#EVERY SINGLE SONG A SUPER SMASH NO SKIPS?????

[dayas]

Jade Novah did her big one with Where Have I Been?

[ewyband]

MEDIA EWY CONSOOMED IN 2022

alright queers sit down or scroll past because i’m gonna word vomit out my thought on my favourite things i’ve listened to/watched/played this year that i very much liked.

MOOSIC

ants from up there by black country new road: beautiful BEAUTIFUL album, literally 10/10 best album i’ve listened to this year (as like nearly everyone on any music reviewing site has probably also said). if you haven’t listened to it, its about a straining relationship thats painted using the failed aeroplane project ‘concorde’ as a metaphor to represent the sunk loss fallacy. fav song: good will hunting

THE UNRAVELING OF PUP THE BAND by PUP: this was my first introduction to PUP and listening to this album cumulated in me seeing them in Leeds a few months ago! its an amazing, no-skip, punk album. every single song just PUMPS ME UP !!! makes me wanna smash shit, i love it. FAV LYRIC: ‘200 BUCKS A WEEK JUST TO TALK ABOUT MY LACK OF DIRECTION? I GOT A BIT OF A COMPLEX, IN CASE THAT WASN’T CLEAR FROM THE LAST FEW SESSIONS’

The Dream Is Over - PUP: because i loved the latest PUP album so much i literally just had to listen to this. i only listened to this for the first time a few weeks ago and i’d even go as far to say that its better than tuoptp for sure. again, every single song just fucking goes so hard its insane. i just put this shit on when im walking or gaming and i feel like a mad man, i feel like im dancing in a stadium full of people and we’re all feeling a strong sense of melancholy and violence. i love it. fav song: sleep in the heat (editors note: i didnt know what this song was about until i went to learn it on guitar and looked at the lyrics for the first time and it was so fucking sad it nearly made me cry. RIP norman. im sure you were a great friend)

trick - alex g: this album isn’t my introduction to alex g (lincoln’s sandy cover was) but it was my introduction to their wider discography. i first heard sarah on tiktok and just that intro midi flute and guitar strums flung me back into my childhood. i was playing tig in the playground again, i was making up games in the church car park again, i was scraping my knee trying to climb trees way too tall for me again. this album leaves me with a lot of nostalgia from my angsty-nirvana-listening teen years to my young-dumb childhood years. i love it. fav song: sarah (i also have a major love-hate relationship with the song ‘whale’)

God Save The Animals - alex g: the natural step from ‘trick’ was to look at their new album released this year!!! this is SUCH an interesting album. it goes from classic alex g to some crazy hyper pop type stuff and i LOVE it. i super super love the percussion and the way that the vocals are changed and mangled and distorted in so many different ways. it doesn’t necessarily have any earworms per-say but it does have some pretty incredible new sounds that have really inspired me to develop my own style and try some of the effects mr.g has used in this record. fav song: runner

Be The Cowboy - mitski: my first exposure to mitski was from my partner playing their songs on the car and i never really properly understood it until i saw her live. theres just a pure controlled rage about mitski thats hard to describe in words. its a snarl between words. its letting someone know that they fucked you up in an eloquent hand written letter. i love the pumping synths on this album. i love how mitski can push emotion through her voice to tell a story. sometimes she belts, sometimes she sings softly but you can tell when theres rage behind her voice and i love it. fav song: washing machine heart

Hold on Now, Youngster... - Los Campesinos!: theres something about 2000′s indie music that was particularly made in the UK thats so special because growing up there is such an individual experience that it can’t be translated to anywhere else in the world (much like growing up anywhere else!). lc! manages to capture this and put it into song. its about all the boring shitty themes like love and breakup but telling it through the way we interact with each other. through letters, through mixtapes, through inside jokes and superstitions you made yourself. i love love LOVE the horns in this album and how they work with the violin -- its almost poetic at times. every song on this album slaps, i love the outro. fav song: You! Me! Dancing! 

Blues and Roots - Charles Mingus: i got really into jazz due to my uni course having a section on it and i found myself particularly fond of a sub-genre of jazz called ‘hardbop’ and this charles mingus fella is INSANE at it. listening to this whilst walking feels amazing, its like i can see different shapes and colours flashing in my brain, with every bop and sax solo it just hits so hard. fav song: moanin’

GAMES

Hollow Knight: the art in this game is stunning first a foremost, you start in an unknown world and you are given NOTHING in terms of lore. even the community to this day does not fully understand the lore and honestly?? i love it. it gives me a sense of child-like wonder wandering caverns looking for secrets and tiny tinges of lore and it actually gets surprisingly emotional?? it deals with themes of loss, grief and parenthood. its very goth, very melancholic and very fucking difficult. i highly recommend this! i sunk around 60 hours into it

Omori: this game will be super difficult to really talk about because I don’t wanna spoil anything at all but: its a really beautiful portrayal of dissociation and trauma. like a lot of people, i really resonated with sunny and his struggles with fears, basic ones like drowning or heights of course, but also more innate fears like the fear of growing up and losing friends or the grief that comes with losing your childhood. If you’re in your late teens or early 20′s it’ll probably of remind you of a time you forgot and a time that you’ll never have back. very emotional game.

Fortnite: okay mikey deafpony introduced me and the friendgroup to this and it fucks so hard. i never really thought i was into battle royale’s but this game just makes it fun and interesting all the time. yeah, okay, the updates are annoying but it keeps the game constantly fresh and new. i highly recommend playing with friends! was pleasantly surprised with it.

WATCHING THINGS

I didn’t really watch that many tv shows/movies this year so i just put them into one thing okay??

Isle of Dogs: its wes anderson. i love the humour. its not laugh out loud funny but its quick and fast paced and i loved how dark this movie gets sometimes ?? its just a lotta fun and sometimes emotional. i love the stop motion and all the artwork is super pretty. im also a weeb so like, japan yay but it does also suffer from orientalism which sucks.

Moomin (2019): Previously, I could never really get behind this version of Moomin because I didn’t like the voice actors and I didn’t like the animation. However, its really grown on me. It does take a few episodes to find its feet and some episodes do fall flat but it really does stay true to the original source material. After watching the first 2 and a bit seasons, I’d probably say that it stays closer to ‘true’ moomin than any other tv adaptation to date. I also now prefer the voice actors in this version. chris morris is hilarious as moominpappa and i liked the featuring of richard ayoade, making us one step closer to an IT crowd x moomin cross over episode. some of the episodes are actually really emotional ?? i couldn’t get over that this adaptation nearly made me cry a couple times.

Heartstopper: i love how UK schools are shown in this show because it FEELS very accurate. some of the script feels kinda GCSE drama but like, its the representation that really stood out for me. i really appreciated how they didn't just focus on the cis experiences but also trans ones too. its very cute, i liked it.

The Batman: i liked robert pattinson’s makeup (and i STOLE it) and this movie made me hold onto whatever masculinity i had left cuz lets be honest everyone wanted to be batman if u watched this movie.

OKAY THATS IT !!! THANKS IF U READ ALL OF THIS LOL

[ptergwen]

sensation

w/c: 4.6k

warnings: some swearing, suggestive tings, and a pretty bad ending

summary: it’s the last night of your world tour, and tom has the perfect way to celebrate

a/n: i know y’all have been waiting for this one! everyone really loved when worlds collide but i ran out of ideas for it lol sorry... anyways my solution was to turn it into a oneshot :D based off the au!! i’m honestly nervous about posting this cuz a lot of you asked for it and i don’t wanna disappoint but i tried my absolute hardest to make it special <3 please enjoy

-

“thank you so much! we love you!” you shout to the audience, laughing breathlessly when they shout back. one of your dancers pulls you into a side hug, you throwing your arm around his neck. “we’re so fucking lucky you chose us, that you came all the way here. i’ve seen some of you back at night one. wow.” your voice gets wobbly, thinking about how loyal your fans are.

the tour started in new york, and they’ve followed you here to london.

tonight is an emotional night for everyone. you’re about to wrap your last show before you continue again in the summer. touring the u.k. has been a dream, and you’re just as thrilled to travel the rest of the world after your break. it’s bittersweet because you’re going to miss the hell out of your crew and the millions of lovely faces you’ve sang to each week. but, you do get to spend your time off with a special someone.

he’s watching you from the sound booth, sending fond smiles and loud cheers your way. thanks to you, tom has been at every show you’ve played in england. he brought harry along this time because he’s also a fan and wanted to see you. well, tom is more than a fan at this point. you’d say he’s more of a boyfriend. you haven’t discussed labels just yet.

your dates have mainly been over facetime, since you live on opposite sides of the world with insane schedules. a heartthrob actor and international popstar is quite the combination. you’ve only seen each other in person a couple of times, the first being pretty recently.

zendaya brought tom along to hang out with you in los angeles. he happened to be there recording some lines for a movie. she saw your concert earlier that night and invited him to crash the dinner plans you’d made, resulting in the best surprise and most fun you’ve ever had. the other time you enjoyed each other’s company was one weekend in paris. that was... something.

besides those two miracles, everything between you and tom happens through a screen. you’ll down bottles of champagne or keep warm under blankets while talking about your days. it’s nice, having someone on the other end who listens and actually hears you. tom gets it. you both do.

finishing your tour in london is convenient because not only will you have tom to comfort you, but you get to stick around for a while. he’s invited you to stay at his place. you can’t wait to meet the other holland’s, his friends, and obviously tessa.

“fuck, i’m gonna cry. i’m already crying,” you announce to the crowd, though they can tell from the tears streaming down your face. more dancers huddle around you and turn your single hug into a group one. you’re laughing and sobbing and holding on tight to everyone. fans bawl their own eyes out, the fact that this is it starting to settle in. the onstage crew even gets choked up, seeing you like this.

tom pouts from where he’s watching. he wishes he could run up there and squeeze you tight, but he’ll have to save that for when you’re done.

“i love you all so much, literally every single one of you in this room,” you tell everyone for the nth time tonight, swiping a perfectly manicured finger under your eyes. “my lighting crew, sound crew, my band, my fearless fucking dancers-“ a hiccup cuts you off. people burst into fits of giggles, which is a much needed tension breaker. you adjust your headset so the mic doesn’t pick up any other bodily noises.

grinning, you rest your arm on a shorter dancer’s shoulder, then go on. “sorry, sorry. i just wanna say, like, three more thank you’s before i get out of here.” there’s a chorus of no’s and encouraging whistles at the mention of you leaving. you blink back more tears to delay the breakdown you’re going to have. “thank you to my friends who always show up for me.”

with a knowing smile, you glance over at tom. “and, thank you to my more than a friend.” he smiles back, both hands held over his heart. harry elbows him in congratulations. more screaming erupts from the crowd as they realize where you’re looking and who you’re looking at. this will be sure to spark some headlines. whatever, you’re used to trending on every possible social media platform by now.

“this is the big one,” you preface, taking in a breath while everyone quiets down again. “thank you to you guys. for trusting me, for caring about what i have to say in any way. i feel your love. i really do, and i hope you feel mine.” your fans yell that they love you back, dancers gently swaying you side to side, emotions on high. there’s one last song, and it’s over.

“this has been the sensation tour, and i’ve been your host. was i good?” you try to lighten the mood, earning a bunch of what sound like positive shrieks. the earpiece you have in makes it hard to tell. “y’all were even better.” exchanging looks with your dancers, you pull out of the hug so you can get to your mark for the finale. they follow your lead. music comes through the speakers.

“i’ll see you again soon, okay? i promise. here’s sensation,” you introduce the song, immediately bursting into more tears. it’s torture to say goodbye. thankfully, you have the most incredible fans on earth, so they sing along with you at the top of their lungs. that includes tom and harry, your ultimate stans.

when the show is over, you run right off stage and over to tom. he’s waiting on the side with actual heart eyes for you. you practically leap into his arms, a hand cradling the back of his head, both his arms draped low and tight around your body.

“you were so amazing up there! absolutely smashed it, darling,” tom breathes out. his face is smushed between your neck and mostly bare chest. “thanks, tom. seriously, thanks for being here tonight and every other.” you smile a tired smile and wind your other arm around his neck. he presses some light you’re welcome kisses to your skin. “mm, thanks for having me. how’s it feel to be done?”

you sigh, fingers running through his curls. “like the biggest relief, and also really sad.” you’re such a mess that you could cry again on the spot. tom senses it and lifts his head up to see if you’re alright. “super depressing,” you surprisingly reiterate without the waterworks. “i know the feeling. you’ll be back soon, though. you said it,” he murmurs, a grin on his lips as they brush against the corner of yours.

you’re about to kiss him properly, then one of your dancers comes up to you. you’d forgotten that there are still stage managers and security everywhere, too. you get completely lost in tom whenever you’re together.

“you killed, babe,” coco greets you, linking your arm in hers. tom takes the hint and lets go of you. he watches on with a smirk. “nah, you murdered,” you send the compliment back and bite your lower lip. “i dunno, i feel like someone murdered me!” there’s coco with her dramatics. she’s genuinely hilarious, your shared sense of humor playing a huge part in your friendship.

she brings your free hand to her heart. you gasp at how fast it’s going. “that shit is really beating, coco. are you, like, okay?” “probably not. it was the freestyle that got me.” coco went a lot harder than usual tonight, since it was her last big dance break for a while. she puffs air from her cheeks and nods to tom. “this your man?”

“yeah, you could say that. i’m tom,” he answers, holding out a hand for her. “coco.” she pulls it like you would in a handshake. you beam at them, one of your best friends and unofficial boyfriend finally meeting. “sounds promising. i approve,” coco mutters to you. bumping your hip into hers playfully, you take one of tom’s hands in both of yours.

“aw, we have your blessing or something? your permission?” you coo and get a push at your shoulder from coco in return. tom chuckles, his thumb running over the back of your hand. “no! i was gonna say you should bring him out back,” coco clarifies, like it was obvious. you’re not sure what she’s on about. “uh, what’s out back?” you question. “an axe?” tom teases.

coco gestures to the nearest exit. “we’re having a little goodbye party in the parking lot. fire pit, snacks. remember?” nope, you’d completely forgotten. the idea first sounded like the perfect way to end your night, so you agreed to go. that was before you were dripping sweat and mentally exhausted. now, all you want to do is unwind with tom and tom only.

the superstar life is one you’re happy to lead, just not at this exact moment.

“i do now.” you muster up your most apologetic smile for coco, tugging on tom’s hand. “i’m sorry, co. i think we’re gonna pass.” her jaw drops. you’re never one to skip these things. “aw, for real? it’s our last night!” tom threads his fingers through yours while you talk. “bro, we’ve been together for almost a whole year,” you laugh out, nuzzling your cheek into tom’s chest. “get sick of me.”

