#as you can see i am still insane about hk

[littlebittyhollowbugs]

Me who is obsessed with Hollow and the Pale king and has been crying over the Ithica saga (from Epic the musical) this past week listening to "I cant help but wonder" and piecing together a Hollow reuniting with (spirit) pk sequence in my mind and going insane:

[manofmanymons]

I know this sounds somewhat hypocritical as someone who loves Survive and Hollow Knight very very very much, one of the biggest things that puts me off from series is when there's too much death and/or general carnage. And it's not even that I'm sensitive to gore or can't handle some death.

It's that once everyone starts dying, I stop having fun! I'm not enjoying cool action scenes because everyone I liked is dead, but I'm not even properly sad about any of the deaths anymore because goddamn everyone else is fuckin dead am I supposed to be surprised now? You can only cram so many emotional scenes into a short period of story before I completely stop feeling anything at all.

The reason I like Survive anyways is because there's a truthful route where everyone lives, and even if there wasn't, there's still the moral route where most of them live. If it was JUST the wrathful route or JUST the harmony route I'd fuckin hate it! The fact that that would be a dreadfully short game notwithstanding, I'd be pretty pissed if I spent so much time gaining affinity with these characters and watching them bond with each other and the mc just for the game to end with half of them dead and the other half living in a post apocalyptic hellhole. As full games those routes are ass! But existing as they are as just extreme hypotheticals of what could have happened to these characters if just a few more things went wrong and they weren't as strong of a team, and we get to learn more about them by seeing how they act when pushed to the brink...yeah that is fun. It's like "well I know that this character is okay but it's cool seeing what COULD have but did not happen to them." And you know what despite Ryo literally being one of my favorite characters, I still would've loved Survive just fine without the truthful route because the moral route is a very good stand alone story of a bunch of kids who were met with tragedy but only became closer because of it and still managed to find a happy ending for themselves.

And Hollow Knight, well. For one it's largely helped by the fact that it is a video game and not a show, therefore the fact that it is just INCREDIBLY fun to play goes a long way in making me mentally insane about it. But it's not just that! From the very start of the game you KNOW you're playing through something sad. The sad doesn't sneak up on you, it's always there. Rather than playing through the downfall of a kingdom, you're exploring the ruins of a once-beautiful kingdom, learning what happened to it, meeting the inhabitants, befriending the last little glimmers of hope in this dying world, and fighting to save them. And yeah depending on the player's actions you lose a few of them along the way, but a) as I said some of them only die depending on what the player does, and b) I feel like enough of them have satisfying endings that I'm not too fixated on the ones that die. Ofc Quirrel being probably dead bums me out, and it sucks that you can't do anything for Myla, but hey, your homie Elderbug is fine, Cornifer is fine, you can save Cloth and even Zote if you'd like. Your Mantis buddies are still around. Brumm can be having a silly good time OR you might have a son now. Idk to me HK is finding hope and happiness amid despair rather than losing hope and falling into despair.

Unlike series that are like whee we're a fun action adventure--just kidding everyone is dead.

Oh well we started sad but if everyone works together then maybe there's hope that--psych they are all in fact still dead.

What a silly goofy show about kids having a fun--lmao you fell for that? Nah they're dead too.

Obviously other people are into that otherwise there wouldn't be so many popular series that do that but my god do I hate it literally every single time I have never once gone "you know what this story IS better now that none of my favs are in it and whoever's left has been doing nothing but fighting nonstop without an ounce of the playfulness or humor that originally drew me into this series."

[nyctophobia-au]

▸Welcome to the Blog for My HK AU◂

Hello, and welcome to my blog! Be prepared for mediocre art and insane, 3AM crackhead ramblings. This blog is for my Hollow Knight AU, which I've called Nyctophobia. Originally, Nyctophobia was just a placeholder name but I'm attached now, please help. My personal art blog is @rottika

▸ABOUT ME◂

▸ My name is Rot, but you can also call me SFBE or Sexy Fictional Bug Enthusiast. Yes, I am normal. ▸ I'm nineteen. ▸ My pronouns are he/him. ▸ Member of the LGBTQ+ community. (Trans, aromantic, polyamorous, and bisexual specifically.) ▸ I am an American but I use British English because American English hella stinky. ▸ I'm an amateur artist and writer. I also do YouTube sometimes, but that's wholly unrelated to this blog. ▸ Neurodivergent; please use tone indicators if possible! ▸ Hollow Knight is my special interest. I have three hundred hours on the game, and you should be concerned. ▸ IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN COMMISSIONING ME, YOU CAN FIND MY COMMISSION SHEET HERE. To order one, DM me on Twitter or Instagram! (Links are at the bottom of this post.)

▸ABOUT THIS BLOG◂

▸ This blog is essentially a dumping ground for artwork and ramblings related to a Hollow Knight AU I created. ▸ Hopefully, I'll be turning this AU into a full fic at some point, but I'm slow so don't count on it anytime soon. ▸ I have taken some creative liberties in many of my own interpretations of the characters. If you disagree with a ship I like or an idea I have, that's perfectly fine and valid! Just ignore and DNI if it upsets you. ▸ I appreciate asks and will answer all of them as long as they are respectful and not directly hateful or crude. Anything of a rude nature will be ignored and deleted. ▸ I would prefer that you send questions to my ask box and not in comments. I am more likely to see them and reply with a longer response that way! :] ▸ Feel free to reblog my work! However, please do not repost any of my work or use it as pfps/headers WITHOUT CREDIT. ▸ If you want to use any of my personal designs for different characters, feel free to do so! I would appreciate it if you were to credit me as your inspiration though, so that I can see the work you create! ▸ Feel free to request work or suggest ideas! Though I am taking requests, I still have full rights to deny or ignore any requests I get if I do not want to draw them. (Please only request art related to this AU/HK.) ▸ This blog may contain very mild NSFW topics. There will be nothing explicit of course, but just be mindful of your own boundaries and DNI if something makes you uncomfortable.

▸PERSONAL BOUNDARIES◂

▸ DNI IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF FIFTEEN. ▸ Do not send in asks about any incest or underage/adult pairings. ▸ Do not request artwork of any incest or underage/adult pairings. ▸ Do not request NSFW artwork. ▸ You MAY send in asks related to NSFW topics, but please keep it civil and non-explicit. I don't wanna see any nasty shit, thanks. Questions of that ilk will be ignored. ▸ If I see a racial, transphobic, homophobic, or ableist slur, you will be blocked. <3

▸YOU CAN ALSO FIND ME◂

[bluejayblueskies]

Your HK au post is so well thought out and I love it but as someone who has seen many hours of HK clips on Youtube, I am curious which cast members you can see making the most iconic mistakes. Who overcooks like a dozen wellingtons in one service? Who overcooks and throws away about 5lbs of pasta? Whose signature dish makes Elias physically sick even though they insist customers always love it? Etc.

oh i'm glad you like it!!! in no particular order:

- any time jude is put on the meat station, she burns the lamb. it's like a curse. she tries to make lamb for a challenge once before she gets sent home in an effort to redeem herself but she burns that one too. the night she gets sent home she burns three lambs in a row and elias sits her down and forces her to eat her burnt lamb at the chef's table.

- on the flip side, jane gets put on meat her first service and only puts out raw meat. she's like 'it's not raw it's rare!' and elias is like 'the fat isn't rendered and it's cold what do you mean it's not raw???' (she puts out raw chicken two times in a row and elias almost loses his mind)

- martin. i love martin. but his signature dish does not go over well at all. elias takes one look and is like 'this looks like you upended a trash can on this plate and sprinkled some chives on top of it. what is it supposed to be?' and then he eats it and spits it out almost instantaneously. martin's so nervous, all he can think to say is, 'it's something i serve all the time, people love it!' and elias is like 'remind me never to come to your general area of the country. zero points. next'

- poor gerry. the man just cannot cook scallops to save his life. elias is like 'they're rubber do them again!' and then gerry tries again and this time they're stone cold. the next time they stick to the pan. gerry gets kicked out of the kitchen, goes back to the dorms, and sits on the couch with his head in his hands like fuck.

- jon has mostly good services. but. his big mistake comes somewhere near black jackets when he gets up in his head about things. he slices a wellington, is like 'shit this is over' and is so afraid to bring up overcooked wellington or admit to it that he just... throws it away. he does this for two more before elias gets impatient and goes over and is like 'what are you doing??' and pulls perfectly cooked wellingtons out of the trash and is like 'these are perfectly cooked!! why are we throwing away perfectly cooked food!! you're better than this jon' and jon is convinced he's going to get kicked out even though it's his first real mistake in service.

- jared is the person who doesn't communicate at all. he either says absolutely nothing or gives conflicting answers ('two minutes on the fish' [one minute later] 'three minutes on the fish chef!') and likes to blame his communication mistakes on other people, saying that they didn't talk to him.

- mike puts up a lot of undercooked risotto (like... consistently) and eventually it gets to the point where he's put on apps and his teammate is like 'dude just- just let me do the risotto please' and in the cut-away interview portion, mike is like 'what the fuck dude, i know how to cook a goddamned risotto, get off my back' when clearly he doesn't lol

- tim has no palate. he does very poorly at all the 'taste it now make it' or palate challenges. elias gives him banana to taste and he guesses carrots. he gives him chicken and tim guesses egg whites. it's awful.

- manuela does the classic 'i didn't realize the stove/oven wasn't on!' not once, but twice in her time in hell's kitchen. she sits there stirring risotto over a cold burner for ten minutes before elias finally goes over and is like 'it... it's not even hot manuela!'

- agnes almost burns down hell's kitchen. twice.

- helen/michael (i think they would use both names, but i haven't decided yet) just can't remember the orders that elias calls out. he'll call 'two wellingtons one halibut one new york strip' and he'll ask helen/michael to repeat it back and they'll be like *dial up noises* 'two wellingtons, one- one tuna, um...' and elias is standing there like 😐

- in all of oliver's time in hell's kitchen, elias doesn't like a single original dish he does for any of the challenges. oliver, in his cut-away interviews, is like 'well, clearly he just doesn't recognize talent' when quote-unquote 'talent' is like... two weirdly butchered overcooked fillets and pomegranate mint pink peppercorn sauce.

- daisy sends up so much raw fish. the kind that elias slams down on the table and smushes beneath his hand because he's so frustrated. she has basira check it, basira says it's not ready, and for some reason she walks it up anyway. once (and only once) she sends up overcooked fish and elias is like 'finally, some fucking variety in your mistakes'

- julia talks back to elias, and when she gets cut, she says right to his face, 'you're making a huge mistake and you'll regret it' and then stomps away just to stomp right back when he says, a bit snidely, 'get out of my fucking kitchen.' she is escorted away by security. everyone else is like 😳🤐 it is silent in that room.

- basira is extremely meticulous in her cooking. this also makes her a very slow chef who tends to get in her head as a way to cope with the insanity of the kitchen around her. she'll often be like a brick wall when people try to talk to her and then pick up a pan and say 'walking scallops to the pass!' when the risotto still has three minutes to go.

- naomi is the unfortunate pasta-waster. she also basically falls apart on garnish, sends up raw eggplant three times in a row, can never remember what garnish goes with which thing. when they're prepping the kitchen she's standing with a little list trying to remember what goes in each dish.

- sasha is... not very good in the beginning, but around episode three there's such a sudden shift in her cooking that people swear she's not the same person anymore. the main way sasha avoids elimination in the beginning is her team not losing dinner services, despite the fact that she sends up near-consistent rubber scallops and salty risotto. the audience is surprised when she's in the final four, but she says in the cut-away interview, 'i just realized what i needed to do and i did it. i'm a different chef right now than i was when i came here, that's for sure'

- georgie once butchers thirty racks of lamb incorrectly during prep and they have to throw all of them away. she also has a tendency to struggle with cutting lamb and is often like 'melanie, just. can you do this for me' because melanie is frighteningly good at cutting meat in one slice.

