Happy Friday everyone, It’s ya boy Choujin here. Enjoyed day one of Blizzconline (the online version of Blizzcon) and now here to provide you with a new piece of work. This time it’s a Diction Poem. What’s a Diction Poem you ask? Well a “Diction Poem” or Poetic Diction is the term used to refer to the linguistic style, the vocabulary, and the metaphors used in the writing of poetry.
This was something I had to do in my CW class a while ago. It’s a simple poem about love (which was something that crossed my mind.) So sit back, relax and enjoy this story.
Diction Poem: The Deeper understand Love
To some out there who view adoration as just a crush As something young children giggle and snicker but the meaning changes when we mature
it metamorphoses into something grander moving from puppy-love and schoolkid crushes blossoming more as we age with time
oh amour, you are that binding that holds time together keeping two lovers together forever time and space transcending what it is
oh amour, your tales are told in literature as something everyone dreams to achieve to have their fairy tale ending with their true love
oh amour, you are absolute in this world something everyone wants to acquire that one person that is one half of a perfect union
for every being on this planet for those that walk on two or four legs amour is a driving force, two lovers unified
oh amour, you are absolute in this world keeping two lovers together forever fulfilling them with eternal happiness forevermore
Note: this review may contain spoilers to the series, so do not read if you don’t want to be spoiled
The 90s were an impressive time of sitcoms that folks liked watching, from 3rd Rock to Seinfeld to Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. However, things changed when The Simpsons came around and changed sitcoms as we know it. Though a new show was brainstormed as far back as 1988 by the late Jim Henson. It wasn’t until the 1990s when Micheal Jacobs and Brian Henson with the Walt Disney Company. This show aired on April 26th, 1991, through October 19th, 1994, and has been a part of ya boy’s nostalgia when he was a kid. That show was called Dinosaurs.
Summary of the show
Dinosaurs take place in a fictional depiction of the supercontinent Pangea, portrayed as a 90s America but with dinosaurs instead of people. The focus of the show is on the Sinclair Family, a family of dinosaurs living in Pangea. You have Earl, the dimwitted but lovable dad, Fran the housewife and mother, Robbie the intellectual rebel, Charline the materialistic middle child, Ethyl the mother-in-law, and of course the baby called Baby. You also have several side characters like Earl’s friend Roy Hess, Monica Devertibrae, and Earl’s boss B.P. Richfield. Throughout each episode, it themes around one or more of the Sinclair family, most of the time focusing around Earl, in this bizarre world of Pangea. Sometimes focusing on a significant problem that got them into a mess either leaves them learning a lesson or introducing a new concept to dinosaur society, such as refunds or freedom of speech.
Dino-Mite!: What makes it great!
There are plenty of good examples that make the show good; one prominent example that I like is the practical effects of the suit puppets. You can thank the Jim Henson Creature Workshop‘s work for the impressive detail (they used the same technology once seen in the TMNT movies). You also have voice talents like Stuart Pankin (Who’s the Boss?, Arachnophobia), Jessica Walter (Archer), Sally Struthers (Tailspin), and Kevin Clash (Sesame Street). Each of them lends their talent to the series. Even the guest voices are impressive such as Micheal Dorn (Star Trek: TNG), Dan Castanella (The Simpsons), and even Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) as well as Tim Curry. It shows that the people they brought on to voice the various talking dinosaurs weren’t just a list of nobodies. The second thing that makes the series great is that each episode focuses on topical issues of the 90s. Sure, many sitcoms concentrate on this, it would focus around a story, and that’s it. Each episode in Dinosaurs had a theme that focused on topical issues. Examples like Drug Abuse (A New Leaf, Steroids to Heaven), Sexual Harassment (What “Sexual” Harris Meant), Freedom of Speech and Censorship (Baby Talk, Charlene’s Flat World), and even down to things like racism (Nuts to War, Green Card) where you have a bit of issue between “two-legged dinosaurs” and “four-legged dinosaurs.” The episodes also have a bit of a moral lesson at the end of the story, so you at least get a good part afterward (even the characters learn that lesson as well.) Finally, the series has many catchy sayings, like Baby’s “Not the Mama” quip (even the song that the baby sings in Little Boy Boo). The show also has moments where they take jabs at television (especially ABC at the time) or shows and tropes found in other shows. You can say that it was meta for an early 90s show.
