#i don’t like reusing starter calls because then the people that got one already can’t get another

[tiredg0ds]

STARTER CALL. please specify muse. all muses are available, but below the cut are the ones that are the loudest for me atm. (just in case you needed some help deciding.) multi's please specify ur muse as well!!

TWILIGHT.

atlas (oc)

bellamy (original trans!bella swan)

edward

emmett

jacob

charlie

SPIDERVERSE

peter (original interpretation)

aj (oc)

MISC.

(the 100) j. murphy (trans!guy murphy ,,, my beloved )

(star wars) kylo ren

(multi-source ! ) deadpool

(original, but with several fandom verses!!!) everett (oc)

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed Episode 06 (first part)

(Masterpost)(Episode 05)

Warning: This contains spoilers for All 50 Episodes

Bad Boys Bad Boys What You Gonna Do

Nie Huasang’s brought his nuts, and someone’s brought wine, so the boys are drinking in Wei Wuxian’s guest house. Finally he gets to drink some of the Emperor’s Smile wine that he’s been doing all those product placements for.

Boys, get a bowl or something for your shells, were you raised in a barn?

Wei Wuxian hits on waxes poetic about the wine, and Jiang Cheng tells him to shut up. 

Wang Zhuocheng’s raw-fish-eating face may have failed him, but his drunk faces do not disappoint.

Wei Wuxian teases Jiang Cheng about his list of standards for a chick: She should have natural beauty, be virtuous and caring, from a good family, not too talkative, with a gentle voice, and not too capable. Also she should not spend too much money. Drunken running ensues.

Cue Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin

(more behind the cut)

Much of the fandom has decided this list is a good fit for Nie Huaisang himself, and it sorta is. But he is both talkative and unvirtuous, what with all the current sneakiness, and all the eventual murders. 

This also definitely doesn't fit Wen Qing because she's capable as hell.  

This list is, however, a 100% a match for Jiang Yanli. Not in a weird, Jin Guangyao way--a lot of men want to marry a woman like their sister.  In a gender-divided and generation-divided society, a man’s sister might be the only woman he’s ever known well. Jiang Cheng adores Yanli and she’s his ideal model of a woman, as opposed to his mother, who...isnt.  

All these robes and talismans over the door do nothing to stop Lan Wangji from strolling in.  

Okay so - Lan Wangji is the senior disciple of the Lan Clan, yea? There is no way that patrolling the guest area is in any way his job. He is just walking around here at night specifically to see what Wei Wuxian is doing.

I already did a gifpost of the boys and their totally nonsexual horseplay, over here. I’ll just add, for sad factor, that Jiang Cheng is play-choking Wei Wuxian when they’re all on the bed, and later in the running-and-crying episode he is gonna for-real choke him. Foreshadowing! or maybe just coincidence!

One fun thread running through the young-cultivators episodes is that Nie Huaisang is legit terrified of Lan Wangji while also having a major aesthetic crush on him. Look at how flustered he is here, trying to act sober while also checking him out. 

Lan Wangji is shocked and visibly upset - what are you guys doing? This is not his busting face, this is, for a moment, his vulnerable and disillusioned face. He is super not used to what normal people are like. 

Wei Wuxian doesn't lie or otherwise try to get off the hook, which has got to have Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang grinding their teeth in frustration. He invites Lan Wangji to join them for a drink. LWJ cites a the “no drinking on campus” rule and WWX tries to convince him to chill. 

Then we have this lovely coordinated faint by the boys, to get out of going to get punished. Nie Huaisang has been practicing fainting in front of a mirror just in case he ever needs a skill like that in the future. 

Wei Wuxian keeps trying to turn this into a date. Eventually Lan Wangji is so upset he admits he can’t take all three of them by himself. 

Then the boys run away fake-barfing and Wei Wuxian hits Lan Wangji with a talisman. 

Steal His Agency That’s What You’re Gonna Do

What Wei Wuxian does to Lan Wanji here is definitely wrong. But it's not entirely a disaster.  It allows some crucial information to be shared between them, and it results in Wei Wuxian getting the utter shit beat out of him and never doing this again. I mean, he continues to mind-control his enemies and their eventual corpses, but he doesn't intentionally violate a friend or ally's autonomy in the future. Uhh not counting that whole golden core surgery-without-consent situation. And probably some other situations I’ve forgotten. He improves slightly, okay? 

It’s important to note, incidentally, that the Lan rules about drinking and other “vices” should not be viewed through a Christian lens. The Lans are neither puritans nor ascetics (look at their clothes, furniture, and jewelry, for starters). Being drunk is forbidden probably because it’s a loss of self-control. 

Speaking of self-control, mad props to Wang Yibo for being able to have zero physical reaction to fingers snapping in his face.

Drunk Lan Wangji

Under duress, Lan Wangji knocks back a cup of wine and promptly passes most of the way out. 

Wei Wuxian puts Lan Wangji into bed not unkindly, but pretty much like a sack of potatoes. Compare this to how tenderly he handles Lan Wangji the next time he’s drunk. 

WWX tells LWJ to call him Wei Gege, and giggles. Is this a term of endearment in this context? So far the various boys are calling each other -xiong, not -ge or gege.  In Western media, men calling each other “bro” is basically saying “no homo,” but brotherhood and sisterhood in C-Drama is often a way of indicating stronger love than friendship, without saying whether it's sexual or not. 

They finally start to have a conversation, and when Lan Wangji explains that no-one can touch his headband except, etc etc, Wei Wuxian stops trying to touch it. So at least he's not a handsy bastard in addition to all his other faults. 

Wei Wuxian tells Lan Wangji that his clan is boring and women won't want to marry him. Lan Wangji says that's fine. On one level this is the show acknowledging that he's gay, but I think he's responding in a gender-neutral way; he doesn't want to marry anyone. Marriage, from his perspective, is the literal worst. 

We don't know how he felt about his father, but he definitely loved his mother deeply, and she had a profoundly unhappy marriage, in which her husband did not provide companionship and her children were taken from her.

A note about all that: The dynamics of heterosexual marriages in The Untamed are not based on contemporary companionate marriage. Sex and reproduction is a wife's job in this world, and giving a gentry woman the option to choose her husband is radical. Wei Wuxian is the only one who dares say that Jiang Yanli should have a choice when Jin Guangshan casually tries to give her to his son in front of everyone.  

OP made this today but will totally reuse it when episode 23 rolls around

So Lan Wangji’s parents' marriage was extremely problematic but not necessarily for the reasons it would be in contemporary terms. Having signed on to marry Lan Dad, Mom would have expected to live together and get laid regularly (important for health, in some traditional views, regardless of love/no love) and to have the company of her children. Instead, she was isolated. Lan Dad wanted to have it both ways and so even though he loved her and apparently hooked up with her sometimes, he didn't do his duty by her. She didn't love him but she did her duty. 

Wei Wuxian continues to not get it, calling Lan Wangji dull and babbling about Lan Wangji’s parents until he realizes that LWJ is an orphan like him. 

A nice shift happens here. Once the penny drops, Wei Wuxian doesn't ask a single additional question - he just sees - by reading Lan Wangji’s face - what the deal is, and shares his own story to show he understands. 

This is the first time Wei Wuxian mentions being chased by dogs, which is kind of a big deal, because why was he left all alone when his parents died? 

Why didn't anyone take him in before Jiang Fengmian found him? How isolated are independent cultivators in this world? 

Tea Time

Lan Qiren and Lan Xichen are having tea, and the Lan Clan is so uptight they don't touch each other's teacups. I don't know what this thing is called so I'm going to call it a tea speculum. 

Lan Qiren is back from the cultivation conference and says the red crack plague is happening over in Qinghe where the Nie clan lives.  Lan Xichen fills him in on the water demon, specifically saying Wei Wuxian figured out the connection to the red crack dudes, and explaining who WWX is, as if Lan QIren hadn't already thrown stuff at him and threatened to eventually kill him. 

Fun fact that I just noticed this week so didn't make it into earlier posts: In Episode 46, when Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian are in the Jiang ancestral hall, WWX says he was often punished to kneel there, and LWJ said that they heard about this in Gusu.  

So when WWX came to Gusu he already had a reputation as a troublemaker, and the Lan brothers were aware of it.   

Busted and Beaten

A Lan snitch comes in to say that Wei Wuxian has successfully corrupted Lan Wangji, which really shouldn’t cause as much surprise as it does.

“Wei Wuxian got drunk”

“Lan Wangji got drunk”

Lan Xichen takes a moment to consider carefully whether Wei Wuxian is a good friend for his little brother and whether perhaps he was too hasty in throwing them together. Ha ha ha no he doesn’t. 

On the punishment porch, Lan Xichen tries to lecture Lan Wangji in a calm way, but Lan Qiren wants to beat him and Lan Wangji wants to get beat. Wei Wuxian can’t understand why Lan Wangji doesn’t let him take the blame for the drinking. 

Lan Qiren goes way the fuck overboard with this punishment because he's angry--losing control and losing his sense of proportion--and Lan Xichen is shocked. The drone camera watching from above is also shocked.  

Lan Qiren has a few (very few) redeeming qualities, but his extreme rigidity and chronic resentment of anyone he perceives as bad are serious problems. His nephews are both struggling with complex moral quandaries as they get older, and he is absolutely no help to them in resolving their conflicts.

This is definitely...a style of parenting & teaching, but you can see how poorly it works, with Lan Wangji straight up saying “fuck it” after many years of conformity.  Lan Xichen is devoted to the middle path and tries to be obedient. But he is actually not walking anywhere near the middle path, as he gets pulled into colluding with a murderer at the same time as getting dragged onto his brother’s carnival ride. These men need parenting that isn’t so, uh, fucking stupid. (Yes, grown adults still need good parenting; watch Go Ahead if you doubt me) 

Wei Wuxian initially yells and falls down when he gets hit, but then he sees Lan Wangji is taking the beating without any reaction and he tries to do the same. 

