A Brief Overview of A Monkey of Books

Andi Mack is now the greatest crash-and-burn in network history. Too bad I'm the only one on this entire planet who really recognizes it.

What is it? It's my new WordPress site!
What network did it air on? Uhh, WordPress I guess.
Who stars in it? Uhhh, me I guess, yay! Also Mike if I can figure out how although...maybe not since the focus will be different.
Why are we reviewing this? Uhhh we're not reviewing it per se but it's my site so there.

Yeah I don't know why I did the standard review opening for this.

But anyway, I have a new WordPress site, "A Monkey of Books." If you go there you will find...the bare unmodified WordPress template for anything that hasn't been changed yet because that's exactly at the point I am at.

But to run down a few questions:

What is "A Monkey of Books"? (Other than the obvious, yeah yeah we get it it's your WordPress site, but what?) 

It's the site I'm going to use as kind of my primary author's platform for the time being (along with a WordPress that I registered under my real name) as I launch my writing career.

I've been told by other authors I need to do it so...I did it.

As such it's going to focus on books and writing - not necessarily book reviews (although probably, although I already have a BlogSpot where I do that too that probably exactly none of you bother to visit anyway) but on the writing process and talking about genres (probably mostly young adult because that's what I mostly read, so sue me) and about the reading process too (since I'm a legit speed reader so there).

Now that I think about it it'll probably mostly supercede my "Writings (And Musings) Of Ray" Blogspot entirely, which I started well, well before this blog (and before Christian and Sean) but yeah. Maybe I'll think of something for that space too, I don't necessarily see a big reason to deactivate it as such.

And as for this site, hold on for two questions.

So why "A Monkey of Books?"

Monkey is British slang for 500 (namely half a bag in quid and such, yo). As it stands right now I'm on pace to read 500 books this calendar year (well, "titles" since a lot of that includes graphic novels, but I'm hoping my average book/"title" length will end up being over 300 pages long. And I'm probably going to fail that goal if I don't stop blogging here and get to work reading anyway). 

In the writing group I belong to, where I launched this WordPress (because they told me to) we have a lot of in-jokes about monkies and when we launch a sample WordPress on how to launch a WordPress the "training" site ends up having "Monkey" worked in the title, so OK.

What about this blog? What's it's future? Are you going to deactivate it?

No. This will be as it always was - Creepy asides, random pro-SJW rants and somewhere in there reviews of Nickelodeon and Disney Channel shows, just like it says in the subheader. As for a layout that doesn't suck, maybe one day I'll do that (BlogSpot does give you options) but now that I have a WordPress I feel less incentive to do that. 

But yeah, I'll still be talking Nickelodeon and Disney Channel (and general TV topics) here. There's a certain freeform (or is that Freeform?) I feel I have a freedom here, especially since my WordPress is for my professional writing career so it carries...certain expectations that I feel I'm free from here. I do enjoy the very informal nature of which I do things here, spelling mistakes and all, to just rant about Nickelodeon and Disney Channel shows.

So, um, there.

So after years of talking about it, I finally just did it

I launched a WordPress site.

It's...still in early construction. I'm still trying to figure out how to set it up and let Mike post in it.

Will we abandon this site? No. The WordPress is going to be a different focus as I'm launching a new writing career, so Nickelodeon and Disney Channel (and other broad entertainment) reviews will remain here. The BlogSpot format...isn't too horrible for this kind of thing.

We also have a Tumblr. We've had a Tumblr for, I think, close to a year now? Over a year?

...I probably should've mentioned that sooner.

Current Disney Channel and Nickelodeon live-action only shows between now and the premiere of Coop and Cami, Ranked

Disney Channel:

Standing Alone At The Top Tier: Bizaardvark
Shockingly improved but still very bad tier: Bunk'd
Unwatchable Garbage Tier: Literally everything else (yes this includes Andi Mack now, deal with it)

Nickelodeon:

Standing Alone At The Top Tier: I Am Frankie
Excited To See It's Returning Tier: Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel
Unwatchable Garbage Tier: Henry Danger

...I literally don't know of any other live-action Nickelodeon shows right now. This might be a new low record in a long time, if not since the early 90s.

Star Falls and Knight Squad are part of the new class of live-action Nick shows. I don't know how long either show will last (especially Star Falls, which should have been a TV movie instead of a series), but from what I've seen, both are pretty decent.

