#AND THEN LITERALLY MAKE THAT OUR ENTIRE TRAILER. LITERALLY ADVERTISE THAT

[bigskydreaming]

I’m gonna be honest with you guys, right now....at the moment, my big interest in the Teen Wolf movie can be summed up as ‘sure do hope they reveal Melissa dumped Chris Argent’s sorry ass and never looked back.’

[world-of-wales]

that juhi parmar post is so ridiculous, like yes, younger children might not be able to fully grasp every aspect of the barbie movie but inappropriate language? in the first 10-15 minutes? (i mean yes, those girls smash baby dolls but also, that was in the teaser trailer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zIf0XvoL9Y) of the movie so we all knew it was coming?) tell me she didn't watch any trailers before buying tickets without telling me! also, even without watching the trailers, Greta Gerwig isn't known to make movies that are pandering towards a conservative audience in any way, so that's entirely her fault for not thinking for herself and at least watching a trailer before going to see the movie

Yes, yes and yes! I lost braincells reading that whole thing istg and people have been very respectful in pointing out the problems in her arguments too but she's still making it out to be as if it's the movie's fault and how dare they not make a movie tailored to her whims. Also not like they ever advertised it for literal babies, everyone knew who it was for. If she thought otherwise then took her daughter in to watch it's not the problem of the rest of the world. Like you said, its her own fault and problem, not our fault that you cant do research. Also tbh her daughter is 10 so not as young too.

There's literally nothing in that movie that's so offensive that people need to behave this way. And I think someone put it very well when they said the reason she had an issue with the movie wasn't because it was bad or had inappropriate language. It was because her whole brand is based around being the ideal Indian daughter who conforms to the society standards so ofc she'll not like this movie. I didn't even know she existed lol I had to ask my mum's mum who she was and even she was side-eyeing the meltdown miss parmar had.

[discotreque]

LwD 2.05: An Embarrassment of Dooplers

So I was a little nervous about this one! I hadn’t heard any spoiler-spoilers, but screeners have been out for weeks now, and I’d heard a bunch of individual, vague, non-spoilery hints about (1) big character moments, on the scale of a mid-season finale even though the show’s not taking a mid-season break; and (2) an ending that would make me cry.

I guess I imagined something relatively serious and dramatic, like “No Small Parts”? This show makes me cackle with laughter and giggle with nerdy glee and “d’awww!” at heartwarming friendships every week, but it’s only ever made me cry once—and then I was impressed that they were going to get there from the wacky hijinks we saw in the brief teaser.

The lack of a cold open made me apprehensive too—in my experience, that’s typically a sign that there’s so much plot in the rest of the episode that they need that extra scene—but after ~21.5 minutes of aforementioned hijinks, I was having so much fun that I’d completely forgotten about the alleged tear-jerker at the end…

…and they were not the tears I was expecting.

I didn’t think I’d be smiling and crying!!!! That was wholesome as SHIT!!!!!

I almost can’t believe they earned that—but they totally did.

After a Mariner–Tendi episode and a Boimler–Rutherford episode, we’re back to the “usual” Season 1 pairings… except the relationships between these characters have changed since Season 1. Mariner still feels thwacked in the abandonment issues by Boimler bailing for the Titan, and Rutherford’s having a tiny little existential crisis about losing an entire year of his life.

Both of which are extremely understandable and very heavy situations—and both of those situations get resolved because everyone in them is vulnerable with each other and honest about their feelings—AND that honesty and vulnerability brings both pairs of friends closer together. Are you kidding me?? I would watch SEVENTY seasons of that shit. Put it in my veins.

Onto the notes:

So basically Dooplers are Tribbles, but for cringe comedy instead of slapstick? Ohhhhh boy.

Look at Ransom the diplomat, tossing his own fork on the floor! I like that he’s actually a pretty competent Starfleet officer, despite also being a completely ridiculous person.

Wait a second, is that—OH HOLY SHIT, THE DOOPLERS ARE VOICED BY RICHARD KIND.

It makes sense that B. Boimler would find William annoying—who likes seeing their own flaws reflected back at them? And who could be a better reflection of one’s flaws than one’s literal duplicate?—but most interesting to me is that it implies on some level, Bradward knows the stick up his butt is a flaw. (Does William?)

Why does the Cerritos model have working phasers?!?!

I’m loving hot pink as the currently en-vogue colour for “dangerous sci-fi energy” in animation (cf. almost every previous episode of this show; Into the Spider-Verse; other stuff I can’t remember right now). As a former child of the 80’s, I’m living for it… but as a former teenager of the 90’s, I can’t help but wonder if it’s going to age as poorly as the harsh neon green of The Matrix, every Borg appearance on Voyager, and like 80% of the websites I made in high school…

SKANTS! SKANTS! SKANTS!

That fake-out joke with the fly-by over the Cerritos model was in the season trailer weeks ago, and I was so enthralled by that handsome lady that the sticker coming into frame still got me good 😂😂😂

BECKY Mariner????? omg yes

Some top-quality Boimler screams in this one. Poor Jack Quaid must drink gallons of throat-coat tea when he records.

One of the great things about Star Trek to me is that you never know what you’re going to get from any random episode. A murder mystery? A road trip? A spooky thriller? A cheesy romance? Broad comedy? Body horror? Didactic political screeds shrouded in tissue-thin science-fiction metaphors? Brain and brain, what is brain??? And after this many years of watching, you’d think I’d be hard to surprise. But if I ever told you I thought I’d see a Blues Brothers–style car chase through a frickin’ shopping mall on an episode of Star Trek, I would have been straight-up lying to you. I loved it, it worked for me, my jaw was on the floor and I was clapping with joy—but I’m definitely comfortable calling this one “unexpected.”

It’s CAPTAIN SHELBY!!! And an ancient babydyke crush rose from the depths of my childhood subconscious… (Also I think her Number One is based on the original makeup—eventually deemed too complicated—for Saru? Now that’s a deep cut.)

In 20th-century Trek, you almost never got to see what was going on inside a starship from the outside. Even after they switched from physical models (where it was next to impossible on a single episode’s budget) to CGI (which was still in its infancy, still not exactly cheap, and still broadcast in SD anyway), it was a rare thrill to see any meaningful interior details in an exterior shot. Disco’s modern VFX have given us some tasty, tasty treats in that department, but nothing quite as sublime as all the pink Doopler light glittering through the Cerritos’s windows.

Mariner says she’ll take her contact Malvus down with her, and threatens that they’ll end up “in the same cell.” Malvus is a Mizarian, a species introduced in TNG’s “Allegiance,” in which Captain Picard is held in a mysterious prison with one. I think I see what you did there, McMahan?

Bartender… so hot… lesbian circuits… overloading…

The Tendi and Rutherford C-story was, well, a C-story within a 22-minute episode, so there wasn’t much to it, but the one scene that mattered actually mattered a lot. I’m ambivalent on whether they should end up romantically involved—I’d prefer they don’t, but they’ll be one of the cutest couples in Trek history if they do—and as long as they keep that pure, sweet friendship between them at the heart of whatever else happens, I’m on board.

Carol Freeman was already one of my favourite captains before this season, and she’s been steadily moving up the list. The quiet throughline about her ambition to be on a better ship has been fascinating so far, and it’s starting to actually make me feel a little conflicted: I’m of course rooting for Captain Freeman to recognize her worth, make Starfleet recognize her worth, and become the ass-kicking captain of a hero ship that she’s clearly ready to be—but that almost surely means she’d be kicking ass off-screen, because LwD isn’t about those kind of adventures, and I’d be devastated not to have Dawnn Lewis on the show every week. So I’m kind of on the edge of my seat about this one!

I had so many favourite jokes this week I put them in a separate list:

“Even the replicated water on the Titan tasted better” is a low-key brilliant dunk on people who can’t shut the fuck up about the cooler places they used to live.

“Ooooh, they have a Quark’s now! That used to just be an empty lot where teens would make mistakes!” ← That’s literally me every time I go back to where I grew up. I felt so Seen™ I almost hid under a blanket.

“I would never go down the stairs!” (evil grin) (goes up the stairs)

The “well, shit” expressions from Mariner and Boimler as their crashed car sank right into the water… which started to bubble innocuously… and then the bottles of Data bubble-bath popped up, paying off a joke I thought had already been paid off—that was the one that woke up my poor cat this week. Just exquisite timing.

“YOUR PAGH IS WEAK, AND IT DISGUSTS ME!” “I don’t even know what that is, but I don’t like your tone!”

“Okona’s in there? He’s not even Starfleet! This is outrageous!” made me shout “NO!” at the screen like I was scolding my cat for scratching furniture. (She did not wake up that time.)

Best background joke: the neon sign at the dive bar advertising FREE SHOTS & BEERS. (Get it? Because they’re on a Federation starbase? Where nobody uses money?)

And of course Quark merchandised DS9.

This wasn’t just a standout episode of Lower Decks, this was a brilliant episode of Star Trek, period. The Dooplers, though extremely silly, are nevertheless also a clever sci-fi metaphor for real and relatable personal/interpersonal issues, and an effective plot catalyst for meaningful character growth from all four of our ensigns and the captain.

The jokes were hilarious, the action was kinetic, the A-, B-, and C-plots linked up thematically, the visuals were consistently and thoroughly gorgeous, the character beats—between Mariner and Boimler, Tendi and Rutherford, Mariner and Capt. Freeman—were all genuine, heartfelt and wholesome, and the references to other Trek canon were both deep and deeply affectionate.

Only 15 episodes in, and this series knows exactly what it is, exactly what it wants to do, and knows that it can knock our socks off doing it. Mike McMahan has said in recent interviews that the back half of S2 (and the apparently almost-fully-written S3) is a straight line uphill in quality from here—which surprised me at first, because McMahan seems like a pretty chill dude who doesn’t normally brag about his own work like that.

But then the Prophets sent me a vision of my space dad Ben Sisko, who reminded me of the words of 1930’s baseball player Dizzy Dean:

“If you can do it, it ain’t bragging.”

[Thanks to cygnus-x1.net for the screenshots this week—I was too lazy to do my own.]

[signed-yours-truly-the-whale]

Thoughts/Observations on Joker, part 1

AKA I Spent 7 Hours on This, I Will Die if it Gets Less Than Three Notes

I could rave for hours about this movie’s cinematography. Literal hours.

Nobody talks enough about Arthur’s full-fledged dedication to his clown craft. Man is working 60+ hours a week and does not break a sweat. I also fucking love this clowny face he pulls here. The first shot we see of Arthur in full. Holy shit is it beautiful. God bless Joaquin Phoenix.

These two shots together are incredibly important to me. In a split-second we see Arthur’s disbelief that he cannot control the whirlwind of emotions inside of his own head, not even being able to produce a smile, and then his resignation because it’s just another day. Heartbreaking.

Awwww shiiiiit

Gotham City is such a dump but I’d be bullshitting myself if I said I didn’t love the grimy aesthetic of it. It’s technicolor trash.

Arthur loves his job so much. He genuinely enjoys being Carnival. That hurts a lot to think about in hindsight.

This man just got his ass handed to him and he is STILL SPRAYING THE FAKE FLOWER ON HIS VEST

YOU WANNA TALK ABOUT DEDICATION

This opening card is so imposing. Not only does it take up the entire screen to the point of running off the edges, but it’s shielding Arthur from view. Arthur is invisible in light of Joker in Arthur’s own movie.

I screenshotted this by accident but I felt a need to put it here because he’s just so adorable. Even right before an episode.

E y e s s s s s

E Y E S S S S S

I desperately want to know what got Arthur sent to Arkham the first time. A suicide attempt? A public breakdown? I really want fanfics of it.

There’s a really, really good fanfiction on AO3 by Arthur_Fleck about Arthur slowly recovering and meeting a girl called In the Major and Minor Arcana

I highly, highly recommend it

Okay. Joaquin’s immersion into his characters -- all of them -- is absolutely incredible. But Arthur is just ... off the charts, man. No two of his characters are the same and he embeds himself so deeply in their skin, but Joaquin buried himself so deeply into Arthur’s brain that it is so hard for me to see any of Joaquin at all. God, he’s incredible and this shot makes me emotional because this just is Arthur.

ARTHUR WOULD BE A GREAT DAD AND I DO NOT ACCEPT ARGUMENTS

It really speaks to how shitty Gotham is that this man is having a full-fledged screaming/laughing breakdown on the bus and nobody is batting an eye

I adore how the cinematography paints Arthur as so small to his own environment. He’s a speck of dust. A fleck.

Babie is wincing :((((

I have been trying to figure out the layout of this apartment for months and my inability to, even with a floor plan, is driving me insane

I just found out that the Budweiser beer jingle Here Comes the King is on the soundtrack and plays when Arthur comes home and that made me go feral

I  A M  M U R R A Y , K I N G  O F  A S S H O L E S

It is second nature for me to do this stupid pose every time I watch this scene

Arthur blending into the crowd here makes me ... so happy. He looks so happy.

