#i am hella proud of my overall progress though

[nadunacreates]

NANOWRIMO 2019 • TOTAL ROUNDUP & STATS

•

TOTAL WORDS: 62′668 MOST WRITTEN IN ONE DAY: 7’414 (day ten, right after a write-in) LEAST WRITTEN IN ONE DAY: 21 (day twenty-nine, right before a write-in) AVERAGE WRITTEN IN ONE DAY: 2’088 (according to the nano website at least…)

•

PLAYLISTS I MADE AND LISTENED TO WHILE WRITING AND DAYDREAMING

heroes bleed red • writing mood (for general scenes, action and emotions)

heroes bleed red • bones break (supposed to be the angsty playlist for when bones and hearts break; betrayal and hurt, when trust gets broken and you’re left bleeding)

heroes bleed red • hearts heal (the one i initially started out with, but then added more and more songs that only fit for the comfort mood and not really the rest of things, so)

important to note here: i don’t really listen to music? like, i don’t hear the words and decide that yes they fit for a particular playlist, most often i have no clue what is being sung about. it’s more about the tone of voice and the atmosphere of the song? idk, i’m weird like that

•

more below, including stats and future plans

•

ABOUT THE WIP

current total word count: 62’956 characters: 350’516 pages: 220 (all these are according to scrivener) current word count goal: 180’000 current self-imposed deadline: end of april, 2020

•

RAMBLING & FUTURE PLANS

the regional write-ins in zurich, switzerland, really have been my saving grace this november. without them, i wouldn’t be nearly where i am at right now. i would have given up on this long ago, especially after i really struggled in the last week.

in the hopes of not giving up on this story the way i did with last year’s nano project i’m going to try meet up with some of the same people throughout the year and get these damn words out, keep the motivation up. i’m gonna try be more active on here as well, help us writeblrs motivate each other and maybe join a discord or two. because even though this first draft is far from ready to be read by anyone i do hope to be able to pick up on some better writing techniques along the way, sharpen my outlining (and sticking to those outlines) skills, and get comfortable in my writing again. it often felt stilted and awkward during this month, but once or twice i got into the kind of head-space that really lets the words flow and lets me actually like what i wrote, which is… something that doesn’t happen often, let me tell you.

but. despite it all and my own constant procrastination, i do not want to give up on this story. i finally want to get to the point where i can put THE END under a piece of writing and feel like i accomplished something, even if it’s just a self-indulgent story written for myself.

(and if any one of you feels like i don’t post enough content or that i’ve been absent for a while now - do feel free to come kick my butt. i’ll appreciate it. and if you’ve got any questions, feel free to ask! i’ll be happy to answer them, even if it might take a few days to get around to it, because i’m just horrible at time management and i always feel like i’m gonna say (or write) the exact wrong thing when i’m communicating with actual people on here and not just screaming into the void as i do with these kinds of roundup posts.)

some final words: THANK GOD IT’S OVER, but it was also really great? i really like nano as a way to challenge myself, and even though i haven’t interacted with as many of you guys as i wanted to, during this month, i really feel like this whole community is something i’ve really grown to like and want to take a more active part in (as soon as i manage to get off my ass and do these things, of course.)

#wip: heroes bleed red #nano 2019 #writeblr #wip progress #nanowrimo #nanowrimo 2019 #i'm bad at doing these kinds of posts #i am hella proud of my overall progress though #i didn't think i'd get anywhere close to this #it definitely was a success! #and i wrote every day #now i just have to keep the habit up! #here's hoping #naduna rambles #oh and as for further future plans: i’ve discovered the fluffcember prompts yesterday #hopefully i’ll manage to fill a few of those for hbr this month #or any other fic / wip

[modern-oedipus]

So, @mari-lair .

This is a special post of gay-sap because even though we just ended a call, Nila The Drama Queen wouldn’t be able to skip your birthday without making a public post about how much she loves you. I mean, I don’t even know what to say, which is absurd because I’m someone who is usually good at words. But when I think of Mari and our friendship right now, my brain goes kind of blank. I feel like, “What? Am I going to state the obvious?” but in the honor of your birthday, August 19, yes, yes I will.

I don’t know, like. This is raw writing and I don’t know where I’m going with this except from the fact that I want the world to know that you’re one of the bravest, loveliest and the most inspiring girl I’ve ever met. Three of us has literally watched the historical bullshit of 2020 unfold ever since March, were into so much things, but overall— here we are! Alive and well and together! I guess this is when two (three? Three. @spaceoceania my gem.) people love each other and are willing to work things out instead of getting petty.

I don’t think I’ve told this to you in person at all, Mari, but like. I really, really, REALLY love the way you live your life. You inspire me, boost my motivation and make me smile, just by being you. You and I are quite different types of people in core (like Introvert TM & Extrovert TM thing) but I just feel like we can connect and I love that.

I love it when you text and say “Today will be a productive day!”

I love it when you send the progress of your artwork, in many types and shades that only the sunshine server’s eyes can see.

I love it when we are making up some idea and you just end up sketching it! OR writing it! Or BOTH! Do you have any idea how MAGICAL it feels to watch you draw? Like, wow. You’re CREATING things. Being alive. Being my friend. That’s like. Making me proud.

So yesterday was a busy as fuck day but I baked you a cake in the end, even though you live far far away. WHICH, I AM GLAD I DID BECAUSE WE COULD VIRTUALLY BLOW THE CANDLE, AT LEAST. Also it was a hella delicious cake so fly here and have some!

