#he's currently in my copy of ultra sun

[tactician]

yesterday i managed to hatch a shiny horsea in my copy of emerald version!!!!!! this shiny is one that means a WHOLE LOT to me for so many reasons and i am absolutely gonna start up what will hopefully be a saga of posts related to him.

the gist of it is that this little one is, first and foremost, a nod to my beloved dnd oc, reides. secondly, he is gonna be my first earnest attempt at the ribbon master challenge!

the ribbon master challenge is a really fun - yet really difficult! - challenge which consists of trying to get as many marks/ribbons on one pokemon as possible (basically, from their origin generation to the current one). there are many resources related to this challenge, my favorite one being athis' ribbon handbook. you can see a lot of people talking about this challenge on the pokemon ribbons subreddit as well as in random places online (like this post right here LMAO). there are also quite a few videos about ribbon master challenge attempts on youtube, too; again, my personal favorite one is the story of toast the scizor.

anyway, i talked about potentially attempting the challenge back when i successfully manipulated gen4's rng for a shiny of my fav mythical pokemon, manaphy - which i also named reides, as i associate manaphy with him. i eventually strayed from that idea, however, because i really, really want my first ribbon master to have the gen3 ribbons; most importantly, the hoenn contest ones. (this is 100% just a personal thing - ribbon masters that are from gen4 onwards are obviously still incredibly awesome and i still wanna try the challenge out on my beloved manaphy at some point. i just have a lot of nostalgia associated with gen3's ribbons so i want my first attempt at the challenge to include the grind for them.) that being said, i didn't want to stray from the initial concept of putting it on a pokemon that i associate with reides, so…

that's where this horsea comes into the picture!

i've associated reides with the whole horsea line for a loooong time - longer than i've associated him with manaphy, tbh! i even have a post mentioning that i hatched eggs for a shiny one - also named reides - in ultra sun. i struggled a lot with if i wanted to evolve that horsea fully or not, ultimately deciding to keep him as a baby. but i always wanted to catch another one which i'd evolve fully. i mean... look at this thang.

shiny kingdra absolutely rules, and the royal theme that it has going on is, again, very much up reides' alley. it seemed like my procrastination re: actually hunting for that second shiny horsea actually paid off, in this case, because i realized it'd be sick if my ribbon master was a shiny kingdra. that way, my other shiny horsea can remain as a unique hunt, too.

beyond my shiny requirement, i wanted the horsea to be male, like reides, and for him to have a nature that suited reides' personality. since i already have a brave manaphy, i was torn between quirky or bold for him, but i ultimately decided on bold. so... a shiny, bold, male horsea was the goal. this isn't an impossible shiny hunt by any means, but... well... <3 let's just say i wasn't in the mood to phase on tons and tons of different shiny horseas that didn't meet my somewhat-specific criteria. frankly speaking, it would sour the entire experience for me. add emerald's wacky rng to the picture and it just... wasn't fun to even think about. so i figured that i'd take yet another page from my manaphy's book and that i'd rng manipulate for my ideal horsea. furthermore, i decided that i'd try to hatch my horsea in a cool spot - hence the 'seafloor cavern' met data. (sadly, since i'm transferring him up through the generations, this data will eventually get replaced with a blanket 'hoenn region' line - but i still wanted to do it!!!)

once i had a general Plan of Action, it was time to execute it. a few weeks ago, i made a post about learning how to rng manip in gen3. in that post, i showed you guys my shiny treecko, ivy, and vaguely mentioned in the tags that having the means of shiny hunting in emerald opened up a lot of ribbon master challenges... but i didn't mention my true goal of learning the inner workings of gen3; namely, reides. LMAO. by shiny hunting for that treecko, i was able to deduce my tid and sid combo, which would aid me in my future rng-based shiny hunts in that particular game file.

i then had to play through the entirety of emerald's plot. at first, i dreaded this, since i wanted to grab my horsea asap and get right into the challenge - but it was a TON of fun! i kept practicing different rng hunts and ended up getting four more rng-based shinies in addition to my shiny starter and reides. plus it was just plain nice to re-visit gen3's storyline after all these years. once i got the super rod in mossdeep city (since horsea is a super rod-specific encounter) and my seventh badge (since i needed to be able to use dive so that i could get to the seafloor cavern), i caught a male horsea and a female horsea, popped 'em in the daycare, and - through MUCH trial and error which could, in itself, end up as a huge post - managed to hatch this perfect little horsea.

given all of the setup that went into getting reides, i knew that i wanted him to be on my very first team that beat the hall of fame. it was only fair, considering that the team pretty much existed because of him! and, while this post is focused on reides, trust & believe that i still developed a TON of fondness for the rest of my lovely storyline team! i couldn't have possibly gotten reides his first ribbon without the help of ivy the sceptile, popsicle the cradily, metal the aggron, chimney the camerupt, and miku the flygon!

next on the emerald agenda is ev training reides. i am going to be training him alongside a latios named albatross, a beldum named origin, and a bagon whose name is currently pending as i try to think of something! i've never ev trained in a gen3 game before, so... fingers crossed that it goes well and that i can keep count of the encounters without fuckin up! ;LDFSGKD;FKG i'm ev training so that i can get the effort ribbon on reides but ALSO so that we are at full power for taking on emerald's battle tower afterwards. i'm SUPER nervous about doing this, as i have never attempted the battle tower before, but i'm hoping that it'll go okay!

in addition to aaaaall of this chaos going on in emerald version, i dusted off my good ol' wii and started a replay of an INCREDIBLEEEE game called pokemon colosseum, since i'll need to send reides over there eventually to get a ribbon for clearing 100 battles in a row over on mt battle. (luckily, i still have the necessary hardware from my childhood for doing that.) mt battle is going to be seeing a lot of me, as i'll also need to grind for pokecoupons there so that i can buy special berries which will help him in becoming a contest pro back over in hoenn. colosseum's plot also gave me the chance to soft-reset for a bold-natured suicune that will probably get ev trained too, and who will likely join reides in all of his future battle tower endeavors. i named that suicune after reides' in-universe god, 'persana.'

so... yeah! the setup for this challenge alone has been A Lot but i can honestly say that i've been having so much fun with it. i feel like i'm interacting with like... every single aspect of gen3 at the moment. it's totally revitalized my love for pokemon as a whole and i'm really hoping that i can stick to it and complete the challenge in its entirety!

[youngsterbradley]

Hi 👋 Bradley here. I created this tumblr to document my Pokémon adventures. Let this post be a little introduction of sorts. As of this post I have already played all gen 1,2 and 3 games. I created a living dex for gen 1 and 2. As you might know when gen 3 came out on the Gameboy Advance you couldn’t move your gen 1 & 2 Pokémon to gen 3. So I had to start my living dex all over when I started Fire Red & Leaf Green. Lucky for me tho I did play the gen 1 & 2 games on the 3Ds. So I transported my gen 1 & 2 living dex to Pokemon bank. I still haven’t moved them to home yet because I am waiting till I get to gen 6 so I can get some ribbons on some Pokémon. I beat Pokémon crystal in 2021 so I think I completed my gen 1 & 2 living dex around then. I don’t know exactly when I beat Fire Red. It could of been right after I beat Crystal or when I beat Leaf Green. So either 2021 or 2022. I beat Sapphire, Ruby, Leaf Green, Emerald and Gale of Darkness XD, Pokémon Violet and Pokémon Scarlet in 2022. This year in 2023 I beat Colosseum and got Ho-Oh.

I remember when Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl came out and I was trying to beat Brilliant Diamond when the Pokémon company announced they where going to shut down the eshop on the 3Ds. So I stopped playing Brilliant Diamond and went straight back to gen 3. In a panic and fear of losing all my Pokémon I played through all the gen 3 stories. As of this post I have a gen 1 & 2 living dex minus Mew & Celebi. I’m half way through gen 3. I am on Slaking at the moment. Now I know Pokémon Bank is free. I am just worried for how long will bank continue to work? One day they can decide to shut it down like they did the eshop. I took a pause on my gen 3 living dex for now. Because the new DLC came out for Scarlet & Violet. I beat the Kitakami DLC for Scarlet. I just need to finish the Pokédex. I also need to play the DLC on Violet. Before Scarlet and Violet came out I was trying to finish my sword DLC. I got Kubfu that is now Urshifu. After I beat the scarlet DLC my friend wanted me to evolve his glarian Slowpokes he caught from Pokémon Go to glarian slowbro and glarian slowking. I was able to evolve one of his glarian slowpoke to glarian slowbro. But I had to start crown tundra to evolve his other glarian slowpoke to glarian slowking. Which I did not to long ago. I saved at Calyrex and have yet to catch him.

With Detective Pikachu Returns coming out this Friday

I been playing the first one for the first time and I’m currently on chapter 5. I hope I can beat it by the time it arrives at my doorstep.

Tonight I am playing Pokémon Scarlet. I found a shiny Grubbin in an outbreak. I evolved it to Charjabug and I am ev training it for the 7 star Hisuian Decidueye raid that is suppose to happen soon. My favorite twitch Streamer PKMNCast made a sweet chargabug raid build that I’m copying.

Buy ya I am currently doing 3 projects right now.

1.) Trying to beat Detective Pikachu

And once I do I will be playing the sequel.

2.) Then after that I might finish the sword and shield DLC Crown Tundra

3.) Then Finish my Gen 3 living dex minus the ones that are unobtainable of course.

Now I would like to share with you what games I have played and what games I haven’t

Pokémon Games I Played But Haven’t complete The Pokédex

Pokémon Diamond

Pokémon X (the series that got me back into Pokémon)

Pokémon Alpha Sapphire

Pokémon Sword (Minus the Crown Tundra)

Pokémon Legends Arceus (Minus the side quests)

Pokémon Games I Beat and Completed the Pokédex

Pokémon Blue

Pokémon Red

Pokémon Yellow

Pokémon Gold

Pokémon Silver

Pokémon Crystal

Pokémon Colosseum

Pokémon Gale of Darkness

Pokémon Sun & Moon

Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee & Pikachu

Pokémon Games I Haven’t Opened Or Played Yet

Pokémon Pearl

Pokémon Platinum

Pokémon Black 2

Pokémon Omega Ruby

Pokémon X

Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon

Pokémon Games I Haven’t Played But Bought Used

Pokémon Heart Gold (used)

Pokémon Soul Silver (used)

Pokémon Black (used)

Pokémon White (used)

Pokémon White 2 (used) Funny thing about this one is when Pokémon X came out I wanted Rattata so bad because I had one in my blue version. I remember when I was a kid the kids in elementary said Rattata sucked. So I caught one and put it in the daycare and when I beat the whole game I came back for it. I can’t remember if it was level 100 or I trained it a little to get it to 100. But anyway I ended up beating the whole elite 4 with it. So I bought a used copy at GameStop cause I was told you can get Rattata in it. I didn’t even start a new game. I continued on Daniel’s save and looked up on YouTube where you could catch one and the first one I saw I caught with a master ball.

Pokémon Games I Played For an Hour or More

Pokémon Shield

Pokémon Shining Pearl (Played for a little while)

New Pokémon Snap (Played for 5 hours or more)

I recently bought my friend a Switch Light with a micro SD Card. I also bought him Pokémon Violet, Pokémon Let’s Go Eevee, Pokémon Sword, Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Pokémon Legends Arceus. It doesn’t seem like he’s into it but whatever. Whenever he wants to play will play. I’ll just have to journey this journey alone.

If I could go back in time I would tell that kid who told me Pokémon isn’t cool anymore that he’s not cool anymore and continue playing Pokémon.

[dragonairlairgiveaways]

“Some further details about Pokémon Sword & Shield were revealed in Famitsu. Within the interview with Masuda and Ohmori, it was confirmed that there is currently no decision to bring the existing Pokémon that can't be in Sword & Shield back into the game using patches, but those that don't will still have an active role in Pokémon HOME. It also stated that Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves will not appear in Sword & Shield.”

Okay so... I am lowkey tired of Pokemon Co. and Game Freak adding gimmicks just to remove them a generation or so later. But that’ll be a post for another time. 

Point I want to make here is: Seems they might’ve heard the backlash. I don’t know how they couldn’t when Twitter is blowing up about this decision. Let me live in hope that this means they are playing with the idea of patching Pokemon into the games in future. 

I know people are probably tired of hearing about this and people ‘complaining’ about the decision not to include every Pokemon but it is a big deal to many players, myself included. 

Even if the Galar Pokedex is huge - which I suspect it will be - there’s still a good chunk of Pokemon from past generations left out. Now you can bring up ‘oh well this happened in Gen III’ and yes, it did. But that was down to hardware limitations that Game Freak couldn’t help. It was impossible to connect and transfer between the GBC and GBA. That isn’t an issue here. The 3DS can handle all of that and the Switch is a more powerful device. It’s not even an issue of memory: the Switch can handle games like Breath of the Wild and the Witcher III, both of which absolutely require more memory and power than even a Pokemon game with every Pokemon included. 

I am not putting it down to ‘laziness’ either, it is incredibly hard work to make these games. I am putting it down to the recent gaming culture of pumping games out as fast as possible, to the detriment of the games due to content having to be cut/not included. That is what has happened here. I don’t buy the ‘balancing’ issue because it’s ludicrous- Gen VI and VII had tournaments that banned/restricted Pokemon native only to the games they took place in. VGCs did the same, there was literally nothing stopping that happening here. The Pokemon Co. and Nintendo wanted these games out, and Game Freak had to deliver and the trade-off decision was cutting available Pokemon down likely because it was the easiest. They had to know there would be backlash, but I don’t imagine they anticipated the extent of it. 

Because it is, to be blunt, a stupid-ass decision. It has put many people off from the games, it has put the fandom at each other’s and the Pokemon Co.’s throats. It’s an upsetting and disappointing direction to take the games in. No matter which Pokemon are included someone’s favourite will be left out, a Pokemon someone has had for years and a great deal of attachment to will be left out, a Pokemon someone spent hours upon hours breeding or shiny hunting for will be left out. 

And the thing is: the decision of which Pokemon to include will be heavily biased towards fan favourites. They’ve already said as much in interviews. So you know this means once again a huge wankfest for Kanto Pokemon and other over-saturated ‘mons, some of which I love myself but hate seeing everywhere when others are left out: Starters (especially fucking Charizad which we already know is in these games), Lucario, Mimikyu, a massive chunk of the Kanto Pokedex, Eeveelutions, Pseudo Legendaries ect. All these Pokemon will more than likely make the cut (some we already know have).

But lesser-liked Pokemon? Pokemon outright hated or just ignored by the community? They likely got left on the back-burner. This probably includes a good chunk of Gen V Pokemon outside of the few with fan adoration (Zoroark, Hydreigon, Haxorus, Volcarona) because of how much everyone shits on Gen V, Pokemon that don’t see a lot of competitive usage or who have scored low in popularity polls (RIP if you love the Elemental Monkeys) and it sucks. No matter how much you might personally dislike a Pokemon or how many people in the community at large do, it is someone’s favourite. Someone out there absolutely adores Stunfisk, someone out there thinks the Sunkern line is super adorable. Someone out there thinks Barbaracle is the coolest Pokemon there is. And they won’t get to play with them in these games. 

That is what bothers me. Pokemon is about the journey, it’s about the bonds you make with your Pokemon. It’s the story and adventure you go on yourself with your Pokemon. Even with a story, people progress and play how they want to. They make the teams they want to make, with the Pokemon and moves they want to use. People challenge themselves with mono type runs or nuzlockes or egglockes ect to make the games more fun for themselves and Game Freak is limiting that. It’s limiting the Pokemon we can use and the fun certain people can have. 

And that is deeply unfair and a real poor business plan in the long run, really. 

[hopelikethemoon]

Lecture (Javier x Reader) {MTMF} [smut]

Title: Lecture  Rating: Explicit Length: 3300 Warnings: Smut (thigh riding, teasing, partially clothed sex) Notes: You can find the Maybe Today, Maybe Forever Timeline here. Set September 1996. This situation he lectures on is a real scandal during the 90s. Dates are slightly fudged for the sake of the story, but it largely came out between 1995 and 1998. 

Summary: Javier has to take Josie to work with him. 

Taglist:  @grapemama  @seawhisperer​ @huliabitch​ @pedropascalito​ @rogrsnbarnes​ @thewallpapergoesorido​ @twomoonstwosuns​ @gooddaykate​ @livasaurasrex​ @ham4arrow​ @hiscyarika​ @plexflexico​ @readsalot73​ @hdlynn​ @lokiaddicted​ @randomness501​ @fioccodineveautunnale​  @roxypeanut​ @just-add-butter​ @snivellusim​ @amarvelousmandalorian​ @lukesrighthand​ @historynerd04​ @mrsparknuts​ @synystersilenceinblacknwhite​ @behindmyeyes-insidemyhead​ @exrebelshocktrooper​ @awesomefandomsunited @ah-callie​ @swhiskeys​ @lady-tano​ @beskar-droids​ @space-floozy @cable-kenobi​​ @longitud-de-onda​ @cool-ultra-nerd​ @himbopoes​ @findhimfives​ @pedrosdoll​ @seeking-a-great--perhaps​ @frietiemeloen​ @arrowswithwifi​ @random066​ @uncomicalhumour​ @heather-lynn​ @domino-oh-damn​ (if I forget to tag you, I’m sorry)

“JoJo, just sit here and draw for me. Okay?” Javier urged as he grabbed the box of crayons out of his briefcase, sitting them on the floor beside the stack of perforated paper he’d stolen from the staff print room. 

Josie stuck out her bottom lip, “Daddy, hold me.” She held her arms up in the air. 

Javier fretted, looking between Josie and his wristwatch. It was less than five minutes before his early students were going to start arriving. There was no way he was going to make it through a three-hour lecture with her if she was already refusing to color.

“Alright, princesa.” Javier sighed, leaning down to pick her up, holding her at his hip as he used his free hand to sort through his projector slides. 

“I like your tie, daddy.” Josie said as she curled her fingers around it. 

He glanced downwards, “You and mommy got it for me.” 

“I know.” Josie said rather proudly, before dramatically pitching to the side so she could try to grab one of his projector slides. 

“If I’m going to hold you, you can’t be grabbing things, sweetheart.” Javier caught her hand and shook his head. “Otherwise you’ve got to color.” 

“I don’t wanna color.” 

He sighed. “You didn’t want to nap, either.” Javier glanced up as the door at the back of the classroom opened, the first of his students starting to mill in. Shit. 

“Do we have a guest lecturer today?” Tony questioned as he took his seat in the second row, throwing his bag down in the seat beside him. 

Javier chuckled. “She’s an expert in the field.” 

Monica sat down in the front row, pulling up the desk from the side of the seat and putting her textbook on it. “Ah, is this the infamous Josie?”

“She is indeed.” Javier bounced her on his hip, earning him a giggle from her as she clung to his suit jacket. “Her daycare was closed for a teacher workday.” He explained, “And she’s in meetings all day at the P.D.” He glanced at his watch again. “With any hope she’ll be able to swing by in an hour or so.” 

“You mean your daughter isn’t teaching us about declassified government documents?” Tony questioned, snapping his fingers with a look of disappointment. “Sounded like a good time if you ask me.” 

“Gu’berment.” Josie tried, scrunching up her nose as she reached for the projector slides again. 

“Josie.”

“Daddy.” 

Tony and Monica both laughed. 

“Since you two are here early, you get to pass these out when your classmates get here.” Javier said, laying two manila envelopes down on the table beside the projector. “Try to make it even.” 

Monica slid out of her seat, leaving the desk up as she walked towards the table. She waved to Josie as she bent over backwards against Javier’s arm. “Casefiles?” She questioned as she pulled out the copies, thumbing through them curiously. She walked back to her desk with the other envelope, tossing it back to Tony. 

“One half of the class will be going through the declassified files that came out last summer.” Javier explained, prying his tie out of Josie’s hands. “The other half will be reading The Baltimore Sun exposé and subsequent interviews with the 316 MI Bn members.” 

“Holy shit.” Tony swore as he read through one of the interviews, glancing up and catching Javier’s disapproving look. Looking between the student and Josie. “Sorry.” He laughed, rubbing at the back of his neck. “This is intense.” 

