Cloak and Dagger 

The duo named Cloak and Dagger debuted in Peter Parker the spectacular spiderman#64 in 1982 made by Bill Mantio and Ed Hannigan. Where spiderman chased down a drug dealer that was then killed by Cloak and Dagger. The power couple are dependent on each other since their powers are polar opposites. This duo got their powers in two ways I’ll tell you both ways and i let you decide the origin you want to go with. 

Tyrone Johnson (Cloak/Mine!)

Tyrone Johnson or Cloak got his powers from a explosion of energy from roxxon now if that name sounds vaguely familiar its most likely because you remember it from the spider-man Miles Morales game where Roxxon almost blew up the city with a huge energy explosion well that happened in the comics but here was no spiderman to stop it and it didn’t blow up the whole city all it did was threaten to blow up the city years later and give two kids powers one of them Tyrone was being chased by a cop with his brother when the explosion went off the cop shot and killed his brother Tyrone fell in the water where he absorbed the energy and power from the explosion. now in the comics its different in the comics he was on the corner looking for drugs where he was soon experimented on along with Mr. Negative (spider man villain) and Dagger and they both gained their powers from this and since they hated what happened to them Cloak and Dagger went on a killing spree on drug dealers. Until spiderman caught them and taught them not to kill. 

Cloaks powers come from the dark force dimension to which he can teleport him or those around him to the dimensions or a place that he has been to or can see. He can also see into his enemies’ fears which gives him nightmares and such.

Since his power comes from the dark force if he doesn’t have his counterpart he will be consumed by the dark force and die.

Because due to his condition he is angry and drowns in self-pity which makes people not like him and they want to separate him from dagger who he needs to be kept alive but I think we all know the reason why most people don’t like him (black)

Dagger (Tandy Bowen)

Tandy Bowen or Dagger got her abilities from the same energy explosion Cloak did except with her she was in a crash with her dad when the ship blew up and she absorbed some of the power from the explosion and gained access to the light force the counter to the Dark force. Dagger fought to clear her dads name after Roxxon blamed him for the explosion even though he didn’t do anything to it. Tandy cleared her dads name but she didnt release the evidence after she found out that her dad used to abuse her mom. 

Daggers power comes from the light force dimension, and she is able to create light daggers which she can use to hurt people and heal them.

Since she is filled with light force energy if she becomes overloaded, she could die so she puts her energy into Cloak, so she won’t die.

Because of her Abilities many organizations want her (SHIELD and Avengers and X-men) but since they don’t want cloak, she never goes with them.

I’ll try to do Wiccan next. Also, I really recommend watching the tv show version of Cloak and Dagger!

You heard me from the title. Now you may be wondering what do you mean when someone is struggling it isn’t pretty. What I mean ids that when things get really bad and when someone is struggling in a certain way suddenly no one wants to help. For some examples when it gets so bad someone won’t brush their teeth for weeks on end or when it’s at a point where they can’t get out of bed and there is food and clothes strewn all about their room. Things like that make people who say they are advocates for mental health shrink away or leave. Because they can deal with someone who just lacks motivation or who’s room is just clothes dirty or even someone who just is having a moment of weakness and just wants someone to cry to. Though what do they do if it’s worse than that? What do they do when the person is going through active si or won’t listen to anyone and can only focus on their own thoughts. Those people are hard to work with, so most people simply won’t. That is why I say mental health is only important if it’s pretty or if a person feels they can help the affected individual. I’ve been a part of and watched from the sidelines of those who try to help an individual who is struggling in one of those ways and I have seen it is very rare for them to not be given up on or not lashed out at due to how they themselves act. It’s true most people struggling are going to lash out and push away their loved ones. And it’s true some loved ones will not help or will simply turn a blind eye to it. That is also not their fault they didn’t sign up to deal with that or they may not even know how to deal with such things at all. But at the end of the day who truly does? Sure, people are trained to work at places like inpatient for when things get too bad for people on the outside to manage but even, they don’t truly know how to handle all the patients they receive. That is why at the end of the day I think it is hard for a person struggling on a different level than others may not even get the same level of treatment someone would receive who doesn’t struggle with such things. Because people get intimidated right off the bat and leave. This does not go to say that they can’t receive help at all as plenty people in the world are strong advocates for mental health and try to help others. This is just my take for people who don’t have a strong support system. 

This is going to be a shorter blog in retrospect that this is a continuance of my previous Ancestory blog. A man named Clay helped my grandfather in the later stages of his life and is even helping me go through everything he owned. This past weekend, I visited my grandpa’s house to find family treasures or pictures. To my surprise, the entire house was filled with random junk and boxes. I knew going through this stuff would be difficult, so my brother came along to help.

