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swiftiephobe · 2 years ago

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ok general thoughts: i really really like it!!!!! i've given it three full listens so far and i've enjoyed it more each time. i don't think it's much of a progression nor does it really bring anything super new to her discography but it does feel like a very refined/polished form of the pop sounds she's already explored. i'm not going to officially place it into my album ranking yet because i really need to wait and see how it settles. very very tentatively, it could maybe dethrone 1989 and take third spot (and best pop album spot) but that's a very very very early judgement. i also had lover in my top 3 a week after release so maybe you can understand my caution here asfhdhcjdjf

i do feel there was a bit of a bait-and-switch between the concept/visuals and the music which i think explains some of the initial negative reactions from some? especially since there was no single released there was a LOT of hype over what the album would sound like and the visuals being so 70s inspired but like... it's a straightforward pop album. i really really like it as i said but i can definitely understand why people are disappointed. i feel like if you're gonna leave that much mystery there has to be more of a pay off at the end than releasing songs that have the same dna as stuff you've released before. i also feel like more could've been done with the "midnights" concept in general, like it's there on some of the songs but the theme of "telling the story of 13 sleepless nights" doesn't really come through as strongly as i thought it would.

lyrics: it's a pop album so i wasn't expecting as much folklore/evermore "quill pen" lyricism. there's definitely a LOT more "glitter gel pen" lyrics but y'know she hasn't really been releasing those much in the past couple of years so i'll allow it!! i think overall the lyrics are good, they're a mixture of eloquent, detailed, vulnerable with a bit of cheek at the right moments too. that's not to say there aren't some clunkers on here but overall i think there aren't any songs that are diabolically bad lyrically which is great, and even some of the weaker songs lyrically make up for it in other ways

production: this has jack antonoff's style ALL over it and well i'm a slut for synths so i was always gonna like the production. if anything though it's a bit samey? don't get me wrong i prefer that to the total whiplash mess that was the lover tracklist, i definitely think midnights was a very pleasant listen all the way through and i can see it being an album i return to as a whole which is a win for me. however i do feel some of the songs are just kinda redundant and blend into each other. i'm sure the more i listen the more i will notice the little details that set them apart

anyway here's the track-by-track (under a cut because this post got LONG)

lavender haze: this is sooooo gorgeous, veeeeery sensual, this is probably one of the highlights for me. idk how i feel about it as an opening track; i feel like the "meet me at midnight" intro was definitely added on after she decided to make it the opener rather than it being an organic part of the song. but taking the song out of that context it's absolutely stunning

maroon: ahhh it IS like a grown-up version of red with the colour references. another one that's up the top for me, it's just so rich in imagery

anti-hero: mm there are things i like and things i don't. i really like when taylor properly self-reflects in her music and i do think it must be a really tricky thing to do knowing millions of people will be listening. however this kinda feels like it almost gets there but doesn't quite for me? like idk certain lyrics kinda feel like she's just mocking what people say about her which kinda takes away from what the song is meant to be. i'm kinda like "girlie you're soooo close" at certain points, there's just a certain level of sincerity lacking for me. absolutely love the lyric "i'll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror" though. the bridge is great too. and despite some gripes about the lyrics the song is a certified bop

snow on the beach: she HAS to be trolling omg. i actually don't mind her backup vocal features but why hype up the lana feature just for lana to barely be present at all. i actually don't love the song either which is a shame because i love both taylor and lana as musicians :/ idk it's just kinda meh for me. also this song did not need to be explicit LMAO like there are a few of taylor's songs with swearing i feel is shoehorned in but i think this is particularly egregious

you're on your own kid: i think she's singing about her childhood/start of her career here???? at least at the start, the song as a whole is basically an autobiography. i honestly wasn't expecting that but i kinda love it, it feels really different from what she's sung about before and feels so vulnerable and honest (what anti-hero wishes it could be!), for sure a worthy track 5 which makes me happy because the title had me a bit dubious

midnight rain: some interesting production choices here... i can't really work out who she's singing about and i'm curious. i'm probably just oblivious

question...?: the eccentric title was not necessary ashfhsjfjskf this is not as experimental as i thought it might be. again i want to know who/what she's singing about??!?! both this and midnight rain just kinda come and go for me, like they're solid mid-tier in this album, good but not standouts

vigilante shit: ok this is one i was anticipating to not like as much based on the title and yeah. this is down the bottom for me, it's a bit corny. i think the story in the song is fiction/fantasy (definitely feels like taylor cosplaying as... something) but if it's real i want to know the tea

bejeweled: i do really like how vigilante shit flows into this song, they almost feel like they're a pair that go together. i also like it better than vigilante shit even though i keep hearing her say "hoe" in the chorus which is a bit of a scream (ik she's not i just keep hearing it!). add this to the list of "who the hell is she singing about" songs

labyrinth: the epiphany vibes!!!!!!!!! we won!!!!!!!! i love how this is a bit different from the other songs sonically, it's more of a slow burn. i think this is going to be a grower for a lot of people and one of those underground favourites that doesn't really get discussed much but has devoted fans nonetheless

karma: nahhhhh idc this is so fun. this song is gonna get dragged but i am going to be a karma apologist! karma IS a cat and it's purring in my lap. the girls who get it get it and the girls who don't don't

sweet nothing: this is a bit cutesy but y'know good for them!!! i like the instrumentation it's very sweet, this is the most stripped-back song i think so it'll probably just be more of a grower

mastermind: this was probably the song i was most curious about because it's a closing track and closing tracks always slap and "mastermind" was an intriguing title so i was like hmmm how is it gonna wrap up the album??! and i like it! i really love the production and how it builds and i think it does round out the album really well. the general themes explored and directions the album goes in are nicely brought together here which is exactly what i want from a closing track!

#midnights release

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quietmyfearswith · 4 years ago

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perfect fit {ransom drysdale x fem!reader}

status — completed

warnings — cursing, unprotected penetrative sex (pls be safe when havinf sex), mirror sex, semi-public sex, degradation (slight), oral sex (female receiving), mentions of blood and being poked (briefly and not detailed)

word count — 3,370 words

a/n — lmao i have no shame i got inspired to write this because of an something i listened to which had a similar premise. i had a sequel in mind but idk if im gonna write that since i have a lot of fics planned out. feedback is appreciated and hope u guys have a lovely day !! :>

masterlist

It was something no one expected Ransom to do; but he did it anyway.

He was just lounging in his home one day and he took one of the many notebooks he had lying around and suddenly found himself sketching different clothing articles. By the time he was able to tear his focus and hands away from the notebook, it was already 11:45 at night, “Huh, so in the past five hours I was able to design 11 clothes,” he quietly thought to himself as he closed the notebook that contained his ideas and headed to bed.

The following day consisted mostly of doing two things; more designing and making calls. He was looking for possible suppliers who could give him the materials he needed in order to bring his designs to life. He also ordered his assistant to look for tailors who were willing to sew and stitch them to life, as he did not have any intentions on making those himself. Searching for a place to lease to station where the clothes would be made and sold was also something he did.

All of that happened almost 19 months ago; Ransom just suddenly had the idea of creating his own clothing line and he was successful in that endeavor. His brand was known for its eloquent and classy designs, while still being comfortable and affordable. It was also a bonus that the materials they used were cruelty-free and vegan; though this wasn’t really his idea, something his assistant had suggested and something he mindlessly agreed with as he was burying himself in designing a dress.

When his family found out about his current endeavor, there were various reactions in response. Joni seemed to be legitimately excited to see if Ransom’s design would match her taste and even told him how she was willing to post about his line on her Instagram. Meg and Walt finally had something in common as they both teased him and questioned his sexuality since he suddenly became interested in fashion; even his own father silently had the same thoughts and concerns. His mother, however, was somewhat proud of her son following in her footsteps and making a name for himself. While Harlan was surprised on how he was persistent in pursuing fashion, for he always thought that his first grandson would be his successor in terms of writing and in handling the publishing company.

Ransom, having had enough of their judgmental comments and half-assed support, snapped at them once he broke the news as they were enjoying dessert, “Alright, all of you, eat shit! No offense, Mom, but you had a loan from Granddad and without his money you’d be nowhere! Joni, cut the shit! We all know you rely on those brand deals you have and of course, on our family’s money. And Walt? At least I’m gonna make something of my own! Unlike you who just relies heavily on the books Granddad gives you to publish. And what the fuck does fashion have to do with one’s sexuality? If clothes make people gay then why are you wearing that sorry excuse of an outfit? Scared people might find your dick too small?”

And with that, he left the house as a sea of screams and commotion followed him, but he chose to ignore it of course.

In the span of those 19 months, his clothing line took off. Critics spoke highly of it, consumers couldn't get enough of his designs, and he was being constantly praised for his creativity. So it made Ransom feel as if he was on top of the world.

After his designs being featured on various fashion shows and being worn by numerous celebrities, the pressure to put out equally great designs was taking a toll on Ransom. Hence why he often spends time on the main store and headquarters he had in Boston. The place was fairly spacious — it had an office for where he could have meetings or design some of his clothes, a spacious and luxurious space for the customers to try on the clothes, rows of sewing machine next to an array of cloth for the workers whom he fairly compensated for their hard work, and even a small circular platform placed in front of mirrors for alterations.

Ransom advised his staff to go home early to enjoy the start of the weekend and he would be the one to close the store and balance what they had already sold and what was left. As he was busy in the counter checking the log and counting the money, he heard the chimes of the bell that hung above the door make a sound, directing his attention to where a lovely woman stepped into the store and it felt as if all the oxygen in his body left his body with how breathtaking the woman was.

“We’re about to close in a few minutes,” was all he managed to let out as the woman stood on the opposite side of the counter; she just smiled as she placed the gown wrapped in plastic down on the counter, “Oh? I’m so sorry but I was just wondering if I can have this gown altered? I bought it hastily last week and only got to try it on two days ago since I was incredibly busy with work and realized how loose it was on me.”

He looked down on the gown as he spoke, “Yeah well we close earlier on Fridays so,” prolonging the word so, he noticed how she moved as if she was about to exit the establishment, but he wondered, “What is the work you do that kept you busy?”

The question surprised both of them; Ransom didn’t know as to why he was curious about it, but it probably had to do with how he just wanted an excuse to talk to her and listen to her soothing voice. While Y/N didn’t realize that those were one of the requirements in order to have a dress altered, she told him anyway what kept her busy.

Nodding his head, he made an impulsive decision, “My assistants just left, but I can take care of it. It shouldn’t be a big problem” Her eyes lit up excitedly and she smiled widely and thanked him for being able to accommodate her. “Just go to one of the dressing rooms and change to the gown, and head to where the platform is — just right across, okay?” She nodded and followed to where his hands pointed to where he’d be waiting for her.

As she scurried off to the change, he found himself questioning himself as he switched off the open sign, grabbed a notebook, pen, and measuring tape, and waited for her to come out. Why the hell am I making such an effort for her? And when she did step out of the dressing room and made her way to step on the circular elevated platform, he remembered just why he was going out of his way to serve her; because she looked fucking gorgeous, especially seeing her wear a gown he designed.

