-chapters

Sharon and Phi Phi’s Bitch Of A Bucket List (discontinued) - the zombie apocalypse has finally happened, and everyone has different priorities. phi phi wants to survive. sharon wants to find alaska. the three of them stumble across their friend’s survival base and try to live their lives. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

Party (complete) - jinkx’s halloween party goes wrong, leading sharon and alaska down a confusing road of drugs, admitting feelings, and hiding. just when things are going okay, it all goes drastically wrong. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13

Just The Two Of Us (in progress) - (au) hogwarts student alaska gets together with long-time crush and close friend, sharon, in the same year that the triwizard tournament begins. but her slytherin girlfriend harbours a dark past and the triwizard tournament may only be an obstacle in overcoming that. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14

Mean Queens (complete, collab with @thewritingnymph) - (au) mean girls crossover in which newbie russian, katya, joins a new school and befriends adore and ginger, who have spent most of their school lives being bulled by the three ‘mean queens’ who run the school. sharon, violet and alaska are life-ruiners. the three of them hatch a plan to take the mean queens down once and for all. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21

In Sickness and In Health (in progress) - (au) princess sharon is sick, and the king lets out a desperate appeal to save her: whoever will venture out to find the witch who can do it will recieve riches beyond their belief. however, the princess is inches from death and alaska isn’t sure she can get through it without sharon dying, the witch refusing, or even falling in love. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7

Bosom Buddies (in progress, collab with @thewritingnymph) - (au) based on the song bosom buddies, two new york-dwelling theatre sisters, alaska and jinkx, get a little more than they bargained for when the circus comes to town, bringing eccentric performers such as ivy winters and sharon needles into the mix. 1 - 2 - 3

Withstanding The Test Of Time (in progress) - (au) intern journalist hates many things, including her job, her coworkers, and the oppression from the government forcing you to marry your soulmate a month after your timer ticks down to zero. luckily, sharon has two years left. and then - she doesn’t. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5

Means Queens Ever After (collab with @thewritingnymph) - (au) the mean queens didnt die immediately after prom so here’s the rest of their lives lol. Girls Gone Camping - A Triple A Christmas - Violet’s Fashion Show - Some Things Never Change

Here I Go Again - (au) a mamma mia au in which trixie is getting married and decides to invite her three potential dads, much to her mom sharon’s chagrin. Prologue - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - Epilogue Part 1 - Epilogue Part 2

(I Can Still Recall) Our Last Summer - (au) prequel to here i go again, following the life of young sharon as she meets three strangers who will change her life forever. 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7

Case Closed - (au) inspired by b99, alaska is the best detective in the NYPD, of course. nothing will change that, not even the arrival of the stupidly named detective needles and her charm. 1 - 2

The Needles Family Values (discontinued) - (au, collab with aqcitrus) addams family inspired fic following the return of alaska’s unusual sister, katya, and the hijinks of the creepy, kooky, mysterious, spooky household. 1 - 2

[rachelkaser]

[Flashback Friday] Should You Buy? God of War III Remastered

That the new God of War game is out, looking like a cut-rate Viking Last of Us, and everyone’s praising it to the damned sky and back. I’m sure I’ll probably play it at some point, just to see if it matches the praise. Still, I’m not sure I’m ready to handle Kratos -- Kratos, of all people -- having complex emotions and a complicated father-son relationship (ask his daughter Calliope how it went last time he flexed his dad muscles). But the series is well-and-truly on my mind at the moment, so I might as well look back on my last review of a God of War game.

Why does this exist? What niche does this fill? What audience is this game pandering to? Who decided that God of War III specifically was such an important gaming treasure that it needed to be remastered and preserved for the next generation?

To answer some of these questions, we must go back to the roots of the series: God of War is a great hack-n-slash series, as well as a hilariously gory and irreverent take on Greek mythology. You play Kratos, a remorseless Spartan killing machine who feels no emotions beyond barely-contained rage and who was elevated to the rank of God of War after slaying Ares in the first game. When the gods and Titans betray him, he will stop at nothing to brutally kill every last one of them, along with any mortal, monster, and inanimate object in his way.

God of War isn't as low-brow as it might seem at first blush. So much of modern Western civilization is built around concepts and characters from the Greco-Roman time period and myths that Kratos ripping them to shreds with prejudice feels wickedly subversive. Also, it's fun to play as Kratos, who commits deicide on a daily basis and will let absolutely nothing stand in his way.

So I have nothing against God of War, but I do not understand why only III was remastered as opposed to the whole series up to this point. The first two games were released for the PS2, so they could use some updating for the people who started with the last or current console generations. I think a God of War Remastered Collection would have been a much better thing to make.

Ordinarily I'd never put down a game simply because it wasn't the way I wanted it to be. But the problem with this game is that I can only presume it was made for those gamers who didn’t play the last game. Either this means that the target audience played the PS2 games and skipped the PS3 game, or they’ve never played a GoW game before. If the former, then they could benefit from the refresher course, since the PS2 games are about a decade old. If the latter, then the story will not make a lick of sense since it begins exactly where II ended and barely explains anything.

The graphics are the only thing that seems to benefit from the upgrade. Everything looks very pretty and colorful, but it’s not really that much more polished than it was when the game was released for the PS3. I admit I didn’t play very much of III for the PS3, so my memories may be vague, but I don’t think there are any other updates.

As much fun as it is to play God of War, I'm still baffled by the fact that this game exists. If you’ve never played a GoW game before, I guess this'll be a fun thing to pick up. But it still seems very redundant.

[rawstreetjournal-blog]

Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg Running for President in 2020

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg's reading list reveals the worldview which he would introduce into White House if he ever gets elected as president.

Washington, DC - If there was ever any doubt that Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg is considering a run for the White House run in 2020, those doubts can now be safely laid to rest. He's not just considering it, he's been waiting for this opportunity for awhile. In June, Time magazine published a little-read article listing Zuckerberg's listing 23 books that the Zuck thought everyone should read and no that list does not include "How to become a social media billionaire before the age of 30." Instead and perhaps somewhat expected, the list is full of liberal and social texts which give a glimpse of Zuckerberg's vision of a Utopian society for America.

