Litany of Descendants' Queen of Mean

So, I've finally managed to watch all three Descendants movies and I've found that while I loved both of the first two movies' intro songs, I loved a different song in Descendants 3 - Queen of Mean.

Don't get me wrong, I love all of the Descendants movie songs.  Rotten to the Core and Ways to Be Wicked are my favorites from their respective movies, but of all the songs I'd say Queen of Mean is something girls and guys can relate to.  And if you don't know what the Descendants franchise is about, it's literally the children of various Disney characters.

The thing is that while I love the majority of the musical numbers, somehow there's a difference when it comes to Queen of Mean.  A part of it is definitely the music style.  It's got close to a rap or hip-hop beat in the background (I can honestly say I don't care about what the differences in genres actually are, if I like something, I like it.  If I don't, then I don't.)

The first movie had set up with a fun song to start and explain and songs that gave that the nostalgia of the original movies without keeping to the old music scores.  Some of the songs I didn't care for as much, but that's likely more to do with the mood I was in personally than the songs themselves.  

When Ways To Be Wicked first became available for viewing people noted things that once the movie was available to be certain about the reason for it made sense.  After all, it ended up being a dream, but the lyrics could easily be related to the VKs (Villain Kids).

The third movie's opening sequence however left me with feelings that I've been wrestling with for a very long time - that of being compared to others.  It felt like they were saying where you came from and what you had does matter because getting privileges is about who you know and what you can manipulate rather than what you have ability-wise for yourself.  So when Queen of Mean came on later, it showed that even when you think someone has what they want or what you think they want, there's a chance they don't.

Don't get me wrong, Good to Be Bad is a good song in its own right and fits the story.  The beat makes me want to get up and dance.  It just makes me think back to when I'd attempt things and be either berated or treated like it didn't matter.  At least when watching in the movie.  On its own, I love this song.

  

Basically, of all the different songs available related to the Descendants franchise, Queen of Mean is likely to be and remain my favorite.

25 HoliDays of Winter: an Interrupted Series

 I had truly meant to keep up with watching Winter/Christmas Movies, but suddenly the power steering in our car went out.  Upon taking it to the mechanic, we learned it was an issue with an electrical component, and got a quick fix until we could take it back for a proper fit.  I would have continued on the original plan, but we've had various health and home issues crop up and further issues with our car - had to replace the whole steering column instead of just the one component.  So I will try this again in 2021, starting on December 1!  Hope everyone else has been having a wonderful past few months despite all the other things going on!

25 HoliDays of Winter: Days 1-5

 This time of year typically you'll see 25 Days of Christmas on so many different channels.  I decided to try my hand at a personal 25 movies of the season.  Basically, I'm going to try to watch the equivalent of one movie or series of movies (like the 3 Santa Clause in one day) each day.  Since they are so common, Christmas movies and episodes will likely make up the majority of what I watch for these 25 days.  If you have suggestions that are for a different holiday set in December, let me know and I will try to watch it.  Just a warning - SPOILERS AHEAD!

So, the first movie I watched was Disney's 1961 Babes in Toyland.  The first thing I thought of when watching this was that I definitely want to watch the other one a bit more.  That doesn't mean it wasn't any good.  I've seen this movie before - when I was a kid.  There are things that even today, I still enjoy about it.  But at the same time, there are things that are an obvious sign of the time the movie was made in, like Mary's song regarding her situation.  Some of the special effects are pretty awesome, but the message of that song and the song she and Tom sing after the children go to bed in the toyshop are very much indicative of the societal perception of women.  Another thing highlighted in this particular movie is the thought of Industrialism as both good and bad.  It's amazing until it breaks down because people don't think either in its usage after creation or about why they are creating said invention in the first place.  It also kind of leaves a mystery open - where are the sheep?

Next, I chose to watch the first David Tennant Doctor Who Christmas special.  You'll note that I only watched the first one.  This isn't because the others aren't any good, but rather because watching any Doctor Who Christmas special is a unique thing for anyone who is going to watch.  This particular special introduces David Tennant as the tenth Doctor and really teaches new Whovians that while the reincarnation of the Doctor is hard on those who have to meet him after he's changed, it's hard on him as well.  It also reminds us that humans are idiots, especially humans in power.

So what was the third movie? 12 Christmas Wishes for My Dog.   The title is misleading.  While there a dog and a dog shelter are in the movie, they aren't huge focal points of the movie, but rather causes things to move along in the story.  For a Christmas story, it hits on the season's expectations for it quite well.  

Fourth ended up being Ernest Saves Christmas - a movie I haven't seen since I was a child.  Just the opening scenes make me laugh as a businessman talks to Santa who has decided to pass the job on to a new Santa.  And all the children in the airport note who he truly is and stare in wonder.  And then there's cab driver Ernest...definitely a movie to watch for laughs.

Finally on day 5, I watched The Night Before Christmas.  This turns out to start as the poem, but a mouse ends up correcting the narrator.   This leads to a bit of a different story than what we're used to for the poem.  Still, a nice heartwarming story to watch despite some of the sadness that it involves. 

So what's next?  I know I want to watch the Drew Barrymore Babes in Toyland and the Santa Claus trilogy. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman are classics.  I also want to see the Disney movie Noelle.  I know I watched it previously, but now I want to see it for the season!  I'm sure there are more, after all, there are more than 25 Christmas movies that have been created.  There are classics and modern movies, movies for children and for adults, and movies from all sorts of genres, even if romance tends to dominate them. 

NaNoWriMo 2020 Wrap-up

 So, I didn't complete this year's NaNoWriMo goal, but I did get one of the two projects I had planned to get done completed: my entry for the Harry Potter Fanfiction Club Discord Channel's Winter Writing Challenge.

I don't really want to get into all the details, but I did end up posting it on AO3.  So if you want you can read these short little gems over there.  In the meantime, I'm still working on a large number of various works - both fanfiction and original pieces.

That's it for the 2020 NaNoWriMo.  For those who managed to reach the 50K word goal, congratulations.  For those who like me, didn't reach that large number of words, congratulations on getting what work you managed to get done completed.  It wasn't easy, no matter what others may think.  Every word towards that goal is a success, even if you didn't get the big goal.

NaNoWriMo 2020 Part 3/3

 This should have been posted yesterday, so I am sorry about that.  Thankfully there's the rest of today to go yet because I think I only barely hit 5K in the total number of words for November so far.  Don't worry, I promise I'm ignoring most distractions to try to get that 50K minimum by tonight's midnight deadline.  I'd better get back to it, but I also am waiting to hear back about my car who is in the shop thanks to a lovely issue with the steering.  It seems that the power steering has gone out.  Wish me good fortune and I'll try to post again this upcoming weekend!

NaNoWriMo 2020 Part 2/3

 Okay, so it's been a week and I haven't made much progress.  I got the next drabble written for my Winter Challenge, and a bit more written on my story.  My word count right now is only 3,473 words towards that 50K.  The drabble I've finished is needed some massive paring done to it since I wrote twice the maximum number of words so, ouch.  As for the story, Duo has just been introduced as Percy's first cousin and Percy stole the scene to ramble on, again...I last left off with the other two about to be revealed.  And, boy, am I not looking forward to that!  It promises to have some major breakdowns because of it, but I need to get through the meeting to whatever is next for my story.

Anyway, happy writing, and good luck with those word counts!  Honestly, I'll be happy if I can reach 10K at this rate.

NaNoWriMo 2020 Part 1/3

 Okay, so I've been really lax on this blog.  This time however I wanted to let everyone know that yes I'm participating in NaNoWriMo 2020.  This is the first post for it and so I have to inform you of what I'm working on and what my current progress is.  My current progress, before I go any further, is only 2,026 words.  I know, I haven't written much.  But, I have a really good excuse - and yet is it an excuse and not a reason, because if I really put my mind to it and focus I know I could have written so much more by now!  Anyway, my excuse is this: I've been getting my teeth worked on.  It isn't fun, but I think it's better than to keep putting it off.

Okay, so that's out of the way.  Now it's time to gush about my project. I had originally decided to focus on a fanfic that I got an idea for where Duo Maxwell of Gundam Wing is the son of one of the Prewett brothers who'd been killed in the first war.  Percy was the one who would learn this as he was the only one to actually participate in the FRA (Family Reunion Act) that had been put into place by the muggles who'd just gotten out of their wars.  Harry and the Dursleys happen to learn that Harry's father and a cousin from his father's side had been found as well.  The cousin on his father's side also happens to be a cousin to Percy (Black blood, such a useful plot device.  I swear if they're a pureblood, they are related in some way to the magical Black family.) as well.  Now if I could just keep Duo, Harry, and Percy from derailing each bit of progression with their tangential conversation.