Standing on the platform, she shyly looked at him to which he found adorable, “Why don’t you spin around slowly for me?” She nodded and did so, “What seems to be the problem with the gown?”

With her back facing him, she craned her neck and replied, “I found the length to be too long, I’m afraid I might trip on it,” as she faced him he noticed how he was standing dangerously close, and his facial features were dead serious, “So you just want to trim it a bit?”

She nodded, “Would it be possible to create a slit?” And just as she made that suggestion, she bunched up a bit of the gown and showed him how she wanted the slit to look like; but all it did to Ransom was make him drool with how luscious and soft her legs looked like. “Okay, yeah that’s something we can do.”

Grabbing a small container full of sewing pins he took hold of the bunched up fabric she held in her hand and told her he got it. “You know when I designed these gowns, you were exactly the target buyers I had in mind,” she tilted her to the side, confused with what he meant so he further explained, “Gorgeous, elegant, and absolutely stunning; especially once they wear my clothes.”

Her cheeks suddenly became a dark shade of red as she tried to shrug off his compliment, “Well I don’t really wear these kinds of clothes, but when a wedding comes, you have to.” As he was placing the pins on the fabrics, he looked up from where he was sitting on the platform, him being eye level with her thigh was doing nothing to prevent him from nursing a hard on, “A wedding you say?”

Snatching a glance from where her hands rested on her hips to get out of his way, he took note of the lack of ring and voiced out his observation, “I’m not seeing any ring on both your hands, so I’m gonna assume that you’re not the bride?” She laughed softly and shook her head, “No, I'm not the bride-to-be, my best friend is.”

“Good to know,” Ransom said softly and she didn’t hear it well and was about to question what he just said as she felt the sewing pins poke her skin. “Ow, fuck!” She yelped, which made the designer realize that instead of piercing through the dress, he accidently lightly grazed her leg. “Fuck, I’m sorry!” He apologized as he pulled the pin and wiped her upper thigh that started to bleed a little.

Feeling his warm hand envelope her hand and the thumb swiping away the crimson liquid, made her feel tingly as she looked down on him. Inching his face closer to her thigh, he looked up at her as his lips touched the area that he unintentionally hurt her in, “I’m so sorry for hurting you,” Y/N was stunned as his lips were back on her thigh after apologizing.

Breathlessly, she just nodded and was surprised both his hands took a hold of her ankles and were softly caressing her just like how his lips were being gentle with her flesh. As his hands were sliding up towards her shins, she could feel the goosebumps on her skin rise, and by the time they reached her thighs, that was the only time Ransom detached his lips from her skin, “You taste divine, baby girl. But I’m not done with making it up to you.”

Having a sudden surge of confidence, Y/N spoke out, “Then keep kissing me if you want to make it up to me.” Ransom too, was surprised because this meek-looking beauty demanded him to do something, “I beg your pardon?” It was her turn to be brave and brazen as she smirked down on him, “Keep on kissing my thighs or else I’ll leave a bad review of your services.”

Quickly, Ransom placed his lips back on her thigh, kissing and smooching every inch he could find; he wasn’t sure if he was threatened with how his business could be negatively affected or was he just turned out at the prospect of being told by this beautiful woman to keep on admiring her figure.

Tangling her fingers on his hair, she tugged at him and guided her where she wanted his mouth as he gave verbal directions, “Higher, baby, kiss me higher.” Though his eyes were darkened with pleasure of having to know what her skin tastes like and aroused with how he met someone who was able to tell her what she wants and bosses him around; he’s never had someone do that to him, for it was always him calling the shots.

Poking his tongue out, he traced over the outline of her lace underwear which resulted in her letting out a moan and tightening her grip on his hair — urging him to keep going. Moving from her thigh, he kissed his way until he was face to face with the center of her pussy. Inhaling her scent, he closed his eyes as he groaned and took in her addictive scent and lunged forward to kiss and lick her clothed core. Even with the fabric in its way, he was nipping on her pussy lips and licking through it, getting a faint taste of her.

“Oh, more please,” she gasped out in pleasure; and with that plea Ransom moaned as he tore his mouth from where he was making out with her clit and smirked as she heard her sigh at the sudden loss of contact. Looking up at her, he gave her a grin as he asked, “Did you honestly think you would be the one who’ll call all the shots, baby?”

Somehow, her crimson red cheeks managed to turn into an even deeper shade of it at what he said. He then moved to pull her panties down her legs, he didn’t even wait for her to kick them out of her as he immediately licked from her clit down to her opening. Moaning out, she trembled a bit and Ransom’s hands latched themselves onto her thighs to help prevent her from falling.

“Careful now baby girl,” he warned her as he looked up to see her flushed face starting to drip with sweat, his lips never fully removing themselves from her clit so with every word he spoke the vibrations was felt throughout her core, “Wouldn’t want you to injure yourself. How are you gonna turn up to the wedding then?”

As he finished his question, his tongue pushed itself into her tight opening and swirled around inside. Feeling dainty fingers push his face further, he was able to get a better taste of her juices that began to drip down to his tongue and he hissed at how delectable they were. Pulling out his tongue from her pussy, he immediately licked his way up to her swollen clit, “You taste amazing, baby,” he moaned out as he focused his efforts into sucking her clit hard and fast, feeling her thighs began to shake — a sign that she was close to her orgasm.

But Ransom wouldn’t let her cum right away, his left hand left the warmth of her thigh and slapped her clit multiple times, she opened her eyes in shock and looked down on the designer, aroused and elated with what he did. Getting the hint that she enjoyed what he did he teased her by saying, “You like it when I slap that clit?” Seeing how she nodded and bit her lip, he went on and slapped her clit multiple times but with not a lot of force, and his tongue went on to caress her tight opening until she once again began to quiver.

“God you’re such a filthy slut,” he stated as he stopped the movements his tongue and hand were doing, and went on to bite lightly her thigh, “I’m gonna have so much fun with you. Have to make sure my customer leaves this place satisfied with my services.” As he mentioned the double entendre, his voice was laced with desire and hunger.

Giving her thigh one last kiss, he stood up from the platform and placed his hands on her hips and lifted her so she stood on the ground just like he was. Grabbing the back of her neck, he pushed her against him so their lips met and they began to hungrily make out. Her hands were at his cheeks, softly grazing his cheeks which contradicts how their tongues were roughly dancing with each other. While Ransom’s other hand was feeling for the zipper on her back, unzipping it and pushing the dress off of her.

Moving both his hands to touch her back, he noticed the lack of bra and felt how her nipples harden against the fabric of his shirt, he separated their lips from where they were entangled and looked down to see her breasts, “Such a nasty little girl you are, aren’t you? Wearing this gown with no bra underneath, like you wanted me to see just how good your boobs are.”

She shook her head, “The gown goes well best without a bra,” she defended. Amused with her reply Ransom decided that they’ve had enough foreplay; both his hands planted on her hips and pulled her back so it was flush against his front, “And you know what would go best with your divine body? My cock and cum,” one of his hands grabbed onto his cock and rubbed the tip of it against her folds, feeling her shudder at the sensation, “So come on and take it.”

“Shit baby girl, you’re so tight for a slut,” Ransom groaned as he threw his head back with how her walls squeezed his hard dick in one smooth motion. The hand that guided his cock in repositioned itself and held onto her hair, pulling her head back and arching her back away from his chest, which contrasted the way her ass was pushing back to accommodate Ransom’s cock.

Hand in her hair and the other on her hip, Ransom was pulling her into his cock with sharp, fast, and harsh thrusts; while her moans and whines did nothing but to fuel him to drive his thick meat deeper in her. “You like this don’t you, baby? You like how I’m just ramming into you like you’re nothing but a whore?” He taunted as he let go of her hip and began to rub, twist, and pull at her nipples.

Y/N could only nod, too blissed out to give out a verbal response for the way he was deliciously torturing her nipples disabled her from forming a coherent sentence, much less a thought. Unhappy with how she responded, he let go of her hair and slapped both her ass cheeks, “Answer me! Tell me you like it!”

She went still for a moment due to the sting of his slaps, she widened her eyes and peered over her shoulder to look at him, “I love it! I love how you’re treating me, sir.” The title she had given him made him even more feral as he ordered her, “Look in the mirror slut, look at how desperate you are for me.”

Feeling shy from seeing her blissed out state on the reflection, she instead diverted her gaze on the man behind her who was mercilessly pounding into her. She found it absolutely hot how his jaw was clenched so hard and his eyebrows were furrowed; it made her clench down on him hard which led to Ransom to slam deep inside her and grab onto her shoulders, “You’re close aren’t you, baby? You’re about to cum on my cock aren’t you?” She nodded and whined, “Yes, sir, I’m so close. Please let me cum,” he chuckled in appreciation, she begged him to cum without even telling her to do so.

Speeding up the pace of his thrusts, his one hand was now alternating with rubbing and pinching her clit, in order to get her right on the edge. His lips were resting against her ear, his pants were only turning her on even more and with a final pinch of his fingers, she was cumming hard and with a loud wail.

Feeling how her walls squeezed him too tight to the point he couldn’t move anymore, Ransom stilled inside her and wrapped his arms around her stomach, “Fuck, you feel good.” After a couple of breaths, Ransom collapsed to sit down on the platform, taking her with him. Sitting down, he took the time to steady his breaths and recover from the intensity of their intercourse and orgasm.

Snaking his hand to her cheek, he tilted her head enough for him to plant his lips on hers and let her give a faint taste of her own juices and he pulled apart from her not without planting a small kiss, “The gown will be ready in a week, baby. And it’s on me.”

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a-sweet-violent-urge · 5 years ago

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Michael Jackson

Yeah, I know, I know what state the world is in right now but trust me, this post has been a long time coming. I just never got around to write it. And I’m sitting down to do it now because I’ve been locked at home for a week so I guess it’s now or never.

One look at my blog will tell you that I very rarely post personal stuff on here. I just reblog things and sometimes express opinions about my fav shows but that’s it. But I’m gonna get personal now.

I guess now’s the time to point out that I’m also not the most eloquent person around so to anyone reading, this might seem a bit all over the place, you’ve been warned.

The last few months have been really hard for me and my family. My father died last December. I still can’t wrap my head around it. I was used to not having him around at home, he was always working, you know, to bring money home, and now.. I ... I think of him as not home, not gone. Don’t know if that makes sense. You’re probably wondering what does this have to do with Michael Jackson? I’ll get to that, be patient with me.

