#and by pretty good i mean a completely average and dull watching experience with very few interesting points

[mimzy6bunny]

also. just watched halloween, the og 1978 movie and all things considered it's pretty good.... but maybe my expectations are just super fucking low after watching six jason movies

[theprotagonistdies]

Mortal Kombat 2021 Movie Review (w spoilers)

Just wanted to get this off my chest now that the movie’s been released in America. I watched this on 8th April when it was first released in Singapore, and two more times the following week.

So, overall I give the movie about a 6.5-7/10 or C+. Acting: Decent Story: Average at best Action: Above average to Good Gore: Graphic but not as often or much Best highlights: Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Costuming

I’ll be referencing some comments by others about the movie, but this’ll all be my opinions. I reviewed the movie based on my understanding that it’s a low budget film before even watching the movie. I am also a fan of the game (though I do not play, I watched most of the lore)

-------

When I first watched the movie, I was excited. The intro showing Hanzo Hasashi’s backstory would be something familiar to fans of the game. As expected, his wife and child were killed, but as we know it, they have an extra baby girl who later survives and carries on the bloodline. At this point, I was already ‘eh’ because it was so predictable what happens next. I was already disappointed that they named the son ‘Jyubei’ in the subtitles, when the wife didn’t even utter his name in Japanese. In the game, Hanzo’s son is called Satoshi. But one can say that’s something petty.

Anyways, as it goes on, we meet Joe Taslim as Bi-Han. He’s menacing, he’s cocky and has the presence that fills the screen. Already, I was smitten. While some people were saying the movie is rushed, I’d say this part of the intro felt a little draggy. But, the fight scene after is great, and we see Hanzo and Bi-Han throw hands.

I’d have to say at this point: ALL fight scenes including  Bi-Han/Sub-Zero were great. They’re the best. Every other fight scene with the other characters were decent but not great.

Then we get introduced to Cole Young. From the get go, I do not like new characters not in the lore. I’m that type of person who does not like original characters in fanfiction. And his story further made me feel that a lot of time was wasted on him. Mortal Kombat has story elements around family, yes, but it’s not central, and it made the movie too wholesome and not in a way that I feel implemented well. In my opinion, it made the movie a little cringey at times. I like Lewis Tan who plays Cole but unfortunately he’s been given a role that was completely unnecessary.

A Youtube reviewer said it best: Why make up an entirely new character when there’s a plethora of characters to choose from? Heck, if you want him related to Hanzo, you could have used Takeda or something (though yes i know he’s not related to Hanzo, but he could be like a distant cousin relative whatever, with Takehashi on one of this other parents side).

There’s Jax and Sonya - why not just use Sonya? She’s the one gathering all the information. They could have used her. 

Anyway, moving on. We also meet Kano. He was good and I see a lot of people loved him. Personally I thought he was okay, but he was too comedic in my opinion and felt underwhelming. While funny quips and mockery are appreciated, he felt like what Liu Kang called him: A small, angry little bunny. Not at all what I’d expect of the leader of Black Dragon. 

There was... it that supposed to be Reptile? I honestly do not know, but I don’t believe that’s the Reptile we know from the game, and more of a mindless monster that has Reptile’s abilities.

I loved Sonya in this movie. Jessica McNamee was amazing as her. One - she’s attractive as hell, and Two - she felt far more relatable than Cole Young. From her being a soldier living in her ‘shithole’, to her curiosity in trying to find out more about the Mortal Kombat tournament.

They look for Raiden’s Temple in the desert. This was a little slow and again, I say Kano just felt like a chump here. A try-hard doing his best to appear intimidating but failing.

Liu Kang appears. Kano won’t shut up. Liu Kang’s introduction was interesting and I liked it, but later on his monologues and exaggerated actions were so odd and ‘extra’ to me that I was cringing. I don’t know why they don’t just make him a normal guy who’s a Shaolin monk lol.

Raiden is as cranky as we know him in the game. He’s kinda dull here, but to be honest, so is he in the game, so I don’t mind it. I saw someone compare him to the 1995 version which while I enjoyed and appreciated, did not think he suited the game and movie. So Tadanobu Asano’s Raiden is fine to me! Also, shut up to the people who get on others’ case on the way they pronounce Raiden. In Japanese it’s Rai-den, not Ray-den, like they say in the game. Both are correct, so shut up.

Sub-Zero makes an entrance again, menacingly running down the hall and making me sploosh, and Kung Lao also makes an entrance. Here you can see how poor the CG is. This is where you can tell the budget is low and realise that all the sets we’ve seen so far is pretty small and closed.

The ‘arcana’ thing that they made up to explain their powers was honestly pretty smart and I quite liked it. It then becomes a training arc, which while understandably can be seen as slow, it’s quite needed for the story.

The villains in this story were sadly underutilised. Admittedly I am unfamiliar with Nitara and Reiko, so them being throwaway characters did not affect me. Kabal, while very charismatic, died but I felt it was a decent end. I personally wish they could have included him more. However, for Mileena and Goro, I could see the moment I watched it that people were gonna be mad. I’m not fans of either of them but I understood that they are major characters in the game. So for them to be offed that easily was... tbh very disappointing and quite insulting. I sincerely hope they will bring back Mileena for the next movie, experimented on and brought to life using Kitana’s blood or something.

But best villain? Obviously goes to Bi-Han/Sub-Zero. Honestly I went into the movie expecting to root for Scorpion but I ended up being so in love with Joe Taslim’s menacing and chilling portrayal of Sub-Zero. He’s soooo good. People said he was like a slasher film villain and I think they made a great choice doing so!

As for Cole - I’m still not a fan of him or his powers. I like they used tonfas, but as some called it - he has literally plot armour which, tru. Hahahhaa.

So finally after all that, we finally get to the last fight.

Sub-Zero is about to kill Cole then Scorpion is summoned. They both fight and actually one can see Scorpion is winning? He got more hits in than Sub-Zero (two stabs, a side slash and a throw from Scorp, meanwhile Sub got one slash and a throw) so I don’t understand why people thought he actually needed help from Cole.

Also, this is another major complaint about the ‘wholesomeness’. Why was Hanzo’s family killed but Cole’s family spared by Sub-Zero? Why couldn’t they just killed them off for extra weight to the story instead of making it so safe? I felt that would have redeemed Cole’s character as more of  Mortal Kombat character if they did so.

But I really enjoyed the fight here. As I mentioned all fights that involved Sub-Zero are amazing and people not giving the credit to this fight scene are blind. I also saw a comment that said they were expecting ‘John-Wick level’ of fight. Both fair and unfair comment because: It’s a low budget movie and they are two different styles of movies. John Wick is more realistic while this one is more fantastical. Though for them to call this a Marvel level choreography... I’m not sure bc Marvel put a lot of money, so that means for their budget the MK movie did well? So IDK but I believe the fight choreography was good in this most especially in the Sub-Zero/Scorpion fights.

Fatalities were great, costuming were great and for the sets while small and enclosed they did good.

Story could have been better and I cannot stress how much I find Cole’s role completely pointless. Pacing wise I actually do not find a problem with it. I only wished for more fighting and less about ‘family’.

From the movie overall I understood it as to be a set up, and even before watching it, from the trailers, I somehow knew it was not going to have a tournament so I don’t know why all these people in comments are lamenting about the lack of a tournament. It feels clear to me that this is a set up movie and more are to come.

So while I have a lot of issues with this movie, I do think it’s a fun watch which is why I give it a pretty generous score imo.

Hopefully we’ll have more to come, improving everything in all aspects with hopefully a bigger budget!

[moneypedia]

March 27, 2017 By Drew Shepherd

So this post is obviously about depression, but since this is the first one here, I guess I should start by asking, “What is Hunger for Excellence?”

I see it as a tool to build people up. It’s an outlet for me to use what I’ve learned over the years to help others.

I want them to develop a mindset that finds the good in any situation. And I want them to experience the joy I have now without wandering through what I did for years.

That’s why this site exists.

Everything here is for the benefit of others, but in my mind I’m only writing for one person.

I’m writing for “myself”.

Not me personally, but for that one person who’s still where I was in the past. I strive to be the person now that I needed then.

Depression is an experience that’s still fresh in my memory, but now I can say without a doubt that I did more than beat depression…

I conquered it. It’s finished. It’s over.

You may be in the same position I was in back then, and I believe it’s my duty to show you how I defeated this attack on the mind.

So I’ve split this post into two parts with Part 1 telling my personal story, and Part 2 showing a guide that helped me turn it all around.

Now I know you don’t want to listen to someone who has no idea what you’re going through, but I promise, I’ve been there, and I discovered peace that most people can’t begin to understand.

My Story

Today I’m happy to say that I enjoy life. I’m in control of my mental state and I understand how to find real peace and happiness. The only person who can destroy my outlook now is myself, and I refuse to let that happen.

It hasn’t always been this way, though. I used to be one weak kid.

I grew up as an only child in a loving family. And despite my goofy personality, everyone I knew liked me.

I was a promising student and a better than average basketball player. So nothing to complain about really. I was good at everything I did then because, well, I always had been.

But that all changed around high school.

Basketball was getting serious and people on all sides pretty much forced me to transfer schools. So being the naïve kid I was, I left and hoped for the best.

It wasn’t a decision I wanted to make, but it made sense. Opportunities were everywhere. Not just in athletics but as a student too.

I could have a fresh start with a new team, there were plenty of people to meet, and the new school was on the popular side of town.

The problem was, I didn’t have a mindset close to what I needed to make that change. I thought I was entitled to any form of success. And why not? Everything I touched turned to gold before then.

I was paralyzed when I saw things wouldn’t be so easy. All I could think about on the court was keeping up with the new guys. I remember practices where my hands were literally shaking because I felt so much pressure to perform.

This lack of confidence led to a quick loss of my teammates’ respect. And I was even denied my favorite jersey number, 22.

My fear sabotaged any attempt I made to improve. Couple that with the knee injuries I sustained during the year, and it’s easy to see why I was cut after one mediocre season.

It was the first time I had ever been dropped from a roster, and that drove everything else downhill.

But the worst part about it was, I wanted to be cut.

By then I just didn’t care. A game I loved became a chore to me and I hated every minute of it.

I wish I could say I tried my hardest and failed. I wish I could say I was sad when I didn’t see my name on that list.

But I can’t. And that still hurts the most.

Downhill

If you’ve ever been robbed, you know how vulnerable it makes you feel afterwards. The fact that someone entered your place and took what you worked for makes you feel helpless.

Well I let fear rob me of what I had loved since childhood, and I was stuck in a place where I didn’t belong afterwards.

It was all embarrassing.

It changed the way I viewed myself and I didn’t look others in the eyes anymore. People looked in my direction and it was like they saw right through me.

I became a very cynical person around that time—definitely not someone you wanted to be around. The few friends I had back then picked up on it and of course they turned away.

Watching friends turn their backs on me led to bitterness on my end, but with the way I was acting, I don’t know how anyone could have tolerated me.

I second-guessed my interactions with everyone. Why wouldn’t others see me as a failure if that was how I viewed myself?

My attitude led me to believe that no one could relate to me. And being one of the few, if not the only black kid in my classes confirmed that belief in my mind.

But even the high grades I always earned started to slip. I went from being an overachiever in the classroom to just being good enough to keep my parents off my back.

And with the teenage hormones on top of that, I lost all confidence. Classmates asked me how the chemo was going to treat the “tumors” I couldn’t control, and that nearly broke me.

I told my parents about all this so they would understand why I was falling apart. But they only gave the “just be yourself”, “be friendly to others”, “it’ll just work out” advice you get from well-meaning people. Besides, kids from Christian families weren’t supposed to deal with this kinda stuff.

All of that frustration took its toll on me, and I remember looking in the mirror to see my own scowl in the reflection.

But soon my eyes dulled and a blank gaze replaced the grimace that was there before. And I stopped caring about everything.

Escape

Since I didn’t know how to cope with any of this, I tried to escape. I was smart enough to avoid alcohol and drugs back then, but I had to find something.

Food was one source I used to fill my void. I ate any and everything, whenever I wanted, and soon I was unrecognizable after gaining 40 pounds.

Videogames were the other route I took. I enjoy playing them now in the rare chance I have free time, but back then it was go to school, eat, and play games.

Gaming was one activity I was still good at, and people appreciated me when it was time to play. It was one area where I didn’t feel useless—like I actually had something to offer.

But soon it got to the point where I was playing till early morning every day. My eyelids barely opened in class but it didn’t matter to me. The hint of joy I got from playing outweighed everything else.

But my mind wasn’t satisfied with those forms of escape.

Some of the lowest points I remember were on the drives home from school. I saw cars in the other lane driving towards me and the thought of “what if…” kept popping up.

I even imagined what my funeral would be like. And I smirked and teared up at the thought of my parents sitting alone in the empty pews.

But while I never seriously considered suicide, I still couldn’t stop the thoughts. I just knew I needed a way out.

That’s why I started counting the days till graduation. My environment had to be the cause of all this. It couldn’t have been me.

Enough

Graduation came and went, and guess what? Nothing changed.

If anything my first few years in college left me more isolated. My parents weren’t around anymore and plenty of new strangers saw how lonely I really was. I would hear chuckles in class and I always thought people were taunting me.

The transition to college coursework didn’t help either. I had never felt that…dumb before. I lost any trace of being a great student and I was in danger of losing my biggest scholarship.

My list of failures kept growing and growing. My high school experience was a disaster. I couldn’t make or keep any friends. And now there was a good chance that I would need thousands of more dollars to stay in school.

That was when I had enough.

I hated the mess I was in. I knew that if I lost that scholarship, my fall from wherever I was at before would have been complete.

Basketball, high school, former friends, I knew none of that mattered anymore but I was still hurting. I just wanted to enjoy my last years before the “real world”, and yet I couldn’t.

I knew I needed to change but I didn’t know how.

Comeback

So what did I do next?

I did the same thing I’d advise you to do if you’re ready to change.

I made a decision. A decision to commit to excellence. I wanted to do better in every part of my life.

So I chose to:

Embrace my faith

Craft an undeniable work ethic

Get in the best shape of my life

And love others but not be devastated if I was alone

I was sick of the life I was living. I didn’t know how to turn it around but I knew I had to stop accepting it.

And that decision was what led to change within the next few years:

My grades shot up to the top of the class

I lost those 40 pounds and got into better shape than my playing days

I formed satisfying relationships that I never thought I would see again

But most importantly, I found peace that others couldn’t begin to understand.

“Well that sounds great Drew, but how could you possibly help me?

Weren’t you just a loser in school? You didn’t get fired from your job. You didn’t lose one of your loved ones. Your family wasn’t torn apart by divorce…”

You’re right. None of that happened to me.

I was just a kid who let a few disappointments grow into a lingering depression. But I told my story to relate to how you may feel, not to have a woe-is-me pity party where we see who’s lived the worst life.

It’s okay to be disappointed. Things won’t always go your way. But you can’t let a temporary defeat turn into permanent failure like I did.

I wasted 4 years of my youth being an empty shell because of that mistake. And that’s no way to live life.

Make Your Choice

Again, this all comes down to what you choose.

If you don’t want to work to change your situation, and all you want to do is complain and hope it magically ends…

Then I can’t help you. No one can.

But…

If you’re done living like this, and you’ve committed to making a change…

Part 2 is for you.

You’re ready to turn things around, and I won’t get in your way.

-Drew

[knightofbalance-13]

what are your thoughts www(.)fanfiction(.)net/s/12667631/2/30-Ways-to-kill-Ragna-The-Bloodedge ,www(.)fanfiction(.)net/s/12667631/3/30-Ways-to-kill-Ragna-The-Bloodedge , www(.)fanfiction(.)net/s/12667631/4/30-Ways-to-kill-Ragna-The-Bloodedge

Oh jesus this is uh- something...

You guys just see me as a cleaner for the haters I fanbases don’t you?Well, this is a really fucking ridiculous thing so guess I’ll do it.

Let’s separate this into parts so the arguments are cohesive:

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REBEL 1:

“Do you seriously want an exaggerated anti-hero with little justification, people around him going against his theme and faced with the most evil villains while tearing away the madness he faces?”Yes. Because the world of Blazblue along with all those people around Ragna help support him and make him stand out. Also how is Ragna exaggerated? If he’s exaggerated then what is Guts from Berserk?!

“Then I pretty much made a good argument about why Ragna as a protagonist shouldn’t have his existence acknowledged and be renamed ‘Retard the Dumbedge’“

...Yeah, you’re an obnoxious little shit aren’t you? I don’t see any argument good enough to justify THAT childish behavior. Even Kirito isn't that bad.

“Ragna is said to act like your average Shounen protagonist but he doesn’t even after his character development.”Um...No, Ragna acts like the dull edgy anti-heroes we got in the 90′s. He only LOOKS like a Shounen Protag. And after his character development he kind of does act like a Shounen Protag but in a good way, doing his best to help people and do what is best for them. He pretty killed himself for that goal. What is this guy smoking?

