the-meta-pod

[the-meta-pod]

Batman’s preparation for his fight with Superman

[the-meta-pod]

funko mystery minis: best of anime unboxing!

[the-meta-pod]

A Very Miku Christmas!

Anime Gift Unboxing! Unboxing  some great Miku, Sailor Moon, Persona and Funko Items!

[the-meta-pod]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c2jdql-IhE)

[the-meta-pod]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQnNeZ_-Spg)

[the-meta-pod]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHo-OgzqDOM)

[the-meta-pod]

Ayyyy New Video! We unbox some FAKE ass counterfeit Vocaloid Blind boxes

[the-meta-pod]

check out this hilarious unboxing!

[the-meta-pod]

check out this hilarious unboxing!

[the-meta-pod]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c2jdql-IhE)

Zer0 Zer0 Inc NYCC tour, cosplay and Love Live! Screening

[the-meta-pod]

(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uaOPZ8SxRw)

hilarious love live! unboxing by zer0 zer0 inc!

[the-meta-pod]

Reddits Creepiest Post

Titled Autopilot, this post was written by reddit user Skarjo. I don’t even want to write anything before this. Just read it.

Have you ever forgotten your phone?

When did you realise you’d forgotten it? I’m guessing you didn’t just smack your forehead and exclaim ‘damn’ apropos of nothing. The realisation probably didn’t dawn on you spontaneously. More likely, you reached for your phone, pawing open your pocket or handbag, and were momentarily confused by it not being there. Then you did a mental restep of the morning’s events.

Shit.

In my case, my phone’s alarm woke me up as normal but I realised the battery was lower than I expected. It was a new phone and it had this annoying habit of leaving applications running that drain the battery overnight. So, I put it on to charge while I showered instead of into my bag like normal. It was a momentary slip from the routine but that was all it took. Once in the shower, my brain got back into ‘the routine’ it follows every morning and that was it.

Forgotten.

This wasn’t just me being clumsy, as I later researched, this is a recognised brain function. Your brain doesn’t just work on one level, it works on many. Like, when you’re walking somewhere, you think about your destination and avoiding hazards, but you don’t need to think about keeping your legs moving properly. If you did, the entire world would turn into one massive hilarious QWOP cosplay. I wasn’t thinking about regulating my breathing, I was thinking whether I should grab a coffee on the drive to work (I did). I wasn’t thinking about moving my breakfast through my intestines, I was wondering whether I’d finish on time to pick up my daughter Emily from nursery after work or get stuck with another late fee. This is the thing; there’s a level of your brain that just deals with routine, so that the rest of the brain can think about other things.

Think about it. Think about your last commute. What do you actually remember? Little, if anything, probably. Most common journeys blur into one, and recalling any one in particular is scientifically proven to be difficult. Do something often enough and it becomes routine. Keep doing it and it stops being processed by the thinking bit of the brain and gets relegated to a part of the brain dedicated to dealing with routine. Your brain keeps doing it, without you thinking about it. Soon, you think about your route to work as much as you do keeping your legs moving when you walk. As in, not at all.

Most people call it autopilot. But there’s danger there. If you have a break in your routine, your ability to remember and account for the break is only as good as your ability to stop your brain going into routine mode. My ability to remember my phone being on the counter is only as reliable as my ability to stop my brain entering ‘morning routine mode’ which would dictate that my phone is actually in my bag. But I didn’t stop my brain entering routine mode. I got in the shower as normal. Routine started. Exception forgotten.

Autopilot engaged.

My brain was back in the routine. I showered, I shaved, the radio forecast amazing weather, I gave Emily her breakfast and loaded her into the car (she was so adorable that morning, she complained about the ‘bad sun’ in the morning blinding her, saying it stopped her having a little sleep on the way to nursery) and left. That was the routine. It didn’t matter that my phone was on the counter, charging silently. My brain was in the routine and in the routine my phone was in my bag. This is why I forgot my phone. Not clumsiness. Not negligence. Nothing more my brain entering routine mode and over-writing the exception.

Autopilot engaged.