RELATED: ZUCKERBERG GETS SCHOOLED ON WHY AMERICA IS TRUMP COUNTRY

Zuckerberg has stated before that he has a single mission, to connect people around the world. It's one reason why he decided to launch a Facebook-based book club last year, with a reading list that focuses on "different cultures, beliefs, histories, and technologies."

We’ve picked the top three titles which Zuckerberg has in his reading list prescribed for everyone and why if they represent his Utopian vision for the United States, we should all be very, very worried.

1. The Muqaddimah by Ibn Khaldun

Top on Zuckerberg's reading list is the Islamic historian Ibn Khaldun's "The Muqaddimah," which translates to "The Introduction". A historical text written in 1377, The Muqaddimah supposedly is an attempt to strip away biases of historical records and find universal elements in the progression of humanity. However, nothing could be further from the truth. The text is rife with historical inaccuracies challenged by countless other texts written around the same time, many of which claim that the text was written to glorify the achievements of the Islamic Ottoman empire, a time when Muslims ruled a vast track of land from Europe in the west to Pakistan in the east. The Ottoman empire was unstoppable during this period, destroying Christian villages and pillaging Christian lands. The Muqaddimah was written against this backdrop and paints the Muslim marauders and liberators who brought order and culture to the land, although nothing could be further from the truth. Christian 'infidels' were tortured and their women used as sex slaves.

The Ottoman Empire did not ring the doorbell before coming.

Flashback to our current era and you'll see why Islamic State (IS) and other terrorist groups yearn for the 'Caliphate', Islamic lands where Islamic Laws rule once again, the roots of IS are based in the Ottoman empire.

However Zuckerberg looks at the text from a slightly different perspective, in his review of The Muqaddimah he writes,

"While much of what was believed then is now disproven after 700 more years of progress, it's still very interesting to see what was understood at this time and the overall worldview when it's all considered together."

The Muqaddimah is full of incorrect assumptions and worldviews, many of which are violent and oppress women. The killing of non-Muslims is seen as a justifiable ends to establishing a global caliphate. Despite Zuckerberg himself admitting that most of the contents of the book have been disproved, he still suggests we read it. Why? To self-indoctrinate on Islamic ideology.

2. The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander

Alexander is a law professor at Ohio State University and a civil-rights advocate who argues in her book that the "war on drugs" has fostered a culture in which nonviolent black males are over-represented in prison, and then are treated as second-class citizens once they are freed. Yet such an argument flies in the face of actual statistics from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) which shows clearly that blacks above the age of 12 have a drug use incidence of 12.4 percent, more than 2 percent above the national average of 10.2 percent. Despite only making up 13 percent of the population, blacks are over-represented in homicides, racking up a whopping 52 percent of all homicides between 1980 and 2008. In simpler terms, just over 1 in 10 Americans is black, but over 1 in 2 murders in America are committed by a black person. There is a reason why black males are over-represented in prison, they over-represent in murders. Yet when reviewing The New Jim Crow,  Zuckerberg writes,

"I've been interested in learning about criminal justice reform for a while, and this book was highly recommended by several people I trust."

Demonstrators climb on a destroyed Baltimore Police car in the street near the corner of Pennsylvania and North avenues during violent protests following the funeral of Freddie Gray April 27, 2015 in Baltimore, Maryland. Gray, 25, who was arrested for possessing a switch blade knife April 12 outside the Gilmor Homes housing project on Baltimore's west side.

At the risk of sounding alarmist, this is the very same view held by former president Barrack Obama, who freed the blacks from the prison and will likely set the country up for a second crime wave if Zuckerberg ever became president. Today, in inner cities like Baltimore and Chicago, black gang violence, crime and murder is so rampant, city residents have taken to trying to declare weekends where no one gets killed and even that doesn't work.

3. The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James

William James (1849-1919) is "considered by many to be the most insightful and stimulating of American philosophers," according to the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy from the University of Tennessee.

Mark Zuckerberg has long professed to be an atheist, but with the prospect of a Christian America looming whose votes he wants has suddenly conceded that the idea of a God could be an 'interesting' one.

The Varieties of Religious Experience is a collection of written lectures that explore the religious consciousness and the mechanics of how people use religion as a source of meaning, compelling them to move onward through life with energy and purpose. Zuckerberg writes,

"When I read 'Sapiens,' I found the chapter on the evolution of the role of religion in human life most interesting and something I wanted to go deeper on."

Zuckerberg has never professed to be religious nor believed in God, until recently, when he acknowledged the existence of a God, but the admission was more likely a public relations prelude to his 2020 presidential bid. If elected, we can expect Zuckerberg to re-fund Planned Parenthood and secularize the White House just as Obama had done during his administration. Zuckerberg views religion, as he has clearly stated, as a means to an end rather than as a higher calling, describing it as "interesting", the way you would find knitting or pottery an "interesting" past time, as opposed to an intimate relationship with one's creator. In essence, Zuckerberg's view is that God did not create man, instead man created God to fill his time.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg at the APEC CEO Summit in 2014. A presidential bid in 2020 for the young CEO is becoming an increasing possibility.

The books a person spends his time reading can offer a glimpse into their worldview. The Zuckerberg worldview is the very worldview that Americans overwhelmingly rejected in the 2016 Presidential Election. It is a worldview which puts America's interests last, accepts and tolerates an Islamic worldview where the application of Islamic Sharia Law is allowed to propagate, does not acknowledge that we have a crime problem and denies the existence of a God. Zuckerberg's reading list betrays a man who is completely out of touch with the average American. Middle America has been hurting under close to a decade of Obama's liberal revival and the economic disenfranchisement of millions of ordinary Americans is what has led to the resurgence in white supremacist groups.

RELATED: TRUMP IS THE SOLUTION TO WHITE SUPREMACY

However, unlike Hilary Clinton, Zuckerberg has one extremely powerful tool which could sway things in his favor. He controls the media and how we consumer information. Facebook is a powerful tool and Zuckerberg owns it. With the click of a mouse, Zuckerberg can dictate what we receive on our newsfeeds, the stories we see most often appear, the kinds of stories and by doing so he can subtly manipulate our worldviews. Hitler himself was famously quoted as saying,

"If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed."