“The characters don't work with Ragna OR with the story that blazblue is trying to tell.”Uh...How? Because all I see is what RWBY originally was: a Rule Of Cool story with an emphasis on good eventually triumphing over evil.

“Ragna is an insult to the “Traditional Hero” for being called a “Chosen One”“

Hey Dumbass, the chosen one trope is used in ALL KINDS of stories, not just traditional hero ones. And Ragna ISN’T suppose to be a traditional hero, he’s suppose to GROW UP into one.

Now onto the next argument-and it’s a copy paste from a previous ask. Okay, the Blazblue ask I had before this one? go read that one for this argument.

“Blazblue’s exaggerated characterization,  unnecessary protagonist, characters that focus on one major role, characters that could have been toned down and UNNECESSARY SEXUALIZATION (comparing it to RWBY) don’t work with Blazblue’s flawed story.”You have not proven any of this, many people like it SPECIFICALLY for this reason, it was the goal of the creators and they succeeded so in every regard you fail.(P.S. Monty Oum was a fan of blazblue dumbass. If RWBY has oversexualization [An idiotic statement by itself] it was probably FROM Blazblue.)

“After the backlash on my rant on Blazblue’s writing and how I will never...NEVER acknowledge Ragna’s existence to this day, even after four failed games.”A. Your rant is barely coherent, nevermind actually GOOD.B. You just acknowledged Ragna’s existence.

And C. Blazblue is almost as famous as fucking Guilty Gear. It’s not failure.

”I do believe Arcsys has left itself in the slammer for letting itself down with this crap.”Take your medication, you’re having delusions again.

“They could’ve seen previous media and make the story light hearted and not rip off guilty gear and make it worse.”*throws a copy of End Of Evangelion at his face* Like that story?

“And fire Mori from the reboot of Blazblue THAT I WANT! NOT THIS!”

Yeah- good luck with that. 

“if you’re ‘pissed off’ while reading this, then accept it as fact. I will be on your good side, nothing will grind your gears. Now, that something we all want in this fandom with me around. Nuff said.”

*glares* Oh fuck off you facist.

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REBEL 2:

“*shotguns Ragna in the head and burst out in blood and bones*”Hey RWDE, you forgot one of your Jaune haters!

“AN: Oh, so is this the case then? How disappointing. I was expecting much of a reasoning from all of you, but all get is cynical backlash over how much of a dumbass I am.“Hey if the glove fits man.

“Now, I'm really not into Anime & Manga where a lot of tropes I see are very exaggerating, but come on already. You know how much hate darker, edgier, and brutal characters that believe they are badass, yet their misunderstood that term a lot. And I mean, A LOT.“Yeah and guess what? Ragna gets mocked for that and has to change against that to get respect.“Think about Kirby from Hoshi No Kaabi. He is a badass that can copy/paste other dudes into his will by swallowing them. After viewing the whole series as a kid, it's got wondering about what other sources of fiction I would see. I watched DragonBall Z, I watched Naruto, and I watched Ace Attorney.  But then came BlazBlue, and my god. I bet I know what you're thinking. "If BlazBlue ain't for you, buddy. Then take a step back from the red line or you're toast."“

Well yeah, that’s how fandoms work dumbass. also I don’t care about your experiences.

“The mind is a very interesting concept I'm learning here. Not only do many people in this series is very individualistic, but cynical and self-biased as well. And you wanna know the reason? Is it Ragna? Is the exaggerated tropes in the series? Is it the convoluted nature of the series? Is it my overwhelming backlash towards the series? Or is it my fanfiction story that received so much backlash all because I wanted to replace a character that had the same "backstory"?  Because I'm talking about the one asshole who was in charge of the whole series, the one who clearly wasted his own potential for nothing. It is going to be Japanese writer Toshimichi Mori.“

Oh gee, individualism. How terrible for a fascist like you.Also I highly doubt people are THAT cynical given the popularity of the Gag Reels and Bang Shishigami.

Also the backlash has everything to do with you jack ass. But sure, try blaming the creator for your own baggage. THAT hasn’t backfired before right?

“Now let's take a step back for a moment, shall we? Doesn't Mori ever love to take things down the roof? Does he love to put things into perspective like a Vase, then overwhelmingly shove Vases down our throats to show how amazingly complex they really are?”

The first thing Mori talked about with Bullet was her boobs. ... I’m pretty sure he just likes blowing shit up and making stuff that looks entertaining, especially considering the Astral Finishes, the basic character tropes written in their purest forms and characters like Bang.

It ain’t that deep, douchebag.

“You see, Daisuke was a very successful man in Arc Sys. He's written quite literally the best story out of all time, Guilty Gear. But then, one day, he decided to put his story on hiatus. Then asshole Mori shows up to take the advantage on him, and literally took his concept to the next level.”Isn’t Sol Badguy literally a self insert for the creator? Yeah I think Guilty Gear is just the same as Blazblue but with a different way going about things.So basically you’re a pissy Guilty Gear fanboy? Good to know.

“But goddamn, did that fail. A lot of people were brainwashed into thinking his work is awesome and full of depth, and sadly. It doesn't. Mori character concepts are great, but that doesn't exclude his idea of a "protagonist".“

Yeah because people like you think that it has to be brainwashing and not that your egos are disproportionately big and fragile.

“

Now, a protagonist is the lead character, not a hero. That's true. However, they are many flaws to this concept. One is, the protagonist has to fit the tone of the story being presented here. However, what doesn't make logical sense, is that BlazBlue is supposed to represent a cynical crapsack world that's revived by someone who throws his life like a badass and the day is saved. But unfortunately, the other characters who manage to take the spotlight act differently. That's right. They don't CARE about what the tone is from BlazBlue, they just act all non-nonchalant from the so-called "gag reels" and they are barely mentioned ever in the series fandom. Then we randomly shift from one setting to the next, when all of this couldn't have been solved by just staying the one final spot where they were.“

... Okay so he completely missed the point of a protagonist.Also: no fucking duh. The characters are different because they are different PEOPLE dumbass. PEOPLE aren’t a fucking hivemind.Also I find it hard to say Blazblue is THAT cynical given how the final game is one big triumph for idealism.Also not only are the gag reels SUPPOSE to have a different tone but the fanbase LOVES them.

Also that setting one is just-wrong.

“But uhen we have the main villain, who is said by legends to be the most barbaric and most vile creature ever to be exaggerated off the face of fiction. His archenemy is not the knight, but sour ass protagonist we see in this series. Isn't it ashamed that this battle couldn't have been awesome if a protagonist with a kind-hearted soul were to step up and stop this beast? Nope. We never get. Probably, not in a long shot we ain't.”

A. Yeah and Terumi OWNS that concept. Hence why people love him.B. Ragna stopped being an asshole a game and a half ago. There’s a reason why Tao’s nickname for him is “Nice Guy.”

C. The guy literally erased himself from reality so things could be better. Ragna the Bloodedge is everything characters like Ruby Rose aspire to be.

“And do the games improve dramatically from game play perspective? Nope, each and every game is the same. There are no group battles, it's always 2D, and new characters don't make it different. It's a lazy way of getting the game to be new, but it doesn't feel different from me by any means necessary.“Group battles? That;s a spectacle fighter dumbass!And yeah, new characters DO matter. As in, that’s what Fighting Games are based off you idiot.

“o hate how most of the fighting game concepts were ripped solely off from Guilty Gear. It's like if Mori looked at Daisuke's work by demand and copied off everything that didn't add up from before. That's just not right. It certainly makes more angrier and upset to see Mori put his series like that. What a joke.

Somebody whose played Guilty Gear deal with this.

“Then we have BlazBlue Radio, featuring the ugly protagonist sitting next to two beautiful girls. Now may I remind you, I'm not against every single character in the series, except the protagonist and the evil monster. The protagonist gets the biggest spotlight cause I have quite literally, have the biggest boner to pick with him.“

So basically you’re jealous that Ragna gets the girls? Makes sense.

“ I never recognize his existence. Never have. The series has been a colossal heap of mish-mash concepts mixed in with anime drama tropes. Yet, a lot of people in the series don't recognize that. All of which ruined by poor planning and an occupied existence. This has been no exception because I talk to about being against the series as a fact, was a backlash of them showing me how great and awesome it truly is. And that's like talking to a brick here. I'm not braindead guy who suffers from mental retardation who has to live in an asylum for petes sake.”

A. You just did idiot.B. That;s not a bad thingC. people LOVE IT for being a mix mash.D. That argument makes no sense.E. So the complainer is wrong? Good to know I can just ignore you then.And F. That’s an oddly specific example...

“If you want to keep this up with me, then fine. Go right ahead. Build up as much anger as you can until my head ESPLODE. You stick your asses on this franchise, believe it to be some kind god for the whole Arc Sys works, and never again mention a protagonist replacement or a reboot. Cause I'm being clear, this series will never EVER improve. It's all the same shit, different story. And that different story is barely any better from all the crap I've seen from the characters. Nuff said. Peace out.”

Yeah yeah, the usual egotistical hater shtick. You ain’t special.

“P.S. If you're going to say that my stupid ass that brought me here ruined everything or is making you more frustrated. Then believe me, it's pointless to post a review or PM to say that I suck or my logic is ass. And I won't jolt. Ever.”

You say that but I know from experience you people break easily...

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REBEL 3:

“*Places Ragna in a blender and he gets shredded bit by bit, piece by piece until his ass was nothing*“Because this screams “SANITY!”

“AN: Time to get this crap out of the roll...  Okay, so there's a lot of media I'm craving to look for. Of course, sometimes, media doesn't just cut for many audiences, via demographics. And I've seen video games and anime do this a lot, especially seinen. Then I played anime video games/visual novels... Ace Attorney, Dragon Ball Xenoverse, Guilty Gear, Trails/Kieseki, and last but most hated of all time. BlazBlue.“So you know why you’re full of shit but you ignore it and keep going? Okay.

“I know what you're thinking, people. Like I really would love to admit, but people have been pulverizing me over my head saying how shit I was to an argument over a franchise that just screams out "FICTION". But no... People point out my hatred for Ragna The Bloodedge. A character that's unique to me in one way of the direction. In BlazBlue, a post-apocalyptic world that's nothing but trouble and people being dicks for crap reasons. Has anyone ever noticed that there is no "real" hero to the story? It's easy. BECAUSE PEOPLE WORSHIP RAGNA THE BLOODEDGE LIKE HE'S SOME SORT OF "ANTI-SUE". A flawed character that gets way too much attention! And Ragna gets all that crap like he's some kind of gold-digger.“

Ragna killed Blazblue’s Satan. ... He’s uh, kind of a hero no matter what you say.Also Noel, Makoto, Jin, Jubei, Hakuman, Tsubaki, Kagura, Celica-We have plenty heroes.

“As much as I really loved the characterization and all that, Ragna ruins the experience for me. I'm not kidding, he really freaking does! He's not even a character, in my book. Let alone a dumbass that can't do anything right because he was trained by someone strong, has a vampire ally/rival and beats out on other things like an impatient chimpanzee. Because hey! That's his character, folks! Ragna isn't Ragna without his edgy, dark past despite it having no emotional value what-so-ever. GODDAMMIT.“A. Rachel isn’t a rival dumbass.And B. He LITERALLY got called out on that shit with Kagura in Chronophantasma and had to become more heroic in order to become a stronger fighter and a better person.

Oh, C. He STILL sacrificed himself for all his friends and family. I do not joke when I saw he’d be Ruby Rose’s idol.

“AND DON'T YOU BRING BANG SHISHIGAMI TO THIS RANT. Bang doesn't count as a hero in my book, he's better off as a supporting character. ALL I WANT FOR THE SERIES TO HAVE IS A REAL HERO. Not this Redcoat wearing jackass that always gets his way done no matter how much he pulls. The story is supposed to be "Black and White". NOT "BLACK AND GRAY"! Sure, there can be some vital exceptions. BUT I DON'T SEE A SINGLE, UTMOST THING, THAT HAS EVER CAME OUT OF BLAZBLUE THAT NEVER CHANGED MY MIND. EVER.”

A. Bang still counts motherfucker, you said ‘hero’ not ;major character’.

B. Hakuman’s right there trying to stab Ragna. C. No it’s suppose to be grey and gray. Mori built it that way. This is his story, not yours.

And D. So you know you’re wrong.

“Keep coming back to me! I don't effing care where it is. You rant, you whine, you even tell me to leave, but no... That all that isn't going to happen. I will be back and in one story... You'll that it is me that's returning. I won't bother arguing about this again. Sure, I've could've talked this through by PM'ing, but "Black and White" morality is always going to my thing. But hey, Fanfiction is all about tryharding! You use canonically made characters to achieve a thing that's worth a damn!  Anyways, I got back from my awesome trip to California. Nuff said.”

And guess what motherfucker? I’ll be right here, challenging and fighting you every step of the way! Each time you scream about Canon, I’ll be there to tear it down. Each time you rant about canon, I’ll be there to cut it pieces. This is gonna be a battle of wills between you and I. And guess what? My will is damn near indomitable. Good luck jackass.

But let me send you off, Blazblue style. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSDFR4DoOQQ

[meltingalphabet]

Killing Kyle

You know you’re an impressive person, when other people try really hard to impress you.

I was not an impressive child. I was actually pretty unimpressive. To give you an idea of how thoroughly unimpressive I was, many east-coast school systems believed I was irreparably mentally handicapped. They realized I had a high IQ, specifically high 130s, low 140s. Not quite genius, but close. The fact that I couldn’t talk till middle school was surprising. I spent most of my childhood with specialists, who tried desperately to figure out why such an intelligent child was performing at such a low level. Finally, they gave up. I was deemed unfixable.

As I grew older, I began to ignore the experts and try to reconcile these two sides of me myself: the dumb, obvious half, and the intelligent unspoken half. In high school, I defied all expectations by flourishing. I spent valuable summers studying in college classes in order to advance to the next level of mathematics, science, literature, and history. I graduated with a high GPA, and got into an ivy league university with an entire semester of college credits already under my belt. I spent my college years taking two more classes each semester than required, and graduated on time with two degrees instead of just one. I got a high-paying job in the city immediately after school.

I was born with a need to compensate for myself. I learned fast how to overcompensate. And thirty years later, I am very, very good at it.

Yet, I still have to pay several hundred dollars a week for therapy, psychotherapy, and drugs. Just because I look successful, doesn’t mean I am.

“It’s Elizabeth.” I say to the intercom. I hear a buzzer from inside the front entrance sound, and I push the door open. The Brooklyn brownstone, now converted into an apartment building, is narrow, so as I enter I must be careful to sidestep the pile of packages waiting for the upper middle-class, one child, two parents city families to arrive home from karate and clarinet lessons.

Rachel, my therapist, likes to talk about my parents a lot. About being exposed to sexuality at too young an age, about being moved from city to city, state to state, about being underestimated, about being ignored. She’s very fascinated with them. To be honest, it’s a bit of an obsession. But somedays, we move away from them.

“How’s the thing with Kyle going?” She asks. I can feel my cheekbones burn as I glance at the warped caramel wood floor. His name isn’t Kyle, but I don’t tell her that. Don’t get me wrong, I love my therapist. But I’m not confident she’d be ok with the knowledge that Kyle is a pseudonym for one of her other patients. I’m worried if I ever told her, she’d disown me as a client. And I don’t think I could handle that.

Clients aren’t supposed to be connected outside of therapy, right? You and your therapist are supposed to be a bubble, completely removed from the outside world, unaffected by anything that doesn't exist within that one hour every week?

Like most over-achievers and alcoholics, I’m a little insane.

I shrug at Rachel. The Kyle things ok, I say. It’s underwraps.

I had sex with Kyle. I’m not going to lie, it was pretty great. Amazing, really. I don’t know if he’d agree. I’m not convinced he’s not a total slut. He broke it off though. He thought it’d get too complicated. Him being my boss and all.

Whatever. He’s a fucking basic bitch. I don’t know why I’m so obsessed with him. He’s so… unimpressive. So typical. Yet, I can’t go to sleep without thinking about him. Scott texts me and I hope it’s him. Jared calls and my heart flutters with the idea that it’s Kyle. It’s never Kyle though. He has better things to do than to care about me.

But I know that’s selling him short. One drunken night, I opened up myself to him and he encouraged me to seek help, even giving me his therapist’s number.

“I’m sure she’d be happy to help you find someone you could talk to.”

I’m sure he didn't expect me to see her. I’m not really sure why I did. I often shrug it off as that quiet, highly intelligent but crazy part of me.

I’ve been seeing her for months. I love her. I want to stop loving Kyle. But….

We had a meeting the other week. Me, Kyle, and Jacelyn. Jacelyn. That fucking fat thighed cunt. I watched, bile rising to my throat, as she hugged him like an old friend. As she rested her hand on his arm, explaining the specifics of statistical averages or some bullshit I don’t really care about. He doesn’t hug me. He doesn’t text me. He doesn’t care if I show up or not. I could die in the streets and he wouldn’t notice.

