#captions hard but it's about the growth. it's about the way he has a special spot in mind and an... activity in mind.

[bibutterflies]

nil + rendezvous

Horizon Zero Dawn (2017) | Horizon Forbidden West (2022)

[soul-controller]

Patreon Update (December ‘22)

Happy new year everyone, I hope everyone survived the hectic holidays and is doing well. I know that my Tumblr sort of fell to the wayside in 2022, but I’m hoping to find a better balance this year as I have done a slight revamp to my Patreon where I now only write 5 stories per month rather than 6. 

I’m already hard at work for the next few months of content both here and Patreon, especially the Learning A Valuable Lesson series for Tumblr, which has actually been expanded from a two-parter into a complete trilogy. So be sure to be on the lookout for part two, it’s going to drop on the 20th. In the meantime though, the blog will be kept updated as I’m planning on doing a week or so of Q&A so I can try and engage with my followers more since I appreciate all of the support.

Now with that tiny bit of housekeeping out of the way, here’s a quick little summary of the stuff I’ve released over on my Patreon over the past month. If any of the following stories intrigue you, please feel free to click on the title so you can sign up for the appropriate tier to read it! I’d love to have you join my Patreon and my Discord community, where you can view exclusive photo captions.

Oh, You Dirty Dog (Part One)

Miles is a cocky man who loves nothing more than hooking up with women for a short amount of time before kicking them to the curb once they no longer satisfied him. Unfortunately for him, Lindsay is a witch who doesn't take lightly to being used and thus dishes out a species defying change for Miles and his new puppy Bella.

Tags: Animal, Gender Change, Punishment

The Man Of His Dreams (Part One)

Living his life as an unwavering queer man, Ricardo is used to receiving aggressive comments from homophobic straight men in regards to his flamboyant style. Luckily though, a potion in his pocket hoped to eventually curb that - a potion that would summon Ricardo's ideal man who could easily protect him from such hatred and lift his spirits permanently. Upon taking the potion though, Ricardo quickly discovers that his ideal man might not be what he originally thought... 

Tags: Age Progression, Muscle Growth, Racial Change, Weight Gain, Unintended Consequences

Wrestling With My New Life

This 10.4k word story was created due to a patron-voted poll that was meant to help influence who my new host body would become by picking a clothing item for me to base this new body on - the wrestling singlet option was the clear winner. 

After being forced to do a livestream by my followers and undergoing transformations that turned me into a submissive and big-assed twunk as a result, more followers begin to chime in and turn me into their ideal jock fantasy. By the time they're done changing me, will I be able to remember who I am and stop what's happening to me or will the straight himbo life they've given completely take over and leave me too stupid to stop what's happening?

Tags: Gay To Straight, Mental Changes, Muscle Growth, Weight Loss, Sexuality Change, Reality Shift

A New Years’ Meet Cute (Part One)

In this over 7k word story, Henry Cavanaugh heads out to a special New Years Eve party with his co-workers at a local pub. Upon falling head over heels for an attractive bartender, the teacher opts to stay after his friends leave in hopes of flirting with the man and starting 2023 off with a brand new boyfriend. Upon agreeing to drink a special drink prepared by the bartender, Henry unknowingly allows himself to be slowly and secretly transformed by the bartender into his ideal partner...

Tags: Mental Changes, Muscle Growth, Reality Shift

Corrupting Kirk Cousins

Lucas Davies is a hardcore football fan, especially when it comes to Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins. However, Kirk is an enigma in Luke's eyes due to just how calm and dorky the man seems despite being the head quarterback of a fairly successful team playing a rather aggressive sport. Due to this, Lucas begins to fantasize about corrupting Kirk and destroying his sweet golden boy image by turning him into the cocky badass that he was always meant to be. After reaching out to an individual named Soul-Controller, Lucas' fantasies soon come to life as he possesses Kirk and immediately gets to work changing the man's image with his team by acting like a confident himbo while seducing and setting up a new power dynamic with Kirk's wife... 