We dug through old receipts, mail, and books to find pictures and lost letters to my grandparents. I found multiple birthday and Mother’s Day cards from my dad to his parents. I found out about cousins I have that I didn’t even know existed. I found old driver’s licenses from the 80s, 3-day passes to Disney World from 1983, an old Sam’s Club membership card, and an old Books-A-Million Millionaire’s Club card. It’s pretty cool to go through all these old things that seemed so normal for them back in that time.

My grandpa would leave notes for my grandma on paper towels and she’d keep them. My grandpa also had a car that was not in use, all it needs is new tires and it’ll be right back on the road with me behind the wheel. My grandpa’s house originally burnt down after my grandma passed away and his insurance company paid for all of his clothes and belongings to be cleaned/replaced. They even rebuilt the house for him.

My grandpa had a touch of OCD with the way he listed everything and made sure everything stayed in the spot that he left it. Clay was sweet and brought us some lunch while we continued to sift through everything. It was so interesting to find receipts from the 90s (why did my grandparents even keep those?). There are some pictures of everything I found below.

I’ve been waiting for this one! This show has been the only thing on my mind since it came out at the beginning of February. I was planning on watching the first premier on Adult Swim with my dad, but then I realized I would be at school by that time. So I watched it with my friend the next day on Max, and when I say that was the highlight of my week, I mean it. And it was only Monday!

Common Side Effects was created by Joe Bennett and Steve Hely for Adult Swim. Lots of creators behind this show also worked on another show called Scavengers Reign. I heard that it’s really good, so that helped me put faith into Common Side Effects before it came out. I haven’t looked into it much, but it’s definitely next on my list.

Common Side Effects is about a man named Marshall, who discovered a mushroom that can cure pretty much every health problem in the world. He reunites with Frances, a friend from high school, and as Marshall is trying to avoid the government stopping him from having this mushroom, Frances is trying to impress her boss and get a (well deserved) raise.

This blog will contain SPOILERS for the pilot episode. It’s not anything crazy, it’s not like I’m spoiling the entire show because I literally can’t. If you want to watch it, I 100% recommend it, especially if you’re really big on Adult Swim shows (like me).

Episode 1 – Pilot 

We immediately open to a conference for the Reutical pharmaceutical company where the CEO, Rick (my archenemy), reveals their medicine has a side effect of depression and suicidal thoughts. Frances (my GOAT) is introduced as Rick’s employee, and Marshall gets on the Q&A mic to expose Rick’s company of destroying habitats in order to produce their medicine. Frances recognizes him as he’s getting kicked out, and they reunite for the first time since high school. But Frances hides the fact that she works for Reutical, knowing Marshall wouldn’t trust her if he knew. As they catch up, Frances reveals that her mother has dementia and Marshall proposes the idea of a medicine that can cure anything. Frances is intrigued but she isn’t convinced it’s possible, until Marshall literally breaks a pigeon’s neck and immediately heals it with bits of the Blue Angel mushroom. Then, it’s revealed that Marshall is being spied on by agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (I think?). We meet Copano and Harrington, two DEA agents tasked with tracking him down.

Then, we get the awesome intro sequence. It’s crazy that there’s all this information within the first few minutes. Of course, it’s a pilot, so I should’ve expected to be shot with so much information at once, but when I was typing out notes for this blog, my fingers couldn’t keep up!

We open to Marshall telling Frances about how he found the Blue Angel mushroom. We learn that it’s an incredibly rare mushroom that only grows in extremely specific conditions. Upon Marshall’s discovery, he gets hunted down and shot at by a helicopter. He (coincidentally) has an escape plane, but the plane gets shot down! So before the plane goes down and Marshall dies, he eats a Blue Angel mushroom and he survives the crash. Back to the present day, Marshall tells Frances about how he’s almost out of mushrooms and Rick’s company is destroying the environment where the mushrooms grow. He tells her this while Rick is literally calling her. As she takes the call, Marshall realizes he’s being watched and flees.

We open to Copano and Harrington getting put on the case. We see their dynamic and personalities a little more here. I really love them, they’re my favorite characters. Also, (like many others) I thought Harrington was a guy when I first saw a snippet of the show without any of her dialogue, but she’s literally so precious.

We move on to Rick’s employees showing him a new commercial for Reutical’s medicine and it’s very clear that he doesn’t care. He is literally playing Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. Frances comes in, assesses the situation, and I think she would be a much better CEO because Rick doesn’t want people to know about the side effects Reutical’s medicine has. Frances is literally the #1 assistant, I love her so much. When leaving, Frances proposes the idea for a new product and Rick encourages her, saying he would give her a huge raise if she’s able to pull it off.

We cut to Marshall going to his (super cool) house. It’s clear that he’s really paranoid, and he owns a lot of land. In my notes, I wrote, “He hates the city, he loves Frances,” so do with that what you will…

He notices Copano and Harrington watching his house, but they’re just goofing off. They talk about Marshall and the awards he’s won and things he’s discovered. It’s clear he’s a really intelligent guy. But they want to search his house under the suspicion of drugs and they believe he’s creating some sort of monopoly. I’m not good with business or financial talk so I’m not the best person to explain any of that.