“Elizabeth who?” He’d ask, before brushing his brown hair out of his eyes and taking a sip of coffee.

I could be stabbed by a homeless man, raped by a drunk frat boy, butchered by a deranged psychokiller, and Kyle would shrug before showing up late to my funeral, some size 0 floozy on his arm.

Maybe that’s why I’m obsessed with him? Because he cares so little for me. I’ve been dumped before. A lot, really. I’m not the type of person to do the dumping. I am the type to emotionally manipulate someone else into dumping me. Rachel and I are working on that.

Fucking Jacelyn. The flighty bitch. I don’t even really hate her. I just hate him that much. Yet, I know if he called me, asked me to leave some important event to wait hopelessly at a bar just to be stood up, like I knew I would be, I’d drop everything.

I feel powerless. I feel fucking pissed. After our meeting ended, as I drowned myself in cheap beer and tequila and cigarettes, I fantasized about killing him, about crushing his throat with the weight of my pain, frustration, and hatred. I know I couldn’t though. I know I’d stop. I love him too much.

Luckily, sometimes, the universe provides for us. Last month, it provided something hours with Rachel could never provide: visceral satisfaction.

I live in Manhattan. I’m not bragging, it’s just a fact. Something going to a high end school afforded me, while leaving my bank account in the negative for the rest of my life. I was taking the 6 train home, as I do every night. It was late.

The train was filled, but not crowded. I had the privilege, as a lone white woman, of sitting in a row of seats by myself. Or it could have been that I was in the back corner, a place reserved for the handicap or half passed out drunk college kids at 2am.

A group of young men occupied the row beside me and in front of me, whooping and hollering like a gaggle of monkeys, dangling from the ceiling rails as they pursed their lips outward, echoing each other’s cries of misogyny and ego.

My eyes glanced over at a businessman, sitting half hidden behind the group. His face taut with concentration as he stared at his phone. I snorted silently to myself as I saw the reflection of his screen in the window behind him: he was playing Candy Crush.

Rolling my eyes, I looked to the other side of the car. My gaze fell on a young woman, probably in her early twenties. Her sleeveless blouse was loose, gently hugging the curves of her chest before billowing out around her slim waist. I lingered on her toned arms, tanned from the summer sun. I thought of my eyes as Kyle's, admiring her femininity with lust.

I looked down at the novel my friend recommended, that had been sitting, neglected, in my purse for the past few months. It was a classic, and the character discussed her prospects of marriage too much for my tastes.

I glazed over the words, my mind lingering unwillingly on Kyle’s scent. He smelled warm and clean, like laundry detergent, yet no one else I knew was followed that much by the scent of clean clothes. He couldn’t be the only one to use that detergent. How does he smell so strongly? It’s like an aerial glue, that pulls at me in every conference, or when he pops by my office to pick something up. It catches in my nose, like the hook on a fisherman’s line, and tugs at me, despite how unwilling I am to follow.

My legs were crossed, and I bobbed my dangling foot in the air. I’ve never been one for sitting still. I’m sure Rachel would say that’s somehow related to that time I walked in on my parents having sex. Five years after their divorce. Not that it was the first time I’d walked in on my father having sex. Just the first time it was with my mother. I remember being nine and seeing his girlfriend’s bare breasts, her large dark nipples protruding as I looked on, wide-eyed, at a scene I couldn’t fully comprehend.

Rachel wasn’t surprised to learn, that the few times I’ve had sex with other women, I seemed to have quite the tit fetish.

I sometimes wonder if that’s why my ex-husband eventually wanted to get a boob job. Or if it was his gender-fluidness I was attracted to in the first place. Or if that’s why I was attracted to Kyle. And Scott. And Jared. They were bros, through and through. Maybe I wanted less female influence in my sex life. Rachel would say that was me fucking less like my dad, and fucking more like I was being fucked by him.

Fucking therapists and their Oedipus complex.

My foot shook with the impatience of sitting still, the old-fashioned yellow subway seat beneath my bare thighs as my business skirt hiked it’s way up towards my lap. I didn’t care. Modesty was never my thing.

I thought of my lifeless corpse, bloated with murky water and cold to the touch, being dragged up from the Hudson, a dull red slit from ear to ear. I imagined the detective, his hand expertly crawling up my thigh, as he examined the bruises my killer left. His signature on my pale skin. Kyle getting a call, telling him I was dead. Him nodding silently, the phone clutched to his ear as he remembered my warm, living body beneath his. As he imagined the spreadsheets he didn’t know how to fill out, left half empty in my work folder on the shared hard drive. My expressionless face lingering in his mind as he glanced over to Jacelyn, her low cut shirt exposing too much cleavage.

I knew from experience that Kyle also had a bit of a tit fetish.

I brought the plastic straw to my lip and took a drink. The warm, bitter taste of beer hit my tongue with pleasure.

The train skidded to an abrupt stop. Looking up, I glanced at the electronic map. Four more stops till I was home. I groaned, and looked around. The young men hadn’t even noticed, the businessman was still engrossed in the sweet falling pieces of brightly colored candy.

I continued to read the words of a woman entwined in the social construct of sex and marriage and the myth of love. I had seen love before. And I knew it to be fake. A half-thought out blend of hormones and evolutional training. Maybe it wasn’t laundry detergent Kyle smelled of, maybe it was pheromones? Sparkly, clean, fabric softening pheromones.

The train was still stopped. I looked up at the map again, as if it would have changed. I’m 15 minutes from my stop. Why am I still here? I uncrossed my legs, recrossing the previously bottom thigh over the other, the damp skin clinging to the yellow plastic. I thought of Jacelyn and her description of some new global social synergistic bullshit. I looked up at the young men in front of me, still hollering as if no one else was in the car with them. I tried to will one to look at me. To fuck me with his eyes.

They didn’t seem to notice. They never do.

I leaned back in the seat, and looked down at my book.

The main lights in the train went off with the low hum of electricity dying. The emergency lights remained on, illuminating the train car in a low white glow. The young men started whooping loudly, braven by the sudden mask of near-darkness. I shifted in my seat, slightly, trying to mask my discomfort. The men continued to pay no attention to me. The businessman looked around in confusion for a brief moment before shrugging to no one and continuing his game.

The emergency lights shuddered, and went out. I blinked in the blackness of the tunnel. I’ve been riding the New York City subways for more than ten years, and I had never seen the emergency lights cut out before. I listened, stretching my ears into the darkness, but only silence greeted me. The young men had become silent. I didn’t think the emergency lights could turn off.

I sat, as still as possible, not breathing. I closed my book slowly, turning my head from side to side, trying to make out any movement that might be coming towards me.

I felt something I don’t feel very often: vulnerability.

Placing the book back into my bag, I tightened my legs against each other, trying to protect myself from the darkness. Hugging my bag to my body, I listened intently. The train was disturbingly silent.

“Boo!” Yelled one of young men. I jumped in my seat and a high pitched scream from his friend followed, along with a chorus of loud laughing. My heart pounded and I sighed with relief. Voices now filled the car around me, normal speech volume increased to compensate for the lack of visuals. My body relaxed as the tension melted from my muscles.

The train filled with the sounds of strangers chatting, some joking about the situation, other freaking out, faces illuminated with the glow of screens and the small flashlight beams from phones traveling from body to body. The train’s speakers were oddly quiet, no staticy voice explaining the bizarre situation. I groaned internally, and closed my eyes, leaning my head back against the greasy glass of the train window, now shrouded in nothingness.

I felt someone sit beside me. Alarms began to ring throughout my head as I shifted slightly away from their mass. I stayed sitting though, not wanting to be rude or to try and walk around in the darkness. The roving flashlights had stopped, pointed at either the ceiling or floor, or occasionally a book. The light illuminated some of the train, but mostly filled it with tall dark shadows. My end of the train remained fairly black. The young men had moved further down, probably trying to find a group of young women to comfort. I squinted towards where I remembered the businessman sitting, but it was too dark for me to see him.

Hot breathing climbed up the side of my neck. Goosebumps formed and I scooted further towards the wall, away from my neighbor. I felt the large mass move with me, pressing up against my side, squeezing me between him and the wall. From the size, I assumed it was a man. His body was firm and he was leaning on me, his thighs, stomach, and chest blanketing me.

I opened my mouth to protest, but a large hairy hand covered half my face. My bag fell to the floor with a quiet clang as I twisted in my seat, trying to force his body away from mine, but he only moved closer.

He rotated onto me, his chest against mine. I could feel his breath on my face. The hand he wasn’t using to cover my mouth grabbing clumsily at my breast. His pants stiffened, his erection pressing against my thigh as hot tears flowed down my cheeks.

My mind jumped away from the situation, and for just a moment, the heavy mass of my attacker was colored over with the sensation of Kyle on top of me. My brain was heavy with alcohol as I reached to him, encouraging his frame onto mine, kissing his neck. I dropped my head into the pillow, my hands on his shoulders as he looked at me, his eyes glazed with lust and beer.

“How’s Stacey?” I had asked.

He shrugged and looked to the wall, “I haven’t seen her in awhile.”

My hand grazed down his chest, relishing in the fine light brown hairs. So soft it felt like fur.

“How have you been?” He asked, not looking at me.

My attacker’s fingers grasped onto my nipple, pinching hard. I squeezed my eyes in pain, and pushed feebly at his form.

How had I been? Why the fuck was I having sex with someone who didn’t ask how I was until seconds away from being inside me? Why the fuck was I in love with a man who I wasn’t convinced would notice if I died? And why the fuck does he refuse to acknowledge me?

I bit down. Hard.

The man gasped, his hand flying from my mouth. I gulped in air from the train, no longer tainted by his sweaty grasp.

Kyle’s half-cocked smile filled my mind

“You’re adorable.” He said.

My hand shot through the black air. I found flesh, and I grabbed at it. It was thick and sweaty, but narrow enough for my fingers to wrap around it. The man gasped and tried to cry out, but the sound was only halfway from his lips before the air stopped and his plea was muted. The din of the train echoed around us as the man fell silent.

“I think we should just be friends.” He said.

I had found his throat.

I squeezed as he tried to fall back, but while he was heavy and strong, I was light and fast. I tightened my grip as I climbed on top of him, my knees digging into his lap. He tried to yelp in pain but no air could escape.

“You’re really good at that.” He said.

His wet throat felt more pliable in my hand than I would have expected. His skin pressed through between my fingers as I used the weight of my body to push into him. One large hand pulled at my arm as the other hit my chest. My breath caught with the force.

“I don’t want to cause any issues at work.” He said.

He grabbed the side of my head, and twisted. My neck strained with pressure, and the spots where his fingers dug into my flesh stung.

I reached my other arm up, squeezing his body between my thighs to keep myself balanced, and took his face in my hand. My thumb found his cheekbone, and then his eye.

“We’ll hang soon.” He said.

I dug my thumb deep into the organ, my other hand clamping his throat hard so his scream couldn’t escape.There was a wet popping sound as the eyeball burst with the pressure. Warm liquid spattered up my arm. The man convulsed, his arm hitting the side of my face hard. I was knocked forward, banging against the plastic seat in front of us. My head rang, and I could feel wetness in my hair.

“Fucking bitch.” He coughed, his voice weak from his damaged throat. His hand grabbed my knee and pulled me towards him. I felt my leg snap with the strain and the sides of the seat dug into me painfully.

I grabbed the man’s head in both of my hands, and pulled. He screamed.

“I’ve been busy.” He said.

“Are you ok?” Someone yelled. I could hear the rest of the train, finally aware of an issue at the back of the car, begin to converge.

“I don’t want you to take it personally.” He said.

I pulled again, kicking in the opposite direction, the hoarse screaming in my ear deafening me, until I heard a loud crack, and the screaming stopped. The weight of the dark mass fell on top of me. Dead.

I laid there, his body on mine, and panted. My eyes were blinded with flashlights and I squinted at the featureless crowd around me.

“What the fuck!?!” Someone screamed.

“He was… he was…” I sputtered, pushing the man off of me. “He was trying to…” I exploded into sobs.

A reassuring arm wrapped around my shoulders, and lead me away from the back of the car as the lights came on.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, we apologize for the inconvenience.” The conductor's voice hissed above us, “this train just experienced a complete power failure. We will be pulling into the station in just a moment. Police and medical personnel will be there to assist in any issues that might have arose during the blackout. Please do not leave the station until we’ve confirmed all passengers are ok.”

I looked back at the last seat in the car and saw the businessman who I had noticed playing Candy Crush earlier. He lay on the seats, his mouth opened. One eye stared right at me. The other was a mess of blood, dangling from his eye socket.

Guess what, Kyle. I did take it personally.

I wasn’t convicted of murder. It was bloody and overzealous, but it was still deemed self defense. I found out later that the man who tried to attack me was named Bryan. He had served a two month sentence for sexual assault and attempted rape four years ago. The state appointed lawyer told me that was good. A past criminal record and Bryan’s lack of any family to press charges against me meant I was mostly in the clear.

I was in the news a lot, after it happened. A lot of people called me a victim. Some called me a hero, and some called me a psychotic bitch. I don’t mind though. It feels good to have affected someone. Because I'm affectual. I killed a man with my bare hands. You could even say I’m impressive.

[inkwellco]

REVIEW - WONDER WOMAN

I absolutely love it when a movie meets my expectations. For years I’ve been looking forward to the Wonder Woman film. It did not disappoint. I would go so far as to say, it is the best superhero film I’ve ever seen. Definitely part of the top 10 films I’ve ever seen. I loved this film. Between the humour, action and notes reflecting on history, we as an audience were taken in. Director Patty Jenkins is a genius and credit to her craft, in my opinion she has created a world that surpasses the stories previously told in the superhero universe.

The audience was captured by top notch storytelling. Both in the flow of the story and the performances on screen. For years we’ve been waiting for a solo story to be told on the scale of a full on blockbuster epic. Wonder Woman meets that criteria. There are elements of a 300 meets Captain America way of storytelling. I say Captain America because that is the best Marvel solo story and 300 because of the action sequences combined with the flow of the story, completely reminiscent in Wonder Woman, but on a higher scale.

Gal Gadot absolutely encapsulates Wonder Woman. Like I’ve said before in my Suicide Squad review discussing Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, I’m finding it hard to imagine someone else in to role of Diana. Gal Gadot is absolute perfection. She has the emotion, characteristics, mannerisms, everything down pat. I think it helps Gadot has skills when it comes to fight sequences. Her movement is absolutely amazing. That combined with brilliant camera work and directing, create scenes that make me think, I’m taking this to my gym and I will transform. Like I felt when I was a child, I want to be Wonder Woman. It’s been a while since I left the cinema thinking, I want to be that character. A while since I left the cinema feeling invigorated, as if a part of that character imprinted on me. That was the case with Wonder Woman.

Chris Pine as Steve Trevor one of my new favourite characters of all time. His interaction with Wonder Woman and his overall being really resonated with the audience. He was us, the person coming in to this new situation and explaining the realities of life. There were some really funny and lovely scenes between Steve and Diana. The way this relationship grows over the film is a testament to the writers and their delivery in storytelling, having a friendship like that grow in amongst the other stories, all the while not distracting us from the other plot lines is pure genius. The bathing scene is so well done, and helps establish the tone in their story. The growth in all the characters is so well achieved too. You come to love these characters and can’t wait to see what happens next.

Lucy Davis as Etta Candy is another new favourite character. If we were like any character in this film, we would definitely be Etta Candy. She’s the one that brings grounding to every situation. She is hilarious, bringing a light, fun hearted quality to the film. What she brings to the story, just adds to the overall appeal of the film. She’s fun and quirky, so the humour she brings to the story is honestly a breath of fresh air. It’s the type of humour that is more a comment on a situation in passing that has a really honest element to it. Her relationship with both Steve and Diana really makes her a loveable character. For that matter, I really like the use of love, or more so the idea of love in this film. How it relates to the start, middle and ending of this particular chapter. Almost like a thread that connects the different plotlines, and emotions in each of these scenes, together. Another notable mention, David Thewlis (who you may remember as Harry Potter’s beloved, Professor Lupin) stars as Sir Patrick, someone who is instrumental in the going ons of the war, he funds the mission for Diana and Steve to stop Doctor Poison. It was interesting to see Thewlis take on this character, in contrast to characters he’s played in the past. There’s dimension to his character and ultimately the delivery of his role throughout the film really adds another layer to the story in itself. Especially when it comes to his interaction with the team and that includes Etta.