- melanie is the contestant who gets in arguments with nearly everybody all the time but then next episode is friends with them again. this happens sometimes in the span of five minutes with jon, and people just cannot decide if they're friends or not. (they are.) she also makes a signature dish that elias refuses to eat because her steak is so raw it's 'still mooing' and she's like 'well if he'd just tasted it he'd know that my flavors were good.'

- jordan drops an entire pan of wellingtons. ten wellingtons just. rolling all over the floor. elias is furious and he has to go over to the other kitchen, borrow some wellingtons, and apologize to the other diners for the now-thirty minute wait time. then, he has jordan go out and apologize directly. jordan's cut-away interview is just him hanging his head and whispering, 'fuck me'

[ratcandy]

How would you interpret the personality of Hat and Bow kid?

Snaps all my fingers one by one. Let's find out!!

Though I will put a disclaimer right off the bat that developing personalities without putting them into writing first is weirdly hard for me, so I'm sorry if these aren't like-- mind-blowing personalities that I'm putting together here HSDJHG; esp for Bow Kid, since I've written Hat Kid a bit to get a grasp on her personality,, but not Bow Kid (yet :eyes emoji:)

Anyway!! Let's see what I got for ya

Hat Kid

The Gremlin Child. My personality development for her is not anything revolutionary sdghskdjgh

She's a lil curious bastard that yearns for discovery, often forgetting the task at hand as she'd much prefer to wander off and look at some weird new flowers or a particularly smooth stone. Absolutely catches frogs with her bare hands and carries them around until someone has to tell her to put them down.

While her primary interest in any situation is to reach a place of comfort (she wants to go home above all else), she doesn't like to let this show. In fact, she'd prefer never to show any uncertainty, or pain, or unease, or any sign of feeling unwell at all. Worrying others or in any way being a burden is her greatest fear, so she hides a lot. A lot. Everything, actually.

This only becomes an issue when her emotions get involved. As one can expect from a child, she's very overemotional, sometimes acting out irrationally due to being upset or overzealously eager. She's easily swayed by great gestures of affection - as that's not something she's accustomed to - so any little act of kindness done her way will just about have her break down into happy little tears as she hugs you and cries and hugs you and cries.

Point is, if you are to combine overly emotion child with someone that doesn't like to worry others, you end up with wounded child, crying, fighting to stop crying, being tended to and helped, and she's telling whoever's helping her to stop because she's fine, and then she gets overwhelmed by being shown care, and then she gets frustrated that the person helping her won't listen to her, and it all meshes together until it boils over. break down

I am Angsting this child so bad I'm sorry

(in this vein she's also an overachiever because the burnt out gifted kid headcanon still rotates in my brain because it's totally Canon. I'm not projecting what do you mean.)

On a more wholesome note, Hat Kid is all about making friends!! At any given opportunity! If you are in her line of sight at any moment you are on the path to becoming her friend. I don't think I need to explain my reasoning behind this given the BFF contract sdghkJSDHG

An excited, bubbly, happy(-acting) girl that just wants to explore and befriend everyone and doodle all the time and look at pretty bugs and and and and!!! yeah!

also she's not easily frightened. Startled, yes, but actually full-on fear is hard. Exception is Vanessa <3 and also Empress because she reminds her of her mom <3 And no I won't go into more detail <3

Bow Kid

I haven't had as much time to think about her!! Bow Kid is so robbed by GFB that it drives me insane,,, she doesn't even have her own proper cover art for each act!! What the hell!! HOWEVER there was one occasion where I played co-op with a friend in which I played as Bow Kid and I felt . Emotions. I felt great emotions towards her and now I hold her delicately in my palm hoping one day to flesh her out better once I'm through destroying Hat Kid

Rreeegardless! I'm pretty sure my idea of Bow Kid isn't much different than everyone else's, either. I see her as the slightly older, slightly more mature counterpart to Hat Kid. While HK is bouncy and energetic, Bow Kid is calmer, more rational, also more likely to express concern. I say this because I'm pulling her personality straight from my experience playing as her in that co-op round. In which I watched as my friend would struggle endlessly (/lh) and Bow's concerned expression would have me burst into a fit of giggles whenever I'd see it

Essentially if the two were a duo, Hat Kid would be the one suggesting shenanigans and mischief, and Bow Kid would try to be voice of reason until she ultimately gives into the shenanigans and mischief (that she secretly wanted to do to begin with).

I also have. Just the slightest headcanon that's would likely never line up with canon, given that Bow Kid can touch Timepieces and reacts to them just fine, but I like to believe Bow Kid is not the alien species that Hat Kid is. I think she's a human child that Hat Kid befriends and just steals from the Metro. Because Bow Kid's got so much cat going on that I cannot separate her from the Metro. It would also add up in the sense that, in the game, Bow Kid is not "unlocked" until the game is finished. Most people do Nyakuza Metro after beating the game. How my brain pieced that together was "oh, Hat Kid makes a friend after the finale/just before the finale and it happened in the Metro! Very epic!"

BUT given that you can play as Bow Kid and she can therefore touch Timepieces without getting corrupted, it kinda nullifies that possibility a little. So, rip. Unless Bow Kid is also part of Hat Kid's species that just got stranded on Earth somehow hsdkgjh

At any rate her personality!! Aside from what I've already said!! Uhh. Sits on the floor and stares at a wall. This is not something bow is doing it's what i'm doing. My brain is so empty with her still rrrrr

u know what? Get back to me on this. I will have more ideas later I'm certain!! I Just haven't had nearly as much experience writing her out as I have for Hat Kid shdgkjhsdg, forgive mE

[mizuki-suteko]

I am sorry I didn't update for a period of time. I am still fine but my city Hong Kong is being worse day by day.

The time now is that HK police hold the greatest power. There are lots of reasonable doubts that they may have raped and killed some of the HK protesters. I would try to explain in the posts later.

The HK police is very rude to all protesters. When the protester is already no power to revolt/ arrested, they still use a lot of violent (even sexual harassment/indecent)

But, not only protesters definitely. They are extremely impolite to all kinds of people including the people who was just passing the road/living there, reporters, Legislative Council member(Pro-democracy camp), etc.

In the photos, you may see that HK police is use their guns pointing everywhere, including the housing estate, the upper floor in a shopping mall, and a minibus.

In fact, there are also a lot of photos showed that quite some of the HK police is laughing when they are holding a gun. It's totally insane and unacceptable at all. There was a student died (seems) because of the HK police, and a policeman even said that he is going to "celebrate for his dead by opening a bottle of champagne".

the HK police is shooting the pepper spray to the candidates for district councillor whom were doing legal political campaign, and even arrest them.

The police rushed into a housing estate and forced the people who lived there to do this this for more than half a hour.

There are still a lot of things can be talked about, I hope to start new posts very soon to present more about our revolution in Hong Kong.

Please stand with Hong Kong! Fight for Freedom!

(I can preview that there will be a lot of China "5 mo" attacking this post. So please help me to spread this!)

[hermannsthumb]

Hello!! If you're not too busy and are so inclined, could you do 24, 27, 37 for the fall prompts? For Newt and Hermann o b v i o u s l y. Thank u so so much!! Keep up the great work xoxo

24. Warm Sweaters + 37. Cold

from autumn fic prompts here

im cheating a LITTLE and not filling the “27. corn maze” part because I wrote it last year and im def not inspired enough to do another HAHA. and also...because I want to work towards finishing my @theloccent bingo card belatedly with Spooning and Huddling for Warmth. SORRY I TOOK SO LONG, ive had a weird summer and i just moved/started grad school last week, it hasn't been very conducive for writing. set ambiguously before they're transferred to the HK shatterdome

----------

“I must say, Newton,” Hermann says, “I believe I sorely underestimated your abilities.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Newt says, gloomily.

“You went above and beyond what I expected.”

“I get it,” Newt says.

“It takes a true sort of talent to screw things up as much as you have.”

“I get it,” Newt says.

Hermann is not smirking--he’s too angry right now for that--but he does have a somewhat unpleasant curl to his mouth that’s making Newt boil hot with embarrassment all the same. Sort of a sneer, maybe. “I get it,” Newt says for the third time. “I’m a fuck-up, I’m a walking disaster, I--” He kicks the front of the rental car hard with the end of his boot, relishing in the dull thud that echoes from it, and less in the dull pain. “--can’t even figure out how to patch a fucking tire.”

“Or drive,” Hermann offers, helpfully. “You can’t drive, either.”

“Neither can you, Mr. Speed Demon,” Newt shoots back, but he knows it falls flat. After all--when their connecting flight got cancelled, Hermann wasn't the one who insisted they leave the relative safety of the airport to peel out into a snowstorm in search of a hotel. Hermann wasn’t the one who insisted on driving the rental. Hermann isn’t the one who got them lost down some shitty little road in the middle of nowhere, with snow piling up all around them, and he definitely isn’t the one who got distracted behind the wheel trying to adjust the radio and didn't see a patch of ice in time and sent the car--well. The point is, they’re down two tires, probably an engine, most definitely their only mode of transportation, and sure as hell aren’t near any hotel.

Around them is snow as far as the eye can see. When they get home (and that’s if they ever make it back to the airport), Newt is requesting a transfer to the LA Shatterdome ASAP. “Well, Newton?” Hermann says. He’s bundled up in his stupid parka and more scarves than Newt even owns. Newt can barely see his face. “What’s your next brilliant plan? Build an igloo?”

Not a bad idea, at this rate; the snow is no joke. “I’m thinking,” Newt grumbles. His breath puffs out white in front of him. “Tow truck,” he says. “We need a tow truck.”

“Astute,” Hermann says.

Newt ignores him and pulls his cell phone from his pocket. No bars. Right, of course, middle of fucking nowhere. “Do you have any reception?” Newt sighs.

“I didn’t bring my mobile,” Hermann says.

Newt’s eyes snap up to fix on him incredulously. “You didn’t bring--?! What the hell, man?”

“I had no need for it on the trip,” Hermann says. “We’re meant to be at a conference. I didn't think we’d get lost.” He doesn’t even have the audacity to look ashamed. Newt debates hurling his cell phone into the snow bank in frustration, but decides against it, because it did kind of cost a lot.

“Unbelievable,” he says instead. “Fucking unbelievable. Fine. Let’s go find--”

“You’re not saying we ought to walk somewhere?” Hermann interrupts.

“What other options do we have?” Newt says. “Freeze to death? There’s gotta be at least a gas station or something nearby--I could find someone to tow the car, while you--” He looks Hermann up and down, from his oversized Oxfords to his twenty scarves to his pathetic red cheeks. Hermann’s leg gets stiff as hell in the cold; there’s no way he’d be able to make any kind of distance right now, and who knows how long they’d be walking. There’s also no way Newt’s leaving him behind. “Come on,” he finally sighs, and touches Hermann’s elbow tentatively. “Let’s just get back in the car. It’s warmer in there.”

Maybe he’ll go off by himself once the snow stops. Or maybe, if they’re lucky, someone will stop by and offer them a ride before that. “Only barely,” Hermann says with a scowl, but he obliges.

Newt doesn’t get back in the car right away, though. Instead, he pops the trunk, pulls out their duffel bags, and begins feeling around the backseat. They’ve only had the rental for a few hours, and Newt isn’t exactly the most skilled around cars, but he thinks... “What are you doing back there?” Hermann says.

“One sec,” Newt says, and when he tugs a little lever off to the side, the seats fold down. Another tug, and they fold back into the trunk, leaving the back half of the car entirely flat. “Oh, awesome!”

"Newton?”

