Blog-Bits

The first post in what will probably be a “series” similar to My Geeky Pet Peeves and the fan fiction readings that I swear I will get to in the near future. I’m calling it “Blog-Bits” for now because I can’t think of anything better.

These posts will contain random thoughts, confessions, stories, or jokes that I want to share but aren’t necessarily enough to make a post of decent length. So I will list them here instead.

Here are a few, expect more to come!

• People are always saying, “Real women have curves, fuck those skinny, anorexic chicks!” Not that I’m against curvy women in any way, but there are some women who are naturally skinny, you know. Are they not “real women”? Are they supposed to feel bad for not wearing a bigger size? Also, can people stop using “anorexic” and “bulimic” as insults? Eating disorders should not be taken lightly.
• Why is the bus I take so ridiculously full on Wednesday afternoons? How is it that so many people need to take buses on Wednesday afternoons?
• The male player character in Black 2/White 2 has the weirdest hair I’ve ever seen.
• In My Little Pony, Rarity designs clothes, which the ponies only wear on special occasions. Does that mean that they’re walking around naked the rest of the time? Not sure if gusta.
• Emma Watson is considering being in the 50 Shades of Grey movie. Not sure if gusta.
• I really want to read J. K. Rowling’s new book, but part of me is scared it will be a let-down after the epicness of the Harry Potter series.
• I really should start using that camera I got for Christmas for something, but I don’t know what to use it for (to be honest, I’m not even sure I know how to use it).
• Tea is probably the best thing that has ever happened to me. God, is that sad.
• I know the actual line is “Boy, that escalated quickly,” but I can’t help thinking that “Well, that escalated quickly” sounds better.
• I’m a total hypocrite because I hate hipsters yet I am a hipster. In my defense, I’m an accidental hipster. I don’t stay away from things that are mainstream so that I can be a pretentious asshole, I honestly just don’t care enough to keep up with things that are mainstream, none of it is on purpose…. This explanation is making me sound like even more of a hipster, isn’t it? Oh God.
• Laina (also known as Overly Attached Girlfriend) is quickly becoming one of my favorite people.
• For the longest time I thought the cyborgs in Mortal Kombat had dreadlocks, which struck me as odd but I didn’t question it. It wasn’t until a few months ago that I finally realized those were wires coming out of the backs of their heads, not dreads. I felt like a complete idiot.
• My favorite super hero has always been and always will be Spiderman. The ironic thing is that I’m terrified to death of spiders. WHAT.

That’s all for now, I suppose. Stay tuned for more!

A Fan’s Response to Pokémon Black and Blue

You may or may not know that PETA has made a parody game called Pokémon Black and Blue (probably in response to Pokémon Black/White and their sequels, which feature an evil organization with striking similarities to PETA), where you play as Pikachu, Snivy, Tepig and Oshawott (all of whom have been abused in some way) and fight back against the cruel humans who were hunting them, shaving them, doing lab experiments on them, beating them and forcing them to fight, and so on. I actually played it, just to see what it was like.

As a Pokémon fan, I’m not sure if I find it funny or disgusting.

To be fair, the game does have some good jokes (they seem to have done their research on Pokémon memes) and the imagery is effectively gruesome (Professor Juniper is nightmare fuel!). But the game entirely misses the point of Pokémon.

I’ve heard other people voice concerns about Pokémon games promoting animal abuse before PETA, but it’s obvious that the people who think this have never played a single Pokémon game before because, well, that’s not at all what they’re about. Yes, in the games Trainers catch Pokémon in balls and use them for battle, but that’s not all there is to the games.

Pokémon games are all about love, trust, unity and friendship between Pokémon and their trainers. Pokémon are naturally competitive, they love battling each other even in the wild. Trainers aren’t forcing them to fight for their amusement alone. Trainers are only there to help Pokémon reach their full potential. The games emphasize how important it is to treat your Pokémon well and to develop a close bond with them. Hell, some Pokémon won’t even evolve until your bond is strong enough! And some moves become more powerful the stronger your bond is! Pokémon like being with their Trainers, as long as they’re treated well (which they usually are).

