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yamithediaperdork · 4 years ago

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Crime and Punishment: Jail Bird Diaries (MHA)

Crime and Punishment: Jail bird diaries

*The following is the entries from a diary recovered from the cell of one Katsuki Bakugo after serving his time in the regression jail. certain entry's have been removed as the writing was unable to be made out.*

Week 2, Day 1

So after a fucking week in this stupid fucking hell hole they dare to call a good idea, It's been suggested to me by the stupid AI I have to refer as daddy that I might calm myself down and stop adding time to my stupid fucking sentence if I vent in this stupid fucking book. I pointed out I can barley hold this stupid fucking crayon with the mittens i have to wear but a hand just came out of the wall and patted my head, telling me I'm a clever boy and I'll figure it out. I would of added anther two months onto my sentence right then and there if it wasn't for these fucking glove, even if Maybe kinda sorta..the head pat felt nice. ANYWAYS! to any assholes reading this, expect lots of fucking cursing because daddy said I can swear all i want in here and I have a back flow I need to get out. I mean with all the stupid fucking bull shit I have to put up wi- And fuck me, shitting myself again. fuck this place sucks.

Week 2, Day 2

You just know it's gonna be a shit fucking day Diary when you wake up to the feeling of having a uber load in the seat of your pants patted and rubbed and being praised for being a super good pooper. I'm already not a fan of the super bulky diapers these bastard keep me in but 'daddy' has apparently registered me as a super pooper and states anything thing less wouldn't hold up to my boom booms. refer to my statement about earning more time in here from the last entry for my feelings on THAT! I had figured with the massive bulk of these things at least I wouldn't have to worry about any cutesy outfits save for some t-shirt but since apparently I pissed off god, guess fucking what? No really, Guess. If you guessed they went and adjusted some of the sleepers that all the other big babies in here sleep in to fit over my massive diaper ass then ding ding ding! winner winner chicken dinner. Picture me, a man known as a murder god..and in a blue full body fuzzy care bear style with a white tummy and 'har har' the grumpy bear symbol on the belly. Fucking thing even has a hood! I swear if it wasn't for the fact the thing was soooo soft and kinda comfy, I would of found a way to rip it off. and I don't care WHAT daddy claims, I only dropped right off to sleep in it because he drugged my milk, not because I felt warm and safe. Fuck this place!! I never thought I'd be semi ok with the stupid paw patrol t-shirt and my giga diapers on display.. anyways wrapping this up, apparently I'm having more fucking visitors today. fucking yay..

Week 2, Day 3

Oh my fucking god. yesterday would just NOT fucking stop. apparently it was some sort of official visitors day or some bull shit like that. 4 fucking visitors and three of them not fucking Deku who's trying to make it a point to show up every day as support. first up was mister shock and awe himself Denki. He just couldn't get that stupid grin off his face and kept gushing about how cute I was and how much he wished he could of came in and given me butt pats. I was about ready to snarl that he couldn't when a couple of daddies arms came and took a firm hold on me to keep me from bolting and then the cell door opened up. "Come on in! Katsuki can use all the butt pats he can get. I know he'll act like he hates them but all little guys like him love them." Daddy said. Like, WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK! So in from that stupid blond and the door shuts and daddy tells me to turn around and present my rump for pats. Like I was gonna fucking listen to THAT and turned around to tell the speaker box his voice comes from as much and well.. Ok You see my mistake? I swear I was turning to tell daddy off but according to him and Denki I turned around like a good little boy eager for my bum pats and before I could get a god damn word out that's what was happening. talk about major fucking blushing going on and gah, not proud to say this but without a second thought i spread my legs a little so that he could get a better pat going on and it MIGHTA of sorta felt nice for all of 0.0000001 seconds! Daddy and Denki are lying sacks of shit when they say i coo'ed! Basically spent the rest of Denki's visit after that over his lap, getting butt pats and back rubs and being told just how cute I am and how much he prefers me like this. if it wasn't for the fact punching a visitor would of netted me a extra year I woulda slugged him. that the only reason i went along with it..

after a hour he left and Daddy was praising me for being a super good boy and rewarded me with chocolate milk in a bottle instead of the normal formula and put some power rangers instead of paw patrol on TV. I mighta zoned out holding my bottle with both hands cuz of the mittens and chugging and watching that I didn't notice my next guest till I heard the giggle. whipping my head around and giving me one hell of a neck ache thats still kinda here, I saw what looked like a school girls outfit standing up on it's own and knew it was Tooru. "oh my gosh don't stop because of me! that was sooo cute! I wish they hadn't of taken away my cell phone i would of taken the cutest video!" she gushed and clapped. I held up both hands and because of the mittens she thought I was showing I wanted uppies but I think you know what i was really doing Diary. Of course daddy let her in too and she kept giving me heads and patting my head and asking daddy all sorts of questions about my treatment and like.. ugh. I felt like a toddler getting hugs and attention but ignored while the adults talked. she tugged me onto her lap and kept rocking me and tickling my tummy and it took me awhile to figure out what she was trying to do, she was trying to make me crap myself during her visiting time! well she left half disappointed because even though i was cramping, all i did was wet my diapers so I'll count it as a win. ...that said about 10 seconds after she left I was squatting and totally loading these stupid diapers to the brim.

Thankfully for what tiny bit of pride I've managed to hold onto, while my diaper change took what fucking seemed like forever, I was re-diapered and daddy was in the process of tossing the stinky one when my next guest arrive. because I'm Mr. fucking popular. It was Deku of course and because he's been here so often he's got a special pass that just lets him come in. He was in the middle of saying hi when his nose wrinkled and then he covered it and coughed a little . "oh, somebody just had a diapie change I uh..smell." he said sheepishly. "Oh yeah, little guy is living up to his label as a super pooper." Daddy said. "oh my god freaking stop calling me that!" I whined and uh..Maybe didn't help with trying to give off a big boy image because I was still on the changing table and grabbed a stuffed bear and put it over my face. "oh my gosh, CUTE!" Deku squealed and daddy was laughing. Like..fuck. it's bad enough when the shit they're making me do gets that reaction..then i fucking set myself up for it. getting off of the changing Table me and Deku did our normal catch up and I once again begged him to try and get the other kids in 1-a to stop coming here, telling him about Denki and Tooru. the green haired bastard just told me everyone missed me and wanted to make sure I was doing ok and not to be such a grumpy Gus. I swear I almost took the extra year right then and there. Instead I switched the convo to talking about what was going on at school and what I had missed and yeah.. it was kinda nice catching up a little bit. I hadn't dared asked till now worried it might just trigger a fit that was going to add time on you know? and Deku was nice, not rubbing it in or at least trying not to that they were going on bigger and more exciting field trips and shadowing full on heroes this week. I think it helped that while we talked I started to color in one of the coloring books Daddy provided and Deku joined in, though his picture was colored in a lot better then mine cuz well he has full use of his hands. As his time ran out and it was time for him to go, Deku made me blush like crazy when he asked if he could have the picture I colored to hang up on his wall and asked if I'd color more pretty pictures for him. being at a lost of words, I just nodded my head.

After Deku left daddy said it was time for a quick lunch and then a nap, I was clearly worn out and had one more person to go. I just sighed and went along with it because it's not like I would of really had a say in it anyways. again apparently my behavior for the day was having a effect on my dining choice because while I was put in the same high chair I normally was, instead of yucky baby food I got some cut up chicken nuggets and fries. I wonder how good I'll have to be to score a medium rare steak? anyways, after lunch and a burping I was put down for a nap and woke up to the sound of the door to my nursery prison. I was still groggy and stuff so when I rolled over and looked up to see the face of my mother, i just thought I was dreaming for a second and gave a tiny giggle and ugghhh.. say "hi Mommy." it wasn't till she broke out laughing I realized she was really there. She was..very amused to say the least and told me she had canceled the cruise she was on and flew back home as soon as she could when she'd found out the news. she mentioned that she had been made aware that there WAS a option to give me a form of parole in that I could go and move back in with her for the term of my sentence and she could let me get away with just pull ups and she had been thinking about exercising it..Until she fucking saw me in here and saw how 'natural' I looked like a big baby! I'm...I'm not proud to say I mighta of broken down bawling and begging her to let me come home with her, and ugh.. as I got more hysterical I ended up promising to be the bestest little boy ever. Mom just hushed me and picked me out of the crib I'd been in and hugged me to her chest, patting my squishy bottom (Hey, all the milk i had before going night night, you'd of wet yourself too!) I realize i never covered this before but i had been put down for my nap in just my diapers so there's THAT fun mental picture of me in my booties and mitts and soggy huggies and Mom cuddling me and trying to calm me down. I was bawling and hiccuping when she popped a paci in my mouth and sat down on a rocking chair that daddy provided and with me curled up in her lap rocked back and forth talking about how I had just proven this place was doing wonders for me and then started to ask daddy questions about where to get supplies. curled up close to mommy and hearing her heartbeat.. I..Fell back asleep.

Thankfully no ones coming today, not even Deku since he's busy..I just don't know if I could handle it after yesterday. and yeah, the rest of the day after I fell asleep in mom's lap was just a blur. fuck.. I need to get out of here.

Week 2, Day 6

Know I ignored you for a bit there kinda Diary, I went to write in you but just came out all mixed up and crossed it out. I've mostly docile since Mom's visit and uh..kinda sorta.. I dunno. Kinda wish Deku would come by. I know he's got that big shadowing All might thing going on but..Fuck. I dunno. Daddy keeps going on about me almost hitting a critical point in the program and I don't know about that..I just..I almost wish mom HADN'T of told me about how i could of been at home you know? I was struggling with this before finding that out. I'm spending the day in my sleeper t'day, I just wanna feel all..I don't fucking know.. small and safe? and that helps with it and daddy was more then understanding when I asked to. It just has to come off when I'm eating and stuff and well, semi gone back to the baby food but still getting milk milk. and the baby food is a yummy flavor at least. I dunno Diary, I think thats it for today. Katsuki out.

Week 3, Day 5

Man, looking back on the past couple of entries I did between here and last week and even I can't make out what the heck I wrote. guess a semi recap is in order. Midoriya ended up visiting me during supper on day six of last week and asked if I had any more pretty pictures for him. I hadn't thought I'd actually done any but I guess in the semi daze I'd been in I had and daddy brought them out for him. I told him about mommy visiting and he was really sympathetic and agrees that she shouldn't of told me about the possible parole if I wasn't gonna get it, He had known but well.. knowing my mom like he does had already figured out what she'd picked. He just didn't wanna get my hopes up. Daddy let him take over feeding me and I dunno..it was kinda nice and stuff. we watched a bit of TV after till I started farting lots and Midoriya tactfully left before I ended up going poopies in front of him saying he knew I was in a fragile place and promised to visit the next day. Day 7 was basically the normal same old same old, got out of my sleeper, breakfast and a diaper change then playing with my toys and watching tv till Midoriya showed up. He joined in on a awesome game of Teddies VS Building blocks and I was uh.. kinda giggling like a real little guy and sooo relaxed that I didn't notice something till he brought it up, wrinkling his nose. "Katsuki, did you go poo poo?" He asked. Well, of course I said no because I hadn't felt myself go but then I got a whiff of myself and god, that was sooo embarrassing!! Midoriya ended his visit early as he knows I hate being watched during a change, but told me how much of a good boy I was and that made me blush and smile. After he left and I was all nice and clean from the poopie diaper daddy didn't dress me though, it was time for a bath and a section of the wall opened up and I was led to a fair sized tub and allowed to get in myself. Daddy got me all washed up as the tub filled up and even trusted me without my booties and mittens, though with the wall having sealed up behind me there wasn't really anywhere I could run to. with me all squeaky clean he let me play in the tub for a while as there were some toy boats and a few sea monsters and it was wayyy more relaxing then the quick showers I'm used to. finally when i was all pruney daddy drained the tub and dried me off with a nice fluffy towel and got me redressed though I was mayyybe a little more relaxed then I thought from the tub cuz I took my nap early, and ended up missing a visit from Ojiro. (Daddy said the only reason he'd interrupted my other nap was cuz well, Mom is my real mom.) Is it weird I felt bad he came ALL the way here to see me and couldn't because I was a sleepy little guy? I dunno. Man.. this place is getting to me ya know? basically lather rinse repeat for the next couple of days, being fed, playing with toys, watching cartoons, and filling my diapers. getting to see Midoriya and hand out and yeahh. Yesterday Ojiro tried again and this time I was awake and heh.. he was really nice about it and told me he forgave me already when i whined out a sorry for being asleep the last time. in his own words he really should of called ahead since little guys like me are prone to impromptu naps. After that we played blocks for a little while and he just kept smiling so much and squirming about till daddy asked if he needed to use the potty. Ojiro blushed uber bad which in turn made me giggle like crazy and said no, but took off shortly after. I wonder what was up with him? I tried to ask daddy but he just patted my head and told me to color a picture for Midoriya, so I guess I'll ask him when he comes over today.

Week 3 Day 7

Midoriya just laughed when i asked him my question and still won't answer it, even after i threatened NOT to make him any more pretty pictures. Daddy and him both found my threat to be funny and cute though so I guess that's good. Denki came to see me again and was all about patting my butt again and playing peek a boo with me.. which Ok. was fun for like a little bit buttt he reallly carried it on for too long but when i said I was getting bored we swapped over to playing with stuffies till his time was up. Well ok, I played with them and told him what was going on and he just smiled and told me how creative I was and made me grin like a dork. I asked HIM about Ojiro's odd behavior before he left and he got a BIG grin on his face and said he'd be back for more details and then daddy scolded me about not sticking in other peoples affairs. I'm so confused. The next day Midoriya was here and something reallly 'brassing happened.. I had gone boom boom once again and He was going to leave..but daddy asked him if he wanted to help change me!!! I don't know who was blushing more, me or him! In any case, after Midoriya helped cleaned my butt up and daddy re-diapered me, He took off all squirmy and blushing and daddy joked about me having a effect on all the boys.. whatever THAT'S suppose to mean. Mommy is coming by later today and I hope I don't spend her whole visit sobbing again like a crybaby.. though daddy said it's ok if I do cuz it's a big part of my rehab.

Week 4 Day 1

Sooo..who's got two thumbs and ended up crying himself to a early bedtime in mommies arms yesterday? THIS guy. she came in as I was having supper and technically it was too late for her to be there but they made a exception. I was already kinda.. whinny.. when it looked like she wasn't going to show but then daddy said she could only be there for half a hour. Mommy explained that she got stuck waiting on a delivery of things she's going to need for me in the future and took over feeding me the rest of my supper while I whined and huffed that I had waited allll day on her. It wasn't till after she had given me my ba-ba in her lap and burped me I thought to ask what she had ordered. She just smiled and told me not to worry about it and to be a good little boy and kissed my forehead and I.. I totally fudged my huggies, in mommies lap. Cue meltdown and I don't even really know why..it's not like I haven't been pooping my pants for awhile now right? I don't know whether it was because I was being held, or who was holding me, or just her reaction as i did it that got to me. "Oh! Somebodies making mommy a present!" with utter delight in her voice and patting my bottom as i kept filling my pampers to the brim. I just..I just started to bawl and sob and buried my face in her shoulder and no matter how much Mommy and daddy told me it was all ok, I couldn't stop. I don't even remember going to sleep or getting a diapie change..I just woke up this morning in my crib in a soggy diaper (Yeah I've become a bed wetter, so what!) and yeahhh.. Daddy says he'll tell me who changed me, him or her when he thinks I can hear it without bawling.

Week 5 Day 5

After holding up for journal for daddy to read, he told me I need to start taking time to calm down and focus before writing, my last couple of entries were all scribbles again. he told it was very cute and brave of me to wanna share it with him though and gave me lots of awesome head pats. I guess since i didn't make sense when i originally gushed about it, i should go back over it. Just shortly after the thing with pooping my pampers in mommies lap, i just started to really like head pats and daddy took notice and has been showering me with them. just makes me all giddy and I've started to lean into them. Midoriya noticed the love of 'em took and started to give'em out! Jirou came by with Asui and it was while I was watching some Micky mouse club house and singing along. I had just went "OH TOODLES!" and heard giggles and clapping and well blushed a bit..but daddies been trying to help me embrace what a little guy I am so I forced a smile then blew a raspberry at them. told'em if they wanted to come in and visit they could, but they had to join in and help Micky out. they giggled but agreed and well for a couple of stinky girls they weren't half bad to hang out with.

They weren't as fun to hang out as Mommy when she came and visited, though I said sorry a BUNCH of times for my fit she just gave me head and butt pats and told me it was all ok. She's been twice since the stinky break down and I've managed NOT to bawl both times for the most part. I mean..i get a little teary when she has to go buttt i get it. wish she could visit more but between work and setting my room up she's been a busy bee. I asked about why she'd hafa set my room up since I always figured after this I'll be going right back to school but she just chuckled and took out the action figures she'd brought from home for me and her to play hero's and villains with. (I mean, don't get me wrong, LOVE the stuffies I have in here, and Midoriya, Denki, Kouda and Tenya have gotten me others..but action figures are sooo much easier to have do cool stuff.) Oh guess i forgot to mention a bunch of boys showed up, Kouda, Tenya, Satou, Eijirou, and ughhh.. Mineta. They showed up as a group with some presents and while 4 of them were all cool and nice.. well, one guess who was a little butt? he actually got me so worked up with his teasing I swore for the first time in ages and daddy had to wash my mouth out but he also banned him from coming back. Back to playing with mommy, it was super fun, she was the evil baddies trying to attack the peaceful stuffie village and I was the heroes saying the day and giggling as i was in just a t-shirt and my uber diapies. there was slight almost crying moment though while playing with mommy.. I went to lean forward to grab a action figure and just with like.. NO control blorted. It was loud and stinky and I guess I had the cutest look on my face. Maybe asked if I wasn't to stop playing while i finished or keep going and well..I didn't want her to be bored just sitting there watching me go blort. (Blort is a nick name for going poopie I picked up from Ojiro when he visited again, though his butt looked all puffed out and he seemed wayyy more into hugging stuffies then me. eh, go figure) Anyways, we finished up the game and I have having so much fun I MIGHTA pretended I was still blorting even after it was all out so we didn't have to pause again. I know I know, that meant sitting in my own poopie for awhile when I didn't hafa but I'm not really worried about a diaper rash or anything, they use like the best creams and powders here, and well I maybe kinda sorta like the squishy feeling.. though when i told daddy he said that's just because I haven't been able to make a big boy mess in awhile. I'm shocked my hair didn't ignite i was blushing so bad when he said that. Before you even ask diary, I waited till it was just me and daddy ta mention that.. though he hinted mommy had known I was done. He said maybe tomorrow if I'm super duper good today I can get a milking which confused me at first since I don't have boobies. thennn he explained it out and um yeah.. lots of blushies and gonna try and be on my bestest behavior.

Week 9, Day 3

Sowwy been 'noring you. dis too busy hasing fun wiff everyone. daddy said it's otay though and told me to make at least one last entry in ya. Ummm otay. Sooo Turns out dat Ojiro and Denki are now all dating and kissy face and and Denki was a wanna be daddy dom and the reason Ojiro got all squirmy and silly? he was all jelly of me and my kick butt nursery! Apparently he was gonna -GIGGLE- try and git locked up in here so he could be babied and Denki just spanked his butt RED and pampered him. He's a super good at going blort too, and when they visit we have blort offs. (Score 4-3 in mah favor) Let's see...what else....Oh! Midoriya went and got a part time job as a daycare worker and 'ppently it's at a speical daycare where big babies like Ojiro n me can go, once I get out. kinda silly since i'm gonna be a uber big boy n stuff when i git out butttt daddy is always telling me to be polite sooo i nodded. He's been helping out wiff my diapie changes when he's here and even put in a few volunteer hours here to help out. (Such a good guy!) Mommies been by A LOT more latly too and can't stop gushing bout the appent change in my attuide. she's been bringing in and taking home my action figures cuz her and daddy agreed those are toys for use only under special supervision and I kinda ended up admitting to her I like sitting in my poopies now, at least for like.. umm.. 10 minutes. She just laughed and said noted and that it worked out with one of the additions she put on my room.. whatever dat means. She still wont tell me what she's done or why I'll be going wiff her when I get out, but eh, asking too many questions is a good way to lose a milking and the way daddy does'em.. dun what dat. Ummm I fink dat's everything Diary..fanks fer helping me get though the first bit of life here n being a friend! Daddy asked me to leave you here wiff him when I get out, but he'll print a copy for me and mommy.

After half a year in baby Jail, It was a fair different Katsuki who stepped out then had gone in. and that wasn't just referring to his change in attire. His quirk had more or less been nullified over the course of his treatment via special drugs in his drinks and food though it would return if he weaned himself off of said drug. Katsuki for his part didn't seem to mind since it got him out of his baby mitts and let him use his fingers for fun stuff like finger painting. (though even the daddy AI had learned it was best to strip him to just a diaper when he was painting, the little guy liked to draw on himself and had a massive fit when daddy had washed a turtle he'd drawn on his tummy off before he could show Midoriya.) He didn't even seem to mind that he'd been released in his now familiar bulky diaper and one of his many baby tops, wearing a pair of Winnie pooh socks and sneakers and holding onto his mom's hand as he was checked out. The warden smiled and waved bye bye to him as he was signed out and Katsuki semi hide behind his mom but waved bye back and then they were heading home.

"so Um..Mommmmmy?" Katsuki asked, sitting in the back seat of mommy's car, buckled into a customized car seat just for his puffy diaper butt. "whatttty?" She asked, looking back at him via the rear view mirror and smirking. "Can you tell's me now why we're going back home and not ta school? Like..is it so I can get's my big boy clothes on?" he asked, kicking his legs ideally. "welll you've missed most of the school year as is, there's no way you'll be able to catch up. so it's been agreed that you'll just take the rest of the year off and stay with me. and Besides, you need to re-potty train buddy." his mom pointed out. "...no i don't. I can hold it." Katsuki huffed, blushing and hugging one of the stuffies he'd been able to take with him and holding it to his chest. "Katsuki..what don't good little boys do?" She asked him. "...Lie." he huffed and looked down. "and what was that you just did?" "..Lied Mommy..I sowwy.." Katsuki said and he just looked SO sad and had tears welling up. "It's ok sweetie. Mommy isn't mad. but you need to tell the truth so you can have lots and lots of head pats ok?" she said quickly. "O-Ok..I..I guess..Maybe i kinda don't have pee control anymore..but I mostly know when i hasa blort." Katsuki said. "Mhhhmmm..well we'll be keeping you in your diapies for awhile and working you back up to be kid undies for the fall unless you decide you like being mommies little guy." "pffft, wike I'll PICK ta stay like this.." he huffed and squirmed. "Well if you do..a lot of what mommies been doing while you've been in there is baby proofing the apartment and turning your room into a nursery like the one you've been in, just no daddy though." "I..wait..wut?" Katsuki asked, and squirmed. "Yup, a changing table, a crib..I got you a high chair and got a baby bouncer for you because daddy told me it's your favorite way to make big boy messes after you've blorted." She giggled. Katsuki was squirming BIG time now in the back seat, and ended up popping his paci into his mouth and sucking on it big time and hugging his stuffie to his face. "oh it's ok sweetie. Mommy knows a growing boy like you has your needs. Just make sure to get mommies help if you wanna go bouncy bouncy ok?" She asked. The poor red faced boy couldn't speak, just suckled and nodded lots. the old Katsuki would of had a bitching fit and blown his way out of the car and stormed off..but Baby Katsuki just realized maybe just because he was out of baby jail..didn't mean he wasn't still a baby. 'I'm not a jail bird anymore..this is gonna be a longggggg summer..' He thought and then sucking on his paci and the noise of the car and vibration of it, drifted off to sleep like the big baby he was.