Aftermath

Jiang Yanli gently lectures the boys, blaming Jiang Cheng for Wei Wuxian's drinking.  Jesus Christ, he's the younger sibling, could you just NOT, Yanli?  

Both boys ask Yanli not to tell their parents. The boys bicker about who's at fault and then Wei Wuxian shifts to baby voice and starts whining to Yanli about the pain. 

Yanli tells him to suck it up, and says after school she'll -- ok and I know this will be a surprise for everyone -- make soup for them. The boys immediately get back on the same team, which is team Please Put Meat In the Soup.

There's a nice character building moment for Wei Wuxian here. When he sees Lan Xichen he initially turns away to avoid running into him, but then he adults-up and goes to face him and greet him, giving him a half of a bow because of the pain, the pain. Rather than complaining about his punishment he meekly asks if he's broken another rule. 

Lan Xichen tells him that he did wrong but that Lan Qiren’s punishment was too harsh, and then in what is one of my favorite Lan Xichen moments, invites Wei Wuxian to use the cold spring to heal, but doesn't invite Jiang Cheng to go with him even though Jiang Cheng also was beaten. Lan Xichen, Matchmaker Auntie Extraordinaire. 

Then he answers Wei Wuxian’s question about his mom by saying she was just like Wei Wuxian and drove Lan Qiran up the wall. Jiang Cheng's reaction to that is really sweet. He does enjoy Wei Wuxian at the same time as being constantly irritated by him. 

Lan Xichen does his patented “breaking off in the middle of saying something and leaving out a chunk of the story” maneuver, although this time he doesn't include a flute solo. 

OP is mildly obsessed with Xuan Lu’s shoulders in this outfit. Also Yanli has an interesting sword, that's got some wood carving similar to Subian, but without the organic look, which OP only noticed because of screen capping Xuan Lu’s shoulders.  

Club Ruohan

Wen Qing continues to be pretty and slightly evil at this stage, sending magic fire notes to her boss using this talisman that is definitely floating in the air and not just hanging from a string. 

Wen Ruohan is in the mosh pit with his zombie groupies while he reads Wen Qing’s extremely vague status update and says "it all makes sense." 

Reach out and touch faith

Soundtrack

Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode

Writing Prompt

How did Wei Wuxian’s parents die?

Admin Notes

I’m going to start spacing out my “first part” and “second part” posts by a few days.  I’ll update this post to link up the second part once I post it, and my masterpost is always up to date. 

Also: if you want more of my original content but don’t want to follow my whole blog (not following is fine!), I keep a pinboard of fun stuff at the top of my blog. I try to post original content at least once a week.

Continued in the second part later this week!

[gourmade4u]

Start at the basics

Kitchen Essentials

If you’re just starting out, what are some essential tools and tips to keep in mind while you’re working away at your best Gordon Ramsey duplicate? 

Well, for starters, you need to make sure that your kitchen has the necessary base in which to build from. 

TL;DR- Chef’s knife, rubber spatula, whisk, pans (all types are neatly listed below the picture with the whisk and rubber spatulas), glass mixing bowls, kevlar or other cut-resistant gloves, metal spatula, cutting boards, electric thermometer, colander, box grater, and a timer (if you don’t have a microwave or oven that has one). 

First thing’s first: 

A Chef’s knife. I purchased mine from Ergo Chef (not an affiliate, I’m just a huge fan). From the moment my hand touched this knife, I cried literal happy tears from the depths of my soul. If you have arthritis issues, or issues that cause your hands to swell or lock up from consistent use, an ergonomically designed knife is incredibly important. For those of you just starting, my first knife set was a Farberware set with a wooden block from Walmart. It was a 20 piece knife set with steak knives and it was less than 90 dollars. But take the time to invest in your knives, you’ll be grateful that you did. 

I’ll post in a separate article how to sharpen your knife, but do keep in mind to NEVER, hold on, let me bold this, NEVER: run your knives or single knife through the dishwasher, and/or leave them in the sink. After you finish using your knife, it is best if you wash and dry it immediately to keep it from rusting. Your knives will thank you, and so will your wallet. 

A rubber spatula.

So, this little guy is the absolute best. He will help you toast rice for your risotto, spoon out that perfect pan sauce that took you way too many tries to get it exactly the way you wanted, AND he'll make sure that all your batter makes it into the pan, or your mouth, whichever you prefer.

A whisk. So yes, a whisk is incredibly versatile. You can use it to scramble eggs, make meringue, mayo, vinaigrette, and bake that cake you’re gonna regret in a week.

PANsexuality is important. But it has nothing to do with this next list of pans.

Non-stick pan

10 in. stainless steal or ceramic pan 

Cast iron pan (or 3)

Sauce pot (if you're like me, you have 6)

Griddle pan (not pictured... yet)

Sheet pan

Casserole

Each and every one of these serves a unique purpose.

A non-stick is great for eggs, bacon, frittatas (which are fancy eggs), and so many other items that I promise aren't just breakfast food. 

A ceramic pan is wonderful, but in my personal opinion, a stainless steel is better if you're a novice. A ceramic pan requires a lot of spoons (energy) and maintenance. They scratch easily if you look at them the wrong way. But they are great for more even cooking than a stainless, and make the best pork chops. Stainless steel isn’t as hard to work with, isn’t as high maintenance (though, like knives, NEVER put them in your dishwasher), is ideal for crusting your steak, and making a pan sauce with the remaining bits. 

A cast iron pan evenly distributes heat and you can put it in the oven at 500 degrees without worrying about warping or damage to your pan. Cast iron is also fantastic if you don’t want to use as much fat in your pan to keep your items from sticking. Also, you can’t get a crust on a steak in any other pan, the way you do in a cast iron. Also, don’t put this in the dishwasher.

A sauce pot sounds like an unnecessary necessity. I’ll explain, when most people hear “sauce” pot, they get very confused because there are like, 30 types. This is an exaggeration, but there are a lot of types. A large saucepot can hold from 1 qt. to 5 qts. I always recommend getting a 5 qt. pot because you can use it for small amounts and large amounts. But the best advice I can give would be to get one that can hold at least 2 c of liquid, and also one that can hold 5 qts so you’re not making oatmeal for yourself in a pot that’s too big. 

A Griddle pan is more of a luxury item, but I always recommend having one in your kitchen. You can make your best pancakes, arepas, bacon, grilled cheese, tuna melt, etc. It’s honestly a great tool to have on hand if you want to whip something up quickly. 

A sheet pan is important for so many reasons. You can make cookies, cake, bacon (I know I’ve said about 2 of the others already), roasted veggies, etc. I definitely recommend having at least one on hand. You’ll find that you’ve allowed yourself to enjoy brussel sprouts  smothered in parmesan cheese, and roasted cauliflower with garam masala and ginger for the first time ever. Just trust me, your oven is made for a varying amount of possibilities, and the right tools can get you started.

A baking dish/pan/casserole, whatever you want to call it, it’s a huge piece of either: cast iron, ceramic, glass, or clay that can be covered and it will, much like your sheet pan, allow for new ideas in the kitchen. Casserole is a very common word used by mostly older women from the south, but they aren’t just a dish your grandma cooked in the 50′s. French toast casserole is so impossibly custardy and delicious, you will thank the Gods that there has ever been something so wonderful in existence. You have stews, roasts, lasagna (uncovered, don’t be rude to your lasagna), and so many others. Just please, okay? Okay.  

Glass mixing bowls are a MUST. Okay, so some really important things about these bad boys: DON’T leave them on a hot stove because the heat will make them shatter and explode all over your kitchen. If you have pets or kids, I don’t have to tell you why this would be bad for potentially weeks on end. You can, however, makeshift a glass bowl and a boiling pot of water into a double boiler to melt your favorite chocolate chips to make fudge. Glass bowls are also non-absorbent, so they won’t retain bad odors or flavors when you use them in the kitchen. They’re also incredibly sanitary for the same reason.

A pair of Kevlar or other gloves meant for slicing and dicing in the kitchen. I recommend this no matter what level of experience you have. Professional chefs cut and burn themselves all the time, it is best you do what you can to protect your fingertips and nails. 

A metal spatula will help you scrape any bits and pieces that have stuck onto your stainless or ceramic pan. Please be sure to use carefully, the metal spatula itself is very temperamental and can ruin your pans forever. 

Cutting boards. There are, a whole litany of reasons you need a cutting board or 10 in your kitchen. I myself have 4 and I use all of them. Cutting boards are made of several different kinds of material. Ultimately, for me, I use a wooden one and an eco-friendly material cutting board set I got from Bed Bath and Beyond. Cutting board maintenance is, arguably, the most important thing when it comes to  purchasing one. Best way to clean a cutting board is to make sure you’re passing your sponge over the slits in the board left behind by your knife, in the same direction. In other words, don’t scrub your board in a circle, but trace over the cuts in the board to ensure proper sanitation of it. 

An electric thermometer. Okay, so show of hands, how many people have deep fried chicken, burned the outside and undercooked the inside? I don’t know of any single person who is just beginning, who hasn’t done it. An electric thermometer is your best friend. You can get a regular thermometer, that will require constant calibration, or you can get an electric thermometer and not have to worry about calibrating it as often. Perfectly juicy, succulent, and properly cooked chicken will measure at 165 degrees Farenheit. Anything beyond 180, expect it to be dry, but at least it was cooked properly! To calibrate a thermometer: bring water to a boil, and then place your thermometer in the water, allow it to come to 212 degrees Fahrenheit, then place your thermometer into an ice bath until it gets to 32 degrees Fahrenheit. Celsius would be 100 degrees boiling, and 0 degrees in ice. 

