#I’m literally unstoppable and it’s euphoric

[kagehinataboke]

todobaku kiss in joy pls uwu

@cashmere-noose absolutely darling!! i actually got two requests for this one so y’all enjoy~ c;

we have todobaku: a kiss… [11] in joy

*

“What’s the point of a school dance, anyway? It’s fucking useless and stupid.”

“I think it’s a nice distraction,” Todoroki says, attempting unsuccessfully to secure his tie for the millionth time. “Do you know how to do this? I can’t get it.”

“You really are fucking useless, Icy Hot. Move.” Bakugou slaps his hands away from the strangled piece of fabric. He expertly ties it into a Windsor, straightening Todoroki’s collar and leaving him picture-perfect. “Y’know, your hotness in literally everything you wear seriously pisses me the hell off.”

“You look good, too,” Todoroki says with a half-smile, well-versed in his backward compliments. “Did you match colors on purpose?”

“As if,” Bakugou scoffs, but he’s right: it really does look like they color-coordinated. His pocket-square is the exact same shade of red as Todoroki’s undershirt. “Fuck, this is too damn coupley.”

“We are a couple, though,” Todoroki replies amusedly. “Are you still embarrassed, even if everyone already knows?”

“I’ve never been embarrassed in my life,” Bakugou grumbles, dragging him to the door forcefully. “Come on, we’re going now.”

“Alright, alright; you don’t have to pull on my arm so hard.”

They head down the hall toward the ballroom, which has been decorated for the dance. Uraraka and Ashido were behind it, so it’s unsurprisingly, overwhelmingly pink. Bakugou scowls at the gaudiness, but at least they did it in a tidy way: the whole room is consistently awful.

“This is certainly… spirited,” Todoroki comments, tilting his head back to survey the heavily-streamered ceiling. “I’m a bit surprised they were given creative control.”

“They weren’t, but that Round Face is pretty unstoppable. Come on.” Bakugou quickly pulls him over to the snack table, scowling at the lackluster selection. “Fuck. This is the only reason I came, and this food all sucks.”

“You didn’t come because I asked you?” Todoroki’s slightly hurt tone makes Bakugou stiffen. Did he push the indifferent act too far? He’s only doing it to avoid suspicion for his plan.

“You know that’s not what I—“ He tilts his head back with a sigh. “Look, I wanted to go with you, okay? Stop making that kicked-puppy expression.”

“I’m not doing that.” Todoroki frowns, which only makes Bakugou snort. Todoroki still has absolutely no idea what he’s in for—which is exactly what he‘s counting on.

“You’re way too easy to read.” His expression softens arguably, and he glances around before taking Todoroki’s hand. He leans close to whisper in his ear, “Come with me.”

“What— Hey, where are we going?”

Bakugou ignores his protests, skirting along the edge of the room to reach Uraraka, who’s busy giggling with Ashido by the DJ booth. “Oi Uraraka, you ready?”

Her eyes light up and she glances sidelong at Todoroki before nodding. “Yeah! Everything is all set up.”

“Mission go, then.” He nods at her, pulling Todoroki against the wall. “Wait,” he says to silence his questions, “and just watch.”

It’s hard to hold back a grin when Uraraka goes to the center of the room and opens a large cardboard box. She reaches inside and activates her power, sending a dozen multicolored paper lanterns spiraling gently into the air. They float up, and Kaminari’s lightning shoots out of the crowd to light them. Even when Uraraka releases her quirk, the lanterns remain, lazily floating above their heads like a collection of paper stars.

Bakugou watches the light reflect in Todoroki’s wide eyes when he turns to look at him. “Did you really… plan that?”

“Obviously. You think one of these other idiots thought of that?” Bakugou leans closer, covering his mouth as if he’s going to whisper. Really, he just wants to hide his smile from the others. “I did it just for you. Like it?”

“Are you kidding?” Todoroki launches forward and hugs him hard enough to knock him off balance. “It’s amazing. You’re amazing.”

“Hey, don’t strangle me,” Bakugou mumbles softly, hoping the darkness obscures his flustered blush. “So you do like it, then?”

Instead of answering, Todoroki catches him off guard with a strong, unbreakable lip-lock that leaves Bakugou’s head spinning. He doesn’t have the headspace to be embarrassed, or he’d probably be hyper-conscious of how everyone is watching them and losing their collective shit. Instead, he just feels a euphoric sort of joy that overwhelms everything else.

Surrounded by floating lights, chest-to-chest with Todoroki, the rest of the world melts away. This, Bakugou thinks, might be what perfection feels like.

[animebw]

Short Reflection: Ponyo

You know, normally when a movie has some sort of warning attached to it, it’s for adult and disturbing content. Copious sex and violence, potentially triggering scenes or themes, that sort of thing. But as of finishing Ponyo, I would like to propose an additional category of content warning: potentially dangerous levels of joy. There needs to be a warning label on films with this much pure positive energy. Any fool or simpleton could walk into this movie unaware of what was in store for them and end up with their cheeks plastered on either side of the wall after they were blown off from the sonic pressure of too much goddamn smiling. Thankfully, I am a trained professional, so my cheeks staid right they were supposed to be, but the strain of holding in so much unfiltered glee was even a challenge for a tried and true veteran of feel-good storytelling such as myself. This is not an exercise to be attempted without professional supervision, and failure to follow safety protocols could result in giggling, dizziness, and a persistent sense of wonder and whimsy that will take more than a few Febreezes to clear out. Consider yourselves warned.

Okay, in case you couldn’t tell from that opening spiel, I loved this movie. I adored this movie. I got drunk on this movie. You would never believe that two hours on a crowded plane flight could go by so fast. Good god, that was euphoric. Ponyo is a blast of explosive, unstoppable giddiness that rushes over you with the clamoring, chaotic excitability of the rollicking ocean that serves as its setpiece. It’s a tsumani of childlike wonder that throws caution to the wind and runs full-tilt ahead with the sea breeze spraying foam in its face, laughing like a sugar rush all the way and pulling you along with grubby, roly-poly hands. It is sheer, concentrated joy, unfiltered and unrestrained, bursting with endless life and cacophonous glee, almost smothering in its radiance at times. There was a point about halfway through this movie where I literally had to start massaging my cheeks mid-scene, because I had been grinning so goddamn hard that my jaw was actually hurting like hell. And there was still an entire second half left that was just as insatiable. It’s entirely too much of a good thing, and I’m so fucking happy for every single second of it.

The plot, for what it’s worth, is one of Studio Ghibli’s most bizarre storylines yet, and that’s saying a hell of a lot. Set in a seaside, mountainous village, our protagonist Sosuke is a five-year-old boy with the world in his hands and the wind at his heels. And whimsy comes calling for him in the form of Ponyo, who at first appears to be an odd goldfish with a human face, but is quickly revealed to be the daughter of an aquatic mage (voiced by Liam Neeson, of all things) who keeps the natural world in balance from his undersea palace. He means well, but he’s also overprotective and inflexible, and he’s determined to keep his daughter under the sea lest she upset the balance and cause the end of the world. But because Ponyo is about as emotionally reasonable as any five-year-old, she pulls away from him in favor of continuing life on land and her instantly wonderful friendship/romance with Sosuke. And the end result of that childish rebelliousness does, in fact, end up throwing the world out of balance, but it doesn’t matter, because as long as she and Sosuke get to be together, they can whether any storm that blows their way.