The end

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lightsandlostbells · 4 years ago

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wtFOCK season 3, episode 3 reaction

In this episode, Sander shows up 15 minutes late with croques (I know this joke has to have been made before, sorry)

Just adding again that if you are looking for an all-positive review of this show, this is not it. Please don’t read if you would prefer not to hear negative takes.

Episode 3

Clip 1 - Robbe on the beach

Robbe is sharing a bed with Noor. He’s doing some good physical acting because even just lying there, I can tell how stiff and uncomfortable he is. He wakes up and looks bummed. It’s pretty early and he’s on vacation so you know he really doesn’t want to be spooning with a girl if he’s getting out of bed right now.

Gotta say the detail of Aaron’s ass being half-exposed in his sleep is a detail that made me lol.

Robbe goes to the beach and listens to music. He types a text to his mom that he can’t make it to see her this week because he’s at the seaside, (because he’s supposedly doing a school project with Jen, lmao) but then he deletes it. So perhaps he is feeling guilt over not visiting, or he’s just got mixed feelings and wants to distance himself from his family situation right now.

Clip 2 - FINALLY

Robbe goes back to the house and sees a mysterious dude. It’s only been like 20 minutes since Robbe left the house, so this guy must have just arrived. Don’t know why they didn’t just combine these clips, especially since it would’ve been a nice contrast to get Robbe moody and alone vs. the jolt he receives with a cute boy’s arrival within one clip.

The important thing is that we finally meet the Even of this season, who I’ve been pretending I didn’t know is called Sander. I’m going to repeat what dozens of other people have said and say yes, this is Jack Frost from that one movie in live-action form.

Sander does a bit where he roasts Robbe about not having breakfast ready and he expected it when he made a reservation; Robbe acts half-amused, half-confused as fuck, as if part of him recognizes it as a windup but he also doesn’t know who this dude is, so maybe he could be for real?

Afterwards Sander is like, let’s go bitch, we’re grabbing breakfast, and he introduces himself. Robbe is still flabbergasted but he follows Sander out the door anyway, possibly compelled by Sander’s charisma, possibly just swayed by a hot guy. He has no idea how important this meeting is in the grand scheme of things. Robbe, your story is finally starting in episode 3!

OK, I like Sander’s intro! It’s in line with Even’s paper towel trick. Sander is getting Robbe’s attention with a dramatic introduction. He made sure to make a memorable first impression. It works not just for Robbe, but for me as a viewer as well. And I like that Robbe was caught off-guard like Isak was and they didn’t instantly fall into banter or anything, because let’s be real, if some strange dude showed up in your kitchen and started talking to you like this, you would be pretty WTF no matter how nice his face is.

I am not sure if this show will do the thing where Sander has been pining after Robbe for a while before this meeting - we have seen glimpses of Sander so it seems as if he’s seen Robbe before, but if he’s not from the same school as I think is the case, then I wonder how much he really could have developed feelings for Robbe? Even saw Isak the first day of school, so it’s easy to understand that he developed a crush in the time between that and S3 just by seeing Isak doing his thing at school regularly, and he had plenty of time to learn who Isak was. With Sander, it seems like he just saw Robbe randomly, and that makes sense for “hmm, a cute guy” but not really this giant crush on Robbe as a person.

This is why it would have been good to actually show what Robbe did or made in the graffiti scene, because it would make sense if Robbe drew something that would have intrigued Sander.

Anyway, the larger point is that this scene does make sense if you consider that Sander was waiting for Robbe and this was a planned intro. I assume there is some way that he found out Robbe would be here this weekend. If this is not something Sander expected, then it’s pretty impulsive of him. Though I can totally buy him winging the booking.com bit if that’s his personality. But it makes more sense to me at the moment to imagine that Sander knew Robbe was coming.

Clip 3 - Robbe and Sander at the store

Robbe and Sander are grocery shopping. Sander quickly establishes himself as having an outspoken, confident personality. I do like how instantly his vibe comes across, which is helpful since we’re making up for lost time.

Sander asking Robbe how many hot dogs one eats has some G-rated “Even immediately starts talking about blowjobs” energy. Or maybe it’s just a coincidence and they really are just talking about food, but like. It’s an Even.

Amber sends them the shopping list full of normal grocery items. Sander is like NOPE, not getting that. Well I hope no one has any dietary restrictions they need to follow, lmao.

Robbe asks Sander how he knows Amber, but Sander gets distracted by the song over the loudspeakers so he doesn’t have to disclose the truth yet. The song is by “Rebel Rebel” by David Bowie. He asks Robbe if he’s a fan and Robbe is like “yeah!” but Sander challenges him to name three of his songs and Robbe is a flop. Again, I do like how forcefully Sander comes across, his personality is evident.

I have to say: out of all the remake Evens, he’s the one who most immediately comes across as a magnetic personality. Granted, he seems to have a very similar vibe to Even whereas some remake Evens have rather different personalities from the original recipe. But Sander does come across as someone you’d meet (or Robbe would meet) and be a little smitten and swept off your feet right away.

David Bowie is also a good choice for an Even’s musical taste, especially because of Bowie’s sexuality. I guess you could say it’s pretty on the nose, but it still works for me. I don’t know a ton about the origins of Rebel Rebel but it references gender fluidity and sexuality, so it’s feels fitting for an LGBT-centered season.

As a diehard Ronan/Adam shipper (they’re my OTP of OTPs besides Evak) this scene of Sander pushing Robbe on the cart in the store is calculated to appeal to me. Pynch peeps, you know what I’m talking about. /finger guns

As a personal tangent, I also think grocery shopping is one of the best things you can do on a first date to know if you’re compatible with someone. I have been grocery shopping with people who were dull and no fun, and I have been grocery shopping where it’s an adventure in itself. I strongly believe that you can have fun with the right person in even the most mundane situations.

Back to Robbe/Sander: this part’s really cute! It gives us a sense of who Sander is and it shows them having fun together. They have a comfortable chemistry and I think Robbe’s vibe in this scene hits the right notes of being starstruck and a little over his head, but acclimating to Sander’s OTT personality and being able to relax and have a good time. He’s certainly having more fun than he expected when he woke up this morning.

The spinning and eventual slow-mo moment to Rebel Rebel! Great! Super effective at catching that feeling of holy shit, sudden butterflies in my stomach? I can’t look away from this person? I think I have a crush?

Sander scanning Robbe and saying it’s expensive = lmao, genuinely funny.

And I do like the idea of Sander pushing Robbe and it being chaotic and messy as a way to visualize/signify the arrival of him in Robbe’s life as a way to shake it upside down. (Although, lol, I kinda hate them for causing a mess for the retail workers.)

Sander crashes the cart and Robbe into some boxes. After checking to see if Robbe’s OK, Sander plays it cool and walks away whistling. I do love Robbe’s reaction, that we see him trailing Sander and sneaking happy glances at him. Good stuff.

Taken on its own, this is a terrific first meeting, and I can see how this scene would inspire optimism in the season picking up from here. However - and I hate to be a downer because this scene worked for me - it’s the same issue that I’ve said before: we shouldn’t have waited two full episodes for this clip. Though this scene was great and established an easy chemistry, it also wasn’t that personal and didn’t last too long, and now they have to go back and hang with everyone else, so how are they going to continue to bond on their own? They should just go find other errands to do, away from everyone else.

Clip 4 - Robbe and Sander in the kitchen

Noor is right there in the kitchen with them, but being hungover, is unable to be a third wheel in the way that Emma was to Isak and Even. Amber’s annoyed that they didn’t get anything on the shopping list, Sander shoos her out and says Robbe and he will cook.

Again, this not the same room for intimacy as Evak because they’re not alone! Anyone could walk in at any moment! People were just there! And I think you COULD do something interesting with that, how frustrating it is that everyone else is there, but it doesn’t work so well when it’s like … the first time they meet and they really need that space to get to know each other (considering, for the millionth time, that we are racing to catch up with only just meeting Sander). We really need to either play into the lack of intimacy and adjust the timeline of the relationship accordingly, or they need to manage some extra moments with the two of them to really establish the connection.

They make croques (weren’t bread and cheese on Amber’s list? So they did get something she asked for, heh) and there’s a fair amount of innuendo and suggestion, with the leaning down and leaning toward each other in the tight space. I do really like that and think it’s effective. They notice the chemistry, Sander touches Robbe’s back as he walks by.

More Bowie with Under Pressure. (This would be a really good song choice for Robbe’s POV to illustrate all the shit he’s dealing with.) Sander is very charming, he’s singing and having a good time, he lights up a joint. He opens up a bit about how making croques is a family tradition and asks Robbe if he has any traditions, and Robbe is still withdrawn and doesn’t go into it. Good moment! Robbe’s family is a touchy subject.

Sander licking the joint is quite an Erotique moment for Robbe. I also like that Robbe is clumsy with the croques, seemingly because he’s flustered by Sander’s Sanderness.

I like the Sander actor quite a bit so far. Like I said, he’s super intense and charismatic. He’s also super fucking forward with Robbe, feeding him some croque while they eye fuck, and I’m sorry but that feels way too pointed for this relationship so far The rest of the scene captures the unstated sexual tension but Sander sticking a sandwich in Robbe’s mouth while Robbe stares back is too obvious and feels like they’re trying to sell this really hard in order to make up for lost time, it took me out of the scene. Robbe is tentatively getting more comfortable with Sander, but I don’t buy that he would be that comfortable at this point. It would have been better if they’d stuck to, like, the subtle thrill of sharing a joint (where OMG Sander’s mouth has been?? Yowza).

Britt shows up and she’s Sander’s girlfriend! Oh nooooo!

Except Robbe and Sander met SEVERAL HOURS AGO so this doesn’t really have much of an impact? Isak pining over Even for a week and Googling him and stalking him creates a big buildup both in audience expectations and in Isak’s, whereas Robbe JUST met this dude. We’ve barely had time to form any expectations.

Imagine if you’ve never seen Skam and you’re watching this in real time. You’d be like “Awww, bummer, this guy has a girlfriend, I guess,” rather than “OH SHIT NOOOOOO” because you’ve been following them for a week and watching their conversations and their eye-fucking and getting to know Even through Isak’s eyes. Because you’ve had plenty of time to become attached to this character and because you’ve had time to sink into Isak’s POV and feel his crush on this guy. You feel the stakes of learning that Even has a girlfriend. Robbe learning that Sander is dating Britt is disappointing ... but how disappointing, really? There’s a low level of investment in Sander so far, for both Robbe and for us. I mean, sure, he’s charming, and we’re probably thinking he and Robbe might be cute together, but at most you would have had five hours to get attached at this point. If you look at it one way, this revelation is good because Robbe had only a brief window of time to get his hopes up before learning Sander has a girlfriend, as opposed to Isak who had a full week.

This is where the season’s odd storytelling choices start to fall down. Because there’s a lot about these last few clips that I enjoyed on a micro level. They work as individual scenes. It’s when you think about them on a macro level that the logic and emotional resonance doesn’t hold up. And I think that there are many, many story elements - in wtFOCK and most of the remakes - where a lot of writing only makes sense if you are coming with knowledge of the original show and sort of filling in the blanks here, rather than wtFOCK putting in the work itself.

I also think it’s something of a disappointment because S3 portrayed the experience of developing a crush so beautifully, the desperation to learn more about a person and get close to them, the obsessive focus. wtFOCK is by no means required to do that, but it was such a vulnerable, intimate way to get into Isak’s head that I can’t help but miss the extended crush period for Robbe. We really needed more of his POV.

Robbe decides to cope by getting high. Aha, there’s that Under Pressure for Robbe!

Actually, it seemed super weird to me that the timestamps had them meeting like 5 hours ago? Because it seemed like they went shopping and went home soon after where Amber inspected the groceries, but apparently there were hours between that, so what were they doing in the meantime? Not anything important, apparently, because we didn’t see it.

Clip 5 - Sad sad Robbe time

The others are playing trivia and Robbe is just social distancing like 10 feet away staring at them while listening to music on his headphones, lmao. Britt has quite the grip on Sander’s neck.

Noor comes over and Robbe asks her about Britt and Sander. Sander studied Visual Arts at I think a different school than Robbe. Imagine how effective this would be if Robbe did this LAST WEEK, like “casually” asked Noor about Sander or something. But of course that would have required the story to be moving forward last week.

Sander stares at Robbe and Noor as they make out. Get back in Robbe’s POV, for fuck’s sake! This isn’t even an impossible moment to have from his POV. Have Robbe and Noor make out, Robbe opens his eyes and spies Sander looking at him, he looks again and Sander has looked away. That creates an element of doubt that will live rent free in Robbe’s head.

This choice annoys me more and more. Where’s the tension in quite firmly suggesting that actually, Sander is into Robbe right after showing that Sander has a girlfriend? There was soooo much juicy tension squeezed from Isak and the audience not knowing what the fuck was up with Even and Sonja. People forget it now, but as someone who watched OG S3 in real time, there were plenty of viewers who thought Even was just stringing Isak along or doubted the sincerity of his feelings, because the show effectively kept us in Isak’s POV and for many viewers there was room to doubt Even’s intentions. Honestly, we didn’t really get real confirmation of Even’s feeling until episode 9. I just don’t see how it serves the story to a) take us out of our main character’s POV b) to make sure the mysterious love interest is somewhat less mysterious this early.

Clip 6 - Paintball

The squads play a friendly game of paintball, and by that I mean they try to annihilate each other. It’s a little hard for me to tell who’s shooting who since it’s fast and everyone has masks and is dressed in either black or camo, except Aaron in his onesie.

Sander and Robbe end up next to each other. They see Britt on the ground. Sander runs up and shoots Britt several times while she tells him to stop, clearly in pain. Britt yells at him to be normal sometimes and to use his head from time to time. Sander apologizes as Britt runs off.

Robbe and Sander exchange a look like “hmm” and Sander says he thinks they’ve won. He walks off. The music feels … weirdly triumphant?

This scene sits pretty weirdly. I don’t think this clip was pointless, I definitely think it has a point, but … what are they going for here. Thinking about it, I’d say the concept of this scene is good, but the execution feels off. wtFOCK has a real tone problem that becomes apparent later in the season.

I don’t think shooting Britt means Sander is manic, but I DO think part of the intent was to show he’s impulsive/gets carried away/can be OTT. Which is not bad (although there’s some sketchiness abut how this is tied to his mental illness if he’s not manic right now, and about how mentally ill people are dangerous) but it’s his reaction that gets me. Because it’s one thing if he gets carried away and we see him show remorse (which he does, briefly) but then he’s like cracking a joke with Robbe. It would be way more effective if we saw his remorse lingering. Not to mention yeah, he could have hurt Britt! It’s not that Sander has to be flawless, but this is one of our first impressions of him and it’s not great. It might work if you think it’s setting up Sander as something of a dangerous bad boy for Robbe (“you only like bad news” go the lyrics) but I’m not sure how much the show leans into that, especially because Robbe seems happy that they “won” rather than alarmed at what the fuck Sander just did.

But the part that baffles me most is how this matters to Robbe/Sander? Is this supposed to be a cute, flirty moment? A “haha, fuck my girlfriend, I like you instead” moment? Because wow, was it cruel on Sander’s part, and Robbe doesn’t seem that bothered by it. I get that maybe Sander IS supposed to be upset with himself but is brushing it off, but yeah, the offense is just too much for me, when physical harm comes into play.

IDK, I could get behind the ambiguity of reactions in a scene like this, but there’s something off about the seriousness of what Sander does - which is acknowledged in-clip by Britt’s and Zoë’s reactions - combined with how Robbe and Sander end the clip, as if we ignore those reactions to make it a fun shippy moment. It’s pretty unappealing. We don’t even really see or hear anything about Sander and Britt making up or talking it out, we don’t see any lingering tension between them due to this incident, it’s like this clip was forgotten. Presumably they made up off-screen before the next clip, but in that case, we should have seen Sander run after her to apologize? Where’s the emotional fallout? It doesn’t really stick for Sander, Britt, or Robbe.

Clip 7 - Bonfire

Robbe is upset with Sander and Britt making out. He goes over to Aaron who is also sitting sadly alone.

Aaron says he doesn’t know how Robbe does it, getting girls, and how he was so chill with Noor in the bathroom. IMO they could’ve ramped up Robbe’s fuckboyness since it didn’t come across that clearly to me, but this is one thing I do like about the potential of Isak and Magnus interaction … the Magnus looking to the Isak for girl advice, making the Isak have to preserve some sort of reputation as a ladies’ man, giving him some cred with his friends that he’s afraid to lose.

Robbe says it’s different because Noor goes to a different school so it wasn’t as bad if she rejected him. But wasn’t she handing out dance performance flyers in the hallway at Robbe’s school? That made me think she was a student there. But IDK how Belgian school works, maybe that’s normal.

Aaron goes over to talk to Amber and makes her a s’more, but Amber walks off because OMG so many calories. Aaron is bummed but Luca takes the s’more and eats it. Uhhh, the obvious buildup here is for Aaron/Luca, wtFOCK writers. She is literally taking and enjoying what Aaron is offering. I sense a connection.

I’m tickled by Aaron referencing American TV shows when he makes the s’more. His s’more is missing the best part, the cheap melted chocolate, which to be fair would probably have caused Amber to slap him over the calorie count.

This scene is at least from Robbe’s POV as he watches them, thank God.

Clip 8 - Haunted house

The boy squad (who are called the Brrrothers) set up a haunted house. That’s actually a pretty fun scenario. They lock the others in, because teenagers don’t care about fire hazards. But still seems like a great time.

Sander helps the others through the window, what a gentleman.

Aaron and Amber have the cliché “fall down into each other” moment so I suppose that’s the start of their romance. Now she holds his hand. Boo, no Luca/Aaron … at least Aaron/Amber is still better than Basile/Daphne so far.

They climb onto the roof to seek a treasure, which turns out to be alcohol. There’s a rooftop party, people drinking and smoking and having a good time. Robbe and Sander share a Look before Sander and Britt get cozy.

I mean, again … would’ve been better if they hadn’t spoken like. Twice.

Clip 9 - Aaron throws away his shot

Robbe is grumpy on the way back from the haunted house, which he calls Jens and Moyo’s ego trip. I think he’s mostly just sour about Sander and Britt, but also he could be annoyed that he wasn’t involved, although that mainly seems like it would be Robbe’s fault for distancing himself.

Aaron valiantly offers to check the house for murderous ghosts before they go back inside.

See, I KNEW Aaron was going to pull some shit with a practical joke when he went inside, I just didn’t expect him to pretend to get SHOT. The dedication… it’s in very poor taste, though.

Of course it’s a prank, but Amber acts very concerned. You know, this is actually a good way to show how Aaron is immature and keep the Amber/Aaron pairing apart … compared to Basile/Daphne where it was just nonstop sexual harassment, here we see Aaron being sweet and thoughtful with Amber and potentially making progress with her, and then ruining it by being an insensitive teenage dumbass. But he can still grow into more of a mature kid and prove himself to Amber that way.

Aaron seems regretful of it, but Moyo and Jens are like YOU DA MAN. I regret to announce that this boy squad kinda sucks so far. At least Aaron seems like he might have some character development, judging by his reaction here.

That was nicely done as a way to create conflict with the Aaron/Amber relationship, and establishing some mutual interest before showing where Aaron needs to grow as a person, even if I’m like ... we really got to stick to Robbe’s POV/story, man.

Clip 10 - Another prank

Moyo and Jens ask Robbe to go get them beers, and it’s a prank and Aaron’s in the freezer so I guess Aaron did not learn anything, never mind.

Echoing what I said above: I’m absolutely not expecting the boy squad to be perfectly well-behaved rational empathetic adults, and it’s not like this prank is some deeply cruel thing, but there is just. So much. Of the shouting, pranking, casual sexism, crude comments, and general obnoxious behavior. I’m really trying to keep in mind that Isak’s boy squad was also full of the horny gross talk about girls at the beginning, and that it was a necessary part of showing Isak’s alienation from his peers. Or that by now on OG S3 we had several awesome moments from Isak’s squad that we haven’t reached yet because the season’s paced a few episodes behind. Still. Ugh. Maybe it’s the shouting? I feel like this boy squad is ... shoutier ... than the other boy squads. Making them prankmasters is also not helping. I think you have to walk a careful line between making them realistically flawed straight dudes who alienate Isak with their talk of girls, and making them screaming caricatures who are all “fuck girls get pussy hot chicks sex sex sex.” There’s a lack of warmth and innocence to balance it out. We need some indication soon that these guys are going to be there for Robbe when shit goes down.

Robbe snaps at them and storms off, and Noor follows him. WOW, it would be good to see ROBBE’S POV of this scene!!!! What happened next!!!

Nope, the clip ends here!!!!

Clip 11 - Halloween

Everyone’s dressed up and preparing to go to a Halloween party. The girls are cute putting on makeup and chatting about necrophilia. There’s a comment where Luca says a guy sounded like “a begging Romanian” and errrrr, I did a bit of a double take at that. It’s not my culture or language so I don’t want to talk out of my ass, but I thought this was generally considered to be an offensive thing to say (although one that people frequently say anyway due to prejudice). What was the fandom reaction to that line?

People are dancing at the party. Apparently Jens and Jana are friends with benefits. Lol, at least Jana is not FWB with their P-Chris, that guy sucked.

Amber’s still mad at Aaron, understandably. Moyo cheers up Aaron on his recent romantic failure, which is nice and a much kinder moment than 99% of the material they’ve given Moyo thus far, and they go look for other girls.

I do love all the Halloween makeup. Look at Robbe’s hair!

Zoë checks her phone because I guess Senne drama is gonna happen.

Noor tags a wall with R+N in a heart, oh dear.

Robbe stares sadly at Sander and Britt dancing. Noor tries to get him to dance because the song is great, Robbe says he’s more of a Bowie fan and namedrops Changes. OK lmao, again, this doesn’t work so well that Robbe has suddenly become a Bowie expert when he’s been at the seaside the whole time. I know it’s silly when Isak starts acting like a Nas expert, but there was enough time for him to look up Nas between when Even mentioned him and when he talked to Emma about him to gain some basic knowledge of Nas. I guess Robbe could’ve been looking up Bowie in the last few days when he’s brooding alone, but lol, he’s also been kinda busy. Or Robbe is just bullshitting about Bowie, but the fact he was able to name a Bowie song when he couldn’t earlier in the episode suggests that he did look into Bowie.