A colander is meant to strain out pasta water, and you’ve probably not seen it used for much else. But a fine mesh colander can be used to filter out your frying oil so you can reuse it instead of wasting it. This little thing is good for anything that requires draining: meat, starch from rice and potatoes before cooking them, washing all of your vegetables at once before getting started, and also, it can help with steaming your broccoli or shrimp when you don’t have a basket steamer.

A box grater in general, is a fantastic tool. They have different sides that allow you to do different things. From shredding cheese, potatoes, carrots, or zuccini. But the question a lot of people ask: what is that side with all the really tiny spaces in it? It’s a zester, and it goes so unnoticed for so long because most folx don’t know the best way to use it. The zester is great for adding a little elegance or pop of flavor into a dish. For example, if you use lemon pepper often, adding a zested lemon rind to your dish would bring out all that delicious acidity that you won’t get from just using the regular seasoning from a bottle. A little fresh lemon zest here, some grated nutmeg there, a little orange zest in your tea, these all pack a mean right hook. Try them out. 

Last, but not least: a timer, gentlefolx. I can not stress the utter importance of learning how long it actually takes you, the reader to complete a task from start to finish. Not everyone works at the same pace, so a recipe that says “prep time: 5 minutes”, might actually take you an hour, and that’s okay. Keeping a timer on hand so you can keep track of how long each task is taking to complete, or making sure you’re pacing yourself as things are bubbling away in the kitchen, is a great way to figure yourself out in the kitchen. I recommend listening to music, writing your ingredients on a white board that sits at eye level in your kitchen so you can refer to your recipe as you’re going without having to constantly look at your phone. 

I hope this helps every single one of you learn a bit more about what it means to begin your journey with food. 

[sage-nebula]

I hope you dont mind my asking, but wouldn't GF have decided to remove the national dex long before LGPE released? I can see those games selling well confirming to GF that "pokemon sell well regardless of cut features" but it feels strange to blame it on LGPE when the development time on the games would suggest they made this choice awhile ago. (Not to defend lgpe lack of content) Sorry if this is a bother, I just feel like I'm missing something and would really like to understand your reasoning

For almost any other game I would agree, however for Pokémon in particular:

The National Dex (insofar as the ability to transfer old pokémon over) was never going to be a Day One feature. It’s never a Day One feature in the first games of the generation. Even if they wanted to make it one, in this case they couldn’t because Home isn’t releasing until 2020. As I’ve said in other posts, if they wanted to patch in the NatDex, they’d have the time to do it. Technically speaking, they’d have the time to do it, especially since the fanbase would be willing to wait (even if there’d be a few whiners here or there) the extra time.

Since it’s not a Day One feature, it’s something that can be worked on later in the development cycle (/can even continue to be worked on after the development cycle, or at least it could be if this series were treated with the respect of, say, The Legend of Zelda series). Again, I’m not talking about DLC that’s already on the game card that needs to be activated later, I’m talking about DLC that’s patched in, content created after that you download either to the harddrive or (though I don’t know if Switch DLC works this way specifically) onto the game card itself. Given the type of content they generally want to show early in the release cycle (the general theme / concept of the games, scenes of the various areas in the region, new ‘mon), and the fact that this would be a feature added post-release anyway, we can make a safe bet that the NatDex is something they’d work on much later in the development cycle, possibly even in the last year since, again . . . they’d have that time if they wanted to use it (and if this series was treated with genuine respect).

The Let’s Go games were stated by Masuda to be the future of the franchise if they sold well. They featured a Pokédex that was limited to only the Kanto ‘Dex, plus Meltan and Melmetal. They released in November 2018, and indeed, they sold well. In early 2019 (February, IIRC) Sword & Shield were released. While of course I don’t work at Game Freak and thus can’t say for sure, I would place money on the idea that if they were even a bit on the fence about adding the National Dex, the fact that Let’s Go sold so well despite being limited to 153 ‘mon pushed them right over the edge to, “Cut the National Dex from Sword & Shield, there’s no point in working on it.” I mean, why should they expend the effort if people will buy the games anyway? Especially when President Ishihara went on record saying that long-time fans only cared about “new pokémon and features” around the time of Let’s Go’s release. Sure, they might have already been thinking about cutting the National Dex beforehand, but Let’s Go no doubt assured them that it was a safe and correct call to make.

So that’s what I mean when I say that Let’s Go’s positive sales figures sealed all of our fates. To be entirely honest, before the National Dex announcement, I was certain that we wouldn’t see the shockwaves from Let’s Go until Gen IX. But Sword & Shield having a limited ‘Dex just like Let’s Go, and having special feature ‘mon behind $60 paywalls like Let’s Go, and having core features stripped out like Let’s Go, and the fact that it’s starting to look frighteningly like the starters won’t be able to evolve like in Let’s Go . . . the effect is pretty apparent. Sure, some of this stuff was present even before Let’s Go (namely the whole “let’s ditch useful features in the name of simplifying things” tack that Masuda has been married to for years now), but in the wake of Let’s Go, it’s success, and what Masuda said would happen if it was successful, it’s really hard not to see the link.

(Note just in case anyone read too quickly: I’m not saying the starters WON’T evolve. I’m only saying that I’m starting to fear that’s the case since we’re less than a month away from release and we haven’t even seen second stage evolutions yet. Maybe they’re just trying to keep starter evolutions a surprise, that’s entirely possible, but it’s also highly suspect, and Game Freak destroyed any trust or good faith I had in them a while back.) 

As a final note, the reason why I say that the Pokémon games aren’t treated with respect is . . . well, there are a few reasons:

Game Freak stated themselves that they put their B Team on Sword & Shield while their A Team worked on Little Town Hero. They also said they wanted to create something, “as exciting, or perhaps even more exciting” than Pokémon. They’re tired of working on Pokémon, and it shows. Which, I mean, I get it, it’s been 20+ years, but in that case tell Nintendo so that they can shift the main games over to another studio. I get that Game Freak was created for the sole purpose of making Pokémon, and maybe Taijiri-san is pissed at how you’re disrespecting his baby (I would be), but for the good of the series, if you don’t want to work on it, give it to someone who does. Don’t just shift it onto your bare bones secondary dev team.

These games are in a hellish development cycle where a new one is popped out every year. Contrast this to The Legend of Zelda where, while we’ve had some anomalies where assets were able to be largely reused and so games came out only a couple years apart (see: Ocarina of Time to Majora’s Mask) --- even that had two or three years before releases, not one the very next year. Most mainline Zelda games spend five or six years in development. I’m fully aware that we will likely be waiting until something like 2022 for Breath of the Wild 2, and I am prepared to wait that time because I know the game we get will be incredible. Granted, I’m going to be dying every single time they announce a release date to push it back, but it’ll be a death I’m grateful for because I will know that the end product will be worth it. The Pokémon games used to have a similar luxury. While there were a grand total of five games released during that time (with “five games” being used loosely, given that one was a slight upgrade and the other four were really two games with slight differences between versions), Gen IV lasted for a grand total of four years. We had Diamond & Pearl in 2006, Platinum in 2008, HeartGold & SoulSilver in 2009, and then finally, Black & White in 2010. By contrast, Gen VII didn’t even last three years, technically. I mean, this November would be its third anniversary, but that’s when Gen VIII officially starts instead. To be fair, it could be argued that Gen IV didn’t have a full four years since it came out in September 2006, and Gen V came out in September 2010. But even if you make that argument, it still had a full year on Gen VII, and to be honest, that showed. The Sinnoh games are far and away not my faves, but they were still full of content. HeartGold & SoulSilver are often considered to be the best remakes in the entire franchise, and considering the content that was cut from OmegaRuby & AlphaSapphire and Masuda’s reasoning for why that content was cut, I can’t exactly argue with that even though I did genuinely enjoy ORAS. And the games that Gen IV ushered in? Controversial opinion, but I think that the Pokémon games peaked with Gen V. Black & White not only initially had a ‘dex that was nothing but new pokémon (and yet STILL included the Nat Dex later, because in Masuda’s own words he felt it cruel to keep people from playing with their faves forever!), but it also introduced a METRIC TON of new mechanics, some of which we no longer get to use (Rotation Battles? Game Freak doesn’t know her). Who knows what exactly Game Freak did with that extra year, but it was clearly a lot of work given how wonderful the games were in Gen IV and Gen V. The extra dev time showed.By contrast, Gen VII got 2.5 years (or 3 if you’re being generous). Every single game released during this gen had massive content cuts, even when comparing to Gen VI, which also had massive content cuts. Mechanics were stripped away, and Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon technically didn’t have a NatDex either, but at least you could still have all of your ‘mon in them at a later date if you wanted to. Now with Sword & Shield, we don’t even have that, despite the Switch being far more powerful than the 3DS. (We also don’t have Mega Evolution for whatever godforsaken reason, even though the Kanto Mega Evolutions at the very least were already used in Let’s Go, the fuck, Game Freak). Pokémon games print money and always have, and Game Freak has taken this and their lack of interest in the series to the depressing but I suppose logical extreme of “do whatever and they’ll buy it anyway.” There’s no love here, there’s no respect here. They just don’t care anymore, and as someone who does care an awful lot, it’s super upsetting to me.

And while people have tried to argue that the games can’t be delayed because of the anime or the card game or whatever else:

The games come first. They’ve always come first. I know some people mistakenly think that the anime came first and that the games were created later, but that is 100% false. Pokémon started as a game series and the anime was created to advertise the games, straight up.

Filler episodes exist, and the PokéAni is no stranger to them. The Orange Islands arc was an entire arc of filler created to pad time between Gens I and II. The Delacora Islands (or whatever they were called) was a filler arc meant to pad time between Gens V and VI. Arguably the majority of the Sun & Moon anime was filler, given its slice-of-life genre, meaning the anime was even less of an excuse not to delay Sword & Shield. You can’t tell me people wouldn’t have been happy with another year of the Alola crew running around getting into random adventures. People would have eaten that up and loved it. We could have had it all.

