I creepily watched Sable work. Hung out with my villagers.
She knows my name! Sable knows my name!
Take your time, Sable. Mabel, please don't interrupt.
I love you Sable.
Okay... So I fucked up a bit and put two days photos on here. But, I don't feel like fixing it, and the previous day only had a couple pictures. So... Yeah
Dear gods. These pictures are from Christmas 2022... I mean... Toy Day.
I decided if the reindeer was going to make me deliver presents, I was going to look the part.
Hey. It's Saturday. Let's see what I did this week.
Wrote
Very little. Mostly things that will never see the light of day but I needed them out of my head.
Read
Gods. A little fan-fiction. Reading wasn't my friend this week.
Watched
Percy Jackson & The Olympians - finally watched the last two episodes. Fucking great show. Probably gonna do a blog post about it.
Resident Alien - I had, like, three seasons on my DVR so I figured it was time to watch it. Pretty good show so far. I'm still on season one, so we'll see how it goes.
Murder, She Wrote
Mortal Kombat: Conquest - Did not have high expectations of this show. I mean, they spelled Conquest with a C. But it was entertaining, so I'll probably finish it. And be sad cause I read it ends on a cliffhanger...
An unhealthy amount of Stray Kids videos on YouTube, TikTok and Pinterest. I might have a problem. No one send help.
Played
Fucking nothing... I should play some Mortal Kombat...
After being kicked out of (another) school, Percy Jackson learns that his father is a god, making him a demigod. And Zeus thinks Percy stole his Master bolt. Which means Percy, along with fellow demigod, Annabeth and satyr Grover, are off on a quest to find it and clear his name.
Content/Trigger Warnings
Betrayal
Violence
Mentions of abuse
Temporary Character Death
Children in Danger (so much danger)
Characters
Main characters are Percy Jackson, Grover Underwood and Annabeth Chase. Who are all fantastic.
Sally Jackson is one of the best fictional mothers ever. I love her. Five stars. No notes.
I really enjoyed the interpretations of all the characters from Greek mythology. And the original characters were great.
Writing
The writing is fantastic. It is targeted to middle grade kids, but Rick Riordan doesn't write like they are stupid. I have read some books written for this age range that I felt treated the kids like they were stupid, but this one didn't. It was just really entertaining and well done.
Plot
It is a very basic plot for a kids novel. Main character is suddenly thrown into a magical world and has to go on a quest or something. It is well done, though so I definitely overlook the tropey plot.
Romance
None really. I mean, there are some background relationships mentioned, but there is nothing going on with the main characters. Yet...
How diverse is it?
Well, not very. I think. See, the thing was I was also watching the new show (which is fantastic) while I was reading this, so... I don't remember how most of the characters were described in the book. My brain just pictured the cast of the new show. So... I was a tad confused when Annabeth's blond hair was mentioned. I'm pretty sure the first few times I read this book, I pictured white (or white passing) people for pretty much everyone.
Sexuality wasn't really brought up in this book. Aside from a few straight relationships.
But! And I kind of hate doing this, but, these books get more diverse. I always joked that Rick Riordan tricked Disney to publish this series because it was just a bunch of white, straight people. And then he just started throwing queers and people of color in constantly. And since the books were super popular, Disney couldn't tell him no. It takes a bit for the diversity to show up, but it does happen. And not after the books are published and Rick announces someone was gay on Twitter or something.
Overall Thoughts
The Percy Jackson and the Olympians series deserve more attention. The entire series and its sequels are all so fantastic. The Lightning Thief is a great opening to the series. I really never had a complaint about the book. It was fabulously written. The characters are unique and interesting. Plot is great.
I picked up this book years ago cause I always had an interest in mythology and the blurb on the book sounded interesting enough. And I fell in love with the book and the world Rick Riordan created. Any time a new one comes out, I buy it no questions asked.
My kid started reading the books while they were in third grade. And hasn't stopped. Rick Riordan and these books are constantly brought up in conversations we have. And most of the time, it's talking about how Mr. Riordan did things right with his books.
I recommend this book to everyone. If you watched the new show? Read the book. Watched the old shitty movies? Read the books. Like YA books? Read this one. Like mythology? Read this book. You are just standing there and I feel chatty? Let me tell you about this awesome book you should read.
That's all for this one.
I already started reading the second book of the series, but it will be a while before I finish it. Trying to push through a couple other books first.
Released in 2023, this animated movie follows the canon of the video games. Taking place after the events of the sixth game, an outbreak of T-virus in San Franscico leads Chris, Jill and Claire to Alcatraz Island, where they run into Leon who is there on his own mission.
Avengers Assemble - Oh my gods, we get Jill, Chris, Claire, Leon AND Rebecca in this movie. All teaming up and killing zombies. So great. Love it. Five stars.
Big Damn Heroes - Rebecca is a Big Damn Hero and she deserves much praise.
