Happy Halloween Everyone!

Happy Halloween Everyone! Bwahahahahaha!

I hope you’re all having fun dressed as your favorite characters. Speaking of which, you’ll be all seeing my surprise on who I’m finally going to be soon! Stay tuned and follow my Instagram or FB to check it out.

I also want to say regular blogging will return on Nov. 3rd. Thanks for following this blog and I promise more to come!

https://www.instagram.com/marcos_pisanis/

Horror TV Anthologies

If it's one thing I love Darlings, I love to watch a good anthology series. I usually go for the classic Twilight Zone but others prefer the modern dark comedic satire of Black Mirror. (I haven't seen it but have been debating it but was interested when I heard of an episode where people are rated all the time constantly especially when it comes to my job so it's relatable.) So aren't there some horror related anthology series other than the two I mentioned. Well, you gotta look hard enough. Lucky for you here are 4 I suggest watching whether I found episodes or you can enjoy yourself.

1) Rod Sterling's The Night Gallery: I've been trying to find full episodes of this series on YouTube but it's only clips. However, The Night Gallery offers a lot though shortlived for 3 seasons and not as popular as his Sibling series The Twilight Zone. The Stories focused on Horror, Supernatural, Fantasy, and Psychological Drama in contrast to some of the more Science Fiction Oriented episodes and that some episodes could not just only hit you hard, but some would offer comfort and understand in making us better people. Night Gallery on the other hand is pure fun and even features stories from Harlan Ellison, H. P. Lovecraft and minor authors who allowed adaptations of these stories. Rod still was able to write and direct stories in the anthology despite not having full rights and involvement as given with his creative freedom but it didn't mean he had nothing. Robert Bloch, writer of Psycho, wrote a couple of episodes and mutliple famous names, (Roddy McDowell, Joan Crawford, Steven Spielberg, Adam West, Leonard Nimoy, Burgess Meredith, and others) were involved in creating this anthology . It's a heavily underrated series but has gained the Cult status and a joy to find when you watch. You can find it at Walmart and Amazon and buy the full series.

2) Masters of Horror: This Showtime Exclusive Anthology only lasted two season but has many famous names directing the one hour episodes in this anthology series as if each was their own individual movie. In fact these episodes had featued many horror film directors which was its main marketing ploy. You got Joe Dante, John Carpenter, John Landis, Dario Argento, and Takashi Miike to name a few. Most of the episodes, like in Night Gallery, are usually adapted but some are original and at times feature some really black comedy especially with Dante and Landis directing some episodes. There were only 26 episodes featured in this anthology but there are many hits and some misses depending as most anthologies go. A few very popular names are involved with acting like Meat Loaf, Ron Pearlman, and George Wendt but mostly everyone else is mainly C list or you've never heard of them before until you dig but maybe that's what makes it good because we can focus on story and direction but you do want good actors to tell your tale. But the weird thing is these episodes could be bought individually on DVD as if they were movies though all were part of this anthology.

3) George A. Romero's Tales from the Darkside: I've seen a couple of the episodes of this anthology and they weren't bloody and gory like most of today's horror, but psychological and tormenting with dread. George A. Romero's anthology series had 90 episodes but the two I saw were "Sorry, Right Number" with Stephen King writing about a wife who receives a mysterious phone call and deals with the loss of her husband. The second had a more whimsical fantasy approach with "Do Not Open This Box" with Jodie Foster directing this episode about a couple (with a very unhappy husband and an overbearing wife) who receive a mysterious Pandora's Box and the mailman who is insistent on making sure it never opens and he gets it back. These two episodes did linger in my psyche a little and it's nice to revisit them. The series even had a film with the same anthology style as the series too. You can find episodes on YouTube

4) Tales from the Crypt: What kind of list would this be without a reference to Tales from the Crypt. This series featured all sorts of A and B listers before or after they achieved their full fame featured in spooky, scary, and often Campy stories but that's what makes it charming too. I've seen a couple of episodes Like the one with Morton Downey Jr., the shock jockey, visiting a Haunted House, a man who marries widows and kills them off for their fortunes, one story written by Teller, of Penn and Teller, with an escaped convict who visits a witches house, do you know about "The Secret", and even had 2 feature films inspired by the series and at one time there was supposed to be a new series but it didn't work out well due to the issue production rights. And let's not forget our punny master of scareemonies, The Cryptkeeper. Voiced by John Kassir, this guy got us ready for our new flavor of the month stories.

Enjoy and Happy Halloween Darlings!

Shin Megami Tensei V is confirmed!

I want to apologize for not posting anything yesterday Darlings. I'm sorry but I was busy for the time with work. But now that I'm back, I want to talk a little about a recent game so the Halloween has to be postponed.

Recently, Atlus posted a new trailer for the game branded as Shin Megami Tensei: Brand New Title has been confirmed as I had thought it to be, Shin Megami Tensei 5. But what's unique is that it seems that every Shin Megami Tensei Game that comes out is exclusive for Nintendo consoles and Persona comes out for every Playstation Console since the Playstation 1 with Revelations: Persona.

As some of you guys know, I love Shin Megami Tensei so I want to explain the trailer and what could happen with the new game. Spoilers ahead though.

So in Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse, you actually fight YHWH himself and can choose whether to side with the Celtic God Dagda and reincarnate the universe with a human becoming not only Godslayer but God of the New Universe or preserving the current universe and having a world of Peace until YHWH comes back. Both of these are considered the Neutral Endings of Shin Megami Tensei because every Neutral Ending seems to be the cause of the turn of events leading to the next mainstream timeline supposedly, (there was a YouTube video dedicated to this issue because it's very confusing to connect all the SMT and Persona games into a timeline. Here's the link. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPtik5Sd15Y) Trust me, it's confusing. But since that game left off on with preserving the ceiling of Mikado over Tokyo, unless they use the original Neutral ending of SMT IV, it's going to be confusing.

But let's talk about the first trailer to get a better background for the second. So in the first trailer we're in an abandoned building, probably an office building in Tokyo but that's not important. We see the Atlus Logo covered in Roses to showcase a motif seen and as it turns dark, the roses blow away and we see a collection of famous demons from Shin Megami Tensei including Thor, Pixie, Silky, Cu Chulain, Mara, Metatron, Gabriel, Ranga, Cybele, Atlus Mascot Jack Frost and other mythological characters. Then the Rose Petals once again come to reveal Odin in his new design from SMT, and once he looks to us, we see more Rose Petals and the screen goes blank to read Shin Megami Tensei: Brand New Title. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIIu_kcWXpA)

In the new trailer it focuses once again on a desolate and post apocalypse Tokyo, as is the mainline series is dedicated to, and some demons do make 3D appearances that we have seen since SMT Nocturne and the other PS games. The Devil Forneus, Many Oni, Dakini, and hidden a little is Kurama Tengu all of them bloodies by possibly other humans who have fought against them. Then once again the Rose Petals seen in the first teaser trailer featuring the demons comes again once the demons kill and eat an unfortunate soul in Tokyo, with his blood being substituted by a beautiful and morbid touch of red rose petals. Also before the chaos starts, we see a new Tokyo with a very modern look before the chaos comes. (The trailer to this one is subbed so you have an idea what they are saying in Japanese. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03oQAGxYb3E)

So, this is interesting. I thought the Rose Petals were just a teaser aesthetic but now seeing this is the Blood of humans makes it more creepy and quite thrilling to say the least but also, Since YHWH has been defeated, what happens now? I know he was battled in SMT II but that has never happened since Apocalypse. But also the fact that Thor and Odin made major points in being emphasized first in the main teaser makes it possible that the Norse Gods might have more an emphasis in this SMT but usually it's unsure what will happen. What's also interesting is that this game is on the Switch, which is the latest Nintendo console but I know Nintendo usually goes more for the Family Friendly aesthetic since the Wii going back to how Video Games themselves were originally supposed to be for the Family. (See folks, the Family that plays video games together DOES stay together!) But from an interview with Fantismu (a famous Japanese Video Game magazine) the main director said that this game will focus on dealing with the anxieties of the modern era inlcuding the threat of nuclear war, terrorism, old age fears, general anxiety of the modern era as well as examine it a little through the story. It's interesting to take this approach but also since these are the hot button issues with some general issues with all of humanity, it adds to the deep philosophical points of the game with YHWH being Law promoting a communist utopia with loss of individualism and free will, Lucifer promoting Chaos and Individualism and Free Will but in the style of Social Darwinism. Neutrality taking a more atheistic stance with rejecting God and the Devil but choosing a path for humanity to carve for itself.