I’m not even going to dignify “but the card game” with a response lmao. This isn’t Yu-Gi-Oh!. Sure, the card game makes money, and probably a decent amount of it (merch sales probably make up the franchise’s greatest source of income, and as someone who easily spent several hundred dollars in two weeks at the PokéCenters in Japan---including over $100 in one trip to a PokéCenter while I was there, and we went multiple times---I am a big part of that), but they come up with bullshit new expansions all the time and could easily keep doing it. Again, not a reason to delay the games if the games need more time in development.

So all in all, at the end of the day, Game Freak is no longer treating these games with love and respect, which makes them an awful lot like the villains in the games they create. The Let’s Go games were harbingers of disaster for the games, and we were told this very plainly, and just about no one listened. In fact, I legitimately lost friendships with people who got mad at me for making Facebook statuses about how they should buy Let’s Go used if they absolutely had to have them because how DARE I believe Ishihara when he said that Let’s Go were considered core titles, and how DARE I believe Masuda when he said that Let’s Go would usher in the last twenty years of the franchise. Clearly, I was just being an ugly bitch. (I wish I was exaggerating, but this actually happened, I got blocked over it, it was ridiculous.) And now here we are as a result, with no hope of things getting better unless Nintendo forcibly rips Pokémon out of Game Freak’s hands, which I don’t even think they can legally do given that they only own 1/3rd of the IP. (The other 2/3rds belong to Game Freak and Creatures Inc., as I understand it.) 

TL;DR:

Pokémon is still my favorite fictional fantasy world, but as someone who has always loved the games first and foremost, the current state of it depresses me to no end.

[beaniegara]

11 Questions

tagged both by @yaboybergara​ and @ricky-goldsworth​ which is great because that gives me 22 questions mwahhahaha thank you folks!! <3 

RULES

1. always post the rules

2. answer the questions given by the person who tagged you

3. write 11 questions of your own

4. tag 11 people you want to get to know better (or however many you want)

now, see, I don’t know what to ask........ so I’m gonna be a little shit and tag folks to pick 11 of these 22 questions and answer them too. nini and gray pls don’t sue me for reusing your questions, thank fdgkfndgfdsk I’m tagging @kaylotta, @queerunsolved, @haunted-gays, @thatmademadej, and @i-am-ghost-proof-baby <3 if yall wanna do it, of course. no pressure.

this is incredibly long (and uncomfortably honest). let’s go lesbians let’s go

first, nini’s questions:

1. How many pets have you had in your life?

one. I’ve always wanted them but my mom and I have always lived in tiny apartments and had no way to care for a pet so it wasn’t until I was 17 that we adopted a kitten!! his name was merlin and he was the laziest, moodiest lil ball of fluff I’ve ever met. I.. had to give him away a year later because we moved to a place even smaller that wouldn’t allow pets so long story short I’m scarred for life and don’t think I can ever take any more pets without feeling guilty to my bone 

this is merlin btw I love him with all my heart and he now lives in a farm. as far as I know anyway.. :(

2. Do you believe in destiny? Why?

mmm interesting question. weird, metaphysical theories aside, I don’t believe anything is set in stone per se, but I do believe that some things are just... meant to be? in a way? for example, you can’t tell me ryan and shane weren’t meant to be friends and find each other in such an unlikely place as they did. one of my mottos, completely stripped from context because it’s from a rather pretentious tv show, is “the universe is rarely so lazy”. meaning that good things happen for a reason, and that you trailed that path for that to happen. yknow what I’m saying? I can’t really explain this without writing a 10 page essay because that’s just how my gemini ass thinks 

3. If you could chose one person on the great beyond, would you take the chance to talk to them? 

you mean someone who has passed away? oh yeah, I would talk to my grandmother. she was raising me and died when she was 4 and that changed not only my entirely life but our whole extended family dynamic... so many questions.

4. From all your hobbies, which one would you love to make a living of?

oh man, writing. I’ve been dreaming of being a writer ever since I was 9 or something. never panned out but that would certainly be the dream. if I could work with videos, subtitling, tv shows, cinema etc that would also be dope as hell!

5. What’s your favorite color palette to wear?

fkgjfsdgiusfdksd I have no fashion sense whatsoever, idk? I do like to wear dark clothes (because weight..) and reds (because pale).

6. What’s your opinion on queerbaiting?

I don’t have the time for it. for starters, it’s something that usually comes from people with very poor writing skills that can’t come up with plots interesting enough to keep viewers/readers hooked in. that already says something. no offense to anyone who is a fan of shows like these, but when it’s mostly written by white men I just don’t have any high hopes for it. you can ask flavs what my reaction was like when I realized the character I had headcanon’ed as wlw in hannibal was actually a wlw. I couldn’t believe it, because what???? since when does that happen, especially in a show run by a white man??? kjdfghsjgd 

I think this is part of a bigger conversation but my point is, don’t fall for it. I know it’s all part of the fight for representation, asking big names to produce big shows with lgbtq+ characters in it and so on, but for the love of god, watch something else too!!!! let GOT rot and die!!!!!!!!! look up different, smaller, cheaper shows, that’s where you find lgbtq+ content creators!!!!!! there’s so many wlw webseries out there, you wouldn’t believe it. you have a choice. don’t give any more of your time and love and word-of-mouth to shows/movies that clearly have no interest in being more diverse. they don’t deserve you. 

and that’s not to say any of it is on us. quite on the contrary, they’re using us. but aside from calling out their bullshit, we do have a chance to boost lgbtq+ content creators. don’t let them fool you into thinking they’re doing you any favors, or that they’re our last chance so we should be paying attention to what they’re doing/saying. fuck them!!!! you can’t queerbait me because I don’t trust you or give you the chance to do it. and you can shove your very straight, very white shows where the sun doesn’t shine, @ hollywood.  

7. Is there a language you would love to speak?

french and korean, mostly. I can understand a little bit of both, but I really wish I was fluent :( oh, will to live and learn, where art thou...

8. Do you have, like, a dream so wild you think it’s impossible?

kjgnsfdkjhjjs having enough money to support myself and my mother??? I don’t have any big, wild dreams, I think. just.......... living comfortably would be a+  

9. How many AUs of your own life do you have in your head?

oh man. I keep thinking about living somewhere in idk iceland or scotland just like... tending goats or something. that’s the most comfortable version of myself I can think of.

I also like to imagine if I could handle being a film director, because that sounds like fun. maybe a screenwriter? anything creative in films, really. 

there’s also the unattainable dream of having a wife and idk maybe adopting a kid? and we’d just. support each other. and love each other. and that’s just. I. [cries]

I like to think how things would be if I were actually hot and not socially awkward.. I’d be someone completely different, basically lol 

10. If you were to meet your younger self, do you think they would think you cool or not?

oh god, younger me would hate present me D: I had such high hopes for myself, I had lots of dreams lol never in a million years did I think I’d be where I am today...

11. Not a question, but please add something postive about yourself, something that you love about you.

IDJFSSIODUGSDFKGDSJ IT’S LIKE YOU KNEW I’D BE A NEGATIVE FUCK, NINI. I................................ I like that I have an easy time with languages? or with classes in general. I like to learn from people, I’m just really unmotivated to leave the house lol 

now onto gray’s q’s:

1. What’s your favourite music video of all time?

straight-up impossible questions right out of the gate huh I SEE YOU, GRAY. I SEE YOU kjdfgjfsdhgkdsjfs

I’ll have to go with a few,

“prototype” by viktoria modesta is just GORGEOUS. I can’t get over this video & song and it’s been years.

“jackpot” by block b looks creepy as shit but the context makes it such a clever yet fun video. take into account that these guys were screwed over by the kpop company that created the group, and that the lyrics talk about hitting jackpot in an industry that’s savage to say the least. to me this video is a visual representation of what a dangerous trap entertainment companies are in the kpop industry, and it also ties in with the groups’ story of being made into dolls by a company and then telling them to fuck off in the end lol 

“treat me like your mother” by the dead weather. I don’t know why I just love it. (cw: gun violence)

“emperor’s new clothes” by panic! at the disco. I MEAN, LOOK AT IT.

“manyo maash” by puer kim. I just love the aesthetic?

honorable mention: “tick tick boom” by the hives because that’s a banger. ba dum tssss.

2. What’s a favourite memory of yours?

I have plenty of good memories, thank god. I think one of my favorites is just hanging out with my friends in 2008-9; one of their older brothers was driving us around town, we were listening to the white stripes at full volume, singing along, all sitting pressed up close together in his shitty car. man, my teenage years would’ve been fantastic if I had stayed there with them!! 

3. Do you play video games? If so, which one’s your favourite?

I DO!!! I mean, not as much as I’d like because a) no money to spare on games/consoles, and b) I suck at basically everything. but I’m obsessed with paladins these days, and I’m also a big fan of LOTRO. I like horror games--mostly the resident evil and silent hill type--and fps. I grew up playing some tomb raider, medal of honor, resident evil... oh, those were the days. 

4. How did you first get into [your fandom of choice]?

with bfu it was that kind of thing where I’d see a meme or two cross my dash and it was always this ridiculous screenshot, or those “that’s it, that’s the show” kinda things with dozens of thousands of notes... until one day I was incredibly anxious, and I needed to watch something or I’d never finish the assignments I had for college. so I just thought “oh hey I should check out that unsolved thing people like so much, it’s buzzfeed so it’s probably good bg noise to work with” lol and it did work, and I did finish my assignments, and that means that I first watched the show barely paying any attention to it because I was busy doing something else. but ryan’s and shane’s voices helped me relax and to this day they still help a lot with my anxiety, to the point that I need to keep coming back every minute or so during episodes because I get distracted just listening to their voices and not absorbing a word lol

5. How did you first get into fandom in general?

uhh.. well, I was a big “pottermaniac” (that’s how I called it) since I was 9, but that was before I realized fandom was a Thing on the internet too. I remember when I was maybe 10 or 11, I entered a chatroom (god, those were wild) just in time to see someone saying in all caps HARRY POTTER IS GREAT AND YOU’RE ALL DUMB FOR NOT SEEING IT or something fkdsjgfdugfsdk and it was this girl using the nickname fawkes. she was older than me, I think that 15 or something, and we exchanged addresses (!!! how am I alive!!!) and were pen pals for a while. but it took me so fucking long to actually find the fandom online that I think my first brush with it was with the arctic monkeys forum I found online in 2008, where I mistakenly said I liked “the muse” and people laughed at me so I never went back to it lol then in 2010 I found out about kpop and that’s when I really dived head-first into fandom life. took me long enough (tbf I was very against the notion of being a “fan” because I was an idiot).