In fact, that’s the driving ethos of the entire film; throwing caution to the wind and just doing what makes you happy. Ponyo and Sosuke’s relationship is the kind of simple, uncomplicated love that you only really get to experience when you’re as young and uncomplicated as they are. They don’t need any justifications or rationalizations for their bond; they just make each other extremely fucking happy, and that’s all that matters. Their desire to be together literally ends up causing a Biblical-level apocalypse, but it’s a joyful, buoyant apocalypse, showcasing a world that doesn’t fall apart at all but only changes and evolves to become even more wonderful than it once was. Liam Neeson is the stuffy adult in the room prattling on about the importance of keeping the balance and how Ponyo should “respect her father”, while Ponyo and Sosuke are the kids without a care in the world just doing what makes them happy, because fuck it, it makes them happy, and that means it’s worth doing.

And as strange as it sounds to say in the face of that choice coming very close to ending the world, it results in the single most exuberant, radiant, explosively positive fictional experience I’ve ever come across, even possibly topping Chuunibyou in terms of feel-good comfort food. Miyazaki has always been a master of showcasing childlike mindsets in his films, writing stories that feel like they come from the perspective of children, but Ponyo is perhaps the most distilled essence of that idea ever, even more so than My Neighbor Totoro. It’s a story that runs on the simple, childlike id of pursuing what makes you feel good and letting everything else fall by the wayside. Nothing gets in the way of good times, not overbearing parents, not difficult tests, and sure as hell not the end of the world. It’s just moment after moment, scene after scene of sheer, unbridled happiness, spilling out in chaotic spirals just as riveting and unflappably confident as a five-year-old’s imagination. It’s a cavalcade of utterly adorable sequences and setpieces, taking whatever situation the characters find themselves in and spinning them into empathic gold. And when things really get going with the end of the world stuff, the resulting typhoon of whimsy is so stunning and vibrant that it might just knock your fillings loose if you aren’t paying attention.

And it’s so. Fucking. Delightful. It’s the kind of film that leaves your jaw agape almost constantly, in awe of the feelings it’s able to so consistently inspire in you. I can’t remember the last time I felt this overwhelmed by happiness, this consistently giddy at every single moment of this masterpiece. Ponyo and Sosuke’s chemistry is instantly magical, and every single second they spend goofing off together made my cheeks grow wider and wider until, well, like I said in the opening paragraph, thank your lucky stars I still have a jaw intact at this point. You almost feel like this is their story, one they’re telling together and making up as it goes along, seeing what daredevil insanity they can whip up next. What new ways can they find to make each other laugh? What new ways can they find to make each other smile? And the side characters are just as winning; the old ladies at a retirement home who play an unexpected role in the climax, Ponyo’s fish sisters who provide aid to her along the way with perfect unity, hell, even Liam Neeson as the nominal villain is an effortlessly lovable dope who just wants to be a good dad, even if he has no idea how. And on the subject of parents, Sosuke’s mom is utterly fucking amazing and I want to marry her immediately. Seriously, every single moment this badass, loving, take-no-shit reckless driver of the century is on screen throws me right back to when I was a kid and saw my parents as these unstoppably radiant forces who could do anything and nothing would stand in their way, not even the oncoming Biblical floods. I don’t even have a favorite anime mom list yet, but she has already handily topped the competition.

And the animation. Sweet buttery fucksticks, the animation. This isn’t just at the same godly tier we’ve come to expect from Ghibli films, this breaks the dimensional barrier of what animation is even capable of. Every second is moving, every motion is completely fluid, every frame has a million different active pieces that bring this world to stunning, enchanted life. The color palette of cheery pastels and poppy vivids somehow captures childhood with more alacrity than any single other aspect of anything I’ve ever seen. And when the sea magic starts taking over, the resulting spectacle of rising tides and rushing fishes and a world turned upside down took my goddamn breath away with shock. None of this should be possible. There’s no way this was all storyboarded, colored, inked, and finished by human hands. There’s no way this level of constant fluidity, expressivity, and volume could exist in a rational world. But this isn’t a rational world, after all; this is Ponyo, and the animation is just as unchained, exhubarent, ebullient, majestic, colossal, and endlessly triumphant as the characters and story it brings to life.

That, in the end, is the true beauty of Ponyo. It’s a film of pure, radical joy, refusing to let a single scrap of darkness or decay in. It is light personified, and that light is so blisteringly bright that it’s all but impossible to handle. It is a full-throated defense of the importance of being happy and the power of positive energy, and it proves that message by leaving me so goddamn happy that I feel I could burst from it all. Ponyo is nothing short of a masterpiece, one of Studio Ghibli’s best films and one of my new all-time favorite anime experiences ever. And I award it a score of:

10/10

Good god, this was phenomenal. Happy Miyazaki Not-Actually-Monday, everyone! And while I don’t know whether or not I’ll get to another film over the course of this flight, the next Ghibli film I’ll get to steps back from this film’s epic grandeur and goes very, very small. See you then!

[thesinglesjukebox]

CHARLI XCX & CHRISTINE AND THE QUEENS - GONE

[7.79]

We do NOT fucking hate these people...

Elisabeth Sanders: I have no idea if this song is good or bad, all I know is that I am a homosexual. [10]

Alfred Soto: She triumphed at Pitchfork Festival against every one of my expectations: a diva who pirouetted, thrusted, and sashayed like a star with no interest in behind-the-scenes song doctoring. She played "Gone" in vivider incarnation; she sung "I fucking hate these people" as a shared joke between her and the festival's largest queer audience. The boom boom clap of the percussion keeps out of the way, but I wish it presented an obstacle over which she could hurdle. [7]

Nellie Gayle: Social anxiety does not exactly read as a the prefect pretense for a banger pop song, but then again, Charli XCX has a certain gift for emotional subterfuge. 'Gone' is a collaboration between Charli and a more subdued pop star friend, Christine & the Queens. The two wrestle between seething anger at fake social niceties and and a deeper issue - the desire to be loved and seen, even if by a group of people you couldn't care less about. It's comforting to know that even a seasoned partygirl like Charli XCX can feel the same debilitating and restrictive sense of social "unbelonging" - a scene she depicts fairly literally in the accompanying music video which features her in bondage. The jump between this wallflower characteristic and the club-ready beat feels like a perfect metaphor for Charli's career and persona itself. As pop music evolves and begins to cater to an even more confessional and vulnerable audience of millennials, it makes sense its most forward thinking vanguards would keep the pace by divulging their deepest longing while also maintaining a danceable beat. [7]

Nortey Dowuona: Sharp, rubbery bass backflips, pirouettes and twists as soapy, seething synths and steel tipped drums shimmy across the shoulders as Christine and Charli spin through as they become intertwined as one. [8]