In fact, who's to say that Zuckerberg has not already begun his campaign of liberal mind control? How are we to know that the news stories we receive on our Facebook newsfeeds are not carefully crafted to present liberal worldviews? How are we to know that Zuckerberg has not already begun to paint conservatism in a negative light by as simple a tweak as suppressing stories? The reality is that we don't know and we can never know, unless someone working within the Facebook machinery were to leak the information.

RELATED: FAKE NEWS CHECKERS SECRETLY FURTHER LIBERAL AGENDA

Fortunately, not everyone is online.

Zuckerberg's cold and analytical approach to human problems will mean that he will always come off as a robot trying to fill a human's job in the White House. People need a leader, not a robot, which helps to explain why Hilary lost in 2016. If Zuckerberg does decide to run in 2020, he will have a decidedly uphill task, one that no amount of artificial intelligence will have immediate answers for.

[innistrahd]

Curse of Strahd, Episode 08

AKA Strahd Burns Up... Well, sorta.

Recap

Where we left our heroes (Ileana the Swordstealer, Nyx the werewolf, Mike the also-now-a-werewolf-apparently, Claris the wizardess, along with their companion Frederick the animated armor), Ileana had just had a creepy vision about the Gulthias Tree at Yester Hill, and Mike had just gone berserk after seeing the horse Mistrunner’s corpse, and revealed his new nature as a werewolf. As we left off, they were talking to Davian about 3 missing magic gemstones that powered the winery, and Nyx was sealing off the wall in the basement behind which was a shambling mound.

Gathering and the ‘Hobb

So the party split off and spent a little time doing their own things and taking it easy, and as they gathered together they learned that they’d each had quite a bit of a little experience there. Nyx revealed that while alone she’d been visited by this big toad-human hybrid, which gave her a letter requesting her presence in the ruins of the town of Berez. Ileana revealed she’d met a small gnome-like man in a red hat who called her “Ma” and wanted her to find him things to kill, and he called himself Bloodletter. Mike was visited by a small creature that kept stealing things from his pack or causing him minor problems like snapping a lute string. Claris read some books in her off time. 

As they discussed what to do next, and the Martikovs of the winery promised the group they’d deliver the wine to Vallaki and Krezk, the group settled on going to Krezk first. This seemed to anger the toad-thing (called a banderhobb), which attempted to grab Nyx in its mouth and jump away with her. This started out going well for it since it got a bit of a surprise on the group, but once they realized what was going on, they pretty easily stopped the thing by creating a fake Nyx and hiding the real one in a bunch of plant growth. The banderhobb stole the fake Nyx (some sawdust in an old suit of armor but illusioned to look like Nyx) and hopped away towards Berez. 

Plant Growth, Wolves, Wood Woads

So, after dealing with the banderhobb’s wild outrage (Bloodletter got really mad at Ileana that he couldn’t kill it), the group kinda settled in for a bit of a resting period. Mike talked to the Martikovs and promised to cast a plant growth spell to help the vineyard grow fertile in the stead of the missing gemstones, and the others kind of went off to take it easy for awhile while Mike cast this 8-hour-long casting time spell. Part-way through casting the spell some wolves showed up and started circling the winery, and a couple broke off from the pack to try to attack Mike, but Claris was at the ready and cast an illusion that tricked the wolves into giving up their attack. 

A little bit after that, while Mike was still casting, Ileana was approached by these two critters that looked a little something like 4.5-foot-tall men made of wood that looked like the Gulthias Tree from Ileana’s vision. They tried to talk to Ileana, and when she couldn’t understand them they pulled on her hands to try to get her to go with them. Bloodletter tried to attack the wood creatures, and they promptly and quickly beat him down and killed him. But they didn’t seem too aggressive if noone attacked them first, so Claris cast a Comprehend Languages spell and got the impression that they wanted Ileana to follow them to go to Yester Hill and meet with the druids there, and that it was something rather important. 

Yester Hill

Well, Mike was still casting his spell at this point, but the wood creatures seemed insistent that Ileana come along, so Ileana and Nyx followed the wood critters to the Yester Hill (a couple-hour walk at the slow pace they were going) while Claris stayed behind to watch over Mike as he cast and also just take a nap. When they arrived at Yester Hill (Nyx staying in wolf form for the journey), they were surrounded by druids, who handed Ileana an antlered helm and declared her the new leader of the druids of Barovia. 

Claris showed up in time to see this happen, but Mike was still asleep (being carried by Frederick). Claris snuck around the hill and tried to figure out what was going on, and Ileana heard a voice calling to her, telling her to find a spear nearby and wield it against evil. Ileana and Nyx talked to the druids and learned about the Gulthias Tree and the giant effigy of Strahd that the druids had built (which they called Wintersplinter, and said they were going to animate and have it attack the winery, which they were going to do come morning, when Strahd himself was supposed to arrive on the Hill to watch the ritual). Claris snuck up to the base of the tree and stole a bunch of loot off a skeleton sitting at the base of the tree, while Nyx used her mage hand to steal the glowing gem from the heart of the effigy of Strahd.

About that time Mike woke up, feeling pretty rested, to find that nobody was around other than Frederick who was watching over him, and that he was in a strange place far away from where he’d gone to bed. Frederick handed him a note saying that Claris had gone up the hill, and so Mike set off in that direction. Not too long after that, Claris started lighting the Gulthias Tree on fire, and Ileana joined in by discretely calling lightning down on the tree, and soon enough they’d destroyed the tree, the effigy of Strahd, and all of the druids that lived on Yester Hill. Then, they ran. Fast.

DM Notes

-Ileana + the Druids: I wasn’t expecting Ileana to necessarily become the leader of the druids when I started this all out, but I think how things played out worked out really well for everyone. Yeah, so even as the session started I wasn’t exactly sure what was gonna go on with the druids, but Ileana’s vision felt like it had to be important in some way, and I needed a way to use the Wood Woads from Volo’s Guide so this seemed appropriate. The druids of Barovia worship Strahd as a god, and Ileana wasn’t exactly on board with that, so I guess I didn’t have to worry about her abusing that power, but I did worry a bit at first. But I think it all turned out okay, and very interestingly, and also I’m just glad to have a session that wasn’t at or around the winery, since I feel like probably over half of this campaign has happened around the winery lately.

