#how about u hype up some actual decent human beings | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

thatdeadaquarius · 1 year

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SAGAU / Isekai Genshin:

You can still use your characters! ... as in possessing them 👻

(all art by me down below, hope its decent lol - did it for u guys and myself i mean what )

Edit 9/7/23: 1,500+ NOTES??? BRO WHAT!! THABK YOU <3

Edit 12/24/23 + 4/5/24:

☆

My dumbass forgot to put this here .-.

Anywya this is a full length fanfic now ;)

PART 1 (you're here!) / Part 2

So.

You got sucked into a video game.

Crazy, but it happens ¯\_ (ツ)_/¯

yknow how it issss

...you very quickly discover that unfortunately video game rules still apply...

which wouldn't normally be an issue! like, needing to use the bathroom in the middle of a fight? Nope! minor cuts and bruises like papercuts, only actual enemies or fall damage counting? hell yeah that'd be great (theoretically no chronic pains if you got that?? hmmmm unsure)

see the issue comes when you realize, you as a player, don't have a "character" that's all your own

there's aether/lumine yeah.. but bc the game's real now, they're their own people, and you didn't wake up to find yourself as a blonde twin...

the closest you can describe your form as is .. like a seelie?

or like the way ghosts look in game?

but a lot more "starry"

like your specterlike, but you look like you got filled up with stars and the milky way, maybe a reference of you being from another universe/world? (aether/lumine/dainsleif/khaenriah star symbol reference secret thEORY-)

but yah.

you also got just, white eyes.

like, not iris, not pupil. like your pupil and iris got erased

you gotta admit, at least you look really aesthetic now.

(u also got a little cape and hood on at all times, and you cant take it off to see your starrified hair >:/ ,very Blue Diamond-esque, look up Steven Universe, Blue Diamond if you dont know who im talking about)

so needless to say, as soon as you sort of glitched your way into existence you were HYPE

i mean ur ACTUALLY IN TEYVAT WITH THE BOYSSSS

...then you realize your a spooky-no-character-to-pilot-around-thus-no-character-model-body-for-you thingy

and that you cant touch stuff!! >:(

like wth!!!

thats just downright unfair.

so, you figure if you got no body to be.... you gotta find a new "character" to pilot >:)

...

I choose you, yellow fungi!

...

....

you're in the fucking woods (Sumeru somewhere obv, u knew that the moment you opened ur eyes),

what'd you expect?? an archon??

..wait a minute. can you possess an archon-

these kinda thoughts plague your first few days of irl genshin impact playing

a rishabold tiger? yep.

a sumpter beast? kinda slow and heavy feeling but yeah.

...you also try a ruin machine LOL

by far, the fungi and ruin machines are the best to possess, mostly because you can remain upright with those

(tho u did find some type of flying monkey that wasnt in game, but its like,, a real world and jungle now so that makes sense there'd be more complexity + stuff)

you do eventually think you should try and possess a person at this point... but ur kinda nervous 👉👈

its ur first time doin this okay nobody explained the basics to you youve been winging for a week now!

will your mind be replaced with theirs? it hasn't been so far with the creatures/bots

and as far as you can tell, they kinda just-

forget what happened or "wake up" after you possess them

(the tiger you were for a day looked confused as hell when it realized that there was a new pile of fruit next to it when it "woke up", it was your way of saying thank you to the animals of the jungle, u left them little piles of food you collected running around as them)

so THEORHETICALLY-

you should be good to go and possess a random poor eremite

... you figure you want to possess something human-like eventually even if you get a puppet body like wanderer/raiden so...

here goes nothing...

♤

so it's been 2 weeks since you've been forcefully yanked into teyvat, and by the second week, you were trying to possess eremites

which! worked out!

mostly..!

you kinda convinced the entirety of two eremite camps that a certain part one of sumeru's forests is hella haunted bc ppl keep "blacking out" and doing things they don't remember doing, yknow... like possesssion LMAO

they kinda ran off to escape you but, hey!

experiment #2: people possession, success!!

now you were kinda convinced of this when you realized no matter the angle the animals and machines of sumeru didnt react to you getting super close to them (you dont have to touch something to posses it, just look at it really, but you wanted to test limits, so you walked up to sumpter beasts and fungi and ruin machines)

but no one can see you.

you don't have a "character" most of the time, you can float and glide around the ground like scaramouche lol

you cant touch stuff bc of this, you cant smell stuff (u saw the eremites campfires & couldnt smell the smoke until you were them)

you cant eat stuff w/o a body, so.. it makes sense that the eremites and passing merchants, cant see you when you float around, trying to reorient yourself after 2 weeks of experimenting

:( ur only a lil sad about it... but mostly not bc lol u got possession powers so trade off u guess

the first time you see a vision-bearer you literally scream

LMAO

ur so lucky u cant be seen or heard

bc Collei would have def screamed back lol

needless to say u stalk the forest ranger- ALL DAY.

Collei goes on patrol around the woods? you go on a patrol.

collei goes to visit other forest rangers? you "visit" other forest rangers at base (lol u def possess a guy who was asleep on a bench nearby & wake up to go talk to Collei "in-person", poor guy was so worried he sleep walked/talked so hard he went to see Tighnari an hour later lmao)

welp, you decide this is your life now, follow Collei everywhere, talk one-sided to Collei until you can possess a forest ranger w/o it being suspicious (dont wanna turn the poor rangers into the terrified eremites from a week or two ago...)

then, after you get the courage and erase the paranoia that tighnari can just... somehow hear your ghostly bullshit-

u do the same to Tighnari (then Cyno when he visits! no u didnt squeal, so what, nobody can hear you- )

♧

Tighnari begins to get suspicious about 3 weeks into this routine.

he's been starting to collect and start a file on all the rangers or nearby villagers that've started randomly "blacking out/sleep walking" in the evenings usually

(u possess as close to nighttime as u can so it seems like sleepwalking)

So when Cyno comes back from a mission gone wrong,

having nearly been decapitated by a rogue flying ruin machine, only to black out and come to standing calmly 10 feet further than he remembered being 1 minute ago...

Tighnari's suspicions are confirmed, and he launches into researching this phenomenon.

his first thought is something like the aranara, but that doesn't account for the effect this thing is having on people

after all, what little forest spirit is strong enough to-

-control humans??

Tighnari begins to get the sense he's in over his head after he finds himself pushed into going into Sumeru City in order to collect more library books or ask around if the blackouts have spread to the city people

he answer is negative, on both accounts.

and he spends about one half of the day walking around, and the other reading up all he can on mythical creatures or ailments

Tighnari gives up for the day, and as he makes his way back to Ghandarvaville, he almost gets ambushed by some particularly nasty muggers

...and then he wakes up 20 feet away, his denro vision thrumming with power, full of worry and fondness for himself??, (just like Cyno said he felt happen to him..)

...Tighnari decides he needs reinforcements.

YOU GUYS-

UR LOCAL ZODIAC SIGN OBSESSED W/GENSHIN HIT A CHARACTER LIMIT ON A POST FINALLY. 😦

??? THIS WOULDVE BEEN LONGER BUT I BARELY GOT SPACE FOR THIS- I- EVEN THE QIQI POST DIDNT HIT LIMIT-

uh cya ig!!

Safe travels lmao,

💀♒️

♡the beloveds♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist @revonie / @hat-on-a-cat / @takottai / @sickly-falling (?) / @iruiji

(Sorry about the late tag! I forgot to update my taglist before i posted this 💀 my bad guys)

Also if the people who got put there who i couldnt find a blog for see this, idk what went wrong ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ - maybe check and see if ur setting for "being able to be searched/looked up" is turned on?? Idk man

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havange · 2 years

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INTRODUCTION LUV!

It’s came to my attention by my own damn self that I never really introduced myself. I just got on this page and started my shit up…LMFAAAOOOO😭😭😭

My names Kairo,you can just call me Kai for short and if you have a cute nickname I’ll accept it too.

This page is mostly about random shit I just feel like putting out into the world. Which is included but not limited to, me mostly talking about Loki. Hence most of my posts being about him, random things going on in my life that I just feel the want to post about, me wanting to hype myself up, let’s not forget about my absolute LOOVVE for expressing myself with gifs, also obsessions I pick up or just giving my ideas on tv shows, etc.

Fun facts:

I love the colors purple and black

my devilishly charming bestie beloved is no other than the infamous @halfblood-princes-crown (if you see us going back n forth at any time mind ya damn business💋smooches)

I Stan Loki (SOULMATE PEOPLE SOULMATE), Snape, Lucius (my Luci😍), Marvel & DC tbh, X-men FO SHO, I Stan a lot of other shit but you’ll see it when you see it, I’m lazy so I don’t feel like writing it all down.

I do watch anime so do feel free to recommend some! (if you wanna be my show buddy just say that babe🥰)

I use a LOT of gifs and mainly reference people with pet names (I didn’t choose this lifestyle it chose me), some may think it’s corny and those who do kick rocks

I AAMMMM a part of the Rainbow Mafia (AKA the LGBTQ+ community) also the black community. My pronouns even though stated in my bio are, They/Them/Theirs. I am non-binary. respect it and if not get the fuck off my page easy and simple as that.

Biggest fact has to be, I may be a fuckin sweetheart but I don’t give a damn. If you come onto my page with disrespectful ignorance I am not nice about anything that I feel needs to be said unless I feel as though you genuinely do not know, which 99% of the time won’t happen. I don’t take excuses if I know you are choosing to be plain ignorant. In other words, your sorry ass sob stories don’t work on me. Personally, I don’t do arguing unless I’m in the mood so if you come in here on full throttle u may or may not receive a response back it depends on how worthy your argument is💀 ZERO TOLERANCE ONCE AGAIN! U will be blocked, or given colorful words and a beautiful reminder of just how much of a dumbass you are if u come into this space on that bullshit.

Rules:

Have some decent basic human fucking respect

Respect others IDENTITIES!!! I don’t care how heated an argument can get that is no reason to disregard a persons identity

Please be 18+ if you are going to comment, respost, tag, etc. on my post, tbh this page is only for ADULTS.

NO FUCKING SPOILING!

If you are soft and you can’t handle the amount of unhinged cursing that I do…stay off my page.

Do not come in here with ignorance and you have things in that bio or that page. I am not a bigger person, will never claim to be a bigger person and I will use whatever you have in there to my liking like a grocery store. Thx management

I want my page to be a “safe” space for everyone but at the same time my main priority is making sure this page is actually ME. If at any time I feel as though things are getting a bit out of hand I will address them whenever I feel like it and if I am comfortable. Prime example: if people are talking about something that personally triggers me.

Other than that enjoy my page!!

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tepidtrashpile · 3 years

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covering taeyong’s parts

I am HEATED.

tldr: i don’t usually do stuff like this but i’m highly caffeinated and have nothing better to do so prepare for a (very convoluted and long) rant cause omg im so fucking mad.

so for those of you who don’t know, nct 2020 had a resonance vlive/concert last night (dec 26/27) and taeyong and jisung were unable to perform due to a back injury (herniated disk) and knee injury respectively.

I’ll mainly be talking about taeyong in this just due to his extrEmely large presence within NCT and also jisung was there to vocally cover his parts.

(also not to take anything away from jisung, however in the sheer amount of screentime and tracks ty is in, him missing is much harder to disguise within a performance with or without vocals)

in order these are the members that covered ty’s parts in each song (tbh i may be forgetting some, but the point is look at how hard they had to work to even fill ty’s dance position within the concert, the boy is in like 50% of their performed tracks)

nct u - boss - sungchan

nct u - the 7th sense - shotaro

nct u - light bulb - yangyang

nct 127 - touch - haechan (first part), johnny (iconic ty and mork), yuta (pulls up in the chorus to fill in ty part to the stage right of jh)

nct u - make a wish - jeno (first part), jaemin (basically rest of the song)

nct 127 - kick it - mark (usually the center parts), jaehyun (first rap), yuta (end dance break), johnny (mark stepped on him rip lol)

nct u - misfit - johnny (start), sungchan (end)

nct 2020 - resonance - jeno / jaemin (?) - dude idk im having trouble keeping up at this point

// I want to make it very clear that NCT would not be where it is without taeyong. I’m not suggesting that he is replaceable in any way, shape or form. however as a person with two parents in the performance industry - and im sure that many of u understand just from general life experience -- the show mUst go on. when you have a presence as large as ty missing, it is undoubtedly going to take a toll on the overall energy and performance but i personally think that the boys fucking killed it -- especially with such a short turnaround from learning that ty would not be performing. (jaemin said that jeno legit had one HOUR to practice the beginning of maw (and by proxy the beginning of resonance) and that amount of talent and skill is unfuckingbelievable) but I digress.

// there is nothing wrong with being disappointed that taeyong cannot perform. (get well soon ty!) he is an incredible performer and human being. there is nothing wrong with seeing (and understanding) that another member filling ty’s part is going to FEEL different, even if they do a phenomenal job. there is nothing wrong with feeling the difference in energy and performance -- there is obviously ANOTHER PERSON doing the part that we are accustomed to. there is nothing wrong with having a conversation and discourse about the performance. however... there IS something wrong with putting down members and harshly criticizing their performance in a malicious way. constructive criticism is one thing, but a lot (not all but an overwhelming amount) of what I have seen in the comments and the little bit of twitter i have been on has just been bashing members (one in particular) about their performance.

// let me get the easy part out of the way here. jaemin and jeno killed it during maw. yuta’s dance break, mark’s center time, jaehyun covering ty’s rap, and johnny stepping up to get stepped on (hehe i’ll stop now don’t mind me) were all surprisingly refreshing. yangyang covering lightbulb was (imo) one of highlights of the concert. for a rapper who often doesn’t get the recognition that he deserves he did a PHENOMENAL job covering the entirety of ty’s parts in his own way and conveying his emotions. yes, the members weren’t the same as taeyong, however, they added their own twist and their own personalities to it. it is in fact BETTER to do this and be remembered for their own style than attempt to emulate someone else’s performance. it is the sign of a great artist to take something and make it your own.