Now there’s the Call Your Girlfriend moment where Robbe makes out with Noor while staring at Sander, then Sander stares back, eyefuck, blah blah.

I gotta say. I’ve seen various takes on Call Your Girlfriend scene by now. And what I notice - at least from my recollection - is that the remakes tend to focus more on the actual eyefucking. Because the OG scene doesn’t actually have Isak and Even staring at each other, going back and forth, for a while. Most of that scene is about Isak’s longing. Isak dances with Emma, looks at Even with Sonja. He kisses Emma, looks at Even kissing Sonja. It’s about Isak wanting Even but instead being with a girl. When Even looks back it’s not this long, extended thing! Because it’s not really about the eyefucking. It’s just confirmation, for both Isak and for us, that we are not imagining this chemistry between them. It’s a shot of hope that Even also wants Isak despite mixed signals. That even though Even is passionately kissing his girlfriend, he’s thinking about Isak. And then Isak closes his eyes - he doesn’t eyefuck Even through three verses and the bridge, he closes his eyes - and we don’t need to be told to realize he’s imagining he’s kissing Even instead.

First of all, the most effective part of the CYG scene is the timing. The song is perfectly timed and Isak’s reactions are perfectly edited to make us feel that frustration and longing that Isak does. It’s a way more vulnerable scene that most of the remakes seem to realize. Most of the scene is Isak looking without that look being reciprocated. And Even’s returned look comes just as we’re losing our minds (plus it matches the on-the-nose lyrics, lol). The endless eyefucking in the remakes isn’t that special or interesting in terms of delivery.

Second, here’s the thing: I think we forget, since we know that Evak are endgame, that at this stage during S3′s real-time run, it wasn’t certain that they were endgame. In fact, many people weren’t even sure Even liked Isak back! I was lucky enough to jump into Skam right before the first kiss, and there was so much doubt, it was crazy. Even and Isak shared an awesome afternoon together, but Even brought his girlfriend to this party, he’s still dating her. Isak is doubting whether this thing can go anywhere with them, if Even even is interested in him like that. And Even looking at him during CYG IS the confirmation that Even’s into him. It’s the confirmation for the audience that we didn’t imagine Even’s attraction to Isak. Whereas in wtFOCK, Sander is like openly staring at Robbe when Robbe isn’t watching, and the show breaks Robbe’s POV to make sure we know this. Sander is feeding him croques by hand while they lock eyes. He’s being much flirtier and the show is not hiding his interest. wtFOCK introduced Britt as an obstacle to this potential relationship, but does she really feel like one when Sander has been communicating his interest all along? Is there any doubt he likes Robbe? Not to mention Sander was just introduced this episode, and there simply isn’t the buildup, the time to weigh in and question his motives, the investment in whether he likes Robbe or not. So the tremendous release of tension in this scene is just not the same, because the tension isn’t there to begin with.

The OG Call Your Girlfriend clip is not about two guys who are hot for each other challenging each other to look away. The clip is about vulnerability and longing, and that vibe has been missing from sooooo many of the adaptations. Like anything in the remakes, change is not inherently bad. Change can provide for some interesting and thoughtful material. But I don’t think the remakes always realized when they’re making a change. On the surface a scene will be similar to OG, but the emotional buildup, the timing, the tension, the symbolism, etc. will be very different, and if you’re not aware of how even the littlest change can alter the meaning of a scene, then the scene can fall flat.

Clip 12 - End of trip

Everyone’s packing up to go home, Amber calls out the boys for sitting there and not cleaning (she’s right!)

Robbe helps Sander with the empty bottles. Sander asks about Robbe and Noor if they’re doing well. Robbe says yeah and then asks about Sander and Britt, Sander says it’s been “ups and downs” with mostly downs lately. Ups and downs could also refer to bipolarity, though I don’t know if I’d jump to Sander having “mostly downs” mentally just yet.

Sander says he seems to get on her nerves lately, and they’ve been together for half a year. Okay sooooo … they’re way less serious than Even and Sonja, and Sander has much less to lose by breaking up with her. I mean. Do they not see where, emotionally, this removes a lot of Even’s conflict in OG, and presumably much of Sander’s conflict in this version? It mattered that Sonja had been with Even for years. It mattered that he was used to her taking charge. It mattered that they’d sunk so much time into this relationship and survived such rough patches. Unless there was a really really drastic event in Sander’s life like right when he and Britt got together, that she was instrumental in helping him face, it seriously cannot compare to what Even and Sonja went through. He asks Robbe what he would do, stay or go.

He reaches around Robbe, getting sorta touchy feely, Robbe steps away.

Sander says maybe he (Sander) is scared he’ll never find someone, someone who’ll love him. Tension between him and Robbe as they consider each other. This insight is good to understand Sander, at least.

Robbe says he thinks Sander will find someone like that, Sander asks where, Robbe says he should meet new people, Sander says “on a weekend trip with strangers?” Robbe is like “...yes.” (Did you get to know each other? Did you really?)

They lean in for a kiss, but then Luca shows up to take out the trash so the moment is ruined, Sander walks off.

SIIIIIIGH this could have been a good scene if they like … developed this relationship or didn’t pace this story so weirdly. On top of the rushed Sander/Robbe development, the buildup to this scene on its own is odd. In OG, the kitchen almost-kiss happens right after the Call Your Girlfriend moment where they lock eyes, after Even stares at Isak across the room. There is palpable tension in the kitchen because they’re basically riding a high together. This is like the morning after their version of the CYG, which should have been an “aha! he likes me back!” moment for Robbe, but instead the momentum and sexual tension just kind of paused and consequently this scene almost feels random, like I felt the contrivances to put them in the same situation as Isak and Even here. (Think about it: Was there a reason this scene had to be the next morning instead of later that night? What happened after that eyefucking clip, did Robbe and Sander just go about their night like NBD?) The CYG clip and following kitchen scene felt like a clear example of cause and effect; the wtFOCK equivalents felt more like they were hitting arbitrary points in the OG rather than feeling fitting to its story.

I just realized we got like NO insight into Robbe’s sexuality crisis this episode, either, the way we did with Isak in episode 3. And maybe we’ll get some of it in the future, but I do think it weakens the story not to have any of that at this juncture. We’re three out of 10 episodes and we’ve barely scratched the surface of our protagonist’s main conflict this season, which is about his sexuality.

HOW I WOULD REWRITE THE EPISODE:

Introduce Sander sooner, for fuck’s sake.

Okay, that ship has sailed, moving on. Have the grocery scene go on longer, or rather, have them go somewhere after the supermarket, like they decide to take a detour to a park or something and go hang out and talk, to the point where Amber starts texting them like “Where the fuck is the food?” Show Robbe unwinding just a little, talking about his own interests, his own taste in music. It’s understandable that he might not open up about the deep’n’heavy stuff yet, but perhaps in either this scene or another one later this week, Sander asks him a family-related question and Robbe doesn’t answer with his whole sad backstory, but he gives a little, maybe has a fond memory of his mom, a tradition they had when he was younger. We see this little happy/sad moment and it’s like something about Sander compels him to open up and we get the complexity of his relationship with his mom, that it’s not all good or bad.

Instead of Sander shooting Britt excessively in the paintball scene, have him and Robbe team up and strategize for a while. We see they work well together, oho. They’re having a lot of fun. And maybe Sander DOES shoot Britt but it’s not this prolonged close-range thing, it’s just him being caught up in the moment as he and Robbe work together. He shoots her (again, it’s a little OTT and enough to make her upset but not quite as bad as in the filmed scene) and she runs off and we see him have an “oh” moment. Oh right, I got caught up being with this guy I like and forgot I have a girlfriend. He feels seriously remorseful and runs after Britt. And maybe when Sander shoots Britt, Robbe has a moment of “!!!”, maybe Sander likes him Like That after all! But then Sander runs after Britt and they kiss and make up because it’s just a paintball game, after all, and Robbe is like, oh, right. It’s just paintball.

This episode really convinces me how vital episode 2 is, even before Mekke øl, in establishing both Even as a character and the Isak/Even dynamic. We get why Isak likes him even before they speak again. It’s so beautiful and honest, with Isak checking out Even’s video, searching for him on social media, that desperation … and then how much R+J hits Isak in the feels. The equivalent would be if Robbe was listening to David Bowie on his earbuds and having a big moment. So er, why didn’t they just ... do that? Robbe is sitting alone listening to David Bowie and watching Sander and Britt be cuddly, and there’s this feeling of longing and being close to Sander via the music while at the same time being so far away. It might be too obvious and faithful to OG, but it would also, you know. Probably be effective. It is also set-up for Robbe talking about how he’s a Bowie fan to Noor.

Have Sander talk to Robbe after Robbe flips out on his friends after the prank! Maybe Sander calms him down by doing a weird Sander thing! Maybe Robbe confides a bit about his shitty home situation or his crappy friends so he and Sander connect on a deeper level! But the prank clip ended immediately after Robbe stormed off, and for some reason the show was like nah, it’s not important after that, even though it was a prime opportunity for good, insightful content into Robbe’s head, or a way to let Robbe and Sander bond some more.

If they cannot talk directly, how about some indirect moments where they connect, other than paintball? We get some stares at each other but those could be structured to show off more of a connection. Their eyes meet when something funny happens. Robbe or Sander are Jim Halperting at each other when Aaron or Amber says something ridiculous, like can you believe this shit? Everyone’s sitting around listening to music and Sander goes and puts on a Bowie song and Robbe smiles to himself.

(Not that they needed to do movie references in this version, but they should have totally gone with Labyrinth references for Robbe/Sander, just saying. I’m not even sure how it would work thematically, I just think it’d be delightful.)

(OR VELVET GOLDMINE, aka “Todd Haynes wrote and filmed David Bowie/Iggy Pop fanfiction where Ewan McGregor and Christian Bale fuck on a rooftop.” God I love that movie.)

In the haunted house, have Robbe and Sander like ...touch, accidentally, or grab each other out of fear, or do one of those cliché “we find ourselves close together, breathing hard and staring at each other” moments. I don’t care! Just give us stuff to work with! Like there even IS a split second moment where Robbe is climbing out of the window and Sander offers him a hand, it’s just not played for any drama or tension or emotional reaction - I mean, wtFOCK are you doing, wtFOCK writers?

There is a glaring flaw with this episode, in that there were SO many opportunities to actually have Robbe and Sander interact throughout the episode, and yet overall the potential was totally wasted.

Consider that Isak and Even went to the same school, but they were in different years and didn’t share any classes. So when, for example, Isak hangs out with Even in Mekke øl, I can easily buy that Isak doesn’t see him again until Even returns the snapback. Or that he doesn’t see Even after the snapback scene until the neon party. Therefore, I feel like I’m seeing all the essential moments of Isak’s interaction with Even, I am getting the “full story” with Evak and sufficient evidence to try to piece together what Even’s deal is.

Robbe and Sander were living under the same roof for days. This is a drastic departure from the original. Realistically speaking, there would have been so, so many more opportunities for interaction, or moments where we could’ve gained insight into that developing attraction. Sander and Britt would’ve been sleeping in the same bed at times, right? How did Robbe react to that? Could we have seen his jealousy? Was there ever a time when Robbe was coming out of the bathroom and he bumped into Sander and it was awkward? Or when someone else left a room and Robbe found himself alone with Sander, and he didn’t know what to say? Did Robbe try to avoid Sander the entire time? Did he try to talk to him but Noor or Britt walked in? Did Sander try to talk to Robbe? Was there any interaction between them besides what we were shown on screen? Did Robbe get up and sit on the beach listening to music and Sander joined him and they shared headphones? Did Robbe go outside one night just to get away from Noor in his bed and Sander was also sitting on the porch and they shared a joint and talked about stuff? Eh? Ehhh???

The problem is that I don’t believe that we were shown the “full story” of Robbe and Sander this week. I can’t believe that because, logically speaking, there would have been way, way more interactions between them even if they were actively trying to avoid each other. For whatever reason, wtFOCK decided to have Robbe and Sander meet at the seaside and spend a week in the same house. Okay. But despite the opportunities that scenario provided to really catch up and develop the hell out of the Robbe/Sander relationship after a delayed start, the show just didn’t do that. And I do feel cheated, not just because it’s rushed and lazy, but because it doesn’t even make sense. Obviously wtFOCK cannot film every minute they were around each other, but it sure as hell could’ve given us more substantial content than it did.

Even if you want to emphasize how they can’t really be alone with each other because they’re with almost 10 other people including their girlfriends ... fucking run with that, man. Milk it for all it’s worth. Make us feel how frustrating it is that they’re not alone, that Robbe is paranoid about getting too close to Sander in case everyone can tell he’s got a crush. Or show them in a scene with other characters, but they’re interacting in an indirect way that makes it seem like they’re the only two people in the room. Their first clip and the almost kiss at the end of the episode is the only time when I really felt that tension at all, and I use “tension” loosely in the case of the almost kiss.

We also have little information this season on Robbe’s specific sexuality crisis, and that’s also hurting the narrative. I’m aware that the next episode dives into some of the clips that OG Skam got to in its episode 3, so I don’t want to harp on it too much now ... but I do have some basic questions, such as: where is Robbe at with his sexuality right now?

We have gotten very little introspection on him thinking about being gay, or what it means to be gay. We did not have the big crush fixation on Sander that Isak got on Even: Googling him, looking him up on social media, trying to find out everything about him. We did not have Robbe taking gay tests online. Yet he goes from meeting Sander to trying to kiss him within days.

And I think the lack of sexuality crisis further diminishes the already weak tension of the episode. If Robbe was more strongly dealing with his sexuality, then I would be able to accept him falling for Sander so fast and so hard a bit more easily, to the point of almost kissing him, even if their emotional connection wasn’t really established. But he hasn’t been given the space to do that. He hasn’t been given the space to even think about being gay or what that means. So he’s supposedly going from internalized homophobia to almost kissing Sander, with none of the introspection shown on screen. Why? What is running through his head?

So obviously, in rewriting the episode, let’s set up some actual sexuality conflict with Robbe. Maybe he’s trying to look up gay stuff online while he’s locked himself in the bathroom or when everyone else is asleep at night, or he’s trying but unfortunately he’s paranoid people are looking over his shoulder, or the boy squad grabs his phone as a prank and he’s terrified they’ll see that he was searching “how to know if you’re gay.” Maybe other people start talking about a sexuality-related topic, a gay celebrity, something like that, and Robbe’s reaction matters - like he makes an ignorant comment and someone schools him, or he makes a downright offensive comment and someone chews him out. Someone makes a gay joke and we see how it makes Robbe squirm. Someone makes a gay joke and then gets called out on it and we see how it makes the wheels turn in Robbe’s head. Have Amber or Noor or whoever make a boneheaded comment about gay people and Sander schools them so we see Robbe get a HMMM moment. HMMM, does Sander like dudes? HMMM, maybe I should reconsider my opinions on gay people? I don’t know, man! Literally! Anything!

Maybe have his advice to Aaron be more obviously bad? More fuckboyish? We see him overcompensating for his sudden Sander feelings by doling out some uber-heterosexual manly man advice to Aaron about how to impress a girl. Aaron is like, are you sure that’s a good idea? Robbe is like, pffft, obviously, what, are you gay? Are you too gay to make a move on Amber? Show her what’s what. This leads Aaron to do something very stupid and insulting and sexist with Amber, which leads to Amber getting mad at Aaron and Aaron getting mad at Robbe for Robbe’s dumbass advice. Maybe Jens and Moyo jump in because God knows we need some good moments from them, and they’re like, seriously, Robbe? Why did you think that was a good idea? Robbe gets mad and storms off.

To some degree I’m like … well, what IS Robbe’s problem with Sander dating Britt, really? He met this hot and cool guy, but a few hours later learned the hot guy had a girlfriend. It sucks, but what is pulling him in so hard and so fast other than Sander being so hot? It’s a disappointment, but is it this truly devastating thing? He doesn’t know much about Sander, they’ve had so much less of a connection than Isak and Even. They had one fun morning, basically. It’s true that crushes aren’t rational and that a teenager can fall for someone based on crumbs and hotness, I fully realize you can’t turn off your romantic feelings like a faucet. But the show didn’t put in the work of making me believe in the strength of those romantic feelings in the first place. The fact that it is realistic for teenagers to have shallow crushes does not mean that I have to accept weak writing to fill in the blanks for this romantic connection that is supposed to be a powerful love story. Actually, let me bold that and rewrite it as a general rule: The fact that something can be realistic does not mean we have to fill in the blanks in order to make up for weak, lazy writing.

I know that Isak and Even didn’t have a TON of interaction before episode 3, but they definitely had more, and Isak had time to research Even and develop a crush him based on what he found: he learned a bit about Even’s hobbies and interests, he was touched by a piece of art that Even loved. They bonded, they BOTH opened up - we saw Isak melt a little and banter whereas Robbe hasn’t really loosened up with Sander, except running around the grocery store (oh, and letting him stick a croque in his mouth, I guess). In the kitchen scene after getting groceries, for example, Robbe basically says nothing noteworthy, nothing to give either us or Sander a better understanding of him, or an appreciation of his sense of humor. There’s no real banter. If you watch the Robbe/Sander scenes, it seems like Sander dominates them, and that’s great for learning about Sander as a character, not so much for feeling like they’re mutually connecting. And if they want to portray Robbe as shy or awkward around Sander, I get it. But I don’t get where the emotional connection comes in, and frankly I don’t feel like I know much about Robbe as a person.

So here’s my suggestion: Don’t do the almost kiss.

I know, I know, it’s a Skam S3 staple. But wtFOCK has really not earned this moment. We’re not in dire need of confirmation that Sander likes Robbe because wtFOCK is making it obvious. The tension is not developed enough to merit an almost kiss, Robbe’s sexuality journey is not far along to make it super believable. If they’re kissing next week for real, just let that happen without the episode 3 interrupted kiss.

If you do want an almost kiss, maybe one or both of them is a little drunk? Or a lot drunk. Like, noticeably tipsy. Their inhibitions are lowered. I could buy that, especially if Robbe has a morning after freakout. oh god i was drunk and about to throw myself at sander!!!!! OR hahaha we were pretty drunk so it didn’t mean anything ... unless...? So long as there’s some effect on Robbe.

Because it’s a Skam remake, we probably do need a big end-of-episode clip, though. A turning point. Personally, I would be fine with just some smoldering unresolved sexual tension that doesn’t go as far as an attempted kiss. (I mentioned above that I am a diehard shipper of Ronan/Adam from The Raven Cycle and let me tell you, you do not need an almost kiss to get across the sexual tension. Once upon a time I wrote a draft of a post charting their relationship development through all their intense stares.) Perhaps Sander and Britt start fighting, Sander walks off, Robbe finds him or maybe he finds Robbe and they’re like, sitting together on the beach, and they have this personal and possibly subtext-laden conversation, or maybe this is when Robbe finally opens up about something personal (like he mentions when his parents used to fight, IDK). They don’t touch. Or maybe their knees brush. They stay perfectly still and don’t lean in. But they look at each other and don’t look away until someone calls for them or comes to collect them, and that’s how the moment is ruined and the spell is broken. That would be enough for me.

Maybe we could end on a non-dramatic note and Robbe and Sander end up sharing earbuds and listening to a David Bowie song. Or a song by someone that Robbe likes and wants to share with Sander, IDK. We leave them staring at the beach and trading surreptitious glances and catching feelings. A real butterflies in the stomach scene.

This also would have been a great episode to hint at Sander’s mental illness. You could show Britt hovering and telling him not to drink or smoke, you could have Robbe walking in as Sander is taking his medication (but obviously he doesn’t know what type of meds they are yet). You could have the suggested ending fight between Britt and Sander contain veiled references to his mental illness because Britt thinks that Sander was skipping his meds or he was doing something that she thought was a red flag. Robbe overhears them arguing but again, he doesn’t realize the real context.

I felt like Noor was kind of in the background for this episode, and look, I thought she was overused in the first two episodes, but in this one, her presence would have been more useful for Robbe’s storyline, such as having her interrupt a Robbe/Sander moment, or showing us that she’s growing frustrated with Robbe’s lack of attention to her.

Stay in Robbe’s POV, I beg you. Do this one simple thing. It’s OK to give random scenes outside his POV from time to time (like the girls doing their Halloween makeup) but anything relevant to his arc should be from his eyes only, and anything not relevant to his arc needs to be managed carefully so it doesn’t suck up too much screen time from his story.

I’ve been looking at the social media that was posted for this season, but I don’t really have a ton to say about it. wtFOCK seems pretty active with the characters’ Instagram accounts, so I commend them for that. So far the text messages don’t seem to be adding a ton to Robbe’s story - I specify Robbe’s story because a lot of them are not even texts that involve him, lmao. Like there’s a text between Zoë and Senne that effectively sets up trouble in that relationship, and it’s way more enlightening than texts that actually involve Robbe.

I think there’s legit potential with this cast. I like all the girls, I think Sander’s actor has some good onscreen presence… even though I don’t care for how the boys are written, I think they have potential. It’s just frustrating when you see the potential being squandered even more than if there were little potential to start.

Just to add, like I said above, this isn’t my culture or language, and I know that I’m missing context. Let me know if there’s anything I didn’t get on account of not being a teenager in Belgium.