This is Arthur’s best laugh of the movie, fuck you. I am incredulous that I was the only person laughing when I saw this in the theater opening night.

This is one of the few moments I really see Joaquin shine through Arthur. I don’t know why, but this lighting and his voice and his intensity gives me visceral flashbacks to watching a little boy Joaquin in Parenthood. God, I love this man.

It really is a testament to Penny’s (lack of) parenting that Arthur is day dreaming about receiving affection and validation from a parent figure when his own mother is literally right there

GOD DAMN THIS MAN IS GORGEOUS

But also big bruise :(

Yes, I shall trust you, man named Randall smiling down at me in low angle light

Why was Hoyt not informed that Arthur got his ass beat on the job? As Arthur’s employer he should’ve literally been the first person to know so he could make a note of it. Either he wasn’t told or he gave so little of a fuck that his consciousness astral projected to another plane of existence while he shoved the white powder down his throat and forgot Arthur existed at all.

Literally fuck Hoyt. I hate him even more that his office is the coolest shit in the world

ARTHUR KNOWS THE CUSTOMER SERVICE SMILE

Joaquin dislocated his knee in this scene, the poor boy

I could write a full damn essay about why the misleading advertising of Sophie as a prominent character was the greatest twist of the whole movie. Literally I am still speechless how the movie did that.

I am not kidding when I say my sister has this same color scheme in the bathroom of our house and realizing that made me werewolf

Also Arthur being the son Penny doesn’t deserve warms and breaks my heart

The complete lack of reaction to Penny’s “Don’t you have to be funny to be a comedian” makes me laugh and cry internally

This shot? Gorgeous. His face? Deadly. That jawline? Cutting diamonds. Hotel? Trivago.

I really, really want a Joker 2, but at the same time I do not want a Joker 2 because Joaquin Phoenix has a baby who needs him now and he cannot be pulling shit like losing 52 lbs for a role

Also I REALLY need to discuss how much this brass ballet reminds me so heavily of Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs. Holy fuck, I got actually chills in the theater

Like holy fuck

And then this shot reminds me so heavily of the opening of Fedddy vs Jason with Freddy Krueger laughing over his newspaper collage of missing children. Holy fuck I love this cinematography.

Guys. G - Guys, his name tag says Dr. Carnival, can you hear me  s o b b i n g

This part is so Chaplinesque, the way he slides the gun into his coat again

These children look so afraid of him for dropping the gun and wowie, does that really hurt

Was this asshole supposed to be modeled after Eric Trump? Because I get really douchebaggy Eric Trump vibes (minus the jacked teeth) from this ringleader

I don’t have much to say here except I am in love with the way Artie’s hair sticks straight up in bottle curls when the clown wig slides off

Also if you decide it’s a good idea to mess with a man dressed as a clown laughing maniacally on the subway of one of the most dangerous cities in the world, you are asking him to shoot you and I will not feel sorry for you

I will never not be in love with this image. I fell in love with it in the teaser trailer and almost went feral in the middle of the mall when I saw this was the poster they used to advertise the movie with. My friend described this movie as “chaos, beautified,” and nothing sums it up as well as this picture.

JOAQUIN AND TODD MADE THIS ENTIRE SEQUENCE UP AND I AM IN LOVE

Hello, handsome

[border-spam]

did you find a point to the whole Carnivora part of the story other than 'Tannis Siren! Haha remember Angel? She's Angel!'? Because that was. Easily. The worst part of the entire main quest line. It was so boring, enemies didn't spawn in the areas that part took place in, the reason why (and the method in which) Tannis was taken was so lazy - and the bosses! All that time and effort for a Pen and Teller reference? The entire arc felt like useless filler.

Oh boy, here we go. 

Carnivora alongside Balex, Genevive, Typhon DeLeon and the remains of Leda’s character, did not belong in Borderlands 3 as it was released. They belonged in a different version of the game to what we ended up with.

Yes I sound insane, but hear me out, this isn’t coming from nowhere -

There are multiple chunks of BL3 that in essence, are great ideas. Typhon would be a great idea if he had been handled right. Balex? Great fun. Ice T voicing a robot nav, yes please. CARNIVORA? Roaming fortress streaming live sacrifices in the name of the God Twins while monitoring viewer count and media reach, managed entirely by Tinks? Holy shit. Slap me up. YES.

Problem is, it has nowhere to fit in BL3. None of them do.

In fact, almost any content you saw in early trailers? Think back on where you ended up seeing it in BL3. Did it.. fit? Was it part of the same tone as the chapter before or after it? Did it make literally any sense? No, even if it WAS fun, even if it was enjoyable.. it had no actual point in BL3, and this is an issue that repeats itself over, and over, and over, and etc.

Aurelia being advertised next to Hammerlock and Winny. The Twins displayed as surrounded by rabid cultists instead of isolated images we never interact with or see in contact with their own followers. The B team being on Sanc, Carnivora used in early marketing, Ice T announcing being in BL3 earlier than anyone would have expected, there are a million little oddities in the content we were advertised and where it actually ended up ingame, if at all.

I could point out how often this happens, how many complete and utter fuck ups there were shoehorning in content that was from earlier game plot versions into the release story when it had absolutely no way to work, but lets stick with Carnivora for now. Essay under the cut. /dab

Right, so lets break down WHY Carnivora exists in BL3, shall we.

 The twins kidnap Tannis by teleportation, and proceed to imply they are torturing her. (We don’t know she is a Siren at the time but they apparently do this without ever coming close enough to her to find out she’s one either, meaning they never touched her or took her jacket off. This is joke tier bullshit. This is .. this.. my god. Anyway.)

Tannis is now begging for rescue because owwie. She is being held on the twin’s roaming media fortress and going to be killed live on stream, so uh.. we better go save her quickly. This is cool! I like this. Can’t wait to see the zone it’s in! Oh. There is literally nothing. Carnivora has been placed in a completely empty, massive zone. When you see this happen in indie games, you still notice how badly handled it was. When you see this happen in a AAA title? Something has gone very wrong. This is shoe-horned in content in an unfinished area, and the more you stop and think about what even the fucking point was of it driving slowly around this vast empty space while you waste 20 minutes of your life slowing it down, you realise how much of a rush job this whole chapter was.

You enter Carnivora. It’s great. Penn is constantly talking, PENN! Penn. Brilliant. The interior is a bit weird though, it’s not nearly as busy as it should be... but it’s got a Tink orgy-zone. That’s VERY Borderlands. That’s the most Borderlands shit BL3 has shown you so far, but you can’t enjoy it because the whole time, Tannis is being tortured. She’s letting you know this by the way. She’s constantly telling you how she’s about to die. She’s helpless and we have to save her, so we move on with a sense of genuine urgency.

Penn is really pushing things like viewer count, stream stability? You might already be noticing how off that feels. This isn’t part of the game you’re playing. It was definitely part of the early pre- release marketing though, the Twins were EXTREMELY media heavy back then, however, past the HBC in the actual game release? The social media God-Hood aspect of the COV completely disintegrates, but not here. Not in Carnivora. The main characters in Carnivora act like that’s still a factor of huge importance in the game.. it’s not. And you might then start to realise you’re listening to dialogue that sounds like it’s not part of this game version... this was recorded for a different story.

We fight our way to the boss we’ve seen in trailers. It’s exciting. We were promised this and now we are going to get it. It still feels.. weird though, nothing quite matches the previous chapter. We aren’t really sure HOW Tannis got here or what the twins really did to her, but hey, surely we will find out eh? Lets kill the boss and... Oh... she’s a Siren.

Tannis is a Siren now, for some totally illogical reason that makes absolutely no sense in the context of the hours we’ve just spent in this machine. She was a Siren the whole time. She could have.. revealed this and left whenever she wanted. So what the fuck was the point? It had no effect on the story! There was no actual tangible response from outside the Raiders to Tannis revealing herself, so where was the threat and gravity for the action in the first place?

And that moment cements why Carnivora absolutely was not designed as being part of this version of BL3, it was older content from a different story, that had a famous person’s voice recordings and way too interesting a premise to waste, so they shoehorned it into Tannis’s big reveal despite that same plot moment meaning Carnivora and the entire time we spent in it had no. fucking. point.

What are we meant to believe here, that she didn’t want to show the public she was a Siren? That she risked OUR lives and let herself be tortured because of how important keeping this secret was.. but then said screw it lol and changed her mind AFTER we save her?

Apply this thought process to Balex and Genevive.

Apply this thought process to how the Twins were handled. 

Apply this thought process to what we got of the B team, or how shafted poor Aurelia was, or Typhon in general, and you start seeing the same mistakes over, and over... 

Great content from an earlier version of a story that wasn’t used, pushed into plot gaps it did not fit into, just so it wouldn't be wasted. 

Painful. 

Asks are Open!

[funigami-games]

A dream come true! The Prince's Heart is getting a Voice Over

When we started The Prince's Heart, we never thought we'd find so many wonderful persons willing to collaborate on our project.  Here we are now, a month later, with an entire crew of professional and aspiring Voice Actors willing to help us realize our Visual Novel!

Special thanks to our amazing Casting Director, Jacob Wilson, who directed the whole Voice Over process.

Let's meet the entire cast (in order of appearance in the game)!

Nick Chang as Edward (Protagonist)

I was born in Manhattan, but raised in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, where I currently reside. I also proudly identify as a 2nd generation Asian American (half Hong Kong via my mother, half Taiwanese via my father) and a member of the LGBTQIA+ community (gay and demisexual). Since childhood, I have had a distinct love of music and performance. Having played violin from 4th to 12th grade and sung for even longer, I used music as a primary means to express myself growing up. As I progressed from high school to college, I discovered online voice acting, but it was not until my time in graduate school that I formally decided to become an actor. My interest initially stemmed from a desire to help out in localization projects, but over the time I have spent voice acting, I have come to not only develop a great appreciation of the craft of acting, but also further deepen my love of music and rekindle my love of performance. With my singing experience as a basis to my unique perspectives, I hope to bring sensitivity, curiosity, and innovation to every project I work on!

Jacob Wilson as Adam

I’m a voice actor, Casting and voice director based in Dallas Texas. I’ve been working in this field for almost four years Now. It’s a journey that has taken me literally around the world and I’m so thankful for all I’m able to do and have accomplished. Being a part of amazing projects like this one are what fuel me to pursue my passions. I realized I was bisexual when I was 18. It’s a group in the LGBT+ community that continues to get flak from seemingly all over. But my faith in it and myself has always been unshaken. Outside of VO I am a drag artist in the making under the name “Twilight Stunning”, who I’m going to show more properly in the coming months! I’m so thankful I’m in the position I am, and I can’t wait to see what we have in store for y’all!

Bradley Gareth as Michael (Main Character)

Bradley was raised in Western Pennsylvania, learning piano from age 5 and taking up local community theater at age 10. He pursued the performing arts throughout high school, consistently participating in high school musicals and chorus festivals during his tenure there. At the end of high school, he also took multiple classes in musical composition and began doing online voiceover work.

During his time in college, Bradley participated in numerous professional and amateur voiceover productions both online and at the University of Pittsburgh's student radio station, WPTS Radio. While at WPTS, Bradley also began writing advertisements and online content for websites.

Now out of school, Bradley continues to lend his voice to multiple productions, dabble in musical composition, and provide content writing for WrightlySo.com.

Jared Prize as David (Main Character)

Singing provides me with some of the greatest joy in life. Outside of that, I love voice acting, hiking, and hanging with friends. My day job involves working with computers, so I like to find a bit of an escape into the creative-realm during my free time. My sexuality has always been a struggle, but I find comfort in not putting a label on it (at least for now). Mostly, I am very excited to be a part of an ambition team of lovely people. Working within a project like this brings excitement during the process, and even more-so while waiting for the final piece! I hope you enjoy what's to come xo

Marisa Duran as Lady Marie

Hey there, I’m Marisa Duran. I’m an actress working and living in Dallas, Texas.

I caught the "theatre bug" at a young age. My parents will tell you that it started when I was two years-old, dancing around to the Barney theme song. I agree wholeheartedly.

I grew up in a suburb on the east side of Dallas and was fortunate to have the opportunity to explore a city known for its rich culture and artistic influence. My passion for theatre was fueled by the many musicals that toured through town and I quickly decided that I wanted to spend the rest of my life as a professional actor.

In 2016 I graduated Magna Cum Laude from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas with my Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre, emphasis in Acting. Since then, I’ve had the privilege of working with multiple professional theatre companies in the DFW area. I’ve also expanded my career into the worlds of film and voiceover, landing roles in short films, webseries, and commercials, and lending my voice to over a dozen anime titles at FUNimation.

Art has the power to heal, to change, and to empower. As an artist, I believe that my purpose on this earth is to tell stories, and through these stories I hope to make a positive impact and leave people better than I found them. I consider it an honor to be able to use my talents in such a profound way.

Whenever I’m not rehearsing or recording, you can usually find me at my day-time marketing job, playing video-games, or drinking coffee at a local coffeeshop.