They search Marshall’s house, him AND his tortoise are GONE. He escapes with another (convenient) back up plan. He really thinks of everything…

We cut to Frances in her apartment with her awful boyfriend, Nick. I will admit, his first voice line is so funny, and that’s the only thing I like about him. Frances is trying to wipe the fact that she works for Rick off of her social media, knowing Marshall hates that guy and might not trust her if he finds out. Marshall calls her and the difference in her tone when she’s talking to Marshall vs Nick makes it look like she’s literally cheating on him right in front of his face. It’s so funny. The only thing Marshall tells her is that people are following him, and he brought his (stupid) turtle.

That’s the end of Episode 1!

Episode 1 and 2 were released together and episode 3 was released a few days ago, but I don’t want to continue to spoil the show, especially since there’s only 3 episodes out. I also want to encourage my friends to watch it for themselves, and this blog can be like a little nudge to do that.

I really love all of these characters, they’re so entertaining to watch and I’m  really attached to most of them already. It’s easy to make assumptions about some of the characters but they reveal themselves to be so much more than what you think they are. When I first saw Marshall, I thought he was just a funny, hippie guy (mistake #1), but no! He’s a literal genius who’s strange and awkward, but I think he’s really interesting and I want to see what happens to him.

I’m actually a really big fan of the art style. The animation is really nice, and the way the characters look has really grown on me since I first saw this show’s trailer. I’ll be so honest, I thought their faces were really funny looking, but now I think it’s so endearing. The lighting and the backgrounds are so beautifully drawn. It’s clear that so much effort has been put into this show. I love everything about it.

In the next episodes, new characters are introduced and more complications to the plot get revealed, and it makes this show really complicated but clean and colorful! It takes some analyzing and paying attention to connect the dots, which makes it really fun to study (but I might be the only one that needs to take notes because I’m a little stupid). 

I’m really excited for the rest of this show to come out. I’ve been extremely fixated on it all month. I’ve already made a Pinterest board and I refer to this show as “my show” whenever I talk about it. I’m just a really big fan and I’m excited to see what this show turns into!

Wellness Culture is a huge part of our lives. From magazines at the counter of the grocery store, preaching about some nameless woman losing 15 pounds in only two weeks and how you can too, to ads on newspaper articles toting a new and “dietician recommended” weight loss pill with absolutely no side effects (which is untrue). Our society is rife with people claiming if you’re fat you’re ugly, and if you’re skinny you’re at the height of beauty. This has caused many health issues in women. Eating disorders, mainly, but also drug addiction. First it can cause people to take unhealthy or ineffective supplements, which can cause damage to your immune system.

“Wellness” was a term coined by the so-called father of the movement, Dr. Halbert L. Dunn. Dunn defined wellness as the seeking of not just good health, but the personal well-being and betterment. Dunn’s program of “wellness” is not governed by the rules of medicine that we have developed, but some kind of intangible standard that shifts and changes with the individual seeking it. This standard began with the “life reform” fad in nineteenth-century Europe.  One such European, Louis Kuhne, published a book in 1891 (yes it does go back that far) recounting his struggles with chronic pain and illness and spurning the medical establishment for his lack of improvement. In his book, Kuhne prescribed all sorts of phony, natural cures for seemingly every ailment. Hydrotherapy, cutting out salt and sugar, fresh air, and strict vegetarianism were just a few of these “cures.” He went on to open a clinic in his town of Leipzig, Germany and became successful peddling snake oil cures. Kuhne had absolutely no medical basis for any of these claims. He was a freaking carpenter, for Christ’s sake! He had no medical experience, no degree, no nothing, but still, his book became a famous best-seller. Now, Kuhne was not some sort of prodigy. He simply used the cultural zeitgeist of industrialization to manipulate people into buying into his holistic healing. Many Europeans saw the industrial complex as dehumanizing and damaging, and medicine of the time did not help, approaching patients from a strictly technical stance, rather than a personalized one, which many people craved. After 1874, Germany passed a law mandating the smallpox vaccine. Many anti-vaccination activists (I guess history does repeat itself, oh hello, 2020) protested that they were being “poisoned” by vaccines and moved heavily toward alternative medicine, which was readily available thanks to Peddler Kuhne and the ever-expanding health market. This doctrine morphed into something called “life-reform.” Groups of people believing in this new phenomenon – including Kuhne – played around with extreme veganism, nudism, open-air exercise, sunbathing, spas, and raw food diets. They subscribed to health magazines like Vegetarian Lookout and The Natural Doctor, spent time at resorts promising weight loss and better health, and disavowing white bread and other processed foods. “Life-reform” began as an admirable effort to lower inactivity and indulgences, morphed into a program that transformed the meaning of health from a lack of sickness into a lifestyle that paragoned self-restraint and moderation in every aspect of life. Good health became synonymous with self-fulfillment in the form of moderation, and a certain standard of beauty. It changed into something that made people incredibly body-conscious and anxious about how their bodies fit into the strict molds of society. Soon, health became a commodity, rather than a part of survival. Does all this sound familiar? I hope so, because here in the 2000s and beyond, “life-reform” morphed again into something called “wellness culture.” With the uprise of social media and instant connection across vast distances, wellness culture has been in the hands of anyone with the ability to open their phone and look at Instagram or TikTok. Those skinny women wearing beige yoga pants with a matching Stanley cup that has so much stuff strapped to it you can’t even hold it correctly? It’s a facade. Now, including the commodification of health, wellness culture has added more warts onto its ugly face. Overconsumption. See, you may think that the doctrine of moderation peddled to you by influencers is helping you to clear out your home, but it’s really just making way for new things to buy, linked on their Amazon Storefronts. They have propended supplements filled with meaningless leaves, objects for you to pay for that are completely bogus, and fasting yourself to the point of starvation and unhealthy weight loss. History really does repeat itself, from anti-vaxxers to fake supplements, we should all be more mindful of what we are feeding ourselves, brain and body.