6. What’s at the top of your bucket list?

great fucking question. no idea. I guess.. traveling overseas? if we’re talking wild, distant things. but closer to my reality, getting a job that pays me at least the minimum wage disjgdfgkfsdk #fuckinternships

7. What’s something not many people know about you?

I love dancing and miss it like hell.

8. What’s your favourite medium for storytelling - movie, book, television, musical, comic, internet video, video game, something else? Why that medium?

ohhhhhhh this is an interesting question. as much as I love writing, and think that’s one of the best things we humans have ever come up with, I do love.. musicals? not necessarily theater--although that’s great and I’d sell my soul to see chicago live--but I love the idea of telling stories through music. I really wish we could bring back the custom of telling stories orally, and through music, and that we could as society agree that collective singing is beautiful and should be reintroduced in our day-to-day lives. sure listening to (1) artist singing is great but hAVE YOU TRIED SINGING ALONG DURING A CONCERT WHERE EVERYONE ELSE IS SINGING TOO? best fucking feeling in the world. 

we had two bands in brazil, in different periods of time, that were so incredibly famous they’re still cornerstones in our music history. one was legião urbana, some folk-ey rock band that had a couple of songs telling these really long stories that I LOVE with all my heart. faroeste caboclo is our bohemian rhapsody, most people my age or older know the lyrics to it. and mamonas assassinas was this comical (?) rock band that sang dumb, fun songs that usually told stories too and that was the best. I miss that kinda thing. 

9. What’s your favourite food?

red meat, mainly churrasco. but I also can’t live without chocolate milk AND the whopper. capitalism has me by the stomach.

10. Do you have a joke to share?

fjgfsdgskfdgfsk I don’t.. it’s been so long since I last tried telling a joke, I don’t think I know any?

11. What song/artist helped you through your struggles?

pitty has been a big part of my life for some 14-odd years now. “be ok” by ingrid michaelson and “starlight” by muse were my anthems when depression hit hard during my teenage years. the white stripes has also been a constant, with gems like “blue orchid” and “a martyr for my love for you” turning into sort of theme songs for certain parts of my life. choi sam helped me through college. and even though they were a huge disappointment to the point that I stopped listening to them altogether, block b gave me a good 4 or 5 years of distraction from life.

[gameridernews]

Ex-Aid review: Heisei Generations

Time to review Ex-Aid's first movie: "Kamen Rider Heisei Generations: Dr. Pac-Man VS Ex-Aid & Ghost With Legend Riders". Long, long title. Since I've not done a review for a movie yet, how do I format this...

Well, for starters, some preliminary timeline placement: The movie came out when Kuroto Dan was still pretending to be sane, and there was still a bike among us. The Kamen Rider Genm spinoffs would tip you off to that since those take place after this movie. It's a nice early "In case you're new to Ex-Aid" timeline placement.

Also, since this is post-finale Ghost, Drive, Gaim and Wizard... I won’t hold back on spoilers for those shows!

This is a real treat, I tell ya. For those who don't know, I love crossovers in general. And when it comes to Kamen Rider, I usually get some kind of enjoyment out of the crossover movies. I say this because, well, they're not usually... logical. Due to trying to work in this show and that show with their crazily distinct styles and lore, it gets hard to make crossovers actually make sense.

But the ones that have come out since Gaim have been doing a better job of that. Generally I'm talking about the spring movies in this context, but what I should be talking about are the winter movies. These are typically movies where the current show gets its own plot, the previous show gets its own post-finale plot, and the two plots merge in the final act... or final 10 minutes.

Ghost/Drive did something impressive with this format: It ditched it entirely. Instead of having two shows meet at the end, this movie realized that a movie about Ghost and Drive should really be about Ghost and Drive having some adventure that affects both of them. I'm glad to see this movie follows that notion with Ex-Aid and Ghost meeting within the first few minutes, and even Drive gets to be involved in continuity with the aforementioned Ghost/Drive movie. I'll talk about the cameos as they come up.

So right away, things are falling into chaos as we meet our villains, Dr. Pac-Man and his three lackeys, who I'll call Robol, Dragol and Giril since that's easier to remember. This is because they steal the Proto Gashats from Kuroto Dan, along with the Bugvisor, and the lackeys use Proto Gashats to transform much in the way Graphite did to gain his black recolor form.

I appreciate that, from the moment this movie starts, you know that you're in for a wild time. The lackeys themselves all do some fun fighting even as civilians, in particular Giril who literally brought a sword to a gun fight even before getting a Proto Gashat. Dragol, the tall lanky one, also does a good performance. And Dr. Pac-Man... boy, that outfit and mask combo is so 70s it hurts. I can't hate it.

I should take some time to talk about Ghost, shouldn't I?

Yes, this is Ghost's return after the show ended, and to be honest? Not much has changed for this cast. Takeru is in school making up for the time lost, but everyone else... is about where they were when the show ended, which is fine. The monks and Kanon also appear briefly, and of course Makoto/Specter and Alain/Necrom, but I am disappointed that Javert didn't get to show up - I wanna see what his monk training has led to, man.

The Pac-Man Bugster Viruses end up taking away Takeru’s ability to transform for some reason... but then we learn why later! Pac-Man's weakness is ghosts! I shouldn't be surprised that was actually a plot point since that's a line in the trailer, but it's still absurd in a way that made me smile. Apparently Kuroto Dan is being trusted with his Eyecon to work on a new Gashat, which sounds like A VERY BAD IDEA but y'know, at this point Kuroto Dan was actually a trusted supplier.

The three lackeys go on to use Proto Gashats stolen from Kuroto Dan, transforming into what are essentially reuses of the Collaboss Bugsters from the show, sans the Gashat lodged in the head - ironic since they transform shoving the Gashat into their body ala Dopant Memories. With that and the white outfits I can't help but imagine this is Foundation X related...

The undersuit of the Collaboss Bugster is colored a bit differently, but to me the main attraction is Dragol since Drago Knight Hunter Z never got used this way in the show. It's a nice design, too! It's a thing that makes me go "Oh I should use that in fanfiction..." 

The movie mainly revolves around a high school student who becomes infected, and in a twist I kinda wasn't expecting so early, they make a Bugster from a game HE created - a game not associated with Genm Corp, Hatesate Puzzle. Kind of a neat twist. They tie this Bugster's powers into the villain's ambitions in a way that is kind of nonsensical to me, though.

What I do like is the way they handle the kid. Sure, it's mostly an Ex-Aid plot, but Takeru's respect for enjoying life comes into play since the patient really enjoys making his game, and the two of them, despite some minor differences later on, both want to see him be happy once it's over.

While this is going on, we do get an interesting subplot with Dr. Pac-Man and crew. Takeru, Onari and Akari go to Shinnosuke/Drive of the Metro PD to find out who these villains are, and the plot thickens when he reveals that they were part of some shady business shrouded in rumors and mysterious deaths.

Shinnosuke's life sucks during this first half of the movie. It's become apparent to him that he can't be a Rider with his gear being put away and all, so he's feeling pretty powerless. It's a bit of a random stroke of luck how he is reunited with Belt-san to become Kamen Rider Drive again, but I will get into that once I talk about Gaim. Yes.

Hey, wait, I've seen that scene in the show recently...! Let's talk about this now even though they reveal more about it later.

Perhaps there were detailed synopsis' available way back when the movie came out, I dunno. It's hard to come across this stuff in English unless you follow the right people, and even then you might only learn bits and pieces.

But I did not know the movie actually reveals that Emu is patient zero AND Parad was created from his Bugster Virus! And I bet a lot of folks outside of Japan were not privy to this reveal either, since I'd always seen/received theories about Emu possibly maybe being patient zero. I even theorized it at the end of December when the movie had already come out. I feel dumb but at the same time, that's what happens when you can't be there to see the movie when it comes out.

I'm talking a bit out of order, but I will say that there's a double edged sword to this reveal. On the one hand, we the viewers learn about Emu being patient zero because Ghost's sporadic touch-someone-and-see-memories power triggered when he put a hand on Dr. Pac-Man. On the other hand... bro, you should've probably told Emu something this eerie. Perhaps not the best way to reveal it.

Anyway, just thought that was real interesting for a movie that contains the name "Dr. Pac-Man".

Back to the plot at hand, the new Hatesate Puzzle based Bugster causes some trouble for Takeru as it just about kills off Akari, or at least badly injures her. It's easy to say she was killed since it's Ghost. But we'll get to him near the end...

Oh yeah, Makoto and Alain show up around this time. Just... kind of slide into view during a fight since they read the script.

Sadly I don't really have much to say about them in this movie since their dialogue literally consists of saying "You'll pay for this!" in slightly different ways each time they speak. We do get to see that they and Kanon return to the Ganma homeworld at the end, so... that's still a thing.

The movie then proceeds to provide the kind of fight porn you enjoy from one of these movies. Giril, Robol and Dragol take on Specter, Necrom, Brave, Snipe and Lazer (cause hey he's still alive), all while summoning Bugster Viruses that are themed after their Gashats; Samurai, futuristic soldiers(??) and fantasy soldiers that may or may not be using costumes from Wizard's summer movie. Fact-checking is for kids.