That's not all I've worked on, though.  I joined a Discord channel a while back called Harry Potter Fanfic Club (HPFF).  If you want a link to join, let me know! But anyway, in this we have a writing challenge.  The Winter Writing Challenge is to write 12 100-250 word drabbles using a word from a provided list of 12 for inspiration.  So I managed to get a few of those typed up.  And one of the said drabbles is definitely an outtake from the aforementioned project at a minimum.  A second drabble, however, decided it wanted me to be working on a much later chapter of a fic whose working title is Dursley in Time.  It's a bit annoying, but I reached almost 300 words, realized what was going on, saved that as a future in my fanfic folder, and then tried to basically summarize what I had typed up.  Then I had to pare that down.  It took me a bit of time.  Both of those base stories are told from Dudley's point of view.  Then I managed to write up two drabbles that are canon-complaint.  One was basically some Harry as a child's thoughts, though I think he might come off as older, and the other from Narcissa Malfoy after the Battle of Hogwarts.  

So, yeah, I've been a bit busy.  It's fun though and I keep getting distracted by the discord channel, so there's that.  Back to this post though.  I'll keep writing as much as possible, and hopefully, I'll manage to keep blogging.  I have a few drafts for other posts semi-started.  I just need to type them up, edit them, and schedule them to be posted.  Also. I need to remember to keep the NaNoWriMo updates accurate!

Good luck to other writers and have fun!

D&D Changes and Why Some Aren't Fans

 So I've been finding a large number of D&D videos recently and then I found D&D Player's Stop Calling it the Matt Mercer Effect.  It surprised me because I liked Matt Mercer and listened to his DM tips as well as others.  I wondered what the video was referring to.  I have to admit I couldn't believe what they referencing and I'd have loved to have looked up more into this "Matt Mercer Effect", but a quick glance at the comments and listening to how Nerdarchy answered to it, I realized that I likely would agree with them in regards to what they were talking about, but I also realized that D&D in its popularity rise has changed.  

It's not a bad thing.  The game has been changing since Gary Gygax created it.  I've played D&D for more than 15 years, but always a player and always version 3/3.5.  It makes a difference when you look at all the different editions that are out there.  Personally, I love the ability to make a character that changes their class each level creating a savant that has access to so many things that others can't or sticking with a specialized character.  My characters have always changed with the campaign.  I created a character who was a tibbit dragon shaman originally.  The group was fairly large and had been playing 4.0 mixed with 3/3.5.  For those who don't know - 4 does not mix well with others.  The only reason 3/3.5 is referenced the way it is is because 3.5 was supposed to update 3.0.  It was not completed however before they went to the next edition.  You'll find, if you look in 3/3.5 books, that there are a few notable changes that are between the books.  Two very notable changes are the skills and boots of striding and springing in the magic items list.  The way my DMs have handled it is making greater and lesser boots of striding and springing and a ban on anything that has updated information in a 3.5 book.  If there isn't, then you have to work with the DM to figure out what changes need to be made to update it like removing Ambidextrous from the requirements list of a prestige class/feat or putting intuit direction in with survival just for a couple of other possibilities.  Trying to take a 3/3.5 creature into a 4.0 campaign or having people increase some of their stats because you're using a 4.0 creature doesn't work too well.  I've looked at the various earlier ones and even had some looks at 4 and 5.  

I don't like how 5 looks.  That's not to say it's bad.  I'm one of those people who manages to somehow create oddball combinations.  My husband has tried to create a goofball illusionist with MPD and made it OP.  I've managed to recreate Aerith in D&D 3/3.5 and an overpowered Blair from SoulEater.  I don't know how possible it would be to do the same in 5.  I do know it took a lot of research and DM rulings in each case.  In Blair's case it was could we use fireball and just have it look like pumpkins?  Since it didn't change anything except the look of the spell, yes, we could.  I should probably note at this point that when I agreed to make Blair (she was totally a tibbit!) my husband became determined to create Soul and, more importantly, and annoyingly, Excalibur.  He double-checked with both our closest thing to a psionics expert and myself as someone who was always willing to read through the information to see about any possible loopholes or missed information.  It's always good to have someone else read over something to ensure you're reading it correctly...Anyway, he found a way to do so.  When I return to my making characters series if I ever actually get it going.  I know, I know, I keep putting off my various sets of stories.  There's my cookbook/cooking series, my re-watching Charmed, and the previous campaign that I had started but didn't keep up with when life ran away from me.  I have a lot of things I'm working on and really need to just get things organized so I'm actually on top of everything...

As I said, 5 is not necessarily bad.  What little I've seen and heard about it makes it sound very similar to MMORPG's like WOW, NeverWinter, and Secret World, where you choose a race and class, but have a set of path choices after that determined by those options.  This means there's no chance of becoming some of the combinations my husband and I have played in the past.  Then when I click on a D&D article or video, if it's in regards to inner campaign workings, like character creations or world-building I have to check which edition it is before truly enjoying watching/reading/listening to it.  It's not bad, I just can't stand how condensed it is even if it may make it easier for new players.

Nimue's Story

There have been so many reiterations that when I learn of a new one, I think there can't possibly be any more different takes on the story of King Arthur, can there?  Apparently, there can.  We've forgotten that the story of King Arthur isn't just the love triangle surrounding Arthur, Guinevere, and Lancelot or the rise of Excalibur and Camelot.  We've forgotten that there were more magical people than just Merlin, Morgause, Morgana, and Morgan le Fey (even if those last three were in some iterations the same person.)  We've forgotten that the story of King Arthur is mostly just that.  It is a story and like any story, there are more characters than just those you remember and the bits of the story that you recall easily.  After all, Camelot, Merlin, and King Arthur have so many stories surrounding them that it could be just like a quest for the Holy Grail to find out the truth behind them all, couldn't it?

There are contradictions within contradictions and if you write fanfiction, you'll find it rather hard to cross something like The Sword In The Stone with BBC's Merlin, but not impossible.  Magic is in both these stories so it wouldn't necessarily be out of place for something like the multiverse theory to come into play.  Not only are there shows and movies devoted to the stories themselves but there are those that claim to be the reincarnation of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table (Avalon High springs to mind) or that have an arc the references them (here's to Once Upon A Time...again.  They really played around for this particular show! Though DC's Legends of Tomorrow on Netflix have a few episodes that integrate King Arthur as well...)  You may be wondering why the hell I'm typing about this?

Netflix has a new series available.  You might have only heard its title or heard a little about it because of the show being on the Top 10 list on Netflix.  If you've heard anything about it's setting or time period, you might mistakenly think that this series extolls on the virtues of the white man and casts all or almost all women in a negative light.  You'd be wrong.  To be honest there wasn't a lot of information given or trailers that were seen before my husband and I decided to give it a shot.

The name of the series is Cursed.  And in this section, there may be a few spoilers.  Alright I can guarantee that there will be a few spoilers and I apologize for them, but this isn't a male-oriented King Arthur's beginnings or ending story.  It's not a story that focuses on the relationship between Merlin and Arthur or the sad love triangle of Guinevere, Arthur, and Lancelot.  No, this story, though obviously a Merlin/King Arthur story, revolves around a character that no one really knows but everyone subscribes to as evil and the downfall of Merlin.  Cursed follows the story of Nimue.  You will note familiar characters as the series is watched.  Yes, you get to meet Merlin, Uther, and Arthur all fairly early, but the story is not centered on them, but on Nimue and the plight of the fey.  It's a story that reminds viewers of the horrors that the church and those with power can be wrought over land that relies so heavily on things outside their control.  There are mysteries even in the start and there are changes made to what is widely accepted as the story of King Arthur, Camelot, and the Knights of the Round Table, but the changes make just as much sense as the information a person can find when they research their family history.  Vikings are introduced as well as the church's destructive army - the Red Paladins.  It's a show that you should pay attention to when the episodes end because it would be easy to binge it instead of making yourself wait to watch because you have to be up the next day.  They don't shy away from the horrors of the "witch burnings" that existed during Uther's reign, but they don't glorify it as a just sentence for those put to death either. 

Cursed is a show the portrays both the good and the evil in grey lighting.  For while killing is wrong, is saving your or another's life wrong?  Is harboring someone to protect them from a group that targets an entire species/race/group of people just because they are different right?  There is much to consider when watching and you'll find that much like any family research or scientific study that yields new information done, this show will make you question what has largely been accepted by the populace to be a part of the King Arthur and Merlin saga.

IKEA and Covid-19

My husband and I realized we needed a new bookshelf recently.  We were going to just move the location of one of our current ones - the one located in the living room - when it decided it would no longer have any kind of sturdiness to it.  To give you a bit more information, we bought the bookshelf more than ten years ago and it has been in two homes previous to our current one as well as a mini storage unit for several months.  We then bought a second bookshelf of the same exact kind.  Both were Walmart units.  We've also got a really small shelf that our DVDs are currently on.  Finding out we definitely needed at least one new bookshelf/case, we thought we'd look around for a decent shelving unit, though we first thought we'd just get another from Walmart.  The issue is that on Facebook someone else had, on the same day we found out that our current large living room bookshelf would no longer be usable, posted a question about where to find a good, sturdy, and cheap new bookshelf.  IKEA and Walmart were both mentioned. 