Not the mama! What the show lacks
Though the show was impressive and had plenty of good things, there are some problems the show has. One such is that though that some of the suits and puppets are reused as other characters. It’s not uncommon to see one puppet being the school science teacher in one scene than in a different episode. It reminds you that though impressive, it does have to cut corners around some of it. Another is that though the episodes do become good, some of the first season’s earlier episodes didn’t have much of any significant story to set up the characters. Some episodes like Little Boy Boois just a Halloween episode. The obvious The Clip Show and The Clip Show IIare clips from previous episodes just repeated (another trope, but that’ll be another story). Lastly, the finale of the show was BLEAK! The final episode Changing Nature, in which the whole episode involves environmentalism, climate change and leads up to the climax with the extinction of all life on the earth. Not in a “ha-ha” comedic death thing but more of a grim version of them, inevitably knowing they’ll all die. It can be a bit of a major downer for such a comedic series. Lastly, suppose you’re expecting a 90s show about it being scientifically accurate. In that case, you’re going to be disappointed. However, some inaccuracies are used in the messages, such as Cavemen being a stand-in for indigenous people and animal rights in some episodes(The Discovery, Charlene and her Amazing Humans) so that’s not a total loss.
Finale
Though the series does show its age, Dinosaurs is a series that I’m sure the late Jim Henson himself would be proud of if he was still around. If you want to watch the series, it’s currently on Disney+ for the time being, so it would be best to take a look. Oh, and before I leave, here’s some behind-the-scenes describing more about the show and some funny stuff here.
Sorry but no mumbles today but the strawpoll has shown what you want me to write for Thursday so stand-by for that. Though I’ll give you a hint: Doug Walker and James Rolfe did a review of this show.
Happy Friday everyone, it’s ya boy Choujin. The bad news is again..no media Review. However the good news is that I have made a voting poll here of four choices. Just a tough choice but I’d like to hear what you’d like to see me review.
Anyway, here’s an oldie I found for you all to read. It’s a poem I made that is a bit based from my sci-fi universe. So sit back, relax and enjoy this villanelle with your favorite snack or drink
Villanelle: Touring the Cosmic Bars
People have their various means of having their kicks From traveling to alien beaches or viewing books Though for me, I have my own tricks
I like to travel through the stars but not for interplanetary sights or alien cooks I prefer to hop every intergalactic pub or bar
One bar I visited was in the sticks Relia was the planet’s name It wasn’t popular with its style or looks Though I do got to say they know how to brew their drinks
Another bar was in Tragga, which looked like a lot like the pics Their Bar had the an upper class look However, when it came to their drinks, it wasn’t fit for a bar
The last bar I visited, Acheron was its name an interesting place that wowed me on looks however, I found myself falling for their tricks and woke up outside in an alleyway in the bar
Note: The following is based on my own opinion. If you feel offended or triggered by my articles, do not take them personal.
Happy Tuesday everyone, it’s ya boy Choujin here.
When I posted my poem from college “Ode to Asperger’s“, I got some comments from people who managed to say they empathized with the poem. I have to say to those people thank you on that. This time, we’ll talk about something that I’ve been hearing about from time to time: The portrayal of Autism in media. Folks are a bit curious in what ya boy’s talking about? Well I’ll tell you I’m not ragging on autistic people in media, but more how media portray autistic people better known as “Hollywood Autism”. Whether they’re good or bad, they can become annoying when folks use those as the typical examples. This is something personal for me because ya boy here, is a high-functioning autistic (also known as Asperger’s Syndrome) and I’ve seen media portray autism as those types of stereotypes.
