Pandora Hearts Fan Community

I did indeed go to the mini culture festival with my sister and her two littlest. It was fun! We got to hammer mochi :D By which I mean that I got to hammer mochi, since my nephew was too shy and my sister didn't want to hand me the baby just for that. The concert portion started a little late but the wait was worth it, imo. Still no snow or rain but it was a bit chilly for the littles, so we didn't stay for the whole performance and headed inside the museum where the other part of the event was being held.

There were only a few tables. One had a lady doing calligraphy; my sister got her name in katakana and I got neko (cat) in kanji because I panicked and it was the first thing I thought of. Nephew was again too shy to ask for anything. There was another area showing off traditional Japanese toys and my sister tried out a couple but nephew was unmoved, lol. We also got to try out a guitar-like instrument I've forgotten the name of and looked at a handful of handmade items for sale. Then we sat and had some mochi, red bean soup, sweet cake and matcha. I had hoped we'd get to see the matcha being prepared but alas. I really liked the presentation of the matcha, even if they were using cheap plastic dishes, but it tasted like grass to me as usual. Everything else was really tasty, though.

We didn't stay long-- it was a short event-- but we left feeling like it was worth the trip.

And just like that, we're through the first week of February. Somehow. Hasn't been the best start to the month for me but the rest of the month is still ahead. In the meantime, here's my weekly curriculum post.

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The book I started today has oddly small text and I hate it a lot. Like, it's only eighty-some pages this way as it is, bro. You can afford to go up to font size ten, I promise.

It's especially weird because I have another book from the same publisher in the same kind of format but with normal text. That one's only about a hundred pages, btw, so I'm doubling down on what I said above.

Well, I was still nauseated when I woke up, enough so that I ended up calling out. I don't love to lose the PTO, especially with the weather situation still kinda touch and go, but I figured better safe than sorry. It's definitely just sinuses but if I ended up puking, which I felt at the time like I might, they only would've sent me home anyway. At least this I saved the cost of rides back and forth for the day.

Oh, yeah, did I tell you guys that I forgot to switch my default payment method for my ride apps, so I was overdrawing my account at least once a day for over a week? Over three hundred dollars in overdraft fees alone. Not a great look for me. I'm almost-- almost-- glad the weather stopped me from going out and potentially spending even more.

Well, as expected, work opened as usual today. And, I mean, I can kinda see why. It ended up being a pretty normal day, even kinda on the busy side. Not for me, granted, I got my stuff late because only two of the lab folks showed up, but still. Once I did get it, I was occupied for the rest of the day.

The main roads aren't bad at all. I still don't think the doctors should've chosen to put the people who come in by back roads in that position but I can see why it didn't strike them as dangerous. My hill wasn't even that bad this morning and it was pretty clear when I got home. I'm still a little worried about it icing over since we're expecting rain and then more freezing temps but I'm not as worried as I was.

Last personal curriculum accountability post of the month! I wish I could say that I'm ending on a high note but alas. My brain has not been braining for the past week. I've barely stuck to the schedules I was so glad to have gotten figured out. I'm inclined to blame the weather but that doesn't do anything for my results.

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Challenge #15

How Did the Fandom Snowflake Challenge Go?

... Is it really the end of January? Huh. Alright then!

Anyhow, Snowflake went very well for me! Its structure gave me the jumping-off points I needed some days in order to find something to post about. I also felt very encouraged to fandom-post and more generally to share my thoughts on topics I normally wouldn't have felt I had anything interesting enough to say about. I've enjoyed answering all the prompts, even those I didn't vibe with as much. In a way, especially those I didn't vibe with as much, since they made me think outside my usual boxes. I even made notes for future posts based on some prompts, including the aforementioned, and how I could've answered them differently.