My husband and I looked around online for a bit before I decided that we would be better off going to the store to see if we liked any of them in person.  I couldn't find any shelving units I liked for our books, but I was finding what looked to be some pretty neat media/entertainment centers.  So we agreed.  We would go to the brick and mortar store in St. Louis and if we didn't find something there we'd stop at some other furniture stores.  So, we get to the store and there's a decent-sized line to enter the building.  There are also signs reminding people that masks are required to enter the store.  Thankfully, we had looked over the store's policies before going and we tend to keep a few masks in the car for when we go to stores.  This would be our first trip to IKEA.  Ever.

The night before going I made sure to record measurements for the possible locations of the new bookshelf as well as if we found a better unit for our TV and it's related items.  I'm glad I did.  We spent maybe a half-hour waiting in line to enter the building.  Once in, it should be noted that there are hand sanitizer stations all over the place.  Literally, every section has at least one hand sanitizer station to help keep you safe.  During these days of constantly staying home, not everyone is getting all the workouts in which they perhaps used to.  If you have an idea of what you definitely need and decide to browse a little just in case you find some other things, then you might make up some of those missed workouts.  We managed to pick up a new shelf for our TV, a new bookshelf, a can opener, garlic press, lampshade, and a cover for the seat of our car that our dog has claimed as hers.  We've been planning on doing some rearranging of our furniture anyway, so it works out.  The really nice thing about our trip to IKEA is that we spent less than $350 and got a decent workout.  Those pieces of furniture in their boxes were not light. 

So, I just wanted to basically admit that we're doing fine despite being stuck mostly at home.  We aren't letting it get us down as we find that we need to change things.  But we don't make random trips just to get out.  I have had my books sitting on the floor for over two months.  We make the trip because we're planning on some old friends coming over for the 4th of July.  So now I've got this week to get everything set up for this next weekend - and we're still waiting for our new grill to arrive!  Since the 4th is on Saturday, I hope you guys all manage to enjoy the holiday weekend and stay safe!

Some Song Fun

So this showed up on my Facebook feed and I decided to use it for a blog.  I did use the internet after coming up with a song title, mostly so I could find a YouTube video for the song for readers who maybe aren’t aware of the song.  While I was trying to come up with these, I was listening to a video regarding ancestry so that may have helped gear my answers or possibly not.  After all, it wasn’t talking about music.  I may even have taken a break to do other things when I hit a wall thinking of song titles since I have issues remembering titles.

OK music lovers! This is fun, but hard! Answer each category with a song title. No repeats and don’t use the internet (it's tempting, but try not to). Go with the first song that comes to mind or fill in your favorites. Copy/paste then change the answers to your own (can’t steal mine).

Something to wear – Blue Suede Shoes (Elvis Presley)

Something to drink – Whiskey Lullaby (Duet can’t remember the artists)

An Animal - Hound Dog (Elvis Presley)

A Number  –  9 to 5 (Dolly Parton)

A Color  –  Red (Taylor Swift)

A Girl’s Name  –  Boy Named Sue (can’t remember)

A Boy’s Name  –  Danny Boy (unknown)

A Profession  – The Gambler (Kenny Rogers)

A Flower- Edelweiss (unknown is in Sound of Music)

Day of the Week – Last Friday Night (Katy Perry)

So, it was definitely harder than I thought and I only got that last one because I started to listen to music videos on YouTube while trying to figure out what song I knew had a day of the week in it and at the same time of Last Friday Night, I thought of Rebecca Black’s Friday…I did happen to think of the country song IndependenceDay, but it calls for a day of the week, so I felt it wouldn’t actually count.  If you decide to give it an attempt, have fun.  I hope you come up with songs as random as mine.  After putting an answer down, I'll admit it, suddenly I was thinking of a large number of songs that would fit for each category.

COVID-19 Extensions

So, I know it's been a while.  Between coronavirus(COVID-19) and any number of other things - faucets not working, bank account getting closed, being furloughed, etc. - I've been exceedingly busy.  The problem, however, that I've noticed is the issue of people in general complaining and protesting about the Stay-at-Home orders.

So what is the Stay-at-Home order and what is it preventing you from doing?  The Stay-at-Home Order is meant for the general public's safety.  Yes, it does infringe a bit on our right to assembly as described in the Bill of Rights, however, we have various ways of meeting up with each other and it doesn't state that you must stay at home.  In fact, just glimpsing over and highlighting the order isn't going to do it justice.  There are a lot of things that one can argue infringes on our way of life, but is our way of life so important we cannot take a step back to say "Maybe it would be better for everyone if I only go out for the necessary things?"

I mentioned that I was furloughed.  This was a choice I made after discussing with both my husband (who was put to working from home) and my supervisor the drawbacks and benefits, and after having had to work one day with a mask on.  For my safety, and that of those who would be working near me, I felt the benefits of being furloughed would be better than having to keep going to work and possibly having to hunt down new things for me to do.  There is only so much one can do in a practically empty building that everyone knows won't be back at full capacity for at least 2 months and has been empty for the last month and a half.  Is it weird? Yes, but overall this is better.

Times have changed and we look like we all belong in gangs so long as everyone is following the rules of wearing masks.  We don't keep to just one person to go shopping at a time, but that doesn't mean we're going shopping daily either.  In fact, we try to keep to only one shopper at a time, but I can't ever seem to find anything to buy when I'm hungry and I can't be sure that what I do end up buying, whether hungry or not, will be eaten.  Because our income is less do to everything that is going on, I can't be sure that we'll have the money for bills.  It's a possibility that we won't and that worries me constantly.  Because of this, yes, I want to get out more, especially on the nice days.  I hate that we have to worry about getting sick because people don't take common-sense measures such as washing your hands regularly, staying home when sick, etc, and that people who are healthy or at least feel healthy, are being penalized.

I live in a county of Illinois that hasn't had a large number of positive cases. In fact, less than 10% of tests have turned out positive, but that doesn't mean I don't understand some of the issues that revolve in not staying at home.  First, there are tourists.  We're coming up on the summer months which for the midwest means two things.  One, the high chance of going elsewhere (this also occurs in the winter, as in just before and during the first stirrings of COVID-19 making the news as a major issue.)  Two, and this is really the more important for most of the midwest, this tourist season is usually relied on to bring in outside money to help the economy.  We have festivals and fairs that bring family and friends from around the country.  You can see on the news and hear on the radio about the graduating classes not getting to celebrate, but for several craftsmen who rely on fairs and festivals to make money and spread the word of their wares, this will cause issues.  The restaurants and small eateries who have not been able to adapt to the changes being forced through will lose even more revenue as they lose those extra sales from tourists and travelers.

There are so many other things that are seriously affected in the midwest that other areas aren't aware of unless they've lived in the midwest that it'd be funny if it weren't for the fact that it's a matter of life or death for a number of people.  Am I happy about being unable to go watch a movie in theaters or realizing that the pool won't be opened for the summer?  No.  This doesn't mean, however, that I won't find ways around the cabin fever that is determined to set in.  There are numerous other ways to keep busy without having to go out other than my yard or a walk around the area - both of which are allowed even in the Stay-at-Home orders.  In fact, the only thing that Stay-at-Home orders are telling people to not do are gather in groups over a certain number (which could be argued violates our first amendment right to assembly,) to work in jobs that are not considered essential  (but this does allow for the exception of working at home,) and going out when unnecessary to stores and various other places that would allow for large groups to gather.  The things people are not realizing: THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS!!!

In fact, one of the largest of the exceptions is to perform social distancing which means to keep at least six feet away from each other when out in public. There are suggestions made to keep to only one person in the household to go shopping.  It is people not using common sense that keeps causing issues.  I stay home as much as possible since I've been furloughed, but I have to go to the laundromat since we don't have a washer or dryer, though I likely could just hang dry the washed clothes when I get them home; there are other reasons to get out and about, including ways to prevent cabin fever.  Don't worry.  When I'm out, I double-check the signs the stores have placed around and I wear my mask to keep others safe, not that I have the symptoms of COVID-19.  I keep a bottle of hand sanitizer in my car, but we've done that for years.  My husband did once work at a gas station so he has those stories of knowing drivers who used the restroom, didn't wash their hands, and then filled their tanks.  For our own safety, we keep it to use there and at the laundromat if absolutely needed because our laundromat does not regularly provide hand soap in their restroom.