-Magic Item Horde: Claris collected a bunch of cool stuff on the skeleton, most of which wasn’t really supposed to be there originally. As written, the only things on the skeleton were the axe embedded in the tree and the holy symbol buried under the tree’s roots. However, I was struck by some inspiration in the 11th hour and added in a cloak, some leather armor, a book, and a crystal to the skeleton’s loot hoard, which should be fun. I won’t say what all of them are going to do, yet, because I haven’t exactly decided and also I don’t want to reveal too much until Claris has actually identified them, but we’ll reveal them all later.

-Berez: Before the session started I read the whole chapter on the ruins of Berez and drew up a map of Berez, then the players decided they weren’t going to go with the banderhobb to Berez, so all that last-minute prep work went to waste. I mean, it’s okay, since I really didn’t feel totally on-board with running that yet, but also it just kinda goes to show how you really can’t totally plan for what’s gonna happen. Players kinda like to do their own things. And, admittedly I also kinda pushed them a little by forcing the banderhobb’s swallow-and-steal plan a little early which kind of initiated combat with it, but they also didn’t particularly try to fight the wood creatures, despite realizing that fire clearly damaged them. So... *shrug*

-Sillier time: So, I started listening to the Adventure Zone recently, which is a great and hilarious D&D podcast, but why that’s relevant is that I felt like (and I could be wrong about this but I felt like) this session was a lot sillier and less serious than many of the other Curse of Strahd sessions that we’ve done before. And I’m totally okay with that. It was still a very good time and I had a blast, and I get the feeling my players did too and that’s really all that matters. And TAZ is relevant because its silly antics got me really pumped to do D&D this week and so I may have made some far-less-serious characters in response to TAZ. 

[njawaidofficial]

Terry Crews Is Not Going Down Without A Fight

https://styleveryday.com/2018/03/15/terry-crews-is-not-going-down-without-a-fight/

Terry Crews Is Not Going Down Without A Fight

Terry Crews says he didn’t plan for it to happen like this. Five days after the New York Times published a bombshell report on allegations of sexual harassment and assault against Harvey Weinstein, and five days before the #MeToo movement found new energy, Crews took a moment between shooting scenes at work to send a series of tweets detailing his own experience allegedly being groped by a powerful Hollywood agent.

Terry Crews and Andy Samberg in Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

20thCentFox / Everett Collection

“I was on the set [of Brooklyn Nine-Nine], shaking,” Crews told BuzzFeed News of the moment he decided to go public with his experience. “I didn’t call my publicist, I didn’t call my friends, I didn’t call my manager, I didn’t call my wife. I just started tweeting.” In those first tweets, Crews recalled being groped at an industry party in 2016. He’d later name the man who allegedly did it as Adam Venit, an agent at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME), and Crews is currently suing both Venit and the company. Venit represents some of the most famous actors in Hollywood, including Sylvester Stallone, Adam Sandler, and more. Crews said the incident itself took place at Sandler’s house. Venit has since apologized, and while the LAPD has declined to pursue a criminal case, Crews isn’t done speaking out. After all, why stop now?

Zinc Ink

Crews has had a feud with toxic masculinity — the idea that men are taught to adhere to specific, damaging gender roles — for years. He launched his battle via his 2014 book, Manhood: How to Be a Better Man — or Just Live With One. It was then that Crews declared himself a feminist on Larry King Now. It was also the era in which he began speaking publicly about his porn addiction, his stint in rehab to treat it, and his changing relationship to the ideals of “manliness.”

Four years after the release of his book, Crews is still making headlines about his relationship to toxic masculinity. Nowadays, though, the tenor of the narrative is different. In one of his initial tweets about his assault, Crews wrote about the fear that drives so many victims stay silent, especially in Hollywood. “Who is going 2 believe you? (few) What r the repercussions? (many) Do u want 2 work again? (Yes) R you prepared 2 be ostracized? (No).”

The decision to come forward about his experience came as a relief, according to Crews. But it also came at a cost. “Once I hit send, I literally felt this weight come off me,” he said. “I went back to work, and I turned my phone off. And when I came back to my phone, the world had changed.”

Six months later, Crews is still grappling with what those changes — from an ongoing legal battle to the perception of his peers — will mean for his life going forward.

Terry Crews in Battle Dome Season 1, 1999–2001.

Columbia Tristar / Everett Collection

Crews is no stranger to calling out institutions he views as harmful. He spent seven years in the NFL, which, as he told Arsenio Hall in 2013, carries with it a “culture of intimidation, humiliation, and violence.” He later echoed that on Hot 97 in 2017, also while talking about the NFL. “It’s an abusive relationship, you know why? Because they know you’re going to get hurt. It’s built in,” he said. He also knows what it’s like to lose access to those powerful behemoths. When Crews left the NFL in 1997, he had only six months worth of savings to his name. He assumed he’d get the Hollywood work he wanted right away because of the platform the NFL gave him. Instead, he took a job sweeping floors to make ends meet until he got a part on Battle Dome in 1999.

Now, Crews has been enmeshed in Hollywood for nearly 20 years. It’s a relationship that’s currently in a state of flux, precisely because he has refused to stay silent. According to Crews, the way people in the industry interact with him has shifted palpably since the day he went public with his accusation against Venit. “I walk in the room, and the room is split right down the middle,” he said. “It just divides right there. It’s kind of like lightning.” On one figurative side are the people who root for Crews and his place in the #MeToo movement, people who applaud him as a silence breaker. On the other are the people who would really like Crews to shut up.

Hilarie Burton attends the 101st Indianapolis 500, 2017.

Joey Foley / WireImage

Shutting up has historically been the only option for actors who believe they’ve been wronged but want to continue to work in Hollywood. Most of their stories are likely still unspoken, though in 2017 that started to change one story at a time. In November, Hilarie Burton accused One Tree Hill creator Mark Schwahn of harassing and assaulting her. Burton left the series after her contract ran out in season six, and refused to be considered for starring roles in other shows for years after. “The fear of being forced into another one of these situations was crippling,” she told Variety. She also noted that she didn’t tell anyone at Warner Bros. Television, the studio that produced One Tree Hill, about the misconduct. “I didn’t want Warner Bros. to view me as a problem, because they had been so supportive,” she said. “I wanted to work at Warner Bros. again. I’m working at Warner Bros. now.” In Hollywood, the fear of being labeled “difficult” or a “problem” is palpable, ongoing, and one of the most effective means of keeping people quiet. This has proven especially true for women and people of color, who’ve faced systemic obstacles to both entering and staying in Hollywood.

