Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Dracula

Dracula: You are magnificent.

Buffy: I bet you say that before you bite all the girls.

Dracula: No, you are different — kindred.

Buffy (to Dracula after staking him a second time): “You think I don’t watch your movies? You always come back.”

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Photos and Crossover Manips

Popularity and Unpopularity

You hear all those stories of cliques and the popular people. There’s a group of them in almost every school. And then, of course, there’s everyone else. Everyone else would usually fit into two basic categories: the ones who completely hate them, and the ones who would do absolutely anything to be a part of them. Luckily, that doesn’t happen all the time. When you are everyone else, there’s no median or go-between within the groups. When you happen to be a hater, you are disliked as well.

It’s seemingly simple, but it really isn’t. Also, the whole “You don’t like me? I don’t like you” concept makes for good drama. And when you’re a worshiper — well, you are hated too. There is something about the stalking and strange obsessions that turn the “in-crowd” to hatred.

Almost every teenager has been the victim and the predator — the one who taunts and the one who is humiliated. It seemingly can’t be helped. But those who are different, they must somehow have to be “punished” because that is supposedly the society of high school. And those who befriend the different (and are different themselves), are viewed as lower than the low in the eyes of judgmental teenagers.

And the social ladder is a frustrating thing. The popular students control the student body — or try to, at least, because some of the students believe they have had it with being mean to others. So, these students try being popular and nice simultaneously.

However, it’s not always like that. The ones below the popularity circle listen — listen and nothing else.

What do you think about popularity and being popular?

Movies River Phoenix Should Have Done

My Thoughts on Pokémon

Everybody has a favorite part when it comes to the phenomenon known as Pocket Monsters (or Pokémon for short). For some, it’s battles and the strategies, while for others, it’s the Pokémon evolving into different and stronger forms, which is usually because of hitting a certain level, using an Elemental Stone, friendship, and time of day, among other factors. Me? I like all the aspects of the Pokémon phenomena.

So with that, here are my reasons for why I like Pokémon:

1) Cooperation

The game of Pokémon is quite complex, so talking with other fellow Pokémon fans, especially when comparing battle strategies, is a good idea when it comes to figuring out the game — and Pokémon is a good thing in that way, since it happens to be something that gets kids talking with each other. :)

2) Strategizing

Pokémon is a good thing for another reason: it teaches how to think strategically. Unlike some popular toys with little or no educational value, Pokémon is different in that it requires chess-like concentration and the ability to think ahead in sophisticated ways.

3) Lessons about Life

There are so many amazing examples of how this game teaches about life — and not just by quotes, either.

For example, in the games, there is a Pokémon called “Magikarp,” which is considered the most useless and weak Pokémon in the game. But after struggling, hard work, and determination, the Magikarp is able to evolve into an extremely powerful Pokémon known as “Gyarados.” The Pokémon was one of the most powerful in the Generation 1 games, defeating nearly everything in its path.

And that shows a good lesson there: if you don’t struggle, you don’t improve.

4) Reaching Goals

In Pokémon, the Trainers and their Pokémon learn that never giving up eventually pays off in the end. For the Pokémon, it’s learning to succeed, and that’s usually by practicing with their moves and doing well with them — basically sharpening old techniques and learning new ones. For the Trainers, it’s completing the Pokédex and battling other Trainers (sometimes in rematches). Like the old saying goes, “Practice makes perfect,” which is quite true, along with “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” In other words, the more you practice at something (especially if it’s a talent you have, or something you simply love to do), the better you get at it.

5) The Importance of Rules

In order to be a Pokémon master, the player has to teach his or her Pokémon to follow the rules. It’s a basic rehearsal for life; if one follows the rules, they get rewarded (although there are exceptions, such as changing the writing rules when writing fanfiction, but that’s another story).

“The age-old theme of the journey is played out here, and one faces good vs. evil in the quest for the holy grail, i.e. becoming the greatest Pokémon master. This mirrors development — cognitive, social and psychological, across the life span. We all have monsters to keep at bay and mysteries or problems to solve throughout our lives.

“Pokémon provides a stimulus for learning and practicing life skills and other learning skills that will be useful later. Children are drawn to this challenge because of their very nature, needing to deal with their fears and vulnerabilities.”

Popularity and Unpopularity

You hear all those stories of cliques and the popular people. There’s a group of them in almost every school. And then of course, there’s everyone else. Everyone else would usually fit into two basic categories: the ones who completely hate them, and the ones who would do absolutely anything to be a part of them. Luckily, that doesn’t happen all the time. When you are everyone else, there’s no median or go-between within the groups. When you happen to be a hater, you are disliked as well.

It’s simple, and the whole “You don’t like me? I don’t like you” makes for good drama. And when you’re a worshiper — well, you are hated, too. There is something about the stalking and strange obsessions that turn the “in-crowd” to hatred.

Almost every teenager has been the victim and the predator — the one who taunts and the one who is humiliated. It can’t be helped. But as for those who are different, they must somehow have to be punished, because that is the society of high school. And those who befriend the different, and are different themselves, are lower than the low in the eyes of judgmental teenagers.

And the social ladder is a frustrating thing. The popular students control the student body — or at least they try to, because some of the students have had it with being mean to others. Instead, they try being both popular and nice at the same time.

However, it’s not always like that. The ones below the popularity circle listen — listen and nothing else.

What are your thoughts on popularity and being popular?

The Millennium Rod

The Millennium Rod’s unique ability grants the holder the power to control people’s minds, turning them into the owner’s mind slaves. By extension, it is also capable of mind manipulation, which allows the owner to telepathically communicate with others, look into their memories, trick their minds into believing what the Rod’s owner wants them to, knock people unconscious and leave a portion of the owner’s mind in the people that he has controlled (like what happened with Bakura and Tea).

Its mind control power has no effect on someone who bears a Millennium Item (like Ishizu Ishtar before she gave her Millennium Necklace to Yugi) or has a unique connection to the ancient Shadow Games (like Yugi Moto, Yami Bakura or Seto Kaiba), or a person whose will is strong.

Like the other Millennium Items, its power over the Shadow Games allows it to materialize and command Duel Monsters and their effects, and cast a Penalty Game against the loser. Marik’s Shadow Games created through this item have been the most brutal and damaging, from memory destruction (like with Mai and the pyramid-shaped hourglass with memory-sapping sand) to inducing pain.

BtVS Photos Part 4