“never,” coco deadpans. she catches you gazing up at tom, relaxing as his arms hug your middle. she’s known you long enough to tell what’s a fling and what’s real love for you. this is something special, and she can’t get in the way of it. she’ll let you navigate this yourself. “ok, just for tonight. you’ll text me?” coco gives you a real smile, raising an eyebrow at tom. he gathers that’s a good thing. he’s in.

“mhm. maybe we can hang out tomorrow,” you agree and let your eyes flutter shut. all that’s keeping you up are tom’s strong arms. “tell everyone i love them.” “i think they know.” coco shakes her head lightheartedly. tom laughs at her. “be good,” she tells him and means it, rubbing your back on her way to the lot. that leaves you and tom alone at last.

custodians are cleaning up the arena, fans are piling out, and you’re clinging to tom while his steady heartbeat grounds you. this is the only after party you need.

“harry’s got the car when you’re ready,” tom mumbles, tucking a piece of damp hair behind your ear. you loop your arms around his torso with a hum. “i was kinda wondering where he went.” “yeah?” he gives you a small smile. “gotta ask what he thought... of the show.” yawns are creeping past your lips, tonight’s events catching up to you.

“i like feedback from the fans, or stans,” you elaborate in your sleepy state. tom uses his fingertips to tap your temple. “what about me? i’m your biggest.” “i’ll, um, follow up with you later.” your words are slurring. “right now, home.” warmth spreads throughout tom’s entire body, his house becoming yours for a bit. “your chariot awaits,” he affirms before helping you to your dressing room.

after collecting your things, you follow tom out to the car. harry is in the driver’s seat, and you two slip into the back. he exchanges a look with his brother through the mirror while you settle on his shoulder. you’re hugging his bicep, his lips pressing to the side of your head.

“thank you for driving,” you speak softly to harry. he starts to pull out of the spot with a nod. “no problem. get to say i was y/n y/l/n’s chauffeur.” tom clicks his tongue even though harry is joking. you snicker at his remark, joking back. “you want the job? better be a five star ride, then.” your banter brings yet another smile to tom’s face. his family is everything to him, so seeing you get along so well means the most.

“right, right. did you have a good time?” harry wonders, twisting to see behind him while he turns around. he also peeks at you snuggled up to tom before facing forward. “great, actually. did you?” you check, the grin clear in your voice. harry goes into full stan mode. “no shit! you were brilliant, y/n. god, every note was just like how you did it the studio.” he’s raving, which is much appreciated by you.

“good answer.” tom shoots his brother a wink. “‘s that what you wanted to hear?” he asks in reference to your conversation earlier. your response is a kiss to his shoulder. “yay. i’m happy you liked it, harry.” he buzzes with excitement, having his favorite artist care what he thinks.

not much is said for the rest of the drive. tom and harry make some hushed conversation about golfing this weekend while you struggle to stay awake. they’re obsessed with that damn sport. it’s honestly nice to see, that tom has something he likes to do when he isn’t shooting hollywood’s biggest movies. your free time will finally give you the chance to discover other hobbies.

you stumble out of the car upon arriving to the boys’ place, a backpack on your shoulders and tom’s hand held tight in yours. you’ve got only a few essentials with you for tonight. the rest is on the tour bus, so you’ll gather it after your hangout with coco. besides, everything you need at the moment is right here.

“home sweet home,” tom announces as harry unlocks the front door. his words bring a tired smile to your face. “finally,” you exhale, keeping your fingers laced with tom’s and following the two of them inside. “i could show you around a bit, give you the grand tour. or-“ tom stops talking, feeling your weight on him. harry huffs at how oblivious his brother is.

“mate, she’s falling over. save it,” he suggests and kicks the door shut lazily. you’re done in. you’ve been having to lean on tom since the show ended. “another time, then,” tom mumbles, securing his arm around your waist. “there is one thing i wanna see.” your voice is low, body curled into tom’s side. he raises an eyebrow. “and that is?” “your room.”

tom takes that in a suggestive way, like he does most things. “we’re getting right to it, are we?” he questions, harry gagging and you nudging his arm with your head. “not like that, dummy. ‘cuz i’m sleepy.” there’s a beat of silence. “ask me again in-“ “wow, look at the time!” harry interrupts so he doesn’t have to hear the details. he’s sure he’ll witness enough after it happens. “off to bed i go! goodnight.”

he rushes to get to his room, yelling out, “great show, y/n!” on the way. “thank you! night!” you call back, tom letting out a sigh. “div of the century,” he says under his breath. “must run in the family,” you playfully retort. that gets you a firm poke at your side. “where’s everyone else?” you glance up at him. there should be two other idiots and a lovely, furry lady running around.

“tuwaine’s gone to the pub, harrison’s filming late, and tess is at mum and dad’s,” tom fills you in, grabbing your arm and draping it around his middle. doing him one better, you hug him with both. you squint in confusion about the last part. “they watch her when i’m out,” tom answers your unspoken question. “ah,” you nod, then deflate ever so slightly. “i wanted to meet her, though. the other boys, too.”

tom smooths the pad of his thumb over your cheek. “you will, darling. it’s only for tonight.” he kisses the same spot reassuringly. “we’ve got loads of time.” “yeah, we do,” you agree, instantly cheering up and letting your head fall onto his chest. “now, where’s your room?” “just upstairs. you need some help getting in?” he’s only playing around, but you accept, tightening your arms around his neck.

“show me the way,” you beam at him. “happy to.” tom wiggles his eyebrows, you jumping up. your legs wrap around his waist, his arms holding you against him. with a satisfied hum, you squish your face into his insanely soft shirt. “what a diva,” tom sarcastically complains while taking you to the staircase. “doesn’t even say please. no manners from this one.”

“you try dancing in six inch heels for two hours,” you shoot back, patting the side of his neck. he moves one hand down to your thigh for a better grip. you’re nearing the top of the stairs. “think i’ll leave that to you,” he decides and squeezes your thigh. “look at me, carrying the whole music industry.” your face easily gets hot and your words turn to murmurs. “shut up. you should listen to other songs.”

you’re on the second floor now, tom going for the first door. he frowns at his rejected compliment. “no, i like yours. they’re my favorite.” “really?” your muffled laugh sounds from his chest. “what was the first thing i ever said to you?” he asks, a toothy grin on him even though you can’t see it. you recall the faithful night he slid into your dms while he carries you into his room.

he’d tripped over his words somehow, the fangirling fool. before that, he tweeted to the whole world that he wanted to see you in concert. it was a huge thing, and people were freaking out about it, even more so when your online interactions became routine. that’s nothing compared to where you are now.

you’re currently living with him and basically dating. possibly, in love. the base of it all really is your music.

“that you love me.” you pause for the ellipses. the corners of your lips turn up. “but, you really meant to say my work.” “both apply.” tom passes that off like it’s a side comment, carefully laying you down on his bed. you look up at him with a curious glint in your eyes. “what does that mean?” his cheeks flush, and he bites back the smile that’s growing. this was supposed to go... differently.

you sit up, breathing out a laugh at tom’s boyish behavior. he’s precious, truly. “you do love me?” those three words will change everything if he says yes. he takes both your hands in his and holds them between you two. you meet his doe eyes. “yeah, y/n/n. i do.” so, you were right. “i love you... and, that wasn’t how i planned on saying it.” signaling for him to elaborate, you tilt your head to the side.

tom sits down next to and faces you before continuing. “it was supposed to be romantic, right?” he rolls his eyes up to the ceiling, annoyed he ruined this. “candlelit dinner, flowers, that sort of thing. seems more fitting for the occasion.” you shift closer to him until your knees are touching. your face is lit up, voice dropped to almost a whisper.

“since when do we do things the way we’re supposed to?” you point out and set your hands on his shoulders. “we’ve gone straight from online dating to me moving in. that’s usually not how it works.” tom chuckles lowly. his own hands find their place on your hips. you’re so good with words. then again, you are a singer. “guess you could say we’re, um, spontaneous,” he agrees, fingers drawing circles on you.

you and tom have explored some of each other’s most intimate places, yet you’ve never shared a moment quite like this. it’s like meeting him for the first time again. he’s too tongue tied to spit out what he wants. you somehow know, anyway. what you cherish most about your relationship is that you two completely and totally understand one another, on every level.

“tom?” you speak quietly, butterflies filling up your body. “hm?” he hums back. this is one of those moments where it all just clicks. “i love you. i really, really love you.” you giggle out of the pure happiness that consumes you, tom joining in your laughter. “i love you, too.” he sounds like he’s said it a million times and he’ll say it a million more. he leans over so his forehead rests on yours. “really, really love you.”

your warm breath hits his face, eyes darting from his own to his lips. “i want you to be more than...” you trail off, unsure of how to phrase it. “more than... more than a friend?” tom pokes fun at what you said during the show. there’s less and less space between you with every second. “you mean, like, a boyfriend?”

“exactly. be my boyfriend,” you all but demand. you’re half asleep and desperate to be able to call him yours already. “bossy, bossy, bossy,” tom chastises, swiping his thumb across your bottom lip. how he goes from being shy and giddy to the cockiest person alive in minutes, you’ll never know. “please?” you throw in to sway him. your hand locks with his, slowly moving it off your face.

you run your tongue over your teeth. “at least kiss me.” “you don’t have to ask,” tom breathes, lips now ghosting over yours. “i was going to.” true to his words, he closes the microscopic gap between you, you pushing forward against him as you kiss back. your first kiss in love. his lips taste like the chapstick he always uses, and he moves them softly.

he places a hand on your knee, you opening your mouth so he can have access to it. instead, a yawn exits. tom pulls back with a breathy laugh. “you must be exhausted, yeah? let’s get you to bed.” he pecks your lips once more. “my girl needs her beauty rest.” that confirms your relationship. you scrunch your nose and grin wide. “and, she’s gonna get some with her boy.”

you’re reminded of how sweaty you are when you catch a whiff. “oof, wait. do you think i can take a shower first?” you grimace, fanning at the air for emphasis. tom uses the tip of his nose to nudge yours. “absolutely. need help in there, too?” he’s not asking in that way, only so nothing happens. the hospital wouldn’t be the most pleasant place to spend your break. plus, he doesn’t want to be without you too long.

“you know what? yeah.”

that’s how you end up intertwined under the hot water, letting it cascade down your back as tom hugs you close to him. you sigh in content and tangle your fingers in his fluffed over curls. you’ve learned that he’s super into having his hair played with. it’s endearing, how he instinctively leans into your touch, eyes closing as you tug on the roots.

he drops his head down to kiss your shoulder, dragging his lips to your collarbone in a way that tickles. they land on one of your breasts next. there isn’t anything sexual about it, only loving. just in case he gets too excited because it’s not uncommon he does, you gently put a finger to his lips. tom takes the hint and lets up. you continue combing through his wet hair while you step out of the water.

“do you ever sing in the shower?” he questions, drawing your naked body in closer to his. “sometimes, yeah. i honestly feel like i sound better there,” you admit and slide your hand down to the nape of his neck. tom’s tongue darts out to lick his lips. “not true. you sound beautiful everywhere, and don’t fight me on this one.” he smirks in satisfaction, you groaning at your loss.

“i really enjoy hearing your voice when it blares through an arena, though,” tom keeps buttering you up. you shake your head and settle both arms around his neck. “man, i just love you so much.” “i love you, sweetheart,” he murmurs back, you switching places so he can give his hair a final rinse. you watch him and his glowing body, admiring the sight.

“what a sensation you are,” you say mostly to yourself, which doesn’t stop him from hearing. “i see what you did there.” he eyes you while you do the same to him. your arms still around his neck pull him back to you. “tommy? do you sing in the shower?” you meant to ask him before, then he started throwing all those compliments at you.

tom scoffs, walking you back so you’re against the wall. “i don’t sing anywhere.” “what?” you gasp and put a hand on his chest. “you’re lying, you have to be. wasn’t billy elliot a musical?” he narrows his eyes at you as he tries to gage where you’re going with this. “that i did a decade ago, and way before puberty. couldn’t sing a word without cracking after that.”

your mouth is left hanging open in shock and disappointment. you bet he has a nice voice, and he’s downplaying it. “y/n,” tom begins, cupping your jaw with his palm. “since we’re living together now, there’s a lot you’re going the learn about me. good things, weird things.” he shrugs casually. “this is one of the weird things.”

“only because you make it weird! come on, let me hear you,” you request and wrap a leg around his waist. you’re giving him a hopeful smile. “god, no. you’ll hate it,” he almost laughs, a hand on your thigh. “i’m literally a singer. how could i hate something i love?” you refute, batting your lashes at him. “especially when someone i love is doing it.” “i love you, too. but, i’m not.” he’s quick to shut you down.

“drop a bar!” you try to coax him, which he already has a comeback for. “you first.” “i can’t. my throat is all scratchy from earlier,” you lie. tom presses his lips into a line, feigning pity. “aw, you know what’ll make you feel better? tea. i’ll go get you some.” he turns to shut the water off, so you grab his shoulders. “no, the steam is working. you can stay.”

“love,” tom addresses you in a warning tone that you can’t take seriously. he can’t either, a giggle escaping him. “my voice is shit. ask anyone, and they’ll tell you.” “i won’t believe them,” you hum, pushing back curls sticking to his forehead. “sounds like you just have stage fright. we can work on that, though.” “how?” he tightens his arm around your middle.

“i’ll bring you on for my next show. we’ll do a little duet.” you’re joking, though that would definitely be interesting to see unfold. “uh, never. what happened to you being tired?” tom cleverly deflects and digs his fingers into your side. you look down in defeat. “i forgot about that.” “yeah, yeah. no, seriously. we should really get to sleep, y/n/n.” he’s back to his sweet, attentive self. “‘s been a long night.”

giving in with a nod, you capture his lips in yet another kiss. tom never gets tired of them, and neither do you. you break it after a few seconds, lips lingering on his as they detach. “carry me?” you ask again, not caring how whiny you sound. tom presses a quick kiss to your forehead. “oh, you’re adorable. of course.”

well, you’ve found something to keep you occupied until the next leg of tour. you’re going to discover the many layers your intriguingly unusual boyfriend has.