Tags: Athlete, Corruption, Dominance and Submission, Possession

Have A Muscle Christmas…

Stuck at home away from his family for the Christmas break, college student Oliver Thomas finds solace by writing a letter to Santa wishing for a physique like that of UK bodybuilder Ryan Terry. From Christmas morning through the first day of the new year, Oliver finds himself slowly gaining the body and life of Ryan Terry for himself (with a few alterations)!

Tags: Age Progression, Mental Changes, Muscle Growth, Reality Shift

[precuredaily]

Precure Day 197

Episode: Yes! Precure 5 48 - “Hope VS Despair: The Final Showdown!” Date watched: 16 June 2020 Original air date: 20 January 2008 Screenshots: https://imgur.com/a/nfV2ySD Transformation Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/6k6SzS0 Project info and master list of posts: http://tinyurl.com/PCDabout

Fly, my monkeys!

When we left off, the girls were fighting Kawarino in the Nightmare Colosseum. He tossed the girls around in a show of strength, and he managed to manipulate Milk into despair so he could place a Nightmare mask on her. Despariah used the Dream Collet to restore her youth, rendering it useless. Nightmare hasn’t completely won yet, but they’re damn close to it. How will our girls get out of this?

The Plot

As Despariah revels in her new eternal youth, Kawarino taunts the Precures that all hope is lost for them, and all that’s left is despair. They’re beaten, battered, and bruised, but nonetheless, Dream finds the energy to stand up and declare that she will never despair, and she lunges at Kawarino. However, he knocks her back into the ground, and then throws around the other cures, until they’re all collapsed on the ground, barely able to move. Notably, a bead bracelet lands beside Rouge.

He mocks the Precures and points out that even if they somehow beat the odds and manage to defeat him, they still have no way to restore the Palmier Kingdom, so they’re fighting for nothing. Throughout all of this, Coco and Nuts can’t do much but watch, and through tears they thank the girls for everything they’ve done to help them so far. Then they turn and face Kawarino themselves, but he blows them away with minimal effort while smirking. He pulls out five pieces of the black paper and throws them at the girls, where they land on the ground and quickly expand to encompass them. He explains that this is the Darkness of Despair, which picks up on people’s hopelessness and traps them forever. It surrounds Rouge, Lemonade, Mint, and Aqua, but it’s slow to cover Dream, the Precure of Hope. She uses the last of her strength to barely stand up, and tells Kawarino that she never wants to feel the way she felt when all her friends were captured and had the masks put on them, and she knows they’ve always pulled through when they banded together. This slightly stirs something in her teammates, but Dream collapses from exhaustion while Kawarino continues to taunt.

This time, however, it’s Rin’s turn to be inspirational. She stares at the bracelet and starts talking weakly to Karen, admitting that she finally found a dream for herself after discovering that she enjoyed making accessories. Karen sits up a little bit and admits to Rin that she also found a calling, after helping Milk made her realize she wants to help the sick and injured of the world by becoming a doctor. The other girls sit up and get in on the chatter, with Urara admitting that her friends helped her realize that she could pursue and enjoy singing as a second goal aside from her acting. Komachi chimes in that her novel, Pirate Hurricane, won an award and she attributes it to the help she got from everyone. To return the favor, she wants to put all her effort into making her next story one that everyone can enjoy, and tells them about her shared promise with Urara to create a story for her to perform in when she’s a better actress.

Now that they’re all talking about their dreams for the future, they’re not despairing anymore, and the Darkness of Despair begins to retreat away from them as they stand up, declaring that they need to see these dreams through to fruition. Together, they can do anything, so they won’t give up on their dreams, and they will rebuild the Palmier Kingdom! Coco and Nuts are overjoyed to see them recover, and after a group pose the girls charge Kawarino. He tries to shoot dark energy at them but they dodge and deflect it, coming together for a five-way kick on the chameleon monster!

He knocks them away, slamming them into the walls of the coliseum, and then tries to drown them in despair with the black paper again, but this time, they just stand up and break out of it. Kawarino starts to crack, worrying that the Precures won’t follow “their” path, as he glances at the masked employees packing the arena. Dream starts to realize what’s going on and he takes this chance to try to reclaim the high ground as he reveals that Nightmare’s rank and file are none other than the inhabitants of the Palmier Kingdom! However, this doesn’t have the desired effect. Instead of being upset at seeing what’s happened to their citizens, Coco and Nuts are instead relieved to learn that they’re alive and safe. They launch into speeches about how hurt and lost they were when they thought everyone and everything they loved were gone, and how the five lights of the Precures restored their hope and optimism and faith in other people. At this point, Milk twitches a little, and Despariah, still watching from her throne, glances at the small fairy.