Anyone who really knows me, and to be honest this is not a lot of people, I’m introverted, knows that listening to music is how I deal with things. I remember being a senior in high school, we were doing a speaking exercise in my English class, and my teacher asked us what influenced us the most in life, like, what helped shape our view on life and the world. When it was my turn to answer, I said that it was music and the artists I listened to. The rest of the group (I’m saying group not class for a reason, but I don’t want to go into that much detail) probably thought it was weird, they talked about their friends and family. But this was the truth for me. It still is. The music I listen to (along with the books I read) is what has influenced me the most in life, it’s what made me the person I am today. This is the reason why I’ve always hated talking about music, my favorite music has always been something very personal to me. I’ve always hated the question who’s your favorite artist. People would think it’s an easy one to answer but it’s not, not to me

This is where I start to talk about Michael. He was one of those artists (who influenced me) but I only realize that now, in retrospect. Actually, around the time I answered that question, the artists I meant were 30STM, or Linkin Park, MCR or whatever the hell I listened to back then.

I think the first time I listened to MJ intentionally was sadly after he died. I was born in September 1994, so I was not 15 yet. Up until that point, MJ was just a name in my head. I knew he was a singer, I knew what he looked like (’cause who didn’t or doesn’t), I know what he was very famous (though I had no idea why), I had heard songs, of course, though I didn’t really realize they were MJ songs. And despite all of that, me not knowing basically anything about him, I remember how hard his death hit me. I don’t know why. I felt like my fav artist had died, I felt like I had lost someone. To this day I can’t explain to myself why. I remember in what room I was when I heard the news. I watched the memorial and cried my eyes out.

After that, I decided to listen to his music. I listened to a lot of it and for a month or two, (or probably more, I don’t really remember) I listened mostly to him. I learnt more and more things about him. Like, about his philanthropic work, about the allegations (I’ll talk about that later), actually I remember being like 10 and watching the trial being covered on the news here. Songs like The way you make me feel, Dirty Diana, Give into me quickly became my favorites. But I remember the first times I heard Man in the Mirror, Earth song, Heal the Word, We are the World. And especially Man in the Mirror. The lyrics If you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself and then make a change had become like my motto in life and I didn’t even realise it until the past few months. I realized that often when I had to make a choice about something, those lyrics would pop up in my head. When I saw or read something about the environmental problems that we’re facing, Earth song ended up popping in my head. Yeah, MJ had helped shape my view on certain things and I didn’t even know then.

After my 2009 MJ phase, I hardly ever listened to him. I would listen to some songs from time to time when the mood struck me, but that was it.

Fast forward to October/November 2019. I was on YT and I ended up listening to some MJ songs., it was one of those times when the mood struck me, and I was going through the comment section (as I always do) while listening, and I noticed people commenting about .. a certain documentary. I don’t even want to say its name. So I was like what the fuck has happened and I looked it up. My initial reaction was seriously, this again?

Ok, I’ll go back to 2009 for a bit. When I got into MJ 11 years ago, as I mentioned earlier, I read about the allegations, I remembered even seeing it on the news as I said. But he was found not guilty. It was good enough for me. I didn’t think much about it. I didn’t care much about it. Plus he had just died. Nobody had one bad word to say about him. Ironic, huh? Also, I couldn’t do research even if I wanted to. I was young, I didn’t really speak English that well, and honestly, in the last few months I realized that when it comes to Michael Jackson, the truth is buried under so many false stories and dare I say, blatant lies, that you need an excavator to dig it out. I’m putting this in bold, in case a none MJ fan reads this, if you want to find the truth, know what you’re getting yourself into. Anyway, I couldn’t even fully appreciate some songs, because you need context to fully understand them, and I didn’t have that context then.

Fast forward to 2019 again. So I found out about you-know-what and I started reading about it and watching videos, educating myself on the matter. In other words, I had gone down the rabbit hole. But it was not just that what sparked my interest in Michael. I noticed something. Something many people were writing in the comment section of different. Michael was an angel. Michael is/was love. What would have Michael done (about whatever) if he was alive? I was like what?! Look, I have spend my life fangirling over different celebrities and I had never seen people saying things like that. And this was the moment, I asked myself the question, why was this person so famous and so loved by so many people from all over the world? Why HIM? Yes, he was immensely talented but that applies to a lot of artists. So why Michael? Now I know why. If you’re a fan reading this, you know why, too. If you’re not, go figure it out on your own.

It’s funny how a movie filled with not even clever lies, made so Michael’s name could one more time be run through the dirt, made me his fan (ugh, I hate that word, I almost feel like it has a negative connotation nowadays). Made me more than just a fan. If you remember, I started this post by saying that my father passed away in December. It all happened very fast, in less then 3 months, he wasn’t sick and then he was, and then, before we even knew it, he was gone. I was in the room when he died. So you see in what period of my life Michael’s music entered my life again. In a period when I needed a little light, something to keep the faith. In those months (and even now, more than 3 months later) Michael’s art was my lifeline. Keep the faith, Gone too soon, Had enough, Will you be there, Little Susie and so on.

Here are some lyrics that really hit me hard

The feeling of terror she felt as a youth Has turned from a fantasy into the truth (Scared of the moon)

I drowned my pain in his music. His love, his kindness and generosity reminded me of my purpose in life. I won’t go into details about what I experienced because this already got more personal than I’m comfortable with. Plus, my vocabulary is not good enough to do it justice. I’ll finish with this. I’m in complete awe of him and the things he did. Like, yesterday I found out he made a song about sign language. Seeing voices.

So, that’s my MJ story. I hope it’s comprehensible, you don’t know how hard it was for me to put this into a somewhat coherent narrative. But I really needed to get it off my chest. I probably missed some things that I wanted to say, if I think of something more, I’ll add an edit.

By the way, as you can see, I’m new to the MJ community and I’d love to make some friends, so feel free to message me.

#michael jackson #mj #king of pop #personal #my thoughts

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mysterylover123 · 6 years ago

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My 12 Favorite BKDK Meta Posts

by mysterylover123

So you might have picked up, if you’re following my posts, that I like BKDK. Katsudeku. Bakudeku. Izukatsu. Whatever you call it. Shipping Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo. I love this freaking pairing so much, but it’s always difficult to explain to people why that is. That’s why I often will point to meta, written by far more eloquent and organized people than me, to explain what about it interests me so much. So here’s a list (not comprehensive, I can’t read every BKDK meta ever written) of my favorite meta on the two’s relationship, and a shout out to my other lovely tumblr posters, organized in order of when the incident they’re covering takes place, how many spoilers there are, etc.

1. Ryokure “Deku vs Kacchan”

https://ryokure.tumblr.com/post/147489960804/deku-vs-kacchan

Ryokure is one of my favorite BKDK meta writers - great at correcting some of the early mistranslations and analyzing most of the early arcs. The Ryokure meta only go up to about the training camp arc, and for some reason stopped after that. I picked this one as my favorite Ryokure BKDK meta, it’s a rare one that covers the Battle Trial Arc. My favorite line from the meta is the ending: “On this point I’m like 80% sure that Mineta’s existence, Yaoyorozu‘s stupid costume (come on, she’s fifteen! it’s too early to be objectified!), etc are there so people wouldn’t think that this is shounen-ai.”

2. PunkBakugo: “Deku and Bakugo’s subconscious understanding: A Sports Festival Analysis”

https://punkbakugo.tumblr.com/post/169830270570/kacchan-dekus-subconscious-understanding-a

I’m currently rewatching the sports festival right now, and despite this being the big Tododeku and Izuocha arc, it’s pretty impressive how subtly pervasive BKDK still is in this arc anyways. This meta is very impressive, pointing out small details throughout the SF arc that showcase how central BKDK still is to the narrative, the ways in which Deku takes inspiration from BK, how BK fixates on Midoriya, and how they think in similar manners. It’s also quite well-written, and I recommend this poster if you’d like the POV of a non multi-shipper tumblr.

3. The-nysh “Episode 37 Commentary”

https://the-nysh.tumblr.com/post/165680156361/bnha-episode-37-commentary

The-nysh is another great BKDK poster, and I have at least 2 from them. The first is their very in-depth and image-heavy commentary on Episode 37 (they have another one on episode 61 that’s just as good), which provides some nice analysis of BKDK in this arc. The second is this one: https://the-nysh.tumblr.com/post/171252060116/whats-your-opinon-of-kiribaku-and-tododeku , which while it’s mostly about the poster’s opinions on the other two ships, has a few choice snippets about BKDK that I find helpful - one is also in connection with Ryokure, to quote: “Deku is such a super special case that if a fanfic has him and Kacchan in it - no matter the parings - and they don’t have some case of mutual obsession, I actually consider that OOC.” Definitely another good meta writer worth checking out.

4. Osakakitty “Vol 10 Katsudeku thoughts ramblings”

https://osakakitty.tumblr.com/post/167402985369/vol-10-katsudeku-thoughtsramblings

This one is a good analysis of the Training Camp Arc and Hideout Raid. Osakakitty has some very sweet BKDK meta and generally writes very close analysis of them, taking a more emotional stance on the pairing than some of the meta before. There’s a very raw quality to these, a feeling of reacting in time to the story as it unfolds and getting your heart broken. This one does a good job of outlining how deeply personal the Hideout Raid is to Deku, because it was Kacchan who was taken. Definitely worth a read.

5. KiraElric’sInsanity: “What is your favorite Headcanon about Izuku”

http://kiraelric.tumblr.com/post/154543674203/what-is-your-favorite-headcanon-about-izuku

KiraElric was one of the first meta writers I encountered with BNHA, and really helped me get a grasp on the series. She has tons of great meta on the series and a really fine grasp of BKG’s character. There are lots of them worth reading, but this is one of my all time favorites because of how thoroughly in depth it is about Izuku’s feelings on the matter. Since Deku is unquestionably my favorite BNHA character, it was very important for me early on to determine who I shipped him with, how I perceived his relationships. And something about this meta helped me understand exactly why I liked BKDK so much. But if you want more of the other side of things...

6. KiraElric’sInsanity: “My Best Friend’s a Fxcking Nerd and an idiot God he pisses me Off”

http://kiraelric.tumblr.com/post/158423114578/my-best-friends-a-fucking-nerd-and-an-idiot-god

This is BKG’s side of the coin. This meta helps contextualize a lot of BKG’s actions, in a way that made a ton of sense to me. This, and the one before it, both contain spoilers up to DVK2, so if you haven’t caught up just be aware of that. This meta does a great job of spotlighting how important Deku is as a force in BKG’s life, as someone to talk to and admit to feeling weak around, who cares about him unconditionally. These two meta together are great to read for getting an all around feel for each side of the relationship.

7. KrisPNatz “What’s in an OTP? Bakudeku”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ay8TbIzMh-E

OK this one’s a video, not a tumblr meta, but it’s still an analysis on the relationship so I count it. It’s more of a funny one, joking and goofy in tone, but with a very sincere and passionate discussion of the relationship, what it means to ship something, how their interactions have evolved over time, and why the creator of the vid ships them. This one’s less analytical than the others, but still has some good insights into the duo.