And of course, the new Gashat from Kuroto Dan has arrived for Ex-Aid to use. After he and Ghost start working together to take on the giant CGI Pac-Man, Ex-Aid uses the wonderfully colored Ghost Gamer form while Ghost uses the uncanny Ex-Aid Damashii form he now has (an Eyecon obtained at the end of his show because crossovers), and the two defeat the giant Pac-Man.

The day is saved. Wait, weren't there more Riders in this? 

Yeah, that shocked me when I was watching - we're only halfway through and we've gotten the big crossover fight out of the way! If I wasn't already so aware of what happens in the movie, I'd be left wondering what comes next.

But Emu is still affected by all that happened. The other doctor Riders came to help, and are even caring for the Riders from Ghost who are injured, but Emu couldn't save his own patient. Not only that, but the villains have said patient, and are using him to create a new form for Dr. Pac-Man. Standard toku movie villain stuff.

Is there any hope left for our hero?

No, but at least we have our donuts.

So this cameo is a bit out of nowhere for a couple reasons. One, it just kind of happens suddenly. Two, holy crap they got Haruto's actor to come back and his hair is perfectly on point. But alas, much like Wizard's show, his involvement here isn't living up to its full potential. He doesn’t say much beyond catchphrases and the fact he’s a mage, and doesn’t explain why he’s here. I have a way this could've worked, which will be addressed when I talk about Gaim. Yes.

There is also a kinda funny scene where he convinces Dr. Pac-Man into letting him be a bodyguard with no trouble at all. It was funny but not for the right reasons. He and Dragol also don't get along and that's funny because theming.

Once Emu, Takeru and Shinnosuke know where to go, they see the new bodyguard Haruto... who says he's here to escort them in - okay. The three engage in some fun out-of-suit fighting with Dr. Pac-Man's lackies, and arrive to a familiar part of this abandoned office set that led me to wonder how he was going to make his entrance...

Turns out he just kind of crashes the party and lands like a badass. I can dig it. Okay, so NOW I talk about Gaim!

Gaim's a glaring part of this crossover. Whether the actor was busy with another role, or disinterested in returning, he never appears out of costume and there's not even a voice credit. 

Gaim DOES talk in the movie, and he sounds on point, but one thing you'll notice is he never says anything too specific. It's believed that his dialogue is just recycled audio from previous media, and sadly, as the resident Gaim fanatic, I could not even begin to find transcripts that would lead me to having properly spelled Japanese dialogue that would lead me to previous instances of said dialogue existing. Just wanted to explain how much dumb work I was doing for this one paragraph of the review.

But what I can tell you is this: Gaim has dialogue that’s real teamwork-y, so it’s probably from previous crossovers.

Anyway, I had two things to address with Gaim. First, they do a cute thing where Gaim retrieved Belt-san for Shinnosuke, to which he acknowledges that Gaim DOES have god powers that make it easy for him to just warp into the Drive Pit and snatch him up. That's a nice way of getting Drive to transform.

A shame they didn't think to have a flashback where Haruto is warned about Dr. Pac-Man by Gaim, thus explaining why either of them are here to begin with. I mean, Gaim's probably privy to movie villain plots, since he's got god senses.

As a real specific thing, I would have also liked if Gaim explained away his lack of out-of-suit appearance with "By the way, I'm on another planet right now, so this is just an avatar." If you don't follow Gaim then I'm sorry for throwing these spoilers out so crazily, but y'know. I gave the appropriate spoiler warning.

There's a lot of lovely fight porn where Wizard, Gaim and Drive each take on the lackeys and their Bugster Virus grunts, who happen to fit their motifs, going through their various forms while their respective themes play. It's beautiful. Also Gaim has a real out-of-place line delivery when he gives a final blow, lending credence to the theory this is recycled dialogue.

When Ghost gets insultingly overpowered by the puzzle themed Bugster, making his supposed infinite potential form look bad, Ghost receives an out-of-nowhere visit from the spirit of Nobunaga who decides to fight alongside him with two other rulers of Japan who unified the nation. Tenka Touitsu Damashii represents three historical figures, and I gotta say, I'm glad to see it get used in a movie.

A shame they gave it to Ghost since the toy Eyecon is literally only capable of playing Specter's standby music. But I guess I can't feel too bad for Specter since he got his own movie with a final form? 

It's a nice idea, looks good, and the fact that it makes use of the three Riders' weapons is cool. Maybe in a world where Ghost made more Eyecons, Hideyoshi and Ieyasu would've been forms used by Ghost and Necrom.

Things are not so hopeful for Emu. He's been given a legitimately-painful-to-watch beating by Dr. Pac-Man in his new monster form, and is pushed to the ground. The kind doctor decides to give Emu a taste of what it's like to go through death by Bugster Virus by basically forcing Mighty Action X into his belt alongside Proto Mighty Action X (since Proto Gashats have been established to be deadly), which doesn't work out quite how he wanted.

Instead, Emu inexplicably (but we know why now) connects the two Gashats to form the Mighty Brothers XX Gashat - which appears to be lacking in some paint here for some reason, gonna guess it's an error. With a very ominous and emotionless persona overtaking him, he transforms into the separate Ex-Aids, Double Action Gamer Level XX.

It's a real interesting way of giving you a taste of what's to come in the show in a way that's different. Ghost/Drive did this as well with Ghost's Toucon Boost Damashii form, and there's also Hibiki which kind of... created its own crazy origin for Hibiki's final form which is completely ignored in the show.

Point is, I find it interesting the way they pulled it off. By the end of the fight, the villains have been defeated and Ex-Aid's double Gashat turns back into separates, with him having no memory of what he did - cleeeverly avoiding continuity problems with the show, I see.

With that, the movie is just about over, but wait! It's a Ghost movie where Takeru doesn't die? Of course not, that'd just be silly.

Yes, as the cast of Ex-Aid and Ghost are meeting up again, Takeru randomly passes out. Apparently all the beatings he endured today was just too much for him. It seems that he's really dead this time! No pulse or anything! Tears all around!

You know what's coming, though. It's a crossover with a doctor. In a scene that's strangely reminiscent of the fakeout CPR scene in episode 1 of Ex-Aid, Emu brings Takeru back to life. He then thanks Emu for giving him another chance at life, fulfilling Ghost's other requirement of being sugary sweet.

The credits roll as we see what everyone is up to now. Haruto is on a rooftop eating donuts just as you'd expect, and Shinnosuke is dealing with coworkers congradulating him on his new kid way too early... not sure if that's a Drive Saga 2 thing or not, since that's on my list of toku to watch.

And finally, the last scene has Parad with Kuroto, holding the Pac-Adventure Gashat that will be used in the Genm spinoff which doesn't make anymore sense now that I've seen the movie. Oh, and a nice shot of Perfect Puzzle's title image, teasing at Parad's future Rider status! Neat.

So... that's a lot of text I'm gonna have to edit. But that's also Ex-Aid's first movie. How was it?

Well, I generally enjoy crossover movies for the fun things that can happen, and within the last few years they have gotten really good at telling a story. Especially Ghost/Drive which I have referenced several times here, since it and this movie have its format in common.

That being said, this movie is kind of an oddity of its own. It gets the Legend Rider-y crossover form stuff out of the way halfway in, and goes on to do more stuff later that feels reminiscent of the spring crossover movies as of late - even using returning actors, and directly acknowledging previous crossovers to give a legitimacy to them. These 4 returning heroes felt like they'd met before and were reunited, which is probably the most pleasant surprise of the movie.

I know a lot of folks out there hate these kind of movies, or even ignore all the toku movies, but I think this is promising. Kamen Rider crossovers have been getting better at character writing with each movie, and I am excited to see the spring movie once it hits DVD.

With that all being said, I'll see you all in... a week maybe? With Ex-Aid taking a week off, I should use that as an excuse to catch up and actually talk about May's crazy bunch of episodes.

[aspernamentum]

1-60

If you had to change your character’s FC for one day, who would you pick?

Jimmy: John Berenthal

Zoe: Emma Stone

Brad: Matthew Mcconaughey (specifically from Mud, couldn’t find any icons)

Molly: Teresa Palmer (considering changing to her anyways) 

Frankie: Frankie Boyle (his namesake was so close to being his FC)

Jack: ewan mcgregor (from trainspotting specifically)

Kayleigh: Kelly McDonald

Little Jake: Tyler the Creator

Alex: Scarlet Johansson 

Bruce: Jason Bateman 

What’s something you like about how you write?

I am really good at some sad bullshit. I can write that sad bullshit and make people sad. 

What’s something you dislike about how you write or wish you were better at?

i need to have everything worked out before i even start. i can’t just start writing, i need to figure out how people are feeling, what they’re doing - and to some extent i need to be in that mood too. i’ve also noticed i reuse stuff??? phrases and metaphors and stuff i kind of have a tendency to reuse them in different replies over and over again. 

What’s something about your character that you’d like if you had to spend time with them?

they can all get drugs. 

nah but seriously, they can sesh, and so can i. write what you know. 

also, i’m gonna put the rest under a cut

What’s something about your character that you wouldn’t like if you had to spend time with them?

When you meet people who are deep in that kind of shit, like crime, you’ve always got this like defense up. like you can’t relax or anything and when i’m like that irl i go quiet. like i wouldn’t speak to them unless i knew that they weren’t going to kick my ass.  

What’s a negative thing about your character that you enjoy writing?

… literally everything????? their addictions and how they manifest, their shit choices, everything is fucked up and i just love that shit. 

What;s a similarly you have with your character?

There’s little elements of me in all of them, really. Jimmy’s unbelievably loyal to the point of stupidity, Brad’s a deep thinker and a bit of a tink (like uh, i suppose the american word would be hick???) -dirty- i mean, Zoe’s a worrier and Little Jake’s genuine, Frankie’s got my humor and Jack, well, Jack’s just a fucking nutter. Kayleigh’s the mam friend too, which i’m totally not but i don’t have much in common with her. 