Newt ignores Hermann and begins digging around in their duffel bags. He has nothing but a few spare sweatshirts and boxers in his own; Hermann’s proves far more promising. “Score,” Newt whistles, and pulls out two--three--four ugly sweaters. “Holy shit, dude, we were only supposed to be there for a night. Why’d you pack so much?”

“I like to be prepared,” Hermann says. “Which you clearly know nothing about. Hang on--” He cranes his neck around his seat headrest to frown at Newt. “Why are you--?”

“You’re a regular Boy Scout,” Newt interrupts. He climbs into the back of the car, kicks his boots a few times against the back fender to knock off all the snow, and shuts the trunk behind him. “Come on,” he says, unlacing his boots, “get back here already. I’m cold.”

Hermann stares at him.

Newt shucks off his leather jacket and pulls one of Hermann’s sweater over his head instead. It’s insane how much of a difference it makes--maybe Hermann has been on something all these years when he tells Newt he needs proper winter wear or whatever the fuck. He pulls on a second one for good measure, pleasantly surprised to find he can still move his arms, and then pulls on a second pair of his socks over his first. “C’mon, Hermann,” he says. “Time to share some body heat, dude.”

Hermann grumbles, and he shakes his head, and he tucks the hood of his parka down over his face (like being unable to see Newt means Newt will just magically forget he’s there), and then--finally--he turns back to face Newt again. “This is ridiculous,” he declares. “We must have other options.”

Newt lays down and stretches out on his side, blinking up at Hermann coyly. “You’re making it weird for no reason,” he says. “It doesn’t have to be weird, you know.” It can be perfectly natural--two dudes, who sometimes fight, and sometimes do things a little more amorous than fight, sharing body heat. That's all. “It’s just biology. Cats do it, penguins do it--”

“No,” Hermann says.

He comes to the backseat anyway. Newt likes to think it’s because he’s too irresistible.

“I call being big spoon,” Newt says happily, and he tucks himself around Hermann’s bony--and, at the moment, puffy--back before Hermann can protest. One leg, he nudges between Hermann’s, making sure not to put any weight where he shouldn’t; he settles the arm wrapped around Hermann at his waist, splaying his hand somewhere around Hermann’s upper abdomen. “There. Isn’t that nice?”

“Hmph,” Hermann says.

Outside, the storm rages on around them, snow piling up on the windows and frosting them over where it hasn’t landed yet. The last dregs of the heat in the car die out. Newt tucks himself a little closer to Hermann, inhaling his shampoo, the slight damp scent his fuzzy parka hood always has. Hasn’t the guy ever heard of dry-cleaning? “Feeling cozy?” Newt mumbles.

“You’re shivering,” Hermann tells him.

“Am I?” Newt says.

He is. Huh. Hermann turns over with a grunt, then unzips his parka and tucks Newt into it in one fluid motion. Newt winds his arms around Hermann instinctively. “There we are,” Hermann murmurs. “Let’s get you warm.”

The zipper goes back up with some difficulty, pressing Newt so tight against Hermann’s chest he can barely move. Hermann’s chin bumps his forehead. Newt looks up to find his wide mouth parted slightly. “I think I want to kiss you,” Newt says, surprising himself.

“Hm?” Hermann says.

“I want to kiss you,” Newt repeats a little louder, and that gets a reaction--Hermann’s eyebrows leap to his sweaty bangs, and his whole body stiffens. “Listen--listen. Uh. The best way to share body heat--you know--it’s stuff like that. Kissing, and--”

“I am not having sex with you in the back of a bloody rental car,” Hermann half-shouts. 

Newt wriggles around a little until he can steal an uncoordinated kiss from Hermann, landing it somewhere to the left of his mouth. He has better aim with his next one. “I won’t tell anyone if you don't,” he promises.

“We are not,” Hermann says, but the next kiss, he instigates himself.

They’re rescued half an hour later when a local knocks on the window and asks if they need a lift; the bed and breakfast Newt was so sure he was leading them to, as it turns out, is only a five minute walk away, hidden from view by some trees and the snow. “At least we had some fun bonding time,” Newt tells Hermann sheepishly in the lobby.

Hermann scowls, but to Newt’s delight, requests a single queen for them both.

[fly-sky-high-bug-games]

I'm half sure they've deleted their twt at this point, but they did frequent crossover art with Azura_Inalis (who also drew insane amounts of vessel incest), which is probably still be out there in reposts. Ofc, of their two vessels boning.

What i meant by "support" is "give access to". You have a following that isn't small, dude. You gotta keep an eye on who you platform. Especially disgusting motherfuckers like Harold's creator. This isn't me trying to cancel *you*, its a polite warning so other mfers dont see that and try to anyway.

Why was sending a message to me in person and letting me know such a big problem for you then? I ask this genuinely because I truly don't understand.

Second, I didn't choose to have this many followers nor is it under my control. It's nothing I strived for from nor am striving for. I will be responsible under the lines of priorities set for myself and honestly, as a rando art sideblog where I came to chill about a game I like, it certainly isn't a top priority in my life....

I personally stepped into the blog to have fun on the side of regular life and certainly not take place into educating people online that they're suppose to be cautious with media they're exposing themselves to, which is a given rule in general if they plan to interact with said people online. We are all trying to be aware and slips happen, this is why communicating the issue is important instead of leaving an anon message that doesn't really offer much information about the case.

(I tried finding their tweeter that you mentioned and failed to find it since I was left with only the info that they have one and that's it)

It's not even because or disbelief but I can't jump to "oh man you're certainly right!" because that would have been equally an issue as not being aware.

Third, I never mentioned my own cancelation, I meant about how cancel culture works nowadays online and that's basically a habit of people grabbing every tiny bit of a reason to go against people just because they don't like them or stuff along those lines, which I'm aware isn't always the case BUT I also have consider it CAN be, since A LOT of canceling online is going this way. I don't mean that this is a small deal but as said above, I can't just jump into the fact without looking into it, which is why I mentioned actually personally notifying me is more effective than a short anon message... It's not helpful for anyone and certainly not me that you consider "influential" with followers who is, apparently, suppose to be fully aware. I never intended to have things this way on a blog where I basically ramble about HK and HK OCs...

My DM is open. I'm a really REALLY passive person, I absolutely don't mind talking things over, I'm also not prepared for fights and wars online so followers should keep this in mind. I have a life with priorities far above in worry than this side blog... If this isn't what you expected of me it's more than fine, you don't have to support someone random like me you folks know online based only on work and rambles...

[mysticalmusicwhispers]

APH College AU: Hong Kong

AU Intro here, AU headcanons are tagged #college au musings.

- Music major. However, he took quite a lot of computer engineering and business classes in high school because China insisted (in classic Asian parent fashion), and he still takes them because he sees them as useful for later life (freelance musician or managing a songwriter or something).

- His reasoning for going into music was that it was a relatively cool and not boring job; he wouldn’t have to always be tied to a computer or an indoor office and had more freedom. I think HK kinda hates getting a job in general because he’s got to Do Very Specific Work and doesn’t have time to do side projects/fool around, but he could deal with being a freelance musician or someone who creates background tracks for other artists, game music, etc. Also chose music to spite Yao, because he was expected to do either business or computer science/engineering (but he’s still pretty thankful for taking a lot of business and engineering classes because he legitimately needs them now)

- Soundcloud artist, and has quite a lot of followers. He does a lot of electronic instrumental mixes (idk how to describe it), but also sings sometimes, with lyrics about taking what you’ve got and running with it, carpe diem, breaking away from norms imposed by elders and parents; a mix of hopeful and rebellious. Never writes love songs, because he thinks it’s rather sappy and would rather express love in other (chill) ways. Doesn’t really write sad songs, but there are occasionally ones about rejection and estrangement.

- Re: soundcloud; he really wants to get in their direct monetization program, but doesn’t want to pay for a pro membership. Complains about it a lot to anyone who’ll listen.

- Memes memes memes memes memes

- Trendy™. He knows all the latest fashions and cool things, often tries to brand himself as the one to go to for fashion advice. He gives good advice most of the time (will tell you if your outfit sucks), but also makes questionable decisions (he stripped in the manga because he said Jackie Chen would do it too). Moral of the story, take some things he says with a grain of salt.

- Internet guy (knows all the hacks). He WILL find a free WiFi network anywhere he goes to avoid paying cellular, and knows way more hotspot passwords than he should via word of mouth and eavesdropping.

- Also, his phone is his lifeline. HK: “What do you mean, you’re taking it away from me?” CHN: “You’re using your phone too much; it’s bad for your eyes!!” HK: “No it isn’t! My eyes are fine; you’re the only one who has contacts in this family!! Give it back Yao!!!”

- Routinely called by other students to fix their computers and stuff, charges 25-75 dollars on average per fix. He is such a stickler with prices and absolutely refuses to go lower than a certain price. When Netherlands comes to him for a repair, they’ll haggle for hours and it’s not fun; Leon will postpone literally anything to keep on bargaining and not give up on his offer/price bar

- Avoids 8 AM classes as much as possible, but has never missed the ones he has to attend

- Learned Cantonese to spite Yao. I think Yao would’ve taught all his siblings (the East Asian squad) Mandarin, but they all picked up another language (or dialect of one) somewhere. Leon learned Cantonese specifically because he was lazy and it uses the same Mandarin characters (traditional vs simplified characters but similar enough) but is pronounced different enough that his brother can’t understand most of what he’s saying.

- Gets really whiney when he’s tired, or when he’s frustrated. Complains a lot.

- When he gets really angry, he becomes really cold. He’ll stop talking as much, but other than that he acts almost the same as usual, and it’s hard for people to pick up that he’s mad. However, everything he says kinda sounds passive aggressive, and he won’t laugh at anything. You have to be the first one to acknowledge something’s wrong, and then he’ll talk.

- Re: anger, it’s really awkward if he won’t talk to you because he’s usually really lighthearted, and seeing him serious is rather unsettling. Plus he can end any conversation when he wants to if he wants to make someone uncomfortable

- Is asked to be the DJ for a lot of college parties. He’s the type of person a lot of people vaguely know about because of just one “thing”, the “thing” being that he’s really good at mixing music and has good taste

- He makes sure everyone who even says hi to him knows about his music and his hobby, so he can get popular. Shouts about his Soundcloud profile (it’s not really bragging, but more like advertising himself)

- Types up all his notes onto his computer, but he uses so much slang that his notes read like weird text messages. His history notes read like a giant reality tv drama, because he tends to put things into modern terms and create his own way of remembering things, if that makes sense.

- Hasn’t touched a pencil in forever; he’s so comfortable in the digital world it’s insane

- Buys luxury brands to show off but is also really cheap, and judges certain products hard because they don’t live up to his very finicky standards (read my last post, it’s my take on his consumerism and is more in depth)

- Rather picky with his food, because he has really high standards. He will complain on and on about a restaurant’s noodle’s being too stale or too salty or something, finds flaws in everything when he wants to.

- B to A range grades, doesn’t stress too much over school. He doesn’t mind missing a couple of assignments (as long as they’re not big projects) and makes up for it with his other work

- Delays stuff until the last minute, but doesn’t panic or anything. It’s basically a habit by now; HK doesn’t mind it because it’s efficient and works for him. He can chill for the evening and then get all his work done between 3-7 am

- His relationship with his professors is okay; they all know his name and that he’s the “music dude” but he’s not too close with any of them; he prefers his friends’ company more. He’d get along with fun or young professors better, since they’re more in touch with “the youth” and he doesn’t see them as boomers

- Average at math, kinda bad at science, it’s just not his thing. He does better in the humanities, although he doesn’t exactly enjoy English and history classes. He’s very good at debating though, so his essays and thesis statements are very strong

- He’s pretty functional on 3 hours of sleep, but loves to sleep in when he can

- Proud of his Asian heritage and shows it!! He sometimes shows up at Asian American Culture Club but isn’t very dedicated, because he thinks some of the meetings are a little cringey

- He’d love to have a last name that isn’t Wang (such as any X starting Chinese surname) because he’d love to watch people struggle to pronounce it and he’d love to correct them (in a polite but simultaneously obnoxious way)

Thanks for reading! sksks these were much more general headcanons that probably could apply to nationverse too, but anyways... Next’ll be Taiwan probably!