Running Gag - I didn't even realize this was a thing until I was reading this list, but apparently most of the vehicles Leon uses get destroyed. Which... This knowledge makes me want to go through the entire series and make notes of the fates of every vehicle Leon S. Kennedy ever used.
Characters
Like I said, in this one we get the heavy hitters of the franchise. Jill, Chris, Claire, Leon and Rebecca. This also takes place after the fifth game where (disclaimer, I have not played the fifth or sixth games, I also have not watched CJUGames play them. All my knowledge of those games comes from watching videos that cover the entire timeline of the games soooooo, I could be wrong here...) it's found out that Wesker had brainwashed Jill. But it's fine. Chris saved her or something. So, Jill is working through that in this movie. And she does a great job. Five stars, Jill. We love you.
All the characters were great. Except for the villain. Fuck that dude. He was an idiot. He deserved for his elaborate, stupid plan to fail.
Atmosphere/Setting
The movie has action horror vibes. Which is fitting.
The main setting is Alcatraz. Which, I've never been there, so I don't know how accurate the depiction is.
But, atmosphere is spooky in all the right spots. Suspenseful. Setting is cool. Old prisons are great for spooky shit.
Adaptation?
This isn't an adaptation. Not a spin-off either, really. It's more of another entry of the Resident Evil series. I think. The animated movies follow game canon, but I don't know if the games follow the movie canon.
Plot
Pretty basic plot for a Resident Evil thing. Someone wants to infect humanity with a virus that turns people into zombies. And the good guys win. No complaints from me.
Animation
Animation was great. Everyone was as pretty as they should be.
Costuming
First off, at one point (when Chris, Claire and Jill arrive at Alcatraz) Chris Redfield is wearing a Hawaiian like shirt that I fucking need in my life. Not even joking. I want one. It is so ugly, and I would wear it constantly.
Jill is wearing the same outfit she wore in the Resident Evil 3 remake. Which seemed odd to me, but I just looked up some images from the movie, and I think Leon has been wearing that same shirt since Resident Evil 4. And Claire might be wearing the same jacket from Resident Evil 2 remake. Or she keeps buying red leather jackets.
Also, the Lady Villain's outfit was stupid. Like, seriously. I hate it.
How diverse is it?
Well, it's a bunch of white people. But we do get some badass female characters.
Overall Thoughts
Fun movie in the Resident Evil universe. I really enjoyed seeing all the gang together kicking ass. And really glad to see Rebecca kicking so much ass. She is one of my favorite Resident Evil characters and she doesn't get to kick enough ass.
I will say the movie does a good job at explaining some bits from the games and other movies without info-dumping. So, if you really wanted to, you could watch this one without knowing much about the games or movies. But... It wouldn't be as good, then.
And for everyone that complained that Welcome to Raccoon City didn't follow the games well enough, watch these movies instead.
Hey, it's Saturday. That means a post about things I did this week.
Wrote
A bit. Tried to focus on my original work stuff. Right now I'm stuck doing a bit of research since I decided to change a character up a bit. Oops.
I wanna start posting some of my writing stuff on here. Not my fan-fiction. It stays on AO3. But my original stuff. Trying to decide what to post and how. I'll let y'all know when I figure somehing out.
Read
A bit on my Now Reading Stack. A little bit of fan-fiction.
Watched
Stuff on YouTube. I kept accidentally filling my Watch Later list and would have to watch stuff to empty it out. For reference, that list can hold 5,000 videos... I have a problem. Especially since I kept filling it with Stray Kids videos.
But! Here are a couple channels I also watched:
Catmeleon Studios - I enjoy watching doll customization videos. And I love this channel. She does some "darker" and "more adult" customizations. All are absolute beautiful works of art.
That Chapter - Mike does true crime videos. Got sucked into a few of his videos this week.
Ink Ribbon - Dude does a lot of Resident Evil related videos. I find them pretty entertaining. Even though some of the things I already knew. Mostly from already watching one of his videos and forgetting I had already watched it.
I also watched a lot of Stray Kids videos... Like... Too many for it to be healthy.
Played
Not a damn thing. Kept thinking about playing Mortal Kombat but never did. Also thought about getting back to Resident Evil 5, but didn't.
Got a few things done that I've been putting off. Nothing major, I guess.
Got my kid one step closer to being able to drive. Which is sending me down a slight spiral.
Still can't find a job that isn't fast food, which is sending me down a larger spiral. Speaking of, accidentally applied for jobs at a Walmart that I wasn't planning on applying to. I don't think there's a way to undo it. I was just curiously looking to see if there were any other openings at a different Walmart. And the website decided that meant I was applying for the same jobs at that Walmart as well. So, that is also stressing me out.
That's it for this one.
Wednesday's post will either be some ramblings about a book or a movie. Depends on which I feel satisfied about first.
Hi. Uh, sir, um... Uh, what's going on? 'Cause, um... Should we... should we call someone?