Monica frowned as she flipped through the declassified files. “The CIA were torturing prisoners with the Honduran Army?”

“I always thought the CIA were the good guys.” Tony quipped. 

Javier shrugged, “There are no good guys in the U.S. government. The sooner you realize that, the better.” Josie started squirming and he sat down the slide sheets he was sorting through so he could toss her up into the air. He caught her and she squealed with delight. 

He sat her back down on the floor, kneeling down to be her height. “I really need you to sit and color for a little while. Okay? I’ll get you ice cream later if you’re good for me.” Javier brushed his fingers over her curly hair, tilting his head to the side with a convincing look. 

“Okay daddy.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, before toddling over to the crayons on paper. She plopped down, trying to peel the hole-punched sides off. 

“What was that about all government agents being bad?” Tony questioned, giving Javier an amused look as he started passing out the copies as more students started to arrive. 

Javier clicked his tongue against his teeth, “My statement stands.” He flipped the switch on the side of the podium that dimmed the lights, before he moved to turn the projector on. He situated the first slide on the glass lens. 

“I didn’t know it was Take Your Child to Work Day” Sneered one of the students, George, as he sat down in the front row. 

“Ah, perfect.” Javier said with a smirk. “I hope you brought the assigned reading, George. I’ll be needing a volunteer to read through the first three pages of the coursebook.” 

George looked panicked. “It’s my dorm.” He looked to his left towards Monica who had the coursebook sitting on top of her desk. 

Monica looked between Javier and George with a frown. 

“I guess that’s a lesson for you, isn’t it?” Javier said pointedly. “If you have nothing to contribute to class, keep your mouth shut.” 

Several students snickered as George sank down into his seat humiliated. 

Javier did a mental count of the classroom, accounting for each student before he started speaking again. “As you may have noticed, you’ve each been assigned a portion of relevant documents about the Honduran Torture scandal that has been on the news recently. This is still an ongoing investigation. In fact, there are rumors that the DoD will be releasing the CIA Interrogation Manual to the American people. As you’ll read in the Sun article, these manuals—”

“Daddy.” Josie urged in her unconvincing whisper. “Daddy!” 

He pinched the bridge of his nose, but controlled himself as he crouched down beside her. “What did we talk about?” 

“Mommy’s here.” 

Javier stood back up, brows furrowed as he peered out into the classroom. With the projector on, they were mostly shrouded in darkness — and he couldn’t make her out among the heads. Besides, it was still too early for her to be there. 

“Where was I?” Javier loosened his tie, before swapping out slides. “The situation is currently under review by the Inspector General and there is mounting pressure in the Clinton administration to fully declassify the documents relevant to the actions taken in Honduras. If you’re with me again next semester, I intend to spend a portion of the semester reviewing the forthcoming releases. In the hands of half of you are the investigative interviews from an intrepid team of reports with the Baltimore Sun. Several members of the 316 battalion came forward, exposing the existence of the secret Honduran military unit, which had been under the instruction of the CIA officials who were based out of Honduras. This came on the heels of the Honduran government’s attempts to right the human rights violations they were under fire for.” 

“Professor—” 

Javier’s brows shot up as he scanned for the owner of that voice. Apparently, Josie hadn’t been mistaken in her assertion. “Yes?” 

“Would you agree that the CIA makes a habit of inserting themselves into situations they shouldn’t be involved in to begin with?”

“I believe that both personally and professionally. “Javier answered, before clicking the button on the side of his podium, “Class, I would like to introduce you to my significantly better half.” He gestured towards her, beaming with pride as she stood up and acknowledged their applause. 

“Sorry for the interruption. I wrapped things up early and thought I’d make it in before class started.” 

“Mommy!” Josie went running up the ramp towards her, wrapping her arms around her legs. 

She picked her up, settling her onto her hip. “Here, let me just get her stuff and—”

“Stay.” Javier urged, “I know you have your opinions about the CIA.” 

She rolled her eyes. “My biggest gripe with them in Colombia was when they repeatedly released memorandums endorsing Gaviria’s campaign, only to turn around and use that alliance to gather intelligence on them.” 

“Not to mention they undermined numerous efforts in Colombia.” 

She arched a brow at him, before looking towards the class. “He’s still jealous because the CIA picks up the tab on dates.”

Several students laughed, but some seemed hesitant to feed into the banter. 

“Did you date someone from the CIA?” Tony questioned. 

“Yep.” She let the ‘p’ pop past her lips as she gave Javier a teasing grin. “Am I derailing your class?” 

“You’re more than welcome to.” 

George cleared his throat, “I don’t know about everyone else, but I paid for a class taught by Javier Peña. Not some chick and a baby.” 

She snorted. “Who knew you were teaching the next generation of Chrises.” She snapped her fingers, getting his attention. “What’s your name?”

He kicked back in his seat and grinned smuggly. “George Sullivan. Remember that name.” 

“Oh, you’re George.” She pursed her lips and nodded, looking towards Javier then. “You should probably remember to cite your sources in the next paper you turn in. Unless you’re not interested in getting a good grade.” 

“Twice in one day.” Monica quipped, shaking her head. “When are you going to learn, George?”

“Glutton for punishment.” George accepted with a shrug. 

“If he says another word about my family, he’s getting an automatic fail.” Javier gritted out as he looked towards her then. “Seriously, stay. You might have some insights on the situation. “

“Sure.” She nodded, sitting Josie back down on the floor, before sitting down beside her. “Why don’t you keep coloring this pretty picture?” 

Javier flicked the light off again, adjusting the slides. “ As I was saying, the United States has made a habit of directly or indirectly contributing to human rights violations and concealing the evidence.” 

 ———

 “I could listen to you lecture for hours,” You mused as you took a sip of your beer, watching Javier as he brooded over a stack of short answer essays. Josie had fallen asleep in his arms during the middle of the lecture and he’d decided that spending the last hour of the class making his students write about governmental overreach abroad was the best answer. 

He had completely underestimated how much chicken scratch he would wind up having to read. “I can’t make heads or tails of this.” Javier huffed, passing the page to you. 

You sat your beer aside, brows furrowed as you read over the page. “After years of reading Steve’s handwriting, I believe this paper is arguing for the US to intercede more often…” You glanced at him. “It’s signed, ‘this is satire, don’t kill me professor’.” You glanced at him. “This would be Tony Dean. No surprise there.”

“Smart kid and smart ass.” He rolled his eyes, taking the paper back from you. “Did you say something?”

“Yeah.” You nodded, “I was alluding to the fact that you’re really sexy when you’re teaching.” 

His brows rose upwards as he looked towards you then. “You should come to more lectures.” 

“I might.” You smirked. “In the right mood, I might be able to come at your lectures.” 

“Baby.” He gave you a scandalized look. 

“You’re going to sit there and tell me you wouldn’t enjoy finding out that you got me off with your voice alone, Javier?” You gave him a pointed look, which worked because he shrugged. “That’s what I thought.”

You reached over and took the papers out of his hands, leaning forward to sit them on the coffee table. “These can wait.”

“You’re gonna help grade them.” He warned you as he unbuttoned his sleeves, rolling the cuffs up to his elbows. 

“I was going to anyways.” You countered with a grin, grabbing at the front of his shirt as you leaned in to kiss him. “And Josie falling asleep on your chest? If we didn’t already have a child, it would’ve made me want to have one with you.” It was easy to jest about it, despite how badly you wanted another one with him. 

Javier cradled the back of your head as he kissed you again, his mouth slanting hungrily over yours as he guided you backwards onto the sofa. He pressed his knee between your thighs as he draped himself over you. 

You combed your fingers through his hair, your fingers sliding down to curl around the back of his neck as you arched up against him. “I can see why your students love you.” You teased, dragging your teeth over his bottom lip with just enough pressure to make him hiss. 

“And why’s that?” Javier questioned, peppering kisses along your jawline and down your throat. 

“Well,” You started as you worked loose the buttons of his shirt, dragging your fingertips over his newly bared skin. “You’re intelligent.” You circled your thumb around his nipple before trailing your fingers down his ribs. “And hot. Which should be a crime.” You tilted your head and kissed the underside of his jaw. “And you care about what you're teaching.” 

Javier chuckled lowly as he leaned down to kiss you again, his tongue sweeping out to find yours. You moaned, your own tongue slipping out to slide against his own. You ran your hand down his back, bunching up the fabric of his shirt. 

You rocked your hips, grinding against the press of his knee between your thighs. “Javi.” You breathed out as he drew back from the kiss, looming above you with a look in his eyes that stoked the fire in your belly. “What?”

“Can I try something?” 

“Always.” You nodded, lashes fluttering as you looked up at him. “Am I going to enjoy myself?” 

“I think so.” Javier leaned down to kiss you, a brief brush of his lips that left you wanting more. He ran his hands over your arms, drawing them upwards above your head. He gathered them in one hand, keeping them pinned to the sofa. 

“So far, I’m feeling like I’m going to enjoy this.” You teased as you rolled your hips, pressing yourself against his thigh. You attempted to twist your hands out of his grasp, but he had a tight grip on your wrists. “What are you planning here, Javi?” 

He dragged his teeth over his bottom lip as his dark gaze raked over you. “You should come to more of my lectures, baby.” Javier said in a lower tone, pressing his knee more securely against you. 

You swallowed thickly, staring up at him. “Yeah? You don’t think I’d be distracting?” You ran your foot up the back of his leg, lifting your hips up off the sofa. 

“You’re always distracting.” He told you as he leaned down and brushed his lips down the center of your throat. His breath hot against your skin. “Tell me what got you going today.”

You exhaled shakily, “You were very passionate in your delivery. Not just because you have a vested interest in hating the CIA, but because you care.” You told him, grinding against his thigh as you spoke. “And your voice…” 

“Tell me.” He whispered, lips close to your ear as you turned your head, your cheek pressed against the sofa. 

“There’s an authority to your tone. No room for questioning about the facts.” You tried to free your wrists, desperately wanting to touch him. But his grip remained firm. “It’s the same voice I used to love when you’d brief us on our plans at the DEA.”

That caught his interest. 

“Did you ever think about those briefings, baby?” He shifted his knee, giving you just enough friction to make you moan. “You did, didn’t you?”

“Yes.” You admitted, arching your back as you rocked against him. “Javi, I’m so close.” You told him, you could feel your release — it was like you were balancing on a cord that was about to snap. 

Javier kept his lips close to your ear, his voice low and gruff as he spoke. “I want you to come for me, baby. Right like this.”

You let out a frustrated sound. “And I want your cock.” You turned your head, catching his lips in a needy kiss before he had a chance to pull away. “Don’t tease.” You gritted out as he started to shift his knee back on the sofa so you couldn’t reach it. 

Javier released his hold on your wrists, his hands moving down to grip your hips as he sat back on the sofa and pulled you into his lap. “Does it feel like I’m teasing?” He questioned, rolling his hips beneath you. 

“No.” You rasped out, curling your fingers around the back of his neck as you kissed him, an edge of desperation to the kiss. “Please.”

“Fuck.” He grunted out as you moved against him, grinding down against his cock. 

You let out a ragged breath as you pressed your forehead against his. “You’re too dressed.” You complained, gripping at the fabric of his shirt as you leaned back, rocking your hips downwards. 

“So are you.” He shot back, hooking his fingers in the fabric of your sleep shorts, tugging at them before letting the fabric snap back against you. 

You shifted back on his legs, reaching down to unbuckle his belt, sliding it through the belt loops and tossing it aside. You cupped him through his trousers, squeezing his erection lightly before you worked his trousers open and reached inside to free him from his boxers. 

Once your sleep shorts were discarded, neither of you even bothered with your underwear. Javier pulled you back onto his lap, fingers twisting the crotch of your underwear aside as you lowered yourself onto his cock. You clenched down around him as you settled atop him, your hands curling around his shoulders. 

“Hi.” You whispered as you tilted your head, your lips barely brushing against his. 

Javier grabbed at your ass, holding onto you tightly as he rocked his hips beneath you. “Hi.” He smirked, licking his lips. “I wish I could grade papers just like… this.” He pointedly thrust upwards, making you gasp. 

You ran your hands over his chest, “Bet you wouldn’t get anything done.” You taunted him, clenching tight around him again. “How could you?” 

“Fuck.” He squeezed your hips tightly as you both started to move. “You feel so good, baby.” Javier drawled out, his teeth scraping along your jawline. “Are you going to come for me?”

“Yes!” You gasped out, feeling those beginning flutters start to overtake you. Javier reached downwards, his fingers seeking out that little bundle of nerves just above where he was buried within you. It was like white hot pleasure cresting through you as you came apart for him. 

Javier groaned as he kept thrusting into you, your cunt clenching around his cock as he pressed into you again and again until his own release took hold. You moaned, pressing your face into the crook of his neck as you felt him spill into you. There was still a part of you that wished that this could be the time. 

You had both given up on trying, hoping that it would just happen naturally. Even though hope was wavering with each passing day. But every time you still caught yourself silently wishing that this would be the time. 

“I love you.” You whispered, curling your arms around him as you pressed close to his chest. 

Javier slid his hand up your back as he held you tight. “I love you too.” He kissed your shoulder, his mustache tickling your skin. “I don’t think I’m gonna get grading done tonight.” 

You laughed, nuzzling his neck. “Tomorrow.” 

[unovamemes]

the history of my relationship with N

Idk this is just something I found kinda interesting:

/

Mid 2016 -17 I reunited with a scratch friend and their icon was N. I asked for ideas on what to draw and she said they liked to draw N but they knew I had no idea who N was (back then I was still super into MLP (...but I’m still into MLP to this day)). She was right I had no idea who N was. She proceeded to recommend Pokémon games to me but I didn’t play one for a while

Some time after that I got Pokémon Sun and decided to check out the Pokémon topic on the forums (we were currently on the second topic) and I was like “yo Pokémon is cool I just got into it” and they were like “yo Pokémon is cool nice to meet’cha”. There was one user there who really liked N and talked about him a lot but I still didn’t know who that was. I was pretty much clueless. But I was like “yeah sure he looks cool”.

One day I had a dream about N appearing in the next Pokémon games (this was before LGPE was announced) and in it I said “ooh yeah that person is going to be so excited about this addition to the game!”. (I still remember that dream very vividly) But I still hadn’t played BW yet so I didn’t know anything about N aside from what she had said and even then I don’t think I knew all the details about N’s story.

After beating Ultra Moon, I knew I wanted to try another Pokémon game and I decided to ask her what game N was from to see what N was like. So after finding out it was BW, one day after school I picked up a copy of White at a GameStop that was close to it. I began playing and fell in love with it.  Then N appeared.

I was looking through old Pokémon topic posts and I kept making posts about how N was evil and kept killing my Pokémon and the way he talked was confusing and made no sense. I don’t remember having these thoughts, but it’s kinda interesting how that aged.

But everything changed when the lettuce nation attacked.

One day I said N’s hair looked like mint ice cream. Showed N to mom and mom said it looked more like lettuce. And thus a cult was formed.

BUT ANYWAY around that time I was really struggling mentally but I tried to hide it and always managed to force a smile even though I was breaking apart from the inside. I would play Pokémon and Animal Crossing as a way to become happy when things were rough.

During my hiatus from the game because of how hard it was to beat Iris, I had a dream about N helping me beat the game. The next day I was able to defeat her.  Around this time I was really beginning to connect with N, and I slowly released how similar we were. After that I almost felt like we were friends, even though he was just a fictional character. It was strange, having feelings for someone I’d never be able to truly meet.

After beating the game and N flew away to another place, I was so sad... well one part was because I couldn’t pay attention since I was in shock that I finally was able to beat Ghetsis, another part was because I thought it was a good idea to include the N’s Farewell song in a memorial video for my cat (I deeply regret this because now I always associate it with my cat’s death), but another reason why is I felt like I was losing someone important to me. A friend. Someone who I had looked up to for a while. Someone who I had been traveling with. I was playing this game for two years, and N was there with me the whole time. It felt like someone I had spent so much time with was gone. I knew I’d see him again someday, but the emotions were just so strong. Losing someone who had helped me so much was painful. Bittersweet.

And thus began my struggle to find the second game.

BUT ANYWAY LET’S SKIP THAT PART AND MOVE ON TO THE SIGNIFICANT STUFF.

I began having lucid dreams again, usually about exploring the Pokémon world and doing things with N. They were fun dreams which brought a sense of comfort to me, especially with the pandemic going on and stuff. I’d always look forward to sleeping, as I knew I’d be able to see my frie-n-d again. The adventures we had always made me happy, and I loved to share them with my friends.

Early February though, I came to a realization:

I was almost exactly like a real life version of N.

So of course I was thinking of N, and I was also thinking about the pain I had been suffering my whole life. I realized that many of the things I went through N had gone through in some way. We had the same experiences and struggles. We’d been hurt for similar reasons, but we managed to push through it and never lost sight of our good nature. While we occasionally would act out or do something bad in response to all the stress, we still tried our hardest to be happy and stay true to ourselves.

Because of this, I finally was able to let go of some of the pain. I felt happier. As if a weight was lifted off of my shoulders. Because of N I was able to come to terms with the past and accept it. I knew that I couldn’t change the past, but I might be able to change the future. My experiences made me stronger, and I might be able to use these experiences as a way of stopping it from happening to someone else again.

I’d think to myself “N made it through this, so I can too!” when I felt especially hurt. I pictured N as an older brother or mentor to me who I wanted to impress. I wanted to make N proud. I’d do just about anything to be who I wanted to be.

Even though I’m still struggling with past trauma and get flashbacks, I know I’ll be able to make it through this. Because of Pokémon I managed to make friends and let go of the past. Maybe someday I’ll be fully free and no longer have the dark thoughts I have now. Who knows. But I know that I’ll always have an imaginary friend to count on when I need it.

[nullset2]

Mother 3 - An In-depth Critique and Review

Ah, Mother 3, how I love you so!

The game which with which I forwent all possible aspirations to healthily integate into normal High School society: imagine walking into a party, people are drinking and being cool, and you ask them if they have ever played a very underground, very deep RPG only released in Japan called "Mother".

Yeah! I know! It's like you're asking to be bullied, and I realized it too late.

But anyway!

Mother 3 is one of the most important games you could ever play --alas, if only it wasn't near impossible to obtain it.

Yet, perhaps this adds to its allure and to the power of its narrative --a narrative which, by the way, I'm convinced is the very actual reason why it will never release formally in the United States.

As time has passed, I've actually become more and more impressed about how relevant the game is to the socioeconomic reality that we are in nowadays. I'm impressed that Shigesato Itoi had all of this in his mind's eye as early as 1996, and that the story was already written down in 1999!

Right now it's been 14 years since it's release on the GBA, but I think that the game is a timeless classic and warrants a playthrough now more than ever. Wanna know why?

Wanna find out?

Part 1. "A Japanese Copywriter's Americana"

The year is 1989 and a Japanese Copywriter --somebody who writes "Catch Copies", which are a sort of a long-form slogan that is very common in Japanese pop culture to advertise)-- by the name of Shigesato Itoi became a fan of the Dragon Quest series of RPGs, which are massively popular in Japan, even to this day. He also loved video games: he's asthmatic, so he recalls only being able to sleep sitting up as a child, and having to occupy his lonely time through asthma attacks playing video games, since he had to sit up and had nothing else to do at night.

His love of RPGs would linger in his mind until 1989 when he had an opportunity to meet with Hiroshi Yamauchi and Shigeru Miyamoto and was offered the opportunity to develop a video game with Nintendo. Harkening back to the endless hours he poured into Dragon Quest, his concept eventually took form by deriving from it. He called the story "MOTHER", as a reference to John Lennon's "Mother", since he is a very hardcore fan of The Beatles. The games have tons of obvious influence by old American films and comics, like ET and Peanuts, which he also loved very much.

For MOTHER, he wanted to explicitly go against the grain, by designing an RPG without "Swords and Magic", which stereotypically most RPGs follow, even from things as minor as to design a protagonist who was weak and vulnerable, asthmatic and without a Father Figure, yet, still heroic through much toil --which reflects Ninten from the original MOTHER for the famicom.