[spectraspecs-writes]

Tatooine - Chapter 56 (HK-47)

Link to the masterpost. Chapter 55. Chapter 57.

@averruncusho thank you for reading you get a tag.

We get back to the ship just as the wind starts to pick up. Only thing to do is wait until this blows over. Carth, who was outside looking over the ship, looks surprised to see us. “Don’t tell me you found the Star Map already,” he says.

“Nope,” I say, “Sandstorm. We’ll have to head out again tomorrow.”

He comes inside with us and closes the hatch. “Bought a new droid?” he asks.

“Yep, got a good deal from an Ithorian,” I say, “See, Bastila? I just told the Republic.” She harrumphs and goes to the starboard quarters.

“Uh,” he says as Mission and Canderous go elsewhere, too, “okay. What does this droid do, exactly?”

“Combat and translation,” I tell him, “Beyond that I’m just not sure. That’s what I want to figure out.”

“Need a second set of hands?” he asks. Still trying to get back on my good side, I see. I’ve been soft-thinking about it, and I’m not ready to completely forgive him for shouting at me. But if HK is as complicated on the inside as he looked at first glance, I am going to need help. I was just going to ask T3, but on second thought I don’t want him to get jealous. Utility droids can get a bit finicky when you bring in a new droid. They’re like pets - you need a gradual introduction.

“Well, I know you can follow orders,” I say, joking a bit, “Yeah, I suppose. Come along, boys.” HK and Carth both follow me to the cargo bay. (Out of the corner of my eye, I see Carth and Canderous exchange affirmative gestures. Canderous Ordo, friendship counselor, is still a hilarious concept to me.) I move a couple cargo containers around and roll out my toolkit onto one. I sit down on one side of it and Carth sits on the other.

“Might as well start this out by asking,” I say, “HK, tell me more about your functionality.” I doubt it will be this easy.

“Statement: I know some elements of my functionality, master, but not all.”

“I thought you said that removing your restraining bolt would restore your memory?”

“Qualification: I suspected that it might, master. But without memory, I had no way of knowing whether or not I knew that was true.”

“So you lied to me.” Never had a droid that could do that before. Fun.

“Qualification: Err… not so much, master. I spoke out of ignorance. I assumed the Ithorian was responsible for my memory loss. That does not mean I am not a fully loyal droid willing to serve its master. Right… master?”

“This is one desperate droid,” Carth comments. I ignore him.

“How can you not know parts of your functionality?” I ask, “That information should be included in your core.”

“Answer: There have been numerous repairs and tampering made to my system, master.” Naturally. Probably none of that was done by a qualified droid tech. “Several systems are not operating as they should be. The fact that my memory is incomplete may be due to meatbag incompetence… or something else I am unaware of.”

I’m about to ask something else, but Carth put his arm out in front of me - excuse me? “Hold on… ‘meatbag’?” Yeah, I caught that, too. I thought it was funny.

“Qualification: Affirmative. Meatbags like yourself have a tendency to insert tools where they do not belong.

“Retraction: Of course I do not mean you, master. I’m sure you are a meatbag above the rest.”

“What the hell do you mean by meatbag?” Carth protests again.

“Retraction:” This is getting hilarious. “Did I say that out loud? I apologize, master,” HK says to me, “While you are a meatbag I suppose I should not call you such.”

“You just called her a meatbag again!” I can’t help but laugh - boys have argued over me before, but not like this.

“Explanation: It's just that… you have all these squishy parts. And all that water! How the constant sloshing doesn't drive you mad, I have no idea…”

HA! This is great! I love this droid! “You think this is funny?” Carth asks, a bit indignant.

“I think it’s HILARIOUS!” I’ve never had a droid be so direct with me before! “And the fact that you’re so upset about it is even better!”

He shakes his head at me and doesn’t say anything. He thinks about saying something, but evidently he can’t settle on what to say. It takes me a bit to calm down, but eventually I do. “So,” I say, taking a deep breath, “are you damaged?”

“Answer: I believe I have been damaged several times in the past, master. I have always been repaired… but perhaps full functionality has not been restored.”

“Probably none of those repairs were done by someone who knew what they were doing. Is there any way to repair you, give you back full functionality?”

“Answer: Some of my motor functions can be safely repaired, master… but anything in relation to my memory core is extremely sensitive. I have safeguards installed to protect that core that I cannot deactivate. It is not impossible that other, lesser, memory functions could be restored, however.”

“I can restore your memory, then.”

“Answer: You may attempt to restore portions of my deleted memory, master. Conjecture: It is possible that some external stimulus might result in the memory core being reactivated… but I am unaware of any program existence to do so. If you wish to attempt to restore my memory, simply tell me and I will attempt to walk you through it.”

“Let’s get started, then.”

“Statement: As you wish, master. The first stage is the simple one, and that is accessing my central control cluster. This may take a while. First you will need to open three panels.”

“Carth,” I say to get his attention, “Panel tool, please.”

“Right. Uh…”

“The one with the red handle.” Yet another cute guy who knows nothing about droids. “Thank you.”

If I was working by myself - that is, without HK walking me through it - I probably would have done more harm than good. Sure, I know what I’m doing, but HK was not designed according to any standard I’ve ever seen before. It’s not intuitive. I’d certainly like to meet whoever designed him.

“…and now re-wire the last three relays…” HK tells me, “... yes, good. Well done, master. I believe your operation was a success.”

“I should hope so, my hand is killing me.”

“Accessing new memory… Access complete: I have restored a great deal of information about my previous owner, master. Would you like to hear it?”

“Please.” I roll up my tool kit, I’m in no shape to do any further repairs.

“Recitation: The earliest memory of my last owner specifies that he was human, a low-ranking commercial officer for Systech Corporation. I am unaware of his designation. He purchased me from an acquaintance I cannot identify, for the purposes of protocol and bodyguard duties.”

“You mentioned Systech when I purchased you. I’m guessing they didn’t make you, then.”

“Explanation: Affirmative, master. I had assumed that my previous owner was the corporation, itself. This is not the case. The human purchased me privately.”

“And this guy’s dead, right?”

“Answer: Correct, master. The human was terminated by this HK-47 unit prior to system shut-down.”

“I don’t know about this,” Carth says uneasily, “Do we really want a droid around who killed his own master?”

“I doubt it was on purpose.”

“Correct, master,” HK says, “The human's termination was accidental. Explanation: My former master had owned me for a duration of two standard months before discovering my assassination protocol. He was pleased by the discovery. The human informed me that a competitor corporation was preparing to market a product that would ruin him personally. He was most agitated. He activated my assassination protocol and instructed me to kill all those responsible for the competing product. I proceeded to carry out my order.”

“Hang on,” Carth says, “did I hear that right? An assassination protocol?”

“Information: This HK-47 unit is complete with a protocol that, when invoked, will set me to independently carry out a termination. I will go to whatever lengths, travel whatever distances are required, to complete the termination. This is the reason for my combat skills.”

“Well, that’s great!” Carth says, “We can end the war right now, set the droid on Malak!”

“As if Bastila would let me do that.” Funny.

“Forget Bastila; this is for the good of the whole galaxy!”

“I’m not disagreeing with you, I just don’t think that’s the smartest approach.”

“Advisement:” HK interrupts us, “Unfortunately, the assassination protocol is currently non-functional. You will not be able to activate it.”

“Why not?” Carth asks.

“Answer: several of my actuators were damaged by my former owner. They cannot be repaired, master, sad though that is.”

“Well, that ends that, then,” he says, almost disappointed.

“And they were damaged how?”

“Explanation: My former master was unaware of this, but the competitor was in fact an arm of Systech Corporation, my master's own employer. It did not take long for my master to realize his mistake. By then, I had already terminated 104 corporate officers.”

“Why didn’t he just deactivate you?” I ask. Carth seems to have been stunned into silence.

“Answer: I was not present to be deactivated, master. Part of my protocol is not to return to my master until my function is complete. I still had 15 officers to go.”

“One hundred nineteen people..” Carth says, still shocked.

“I do not know why my master was so upset, really,” HK continues, “He was an officer of Systech and a potential target, but I cannot terminate my own master. I would assume that being the sole officer remaining, he would surely be promoted. Instead, however, the human chose to go insane with rage and attack me.”

“So that’s when you killed him?” I say.

“Objection: Naturally not, master! As I said, I am incapable of purposefully terminating my owner. That would not be allowed. My master was not a smart man, however. While he was screaming and stabbing me with a writing utensil, he managed to pierce one of my actuators. The resulting shock terminated him and, sadly, destroyed my assassination protocol. Pure luck on his part, I suspect.

“I shut down immediately whenever my master dies. I can only assume that while I was shut down Systech was dismantled and I was auctioned off as former corporate property. Observation: No doubt my sale price was quite cheap, leading to Yuka Laka's purchase. How very demeaning.”

“I can’t believe it,” Carth says, still stunned, “You bought a murder bot.”

“Says the guy who wanted me to sic him on Darth Malak.” The cheek. “Did you recover anything else?”

“I have recovered knowledge of some other actuators which will enhance my performance, master. I will activate them now. But as for my own history… negative. It will require further effort on your part to restore them, if you wish… though certain stimuli could always restore my core, still, as I explained. For now, please excuse me, master. I wish to meditate upon the face of my former meatbag master as he was electrocuted. I find it most soothing.”

“Have a blast.” HK moves out of the cargo bay.

I fiddle with my implant a bit. It should deaden the pain in my hand a bit. Maybe I put in the wrong one… “Thanks for letting me help,” Carth says, “I’ve never done much work with droids.”

“Well, if you’re planning on branching out, you’ve got a long way to go.”

“I’m sure I do,” he says, “I’m just glad you’re talking to me again.”

“Rena?” Bastila calls - thank God, I’m not ready to talk with Carth yet. She steps into the doorway. “If you’re doing something…”

“No, just finished,” I say, “What’s up?”

“If it’s not too much to ask,” she says, “once the storm clears, I’d like to go to the cantina myself to look in on my mother.” And? “I’d… appreciate it if you came with me.”

“Of course! What are friends for?”

“Thank you.” And she leaves.

Well, that suitably distracted Carth from whatever he was going to say, thankfully. Maybe by tomorrow I’ll have everything sorted out in my head, but not yet. “Well, I’m going to go to the med bay, see to my achy hand,” I say, picking up my kit and not giving him any room to object, “Thanks for your help.”

“Yeah,” he says, still quiet, “Sure.”

Oh, boy, I hope he doesn’t pout for too long.