But also the most interesting part is this phrase used in the second trailer, "Shekinah Glory" Shekinah is the divine essence of God but given a feminine aspect. So maybe we'll be dealing with a female interpretation of YHWH. But I don't think that's it. I think Shekinah might be a new demon the SMT team will create and be a boss and that YHWH will be involved but possibly not a final boss for law. She will serve that purpose. But this is just conjecture. I have nothing to prove for all of this. But hopefully things will be interesting once SMT V comes out. There is no planned release date due to still being a part of early design.

Games I forgot to mention for Halloween/Horror games

Hey Darlings! I just realized I left out a few games and I feel bad for not telling you guys.

So for your final suggestions for games, here is my last list of both Board and Video Games to play during Halloween.

Five Nights at Freddy's: The Series: Ok, so I can't do well with this series. And I can't do much with the jump scares and people criticize that part. But ever since fan theories and MatPat's game theory videos, people love the lore, The overarching mystery of why the animatronics are possessed has been on everyone's minds. Though sometimes more questions are around that answers at times, its fun looking up all the theories behind what happened at our favorite Chuck E. Cheese Ripoff.

Fury of Dracula/Letters from Whitechapel: These two games have pretty much the same mechanic so I'll include them together. In Fury of Dracula, you play as Dracula and your opponents play the famous characters in Bram Stoker's novel to try to kill you. So either you win by killing everyone or unleashing chaos all over Europe or they win by killing you. Letters from Whitechapel has the same plot but either you play as Jack the Ripper or the investigators on the case. This game of Hide and Seek/Cat and Mouse is pretty fun when it's a guessing game to find out where your opponent is and trying to strategize the best way to arrest Jack the Ripper or kill Dracula. Fury of Dracula was also played on Will Wheaton's Tabletop so check it out there.

Luigi's Mansion and Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon: So this isn't a scary game but it's still fun nonetheless. You play as Mario's more timid brother Luigi and trust me, he has to muster all his courage to survive these 6 mansions. In the first game, you play as Luigi to celebrate getting a new mansion that turns out to be made by King Boo to trap Mario and Luigi. In Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon, the Evershade Valley's Dark Moon is destroyed and the rather pacifistic ghosts turn hostile and you must go to the 5 mansions to repair it. Both games feature the Poltergust 3000 gadget and sucking up ghosts in a Ghostbusters fashion is always fun for me. And getting all that treasure too because there is a lot of money to collect in both games, (Spoiler: Collect as much of the money in 1 to get a nicer house and collect them in two to upgrade the Poltergust 5000. The Poltergust 4000 was in Mario Kart 7.) so go hunting guys! It's fun exploring these mansions and in Dark Moon, you get to go on missions to explore the mansions more and more so you'll be backtracking but it doesn't feel like a chore with new rooms to search.

One Night Ultimate Werewolf/Vampire/Alien: Ok so you play Mafia with cards, now play One Night Ultimate Werewolf or Mafia on Acid. In Mafia, you just have civilians, a doctor, a sheriff, and the Mafia. Kill the mafia and you win. But the One Night games make it harder with more roles to distinguish one another on. If the Werewolves/Vampires/Aliens trick everyone, they win. But if you don't get the wool pulled over your eyes, you win. It's a fun deduction game with collaboration and deceit. Also helps with trying to BS your way out of getting in trouble with your fellow friends.

The Haunted Mansion video game: Back in 2003 when Eddie Murphy tried entering my favorite real estate to a very cheesy and bad film, there was a video game to tie in. But the plot of the game wasn't like the movie which was definitely a one up. The game itself seems simple with being a fighter but also, it's a puzzle game. Each of the rooms you go inside in the mansion has a different puzzle that must be solved in order to turn on the lights and make everything alright. The game itself is simple and easy, and graphics are a little dated but the ambiance of the mansion with the textures being in respect to the rides and giving all these Easter Eggs you can find to make it all the more a nostalgic ride down memory lane. There are playthroughs on YouTube to find and the Soundtrack is one of my favorites to listen to.

Last Night on Earth/Dead of Winter: Both of these board games were played on Tabletop and both are Zombie Survival games. Last Night on Earth is more board focused while Dead of Winter is more Narrative focused with treachery in the midst of your environment too. Both have their own mechanics and I included them together because they are zombie based.

Gloom: I tried playing it once and trust me, this game is heavy in the narrative department so if you can't tell a good story, or someone can't give a good story, it falls very flat. HAVE CREATIVE PEOPLE TO PLAY THIS GAME WITH YOU! I CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH! Ok back to the game. It's not a horror game but it's inspired by the comics and dark humor of Illustrator and Author Edward Gorey. You might know of his Gashlycrumb Tinies and the little children, who all died in alphabetical order, for various reasons. And pretty much your mission is to tell the saddest tale ever and destroy their lives. Like really screw them over. Whoever has the most negative points wins. So you have to play both bad cards on yourself and good cards on others but it goes into this fun (if death and gloom is fun) Victorian experience with the tragedies of these families.

Honorable Mentions:
Scooby Doo: Night of 100 Frights: Another collectors game. It's still very nostalgic and fun. Not scary but still enjoyable with the large and memorable world of Mystic Manor and the surrounding areas. And seeing all of Scooby's old enemies is pretty fun too.

Happy Haunted Gaming Darlings!

Halloween Memoreis: Costumes

I remember my mom used to make costumes for us. Did your parents ever do that Darlings? Well, I have a few I remember so I'll make these count.

Ok. This is a little funny one. It happened before my sister Michelle was born and me, my cousins Emile and Mariah and my brother Jonathan all had costumes made by my mother. It was a group costume idea and we were all M&M's. Don't believe me? Well, that pic is somewhere in my moms collages.  But anyway, I was the Yellow M&M, Jonathan was Blue, Emile was Red, and Mariah was Green. Now I forgot but for some reason, Mariah was crying. Now I'm not sure why. Maybe she didnt like the costume or it was just being in the dark. (She was still a toddler If I recall.) But either way that was still fun to see that. The costumes were pretty good.

So here's one without a group and the only one really impactful to me. My mom and dad took us to Halloween at Disneyland one time. So my siblings and I, I really forgot what they chose but I went as Sorcerer Mickey and they bought the hat with ears, gloves, and Mom made the coat and even sewed a patch with Sorcerer Mickey on it. That Halloween was pretty fun but I don't remember if it was on Mickey's not so Scary Halloween Party or just one of the days in October at Disneyland. But I do know I sure rocked it out and enjoyed myself. That's another pic I have to get one day for you guys.

Also I remember my mom dressed me us as a baby on my First Halloween as a Devil but the real good one was when she did our costumes for Peter Pan. Now I was Capt. Hook, but I just laughed when my brother was the Crocodile who ate my hand. Again, another picture might be lingering around my moms Scrapbook studio but well, I'm unsure. Now I remember my parents family friends, (I forgot their names but I remember their son's name but he'll be anonymous for obvious reasons.) and they had a son and daughter (forgot her name too). So Joey (the son) and Kristy (we'll make her the daughter, they can come to me to remind me or I'll have to visit them. I don't know which will happen.) were Peter and Tink respectively. (At least I think so or was it Michelle? I don't remember. You'll have to ask my mom. Geeze this is more weird that I can't recall well what happened though I remember those specific costumes.)

Anyway, Did your parents make your costumes and who did you go as? Who will you go as on Halloween? Thanks for tuning in Darlings! See ya Tomorrow!

Small Change and Good News for the War Effort and Bad News For Hollywood

Hey Darlings. Got to announce this quick thing. On the rest of this month, I’ll be making more Halloween talks and so Tuesday’s politics will be moved to Today just to get it over with. I got good news and bad news in two different areas.

Let’s start with the good news. ISIS territories in Syria have been growing in being destroyed and demolished. Even Iraqi Soldiers have been noted to use the Sherman method on ISIS soldiers and territories. Hearing this makes me breathe better with knowing we’re actually making a stance in allowing our Generals to fight a war that seems unwinnable. However, I have some reservations and doubts due to a recent visit Sec. of State Tillerson made with Saudi Arabia.