I watched the season two premiere of I Am Frankie (well, most of it) and an episode from season one, and it looks like the show is alright. I was getting vibes of The Secret World of Alex Mack. Anyone ever watched that show? They almost never show it on TV, but this episode was like the one where Alex splits into two different personalities: One good and one evil. They really should air reruns on The Splat. If I watch more I Am Frankie episodes, I'll go further with the comparisons.

You know what? The Loud House deserves to be in the top tier. Animated or not, it's the only show right now that really gives me that feeling of quality. I don't see it as an alright show, it's a genuinely good show with a 90s style that doesn't feel like pandering.

Disney Channel and Nickelodeon have both died. Once Bunk'd, Raven's Home, Andi Mack, and I Am Frankie end, they will never recover.

Freaky Friday DCOM Reviewed

Don't call her a tool! Nobody's calling anybody any names here! Alternatively, an entire song about trying to pass Biology with maybe some subtext about love or something that doesn't really work, yay!

What is it? A Disney Channel Original Movie, yo! Although we had Z-O-M-B-I-E-S (yes I'm going to insist on that because that's how Disney should've marketed it) back in February, it certainly feels even longer since we've had one of these (which probably speaks more about Z-O-M-B-I-E-S more than anything but...that's another review).
Where did it air? Oh, I'm sure you can watch Disney Channel Original Movies on Nickelodeon or even HBO....
Who stars in it? Cozi Zuehlsdorff who, yeah, you had to Google that to spell it right too, anyway this is her first starring DCOM role, some older actress person who I'm too lazy to look up, a bunch of other people yeah yeah, Dana Renee in what's apparently her very first TV acting role period so props on that, and Marlowe Percival, a guy who Disney Channel somehow decided would be great to make wear a wig and play a girl and yet still ended up one of the hottest DCOM chicks ever who I wrote more about, uh, here. 
Why are we reviewing this? Well, it's a DCOM but...actually more on that but yeah, we review DCOMs here so there.

So, umm, there's a lot to unpack here.

Much of which I already did in the article I, uh, linked up there. But now's the time to talk 2018 Freaky Friday strictly from an entertainment/literary/wider television landscape analysis.

Annnnnnnnd...even completely tabling my questioning-trans status completely and pretending it doesn't exist at all and not something I've thought a lot about since literally I've been capable of thought so no this isn't just some suddenly new thing for me but...there's a lot of, um, questioning about this one.

For starters I thought it was actually...ok? Yeah let's talk about that first.

By far the best thing about the movie, if I'm not going to just go on and on about how pretty Marlowe is in a wig and fake boobs to the point where he probably would want to empty a Rotofury's entire dart load straight into my face, is the opening sequence. It's very beautifully, whimsically and creatively done but...all the same, when I'm praising the opening credits as the most creative and best part of the movie, that's sad, yo. 

The decision to make it a musical...ok it's bizarre. I've never seen any of the previous versions of Freaky Friday so I don't know if they're even musicals or not. But the musical numbers in this one felt very much like an after-thought. They don't serve to carry or convey or add to the plot in a proper musical, like in any of the given HSM movies (yes even the second one) or Teen Beach Movie (or even...the second one...) or Lemonade Mouth, they instead serve as a very hard stop and pause to that same action. That's...pretty much the exact opposite of what musical numbers are supposed to do. Or the exact opposite of what any narrative device is supposed to do. It doesn't feel like I'm suddenly watching two separate movies, but rather, that they decided to film two separate scripts written for the same movie and somehow try to edit them seamlessly into one.

Spoiler alert: they failed at it.

What certainly doesn't help is that the musical numbers...also just sucked. Hard. About as hard as I want Marlowe...ok, even to me this is just coming off as an open, very public display of sexual harassment so I'll stop gushing over how pretty I think he was in this right now. 

I mean I only think Marlowe's pretty in the context presented in this movie anyway, #SorryNotSorry. And ok I promise I'll stop now. Again on the off-chance you're reading this I really don't blame you if you want to fire off a Rotofury directly into my face. Hell even a Mastadon.

But anyway, the musical numbers were hot flaming piles of Bunk'd-level dumpster garbage. There was a musical number of how horrible your parents are. There was a musical number about fucking catering. There was a musical number about fucking Biology class, and yeah I know it was allegorical for love, except I think that's what was intended but they failed hard at it so yeah it's a musical number about trying to fucking pass high school Biology.