// now, onto the two newest members. i will be candid about this. the biggest difference I felt within the performance was when sungchan and shotaro were covering ty’s parts. tbh this is to be expected (?). i’m not trying to put down the boys but the reality is that they debuted 2-3 MONTHS ago? all of the other members covering ty’s parts have had significantly more experience in every aspect of performing. jaemin and jeno may be about the same age as chan and shotaro but they have upwards of 4 years more experience (debuted anyway, and anyone can tell u that practicing vs the real thing can be a very daunting change) than the other two. the other members have performed in front of a live crowd, they have had time to deal with criticism and learn from it. they are just in every way more experienced, and although we expect great things out of all the members, it is simply unrealistic to expect the same level of performance out of members with 2 years less experience than anyone else on the stage.

aneway...

shotaro covered one of the hardest parts in nct history - taeyong’s 7th sense. in every way - the rap, the technicality of the dance, the sheer charisma ty brings - this was a daunting task. him being a rookie DID show in the performance. this isn’t a bad thing. the tone of his rap did sometimes lack nuance and the level of sophistication that we know taeyong to have. however, i do think shotaro was the right choice for this song. you have to give rookies experience for them to grow, and a concert like this (even without a live crowd) is a great time to do it. (i’ll get into logistics later but bear with me)

the sad reality is that we’re probably not going to have large in person concerts for at least the next year and it will be a long time til travel, concerts, and simply life return to what they were before covid. it will be a very long til the boys get to perform on a stage with the energy of a crowd in the same way they have up til now.

now sungchan. my poor bb sungchan :(

sungchan covered ty’s part is boss (and a little bit in misfit but johnny covered the first part and its more of a hype rap song than one with designated dance moves and centre parts). the dance (in boss) may not be the most technical but this is an unfORGETTABLE song when it comes to taeyong’s part. the beginning “nct leggo?” *chefs kiss*. from what i’ve seen sungchan is the one receiving the most criticism (read hate) about his performance. look, i’m not going to argue that out of all the members who filled ty’s part he was the weakest. (im not trying to hate, but imo his performance was the weakest, u can disagree with me). he definitely less comfortable with covering taeyong’s part than anyone else was - including shotaro. i think most of the criticism is coming from the fact that he just looked anxious and unable to throw himself into the choreo and when comparing him to taeyong (who again just -- idk he’s unexplainable) his performance does fall a little flat. imo the rap was okay, his tone is actually somewhat similar to ty. i really think that most of the hate is stemming from the execution of the choreo rather than the rap. HOWEVER... calling him “stiff as a board” and commenting “cap” emojis does absolutely nothing except spread unnecessary hate. sungchans position is NOT as a dancer. he is only listed as a rapper. shotaro, however, is listed as both a dancer and a rapper. not to say that these listings are the end all be all of a member’s position, but because they are so new they are a decent representation of what SM thought their strengths were. we would love our idols to be aces at everything, but they are human and humans have their strengths and weaknesses. compared to taeyong, and also shotaro, sungchan does not have the technical ability nor the confidence while dancing. I’d like to believe that anyone who analyzes their performances and takes an objective view can understand where i am coming from.

tldr: you are placing unrealistic expectations on a rookie who’s main position is NOT main dancer. you are asking him to fill the shoes of arguably one of the most charismatic and talented rappers, leaders, and centers of 4th gen kpop... as a ROOKIE. his performance is most likely going to show cracks of being relatively new to the stage. its okay to acknowledge that, but don’t be fucking rude when discussing his performance.

// the amount of posts i’ve seen calling sungchan “untalented” “stiff as a board” just im so fucking over it. yes, his performance had its weaknesses but name-calling and just straight up hate does nothing to help a performer and just ruins everyone’s mental. you can bet your ass that every single one of these boys has worked their ass off, given up unimaginable things, and faced challenges to get where they are today. not to mention that (in particular the case of sungchan and shotaro) these boys are young. the other youngest/newest members have had about 2 years (yangyang, xiaojun, hendery) to become accustomed to the criticism and also hatred that comes with being in the spotlight. sungchan is less than a MONTH older than me. shotaro is just a year older than me. my best friend is legit older than both of these boys. idk your age but think about yourself at their age, or where u think you’ll be at their age. they have accomplished SO much and are so young. they’re 19 and 20 and in an internationally recognized band. we know that a lot of these boys (and idols) do read our comments. i don’t care how much media training you’ve received, how strong your mental is, getting called untalented and being hated on is going to take a toll on your mental. along with that, what is the NEED? to spread hate? to show that “huhu, im such a big deal that all these people are responding to me”. like, legit wtf do u gain from this?

// when you are a performer you do open yourself up to criticism, it is part of the job. but criticism and hate are two very different things. to get where nct is today, every single member has to be humble enough to accept guidance AND constructive criticism. we all know how much the boys value nctizens opinions and take them into account when performing. when you are a performer like that you also have to criticize your own work. no matter what profession you are in, no matter what you do, you analyze ur own work and attempt to make it better. i can all but assure u that shotaro and sungchan (and all the boys) know their strengths and weaknesses, know when a specific move, performance, or other area of their ability is not up to par (or they just want to improve which is imperative to success in the music industry)

just be a decent human being. put urself in all of the boy’s shoes and think “hmm how would i feel if some stranger on the internet said this about me” before you make hateful statements.

again, there is nothing wrong with having a discussion and understanding that humans have strengths and weaknesses, but don’t just put someone down because u feel like it.

in case you aren’t convinced to be a decent person, have a more logical (?) approach -- not that u should have to shown a dissertation to be a decent human but i digress.

(think about how many other songs the rest of rap line has to perform, logistically, who else are you going have cover the entierty of boss and 7th sense.)

rap line is: taeyong, mark, lucas, hendery, jeno, jaemin, yangyang, shotaro, sungchan, and jisung (?).

everyone except lucas and hendery (and jisung but bb was injured :( ) covered ty’s part in some aspect. in fact, people not in the friggin rap line helped cover some of ty’s rap (johnny, jaehyun, haechan im looking at you) and other members covered dancing and center parts when they were asked to.

mark is in just as many tracks as ty and was RUNNING around to get to the next song this entire concert. you can legit see his outfit change with jackets and hats. he filled in for ty in kick it (group effort but u get the point) but in 7th sense just to the way that the song works and the dance etc etc, you can’t have mark doing his part as well as ty’s without it falling flat and taking a huge toll on mark. same with boss, marks filling just as big a role as ty and like, legit how do u give this boy mOre lines than he already has. (u can see that sm did a similar thing with jeno and jaemin in the beginning of maw, jeno covers the first part and then jaemin the rest of the song because jaemin can’t leave an open space at the vEry beginning of the song) (10/21 total performances)

lucas isn’t in as many as say mark but he is in boss and make a wish (boss being very hard for him to cover ty’s part, and jeno and jaemin covered maw. if i’m being completely honest i don’t think lucas has the same tone or technical ability to fit into ty’s parts in the songs as much as say - sungchan on a pure technical and tone pov (6/21 total performances)

hendery, similar to lucas isn’t in an absurd amount of tracks but still enough to tire a guy out lol. because of him performing full choreos in other songs it doesn’t make sense for him to learn a completely new choreo while simultaneously having to memorize and practice the others songs. also, in a similar vein of lucas, i just don’t think hendery is the first choice when choosing someone to cover ty’s parts (dont kill me hendery and lucas stans lol) (6/21 total performances)

jeno while jeno isn’t in the sheer number of performances as other members, he does end up covering ty’s starting part in maw (see reasoning for jaemin above). this by proxy means he covers the maw part in resonance. while he does a fantastic job covering the starting part, asking him to learn the entirety of boss or 7th sense would be a fuckton of work. u can legit see him yEEt himself out of camera view after his part - not to mention again that he had an hour to practice lol (6/21 total performances) 7/21 covering

jaemin - first off u can literally see jaemin’s energy fall throughout the final song the boy is so tired by aneyway... it makes total sense for him to cover maw as he already knows the choreo and it take less effort than learning an entirely new song. also, when ur comparing popularity/center time between jeno and jaemin vs. hendery (even lucas sometimes) they simply have more, and when u aRe in the center u have to expend more energy becAuse u are holding the performance together (6/21 performances)

yangyang let me get my yangyang simping out of the way, but this boy is so fucking talented and his rap deserves more praise. lightbulb compared to other songs ty is in, is a more melodic and emotional based song. there is no choreo, therefore the person covering the rap just has to focus on the rap itself rather than the rap AND the choreo. imo this was the best possible choice for someone to cover ty’s part in lightbulb (6/21 total) 7/21 covering ty’s part

shotaro shotaro is only in 4/21 performances. it simply makes sense for the rap line member with the fewest songs to perform to learn a a full choreo. as stated above, 7th sense is the more technically difficult of the songs that required learning and covering a full part. assigning shotaro (the dance line member) to the more challenging choreo is just the easy choice -- especially if ya’ll gonna come for sungchan’s dancing skills, give the damn song to shotaro smh (4/21 performances) 5 when covering 7th sense

sungchan tied with shotaro for the fewest performances (just by nature of being the newest members) in the same way that it makes sense for shotaro to learn a full choreo, it makes sense for sungchan. reasoning for the assigned songs above. (4/21 total performacnes) 5 with boss

// the songs where they didn’t have a designated member cover most/all of taeyong’s parts were in the 127 songs as well as in baby don’t stop (ten and taeyong duet). 127 is the most veteran of the nct subgroups, and is in general just more accustomed to filling in parts (ie winwin - screw u sm lol). they have johnny who trained as a rapper who can fill in, jaehyun, haechan, and yuta have all proven that they can cover rap with more a sing-rap style and mark can take/cover parts when it is logistically possible.

// in 127′s songs although ty does often take center and many lines, in general 127 is just a more well rounded group. (don’t come for my ass). in the same way that dream has an undeniable chemistry, 127 is the same way. when you work with the same group of people for an extended period of time without many (if any) changes you just build better chemistry. in nct u taeyong takes more of the spotlight just due to his charisma and raw power. think about it. which performance suffered more due to taeyong’s absence: touch / kick it or make a wish / boss / 7th sense.

also: because 127 is a fixed unit all the boys know the choreo and have consistently performed it at concerts allowing for member to step in where they know they are comfortable without the amount of discussion it might otherwise take in a rotational group

// take a second to think about a certain performance without taeyong in it. it may just be me, but i think 127 fare much better without their leader than any rotational group without taeyong very (firmly ?) bolstering the performance in the center. (taeyong doesn’t hold all these titles for nothing, he is truly another breed)

// in baby don’t stop they didn’t even attempt to cover taeyong’s absence. idk if that was ten putting his foot down and saying that he didn’t want someone covering the part or if it was more of a choice based on marketing and fanservice. baby don’t stop is truly ten and taeyong’s song and idk if even pairing 10 with a dancer with ty’s vocal in the backtrack would have received positive feedback.

if you have somehow made it this far props to you lol. a rant that started because i wanted to defend sungchan has turned into a long analysis of members... whoops.

tldr: just be a decent human being. everyone in nct is human. a talented, multifaceted, human with strengths and weaknesses. being a nctizen doesn’t mean not being proud, disappointed, happy, or any other emotion about the boys. but it does mean treating the boys and other fans with respect.

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a-deadly-serenade · 3 years

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overall this season was pretty decent. i have some thots whats new so im gonna share them below the cut if anyone’s interested :)

so!! first off i’ll say that there were a lot of things i did really enjoy from season 4!

the action was super fun as always!! i loved all the crazy enemies and callbacks! the skeleton fight and all those little goblins they kept killing throughout were a nice touch ;) sypha’s use of her powers is INSANE her ice-chainsaw?? her WALL of fire?? electric balls?? come on. and the animation was NICE. i really wanna know who did most of the fight scenes bcuz the style is so different and it just POPS but in a really good way?

my favorite fight has to be ofc when everyone is REUNITED yes im basic. but the THEME song going off and well, im a whore for sotn references and i CAME when i saw the leap stone ref w the winged cape or when alucard turned into a hoard of batss AND THEN HIS WOLF FORM OOOOHH BABY!!! actually episode 9 is just a straight banger.

STRIGAAA. STRIGA. oh mama i was sweating during that fight. mad kudos to her va for them growlsss

carmilla vs isaac was a lot of fun and i loved the visuals but my hype was instantly ruined when i saw her kill herself 😭but thats smth i’ll complain about later.

not all the lines were bangers, some of sypha’s swearing seemed even a bit too much at times, and it was especially jarring to be having a face-to-face death-math with literal Death and hes acting like a naughty little 5 year old thats just learnt to swear. maybe cut back on the fuck-isms? just a bit? BUT when they hit they did GOOD. “the fuck what now?” yes

ISAAC. you weren’t in this season as much but man do u still shine through. i loved his introduction back in the town where he has his night creatures digging graves and rebuilding the city 😭 and then the conversation he shares w his flyman?? obsessed.

Hector chopping his finger off and giving lenore and carmilla a good ol FUCK YOU!! as he helps isaac. we love to see it

Trevor and Sypha’s “I love you!” “I know.” <3

DEATHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

oh! alucard actually having a story & purpose in the plot? :) luv it love to see it. that being said... the Plot.

its... ok? it’s kind of split up into 3/4 parts, as the story progresses, one eventually merges with several of the others kind of? cohesively? while leaving the other to sort itself out.

now, i didnt have too many qualms with it, it was pretty straight forward. dracula is going to be resurrected and we have sypha and trevor looking in on it, while alucard helps the nearby village and hector and isaac go on about bringing on their inevitable showdown. however, the way the story was paced and some of the decisions they made... werent so great.

st. germain for example, brought the ENTIRE momentum from the last few episodes to a halt. you have sypha and trevor fighting through heaps and heaps of monsters only to find themselves back in Targoviste where they meet the mysterious Zamfir!! and Alucard!! he’s been asked to help save this village!! all jam-packed with crazy action and animation that leaves you fired up!! and then episode 5 comes to a screeching halt and we spend nearly the entire thing on st. germain’s backstory and explaining his motives for the rest of the season

like. imma be real with you chief: he didnt need to be here lol. you could have just left varney as the main vamp in charge of bringing back big daddy drac and he could reveal to his.. idk henchmen or something that he’s death. but u gotta fill them ten 20 minute slots somehow!! he just fell so flat and unfortunately, a lot of the side-characters suffer from this this season.

i enjoyed great and zamfir, i love their desgins esp, but they really could have been fleshed out more. zamfir is shown as nothing but a spoiled brat the majority of the time she’s on screen but they wait till she’s about to die to try and turn her character around? huh? greta is given a bit more screentime but this sudden confession of feelings in the last episode felt so... huh?? why couldnt she just be dedicated to her people and show that u can love someone w/out necessarily being their partnr? i thot that was her whole thing; taking care of her people. it’s like. where did this come from. they cant have known each other more than a week at most dog 😭

it sucks they dedicated to much time to scenes that didnt really need to be there where we could have gotten this proper development, like maybe have a scene zamfir and sypha connect over struggles they’ve dealt with in the past and that has her open up about how traumatizing dracula’s attack on her city was. u could have expanded upon her role in the court and WHY she worshipped the monarchy so much instead of making it a throwaway gag about her being “crazy”. but why have that when we could instead spend the first 5 minutes of said episode watching a monotonous back-and-forth b/w varney and that big burly russian vampire who’s name im sure mor than 98% of the audience cant even remember?

just a lot of fat that needed to be trimmed so that the actual MEAT of the story could be slow cooked to perfection. people really arent kidding when they say less is more.

