#dani is the biggest nerd confirmed

[exmcrtis]

dani's curious nature was often taken two ways: embraced fully, or sneered at like she was some sort of plague. and maybe she was some sort of plague, always lingering and festering and threatening in a way that wasn't necessarily harmful, but it was annoying. finding people who didn't cast her aside meant that dani clung to them a little harder than she should. her sister blamed it on their lack of parents, that dani hadn't received the amount of nurturing that she needed during her formative years, but something about that explanation didn't sit right with her. dani had gotten plenty of nurturing from her sister, but there was something about delia's warm smile that made the youngest esteves think what if.

delia's smile warmed dani's entire body immediately, her own smile spreading across her cheeks as she hugged her journal to her chest. she'd spent a long time convincing herself that she didn't need the attention of others to feel good about herself, and yet whenever delia albright so much as greeted her, dani began to preen under the attention. maybe she did have some mommy issues after all. "you know me, miss albright," she finally spoke, lifting up onto her toes before falling back onto the balls of her feet, "i think everything in here is cool. but i like knowing that i'm not alone in this world in that aspect; i was starting to believe otherwise."

their eyes shot towards the half door as delia opened it, heart thudding loudly in their chest at the idea of getting to go behind the counter. the little things in life were what kept dani smiling, and this was certainly one of them. "are you serious?" they practically whispered, teeth worrying at their bottom lip, hesitation coursing through their veins as they wondered if they should take delia up on her offer. but then their feet were carrying them forward, a grin stretching across their lips. "thank you, miss albright. this is so exciting!"

sometimes, late at night, delia would think of her daughter that had never gotten to see light of day. she would come to her at night, in her dreams; the echo of a babies cry, her babies cry, would fill the air but nothing would be amiss elsewhere. it was a disturbing kind of torture, one that she didn't easily recover from; it would take days to erase that cry from her mind. there were a lot of reasons why delia would have been a horrible mother, she thinks, and she ruminates on them plenty, enough that she can recite all of them in her mind easily without much thought. like a decision she's already made. when she was so close to that grief, when she had just lost her, delia went out of her way to avoid young people - children, teenagers, young adults. it was hard to avoid them in the community of burnington, what with everyone so close, but she mostly succeeded. it wasn't until years later that she could bare to interact with them in the little ways that she had to do business. and with those little gestures of kindness, she had found her way out of some of the grief that she'd put away for her daughter. but every time daniela esteves came around, delia would revisit many thoughts in relation to her loss, and she would hurt. it was bittersweetness aplenty. catherine would be about her age now, wouldn't she?

the thought comes and goes, just like the sigh that leaves her and the small smile of charmed greeting that she gives dani in response. "hello, dani," would she be as curious, as wanting for knowledge as dani? "depends on your version of cool, i suppose." a grin fosters itself in the corners of her mouth, and she glances down to the ingredients she needs to make the salve she's working on. "i was the same way when i was your age," she comforts the young woman, knowing how it felt to feel like you were different and, perhaps, a bit wrong.

a thought comes to the forefront of her mind then and she contemplates for a moment before she grabs the half door that separates them. "come back here, and i'll show you what i'm working on." she raises it with ease, and waits for dani to make her decision, hoping that she won't somehow regret the decision. it is her reason for isolation that she doesn't allow dani back here.

[mk-wizard]

Graham Burns: Analysis of the Nerd of Action

Hello, friends. Today’s character analysis is at the request of a dear reader @petrichornial​ who wanted an analysis of Graham Burns who is the genius of the Burns rescue operative family from Rescue Bots as well as Boulder’s partner and good friend.

As far as character biography goes, it is pretty simple. Graham Burns is one of the Burns kids and is younger than Kade and older than Cody, but it is never confirmed if he is older or younger than Dani though is is very likely that he is older than her because he is a university graduate though it could be that he skipped some grades from being an exceptional genius. When he was Cody’s age, he was also a Lad Pioneer and was good at it, but after getting lost in the woods one time, he left out of embarrassment. While he is a licensed and expert engineer, it is clear that he is still studying either for a Masters degree or even possibly a doctorate.  When he is first introduced to Boulder, it is under the impression that he is just a machine though after learning that he was a person, he still had some trouble respecting him as such. Graham was initially more concerned with analyzing and learning about how Boulder worked as an alien life form which made the bot very uncomfortable if not insulted. Graham quickly realized that this was not right and respected Boulder as a person for the rest of the series. They even become best friends. Amy would later develop a crush on a newcomer and fellow loveable nerd Amy though he had trouble talking to her and even made several goofs along the way before finding the confidence to just say hello to her. It isn’t known how much their relationship progressed though or if anything did become of their mutual attraction since their first meetup. At the end of the Rescue Bots series, the rescue team was separated though Graham and Boulder remained partners as they were assigned to the west coast. While Graham never made an appearance on Rescue Bots Academy, it can be concluded that he is still fulfilling that duty alongside Boulder when the bot isn’t teaching new recruits and like Cody Burns, he remains in touch with the rest of the gang.