Rex Tillerson visited Saudi Arabia to herald a new message for the Middle East to unite in fighting the ISIS and other terrorist organizations. However since Saudi Arabia (funding the Taliban and Al-Queda) and Iran (a major player in manipulating Iraq and Syria with ISIS) are both major players in funding state sponsored terrorism, this speaks volumes on what it seems our policy is. We’re probably going to ally with Saudi Arabia to destroy Iran. But is this the best policy? No. It’s obvious even Saudi Arabia wants the west under their thumb but we shouldn’t give into evil to destroy another evil. It’s irrational at all levels and to further explain my opinions, read  Nothing Less than Victory by John David Lewis and Winning the Unwinnable War by Elan Journo for my opinion on the war and how we ought to face our enemies.

But let’s pull back. Because also Benjamin Netanyahu announced his support for Kurdistan, the independent nation the Kurds want due to their persecution from many Muslims in the Middle East. I I used to be skeptical of them due to the last time we armed the Muslims with weapons (that was quite a slippery slope. But that’ll be looked into when we see the results hopefully if we decide to make an alliance.

Now for the bad news. Prepare to be really pissed off. So remember Harvey Weinstein? Well that scandal started opening the floodgates. 2 more people have been found and accused for sexual misconduct, and me saying sexual misconduct is putting lightly. Two other people have been fired amid more of the scandal. A disgraced agent named Tyler Grisham has been found in involved with Sexual abuse and Nickelodeon has fires one of its main cartoon creators, Chris Savino for similar reasons. However, it’s unknown if they’ll be prosecuted but with the Harvey Weinstein case it’s highly likely.

And thats all for the main news so far.

Tomorrow will be more happier things Darlings. Promise!

Board Games to Play for Halloween

You know Darlings, don't you hate it when your parents tell you not to play any more video games? I know I did. But sometimes we had to or when we grow up, we have so many guests and want to play a game but we have nothing to go with. Luckily I have a few suggestions to make the nights fun this Halloween. Here are some of the games I suggest to play on Halloween.

Betrayal at House on the Hill: This Board game is a Haunted House exploration game. You play as one of 6 characters and go searching a Haunted Mansion to find out about the paranomal events going on. However, later on in the game, one of you is a traitor hoping to let evil win. Can you and your friends stop the traitor and win the game? This is a fun me vs them game added with the board is actual tiles so you have to proceed from Room to Room and that the mansions structure changes every game and also you have 3 floors to choose from as well. Also there are 50 scenarios to play through so no two games that you play in your lifetime will be the same. It's replayablility is numerous and fun and a great RPG board game to experience.

The Nightmare Before Christmas Edition of Munchkin: For you see right now, as I continue this list. There is another game with such haunting, you get the gist. So with Munchkin, a game like Dungeons and Dragons, has a movie theme of Halloween shenanigans. You level yourself up and go against all, and ally and betray your friends after all. It's seems pretty easy to level up to ten, but when everyone else can the real fun is with who levels up when. You can escape stronger foes if you try, but don't roll a 5 or 6 and you might be the first to die. Friends can come and help when for pleasure, but almost always, they'll ask for the treasure. For once you defeat enemies, a bounty awaits. Just make sure you get the most to not suffer crueler fates. The Nightmare Before Christmas munchkin is easy and fun. Play with your friends for a good challenge for each one.

The Arkham Horror Games: These series of Board Games include Elder Sign (which I own), Arkham Horror, Mansions of Madness, and Eldritch Horror. Each of these games makes you play from a group of investigators to solve conundrums and scenarios involving the Cthulu Mythos. Be warned for if you take too much damage or go insane, you have to get a new investigator but this one of those board games where if chaos is unleashed, everyone loses. So you all have to plan accordingly. One mistake could cause you the game. So instead of most board games where you fight to win, you have to communicate with one another and plan accordingly. It's not easy but it can be done. Just be lucky unlike the rest of Cthulu Mythos, you can actually defeat the Great Old Ones. Usually 1-8 players can play most of these games.

Mysterium: This is a game where you find out who killed a ghost and you play the mediums hoping to solve the case. This is another board game where either you all win, or the game wins. Similar to clue, you have to find out who killed one of your teammates (they're the ghost) in which room and what weapon. But they can only communicate from a bunch of pictures and pictures can feature all sorts of things from the descriptive to the abstract. See what your teammate is trying to communicate with you. It's a fun twist on clue and requires making things very cryptic but if you know someone well, they'll be able to help you out. Also, I'll add Clue to this because well, its another murder mystery game but you guys have played it before.

Cthulu Fluxx: Another game with a theme, Cthulu Fluxx is another game where either you can win individually, another person wins, or the game wins. You all pick a card play a card each round. Sounds easy right? But everyone can play rules to change the rules every time. Thus the game is called Fluxx because it's a word meaning change. Nothing is certain but change. This version of Fluxx is fun even though you have evil entities once again trying to kill you. But have fun with it!

Cards Against Humanity: Because you need to curse and Halloween can add to screwed up things. Plus it's politically incorrect fun!

Happy Board Gaming Darlings!

Books to Read for Halloween

Don't you love getting cozy with a good Book Darlings?

I Know I do. And some books are just the type to read for the thrills, chills, and skills their authors had when they wrote them. From the sinister to the Gothic, to the mysterious, to the classic, these are the books I suggest reading this (or next if you don't have the time) Halloween season.

The Complete Tales of Edgar Allen Poe: What better than to read the poems and short stories by the man who popularized horror fiction. Though most famous for The Raven, he had penned many suspenseful tales like The Cask of Amontillado, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Tell-Tale Heart (my personal favorite, second is Amontillado.) It's not as scary as horror pop lit, but it just leaves the right amount of suspense and dread in your heart.

The Silence of the Lambs: I mentioned this book yesterday to explain the idea of Catharsis and it's importance in both drama and our own lives. Now get ready for why you should read this. The book has a wonderful villain seen with Dr. Hannibal Lecter, psychoanalyst and cannibal. Refined but devious, elegant but twisted, sophisticated yet carnal, Hannibal is as what actor Mads Mikkelsen has compared him to, Lucifer the Fallen Angel under his name Satan that is. I just love that comparison so much with a conflicted man who finds peace with both his Apollonian and Dionysian aspects (both good and bad.) And what I love more is the psychoanalysis of Buffalo Bill. The disturbing motives for killing and skinning his poor victims both amuses and chills me to the bone. Clarice is also another great character for psychoanalysis to focus on her dark past that she wants to hide and later with Dr. Lecter's help, move on which adds to the complexity of Dr. Lecter as a villain. I know many of my colleagues will definitely not like this book but I so love it and I would love to cosplay and Dr. Lecter from both the Hannibal Series and the original Silence of the Lambs.

Rebecca: This is a Gothic Horror story I am wanting to read so I only can tell of the basic plot but I can say this is something I do want to read as I started getting to Gothic Fiction thanks to Interview with the Vampire. Rebecca is the recently deceased mistress of a manor and her husband looks to a new wife to find. Once she comes over to his mansion and is the new mistress of the house, It's obvious the staff doesn't want her here. And even some ghosts that are restless. This was written by Daphne du Maurier who also wrote "The Birds" short story which inspired Hitchcock and Hitchcock even adapted Rebecca too. Even Guillermo del Toro was partially influenced by the book to write his Gothic Film Crimson Peak so even though I haven' read it, it's obvious the impact it's left on our culture of loving Ghost stories and haunted homes!

And Then There Were None: Ok so this isn't a horror story but it's a slasher. A very organized one at that. The title comes from the final line of the nursery rhyme our victims fall prey too called 10 Little Indians or to the more Politically Correct minded these days 10 Little Soldiers. The 10 are accused of murdering people though many deny it. After they start kicking the bucket one by one, the remaining survivors try to figure out why their host is killing them and learn to their horror the killer is one of them. It was this story that inspired the whole slasher genre with Rene Clair's 1945 film being the first slasher film, though very lighthearted with deaths off camera except one. This book is also Agatha Christie's most adapted story with multiple inspired tales, 5 films, one BBC miniseries, 2 Arabic series, 2 loosely based Japanese series, a video game, a board game, and well, you will see why this book is so influential and my favorite Agatha Christie novel of all time once you read And Then There Were None.

Interview with the Vampire: I started reading this book a while ago and my boyfriend kept poking fun at me to finish this book. Sadly, I haven't been able to do it but I'm very close. The books influence the subject of the nature of what the vampire learns from his birth from their turned master usually is an interesting tale and my favorite parts were the one with Lestat being involved. The very vivid descriptions of Paris, New Orleans, and the other environments of the novel are canvas painted into your psyche and mind and all the descriptions of the characters are just as detailed too. Enjoyably exotic and slightly erotic at times, Interview will make all other modern pop vamp lit seem tame to the eyes.