another big problem i had was there... i dont even know what to call it, re-humanization? redemption? of Lenore. like lmk if im wrong but she manipulated hector, yeah? coerced sex to slip on that ring that binds him to her?? orr whatever weird shit warren’s into. but the way they interacted, ESPECIALLY in their first major scene together was sooo uncomfortable to watch lol at first i thought perhaps hector was only playing along because well. hes enslaved to do her and carmilla’s bidding. but no, he actually LIKES her. he spares her when isaac comes around, he says that he wants to keep her as his own. and in the meantime, lenore finds time to complain to a man that’s been beaten and enslaved how upset it makes her that carmilla got angry at her 😭 or says thats she tired of isaac keeping tabs on her and wants to escape this ‘cage’. to aman thats literally been imprisoned since youve known him 😭her death is seen as peaceful, calm, they even try and tug at ur heartstrings by swelling this sad, dramatic music as the sun rises. really? LENORE?

and carmilla’s death happened WAYY too early imo. she was the villain for practically 3 seasons and this is how she goes? isaac couldnt get more than a stab at her? his night creatures couldnt take a nibble? HECTOR couldnt even be given a chance to do somethng like come on

the resolution was... strange? it was cute!! and happy!! but i dunno if they really needed to have lisa and vlad coming back, but, like i said; it was cute! definitely not the ending i was expecting.

i’m glad that they put their focus back on what made the show so much fun and that was the FIGHTS. they definitely helped add some much needed spice to things when scenes started to drag, but im a gal that really luvs a good story and even though reviews were raving that this season helped closed the lid on all the themes theyd been exploring, i just didnt really see that. which isnt necessarily a BAD thing, i knew i wasnt gonna find some deep introspective themes in this hack n slash horror-fantasy, its just what can turn somethng like this from an ok show to a GREAT one.

in the end, im glad they stopped at this one and im curious to see if they really DO go ahead on making spin-offs. bcuz unfortunately, i will always be down for som new castlevania content

#cv4 #this is REALLY long #and BRIMMING with spoilers #so read at ur own discretion #otherwise ty for spending ur valuable time to hear what a random sob like me has to say <3

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littlebabycrybtch · 3 years

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bro..... im sooo tired of ppl being whiny freaks about ppl liking fictional shit ‘~too much~’. like bitches are literally fully convinced if you prefer acting out certain ideas in fiction but not irl, thats not your normal preferential boundaries but rather your brain is a mental illness BOMB and you need to be fucking hospitalized for being imaginative and having autonomy. like yall if its not taboo or smth shut uuuuhp man you’re not ‘concerned for their health’ or w/e you’re fully just tryna get away with being a nihilistic asshole who lacks sympathetic reasoning skills. listen to me. fiction is valuable. the thoughts we have on it are important. the personal lack of value you happen to put on a media is next to worthless. its not a fuckin waste of time dude, creators are people, who live in the real world, they experience it and have ideas through it and about it, they form and tweak their ideas while still definitely existing in the real world, and then put that back into the world with a new angle and new perspective, to share with other people definitely encountering it in , you guessed it , the real world. thats not disconnected. its not nothing. these things do not magically appear from fairytale land, they are created. stories mean smth, people tell them for a reason, its ok to feel smth for any story, why would we even tell them if not with the intention to impact others emotionally somehow i mean??? fiction does not Just affect reality, it is valuable to real life society, it is a functioning thriving part OF reality.

humans have told stories since the dawn of our existence. it is literally all but an inherent species trait for us to imagine things, its tied to each and every one of us, and to reject ‘fantasy’ as smth worthless to human life is frankly just fuckin wrong and weird of you. bitch we are Supposed to get outside the box, the fandom ppl you cringe your pants over arent thinking abt fake shit too much, you guys very often just arent exercising abstract thought and imagination enough, which actually hurts your ability to engage with it critically in all the ways its meant to be. if you dont see the value in fiction its because you put in no effort to form the analysis skills. in other words, you idiots dont get the hype bc you’re too stupid to get how you're supposed to compare a book to the real world it came from. ‘uu but cmon not everythings valuable what about [tumblr designated cringe media]-’ 1. ok! somehow you havent come to this conclusion yourself yet but thats not real, whatever ppl get to enjoy is not all abt you, your bias means less than dirt to others outside of hivemind social medias, you can keep it to yourself, ppl shouldnt care about it bc it means nothing outside of ur own space, its literally funny to me that you’re so elitist you want me to cater my interests to you, Your Standard Of Quality Isnt Universal, 2. ranking the values of fiction is the waste of time here, if you compare mlp to pride and prejudice ill dissect your teeth, different emotional impacts from tragic to funny to Just A Vibe are all able to be assessed as ‘valuable to somebody else so leave well enough alone’ if you dont have 2010+ funnyman brainrot disease that makes you incapable of reflecting on anything you can find a way to joke abt first.

i mean seriously like. whenever randos start engaging with medias you ppl dont like or in ways you dont get, the strawmans yall make up to get to be cringe culture vultures abt such benign shit, and almost Always at the expense of neurodivergent people with a deeply rooted undertone of extreme ableism might i add..... its just so selfish. u have a brain ok, you’re manipulative but we both know you dont Actually think ppl automatically default to being a waifu obsessed incel rotting away at their basement computer, stagnating their social skills and straying further and further from reality with each passing day, a poor disturbed wretch that you just HAVE to save from themselves, all bc they say they. prefer fictional porn or w/e to having sex irl. buddy thats not a big deal, theyre normal, just different from you. theyre fine, you’re just uncomfortable. as a functioning adult you’re gonna have to try and recognize that sometimes that feelings gonna be 100% on you, and you cant always just lie abt the validity of it to make ppl feel obligated into agreeing with you. this is gonna be one fragment of their personhood and your self obsessed brain imploding over how unrelatable that is doesnt fucking matter, grow up bitch like. how detached do you have to be to think thats so unstable or morally wrong.... its just a completely inconsequential preferential decision that only affects them and isnt a wrong choice at all cuz nobody has to get their dick wet if they dont wanna for any reason ever and thats gotta be that tbh.... and it kills me cuz they still inherently experience the real world and are capable of thinking abt it critically,,, even tho they... masturbate to drawings or w/e the fuck ppl think is unhealthy ???? like? imagination is just fun we dont need to moderate it anymore than we moderate other fun activities i mean lol ksdjfsd this is the DEFINITION of ‘just vibing’ no one FUCKING cares and it deosnt fucking matter the way you desperately try to make ppl think it does just so u get to be loud abt ur shortcomings as a decent understanding person.

‘uuuuuu im sorry but thats unhealthy :///’ you sound like a goddamn maniac dude stories are not unhealthy having feelings abt them is not unhealthy thinking some anime bitch that was DRAWN TO BE HOT , IS HOT, is not UNHEALTHY and you clowns arent convincing anybody you ‘care’ abt that concept anyways !! im losign my mind here skdlsdfsd medias are literally DESIGNED TO DO THIS TO PEOPLE... WE’RE SUPPOSED TO FEEL THINGS FOR IT.... IT IS WHAT MAKES THE ART WE’VE TAKEN PART IN FOR CENTURIES, “ART”.... ITS JUST... HAVING IDEAS AND EXPERIENCING IMAGINATION..... whats wildly unhealthy actually is yalls toxic obsession with ‘harsh truth’ and validating your stupid ass cwinge feewings to the point where everything that gives your underdeveloped selfish ass hives has to be a matter of health and morals and whats ‘best’ for everyone. u dont know that shit!!!! ur a petty brat and im not ur mommy ok i wont baby you so u dont feel like the shitty whiny person you are, you need to grow and do better and think outside urself already, dont put the responsibility of making u feel right for judging somebodies benign hobbies on me. i wont bc its wrong and unnecessary. you’re not a savior no ones falling for that lmao you’re just a bitch girl xoxo get over it shit truly does not matter. let them write nsfw self insert fics instead of banging !!

to make it real do yall really not Get that basic consent kinda doesnt just mean ‘no when im not in the mood at the time’ but it means ‘no if i just dont fuckin feel like having sex ever for literally any reason at all bc i choose what i do’ and pressuring them, even with what your warped brain translates as the best of intentions, is inherently disgusting? especially with the ‘i know how to help you’ attitude like......... ohhh die soonly ew lmao! lay off this nasty shit already please it doesnt matter! stop trying to make it matter!! its not hurting you or them you stupid tumblr phd ass!! and like again yeah some media shits just truly gross but tbr now its like even That kind of shit, the Real social issues caused by Actually problematic media that ppl should discuss Genuinely without ulterior motives, is being used more and more rampantly as just a stepping stone to get to the needless mockery of other harmless things in the media they want an excuse to bag on.......... like a bitch cant just be grown and talk about problems at face value without getting a bully jab in. smhhhhh you all fuckin suck please just stop talking already. so anyways yeah being attracted to fictional characters instead of real people or w/e IS funny, funny how many boyfriends they have when u have none xoxo theyre having fun and you can die sad abt it they get to die 5 times in an angsty fantasy fic and be brought back with mouth to mouth by fuckin kakashi every time and then they go get lunch irl while ur updating tinder bitch ... different fucking strokes ig !

#long post//#i would like one free ticket to pop off please. thank you #can i cash it in immediately if you dont mind

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alo-piss-trancy · 5 years

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SD/R2 OMO HEADCANONS (Pt1)

Decided it was probably time for me to post a list of my omo hcs for this game since I did the THH chars! Like with the other list, I'll be excluding a couple I have no interest in thinking of omo content of (in this case, Hiy/oko and Teru/teru). I'm breaking this one into multiple posts throughout the week as I compile my thoughts (I'll add a link to all of them on the fic masterlist page later so you can find them all) because I feel this is gonna be a lot longer than my THH post haha!