I understand this is supposed to be faithful to the musical but...this makes me want to stay away from the musical hardcore. If there's anything everything from Spider-Man to Spongebob has taught us, it's that Broadway should stop trying to turn every fucking thing into a fucking musical.

Oh and let's talk specifically about Go!, or I should say GoooooOOooooOOOooooOOOOOooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!fuckmealready. Yeah, the "soundtrack" of Disney Channel's entire fucking summer. They just started running ads for the official Freaky Friday soundtrack and you know that's just going to fly off the shelves.

The rest of the movie was...ok. It was a yeoman DCOM effort minus the musical bits. Not as great as even lowkey DCOMs I really, really like, like say Geek Charming, How to Build a Better Boy or Bad Hair Day or, yes, I'm being completely serious here - Hatching Pete. Not even like Frenemies which is what I would consider a really great example of what I think is truly So Bad It's Good. It's better than Invisible Sister or the hugely overrated boring snorefest that people think was "great" from Disney Channel's eariest eras for some reason (I'm not kidding I literally used to use The Thirteenth Year off Watch Disney Channel as a sleep aid, yes I'm being extremely literal about this) but that's it.

Which in the grand scheme of things puts it right down the middle of the road. 

As for acting- Cozi did a good job. I really like Cozi. I really liked her in Dophin's Tale, I really liked her in Mighty Med, I really liked her in KC Undercover. Given how she has big screen experience in multiple starring roles, there's no doubt or compulsion to needlessly insult her acting ability. Her singing...she was lip-synced, everybody saw that a billion miles away. Everybody was lip-synced. Cozi was lip-synced in all her songs, What's Her Face Adult was lip-synced in all her songs (and she's reprising her role from the musical!), Dana was lip-synced in all her songs, Marlowe was lip-synced for all speaking roles period. 

That's all I have to talk about quality-wise aside from assigning grades and MVP awards but...yeah let's really dish and talk about how much of a hot mess this movie was.

I disagree with the assertion that this movie wasn't promoted a lot. It was promoted since last year during...Descendants 2 even, I think. I could be wrong but I feel as certain about it as I am not only in my desire for a really hot redhead girlfriend (again) but in my desire to be a really hot redhead myself. Yeah I know just because I came out as questioning...I should quit that too. But it got about as much promotion as say Geek Charming or How to Build a Better Boy or Bad Hair Day or, hell even Cloud 9. So yeah, no, no excuse for that here.

As much as I thought the movie was ok people hated it. It's one of the lowest-rated DCOMs on IMDB right now. The most popular #FreakyFriday hashtags were about how people thought this movie was hot flaming Bunk'd-level dumpster garbage or...porn tags. Yup, as in we're talking actual uncensored dick pics over Twitter through the #FreakyFriday hashtag. Great Job Disney! It's also the lowest rated DCOM since they started Nielsen-rating DCOMs - yes it beat out the infamous Johnny Tsunami: Back on Board. Your average episode of Andi Mack and Bunk'd got about the same ratings.

Literally every single episode premiere of A.N.T. Farm got higher ratings.

Literally every single episode premiere of I Didn't Do It got higher ratings.

LITERALLY EVERY SINGLE EPISODE PREMIERE OF The Adventures of Kid Danger GOT HIGHER RATINGS.

In terms of the raw business of television, this is one of the greatest hot messes Disney Channel has ever had on its hands. And to the movie's credit, not all of it is its fault as DCOM ratings have been on a steady downward slope since before I even started indulging in my feminine manchildish-ness in watching the network. Except it's certainly a much more dramatic slope in the past year or two. It arguably started all the way back with Lemonade Mouth when ratings were only great, not block-buster HSM-numbers, and arguably Disney just had too high expectations. But fast forward that same year through Geek Charming and except for the surge of Good Luck Charlie, It's Christmas! immediately after the DCOM numbers weren't clearly as high as they were back during the height of DCOM-mania (not just when HSM ruled the channel, but when the series-based DCOM was commonplace). GLC ended up being the very last (aside from BS pilots-in-disguise, yeah I'm looking at you Tangled) and I think it was very clear when Shake it Up: Made in Japan ended up being a multi-cam three-parter.

Fast forward to today and...Teen Beach 2 was one of the biggest bombs for the network at that time. Adventures in Babysitting eclipsed that status. It's been just going steadily downhill every since, and now it's a Sisyphean-boulder crashing down the mountainside. 