Another great element to this film was the team Diana and Steve formed, Charlie (Ewan Bremner), Sameer (Saïd Taghmaoui) and Chief (Eugene Brave Rock). We start the film off with Diana in present day, receiving something from Bruce Wayne aka Batman. That package is a photo of Diana’s team. The letter reads, I’d love to know the story, it is this device that launches Diana into the telling of said story. Our beginning, and ultimately her origins story. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it is the best origin story I’ve seen yet. You go on such an amazing journey over the two hours of this film. Each part contributes to the story, it adds to the development of not just the plot but the characters. Starting off Diana is a tad unsettled by her team members as they don’t show to have the particular values she shares, but over time Diana learns you can’t judge from first impressions. Underneath each person there’s something that has made them who they are standing in front of you. With each experience you are shaped into the person you are. That photo represents that.

There was a point during one of the action sequences where I was brimming, smiling like a cheshire cat. I was elated to see a character I’ve looked up to for decades, become a role model to a whole new generation. Add to that how amazing the action sequences were. The slow motion coupled with the amazing moves really created a feast for the eyes. This was also achieved in the training fight sequences. The Amazons on the island of Themyscira created such a cool dynamic of training and then ultimately fighting. There was a good mix between the action and story in this part too. Learning about the history and how it relates to Diana’s story, and how she then takes that mantle on to bridge that into the larger picture of the film. Connie Nielsen and Robin Wright are great both in the way they took on the roles of Queen Hippolyta (Nielsen) and General Antiope (Wright). I honestly want to be a mix between the two, particularly because both have a different type of strength. A strength that can be seen in Diana. You can see over the course of the film that Diana was given the correct arsenal of strength thanks to these two ladies. Over the course of the film with every person she meets, she gains something new, particularly understanding and a new scope on the greater meaning of the world.

Ares God of War is the villain in this film. A being whom Wonder Woman sees as the catalyst for the current World War, the main reason she has journeyed beyond the seas of Themyscira to save the World. Diana believes Ares has corrupted the minds of men and is the sole cause of the World War. That he has taken on a role within the high ranks of military to influence a nation. General Erich Ludendorff (Danny Huston) fits this bill and Maru aka Doctor Poison (Elena Anaya) is by his side creating a gas that will assist their goals. Both are a different type of villain. That’s the thing with the DC villains, two different villains may have the same goal but they each achieve it differently, in their own style. Again, a varying male – female villain duo with their own style. There are some epic fight scenes throughout and the visuals are brilliant. At one point Steve Trevor infiltrates their camp site and upon escaping, nonchalantly drops a hand bomb into a space. The visual effects in the blasts and fire work within the film are so well done. Overall the special effects were above average in Wonder Woman. There were two moments where I felt some of the imagery looked a tad blurred, particularly when it came to panning in moments that were at times moving fast, but ultimately those small problems paid no consequence to the whole aspect of the film. The costume design is Oscar worthy. Between the outfit Diana wears in the present (I want that outfit), to her Wonder Woman warrior outfit, to her London style, the fashion in this film was beautiful. I loved Etta’s outfits too. That’s the thing, each character had an outfit that was specifically designed to represent the persona and how they relate to the situation they’re in. The hair and makeup complimented these looks, especially the hair. A lot of what I saw in the film could translate into every day life (just my excuse to look like Wonder Woman every day), between the gladiator sandals, to the royal blues and reds, along with the gold, I’m pretty sure I’ll be re-organising my wardrobe this weekend. Speaking of colours, the cinematography in this film is stunning. The contrast between the rich colours in Themyscira to the dull colours of London was achieved well, and summed up perfectly by Diana. I have to also mention how brilliant the music in the film complimented scenes. The Wonder Woman theme playing as she broke through a window in slow motion to then launch into one of the most epic fight sequences was so brilliantly done. I could not stop smiling. Overall it’s a complex story, with complex characters that create a fantastic story, that audiences can respond to. It’s the first superhero film directed by a woman, Patty Jenkins, a director who has created cinematic brilliance. It’s truly inspiring, both in how this story was achieved/delivered and the content created. It’s very rare that I come across a film that I love this much. That gives me different levels of feeling and emotion using a variety of techniques, like humour, heart and action. Which is why I rate this film 5 stars. I will definitely watch this film again. Walking out of the theatre I was asked, “how was it?” (I was wearing a Wonder Woman top, grinning and enthusiastically analysing the film with my colleague. I replies, “It’s honestly the best, the best superhero film I’ve seen.

Rating: 5/5

☆☆☆☆☆

[mst3kproject]

407: The Killer Shrews

Whatever else one might say about The Killer Shrews, it is a huge step up from The Giant Gila Monster in at least one respect – it is actually about the titular monsters, and those monsters actually interact with the human characters! So far, so good.  Then we get to the monsters themselves, and... oh, dear.  This movie wouldn't quite be better without the shrews in the way that last week's feature would without the lizard, but they're still a very significant problem for what would otherwise be a serviceable film.

A small boat arrives at a remote island off the coast of wherever this is (the opening narration suggests the Pacific Northwest). Captain Sherman and his redshirt buddy are there to deliver supplies to a scientific outpost, but plan to stay overnight in order to ride out an approaching hurricane (meaning it can't possibly be the Pacific Northwest).  This is treated as bad news by Mad Scientist Dr. Marlowe Cragis and his assistant and daughter Anne.  After some beating around the bush as night closes in, Cragis confesses that he has created a species of giant, nocturnal, venomous, man-eating rodent.  With supplies running low, the group must make a break for the boat in the morning – if only they can first survive the night!

At its barest and boniest this is the plot of Alien, The Thing, Friday the Thirteenth, The Green Slime, and god knows how many other movies: a small group of people are stranded in the middle of nowhere with something that wants to kill them.  They're picked off one by one, usually ethnic stereotypes first, until the last desperate survivors must destroy their foe and get to the choppah for rescue. Although there are some very good movies with this premise, there are also some thoroughly terrible ones.  The Killer Shrews is pretty mediocre, but does its best with the material and sometimes comes surprisingly close to success.

In the average 'trapped with a monster' movie, the characters are either completely dull or utterly detestable – the latter option usually makes for a more entertaining film, since we can at least take some vindictive joy in watching these assholes get killed.  The Killer Shrews has its share of nobodies: Griswold the first mate and Mario the janitor are the aforementioned ethnic stereotypes, who are in the movie so it can put off the deaths of the white people.  Uber-nerd Bradford feels like he ought to be a joke but never gets a punchline. He dies pretty quickly, too.

The rest of the dramatis personae, however, have a little more meat on their metaphorical bones: Dr. Cragis is fascinated by the shrews' single-minded and ruthless survival instincts, admiring their effectiveness even as they threaten his life.  Anne is as consumed by guilt over her own role in creating the monsters as she is by her fear of them.  Her crush on Sherman and semi-frantic attempts to endear herself to him seem to have more to do with the fact that he represents a chance of escape than with any real attraction.  Jerry's determination to finish the experiments, in spite of his cowardice, stems from a desperate need to atone for his past mistakes.  Captain Sherman is supposed to be our hero, but there's a point when the others nearly have to physically intervene to stop him from throwing Jerry to the shrews.  Everybody in this film has been pushed to the edge of sanity.

So what keeps it from being effective?  There's a few things.  One is the acting – Ingrid Goude as Anne and Baruch Lumet as Dr. Craigis are pretty good, but the other major players tend to be too low-key to really be convincing.  The one exception is Ken Curtis as Jerry, who overplays everything just that crucial tiny bit. Whether drunk, paranoid, or hysterical, he tends to end up sounding like he's in a high school play.

As with The Giant Gila Monster, we begin with a voiceover that provides us with a completely different origin for the monsters than the actual story will do.  Here the narrator tells us that this is a new species, which first appeared in Alaska before moving south into Canada.  The subsequent movie, however, informs us that the shrews were the product of mad science (and for once there’s an actual justification for the experiments besides ‘let’s see if we can create a monster’. Cragis was studying the relationship between size and metabolism).  Seeing as one of the characters claims to have created the shrews himself, I'm going to go with his version rather than Mr. Voiceover's, but it does make me think the opening narrations wern't originally part of either movie.

There's too much exposition.  The script spends a very long time emphasizing the voraciousness of the shrews through dialogue, and while this does also establish a certain amount of character, it would have been far more effective to show us the small shrews ravenous' appetites.  Our imaginations could then have done the job of scaling it up – the idea of being gnawed to death by rats is truly horrifying, and being gnawed by giant rats would hardly be less so.  Having typed that, however, I realized that doing this in 1959 for this particular movie would probably have involved forcing a couple of cute mice to fight to the death, as many times as necessary to get the shot right.  So on second thought, never mind.

The music is unsubtle but it works all right.  Same with the direction, which is actually another marked step up from The Giant Gila Monster.  For the most part Kellogg still just points the camera at what's happening and films, but at least people move around within some of the shots and display body language rather than just putting a leg up on the nearest ledge.

We get no real impression of the hurricane itself besides hearing the howling wind – I don't think there's a single shot in which we are in any way aware of rain.  Just the sound of it hammering on the roof would have done wonders for the feeling of claustrophobia the movie is trying to create.

I think you know what I'm working up to here, though.  While there's a lot of minor adjustments that could have been made to help The Killer Shrews, the main problem is the actual shrews.  They're among the least-convincing monsters in film history.  Trailer Club 70 included them in its bottom five, along with the jellyfish man from Sting of Death and the turkey-headed vampire from Blood Freak.

How do you depict a giant rodent in a movie?  Well, if you're Rob Reiner, you throw a big latex puppet at Carey Elwes.  If you're Bert I. Gordon, you film actual rats in extreme close-up and pretend they match your amusingly adorable fake rat heads.  If you're Bruno Mattei, you put rat masks on your actors and leave the audience wondering what the fuck they're watching (god, I've seen way too many movies). And if you're Ray Kellogg, you shave a bunch of dogs and hope we won't notice.

Well, okay, that's not fair: not every shrew in the movie is a shaved dog.  Some of them are dogs with ratty-looking fake fur draped over them.  Others are puppet heads with long 'fangs' that look like a third-grader's attempt at a saber-toothed tiger prop for a home-made caveman movie.  All of them are tragically cheap and completely unconvincing.  The heads are immobile, so in the shots where a shrew is supposed to be biting somebody, all we see is the puppet's nose being rubbed against a pre-bloodied trouser leg. In another scene a 'shrew' enters the room, and is not only obviously a dog, it's a dog that's happy to see you!  I have never seen a shot so entirely ruined by ordinary canine body language (though bits of Teenage Caveman come damn close).

Considering the sorts of things I tend to talk about on this blog, you're probably wondering why I haven't said anything yet about Anne's decision to give up science and become a housewife. Truth is, that's just not high on the list of things that suck remarkably about The Killer Shrews.  I mean, yeah, it's definitely sexist, but it's handled so much better here than the comparable development in Rocketship XM that I have kind of a hard time being angry about it.  Dr. Van Hoorne supposedly came to realize that the men were right and she was wrong, despite all narrative evidence to the contrary.  Anne Cragis' retirement is her choice, not imposed upon her by the male characters, and emerges organically from her own story.

The men in Rocketship XM asked Dr. Van Hoorne why cooking and cleaning and changing diapers isn't enough for her.  In The Killer Shrews, Sherman asks Anne whether she's a scientist in the obvious expectation of a 'yes', and listens sympathetically while she talks about it.  When she states her choice to retire and lead a 'normal' life, he is supportive of this without placing a value judgment on it.  The fact that Anne is the only woman in the film makes it very difficult not to see her as the writer's stand-in for all women everywhere, but there is at least no explicit statement that science is no place for women.  It's a low bar, but hey.

Remember Terror from the Year 5000, in which a woman promptly abandoned her fiance when the hero appeared on the scene? This happens in The Killer Shrews as well, but again, it's less annoying here.  Unlike Claire and Bob, Anne and Sherman actually get to know each other a little over the course of the story.  Her engagement with Jerry is already ended, for completely understandable reasons, and Sherman represents both her potential escape from the island and a person who listens to her respectfully rather than trying to impose his own will.  It's still a useless romantic subplot that exists to add artificial drama, but we have reasons why these characters behave as they do and it feels more like part of the same story rather than a distraction from it.

All things considered, I'm left with the impression that if writer Jay Simms and director Ray Kellogg had wanted to make movies that did not have giant mutant animals in them and had been given a bit of money to do so, they probably could have done a pretty good job.  The two movies they did make are a long way from masterpieces, but there are some surprisingly good things in them for those who care to stop riffing and look.

[drink-n-watch]

The first episode of GOH aired yesterday and here I am with a review already! Are you impressed? Don’t be it’s mostly pictures and I really don’t know if I’ll be able to keep up this schedule. But I was this week! Hourray for small victories.

I gotta say, last season’s Tower of God introduced me to webtoon fandoms and I am a little…intimidated at the thought of reviewing this series, as the following seems even more…passionate. Still we’re all friends here so let me tell you what I thought of the first episode of The God of Highschool.

I have to admit, tis series was pretty highly anticipated and after reading a whole bunch of tweets about how much better this adaptation was than Tower of God, my expectations were pretty high. And they got readjusted really quickly. The best way I can summerize my thoughts for those first few seconds is: I thought this show would have had a better budget. It’s not that the art is bad but it’s fairly traditional and pretty simple. It looks much more like an old school anime if that’s what you’re into but it’s not very detailed and light and shadows are rather dull. Also the CG is just not very good. Mostly obvious in the water but also noticable in background building during city chase scenes.

I will say this though, the art style and designs are way more faithful to the webtoon than ToG was, so there is that. But odly, the narrative isn’t exactly, I’ll get to that later, you’ll see what I mean.

We didn’t get that much in the way of exposition. A few short scenes tell us we’re in a world similar to ours but there something more going on. Something very powerful, I could even say godly! We are then introduced to main protagonist Jin in a short dream/flashback that shows us he had a somewhat sad past were he was isolated. Also known as standard shonen protagonist childhood. I should say that dream sequence was more visually interesting than the rest of the episode to me.

 We immediately learn that Jin is a spunky young man with a string sense of justice who will come to the aid of those in need (cough) when he decides to take a detour, despite being in a rush, to hel an old lady who got her purse stolen. In short order, we get a brienf introduction to Mira, an innocent looking youg lady who is actually a powerful swordswoman with a bit of a temper (i.e. main female supporting chara) and Han who is a very strong and stoic fellow with a good heart (i.e. sidekick). I know how snarky this sounds but these ae really the most common shonen archetypes out there. I’m going somewhere though, please bear with me.

You gotta understand that although episode 1 of The God of Highschool was giving me all sorts of déjà vue all over again (I had not read the webtoon but I did read all the way to the events of episode 1 before writing this review, out of curiosity) because of how many tropes it was embracing whole heartedly, I was still enjoying myself if a little mindlessly. The art wasn’t rally my cup of tea and the opening sequence reminded me a lot of Pet. I think I’m the only one who saw that show. But it was o.k.

And then that chase scene hit and I thought to myself, Oh hey there’s the budget!

It seems that detailed designs and seemless CG may have been sacrificed a bit in favour of high speed animation and considering just how much mouvement there was just in this episode, I gotta say, it was probably a good initiative. Once things got moving they hardly stopped and they moved a lot! I think I may have noticed a bit of jegged mouvement here and there, where it seemed like they may have skipped a frame or two but it was rare and considering how much action was present I can’t really blame the show. Besides, it really doesn’t matter as the camera work and framing during these dynamic scenes was just plain fantastic. Possibly some of the best motion framing I have seen in the past 5 years. It made the simplpe experience of watching a chase scene so exhilirating that I completely forgot about any misgivings I may have started with.

Also I laughed at the blatan product placement (lower right screencap above). It was just such tacky fun that I couldn’t help but admire the self aware nature of it.

Now when I say that the narrative of this first episode of The God of Highschool is less faithful to the webtoon that Tower of God was, what I mean is that the first episode of Tower of God was pretty much chapters 1 to 4 (I think maybe 6) of the webtoon. There was a bit of added material but it followed the narrative beats pretty closely. Whereas, just like the visuals of this first episode of God of Highschool are favouring action, so is the storyline. The webtoon opens with a lot more situating exposition and bacgrounds for the main characters, which have completely been skipped over in this first episode. I assume that it’s just a matter of reordering the narrative and we will get back to them in the coming weeks. And once again, I think that was a very smart move on the part of the adaptation. It really thre us in the thick of thngs and it makes me want to know what happens next much more than an establishing episode would have.

I should also say, the first few chapters of God of Highschool that I read were very well written. I can’ speak to how the actual story develops or anything like that but as an opener, this was some impressive stuff.

So sure, the designs aren’t really my thing. Backgrounds and mob characters are sort of boring. The colours are pretty average but none of that matters because the series abosultely shines once it’s in high mouvement and it’s almost constantly in mouvement. And yes both the characters and the establishing plot seem to be classic shonene tropes so far but that also doesn’t matter, because classic shonen tropes are super fun.

And that’s realy what my take away was from this first episode. I was fun! I don’t think I can ask for anything more. Did you guys watch this first episode? What did you think?