#wtfock reactions

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surveys-at-your-service · 4 years ago

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Survey #376

“when the wind bends the branch to softly touch me / when the band plays your song / i feel strong enough to keep dreaming”

If your s/o smoked pot/did drugs would you care? Yes, but for pot that's only because it's illegal here. I also find smoking to be a turn-off, but I'd be able to look past that if it was for actual health reasons. Do people ever call you by your last name? No. Has the last person you dated/fell in love with ever seen you cry? Yes. Where are you going on your next vacation (or where do you WANT to go)? I've got none planned, nor do I know where I'd want to prioritize. Like there's South Africa, but I first need to get healthier before I could handle the heat and trudging through sand. I want to go to Yellowstone National Park to spread Teddy's ashes there (seeking permission of course), but again, I need to be in better shape before I go on a venture of photographing there, as well. I need to be healthier to do a lot of the things I want to... Do you own anything bought in another country? No. Who do you text the most? Sara. Four things you wish you had? Better health (including mental), financial stability, a job, and motivation to indulge more in my artistic hobbies. What was the last thing you cried about? Stress regarding this dog we're stuck with. What is your favorite Elvis song? Probably "You're The Devil In Disguise." Do you think you could be the next American Idol? Ha, absolutely not. Do you prefer reading fiction or non-fiction? Fiction, by a long shot. Does anybody send you money in the mail for your birthday? No. My grampa used to, but he's been dead a couple years. Who is one person you met and automatically didn’t like? I was not a fan of a doctor I once saw for my tremors. She was very rude and just threw the idea of me having Parkinson's or something at what, 17 years old or whatever? My psychiatrist knows her as well and knows she's a whackjob. Heard her name and was essentially like "ew" lmao. What monster would you be most afraid to have in your closet? A male one with a knife, I guess. I really hate knives. And men scare me anyway. Which Adam Sandler movie do you like the most? I don't know, he's in too many to possibly think of one right off the top of my head. Who was one of your first celebrity crushes? Jesse McCartney was my first true love, haha. Have you ever been hit on through text messages? Yes. Do you have to do any yard work? No. Have you ever mowed the lawn? No. Do you get an allowance? No. Did you ever know your great grandparents? I think I knew one? There was this woman from my childhood I knew as "GG" for "great grandma," but I have no recollection of who she was related to or even if she was directly related to me. I remember that I really really liked her, though. Do you like the taste of Tums? It's the texture I really don't like. The candy-like Tums though, y'know, not the chalky ones, I like more than someone should like medicine, haha. How about Pepto Bismol? Omfg no. Do you have a fast or slow metabolism? I have a slow metabolism, but thank Christ it's not as bad as when I was on Abilify. That stupid fucking medicine was the reason I gained so much weight that I haven't been able to lose. What’s your favorite onomatopoeia? (Crash, bang, zoom, meow) I dunno. Do you eat ramen? There's only one specific kind of ramen I've had that I like: Yakisoba's spicy chicken one. Sweet or regular pickles? Regular. I don't like sweet pickles. What kind of dreams do you have most often? Since my nightmares started, violent ones. I'm usually trying to defend myself or lashing out at someone myself. What do you do for personal growth? I try to be a deep thinker, for one. This can way too easily lead to overthinking, but I appreciate that I think it at least helps me learn from my mistakes and work towards making me a better person. I need to start challenging my anxiety more, as that would definitely be massive growth... If you could read anyone’s mind, who would be the first person you’d read? Jason's, only because all I want to know is if he thinks I was emotionally abusive after the breakup or not. But I also don't want to know. Do you have a makeup item or style trick that you feel improves your look significantly and that you feel like you couldn’t go without now that you have it? No. What’s your favourite cereal? Probably Cinnamon Toast Crunch, but I like a lot of cereals. Do you prefer red wine or white wine? I don't like wine. Way too bitter. Do you read Reddit? If so, how often and what subreddits do you like? I don't, but I've thought about lurking on a reptile husbandry one or something like that. Might learn some stuff. But at the same time, there are so many conflicting and very strong opinions amongst hobbyists to the point of awful toxicity that I'd rather not read. Have you recently broken up with a significant other or even just a friend? No. Have you ever eaten at a restaurant and left without paying? God no. When was the last time you played a board game? What did you play? Probably Scrabble back when Sara visited. Do you primarily use cash or card for your purchases? Why? Cash, because I don't have a debit or credit card. Do you believe sex should be mandatory in an ongoing dating relationship? Um, no? Some people don't care for it, and that's completely fine. Have you ever recorded yourself doing a cover of a song? No. Any secrets you’d never tell anyone? No matter how close they are to you? Yes. Do you like deviled eggs? NO. FUCK that yolk shit. What career are you most interested in? I still think my first career goal, a paleontologist, would be most interesting and exciting. Like just IMAGINE discovering a new dinosaur. And it's such a job of passion - you have to be so, SO careful and invest so much time in slowly recovering it from millions of years of rock and sand and time. I can only imagine the feeling of accomplishment when an excavation is complete. Have you ever seen a rooster? Yeah? What do you think about religion? Honestly, I personally wish it had never been a thing. It's brought with it so much hatred and bigotry, but I do acknowledge at the same time it's brought great comfort and hope to some people, and that's wonderful. But just all things considered, I feel it's done more harm than good. What’s your favorite sweetheart name (baby, honey, angel, dumpling) Probably "lovely." Has a little kid ever fallen asleep on your lap before? Yes, back when I babysat my neighbor's kid once. Have you ever thrown a grenade? Yikes, no. Have you ever talked face to face with someone famous before? No. Have you ever owned a rocking horse? I don't think so? If you could meet anyone in the world who would it be? HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM Have you ever wished you were dead? Yes. Is it awkward when people start talking all deep around you? No, I actually like deep convos. Have you ever played the old school Pac Man arcade game? Possibly? Ever played Mario Karts on Nintendo 64? No. Have you ever been scuba diving? No. Can you surf/boogie board? No. Do you like Chinese food, Mexican food, or American food better? American. What’s your favorite thing to order from Taco Bell? Cheese quesadilla and fiesta potatos. Sometimes I get the cinnabon delight thingies, but I avoid 'em with how unhealthy they are. Do you like hot, cold, or lukewarm showers? Pretty hot. Do you like to swing? I LOVED swinging as a kid. I haven't done it in a very long time now. How about jumping on a trampoline? I loved that as a kiddo, too. I haven't done that in years. What are you favorite color eyes? Sapphire blue or like an emerald green. Do you have long arm hair? Nah, at least I don't think so. What third generation console is your favorite? PS3, Xbox 360, or Wii? I loved my PS3. I'm still so bummed mine broke. How often do you like to have sex? I'm not sexually active, but even when I was, I didn't care. Do you have a facial expression you seem to pull a lot? What is it? Not really. I think I look stoic most of the time. Do you always listen to music when you’re online? No; I usually have a let's play or something like that on that I can split my screen and watch while doing something else. If so, what are you currently listening to? I'm listening to "Love Goes On And On" by Lindsey Stirling and Amy Lee right now. Do you ever forget how to do really simple things? Like what? Yes, like how to control the laundry machine and other things like that. There's just so many options that I never, ever remember what to set it to, no matter how many times Mom shows me. That's how my memory is with most things these days, really... Were you born with naturally straight teeth? No; I needed braces. If you were the opposite gender, what name would you like to be called? Uhhh maybe Severin. Do you prefer original or sour Skittles? I love both, but sour wins. What about chocolate or peanut M&M’s? I also enjoy both, but the original are better. Your favourite band: Do you prefer their old or new stuff? That's like... impossible to answer, lol. I just love everything. Do you check to make sure your ear phones are going in the right ear? No. Do you secretly still listen to Ace of Base? I have no idea who that is. Have you ever broken someone else’s bone? No, thank goodness. I'd feel awful. Is it stupid to think you can write a book at thirteen? No?????????? There are incredibly talented writers out there at young ages. Hell, I remember as a kid, I wanted to be the youngest published author way before that age. Are you ever embarrassed about what you dream about? There've been some I wouldn't share. Have you ever had sex with someone as a favor? No, and I never would. Does your mom let you date? I'm 25, my dude. She let me when I felt ready, though. If you had the last person you kissed’s Facebook password, would you go snooping through their stuff? Why or why not? She doesn't have one, but hypothetically, fuck no. Because that's none of my damn business, and it still wouldn't be even if we were still dating. Have you ever fainted? If so, when was the last time? If not have you ever come close? I've fainted once when I was a teen and have come close many other times. Ever take a keyboarding class? Do you type using the skills you learned in class, or how you used to before you took the class? Yeah; it was mandatory for I think one year in middle school. I type how I was taught in there. Do you find your best friend’s significant other/crush attractive? She doesn't have an s/o, and idk who her "real" crush is, as much as she'd love Frieza to be real, haha. What do you do with your clothes that don’t fit anymore or just don’t want? Donate them. Do you cut out coupons? My mom will keep some fast food ones she gets in the mail sometimes. Did you ever breathe in helium and talk funny afterwards? I think I did once at a birthday party, but I'm unsure. Would you ever open your own business? If so, what kind of business could you imagine yourself having? I want to be a freelance photographer so, so badly. I want to specialize in nature and wildlife, but having a boudoir studio would be great to help keep me afloat, plus I adore the art of boudoir. I've shot it once for an old friend, and by god, I loved how empowered it made her feel, especially as a plus-sized woman. She adored the pictures, and I'd just love to help other clients feel like they're gorgeous in their unique body, too. Last type of candy you ate? I had a donut from Starbuck's yesterday. Did you decorate your house for Halloween? If so, how many decorations? Did you go all out, or just put up a few things? Mom and I don't really decorate anymore. :/

#survey #surveys #questions #lyrics: ''love goes on and on (feat. amy lee)'' by lindsey stirling

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willow-salix · 5 years ago

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Thought I'd share one of my isolation updates. I haven't had much time to join in with the #irrelief of @gumnut-logic because of these so I decided to go down the list and try to fit some of the requested prompts into this series of shorts. This is the one that I think Nutty requested, fish and chips on the beach. If anyone wants to give me some prompts or things they want the boys to do during lockdown, please feel free to send them in. The rest can be read on Ao3.

Day 47 of isolation on Tracy Island and I walked into the kitchen to find a bowl of fish staring at me.

"New pets?" I asked Gordon.

"If they are I really should have looked after them better," he answered, poking at the ice that they sat on. "We went fishing this morning."

"I never would have guessed."

"We thought we could have a fish dinner on the beach tonight, you know, barbie and beer, it'll be the best fish you've ever tasted."

I made a face. "I'm not really a big fish fan, I prefer them battered and wrapped in paper, not judging me for wanting another cup of coffee."

"You don't like fish?" You'd swear I'd just told him I hate puppies.

I shrugged.

"You have to like fish."

"What, is that a law now? The law of the island?"

"Yes."

I snorted. "Yeah, I'm gonna be breaking some laws then, bub." I pushed the bowl aside with a shudder of disgust and reached for the coffee pot.

"Come on, live a little, just try them."

"So when you ask me to try something I'm supposed to agree but I ask you to eat a Yorkshire pudding and you pitch a fit."

"Thats different."

"Why?"

"Because you've heard of a fish."

I tried to argue his logic but it was really hard, so as I always do in cases like this, I went on the defensive.

"Nope, batter and chips or nothing."

"Chips? Why would you eat chips with fish?"

"Because you do. With salt and vinegar on them."

"Won't they get soggy? And what flavour?"

"Flavour?" my brain whirled for a second before I caught his meaning. "Not crisps, chips, like fries, but fat ones."

He still looked baffled but pulled himself together. "OK, how about we do both? You make your battered stuff and your weird fries and I'll do my grilled fish and we'll see what's the best."

I thought about it for a moment or two, then held out my hand. "You're on."

“You have to help prepare them though,"he threw in just as he grabbed mine and shook.

“What? No!”

“The deal is struck,” the little sod grinned. Dammit.

Half an hour of convincing later and he had me standing beside him with a fish of my own and a sharp knife, neither of which I particularly wanted.

“So first we’re gonna scrape all the scales off, using the tip and flat edge of our knife,” he got to work, rubbing at the fish as if he were shaving it. Just like doing my legs, I could do that.

“I don’t want skin on my fish, I reminded him, not if it's gonna be battered.”

“We’ll get to that later, just get the scales off first.”

“Bossy,” I muttered, but did as I was told. We had some kitchen towel wrapped around the fish’s tail which made it a lot easier to hold but it was still icky and I knew the worst was still to come.

Gordon rinsed his under the tap and took a pair of kitchen scissors, I followed.

“Right, see this hole here?” he pointed with the tip of the scissors and I nodded. “That’s its butt. Stick your scissors in there-”

“I’m out!” I declared, dropping the fish in the sink. “Nope, I’d rather lose, but you know full well that no one else would blame me so you wouldn't get any glory from it anyway.”

I left the kitchen and went to hide with someone that would be nicer to me. I found Virgil first and decided he’d do. I flumped down next to him at the piano.

“You smell,” he greeted me.

“Thanks, love you too.”

“No, not you personally, you smell like fish.”

“Gordon tried to get me to poke its bum hole so I left.”

Virgil blinked, although he managed not to mess up, his fingers still dancing effortlessly over the keys, “I don’t know what to do with that information.”

“Neither did I, so I noped out of the situation and ran.”

“Good choice. He’ll end up doing yours for you anyway, he always does. He can’t stand to see fish prepared wrong so if you don't want to do it, just do it badly and then he’ll take over.”

“Pro tip!” I nodded. “Thanks for that.”

“Welcome.”

I reached out a finger to plonk a key, because it was just too tempting.

“Go wash your hands, you aren’t stinking up my piano.”

I lifted my hands up innocently. “Think he’ll be done yet?”

“Probably, he’s pretty quick at it, but I’d give it anoth-”

“Stop hiding, I’ve finished the fish,” Gordon called up the stairs to the lounge.

“See?”

“Woop!” I jumped back up, using his shoulder as leverage , much to his disgust. “We’re having a competition.”

“Of course you are, but if it involves food I’ll happily judge.”

I did that pointy finger, winky eye, clicky tongue thing in answer as I trotted back down the stairs.

True to his word he had the fish all prepared, he’d even fileted and skinned mine. He might be a pain in the butt most days but he was a good boy where it counted.

“I need beer,” I announced.

“Is the thought of touching fish really that bad? It’s only 2pm.”

“For the batter,” I sighed, rolling my eyes. “Why does everyone think I want to drink all day every day? I’m only drinking on a saturday night for the quiz.”

“Because it's fun to watch you get annoyed when we say it,” he shrugged. See? He’s a sod.

I stole one of his beers for that comment, and after checking the recipe, assembled my ingredients and began to mix flour, beer, sparkling water, spices and baking powder.

“So you're basically making a cake for your fish?” Virgil asked, wandering through to get a drink.

“No, I’m battering it, you cretin. Fish and chips, the english food of summer and beach trips. Squidward wanted fish on the beach, that's what you're getting.”

“She means fries,” Gordon added just in case Virgil didnt understand me either. “I’m doing grilled fish and vegetable kebabs.”

“Wanna help me peel potatoes?” I asked Virgil, who was the quickest peeler I knew.

“Sure.” Bless his chonky heart, he’s always ready to help, especially if food is involved.

Virgil peeled and I chopped, making a mound of fat chips which I threw into a pot of water to par-boil ready for frying later.

Gordon had barely done anything to his fish, just rubbed some seasoning and oil into the skins and laid some lemon slices on top. Apparently simple was key, I told him that was a good thing if he was in charge. He threw a slice of lemon at me.

We stored all the prepared food in the second fridge and wandered off to wait for evening.

At around seven that night we had everyone assembled outside, some around the barbecue and some just lounging around waiting to be fed.

They had one of those fancy pants grills that have two gas rings on one side, which was needed for me to heat up two massive pans of oil. I had a flashback to the donut incident and was very grateful that Grandma wasn't involved this time and that she hadn’t fed me cooking sherry.

I had a few near misses with splattering oil and it took me a while to get the dip and slip action just right ( that was what I was calling the dipping in batter to coat the fish and then letting it slip and slide into the oil) but we got there in the end.

The chips were frying nicely and we’d managed to get vinegar from a jar of pickled onions, which was perfect for me as I prefer onion vinegar on my chips anyway.

Gordon had these weird fish cages, where he trapped the fish inside and just turned the whole thing to cook the other side instead of flipping.

It was supposed to be a competition but since it was just the two of us I obviously hadn’t triggered his competitive Tracy gene which is only activated in the presence of his siblings. It was actually quite nice to chill with him for a bit, we got into a nice rhythm and managed not to get in each others way too much.

When he was busy with his fish and his veggie kababs were getting a little too charred I turned them all for him, he in turn rescued a batch of chips as I had my hands covered in batter. See, we could be civilised.

We dished out food like it was a canteen, everyone lining up with plates. We didn't want people to have to choose whose food they wanted to try so we gave them some of everything and then all trooped down to the beach where Scott and Virgil had already lit the firepit.

Gordon's fish was ok, but I didn't like the fact that it still looked like a fish, its eyes were staring at me and I was plucking around its bones, which just wasn't for me, but the veggie kebabs were nice so I gave Scott the fish to finish.

I looked over to see Alan holding the entire piece of battered fillet in his hand and biting into it like it was a slice of pizza...I honestly don't know how his brain works sometimes.

“Back home we have tiny wooden forks for the fish and chips,” I told him, which blew his mind. I had to get my phone out and show him pictures of them.

“So, who’s fish was the best?” Gordon asked once everyone was done eating, although Alan was still doing his impression of the seagulls from Nemo and snaffling left overs with little yelps of “Mine” every time someone abandoned a plate. I was currently feeding him chips as he sat patiently with his mouth open.

“I like them both,” Jeff hedged. “But the beer batter was interesting.”

“Batter is a little too crispy for my tastes,” John mused, nibbling on a piece of batter he’d picked off my plate.

“I like the fat fries,” Alan mumbled around a mouthful of said chips.

“I liked the lemony taste of the fish,” Virgil added.

“So who won?” I asked.

Everyone shrugged.

We decided in the end that we didn't care who won, it had just been fun to cook and hang out on the beach and chill. Sometimes that's all you need in life, sorry we weren't more exciting but this is just a normal family that is coping with things the way that everyone else is.

They want to be out there helping people and doing things like normal, but they can't and it’s definitely starting to impact on them a lot, so if chilled days and enforced rest is all we can do, then were going to make the most of it.

#irrelief #irrelief2020 #thunderbirds #thunderbirds fanfiction #thunderbirds are go #self isolating #social isolation #isolation

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aftermathdb · 4 years ago

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DEATH BATTLE Review: Beerus vs. Galaxia

Dragonball vs. Sailor Moon. The OG Shonen anime vs. the OG Magical Girl anime.

Disclaimer: Due to issues with prior Deviantart exports, and my desire to keep this as accessible as possible, this review and all reviews after this will be shorter until a new alternative is found. Apologies for any inconvenience.

Also: REALLY REALLY sorry that this took so long. Having everything be lost kinda… bummed me out.

Beerus’ Preview.

The preview opens with Wiz and Boomstick going over Goku’s encounter with Beerus, and what it means to be a God of Destruction.

Our overall stats go over just how absurdly powerful Beerus is and the kind of Ki that he has at his disposal. Where we get to our first Wiz/Boomstick segment with the new character: DUMMI.

Wiz essentially goes over the different types of Ki, with the regular simply zapping DUMMI, and destruction Ki literally vaporizing him. It’s funnier than how I’m describing, but there really isn’t that much else going on.

The hosts go over some of Beerus’ other abilities. Like his various techniques, and the fact that he has actual martial arts training.

A quick guide to Ultra Instinct is introduced, and of course, we have to go over the famous clash with Son Goku that shook the universe.

Now, similar to DC’s universe, the Dragonball universe is much bigger than our own. Our universe is on that bottom part, Hell (or HFIL, depending on your dub) is in the middle, Heaven is up top, and then there’s a bunch of other stuff.

Simply put, this is much bigger than our own ‘verse.

A few more feats are gone over and we get a card for techniques.

Simply put: Don’t mess around with Beerus!

Galaxia’s Preview.

Galaxia’s preview opens with a history on the Sailor Guardians/Sailor Scouts/Senshi/etc. Going over some of the general backstory that’s kinda needed to know exactly what’s going on in regards to the OG Magical Girls.

Then it drops you into the fray of Galaxia’s backstory of being born on a trash planet, going nuts, and destroying anything that she couldn’t have for herself.

Now, I’m going to say this right now: A lot of the highlights are kinda isolated in the notecards. The Wiz/Boomstick segment doesn’t really highlight much, other than some of the more… absurdly named attacks that she has… And apparently… a weird fetish that Wiz has?- I’m sure as hell not showing it. Plus, I was busy.

Anyways, they go over the whole concept of “Star Seeds” and how they’re basically the life force energy in all things. Planets, people, animals, you name it.

Again: Highlights are mainly kept to the notecards. Outside of a speed feat courtesy of meatball head, there really isn’t that much to talk about. So, a lot of the rundown is spent on the story differences between the Anime and the Manga.

And then, y’know… the more kickass stuff.

So, in a nutshell, Galaxia is crazy powerful. Crazy fast. And possibly the standard crazy.

Anyways, she’s got a massive powerset, and realistically, is difficult to defeat. In the Anime, she was freed from Chaos’ control, while in the Manga, she got killed by literal kindness. Because I guess that’s what beats destruction.

I have zero authority as to what kind of end line this is, so I’m just going to leave it here.

The Battle Itself.

Luis is head on animation, Beerus will be voiced by River Vitae and Sailor Galaxia will be voiced by Blythe Renay. Gods of Destruction by Brandon Yates, and audio led by Chris Kokkinos.

So for those of you who watched the preview on DEATH BATTLE Cast, you’re probably just now actually seeing and hearing the actual fight, music, and dialogue because those idiots didn’t plan ahead and didn’t realize that it was preview week. Such is the cast without Ben. Damn, total chaos and I missed it because of a class.

Anyways, remember how Goku vs. Superman 1 ended?- Yeah, that’s how this one starts!

So, right off the bat, we can see that Galaxia… Actually takes speed. She takes Beerus by surprise here, and in a few other places in the fight. And can I say that Galaxia’s little smile there is adorable? It almost makes you forget that she’s kinda a dictatorial mass murderer.

And then, just to sell how absurdly powerful these two are, they poke each other, until a massive shockwave happens.

So, after clearing the rubble, the two go all out.

Beerus goes for his wave technique, but Galaxia, being faster, is able to get by them, and fling Beerus into the Sun.

And after blowing it up, they clash inside the exploding sun.

The two kinda crash onto other planets. Galaxia enslaves a few natives onthe one she landed on, while Beerus, uh…

Blows his up.

The two clash again, and I should probably mention that their respective insta-destruction techniques kinda failed against each other. Neither of them gets to cheese a victory.

So, while Beerus is busy being tied up, Galaxia tries to go in, but Beerus activates Ultra Instinct.

Which frankly, is just unfair, and I blame the fans for it.

Anyways, Galaxia then goes for her attack: Stealing Beerus’ Star Seed.

Finishing Blow in

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

Verdict + Explanation.

So, right off the bat, Galaxia is indeed faster, and her arsenal is much more vast and versatile than Beerus’ due to how many she has.

But after that, it starts going the other way.

Speed alone isn’t going to win any fights (unless you’re the Flash), so power output and durability is what is needed to figure this all out.

Remember: Both are threats to their respective universes, but the Dragonball universe is quite bigger than our own, which the Sailor Moon universe seems to be based off of.

Now, this isn’t as simple as Beerus being equal to a few Galaxias, the two are likely stronger. But Beerus has more evidence of being stronger than Galaxia.

Goku is still considered inferior to Beerus even with Super Saiyan Blue + Kaio Ken, and Beerus wasn’t even using his full power in that famous “Clash that shook the universe” thing. Truth be told, I prefer the movie not doing that because it shows restraint on Beerus’ part.

Simply put, Beerus at his worst is stronger than Galaxia at her best.

And DUMMI kinda wraps everything that Wiz said in a neat little bow… Not sure how to feel about him, but time will tell if and how he grows on the audience.

Overall impression.

Overall, I’d say that this is a pretty solid episode. I kinda touched on it before, but I’m not too sure how to feel about DUMMI. While he has the potential to be an interesting character for the hosts to bounce off of, and the fact that it’s possible that he gets destroyed once per episode, only time will tell if he becomes popular or not.

As for the rundowns, I can’t say that it was that interesting. Numbers that are too low are boring to watch, and numbers that are too high are difficult to keep track of. I had to count the commas in the Beerus Galaxia comparison in speed just to confirm for myself that that’s what was going on.

The fight itself is great though. And we even saw another nice little cameo from the Chuck vs. Segata fight as well, which I think was pretty neat.