Why have I ranted about this?  Because politicians and stores have given in in some places to popular demand about not wearing masks, in part thanks to threats of violence.  Remember, a place of commerce has the right to refuse service so long as they do so for a reason that is not illegal - basically, certain discriminations.  This means they have the right to refuse service because you chose to endanger their employees by not wearing a mask.  Just as many have signs that say "NO SHIRT, NO SHOES, NO SERVICE," I have seen signs that require masks on customers that intend to enter the store.  This is a perfectly reasonable addition and most stores have on those same signs that this requirement will eventually be lifted.

Hibernation to Deal

So if you haven't heard, then you must have been hibernating.  Covid-19.  Coronavirus.  Pandemic.  It's sad, but we have a global crisis that is affecting people right now instead of trying to prevent the long-range effects of other global problems.  In a year when we look back at this, we'll likely be surprised at just how little we were prepared and how many cases there were before people realized that just a little common sense could have prevented some of them.  Not all of them, but those who are healthy to begin with and with all the issues with salmonella and the Ebola virus, you'd think people would have gotten the hint to take better personal hygiene measures.  I know there are people who likely think it wastes their time to wash their hands after using the restroom before returning to work or that because their pet is an indoor pet they don't need to wash their hands before eating, but guess what.  The circumstances DON'T MATTER!  It's just common sense to wash your hands after working in the garden, taking out the trash, using the restroom, or playing with your pets.  If you regularly deal with folks who are more susceptible to illness, you should be even more conscientious about it. 

But that's not what I wanted to talk about in this post.  We've learned more about the virus, though not as much as we maybe think we should have learned.  No, what I wanted to talk about was ways to stave off boredom if you have to stay at home 24/7.  I'm sure you can think of some, but you'll likely get on the family's nerves if you're someone who needs social interaction.  To that, all I can say is that the internet is your friend.  It may not be skin to skin or in the type of interaction you feel you need, but as little as 20 years ago, this wouldn't have been possible.  In fact, I know that the introverts would be beyond ready to strangle the extrovert by the end of the first day - try being grounded with your more extroverted siblings.  Trust me if I wasn't wearing myself out trying to fit in with the extroverts, I was trying not to physically attack them, partly because I knew I'd lose!  For many introverts, this is a dream come true.  Forced isolation with limited outside interaction.  For some, it's a way to recharge the social batteries without stepping on anyone's feelings of rejection.

So, catch up on shows that you've been putting off.  Read books or fanfiction that interests you.  Write those stories or poems or songs that keep running through your head.  Get back to the gaming that you were forced to stop because you had to work.  Stop putting off those DIY projects that you keep putting off because you're too tired.  Clean up your garden.  I could probably keep listing things off.  If you have Mistplay, Coin Pop, or another app that earns you money by playing other games, take advantage of them while you might be stuck at home.  Put together some new music videos or parodies.  You'll get some views just because it's something different.  Use up the items you've been freezing but forgetting to thaw. 

But as I mentioned, I'm sure you're already finding these things out for yourself.  Dusting off the board games and pulling out cards to play some Solitaire, Crazy Eights, Monopoly, etc.  I hope you aren't forgetting to keep an eye out for others who might need some encouragement through these times.  I'm not really talking to those who were hardcore gamers before this happened since most of them were likely aware of how to keep themselves occupied even if they happen to be extroverts; the same is true of the bookworms and authors out there.  So remember in these times there are plenty of ways to reach out if you need to.  Also, try to keep yourself safe and healthy!

3D Printing

I know, I had meant for this to be a post about the Descendants trilogy from Disney, but like I mentioned last weekend, my husband got a new toy - 3D printer.  It's actually pretty neat and eventually, I'll do a post using his permission to post pics of some of the completed pieces and possibly of the printer in work and the different stages of work that have gone in to what's been printed - mostly figurines.  We plan to paint them as well, so there's that.

Trust me, if you get a 3D printer it won't be easy going.  You'll have to figure out what you can do based on the dimensions of your printer and if your printer works on the metric system or not.  You'll have to figure out how to set things to print for various set-ups.  Supports are needed for parts that "hang" such as archery bows or claws.  We've tried making a set of dice three or four times now, and only just figured out the supports and other bits that go into it - all my husband's doing, of course.  Before you even get to this point you have to decide either resin or filament.  We went with resin so if you decide to use a filament printer, what I'm about to mention likely won't matter much.

When it comes to resin printers, you have to decide on the base resin.  There are a rather large number of colors and durabilities to them.  We've decided to use a rather durable gray for most things with a slightly more durable transparent blue for dice at the very minimum.  Then we had to find everything necessary for a curing station set-up.  I won't get too much into that.  Suffice to say, it was neither cheap nor easy to find everything we needed and we started at Walmart and finished with orders on Amazon.

After we finally got the bulk of things figured out in regards to the actual printing, we looked into painting them.  We haven't started on that yet, but we went to Michaels yesterday to get some base supplies that will be used.  We researched and found that most apparently used an airbrush.  Neither my husband nor I wish to use one.  We've decided to hand paint.  So we bought some spray paint primer and finish for before and after painting the figurines and a 36 count box of Craftsman paints and a small box of hair paintbrushes (at the moment I can't remember what type of hair they were) to get us started.  We will likely get most of our supplies there.

If you do decide to get into 3D printing, be aware to start with a large figure.  Work your way down to learn the system and its idiosyncrasies.  We got advice from a co-worker who went through 3 bottles of resin because he started with the smaller figurines.  We only went through 2 and started by printing a tarrasque.  Our printer can't put it at its full size for the D&D mat, but we already printed off a figure and it's pretty decent.  Having figured out what our printer can handle, we've decided on some back-up ideas for the figures that we are likely to need for our campaigns.  Hopefully next weekend we'll have actually started to paint the figurines we've printed off!

Time Gets Away

Okay, so between my last post and this one, time has gotten away from me.  I am sorry.  It wasn't done on purpose, I promise.  I know a new year has started and we're already on the first weekend of February, but honestly, I just allowed things to get away from me.  There were a rather large number of holiday parties and we had car issues and our home furnace go out within only a couple of days of each other with the following weekend culminating in our oven's bottom coils no longer heating up.  The stove portion works just fine though.

Now, my husband has gotten a 3-D printer and as I type this he is delving into the rabbit hole of 3D printing designs so he can hopefully figure things out so we might actually cosplay at the 2020 Gateway Comic-Con.  What would we go as?  I haven't a clue so far, and we have so many other things to take care of that it's not exactly a priority at the moment.

Seeing as this is the first post of February 2020 (the first post of 2020, period) I guess I ought to give out the month's plan.  Obviously, this is the February 2nd post.  For next Sunday I hope to get a post about the Descendants trilogy and its musical numbers.  I know, it may not seem a big deal, but I have my thoughts on the musical numbers within that trilogy and the release of those pieces that I've been wanting to give.  Since my husband isn't into them at the moment (he doesn't even know what they are!) I figured this was the best option for getting my thoughts on them out there and perhaps getting some feedback about them!  Anyway, after that maybe I can do a Valentine's-based post since Valentine's Day is on a Friday?  Then for the last post of the year - the first Charmed episode rewatching (hopefully and finally!)

At least that's my hope for this month.  I cannot guarantee anything since there are innumerable other things that are going on and taking me away from my writing, but I promise I'm trying!  So until next week hopefully you had fun over the holidays and aren't swamped with things going wrong!

Movie Thoughts to Fanfiction

I'm actually having a hard time deciding what to type about for this post.  At first, I thought I would do something about tropes in film since this is the season we see a lot of repeat tropes.  It's Christmas so how do we present the meaning of the season?   Though I have to admit Disney+'s Noelle is definitely an exception that I look forward to watching multiple times.  I'll hopefully get a review about this one done by the end of this month...

But I wasn't sure how to start it or even where to focus.  Then I realized, I also wanted to get a Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) timeline figured out, but that's going to be so time-consuming, I don't know how long it would take, especially since the timeline will be determined in part by which ones are considered a part of it and which ones are just extras - Spiderman, The Incredible Hulk - because there are so many remakes that putting them in one timeline will give us plot holes no matter which version to use, and then there are the television series like Agent Carter, Agents of Shield, Daredevil (which also has a movie...), and Jessica Jones.  Of course, there are more, but figuring out which ones get included and which ones are for a different universe version of the series.  There are a large number of versions of DC's iconic characters on par with the X-Men part of the MCU, though by no means is X-Men the only one in Marvel to have been recreated both on the big and small screens. 

Then I got some more ideas for fanfiction crossovers.  I got reminded of several other things I need to do to be able to write them, too.  First off, what if Wolverine was on the ship in the Riddick Trilogy?  Wolverine, a man as deadly as Riddick and with better healing ability and easier access to weapons, would definitely have some issues with the group and with Caroline Fry most importantly.  There would need to be some back story and he'd probably be able to either hear or smell the creatures living there.  I think he'd be practically on par with Riddick with a few advantages, mainly the fact that he wouldn't be as badly affected by the light, while still being able to defend himself and hear what was going on around him.  After escaping the planet, when they get picked up what if he found some of the other mutants in that floating personal museum.  Then there's how he'd react to the rest of what would occur there.  Then when dealing with the Necromongers, how would his mutant abilities change what we know to have happened?