Kiba Walker as Zachariah

Born Arthur Lee Walker III in Tacoma, Washington, Kiba Walker is an American actor, musician, director, writer, and performer based out of Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas.

Kiba trained under the likes of various industry professionals such as Shane Sparks, Donyelle Jones, Tony Oliver, Betty "Waters" Kennedy, Chuck Huber, Sonny Strait, Chris Rager, Justine Reyes, Lorette Spicer, Bill Quinby, Angie Irons, Dan Lorge, Holly Clark Lorge, Spencer Christian, and many others. With 16 years of collective industry knowledge, Kiba has performed with the likes of Alice Underground, The Stereo Killers, Frankly Fictitious, CRVSH, Grant Davis, Ashley Ann Farley, Steve "Warky" Nunez, BASH!, Ryland Lynch, Ross Lynch, Will Jay, and more.

Voice over came to Kiba in his later years, around the age of 18, when he found his love doing an ask blog for Tumblr. From there, he took the craft seriously and networked profusely with various actors and companies in the voice over realm. His first roles were as Boku Temagawa in "Love Games" and Mike Connelly in "Zoolaplex".

Since 2014, he's been cast in various other projects including MY HERO ACADEMIA, HORIMIYA, GENSHIN IMPACT, FRUITS BASKET, ONE PIECE, SAINT SEIYA (2019 Sentai Dub), BLACK CLOVER, BOFURI! I DON'T WANNA GET HURT SO I'LL MAX OUT MY DEFENSE, CAUTIOUS HERO: THE HERO IS OVERPOWERED BUT OVERLY CAUTIOUS, CASE FILE NO.221 KABUKICHO, CAMP BUDDY, FULL SERVICE, TO TRUST AN INCUBUS, TO LOVE RU, O MAIDENS IN YOUR SAVAGE SEASON, EARTHLOCK, POPUP DUNGEON, SOMETHING IN THE DARK, RADIANT, and many more!

He's also directed such titles as FULL SERVICE, IDUEL: BATTLE  FOR STARDOM, ISHIDA & ASAKURA, THE TITAN'S BRIDE, and CAMP BUDDY.

As a musician now, Kiba currently has one album out, titled "XO", that released in May 2016. He runs a music channel called "KibaKovers", adapting anime and video game openings into English for a broader audience, as well as regular Top 40 covers. He is also one of the champions of the hit Fort Worth Drag Competition, The 3, as Salem Moon!

Mike Young as Sir Tiphis

Hello, I’m Mike Young. A dynamic, versatile and different British VP voice actor with gravitas, who can turn on various shades of Bristol, and run the spectrum of silky smooth, to warm and friendly.

Under the brilliant tutelage of Tanya Rich, my road to a professional voice acting career begin in 2018, having produced a wide variety of stories and audiobooks.

I lend my talent to a range of different projects:

Hard sell and soft sell commercial and corporate scripts

IVR for telephone systems and mobile apps

Instructional e-learning courses

Promotional adverts and trailers

Public service announcements

Character narration for video games, film, audio dramas and books

…and more!

I love it all, I do it all! And if you like what you hear, contact me! I’ll be sure to make your project gurt lush.

[destiny-smasher]

“But I can't walk on the path of the right, because I'm wrong.”

So, The Last of Us Part 2 is out. It’s about 25 hours long. I’ve played it. I loved it, but it’s got its flaws. I think the hype buildup was overblown, and I think the zealous hate from the leaks was also overblown. This is a beautifully produced game that is trying to do much more than the typical AAA game tries to do, and in so trying, it’s messier, muddier, and more complicated than its predecessor. I love it for that, despite my issues with how the game ultimately resolves things.

I think Naughty Dog was either intentionally misleading audiences (which, given the marketing, is possible) or perhaps Neil himself has a different concept of the game he directed than what was actually delivered. Despite how it was advertised, The Last of Us Part 2 is not inherently about ‘hate’ or ‘revenge.’ It’s not just a revenge story.

It's a story about empathy, about how human beings and their interactions have layers, and how we are better when we extend blind empathy to others instead of blind hatred. I gotta talk about this. SPOILERS FOR THE ENTIRE GAME to follow.

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Seriously, final warning for SPOILERS.

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This game is simply too big, too complex, and has too much going on for me to write a single piece going over everything there is to talk about, but there are some things I need to say that inherently rely on discussing the entire game in a spoiler-filled way.

Let’s start with the most noticeable thing that has hit me over this game’s reception: people like Joel way more than I would’ve expected. SO much of this game’s negative reception seems to be over Joel’s character and the circumstances around his death. I was not at all surprised that he died - I was a bit surprised at when and how he died, in the moment, but even by the end of the next scene, it had washed over me how much sense it made. He died in the same way everyone else dies in this series. He had it coming in the same way anyone else in this world has it coming. He was never a hero. If you truly look at Joel as a ‘hero’ figure but don’t extend that same logic to Ellie and Abby, you do not make sense to me.

I’ve seen a LOT of hate getting thrown at Abby, and frankly, I do not understand it, and if you hate her but do NOT hate Joel or Ellie similarly, then I inherently don’t respect your opinion? You’re being blatantly biased and unreasonable in exactly the way this game is arguing you should not be. Straight up. Get your transphobic jokes the fuck outta here. Get your homophobic takes on Ellie and Dina the fuck outta here. Get your xenophobic complaints about the MUCH more diverse cast of characters in this sequel the fuck outta here. The ONE case where I could see a reasonable thing to be conflicted about is Lev’s character, because they are a transgender kid who gets deadnamed by some NPCs. As a transgender person, I personally found this to just...make sense and feel organic to the world, and none of the actual characters in the narrative with names or roles in the story ever deadname Lev. Lev is fucking precious and I love him, and I think his inclusion adds inherently more to this game than otherwise, despite the understandable conflict some might feel about his backstory. To ME, the fact that all of what Lev goes through and how Yara and Abby do what they can to look for him, that says to me, “protect trans rights” and I am glad it is there. Trans people have to deal with that shit sometimes, I think it’s fine having it be PART of a wider narrative. It doesn’t define Lev’s story, it doesn’t dictate the plot of the game, it’s a spark that sets some events off and I think that adds more than it could potentially take away, as does the overall representation in the game.

Getting back to this element of bias, though, I get that you “went on a journey” with Joel and Ellie in the first game. I get that. But you spend about as much time with Abby in this game as you did with Joel in the first game. And I see a lot of people are SOMEHOW totally fine and chill and cool with Joel going on a murder rampage in the first game, specifically killing at least one man who was specifically trying to save humanity - they cite that Joel is a morally gray person who has done bad things and is trying to become a better person. Sure, cool, OK. And Ellie, sure, ya’ll will think her going on a bloodthristy revenge quest is cool, fine, A-OK, because Joel was murdered. But somehow they are physically incapable of extending that same empathy to Abby, even after the game bends OVER BACKWARD in every reasonable way it could. Why is this? One person tweeted at me the simplistic, reductive idea, 

“ I know the sensible thing that naughty dog was aiming at was that we'd feel sorry for abby and eventually grow to like her, but for me I just don't. I loved Joel and I love Ellie. They didn't kill anyone who I loved as a character. Abby did. “

At least they’re being honest with themselves in that they literally missed the entire point of the game. You having personal bias you cannot remove yourself from does not make for “A DEEPLY FLAWED STORY” or whatever the fuck people have been tossing around.

I personally don’t buy any of that bullshit until we get into the final hours of the game during the epilogue, but we’ll get to that.

Everything in the first 20-ish hours of this game felt organic and believable and completely in line with the first game to me, and the fact that ALL OF IT happens as a direct after-effect of Joel’s selfish act at the end of the first game really contextualizes how/why it was called ‘Part 2.’ So honestly, all of this nonsense about this sequel being ‘badly written’ is just...bonkers. I will agree it’s not some master class in writing - neither was the original game. But both games are very similar in writing style, tone, and the world presented is consistent, while character motivations are realistically complicated. Naughty Dog has never been great at plot, but the real quality of their work comes through in how much effort they go to in order to present realistic feeling worlds and characters, and from the environments to the actors to the extra animations on top, I think the details and the context they create are where they shine.

To better understand where I am coming from with this game, let me lay this on you.

During the scene in that basement, when Abby shot Joel in the leg, and Ellie shows up...I realized what was about to happen. Ironically, it was exactly what I had originally predicted was the thing going on WAY back when the game’s reveal trailer was dropped -- that Joel was dead, and was motivating Ellie’s revenge quest. If you’ve read what I have written of Arcadian Rhythms, you will have some idea of my feelings on Joel and Ellie’s relationship -- in short, I think it is complicated, and just as damaging as it is good. That’s real life. That’s how reality is for many relationships, especially ones between parents and their kids, especially in my experience. When I realized Joel was about to be murdered, my feelings and thoughts were not jumping to ‘oh fuck what an asshole I wanna kill these people’ or ‘oh no not Joel’ but rather, my immediate gut thoughts were ‘yupppp Joel kinda deserves this, he literally did this to who knows how many other people, but why are THESE people, specifically, out to get him?’ 

When Ellie later cites to Dina that there’s ‘no point’ in speculating as to why these people murdered Joel, because it could be for one of many possible reasons, I found that to be interesting -- Ellie herself acknowledging that Joel had fucked over many other people, while still pursuing revenge herself.

I do think the theme of ‘the cycle of violence’ is very core to this game and arguably is its strongest central theme, specifically because violence in wholly integrated into its gameplay. But narratively and structurally, empathy is, I would argue, even more paramount. This game spends about 12 hours of its runtime (so about half of the entire game) actively trying to encourage you to understand, relate with, and empathize with Abby. The developers COULD have had you swapping back and forth between both characters, which might have resulted in better pacing, but I think it would’v taken away from what they were going for. It’s that long, slow burn that makes Abby’s side of the story work, in much the same way the long, slow burn of the first game does what it does, and the way the long, slow burn of Ellie’s revenge quest helps us see just how far gone she is.

But “arghh I hated Ellie she kept making bad decisions that made no sense” some of you say, “they did her DIRTY” some of you say.

No.

Joel did her dirty.

The Fireflies did her dirty.

And it’s this exact concept -- that our actions and choices have consequences and ripple outward beyond what we can initially imagine - that is at the heart of why I think I love this game so much. Most video games depict a pool of water that is either a constant whirlpool, a raging clash of waves, or stone dropped in the middle and the ripples spreading out. The Last of Us Part 2 is more like a series of ripples all happening simultaneously, and not all of them are as apparent or even important, but it’s just...a bunch of ripples all happening all over the place.

And it breaks my heart, during 2020, a year when human rights, systemic racism, a worldwide pandemic, late capitalism, and entire countries submerged in protests because their government is fucking them over...has people shutting off or refusing to turn on their empathy to anyone outside of their bubble. In 2020, when the world needs empathy more than any other year I’ve experienced in my life thus far, a game like this goes SO FAR above and beyond what most games try to do, in a very risky and controversial way, to actively invite its players to fucking STOP AND CONSIDER for a damn moment that there’s more to the world than JUST YOU and what you care about. That your actions have consequences beyond your singular perspective.

Ellie is fueled by rage for a number of reasons, and we don’t even understand all of them until literally the final moments of the game, which I found to be appropriate as it ends on a note of reminding us that there is ALWAYS something we don’t know, something we don’t understand, motivating someone else’s decisions.

Ellie was robbed of agency, of purpose, by both Joel and the Fireflies. Joel robbed both Ellie and the Fireflies of their purpose. And the Fireflies robbed Ellie and Joel of theirs. In return, Ellie is left without purpose, and all she’s really left with is a broken man who desperately wants to be a dad again, to the point that he will murder and lie to hold on to that. Don’t get me wrong - I don’t necessarily hold it against Joel that he murdered people to save Ellie. I will always defend the idea that it was a fucking selfish decision that would realistically lead to consequences. But in the same way Marlene points out to Abby’s dad, ‘What if it was your kid?’ ie ‘What if it was someone you loved?’ I get that, that’s the beauty of how the first game ended. It presents a zero sum game where there is no ‘correct’ choice that everyone can agree on, but in the back of our heads -- and Part 2 actually states this as a point of fact -- we all know Ellie would have CHOSEN to sacrifice herself, had she been asked.

So it was deliciously realistic to me to see Ellie grappling with the frustration, distrust, and anger of Joel having not only robbed that purpose from her, but having lied to her about it. And in the end, it was also wonderfully realistic that part of why she hated Abby so much was that Abby inadvertently robbed her of her chance to try and rebuild and repair that broken relationship.

But here’s the thing, though - the thing I see fucking NO ONE talking about, and I can’t decide if it’s because no one is picking up on it or what.

Both Ellie and Abby are haunted and driven by broken men making selfish choices. Their selfishness keeps both characters kind of locked in to desperately grasping at violent acts to justify a purpose.

Some will play the flashbacks with Joel and will feel warmth and nostalgia and admiration. Some will play the flashbacks with Owen and feel disinterest or disgust because ‘why should I care about these people?’