The Wiz/Boomstick segments didn’t stand out though. And that’s possibly because it wasn’t really that informative. It was just there to extend a joke. I think I’ve said this before, but I like my Wiz/Boomstick segments to be the areas where there isn’t clear footage to be used in the rundown, not necessarily for jokes only.

Still, a solid 8.4/10. The fight’s great, and the music is awesome! But the rundowns could use a bit of work.

Next Time…

Oh wow. Two kids scarred by their crap dads that wield fire. So original.

Those of you who know that I was hoping to fight Zuko should kinda get why I’m a tad salty.

Is there a fight that you want me to review? - Send an ask/request, and I’ll look into it!

Do you want to read my fanfic based around DEATH BATTLE itself? click here!

Thank you for reading, and I hope to see you next time for…

Scarred Fire Fight.

#Deathbattle #review #death battle

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coolmarriagerecords · 4 years ago

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On Chronophage

By Zachary Lipez

https://zacharylipez.substack.com/p/notes-on-the-mekons-chronophage-and

Chronophage are a band from Texas. They have been around for three years. Chronophage consists of Parker Allen (they/them) guitar and vox, Sarah Beames (she/her) bass and vox, and Cody Phifer (he/him) drums. For the new record, Parker’s brother, Casey Allen (he/him) plays synth. That’s all I know about Chronophage. The internet shows no interviews and, besides punk zines I don’t own (and presumably critics on Terminal-Boredom forums), the music press outside of Austin has ignored them. I first heard about the band from MaximumRnR, which listed their debut, Prolog for Tomorrow, released in December of 2018, as one of the best albums of 2019 (you can do stuff like that when you’re a revered punk zine). Because MRR is famously *cough* averse to cover any band that even flirts with problematicism, I don’t have to worry about my ignorance of Chronophage’s individual members potentially allowing me to big up fascists. Maybe it’ll turn out they’re Maoists (an ideology MRR is less worried about) but I guess we’ll cross that bridge when/if we come to it. Anyway, I had never even heard of Chronophage (a small miracle unto itself considering the underground’s ready access to publicists and music writers- such as myself- who love few things more than being the first to “discover” a band.). But, even while my sense of aural adventure is a bit rusty since the days of having to risk $8.99 on albums based solely on cover art and/or vibes in the air, I just knew Prolog for Tomorrow was going to scratch an itch. Maybe not an immediate itch but, when you keep as many itches on file as I do, you can afford to trust your instincts. Especially when those instincts have already been validated by some punk weirdo in Oakland who’s probably still mad at the Go-Go’s for firing Margot Olavarria fifteen years before they were born. My instincts served me well because that hypothetical punk weirdo was right! (About both things.)

I’m not sure how to describe Chronophage. I’m not a major fan of the comparisons, to Swell Maps or the Messthetics comps, that the punks made. I don’t dislike either point of reference but knowing Chronophage supposedly sounds like both doesn’t affect how I hear the band. Prolog for Tomorrow’s inner sleeve art has “Curse of Chronophage” scrawled, which may be a reference to The Curse of The Mekons. Or maybe not. I’m trying not to project my bullshit on the band. Matter of fact, Chronophage don’t sound anything like the honky-tonkin’-Mekons. Not because Chronophage aren’t honkys tonkin’ but because, historically speaking, American bands aren’t as hung up on sounding American as English bands are. The album art for Prolog is reminiscent of much of the (actually) cut and (actually) pasted Pavementisms of the ‘90s, which in turn was lifted directly from The Fall and all that band’s adherents. Like early Pavement and The Fall, Chronophage are full of hooks, some overt and many buried under transient skronk. But, unlike all the obscurist indie Chronophage shares a typewriter with, the basic template on the album, if there’s one at all, is “folk punk.” I suppose? At least the sense of that genre is present, if dependent on an expansive notion of both “folk” and “punk.” Minus any busking grotesqueries in the “Wagon Wheel” vein, there’s the strum and twang of barely distorted guitars, every string visible in the mind’s eye, maybe in need of tuning or maybe just playing those jazz chords I hear so much about at music critic parties. While only three musicians play on Prolog, horns and keys go in and out of the songs like a C Squat marching band showing up to support the potluck. Adding to the offhand spontaneity of the proceedings, there’s intermittent cowpoke yowlings, some very live sounding drums, and at least one poetry reading. There’s a real anarchist house party vibe but just when it feels like Chronophage are going to lose their train of thought or, worse, ask to borrow the touring band’s kick drum pedal, another fragile and plaintive power pop chorus arrives in time to keep me from retreating to the kitchen to bum beer off strangers.

If we’re going to (re)subscribe to my initial thesis that there are certain sounds made by certain bands that provide a messily alluring alternative to the pat and disingenuous cleanliness of overculture, therefore making a prickly honesty worth striving for (even if that striving lends itself to either self delusion or a romanticizing of failure), then Chronophage are what we’re talking about. Even if on their new album, The Pig Kiss’d (out on November 23), they kind of fuck a significant amount of my thesis over by showing that they do, in fact, know what they’re doing. Whatever. I deserve it. The whole mythology around The Mekons as a band finding dignity in the face of drunken ineptitude was a fib. While not having the chops of The Texas Playboys, and certainly often drunk, The Mekons, by the mid-’80s, were writing and performing songs as subtle and dynamic as any non-boring rock and roll, not to mention post-punk, band could aspire to. Because perfection is so oppressive, its absence will always be its own inherent virtue. But even better than not being able to play your instruments is being able to play them real pretty, but throwing some ugly in anyway. Just to show all the aesthetic bible thumpers that heaven isn’t always the hot shit it purports to be.

The Pig Kiss’d is a sharper, more streamlined, proposition than Chronophages’s first record. The guitars, thankfully still mainly free of any distortion mush, ring out as cohesive riffs. Even while the lite-funk chunka-chunkas still occasionally approximate Desperate Bicycles covering Steely Dan (an under-appreciated subculture band influence… a lot of people don’t know that Big Black’s name was short for “Big Black Cow”), and the snare underpinning gives them a decidedly peace punk punchiness, the riffs now transform into razor-like, no wave leads instead of the decays into noise (or just silence) prevalent on Prolog. While the previous album positioned voices as hesitant souls in conversation, Chronophage’s dual singing is now consistently commanding. Not to say that either Allen or Beames are preoccupied with auditioning for American Idle anytime soon, but they both have cool, heavy-on-personality punk voices, ranging from conversating chill to accusatory growl, which the mix now accentuates. I’m not going to pretend that I don’t miss the feeling of a sinking ship, barely kept afloat by the bodies of oogles under the hull, but I’m also glad for a recording that doesn’t sound like the studio engineer is holding a personal grudge against the drummer. Of course, in no longer sounding a mess, Chronophage runs the risk of just sounding like, you know, a rock band. Of which there are plenty. Luckily this ain’t the case. The desperate, weird energy of Prolog for Tomorrow is still abundant. It’s just put in the service of songcraft more than ADD-infused mood. If there’s a newfound, almost psych, expansiveness in the songwriting, it’s a psych fueled by strychnine over any slouching towards bliss. And when the songwriting contracts, we get instant classics like the album closer, “Name Story,” which could be an undiscovered New Model Army a-side. So much does “Name Story” sound like a lost hit that I had to write the band and ask if it was a cover. (They responded that the aim was to sound like New Order… which is amazing.) Still, by contemporary indie standards, Chronophage sound like countrified First Wave of Black Metal-ers running through the American songbook. By contemporary post-punk standards, which can be applied now that New Order are on the table, Chronophage don’t sound contemporary at all. They sound out of the timeline; Richard Lloyd skipping post-punk entirely to jump headfirst into college rock, making that nerd rock hip, and vice versa. Lightning striking itself. In the face. Repeatedly. And by folk punk standards, if we’re bothering to still apply it, Chronophage continue to sound like the only true freaks in a field of future beer reps.Like I said, I don’t know much about Chronophage. While writing this, I exchanged emails with Parker but, preferring the mystery, I only asked about pronouns and whatnot. Maybe they’re apolitical. Maybe they are Maoists. Maybe they’re neither but still find my chronic naysaying abhorrent and dull. For all I know, they all campaigned hard for Pete Buttigieg and all the proceeds from The Pig Kiss’d are going towards having Chronophage Brand hostile architecture benches placed near the homeless encampments in Austin. Guess we won’t know for sure till the album comes out. But this feels like opposition music, and, more importantly (to me) it feels like music that speaks to a refusal to simply be grateful for the crumbs handed to us. Nit picking, as it were. If not exactly “dignity in the face of drunken ineptitude” then, in the face of endless war and empire and an oligarchal insistence to smile more, Chronophage make a sound that- equal parts sweet fury and sweaty sweetness and spilling over with a feisty, chaotic grace- approaches dignity. If the next few years are great, then great. We can play Chronophage at the cookout we’re all invited to. And if the next four years are instead a happy faced atrocity exhibition, at best a grinding exercise in defending cops, creeps, and landlords for the sole reason of the other side’s cops and creeps and landlords being so much worse? Then Chronophage’s sound will prove to be the kind of correct that’s too sloppy to be smug. Even under austerity, the anarcho-freak punx got bops. So even as COVID, the ice caps, or capital’s poptimist truncheon bear down on us, threatening to tickles our little chins, let us, at least, enjoy this thing.

https://zacharylipez.substack.com/p/notes-on-the-mekons-chronophage-and

* The cassette version of Th’Pig’Kiss’d Album will be available soon on Cool Marriage. Check this blog for updates.

#chronophage #chronophageband

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lgcyunhyeong · 5 years ago

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hey there!! this is my first time in lgc and i’m super excited to be here! i’ve been eyeing this place for a while and i’m glad i finally mustered up the nerve to join. this is cho yunhyeong, 21, works part time at his local gs25. he’s been a trainee for little over a year and is hoping to eventually debut in a band! he plays the bass and sings a little bit, and he also wants to get into songwriting and composition eventually. he’s generally kind of a weird kid--super spacey, often distracted, your local space nerd--but he’s a good egg in spite of that. compared to some of the other trainees, he’s pretty aimless and chill, but he does genuinely love music and performing, so...!

you can find some more info about him on his about and background pages but they’re kind of messy so i’ll drop some quick facts about yunhyeong under the cut, along with some connection/plot ideas to hopefully kickstart things! if you’d like to plot, please hit like on this post and i’ll hop into your ims! i also have a discord if you prefer to plot there - just ask me for my username ♡

quick facts:

born and brought up in seoul - very local, most comfortable in his neighbourhood, the most exciting vacation he ever took was to busan (and it was #lit). his parents own the best hot pot restaurant in seoul, and yeah he’s biased but that doesn’t mean it’s not true!

has an older brother currently in law school and their relationship is best described as ‘i tolerate you’. they’re complete opposites - his brother is super driven and loud and outgoing while yunhyeong is not so they’ve never really clicked beyond the fact that they are siblings and therefore are obligated to love each other

was the quiet kid growing up, had a very chill and subdued personality. didn’t really speak unless spoken too, didn’t play much with others. most of the time he kept to himself and focused on his hyperfixations - first, it was dinosaurs, and then space! and he’s been stuck with space ever since

his mom put him in music lessons when he was younger in hopes that a relatable hobby might help him make friends?? also that it’d work as a conversation starter but it didn’t because yunhyeong remained as weird and solitary as ever! he did fall in love with music as a result though

in high school he decided to branch out and make friends by starting a band - new age sexy aliens or NASA for short. his recruitment process was like: whoever shows up to join is part of the band! it worked out for the best since he and the band members got really close

they started off playing covers but then branched out into their own original music (yunhyeong helped write some of their lyrics). most of their songs used heavy space imagery and they were really pretty but also low key about aliens

yunhyeong loves aliens

nasa had a pretty dedicated fanbase both online and in their school! did well, were thriving, living their best lives and playing hella gigs, and then their lead singer got scouted by an entertainment company. it was the beginning of the end for them; the rest of the members went their own ways as well and the band officially disbanded in 2018 rip

yunhyeong started to busk on/off since he wasn’t attending university and didn’t really know what the heck else he wanted to do with his life outside of the band, and that’s where he got scouted by legacy! joined the company because like... well... why would he not...

wants to debut in a band if he can... and focus on songwriting and music composition as a secondary career path. he isn’t like... super motivated though? has always had issues with setting goals and being ambitious... he’s more like, eh, i’m just gonna go where life takes me!

personality wise, he’s still a pretty quiet kid unless you get him talking about one of his interests, in which case he will never shut up EVER. he gets distracted easily and will sometimes zone out when you’re talking to him but has a good memory of like, the most random shit you wouldn’t expect him to recall

easygoing as hell, rarely gets riled up over anything. on the flip side, he doesn’t really come across as sincere (even though he almost always is!) in his emotions because people are like... hm... just feels fake. tries to stay as positive as he can and doesn’t dwell on stuff that might upset him. sometimes people think he’s shallow! but he has #deepthoughts. he just doesn’t share them

unmotivated when it comes to most things! has no goals, no ambition, doesn’t care much for academia or being forced to like, conform to things. his mom calls him a free spirit but she’s probably just making excuses for him. it’s more like he’s stuck in some sort of limbo?? scared of growing up but scared of being left behind. it’s complicated

he’s really a sweet guy though. a little odd - he’s not the best at showing affection and sometimes he can be really... strange? offbeat? you never know what the fuck is going on in his head. but he’s a Human Being Just Like You (sadly) and simply trying his best to live every day

connection/plot ideas:

he didn’t really have many friends growing up, but still - childhood friends! maybe you were the exception. maybe you didn’t mind that he was awkward and quiet and a little weird! maybe you tripped and fell on the playground and he gave you a star-patterned purple band aid and you decided you would die for him. who knows!

friends in general who understand him and look @ him with fond exasperation... must be able to tolerate his antics. liking aliens is a bonus. jk, but he’s a sweet guy who loves his friends! please be kind to him

fans of his former band, nasa (or antis?). he was the bassist and a sub vocal and didn’t stand out too much compared to some of the other guys, but he always did the intros and he’ll happily talk about nasa all day! discuss the symbolism of their songs with him

exes? i genuinely cannot think of a single reason why anyone would want to date him but i feel like he’s had at least (1) relationship before... maybe you took a chance and after you started dating you were like, god, i’m running away

crushes, whether one-sided on his part or your part or reciprocated but you don’t know it yet?? he’s holding out for his alien bae but maybe you don’t know that and just think he’s like, this quiet mysterious pretty boy. maybe he thinks you’re cool for a human!

fellow trainees who can play instruments... yunhyeong needs someone to #jam with because playing the bass alone is kind of lonely (and since he’d like to eventually get on the band track, making some connections would be cool)

fellow trainees in general, especially ones in his training group!! he’s not as hungry for debut or as ambitious as some which means he’s a) non-threatening and b) chill to hang with. you could be into that or it could absolutely infuriate you since he doesn’t seem to be taking things seriously! maybe you think he doesn’t deserve to be here

met online on an alien enthusiast forum and you talk almost every single day about various theories and moves and all that kind of stuff but you’ve never met irl! and yunhyeong really wants to meet you in person!

idk bully him

you’re buying a bunch of weird shit from the convenience store where yunhyeong works at like 2 am and he has so many questions and won’t let you pay and leave until you answer them

alternatively, you find him sleeping on the job and you want to wake him up but the moment you touch his arm, he makes this high pitched screeching noise and you fall over and take an entire shelf of candy down with you

you invite yunhyeong out for drinks but he took one sip of soju and he’s a mess... you didn’t sign up to take care of a giant drunken baby but guess what! you will be! if he tries to kiss you, dodge him

you always bum free meals from yunhyeong’s parents’ restaurant because his parents think you’re his best friend. tbh you actually don’t really like him but he doesn’t realize it so he never bothers correcting his parents either!

you didn’t realize yunhyeong was allergic to cats and dogs and you brought your cat/dog near him and oh my god he is having the UGLIEST allergic reaction

yunhyeong can’t swim. you push him into a pool as a joke. chaos ensues

you play various video games together and yunhyeong is really good but he’s more interested in stardew valley than in league of legends and you keep pestering him to play with you dammit i need you on my team

you slipped a love letter under his door for one of his roommates but yunhyeong thought it was for him and now he keeps (kindly) rejecting you whenever you see him and you don’t even know how to react

Oh No We Are Trapped In This Room And The Power Went Out And I Am Scared Of The Dark Please Hold My Hand For Science

yunhyeong loves smoothies and one day you catch him trying to blend a slice of pepperoni pizza into a smoothie because he is, and i quote, “tired of chewing”

IDK ALL THESE IDEAS ARE BAD BUT PLEASE PLOT WITH ME ANYWAY

#lgc:intro #( * out of ufos ! )#( why did i write so much )#( this post is long and ugly )#( ummmm i'm sorry but i'm excited to be here!! )#( pls plot with my weird dumb baby )

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glowyjellyfish · 4 years ago

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I just started rewatching Battlestar Galactica. Well, when i say just started, I mean i started two nights ago and I just finished season 1, so.

Firstly, at the beginning everyone is a tiny innocent baby and a sweet summer child (yes, even after their civilization gets destroyed. Sweet summer children all.), except Starbuck who is more of a tiny magnificent chaotic asshole.

Secondly, Baltar is one of my favorites and I think he’s among the best characters I have ever seen. His character development is phenomenal; I’d say he’s a stunning example of a redemption arc, but I’m not sure it totally counts when he was never really a villain at all. Arrogant, self-serving, and dickish, yes, but never deliberately evil. I love watching him break down and get built back up again, it’s a highly entertaining and often poignant roller coaster. And of course, he’s also just a delight to watch. I wish something like this had come up on the show, but I am convinced that people in the fleet--especially on Galactica and Colonial One--are well aware that he talks to himself and frequently disassociates, and chalk it up to trauma from being on Caprica during the attack. Sometimes I like to think that he 100% has that trauma and some degree of PTSD and Head Six took advantage of that state to set herself up in his head, but I’m not sure whether to make that headcanon or if it’s just a nice theory.

Thirdly, Gaeta is my favorite and I love him to pieces. The first time I watched when it first aired waaaay back in the day, I was rooting so hard for him to be a cylon, and I’m still slightly bummed that he wasn’t. I can’t complain about what he got as a consolation prize, going out with a bang and loads of juicy character development, with the added bonus that Anders also got some great character development. (Um, I should probably explain real quick that I read somewhere back in the day that when the writers were choosing the Final Five, it was kind of a toss-up between Anders and Gaeta, and they chose Anders. I felt validated that he was at least at the top of the list, and since I also loved cylon!Anders it proved to be a pretty good second choice for me. Believe me though, I wrote so many fanfics about how Gaeta might still be a cylon somehow, most of them super bad.) His whole development arc is less of a roller coaster and more of a long slow painful train wreck, and it’s gonna hurt so much but ugh I love it. Right now, at the end of season one, he is still such a sweet summer child, like my god he still has a crush on Baltar and hasn’t been disillusioned yet! And turns out I still firmly ship it. Gaeta’s got such a crush, poor boy, and it was so sweet and destroyed my little shipper heart at the end of Six Degrees of Separation when after a whole episode of everyone turning on Baltar and telling him they never trusted him and him freaking out, Gaeta came along and exonerated Baltar and told him he always believed in him. Awwww New Caprica’s gonna kill me, I swear.

Chief and Tigh are also up there in terms of my favorites, and there’s always gonna be something wonderful about a rewatch and all those scenes where they’re talking about people being Cylons and suspecting people of being Cylons and hey guess what you two. Guess what.

On this rewatch, I really enjoyed seeing Lee acting as the compromise between the military and politics. I vaguely recall that that’s a major part of his character going forward, basically everything that isn’t Starbuck, father issues, or Love Quadrangle Of Doom, and am curious how I’m gonna see it now. Originally, I found him good for a hero character and reasonably interesting, and I seem to recall liking such plots as him quitting the military way more than other viewers, but he’s never been one of my favorites.

...I also feel obliged to point out that in these trying times it is very hard not to 100% agree with Tom Zarek. If he was a little less murdery, man. Of course, I should also point out that unlike some other viewers--no, I don’t remember specifics, I probably read opinions on a forum 15 years ago--I felt like the season 4 mutiny was bringing up some extremely valid points that needed to be addressed (even if Zarek was mostly using them as an excuse to coast to power and Gaeta was airing his grievances in the worst possible way when what he probably actually really needed was a lot of intense therapy) so perhaps this is nothing new.

I’m also excited and scared for the President Baltar plot coming later, but in these times I am fairly certain my feelings will be “you guys are big babies. Oh boo hoo, your legally elected president is genuinely intelligent and charismatic and just happens to be rather self-centered and self-serving and shitty at governing, oh noooo he had to be held at gunpoint to sign death warrants for dissenters… grow up.” I… can’t take most “super evil villain becomes president oh no” stories seriously anymore, literally all the ones I am aware of were better than reality.

I don’t feel like it needs to be said, but Starbuck, Roslin, and Adama? All perfect and amazing, of course. They’re not my favorites, but that’s mainly because they are popular main characters, and I tend to prefer unpopular sideline characters and characters that need defending or merit lengthy essays. Everyone loves those guys for good reason, they don’t need me supporting them.

Also I forgot how precious Dee and Billy were, and how their relationship added interesting layers and angles to loads of plotlines. Makes me bummed about Billy (though I know it wasn’t the show’s fault), and then bummed that Dee got entangled in the Love Quadrangle of Doom, and then… kinda fridged to be honest. I wonder what would have happened with the Final Five if Billy was still around, would it have been Billy there instead of Tory? Or to keep the gender ratio and a touch of diversity, would they have gone with Dee? Would that have made them more or less likely to choose Gaeta over Anders, then? My gut says less, but who knows? It sure would have been rad if Dee got that much character development unrelated to romance, though.

It’s also weird how much I still keep trying to add things to the show’s arc and mythology to make it make more sense to me, personally. Like, logically I know that the whole thing is that god as spoken of by the cylons is 100% real, the head characters are literally communicating with people on his behalf, the opera house is the CIC and all the prophecies and stuff are leading to humans and cylons living together and interbreeding on Earth to make us. But I’m constantly trying to add things like “maybe the lords of kobol were twelve or thirteen original cylons on kobol 2000 years ago, and maybe they’re the head characters, like they ascended their physical bodies or something, and maybe the physical characters who look like the head characters are like the reincarnations of them or of the original humans they were modelled on, and the whole story is very similar and playing out again which is why certain characters have visions and stuff, but there have never been human/cylon hybrids before and that’s what god wants in order to end the cycle and/or because god is love god wants them to love each other and stop killing each other please? Maybe?” Shrug, I know some fans hate how spiritual it went, and I’m not one of them. I just prefer the slightly more humanist angle of reincarnation over literally just “god did it”.