The Shining: You can't have a list like this without Stephen King himself at least on here. I chose this book because I own it as well as Salem's Lot and Carrie in a King Trilogy Book but the idea of The Shining remains to me as a ghost story. If you haven't told by the list of books here, I like more psychological terror and horror. And when we see Jack Torrance, unlike the film adaptation which King was harsh to, we see he wants so desperately to get close again to his wife and son making him sympathetic to our causes and yet his nights of alcohol and drunkenness are but one of the fears he thinks will tempt him down and it does but also seeing him go insane in the process to see all the ghosts who want him to kill his son is another thing. I've only read a little of it but just seeing the aspect of The Overlook Hotel makes it even more terrifying due to how it does feel like its own living entity. Also, it has a hilarious Simpson Parody called The Shinning. (Do you want to get sued?)

Frankenstein: Now this is an obvious classic but what makes Frankenstein just as potent to today's time is just not only about scientific progress and experimentation people have trouble swallowing but also, we see many people are described as Frankensteinian in nature to defy nature and become God themselves. Even one of the people I follow even wrote a book called The Frankenstein Candidate (written by Vinay Kolhatkar.) I haven't read it because, to be honest, It looks too familiar (From the basic synopsis) to The Manchurian Candidate which is another book on my list and a definite movie and book to read for anyone who believes in freedom. Frankenstein is another Gothic tale but I read this in High School so I couldn't fully appreciate what was written and, in my opinion, public education ruins reading for everyone. When you meet Victor Frankenstein, you see him come from an influential noble graduating great universities to being a control freak of the worst kind. The story even goes as far to use Biblical and Mythological Allegory in its presentation to add to the isolation of Frankenstein's Creature which causes us to sympathize more with him than Victor making the monster and man roles reversed.

The Picture of Dorian Gray: This is one of my favorite stories and got me into the wit of Oscar Wilde. Though my colleagues don't like the characterizations, I argue that's what motivates the book and what makes it both a fun Faustian Tale as well as a great satire of English Society and life in general. Dorian is a character I admire mainly for how he goes from innocent to corrupted youth and descends down deeply into both desire and instinct which is the cost of his eternal youth as his portrait reminds him deeply of who he is.

Faust: This is a warning horror tale and though it's not really scary it does leave a dreadful impression on what one does with their life. From the German folk legend and adapted popularly by Christopher Marlowe and Johann Wilhelm von Goethe, The Tragedy of Faust is a tale of warning and of our humanity as Dr. Faustus tries to achieve, depending on which version you read, Everything he could ask for or all the knowledge of the world. The Devil Mephistopheles also adds charm and intrigue to the tale as being the onlooker and executor of Faust's contract. It is a play though so I suggest either reading along with an actual adaptation of the Play, live preferably and written either Marlowe or Goethe, and sit back and enjoy, or get an audiobook version of the play and enjoy it! 

House of Leaves: This is another book I haven't read yet but just as chilling in the more Lovecraftian way of turning yourself into madness which is why no one can successfully adapt this story. The narrative is told through a frame story of a man whose neighbor has just died and he looks in the neighbor's room to find a manuscript for a critical essay with citations and edits by editors about a film he has been. But the problem with this is, the neighbor is blind and couldn't possibly have seen the film and the film has no evidence to have existed. And the film itself is a documentary of a man who moves to a new house with his family and measures out the house to find out the interior of the house is larger and the exterior with all sorts rooms adding on and our documentarian's insanity adding on too. The story is primarily told as a frame story style with multiple narrators, some who interact with one another but it seems all are trying to dominate the telling of this tale. And what makes it more confusing is the writing style, obviously influenced by postmodern works, (and as many of you know, I hate postmodernism with extremely rare few exceptions so this is a big one) and even is just confusing to comprehend the first time. It's also a long read being 709 pages from the first edition but I suggest getting the second edition as suggested by other readers and that you can't experience it the same if you got the audiobook. This book was meant to be read and thus should be read. You can't adapt it well enough and that's what makes it an interesting staple.

Happy Haunted Reading Darlings! Tune in tomorrow for some Halloween/Horror inspired games suggested by me!

Thoughts about Halloween Horror

Ok let's start this puppy up Darlings.

So, I was wondering about Horror and Halloween. It's just well, I don't like being scared because its very irrational but well, in horror you end up dead. I don't want to die so it's a survival tactic. Stupid right?

But there is something More to it I feel. Why is it that people love horror? Is the blood, the violence, the stupid unimportant sex that NO ONE SHOULD EVEN BE DOING, the villians? Maybe and those are good ideas. But well it's just not psychologically interesting to me. I mean when we were just kids, we liked getting spooked and getting free candy. (Still love and will trick or treat no matter how old, Just as long as I'm in a costume, someone better give me my Resee's candies and Butterfingers! (This is in case any of my family members want to give me some trick or treat goodie baskets! But what is it that makes horror of Yesterday and Today so important?

Well, I learned a new word not so long ago and I think it might be the reason why we love horror and maybe hopefully, I can muster my courage to maybe write something horror related one day. The word is Catharsis, Greek for Cleasning or ... well Catharsis. (It's not proper to use a word to define the same word but not every word in a foreign language is easily translatable to the English and is the same with all other languages.) Even when I did muster my courage for some of the more scary video games I mentioned Last Week, there is this element of horror we see that we like because well It makes us braver. I know it sounds ridiculous but that was a primal part of tragedy where when we saw good characters do bad things because fate dicated it or it was of their own flaws, in the end despite what was done, they do make things better in the end but they die. We feel sympathetic towards them. In a similar fashion with horror, we want to face the monsters despite how uncontrolled we are in Horror.

In the book, The Silence of the Lambs, A book I suggest reading and I will suggest again tomorrow for my book list, Clarice Starling stars in a thriller about finding a mysterious serial killer and her only link is Psychoanalyst Hannibal Lecter. He's done awful things: manipulating patients, murdering and devouring people, enforcing cannibalism unknowingly on others are a few of the main ones. But yet we feel stronger knowing him. It's fun and interesting knowing him because unlike Clarice, we are one step away by either reading the book or watching the movie. Seeing Clarice hunt the killer down also makes it fascinating but also looking into the killer's psyche is another part of this novel and is just as pivotal for Cathartic experience. Basically, Catharsis develops in different ways for different mediums. Comedy provides us with just looking back on the human experience, Tragedy finds to what makes us human, Science Fiction and Fantasy provide escapists worlds that are just as human as our own to examine ourselves and other issues with society, and Horror makes us stronger for that same experience of downfall, sorrow, and paranoia.

But I don't really see that in today's horror. It's not about this growing up with strength. It's more about jump scares and cheap tactics, (But even if they are cheap, they still work on me) instead of developing our heroes, even if they do die. That's what I liked about Silence of the Lambs even though you wouldn't expect me to watch or read that book. (I haven't watched the film but I did record it to watch later. I did watch Red Dragon and Hannibal though. Just as chilling though i did prefer Red Dragon for the same reasons as I mentioned why I like Silence.) It's very difference from developing the sense of helplessness that comes from it. It's weird that I mention another horror writer who focused a lot on this helplessness, H.P. Lovecraft known for his Cthulu Mythos of cosmic entities who don't care what happens to the world. Their power is insurrmountable, and humans can't do anything to stop it. Ironic since many board games and video games make it possible to fight and win against Cthulu when you can't win. The End. I'm just weary of reading Lovecraft because personally, he was quite an elitist in the worst of the sense. (I know I'm sounding like an SJW, but a guy who says Catholics, Germans, Irish, African-Americans and non-WAPS are inferior in a class heirarchy of who is better than one another is a collectivist ass in my book. It's like how I feel about Roman Polanksi, mixed with wanting to like his works but hating his disgusting ass.)

But back to Horror, Maybe what we need is that kind of Horror Lovecraft and others have made in the past, warning danger and helpless dread to stop it. And hopefully I can muster my courage to watch Crimson Peak this Halloween. It's a good step, don't judge me!

Oh God. I don't know which issue to tackle first. So lets do 3.

Ok, so I just had some inklings of political/entertainment issues.

But the ones I want to discuss are Harvey Weinstein, Trump pulling press licenses, and the Boy Scouts.