For me, I couldn’t help bu draw parallels to how both Owen and Joel were men trying to be good, you know, not being specifically evil people, but men who were a bad influence on the women around them, who were great and good and charming and all that until things didn’t go the way they wanted, pushing and prodding with passive digs and pressure to reaffirm their own hopes that despite their mistakes, they’re ‘good men.’ Owen is admittedly much less well developed in this regard, partly because his arc just isn’t as deep or interesting, partly because he didn’t exist in the previous game. But I still could not quite shake it. I grew up with men like Joel and Owen as my father figures, so there’s personal bias there.

I literally had an actual nightmare that woke me up in the middle of the night partway through playing through this game because Joel was in it and I said or did a thing he did not like, and his reaction spooked me awake, in part because I LIVED that growing up. (not murder, but violence, passive aggressive manipulation) I absolutely adore the depth given to Joel’s character, that he has LAYERS to him, and I loved seeing Tommy similarly expanded upon. (him passively prodding at Ellie to try and make good with Joel felt a little manipulative, given that he KNOWS what Joel did; and even his wife’s prodding at Ellie at the game’s outside to ‘make good’ with some old jerk who seems all expectant about being rewarded for basic apologizing, ech)

Last of Us is a horror game, Part 2 even moreso, but it was the feeling of men like Joel who do bad things and then try to justify them after the fact that actually creeped me out more -- all the more creepy because I KNOW Ellie and Abby will give up on better choices to try and ‘do right by them’. I was relieved when Abby began to break free from these old, poor choices, even shortly after making more fo them during her half of the story. This brings me to another fascinating aspect of this game: how Abby’s story is a combination of both Joel’s and Ellie’s.

Dunkey (of all people!) recently praised this game and compared Ellie’s and Abby’s narratives to TLOU1 and Uncharted 4, and I agree with him in a lot of regards, there, but I think what the team was more going for was for Abby’s story to feel like a combination of Joel’s and Ellie’s while simultaneously being directly impacted by Joel and Ellie’s story.

Abby grew up in a military community, even though she expressed an interest in science -- just like Ellie. The death of her father drives her on a quest for revenge -- just like Ellie. She does some horrible shit to people all in the service of trying to protect a kid as some desperate attempt to feel better about all of the bad shit she’s done -- just like Joel. She starts to let herself be empathetic to other people and tries to become a better person because of the kid she takes under her wing -- just like Joel.

In a way, you could argue Part 2′s overall story is kind of repetitious. Ellie’s quest for revenge is a bit too narrow-minded and blind in her rage, and Abby’s story kind of recycles many components we have already seen up until that point. I think what’s there still generally accomplishes what it set out to do: get us to question and try to understand why people do what they do, and consider our own place in that cycle, in those ripples.

I think many aspects of this game that look circumstantial on the surface are not accidents.

I think the recurring imagery of water is an allegory for how we can let rage, anger, and hate drown us. The game’s title starts with a boat drifting in water, and the title changes after the ending to a boat that is beached. The Seattle arc shows a gradually increasing focus on water flooding the environments, culminating in a big rainstorm with crazy waves. The final fight sequence (which tbh I hated but we’ll get to that) takes place literally IN water, involves Ellie trying to drown Abby, and ends with the two of them going separate ways in their boats.

I think it’s no accident that Abby and Ellie’s desire for vengeance is ultimately caused by the same specific moment, and I think it’s interesting that many people seem to skip RIGHT OVER the idea that Ellie feels such a deep sense of rage at Abby killing Joel only because Joel made the decision that caused Abby to kill him in the first place -- and the good and bad that came from that. It’s just a brilliantly complicated web, I think, and that further highlights that none of these characters are inherently good or evil, which is pretty much the entire point of this world in the first place.

I think it’s interesting that both Ellie and Abby grumble insults all of the time over the people they’re killing, and both try to justify their violence with thoughts like “well we’re better then that, we don’t do THOSE kinds of things,” which is, ya know, literally the kinds of mental hoops actual real human beings jump through to justify doing bad shit to each other.

I liked the idea of the trading cards until fairly early on when I found the ‘Dr. Uckmann’ card, which...made me roll my eyes a little at first, until I read the description, which then made me feel more actively uncomfortable than maybe anything else in the entire game, to be quite honest. Partly because it rang of entitled self-importance, but partly because of the reports of Naughty Dog crunch culture.

And on that note, let’s talk about how this game arguably crunched its employees way more than it needed to while simultaneously making its story more bloated than it needed to be.

Don’t get me wrong, I love indulging in more STUFF than it required. I can totally see the appeal of writing extra stuff to a story like because you can, because it’s interesting, because it’s fun to MAKE shit. But when you are a AAA game development studio who is potentially crunching your employees into burnout, maybe a fairly pointless epilogue on top of a game that is already arguably a bit too long in the tooth is...maybe not the best way to go?

On the upside, I enjoyed playing the Santa Barbara location, I loved getting some more Abby/Lev time, I liked seeing Ellie a bit older, I LOVED the scene at the farm with her, Dina, and JJ. I loved the gameplay challenge that was the Rattler’s base. I loved that this game had noticeably larger environments to explore.

But tbh a LOT of content could’ve been cut from this game to make a smoother, better paced experience while simultaneously putting less strain on the developers. I do think the extended flashback sequences focused on non-violent gameplay is important enough to justify itself, but I think a lot of the more violent or unnecessary parts of the game (like the entire sequence on the Seraphite’s island and the Santa Barbara sequence) all feel like...EXTRA? Which on the one hand is great because hot DAMN more beautifully rendered locations, content, etc. but on the other hand I’m not sure it adds as much to justify the real life pain and misery I’m sure some developers went through to create it all, and in a way, it doesn’t quite justify its own existence if we’re being critical.

I get what they were going for with the Seraphites and the WLF but neither group is developed enough to really accomplish the goals of empathy. I think focusing on specific members OF those groups is better, because that is ultimately how real life people break down their walls of bias, -isms, etc. -- they just interact with and befriend people from these groups and realize organically “oh hey we’re all...people, huh.” The game’s attempts at naming NPCs and dogs don’t do much when the game actively rewards you for killing them (speaking of which, I played on Normal and there were way too many items imo, we’ll see how that is on higher difficulties). We could get into the role of violence and gameplay but that’s a WHOLE other can of worms.

But the Rattlers in the final act are even worse. After this entire game of being actively encouraged to empathize with other people from other groups and let yourself consider they aren’t evil, the game just...shoves an objectively worse group of people at you, asks you to murder them, and then...discards the whole thing without a second thought. I found this to be fun from a gameplay perspective (sorry Neil, playing your game actually IS FUN when you put so much work into making the violence fun to engage with) but I found it weird and frustrating from a storytelling perspective, as if the whole thing was an undercooked, unfinished final act that they cobbled together because they just...wanted enemies with helmets and an environment depicting southern California. Hell, tbh I don’t even get why Ellie had to be there other than the developers didn’t think players would be OK just...letting Ellie live a life in peace on a farm or that players would be OK NOT playing as Ellie at the end and letting her beat the shit out of Abby.

I actually LOVED the farm sequence, it felt so...weird for a while. Like you’re just waiting for the hat to drop. And when it does...it’s just PTSD. And that felt right. That felt good, that even though Ellie was spared, after all the shit she did, because she let go and spared Abby in return, she got to live this peaceful life...except life’s not that simple and old scars can still hurt.

I loved when Tommy showed up and we got to see that darker side to him we KNOW has been there this entire time, but Ellie maybe hasn’t been forced to see it. All the way up until this point, I felt I could understand where the characters were coming from and what motivated their decisions.

And then Ellie decided “no, actually, maybe if I throw all of this away I can maybe get rid of this PTSD I got from throwing everything away before.” And then it got worse when after she breaks into this fucking slave house to free people, after she saves Abby and Lev from dying on posts, she STILL wants to fight. ANd Abby’s where I’m at -- that ‘fucking REALLY?’ feeling. I utterly disliked the fight scene in the water. It was the one time in the whole game that actually felt like misery porn to me. I was honestly going into it expecting that maybe Ellie’s stab wound from the trap would cause her to be too weak to fight, and she’d literally drown from bleeding out because of her own unrelenting pursuit of revenge. But nah, we’re put through a pointless, brutal fist/knife fight that...doesn’t really have purpose imo. WHatever you wanted to accomplish here, you could’ve done back in the theater in Seattle. (on that note I LOVED the Ellie boss fight, what a fun gameplay thing and also just tense all around since you really couldn’t tell what was going to happen, but I LOVE that Lev stopped Abby from killing Dina, even though she had every reason to)

I can imagine different versions of the Santa Barbara sequence that offer a more edifying conclusion while still working in the environmental and gameplay components they seemed insistent on working in. It’s the one major portion of the game that, now that I’ve had time to process, I feel the most conflicted about.

Neither Ellie nor Abby “deserve” a happy ending in much the same way Joel didn’t “deserve” a happy ending. This game has no true protagonists or villains (anyone who is presented as a ‘villain’ is minor, and we don’t find out much about them anyway). I think Joel was lucky to get the time he got to live in community once again, to rediscover his humanity (look at all of those flowers they left at his house, this man who fucked over humanity and murdered countless people had a chance to live a few years of peaceful life again), I think Ellie was lucky she got time to even live what she did on that farm with Dina and JJ, and was lucky to still be alive at the end of the story. I think Abby was lucky to have been able to break free from a life of militaristic bullshit and rediscover some of her own lost humanity.

I think a lot of people admire Joel as a hero when it’s clear he was never one.

I think a lot of people admire Ellie and try to idolize her as the smarmy kid she could never permanently exist as.

I think a lot of people hate on Abby for EXISTING (and being a woman -gasp- WITH MUSCLES) and I’m pretty pleased with Laura Bailey getting to play this role (and Ashly Burch getting a supporting role in this game, too, for that matter).

I think The Last of Us is not ‘about Ellie and Joel.’ I think The Last of Us is about humanity, and exploring it through different angle. Sometimes needlessly gritty and dark ones, but Part 2 gave us even more light-hearted, pelasant moments than I could have expected. I think people who look so reductively at this game -- now officially a ‘series’ -- as ‘Joel and Ellie 100x forever’ and literally anything outside of that being bad and a waste of time fundamentally missed the entire purpose of this game, ironically ignoring what it is trying to passionately to convey. I think Naughty Dog’s marketing of the game actively misled people in ways that are rare for the industry, and I do think that is a bit shady - but on the other hand, being misled actively improved my experience with the end product (which is arguably why they did it). I think the way Sony has latched on Joel and Ellie as ‘Playstation Icons’ and encouraged people to buy up TLOU merch depite there not being much TO turn into merchandise says something.

Also? Frankly?

I am SO FUCKING TIRED of “angry sad dad” games.

Like. I loved TLOU 1, I loved the new God of War, etc. etc.

But God of War took basically NO RISKS and had NOTHING TO SAY that countless other pieces of media have said to death. That’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with that, I really enjoyed it and look forward to the next. But this game actually has challenging thoughts, complicated things, it is trying to get players to consider, and most everyone I see shitting on the game either hasn’t played it or doesn’t seem interested in games that exist for something beyond making them feel good about themselves? I dunno.

I think at the end of the day, TLOU as an entire series, and specifically the sequel, isn’t about Joel and Ellie, that was just the more focused lens the original game had. For its messier, muddier experience, Part 2 strives for nothing more than many pieces of media have but for something that is still rare in the space of AAA video games.

It takes some risks, it makes some missteps in getting where it goes, for sure, and it’s by no means some holy gift to mankid, but it passionately goes to GREAT lengths to explore and express a fairly simple idea: 

empathy is a choice, understanding others is a choice,

and we are all inherently better off when we choose to blindly accept understanding than when we blindly choose hate and violence.

Just because we can’t walk ‘the path of the right,’ and just because ‘we’re wrong’ doesn’t mean we should let the phantoms in our lives continue to keep a hold on our future. Just because someone does some good things doesn’t erase the consequences and ripples of the bad they have done, and just because we do bad things doesn’t mean we can’t do good.

The way to end the cycle of violence is empathy.

It’s simplistic in concept, but if you look around at not just the reception to this game even before people could play it, but just the STATE OF THE WORLD IN 2020, you will see that maybe we still need such basic, simplistic concepts to continue to be explored in big budget media.

[maliro-t]

The most frustrating thing about the ubisoft stuff coming out right now is that there are a lot of men that are acting like the studio has been suddenly exposed as misogynistic without any tells and I’m just. 

Of course there’s a lot of stuff (thankfully!) coming out now that hadn’t before, but if this was the first hint that you had that there were people in power in the studio who didn’t respect women, maybe examine why. 

I have always been bothered by the fact that the response to calls for the inclusion of women in their substantial lineup of AC protagonists was not to give a woman her own story, but to add her in an almost entirely ignorable way. Is it not the tiniest bit suspicious that Kassandra had to be declared canon, and not just given her own game? It really feels like, ok ladies, you can have a cookie, but for all the REAL gamers who want to pretend that female protagonists don’t exist, we’re literally changing our system so that you can keep playing as a man. That really is not the equal treatment they want you to think it is. Thanks for the cookie.