Crews notes that there are plenty of people who’ve been keeping their distance from him ever since he first spoke about his assault. “It’s because if you’ve got any kind of sympathy for these toxic dudes then you don’t even want to be around me,” Crews speculates. “Because I will put you on blast.”

And he has done just that. When Russell Simmons allegedly emailed Crews telling him he should “give [Venit] a pass,” Crews called that behavior out on Twitter. He did the same when Avi Lerner, a producer for the Expendables movies, allegedly called Crews’ management and said he could avoid any “problems” with the sequel if he dropped his lawsuit against Venit. And he’s constantly speaking out about WME, especially since Venit returned to work there with a demotion after being suspended for a month. (Simmons and Lerner did not respond to requests for comment.)

Adam Venit

Charley Gallay / Getty Images

A few weeks after revealing Venit’s identity on Good Morning America, Crews filed a sexual assault and battery lawsuit against both Venit and WME. In court papers submitted to the Los Angeles Superior Court and obtained by the Hollywood Reporter, representatives for WME present the agency’s side of the story. They say that though Venit called to apologize to Crews after the incident, Crews did not inform senior management of the allegations until he tweeted about it in October. They also point to the fact that Crews stayed with the agency until November 2017, which Crews has attributed to his initial desire to “let it go” and move on — a desire that changed after the Weinstein accusations went public. As Crews told BuzzFeed News, it was seeing the negative public treatment of the women who’d accused Weinstein that prompted him to speak about his own assault. For him, it was an act of solidarity that spiraled into something more.

In a particularly fascinating excerpt of the court papers, representatives for WME also accuse Crews of trying to “equate himself with the women and men who have been forced, sometimes repeatedly and over an extended period, to submit to sex or endure sexual harassment to keep their jobs or advance their careers, while the perpetrators and others who knew about it looked the other way.” It’s a statement that implies that Crews’ experience doesn’t fall into the exact right rubric of misconduct to count. It’s also antithetical to the spirit of the #MeToo movement. The movement has never been about everyone having shared the exact same scenarios of assault or harassment. Instead, it’s been about highlighting just how common, deeply ingrained, and hard to shake these types of mistreatment are. And isn’t that just what Crews was doing when he sent those tweets on Oct. 10?

“People don’t understand that Hollywood is a very violent place. The best way to put it is that it’s like a plantation.”

Crews dropped WME as his agency after coming forward with the allegation. But as part of the standard agency contract, Crews is still required to pay WME a portion of his profits from any project he made while signed with them. “What business [is this] that you can do something like that to another human being, and I still have to pay you?” he said. “Everybody feels like that’s OK. But this is not right. There are no checks and balances. There is no one to watch you. And given what he did to me, imagine some young girl, and an agent rapes them, and they’re on a show or whatever, and they still got to pay this guy.”

Crews suggests that a morality clause written into contracts could help avoid that kind of situation. “If you cross this line, why are you still getting money? Why are you still working?”

This is not Crews’ first rodeo when it comes to pushback for speaking his mind. The actor said the publishers of his 2014 book Manhood — Zinc Ink, an imprint of Random House — “poo-pooed” his desire to write about toxic masculinity back when he was writing. “[They were] kind of like, Ugh, really? You really wanna do this?” he said. “I think they were expecting some kind of guys’ guy book, and I think they were a little disappointed.” According to Crews, he had a two-book deal that never turned into a second book. A spokesperson for Zinc Ink sent BuzzFeed News the following statement in response: “We were committed to working with Terry to deliver a book that shared his unvarnished story which defines how he views manhood while providing the reader an emotional and inspiring glimpse into the true heart of one of today’s biggest stars. We are extremely proud of Manhood, Terry, and all that he has done to spark a new and meaningful conversation that challenges the traditional notion of what it means to be a man.”

Regardless of the book’s editing process, Crews committed to his vision of it and used the book tour as a platform to speak about feminism and masculinity. He’s determined to educate the world, even if his own employers aren’t willing to listen. His is in a position familiar to many feminists who’d railed against harmful systems for years before the allegations against Weinstein activated a sort of reckoning. Asked if his perspective has changed since he wrote his book, Crews said, “It wasn’t that it changed. It was more that I was validated.”

On top of his lawsuit against WME and Venit, Crews also filed a report with the Los Angeles Police, which opened an investigation into the incident. In February, the LA district attorney’s office declined to file charges because of lack of evidence that Venit made contact with Crews’ skin during the alleged groping, which would have classified the crime as a felony. The case was then passed on to the LA city attorney’s office, which handles misdemeanors. In March, the city attorney’s office declined the case because the statute of limitations of one year had passed. All the while, Crews says he’s had to keep paying the agency he blames for not holding his alleged assailant accountable.

Terry Crews and Sylvester Stallone in The Expendables, 2010.

Karen Ballard / Lions Gate / Courtesy Everett Collection

He’s also still waiting on some phone calls: Crews said he hasn’t heard anything from Lerner or the rest of the Expendables team since he called out the producer on Twitter.

“No words from anybody. Nothing,” Crews said. “Believe me, nobody saw that coming. Nobody thought that I was gonna put that out there.” For him, it all plays into a bigger picture of what’s broken in Hollywood. “People don’t understand that Hollywood is a very violent place,” he continued. “The best way to put it is that it’s like a plantation. You use extreme violence. You see a lot of people who never work again. For even speaking up the whole thing is that they cut your head off so that the next person doesn’t speak.”

“If this is the end of my career, just end it now.”

[an0mal0caris-blog1]

Secrets regarding Super Mario Names

The cause of the Mario series! Would you like to interact or...or against each and every other...?!

Mario Bros. is a measures game produced by Nintendo in 1983.

It's the first game which second hand "Mario" within the name. Command Luigi or Mario to be able to impact the foes originating out of water lines by underneath to transform them over and then beat them. In the two player function, each players can decide to work together or even perform from each other as well as take pleasure in the game within numerous ways.