Ok. Let's discuss my main problem with the Weinstein affair. Apparently, despite everyone saying now that Harvey Weinstein has harassed many women, it's how long this has been going on which disheartens me. How did anyone who knew this not tell the press? Why lie and cover it up? Even if he was the most powerful producer, this is in no excuse for him to behave so piggishly. This show to us that even Hollywood still has its scandals and wants to bury them rather than let them out and solve these problems. Take for instance the tragedy of the two Coreys, Corey Feldman and Corey Haim. Sadly, Haim died to drug overdoses still haunted by specters of the Hollywood Sex Abuse machine and Corey just lost his sanity and heart. He even confessed to this on the View and it seems no one learned their lesson. But the fact almost everyone from media, to those abused, and those around him ignored it, is unforgivable. It's obvious this was covered because if Weinstein did such an act and any lady ratted him out, he would've been out on his ass a long time ago. Even his brother noted that he had infidelity issues. But I'm not believer in Sex Addiction due to how conscious people can act and there should be nothing forgivable on Weinstein. Let no one bother to defend him or bring him back because there is nothing redeemable of a perverted pig who treats women like toys. And shame to anyone who has defended him because this won't only cause people to not only like him but means less of a box office profit for Hollywood after this.

Now to Donald Trump. At first, it seemed he was just gonna let the fake news crowd just have their way and just post every bad thing imaginable without any sources, backup, or just any petty reason to scandalize him without actually assessing his faults critically so maybe he can listen. Because of this, he was so pissed he decided to threaten to take away their press licenses. This for me draws a very clear line about Donald Trump's support for Freedom of Speech and something I do have to criticize him for. To threaten to take away someones right to speech and press is an insult to the Founding Fathers and John Locke themselves. Such prinicples are what make America Great and just to take away it just sets a bad example on calling oneself a defender of free speech. I made the same criticism when I heard him scold Pamela Geller for her Draw Muhammad Campaign for her Non-Profit Stop the Islamization of America saying "She had it coming." For doing what needed to be done about some stupid (he was actually illiterate) middle eastern pedophile who called himself a prophet of God, he just doesn't care? What about people like Ayaan Hirsi Ali who escaped from Somalia and was forced to have her clitoris removed and to this day says Islam is destructive towards everyone especially women, Salaman Rushdie whose Satanic Verses got all sorts of Muslims to send death threats to him and have several countries put a bounty on his head not unlike Ali, and Charlie Hedbo who righteously insulted the prophet and sadly many of their own people had been killed by Terrorists? Does Trump really care fully. If he really wants to get on my good side about his sincerity with Freedom of Speech, he needs to let the Mainstream Media still spin their tales and hold his head up high to really stick it to them. It not only allows freedom of speech but those who know better or have started questioning the sources they have read will simply just leave them.

Lastly, we got Boy Scout issues. I wanted to talk about this for a while but lets face it. I couldn't find a good way to argue it. Everyone complains that the Boy Scouts need to grow a pair and stop letting postmodernism flout them down but is it fully the Boy Scouts problem? What if I were to tell you there was an organization responsible for them to go further into these depths more so than anyone else? I think you know it's the government, but how is that so? Well, years back I remember watch Penn and Teller's Bullshit about how apparently the Boy Scouts wanted to Discriminate against Atheist and Homosexual Scouts as a private organization which is perfectly fine BUT THEY ACCEPTED FEDERAL TAX DOLLARS. That's right, the Boy Scouts are a public organization masquerading as a private one and everyone thinks their postmodern aspects are part of that. I've tried researching about when the Boy Scouts when public but it seems the most recent was with legislation from both the Clinton and Second Bush eras which are the most pertinent. And trust me, they way they are acting now, they're acting like a public organization which is it. So if people want to take the Boy Scouts back, petition Donald Trump to STOP GIVING THE SCOUTS TAX MONEY! It's not that difficult but no one remembers this. But also, do I think girls should join the Boy Scouts? No. Because it's the Boy Scouts. IF they were private, they could discriminate that fact. But they can't and people should've payed more attention about this.

Marcos' Philosophy 101 What is Philosophy?

I know I reserved this for last week but I can do it now.

So Welcome To Marcos' 101 Philosophy Course. Just the basic knowledge of the big ideas. (Trust me, they are vital and sometimes confusing depending on who you chose to read.)

So Let's start with 3 Important Questions

1) What is Philosophy?

2) What are the main branches of Philosophy?

3) What is the use of Philosophy?

What is Philosophy? Philosophy is simply Put, the literal love of knowledge from 2 Greek roots. But primarily it's a system of beliefs rooted in logic to understand the world around us.

I think might be too simplistic an answer but the gist is still the same. Philosophy allows us to look at the world more analytically and understand how the world works and what make us human. It's the vital essence of discovery primarily.

What are the main branches of Philosophy?
Philosophy has been divided into many specific categories of schools of interpretation, knowledge, and belief and it can all be pretty confusing as someone might talk of philosophy of science and mathematics or be a materialist or determinism, but just ignore all these primarily other than their names. I'll get into some of them later when we talk about ethics and the other branches.

In fact, Ethics is one of the main branches.

I categorized the main branches of Philosophy down to 5 Branches each with a question in need of an answer.

Metaphysics: What is the world made of and is it real?

Epistemology: How do we discover knowledge for ourselves?

Ethics: What Moral Code should I follow to lead me to a good life?

Politics: What social structure shall be used to govern the people?

Aesthetics: What is art/beauty and its purpose?

These 5 are just my personal opinion on the most important subjects since every philosopher must at least talk about these 5 branches once in their works, though sadly many have brushed aesthetics aside.

What is the use of Philosophy?

Like Religion, Philosophy is meant to be used as a guide for living a better life. It's to find solace in the difficult times and understand ourselves a lot more than the average person sees them self. It's to find meaning in our world and many atheists, such as myself, explore this world to find the answers and the purpose in our lives. Even the religious have used or studied philosophy, specifically their own religion and sometimes, other religions to gain understanding. Remember, Know Thyself.

Thanks for tuning in, Next week, we'll be looking at metaphysics and discussing the two most debated positions of metaphysics.

A Gamer's Halloween

Hey Darlings! I have good news! It's Friday the 13th! And what better way to do this than suggest games for all of you guys to play for the rest of Halloween. Today, I'm gonna suggest some of the video games I follow/am interested/played that fill the scares this Halloween. So get those controllers and get ready to face your monsters!

1) REsident Evil: This is the remake of the game, not the one where you are a "Jill Sandwich." Yeah, I know, its cheesy but all the dialogue was cheesy. "You the master of unlocking?" "Don't scare me! That's what I was gonna say!" Ok. I'm gonna try not to give back cringy memories of bad voice acting but lets face it, we all kinda loved it and learned not to make bad voice acting in gaming. Resident Evil was the game to revolutionize survival horror with limited ammunition and choices, a maze-like manor to survive the zombies from, and a couple of new add-ons to make the game still feel fresh. Let's hope REsident Evil 2 (RE meaning remake) follows a similar suit compared to the action packed Resident Evil 5 and 6. It's available for Gamecube, PS3, PS4, XBOX 360, and XBOX One.

2) The House of the Dead Series: This Light Gun Series used to scare me but then I realized it was just 1 and 2 with their low pixelization but still fun game play. This game has more bad voice acting "To protect the LIFE CYCLE!" "Our Emperor shall awaken soon, Hurry Friends." Just imagine Goldman's voice saying this and it's very very bad. But I did like the guy they chose for HOTD 4. But anyway, it's another zombie game but more action oriented than our previous game and there is HOTD 2 & 3 return for Wii and HOTD 3 and 4 for PS3 and PS4 download. No efforts had been made to remaster 1 but there HOTD Overkill which parodies Rated X Grind-house Exploitation Movies. It's Hilarious and I love how Issac Washington was inspired the great Sam. L. Jackson. Also Overkill features the most swearing in a video game for cut scenes and dialogue. "Freeze Bitches!"

3) Castlevania series: I've only played 3 of the games but at least I played Symphony of the Night. Definitely get your hands on it as you can PS Store Download it as part of the PS1 classics. The other two are Lament of Innocence and Order of Ecclesia. The metroidvania style is pretty cool and some people have tried to bring it back. But anyway, this was one of the first horror themed games. Unlike most with a scary level, it was all about the monsters. But warning for those playing SOTN. Another cheesy dialogue game but still solid game play. (Honestly, I think the acting is good but the translators and scriptwriters could've tried a little harder looking at their mistakes.) "I'm sorry young master, but I can't betray the master." (This is the librarian talking to Alucard about not wanting to betray Dracula and the PSP remake fixed this flub referring them respectively as the Young Master and The Count.)