Wayne Weizhen Zhang: What's that? Charli XCX writing a song about loneliness and social anxiety -- but somehow making it work as a duet? More like Charli doing this again, except this time instead of ruminating about the cosmos, commiserating about lost love, or contemplating redemption, she and Chris are plotting their escape. They spend the entire track pouring gasoline on their worries and stresses, until 3:04, when they finally erupt into flames. And then they're literally gone, leaving behind only the glitched screaming ghosts of their pop consciousness, any chance at salvation vanishing with them. [8]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: Charli XCX's trajectory since the release of Pop 2 has been confusing. Over the past year and a half, she's released 15-or-so singles/features, running the gamut from remixes of experimental rappers to big shiny club collabs with Diplo, Lizzo, and Troye Sivan. It's largely been good material (save for that Diplo Spice Girls remix), but the songs have kind of felt like diversions from the goals set out by Pop 2's post-PC MUSIC synthesis of pop artifice into sincere emotion. This is entirely her right-- if Charli just remade Pop 2 until she retired, it wouldn't have the same deconstructive power it had when it first came out. Yet even the best of her singles from last year (songs like "5 in the Morning" and her remix of Tommy Genesis' "100 Bad") felt somewhat unambitious-- playgrounds in the wreckage of pop, rather than attempts to build a new level upon it. "Gone," then, is that new level. It's the best of all possible worlds: the shiny synths and hard-hitting rhythms of "Nuclear Seasons"-era Charli, the glitchy breakdowns of her PC Music collabs, and the open, collaborative feeling of her wilderness year. "Gone" encapsulates Charli's appeal in a compact 4 minute salvo, taking a conventional core lyrical concept-- dancing the social anxiety away-- and twisting it to her will. Chris makes for perhaps the best partner Charli's had on her pop mission: her voice is clearer and more sincere, the perfect tool to clear out any suggestion of irony. But Charli herself is the key to why "Gone" works. She's the glue that holds together the disjointed impulses of the track, like she always is, but here she's also constantly moving it forward. Her vocals here are perhaps the best they've ever sounded, aloof and emotive all at once, and the fragmented lyrical picture that she and Chris paint is vivid. It took her a while, but "Gone" reveals a revitalized Charli XCX, capable of pop mastery once again. [10]

Oliver Maier: "Gone"'s release feels timed to ensure that Pop 2 fans don't abandon hope for Charli's album after the disappointing "Blame It On Your Love", with metallic globs of bass and sparkling synth arpeggios hearkening back to the palette of the 2017 mixtape. However, it's actually Christine and the Queens who gives the stronger performance here; Charli excels in emotional extremes and bratty earworms, but the purgatorial feeling of anxiety that "Gone" reckons with -- as well as the song's cavernous arrangement and less immediate hook -- are better suited to Chris' subtler wheelhouse. The breakdown in the last minute is a little superfluous, more a signifier of a willingness to experiment than a successful experiment in and of itself, but "Gone" still provides a brighter forecast for Charli than we had a few weeks ago. [6]

Joshua Copperman: So I did the dumb remix thing again. The Katy Perry one was a reorder of different parts, but this one adds more instrumentation and a four-on-the-floor kick that takes Charli back to 2009 instead of 1999. Despite my favorite performance I've heard Christine give ("do they wish to run through mee," the plainspoken way she says "baby" just before the breakdown), and the clear vocal chemistry between her and Charli, this song has so much empty space when a melody like that requires bombast. That breakdown feels like someone trying to recreate NSYNC's "Pop" using "Call Your Girlfriend" samples on a broken MPC. Couple that with the ugly flanging on Charli and Christine's voices, and any momentum and goodwill feels squandered. "Gone" is so strong until that point that it's still extremely listenable, but extremely listenable feels disappointing when it's this close to being great. [7]

Kayla Beardslee: I can't think of a more appropriate artist to enter the "crying on the dance floor" pantheon than Charli XCX: pop's resident party girl saying that she "fucking hates" the people at this party is not an artistic confession to be taken lightly. Although the marketing for this track has been informed by the tired "most personal album yet" cliche, Charli has thankfully pulled off the introspective turn by maintaining her PC Music inspirations, metallic synths bouncing off the edges of the song and giving the message of grappling with anxiety some much-needed bite. The presence of a feature is another XCX signature, and Christine and the Queens is a welcome addition: for once, a Charli track clearly shows the collaborator's influence, in this case with its clipped melodies and off-kilter yet evocative lyrics. [8]

Will Rivitz: "Backseat," off 2017's Pop 2, cascaded into perfection on the strength of its final minute ripping the preceding three into shreds. "Gone," in doing exactly that again, but even more transcendentally sublimely this time (and with a transcendentally sublime beginning three-quarters to match, something its predecessor missed by a hair), is by extension better by about one degree. And I gave "Backseat" a [9], so... [10]

Joshua Lu: In light of the multitudinous takes on social anxiety pop stars have churned out in recent years, "Gone" feels surprisingly honest. Anxiety is seen as illogical (Charli's cry of "they don't care" seemingly comes out of nowhere, which is where these feelings often come from), shameful (the song opens with an apology), and maddening (the entirety of the prechorus and Christine's verse is filled with an untempered rage), and the song's unapologetic portrayal of these aspects acts as an effective catharsis. It hits harder when casted over the stutter-step instrumental, filled with uncomfortable white space and coarse industrial noises that put the listener on edge. [7]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: A song about being impossibly and destructively tired, so much so that one can't help but be vulnerable as a last ditch effort to maintain sanity. The production captures it perfectly: steely and anthemic and spacious, it encourages one to sing along in a sort of therapeutic karaoke session. The outro is a cute release--a moment to decompress by way of A.G. Cook's love for Scritti Politti. [7]

Michael Hong: Like the best Charli XCX tracks, "Gone" deals with solitude in crowded spaces, no matter the number of collaborators involved in the track. The industrial soundscape threatens to cave in at any moment -- something that fueled by the pair's anxieties does inevitably occur, and yet remains this moment of euphoric bliss. While Charli and Chris pose several questions across the track, none are really answered. Instead, the two end with a shared statement, "don't search me in here, I'm already gone, baby," and by tossing aside the anxiety of the party, the two find peace outside of the crowd. In a crowded field of tracks about wanting to leave the party, "Gone" is one of the most captivating because of Charli's introspection and ability to bring her dystopian future into the present. [7]

Kylo Nocom: This song is a fever dream of DJ Mustard stabs warped into freestyle-esque basslines, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis communicated through modernized rhythms. "Gone" shines in stark contrast to the notable collaboration Charli's done with a certain other '80s fanatic back in late 2017, substituting emotional atmospherics for feverish danceability. Charli's unstoppable pop glee is bared down to the essentials, stripped of the dumbness that felt defining of her singles the past two years; Christine's dense songwriting and anxious percussive affinities are polished up and displayed proudly here, with no signs of the occasionally campy production cheapness that defined her 2018 album's weaker missteps. "Gone" pays empathetic attention to the overstimulation some feel at huge parties, and the bouncing, metallic chorus shivers with a knowing sensory discomfort that eventually culminates in a gloriously alien glitch breakdown. [8]