The God of Highschool ep. 1 – Anticipation The first episode of GOH aired yesterday and here I am with a review already! Are you impressed?

[ladystylestores]

Sony WH-CH710N wireless noise-canceling headphones review

The Sony WH-CH710N are a relatively affordable pair of noise-canceling headphones. They are the successor to the CH700N, which we quite liked when we reviewed them two years ago. The CH710N continue the tradition of offering active noise-canceling at more reasonable pricing while also having a solid battery life.

Design

The design of the new CH710N is made to be more in line with the recent 2019-2020 Sony headphones. This means a more uniform and, frankly, a boring exterior that is just a single material, color, and texture used for the entirety of the headphone frame and earcups. The use of plastic here is also not particularly high quality, with a smooth matte texture that looks and feels a bit cheap. The headphones are also quite light, which further adds to the feeling of cheapness.

The CH710N offers a limited range of motion. You can adjust the headband height and the cups swivel back so you can place them flat on your chest when not in use but they don’t collapse inwards to make them easy to carry. There’s also no carry bag or case provided in the box.

The bottom edges of the earcups house all the buttons and ports. The right earcup has controls to adjust the volume and playback, along with a button that toggles between noise canceling and ambient sound modes. On the left ear cup are the power/pairing button, USB-C port for charging, and an audio jack for using in wired mode.

The overall build quality of the headphones is fine, even if they look and feel a bit cheap. They are unlikely to break easily but at the same time, I wouldn’t be too rough with them.

Comfort

The CH710N are quite average in terms of comfort. The main issue here is with the earpads, which are neither plush nor particularly deep. They create a decent seal around your ears but the lack of depth means my ears were constantly touching the inside of the speaker grille. They are broad enough to accommodate wider ears but I just wish they were deep enough.

The headband also has only a barely sufficient amount of padding on them and the choice of material once again is quite mediocre.

Being noise-canceling headphones, the earcups also allow very little air to move around, making these headphones unsuitable for use in warm weather.

Software and features

The CH710N feature active noise-canceling, which uses microphones on the outside to analyze and cancel out the ambient noise. On these headphones, you have an option to either have noise-canceling either fully on or off. There’s also an ambient mode that lets you listen to your surroundings by piping in certain frequencies through the speakers while still reducing some of the noise. This is great for when you want to hear someone around you, listen to an announcement at the airport or train station, or while walking on the street.

What these headphones don’t have is support for the Sony Headphones Connect app. Without this app, there is no way to dial in the exact amount of noise-canceling or control other features like EQ and other audio effects. You also can’t upgrade the software on these headphones.

The CH710N support Bluetooth 5.0 with NFC. The NFC enables quick and painless pairing on compatible Android phones. The CH710N lacks support for any of the fancy codecs and you get just SBC and AAC support here.

Noise-canceling

The CH710N are active noise-canceling headphones. They have two microphones on the outside that constantly monitor ambient sound and feed it into the system that then works to cancel it.

The noise-canceling performance on the CH710N is pretty underwhelming. It does reduce some of the noise but there’s still a fair bit that seeps through. This is admittedly the norm for noise-canceling headphones in this price range. If you need good noise-canceling performance, you are looking at spending at least twice as much. These should be fine for daily commutes but not for long haul flights.

Performance

The CH710N are a decent sounding pair of headphones. The sound is slightly bass-forward but with reduced emphasis on the mids and highs, resulting in a dark and somewhat muddy sound.

The low-end of these headphones has a small but notable boost, which results in a generally warm and punchy sound. The level of bass here can be quite enjoyable as it has just enough heft and slam without being overwhelmed by it like with the Sony Extra Bass headphones. The small amount of bass boost complements most genres well without getting in your way.

The mid-range performance is a bit of a mixed bag. The bottom end of the mid-range is a bit on the heavier side and as we go up the frequency spectrum it dials back a fair bit. This gives vocals a heavy, indistinct quality. Male voices in particular sound heavier than they should while female voices sound less focused. Listening to podcasts on these made me want some sort of EQ, which most podcast apps don’t have.

The high-end is where the sound completely fizzles and loses energy. The descent starts somewhere in the mid-range itself and by the time we get to the high-end of the audio spectrum we are a fair bit down from where we should be. There’s just no nuance or definition to high-frequency sounds and everything is just dull and lifeless. Instruments lose their sparkle and energy and some of the vocals also sound cloudy and distant.

This sort of sound can be fine for someone who prefers a more laidback, warm sound. It can smooth out an overly bright track and make it less fatiguing but that’s not a trick you want to apply to every piece of music. The good thing is that it is fairly easy to EQ these headphones to sound more balanced. You can’t magically add detail that’s missing but you can easily brighten up the sound and add more high-end energy. The CH710N also work fine if all you want to do is watch videos or movies with them, as the drawbacks that apply to music aren’t as bothersome here.

The CH710N have good imaging performance. The soundstage is average considering these are closed-back headphones and it feels further congested due to the restricted high-end but it’s also not particularly narrow or hemmed-in.

The microphone performance is mediocre. The voice sounds compressed and robotic with a slightly nasal tone to it. It’s okay for voice calls — the people I called didn’t have any complaints — but not for things like voice recordings.

The CH710N also has acceptable latency for most use cases. Listening to music was fine but even watching videos and movies didn’t pose any problem. Even casual gaming was fine. The issue mostly is with more competitive games where the latency could be an issue. There was a noticeable delay in the sound of the gunshots after tapping the button on Fortnite when paired with a OnePlus 8 Pro.

Battery

The CH710N have a rated battery life of 35 hours, a pretty generous figure. Sony also claims an hour of use after just 10-minutes of charge.

We set the headphones to loop our usual test track at a comfortably high volume. I was expecting the headphones to reach about the rated figure, perhaps a bit less. But I was not ready for what was about to happen.

Not only did the CH710N completely blow past the rated 35-hour battery life figure, but they also went on for a staggering 52 hours. At first, I assumed the noise-canceling may be off, but that wasn’t the case. The headphones just went on for 52 hours and had that not been the case, this review would have been published a day early.

Something similar happened when testing Sony’s 60 minutes usage with a 10-minute charge claim. The CH710N went on for 2 and a half hours with just 10 minutes of charge. Once again, the noise-canceling was enabled.

It’s not clear what’s happening here; I’ve seen headphones occasionally last longer than the manufacturer specified figure. After all, we don’t have the same methodology to test battery endurance as the companies that make these headphones. But an increase of nearly 50% is unprecedented. It’s possible the battery consumption changes based on the ambient noise and admittedly, I didn’t exactly run these headphones next to a busy street. Whatever the case may be, it seems the CH710N will comfortably reach the manufacturer specified figure and perhaps even longer based on your use.

The only thing that sours the experience for me is the time it takes to charge these headphones. Seven hours is the figure quoted by Sony and it does take that long if you want to charge them completely from flat. This is an overnight activity unless you want to spend your entire day watching your headphones charge.

Conclusion

At $130, the Sony WH-CH710N are unfortunately a fairly underwhelming pair of headphones. The build quality is a bit cheap and they aren’t the most comfortable. The sound quality is mediocre and so is the noise-canceling. They aren’t terrible at anything but there’s also not much that particularly stands out. The only thing these headphones excel at is battery life, but even that is slightly offset by the ridiculously long charging time.

I also think the CH710N are quite a downgrade over their predecessor. The CH700N were better designed and built, more comfortable, had better sound quality and they did all that for the same price. They’ll be discontinued eventually but are a better purchase over the CH710N while you can still buy them.

That leaves the CH710N in a tough spot. Perhaps you are someone who only really needs a long battery life or maybe just adequate if not exceptional noise-canceling while catching up on your favorite TV shows during your daily commute. In that case, you can be reasonably happy with these headphones, especially since they aren’t necessarily bad in any way. But I had high hopes for the successor to the CH700N and the CH710N failed to deliver.

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[staymotivatedbyself]

Tips to Always Stay Motivated By Yourself

I used to think I was unstoppable. Only six months ago, I had been Juggling a demanding full-time occupation, graduate faculty, and a site while maintaining a decent social life and a joyful marriage. I then made my job and began working for myself.

I opened an Etsy store, recommitted to blogging, and envisioned a hectic career in the not-so-distant future with many different creative freelance opportunities involving writing, making, teaching, and consulting. With my additional 40+ hours per week, I really could do EVERYTHING.

Subsequently I obtained re-acquainted with reality. Where once I was a steam engine, composing blog posts in my morning commute, completing papers on my lunch break, squeezing brunch, Orange Is The New Dark , and laundry into a weekend filled with readings and research, I was now only a sedentary homebody--getting plenty of sleep, thinking about food a good deal, and appreciating easy moments of silent nothingness.

Like a balloon from the previous weekend's birthday celebration, I had been gradually deflating, losing all motivation to do whatever , let alone everything.

What Occurred? Unexpectedly, I had to deal with the absence of pressure. I was forced to determine the way to do things in my own, for myself, at my own pace. Sounds great, however, ideal?! Wrong.

When you've spent years relying on outside deadlines to keep you busy, you are left feeling pretty lazy and uninspired when these pressures vanish. Fortunately, there's a wealth of research on the best way best to stay motivated and stimulate imagination, which is particularly useful for artists, designers, manufacturers, and anybody self employed in a creative field.

Here Is What I've discovered:

Watch Motivational Movies

as per experts stud shows that if you watch motivational movies your motivational is also high. so, if you feel demotivated watch motivational movies which helps you to stay motivated.

 Use Your Strengths

Positive psychologists Christopher Peterson and Martin Seligman. Have found that comprehension and actively practicing your best character strengths enhances your general well-being and enjoyment. Capitalizing on your unique character strengths during work may also energize you and lead to a more satisfying career.

All these Character strengths, or"values in action," incorporate a listing of twenty five positive traits, from prudence to gratitude to bravery, we strongly identify and exercise regularly. Discover your top personality advantages through the free VIA Survey of Character Strengths [http://www.viacharacter.org/Survey/Account/Register], then correct your job to best use them in your everyday targets and tasks.

For Example, I know that one of my top character strengths is standpoint -- discovering ways of making sense of the world and sharing shrewd counsel with others. Just how can I use that in my creative work? Maybe by collecting the information I know about imagination and inspiration and sharing that with other girls...

Seek Intrinsic Motivators

Why Did She Makes Things card [https://www.etsy.com/listing/62380611/why-did-she-make-things-card] from Pinwheel Designs

Extrinsic motivation is so last century. According to best-selling writer Daniel H. Pink, External rewards and punishments, or"carrots and sticks," are not only unsuccessful at inspiring quality work but also detrimental. "Science is showing," Pink says,"that carrots and sticks can promote bad behaviour, create addiction, and promote short term thinking at the cost of this long-view."

So what is the solution? Harnessing your inner drivers of success, your inborn motivation. To try it, suspend the thought for a moment that you are engaged in a creative quest to finally earn gobs of cash, fame, praise, and appreciation. Sure, it is great to try for them, and you clearly will need to exude sufficient success to encourage yourself, however, the best way to create truly great work is to locate intrinsic motivators. Here's how:

1. Infuse your creative job with more significance, a larger purpose, which will help direct you through the difficult times. 2. If appropriate, battle for freedom (by which I mean alternative, not necessarily independence) in everything you can do, when    you perform it, how you can do this, and that you do it with. 3. Create command a main focus. What is more rewarding seeing yourself improve on your craft? Set"Big Hairy Audacious Goals"We

   All know the value of establishing goals for ourselves, but the majority of the advice I have read sings the praises, almost exclusively, of little, realistic, short-term goals. Do not get me wrong, these are crucial to advancement. Reachingn incremental goals gives you the confidence to keep going.

Equally significant, but are such giant, pie-in-the-sky objectives. I do not only mean dreams and aspirations but those big, hairy, audacious goals--painfully challenging but also concrete and quantifiable.

The expression"BHAG" (declared BEE-hag, short for Big Hairy Audacious Goal) was coined by industry advisor and writer Jim Twenty years back, and the phenomenon has been a important part of company leadership ever since. A BHAG, which is meant to be quite difficult but not impossible to achieve and require ten or more years of commitment, is meant to be so exciting the vision of achieving it kicks into gear, and working toward it will necessarily change you, even if you never reach the finish line.

Put the Mood

   Write Drunk Edit Sober print    [https://www.etsy.com/listing/120924719/write-drunk-edit-sober-ernest-hemingway?ref=sr_gallery_3&ga_search_query=write+drunk+edit+sober&ga_ship_to=US&ga_page=1&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery]    available at Harvey Grey

   The best time to be creative may not be when you believe. If you're a morning person, it is likely late at night, once you're unfocused, calm, and at a positive disposition.

For night owls, the exact same is true in the first morning. So once you have to get the creative juices flowing, avoid waiting till you're in a rush on a project then downing some coffee to jolt you into equipment. In reality, the stud demonstrates that a beer may be more useful in sparking creative thinking, while the coffee is more helpful in executing your thoughts.

   Also consider painting your workspace a Cool, calming color, like blue or green. Research conducted by the University of   British Columbia showed that"blue enhances performance on a creative task."

   And, Of course, make certain that you're getting enough exercise, which will not only enhance your physical health but also    boost your sleep, reduce stress, enhance your mood and overall well being, also lead to growth in the other areas of your life    [http://blog.bufferapp.com/why-exercising-makes-us-happier], such as your creative practice.

Set Your Schedule

   Which defines the daily programs of the planet's most famous creative folks, it is that there is not any one-size-fits-all    program. If you are starting a brand new creative venture or attempting to reinvigorate your current artistic practice,    consider experimenting with different routines.

   The very first place to begin is in bed. Make sure you're getting the Right amount of sleep for your particular age, health,    and way of life. The 8-hour recommendation which most of us know is actually just an average    [http://sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/how-much-sleep-do-we-really-need] -- a few adults need fewer hours though some    need much more.

   Next, when starting a creative job, make sure to give yourself enough time to find stream    (psychology), The psychological state related to being"fully immersed in a feeling of    energized attention, full participation, and enjoyment in the process" of an action that is perfectly suited to your current    skill level (i.e. not overly simple in order to be dull, not so challenging so as to be bothersome ).

   And finally, do not forget that your focus has a natural rhythm, just as your body understands when you will need sleep    (notice: circadian rhythm [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm]) and when to menstruate. Attempt to schedule routine breaks    [http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110208131529.htm]Throughout your workout to deactivate and refresh your mental    attention. My favourite method for doing this, especially during more emotionally taxing tasks, is the Pomodoro technique    [http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/the-pomodoro-technique-is-it-right-for-you.html]. Stay Creatively Fuele

   This May be a difficult one to swallow, however, the very best fuel for imagination is distress. The easiest way to churn out    the exact same work over and above is to get familiar with your skills and techniques, but seeking new problems will challenge    your abilities. Conflict can be a hidden    resource for inciting innovation [http://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/turn-conflict-into-creativity-5-tips.html]. Bettering your    worldview through authentic multicultural adventures will improve your creative thinking  

   Never Underestimate the ability of this buddy-system, from crossing the street to crossing things off your list. Commit to a    group of similar creatives or identify a person in your field who may appreciate some mutual responsibility, a close friend or    relative who isn't afraid to call out you for slacking, or, ideally, someone who is both.

   Create urgency by regularly setting hard deadlines and sticking to them. Research shows    [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12009041]That imposing strict deadlines on your own results in far better and more    consistent performance. It is a no brainer. Consider creating a simple accountability chart    [http://www.sparringmind.com/productivity-science/] to maintain progress.

Procrastination? Just Say No.

   Easier said than done, right? Well, understanding the science of Procrastination might help you overcome it. Psychologists    think that procrastination has all to do with disposition    [http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303933104579306664120892036]--we delay beginning a job to prevent the    negative feelings of anxiety or worry connected to the challenge. The remedy is to concentrate on repairing your mood in much    more productive ways:

    * Time Travel: Visualize how good you will feel when you finish your task.     * Just Get Started: Inform yourself you only have to do the first one or two steps. Everyone's done it, at least one time...     * Easy Things First: Build momentum by beginning with the steps which you feel like doing.

   Persevere

   YouTubeRecognize that disappointments and frustration are inevitable. Hopefully, you've already been inspired by this quote from Ira    Glass to keep trying despite feeling as if you're falling short.

   Also, Know the key to your success will not really depend on your own skills, abilities, talents, or even your intellect. What    you want to triumph is grit. Psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth discovered that the greatest predictor of a person's    achievement is self explanatory, the tenacity    to perpetrate long-term goals despite hardship.

[recentanimenews]

A Beginner's Guide To Dragon Ball

What is your great shame as an anime fan? What show has absolutely everyone seen but you? What titles in your backlog do you scroll over thinking you’ll watch it someday but never do? What series has your continued hesitance to engage with developed into an elitist disdain for? What colossal, inescapable anime will you never EVER watch?

  Hello, my name is Danni, and I’ve never seen a single episode of Dragon Ball.