First, I’m sure you’re wondering “What’s wrong with portraying autistic people in a positive light?” Nobody has a problem with that, unless it’s a positive stereotype is favorable beliefs held about a specific group (eg. Asians being skilled in math). For Autism, that’s the “savant stereotype” that portrays autistic folks as some super genius. Such examples of that trope can be found in movies like Rain Man, where Dustin Hoffman’s character Raymond is autistic and able to be a master mathematician. Another example that really is stretching it is portrayed in the movie The Predator in which the character Rory McKenna not only is able to decipher the Predator’s tech and alphabet, but its hinted that it’s an evolutionary benefit. Seriously?! What kind of crap is that?! They think that because people are autistic that they are all super geniuses? Not every autistic person’s a savant and I can bet not every autistic person can master a language that fast. Though there is another trope and stereotype that exists and boy does it it get ya boy angry.
The second, and more common that irks me is what I would call the “Mongoloid” trope. In some media, it portrays them as someone with the mental capacity of a child but with the body of an adult (even as strong or stronger) which usually ends up making them more pitied and makes the belief that autistic people cannot live a functional life regardless of the situation. One such example of this is the character Lennie from Of Mice and Men. The portrayal of the character ends up having his own unknown strength that harms animals and people. The next example I found was from a movie called The Black Balloon, a film made in 2018. Charlie Mollison is portrayed as very autistic as he does things commonly portrayed such as inappropriate behavior in situations and meltdowns. Though not really trying to portray this bad, it ends up making the character pitied than treated as anyone. Though this trope can be a bit disturbing and can end up viewing those on the spectrum as helpless and unable to be productive in society.
By now, you’re asking me “so is there any good portrayals or should we just give up?” I would say that maybe it’s not as easy to portray autism. I mean, you do have some portrayals in media that show autistic people that’s not the Hollywood variant. It’s varies from person to person and isnt’ something that is typical between people. After All, that’s why it’s called the autism “spectrum” for a reason. However, there are some good examples that show autistic characters that are not the Hollywood variant. Such examples varies between media, but Julia from Sesame Street to Billy from the 2017 Power Rangers movie I and many others out there found to be good examples. It may take some time (and a fine comb) to find that good medium that portrays autism neither as some next step in human evolution or some curse that makes us unproductive in society. Also, as a person on the spectrum as well, I would love to see media portray autistic people as no different than anyone else out there. I can guarantee ya boy’s not some next step in human evolution or a drain on society. Ya boy’s still gonna be ya boy.
Sorry about not posting any Media Review for Thursday. Sadly couldn’t find any good reviews at the moment, but for the time being I got some ideas for some reviews. The good news is to ensure that nobody gets upset and left with nothing for the week, I’m doing a “Fan-Work Double Feature.” So instead of one story, you’re getting two. For this double feature I got two poems to share for you. The first here is a poem (or ballard) about games and the second poem is about ya boy’s explanation on Asperger’s Syndrome (or High Functioning autism). Both are old works done during my writing classes.
With that, sit back and enjoy this double feature
Oh and Ya boy’s opened his own Ko-Fi, so if you enjoy what i’ve written or reviewed, you can support here.
Ode to Asperger’s
I’ve always wondered what you wanted from me, the day I learned of your existence.
To Normal people, whenever I mention that I have a form of high functioning autism, they look at me with surprise. They are puzzled about what I have.
Mental Illness is either frowned shunned or pitied by those who don’t suffer it. They think that I should either be a window licker, a Timmy or a Downy. To normal people, it’s a mystery why I don’t look like that when I have Asperger’s.
When they understand me, they are surprised and curious. They see someone who can spout information like a living Wikipedia article.
yet they also look at me oddly or disgusted when I pick at something, scratch myself or do something weird out of a bad habit.
To them, I’m a mystery because they never knew Aspergers like I do.
Some want to change me, thinking that my mental handicap is due to neglegences, something curable
However, Aspergers is not a disease to be cured like a cold or a disability that can be controlled.
to me, it’s beyond that.It’s what I am, it’s what I see the world it’s something I’m not ashamed to yell on the top of a building.
It’s something no one should be ashamed of.