The Princes of Palmier continue to encourage their citizens to believe in the precure and shake off the depression, since they’ve all experienced the power of their hope firsthand during the girls’ visit to Nightmare, and they go on to say that with all the people, they won’t need the Dream Collet to rebuild after all. One of the audience members sheds a tear and a crack forms along its path, and then Milk begins to cry through her mask before breaking out of it. Kawarino is flabbergasted, and looks up at Despariah for guidance. She merely glares at him disapprovingly.

if looks could kill (and the award for original caption goes to..... not PCD)

Desperate to regain his boss’s rapidly declining approval, Kawarino grumbles about how hard he tried to lead the girls to despair, and then yells that he’s done playing around and he’ll destroy everything they love. He attaches five sheets of black paper to himself directly (as opposed to in mask form) and begins to grow. He grows to fill the Colosseum, much like Girinma all those episodes ago, but the difference is that when Kawarino is done mutating, he still has his consciousness and his appearance is exactly the same, just larger. Undeterred, the girls fight on, managing to land a few blows on his body, and they help each other avoid his various attacks.

Their teamwork inspires Milk to turn to the bystanders, Nightmare’s employees, and encourage them to have hope. The team performs a rush on Kawarino, each performing their special attacks in turn. Mint Shield protects Mint and Aqua from his tails, Aqua Tornado focuses his attention, Rouge Burning and Lemonade Shining blind him, and then a Crystal Shoot to the face knocks him back. This display of Precure’s power to reject despair is enough to push the employees over the edge, and their masks begin to break one after the other. The fairies of the Palmier Kingdom fill the stands and Milk directs them to send their energy to Precure.

no miracle lights needed

The team bathes in the light of thousands of hopes and dreams as Despariah watches in disgust and Kawarino loses his composure. Milk joins Nozomi as the team begins to perform Precure Five Explosion, now glowing with the light of hope. Kawarino tries to resist, but the power overwhelms him, and as he’s overcome, he looks over to Despariah one last time, hoping for her to acknowledge him and save him. However, she merely smirks, and he dissolves into sheets of black paper.

He died as he lived: a simp

The fairies flood the arena, surrounding the Precures, Coco, Nuts, and Milk, and it’s a joyful reunion, but short lived, as Despariah rises from her seat. She remarks on the fearsome power that the girls possess to destroy Kawarino and shatter all the masks of Nightmare, and then says she’ll show them true despair! (how many more despairs are there?) The coliseum falls into darkness, and hundreds of vaguely humanoid Kowaina, with Despariah’s old mask, begin to emerge from the shadows. Coco and Nuts usher the citizens to safety, and the Kowaina charge forward at Despariah’s command, surrounding the Precure, as she gleefully tells them to taste true despair to their hearts’ content! With that, the screen fades to black.

The Analysis

This whole arc is the absolute peak of what makes Precure so good, but this episode in particular stands out among the three parts of the finale. The girls start out at the lowest possible low. It looks like the bad guys have won. They can’t use the wish of the Dream Collet, Milk has been cast into despair, their greatest enemy has had her strength restored, and Kawarino is proving to be a very tough opponent himself. It really seems like there’s no hope left for the girls, but nonetheless, they press onward. They manage to find light in the darkness, and their perseverance weakens their opponents and awakens their allies. The strength of their hope leads them down a path to achieving their dreams even in the greatest adversity and lets them weaken their opponents. They eliminate Kawarino and the entire Nightmare employee base, leaving only Despariah herself to be reckoned with. It’s such an incredible turnaround from where the last episode ended, the team climbed out of nothingness and they’re nearly at the summit of the mountain.... or so they thought, as the episode ends with Despariah finally taking matters into her own hands. It’s an ending that leaves you worried, but at the same time, the girls have overcome everything else that stood in the way of their dreams, surely they can overcome this too.