8. Makeste reads BNHA: “Chapter 120 A Secret Among Three”

https://makeste.tumblr.com/post/181564960173/bnha-chapter-120-a-secret-among-three

Makeste is my favorite BNHA liveblogger, going over the entire manga (she just posted Chapter 221 today, it’s pretty great). This is her reaction to Chapter 120, which she proclaims right away is her favorite chapter of the series. While it’s mostly a reaction post, it’s also interrupted with a few mini-essay meta on the nature of this relationship, going into some deep analysis of both characters’ feelings from a very attentive and clever reactor, whose absolute favorite character is Katsuki Bakugo. I recommend makeste to BNHA fans, the reactions are absolutely fantastic.

9. CuteIzuku “Izuku Midoriya’s Image of Victory”

https://cuteizuku.tumblr.com/post/178341507379/izuku-midoriyas-image-of-victory

This is a good meta on Deku’s classic “image of victory” comment from DVK2, going into some more depth about how Deku perceives Kacchan and what that means for the narrative. It also helps compare Deku’s perceptions of Katsuki and All Might, how Deku feels towards both, and what the differences are. It’s a nicely written piece and not particularly biased about the ship.

10. Mujoe-girl “The Way They Look at each other

https://mujoe-girl.tumblr.com/post/148453703491/katsudeku-the-way-they-look-at-each-other

Another one that looks at both sides of the equation, parcelling out first how Deku looks at Kacchan, then how Kacchan looks at Deku, and acknowledging both sides and how they’ve changed over time. It’s pretty subtle and touches on various extreme expressions (one of my favorite things about BNHA: how expressive the characters are) from each character and what they mean. Certainly worth a read.

11. Riruru “The Choice of Wording Here”

https://rirururu.tumblr.com/post/181106272152/the-choice-of-wording-used-here-is-something-that

OK, this one is getting into really recent manga spoilers - avoid looking over this, anime onlys. Basically this is a brief, but effective meta about Chapter 210, written after 210 came out and before the reveal about OFA. It talks about Deku’s reaction to Monoma’s dissing Kacchan, and puts it quite well exactly why this is significant to their relationship. This is a really recent development, and something that went over my head the first time I read it - certainly helped me understand more what’s going on here.

12. Makeste “The New BKDK Status Quo”

https://makeste.tumblr.com/post/184123732903/yes-the-new-bakudeku-status-quo-of-excitedly

Another one from makeste to finish us off - this one discussing the current status of BK/DK in the manga, up through Chapter 217. So again massive spoilers. Makeste, responding to a comment, talks about how the relationship is so much healthier these days, how the two have improved and how much better a friend BKG is to Deku now, post DVK2. It’s very sweet and a lovely place to end things off for now.

So yeah those are my 12 favorite BKDK meta out there so far. Any recommendations for more are welcome. I hope you guys enjoy reading these, and special nod to all my fellow posters for being so clever.

#my hero academia #my hero academia meta #bnha meta #bakudeku #katsudeku #izukatsu #bkdk #bkdk meta #katsudeku meta #bakudeku meta #tumblr meta #otp #ship post

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motleycrueimagine · 5 years ago

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This Ain’t a Love Song - Part Five - Nikki Sixx Fan Fiction

Words count: 2266

Warnings: Language, drrug use

N/A: Okay so i’m not a huge fan of this chapter, I tried to re.-rwite this a million times but it was still not looking as I had pictured it. I hope you still like it, i can’t wai to go on posting, I have so many ideas for this story. I let you red now, as always taglist is open and feedbacks are really appreciated. xx

Huge thanks to @blonde-shamrock

Summary:

Maya Prescott has done anything possible to fix her life. It was 1977 when she left her groupie life: no more parties, no more concerts, no more drugs, alcohol or casual sex, just to achieve a full standard life. Now it’s 1981 and after a four years disappearance Maya Prescott unexpectedly shows up to the party of one of the most promising emerging bands of the LA’s rock’n roll scene: Motley Crue. But what should be her last ride is destined to change her life in so many unexpected ways.

TagList: @motleycrueee @babygal-babygal@unknownoblivion @sweetshutter

Masterlist

12 December 1981

Music was high and so was I. It was one in the morning and I was working my shift at the club. It was half empty; there weren’t many people around Christmas time, because Christmas made family men feel guilty about spending their free time in a strip club. They felt guilty telling their wives that they were at a business meeting while they were actually here drooling on beautiful young bodies.

“Princesa, can you take some shots to the girls in the privé?” Anita asked me with her super Latino accent. She was amazing, and one of my best friends. She was the one that offered me this job, since the other bar girl was convicted for taking part in drug trafficking.

“Sure, baby.” I filled the shot glasses and brought ‘em in the back of the building were the staffroom was. “Okay girls, here is Ruby’s tequila, whiskey for Molly, rum for Brittany and Britney, vodka the rest of you gurls…” I handed the shot glasses to all the girls that were working in the privé and then kept one for myself.

“Honey I still don’t get why you’re still working as bartender and not on the stage with us,” Andrea said while leaning the empty glass back on the tray. I gave her a side eye while fixing my bra-top in front of the mirror.

“Because I could not stand freaks that stare at me all night long, and I would definitely break too many hearts.” The truth was a bit different but she did not need to know it.

“Now that you’re drunk, your tits are up and the makeup is done, go make some money.” I gave Ruby a gentle spank before going back to the bar.

“Mi amor! Can you go grab a box of Jack?” Anita asked me, she was in a hurry as she was serving an unusual quantity of customers. I didn’t reply, I just went and grabbed a box of it from the warehouse, going back to help her. There was a little crowd of people, boys and girls that seemed already pretty euphoric and drunk.

“What can I offer you guys?” I asked emptying the box on the counter.

“Three bottles of Jack, and maybe a blowjob?” I looked up at the guy, he had a drunk smile on his face.

“For the Jack I can satisfy you right now, for the blowjob, I’m afraid that you’ll have to wait till the end of my shift.” I smiled. Having to deal with people like that was part of the job.

“Oh! Oh! Oh! The shot girl gives blowjobs? I want one too!” And as I heard that voice, I knew that karma was against me. Again.

“I blew you once already, Vince… You know I don’t like to repeat myself.” I was just as surprised as he looked. I was also surprised that he remembered who I was. The other guy laughed while bringing his three bottles and then he went away.

“Well, hello there,” he smiled with his typical bad boy attitude. He leaned his elbow on the counter and rested his hands on-top of each other. “Let me say I’m kinda surprised to see you here,” he seemed to chuckle, “Where’s Hannah?”

“In jail.” I answered nonchalantly, “What brings the Motley squad over here?” I asked, taking his same position with the elbow on the counter.

“Obviously my birthday.” Nikki’s voice joined the conversation, he mimicked both of us. “Were you telling each other secrets?” His omnipresent sarcastic grin appeared.

“Oh Mr Sixx is getting older,” I started with a wide smile, “I should end my shift soon, if you’re still here I’ll join you guys for a drink.” Nikki got back standing straight, giving me a look as if he was inspecting me. “Are you checking if I’m cool enough to hang out with you guys?” I asked then as if I was challenging him.

“Actually, I was checking if we were cool enough to hang out with you. You know we haven’t seen you in a while.” I opened my arms with a laugh “I’m a busy girl, honey.” And I really had been. Since the disaster in court I had worked my butt off to show to that fucking judge that I could take care of my child without any problem.

“Well busy girl, see you later then.” And after leaning over the counter to grab a bottle he left towards one of the tables to enjoy the girls dancing on the stage.

—

It was three in the morning and still I wasn’t done with my tasks. I was in the back listening to a mix tape that one customer had recorded for one of our strippers: it was a compilation of the best 70’s songs, and right now Brain Damage was playing softly while I was drying out some of the glasses.

“And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon,” I was singing along absent-mindedly.

The music and the repetitive sound of the prehistoric dishwasher washing the last batch of glasses prevented me from hearing the steps that came across the door behind me.

“You raise the blade, you make the change, you re-arrange me’ till I’m sane, you lo-“

“Let me say that singing isn’t exactly your forte.” I jumped in my place as a voice broke in the room, causing me to drop a glass out of scare. Pieces of glass scattered all over the floor.

“Shit! Nikki, don’t you dare doing it again!” I warned him as he chuckled at my reaction.

“Doing what?” He asked walking calmly towards me and leaning his lower back on the counter.

“Not announcing your presence when entering a room.” I specified while picking up the glass pieces. “You scared the fuck out of me,” I kept going, “And you made me break a glass,” I complained while a shard cut my finger. “Oh amazing…” my rant continued. Nikki was still looking at me with an amused grin on his face.

“Why are you having a meltdown over a glass?” he questioned me quietly. I stood going towards the sink to wash my fresh cut. I huffed at his question.

“I’m not having a meltdown. I’m just tired and I need a drink.” I mumbled while water was washing out my blood.

“And a fuck…” he added enjoying my glare… if only looks could kill….

“With you? Surely not. But thanks for the offer, I know you would gladly sacrifice yourself but I’ll pass.” I turned off the tap and dried my hands with paper.

“C’mon you hurt me last time… You fucking fell asleep, that’s not fair!” He protested keeping the conversation on a sarcastic vibe. I got closer to him.

“Poor baby… But now that I think about it the one who left me alone in your room when we were just about to fuck it’s you.” I let him notice with an eloquent glare.

“That’s an insignificant detail.” He mumbled encircling my hips. We were too close for my taste “Plus today is my birthday.” I smiled back as I felt his hands moving from my hips to the back of my bare thighs.

“It was yesterday. But I guess you’re still expecting a gift.” I completed his sentence while his hands ran up to my ass. I stretched my arms over his shoulders “With such a short notice I couldn’t find anything more suitable.” He looked confused when noticed that the reason why I had embraced him was because I wanted to open the cabinet behind his head. I took a tin can from it, with the word “TIPS” written on with a black marker. Once I had opened it, between wrinkled money and coins, I drew a small plastic bag filled with the precious white dust. I waved it in front of his face.

“Powdered sugar for the birthday cake,” I jokingly said while abandoning the can on the counter behind him.

“I think I just caught a nasty girl here.” He squeezed my butt with an enigmatic smile, before letting me free to move to align lines on the metallic counter.

“Just, don’t tell the boys they would be jealous and I would have the duty to offer them some too,” I stated before looking at me “Credit card?” I asked waiting with my hand palm facing up.

“I thought you weren’t doing drugs anymore.” Nikki opened up his wallet handing me a brand-new card.

“Well I’m afraid that I would not be able to handle all my shifts without this,” I explained while starting to prepare the rails.

The last period my life had been more than frantic: I kept working at the music shop as always, but I had also covered Hannah’s shifts here at the club, and every now and then I helped in a restaurant downtown. I was trying to raise money to be able to pay a decent photoshoot in order to get auditions in the modelling industry. You could be the prettiest but if you had bad photos it would be almost impossible to get a real paid job. To have good photos you had to have a good photographer and they were really expensive…

Nikki shrugged “It will be our secret then.” I went first blowing a whole rail by covering my right nostril. I sniffed up one or two times while picking up with my index finger the coke that had remained on the surface to let it dissolve on my tongue.

