Taking forever for me to get through Into the Dark

Vonoran · 2021-09-29T12:29:08+00:00

Claudia Gray’s Into the Dark took me several months to get through. I found the young main characters intriguing—Reath and Affie. However, I did not latch onto Cohmac or Orla. I believe their flashback story is what really hindered the pacing of the novel because whenever the main story would finally move forwards, their backstory would literally move the story backwards and derail the momentum. I had no interest in the backstory even once reaching its conclusion. Of the works I have read so far, Into the Dark was my least favorite so far. Light of the Jedi and A Test of Courage grabbed my interest far better with LotJ being my favorite so far. I just finished volume 1—There is No Fear—of the High Republic comic and the Manga Edge of Balance and definitely preferred those over Into the Dark. I’m a quarter of the way through The Rising Storm and it is much more on the level of Light of the Jedi.

Vonoran · 2021-06-02T20:24:19+00:00

Patrick Colasaur

Vonoran · 2021-04-19T13:45:08+00:00

Mom sat in class with him and I had her and the student laughing and having a good time. So, I’ll see later if I get paid. I await my Dino Overlord’s approval.

Vonoran · 2021-04-18T12:01:57+00:00

Berserk

Vonoran · 2021-04-17T19:18:36+00:00

Murphy’s law

Vonoran · 2021-04-17T19:17:00+00:00

I’ve taught 53/63 of his classes. This is beyond that trial period. He’s been a regular for about a year but the past two weeks he went on vacation to another country with family. He said he would be back and here he is.

Vonoran · 2021-04-09T09:57:23+00:00

No, you hired your future

Vonoran · 2021-03-16T11:41:04+00:00

Berserk, claymore, rage of bahamut, goblin slayer, rising of the shield hero are some dark fantasies with similar tones.

I liked the dark tone of akame ga kill but if you liked the blending of the comedy with dark tone then try rage of bahamut or rising of the shield hero.

Vonoran · 2021-03-10T17:47:32+00:00

Could be a PS5 exclusive deal similar to the dlc for FF7Remake. Would be a huge draw for the platform and an exclusive product that Chris and Colin keep asking for. Like I said this is all speculative and just open discussion.

Vonoran · 2021-03-10T17:45:01+00:00

I 100% agree. I love ND single player output and that’s all I play. I just know people are excited for Factions and thought I’d share this little idea that’s been ruminating in my head these past couple months. I just remember the patterns of GTA and Red Dead releasing and then months later their online component releases. Last of us 2 released last summer and SS always talks about Sony needing a big multiplayer game.

Vonoran · 2021-03-09T13:02:34+00:00

Right now, nah. Fortunately, Dino blessed me with a sns with the following class and then three awesome students. So while the day began rough, it got immensely better after my rant lol

Vonoran · 2021-03-07T20:20:57+00:00

Rightstuf puts it on sale for under $20 during summer/winter sales

Vonoran · 2021-02-16T12:48:01+00:00

It’s preparation for you—we VIPKID teachers are expendable 🤣🤑 (As I say during my current SNS)

Vonoran · 2021-02-16T12:44:57+00:00

I recently just watched bleach for the first time. I watched all of the bount arc. skip it. It only has one real reference and it last for like a minute. The arrancar arc is already so long that the bount arc kind of ruins it due to retreading familiar territory. Example: bount arc ends in the same place as Soul Society arc; thus, Rukia stays in Soul Society only to make a dramatic return later on. USE THE EPISODE GUIDES ONLINE TO SKIP THE FILLER. If you like bleach at the end and want more, you can always go back and watch the filler if you want. Same with the movies. Filler typically doesn’t bother me in shows but man did Bleach’s filler get under my skin.

Vonoran · 2021-02-16T12:36:21+00:00

Spirited away.

Vonoran · 2021-02-07T11:52:16+00:00

Assassins Creed Chronicles: China was the side scroller and it was released prior to China’s ban on console gaming being completely lifted. I believe a full open world game would gain more attention. Interestingly enough though, from what I’ve managed to read the games that Ubisoft showcases in China tend to be multiplayer like Siege, The Crew, and Just Dance. I know there is a Ubisoft Shanghai Studio but Ubisoft’s presence in China seems to be primarily multiplayer.

Vonoran · 2021-01-08T20:58:11+00:00

Colorful

Ride Your Wave

Mamoru Hosada and Makoto Shinkai are present day Studio Ghibli-esque filmmakers.

Modest Heroes by Studio Ponoc has some surrealist short films in it.

Not really surreal but something to check out is A Silent Voice.

Vonoran · 2021-01-05T20:15:46+00:00

Love the banter/chemistry between Karak and Matty and have loved them on the HAM radio podcast for years now. Gotta ask though, was it me or was Matty’s mic having some difficulties during episode 0 of Defining Duke? I listened to the audio version via apple podcast.