I’m really glad that Rin and Karen’s subplot about being unsure about their futures is used as the turning point of the episode. It would be easy to have Nozomi give another inspiring speech about hope, but instead, they use the two girls who have the least concrete ideas of what they’re aiming for in life and build on that. They fulfill a season’s worth of character growth, with Rin explaining she wants to make fashion accessories while Karen wants to be a doctor. Since the major theme of the show is dreams against despair, it’s so emotionally satisfying to have the conclusion of their arcs, where they find their dreams, as the foundation of the team’s revitalization. The two girls have finally found what they want to strive for, and they won’t let Nightmare get in the way of them achieving those goals, so they inspire each other and that inspires Urara and Komachi to talk about how their dreams have evolved since the start of the series, and now they all have a bright future worth fighting for and nothing can take that away from them! They encourage and uplift each other and they have each other’s backs, so despair has no room to take hold anymore. And that moment, when Kawarino realizes he can no longer bring them to despair, is wonderful.

There are two aspects of this episode I absolutely love, and they are closely related to each other: The first is how the girls keep fighting and manage to inspire the Palmier citizens out of the darkness. The other is Kawarino’s rapid downward spiral, culminating in his defeat. They are inversely connected and represent a major theme of this arc, and possibly the entire series, which I’ve only realized this late: control vs partnership. Kawarino just wants control: control over his underlings, and control over the Precures. When the girls’ unshakable support for each other snaps them out of despair, he has no other tools to control them with, and their teamwork trumps his individuality. He tries to use the truth about Nightmare’s rank and file being the residents of the Palmier Kingdom against them, but it backfires and he loses his control over them as well, and the combined teamwork between all the fairies giving their power to the Precure is Kawarino’s ultimate undoing. Conversely, the girls rise higher and higher once they realize Nightmare no longer holds any power over them, and they work in harmony to thwart Kawarino and free their allies. Nothing symbolizes this better than their final rush on the giant Kawarino before they perform Five Explosion. He is clearly powerful, but they manage to get the jump on him by deflecting his attacks and pulling his attention in all different directions before Dream knocks him back and leaves him open for the finisher. Also, I believe this is the first time all five of them have used their Symphony Set attacks together with no stock animation.

The fairies also get some great speeches in. When Kawarino reveals the truth about the Palmier citizens, both he and the audience expect Coco and Nuts will despair from this, but instead they turn it around into gratefulness and explain how great the Precures are, and why everyone can rely on them. It’s this particular speech that breaks Milk’s mask, and then she turns around and gives her own inspiring speech to the crowd about how she could do it and so can they, because the Precure need their support. These efforts further the ideas of hope and trust in your friends being stronger than control or despair.

The rapid escalation of events after the girls free themselves from despair is great, because it reinforces the idea that dreams and friends are the key to overcoming everything. It also contrasts nicely with Kawarino’s fall. It's a battle of control against partnership, and when Kawarino stops being able to control the girls, he loses his edge. He has always sought Despariah’s approval, but as soon as he loses his control, he gets sloppy and inadvertently gives the forces of hope more ammunition when he reveals that the Nightmare masked employees are actually the citizens of Palmier. This is supposed to be his trump card, but Coco and Nuts turn it around and use it as a source of hope against him. As he stops being able to overpower the Precures, he quickly loses favor in Despariah’s eyes, and he realizes how little she really cares for him. Since his entire character up to now has been built around his adoration for her and winning her favor, this revelation that he’s actually as disposable to her as the other Nightmare subordinates is beautiful tragic irony. 

Now that Kawarino has assumed his monster form and his giant form, I want to revisit all of Nightmare and compare what he did differently from his predecessors.