Miyamoto, in his usual taskmaster persona, arranged a team to work with Itoi for the creation of the RPG, by bringing in people from HAL laboratory and APE Inc, and thus MOTHER was born to great Japanese Acclaim. A game which took many risks in its genre, such as eschewing the idea of a separate overworld from navigation in the towns, the subject matter, the movement system and many other things which made it quite Unique. It was so popular that soon after the first project was released, MOTHER 2 started development, involving people from what's currently known as Game Freak and HAL Labs.

MOTHER 2 is a very unique game because it was the very first time that the series attempted to make an incursion in the Americas. Releasing in a big flamboyant flashy box, with a strategy guide and a bunch of goodies included, MOTHER 2 released as Earthbound in the states, a bigger and better version of the vision of the first game. Better graphics, Beatles references, sampled audio, pop culture cornucopia, it's all here and then some!

Famous for its role in technically driving the game, Satoru Iwata, ex-CEO and software developer for Nintendo,7 of Wii acclaim, helped the game meet its 1996 release date. It is known that the original version of the game ran into deep technical issues which the original dev team was not able to overcome. Once Satoru Iwata got involved, the game was reworked to a viable version and released to much critical acclaim. In his own words, he proposed to rewrite the tech that powered the main game. It was a matter of either continuing with the current code and be done in two years, or redoing everything and being done in six months under his vision, he said.

No matter its strong promotion from Nintendo, the marketing got botched, and the game paled compared to the flashy and bombastic magical RPGs of its era, like Final Fantasy VI, Super Mario RPG and Chrono Trigger of all things. So, Earthbound faced a very bad destiny in the states, by releasing to low acclaim, bad review scores and terrible sales numbers --even though it eventually reached Cult Classic status, due to its pure hearted nature, its hallucinogenic themes and characters, and its fantastic spirit over all.

And this game is worthy of discussion by itself a whole bunch because of the ripple effects it had in video game culture in the Western world. Enter starmen dot net. To this date, the epicenter of discussion for everything related to the MOTHER series. There you had me as early as 2002, browsing a half-rendered version of starmen dot net in a dingy computer in some dingy internet cafe in some shitty neighborhood in Mexico, trying to be a part of the discussion and the hype.

To this date, I consider starmen dot net as the non-plus-ultra case for how passionate Internet fan cultures can become.

Flat out, no other fandom has ever came close to the level of dedication, attention to detail and passion to tribute the original creation around which its fans congregate. A massive amount of fan paraphernalia has come out of starmen dot net --yes, even Undertale, 2015 indie darling RPG thing, originally got started on the Starmen dot net forums. People married and even started large, commercially viable enterprises, such as Fangamer.net, the firm which publishes Undertale, from starmen dot net.

...and then... silence...

After Earthbound's 1995 release, we enter a ten year hiatus for the series.

Even though both MOTHER games were incredibly popular in Japan, HAL Laboratory and APE Inc. weren't able to successfully make a jump onto the third dimension for the series come the Nintendo 64 era. They had a demo come the infamous Spaceworld 96, where a bunch of pre-release games for the then called "Ultra 64", which was the codename for the Nintendo 64, were showcased. And lo and behold, we have a sequel to Mother coming out, called Mother 3, the ROM for which has never been found by the way.

I'd love to get a look at the materials in that ROM.

The scarce footage we have available from it exhibits some of the elements we ended up seeing in the final released version of the game, like some of the original music like the Mozart ghost theme, and the DCMC section, albeit in a more primitive low poly way. It is known that both studios weren't very proficient at 3d Game development yet, which was still nascent. This together with other factors, such as the fact that at some point development was moved onto the unreleased-in-America, unpopular 64DD addon, undisclosed factors dropped the game into development hell, which ultimately led to its cancellation in the year 2000.

Plenty of mystery surrounded the now defunct project, to the dismay of a bunch of passionate fans in Starmen.net and elsewhere online. However, it turned out that the valiant effort of the fans, who made a huge amount of effort to campaign for the revival of the series, even mailing fanmail, fanart and other materials to the Itoi Shinbun offices in Japan (a titanical task in the world of the early 2000s).

Fast forward to 2003, and the Game Boy Advance, the little portable console that could, was in its Apex. Due to Satoru Iwata's campaining, it was announced that development on MOTHER 3 would be restarted, this time in 2D, for the gameboy advance. Much anticipation in Starmen.net followed this announcement, since it finally validated its efforts...

Come 2006, once the console was well into its end-of-life, with small nudges to play the game on a Gameboy player if possible, perhaps to try to follow suit with its predecessors, the sequel finally released to much acclaim. But what did Shigesato Itoi have in store for everyone all along? What kind of beast had just been unleashed onto the World?

Part 2. "Of Monkeys and Men"

Mother 3 follows the story of a young boy, Lucas, in a multi-chapter structure, which is novel for the series but not unheard of in the RPG genre. Besides this, the RPG plays very similar to your usual JRPG fare, and basically uses the Ultimately polished version of the MOTHER series' mechanics, groovy backgrounds and all.

The first three chapters of the game follow the perspective of different characters residing in Tazmilly Village as the plot of the game unfolds. The plot is centered around the residents of a peaceful town in an Island in an unspecified location, Nowhere Islands, which in my opinion is an allegory both of Japan and America, moreover with the fact that the game of the logo very clearly has a rising sun covered in metal, in a logo that's an amalgam of two different things which don't match, a subtle reference to the game's undertones to come.

From these residents we come to know the daily lives of a particular family: Flint, a farmer; Hinawa, his wife (a name in reference to Sunflowers, Himawari, her favorite flower), and their twin children, Lucas and Claus.

The game begins in the midst of their idyllic life in the mountains visiting Lucas' grandfather Alec, and playing around with meek dinosaurs which inhabit Nowhere Islands. See, in the world of Mother 3, no violence truly exists, and people have come to live peacefully with each other and nature. There's no such thing as the concept of money, Instead relying on an economy that's mostly based around bartering and hospitality.

However, everyone's lives veer into turmoil once strange alien beings invade, the Pigmask army, an army of big, fat and slovenly creatures dressed in pig-like attire, who seem to have a vast amount of technology and resources at their disposal yet aim for Nowhere Islands for colonization.

The Pigmasks have an as-of-yet unnamed leader, who is demanding them to make everything in the World "bigger, cooler, stronger and faster", and thus they seize Nowhere Islands by force of bombings and a forest fire to use its flora and fauna. And thus, while escaping from the forest fires returning from Alec's home, Hinawa tragically gets killed by a Drago which has been modified to be aggressive against its nature through robotics implanted in it by the Pigmask army.

There's an unused cutscene in the game's ROM data where Hinawa, instead, dies by bomb explosion...

...yeah, I'm just... gonna let you process that one by yourself ;)

The Drago left a fang in the middle of her heart, which is recovered by one of the Tazmillians and provided back to Flint along with a fragment of her crimson dress. Besmirched and angry, Claus, the festier one of the twin children, sets out to try to hunt the drago and achieve revenge, but he goes missing... Flint embarks in search of Claus and to kill the drago, and thus the first chapter of the game concludes, with the implication that Claus has gone missing...

With Lucas' family torn to shreds and The Pigmasks invading Tazmilly, it seems that we're in a situation ripe for disaster.

Chapter 2 follows Duster's adventure, which runs in parallel (as every other chapter will) to other chapters' stories. Duster is the last heir in a bloodline of Cat Burglars whose abilities are not in use anymore given that Tazmilly has no more commerce or crime. However it turns out that the Pigmask invasion puts his skills back in demand to infiltrate Oshoe Castle and retrieve an artifact which the Pigmasks are after and which Duster's family is the guardian of. The nature of the artifact in Oshoe Castle is as of yet unknown, however it is implied that it is important to the fabric of Tazmilly village.

At Castle Oshoe, Duster meets a mysterious princess, Kuma-tora (which translates literally to "beartiger", in allusion to the dichotomy of her existence, since she is very... masculine in attitude and refers to herself with, yes, male pronouns, perhaps anticipating identity politics by 14 years at least), who is also after the artifact in the Castle, the Hummingbird egg. The chapter ends with the Hummingbird Egg going missing, and a mysterious peddler of goods arriving into town, while Kumatora and Duster's father realize he has gone missing...

Chapter 3 follows the adventure of a little Monkey, Salsa, which gets flown into Nowhere Islands to perform a job. This is a novelty in a town where the concept of a job doesn't exist as of yet, however, the peddler of goods is going to need a lot of hands if he wants to fullfill his vision. The peddler, Fassad (which is a tongue in cheek way to say "facade", right?) promises to all residents in Nowhere Island eternal happiness if they buy his newest product, the "Happy Box", a television-like contraption which glows with a warm light and which people are attracted to and engrossed by. For this, he introduces the concept of money and swindles people his way, convincing them that this is the way to go and promising them excitement and benefit if they listen to him.

Salsa delivers Happy boxes throughout the whole chapter, and gets shocked, even in the middle of the night, if something goes wrong with his job or tries to escape due to a shock collar implanted by Fassad. However, he runs into Kumatora and Wess, Duster's father, and they ploy together to free up Salsa and mess up Fassad's forceful takeover of Oshoe Castle, when Lucas shows up with several dragos in tow and fights against the Tank invasion of Oshoe Castle.

(A foreign animal being introduced into a new society with the express intent of exploiting it to propel forward a commercial enterprise by toil... geez, I dunno, where have I heard that one?)

From Chapter 4 Onwards the game adopts a more conventional JRPG scheme, through a timeskip which happens literally two years in the future. In this future version of Tazmilly, money (Dragon Points) and ATMs are now existent, similar to other Mother games. The game follows Lucas' adventure through a now-modernized and industrialized technologically advanced Tazmilly, trying to retrieve the "seven needles" from the island, which are soon enough shown to be a source of great power that the pigmask army is also after and to which Lucas must try to get to first due to a calling by mysterious beings which inhabit Nowhere Islands, the Magypsies. With a lot of emotional moments, such as Lucas having visions of his Mother in the middle of a field of Sunflowers, we follow the adventures of the party as they infiltrate the pigmask ranks and gather information about its nature and intentions.

It is then discovered that the pigmasks are commanded by a Masked leader, who dominates the power of thunder through a tower which was built in the middle of the town and which strikes anybody down with thunder if they overstep the Law and Order that the pigmasks have implemented. The party fights this masked leader in bouts while exploring the world and reuniting with a now missing Kumatora and Duster, who are found to have settled as employees in a Nightclub called "Club Titiboo".

Eventually, through his travels, Lucas gains an artifact from Mr. Saturn, the inhabitants of a special region in Nowhere called Saturn Valley and which has been passed down through all three Mother games, called the "Franklin Badge". When equipped, this item allows the bearer to become immune to lighting attacks and reflecting them back.

The party soon discovers that the world is inhabited by an special elder race, existant from before the creation of Tazmilly village and who know more about everything going on with the invasion, called the "Magypsies", a race of transexual, magical creatures who help Lucas discover the fact that he has Psychic abilities, also known as "PSI" within the MOTHER canon. He uses these to proceed further in his adventure to pull the seven Golden Needles, the first of which Fassad was attempting to get to, in the Courtyard of Oshoe Castle.

Lucas moves into a city called "New Pork City" in the conclusion of the game, which is a town built by the pigmasks completely in the honor of Porky, full of all sorts of Pigmask paraphernalia and amusement. It is found that the seventh and final needle is inside humongous tower in the middle of the city, the Porky tower.

Moreover, it is also revealed that the Pigmask army is led by Porky, known as "Pokey" in the American localization of Mother 2, Earthbound. Pokey is shown to have developed into a tyrant as an adult, with unlimited lust for blood and power, who used Doctor Andonuts' Phase Distorter after the events of Earthbound to mess around with the unlimited realities and dimensions it gave him access too, as a petulant child does with a video game. Once he got kicked out of every other possible reality due to the chaos he created, he found the Nowhere islands and decided to mess with it.

The climax of the game comes around Chapter 7, when the now fully-developed party runs into Leder, one of the original Tazmillian villagers, a lanky and really tall person who never spoke, not a single word, in the game until now. Leder is revealed to be the only person who knows what is the true nature of it all: tazmilly village is the remanider of civilization once the world of Mother 2 collapsed by cataclysm. A flood wiped away everything and the very last remainder of people who survived fled to nowhere islands in a big white ship and settled there, willingly forfeiting all technological advances and knowledge of the world into the Hummingbird egg, the artifact that Duster's family protected in Oshoe, a device which wiped everyone's memories, with the intent of undoing civilization and living back in a peaceful village-like state again.

It is revealed that when all seven needles are pulled, a supernatural power on which the island is built will be awakened. This supernatural power is revealed to be a Dragon by Leder, who had to be subdued by the ancestors of the Magypsies so people could live in Nowhere islands as their last resort. Whoever pulls out the needles which keep it in slumber will pass the intentions and nature of their heart onto the dragon. Thus, Lucas must be the one who pulls out the last needle instead of Porky or the masked man, in hopes that a second cataclysm like the first doesn't happen again.

After making their way through all the pigmask defenses, Lucas and Co. face off with Porky, who is now a bedridden, pathetic man. Doctor Andonuts from Mother 2, appears here, and is revealed to have developed a solution to contain Porky, the Absolutely Safe Capsule, which is a capsule which once it's sealed, it can never be opened again, trapping whoever is inside forever in a parallel universe where only them exist. The party is successful in locking Porky in the absolutely safe capsule, so, porky is not hurt by the end of mother 3, instead, he just has been locked away forever in a place far away from everyone else --perhaps, providing the ultimate form of comfort that a personality like his would seek after.

At the end of the game, Lucas and Co. face against the masked man, who is revealed to have been Claus all along, who, brainwashed with Pigmask ideologies, is hellbent on drawing out the final needle to awaken the dragon. Lucas and Claus face off in an emotive fight, where they suddenly remember each other and how friendly they used to be with each other... and moreover, their Mother. Claus strikes Lucas with thunder in a final murderous attempt before snapping out of the Pigmask brainwashing. But since he had the Franklin badge on, the attack is reflected and mortally strikes Claus, who, in his final moments, finally remembers Lucas...

The ending of the game is open ended, without showing much of what happened once the seventh dragon needle was released, so the ending of the game is subject to interpretation. However, it is heavily implied that, since Lucas was the one who released the needle, the dragon, once awakened, did not destroy Nowhere islands and instead led to a regeneration of existence.

Part 3. "A Musical-Adventure"

One of the pre-release materials for the game called it a "Musical" adventure, and I think this is completely warranted: the musical beautifulness of Hip Tanaka, famed Nintendo composer and long-time MOTHER music autheur, is joined by the expertise of Shogo Sakai, who gave the soundtrack a more mature, sample-based vibe, compared to the early two more "chiptuney" soundtracks in the series. The songs are all-time favorites of mine, and I still the soundtrack every so often given all of its mystique, its eclectiness and curiosness.

But the musical aspect to the game doesn't stop here: as an addition to the mother series, the battle system has now been changed to become rhythm-game based instead of simply turn based. If the player attacks an enemy during a battle, it is possible to strike additional damage as long as the player continues to press the attack button in rhythm to the background music in upwards of 16 hits. A full combo is incredibly effective and plays a nice fanfare if executed correctly.

As an enthusiast of rhythm games, this premise captivated me from the get-go and it works wonders, functioning as a breath of fresh air to the way overplayed mechanic of turn-based combat, which has existed since the 80s. It also provides a certain nice feeling to combat, given how every character has their personal musical instrument, with lucas being a guitar, Kumatora being an electric guitar, Duster being a bass, and Boney, Lucas' pet, being... barks.

Besides this the mechanics from Mother 2 are translated almost completely: every character has a rolling HP and PP counter, which rolls down over time as an airport display instead of immediately as in other RPGs. This may seem minor, but it adds an amazing element of strategy to the game, since it is possible to recover an ally from mortal damage if a healing PSI is executed against the clock before the counter hits 0.

Besides this you got almost completely conventional standard JRPG fare, with the character being able to move in eight directions in the overworld, with the addition of a run button, preemptive attacks and overpowered kills. Once you start facing enemies in the overworld, the first one to attack can be decided depending on the angle that the enemy was approached with: sneak up on an enemy from behind and a green swirl will display, which means that you get to attack first; if an enemy sneaks behind you, you'll see a red swirl and they will attack first instead. Otherwise, a gray swirl will display, which follows conventional order according to your stats.

Part 4. "WE WANT MOTHER 3, REGGIE!"

...Mother 3 will never be released in America.

This may be too dramatic of an opinion to have but I see no other alternative. For the most of fourteen years, Nintendo of America's head honcho Reggie Fils-Aime was requested to release and distribute the game in the americas, and for twenty years the request fell on deaf ears, citing commercial inviability, potential copyright infringment and many other reasons.

But I think the main reason that the game will never be localized is because Mother 3 was a passion project, pushed for by people with personal involvement in the series and very special sensitivities about it. Shigesato Itoi and Iwata were personal friends. The game appeals to japanese tastes and touches on issues and subjects that the American population is very politically sensitive to.

For example, in chapter 6 Lucas and the party experience a bad trip because they eat hallucinogenic mushrooms in a swamp. This leads to Lucas having visions of his family in a very bad light, with implications of violence and abuse, to try to get at the players' deepest sensitivities. Even the name of the real player is used here.

I think that it's impossible that nintendo will release a game which openly involves Hallucinogenics no matter its innocent exterior. This is the kind of subject in media that Japanese audiences usually handle better than American audiences.

Besides this, the game has very clear allusions to accelerated capitalism, anti-capitalism, colonization, slavery, transexuality and the changes and chaos they have brought onto the world, which is a tough subject to tackle in the Americas, which is still part of an ongoing, vicious culture war.

Particularly, I adore how the game even tries to convey its points through the Sound Test, of all places. Mother 3 has a collection of music pieces, which are available on demand within the game itself. Of those, there's a music piece which is a remix of Pollyanna, the Mother 1 theme, which is present throughout the series, in an nod to the previous games in the series. The hallway where this plays is full with mother references and it expects the player to sit down and watch passively all the references in order.

But this is meta, amazingly enough. The hallway is located in the final section of the game, before facing Porky, who is presented as the effigy of vicious capitalism in the game. As if he left them in his palace just as collectibles, things to be purchased or acquired.

The name of the song which plays during this sequence? "His Majesty's Memories". Subtle.

Nintendo is a company which tries to keep its image clean and sterile, so it can be used broadly for a variety of projects, usually with family friendly intent behind --and even more so in the US.

However, Nintendo has a history of risky bets with Mature content, which has become even more glaring lately: you got Eternal Darkness, Astral Chain, Bayonetta, No More Heroes, the disappointing Metroid Other M... this together with the fact that most of their target audience is of age now, could, at least remotely, mean that, perhaps, Mother 3 releasing in some manner in the future, localized in English, could happen: however, this is not happening at least the way I see it.

Once the game was released, there were several different campaigns online to try to gather Nintendo's attention: a 10k signature strong petition was completed among several other things, and if this hasn't lead to results... I don't know what will.

Part 5. "No Crying Until the End"

Mother 3 is a beautiful, engrossing and captivating game which is hidden away under a cutesy exterior. Its complex themes and characters are evoking of deep human truths which call out to us and ask us to reflect on things and the way we're living. Of strong pedigree in its series and with a superb musical production behind it and a mastermind of writing, MOTHER 3 excels at what it sets out to do.

When the game released, the game had a "Catch Copy" written for it by itoi himself, which called the game "Strange, Funny and Heartrending", and I think this is a beautiful way to bring everything full circle. Itoi wrote on the Advertisement that if you wanted to cry because of Mother 3, you should save it until the end. And those three words are a fantastic way to close off this review: if you want a game that will provide you with bizarre and laugh out loud moments one second and tear-jerkers the next, Mother 3 is the game for you.