“Ladies first.” I stated before letting Nikki the access to the blow. Hot Stuff started playing in the background and I started dancing to it while putting the bag of coke in my pocket.

Nikki took my hand and finally we joined the guys to the party.

—

The sun was rising in front of us, I was laying with my back on the sand - I don’t know how but we had ended up in Santa Monica. I was laughing out loud because Nikki had engaged and already lost argument with Mick.

“Yeah keep rolling your eyes. Maybe you’ll find a brain back there, kid.” I already loved that freaking men. After killing the bassist with words Mick stood up and left towards an unknown destination.

I was crying; Nikki was sulking.

“Oh c’mon you were already fucked when you started,” It was my attempt to console him, but instead I started laughing again, hiding my face on his shoulder.

“Yeah keep laughing Maya you’re really supportive.” I shook my head try to recompose myself. I leaned my arm onto his chest, trying to reach the pack of cigarettes that was resting in his left hand, he moved it away from my fingers.

“Hey!” I protested stretching my arm a little more over him to reach my desired nicotine.

“You laughed at me; you lost the right to share this with me.” I raised my brow. “Are we five years old now?” I asked temporarily giving up on my attempt.

“I don’t know,” he shrugged putting the pack in his pants pocket, “Maybe if you were nicer to me I could consider the option of giving you a cigarette.” I rolled my eyes pointing my elbows on the sand. He turned his head to look at me.

“Haven’t I been nice to you? I gave you free blow, you should show a little appreciation for that.” I remarked while putting a little distance between us. Nikki pinched my side playfully causing me to giggle, “Seriously?” I asked amused while raising my brow.

He pulled me closer again “Can you shut up for a while?” Nikki demanded; an annoyed puff left my lips.

“I’d be silent and nice if you gave me a cigarette.” The bassist ignored me completely, crossing his left arm behind his head and closed his eyes. Great. He was falling asleep without giving me the object of my desire just as I had done last time when we were together. So, I was there silent and carving for some smoke, I did what I would have usually done - that is, take what I wanted myself. My hand slid across his chest lightly. I looked up - he seemed dozed off so I kept going gently reaching his pants and the pocket where the pack of cigarettes was hidden and took it.

“How comes that you always end up with your hands in my pants, but you never do what you are supposed to?” Nikki’s eyes were now open and chained to mine.

“How comes that all you can think about when I’m around are sexual things?” I teased him while taking a cigarette and lighting it.

“It must be for that beautiful lips, I can’t help but wonder how they would perfectly…” “Get a fucking room!” Vince yelled at us. He was sitting about ten feet from us, hugging a girl I had just found out was actually his wife.

I raised my middle finger towards the blonde while still looking at Nikki “Keep dreaming Sixx, it is not going to happen.” Then I got up from the sand, brushing my hands over my pants to get rid of the grains. “Well, it was nice till it lasted. I have to get back home and get ready to work.” And together we all left a few minutes later heading back to the city.

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ssnakey-b · 5 years ago

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FF8 English-French translarison, part 24: Return of the Translarison!

Holy shit, have I seriously not posted a new part since February?! Well, it’s time to get back to business. Since it’s been a while, in case you forgot, last time, the team was getting ready to face Edea for the second and last time. Let’s get to it.

We start with another example of Fujin telling us a bit more than in English as instead of just “FATIGUED!”, she says “I can’t take it any more!”.

Meanwhile, instead of “Let’s just go. ...Let’s get it over with, ya know?”, Raijin says “Come on, let’s keep going! We gotta end this!”

To this, English Fujin rplies “REQUEST” (which I’m still not sure what she means by that since she doesn’t actually request anything) while her French counterpart says “I’ve had it!”. A little dialogue follows.

English:

Raijin: ...We’re leavin’ Seifer up to you now, ya know? We don’t know what’s going on anymore, ya know? ...We just want the old Seifer back, ya know?”

Squall: (Seifer... He probably thinks he can’t go back now.) All right.

French:

Raijin: Seifer, we’ve had enough... this isn’t fun for us. We don’t know what’s going on! You weren’t like that before...

Squall: (Seifer won’t give up. No, not now...) I see...

I’ll give the English text that it’s a nice bit of characterization that Raijin is basically asking Squall to save Seifer from himself, or at least stop him from going even further down the deep end than he already has but man, do these annoying catchphrases and gimmick destroy any atmosphere for me. I really don’t understand why English-language translators are so obsessed with them (and if they were in the original Japanese, well, not everything needs to be translated directly).

Seriously, professional translators, you gotta understand that you don’t need to commit to a running gag every goddamn time to the detriment of everything else. Even if you don’t think it takes you out of the story, running gags get really old really quick.

Also, we once again get a hint that Seifer used to be better, which would have been nice to actually see in the game rather than constantly be assured that it used to be the case because again, we see more genuine chemistry between the Jin Team & Squall than between him and Seifer.

Anyway, with that rant over, let’s continue. This guy, who gives you the first key card, says mostly the same thing in both versions, but I wanted to bring it up because of an UNFORGIVABLE mistake in the French version. That’s right, despite the sentence being pluralized, they used the pronoun “Il” without an S, which is the singular form!! I really hope whomever wrote that atone by cutting off their pinky at the first knuckle.

On a more serious level, there is also an interesting little bit in the English version where he mentions that most students were kicked out, which is absent in the French version. And I mean, I guess it doesn’t need to be stated explicitly, but I think it’s nice to have it confirmed that Galbadia Garden was completely recycled into a military base, as it adds to the tragedy that the student basically lost their home IMO. Although I guess at least it means they’re not being held hostages.

And now it’s time to finally meet these hockey-playing monsters we’ve been told about so long ago. I just love that the devs actually made those, and that they decided that their reaction to a massive battles would be to take the opportunity to get involved in the fight for no real reason.

And yes, as you may have noticed the Slappers are called Jason in the French version of the game, because why not throw in a Friday the 13th reference for good measure? And if you remember (in which case, congrats on the good memory considering how long ago that was), this ties into another reference that’s been invented by the French version, where they explained that these guys psych themselves up for a match by watching horror movies such as Friday the 13th. Just amazing!

But wait! That’s not all! Because if you scan them, the French version also explicitly mentions that the Jasons are, in fact, students at Galbadia Garden. I mean, you could gather that information in the English version as well, but to have it explicitly stated here just makes it that much funnier to me. Just imagine having to take classes with these things next to you. Do they keep the masks on? What do they look under there? Please, Square-Enix, cancel the remaster and put your resources towards giving us a spin-off expanding on this lore. THIS is what the world needs!

Sadly, we must leave the Jasons, but we do get to meet Cerberus! The original dog from Hell!

Massive difference in tone between the versions when it comes to Cerberus, or Cerbères in French (the last E is silent, as is the S). In English, he’s very blunt, talking less like an immortal demonic being and more like a pro wrestling Heel, yeeling in all caps “PRETTY CONFIDENT. LET’S SEE HOW YOU DO. SHOW ME WHAT YOU GOT!” which by the way, really makes me wish he went “I LIKE WHAT YOU GOT” upon being defeated.

In French, he is more eloquent and collected, saying “What arrogance! Mere mortals! Show me what you’re capable of!”. And while his actual line upon defeat is “NOT BAD...MORTALS” in English, in French, he simply says “Interesting”.

One last detail about this fight I’d like to mention. After Irvine mentions he doesn’t know that Guardian Force, French Squall simply says “Let’s take it!” but I like the English version a lot more here, as Squall goes “Ahh... let’s just take it.”

Yeah, sometimes you just gotta go with the flow. And I think that says a lot as to where Squall is mentally at this point. Just done. Fuck it. I mean, he just fought a team of horror-inspired hockey monsters, there’s no point in questioning anything any more.

Much to my dismay, it’s time to meet up with Seifer again. The dialogue stays mostly consistent across both versions, with the one notable detail being that in the English version, when addressing Linoa, he says “remember a year ago we...” whereas in French, he says “and yet, a year ago...” so the English version hints at a slightly deeper, perhaps more reciprocal relationship.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is the only acknowledgement Seifer gives of any previous relationship between the two in either version, and it’s in an optional bit of dialogue that only appears if Linoa is in the party at this point. This is why I am not buying this supposed love triangle for a second. Much like every part of the supposed rivalry between Seifer and Squall, it barely exists, what little is there is completely superficial and Seifer is blatantly outmatched right form the get go.

And look, I’m not here to tell you you’re right of wrong in your headcanons or fanfics or whatever, I really don’t care. However, it always annoys me when people go on and on about how deep and meaningful this love triangle when it’s really not. In fact, it barely is at all. So again, I’m not giving people shit if they want to make it a thing, but you gotta keep in mind that whatever story you give them is entirely your creation. Because when it comes to what’s actually shown in the game, well, it’s almost nothing, which makes me wonder why it’s even there to begin with. The extent of their story is: Linoa thought Seifer was hot, Seifer might have thought the same about her, maybe?

Anyway, second rant over, there’s a small difference in the dialogue with Irvine. In English, Seifer says “Hey, you’re a Galbadian student, get over here.” to which irvine replies “I’m happy right here, thank you.”

In french, Seifer says “Hey, the Galbadian, you’re coming back home?” and he answers with “I like my new country better” which I don’t think is actually quite what’s going on but I will admit is an interesting take on this scene.

Again, things are pretty similar in the dialogue between Squall and Seifer leading up to the battle, with Squall saying Seifer is just another monster in both versions, although Seifer’s last line before the fight is different... and very stupid either way. In English, he says “You guys are the monsters” and in French he says “I think of myself as a Boss, yeah”.

Well I’m glad both lines are equally cringeworthy, with English Seifer cribbing his from a 12 year old trying to sound deep and French Seifer just coming across like the kind of douche that The Lonely Island likes to parody. Also, I think the French version may have attempted to be cute. Get it? Because he’s a boss battle! HA HA no.

In the auditorium, we have a slight difference in Edea’s opening line. In English, she refers to Squall as “the legendary SeeD destined to face me”. In French, she calls him “the famous Seed whose coming is announced by all”. It seems a bit weird to me as I’m not getting the impression that Squall is all that famous in-universe so it would be weird that “all” would announce his arrival.

So I think the English version works a little bit better as it gives the impression she knows that due to her insight into future events. Then again, you could argue that French Ultimecia is talking about her original timeline, where perhaps Squall was leading the charge against her and he had become some kind of hero to the people of that time, and that she is trying to stop him before he can become that hero. After all, for someone like Ultimecia, it would make sense to view the various timelines as one and the same.

So we fight, I grab Alexander (known in French as Alexandre, so almost the same, but the English name will still show in my game due to my save file getting confused) and during Squall’s blackout, we get a slight difference that once again at the two translations being based off the original Japanese rather than each-other, as in English, Squall complains about his body hurting whereas in French, it’s specifically his head, so it appears we have different interpretations going on.