The "Arcade Archives" series has faithfully reproduced numerous traditional Arcade masterpieces.

Players are able to alter various game settings including game problems, and likewise recreate the ambiance of arcade display screen options during that time. Players also can participate against each other from around the world because of their superior scores.

Please take pleasure in the masterpiece that made a version for video clip games.

Can you make an a digital movie from a video recording game? That is the question that is clarified by this specific digital movie. Mario Mario as well as Luigi Mario, 2 hard operating plumbers find themselves inside a different universe wherein grown dinosaurs reside in moderate hi tech squalor. They wind up the sole anticipation to save planet earth from your invasion.

This's the story of 2 hard working Italian plumber brothers named Mario Mario in addition to the Luigi Mario, whom befriends a young paleontologist called Daisy. A massive find of mystical new dinosaur bones are uncovered by her. While checking out the tunnels wherein dinosaur fossils lay, saboteurs employed through the Mario Bros. rival businessman, Anthony Scapelli, to break some underground piping. Meanwhile, in a concealed world identified as Dinohattan, King Koopa's land is being drained of its clean water and also running through problems which means that he sends Spike and Iggy to kidnap Daisy! The Super Mario Bros. wind up the only real anticipation to rescue the earth from invasion and then challenge a diabolical lizard king and they also must fight giant reptilian goombas, outwit misfit thugs, and challenge sinister pattern by snapping of the world!

Luigi and Mario, two wacky plumbers, take on a daring quest to save a princess inside Dinohattan -- a hidden earth where the inhabitants grown from dinosaurs! Mario and Luigi face deadly challenges from a diabolical lizard king and also should fight giant reptilian goombas, outwit misfit criminals, and also weaken a sinister system to dominate the world!

Two Brooklyn plumbers, Luigi and Mario, need to travel to an additional dimension to rescue a princess through the evil dictator King Koopa and prevent him from snapping with the world.

When I found that out I did two things. First, I whipped out the message of mine (yes, I maintain it which real/nerdy that I still need a well used NES connected in my room) and made sure I can still beat the game at will. (I can. Childhood not wasted.)

Secondly, I initiated down a rabbit hole of looking through Mario websites as well as Wikis and Articles. In the process, I stumbled upon the etymologies of the names of a number of the key players in the Mario universe. So, in honor of the video game which often changed the globe, here they are, given in useful 11 item show form.

Mario.

When Mario debuted to the arcade game "Donkey Kong", he was simply called Jumpman. (Which also is the generic brand associated with that Michael Jordan spread leg Nike logo. 2 of the most legendary icons ever before both have generic versions of themselves called Jumpman. But simply one of them has now reached the effort of being very powerful that he shaved himself a Hitler mustache prior to filming a professional and no one had the balls to fix him.)

In 1980, as the Nintendo of America team shipped Jumpman to raise him straight into a franchise-leading star (Hayden Christensen style), somebody discovered that he looked just like their Seattle office building's landlord... a guy known as Mario Segale.

Mario Segale did not obtain a cent for turning out to be the namesake of probably the most famous video game persona perhaps, however, he most likely is not excessively concerned; in 1998 he sold his asphalt small business for around $60 million. (Or 600,000 extra lives.)

Luigi.

Luigi has one of probably the weakest label roots of all of the mario characters names and pictures in the Mario universe (once again showing exactly why, for life that is real, he would have a larger inferiority complex than Frank Stallone, Abel or perhaps that last Manning brother).

"Luigi" is simply the result of a team of Japanese males trying to consider an Italian label to enhance "Mario." Why was the Italian name they went with? When they all moved from Japan to Seattle, the pizza place nearest to the Nintendo headquarters known as Mario & Luigi's. (It has since gone out of business.)

Koopa.

Koopa is a transliterated model of the Japanese name for the opponent turtles, "Kuppa." Stick with me right here -- kuppa is the Japanese phrase for a Korean plate called gukbap. Essentially it is a cup of soup with grain. From what I definitely explain to it's totally unrelated to turtles, above all malicious ones.

In an interview, Mario's author, Shigeru Miyamoto, explained he was deciding between 3 diverse names for the high-speed of evil turtles, every one of that have been named after Korean foods. (The other two were yukhoe and bibimbap.) Which means one of two things: (1) Miyamoto loves Korean foods and was looking to give it a tribute or (2) Miyamoto thinks Koreans are evil and really should be jumped on.

Wario.

I kind of skipped the debut of Wario -- he debuted in 1992, right around when I was hitting the era just where I was way too fantastic for cartoon y Nintendo games. (Me and the middle school buddies of mine happened to be into Genesis only. I was again on Nintendo within four years.)

Seems the label of his functions both in Japanese and english; I kinda assumed the English fashion but didn't know about the Japanese aspect. In English, he is an evil, bizarro marketplace mirror image of Mario. The "M" turns to become a "W" as well as Wario is born. The name also works in Japanese, when it's a combination of Mario as well as "warui," that indicates "bad."

That's a pretty good scenario, since, as I covered thoroughly in the summary 11 Worst Japanese-To-English Translations In Nintendo History, don't assume all language significant difference finesses again and also forth that efficiently.

Waluigi.

When I first seen "Waluigi" I assumed it was hilarious. While Wario was obviously an all natural counterbalance to Mario, Waluigi felt so comically shoehorned (just tacking the "wa" prefix before Luigi) -- including a huge inside joke that somehow cleared each and every bureaucratic stage and cracked the mainstream.

Well... in accordance with the Nintendo folks, Waluigi is not only a gloriously lazy choice or perhaps an inside joke also been huge. They *say* it's based on the Japanese word ijiwaru, which means "bad guy."

I do not understand. I think that we'd have to meet them much more than halfway to purchase that.

Toad.

Toad is built to look like a mushroom (or perhaps toadstool) thanks to his gigantic mushroom hat. It's a great thing these games debuted before the entire model understood the right way to make penis jokes.

Anyway, in Japan, he's called Kinopio, which is a blend of the term for mushroom ("kinoko") and the Japanese version of Pinocchio ("pinokio"). Those combine being something around the collections of "A Real Mushroom Boy."

Goomba.