And the game is just so poignant... to this date not only do I think it's one of the most expressive and well done pixel-art based game, I still find myself impresse at how much I can connect with the characters through small, cutesy sprites and pastel color pallettes, lack of Unreal engine and RTX graphics card be damned. Themes of grief, missing a loved one who's gone, the feeling of loss of identity due to accelerating social and economical change, how tyrannical political figures establish themselves and change communities, sexual and identity politics and how the modern world was to have shaky and voraginous sexual identities become commonplace... it's all there, and masterfully, tastefully expressed, without that icky feeling of "agenda"ism that you can get sometimes from Hollywood productions when they try to hamfist tropes and "messages" down people's throats. You know that feeling? I hate it when it happens in movies or shows I'm watching just to have a good time, and then I get some succint propaganda.

But MOTHER 3 is a kind beast, trying to reach to your heart and directly speak to the mind of the player. It tries to show us what it thinks of modernity and to make us seriously ponder what the frick is up with all of this shit, and thinking it has kept me for the last 14 years, and I anticipate another 20 ahead of me. And you can join me in reflecting about this...

Or maybe you can just go back to your happy box. Whichever way you choose.

[brave-symphonia]

Summary of my thoughts on Pokespe SM Chapters 16-20:

Chapter 16:

Not too surprised Branch Chief Faba is working with Team Skull. He seemed a little suspicious.

Chapter 17:

I like that Hau makes the point that Pokémon are more than just battles. And I like that it’s shown throughout Pokespe this is true. White is in Pokémon showbusiness, Y does Pokémon gliding, Moon is a Pokémon Pharmacist. It’s something easy to forget when just looking at the games.

And it’s nice to hear Mimikyu’s story about how it copied Pikachu in the hopes that trainers would more likely want to befriend it. I’ve always found that a little weird. I mean, Pikachu is the mascot of the Pokémon franchise so it’s very recognizable in our world, but isn’t Pikachu just another Pokémon in this world?

Pikachu has also never really been my favorite. I’m not really a fan of electric types.

I keep getting more and more curious about Lillie’s legendary Pokémon. It changed form too.

Chapter 18:

I’m a little curious on how the Zygarde plotline is going to tie into the story. Currently it feels real disconnected from the Tapu/Ultra Beast/Team Skull plotline. I’ll wait to see, I have a little bit of faith in the author.

I should say I don’t expect a complete masterpiece of these stories, but most of these arcs have been pretty decently written and I don’t regret reading them. I’d call them good stories at the very least and much better than what I’ve seen in the anime. Like, I really like almost every one of these arcs.

And based on Guzma’s words, I feel like he may have gotten his orders from another dimension, maybe the same place the Ultra Beasts come from.

Chapter 19:

After this chapter I’m curious about why the Aether Foundation made Type:Null to fight Ultra Beasts if they wanted to use Ultra Beasts. The most likely case is that they wanted to weaken them and then capture them.

And it seems like Gladion’s family is the same person that gave Lillie trauma. I wonder if Lillie and Gladion are related. It also explains Nebby. Lillie probably got it from Lusamine just like Team Skull.

And it looks like Sun’s goal for getting the money is finally revealed. And I feel bad. Because the Aether Foundation is most likely not going to actually let him buy his Grandpa’s Island back. They probably just told him an insane amount of money to get rid of him and didn’t expect him to actually get it. Or maybe they thought he might and just wanted to be cruel.

Either way, it’s sad.

Chapter 20:

It’s only about halfway through and Sun finally got all the yen he needs to buy back his island, if The Aether Foundation was ever actually going to do that. Well, there are the Zygarde cells too, but there aren’t any more jobs he needs.

It’s nice to see he doesn’t instantly say yes to any job that pays him a decent amount though.

Besides that, the Ultra Beasts are interesting. The way they are and that they behave. It seems like they can’t be caught through normal means, so I wonder who they were referring to that can make a pokeball that can catch them. Maybe Kurt is coming back from the SGC arc?

[danwhobrowses]

A Personal Rant before Sword and Shield comes out

I’ve sat idly by for months, tried to weather a few negative responses but given that it’s now 6 days from release and I’m hearing that devs are getting literal death threats I’m going to put my foot down

If you’re already shitting on a game that hasn’t been released yet, you are all juvenile bitches, and I’m about to tell you why.

Before we begin, I’m not saying that you’re not allowed to dislike a game, that happens, but usually it happens after you play a game, not before.

You are viewing this game through a keyhole and judging the room and what you’re seeing is not worthy of this much hate. Let’s start with the big one Dexit: Not as Big as You Think Having No National Dex is of course not ideal, but it doesn’t ruin the game. Let’s Go has no National Dex, all it had was Alola forms and nobody whinged about it. Ruby and Sapphire didn’t have a National Dex until FRLG, and nobody whinged about it. Sun and Moon and Ultra Sun and Moon do not have a National Dex And Nobody Whinged About It Do you know why? Because it’s not actually a big deal. People who complain about it are bandwagoning because ‘Dexit’ is a meme, its name literally parodies an event in current Britain that many people don’t actually want to happen.  Now currently, the anger of Dexit is that Bulbasaur and Squirtle are not in it, which frankly is hilarious because the last wave of bitching was ‘Kanto mons are getting all the new stuff’. You wanna know how many main series versions Bulbasaur and Squirtle have not been in? Seven, only way to get them is trade and event. The other complaint is that there’s ‘only 400′ Pokémon. Remember those days where people were fine with 150? 400 is huge, in fact it’s 3 less than USUM and it’s not accounting for the Gigantamax forms Don’t let headlines fool you either, Sun and Moon had 302 Pokémon, it’s far from the ‘lowest dex number since 2003′. Do your own research with these things. Kalos’ regional dex was 151, BW2 was 300, BW 153, Sinnoh 210, RSE has 386 and GSC had 252 Don’t get me wrong, it smarts that some Pokémon isn’t there, but it’s not a dealbreaker, like let’s be honest here. For a good year and a half all your pokémon are gonna do is sit in an unused cartridge or a PC box, you’re literally whining about the fact that you can’t move your perfect IV Pokémon from one box to another. You could simply just let them stay in Let’s Go or USUM, you don’t have to use Bank or Home on continued subscription for that, so your complaints are only set on the foundation that you feel like you have to continually pay to not transfer your Pokémon, Finally, people act like these Pokémon are deleted forever, they’re not, this is for spacing to make sure this game doesn’t break down from the sheer mass of models and textures it has to maintain in a massive open world space, the local and online camping and battles. Just use the Pokémon that are there! There’s new Pokémon don’t you wanna try those? You can also look at FRLG or Emerald and consider that maybe more Pokémon will get patched in once the game proves to be stable. I don’t think you’ve noticed, but the Nintendo Switch isn’t as powerful as the other consoles out there, sometimes it runs like shit. Believe me on that one, Switch is still in a very buggy development phase. Let’s Go was kept small to test it’s capability and Sword and Shield can’t just fly in and give you all 1000 Pokémon just so one of the ones you want can be in there

You have to be much less obtuse with this, I mean this was a long time coming. You’re gonna have to live with the fact that not every Pokémon ever can be supported on one game alone. Disk, Download, Cartridge and Patch Sizes have limits in Compliance, you can’t just throw everything at it. Waah, the New Pokémon Don’t Look Good They do, you’re being petty. It happens every version, the people dislike the starter evolutions or just one in particular. Remember all the Oshawott hate? This all comes and goes because people have simply gone on the first instinct that ‘new and different is scary and should be shunned’ You’re that Simpsons meme when young Homer accuses Grandpa of not being ‘with it’ I won’t spoil to those who haven’t seen it, but I like the new starters, and some of the new Pokémon will need some growing but not every Pokémon looks good at first glance. If Mr Mime, Hypno or Gastly came out nowadays they’d be crapped on so much for lacking creativity or for looking weird. Look at Drampa as well, thing looks like Falkar from The Neverending Story, when I first saw it I thought it look weird but now I like it. You should offer these things time And actually fall back on past experience, you’re reacting like this isn’t the same thing that happens every version; the dex gets leaked, people whine about the evolutions, people get over it and accept that they overreacted. hIgH QuAlItY aNiMaTiOnS I’ve seen that video, 2 clips and you judge a whole game how classy of you? If you don’t see improvement you’re blind. You can’t shit on a game for keeping the battle animations, you can’t expect every Pokémon to move their own unique way to the exact position of the body part the opponent needs to get hit by, that’s just unrealistic. You’re also failing to equate to the new moves and all the new movesets. You have to ensure that each Pokémon is capable of calling this animation as well. The second clip in that video was Hop and Hau having the same rigging, and once again, that’s not abnormal. Rigging is not easy either, do it wrong and it sticks and deforms texture. There’s nothing wrong with Hop having one animation that matches Hau’s, you’ll probably find that many models actually have similar rigging as previous games. Because it’s not that big of a deal and it saves money, as an example look at Disney they copied hand-drawn motion and stuck a different character on them, Robin Hood’s Little John dances just like (animated, for those too young to know otherwise) Jungle Book’s Baloo The thing you’re also ignoring from that clip is the graphical improvement of Hop compared to Hau, Hau looks like a balloon with a smiley face but Hop’s face has depth and his mouth actually moves like a normal person, his clothes have far more contrast and complexity, but no just zero in on one fighting animation and one rigging that’ll surely be worth abusing a game that’s not even out... B-But Charizard I’ve already explained this before but Charizard is Leon’s main, it’s obviously going to have a Gigantamax, ergo it’s also going to be in the Dex. Does Charizard get a lot? Yes, but the reason is because Charizard is popular. One of the rarest cards is a Charizard Hologram Card, Charizard is one of the first version mascots, it is one of the most recognized Pokémon Ash has in the anime Reality of the matter is that like Pikachu, Charizard is a recognized Pokémon for all ages, it appeals to a demographic that’s not playing In Layman’s Terms: that part is not for you A reality you really need to face. Pokémon is a game for all ages, so elements of the game are not always going to be tailored to your age range. The gimmick of Dynamax and Gigantamax is for merch sales and young children because it’s got an audience there, you can’t expect the Biggest Entertainment Brand in the World to simply shut out a large fraction of its demographic just to appeal 100% to you And again, it’s not a big deal, so there’s a Charizard there, just save a Stone Edge and be done with it, if you hate Charizard so much this’ll be catharsis, but in actuality you’re complaining because it’s something to complain about Kanto are getting Everything That went down like a lead balloon didn’t it? Reminder that the first Gigantamax forms were Galar Pokémon, so you can’t really say that anymore. There are Galar forms from non-Gen I Pokémon too I assure you, but the reason Kanto gets a lot of them is because Kanto is the oldest. Let’s not pretend that other gens don’t get love either Or should I remind you of Mega Ampharos, Scizor, Heracross, Houndoom, Tyranitar, Blaziken, Gardevoir, Gallade, Mawile, Aggron, Medicham, Manectric, Banette, Absol, Garchomp, Lucario, Abomasnow, Steelix, Sceptile, Marshtomp, Sableye, Sharpedo, Camerupt, Altaria, Glalie, Salamence, Metagross, Latias, Latios, Rayquaza, Lopunny, Audino and Diancie? It’s true that the Johto starters could use something, but I don’t think they’re being purposefully ignored, perhaps the right design hasn’t come along. Rather it be done right than poorly wouldn’t you agree? The Devs Should’ve Done <Insert Thing Here> People who say this kinda stuff have no idea how a game is made. I have a First Class Bachelor’s degree in Computer Gaming and Animation Technology and I can tell you that none of the stuff you want them to do is easy. Even getting grass right is a complete hassle. You want small insights you should watch Corridor Crew react to Good and Bad VFX, they tell you about the mechanics of CGI a few times on those vids. This is what annoys me with the prior swipe at the Battle animations and rigging, even with 2 years this is a heavily massive workload and Game Freak have only recently expanded the team that work on Pokémon which makes communication much more widespread and difficult to manage, likewise they are working on other games too they are not just Pokémon, currently their next IP is why Toby Fox was able to do a bit of music for Pokémon, because he’s collaborating with them on another game. The work doesn’t stop, most of these people are overworked and still doing overtime, they bring out a good product and all it gets is ‘but it should have this’, and unless it’s a huge part of the game that’s needed to function then that’s really disrespectful Before you start critiquing on what the people making this game ‘should’ve done’ perhaps you should try to make a game yourself, because it is not easy even for pros, I call back to Toby Fox because creating Undertale took 32 Months to create, that’s 2 years and 8 months for those slow with math, it also took 3 years before it could be ported to Switch because the Engine couldn’t support the platform, Pokémon has less time to do that, greater graphical and animation quality to achieve and more characters to battle, attacks to animate and more songs to compose. Conclusion: You’re All Just Bitter I’ve already seen it happen recently but this group of people senselessly bashing something because of ridiculous demands, expectations or arguments based on a lack of understanding all combine into something I’m simply calling the ‘Bitterness Fandom’. It’s people hating for the sake of hating and trying to bring something down just because it’s been a popular force for so long, and it’s not just Pokémon that’s getting it It’s already been happening to Star Wars. The Last Jedi and Solo were great films but the Bitterness sank its fangs in and act like neither are as good as the original trilogy (like killing Snoke without knowing anything about him and Phasma before she could do anything is any different to killing Sidious and Boba Fett in Jedi or Maul in Phantom Menace and Grievous in Revenge of the Sith), a lack of awareness to reality and the desire to complain for the sake of complaining continues to infect Star Wars. We even have a thing called ‘Star Wars Fatigue’ Star Wars can’t release a film every year because of ‘Fatigue’ but Marvel can release 5 MCU films a year and nobody bats an eye. Those frustrations aside, I refuse to let the Bitterness sink in without me calling them out, because you are not Pokémon Fans. If you were you’d know that having no National Dex isn’t new, you’d know that the graphics have improved and leaks of the game happen every time, you’d know why Charizard is popular and that some features are not intended to be targeted at you Shock and Horror to the heavens above but games can’t do everything And if you’re that naive to think so then you’re clearly not doing your homework So let’s throw out an absolutely WILD suggestion shall we? Let’s decide our opinion on a game After playing it? Because shitting on something you don’t even have hands-on experience with it is a fragile pedestal to put yourself on. If we all think it’s bad then, so be it, but I sincerely doubt that is the case When my copy of Pokémon Sword gets delivered to my house I am going to enjoy it because I will not let petty and incorrect statements sway my feelings and I swear to Arceus if you think the Bitterness will bring down Pokémon that easily then you did not see the queue to the London Poké Center that had been amassing since midnight and was forced to stop taking more people when the doors opened What should matter is how you enjoy the game, play it before you judge it And honestly, don’t send death threats, why we need to tell you that is beyond me, the ones who made these games are people who have worked their asses off day in and day out to provide something you aren’t even going to play because one Pokémon isn’t in it, the irony is not lost on me when I say this but deep into the very bottom of my heart: Grow Up. If you don’t like the game, don’t play it, don’t bother people about it, we don’t need your shit here Enjoy the Game People

[tanadrin]

Reordberend

(part 15 of ?; start; previous; next)

“What do you believe in?”

Leofe had asked the question in a friendly enough way, a few days later when they were sitting together for the midday meal. Now even at noon the sky was no more than twilight, a heartwrenchingly clear gradient of color from dark to light in the direction of the hidden sun, the far side studded with stars. The Antarctic air was impossibly clear, a continent-sized whorl of dry winds cut off from the rest of the world by the circumpolar current. Katherine simply could not get used to it.

What had they been talking about? The sky, the weather, hopes for tomorrow. And Katherine had mentioned her family, how far from home she was. Somehow that had segued into faith. She still wasn’t sure what, exactly, the Dry Valleys People believed in. Then Leofe had asked her the question, and she found herself getting defensive. She remembered her parents, her teachers, the people who pressed her on what she really believed as an adolescent. She remembered the alienation she felt when she realized she wasn’t the same as the people she grew up with. That her desire to grow beyond the confines of the world as they had presented it to them meant that she would have to go. And in the going there would be no returning.

“It’s complicated,” was all she said at the time. But the question nagged at her. She didn’t know if she could have answered it in English, let alone in the tongue of the Valleys. But there was an answer. A hard, bright answer she felt within her, warming her during the cold and starry nights.

What did the people of the Valleys believe in? Well, that was a tough one. When she had first found the gospel-book she thought she knew. A peculiar people, setting out for desolate shores, carrying religious artifacts and ancient tongues with them--traditionalists, of a kind. After all, wasn’t that what her people had been? Secessionists, as politely called them back in civilization. Those who decided that the great ecumenical riot of culture and technology and fashion and whatnot wasn’t for them. There were lots of different kinds of secessionists, not just traditionalists. New religious movements, utopians of all stripes, ultra-individualists and ultra-collectivists, artists with ideas that couldn’t be realized safely or legally in any existing top-level jurisdiction, trillionaires who thought the law shouldn’t apply to them. The pattern was familiar: you found a big pile of money somewhere, either from your followers or from a rich patron, you bought some land, you renounced your basic and you got almost unlimited sovereignty over it in return.

But that still left some questions. Like the age of the Valleys settlements, for one. If the local chronology was correct, they were almost a hundred and fifty years old, older than any other settlement in Antarctica. That meant they weren’t technically secessionists, because there was nothing here to secede from a century and a half ago. A century and a half ago, the Antarctic coast had been even colder and the ice-free portion of the Valleys even smaller. The timeline made sense in other ways--that was after the abrogation of the Antarctic Treaties, when most of the countries that used to fund scientific outposts along the coasts had pulled back in the wake of the Collapse. Before the big multinationals moved into the Peninsula a generation later. You could’ve gotten a couple hundred people to the Dry Valleys unnoticed, maybe.

When she could, Katherine tried to get a better look at their books again. Their script presented difficulties for her. On more than one occasion, she found herself muttering irritably at an imagined picture of Dr. Wright. He could have warned her, of course; he could have said, “the Dry Valleys People speak Anglo-Saxon English; here’s a list of books to take with you.” She still would have lost them in the shipwreck, but maybe she would have remembered enough from them to get started. Heck, maybe some enterprising nerd had created a module for the language. Unlikely--a good module took a shitload of funding and years of work--but not impossible.

She had asked Dr. Gordon about John, after the meeting at the conference. If this guy was so famous, how come she’d never heard of him? Dr. Gordon had sighed, sighed in the way that usually indicated byzantine university politics, but eventually she’d given up the story.

“This was all well before my time, you have to understand,” she said. “I’m getting this secondhand and thirdhand from people who were around then, and some of this is basically School of Humanities mythology at this point. But the way I understand it, Dr. Wright was the last holdout of the old English department.

“Two hundred years ago, the School of English was one of the jewels in the crown of this university. A hundred and fifty years ago, it was still doing pretty well for itself, but, well, as much as we hate to admit it to ourselves, academia is subject to trends and fashions just like the rest of the world. And despite trying to keep up with the times, most of the things they studied were hopelessly outdated. Even back then, nobody took nonsense like postmodernism or critical theory seriously anymore. A lot of the the really interesting work was starting to get usurped by departments with more rigorous methods. The Digital Humanities school was just taking off, and there was lots of interesting work going on on the other side of campus with 20th century novelists and AI, but the English faculty stuck to its old methods. Close reading, wading through dense tomes of theory, writing long analytical essays. Things that, for very good reason, we don’t make students do anymore. The university naturally had an aversion to producing graduates who were unemployable as anything other than English professors; it felt that was unfair to its students. But the more they tried to pressure the English department to update its methods, the more recalcitrant the faculty became.

“By the time Dr. Wright was approaching retirement age, they were back to teaching dead languages. You couldn’t understand the whole history of English literature, they argued, without a grounding in foundational stuff. And that foundational stuff, that ancient British literature, well, you couldn’t understand that without the context of, oh, I don’t know, whatever the Vikings spoke I suppose. Dr. Wright was by all accounts an extremely smart person. He’d done some groundbreaking work in Austronesian and South American languages as a younger man, a real giant in his field. But eventually, for reasons nobody quite understood, he’d pivoted away from the frontiers of his field--not a big field to begin with, mind you--and retreated to ground as well trodden as, well, basic arithmetic. He moved to the English department and was teaching students thousand-year-old poetry. He said it was a natural extension of his earlier work, and the university itself was happy enough to keep someone with his stature on its faculty, but to be honest most people saw him as nothing more than a useless eccentric. Rather like the whole department.