Alex Clifton: A contender for Song of the Summer that isn't "Old Town Road" (which I love dearly but does not work on its own as a party playlist). Charli and Chris are always Interesting Artists, never boring and always looking forward, and this is a perfect marriage of their strengths and sounds. It has the electro production Charli favours but never gets too overwhelming; it has a good dose of Chris's quirk and gravitas but retains a lighter touch. Moreover it's just a fun song--I can only imagine what it was like to record this in the studio, and that enthusiasm spills over to the listener. Like Jane Austen's prose, "Gone" is complex and layered but performed with ease. It's one of the hardest tricks in the book, but Charli and Chris have absolutely nailed it. [8]

Iris Xie: "Gone" listens like the measured dissertation of an almost ideal pop song in a post-PC Music world that is more open about mental health, attachment trauma, and how it damages relationships. Out of the two, Letissier is the one who delivers the vocals with the exact emotion required to hit catharsis, due to her visceral and forceful cadence that is in tune with the chorus's frankness: "I feel so unstable, fucking hate these people / How they're making me feel lately." The post-chorus is beautiful though, with one of my favorite pop-R&B vocal tropes where they both catch on the fourth word of each line, "Why do we love--" before Charli and Letissier exhale with a sharp glide before jumping back into step with the stuttering beat, with "--if we're so mistaken?" Another treat is served with the sudden drop-off into "Why do we keep when the water runs? / Ne me cherche pas, je ne suis plus là, baby," a dreamy and sad breakdown that then breaks down into more jagged edges and clipped and chewed up repetitions. This song could only be written by people who love pop music so, so deeply that they have command of masterful hooks and turns of phrase and expectations. Unfortunately, I also don't like it as much as I should, because for all of what it does right, it still lacks dynamism and range to make it stick in a way that really makes me overjoyed for it, because I feel both of their solo work was a lot sharper and more evocative, and I find the sound more muddled here, even amongst all of their loving approaches. [7]

Katherine St Asaph: One of my favorite songs is The Tycho Brahe's "Steel Wheels," a song about defeat and cutting ties to pursue other defeat. "Gone" is a lot like that song, attached to a lesser song: yet another false, poppily marketed take on social anxiety. When I'm socially phobic, which is almost all the time, it's never "those people" I hate -- I don't hate anyone without a good reason, and doing so would just add guilt and make me feel worse -- but myself. It seems too simple to posit that one song is Chris's contribution and the other's Charli's, but more to the point, I actually can't tell which is whose. Neither artist seems fully themselves, vocally or stylistically. Chris's strengths are staccato lyrics and precise bits of introspection: needles to the exact point that hurts. Charli's strength is sweepingly cathartic songs, emotions hemorrhaging out of the music and the skin. "Gone" is the midpoint of those strengths, playing to neither. [6]

William John: A favourite moment of mine in the Christine and the Queens catalogue is early single "Nuit 17 à 52", which, in its English adaptation, features a speaker in a "lace-like" state of being, waiting "for the rain to come through". It's an image of defencelessness that's so brusque it requires gentle piano chords to soften the mood. Water provides no solace to the song's protagonist; the fifty-second, pivotal night of melodrama fails to leave her mind. This is an image Christine and the Queens returns to for her contribution to Charli XCX's new single - interviews have made it clear that she penned the chorus, but it's obvious to anyone familiar with the charming peculiarities of her brand of franglais. This time the punishment of water is accompanied by inquisition - the metaphor is not used as a mere acknowledgement of self-flagellating tendencies, but and a need to know why they might arise is attached. The contention is that in the quest to know more about oneself, water can be framed not as a suffocating force, but as one of cleansing and catharsis; that in daring to be vulnerable, we open ourselves up to freedom and greatness. Enlisting a partner-in-crime to assist with such a quest doesn't hurt, and there's been few moments in pop this year as thrilling as the way these two jointly bellow "loathe" before the song gives way to its chirpy coda, as together they will themselves toward liberation. [9]

Jackie Powell: The production on "Gone" matches the exact emotional plot of the song itself. The bass synths and percussive claps are accurately abrasive and in your face. The vocal performances that both XCX and Christine give are impassioned. While the chorus might be a bit muffled and not as enunciated as I would have liked, they achieve a goal that all artists should strive for⁠--the ability to transfer their emotions through their lyrics and sounds into the soul of the listener. The mixing from their chest into their head voices that both singers do on this track brings out some sort of euphoria in me. Charli's previous singles "1999" and "Blame it on Your Love" have been catchy, but maybe not as substantive as Charli stans have wanted. I understand her strategy. It reminds me of Carly Rae Jepsen's approach to how she released "Dedicated." Both artists released advance singles that were a bit lighter in content and sound. And then of course, we heard "No Drug Like Me". The third single put out to the world was the sucker punch, the sly off-speed pitch that hits right in zone after two high fastballs that don't quite elicit a flinch. The 52-second outro in "Gone" was confusing when I first heard it, and maybe it should be a tad shorter, but I finally understand the reason it exists to begin with. If you listen closely, Charli and Christine's voices sound as though they are gargling water or are putting their faces into the water that they are claiming is still running. They make their point though, we've got to question why the water is running and it's up to us to stop it. It's uncomfortable, but we have the power to stop it. [8]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

[suspiciouswarriorhonmayan]

I've spent far too long looking at this list because literally all of these could be turned into angst so i'm just gonna put whatever ones that catch my attention lol So how about yukogeki with G, J, O, or U???

Sorry this took so long, friend. I ended up rewriting it twice and I’m still not satisfied how it turned out lol. I apologize if this isn’t what you pictured orz. (Though it isn’t angsty or at least I didn’t intentionally try to make it as such)

Still, I’m always grateful for you sending in requests, so thank you!

I will post on AO3 later.

YukoGeki G: A Fistfight

Gekikara’s whole body pulsed with energy. All their senses were awake. They were aware of Yuko’s presence pressed against their back. Yabakune students swarmed around them like annoying flies.

Gekikara and Yuko had been making their way to school. They had cut through a field and had been laughing and goofing around, when they were suddenly ambushed by a bunch of pissed off and vengeful Yabakune weaklings.

Twenty against two.

A fight was the best way to start the morning.

Yuko bounced on her toes. Her excitement was evident, as it was contagious. “These are our kind of odds, don't you think Geki?”

Gekikara’s dark chuckle brought visible shivers to those around them. They cracked their knuckles in anticipation. “Yes, Yuko-san. It's going to be so much fun breaking them.”

Not liking that they were being underestimated, the Yabakune students charged forward. Yuko reacted with inhuman speed. She ricocheted from one person to the next. Her short form blasted through waves of enemies like nothing.

She was an unstoppable storm bearing down on anyone who stood in her way.

Several people tried to swing at Yuko’s head with bats or metal poles. With lightning reflexes, Yuko grabbed onto one girl's pole with her bare hands and forced it to snap it up out of the girl's grasp.

There was a slight pause in which the girl had a look of our astonishment until Yuko delivered a backhanded swing on her. The crack of bones breaking resounded across the battlefield as Yuko sent the unlucky girl careening into other students.

Several students who witnessed this gave Yuko a wide berth. Yuko, on her part, could smell the fear in them.

With a broad grin, she swung away.

The Yabakune yankii’s never knew what hit them.

