Let's Talk: Stranger Things

Hello, all!

Have you guys watched/been watching the new Netflix Original Series, Stranger Things? If so, OH MY GOD RIGHT?!, if not please drop everything and watch the 8 episodes right now because you will not be disappointed. I was hooked right from the opening title sequence. I knew a few people who had heard of the show prior to it being released on the 15th, but I actually knew nothing about it before going in, and I kinda liked that more since I had no idea what to expect and was totally blown away by it.

Everything about this show was perfection to me. From the 80s nostalgia, to the creepy sci-fi elements, to the actors. Let's touch on that last one for a moment, the majority of the cast are young kids and they're all amazing. They're funny and they make their characters feel real, like they could be any kids on your block. The real stand out for me though was Millie Bobby Brown who plays Eleven (or El as the boys call her), she was so captivating. She had such an intense quality about her, whether she was flipping a van over with her mind, or just quietly crouched in a corner. I was impressed with all the cast, but she was really top notch for me.

Basically, without trying to give too much of it away, the show takes place in Indiana during the 80s and is such an homage to 80s pop culture and cult sci-fi classics. The series starts with a young boy, Will Byers, crossing paths with this large monster and mysteriously vanishing and his three friends stumbling upon a girl with telekinetic powers in the woods while they're trying to find him.

Will's mother, Joyce, played by Winona Rider, understandably goes a bit frantic when she finds out her son is missing and enlists the help of the police chief Jim Hopper to find him. Joyce is fully convinced that her son is still alive and stuck somewhere. She swears she can hear his breathing when she receives weird phone calls, and that the flickering lights are him trying to communicate with her. This leads to Hopper, and pretty much everyone else including her other son Jonathan, thinking she's outta her bird. Then Hopper veers from the more by-the-book police work and starts his own investigation and after some digging, comes to the conclusion that Joyce's suspicions are actually totally valid.

Meanwhile, while the adults are doing their thing, Will's best friends Mike, Dustin and Lucas take Eleven back to Mike's where they quickly find out she may have information that could help lead them to Will. It turns out she escaped from "the bad place" and has some pretty serious government people willing to do whatever it takes to get her back. Mike hides her in his basement, gaining her trust and friendship, and together the four of them decided to find Will themselves.

Will isn't the only casualty of this monster, either. Mike's older sister, Nancy, is one of those good girl types who gets a little attention from the cool guy and sort of forgets what's important, and unfortunately her best friend Barb is the one who pays for it. While at a party at Nancy's boyfriend's house, Barb cuts her hand and while going to fix it up, the rest of them all jump in the pool. Once Barb is done, she catches Nancy running up the stairs and tells Barb to leave. Barb obviously being a good friend and not wanting to leave her friend, instead goes out and sits by the pool, and a drop of blood falls into the water and boom-- bye Barb. This causes Nancy to team up with Jonathan and they both make it a priority to find the monster and kill him.

I'll fast-forward a bit cause I don't want to spoil the whole thing for everyone-- Basically, the boys, along with Eleven, Nancy, Jonathan, Hopper and Joyce hatch a plan to take down the monster as well as the equally creepy government people to hopefully bring their friends back. Also, the finale leaves things a bit open-ended and so I'm gonna need Netflix to release a second series like now.

So, to sum up, if you're a fan of the 80s classics or supernatural/sci-fi stuff you'll love Stranger Things.  The cinematography is great, the music choices go so well, and just the story line as a whole is amazing.

If you've watched it, lemme know what you thought!

Let's Talk: Pokémon Go

Hello all!

So I'm a bit late on writing about this, but it's only because I've been so obsessed. For those who don't know, Nintendo dropped Pokémon Go about two weeks ago, and I can't. Stop. Playing.

I will admit, I actually wasn't super into it when I first heard about it. I figured it'd eat up all my storage and data on my phone, and I didn't think it was worth it. If it wasn't for my friend peer pressuring me into downloading it, and then confusing me into picking Squirtle for my starter when everyone knows I always go Charmander (still bitter about that), I'd probably have way more free time on my hands. But alas, I want to be the very best like no one ever was.

It took me a while to get the feel for everything, and to be honest it still takes me one or two tries to throw my Poké balls correctly, but I'm really into this game. I was such a huge Pokémon fan growing up-- I watched the cartoon, I had a ton of Pokémon gear including a creepy eyed Pikachu ring, and not only did I have binders filled with cards (one of my most prized possessions is a holographic Charizard card) but my brother and I actually battled with them the way you were supposed to. Basically, this is just another step towards actually feeling like a real Pokémon trainer and I am all about it. It also answered my question of yes, there really are freakin' Pidgeys EV-ER-Y-WHERE.

I also found out that my job is a gym, so I'm pretty sure that means I can tell people I go to the gym everyday. (I mean, totally the same thing, right?) I'm almost to level 7 but I actually haven't joined a team yet to be able to battle in the gyms, I don't really know why. I think it's cause I'm terrible at making decisions and I just don't know which team to go for.

My biggest issue with the game though is the same as everyone else's-- it is soooo glitchy. I think I've spent more time being kicked off the server than I have actually playing. Also, when I first downloaded it, I went back in that night and all the Pokémon I had caught that day were gone and it wouldn't even pick up my location. Luckily, after a while everything came back, but still it was so annoying. I've noticed the past few days haven't been too terrible, but I've probably just jinxed myself, so that's cool.

Have any of you been playing? What do you think?