[dedalustephen]

back for a bit.

i was reading through my diary entries from before and my shit adhd working memory really... makes me forget that i dont actually live as good and privileged a life as i think (or my parents allege) i do

the amount of /trauma/ you can see younger me was put through as a result of my parents' breaking and broken relationship was... slightly insane? i dont think me now would be able to handle that

like my parents really... straight up never gave a fuck about my mental health? it doesnt really clock as Really Bad but threatening to throw the dog out bc ur kid is crying in the toilet and refusing to leave maybe isnt a good thing to do?

and that also neglects the fact ive had to function at "gets into oxf*rd as an intl student" level with undiagnosed adhd that is the root of many, many, many emotional issues (which again of course my parents were not kind to)

and /then/ when i stopped being judgy of everyone and started to appreciate the world around me, 2019 hit and my entire life was thrown into political crisis after crisis, the notes i had in late 2019... i was absolutely terrified then??? like im paraoid now but it was even worse then for me, mentally. and then there was corona, i lost everything i looked forward to, there was never a proper full stop to my secondary school life, and then i was launched into covid era uni life, and then when i got home i hated every moment of it bc my dad was moving out and my mom was dating someone else and i was basically living with reminders that the life i was starting to know how to appreciate was already gone forever.

and then i was stranded in the uk for a year, and still am, put into more and more stressful situations having to deal with an adult adhd diagnosis having to try out meds living alone etc. etc. etc. all while my parents continue to not really give a fuck about my mental health, etc.

and all this isnt counting the stress of studying a dse curriculum and studying at oxf.

not to give myself too many pats on the back but ive really been through quite a lot lol and im quite glad for my adhd impacting my working memory bc i dont actually rmb all this happening, im just dealing with the consequences lol

the whole i want to go home to feel safe and secure thing has probably been a running theme thing, i only really was able to identify and verbalize it as that now bc im physically away from what i call home :( when thing is i never really felt safe and secure at home for a majority of my childhood anyways...

so like 1) ive always been this emotionally unstable, its not some im only like this in uni thing, and 2) ive been forced into dealing with most if not all of the issues thatve been piled up /all in one go/ bc if not i literally cannot be a functional adult that gets thru uni,,,,it is not a wonder that im constantly stressed and breaking down rn lmaooo

oh and i forgot i was gay and trans in hk???? at a very homophobic christian girls school??????? and my crush was deeply suic*dal and i had to talk her out of suic*de like once every two days?????????

what the FUCK was going on

processing all of this in hindsight when im away from my parents, politics, my past etc. is... quite insane i just took all of this in stride. im literally going thru less insane stuff than i did as a child which is why i acc have the headspace to deal with all of this and the emotional stability to process this like this without resorting to vague convoluted poems... also meds help lol

anyways im going to go easy on myself with collections this week and a lot of stuff in the future, of course my standards wont drop but i'll be kinder if that makes sense? like i wont beat myself up over crying rn and if i procrastinate too much i'll know whats up (though procrastinstion is so, so, so stressful) and im still going thru a lot of stress and anxiety,,and while i think im not enough like jesus christ ive been thru some shit people dont usually go thru

it's like wait lemme count

oh god theres also the people pleaser religious guilt and also chinese continue bloodline etc. guilt wtf

like that's 8-9ish things i had to deal with that, with any single one, could very likely break a person completely on the mental side of things lmao

ngl im quite strong :')

anyways now that ive processed that or well, at least started to process it, it's time to move on grow up 現實令你快要快要變做大丈夫 etc except like very much on the emotional strength and not 現實應對能力 lmaooooooooooooooo not j*rs voice being a main motivater again what if i see him and im like omg thank u for singing so many songs!! u helped me process my trauma <333 like akdksjjfsjjfjs lmaooo

[aion-rsa]

15 Best Video Game NPCs Ever

https://ift.tt/365jHPy

Free Guy follows a video game NPC who becomes aware of the circumstances of their existence and uses that newfound awareness to become the star of a game that they were only ever supposed to be a bit player in. It’s ultimately a look at the little people in video games and how easy it is to ignore them.

Of course, most gamers know that NPCs can be so much more than non-playable characters. While there are some NPCs that are little more than seat fillers in some of the largest and most elaborate video game worlds ever, others have used their supporting roles to steal the show and establish themselves as legends in their own right.

From mistranslated villagers and merchants to dogs and knights, these are some of the absolute best video game NPCs ever.

15. Error – Zelda II: The Adventures of Link

With the immortal introductory line “I am Error,” this humble NPC from Link’s bizarre second adventure found a home in the memories of a generation of gamers that wondered what the story behind this seemingly glitched character was. 

It turns out that Error’s bizarre dialog can be attributed to good old-fashioned translation issues, but this is a prime example of a seemingly meaningless NPC’s ability to work their way into our hearts despite being given almost no time to shine.

14. The Merchant – Resident Evil 4

For anyone who played the Resident Evil games up until the release of Resident Evil 4, the joy of encountering “The Merchant” cannot be overstated. Just when you thought you were about to have to battle yet another insane villager in a Wicker Man setting, the Merchant speaks cryptically, opens their coat, and offers you a very surprising helping hand. 

The Merchant’s sporadic appearances and unique role made them an instant favorite among franchise fans, but it’s the character’s mysterious nature that makes them so compelling all these years later. We still don’t know a lot about the Merchant, and that’s the way it arguably should be.

13. Jeff “Joker” Moreau – Mass Effect Trilogy

There’s no shortage of incredible characters in the Mass Effect franchise, but since we’ve already shown a lot of love to the game’s best squad companions, let’s talk about one of Mass Effect’s best NPCs that can’t join your away team: Joker.

Along with being one of the best pilots in the Alliance fleet, Joker is one of Mass Effect’s most consistently funniest characters. BioWare did a brilliant job of growing Joker’s story arc in future games, but he always remained a source of strength was always there to help make the Normandy feel like a home.

12. Elizabeth – BioShock Infinite

It’s fascinating to see how divisive BioShock Infinite remains eight years after its release, but one of the things that the game absolutely got right was Elizabeth’s role as an NPC companion. 

At a time when it was still fairly common to have to babysit your companions (even though there had obviously been tremendous advances in that area by this point), Elizabeth proved to be a more than capable partner who not only used her unique abilities to help you out of tight spots but would even occasionally toss you ammo and health. Elizabeth is an incredible character in her own right, but few games have ever made an A.I. partner feel so invaluable. 

11. The Narrator – Stanley Parable

It feels strange calling Stanley Parable’s narrator an NPC given that they’re the main reason that this game is one of the best of the last decade, but this disembodied voice certainly meets the technical requirements for that role.

The narrator’s determination to get you to follow The Stanley Parable’s most obvious path forward is bested only by the dry, witty frustration he exhibits whenever you start to veer off-course. He’s the real star at this look at the relationship between choice and storytelling in gaming. 

10. Cortana – Halo (Franchise)

Cortana is absolutely a strong character in her own right, but the thing that makes her stand out among the best NPCs ever is the nature of her relationship with Master Chief and you as the player. 

Cortana is the voice in your head that manages to guide you along the path while making the world feel a little more interesting along the way. At a time when gamers grit their teeth at the mere mention of the words “Hey listen,” Cortana proved that it was possible to make such a character feel like an irreplaceable part of what is ultimately the player’s journey. 

9. Dogmeat – Fallout (Franchise)

Truth be told, you could fill a list of the best NPCs in gaming history with Fallout characters and it would be difficult to argue with you. However, it’s hard not to ultimately give the nod to Dogmeat. Not only is this companion one of the most consistent sights in the Fallout universe, but their status as the absolute goodest boy/girl is undeniable.

In a series filled with moral ambiguity and complex characters with unique agendas, Dogmeat is…well…a dog. They’re loyal, loving, and willing to help you in any way that they can. They’re as perfect of a companion as you could ever ask for, and they make the wasteland feel just a little less hostile. 

8. Phillip “The Bloody Baron” Strenger – The Witcher 3

In a game that’s arguably best known for a collection of side quests and side characters that are better than most of the main stories and main characters seen in other games, it’s telling that “The Bloody Baron” is regularly referred to as the highlight of this epic adventure. 

The Bloody Baron may get more screen time than the average NPC, but it honestly doesn’t take long for this morally complex and utterly fascinating character to simply steal the show. He’s one of the best examples of why you should take the time to get to know the various inhabitants of RPG worlds. 

Read more

Games

25 Best RPGs Ever Made

By Matthew Byrd

Games

25 Best First-Person Shooter Games Ever Made

By Matthew Byrd

7. Sans – Undertale

While it sometimes feels like blasphemy to rank one Undertale character over another given how well-rounded and important so many of the game’s NPCs end up being, it’s hard to talk about the game’s best characters for long without the conversation turning to Sans. 

This apathetic skeleton’s most tragically relatable quality is his tendency to pivot between whether or not the futility of his existence is a reason to do nothing or if it’s all the more reason to relax and have fun. He practically embodies this game’s complex morality and wicked sense of humor. 

6. Hal “Otacon” Emmerich – Metal Gear Solid (Franchise)

Granted, Otacon doesn’t exactly make a great first impression (he wets his pants the first time you meet him), but this quirky scientist has to be one of gaming’s best examples of how an NPC can grow on you over time. 

While it’s easy to champion the way that Otacon becomes slightly more badass over the course of this series, his most enduring qualities are the two things that never really change: his weirdness and commitment to going above and beyond to try to help. He’s one of the most “pure’ Kojima characters. 

5. Tom Nook – Animal Crossing (Franchise)

The debate over whether Tom Nook is the quiet hero of Animal Crossing or little more than a loan shark who introduces this quaint world to the joys of capitalism will rage on, but nobody walks away from Animal Crossing without some kind of thoughts about this true icon.

Tom Nook helps you get started in the world of Animal Crossing and is often the character you need to go to whenever you want to move on to the next part of your adventure. He’s kind of a gatekeeper in that sense, but he’s also the thing that keeps the Animal Crossing experience consistently compelling. 

4. HK-47 – Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

You do technically have the ability to control HK-47 during combat sequence, which means that their presence on this list could be considered a bit of a cheat. However, I dare you to play Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and let that technicality get in the way of giving this character the love they deserve. 

While KOTOR’s morality system helped distinguish it from so many other console RPGs of its era, there’s always been something undeniably compelling about HK-47’s wonderfully uncomplicated moral code. He sees every human as a “meatbag” and struggles to understand why you wouldn’t just blast your way out of a situation. 

3. Solaire of Astora – Dark Souls

Solaire of Astora is everything that you’re not expecting to find in Dark Souls. He’s optimistic, friendly, and, if you play your cards right, helpful.

While it’s possible for Solaire to succumb to insanity if you make the wrong choices along the way, he’s best remembered for his unusual commitment to the idea that there is hope and good in the game’s overwhelmingly dark world. His viewpoint may be idealistic, but you cannot deny the purity of his spirit and intentions. “Praise the sun” indeed. 

2. Cave Johnson – Portal 2

It’s impossible to ignore that GLaDOS is indeed the most famous NPC in the Portal franchise as well as arguably one of the most memorable characters in video game history. Long after “the cake is a lie” became one of gaming’s most overused memes, though, it’s Cave Johnson that stands apart as one of this franchise’s greatest creations.

Cave Johnson is the former CEO of Aperture Science who apparently reached Mr. Burns levels of evilness before he died from moon rock poisoning. His incredible dialog (which, it must be said, is expertly delivered by the irreplaceable J.K. Simmons) includes some of Portal’s best jokes, but it’s when you start to spot the tragedy and world-building in-between his jokes that you really appreciate how much this character accomplishes.

1. M’aiq the Liar – The Elder Scrolls (Franchise)

I love an NPC who practically becomes the star of the show, but my heart goes out to the NPCs who occupy a small part of a game’s world but a large part of our hearts. So far as that goes, M’aiq the Liar may just stand alone. 

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

As the name implies, M’aiq the Liar isn’t always entirely truthful. While those lies are often hilarious and clever, M’aiq is best known as a kind of unofficial developers’ commentary track. He often addresses meta subjects regarding missing features and misunderstood pieces of lore but does it in ways that make it difficult to separate the world-building from the Easter eggs. He’s the perfect reminder of the ways that the best video game NPCs can surprise you. 

The post 15 Best Video Game NPCs Ever appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3iEiw0w

[lokbobpop]

Explode

a sudden and noisy bursting (as of a bomb) : the act of exploding. 2 : a sudden outburst of feeling. explosion

The Latin verb plaudere meant “to make a noise by loud clapping.” When Romans were showing their approval of a performance, the word used was applaudere, from which we get our English word applaud. ... From this word we get our English word explode.