Then I thought of if St. Trinian's was a sister school to St. Brutus' and if Harry had ended up being sent there after being expelled either before the second year or after the fourth year.  I'm a bit more enamored with it being after fourth.  Meeting the girls at the start of the first movie and setting up a system with them that allows him to keep using and learning magic without them realizing it.  After all, it was accidental magic that blew up his aunt.  This could also give Sirius Black a safe place to stay.  He might reveal himself during the second movie of St. Trinian's, but it could definitely mean a lot of different things.  One thing I could totally see Harry doing is making it so St. Trinian's doesn't have to worry about closing down...I think I'll go to work on this a bit more now.

Ever-Changing Black Friday

Alright, it's another Sunday and I almost forgot to get this one typed up.  I got severely distracted.  We got Disney+ just before Thanksgiving and then a new TV with Roku on Thursday night at the start of all the Black Friday deals.  We stop by Walmart to pick up ingredients needed to brine a turkey for this weekend (yesterday's lunch) and there are still Black Friday deals available.  A few were for things we could seriously use (more mixing bowls and other kitchen gadgets...) so there was no way we were passing them up.  Then it was the second season in Illinois for deer hunters, and of course, my husband just had to tag out.  I get up this morning and almost forgot that I hadn't sat down to type a post yet.

Since I mentioned that we took advantage of some Black Friday deals, I have to admit that if it weren't for the TV, we'd have likely not gone at all.  We needed a TV with working sound so we weren't running everything through a computer.  This means I can now watch movies while my husband is on his gaming.  The biggest problem I have with it is that it started at 6pm on Thursday evening instead of midnight.  I get it.  Times have been changing and they'll keep on changing. 

For one thing, introverts and anti-social people can actually have a voice that is heard now thanks to chatrooms and forums.  This is a good thing.  Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and when MySpace used to be a thing, help those who are less willing or likely to speak up and be heard to have a voice when a question is asked.  Facebook even has a recommendation system for people wanting to know about a great place to eat or to go shop that's not necessarily mainstream (like Walmart, Target, etc.).  Small businesses are better able to reach more of their customers than just those who live in their advertising zone thanks to being able to follow them on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  This also allows them to get out the word about deals - including Black Friday - to those who are likely to want to know them. 

For those who really hate getting out in the crowds, there's also Cyber Monday, a way for online shoppers to also reap the benefits of the start of the holiday shopping craze!  I will be utterly and completely honest here, I don't do a lot of online shopping.  I do some, but I prefer to go to brick and mortar stores and be able to see it in person.  It helps me determine dimensions and if I truly want something.  If I'm not willing to go to a store to get it, do I really want to spend the money for it?  This is especially true of clothing, food, and furniture.  Most of the rest, I'm more willing to shop online - especially in regards to books - but will still be more likely to shop in a brick and mortar than online store. 

With the changes made, while I'm not a fan of cutting Thanksgiving short just to get some Christmas shopping done, I will admit that I believe the stores have learned from the past.  There was no crowd waiting to enter the store.  There weren't a lot of people fighting over the last one or two of something in the first few minutes of the sales being opened up.  There were lines for the big items that would have possibly caused people to have issues shopping.  In fact, the large items were a barcode on a sheet of paper.  When you were done with your shopping you could drive to the designated pick up location and they would load it in your vehicle, making certain to mark it off your receipt- if you had a paper one - and the paper with the barcode.  We paid for our TV using the store's app since I had gift cards on it.  They couldn't really mark it off of that.

Basically, while I'm not a fan of the deals beginning on the night of Thanksgiving, promoting people leaving their families to hunt down the best deals available, I have to admit, the stores are getting smarter about ensuring their customers' safety.  Yes, people are idiots and there are likely to eventually be stampedes for things again when something comes out that is as big as the Cabbage Patch dolls, Tickle-Me-Elmo, or Harry Potter, but that can happen at any time of year.  I mean, we all see the TV portrayals of long lines waiting for the release of items or for the store or ticket booths to open for things that are hugely beloved.  After all, we love to get great deals and a great deal for something that is really wanted by someone?  They'll stampede for that, or wait outside in line for months to ensure they get it.  It's what is making counterfeiters so much money.  We've been all about having the latest and greatest that we'll spend for it and risk a lot for a great deal.  Hell, I had to remind my husband to wait until Black Friday to get a TV because he found one on sale this past summer for $170.  It was a smart TV, but only about 42in, if I remember correctly.  I reminded him about Black Friday and how electronics are almost always on sale then.  He finds a 50in smart TV with Roku for $150 and it gave me enough time to earn $55 in gift cards through Ibotta, Shopkick, Drop, FetchRewards, and ReceiptPal - none of which I've been really hardcore about using since downloading.

The tradition of Black Friday is changing - evolving with the times and what we want and like as people.  Isn't that what traditions are supposed to do?  Honor the past while still evolving and changing with the times and new things that are added?  I mean, I'm an American, and that's what America did.  We changed our culture to fit with the ideals that not every person is the same.  Yes, we have our problems and we have things that we need to change to be more accepting, but we are hugely a commerce-based country, and Black Friday, one could say is a holiday that brings out the best and the worst traits of every person on the globe.

NaNoWriMo 2019 Part 5/5

So here's the final post for this year's NaNoWriMo.  The big question is did I win?  The answer - No.  I finished with 15,145 words and that's it.  While most of that was for my Assassination Classroom and Yu-Gi-Oh crossover, I also did a small bit of work on my Percy Weasley of Harry Potter is Skull de Mort of Katekyo Hitman Reborn! crossover and one of my Gundam Wing and Harry Potter crossovers.  While I didn't succeed in reaching 50k, it doesn't mean I'll stop working on my stories.  Between my fanfiction and original works I likely have close to 200 stories being worked on with more ideas niggling into my brain on a regular basis.  Now if I could just get one to the point I would feel comfortable trying to get it published...

Anyway, I won't explain why I kept getting side-tracked from my writing this year as it would probably just feel like excuses, so instead congratulations to everyone who got some words written down this past month!  If you reached the 50K goal, extra congrats are definitely in order for you!  For those who tried but didn't reach the 50k goal, better luck next time.  At least you got something written, right?  Maybe set a lesser goal for the camps?  The first camp is usually in April.  It's also National Poetry Month, so if you're a poet, maybe you can focus on them? 

NaNoWriMo 2019 Part 4/5

So when typing this I'm at 14,303 words out of the 50K goal.  I haven't utilized a single one of the virtual write-ins on YouTube, but will likely do so this week at some point.  For those who've managed to reach the 50K, congratulations.  For those that haven't yet, keep trying.  I once filled an entire notebook - 5 subject - in only a few hours.

When a person gets struck with the inspiration they need for a story, the words can and will flow beyond anything one might realize.  I can't tell you the number of partial works I have because I get struck with inspiration for a short period of time then have it die out.  With all the computer issues I've had in the past, I'm surprised I'm still working on them and on this blog.  It doesn't mean I'm not trying to keep going with my blog.  I do have several ideas for blogs and there are blogs that I didn't take the time to put together back when they would have been relevant.

There may be a lot of words left for me to write to "win" NaNoWriMo, but that's not how I win.  The goal is typically a 50K word story that one has to go back and edit.  My personal goal is to write.  If I manage to write anything at all, I've won.  So I'm still working through the dinner for my crossover which is definitely taking its own life.  Why do they make you think it's going to make a zig but then have you write three zags instead?

So good luck and keep writing for those of us who are still not at the 50K goal and for those who have reached it?  Please refer to the first paragraph.

NaNoWriMo 2019 Part 3/5

At the time I started typing this I had 9337 words, not including the words in this blog post.  Part of this has been me trying to find out what shows are on Disney+ for a post I had started and will likely turn into a four-part blog with links to one hundred reviews, but that would be a future post, most assuredly.  In my Assassination Classroom Yu-Gi-Oh crossover, I have gotten them to the restaurant and they were last discussing the condiments that Karma brought. Joey was assuring Tristan that the condiments wouldn't actually hurt any of them.  I know male pregnancy has occurred in the past of when this fic takes place, but it isn't common and they keep it a secret just like they do about Korosensei.  I have a feeling though that this could bring forth a large number of secrets during the dinner.  After all, the children don't have to keep a filter on their mouths at family dinners which is what this is despite two outsiders joining and Joey was one of the pregnant males.  Like I said though, this doesn't focus on that time period nor is male pregnancy a common thing.  He was not pregnant because he went through a gender transformation either.  The lore behind why he was able to get pregnant will likely be explained, possibly in bits and pieces, but it will be explained in the fic.  All I'm going to put about it is that it's unique to only a few of the Yu-Gi-Oh males.  No one else is able to so far as anyone knows and if there are others, they aren't going to come forth in this fic.  I also don't plan to keep this fic going with sequels and a huge number of chapters. 