      Let me explain myself. Growing up, there were few shows my siblings and I were allowed to watch on TV. It’s not just Dragon Ball Z that I missed out on. Name your favorite childhood show and I’ve probably never seen it. I did end up falling deep into the anime hole in my teen years, but I developed a habit of only watching short anime. My backlog was (and still is) massive, so I stuck to shows I could knock out in under a week. If it ran more than two seasons, I just didn’t have time for it.

  Lately, though, I’ve started to change my tune. I’ve been watching JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure since season one and got pretty deep into My Hero Academia last year. I’ve had a pretty snobbish attitude towards shonen anime for awhile now, but I think I’m starting to see the appeal. I could start watching Naruto...nah, maybe another time.

    Come to think of it, Dragon Ball Super ended pretty recently, didn’t it? I feel like everyone I know was freaking out about that final battle. I’ve also had this Dragon Ball FighterZ game for a month now, and it’s actually really cool. I know I’ve always thought that Dragon Ball Z can’t possibly be as good as it is long, but maybe it’s time I gave it a fair shot.

  It’s settled then. I’ll try watching Dragon Ball Z. My favorite characters in FighterZ are from Super, so I guess I should watch that, too. Isn’t there also an anime that comes before Z? I hate starting a series from the middle, so I’ll watch that, too. How many episodes is that in total? 575? Great, this is gonna take me like six years or something. Ah well. I can always slip into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to watch them. I don’t know what that is yet, but I’m sure I’ll find out soon. See you all in a year!

    Wow, what a year! It’s been so long since I wrote all that other stuff before. That definitely wasn’t all a bit I just wrote because I hadn’t started writing for Crunchyroll a year ago. It’s been a whole eleven months since I started watching Dragon Ball, and it’s been about three weeks since I finished Super just in time to catch the new movie. I’m living in a post-Dragon Ball world now, and there’s a Goku-shaped hole in my heart that I don’t know how to fill. I have a deeper appreciation for this series now than I ever expected to have, and I’ve been itching to tell you all about it.

  What can I say about Dragon Ball that hasn’t already been said, though? Surely its legions of fans don’t need me to tell them what they already know. Then I realized something. I can’t be the only one who hadn’t seen it. Somewhere, somehow, someone out there right now has yet to experience for themselves the joys of Toei’s crowning achievement.  They’re probably sitting there right now asking themselves why they should watch it now after so long. Their thoughts might be clogged with preconceived notions about the series that couldn’t be further from the truth. Mine were. I’d like to right that wrong, so I’ve compiled a list of seven things I didn’t know until I saw for myself. This is the beginner’s guide to watching Dragon Ball.

It’s perfect for binge-watching

    The biggest lie you’ll ever hear about Dragon Ball from both fans and critics alike is that there are long stretches of episodes full of attacks charging and nothing else. It was something I had always heard about the show and was warned about when I decided to check it out. I waited and waited for these fabled episodes and by the end of DBZ, I realized they don’t exist (Before you ask, no, I wasn’t watching Kai). To be fair, there are times in the show when a character needs to spend most or all of an episode charging an attack. This isn’t near as boring as it sounds, though, as there is always a battle taking place to defend that character and usually a B plot to cut away to.

  Climactic battles do tend to drag on a lot in Dragon Ball, I’ll admit. So if you were a kid only able to watch at the pace of one episode a week, it would sure feel like nothing was happening. I watched the entire series at an average pace of almost two episodes a day, and that made all the difference. I was able to see battles play out over a few hours rather than a few months. If it ever got dull (which it did sometimes), I could just leave it on in the background and listen to some legendary voices shout at each other while browsing Twitter or playing on my Switch. Most of the time, though, my eyes were glued to the screen, anxious to see what would happen next.

  It’s actually about martial arts

I’m honestly a little embarrassed that I didn’t already know this. My second-hand exposure to Dragon Ball had only ever shown me clips and images of people flying around shooting energy beams and fireballs at each other. It wasn’t until I saw FighterZ gameplay in action that I realized there’s hand-to-hand combat in the show, and it took watching the original series for me to learn it’s the whole dang focus. In fact, a large chunk of the series’ sagas take place in or under the guise of a worldwide martial arts tournament, most of which can be found in the original series. Speaking of which…

  You can skip the original series, but you should still give it a shot

  Everyone I know thought I was crazy for not simply starting with Z. I thought I was crazy for not starting with Z. I had been told over and over again that everything that needed to be explained from it eventually gets explained in its sequel. I had been warned countless times that it’s so far apart from what it eventually becomes. I knew all this, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling that I’d be missing part of the story if I skipped it. So, I took the plunge. Now, eleven months later, I’m here to tell you that, yeah, you don’t need it to watch Z and Super, but you should still watch it anyway.

  The thing that will surprise you most about Dragon Ball is that it isn’t an action series yet -- it’s an adventure series. Loosely inspired by the classic adventure novel Journey to the West, the original series largely revolves around a young Goku’s quests to retrieve the seven Dragon Balls that can (presumably) grant any wish when brought together. Along the way, he encounters a series of villains who all seek the Dragon Balls for some nefarious reason, and Goku takes it on himself to stop them.

  Admittedly, the original series takes awhile to get going. It’s incredibly dated in some of the worst ways, making the first half of the series a bit of a slog to get through. Still, though, it features the first World Martial Arts Tournament saga, which offered me my first glimpses at Dragon Ball’s potential. The latter half of the series kicks off with its second tournament arc, aka the Tien Shinhan saga, aka the moment I finally fell in love with Dragon Ball. It’s here that Dragon Ball offered it’s best action and most compelling characters to date in the show. It still sits as my personal favorite tournament arc in the series. Dragon Ball manages to keep the momentum rolling with great arc after great arc as it launches itself straight into Z. It has its fair share of flaws and isn’t altogether necessary, but it’s absolutely still worth your time.

  The titular Dragon Balls aren’t lost for long

    So when Dragon Ball’s first episode ended with Goku and Bulma beginning their quest to find all seven Dragon Balls, I got a little antsy. I asked, “Is this gonna be like One Piece where they’re gonna need over a thousand episodes just to find the Dragon Balls?” Turns out I was about 987+ episodes short on my guess there. It really doesn’t take them long at all to find Dragon Balls and make their wish, even if it doesn’t exactly go as planned.

Every time the Dragon Balls are used, they disappear for a full year. This means that most of Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z’s first sagas bounce back and forth between quests to find them and killing time until they can be used again. At some point in Z, though, the goal posts shift to a point where obtaining the Dragon Balls becomes completely trivial and they merely act as macguffins for resurrecting dead cast members.

  Power levels don’t actually matter

    If you’ve existed on the internet at all within the last decade and a half, you’ve likely seen the most popular Dragon Ball meme over nine-thousand times already. Between all the memes and chatter from fans, I learned about Dragon Ball’s power levels long before I ever saw them in action. Everyone has a power level and if your power level is lower than someone else’s, you’re guaranteed to lose. At least, that’s what I thought. As it turns out, power levels don’t actually mean that much in the grand scope of Dragon Ball.

  They’re first introduced in the very first episode of DBZ supposedly with the rules I listed until Goku surprises everyone by actually raising his power level. The first few sagas in DBZ are filled with villains boasting about their power levels only to somehow be defeated by someone whose power level had been lower just moments ago. It doesn’t even take Goku half the series to defeat the highest power level in the universe, at which point the term has already become meaningless.

  Super nullifies the concept even further by bringing back characters whose powers had long since been eclipsed and making them legitimate contenders. I wish someone had cleared this up for me much sooner. I had always figured that Dragon Ball fights were done deals where the highest power level always won. Who wants to watch a battle anime where the underdog never wins? Thankfully, Dragon Ball is all about the underdogs.

  Goku is pretty cool

    The hero of the story is cool. Big shocker, I know, but bear with me. If you only know Goku through clips of him fighting, of course it makes sense that he’s cool. However, once you actually start watching Dragon Ball, you kind of forget all about it, because he’s a massive goofball 99% of the time. He’s a dork from the countryside who only ever thinks about eating and fighting and doesn’t know what a kiss is despite having two sons and a granddaughter. He’s childish and naive, but when the chips are down and he gets serious, he gets serious. It rules every single time.

  Get this, Dragon Ball is really good

    Like, really really good. Don’t get me wrong, I had hoped to appreciate Dragon Ball when I first began watching it, but I never expected to fall this deeply in love with it. I spent nearly a full year watching every single episode of this series -- a series I had never intended to watch before. I spent literal hundreds of hours of my year bonding with Goku and his pals, and it hasn’t even been a month and I already wanna do it all over again.

Dragon Ball is a monolithic, world-renowned series for a reason, and that reason is because it’s freaking GOOD. Its cast is iconic, its art style is timeless, its action is to die for, and it only gets better and better as it goes on. Seriously, it’s been more than three decades since the show began and it’s still blowing minds at the box office. It isn’t a series that rests on its laurels and name recognition alone, it constantly one-ups itself with every iteration.

  I know, there probably aren’t many of you out there who haven’t seen Dragon Ball and thus most of you won’t find this article very useful. That doesn’t matter to me right now. Because I know I’m not alone. I know there are people out there just like I used to be who at best think they don’t have time for Dragon Ball and at worst think it’s somehow beneath them. Even if there are only twelve people like that out there, I want all twelve of them to read this piece and rethink their prior misconceptions.

If that doesn’t apply to you, yet you’re still with me anyway, first of all, thank you. Second of all, I want you to think of the Dragon Ball in your life. What show do you think you don’t have the time for? What show do you think isn’t worth your time? If you’ve learned anything from me today, I want it to be this: that show might be your next favorite. You’ll never know until you sit down and watch it.

    Are you a lifelong fan of Dragon Ball? A relative newcomer like Danni? Did you not even know it existed before? Let us know in the comments below!

  -----

Danni Wilmoth is a Features and Social Videos writer for Crunchyroll and also co-hosts the video game podcast Indiecent. You can find more words from her on Twitter @NanamisEgg.

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[koristore-blog]

Pros /

Colorful, full-HD display; Long battery life; Plenty of ports and DVD drive; Accurate sound;

Cons /

Grainy webcam; Narrow viewing angles;

Verdict /

A colorful display, long battery life and strong build quality make the Aspire Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM a fantastic value.

If you want a sub-$350 Windows laptop, you usually have to settle for a dull, low-res screen; lackluster design; and mediocre performance. For $349 ($429 with Windows Office), Acer’s Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM defies those expectations, providing a colorful 1080p display, solid build quality and a reasonable Core i3 processor. Throw in over 8 hours of battery life, a DVD drive and just about every port you can imagine, and this 15.6-inch laptop is a real winner for consumers on a budget.

Design: Solid

Acer’s Aspire E 15 is made of sturdy black plastic with a dark gray, matte lid that has a subtle crosshatch pattern and texture, along with a deck that looks like faux brushed aluminum. The notebook seems to have solid build quality, because it didn’t creak or buckle during my use; the keyboard didn’t show any signs of flex while typing either.

At 10.2 x 1.5 x 1.2 inches and 5.06 pounds, the E 15 E5-575-33BM is bulky, but it’s not much bigger than other budget 15-inch laptops. The Dell Inspiron 15 5000 is heavier (5.2 pounds) but thinner (0.92 inches), while the HP Notebook 15-ba009dx (4.6 pounds, 0.96 inches thick) is both thinner and lighter. The 14-inch Asus VivoBook E403SA is a much smaller alternative, at 3.18 pounds and 0.7 inches thick.

Ports: Everything you need plus DVD

The Aspire’s thick frame leaves plenty of room for both a DVD writer and almost every conceivable port. The left side houses a full-size Ethernet port, two USB 3.0 connectors, HDMI-out, VGA-out and a USB Type-C 3.1 port that’s good for data but that can’t be used to charge the laptop. The right side contains the DVD drive, a third USB port and a 3.5mm audio jack. The front lip offers an SD card reader.

Keyboard and Touchpad: Comfy and accurate

The Acer E 15’s keyboard offers a good typing experience that’s free from any of the shallowness or flex we find on many budget laptops. The keys provide a full 1.5mm of vertical travel and require 64 grams of force to actuate, a combination which prevented me from bottoming out as I typed. I reached a strong 100 words. Many users will appreciate the dedicated numeric keypad, which makes using the calculator or editing spreadsheets easier.

The 4.2 x 3-inch buttonless touchpad provides reasonably-accurate navigation around the desktop, but its surface felt a little slippery to me. The pad seemed to have a little trouble with pinch-to-zoom, as it didn’t always respond right away when I performed the gesture in Chrome browser or Windows 10’s photo app. Three-finger swiping to switch between apps worked every time.

Display: Surprisingly good

It’s rare that you find a 1920 x 1080 display on a sub-$400 laptop, let alone a display that covers this much of the color gamut. The Aspire E 15’s 15.6-inch screen outputs at a sharp 1080p resolution with tones that are vibrant, though not always accurate, and very limited viewing angles. When I watched a trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming, the reds and blues in Spidey’s costume popped, but appeared a bit oversaturated.

According to our colorimeter, the Acer E 15 can reproduce an impressive 159 percent of the sRGB color gamut, which is well above the 94 percent mainstream laptop average. That showing also trounces competitors in the E 15’s price range, such as the HP Notebook 15 (70 percent), Asus VivoBook E403SA (68 percent) and Dell Inspiron 15 5000 (72 percent).

Unfortunately, the numbers here don’t tell the full story, as the viewing angles were quite narrow. Dark images began inverting at just 45 degrees to the left or right.

Don’t try using this laptop in direct sunlight. The Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM registered just 215 nits on our light meter, well below the 276-nit category average but actually better than showings by the Notebook 15 (174 nits) and VivoBook E403SA (201 nits). The Inspiron 15 5000 (213 nits) had a nearly identical score.

Audio: Decent

The Aspire E 15’s speakers offer output that’s quite accurate and loud enough to fill a medium-sized room. When I played Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water,” I could hear a clear separation of sound amid the drums, vocals and guitar. There was only a hint of tinniness in the high tones.

Performance: Ready for (light) multitasking

With its Core i3-7100U CPU, 4GB of RAM and 1TB 5,400-rpm hard drive, the Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM offers just enough performance for light multitasking. With 12 tabs open in Chrome and a local 1080p video playing in another window, I experienced minimal lag when switching between the tabs. However, when one of the tabs was streaming a video (in addition to the local video) or downloading a large web page, things slowed down to the point that letters I typed in a Google doc didn’t appear until seconds after I hit the keys.

The Aspire E 15 scored a modest 5,408 on Geekbench 4, a synthetic benchmark that measures overall performance. That’s much less than the Core i5-7200U-powered Inspiron 15 5000’s score (6,742), but better than the showing by the HP Notebook 15-ba009dx (3,291) and its AMD A6-7310 CPU.

Acer’s laptop took 5 minutes and 14 seconds to complete the Laptop Spreadsheet Macro Test, in which we match 20,000 names with their addresses. That time is slower than the 4:01 category average and the Inspiron 15 5000’s time of 4:03, but more than twice as quick as the times from the Pentium N3700-powered Asus VivoBook E403SA (13:31) and the HP Notebook 15 (11:40).

The E 15’s 1TB hard drive copied 4.97GB of mixed-media files at a rate of 36.6 megabytes per second, which is significantly slower than the result for the Inspiron 15 5000 (83.4 MBps) and a bit lower than the HP Notebook 15-ba009dx’s showing (40 MBps), both of which have 5,400-rpm hard drives. The VivoBook E403SA and its eMMC memory did even worse (30.1 MBps).

You can watch full-HD movies on Acer’s laptop, but don’t think about playing anything more than casual games on it. The E 15’s Intel HD 620 GPU managed a mediocre 49,211 on 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited, a synthetic graphics test. That mark is well below the Inspiron 15 5000’s score of 60,475 and the category average (86,474). However, the Notebook 15-ba009dx (33,649) and VivoBook E403SA (26,224) scored even lower.

Upgrading: Encouraged

Unlike many manufacturers, who don’t want you to touch your laptop’s innards, Acer actually cites the easy-to-remove upgrade panel on the bottom as a reason to buy this laptop. If you want to improve the performance of the E 15 E-575-33BM, you can upgrade its RAM and storage drive easily and inexpensively.

Once you take the panel off, you can put up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM inside or swap out the hard drive for any 2.5-inch SATA SSD. The machine comes with only one of its two memory slots filled, so you can pop in an extra 4GB, which costs around $33, for a total of 8GB. A 240GB or 250GB SSD goes for between $90 and $100. When there’s a sale, you can get both components for far less. So, for $480 or less, you can have this laptop with an SSD, 8GB of RAM and a 1080p display.