Like, think about AC syndicate, a game that I love so dearly, but the first out of 9 (9!!!) main games to feature a playable female character, and even then, the way Evie was treated in comparison to Jacob is just incredibly frustrating. I mean jesus, even just look at the box art, which features Jacob distinctly in the center with Evie literally off in the shadows, something that frankly carries over to the actual game as well. Every single major assassination was carried out by Jacob (which is wild when you think about the way that she’s characterized as this perfect assassin student)- the only actual assassination mission that Evie gets is with Lucy Thorne, and she spends a good chunk of the game just dealing with the aftermath of what Jacob’s doing. That combined with the fact that the player has the option to be Jacob for the entirety of the open world sections sets her up to feel like a side character in her own game, especially if that’s how the player is determined to see her. It reinforces the idea that the man is the protagonist, even when she’s a playable main character!

And god it is SO telling that even when they’ve given the option to play solely as a woman, the advertising is so prominently centered on the male counterpart. When the Valhalla reveal dropped there was absolutely no indication in the trailer that a character other than male Eivor existed (something that thankfully changed in the gameplay) and it was frankly extremely disheartening. It’s taken two months for us to even see her in an official capacity. Through the just the reveal, the majority of the images tied to this game feature the male protagonist, and don’t require any further acknowledgment that a woman could helm the game in his place. The women in these games have always been framed in ways that make them feel secondary at best (more often like afterthoughts), and it really shouldn’t take a goddamn exposé for someone else to see that.

I really am so grateful to the people that fought for characters like Evie and Kassandra to exist, and especially given the environment they were created in, I find them so incredible and hold them so dear. But if all of this feels like a complete revelation to you please, please, ask yourself why none of this felt wrong.

[nothingnicetosaysitnexttome]

The Beautiful Wank of Shane Dawson

Thoughts going in...

I went into this with low expectations and let me tell you hooooneeeeeeeyyyy..... it still managed to disappoint. Now I have not watched the rest of the series because if I wanted to watch a 6-hour infomercial I would watch one of the greats i.e. I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.

BUT I did see that Shane got on his Instagram story to show us his pores and complain about not wanting to show any of the drama. So I am sittin up in my room Brandy style expecting a roundup of the drama channels to go IN on this motherf****er for his tomfoolery, poppycock, bamboozlement. But - except for our girl Petty Paige - they are all giving him a straight pass. Even though this man did- I reiterate a SIX HOUR infomercial that doesn’t even rate up there with the snuggie or the shamwow. And not only that he got people to watch this garbage (pronounced gahr-baj) by including dramageddon 2 in his damn trailer. Please see:

Merriam-Webster

Legal Definition of false advertising: the crime or tort of publishing, broadcasting, or otherwise publicly distributing an advertisement that contains an untrue, misleading, or deceptive representation or statement which was made knowingly or recklessly and with the intent to promote the sale of property, goods, or services to the public

And because I stay mad in case of emergencies such as these I thought I’d get outraged on behalf of those who were having none of this. 

So Shane drops “The Beautiful World of Shane Dawson”

Recap

When I saw this was an hour and 20 minutes -which for reference is 4 minutes longer than The Nightmare Before Christmas- I was shook. A shookness that I wish would’ve lasted longer because boy was nothing else in it worthy of a gasp, not even an “oh my.” If my mouth moved at all it was only to yawn or to mouth “are you kidding me?” to myself. So we open up on a series of clips of our favs-bitch lux, dustin diamond, Karina Kaboom talking about Shane indecisiveness on posting the tea. All of them spoke for about 30 seconds and moved on in real life but Shane makes it seem like this is the impeachment inquiry with round the clock breaking CNN coverage. I mean his depiction is  what I thought was actually going to happen but this man--->

can do no damn wrong. No. Damn. Wrong. So all these clips play (he conveniently excludes accusations that this is all a cash grab) and it seems like he literally averages out all of their complaints and lands on that they want to see the “behind the scenes” “reactions” to the Tati v. James scandal. Ummmm...Sooo...that’s him on his couch with his hoodie over his face saying “wow” “this is like crazy.” The end. I do not think what anyone meant when they said they wanted to see BTS of dramageddon was his literal 15-second reaction to the Tati youtube video. He makes one reference to cancel culture -for an actually insightful view on this see Luke Alexander: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El466kswqy8) So yeah that was ALL the tea folks and bitch I am PARCHED. 

He then shows that during the instagram live one person posted-”what we want to see is launch day!” So that is what he does which is exactly how Michael Moore and Errol Louis and other great documentarians determined what they were going to show in their films. It is a known practice in the art of documentary filmmaking that you go on camera and say you’re stressed and then pick a random instagram comment to make the finale of your series so like that I totally get. 

But the episode y’all, I had my notepad out and everything and I can basically summarize it in one word: circlejerk. This man straight up just complimented himself for over an hour with the most dramatic music playing over it, portraying himself and everyone involved in the most flattering light. The entire thing is a countdown to the launch sponsored by the phrase “OMG” which comprised roughly half the dialogue of the episode. He did make sure to throw shopify and all of the other tech people involved in the crash of his sites under the bus and distance himself and Jeffree as far away from that problem as possible. 

But the biggest crime of this episode was not that it was so complimentary and Shane must reek from licking his own taint over and over but that it was boring as all hell. At one point he literally used STOCK FOOTAGE of people at their computers in a moment where he talks about what the experience will be like of people ordering online. And then I kid you not that is it for the entire rest of the series. Just him and Jeffree and their entourage congratulating each other while it flashes back to other moments in their infomercial. 

So I scroll down to the comments expecting to be validated by other hateful youtube commentators like I always am when I am mad as hell and no! They’re all congratulating Shane on this amazing moment and achievement. SKKKIIIIIRT bitch excuse me? This man barely knows a thing about make-up. It has never been his dream to work in make-up. He never worked at MAC as a sassy MUA dreaming of one day dropping a palette. What exactly did he accomplish? Why do I want this for him when he didn’t even know he wanted it for his damn self? So in the summary-this episode was awful and if I don’t see a bunch of tea channels and commentators calling his ass out I will know they’re on the payroll and then I’ll do my own docu-series on that. Now I thought that’s what Shane was going to be doing but clearly, there’s room for a series that actually exposes the booty community. 

[weirdmarioenemies]

It’s a Super Mario Odyssey masterpost!

Sorry to take a break from the Halloween goodness, but it’s the one year anniversary of Super Mario Odyssey! Hard to believe it’s been a whole year, isn’t it? There’s no denying this game is absolutely, how do we put this, “perfect” for a lack of even better compliments, with some vast, detailed worlds, many small fun challenges, and of course, lots of cool new Weird Mario Enemies!

...But today, we aren’t going to talk about enemies at all, because what this game also has is some fantastic Weird Mario Friends! To put things simple, there’s a lot of kingdoms in the game, and most of them have their own NPCs that we all love as dearly as the many friends and foes and spooky tree aliens we’ve featured on this blogs in months past, so sit back, as all three WME mods talk about the wonderful new NPCs we see in this game!

Talking about Bonneters, Tostarenans, and Steam Gardeners is Mod Chikako!

Talking about Lochladies, Shiverians, and Moon Rabbits is Mod F Boy!

And talking about New Donkers, Bubblainians, and Volbonans is Mod Hooligon!

With that out of the way, let’s-a go!

Name: Bonneter

Mario’s grand adventure starts off on an EXTREMELY strong foot when he regains consciousness in a land populated by... g-g-g-g-GHOSTS! The precious Bonneters live in the delightfully spooky Cap Kingdom, where there is rarely a color present besides white, gray, or black, and the whole land is enveloped in a thick fog. To top it all off, the music is simply perfect for a spooky, yet friendly town of ghosts! Also, they all have British accents.

Of course, there is one Bonneter who stands out from the rest, and that is Cappy, Mario’s newest friend! He embodies the ability of the Bonneters to take the form of normal hats and Capture other beings. Yeah, it’s basically possessing people. It’s okay. It’s fun. 

What do you think is under their hat? Is it part of their body, or are they stylish? They don’t LOOK very natural, but Cappy has a few tufts of hair on his hat/head, so the answer is... I don’t know!

Also, there is no spooky-themed area in this game. The only ghosts in the entire game are your friends! Score one for ghosts!

Name: Tostarenan

Here they are... the first ever new characters we saw in Super Mario Odyssey! Remember that Switch trailer way back when? Where we saw like three seconds of Odyssey? Those three wonderful seconds? I do!

Tostarenans are, of course, based on calaveras, the decorative skulls used in the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead. They live in a cozy little town just as colorful as they are, and love nothing more than having fun and eating frozen- I mean, freezy treats!

As I’ve touched upon in their own post, Tostarenans have their own undead version, the Chincho! Which means... these are living skeletons! How does this work? They’re the same shape, so do they have exoskeletons? Again! I don’t know! But wow, that’s two sorta-spooky friend species already, huh? Like we said! This game is perfect!

Name: Lochlady

Lochladies are the world-famous fashion designers found in the Lake Kingdom... a Kingdom whose industry relies entirely on fashion! Peach/Mario’s very pretty wedding dress was made here. According to the brochure, they’re known for their flexibility but also their strength, and that’s kinda funny... they might look dainty, but these fish are strong! 

A fish? A mermaid? They’re really a bit of both. Of course mermaids are their main inspiration, but these things very clearly have scales, right? It’s nice that even the very-human designs in Mario are still a little bit silly. 

Though, I suppose the term “mermaid” wouldn’t really apply to them, since mer comes from the Latin for “sea”... instead, they’re named Lochladies... a loch, of course, being a Scottish word for a lake... Like Loch Ness! And Dorrie, the incredibly-Loch-Ness-Monster-inspired friend, even shows up here. If you ignore the fact that Lake Lamode is a French name, it all works out. 

Name: Steam Gardener

That’s no watering can! Just kidding, it is. But it’s also a robot! And most importantly, it’s a friend! Really just a wonderful combination of things to be. 

Steam Gardeners live in the Steam Gardens! They’re steam-powered! They garden! And they are very good at it. They come in different magnitudes of rustiness, but don’t worry! It seems they can very well go on forever as long as they stay charged. Their heads can be empty, but can also contain flowers or even seeds that they can dispense!

I really love the Steam Gardeners because they don’t really look like a character at all, you know? They look robotic, sure, but there’s not really much of a face or anything. And if you ask me, that makes them even more fun! The flashing lights seem to act as a face, if anything, since that’s what they point toward you while speaking. Oh yeah, they’re even asymmetrical! They’re really just a mishmosh of things that most people wouldn’t consider “cute”, but guess what! I think it’s precious! Sue me! (I would probably win because this isn’t a valid reason to sue someone!)

Name: New Donker

When the first trailer for Super Mario Odyssey came out, one thing that immediately caught everyone’s attention was the New Donkers! Usually, when humans appear in the Mario series, they are very heavily stylized, like ol’ Mario Mario himself! But these humans are hardly stylized at all, looking like your average businessperson you’d pull off the streets of New York in the 1950s!

Seeing Mario interacting with these much less stylized people is as jarring as it is hilarious, with lots of people questioning how this sort of image could be from a real Mario game. This is exactly the kind of off-the-wall wackiness we all appreciate over here!

...Of course, then there’s the question of if the New Donkers are technically human. We know Mario is human! We’ve gotten numerous statements from Nintendo that confirm it, aside from one old advertisement which listed him as “homo nintendonus.” What we really should be talking about is the New Donkers! We have no official source considering them humans, as they are exclusively referred to as “New Donkers” in-game. One statement from Nintendo says the reason Mario looks so different from the New Donkers is because “there’s lots of different kinds of people in the world,” but when the definition of “people” also includes dancing skeletons and garden robots, I think that it can be considered a pretty broad term.

Of course, even then, New Donkers and humans are obviously two very genetically-similar species capable of cross-breeding. How else do we explain Pauline?

Name: Shiverian

I love many many things in this big blue Earth of ours, but chubby seals are definitely way up there. So, these guys? Absolutely... wonderful. I love them. I love their dopey voices, I love their cute widdle faces. I love their cosy little town, and I love that they hold competitions where they literally roll around a racetrack, because they’re just that round and fat!! 

Shiverians are one of the few NPCs you can capture, too! When in Fat Seal form, you can compete in their Bound Bowl races... Humans aren’t allowed to participate, but the brochure makes it clear that only a fat seal man could survive such a race. 

And above all, I love their funky elder. Look at those shades. He’s a cool old man. He’s not like your grandpa- he’s hip!

Name: Bubblainian

I think one thing we can all appreciate here at Weird Mario Enemies Dot Geocities Dot Io is gastropods, no matter what shape or form they take. In Super Mario Odyssey, they take the form of giant French snails with flesh-lips, but better off to be a snail with weird flesh-lips than not be a snail at all, am I right gamers?