Girinma

Arachnea

Gamao

Bunbee

Hadenya

Bloody

Kawarino

I don’t remember if I pointed this out before, this project has been underway for a long time and I can’t remember everything I wrote, but all the animals that Nightmare represents are predators of butterflies, which is some excellent symbolism. But what I’m really here to discuss is their transformation between their normal and black mask forms (where applicable). For Girinma, Arachnea, Gamao, and Hadenya, who all donned black masks, they were mutated into giant and more monstrous versions of their bodies, and lost sapience, seeming to revert to a more feral mindset. Kawarino, however, didn’t apply a black mask, but rather the black paper that was previously shown to become black masks, and is now revealed to be concentrated despair. He applied 5 strips of it to his body, which caused him to grow and swell similarly to the others, but when he was finished, he retained his same body proportions and his intellect, essentially just becoming larger, and presumably stronger. It is very telling that he’s not willing to subject himself to the torture he put his subordinates through, which really describes his whole character. He’s willing to force others around, because he considers them disposable, but he protects his own well-being so he can have a future with Despariah, only to realize too late that she doesn’t value him any more than he valued his subordinates. 

Despariah herself is enjoyable to watch in this episode for that same reason. Even though she’s now restored her youth and could presumably stomp the Precures herself, she chooses to just sit back and watch Kawarino do what he does, only offering occasional commentary and dirty looks. She really does just see it as entertainment, presumably because she believes that Kawarino has it in the bag, and if he doesn’t, she can step in without issue. She doesn’t really care about Kawarino except that he makes her job easier, so the colosseum setting is actually very fitting in that regard, because the life or death fight between her warrior and her enemies is just a show for her. By putting her a little closer to the action but still acting as a passive observer, the show actually manages to make her more threatening than she was when she basically cooped up in her office, because now we can actually see her and her reactions, and her indifference to the proceedings is haunting, however, this makes the few reactions she does provide that much more fun. At the end, when she’s the last member of Nightmare still standing, when she decides to get serious and unleashes her army of Kowainas, that’s an incredibly chilling turnaround after the ever more inspiring events of the episode up to that point, in a way only Despariah can deliver.

This episode started with the team at their lowest point, dragged them to the pits of despair, and then pulled right back out as they cheered each other on and inspired an entire kingdom’s worth of people with the strength of their hope. I could write forever about how beautifully inspiring it is for the audience, but it’s not over yet. Their greatest obstacle remains in front of them, and it’s going to take every ounce of courage they have to defeat her. Look forward to it!

Pink Precure Catchphrase Count: 0 kettei!

[blacknerdproblems]

I know Mike Toney from his amazing Instagram account, which you should totally follow by the way. Black Nerd Problems has reposted his art  time and time again.

Toney started doing client work in 2016, and two short years later he was tapped to do freelance character design for Cartoon Network and promotional work for Marvel Studios’ Black Panther (2018). He attributes this rapid ascension to his commitment to drawing every single day, no matter what. But overall, he’s most proud of his conscious decision to make characters of color that everyone can enjoy.

He’s currently working on a Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund a very important project close to his heart. One that means so much to him: Black Anime: Lost Chill-dren of the Diaspora. A 94-page art book spanning two years of his personal work, this art book is inspired by ancient mythology and the African diaspora.

Art Director and illustrator  Mike Toney is a lifelong lover of anime—beginning with faves like Escaflowne, Tenchi Muyo!, and Yu Yu Hakusho. Black Anime: Lost Chill-dren of the Diaspora is a collection of his work between 2016-2018, but the inspiration for the project came from his childhood art. Growing up, Toney never drew Black heroes because he never saw them in the series he loved. In the video on the Kickstarter page, he mentions a memory of being young and his father questioning him: why didn’t he draw people who look like him? In 2015, he vowed to change that and focused on creating Black characters and began drawing from African lore and themes.

Originally published earlier this year as a digital-only artbook, which BNP was sent some months ago, this KS campaign is to raise funds to get (soft and hardcover) print copies into the hands of the people, along with other great reward tiers such as posters, autographed copies, and even special commissioned art pieces.

Having the digital copy on hand, I was able to open up and explore Toney’s collection and all this hard work. The book is split into 4 sections: original characters, future stories, fan-art, and growth. I’m a big fan of the design of the book which could very well be contributed to Jordan Martins who not only wrote Toney’s bio but edited this entire book. I really love the clean layout of pages that features Toney’s art alongside names of characters and even captions with a bit of who they are. Toney’s own words are: “Learn more about the lore and background of some of my creations” which is an eye-opener for me any day ending in -y as I love to get an idea of who characters are and their motivations, even if it is just a sentence or two.