I just, don’t know. I don’t really have a structure of message in my mind. I won’t edit even a letter of this post. I just want you to know that you’re one of the people I love unapologetically. Remember when I told you how I just like people who’re unapologetically themselves? I like that about you, really. Just you being you, minding your own business AND THEN ME THE FLASHY FRIEND JUST B U T T I N G IN AND THROWING CELEBRATIONS CAUSE YEAH my dramatic ass could never relax without making your bday a FANTASTIC one!!

With this, it’s almost a year since we’ve started to talk. Half a year since we’re close. What a great span of 6 months!

I love you, from the bottom of my heart, and I wish you the best, BEST, BEST year ever!

Happy 19, queen! 🤍

#birthday #birthdays #nila stuff #august 19 #2020 #mari #HYPE

[yangssunglasses]

LOGH manga ch25 commentary because this was just pure win:

All the ship fuel for Frederica and Yang, goshdamnit, I am so going to write something!

She just looked so beautiful, I can’t believe this is supposed to be a 14 year old girl (I kind of liked her first El Facil portrayal better, here’s back to the elegant rich girl image, though the modern dress suits her hella better than whatever she was wearing in anime version). She really looked mature, no wonder Yang had a bit of an existential crisis there and almost choked to death.

I am NOT a fan of a trope that the female love interest starts out as an ultra fangirl. Though in these circumstances it makes quite a lot of sense (I still find it extra silly and kind of creepy), BUT I sure hope that after actually getting to know Yang and working with him, Frederica will quickly grow out of fangirling stage and their relationship will progress more naturally.

Yang merchandise?! LOLOLOL (if Phezzan produces it and sells, I’m going to die of laughter)

Chief Greenhill being a proud papa :))) He’s totally okay that his daughter is obsessed with his subordinate. Hmmm, this is another thing to explore in fic...

I always thought Frederica went to military school because of her father, but here it’s because she looks up so much to Yang??! This is ridiculous, why are all my headcanons crushed to dust by this manga???

God I love how this manga clearly explains the strategies etc. and stays on point with overall themes of the series.

Holland, another wannabe hero, but I can’t help but enjoy him so freaking much, he’s just deliciously EXTRA about his master plan to just blow up Iserlohn with concentrated laser fire. What A Genius! This is totally going to work! lololol

#logh #fujisaki manga #yang x frederica #frederica greenhill #yang wenli #spoilers

[koalataeil]

Basketball Player!Ten (High School)

Grade: Junior

Position: Starting Shooting Guard

Skills: Shooting (three-pointers), support/motivation/happiness

so ten is known to be just always so happy

always has a smile on his face

even if it’s at the end of practice and he’s been doing conditioning for the last 15 minutes

always smiling

and he is usually able to get the others in a good mood too

like if one of his teammates is having a bad day, ten will easily cheer them up

which makes the whole team in a better mood

which helps them play better individually and as a team

during games, even if he misses a shot or travels or turns the ball over he is still smiling

the coach gets so mad at him every time too

thinking that ten thinks it is funny that he messed up

so he’s gotten yelled at quite a few times just for being his usual self

when he’s out of the game and sitting on bench, he’s usually cheering for his teammates

warning them of the shot clock or yelling out the play they’re doing

ten is known for his shooting

he’s always working hard before practice starts by shooting around the hoops

working on his shooting technique and helping other teammates if they are struggling, especially the younger players or people on the JV team

although ten really doesn’t even have the best technique, it still ALWAYS gets in somehow

and it can be pretty frustrating to some of the other players bc it just comes so easy to him

ten is not a ball-hog AT ALL

like he loves to pass to his other teammates to let them make the shots

but if no one is open, he’ll easily take the shot, even if the person guarding him is super close to him

you are actually a stats person from a different school than ten

you got started bc your best friend johnny signed up to do stats and he signed your name up too bc he didn’t want to be by himself

so you do the stats on a tablet and johnny does it on paper, each focusing on different parts of the game and helping each other out

but you also mess with each other all the time, especially during time outs and in-between quarters

during a three-day long tournament, you met ten for the first time

ten’s team played your school’s team during the first day

and he caught your eye during the first couple of minutes bc he was scoring so many points so quickly

Johnny even expressed his concerns that if your team couldn’t defend him better, they’d definitely lose the game

ten also caught your eye because he was smiling so much the whole time he had been in

it just made you want to spend time with him because his happiness could easily spread to you

when ten was subbed out for the first time, the game started to calm down a little and your team was able to catch up

and soon ten was kneeling in front of you, waiting to be subbed back in

once the refs had time to bring him in, ten turned around and smiled at you quickly before running onto the court

the game continues that way for the rest of the game

ten scoring a bunch of points, being subbed out when he gets tired, you team catching up a little, and ten getting subbed back into the game, always making sure he smiles at you

but when he gets back into the game with only a couple of minutes left, ten winks at you which makes you blush and cause Johnny to question your relationship with ten and tease you

the game ended with your team losing by about 15 points, mostly because ten just kept sinking 3s

Johnny and you get up from your spot after finishing the stats and hand off the stats to the assistant coach before they go into the locker room

as you were forced to stay and watch the next game of the tournament, Johnny and you sat together and watched the next two teams warmup for their game

as the game was starting, ten and jaehyun were walking to sit on the bleachers but ten noticed you and Johnny and decided to sit in front of you, making sure to smile at you before he sat down