I’m glad that they picked snails as their “easy-going beach populace,” (though snails are a good choice for anything, really) but what stands out most about Bubblainians to me isn’t the Bubblainians themselves, but rather, one very particular run-down I had with one during my playthrough of the game!

Bubblainians hide in their shells whenever an enemy gets too close, a small detail I really love. However, one time when I was playing, I was wearing the chef outfit, and was running up to talk to one of these guys when without warning, it hid in its shell! I assume a nearby Gushen might’ve just gotten a little too close, but I just thought it was silly because these French snails were afraid of a chef!

You know, because escargot is a dish in France that’s made from snails and...

Well, it was funny to me at least.

Name: Volbonan

My absolute favorite world in Super Mario Odyssey has to be... New Donk City. I feel that that’s most peoples’ favorite. My immediate second choice, however, is Mount Volbono, and I just love its inhabitants to death. Before I die, you’ll see me laying down, on my deathbed saying “man, I sure love the Volbonans from Super Mario Odyssey” and then I’ll be dead.

But why do I love Volbonans so much? Well, I guess it’s just that I’ve always sort of had an affinity for inanimate object creatures (anyone who’s met me knows how much I love Vanilluxe) and Volbonans are just a perfect design for a fork character! I tried a few shots at designing fork characters in the past, but I made the dire mistake of putting the face on the part with the tines, rather than the handle, a mistake which the Volbonans so excellently fix! Really, I never considered using the tines as limbs, it’s a design that works so well that I’d be cursing myself if the Volbonans weren’t so inherently blessed in and of themselves.

Throw on the chef hats and neckerchiefs, and they go from perfect to extremely perfect, having a design befitting of their hobby of cooking! It feels weird that an entire species has a life focused on cooking, but I suppose that if you’re a giant fork in a land of giant food, there’s nothing better you can do. One of the souvenirs you can buy from Mount Volbono is a set of forks based on the Volbonans themselves! Cute! A little freaky, but still cute!

I think it goes without saying that I want the Volbonans, alongside every other Odyssey NPC, to be playable in the next Mario Kart. Let me race around the whole Mario world as a giant fork or 1950′s (ambiguously) human man!

Name: Moon Rabbit

I am summoned once again from the depths of my cave to talk about Japanese folklore, because I enjoy doing that! The Dark Side stage, unlocked after you beat the game, is also known as “Rabbit Ridge”, and features food-shaped rocks and a whole lotta bunnies... Why? You may or may not have already heard of the story of the moon rabbit (it’s pretty well-known), but in case you haven’t:

According to our friends in the east, the markings of the moon kind of resemble a rabbit pounding mochi with a mortar and pestle. And yeah, I can totally see it. Of course, Mario Odyssey very prominently features hats, and it prominently features the moon in nearly every Kingdom.... and rabbits, naturally, are pulled out of hats! It works on so many levels!

The regular Moon Rabbits aren’t all that talkative, but of course, there are some fairly notable rabbits, too! Yup, the Broodals are from the Dark Side of the moon... which might even be why they look like UFOs when they fly around in their hats. I won’t talk too much about them here, but you’ve gotta wonder... why are they so much more anthropomorphic than their fellow Moon Rabbits? Is this a Goofy/Pluto scenario?

[brendancorris]

Ralph Breaks the Internet...

...by trying to show too much product placement at once.

Hi,I’m back to ramble about Disney stuff again. I’ll try to keep this one on the shorter side, but no promises. Now, everybody who has ever followed me probably knows I love Disney animated films, and lots of other parts of the Disney empire. One of my favorite Disney films EVER was 2012′s Wreck-It Ralph. It was not only a magnificent nostalgia-laced love letter to gamers from the 80s such as myself, but it was also an amazing story with wonderful characters, powerful emotions, and some of the best damn world building ever, as well as the best use of product placement ever. Everything that needed to be there was there, and nothing more.

But holy WOW has that changed. Initially after the first film debuted in 2012, Disney announced a sequel and I felt it was unnecessary. Despite my love for the original, I think it’s perfect as is, and really needs no continuation. However, all that was said about it at the time was it would be about modern gaming - most notably online gaming - and Mario would make an appearance. Well, fast forward over 5 years and what’s revealed to us actually has little to nothing to do with video games, which is kind of odd since it’s the base of the film. It’s like if Toy Story 4 was suddenly about sports. Just seems really random.

Obviously, everybody’s already made the comparisons to the dumpster fire last year that was The Emoji Movie, and, yeah, it’s hard to deny the similarities. Ralph 2 does certainly have better jokes, but they still aren’t too great so far. Both films not only have a similar premise and look to their version of the internet, but both are just drenched in product placement. Google, Amazon, Twitter, Facebook, eBay, Soundcloud, Instagram... they’re all constantly being rammed down your throat. The entire part where we see all the different online corporation logos there should just be a marquee at the bottom saying “these companies paid for this film”.

What’s also worrisome about the trailers is the massive lack of Felix, Calhoun, the Sugar Rush kids, and all the other memorable characters, original and licensed, from the first movie. Obviously, they’ll be in there in some way, but it is disappointing to see them absent from all footage thus far, leading me to believe they are pushed to the background this time around. It’s actually really hard for me to remember that this is indeed a Wreck-It Ralph movie. Just feels like a reel of internet and pop culture meta humor with Ralph and Vanellope randomly being our tour guides.

But the absolute worst part of the latest trailer (which had been rumored for a year now) was when the characters travel to the website “Oh My Disney”...

...wow. Again, I love Disney. I love Disney Animation Studios, I love the MCU, I love The Muppets, I love Star Wars, and I love Pixar, but... wow. This part, which is the bulk of the trailer, is actually really hard to watch and not cringe. It is the most shameless advertising of one’s properties I’ve ever seen. It’s literally just a massive advertisement for every brand they own. It looks like the entire movie’s going to just hit the breaks to just sell themselves out for 10-20 minutes. It’s legitimately uncomfortable to watch, and really drains respect for the studio, unfortunately. Not only that they’d stoop so low as to advertise all their properties so hard, but that they are probably sacrificing a sequel to an amazing movie just to use as an advertising platform.

Now, before my conclusion, I obviously NEED to talk about the Disney Princess scene. 

This is basically all anybody cares about ever since it was announced, and despite the fact that I find that kinda sad for Ralph and his series, I totally understand it. Finally modernizing the entire Princess brand library is a huge deal. Even if these exact designs aren’t used in the new Princess marketing, this is the first time Disney has ever done this, and it’s clearly a testing grounds for the brand’s progression.

And... some of the designs are pretty good. Aurora, I feel, is the best job they did. She looks pretty fantastic. But for the most part, I hate to say it, but they mostly all look like Rapunzel. So much of the unique charm, art style and features of the diverse princess roster is lost in these redesigns, and they all have the same huge, round eyes, the same body build, the same everything. Belle, Snow White and Ariel all look uncomfortably similar to Rapunzel now. Now, I will admit, most of the designs are appealing, they’re just so same-y and redundant. I expected better from Disney (they can certainly afford variety between designs). It’s sad to see the designs and stylistic choices of artists, whose works date back as far as 80 years, erased and replaced with safe, go-to design choices Disney knows make money. Also... why does Mulan not only look like she’s 10 now, but kind of look like Vanellope?

But, admittedly, while I do have problems with a lot of their design choices, this part was definitely the highlight of the trailer. There were a handful of really great jokes in there (many subtle ones you could miss, especially if you aren’t a Disney buff) and the animation quality and dress designs were outstanding for what it’s worth, but the tone of the scene, as well as the rest of the trailers, is just WAY too meta for me. They completely demolished any walls and boundaries that may have existed and just turned a sequel to an outstanding movie into an irrelevant advertisement for themselves and a multitude of other companies, all wrapped in one 100% self-aware, meta, satirical mess. Now, obviously, I can’t hate on it yet. I will still see the movie, and will likely enjoy it, as Disney always gets me to enjoy their animated films. But what I’ve seen so far is inexcusable, and makes me lose a lot of respect for the project, as well as interest in a film I was already not asking for. 

Oops, came out ultra long again. My bad.

Oh yeah. This just in - Disney waiting on approval for the Earth acquisition. 

[allenmendezsr]

Car Dealer Licenses How To Start A Car Business

New Post has been published on https://autotraffixpro.app/allenmendezsr/car-dealer-licenses-how-to-start-a-car-business/

Car Dealer Licenses How To Start A Car Business

 Buy Now

    Ever Dream of Being Your Own Boss?

Get Your Car Dealer License and

My Online Course Gives You Everything You’ll Need To Know In The Very Lucrative & Much Needed Pre-Owned Automotive Market

Just look around next time you are on the road. You are literally surrounded by cars – of every imaginable type, condition, color and year. Each one of those autos has one thing in common – someone had to buy it. And that means someone had to be selling it as well.

Each day “new” used cars enter the market – just looking for an owner.

The market for quality pre-owned vehicles is booming – and there has never been a better time to take advantage of this ongoing trend.

In fact according to the analyst firm CNW Research, 40.5 million used vehicles changed hands in 2019, a 4.4 percent increase over 2018.

By becoming a licensed car dealer, you’ll be jumping into a field brimming with opportunities. You’ll be the one matching these autos to those willing, able and even eager to buy what you have.

Car Dealer License Course – The Definitive Guide To Starting Your Own Pre-Owned Auto Business

This course leaves no stone unturned and will VASTLY reduce the time it takes you to hit the ground running. You’ll be learning from an extremely professional car dealer the CORRECT way to go about creating your own PROFITABLE Car Dealership Business – directly from an established expert in this market. For instance, here’s just a taste of what we’ll cover…

Getting licensed

Establishing your business name

Where to find vehicles for sale

How to appraise a vehicle before you even consider taking it away

What forms you’ll have to complete

How to market yourself…

And tons more. (Stick around, well go into more detail in a bit…)

Everything you’ll be taught has been tested and retested in the only venue that counts – the real world. After you finish this course, you’ll know more about finding, prepping and selling used cars than 98% of the general population. And you’re going to have fun doing it!

Now let’s take a look at what you DON’T need…

You don’t need an advanced education. Heck, there are high school drop-outs making a wonderful living locating and selling pre-owned autos.

You don’t need a wad of money to begin. Yes, every business has its own start-up costs. But compared to franchises or brick and mortar enterprises, the money to enter we’re talking about is negligible.

You don’t need the headaches of having employees or a boss! Being a successful car dealer means you run the show. You are answerable to yourself and your customers – that’s it. (Well, you’ll always be answerable to Uncle Sam and your spouse… but that’s going to be the case no matter what you do!)

Follow Our Blueprint & Jumpstart Into Success!

This course is both comprehensive and complete. You’ll never be left wondering what you should be doing next. You’ll start off right at the beginning – setting up the legal framework for your company.

We’ll spell out exactly what you have to have, and when you should have it. For instance, before you even can start to buy and sell used cars as a career, these are the basic steps we’ll be walking you through…

Naming your company

Setting up the right type of company for you

Establishing your place of business

Getting a Dealer’s License

Purchasing a surety bond

Obtaining insurance

Filing for your sales tax number

You must have this groundwork down pat – because the last thing you need will be hassles from the taxing or regulatory agencies!

Where The Money Is – How To Appraise That Auto!

I can’t stress this enough, unless you learn how to properly, thoroughly and completely appraise a used car’s condition – you’ll never make it as a used car dealer.

That auto may look cherry from the outside, but if you can’t uncover the hidden defects beneath the exterior – you’ll only be throwing your money away.

Not to worry – the Car Dealer License Course has your back.

You’re going to be shown exactly what you should be looking for to unearth the true condition of the vehicle you’re inspecting.

Body work – Some dings are simple fixes, others not. Make a miscalculation, and the repair work could explode to hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars – slashing your profit to the bone.

Is the paint work original? You’re going to find out how the professionals can tell each and every time if the auto has been repainted. Even if the body work was done by experts – you’ll know if it’s factory fresh or not.

Has the engine been worked on? Our simple test will let you know if the bolts were ever removed – a clear indication of work under the hood.

Was a rear-end collision worse that what the repairs indicate? We’ll show you what to look for inside the trunk and spare tire wheel well to find out!

Open the car door and take a whiff! We’ll explain why a “smoker” is a goner when it comes to resale value.

Not only do we discuss what you’ll have to know, but you’ll have a total of THREE REAL-WORLD VIDEO LESSONS demonstrating how to go about professionally sizing up every vehicle you’ll come in contact with.

To top it off, you’ll receive our extensive auto-appraisal checklist. Download it and print it off – making sure you have a new one for every vehicle you’re looking at. Just like the checklist airline pilots use before they ever leave the ground, this invaluable tool will assure you won’t be missing ANYTHING compromising the vehicle’s ultimate re-sale value.

Autos, Autos Everywhere… But Where Does a Dealer Go To Buy Them?

Ok… it sounds simple at first glance… find used cars, appraise them, then sell.

But where do dealers go to find their inventory? Is there some undisclosed, underground “good old boys” network – only allowing “insiders” access to the better deals and trades?