I left for work. It’s a swelteringly hot day already. The bad sun had been burning since before my traitorously absent phone woke me. The steering wheel was burning hot to the touch when I sat down. I think I heard Emily shift over behind my driver’s seat to get out of the glare. But I got to work. Submitted the report. Attended the morning meeting. It’s not until I took a quick coffee break and reached for my phone that the illusion shattered. I did a mental restep. I remembered the dying battery. I remembered putting it on to charge. I remembered leaving it there.

My phone was on the counter.

Autopilot disengaged.

Again, therein lies the danger. Until you have that moment, the moment you reach for your phone and shatter the illusion, that part of the brain is still in routine mode. It has no reason to question the facts of the routine; that’s why it’s a routine. Attrition of repetition. It’s not as if anyone could say ‘why didn’t you remember your phone? Didn’t it occur to you? How could you forget? You must be negligent’; this is to miss the point. My brain was telling me the routine was completed as normal, despite the fact that it wasn’t. It wasn’t that I forgot my phone. According to my brain, according to the routine, my phone was in my bag. Why would I think to question it? Why would I check? Why would I suddenly remember, out of nowhere, that my phone was on the counter? My brain was wired into the routine and the routine was that my phone was in my bag.

The day continued to bake. The morning haze gave way to the relentless fever heat of the afternoon. Tarmac bubbled. The direct beams of heat threatened to crack the pavement. People swapped coffees for iced smoothies. Jackets discarded, sleeves rolled up, ties loosened, brows mopped. The parks slowly filled with sunbathers and BBQ’s. Window frames threatened to warp. The thermometer continued to swell. Thank fuck the offices were air conditioned.

But, as ever, the furnace of the day gave way to a cooler evening. Another day, another dollar. Still cursing myself for forgetting my phone, I drove home. The days heat had baked the inside of the car, releasing a horrible smell from somewhere. When I arrived on the driveway, the stones crunching comfortingly under my tyres, my wife greeted me at the door.

“Where’s Emily?”

Fuck.

As if the phone wasn’t bad enough. After everything I’d left Emily at the fucking nursery after all. I immediately sped back to the nursery. I got to the door and started practising my excuses, wondering vainly if I could charm my way out of a late fee. I saw a piece of paper stuck to the door.

“Due to vandalism overnight, please use side door. Today only.”

Overnight? What? The door was fine this morni-.

I froze. My knees shook.

Vandals. A change in the routine.

My phone was on the counter.

I hadn’t been here this morning.

My phone was on the counter.

I’d driven past because I was drinking my coffee. I’d not dropped off Emily.

My phone was on the counter.

She’d moved her seat. I hadn’t seen her in the mirror.

My phone was on the counter.

She’d fallen asleep out of the bad sun. She didn’t speak when I drove past her nursery.

My phone was on the counter.

She’d changed the routine.

My phone was on the counter.

She’d changed the routine and I’d forgotten to drop her off.

My phone was on the counter.

9 hours. That car. That baking sun. No air. No water. No power. No help. That heat. A steering wheel too hot to touch.

That smell.

I walked to the car door. Numb. Shock.

I opened the door.

My phone was on the counter and my daughter was dead.

Autopilot disengaged.

Yeah. That fucked me up too. It’s not creepy in the sense of being spooky or scary, but rather it just opened your mind to a really interesting theory. You’ll start catching yourself wondering if you were just in autopilot throughout the day. They make you realize something about yourself and then it just turns around like that. That moment when you know she is still in the car hits you and its like that part of a movie where everything comes together in your mind.

My phone was on the counter.

Well done

-Kidd Vid

Read about this and more on themetapod.com

[the-meta-pod]

Revisiting Life on the Murder Scene 10 Years Later

It’s hard to believe it was over 10 years ago that My Chemical Romance dropped Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge. By the numbers, the album wasn’t their most successful, but it was the one that launched them into household names. It was just two years after that the band decided to give their fans an insight into their road to fame. From the fun all the way to their darkest moments, it’s fascinating to see their rise to fame. Lately I’ve been back on a My Chemical Romance kick and decided to take a look into their documentary, Life on the Murder Scene, and what I found was an almost eerie amount of foreshadowing.