Explode ex plode expl ode ex plod e

Writing explode

To get angry and explode when you feel it building up within you you try to cap it stop it control it and you can but then something is said which I feel is over the edge and i say now do it now i see i know exactly what im doing only when i dont when there is so much energy sometimes you lash out and and you just dont know where it came from like it must of been under tremendous pressure that it comes screaming past you like out of nowhere but i still see i slight very quick choice within doing not as big as others but still there but i feel you just cant take it anymore, i feel this has caused great harm to many where people in this rage have actually killed people when ive need this angry after i feel drain and awful i had unleashed such as bad anger mostly on my daughter who would drive me insane like today im not insane but she is very angry everything i say is anger she angry and nothing i say will calm her down.

Reading explode

When you see on tv the programs or on the news where they blow up a building chimney and it they put all explosions round the bottoms and it implodes in and its amazing to watch these events

The twin towers how they were set off with explosions yes sure plans we smashed into them but that didnt bring them down the explosions within the building I remember watching it and fearing waht could happen i was even pulled over to say something on tv and said i was frighten something would happen to us in hk on tv and wish now i didnt.

Exploding diarrhea yes its true it happens and i have experienced it a couple of time the first being going home after a buffet in hk i was walking to the car after getting off the ferry and just had to go there wasnt anywhere it didnt go it was under so much pressure it was horrible lol and lucky it was night and nobody say and i could hind behind the car i was with the girls and they were shocked lol as was i lol

My dad exploding in anger his face all screwed up with anger i see this is a real problem for me to see faces in anger from his face im feel hurt and i was to let the person now how this is hurting me i need to sort this out within me i see like when it next happens check what’s going on how am i letting this affect me someone else face in anger this would be a good starting point for me to see the movement of poor me how dare you do this to me sort of things comes up now like in special why cant you see that if you could see that you wouldnt do that so you must think im nort special right you must care about me right yes feeling not cared for thats it like unloved because how can you do that to me i thought you loved me yes i see now that i want to be loved all the time never not liked enough to be spoken to like that why? Because it hurts not being liked i fear them leaving me i fear never being loved again why because they are doing this to me why because they have no control over themselves and need to sort that shit out why yes i have completely sorted my own shit out when i pull angry faces i see i do it all the time i can see myself years ago when the girls would drive me mad i would give them that look like i wanted to murder them or something to hurt them look stop it ive had enough look rage sometime so why am i passing that shit on i need to stop first forgive myself then stop my participation within being hurt im thr one thats is hurting me no him not them me.

Saying explode

Temper building up ready to explode

Seeing peoples anger build up and they explode seeing the rage in there faces and feeling fearful of that rage.

When food has gone off in a bag and it explodes and the stench is unbelievable awful and when an egg explodes in the in the incubator and the sink filled the house with unbelievably bad odor for so long your just cant rid of it.

Penis explode when it evacuated

Sf

Does this definition support me no i see i have prob;ens with others anger and still some of my own that can be dealt with so this is a great point bring up and love who am i when someone explodes

Explode un load

Explode

The ripple affect of out true being coming out over this planet the vibration of a new beginning a new age

I will use this word to bring into existence a new me a new earth the explosion of a new age.

[auutintiug]

“In her own words, Hoda Katebi is “a Chicago-based angry daughter of Muslim-Iranian immigrants,” author of the book Tehran Streetstyle, community organizer, and the voice behind the radical, political online fashion publication JooJoo Azad. Here, she speaks with Palestinian-American human rights attorney, artist, educator, and writer Noura Erakat, who has time and again stunned and stupefied the media in bold, brazen, sensibly unapologetic interviews. Katebi and Erakat’s conversation is akin to two streams flowing parallel to one another, embarking upon the surfaces and diving into the depths of politics, art, activism, identity, and gender norms, ultimately joining forces in the same body of water, not in competition but in support of one another—level and determined, headstrong, open to the elements.

—

Hoda Katebi: Do you think that all art is political?

Noura Erakat: I mean, I’m trained as an attorney. I’m hesitant to make such an absolute statement. Politics is basically the negotiation over scarce resources, and it’s the work that’s being done to actually negotiate that distribution. Art is expression, some sort of expression, any kind of expression, right? It’s a visionary aide. It’s a manifestation. That could be political in two ways: What is it that the artist chose to represent as opposed to anything else, and then how does creation implicate a discussion around the distribution of scarce resources?

I don’t identify as an artist because it’s political. I identify as an artist because I think that it’s a way of being. An artist is someone who can transcend an immediate material reality to be able to define yourself on your own terms, and to want to see the world on terms that may not yet exist. So those are the things that I think define an artist, which is not being bound by what is, but instead being in the constant act of creating what could be. A lot of the time it does come from people who hold privilege who say that they don’t want their art to be political or simultaneously call out Palestinians or black folks and say, “Oh, why do you always create political art?” It’s almost like my entire life. It’s triggering to you.

HK: What role does art play for you, and especially as a Palestinian, why is it important?

NE: So, I just want to be clear: I identify as an artist because I think that that’s the best way, because a lot of people see me, and they’re, “Oh, Noura’s a lawyer. Oh, Noura’s a teacher. Oh, Noura …” You know what I mean?

HK: Yeah.

NE: And I feel like rather than be defined by the actual profession, I want to be defined by the way I relate to the world in it. Me being an artist is not me defining my career or my productivity. It’s my relationship to time. I’m also identifying as queer, right? it’s not who you’re attracted to; it’s how you’re manifesting yourself in the world outside of binaries. I want to live.

I’ve written two plays, and I’ve fallen out of that—it’s a practice, like anything, and I haven’t been keeping it up. But last fall, the Kennedy Center invited the DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival, which I am a co-founder of, to curate a program for the Millennium Stage. I got to direct the program, which meant musical direction, light direction, you know, all the stage work, plus it’s a play that I wrote, and I directed the professional actress who performed it. It was actually such a miracle, because we only got to do one stage rehearsal an hour before the program started.

The DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival began because in 2011, I had been co-leading something called the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, and we had created a local chapter in D.C., and all of the work that we were doing as part of that network was, I thought, very reactionary. No to negotiations. No to these terms of the peace process. No to the split. I knew, I knew that that was not going to last because that’s not something that sustains. It creates a lot of toxicity.

On a trip to Toronto, I was speaking in Toronto and my good friend introduced me to her project, the Toronto Palestine Film Festival, and I thought to myself, oh my God. That’s it. We have to create something that will outlast the politics of rejection. We have to create something that lives on its own terms. So when I got back, I and two other women co-founded this project, and now we’re in our eighth year. It is not a Palestine film festival; it is a showman arts festival. Our whole purpose is to showcase the artists, whoever they are. You could be talking about your favorite color or your favorite candy or the way your mom screwed you over and still left it in your head. The whole point is to showcase the artist and all of the different media that they use, visual, performing, cross stitching, cooking, music, dance, the whole thing.

This is where we’re dreaming of the future. This is where we’re creating. Who are Palestinians? Who are young Palestinians don’t know anything about it? From what they feel, from what their family passed onto them—how are they expressing that? And that is the future of Palestine. We’re trying to cultivate the space where they can dream. What the diaspora looks like and what the community looks like beyond just, what are the political terms upon which this will be resolved? Instead it becomes a social question, more like, what do people look like? What does trauma feel like? What is joy? What is internal conflict? What languages do we speak in this space? It also becomes one of the best tools for mainstreaming the question of Palestine. We’re bringing out audiences that probably feel like the whole thing is toxic.

HK: Yeah, it’s like a language that transcends border and culture. You create really accessible work. So, how are you able to transcend that really difficult box that lawyers are taught to be sitting in?

NE: I went into law school because I wanted to fight, and I thought, if only we had these tools we could just reason through this, then we can get out of the binds that politics had created for us, and we’ll just reason through it through some arbiter. We just listen to each side, and we can figure it out, and in fact, that was a really jarring lesson, and one of naivety, and it’s become the source of inspiration for my forthcoming book, Justice for Some: Law in the Question of Palestine, which will be out in March 2019. First of all, I barely survived the damned thing, because it is the single most white, heteronormative, classist, stifling space—

HK: Say it.

NE: —you can ever imagine. It is basically where you go to protect and revere the status quo. My issue with law school is that you take that for granted. Nobody admits that that’s what it is, and you start to act like everything that you’re studying is objective when everything is so not objective.

HK: Everything that you produce, whether it’s academic in the legal industry, you’re coming from your particular perspective of the world. Oppressed or oppressor.

NE: True, but there’s a different kind. Let me give you an example. When you’re studying property law in the United States, all property law is built upon a logic of dispossessing native nations, indigenous nations in the United States. And here you are studying concepts like liens, trusts or estates, possession, but you never ever talk about, well, what is the root of this whole model? The root of it is the dispossession of indigenous nations. Or when we talk about criminal law: We want to talk about the death penalty as a jurisprudential matter, which means we’re just going to look at the case law, but we’re not going to talk about, how is it that the law itself and the way that the death penalty becomes instrumentalized is specifically to punish black people?

I had a really hard time in law school. I ended up getting a big award at the end, which was like a vindication, but I almost didn’t even go to my graduation because I was just like, this was miserable. Afterwards, I didn’t even take a traditional law job. I went to Berkeley Law, and after law school, I got a fellowship for something like 30, 35k. That’s insane for a recent law graduate, and then there was no such thing as working as a Palestinian-rights lawyer, so I had to create my own job. It was a coup to even get the fellowship.

I’m now in a place where I have some stability, but from the time I graduated until now, I came onto the tenure track in the academy basically hustling. Nobody wants to … It’s just a difficult story. I mean, you have to be crazy to be doing this work. If I wasn’t crazy, I wouldn’t have lasted this long.

HK: What has got you through?

NE: I kept pushing. I kept being a lawyer. I went back to school, and I kept writing like a lawyer. I kept appearing on television like a lawyer until more recently. I think until last December, when I started to appear on TV and in public spaces, a little less as an attorney and more like as a human being and a Palestinian, that, I think, was a major turning point for me and for people receiving me, because when I’m talking as a lawyer, you know, I’m basically trying to be removed from it, just making the argument and letting it stand, but when I step into my skin as a Palestinian, as a human being, it’s me.

I’m still going to use logic as my primary communication tool, and everybody has a different way they like to communicate in public. Some people like to tell stories. Some people like to move you, just really deeply move you and rally you to fight and believe. I think logic is really compelling. I do it in the same way when I’m in my classroom. I don’t ever tell you what exactly to believe. I want to give you enough facts and information for you to make your own decision. That’s so much more powerful when you have to engage with me and do the work with me. You have to think about it.

For me, legal practice basically means that I’m an advocate. Because what is human rights advocacy? There’s no courtroom. What does it mean, then, to be a human rights attorney? It means that I am making a case in the world of public opinion. That’s my courtroom.

HK: What got you out of bed every day during this period? Were you also doing art at the same time, or did art come later?

NE: I was producing art while I was in law school as a writer. I dabbled in poetry, but I did the theater work. My first play is based on oral histories that I collected.

I’m in the West Bank in 2000, when the second intifada begins. I’m a student at Hebrew University [of Jerusalem], which was a whole story unto itself, but I’m the only student at Hebrew U that is a Palestinian and living in what’s known as the West Bank. And so basically, school gets shut down, because the intifada has started, and I had come eager to do an oral history project. I thought it was going to be about young girls and women. I started traveling to interview families of the slain, of the killed, and to get the stories of those killed, and so I collect all of these stories and come back. I transcribe them, and then I turn that oral history project into a revolving monologue, which is like a one-act play for about an hour where you get to hear almost all of the stories being told by the characters themselves as they’re describing their loved one who’d been killed.