In Japanese, these men are defined as kuribo, which results in "chestnut people." That seems sensible because, ya know, if somebody asked you "what do chestnut individuals appear to be like?" you would most likely reach food roughly like these heroes.

Once they were shipped for the American model, the team tangled with the Italian initiative of theirs and known as them Goombas... based off the Italian "goombah," which colloquially means anything as "my fellow Italian friend." It also type of evokes the photo of low level mafia hooligans without very a lot of expertise -- like people's younger brothers and cousins who they had to retain the services of or maybe mother would yell at them. Which also is true for the Mario Bros. goombas.

Birdo.

Birdo has absolutely nothing to do with this particular initial Japanese title. There, he's considered Kyasarin, that typically means "Catherine."

In the teaching manual for Super Mario Bros. 2, where Birdo debuted, his character explanation reads: "Birdo thinks he is a girl and would like for being called Birdetta."

What I think this all means? Nintendo shockingly chosen to generate a character that battles with the gender identity of his and called him Catherine. In the event it was a bit of time to come to America, they got feet which are cold so they resolved at the very last minute to contact him Birdo, although he's a dinosaur. (And don't give me the "birds are descended from dinosaurs" pop paleontology collection. Not purchasing that connection.) That way, we'd just know about the gender confusion of his if we have a look at mechanical, and the Japanese have been convinced Americans had been either too idle or illiterate to do it en masse.

Princess Toadstool/Peach.

When everyone got released on the Princess, she was known as Princess Toadstool. I assume this made sense -- Mario was set in the Mushroom Kingdom, so why wouldn't its monarch be called Princess Toadstool. Them inbreeding bluish bloods are usually naming the children of theirs immediately after the country.

No person appears to be sure why they went the direction, though. In Japan, she was regarded as Princess Peach from day one. The term did not debut here until 1993, when Yoshi's Safari came out for Super Nintendo. (By the manner -- have you played Yoshi's Safari? In a bizarre twist it is a first-person shooter, the only woman in the whole Mario the historical past. It is like something like a country music superstar creating a weird rock album.)

Bowser.

In Japan, there's simply no Bowser. He is simply called the King Koopa (or maybe similar variations, like Great Demon King Koopa). So just where did Bowser come from?

During the import process, there was a problem that the American masses wouldn't see how the small turtles and big bad fellow could certainly be called Koopa. Thus a marketing staff put together a large number of choices for a name, they adored Bowser the best, as well as slapped it on him.

In Japan, he is nonetheless hardly ever referred to as Bowser. Over here, the title of his is now extremely ubiquitous that he is actually supplanted Sha Na Na's Bowzer as America's most well known Bowser.

Donkey Kong.

This is a more literal interpretation than you think. "Kong" is based off of King Kong. "Donkey" is a family-friendly means of calling him an ass. That's right: The name of his is an useful model of "Ass Ape."

[prisonerofthedark-blog1]

Source for Super Mario Names

.

When I discovered that out I did two things. First, I whipped out my message (yes, I maintain it which real/nerdy that I still need a well used NES connected in my room) and then made sure I will be able to match the game at will. (I can. Childhood not wasted.)

Secondly, I launched down a rabbit hole of looking through Mario internet sites and Articles and Wikis. In the process, I stumbled upon the etymologies of the brands of a number of the main players in the Mario universe. Consequently, in honor of the video game which often changed the world, here they're, presented in handy 11-item describe form.

Mario.

When Mario debuted in the arcade game "Donkey Kong", he was only called Jumpman. (Which also happens to be the generic brand regarding that Michael Jordan spread leg Nike logo. 2 of the most renowned icons ever before both have generic versions of themselves known as Jumpman. But merely at least one has nowadays arrived at a point of simply being so impressive that he shaved himself a Hitler mustache before filming a professional and the balls were had by nobody to fix him.)

In 1980, as the Nintendo of America team brought in Jumpman to raise him right into a franchise-leading star (Hayden Christensen style), someone discovered that he looked just like their Seattle office building's landlord... a fellow named Mario Segale.

Mario Segale did not obtain a dime for becoming the namesake of probably the most prominent video game character ever, but he probably isn't very concerned; in 1998 he sold the asphalt small business of his for around sixty dolars million. (Or 600,000 increased lives.)

Luigi.

Luigi has among the weakest brand roots of all of the super mario characters in the Mario universe (once again showing precisely why, in life that is real, he'd have a bigger inferiority complex than Frank Stallone, Abel or even that third Manning brother).

"Luigi" is merely the result of people of Japanese men trying to consider an Italian brand to enhance "Mario." Why was that the Italian label they went with? When they all moved from Japan to Seattle, the pizza spot nearest to the Nintendo headquarters called Mario & Luigi's. (It has since gone from business.)

Koopa.

Koopa is a transliterated version of the Japanese rap for the opponent turtles, "Kuppa." Stick with me right here -- kuppa is the Japanese word for a Korean plate called gukbap. Generally it's a cup of soup with elmer rice. From what I definitely tell it's totally unrelated to turtles, especially malicious ones.

In an interview, Mario's author, Shigeru Miyamoto, stated he was deciding between 3 names which are diverse due to the race of evil turtles, all of that have been called after Korean foods. (The alternative 2 were yukhoe and bibimbap.) Which means one of two things: (one) Miyamoto loves Korean food and needed to offer a tribute or even (two) Miyamoto believes Koreans are evil and have to be jumped on.

Wario.

I kind of skipped the debut of Wario -- he debuted in 1992, right around when I was hitting the generation exactly where I was extremely cool for cartoon y Nintendo games. (Me and the middle school buddies of mine were into Genesis only. I was again on Nintendo within 4 years.)

Appears the label of his functions equally in english and Japanese; I kinda assumed the English manner but didn't know about the Japanese feature. In English, he is an evil, bizarro world mirror image of Mario. The "M" turns to become a "W" and Wario is created. The name likewise operates in Japanese, wherever it is the variety of Mario and "warui," that implies "bad."

That's a very great situation, since, as I covered extensively in the list eleven Worst Japanese-To-English Translations In Nintendo History, not every language disparity finesses again and also forth quite smoothly.

Waluigi.