So if I manage to finish this and get it posted maybe I can return to some of my past works.  I do have another where male pregnancy is possible and Harry ends up with a miscarriage, but there is so much more to it than that and male pregnancy is something that I personally am unlikely to make the main point of my stories.  The miscarriage alerts Professor Snape and Madame Pomfrey aware of Harry being abused/tortured depending on how a person looks at things.  Personally, I feel Umbridge's treatment of Harry and the other students is torture, but that's not what this post is supposed to be about.  This supposed to be about my current WIP(work in progress) and how I'm doing in NaNo working on said WIP.  So, just a small heads up, I still don't have a title for the thing.  I have it labeled as YGO AC under my works on the new NaNoWriMo website.  There's a really good chance I'll finish the story but still need an appropriate title and yes I do want to continue working on Caged and A New Time, but I've had computer issues that lost parts of each work and trying to figure out where those particular stories were going has been a little harder.  Caged will be much harder because the inspiration for that was a dream and the dream that started has already been recorded into the story, while A New Time was my take on a crossover between Harry Potter and D. Grayman.

I also plan to eventually get back to my original works especially those set in Rock Falls though the Eerie Estates setting could be fun to delve into again...  For those who are on track or ahead in their writing, congrats on keeping up or completing the goal early.  For those like me who are still struggling along and eking out a few words here and there, just keep plugging along.  If it weren't for blog posts and various posts and other writings, I wouldn't have even hit 5K, but words are words and who knows what will be needed for that story when you're done with the editing and revision! 

Streaming Sites

This past week a new streaming service that people have been anxiously waiting for finally became available.  Unlike so many others, I was excited but I wasn't about to spend money on something that I might not get to fully enjoy, after all, Disney+ only advertised Disney, Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, and National Geographic even if there were articles that indicated there would be a bundle deal that included Hulu and ESPN.  My husband was more than agreeable to this.  So we canceled the WWE and Hulu subscriptions we had and we'll very likely be getting Disney+ before the end of the month.  Once that happens, my writing will definitely take a major nosedive since I've heard the series So Weird is fully available on it. 

I've searched online to find the series to buy on DVD, but never did, not even on the official movie site!  I'm not a huge fan of Star Wars, nor do I care for Star Trek before anyone starts to try to call me a Trekkie.  I may be a geek/nerd, but that doesn't mean I have to be typical or stereotypical about it!  We also own a number of movies - not just Marvel, Disney, or Pixar, but independent films and Paramount Pictures, but a lot of Disney.  It doesn't mean by any stretch of the imagination that I have everything that will be on Disney+ as evidenced by the knowledge that one of my absolutely favorite television shows is available on it while I've been unable to get it.  I have managed to get Dark Angel and most of Leverage of DVD (still need season 5...)

While Disney is no longer on Netflix, it doesn't mean there aren't shows on Netflix that I won't be watching.  They have exclusive content just as Hulu does that are, in my honest opinion, worth spending time watching.  They also have shows that aren't on Hulu and don't forget that streaming is only one part of Netflix.  Originally, Netflix didn't stream.  It was basically just an online Blockbuster (for those who don't understand, Blockbuster was actually a brick and mortar movie rental.  It started with VHS tapes at least when I was a child before DVDs and the internet.  It wasn't just a local movie rental either.  I'm sure a quick Google search can help you find out more, but suffice to say, good luck finding one anymore.  They died before several small-town movie rental businesses did.)  When Netflix first started they would mail the DVDs and charge your card for the length of time you kept it.  I don't remember all of the particulars, but it added streaming as an alternative, but it doesn't and never had their full library available for streaming.  Nowadays, you can no longer rent since they rely solely on streaming services and that consumers are more likely to watch their shows and movies online using their internet services.

I'm so thankful we have DVDs that we can watch because weather happens as does just general other reasons for power outages or internet blank-outs.  Life happens, so it's nice to have back-up plans.  Whether or not things will go great for Disney+ will depend on their competitors and what they do with the vast amount of content at their fingertips.  They have to compete with Netflix which has constantly changes content and there are rumors that they may team up with Nickelodeon.  If they got Nickelodeon and say Funimation to bundle up with them, Disney+ would definitely have some competition.  Americans are aware of anime, mostly thanks to Toonami, but Sailor Moon, DBZ(DragonBall Z), and so many others made kids of the late nineties and early 2000s (so born in late '80s to early '90s) search for more.  It started a wave of other culture awareness that also made us aware of more to the world than what we learned about in our little worlds. 

Anyway, Disney may have access to Marvel which means a wealth of characters as well as multiple possible storylines and that's just from the well-known Marvel characters.  They have their old Disney shows, many of which left fans wishing for more - looking at Gargoyles and So Weird among others.  Some shows need to be redone to set them up to what we are yelling about today, but to do so will definitely offend some.  They won't want anything to change what they loved.  It's like the outcry when every single superhero movie or series has ever been made and books to movies:  people will compare and contrast and find one version better than the others.  Those who grew up with the original will always prefer it.  They'll find problems in how things are portrayed.  Things that have been changed or left out which changed some of the dynamics while pulling forth dynamics that maybe weren't as apparent in the original (this sentence is mainly targeting Harry Potter which is rife with missing depth and more obvious depictions of certain foreshadowed futures, but it's not the only nor is it the first offender, just the easiest to explain because very few don't have any idea what Harry Potter is about even if they've never read the books or seen the movies.)  Others will find problems with the original shows either because of the effects or because they willfully ignore the time period its set in or they see the stereotypes and take offense (not that they shouldn't in some cases, but look at when the show/movie was made before arguing its validity and the setting!)  I mean something set in the 80s or as old as set in the early 1800s would treat certain types of people severely differently than we do now or how they may have been treated in years before A.D.  It doesn't mean the thoughts of how they were treated would have been different. 

There is a movie set in a time period that is very much a decent representation of the time period and place it's set in - Mary Poppins.   No, I'm not talking about Jane, Mary, Michael, Mr. Banks or even the servants, chimney sweeps, or birdwoman (though they all can help my case)  I'm talking about Mrs. Banks, the children's mother.  There's a scene talking about their plans on a day Mary Poppins is supposed to be off.  She said she had to attend a rally and she wore a political-based sash.  Mrs. Banks was a fighter for women's rights.  For the time period and place it is set in, it makes sense that at least one of the several women in the show would be fighting women's rights.  And this was a Disney movie.  Thank you, Disney, for giving a mother who was willing to try to make things better for her daughter, even if she didn't spend much time with said daughter.

Netflix, however, tends to really delve into the darker things and nostalgia that plagues our generations with shows like Stranger Things, Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj, and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, among several other shows.  There are several classics and reality shows available through Hulu, though.  That's not to forget about other streaming services - YouTube, Amazon Prime, Funimation, PlutoTV and Crunchyroll just to name a few.  Wherever you find the shows you enjoy, keep an eye for things that change such as the variety of content on others.  If you have a to watch/rewatch/finish watching list like I do, you may find it growing with all the original content that appears on different streaming sites and spin-offs and crossover episodes for whatever you may be watching not to mention reboots and movies...wow, Buffy, Charmed, Doctor Who, Bleach, Supernatural, CSI, JAG, etc. have really made things hard for me to truly catch up on things for story ideas I might have or blog posts...

NaNoWriMo 2019 Part 2/5

So now that there's a whole 'nother week under our writer's belts, I've got to admit I haven't done much.  At the time I'm typing this, I've only reached 5436 words.  Saturday, Nov 9 was supposed "Double Donation Day" but I didn't even realize until rather late in the day (just before typing the majority of this post!)  Still, it doesn't mean I won't attempt to get my word count up there and reach that 50K word goal.  Thankfully I have the first chapter of my story - my fanfiction - written, though editing is likely to change it in some ways.  It may add words, remove them or alter in other ways.  I've had to rework an entire chapter before and currently, I have several stories that are requiring me to remember various things.  Maybe one day I'll remember how the train ride chapter of my Winding Circle Harry Potter crossover and figure out how the circle alters the final confrontation and how the changes they've already made are going to affect the future.

For those who are still attempting to get to that lofty goal - good luck; keep writing!  For those who've reached it - congratulations!

NaNoWriMo 2019 Part 1/5

NaNoWriMo has begun again and other than a large number of fanfictions that I want to finish as well as a large number of originals that I want to either start/restart or finish I don't know what I want to work on.  Most likely I will be working on fanfics which I've got three that I think I'll be working on.