Similarly, after Edea asks if she was able to protect Ellone (which interestingly, shows that Edea is at least not always aware of what Ultimecia is doing), English Squall thins “I don’t understand”, showing general confusion at the situation, whereas French Squall thinks “I don’t know.” replying directly to her question about Ellone.

And that’s it for today! Next time, we’ll see how differently Squall reacts to Linoa’s situation in both versions as we finally start taking on the 3rd CD content. I hope you all enjoyed this return of the translarison, I honestly didn’t realize it had been this long. I promise I’ll try and be more regular again, even though as I’ve said before, the only schedule for this is “when I feel like it”.

Now speaking of future updates, in case you missed it, I would like to start streaming my gameplay sessions on Twitch as I take screenshots and comment on what’s happening, and hopeuflly take your questions and observations. If it”‘s something that sounds interesting to you, I would really like you to say so by commenting on this post, dropping me a line or however you see fit, and if/when it happens, you can join us at twitch.tv/ssnakeyb. Either way, likes and reblogs are always appreciated to help spread the word.

Have a nice day, everyone! I’l be seeing you next time!

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docfuture · 6 years ago

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Interlude: The Book

[This vignette occurs just after Chapter 45 of The Maker’s Ark. The latest chapter of The Maker’s Ark is here, and links to some of my other work are here. Updates are posted irregularly–theoretically every two weeks, a schedule I still aspire to return to someday.]

Insomnia wasn't something Flicker usually thought about, or even noticed; when she was growing up, it was the default, and she formed her habits accordingly. What was still new to her was considering how it might affect someone else sharing her bed. She'd moved to the next compartment to read in order to avoid disturbing Journeyman. The rumble of the main drive of the Learning Is About To Occur kept her company on the couch as she skimmed a translated Grs'thnk survey article on the effects of non-standard communication modes on social development. Learning had inquired politely if she wished conversation, and she had politely declined. The only other person on the ship who had context for what she wanted to talk about was asleep, and she wasn't going to-- The hatch opened, revealing Journeyman, in the t-shirt and shorts he'd worn to bed--his habits were shaped by the occasional need for an abrupt port. His hat was in the form of a nightcap, which she thought was a nice touch. "Figured," he said. "How bad?" "I'm okay," said Flicker. "Didn't want to wake you just to ramble at you." "Flicker, you can always--" She shook her head. "Listening is an effort right now. And one-sided conversations are rude, especially when you're short of sleep too." Journeyman was a pattern magician, and he had a skilled actor's mastery of gesture and nuance. He adjusted the brim of the cap, which morphed into a beach hat. His t-shirt shifted to a colorful Aloha shirt, a snap of his fingers made an iced drink appear in his hand, and he sat down on the couch beside her. He stretched out one leg to rest a now-sandaled foot on the table, waved expansively with his free hand, and raised an eyebrow at her with a smile, a picture of comfortable relaxation. He could give an eloquent speech with exactly zero words. Flicker blinked and turned off her handcomp. "Okay," she said. "When I came back down from the translation session, I said I'd want to talk later. It's later. There are some old memories that I've wanted to share for a while, but--well, I'll explain." "Go ahead," he said. "Did you ever notice the old lockbox in my bedroom?" "Yeah. Wasn't going to ask. Magicians know better." "There's a keepsake in it. I'd have told you before, but... When I started recovering some of my childhood memories, it connected to some dark stuff, even though the other memories I have of it are good. But it's still my most emotionally important possession." "Keepsakes can be like that." "Yeah." Flicker paused. "When Gumshoe and the Volunteer got me out of that orphanage, it was an effort for me to understand speech. But when I realized the Volunteer was going to take me somewhere else, I wouldn't go with him until I went and got something. He couldn't keep up with me--that's what made it obvious that my power was speed. Also, I destroyed some doors, and was clutching it protectively when I came back, so everyone figured out right away that it was a good idea to let me keep it. And I couldn't talk yet, but I could read, and even write a little." "You said someone tried to teach you," said Journeyman. "Yeah. I'm not sure how old I was... it wasn't the last place I was in, it was the one before it, the one that burned down. So maybe four or five? I don't remember any details. They might have stopped because they thought I was deaf. My hearing was very hit or miss--that was before I figured out how to control my internal speed to make it reliable. Every time I sped up to think, I'd stop hearing, and that chopped up sounds into bits too brief to reassemble. "Or they might have stopped because I didn't get that pictures and words could go together. Or maybe they were told to stop. I don't know. Anyway, whoever tried didn't get far. That's not how I learned to read. But it was enough to plant the idea that patterns on paper could mean something important. I didn't have anything to connect them to, though. Then, quite a while later, I found something." Flicker smiled. "There wasn't much written or printed material that I could get at. A few old magazines and some scraps of newspaper. They didn't really help. The only thing I learned from them was that turning pages was tricky, and I needed to be careful if I didn't want to destroy them. And then one day--I don't remember how, there are still a lot of gaps--I found myself outside. I could move around if I really wanted. I just didn't, mostly. Nowhere to go, I wasn't very coordinated yet, and I was discouraged from trying for... well, pretty good reasons if you were a nearby human. "It was sunny out, and there was another building nearby, with a big open door, so I went in. I didn't recognize most of what I saw, but I remember the smell. It was distinctive--grease, oil, metal, and dust. Old workshop or small machine shop, one that hadn't been used much in a while. I poked around a bit. I remember a big workbench with scattered tools and a vice clamped to one end, a chain hoist, and a metal cabinet with shelves. And on one of the shelves was a book." Flicker closed her eyes, remembering. "I was very lucky. When I opened it, and carefully turned a few pages, I knew I had found something important, something amazing. It was full of printing, writing, that I didn't understand yet, but I sensed that I could learn. Understanding was possible. I picked it up, went back outside where the light was better, and started. I don't remember anything of my surroundings after that. At some point they found me and herded me back inside, but I didn't mind, I took the book with me. I don't think they were ever stupid enough to try to take it away. I know I was easier to deal with when I had my book, so they didn't have reason." "I taught myself to read using that book. And once I could puzzle some of it out, I realized just how wonderful it was." She opened her eyes again. "It was the best book in the world. What I read... fit, with a part of my mind I hadn't even realized I had. It was precious. I kept it wrapped up when I wasn't reading it, and slept with it under my pillow. The Trickster never tried to take it away, though I was afraid he might. I don't think he understood it." "The only time anything bad happened, was when I woke up one night and there were these bugs. There were always bugs around, and I usually ignored them. But these bugs were trying to eat my book. I got really scared and mad. I killed the bugs, then looked where they were coming from and pulled it open and there were more, so I killed them too, and..." Flicker looked down. "I wasn't careful. I got rid of the bugs. But I got rid of the building too. That was the fire." "Ah," said Journeyman. "Was-- wait, never mind, stupid question. Go on." "What? Go ahead, now I'm curious." "Gah. Okay. That mission back when we were first working together. I said 'You don't burn down your house to kill the bugs.' You got upset but couldn't explain why." "Yeah," said Flicker. "I didn't have the memory back yet, but I still had some reactions from around it. And there are records of people dying in that fire. That's the worst part. Doc thought--I thought--the fire was part of a cover-up, that the people were already dead. But they'd have to plan that, and they didn't. I caused it." "Not... necessarily." Flicker frowned. "What do you mean? Too much damage, too much heat transfer--boom, fire. That was me." "Yeah, but the Trickster was your real jailer. Getting other people to take the fall for things he planned was his specialty. If he wanted, he could send in the bugs with a pretty good idea of what would happen. And even if he didn't, the scuzzy humans running the place wouldn't need any prodding to use a fire of unknown origin to explain otherwise suspicious deaths. Their other options would be worse--fires attract attention." Flicker thought for a bit, and blinked a few times. "Mike, you're really good at making me feel better. And I love you for it. But you can't know that." "No. But you can't know it's all your fault either. Accepting responsibility is one thing, but you don't have to hoard it like a miser." "Okay. That's... reasonable. Sorry." Flicker wiped her eyes. "You said there were good memories, too?" "Oh yeah," said Flicker. "My book kept me occupied, and grounded. I read and reread it for years." "I did that with a couple of spellbooks for a while." said Journeyman, smiling. "They were reference works, but I used them as comfort reading." "The best kind. What I figured out last night was what made it click so well. That came back when I was tearing through that new Floater data dump looking for translation cues." "Was that why you were so happy when you slowed back down? I thought it was from the progress you made." "That, too. I kept jumping ahead of where Learning, DASI, and Three were consolidating. Because the Floaters included a bunch of older scientific reference texts as jumping off points, and I already had a Rosetta Stone for that sort of thing memorized. I know how to use formats and table descriptions and a whole bunch of other clues to learn an alien language, because I did it before. That's how I learned English--using all the data and tables from my book and comparing with the formats and some leftover data from Skybreaker's memory. She had non-volatile memory specifically for local physical constants and stuff, because she was created for inter-universal travel, so that's where I stored the data from the book. That's why I never lose it from my high speed memory when I sleep. And what made it fit, what made me sure it was important. It was like... a guide to where I was. Common math and purpose guided me when I read my book. I just had to build up meanings for the symbols and puzzle out the axioms." Flicker smiled again. "And it was the base I used to come back to myself, after Donner's song of unbinding. My book still helps me, even though I've updated a lot of the data. So can you see why I'm sentimental about it?" Journeyman stared into the distance for a bit before speaking, hesitantly. "So. I can guess what kind of book it was. Are you comfortable sharing the title?" Flicker felt herself blush. "Oh! Yeah. It's the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, the 44th edition for 1962 and 1963. 3,604 pages. I read every printed page, all the tiny writing, all the numbers and tables, all the graphs and charts and equations and footnotes. It gave me a taste of how much knowledge there was out there, organized and beautiful, even if I didn't understand what it was all about yet. And the first time I visited Doc's lab, and he gave me a high speed interface to his Database--I realized it was kind of like a living version of my book, bigger and faster and more up to date. That's when I knew I was home. That Earth was home." Journeyman smiled. "That's what I would call a pretty good book." "My book. Best book. I'll show it to you when we get back to Earth." Flicker yawned. "Sorry to blather for so long. But I think I'll be able to sleep now." "Not blather. We share when we can." Journeyman stood and stretched, and they moved back to the bedroom. This time, sleep came easy.

#Maker's Ark #FallofDocFuture #FallMisc

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colp76-blog · 6 years ago

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When I started my blog, the whole reason was to improve my knowledge of science-fiction, learn how to write both creatively and correctly and it really was the best idea I have ever had. One person, I find myself really enjoying a lot is Philip K Dick. I have already read some of his books and short stories before and watched some of the films his work has helped inspire. So, I have decided I will start looking at some of his work more in detail and the first place I am going to start is on his recently released show on Channel 4, Electric Dreams. I am going to do this slightly different from my other reviews. First of all, the only thing I am going to research is the Director, Writers, Actors and release date. I don’t know what people’s reactions are to this show already, nor do I want too. Each episode will be my first impression of the series, production and design, story, and conclusion. Once I have finished this series I will move on to his other works. I did think about reading the short story this episode is based on, but I couldn’t find it but when I do read it, I can always post a link on this page on a later date. Anway, thank you for being one of my first readers and I hope you enjoy it. Now let’s take a look at The Hood Maker.