Gekikara slammed relentless punches into any that dared cross their path. Their bloody fists enjoyed the loud crunch of bones underneath every forceful hit.

One girl with brass knuckles managed to get a hit in on Gekikara’s face. Her smug grin was immediately wiped as Gekikara only laughed at the pain. They licked their bleeding lips and returned the punch twofold, breaking the girl's nose and sending her down in one foul swoop.

They spun around to deliver a roundhouse kick right into an unsuspecting girl’s groin. It was an immediate K.O her. Gekikara grabbed the girl’s collapsing body and chucked it into one of the clusters groups of girls that tried to overwhelm Yuko. They tumbled like dominoes. All of them  crumbled under the weight of each other.

A bigger girl grappled Gekikara from behind. Gekikara thrashed wildly. They slammed the back of their head into the girl’s face and elbowed her right in the boob.

The bigger girl cursed. “You fucker-”

Gekikara dropped kicked her right in the stomach. Gekikara rolled right back onto their feet and delivered a swift kick to her head. The bigger girl didn't get up after that.

Laughter echoed from both Yuko and Gekikara as they lay waste to everyone around them.

The scene before them was complete chaos. Students laid in a torrent mess, bleeding and hurt. Despite the numbers difference, it was a one sided fight on their end.

But for Gekikara and Yuko, it had been nothing short of euphoric.

One student, who had somehow managed to survive their curb stomping tried to crawl away, only for Gekikara to step hard onto their back.

The helpless student squirmed underneath Gekikara’s foot. They stomped harder on the student, eliciting a small, pathetic squeak from the terrified girl.

Gekikara stood over her triumphant, with a savage gleam in their eyes. “Hey, are you mad?”

The girl sputtered nonsense words before passing  out in fear.

Gekikara smirked at the laughable sight that was Yabakune yankiis whimpering in agony.

Yuko threw the pole behind her. It landed with a hard thunk on someone's unlucky head.

“Thanks for having my back, Geki.” Her bright smile directed at them made Gekikara's heart beat faster than it already was.

“Of course, Yuko-san.” Gekikara gave Yuko a genuine smile. They would always have her back, no matter what.

Gekikara attempted to wipe the blood of their face, but only succeeded in smearing it. The blood was going to be a pain to wash of later, but the early morning brawl had been fun. Gekikara would do it all over again, even if it did ruin their uniform.

“Ah here, let me clean your face.” Yuko took out her small handkerchief. She had to get on her tippy toes to reach Gekikara’s face. It was pretty adorable watching Rappapa’s fearless leader attempt to do so.

Yuko did gentle wipes across Gekikara’s face. Very few people had ever been so gentle with them. The soft moment was such a giant contrast to the carnage that both members of Rappapa had created mere moments ago.

“You did really good in this fight,” said Yuko. When she had finished cleaning their face, she presssed a quick kiss to Gekikara’s cheek.

Gekikara’s eyes lit up. Today was shaping up to be a great day.

There was a slight tinge of pink on Gekikara’s face. Their smile was practically beaming. “Thank you, Yuko-san.”

Yuko gave her thumbs up. “It's no problem.”

They basked in the afterglow of the fight. Each enjoying the small moment together and taking a small reprieve from the rush of adrenaline. Gekikara leaned on Yuko and proped their head on Yuko’s. Normally, Yuko wouldn’t like being used as a head rest, since it always reminded her of her small stature, but if it was Gekikara, she didn’t mind so much.

The moment was interrupted by Yuko’s phone pinging. She flipped it open to read the text message she received. “Oh, it’s Sado.”

She made a similar face of agony that was currently present on the beaten Yabakune students had. “Crap, we’re so late for early morning practice. Sado’s going to kick our asses.”

Gekikara rubbed the back of their neck nervously. They were certainly going to get more than an earful from Rappapa’s sadistic Vice President.

“Race you there!” Yuko didn't even give Gekikara time to process what she said before she took off running in the direction of the school.

Gekikara shook their head in amusement before running in after her.

Both leaving the bloody aftermath behind them.

[hikikomori-route]

Kokich Ouumaa

Name: Kokich Ouumaa

Species: Troll

Gender: Male

Age: 8 Sweeps - Around 17

Derse or Prospit?: Derse

Strife Specibus: whipkind

Land: The Land of Cities and Soda

Title: Thief of Hope

Thief: Active stealing class. One who takes their aspect from others for their own benefit.

Hope: Control over positive emotions and hope itself. Metaphorically it represents belief.

The Thief of Hope is one who steals the hopes of others for themselves. They leave people hopeless by literally taking all their hope away. They leave them unable to continue and believing in nothing. The Thief of Hope leaves their opponents completely emotionally crushed.

… Pleasant sounding fellow aren’t they?

Looking beyond that a Thief of Hope is pretty dangerous. They’re not exactly a physical fighter but with their powers they wouldn’t need to fight at all. They attack their opponents at the emotional level. They take away any hopes and beliefs their opponents have. Leaving them utterly hopeless if they so choose. With this the Thief has no need to fight. What’s the point if they’re opponents are completely unwilling to fight or even to try and continue. The Thief of Hope throws them into utter despair… I’m suddenly having Dangan Ronpa flashbacks.

Anyway, anyway. With them stealing all the hope they can the Thief would never be without it. As long as they can keep taking it they would have an endless amount of hope which would mean an endless amount of drive. It would be very hard to keep a Thief of Hope down as long as there is Hope to steal. So they keep themselves continuously going while leaving everyone else unwilling to try. A Pretty one sided fight there. Thieves never seem to be ones for fair fights though.

Thieves have good intentions, and might be egocentric. They have natural confidence with their Aspect, but hide insecurities and hate being seen as weak. Their challenge is to learn to let others have their Aspect as well

Thieves of Hope have a natural knack for believing in things, being harmonious and accepting of others. They are good at least acting completely positive and euphoric when need be anyway. They have a natural confidence x2 combob as well. Literally almost nothing can get them down. They steal for themselves others confidence and belief. Their trust and love, giving it to themselves. They take for themselves this unstoppable optimism from everyone around them and uses it to push them forward, making themselves more and more optimistic.

They want to be a rock star, fueled by people screaming their name. They want to be a Hero, someone that others put their unconditional faith and trust in. Failing that, they probably might want to be a God also. Depends on where a particular Thief of Hope decides to go. In any case, they want to be thrust up onto a pedestal of some kind, for people to worship and adore. They’ll do it by any means necessary as well. They want to be trusted, to be loved, and they’ll do that both by boosting themselves up and by pushing others like them down.

I am God because I am the only God or I am The Hero because I am the Only Hero. Not all Thieves of Hope will choose that route either, some might only focus on themselves and making themselves better, screw everyone else, I’m the Best. As Thieves though they can steal the authenticity and realness from people and objects, making people less likely to believe that they exist or are real. An example of a Thief of Hope would be Syndrome from The Incredibles movie.