So, I write that while I’m in law school. I produce that. I direct that. It takes its own life, and it’s performed in different places. I then come to do another monologue, but this time it’s a one-woman show, and I perform that one everywhere. And that was it. That space just killed my creative spirit.

HK: Do you see yourself within the legacy of any artist that you look up to? Whose tradition do you feel that you belong to, if any?

NE: The first person that comes to mind is Arundhati Roy.

HK: Bae!

NE: Right? Here is this woman completely committed to revolutionary justice and transformation but who is expressing herself also as a dreamer, as a novelist, and as an essayist, and so I really like that. It’s these visionary women who are immersed and accountable to a base and to a movement. They don’t see themselves as above or as being revered. They see themselves as being a part of something bigger than them. What you’re seeing in their work is homage to it, paying respect to it, and creating space for it.

HK: Situating yourself in the West as a site of knowledge production in academia, which is heavy orientalist, perpetuates a lot of racism, the same ways that you mention about the law. What are your experiences there, and what made you become an educator?

NE: I think in everything that I’ve done, I’ve always been an educator. Even as an activist or when I’m leading workshops at different universities from before I got into law school. The difference about entering the academy is now you’re producing knowledge in a way that’s refereed and becomes subject to academic and scholarly scrutiny. A lot of circumstances pushed me into that field, and also because I’m increasingly unfulfilled by the legal practice, which I find is so hampered by the question of politics and by political issues. I’m increasingly frustrated with the limitation of the law, but also more curious about it. Why is it working in this way? What is it about the law, what is it about politics? And so these became scholarly inquiries that push me out, like make me more disenchanted with being a lawyer.

Once I’m in the academy, now it’s like a whole different set of challenges. It becomes the most stark when people of color talk about justice issues that are difficult conversations. So, if I was talking about FGM and the Muslim community, I don’t think people would receive me harshly. It might even be kind of okay, because I’m not challenging the establishment. But being of color, producing knowledge that is counter-hegemonic is when you raise a lot of flags, and immediately people begin to question whether you’re an academic or an activist. It’s one thing if somebody was studying these things. It’s another if you’re invested in them and studying them. That’s been a really difficult challenge, how to toe that line.

It’s a lot of unknowns, like you’re saying. For me, I’m leaving the choice to myself. I write about what I find the most interesting, intriguing, because that’s what’s the most authentic, and that’s the work that I do best, when I enjoy what I’m doing. But there is great risk in doing the work in that way. I feel like that’s the risk that’s worth taking. I want to know that I spent all the time I had breathing, able-bodied and able-minded, to produce the work that I thought was critical and necessary, rather than produce the work that I thought was going to help me climb some sort of career ladder.

HK: Because at the end, you always get exposed anyway.

NE: Maybe it’s about getting exposed, but I feel like it’s between you and yourself. What is it that you want at the end of the day? What is going to make you happy? So, yeah, I’m taking a risk, but everything else that I’ve done has been a risk. Right?

HK: Yeah. And with all of these risks, what are the joys of being an educator?

NE: Oh my God, the students. There’s so much tremendous joy. There’s so much tremendous joy in their capacity and their imagination and their passion, and the community that they create with one another. In finding folks who want to create an alternative world based on a place of love and a place of vision and a place of hope and a place of faith. All of that is joyful. I believe that the revolution will be full of joy. I know the revolution to be full of joy. It’s also full of tremendous heartache, but we already know that, right? But when we fight, we don’t just fight because we’re sad and because we’re angry. We fight because we believe we can. We believe we can. We believe we should.

HK: And we have no choice.

NE: We believe we are better. And that’s so joyful.

HK: And that also takes me to the very last question that I’ll ask: What is the world that you’d like to see?

NE: Well, there’s the really nerdy answer, which is to see a world where if we are to have governments, the governments are to be run by people for the sake of people, where profit is not a determinative logic, where the distribution of wealth is not concomitant with some neo-liberal equation of productivity and earnings and market formulations, but rather based on need. That’s a world that I would love to live in.

I would like to live in a world where we’re actually honoring the earth. We are depleting this earth at such a fast rate, at such a disrespectful rate, that we’re not going to have an earth to even divide by the time we figure out how to get along with one another and get over our human conflict. That’s why billionaires are trying to figure out their exit route to Mars and life elsewhere. Environmentalism isn’t this side thing. It’s central to everything that we do, and it’s entwined with indigenous justice as well, people who have already told us how to treat this earth and how to make it sustainable.

HK: That’s beautiful. Well, thank you so much. Is there anything that you wanted to say that we didn’t get to touch on?

NE: One of the things that made me most excited about the invitation by Suited, the first thing I thought of, was that I wanted Rami Kashou to dress me, because I saw him on Project Runway and he didn’t identify as a Palestinian. I knew he was Palestinian, but he was just out there being a designer, and in watching him, I found freedom. I thought, that is what freedom will mean for Palestinians, when they can just be in the world and not have to be defined by our fight. We can just be defined by whoever we want to be. “I’ve been fangirling you for 12 years. You want to dress me?” So we meet, and he dresses me, and if you notice … I don’t know if you’ve seen the photos.

HK: I haven’t.

NE: It’s like artwork. Literally the only other person who’d worn what I wore for this photo shoot was a mannequin at a museum. It is exactly what I envision the future of Palestine to be, which is taking our tradition and our history and our past, but not going back to it or being stuck in it. It’s taking it and creating something absolutely new and visionary. It’s Palestinian futurism, and it was … that is such a central piece of the photo shoot, of this story, of what art is doing, of my own vision of: What does it take for us to create these new futures? And at the heart of it, it means not being afraid to dream.

[jpn-arch]

BERLIN WINTER ‘17

(this is long, if u don’t give a shit press J)

A few weeks (edit: a month or two..it’s spring already) ago I visited Berlin for the first time. Odd considering I don’t live that far. Although nothing in Europe is really insanely far, you might end up paying a lot if you want a little comfort on your trip. 

I wanted to tell you a little  about how I “experienced” the city since this is an architecture blog or sth idk. (“little”, this post is quite long tho..)  I’m quite fond of cities and public transport. I like the dynamics in the city, the different parts of it with each their own feel to it. I like how cycling around a city gives such a different sense than to go on foot or by car, how taking a tram elevates you just enough to almost fly trough the streets. 

I’m pretty sure because in Belgium, where I live, there isn’t really a large city; I get excited when visiting a “real” one.  The capital of Belgium, Brussels is considered the largest city of my country (at least I think so..) and it’s a total joke*. Brussels is nothing compared to London or Paris, and those two are nothing compared to NYC (I’m not even going to touch on Tokyo or HK..) .   I had the opportunity the travel to NYC once, my neck was stiff the whole time. The only thing large we have in Europe are cathedrals, and believe me, they are quite large (and very very beautiful!) (we also have debts, those are large as well…). Anyway, I wanted to give you this little piece of information because this really affects the way I, personally experience cities.  Back to Berlin now;

Apparently there weren’t a lot of holiday seasons around the time I went because Berlin was empty. Really empty.  Which for someone who likes to take “architectural photogrpahs” or whatever It’s called, was perfect. Unless It’s -4° the whole time and your hands are to cold to hold down the shutter button, which it was! Here is an overview ? 

So, 4 days, an empty city and -5° degrees.  (also very crappy im quality I have no idea why, it basically indicates that Im nct trash and can’t speak german for shit even though i’m Belgian) 

This was the weekly plan

Exactly , I didn’t plan a single thing except for a visit to the Reichstag Building because you had to make a reservation. I knew this because an acquaintance of mine told me so. Glad he did.

So on Monday I arrived at the central station, the Hauptbahnhof station. It’s a very nice looking station but @ Germany pls consider placing more signs I think it took me up to 20 min to get out there. And yes I was wearing my prescription glasses. It’s a station hall is nice though, It’s very bright and open space. Au contrère à Bruxelles , cela est vraiment un cauchemar! I also felt quit safe,  I didn’t have the feeling parts of the station were going to tear off and land on my head.  IF you have ever visited a random station in Belgium… you’d understand. (well it very much depends on how much money a towns has, where I live it’s definitely 0€. Others have big bucks; for example If you happen to visit Belgium I recommend you to go to train station of Liege, Don’t ask me how they where able to afford this) 

(this is a shit photo taken with my phone, just to give you a visual on how it looks like)

I consider public transport in Belgium quite shitty, underwhelming, poorly managed, not “modernised”, phathetic even. (I’m quite bitter about this topic lol) It’s by no means bad, (I’m writing this on a train, and it was on time, and it’s one of those newer trains and I can see a power outlet , I can even see TWO OF THEM I’m shook. There is also a screen that tells you what the next stop is and and what time it’ll probably arrive, and it WORKS, for once.)  But for a western country, which is one of the first country’s to use trains not only to transport  goods but also people, It’s pretty bad, poorly maintained and very poorly managed. Rant over.

NOW PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN BERLIN. BOY; listen well, there is a metro, a train, a faster train, more trains, a tram and  bus lines. On top of that, Berlin has has bike lines and actually side walks wider than 1m20cm. So that means you can walk to wherever you want without being in a car accident. Although I’ve noticed there aren’t a lot of crossroads for pedestrians,  but then again there is almost no traffic? I have not seen one traffic lane?  I’m not kidding, I’m not sure how they do it.

The public transport, its well maintained, stations are nice, trains, trams and metro’s are on time, never full (again it’s not high season so I guess it’ll be different in summer or during the winter holidays). It was a pleasant experience. People don’t talk on public transport that much, very European, I like it. Nice and quiet :)

Although the Berlin Wall hes been destroyed for about 90% , I feel like the Eastern and Western part is still divided by its architecture and city layout. For example Kreuzberg and the area around the Memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe is completely different. While the first area is much more relatable to me, walking from the Reichstag Building to the memorial was not. Streets are broad, sidewalks even broader. clean, copy paste facades. Everything was planned out, there was nothing organic about it. It even felt a little uncomfortable.

I visited the small part of the wall that is still intact, it was decorated with some really nice graffiti artwork. Honestly I don’t have that much to say about it, actually rather than that I haven’t actually thought this trough. The Berlin Wall was demolished before I was born and I never experienced it actually being there, actually having a huge impact on the citizens. I’m glad it isn’t there anymore and I went to visit berlin almost “forgetting” (or better ignoring) the fact that it was there once. I didn’t really think of it that much , but now that I reflect I think that was a good thing. I was able to experience the “after berlin” , the Now Berlin without constantly asking questions and visualising the past to put it dramaticly. (I am by no means ignoring the history, I’m just specifically talking about my personal “architectural” viewpoint).

This is a map of where I’ve been and walked around. I didn’t do that much, and I only visited the center of berlin.  

I really like that there are so many different parts of the city that look completely different . In general i think Berlin is a pleasant city to visit on foot, there was never a lack of space to walk or anything like that (like in the center of Paris for example). I think it’s pretty easy to remember the Berlin as well, after two days you kinda know where is what and how to get somewhere. I bought this 6day pass or something to get around with public transport , very handy. I’m patiently waiting for the day they will make a public transport pass that you can use in all the larger cities in Europe, like an oyster card that you can also use in paris, berlin and you know wherever. Fucking Brexit… If i had the opportunity I would love to study in Berlin, it looks like the perfect “student city” (studentenstad).

Well that was all i cld remember , part two of the post is about some buildings I visited. I’d say “i’ll post it next week” but it’ll probably take another two months or so. 

Hope you have a great night, morning, day, and please so something productive on my behalf. 

*srry abt bad english 

**please don’t take everything I say seriously and literally. I’m exagarating.  I’m a political science student it’s why we learn to do (…It’s not, that’s what law students learn lmao jk).

*** can some1 fucking tell me why GT7 is only available on ps4, does anyone now if there is EVER going to be a mac version . I’vee done all the fun races at GT5 and 6, so what do i do with my life rn.