Here we go, the first 3 (or 4) chars! Please stop reading now if you don't want spoilers for the game bc there will be several!!!

~~~

Gun/dham:

* I firmly hc him as vegetarian (not vegan. He will consume byproducts like milk/cheese/eggs/etc, but only harvested himself or from small farms/sources that he has personally vetted/researched where he knows 100% that the creatures are treated ethically.)

* That's actually not omo-related besides milk oops but it relates to my next point, which is that for the most part he prefers Natural food/drink. Water, fruit or vegetable juices/smoothies, etc. He's not really used to strange 'Human' confections like soda or coffee, so the caffeine and diuretics hit him hard and fast and make it difficult for him to estimate how much time he has. It also makes him jittery/hyped as hell which Does Not Help.

* As long as he isn't screwed over by caffeine or a ton of drinks, he has a decently strong bladder and can hold for a long time. He has a lot of practice from hiding/waiting to help certain animals, laying trapped under sleeping cats/dogs, etc. And also avoiding public restrooms like the Plagues they are for most of the day...

* He's bladdershy AF and has been since early childhood. I saw he had signs drawn on the doors/curtain in his room during my playthrough (including the bathroom) and that is definitely his safezone. Can't go outside either bc 1. He's paranoid he'll be seen by other ppl and 2. That feels disrespectful to the nature deities despite the logic that animals do it all the time. He knows that's dumb and he hates himself for it.

* Sometimes I do like to ignore the bladdershy hc just for some variety. Even in that case tho he'd still be a bit of a diva about which public bathrooms he uses. If it's gross or weird he's gonna avoid it/complain/refuse to go even if bursting. He's stubborn af

* We all know he canonically goes commando. Therefore he is in extra danger because any leaks will go straight to his pants RIP Since he usually wears black it isn't that visable (as long as it's just a bit and not a full wetting), but if he ever has to wear smth else u know he's screwed c':

* He's not very vocal when desperate at all. Mostly strangled whines or grunts (only when alone or if so urgent he can't hide it), he's just so easily embarrassed that he can choke most sound.

* He can also hide his body language pretty well. He can manage to keep himself to rigid posture and the occasional shudder or fidget if needed. Only when he's beyond caught and about to wet will he resort to obvious grabs or dances in front of others.

* Even if he wet he wouldn't cry (I don't seem him crying much for anything tbh, barring extreme things like death). He's angry at himself and extremely ashamed. He would get red as a tomato, attempt to slink away and avoid any witnesses for several days. Could get snippy or hide in his shell all pitiful, depending on the person.

* When alone or sure he can't be caught, he'll fidget more once things are dire. Mostly his long-ass legs. Jiggling, crossing, bending at the knees or bouncing up and down, shuffling from foot-to-foot, everything. He doesn't really do much with his hands beyond a quick crotch-squeeze.

* He'd def let Haj/ime or So/nia dom tf out of him as far as making him hold/lose control, he's submissive and enjoys the challenging test of limits. However, I could also see him totally having a thing for 'marking' his partners during the times he doms.

So/nia:

* Lowkey has a bladder of steel tbh, tho you'd never expect it by looking at her. It takes a lot to get her desperate and even more for her to crack enough to show her needs to others.

* She had a lot of long lectures/lessons, meetings, social events, formal balls, etc. growing up, so she just got used to waiting a lot between breaks so as not to interrupt or be rude to her guests. This also makes her wicked good at remaining completely calm on the outside and keeping the quiver out of her tone even when she's absolutely dying.

* Even once people know her problem, she would NEVER grab herself or dance. Literally the most you'll get out of her is legs crossed at the ankles. For the most part the only sign of her desperation is the slight fullbody shivering where she has her muscles and posture strained. If you're very lucky she may wince or her voice will start shaking/get breathy (her breathing gets super fast and shallow when at her absolute limit. Like nearly hyperventilating fast).

* While not shy at all about asking/telling others where she's going, she was raised with manners. She refuses to interrupt while others are busy, and will wait until she feels the time is appropriate to but into convos or leave the room, even if that could take a long time. She will not skip out on a group task if she can help it bc she feels very strongly about doing her part and not coming off as a slacker (so group investigations/new island exploring/building for Us/ami in Island Mode are all LONG tasks she will force herself to stick out without complaint, even if she's about to wet herself).

* Despite being a princess, she definitely doesn't view anything as being 'beneath' her. If someone asks her to just go outside/in a sketchy place/strange receptacle, she'll do it without question as soon as they agree to glance away. In fact, sometimes it's actually a little thrilling.

* If she did wet herself she would certainly be embarrassed, maybe even teary-eyed depending on the situation/who was around. However, it certainly isn't the end of the world for her, and she would be able to brush it off fairly easily once she got cleaned up and had a chance to breathe. Could probably start making jokes about it by the next day, or just wait patiently for everyone to forget about it.

* Probably has a big piss kink (for others. She isn't much on doing holds herself, minus an occasional 'Damsel in Distress' type roleplay). And honestly just a big one for domming others (sometimes sweetly, sometimes cold/cruel like True Royalty). She looks cute but She Nasty (tm). Gun/dham and Haji/me (to a lesser extent, bc his smart-ass take-no-shit attitude makes him a bit of a brat sometimes lol) are her bitches.

M/ikan (I have to split hers in two bc I have polar opposite hcs) :

Non-Despair M/ikan -

* Is every bit as shy uwu ohnoooo~ as you'd imagine. Super blushy and fidgety and teary-eyed but never admits what's wrong even once it's obvious, to the point of potty-dancing in place (but she's Totally Fine she can hang in there and doesn't need to stop what she's doing)! You literally have to drag her away to the bathroom if u don't want her to have an accident. Would rather die than inconvenience anyone by telling them she has to go, will berate herself for the inconvenience when that backfires and she's made a mess of herself, 120% convinced everyone hates her and p much refuses any comfort bc she's so trapped in the spiral. Bawls her eyes out.

* If on a rare occasion she does work up the nerve to speak up and is denied, that's it. She will not dare ask again even if the person didn't realize how badly she had to go. Nope. Clearly her only option is to hold it until she can't anymore, or until she's alone and can run off by herself.

*Also she totally would whimper to herself in The Worst omo video star voice lmao "Oh noooo I'm leaking into my panties~, it's cOmIng OuTtttt~ uwu uwu uwu" (i'm not making fun of those istg but u know Exactly what 'sexy baby' voice I mean. That is Mi/kan. Don't be so fake bitch We Know u didn't fall spread eagle naturally)

* Says 'Potty' unironically. It's the only word she uses for the bathroom.

* Surprisingly not bladdershy at all. She's actually the opposite. Will go Anywhere (but will be embarrassed while doing it).

* She's used to holding a lot bc afraid to leave class/stuck helping patients for hours on end. However while she has a wicked high capacity and stays very hydrated, she has pretty shaky control. Leaks A LOT, be it in general or bc she gets startled/nervous. She's like a chihuahua lmao. She wears medical liners when on duty as a nurse or during school, but for general hangouts she forgoes them (totally bc she forgot and Not bc she wanted to show her wet panties off to strangers/peers when she falls again, that would be Slu/tty and Improper).

* Once held for ages and then ended up wetting herself just bc Hiy/oko told her to. It wasn't actually a request, just a one-off snippy comment that H forgot about like 10 min after she said it and walked away. When she found out Mi/kan took it seriously she absolutely lost it laughing for the next few days

*Her potty dances include lots of thighs rubbing together/hunching over, hands wandering dangerously close only to pause and grip her skirt/dress hem, hopping from leg to leg and shaking at the knees. She's pitiful when desperate and very cute. Pants and whimpers near constantly, nibbles at her knuckles to try and muffle it.

* Knows when she's at risk of actual damage from holding, but it's still a 50/50 shot of whether she'll break down and go or keep trying to hold. She knows it's unwise, but due to her complete lack of self worth she doesn't really care if her own body is damaged.

* That said, she monitors everyone else very closely and will harass them firmly to take breaks if they're at risk.

Despair/True Mik/an -

* MASSIVE PISS KI/NK. Loves to be dommed/told to hold until she wets. LOVES to do the same to others and tell them all the mean things for a change. She will borderline Break You.

* Takes great satisfaction in watching others struggle. If given an opportunity to make others desperate/prevent them from getting to a bathroom without revealing herself, she will definitely take it. She has no sympathy.

* The Queen of lacing things with diuretics, but can also often find that boring/too easy. A bit disdainful of that method tbh.

* Tying ppl down to hold or hooking them to IVs and 'misplacing' the call button is more her style.

* Used to hold for Jun/ko a lot to appease her. Would be willing to hold for Na/gito, but tbh he's just as willing to hold for her so it's a bit of a stalemate and they've yet to work out who does what.

* Will piss on her victim/lover while staring them directly in the eyes. Does not flinch. She toes the line between sexy and just plain creepy lol

#omocute #omorashi #fandomo #fictomo #bear txt #drspoilers

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wanna-17 · 7 years

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joshua highschool!au

summary: you and joshua hong were strangers at a tutoring academy but what happens when he moves to your school and you guys bond over music and small cute moments?

genre: fluff, slice of life, semi-real life

style: bullet-point

length: 4.4k

a/n: so this is something i’ve wanted to write for a while because it’s actually semi real life (not me ofc i cry someone i know) and i think their story is super cute. i’ve made some alternatives e.g. in real life it’s a church/school setting but because i’m posting on tumblr i decided to change it to a tutoring academy/school setting. but do let me know if you want a version of the original setting :) also this ended up being really really long (mainly bc i know like a lot of exact details and wanted to include as much as i can) and im unsure if you guys like my writing style but im hoping to improve more over time as i hopefully write more bullet point styled scenarios :)

so you’ve been going to this tutoring academy for a while and you go like once a week

you actually look forward to tutoring bc u were actually put in a really good class where everyone is friends and even have a group chat for memes

anyways theres this guy called joshua who sits at the back

and hes like the most handsome guy in the class and all the girls /not so/ secretly fawn over him

and like there are loads of rumours about him which claim that he opened his own lil company that makes apps and stuff which earns him $$$ at the age of 12 and how he like used a drone to capture the whole of his relatives wedding and how he like mastered 3 instruments and is a tech genius and on top of that really smart

which you obviously dont believe because thats not even human ??

anyways you do admit he’s sort of ok-above-average lookswise but u aint that shallow because he has a bad personality and you just hate him

but you have evidence for hating him !!

one time you accidentally walked into him verbally being mean to this other poor guy

so you naturally just assumed he was a bully and had a bad impression of him

you thought he was a prideful annoying rude and horrible person

and you just dont understand the hype about him at the tutoring academy

like they literally give out flyers with his face on it ?? umm ?? what marketing purposes lmao

anyways one day at tutor

your friend kyulkyung is like omg did u hear joshua is transferring to our school next year hdkhfaaku

kyulkyung is highkey a fangirl of him and always tries to talk you into him being a lil angel and nice person but you just snort lol

anyways you obviously dont care that he’s going to your school next year so you just shrug whatever

later that night when u get home u get a friend request on facebook from...dun dun DUNNNN what a surprise joshua hong

and you’re kinda like well ok ?? no harm in accepting a friend request

you accidentally click on his name too and think oh well might as well stalk him a bit

and damn his fb profile is super interesting bc he actually posts a lot but its not like dumb stuff boys usually post about video games

but like cute family pictures of him and his lil bro and you’re like this boy is family oriented i LIKE

then you suddenly come across a video...of this guy from your tutor...on kids masterchef

so u watch it and its the cutest thing ever

lil joshua stirring an egg and trying to make an omelet hehehe

and omg apparently he made it to the semi finals of KIDS MASTERCHEF???

you keep scrolling down and thats when u come across the evidence of him opening up his company with an app and tech jazz and u r like is this guy even rEALL

you’re still doubtful tbh so u go the appstore and type in his app and it comes up...even with CREATOR OF XX APP: JOSHUA HONG ???? you literally fall off ur chair bc wow

he cooks, he makes apps, he’s family oriented..that is all i need in a man HA HA

so next time at tutor u see him ur lowkey like the other girls staring at him bc wow he seems decent all of a sudden lol

ur other tutor friends are like: u r so lucky y/n josh’s gonna be at ur school

and ur kinda thinking maybe i should befriend him now cos he’ll defs be super popular at school

but tbh this fawning literally stops after 2 days and you go back to reality and focus on ur studies and all that

well as for joshua he doesnt really know u too to him ur that cute girl from tutor nothing much

fast forward to the next year ~

you kinda fully forget that josh is even coming

so the first school day back is all nice and chill and u get to ur fave class music heheh

you love music bc it really helps u concentrate and you also play clarinet and piano and love it

you’re also topping the class and sometimes you think you wouldn’t mind being a music teacher

so in music u take a seat next to your friend seungkwan who has power vocals and plays trumpet and when he sings at school performances you always accompany him as a pianist with woozi on drums

you and suengkwan are just chatting and catching up about holidays

when the teacher walks in followed by a student and you see that its joshua

and you’re like thinking o crap this is really awks i should hide

before u can do any of that tho he kinda makes a beeline for you and takes the seat next to u cos he only knows u in the class haha

and you’re literally looking the other way and u pretend u dont notice him take a seat next to u and you’re overly engaged in conversation with seungkwan

but seungkwan being the lovely and outgoing kid notices joshua and is like: hey!! are u new dont think ive seen u before

seungkwan is friends with everyone and everyone loves him back

joshua: uhh yeah i’m new

and seungkwan is super excited and like welcome!! i’m seungkwan and he sticks his hand out and is like and ur name is?

joshua is like i’m joshua

and seungkwan is like oh btw this is y/n

and it gets super awks cos u guys know of each others existence but maybe have talked like once when he had to pass u a bag of chips at tutor and u were like thank u

and seungkwan senses something and eyes you guys back and forth

after 837491 decades josh breaks the silence and is like hello y/n in a really meek voice

and you awkwardly smile and say hi

luckily class starts and the teacher introduces joshua to the class and asks him what instruments he plays

and the rumours prove to be true - he plays 3 instruments piano guitar and flute the real life guy cant play piano lmao

teacher asks him to demonstrate with the instrument hes most confident in

and so he starts playing the guitar to the tune of fireflies by owl city and also shyly starts singing to the lyrics check out how cute joshua is playing fireflies on his guitar here IM sOFTTT

and everyone is in awe at how good he is

and you lowkey feel your heart rate increase bc boi you love guys that play guitar and sing well

the way he sings is very gentle and sweet and the way he strums the guitar with his long fingers and how his eyes are full of gentle passion just makes you sWOOON

and somehow the way he sings with his emotions poured in just really touches your heart

after his performance everyone starts clapping and some girls even stand up and cheer lmao

he gets back to his seat and seungkwan gives him two thumbs up and says: bro are you kimbap kidding you were great you really should play guitar for me next time i sing

thanks says joshua bashfully and he kinda looks over to you with a hopeful look as if hoping you’d say something too

so you’re quickly like: yeah you were really good :)

josh: thanks y/n

anyways the teacher shushes everyone and is like: let me announce your first assignment! it’ll be in groups of 4 and it’ll be a cover of a pop song of your choice which you’d have to arrange yourselves. if you need help, you are welcome to ask other classmates that have experience in arranging or to ask me

whenver its group work you and seungkwan always join woozi

woozi comes over to you guys

and then both woozi and seungkwan are like to joshua: wanna join our group pls

and so joshua joins your group

and everyone else in class is jealous lmao because u 4 are definitely the top group with all the musical geniuses

ur kinda happy that joshua joined ur group bc he’s really good at guitar

and so u guys decide that u will do keyboard, joshua on guitar, woozi on drums and seungkwan on vocals

and y’all learn that joshua knows how to hack into arranging music programs for free

and woozi is like: WHAT MY LIFE HAS BEEN A LIE????

also shows u guys that infamous app you made and he has some secret code so u guys can download it for free instead of buying it for $15

ur group actually gets along really well and has good dynamics bc everyone has great ideas on what songs to do and how to do it and stuff

and its actually really fun with them even though you’re still awkward around joshua for no reason and he’s kinda shy too lmao

joshua suggests doing “breakeven” by the script

and u have a fangirl moment bc u love the script and everyone agrees that its a great song choice :)

anyways one day you guys decide to meet after school to practice and to refine the arranged piece which joshua and woozi did

BUT FOR SOME ODD REASON seungkwan can’t make it anymore bc he has to babysit his little brothers and woozi has a student council meeting

so its just you and joshua

and you two have never been like alone before like during group practice you guys make small conversation when the other two there and its all good and sweet but this was gonna be AWKWARD

anyways so you try to initiate conversation by asking how he’s finding the new school

and he just gives a short answer: pretty ok

and it becomes you two just asking each simple questions and giving short replies

but its only when you he asks you how you started getting into music that the conversation really starts going somewhere because your eyes light up while talking about music and so does hie eyes