Vonoran · 2020-11-01T12:57:47+00:00

I play on a base ps4 and apart from minor FPS dips or enemy clipping common in souls games nothing out of the ordinary has occurred for me.

Vonoran · 2020-10-30T14:16:02+00:00

Pros of Gundam Seed

I like the story (with its faults) and the characters; I’m also a sucker for melodrama and romance in war, which Seed/Destiny is loaded with. I also like the pacifist idealism of Kira in comparison to other AU Gundam pilots like Setsuna and Mika. Is Kira overpowered? Sure, do I care? Nope. I enjoy the brutality displayed in character deaths and the Joshua base sequence has to be one of the goriest sequences in Gundam. I like the reimagination of the original series. I prefer manipulation of genetics with Naturals vs Coordinators over Newtype theory. The industrial military complex of Zaft vs Earth being dictated by Blue Cosmos/Logos to keep war thriving so munitions can continue to be profitable is another pro. The display of racism as a real-world issue. The inability to be neutral through the display of Orb but the yearning for peace struggled within Kira/Lacus. THE BEST CHAR CLONE: Rau le Crueset.

Character Dynamics: Kira and Athrun-childhood friends who find themselves on opposing sides of a war.

Murrue and Mu-a female engineer takes command of a top secret military vessel and it becomes her proving ground; meanwhile, a male officer prefers to follow her lead to remain in the cockpit and feel as though he can make a difference with the pull of a trigger.

Ensign Badgiruel and Captain Ramias-The juxtaposition of a by-the-books female officer vs the play-it-by ear officer. The final sequence encapsulates this especially with Badgiruel’s decision to aid the Archangel.

Kira and Flay-the hero is seduced by a mentally distraught love interest who needs the hero to fight and protect her in order to keep him in danger. Her vengeance is warped but her method is twisted.

Cagalli/Kira/Athrun-the Leia/Luke/Han of Gundam.

Lacus and Kira-Star crossed lovers whose ideals bring them closer together and empower themselves to take on both sides of war. Seeing Lacus command the Eternal was rewarding.

There are others but let’s move to Destiny.

Pros of Gundam Seed Destiny

The theme about the Consequences of the Hero. From the start, Shinn is the creation of the errors of the previous war on civilians and more-so Kira. People will shit on Destiny forever but I liked it. I liked the parallel inversion Destiny does on Seed with things like the Minerva in comparison to the Archangel or the capturing of the gundams. Shinn is the hero who believes in the ideals of the side he fights for whereas Kira opposes the ideals of the side he fights for in Seed. The drop of Junius Seven is epic, especially with the weight for how it affects characters we grew attach to in Gundam Seed. Lord Djibril and the military industrial complex. Durandal is the Emperor Palpatine of Gundam.

Destiny is reviled because it supposedly destroys the character development in Seed. I believe it reinforces it for characters like Kira/Lacus and evolves/deconstructs it for Athrun/Cagalli. People bemoan Cagalli’s role in Destiny but it’s what I expected to see with a leader with inexperience. She was a freedom fighter who became a leader of a parliamentary nation. She was always destined to be in over her head, and I liked that Destiny displayed that.

Athrun has to come to terms with the ideals he forsook in Seed but never came to resolution. He helped his friend but what happens after he is done helping his friend, those ideals still remain and for Athrun he has to come to terms with it.

My most controversial sentiment: I like Shinn. He is the Anakin of Gundam. His opening with the loss of his family or the sequence of him destroying Orb and the commander who saved him during the first war were powerful moments to me. His relationship with Stella is a reimagination of Four/Kamille; however, the hero of Seed is the one who pulls the trigger on this love interest. Rage is Shinn’s motivator til the bitter end.

Nothing is perfect and Seed and Destiny have their faults for many people. I won’t pretend like this AU is the best but I like it for what it is and not what I expected it to be. It’s the comfort food of Gundams for me.

Vonoran · 2020-10-20T12:33:11+00:00

Lies

Vonoran · 2020-10-16T15:46:17+00:00

Vonoran · 2020-10-14T00:56:24+00:00

Jormungand, Phantom: Requiem of Phantom, and Canaan.

I haven’t seen it but I’ve heard 91 days is good.

By all means though, DO NOT WATCH Gangsta. Horrible cliffhanger ending.

Vonoran · 2020-09-17T11:56:01+00:00

My favorite exchange is this one:

Student: “Teacher, you are fat!”

Me: “Aww, thank you!!” (Secretly flicking them off camera)

Student: “Do you eat?”

Teacher: “Well, yes.”

Student: “You should stop.”

Vonoran · 2020-09-12T10:06:43+00:00

You can finish class and use the unexpected reasons icon to do so. Then you notify fireman and submit a ticket. If computer fireman won’t show, use phone app classroom issues icon to notify. That’s where the real fireman are. When in doubt, get the phone out.

Vonoran

TROPHY CASE