***i’m writing this in my psychology class which battery at  9% i’m

***************but press your number by Taemin on iTunes

[summersnowdrops]

GOT7 Flight Log: Turbulence in LA Recap

So where do I even start because this honestly was a really really good experience

So first off, for the first time in all the concerts I’ve been to, there was no security check? Which was great because we actually all got into the venue and our seats within 10 minutes max of being in line! But at the same time I feel like it could be potentially dangerous because you never know what might happen. 

So I got into the venue pretty early so I went to go find where my seat was and then went to go wait in the insane bathroom line so I wouldn’t have to go during the actual fm. While I was waiting in line, this girl in front of me asked if we were allowed to bring in water bottles because she thought we weren’t allowed to and was super thirsty so I offered her some of mine and she thanked to me and told me papa tuan had arrived outside and was taking pics with people outside but I was already inside so I couldn’t go back outside.

But anyways so after the bathroom I went back into the venue and as I was entering I heard all these screams and people waving and a mob in my aisle and thought got7 was here but there was mob so I couldn’t see. I went to sit down and asked the girls next to me what happened (I was sitting second from the aisle on the right) and they told me that Papa Tuan was actually sitting right across the aisle from us, hence the huge mob. The whole two rows were full of Mark’s family and they were sooo nice and sweet and patient even when hordes of fans were asking for a picture with them. Eventually a security guard had to step in and literally stand in front of Mark’s dad and physically prevent people from asking him for pictures. The whole time he was super nice to the fans and indulged them and it was also really cute because they received a lot of goodie bags and gifts from fans and also had a light up board for Mark that had ‘Tuan” on it in Chinese. We (the girl sitting next to me that I made friends with) also wanted to go up and ask for a picture but didn’t want to be annoying or rude and crowd them too so we held ourselves back haha. But we did get a picture at the end and Mark’s dad was so nice he even asked if we wanted to take a video which we did but neither of us were prepared for a video so it’s really just a super awk video of us smiling in the camera for 5 seconds haha. I really wanted to say something to them but I blanked and also my Mandarin isn’t good enough to say anything substantial unfortunately.

But moving on to the fanmeet itself, IT WAS SO GREAT. I think they performed like 5 songs - Hard Carry at the end, Just Right, Prove It, Boomx3 (Jinyoung asked Double Bam to introduce the song lol), Fly (THIS WAS SO GOOD LIVE), and other songs which I totally blanked on, also I think No Jam ?? also maybe home run?

But in between they had like a Q&A questions with questions from fans written on post-its and each member picked one.

The first one was Jackson’s question and it was for all the members - “What is your ideal type?”

He made Yugyeom go first lol the poor baby who says his type was a cutie sexy igot7 I think, and bam bam says his was similar, mark says his was igot7, jaebum said he has none, jinyoung was like ‘just one word. you!’, and youngjae pointed at a girl in the crowd and said you and she cried and the mcs were like dude you made her cry and yj was like half laughing but also felt bad so he told her not to cry which tbh I’m sure made her cry more hahaha. But jackson said his ideal type was a girl who only loves him because ‘you can’t share girls you know???’ and said he’d see those who were interested after the show. Most of the members tried to speak in English most of the time which I appreciate but I could see them struggling but still trying which was super cute. 

They also asked for their favorite disney movies to which jinyoung answered toy story and mark said storks? and also dumbo I think which is really a great movie I am also a fan. And Jaebum really likes La La Land and the members made fun of him saying he also knew the OST lol and they made him sing a couple lines from it.

Jinyoung’s question was his first impression of the members lol and he said he first impression of jackson was that he was a hk actor lol, mark was darker than he is now, youngjae was really cute, bambam was TINY like 3 ft tall and jackson being jackson was like no like THIS tall and gestured like 1 ft above the ground and eventually got on the ground pretending to look for bambam cus he was so small haha. jaebum he said he knew jaebum for 7 years and he used to be more quiet and stuff and yugyeom he thought was older than him lol. 

Jaebum’s question was what inspires him when he writes/makes music I think and he said that like it comes from his imagination but also the fact that people are listening to what he creates gives him the motivation and moves him to keep doing it and thanked us for being the reason (he said it almost all in korean and mumbled a lot so sorry if I missed something).

There was also a question to JB about why he likes or what he likes most about RnB and he said he liked that the beat isn’t that strong but chill so he can jam and also he just likes it lol.

It was a little awk because some of the members picked questions directed towards other members but it all worked out so it was okay.

There was also a question asking for bambam and yugyeom to do juju on that beat and they did and it was so cute and everyone went crazy.

After they did another song and then was the game time !! They passed out raffle tickets when you first came in and drew them and if you won you would be paired with a member for a game of like korean hacky sack they called it and I guess there were two rolls of tickets they used - one started with 264 or 294 and another roll started with 918 (my type) and obv no one shuffled the tickets or mixed them because 6/7 members picked a ticket starting with 2 and I died because why why why did no one shuffle but jackson got a 918 at the end and was confused and asked if all the tickets were supposed to start with 2 because his didn’t and he was confused and half the place screamed because FINALLY we had a chance which I guess jackson took as a cue that nope there was nothing wrong with the ticket. obv I didn’t get to go on stage but tbh with only 1/7 even picking a 918 ticket, I literally had probably a 1/600 chance so yeah.

But anyways while the fans who got picked were lining up, got7 played the guess the song game and were very into it but also very bad lol. jinyoung like gave up halfway and put his head on top of the speaker to hear better but i was like woah kid calm down are you trying to go deaf please be careful. but eventually even the mc felt bad for him and gave him a chance and i think (?) whispered the answer to Jinyoung but he either didn’t hear it or what because he still answered wrong lol and was like he (the mc) told me! youngjae was very good at this game and jackson and everyone else was a mess lol. and bambam had the most dramatic baaaaaaammmm when he wanted to answer. the punishment if you got the answer wrong was to to ahgase (basically a baby bird squat thingy and flap their arms it was so cute) 

next was the fan game where they had to hacky sack and everyone introduced their partners and asked their favorite song and bambam called his partner noona after he found out her age and jackson was really happy because his partner was from china but also lw salty because her bias was jinyoung haha everyone was kinda bad at this besides jinyoung and his partner who got like 15?? and everyone was like woaahhh and they had really good chemi and did like a little pose and when he asked what her favorite song was he whispered to her so she said her favorite song was his song lol. and youngjae’s asked her age and she answered who’s that and he was like wait what oh okay what’s your favorite song and she said who’s that and he was like YOU DON’T LIKE REWIND?????? but anyways mark ending up beating jinyoung and his partner and was so happy he hugged his partner and picked her up (she was this small cute girl with light up green shoes) and everyone SCREAMED lol. jaebum’s partner got one and he was like YES to be supportive and then he got one lol and was like YES to save face it was great. bambam let his partner go first and was like ‘my queen go first’ and i died it was so cheesy and yugyeon went last and accidentally hit his partner with the thing they were kicking and she played along and pretended to fall down and he fell down and they hugged after and it was so cute she was nice and funny.

Hmm after this I don’t really remember what else happened besides more songs during which I screamed my lungs out and probably creeped out and annoyed the people next to me with my screaming. 

During the ending speeches, yugyeom thanked all the fans for their burning passion and love, bambam said la felt like a second home and really really liked it and would come back soon and cooler and shock us?? i forgot what jaebum said but mark spoke in english and said he really appreciated la fans because it was because of us that he could come back to see his family and said they counted on us every time they came to the us and maybe they would come back for kcon or some other time this year?? his family next to me cheered a lot during this and the crowd awww’ed a lot. i also don’t exactly remember what jinyoung said but i’m sure it was along the lines of thank you and i love you and we’ll be back soon. jackson also spoke in english and basically said happy new year and that haters will never be satisfied so to live doing what you like and what you want to do because it’s your life. and last but not least youngjae was the cutest little thing he thanked us and said la made him happy but also he was really happy because someone he really liked was here (elliot yamin) and the mc asked who it was and youngjae was like please turn on the lights where is he and the lights above the balcony turned on and everyone pointed to elliot yamina and sanjoy and their other friend and people screamed and the mc/members got youngjae to sing ‘wait for you’ to elliot yamin and it was so cute he was so happy. 

and then the members waved and left but there was an encore and everyone ran down to the stage for the encore and originally the security guard wouldn’t let people pass and was like physically pulling people back but eventually let us go and i found out later that mark’s dad was the one who walked up and asked the security guard to let us go but she said no and he said just let them go up and she let us go PAPA TUAN IS SO NICE HOW but anyways it was very squished and hot up front and a girl idk used me as an armrest to record ?? i didn’t even know her and another girl had her arm like pushing against my face and pushing my head out of the way trying to record. but the members were taking fan’s phones and taking selfies of themselves and members and the crowd and taking videos and i saw jaebum up close and jinyoung they’re so so goodlooking and yugyeom paid a lot of attention to our side of the stage and they sang no jam and it was so great. after the encore, i went back to my seat and we asked mark’s dad for a picture and he literally looked so HAPPY when we were the ones who were asking for a picture not him but he was so nice.

and then they asked everyone who wasn’t p1 or p2 to leave and checked wristbands and p1 went first with the group photo and it was so different from normal group photos where it’s like just the members standing and fans sitting and just a simple picture. everyone was back hugging or holding hands with the fans except jaebum the awk child who held thumbs up signs or made faces but literally did not touch the fans and i regret not doing p1 because it was just advertised as a group photo but literally the chairs are all in a line so as you leave the stage you also get a hitouch. but halfway through the staff realized their mistake and put staff members in between the chairs and got7 (who i am now gonna call gotsob (shout out to arandelly for this) because they make me sob with happiness/they’re so kind/goodlooking/talented/what is wrong with them sometimes)

anyways for the the hitouch my friend and i were originally really close the front of the line but we got so nervous because we didn’t know what to say to the members or even if we should say anything and who should we talk to so we stepped out of line to brainstorm and all of the sudden the members were gone and we were like what?? but then the mc was like people have been doing hitouch and getting back in line so we’re gonna figure it out and bring them back out after but if we catch another person doing that we will cancel the whole thing so during the wait the best thing i could think of was to tell jaebum i love him (typical but all i could think of) and jackson to come back soon in canto (because i personally get excited just hearing cantonese spoken at school (i got to ucla so its lot of koreans and not a lot of canto people so i imagined jackson would be even happier hearing canto because hk and he lives in korea) but they rearranged the order of members after they came back out (it used to be jaebum second from the front and jackson at the end of the line but now it was jackson first then jaebum right after) so i was too nervous to say anything to jackson because he was first and then it was jaebum but jackson was so nice and smiley and jaebum had a slight smile but still a little awk and youngjae was super super sunshiney so that made me less nervous and bambam was also very smiley and all the members made eye contact when you passed by which was really sweet and for yugyeom i had to reorient myself and look up because he was so tall and mark was like saying bye to everyone as they passed by and jinyoung was last but he didn’t really make eye contact because he was looking at the next person behind me so basically i highfived him while staring at his side profile lol and awk saying bye to all of them. there was actually enough time for me to say something to all the members but i had no idea what to say so i literally just stared at them and smiled as i walked by so i’m pretty sure they thought i was unenthusiastic and awk and gah i am ashamed

also one thing I noticed was jaebum kept putting on his hood during the songs??? I’m not sure if it was too bright or he was trying to focus or the lights hurt his eyes?? or if that’s what he normally does?? It was the first time I’ve seen him do that so I wasn’t sure. Like i understand people put up their hoods when they’re dancing but he just did it for like the whole song??? even fly which is kind of an upbeat song? 

also during the song game jaebum said his name really cute so everyone was making fun of him like jaebeom ! jaebom!

so that was basically my recap of the fanmeeting, hopefully it was slightly interesting??