Blood color: Grape

Symbol: N/A

Lusus: Cthulhu

Trolltag: supremeDomination [SD]

Quirk: Perfect grammar except all i's are replaced with 1 and it ends in ~ "Hey Sa1haa! How are you do1ng?~" also laughs a lot "N1sh1shi~"

Personality:

Kokich describes himself as an evil supreme leader. He is an elusive and manipulative troll who unabashedly tells lies and says whatever he's thinking. He is also strangely straightforward about his supposed evil nature, openly claiming to be a leader of a large secret society, admitting to being a liar, and saying he has done nothing but bad things. Among other things, his organization supposedly has covert agents in every country, control over all the mafias in the world, torture as a form of punishment, and Kokich's defeated opponents apparently will get sent to a region in Alternia. However, none of his claims have been confirmed, and the other students think he's either lying or delusional. In his love hotel fantasy sequence, it's shown that he likes to view himself as a phantom thief type of a criminal.

Likes: Grape Panta, being the best, fucking everyone over, fucking with everyone, his "secret society", lying, lying about lying

Dislikes: Getting fucked over himself, CHERRY PANTA, being mistaken for a slave, not being a meme, never knowing the answer to the ultimate question*

*do robots have dicks

Quadrants:

<3 - Mixed feelings between Saihaa Shuich and Rantar Amamii

<> - Gontaa Gokhar

o8< - Kirumi Tohjou

<3< - Tsumug Shiroga 

[lameunknown]

a day later and i’m still shooketh with how good it felt to paint myself like sasha. it literally felt euphoric to strut around in that mug, crown, dress and with my arms covered in black paint to resemble gloves. i felt beautiful. unstoppable. right. no other queen has ever had this effect on me and no other person, really, except for maybe john with his music. i’m just so grateful miss velour exists and blesses us with her brilliance like this i’m emotional

[sanityisjustamyth]

Addiction Urges At Their Finest ..

So, I'm going on what.. 8 months clean? Clean from what, right? Well it wasn't Meth, or Heroine or even Cocaine. It was Xanax. In my opinion, it's the worst drug do be addicted to besides those other 3. Xanax just had this beautiful power to let my brain rest, for hours at a time.. totally relaxed and clear-headed and fuck was it wonderful. Getting diagnosed, as well as learning to live with N.E.A.D (non-epileptic attack disorder) as well as regular chronic anxiety and depression was as frustrating as it could get for me. Being on medication for my anxiety and depression was turning into a rollercoaster of emotions that I was 110% DONE riding. Tried so many different doctors, and of course even with a doctorate no one knew what the fuck they were talking about when it came to what I needed for CORRECT treatment. The 'treatment' I was getting, was half assed and no one, including myself really did anything about it. So there I was stuck, confused, frustrated because I had no idea what the fuck was going on with my body, I couldn't work, couldn't attend normal classes.. I was bed ridden most of my days because of the exhaustion from having 10+ seizures everyday.. I was done and the only way out for me at the time seemed like this amazing pill that just made me euphorically stable, and happy and excited about my future... made me feel unstoppable, like it was me against the world. It was the summer of 2016, and I was having the time of my life with this shit. Going out with my best friend, waiting for a dealer to come through, the urge and angst of finding the change to pay for just two or 4 pills, to make my entire day or night. Going out and enjoying beautiful sceneries, listening to great music, laughing, feeling that pure selfless happiness.. was such a rush compared to this frustrating life that had started out of no where just 2 months before my addiction started. That summer was hands down the best summer I've literally ever had. But, then again it was also the worst. I would be waking up some day so sick from withdrawaling, depressed out of my MIND crying continuously ALL day long and having bursts of bi-polar behavior (extreme anger and literally was having temper tantrums).. I was getting so fucked up I would have or even start an argument with my boyfriend, (bless his heart for sticking around with me through this period) and totally not recall the argument the next day whatsoever, my brain was literally brainless..took me forever to get a sentence together let alone out in one piece without stuttering. I was damaging my relationship and at one point I almost chose drugs over him.. I was in there deep. I lost contact with some of my closest friends, thinking everything was peaches&cream between us, but in reality I had them crying, angry and confused as to why I turned into such a bad friend ignoring them all the time. (Now honestly real friends would understand the situation and try to help you, not blame you for everything and just be angry and judgemental about it) I mean come on, I was obviously lost and didn't know what I was doing or how I was hurting the people I loved, and I was fucked up ALL the time, so how could I know any better. Well I moved to Oregon for a fresh start with my boyfriend to really run away from the access I had to Xanax and see if the environment change would help my episodes.. Anyway THE POINT OF THIS WAS I'm fiending hard as hell today and I'm remembering all the good times, but also all the times where I was left clueless of memory and hysterically in tears and depressed. That's why I quit. I have to remember, that was the reason why I really woke up one day and was done. Because it was ruining my life, but made my brain so happy. My mental struggle is still very real and alive in me. I feel you can tell in this note. I live in this constant battle everyday, being as frustrated as I am, because still today I do not know how to control my seizures, and I have no prescribed medication for them, still unable to work, barely able to still attend school and my brain will not shut up. I have no access to it anymore, and even though I want that relief, it's not worth the aftermath, even if I did find it. Urges suck, they can take over your whole day because all you want is to run away and just FINALLY feel better. But that's life, drugs aren't meant to be a permanent fix. If they were, this world would be a very different place haha. Moral of the story is, I miss my happy pill.. :( but I gotta find another way to help fight the urges. I started, by typing out my story. Maybe others can relate?? Idkidkidk #drugsarebadmmkay

[in-paradox-space]

I scheduled a post for every day for 21 days.

I made them as a reminder for myself everything would get better, but I’m feeling better sooner than anticipated. I regret making the posts because they’re cringy but I’m sure nobody at all sees them. 

You’ll feel better too, whatever you’re going through. 

After some research I decided that’s how long it’d take for me feel alright again after a pretty heavy MDMA and other substance comedown.

I feel like the other substance might be cocaine or ketamine, i dont know. It hit me really quickly and my left arm was being controlled by my leg, when I tried to move my limbs a different part of my body would move.

It was extremely euphoric and terrifying but I just didn’t move for a while until I felt I could carefully attempt to move again.

So yeah the posts are like really emotional and dramatic but I felt fucking awful the week of the comedown.

You heard of brain zaps? They’re fucking awful.

I kept researching online in how the fuck to feel better and stop the brain zaps. Everywhere pointed to a thing called 5htp. It’s tryptophan. From my memory, I believe it’s a chemical which aids to production of serotonin. We get it naturally from food, and it helps our body to create and/or properly absorb serotonin. Something like that... it helps us feel serotonin anyway.

and the internet suggested the brain zaps were likely my brain trying to return back to it’s balance

and at that time i was really lovestruck by a girl. I feel okay knowing i likely wont ever be with her now. 

i dont mind if i see her again or not. I’d like to see her again but i think it’d just be cool to be friends. I think the chemical imbalance made me feel the need to be around someone. It’s all down to the chemicals in your mind at the end of the day. They control your perception of everything, your attitude to the world. 

well yeah, everywhere told me to buy 5htp. i knew it wouldnt arrive in time for me to use them but i ordered anyway, in case this shit happens again. they also sounded good

I tried my first one today, a 100mg pill. 

I felt kind of sick afterwards but I ate a sandwich and I was fine. 

Whether or not it’s a placebo, I felt great today.

Not a euphoric feeling, but I just feel good. 