“Well, eventually the decision was made to axe their funding. There were maybe four undergraduates left to the whole department, so this wasn’t exactly a wrench, but Dr. Wright proved a sticking point. He had tenure--it’s a system that doesn’t exist anymore, but it made him basically unfireable. He had no students, and no scheduled classes, and no funding, and no departmental library anymore, but he had a right to an office, and, well. He wouldn’t go. He came in every day just the same. And twice a week, he would find an empty lecture hall, and, he’d just… lecture to anybody who showed up. And a few people did. Some were genuinely curious. Some thought it had novelty value. I guess some were lost freshers. But he kept on that way for two or three years. It annoyed the hell out of the administration. It annoyed them so much they delayed an update to the rules on retirement for six months, just so Dr. Wright hit the mandatory retirement age and got booted out. The next semester, they abolished fixed retirrment ages altogether. Of course, they didn’t offer him his job back. The official story was that he was a beloved senior member of the faculty, and he kept his dining privileges and still got invited to all the university functions where they trot out the honored former members of staff. But after that he basically disappeared. No one has seen him on campus--or anywhere in Dublin, for that matter--since.”

So at first Katherine wondered if this wasn’t Dr. Wright’s cruel joke, a way to get back at the people who pissed him off all those years ago. Let’s send the grad student out into the wastelands without any linguistic advantage. But the longer she thought about it, the more she wondered if she wasn’t being unfair.

Because what would she have said, if Dr. Wright had come up to her at that conference and said, “Oh, I hear you’re going to visit Antarctica. Here’s a book on Old English, and a copy of the Gospels, you’ll need both.” Would she have come here if she thought these were just secessionists with a penchant for historical reenactment? Probably not.

And the fact of the matter was, they weren’t secessionists. Well, not secessionists like Katherine had ever read about. The thing about being a secessionist, whether reactionary or utopian, was that no matter how much you pretended you were doing something Different, no matter how much you tried to Cut Yourself Off from the rest of the world, everything you did, everything you professed, everything you built, existed as a counterargument to that world. The rest of the world was a great shadow hanging over your whole existence, an argument which you were trying to refute. No secessionist movement on record had lasted in its original form more than two generations, because either you eventually got tired of making that argument, an argument your children would never understand for lack of context, and you inevitably rejoined the world (though perhaps with a higher-than-average local incidence of fringe political beliefs), or the whole thing fell apart in dramatic fashion due to infighting, and somebody appealed for the special status of the enclave to be revoked.

Neither had happened here. The culture of the Valleys appeared to be stable. They were more like an ancient uncontacted people, uncurious about the outside world and existing on their own terms, than those who scrupulously attempted to refute it. They spoke a dead language, but on closer examination, there the resemblance to historical reenactors ceased. The climate was wrong--they lived more like a circumpolar people, because, well, they were. But Katherine noticed they weren’t dogmatic about their refusal of technology. They relied on genegineered bryoculture--the mosses thrived in the summertime, provided you supplemented them with a little water, and kept them from freezing. They hoarded small pieces of technology they scavenged from the wastes, laser firestarters and sonic knife sharpeners, and they used these to augment their own cottage industry.

But they were sharply conservative in other ways. They did not trade. They did not explore, beyond their own well-trodden region of Victoria Land. Their society was full of symbolism and ritual and verbal formulas, their conversations looping back and forth in ways that made Katherine suspect every one had occurred a thousand times, and was expected to occur a thousand times again. They were, in short, static. Stasis was, Katherine believed, the ultimate illusion for any society. Nothing lasts forever; eventually, you change or you die. Perhaps the Dry Valleys People knew this. Perhaps, if the world tried to force them to change, they would simply die. The idea made Katherine rather sick, but it would not be the first time in history that that had happened.

* * *

And what did they believe in, when you tried to peel all this back, and expose their heart? Leofe was cagey when Katherine asked her. Leofric was laconic enough to make his sister look positively effusive by contrast. The question died on her lips when she tried to ask some of the older men and women; they responded to the question as a mountain might answer a soft breeze. Which is to say they ignored her completely. They carried with them the tokens of a lost Christianity, but these didn’t seem to be related to their core beliefs. On the very rare occasions when they waxed metaphysical, Katherine heard them speak of the garsecg, the spear-sea, the fearsome cold ocean that girdled their world. Yet on their lips the word had deep resonances “ocean” never did; it was for them the road of death, beyond which all their foremothers and forefathers dwelt; and it was the road of their beginning, over which they had come for their deliverance. And it was the outer darkness, the darkness of the sky and the long Antarctic night, and the blackness behind the stars; and the dreamless sleep.

And even more rarely, in voices so quiet Katherine could not be sure of what they said, they spoke of dragons, the dragons that lived high on the ice, whose voice was thunder and in whose belly lived a terrible fire.

[annashipper]

Spinsie Submission

Hi Anna! Spinsie here, on day-leave from Nanny Prison. They’ve let me out because nannies actually evaporate without Sceptic Discourse.

I want to weigh in on the current BadBatch theory.

There seems to be a lot of rewriting history going on with the Batch marriage recently, and I am worried a few key elements might be sanitized or disappear completely. I am hoping Ballsy and her spreadsheets can confirm (or correct) any thing I use here.

The Showmance created peak scepticism when the marriage was first announced. It came on the back of a few weeks of baiting, and a few sightings of Rachel, who didn’t seem wildly enthused with her new boo. There were no nannies and sceptics in those days, and a lot of people stated pretty freely that it was all for show and an Oscar grab.

The marriage announcement was the clinger for me. It was published in The Times out of the blue, with absolutely no supporting information, and while he was travelling to the US. It appeared he didn’t even know about it. No one knew who she was, and there was no supporting PR material about her, which even the dumbest PR person would know to prepare to support a big new announcement. Apparently Karon was blindsided by it too.

There was a lot of talk at the time that Rachel was a friend of Weinstein’s wife, and that Weinstein had bankrolled one of her (unsuccessful) New York productions. Thus Rachel had a debt to him, and was a reluctant participant.

There was a blind item at the time too,  widely agreed to be her, suggesting she had some compromising photos of Batch, and that she had taken similar photos before of another UK actor. I still subscribe to this theory (and have done a bit of research about it, and that supports my views).

The actual marriage was an exclusive for Murdoch’s Sun in London, who apparently had some amazing insight into when and where the ultra secret wedding would be held. You don’t have to do much googling to see a) Murdoch’s friendship with Weinstein and b)Murdoch’s ability to spin and interfere with a narrative.

The Sun also got a similar amazing scoop with the first christening.

I am not doubting that Batch is a right pain in the arse when he wants to be. Successful ambitious people in cut-throat industries often are. Rachel could well be the sweetest thing in shoe leather. She might be a great cook and produce some great theatre in the next decade. Who knows what they’re really like? I still don’t see them as being in love with each other. No matter what anyone says, no matter how they try to subtly tweak the details, you can’t erase those first few months of the Batch-Rachel union: they couldn’t hold hands correctly. Their smiles were closed lipped and stiff. They didn’t appear to even know each other very well. True love is instantly simple to spot. We all recognise it immediately.  This pair have never been able to manufacture that.

If I am right, and if this ongoing marriage is predicated on a publicity union and some unwholesome pictures that would cause him embarrassment and possibly taint his career, I think he’s doing okay. He’s taken a hit in terms of fans and popularity and managed to build himself a new and pretty convincing (to the casual observer) image. He’s made some really bold choices with SunnyMarch’s productions, and his risks have brought dimension to his career. And he’s Dr Strange. He is currently estimated to be worth $30 million. Rachel’s life doesn’t seem unpleasant – she’s got more recognition in this marriage than she ever had for her other work, and this union apparently assists her with her own projects (when she’s not – allegedly - wiping little noses and reading story books in French).

I can’t see the Batch PR union as a long term plan. It is a hotpotch of half baked strategies and inconsistent messages, starting with the marriage announcement and Rachel’s first bump reveal. Everything since that time has been hurriedly designed to protect his career with prosaic narratives. It is natural to think that any big news strategy is the result of careful planning and foresight, when in fact they are mostly the result of people doing and saying stupid things, not considering the long term consequences and trying desperately to spin it to their advantage later.

And the constant use of the Batch’s sceptic quote? Well, it’s interesting. That is to say, an on-going argument about the authenticity of the marriage is great for him and any news outlet. To have people vested in both sides of the arguments means all the clicks for all the articles. Meanwhile, the Batch machine keeps on rolling – a sly stream of photos that sceptics can discount and nannies adore, and a stilted public discourse that doesn’t waiver from happy-marriage-many-kids narrative. The sceptics and nannies are all part of the narrative. It’s quite deliberate, in my view – something for everyone.

For anyone who wants to argue or dismiss my views, let me just point you in the direction of the election of current American government. (But her emails!)  Manipulating a narrative is incredibly easy. Persuasive arguments can be bought and administered as a client wishes. Detractors can be trolled and scared off with instant savagery. Most people don’t have the time or interest to interrogate a narrative, so (for example) a successful actor’s death from an overdose is a shock (Heath Ledger). A Government’s claim about increased funds (Brexit) is proved completely implausible and false after the election, to everyone’s dismay. And so on, every day.

Handy hint: you don’t have to believe everything you read in a newspaper. You’re allowed to trust your own instincts. You’re allowed to seek your own facts.

And as for the BadBatch poster – nice try! Very important to emphasise the kids and those maternal instincts, isn’t it? Try harder. I maintain the general sceptic view. I might consider rethinking my views when I see good, hi res photos of their messy kitchen and lots of evidence of two toddlers, including the toddlers themselves, and an authentic copy of Rachel’s airline trips in the last four years. Until that happy day, their history is still unchallenged, and I remain convinced that the marriage is a sham, that they live separately and that he, nice or naughty, has made the best of a challenging situation.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

1.  Spinsie, I love you from the bottom of my black, skeptical heart.  I also agree with every single word you’ve written today.

2.  From what I understand, back in the Eggsy days, even some of the Nannies were throwing shade at the very notion that Weirdo was the secret girlfriend as well.  Among them, one of the BNFs (the biggest as far as I’m concerned).

3.  Ben and Weirdo still can’t hold hands correctly, and their smiles are still stiff.  When they’re bothering to smile while standing next to each other that is.

[still-finding-our-way]

W11, W12, W13

30/12/2020

Waking the dead, life, love and gossip

Flakey, flake, flake flake. I admit it, I let myself down and my nearest and dearest. Oh, the fucking self pity. Despite the ever changing rules and regulations over lockdown, we had planned to get out and walk with our respective menfolk during Christmas and New Year. We set a date and located a route. The forecast looked splendid—crisp and clear—it was going to be amazing. The day came round. I got up late, too late for my early morning climbing session with my daughter. I got dressed in my walking gear, and half an hour before leaving I couldn’t do it. I just could not walk out the door. So I cancelled and went back to bed. Yup, the diary of a depressive. Jen was her usual sage self and pointed out it was ‘twixmas’ and everyone was feeling shit, upside down and the wrong way round, and I should stop beating myself up about it. As Jen and A were already on route they continued on and later sent a breathtaking photograph of the high moor with the sun setting in one direction and the moon rising in the other. Studying the image on my phone in bed, I might have been peering into another world—a martian landscape, the light from the setting sun scattering a Persimmon glow across the moor grass—bronze and gold, molten lava, heat and searing passion. Dear Persephone, Queen of the underworld, you should eat all the seeds. These are winters treasures. Am I looking at a take from an African plain or perhaps a still from the film Dune? No, this is Dartmoor in searing clarity. The sky divided, storm grey cloud drawn low on the horizon and above an endless cyan—a blue to swim in. I could breath the freshness, feel the cold stinging my skin. Oh, the guilt and longing. So, I went out for a run to try and temper the physical yearning, and the next day messaged Jen to see if she could squeeze in another Dartmoor visit, with the promise that I wouldn’t bail this time. Two seconds later—a ping back with ‘Hell yes’. 

This time we kept our sights local, and though not a long walk we were going to colour in three whole squares on the 365 map: W11, W12 and W13. It felt like an accomplishment, nearly a full house—a line of colour beginning to emerge on the southernmost part of the map. The proposed route bypassed our previous walk to Western Beacon and headed for Ugborough Tor. The day arrived and clearly Santa Claus had been kind to Jennie. She cut quite a dash in her new walking gear, all booted and suited with military style walking shoes and thermal clothing. We exchanged gifts. From me to her a pair of essential gaiters—or ‘garters’ as Jennie likes to call them, and from her to me, some stylish ultra retro sunglasses. We agreed walking on the moor does not mean having to leave aside fashion. We parked up in the tiny hamlet of Harford and headed straight for St Petroc’s church, a Grade 1 listed building dated to the late 15th / early 16th century.

On this grey mizzly day at the very end of the year, the church looked bleak and unwelcoming. It wasn’t helped by the metal grill shuttered across the porch with a blunt no entry notice. We mooched around the graveyard at the rear of the church. Neglected and overgrown, it had a definite gothic air. We read the gravestones and pondered over the groupings of names and families. New to the term, I find out we are quickly becoming ‘tapophile’s’ or ‘grave stone tourists’—a person whose hobby or pastime is visiting cemeteries, graves and epitaphs; not to be confused with ‘necrophile’ and the perversion of showing a sexual or physical interest in the dead!  Not so much a morbid past-time, but one that is curious about past lives. Anyway we are apparently in good company as Shakespeare was supposed to have been a ‘tapophile’, and the related study of ‘taphonomy’ investigating processes of decay in archeology sounds fascinating and important. The hierarchal order of a graveyard is telling. Usually the bigger the slab the more powerful, influential and wealthy the incumbent, closely followed by the decorated memorials of war heroes protecting the former, whilst the women and children and those that had to live out the consequences of the deeds of the big slabs are marked by simple headstones. With this in mind when we came across a large plot encircled by low iron railings, containing a headstone marked John Jeffrey Dixon, 1756-1828, and surrounded by several smaller plaques, engraved with initials and the year of death all listed as 1855, we were intrigued. What could have happened? Were these children? A family tragedy, disease or perhaps a virus or infection?

I should not be surprised to discover that I have leaning towards taphophilia. Death came a blunder-bussing down my family’s own door a few autumns ago bringing with it a tsunami of destruction that took away three loved ones in a matter of weeks. In our highly polished antiseptic 21st century lives, tragedy is supposed to happen elsewhere, on the telly or as macabre titillation on news feeds. Having seen the havoc caused by the sweep of death at such close quarters, I seem to have developed an ear for the hidden tragedy that lies behind the bureaucratic recording of birth and death dates. One such story came with the accommodation that Al rented in the early days of our relationship. He lived in what was part of a 15th century manor house, in the quarter that would have housed cattle whilst the servants lived above. It was basic and cold—think rickety immersion heaters, cranky plumbing and layering up to go to bed—it was also delightfully romantic and we found our own ways to keep warm. Sometime in the mid 19th century the resident family, farm-workers, lost all 9 children in a matter of months to either cholera or diphtheria, the parents surviving probably because they drank mead and not the contaminated water. Some of our friends said they picked up prickly vibes in one room, but we never did, though there was the one time when I woke up in the night to someone blowing gently on my leg dangling out of bed. It was so focused, like someone blowing through a pea-shooter on skin, and then it was gone. It definitely wasn’t Alex, he was snoring contentedly next to me, nor were there any drafts in that particular area, and so overcome was I by my  primordial nighttime terror that I dare not look under the bed. I could never find a rational explanation for it, other than a waking dream, perhaps? I like to think that if there is any paranormal phenomena out there, spirits or otherwise, they would be up for having a laugh and hiding under the bed playing ghoulish peek-a-boo. Never mind wailing ghosts and ghouls, the universe seems set up for tragedy and comedy, see-sawing together, tempered with a dose of absurdity to keep the balance.

But how to imagine the desperation and hopelessness of loosing all your children, of not being able to do anything—no mercy forthcoming, from god or layman, through prayer or witchery. Heart wrenching, gut wrenching, unrelenting grief. The stuff of nightmares and surreal in the telling. A tragedy, they say. Indeed, a tragedy that reveals the limits of knowledge, failing systems and medical bungles. Death can tell so much about a time, and I needed to find out what had happened to this family in 1855. 

I found limited information online so I contacted the church secretary and swiftly received a response that explained that a memorial existed inside the church to the Dixon family. The Dixon’s had been a local family, the father John Jeffrey Dixon dying in 1828 leaving behind a family of six daughters and one son. The daughters never married or had children and continued to live with their mother Mary Romeril Dixon. The son married and moved away. The eldest daughter Sophie Dixon (1799-1855) was a poet, of the Romantic tradition, and had had some of her work published. Maintaining a household of seven women and living the life of a published female poet in the early 19th century suggests a level of education, cultural knowledge and financial comfortability, however I could find no further detail on the fathers preoccupation. Instead I was delighted to find copies of Castalian Hours. Poems by Sophie Dixon (1829) online, alongside two travelogues she had written about walking on Dartmoor: A Journal of Ten Days Excursion on the Western and Northern Borders of Dartmoor (1830) and A Journal of Eighteen Days Excursion on the eastern and Southern Borders of Dartmoor (1830). 

I find an online copy of the two journals bound together with an unauthored handwritten note that describes how the ‘two journals are seldom found together, and in this state are exceedingly rare’. The unauthored note instructs the reader not ‘to despise the untutored writing’ instead recognise that Dixon recorded what she actually saw, and ‘that she really saw a great deal more than most people’. Written nearly 200 years ago, the journals read anything but ‘untutored’ instead they present a style ahead of their time, combining acute observation with opinion that covers a range of subjects from education, poverty and religion that would not be out of place amongst the current plethora of travelogues and writings about place today. Nor was Dixon a faint heart—she was an endurance walker, with Donna Landry writing in The Invention of the Countryside how Dixon was not averse to enduring ‘incredible discomfort and fatigue’ walking up to 28 or 30 miles a day, and that she wrote to ‘expend feeling as much to capture or contain it’ (2001: 239). This is an impulse I can relate too. She was 30 years old when these works were published and was writing at a time that saw the countryside shift from being seen, at least by the middle classes, as a dangerous and impoverished place, to becoming appreciated for its leisure and therapeutic value. Despite Sophie’s passion for Dartmoor and poetry, little is recorded of her life unlike her male contempories—the walking poets—Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth, nor are her writings given due acknowledgment in the round up of important historic literature about Dartmoor. A woman writing about walking across Dartmoor—a harsh and unforgiving landscape at the best of times—and being published at a time when women weren’t allowed to go to university is no mean feat. Sophie’s poetry and writing reveal a sensitivity, of trying to capture the immensity and rich diversity of the moor; an artist, creating through doing, striding out in all weathers, feeling the raw elements, being buffeted by the wind on the high tor’s. And all in Georgian attire, heavy skirted, possibly with pantaloons and with no GORE-TEX or triple layered waterproof performance technology in sight. Despite her absence in the text books Landry observes that ‘the slightness of Dixon’s oeuvre is no measure of the significance of her achievement’ (239). My impression after reading her works, is a writer who is capable, forward thinking, engaged in current affairs and confident in communicating her thoughts, yet I have so many remaining questions about Sophie that perhaps a historian will give the time to uncover. She deserves to be more than just an initial or a footnote in history.

But what of her death and her family? In her preface to Castalian Hours Sophie writes about the loss of her father and subsequent grief and illness effecting her writing, however further tragedy was to come. According to the GRO death certificate her mother died of heart disease on the 14th December, 1855 aged 80. Three days later her younger sister, Emma Romeril, died of Peritonitis, and ten days after that, on 27th December, Sophie herself died from what is recorded as Typhus at the age of 56. The two other sisters, Cora and Lucy, who are listed on the church memorial and on the grave stones as dying in 1855, actually died two weeks apart in 1876 at the age of 69 and 70 respectively of Bronchitis and exhaustion, a contagious illness undoubtedly spread through close contact. How they all came to be listed as dying in 1855 is a mystery, with the assumption given that the memorial was erected when the brother Clemsen Romeril died in 1893, and that somehow the dates were conflated or misremembered. 