Ballard of Gamers
A boy fires up his video game Ready for some fun away from the bright sun as he adventures into his fantasy world
Traveling with monkeys, dinosaurs, plumbers and swordsmasters Seeking out Sacred Stones or fighting in Holy Wars with only his Binding Blade as fights like his boy Roy
The boy pops out one game, and plays another Time Lording with new allies, staying the course going through Hyrule and Skyrim crushing and defeating every force.
In the end, a greater force stops him Greater than Ganon, Bowser or Maedus, like no other it stands at the door of his room, arms crossed for it’s the boy’s mother.
Note: The following is based on my opinion, so do not get touchy about it. Also, this is a VERY touchy subject for ya boy here, so again..don’t take things personal
Why Happy Thursday, everyone, today, it’s ya boy Choujin here.
Everyone’s been hearing about the situation that happened on the 6th of January. I know this happened as it all went down on my birthday. To explain to you what’s been going on, some people who were pissed off from the results of the election decided the best option was to stage a coup on the US capitol building. The development of it has led to the mess we’re seeing and all the other stuff that makes me sick to my stomach (and I’m not joking.) It’s really sickening to watch this shit in real-time and having the audacity to call themselves patriots. It’s really sickening…
The first thing you see is that there was little to no security (in fact, there was some talk that law enforcement allowed them to walk in, and some were sympathetic to the causes). This is the kind of crap that shouldn’t have been allowed (that and it should have been screened and the place more prepared.) Another thing was that certain people within OUR government began to fan and prod their attack dogs into some kind of frenzy. All for the belief that their president will get a second term. However, the same dogs also were planning to hang you for “Selling out.” So not really a smart move right there and a really dumb move when you want to defend someone who will sell you down the river for his own personal beliefs.
The next thing is the double standards seen by the “patriots.”. In one moment, you see the protestors call for “hanging Mike Pence,” then after the whole thing, they begin to scream peace and unity after this entire thing. I’m sorry but what the what?! I’m supposed to give mercy to you because your stupidity got battered? To quote Optimus Prime:
Not only that, but they commonly resort to lying in hopes of defending themselves from this blunder. These things like “It was ANTIFA/BLM That stormed the basis,” “it was a heat of the moment,” or my personal favorite excuse “I was only doing with Trump told me.” All of that being pure cowardice that they do because they came off as a childish temper tantrum. Though I have to admit, I’ve seen more excuses during the Nuremberg Trials.
So what do ya boy want to bring up? Well, let’s say ya boy here isn’t someone who supports open treason against the government through this. Sure he may hate the orange lard-butt, but I wouldn’t encourage violent overthrowing of the government for that stuff. As for those who openly say this..let me just say this as my final word…
Thanks for listening, and keep yourself safe out there.
Today’s a good day as I managed to find an old thumbdrive that held some of my older work, work I never expected would be found. Best of all, that means more older work I can share with you all.
To start off the new year, I’ve got plans to share a poem I wrote in my college years. Something silly but something you will enjoy. So sit back, grab a treat and a drink and enjoy.
Overprotective Papa
Remember that time when I scared that boyfriend of yours as I pulled out my pistol in front of him? I did that to remind him on whose daughter he was dating and what would happen If something bad happened to you
You might get mad at me whenever I scare your boyfriends or remind them on who I am. I do this because I love you, though you might like what I am doing for you. It might suck seeing your dad scaring your suitors shitless, but you’ll thank me later when you’re not knocked up.
Note: The following review may contain spoilers to the game
Happy Thursday everyone, it’s ya boy Choujin
Ya boy’s been a fan of the tokusatsu genre and grew up on Power Rangers. Heck, ya boy even had a weird idea of writing a story that’s a mix between Mega Man X and Power Rangers series. However, a game I just played allows me to have that wish I wanted to do, but in an exciting twist.. A Tactical RPG was released in 2015 for PC, 2017 for the Xbox, Playstation 4, mobile markets, and 2019 for the Switch. Created by a Brazillian company called Behold and distributed by Bandai-Namco, Chroma Squad is a game that brings an exciting twist to the franchise that it takes inspiration from.