This is a post that I think almost everyone from MSA, or any form of selective school can relate to. What’s relatable is that we’ve all grown up labeled “weird” or just different due to our niche interests or style or taste in fashion or even relationships. I know that in some places mostly up north the games I’m into and the people I like, and fashion probably wouldn’t be as ridiculed but here in the bible belt. If I’m my true self I come off as some freak. I’ve gone through so many fazes in life and the one I always come back to is “emo” or “alternative” but it is what makes me most comfortable! I have been forced to dress like a “normal girl” and I have even tried to embrace it myself to trick my brain into saying I like it but that’s just not the case. I love rough tattoos I love the color black, and I love spiky silver jewelry. I love who I love, and I am so ashamed that I now live in a world where for four years or more marrying someone I love may be made illegal. I think I made this blog because this new election has opened my eyes more on what is happening politically. Before and I’m embarrassed to admit it but I didn’t care much for who our president was because it didn’t affect me. Now though it does, and so naturally as selfish humans are I now care, and I care a lot. I’ve been told no and to not like certain things all my life and not even in a mean way in a way of my parents trying to shield me from being bullied. Though I draw the line at someone saying no to who I love. Because that’s not something I can or will change. It’s not something anyone can change it’s not like a clothing article that I can just shrug off and put back in the closet. Trust me I’ve tried and for years from lying and dating men to try and fill the void to lying to my parents and others when they asked what gender I’m dating. Though I say all of this because it ties into the aspect of being “weird” because it is “different” and people characterize weird as anything that is outside of the common mold. So the thing I say is why should we hide? Why should we put on an article of clothing we secretly hate, why should we lie about who we like, why should we not draw or write about things we are interested in. The answer is that we should do all these things. Like so what I may be different but what great inventor or artist or speaker was ever common? None of them fit the mold and that’s what made them great so that’s just my ten cents about being “weird”.

I don’t usually write about games, but Stardew Valley has my heart. It’s a game that can be played on nearly any platform including mobile. I play on either Xbox or Nintendo Switch. This game has very deep lore that I could talk about for days. You inherit a farm from your grandfather in Pelican Town to get started. It is now your job to man the farm throughout the harsh seasons as well as do different tasks for the townsfolk. While doing this, you can form relationships with the NPCs and even get to marry one. While I have not married anyone yet, the idea is fun. On your first day on the farm, the mayor gives you 15 parsnip seeds you must plant and water daily to finish a task. Mayor Lewis is an interesting character who likes to sneak around town at night. He delivers the mail, gives you money for things you sell, and even sneaks around with Ms. Marnie (if you know about his purple shorts, you know). The game is so interesting because it is unique to how you want to set it up. Some characters are at first mean, but you can make them nice by just interacting with them. If you don’t interact with some characters, they will hate you. There is also a community center that must be restored and it becomes your job to fix it up. You must fix it by bringing certain items to the community center and placing them in a box found in each room. When brought to the community center by the mayor, he mentions a corporation called Joja that wants to buy the land that the center is on from the town. The mayor doesn’t want that to happen but he has decided that one more person must buy a Joja membership before he sells the land. That person is you. You can either buy a membership or help out the mayor. Most players help the mayor, or at least that’s what I did. I could talk about the farming aspects or the fishing forever. This game is honestly one of the most fun I’ve played in years. I started on my new farm not too long ago and have already logged over 20 hours. 

ALSO- if anyone knows how to find a missing watering can please help!