4) Clock Tower and Haunting Ground: This is a double whammy because I watched both of the playthoughs on YouTube and it's a shame both are highly underrated. The Steam Game Cry Night was a call back to the original Clock Tower but got mixed reviews. However, Clock Tower is a fun game with that looming sense of dread with your killer and you can only knock him out or avoid/hide. It adds that sense of helplessness. It's only avaiable on PSX and a PS Emulator but it was pretty good with a great horror story and a good cast of both victims and suspects for who the Scissorman is. (More cheesy dialogue with cheesier acting.) "Come here you scissor fingered little runt." But he just wields a pair of scissors. And Haunting Ground was supposed to be Clock Tower 4 but it was given a different name and no Scissor wielding psycho made an appearance. Don't get me started with Clock Tower 3. But it featured a female protagonist in a seemingly abandoned castle with a very stranged and isolated feel. The cast is minimal but I think that's what makes the story better because they decided not to add so many characters. Also, I love the dog Hewie who will protect you. Haunting Ground is only available for PS2 and is a very rare find but when you get it, hold on to it and protect it.

5) Costume Quest 1 and 2: This is for the kiddies. And it's a fun game. When evil creatures take over a neighborhood for Halloween, a mysterious pumpkin scarecrow gives you magic powers to unleash your costumes. The Game is short but sweet and was created by the Tim Schafer studio Double Fine so you can expect a bunch of jokes that are good, clever, and oddball. It's a very short but sweet game and there is a sequel which i have yet to play. I love how this game makes you feel like a kid again with trick or treating and how your mom used to make those handmade costumes, (I loved it when she made my Capt. Hook costume one Halloween and I wish I had a pic of it.) It's available on Steam and PS3 from what I know.

6) Darkest Dungeon: This is a VERY Hard game. You will quit the missions a lot but that's the point from the creators. A Kickstarter Game inspired by Lovecraftian Horror, you inheirit a mansion and assemble a team to search the titular Darkest Dungeon. Beware the monsters, cultists, and people who went insane looking for the secrets of the Darkest Dungeon. The playstyle is an RPG but the set up preparations might be the most intricate and difficult I've seen but it will take a lot of trial and error similar to Dark Souls. And once you get through, it can be very rewarding. Oh and your team mates will die ... eventually. So sometimes, you shouldn't invest too much in them or you can and make them stronger. There are many paths that get you through the Darkest Dungeon. Choose Carefully.

7) Dark Souls/Bloodbourne: These are most difficult games of the modern era but they are fun. I rage quit Dark Souls 1 though. Bloodbourne is missing but I'll get it back soon. I have to give more to Bloodboure because I love the Victorian Gothic Aesthetic of the Game and all the enemies are that combo of trial and error as I mentioned. The enviornments are wonderfully grim and foreboding, giving you fear about what lies beyond even if it's a surrounding you are familiar with. And the enemies are the most grotesque even if the game isn't fully considered horror. They bring elements of dread, fear, panic, helplessness, and other aspects of Horror Video Games that make sense Bloodbourne is available on PS4 only. Dark Souls is available for PS3.

Honorable Mentions:
Remothered: Tormented Fathers: This game is made by Chris Darill, an italian fanartist who tried his hand in remaking Clock Tower but evolved into something I could definitely say is better. Check out his deviantart and Facebook Pages. Remothered will be coming soon to Steam.

Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem: A Highly Underrated Game, my friends told me about this one. Sadly, It's rare and was only released for Gamecube. But this game's Sanity Meter fucked things up with hallucinations of monsters, ghosts, and even the system pretending to act up to give a 4th wall break that is truly an interesting experience.

Bioshock: It is horror but some consider it more a tragedy but there elements of fear in this immersive underwater city inspired (very very loosely by the philosophy of Objectivism. I'll go into another article mentioning this and what most Objectivists skip on Bioshock 2 and Bioshock Infinite.) But it's still a fearful ride as you try to survive and get out of Rapture with a simplistic choice matters game mechanic of saving or using the Little Sisters.

Higurashi and Umineko no Naku Koro Ni: These two are Japanese Sound Novels, so you read it but at your own pace. The stories are confusing, intricate, and maddening with characters going psycho, betraying one another, people disappearing or being killed by either diseases, each other, or bloodthirsty witches from Hell. In the later ends of these stories, they evolve into Tragedies moreover than Horror. Any fan of slasher stories would love these games.

Tune in for some Board Game suggestions next Friday!

Archaic Smile Review

OK everyone. After all the waiting and patience you had, allow me to review "Archaic Smile."

Archaic Smile is a book of Poems by A.E. Stallings, an American Poet currently living in Greece. In fact I would say this move had prompted her ideas to write this set of poems.

Background
"Archaic Smile" is primarily inspired from Greek Myth. In fact the title of the book refers to sculptors in Ancient Greece had given to statues to give them a more realistic look from two types of statues, Kouros, the male statues, and Kore, the female statues and the time period that popularly used them in the B.C./B.C. E. On the jacket cover is a statue of Kore, sometimes depending on interpretation being Persephone's name before she was Hades' wife, or just a regular woman of city life.

Poetic Style
Unlike the modern free verse poetry that popularized the movement, many poets like Robert Frost chose to write and respect the classic norms of poetry. A.E. Stallings follows this movement now currently called New Formalism. New Formalism is a call back to respect rhyme, line, form, rhythm, and meter in poetry. Of course many of us usually read poetry as if it was in a sing song style but the rhythm of poetry is variously different especially with the subject matter. Also, The way the book opens up with "A Postcard from Greece" and ends with "Night Shift" which focuses on an after midnight train ride which is in my opinion, a great way to get us into the world of her poetry and characterizing the leave as like that midnight train ride to look back, sleepless due to the experiences we had when reading these poems.

Poems
"Archaic Smile" is divided into 4 parts of poems: A Beastiary, Underworld, For the Loser of Things and Touring the Labyrinth (Not in that order though) And each poem in the parts are respected with being in other poems in each specific part.  In Underworld, Stallings writes about the two famous myths of the underworld being Persephone and Hades and Orpheus and Eurydice. But what she does with the poems is add on to the story in prose form with Persephone writing to her mother about what the underworld is like and describes how the roots of trees adorn the ceilings of the underworld. But I also love her own unique myths or interpretations of myths as seen in "How the Demons were Assimilated and Became Productive Citizens." 

Imagery
Since all poems use Imagery to conceptualize their ideas, values, and stories, Stallings' imagery is mostly focused on detailed sight and sounds from specific items. Like when Persephone describes the chiming of the shovels unearthing the ground in "Persephone Writes a Letter to her Mother." Primarily her direct usage of the English language also allows her to use words for their lyrical aspects in a similar fashion to the style of plays with dialogue being lyrical in a sense.

Opinion and Review
"Archaic Smile" does a wonderful job with the resource material used to reinterpret, add on, or create myths of all kinds in relation to Greek Myth. The prose, symbols, and imagery used in her poems are all wonderfully used and are quick to read and wonderful To any of my readers who love poetry or want a book of poetry to begin reading poetry, or who love Greek Myth, Archaic smile is a great start and a good book to read as well as giving a unexpected beacon of hope for good art and uplifting art in a postmodern art society. 4.5/5

Archaic Smile is available on Amazon for $15 plus shipping and handling.

What Plans Do I Have in Mind and Progress on the so far

Kind of a simple title I think and a little clickbaitey but what can you do.

But for those who didn't know, I lived with my great aunt Sophia and her husband/my great uncle and family friend Leo. Sadly within two years of living with them Opa Leo passed away and it was very difficult for just the two of us to pick up the pieces with living together without a third member of our home. Eventually my Aunt had to be moved to a nursing home where she is still staying in and will be there for almost a whole year now and it makes me look back because in about one year so much was shoved onto me and I had to do my best to navigate how I would do it. Overall, there were definable missteps around the situation but now things are pretty ok.

I would say right now, I'm looking at a different angle on how to progress with my life in both my oriented goals/dreams and more practical work that I plan to do. So far I have things in the general but specifically, I'd say we're on track. But to explain, allow me to say what has happened.