As a character especially of his type, I have to admit that Graham really got underrated as he breaks several molds for it. Most obviously, he may be the brains, but is not without enough brawn to hold out on his own. In both the action figure line and the cartoon, Graham has work boots, a construction helmet and for the toy only, a vest. We even see that Graham does get his hands dirty, is in shape, likes to camp and he even plays sports meaning that unlike most geek characters, Graham is not physically the weakest of the team. He also doesn’t have any of those stereotypical setbacks like a plethora of dietary limits, allergies to everything (just cats) and he isn’t asthmatic. Moreover, while he does struggle with his communication skills and talking to girls, he is not so socially inept that he is consistently insensitive or says inappropriate things that make people feel uncomfortable. Graham is a gentleman, he has enough sense to think before he talks, he is not oblivious to feelings and he does like people. Yes, he’s an introvert, but he is willing to open up when the chance presents itself.

Another thing about him that is noteworthy is that his genius never becomes a drag or the only reason for his character. His knowledge of things doesn’t go beyond his industry and he never pretends to know more than he does. And there have been times where Graham had to ask for help. Back in the day, geek characters were always expected to know everything and solve problems by reading a book then becoming experts overnight. In Rescue Bots, Graham shows us that even geniuses have limits and need time to get the hang of skills that are new to them. Furthermore, Graham doesn’t have the annoying speech stereotype of talking with the tone of a book or in this snobbish way. He talks and walks like a regular person. Most notably, Graham is not even the biggest genius in Griffin Rock. That title is reserved for the scientists who reside there or have made contact with it. Nor does he ever get competitive with them or jealous of their knowledge.

The most important aspect of Graham is that he acts his age and human. Even with all his genius, Graham has the same interests as most people his age and does the things we expect him to do when in certain situations. Like eating at his desk while doing homework and he enjoys things like pizza. He is also not above making bad decisions like eating the Magic Meat/Fo-Foo just because it was there even though it smelled awful and seemed off. Or going to Kade for advice on how to approach a girl or coming up with a cologne to solve his problems with his confidence. The most notable bad decision he made though was years ago when he left the Lad Pioneers before being given his last badge out of shame after getting lost in the woods. He is a good balance of capable, but human which is good.

In short, Graham is definitely a sign of the times in how the media does still follow tropes, but now, it does so respectfully and it no longer stereotypes its characters. Graham is Graham first and a geek second. And being the geek doesn’t make him weak and he shouldn’t be if he does rescue missions.

So what do you all think of Graham Burns? Anything you want to add to this analysis?

If you have a Transformers theory or character analysis you want explored, please let me know in my ask box. And please, support me through Patreon or Ko-fi if you want me to make Transformers merch and videos. Or if you want a commission of your favourite bot, let me know in my shop. All links are on my profile page.

Thanks for reading and please, stay safe.

[douxreviews]

Game of Thrones - ‘The Long Night’ Review

“Valar morghulis.” “Valar dohaeris.”

We have been waiting for this confrontation from the first scene of the first episode. After nearly seventy minutes of overwhelming battle, we finally have an outcome to the biggest threat in Westeros.

I would say that this episode is satisfying in several ways. We had each of our main characters go through a painful struggle, each tackling that struggle in unique ways, and each paying a cost. It goes without saying that the battle itself was epic; the sheer scope and the level of practical and visual effects in this episode were stunning.

As far as deaths go, we really only had a few major fatalities that I’m aware of: Theon, Jorah, Beric, Edd and the littlest Mormont are gone. Theon and Jorah had the kind of deaths that they deserved; Theon knowing he was about to die, and going out defending Bran defined him in a way that paid tribute to both his long struggle and character growth. Jorah died exactly as he would’ve wanted, defending Dany to his final breath; it was a hero’s death, and totally fit his character arc for the entire series.

Edd died saving Sam from certain death, and fulfilled his role as one of the last members of the Night’s Watch. Beric’s final death was just as heroic, using his own body as a shield for Arya to get away finally serving his purpose, which I guess was to save Arya (more on that later). My favorite death, though, was Lyanna Mormont, who went out like a badass. A giant zombie crashed into Winterfell and literally tossed her aside, she taunted it and it grabbed her, wounding her mortally, but in her last act, she stabbed it through the eye. She was as tough in death as she was in life. We’ll miss you, littlest Mormont.