Not to worry, because this Car Dealer License Course discloses everything you’ll need to know for finding the right vehicles at the right prices!

Auto Auctions – Where they are, how they work, how you bid, what you need to watch out for… this course will be like having a car pro at your side the entire time, pointing out the do’s and don’ts when attending an auto auction.

New Car Dealerships – Have you ever wondered what new car dealerships do with the trade-ins they get? Wonder no more, because you’ll be shown how to approach, talk to and get on the “good guy list” of these dealership’s used car managers.

Used Car Lots – Sounds like a contradiction, doesn’t it? Why should a used car dealer go to a used car lot to purchase used car inventory? Simple – the longer a car sits on the lot, the more motivated the dealership is to offload it. They’d rather take a cut in profit than get no profit at all – so it’s a win-win situation for the right independent dealer and the right used car lot.

Repos – You’ve see the TV show where a repossession team goes out and hauls away an auto whose loan is waaay overdue. Once the car is turned back to title holder, then what? The bank, financial or lending institutions don’t want the car – they want the money. That’s where you come in. We’ll clue you in on how to find the right people (called Recovery Agents) at these companies – and how to get them on your side.

Stolen Recoveries – According to ABC News, in the USA a car gets stolen every 43 seconds! That’s a lot of cars. Many of them wind up in chop houses – never to be seen again. But a fair number do eventually get found. The owners got reimbursed by their insurance companies, so the found auto is now the insurance company’s problem. Car Dealer License fills you in on how to locate these orphaned vehicles, and how to obtain the ones you want.

Individuals – Yep! “For Sale by Owner” is alive and well in the used auto market. Just drive through any community and you’re bound to see several cars sitting in the driveway, silently advertising themselves. Many times the owner is VERY motivated to sell due to adverse financial problems. So check ‘em out!

Financing and Buying Autos Wholesale – Getting the Biggest Bang For Your Buck!

It might stand to reason you have to part with some cash in order to purchase a used auto… however this isn’t true in every case!

Not only are we going to walk you through the forms and title process for gaining free and clear ownership of a used vehicle, but we’ll also introduce you to the Magic of Drafts – buying cars, trucks, boats, trailers… what have you with no money up front!

It’s a rather common practice in the used car industry, so take advantage of it whenever you can!

Navigating Through the Mazes Quick-Starts and Shortcuts

Sometimes trying to track down the agencies and organizations you need to find can be one huge hassle. Then you have to recognize what forms you’ll be expected to know and be acquainted with for completing sales and purchases.

No problem, because we have it all down in black and white for you…

Department of Motor Vehicles – in all 50 states, along with their respective websites.

Agencies & Organizations – Contacts, organizations, publications and businesses – over 45 places you can turn to for almost every aspect of starting and running your Car Dealership business as smoothly as possible.

Forms – Every business has its own particular forms, and Car Dealerships are no different. We’ll show you the most common forms you’ll be using in your everyday transactions – and how to make sure you fill them out correctly. From a Wholesale Order for Registration and Title to Insurance Affidavits to Odometer Disclosure Statements and almost everything in-between – we have actual samples of the very forms you’ll be filling out.

Auctions – Need to know where the major auto auctions are in the United States? We have you covered with literally hundreds of venues from coast to coast. Each state is listed with their respective auction lots – address, phone numbers and websites included. We even clue you in on auctions in Puerto Rico, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Australia!

17 Lessons, 5 Video Tutorials…Plus 3 Bonus Features!

When I said this course was complete, I meant every word of it!

It’s jammed packed with 17 individual learning segments – covering everything you’re likely to encounter when preparing, starting, building and running your used car dealership enterprise.

The video tutorials are informative and professional – taking you on live tours of how to appraise an auto before you plunk down your money, and even how to buy cars 24/7 by harnessing the power of the internet!

Even if you had no interest at all in starting your own business, the video tutorials alone on how to spot those car-lot lemons every time out would be well worth your investment.

But before I unveil the bottom line, let me tell you about our bonuses…

BONUS ONE:

“Locating Services Instructional” – Additional Lesson

This bonus lesson is fantastic for those who want to get into the pre-owned vehicle business, but want to have buyers lined up BEFORE searching out vehicles to purchase. Part middleman, part sleuth… the profits can be quite substantial when you match specific customers to their dream cars.

From advertising your service to setting fees to finalizing a transaction – we show you how this ultra-low risk, huge profit niche is done… and done right! (We even include a sample “Locating Vehicle Sales Agreement” for you to use!)

BONUS TWO:

Auto Wholesale Business Plan

Numbers matter, and carefully planning your business finances is paramount when running your own business. We’ve done the grunt work with our ready to run Excel Spreadsheet itemizing your car dealership’s estimated profit and loss calculations.

Take the guesswork out of your decisions, and your bank account will be thanking you big time for it!

BONUS THREE:

Joel Osteen – “Making Plans To Succeed” Motivational Presentation

We all have our slumps and pitfalls – that’s just life in action. It’s what we do when a curve ball comes our way that makes all the difference. In this inspirational presentation, Joel talks about how we can make plans to succeed – and stay focused on our ultimate goal. Entertaining and uplifting – you’ll want to listen to this more than once!

The Bottom Line…

Okay, so we’re finally here. The big question is this: How much are we expecting you to invest for this Online Step-by Step Car Dealer License Business Start-Up Tutorial?

Remember…

Seventeen No-Nonsense, Fact Filled Lessons

Five In Depth Video Tutorials

Three Super Bonus Features, Including the Extra Lesson and Spreadsheet.

If we were to package everything in a box, our accountant said not one penny less than $297. Fair enough –

We settled on an investment of $129 for the complete course. But I wasn’t satisfied with that figure. Not that it wasn’t a fair and reasonable price – it certainly was both of those. But I’m a realist, and I see how money is tight these days.

So here’s the deal. The entire course, nothing left out, cut or truncated will be available for a limited time for only $89. $47 – Limited Time Offer!

LIMITED TIME OFFER!

WAS $89 NOW $47

There are no gimmicks. No “super-accelerated” extra lessons to purchase. No sneaky continuity payments tacked on without your consent.

This single payment of $47 is the entire price you’ll pay. But this special rate is limited, and once it’s gone – the price will go up to $89.

100% “NO REMORSE” GUARANTEE!

I want you to be totally and absolutely satisfied that you’ll be making the right decision. So here’s what I will do………..

Sign up today.

Try the Car Dealer Licensing Course for 30 days.

Carefully go over the training modules and videos.

If it’s not everything I said it was, or if you’ve simply changed your mind about going into the pre-owned auto business, let me know.

I’ll refund your entire $89 $47, we’ll shake our virtual hands and part as friends.

Fair enough?

Realistically Speaking…What Can You Expect?

Let me be blunt as possible. No online course, no textbook, no program out there can make you an instant success. There’s no such animal as the “Lazy Man’s Path to Riches and Fame.”

Any business, ours included is going to take time, effort and good old fashion “elbow-grease” to run. If you were thinking otherwise, then please look elsewhere. We will supply the knowledge, the information and the tactics you’ll need to make owning your Car Dealership business a reality. What we can’t supply is your motivation – that’s entirely up to you.

But if you do decide to make this a go, you’ll find that being your own boss and calling the shots is almost addictive. No one, and I mean no one will ever be able to call you into a corner office and say you’re fired. The security and independence of building your future on your own terms is a feeling that will never cease to thrill you!

It’s Time to Make Up Your Mind…

We’ve presented you with all the benefits, facts and figures as directly and honestly as possible. To recap, here is what you’ll soon be enjoying:

The 17 Lessons for your Car Dealer License Business

Five Instructional Videos

Locating Services – Bonus Instructional Lesson

Auto Wholesale Business Plan – Bonus Excel Spreadsheet

“Making Plans To Succeed” – Joel Osteen’s Motivational Presentation

The only person that can make the final decision is you. It’s a funny thing… when we look to others for their validation, it’s almost always negative. For whatever rhyme or reason, people whom you ask will in all probability give out every reason under the sun why you shouldn’t take action.

A lot of it has to do with jealousy – they just don’t want to see someone else get ahead of them in this game called life. Unwilling to create their own dreams, they become dream-killers for others.

If you are truly motivated and determined to make Car Dealerships a career, I urge you to sign up now.

LIMITED TIME OFFER!

WAS $89 NOW $47

Here’s to your success!

John Kleemann

CEO – Car Dealer Licenses

P.S. Here’s another reason you should seriously consider this opportunity and start taking charge of your own destiny.

NOW is the only time you ever have to make a positive change in your life. The one thing that never, ever comes back is time. Every minute delayed is one more chance that’s lost forever. Next time you’re in the local big box discount store, take a good look at the greeter by the front door. Or when you’re doing your food shopping, really notice the senior citizen behind the free samples kiosk, struggling to stand as they smile behind their pain.

Do it, and then ask yourself this…

Is this where I want to end up? Was this the entire purpose of my time here on earth… wearing a silly smock for a couple of dollars an hour, just to be able to survive another day?

Frankly, that’s not living… it’s a prolonged and disgraceful death.

So act on my advice and sign up now, because tomorrow has a way of never coming – until it’s too late to change the outcome.

LIMITED TIME OFFER!

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Questions? Click here to Contact Us

[stolligaseptember]

let’s talk justice league

OKAY so first of, because it has been what everyone has been arguing about over the last couple of days anyway

the amazon outfits

okay so here’s the deal;

the amazon warriors are still wearing, at least to my very untrained eye, the same armor as they wore in wonder woman

ad rem; they were not wearing any more revealing clothes

now, the point of discussion is rather the guards of the motherbox

there were about 6 or 8 of them, that guarded the temple where the motherbox was being kept, and they are the ones wearing the outfits that you can see in the pictures floating around social media lately

and i’m not going to defend that, because it’s still an objectifying decision, even if i guess you could argue your way around that the temple guards doesn’t need as extensive armor as the warriors, seeing how they don’t actually take part in any actual battle, but w/e

the amazon warriors are still wearing their original armor from wonder woman though, and they are still kicking ass

and like

the way they kick ass

ngl, the amazon section of the movie was my absolute favorite

the way they just kept sending the motherbox forward, refusing to let anyone stop them was just

argh

i’m so empowered and also kinda gay

i also really enjoyed the atlantean portion of the movie, short as it was, and my darling mera, i can’t wait to see more of you in the aquaman movie next year

but the actual movie justice league?

i... enjoyed it

but it isn’t... solid

like, you can tell that it was a very fractured mess of a production

because it has the heart, i think it has the basic storyline, and the actors have the chemistry, which is what i think is you need to produce a solid movie

but it never quite succeeds in tying it all together

like, it doesn’t really feel like a movie

it just feels like snapshots stacked on top of each other, trying to tell a story

which doesn’t make for the best cinematic experience

and it makes me so sad, because this movie had so much more potential, like i said; it has the heart, it has the story, it has the chemistry

but it just never quite succeeded in tying it all together

it’s also too short

i haven’t really kept updated with the production news, but they’ve been forced to cut it down??

which is very sad

it’s just this side of a little too rushed, and i really missed some key scenes from the trailers

most notably diana and bruce being the Literal Mom And Dad of the league down in the batcave, alfred’s “i hope you’re not too late” (because who was that even supposed to be addressing???) and then clark’s “i’ll take that as a yes”

this also ties back to how the movie feels like just snapshots stacked on top of one another; you don’t really get the storytelling in between, which really builds a story from the core

i was also not a fan of the superman resurrection plot

superbat is real, and bruce is so in love and so heartbroken, but i just

idk, it just didn’t sit right with me

like, don’t get me wrong, i adore our clark, and i like superman

but i would have really, really enjoyed getting to see the league, as they were advertised, trying to save the world on their own

because their sequence fighting steppenwolf before clark showed up was magical, and some really hecking cool teamwork

and then superman just felt like an unnecessary deus ex machina, and just

no

nah

and like, while bruce’s “he was a better man than i am” was very gay and very much appreciated, i wasn’t really a fan of the insistence that what the team really needed was clark

like, let bruce take that responsibility, no matter how reluctantly it might be, and let him build that with diana

i also guess it’s because this wasn’t how i expected clark to come back

like

i guess it’s because i wanted it to be of clark’s own volition??