One of the things that really compelled me to watch Freaky Friday, for old time's sake, is that aside from Descendants 3 this could very well be the last DCOM. Ever.

This is no exaggeration. The business case just isn't there anymore, especially if you need something like Descendants, a mega-event carefully crafted and tailored to meet all the key demo's fetishes (yes really) just to rise above the level of a perfectly normal episode.

So, yeah. What a way to go out.

And at the end of the day, with all the combined considerations of ratings, audience reaction, and even the quality of the work itself, it's really worth asking, after all the work she's put into the network in supporting roles here and there, they decided that, finally, Cozi's very own starring DCOM vehicle...should be this?

They decided it was worth going so far as to make a guy wear a wig and boobs for this?

Episode Grade: A flat-C. It's...a perfectly normal serviceable DCOM dragged down by some extremely questionable musical numbers.

Episode MVP: Marlowe in a wig and boobs because sexy-sexy He's just gonna track me down all the way to the next local Nerf War and just make a point to totally own my ass isn't he? Cozi all the way. I really like her as an actress and this DCOM doesn't change anything about that.

Extra Thoughts:

 - fun fact: I actually got to interact with Cozi during a Periscope! She even answered my question! (it was about Debby of course and what it was like to work with her on Mighty Med).

 - If Marlowe (or anybody) wants to really bring on literal hurt onto me at the next Nerf War I'm at, I suggest a Caliburn.

 - This is a bit after the fact I know and...I'm kind of drunk, but...it just occurred to me that one of the reasons why I liked Cozi especially when she was on Disney Channel with the long hair is...she kind of reminds me of my ex-fiancee, even more than Debby (a lot more actually).

Yeah that's creepy I know I'll stop.

Elementary Reviewed: Uncanny Valley of the Dolls (S6E16)

...in keeping with the strict tradition of this blog, this episode doesn't deserve to get quoted.

What is it? 44-minute single-cam crime/procedural drama
Where did it air? CBS
Who stars in it? Lucy Liu (yes that one, the one and only) and Jaime Lee Miller, ex-husband of Angelina Jolie (no the one before Billy Bob Thornton) as Watson and Holmes.
Why are we reviewing this?:

...because I'm pretty sure this episode is just about the cringiest thing the FCC and Ajit Pai would currently allow on broadcast TV.

...and keep in mind, Ajit Pai's favorite hobby is to dress up like Santa Claus off-season.

Just a reminder, it was Barack Obama who put this man into office. For some reason.

This episode revolves around a sex doll solving the case (hence the name). Yes, it's just as cringey as you think it is, hence why I opened up with that.

...there really isn't anything worth left saying for this individual episode so I'm going to talk about the series as a whole.

I've been watching this show more or less from the beginning, sporadically, with my parents and especially dad who are (more or less) really into it. Going back to my ratings scale it's a pretty consistent C-, and the very definition of a C- show according to that scale. Actually I guess strictly speaking its average would be lower since a C- is I think the highest score this show would ever hope to achieve, and while I don't feel like this show's ever delved into F-territory, it's had some episodes that I feel justify D-range.

This would be one of them.

Many of the problems of this show - yes including the cringe factor, but some pretty glaring factual errors that while not shocking are pretty, well, glaring and give me the impression that the writing and fact-checking staff can't even be bothered to cross-reference freakin' Wikipedia when they write these episodes. Indeed at times it feels like most of their knowledge base and information is coming either from Alex Freakin' Jones or Gizmodo Media, depending on the political leanings of whoever happens to be writing the episode (and yeah it does vary that widely, and yes that is very much a huge dig at Gizmodo Media). It doesn't matter if it's medical science, astrophysics (even relatively simple astrophysics), far-out future science or even the science of criminology - not to mention just the basic legal system itself, knowledge reduced to tropes that anybody watching exactly this kind of show would've learned by now from, again, exactly this kind of show - but some of the logical leaps and conclusions get...pretty far-out there. 

This show's been bounced around a bit - originally having some pretty sweet primetime slots on CBS, it's since been moved to Monday, and then all the way to Sunday which is the absolute kiss of death even compared to Friday - this is where you dump shows you make only because of contractual obligations at this point - but then back again to Monday.

...as a summer burn-off. Which, again, is what you do when you're stuck with a show pretty much due strictly to contractual obligations.