Johnny gave you a weird look and you watched the game, occasionally listening to jaehyun’s and ten’s commentary

you tried not to laugh at some of their jokes, knowing that you didn’t want to get caught overhearing their conversation

around half-time, jaehyun gets up to get food and Johnny leaves to meet with the assistant coach about a stat issue

ten decides to start talking to you

it’s hella awkward as he tries to use some stupid pickup lines with you but also just genuinely wanting to get to know you

and you answer his questions and occasionally ask him questions as you also wanted to know more about ten too

you conversation progresses to some stupid talk about a class you two both take

until Johnny comes up and tells you that the bus is leaving soon

so you have to say goodbye to ten and get on the bus

and the whole ride home is just you thinking of ten and you cannot wait to see him again

the next day of the tournament, your team plays an earlier game as they lost the first game

the game continues as normal, you and Johnny taking stats and messing with each other

until ten’s team arrives, all wearing matching sweats and looking intimidating

ten’s eyes scan the gym until he sees you, smiling and waving at you

you smile and wave back and Johnny’s like

“you do realize your boyfriend is our rival right”

“he’s not my boyfriend”

“yeah sure, whatever you say”

so you get more distracted than normal while taking stats, but you still get through it

and ten has now changed into his jersey and getting ready to warmup

and you sit with johnny and watch as ten warms up by shooting around and stretching

you unintentionally ignore Johnny’s comments

and when he notices, he just stops talking and starts pouting until he gets your attention again

which takes way longer than you’d like to admit

but throughout the game you try to pay attention to both the game and whatever Johnny is saying at that time

and ten isn’t taking as many shots as he was the first day, mainly because the other team isn’t playing the defense very close

so he lets the other players score

and occasionally ten will look at you in the crowd, a smile on his face the entire time

when the game ends, after ten’s team wins, Johnny pulls your attention away from ten going to the locker room

“why don’t you just ask him out already?”

“bc I'm not about to embarrass myself, he doesn’t like me”

Johnny rolls his eyes “yeah, and I'm not good looking”

then you roll your eyes

“you should though, like you aren’t going to see him every day and there’s only one more day of the tournament”

“I know, I know”

Johnny leaves to go sit with some of the players of your team when he sees ten walking out of the locker room and making his way towards you

and ten’s hair is all messed up from just playing a game of basketball and sweating

and he’s just wearing his team sweats

but he just looks so great anyways

and you guys start talking again while watching the next teams warmup

it’s like you’ve known each other for years

you just feel like you know ten so well

“are you ready for the tournament to be over? it’s probably really tiring playing three games in three days”

“I kind of am, but then I won’t be able to see you when it’s over”

you try to hide you blush that comes from his comment

“we could hang out after the tournament ends” you mumble

“sounds good, can I get your number?”

and you exchange numbers and hangout until the final game is over and you both have to go your separate ways

and Johnny and some of the basketball players tease you when you get on the bus

but ten starts texting you during the bus ride

and it just makes you so happy that ignore their comments

the last day of the tournament ends the same way

your team ended up winning their last game and got 3rd in the tournament

you were able to talk and hang out with ten before his game

ten’s team got 2nd, but there was a smile on his face the whole time

and after the game, ten came up and hugged you, his hair messed up and all sweaty

even if they didn’t get first, he was still happy and proud of himself and his team

and he was so happy that he met you at this tournament

and with a promise to meet up again soon, he heads off to the locker room and you have to go back on the bus to go home

after a couple of times hanging out, ten finally got the courage to ask you out on a real date

and it was really cute bc he was so shy about bring it up

but you always try to make it to his games if you don’t have to do stats

and you meet some of his teammates and they let you know that ten never shuts up about you

at that point, ten’s like, “let’s go look at this trophy”

and ten and you occasionally will have study dates where you both complain about that class you were both taking

even tho you were on different chapters and had different teachers

it would just be nice to have someone that you can confide in and has a similar experience

overall your relationship is pretty cute but also just like you two are best friends

and Johnny gets slightly jealous that you don’t spend all your free time with him

he even tries to third-wheel on some of your dates

but ten doesn’t mind bc he’s been slowly becoming friends with Johnny

and soon enough Johnny and ten will be deep in conversation and completely forget you’re even around

but you don’t mind bc you have your two boys and life is great

#kpop #Kpop scenario #Kpop scenarios #ten #ten scenario #ten scenarios #nct #nct scenario #nct scenarios #bb!au

[pixel-creates]

About Me: Kingdom Hearts

Behold, my excuse to cry over KH with paragraphs for nearly each answer.

(shamelessly copied from @khfriendlyreminders​)

Favorite Kh Game Overall: … I underestimated how hard this would be. I mean, I can't simply say I love all of them (even though I do), so... I guess it has to be

ALL OF THEM.

Least Favorite Kh Game Overall: Aside from nitpicks in story and gameplay, I don't have much to say against the KH games. ^^'

I understand perfectly well when people analyze the story and explain why certain parts just don't work, but unless it's something that just outright doesn't sit well with me, I find it hard to be critical of the games. Which is weird since I can be very critical of other media, but KH is kind of... hard to see or make criticism of. I'm not entirely sure how to explain it...

Kh Games I Should Replay: … ALL OF TH-

Okay but for real, I do have to repay them all for the sake of my fic since I'm basing the events off of my gameplay. Though, one I'd like to experience once again is 0.2. I only had the chance to play once at my older brother's before I moved and I feel like I need to experience it again to really understand where the story stands currently.

Most Played Kh Game: KH2 definitely.