because dawn of justice built that up!! clark’s heartbeat was there!!! he wasn’t really dead!!!!!! we knew he was coming back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and yeah, idk, that whole plot point just didn’t sit right with me

i also feel like all that time they spent on that plot could have been spent in so much better ways

and yeah

just not a fan

i also really wished they would have given lois more space

like, i know, she isn’t really a part of the story, but she really, really lost a lot of her agency

she was really just superman’s love interest in this, and i’m not a fan of that

batfleck is growing on me though

i’m slowly coming around to his whole aesthetic

the batmobile is very cool my brother-in-law is going to enjoy this one

and the whole detail of him using a petty criminal to lure out a parademon, and then just leaving him tied up and abandoned on a gotham rooftop was so spot on

but just let him have his batfam already

like, when bruce asked for the nightcrawler, my brain shortcircuited, and for just the tiniest little moment, i thought he said nightwing and i just went !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! until i realized what was actually going on

i know people have been uncertain of ray fisher’s and his performance

BUT OH MY GOD

he’s truly the cyborg we deserve

oh my gosh

i’m really looking forward for them to get the time and space to really flesh out his backstory in his solo movie and for him to grow even more as a character

because wow

it was so good

ezra miller as the flash was everything i never knew i needed

oh, the sweetheart

he’s a dorky jewish boy who’s possibly autistic?? who just wants to save people and make friends

and he brought both the humor and the depth, and i’m so in love

also, what even was his running my darling

i’ve been so PUMPED for jason momoa’s interpretation of aquaman

and oh man, was i not disappointed

he just wants to rock n’ roll, and oh my god, i can’t blame him

it was just

so much fun

and i feel like he really got the short straw in the backstory section, but that may be because of his movie coming up already next year

because i was really intrigued by atlantis, and arthur’s place there, and his entire relationship to it

and even though i’m not really a fan of his animosity with mera, it’s gonna be pretty exciting to see them grow into the power couple we all know them to be

i’m not even ashamed of this; i cried during diana’s introduction

i just love her

so

much

and one of my biggest fears before the movie was that diana was going to lose some of her agency

but she’s still the wonder woman we know and love, keeping her faith in love while kicking guys asses

i also love how they dealt with her leadership role, because it really placed her on equal ground with batman and superman

and this is the holy trinity we deserve

i would have so absolutely adored diana and arthur’s teamup against steppenwolf, if the events of the flashpoint paradox didn’t leave a sour taste in my mouth every time i see them standing next to each other

and why is dc like this

AND SPEAKING OF i literally screamed at that one lantern sighting, and just give us hal you fuckers

i really, really loved how easily clark took to both victor and barry though

because he already kind of knew bruce and diana, but he opened up so quickly to both victor and barry, took them under his wing and joked around

and he really is, as my favorite trash can once put it; america’s dad

and please, please, can i get dinah in the dceu PLEASE

but the most logical opening for that would be in the batgirl movie that joss “motherfucker” whedon is directing and NO NOPE GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY GIRLS YOU CREEP

you could tell that the fucker had rubbed his disgusting little hands all over certain parts of the movie

and i want to cry

it deserved so much better

another one of the controversies that i’ve seen playing out all over social media, even though this was some time ago, was the mass destruction

which is very valid criticism, because it was such a huge part of both man of steel and dawn of justice

but they actually thought that through

yes, they completely destroy almost an entire city

but they have that city be a mostly abandoned nuclear power site, with very limited civilians around, and they do make a huge deal out of getting everyone out before someone gets hurt

and how it in the end becomes a kind of alien garden was kinda sweet

and speaking of “just this side of a little too rushed”; i actually can’t remember the end of the movie??

like???

did they become a proper team?? is the justice league an established force to reckon with now??? do they have team meetups??????????

OH NO WAIT I REMEMBER NOW

bruce is making a hall of justice

that was kinda sweet tbh

BUT I ALMOST FORGOT

that opening was so beautiful, and i cried, and i really do love the dceu after all

[kitto-toberu-sa]

DigiFes

It’s a long day folks. We were up at 5 to get to the venue by 7. You aren’t meant to line up until 8 and goods weren’t meant to go on sale until 10.

Heaps of people were there earlier in a somewhat orderly fashion. But management decided to fuck us all around and said we needed to line up from the opposite end of where we were. This may not seem like a big deal, but remember items are limited and resellers are a thing. This was a chance for people who arrived later to get to the front.

There was a literal stampede. People were screaming and being shoved. I was separated from my group numerous times, and only got back with them due to shoving others and the kindness of other fans who clearly realised I was with the other foreigners.

To get to the other side, management made us go in a complete circle. It was unnecessary and quite frankly, a little dangerous. It didn’t stop people who were there earlier from being close to the line, or help those who arrived on time be rewarded. It was just bad planning.

Of course, then it started raining. Umbrellas went up and if I hadn’t of been wearing glasses I would have been poked in the eye more than once. To say it was unpleasant would be an understatement.

The line slowly shuffled along. Every now and again people behind us would start pushing like mad, despite the fact that the line wasn’t moving. It was 35+ degrees Celsius, no air con, everyone was a bit hot and bothered. These jerks were not helping or doing anything to get the line moving faster.

If you follow my snapchat and/or twitter, you may have seen me mention the kindness of fans. This specifically refers to one lady in line who let me stay under her umbrella with her and who talked to me when I was separated from my friends. It also refers to another girl who kindly returned one of my badges to me.

You read that right. The lines and shoving were so bad, numerous people were having items ripped off their ita bags.

I don’t care where you’re from, that’s disgusting. It’s unnecessary, rude and disheartening. We’re all meant to be fans of the same thing and we all know some of these items are expensive or rare. The fans who were helping others get their things back were the MVPs of the day. Everyone who pushed and shoved can eat dog food for the rest of their life.

Goods started being sold early, at 9. Most likely due to the feral crowd. We were only a little over 100 people into the line, but by the time we got there, all of the keychains had sold out, as had some other items. On the other hand, by the time the first session finished, most items were sold out yet the amount of tshirts left was overflowing. Whoever did the math in the product department really needs to be fired. So many goods were gone, and the badges being so limited was honestly appalling. They want our money and Tri is a pretty blatant cash cow to the point it’s disgusting, yet they limited the badges (among others), one of the few things people are happy to buy quite a lot of, to such a small amount. Very bad planning. Lots of people were disappointed and trading was mediocre as a result.

We left the building just after 12. We’d spent around five hours lining up, buying goods and trading. We went to a supermarket and got some food, and since we had our trading stuff still out, a little girl came over to talk to us. I was with people who got Meiko badges (so many people did) and they didn’t want her, so they gave the badges to the little girl and her brother. A new set of Digi fans in the making???

I ended up trading the Koushirou acrylic stand to THE Koushirou fan. She lost her shit. In exchange I got ‘frontier no debu’ (the frontier fatty). She couldn’t remember Junpei’s name ;;; I also traded something else (Omegamon?) for LadyDevimon which is an A++++++ trade, tho the other girl was very confused as to why I wanted LDevimon. I SO regret not ordering that figure it’s sooooooo beautiful!!!! They had the prototypes for the sibling figures as well, and I can’t wait until the Yamakeru one is mine, they’re so cute!!!

For seats, I was in the fifth row, pretty much in the centre. Before you went in they had the life size AguGabu duo. One kid was like ‘um, no thanks!’ when his mum made him have a photo with them and I ended up sitting next to him. The girl on my other side was there for the first time too and pretty much cried the entire time haha

So first up was a talk and the reveal of the twitter poll. Nobody believed Jyou has a girlfriend – everyone thought that scene was the funniest moment. This happened a few times during the conversation. Every time it came up, his VA would just stand up, shrug and go I DO TOO HAVE A GIRLFRIEND.

Meiko got a lot of support – Junko (iirc) said she supported Meiko because ‘she moved to Tokyo from the country’. As someone who lives in rural Japan, I can totally relate! Literally nobody supported Yamato lmao

I apologise that it’s short, but it was funny and interesting, but I can’t remember a lot of specifics sorry ;;; Fans and staff were shocked Leomon died. Like, have y’all ever been involved in this franchise????

Mini live – Miyazaki then AiM. Most people are only familiar with adventure stuff tho, which is kinda sad. It is also the main focus of fes so it’s understandable.

Next was advertising. Basically the figures, Agumon being in Appmon etc. Unfortunately, they showed a lot of this pre-show while we were waiting, so it was pretty dumb and pointless unless you came in just before the show started :/

The trailer, obviously online now, made people excited. I’m hoping Hikari goes dark either because of Taichi, or she tries to fight Takeru and Taichi gets in the way and gets hurt hehe~ Nobody really spoke about it tho.

Next was the drama segment. Essentially, there’s a singing contest and the winner gets an all you can eat buffet with them and friends. Obviously, with nine kids and mons, that's a great prize! Yamato wasn’t there due to his VA being ill, which came up a few times.

They all sung their chara songs, which was a little dull tbh. If it had been last year, it would have been great promo for the cds, but this year it feels too late and they didn’t want to put effort into a full drama.

Jyou ran off because the pressure made him have a bad stomach. Gomamon tried to bring him back and failed. Gabumon tried to bring Yamato in but failed but Gabu sung. Most of the cast didn’t sing. Hikari and Gomamon sung. Takeru did as well, Patamon blew him out of the water since it’s Seiyuu was jumping around and being cute.

Mimi sung I wish iirc and then started with Super Girl. AiM came out and they duet’d. It was pretty rad and you can hear how close new Mimi is to AiM’s Mimi. Palmon was like ‘wow two Mimi’s!!’ and Koushirou was ??? a little confused by past and present versions.

Agumon’s seiyuu ROCKED Agumon Sunba and then  Agumon Ondo (fit will since it’s matsuri and obon season). I would drink with her any day of the week. The seiyuu and lifesize Agu Gabu all joined in to dance, and it was cute how some of them had no clue what they were doing.

Meikuumon also sung. Weird to see the VA do the voice change so quickly. And she’s so tall??

Anyway, Agumon won and Mimi was low key pissed. “I lost to Agumon? That’s kinda…”

Then, the new song. Aikotoba. Holy shit it’s pretty. It’s very soothing, their voices work so well together. Please buy a copy of the CD!!!! I haven’t heard a single person say they didn’t like it. Wonderful song and lyrics.

Of course, everyone sang Butterfly. They had Wada-san’s performance from the time when they announced tri, which was special. Everyone gets kinda emotional. It’s definitely a moment where everyone feels like family.

In the group photo, I can’t be seen but I can see my light stick lol Most people had red or blue, so I chose green to represent Mimi (no point in representing Yama if he isn’t there lol). So it was easy to figure out where I was haha

By the time we left it was 4ish, and by the time we got home it was 9. A very, very long day, but a mostly eventful and amazing one <3

[roxyallnutt]

sup Signal

Our final project of the semester begins today and judging by the atmosphere in the room, there is a lot of unspoken questions, nerves and thrill. I'm currently sitting right on the edge of anticipation and confusion. The biggest difference from our past assignments is the fact we are allowed to do quite literally whatever we want. Write your own brief, conduct your own project with people of your choosing. Quite daunting if I am honest. In preparation, it was advised to spend 30 minutes to watch and take note on the video "Every Project Starts With a Brief". After my first viewing I took the following notes. This is a video that I will urge myself to rewatch around midway through the assignment.

A brief needs to be challenged Challenging the brief throughout the design process means to question, reason and back up new decisions which all would eventually lead to further improvements. "The brief is irrelevant the moment you get it” through my journey with this assignment I desire to build a project that resonates with the brief but had been challenged and questioned aspects.

A good brief leaves a lot of room or runway space. As the brief defines the outcome for a project it must be broad. Word choice, tense and emotion are all factors that could restrain and combat creativity and ideation which are key elements to a great project. When writing my own brief this will be something that I pay most attention to. A simple choice fo the wrong word to confuse the outcomes of my project.

A brief will identify your projects purpose This explains the importance of a brief entirely. I believe that a project with no brief leads to many questions and also effects the final impressions on a project. A project with no clear purpose not only impacts the user experience, but the passion needed for a successful project.

Yesterday we were given 10 minutes to off the top of our heads find three things that we have come across in the last 6 months that has in someway provoked something in us. My 3 resources were quite diverse. Ranging from lack fo creativity in modern day education, to a data visual artist and his public displays. I made note of others in the class who's ideas resonated with me.

My plan forward for today is to explore a bit deeper into the idea of communities and public sharing and connecting. Taking the example of City Repairs Portland. A volunteer council that basically rules the city. The capacity of members who were all about things like neighbourhood paint projects to building homes for homeless is incredible. The community I witnessed inspires me almost every day.  When I see things like the occasional little library or a shared food shelf, it just makes so much logical sense to me. I spent today networking to class members to find people who share similar perspective. A number of people shared ideas on environmental issues varying from species loss to carbon emissions. Both topics that sparks a lot fire within me. I spoke with Nat and Ashton who had come together on the idea of false mediums of advertising or wrongful labelling that large companies do to influence buyers to their product. This was factors like Palm Oil or the 'bias health tick' (Nestle). I found myself here and saw the instant fire in both of their eyes. This was extremely exciting. I also spoke with Fox, Ella, and Lachlan regarding my ideas and they all had issues that related. Today was filled with an interesting conversation, followed by another very interesting conversion. Quite exhausting but so effective.  I popped in a small conversation with Ben about the idea of sharing in communities which ignited very interesting questions like "Why in one single neighbourhood do we need 5 trailers".  95% of the lifespan of these trailers will sit in a driveway not in use. The conversation here gave me a pretty strong indication that maybe I should be journeying in this direction. Following the way of logical living that Portland, Oregon does so naturally.