My main goal for the challenge was to answer all of the prompts-- which I did! Yay for me! I am, unfortunately, behind on my secondary goal of reading and responding to other participants' posts but I'll get around to that in the next couple of days. It was clashing with my "less screen time" and "fewer browser tabs" resolutions and so I needed to take a step back. I'm looking forward to getting caught up, though!

Challenge #14

In your own space, create a promo and/or rec list for someone new to a fandom. Leave a comment in this post saying you did it and include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.

So, my favorite Transformers show is always going to be Beast Wars. Doesn't matter if any show every comes out that I can understand is better, it was my first and it's always going to be My Favorite. But I'm not here today to try to get you to watch Beast Wars. Ask in just about any Transformers fandom space what shows to watch, people will stop whatever they're doing to tell you to watch Beast Wars. But here and now, I want to try to convince you to watch Rescue Bots. Yes, the Transformers show for preschoolers.

Hear me out:

Do you like consistent continuity that avoids bogging itself down? Well, this show has got it.
How about quick, quirky humor? It's got that too.
Aliens trying to fit in on Earth and not always doing a good job? That's, like, half the premise.
Colorful characters with distinct personalities? Got 'em.
Steady development of those characters and their relationships? Yep.
Cute family dynamics balanced with interpersonal drama? Uh huh.
Firetrucks? One of the main characters is a fire truck!
Simple but satisfying musical scores? Rock on.
The voice of LeVar Burton? You're not gonna believe this...

All that, plus it was the first-- and is still the only-- Transformers show to have an episode that's a musical. You wanna argue with that, you've gotta do it in song.

Now, I might as well say that the show has some pretty obvious flaws and makes some questionable choices. It's kiddie copaganda, for one thing, albeit not on the same level as some other kid shows. The idea behind the Bots hiding in plain sight as highly advanced rescue tech only even kinda works if you don't think about it. The team has one (1) female character who is written as a "girls' girl" type but who barely interacts with other women. Each member of the human family has at least one episode involving a love interest just so you know they're all straight. The show flirts with some deeper social ideas that it is clearly not prepared to commit to. The lack of Decepticons is a novel touch but the human villains are hit or miss. One of the side characters gets shortchanged in favor of another. Aaand it probably would've made more sense for a show with so much emphasis on science! to be more, y'know, genuinely scientific rather than taking so many liberties for the sake of Rule of Cool/Funny. It's also part of the Aligned continuity, which is probably not a flaw to most people but I hate revolutionary-movement-gone-corrupt Decepticon origin stories, so it's a big one for me.

Having said all that-- and acknowledging there's probably more I'm forgetting-- I still find the show very enjoyable even as an adult. (So does my mom, as an adult who doesn't even care about Transformers, for whatever that's worth to you.) While the target demographic for the franchise is small children, the show was written to be appealing to families. Its utmost aim is telling fun stories and it hits that mark more often than not. It's episodic, so you can come in at just about any point, but it also builds on previous stories and has a plethora of background call-backs, so you get more out of watching it all the way through. optimus Prime and Bumblebee show up occasionally but not to the point where it feels like the show is relying on them for publicity. It doesn't take itself too seriously but it does play itself straight and has genuine heart. There's a lot going on under the surface, which you can choose to examine or ignore at your leisure. Above all, you can tell that the writers respected the project and the audience.

Am I gonna try to tell you that this show will change your life or expand your mind? No, of course not. It doesn't have anything revolutionary to say to anyone who's watched Mister Rogers or My Little Pony or any other show you might've grown up with. But it is crafted with care and it is fun. Which, I mean, Transformers is a children's IP first and foremost. Yes, there's a lot of room for grittier and more mature takes-- there have been plenty of those throughout the years. The show itself has its own more serious, even (relatively) intense moments. But as much as I can appreciate when the brand's media takes a harder look at its own premise, what I will always appreciate most is a new take on a kids' property that doesn't feel the need to apologize for itself. Rescue Bots knows what it is and it doesn't let that stand in the way of being a good time for fans of all ages.