Battery Life: Great for the Size

If you don’t mind carrying the Aspire E 15 around, you’ll really appreciate its long battery life. The laptop lasted 8 hours and 16 minutes on the Laptop Battery Test, which involves continuous surfing over Wi-Fi. That time is an hour and 20 minutes longer than the category average (6:52) and around double the time of the Dell Inspiron 15 5000 (4:25) and HP Notebook 15 (3:36). The 14-inch VivoBook E403SA (9:02) lasted a bit longer.

Webcam: Too much noise

Even in a market in which most built-in laptop webcams take poor pictures, the Aspire’s 720p sensor stands out for all the wrong reasons. When I shot a selfie under the flourescent lights of my office, both my facial features and the background behind me were filled to the brim with extra visual noise. Fine details like the hairs in my beard and the lines on my skin were hard to make out.

The E 15 is certified for Skype for business, which means that its microphone, speakers and webcam are guaranteed to work with Microsoft’s enterprise-friendly conferencing software. However, given the image quality of the built-in lens, we recommend purchasing an external webcam if you plan to make video calls for work.

Heat: Pretty cool

The Aspire E 15 stayed cool and comfortable to the touch throughout our use. After I streamed 15 minutes of video, the touchpad measured 78 degrees Fahrenheit, the keyboard clocked in at 84 degrees and the bottom hit only 85.5 degrees. All of those temperatures are well below our 95-degree comfort threshold.

Configuration Options

Acer’s Aspire E 15 family comes in a wide variety of configurations.If you’re willing to spend a couple hundred dollars more, the $579 Aspire E5-575G-57D4 has the same screen and chassis as our review model, but features a Core i5-7200U CPU, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. The $629 E5-575G-53VG adds Nvidia 940MX graphics.

Software and Warranty

Acer preloads the Aspire E 15 with just a handful of utilities that aren’t harmful but that mostly duplicate built-in Windows 10 features. Acer Care Center checks the system health and looks for software updates. Acer Power Button sets what the power button does: turn off the computer, sleep, hibernate or disable the display, but all those options are also available in the Windows 10 control panel. Acer Quick Access allows you to turn on the Blue light-reduction mode or set up your computer as a hotspot, features that you can get as part of the OS. CyberLink’s PowerDVD lets you play movies on disc.

Like every other Windows 10 laptop we’ve tested, the machine comes bundled with Microsoft’s standard load of casual games and trialware, including, Sling TV, Candy Crush Soda, Royal Revolt II, March of Empires: War of Lords, a link to download Fallout Shelter and a link to download Asphalt 8.

Acer backs the E 15 with a standard one-year limited warranty. See how Acer did on our laptop brand ratings and tech support showdown.

The Bottom Line

The Acer Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM offers a great combination of solid performance, good battery life and strong usability for the money. You’d be hard-pressed to find another 15-inch laptop with features and build quality this good selling for anywhere near $350.

If you’re looking for a lighter laptop with longer battery life in this price range, consider Asus’ 14-inch VivoBook E403SA, which costs $50 more and has much weaker performance, but weighs just 3.18 pounds and lasts over 9 hours on a charge. However, if you want the best budget 15-inch laptop available right now, look no further than the E 15 E5-575-33BM.

Acer Aspire E 15 (E5-575-33BM) Pros / Colorful, full-HD display; Long battery life; Plenty of ports and DVD drive; Accurate sound;

[galucy-blog]

Pros /

Colorful, full-HD display; Long battery life; Plenty of ports and DVD drive; Accurate sound;

Cons /

Grainy webcam; Narrow viewing angles;

Verdict /

A colorful display, long battery life and strong build quality make the Aspire Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM a fantastic value.

If you want a sub-$350 Windows laptop, you usually have to settle for a dull, low-res screen; lackluster design; and mediocre performance. For $349 ($429 with Windows Office), Acer’s Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM defies those expectations, providing a colorful 1080p display, solid build quality and a reasonable Core i3 processor. Throw in over 8 hours of battery life, a DVD drive and just about every port you can imagine, and this 15.6-inch laptop is a real winner for consumers on a budget.

Design: Solid

Acer’s Aspire E 15 is made of sturdy black plastic with a dark gray, matte lid that has a subtle crosshatch pattern and texture, along with a deck that looks like faux brushed aluminum. The notebook seems to have solid build quality, because it didn’t creak or buckle during my use; the keyboard didn’t show any signs of flex while typing either.

At 10.2 x 1.5 x 1.2 inches and 5.06 pounds, the E 15 E5-575-33BM is bulky, but it’s not much bigger than other budget 15-inch laptops. The Dell Inspiron 15 5000 is heavier (5.2 pounds) but thinner (0.92 inches), while the HP Notebook 15-ba009dx (4.6 pounds, 0.96 inches thick) is both thinner and lighter. The 14-inch Asus VivoBook E403SA is a much smaller alternative, at 3.18 pounds and 0.7 inches thick.

Ports: Everything you need plus DVD

The Aspire’s thick frame leaves plenty of room for both a DVD writer and almost every conceivable port. The left side houses a full-size Ethernet port, two USB 3.0 connectors, HDMI-out, VGA-out and a USB Type-C 3.1 port that’s good for data but that can’t be used to charge the laptop. The right side contains the DVD drive, a third USB port and a 3.5mm audio jack. The front lip offers an SD card reader.

Keyboard and Touchpad: Comfy and accurate

The Acer E 15’s keyboard offers a good typing experience that’s free from any of the shallowness or flex we find on many budget laptops. The keys provide a full 1.5mm of vertical travel and require 64 grams of force to actuate, a combination which prevented me from bottoming out as I typed. I reached a strong 100 words. Many users will appreciate the dedicated numeric keypad, which makes using the calculator or editing spreadsheets easier.

The 4.2 x 3-inch buttonless touchpad provides reasonably-accurate navigation around the desktop, but its surface felt a little slippery to me. The pad seemed to have a little trouble with pinch-to-zoom, as it didn’t always respond right away when I performed the gesture in Chrome browser or Windows 10’s photo app. Three-finger swiping to switch between apps worked every time.

Display: Surprisingly good

It’s rare that you find a 1920 x 1080 display on a sub-$400 laptop, let alone a display that covers this much of the color gamut. The Aspire E 15’s 15.6-inch screen outputs at a sharp 1080p resolution with tones that are vibrant, though not always accurate, and very limited viewing angles. When I watched a trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming, the reds and blues in Spidey’s costume popped, but appeared a bit oversaturated.

According to our colorimeter, the Acer E 15 can reproduce an impressive 159 percent of the sRGB color gamut, which is well above the 94 percent mainstream laptop average. That showing also trounces competitors in the E 15’s price range, such as the HP Notebook 15 (70 percent), Asus VivoBook E403SA (68 percent) and Dell Inspiron 15 5000 (72 percent).

Unfortunately, the numbers here don’t tell the full story, as the viewing angles were quite narrow. Dark images began inverting at just 45 degrees to the left or right.

Don’t try using this laptop in direct sunlight. The Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM registered just 215 nits on our light meter, well below the 276-nit category average but actually better than showings by the Notebook 15 (174 nits) and VivoBook E403SA (201 nits). The Inspiron 15 5000 (213 nits) had a nearly identical score.

Audio: Decent

The Aspire E 15’s speakers offer output that’s quite accurate and loud enough to fill a medium-sized room. When I played Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water,” I could hear a clear separation of sound amid the drums, vocals and guitar. There was only a hint of tinniness in the high tones.

Performance: Ready for (light) multitasking

With its Core i3-7100U CPU, 4GB of RAM and 1TB 5,400-rpm hard drive, the Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM offers just enough performance for light multitasking. With 12 tabs open in Chrome and a local 1080p video playing in another window, I experienced minimal lag when switching between the tabs. However, when one of the tabs was streaming a video (in addition to the local video) or downloading a large web page, things slowed down to the point that letters I typed in a Google doc didn’t appear until seconds after I hit the keys.

The Aspire E 15 scored a modest 5,408 on Geekbench 4, a synthetic benchmark that measures overall performance. That’s much less than the Core i5-7200U-powered Inspiron 15 5000’s score (6,742), but better than the showing by the HP Notebook 15-ba009dx (3,291) and its AMD A6-7310 CPU.

Acer’s laptop took 5 minutes and 14 seconds to complete the Laptop Spreadsheet Macro Test, in which we match 20,000 names with their addresses. That time is slower than the 4:01 category average and the Inspiron 15 5000’s time of 4:03, but more than twice as quick as the times from the Pentium N3700-powered Asus VivoBook E403SA (13:31) and the HP Notebook 15 (11:40).

The E 15’s 1TB hard drive copied 4.97GB of mixed-media files at a rate of 36.6 megabytes per second, which is significantly slower than the result for the Inspiron 15 5000 (83.4 MBps) and a bit lower than the HP Notebook 15-ba009dx’s showing (40 MBps), both of which have 5,400-rpm hard drives. The VivoBook E403SA and its eMMC memory did even worse (30.1 MBps).

You can watch full-HD movies on Acer’s laptop, but don’t think about playing anything more than casual games on it. The E 15’s Intel HD 620 GPU managed a mediocre 49,211 on 3DMark Ice Storm Unlimited, a synthetic graphics test. That mark is well below the Inspiron 15 5000’s score of 60,475 and the category average (86,474). However, the Notebook 15-ba009dx (33,649) and VivoBook E403SA (26,224) scored even lower.

Upgrading: Encouraged

Unlike many manufacturers, who don’t want you to touch your laptop’s innards, Acer actually cites the easy-to-remove upgrade panel on the bottom as a reason to buy this laptop. If you want to improve the performance of the E 15 E-575-33BM, you can upgrade its RAM and storage drive easily and inexpensively.

Once you take the panel off, you can put up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM inside or swap out the hard drive for any 2.5-inch SATA SSD. The machine comes with only one of its two memory slots filled, so you can pop in an extra 4GB, which costs around $33, for a total of 8GB. A 240GB or 250GB SSD goes for between $90 and $100. When there’s a sale, you can get both components for far less. So, for $480 or less, you can have this laptop with an SSD, 8GB of RAM and a 1080p display.

Battery Life: Great for the Size

If you don’t mind carrying the Aspire E 15 around, you’ll really appreciate its long battery life. The laptop lasted 8 hours and 16 minutes on the Laptop Battery Test, which involves continuous surfing over Wi-Fi. That time is an hour and 20 minutes longer than the category average (6:52) and around double the time of the Dell Inspiron 15 5000 (4:25) and HP Notebook 15 (3:36). The 14-inch VivoBook E403SA (9:02) lasted a bit longer.

Webcam: Too much noise

Even in a market in which most built-in laptop webcams take poor pictures, the Aspire’s 720p sensor stands out for all the wrong reasons. When I shot a selfie under the flourescent lights of my office, both my facial features and the background behind me were filled to the brim with extra visual noise. Fine details like the hairs in my beard and the lines on my skin were hard to make out.

The E 15 is certified for Skype for business, which means that its microphone, speakers and webcam are guaranteed to work with Microsoft’s enterprise-friendly conferencing software. However, given the image quality of the built-in lens, we recommend purchasing an external webcam if you plan to make video calls for work.

Heat: Pretty cool

The Aspire E 15 stayed cool and comfortable to the touch throughout our use. After I streamed 15 minutes of video, the touchpad measured 78 degrees Fahrenheit, the keyboard clocked in at 84 degrees and the bottom hit only 85.5 degrees. All of those temperatures are well below our 95-degree comfort threshold.

Configuration Options

Acer’s Aspire E 15 family comes in a wide variety of configurations.If you’re willing to spend a couple hundred dollars more, the $579 Aspire E5-575G-57D4 has the same screen and chassis as our review model, but features a Core i5-7200U CPU, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. The $629 E5-575G-53VG adds Nvidia 940MX graphics.

Software and Warranty

Acer preloads the Aspire E 15 with just a handful of utilities that aren’t harmful but that mostly duplicate built-in Windows 10 features. Acer Care Center checks the system health and looks for software updates. Acer Power Button sets what the power button does: turn off the computer, sleep, hibernate or disable the display, but all those options are also available in the Windows 10 control panel. Acer Quick Access allows you to turn on the Blue light-reduction mode or set up your computer as a hotspot, features that you can get as part of the OS. CyberLink’s PowerDVD lets you play movies on disc.

Like every other Windows 10 laptop we’ve tested, the machine comes bundled with Microsoft’s standard load of casual games and trialware, including, Sling TV, Candy Crush Soda, Royal Revolt II, March of Empires: War of Lords, a link to download Fallout Shelter and a link to download Asphalt 8.

Acer backs the E 15 with a standard one-year limited warranty. See how Acer did on our laptop brand ratings and tech support showdown.

The Bottom Line

The Acer Aspire E 15 E5-575-33BM offers a great combination of solid performance, good battery life and strong usability for the money. You’d be hard-pressed to find another 15-inch laptop with features and build quality this good selling for anywhere near $350.

If you’re looking for a lighter laptop with longer battery life in this price range, consider Asus’ 14-inch VivoBook E403SA, which costs $50 more and has much weaker performance, but weighs just 3.18 pounds and lasts over 9 hours on a charge. However, if you want the best budget 15-inch laptop available right now, look no further than the E 15 E5-575-33BM.

Acer Aspire E 15 (E5-575-33BM)

Pros / Colorful, full-HD display; Long battery life; Plenty of ports and DVD drive; Accurate sound;

Acer Aspire E 15 (E5-575-33BM) Pros / Colorful, full-HD display; Long battery life; Plenty of ports and DVD drive; Accurate sound;

[imahedonisticworm-blog]

Saturday’s inanity

I have been thinking lately maybe I should revise and expand my English vocabulary since there was a moment during a dull conversation which I could not find a word to conjure my thoughts. I have to admit I have been passively learning English for the past twelve years and currently, this process is hauled. 

I’ve been reading a lot and some people could say that mine was a passive reading style. I can vaguely understand the big picture but not the peculiarity of the writer’s subliminal message. That was why I found Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain was assertively supporting the institution of slavery even though the main character had shown a liberal personality. My ex-crush (Ouch!!!) told me to be able to comprehend the obscure humor of Mark Twain, one needs to be very impartial. I think I favored his opinions again, but then, again and again, that’s why he was my crush and now an ex-crush (things never work out between us) since we share the commonality but we are living in two different dimensions. Our paths will never cross each other despite my restless effort of trying to alter the movement of the universe. 

I got my first boyfriend when I was fourteen. He was one year older than me and we went to the same secondary school. We simply knew each other through friends, and for the record, I was unintentionally stealing him from one of the girls in our clique. (What?) He obviously saw her as his younger sister, and when I declared my fanciness towards him, she was voluntarily supporting me (then went home and wept a torrent, who knew?!). He asked me out eventually, and we dated for almost one year and a half. First love sucks. It was a terrible experience compared to when you go to the dentist and constantly feeling uptight. It was like that because my parents used to act like NSA agents. They thought I was too young to be in a relationship and there was a thing going on with the Asian’s Tiger Mom cliché. They forbade me from hanging out with him, sneakily checked my phone for any suspicious text, and seized my social life. I was dealing with my puberty crisis and their acts just exacerbated the situation. I still secretly skipped school to meet up with him and asked my loyal girlfriends to cover my ass. My ex-boyfriend could be considered a heartthrob but now he looks like a sunburned leprechaun.  My height is average for a girl but he’s would be is an oddity for a boy. I was in love, or maybe I was under teenage sedation. Our dating spot was usually a home theater where we could actually be alone (we didn’t go there just to watch movies 3 times per week?!). The luring lights from the screen contrasted with the dark had freed me from reality, into an artificial galaxy, into nothingness. When I was with him, time would stop, only us in a swimming pool full of sunshine and breeze. I would melt like butter on pancakes and his kiss was as tempted as maple syrup. While he was there, my sun, as I was a forgotten planet in greed of warmness. All of these infatuations never happened with him, and I was glad my mind was not infected by his presence. I do not hold any grudge against him. We were not what we expected. He seemed to be a nice person, he still does, but his biggest flaw was his flirtatious characteristic and damn, I was a skeptical bitch. We bickered every day until we broke up through text. We are acquaintances now, there were some occasional conversations, but that’s all. He said that we weren’t meant to be. I said that I’m just an intrigued ethereal piece of puzzle which would never fit in his mediocre picture of life. 