When I 1st read "Waluigi" I thought it was hilarious. While Wario was a natural counterbalance to Mario, Waluigi felt extremely comically shoehorned (just tacking the "wa" prefix before Luigi) -- including a huge inside joke that somehow cleared every bureaucratic step and cracked the mainstream.

Well... based on the Nintendo people, Waluigi isn't just a gloriously lazy decision or maybe an inside joke also been substantial. They *say* it is dependant upon the Japanese word ijiwaru, which means "bad guy."

I do not know. I feel like we would have to supply them much more than halfway to purchase that.

Toad.

Toad is made to look like a mushroom (or toadstool) because of his massive mushroom hat. It's a good thing the gaming systems debuted before the entire version knew how you can generate penis jokes.

Anyway, in Japan, he's called Kinopio, which happens to be a blend of the word for mushroom ("kinoko") as well as the Japanese version of Pinocchio ("pinokio"). Those mix to be something around the collections of "A Real Mushroom Boy."

Goomba.

In Japanese, these men are labeled as kuribo, which translates to "chestnut people." That makes sense because, ya know, if somebody expected you "what do chestnut folks are like?" you'd most likely get to food roughly like these figures.

Once they were imported for the American version, the team caught with the Italian initiative of theirs and called them Goombas... primarily based off of the Italian "goombah," which colloquially signifies something as "my fellow Italian friend." Furthermore, it kind of evokes the photo of low level mafia thugs without too numerous skills -- like people's younger brothers and cousins who they'd to work with or perhaps mother would yell at them. That also is true for the Mario Bros. goombas.

Birdo.

Birdo has nothing at all to do with this particular original Japanese name. Generally there, he's considered Kyasarin, that results in "Catherine."

In the teaching manual for Super Mario Bros. 2, in which Birdo debuted, his persona description reads: "Birdo considers he is a female and additionally likes to be named Birdetta."

What I believe this all means? Nintendo shockingly chosen to develop a character who battles with the gender identity of his and called him Catherine. In the event it was some time to come to America, they have feet which are cold so they determined at the last minute to call him Birdo, though he's a dinosaur. (And don't provide me the "birds are descended from dinosaurs" pop-paleontology series. Not buying that connection.) In that way, we would only understand about his gender misunderstandings if we read the mechanical, and the Japanese have been fairly certain Americans were either too lazy or perhaps illiterate to do it en masse.

Princess Toadstool/Peach.

When everyone got introduced to the Princess, she was regarded as Princess Toadstool. I suppose this made perfect sense -- Mario was set in the Mushroom Kingdom, so why wouldn't its monarch be named Princess Toadstool. Them inbreeding blue bloods are always naming their young children after the country.

No person seems to be sure precisely why they went the direction, nevertheless. In Japan, she was recognized as Princess Peach from day one. That name didn't debut here until 1993, when Yoshi's Safari came out for Super Nintendo. (By the way -- have you played Yoshi's Safari? In a bizarre twist it's a first-person shooter, the only person in the whole Mario times past. It is like something like a country music superstar making a weird rock album.)

Bowser.

In Japan, there's simply no Bowser. He's simply referred to as the King Koopa (or similar variants, including Great Demon King Koopa). So where did Bowser come from?

During the import approach, there was a problem that the American crowd wouldn't see how the seemingly insignificant turtles and big bad guy could certainly be called Koopa. Thus a marketing team put together many choices for a title, they loved Bowser the best, and also slapped it on him.

In Japan, he is still rarely known as Bowser. Around here, the title of his is now extremely ubiquitous that he is even supplanted Sha Na Na's Bowzer as America's most prominent Bowser.

Donkey Kong.

This's a far more literal interpretation than you think. "Kong" is based off King Kong. "Donkey" is a family-friendly way of calling him an ass. That is right: The title of his is a valuable variation of "Ass Ape."

Mario Bros. includes 2 plumbers, Mario and Luigi, being forced to take a look at the sewers of New York subsequent to peculiar creatures have been showing up down there. The aim of the game is defeating all of the adversaries in each and every phase. The aspects of Mario Bros. involve lunging and also only running. As opposed to coming Mario video games, players can't jump on enemies as well as squash them, except when they were previously turned on their backside. Each and every phase is a series of platforms with pipes in every corner on the display screen, on top of something termed as a "POW" obstruct in the core. Wraparound is used by phases, meaning that foes along with players that go off to a single edge will reappear on the other side.

The player gains factors by beating many opponents consecutively which enables it to participate within an extra round to acquire further points. Adversaries are defeated by kicking them more than once they have been flipped on their rear. This's carried out by punching in the platform the opponent is on straight under them. In case the player allows a lot of time to successfully pass right after achieving this, the enemy is going to flip itself also over, altering in coloring and raising velocity. Each and every level has a certain number of adversaries, while using the last adversary immediately shifting the color and raising to utmost speed. Striking a flipped adversary from underneath will cause it to right itself and begin going ever again, though it doesn't change color. or quickness

You will find four enemies: the Shellcreeper, which simply hikes around; the Sidestepper, which requires two hits to flip over; the Fighter Fly, what moves by getting and can solely be flipped when it's touching a platform; as well as the Slipice, that converts os's in to slippery ice. When bumped from below, the Slipice gives out immediately rather than flipping over; the enemies do not be counted in the direction of the whole number that should be defeated to complete a level. Most iced os's go back to usual in the beginning of each brand new phase.

The "POW" clog up flips each enemies touching a platform or perhaps the floors when a participant hits it coming from below. It can certainly be used three occasions just before it disappears. Through the Super Mario Bros. three in game Player-Versus-Player edition of the minigame, each of the 3 uses causes the enemy to drop a card and all the adversaries to become flipped over. Another element in this tiny remake would be that the piping are straight, at times spitting out large fireballs in the 2 plumbers. When any adversary sort except a Slipice is defeated, a coin is found and also can easily be purchased for bonus points; however, the level ends as soon as the last adversary is defeated.

As the game advances, components are included to take the difficulty. Fireballs possibly bounce over the screen or perhaps traveling directly from just one side on the various other, as well as icicles form underneath the os's as well as fall loose. Bonus rounds give the players a chance to score spare lifestyles as well as points by collecting coins without needing to address enemies; the "POW" clog up regenerates itself on each of the screens.