Brief Summary of the story
In Chroma Squad, you play the story of five former stunt actors of a company who decided to strike out on their own to create their very own show. They find a prop called “Cerebro,” With that, the group opens up their studio. Writing stories and scripts and ensuring their performance gets well while dealing with strange things going on. What happens to the show will determine by your choices, but there are some multiple endings….
Gameplay
Chroma Squad’s game is a Tactical Role-Playing Game, which means all fighting is done in group combat. Though you only have five people: Leader, Techie, Assault, Support, and Scout. Leaders serve as tanks, Techies use offensive skills, Assaults are bruisers, Scouts use status conditions, and Supports are your healers. Their stats are affected by the actors you put into said roles (so in more formidable difficulties, it’s crucial to pair each person and know their parts). Attacks and skills aren’t the only things they can do, as you got teamwork. This move allows your characters to provide an extra boost in movement, teaming up to attack enemies and unleash your Ranger team’s finishing move.
Think that all you gotta do is kill enemies and the monster of the week? Think again! Throughout each map has missions called “Director’s Instructions.” They are objectives that boost your audience when done. Examples like “Kill all enemy minions before attacking the boss” or “Kill the boss with a finishing move.” Completing these objectives help in filling your audience meter on the top of the screen. Audiences are your bread and butter as they provide you money and fans for special perks.
Though your squad doesn’t do the fighting, some episodes will have you fighting the boss monster in a giant robot (what Power Ranger team wouldn’t have a mecha to fight). Unlike the tactical fights, the mecha fights behave like timing combat by aiming for the green/white spot on the target bar (think Undertale’s target system.) Each successful hit will build up a combo that increases damage but makes accuracy harder. Should you miss, the enemy can strike you back and do some damage. Luckily, you can time defensive guards to protect yourself.
After each episode is done, the audience you built up is converted into money and fans. Both are important: Money is used for upgrading your studios, paying upkeep for your actors, and purchasing equipment. Fans are used as a way to give your future episodes a boost (such as gaining more audiences, higher conversion rate, or more money.)
Wait, there’s more you can do. Don’t want to spend much money? You can craft props for your heroes and mecha from items dropped from enemies or purchased from boxes..
Lastly, Chroma Squad has introduced a thing called the “Episode Editor.” This feature allows you to create some exciting episodes (some can be found on the steam workshop).
Gattai!: What the game shines in
Chroma Squad does well with the aspect of the game. The Combat is simple enough to pick up and understand without much complications. The story is pretty funny. The customization on colors for your ranger suits can have you break new stuff not seen. Such as making the pink ranger the leader instead of Red. The Episode Editor is something needed as it can make you create some episodes or parodies if you want to see them. Lastly, the game uses many references for enemies or monsters that make things funny such as fighting a Reverse mermaid or Barney the Dinosaur himself. The multiple endings do encourage replayability.
Croma-crap: what the game lacks
Though the game is fun, there are some problems with the game that can be a bit of a pain. First is the battles themselves, particularly the Director’s Instructions, which can be a bit strict and annoying, and missing them means missing valuable money and fans. Crafting, as an inexpensive part of gearing up your guys can be a pain. When you do make items, they gain random status. This can be annoying as you can get what I call the “Wizard Greatsword” problem (a weapon with contrarian stats). That and Recycling old items (you can’t sell things to shops) is a hit or miss as you can find yourself getting nothing as there are some chances of getting items back.
Lastly, though the Episode Editor is a great feature, it lacks anything that makes it suitable. One such is it forces you to use assets in the game, which means some enemies are reused. That and it can be a pain for those not so familiar with the design.
Fun Fact
Before we continue, a fun fact about the game. Behold studios ended up attracting the wrong kind of attention from Saban Brand (The company that owns Power Rangers). It led to an agreement between the two where Saban Brand gets royalty in it. It’s why below the title of Chroma Squad has “inspired by Saban’s Power Rangers.” It’s also referenced in the first part of the story where the first studio director tries to get in a legal dispute with you.
Conclusion
If you’re a fan of sentai, TRPGs, Studio management, and various other factors that make you enjoy this game? I would recommend this game for you, even if it’s minimalistic. Though who said about creating a sentai show was easy? Who knows..maybe you could be the next Saban?