Least Played Kh Game: Maybe Re:Coded, Days, and Re:COM. Re:Coded, while I do enjoy, is just not that fun to play on my dying 3DS. Also, I can't remember if it's just Re:Coded, but the camera was just really loose?? On my 3DS with broken left and right triggers, there was just no end to the frustration when those babies started going out. Days is a long game to play and my gameplay is either short and brief stints or finishing the entire game in a day. Right now, I'm in the short and brief stint gameplay mode since I need a new 3DS. On that part, Days and Re:Coded aren't at fault. Re:COM just scares me. Eveyone says that it's easy to get a handle on the card system, and it is but I don't do very well under the pressure of getting the cards together. It's gotten to the point where just looking at the menu screen makes me cringe. ^^' KHUX can count, as well. The game has a hella lot of filler quests, which are fine here and there, but wow those mission goals (“Defeat Every Enemy” has been seen in my nightmares). Not only that, but I'm not really that good at keeping up with games that often require constant/daily logging in for advancement.

Kh Games I Need to Play: I've technically played them all in one form or another, but I would very much like to try out the original GBA COM game at least once. GBA used to be my favorite system and finding out a KH game had been made for it is amazing!

Favorite Gameplay: This one is a tie between KH and KH0.2.

KH2 is just... fun. It's fun to play, it's fun to watch, and it just feels satisfactory to attack and explore the worlds. It might seem a little weird, but my favorite part was being able to 'Examine' everything with the triangle button. It was like Sora's (and Roxas' thoughts for a time) were given a place to exist outside cutscenes and gave insight into how Sora/Roxas were viewing the world. I dunno what anyone else thinks about it or if they even care, but I sincerely hope it makes a comeback in KH3.

KH0.2 is like KH2 in which we are given more of an opportunity to explore and interact with the world around us by actually creating change within the world through spells, hitting objects, or finding the lost memories. I absolutely love to freely roam in games, but it doesn't do much to bring me into the world itself if I can't interact with the world. That's why, as much as it creeped the frick out of me, the Dwarf Woodlands in the Dark World was my favorite world to explore even after the main story.

Least Favorite Gameplay: It's not my least favorite by far (in fact, it's really high up there), but I feel I do have to mention that in KH DDD, I felt really bad about using Flowmotion. It was like, I'd find my way up to several treasures, but then, it turns out, that you'd eventually make it up there by unlocking the way so that you could walk to the treasure. I feel like if there was a couple of puzzles that locked some treasures away and couldn't be accessed through mobile means, it'd balance out the gameplay a little more.

I also find the Dream Eater system to be... a little cool and also a little bad. A little cool because while I can adventure to who knows where and not get constantly freaked by Donald and Goofy teleporting right behind me. It felt like I was on a little solo adventure! Not only that, but the feature to import Dream Eaters from a previous save to a new/other save was a great feature. It was especially helpful when I replayed DDD went from Beginner Mode to Critical Mode. Did I mention it was y first time playing any KH game on a mode tougher than Normal?

A little bad because sometimes that solo adventure was just a bit too solo – and when just starting out (especially on Critical Mode), rather than being my allies, my Dream Eaters were more so the colorful Pokemon rejects I babysat so they didn't die after three hits. It became annoying pretty quickly to constantly keep them alive, only for them to wander away from where the enemies are or just simply not attack and once again die.

KH Re:Com as explained above, though I will admit that once I start to get into it, I feel a lot less pressured unless it's a boss fight. Other than that, the game just feels really repetitive and as someone who's gameplay style is 80% grinding until you simply can't die, it just really didn't feel that fun to play after an hour of just grinding for a boss fight that I felt really unsure about fighting because I'm sill having trouble with the card system.

Favorite Story: Yikes, another hard one. It's easy for me to talk about gameplay in the games because they're self-contained to a singular game within the series, but goodness the story.

I suppose out of all of them, I would replay KH2, DDD, Days, and Re:Coded for story reasons only. I find them to have the more interesting stories. Right now, I'm kind of side eying BBS for... reasons, and KH1 is kind of hard for me to say anything about. More on that in the next one.

Least Favorite Story: Out of the games, KH1 is probably the most consistent one... on its own. As the series progressed and the writers tried to fit more lore and story into an idea that... no one really expected would garner so much attention, it becomes more obvious how... out of place the first game seems in comparison. This took me years to realize and I only really understood why people made such a deal about it when Caddicarus talked about it in his review.

I can't bring myself to really blame the writers (or Nomura) too much for the inconsistencies between the first game and the latest one, but I will say there are some things I wish could've been kept consistent throughout the series, or just plain kept.

So, I don't think of it as my least favorite (since there are times I'll play it simply because I love the story a heck of a lot more than the gameplay), but it's question because of how out of place its story is in comparison to its children.

Favorite Character:  Sora. I would fucking die for him – but he probably wouldn't let me. Why is he my favorite character? Probably for a similar reason why Naruto is – I am not a particularly outgoing or outspoken person. My voice is naturally soft and whenever I try to gear myself to ask people the simplest of questions or even to say hi, I chicken out at the last second. And then, we have this character who not only talks to people without an issue but easily has an active participation in not only social situations but in everyday life.

In a way, my younger self strived to be just a little but more like that, if only because I wanted to be surrounded by friends like Sora was. Not only that, but there's just the overall positivity vibe Sora gives off that I feel like I lack; I almost immediately assume the worst of situations, have trust issues, and stress horribly over situations that even I can admit are out of my control. And seeing this character go through what he did and still keep that positive outlook? How could I not want to be like that, if only just a little?