I've started paying off my debts I owe people but I still have some left creeping over my shoulder. Overall though, I'm doing a pretty good job of budgeting and managing my finances over time. I keeping with my responsibility though there are some debts I have pushed on the backburner a bit with a recent one being on my mind just recently and my plans to make it smaller are hopeful but it's a lets see.

I paid my first rent last month with the acquisition of our new home from our landlord and also I am happy to say that my room is complete but It could be cleaner due to a box on my desk of books that i won't be able to read or am not interested in reading them or I already own a copy of it. (If anyone is interested please message me on FB and I'll see if I remember what I have and what it's about.) Although now that I think about it, I still have many books left in the storage unit that I need to bring back to the room. But that's for another time since I also want to begin the process of trashing the entire storage unit.

I've recently went back to the gym to improve my health and am going back on a diet to motivate my healthy eating habits again. Sadly after my aunt went to the nursing home, I didn't have the best budget to do groceries and I had to cancel my gym membership. Now with the recent work I'm doing and the other debts I pay off, I am able to contribute more to groceries for my grandparents. (I live with them now.)

Also I am beginning the process of starting to take over my grandfathers business as a tax accountant. But as of right now, it's more on the physical aspect as I am beginning, with him, to move the office more into our new front house. However, since the rushed aspects of moving to our new home has gotten us a little tired, we are taking things slow even so since other events, my work with Uber, his need to finish the late taxes before the 15th of this month, and our slow progress to make the final touches shine in making our new home, our new home. So far, the biggest progress made was when I cleaned out his office of old and bad paperwork which is a very good start so far.

As for writing, I'm afraid I've stumbled into a bit of writers block. Even if it's just for a few stories, that means a few stories have to be cut which is not my favorite thing to do. especially when some I want to make my premiere stories overall as well. But I'd say my short story anthology has the best progress so far with all the different short stories I've been planning. All of which are of different genres, tales, and hopefully, will become larger than what they are into expanding them for plans into my own writing universe or universes depending. And my first play is still in the drafting aspects and I'm juggling whether some characters should be considered major or minor or deleted altogether. Some characters are just better being missing from the action in the long run. But it doesn't mean I probably won't use them or we won't see them again as I've always looked at some of my budding beginner ideas before I fully took the course of writer into my own hands to reintroduce old characters and make them have prominence elsewhere. Also, I'd say that I'm still trying to find out which of my podcast ideas I want to develop first. So far I got 4 main ones, 5 if I could the one with 20 cast members that I still am deciding what their character arcs are. But pieces are falling into place and I have time to scribble a few notes to myself.

All in all, it's a slow process but things are getting done. Hopefully some things can be done a little faster but it will take time. Thanks. Sorry it wasn't all just a fun musing but stay tuned tomorrow for my review of Archaic Smile.

Apologies and The Whole Mess of Vegas

So I want to apologize for not writing yesterday as events led me to do different things, Now I'm starting to get ahead of things again which is good.

Ok, well I know you guys wanted to hear me say my opinion as I opted out because well, It was a shell shock to me about this but the more and more I think about this case, there are a lot of  places that need to be investigated. I'm not a conspiracy theorist in any way, Hardly. I believe in conviction, facts, and proof. If I see a well reasoned argument, I will listen and admit my mistakes. But this case was lousily investigated and doesn't do justice for those who have died in this tragic accident.

For example, how did the gunman get all those guns and ammunition to his hotel room? Hotel security in a Las Vegas Hotel is very tight and it would be suspicious for any man to not only hide them but get cleaning services in there. Also, was there just one gunman where my family members, mostly in the marines, police force, or have shot guns before, were able to recognize the sounds of two different guns going off? And these are just a few questions of numerous that well, we won't be able to answer or explain. It's all lost because of the issue that the police will take care of it but the way the police has done the investigation is lousy and off putting and is shaming to anyone who calls themselves investigators to stop crime. But the origins of a lousy investigation goes with the media who have warped it into an agenda fueled crisis.

The media has exploited all these people into being treated as martyrs for their cause of creating their agenda to ban guns rather than investigate the truth behind if we have a lone gunman or more than one person on record here (there was a maniac crying out "you're all going to die" but whether we can say for sure he's crazy or working with the gunman, we won't figure it out any more.) And trust me, Fake News couldn't fit these mongrels in the media more. The more I heard about the investigation, the more I heard about this need for gun control and that the NRA is a bunch of heartless monsters and on and on and on. (And you'd think they'd learn their lesson with all this accusatory idealism with need to back their claims with something called EVIDENCE!) For the media, it's all about control and controlling the opinion of the masses in de herder (German for The Herd) mentality. (I apologize but I will sometimes use Latin or other language phrases and euphemisms if appropriate.)

The Media mostly claims that guns are the problem but this is an outright lie. The problem is people like the killer here who psychologically is insane, totally knew what he was doing with spreading murder and chaos. People with no apathy for other's concerns or safety who take it upon themselves to control people and it's obvious this killer acted like he was a puppet master cutting the strings of what he perceived to be "his dolls." His actions we're totally into account but blaming a gun, a tool used for various things to hunt and survive, to get food, to protect friends and family, to stop evil people, is all preposterous. And every time the media and socialists (they don't deserve to be called Liberals because I am a Liberal and I'm taking my name back bitches! Also they're a bunch of money grubbing and money hating assholes) look for a scapegoat to avoid the real reason why people do this. Because they feel entitled to something and not getting it provides the darker motives for any case. A Sense of entitlement is the core of this deep rooted hatred but motive will vary on what kind of entitlement that is. And as we all have learned from Prohibition, The Drug Wars, and other bans and embargo, Banning something will not cause a solution to happen. Criminals are also not effected by the law because they break the law anyway and can easily manipulate their surroundings to do so. They can even find ammunition in the black market to try to cause a panic. They will find a way. And once they do, more bloodshed will happen. Our guns aren't only just a right to decide whether we want one or not but also, they protect us in case the police can't get to us fast enough and keep an environment safer with people and RESPONSIBLE gun owners know better than to do things like this. I should know. I was one when I owned a gun so all those accusations of all gun owners are bad eventually go back to myself as a former owner of a Glock 17 and you also attack many of my friends and family which is not cool.

I want to leave off with two important messages before I go. There was an infamous socialist named Saul Alinksy (you'll need to do your homework on him kids) and he was famous for saying a more eloquent version of the phrase "Never let a good crisis go to waste." A radical socialists himself, Alinsky had written the book Rules for Radicals to motivate political upheavals and movements akin to the Communist/Socialist agenda to make sure to take advantage of innocents to motivate a minority to an often wicked Revolution. And on that note, there is one thing I want to mention one more thing. I wanted to see the series The People vs. O.J. Simpson. This is a good TV series I heard and one reviewer (a member of the forum For the New Intellectuals on Facebook if you ever want the knowledge and firepower to lash back at the real fascists) said that for the court episodes "One side presented the facts and one side presented a story." Think hard about that and you'll see why the Socialists love presenting a story more than the facts.

My New Blog Schedule

Hello Darlings.

While doing work, I have came up with a new schedule that will be posted Monday through Friday to discuss various topics. Don't worry, the best will all be for when we're closer to the weekend.

Every Monday is dedicated to my Philosophy Class where I discuss different philosophies, talk about which ones have influenced my life, my personal stances on controversial positions and stances, and a basic 101 course if you're interested. (Best part is, you don't have to pay a penny for this. But note this will be very basic until I go into specific philosophies I have studied or am studying.) So it's a wake up for your week and trust me, it's big. But I'll make it understandable for us all. Just to prepare you guys, for the next couple of weeks, I'll be going on to discussing What is Philosophy as well as the main branches of every philosophy or what branches each philosophy should contain.

Tuesday is for our occasional politics so Monday and Tuesday have correlations between one another so you can imagine that. But it's gonna be one post a week or some political commentary but luckily unlike most of your annoying political friends who post on and on again about how either Trump or Obama or who the fuck they're complain about is ruining the country, you'll hear bias on my politics but with a more rational edge.

Wednesday is my personal life blog. A day in regards to what's been going on in my life though this will be both long and short depending on what is on my mind and what projects I've been working on, (I still have a lot and I'm still working on all those short stories. I can go into further details but don't ask what they're about as I keep making that mistake. I'm looking at you T.K. Coleman with your response to let everyone know about the progress of your work because I'm still trying to do that without spoiling plot, characterization, and other important aspects.) Also I'll talk about my cosplay projects too I have in the upcoming future so that'll be fun as well.