Note: the following are based on my own opinions, so don’t take offense to these views if you feel they conflict with yours.
Happy Thursday everyone, it’s ya boy Choujin here. Welcome to 2021. New years and new mumbles to argue about. With Covid-19 still around, ya boy’s been playing games and such. One day, a friend of mine on World of Warcraft brought up a discussion that gets ya boy: Hyper-competitiveness. Now, what is hyper-competitive? To summarize it and not get into something of a dictionary definition, hyper-competitiveness is more or less when people obsess over getting the top score or anything, all while taking the fun out of things due to that obession. Before we continue with this, I want to remind people that I’m not chastising anything related to competitions or those striving for it. I’m against the hypercompetitive nature that can kill the fun in general, whether competitive or casual. For those who strive for the best, do not take this article as ya boy attacking you. This is the unfortunate side effect that it may bring out in some people
The first thing that I’ve seen in this problem is hypercompetitiveness is the overuse of “cookie cutters,” and meta builds. Basically, folks who copy either a top winning deck, team loadout, or composition just to get wins, which is annoying as sin. The thing is, these people don’t do this to get to the top but rather use this as a way to get easy wins in a lower tier. Now, ya boy has used cookie cutters to better understand how things work (Pokemon, etc.) So you can know how the deck works and maybe get a feel of it. However, when some folks go out of their way just so they can win in casual based things, it becomes a buzzkill. Nobody wants to deal with that in a non-competitive format and just want to play for fun. Just because you saw some guy at a Yugioh tournament use a top meta deck. You want to use it, that’s fine by you, but that’s going to cost you a ton of respect, and don’t be surprised when you don’t have others to play with you. Some folks like to play with a gimmicked deck that may be fun with people. Not everyone using a cookie-cutter may be doing this for an easy win: some may be trying to get a feel of the deck, and maybe they could like how it feels. It’s a bit confusing, but some folks want to have fun and not copycat the winning decks.
Another example that sometimes happens is when this becomes the “Only way to play a game,” which can agitate those who feel that a casual bout becomes vital. To return back to my old mumbling about Gatekeeping, this can become annoying. Especially when there are multiple ways to beat the game. Now, I’m not saying that an optimal choice is the only choice, but more when THIS way is the ONLY way to play a game. For example, when I was playing World of Warcraft, which began this conversation, I recalled how some people who play Mythic+ Dungeons (which are dungeons with a timer to beat). Those things have been known to make you have a group that requires specific professions, classes, or both. That is if you’re one of those groups trying to break world records. The thing is that most of it is used for lower levels (e.g., Mythic+5) when it’s more useful for those gunning in the 20s. It creates an annoying gatekeep that makes joining harder and forces people to roll that or be forced not to be that way. Shadowlands does have that with covenant choices, but that’s another story for another time.
Though I’ve seen other ways to this, it becomes a bit toxic when people will berate others who don’t play this way. Again, we return to Warcraft and how it’s tough to join groups (or even form groups) if you’re not at a specific parameter or just doing a chill run. Things get really..really dicey and pretty annoying. Especially with random groups. Though this isn’t limited to this as well, as sometimes it extends beyond WoW and in things like Pokemon where some folks will get really competitive when it comes to specific rulesets and metas that they’ll follow with a passion. Not knocking on that, but some folks wouldn’t mind having some plain fun but don’t throw a fit if people don’t play Smogon rulesets or VCGs and just want to have some fun.
So what do ya boy suggest in this situation? All I can do is simply don’t become hyper-competitive when it comes to some casual aspects. It’s okay to chase that challenge if you want and how you do it but don’t berate people if they don’t want to do it that way. Remember that folks are different and have their own ways. Lastly, one big thing folks need to know whether it’s a card game, video game, or just any sports in general…
IT’S JUST A GAME!
If you don’t think about this..then…as I always say…
So with that, that’s ya boy’s issue with this hyper-competitive nature. Folks should be free to play the game they want to (within the rules, of course) but not berating those who seek casual fun or pure competition. Let people have their fun and enjoy things how it is.