Least Favorite Character: I'll probably get shit on for saying it, but I really can't bring myself to like Kairi in any way shape or form. She's pretty much the only thing about KH that I can be really critical of and I'm not very proud of that. I can't get into her in canon and I can't get into her in fanon. I can detail point by point about why I just can't like her in any capacity and my own disappointment towards how she's written, and I really wish it was the opposite... but that's a whole other post.

For now, I'm more than content to ignore her.

Favorite Character from Main Cast: Aside from Sora? Roxas, Xion, Vanitas, Riku, Namine, and Ventus are in the ring competing for 11th favorite character since Sora has taken up the first ten spots. Aqua, Terra and Goofy are shoe ins for the next spots after them.

Least Favorite Character from Main Cast: Aside from that one chick? It's mostly as a joke, but Donald can rot.

#NeverThankDonaldDuck2018 Also, fuck Yen Sid.

Favorite Drive Form: Final. Fucking fite my vanilla ass.

Favorite Spell: While the Cure line is a staple, I'm going to have to go with the Reflect line. Late game KH2 often ends up with Heartless/Nobody encounters quickly ending as soon as it started with a single Reflectga. I really hope it makes some kind of comeback in KH3.

Favorite Keyblade: Kingdom Key. Call me vanilla, but I love it's simple design and the lore around it.

Favorite Summon: I've honestly only ever really used Tinkerbell and it's always for the Dragon!Maleficent fight in KH1. I always stress about using things with time limits, so I often just don't use them period. :,D

Favorite Limit: Okay, but if I rarely use Summons, then I really don't use Limits like ever. I hardly switch my party members out unless mandatory. Even then, I turn off the Auto Limit shit because I find it more important to make sure Sora has magic for Cure than pulling off an attack that will only hit like 3 times.

Aside from completion purposes (and Riku because how can I deny the beauty that is Sora and Riku's Limit), I don't use them in the main story.

Favorite Dream Eater: It's a toss up between Pega Slick and Me Me Bunny. While offering some pretty good abilities, I really like their aesthetic. Yoggy Ram and Aura Lion are pretty high up there, too.

Favorite World: Oooo~ How about we have fun with this answer?

KH1 – A toss up between Hollow Bastion and End of The World. The aesthetics for both just really agree with me and the map for Hollow Bation especially is really fun to explore. KH Re:COM – 100 Acre Wood for being the only world that isn't completely repetitive. Whenever I play Re:COM I use it as the 12th floor just so I can reward myself for sticking with the game. KH2 – Radiant Garden for being probably the biggest world in KH2, linking to worlds I really like (Space Paranoids/100 Acre Wood), and having an interesting story that was actually intertwined with the main plot. KHBBS – This one is a bit hard since I don't play any other story except Ventus' 90% of the time. It's a toss up between Land of Departure (aesthetic and story reasons), Disney Town (mini games are really great – except I Scream Beat), and Mirage Arena (Rumble Racing and Mono- Command Board ftw!!).

KH Re:Coded – Pretty much all of Hollow Bastion. While a re-hash of KH1, it still felt like its own thing, especially with the battle system since Data!Sora's Keyblade was destroyed. I also really liked Olympus Coliseum. It was my favorite place to grind. In fact... Re:Coded took a lot of risks in changing up how you could fight and/or navigate the world and, to me, they were all interesting takes and fun experiences. Except Agrabah. Fuck Agrabah.

KHDDD – I like La Cité des Cloches because of what it could have been... Actual worlds I like are The Country of Musketeers, The World That Never Was (Sora's story), and Symphony of Sorcery. KH0.2 – Dwarf Woodlands as explained above. KHUX – I honestly really like Daybreak Town. I wish we could freely explore it.

Least Favorite World: F U C K M O N S T R O

I have some bad memories with Monstro from KH1.

First off, there's a chance you will just plain miss the cutscene needed to get access to him. I once had to drive between Halloween Town and Atlantica six times to get him, and often require 2 or more trips around to get him to appear in general.

Second, in KH1, a game that actually would've benefited from the nowadays useless as shit map system, has a world where everything looks the damn same and has rooms literally titled 'Monstro: Chamber 1' and 'Monstro: Chamber 2'. Just watching Raisoren, someone who has played KH1 at least twice, try to find his way around Monstro was a headache in itself back when I first found out about KH. Actually playing it was a migraine.

Third, the aesthetic... just the aesthetic. I am very squicky about the 'insides' of things. I understand that the team went through lengths to make it not look realistic, but that ultimately failed since the main different between most of the rooms are ledges and the amount of barrels in a room.

With all that said, I bet many of you can guess my reaction to Monstro in KH:DDD... it honestly wasn't too bad. Unless I was grinding, I didn't have to spend as much time in Monstro as I did in KH1 and the layout was a lot more varied and easily distinguishable from each other.

And then I played it in Critical Mode. :)

Am I ready for Kingdom Hearts III: Very much so! I've been steadily getting more and more excited with each piece of news we get. I don't know what to expect, but as long as it feels like a KH game, I don't think there's a way to disappoint me.