***

Wide, open moorland, away from the clutter and noise of modern life where we are constantly ‘ON’, hyper-stimulated, reading the codes, the signs, the subtext. Classification and analysis, polish the mask and smile ‘ta da', who do you want me to be today? It is exhausting. From my studio, I used to watch my chickens scratching and busying—pre bird flu lockdown—and envied their freedom, whilst I was penned in, tied to a screen and working 10/12 hours a day. Sometimes I forgot to move, going hours without drinking or eating. I had become a battery hen and no matter how many golden eggs I laid it was never enough. Putting in numbers and words that churned out more numbers and words until one day the machine broke. Now I have become frozen, a glitch in the matrix, stuttering and locked in. I have to rebuild, start again, set a new framework but to do that I have to first find a way to reboot the frozen system.

We marched up the hill chattering eagerly, airing and giggling over the silliness of families and Christmas frivolities. Despite the chill in the air we warmed up quickly and had to stop to strip off layers, breathing heavily and taking in the sweeping view. It stopped us in our tracks, the vastness of the rolling landscape calming us down, bringing us back to rights. Body and earth, right here, right now. We were heading for Spurrell’s Cross, a medieval stone cross that marks the crossing of two old tracks, one running from Plympton Priory to Buckfast Abbey and the other from Wrangaton to Erme Pound, but we had been too cocksure on setting off, wrongly assuming we were on familiar ground. As a result of our cocksurety we had missed the path and, as is becoming routine on our walks, we once again found ourselves stomping over tussocky ground. The lesson learnt from this walk is that perspective changes everything—so obvious in hindsight but familiarity, as they say, breeds contempt, which in our case was for the map. We were walking on the east side of Western Beacon and though only a few miles into our walk we had quickly become disorientated. The ground undulated unexpectedly hiding the tors previously used as landmarks and we realised that we hadn’t quite got to grips with distance on the map, and as a result could not work out whether we were too far north or south? Scanning across the moor, and with better long distance eyesight than I, Jen spotted a shape partially camouflaged against the moor grassland. With nothing to lose, except our bearings, we ploughed ahead and thankfully hit base, laying hands on the cold stone of the old cross in gratitude. Back on track, we were able to stroll comfortably up to Ugborough Tor.

A space to decant—we talk about all sorts, everything and nothing, from work to children, to ageing and sex; to clothes, cooking, cars, consciousness and ex's—the ex's are most fascinating, the other women, they are set up as the opposition that we share so much in common with and who you can never, ever, know too much—to fungi, lovers, philosophy and death. It is not so much Sex and the City but Sex and the Moor. Everything gets emptied out and overturned. Nothing is trivialised, it all has its place—the worries, the niggling anxieties, superstitions; the casting thoughts that might dissolve into nothing or rankle away and fester without the ear of a trusted confident. Our grandmothers were right all along, a good airing, whether clothes, houses, babies, people or thoughts, makes everything feel better. Men and children so often fascinated by what women talk about… and no wonder, women talk about the under belly of life, paring back the fat and gristle, sifting the wheat from chaff. The talk that unites, strengthens social bonds and builds trust—what social psychologists refer to as cultural learning. In the stone age, this chatter was crucial for sharing information that would enhance survival, and whilst we no longer have wild animals to fear, sense checking about who’s who and what’s what remains essential for our well being. 

As children, Jen and I used to be fascinated by our mothers afternoon chats, tongues loosened by a dab or two of sherry. We’d quietly linger in the kitchen, turning the tap ever so softly to get a glass of water, or sit on the stairs ostensibly playing, all the while zoning in on the hushed tones, regularly punctuated by raucous laughter, our eyes widening at what we heard. Rogue men and wildish women, the drawn out agony of someones death, money—the lack there-of; clothes and weight gain, diets, boobs, hot flushes and farting. When they caught us listening they’d call us elephant ears and the conversation would drift to more mundane matters. On occasion the conversation would lower to a whisper, to more darker talk. We’d strain hard, catching snippets of a violent man and a vulnerable child. The school bully, the blond and pretty girl, always with shiny new things turned out had a not so happy home. This was a grown-up world that was somewhere else, far more entertaining and scandalous than watching an illicit late night episode of Dallas or Dynasty huddled together under the bed clothes.

Today out on the moor we find ourselves talking, amongst other things, about the origins of cellular life—as you do. Where once life was understood to have started at a particular point in time and from there on in evolution began spiralling outwards in a chronological timeline from A to Z. We’ve all seen the poster, some of us have the T-shirt—cell blob, lizard, monkey, ape-man, human, Trump. Then some clever spark asked the question, if life started at A—assuming it was down to 'abiogenesis'—where life emerges from non-living matter through natural processes as opposed to counter theories that posit life came from outer space, then surely life must have emerged previously, and continues to appear at point B and C, and so on and so on? Between huffing and puffing up the hill, it is not so much the biology but the shift in the question that fascinates us—alter the boundaries and framework of the question and a whole different perspective opens up, revealing the wood and not just the trees; the whole picture and not just the jigsaw piece. No surprise that Jen and I have dabbled in statistics—she in teaching the subject and I by presenting different sets of data, coloured pie-charts illustrating how the Arts can change lives, which is very difficult to prove in evidential terms but ask a slightly different question and the coloured pie-charts will look ever so pretty, so give us some money, please. It is all about the questions, the scientists and statisticians cry. If only we could step outside of ourselves we might understand so much more. But it is hard to shake off our human skins. 

Keep turning the stone over and take a walk around the hill. Anything and nothing. Our conversation continues to spiral upwards and outwards. We bat around ideas, snippets of information snatched from radio, social media, books, conversation—finding relevancy, knitting them together. It feels like moulding and sculpting, work in the studio with most falling to the floor as detritus. The artist Paul Klee said drawing was like ‘taking a line for a walk’, and so it is with conversation—take it for a walk and give it a good airing. Walking in the time of viral contamination is vital. It has become the new 18th century coffee-house, the place renowned for scintillating conversation (if you were a man of course); it is George Seurat’s glistening Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, minus the fancy pants and with walking boots, purpose and pace. It is the city flaneur but without the pomp or privilege. It is Piet Mondrian's Broadway Boogie Woogie, but without the boulevards and pulsating lights. It is our mother’s sherry and Sophie’s journals. Hitch up your skirts and put on your garters and take a walk on the Wild Side. A walk in the park. An escape. Let the words wander or wonder, drawing shapes, hitting dead-ends and taking u-turns.

From the origins of life, depression and death our drawing circles around to the language of love, with Jen telling me how the ancient Greeks had several words for different kinds of love: love for children, love for god, sexual love, self love, whereas in the English language ‘love’ is pinned to its romantic roots—the all or nothing kind, of passion and intensity, valentines cards, red roses and the impossible happy ever after. We find ourselves wondering what is the word to describe the love between old friends? 

We reach Ugborough Tor, the temperature has dropped and we think it might snow. In truth, this is the southernmost tor as Western Beacon is not classified as a tor. There are four rocky outcrops: Creber’s Rock, Eastern Beacon, Beacon Rock and Ugborough Beacon; several cairns and a tumulus—an ancient earth burial mound. The view to the East is striking, what is known as Beacon plain slopes gently away then suddenly descends steeply into a valley, so abrupt is the descent that we can’t see the bottom from our vantage point on the tor. The effect is dizzying; the fields and houses rising upwards on the yonder side of the valley look like play mobile houses. We are 378 metres high (1240 feet) above sea level and can see the A38, or the Devon Expressway, snaking northwards. Jennie points out a prominent landscape feature, what looks like a Drumlin, a large teardrop shaped hill probably caused by the receding ice flow of the last ice age some 11,700 years ago. It was previously understood that Dartmoor lay beyond the ‘Quaternary glaciations’ however recent research of the landscape has challenged this notion. We amble our way back and it starts to snow; big heavy flakes, some the size of coins come down thick and fast. We are alone in this vast landscape and run and whoop like children. Back at our cars, as we turn to say good bye, we shout ‘I love you’ to each other. I think we might have always said this, but now we know somewhere it has a name.

Later, I look up Aristotle’s definitions of ‘love’, in particular ‘philia’ which is usually translated as friendship love, or ‘brotherly love’, denoting an altruistic loyalty between equals. This research takes me on a journey that considers what Aristotle defined as ‘good’, and ‘diakaios’, meaning what is ‘fair’, ‘just’ and ‘right’ in accordance to the laws of the universe—laws that draw on the ancient Greek idea that there exists within the universe an order. According to Simon May in ‘Love: A History’, Aristotle elevates ‘philia’ above all other forms, including romantic love and the virtuous love of god. May then goes on to explain how self-knowledge, a virtue much prized by the Greeks, is essential to becoming a well-balanced human being, yet Aristotle understood that ‘it is hard to know ourselves’, we are masters of our own deceit and that we need the aid of a ‘second self’, a person who holds similar values but serves as a mirror reflecting back to us who we are. May goes on to explain that it is not so much that our second self tells us who we are, but that we see in them a part of ourselves, quoting Aristotle directly ‘… with us [humans] welfare involves a something beyond us, but the deity is his own well-being.’ Of course, for this to work the second person has to be the right person—a person who has similar virtues, or values, as ourselves, then ‘philia’ becomes ‘diakaios’—‘when it is in accordance with the laws of the other person’ nature … If love isn’t in such accordance it is inauthentic and hollow’. (67)

How does this analysis of love, nearly 2400 years old, relate to my life long friendship with Jennie? Without a doubt Jennie is suitably different in character to myself—more gregarious and outgoing, her humour is deliciously wry and observant; she is clever, astute and canny, her readings of people and situations are always spot on and she is open-minded whilst still being firmly rooted in reality (the latter being a virtue that I cannot always say about myself); she is a fierce and protective mother, committed to family; ambitious and tenacious. Equally, she is interested in ‘self-knowledge’, if not ‘self-love’, which our deferent Englishness finds a little too gushing, however, she has never been afraid to look in the mirror and face her demons, to own up, reflect and rebuild. Her honesty about our lived contradictions—how we say one thing and do another, that we self sabotage to avoid shattering our fragile self-image and so on—is so refreshing in a time when you might be socially hung drawn and quartered for taking thoughts and words for a walk that do not directly fit the current view. Some of these characteristics I share, others extend my world view. If she serves as a second self, then hell, I need to learn to love thyself! I can count on three fingers the friends I share this type of relationship with, though I’d argue that we are constantly shaping ourselves against our interactions with others—whether children, parents, the shop-assistant, the teacher or colleague. Perhaps I need to be more discerning in my choice of lovers and husbands, as when it comes to the language of love I am clearly better at ‘philia’ than the ‘eros’ kind. In the meantime I’m going for a walk.

SC

Reading

Crossing, William. (1888) Amid Devonia’s Alps; or, Wanderings & Adventures on Dartmoor Plymouth: Simpkin, Marshall & Co. Online, 05, January, 2021: https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/Amid_Devonia_s_Alps/lfoVAAAAYAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1

Dixon, Sophie. (1829) Castalian Hours. Poems. London: Longman, Orme, Hurst, Brown, and Green, Print.

Dixon, Sophie. (1830) A Journal of Eighteen Days Excursion and Dixon, S.(1830) A Journal of Ten Days Excursion on the Western and Northern Borders of Dartmoor. Online, 05, January, 2021:https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=d_4GAAAAQAAJ&hl=en_GB&pg=GBS.PA2

Evans, D.J.A. and Harrison, S. and Vieli, A. and Anderson, E. (2012) 'The glaciation of Dartmoor : the southernmost independent Pleistocene icecap in the British Isles.', Quaternary Science Reviews., 45 . pp. 31-53.

Landry, Donna. (2001) The Invention of the Countryside: Hunting, Walking and ecology in English Literature, 1671-1831. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

May, Simon. (2011) Love: A History. London: Yale University Press.

Sampson, J. ‘Women Writing on the Devon Land: The Lost Story of Devon Women Authors up to circa 1965’. August 13, 2018. Online, 05, January 2021: https://newdevonbookfindsaway.blogspot.com/2018/08/on-ways-to-old-literary-roads-around.html

[squeemcsquee]

Anime Iowa 2019: Saturday

Saturday started off with a filling breakfast, compliments of Comfort Inn. I sorta miss the days of being able to run around on almost no food during a con, but I have learned that I get super hangry anymore if I try. So I loaded up!

Side note, I think hotels have really stepped up their breakfast offerings over the years. I don’t remember having options like this as a kid unless it was a higher-class business hotel that we’d occasionally stay in for my dad’s employer’s “employee getaway” weekends.

After breakfast, it was time to get into cosplay. And this is when I realized I’m getting a bit hooked on cosplaying at cons. On Friday, I’d stuck purely to regular, comfy clothes. And I had told myself that I’d packed “regular” stuff for Sat/Sun, in case I didn’t feel up to cosplaying...then I looked at what I’d actually packed. Every single clothing item was black. Because my cosplay options were the Impala and Night Vale Scout. So, unless I was gonna just be a Goth kid all weekend, I sorta boxed myself into cosplay, lol.

I tried out some anti-possession temporary tattoos I’d gotten from Wish. They looked amazing, but the smell... I don’t think it ever completely vanished that day. I’d get a whiff every time I moved my arms. They smelled heavily like those thick permanent markers in the metal bodies. 

Still, I was happy with the results.

Once I was ready to go, it was off to the con!

We started with “A Day In The Life of A Voice Actor” with Morgan Berry and Sarah Wiedenhoff. 

It was definitely entertaining, but I was wishing I’d had more coffee with breakfast. The room temperature and the quietness of the panel crowd were just enough to make me feel sleepy. I think that’s a common issue though, with panels right at the start of the con day. 

After that, @lechevaliermalfet and I split up. I headed over to the Hyatt to attend “The Story Behind Violet’s Eyes” while he attended a panel in the con center. When I arrived for my panel, there were a few hiccups before it began - a communication goof with the hotel meant that the room had not been unlocked until right at panel time. The hotel was under the mistaken impression that no one would be using the room until 1800, though there were panels scheduled off and on all day. So it took our host a couple minutes to get his notes organized, etc. No problem - it happens. 

“The Story Behind Violet’s Eyes” was interesting, though I do think perhaps the panelist could have benefited from a visual aid. It was a discussion of Violet Evergarden and PTSD representation in anime. Our panelist was from the podcast Trash Pandas Watch Anime. I haven’t checked the podcast out yet, though I intend to.

From there, I wandered and people-watched a bit. But I think Anime Iowa really suffered from their location being simply too big for a small con like theirs (approx 3k people). This was an event center clearly intended for events easily triple the size, and so I felt like I kept missing cosplayers/people because the halls often felt so empty. So I didn’t get the number of cosplay photos I expected. It also meant I didn’t even touch video gaming or tabletop, once we discovered were they were - the size of the rooms made the offerings seem sparse and the atmosphere wasn’t as welcoming. I don’t blame the con - I think it was just because of the location.

So I gave up and ran back to the hotel for lunch/relaxation. Thanks to losing track of time, I ended up not attending the concert I’d wanted to check out and instead went to Right Stuf’s panel with @lechevaliermalfet.

We got 2 awesome pieces of news at that panel, imo.

@lechevaliermalfet​ is the one who introduced me to El Hazard and I really enjoyed it, so the idea of upgrading our copy is excellent. 

I never finished Zetsubou Sensei after I was introduced to it, but I would love to do so one day. This seems like I’ll have the perfect excuse to get my own copy and do just that :)

Right Stuf ended the panel with prize drawings and here came the highlight of the weekend for us: @lechevaliermalfet actually won the grand prize!

That lovely box is the Mobile Suit Gundam Wing Collector's Ultra Edition Blu-Ray set. And yeah, it’s impressive. I’ve never seen Gundam Wing, but @lechevaliermalfet has and I suspect we’ll be watching it together soon.

After that, we had some time before our next panel, which was Greg Ayres’ “It Gets Better” event. We actually arrived only a couple minutes late, but we didn’t get into until 20-30 minutes had passed. See, every panel room at Anime Iowa had two entries - but the panel signs and the staff members were only at the “primary” doors for each room. For Greg Ayres, unbeknownst to us and a few other attendees, they closed the main door, which was then locked from the outside. A staffer was at the secondary door to let people in, but there was no signage. And this didn’t appear to have been communicated to other staffers, either - @lechevaliermalfet went to get someone from the info desk, who was just as baffled as we all were. 

Once inside, however, the panel was just as uplifting and empowering as always.

Our next event of the day was “AMV After Dark” which was the AMV contest for 18+ entries. There were only 4 videos, so after the initial voting, we just sat and reviewed previous years’ entries. 

Is this something other cons do? I haven’t been to enough AMV contests to know, but I have to say I like the idea of an 18+ option. 

Obviously, we couldn’t take photos of the actual AMVs, so I just have this quick shot of the screen setup for the event. Given the small number of attendees, this setup worked out quite well. 

And then it was on to J. Michael Tatum’s 18+ panel. Y’all, whether you know who this man is or not, this is the best 18+ voice actor event I’ve been to so far, hands-down. Why?

Well, because the rules are simple: No BS basic questions. Go for the jugular. 

Oh, and be prepared to be embarrassed. See, if you want to ask a question, you have to first win a coin toss. Otherwise, JMT will ask you an embarrassing, adult-rated question. So if you aren’t prepared to embarrass yourself in front of fellow attendees, don’t raise a hand to ask a question. 

It was full of laughs and shock and just a general good time.

(As always, any photos from 18+ events that I post are from before the event starts)

After his panel, the convention center was closing and we all got kicked out. @lechevaliermalfet and I hurried back to the hotel to drop our bags and so I could ditch my license plates, though I forgot to change shoes. Which wasn’t quite as big a mistake as it could have been, but I must remember for next time.

Because we went to the rave. And loved it.

Greg Ayres is an awesome DJ. Whether it was video game music, Baby Shark (yes, really), anime tunes, or whatever...everything blended well and the energy level was high. We ended up staying for over an hour, when originally the plan was to just “check it out.” 

That was when I regretted wearing my boots, since they aren’t exactly made for dancing. But I survived.

And that was Saturday!

My Anime Iowa 2019 coverage

1) Cosplayers of Anime Iowa, Part 1

2) Cosplayers of Anime Iowa, Part 2

3) Anime Iowa 2019: Friday

4) Anime Iowa 2019: Saturday (current post)

5) Anime Iowa 2019: Sunday 

[lovehaswonangelnumbers]

New Post has been published on https://lovehaswonangelnumbers.org/sunday-aug-11-18th-2019-forecast/

Sunday Aug 11 - 18th 2019 Forecast

Sunday Aug 11 – 18th 2019 Forecast

By Hare in the Moon Astrology

“Impermanence (noun) – the way change falls in love with you ” Andrea Balt.

A heads up! This week is not going to be business as usual-not even recent 5D business as usual! The frequencies are so intense that all our systems-physical, emotional, psychic, not to mention our power grids-are going to blown wide open. Volatile, unpredictable disruptor Uranus is plugging us all into the mains and we’ll either be electrified, woken up and supercharged or totally fritzed.

This feels like a turning point of the highest order when we’re sensing that the world behind the world is about to change everything yet again. Today Sunday August 11th, both threshold planets Uranus and Jupiter are changing direction simultaneously-Uranus in reverse throttle and Jupiter full steam ahead-churning up the ethers along with your energy field.

Expansionist, extremist Jupiter on the karmic Great Attractor super Black Hole magnifies whatever he touches, so high stakes situations such as the Iran/US, the Hong Kong/China and the India/Kashmir conflicts are going to be intensified.

On Wednesday 15th , the eccentric futurist Uranian Full Moon at 22 Aquarius opposes inflammatory Mars, Venus and the Sun in Leo. A fire breathing dragon comes to mind- best not to provoke it, no matter what new shocking information hits the airwaves on the 16th.

Wherever 5 Taurus (Uranus),14 Sagittarius(Jupiter) and 22 Aquarius/Leo sit in your chart, are going to be ultra- sensitive hot spots. Refuse to engage in personal dramas.