The Hood Maker.

Directed by Julian Jarrod.

Written by Philip K Dick and adapted for TV by Matthew Graham.

Starring Richard Madden as Agent Ross and Holliday Grainger as Honor.

Air Date 12th January 2018.

Production and Design.

First of all, I will be honest and say it took me quite a long time to imagine this as a PKD story as I always watched or imagined his work to be in an American accent. The way I managed to get on board with this is by looking back at Blade Runner. I imagined a future where many cultures are living side by side; as soon as my imagination fit into this new world, I felt right at home. Next, I am totally impressed with how far they can take the production value on a television series now, compared to 20yrs ago, let’s say. I don’t know what kind of budget they had but I guessing the stretched it as far as they possibly could and kudos to them as these sets are just amazing. The look of this episode reminded me of the Victorian era set in a futuristic landscape, I was very impressed. There some really beautiful shots also that caught my eye; including one when a reel caught fire on a projector and the image is projected onto a wall. The second one is at the end of the episode as Honor is in the river looking at a young Ross fly-fishing, both amazing visuals. Last but not least is the hoods that people wear to block out the telepathic thoughts, they are really are quite frightening and set the mood for the entire episode. I still get goosebumps thinking about them and I guess that’s what the filmmakers set out to achieve. All in all, this was very well made and set the tone for the story very well. I would like to point out that I don’t have any filmmaking skills, nor am I critically acclaimed writer, I am just a fan who is giving his point of view.

Story.

We have all had these moments, right? when you can feel someone close by or having a feeling something will happen and it does? Well, I hope you have because I do! This story reminds me of those moments and I do believe human life will one day be able to understand each other on a much higher level. I must say my vision are a little bit less chaotic that PKD’s but I guess he was far more tuned into human emotions far more than I could ever be. So, the basic outline of the story is about a group of people with telepathic powers called Teeps are used to help The Free Union to help control the political landscape. From what I understand of the story is that a mind reader called Honor is recruited to work with Agent Ross to help find the source of certain hoods that are been manufactured and distributed to people to help block out telepathic thoughts, thus leaving the Free Union open to attacks. I must say this is where I got a little confused? There is a story including a political member who uses the hood and is later attacked by a group of telepaths. Agent Ross and Honor end up sharing a romantic encounter and Honor works out where the hoods are being made. This leads to a final showdown between Agent Ross, the distributor James Cutter and Honor and the telepaths all coming together. James Cutter explains that he has made the masks because everyone has a right to their privacy and in time will learn how to block out any thoughts without the mask. Not only that he points out that Ross already has those powers and is using them to manipulate the telepath’s including Honor. The telepaths take care of James Cutter but it’s the final showdown between Honor and Ross what is the most interesting. The factory used to produce the hoods is now on fire and Honor is locked in a room with Ross locked out. Shocked at realising she cannot read Ross’s thoughts, she asks him to let her read his mind; we watch her share his thoughts as he is fishing with his dad as a child, with Honor in the water as it rises, unfortunately, the next image is not what she wanted to learn as Ross was using her all along to find help crack the case he is working on, referring her to as “it” in the Police Department. Ross pleads with her and explains he never expected to fall in love with her and asks her to trust him, the fire gets closer to Ross as he pleads for her to let him in. And then we get the credits with no explanation of what happened next! Did she trust him or watch him burn? I guess that is down to the viewer to answer.

Mary (Anneika Rose) Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams Episode 106 “The Hoodmaker”

Conclusion.

Sorry if the story part is a little confusing to you because it was certainly hard to write. like I said earlier, I’m no writer, I’m just learning the ropes. My conclusion though is pretty simple, we all wear masks already! Why? Well as I speak the whole political world is in a mess and nobody really trusts World Leaders, we don’t need any telepathic powers to work that out! We already feel it, just like I said earlier when I mentioned you can sense things already. Then there is the story with Ross and Honor which hits a little closer to home for me as I also block people out from time to time. I think everyone is a little scared to let people into their lives and sometimes you just have to hope people can see the sincerity in you once they do. will they or won’t they? It’s a question I think people ask all the time. This episode has made me realise I have to trust others a little bit more. I think that’s why I am enjoying the work of Philip K Dick as he helps peel back the layers of life and describes them so eloquently. Well, that’s it and I hope you enjoyed it. I guess this blog is me taking my mask off and sharing my thoughts with others and that is also a little scary as I do understand this blog won’t entertain everybody. Im just trying to learn about life, learn how to write and have some fun along the way. I hope you can join me next time for episode 2.

Thanks for reading this blog and if you like it, please let me know below and leave me a comment. It’s certainly the best part of writing when you hear back from other people. Goodbye for now.

#PhilipKDick #ElectricDreams Episode 1, The Hood Maker. When I started my blog, the whole reason was to improve my knowledge of science-fiction, learn how to write both creatively and correctly and it really was the best idea I have ever had.

#PhilipKDick ElectricDreams Science-Fiction Television

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fesahaawit · 7 years ago

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The One Good Thing About Being Busy

Anyone who knows me in real life (and that includes those of you who read this blog regularly) knows I hate being busy. There’s no better or more eloquent way to say it. I just hate it. I hate trying to manage multiple projects with multiple deadlines and I hate having a full calendar. Not having enough downtime in my schedule to relax and enjoy life fills me with anxiety, hurts my sleep habits and even affects what I eat/consume. That’s the reason I started this year of slow living experiments, and especially the slow work experiment: because I felt anxious just knowing how busy parts of 2017 were going to be.

You might be surprised then when I tell you how being busy actually helped me this month. Because it was an extremely busy month. Aside from the few months where I was finishing writing the book, editing the book, etc., October felt like one of the busiest months of the year. I had a little bit of anxiety and I didn’t sleep much for the last week of it. My eating/consumption habits were pretty healthy, but every time I felt my anxiety creep back in, I knew I had to make a decision. And that’s exactly what being busy helped me do this month: make decisions.

I know I am not unique in the fact that I like to dream big and hope I can get a lot done in a little amount of time. It’s actually a pretty classic move: assuming we can get a lot done, that is. So, we over-promise, over-commit and fill our calendars with an overwhelming number of deadlines. And then the anxiety, stress, and gloom and doom attitude sets in. If we let this go on and continue to repeat this pattern, we either start resenting our bosses or clients OR we start doing a bad job of everything.

I had some really big and ambitious dreams for what I could accomplish in the last two months of this year. And for what it’s worth, if it was any other year, I do think I could have done it all. But it’s not any other year. In a little over two months, my first book is coming out. (!!!) And because it’s my first book, I had no idea how much work would go into promoting and launching it. So, I had all these deadlines laid out for other projects I wanted to do, and it all looked like it could come together pretty easily. And then my publicist told me I would start doing interviews at the end of October, and my beautiful colour-coded calendar blew up in my face.

That conversation took place a few weeks ago, but I continued to spend most of October thinking I could bring at least one of my new projects to life before the new year. I kept working on it, sent some files to my designer and felt ok about the progress I was making. But I didn’t feel great about it. I knew I could do better, if I had more time. After tracking my hours, I knew I was already working 35-40 (productive) hours/week and my brain couldn’t seem to handle much more. The only way to get more time would’ve been to sleep less, and that’s not better for anyone. So, instead, I had to make some executive decisions.

PS: For anyone who is considering tracking their time, I can’t write a how-to post about that because I just made a scribbly mess in my planner! But here are two posts that might help you: ways to do it + how it helps you.

I could list all the new projects I was going to work on and explain the number of executive decisions I made, but it could all be summed up in one sentence: I decided to do what I already do well, just a little bit better. And since you now know I’m not a huge fan of things like sales funnels, and will always put people over profit, I thought I’d do something a little different. Rather than write content that could try to sell you on these things, I’m going to tell you exactly when they will be available. I know each of these things isn’t for everyone, but they might be for you. So here are the details:

RIGHT NOW: Simple Year 2018 is Open for Early Reg!

When Courtney Carver asked if I wanted to contribute to Simple Year 2016, my first thought was: ME!?!? A group of the minimalism + simple living bloggers I looked up to had come together and created a course that could help people simplify their lives, and I was being invited to join them? I couldn’t believe it. And when I talked to Courtney on the phone for the first time, I honestly felt like I was talking to a celebrity. Two years later, I feel extremely grateful to call her my friend, along with many of the other course contributors. I can also tell you that the lessons in Simple Year have changed my life for the better (particularly the ones on digital + relationships).

I’ve also received some amazing feedback about my content, which I teach every July:

If this feels like a course you’d want to invest in for yourself, early registration is open right now until November 14th at 12pm (noon) EST. It’s $199 USD (less than $17/month) right now, and will go up to $249 USD in January.

NOVEMBER 20: The Year of Less + Book Tour

In a few weeks, I’ll be sharing some exciting news about my book! I would also love to do a mini book tour, but I will need your help to make it happen. If you would be interested in helping me come to your city next year, please stay tuned! This is the project I am most excited about. <3

NOVEMBER 27: Mindful Budgeting 2018 Planners

I’ll be honest and say I wasn’t going to create 2018 planners. The list of reasons for this was long. I was worried that it would be too much to promote these + the book at the same time. I was worried that some people might confuse the planners with the book, and order it thinking it was going to be a memoir and then be horribly disappointed to have a planner show up at their door instead. (Did my anxiety make these stories up? That’s a topic for another day, lol.) I also couldn’t find a printer in North America who could use double-loop wire binding and make them even more helpful. That didn’t happen in time, so I wasn’t going to create new planners.

When I shared this news with the existing Mindful Budgeting Facebook group, the reaction can only be described as: supportively-disappointed. You were so understanding of my reasons, but also said you didn’t care what it looked like and just wanted a new planner for next year. So, I’m making that for you! It’ll look/feel the same but, with the help and suggestions from current users, I am adding a few new templates that will make it just a little bit better. Thank you for this feedback, friends. It’s another example of why we’re better when we work together.

If it looks like November is going to be another “busy” month, you’re right—in a sense. But by giving myself permission to push my big ideas aside until next year, I am now able to put my time and energy into projects I already do well, just a little bit better. Q4 is always my busiest season, and you guys have come to know that about me. If I was a “smarter” business owner, I would space these things out, so it doesn’t feel like I’m telling you about so many things at the same time. But that’s just not how my business works! I love a new calendar year, and I love working on projects that revolve around a year—and heck, I even wrote a book about a year of my life, haha. So, this is it. It all comes at once, and then we can spend the rest of the year talking about real life. :)

Delaying some of these projects will affect my income and my finances. I had done some projections for how much I could earn in Q4, and those numbers will be much lower than I had expected. But that’s ok right now! I would rather do a few things well and still have time to enjoy life than push myself to reach unrealistic deadlines and goals. I know the work will be better for it, and I will definitely be better for it. So, all-in-all, I feel like this slow living experiment was a HUGE success.