The first is a crossover I've been working on for quite some time.  Harry Potter instead of being taken into the Dursley household was put up for adoption through an orphanage the police ended up putting him in.  He was adopted by a foreign couple who would later divorce and separate him from his sister.  He would find friends and go through a lot of weird stuff before being found once again by the British Wizarding World.  His friends would not let him go alone when he gets told about how he's expected to be someone who is said to have been targeted by a serial killer and been the killer's only survivor.  With Seto Kaiba funding the trip, wizarding Britain is definitely going to get a wake-up call as they keep trying to say that Katsuya Jonouchi is Harry Potter and that despite having never met the boy or talked to him, they know everything about him.  Obviously, this one is a Harry Potter and Yu-Gi-Oh crossover.

The second is a Harry Potter Gundam Wing crossover I started recently.  This one is set at the end of fourth year when the students get off the train and instead of going straight home, Harry and many other muggleborn and raised are taken to a government building to be registered in accordance with a new law that was introduced to help locate families that have been separated.  I haven't yet decided exactly what gets discovered but I do know that a paternal family member for Harry is found.  I don't know if it'll be a sibling, cousin, or even his own father, I'm still trying to figure that out.  Hell, it might be both a sibling and his father, after all, he can't be sure what he saw in the graveyard, can he?  

Finally, on the fanfic scene, I have the idea for a crossover between Assassination Classroom and Yu-Gi-Oh.  It's set after all the students have finished school and are well established in their careers and for some families.  After having been told that they had to find a new school for the Kaiba and Moto children, Joey goes to check out a school meeting an old classmate as the teacher for the children placed in the most problematic class - Nagisa.  In my mind, there is a lot more going on and the issue is the secrets that Tristan and Joey are keeping puts the friends from both sets against each other.  Other than that I don't know how long I'll make this story or if it'll be a one-shot capture of that specific instance. 

I'm likely to work on other stories as well.  Some are likely to be original pieces, but there will also be other fanfics included.  After all, these are only three fanfics and I can guarantee that I have a minimum of twenty that have been started either on a computer or on paper and I'm constantly finding more ideas for fanfics.

As for my progress for NaNoWriMo, I've managed 3861 words in the first two full days.  Hope you guys are getting some writing done!

Halloween Trunk-or-Treat

This summer there was a huge debate that started and continued into the school year and made it onto the news: should the date of Halloween be changed? 

Why would anyone even suggest changing the date of a holiday that children can look at and not ask what day it falls on?  I remember when I was a child in one place I lived, there were two nights for trick-or-treating and being scared (my fave part!)  When we moved to a different state it became only one night, which was disappointing, but not because of the smaller amount of candy!  After all, I have four siblings!  The debate, however, was to try to convince the government to change Halloween from the 31st of October to the last Saturday in October.  While I can sort of understand why parents would want to have Halloween be on the weekend, meaning Friday or Saturday, there is a fairly new event that is Halloween-oriented and typically scheduled for either Friday or Saturday - Trunk-or-Treat.

Trunk-or-Treat is an event that allows children to go to a place where groups, businesses, and other people set up vehicles for trick-or-treating.  The first time I heard about one was about five or six years ago when a local church hosted one.  The next year, there were two - one at the church and one put on by the local high school.  Since then, it has become a yearly event that has actually grown in size from one block to apparently three this year.  It's a bit safer as well than going to different areas to trick-or-treat, but my husband and I plan to be ready for possible costumed candy-hunters.  Of course, the candy will be something we like, but I love Halloween for the scares, not sweets, though those are pretty good. 

Trunk-or-Treat has made there be fewer trick-or-treaters going door to door in those towns that have them and I've heard fewer reports of Halloween hijinx in the towns that have them.  While some still celebrate in the traditional way of door-to-door trick-or-treating, it feels like Trunk-or-Treats and decorating the home without expectation of Halloween visitors.  It allows for Halloween to remain on its traditional date, but still have parties surrounding the day.  For those who've already celebrated, hope your Halloween was safe and scary, for those who've yet to celebrate - have a happy Halloween.

At work I've been seeing signs that say "It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween" and I couldn't help creating the following parody:

It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween
Everywhere you go;
Take a look in the five and ten autumn once again
With candy corn and pumpkins aglow.
It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween
Skeletons in every yard
But the scariest sight to see is the children that will be
At your own front door.A pair of hopalong boots and a pistol that shoots
To help disguise Barney and Ben;
Dolls that will talk and will go for a walk
Is the quest of Janice and Jen;
And Mom and Dad can hardly wait for the night to end.
It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween
Everywhere you go;
There's a ghost in the Grand Hotel, one in the park as well,
The pale kind that doesn't mind the boo.
It's beginning to look a lot like Halloween;
Soon the screams will start,
And the thing that will make them true is the scare that you do
No matter your costume!

Apolo-Update

I know, I'm horrible!  I truly did mean to keep on top of these only to fall seriously behind and NaNoWriMo begins in less than a month!  I ended up getting too busy in real life (RL) and forgot to make certain to have my posts typed up and prepared/scheduled to publish on Sundays.  But I am going to get back to it.  This month is October.  I know, it's rather obvious and I missed the first week's posting, but, hopefully, this makes up for that.  

First off, this is the month of frights and scares.  My favorite holiday exists on the final day of the month, and not because of the candy!  Halloween has a lot of great memories but also has become almost disappointing.  When I do my Halloween post this year, I'm going to write about two things that I've seen a rather large number of posts arguing either for or against - changing the Halloween date and Trunk-or-Treat's.  This will hopefully be posted on the 27th.  My hope for next week is to finally get that first episode of my rewatching of Charmed posted.  No matter what though, I'm still here and I'm still trying!

Next month I'll be focusing on NaNoWriMo.  When I glanced at my past posts and saw that my last one was for Camp in July, I realized that I never updated on what I was doing.  Well, I did a small amount of work, but I didn't keep track of it nor did I win, sadly.  It does not mean I've given up though.

July Camp Nano

So, tomorrow starts 2019's Camp NaNoWriMo and, yes, I plan to participate.  For each week of July I will post an update on how I'm doing on my project and, perhaps, I'll even give tidbits of the story or ask for help with things that are giving me trouble.  By no means am I demanding for aid, but maybe you'll be having the same issue.  If I posted previously about an issue I was having and have managed to find a fix, I pan to put that in a post with the updates as well.

Now, for my project.  At first I was planning to just focus on my KHR fanfics (I know I have at least two crossovers with HP started and ideas for a good many more) but my husband and I have been watching a number of documentaries about WWII and that got me thinking - if literally anything had gone slightly differently in Hitler's life, perhaps he'd have never even gone into politics which would have lead to a vastly different era for what WWII ended up being.  Then I realized I'll need to do some major research for this bit of historical fiction.   So, I plan to work on both, though I likely will focus on a very particular KHR/HP crossover.

This crossover is set after Deathly Hallows and at some point after the Arcobeleno curse has been lifted.  I only got as far in the manga as the start of the game to lift the curse, but I wanted to make it that period because while there are innumerable Harry is Skull stories and a few others where Skull is someone from the wizarding world, I got to thinking - what if Percy, the black sheep of the Weasley family, were a cloud? Furthermore what if he became Skull?  So, I will focus on this story because it s an intriguing concept.  For those who plan to also participate, good luck.  For those who don't, enjoy the influx of reading material that will hopefully come out if not during then after July ends!

Summer of Wizards

This was supposed to be a post in regards to summer, but Wizards Unite! came out Thursday night and instead of concentrating on my posts, I played.  I just want to say that the release of this game would have been great if the weather had worked with the players.  Instead of having gorgeous summer weather to go for walks in, we've had rainstorms or it's been so hot and there's little cover where I currently am so it makes going for long walks more dangerous.

It is a fun game though, and I must admit it's more engaging than Pokemon GO.  There's more to the game than just collecting.  In fact, there are three building types to go to and only one allows for fighting.  The other two allow for growing plants and drawing things to you as well as a quick collection based on either a spell you cast or a plant chosen by you.  I haven't played it much due to the disappointing weather and the need to do so much around the house.  Just a disappointing thing about warmer weather and the season known as summer!

Anyway, as far as summer goes, I hope everyone manages to enjoy it and not get sunburned.

**Notes:  I am still working through the first episode of the original version of Charmed.  As soon as I've finished it, I'll post it.  As such, I feel I should also admit that next week's post will only be the Camp Nano related article. 

This was supposed to be posted on June 23, sorry for the long wait.

Father's Day 2019

In a week it will be Father's Day.  I think for all of us who haven't had a steady fatherly presence it's a rather annoying thing, but then so is Mother's Day for those who never had a steady maternal presence.  I know that there are bad dads and great ones, good ones and horrible ones.  It's the ones that are unable to be there for their kids that I feel for.  It's the kids who aren't aware of what a parent's support or disdain can mean for them that have it worse in my opinion than even those who have absolutely horrible parents.  It's not that I'm trying to demean those who wish to celebrate for their parents, but rather that some of us never celebrated it, don't have kids to celebrate with and yet are expected to with our significant others.