and you guys talk about how classical music is so under-appreciated these days and how mozart is a music legend and just the beauty of music etc. etc.

and in no time its getting really dark and you both have to head home

you guys walk to the bus stop and he gets on your bus

and you’re like: hey i don’t think i’ve seen you catch this bus before?

joshua: yeah, but this bus also takes me home there are two buses that stop near my home!

you: oh ok cool

from that day on you and joshua actually got super close due to both your love for music

you guys always practiced together with seungkwan and woozi even when the group performance was over (and your group topped and got A+!!!!!!!!)

you also encouraged joshua to join the school band club which seungkwan and woozi were also part of

you literally baited him in because the school band club was going on tour to europe next year to get some sick masterclass training and perform at famous places in austria

so he basically joined so he could go to europe ;)))))) HEHEH

and even though you guys have different friend groups you guys sat near each other in the classes you shared, went to band club every monday morning at like 7am and also sometimes grabbed food together before tutoring

this was when literally EVERYONE at tutoring and school started shipping u two together and you’d get embarrassed and joshua wouldn’t really say much either

and to be honest deep in your heart you thought joshua was the ideal boyfriend but you had a rule where you weren’t gonna date in high school bc you wanted to focus on studies and you thought that high school relationships dont last and that they were pointless

and you’ve never really had a crush before so you’re super clueless lmao

one time students in ur music class volunteered to busk on the streets and you thought it’ll be fine so u and ur squad (josh, seungkwan and woozi) all signed up for it ^^

BUT when the day came around, woozi had a really bad fever and couldn’t get out of bed and seungkwan’s mum had to show up to work so seungkwan had to babysit his little brothers again

and so the busking was at school ..,,, except when u got to school the gates were locked AND it literally started pouring

you regretted not agreeing to your mum driving u bc u were a good daughter and didn’t want to bother her when it was her birthday

you also regretted not bringing an umbrella with u as u didn't want to miss ur bus

and so there you were soaking wet in the rain on a saturday morning not pleasant

you didn't know what to do and none of your gal friends were busking and u didn't want to bother them so you ended up calling joshua and he picked up in 2 rings

joshua: hey whats up?

you: sorry to ask of this but are you almost at school? because the gates are locked

joshua: oh really? i’ll be there in like 1 minute

you: ok see you soon

and in exactly one minute a car appeared and joshua hopped out with an umbrella

and he had the most concerned expression when he saw u soaking wet without an umbrella

joshua: omg y/n are you stupid why dont you have an umbrella

you just sighed as he held the umbrella above both ur heads

joshua: why don’t we go inside my mums car before we decide what to do i dont want you getting sick :(

you guys headed to his mums car and he just held the umbrella above both your heads and you noticed that it covered more of you than him

he could have easily put his arm around u so he wouldn’t get wet at all

but this was one thing you came to notice and really admire about joshua

that he’s such a respectful gentleman

whenever you befriended a guy you’d low key make it clear that you weren’t interested and just jokingly friend zone them

he never made you uncomfortable with his actions or words and always 100% respected you and kept his boundaries

anyways soon u guys found out that you had to enter the school from the back gates instead of the front gates and the rain slowly came to a stop

cue: joshua’s mum eyeing you two in the rear mirror from the front lmao

anyways the day went well and you guys had a lot of fun busking together and even got ice cream together afterwards :))

next year rolls around and you guys have only maths and music classes together but still hang at tutoring

its valentines day and tbh u never expect much because you’ve never received a red rose you’ve only gotten those yellow friendship roses

but during roll call the person giving out roses is like: y/n a red rose for you!!!! and you’re so SO happy bc who could be this secret admirer??

the rose also came with a super lame pick up line “did it hurt when you fell from heaven?”

you were so curious as to who it was

joshua: oooOOOHHHH whose the unlucky guy pls we all know its you lmao

anyways europe FINALLy rolls around and heck u are keen to visit mozart’s house

some of your girl friends like eunwoo, yuha and roa are also going

when the whole band club arrives in europe every day is busy busy with music workshops and such and its only 5 days in where the teachers who came on the trip give the students like 3 hours of free time

teacher: ok u guys must be in a pair at least so u don’t get lost!!

however, all ur friends only want to go shopping while u wanted to take a walk and admire the scenery of europe

but then someone taps you on the shoulder and u turn around and its joshua

joshua: hey what were you planning to do during the free time?

you: i wanted to look around and see the architecture and the scenery and stuff but everyone wants to go shopping :(

joshua: oh really! thats so good because me too i’d rather take a walk around here rather than go shopping; all my friends wanted to shop too

you: omg thats great we are always in sync arent we haha

joshua: yeah we are! let’s go together then?

so you and joshua walk around the land of austria and admire the beautiful architecture and takes pictures of the scenery and visit all the pretty churches

it’s literally your favourite day so far in europe bc you’re so happy ahhaa

(little did you know tho seungkwan literally refused joshua to hang out with him bc he was so sick of seeing joshua tiptoe around you. seungkwan: I BEG U TO HAVE SOME ALONE TIME WITH HER PLS BE ROMANTIC PLS CONFESS ALREADYYYY)

so that night dinner is also free time so students can choose where they wanna go to eat and seungkwan joins you guys and you guys all end up in a really fancy and aesthetic restaurant

where the lighting is dim, there are lit candles and roses hung around and its literally a beautiful restaurant

you’re super oblivious but seungkwan is like glaring at joshua the whole time and kicking him under the table

while they’re having a staring contest you’re just chatting away about how much of a great time you’re having and how this is the first time in your life you’ve been inside such a nice restaurant and chugging on your food

after the meal you take a toilet break and little do you know while you’re doing so seungkwan is giving mediating lessons to joshua so he can calm down

and by the time you get back seungkwan is gone

you: oh where did seungkwan go?

joshua: oh he just went to chat with woozi

you take a seat and is like: so do u reckon we should head now?

and then joshua is like: actually there’s something i really want to say to you

and you just look at him super confused bc did something bad happen?? and you’re just super clueless and oblivious to his feelings towards you

bc the reason why ppl even ship u guys in the first place is because everyone can see how the way he stares at you, cares for you, catches your bus thats a 15min walk to his home when there’s one that stops directly in front of his home, how he always helps you with work, how he always encourages you to not give up whenever you’re having a hard time

and then joshua is like: y/n you probably have an idea already but i really like you, i like you a lot. i’ve liked you since we got ditched by seungkwan and woozi in music class and we ended up talking about music and had a proper conversation. also the rose for valentines day this year, that was me too

and you are S H O O K

and your mind is blank

and then you blurt out the dumbest thing ever

“sorry i only see u as a friend and dont want to date in high school”

.....

teacher: ok guys we are heading back to the hotel now!!!!!

joshua’s eyes and shoulder’s drop completely and he looks so discouraged and sad

and you’re brain is just confused as to what just happened...you suddenly feel hurt? lost?

you told yourself never to like anyone and up until now you’d never felt your heart race for anyone...you suddenly felt like you lost someone precious....someone special...

you guys part ways and head back to your respective friendship groups

and the moment you get back to the hotel you head straight for your room, not wanting to talk to anyone about what just happened

bc girl u needed time to process what just happened and to really think bc you’re heart was aching for some strange reason

(obviously you were oblivious to the fact that you had always liked joshua the whole time sighs)

you can’t think straight so you decide to call ur sister nayoung

you completely forget about the time difference between europe and australia

and so when nayoung picks up she’s groaning into the phone: IDIOT ITS 7AM HERE AND A SATURDAY I NEED MY BEAUTY SLEEP

you: you won’t believe what happened

nayoung: what did you get a boyfriend lmao

bc before u went to europe ur sister always joked about finding a handsome european guy with a cool accent lmao

you: not really no

nayoung: WHAT

so you tell your sister everything that happened and how you felt so empty and lost after rejecting joshua and unexpectedly you even start crying

and you can hear your sister sigh over the phone

nayoung: look y/n, the fact that you’re crying and even more confused obviously means you like him. to be honest i always had a feeling he liked you and i also thought you liked him too. these days all you ever talk about is him at home and you’ve never said a negative thing about him,,, you totally like him

and you being a stubborn one are like: “no he’s my friend a really close friend that i trust, he’s basically my brother, its like i lost a relative” you sob

nayoung: remember in weightlifting fairy kim bok joo...do you think you’ll be okay if joshua wasn’t by your side anymore? think about it carefully, thank about all the times you relied on him in the last year sorry had to bring in weightlifting fairy kim bokjoo because #swag forever and this part actually happened in real life bc the girls sister said this lmao

and well it was true that you’d relied on joshua too much recently there were times where you were struggling and u turned to him for advice in particular that time where you were considering dropping out of music bc it was getting stressful and taking up so much time

and no matter what your family and friends said you wouldn’t listen but when joshua advised you mind u with the exact same things nayoung said you somehow trusted his words and he was like your rock at times and always willing to listen to u and encourage u

by this point more and more tears were flowing and you didn’t even know why YOU LIKE JOSHUA BUT U R OBLIVIOUS POTATO

nayoung: maybe you can tell him that you were flustered so you can rethink it again you might regret this later

you: ok thats a good idea ill try to...

and after nayoung the best sister in the world pep talked u and lectured u for the next hour u finally decided that you would reconsider ur decision and let joshua know

you were dreading the awkwardness bc ever since the confession u guys had not talked and avoided eye contact at all costs

you sighed and decided to sleep so u wouldn’t have to think about it for now and deal with it tomorrow

meanwhile in joshua and seungkwans room

josh: seUNGKWAN U LIL IDIOT she freaking rejected me this is the most embarrassing rejection in the world how will i live after today??????

seungkwan: i dont get it tho y/n clearly likes u why would she reject u i even asked y/n’s sister nayoung to see if she had a crush on anyone

josh: i’m never talking to u again seungkwan do u know how hurt i am

*cue seungkwan trying to make joshua laugh by acting out natural disaster scenes from american movies lmao*

so the next day you’re trying to find the opportunity to talk to joshua but he was always surrounded by ppl

and u were so nervous bc u had planned what to say in ur head and despite the weather being -2318 degrees Celsius u were sweating from head to toe

anyways right after breakfast and before boarding the bus u finally see joshua by himself because seungkwan had gone to the loo

and you slowly approach joshua taking deep breaths because u were about to face the most awkward conversation of ur life

but before u actually reached joshua he saw u coming and awkwardly looked away as he rubbed the back of his neck

but u had to do this nayoung was right what if u regretted this and took this to ur grave he was the one guy u were so comfortable around and u could be yourself and he was so supportive and not to mention cute and smart too

you: hey josh

josh: oh uh hi y/n

you: ummm look i wanted to talk to u about ummm yesterdays events

cringe it was already getting so so so awkward bury me in a hole already

josh: ahhh ok sure what do you need to say?

you: the thing i’m really sorry about what i said yesterday...tbh i was really flustered and i just ended up blurting that out i hope i didn't hurt you. but i wanted to ask if u could give me a chance to reconsider what u said bc ur a really great guy and i think i’ve never seen u in a romantic way before so starting now i’ll seriously consider your feelings for me and also work out if i have feelings for u

and u were so embarrassed and u felt ur cheeks go red and ur looking at the ground

josh: a chance? i couldn’t even get a single minute of sleep last night says josh jokingly

you: omg really im so sorry :(

josh: its okay im really happy that you’re giving me a chance ;;; like tbh if u think about it, we go same tutoring, see each other in band club and even share closes together...we really can’t be awkward around each other so i was thinking of approaching u and telling u that its ok if u didn't feel the same way

you: *blush* yeah thats true.............

josh: so y/n dont be awkward anymore ok? lets go back to the way we were

you nod sheepishly

josh: and just give me your answer when you’re ready,,, i can wait an eternity for u HDJWFHWWK CAN YOU IMAGINE JOSHUA ACTUALLY SAYING THAT I CANT EVEN

and yay its all good between u guys and no awkwardness and you guys back to your usual relationship

and like the more you think about it, you find urself falling for joshua and noticing just how handsome he was and how kind he was

and you just really liked the fact that he was such a gentleman

he didn’t push you about your feelings, he continued to respect ur personal space and he didn’t make moves on u and just continued to be a good friend

but u heard from seungkwan that he was hurting a lot inside even though he smiled whenever u were around

and u didn’t like seeing him in this state

so you decided on ur answer !!!

(bc ur heart fluttered so much whenever you were around him and u started actually caring about ur looks and how he thought of u)

it was first period at school and it was music class

like 97% of music classes it was just practice

and u purposely get seungkwan and woozi to practice with all the other students

so u and joshua are just sitting on the stairs and joshua is lightly strumming on his guitar looking like a prince i tell u

and u guys are just chatting away normally and u tell yourself i need to say it its okay it’s normal i’m just gonna say it

and u probably have a super panicky look on ur face

and josh is like: r u ok y/n?

you: im fine..it’s just that i wanted to tell you something...about u know...that

and you see josh’s face literally drop and he stops strumming his guitar and mumbles: oh

because joshua thinks he’s gonna get rejected for the second time rip

and you’re really flustered again so you’re like

“i like you too, i want to give us a chance i can’t afford to lose you”

and literally the josh’s mouth curls into the biggest grin and u can see his eye smile hdahfoeifhq

and he looks you in the eye: y/n will you be my girlfriend starting from today?

you: yes i will joshua

IDAHLQF QYES FINALLY YOU GUYS ARE TOGETHER

literally everyone is happy and suengkwan wants to throw a party for u guys

basically at school u guys are the music couple bc u guys sometimes do duets and are always defending each other when other ppl say that classical music is dumb

and one time a teacher was super mean to u and joshua stood up for you and you are like where did the shy joshua go

you guys perform a lot with the squad aka seungkwan and woozi

joshua even shouts seungkwan bc seungkwan played a big role

*nayoung in the background: what about me :((((((*

and like at tutoring the tutor, jeonghan is even happy and is like to this kid: pass me $10 i said so they’d get together this year lmao

i just realised i forgot about kyulkyung lmao

kyulkyung is so happy and loves third wheeling dates to get free food lmao bc joshua is such a gentleman and insists on paying all the time

but eventually u guys decide to take turns and agree that he can treat desert

and yeah you guys are couple goals because super supportive of each other, always watching out for one another and you guys only have eyes for each other

ok i need to end it here lmao its like too long

and yes this girl got confessed to in austria (when they live in australia) its actually so romantic tbh im not jealous at all *wiggles eyebrows*

#joshua hong scenarios #seventeen scenarios #hong jisoo scenarios #seventeen imagines #joshua hong imagines #hong jisoo imagines #seventeen #jisoo scenarios #joshua scenarios #hong joshua scenarios #joshua hong #joshua #pledis seventeen #pledis 17 #seventeen fanfiction #hong jisoo fanfiction #joshua hong fanfiction

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kbrown78 · 5 years

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Monthly Wrap Up: February

For being the shortest month of the year, I'm pleased that I was able to finish as many books as I did. I read a total of 9 books this month, however the vast majority of them were rereads, which is okay because I want to get through as many rereads as I can as quickly as possible. At some point during this month I started getting worried, because February is a good month for reading themed books (like romance, black history, and fairies)but eventually I settled on the fact that it was okay if I didn't read these books, mainly because I wanted to deal with tackling the TBR pile I have at home and I could read those books any time of the year. I don't go out of my way to read books that prominently feature romance, so why should I stress myself out over making an exception. I don't own any books with fairies in them that I haven't read, and there's only 2 that I'm interested and my library didn't have them. I could have read The Hate U Give and I've been wanting to read that one for awhile but the reason I keep putting it off is I'm scared that I'll be disappointed by it because of all the hype surrounding it (like I was for Children of Blood and Bone). I would like to try reading more books that fit the theme or topic or general atmosphere of the month, and I do have a few I plan to read on specific months (especially October) but for now I think it's okay for me to not stress myself to do something when I have other tasks that are a much higher priority (seriously I need to get through my reread TBR pile and push out more reviews). Anyway, I did make good progress through the big reading assignments. As I already stated, most of the books were rereads, but I was also able to tackle the half the books at the top of my TBR and continued to make progress in the reading challenges I'm doing (4 PopSugar prompts and 1 book that a friend of mine picked for me). This month had a pretty decent range of books, in genre, series, and ratings. There was 1 science fiction, 3 dystopian, 1 contemporary, and 4 fantasy (one of them being magical realism which is a fantasy genre I want to read more of). So while this month was leaning more toward fantasy, there was still a decent mix. Fortunately there were no 1 star books, but I did have a couple 2 star book and a lot of 3 star books, but I also had my first 5 star book of the year, which needless to say, I loved. I completed 1 series, started 3, and read 2 stand alones. All in all February was a good reading month, despite the lack of February themed books.