Experiment #8: Slow Work

track how many hours I work every day (and how many per project) – done!

set realistic expectations of what I can get done (with timelines) – done!

explore other creative outlets (this could be fun – stay tuned!) – no time (yet)

share how I slowly grew my blog (incl. dollars + blog stats) – done!

share plans for what’s next – done! :)

Thank you for an incredible month, friends! I don’t ever plan on turning this into a blog about blogging/working for yourself, but it was extremely helpful for me to share all of these things with you.

Oh, and if you have any questions about Simple Year, Courtney is hosting a webinar tomorrow at 8pm EST where she will be doing a live Q&A! xoxo

The One Good Thing About Being Busy posted first on http://ift.tt/2lnwIdQ

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thefilmslist-blog · 7 years ago

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The Recent Movie Round-up… The Vvitch: A New England Folktale (2015) & Split (2016)

The Recent Movie Round-up…

The Vvitch: A New England Folktale (2015) & Split (2016)

Yeah, so I fucked up… I went and did what I promised myself (and by extension anyone who reads these) and left it too long between reviews of recent movies. Now no-one cares what I think of recently released movies that are still in theatres! What I am going to try and do in future is give a good bit of distance between movies I see in the cinema and when I write them up. This allows initial opinions to settle and ideas to form, and not just my own, yours too. I suppose that in this case the only movie that was out in cinemas at the time in this round-up was Split anyway, so not so bad…

Make sure you read all the way to the bottom to see a list of future features I want to cover, here we go…

FULL SPOILERS BELOW FOR…

The Vvitch: A New England Folktale (2015)

Split (2016)

…and Alien, Inglorious Basterds…

The Vvitch: A New England Folktale We gave this movie 90/100.

See what I did there? After a short introductory preamble to set up the write-up I immediately show you the solution and reason for the piece. In story-telling terms this is similar to the ‘Bomb under the table’ idea eloquently explained by Alfred Hitchcock. I highly recommend you go check out the interview where he elaborated on this. To put it simply, when there bomb under a dinner table that the audience in unaware of, its going off will come as a shock to the audience, think of the classic chestburster scene in the original Alien movie. However, when the audience is made aware of the bomb under the table, the power of the scene is changed from surprise at it going off, to the tension felt by the audience knowing it will go off at some point. Think of the opening scene of Inglorious Basterds. This is the difference between shock and dread, shock is a very heightened reaction but it is very short lived, however, dread is much more subtle but weightier in its feel. You know something bad is going to happen.

All this to say that The Vvitch pulls off the bomb under the table trick and the resulting dread fantastically. The movie starts with the starring family being banished from its New England colony to a plantation where they must survive for themselves. A short time later, the eldest daughter is playing with their baby out near the woods, she turns her head for a moment, then the baby disappears as if by magic. This is followed by the audience seeing and learning what the family doesn’t. they have pitched up next to woods containing a witch! We are pretty much shown the main antagonistic force (I’ll explain more later) up front.

Now it can be argued that this is the standard 2nd act pivot, were our heroes are presented with a problem that they must solve and an antagonist to flee from. However, there are some intriguing differences. All the family know is that something very weird is happening and they have lost the baby. We, the audience, are the only ones who know that there is an actual witch(s) out there who means to cause them harm. Our sense of dread comes from knowing that everyone is going to collide at some point, and it is going to be nasty.

Now the plot of this movie, as with a lot of great character pieces, is quite thin. But what makes it work (excluding mostly what I have mentioned already) are the details that are woven into the story. The 17th century is very, very different to now, and that difference puts the world and characters of the movie at a slant up front. Most great horror convey a sense of unease to the audience by presenting a world and characters that are slightly tweaked from our own. David Lynch could be called the master of this (I can’t say because I couldn’t stand any of his movies, I should give them another try). The world of The Vvitch is very foreign to our own, where religion is law, self-sustenance is the key to survival and language is florid to the point of obscurity. All of these details work together so well to set the tone for the story, and makes the feeling of dread all the more authentic for the audience.

All of this is basic stuff for your competent horror movie. However, there is just a couple more themes I want to touch on; Human nature and religion, and consequences. That last one is obvious as the baby-losing moment of the movie sets off multiple arcs of consequences that land throughout the movie. What helps propel these story points, however, is the way the movie allows these consequences to spin out of the collision between the character’s human nature and their religiosity. This is where the family’s belief system forms the basis for big moral decisions on the surface, such as leaving the colony in the first place and using prayer as the first line of defence against the forces that have set upon them. But, this doesn’t get them anyway, resulting in the façade of decency dropping and real, ugly human nature replacing it to disastrous results. This can be read as an anti-religious theme (which I do), where giving up one’s own beliefs and agency to a fictional deity leads to moral decay, ignorant self-righteousness and familial dis-harmony. Literally, a demon shows up to teach the family the folly of their self-constructed beliefs.

As for the rest of the movie, there little to criticise, the acting is pitch perfect and the visuals add to the creepy atmosphere, and well places the movie in its period. I could not give the actors more credit here, especially the twin children who are spookily authentic…

You know, I’m sitting here really trying to find an aspect of this movie I didn’t like. Which might just be the be the best endorsement I could give.

Split So it seems pairing these two movies into the same write-up is very co-incidental. When discussing the ‘Bomb under the table’ theme earlier, it has dawned on me that Split pulls the same trick, in both a more and less subtle way.

As with The Vvitch, once the story gets going and the protagonists/antagonists and situation are established, we get a set-up for a future terror that will be unleashed. This impending threat also works with the claustrophobic atmosphere to bring about a sense of dread in the audience. However, there are differences with how this is done; in The Vvitch we get an almost pornographic reveal of the terror early in the story, in Split the final personality is never really manifested until the 3rd act of the movie. We are given hints of what the arrival of ‘The Beast’ will entail, but we don’t actually see this persona upfront in the same way as The Vvitch. When the final personality is revealed it can seem slightly underwhelming as it has been built up so much and is basically a stronger version of James McAvoy’s character (Kevin). What is more important is what ‘The Beast’ represents.

Trauma is a key theme of this story, and is to me the most compelling reading of the film. We all know that M. Night Shyamalan loves freaks and weirdo’s in his movies, and I think James McAvoy’s character is the best representation the writer/director has put to film so far. The story puts forward the idea that people who have both suffered and resolved serious emotional/physical trauma can emerge as stronger human beings. Even to the point of becoming superheroes, in the case of Kevin; he is literally able to create different personas to serve any purpose he needs and then evolves into a super-being at the end of the movie. Similarly, Casey (played fantastically by Anya Taylor-Joy, who was also the lead in The Vvitch!) is the only person who is able find an advantage by playing Kevin’s personalities against each other and survive to the end of the story. We find out through flashbacks that she suffered unfathomable abuse at the hands of her uncle, and she uses that trauma to find the strength to survive. We even see an acknowledgement of her strength by ‘The Beast’ who recognises their shared trauma and spares her due to their similarities.

It’s a great theme to chew on, and it is aided by the sheer flashiness of the story, acting and visuals. In stark contrast to The Vvitch, Split is a larger than life performance that simply refuses to be boring. The central performance by McAvoy is the best of a long line of great performances, and Anya Taylor-Joy is quickly establishing herself as one of the brightest up-and-coming stars, simultaneously providing an introspective but active performance.

It’s also nice to see that M. Night Shyamalan’s skill behind the camera hasn’t been diminished, making the audience feel the necessary claustrophobia and darkness, but also making scenes tense and kinetic when needed; All the while dressing this propulsive thriller as a fun, pulpy B-movie. We gave Split a well-deserved 84/100.

Stray Thoughts

- I was pleasantly surprised to see Office alum Ralph Ineson playing William in The Vvitch, he gives a really great performance…

- The Marvel style after-credits stinger in Split has me slightly worried, I really don’t think we need another cinematic universe right now. But if it can inspire a creative renaissance for M. Night Shyamalan, then I am tentatively interested in where it could go…

- I am not sure what I want to cover next, be it another essay on my movie opinions (fun!) or another set of write-ups. Jen and I have also seen a ton more movies since my last post here so I will repost The Film List with new ratings shortly. Please let me know if you have a film you would like us to watch/cover for this blog…

Future Features So here are some of the topics I want to cover in the immediate future of the blog! I encourage you to let me know which you would want me to post next, or tell me if you have a movie/topic you would like me to weigh in on with my half-formed opinions!

- Star Wars and me: Star Wars and me: my relationship to the Star Wars movies and re-thinking the Holiday Special.

- The Handmaiden and Midnight write-ups by the lovely Jenny Sloane

- The Raid and John Wick movies: How to make action relatable.

- I’m also toying with an interpretation of how movies subconsciously moralise its protagonists due to the nature of story-telling. This is just at its embryonic stage for the moment, but I think it will be interesting to put into an essay (if not that interesting to read!).

#the film list #movies #film #movie review #Film Review #the vvitch #split #m. night shyamalan

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fesahaawit · 7 years ago

Text

The One Good Thing About Being Busy

RIGHT NOW: Simple Year 2018 is Open for Early Reg!

I’ve also received some amazing feedback about my content, which I teach every July:

NOVEMBER 20: The Year of Less + Book Tour

NOVEMBER 27: Mindful Budgeting 2018 Planners

Experiment #8: Slow Work

track how many hours I work every day (and how many per project) – done!

set realistic expectations of what I can get done (with timelines) – done!

explore other creative outlets (this could be fun – stay tuned!) – no time (yet)

share how I slowly grew my blog (incl. dollars + blog stats) – done!

share plans for what’s next – done! :)

Oh, and if you have any questions about Simple Year, Courtney is hosting a webinar tomorrow at 8pm EST where she will be doing a live Q&A! xoxo

The One Good Thing About Being Busy posted first on http://ift.tt/2lnwIdQ

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fesahaawit · 7 years ago

Text

The One Good Thing About Being Busy

RIGHT NOW: Simple Year 2018 is Open for Early Reg!

I’ve also received some amazing feedback about my content, which I teach every July:

NOVEMBER 20: The Year of Less + Book Tour

NOVEMBER 27: Mindful Budgeting 2018 Planners

Experiment #8: Slow Work

track how many hours I work every day (and how many per project) – done!

set realistic expectations of what I can get done (with timelines) – done!

explore other creative outlets (this could be fun – stay tuned!) – no time (yet)

share how I slowly grew my blog (incl. dollars + blog stats) – done!

share plans for what’s next – done! :)

Oh, and if you have any questions about Simple Year, Courtney is hosting a webinar tomorrow at 8pm EST where she will be doing a live Q&A! xoxo

The One Good Thing About Being Busy posted first on http://ift.tt/2lnwIdQ

0 notes