The second person to whom I devoted my time and mind was my high-school crush. I was a freshman and he had just started his senior year, we did not have much time left. Again, I joined another clique and this time all the girls fancied him. I was completely ignorant from the outset until one day, I decided that he was acceptably cute. He was very typical, member of the school’s basketball team, played cajón in a band, pretty good with English and was friends with other handsome guys (pls, he’s not gay). A perfect heterosexual target for any freshman girls. I was in the game of chatting, flirting, and competing against one of my girlfriends. No one won, but I lost. I ended up sabotaging my friendship and he ended up dating one of his classmates while toying with my feelings. I might have wasted my time on him. I joined the basketball team, I learned pen-tapping, I listened to rap and rock music, I went to school early and stayed overtime, hid behind 3rd-floor corridor secretly watched him playing basketball, all for his attention. I sounded like a stalker but I did not have any voodoo doll (yet?!) or photos of him for masturbating purpose(?!). My love for him was pure. It was soft like cotton candy, and melt in one’s mouth, leaving no traces (He did not know about my affection until years later). I kept texting him and hoping one day I would become somewhat important, but I eventually turned into his incidental past. He was aware of my fondness, he directly stated that you should date somebody else, stop having a crush on me. He should be praised for being truthful and I should have been attentive to those indications. Love is trivial. One day you make up your mind and decide that’s enough, I’m so done with this bullshit or you would just be like me, having this inane hope that it was all a lapse, I can come back and fix everything. Every time I read a love-like niche meme on social media or listening to pop songs with jejune meanings, they remind me of him, provoke poignancy in me. He was exquisite. I was just busy chasing his upside-down shadow that I forgot he was no longer a high-school sweetheart and I was no longer a carefree freshman. 

We are grown-up now and dealing with heartbreaks is time-consuming. We would meet, compromise our differentiated personalities, interlock our bodies in unison, generate progeny, bequeath our intelligence and knowledge to our offspring then finally decay into thin air. Human is an ephemeral organism. We exist to witness our prominent moments and let ourselves incinerated by time. Still, we overbear our life with self-deception.  

[cherrycalf]

KingsRoad Tool

With the help of the opportunity evaluate a game headline that ticked all of consumers containers, i figured i'd sprain an eyeball with the transporting. You will decide on a trio of numbers - dim party, archer, or mage (while the archer school sits behind model hundreds,000 gold rings paywall - certainly not a significant amount of cash inside of the prepare of products), just about every employing their evident deficiencies and skills. |Competitors also get yourself experiencing traits like knockdown, acidity impairment, hails of arrows, plus much more. Should you not have access to good tools to complete all slots you may, you suspected it, complete the remaining with gems. These lump your infiltration experience, cooldown timers, spruce up your mana regeneration, provide you with a much larger being swimming pool - the common rpg fare. Past the blacksmith and enchanter, there are many more npcs you will experience in Kingsroad Bot. Repeatedly, developing place comes with a jewel fees, but it’s a vast improvement on not much. A in a straight line path code, experience highlighting (blacksmith, alchemist, banker) opened when you execute as well as receiving spammed with tools to consider when you set in place toes approximately - this is at sign-in and at objective conclusion. The average conventions can be found at this point: car-infiltration that changes objective as very long when you start out the infiltration, barrels and crates to reduce, crucial employers with specific assaults and “tells” prior to this they take it out. It had become validated much like a wizard soon after i became joined getting a dim party many different concentrations far better. Or anything else. |The sport also attempts to be in excess of a solo code and doesn't genuinely thrive. does procure some decent gathering experience - set on control (set repair), guard (takes all gathering impairment), yet are harmful towards impairment he cost savings throughout a occasion (try to remember a lot of impairment = a lot of gold rings, a lot of xp). Figure animation truth are generally rather pleasure. In spite of this, in case you prefer a pleasure, entirely free, laid back solo rpg to have for the Exactly like a dim party out from the realm, gamers have assured their being in safeguard out from the realm. I've been actively playing only a few few weeks now and discover it enjoyable. The sport centers an unnecessary number of on weekly circumstances and not new written content. Unless of course hundreds to thousands are bought model numbers improvement the woking software might make a ranking objective towards the richest gamers once and for all. - bugs will not be resolved. |Golf hole code is dependant upon milling gold rings and various kinds materials used. Leaderboards will also be forwarded to p2w gamers together with the success aren't definitely worth the time. Everything you need to do is join a guild, and uncover quite high lvl gamers that Farmville is horrible. If you find yourself tools capped, the sport might be pleasure for about a matter of minutes. Ultimately, your entire explanation i’m there's within the basin time/de-stress. Fly, for example. dungeon crawler that is just as pleasure because of the speed premiums that impressed it. |Even when the whole thing you’ve go through currently implements instantly to Kingsroad Bot, likewise, it concerns just about almost every other code inside of the style of music you can check out. Kingsroad Bot doesn't have vitality-heavy product or service expenditures. Rumble recreational has smartly built-in a reason to keep gamers having fun with other individuals, and also for whenever it takes the idea of ‘social’ speed premiums outside of maddening your fb mates that may assist you finish off making your barn or possibly a ferris tire. Kingsroad Bot provides townsfolk who can now craft tools for everyone, however they get it done relating to the clock. Coating out some premium gems, and you will get what you would like when you wish it. Pretty, delight in because you eventually purchase a school and visit battle attractive quickly. Although there are several in-application form expenditures approximately, you will consistently feel like you are acquiring a thing by remaining entirely free. Even though it looks primarily as if you invest once and for all tools you just need to make use of the making solution within the blacksmith and you may operate each and every shitty items for measurably better tools. Kingsroad Bot is undoubtedly an via the internet steps rpg from rumble speed premiums, playable equally across the fb canvas at the same time on outdoor environment website. |In Kingsroad Bot, gamers could keep control of a dim party, archer or wizard figure, and can move involving these as required involving quests the moment they pick they require a general improvement in playstyle. As a substitute for becoming arise a sprawling, consistent opened country or dungeon like diablo and torchlight, Kingsroad Bot is reasonably separate perfectly into a in a straight line path sequence of small, discrete concentrations which every different have a couple of minutes to have. The sport provides via the internet cooperative multiple-participant by means of a computerized online dating solution. trend to need to have modest in terms of process and much more in terms of quickly giving an answer to events just because they show up. At distinct milestones, the video gamer receives small prizes of challenging currency exchange, any time the intention is totally “mastered” the reward is definitely a much larger one time payment monthly payment of challenging currency exchange. Women figure options are outstanding by their absence right now, go through the implementation within the selectable sex needs not only a new figure style (incorporating mesh and animation) employing supplement for all the visible items tools being remade with regards to your new style, it is not very important to that small organization at rumble currently. A lot self-professed “hardcore” fb and wireless speed premiums are basically dreary, incredibly dull experiences that oversight apathy for sophistication, but Kingsroad Bot properly sidesteps that trouble making use of the set up set up of other practical speed premiums as well as putting its very own one of a kind rewrite on stuff. In spite of this, it's important to note this game may also be playable online by using rumble’s private website page, so person numbers from appdata only account for consumers gamers who've particular choose to to have fb or connect their rumble credit account towards social media. They have found larger city impression impairment, easy methods to keep control of crowds of people of stabby-loos that acquire approximately him, so as when he concentrations up he gets some rather awesome wonderful auras, incorporating the one which |But all isn't considering that it looks, and also in the king’s absence a fresh satanic takes main in the home, threatening not merely his empire but likewise his only child, princess emma. The battle sequences are quickly-paced also it appropriately requires the players’ care with showing up in the adversaries, employing their spells as well as endeavoring to don't get huge success with enemy fireplace, and using the and mana potions to include on receiving the fight Leader battles will also be important to note, since they are major and imposing that contain authentic spells in their technique capturing them minimize will need sufficient preparing for and process. Really need to gamers choose to modify their hero’s expertise bushes, they will have to pay for resetting them which is actually bummer. For the intents and objectives, eco-helpful is my color choice. Said gems and crystals might possibly be leveled up by combining varied crystals and gems, really the only variation involving forging and enchanting is that gamers can pick what crystals they would like to receive concentrations and many types of Wanna operate it during my staff members? Kingsroad Bot may also be surprisingly missing out on in personalization. Participants should be warn and so make sure to cautiously advance their hero lest they’d be ambushed by several bandits and mercenaries unprepared. |You take part in the code alone and not be social yet still development. Obtaining a rather in depth forging and enchanting solution would most definitely make replaying the completed dungeons Besides from getting the freedom of discovering what tools could be purchased from forging varied tools together, discovering one’s figure development out from the no individual for some hero is one thing that gamers would divulge hrs about hrs on. You can actually sign up for, and create gatherings. You can actually receive concentrations experience, by speaking to have an npc (non-participant figure) approximately. And you might execute co-op with as many as two mates or random many others. Extremely, even though its social media platform, Kingsroad Bot is equally as habit forming because of the ultimate speed premiums within this style of music. Evenly irritating, i remember while i mistakenly readily available a sword i'd won much like a intention reward and quickly found out that there is not any strategy to repurchase And when you won't have to wreck damage on that, you can find a service provider who offers health care items that are preferably less efficient. |seriously. Definitely, a number of the chests i paid back to open up did not deliver everything beneficial at all. And frequently the sport seemed to hiccup soon after i clicked many places out from the tv screen, or slowed minimize when we have seen a whole lot of adversaries relating to the watch's tv screen. Have fun with your characters around personal computer and mobile technology. Falls. During this time, finalize results within the pvp piece of your achievement food selection and remain competitive with other gamers across the mist pvp concern leaderboard by actively playing deathmatch inside of the battle coliseum! Results inside of a sequence really needs to be completed inside an buy you get them. Water damage and mold and fungus bonus items are additive.

[russellthornton]

OMG I’m So Bored with Life: 20 Ways to Bring the Spark Back

Life can seem like nothing short of being a part of the chain gang. If you want to not be bored with life, then you have to take steps to change it.

I sat around today, all day, wondering what I should do. When you get to a point where everything seems way too predictable and more like Groundhog Day than another new day, then you may be trying to find a way to spice up your life to make it less boring. If you are bored with life, only you can change it.

My mom used to tell me only boring people are bored. Which, although thinking she was wrong, it is true. If you are bored, it is all of your own makings.

Boredom doesn’t come from outside; it comes within. We are so accustomed to thinking that it is the world’s responsibility to entertain us, that we have lost the ability to find things to do.

Since our cell phones appear to bring everything from around the world to us, we no longer feel the need to leave the house. After a while, staring at a device becomes boring. Just like everything, if you get out of the practice of doing things, it doesn’t come as easily. [Read: Loneliness in a relationship – 4 why’s and 7 ways to fix it]

20 ways to stop being bored with life

If you want to stop being bored with life, then you have to take life by the reigns and find the happiness inside. When life becomes monotonous, do these 20 things to shake it up.

#1 Change careers. The average person switches careers several times throughout their lifetime. The mistake that many people make is getting on a fast track to nowhere, and before you know it, you are on the path to boredom and afraid to scratch it and start at the bottom.

You are never too old to switch career paths. That old saying “do something you love, and you never work a day in your life” can help to chase away your boredom blues. [Read: 12 steps to change your life and find your happiness]

#2 Find a goal. Sometimes we get bored because it seems like we aren’t doing anything but treading water. If you want to beat boredom, find something that would make you feel accomplished, or make a bucket list and start checking things off.

There is nothing that makes boredom disappear more than having a goal and taking steps to achieve it.

#3 Find out what makes you happy and do it! Sometimes boredom can come under the disguise of being unhappy. Happiness is the spice of life, and without spice, things can taste, well, dull.

Find out what it is that is missing from your life and take steps to do those things that will bring out the best in you. So what if they aren’t practical, they cost money, or they are completely nonsensical? A little variety will make your boring days “poof” be gone. [Read: 13 happy things you need for a perfectly happy life]

#4 Do something completely uncharacteristic. If your life is feeling a little like the chain gang, it is probably because you are always doing what is expected of you.

Instead of being the same predictable, reasonable person you have become, do something that flies in the face of sanity. You just never know what can happen when you aren’t planning for anything.

#5 Make new friends. If you have had the same friends since you were old enough to remember, hanging out at the same bars, or doing the same dinners every weekend, you are bound to be bored.

There is something very comforting about being with the people you know and love, but also something very life-affirming and exciting about stepping outside the box to find a new group of friends to mix it up a little.

Just remember, make new friends but keep the old. No one knows you better than those friends who always have your back. Just in case you have too much fun, you will want those people in your life who know how to bring you back to earth around to even you out. [Read: How to make new friends as an adult – 15 ways to do it right]

#6 Train for something. There is something very exciting about the anticipation of training for a marathon, learning to scuba dive, or even jumping out of an airplane. If you want to do something that will make you feel less bored with life, then find something spectacular that is a one of a kind experience and follow through by being safe and ready for it.

#7 Learn a new hobby. There are all sorts of hobbies that you may have passed by because you don’t have the time. If you are bored with life, you have the time. If photography is something that you enjoy, or you like computer programming, it doesn’t have to be something senseless.

Hell, if you learn how to do your hobby well enough, you may be able to make some extra cash or find a new path to follow. [Read: 12 insightful lessons to help you have a better life]

#8 Travel. There is something very exotic about being outside of your element. If you want to shake things up a bit, learn a new language and head to a foreign place that has awe-inspiring sights of a lifetime.

Whether it is seeing the ancient pyramids, the Colosseum, or just parasailing across Australia, being in a new element may be just the thing to pull you out of your funk.

#9 Unplug. Sometimes we get so busy creating our “fake” online lives that we forget we are involved in a real one. The best way to overcome boredom is to put your computer and smartphone away and pick up a real phone to meet someone for lunch.

Strange but true, you can actually bypass the pictures of your friend’s children by meeting and seeing them in person. Dare to dream!

#10 Find a higher power that suits you. If you don’t have faith in a path on earth, it is easy to get lost and bored. Not knowing why you go to the same job every day, why you come home to the same house and wife, or why you show up to the same cubicle without question can leave you feeling empty.

If you are bored, read about religion or spiritual theories. Who knows, you may just find a new purpose that puts it all in perspective, fills you emotionally, and makes life a little less monotonous and a little more meaningful. [Read: The need for purpose in life –  5 things it can do for you]

#11 Have a child. Okay, I am the mother of six, and I can tell you that when you have children NOTHING is ever boring. Chaotic, crazy, overwhelming, frustrating, angering and sometimes God-awful… there is NOTHING boring about having a child if you are ready.

#12 Find a new mate. If you find yourself sitting on the couch day after day watching Netflix or taking turns choosing what frozen food to put in the microwave, then it may be time to move on to a new relationship. Not everyone is suited to be together. And, just because you have been together for a while, that doesn’t mean that it is right. It is scary to let someone you love go and throw caution to the wind.

I mean, what if you lose the love of your life? The truth is that if they are the love of your life, once you get the boredom out of your system, then if it is fate, you will end up together and way less bored with life… and not taking each other for granted. [Read: 15 reasons why you may be bored with your relationship]

#13 Move to a new city and start over. One of the scariest things you can do is to pack your bags, leave your job, and move to another city. Find out if your company has any positions in other cities or look for something in another city that you have always wanted to try.

There is nothing boring about starting a new life in a place where everything is new and like a present ready to open. [Read: 8 fun ways you can start over in a brand new city]

#14 Write your manuscript. We all have a writer inside of us. It is difficult to know where we are going if we don’t know where we came from. Going over your life and the decisions you have made to get to your place of being bored with life may give you the perspective you need to find a way out of it, and find a way to make better decisions going forward.

#15 Rearrange your furniture. I know this sounds pretty mundane, but if it is just a night of boredom, this is a quick and easy switch that can add a little variety to your world without any hassle or permanency.

#16 Change your look or hairstyle. If you are tired of looking in the mirror seeing the same old face staring back at you, then it may be time to give those 2000s glasses a pass and change the bad dye job.

Not only is it exciting to change your look, but it might also get others to treat you differently. That may lead to a new love interest, or even gain you some respect at work. None of those things are boring. [Read: 18 ways to have high self-esteem and start winning at life]

#17 Go back to school. Nothing will make you less bored with life than going back to school. If you want to further your career, advancing can happen pretty immediately if you go back and learn how to make yourself invaluable.

If it is something you love, immersing yourself is a great boredom shaker. It is hard to be bored with life if you have your head buried in a book.

#18 Ask out your secret crush. If you have a secret crush, then put yourself out there to ask them out. If they say yes, then your boredom will definitely take the back seat. If they say no, then you will have a good time seeking out someone else to brighten your days going forward.

Boredom is all about staying stuck and not trying to take steps to better yourself or change your circumstances. [Read: Sabotaging your happiness – 12 ways you can ruin your life]

#19 Get a new car or splurge. How many times do we ever do things for ourselves, like major things? If you have been driving around in a late model car that is on its last legs, finding the car of your dreams is the best way to leave boredom in the dust.

Not only will you want to hop in it all the time to go for a ride, you will have a fun time catching up with friends while you show it off.

#20 Get a second job. There is nothing worse than sitting around by yourself after work without anything to do. Getting a second job will get you out of the house, allow you to meet new people, and give you the financial freedom to do something exciting like take a trip or buy yourself a nice little carrot for all your hard work.

[Read: The meaning of YOLO – 15 ways to live your life to the fullest]

Only boring people are bored with life. If you are bored, the only one that can change that is you. Stop waiting for excitement to knock on your door and start breaking them down instead.

The post OMG I’m So Bored with Life: 20 Ways to Bring the Spark Back is the original content of LovePanky - Your Guide to Better Love and Relationships.