I smile, type smiley faces and can say I’m good.

I’ve been really confident today. I arrived at college a little late, cracked jokes very naturally. Like it just happened, I just made jokes without thinking and everybody let off genuine, unstoppable laughter. 

I’m not extremely acquainted with my class. I know the names of my tutor and 5 students. We joked like we’d already spent the year together and I smiled. It was a sunny day and I got hella work done.

Work in illustrator. Photoshop is pretty simple but illustrator is just frustrating.

I did a whole art piece in illustrator and I’ve almost half-finished the annotation; I’ll have to type that up tomorrow. I wrote notes and keywords for when I type it up. 

I also have to design like 10 logos.The minimum is six, but I put a lot of planning and basically create multiple logo designs for every one logo.

So if I create six logos as meticulously as I do I should get a merit at least. I’ll have to annotate it well.

I have some work experience lined up. I don’t know where yet, we’re sort of trying the first choice, somewhere pretty prestigious but I don’t want to name it here.

Then if not, it’s some other places which will be pretty useful for my future.

but outside of college

I have some other work experience lined up 

like legit

you see an opportunity, you take it. You say yes. 

Tell yourself yes enough times every morning. 

you will say yes to others 

they say yes to you

Just bring the word into your vocabulary. 

So yeah, 5HTP. I don’t think it’s a placebo. I recommend it to anyone who even knows about this blog. Not suitable if you’re on SSRIs though, of course, because of the connections with serotonin.

I felt pretty good today.

I put out a lot of positive vibrations and recieved them. 

I shouldn’t let my guard down though. 

so yeah

someone posted an opportunity online

somebody sent it to me 

I decided I’d go for it, a lot of other people went for it

but what I had to offer was closest to what the client wanted and/or believed they wanted

and I think I got the place

they wont be disappointed.  

It was on facebook though, they was middle-aged and not exactly an internet dweller

my facebook is fucking FILLED with underground memes

very obscure and ironic to the point of not at all being understood by anyone just a little outside of it

and some accessible, wholesome shit 

but idk

if this person sees them they wont understand

im really surprised they even got to me about it

i think its because i was the only one who offered what they wanted.

My services for free. They won’t be disappointed but I’m sure they have doubts.

I won’t be surprised if they change their mind.

I don’t wanna change my whole facebook to look presentable though, the memers on that friends list were there throughout the whole shabang

the good, the bad and the ugly

they’re brothers and I’m not going to sell them out.

so i need to make a page, then eventually a website, to showcase my work and offer people my services.

tomorrow, I also need to filter through around 2000 HD photos and put the best ones into a folder

then filter those to the very best in another folder

and upload them all on imgur, in the meantime, I suppose

then create a quick Facebook page

haha fuck

creating pages is the hard part

maintaining them can be tricky

they either run themselves, or become a chore you eventually abandon 

If the thought of keeping your page up to date tires you, I recommend scheduling weeks and weeks ahead

and working your ass off for a few days every few weeks.

then u literally just have to read comments and check interactions every now and then.

hnnng

I hate having to filter through hundreds of photos, every time I go somewhere with my camera, to put them into the ‘good’ folders.

mainly because my pc is slow at loading them. 

 I wanted to get a new cpu but the one I wanted was out of stock. 

i think everything else is decent in there. i could use more, faster ram and i need to fix the codecs. 

but the hardware is fine, its just a shitty cpu i got from ebay.

also the tiny motherboard and ram came in a cheap bundle lmao

i dont want to change the motherboard though.

where am i going with this?

Yes! Tomorrow will be a big day.

Gonna take some 5htp in the morning to get through it. I wake up in 4 hours and go to the gym in 5. 

I have to finish my college annotation and spend a few hours doing logos.

Then pilfer through hundreds and hundreds of photos

choose the best ones

upload hundreds and hundreds of high res photos

smooth talk with some potential first clients

and i have to create a facebook page

aaaaa

and I have  to write all the details in there

do I have to watermark all the photos too?  

well

i just wanted to say the 5htp is good. 

im getting good opportunities

things are really starting to look good. 

i write this sentence to you with love!

I have hella work to do tomorrow

and the MDMA comedown isn’t a problem now.

[moonshroooms]

RIPS SHIRT OFF TALK TO ME ABOUT VIDEO GAMES

1: Do you try to stay away from walkthroughs?

On a playthrough stand point, absolutely (unless I’ve been so stuck that I’m ready to throw my controller, which doesn’t happen that often. I always feel dumber afterwards though >_<). But I like to watch let’s plays and I got like, through the entirety of all the Bioshock games and halfway through Ni no Kuni before I was like ‘u know what I’m getting a ps3 and playing them  myself’

2: Company you're always loyal to?

Midna, all of my Pikmin. Uhh. Saadia. I haven’t played a lot of games where you gotta choose one side or the other XD

3: Best game you've ever played?

Zelda series, Pikmin series, Okami, Journey. 

I have a lot of favorites bite me.

4: Worst game you've ever played?

I had the one of the Spyro trilogies on my ds and oooohmygooood it is absolutely horrid. The controls and graphics are bad enough. I had absolutely no idea what was going on. The other one was called like Slime or something and you played a prince with like, fairy/monster characters who could spray ice and water, and slime and vomit, to work your way through the levels. Yeah. Vomit. Yum. Controls were disgusting it literally made me cry as a child.

5: A popular series/game you just can't get into no matter how much you try?

Probably any MMORPG (if that counts). They’re fun with friends, but if my friends aren’t there it’s like. No thanks. And most modern shooter where it’s like, an army setting and all you do is shoot people and nothing else. bishockdoesn’tcountonlycauseitsnotrealisticandalsonotinanarmysetingsotakethat alsoigetbirdpowers alsoletsbehonestthatstoryiscraycray #excuses

6: A game that's changed you the most?

The ending of Okami hit me pretty hard about helping God (or the gods), out every once in a while. Made me cry pretty hard when I was younger.

And Journey just. Journey just makes you feel things man. When I first played through it I had no internet and was completely alone, and I was just so heartbroken when it was over. I wasn’t ready for it to be gone. The second time I played I had an internet connection and I actually found someone to stick with me through most of the game and honestly, the end of the game was different in that moment. I wasn’t sad or lonely. When we walked into the light there was a sense of excitement for the next time, and while this journey was over and we’d miss it, I was so excited for the next time around with someone new.

7: A game you'll never forget?

Undertale. I didn’t think a game that took such a short time to finish could chokehold my heart like that. Sure the gameplay wasn’t much to sneeze at (though it could get difficult at times), but gosh dang. I don’t understand people when they say something is over-rated sometimes. Yes, Undertale fans went absolutely rabid (and I only played the game after like half a year when they hype had died down a smidge), but there’s a reason for that sometimes, you know? It left an impact. It made us feel things or made us think. And if a story can stir absolutely fanatic emotions in just one person, let alone enough people to be absolutely annoying, then there must be something that made it good, right? Maybe not everything in it is amazing, or will appeal to everyone, but there’s something there. There was something of substance, something we latched onto and couldn’t let go, even if it’s a dumb reason. So yeah. Undertale’s certainly I would never forget, and recommend anyone to at least try. Cast aside at the annoyance of the fandom, they’re just the dust surrounding the impact, and see if there’s something in there that you might find interesting - you never know.