What’s a difference you have with your character?

i’m not a murderer

 What’s the hardest thing for you to write?

uuuuuuhhhhhhh i suppose it’s a question of style. and by that i mean i can’t write victorian era shit convincingly. 

Do you think you’ve gotten better at writing anything or any type of thing or situation since you started writing this character (or roleplaying in general)?

fuccin hope so

Why do you roleplay?

i write but i’ve not got the resolve to write a novel

Do you write fiction ever other than rping?

Trying to write a novel but it’s uh… difficult to pay attention

Do you like fanfiction more or less than reading rp threads between characters?

Less. never been big into fanfiction. 

Do you like or dislike OC/Canon character interactions in principle?

the way i’ve always seen it is in a canon’s universe there’re people they’ve not met yet. there’s nothing to say that that OC isn’t in that particular universe, we’ve just not seen them yet. it’s weirder when they’re inserted into the main characters backstory but yeah. So long as there’s been some thought put into it sure, go for it. plus i love throwing my team at canon characters.

What’s your favorite thing about rping a canon character?

putting your own spin on shit’s pretty cool. like i roleplayed deadpool for a while, which meant i got to use my off-kilter humor, whilst also breaking the fourth wall and commenting on how my version of deadpool had fallen into self parody. 

What’s something you dislike about rping a canon character?

is it just me or are “”””fandoms”””” very socially conscious to the point of it inflicting on the actual roleplay??? like deadpool’s a bad guy (in theory), but i was afraid to actually do anything despicable because i saw other people getting lynched for it. the last thing i want is to be DoS’d because deadpool made a joke about feminists

What’s your favorite thing about rping an original character?

FREEDOM AND THE COMMUNITY IS MUCH NICER. plus like, most communities of rp go dead whenever there isn’t media to consume, the OC community just keeps on ticking 

What’s something you dislike about rping an original character?

i had about 1000 followers on deadpool, 400 here and i’ve had both blogs about the same amount of time. you do have to make a far bigger push to get people interested. 

How much time do you spend roleplaying on average a week?

Not counting weekends probably like about 7 hours???

Do you think about your threads and your character when you aren’t roleplaying? How and for how long on average?

i should probably state that the novel i’m trying to write is jimmy’s story, so yeah i’m often thinking of ideas of where to take the crew and shit, which obviously has a knock on effect to this blog. i also think of replies, but always forget what i was going to write. 

Do you like lots of headcanons or few?

to me, headcanons are just things that EVERYONE should be doing tbh. it’s a writing exercise really, so yeah, even if you don’t throw them out there all the time you gotta be thinking about the day-to-day little details tbh

 What’s your take on AUs?

OK in moderation. It goes back to my kind of issue with the amount of detail i need to put in. like if i shifted jimmy into the star wars universe how would that change his life? what kind of man would he be in that setting? if i put him into Marvel would he of even became a criminal? 

What’s your favorite AU?

my christmas verse where Jimmy fed the real santa LSD and had to commandeer the sleigh in an attempt to deliver presents except he’s hammered. That, or maybe the high-school verse

What’s your least favorite AU?

as stated, anything that would drastically change the characters stories. 

What’s a ship you really like rping?

im just gonna tag @morelikxevil here. 

What’s a ship you would never rp? For what reason?

Spiderpool. Until very recently Spider-man hated Deadpool, and even then Deadpool’s sexuality hasn’t been consistent across writers. i tend to avoid that kind of drama. 

What do you like about roleplaying angst?

E V E R Y T H I N G

What do you dislike about roleplaying angst?

Have you ever had a real angsty argument/conversation? that shit fizzles out and leaves everything awkward as hell. happens in rp too

What do you like about roleplaying fluff?

when you make your characters happy it gives you a great opportunity to fuck them up even more. 

What do you dislike about roleplaying fluff?

It can get too much sometimes. as in if ALL i’m rping is fluff stuff across the board i would actually go insane. it’s alright in small doses, but i prefer it when Frankie’s kirb-stomping fools. Plus, it isn’t really my characters??? they’re understated in the romance department. 

What do you like about roleplaying ships/romance? 

it’s EXCITING!!!!! especially when it first starts!!! like you’re like woah jimmy how u gonna fuck this up!!!!!

What do you dislike about roleplaying ships/romance?

There’s going to come a point when it’s going to shift gears into something else, like, it’s kind of the same complaint with fluff except with romance/ships it’s a lot easier to kind of move it on. like jimmy could’ve been TRYING to be romantic but they got interrupted, with fluff, the entire focus tends to be on the fluff. 

NSFW rp — yes or no? Why?

Yes, but it’s weird. like… the fuck am i supposed to call a dick? what about a pussy? it feels weird calling them a penis and a vagina, it feels weird calling them a dick and a pussy, it feels equally weird calling them “manhood” or “… flower???” i get fucked up by the logistics of actually writing smut in a genuine manner. like i tend to write dirty shit outwith rp in a very… uh… weird way. like nobody’s writhing around having multiple orgasms, and tbh i rarely write foreplay in much detail either, so like when i’m having to for threads i’m kinda out of my element a bit bc you don’t know what you can or can’t write.

Do you ever read other people’s NSFW rp threads? (be honest!)

if it’s under a read more i don’t bother, if like i’m scrolling and i notice it then yeah i’d probably read it. 

Do you ever read rp threads you aren’t involved in? What type of thread does it usually have to be to interest you?

Only if it’s two characters i’ve already interacted with. find that pretty interesting like, these people are all in the same universe and they don’t know they all know each other. 

If you do read threads you aren’t in, do you usually let the other authors know, or keep it under your hat?

Never really mentioned it but y’know, it’s just not something i’ve ever felt the need to say to someone

Has a roleplayer ever changed your view on a character? If so, how? Good or bad? For better or for worse?

Nah, not really. there is a big disconnect in my head between the actual media the characters from and another persons interpretation of that character. 

Do you like to title threads or not?

In my head, yeah, like i think that’s the mark of a good thread when you can sum it up in your head. like “oh i need to reply to the fighty thread” 

Do you like to plot or improv?

Improv mostly and i feel like i am literally the only person who prefers improv over plot. like i prefer vague plots and when i say vague i mean like “Jimmy and so&so fight ____” 

Do you like to make open starters?

Opens are my way of saying “i don’t want to do drafts but i still want to write” tbh, OR i post one before i do drafts.

Do you like to answer open starters?

… i think i’ve only ever let like, a handful of opens pass me by tbh. i’m usually like, on opens in two seconds

Do you usually prefer chat/short replies, or long/para/novella replies?

Hrm. I like both, through the week you’re more likely to get chat/short stuff out of me, but on weekends i’ll do medium-to-short mostly. long stuff scares me tbh, like i know i probably could do it, but a lot of what i do on here is mood dependent, which is why i’m not a good writer. like i really do need to be in the right headspace to do anything on here. 

What’s your favorite thing about rping a chat/short style thread?

It’s quick, it’s literally like going on autopilot tbh but at the same time you can use all the development you’ve came up with to figure out what they’re saying. 

What’s your least favorite thing about rping a chat/short style thread?

Nothing really except from the fact that it’s like, it has no effect on the characters really. Like big, long threads usually means there’s a lot going on, if there’s nothing going on except from two people chatting then they’re not going to be heavily effected. 

What’s your favorite thing about rping a long/para/novella style thread?

SHITS GOIN DOWN, OH FUCK ANOTHER TWIST, ANOTHER TURN, OH FUCK THAT GUY’S DEAD OH SHIT WHO’S THIS FUCKER

What’s your least favorite thing about rping a long/para/novella style thread?

it takes… so much out of me. actually having to use my brain? psht, that’ll stay in my drafts for at least a month

Do you prefer gifs or icons when roleplaying? Or no FC at all?

Icons but i don’t mind gifs. i’ve also found if i don’t use an icon i’ll put more detail into description. icons are basically shorthand so i don’t have to put much description into what they look like. 

Do you roleplay with people whose characters aren’t from the same dimentional universe as yours? (For example, if your character is drawn or anime, will you RP with people who use actor face claims/play-bys?)

Won’t do anime, don’t really like it tbh, everything else is game, like i’m following a rick from rick and morty right now and i wouldn’t care if they used a cartoon fc. i would probably try to match them actually, like maybe use archer as jimmy or something. 

What’s something you like about FCs/Play-Bys?

i use really specific FCs like, Brad isn’t just Brad Pitt, he’s Brad Pitt from specifically fight club. Frankie isn’t just James Macavoy, he’s James Macavoy from Filth. 

What’s something you dislike about FCs/Play-Bys?

Molly’s the odd one out. don’t think i’ve quite cracked her yet. 

What’s a trope or plot you think is overdone in roleplay?

uuuuhhhhh…. i’ve never noticed something coming up more than once or twice tbh

What’s a trope or plot you’ll never get sick of roleplaying?

x character’s a bad person, A character’s a good person, X perverses A somehow. 

What do you like to do as you reply to threads? Listen to music? Have TV on? Complete silence? Dark room? etc.

Have to have music on matching the theme of whatever I’m writing. 

How did you learn about roleplaying? How did you get started roleplaying yourself?

Don’t really remember. Think i just started doing it??? 

What was your first roleplay character?

Deadpool

What’s your newest roleplay character?

Uuuuuhhhhhhh, probably Alex/Bruce?

What/Who is a character you think you would like to roleplay? What’s currently stopping you from roleplaying them?

Swamp-Thing. Considering converting my Man-Thing blog into the Swamp-Thing lately. 

Who’s a roleplayer (or writer) you think you have learned a lot from?

Alan Moore, Rick Remender, Stan Lee. 

[pepperboxcouture]

Plastic is a problem. But I am not going to stomp around on over-trodden ground wailing like a possessed banshee about it. It’s a problem, end of lecture.