Thursday is Book Day. I'll be reviewing both Classical and Pop Literature and what inspires me or what books I'll be trying to read or find out more about. Also I'll be including some of the authors that have inspired me or that I've started getting into. And this upcoming Thursday I'll be reviewing A. E. Stallings' Archaic Smile, a book of poetry you can get on Amazon for $15.

Lastly, Friday is all about Games. Board Games, Video Games, just gaming in general. Also since it's Halloween, (and though Horror scares the hell out of me) I'll suggest some Halloween related games or in the spirit of Halloween Games, and just any special announcements from some of my favorite companies and their games as well as once in a while, a Friday-Monday continuation with Philosophy and Philosophic Ideas in video gaming.

I hope to enjoy more from you guys! Later Darlings!

Good News, Bad News, and Happy Boyfriend Day!

We have now moved into our new place. Now it’s just to get the knickknacks ready so that’s why I haven’t posted pictures yet. Also, we’re still in the process of getting our WiFi and TV (I just need Netflix and other things to make me happy. Note to self, need to get CrunchyRoll after I pay off debts.) But everything is working out pretty great.

For the bad news, well I haven’t come up with a schedule but overall it’s to write a new blog post every weekday and each has a different theme or intertwines with other days too. Also, I wanted to take some moments of silence for the Tragedy of Las Vegas, Puerto Rico and it’s recovery (and the recoveries of Texas and Florida as we still have a lot to build up before we can go back on track), the deaths of Hugh Heffner (though we played on different playing fields I respected your view on sex that it was unapologetic, fun, and Good despite Church and Society loving to say no all the time) Tom Petty (you fought hard man, now go free falling out in style and we won’t do you like that) and to Gameshow host and icon Monty Hall (thanks for making many deals with us). But a small word before I finish. I know among tragedies many of us love to go all political after them especially with what I’ve seen with this domestic terrorist. But let’s mourn first. Don’t let those who think “Let no crisis go to waste” overpower what needs to be done with ensuring people’s lives and safety comes first and then we can discuss what we should do, (that will be a topic for another day just later in the month.) Thank you.

Now as I just learned it’s Boyfriend Day so I want to make a very important shout out to mine! Happy Boyfriends day Boo! And here’s to many more of them! :)

And to all the rest of the guys and girls out there, have a fun time with your boyfriends!
(Sorry Husbands you’ll have to wait a different day unless this is it. Then join on in!)

Persona 5 Review

I just want to apologize about this review being so late and how I need desperately to start better organization of my blog. Well I’ll just say next time, I’ll be featuring a review of a book of poetry I’ve recently finished and then work out some better schedule hopefully when I’m not at work. In the meantime enjoy this Persona 5 review.

Out of all the video games I have loved, none have struck a cord with me more than the Shin Megami Tensei Franchise. My first game from them was Persona 4 as a PS2 Classic you can buy for PS3 and then it went from that game to starting to get all the games in the overall Shin Megami Tensei Franchise that I could play.

When I heard of Persona 5's release date I was estatic expecting another good entry to the series. Overall, despite all the delays, and perfections, I'd say this might be the best Persona Game to date and a first in the Game of the Year Award in my opinion.

Story

Persona 5 takes place in the Shibuya province of Tokyo and is where the Protagonist currently lives. After being held accountable for an act of defense (he pushed a man who was attempting to sexually abuse a woman) He was arrested by the police to be an aggressive vagabond. Moving to Shibuya was part of his probation as he now lives with a random stranger and is stuck in a restrictive high school called Shujin Academy. After trying to lead a respectable life until the next year, (when his probation is over) he stumbles upon a meatverse castle and meets up with corrupt versions of people called Shadows. Later on, he and a group of young teenagers rebelling against the corruption of adults, the restrictions of their society and school, and with a verge of justice form The Phantom Thieves of Hearts while they steal the shadows' most important treasures; their hearts. Traveling to the metaverse at night; being a high school student by day. This is Persona 5.

Backstory

To give perspective on Persona 5, the main game was inspired by pictaresque novels with theieves and heroes like Robin Hood, Zorro, and Arsene Lupin. (All of which are Personas in the game and Arsene is our Protagonist's Persona.) But on top of that, the primarily theme of this game was made to be imprisonment and being free from it. As well as this main reference, this video game is from a spin off series from a spin off series where primarily, you summon demons to fight in the ultimate war of law vs. chaos. (but if I have another SMT game review, I'll do it and explain or rather, I could explain the origins of the series and the main interests of how a cult series became so worldwide) However, in this game, All demons are called Personas in reference to how each person has a persona mask they hide under and a shadow dark side that can consume them in accordance to Carl Jung's psychology known as Persona theory. In all Persona Games, each protagonist goes to a school and gets involved in events that randomly happened and thus they solve each of the mysterious issues but the series also deals with many serious issues including Loss, Isolation, Coming Out and Accepting One's self, Freedom over Slavery, The Negative Impact of Rumors, Depression, and even Suicide. But that doesn't mean each game is so serious it's off-puting. There are many lighthearted moments, giving the right balance of serious and well-crafted storytelling and breathers to enjoy the story overall.

Gameplay

The game has a combo effect of being an JRPG and a life simulator. In the day, for the life SIM, you play an arrested student who didn’t commit a crime he was accused of and has a year of parole to uphold. If unsuccessful, he goes back to jail. On regular days, you’ll be dealing with school, trying to raise your stats and making money from Part-Time Jobs in order to buy and find equipment or gain allies who have abilities to help you with proceeding easier in the game. And before you fight the Shadows of each Palace, you can enter the Velvet Room. The Velvet Room is a mysterious realm in the crossroads between mind and matter where Igor, the host and master (though it’s actually Philemon but that’s another story) of the Velvet Room, can fuse your Personas you have obtained from Palaces. And all the Personas are fused through various executions like Guilloutine, Electric Chair, Incarceration, Hanging, etc. and all serve various purposes to help level up your Personas and gain new abilities. Mentioned earlier in the Backstory part of this review, all enemies are Personas but the cool part is all enemies are based on mythological characters from the ones we read about (Greek/Roman/Norse) to the more hidden mythos (Australian Aboriginal Mythology, Balinese, Chinese, Demonology) to the mainstream religions (Judeo-Christian, Hindu, Shinto). Each has a variety of weaknesses and strengths and capturing them all makes it all the more effective in Progressing though the Palaces and gives off that Pokemon feel. (Ironically, the video game that was the original series to Persona, Shin Megami Tensei, was created years before Pokemon, one was just more popular in Japan and thus translated well into America) Palaces are the meta-verses' castles where strong Shadows hold their darkest sins and their precious treasure. As a thief, it's your job to steal them. It mainly involves finding maps to find the treasure rooms where the heart of the Vile Targets are and then fight a boss battle after you send a calling card. And rinse and repeat until the end.

Battle System:

Before I finish up, let's go over the battle System because it may seem easy but it will kill anyone who is a noob. The SMT series is often seriously and jokingly referred to as the Dark Souls of the RPG world. Though partially true, this is due to the infamy that is Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne. The first SMT game to be officially known to the Western World. (Originally the Spin off, Jack Bros. was the first SMT game but it was never marketed as part of the series and the original Persona was called Persona: Revelations and also not marketed as SMT.) Primarily it's a turn based RPG that focuses on weakness exploitation. As mentioned in the game mechanics, hit a weakness and you gain an extra turn, don’t and it can backfire. Worse of all, your enemies also have this so be careful on which party members you have because you can’t switch out their personas because they are permanent mainstays but your main character can change all his Personas including his first one. And if the main character dies, it’s automatically game over. Always take care of No. 1.

Final thought:
Persona 5 plays brilliantly and has a wonderful punk rebel style with stylish tones to characterize your picaresque situation. The RPG will be a nice challenge for newcomers and welcome to fans of SMT. And also I wish to add before I go, this game has a great Acid Jazz soundtrack. Shogi Meguro is the composer of this series and he does a great job using JPop (Japanese Pop music) and the minimalist tones of his acid jazz soundtrack to come with catchy tunes you’ll be having on your mind and possibly be humming or singing along to. (Just listen to Wake Up Get Up Get Out There, Last Suprise, and Beneath the Mask to understand what I’m saying.) So I give Persona 5, a 5/5. Perect with not only styling, gameplay and story but also themes and aesthetic choices to fit the overal tone and mood to keep us engaged.