Feed by Mira Grant: I initially picked this book up for several reasons. It's written by Mira Grant, which is a pen name for Seanan McGuire, and it's an unofficial goal of mine to read all of her books. It's science fiction, and I want to read more of that genre this year. This was supposed to feature zombies, and there wasn't going to be any romance. I had high hopes for this book, just based on my opinion of McGuire's books I read last year. Unfortunately I struggled with this book from the very first chapter. My biggest issue was that I keep going into every zombie or post apocalyptic wanting it to be about human's struggling to survive but ultimately over coming the challenges. Basically a better version of the Walking Dead. Then when I read this novel, I'm extremely disappointed to find that zombies aren't only a minor part of society, they hardly come off as a threat during the entire thing. Also the fact that a post zombie apocalypse world (which is somehow more advance than our current society) was used as the setting for mystery surrounding the coverage of a presidential election didn't mesh very well. Seriously having an urban fantasy setting would have worked much better with this stories. I discussed in my monthly wrap up review of An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors that I really disliked when I can easily guess the mastermind behind all the chaos before the characters do, and that applies to this novel. As a suspenseful mystery, this just didn't work at all. I also wasn't attached to the characters, they felt like archetypes that weren't really expanded on. By the end of this novel I was ready for things to be over with and fortunately this can be a self contained standalone, so I don't plan on continuing the series. I'll still give McGuire's other series a try, but this one I found to be a let down. Feed received 2 out 5 stars.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: So The Hunger Games series was at the top of my list for book's on my TBR. Last year, since my sister was reading The Hunger Games for school, I thought it would be good to go reread it and tag it so I can do a full review on it. I hadn't read the books since high school, but I've seen the movies more recently (since they're shown all the time on TV). I wanted to see if this first in particular is as good as I remember it and how I think it compares to the movies, and I gotta say, I am so glad I read this book. I'm sorry but with the first movie at least, it doesn't even compare to the books. For those that haven't read the series or watched the movies, The Hunger Games is a dystopian series set in a futuristic North America where the country is divided into 12 districts and a capitol, and every year the districts must give one boy and girl to compete in a televised competition, killing each other off until 1 is left. Katniss Everdean from District 12 volunteers in place of her sister and things take off from there. It's a fast paced, action driven book, and while Katniss isn't always a likable protagonist, she's very human. I was surprised by how invested I got in the romance too, because romance isn't my thing, yet I found Katniss and Peeta's dynamic to be compelling. There's also so much more depth to this book then the movie gives it credit for. It takes a stab at political commentary, reality shows, and fashion crazes very well, which is what I think will really make it a modern classic. Much like Harry Potter and Twilight it was a trend setter, especially for YA novels, and while many have tried to replicate it, none have succeeded. I'll absolutely do a full review of this book once I'm done with the entire series. The Hunger Games received 5 out 5 stars and works for the PopSugar prompt “book with 1 million ratings on Goodreads.”

Love Letters to the Dead by Ava Dellaira: I come away from this book not knowing exactly where I stand with it. It's a sad story that's does convey a message of hope and recovery, but I don't love it and I don't find myself attached to it. I think I like the writing itself and what the story tries to convey better than the story itself. Starting out I really hated the story. Laurel, the protagonist, was devoid of personality and lived to basically be a clone of her recently deceased sister. I didn't like the side characters, because they're supposed to be the cool kids but don't feel developed much outside of their toxic elements. There was some tropes used that made the story and characters feel a bit pretentious (which was really annoying). I also really disliked the romance, between Sky and Laurel (although I had issues with Hannah and Natalie's too) because Sky is portrayed as this brooding bad boy who is so perfect. While he isn't a jerk (which is good), he is pretty flawed and at the start of the book Laurel doesn't come off as ready for a romance. Yet she idealizes him and which is something she clearly does with her older sister May. I still think there shouldn't have been a romance, but I do think things improved overall by the end of the book. Mostly that Laurel came to terms with her trauma, realized that people (even the ones you love) are flawed and dealing with their own issues, and communication is an important part of healing. Laurel started opening up to her parents more and became an active part of her group of friends. I know this book is heavily influenced by The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and it shows both in the writing format (written as letters to deceased celebrities) but also in the narrative. It's good to read a book that deals with serious issues yet still manages to give a wholesome and realistic conclusion (something I rarely see in contemporary fiction, and something that I don't think Perks of Being a Wallflower did which is why I prefer this one). Speaking of dealing with serious issues, this was a heavy book for me. For the majority of this book, I was very uncomfortable by the content, which could be the desired reaction, but there were several scenes that rubbed me the wrong way. The first time Natalie and Hannah are caught kissing by Laurel, one of them forces a kiss on her to make everything seem normal. There's an attempted date rape scene later in the book. There's physical abuse, teenage girls dating adult men, and pedophilia. Again it's a heavy book, and if you are at all triggered by that, or struggled with Perks of Being a Wallflower, I would put this book on hold. I wish that there were more realistic books out there for teenagers that don't have the main plot either revolving around a romance or recovering from rape. There's a lot more to life than just that and there are other hardships out there that don't involve sexual abuse. Writing this had made me realize just how mixed my feelings are on this book, which actually makes it a great book for discussion. I may do a full review of this book just so I can have a more in depth discussion on all my thoughts and feelings on this book, but I can't guarantee it and I don't think it will come any time soon (since I am way behind on my book reviews). That being said I can't give it a high rating based solely on it's writing and messages it conveys because I think there are several points where the execution was weak. Love Letters to the Dead received 3.5 out 5 stars and was my pick for the PopSugar prompts “book with 'love' in the title” and “a book with unusual chapter headings.”

Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan: I bought this book at the same I got Feed, and considering the fact that I was disappointed by Feed I was hoping that this book would be an improvement. While this was better, I still found it not meeting my prior expectations. It's a traditional epic fantasy that has a few twists to them, but there are also several generic elements. For the first third the book didn't progress in the way I expected too, which made me want to continue and see where things go. Then the story started to progress in a way I find incredibly frustrating, which is that characters do reckless and stupid things and must then deal with the consequences of that. The plot is moving forward, but in a positive way. The character where this is most applicable is Persephone. I wanted to like her, and I got glimpses of her that I did really like, which made the rest of her narrative all the more frustrating. She's incredibly naive (despite the evidence of her being a wise ruler) believing people aren't capable of bad deeds (again despite blatant evidence otherwise), and while she's the one who comes up with the plans, she never wants to be the one to implement them. Suri and Arion were both interesting but the story didn't focus enough on them for me to feel strongly about them. Raithe was quickly pushed to the side, serving little purpose to the narrative other than being the “God Killer,” which I was actually a little surprised by since I'm so used to seeing this kind of story be led by males. The friendships in this book are amazing and were without a doubt my favorite part of it. The story itself is very straight forward and surprisingly simple, but there bits that lay the ground work for a series long conflict, especially what's revealed in the last two pages. However, two pages of amazing epilogue isn't enough to compensate for the rest of the story. Age of Myth received 3.5 out 5 stars.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins: My memories of this book are that it was not as good as The Hunger Games and upon rereading I definitely still hold that opinion. There are some things that I remember having the same feelings about and there are some new developments. The word that, both in the past and currently, I would use to describe this book is oddly, boring. For a high octane story with mounting rebellions and a Battle Royale style game would be a suspenseful quick read, but it really wasn't. I think this is due to Katniss' passive nature in this book, and the fact that the games aren't going until somewhere between the last half and third of the book. The other thing that remained the same was that I am totally Team Peeta. When first reading this series I wanted Katniss to end up with Peeta, but I couldn't tell you why. Then rereading The Hunger Games, I was swept away by Katniss and Peeta's romance, and this book just solidified why I approve of Peeta over Gale. What really impressed me about the previous book was how much discussion there was in that book that can be applied to our current society. This book shifts to focus more on the rebellion, and it's not one of the better written ones because everything is so simplistic and Katniss is merely an observer with little information and no desire to be apart of it, even though that's the direction she's going to have to take. Also in the previous Katniss felt like a more complex character. Granted she didn't have a ton of depth but she is least felt like more than someone that existed to move the narrative forward. I knew going into this book it was probably going to be my least favorite of the series and I do think it struggled to live up to the narrative that the previous book set up. I wouldn't say it's a bad book though, just would have liked a little more action and a little more depth. Catching Fire received 3 out 5 stars from me.

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins: Wow, this was definitely a series that went out with a bang. I still don't think Mockingjay is quite as good as The Hunger Games but it has a much better narrative than Catching Fire, at least in the later half. First and foremost, this is a really depressing book. Like there were multiple times I was on the verge of crying, with Peeta and Katniss' relationship, all of Katniss' trauma and all the character deaths. It is so sad. But there's a lot about this story that I appreciate now that I didn't when I first read this book. War is devastating and costly, and while I think the over all rebellion itself could have been more nuanced, this book did show that it's easy for a dictatorship to rise from the ashes of the previous one. I still don't really like Katniss, but man, is it hard to not at least be sympathetic to her with all the crap that she has been through and all the damage her body has received. This is a series where you don't want to get to attached to the side characters because anyone can die, but most of them I still find to be a bit more likable than Katniss (albeit a little underdeveloped). I loved, absolutely loved Peeta and Katniss' romance and even when first reading this book I was moved by how their relationship turned out. The story itself within this book is a bit boring at first, again because Katniss is being kept in a very confined, minimal role, but also because of her trauma leaves her in a hazy state. Once she becomes more active the story gets better, but things really take off when she goes on the mission in the Capitol. It's a quick scene but I remember getting very anxious when watching that part in the movies. The ending is a bit rushed because things seem to just happen quickly, but from a literary stand point it's a good tragic ending. Despite the rushed ending, it has a hopeful feel to it, as the characters slowly recover from the horrors they've endured and continue to honor the memory of those that have passed. The Hunger Games is not a series without it's faults, but it's a series that I highly commend it for what it is and enjoyed it on a personal level. Mockingjay received 4 out 5 stars from me.

The Devourers by Indra Daas: Going into this book, I didn't know much about it outside of the synopsis and a few trigger warnings. One of my best friends picked this book for me as part of a monthly “Pick It For Me” challenge in one of my Goodreads group, and I had basically no expectations for this book. After finishing it, I enjoyed it, I'm glad I read it, but I don't think it's a book that had a significant impact on me and isn't one I'm going to think about often. That is due to mostly the writing style itself. The story is a magical realism that is written in a way that feels similar to stream of conscious, thus making it hard to tell what is truth versus speculation and even hard to say whose view point it is and even when the story is occurring. Things just exist as they are, and while this is good for evoking emotions it doesn't produce something that lingers (at least for me). So what the story is essentially about is a history professor that is approached by a man who claims to be half were wolf and commissions him to transcribe two scrolls. I was a little shaken in the beginning, both by the writing style and the mix of an Indian setting with Norse mythology. So it was a rocky start, but once I got used to it I finally found myself enjoying the story, up until the end when things get kind of weird and a little vague. My favorite part of the book was definitely the scroll's, mainly the woman's, because those were the sections that best discussed the themes of humanity, history, love, and family, which is what the book is essentially about. I will say that the trigger warnings for rape and gore are relevant because both are major parts of the story and the storytelling itself, so one should be aware of that before going into this book. As more time passes from when I finished this book, I find myself remembering less and less. It's a decent, atmospheric story but I find myself wishing it had been either a little shorter or longer, so that the story could really stick with me. The Devourer's received 4 out 5 stars and was my pick for the PopSugar prompt “book by an author from Africa, Asia, or South America” (the author is from Kolkata, India, where the contemporary part of the book is set).

The Naming by Allison Croggon: So this series, the Books of Pellinor, and the Inheritance Cycle were the epic fantasy series that I grew up on. The best way to sum up this series, and especially the first book, is Lord of Rings but with a female lead. While that may make it sound awesome, I actually struggled with this book, which is kind of surprising considering how much I loved it as a kid. There was a lot of filler in this book. It's all basically one long journey with a few meetings and attacks along the way. This results in the books pacing just dragging, to the point where I started skimming because I have 3 more books to get through, and I want to get through this series as soon as possible. Another thing I had an issue with, and this might be a surprise, but I didn't like how similar this was to Lord of the Rings (mixed with the Chosen One trope done poorly). I'm not going to go into everything here but there were several points throughout the book where I could pin point the exact similarities between this book and at least the Fellowship of the Ring. I like Lord of the Rings, but when I read a story where the only original elements are poorly done tropes, it's more than a little frustrating. To Croggon's credit, she did try to create a more egalitarian society and put a female lead in a normally male narrative, which I do appreciate. This book also had no romance which was refreshing, although the one romantic scene in this book left me rather uncomfortable. It was disappointing for a beloved book from my early teen years to fall from grace, and while I haven't even gotten to what had been my least favorite book in the series, there's still hope that the series improves. The Naming received 2.5 out 5 stars and is my pick for the PopSugar prompt “a book you think should be turned into a movie” because I think if put in the right hands, this book can be translated onto a good movie.

The Riddle by Alison Croggon: I'm a little surprised I ended up liking this a bit better than The Naming, but I think that's due to the fact that this book was a bit more nuanced. It's still similar in format to the previous book, namely being about a journey to defeat a returning evil with a lot of filler, but there's more major plot points, and some of those have the protagonist Maerad staying in one location for awhile. The reason I like this is because those points take the time to develop either the characters or the nature of the conflict itself. I liked the beginning, with Maerad having a normal life in Busk, and the last third, when she is imprisoned by the Winter King. There is also a turning point in the middle, where Cadavan (Maerad's mentor) questions her morality (although there was no precedence for that and I think Cadavan overreacted in that instance). I will also say that Croggon does put a lot of effort into her world building. It happens a lot in fantasy where authors want to create a Middle Earth type of setting, but don't put forth the effort to have the same depth that Tolkein did. Croggon does not do that, which I like, but I feel like I only get to see glimpses (due to the constantly moving narrative). Even at the end of this book I still don't really like Maerad as a character. She isn't as whiny or annoying as she was at the beginning of the first book, but I still really dislike her blatantly being the “Chosen One” and being an OP Special Snowflake. She also comes off as not having a much of personality. There's her being a musician, the Chosen One, and this amazingly powerful Bard, and that's really all there is to her. I'm glad that this book improved from the first one, although not by much, which makes me think that this series is ultimately going to be a let down for me. Shame. The Riddle received 3 out 5 stars.

Thank You Everyone

Keep Calm and Keep Reading

#monthly wrap up #books #review #the hunger games #suzanne collins #love letters to the dead #ava dellaira #the devourers #indra das #mira grant #newsflesh #michael j. sullivan #legends of the first empire #age of myth #alison croggon #book of pellinor #the naming #the riddle

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fakesam · 7 years

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Thoughts on the Nintendo Switch Presentation