...which are pretty much in full-force here because apparently at this point this show's half-funded by Czech television interests? Apparently this show is like hotcakes over there, who knew?

But thanks to that foreign intervention this is pretty much the show that will not die. Oh believe me, CBS gave it plenty of opportunity - it's been in decent time slots for at least the first three seasons - but ratings have eroded to the point where last year it was the lowest rated series on the entire network.

So, um, yeah.

Episode Grade: D-. This was...cringe, while not really offering anything above that other than some pretty paint-by-numbers procedural stuff.
Episode MVP: The female grad student who ended up doing the murder at the end (oh sorry spoiler alert) just because I thought she was the hottest. So there.

This episode doesn't deserve having Episode MVP awarded for legitimate reasons.

Series Grade: D-, keeping in mind that this is an across-the-board average but also keeping in mind that the highest this show's ever achieved is a C-, maybe a flat-C. According to my own grading scale...this is something I should've gave up on years ago.

...and all those years ago it would've been a C-, something worth watching when I catch it but not something really deserving of going out of the way to watch (and indeed I missed huge chunks of various seasons). 

But I think the move to Burn-Off Land pretty much says all there needs to be said about it.

Extra Thoughts

 - actually I just about had given up on the show permanently except...right around that time (2013, which if you know me at all is a pretty critical year for me), they introduced a subplot where Liu's Watson was temporarily replaced by a pretty redhead who was trying to overcome trauma from being raped and trying to seek revenge for it.

...yeah that subplot has absolutely no ability for me to be able to relate to it at all.

 - yeah this is my first "post-coming-out-as-at-least-questioning [hypersexual lesbian] trans" review. Deal with it.

 - yes the "hypersexual lesbian" part is important too. Deal with it.

 - Even though I myself am the proud owner of a Rampage, I can so totally take on Ajit with my (TWIN!) Rotofuries and especially muh freakin' HyperFire.

Hell I can probably take him on with my Buzz Bee Double Shot which is more than even mildly a POS:

It’s drunk blogging time! Plus I've made up my mind what my trans name will be

Ok real truth time I’m typing this while drunk (although that was a while ago, I think most of the drunkeness has worn off already. Or maybe not).

I tried doing this on my phone since I was too lazy (and drunk) to try to get my laptop, but it's friggin' impossible to actually do a Blogger post on your phone. FUCK YOU BLOGGER!

But anyway...ugh, I feel like now that the drunkeness has worn off so had a lot of what I wanted to say today. But I'll try anyway.

I guess...I mean...to address what I had been addressing lately. 

I mean...with absolutely all apologies to Marlowe Percival but...it's really, really triggering to see such a beautiful woman just casually toss away all that beauty that God/nature/whatever gave her. But I mean, like, at the same time...it did kind of make me realize that if I really wanted all that why not just take that cast-away beauty and claim it for myself?

Ok, that sounds wrong.

Ok so maybe I'm still drunk.

I don't know. Maybe I said it about as eloquently as I can the last few times.

But I can't get over how...I'm sorry it really is just such a shock to me that such a beautiful woman can be...not a woman anymore. I mean, I've been so obsessed with all this beauty and femininity that's been assigned to women, and I really do think that's a major contributor (or other way around?) with my own transgender issues. As a male in my current body I really, really don't feel worthy of all that. I don't know what do you think?

This is...probably going to take a while and a lot of repetition to express properly. 

I've just been kind of going around the past few days in kind of a daze and well, I think a distraction is really worthy and necessary here.

So I bought $50 worth of Nerf blasters!

Yeah I managed to do it after all!

I got TWO Mavericks, a Retaliator, a Rampage, and a bunch of other stuff! But I feel the real prizes of my haul are TWO Rotofuries, a Barricade, and a MOTHERFUCKING HYPERFIRE!

...and I have to admit...all this stuff actually does kinda make me happy!

I don't know what it is but it's just that...the Nerf stuff really appeals to my STEM side. The whole modding and even DIY/Maker blaster community is just awesome.

That's all I can really think of right now.

OH, and I've decided what my trans name will be! I've put a lot of thought into this, literally years - really, this isn't just some fly-by-night thing, and this is something I've legitimately struggled with. But then in a sudden flash of brilliance my trans name finally came to me, and at this point I absolutely possibly couldn't be any happier about it (unless like someone just dropped a Nerf Infinus into my lap.

Or a FormLabs Form2 SLA 3D printer with lots and lots of high-quality PETG filament.