The key to channeling this supercharged energy is to keep your attention on the meta picture, beyond the 3D events ”out there”, noticing where your options are expanding, where new possibilities are presenting. Noticing all the ways in which your old limiting metaphors are updating; your old frames are widening; your inner compartments and separations between what you think you believe and what you do are coming down.

As the esoteric ruler of Aquarius, Jupiter the Magus or Hierophant creates fusion through expansion and synthesis, blending the head and heart, mind and love, in order to produce Wisdom. Jupiter pushes you out of your comfort zone to explore far horizons with confidence, optimism and bright faith. It’s time to become an explorer approaching all aspects of life with reverent curiosity, allowing everything to tell its story. It’s time to learn the power of honouring, questing, learning, teaching, travelling and celebrating.

The Chandra Symbol for Jupiter Direct 15 Sagittarius: A Tidal Wave Approaching  “The momentum of collective events runs toward floodtide when there is a major transition from one whole cycle to another. The personal life stream runs in similar patterns. When you’re getting ready to take off in a whole different direction, there is first a transition that is both immensely exciting and fantastically disturbing. You feel just about swept away by the oncoming changes and just before they really get going, the tension, the pressure, and the strain can tear you apart. You want to go with it, yet you yearn for sanctuary. The mix is volatile Mastery or bust. The infinite future or wipe-out. A spine tingler all the way.”

Uranus the Sky God operates by delivering unpredictable shocks, reversals or insights that electrify you out of your comfort zone, teaching you to collaborate with the inevitable. It’s a time in your life when something new – something eccentric – needs to break through into conscious awareness. Uranus is the lightning that strikes the circle of habit and turns it into a spiral- the God of uniqueness, intuition, innovation, ingenuity, and rebellion. It’s time to let the Maverick within see the world through the lens of possibility.

The Chandra Symbol for Uranus RX Taurus 7:  A Large Ruby Inscribed with a Prayer  “Knowing in your heart that a fresh life current is here to be met in the physical. You feel deeply drawn to give yourself over completely to what the new life-wave asks. Sensing acutely that this is all that counts and suffering for all of those who are shut off from the bounty. Knowing how hard it is to feel dejected and forsaken, and never forgetting the ache, the longing, the distances, and what it takes to seize new life and realise you will never again be out in the cold.”

For much more on what’s ahead, buy my Survive + Thrive Guide to Uranus in Taurus 2019-2026 in the Shop at: www.hareinthemoonastrology.co.uk

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[lady-cuteness]

Inktober day 18: Pokemon Sun and Moon sketch

Every time I see my copies of Sun and Moon I want to cry on the inside. Even when the demo came out I was disappointed. But I had hopes that maybe...MAYBE..this game will bring me surprises. I was already happy about no HMs and Poke Pelago, and customization... but just after the day the demo was release...I had complains already. The pokedex was released, and I was furious. I couldn’t believe how much gamefreak is trying to kiss the gen 1 fan′s asses so much that they forget that there is more than GEN 1! I’m a gen 2 girl, always was, even when my first pokemon game was Yellow and enjoy pkmn snap and stadium a lot. But the moment Gold and Silver came out, I started to play those games.

I wanted to play competitive, because my boyfriend is competitive and likes to raise pokemon with perfect ivs and evs. But this gen he will not touch the online competitive since he HATES the rules they implement. Only from the alolan pokedex? ARE YOU SERIOUS?!? ALSO WHY THE HELL DID YOU INCLUDE THE TAPUS AND ULTRA BEAST!?! WHY?!? It’s the same team over and over again in competitive that’s not even funny :c.

My biggest complains are:

-This games treats you like a baby. They took the worst about Gen 5 and Gen 6 in terms of pacing. (The story is alright, not the best since Gen 5 gets that honor) -No national pokedex (and by that I mean no entries for pokemon who aren’t in the alolan dex. I will put my money that gamefreak was freaking lazy). -Customization is HORRIBLE! -Cameos were HORRIBLE! -Zygarde side quest is USELESS! -NO REBATTLE TRAINERS! PLEASE BRING THE VS SEEKER BACK! I’m sick of battling wild pokemon because the freaking exp you get is horrible! -Gamefreak, why the hell did you change the burn, paralyzed and confused status?...WHY?!? Now you wonder why in online you only see toxic. -The exclusive things. Why the hell am I the only one who complains about the things that are exclusive to these games that doesn’t involve clothes? I have YET to see a complain about Kiawe and Mallow’s battle being exclusive to each version. I thought I will battle them in the Battle Tree, BUT EVEN THERE THEY ARE EXCLUSIVES! Did you also know that Plumeria, Guzma, Sina and Dexio are exclusives too in the battle tree? No? Well look it up. it’s true. Also the facilities in Festival Plaze are exclusive too....Fuck you Gamefreak....FUCK YOU.

I really did not enjoy too much these games. Neither my boyfriend. Our games are currently cover in dust as we speak since I came back to play Ruby (GBA and Cartridge) and he is currently playing Fire red (Cartridge since I bought it for his birthday with a GBA sp)

Inktober day 19: My reaction to Primarina

I didn’t know who to choose in this game. I was really into Rowlet until the final evolutions were revealed. I love Primarina’s design. I even love more her shiny ;) So now you know which was my starter. (In my sun copy I decided to go with Rowlet, since I HATE litten’s final evolution. Like a LOT.

Inktober dat 20: Dark Gwen.

I don’t know why, but it all started with an idea I had when TDAS came out. All this bashing towards Gwen make me extremely sad, and I thought Gwen would broke up in any moment, especially since his boyfriend was not any help.

So I thought: “what would happen if Gwen is so heartbroken that all this hate broke her sanity and she turns evil by the end?” So here we have it. Dark Gwen with powers she got...I don’t know how but she got it XD

[recentanimenews]

REVIEW: Friendships Go Beyond The Limits in My Hero Academia Heroes: Rising Anime Film

The second My Hero Academia anime film – and maybe the last –, My Hero Academia Heroes: Rising, opened in Japan on December 20 and was up against the might of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The heroic film has done well for itself in the country, with over 1.1 billion yen in ticket sales, so we sent our Japan Correspondent Daryl Harding to go Plus Ultra and check out the film!

    With the fourth season of the TV anime currently airing, and the manga reaching the 25 million copies printed mark, you cannot deny the staying power of the My Hero Academia franchise. The debut of the TV anime gave us one of the best-animated shonen series ever, spawning two feature films, Two Heroes, which released in 2018, and Heroes: Rising, which was one of the last films to be released in the decade in Japan.

  It’s getting chillier in the My Hero Academia universe as class 1-A heads into its first winter together. To get away from the cold, the budding heroes are sent off to a tropical island off southern Japan to test their heroics on the local community, without any pro-hero supervision. Of course, in true My Hero Academia fashion, things go coconut shaped when a powerful group of villains, headed by Nine, storm the island.

    My Hero Academia Heroes: Rising starts out big. With a car chase that rivals that of Initial D – sans the Eurobeat music, sadly –, the opening minutes of the film told me that this would be a wholly different film than that of Two Heroes. Two Heroes, for all its fun, was an All Might film and sidelined certain characters which could’ve shined on the island. Heroes: Rising, on the other hand, was a Class 1-A film, giving each of the characters their own time to shine.

  After what feels like the long stretch of the story outside of UA in the currently airing Hero Intern arc in season 4 of My Hero Academia, it was really nice seeing the whole class work together as a team to protect and serve the island. A lot of the build-up in the film, whilst being a little slow, was showing all of Class 1-A acting as heroes for these islanders; they saved beachgoers from perverts, fixed tractors, transported old ladies across the island. Unlike the anime series which most of the time goes from epic fight to bad guy plotting to a depressing story about All Might’s past, it was nice seeing the kids have fun using their quirks to help people in their daily lives. We need more of that from all the heroes in the My Hero Academia universe.

    With all of Class 1-A as a focal point in the film, scriptwriter Yosuke Kuroda (My Hero Academia series, Ano Natsu de Matteru) had the daunting task of adapting the treatment from director Kenji Nagasaki (My Hero Academia series, Classroom☆Crisis) and manga creator Kohei Horikoshi to make sure the story flowed and every character acted like themselves in the tiny 104-minute timeframe they had to shine.

  Major props have to go to the character development of Deku and Bakugo throughout Heroes: Rising. As a fan of the TV anime, I noticed all the little quirks their relationship had in the film, but for people just watching this film and not caught up to the anime or manga, you won’t be left behind either. Seeing them tackle Nine side by side really showed the growth of the characters over the entire anime series’ and even the film's overarching plot of how they’re different types of heroes that can come together, unlike All Might and Endeavour. If My Hero Academia was only a character-driven show, without the main plot, Heroes: Rising would be the perfect culmination of the entire series.

    Coupled with the great insights into these characters – of which this same team at BONES has been adapting since 2016 – was beautiful animation that felt like a step up from the TV series, with its own unique style. Unlike the current Hero Intern arc which has Deku fighting in a sterile basement, Heroes: Rising is set on a tropical island, giving the animation a tropical, sun-kissed look, highlighting the already wonderful character designs by Yoshihiko Umakoshi (My Hero Academia series, MUSHI-SHI). The final fight animation was some of the series’ best, but sadly, I felt, was let down by the OST which was a down-tempo remix of You Say Run from the series. The emotions I felt while watching didn’t run away from me though.

  Sadly, the film did have a problem with going beyond its limits. Nine felt as powerful as the scenes needed him to be at times, as did the quirks of the first-year high schoolers. This gave them some pretty brutal fights that had a lot of weight behind them to go against with Nine's minions. But because this is a side-story anime film – set inside the already established continuity of the manga – we already know who lives, who dies, and everything in between. While it doesn’t make the film any less fun, the world-ending stakes in it felt lessened.

    Speaking about continuity, this film is said to be canon in the anime series, set in the wintertime of the first year. Manga readers might recognize some hints of where it’s placed in the timeline, but anime-only watchers, like myself, had to play a little bit of catch up to the new powers certain characters had – which looked awesome by the way. Heroes: Rising doesn’t spoil anything though, other than the first interactions of Hawks, who was previously introduced in a later arc in the manga, which hasn’t been adapted into anime yet.

  For My Hero Academia fans, this film is a must-see. From the delightful visuals to the character interactions, and the hints of the story to come, I had a really enjoyable time watching the film and seeing Class 1-A being teenagers using their quirks for a community, rather than fighting bad guys. Don’t worry though, there’s a lot of punching and cool looking fight animation in the film too.

    To help with the cinema-going experience, the cinema I went to had a special My Hero Academia combo deal going where you got a special Deku inspired cup holder (pictured below) based on his hero outfit (and popcorn, but who cares about that?). While the deal was a little overpriced – it was a cinema after all – getting Deku in a cup is totally worth it.

    Review roundup:

  + Some of the best animation in the franchise to date

+ Character writing was on point

+ Fans of Deku and Bakugo will be VERY pleased with the film

+ Seeing Class 1-A being heroes was a treat

- What Nine was trying to do has been used in My Hero Academia before, multiple times

- Stakes were low due to being a spin-off film in a manga adaptation

  My Hero Academia Heroes: Rising opened in Japanese cinemas on December 20, and is set to be released around the world from early 2020. The fourth season of My Hero Academia is currently streaming as episodes release on Crunchyroll.

      ----

Daryl Harding is a Japan Correspondent for Crunchyroll News. He also runs the YouTube channel about Japan stuff called TheDoctorDazza, tweets at @DoctorDazza and posts photos of his travels on Instagram. 

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[marcos008-blog]

ELECTRIC MARIJUANA

(Color pencils on paper, enhanced with ArcSoft PhotoImpressions software)

(During the course of my career in non-profit quality control, I smoked marijuana every day for 29 of the past 42 years. Marijuana can be a good medicine, and I found that it often inspired me.

My favorite imported kinds of marijuana were Punta Roja Colombian, "Thai sticks", and Mexican from Oaxaca.

I also enjoyed some of the hashish that came from Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Nepal. The hashoil I smoked that came from Morocco greatly lifted my spirits and provided unique insight. "Bubble Hash" made in Berkeley gave me colorful visions.

I even quaffed Hi-Brew Beer [early 1980s marijuana/alcohol beverage].

[In the 1970s I trimmed MANY pounds of marijuana. One of my associates, a taxi driver who claimed that he had “rolled so many joints I don’t have any fingerprints left” was so impressed that he borrowed my scissors and had them plated with gold.]

Surfing on a toke–and when the bowl of the pipe looks like the Grand Canyon, I know I’ve almost had enough…

[Willie Nelson won 10 Grammy awards, and has appeared in 37 movies and TV shows. More than 40 million copies of his more than 100 albums have been sold. He has smoked marijuana for MANY years. Nelson is an outspoken advocate for the drug and has been arrested several times for possession of marijuana. He was arrested in 2006 for possessing marijuana and hallucinogenic mushrooms. His latest song is titled "Roll Me Up and Smoke Me When I Die".

—from an Associated Press news report, 4.21. 2012.]

["I smoke two joints in the morning I smoke two joints at night I smoke two joints in the afternoon It makes me feel all right"

"I smoke two joints in time of peace And two in time of war I smoke two joints before I smoke two joints And then I smoke two more"

—Chris Kay and Michael Kay, in their 1983 song "Smoke Two Joints", which was recorded by The Toyes.]

["One toke over the line sweet Jesus One toke over the line"

"Waitin’ for the train that goes home sweet Mary Hopin’ that the train is on time Sittin’ downtown in a railway station One toke over the line"

—Mike Brewer and Tom Shipley, in their 1970 song "One Toke Over The Line". Vice President Spiro Agnew did not like the song and called it "subversive". After being investigated on suspicion of conspiracy, bribery, extortion, and tax fraud, Agnew was convicted of felony tax evasion and forced to resign.]

["He said ‘drugs make you too pleased with everything.’"

—Sarah Seiter, associate curator of Natural Sciences at the Oakland Museum of California, quoting David Hockney on the connection between drugs and creativity. Seiter was quoted by Paul Kilduff in an interview about a current show, "Altered State: Marijuana in California". The East Bay Monthly, July 2016 issue.

I think I somewhat understand what Hockney said, and I think there is truth in his statement. I also think that I often find great value and much joy in seeing beauty in both the wheat AND the chaff!]

Here is a list of some of the kinds of cannabis I have smoked that were obtained from "medical marijuana" stores in the San Francisco bay area. [From labels I saved.]

Blueberry Tsunami Outdoor Rom Trainwreck Orange Hill Special Red Widow Smoothelove Dutch Passionkush Northern Green Spice Nor Kali Black Spice Sensi Star Organic Main Wreck Sour Diesel Ice Ice Fruity Bliss Organic Remedy NYC Diesel S1-5 Organic Super Silver Haze Morning Star Snow Cap Sun Grown Purple OG Jedi Sweet Nightmare Kosher Strawberries Dirty Little Pig Durbin Poison Oracle Space Cowboy Bubble Haze White Widow Mountain Kick Snow White Sun Grown Diesel Yumbolt Co-op Organic Flo Candyland Silvercratic Sun Grown Chocolope Pineapple Kush Organic Purple Haze Goo-5 Nor Kali Kaui Kola Dynomite Nor Kali Buddha’s Haze Old Grand Huck Grape Ape Sour Diesel Lemon Buddha’s Sister Super Jack Organic Rom Thai Third Eye Pink Champagne World Wide Widow Afgootiva Greased Lightning Outdoor Organic Humboldt Balance Cherry Pie Herijuana Peak 19 Organic Mazar Outdoor Train Crossing Organic Shaman Super Star Rhino Burmese Double Dream Jelly Caramel Kahuna Shiva’s Tears Organic A-10 Purple Burmese Lemon Skunk x Royal Orange Mendo Blendo The Sativa Organic Hawaiian Snow Purple Kush Domina Organic Ultra Skunk Sage ‘n’ Sour Outdoor Organic Kam Tree-W Da Kind Jack Frost Pot O’ Gold Shiva Afghani Gorilla’s Mist Strawberry Cough Sativa 2 Organic Jane Organic Purple Way Outdoor Organic Bonkers Organic Purps Outdoor Organic Goo Juicy Fruit Blue Dream Mind Eraser Pearly Baker Animal Cookies Lavender Goo Titan OG White Russian Sonoma Coma Organic Sticky Nurple MK Ultra Outdoor Organic Trainwreck x White Widow Organic Sweetleaf Organic Purple Ice Jack Herer God’s Gift Outdoor Organic Purple Mendo Organic Ogre Organic Trance William’s Wonder x Northern Lights Blue Ogre Organic Lamb’s Bread Champagne Black Bunanna Super Chunk Organic Rom Cross Sun Grown Goji Jack Rom Hottie Organic Slider Sunshine Grown Green Dragon El Bueno Jakki Organic Time Warp Durban Dream Organic Mist Cookie Pie Mantanuska TF Pineapple Trainwreck Organic Mantanuska Mist Organic Mothership Traincrash Swazi Haze Golden Goo Organic Trance Jack’l Berry Outdoor Mysty Purple Peak 19 AK-47 Sage Motor City Purple Erkel Crazy Hazy Bright Star Green Crack Power Plant Organic Cindy 99 Skunk #2 Organic Bonana Outdoor Organic Hash Plant Baby Blues Cat Piss Mr. Nice (G 13 x Hash Plant) Girl Scout Cookies African Sativa Romadelic Outdoor Organic Madness Outdoor Organic Blue Dot Sour Daze Thin Mint Grand Daddy Purple Spicy Jack Outdoor Organic Pure Rezin Old Mother Sativa Master Yoda Kush Mountain Girl Green Ribbon Super Wreck Sapphire Star Bombshell Also Known As Pea Soup Pirate’s Kush Leda Una Northern Lights x Big Bud All Star Organic Oaktown Wreck Raspberry Diesel ["18.2% THC", grown by "Fleur d’elite"] San Fernando Valley OG ["The Weed Brand Preroll. 1 gram"] Key Lime Pie ["Humboldt Farms" "Premium Flower-Hybrid" "15.2% THC, 0.00% CBD" "Harvested on July 2018, Packaged on July 2018" "One-Eighth Ounce" in a clear glass jar with a stopper made of wood. The label has a 1" x 2" colorful detailed image of tall trees and small flowers and a small white Volkswagen van. Printed with metallic ink. After smoking some Key Lime Pie I decided that, in my opinion, this extremely appealing image is the best illustration I have seen on a cannabis label.] Taffie (This medical cannabis strain is sold in cork-lined light-proof well-labeled tins, each containing 5 joints. The tins come sealed in a bag that contains a Boveda 2-way humidity control packet. This product is distributed by Humboldt Legends, and is labeled Steelhead Sativa. Organically grown in sunlight and harvested by hand. The label has the name [and a copy of the handwritten signature] of the person who grew the marijuana [Scott Davies]. Also the batch number and the percentages of THC [19.5%] and CBD [0.0%]. The label on the back of the tin states that the group of cultivators who call themselves "Humboldt Legends" have been growing marijuana for "forty years". A warning note states that marijuana is a “Schedule 1 controlled substance”. And that “Smoking this product will expose you and those in your immediate vicinity to marijuana smoke…known to the State of California to cause cancer.” “Keep out of reach of children and animals.” "This product may impair the ability to drive or operate machinery." Obtained in the San Francisco bay area, 2017. [After I smoked some of this marijuana in a dark room, I closed my eyes and saw beautiful hallucinations that were extremely complex, with uniquely vivid colors. When I opened my eyes I had a VERY strong urge to write poetry.]) "Top Shelf Rainbow Diesel Minis [Sativa]" [small joints] "Top Shelf Hell OG Minis [Indica]" [small joints] "Mericanna" hybrid [small joint] "16.79% THC" [2018] "Pacific Remedy Shatter joint, hand rolled in California" "Blue Russian flower, Kosher Kush, BHO Snake" "Indica-dominant" [2017] "Sublime King Fuzzies", pre-rolled joint, terpene-enhanced "top shelf bud, CO2 wax/kief", "Indica OG Kush" "THC 253 mg". [2017] Trix Bubble [concentrate] "Shiva Crystals" [hashish] "Select" brand "Mimosa" "cannabis oil vape cartridge" [125 doses per cartridge] 3.5 mg THC per dose. [from the "Select" brand label: "Curating the Science of Feeling" [2018] Cali Gold H20 [extracted cannabis resin] "Emerald Dream" ["Single Origin"] [Trinity County, CA] [58% THC] cannabis oil extracted with CO2 [cartridge for use with "Highlighter" vapor pen]

[A few times I have gone for months without smoking marijuana, and then smoked a potent joint. On more than one such occasion I have experienced intense fearful disorientation, acute paranoia, and horrible physical distress including nausea and a sudden loss of consciousness. CAUTION IS ESSENTIAL!]