Life on the Murder Scene is a lot of fun, especially because I just recently moved to the area the band is from, so as they’re referencing towns and places in the area, I know where they’re talking about. I didn’t grow up in Jersey, but regardless, it’s still pretty cool. Gerard and Mikey Way, Frank Iero and Ray Toro don’t hold anything back as they document their stardom. We see Gerard’s darkest times struggling with drug and alcohol addiction, and he even states that the band saved his life because it gave him something to live for. Fast forward to today and Gerard is a husband and a father. The band gave him something to live for and thanks to it he;s built a wonderful family life. The band speaks about the whole point of the band is to save lives, especially from suicide. Gerard battled with suicidal tendencies and feels that the band saved his own life, and could do the same for others too. Thats something I find great about MCR, and that is how much they care for their fans. In the documentary Gerard is shown at a show telling the fans to “spit right in the face” of any band who asks girls to life up their shirts for backstage passes.

I think one of the coolest parts of Life on the Murder Scene is when we see Gerard working on The Umbrella Academy, the comic which he would eventually win an Eisner for. It’s in the very early stages, and when the documentary came out it wouldn’t have meant much, but to look back now and know he would eventually go on to publish and win awards for that comic is really striking. We also get to see Gerard working on his comics as well as his work before he was able to get published. He openly admits that while he “got shit on” in the comic industry before hand, now with his My Chemical Romance fame, it wouldn’t be hard to get into the industry.

There’s a point in the documentary where the band is asked if this was a story, what kind of story would it be. The band replies that it would be a happy one and when it was over they would all kind of go back to normal, doing their own thing. This might very well be the saddest part of the documentary. Not when it was made, but now because this is essentially what happened. Some got married, had children and they’re all still making music, just on their own. There doesn’t seem to be much bitterness as the ex bandmates can be seen supporting each other on social media but one can’t help but wonder. There’s a rumor out there that Frank Iero and Gerard had a kind of falling out at a point because Gerard was ready to move on from the band, but Frank felt they still had more work in them. My Chemical Romance fans can’t help but feel the same way.

When their greatest hits album, May Death Never Stop You, was released there were tons of rumors swarming. Some fans believed the band were going to kill the My Chemical Romance name and start anew. The My Chemical Romance twitter @MCRoffical had said something along the lines of “sometimes you must tear something down to build something greater” for a short while before it was taken down. The very title “May Death Never Stop You” led hopeful fans to think that just maybe the band was coming back as something new. Even the new song on the album “Fake Your Death” seemed to be a clue. It all turned out to be nothing but I can’t help but think the band knew what they were doing, with shades of when The Beatles started playing along to the “Paul is dead” rumors. 

The members' solo albums have been great. Namely Gerard’s Hesitant Alien and Frank's Stomachache have been received greatly by the public. But as good as these are, it really just isn’t the same. Will My Chemical Romance ever get back together? Probably, I mean look at Blink-182, but it’ll probably be a long while. Until then, give em’ hell kids.

So long and good night

-Kidd Vid

Update: The My Chemical Romance official site has recently been flashing quotes from Danger Days for about 2 seconds when users have been visiting the site. "Make Some Noise" and "Look Alive Sunshine" are two of the quotes that have been reported. The band broke up on March 22, 2013, and as the 2nd anniversary of this date approaches, people can't help but once again hope theres something in the works.

Read about this and more on themetapod.com

[the-meta-pod]

Neverboy #1 Review

When I had first heard Shaun Simon was working on a new comic, I already knew I couldn't wait to read it because I loved his work alongside Gerard Way on The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys. With shades of Neil Gaiman's Sandman, Neverboy is something unique and all its own. The very premise is fascinating. What happens when an imaginary friend's "owner" passes away?