However, I am really enjoying just taking Head Six 100% at her word and watching her manipulate the fucking shit out of Baltar to get him reliant on her and in the position she needs him to be in. It’s kind of amazing. And also, fascinating to consider Leoben in Flesh and Bone in the context of knowing what happens to Starbuck. He absolutely knows that she’s going to lead them all to Earth and die in the process. I don’t think he knows any details at all, but it’s really interesting to watch assuming that he knows her fate. And I am not sure the show ever really explained why Leoben knows this stuff. Does he have visions? His own head person? Does he just sit and listen real hard to the Hybrids and interpret their sayings? ...I guess I do find it weird that the show chose to go so hard on making him creepy as fuck to her on New Caprica, and then apparently didn’t know a lot else they wanted to do with him, but we’ll see how I feel as it goes along.

Anyway, I think I’ve exhausted my most coherent array of thoughts.

#bsg #battlestar galactica #bsg spoilers

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paladinsheadcanons · 6 years ago

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Can’t remember if this was asked before but what is every champions favourite type of alcoholic drink? Specific to each champion? Even the non humans lol

Hello, it is I, your resident alcoholic at your service. Now, this would show stuff like bad drinking habits, so a disclaimer/warning: drink responsibly. I mean it. If you drink for the first few times, always drink with someone you trust!!

I’m sorry for my inactivity, thesis has been very time-grabbing. It’s done now, so here I am!

- Mod Ash

Makoa: He has this specific recipe for a scorpion bowl cocktail he likes. It is not that alcoholic, but he likes sitting by the beach or by the view of a forest while he finishes his drink. Drinking time is mostly for himself, and to think about the day while he unwinds and enjoys a smooth cocktail.

Fernando: Wine, definitely. Helps him sleep. He makes his own sangria with fruits and all if he’s feeling fancy, and he drinks it like it’s just juice, with ice and straw and all. He can drink this in broad daylight and he will act like it’s iced tea.

Ruckus: He doesn’t drink much. But when he does, he sticks to brandy, as it’s smooth, but hits hard fast. Though he would rather drink with company, so he just kinda does forced small talk with Bolt as he drowns his sorrows away.

Barik: He has a large batch of fruit punch in his refrigerator that he refills his jug with. He sneakily adds more wine before stashing it away. He drinks it like anyone would iced tea, and he is very protective and possessive of his stash. His liking of the spiked fruit punch is a little concerning, but they value their lives over a sip of it.

Ash: Vodka. She will stare you at the eye while she drinks it straight from the bottle. Also whiskey. She won’t care if it’s expensive, if she likes it, she will finish the bottle in one go. She has a high alcohol tolerance, which sort of lets her drink as she please when she’s bummed…. which is often.

Torvald: Doesn’t drink a lot, so he sticks to spiked versions of non-alcoholic drinks, like a spiked iced tea or ginger ale. He often drinks with friends, but he does like staying sober, so he sticks to small ratios of the alcohol with the rest of the drink.

Inara: Dislikes drinking. May have tried those blended 3% stuff that tastes like softdrinks or lemonade once, but she also didn’t like the taste of that. Will drink lemonade or fruit juice when everyone else is drinking. A lot of people have fooled her into drinking fruit punch with wine in them but it nothing happened.

Drogoz: Rum. The darker the rum, the better. Will add random crap to it to make it “spicier,” and to some people, his drinks will taste like alcoholic hot sauce. He doesn’t mind, he doesn’t really like people drinking his stuff, anyway.

Bomb King: He can’t drink any human drink. However, he likes fooling people with drinking oil or something similar, or just chugging plain water down his robot gullet.

Cassie: A good, classic blended Cosmopolitan. She likes it so much that she often buys non-alcoholic, powdered iced tea versions of it, which she drinks almost all the time. Sugar gets her going, if not an amazing cocktail.

Lian: Also wine, however she’s slightly pickier with her wine. She will only drink wine that is at least five years old, and will often opt for slightly sweeter variants like fruit wine. She drinks way too often for it to be healthy, however.

Kinessa: Doesn’t drink much. However, when she does, she opts for sweeter stuff, like honey mead. When she’s not drinking, she’d immediately get any kind of coffee, no matter the kind or blend or if it has sugar or not. Coffee mead is a dangerous drink for her.

Sha Lin: Classic brandy! He drinks it sometimes while reading or doing something passive before he goes to bed, as something to help him sleep. He doesn’t drink much outside the house, he likes being extra and drinking while in a bathtub with soaks.

Viktor: He will go straight for really cheap gin that tastes like rubbing alcohol. He got too used to it and now he can’t drink anything else. He drinks half a bottle when he’s staying up late, then drinks the rest when he gets home.

Tyra: She thinks she’s more refined, with her choices being scotch and very specific whiskey. When she orders a dry martini (or anything), she will make up hilariously specific instructions like “stir it for ten seconds while glancing at an unopened bottle” or “kiss the lemon peel before you garnish it on the glass.”

Willo: The cuter the drink and the sweeter it is, the better, no matter what it is. She will sometimes shove novelty store toys in her drink, and will add fruit juices or food color to strong drinks to at least make it look a cuter color. Sure, her additions may not change the taste of her drink, but it will make the experience better.

Evie: She does not really care about her drink, whether it is alcoholic or not. She will probably add vodka to everything to give it a kick, mostly when she feels like it. She’s taken a liking to hard lemonades.

Skye: Surprisingly does not drink much, however she would surprise people with drinking heavy drinks without breaking a sweat or getting close to drunk. It’s a useful skill to have. When she’s off-duty she prefers being sober, and only drinks flavored beer to get her tired enough to sleep.

Androxus: He likes trying to get himself as wasted as possible. It is becoming quite a challenge. However being cursed gave him different tastebuds too, so he would often drink tons of Long Island iced teas before he feels something. He never gets as drunk as he wishes but getting closer is satisfying enough.

Buck: He’s a huge fan of ginger ale mixed with beer! He often doesn’t really like to get drunk, as alcoholism is a thing he is trying to avoid and change. He wears off his alcoholism by changing the ratio everyday, and it works out fine for him. Eventually he just uses iced teas and lemonades as substitute for his everyday beer.

Maeve: She does not drink much, however will not turn down a drink offered to her. However, she still prefers stealing her liquor, and she once got in trouble once for stealing a bottle of ceremonial wine and drinking it all in one go.

Zhin: Likes more “exotic” or “local” variants of his liquor, like sake or arrack. He has a very bad alcohol tolerance despite his drinking frequency, and often drinks in places he shouldn’t be drunk in, which gets worse when he’s upset about something.

Lex: He likes a good old fashioned best. If ever, he usually opts for simpler drinks like gin and tonic or a martini. He thinks buying liquor in places that isn’t a bar is blasphemy and he will judge you for it. He is also very specific with the way his martini is prepared.

Mal’Damba: He likes expensive drinks a lot, because he doesn’t really partake in alcoholic drinks often. His favorite is a penicillin cocktail with this very expensive scotch with very fancy ice and stuff, and it would take him two hours to finish one because he would spend the time thinking.

Pip: He would usually accidentally drink his own concoctions when he’s too tired. Sometimes it doesn’t do much, sometimes it does make him dizzy. He once accidentally mixed beer with one of his potions and it became a quick favorite of his, but he has no idea of its side effects. He will find out in ten years probably.

Grover: Liquor is bad for trees. He was once watered with whiskey. When offered he would take lemonade or juice. He’s surprisingly not picky and wold take anything offered to him, even though it is probably not the best idea. After getting “drunk” he would fall asleep faster, so he would usually “drink” if he’s about to hibernate.

Grohk: Will drink anything. Will eat anything. Sadly, he gets too drunk when he drinks too much. Lately he has taken a liking to Irish coffees, which does numbers to his energy and his posture. It is still not a good idea to have him drink, especially if it is coffee and liquor at the same time.

Seris: Wine? Wine. She likes the aesthetic. It doesn’t do much for her, however, she just drinks it around people to look cool or to intimidate. She definitely likes the taste is becoming a connoisseur herself. When alone, she’d opt for a harder whiskey or stronger wines. It doesn’t do anything, but she can always pretend.

Ying: Usually sticks to mudshakes because they’re sweet and barely alcoholic. It’s 10% alcohol but it doesn’t matter. She also likes whiskey cakes and other alcoholic desserts in lieu of a drink, because oftentimes she just doesn’t feel like looking like she went through seven hells, she has to look cute while de-stressing.

Jenos: He would “drink” that futuristic alcohol air from a bottle, because he thinks drinking is all about the experience and having fun with it. He just goes on to find more absurd ways of getting drunk, somewhat not realizing he probably won’t get close to tipsy.

Strix: He is still a bit of a country man, so he still favors moonshine. But not just any moonshine. Moonshine cherries. He likes moonshine-soaked fruit. Moonshine-anything. He doesn’t have the tolerance for it, however.

Talus: He’s a child for Christ’s sake, he’s not drinking. He just likes fruit juice and hot chocolate maybe. Some others did try to hand him beer, though, with… catastrophic results. I’ll leave you to guess what happened.

Terminus: “Do I still give a crap,” he says, as he finishes a bottle of absinthe. Does he still care? He doesn’t. He will drink the entire bottle if he wants, nothing will happen, it’s just like water to him. What do you expect, he’s a rock person.

Vivian: She likes drinking, but she doesn’t like getting drunk, so she usually just sticks to a rum and coke. She would change the ratio of run and cola depending on how annoyed she is with everyone around her.

Moji: She doesn’t really drink much, however she’s down for a mean milkshake. The wilder the better. Would often add stuff that’s not really supposed to belong there, like syrup, or food coloring, or charcoal.

Khan: He has a flask of… stuff hidden in his armor somewhere. What is in it? Even he doesn’t know. He usually fills it with something and fill it up with something else the next day without cleaning it out, resulting in a weird new cocktail everyday that he will chug in public without shame.

#paladins #paladins champions of the realm #all champions #paladins headcanons #alcohol cw

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wineanddinosaur · 3 years ago

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VinePair Podcast: Are Hybrid Vines the Future of Wine?

Hybrid, non-Vitis vinifera grapes have been a bit of a taboo subject in the wine world. As climate change threatens the viability of vinifera grapes and a new generation of wine drinkers emerges, might the stigma around hybrid vines be dying down for good?

On this episode of the “VinePair Podcast,” co-hosts Adam Teeter, Joanna Sciarrino, and Zach Geballe explore the future of hybrid wine and discuss how shifting consumer preferences may help these wines succeed on the market.

LISTEN ONLINE

Listen on Apple Podcasts

Listen on Spotify

OR CHECK OUT THE CONVERSATION HERE

Adam Teeter: From VinePair’s New York City headquarters, I’m Adam Teeter.

Joanna Sciarrino: I’m Joanna Sciarrino.

Zach Geballe: And in Seattle, Washington, I’m Zach Geballe.

A: And this is the “VinePair Podcast.” Guys, I did survive. I just want you to know I’m OK. Healthy.

Z: You did better than the Auburn Tigers, I’m sorry to say.

A: Yeah, it was a tough loss. It was really, really interesting to be on a college campus and see what was going on. I’ve taken two Covid PCR tests since I’ve been. I’m negative. The vaccine works, people. Go get the vaccine. I also took a lot of precautions and was only outside. I did not go into any bars.

Z: I was bummed to not get an Instagram photo of the mask, though. I thought maybe you’d have it painted, put some tiger stripes on there.

A: No, no. It was really fun. I was really shocked, though. Well, I guess I’m not shocked. Shocked is a bad word because I shouldn’t be shocked at this point. What do you think I saw all over campus?

J: I know what you’re going to say.

Z: Seltzer?

A: Just seltzer. That’s all anyone was drinking. It’s crazy out there, guys. For college kids and people in their 20s, that’s all anyone was drinking. Seltzer. I was just like, wow.

Z: As I mentioned last week, I went with my wife to a baseball game here in Seattle a few weeks ago. It was astonishing to me, in a sense, how so much of the inventory space that was dedicated to beer in the past has now been switched over to seltzer. That’s what a lot of people in the crowd were drinking. It makes sense, I guess, but it is wild to think about. Maybe on this podcast, we’ll have to come back to the topic of what seltzer has displaced. What would have been light lager is, in so many places now, seltzer. I kind of get it.

J: This is so funny because we have a piece coming up in which Dave Infante explores whether hard seltzer has displaced the college kegger.

A: I think it definitely has. It was just crazy. I definitely saw a lot of White Claw. I just saw seltzer. In all of the package stores, we saw massive seltzer displays. Another thing in Pennsylvania that I thought was really interesting — maybe it’s a thing in other places, too, but I think we forget about it in New York — is that in the gas stations, almost every single one of them had walk-in beer coolers. They had huge signs advertising them. I walked in and thought, “Well, this is boring. It’s just all ABI products. There was nothing else in there, but I needed to experience this massive walk-in beer cooler. It was pretty funny.

Z: I have a seltzer gripe. I still can’t find this Bud Light Seltzer Fall Flannel pack anywhere in Seattle.

J: Save yourself, man.

Z: We were hoping to do it on an episode eventually. It might be winter before I can get it.

A: No Flannel pack for you.

Z: Joanna. You broke into it, didn’t you? Can you give me any info?

J: They all taste like candles.

A: I will say that it was a pretty amazing Instagram post.

J: Yeah. I made my partner, Evan, try them all.

A: He was hilarious.

J: It was really funny.

Z: Was this on condition of him getting to watch football?

J: No!

A: No, it was on condition of Joanna being willing to go back to Canada. She said, “I will only cross the border if you try our great seltzer products.”

J: No, he was happy to do it. He loves seltzer.

A: Does he really? No.

J: He loves hard seltzer. It’s so funny.

A: What’s his brand of choice?

J: I don’t know. I think he likes White Claw.

A: You don’t know what’s in your fridge?

J: I mean, we have a Flannel pack in our fridge right now.

A: That’s amazing. There’s one video I just love where he immediately spits it out.

J: That was a genuine spit take. It was so bad. That was the pumpkin spice one. I hope we all try them together.

A: Oh, I can’t wait.

J: Adam, did you drink a lot of hard seltzer this weekend?

A: No. That’s also what I forgot about tailgating, is how friendly everybody is. We were grossly unprepared. We pulled up. First of all, I’m not sure what people are used to in terms of their tailgating history. But, in the South, on a college campus, you can basically tailgate anywhere. All over campus, there’s tents and people tailgating and hanging out. At Penn State — and I’ve been told this is more of a Northeastern thing because this was actually my first-ever Northeastern tailgating experience — everyone is pushed into lots. You have to pay to park in them. Then, people just open the back of their cars or drop their pickup truck tailgates. They just hang out there. It was just a different experience. I think that’s why the Grove in Oxford, Miss., is so iconic. It is just this beautiful section of campus that people set up tents and tailgates without their cars. That’s the case with a lot of Southern tailgating. It was interesting. We stupidly didn’t have a cooler. As we’re like leaving our hotel, which was really far away, we thought, “I guess we should pick up a 6-pack.” We grabbed a 6-pack before we left of pilsner. Of course, when we got to the campus, we realized, “This is going to get warm really quickly, so we should drink these.” Then, we started walking around, and people just gave you beer. It was really friendly. You just walk up and they’re like, “Hey, do you want a beer?” I will say that was what was pretty awesome, too, how serious the Penn State fans were taking ensuring that Auburn fans were having a good time.

Z: Oh, that is kind of sweet.

A: They all kept asking, “Are you having a good time? Are you enjoying State College? Isn’t it great?” That’s totally different in college footballI, I think. Obviously, each team wants to win. We would never be that nice to Alabama fans.

Z: I was going to say, isn’t this the difference between a conference rival and a team that you play once every 25 years?

A: Yeah, that’s probably true. We’re pretty nice to South Carolina fans. We kind of have to be, because it’s sad for them. It is funny. In the pros, I feel like no pro team’s nice to another pro team’s fans. I remember going to the Eagles game in Philly. We were warned prior to the game to not wear anything that shows we were from Atlanta or we would get a beer dumped on us. We were like, “OK. Cool. We will just not wear anything. We’ll wear normal clothes.” We saw an Eagles fans get in a fight with an Atlanta fan. Like, why? Anyways, I’ve talked for too long. What about the two of you?

J: I drank some great things recently. First, on Friday night, I listened to the latest episode of “Cocktail College” about the Manhattan, which happens to be one of my favorite drinks. I promptly made Abigail Gullo’s Manhattan.

A: Amazing.

J: It’s a perfect Manhattan, which I really enjoy. She uses three different types of bitters. Rye is her spirit of choice here. It was very nice. I also had the Long Drink this weekend.

A: Which one?

J: The classic, from the people who you interviewed, Adam. In the blue can. It was great. I really enjoyed it.

A: It’s like an alcoholic Fresca.

J: Yeah. It really did taste like that. It’s delicious.

A: They’re tasty. Zach?

Z: I have a drink and a story to share with you guys, because it’s not just Adam here who gets to do this. We are in the midst of fresh hop beer season here in the Pacific Northwest.

A: That’s cool. Fun. We don’t get that.

Z: For all the true beer lovers out there, it’s worth traveling to the Pacific Northwest. You see it even more in Seattle because more of the hop fields are in Washington. Every brewery around here has multiple fresh hop beers at this point. It’s just such a cool thing. It’s so seasonal. They pick the hops and, instead of taking them through any kind of preservation technique, they literally ship them right to the breweries. You have to get them in the beer within 48 hours or everything you’re trying to get out of them degrades to the point where it’s almost worthless. It’s wild. It’s a big deal for the breweries. It’s a lot of late nights. The beers are just really fun, and it’s such a cool, seasonal thing. We’ve had nice early fall weather where it’s sunny and a little warm but not too hot. It’s great beer weather. I had a couple of different ones. I had one from Fremont Brewing and one from Reuben’s Brews. They are delicious and something to seek out if you are around here or if you make it out here in late September, early October.

A: Sounds cool. Now, story time.

Z: As we’ve discussed before, I do this subscription wine club with a friend of mine. I was placing orders for October because I have a baby due any day and wanted to get stuff done early so that the wines all arrive and everything is set up. That way, if I’m not able to be a part of the packing and distribution, everything is good to go. I placed my orders 10 or so days ago. I was at my friend’s restaurant yesterday, looking through everything, and I thought, “Huh. One of the wines didn’t show up. That’s weird, because the other wine from this distributor came.” I emailed my sales rep and asked, “Hey, what’s the deal? Did something get mis-delivered or what’s the deal here?” He responds to me — and I still can’t believe this — and was like, “Yeah, we’re out of stock. It said so on the invoice.” I’m like, “OK, but you couldn’t have told me this 10 days ago when I emailed you?” This is obviously a wine buyer in a restaurant or retail setting kind of complaint, but it was so weird to me. It’s still a customer service job. I don’t have to buy wine from this company or from this person. I was so taken aback by the lack of any attempt to communicate this very simple fact. If you’re out of stock, that’s fine. I don’t have a problem with that, but maybe I would have wanted to order something else from you. Instead, we’re going to buy something else from another distributor that’s vaguely similar, to fill our orders. That’s sales you don’t get because you couldn’t take the time to email me. I don’t know. It was very interesting.

A: Yeah, that’s crazy.

J: It’s like ordering something or getting a gift. You’re ordering a bunch of things and you’re unaware that it’s out of stock. You expect that it’s coming, and then it’s not there.

Z: Because this is my background, I think of it in a restaurant setting. If a table of six people all ordered a cocktail or a glass of wine and the server came back with five of the drinks, put them all down, walked away, and never said anything, that sixth person would ask, “Excuse me? What happened here?” If, eventually, they flag the server down and ask, “Hey, what’s the deal?” and the server responds, “Oh yeah, we don’t have that. We ran out of it,” wouldn’t you have offered the customer something else when you figured that out? Why did I have to seek this information out from you? That’s the part that blows my mind. I would have been willing to give you the money for something else. Now, you’ve done nothing. If you’d come to me initially and said, “Hey, we’re out of this. Here are some alternatives. Here’s another wine from that producer or here’s a similar wine.” I don’t know what I would have done in that setting, but what I did in this setting was reach out to one of my other distributors and ask, “Hey, can you get this here by tomorrow, please? I need it to fill my orders.” That’s all done. That’s a sale that this other company doesn’t get.

A: So, we want to talk today about hybrids. You pose an interesting question as we were starting to think about this episode. Not only are we going to see more of them, but are the newer generations of wine drinkers more accepting of them than the older ones? Why don’t you set that up first? I think that’s an interesting part of the question. I think we will see more of them because of climate change. But the acceptance thing is a big deal.

Z: I’ve been thinking about this for the last couple of years. I think so many of the emerging trends we see, whether it’s in natural wine or these styles of wine that have become more popular of late, really don’t exclude the use of hybrid or even non-Vitis vinifera varieties. There’s Concord grapes, Catawba, et cetera, and other things that are native to North America. When I was first getting into wine and learning about wine, almost no time was spent on any of that stuff. I, like many a Jew of my age, drank some Manischewitz when I was a kid. Until recently, that was basically my only experience with non-vinifera wine grapes. I’ve had a number of hybrids because those occupy a slightly different space. You see them used in a few places around the world, in some places in northern Europe, Canada, in the northern U.S., et cetera. I’ve tried some of those wines. The way that those varieties have been denigrated in the past is that they’re too fruit-driven, they’re too “grape-y.” That’s a slightly weird complaint, but whatever. They’re too high in acid. They don’t have a lot of tannin. I think what prompted this thought in me was the question of, “Are these characteristics that we laud in Vitis vinifera really the only things that wine drinkers want now?” In this world now, you’re seeing producers who have a certain kind of cachet blending grape wine and cider, making fruit wines, doing all kinds of stuff that totally would work with hybrids or non-vinifera grapes. So, why is this stigma still here? Is it still here? Is there an opportunity for people, whether they’re in other parts of the country or in the world that aren’t considered great sites for Vitis vinifera, to make wine? As we’ve talked about a number of times on this podcast, for a lot of the places that make, to this date, great wine from Vitis vinifera, it’s not looking great over the next couple of decades. I don’t know how I would feel about my vineyard holdings in parts of California or France. It ain’t been pretty the last few years.

A: I do think that there’s going to be more acceptance. I do think it’s because of natural wine. There is a growing movement of people who just think that is the term for wines that are trendy. There’s a flavor profile that a lot of consumers are enjoying. They may not be the flavor profiles that we like. They might be very mousy, whatever. I think that is the very grape-y, sort of Beaujolais bubblegum style. You’re seeing a lot of wines made like that. I’m seeing a lot of hybrids where they’re also doing carbonic and these really juicy wines that I think a lot of consumers like because they’re fun, easy, and very approachable. I think that is allowing hybrids to exist and people to accept hybrids. Do I think that hybrids will be accepted by the same people that are huge Barolo, Bordeaux, Burgundy drinkers?

J: No.

A: Probably not. But, in the world of natural, I definitely think hybrids will continue to grow.

J: You said younger wine drinkers. I think that also goes for people who are unaware of this stigma around hybrid grapes. They’re not aware of it, so why would they discriminate against a wine that’s made from those grapes?

Z: I think that’s an excellent point, Joanna, because one of the things that we’ve seen in wine more broadly is that, as you bring more regions and varieties into the fold, how is someone who’s not a wine expert going to know that Hondarrabi Zuri is a vinifera variety and Seyval Blanc is a hybrid? No one knows.