#purikh #puri ponders kh

[stillcominback]

SELF POSITIVITY POST TREND

this is actually incredibly hard for me to write – self love is probably the hardest thing for me?? and right now in particular, i’m really struggling to see any good traits or self worth, if i’m being honest. that being said, this meme is incredibly sweet and i wanted to follow through and try my best – even if it’s just to pass it on to others i love! i think it’s a really great exercise to try and think of the good things about ourselves, and it felt important for me to give it a go, as challenging as it may be. i find it much easier to gush about my friends/mutuals/others in general so, maybe i should make more effort to offer some of that kindness to myself *deep breaths*  i think that – overall – i am a good friend. i’m very loyal and try to be as friendly as possible to everyone i encounter. i don’t see the sense in being mean or offering up anything but positivity as best that i can. of course, i’m human so i make mistakes – i have anxiety and massive insecurities that get to me so i can’t be sunshine all the time, but i do really try. all i want is for my friends to be happy and healthy and know that i would do anything for them if asked (and i’m able). i love my friends without conditions – for better or worse, i will always be here for the people i’m close to and care about. i know i’m not the perfect friend all the time, i know i have problems and faults, but i’m happy to own those and i really am trying to do better all the time. i really just try to make people smile if and when i can, i feel like that’s important – especially with so much negativity in the world and on this goddamn hellsite.  i’m nice? maybe that’s a copout or lame but y’know what? i think that, even though being “nice” may be a small thing, but i say it’s underrated so – it counts. i think that online in particular, i could come off as too nice or fake to people who don’t know me? but it’s for real. i really do my best to send kind messages, to reach out to new people, and to approach everyone with a friendly demeanor. well, i’m nice until people give me a reason not to be lol buT i’ll actually take a lot before i get upset/angry/etc. you never know what people have going on and – again, i’m not always flaw free here – but i do make my best efforts to just put kindness and support out to my friends and any others.  i’m fairly proud of my writing or at least how far it’s come since i first got into rping in college. i still have huge bouts of insecurity, but overall? i’m pretty confident with most of my muses and feel like i do a pretty good job of capturing different voices in a way that reads accurately to me. though i don’t do as much rping as i used to, i’m pretty proud of most of the stuff i push out AND the fact that i manage to juggle as many muses/blogs as i do with pretty good consistency. even though i’ve been feeling more unsure and trying to figure out wtf to do with my life as i creep up on 30 *gulp* – i just got complimented by my manager the other day on some logos i designed so, that was a nice little boost to the ol’ ego. i know that the people i work with all really like me and say i do a great job – that makes me happy. even though i know i want out of here and to find somewhere else to go eventually, it makes me happy and proud to know that my co-workers value me. i work really hard to get things turned around quickly, i’m very detail oriented, and it just makes me happy to know that what i do doesn’t go totally unappreciated. would i like to do more creative things? yeah, of course, but i’ll take what i can get lol  i don’t really know what else to say?? i’m sure i could dig more out of my mind but this is really the best i could come up with right now! i’m still a big work in progress, even at 28 – my body image is a mess, i’m hella insecure about my talent towards my field of work, and my own nerves/anxiety are currently through the roof…BUT i still believe all of these things above. i think that, despite insecurities and short-comings? i’m a good person with a good heart and i’m proud of that at the very least. i’m glad i was tagged in this because it did help me a little bit so, i really hope it does good for all my pals i’m tagging + anyone else reading who wants to give this a whirl! <33

tagged  by :  @jckiebrkhart ( you’re an angel and ily )

tagging  :   @demisio, @twicehard, @borneking, @unseenmockingjay, @boldlydared, @pastmade, @faithbuilt, @mairghread, @pythcn, @thallassics, @lordtaketh, @killthebxy, @nutsos, @akagrimes, @sacredjustice & anyone else who reads/wants to! this is a really lovely meme so i’d wanna read everyone’s!

#|| salkdfhkrgjgukjgdfg #|| that's how i feel about this lmao #|| did i do this right? iDk #|| but i really wanted to try in the hopes it would help me with my current state of mind #|| i hope you all do this and i get to read about you beaut people #ᴏυт ᴏғ ᴀммᴏ ( ᵒᵒᶜ ) #ĸιɴᴅ ᴡᴏʀᴅѕ ( ᵖᵒˢᶤᵗᶤᵛᶤᵗᵉ ᵛᶤᵇᵉˢ )

[victakestaipei]

WEEK 5 RECAP: “Hair Care, After-Rain, and Porn on the Bus”

Hello Folks,

My week this week started off pretty rocky (and painful), as I’m sure you’ve gathered from my previous post.. but overall I can’t really complain about how the rest of the week played out...

Wednesday: 

Today in class I got my first 100 percent on a quiz!!! Granted it was just a vocabulary quiz and not written dialogue sentences, but I’m still proud as hell. I also introduced my teacher to the movie Finding Nemo and how to “dab”. She’s so adorable and I just love her enthusiasm.

In the gym I ran a 8:53 mile… my body was hating me for skipping the past two days. I had a cramp in my left side the entire time I was running, so by the time I finished the mile I felt like I had done ab day instead of leg day…

After the gym we got caught in the pouring rain. Like raining cats and dogs.

This is common after a typhoon (the after-rain), but I was just salted that we got caught in it and that my socks were so dang wet. Every step made a squishing noise and my thin mesh Adidas weren’t made for that... The three of us went to lunch with one of our classmates, Mika, at that Italian place I had last week. Mika is from California... Cupertino I believe? And she’s super sweet and we’re always cracking up in class together. 

Above is a creeper picture Mika took with our teacher hehe.... I screenshotted it from a snapchat she sent me so DONT HATE ME MIKA

At lunch I ordered this spicy spaghetti with sausage dish... it was super good!! Although I found myself sweating while I was eating... but that could have been due to the fact that I was wet with rain and then sitting in a booth having lunch...

This was my desert    v     I can’t remember the name, but it was chocolate. I thought the consistency would be different when I ordered it, but it was more of like a pudding. I was pleasantly surprised ;)

After lunch we went to the stationary store and bought more school supplies that I really didn’t need. I bought more pens and a notebook, for the upcoming semester. Everything is so cute in that store and I could literally spend all day in there (it’s my favorite past time to be so honest....looking at stationary) lol. Lame, I know.