Read on here. [x]

[chimbbles]

127′s secret instagram

taeil: 

sing; secret song covers, ones he recorded on a whim and posted with black backgrounds

daily life or happy moments; weirdly cropped photos from backstage of their lunch because one of the boys lost a bet and bought everyone pizza

fun with the maknaes; when they do have free time and go somewhere he’ll be the first to document it

cherishes all the memories

follows the other member’s secret accounts

johnny:

username probably has many numbers

scenery; random photos he took while on tour, edited and colour corrected to fit his ongoing theme

random short clips; like having a coffee break with jaehyun, minus the actual footage of them, and more on their surrounding, light breeze and slighty sunny

on special occasions he trolls, but it’s still well photographed you won’t really notice

only for family and friends, to update them on his wellbeing

username is a pun

taeyong:

fashion; reposts all his favourite designer clothes; source of his inspiration

fun and personal; posts selfies with odd expressions, account is open to people he’s close with

‘saved’ tab is probably full 

animal videos.

messy feed with different aesthetics, but keeps to having a constant theme for the same row

king taeyong and ruby, next

not hard to guess his username

yuta:

raw, unedited photos; ones that “capture the essence of his life”,  like that photo he took that day watching anime, captioned “#tbt” with winwin’s back towards him and facing the dorm TV

hiking views

friends; probably doesn’t take much photos of himself, those he posted are because it’s a group photo from a gathering and it’s rude not to post

no such thing as a theme, he will post whatever he wants whenever he wants

“yuta” will end up in his username, one way or another, secret nickname or codes

doyoung:

soft; selfies that never made it to the official account, him and friends goofing around

foodstagram; a proud man of the many dishes he experiments with and no shame in posting them on his private- why else does he plate them so nicely?

homey; posted a photo of the kimchi his mum sent him

a lot of jeno and dreamies, possibly the trainees too

will have the letter “d” in his username somehow

jaehyun:

cool guy; pose, suave and confident, maybe some late night drink with friends at a bar

loop-sided smirks; smiles a lot less and smirks a lot more, is genuine, just doesn’t put that much effort into looking “more warm”

picturesque; him and the background, and he knows it

more topless mirror selfies; ones he takes before he puts on proper clothes for a formal ootd for the fans- he’s worked hard for that body and he should flaunt it

which also leads to gym pics

username either has 2 or 14 in it

winwin:

friendly; you can actually see the growth of a bond from the timeline of photos, like the ones with the cast of “my brillant masters”

end to start; the type to capture every start and ending of a journey in his life, be it a variety show or finally beating yangyang at games

bedhead selfies with droopy eyes and disheveled face captioned “it’s a new day”

likes to comment on people’s post to tease them

a long lost pet name from childhood would fit for a username

jungwoo:

dog pics

loving; posts selfies of him and the members, especially those he timed perfectly to snap the moment his lips land on their cheek

eat!; another foodstagram, he loves to get food with friends, shares recommendations and rates restaurants he’s been to, never forgets to tag the place

dancing; practice room clips with the members playing around, having a fun time or making mark practice aegyo

numbers and zeus in his username

mark: 

aegyo; account got hacked and nobody will own up to posting a video taken by jungwoo-hyung while the others force him to do aegyo

would put it behind if seulgi didn’t tease him about it two days after

deleted it but it’s too late

gratitude; secretly takes photos of groups of fans outside the tall building they’re in, or empty concert halls and posts them with a “thankful to be here”

happy birthday; the one to wish you on your special day with a dedicated post, how much he types depends on how close you are- the closer, the more he goes “no need for words, you know how it is”

the most he’ll put is “m” or “lee” in his username, nothing else gives it away

haechan:

is the one that hacked mark, no doubt- wasn’t his fault the password was easy to guess after the first 3 letters

will whine if you don’t post that selca he took on your phone, “I looked good in it!”

different; his captions has nothing to do with his photos, and they aren’t quoting something, he’s just initiating that jisung has a head as large as the moon

that’s why “did you know the moon has a radius of  1,737.1km?” attached to a close up shot of jisung

probably roasted pudu in a photo

username is easy to guess if you get on his level

[shirtlesssammy]

4x13: After School Special

Then:

Sam and Dean were once kids, and they had a pretty crappy father.