What I am going to do here is show you some interesting initiatives and DIY projects tackling the plastic problem in your home and community… and if you are not doing this already, then let me inspire you.

PLARN = Plastic Yarn

First let’s look again at PLARN. I started posting about Plastic recycling and in particular Plarn back in 2011 (see links at the end of this post for further reference).

Plarn is so strong and versatile it can be used as an alternative to string. You can crochet a hammock, a shopping bag, a new take on a rag rug, macrame a wall hanging, hanging plant holders, or stake your plants in the garden.

Plarn is made from pesky 1 use plastic shopping bags and is very simple to make.

In addition to the above technique you can also refine the Plarn thread by spinning it using a sewing machine and use it for knitting or weaving finer projects.

A few facts about plastic bags…..

Down in the south pacific, where I call home in New Zealand, Whales and other marine life have been in the news recently as they have washed up on our beaches ill and dying with stomachs full of plastic… Their plight is made all the more real with visual spot the difference demo doing the rounds on the net and through social media.

Quick fact: New Zealanders use around 1.6 billion plastic bags a year and on average a plastic bag is used for 12 minutes before it enters the waste stream. I mean come on we can do better.

And we shall. One of the biggest movers and shakers on the plastic prohibition scene in NZ is Countdown Supermarket who have committed to the cause of reducing the amount of plastic in circulation: “Ten of our stores moved to reusable bags on 21 May, leading the change. 42 further stores moved to reusable bags on 13 August and the remaining 129 Countdown stores nationwide will be added to the roll-out by the end of 2018.” As you read this many other retailers are following suit and also purging plastic.

That’s all well and good, you may ask, but is it practical? Well yes. In the vacuum a sustainable feel-good initiative has taken hold all over the Country. Originally started on the Gold Coast of Australia (New Zealands’ East Island) are the ever popular Boomerang Bags.

The Boomerang Bags story 

Boomerang Bags was founded in 2013 after Tania Potts and Jordyn de Boer realised they were both working on strategies to address plastic waste in their Gold Coast communities.

Jordyn was seeking a grant to purchase 4000 calico bags to supply her local shopping precinct with reusable bags. Tania was pursuing funding for a mobile hydration station for events. Tania acknowledges both were initially seeking solutions rather than mobilising people who wanted to make a difference.

“We got together to talk about our ideas and realised if we purchased new calico bags from China, we were part of the problem,” Tania said.

“That led us to consider how to use resources that were already on the planet. We found an old doona and decided to turn that into bags instead of importing new ones.”

      The idea quickly spread. In the first year, there were three communities; in the second, ten communities were on board, with the first international community in Norway. Four years on and almost 135,000 bags later, 500 communities are sewing their way to change.

Boomerang Bags was established with a borrow and bring back philosophy – bags were made available at no charge to supermarkets and stores with an expectation that people would borrow them and return after use.– Living Smart

This proactive step is expected to take 350 million bags per year out of the environment.

The initiative has on occasion been problematic in relying on the good will of people to return the bags, and the investment from volunteers is high with one bag taking anywhere from between 45 minutes and 4 hours to make. Honestly these bags have saved ‘me’ more than once at the supermarket and I would like to see this fantastic initiative thrive and not be abused. So if you want to take advantage of a good thing that’s fine, if you are caught out and forget your own bags and need to borrow a Boomerang Bag that’s also fine, but remember don’t be the dick that ruins it for everyone……. return your bags, pay it forward as you never know when you may get caught out again. YAY!!

  Plastic reducing initiatives in your community. Get involved.

Why not? What are we going to do with all that plastic that we’ve already got? It’s not like it biodegrades. What about all that PLARN you’ve made…… Too much Plarn and nothing to make? Here is an empathetic-fluffy-soul-nourishing project that you can make.

Making bed mats for the homeless.

This initiative is happening in the US right now and is gathering speed in local communities. Such a beautiful, thoughtful and useful item for people who may be in need and a top notch reuse of such an environmentally destructive material.

  On a slightly different tangent lets look further afield than single use plastic bags…… lets talk about the zero waste revolution.

The Zero Waste Markets

There is another plastic purge rebellion that is quietly gathering momentum. This movement is not new but is starting to become more visible as people take conscious steps to reduce plastic in their lives. This ground swell has been dubbed as ‘Green Shopping’ and is considered part of the Zero Waste Movement. It is already a thing in some states of the US, Hong Kong, UK and  where there are waste-less stores and carefully collated markets springing up. These stores/markets rely on you as the consumer to bring your own containers/packaging (as well as shopping bags), alternatively some stores will offer a more enviro-friendly option of non plastic packaging like cardboard boxes, wooden cutlery, or paper cups and straws. In Australia and NZ the idea of taking your own containers is still in it’s infancy, however we do have a few markets and stores that operate under a zero waste policy and will probably not look at you sideways if you produce an empty well traveled lunch box from your recycled shopping bag to fill. Some of the more commercial supermarket stores have trialed the ‘bring your own container’ initiative. The trials I have seen are always promoting some gimmick like plastic free *JULY*, or other……. in NZ the idea is yet to gain traction, but as the one use plastic bags phase out and the inevitable plastic purge begins it won’t be long before people start looking at and questioning the plastic tubs and polystyrene/saran wrap combo we currently get served at the delicatessen and butcher counter.

Zero Waste Take Out

Are you a fan of take-out. Sure, everyone is right? Well, there is a similar solution that you may not have even considered. I will call it FAKE-OUT, no, no,  I won’t that is silly.. I take it back. But seriously, what is not silly is the amount of rubbish that is generated from one take out meal. Similar messages, similar zero waste principal. ‘Spare the fork and napkin – I am saving the earth’. Check the video below for some interesting facts and more info on the zero waste goals in the US. YuuuuuuuuSSSSS.

  lets talk packaging.

Here are some sweet alternatives to single use packaging.

glassware containers

Mason jars and accessories

Tiffin boxes

Bento boxes

ceramic containers

metal or glass drink vessels/bottles

bamboo containers

bamboo or wooden cutlery

metal cutlery and chopsticks

metal tea strainer for tea and cold brew coffee

reusable cotton tea bags

beeswax fabric lunch wrap

soy waxed fabric lunch wrap

waxed fabric lunch bags

reusable shopping bags

Furoshiki fabric wrap

Mesh drawstring bags

Reusable coffee cups

metal or bamboo straws

cloth napkins

wooden hair brushes

bamboo toothbrushes

reusable razors

refillable cosmetic bottles and pottles

refillable cleaning chemical bottles

reusable and washable unpaper fabric towels

washable/reusable bin liners……. or be radical and go no bin liner

menstral cups

Grow a foragers garden

Learn to cook..

and some nicer biodegradable single use items that the current selection

wooden cutlery

wooden chopsticks

cardboard containers

paper straws and napkins

wooden toothpicks

Some people keep an ‘on the go’ pack in the car, in their bag so they are always prepared. It’s a great idea and you’re probably already doing it if you have mini humans of the age requiring an emergency bag/nappy bag, snacks, etc. However if this is a new concept to you and you want a ‘cheat code’ to get ahead then there are zero waste starter kit DIY’s available on the net and if you look there are lots of zero waste packaging options on the market. Just take the time to shop around as it can get quite expensive initially, but if you can’t wait and price is not a problem then go for an already curated pack. I personally like to take my time curating our collection with beautiful little items I find along the way.

  Before I started writing this post I thought OML it sounds too hard, so much effort. #tomuchadmin

But in reality, my family and I already do a lot of this stuff in our everyday ‘nothing fancy’ ordinary lives.

We make extra food at meal times and save the leftovers for lunch the next day packaged nicely in my opshopped bento bag I usually have a one of my three tiered tiffin boxes (that I picked up at the markets a few years back), a mason jar, or one of our glassware containers full of delicious food. We got rid of our plastic containers a long, long time ago, not for any greenie reasons, but because they got old, cloudy, bubbly from reheating and stained, and to be honest it was time to replace them.

There is something about the non-plastic, zero waste lunch it is like having a fancy picnic everyday. Water bottles (glass or metal) are also a must. My favourite water bottle is from fullcircle. It is glass with a rubber base and a clever swivel plastic top that turns into a cup and a fingerprint depression on the side. It is sleek, it is minimal. But as magnificent as it is it is not made for hot liquids so I also have a cheapie double walled glass tea tube that has a metallic tea strainer basket and a bamboo lid ($15 from the warehouse nz) and a bodem travel coffee plunger mug ($50 from Palmers garden centre, 3 years ago, and still going strong). For store brought takeaway coffee hubby and I also have eco keep cups on hand.

We love tactical natural elements like wood and have wooden hair brushes and had the bamboo toothbrushes – I’d recommend them. Takeout usually involves wooden cutlery provided by the store, it sounds pretentious but I promise it’s not. It just happens to be the right consumer options available, weighed up with the right amount of guilt, at the right time I guess.

We have used reusable shopping bags for years because the local shops either didn’t have bags, or they charged for them. We buy secondhand whenever we can. We refill our cleaning chemical bottles at a ECO refill station at the recycling centre, mainly because it is cheaper, it’s a good excuse to browse the stores other offerings, and a happy by-product is that it’s one less thing in the bin. I have also been known to make my own eco version of cleaning chemicals as well.

We have a long way to go before we can be those electric car, solar powered, off grid guys that boast a ‘one rubbish collection a month’ and to be honest not entirely sure we want to be those guys. The present day incarnation are a little scary for us to tolerate. But we’ve made it this far just by making slow incremental changes and mostly by happy accident just trying to live a comfortable low impact low cost life. Who knows, we might get there, but just knowing we are making changes and they feel right for us is a great place to be.

  Problem Plastic vs Practical Plastic… or no plastic? Plastic is a problem. But I am not going to stomp around on over-trodden ground wailing like a possessed banshee about it.