Which of course leaves those who didn’t die. The list is surprisingly long, not that I wanted any of these characters to die, but it feels a bit off that they all made it out alive. While most just went through hell, it is strange that we didn’t lose some more important side characters like Grey Worm or Davos. Speaking of Davos, his confrontation with Melisandre was a little sad. His vengeance can never be sated, and honestly, I wonder what her purpose was in the grand scheme of things? While her actions delayed the dead, she couldn’t stop the onslaught. Her final act was to give up, to wander out into the frozen wastes and remove the magical choker that kept her young. An odd yet beautiful end to one of the show’s most enigmatic characters.

I have to mention some of the great character moments, too: Tyrion and Sansa hiding behind a crypt together; I thought their interaction was sweet. Sam almost literally stumbling through the fight, but managing to hold his own. Brienne and Jaime fighting to the end, leading and saving countless people and killing hundreds of undead. The Hound freaking out and almost giving in to death until he was shown that Arya was in trouble.

Arya, oh Arya. Our unstoppable badass finally has to use those skills she learned to save the world. She wasn’t just meant to fight the dead on the wall, but damn, she was good at it. She wasn’t just there to give Beric a fitting death, or wake up the Hound to action. Her role, as hinted by Melisandre, was to kill the Night King. Despite Jon and Dany trying everything to get to him, even dragon’s breath wasn’t enough to kill the zombie king. In the end a Valyrian Steel dagger, the same one that almost killed Bran in season one, saved him by stopping the biggest threat to the realm. Talk about circular storytelling.

Bits:

In the after show, the producers confirmed they had Arya in mind for years to be the one to kill the Night King.

Did we just lose all the Dothraki and Unsullied?

With Viserion gone, we have only one confirmed Dragon left, Drogon. Will Rhaegal turn out to be alive too? What about Ghost? It seems unlikely the dire wolf survived that initial assault, especially since we didn’t see him again throughout the episode.

Ultimately, this episode was about characters, some whose stories have ended. For others, that story continues with big honking question marks. I think the biggest of those questions – are there enough forces to face Cersei in the final battle for the throne? With three episodes left, we won’t have to wait long for an answer.

4 out of 4 Armies of the Dead.

J.D. Balthazar is a confirmed nerd who loves most things sci-fi or fantasy-related.

[daniellethamasa]

Hey all, Dani here.

Well things are about to get real interesting around me. The county I live in in Ohio just got its first confirmed case of COVID-19, but as of right now, my workplace is still open. We’ll see if that changes by the end of the weekend. Is it wrong that I’m hoping things stay open long enough for my book order from yesterday to reach my house? Like that package should reach me by Tuesday or maybe Wednesday. Just let me have those 8 books and then everything can go on lockdown. I know that sounds ridiculous, and I do want people to be safe, so I understand if my shipment is put on hold. I just, the books will be so lonely locked up in a warehouse for a couple weeks.

Okay, so I saw this post over on Sahi’s blog, My World of Books, and it sounded like a fun book tag. And I haven’t done a tag in a while, so this seems like a good time to do one. Anyway, please go check out Sahi’s blog because there is a lot of great content over there, and Sahi is awesome.

Rules:

Thank the person who nominated you

Answer all the questions down below

Pingback to the creator: Ellyn @ Allonsythornraxx

Nominate 5+ bloggers to do this tag

*Feel free to not take the term ‘book’ too literally, please recommend graphic novels, comics and other works too!

1. Recommend a book from one of your favorite genres

My favorite genre is fantasy. I read a whole bunch of it, so that’s going to make this a little bit difficult. Let’s see what I can come up with.

It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be. I haven’t talked about this book in a little while, and the sequel is out in July.

Here’s the unfortunate part about this duology…a deadly plague is sort of a bit plot point. Apparently it’s bigger in the sequel/conclusion than it is in the first book, but it’s still a fairly big point in the first one. So, if that’s going to affect your current anxiety or mental state then perhaps stay away from this recommendation.

Is it weird that I sort of want to re-read this book soon because of the global situation? Am I just a very weird individual? Yeah, that’s probably true.

2. Recommend a short book

For a short book…how about a series of short reads? The Vox Machina Origins comic series is about to complete its second arc. The first arc was 6 issues of like 24 pages each, or collected into one volume, and the arc has 5 of the 6 issues out, again like 24 pages for each issue. There is action and magic and camaraderie and shenanigans. It’s a pretty good read.

And if you can’t leave your house then you can totally get the digital version through places like Dark Horse Comics or Comixology.