8: Best soundtrack?

Zelda, Journey, Okami, Mario Galaxy. I’m sensing a pattern here.

9: A game you turn your volume off every time you play it?

Brodudes and dudebros. WHO TURNS THE VOLUME COMPLETELY OFF HOW BAD IS THE MUSIC?

I do dislike the title music from Age of Empires 3. It’s honestly horrid.

10: A game you've completely given up on?

That slime game from when I was younger. And Amnesia, a dating sim my friend told me to get since there was a sale on steam that made that made it cheaper than a candy bar. I just. My god do all dating sims give you one choice every hour after 10 years of dialogue?? And then make half the decisions for you? The girl in amnesia was so infuriating and dumb as a brick. And everyone was basically just ranting to a wall and didn’t find it odd that she says like 2 words every couple hours. She doesn’t even say anything half the time it’s soooo boringggggg. If you’re gonna give me someone to pretend to be at least give them more options even Link has more personality AND speech options than that.

11: Hardest game you've played?

Uh, uh. Civilization? Mario Galaxy? I’ve never played civilization on a very high setting honestly (I don’t even think I’ve played the default difficulty). I just get too annoyed when Barbarians are there constantly sending invaders. Why isn’t there a setting to have just the wildlife barbarians and then I’ll deal with my computer competitors afterwards? And Mario Galaxy isn’t hard, I’m just lazy and haven’t gotten all the stars.

12: Shortest time you've beaten a game in?

Journey in just a few short hours.

13: A game you were the most excited for when it wasn't released yet?

Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I haven’t been that excited for a game since I was a little kid. Honestly, I don’t know what made the hype about this game so different. I was so giddy and euphoric when I finally got it. 

14: A game you think would be cool if it had voice acting?

I don’t really think I care to have voice acting in any of my games that don’t. Pokemon Sun and Moon, I guess? Not really a deal-breaker.

15: Which two games do you think would make an awesome crossover?

Zelda, Okami. Let’s be honest they’re pretty similarly structured games. I want Wolf Link and Ammy to be on an unstoppable team!

16: Character you've hated most? From what game?

Oh god. I hate Wario from Smash Bros. He’s just. So ugly. I hate his design. And I know that’s the point, but that doesn’t mean he’s still not ugly. And HE JUST HAS FART JOKES FOR NO REASON. TOILET HUMOR, like any other humor, IS FUNNY IF YOU HAVE A JOKE AND NOT IN AND OF ITSELF.

And Louie from Pikmin just grinds my gears. He’s so shady man I want to just leave him on an abandoned, Pikmin-less planet to die.

And Lubba from Mario Galaxy 2. I just hate the fact that he exists. Him AND his stupid hub-world.

17: What game do you never tell people you play?

#noshameonlygame

18: A game you wish your friends knew about?

MMM, Journey. I finally got my one friend to play it and he liked it A+, but my other friend hasn’t even considered it and I desperately want her to.

19: Which game do you think deserves a revival?

The Spyro Trilogy. I’m probably one out of a bunch o’ people that really like the Spyro trilogy (she says, as she’s only actually played Dawn of the Dragon). But I really liked the story and the feel of the game. I have played the actual first Spyro game when I was little, in like hotels and stuff, and it was alright. I’m not much of a collect-a-thon type of gamer. 

20: What was the first video game you ever played?

When I was little I played this alien shooting game with my dad. I can’t for the life of me remember what it’s called though. I think it might’ve been on X-box or something. It was pixally and 3D in the Doom sense of 3D. The camera was always fixed to whatever it felt like at the time. So like, the first level was propped up like a side-scroller (though there was still 3d space), but down the line it might go sort of top down or directly behind the character. It was actually a co-op, with the only second character being a girl who I always played (props for such an old game having a female protagonist). There were different guns, and some power-ups and such. It was probably a liiittle violent to consider it okay for a 5-year-old, but I really liked it, and I’m not a psychopath that craves the taste of bullets.

21: How old were you when you first played a video game?

5

22: If you could immerse yourself in any game for one day, which game would it be? What would you do?

Zelda, Okami, Journey. Screw around with my new superpowers, save the world.

23: Biggest disappointment you've had in gaming?

Super Mario Galaxy 2′s hubworld. It’s so flipping boring and compact and also ugly. And you just get a linear track-path for getting to new galaxies. I miss the sprawling space station and Rosalina’s lovely face.

Spore’s space and civilization stage. Keeping in mind I went into Spore with no expectations. I didn’t know who created it or anything like that. I like the first 3 stages of Spore a whole bunch, but the civilization stage was boring and the space stage was big and boring. It’s just the same thing over and over again in slightly different colors. And the Grox are annoying as all get-out.

Breath of the Wild’s story, lack of a companion, and dungeons. And like one or two tiny things.

24: Casual, Hardcore, or in the middle?

The lovechild between hardcore and in the middle.

25: Be honest; have you ever used cheats (like ActionReplay or Gameshark)?

Like cheats where you can get into the inner-workings of the game? Heck naw dawg. I’ve certainly used cheats that were already in the game, like with Sims or Skyrim, but I try to refrain from that since it tends to ruin the game. I have a really bad habit of cheating in Civilization though and I just can’t break it! >^<

26: Handheld or console?

Switch ;D

But, like, not the actual Switch

27: Has there ever been a moment that has made you cry?

Yes because I’m a big doofus. End of Okami, end of Journey, end of Kingdom Hearts, end of Spyro Dawn of the Dragon, end of LIKE ALMOST EVERY ZELDA GAME, end of Undertale, end of Bioshock 1 & 3, end of Life is Strange, end of Ni no Kuni, and probably a billion moments in between.

28: Which character's clothes do you wish you owned the most?

Every single Gerudo. Also the Journey robes!

29: Which is more important, gameplay or story?

Story, but it’s not that I don’t think gameplay isn’t important. I guess it depends on the kind of game you’re going for, but I tend to lean towards story. 

I play Smash Bros, which is almost exclusively gameplay and it’s one of my favorite games. But without friends there’s nothing for me to go back to.

I also like Life is Strange, but after seeing every option and knowing all the shocking twists and turns, there’s not much for me to go back to either since it’s exclusively story and there’s nothing else really fun to do.

That’s why I tend to drift towards games like Zelda and Okami or Skyrim and Pikmin. 

With a game like Zelda or Okami I feel like it’s 60% story and 40% gameplay. Pikmin is more 70% gameplay and 30% story. Skyrim is pretty 50/50, since it depends on the player how story-oriented the game will be.

Either way, I tend to like games that lean just a bit more towards story. Story is something keeps me thinking about the game even after I turned it off and lets me connect with the poor sap I’m piloting. Gameplay keeps me entertained even as I revisit old stories, and sometimes it’s specifically what I go back for.

30: A game that hasn't been localized in your country that you think should be localized?

Mother 3 - but not because I want to play Mother 3 or have even played or watched any of the Mother/Earthbound games - but because I don’t have a game I want localized and I want people to have their Mother 3 so they can stop being sad about it.