About/Summary
Claire Redfield returns to Raccoon City to tell her brother about bad things that are happening in the city. Leon Kennedy is having the worst first day on a job ever. Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine are cops in Raccoon City who are sent to figure out what is going on at the local abandoned mansion.
Adaptational Wimp - Leon is not as badass as he was in the games. And ya know what? I don't care. 🤷🏻♀️ I prefer bad-ass Leon, but this Leon was fun.
Eyes Do Not Belong There - Resident Evil is just full of eyes where there shouldn't be eyes. They are just everywhere. Ugh. I have issues with eyes now. Thank you, Resident Evil.
Love Triangle - Usually I talk about tropes I like, but I hate love triangles. They're boring. And this movie threw a very slight one in. And I hated it. Probably my biggest complaint about the movie, honestly.
Mythology Gag - There are a bunch of random nods to the video games, which are cool. Really liked the Itchy Tasty thing. Itchy. Tasty.
Characters/Casting
Main characters from the games show up. Well, Claire, Chris, Leon and Jill. Oh, and Wesker. Though for the most part, not the same as their video game counterparts. Which is fine. I still liked them well enough.
Leon was sort of the himbo damsel in distress in this movie. And I fucking loved it. It was just great.
Casting was pretty good. No complaints from me.
Atmosphere/Setting
Some of the settings looked fantastic and pretty spot on to the settings from the games. In this, Raccoon City is slowly emptying out because Umbrella has left and most people along with it. The movie mainly focuses on the police station and Spencer Mansion. Both of which looked really good in the movie. The orphanage also plays a part. Again, looks great.
Adaptation?
As an adaptation of the video games, it's kind of shit. A lot of things changed that made me raise an eyebrow at. But, as a reboot type of thing, it was pretty good. Once I started to ignore the part of my brain screaming "That's not right!" I really enjoyed it.
Heavy spoilers for the rest of this section for both the games and this movie.
This movie tried to combine the first and second games. Which... if you know a bunch of Resident Evil lore, that doesn't work. But... Again... Stop thinking about the games. From a certain standpoint, trying to combine those games works well. Mostly so you could bring in the Resident Evil heavy hitters (Jill, Chris, Claire and Leon). Logically (from a fan of the games viewpoint), combining the second and third games together would have worked better. But, if you did that you wouldn't get Chris (could replace Carlos with Chris, I suppose, but that sounds horrible, Carlos is wonderful). You also wouldn't get Wesker. Which the movie just made him a dirty cop basically, while in the games he was a part of Umbrella since childhood.
Chief Irons is just a dick in this movie. Not a serial killer. Which, I guess he could still be a serial killer we just didn't find his journal in the movie.
I also assume people were angry about the change in Leon's character. Look. Leon is a badass. But also, he is not really the smartest Resident Evil character. The boy was told to stay away from Raccoon City and he just went anyways. And had the first day on the job from hell. And don't even get me started on the whole Ada thing. This movie just took his naivety up a few notches. Which I found humorous. And I need some humor in movies like this. Also, Leon isn't that badass when I'm controlling him. That boy sat in a corner for five minutes crying when I controlled him. And like Ryan said recently: "Feel like that man is alive because he accidentally succeeded a bunch". Which, yeah... Yeah...
Plot
Basic zombie plot for the most part. No complaints. Easy to follow, one slight twist which is obvious if you know what happened in the first game.
Costuming
Wesker was not wearing enough black. Nor was he wearing sunglasses. Fail.
Other costumes were fine.
How diverse is it?
Two characters weren't white. Other than that, not very diverse.
Overall Thoughts
I enjoyed it. Granted, it took me a bit to enjoy it cause I was sort of expecting a more accurate adaptation for some reason. But after I realized it wasn't going to be that, I was really enjoying it.
My recommendation? Don't watch this movie if you just want a shot by shot movie version of the game. If you want that go watch someone play the games on YouTube. I recommend CJUGames videos, if you don't mind some commentary. I made a playlist of his Resident Evil playthroughs. Which, that is how I have any knowledge of the games really. I do recommend watching this movie if you're a fan of zombie movies. Or if you like Resident Evil but don't mind big changes from the game canon.
Howdy, y'all. It's Saturday. That means I get to try and remember what I did this week.
Wrote
A bit.
Decided to rename one of my characters so I spent the week looking up options for that. Still haven't made a decision. Trying to decide between two options.
Read
A bit.
Finished Girl Explorers
Watched
Elementary - almost done with the first season.
Resident Evil: Death Island - Oh. This was good.
Played
I think I might have played some games on my phone...
A short fic about Clint Barton not choosing a good password.
Anything Else?
Me and the kiddo went to a basketball game. They've been wanting to get out and do things, and this town sucks. Basically all there is to do is sports or religion related. We decided sports were the lesser evil. Plus, my nephew is on the basketball team.
That's all for this one.
Wednesday's post should be some ramblings about a movie.