Ever since Nintendo announced that they were going to fully unveil their newest console a few months ago, I’ve been working to keep my expectations in check. The initial trailer seemed promising, but after the Wii U became the dampest of damp squibs, it was hard to get too hyped. Nintendo has been running headfirst into nonsensical decisions ever since the halcyon days of the Wii. It was truly impressive that games like Splatoon and Super Mario Maker were able to implement their design vision so thoroughly despite the retrograde online systems they were built upon and the elementary school kid’s toy feel of the tablet. But the Switch seemed to represent a switch change in direction for the company. There was at least an appearance of a necessary realization that the company had stretched themselves too thin, that maintaining two technically deficient systems that didn’t collaborate or even share the same online account no longer made much sense. Putting the best ideas of the Wii U and the DS in one place is an appealing concept, and the teases of potential games to come were tantalizing. Don’t ask how many times I re-watched the few seconds of the new Splatoon and Mario games, scrolling through the video as if there was the chance that if I watched the video enough times, Shigeru Miyamoto would manifest out of the air and tell me some great secret about the Mushroom Kingdom that I’ve never heard before (Maybe Wario and Mario’s are the same person after all).

The presentation was an example of what makes Nintendo such a singularly creative and frustrating company. There are still plenty of questions about what numerous aspects of the Switch. I love that the controllers are called Joy-cons because I have an excuse to use the word Joy-cons in daily life, but they look like they were made for certain elected officials with tiny hands. How intuitive playing games with this set-up still seems unclear. The renewed development on motion controls is a tad surprising to me since I thought they were moving away from that control scheme. The idea of paying to play Switch games online seems laughable given how rudimentary these networks have been in the past, even if they’re throwing virtual console games into the deal. The launch lineup, Zelda: Breath of the Wild aside, looks alarmingly barren of support. 1,2 Switch looks like a mediocre clone of a much better Warioware game, and ARMS (again, great name) could be a decent party game, but it doesn’t appear to have anything deeper in it. Yet again, Nintendo appears to be making a system that will lack for system-shifting third-party titles and will be survived by the few first-party games they create themselves. This is far from surprising, but it’s still slightly disappointing to see.

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That said, the first-party games we did see were Very Good. The vast, colorful spaces of Zelda continues to look incredibly attractive, and Splatoon 2 just looks like more Splatoon, but the original game is such a jubilant, strange thing that I don’t really mind. It opened my mind to the wonder of what more welcoming multiplayer games could accomplish in the way Overwatch revealed new avenues for a lot more people over the past year. If it was a launch game, I would probably get a Switch on day one. But it’s not, so I won’t.

But Super Mario Odyssey? That’s the jam.

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I can’t remember the last time a Mario game looked this unabashedly weird. Putting the plumber next to vaguely realistic cities and jungles is a jarring sight. It reminded me of Bayonetta and Uncharted, but instead of playing as a generically handsome white man, or a giant, sexualized witch whose bodysuit is made of her hair, you play as a stocky Italian man. The presence of (assumedly) actual human beings next to Mario raises a lot of questions. Does this mean Mario is a different species? What is the relationship between the Mushroom Kingdom and the rest of this society? What happens if Mario makes sweet, sweet love with a human woman? Can they make a baby? (I hope those last two questions are never answered. Call me a bigot, but I firmly believe that humans and whatever species Mario is should never be physically intimate with one another. Sorry not sorry.) Either way, the trailer is great.

I can’t wait to traverse around a pseudo-realistic world with Mario and his sentient hat and wreck Bowser’s life again. Super Mario Odyssey looks like the true creative leap after Super Mario Galaxy that the Wii U never got. As long as he doesn’t kiss any of the human women in the game. That is a step too far. I cannot stress that enough.

#nintendo switch #the legend of zelda #zelda breath of the wild #splatoon 2 #super mario odyssey

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patheticphallacy · 5 years

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This is part of my Music Monday series on my blog, where I talk all things music, from recommending songs to discussing my favourite music videos to compiling playlists based on prompts.

Summer is over!

I don’t want to say finally, because being off University has been pretty great, but I’m also so relieved the weather is going to get cooler. The weather fluctuated between INCREDIBLY HOT and ACTUALLY IT’S QUITE CHILLY in July and August and I just want it to be over please oh please.

So for Music Monday I figured I should do a little wrap up of the music I’ve enjoyed! I’ve made about 5 new music playlists for absolutely no reason at all other than I have no self control, and I keep having to edit down my 2019 playlist due to impulsively adding songs and then realising two weeks later that I honestly didn’t really love the song that much.

FAVOURITE SOLO ARTIST

My favourite solo artist this Summer was probably Sigrid. Generally with solo artists I get into one or two of their songs, and while those songs list in my favourite songs, the artist generally isn’t a new top favourite.

I’ve been a fan of Sigrid since 2017, and I finally felt like I was in the right space to listen to her new album Sucker Punch, which ended up solidifying her as one of my new favourite solo artists. She has a really intriguing voice and I love that you could dance to over half of this album because of how upbeat it is. There’s something to be said for lyrics that aren’t complicated, are easy to understand, because sometimes that makes them all the more relatable for a listener.

I also love how so much of her music is inspired by more than just romantic issues. There are crushes and friendship songs, songs about breaking free from toxic friendships– something that helped me as I reconcile with some of the more toxic elements of relationships I’ve had in the past– and there’s also a song inspired by not only Studio Ghibli, but also her attempt to control her image in the media, which is something I always love in music. Artists can be publicised so much we forget they are real human beings, and hearing their music about their public image is always humbling.

FAVOURITE BAND

(Take This To Your Grave isn’t here because it wouldn’t fit, don’t fight me)

2008 Connie and 2019 Connie have one thing in common, and that’s their intense adoration of rock bands that formed in the 2000s. I’ve always been a fan of Fall Out Boy since I was little, but it’s only the past year I’ve actually started listening to all of their discography properly and begun appreciating what they’ve come out with.

This might be divisive, but I honestly think Fall Out Boy, of the ol’ rock/punk rock scene, have had the most consistently good albums since their debut. I think other bands have had decent albums and, in some cases, bad ones that only have one or two good songs in my opinion (Paramore’s self-titled album, I’msosorry), but not ones that have absolute hits.

Fall Out Boy are always great for me, every song on their albums that I’ve heard so far, and that’s why they are my favourite band of the Summer. They’ve changed with the times and the kind of music that’s popular in the moment without ever losing what made their earlier music so great. It’s just all very idiosyncratic, from the music videos to the content to the actual song titles, and I love them.

ALBUMS I LIKED

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Doom Days // Bastille

While doing some research on this album, I discovered that the concept for Doom Days is that it follows different points in the night at a party, a party that has a lot of “turbulent emotional chaos”. This explains why I love it so much.

In general, Bastille are a band that put a lot of thought into their music, and I think some really visceral imagery can be created from the concepts they shape the album around.

The titular song is actually my favourite of the album. It describes escapism from modern anxiety, and how, no matter how fucked the world is, you need to shut off sometimes. I struggle a lot with this– I constantly describe my own anxiety, something that I struggle with a lot, as having an IV line of straight modern horror flowing into me that I can’t disconnect from– and I think, as a song, it confronts modern fear– from climate change denial to porn addiction– without ever demonising those who make the decision to shut their brains off from it sometimes.

I think the Peter Pan reference especially reaffirms this. Yes, Peter Pan himself is a symbol of innocence, but at its core, Peter Pan’s narrative is about a girl who finds escape from the ‘real world’ long enough to figure out the issues of adulthood and growing up without losing herself along the way. In a way, that’s what this song, and the rest of the album, enforce. Escapism is good sometimes.

Third Eye Blind // Third Eye Blind

God of Wine has been one of my favourite songs for god knows how long, and after listening to a really bizarre mash-up of Welcome to the Black Parade with Semi-Charmed Life, I finally figured I should give the rest of the band’s music a try.

I’ve started with their self-titled first album, just because it’s easiest as I make my way through their discography, but I kind of stopped on this one. I just really love it. It mixes different sounds, sometimes crossing several in one song (Narcolepsy has an ending that jolts you out of your seat), with grim lyrics reflecting on suicide and mental health conditions, crystal meth, and sexual abuse.

Fun story: Semi-Charmed Life was very familiar to me before I’d even listened to the album, and when I researched into it, I realised that was because it was used in trailers for The Tigger Movie and, as a massive Winnie the Pooh fan and YouTube user, I had most definitely seen the trailer when I was younger and not put the pieces together. These trailers were obviously recalled because the song is about crystal meth, but I just think that’s a fun look into how little people actually pay attention to lyrics!

Sucker Punch // Sigrid

I’ve obviously discussed Sigrid in length earlier in this post, so I won’t say as much here. My favourite songs on the album are Basic, Don’t Kill My Vibe, and Business Dinners.

FAVOURITE SONGS

Arms Unfolding // Dodie

Oh, our fire died last Winter

Heavy Metal Heart // Sky Ferreira

I describe the chorus and instrumentals of this as the musical equivalent of a headache, and I stand by that. Sky Ferreira’s voice is great, and I love the chaotic noisiness of this song.

Django Jane // Janelle Monáe

I actually only just listened to Dirty Computer. I tend to prolong listening to things until well after the hype surrounding them dies down, and I’m glad I did, as I’m not sure if I would have enjoyed the album otherwise.

I’m With You // Avril Lavigne

Can you tell I grew up goth? I remember memorising the lyrics to this when I was in year 3.

The Archer // Taylor Swift

Definitely the best song to come out of Taylor Swift’s latest album so far! I love the juxtaposition in the lyrics. I also wrote a whole post assigning her songs to Shakespeare Plays, if you’re interested in that sort of thing!

goodnight n go // Ariana Grande

I… don’t have much to say about this? It’s one of three songs I actually like off Sweetener.

A Brand New Day // BTS&Zara Larsson

Everytime the first notes of this song play I get immediately hyped. I love the instruments used in this song, and I think the voices and sounds of the different collaborators in this (V and J-Hope, and Zara) all compliment each other really well.

Nightmare // Halsey

I Smile // DAY6

DAY6 were sold to me as a Korean rock group and I immediately jumped on that. I really love their album Sunrise.

Doom Days // Bastille

Someone You Loved // Lewis Capaldi

This has some iffy messages, especially concerning the idea of your partner– or a sole person– as a sort of therapist instead of pursuing other avenues (i.e. actual, paid-for therapy) to help you begin to tackle emotional issues. I do love Lewis Capaldi’s voice, though, and I think there are more ways to look at the song than just that. Remember kids: it’s okay to ask for help from loved ones and there should be a quid pro quo of support, but if your emotional issues are that bad, please seek professional help!

Kataomoi // Aimer

Baby Don’t Stop // NCT U

After how much time I’ve spent crafting paragraphs about music I love and trying to remain somewhat intelligent, I’m breaking that here: this song is just sexy. That’s the whole reason I love it. I’m sorry.

Ça Ira // Joyce Jonathan

This is a really fun song, it kind of reminds me of Sara Bareilles, only French. The fact that the music video is staged as her going on blind dates with people of all genders is also really adorable and not something I see a lot of in music videos!

FAVOURITE MUSIC VIDEOS

Spring Day // BTS

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I spend most of my time attempting to deconstruct every music video BTS have ever come out with, but Spring Day is almost the be-all-end-all for me. There’s so many layers to this music video, from the philosophical references– The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas by Ursula K Le Guin is a direct inspiration for the music video– to its context within the general BTS ‘Universe’ they’ve created with their music videos. I know this isn’t considered a direct part of the BTSU, but it is to me, and I love it. I really love the music video for Lights as well!

Nightmare // Halsey

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This is a fact not many people know about, but I desperately wanted to both be in a rock/heavy metal band when I was younger, and also date someone in a heavy metal band. So all of those black and white sequences of Halsey as the frontwoman for a rock band are honestly my favourite thing ever. I love the messages of this song; I know people are divisive over their opinion on Halsey, but I’ve always loved her honesty, so I really love this song.

Kataomoi // Aimer

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It’s a very quiet music video and I love that! People can do a lot with smaller budgets and minimal people partaking, I think this music video is beautiful. My best friend actually recommended this song to me with the assurance that Namjoon from BTS talked about it before.

Winter Bear // V

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Speaking of quiet music videos: THIS. It’s soft and mostly uses shots and clips V got himself walking around and touring, including a few Jimin got for him. I’m very much on both ends of the spectrum concerning music videos: I love so many large-budgets videos, but I also love ones that are minimalist and filmed on smaller budgets (if you don’t count the cost of what Taehyung is wearing, obviously).

What have you listened to this Summer? I’d love some music video recommendations especially, I think it’s amazing how carefully people can form stories and messages without ever using speech, especially when the imagery isn’t overt and you can do research into shots used to understand what it could mean.

Thank you for reading!

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Music I Enjoyed This Summer This is part of my Music Monday series on my blog, where I talk all things music, from recommending songs to discussing my favourite music videos to compiling playlists based on prompts.

#bastille #fall out boy #music #music monday #playlists #sigrid #summer music #third eye blind

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willreadforbooze · 5 years

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Hello fellow boozie readers!

Sam’s Update:

This week was pretty decent. I was trying so hard to finish some books for the start of Magical Readathon!! Which starts this week. Working hard to be a Metal Charmer.

What Sam finished this week:

The Defiant Heir by Melissa Caruso: I really enjoy this series and I’m so sad it doesn’t get any hype. I thought that it was a duology and that I’d be checking this series off my list, but alas, there’s a third book. Fortunately, it comes out this month! I’ll be drunk reviewing this so I don’t want to write too much here. Review for The Tethered Mage here.

Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik: I adored this installment of Temeraire. We get to see a POV from Temeraire himself, and we get to see him grow and achieve his goals and WOW I just. And Lawrence, he had some baggage to work through and I think Novik did a fantastic job wit hit.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black: So this is the book that Ginny and I listened to on our way to and from Mama’s. This book is about a human girl who was raised in Fairyland with the Fae. She just wants to fit in but she’s constantly underestimated and bullied because she’s mortal. Political machinations and spycraft and other things happen, she’s just trying to live her life. Man. The ending to this book… I’m still like… she is so. dumb. SO DUMB.

What Sam’s reading now:

It’s O.W.L.s Magical Readathon bitches!!

Charms: A Brightness Long Ago by Guy Gavriel Kay: I am barely in to this one, but from what I can tell it’s a story about a coup. We began with the assassination of the brutal governor by a neighboring rival. I don’t think I’ve quite mastered the writing style yet, but I can tell you that I’m enjoying it. I’m also not sure who the main characters are so… more information to come.

Potions: Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik: This is the next installment of Temeraire. Do you see the pattern here? I am LOVING these. This book takes place in Australia. I’m audio-ing this one as I have with all the others and it’s good so far. Not as good as the previous but good.

Ginny’s Update:

Hi Everyone, hope you’re doing well. I was sick last week (but still went to work because colds suck but not enough to take time off- especially once you’re passed the contagious stage) so I ended up canceling a bunch of plans and watching a lot of dumb tv… Hope you had a good week!

Currently Reading:

Mr. Hotshot CEO by Jackie Lau: Yeah, it’s another romance novel. Look, I know what I’m about. Julian Fong is being forced to take a vacation by his family, and needs help having fun. Enter Courtney, who has never necessarily been considered the life of the party but knows how to enjoy the small things in life. Julian asks Courtney to help him enjoy life and boy does she… The writing can be a little bit stilted at times (though that might just be the way the characters think/talk) but boy is it still fun.

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay: This is a book club book. I’ve technically started reading but haven’t exactly gotten too far into it. This book is a literal brick. It is pretty big and more weight than I feel like carrying around (at least on the metro) so I’m gonna need some solid time at home to knock out some chunks of it.

How Long ‘Til Black Future Month by N.K. Jemisin: I got this as an audiobook, and I can’t do short story audiobooks. I’ve heard the first two stories and they’re captivating, but I think I’m going to need to get a physical copy of this.

Completed this week:

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip and Dan Heath: This was kinda great. It was mostly a study in case studies, looking at why certain ideas are successful… and yeah I’ve definitely decided to use a few of these tips in my day to day life. Still, if anyone is looking into making some life changes or just wants to feel a little bit hopeful about how change is possible this is a pretty good option. 4/5