3. Recommend a book-to-screen adaptation

Okay, this one is easy for me. But you know what, I’m just going to go ahead and give you two recommendations. First up is Black Clover, and I definitely recommend both the manga and the anime (Just take my advice and watch it dubbed, not subbed–main character Asta has a habit of annoyingly yelling everything in the subbed; it’s not fun. Dubbed has it mellowed out a little bit). It is a fantastic adaptation.

And honestly, I’ve read both story collections from the Witcher series so far, and those books are what were used to adapt the first season of the Netflix show, and I have to say that they did a pretty darn good job adapting the world, the monsters, the magic, and the story. I’m definitely impressed.

4. Recommend a book out of your comfort zone

I’m still not the biggest reader of science-fiction. I love to watch it but I don’t read it that much. This book was one that took me a while to read because it was out of my comfort zone, but it is one that I’m glad I read and I actually need to read it again. Oh, and there’s also a fantastic TV series based on this 9-book epic sci-fi series, so feel free to check out “The Expanse” as well, either before or after reading the books.

5. Recommend a book series

Hmm…what series shall I recommend for you all today? Okay, you know what, I’m going to recommend a comic series for you guys. Actually, as I tried to find the appropriate image from my WordPress media collection, I realized that I actually have a few different completed graphic novel/comic series that I haven’t talked about in a while, so I might have to do a graphic novel recommendation post soon.

I love Sandman. It’s a great series, with so many different tropes and genres mashed together into a truly wonderfully epic story. Follow Dream, his sister Death, and all of his other siblings, plus a huge host of other characters through this 10 volume set. Seriously, you won’t regret it.

  6. Recommend a standalone

You do know that I mostly read fantasy series right? This is not cool, to make me try and find a standalone book to recommend. Oh boy. Let’s see what I can come up with.

Okay, okay, I found one, and it’s one where I’m immensely sad about the fact that it is a standalone. I was really hoping for this to be like a trilogy, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Anyway, this is a pretty fantastic fantasy read. It’s Pokemon meets Avatar: the Last Airbender, which I thought was a very intriguing concept.

7. Recommend a book you don’t talk about enough

Oh man, this one is hard, I talk about a lot of books quite frequently. Hmm…let’s look through my WordPress media and see if I can find something for this one.

Okay fine, so this is technically more than one book, but you know, I haven’t talked about them in a while, and now seems like a good time to recommend some completed series that people can totally binge-read right now if they so choose.

I was way more into the spin-off series Bloodlines than I was the original Vampire Academy, though both are great series. I just liked Sydney and Adrian more than I did Rose and Dmitri. No hate, please. They are both good couples.

Actually, hmm, I probably am overdue for a re-read of these slightly angsty YA vampire romance books.

8. Recommend your ‘staple’ book

My staple book, my go-to recommendation for the past like 5 years continues to be Colorworld by Rachel E Kelly. I am obsessed with this series and think it is just an absolutely fantastic read. I could gush about these books over and over again, and for a rather long time as well. Actually I do have reviews up for the whole series, so you can check those out: Colorworld, Teleworld, Lumaworld, Shadoworld, Dreamworld, Waterworld: Ezra, Waterworld: Charlotte, and Waterworld: Xavier.

9. Recommend the book/s that got you into reading

Umm…Dr. Seuss???? I have literally been a reader my whole life, so I was too young to recall what book really got me into reading. If you want to go with what book(s) I first majorly fangirled over, that’s a different story.

Why yes, I do have the complete Animorphs series on my bookshelves. I pretty much ordered every single one of these from the Scholastic bookfair/booksale thing they did back in elementary school. And no matter how many book unhauls I do, I just can’t bear to part with any of these books. There are a couple I want to get nicer copies for, because childhood me was not always as good about taking care of books–so #9 and #13 definitely need replaced. I think everything else is fine.

I actually need to re-read these sometime. Oh, I actually did see online that for right now you can read the whole 54 book main series for free, so if you’re at all interested, you can check that out.

10. Recommend 3+ bloggers who recommend great books

Flavia @ Flavia the Bibliophile

Kathy @ Books and Munches

Sofii @ A Book. A Thought

Okay, well I guess this is where I’m supposed to tag people. This is always my least favorite part of doing tags, honestly. So I’m going to slightly cheat, and tag the three bloggers I recommended above and then two more so I hit that 5 blogger mark in the rules.

Flavia @ Flavia the Bibliophile

Kathy @ Books and Munches

Sofii @ A Book. A Thought

Danielle @ Life of a Literary Nerd

Becky @ Becky’s Book Blog

YOU! (if you want to, dear reader)

The Ultimate Recommendations Book Tag Hey all, Dani here. Well things are about to get real interesting around me. The county I live in in Ohio just got its first confirmed case of COVID-19, but as of right now, my workplace is still open.