After that I came home, took a long shower, and a long long nap. I woke up about 9:15pm to a FaceTime call, and then decided to get up and be productive. I finished my homework fairly quickly, and for dinner Bunny and I got McDonald’s because the Gong guan night market was completely closed, I think due to the heavy rain today. I got a spicy chicken sandwich and it was 10x better than a hot n Spicy, and we ALL KNOW how much those SLAP!!! 

I knocked out after 2 am because my nap was a bit longer than it should’ve been... I think I was so tired because of how winded I was from the gym.

Oh Also!!! Today in the shower I did a co-wash, and after it dried I noticed that my hair has grown significantly while I’ve been here… so shout out to my ABLE Queen Sade: I’m going to drop some quick tips on my hair care routine: 

Usually I co-wash every week to week and a half. I only wash with shampoo maybe 1-2 a month (depending on what I’ve been doing...swimming, etc). I also oil/massage my scalp about three times a week. I am currently using small amounts of coconut oil on my scalp to massage, because this is the only oil I brought from the States and I don’t want my hair to be too too oily. But usually when I’m home, I switch it up between Moroccan/Argan Oil, Carrot Oil, Shea Oil, Coconut Oil etc. I also use a lot of leave-in conditioners and moisturizers in my hair. Right now I’m using the Aussie 3 minute moist deep conditioner as a leave-in and I love love LOVE this product. I love the Aussie Moist line in general and it’s pretty cost effective which is good. I also use the Cantu deep conditioning repair creme, as well as the Shea Moisture curl enhancing smoothie. Apart from all of that, I also try to stay consistent with braiding or twisting my hair up and keeping it stretched when I sleep. I didn’t bring my silk scarf with me to Taiwan (ugh) but I still sleep with like a bandana on or a regular scarf most nights. I drink a lot of water and the humidity does the rest! 

My burn on my arm is still a blistering, bubbling, sensitive, mess. I have to sleep on my right side so that I don’t get the burn creme all over my sheets. Woooo.

Thursday:

I woke up on time today, and pretty well rested… I think due to the fact that I took an extra long nap yesterday… anyway, I got to class on time, after eating a banana and pastry for breakfast. I really need to cut back on all the bread I eat but it’s just SO convenient. But I’m going to try to make a more consistent effort to not stuff my face with bread every morning. Wish me luck! Ya girl loves the bread.

We had a quiz today, again, and in class we talked about a bunch of different stuff, from Finding Nemo, to K-Pop stars, to this strange student our teacher had last semester, to screaming goats, etc... We also planned a date for all of us as a class, including the teacher, to go and get hot pot as like a class bonding/field trip type experience! I’m excited. I love our little class, we have a ball, and we’re definitely the loudest class in terms of hearing the laughter echo down the hallway. It’s always a good time. 

*NOTE: So the story about the strange girl I mentioned above is pretty interesting.... Our teacher was telling us how she had this student in her 8am class last semester (who still goes here) and she’s in her 30s. She comes to class every morning with a visor on, a hood on, huge sunglasses, and an ace-bandage type thing that she uses to wrap around her neck and face, up to her nose. Basically she’s a mummy and completely covered from the sun. She is Thai, and pale as hell. (But here in Asia, the paler and skinnier you are, the better!) Anyway, the weird part about the story is that she comes into class in the morning, with hella food. And she has two cellphones. One of them she uses as her normal phone, and the other, she props up on this type of “stand” and records herself. It seems like she’s on videochat or a FaceTime of sorts, but in reality, she records herself constantly, and it’s more of a stream. She doesn’t physically converse back and forth with anyone.  Our teacher and other students in my class (who have seen her around) think that she is one of those people who gets paid to constantly stream themselves so that creepy fetish people can watch them do their daily duties. Weird right?

Anyway let’s shift back...

By the end of the three hour period, my tiredness had hit me full force. I was dying to hear that bell ring at 1:10. After class we went to the gym, per usual, and it was back day / booty (floor) day for me. My butt was so sore I feel like I’m walking funny. But I know it’ll all be worth it and I’m already seeing improvements! Go me!!!

The gym on the Main Campus that we normally use will be closing at the end of this week. They’re hosting a huge event during the month of August, so tomorrow is our last day to use the facility. Bunny and I checked out the gym on our Gong guan campus, where our dorm is, and it’s definitely not as nice but it’ll do the job. There’s also no AC or treadmills though which sucks… but there’s a track, so I guess I have to get used to running that way, and not being able to really track my progress as easily. Bummer.

After the gym we went to eat at the potsticker place by our main campus. I ordered half curry and half vegetable pot stickies, and they’re bomb, per usual.

After we had lunch we went to the computer labs on campus to do our homework. Like peasants… I don’t have a laptop anymore, and Bunny’s laptop doesn’t have a disk drive, so the listening portion of our homework needs to be done at school now. But, it didn’t take as long as it usually does to get it done, because I was definitely more focused (because I wanted to get home).

We started on our journey home around 4-5pm. The bus was poppin!!! I think because it was later in the day... While on the bus, there was a man who was on his phone with his earphones in... pretty normal. But, he moved to stand next to me on the bus and I unintentionally looked at his phone screen and he was watching porn on the bus! HAHA. I immediately looked at Bunny and mouthed the word “PORN” and she starts cracking up. After he got off the bus, she told me how one of his earphones wasn’t in his ear, so she could hear the moans and stuff from the video. Wow. I want to say that I was completely surprised by this, (because of the fact that Asians in Asia are more private with their sexuality in general vs. Americans), but I guess a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.