[kenjikutie]

There’s a sound on Tik tok called “by the sea” by cee and there’s a trend and you grab your significant other’s face and you kiss them when the kiss sounds happen (it sounds so weird typing lol I’m so sorry if you look it up it’ll make more sense) and for your headcannon night I was wondering how deku, Bakugo, Shinso, Denki, and Iida would react to their crush/s/o asking them to be in their tik tok and doing that one 🥺🥺

awww omg yes a tik tok trend ask!!! i need more of themmmm! also, my limit is four when it comes to headcanons so i had to leave out iida! im sorry!!

their s/o kissing them for a tik tok:

izuku:

- our baby boy would be doing homework in his dorm room when you showed up, a mischievous look in your beautiful eyes

- but, izuku would be completely naive and believe you had shown up to hang out with him or get help for class

- the two of you sat in comfortable silence before you unlocked your phone and turned on the sound, immediately catching your boyfriend’s attention

- he had an eyebrow quirked and a confused pout on his lips as he watched you come closer to him, the camera capturing his every expression

- when you finally pressed your lips to his, izuku nearly squealed but returned the kiss quickly, a bright red blush on his cheeks, too shocked to even ask why you had done that

- everyone thought izuku was super cute and it made you a lil jealous

katsuki:

- you could tell that your hothead of a boyfriend had been in a pretty bad mood ever since training had concluded, so, like any rational person, you decided to mess with him

- currently, he was pouting in the corner of his room, mumbling insults about nearly every one of his classmates

- clicking into tik tok, you felt a grin spread across your lips when you thought about how surprised he would be

- letting the sound play, as quietly as the volume would go, you snuck up behind your boyfriend and gripped onto his forehead, pulling his head back to sneak a quick kiss

- grunting, katsuki held you down before you could move away, deepening the kiss due to his frustrations

- let’s just say, you couldn’t upload that one

hitoshi:

- your boyfriend had been addicted to his video game console all morning and you were beginning to get very annoyed and very lonely

- he had promised you to be done almost two hours ago and now it was your turn to entertain yourself

- playing the song at full volume, you skipped over to your boyfriend and slid into his lap, booping his nose when he furrowed his brows at you

- opening his mouth to ask what you were up to, you slid your tongue into his mouth before pressing your lips to him to the beat

- shinsou rolled his eyes after you pulled away giggling

- “this is for that stupid tik tok thing, huh?”

- “maybe...”

denki:

- i can actually see denki being the one to do this to you

- you were probably in the middle of doing your homework, because Aizawa is a jerk and assigns boatloads every single night, when your boyfriend ran into your dorm

- the sound was already playing as he ran down the hallway and he quickly took your face in his hands and smashed his lips on yours, grinning like a mad man afterward

- you tried to catch him before he ran off but he was quicker, cheering happily that his idea had worked and that he had gotten a kiss from the best person in the world

- maybe you would have to get him back for that tomorrow

[deadlyweapon10]

Honey

Paring: Mina Ashido x reader

Synopsis: Where Y/n secretly crushes on her fellow classmate, Mina Ashido.

Words: 3.5k

Earthy warm, rich, with a hint of sour components along with heaviness of a cocoa.

The aroma of a simple yet delectable coffee wafted into the nose of the (hair color) as she inhaled its exotic scent. A warm feeling growing in her stomach region as she sipped said drink from her favorite one-of-a-kind mug.

She snuggled into her jacket as she sat outside on the chair that was placed on the deck. With the sun barely rising, the air was perfectly warm and gentle, flowers beginning to bloom and birds chirping, typical for spring weather.

As she sat there with a smile on her face daydreaming away the sound of a door opening brought her back to reality.

"Jeez it's barley 6:30 and you're already up? You're the opposite of Aizawa-sensei I swear, always up while everyone is asleep! Have you even eaten yet?" Said the red-head as he walked into the view line of the coffee-filled (hair color) as a chuckle escaped past her lips. "We've lived in the dorms for a month and a half and every single time you catch me out here it's always the same questions Kiri."

The gentle blow of a breeze passed by as the sound of a busy buzzing bee was faintly heard.

Kirishima smiled. "Do you have any plans for today? I'm trying to see if Bakubro, Sero and Denki are down to go to the arcade. If you're not doing anything then would you like to go with us?" He asked while sitting on the chair next to her. The girl thought for a few seconds before opening her mouth. "I would but I feel like reading today. Besides I'd rather let "the boys" have their fun and do whatever it is that you do."

The sound of an apple being bitten into broke the silence, crispy yet sweet. The second Kirishima swallowed he started talking yet again. "You know, "

"Hm?"

"Mina is also coming. You should take the chance to confess-"

"EH?! I have no idea what you're talking about Kiri! Where did you get that idea that I like her. No wait more importantly how did you find out? Ahhhh I practically just told you I do-" Having out her mug down minutes ago, the girl who was in the middle of freaking out continued talking in a fast speed as images of said female flashed in her mind, making her stumble around with her words.

The poor girl could feel her heart thump in her chest and felt all warm inside. If there's anything that could get her to react in such a way then it was simply by mentioning her crushes name. Oh how easy it was to get her all worked up.

"Woah woah calm down! Forget I said that alright. But seriously hang out with us, you need to get out more often. I mean how is it that you have such good fashion sense yet you never leave your room unless it's for food or classes?" He spoke while rubbing the back of his neck, a smile plastered on his face. The both of them stood up at the same time with him grabbing the apples core in one hand and the girls mug in the other before handing it to her. She nodded.

As they walked into the building, now dubbed as their home, they walked through the lounge past the dining room and into the kitchen. Clearing his voice while walking to the blue sofa he looked back at her, "We're gonna be leaving at around 12 to get lunch and then to the arcade that's in the mall. See ya." "Alrighty! See you in a bit."

•°¯'•• 🎀 𝒯𝒾𝓂𝑒-𝓈𝓀𝒾𝓅 🎀 ••'¯°•

Having been back in her room for just around two hours gaming on her counsel, she got up and looked at the clock on her pastel (favorite color) wall. 'Mm it's only 9:15. I should go shower now so that I have enough time to dress on my very own existence and to choose an outfit.' That means I have two hours and forty-five minutes, which means at least a good hour and thirty minutes to shower and that leaves me with an hour and fifteen minutes which then means I have a good thirty minutes to think about my life while sitting on the corner of my bed in a robe and forty-five minutes to get ready. Perfect.'

And with that she grabbed her towel, bathrobe, shampoo and conditioner, razor (only if you shave, if not then forget that), body soap, deodorant and comb. Taking a quirk look to see if she has everything, she walked to the bathrooms that she shared with the other girls and instantly began her shower. (If you're african american/any other person I didn't include and you wear a wig then instead of shampoo and conditioner you grabbed a shower cap to protect it. I heard it's not supposed to get wet but correct me if I'm wrong.)

•°¯'••   🎀  𝒯𝒾𝓂𝑒-𝓈𝓀𝒾𝓅  🎀   ••'¯°•

After her shower she made sure to brush her hair to untangle it before it went back to being straight/wavy/curly. (If you're like me and you have curly hair then obviously you have to put curl smoothies, protection sprays, etc.) and young-life crisis thinking, she began to look through her closet. Before picking out two different options.

(Option 1)

(Option 2)

After a minute on deciding what to wear, Y/n choose the (1/2) option and quickly slipped on the clothes before putting on her shoes. Glancing at the clock and seeing that she only had ten minutes before they were gonna meet up she grabbing her phone along with earbuds/airpods and closed her bedroom door before soon heading towards the elevator.

Scrolling through her phone she clicked a song and began humming along to the lyrics.

By the time she arrived in the lounge, a new song started playing. Looking up she soon spotted the group and started to walk to them when she realized a certain person was missing. "Hey guys where's MinaAAA!" She shrieked as a pair of slim arms wrapped around her body and a head full of pink hair and yellow beady eyes peaked freon behind her. "Hey silly. I'm right here and ready too rumble!"

'Thump.. Thump.. Thump..'

Y/n's heart started to beat like crazy again once her brain processed what just happened. Before she could even talk someone started talking. "Let's get going you extras. I'm hungry and I don't wanna wait around all day." Ah yes, Bakugou. "On it bro." Denki replied as Mina stepped from behind me and walked up to Sero and striked a conversation with him. Speeding up a bit Y/n walked next to Kirishima just in time for Denki to start cracking jokes.

"Hey L/n why do bees have sticky hair?" He asked as Bakugou and Kirishima were listening. "I don't know, why?"  "B-because they use honeycombs!" He shouted as he busted out laughing while Y/n giggled. "How do you idiots find that funny? Is your humor that broken." Bakugou muttered as he turned his attention to Sero's and Mina's conversation.

Feeling sorta left out from the group due to the fact that she doesn't exactly hang out with them as much (except for Mina and Kirishima), she took out her earbuds/airpods and turned on her music again. This time 'it's not u it's me' by Bea Miller and 6lack started playing.

Smiling to herself she began to sway a bit to the music as they neared the mall. As cliche as it sounds, music was always there to comfort Y/n. No matter what would trouble her, she'd always turn to her favorite playlist. Once they all entered the mall and headed straight to the food court she turned off her music and tuned in the the groups conversation.

"Hey L/n," Sero began as the girl turned her head to gaze at him and hummed quickly to show that she was paying attention. "What are you gonna get to eat?" "The only place I ever go to grab my food. I'm gonna head to (restaurant) to grab my usual." Nodding, he soon turned to Mina and quickly talked. "Mina since you said you wanted to try something new to eat you should totally go with L/n." "Holy cow dude! You're totally right." She said as she pumped her fist in the air and walked towards me. "Let's go L/n, I'm super starving." Grabbing my hand she started dragging me. "H-hey broski you're going the wrong way." She chuckled as the Pinkette stopped in her tracks, said a loud "Oops." And took the girl in the right direction. (Is Pinkette a word? Probably not.)

Once both girls ordered their desired meal and sat down, they began to eat in peace for a good few minutes before Mina's phone rang. Smashing the accept call, she out it on speaker. "Whafs uf-" She managed to say as her mouth was filled with food. "Hey Pinky, tell L/n that me and the guys decided to skip the arcade and headed to Game Stop and grabbed the new Cyberpunk game. We're currently on our way to the fast-food place near the school and then we're heading back to the dorms." A loud Denki said, as we heard grunts and insults from Bakugou from their side of the call.

'Wait wouldn't that mean that Mina and I are now alone... Is this considered a date? Of course not. As if she'd even like you.' She thought as she then asked Mina why they suddenly decided to switch their plans so suddenly without saying a word in the first place until now. Without a word the girl hung up the call and continued eating.

"N/n you know that American movie where the princess and prince turn into a frog for the whole movie and then they fall in love and miss then poof, they're human again?" Mina asked breaking the silence that once stood there. "Hm? Oh yeah! 'Princess and the Frog'. I watched it before. Sucks how African Americans finally got recognition from Disney and instead they get bullshit since the two main characters are frogs for three/fourths of the movie!" The (hair color) shouted angrily as she stabbed her food. Laughing at the girls reply, Mina leaned forward in her seat. "You know that dessert they show in the movie a lot? Beignets? I wanna try one so bad." Both girls sat in silence as they got lost in each other's eyes.

'Thump.. Thump.. Thump..'

Feeling her heart flutter, her gaze shifted back to her food. "How about we buy the ingredients and make it? I made it once for a school fair and everyone seemed to like it. Only if you're down of course!" "Wait for real? Like for real real? Big bet let's hurry up and eat!" And with that the Pink haired girl began scarfing down her food, cho.king a few times.

Once they were both done and cleaned up after themselves, both girls left the area and walked to the supermarket. The duo sparking a conversation about their hobbies and interests, soon made it into the supermarket. Walking down aisle after aisle grabbing ingredients left and right, Mina suddenly grabbed Y/n's hand. "Since it's Saturday me and you should totally have a sleepover in my room. Let's go grab more snacks!" And just like before, she dragged you out of the aisle and into the candy and chips one. 'My poor wallet.' Y/n thought as she silently cried. 'Then again if it means I get to hang out with her more ... Ahh! I need to be more social with her. I mean we do talk a lot but I get so freaking flustered and it messes me up. Then again at least I can talk to females unlike Midoriya. Ha in your face!' Feeling pumped the girl grabbed the snacks that were occupying her friends arms, shoved them in the basket and speed walked to the check out line, payed for everything and with both girls holding two bags in each hand they soon began their journey back to the campus dorms.

•°¯'••   🎀  𝒯𝒾𝓂𝑒-𝓈𝓀𝒾𝓅  🎀   ••'¯°•

Entering the dorms, both females headed straight to their rooms and quickly changed. Mina wearing blue shirts with a yellow shirt while Y/n wore (f/c) satin shorts along with its matching tank top.

Both now in the kitchen with aprons on, they took out the items they brought for the beignets and placed it on the counter. 'MISS YOU!' by CORPSE was blaring from Y/n's phone as she bopped her head and hummed along to the lyrics while she added the warm water, sugar and active yeast in a bowl and whisked it while Mina measured the other ingredients, which Y/n soon regrets for the face that a mess of flour was all over the counter.

After mixing the rest of the ingredients in the watery liquid and letting it set on a lined baking sheet, Mina took out the fryer and added oil so that it could be ready for later. "Hey n/n can I play a song?" "Of course silly. I wanted to change the song anyways." Laughing like a maniac, Mina grabbed the phone and quickly typed away before placing the phone back on the counter.

"Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me

I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed

She was looking kind of dumb with her finger and her thumb

In the shape of an "L" on her forehead"

The voice of both Smash Mouth and Mina's rang out in the air as the girl started singing the lyrics. "Heyyy you should sing with me! Come on." She said as she twirled around the kitchen floor. Giggling as she put the bowl filled with the dough in the fridge, she began shouting the lyrics right along with Mina.

"Well the years start coming and they don't stop coming

Fed to the rules and I hit the ground running

Didn't make sense not to live for fun

Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb

So much to do, so much to see

So what's wrong with taking the back streets?

You'll never know if you don't go

You'll never shine if you don't glow"

Now moving her head to the beat, both girls grabbed each other's hands and began dancing like crazy with not a care to the world, swaying their hips side to side as they sang the next verse with all their heart.

"Hey now, you're an all-star, get your game on, go play

Hey now, you're a rock star, get the show on, get paid

And all that glitters is gold

Only shooting stars break the mold"

As they continued singing, they began to clean the dishes and put most of the ingredients they wouldn't be using anymore away and took out a pair of tongs, paper towels, powdered sugar and honey from the cabinets. After a good 30 minutes past Mina turned on the fryer, the familiar 'click' of the knob sounding. Taking out the bowl from the fridge, Y/n placed the soft, glutinous dough on the now flour dusted counter and began following it out with the rolling pin until it was a good quarter inch thick and began to slit the doughy flesh making two inch squares just as Mina grabbed a few pieces and dropped it into the hot oil.

As time went by, they were finally finished frying. All they had left was to dust powdered sugar and drizzle honey to it. The second they did so, they took half the batch with them along with a few drinks and the snacks they brought and went to Mina's room. Closing the door on their way in the brightly pink room, they sat down on the bed and hopped on Mina's laptop to watch 'A Slap On Titan'.

"Armin had broken the silence as the video zoomed to the top of the wall, the starry night sky coming into view. "Do you ever with that humans could photosynthesis?"

Eren surprised with the sudden question, instantly replied. "What? No."

"I do... I think it'd be cool to be a plant." The scene then changed to show the Survey Corps coming back from a mission."

Liquid shooting out of her nose, Mina laughed as she grabbed a tissue and wiped her face, watching as Y/n pressed a pillow against her face to muffle her loud laughter. The now chuckling girl took the pillow from her face and noticed Mina's smile that was directed at her direction. Shooting back a toothy grin, she got lost in her eyes yet again.

'Ah jeez she saw me laugh... She looks so cute.'

"You know the beignets were really good." Mina said as she scooted next to her and leaned her fuzzy head on the girls shoulder. "You think so? I hope the others enjoyed the ones we left for them. I'm so happy we got to spend today together! I would have never expected this to happen ya know?" 'Play it cool Y/n. This is no big deal at all, she's probably just a bit exhausted from all the walking and baking we did earlier. Yeah, that's right-'

"You know, I'm the one who told the boys to leave us alone and to head back to the dorms."

That caught her off guard.

"Excuse me?"

Humming to herself, Mina life's her head slightly to look at the (eye color) girl. "Listen silly, I know when it comes to academics I'm not exactly smart, but when it came to you it was easy to figure you out." Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, she urged the girl to continue talking. "I know you like me." Y/n's breathing stopped for a second, her heart beating rashly against her chest. How was it possible that the girl she's secretly liked from a distance knew? "Listen I-" She was cut off as a pair of soft pink hands covered her mouth.

"Hold up! Hear me out before you start talking. I sorta found out a few weeks back when I overheard you tell Iida about your feelings. Ever since then I confronted him and I made up this plan for both you and I to hang out alone. Like a date but it's not a date since you wouldn't know? Ahh anyways after I came up with the plan I began noticing how you'd act completely normal around the other girls, but when it came to me you'd barley mutter a word, despite you being super-duper confident." Y/n felt herself breathe again as she stared at the girl, her eyes now filled with curiosity and her head amused at the girls statement. She took the words to heart and found it to be true when she said she'd act differently around her. I mean how could she not when her heart would beat fast, her stomach flutter in nervousness and her brain would completely shut down on her.

"So wait... You like me?" She spoke slowly to make sure her voice wouldn't just randomly give up on her. Now sitting up straight, the pink haired girl nodded as she shyly smiled and rubbed the back of her neck. "I do."

'She likes me..'

The second her brain processed the two words, she locked eyes with her and then shut them down before slowly leaning forward. The feeling of her plump, powdered sugar dusted lips faintly against hers before both girls lips soon meshed into one and began harmonizing as if creating a symphony. It felt passionate and intense, yet delicate and sweet.

Sweet like the honey from the beignets they had moments ago. The floral yet earthy taste now onto her very own lips. Deliciously golden and wild. The strong fragrance drifting slowly to her nose, similar to a white dandelion falling slowly to the ground after being blown by the wind on a vibrant, sun-filled day.

They both soon pulled away, gasping a bit for air. Y/n felt her body get warm as she realized what just happened. "I like you, Mina. A lot. And I'm glad you like me too." She finally confessed. "Finally n/n, I've been dying to hear you say that. Now then let me ask you this, will you be my girlfriend?" Mina asked, her eyes shining as bright as a star in the dark. Y/n leaned forward and kissed the girls nose before speaking. "I'll be happy to be called yours," Both girls soon in each other's arms, held one another until she spoke again.

"Out of all the pretty girls in this world, I'm glad to share this space with you."

[vyvesvi]

updated top albums list + recommended tracks from each bc im bored lol

*tentatively* in order

unnatural - wjsn | recommended songs: all of them (especially unnatural, supermoon, and yalla) except for rewind | skips: just rewind bc ballad /// im not sure what style to call this album but they really made such a smash, its crazy that it came out so early in the year and no gg is touching it (album wise). literally the only complaints i have are the obligatory ballad (that they always do bc they can all sing lmfao), the album cover/title (dont love the cover design and i dont love when the album name is the tt name, except in certain circumstances (a full album (especially where the title isnt necessarily from the title track) like montero) or when it's a single album (the inverse of this being rsq's prequel which couldve just been called colorfull since that was the only damn song 😐)). i also was disappointed with the outfits for last dance but that's peripheral.

timeabout, - yukika | recommended songs: insomnia & secret | skips: none /// okay to keep it very real im genuinely scared that she'll never surpass soul lady. i love, and i mean LOVE timeabout, but soul lady was on another plane of existence. like she could've held that album a little bit

the other side of the moon - gwsn | recommended songs: like it hot, starry night, i cant breathe | skips: i sing, depending on my mood /// i dont have much commentary tbh,this is just a very solid mini idk. id like to see a fusion of i cant breathe/tweaks/after the bloom/burn, maybe on their next mini. i love their brighter stuff but maybe a darker concept next (halloween cb pls pls pls)

montero - lil nas x | lowkey too soon for me to pick recommended songs but i'll say montero, scoop, lost in the citadel, sun goes down, and am i dreaming for now. will update! | skips: none /// i cant say that this is this year's sawayama bc sawayama was kinda more like a collection of really strong singles? whereas i feel like these songs shine as an album. i dont even know what to say except that im soooo surprised and impressed because i didnt know that this is the type of music he made???? like he raps but theres a lot of singing? not like belting but definitely not rapping. its kinda...alt ish? in some places? if i had to use ine genre to describe the whole album id probably say alt pop? idk but whatever it is it's definitely working

hide & seek - purple kiss | recommended songs: zombie & so why (tbh all of them) | 2am and zzzz depend on my mood but theyre def not full skips /// no bad song on the album this is crazy....i might rerank since i just listened to it for the first time but as of now idk, its good im just super impressed. ponzona wasnt for me but this cb theyre really doing all the things, lovr tht for them

produced by: [myself] - onlyoneof | recommended songs: coy & night flight | question mark depends on my mood /// im still mad at them (read: 8d) sooooo...idk. i can’t really listen to their music rn. but this mini is still good

play game: holiday - weeekly | recommended songs: check it out, weekend, holiday party | i like memories of summer rain and la luna but it depends on my mood /// very cohesive mini, def their best overall imo! not much to say, but i hope jiyoon gets well soon TTTT

enchant - orbit | recommended songs: gokurakuchouka & never gonna get away but also all of them except flor lunar | skips: flor lunar is nice but boring /// i need kpoppies to get into it im tired of being here alone cmon y’all

set - woodz | recommended songs: feel like | skips: none /// i prefer his bright tracks but this mini was solid as usual. where is the full album tho seungyoun hmmm????

guess who - itzy | recommended songs: sorry not sorry, tennis (0:0), kidding me | skips: in the morning, occasionally wild wild west /// i remember being very surprised that i liked this album, especially given that i dont like mitm. not anything groundbreaking but still solid. i think the naming of tennis (0:0) was really clever

intersection: trace - bae173 | recommended songs: green light, loved you | skips: none (sometimes the intro tho) /// honestly their music is really good??? mbk just hasn’t promoted them well, i feel like they make it a little hard to stan...i really appreciate that they’re not doing the stereotypical hard bg concept thing

lilac - iu | recommended songs: coin, flu, ah puh, troll | skips: honestly id have to relisten, some of the songs a lil boring but idr them at the moment

hello future - nct dream | recommended songs: hello future, life is still going on | skips: idr tbh, probably hot sauce though //// was very surprised that i liked this album, but the outro of hello future really got me after a few listens so i had to check it out. very decent!

killa - mirae | recommended songs: killa, sweet dreams, 1 thing | skips: none really but all of the bsides are a little mid tbh /// i will be 1000% honest in saying that the three reasons this allbum made this list are 1.) killa (the tt), 2.) none of the songs are bad, 3.) lien’s vocals. something about lien....he really just sells whatever song he’s on. his belting >>>>>>>>>>>. he makes their music very enjoyable to listen to, next in that department would be junhyuk. based on their most recent cb, siyoung and khael also contribute a lot as well. shame that the rest of the cb album kinda does nothing for me idk. random but i would really like a gg to cover higher and/or killa

& - loona | recommended songs: ur, ptt | skips: a different night, dance on my own /// these r my girls but this is not their best. ur is wonderful though, and ptt is addicting somehow. wow and be honest are fine but really not their best. i like wow’s choreo tho! 

albums im excited to listen to (no particular order):

last year was weird volume 3, tkay maidza (i’ve already listened to a bunch of it but i need to sit and just listen to the whole thing)

troubled paradise, slayyter (same as above, but i didn’t even realize it came out this year, i thought it was old for some reason lol)

jo1, challenger (every song of theirs i hear i like pretty much so i need to take an organized look at them lmfao)

jo1, stranger (same as above)

only lovers left, woodz (duhhh its woodz. not out yet but im excited! i do prefer his brighter concepts and this def isn’t that. he says its not gonna be like what he’s done before but the title and concept photo that’s out rn is giving lift up)

the book of us: negentropy - chaos swallowed up in love, day6 (the title kinda bored me but we’ll see. also sungjin’s gone so.....................we’ll see.)

ancient dreams in a modern land, marina (i barely got past venus fly trap because its soooooo good. i’ve listened to a little after that but the songs i heard didn’t really compare. i have to give it a shot tho)

the chaos chapter: fight or escape, txt (i liked the blue hour mini so i need to give them a chance i suppose)

333, tinashe (i just feel like i should idk)

honorable mentions (no particular order):

blue hour, txt - discovered this year, came out last year. retroactively makes the 2020 albums list bc whew the market research that went into that thing paid off

hula hoop/ starseed ~kakusei~, loona (why tf does the album not have a name) - duhhh loona + synths = a smash. in fact like i said when it dropped i dont even wanna call them loona anymore. this is kongetsu no shoujo!!! this isn’t on my top albums list because im counting as two songs and my limit is 3. i might add it anyways lmfao. we’ll see

ugly beauty, jolin tsai - discovered this year, came out in 2018. i just really like jolin tsai idk. i had only heard that album w play and i’m not yours, both are iconic but the production quality sounds...low? like its older but ik they’re not *that* old. either way, ugly beauty does everything i wanted it to - dramatic, vocals, rapping, boa vibes...jolin tsai is a queen what can i say

also, there are of course a ton of singles that i love as well, this is albums only though lmfao. i have no idea if i could even attempt to organize the singles lol

[xialing-gf]

school spirit

summary: mj does the most disastrous thing a high schooler could possibly do: fall for a cheerleader

wc: 1781

MJ loathed going to school sports events. Well, loathed was a strong word. She strongly preferred not to waste three hours of her life by screaming and shouting with teens who were way too interested in people kicking balls around. MJ’s idea of a school sports event was probably wildly exaggerated as she had never actually been to one and relied on movies and rumors to create an idea of what they were like.

As much as Michelle hated going to school sports events, she caved and agreed to attend a football game with Ned and Peter (only because that was the only way they would agree to play Super Smash Bro’s at her house during the weekend). They dragged her excitedly to the football game and chose front row seats so they could be closer to the action. 

Michelle didn’t tell her friends that she brought a book with her so she could read it once they were distracted by the game. However, she didn’t expect to be the one who was the most distracted. 

When Michelle was about to take out her book to read once the football game started, her attention was caught by the cheerleaders cheering on the track. Normally, Michelle would have just rolled her eyes at their peppy facade but her eyes landed on you. 

You were one of the most enthusiastic cheerleaders as you always cheered the loudest and never faltered in front of an unimpressed crowd. Michelle watched in awe when you ran to the middle of the formation and the cheerleaders boosted you up to the top of the pyramid they formed. Waving your blue and yellow pom-poms, you shouted, “M-I-D-T-O-W-N! Go Midtown!” 

Your eyes met Michelle’s when you scanned the audience and when you saw her stunned expression, you gave her a wink before jumping down into the net formed by your fellow cheerleaders’ arms. Right at that moment, Ned and Peter turned towards Michelle to ask her if she wanted to get snacks with them and saw the blush spreading across her tan skin.

“Who’s that?” Michelle asked her friends as she watched you continue to chant a cheer with the other cheerleaders. 

“Whoa, Michelle. I think she’s the captain of the cheerleader team. She’s way out of your league,” Ned shook his head, chuckling when he saw the lovesick expression on your face.

“Do I look like I care?” MJ turned towards her friends with a deadpan expression on her face. Peter stifled a laugh behind his hand. “Fine. I’ll find out who she is without your help.”

Michelle watched you during the entire football game, making sure to look away when you glanced in her direction to seem disinterested. Once the football game was over, Michelle saw you and your friends head to the hot dog stand, so she bid a quick goodbye to Peter and Ned before walking to the hot dog stand. Ned honestly thought Michelle was going insane and called after her, reminding her that she shouldn’t be talking to you and she responded by flashing him the middle finger. 

While you were giggling about a joke with your friends next to the hot dog stand, Michelle walked up to you after taking a deep breath and mentally preparing herself.

“Hi! I’m Michelle. Uh, you’re really good at cheerleading. I just wanted to let you know that,” Michelle managed to speak without completely stuttering, which she was almost never able to do with complete strangers.

“Oh hi! I’m Y/n. Thank you so much for your compliment! I really appreciate it,” You grinned at Michelle and Michelle nearly fainted. She swore that your smile had the beauty of all the stars in the sky combined. Pointing to the book Michelle had tucked her arm, you asked, “Is that ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ by John Green? I love that book!”

Michelle is shocked by your remark and replies, “Really? Me too. I mean, obviously, since I’m reading it.”

“We should hang out sometime. You seem like a cool person,” You casually remarked as you took a sip out of your drink. Surprise was evident on your friends’ faces as they observed your strange behavior.

“Yeah! We should. You seem like a cool person too. Okay, um, see you around!” MJ quickly turned around and walked away with her hands in her pockets. She had no clue that you watched her as she left with a hopeful smile on your face. 

Michelle did end up seeing you a lot at school. You always waved to her, no matter who you were surrounded by. She waved back and you two shared a knowing smile. Peter and Ned were stunned when Michelle voluntarily asked them if they could go to a football game with her. At the football game, Michelle tried to work up the courage to talk to you again but when she saw that you were surrounded by more of your friends than last time, she decided against it.

Then, on Coming Out Day, Michelle had the opportunity to talk to you again. You officially came out as bisexual, which had shocked the entire school as no cheerleader had ever come out in the school’s history. Michelle saw you at your locker and decided to congratulate you.

“Hey Y/n! It’s me, Michelle. Congrats on coming out!” You broke into your classic smile when you saw Michelle standing behind you.

After you closed your locker, you gave Michelle a big hug. Michelle was stunned by your gesture so you explained once you pulled away. “Thank you for inspiring me to come out! Remember how you came out last year? That really helped me come out this year.”

“Oh, wow that’s so sweet! Thank you so much,” Michelle was taken aback by your reply. Nobody had ever told her that she had an impact on their life, much less hank her for coming out as a lesbian. 

“Of course!” You beamed back. The bell rang, initiating the passing period before fifth period. Reluctantly, you two broke apart and as you began walking to your next class, you waved, “See you!”

“Yeah!” Michelle replied before practically skipping to her next class, joy overflowing in her heart. Her next class was geometry, a class that she despised being in and often slept in. But because of her interaction with you, Michelle was wide awake in her class and grinning while she doodled hearts in her notebook. Peter and Ned exchanged concerned glances, weirded out by MJ’s enthusiastic behavior; they figured it was because of you.

A few days later, you and MJ met in the parking lot of the school. Michelle was just about to drive home when she noticed you were standing by your car with your phone pressed against your ear, looking very distressed.

“Hey, are you okay?” Michelle asked carefully, approaching your car. You sighed, putting your phone down as you turned towards her. 

“Yeah, but my car isn’t. The insurance company is coming and my sister promised to handle all the technical stuff since insurance will probably get here around the time her rehearsal ends. I just need a ride home.”

Without thinking, Michelle offered, “I can give you a ride home if you’d like.”

“Really?” Your eyes lit up with hope upon hearing her offer and when Michelle nodded in confirmation, you threw your arms around her in a tight embrace. This was the second time you had hugged her this week and if you kept giving her hugs, Michelle was going to melt into a puddle. “Thank you so much, Michelle!”

“You can call me MJ,” Michelle grinned as she opened the door to the passenger's seat for you.

“I like your nickname. It’s so cute! Thank you, MJ,” You smile in response and Michelle nearly drops her car keys due to the overload of emotions she experiences from your simple response. When MJ drives you home, you decide to have a conversation about the book ‘Turtles All the Way Down’ with her. From this conversation, you found out that you and MJ had a very similar taste in books. Who would have ever thought that the cheer captain and a lonely bookworm could have so much in common? 

Once MJ arrives at your house, she commented, “Your house is actually really close to mine. We live, like, one block away from each other.”

This sparked an idea and you took out a post-it note from your backpack and explained as you scribbled something down with sharpie, “In that case, here’s my number. I owe you a ride sometime since you gave me one today. Thank you so much again!”

MJ watched as you grabbed your backpack and bag of cheerleading gear before walking back to your house. Watching you disappear into your house, Michelle finally realized that she was developing a giant crush on you,

With the homecoming dance approaching, the majority of students were concerned about who they were going with. Michelle didn’t expect anybody to ask her and she wasn’t going to ask anybody out either, even though she desperately wanted to you out. 

That was until Ned ran up to you during lunch with an excited expression. “There are rumors that Y/n is turning down all offers to go to homecoming, from both boys and girls. People think it’s because she’s planning on asking somebody out to homecoming.”

Suddenly, you felt a surge of hope. What if the person you were planning on asking out was Michelle? Ever since Coming Out Day and the day Michelle gave you a ride home, Michelle’s relationship with you had been shifting slowly but surely. Michelle went to every single football game just so she could cheer you on and watch your routines. You talked with her after each football game and often times, Michelle would give you a ride home and playfully tease you about your pom-poms.

At the last football game before homecoming, Michelle was supporting you in the crowd as usual and there was an abrupt shift from the usual routines as the song changed from an upbeat, dance song to a slightly slower, romantic song. Your cheer teammates surrounded you and hoisted you up in a pyramid as you held up a sign that said, “MJ, Hoco with me?”

All eyes in the crowd turned away from the game and towards MJ as she clasped her hands over her mouth in shock. There’s only one extra second of hesitation before Michelle removed her hands from her mouth and cries, “Yes!”

This is how Michelle ended up never missing another school football game in her entire high school career.

~

check out my mj x reader masterlist or more marvel fics on my marvel page! comment to be added to my mj x reader taglist

Mj Taglist: @retrobhaddie @just-your-local-history-nerd​ @chickenstrips45 @vaginalstds @stop-drop-and-drumroll

[lesbianambulon]

Going to college/uni with Rodimus headcanons

Based off a conversation I had. High key self indulgent lol because I'm a college student and I'm love Roddy and I want motivation? Sdkfjk. This is Roddy and a gender neutral s/o.

• Roddy may have one brain cell but sometimes he has two and it'll show

• Often late to class, sometimes he's late because he stopped for snacks, got there early one time and was weirded out

• Unironically drinks the Cybertronian equivalent of red bull

• Falls asleep in class sometimes, but somehow still remembers the topic. One time you were worried because you tried to shake him and he didn't wake up. Class was over, oh my god roddy please wake up

• Unsurprisingly, he's always there to support you, regardless of his own grades. You could be writing a single paragraph and he's there with pom poms cheering you on

• He loves you

• It'll be like 3am and you are trying to finish homework and he'll randomly suggest going on a drive with him

• How can you say no to that

• You might fall asleep though but he's 200% okay with that

• Whenever you DO end up falling asleep anywhere he'll gently pick you up and tuck you into bed

• Pulls pranks a lot, got in a lot of trouble once but you vouched for him

• Totally ran down the hallway with a speaker playing the Shrek soundtrack

• Occasionally dorms get really cold in the winter. He'll radiate heat to keep you warm. (Or you could just snuggle him, either way he'd prefer the latter)

• He has straight A's in music classes. You know this man has every Bon Jovi song memorized

• Actually really likes human history and culture classes, finds them super fascinating, manages to pass these classes rather well

• The 80's are his favorite era. Goes low key feral when they get to that decade in class

• You have to help him with all the STEM subjects though. Doesn't understand anything in algebra. Please help him

• What the hell is he majoring in anyway

• Sometimes he'll wait outside in his alt mode to take you somewhere immediately after class. One time he got a parking ticket by campus police

• He will go to parties/clubs sometimes, but only if you're comfortable to go with him and will only dance with you

• Brings you food all the time, you never have to worry about going hungry because he will fucking raid the nearest supermarket

• Mandatory cuddle sessions

• You two play a lot of video games, there's several consoles in your shared room. Always trying to one up each other. Super Smash Bros for HOURS

• He mains Ryu, either of the Belmonts, or Snake. Occasionally as Chrom or Incineroar. He likes Bayonetta but will never admit it. One time you annihilated him playing as Isabelle and he laughed for ten minutes

• Despite everything he's incredibly proud of you for trying your best and working so hard. Looks at you with such adoration in his eyes

• If you're having a bad day and you skipped class, he'll just hold you in silence and you'll fall asleep

• Will probably fight the sun if it upset you in any way. I mean he yelled at God one time

• Summer vacation is always so lit. Takes you everywhere. Loves to go to the beach with you. Road trips, concerts, and travelling are his favorite things to do when he's out with you.

• Winter breaks are always full of the both of you sleeping all day and watching movies

• Don't let him in the chemistry building please he's flammable

• Sometimes in class, he'll be distracted and stare at the wall while lost in thought, and you swear you can almost hear Africa quietly playing in his head

• Finals week is chaotic when was the last time either of you slept. Roddy's unconcious on the floor and you're about to start astral projecting any second now

• One time, to motivate him, you told him for every page of his paper he wrote, he'd get kisses. He wrote that 10 page paper in one night let me tell ya

• Supportive, loving dork boyfriend

[something-tofightfor]

Tag game on a Saturday

How old are you: 32. I’m an old lady. 

Surgeries: None - I’ve had stitches a few times, but no surgeries.

Tattoos: Just a couple (ha. ha. ha. ha.)  I want more, though. 

Ever hit a deer: Not up until December of last year - one literally ran into our car as we were driving down the road, thumped into the back driver’s side door and then scampered away. I was more annoyed than scaared. 

Sang karaoke: I have, and it doesn’t usually turn out well. I cannot sing. I am horrible. 

Ice skated: I love ice skating. 

Ridden a motorcycle: No, they scare me.

Ridden in an ambulance: I have not. 

Skipped school: Of course. For concerts and amusement parks and vacations and just because I wanted to. I honestly have no idea how I graduated college because I missed so many classes. 

Stayed in the hospital: Yes. I was severely dehydrated as a 2 year old and had to stay for like a week. 

Broken bones: Yes. My left ring finger is at a permanent angle because I smashed it into a tree playing tackle football and didn’t tell my mom about it for a week. I broke my foot and never went to the hospital so it didn’t heal right.

Last phone call: I checked the balance on a gift card... but my last received phone call was my sister. 

Last text from:  My friend Ben in our baseball group chat. 

Watched someone die: I have. I don’t recommend it. I relive it every single day of my life.  

Pepsi or Coke: Coke. But Cherry Pepsi is better than Cherry Coke.

Favourite pie: So up until last week, I would have said black raspberry and sour cream... but we went to Cracker Barrel for dinner and I had a buttermilk pie with tart strawberries on it and it was literally life changing. 

Favourite pizza: I will eat anything on pizza aside from anchovies. My favorite is super simple, though : Pepperoni, extra cheese, mushroom and maybe black olives.

Favourite season: Fall, and we are lucky enough to get it for all of about 72 hours each year.

Received a ticket: Speeding ticket - one. Very expensive, and I learned my lesson. 

Favourite color: Red. Navy blue. 

Sunrise or sunset: Sunrise. You’ve never ever seen a sunrise until you’re sitting on the beach in the Bahamas at 5:58 am with a frozen daiquiri in your hand and watching the sun come up over the ocean. BUT. Sunset over the Grand Canyon is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen, too. So it all depends. 

Favourite Christmas song: “Baby it’s Cold Outside” 

Cupcakes or cookies: There was a place in Detroit that used to make the BEST cupcakes in the entire world, but they closed, so now I’m just sad. I’ll say cookies, but REALLY, I think it’s cakeballs.  

Tagging: @madamrogers @suchatinyinfinity @princerusso @delos-mio @drinix

[moistwithgender]

(Overdue) Media round-up (January 2019)

Feb’s almost over and I was gonna write about what I’ve processed when I realized I only posted about the anime I watched, I think? So this is a catch-up post for manga and games, before the end of this month in a few days. If you want to read the January anime round-up, it’s in my “curry watches anime” tag.

Games:

Puresabe’s 2019 New Year Rockman Hack (NES): Puresabe does one of these every year and they are always pretty hard! But I think the last few years have been much more balanced than their older projects. They are always just boss fights, but with complex patterns and sometimes multiple phases. Being just a boss fight (or two) means they are super short, but you will spend most of your time learning them. Also there are no checkpoints, so every death means you’re back to phase one. It’s very fun when it’s a good hack, and this was a good hack. I had a very rough start to the year and considered giving up, but went back and beat it, for good fortune in the new year. (Beaten 1/2/19)

The 2nd Super Robot Wars (NES): I decided 2019 would be the year I got into SRW, and so I started here, because the first game actually has no hard plot. I enjoyed it to a point, but the difficulty climbs to an absurd degree, and I wish I’d cut my losses and just youtubed it. The game allows you to save at any time during a turn, and resetting the console means it recycles the RNG and you can get different luck. This is...required. Most of the way into the game, I was having to reset twenty times in a row per unit action, just to make sure I could survive an enemy attack, or successfully hit an enemy. The funniest thing is that when I finally beat this, I almost immediately started up one of the later games, so clearly the kernel of value was visible to me through all that bullshit. (Beaten 1/13/19)

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: World of Light (Switch): I had been chomping at the bit for what felt like forever just to play this mode of this game, and not only was it good, it surpassed my expectations multiple times. This mode has a lot of twists for something that mostly implies narrative, or otherwise ignores it. I’m the rare person who mostly plays Smash Bros solo because I have NO FRIENDS, and this was worth the price of admission for me. I don’t consider Smash Ultimate itself beaten yet because I haven’t beaten Classic Mode on 9.9 difficulty yet. I have finished with 9.8, like, four times. Please kill me. (Beaten 1/18/19)

PaRappa the Rapper (PSP): While taking care of my cat, I found an opportunity to actually use my PSP for the first time since...2008 or 09? When I bought it secondhand? Jesus. Anyway, it turns out that PaRappa actually has absurd input detection and an equally hard to parse system for what counts as “freestyling”, which ultimately results in a final stage where you’re...required to play notes that are completely unrelated to what it says to do on-screen? I still beat the game (in a single sitting, too. it’s short), but I was pretty frustrated. Greenblat’s aesthetic is iconic, and the songs are very fun to listen to (this game has maybe the only potty humor I actually enjoyed), but the game part is actually the problem. (Beaten 1/25/19)

Patapon (PSP): I played PaRappa spontaneously, but I’ve actually meant to play the Patapon series for quite a while. This is less a song-performing rhythm game and more of an action/strategy type of rhythm game where you consistently keep a beat to keep morale up. It’s pretty good, but missions can be 3-6 minutes of consecutively hitting four notes and then waiting four notes, and while that itself sounds doable, I am just terrible at rhythm and messed up a lot of good opportunities. The difficulty curve in this is high in the beginning, lowers over time, before hitting a huge spike and then being a cakewalk for the last four or so missions. There’s also a lot of grinding, which means this rhythm game came out to almost a 16 hour run. A bit tiring. Not sure when I’ll jump on Patapon 2, but I hope it’s easier to play, since my impetus for picking up the series was the intro FMV for the third game. (Beaten 1/30/19)

Games beaten in January: 5 Games beaten in 2019 thus far: 5

Manga:

Getter Robo Vol 2 (Finished): I didn’t feel like plowing through 51 episodes of the old 70s anime, so I decided to just read the much shorter, and somewhat unrelated manga. In the show, the heroes are what they are, heroes. Likable mains for kids to watch on Saturday mornings. In the manga, as per Go Nagai’s influence (and the main author, Ken Ishikawa, who I LOVE and who was Nagai’s assistant), the heroes are violent asshole moron sociopath terrorists who gradually become more unhinged as they are exposed to the very radiation that powers the machine they use to fight dinosaurs (though said gradual descent is more of a thing in the later manga/OVAs). Also, the villains are dinosaurs. Turns out they had the original ancient civilization and Getter Rays chased them into the Earth’s core and they want to planet back. That’s Getter Robo! It’s very good.

Getter Robo G Vol 1-3 (Finished): This is kind of more of the same as the first, and again, I didn’t want to watch the 39 episodes, I wanted the primer so I could play SRW. As I’ve approached the later games, it turns out they prefer to take influence from the shows, not the manga. Oops! Whatever. In this sequel, it turns out the Dinosaur Empire was a pawn or something to It Was Aliens, the Hyakki Empire, and it’s...more of the same. In both the GR and GR G mangas, I found the occasional chapter with wildly different art, and I figured that those were Ishikawa’s gorgeous art, and the majority was Nagai’s. But, I’m not sure, and I wonder if those were revised or extra chapters done years later. Idk. Anyway, they are both very fun reads, even if they serve more as primers of the lore.

Shin Getter Robo Vol 1-2 (Finished): HERE’s where things start to get really good, and surreal, and bleak. This manga is not adapting a tv series (though later OVAs would reference it. This manga is actually I think where a lot of the inspiration for Gurren Lagann came from, and if you like that series, you should read this to see the connection. I can’t really explain without spoiling either (though if in 2019 you don’t know what happens in Gurren, you are super lucky and need to go watch it all asap). NOTE, this takes place after the 7 volume Getter Robo Go manga, which has a show but I think is unrelated, but more importantly is probably the BEST Getter Robo series. I read that before knowing a thing about Getter and still loved it (though I think having context will really benefit it). GR Go is the biggest justification for getting into the series. If any friends of mine want to look into this series, I’ll actually help give them a guide. Interestingly, the most modern Getter series (of which the most recent was in 2004 (please come back)) all take reference from the darker mangas, not the old 70s show.

Mazinger Z Vol 1-5 (Finished): I think Go Nagai’s works are weird, melodramatic, gross, and just kinda badly drawn. They are great experiences, if you go in with a grain of salt and also avoid the *most* transgressive ones. Don’t google Iron Virgin Jun. Just. Don’t do it. Devilman is probably his best work, but Mazinger Z is another series with a much more famous long-running 70s cartoon (92 episodes!!!) and burned itself into the nostalgia of Japan. Whereas Devilman eventually becomes traumatizing, Mazinger Z is pretty laid back and goofy, while also being Nagai’s brand of The Most Dramatic Thing Ever. If you follow me, you might’ve seen me post pages in my manga tag. It’s a LOT. Though, actually, I don’t think this manga is all that great. It can be *really* funny, but I don’t even remember if the series actually ends. If you read one or two volumes and want to put it down, I think you’re safe to. You got most of the lore. The biggest events seem to take place in later series that I haven’t delved into yet.

UFO Robo Grendizer Vol 1 (Finished): I actually haven’t been able to find anywhere to read Great Mazinger, the sequel series, so I skipped to Grendizer, which is the second sequel. It’s pretty unrelated continuity-wise, so it’s easy to pick up. This is only one volume and yeah they really just want you to watch the 74 episode show, but I’m good. Still, this is a fun book, and Nagai throws in his batshit ideas. The main character is an alien prince whose tragic backstory is literally that the villain kidnapped his younger siblings and all the country’s children and just! Dropped them all from the sky to their death in the middle of the city! And they don’t censor it! GO NAGAI! I really need to read the autobio manga Gekiman because of what snippets I’ve seen, Nagai is actually a super mild-mannered dude who doesn’t really get where his ideas cross lines. If you want to say “oh that’s just wacky Japan”, it’s really not, he was public enemy #1 with parents all over the country for a long time.

Super Robot Retsuden Vol 1 (Finished): This is a single volume crossover of Nagai super robot IPs including Mazinger Z, Getter Robo, Great Mazinger, Grendizer, and Steel Jeeg (a guy who’s more Ultraman-adjacent than super robot), and there’s no real plot beyond “oh no new bad guy! buy the toys, kids!” It’s throwaway, and I mostly read it to see who Jeeg is without getting into his own series. Also, it was drawn by Ishikawa, so I felt a bit obligated. His art is just so pretty.

Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer Vol 1 (and maybe 2?): Satoshi Mizukami is a godly storyteller who uses the language of shonen to tell deeply mature and introspective stories for adults and if you follow my posts you might remember me gushing about Spirit Circle and Planet With. I actually haven’t touched this series since February started but I need to get back in because the first two volumes out of ten are amazing (warning, though: there’s a pet death and it’s real sudden and was hard for me to handle). Please read Mizukami’s works.

Manga volumes read in January: 14-15 Manga volumes read in 2019 thus far: 14-15

---

Okay that’s everything. I wrote a lot more than I expected to. If you read all that, thanks. If you are interested in any of the things I wrote about, great! If you decide to play through SRW2, don’t, stop, don’t do that. In a few days I’ll be writing about a much better SRW game.

[totaldramafan-lauri]

Shut up, Kapp’n, I don’t wanna hear your song anymore...

So, today’s journey through the World Of Light has good news and bad news.

The good news, and the most important, is that I officially adore this gameplay. I even think I enjoy it more than Subspace, and I replayed Subspace four times. Granted, I always knew that Subspace had its flaws, hence why I wanted a proper sequel to it to iron out those flaws...but I still loved it anyway, so it’s a high compliment! (This is only speaking gameplay-wise, though. The lack of cutscenes and story is WoL’s weak point, like I said before.) The only Smash single player mode that I think I’ve enjoyed more than this is Smash Run, but it’s CLOSE. XD

But on to my experience! I’ve been running into a crapload of good Spirits this time around! First off, I found two primary Spirits, Bio Rex (Attack) and Mighty Gazelle (Defense), that both raise my speed! They each only have one spot, though, so I’m still on the lookout for Attack and Defense Spirits with multiple slots and side effects I like, but for now, these will do the trick! On the Throw front, Tron Bonne’s serving me well with her three slots and her high level. Now, the supporters- HOO BOY, the supporters! I’ve come across some that I absolutely LOVE!

- Some guy named Nico Fire - never heard of him, but he gives me the ability Impact Run, which means I can do damage just by dashing into an opponent! No buttons necessary, simply dashing is an attack now! It’s not super strong, but I like it! ^^

- Kapp’n, from Animal Crossing. I had to fight this guy, and I’ll get to that fight later but geez did I hate him afterwards....but luckily, he ended up being one of the best Spirits I’d ever gotten, being a three-star supporter that increases invincibility on dodge rolls AND makes air dodges travel farther. So....I can’t hate him if I’m USING him, dangit! XD

- And best of all.....

The one and only Silver the Hedgehog!

AND HE’S GOOD!

I’m soooo happy about that! He’s legitimately a good Spirit, so there’s more of a reason to use him then just “He’s one of my favorite characters”! He strengthens my grabs, and I actually do use those! This’ll be especially helpful when I get Ness back! Wooooo!!

So, I’ve had good luck on the Spirit front!

But bad luck on the fighter front....I’ve still been using Kirby and Villager back and forth, and I’ve rescued....Lucario, Pikachu, Yoshi, and Captain Falcon. Where? Are? My? Mains!? This won’t do!

So, yeah, that’s where the bad news comes in. XD My two guys are still fun to use and all, but they’re not my best characters, so this is more difficult than it would be otherwise.

I also ran into the first fight that made me wanna ragequit. No joke. This fight was so obnoxious that I felt like throwing my Switch onto the floor in frustration. And, of course, it’s Kapp’n. Flipping. Kapp’n. Love him as a Spirit, couldn’t STAND him as an opponent. His fight legitimately felt poorly designed to me. Making it so that you can’t swim on a stage that’s just two islands in the middle of water is one thing. But the wind. Dear god, the wind....it was too much. WAYYYY too strong. So many flipping battles that only lasted ten seconds because all that needed to happen was me getting knocked back ONCE. Just once! It didn’t matter what I did, or who I was, it was IMPOSSIBLE to recover after getting knocked off the stage due to the flipping wind! I could barely ATTACK! At least the Fiora fight was an actual fight, but this just felt like a two second “stay on the island” minigame that featured an Iggy-shaped hazard being thrown at you. I tried literally everything I could think of. I even tried being metal! Didn’t change a thing.

So after way too many attempts at that, I had enough. It was an optional fight anyway, as it only opened the way to a dojo and nothing else. I wanted to beat every fight I came across to get every Spirit I could, but I drew the line at that, so I left.

...But guess what I came across after a couple more fights? Snorlax. VERY unique fight in which you had to knock out a giant immobile K. Rool in a timed stamina battle. I thought that was creative and amusing, as well as fitting for Snorlax. But once I beat it and received my Snorlax Spirit, I couldn’t believe what I saw.

Stong Wind Resistance.

Cue me slapping that on and dashing back to Kapp’n. It still wasn’t a cakewalk, but Snorlax did indeed make the wind a LOT more manageable. I could actually recover, so it was actually a fight! It took a few tries, but I did it. So....yeah, I can’t believe there are fights that require certain Spirit effects to be beaten. I know that the game revolves around the mechanic, but....no! I don’t approve! At least it was an optional one, so I can’t say that those certain Spirits are FORCED on us, but it still feels like that...Maybe it’s just because of how obnoxious that fight’s gimmick was that made it stand out to me, as opposed to, say...the fights that have lava floors. In those fights, you can still function without the resistance, you just have to stay up top. Here, you couldn’t last ten seconds without it. >__>

But....yeah, it’s over and done with. If there’s gonna be more strong winds in any future fights, I at least hope they’re on more manageable stages.

But at least I got one of my best supporters outta the deal. I made my first saved team of Tron Bonne with Kapp’n, Silver, and Nico Fire, which I dubbed “Dodgin’ and Grabbin’“.

So yeah, despite the time I spent against that roadblock, I’ve made a fair bit of progress! I even found a portal to another area! I might check that out next time, but I think going back and making my way across the lake will be my next stop. I got that blasted Kapp’n’s help, now he might as well make himself useful. 

After I stopped, I unlocked Ryu. While he’s technically a new character for me, I’m probably gonna skip trying him out due to how vastly different he controls.

Progress so far:

[jinwoowoohoo]

@cha-eunwoow and @sanhatation hit me with that x2 tag combo (💖💕💞) I was gonna put them both in this post but it.... got very long... so I will split them up after all 😅

First up is a Kpop one from lovely Liv (hey girl I hope things are going better for you!!)

To anyone who genuinely reads through all of this bless your heart and ily

1) 5 favorite groups?

f(x), ASTRO, SHINee, Day6, Dreamcatcher

2) Top 5 on your bias list? (no particular order)

Lol I just did this, so: Amber, Jinjin, Onew, S.coups, Wonpil (though if we can double from groups my girl Luna would 100% be here)

3) Ult Bias group and why you love them?

f(x) - they were my first group and will forever be my ults. I just love how unique they are both as a group and each member individually! Every member shines so much in their own way and can absolutely stand as artists in their own right (and have been proving so with their solo projects the past 2+ years), and when they come together they create things that are so cool and beautiful and unique 💜 Honest to god after I sat down and listened to their whole discography on Spotify for the first time, I listened to nothing but them 8+ hrs a day, 7 days a week for almost a month I was so in love (i'm not exaggerating you can ask my roommate aldbaj) (SM please let us have f(4) again I would literally cry). That being said I also consider ASTRO and SHINee to be ults, and could write whole paragraphs for them as well 💕 

(but y’all please support my girls, Victoria put out a Chinese single and should be following with an album, Amber’s halfway through releasing videos for her mixtape & Luna is releasing 2 digital singles this coming week! Krystal has no musical projects atm but you can check out her dramas and modeling~)

4) Ult Bias and why you love them?

My kpop origin story revolves around me coming across the Electric Shock mv in 2013 and being both in love with and absolutely floored by Amber. A girl? In a girl idol group? With short hair?? Who presents in a masculine way?? I couldn’t believe it was something the companies would let happen and it was so. I don't even know. But I knew it was really meaningful and important to me. 3 years later I actually fully listen to the group (honestly thank got I needed new music to listen to at work) and I finally learned her name - Amber Liu. I'm someone who id's as nonbinary, and I've really struggled with my perceived femininity my whole life - its something I'm still working through. When I saw Amber, a person working in a very gender stereotype-heavy industry and culture, being able to present in the way she's comfortable and standing up for the rights of others to do the same, it just really touched me on a deep personal level. Even though I know she id's as cishet she still has done a lot for those of us that don't, and I'm sooo insanely proud of her for sticking to her guns and choosing to live her truth through all of the hell people have given and continue to give her for it. Not only has she stuck it to the haters by prospering, but she's taken her experiences and her talents and made them into absolutely beautiful works of art. 

She uses her music to express her feelings and talk about her struggles, and the fact that her work is so personal and has so much of her in it also means a lot to me (please listen to Borders, Need to Feel Needed, Beautiful, Heights, and this cover of One More Light NOTE: if self harm is a bad topic for you, maybe skip One More Light and the Borders mv (the song is fine and ultimately uplifting, and the mv does end happily). She has worked so. damn. hard. to pursue her dreams and passions, often having to rely on just herself and her friends to work when SM just straight up refuses to do their JOB as her MANAGEMENT COMPANY, and somehow she keeps doing it with that beautiful smile.

Aside from all the gooshy stuff, she’s just really goofy and fun (and attractive >>) AND she was born just 2 months before me so I feel there’s a connection (also my parents considered naming me Amber and she considered my name as a stage name??? #starcrossedlovers). Finally she has literally the cutest dog in the world please look at this picture and cry with me

5) Favorite Kpop Meme

lmaooo now that I’ve poured my heart out over Amber, lets look at the human meme that is Lee Taemin (i just picked one but my favorite meme is just. him.)

And a special shoutout to all of the rest of the SHINee memes, like I thought about linking just one but there are so many legendary classics how do you choose (I got to experience the burnt Gucci story in person though so a super special shoutout to that one)

6) Favorite pic of your ult? (I dare you to only pick one)

I’ll do both my ults since this is my Astro blog but I’ve only talked about f(x) so far ;;;;;

For Amber, this picture has been my phone background for well over a year now so I guess this one?? It’s from the song festival when she and Ksuke debuted Breathe Again (many months before it’s official release) and she was just feeling herself so much during the performance (credit for the pic most likely goes to her fansite Ambossing)

As for Jinwoo adljasdfs I only have like 100 pics of him just on my phone this is fine I’m gonna pick this one, bc when he posted it I loved it so much I came very close to literally printing it out and framing it...... he just looks so happy!! And he’s being his most natural self, no hair/makeup, out with his family, doing something he loves. It just Warms My Heart

7)  Favorite Kpop MVs

Ok this is a whole can of worms, so I’ll try to limit it to just 10 I quite like?? (in no specific order)

1) Astro - Baby 2) VIXX - Error 3) Seventeen - Lilili Yabbay 4) SHINee - Boys Meet U 5) EXID - DDD 6) KNK - Rain (performance ver) 7) Oh My Girl - Closer  8) f(x) - Electric Shock 9) Crayon Pop - FM 10) Taemin - Saynoara Hitori (I know it was a Japanese release but ssssh I’m counting it WAIT HECK i just realized Boys Meet U was a Japanese release too asdlfjasf welp) 

Also shoutout to this cover Dreamcatcher did of Maroon 5′s Lucky Strike

9) Favorite Kpop crack video?

I don’t have a single specific one, there are so many quality compilations (I have watched a surprising number of Seventeen as Vines videos though lmao) 

10) Favorite content creator(s) within the fandom?

All Aroha are super talented ok, If I listed everyone that came to mind we’d be here for longer than anyone needs to be....

11) What fandoms would you say you’re an active member of?

the only fandom I’m fully in that’s  been active in Korea the past year is Astro :’) But that’s well enough, I really do love this community!

12) Take your top 3 biases- fmk

omg no why

F-Jinjin asldfjasdf

M-Amber

K- Onew..... no this is wrong :< I’m changing the k from kill to kiss ok? ok.

13) If you could be best friends with any idol, who would you choose?

Honestly probably Luna - she is one of the single most uplifting people in the world and she’s always ready for a good time! Queen of self love!

14) If you could date any idol, who?

I would never want to date an idol unless they were no longer/never an idol - trying to date around the antis and media would just be way too stressful on its own, plus the idol would be so busy all the time you’d barely get to see each other anyway

15) What’s one Kpop album you think everyone should have listened to?

SHINee - Married to the Music

16) Are you a soft or a hard stan?

yes (depends on the idol)

17) An idol that makes you go into soft mode?

Yoon Sanha, my soft noodle, my potato son

18) An idol that makes you want to smash the empire state building with one single punch?

@ Park Jaehyung meet me behind the Taco Bell at midnight

19) Favorite vocalist?

MJ/Luna/Onew

20) Favorite Rapper?

I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately and I’m honestly not sure??? Some contenders are Rocky and LE though

21) Favorite dancer?

sdflajsfadsf why must you hurt me in this way I’ll say Taemin because he really puts a lot of thought and self into his dance, and he’s actively trying to create change in the way the industry thinks about gender and dance

22) Things you have in common with your ult?

I think I pretty much touched on all that with Amber, so for Jinjin we both love dogs and like the drums, we can be quick to smile, we try to lead in an understanding/accommodating way rather than a total authoritarian way, we do That Face™ when someone is pushing our buttons lol

23) The most beautiful trait any idol can have?

Kindness and an open mind

24) Songs that will always make you jam along?

how....long do you want to be here adsflj I will say the song that gets me jamming the MOST at work is N.Flying - Hot Potato

25) Your worst wrecker?

I’m here today to talk to you about a dangerously beautiful man named Kim Myungjun

26) Any kpop concerts you’ve been to?

I saw SHINee in Dallas with my bff in 2017, then I went to Astro in DC all by my lonesome this past February! (so I just need to see f(x) and I’ll have gone to all 3 ult groups) Also fun fact my good friend @jinjins-freckles was also at those two concerts, but we didn’t know each other yet for the SHINee one - funny how things work out~

27) Favorite choreo?

THIS. THIS IS THE HARDEST QUESTION. I CAN’T. IMPOSSIBLE. I’m not even gonna try and list some.... theres.... too many;;;;

28) Favorite live performance?

ok look first of all, you come into MY house, and ask me to pick ONE performance adslfj I’ll say SHINee’s Woof Woof bc I was absolutely obsessed with it after I discovered it, its just so fun and goofy but also bops hard as heck??? Legends Only

29) Favorite debut mv?

Hide & Seek cleared my skin watered my crops and gave me a lil smooch on the forehead

30) Recommend a rookie group

Dreamcatcher!!! They’re having a comeback in May please support our goth goddesses

31.) A kpop song you could listen to every day for the rest of your life?

Astro - Puss n Boots

32) Tag some cute mutuals you’d like to get to know better (and to do this challenge)!

Since she’s tagged me a few times lately I’ll tag @myunghjun (and that’s it asdlj if you read all the way to the end consider yourself tagged too ok ily)

[plumeriarubra]

:Kpop Tag

tagged by @saltyauntyoonji very long and I can’t put cuts I’m sorry.

1) 5 favorite groups?

VIXX, BTS, Mamamoo, RV, Shinhwa

2) Top 5 on your bias list?

Hakyeon, Seokjin, Dongwan, Moonbyul, Seulgi

3) Ult Bias group and why you love them?

BTS / VIXX (I can explain)

BTS : They are amazing, as a brand, as people, as musicians, and many more eloquent posts I can direct u to will tell u why. I met incredible people through the fandom. But oversaturation overwhelmed me and I’m just filthy casual now. Hence l have another, quieter (?) ult

VIXX : Is a niche, a fuckin succesful one though. As a brand I love their theatrics and aesthetics. Their musicianship is the closest thing kpop can get to Kalafina-esque. The members are excessively tall but are gentle dorks. Their fandom are relatively more managable.

4) Ult Bias and why you love them?

My current ults are Seokjin and Hakyeon,

Both are the baby of the household, but held it together when (somewhat) forced into the position of an eldest. Not afraid to embrace feminine traits. Despite gofiness are generally always in control if the situation. nice brothers who will totally hug u when u cry.

Jin : So handsome shoulder babe.

Hakyeon : so fabulous I am unworthy.

5) Favorite Kpop Meme

6) Favorite pic of your ult? (I dare you to only pick one)

7) 5 Favorite Kpop MVs

K. Will - Please Don’t

BTS - Prologue; Wings Teaser series (neither are actual MV’s but I make the rules shut up)

LOONA/ODD Eye Circle - Girl Front

VIXX LR - Beautiful Liar; Whisper

B. A. P - Skydive

8) 10 Favorite Kpop songs?

BTS - Butterfly (Prologue ver.)

VIXX - (all title songs) (U will not make me choose)

VIXX LR - Whisper

SEVENTEEN - Very NICE

Mamamoo - Dechalcomanie

SUPER JUNIOR - Evanesce

Shinhwa - Alright ; That’s right

EXO - Love Me Right

Vromance - She

Monsta X - Hero

9) Favorite Kpop crack video?

“Sanghyuk screaming (at gas station)”

10) Favorite content creator within the fandom?

Off the top of my head : bazooka, noraebangbang, kingkiwi (princekiwi?), bels ❤️,astro ❤️, johanbuddenbrooks ❤️, sugamin,refrainbow, hakyeonni, amaelamin, renquise, eccentric musician, uumokumin, mireykim, snotty, legfam (my brain short-circuit on the creator), me (yeah I love me), and SO MANY MORE MY BRAIN JUST CAN’T CHURN IT OUT AT THIS MOMENT.

11) What fandoms would you say you’re an active member of?

St⭐rlight

12) Take your top 3 biases- fmk

*skips fuck*

Marry hakyeon, objective near perfect husband material.

Kiss Seokjin, I’ll make him the recieving end of a thousand flying kisses.

13) If you could be best friends with any idol, who would you choose? 

Kim Namjoon and Lee Hongbin

14) If you could date any idol, who?

Kang Seulgi

15) What’s one Kpop album you think everyone should have listened to

HYYH pt.1+2

16) Are you a soft or a hard stan?

Soft

17) An idol that makes you go into soft mode?

Kim Wonshik, Han Sanghyuk, Jeon Jungkook

18) An idol that makes you want to smash the empire state building with one single punch?

Cha Hakyeon, Jung Hoseok

19) Favorite vocalist?

Lee Jaehwan

20) Favorite Rapper?

Suga

21) Favorite dancer?

Cha Hakyeon, Kang Seulgi

22) Things you have in common with your ult?

Introverted goof, baby of the household.

23) The most beautiful trait any idol can have?

Sincerity (I’m not copying u bels I just agree)

24) Songs that will always make you jam along?

Shinhwa - This Love

25) Your worst wrecker?

Evrybody I guess

26) Any kpop concerts you’ve been to?

BTS Wings Tour (jkt) and VIXX ASEAN fanmeet (jkt)

27) Favorite choreo?

Vixx - Voodoo Doll

28) Favorite live performance?

BTS / VIXX in any acoustics live

29) Favorite debut mv? 

VROMANCE - She

30) Recommend a rookie group

VRomance, ACE, SF9, LOONA, Dreamcatcher

31.) A kpop song you could listen to every day for the rest of your life? 

BTS - butterfly (prologue ver.)

32) Tag some cute mutuals you’d like to get to know better (and to do this challenge)!

Anyone, idk, @flap-monster , @reallybadbaker , @johannbuddenbrooks , @rianoraila , and eveybody else who wants to.

[ladystylestores]

You should play Namco’s lost arcade-action classic, Mr. Driller DrillLand

Enlarge / Right about now sounds good for a blast of 2002’s best arcade-puzzle gaming.

Bandai Namco

In recent years, Japanese game makers have tried to revive the 16- and 32-bit era’s beloved niche of arcade-puzzle series, but these nostalgia cash-ins have mostly failed. Capcom’s Puzzle Fighter came back to life on smartphones as a free-to-play gacha mess. Sega’s Chu Chu Rocket returned with too many complications as an Apple Arcade exclusive (and, crucially, zero multiplayer). And Hudson’s Super Bomberman sputtered onto the Switch’s 2017 launch lineup as a mess, though it eventually received some face-saving patches.

As a result, I shudder whenever I see a cult-classic, puzzle-arcade series return on modern, download-only storefronts. The genre that used to thrive on cartridges and CD-ROMs has become ripe for microtransactions and slot-machine mechanics. Which is why I’m taking the unusual step of reviewing such a launch going right.

Mr. Driller DrillLand, out today on Windows PCs and Nintendo Switch, is one of the rarest games from Namco’s early-’00s period, which was otherwise marked by the blistering 3D likes of Ridge Racer and Tekken. The cartoony, 2D game, which launched exclusively in Japan in 2002 for the GameCube, was arguably a swan song for the studio’s legacy as an ’80s arcade juggernaut. Thankfully, today’s updated, translated version leaves well enough alone: its pure gameplay experience returns with 1080p-friendly touches.

$30 may be a bit steep for this classic game, but it’s the best Mr. Driller game ever made, and it’s a remarkable love letter to the Namco of old.

Clearing a path to a flow state

The “basic” mode mostly resembles the classic gameplay of the 1999 original. Every mode in this game has an amusement park theme, and this one is clearly the “It’s A Small World” segment.

Dig further, and you’ll find other countries. Here, Puchi makes his way through France.

Different characters have different strengths and weaknesses. This robot character is a bit slower, but he gets double the health.

That’s the star of Dig-Dug, if you’re wondering.

This Indiana Jones-like mode is the most interesting, thanks to its treasure-routing challenge.

This mode, an homage to Namco’s Tower of Druaga, has some cool adventure-mode tweaks.

Collect potions, then use their powers to trap and capture ghosts.

The least interesting mode in the package merely makes you contend with randomized bonuses.

Plus, quite frankly, I’m happy to have this enormously cheery and weird game right now.

Like other puzzle games from its era, DrillLand comes with a silly and largely unnecessary plot, and it includes the same Japanese voice acting found in the 2002 version. Mr. Driller and his friends have been invited to visit a fictional amusement park, and its every attraction twists or modifies the core Mr. Driller gameplay formula with some thematic gimmick. (His friends, if you’re wondering, include his dad—as in, the guy who starred in Dig Dug—and a cheery, talking dog named Puchi.)

One of these attractions is essentially a port of other Mr. Driller games, because it simply asks players to dig, dig, dig. Your primary object is to dig through colorful blocks from the top of the screen as deeply as possible. That may seem simple, but if you dig carelessly, you may leave hanging fragments that fall and crush you, and your digging path is complicated by “solid” blocks and a requirement to pick up oxygen tank refills. This is a high-score chase mode, since you’ll get more points for clearing various depth amounts quickly and efficiently.

Since the first Mr. Driller game launched in 1999, no other puzzle game has copied its formula. Unlike color-matching and piece-fitting classics, Mr. Driller emphasizes the flow state of constant, efficient movement and digging, which benefits from spatial awareness of shapes and colors all around you. Matching other colored blocks factors into your success, and your downward digging can put color-matching combos into motion, so there’s a two-headed thrust to your Mr. Driller DrillLand progress. That this gameplay still feels special and unique makes this 2002 re-release a worthy puzzling option for anyone who may have missed the series before.

But even if you find that puzzle system a bit wanting, the four other modes add clever twists to its formula. The best mode removes the oxygen-filling requirement and converts the whole game to an Indiana Jones spoof, where you’re forced to create digging paths that lead to treasure pickups while avoiding traps and—oh, I love these—giant rolling stones that will smash through your digging path and threaten you, like the chase scene from Raiders. Another mode pays homage to Namco’s classic Tower of Druaga series, as it forces Mr. Driller to take specific paths through a dungeon, collect treasure and keys, and fight bosses. And a haunted-house mode turns you into a ghostbuster of sorts, as it makes you freeze and capture ghosts within the blocks that you’d otherwise dig through.

That’s the Puchi attitude

Need a cheery, silly game? DrillLand has you covered.

You’ll switch from mode to mode by wandering across this map interface.

As far as a silly, family-friendly script is concerned, DrillLand delivers. Expect plenty of groaners and cheese.

Boy, I’ll say.

The points you accrue in every level can be spent on things like cards.

These appear to exist primarily to dole out trivia.

Want to buy some utterly worthless collectibles? Go ahead.

Between each of these challenges, a fully voiced cut scene will play out with the Driller crew’s personalities clashing in giddy, Saturday morning fashion, and while you can mash buttons to skip these, I’d suggest not. The whole package radiates with DayGlo-bright designs—all handsomely scaled to modern screen resolutions and a 16:9 ratio—and part of the inflated $30 cost is that you’re sometimes expected to sit back and marvel at how weird and elaborate the game’s story gets.

This should particularly delight anyone who still fondly recalls Katamari Damacy, which debuted on PlayStation 2 two years after DrillLand‘s launch. You can see the seeds of Katamari‘s wacky plot and King Of All Cosmos character planted by the Driller family’s saccharine-sweet trials. Meanwhile, DrillLand‘s perky J-Pop soundtrack, presented here at full fidelity, isn’t identical to Katamari‘s classic tunes by any stretch, but the up-tempo charm and vocal-melody components are almost identical.

The weirdness doesn’t end there. At any time, you can load a lengthy, music-driven parade sequence, where various Driller-series characters stomp across your screen, almost-but-not-quite in time with the music. There’s no way to fail this mode; it’s not technically “gameplay,” and you can only modify it by pressing a joystick to change the marchers’ tempo. Why is this in the game? I have no idea. But now I kinda wish every video game had an optional parade sequence as an amusing distraction. (Just think of how TLOU2‘s post-apocalyptic Seattle might look with its mutated monsters stomping to the music while holding batons.)

Big-screen treatment for two-player modes.

Smaller screens for three- and four-player modes.

On PC, it’s easy to set up everyone’s preferred controllers.

To finish the package, the game includes a pair of four-player battle modes. One is a parallel race through standard Mr. Driller gameplay, where each player races to dig through identical content, and the other is a ho-hum battle mode where players dig through the same, shared screen in search of a randomly placed treasure. The latter feels unfair as a versus game, while the former is pretty meager with its battling and “garbage” mechanics. Still, as family-friendly four-player modes, they’re better than nothing (but, sadly, don’t work online).

Nitpicks, not dealbreakers

The biggest drawback to the whole package is a $30 pricetag, which is high for a 2002 re-release. As far as “new” content, you’re getting a newly translated script (no new English voice acting), an admittedly smooth upscaling of the original 2D assets to 1080p resolution, and a new “casual” difficulty level—which, I should be blunt, is far from casual. Mr. Driller DrillLand can be pretty unforgiving to new players due to how quickly its falling block fragments fall and harm your character, and entire runs will get wiped out due to a severely limited pool of lives. (Casual mode only adds a single extra life to each mode, which, I have to say, doesn’t suddenly make the package newbie-friendly.)

Worse, the game’s digital download doesn’t include any form of instruction manual, so you’ll go through trial-and-error to answer serious questions about the game. Which levels should I play first? Do shiny blocks, which disappear after a certain amount of time, mean anything in a level? Why don’t each individual mode’s “level 2” and “level 3” sections unlock? Is there a point to spending in-game coins on a shelf of collectibles? And how do all of the items in the item shop work? The last question is crucial, because beginners will rely on that item shop, not the “casual” mode toggle, to survive their earliest sessions. Some in-game guidance to that effect would have been appreciated.

Thus, it’s not a perfect collection. Still, I’ll take a re-release that’s doggedly old-school over the microtransaction alternative. DrillLand is exactly the kind of unique, satisfying, and cutesy puzzle-action game I want right now, and its brand-new appearance on the portable Nintendo Switch is particularly welcome. (And since the series’ iOS $1 version from 2009 is dead, thanks to a lack of 64-bit update, we’ll have to settle on this week’s solid port.)

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from World Wide News https://ift.tt/3fXGSxU

[mike-faist-is-the-best]

1-50

I assume you mean 1 through 50, so I’ll do all of them. And if you asked for 1 and 50, I’m sorry. Also, I skipped a few because there were questions I couldn’t answer

1. Favorite Artist?

Probably Troye Sivan

2. Favorite Song?

“I’m Breaking Down” from Falsettos

3. Favorite Color?

Purple

4. Dream Destination?

Ooh, I would have to go with Massachusetts. This seems weird, but I was obsessed with Deborah Sampson in like fifth grade and there’s a statue of her in front of a library in Massachusetts.

5. Last text message that made you smile?

My friend sent me a video of two trash cans rolling down the street with the song “It’s Quiet Uptown” playing in the background

6. Are you single?

Yes I am

7. Do you have a crush on someone on this site?

I have a lot of platonic crushes, not really romantic crushes

8. Would you be my friend?

Probably, but I’d have to meet you first

10. Favorite tv show?

Smash

13. If you had to choose one song to listen to for the rest of your life, which would it be?

“EASE” by Troye Sivan

14. If you had to choose one song to never listen to again, what would it be?

Anything by Taylor Swift

15. Do you like fanfics? If so, what’s your all time favorite?

Yes! I do like fanfics! And my favorite is anything by @stargirl-murphy and @watch-the-whole-world-disappear

16. Can you draw?

No.

17. Can you sing?

I like to believe I can

18. Can you write?

I don’t know, what do you guys think?

19. What’s your favorite book?

My favorite book is “Perks of Being a Wallflower”

20. Books or movies?

Books

21. Least favorite movie you’ve seen?

The Lorax, I still get nightmares from that thing.

22. Least favorite book you’ve read?

You know, thinking of it, I think every book I’ve read, I’ve enjoyed

23. Dreamworks or Pixar?

Pixar

24. Marvel or DC?

Marvel

25. Nickelodeon or Disney?

Disney

26. Favorite childhood tv show?

H2o: just add water, literally my favorite thing

27. Least favorite childhood tv show?

I didn’t watch a bunch of tv when I was younger, I really only watched h2o and like spongebob, and I liked them both

28. Something you regret doing?

Not getting my flu shot

29. Something you regret not doing?

in sixth grade, there was this field trip and there was a rock wall, and I didn’t go on it, and to this day I think about it.

30. Who was your last kiss?

My ex.

31. Kisses or hugs?

Hugs

32. Cuddles or sex?

CUDDLES ALL THE WAY

33. Netflix or Hulu?

I’m watching Hulu right now, so Hulu

34. Favorite Superhero?

Um, either Wonder Woman or Deadpool

35. Least favorite superhero?

Batman

36. Favorite super villain?

Loki? Does he count?

37. least favorite super villain?

Ursula, she scared the crap out me

38. Dream job?

Cosmetologist or mathematician 

39. Ideal partner?

Someone who’s loyal

40. Do you want to get married?

Yeah, but not soon

41. Do you want kids?

Eventually

42. Where are you form?

The USA

43. Where would you want to live?

Probably still in the US

44. Do you like space?

No, it scares me

45. Do you believe in magic?

No, as much as I want to

46. Opinion on aliens?

I’m too uneducated about the topic to have one

47. What’s your favorite planet?

Jupiter

48. What’s your least favorite planet?

Earth

49. What’s your zodiac sign?

Aries

50. Would a person’s zodiac be a deal breaker when it comes to dating them?

No, I don’t really care about that

[douxbebearchives]

Author Profile: IWrite4Olitz

Stories on FFN; tumblr: @iwrite4olitz​

Your name/nickname/alias: 

Lynn, iwrite4olitz

How long have you been writing? 

Is “forever” too vague? Since I could properly grip a pencil...

How long have you been writing Olitz?

Since July 10th, 2015.

What drew you to Olivia & Fitz? 

Their combustible chemistry. Is there any other reason?

Outside of Olitz, where do you get inspiration to write? 

Everywhere. Anywhere. But my favorite inspiration comes from music. If I get stuck, I read a book. ;)

How do you describe your style of writing? 

::hyperventilates:: I...don’t have one compact sentence to describe it. I suppose it’s because I choose words and sentence structure to suit whatever tone I’m trying to convey, while also considering the “voice” of the character whose point of view I’m writing. So, for example, if I’m writing something romantic, I use more flowing sentences, but choose words that I think the character whose head we’re in would actually use. If I’m trying to convey something tense or urgent, I’ll use more concise, clipped language and structure. If I need to drive an emotion home, or incite a reaction of some kind, I choose visceral language. Ugh, this sounds so clinical! But I promise it’s not. It just happens naturally. I’ve been called “poetic” and “evocative” by readers. I’ve also taken this super fun quiz:

https://iwl.me/

...the results of which told me I write like Stephen King, which contradicts the poetic thing. Haha. Love Stephen though. Do you guys follow him on twitter? Follow him. He’s one of my best friends in my head. And he’s woke.

Do you write (journal, pen/paper) or type first? Depends. If I have it clear in my mind how a scene should go, I type until my brain is empty. Then I edit until it’s as close to my mental picture as possible. If it’s not clear in my mind, my brain automatically goes on high alert, snatching inspiration from anywhere, at any time. That’s when I scribble things in notebooks or type notes into a document to piece together later. Dialogue, action, events, settings...

Do you have a special notebook or writing utensil? 

I have several notebooks, Evernote, and Baby (my touch screen computer). But I plan on replacing her with a Mac soon, because she’s prone to viruses and my tech medical bills have been piling up!

Do you incorporate visuals, music, and/or poetry to help you get into the writing mood? 

Yes! Music is the most powerful inspiration for me. I can get several scenes, or a chapter, or an idea for an entire story from one song. I love creating inspiration boards to visualize big scenes more vividly (and sharing them is fun). I don’t read much poetry, sadly. I have a book of famous love letters and poetry collecting dust on my bookshelf if anyone’s interested. It’s red, vintage-looking, really pretty...

Do you use mood boards/aesthetics/Pinterest? 

Yes! Here’s the one for Pas De Deux: https://www.pinterest.com/AuthorLynnTurner/pas-de-deux/

Favorite kind of music or podcasts to listen to before/while you write? 

I don’t listen to podcasts as part of my process. I find them too distracting. My taste in music is all over the place. I have the same affinity for jazz or soul that I have for pop or indie. That’s not very helpful, I suppose, but it just boils down to whatever moves or inspires me. Would you believe that Pia Mia’s “Do It Again” inspired the one-shot that became No Regrets? She was a 19 year old youtube sensation at the time, and it was her summer smash hit (possibly her only hit) about a one night stand. Hey, I’m not proud. “Locked Away” featuring Maroon 5 inspired the gala scene at the end of that story. “Garden” by Emeli Sande played as I wrote the garden love scene in Pas De Deux, and “Dreamland” by Emilia Ali was playing when I wrote the scene that opens PDD Chapter 10. :-)

Where do you like to write (Home, coffee shop, etc.)? 

I prefer to write in isolation. I love cafes, but I tend to spend my time there doing research, or outlining, or creating inspiration boards. At home, I tend to write very early in the morning or late at night when everyone’s asleep...or during “me time” when certain tiny humans aren’t around to tug at my proverbial coat tails. If I have my headphones, I can pretty much write anywhere.

How long does it take you to write a chapter? 

Oh gosh...Okay, in a vacuum, with a chapter fully formed in my mind, tons of coffee and wine coolers, I can crank one out in a single day. Outside of that vacuum, it could take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. There are so many variables: mood, inspiration, time. I’m trying to be better at forming good writing habits. John Grisham says if you aren’t writing at least a page per day, you’re not writing a book. Stephen King writes 600 words a day. Stephen King is not human.

A favorite line or paragraph you’ve written. 

This changes all the time, and I have different ones for each work, haha. By the time anyone reads this, it likely will have changed again. (There are some things I’ve written for the next Pas De Deux update that might upstage this, I dunno)...but I think this paragraph from Olivia’s point of view in Chapter 9 is my current favorite, It shows their dynamic so well, I think, and is quintessentially the Olitz I recognize no matter the writer, or whether the story is AU or canon:

She shivered, unnerved to be in his head, to see for herself the irrefutable evidence that he knew her. He knew her and she hadn’t told him a single thing.

Describe yourself in 5 words/phrases: 

You could give me 24 hours and the fate of the universe on my shoulders and I still couldn’t do this, hahaha. In a perfect world, my self is constantly evolving, so how about, in keeping with the theme of fifths, I choose something in iambic pentameter?

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.” -Dr. Suess

Favorite TV shows/movies: 

This question is a rabbit hole. You’d need a “read more” button, and once clicked, readers would be subjected to pages and pages...so I’ll just list the ones I’d grab in case of a fire, or the apocalypse.

TV: Gilmore Girls, House, Girlfriends, A Different World, Living Single, the travelogue adventures of Samantha Brown and Anthony Bourdain, Sense8, Queen Sugar, Greenleaf, Underground, House Hunters, House of Cards, Orange is the New Black

Movies I can watch repeatedly and not get bored: Pride and Prejudice, The Devil Wears Prada, Focus, Pretty Woman, Love Jones, Ever After, The Wedding Date, Trainwreck

Movies with romantic elements: The Proposal, Trainwreck, Maid in Manhattan, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, Something New, Serendipity, While You Were Sleeping, Maid in Manhattan, The Proposal, Miss Congeniality, The Cutting Edge, A Walk in the Clouds, Return to Me, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Under the Tuscan Sun, Love Story, Beyond the Lights, Circle of Friends, Belle, Closer, Stompin at the Savoy, Memoirs of a Geisha, Dangerous Beauty, Cinderella (the one where Whitney Houston plays the fairy godmother), Coming to America, Juno, You Me & Dupri, Parent Trap, Overboard, Braveheart, The Preacher’s Wife, Palm Trees in the Snow

Favorite vacation spot: 

Hawaii

Favorite books: 

You’d think that, since my movie list is a rabbit hole, my book list would be a labyrinth, but even with all of the books I’ve read, I’m selective about what makes my favorites list:

Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austen, The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, Grin and Beard It by Penny Reid, Literally every book by Penny Reid, Hadassah: One Night With the King by Tommy Teney, The Twentieth Wife & The Feast of Roses by Indu Sundaresan, The Nonesuch by Georgette Heyer, Wildseed & Lilith’s Brood by Octavia Butler, The Twilight Series by Stephenie Meyer (YES, okay? It’s not literary genius but it’s very entertaining, if you skip book two), Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind, Master of the Game by Sidney, Sheldon, Psy-Changeling series by Nalini Singh

*With the advent of fanfiction, I’m much pickier about published books, which I’m sure you all understand. ;)

Favorite authors:  

I have a to-read list half a mile long, so I’m sure this will change, but these are authors whom I find consistently write entertaining stories, even if they don’t make my favorites list:

Penny Reid, Alyssa Cole, Alisha Rai, Nalini Singh, Philippa Gregory, Farrah Rochon, Stephen King, John Grisham, Octavia Butler

What do you like better? AU or Canon?

I enjoy both, so long as they’re written well. Writing-wise, I’m more comfortable writing AU. With canon, I’m constantly aware that these aren’t my characters, so I’m sort of hyper aware of the constraints. And I have control issues. Lol.

Favorite trope/scenario to read? 

Enemies to lovers, love at first sight

Favorite Olitz TV moment/conversation? 

Seriously??? Only one? How about top three? Top five? Okay, fine, since you’re twisting my arm, I’ll give you my top ten in no particular order. (You drive a hard bargain):

1. VERMONT

2. “You almost died.” “Yes.” “Don’t do it again.” (she went in there to get him to comply, but then she actually LISTENS to him, like, really listens...and he changes her mind. They show a united front in this scene that was gorgeous to watch)

3. “I hate you.” “I know.” ...which morphed into…”You are everything and I am nothing.” ::ugly, mucous-dripping crying::

4. “Sit with me and watch me earn you.” (and obviously the AMAZING sex that came after)

5. Can the entire episode of The Trail be one?

a.  “I got a guy.” “You got a guy? Another guy? Hell’s angel? Mobster? A kind hearted felon who owes you a favor?” “Technically, he’s on probation.”

b. Camp David. Allll the Camp David. They were so in love, cute and care-free.

c. Love scene from The Trail (It’s their best, IMO. Organic. Combustible. Raw.)

d.  One minute on the couch

6. Pre-State Dinner shenanigans, Post-State Dinner Navy t shirt

7. Literally every Olitz phone call

8. 503 Oval Office Kiss ::swoon::

9. Truman Balcony kiss, because he was so vulnerable

10. Fitz saying “I still want you” in the AU episode, because it was so real, and I *believe they’re destined to be together in every universe.

*Honorable mentions: Rose Garden, Deskgate, Constitution (These were gripping, but I have personal, nitpicking reasons why they’re not in my top ten), allll the Season 6 bedtime snuggles, and every hug.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Ava DuVernay is my other BFF in my head.

Someday, when I’m confident enough in my knowledge of the era I choose (which will take years and years of research and development), I will write a historical fiction with a WOC heroine...possibly with elements of science fiction.