There are some Trainers in the game who are cruel to their Pokémon (Team Rocket, for example, is known to be abusive toward Pokémon), but guess what? These Trainers are antagonists! They’re the villains that need to be defeated! The games also emphasize that treating your Pokémon badly will negatively affect their performance in battle, and most will fight back against cruel trainers anyway. We’re talking about creatures who can breathe fire, spit acid, and use telekinesis. They’re powerful and in some cases extremely intelligent (Alakazam has an IQ of 5000, and Mew and Mewtwo are said to be even smarter), so they’re not exactly as defenseless as PETA claims they are. If they wanted to be liberated, I think they could handle it themselves.

As for trapping Pokémon in Pokéballs, I will admit it’s a little hard to defend that, but Pokémon stands for “Pocket Monsters”. The whole idea is that they’re monsters you can carry around with you in your pocket.

That’s another thing. Monsters. Pokémon are monsters, not animals. Their designs are based on animals (or plants or inanimate objects, oddly enough), but they’re not animals. They’re super-powered monsters that are more than capable of defending themselves, but they also like to hang out with humans.

So, do Pokémon games promote animal abuse? I guess I can understand why people would be concerned about it, but I don’t think they do. I’ve loved Pokémon since I was a child and I’ve never felt any desire to hunt down animals, trap them, and force them to fight for my entertainment. Hopefully, no kid is stupid enough to believe such a thing. Pokémon games are simply fun, and they can have some good messages about friendship. So, how about instead of targeting them, we focus on actually helping animals that really are being abused?

By the way, my fellow Pokémon fans, how ironic is it that PETA shows Pikachu holding a sign supporting Team Plasma? Judging by the their parody game, they seem to know what Ghetsis’ true motives were in the end, so… what the hell?

My Geeky Pet Peeves Part 2

Well, here’s another short list of geeky pet peeves. Enjoy.

1. When people think that Grif from Red vs Blue is yellow.

Am I the only one who always thought Grif looked orange? I never mistook him for any other color. To quote Grif himself, didn’t anyone have a box of crayons when they were a kid?

2. When people misspell the names of the characters from Red vs Blue.

This can apply to anything, but I’ve noticed that it’s very common with RvB characters’ names. People don’t seem to understand that it’s Simmons, not Simons, Grif, not Griff, or Caboose not Kaboose or Cabose. That last one is somewhat understandable, I guess, since Caboose did spell his name as Cabose in one episode, but that was a joke, guys. It’s funny because he’s stupid.

3. Some Legendary Pokémon.

This is the part where I piss off a bunch of Pokémon fans.

There are some Legendaries that I like, such as Mewtwo and Groudon, but I never liked using Legendaries for a couple of reasons. One, they’re too powerful, so I always thought that using them took some fun out of the game. Two, I find the idea of a kid catching a Legandary monster and using it for casual battles absolutely ridiculous. “Oh, there’s Mewtwo, an incredibly powerful and intelligent abomination of science known for being extremely vicious and without compassion or mercy. Why don’t I catch it, nickname it Fluffy and train it for battles against my friends?”

Now here’s where I really piss off a lot of Pokémon fans. I think they should have stopped making Legendaries after Gen 3. I’m all for new Pokémon, just not new Legendaries. Sorry, I just think it makes them seem less special when there are so many of them.

Also (ready to get even more pissed off at me?), I hate Arceus. The idea of catching something that’s basically a god in a Pokéball and using it for battle is just too much for me. And they kept making more Legendaries after Arceus! Where are they going to go from there? How on Earth are they ever going to top a freaking god? Not to mention every Legendary before Arceus kind of pales in comparison.

So yeah. Love new Pokémon, keep ’em coming. But please, enough Legendaries.

4. When people mistake Lugia for a Water-type.

Okay, I’m kind of being a hypocrite here, because I used to think Lugia was a Water-type too. But in my defense, that was a long time ago. Lugia’s actually a Psychic/Flying-type, people. Not Water. Enough with that.

5. “Why don’t they just use a time-turner to go back in time and kill Voldemort before he became powerful?”

Shut up, it doesn’t work that way. Anyone who knows anything about time travel knows it doesn’t work that way.

 

That’s all for now, I suppose. Stay tuned for the next exciting installment!

It actually won’t be that exciting, but you should still stay tuned.