I got up around 9pm and we headed to the night market to eat around 10/10:30. We got these Vietnamese sandwiches at one of the vendor stands. They were 60 NT (around $2 US). I wanted to try the chicken sandwich but she had run out so I went for the spicy pork option instead. Very very tasty. It was basically like a hoagie, but the bread was a bit crunchier than I expected. And I also got some spring rolls, and they were huge, but I didn’t like them and didn’t even finish them. Definitely a disappointment. 

Also my bubbling/blistering burn has started to slightly deflate, but I think to make up for that, it’s started to spread more outward. Still looks disgusting. Still might scar. Still keeps me up at night.

Friday:

This morning I tried something new!!! I didn’t go to the bakery! CAN I GET A HALLELUJAH!!! Making moves!!! But.... I still had bread. 

This morning I opted for an egg sandwich for breakfast and a milk tea... There’s a cafe in front of our main MTC building (where all our classes are held)... and I have never come here for breakfast but I’m definitely going to start after today... simply because they have alternatives to bread, and it’s CHEAPER.

Our class today went by SO quickly. I can’t even remember half the things we talked about, but our chapter is covering “Recycling” so I know that was the main topic of conversation. 

Taiwan is SUPER BIG on recycling here. It’s been hard to adjust. In our dorm, we don’t have recycling bins on our floor. The only recycling bins/main trash bins we have, is on the ground floor of the dorm. Bunny and I have a trashcan in our room, but we never separate our trash (by plastics, glass, paper, normal trash, and food trash/compost), because in all honesty, WHO HAS THE TIME? .... because of this, we just throw everything into our trash can and then when it gets to be too overfilled, we take our trashbag down to the main floor, and tie it up and set it gently down next to the recycling bins.... I know, we’re terrible human beings. But it would be easier if they put the bins on our same floor, because no one wants to go up and down four flights of stairs every time they need to throw something away... It’s unreasonable. And today after class there was a note on the main chalkboard saying something about the trash... But Bunny and I couldn’t read/understand all the words so we just shrugged it off hahaha. Again, I know, we’re terrible human beings... but maybe if the janitor lady wanted to get the message across to the foreigners (she knows we’re foreigners because literally everyone here recycles), then she would just to write it in English??... Just a thought...

Today was leg day at the gym. Again, today is our last day at the gym due to the gym being closed for the rest of the month for an event... and I didn’t want to run my mile but I did it anyway... came out at 8:55. By the skin of my teeth. It was tough. Bunny also left early from the gym to go home and get started on packing/checking into her flight online, because she’s going to Hong Kong for the weekend! How fun.

I met with Mika after the gym, and we met on the Shi Da night market by campus. I found her in the beauty shop, because she wanted to buy falsies (and quite frankly so did I), but the beauty shop had tons of other cool stuff too (eyelid tape, tons of face masks, all kinds of makeup (not a variety of skin tones though), etc.)...

While in the shop, I looked outside and it appeared as though I was going to get caught in the pouring rain for the second time this week. But, this time I didn’t bring an umbrella. UGH. So, I did the most logical thing I could think of: I stole an abandoned umbrella from outside the beauty shop... Here in Taiwan, most people bring an umbrella with them everywhere they go. To either hide from the rain, or shield from the sun (...wouldn’t want to get too dark huh Lady?)... But if it’s raining and then the rain stops, a lot of people leave/abandon their umbrellas outside of shops or convenient stores in the rack provided. They do this because umbrellas here are so cheap, no one wants to lug them around all day. So luckily for me, getting caught in the rain, there were about 10 umbrellas sitting in the rack outside the shop, just waiting to be picked up by Muah. I knew they were abandoned because Mika and I were the only people in the store, and the umbrellas were sitting there when I walked into the store (before it rained). SO BLESS UP. 

We went to the curry spot to eat a few stores down... then later hopped on the bus to head home. Mika lives by the Gong guan market, which is where Bunny and I frequently get dinner. But Mika usually takes the MRT to get to school everyday, which I told her is a bit more expensive than the bus, and the bus just as convenient. So I took her home with me on the bus so she could learn the ropes.

Bunny was gone when I got home, she had already left to head to the airport. I took a shower and was SO PLEASED and GRATEFUL that she left me her laptop to use while she was away for the weekend (in Hong Kong). I am now fully caught up on my shows (Power and Insecure), and I’m able to blog from home rather than go to campus and do all my blogging on Monday in the computer lab (campus is closed on the weekend). BUNNY IS THE BEST ROOMMATE EVER CAN WE PLEASE ALL FORM A PRAYER CIRCLE AND PRAISE GOD FOR HER EXISTENCE.

Around 9:30pm I emerged from my cave to get potstickers (to-go) and came right back home to relax a bit more and draft my blog posts. 

Also, Green Tea ice cream is easily one of my favorite flavors, and they have it in these little baby pint size containers that they sell at the convenient store. They are so so good. They are my guilty pleasure. That is all.

Around 11:30pm I crawled into bed while on Facetime with Lijah, (if you’re reading this, Hi!! I love you!!!) and got incredibly sleepy after that. I think it’s because I was laying down and I hadn’t had my nap today.... I knocked out just before midnight and woke up around 7:30am fully rested. I was going to go out to the bar last night but I’m so glad that I didn’t. Tomorrow (saturday) I have plans to spend the better part of the morning/afternoon enjoying the Emerald Hills of Maokong.  More on that to come!

xoxo