Celebrating our fathers isn't as easy for most unlike celebrating their mothers.  My husband's family tends to go out to eat or grill at home.  Shopping for fathers may seem straightforward, but it isn't.  We see ads for grilling items and tools being on sale for Father's Day.  Not all fathers are going to want things to grill with or new tools.  I know there are some who would prefer the entire series of an older television series (MASH and JAG are a couple of examples) or a movie they don't own.  They wouldn't mind being taken out to eat instead of grilling their own meal, but I didn't grow up with my father handily available or my dad.  I always hated hearing about father's day activities or gifts (and still do) because I don't have my own father to celebrate with.  For those that do, enjoy it while you can.



*Note this was supposed to be posted yesterday.  I could have sworn I even had it scheduled, but when I went to start on next week's post, it hadn't yet.  Thankfully, it's only a day late!

June 2019

Alright, let's see if I can get this done and keep to my self-imposed schedule.  It's been five years since I started this blog and sometimes I manage really well while others I seriously seem to distance myself from it.  This recurring habit is not done on purpose, I swear, but I have a hard time breaking it.  So first, here's the plan without the final titles:

June 2 - the plan for June

June 9 - something related to Father's Day

June 16 - the first episode of the original Charmed for rewatching and finding things that aid in proving that Piper is the strongest of the three

June 23 - Something regarding the summer solstice

June 30 - Typically July is a Camp Nano month so I'll dedicate this to my plans for the work that I'll be working on for the month as well as the July blog plans.  If for whatever reason there is no Camp Nano for July, I'll probably do episode two of the original Charmed. 


Now that I've outlined the month's blogs for this post I want to explain why I've put in a possibility of two episodes being done.  Netflix currently hosts the new Charmed.  Watching it, I find so long as I've distanced myself from the original, it works.  After the rewatching, I might do a comparing of shows series in which I'll watch the new series and remark on things that can displace avid original Charmed fans because face it, when they rebooted it they made changes to the world of Charmed, but they also threw in some Easter eggs that give you nods to the original series as well.  Many of these may be more visual than they are auditory, but some you have to see and read not just catch a glimpse of and when I do the comparison series I plan to include all of them.  I might manage to miss some of them, but I hope to find just as many as any other fan might have.  Of course, I always would be happy for folks to comment on any that I may have missed, but more about all that if I actually get around to that series.

I do plan to get back to my Hero Creation series in D&D and my cookbook recipe weekly reviews based on the cookbooks I have currently, but there are a lot of things that I'm trying to do both with my writing and in other areas of my life.  So first, I need to get through and be typing up a post on a weekly basis for this blog!  If you have things you want to hear my thoughts on, let me know.  I'll gladly try to get some of them done.  Be safe during the summer months, though and have fun!

Paddy's Day 2019

Happy St. Paddy's Day!  Okay, so I could have sworn I had this one started and scheduled - obviously, this should have been the March 17th post - but as I was looking through my blogs and realized I never got around to putting this in post, only did so in my mind.  Stupid composing of posts in my head while working or driving or otherwise unable to get to a computer!  Anyway, this will be it for this post, I think it was the only one I had definitely planned and remarked about writing.  My next post will likely be for May.  I'm not sure if I'll be posting on the 5th for sure, but I will definitely be trying.  Until then, Hope you've had a wonderfully green Mar 17th and a very Happy Easter since I missed that holiday as well!

Mardi Gras to Lent

This past week is one full of things for Christians, be they Protestant or Catholic or Orthodox.  First was Mardi Gras, then Ash Wednesday which set off Lent.  For those who are unaware, this is the start of a forty (40) day fast.  Luckily for most of us, it's not a true fast.  We still get to eat meals and drink when we want, but there are some stipulations, partly dependent on your beliefs and partly how you were raised.  Someone who is already a vegetarian doesn't need to worry about the refusal of meat, at the minimum, on Fridays.  But I do these events a disservice by equating them to minor traditions that can be easily followed and understood. 

Giving things up for those forty days is what I was taught to do.  I don't though.  I've never been a fan of having to give up the few things that I call my own.  I freely admit that I don't follow lent nor celebrate Mardi Gras or Ash Wednesday.  The reason why I like this time of year and feel a need to type about it is the huge abundance of fish fries that crop up for the time that Lent covers.  I hated fish as a kid.  Thankfully, I've changed in that respect to an extent.  I'm more willing to have fish though I'm not a large fan of fried fish.  In fact, there are a few dishes that I've been making more regularly at home...and I just realized I went on a tangent so I'm going to finish this post here.

**This was the original post for March 10, 2019.

Charmed: A Revisiting of the First Version - the Preface/Disclaimer

Recently, I started to rewatch Charmed.  One of the things that I remember thinking about the first time was that it seemed Piper was never truly appreciated and in the final seasons it seemed as though some of the information from earlier seasons were forgotten including Prue's existence.  I think the thing that is most annoying is that when it comes right down to it, Piper seemed to always be underappreciated.  In the first episode, it's established that Piper is the middle child - the peacemaker.  Trust me, being a middle child isn't easy or fun.  Not only are you held to the standards set forth by the eldest, but you also get blamed for everything since the youngest wouldn't possibly do anything like it.  Just trying to keep out of the spotlight for negativity means you stay out of the spotlight for positive things as well.  You get punished without getting to tell your story and you never get the things you really want.  They end up going to one of the others.  Sorry, I might be a little bitter about being a middle child myself...

Anyway, personally, I think of Piper Halliwell to be the strongest of Charmed Ones.  It's not just because I'm a middle child myself and wish to see middle children receive more recognition.  From this point on, I must warn you of the major possibility of spoilers as I work through each season, episode by episode(It's going to take some time, I know!), to give proof of Piper's power.  Within each episode, I'm definitely going to ramble about various things.  This is my warning before I get started on my revisiting of Charmed - I won't stay strictly on Piper's power levels underrepresentation.  I will comment and research about topics and guest stars.  Perhaps one of my favorite actors/actresses is a guest/extra or even someone who has made it even bigger now than they were during Charmed's run.

Hopefully, I can shed light on why I feel that Piper is the most powerful witch in the known Charmed verse, before the comics and disregarding any books or outside articles.  If any are included, the information regarding what outside sources were used will be included.  I might include quotes given and I may even attempt to find other information or background info in regards to things that I type in regards to the individual episodes.  Maybe eventually I will be able to convince myself to watch the new version of the series, or it might increase my aversion to it.

March '19 Plans

The month of March has just began and let me type you, it's been a wet February!  So, for the first post of March, I want to lay out my post plans.  Obviously first is this one explaining what I plan to type.  For the next post I want to get into info regarding Mardi Gras, Lent, and Ash Wednesday.  Next up for what is probably the absolute greenest day of the year - and a day the Hulk would not really be out of place! - St. Patrick's Day.  The week after that will hopefully be a general spring based post and last will be the first post of a very long-running series of posts regarding the Charmed series.  Hopefully I can keep to these plans, but as recorded right here in my blog, it's a huge work in progress.  Well, I'll type you all later, though this feels really short...

Valentine's and a New Year?

So, yeah, I kind of got side-tracked between bad weather, housework, and close-out sales (great deal at Payless shoe store in a nearby city) and managed not to type up any posts.  So here is that promised post about Valentine's and the Chinese New Year.

Valentine's is considered a couple's holiday.  For me, that means my husband cooks dinner and if I'm lucky he gives me flowers or a trinket or some kind of candy.  I usually get him some kind of treat (usually a couple of packs/boxes of one of his favorite candies) and this year I was only treated to dinner in.  Am I upset?  Sometimes, but last year we took a trip to a town about an hour away to avoid anyone we knew for the whole weekend and then took the scenic route back.  This year, we happen to be a bit cash-strapped.  Overall, I'm just happy he cooked and served me rather than us having left-overs and/or me having to get my own dinner, so for me, it was a really good Valentine's.

On top of that, some games will provide special things for the holidays.  In fact, Gloria Victus introduced heart-shaped ammo and catapults to their game which can be found on Steam.  (Eventually, I hope to write a review on this game!)  Both Merge Dragons and Clash Royale gave special extras and releases for the Chinese New Year -  a day that for many Americans is just another excuse to get drunk, at least those that don't actually follow or celebrate the Chinese New Year.  Also, just a little side note for you when looking at the Chinese Zodiac - the new year begins in February.  If you were born in January look at the previous year's Zodiac sign and if you were born in February, look up when the new year began before figuring out what your Zodiac sign is.  So enjoy this Year of the Pig and hopefully, I'll get my March plans out this weekend!