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black: I still hate some of the tropes in this book, but I very much enjoyed some of the twist and turns. I’m not sure I’d end up continuing the series (there was a lot of telling rather than showing, and god was the main character dumb sometimes) but I would definitely want to get the sparknotes version. 3/5

The Year of the Crocodile by Courtney Milan: This was a really short extra story to go with the Trade Me book I read the other week. Blake Reynolds and Tina Chen’s parents haven’t met yet because Blake’s dad is basically the founder of Apple and Tina’s parents were tortured by the Chinese regime. This ended up being absolutely hysterical. Adam Reynolds is certainly a character and his thought process is so well mapped out that it is easy to understand why he thinks the way he does. The verbal sparring between Tina’s Mom and Blake’s Dad was charming in the most asshole-way possible. 5/5

Minda’s Update:

Let’s go for Magical Readathon! Taking my O.W.Ls for my magical career path as a Librarian & I am so pumped.

What Minda is reading this week:

These Rebel Waves by Sara Raasch – This fills the Herbology O.W.L exam, which is not actually needed for my career but helps me earn an “Exceeds Expectations.” Risky move, but it’s the first due back to the library.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik – This has been on my tbr since reading Spinning Silver for book club and fulfills the Ancient Runes requirement. This was on a few lists as an awesome fairytale/retelling so sounds super promising.

Linz’s Update:

If you didn’t see our IG account, I was fostering a six week-old pupper all week, which is NOT conducive to getting my reading list done. I also hit a few books that I just couldn’t finish.

What Linz took a stab at but DNF:

The Resolutions by Mia Garcia – Four teen besties write each others’ New Year’s resolutions and try to follow them for a year. I dunno, this just wasn’t doing it for me. I felt like it took WAY too long to establish that all the characters are Latinx, it was REALLY hard trying to keep track of what time of year it was, the perfectionist’s storyline was super predictable, and there’s a character who works like, way too much in her mom’s restaurant and you’re telling me no one was dinging CPS at any point in her youth?

For a Muse of Fire by Heidi Heilig – A girl has powers over souls and also lives in a country with a lot of political and military turmoil. I actually tried reading The Girl From Everywhere before this, and I just couldn’t get into either book. I didn’t like how the worlds were built and couldn’t sink into them.

Black Wings Beating by Alex London – So, I’m an idiot because I definitely read the description about these bird-centric religious groups, and didn’t process it. I really liked where the book was going and like London’s writing, but I really really really do not like birds, and it was more bird-y than I could handle.

What Linz is reading:

Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko – Sort of The Magicians but in Russia, and also Quentin is played by Sasha (a less intense Alice). It’s a weird book because it’s translated, so some stuff doesn’t quite work, and Sasha’s constant dread and confusion is a little heavy because the reader only gets as much knowledge as Sasha, but I’m gonna try to stick with it.

On The Come Up by Angie Thomas – Do I need to summarize? I was just sure if you hadn’t been waitlisted for it, you’d already gotten a copy. The Hate U Give was a little heavy-handed but necessary, still relatable, and very readable, and I’m feeling things for this sophomore effort. (BTW my god if I’d only known of true heavy-handedness before I read The Hate U Give.)

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay – Honestly I have no idea what this is about, because I kept trying to read it between the puppy’s naps, so I have to restart reading it this week.

Until next time, we remain forever drunkenly yours,

Sam, Melinda, Linz, and Ginny

Weekly Wrap-up: Mar 25-31, 2019 Hello fellow boozie readers! Sam's Update: This week was pretty decent. I was trying so hard to finish some books for the start of…

#Wrap Up

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cashsyyq038-blog · 6 years

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WHO Recognizes Video Gaming Addiction As Mental Disorder

Dark moments have surrounded the Personal computer gaming market. Welcome to now we'll be counting down our top picks for the ten best years in gaming history. As computing resources continued to expand over the remainder of the decade through the adoption of period sharing and the advancement of simpler high-level programming languages like BASIC , a growing number of college students started programming and sharing basic sports, puzzle, cards, logic, and board video games as the decade progressed. The "Brown Box" could be programmed to play a number of games by flipping the switches along leading of the machine, as can be seen in the picture. This brings classic slot video games from arcades to the modern mobile player. Luckily, enjoying these traditional games of yesteryear is very easy because of emulators. The Verge's gaming section brings the most recent gaming news, reviews of the very most interesting releases, and interviews with the industry's biggest names.|Just how do the NES and SNES traditional run all those retro games? In 1983, the ultimate game that Shaw completely programmed and designed herself, Happy Trails, released simply as the gaming market crashed. However, video game consoles are preferred because they're cheaper. The Wii U gamepad isn't honestly that bad, and most the video games I perform on that system I enjoy with the pro controller in any case. Indeed, it's even more a case of finding the time to game than weighing up what to play, therefore i wish you the very best of luck to make those tough choices. As the first console with a built-in modem for Internet support and on-line play, it was at first successful, but sales and reputation would start to fall. What began a custom ROM project that later on gave rise to a whole smartphone and electronics company, the MIUI is one of the biggest success tales of days gone by decade.|Aside from the pointlessly short controller cables, the only other complaint we have with Nintendo's NES Classic Edition can be that it only includes 30 classic games. Classic coin-operated games have largely become the province of devoted hobbyists and as a tertiary attraction for some businesses, such as concert halls, batting cages , miniature golf courses, and arcades attached to game stores such as for example F.Y.E. The annual gamescom in Cologne in August is the world's leading expo for video games in attendance. Embrace the continuing future of video gaming with the PS4 Slim & PS4 Pro at GameStop. With innovative Joy-Con controllers, a continuously developing library of fun video games, and a great collection of accessories, the Switch is a warm commodity since its start for good reason. I fell off the Nintendo hype teach sometime through the Nintendo 64's lifespan and only Sony's PlayStation. You think multi-player mobile game development is the discovery of latest generation?|The market has come a long way, however, not everything was always smooth sailing when you look back again at gaming history. Oh, last thing to mention, I don't like console that very much because in this console vs Computer war, a whole lot of gaming console supporters are fan males. Consoles are some of the most popular devices for gaming, aswell as for alternative activities , especially among global gamers aged 25 to 34 The mass selling point of consoles predates the introduction of the widespread home computer, as the initial video system, Magnavox Odyssey, was released in the first 1970s in the usa. A PC that is sufficient for running the most recent games can easily cost twice that much. Survival Games ,” a competitive take on the game modeled following the Hunger Games movies, gained popularity now there, and that community spread the idea to others. The online multiplayer games are similar to sports- ie, on the web shooters to name the biggest 'type' of on-line multiplayer game.|The nexus 5 came out in 2013, which was one of the best phones of that year, for the reason that was because this is a mobile phone that google helped create. 26 By that season the computer gaming marketplace required over from the system market following a crash of this year; computers offered equal gaming capability and, since their simple design allowed games to take complete order of the equipment after power-on, they were nearly as simple to start using as consoles. The Personal computer is in a good spot-probably the very best it's ever been, and improving all the time. At least, he looks like he'll become playing the function of a mentor - Kratos is a dad right now (and there'll apparently become some conversation as the participant using both Kratos and his boy). Handheld electronic games had been popular for greater than a decade by enough time Nintendo introduces the overall game Boy. With music like Rednex playing Cotton Eyes Joe, and our gaming consoles desperately trying to let us play games over the internet, the 90s is a little awkward.|Todd Rogers may not be a household name but he's certainly popular among speedrun enthusiasts and those who monitor retro gaming records. 1 There are many types of video game consoles, including home gaming consoles , handheld game consoles , microconsoles and dedicated consoles Although Ralph Baer experienced built working video game consoles by 1966, it had been nearly a decade before the Pong game made them commonplace in regular people's living rooms. Ned Blakley and Matt Fico possess spent the bulk of the past five months in an area filled with arcade games-and they didn't actually need any tokens. %displayPrice% at %seller% For the uninitiated, The Old Republic is an MMO that occurs thousands of years just before the events of A FRESH Hope. For PC gamers it's all about customizing, optimizing and upgrading. Did we point out that gaming consoles are costly too? Vintage video games from that era are the electronic equivalent of what classic vehicles or good China are to old generations.|A lot more than 30 years after Atari popularized the interchangeable video game cartridge, gaming-software sales top $33 billion annually, with the global industry value higher than $100 billion. It's filled with PS3 classics like Uncharted 2 and Fallout: New Vegas, however the PS4 game selection is weak, so it is worthwhile only if you would like to play older video games. Taito released this game in 1978 as Space Invaders. FireHound is a Custom ROM developed concentrating on Stability + Features. Nintendo remained the lone hold-out, using cartridges because of their Nintendo 64 system; the company did not transition to optical mass media until 2001's GameCube SNK still released video games on the cartridge-structured Neo Geo until 2004, with the final official release getting Samurai Shodown V Special Nintendo's handheld consoles, meanwhile, continued to make use of cartridges due to their faster loading instances and minimal equipment for data reading being beneficial for playing video games in a nutshell, several-minute intervals.|Pricey but essential, may be the case for some game consoles. The PlayStation 2 (PS2) represents a substantial change in the idea of game consoles. He informed Polygon that he would prefer that clinical study of gaming addiction examine specific mechanisms in a few games that could be problematic,” such as for example loot boxes. Syd Bolton has been around love with video gaming since the start of Pong and provides been involved in the industry in various methods since its inception. If you're not used to video games - or want to expose the form to somebody - there's something to become said for starting with the classics. During the 1980s, gaming computer systems, early online video gaming and handheld LCD video games emerged; this period was affected by the video game crash of 1983. This Complete Edition includes the original console game, in addition to all of the DLC content, therefore newcomers have a large number of hours of action to understand.|Since its launch, the $35 Raspberry Pi mini-computer provides been hailed as an ideal all-in-one retro game system. The beastly system came with a pack-in cartridge which, like the various other three cartridges released, held three games. There's no two ways about it: A decently powerful Personal computer can display better graphics than its console brethren. His first design, called the Brown Package, allowed users to play several different games on a typical television set, including ping pong game (presaging Atari's Pong), without requiring a pc, microprocessor, or software. They're beautiful wonderlands of great experiences, but it's hard to dive right into a 10 to 20 hour Mario game another time when I've currently played the levels to loss of life trying to gather everything once. 7 It had been in this environment that the initial video gaming were born. Since gaming PCs currently produce the highest framerate and highest quality, picking the very best gaming console comes down to several factors including its design, features, and game library.|As someone who was created in the 1980s, I experienced the golden age of video games. In addition to access for online multiplayer games, you get free Games with Gold” on a monthly basis, as well as discounts on additional Xbox purchases. Accessories such as for example batteries, cables and chargers have a one month the phone is faulty within one year (counted from the time of delivery), customers can send them back for free repair. We see the release of Super Nintendo, Mortal Kombat, Warcraft: Orc & Human beings for PC, the initial Sony PlayStation, and the Nintendo 64. Most video gaming enthusiasts will concur that although we didn't realize it at that time, that the release of the Sony PlayStation would go on to revolutionize the whole gaming industry. Keep the main ROMs and the Software Lists in folders of their very own. Dominate from your living area with PS4 and Xbox One headsets and controllers made for total console supremacy.}

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sportsandideas · 7 years

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Sports Done Right: Notes on an Exhibit (at the National Museum of African American History & Culture)

(Photo by author from the start of the exhibit)

“At times, sports leads social change. Other times, sports stymies social change.”

That deceptively simple formulation is one of the four ‘main messages’ listed for the ‘Sports: Leveling the Playing Field’ exhibit at the National Museum of African American History & Culture in Washington DC. I had the luck and pleasure of visiting the Museum this summer while on a family vacation in DC. I’d read some of the positive reviews, and was glad to find it lived up to the hype – the whole Museum was powerful, and the sports exhibit was as thoughtful and well-executed as any I’ve ever seen.

The excellence of the sports exhibit was partially about what they had compiled: sharp videos offering brief social histories of major sports; interesting memorabilia representing critical moments in sports history; visually appealing photos and statues conveying the vibrancy of sport.

(Photo by author from the start of the exhibit)

But, for me, the best thing about the museum was what was not there: the usual pabulum about sports as a great equalizer that directly builds character and community. Instead, the exhibit presented sports as what it is: a rich social and cultural space, always political either implicitly or explicitly, that takes on a variety of meanings depending on the context and actors. “At times, sports leads social change. Other times, sports stymies social change.”

I was actually surprised at the degree to which relatively progressive political ideologies, usually suppressed in sports spaces, were featured at a national museum that is part of the Smithsonian. The basketball exhibit gave prominent space to “I can’t breathe” shirts;

(photo by author from the ‘basketball’ room wall)

The football exhibit included a picture of Rams players entering the field using a ‘hand up, don’t shoot’ gesture;

(photo by author from the ‘football’ room wall)

The commentators in almost all the videos the accompanied exhibits were full of powerful progressive sports voices such as Dr. Harry Edwards and Dave Zirin – along with other thoughtful, if more mildly progressive, commentators such as Jemele Hill and Michael Smtih (thankfully absent are more blustery and, unfortunately, conventional sports voices such as Stephen A. Smith and Jason Whitlock).

(Photo by author shot from one of several videos with rich commentary from Dr. Edwards and others)

And, as has been much publicized, the whole exhibit starts with a statue commemorating Tommie Smith and John Carlos (along with Australian Peter Norman) raising their gloved fists on the medal stand at the 1968 Olympics. By making the relationship between sport and social change a core feature of sport history, the exhibit itself becomes a reminder that sports is always political. The exhibit articulates sports as a space where African-Americans, and all Americans, express individuality while also negotiating social rules that constrain that expression. The exhibit ends up putting the conservative instincts of sport (towards segregation, bias, inequality, and stasis) on display, and highlights how often those instincts end up being wrong when viewed as part of a historical arc. Though Muhammad Ali may be the most visible, and he gets much merited space in the exhibit, he is not the only example of how sports positioning can oscillate between villain and hero.

Being an academic, I do have a few minor critiques. It was cool to see prominent sports figures such as Michael Jordan and LeBron James as major donors. For those types of sports stars to leverage their wealth towards this type of exhibit felt right.

(Photo by author)

It was less cool to see tributes to major corporate sponsors such as Nike. Allowing shoe companies to put in claims to African-American sports history felt like another way of privileging corporate sport as a business endeavor over participatory sport as a human endeavor. But, of course, I realize that is just the way the world works.

(Photo by author)

I also thought the displays were a little light on gender issues. There was a small display about Title IX, strangely positioned next to the gloves Brianna Scurry wore during the penalty kick shoot-out final of the 1999 Women’s World Cup.

(Photo by author)

And the Williams sisters got some decent coverage—including one of six statues in the exhibit. But all the other statues were men (Tommie Smith, John Carlos, and Peter Norman at the 1968 Olympics; Jackie Robinson sliding into base; Jesse Owens running at the 1936 Olympics; Shani Davis speed skating at the Winter Olympics; and Michael Jordan's last shot as a member of the Chicago Bulls). And the major quadrants of the exhibit were devoted to baseball, football, basketball, and boxing – meaning, aside from a few mentions in the basketball display, male sports were predominant. Looking carefully back at all the pieces, there is plenty about women’s sports. But the overall layout felt very male.

I am, however, nitpicking. I should reemphasize that this was as good a sports exhibit as I’ve ever seen, and I’d highly recommend it. The curator, Dr. Damion Thomas (who has a PhD in history from UCLA and looks to have been a prof briefly at U of Maryland), would seem to deserve a ton of credit. As he explained to the NY Times: “I very rarely give a sports statistic during these tours…[instead, the gallery] focuses on sports in the larger African-American struggle and fight for greater rights.”

That focus then also lends itself to a broader focus for those lucky enough to visit: a focus on sports itself as less about statistics and more about creating cultural spaces for personal and collective engagement with the social world. That engagement is most often passive, reinforcing the status quo, but the museum might just help ensure a few more are inspired to do (and think) something more.

#nationalmuseumofafricanamericanhistoryandculture #levelingtheplayingfield #SocialConcerns

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