Simon does a wonderful job creating a cerebral fantasy that will be setting up for the rest of the story. An ex-imaginary friend taking drugs to escape the very thing he isn't, reality.  I'm a sucker for color and Kelly Fitzpatrick along with Tyler Jenkins' style create a psychedelic world that really plays well with Simons style. Speaking of the art work, Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance fame, and co-writer of The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys, has done a variant cover for the comic which impressively, has a retro but modern/futuristic feel to it all at the same time. With the original cover in my hand at my local comic shop, the variant looked so good behind the counter that I didn't mind splurging for the pricey $25 price tag.

Neverboy #1 is a kaleidoscopic opening to a story which is sure to be captivating to the eye, as well as make us think. Shaun Simon seems to be something of a hidden treasure but if he continues to come up with unique ideas such as this, it's only a matter of time before he takes off. Unique is the keyword here because nowadays it feels like every comic is a rehash of an old story. Simon is attempting to give us something new, and so far Neverboy has not dissapointed.

Neverboy #2 drops April 01, 2015

-Kidd Vid

Read about this and more on themetapod.com

[the-meta-pod]

Lost In Translation and Why It Speaks to Our Generation

Lost in Translation (2003) starts off like I wish most movies would. With a seemingly random shot of Scarlett Johansson’s ass. From there on its a story in which Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson play two entirely different people who meet in an unfamiliar place. In Tokyo, these two find that although their lives have lead very different paths, it led them to the same place, literally and figuratively…and thats enough of what can probably be found on the back of the DVD case. All you really need to know is Bill Murray basically plays himself as a famous actor and Scarlett Johansson’s character is the wife of an young big shot photographer. Both find themselves somewhat lost as both Murray’s marriage as well as career seems to not be what it once was and Johansson is finding herself feeling neglected not being quite sure who she married anymore. Both live very lavishly, both are very unhappy. So how does this speak to our generation? (Sheesh this article basically writes itself)

When I first came across Lost In Translation, I was in a serious rut. I was in a time of my life where I wasn’t happy with where I was or where I was going and I was in a miserable relationship that I really couldn’t see the end of. So when I came across a movie that seemed to be outlining where I found myself it really impacted me. So I began watching the movie over and over. I would leave it on repeat throughout the day as I went about my daily activities and it was what I would put on to fall asleep to. That girlfriend used to always tell me she hated when I watched that movie because it always seemed to make me depressed, but I would be more inclined to say it wasn’t the movie that was making me depressed, but rather it was opening my eyes to everything that was making me unhappy. 

The whole taking place in Tokyo thing resonates more with me than the average person I suppose because of my fascination with the city, and the country as a whole. However I feel that our generation, perhaps more than others, contain more wanderlust (a very strong or irresistible impulse to travel) than ever before. The whole “stranger in a strange land” thing is a captivating thought. I was hitting a point where i was looking into one way tickets to places, anywhere, to get away. While this is an extreme case, we’re always talking about wanting adventure, wanting to see new places. The idea that theres a whole country just waiting to be explored with every possibility in the world is still one that fills my mind (albeit not because I want to get away from anything now).

On the other end of the spectrum, rather than being a beacon of hope as well as well as a muse for our own issues in life, Lost In Translation also details the selfishness in our generation. The truth of the matter is both characters lead very nice existences but still don’t think it’s good enough. Don’t get me wrong, money isn’t everything but i’d much rather cry in a 5 star hotel than the Sayonara Motel off Route 110 (thats a real motel in my home town, the Japanese relevance is just a nice touch). The point is, Johansson’s character is a wife of a photographer who took her with him to Tokyo while he needed to work. She’s unhappy with him as he’s so busy there but she knew why he was traveling. She on the other hand doesn’t work, is a failed writer, and doesn’t know what she wants out of life, yet he still loves her and wants her around on his travels. He doesn’t treat her badly at all, and seems to be a good husband who happens to have a great job. Murray’s character is an older famous actor who’s clearly still getting work as he’s in Tokyo to do a few ads. It’s not movies but he’s past his prime, this is the kind of thing that happens. His years of working has clearly set up a nice life for him and his family. Speaking of his family, his marital problems seem to be with him not being around as much, and he doesn’t seem to be doing much about that. We as a generation are the healthiest and most technological advanced people to have ever walked the earth. If you’re reading this article right now, the fact is you’re luckier and more well off than a huge chunk of the people on this planet. But we still (myself included) walk around wanting more. Our phones piss us off, you need a new computer, that worker at Chiptole shorted you on the guac. To people with actual issues, we would sound so ridiculous fretting over the pettiest of things but here we are, complete with our first world problems. Murray and Johansson spend more time in the movie making fun of the people in Tokyo than they do appreciating the culture. To go into someone else’s country and make fun of them for their own customs…well that might just be the most American thing i’ve ever heard.