A: Seyval Blanc probably sounds, to a lot of consumers, like it’s a vinifera.

Z: Traminette or even Vidal Blanc, which may be a little more widely known because it’s used for dessert wine in Canada a lot. We don’t live in a wine world anymore where people only drink six varieties, thankfully. If you’re the kind of person who is seeking out wine from Georgia, Slovenia, Croatia, or wherever, the name of the variety on the label isn’t going to register with you. If you’re getting, alternatively, a hybrid wine from, say, Wisconsin, Michigan, northern Germany, or something like that, I just don’t see people being too caught up in the idea that this isn’t all Vitis vinifera. If you look at the way many of these hybrids have been developed, they’re 90 to 95 percent vinifera, with just a little bit of some other variety to give them a little more cold resistance, frost resistance, or some other characteristic that is considered desirable. I think the real fascinating thing, too, is the question of, “Are there under development hybrid varieties?” I think there are. Many of them are not yet really named or commercially available. But, are these being developed, not as hybrids were previously for these very cold regions? Obviously, the problem we face going forward is places where access to water, extreme heat, or just very unpredictable weather is a bigger concern. Can hybrids be developed that will thrive in those conditions and might replace the varieties that we now associate with those great regions? I don’t know that in 30 years, the slopes of Barolo will be replanted to some hybrid. But it wouldn’t totally shock me.

A: I had a crazy thought, and it’s probably going to piss some people off. But, as you’ve been talking, I’ve been thinking about this. I want to be clear when I’m using the term natural wine. Since it has no definition, I’m going to define it the way that I define natural wine. I’m not talking about wines that are biodynamic and organic, where the wine still comes out clean and you can taste the varietal and it tastes of the varietal and of the place. I’m talking about the wines that, through infection of the spoilage yeasts, Brettanomyces, or through the mousiness quality, or carbonic maceration. There’s something else that is more powerful in the wine than the essence of the grape.

Z: Right.

A: That movement of wine, a lot of people like. It’s crazy. To make a weird tangent, one of the fastest-growing brands right now in the U.S. is a hard kombucha. Right? That flavor profile and that kombucha thing is very popular right now. JuneShine is the brand.

J: It’s the funk.

A: The funk is the thing. Varietals don’t matter. It’s basically like a red blend. That world of natural wine is the red blend of that wine world. That’s what I’m going to say. Varietals don’t matter. The question is, is this the flavor profile you’re looking for? In that world, Zach, you’re really right. No one’s looking. No one’s asking. I was at a dinner last night before this event that we all went to with a bunch of, like, bartenders who were all into wine. We were at a place that only had natural wine on the list. The people who were serving us wine didn’t even tell us what the varietals were. They just said, “We have a red from Italy that’s super natural and funky, and we have an orange from Spain.” Right. There wasn’t even a description of the regions it’s from. It was like, “This is what we have.” And I think that’s becoming more and more common in my definition of what I think a lot of people think of when they think about what natural wine is. Does it have the funk? Does it have the juicy juice? No one is really that concerned with what grape it was made from, which is fascinating. But, it does make sense. When you do have those things happen to the wine, the varietal characteristics of the wine go away. I know we’ve had this conversation before, Zach, but what does varietally correct mean? I don’t really know. We can talk about that again at some point. I definitely think you want to taste a variety. I can still tell you that it’s Nebbiolo, even if it’s made in different places, it’s still Nebbiolo. I think with some of these wines, they just aren’t. Hybrids are great because if you’re not looking for that. If you’re looking for it as a vehicle to get the other flavors that people actually like, then who cares?

J: I don’t know. I also think it’s kind of interesting because, when I go out and order wine, I just want a wine that’s delicious and tastes good. I care less. I have no wine training or anything like that. I’m still learning a lot about wine, and I just don’t really care about the varietals. I’m not saying it’s because I want the funkiest natural wine you have on your list or anything like that. I just care more about how it tastes. I feel like, if hybrid wines are delicious, then sure, why not?

Z: Yeah. I think one thing that we found — and it’s something kind of echoed in your statement, Joanna — is that there was a period of time when certain grape varieties were considered “noble” and other varieties were, I guess, “ignoble.” This is a phrase I hate, so I’m going to immediately dismiss it. Frankly, though, if you look at the origins of this, there’s a lot of weird, very creepy eugenics-y things. There’s a lot of race theory, let’s put it that way, in this idea about everything, not just in grapes. Grapes were a prominent place for it, though. So much of what we’ve come to learn about different varieties, how they grow, and how they express themselves, is that there might have been a point in time when — through lack of knowledge about viticulture or winemaking — that might have been why certain varieties were prized in one place and less cherished in another. A lot of that stuff is apocryphal, ahistoric, and just doesn’t hold up to modern understandings of wine. This notion that only these few grape varieties or only this one species, Vitis vinifera, is capable of producing great wine is a myth that’s persisted because it gets lazily passed down. It fits well into a textbook or a 30-minute training that someone gets at a restaurant. Everyone in the wine industry, up until recently, was invested in the truth of that myth. Producers that spend a lot of money to plant and grow Vitis vinifera don’t necessarily want someone else to come along and say, “It turns out that I can make equally good wine from this unknown hybrid variety that I grow in a place where the land cost me one hundredth of what it costs you, and the people who buy it like it just as much as your wine.” I don’t know that that is exactly where we’re at, at this point. But, it doesn’t seem impossible to me that that could be true, at least for some meaningful segment of the wine drinking public. I think there’s a lot to be said about getting away from this fetishization of certain varieties over all others. That being said, I will say your point, Adam, is a well-made one, and an important one for people to keep in mind, too. One thing that we have valorized, and I think rightly so, in wine over the last century is the notion that there is some value in wine communicating something about where it’s from in drinking it. That communication can happen through the variety to some extent. Certain varieties are associated with certain places or maybe only grown in certain places. It can be in the mono-varietal nature of certain wines, and it can be in the winemaking and all that. As you described the natural wines you were talking about, Adam, when the thing that people are treasuring in a wine are other things, then I think we are at a perfectly valid expression of wine. It’s just not going to convey those things. It would be good for those who are in that industry and want that style of wine to open themselves up, as some of them are, to this notion of, “Why do we need vinifera in the first place? It’s hard to grow. It’s expensive. Why don’t we make our wines from other types of grapes?” There’s no inherent reason not to, other than that that can’t put varieties that people are familiar with on the label. Since many of them are not really interested in doing that, who cares? You can give it whatever fanciful name you want and put whatever crazy label on it. That’s great. Let’s party.

A: Glou-glou! It is interesting. The cool thing is that whether you’re on the side of, “Screw you, you have biases that are bullshit. I can make a beautiful wine with these grapes, not just this vinifera,” or you’re on the side of, “glou-glou,” it’s super cool that more people are using hybrids. It’s great to be able to now go to places like New Hampshire and Vermont and they have good wineries. That’s awesome. I think having wineries in communities is similar to having breweries. They’re places where people can go and see how wine is made firsthand. They’re also great places to socialize. They’re usually places that support really great cuisine and help build economies. With wine countries, hotels often come with them and there are great restaurants and stuff. If that can happen in other places, and it’s just with hybrids now, that’s freaking awesome. I’m all for it.

Z: I want to add one last point that I think is also kind of cool here. The other thing that has been hard for hybrids and non-vinifera varieties is that, because they have been so looked down upon by fine wine, they largely have not been made for that consumer. Adam, we got some wines a while back from a producer in Wisconsin and the owner who sent us the wine and communicated about it was upfront that a lot of their clientele like sweeter wine. So, they make a lot of sweeter wines. They don’t necessarily do it because that’s the only way to use hybrid grapes, but because the kind of people who are open to drinking those varieties are not typically people who want what we think of as fine wine. Therefore, they may want some sweetness. I don’t think that means that you can’t make great dry wines from these varieties. The more that people open themselves up to the possibility here, that denigration of hybrids and non-vinifera varieties, that “of course, they’re sweet,” is really just a self-fulfilling prophecy. I don’t think there’s any winemaking reason why you can’t ferment those wines dry. It’s just that many of the producers that currently exist are trying to meet a market demand that fine wine doesn’t really speak to very well. People may say “hybrids have to be sweet,” but that doesn’t have to be the case. It just has been the case because that’s who is willing to buy hybrid wines: people who like sweet wines.

A: Team, this was a great conversation. If you’re into some hybrid wines, let us know which ones they are. If you make hybrid wines and you listen to the show, send us some. I’d love to try them. Joanna, Zach, talk to you Friday.

J: Thanks, guys.

Z: Sounds great.

Thanks so much for listening to the “VinePair Podcast.” If you love this show as much as we love making it, please leave us a rating or review on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever it is you get your podcasts. It really helps everyone else discover the show.

Now for the credits. VinePair is produced and recorded in New York City and Seattle, Washington, by myself and Zach Geballe, who does all the editing and loves to get the credit. Also, I would love to give a special shout-out to my VinePair co-founder, Josh Malin, for helping make all of this possible, and also to Keith Beavers, VinePair’s tastings director, who is additionally a producer on the show. I also want to, of course, thank every other member of the VinePair team, who are instrumental in all of the ideas that go into making the show every week. Thanks so much for listening, and we’ll see you again.

Ed. note: This episode has been edited for length and clarity.

The article VinePair Podcast: Are Hybrid Vines the Future of Wine? appeared first on VinePair.

source https://vinepair.com/articles/podcast-hybrid-vines/

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kihocrystal · 7 years ago

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Winter 2018 Final Impressions

I’m a month late, as usual (whoops!), but here’s my final thoughts on the animes I watched this past season!

The “reviews” will be in alphabetical order!

3-gatsu no Lion S2 - 9.0 / 10 (A)

This second season of 3-gatsu was great! It’s just… a really great drama show about fighting depression (& a bunch of other character storylines)!

First off... THE BULLYING ARC WAS REALLY GOOD

extremely complicated, emotionally complex… this arc brings all sorts of emotions & angles into the forefront

multiple perspectives too: Hina’s, Rei’s, the bullied girl’s, the bully’s, the teachers’, and Akari too!

The art style can pull off both thick-outlined / bright colored style and watercolor-esque style incredibly well

it really is beautiful how it can visually portray both light-hearted and emotionally intense scenes

This season continues to show how good it is at character development for characters both main & supporting!

We get to see Rei moving through the ranks as a shogi player

and also moving through the ranks of conquering his depression! He’s improved more than ever before!

We get to learn about the white-haired master player (Souya); I liked how he has his own quicks and challenges he has in his daily life

Along with the other head shogi guy (Yanagihara)! (& how he shoulders his legacy for his friends)

Even the last episode offered some perspective from the foster mom about Rei & her kids

this show is just… really good at making normally-hated characters sympathetic, hot damn

Aside from bullying arc, this season also showed Hina preparing for the transition to high school

The finale episode was nice and sweet, with Hina saying goodbye to Takahashi and even getting a haircut!

This continues to be one of the best drama anime in recent years! Not to mention SHAFT’s best show since Madoka Magica :3

Cardfight!! Vanguard G: Z - 7.5 - 8.0 / 10 (C+)

And so ends the G series of Cardfight Vanguard… this final season I’ll say though is kind of a mixed bag

The plot had interesting ideas and moments at times, but the execution and pacing left a bit to be desired

though I will say it was definitely better than last season (CFV G NEXT)

This season didn’t waste any time getting to the main plot, as Chrono has to face off against a Diffrider right away

the diffrider stuff is continued from last season, but for the most part, it’s a new plot kicking off!

The rollout of all the new Diffrider Apostles (& them showing their strength) definitely made them look like powerful foes

not to mention the Zeroth Dragons, which were also shown to be powerful and very risky to use

Also knowing that anyone in the main cast could end up being The Vessel added some intrigue as well

the reveal that Kazuma would be the vessel definitely was a well executed twist imo~

However the pacing in places felt a bit too fast for me… the Relics subplot felt like it wrapped up too quickly, for example

the final fight against Gyze also kinda felt rushed… Gyze didn’t even have any dying words after his defeat :/

As a final season specifically, I feel like it kinda pales in comparison to Stride Gate, unfortunately

The cast was also kinda hit and miss in terms of how well they were utilized in the plot

some of the apostles definitely had more screen time than others (gredora only got like… two episodes)

plus gastille (the supposed apostle leader) got beaten sooner than like 3 other ones???

some villains carry over from last season too, such as Noa (Chaos Breaker) and the red-head punk kid

I liked all the new villains this season, personality-wise! (Also Yukari Tamura in there is a plus)

also no Am and Luna this season, really…

the previously established OG cast were integrated fine, for the most part

including Aichi and Kai getting the kill against Chaos Breaker Dragon

but the final episodes kinda just shoe-horn in a bunch of cameos that just didn’t feel natural :/

it just felt like “OH SHIT, this is the last season actually! Quick, throw in a bunch of cameos!”

this also applies to G characters, which makes less utilized characters (like Am & Luna, as mentioned before) look out of place :(

Sure, I’m saying a bunch of negative stuff right now, but I REALLY LOVE THIS CAST… I JUST WANT THE BEST FOR THEM

It’s the main reason I love CFV G, after all~

This season was definitely an improvement over NEXT for sure! The plot was interesting, I just wish the conclusion was better

The final episode basically just felt like an OVA, really… aside from the last scene, it didn’t really feel like an epilogue at all

I guess it just bums me out bc the original series got a good epilogue episode, so I know they could do it here, too…

In any case, I’M GONNA MISS THIS CAST, BIG TIME ;A;

In any case, this was a decent season to end the G series with! Not the strongest, but not the weakest either.

I’m gonna look back on my time with CFV G fondly for sure, if for nothing else than the great ensemble cast :’)

It’s gonna be weird going back to the OG cast for sure… I arguably liked the G cast better than the OG one :’D

Osomatsu-san S2 - 8.0 / 10 (B)

The consensus among fans seems to be that this season wasn’t as good as the first season

As for me, I… probably agree with that (though I still enjoyed this season!)

As with most comedy anime, whether the jokes land is pretty subjective. I feel like I didn’t laugh as hard this season? IDK

There were more “seasonal/holiday”-based episodes this time around (i.e. summer, new year’s, etc.)

What stays the same though is that this show is at its best when featuring the main brothers themselves

Skits involving the side characters (like Iyami, Dayon, etc.) didn’t make me laugh much…

I will say though that I enjoyed the second half of the season more than the first half~

Enough about the negatives, let’s talk about this season’s memorable skits / episodes!

The premiere was really good, as it poked fun at the huge popularity the show unexpectedly got xD

plus a bunch of references that *aren’t* gonna get them removed from streaming sites this time!

Jyushimatsu getting an “apprentice” with a little kid was also pretty funny~

The Karamatsu taxi skit, the spooky inn, & all the characters being stuck on an island were also good skits!

Ep. 18 (Iyami, Alone in the Wind) was also a crowd favorite, since it brought the feels for a change :’)

The finale 2-parter pulled a bait-and-switch yet again!

Part 1 was actually pretty serious, but the actual finale just has them trying to break out of hell xD

OH YEAH, I still really like the live-action stuff they do during the ending sequences

the first half’s ED was my favorite (the stop-motion of the brothers riding in the car)

I don’t have much to say about comedies generally, but Osomatsu-san is still my favorite in recent years ^^

Even though this season didn’t hit as hard as S1, it still provided some fun laughs~

Pop Team Epic - 7.5 / 10 (C+)

What can I really say about this show? It kind of defies description ^^;

Ok, yeah, it’s a sketch comedy, but it’s a really… crazy and random sketch comedy

The jokes are hit and miss (and in my experience was a bit more… miss than hit)

I never really laughed out loud at this show either

but then again, the humor here is more “being confused at what’s going on, but going along with it anyway”

There’s also a lot of modern anime references, so you might not get those jokes if you don’t follow most recent anime

Each episode has a long skit in it, plus a bunch of bite-size skits

I personally preferred the short skits over the long ones

There were a couple song parodies which I enjoyed (including the Earth Wind & Fire parody)

Also, this series definitely benefits from having an English simuldub! Some skits I found funnier in English!

OH YEAH, the voice actors (in both languages) change every episode, with female and male VAs in each episode

that enhanced the enjoyability of the sketches too, since I liked hearing favorite VAs do silly dialogue and performances!

I wouldn’t say this ranks among my favorite anime comedies, but it’s definitely unlike any other I’ve seen! ^^;

Your mileage will *definitely* vary with this one, so give it a try and see if it’s for you!

The Ancient Magus’ Bride (Mahoutsukai no Yome) - 8.5 - 9 / 10 (A-)

This was a very enjoyable fantasy drama show! Some people feel this show was overhyped, but I still thought it was really good!

I really liked the cast overall, especially Chise

She has really good character development throughout the show! She really becomes more strong and confident!

Seeing the fantastical world through her eyes was interesting as well!

Especially since those mystical elements were also responsible for her terrible childhood…

Elias was also an interesting guy… he and Chise have an interesting relationship together

Their relationship definitely has aspects that are unhealthy, but they do grow closer to each other by the end

If people can’t get past the whole premise of “him buying Chise to be his bride” though, I totally understand ^^;

They help each other learn too, which I liked to see

The supporting cast was also enjoyable! Not much to say about them individually though

The dragon keeper was nice and we got to learn about Elias’ origins through him

The dragons in general were great! Especially the old one that turned into a tree :’)

He gives Chise some good sage advice, even after death :’)

Angelica, Silky, and Stella (among others, like the other anti-hero duo) were good support characters too~

I liked Stella’s role of “normal girl who learns of the supernatural’s existence”

Cartaphilus was an… okay villain, I guess (though his methods were quite creepy indeed, which added some intrigue)

Some character designs are a bit questionable though… like who approved the vampire’s design? ^^;

Another large appeal of this was the world building of the fantastical elements!

I liked seeing all the different types of locales & supernatural creatures, both good and bad

As a low-fantasy show, this show does a Dang Good Job with the fantasy!

Chise learning more about herself and gaining confidence through these experiences were a highlight as well

I enjoyed each story arc as well, even though most of them were more explorative and introspective

This show can be dang beautiful sometimes, through both its art/animation and its stories (Thanks, Studio WIT!)

Some were better than others, but they all deliver either a heartwarming (or a dark) story

Some favorites of mine were the dragon-based ones, and the vampire loving the old man

The finale was good too! It’s unknown whether this conclusion is anime-original or not, but it was definitely a good S1 ending~

If you love low-fantasy shows, this is definitely one to check out!

Violet Evergarden - 8.5 - 9.0 / 10 (A-)

Best *new* anime (that I watched) of this past season, hands down~

Though to be fair, I still need to watch A Place Farther than the Universe… and Yuru Camp… and After the Rain…

Going into this season, this show was hyped and back and somehow… a lot of people were *disappointed* with this show?

I think it had to do with expecting a different show than what we got; as for me, I knew it’d be an episodic drama the whole time :P

But yes, this show has a (mostly) episodic plot with an overarching character arc. If that’s too slow for you, then you probably won’t like this show.

In any case, back to the positives! The first one being how good this show looks visually… as expected from KyoAni~

there’s so much detail in the backgrounds and the character elements (especially the lighting on objects like Violet’s metal hands)

this aspect is one thing *everyone* agrees on regardless, so… yeah, this show’s really pretty!

The main star (and focus) of this show was Violet herself… you can really see how she changes for the better from beginning to end

You get to see how “robot-like” she was at the start of the show, but she slowly learns about dealing with emotions of others… and herself

This character arc is definitely the “main” plot of the show, along with her coming to terms with Gilbert’s death and her war killings

The episodic plots were good in their own right, too!

Ranging from Violet’s start as a Memoir Doll to the different clients she works with, they all teach her something along the way

These sometimes focus on the side characters working at the Doll Agency too, so we get to learn more about them as well

The one that comes to mind first is Iris’ episode, where she (messily) reconnects with a former lover

Not all of them get a full episode in the spotlight, but they do get some focus scenes from time to time

Violet’s clientele episodes were the most memorable out of this lot IMO

ESPECIALLY EPISODE 10… that was the BIGGEST feels trip

I knew exactly how the episode was going to end, but I still teared up at that ending!

The finale was action packed, but also was a beautiful way to show how far Violet has come

I know some people’s issue with this show is that “it doesn’t know what show it wants to be” re: the action stuff, but I was fine with it personally

in any case, it was a pretty good book-end for Violet’s development, since she finally understands (a least a little) what “I love you” means :’)

I understand certain people’s gripes with this show, but this really is a great little drama show that *will* deliver the feels~

P.S. I also watched Fate/Extra: Last Encore this season. It hasn’t technically ended yet, so I can’t give final impressions on it right now. However, my current score for it is a 7.5/10 (C+).

#3 gatsu no lion #march comes in like a lion #cardfight!! vanguard #cardfight vanguard g #cardfight vanguard gz #osomatsu san #pop team epic #mahoutsukai no yome #the ancient magus bride #violet evergarden #Final Impressions

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basement-office-log · 6 years ago

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Some Thoughts about BTS...

So... this is basically, the story of how I got in and out of the BTS fandom. (Okay not exactly out because I’m still casually following them nowadays)

How I discovered them is ironically, like many of you, through youtube. It was just before the Run era I guess??? (around the end of 2015). Like somewhen between the Dope and Run era that I got in the fandom.

I guess I can consider myself as one of those depressed fans (lol), I actually remembered there was a option in the BTS fan survey around their BS&T era(???) that said “are you the kind of person that is easily depressed” and I ticked yes.

Almost instantaneously, I fell for the song “Butterfly” it was just the prologue that released back then. The MV was beautifully made, with a sad happy yet depressed undertone, perfectly described how I’m feeling back then.

I first noticed I’m depressed back then in 2015 (let’s be honest, college makes everyone depressed), more like “ahh so this is what being depressed is”.

And what now... I’m writing this after a tiring long day at work so things may jump back and forth...

Both their HYYH albums, I had gone through countless late nights listening the tracks on repeat, those are still my favourite albums up till today. Beapsae, instead of partying, that was the song that kept me awake till 5 a.m. ahh those memories... Same with Dope, I did not read the english lyrics until the hundredth repeat lmao. I was actually expecting the song to be about how cool I am, come to oppa and I’ll make you the princess kind of lyrics but ehh boi you surprised me with those raps hmmm.......

And... Jungkook, I did not like him when I first got into the fandom, to be honest. Because he’s younger than me and also he’s the center, main vocal of the group, despite the youngest. I remembered I was like, wow cocky brat isn’t it. Hehhhhhh but I grew to like him over time anyway, he’s cute, talented, good looking and all but still, it would be hella a headache if I were to have a younger brother like him.

It took me a year to like Jungkook because... The more I look at stuff, he’s just a regular boy, growing up, working hard, trying not to disappoint his parents and people around him. In a sense, aren’t we all just like that? There really is no reason to hate.

Another member is Jimin. He’s another member that I don’t quite like when I just got in the fandom. We all know that he acted a bit flirtatious during his debut days, up to the Danger era, honestly, his eye make-up makes me feeling uncomfortable to look at him. That’s the first thing. The appearance and the way he acts, in no way I’m trying to say he’s ugly, because if I were to compare myself to him, umm I probably looked like a bum lol.