I have eaten a variety of cannabis preparations sold at "medical marijuana" stores in Berkeley, including:

"Butter Brothers" brand Brownies, Phat Mints, Blackberry Streusel, Ginger Snaps, Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Peanut Butter Cookies. "Pura Vida" brand Ocean Spray, Happy Trails, Chocolate Jubilee, and Chocolate Chip Protein Bar. "Ganja Candy" brand Caramel, Blackberry, and Dr. Pepper. "Tainted" brand Thin Mints "Dank" candy "420 Grand" candy HealTHCare "Private Reserve OG" [cannabis tincture in vegetable glycerin base] "Double-Strength Medi Pills" [cannabis oil capsules] "Shiva Candy" [hashish candy] "Auntie Dolore’s Medical Cannabis Glazed Pecans" "Hashey’s 200mg Indica Bar" [made with dark chocolate In Santa Cruz] "Rhino Pellet" [tiny cookie] "Potlava" [vegan cannabis baklava] "Orange Zest Awakening Mints" [sublingual 10 milligram THC tablets] "Breez" brand mints [sublingual 5 milligram THC tablets] "Kiva" brand Blackberry Dark Chocolate [cannabis oil candy] "Black Cherry Gummi" [cannabis oil candy] "Original PLUS Super Potent Hybrid Cannabis-Infused Gummies" ["20 milligrams THC"] "PureCure Sativa Strips" [preparation for oral use] [from the label: "EXTREMELY STRONG!"] "Dr. Norm’s Extra Strength medical cannabis cookie" "Chocolate Chip Therapy" 25 milligrams THC, "hybrid". "Full Extract Cannabis Oil" [Indica-dominant strain, for oral use. Full-plant extracted with ethyl alcohol. Dated 12.1. 2015 and provided in a 3 milliliter oral syringe marked for 0.1 milliliter doses. "THC 37.05%"] Stokes brand "Mint Micros" [Sativa-strain] [small tablets, each containing 5mg of cannabis extract] [I have used 2 different flavors: Mint and Watermelon] OMedibles brand "Tree Hugger Medical Cannabis Cinnamon Maple" [high CBD extract mixed with nuts and spices] Utopia Farms brand "Medical Cannabis Raspberry Macaroons" "Cafe Attitude THCoffee" 40 mg THC per 8 oz. bottle ["70% Sativa, 30% Indica"] "Evil Aunt Emily’s Seriously Psychotic Suckers" [cannabis oil candy]) "Sprig" brand citrus soda containing 45 milligrams THC per can. Made in California. [2017] "Petra" brand "Moroccan mint"-flavored medical cannabis tablets, each containing 2.5 milligrams THC plus matcha tea. Produced in 2017 by Kiva, a not-for-profit collective. Lab tested by CW Analytical. "A micro-dosed blend." Packaged in tins containing 42 tablets.

[It is not uncommon for people to have EXTREMELY negative experiences after they have eaten too much of a product containing cannabis. CAUTION IS ESSENTIAL!]

IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT SALES OF SO-CALLED "MEDICAL MARIJUANA" AT STORES IN BERKELEY:

I have seen marijuana contaminated by toxic insecticides that was purchased from (city-approved) so-called "medical marijuana" stores in Berkeley. I have seen marijuana contaminated with other toxic chemicals that was purchased from so-called "medical marijuana" stores in Berkeley. I have seen marijuana contaminated with toxic mold that was purchased at so-called "medical marijuana" stores in Berkeley. As of this writing, there are no enforced standards that designate who may or may not be so-called "medical marijuana" grower-sellers in the city of Berkeley. These for-profit privately-owned stores charge an obscenely high price for their questionable products. THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT MARIJUANA CAN BE ONE OF THE VERY BEST MEDICINES IN THE WORLD!!!!!!!! (Depending upon the type and dose of marijuana, the route of administration, and the set and setting in which it is used.) BUT BEWARE: Greedy and/or stupid capitalists selling untested products grown by greedy and/or stupid amateurs ARE NOT BEHAVING IN A RESPONSIBLE MANNER!

("…marijuana is not legal."

—Ed Rosenthal, interviewed by Paul Kilduff, The Monthly, December 2014.)

("Indeed, positive hits for pathogenic mold are already changing grower operations. ‘You smoke ten random samples of cannabis and you’ve most likely smoked aspergillus [mold],’ said Dave, one of the lab’s two founders. ‘It’s in there, often at unacceptable levels. Now it’s up to the industry to respond. We also are not in a position where we want to make enemies and piss people off. We want to see it happen in the best way for the movement and the industry to kind of just naturally evolve.’ While the distributed nature of California’s cannabis supply network obviously benefits mom-and-pop growers, it doesn’t encourage quality assurance. Consequently, Dave and his peers believe that some pot consumers are in danger. ‘It’s expensive to test every single thing that comes through the door — that’s the price you pay with a decentralized supply system,’ Dave said. ‘But that’s what you’ve got. You’ve got five pounds coming from here and two from there and one individual. I mean, a dog walks in the grow room, and wags its tail — anything can be coming off that dog’s tail. It’s gross. Fertilizers with E. coli. Compost teas that they don’t make right, anaerobic tea that has elevated levels of E. coli and salmonella…There’s no way that this is sustainable. All it takes is one story of immune-compromised people dying from aspergillus infection. The myth that cannabis hasn’t killed a single person in 3,000 years is allowed to go on. Well, it’s not cannabis that kills people, it’s all the shit that’s in it.’

[From "The Manhattan Project of Marijuana", David Downs, the East Bay Express, 3.4. 2009.])

(Steep Hill Lab says eighty-five percent of the medical marijuana samples it tests "show traces of mold".

—Peter Hecht, "Pot Lab Fills Need for Oversight", the Sacramento Bee, 4.6. 2010. The owners of Steep Hill Lab in Oakland California [which is NOT a federally-certified laboratory] are extremely in favor of medical marijuana…)

("We find e.coli in hash. We’re seeing pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacteria that’s found in filth."

—Robert Martin, of the Association of California Cannabis Labs. Martin was quoted by David Downs in the East Bay Express, 4.11. 2012.)

("It’s a nasty little secret in the medical marijuana world that many growers spray their plants liberally with pesticides…"

—Robert Gammon, the East Bay Express, 7.28. 2010.)

(In places like Berkeley in 2018, where cannabis production is encouraged, much cannabis waste is generated. Some of the waste is toxic if consumed. Moldy marijuana, marijuana contaminated with chemicals, contaminated hashish, and contaminated cannabis concentrates do not seem to be rare. Some homeless people, alcohol addicts, and methamphetamine addicts find these sometimes poisonous contaminated cannabis products in garbage containers and sell them on the streets…)

("A 2015 study published in The Journal of Toxicological Sciences found that more than 80 percent of the concentrate samples were contaminated by residual solvents."

"In the same 2015 study, pesticides were detected in one-third of the concentrate samples."

—Kathleen Richards, The East Bay Express, 3.21. 2018, in an article about vaping cannabis.)

("…the true danger in untested cannabis comes from the potential pathogens–pseudomonas, aspergillis, and E. coli are routinely found by our laboratory [CW Analytical]."

—David Egerton, in a letter to the editor of the East Bay Express, 7.18. 2012.)

("…Anresco Laboratories conducted tests on all of the cannabis featured at the HempCon Festival held in San Francisco in August 2017. The San Francisco-based laboratory discovered that 80 percent of the cannabis at the festival was contaminated with unhealthy levels of solvents, pesticides, molds, fungus, or various bacteria."

—John Geluardi, East Bay Express, 9.20. 2017.)

(Over the decades, I have seen MANY careless and ignorant people with hands contaminated by perfume, cologne, cosmetics, grease, oils [and a number of other toxic substances] use their fingers to prepare marijuana for smoking. I am dismayed by the amount of marijuana I have had to throw away because of toxic substances that stupid and/or careless people have allowed marijuana to come into contact with!)

("Mycobutanil…was found in a product recently recalled by Mettrum Ltd., a Toronto-based medical marijuana company."

Mycobutanil, used to control mildew, is said to emit hydrogen cyanide gas when heated.

"The Mettrum discovery was made recently, when a random screening of the company’s products by Health Canada turned up the unauthorized use of pyrethrin, a pesticide…that is also not approved for medical cannabis…"

—Grant Robertson, The Globe and Mail, 3.10. 2017.)

("While I am grateful for access to the pot clubs…I am at a bit of a loss to understand why, given the virtual absence of risk in producing and distributing pot, it is still so expensive."

"What we have…are facilities charging the high end of street prices to people who are already ostensibly facing hardship."

["An ounce for $300 to $400…"]

"…besides basic capitalist greed, why does it still cost so much? Most of the truly disabled and terminally ill are on a fixed income, rendering the cost of pot not at all that compassionate."

— Quotes from a letter written by Steve Stevens to the editor of the San Francisco Weekly, 1.20. 2010.)

("According to Rand Corporation estimates…legalized…high-grade pot would cost just $20 per pound to produce. And low-grade weed would cost only $5 per pound."

—David Downs, East Bay Express, 10.9. 2013.)

(Since May 2011, four marijuana stores in Richmond, California [near Berkeley and Oakland] "…have paid $486,390 in police fees."

"To some, the situation evokes…the protection racket."

—David Downs, East Bay Express, 8.28. 2013)

(Daniel Rush, the former chair of Berkeley’s Medical Cannabis Commission, was charged with 15 criminal counts, including extortion, fraud, and money-laundering. He later pleaded guilty to three felony counts.

["…federal authorities charged him for offering special treatment to one of the applicants for Berkeley’s fourth dispensary spot."

—Frances Dinkelspiel, Berkeleyside.com, 6.23. 2017.])

("I’ve never met so many greedy slugs in my whole life."

—Michelle LaMay, chairwoman of the Teapot Party in Colorado, describing having to deal with the more than 3,000 people who have contacted her because they want to start their own cannabis business. [Willie Nelson was arrested in Texas for possessing marijuana on November 26, 2010. Following his arrest, Nelson founded the Teapot Party.] The quote is from an article by Eric Spitznagel, Bloomberg Businessweek, that was published in the San Francisco Chronicle, 11.20. 2011)

("We did $20 million in sales last year."

—Steve DeAngelo, executive director of Harborside Health Collective, a marijuana store in Oakland. DeAngelo was quoted by Kathleen Pender in an article, "Push to Protect Banks on Legal Pot Business". The San Francisco Chronicle, 5.25. 2010.)

("California’s medical marijuana dispensaries now generate as much as $1.3 billion in sales and $105 million in state sales taxes each year, according to new—and dramatically increased—state sales estimates by California’s Board of Equalization."

"The Board of Equalization earlier this year estimated medical marijuana sales at only $98 million annually…"

— the Sacramento Bee, 5.8. 2010.)

(The Berkeley Patients Group is "a dispensary with about 10,000 patients in the Bay Area". In 2007 the DEA "pounced on a Southern California offshoot of the Berkeley nonprofit for distributing a federally controlled substance. Agents seized nearly everything on-site as well as $100,000 in funds in a bank account."

"The Berkeley dispensary actually got the money back after the City of Berkeley stood up for it. The city stated in a 2008 resolution ‘seizures of assets of medical marijuana dispensaries and collectives have blocked payments of taxes to the state of California and the City of Berkeley.’ The city asked federal authorities to back off and they did."

"Berkeley Patients Group, along with two other Berkeley clubs, net about $18.5 million per year."

—David Downs, the East Bay Express, 9.15. 2010.)

("The city of Berkeley filed a legal claim Wednesday in a federal asset forfeiture case against the landlord of a medical marijuana dispensary here, saying it would lose tax money from pot sales if the dispensary is forced to close."

—Doug Oakley, West County Times, 7.4. 2013.)

("Oakland’s lawsuit said the closure would damage the city, which expects to collect more than $1.4 million this year in business taxes from Harborside and three other city-licensed dispensaries."

—Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 10.14. 2012. Seeking to prevent the forced closure of Harborside Health Center, a "medical marijuana" dispensary, the City of Oakland filed a lawsuit against the federal government.)

Years ago there was a legitimate drug testing laboratory in California where a user could anonymously have a sample of their "dope" tested. Unfortunately, at one point such drug-testing laboratories were declared illegal by federal law enforcement officials and were forced to cease operation. As far as I can tell, the public does not have legal access to any federally-certified illegal-drug testing laboratory.

("This product was produced without regulatory oversight for health, safety or efficacy."

—quote from a blister-pack containing sixteen 10 milligram THC "Orange Zest"-flavored sublingual tablets that were made August 10, 2016 in Salinas, California for a company in Denver, Colorado. [The main isomer of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the principal psychoactive constituent of marijuana.])

("This product has not been tested as required by the Medicinal and Adult-Use Cannabis Regulation and Safety Act."

—quote from a childproof bottle containing one gram of "King Louis OG" cannabis flowers that was sold for $15 in February 2018 by KindPeoples Collective in Soquel, California.)

Many of the anti-drug police say they believe that "harm reduction" strategies increase drug use and are thus unacceptable. Some anti-drug police believe that the world would be a better place if users of illegal drugs died…

("Casual drug users should be taken out and shot. Smoke a joint, lose your life."

—Darryl Gates, Head of Los Angeles Police Department, speaking to a United States Senate Judiciary Committee on September 5, 1990. [Gates said the above because he felt casual drug users were guilty of "treason", according to author Martin Torgoff, writing in his book CAN’T FIND MY WAY HOME–America in the Great Stoned Age, 1945-2000.] )

("In 1996, Newt Gingrich introduced a bill mandating the death penalty for bringing two ounces of marijuana into the country!"

[quote from a document published by Unitarian Universalists for Drug Policy Reform].)

("William Bennett, federal drug policy coordinator, said Thursday night he had no moral qualms about beheading convicted drug dealers.

‘Morally, I don’t have any problem with that at all,’ Bennett said when asked on the CNN program ‘Larry King Live’ call-in television show…"

—Los Angeles Times, 6.16. 1989.)

("Quinlivan told the judges that nobody has the right to use marijuana…"

"Judge Harry Pregerson asked Quinlivan whether it was OK for Raich to die or succumb to ‘unbearable suffering.’ ‘So go ahead and die. That would be all right?’ he asked. ‘Congress has made that value judgement,’ Quinlivan replied."

—David Kravets, the Oakland Tribune, 3.28. 2006, in an article about a hearing before a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Angel McClary Raich is a very seriously ill patient that multiple doctors say must use marijuana as a medicine or she will likely die. Mark T. Quinlivan is an Assistant U. S. Attorney.)

("One child said ‘I love you, Mom’– for the first time in his life."

—Debra Kamin, Newsweek, 2.23. 2018, describing what happened when a severely autistic child was given marijuana oil. The quote is printed large, with the words "I love you, Mom" in bright red. The front cover of this issue features an image of neon marijuana leaves and the words "The Blunt Truth About Weed and Autism". The back cover is a full-page full-color advertisement for Kavalan whisky. [The article is about a study of 60 severely autistic children who were given an oil containing a 20-to-1 ratio of CBD to THC. The study was conducted by Dr. Adi Aran, a pediatric neurologist and director of the pediatric unit of Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedeck Hospital. "Most parents said their children improved. Nearly half saw a notable reduction in the core symptoms of autism."])

("You’re real! You’re really real!"

—Floyd, age ten, who had never spoken before, after being given a series of large doses of LSD at Fairview Developmental Center in California in the early 1960s. The quote was reported by Connell Cowan, at the time a psych tech, who was one of the people who were giving large doses of LSD to children. Cowan was working with Gary Fisher, a psychologist who had first taken LSD in 1959. [From "The Elementary Kool-Aid Acid Test", a podcast by Amy Standen and Judy Campbell, The Leap, KQED, 4.11. 2017.])

("…good people don’t smoke marijuana."

—Jeff Sessions, in a Senate hearing in April 2016. Sessions is now Attorney General of the United States. He is the chief law enforcement officer and the chief lawyer of the U.S. government. It is obvious that Sessions is very mentally ill, as is Donald Trump, who chose Sessions to be Attorney General.)

("I’m a firm believer that drugs are the root of all evil."

—Contra Costa County [California] deputy sheriff Andy VanZelf, quoted 10.4. 2009 in the Conta Costa Times by columnist Tom Barnidge. "VanZelf [a police officer for 23 years] …was born to the job–his mother, father, and brother were cops–but that’s not why he stuck with it. ‘Putting bad guys in jail is very satisfying,’ he said.")

(“You can grow enough marihuana in a window-box to drive the whole population of the United States stark, staring, raving mad.”

—Winifred Black, an early Hearst anti-cannabis propagandist, in her 1929 book DOPE–THE STORY OF THE LIVING DEAD.)

("According to the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report, in 2007 there were 872,721 arrests in the U.S. for marijuana violations."

—Adam Tschorn, the Los Angeles Times, 9.3. 2009.)

("It was downtown San Jose and another police officer had made a stop on three kids who were touring San Jose on a Saturday night. You know, driving around in circles like American Graffiti. And the officer pulled three kids out of the car and he didn’t know but one kid panicked and tried to swallow a small bag of marijuana—and I pulled up just to watch and assist if needed and didn’t realize what was going on either. And this kid died in front of us choking on a bag of marijuana. He didn’t die because of marijuana, he died because he panicked over these stupid laws we have."

—former San Jose, California undercover narcotics detective Russ Jones, quoted by David Downs, the East Bay Express, 5.12. 2010. Russ Jones is a spokesman for the "Law Enforcement Against Prohibition" organization.)

("The general commanding Mexico’s drug enforcement unit–hailed by U.S. drugs czar McCaffrey as ‘an honest man and no-nonsense field commander’–was detained in 1997 for corruptly collaborating with Amado Carillo Fuentes."

—Kevin Williamson, in DRUGS AND THE PARTY LINE.)

(Because I am a disabled homeless senior citizen who has VERY little money, I cannot afford the fee that doctors charge to issue a recommendation that I be allowed to use "medical marijuana". I cannot afford the administrative fee charged for the issuance of a "medical marijuana" card. Even if I had the proper paperwork, I am too poor to be able to pay the high prices the local "medical marijuana" stores charge. I have never grown marijuana. Because I am homeless I have no place where I can grow marijuana.)

A randomly-edited selection of approximately 700 of my pictures may be viewed by clicking on the link below: www.flickr.com/groups/psychedelicart/pool/43237970@N00/

Please click here to read my "autobiography": thewordsofjdyf333.blogspot.com/

And my "profile" page may be viewed by clicking on this link: www.flickr.com/people/jdyf333/

My telephone number is: 510-260-9695

Please note: DEPICTION IS NOT ADVOCACY!!!

Posted by jdyf333 on 2007-08-03 05:53:01

Tagged: , jdyf333 , outsider , psychedelic , trippy , hallucinations , visions , dreams , lightshow , doodles , art , psychedelic art , outsider art , trance , weed , tripping , tripper , trip , reefermadness , purplebarrel , psychedelicyberepidemic , pot , marijuana , lysergic , lightshows , jazz , highart , herb , enchanted , dream , doodle , coloursplosion , cannabis , caffeine , bliss , artoutsider , arte , artcafe , acid , abstracto , abigfave , 420 , Berkeley California , entheogasm , Davivid Rose , Cannabis Indica , Cannabis Sativa , LSD , d-lysergic acid diethylamide , Clearlight LSD , Orange Sunshine LSD , Blue Sunshine LSD , Xmas Sunshine LSD

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