The bottom line is Lost In Translation is something of an anthem for a generation of both spoiled brats and people looking for more in their lives (which often, like myself, is the same person). The movie is not for everyone as there are people (namely that aforementioned ex girlfriend) that find this movie to be a bore (which in hindsight is when i should have known), but for those of us who see a distorted mirror of our own lives in this film, it’s a beautiful movie filled with possibilities. To us who view it this way, well we have a chance to make the changes in our own lives that we want to see…but realistically will probably just complain that it isn’t done for us instead.

-Kidd Vid

Read about this and more on themetapod.com

[the-meta-pod]

THE WAIT IS FINALLY OVER! GTA V COMING TO PC!

Its no secret that PC gaming has surpassed its former glory days and (thanks pretty much to Steam) has become a dominant gaming platform. So it confused and angered many gamers to learn that the pc version of Grand Theft Auto V wouldn't be released at the same time as the console versions. Hell, it wasn't even released soon after! Long we've waited for the best GTA game released since San Andreas, (and you know it's true) and after 2 and a half years --boy does time fly-- we will see our dreams of conquering Los Santos come true. April 14th marks the day GTA V finally hits the pc market. Nothing like getting a great game 2 years later for the same full price right?!?! As a gesture of appreciation for the long wait, Rockstar will be granting an additional $200,000 to anyone who has pre-ordered it for use in GTA Online. Not to leave out everyone else who owns the game on consoles and have been waiting for online heists, have no fear for it is coming your way March 10th.                                                                            

                                                                                                           -Tailz

Read about this and more on themetapod.com

[the-meta-pod]

Happy Birthday Vita! Here, Have A Sale!

In celebration of the PlayStation Vita’s third birthday (yes, it’s still around) there will be a massive PlayStation Store sale on Vita games starting Tuesday! I was an early adopter of the Vita (pre ordered it) and although I had to sell it for personal reasons (i.e being broke) I stand firm on my belief that the handheld is an amazing piece of hardware, with amazing software, but a product that sony completely dropped the ball on. More on that opinion in a another post, for now lets take a look at the games on sale:

Angry Birds: Star Wars

Atelier Meruru Plus

Atelier Rorona Plus

Atelier Totori Plus

Ben 10: Galactic Racing

Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified

Castlevania: The Dracula X Chronicles

Deception IV: Blood Ties

Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Z

Earth Defense Force 2017 Portable

Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd

Home - A Unique Horror Adventure

Hyperdimension Neptunia ReBirth1

Jak and Daxter Collection

Jet Set Radio

Let’s Fish! Hooked On

LIMBO

Metrico

Monster Monpiece

Muramasa Rebirth

New Little King’s Story

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus

Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee HD

Orgarythm

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale PS Vita

Putty Squad

Ring Run Circus

Silent Hill: Book of Memories

Sumioni: Demon Arts

Sword Art Online -Hollow Fragment-

Tales of Hearts R

The Amazing Spider-Man

Tiny Troopers Joint Ops

Urban Trial Freestyle

Valhalla Knights 3

Zero Escape: Virtue’s Last Reward

Cel Damage HD

Gods Eater Burst

The Toro and Friends PS Vita theme, Fat Princess: Piece of Cake, and Destiny of Spirits are also availible at no charge, that’s right, FREE.

I’m pretty excited for this sale because I recieved a playstation TV as a christmas gift and have been itching to explore the Vita Library of games that I’ve missed in the last 2 years. For anyone else who is itching for some content on their PlayStation TV’s, just make sure the game you buy is compatible.

                                                                                                        -Tailz

Read about this and more on themetapod.com