It took me a lot longer to like Jimin, it’s until the Spring Day era that I thought, alright Jimin is charismatic and cute, admit it. Hah yea... Now, this is when the second stage of not liking Jimin comes. I started to fear him. It’s weird I know, why would I scared of “the mochi of BTS” Let me tell you why.

It’s scary to see how hard a person can work, that his goal is probably more important than his life. It makes me think that I am not and will not be a person like this, living is more important than what I am achieving. I wouldn’t want to risk my life doing things, however important that thing might be. Well people said, you will never achieve your goal like this if you don’t put your life on it. But I don’t care about that, but at the same time I’m feeling guilty about that.

It might be a Korean thing, we all know Koreans worked insanely hard because of society standards. Or it also could be a Jimin thing, Nevertheless, this man have my respect. The respect that I keeps me away from accepting him.

I’m kind of in the neutral range with Suga, J-hope and Jin like they are cool, fantastic, great people.

-----

This is almost 24 hours later, since the last paragraph. Again, a long and tiring day, after work, prolly a few minutes away from losing consciousness (a.k.a. falling asleep lol)

This shit is going to be very VERY long, nah it doesn’t matter because no one is going to read this anyway, even if I tagged BTS below, I’m writing this for myself.

I’ll just briefly talk about RM and V before going into my main topic today, (all because I cut myself off yesterday to hit the hay ekkk).

Rapmon bro, the reason why I decided to look into this group is because of his mixtape. I have 2 of his tracks in my old phone back then, everything was gone when my phone literally died a few months back. (The whole album is available for free download anyway so its all good) I have no interest in hip hop or whatsoever back then, but I became interested in hip-hop just a little after listening to his mixtape album. He is really someone I look up to, honestly, it’s no easy job to be a leader, not just in idol groups but just in every field in general. I tried becoming one because my mother always expect me to be one, after a few attempts (it was back in high school by the way) I thought it’s just not my thing, I’m more of a following instruction kind of person, I do my part and make sure everyone is okay. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to become a leader like person. In the future, maybe... But my depression went really downhill these days, so I’m not sure if that day will come. But I do aspire to become someone like him.

V or I prefer calling him Tae. He is my first bias. His existence just screams “RELATABLE” to me, (minus his looks) He seemed to be struggling with words whenever he tries to say something. That also is something I had to deal with on a daily basis. It’s like when you have good looks, everything you did is cute, but for me, it’s more like an annoyance. So I tried to keep quiet as much as possible. Nevertheless, I just hope that I will meet someone that will understand the way I talk like the other BTS members did with Tae, have a best friend like Jimin and... yea.

BTS hmm the annual sit and talk for part of their BTS Festa thingy, it’s called the Dinner Party this year hmm cool. I stopped watching after the first 30 minutes, for the exact reason why I also did not watch more than 5 minutes of last year’s sit and talk.

We all know that, they had achieved tremendous success for the past few years. A lot of their songs often circle around their hardships and what fuck the haters?? If that make sense. Whenever they have talks like this, I always bail myself out there, and yea I never install Vlive back after I got this new phone because there really is no reason to catch every live and Run BTS episodes now.

This was not long before the DNA era, I always found myself having thoughts like:

“So you have started to avoid BTS hmm?” Yea right, took me a while to admit. I used to not miss a single notification. There is no more random videos on the BangtanTV channel as they get more and more popular, there is just backstages and really just back stages and behind the scenes of their daily schedules and tours. It shows that they are working hard, really hard. Which leads me to the next question.

“It feels uncomfortable isn’t it, comparing yourself to a worldwide famous group of artist?” Hmph. I worked hard, really hard. I even live by the motto, do or die. But that doesn’t seemed to be enough. People around me, always told me that I should push myself more. I DID, I REALLY DID, BUT WHY CAN’T YOU SEE IT.

“But BTS can, why can’t you?” I’m just going to work harder, I tell myself. I don’t have to face the same pressure as BTS did, I’m having it way more easier. But at the same time, there is seven of them in BTS, but there is only one me.

The voice at the back of my head, you are not helping.

I swiped away all notifications from BangtanTV ever since.

Because seeing them having each other around reminds me how am I not going to have friends like this, how I’m never going to achieve this much. But mostly it reminds me how lonely I am.

By the time the Mic Drop remix released, I started having what I called the depressive episodes. I think I’m going to describe them as a waking nightmare, all the thoughts in my head are killing each other, fighting for the limited space in my head. Which ever thought that dominate my mind is the winner. I stared into blankness, tears and snots all over my face, hyperventilating while finding excuses to tell people what happened to me if anyone ever sees me.

Honestly I don’t think people is going to read this... but the tag is down there just for the slightest hope that people that come across this will know that, ahh there are people like this out there too... Some of you might think, this is pathetic, attention seeking but at the end of the day, I just want some closure for myself. I need to admit that, no matter how much interviews I watch, how much memes I’ve seen everyday, they are not going to be my friends. They will forever be the people in screens, and I belong to the 97% of the population that will lead a normal life.

Here I am, the Fake Love era that comes to a close. I can’t even bring myself to listen to the whole album, because chances are, some of the lyrics are going to trigger the shit out of me. Same goes with Suga’s mixtape, J-hope’s mixtape.

I really miss the days where they made simple love songs like the ones in the Dark and Wild album. Blanket Kick is my personal favourite.

I’m sure there are still a lot more that I had in mind but I just forget what is it about to include in this. I’ll get a part 2 done when there is time.

BTS now just feels like the popular kids I went to school with, now graduated from a school named ARMY, they are like the ex-classmates I bump into once in a while. Thank you, for the best 3 years in my life. I had lots of laughter, times that I forgot about my sadness and your warm words that took me through difficult times. You are the reason that I survived until today and also the trigger of some of my episodes.

SInce it’s already past midnight, I wanted to say Happy 5th debut anniversary, stay healthy (to both BTS and ARMY out there) be happy and may you all be reaching higher and higher till you celebrate your 10th anniversary. (or maybe longer)

*Just a sidenote, as a Malaysian fan, I’m just going to keep calling Rapmon, Rapmon because RM is our effin currency, I don’t want to be reminded of money issues whenever I thought of you. As far as I know, you do have a beautiful name as your mother definitely did not named you Rap Monster. It’s just that stage name exist for a reason. And I think I know at least 5 Jins in real life, so the wide shoulder hyung is just going to be Kim Seok Jin in my head haha yea.

#bts #unpopular opinion

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undertale-imagine-that-the-2nd · 7 years ago

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Anon Asked: UT UF Bros react to their SO being a vampire

Okay there's so many different styles of vampires. Classic 'Dracula' type, the hyper sexualized 'True Blood' type, the red drinkers (actual color red not just blood) from Adventure Time, the 'snowflake' type from Twilight, and many others. So to keep everything to a standard I'll stick with having this s/o as being a kind of vampire from the True Blood universe. Meaning they burn in sunlight, are harmed by silver, can die from a stake to the chest, and drink human blood. They also have super speed, super strength, need blood, and have retractable fangs. Pretty standard I guess. UT!Sans: -Shock.png -He thinks you're joking at first, but then he sees you're 100% serious. Now he's concerned for your mental health. But then he nervously jokes that he's gonna need some proof. So you try to give him some quick proof. You let your fangs out and he jumps almost off the couch. please don't do that again. -His eye lights go out and he gets kinda quiet for a few minutes after that as he tries to mentally process the bomb you just dropped on him. He has so many questions! How did you become a vampire? How long have you been a vampire? How old are you?? Do vampires really drink blood? What abut garlic and crosses!? Do vampires really need permission to enter someone's home?? -You answer everything you asks you. You tell him who your maker was/is, how long you've been a 'creature of the night~', how old you were, and how you did have to drink blood. He seemed unsettled by that. But took solace in knowing you didn't kill for the blood. -Also you talked about how garlic didn't hurt you but it did make your eyes water (from how strong it is to your heightened sense of smell), and that crosses (crucifix or just regular kinds) don't hurt you at all. But the stake thing...that was real. Sans looked a little ill knowing that a stake to the heart would make you explode into a pile of blood and gore. -And thankfully he's too curious to be mad at the moment, but late when his science side is sated he'll get a little pissy that you waited so long to tell him something so important. But his anger won't be too hot. He can kinda see why you were scared to let anyone (even him) find out. Vampire lore isn't exactly glittering with positive representation. -Honestly he's actually fine with it. You're still you. You just have a weird diet and some extra abilities. Just don't starting raising your LV and he'll be fine. UT!Pap: -He's excited! But then he admits that he doesn't really...know what vampires are? Papyrus hasn't watched too many vampire tv shows or movies. He's more interested in comedy and drama than any type of horror. Meaning he's not very familiar with the lore. So you have to explain to him what vampires are, and what they can do. What you can do. You explain your enhanced speed, your super strength, your thirst for blood, everything. You don't lie to him. That wouldn't do either of you any good, and plus it would make him sad to know you kept things from him. But... -He's excited again! But now because he understands. He really doesn't see a problem with you not technically being human. If he, as a monster, were fine with dating a human then he'd also be fine dating a vampire. He's not even mad you waited so long to tell him! He knows you were just nervous. And that's alright. He's just glad you finally felt comfortable enough to tell him. If anything this will make your relationship stronger! -That being said...he is a tad concerned about your diet. The idea that in theory you have to hurt someone just to feed makes him uncomfortable. So when he finds out you've never hurt anyone he's beyond relieved. You tell him that you pay some people and in return they give you a few pints of their blood every week. It's all a very business like and totally legal. (if this is true is up to you. you could just be saying it to ease his mind. ignorance is bliss after all~) -Once all that is out of the way HE IS SUPER EXCITED TO TRAIN WITH YOU! He wants to see just what you can do! Just how strong and fast are you?? You've got to come with him next time he trains with Undyne! She'll be thrilled to know that someone else will be able to handle her rigorous training regimen! You better tell him to keep the vampire bit to himself for now. Don't want too many folks in your business after all. UF!Sans: -Truthfully, he's not even mad. He knows some personal secrets take time to share and expecting your new datemate to spill everything about themselves during the first week together isn't just unrealistic, it's kind of entitled in a dickish way. Like who the fuck are you to demand to know every secret of another living being? Nobody gets to force this kinda shit. So yeah, Red isn't mad. If anything he thinks it's cool as fuck. And he's also secretly happy you trust him enough to let him in on the secret. <3 -But like holy shit you're so fast it LOOKS like you can teleport. And you can straight up throw a CAR almost the length of a football field! (don't ask how you were able to demonstrate these things for him.) He's pretty sure even Undyne isn't strong enough to pull that shit off. Also knowing you're badass enough to not need him hawking over you all day is a weight off his shoulders. He'll never tell but he was so worried that some bullheaded monster would see you as an easy LV boost and try to kill you. -Also, the blood drinking thing is metal as fuck, like you've become at least 79% cooler to this edge boy. He even wants to see you drink some time. This boy has a biting kink lol and maybe a blood kink from hell and he'd looooove to watch you bite someone and drink them like they were nothing more than a glass of wine. He's getting turned on just thinking about it. And he likes your fangs. You two match now. And all he can think of asking you is "if you're a vampire does that mean you can hold your breath forever?" but he thinks it might be too soon to dive into askin that. Maybe he'll bring it up on his birthday. -But he is worried about the whole 'vampire weaknesses' shit. He's not too bummed about not getting to go out during the day with you. He's kind of a night owl anyway, so at least if he can't sleep he'll have you to talk or chill with. Hell, he might even switch around his sleeping schedule to make more time at night with you. But he's not thrilled with how apparently silver burns you?? He'd be more concerned that you'd get burnt at his and Boss's house but thankfully Boss has always been a fan of gold and not silver. So yay for the little shit. He didn't like how you said vampires apparently pop like a damn gore filled balloon if stabbed in the chest???? He'd totally think that was cool if it wasn't you he was worried was gonna pop. He at least can be relieved that you're fast enough to dodge just about anything. Again, yay for the little shit. UF!Pap: -He swells with pride. Of course HIS mate is even better and cooler than he'd originally thought! So cool he's both proud and vaguely threatened. He's still the scariest though, make no mistake. Just because you drink blood and can move faster than a cobra doesn't mean you're suddenly the cooler than THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE PAPYRUS! So don't get any funny ideas. -And as for your speed, agility, strength; he's both relieved and upset. On the one hand he's comforted by the fact that you're tough enough to look after yourself. He was worried he'd have to watch you at all hours of the day to prevent some fool from attacking you for easy LV. But on the other hand...he's bummed that he can't be your protector. He liked the idea of being the one to keep you safe and secure and out of harms way. He liked feeling needed. Just let him continue to pretend you need his protection, to keep him happy~ -But it seems that while his fear that you'd be easy to kill have fled, a whole new set of worries have cropped up in its place. Before he was scared that you'd be 'dusted' with ease since you were a human. But now he's worried you'll get stuck outside during sunrise! Or somehow you'll have silver forced on you just to cause you pain. Or worse yet you'll get attacked unaware and a stake will get driven through your heart! The Edge King is very worried but hides it well. And he's pleased he doesn't have to replace any key metals in the house. His love for gold and indifference to silver really was lucky. -As for your diet, it actually makes a lot of sense now that he looks back. You'd never seemed too thrilled to go out to eat for your dates together. You'd preferred to go take midnight trips to the abandoned beach, or concoct trap ideas together. Things that never involved consuming food. But now that he knows you're a vampire he supposes sitting and eating food wouldn't equal fun to you. And he has no problem with you drinking blood. He won't ask to watch you feed, and he refuses to let you bring any 'food' home with you. He knows how hard it is to get blood out of material and doesn't want stains anywhere. Also secretly he knows seeing you bury your face into someone else's neck in even a vaguely sensual way will make him so fucking jealous but shhhh it's a secret lmao -But if you pull any of that 'hungry creature of the night' stuff on him he will lock up. Like he will totally freeze and turn as red as a tomato he was not prepared to find you stalking towards him like YOU were the predator so fucking HOT WTF STOP. Why does he find this all so alluring he's getting too flustered! Also, pro tip: if you want to really make this edgy skellie weak in the knees then gently scrape your fangs against his bones. Any bones. Arm bones, neck bones, ribs! But heads up, he will go hard as fuck and raw you into the bed like a man possessed if you do it to his pelvic bone. ;o)

#Undertale Imagines #UT!Sans #UT!Papyrus #UF!Sans #UF!Papyrus

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cosmosogler · 7 years ago

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time to try to sum up a full internal day again!

i woke up on time enough. the brutal reminder that it is, in fact, “shark week” got me interested in being awake and not having those Very Special dreams.

those are euphemisms. i would be more specific but i don’t like talking about it at all. but i needed to bring it up because “shark week” becomes important later.

anyway i went through my normal daily routine, except- get this- i tried using that cat smell spray that the vet pawned off on me for 20 dollars, and snoopy didn’t poop on the couch! she went in her litter box!!! that put me in a good mood right away.

while waiting for the bus i complained to myself about my pokemon game and the rng. i’ve found that i am very good at listening to complaints from myself. the complaints did consume me by the end of the day but this morning i was sort of amusing myself with it.

the first class was really rough... i’m not a fan of that professor at all. he doesn’t, like... relate the topics he talks about in one lecture, so all these numbers and letters are kind of floating in a void that i have no context for. he MUST know that “k” is a variable AND a constant used across multiple fields in physics and i don’t know which one he’s referring to when he just says “k,” right??? and he doesn’t define any terms and then starts writing down equations that he doesn’t use any actual words for. i was frantically scribbling down every mark he made on the blackboard hoping that if i went over it all at once later it might magically make sense.

he also went 7 minutes over. i was vibrating in my seat. when he finally put down his notes i ran out to the bathroom. i was only there for two minutes, but when i got back to the classroom the next professor was in and started lecturing before i could even get to my seat.

he started the lecture 6 minutes early. so the 15 minute break between classes had become a 2 minute break. and he started being really passive aggressive to students who came in 3 minutes before class was supposed to start and interrupted his lecture. i was angry. but i took notes anyway. quantum lectures are the easiest for me to understand in general.

i mean, quantum the subject and quantum the math are insanely difficult and i don’t think anyone really understands it. but quantum lectures i can follow.

so his class also ended late, so i guess to this guy “50 minutes” means “start and end whenever you want.” i feel like... as a grad student we’re supposed to handle that kind of abuse but it still didn’t feel good. it felt bad. i was gonna explode. it took me a minute to figure out why i was wiggling all over the place.

i guess it feels like i am fundamentally at odds with the “physics grad lifestyle” so to speak. i am putting so much effort into taking care of myself and pacing myself and staying on a schedule, and these guys just plow right through our breaks! i know i can’t focus for more than 75 minutes tops and they want me to go for 120 minutes with basically no breaks? how am i supposed to get all this nervous energy out??

i didn’t have enough time for a full lunch break before my appointment with the counseling center so i caught the bus over there. the therapist was around and i was early so we just started early. she did a general biography thing and asked some questions for the psychiatrist i’ll be seeing and some questions for the group therapy counselor. we talked about some insurance options. i think i might stick with the group therapy... going off campus is such a huge hassle and there’s no guarantee that the therapist i get is even going to be any good since my insurance seems to prefer, kind of, assholes? not always, but enough of the time. anyway i got an appointment with the group therapist to get checked out on wednesday.

the weather was strange. it was like being spritzed with a giant mister, except it never stopped spritzing. i could tell i was getting wet standing outside, but it wasn’t enough water to actually get wet with.

the bus driver didn’t stop when i pulled the stop thing so i had to backtrack to get back to the physics building. my ankle still hurt so i was kind of unhappy about that. i mostly finished my lunch (didn’t have enough of an appetite for all of it) and crammed in a full study session.

i didn’t do any homework...

third period was ok. the lecturer is pretty good and he does a good job of giving the class a coherent narrative, but i cannot read his board work. his handwriting is really bad, but i could deal with it if it was just that. he also does not write top to bottom. he writes in random groups and will go back and change things and then move on with his previous topic. it was ok at first, but eventually he made a correction while i was looking at my notebook trying to write and when i looked up he had moved away from the equation he’d corrected and moved on. i couldn’t figure out what he’d changed and by then i’d fallen behind and he had moved away from what he was working on again so i had to search the entire board for the new work. you would think that’s not hard, but his handwriting is so bad that if he uses a term i’m not familiar with, even if he spells it out i don’t know what he said...

after class i asked suzanne what i should do about it, like, how to get him to write in the right order. taylor jumped into our conversation to explain to me the professor’s board writing pattern and how it is out of order.

i got kind of snappy. i said “yeah, i was there, i saw the board, thanks.” he didn’t say anything after that for the rest of the conversation. he was wearing a shirt with an ugly dude saying “m’lady” and tipping his fedora. i couldn’t tell if it was ironic or not. not sure if i like the kind of dudebro who does that ironically either anyway.

i mean, i feel that at no point was i irrationally angry. i just had 200% less tolerance for people wasting my time.

i talked to the professor and asked if he could write on the board from the top down and made a hand motion. and he agreed to slow down. which is not what i asked for, but ok, whatever.

at that point i didn’t have enough time for a full study session so i hung out in the lounge and sort of nibbled on my quantum notes while suzanne and jennica played ping-pong. at 5:00 i went out to the lobby and tried to look for the graduate mentor i had arranged to meet up with. i think... at the grad meeting last thursday, the department had used the wrong photo for the woman i was corresponding with. i noticed a strange woman i hadn’t seen before really staring at me while i was waiting in the lobby. i kind of frowned at her and then she asked if i was samantha so that was awkward.

i’d forgotten her name but was too angry with myself to ask.

ok, about before. i understand where taylor was coming from, sort of, in a very misguided sort of way. i think when i asked “how can i ask the professor to write in a more logical way” he took that as “i don’t understand how the professor is writing” so he thought explaining it to me would make me understand and retrospectively have perfect notes.

i talked to elisa for a good long while about mostly physics stuff. she’d been abroad for the summer in south korea but originally was from italy. i was super tired, i think i burned myself out from being irritable all day. i seemed to be unable to articulate my real question in a way that would get a response in the vein i was looking for.

i guess... my real worry was “how to i make sure i stay on this long-term schedule?” but it was coming out as questions like “so i need to be working for a professor by february?” they are similar questions, but not the same one. i guess i was looking for some kind of reassurance. elisa recommended the opposite of what i wanted. she suggested i go into random professors’ offices and ask what they’re doing.

maybe what i really wanted was an excuse to not have to be creative or brave.

after we finished our drinks (i had juice) she seemed to have forgotten that she’d offered to drive me home so i walked over to the bus station. the bus schedule lied to me. one bus route runs after 5:30 until 6:40 or so. one single bus route. luckily i only had to wait like five minutes and i caught the last bus off campus.

when i got home i only had time to drop off my stuff and clean my lunchbox before the “milk and cookies” social event for the apartment started. but when i got down to the lobby there was no one there and the lights were off. i was really frustrated. an indian woman and her son showed up and started poking around the doors. after i checked the rec room and didn’t find any milk or cookies there i talked to them for a little bit. we went in the rec room and found some students playing a killer billiards game but they said they had gone looking for the social event an hour ago and hadn’t found anything.

then when we got back to the lobby there were three more people standing around awkwardly. the woman went to look for the staff member she knew. when she came back she told us that the office guy had said that the event had started an hour and a half ago and was scheduled to end at 7. we were all really confused. one girl pulled out her phone and opened up the image of the event calendar which clearly said “starts at 7 in the lobby.” but we cleared out. i was pretty bummed.

i didn’t realize the two girls from the lobby were the same girls from the yoga session that the instructor hadn’t shown up for until they started sort of laughing and looking at me knowingly.

when i went back up to my room i made butternut squash ravioli. it was GOOD.

then i didn’t get anything done at all all evening!!! not a thing!!!! i wasted my own time!!!!!

so now the homework is due wednesday AND i haven’t started the homework AND i haven’t done the class reading AND i haven’t finished studying my old notes.

i guess mostly i just wanted to sleep all evening, but i didn’t because it wasn’t time for bed yet. but now it’s past time for bed because i’ve been complaining for 45 minutes straight.

snoopy has parasites too. the vet called me with the results she said she’d have saturday “pretty quick,” which i could have picked up the prescription while i was waiting at the bus stop for an hour... now i have to go back again next saturday to pick up some pills. i don’t know how i’m going to get snoop to eat them. and that’s another ~2 hours out of my saturday.

i’m really super irritable today. it hasn’t gotten any better even though i’ve been lounging around all evening. tomorrow i gotta teach my first class at 9:30, and i’ll be at school until 8 because the professor decided to move our mandatory “extra two class periods” back to start at 6 because he’s insane and thinks we don’t need to eat dinner i guess.

my lunch box isn’t really big enough to pack lunch AND dinner. whatever...

i just don’t understand why, in order to do physics, you have to choose physics or health. it’s not hard to do both. or it doesn’t have to be. i’m trying so hard to do all the things you’re supposed to do to manage depression and they’re just not letting me.

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