Or a 1973 Camaro SS.

Or a really, really hot girlfriend).

So, here we go...

*drumroll*


...it's Ray.

Yup, the name I already have. Except instead of being short for Raymond, the -mond part won't exist anymore. Ray will all there will be.

Hey if we can have girls named Teddy and Ryan I can't see why we can't have a girl named Ray.

Personal Blog Update #2 now, uh, I guess...the first two days after and how I turned $50 worth of Nerf blasters into $5 worth of Nerf blasters!

So yeah, we're still taking a detour from our regular review schedule to cover, uhh...things.

I promise I'll try not to make this a regular thing but...

So yeah. I didn't get much sleep the night I last posted here. In some ways I feel kinda worse but in other ways I feel...better? I mean, I do feel like a weight has been taken off my shoulder.

I have to admit, for the first time in...well probably forever as far as I'm concerned, I feel a lot less focused externally and a lot less focused on women in particular, whether they be women who feel like they're really men or women in general, and I feel a lot more focused on...myself.

It's nice to really, or at least start, the whole process of not really feeling so compelled to think that I need to attach my own self-worth and self-value to someone else. 

And I've noticed that even my thinking and how I perceive myself has changed. I've...well. I'm gonna stick with the he/him/his pronouns for now but...I've really started thinking of myself as, well, female now. Or at least a visualization of it. 

A big side-effect is that I've been going around feeling kind of numb. I don't really feel like I'm occupying my own body anymore but that I'm remotely controlling it from a location I myself isn't even aware of. It's created some IRL issues. My coordination and self-awareness is all eff'd the hell up now.

That's gonna end up being a problem. In fact it pretty much already has.

And make no mistake, it's going to be years before I feel ready to truly identify as female, if I ever do. There's tons of counseling and medical consultation, not to mention I'll really, really need to move out from my parents first since they're deeply transphobic.

Oh, and I also reacted to this whole issue of trans in...pretty much exactly the way I've always suspected I would.

I pretended that this whole thing wasn't a thing at all and I concentrated on this whole Nerfing thing I suddenly got randomly into.

I was gonna buy $50 worth of Nerf blasters but...eh, the drive was long and it just didn't feel right so I turned around.

And then I ran into a garage sale where a girl was going off to college and was selling her Recon Mk I (pictured) and a Triad.

Pictured: Obligatory Le Jolt Reskin

As it turns out she was the only girl on her block and in order to play with the boys, she got some Nerf blasters. I thought that was a pretty neat story, but either way as you can tell I bought them all the same (along with some darts, natch).

But yeah, I so totally am going to go out all intent to buy $50 worth of blasters and yet only come home with 10% of that value because, being Ray, that's what I do, because....

Anyway I'm going to try to do it over again and yes try to buy $50 worth of Nerf blasters from someone who lives much, much closer. Even $50 is a lot to me when I'm still scheduled to start working soon and probably should be saving up to get a place of my own but...eh. Besides it includes TWO Rotofuries and a HYPERFIRE! That's a way better deal than the other deal I was pursuing! Some of the stuff I might try to recoup through reselling in turn but meh.

...but the larger point I'm trying to get at is that, I think it's probably helpful for me especially right now to have a few hobbies/recreational activities that can distract me away from what I'm relying on for now.

Well as it just so happens to be "what I'm relying on right now" is pretty much what I do for this blog - reading and watching, um, "children's media" (ugh, there's a guy who more or less coined that term in the context I use it and he just gives me the willies). 

I mean it's all well and fine but...I mean, watching TV and especially reading books really isn't all that great of a distraction from this issue. Thinking about other people just...bothers me right now. Especially with all the LGBTQ+ and especially trans fiction that's super-popular in YA right now. You'd think that'd be super-helpful, but especially since most of it seems to focus on FtM for some reason right now...it kinda makes me want to punch people in the face so...maybe another distraction for now.

I guess this one girl who I was crazy obsessed with in high school was right when she said I needed to focus on inanimate things more (BTW she kinda turned out to be meh so no big loss). But yeah, maybe something that brings out the more STEM-focused creative side of me (remember, former aerospace!) rather than story-ish creative things.

Extra Thoughts:

 - in my last post I posted an out-of-date picture of the Northeast Designs Corp Chimera foam dart blaster and that bothers me so I'm gonna post the current, "production" version straight from their Facebook: