#I am just in the unfortunate position of being familiar with the soundtrack

[dandylovesturtles]

I’m imagining sidelined au Draxum repeatedly turning up places the turtles are and trying to apologise and make amends but doing a really bad job because he’s kinda awkward

he starts every attempt off with a heavy sigh like the worst youtuber apologies

eventually he's just going to be standing outside the lair blasting Words Fail from Dear Evan Hansen from a boombox until they let him in

[medea10]

My Review of Higurashi no Naku Koro Ni GOU

(a.k.a. When They Cry Gou)

I know what you’re thinking. Why the heck am I reviewing this anime again? I’ve already written a review in 2009 and re-polished it in 2016. (Here it is BTW) I’ve made my point on who I like, hate, what ships are worthy, and poked fun at all the deaths that happened throughout the series. I think some time has passed that I should say some thoughts on this…um, story. After all, Higurashi is one of my favorite animes.

STORY: Ah shit, here we go again!

Higurashi or When They Cry is about a boy named Keiichi Maebara who recently moved to a place called Hinamizawa. And ever since moving to this town, he’s found his days are filled with fun mischief with fellow friends Rena Ryuuguu, Satoko Hojo, Mion Sonozaki, and Rika Furude. But little does Keiichi know that there’s a little murder mystery that surrounds the town. During a town festival known as Watanagashi (or Cotton Drifting), there’s usually one or two people that go missing or turn up dead. And this year, Keiichi is next. So let’s relive the horrors that plague the town of Hinamizawa and…

One episode later.

Wait, what the…?! It’s episode 2, why are we seeing Hanyuu? I don’t remember that in the manga. The visual! THE VISUAL! WHAT THE FUCK?! ISN’T THIS SUPPOSED TO BE A REBOOT? WHAT THE FUCK?! WHAT THE FUCK?! WHY IS THERE AN ADULT RIKA?! WAIT, IS THAT ADULT RIKA OR BERN? IS THIS GOING TO BE THE PARALLEL UNIVERSE TO THE WITCHES OF UMINEKO?! THE SHADOWS IN THE OPENING ARE TOO FAMILIAR FROM OTHER WORKS! Ryukishi07, you magnificent, fucking troll master for keeping this hidden until the second episode’s air date!

Many of us did not see this coming. When they announced a new Higurashi series that was going to be done by a different studio, many of us speculated whether this was going to be a reboot or a sequel. But then we got the PV trailers and it looked like we were going to get a reboot to correct the mistakes Studio Deen made years ago. Rika’s head doesn’t look like its gonna snap off because her body is so small in comparison. Improvements! I mean, they showed everything we were already used to like the yandere girls, the original soundtrack, the original freakin’ cast, and death by baseball bat. Hell, the first episode ended with an Eiko Shimamiya song! It was on track to being a reboot! A better looking reboot!

Here in lies the sequel aspect! After episode one, we get a scene that isn’t usually seen until the Kai part of Higurashi (a good 4-5 arcs away). And they give away the secret that Rika Furude is repeating the timeline of June 1983 over and over because she keeps dying. And as the series progresses, you notice little things different from the original series. Many of the well-known storylines end much differently than what you remember. Instead of Keiichi killing Rena and Mion with a baseball bat, you’ve got Rena going psycho on Keiichi. And Rika’s fate is somehow worse than the stories of the original series. So let’s head back to Hinamizawa to hear the cicadas cry and watch a murder mystery unfold.

THE SUB: All the original voice actors have returned to voice their respected roles. Perfection in a nutshell!

LICENSING: You’ve gotta be shitting me!

As I’ve mentioned years ago in my review, the original Higurashi anime went through a turbulent time being licensed in the states. It was originally licensed and dubbed by Geneon. But once Geneon collapsed, FUNimation licensed it and did absolutely fuck all with it. Geneon could only manage to squeak out one season. At this point, FUNimation was picking up titles that Geneon used to have before it fell under including Familiar of Zero, Kyou Kara Maou, and yes, Higurashi. All of these titles mentioned here were done absolutely nothing with despite having cult followings, second seasons, and OVA’s.

A year or two after licensing it, the license expired for Higurashi. For nearly six years, the only copies you could get were out of print and estimating at $500 at the very least for a full collection. Single DVD’s could be found in rare shops, but it would take like 13 years to complete the fucking collection if you did it that way. And that was only for the first season. Second season, the best all of us could do was bootleg DVD’s from Japan Town or fansubs with glaring errors for the best season to Higurashi. We had to deal with this shit until Sentai Filmworks licensed and released the first 2 seasons and the Rei OVA’s.

AND NOW YOU’RE TELLING ME FUNIMATION IS CLAIMING HIGURASHI ALL FOR THEMSELVES?!

Where the shit was this love 10 years ago when we were asking politely to release Kai? People ignorantly blew Higurashi off for years because season two was never released in the states until 2016 because they thought the damn anime ended after Rena held up the school. I’m already irritated with FUNimation after the Interspecies Reviewers debacle and I’m still quite butt-hurt over them re-releasing Nichijou with a dub to make a quick buck. Licensing Higurashi just brings back old anger. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy Higurashi is legally licensed and can be seen on at the very least Hulu. It’s just that I hold grudges and this was a big one.

THE DUB: Holy…um, okay! This is a rather big gulp to take in. As I’ve repeatedly mentioned in past reviews, the Higurashi dub was a mixed bag of okay, bad, and oh gasperts kill it with fire. So, not great! The good folks at Geneon (before bankrupting in America) dubbed the first season with a good chunk of folks that put their fake names to the credits. Again, not great! To me, there were some aspects of Megan Hollingshed, Mela Lee, and Grant George’s performances of Mion, Rena, and Keiichi that were okay. SOME! John Snyder and Karen Strassmen as Ooishi and Takano were the best out of that dub. Everything else was just irredeemable! It needed a redub, an overhaul, and a spit-shine. For years, I’ve wondered who would be the dream cast. Sentai Filmworks unfortunately never dubbed the remaining seasons when they released them. Would Luci Christian be the heavenly voice to do Rika Furude? Could we get Hilary Haag to do Satoko? Okay, that never came to pass.

This dub is a breath of fresh air. Rika doesn’t sound like Mihoshi. Satoko doesn’t sound fake, Keiichi doesn’t sound like a weird Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s perfect. ESPECIALLY BRITTANY LAUDA AS SATOKO! I knew the second she was cast as Satoko that she was going to excel the fuck out of this role. And I was not disappointed! The only voice I’m still not quite used to is Michelle Rojas as the Sonozaki twins. Probably because I was somewhat okay with Megan Hollingshed’s voice in the 2006 version that it’ll take some time! And we FINALLY got a voice for Hanyuu. I am super excited that Xanthe Huynh is the voice and I know she’ll do great with this role! With all of that said, here’s what you might recognize these folks from.

*Keiichi is now played by Khoi Dao (known for Kiriyama on March Comes in Like a Lion, Murata on Demon Slayer, Chaka on Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure Pt. 3, and Iskhan on SAO: Alicization)

*Rena is now played by Emi Lo

*Mion/Shion is now played by Michelle Rojas (known for Shizu Delta on Overlord, Touka on Assassination Classroom, Minase on Psycho Pass, Kanan on Love Live Sunshine, and Kusakai on Keijo!!!!!!!!)

*Rika is now played by Apphia Yu (known for Rio on Assassination Classroom, Marie on Black Clover, You on Love Live Sunshine, Victorique on Gosick, Natsumi on Danganronpa 3, and Laki on Fairy Tail)

*Satoko is now played by Brittany Lauda (known for Riko on Made in Abyss, Meidri on Interspecies Reviewers, Lessar on Index III, and Ichigo on Darling in the FranXX)

*Hanyuu is played by Xanthe Huynh (known for Menma on Anohana, Haru on Persona 5, Hanayo on Love Live, Hidomi on FLCL: Progressive, PallaPalla on Sailor Moon Super S [redub], and Sachi on SAO)

ANY CHANGES IN YOUR HATE-O-RADE:

Okay Medea, let-a-rip!

*inhales and exhales*

Teppei Hojo is trash. He is ultimate trash. This fucker needs to be murdered in every timeline. He is a turd in a Glenn Quagmire shirt. Him and his wife are trash. And when this pile of trash is cheating on that pile of trash, he sleeps with peak trash named Ritsuko. Teppei Hojo needs to die in every timeline. Whenever Keiichi bashes this cum-burger’s head in with a blunt instrument, I scream at the top of my lungs, “DIE SCUM, DIE”! And nothing, I repeat, NOTHING will change my opinion of Teppei Hojo.

Episode 23.

Oh, fuck you Higurashi Gou!

MUSIC: Okay, thank you for proving me wrong. I did not despise the opening theme. Having Higurashi with no Eiko Shimamiya is like having Pokemon with no Rika Matsumoto. Or Rozen Maiden with no ALI PROJECT. But this new opening is fine by my standards.

That’s right, get the niceness of the review before I get angry down below.

THESE TIMELOOPS: Rika tries to find solutions to end her time-loop in June 1983. Much like the original series, we follow stories from the Onikakushi-hen, Watanagashi-hen, and Tatarigoroshi-hen arcs (the first three stories to Higurashi, although now these have different names). However, all of these arcs have different endings. And after a positive turnaround with Satoko escaping from her abusive uncle, shit goes south when Detective Ooishi, who up to this point has never suffered under the Hinamizawa Syndrome or died a painful death goes on a murderous rampage. Higurashi style! That means, he’s after Rika Furude, will slaughter anyone in his way, and scratching his neck because he sees maggots (part of the hallucination effect).

What the shit? Ooishi for the most part has been a great guy. With the exception of the Tatarigoroshi-hen storyline, he was a nice guy! In the limbo with Hanyuu, Rika now remembers who has killed her. Every time Rika dies up to this point, she never remembers who was the cause of her demise. Hanyuu implanted that power to remember the deaths and a clue for Rika to use and then she disappears.

Now seriously, imagine Rika’s plight here. She has been repeating the month of June 1983 for over a hundred years. And each of these times she repeats, she’s horribly murdered. Rika got the shit-end of the deal in the murder department in the original series, including being dissected on while alive. Then, leaving her bloody, naked corpse out in the open of the Oyashiro altar! She’s tired of this shit! She wants to live a happy life away from Hinamizawa. She wants to grow older, become a teenager, and have fun. And this series made it worse by having her die four times in one episode. Not just that, but murdered by the most unexpected people including Akasaka, Chief Kimiyoshi, Mion’s mother Akane, and Keiichi. Keiichi has never killed Rika in any of the timelines up to this point. He has killed Mion and Rena, but never Rika. Keiichi loves Rika! Welcome back to A Million Ways to Die in Hinamizawa.

I’ll just add decapitation, drowning in a lake, set on fire, drowning in a sewage pipe, and death by…um…

Alexa, play Chandelier by Sia.

ENDING: We all know by now that in the original series, Miyo Takano is the betrayer and the reason behind all the murders during the Cotton Drifting Festival. This time, it’s someone closer to Rika that’s causing Rika so much pain. After we watched the worst kinds of murders happen to Rika, the episode after gave us our answer. Satoko, Rika’s friend and confidant is not happy that Rika is turning her back on Oyashiro and Hinamizawa. All the while pulling out her intestines!

Oh Higurashi, don’t stop being gory!

Yes, Satoko is aware of past timelines much like Rika and is almost on a god-like state. So what the hell happened to her? I know Satoko’s past has been a cluster-fuck of horror with her brother disappearing, her parents dying, and every form of abuse from her uncle. But she was able to prevail after all that. After surviving 1983, a lot has changed in Hinamizawa. The three big families of Hinamizawa put an end to the Cotton Drifting Festival and claiming there is no curse of Oyashiro. Mion and Shion moved on and are going to high school. And Rika decides she wants to move away from this village. By attending St. Lucia! And she wants to do this with Satoko.

Oh, if you don’t recall St. Lucia, Shion attended this academy until she escaped during the Meakashi-hen arc. It was also the same school that Ange from Umineko attended. But of course Ange attended it in the 90’s and we are clearly in the 80’s. Moving on!

Rika and Satoko studied their butts off for years and their hard work paid off as both were admitted into St. Lucia. Now Rika was able to prevail and fit in with everyone. Satoko on the other hand couldn’t do the same as her grades took a dip, her manners are atrocious, and she doesn’t seem to fit in with anyone. And this caused a drift between Rika and Satoko! And so during a trip to Hinamizawa, Satoko went to the old shrine where she ended up getting sent to that limbo place Rika and Hanyuu were at many times before. There, she meets Eua (God, I hope that really isn’t her name). She’s much like Hanyuu except a lot more condescending. Oh, and she’s that mysterious shadow during the opening theme. She bestows the power to Satoko of reviving on death and returning to a certain point in time. In the hopes that Satoko is able to stop Rika from going to St. Lucia! But Rika is not going to budge. She wants out of Hinamizawa no matter what. And Satoko just wants to be with her friend no matter what. Satoko is even shown Rika’s past and still no dent in…Okay, this is bugging the fuck outta me. Pause the Ending portion!

MY GRIPES WITH SATOKO: Satoko, girl, the fuck is wrong with you?! I know Rika is like your main chick and everything, but for fuck’s sake loosen the grip you have with Rika. This season has changed you and not for the better. You made a connection with ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS from Hinamizawa. Big connections! At least in the original series you did. Look at your moments with Keiichi and Shion. Are you just going to shove them off? And what really sets me off is that Satoko literally had the opportunity to learn about Rika’s hundred year’s loop of death. And feels nothing about it! Only that it’s a challenge to break her herself! God damn, at the end of season one, Keiichi learned the truth and he was remorseful. This bitch doesn’t care that her friends were murdered in such a way. And Rika’s been shot in the head, had a live dissection performed on her, and other forms of torture…AND IT DOESN’T FAZE SATOKO!

I know in my original Higurashi review, I felt sorry for Satoko as she did seem to get the short-end of the stick living in Hinamizawa. I mean, her parents died right in front of her, she suffered abuse from her uncle, abuse from her aunt, ostrisized by the town for years, and a myriad of all types of shit to befall her. But Higurashi Gou has ruined this character. Rika didn’t really do anything wrong to Satoko. She didn’t snitch on her when Satoko got in trouble. She offered help to Satoko when she thought her grades were slipping. Satoko just held onto this petty vendetta. Satoko acted like Rika sexually assaulted her and have two other people gang rape her while drugging her. Okay, that’s a call for revenge, not your petty shit.

YOU SEE WHERE I’M AT WITH YOU SATOKO?! Your actions are so bad that you have me siding with the protagonist from Redo of Healer.

REDO.

OF.

HEALER!!!

I’m done with you! Girl, bye! We now return you to my talk about the ending already in progress.

BACK TO THE ENDING: Sorry, had to get that off my chest. Yeah, Satoko is leaving a bad impression on many of us who have been following the Higurashi story for years. And it just gets worse as she uses her new power for petty shit and abusing it at that. I mean, we saw Rika use her power in order to find a way to live past June 1983. Satoko is just using that shit to win some games and have things go her way. What else could this series bless us with? How about an epiphany from Teppei Hojo?

What?!

Teppei changes for the better.

What?!

Look, I admit that these moments with Teppei and Satoko were tame compared to the shit she’s pulled in the last several episodes. But this is Teppei Hojo! The same guy that used Satoko as his personal punching bag! The same guy who fleeced Rena’s father! The same guy many of us who cheer every time we see him on a moped because we know someone’s going to bash his head in with a baseball bat. Even my best friend knows how I am with this guy. When she gave me Higurashi free swag, I took everything except for Teppei. I don’t take trash. So seeing him so remorseful makes me…conflicted.

So now Satoko’s got things turned around for her. Her uncle has…changed?! Add to that, her God-like power. Satoko decides to change the past for her own advantage. This includes changing one of the biggest stories in Higurashi Kai with the kids vs. Miyo Takano. If Rika doesn’t experience the pain in those timelines, she won’t think about leaving Hinamizawa. And if she doesn’t leave Hinamizawa, she’ll stay with Satoko forever.

Oh what a tangled web of crazy Higurashi Gou was! I gotta tell you, Higurashi got me excited all the way up until we learn it was Satoko. And then it went straight to Hell. They turned Satoko into a straight-up selfish monster. Totally unlike the Satoko we’ve all grown to love in the original series. Yes, Satoko had those moments where, yeah, you would want to throw a chair at her and beat her ass with it. But that was only temporary! You would always see the good in Satoko despite that mischievous laugh and those episodes in Higurashi Rei. And God help me, I was a shipper of Rika x Satoko 10 years ago. Not a big one, but a supporter of it. Now, I would rather support Amourshipping from Pokemon than root for this. And I despise the living fuck out of Amourshipping. That should tell you something!

If original Satoko were bestowed the powers from Eua, I think things would be different. Satoko would probably use her powers to prevent all the bad stuff from happening to her friends and to her brother Satoshi. I mean, my goodness, not once did I see her think, hey maybe I should find a way to help my ailing brother. Change a few timelines, make him all better! And of course, feel sympathy for Rika’s plight. Do it for Rika’s sake, not your own selfish desires! Rika has died horrificly for hundreds of years. And I seriously just can’t get over Satoko’s reaction to that when she learned the truth. Instead, she wants to treat Rika like a caged bird. Best friend my ass!

Now can Higurashi SOTSU fix the hot mess of Satoko? Time will only tell! And good on them for having Higurashi air in the summertime. Summertime is for Higurashi! Autum is for Umineko. Speaking of, it’s been since 2009. Any chance you want to give Umineko the old reboot or sequel it sorely needs? Oh forget it! My likeness for this season is conflicted. I was annoyed by it, but I didn’t fully hate it. It’s just that last arc with Satoko really burned my beans. And I’m sure a lot of you all feel the same way.

Guys, if you want to watch Higurashi Gou, do yourselves a favor and watch the original series first. Let that swirl around your heads for a while. I know the creator tricked us at the beginning of this series thinking it was going to be an honest-to-God retelling. It is not! It is a sequel. And a sequel that isn’t based off a game or manga of all things. So fans are jumping into this with eyes closed! And if you’re a fan of Satoko Hojo, I’m sorry. I’m just sorry.

If you want to check out Higurashi Gou, it is available to watch on FUNimation and Hulu. But please, if you haven’t watched the original series, go to HI-DIVE now and watch “When They Cry” and “When They Cry Kai”. I think you can manage without watching any of the OVA’s.

I’d rather watch that Kira OVA where the fanservice is thin, you can practically lick off the whipped cream from the Sonozaki’s tit.

That should tell you something if I’m starting to say something nice about Higurashi Kira.

See you in a few months when Higurashi SOTSU comes out.

[yurimother]

LGBTQ Visual Novel Review – The Expression Amrilato

I adore any work that tries to do something different with yuri, and visual novels are perhaps the medium pushing boundaries most when it comes to traditional yuri storytelling. I recently played such a visual novel, Mangagamer’s English adaptation of SukeraSparo’s The Expression Amrilato. The Expression Amrilato is an educational yuri game, focusing on teaching the player the international language of Esperanto, or Juliamo as it is known in the game’s world. The game was developed in collaboration with The Japanese Esperanto Institute and I was thoroughly excited to not only experience a cute yuri adventure but to learn something new!

The story begins when the protagonist, Rin, is transported to a mysterious parallel world. It is almost identical to her own with the only obvious differences being the language spoken and the eternally pink sky. Lost and scared, Rin frantically tries to figure out what is going on to no avail. Fortunately, she is saved by a younger girl, Ruka, who speaks a smattering of the Japanese familiar to Rin.

Soon Rin is registered as a vizitanto (the Esperanto term for visitor), a person who traveled to the world from another. Ruka, who again, is three years her junior, is established as her guardian, a dynamic Rin is somewhat embarrassed by. The two girls begin living together in Ruka’s apartment as Rin learns the basics of Juliamo. She is assisted in this endeavor by Ruka and the helpful, if somewhat mischievous, librarian, Rei.

These three women, Rin, Ruka, and Rei, are the main cast of the visual novel. By focusing on such a small cast SukeraSparo was able to give each of them a distinct personality, complexity, and intricate relationships with each other. As previously mentioned, Rei is mischievous and often pokes fun at Rin and Ruka. However, she is incredibly protective of both of them, giving advice and acting as a sort of parent to the two younger girls. This dichotomy of character works surprisingly well, especially later in the game as she reveals more about the world and her past.

Rei is excellent but the highlight of the game is Ruka and Rin. Rin is a superb protagonist. She often thinks and narrates inwardly, giving us insight into her feelings. She describes herself as pretty unremarkable but is determined to be good at one thing, learning Juliamo. She also constantly ponders and overthinks her relationship with Ruka, an incredibly complicated topic. Ruka, however, is much more quietly confident and reserve (as well as adorable). Although the younger girl is prone to pouting and frustration at Rin’s occasional stupidity. But, their relationship is the real highlight of the game. 

Rin is “freeloading” off Ruka, and as Ruka is her guardian and teacher she is subservient. However, these tables are turned at times as Rin helps to teach Ruka more Japanese. Rin is also attracted to Ruka but she often blunders attempts to navigate or explain her feelings. The main boundary here is their language difference, which compels both Rin and the player to do their best learning Juliamo.

Rei acts as Rin’s primary resource for learning about the world she has wandered into. There is a surprising amount and world-building in The Expression Amrilato, particularly around the mechanics of how vizitanto come to the world and how governments support them. The established systems for how these vizitanto exist and assimilate, or not, into the world are fascinating and incredibly well thought out. This detailed setting creates an excellent framework for both the game’s education aspects and the core romance.

Overall, the romantic plot between Rin and Ruka is nothing new, it is the same “girl meets girl, girls likes girl, they get together” plot that has been told and retold countless times in the genre. This is not to say the romance is not enjoyable. Rin’s embarrassment and fumbling attempts to control her feelings for Ruka are simultaneously adorable and hilarious. The game has some fun with cliche moments like Rin falling into Ruka and them ending in a compromised position but also has some excellent human moments between the two, such as Ruka sleeping next to Rin to comfort her. The visual novel is decently tame with a little bit of suggestive description and one non-nude bathing scene early on. The lack of service feels appropriate and the characters are still able to hold their own romantic and sexual identities, a welcome accomplishment in the yuri genre which often spends too much time focusing on girls freaking out that they like other girls.

Choices exist in the game, primarily around using the Juliamo language. However, the romance and Rin’s fate ends in one of three ways, good, neutral, or bad, according to late game choices. I strongly disliked the choices as, for the most part, they have no clear indicator of where they are going, turning the story into guesswork, which was indeed my process to find all three endings, replaying the last section over and over again. Furthermore, on some routes, the choices that most players will want to make can lock them out of the best ending. I also was baffled by the choice to not have the player’s aptitude with Juliamo factor into the ending, as you can fail every quiz and get every dialogue option wrong and this will not affect the endings at all. Fortunately, the choices that do affect the ending are late in the game, so backtracking to find your desired outcome is possible. 

The character designs and artwork are by Naruse Chisato, and she does a fantastic job. Each of the major characters looks are distinctive, with differing heights, body types, fashion sense, and proportions. I particularly enjoyed the varying outfits on Ruka and her facial expressions (especially when pouting). However, the characters often have a stiff cardboard feel to them, as they have very few poses and clash somewhat against the depth of the backgrounds. Additionally, some of the expressions, particularly on Rei, appear warped and unnatural.

The backgrounds and CG artwork, the latter of which are plentiful, are wonderful. They have a soft pastel look without ever being washed out, and the characters here appear much more at home in their environments and more animated, with cutouts frequently appearing in CGs to show action. Different art assets used in the educational scenes such as flashcards or writing on a chalkboard are excellent editions. Unfortunately, as the story takes place primarily in Ruka’s apartment and the library, the player will quickly become bored by these backgrounds and long for a change of scenery.

The voice talent matches the artwork in its high quality. This is particularly important in this game, as listening to language pronunciation is vital. The actresses easily switch between Esperanto and Japanese in a natural-sounding way. Great praise must be given to voice actresses for Rin and Ruka, Nagatsuma Juri and Uchida Shuu respectively, who convincingly stuttering and struggling over the languages their characters are learning while still being comprehensible.

Sadly, I found the soundtrack to be severely lacking. The game opens with an intro song, accompanied by animation, which was nice for a listen or two but I quickly grew tired of it. This is the most praise I have to offer the music. Most of the tracks are boring at best and at worst grate on the ears with discordant and irritating sounds. If I had not been playing the game to review it I would have disabled music after the first hour.

Finally, I cannot conclude my review of The Expression Amrilato without talking about the educational aspects and value of the game. For those of you who may not have known or have forgotten, when I am not writting about gay anime I am a teacher and spend a great deal of time studying pedagogy. Educational software can be an amazing tool for teaching, as it offers three key benefits, feedback, increased engagement, and interactivity. Using these criteria and just some of the knowledge I have gained from spending my entire life in school, although not always as a student, I examined how The Expression Amrilato teaches Esperanto.

The language is primarily taught through quiz-based learning. There are seven lessons which build on each other and the player then answers questions on. I was surprised by the variety in these quizzes, as they are not always just spouting the vocabulary word to name an object but can involve sentence and grammatical construction as well. Some of them are quite creative, such as when learning the parts of the body the player clicks on Ruka to identify the word she gives. These quizzes can be accessed independently after playing through them via the main menu and there is a Juliamo dictionary, although this is unlocked much later in the game than I would have liked.

Outside of the quizzes, new vocabulary and grammatical rules are often given and old ones reviewed, which appear as little pop-in at the side of the screen that gives pronunciation and spelling. Some gameplay sections of the visual novel have Rin complete actions that review previous lessons, such as going out shopping and needing to name the foods she buys. I enjoyed these sections in particular, as they felt more compelling to me than the quizzes ever did.

Given the criteria for education software, The Expression Amrilato does an okay but not amazing job. It does offer instant feedback, telling the player if they got a question wrong and giving them the correct answer, and has limited interactivity. However, on this front, I cannot help but wonder if the medium is holding the game back. The player never has many complicated choices or questions, and cannot write in answers or construct sentences. Instead, the quizzes and story sections are limited almost exclusively to multiple-choice selection. Engagement is probably where the game shines most, as it has a deep story and amazing art to compliment the learning.

The Expression Amrilato is a unique and enjoyable experience. The story has surprising depth, although it did little to break out of genre tropes. The game’s artwork is stupendous, giving both quality designs and backgrounds and a plethora of great CGs. The yuri romance is reliably cute and serves as a fun framework for learning Esperanto. While not pedagogically perfect, you will get out of the game what you put into it and, with a bit of work, you should walk away with some basics of the language and a big smile from those animated lesbians. 

Ratings: Story – 7 Characters – 8 Art – 9 Voice – 7 Music – 2 Education – 5 LGBTQ – 5 Lewdness – 2 Final – 7

Review copy provided by MangaGamer

You can purchase The Expression Amrilato from Steam, Mangagamer’s website, and other digital storefronts.

Mangagamer is offering free review copies to any and all educational institutes that endorse Esperanto learning.

[fizzingwizard]

I finally saw the Cats movie the other day.

After the alarming trailers and the bad reviews after the premiere, I was pretty much desperate to like it. Just to like it, enough, as a Cats fan. I thought, “ok, if the normal people dislike it, that doesn’t mean there aren’t enough nuggets and even pearls to sustain us true fans.” Trust me, I am a fan of X-men comics, I am very very used to doing that. (It’s the entire reason I can stomach the Dark Phoenix movie at all.) So my bar was, I thought, appropriately low.

Oh how wrong I was.

iT’S THE WORST MOVIE I EVER SAW GUYS. And it gives me no small amount of pain to admit that. It marks the first time in my life I considered walking out of the theater, not out of outrage, just boredom. And Cats has never bored me before. So I must rant.

Before I start, though, I have to say I just can’t blame the cast for any of this. It’s the movie direction. As far as I can tell, the actors acted and danced their hearts out truly believing when it was finished this movie would be something resembling a movie. The resemblance is there, but... faint.

1) The CGI. A while back I suggested that once the CGI was finished and polished up, and moreover, when we could watch it continuously and not in stitched-together bits for a haphazard trailer, then the CGI cats wouldn’t look as jarring. For the most part, that was the case for me. But I’m certain it wasn’t the case for everyone. It was freakishly reminiscent of that live action Cat in the Hat movie (and that’s not exactly a compliment).

It didn’t bother me too much, because I thought from the beginning that costumes or CGI, it would be impossible to design human cats who don’t rub a lot of people the wrong way. It was a sacrifice I was okay making because I saw it as an inevitability. But the hairier cats like Old Deut and Gus (ie, the cats whose costumes were more reminiscent of the theater) definitely looked better, though. (Speaking of which, who on EARTH shaved poor Rum Tum Tugger!?)

But aside from the cats. Those rats FREAKED me out. If those had been in the trailer? My hopes would have been dashed much, much earlier. Eek. No. And... the rats came back a second time... and then a third!!! Meanwhile the beetles were just... people in beetle suits. Mr. Hooper, what are you smoking? I need some right now.

Also. Why, WHY don’t the cats have cat noses? That bothered me the whole time!!

2) The choreography. When I saw the cast, way back before even trailers were out, the first thing I thought was “um, do these people secretly have classical dance training and it just isn’t widely known?” Because Cats is basically a variety show. You can’t do Cats without amazing dancing in multiple styles, from ballet to tap to freaking gymnastics.

There were some dancers, including Victoria. I wish I could say more of them. It’s not that they aren’t talented. I’m sure they are. It’s just that, between the choreography being incredibly changed, and then on top of that edited with CGI to “improve” the feline poses and stunts, who knows where the actual dancing is. Not me. We don’t even get one fouette from Mistoffelees. I mean. Come on. Not even in CGI! Why would you do this to Cats. Why. Why.

It’d be one thing if the movie choreography clearly improved Cats the movie, which, after all, wasn’t going to be an exact replica of Cats the musical. Unfortunately, it, uh, doesn’t.

3) The music. I haven’t seen this touched on a lot, but did anyone else notice the music sounded like someone was just playing the soundtrack for the 90s film on a boombox somewhere in the background? It wasn’t crisp. It wasn’t even loud. The electric guitar that makes you shiver when you hear it live? Barely discernible. At the very least, I thought they’d do something interesting with the music, although I guess I should thank my lucky stars that they randomly decided to leave well enough alone in this instance... But it’s a MUSICAL. How do you half-ass the (amazing, by the way!) score in a MUSICAL?!

4) The singing. Yes, this needs its own separate section, because WHY COULDN’T ANYONE SING. Even people who can, in fact, sing!! Jennifer Hudson is GREAT singer. Her “Memory” isn’t terrible, but it is drastically overacted and far from joining my list of favorite “Memory” performances. Taylor Swift’s “Macavity” was fine, I guess. I’d probably be more positive about it if the rest of the movie didn’t suck. James Corden was fine too, “Bustopher Jones” is not exactly a challenging song, but Rebel Wilson’s “Old Gumbie Cat” was breathy, weirdly sexualized, and couldn’t end fast enough for me. I’m not too familiar with Jason Derulo but I am sure he doesn’t sing like an idiot all the time, and neither should Rum Tum Tugger. What was that about?

And no one expected Judi Dench to sing but she sure tried. I admire her for it, but sorry, Mr. Hooper, I don’t agree that Old Deut can get away with a poetry reading version of “The Moments of Happiness.”

“Mungojerrie and Rumpelteazer” was pretty good but difficult to understand because all the scene-changing made the lyrics hard to follow (and I know them by heart). “Skimbleshanks” more or less the same. I wouldn’t have complained about these if the movie had been a little better overall.

“Magical Mr. Mistoffelees” is more about the dancing than the singing, but it’s such a climactic number that the way it’s so slow and, er, anticlimactic in this movie is just a huge letdown.

5) The unending fat jokes. I know James Corden and Rebel Wilson are both perfectly comfortable with poking fun at themselves, and do it pretty much all the time. I also know they’re both okay being gross. I suppose people thought the two of them together would be movie magic. Instead, their powers combined to create The Ultimate Apocalyptic Unending Gross Fat People Joke Machine. Some of the jokes were a little funny. They got less funny the more they occurred. And just when you thought they would stop. THEY INCREASED. It’s like I was secretly in a Spongebob Squarepants movie where they obsessively make fun of fat people and their bodies while eating everything in sight. It had a mood of “fat people power!” but a stench of “we couldn’t think of any good jokes so we just did some gross shit!”

6) I hate Munkustrap! This one has no appearance of objectivity, I just can’t stand him. He looks weirder in the CGI than most of them (not his fault, but). I hated his singing voice. And he got to sing way too much for how enjoyable he was. He looked a little stoned, to be frank. Maybe that’s what they were going for. BTW, I absolutely adore Munkustrap in the show. I wasn’t exactly expecting Michael Gruber again, and yet, I sort of was.

7.) Victoria’s original song. Actually. Actually. I liked this song. It was a nice song! I enjoyed listening to it in the credits. (lol?) They clearly spent much more time making it sound nice than they did the actual Cats music. But why... why was there an original song... in a musical that already has more than enough songs? What did it add? I get that it was supposed to explain Victoria’s motivations and show her connection with Grizabella. I just don’t think it was necessary. Because. Because. There’s already an explanatory song in the musical! the little known number... “Memory!” And its variations. As a well as the not insignificant “Glamour Cat” song. Victoria doesn’t have a song. That’s true. Jemima/Sillabub does though. If you’re going you erase the juxtaposition of Jemima and Grizabella and force Victoria into a similar role, why couldn’t she have just sung “Moonlight”? IIRC she did in the end sing the interlude during “Memory” anyway. Then they forced more reprises of the original Victoria song on us, even made Judi Dench sing it. It’s a nice song. WHAT IS IT DOING HERE.

(More in another post because it is late and my complaints are many.)

[kronim195]

My extended thoughts on FF7 Remake. Minor vague spoilers below

When it's good, FF7R is everything I had hoped it would be and more. It expands on so many scenes from the original extremely well, while adding more that I didn't even know I wanted. The combat is very fun and strategic, with the bosses being a major highlight, and the music is exceptional, with great new takes on classic tunes and some memorable originals added to the soundtrack.

Unfortunately, the game has some serious filler and pacing issues, and takes far too much liberty in changing the original story. While there are several alterations to the narrative that I really enjoyed and thought made a lot of sense, there's quite a few I really didn't appreciate. Out of its 18 chapters, at least 4 could've been cut entirely and nothing would change. There are side quests, but most of them aren���t even remotely engaging and just feel like extra padding. The game also frequently slows your movement down with a large amount of walking and climbing through rubble sections. While these didn’t bother me too much, they often felt unnecessary and I got the impression many of them were there just to pad out the runtime even more.

I kept going back and forth between loving this game and not liking it the entire time. If that was all I had to say then I would've said my experience was generally pretty positive overall, and I'd have given it at least a 7.5. Not a perfect re-imagining of the classic og title like I’d hoped, but still a good game that's worth your time.

But then unfortunately...the ending happened. The last hour of FF7R drops the ball so immensely hard that it soured the entire experience for me.

It devolves into an unfocused, incoherent mess with obnoxious fan service and hints way too hard at major spoilers still to come. I am very familiar with the story of FF7 original. It’s one of my favorite stories, and I had no idea what was happening throughout most of this section. The parts I did understand, were only because I've played the original game and its prequel Crisis Core. Pivotal scenes from both games are shown with absolutely no context and little justification. The final confrontation is a direct homage to Advent Children, which feels way too climactic and bombastic for what’s meant to be just part 1 of an ongoing story. I can't imagine how lost someone who isn't familiar with FF7 and its extended canon is going to feel while playing through this last hour.

It was so bad that I don't think I'm even interested in seeing where the rest of the remake series will go from here. I'm extremely disappointed.

[airquietworks]

Expecting! (IzuOcha) (Part 3)

Summary: The world may never be the same. Izuku and Ochako have to answer for their choice to have a child. Navigating pregnancy and heroics is no small task, but together, they are determined to succeed.  Part 1, Part 2

"Well, this is a quaint little scene you have going here."

"Shush! I am trying to work my magic. It takes absolute focus. And you closing your lips."

"Don't mind me; I'm just a fly on the wall."

"Too bad I can't swat you. A little to the left there, dear! No, my left!"

Izuku watched as Ochako huffed, pouting as she adjusted her position again at Akihi's behest. He himself struggled to maintain his easygoing smile, per the photographer's instruction. His butt was starting to get sore from the rather uncomfortable stool he was made to sit on. The tight-fitting collared shirt and sweater felt too hot on his skin.

"At least we're not naked this time," he whispered to his wife, managing to garner a giggle from her.

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Chapter 3: Comfort, confrontation and the world

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She looked positively radiant in her bright floral dress. She stood up tall, on-high above him, providing him with a front-row seat to appreciate her natural beauty.

Ochako let out a little sigh, her eyes starting to droop. The photoshoot was dragging on longer than either of them cared for. "We're going out for mochi when this is over."

"Aap aap aap! No talking! I've almost got the shot! You look gorgeous!"

Izuku clammed up at the command, praying they would be freed from this before long. As much as he'd like to just enjoy his wife's company, their audience – Akihi the shutterbug and the ever-watchful Kyoko – would never let that happen.

He tried to let his mind wander, searching within for a distraction from his discomfort. As he often did, his thoughts began to spiral in ponderance of the things happening around him and every aspect to be considered about them.

Really, this was to be their lot in life. Even more than before, they would be keenly observed, their celebrity boosted by their unusual decision to have a child. Privacy would be hard to come by once they went back into the field. This would be the first magazine cover they graced the pages of as parents-to-be, but it would certainly be far from the last.

What did it mean for them? He had cast aside his doubts that they wouldn't find a way to make this work for them. But how the world at large would change was another matter entirely.

The camera started snapping loudly. It kept going until the noise began to fade into the distant background. Different sounds replaced it. Memories of explosions, screams, and collapsing buildings. Himself, rushing in to save the day. To help those in need.

"No mumbling either!"

The world snapped back into focus. He stayed his rapidly-moving lips, forcing them back into an upturned position. It was a momentary lapse in his mind, one he chose not to dwell on. It was a dangerous daydream.

The burden of a hero was always the knowledge of the people you failed to save. It was an ugly, gnawing thing at the back of your mind which could lash out unexpectedly, guilting you about the things you had no control over.

It was part of the struggle of trying to become the world's greatest. He had coped well enough with that guilt, with Ochako's help. But as her belly swelled, so too did the biting creature in the back of his mind.

The decision to give up some of the world's benefit for his own – to take a more selfish approach to his life – had not been an easy one.

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The waters of Dagobah Municipal Beach Park always inspired a deep sense of tranquility and nostalgia within Izuku. The calming sound of the waves brushing solidly against the shore was almost like a song to him. It was the soundtrack which started the defining times of his youth.

This was a forge of heroes. At least, All Might had made it into one. Here, his mentor had built him from a wispy child into a budding man, one with the strength to contain the nigh-infinite power of One For All.

Izuku had poured his blood, sweat, and tears into the sand to build himself up. With his tireless efforts, he had cleaned the beach and made its true beauty shine through, reinvigorating its public use. This beach was arguably the birthplace of the hero named Deku. It was one of his first acts of heroism, even if it had been small in the grand scheme of things. For that, it was a place he would always be fond of.

He kept a sad smile on his face as he gazed upon it.

The smile remained despite the mountains of garbage that had once again accumulated across the once-pristine shoreline.

"Huh. Little worse off than when we left it."

His mentor's dry evaluation of the beach broke the quiet moment of tension. With a sigh, Izuku pushed his mentor forward, searching for a ramp to get him down into the sands below.

"They let it get like this again?" Izuku murmured. His eyes moved across the trash-filled horizon as they walked alongside it. "What's the government even doing?"

All Might let out a throaty chuckle. The sound was scratchier than it once was, but was still pleasant again Izuku's ears. "You'll be asking yourself that question a lot, trust me."

The two eventually found the ramp they were searching for. Izuku pushed All Might down the sloping surface. The wheels immediately caught when they hit the sand, but the elderly hero tapped a switch on the end of his armrest. A panel opened up with an array of buttons, emblazoned with different brightly-colored symbols for ease of use. A quick press from a bony finger caused the chair to transform. The tires rapidly inflated as the bike's mechanics shifted to lift All Might higher. In a matter of seconds, the chair's built-in beach mode was ready, one of the dozens of terrain types the machine had been designed to handle.

Izuku stared at the wheelchair as it morphed, wishing he had his notebook on him. "Melissa is incredible."

"It might be a little much. But I must admit it's effective."

Unfortunately, navigating mounds of trash was not something the device had been designed for, and All Might did not care to activate its hover mode for fear of attracting attention. The two settled on a somewhat open spot on the edge of the beach, with a clear enough view of the water and the shining line of the horizon.

Izuku let himself fall down roughly to the sand. He kicked off his sandals and buried his feet into the ground. The familiar feeling of the coarse texture rubbing against his skin was surprisingly pleasant. His nostalgia triggered again as he recalled all those days he would collapse into the beach after a hard day's work.

He let the peace of the park fill him. The trash made the scene messy and chaotic, but there was harmony to be found underneath it all.

"So, young Midoriya. Why did you want to come here?"

Izuku side-eyed the former paragon of heroism. Seeing All Might here again, bathed in the setting sun, was a reminder of how the years had not been kind to him. His face was horribly wrinkled, weathered into an unpleasant misshapenness. The once-mighty blonde mane of hair had faded to grey, thin and falling, barely enabling the former hero to don a simple straight cut. The arms poking out from the simple white t-shirt were pencil-thin, with no hope of summoning even a flicker of the strength All Might once wielded.

This was what was left of the man who had given up his entire being for the world.

But no matter how All Might looked, the world never stopped idolizing him in return. He carried himself with dignity, making as many public appearances as he could for charitable causes. He no longer had the body to teach daily classes at U.A., but he still stayed on as faculty, guiding the curriculum for the next generation of heroes and appearing from time to time for guest lectures.

Long since retired, All Might still did amazing things. Izuku wondered if he would ever be able to hold a candle to him at that age.

The young hero tensed his fingers in the sand. He absentmindedly tried to grab hold of it, a useless gesture as it instead slipped through his fingertips.

"Midoriya?"

"Sorry!" Izuku blurted quickly, realizing he was getting too lost in his own thoughts. He had kept All Might guessing, being cryptic and evasive on the way over here. He could not stall any longer.

"I…I wanted to get your advice about something."

"Oh? Well, I'm always happy to help, Midoriya. But did you have to come all the way out here for that?"

"It's a…a little different than usual." Izuku could feel his face grow hot under the scrutinous eyes of his hero. The two kept in regular contact over the phone, but their face-to-face meetings were much more infrequent due to their busy schedules.

But Izuku had insisted on meeting in person for this. The place where it all began had seemed like a natural location.

"Well, enough keeping me in suspense. What is it?" All Might kept his usual even-keeled "teacher" voice. There was a calming familiarity to it, even as Izuku tried to muster up the courage to ask a life-defining question.

Izuku gulped, struggling to find the nerve. He had asked All Might for so much help over the years, and the man had always been patient with him. So why did his throat start to close up? Why was this so difficult?

It was because he was walking away from All Might's path.

The truth popped into the forefront of his mind, soon taking over his train of thought. He gritted his teeth, trying to push through the sinking guilt tearing its way through him.

He closed his eyes and grabbed deeply into the hard dirt beneath the sand.

"Ochako and I are thinking of having a baby."

All Might let out a telling, gasping breath. It was a rumbling noise, one which put Izuku on edge. He let the man recover, leaning forward impatiently as he waited.

"That's…that's wonderful. And surprising." All Might coughed hard, his airways clogging up over the shock.

Izuku focused intently on his mentor. He had always been hard to read, but their years-long bond had given Izuku some grasp of his body language. The man remained stony, his withered face unreadable. But Izuku noticed the slight clenching of bony fingers into the fabric of baggy pants.

The young hero sighed. The reaction was about as bad as expected. Getting through this conversation might be as herculean as clearing the beach.

"We're pretty unsure about it. We're looking at everything. And we're asking for advice." Izuku could picture Ochako in his mind's eye, sitting on a train, perhaps looking up at the same setting sun that he was. "Ochako's heading out to talk to her parents about it this weekend."

"Midoriya, this is…this isn't really my strong suit." All Might's head turned away from him, but he could only go so far within the confines of the wheelchair. Those once-mighty hands came together in a clasp, looking all too fragile.

"Toshinori…" Izuku heard the man suck in a breath. It was rare Izuku uttered that name, as much as he was encouraged to. It still felt strange to the tongue, but sometimes, the circumstance called for it. "I think I need to hear from you more than anyone. I…I just can't figure this out. What the right thing to do is."

Izuku let himself fall backwards into the sand, staring up at the fading light of the sky. The clouds made it look heavenly, dancing into wondrous forms. But the light was quickly starting to fade.

"Well, you haven't ever talked about having kids. Why exactly do you two want a child?"

Izuku let his eyes fall closed at the question. His mind conjured up the answer in a slideshow of images, enrapturing his heart in a way he could not hope to describe. He remembered what it was like helping Eri and Kota grow to the wonderful young adults they were today. He imagined what it would be like to do that with his own child. To hold them in his arms, to watch them love things as passionately as he did, to see them grow up before his eyes.

He could see himself and Ochako, their small child between them, each grasping a minuscule hand. It made his heart soar.

"…because I can't help but love the thought of having a family." He paused to open his eyes and look up toward the darkening skyline once more. "And raising a part of the future."

Izuku pulled himself back into an upright position. He searched his companion's face for some sign of emotion. He needed to see some kind of positive affirmation. He did not want to venture into the dark unknown without his master's support.

All Might closed his eyes and leaned back into his chair. He lifted his hand and deposited his head into it, as if his thoughts were becoming too heavy.

"…do you want my honest opinion?" His question was quiet, barely above a whisper.

Izuku pushed himself forward, crawling over to face his teacher. He sat cross-legged before his chair, sitting up as straight as he possibly could. "More than anything."

All Might let out a chuckle at the movement. It really did feel like old times, the pupil hanging desperately on his teacher's words. Izuku could feel himself tensing in anticipation, ears straining to hang on whatever came.

"Well, if you want the truth…" All Might paused to let out a deep sigh. He opened his steely blue eyes, giving an intense stare to Izuku. "I think it's a terrible idea."

Those heartwarming images of his future child shattered into a million pieces. Izuku took a bracing breath. In. Out. He wanted to keep his composure, to face All Might like the man he was. This was the difficult, but honest, conversation he had asked for.

But despite his best efforts, he could not meet those cold eyes.

"Why…why do you think that?" Izuku directed his question to the sandy beach below. He noticed a stray soda can buried beneath the grains, staining what should be pure ground.

All Might did not hesitate to respond this time.

"Well, for your average hero, having kids isn't easy. I'm sure you know how the demands of work make kids hard. Those I've seen manage it usually picked a partner who could dedicate more time into childrearing."

Every word made Izuku feel more like the earth should swallow him whole. His throat bobbed as he tried to maintain his composure. He did not realize just how much he had needed to hear All Might approve of this choice. He did not realize just how much of himself he had committed to wanting that.

"But you two are both pros. Most couples in your shoes would not even consider it. We heroes have to dedicate so much of ourselves to helping others. We can rarely help ourselves." All Might paused, but Izuku did not dare look up to see why.

"You both have such great potential. But to meet that and have a child…well, for just about anyone, I think I'd have to say something's got to give."

For the first time he could recall, he wanted to stop All Might from giving him advice. Every point being made was something he and Ochako had already discussed ad nauseam. But his teacher's words gave those doubts an added gravitas. Those nagging corners of his mind were running havoc inside his head, suddenly fueled by the power of the world's greatest hero.

All Might continued on, seemingly oblivious to the torment he was inflicting. "Your children might grow to resent you. Or worse. Heroes must always consider the risks. You know what happened to Kota-"

"It wouldn't be like that!"

The memory of the broken child he helped heal, and the thought of leaving their own child that way had been a frequent visitor of his nightmares. The spike of pain which tore through his heart at the reminder finally snapped something within him.

For the first time in his life, he was truly angry at his hero.

"You're wrong! We'd find a way to make it work!" He rose up to his feet, staring down defiantly as he unleashed a barrage of heartfelt words. " I don't care if I have to skip sleep or eating or nights out or…or anything!"

Izuku's arms shook with fury as he opened them wide, muscles bulging outward. "These arms are strong enough to hold the world and our child!"

His heart swelled, beating rapidly with the passion he felt for the beautiful images he imagined about his children. He could see the broken glass reforming in his mind, glowing with glorious light.

"And as for…for what happened to Kota…"

His arms fell to his sides again as he stared back down at the ground. It was hard to confront his own mortality. He and Ochako had wept together on too many close calls. They had mourned again as they contemplated whether they could even bring themselves to have children, considering that chance they would be creating orphans.

It was hard. But after so many anguished debates, one memory got them over that hump. The memory of a broken, bowing man pleading desperately to a steadfast mother.

Izuku lifted his head to stare back at his master. Toshinori wore a small, challenging smile, but Izuku refused to let that falter him.

"No matter what, we'll live for them. Just like you lived for me."

The fiery proclamation put a face-splitting grin on Toshinori's. He let the tiniest of chuckles escape from his lips.

"If it were anyone else, I would have seriously believed those things. But this is you we're talking about." Toshi paused to adjust himself backwards in his chair, his posture visibly relaxing. "Though it hardly seems like you need my advice."

Izuku blinked. The words were disarming, blowing away the air thick with tension. His fists unfurled as he considered how, exactly, the conversation got to this point.

"Wha….what?"

"Come now, Midoriya. I'm surprised how hard you fell for it. You must really want a kid bad." All Might had the gall to laugh again, more heartily this time. "That was advice I would give to most heroes. You, however, are a pretty special case."

Staggered by the change in words, Izuku found himself falling to the ground again. His rage dissipated as quickly as it came.

It slowly dawned on him what had just transpired. He could feel the heat inside him make his way to his cheeks. He had actually gotten furious at All Might, of all people!

"Sorry, sir!" He bowed his head in apology, praying he could make up for the gall of his anger. Once again, the tingles of nostalgia pricked him, but he ignored it. "I should have realized it was a test!"

"Now, now, don't get so serious on me," All Might admonished lightly, voice filled with mirth. "But it was good to see how passionate you are about this. This isn't something you should do if you aren't ready to put anything less than your all into it."

Izuku felt a comforting hand atop his shoulder. He looked up to see All Might beaming down. Even atop a weathered face, All Might still had a smile which could inspire hope.

"Right!" Izuku nodded back in enthusiasm, leaning forward with an energy All Might could always inspire.

The elder hero breathed a deep sigh, shaking his head. Izuku knew he was probably being a bit too volatile right now. But he couldn't help it. The idea that his teacher approved of a child on some level made his heart roar in triumph.

"You and Miss Uraraka have already done so much together. And you've already been breaking down social barriers few heroes have dared take on. If there are any heroes that could handle having a kid, it's you two."

The kind words were a jolt to Izuku. In spite of himself, he could not stop the water that started to well up in his eyes at the soft-spoken approval of his idol.

"You…you really mean that?" His lip quivered and he ruefully wiped away the tears starting to stain his cheeks.

"I do. But I just hope you know what you're getting into."

The man reached his arms out to roll himself forward, moving around and past his pupil. Deku feebly reached a hand out in an offer of help, but paused as his mentor paid no heed. Despite his aging limbs, All Might was still fiercely independent. There was quiet, unshakable strength to him that Izuku still relied on.

Izuku stayed in place as All Might wheeled himself toward the trash. He sat at a narrowing point in the mounds of garbage, flanked by two large piles of furniture. The sun had long since faded, but the starlight was more than enough to illuminate him. Izuku could see the flickers of All Might's aura dancing on the edges of his vision.

Izuku could remember the muscled back he spent so many days chasing here.

He wanted to believe he was past that now. But he knew he was still just reaching out to catch the end of All Might's shadow in many ways.

"The world is like this beach." The weathered hero stretched his arms out wide, dramatically gesturing to the towering heaps beside him. "No matter how much work you do, it finds a way to deliver you more."

He inclined his head backward toward Izuku, an icy half-stare challenging him.

"Are you sure you're ready to handle that responsibility and have a child?"

The stare sent shivers through Deku. But he would not hesitate. He knew the answer.

"I am."

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The memory danced vividly in his mind.

Shadows of doubt still sprung up within him on bad days. Days of weary limbs and lost battles. Days filled with uncertainty, like this one. Days where Ochako, the love of his life, suffered. Where the world seemed impossibly heavy.

But Izuku's own words were a talisman against the fears lurking in the corners of his head. The words were spoken by the man who would be the world's greatest hero. Deku did not doubt he and Ochako would succeed. He had promised it to All Might. He had to remember that.

"Just hold it right there! I need to adjust things a bit. Don't move an inch, lovelies!"

"You look zoned out. Whatchya thinkin' about?" The pleasant whisper of his wife snapped Izuku out of his musings.

He stared up at her again while she beamed gently down at him. As happened so often, she shone so brightly that she became hard to look at. In spite of their years of intimacy, he still found his face flushing.

A little fearful of the attentive ears of their photographer, Izuku did not communicate with words. He gently reached a hand and pressed it against her stomach, which bulged prominently underneath her dress. He grinned sheepishly as he felt the softness housing the growing life they had created together. The future child he would do anything for. Would live for.

The telltale sound of shutters filled the air again. "Magnifique!"

"You're not French."

"Nobody asked you."

The couple could not stop the titters which burst forth from them. The spell keeping them still shattered as they progressed into full-blown laughter. Ochako shifted to lean against a screen while Izuku put his hands on his knees, trying to regain control of the mirth coming from his lips.

"No, no, no!" Akihi's hands flew outward angrily, but she wore a shaky smile on her face. She breathed an exaggerated sigh as she shook her head at them. "You're lucky I'm good enough to have gotten something to work with!"

"It only took you 20 minutes longer than our staff photographers," Kyoko drawled dully from her place on the wall.

"Perfection takes time!"

The heroic couple continued their quiet laughter, managing to find humour amidst a whirlwind of uncertainty.

"Thank goodness that's over." Ochako breathed a sigh of relief as she reached out to grasp Izuku's hand, pinky sticking out in the air. "All of this production…do you think we did the right thing?"

Izuku looked down at the clasping of their weathered hands. He looked back up at the woman he loved more than anything. Strong, fierce, and shining more than anyone he had ever met.

He squeezed her hand tightly.

"I know we did."

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AN: Special thanks to Mika, whose artwork inspired this fic, and to Neon Pixel for commissioning the original art piece. Link to it here: https://stirredbrew.tumblr.com/post/183727397704/art-commission-done-by-the

Thanks again to Deadliest Sin Bin for editing this chapter.

Just one chapter, the epilogue, to go now.

Please like and reblog if you enjoyed! =)

[demigodofhoolemere]

Saw Captain Marvel!

Spoiler free version: Amazing. It’s so so good to see Carol in live action, and I’m so happy they did her personality and her power set justice. Brie did an awesome job at bringing her to life, and I loved her journey (and I appreciated the nonlinear storytelling). The story was fantastic, and after a few years in a row of coming out of quite a few movies with various disappointments (largely regarding characterization issues or humor going overboard), it’s such a good feeling to not have my expectations dashed. All of the characters made me so happy, I love how real and human each one of them was. No unnecessary drama between the protagonists (unlike some people *cough*Avengers*cough*), just people who are genuinely friends, including unlikely ones. It’s certainly different from the origin story I’m used to, but I really enjoyed what they did. I’m also glad that adding something so big like this to the backstory of the MCU doesn’t shake things up too much; there are a few changes, but it didn’t come off as a retcon, at least not in the annoying way of most retcons. All in all, wonderful movie that left me crying happily, and also now leaves me looking suspiciously at my cat.

Spoiler filled commentary below

~~~

- CAROL. Just Carol. I can’t overstate how much I loved seeing her. I love watching her fly around and use her powers and beat people up. That’s been my jam since 2012 and I’m still living for it. This has been a long time coming and it feels like newly meeting an old friend. She deserves every ounce of praise she’s been getting. I’m also always grateful when tough female characters have a well-developed personality, because if her entire character is only about being tough, then I have difficulty investing because there’s nothing to connect with - unfortunately that kind of character is a dime a dozen these days because in the effort to prove that women can stand up on the same playing field as men, they often just get injected with masculinity and it ends there, which can be frustrating. For all of Marvel’s other flaws with how it treats some of the female characters, they always manage to churn out a genuine human being who does not come from a cookie cutter. Carol gets to have wonderful human emotions, a balance between positives and flaws, and strength that does not come only from her powers. She is determined, full of spirit and life, she knows anger and empathy in equal measure. Getting to know her and love her as a person is why it’s so much fun watching her kick butt. It wouldn’t be the same if kicking butt was her only defining trait. Because I care so much about her I actually ended up crying just watching her do her thing, since it meant so much to see on the big screen. She is a protector of people, and she has fun doing it.

- I appreciate that they got the mohawk look in there without actually giving her a mohawk. Best of both worlds. Also loved seeing a couple of her other comic costumes when they were playing with the color schemes.

- Between the opening logo and the cameo, many tears were shed over Stan Lee. Thanks for everything, man.

- Thoroughly enjoyed the 90s music, aesthetic, and technology. The soundtrack was great, the outfits were great, and I especially loved that people had to just sit around and wait for something to load. Some 90s realism for you right there.

- Carol’s relationships with Maria and Monica are so so sweet, and so human. I’ll never get enough female friendships. Of course, I really adored them individually as well - Maria is wonderful and Monica is adorable. And the way Monica looks up to Carol is very nice foreshadowing for her future, if that’s the road they go down (I know there are plans for Kamala, so I guess we’ll see where Monica fits in).

- Goose! I’m still getting used to not calling him Chewie, but whatever. Precious alien cat by any other name is just as precious. I loved the special effects for the mouth.

- I liked seeing a younger, less hardened Nick Fury. He was very different, but not so different that you can’t believe it’s what he could have been like a couple of decades ago, and you do see familiar aspects in regard to him being a good spy and being useful in the action. Also, VERY RELATABLE cat enthusiast, which gains him a lot of points. Having Goose be the reason for his eye does detract a bit from the mystery and drama of it, but it’s not something I’m gonna get worked up about (I’ve spent far too much energy getting worked up over other movies, this is minor in comparison). What I AM gonna get worked up about is knowing that he’s going to get progressively more and more hardened by the world and I want to protect him.

- PHIL 💗💗💗 Ugh, it’s been too long since we’ve seen Coulson (in the MCU but also in general since AoS is taking five thousand years to come back). I loved seeing him pre-Iron Man, just the young rookie agent who hasn’t been through the wringer yet (I want to protect him, too). Just as sweet as ever and I love him ignoring orders to do what his gut knew was right - it shows why Fury has always trusted him so much, and it certainly foreshadows many instances in AoS. I’ve missed him.

- Very good call to have the Supreme Intelligence take on someone’s form rather than showcase the ugly giant green head. I also appreciated that they still managed to shoutout to the ugly giant green head with the tendrils wrapping around the person interfacing.

- Jude Law played a very interesting Yon-Rogg. Enjoyable without being particularly likable. All of the Kree were done well, I thought. Definitely nailed it as a warrior race who seem to have little care about the consequences of what they do, and yet simultaneously do look out for their own. Also interesting to see Korath and Ronan pre-GOTG. And it’s an unimportant detail, but I loved when you see soldiers with the sort of fin-like shape on the top of the helmet, since I’m very used to seeing that.

- Did NOT expect to ever in my life care about Skrulls. After EMH I’ve always been anxious about seeing them in live action, because who the heck can you trust? Well, uh, them, apparently. And while it’s a change, I’m definitely not going to complain, since this lowers the chances of having to go through a Secret Invasion arc at some future point (I mean, it could still happen, I’m sure there are still Skrulls who are genuinely awful, but it’s nice not to feel like I have to worry about having trust issues in the future). I’m so happy they didn’t kill Talos or his family. It’s very interesting to see an angle where the ones you view as the bad guys are just victims of a war that they don’t want to be part of, which happens all the time in real life, so why not have good eggs among the Skrulls?

- Okay, my ONE gripe is Mar-Vell. Turning him into a woman really wasn’t necessary. I’d seen a rumor about it, so I went into the movie lowering my expectations on that front, so I’m definitely not as disappointed as I would have been if it had come as a surprise to me, but still. I know why they did it, and it’s the same reason the comics recently retconned Carol’s history to make her mom a Kree so that her powers would be a natural part of her instead of something she gained from Mar-Vell’s DNA - a man isn’t allowed to be significant to a woman’s backstory now. There’s feminism and then there’s doing everything possible to erase men from an equation, and I find that to be over the top. But to Marvel’s credit, they pulled it off well enough that I’m not anywhere close to being as upset as I could be about it (they also pulled it off with the Ancient One and Ghost, but that’s different for me since I really didn’t have any strong knowledge of or connection to those characters beforehand which makes it easier to accept - I’ve known and cared about Mar-Vell for years, so it does sting a bit that now we’ll never get to see him as he was). Overall, kind of annoying and if I could change it I would, but I’m getting used to changes like this (and it’s still not as bad as other things I’ve gotten annoyed with them over), so I’ll accept it and deal.

- Not a gripe but a question - what’s the timeline with the Tesseract now? Howard Stark found it, and then it was in SHIELD custody ever since and right up to The Avengers, so... did Lawson steal it at some point? What’s our in-universe explanation for this one? If they gave one I didn’t catch it.

- THE AVENGERS INITIATIVE. Way to get my waterworks going. It made me so emotional that I’m not really even upset that Jan still doesn’t get to be the one to give the name (at this point, after everything that’s been done to remove her from the narrative of the origins of the team, I really can’t expect anything else and I’ve made my peace). I don’t know if it’s just the nostalgia factor, or the fact that Endgame is coming up, but that part just made me lose it.

- The credits scene, ohhhhh boy. I immediately registered that it was Steve by his posture and I lost my mind even further. I’m gonna miss the crap out of that guy. And then Nat showed up, and Rhodey and Bruce, and I just... agdjshsjsh. I’m NOT prepared for that to be the next movie and I’m definitely not prepared to see it in only a month. Don’t get me started on the pager. CHILLS. And seeing Carol show up in the compound asking about Fury... I’m fragile. Someone please hold me.

[sssuperbartola]

Excalibur - A Quest for Camelot: Inukag AU headcanon

Recently I’ve been drawn back to probably my favorite animated movie of all time (and when I say recently I mean literally last night at 3 am on a Saturday night) and from that moment on I just couldn’t help myself from rewatching it and relistening the beautiful soundtracks. Whilst I deeply appreciate the movie, I can not help myself but imagine my also favorite OTP in this setting. 

SO I decided to make some headcanons inspired by this story which holds a special place in my heart since my childhood. Here we go!

For anyone who is not familiar with this animated film, I first suggest you check it out, so as to have a better understanding of this AU and to enjoy it at its best!

Protagonists:

Kayley: Kagome

Garret: Inuyasha

Kayley’s mother: Mama Higurashi

Kayley’s father: Kagome’s Father ( I understand he never makes an official appearance in the series, tho if you check the movie, Kayley’s father’s own appearance last shortly)

Ruber: Naraku duh

the Griffin: Ah-Uhn or Juromaru ( by shaping the latter one into a more beast-like creature, similar to the griffin)

Devon and Cornwall: Hachi and Totosai ( I know that just one of them is an animal, and also that none of them resembles a dragon, but, again, they could be the results of a symbiotic union)

Garret’s falcon, Ayden: Kirara ( i was thinking about changing her powers; instead of turning into a bigger version of herself, she is able to deceive the enemy with her fur made of reflective material, just like the falcon in the original movie, tho I am not fully convinced)

King Arthur: Hojo 

Merlin: Kaede

NOTE: this is a scratch; I have created this headcanon characters based on my own representation; if anyone decides to make a fic or a fanart out of it, you have all the liberty to adjust/change/erase whichever detail/character you want.

With that being established, let’s move to the plot!

Kagome is the young daughter of Lord Higurashi, a knight who lives within the countryside of Camelot, the city where it’s told that King Hojo lives, together whit his allied the mage Kaede. Hojo was the only one man capable of extracting the mighty sword of Tenseiga from its rock pedestal, thus the only one worthy enough to wield the sword of Heavenly Rebirth and become King. Lord Higurashi is one of the Knights of the Round Table, the chosen group of the most trustworthy and chivalrous knights of the whole Kingdom. Kagome’s father loves to tell her all about the legend of the mythical sword and the birth of their home, as well as explaining to her the morals and ideals of being a knight.

King Hojo rallies all of his knights, so Lord Higurashi has to leave to Camelot, and so says goodbye to Mama Higurashi and his daughter. Kagome, being the curious and adventurous child she is, wants to come along but her father says he will take her with him when she will be younger (typical lie of a parent, but the tears couldn’t stop)

As soon as the meeting begins, one of the knights, Naraku, an outrageously greedy and evil man, angrily demands to be given more properties and more wealth because of his knight status. The king refuses and his other knights support him and accuse Naraku of being unworthy of his position. Naraku then proceeds to attack the King but Lord Higurashi and other knights go to the rescue; the knights are defeated but only one hit of the King’s sword defeats Naraku. Then Naraku decides to flee with the threat of coming back to be the new king of Camelot; unfortunately, Lord Higurashi is badly wounded and does not make it.

Kagome awaits the return of her father at home while training on her own with her wooden sword. As soon as she hears the calls of the knights, she immediately runs to them to greet her father, only to find out he has passed away. The funeral is held by the king himself, and Kagome is deeply hurt by the loss of his father.

Years pass, Kagome has become a young woman who still dreams of becoming a great knight despite being a woman, and follow the path of her father, but is stuck at home helping her mother with the household and the land.

One day,  the knights have gathered once again at Camelot’s castle, only to be attacked by a strange winged creature who takes Tenseiga from Hojo and flies away. The alarm is sent to all the Kingdom; Kagome hears the alarm too and tells her mother that she wants to go find the sword.

The same night, their home is attacked by some bandits, who later on turn out to be Naraku’s henchmen. Naraku has built up an army of magical mutant soldiers to conquer Tenseiga and so all Camelot. He sent his mythical charger, Ah-Uhn/Juromaru, to Hojo’s castle to steal Tenseiga, but before he could reach his owner, Kaede’s helper intercepts him and wound him so as to make him drop the sword into the Forbidden Forest.

Naraku planned on attacking Kagome’s family since he is still resentful of the day Kagome’s father stood his ground to protect the king and he wants revenge.

He starts to summon creatures in exchange for human sacrifices to build the immortal army he desires. While he’s busy, Mama Higurashi helps Kagome flee to Camelot where she would be safe. Kagome sneaks away from Naraku, when suddenly his winged charger, arrives with the news that he lost the sword into the Forbidden Forest.

Kagome, upon hearing this information, makes up her mind to go find Tenseiga by herself, but Naraku finds her fleeing and sends his soldiers to capture her.

She manages to escape them in the Forbidden Forest, where she encounters a man, who looks like a half-dog creature who fights the enemies and saves her.

His name is Inuyasha, he’s a half-demon who lives in the Forbidden Forest with his friend, Kirara, a magical cat demon able to fly and with a reflective fur which can blind the enemy. Since Inuyasha is blind, she helps him out the most when fighting, using her calls to warn him.

Kagome tells him about Tenseiga and asks for his help, but Inuyasha is a lone wolf, he lives as an outcast and he travels only by himself. Kagome is stubborn and keeps following him and eventually, Inuyasha gives in. 

Naraku finds out where Kagome is directed and follows her so that she can take him to the sword.

Kagome and Inuyasha stumble into the Dragon Kingdom and meet a strange creature, a two-headed dragon named Hachi and Totosai. They were born attached to each other and cannot stand one another, but overall, they’re friendly dragons who help Kagome and Inu to escape both the dragons and Naraku’s army. They, later on, join the group and became friends (sort of, lol)

While setting the camp for the night, Inuyasha and Kagome bicker about each other and Kagome mentions her father to Inuyasha, who then tells her that he knew her father when he was alive. When he was younger, Inuyasha was a stable boy in Camelot who wanted so bad to become a knight of the Round Table. However, the night Naraku stole Tenseiga, a fire broke in the stable sìand Inuyasha got hurt and lost his sight. Lord Higurashi was the one who found Inuyasha and helped him fighting on his own even if blind and taught him all he knew to help the boy. He is grateful for Kagome’s father’s help because if it wasn’t for him, he couldn’t be able to stand by himself in the Forest. But upon losing him, he couldn’t keep living in Camelot and fled to the Forest.

Kagome encourages him to still try and to never give up because that’s what her father would have wanted both for her and for Inuyasha, and that his valor is equal to the one of a true knight.

Inuyasha is taken aback from this girl: so stubborn and naive to the dangers outside, but so courageous and strong and determined.

Kagome, on the other hand, starts to see a kinder side in this gruff man

Inuyasha then tells her about his life in the woods, about Kirara, who protects him like a guardian from the sky, and all the techniques he learned by living like this. He teaches Kagome how fighting is not only a matter of seeing the enemy but is also about relying on what surrounds you all. Kagome is a bit of a klutz but she’s grateful for Inuyasha’s help and soon starts to realize she’s feeling more for the half-demon than what she thinks.

After the night, they proceed with their quest and finds some clues on where Tenseiga could be. They stumble upon an orc’s lair, which is where the sword might be. However, while Kagome still fights with Inu about how they have lost time by stopping from the night, they get tracked down by Naraku and Inuyasha gets hurt.

They manage to escape and find shelter in a cave; Inuyasha is badly wounded and Kagome is heartbroken at the sight because she thinks it’s all her fault for not having been too careful and a source of problems for him.

Inuyasha reassures her by saying that what’s a burden to him it’s not her, but his sight, and that she is very useful to him because, since she’s arrived in his life, she has been his light to his darkness, and that he’s been able to “see” thanks to her. He discovered more all around him with her by his side than by being alone.

Kagome is struck by his words and starts to fall more in love with him and finally shakes herself to find a cure for his wound, determined to help him no matter what

After Inu’s recover, they continue the journey and finally, they find the orc's lair: he has the sword. While the heroes try to take the sword from the dormant giant, Naraku appears to attack them by surprise, but the orc wakes up and Kagome and co. manages to flee. They leave behind Naraku and begin to go back to Camelot.

Kagome is enthusiastic but Inuyasha is heavy-hearted because he knows he has to let her go to save Camelot since he doesn’t have a place there like her. Kagome insists that he has to come with her, but Inu angrily refuses and turns back to the forest, heartbroken, because he thinks there would never be a place for him with Kagome.

Kagome is devastated but proceeds with her mission. As soon as she arrives in town, she gets kidnapped by Naraku’s soldiers; Naraku finally gets the sword and insert it in a mechanic arm he made to be able to wield it. There are explosions and the sky darkens, as the forces of evil start to gather upon Camelot, but Naraku manages to gain its power and goes to find Hojo.

Meanwhile, Hachi and Totosai try to make Inuyasha resonate with himself and encourage him to go to Kagome. While they do that, they see the explosions coming from the town, and Inuyasha runs.

Naraku reaches Hojo, still wounded by his last encounter with Ah-Uhn/Juromaru and is almost killed when Kagome find them and knock over Naraku. She manages to help Hojo, but she’s unarmed and face to face with a furious Naraku. Before he can strike a hit, Inuyasha appears and saves her, but Naraku is too powerful with the sword.

While trying to flee, they find themselves in the ancient yard of the Castel where the Tenseiga’s pedestal originally was. Kagome sees the pedestal pulsating as Naraku approaches and understands that the pedestal might help them. Naraku tries to kill them with the sword but they dash at the very last second and the sword collides in the sheat of the pedestal and Naraku is stuck. Tenseiga unleashes its true power and eliminates Naraku’s magic and kills him. 

With Naraku’s gone, everything goes back to its place: Hojo is not hurt anymore, the soldiers turn back to their human form, Mama Higurashi (who’s been held captive by Naraku’s men), is set free and the evil forces flee away. Hojo then sees Tenseiga and unleash the sword again, this time in the right hands.

Everyone goes back to their life and Hojo reward Kagome and Inuyasha by making them Knights of the Round table. It’s a huge celebration and they get married as official Knights and live happily ever after. THE END.

Hope you enjoy this hc as much as I do! Again, you have permission to change details if you like. ^-^

[nievefergie]

A Research Paper on ABC’s ‘General Hospital’

I have been watching soap operas since I was nine years old. Soap operas made me who I am today — they laid the foundation of my love for stories and real television beyond cartoons. Soap Operas are a foundational television genre in defining the television industry. Soap operas began on United States radio networks in the 1930 as the radio was being introduced to homes across the United States (Soukup). The early soap operas were fifteen minute daytime radio serials used to market products such as soap and other mainly feminine products, earning the name “soap opera”. The commercial sponsorship of soap operas is what formed the structure of advertiser-supported programming that we currently have on television today (Meyers). With the World War II over and television on the rise, broadcasting networks adapted their radio shows for television to meet the demands of the developing world (Soukup). The familiarity of soap operas from the radio is arguably said to have been one of the reasons audiences across the country were so easily able to change mediums from radio to television. By 1951, all three networks had their own soap operas. Into the 1960s and 1970s, more than 10 hours of network programming per day was dedicated to soaps and brought audience members over the 20 million mark. Once the 1980s arrived, soap opera ratings began to decline and more than ten soap operas have been cancelled since the 1990s, including iconic ABC soap operas like One Life to Live and All My Children in 2011. As of 2017, there are only four soap operas currently on broadcast television (Meyers). This is a shame. We don't value soap operas like we use to which is a loss to the culture of The United States because daytime soap operas focus on taboo social issues such as AIDS and abortion more than any other genre of television. Many people remember the iconic episode of Degrassi where a young girl gets an abortion. In fact, it was not aired in American during the early days of its airing in 2004. The N (a subsidiary channel of Viacom’s Nickelodeon now known as TeenNick) refused to air the controversial two-part episode until two and a half years later in August of 2006, when the actress ranked it her favorite episode and so the network had to air it (McDermott). But this wasn’t the first time abortion had been a featured storyline in United States television. The first abortion storyline on television took place on the soap opera Another World (Lane). This begs the question - If we talked about it all the way back then on daytime television, why can we still not talk about it today on primetime? Another World aired from 1964 to 1999 on NBC for 35 years. Pat Matthews’s boyfriend, Tom Baxter convinced Pat to have an illegal abortion in New York. Pat had the abortion and then developed an infection which left her able to have any children. Tom then revealed he never loved Pat, and she shot him. While on trial for murder, she fell in love with her attorney, John Randolph. In the 1970s, the writers of Another World had Pat have correctional surgery and she had twins (Newcomb). In 1973, Erica Kane (played by the iconic Susan Lucci) on All My Children had the first legal abortion on Daytime television before Roe vs. Wade was decided on. Erica had her abortion because she was a model and did not want to end her career. The storyline made headlines over its controversy of the reasoning to have an abortions — to maintain a career rather than due to health concerns. The storyline was perceived well by feminists and ratings rose from 8.2 to 9.1. These groundbreaking moments in women’s history proved daytime television dealt with complex social issues that were relevant to the mainly female audience and their sophistication (Jr., Kevin Mulcahy). In the 1990s, AIDS was still very underrepresented and stigmatized. Children were warned to stay away from people with HIV and AIDs and treated it like the common cold. Most people still didn’t even know all the facts about it or its symptoms — they just knew to be afraid. One of the first shows to ever feature a character with AIDS was Stone Cates in 1993. Stone was living with the iconic mobster, Sonny Corinthos, along with his brother, Jagger Cates. He then began dating Robin Scorpio. Their love story was called “epic” and “tragic”. Stone became sick with the flu and Robin took care of him. Robin, a volunteer at the hospital, asked Stone to get tested for HIV. Stone got tested a year prior and was HIV negative, so he did not take another test. Unfortunately, the test was only negative because he took it to close to exposure for the antibodies to come up. Robin and Stone then had unprotected sex. When Stone’s flu did not let up, he got tested and was diagnosed HIV positive. Once Stone was shot and got his blood on Robin’s hands, he confessed to her that he was HIV positive and his previous girlfriend had been a drug addict and could have possibly contracted HIV. Robin and Stone were tested again, where Robin tested negative and Stone was revealed to have AIDS. Later, Robin contracted the flu and tested HIV positive as well. When Stone died, he had gone blind, but asked Robin to stand by the window and the light. As Stone looked towards the light, he saw Robin one last time before he died. The actor, Michael Sutton, was nominated for an Daytime Emmy for his performance. Stone, although a very prominent character in General Hospital’s past, was only on the show for roughly two years from 1993-1995. Dr. Robin Scorpio-Drake, however, remains a very prominent recurring character on General Hospital to this very day since 1985. Robin’s storyline has been a wonderful example to those living with HIV that they can live healthy, fulfilling lives. Robin ends up getting married to Patrick Drake, having a healthy daughter named Emma and a son named Noah, and becoming a renowned doctor. Robin still often brings up Stone Cates, which is a rare occurrence for such a short lived character arc. Robin refers to Stone as her first love and the reason she became to pursue her career as a doctor. Robin’s story influenced thousands around America because thousands of people watched Robin grow up from a child into a teenager for almost ten years. The storyline of Robin becoming HIV positive was so important to viewers because she was a character no one wanted to see go — and uninformed people assumed HIV positive was a death sentence. Robin Scorpio-Drake’s legacy still lives on, giving hope to many others living with the disease. An after school special called Positive: A Journey Into AIDS aired December 7th, 1995 on ABC after General Hospital hosted by Kimberly McCullough and Michael Sutton, who played Robin and Stone respectively. The after school special was done as a documentary as the actors talked to real people living with HIV and AIDS to prepare them to do the part justice. The special also showed a press conference where a reporter asked Michael Sutton if he was nervous about being stereotyped as gay due to the abundance of gay and bisexual men affected by the disease. Sutton responded that he was heterosexual and comfortable with his sexual preferences, but remained challenged by the interviewer’s question. He spoke about how “pigeon-holed” AIDS and HIV are and that people want to stereotype it as a gay disease in order to downplay it (Harrington & Watkin). The after school special won two Emmys in 1996 (""ABC Afterschool Specials" Positive: A Journey Into AIDS (TV Episode 1995)"). This special was so important because it was a fictional weekly story talking about the making of the storyline and talking to people who truly had HIV and were living with it in order to better the fictional weekly material. The Nurses’ Ball was founded in 1994 as an event for the citizens of Port Charles to fundraise for HIV and AIDS awareness and research. The event stands as a catalyst for various different storylines because all the characters are put together in one place. The actors who portray citizens of Port Charles, New York perform song and dances. In 1996, once Robin was diagnosed with HIV, The Nurses Ball became personal for many characters, each donating money for the cause. Even beyond the characters in the show, the show itself has donated more than $109,000 to the nonprofit organization Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation since 1998. The Nurses Ball became a day to mark the nationwide Day of Compassion. In 1997, AIDS-infected actor Lee Mathis, who played a recurring lawyer on General Hospital, passed away weeks before the annual ball he helped stage. General Hospital then donated the royalties from Robin’s Diary, a book to go along with the storyline, and Nurse’s Ball t-shirts (Bidwell). In 2013 when the Nurses Ball was brought back on as a plot device, the soundtrack to each performance was released on iTunes. And I could not find any sources for this, but I’m sure that some of the royalties to toward the same AIDS foundations. Not only has General Hospital and other daytime serials spent their money and time from their small budget to portray complex social issues, but they also donate money to the outside real people who’s real life stories they are portraying. Celebrity Health Narratives and The Public Health notes, “Interracial romance, homosexuality, divorce, alcoholism, mental illness, unwanted pregnancy, abortion, impotence, addiction, incest, down syndrome, suicide, anorexia, HIV/AIDS, rape, adultery … you name it. Daytime has dealt with it. NO other form of entertainment as so effectively addressed social issues” (Christina S. Beck,, Stellina M.A. Chapman, Nathaniel Simmons, 135). Because soap operas air every weekday, they are able to tell their stories from a unique place of creating suspense everyday. Everyday there has to be a reason for you to turn in tomorrow. And every Friday there has to be a reason to turn in next week. They constantly have to create drama to fulfill the quota of airing almost 250 days out of the year. And to create drama, the writers of soap operas take real issues in society and bring them to the beloved characters we already know and love and grew up with. They use things like abortions and AIDS and HIV to create a lasting impact on characters who have a long history. For example, when Starr Manning from General Hospital lost her baby in a car crash, it was more painful because we as an audience had grown up watching Starr and the actress Kristen Alderson — she had become family. We watched her day in and day out 250 days out of the year. That’s more than I see my own family. So instead, soap opera families become family. That can’t happen on primetime television. Primetime shows are based around the formula of there being a problem that is solved for the most part within thirteen to twenty-one episodes. Soap operas, on the other hand, can have baby switches that last more than half the year. Soap operas air so often that storylines can be given proper timing — pregnant characters can be pregnant for nine whole months. Primetime television simply doesn’t have the time to create such a product based on interpersonal relationships rather than the actual drama itself. These issues have to be personalized and how do you personalize someone when their time on the air is so short? Soap operas, however, can get into the heart of personal-social problems. Personal- social problems “consist of extraordinary circumstances that affect individuals or individual units of society - usually, crises in relationships or health” (Thoman). These problems are about people, and only then become a societal problem after people begin to be affected. The AIDS epidemic being a prime example — people were not interested until it began to effect the people in their community that they cared about. Soap operas talk about the people and the people who are affected and are able to give their time and effort in portraying stories about people and their personal-social problems that audiences can relate to. In conclusion, it is a shame that we as an American society value primetime television more than daytime soap operas because the latter gets to talk about social injustice and real life issues such as AIDS and abortion to educate their viewers. I think that is is truly tragic that audiences are being aged out of daytime when back in their prime, the 1960s-1990s, people of all ages watched. College students were a main part of the age group — both males and females spend their time between classes glued to a television screen (Lemish). And it probably meant a lot more for young impressionable kids living with their parents stigmas about HIV to see teenagers living with the disease. When I started watching One Life to Live in fourth grade, it was because I fell in love with pregnant sixteen year old Starr Manning and her high school friends. I fell in love with the character Shane Morasco and the question of who his father was. I fell in love with the missing baby Sam storyline. It was the storylines about children and teens that attracted a young Nieve to tune in tomorrow. I truly believe that if soap operas put their time and effort into teenage characters again, they will see a resurgence of young fans, especially if the storylines have to do with the social climate of Trump’s United States. Society is begging for a progressive genre on television, and I hope that they soon learn that it has been here all along, waiting, during the day rather than at night.

[corancoranthemagicalman]

💜🌻💜🌻💜🌻💜

My grandpa also has great disdain for recent music... he doesn't like anything after the 50s. So I think its funny that he likes Shrek and he'll watch it any time its on tv. I'm not familiar with Top Gun's soundtrack. I'll have to give Take My Breath Away a listen!

My dad words at a university and he used to bring me and my siblings to the international dinners he'd host. Students would always as me what I was studying and eventually when people started talking to me I'd introduce myself by saying I was my dad's daughter and that I was in high school. I'm not sure if any of them were ever hitting on me bc I was, and still am, pretty oblivious to flirtations. It sucks that you had to tell guys you were in high school to get them to back off. Glad to hear they did, though.

I used to be a hufflepuff when I was in university! I re-took the quiz twice about a year ago and was shocked to get Slytherin both times but I've embraced it. Most of the qualities are very positive except for cunning and I don't think that describes me at all.

I totally get that. I had a similar experience meeting my best friend at university. We clicked really fast and even after graduating I still hang out with her once a week. (The teenage drama movie life thing sounds awful but in high school I was definitely also on the outside of my friend circle) It sure has been hard recently to maintain friendships but I have more good friends right now than at any other point in my life.

I'll take your word for it that I give off painting/crocheting vibes! And I agree with you on the winter v. summer thing. Summer is my least favorite season. Partly because of how humid it is in the summer here.

My group just finished a campaign a few months ago and I played a gnome cleric. They started a new campaign but I felt like I needed a break bc the sessions are long and intense even though I really enjoy it. What class do you play?

The sweater is a commission actually! In university I led a crochet for beginners group and there were a few people that just couldn't ever get the hang of it :(

Did I see that you weren't feeling well today? If so I'm so sorry to hear that! I hope tomorrow treats you better 💜 (also sorry this is an entire novel I haven't spoken to anyone all day so I guess you're getting it all)

-🐧🌻

This got SO LONG so bestie I am replying undercut to you. If anyone wants to see me slowly bromance 🐧🌻 anon then read away lol.

I am envisioning your grandpa dancing to Smash Mouth and it brings me great joy. Oh, man, Top Gun has an AMAZING soundtrack. Danger Zone is a classic, but Take My Breath Away is such a romantic song. Please let me know what you think!!!

Aw, that's sort of wholesome though. I'd get that from the older ladies at my church lol. "What are you studying?"/"Algebra, usually." Which was a LAUGH. And to be honest, I'm a flirty person by nature. I think flirting is fun. But to be crude for a moment (and apologies), most of their flirting would be staring at my breasts. :/ But it was SUCH HIGH HOPES when they backed off. Like YES you GO performing the bare minimum by not being attracted to children. Bravo. But really, I've never had a dude flirt with me who wouldn't back off after me shutting them down, minor or not. So I'm very fortunate in that way. But I too can be fairly oblivious? First time I got asked out, I thought he was asking me to hang out with the friend group. Then he was like "... like a date." After I had asked where did we all wanna meet up. Lmaooooo.

We do change as we grow. I've been taking some personality quizzes for school in regards to the PMAI (Pearson-Marr Archetype Indicator) especially and it actually talks a lot about how at different times in your life you'll display different archetypes depending on what you're having to adapt to or overcome. So I think the same is true for Houses. What's peculiar to me about Houses is that when I was younger I was under the understanding that you were your House, right? But the older I got, I prescribe to the "your House is what you admire" type theology. So I might not embody a Hufflepuff in every action, but a Hufflepuff is what I aspire to be. I admire loyalty above all else. Loyalty and kindness. I might not always BE kind. I'm far too hot-headed to be the embodiment of a Hufflepuff, but I admire gentle souls the most. Ergo, Hufflepuff. I've always hated how Slytherins were associated with negative sounding modifiers. Cunning IS a negative word since by definition it's about achieving one's goals through deceit. But I dont understand why being quick-witted and clever couldn't have been the heavier association. I think Ravenclaw's are booksmart and Slytherin are streetsmart. Gryffindors are street tough, while Hufflepuff are ready to roll. Does that make sense? I think the whole cunning/silver-tongued thing was the stupidest idea, because then you are saying narratively that Slytherin IS the evil House. Why have the House at all? On a meta level, Harry begging not to be considered part of the Dark Side despite the actual Voldemort growing inside of him is symbolic in his rejection of Slytherin, but when you go on to merchandise and tell children you are a Slytherin; you're telling children they're evil. They're gonna be evil. And not in "this is the House for brats" way. In the "you either die a villain or live long enough to run away." insane. My point is they're OUR Houses now and I'm saying I think you're clever and quick-witted, and that's pretty Slytherin to me.

I'm very blessed to have her and I'm glad other people get to experience that too. I think everyone is deserving of deep connections like that. And I'm glad to hear you taking time for yourself away from dnd. Our sessions can be exhausting too, but half of my party is my literal blood family and the other half is adopted practically so we usually end up hanging out for half of the session. Makes it way less intense. That sounds like it was a fun character!! I haven't gotten the pleasure to play clerics all that much. Right now I'm in three different campaigns that alternate each week. In one I'm a druid, and that's our 5th edition campaign. I'm playing the new Wildfire from Tasha's and I haven't gotten to flex out the Wildfire Spirit yet, I am having fun. I've got a wolf who is using the sidekick mechanic in that game and he's so much fun to play too. In the other two games, those are 4th editions (the edition I grew up on and learned how to play) and in those I am a ranger and a class known as a Warden. Sort of a fighter/druid class. And the druid and the ranger are both shifters, and the warden is my half-orc. I'm always happy to talk dnd lol. Which cleric were you? Trickster Domain?

Also EWWW HUMIDITY I HATE IT. :(((

Dude, I WISH I could crochet. My fingers are so big tho, bestie. Makes it hard to do anything dexterous.

I'm already feeling much better :)) unfortunately not in time not to bomb half of my project. Whoops. But I'm blaming Glass Shark. He got me sick.

Dont apologize for the novel!! As you can see I'm capable of replying with a novel in turn lol. I hope you had a wonderful day today and that this next week treats you well!! Thank you for the well wishing 💕🌺💕🌺💕🌺💕🌺💕🌺💕

[barre2barresg]

Barre 2 Barre SG Interview Series: Camilla (Part XIII)

This week, we interview one of our first and most dedicated Barre 2 Barre clients. Camilla has religiously attended class, participated in studio events and challenges, and been a loving, supportive, and enthusiastic member of our Barre 2 Barre community since the beginning, so we thought it would be lovely to hear about and share her barre journey!

1) How were you introduced to barre and what was your first barre class like?

The Singapore branch of Barre 2 Barre first opened its doors a few months after I relocated to Singapore from Europe. A friend brought me to the charming studio in Hongkong Street - as I didn't really know anyone or anything, I was eager to try out most things she suggested. Besides, I was intrigued by her promise of a boutique concept offering equal measures of sweat and community vibes. I did ballet as a child, and for the past fifteen years or so, I've regularly attended yoga and pilates classes, so what my friend explained as a blend of the three seemed like an altogether familiar and alluring idea. What I hadn't expected was just how hooked I'd get during that first class. All of it just felt so right: the bright, clean and cosy space, the friendly-looking girls on the mats around me, the focus on alignment and keeping a good posture, those minuscule, precise movements of most muscles in the body, the patience and endurance required from the intense sets, the extremely satisfying stretches - not to mention the phenomenal soundtrack personally picked out by the smiling, very present teacher, who already knew my name - and mentioned it often throughout class in order to correct me, haha. Her instructions were of a guiding, physiologically founded nature - so far from the shrill commands I associated with conventional gyms. Up until this point, most fitness classes I'd ever attended had always felt impersonally demanding, noisily claustrophobic, not really for me. This, on the other hand, immediately felt energising. I was more present than I'd ever been in an exercise class setting. I was fascinated by how, by concentrating my thoughts and one body part at a time, I managed to work my entire body in one surprisingly short hour full of feminine balletic features, deep yogic harmony and some of my favourite tunes at the time (I think I asked the teacher for her playlist afterwards!). Needless to say, I came back the day after again, and the next day after that, and the next...

2) What does barre do for you physically? What keeps you returning to class regularly?

The weights we use at barre are small (1-2kg) but when you stretch your arms out and make tiny circles with those weights and move them up and down or rotate them ever so slightly for a few minutes, you start to feel the burn - and become aware of just how many muscles live in your arms, shoulders, back! I love the intense core work with a strap wrapped around the barre, the romantic aspect of feeling like a ballerina when releve’ing my feet whilst touching the barre with elegantly stretched arms, having my legs and butt challenged with exercises involving a soft ball, just as the trampoline classes always make me giggle from start to finish... Most of all, I like the focus of barre on how you can train your body with very few props; simply by being mindful and patient in your poses. I have, or had, this tendency to always slouch when sitting, walking and running. The barre focus on alignment and keeping a good posture straightens out my back and strengthens me beyond class. I love it when the teachers make you imagine a flow of energy running through your aligned body. Ahilya always does this blissful body scan at the end of class, where she makes you imagine that you've got warm honey flowing around in your muscles, bones and joints. That mindful element. When I'm in class, I think of nothing else, and I think that's what exercise is about: finding that or those activities which does that for you. At night, my boyfriend always asks me, 'what is your favourite moment from today?' - or, actually, he stopped doing that over a year ago, because my answer always had something to do with barre, haha. The exercises, the general ambiance, an insight after class, interacting with fellow barrerinas. I like the athletic shape that barre has put me in, but what's addictive about it goes far beyond that. Somehow, unless I'm travelling or sick, I always have time for a weekday class (or two; in one Christmas challenge, I believe it was four!). When travelling, I'll usually check out classes at local barre studios, and as such, I've met wonderfully dedicated teachers and different types of methods and styles in Hong Kong (also Barre 2 Barre), Melbourne, Sydney, Byron Bay, Santa Barbara, London and Copenhagen. Conveniently, the Singapore studio is just around the corner from my office, which makes it easy to pop in for a morning, noon or after-work class, and, miraculously, studios are always just around the corner from wherever I am staying when abroad. ;)

3) You met with an unfortunate knee injury last year. What was your experience with barre during and after it?

Now, a year after my ACL was reconstructed and both my meniscus repaired, the teachers still ask my regularly how my knee is doing - so sweet and thoughtful. A few months after the surgery, when I could start attending classes again, they kindly modified exercises to slowly get me back on track. With weeks of complete immobility, the shape that barre had put me in during the preceding nine months was definitely the reason why my quad didn't disappear completely; why the muscles and ligaments in my injured knee, as well as in my entire legs and hips, were so strong and flexible and I got back in the swing of things so quickly again. It was also a great form of rehab due to all of the careful and precise holistic exercises, which were very much in line with what my physiotherapist prescribed. Also, it was the thing I missed the most in my time on the couch covered in ice and painkillers because of the great general workout, atmosphere and people. 

4) You're a long-time committed student at Barre 2 Barre. What are some of your recent discoveries this far into your barre journey? Are there things you've learned or experienced in barre that apply to other areas of your life? 

After nearly two years, every class is still super tough and rewarding. There is always something new to learn and something familiar to perfect even further. Sit down one inch lower (in a broad wide second position with your feet and knees perfectly aligned towards 10 and 2 o'clock), come up one inch higher on your toes (distribute your weight equally on all toes!), look straight (when you're busy circling, pulsing and balancing various parts of your body simultaneously), hold your arms stick-straight and keep them in your peripheral vision (with those 'light' weights in your hands), lengthen your tailbone down towards your feet (no arching of the back!), square your hips down towards the mat (imagine your hips are headlights!). The barre 2 barre teachers are all very creative, observant and good at giving individual feedback - via verbal cues, touching you lightly or chatting to you after class. As for Jess, who manages the studio, I'm constantly inspired by how passionate she is - always incorporating new exercises into her routines while simultaneously organising cool events and collaborations with everything from local charities to creative startups to large corporations. I first met one of my best Singaporean friends when she was displaying her sustainable fashion designs in the studio (I won one of her beautiful dresses in a barre challenge, haha!). Recently, I've realised that I would like to take it to the next stage, explore my fascination with barre on a deeper level, in terms of the physiological workings and benefits of each exercise as well as sharing that knowledge with others, and have signed up for Barre 2 Barre's upcoming BarreAmped Certification in Thailand. So excited about that! Whether it's the alignment of body and mind, or the idea of immersing yourself in something that's good for you, or spending time with people who energise and inspire you, or simply making an effort: there are so many beneficial aspects to barre that most certainly apply to my life in general - both privately and professionally. The fact that you can experience all of that whilst wearing comfy yoga pants and listening to nice music are just icing on the cake.

5) Who would you recommend barre to? 

Absolutely everyone - which I also do! I've dragged my boyfriend (multiple times!), friends living in Singapore as well as friends visiting from Europe and Australia along, and every single time, I've enjoyed seeing how surprised each and everyone is at how incredibly hard the classes are. Most of them find it fun and fascinating as well, fortunately. With class levels ranging from basic to advanced and some focussing particularly on yoga, pilates, cardio, dance or firing up your big muscle groups, there's something to most tastes. As such, I would recommend it to anyone who cares about their wellbeing - who wishes to immerse her-/himself in a very mindful way of exercising and stretching her/his entire body. It's suitable for most ages and fitness levels, and especially if you have issues with one or more areas of your body. There always are modifications available in case you are recovering from injuries, pregnant or otherwise in need of special attention. 

6) What else is part of your fitness, nutrition, or wellness routine/philosophy to support your barre practice? 

I like running and swimming as cardio supplements allowing me to relax my mind, see sights when abroad and really feel the benefits of the strength obtained through barre, just as I bike and walk everywhere possible (and sometimes impossible (I'm looking at you, bike-lane-less roads of central Singapore!)). I aspire to keep exercise as the opposite of a stressfactor, something that doesn't require too much planning, is a natural part of my day and keeps me equilibrated rather than exhausted. On weekends, my boyfriend and I will go kayaking or do yoga at a local studio or at home, whether it's in Singapore or elsewhere. Lately, we got a basketball, which we play around with at the local community centre. I'm not any good, but it's fun and it does help training my sense of precision, endurance and balance. In general, what's important to me when it comes to wellbeing is trying to maintain a sense of harmony by listening to my body and how much, how, when and why it wants to move, stretch and be nourished. We subscribe to a weekly veggie box from an organic farm in Indonesia, which 'forces' us to cook healthy vegetarian meals several times a week. As we travel and in general eat out a lot, it's important to us to at least know what we put into our bodies when we can - and know where the ingredients came from and what effort goes into preparing them. Even when eating out, I try to steer clear of synthetic or overly processed or fatty foods and instead stick to lean options of sustainably grown veggies, grains and fruits or meat from animals I think have led a happy life. They're mutually reinforcing: you don't want to come to barre feeling heavy, bloated or dizzy because you haven't been eating well, just as it would be a shame to ruin the great feeling that barre gives you by filling your body with bad stuff. I'm not a fanatic though: I do like to drink wine after work or at the weekends - or a few cocktails at the monthly Barre 2 Bar events. Lastly, since moving to Asia, I go for reflexology at least once a week - I've been to at least 20 different parlours all over Singapore, and find it quite extraordinary what they can do... pamper my feet between all of the renovation, flexing and pointing they're exposed to at barre, haha. 

[0writerchick0]

Lemon Lolli

When two men brandishing automatic rifles, burst through the door to Ramsay Bolton’s hideout, a dozen girls scattered. All the ones that could, that is. Some were so incapacitated by his “tough love,” that walking wasn’t possible anymore.

Ramsay’s men, caught unarmed in various states of undress, surrendered quickly, their fingers pointing to a heavy metal door on the other side of the room. It had a thick metal bar on the outside indicating that he meant to keep something in rather than out.

The intruders glanced down at their phones reading the next directive. Their eyes locked for a second in understanding before turning to shoot each man with target precision, neither uttering a word as they did.

It was the crack of shots fired that pulled Bolton from his special room, rather than the sound of his women screaming. Desperate women wailing had become the soundtrack to his dwelling, so much so that it was fitting he had become deaf to it.

He emerged, bare chested and bloody, a sweaty sheen covered his pasty-white flesh. His smile was maniacal as he surveyed the room. “Well, I guess I’m going to have to get some more men.”

“Don’t trouble yourself,” Littlefinger said as he crossed the threshold. He moved effortlessly over the carnage beneath his feet, not a drop of it staining his designer shoes. His hands remained in the pockets of his rich charcoal suit, the glint of his platinum chain accenting both the blazer as well as the silver of his temples. Littlefinger was no new player in this game of supply and demand. Nor was he to the expenses paid.

“Ah, Baelish. How have you been since we last saw each other?” Ramsay kept the gun he was holding dropped to his side. He was too stupid to recognize the need to pull it, foolishly certain that it wouldn’t come to that.

Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish pulled a lollipop from his pocket, smiling as he asked, “Since you last saw me, or since I last saw you?”

“Oh,” Ramsay pointed at him with his free hand, open-mouthed amusement on his face. “You’ve been watching me!”

“I hate bad investments. Really, I do. They haunt me,” Littlefinger sucked on the lollipop.

Ramsay shrugged. “Look, about the boats–”

A wave of his hand dismissed the words before they were uttered. “I don’t care about the boats. Just the girls, you haven’t been very good to them, have you?”

Ramsay laughed and gestured around the room. “You would do all this, kill my men, invade my love nest, over a bunch of whores?”

“I must mitigate my losses,” Petyr explained as he eyed a blonde girl by the window, and twirled the stick in his mouth.

Ramsay scoffed, “What’s a whore’s worth compared to that of a shipment?”

“Whores rarely sink.” The edge to Littlefinger’s sentiment would have blanched the strongest of men. Unfortunately, the neurons in Ramsay’s brain did not appear to fire in the direction of common sense.

“Clever,” Ramsay took a step forward, his grin so forced that it looked genuinely painful to maintain. He had just opened his mouth to continue when Littlefinger raised his hand. It didn’t appear to be towards anyone in particular, and yet Oswell and Brune acted upon the gesture immediately. The seasoned gunmen were subtle in their movements. Ramsay never had warning to raise his pistol in defense before two bullets tore through his skull.

Oswell turned swiftly to evacuate the girls. The man had been instructed ahead of time to load them into a van that would take them to the good doctor’s. Rumor of Ramsay warned that they would need patching up before they could fall back into the working rotation. “Brune,” Littlefinger intoned.

With long, swift strides, his man approached on his right. He opened the door cautiously, peering inside. His voice was gruff and his explanation minimal, “One woman.”

What threat was one woman? Littlefinger crunched the remainder of the hard candy from the stick and dropped it on the Bolton body he stepped over.

She was tied to the bed by her wrists and ankles. He sighed at the sight. For a man who claimed he had such singular tastes, Ramsay certainly could have been more original. As a purveyor of beauty and discretion, both equally important, Littlefinger accommodated all manner of inclinations. All desires being valid to a man with a full purse. He would have supplied him with the appropriate women to the job. Instead Ramsay had the audacity to steal them at random.

People didn’t steal from Littlefinger. Ever. Not even with the promise of imports and exports to distract. It was moronic to think his focus could be manipulated, though it was always those who suffered a bloodlust as Ramsay had, that so often lacked enough of it flowing in their brain.

Gods she was filthy. A dirty film on her limbs, caking in every bend, her hair a tangled matted mess hiding her face. She was motionless, and did not flinch as he pulled the knife from his pocket, using it to lift greasy copper locks out of the way.

He peered down at the curve of her jaw, the cave in her cheeks, and the chap of her lips. In that moment he could discern three things: She’d been there for quite a while. She seemed familiar to him, yet he did not know her personally. And she was breathing, however shallowly.

She was either unconscious or acting. He pulled the knife away and played wise. “You can stop pretending; you aren’t fooling me.”

No response, no gentle stir of her features, no subtle slide of pupil beneath closed lid. She may have truly been knocked unconscious. By the look of her bruises, she’d definitely been hit hard enough. His eyes scanned the length of her again, taking in all the colorful markings and abrasions. It would be much more efficient to poke the arch of her foot with his blade, answer the question once and for all. However, the idea that she was playing dead, committed to her ruse, excited him and he found himself wanting that to be the case. Though his blade lingered down her calf, it did not pierce her heel, but instead severed her constraints. The rope made a satisfying snapping sound as it broke.

In an instant, she took flight, her tattered dress and ratty mop a blur as she made for the door. Brune didn’t need instruction to know he was to stop her, neither did he need direction to bring her closer for a better look.

She struggled in his arms, biting and spitting to be free. When her hair whipped to the side and she opened her eyes to scowl at him Petyr was immediately arrested by the vibrant blue irises that accused him. So crisp and cool were they, that he felt his heart speed up and his cock shamelessly stir. Who was she to possess such eyes, such effect? She was Ramsay’s broken toy, nothing more. Littlefinger swallowed before he said, “You’re not one of mine.”

“I am no one’s,” she bared her teeth, snarling her hatred for him, for Ramsay, for what she didn’t know and what she knew all too well.

His cheek twitched at her declaration, admirable as it was. “I’ll make you the same offer I’ve made all of my girls.” He pulled a wad of hundreds out of his wallet and held it in the air, “Employment.” He set the folded wad on the bed before he unholstered his gun and set it on the mattress. “Or, a way out.”

She breathed heavy in Brune’s grip, her eyes darting between the two options. “Gun.”

Petyr turned his head slowly, studying her more closely. No one picked death. No one. His hand hovered over the gun, ready to give her what she opted for. His palm and the metal of the pistol appeared to be of the same charge, repelling each other, not allowing his hand to close over it. Fuck.

Frustrated, he reached in his pocket and grabbed another lollipop. “Want one?”

She chuckled in a cracked voice that begged for water and electrolytes. “Is that how you get girls? Offer them lollipops?”

Petyr felt his cheeks dimple in pleasure at her snark. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d smiled so genuinely, and certainly not because of a woman. He teased back, “Well, the promise of a puppy doesn’t work as well as it used to.”

Her eyes widened and her grin grew to the point that her lips bled in places. It was obvious she was suffering for this moment of happiness, and it only made his dimples deepen further.

“You got any lemon?” She asked without a care in the world, as if she wasn’t on death’s door.

He rifled through his pockets, set on finding her a lemon lollipop, a flavor he would normally push aside in favor of another. “Afraid, I don’t have any.”

“What a shame,” her voice drawled, almost bored. In such a precarious position, one would think she’d be a bit less nonchalant. Perhaps Ramsay had beaten the sense of survival out of her? After all, she had chosen death over life.

Petyr tucked the money away and rose from the bed, pistol in hand. His expressionless mask remained firmly in place.  

She gulped, “I guess we’re all done with the niceties now?” She shifted in Brune’s grip, the blue flame in her eyes boring into Petyr’s. “Go ahead and finish me, Littlefinger.”

There was something about her, those blue eyes, that hair, her unwillingness to yield. The words were out of his mouth before he had a moment to consider them, “Call me Petyr.”

She blinked at him, confused. Her head turned, trying to figure him.

Good luck, sweetling.

People hadn’t been able to truly see him since he was a boy. Not since–Cat. His lips tightened and his brows furrowed as he studied the face before him. Under all the dirt and grime, was the perfect mirror of his childhood love. Things had changed since then, vastly.

He would never have allowed Catelyn Stark to see him this way, the hardened crime lord who had climbed through the chaos. She was a honorable woman that would keep to the opposite side of the street of a man like him, should she ever learn the depths to which he’d risen.

He flicked his gaze to the shell of a woman in front of him. So like her, and yet so different. She had her beauty and her bravery, but she possessed something more. This girl had lived in the darkness of another, seen what men like him were capable of. She chose death, no silly naivety telling her that there was any other option available to her. Idiots tried to seduce their way out of slavery or death, this woman tried to outsmart him with her death performace and then quickly regrouped. Petyr admired her flexibility and quick thinking, similar traits in himself that had saved his life more than a couple of times.

He addressed Brune as if she hadn’t said anything, “Put her in my car with me.”

She scowled, “I chose death!”

“And I vetoed your vote,” Petyr smiled, unwrapping the lollipop.

Her laugh was sick and hopeless. “Great. I’m being kept alive so I can be Littlefinger’s personal whore.”

He popped the candy in his mouth, savoring the sparkle of her eyes. “I told you, call me Petyr.”

“Fuck you!” She screeched, kicking and biting at Brune as he dragged her away.

Petyr sighed happily at the prospect of winning his love all over again. Version 2.0. She would be his, but not as his whore. He planned to win her affection, if for no other reason then that he did so love to win. The fire in her promised a much greater reward than the fantasy of Catelyn had all those years ago.

He was careful to mind his step over Ramsay’s discarded body as he made for the exit. A quick look at the wrapper in his pocket had him searching the candy company in his phone. It wasn’t until he got to the front door that the ringing stopped and the customer service representative answered.

“Do you make this lollipop in a lemon flavor?” He asked, Brune opening the car door for him.

“Yes,” the disembodied voice confirmed.

“Great,” he smiled as he climbed in to sit beside the angry banshee next to him. “I’d like to place an order for three boxes.”

She flew across the seat at him, ready to claw him to death for not allowing her a quick end. With the phone in the crook of his neck, he caught her arms and restrained her against him. “Hush, my love. I’m on the phone,” he smiled into her ear. He looked up at Brune again, “Tell Olyvar to have a room readied for her at the house.”

[syrupwit]

Letter for Multifandom Horror Exchange

Hello there, and welcome to my letter for Multifandom Horror Exchange 2020! I appreciate that you’ve taken the time to read this letter. I hope that it will provide you with clarification, inspiration, or at the very least a bit of entertainment. Although I’ve written more for some sections and less for others, rest assured that I would be super excited to receive a gift for any of my requested fandoms, characters, pairings, or horror types.

Please see the table of contents below:

Likes

DNWs

Fandom: House (1977)

Fandom: Invader Zim

Fandom: The Magnus Archives

Fandom: Too Many Cooks (2014 Short)

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Likes

A long list of my general likes can be found here.

When it comes to horror, I tend to prefer psychological explorations, suspense, and disturbing implications to explicit gore and violence, although I’m definitely not opposed to more graphic content. I love ominous atmospheres; building, lingering senses of dread; and landscapes and environments that interact with and express the characters’ fears, anxieties, and griefs. I especially love horror with supernatural elements -- ghosts and hauntings, monsters and cryptids, eldritch deities and their cultists, magic and magic users. I’m also a big fan of cosmic horror, and the sense that characters are pitted against amoral, indifferent forces that might not even recognize them as significant enough to be hostile towards but that are nonetheless damaging to human life. Additionally, I really like dark comedy, gallows humor, and horror with a more comedic / parodic / satirical slant.

While I typically prefer hopeful or bittersweet endings for my requested characters and pairings, please go for it if you have a great idea with a darker ending.

Some horror media I have really enjoyed but am not requesting for this exchange include the short stories of M. R. James and JS Le Fanu; William Hope Hodgson’s Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder stories; Clark Ashton Smith’s Averoigne stories; “The Night Ocean” by R. H. Barlow and H. P. Lovecraft; the connected-ish novels The Red Tree and The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan; the parody / pastiche novels of A. Lee Martinez; My Best Friend’s Exorcism by Grady Hendrix; and the movies Suspiria (1977 version -- haven’t seen the new one yet), The Others (2001), and Kwaidan (1965). Also I really love Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace. I don’t know if listing all that helps, but there it is.

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Do Not Want (DNW)

Underage sex

Character or ship bashing

Hate speech or in-depth onscreen depictions / discussions of bigotry

Harm to pet animals, or any graphic animal harm (fighting a giant evil wolf or something is fine)

Characters having consensual sex when they are not attracted to each other

Noncon that goes against a character’s in-fic orientation

Bestiality

Scat

Necrophilia

Sexual activity involving worms / spiders / insects

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FANDOM: HOUSE (1977)

Requested Fanwork Types: Fic -- Not Emphasizing Sexual Content

Requested Horror Types: Dark Fantasy, Folk Horror, Gothic Horror, Psychological Horror

Requested Characters/Pairings: Auntie & Gorgeous, Auntie/Fantasy, Kung Fu/Sweet

If you are not yet familiar with House or are looking for a refresher, this fanvid by AbsoluteDestiny hits most of the high points: Rock Lobster [YouTube link]. The basic plot is that seven girls visit their classmate’s aunt in the countryside for summer vacation. While initially charmed by the aunt’s quaint manners and old-fashioned home, they soon discover that something is very wrong. Things get weirder and weirder as more of the girls disappear and the aunt’s past is revealed. Innovative art design, a bangin soundtrack, and a kaleidoscopic array of surreal, absurd events and images make this film a memorable, exuberantly strange experience. Also, the aunt is hot, and you can quote me on that.

*** PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FOLLOWING RELATIONSHIP SECTIONS INCLUDE MINOR SPOILERS ***

Relationship: Auntie & Gorgeous

I’d love to learn more about the dynamic between Gorgeous and her aunt. How long had Auntie planned to prey on / possess her? Did they truly have any interactions while Auntie was alive? After the film’s ending, is there anything next for them? I’m a big fan of Subtle Menace and Vague Yet Troubling Implications, so scenes of Gorgeous going about her daily life while receiving odd letters from her aunt absolutely would not go amiss. And what’s up with the cat?

Relationship: Auntie/Fantasy

The postwar generation gap and feelings of alienation between younger/older people are major themes in House. I think this finds a lot of expression in the relationship between Auntie and Fantasy, Gorgeous’s best friend who is prone to daydreaming and ill-equipped to grasp the full tragedy of Auntie’s life. One of the concluding scenes of the film involves a possessed-by-Auntie Gorgeous holding Fantasy’s head to her breast and petting her hair while she cries; I guess that’s just very interesting to me. I love UST and ominousness and weirdness, so please go for it if you have an idea that involves any of those things for this pairing. 

Relationship: Kung Fu/Sweet

These two are just cute, and a little sad. Kung Fu is the action girl of the friend group, and Sweet is a gentle, polite girl who Kung Fu feels she has to protect. Unfortunately Sweet gets attacked by futons and trapped in a clock, and then Kung Fu is eaten by a lamp. What might happen in an AU where they survive, or where the house consumes the courses of its meal in a different order? Is there a “wandering through dreamland” element to the nightmare dimension where they’re trapped at the end? Perhaps the body horror from the movie is played straight, and Kung Fu’s head and legs continue to move independently of each other though they share the same mind (agh). Who knows?

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FANDOM: INVADER ZIM

Requested Fanwork Types: Fic -- Not Emphasizing Sexual Content, Fic -- Emphasizing Sexual Content

Requested Horror Types: Institutional Horror, Paranormal Horror, Science-Fiction Horror, Survival Horror

Requested Characters/Pairings: Dib/Zim

Like a good chunk of people in the fandom right now, I had my teenage love for this show revived by last summer’s movie. There’s something irresistible to me about the blend of snappy comedy, unapologetic pessimism, and hints of a more complicated universe that we just barely get to see. For this exchange, I’d be thrilled with a story that retains the lighter elements of canon, as well as something that explores a darker take on things. I haven’t read any of the comics yet, but feel free to include stuff from them if you like.

Relationship: Dib/Zim

Apparently this is my OTP. Yeah, I don’t know either. The enemies to frenemies or lovers dynamic is one of my favorites. I particularly enjoy these two as outcasts who fruitlessly seek validation from indifferent or hostile societies via their rivalry when they’re the ones who really understand each other best. I prefer their relationship to end up a positive thing for both of them, if with some rough territory along the way. Like a good chunk of ZADR fandom, I prefer this ship aged up to late teens or young adults, but feel free to write them canon age as well -- just no underage sex, please.

For each type of horror I’ve requested, here are some ideas I have:

Institutional Horror: The world of Invader Zim is full of unpleasant and draconian institutions -- for example, the Crazy House for Boys, or Dib’s school with its underground classrooms. Irken society itself is one big dystopian horror-fest on pretty much all levels.

Paranormal Horror: The supernatural is another canonical feature of this universe. <3 Does Dib get in over his head investigating strange phenomena? Does he raise the walking dead again, get grounded for it, and have no choice but to stand by helplessly while his zombies overtake the city? Does Zim acquire an unwanted tenant in the form of a ghost, or a mysterious artifact that promises to grant all his wishes? There are so many options.

Science-Fiction Horror: Haunted ships and abandoned research stations, the yawning emptiness of deep space, eldritch monsters beyond the stars... Dib and Zim can encounter all of these and pretend not to be scared out of their wits by them. Also! Killer robots, sentient computer viruses, experiments gone wrong? Anything you like.  

Survival Horror: These two would make great survival horror protagonists on their own, but I also really like the idea of them being thrown in a situation where they have to work together to make it out. I really like the idea of Zim and Dib being pitted against a more serious antagonist or challenge than those they encounter in canon, and of them realizing that, despite the many canonical instances of mutual attempted murder, neither actually wants the other to die. (And then getting out with a new understanding of their importance to each other! Or ending miserably. Either way.)

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FANDOM: THE MAGNUS ARCHIVES

Requested Fanwork Types: Fic -- Not Emphasizing Sexual Content, Fic -- Emphasizing Sexual Content

Requested Horror Types: Cosmic/Lovecraftian Horror, Folk Horror, Institutional Horror, Paranormal Horror, Religious Horror

Requested Characters/Pairings: Gerard Keay, Mary Keay & Gertrude Robinson, Mary Keay/Gertrude Robinson, Trevor Herbert & Julia Montauk, Sasha James/Michael, Martin Blackwood/Peter Lukas

As a rule, I’m not into podcasts. I sat down with the first episode of this series about a month ago and became obsessed within two days. (I am now caught up through Season 5.) I love the unique worldbuilding, and the way the horror feels really genuinely horrifying and modern and immediate even when it’s one of those rad historical episodes, and all the characters, and the plot, and aaaahhhhhhh I love it. I’d just really like to hear more about this universe (and characters), and all the terrible things that can happen in it (and to them).

Character: Gerard Keay

Poor, doomed Gerry Keay. I want to know more about his adventures! Canon divergence, pre-canon, something set nebulously present or post-canon -- I’m here for all of it. I ship him romantically with pretty much every character except his parents, and platonically with every character including his parents; in particular, I like him with Gertrude and Jon. If you’d like some slightly more specific prompts, here are a few:

Trevor and Julia using Gerard as a monster manual, pre-Season 3. Did they ever run into something he couldn’t identify?

AU where Jon keeps his page instead of destroying it.

Working or traveling with Gertrude, trying to relax after a taxing case but getting pulled into another one.

Teenage Gerard chasing Leitners and getting in over his head.

Relationship: Mary Keay & Gertrude Robinson | Mary Keay/Gertrude Robinson

Grouping the platonic and romantic ships together because I like both and am mostly just interested in seeing these two interact more. “Dubiously (a)moral older women on orthogonal sides of a conflict, also one of them semi-kills the other” is, like, a dynamic that could have been tailor-made for me.

Mary Keay is so deeply creepy -- her statement in “First Edition” gave me legitimate shivers. Her quest for power and attempts to control the Entities are really interesting to me, and I enjoy how they contrast with Gertrude’s more utilitarian, less openly self-serving approach. Gertrude, on the other hand… I just fuckin love Gertrude. The frail old lady exterior hiding a ruthless will and a spine of magically reinforced steel -- I swoon. (I should note that I really like stuff that explores the more vulnerable and messy sides of badass / competent characters, especially female characters. If Gertrude locks up her heart and throws away the key, etc., what could make it strain its chains...? Or, uh, something like that.)

Relationship: Trevor Herbert & Julia Montauk

Yes! Obnoxious monster hunters!! I’m intrigued by their intuitive understanding of each other and strong bond despite the age gap and different life experiences. Do the demands of the Hunt ever interfere with their partnership? What sorts of gnarly, gross, twisted, chilling, or darkly funny situations have they gotten into over the course of their travels? I love them as happy monsters in comic, if gruesome, circumstances, but I’d also be down for something exploring the darker or softer sides of their work and relationship.

Relationship: Sasha James/Michael 

I was mad interested by Michael’s introduction in “A Distortion,” and Sasha was so brave with him. I’m a huge sucker for the trope where a supernatural creature protects or helps a weak ordinary human, even if it’s for a price, and for any monster romance along those lines. Perhaps these two have other encounters between their first meeting and Sasha’s murder, or an alternate first meeting? Perhaps Michael rescues her from the Not!Them? Or perhaps, in an AU, Archivist!Sasha has a very different sort of relationship with the Distortion? Or something else...?!

Relationship: Martin Blackwood/Peter Lukas

A later addition, but I couldn’t help myself. I love how amiable and sensible Peter acts even as he’s carrying out dread errands, and I felt for poor Martin dealing with Peter’s weird corporate speak and technology issues. There’s so much potential for comedy, angst, and multi-layered horror with this pairing -- the Lonely is such a strangely seductive concept even as it’s terrifying, and Peter’s relationship to it is very interesting. Peter, himself, is very interesting. Martin, I’m just very fond of, all his courage and scheming and petulance (and codependent tendencies). I’m down for pretty much anything about this pairing.

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FANDOM: TOO MANY COOKS (2014 SHORT)

Requested Fanwork Types: Fic -- Not Emphasizing Sexual Content

Requested Horror Types: Cosmic/Lovecraftian Horror, Killer Horror, Psychological Horror, Survival Horror

Requested Characters/Pairings: Character of Author’s Choice

The “Too Many Cooks” short can be watched for free on YouTube.

I remember watching this when it came out. I watched it again when I saw it in the nominations for this exchange, and yep, STILL CREEPY AS FUCK. ❤︎❤︎❤︎ I love the genre parodies in this short almost as much as the gradually eroding realities / intensifying horror and strangeness. I would love to hear more about this nightmare world and how an individual character might experience it. Really, I’m up for almost anything here. :D

[sonicboomtube]

Sonic Mania Review

Sonic Mania was the most anticipated Sonic title since Generations due to it not only being in the Classic Sonic style but as well as looking like an old school Genesis game! Is it worth the hype?

Background:  Despite the Adventure, Advance, and Rush series, Sonic games that came out since were mediocre to down right atrocious.  Things seemed to turn around in the main series with Sonic Unleashed (not counting night time stages) and Colors.  The 2.5/3D platforming action proved to be a success and by Sonic's 20th Anniversary came Sonic Generations. This game brought in Classic Sonic along with his gameplay style.  Many say it and Colors are the best Post-Adventure games ever.

Then they changed it up in Sonic Lost World and Sonic Boom trying to fix what wasn't broken.  Both games did not sell very well and the latter was even considered worse than Sonic 06.  Sonic was once again a laughing stock of the video game industry.  SEGA did some rebranding the last couple years and they came back with an announcement of 2 new Sonic games.  Sonic Forces, which has similar gameplay to Generations with a new gimmick and one that fans been asking for many years, Sonic 4!  Well, it's not called Sonic 4 but it's a game that is worthy of that name.  This is Sonic Mania!

Sonic fans turned pro Christian Whitehead and his Retro Engine and Stealth to help create a new Genesis styled game.  Christian and Stealth previously worked on Android/iPhone ports of Sonic 1, 2 & CD and thanks to their success, were hired to work on this game.

Story:  Sonic & Tails return to Angel Island as they sense a big energy reading there.  They encounter Dr Eggman (Robotnik's) new line of robots, the Hard Boiled Heavies and they retrieve a mysterious ruby from underground.  Then the ruby transports them (and Knuckles who encounters the robots shortly after Sonic and Tails) to Green Hill Zone.  I am not sure if they transport to the old zones' timeline or if it's just locations.  The storytelling is light since the gameplay is the focus.  Like Sonic 3, the story advances within the game.

 Graphics/Music:

The direction for the look and sound was to be a lost 32X/Saturn game and they have truly accomplished it!  The animated cutscenes at the opening and ending are wonderful.  Tyson Heese, who drew Archie's Sonic comics, also penciled these and it looks beautiful!  Hyper Potions did the music too for the intro and trailer and is amazing!

The remix zones' look wonderful and even smoother than the Genesis version. The original zones look gorgeous as well! The special stages look like they are from a lost Saturn game.  The animations in the characters, objects, and scenery are flawless!  The frame rate is perfect and having the game in widescreen really makes a difference as it is easier to see what is in front of you.  You can even add a CRT filter to get that nostalgic look of a 90s TV screen! 

Generally, the music in the Sonic franchise is top notch and in Mania, it is no different. As with the visuals of the retro zones, the remix of zone's themes are as you remembered it but has more of a kick to it! The new zones sound great too like the jazzy Studiopolis, the western feel of Mirage Saloon, and the peaceful melody of Press Garden!  They even released the soundtrack on Vinyl!  It's that good!

 Gameplay: If you have played the Classic Sonic games, then you'll feel right what home with Sonic Mania!  The complaints about the games that tried to copy the classic gameplay style fell short of the Genesis days. (Sonic 4's floating physics, Sonic Rush's boost to win, Sonic Advance's bottomless pits, Sonic Generations scripted speed thru certain sections.)  Fear not, all the controls are tight and not only exactly as you remember it, but in my own opinion are more refined.  It has a good balance of speed and platforming.  Playing the remix of the Genesis Zones while in part, are similar to the old games, feel fresh with new mechanics like in Chemical Plant Zone, bouncing off of colored floors to get to new heights or in Green Hill with the fire shield, can burn some bridges to get to new paths below.  The new zones are also among the series' best. Studiopolis is one of my favorites of this game,.

The zones are also non linear so you can take any path you want to get to the end and it is also required to explore if you want to find special rings, hidden items, and shortcuts. Every character plays well thru each zone.  The new move, Drop Dash helps keep your momentum of speed and also makes it easier to avoid enemy attacks.  Knuckles can smash thru walls that Sonic and Tails can't to find more hidden goodies and shortcuts.  What I like about Tails & Knuckles in this game is they can't just glide/fly thru a level with no problem.  Yeah, it helps get you thru a bit faster but the game forces you not to take the cheap way out thru the whole experience.

The bosses are some of the series best.  Mini bosses return at the end of Act 1. Act 2, you fight a hard boiled heavy, Robotnik, or a surprise challenge.  Some of the classic bosses have a new twist as well.  For example, the Death Egg Robot showing up at Green Hill Zone throwing bombs and extending it's arms to try and kill you or using Robotnik's machine from Hydro City in Sonic 3 against him.

 Extras:

The bonus stages are the blue sphere rounds you can access if your have 25+ rings and hit a checkpoint. Half are straight from Sonic 3 and others are completely new.  They aren't required to beat the game or give you the true ending but they give you medals to help unlock extras.  I consider myself really good at these in Sonic 3 but some of the newer rounds were still a challenge.  If you unlock blue sphere mode, if you play the Mania style, you get two new spheres. One is to teleport you to different parts of the round.  A green sphere is like the blue one but you have to run over it twice to turn red.  

The new special stages are found throughout the levels as giant rings like in Sonic 3 but the difference is instead of turning blue spheres into red spheres/rings, you have to chase a UFO by running over the blue objects.  They fill a speed meter and can go up to Mach 3.  Collecting rings increase the time of the stage. The control is a little stiff with the drifting but it isn't impossible though it is easy to bounce off things, fall off course, and run into spikes if you aren't careful.  The trick is to find shortcuts and try to collect as many spheres early on.

You can also play the UFO stages via a level select code and extras menu if you need to practice.  The good news is if you beat the game without getting all of the Chaos Emeralds, you can go back to your save file and keep the emeralds you have and retrieve the rest in the next run.

Other extras you can unlock are playing Mean Bean Machine, Time Attack, sound test, and debug mode. You can also play in different gameplay styles (2, 3, and CD.) You can also use the insta-sheild and super peel out but like debug mode, you have to select no-save mode.  Its unfortunate for the & Knuckles mode but you can have Knuckles as the 2nd player for each player (and that includes Knuckles himself! Make sure you beat the game as Knuckles & Knuckles to get secret ending)

 Spoiler After getting all 7 Chaos Emeralds, you can become Super Sonic, Super Tails (though doesn't have Flickies with him this time), and Super Knuckles.  If you beat Titanic Monarch as Sonic with 7 Chaos Emeralds, you get to fight Eggman and the main Hard Boiled Heavy fighting over the ruby.  You must keep collecting rings to stay alive.  You lose rings if you get attacked or do a boost attack.  It took me a bit to figure out how to play it but it's not too difficult but it is cool being part of an epic battle. Something about that ruby and the pose Sonic makes at the end of the good ending looks familiar.  Hmmmm!

The Positives/Negatives of the Game:

+High replay value with multiple paths, collecting chaos emeralds, unlocking extras, and playing as all 3 characters +Very tight controls with great balance of speed and platforming +New moves like the drop dash are a welcome addition +Old zones feel new again with never before seen sections and challenges +New zones feel right at home with the classic era.  Some of the series best +Music as always is top notch. +The majority of the bosses are some of the best of the classic era +The Easter Eggs +Blue Spheres and Mean Bean Machine are back +Sprite cutscenes and the Opening/Closing Animations are gorgeous

=Oil Ocean is one of my least favorite zones of the classic eras and would have preferred if they chose a different zone but the remix is an excellent rendition of it. =Wish there were more in game cut scenes between zones than what we got but what we got was wonderful. =I was happy with the amount of new zones we got and their quality but I wish there were one or two new zones.  Oh well, maybe next game we can get more new zones.

-You still fall for some cheap deaths.  Thankfully there aren't many bottomless pits like in certain Sonic games but it's very easy to get crushed to death (chemical plant and titanic monarch are the ones where it happened often for me) -While I liked the challenge of the special stages, I felt the controls should feel a bit tighter when turning. -Some of the bosses were tough to figure out how to beat.  Some of it was rewarding when i did find a way to defeat them.  There were a couple I had to look at let's play vids to figure it out.  Like in Sonic & Knuckles, playing as Knux was difficult fighting against the bosses thanks to the height of his jumps.

Closing Thoughts:

Even the negative points of the game didn't really bother me that much and in no way, tarnish the quality of the experience.  Some fans even claim that it is the best Sonic game to date!  I am not sure if I agree with that but I do like it more than Sonic CD which was my #2 favorite Sonic game of all time and can understand why some fans place it #1!  Whether you are a die hard Sonic fan, a causal player, or a noob, this is the game for you!  I have really enjoyed this game and will come back and replay it as often as I can!  

Sonic Mania gets 4 3/4 STARS out of 5!  (9.5 out of 10 for those that score in 10s.  A- that like letter grades.)  See you next game!

[toganeshiro]

Victor Nikiforov May As Well Replace Your Smartphone

fandom: yuri!!! on ice

pairing: victor nikiforov/katsuki yuuri

rating: general audiences

genre: romance, domestic, fluff, humour

word count: 2176

warning(s): none

summary: Yuuri never thought by living with Victor Nikiforov, the living legend, would slowly reduce his need of his smartphone.

mirror link: fanfiction | ao3

Victor Nikiforov May As Well Replace Your Smartphone

Yuri!!! On Ice © Kubo Mitsurou

This is a work of fanfiction, simply written for the purpose of enjoyment and entertainment. I gain no financial profit from writing this.

i. He could be your alarm.

"Yuuri, wake up! We have morning practice today."

Groaning, his palm searched for the duvet and hoping he could pull them up to cover from the chill. Unfortunately, it was nowhere to be found. So instead, he settled for curling like a cat and burying his face on the pillow. He knew Victor had raised the curtain without even opening his eyes and he cursed under his breath.

He hated mornings.

Just as he was almost dozing off again, a hand shook his shoulder and he groaned louder than before.

"It's morning, Yuuri. Wake up wake up wake up wake up―"

"Let me sleep..." Yuuri finally mumbled out words, muffled by the pillow yet still audible.

"Nope! Wake up now or Yakov will be mad."

The bed sank near his sides and suddenly a full body weight weighted down on him, his eyes snapped open. "Victor! You're heavy! Get off of me!!"

Victor's arms rested on his shoulder blades with his head on top of them. His toned body should've weighted several kilos more than Yuuri considering his height but he lied comfortably on top of Yuuri, legs swinging back and forth.

"Then promise me you'll wake up~" His neck could feel Victor's breath in his every word, he shivered from the sensation.

"Okay okay!! I'm awake now!"

Giggles were clear on his ears as Victor removed himself from Yuuri. He exhaled a deep breath before searching for his glasses on the nightstand. He stretched his arms and back before walking towards their bathroom, yawning.

It was when his hand reached the doorknob that his phone went off with the alarm.

He returned to the bed and picked up his phone beside the pillow and turned off the alarm.

Ever since living with Victor and sharing the bedroom, he had always been woken up before his alarm went off. Usually he would be hitting the snooze button several times before actually waking up and regretting those extra minutes of sleep he took. In some other times―most of the times, actually―he would just sleep through the alarm ringing in the background.

Regret befell Yuuri every day.

Still, he repeated yet again the very next day.

Yuuri unlocked his phone and clicked on the clock settings. There were eleven alarms listed from 07:00 to 07:10 each having one minute gap.

But now with Victor waking him up every day, his alarm hadn't been doing its job.

He deleted them one by one until his alarm list was empty.

Victor was a better alarm, after all. Instead of just sounds in the background, Victor sometimes even dragged him to the bathroom and helped him brush his teeth. One effective morning alarm, Yuuri should say.

ii. And push notifications.

"Yuuri, Phichit mentioned you in Twitter."

"Your fans said on your tagged video that your step sequence is even more beautifully refined now."

"Wow, your photo reached 500 likes in the first five minutes. Your fans must be delighted you finally posted something."

"Oh, Chris said you look adorable in the photo I just uploaded. You should reply something, Yuuri."

"Yuuri! You really should come and read this thing one of your fans linked to you!"

"Yurio commented on your photo, Yuuri. Should I reply for you?"

Yuuri sighed.

He preferred turning off push notifications for his SNS since they distracted him most of the time. Reading nice comments were nice, but he would prefer to avoid the chance of reading harsh comments and ruining all his confidence for the day.

He wished they had options to filter the positive comments from negative comments.

Who would have thought Victor would gladly be his push notifications filtering only things he needed and wanted to know.

iii. Even be your personal music player.

Yuuri loved music.

He had a good number of songs stored in his phone. From classical to pop songs, video game soundtracks and even catchy Thai songs Phichit recommended. He loved listening to them when he's doing chores, waiting for people, or listening just for the sake of it. He brought his headset with him anywhere, in case he needed them.

But lately his headset had been kept neatly in his bag, only used in practice since he's sharing the rink.

"―che tu... hm―ato forse abbando―hmm..." Victor kept humming while his hands busy washing the dishes.

Yuuri stopped scrolling his Instagram feeds. The lyrics sounded familiar.

He had to say, in all honesty, Victor Nikiforov the living legend, was a bad singer. A really bad one. Out of tune, messy tempo, off pitch. The first time he heard Victor's singing, he had to stare full two minutes at the gorgeous man brainstorming the title of the song he was singing.

However, this time the lyrics caught his attention and he felt like he knew those lines.

Yet Victor wasn't really singing at the moment; he's half humming half singing and Yuuri had a hard time making out the title.

"Victor, do you know you're a bad singer?"

Victor stopped the work of his hands and looked over his shoulder to Yuuri who was resting his head on Victor's back. Face down with his phone hiding between himself and Victor's back. He didn't say anything so Yuuri lifted his head up to meet Victor's eyes―only to see him pouting, before muttering one word; "Rude."

And Victor continued with washing his dishes.

But he continued singing anyway and Yuuri leant his forehead to Victor's back again, smelling the detergent on Victor's sweater before resuming with the feeds of his SNS.

And after a few lines of lyrics Victor sang, Yuuri finally recognised the song.

Ah, it's Stammi Vicino, Non Te Ne Andare.

He hummed quietly following Victor's messy tunes as the lead while waiting for his fiancé to finish working with the dishes so he could give Yuuri the hug he needed.

Might not be the best music player, but Yuuri enjoyed the time he spent trying to figure out the song Victor's singing and humming along Victor's messy rhythm and tunes.

iv. Update your SNS.

After drying off his hand on the dryer, Yuuri took his phone from his pocket which had buzzed a few times while he was washing his hands. He checked and it was a text from Phichit.

dont go yet, I hav smth I need to give u!!

Yuuri frowned and replied, Don't go where?

dont go from the restaurant! I'm around the area, just give me 5 minutessss

He was about to type 'how did you know where I am?' but he stopped and cleared the text field. This had happened a few times before. He closed the text messaging app and opened his Instagram instead. It loaded up with Victor's post was on the topmost.

A photo of Yuuri happily enjoying his extra large serving of katsudon, checked in to the location of the restaurant they're at right now.

Oh.

Of course.

Even without needing to update his own SNS, all his information starting from his location, what he ate, even his activities for the day were all for the world to know through Victor's account.

v. Functions as your translator.

The shoes he tried on fit so well on his feet. But he still thought the colour was too striking for him. An attendant was standing near the display so Yuuri waved his hand and she approached him.

"Excuse me; do you have any other colour for this design?"

She gave him a quizzical look and Yuuri cursed inside his head.

Right, now that he wasn't really in tourism spot anymore of course he should have conversed in Russian and not English.

"Eta obuv'... duru―dru..." Oh shit. Yuuri can't remember the word he needed. He quickly fumbled his pocket to get his phone when someone's hand pressed firm on his shoulder. The voice calmed his getting-rapid breaths.

"What's wrong, Yuuri?"

Oh, Victor came back from the restroom.

"I wanted to know if they other colour for this pair of shoes."

Victor smiled and turned his head to the attendant, "Yest' li drugoy tsvet dlya etogo?"

"Da, pozhaluysta, podozhdite," she nodded and left for the storage room.

Yuuri sighed in relief.

He had been learning Russian bit by bit ever since knowing Victor personally. Yet the intention only solidified after he moved to St. Petersburg. He wanted to be able to at least do daily conversation, but with all their practice for the upcoming season―he just hadn't the time.

And since Victor would be helping him with communicating for the time being, he figured he could take his time before he's fluent in Russian.

vi. Free time? Why play games when you have Victor Nikiforov?

Yuuri had an app of MMORPG in his phone. There was an account with well-levelled character logged in it.

He wasn't as active as he was back in high school, being busy and all. But he made sure to log in occasionally just to the get daily log in bonus (which monthly stamps he never filled in anymore). Then when he had longer free time, he would play for an hour or two.

He loved video games. It's just not too compatible with his lifestyle at the moment.

He missed whole tons of special events and bonuses. Not that he could blame or complain to anyone.

Then lately Victor had been occupying his free time with any kind of activities. It could be just out for shopping or revising their programs. Making his account even more abandoned than before.

He loved his time being occupied with Victor, it was warm and soft and nice and comfortable.

But was he sure to leave his game he loved so much for this?

"I want a day in a week where I won't be disturbed at all for at least four hours."

"Why!?"

"I've been neglecting my game."

And just with that, Victor quietly complied and tried to fit their plans for shopping and other things on one day of the weekend and leaving the other day for Yuuri's game time. He thought it would be harder to convince Victor, but Yuuri was glad Victor understood without commenting more on it.

But of course, at first, whines could be heard from the four hours of Victor being neglected.

Yuuri felt bad for ignoring him and even pondering if he should cancel his request.

But the third week was quieter since Victor settled himself for reading his books on the same couch and tangling their feet in silence. Sometimes knees brushing, or simply leaning on another's chest feeling each other's warmth while doing their own things.

Victor was a good replacement for game time or so did the other way. But Yuuri decided he wanted both his Victor time and game time instead of one replacing the other.

vii. And probably be your reminder?

Weird.

Something had been bothering him since they returned from afternoon practice today. They got home and had lunch, then proceeded to laze on couch watching TV while Makkachin rested on their laps. It's almost evening and Yuuri still couldn't focus on the TV drama Victor loved―not that he could understand what they're saying even when he's focusing.

"Victor... Are we supposed to be somewhere this afternoon?" he finally asked.

"Mm... Nope. Why ask?"

"Just a feeling."

Was it just him, then? But the weird feeling as if he'd forgotten something still hadn't left his chest. Was it a promise for a meal with Yurio? No, he would've contacted them if they didn't show up otherwise. What about their shopping list? Probably there's a sale or something th―

"Ah!!!!" Yuuri nearly shouted, still loud enough to startle Victor.

Panicked, Victor asked, "W-what is it, Yuuri!?"

"Your dentist appointment―" No need to finish his words to get Victor wide eyed. Quickly taking his phone and noticed the time had long past their appointed time. Victor groaned, Yuuri followed.

"I should call them to apologize for this and make new appointment," Victor dialled the number from his contacts.

Yuuri sighed and unlocked his own phone too, accessing the Reminders. He had two lists on them, one of them was "Shopping List" while the other one was titled "Victor".

He accessed the latter and saw several lines there, empty check boxes on each of the lines' left side.

Release date for Victor's fav author's book 26/04/2017, 09:00 am

Buy Yurio a cat if he breaks his own record in Nationals

Meal with Chris Tomorrow, 01:00 pm

Interview with IFS magazine 11/02/2017, 10:00 am

Costume fitting 12/02/2017, 11:00 am

He never needed the app for his own interviews, costume fitting, appointments or promises. So now he wondered why he had to be the one keeping this list in his phone instead of Victor doing it on his own.

Reminders was one of the app that he ignored and sat quietly in the last page of his phone before, but now he's fully utilising the function of this app.

.

(Ah, unfortunately Victor Nikiforov still doesn't support Reminder feature.)

End.

a/n1: this turned out cuter than I thought.

a/n2: (sorry for if the Russian part was wrong, I used google translate since I know nothing of the language.)

a/n3: thanks for reading!!!

[dorothydelgadillo]

7 Essential Content Marketing Apps & Tools I Can't Live Without for 2019

Who has two thumbs, speaks limited French, and struggled to get out of bed for this first post-holiday morning back at work?

Don't get me wrong -- it's only been in recent years that I wake up each day feeling hashtag blessed about the fact that I get to do what I'm passionate about for a living alongside some of the smartest people I have ever known.

Still, I'm dragging this morning.

And my to do list is a mile long. 

Because, fun fact, pillar pages don't write themselves. Nor do whitepapers, blog articles, or case studies.

This surprises me, given how every other article I read recently has to do with the rise of Skynet as a reality; you'd think they'd have figured out how to do all of that by now, right?

Just kidding, I love robots -- from a distance. 

Plus, hyperbolic posturing about the robot apocalypse aside, there are a lot of ways technology and automation have already transformed the way I map out, write, and produce the content for a lot of our strategies. 

(And I'm not even counting HubSpot Marketing Hub.) 

Since neither content (or pimpin') is easy, I'm going to share the apps and tools I use every single day -- and consider indispensable -- to produce a good portion content you interact with on this website. 

App #1: GatherContent

If you've ever worked with me on a project, you know I live and die by GatherContent, a centralized content creation, production, and collaboration platform I can only assume was created by Zeus from on-high -- it is that magical.

I was first introduced to GatherContent years ago by Jessie-Lee Nichols (now IMPACT's Design Supervisor) when we were working on a website project together. 

I'm resistant to change -- especially when it comes to someone trying to "evolve" or "improve" my processes, but Jessie-Lee was persistent. 

"You'll spend less time chasing down approvals, trying to find drafts in Google Docs, and digging through your emails," she said, zeroing in on my biggest challenges. "Everything is one place, with real-time visibility into the status of every single piece of content in a project."

Lo and behold, she was right. Flash forward to now, there is no project I work on that doesn't leverage GatherContent.  

From within GatherContent, I can work with multiple collaborators, give access to my higher-ups so they can see the status of a project or single piece of content at any time -- whether it's 3 a.m. or 3 p.m., they don't need to email, call, or smoke signal me to find out the status or deadline of a piece of content.

For writers, I can leave comments and assign out changes. Additionally, either the writer or I can overwrite whatever content is there. There is a rollback feature that allows someone to see what changes have been made without whoever made the changes having to highlight them or call them out.

Finally, GatherContent keeps me sane. It isn't free -- although the pricing is very reasonable, especially if your a small business. (If you're an agency dealing with lots of clients or content production, you'll need to be smart about how many projects you set up.) 

But what it saves me in time, content project administration, and sanity makes it worth it to me. I'm infinitely more productive with it, and I would consider it the most important tool I use. 

I also can't even imagine managing all of the different projects I oversee without it. It's life-changing. 

Of course, if you're one of those folks who loves searching through endless Google Docs and emails, and spending more time calling and emailing about content projects instead of actually doing the work, you probably won't need it.

As I mentioned, GatherContent isn't free. It starts at $83 per month, with lots of options for organizations.

  App #2: Bear

I have a confession to make: I absolutely hated writing when I was younger.

In fact, one time when I was eighth grade, I turned in an essay where the last paragraph was the same sentence copied and pasted over and over again, just so I could meet the minimum word count requirement without having to put more effort into it. (My teacher didn’t appreciate my sense of humor.)

Obviously, I've come around since then.

But my change of heart only came about because eventually I realized that (a) I was good at writing, and (b) it wasn’t the act of writing I despised so much, but rather I hated the cluttered and distracting writing experience of Microsoft Word.

Enter stage left, Bear. 

Bear (available only for iPhone, iPad, and Mac) is an app that's all about empowering users to "write beautifully." And it does that so very well.

It's gotten to the point where everything I write -- IMPACT blogs, content projects for clients, freelance projects, etc. -- always passes through an initial rough drafting stage within Bear.  

In addition to comprehensive and lengthy content creation, Bear can also be used as an Evernote-esque notes application, making it quite versatile. 

Bear is free, but if you splurge on the paid version ($1.49 per month or $14.99 per year), you can enjoy custom themes, syncing across multiple devices, and exporting capabilities. 

App #2: Hemingway

Whether you’re a seasoned content creator or you’re a new kid on the inbound block, you undoubtedly know how hard it is to write and edit your own work -- and not just because you are too close to your writing to gauge its quality.

Thankfully, someone created Hemingway.

In addition to being one of my favorite authors -- as well as one of the best characters in Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris -- Hemingway forces you to evaluate the readability of your work.

It tells you what grade level your work reads at, and it scans your work for sentence complexity, passive voice, and overuse of adverbs. 

While you have the option to write directly in the Hemingway app itself, I find these kinds of mark-ups to be very distracting while I am trying to form my ideas for the first time.

Instead, I usually type of my first draft in Bear and then copy it over to Hemingway, when I'm ready to switch my brain over to editing mode. (But how you choose to use this app is entirely up to you!)

You can use Hemingway for free through your web browser at www.hemingwayapp.com, or you can download the desktop version for $9.99.

App #3: Grammarly for Google Docs

OK, Grammarly isn't new, but you know what is? Grammarly for Google Docs. 

It's not a separate tool from standard Grammarly. It's just a new feature that is so freaking valuable, I have to call it out separately, on the off chance that those of you who are familiar with the product haven't heard about this.

For those unfamiliar with Grammarly, however, it is a standalone desktop and web app that also has a Google Chrome extension that scans your writing in various places across the web -- or as input by you -- and provides editorial suggestions.

It's not perfect, but it has saved my patootie more times than I care to admit; especially when I'm rushing through emails early in the morning. 

Unfortunately, as with any technology, there were a few blind spots for the tool -- places online where Grammarly could not go. The most annoying of which was Google Docs, one of the most widely-used content collaboration word processing apps out there.

Even though I spent the early part of this article swearing off Google Docs for GatherContent or Bear, I still use it a lot. 

For example, sometimes I want a word processing application where I can also fiddle around with images and more visual formatting that GatherContent and Bear purposefully avoid in their feature set. 

Finally, Grammarly made the announcement we've all been waiting for -- Grammarly for Google Docs was now in beta for those using the Google Chrome extension.

Please remember that no automated editorial assistant is infallible. Review every suggested edit; never blindly accept them all.

Grammarly is free, although I highly recommend the premium version, as it scans for more nuanced grammar issues that can substantively elevate the quality of your writing.

App #4: WordCountTools.com

One of the most game-changing editing lessons I have ever learned is not to edit for everything all at once. Rather, you should edit for style, grammar, and narrative progression separately, in individual editing phases.

That’s why after I put my work through the readability test of Hemingway, I drop my work into the text box on www.wordcounttools.com. 

Not only does this website tell you how many words your composition has overall, it also targets one of my biggest writing “quirks” -- redundancy.

(Seriously, I don’t know what my problem is, but I am incapable of going a single column, essay, or blog post without repeating certain words or phrases.)

Below the area where you paste copy, you’ll see a keyword density box, which counts how many times non-“grammar words” appear in your work.

I know, it seems almost stupidly simple.

But as someone who spends a good portion of my day editing the work of others, trust me when I say it’s likely that more than a few of you reading this post should also be using this tool.

App #5: Noisli

I used to spend so much time at work trying to find the perfect work playlist on Spotify to keep me on track. Music is supposed to help spark productivity and creativity, right?

Wrong. Well, for me, anyway.

I don’t know whether I’m defective or something, but most of the time I find myself distracted by music.

Either I get wrapped up in the song itself -- even if it’s only instrumental -- or, when one song ends, I don’t like what comes up next, so I break from my work to spend 20 minutes trying to curate a new ideal soundtrack.

Noisli is a stunning, minimalist (and free!) background noise generator. Or, as they like to say, Noisli is “your productivity companion.”

Even though there are multiple studies showing the positive effects of ambient noise on productivity, Noisli confused me when I took it for a test drive a couple years ago, during a particularly challenging copywriting project.

At first, listening to noise while working seemed… strange. Not to mention completely boring. Now? I’m a total convert, and it’s pretty much all I listen to when I’m trying to get sh*t done. 

With my free Noisli account, I’ve created and saved custom blends of sounds -- which you control using the soundboard shown on the left -- that can set the tone for my entire working day.

Sound options include rain, thunderstorm, wind, forest, leaves, water stream, seaside, water, bonfire, summer night, fan, train, coffee shop, white noise, pink noise, and brown noise.

As my Creator's Block co-host (and long-time work pal) Jessie-Lee knows, my favorite Noisli blend is one I call "rainy trainy." It’s a personalized symphony of thunder, rain, train, and fan sounds. There's also a splash of coffee shop, for good measure.

I created this soothing blend because I love traveling by train and have been doing so for years -- in my 20s, when I would travel home to Washington, D.C., while living in Boston, and now, when I travel to and from my home in Annapolis, Maryland, to IMPACT's home office in Connecticut. 

Fun fact: You can also share blends of sounds with other people.  

Noisli is available for free through the website. There is also a free Chrome extension and iOS app available for $1.99.

App #6: SEMrush Content Template

I learned about this gem when I was working with Franco Valentino of Narrative SEO on a comprehensive SEO analysis we published last year. Now, I don't leave home without it, so to speak -- especially when I'm crafting individual pillar strategies.

If you have SEMRush, simply click on “SEO Content Template” in the menu on the left near the bottom and enter the keyword you want to base a piece of content around. It will spit out recommendations on everything -- target length of your content, links and semantic keywords you should include, and much, much more.

It also has a rich-text editor, where you can test the content you're creating that targets a particular keyword string against the recommendations it provided:

SEMrush costs money, but it's worth the money. They also have a lot of different pricing plans, depending on the needs of your organization.

App #7: Evernote

Given how ubiquitous Evernote is, it almost feels like a copout to include this in my list. That said, I spent years not understanding how or why millions of people and scores of businesses trust the elephant-branded app, before it finally clicked for me last fall. 

Now, I'm an Evernote freak, too.

For the three of you who haven't heard of Evernote, it's a note-taking application you can download or use through the web. You can clip things from the web, create templates, scan and attach documents, and sync your notes across multiple devices (if you pay for the premium version).

I also love how I can easily share notes in my Evernote -- for example, a table of contents developed during a pillar strategy brainstorm. By clicking one or two buttons, I can share an accessible URL that stays updated if I make any changes to the document, instead of having to copy and paste the information into an email or a Google Doc.

But for me, it's application is simple.

I've created notebooks for my podcast, my pillar strategies, and general notes for content I'm working on. It's where I store all of the preparation notes for pillar strategy sessions, the questions I'm going to ask a Content Lab guest, and where I outline longform pieces. 

There isn't much to say about Evernote that hasn't already been said by somebody else. But what I will say is that so much of what I have gotten out of it only came about once I understood it was all about how I organized and setup my Evernote. 

If you're looking for a virtual notebook to help you make sense of all of the back and forth that shouldn't live in disparate emails or Google Docs, but also has no business living in something like GatherContent, I can't recommend Evernote more.

Evernote is free with premium and business options available.

The Best Writing Hack Is Honesty

Even though all four of these apps have revolutionized the way I think about and approach my work, the best piece of advice I can give you about how to boost your content creation capabilities is this:

Have an open and brutally honest discussion with yourself about what specifically you don’t like about the writing process.

No app or program can tell you what your problem is or fix a writing roadblock you can't identify; they can only help you once you have some idea of what pain point you’re trying to address.

The answers will vary drastically from person to person, as they should. For instance, while my struggles were rooted in distraction and focus, yours may be founded in writer’s block, which is an entirely different beast.

So, while I think each of you will like at least one of these apps, I hope you’ll also do yourselves a favor and figure out what part of your own personal writing process really needs improving.

from Web Developers World https://www.impactbnd.com/blog/content-marketing-apps-tools