Now:

High school, amirite?

A joyous time where friends call you “slut” so you turn around and call a nice helpful classmate a “fat, ugly pig”, only to have the nice helpful classmate turn around and swirly you to death the next day in the bathroom. Plus your parents set your curfew at 9 pm on weekdays.

April, the girl who murdered her classmate, is in an institution. No one believes her story, but Sam Winchester in white scrubs does. Sam asks about sulfur or black smoke, but April just thinks he’s crazy.

Back in the Impala, Sam tells Dean that he believes April’s story and thinks they’ve got a case of demonic possession. The only thing off about it is that she didn’t see any black smoke. Time to check out the school. Dean sarcastically agrees. “Truman High, home of the Bombers.” (Oof, I’m surprised there wasn’t a referendum in that town to change that mascot!)

(And because I paused the video and was granted this aesthetically pleasing shot, I will share with the class)

It seems that the brothers went to this school once upon a time. Dean wants to know their cover. “FBI? Homeland Security? Swedish Exchange students?” Sam’s got an idea.

Cue Foreigner’s “Long, Long Way From Home”, porn shots of Baby, and a flashback to Sam and Dean’s first day at Truman High. A) Baby Sam in his little Carhartt just is the cutest thing ever. B) For all the math nerds out there, the caption says “Truman High School, 1997”. Sam says that it’s November. So, do the math and Dean should have graduated in the spring of 1997. We all know he didn’t because he got his GED. So, the question remains, was Dean held back in school (a VERY real possibility considering his extreme intelligence and extreme dislike for book learning, and all the monster hunts and moving and being a full time parent, etc.) or is he going through the motions of school just to watch out for Sammy? I don’t know which is worse.

Sam and Dean are introduced to their respective classmates. As Sam plops his stuff down on his new desk, his butterfly knife falls out. Millhouse Barry, another student that will soon become friends of sorts with Sam, notices.

Dean, meanwhile is pressing hard on the condescending, misogynistic bravado that we all know isn’t him at all. I really love this tidbit of information that Jensen gave to Brock Kelly, who played the flashback Dean in this episode.  

In Sam’s classroom, while the teacher discusses an essay assignment, Barry gets bullied by another classmate. Sam Fucking Winchester tells the bully to knock it off. Sam, who hasn’t hit his growth spurt yet, is called a midget and Sam, gifted with the self-confidence of a boy that has his tribe (albeit small) and an outsider’s assurance that fitting in won’t matter to his drifter lifestyle (and that butterfly knife in his pocket, no doubt), challenges the bully. The bully flinches.

Present day Sam wanders the halls of Truman High as a custodian. He just walks past his old English class when his old English teacher, Mr. Wyatt, comes out.

Present day Dean is A LOT. He’s dressed as the substitute gym teacher. And well, we all know how much Dean loves to dress up. When he leans into an act, he leans into an act.

He tasks his poor underlings to the art of the Dodge while reconvening with Sam. Sam shames Dean’s outfit, and Dean’s slight look of abashment is so sad. The dude loves to LARP. Sam has been all over the school but not one clue. Maybe there isn’t a case after all.

Meanwhile in Home Ec, Male cheerleader threatens his table partner with a fist to his throat if he doesn’t share his homework. So, the other dude does what any sane person would do and takes said fist and pushes it into a whirling food processor. Sam is there to see the cheerleader whisked away and the other kid fall to the floor, black goo oozing from his ear.

While the school has a non-violence assembly, Sam and Dean have free reign to search the school for EMF and ghosts. 

They’re dealing with a seriously pissed off ghost. Dean already did a little searching in the principal's office and found out that there was one suicide back in 1998, Barry Cook.

Flashback to this gem of a school banner:

Mr. Wanek is the art teacher. ALL THE HEARTS.

We’re shown more bullying of Barry with Sam coming to help. Sam learns that Barry wants to be a veterinarian. “You like animals?” dog loving Sam inquires. “They’re a lot nicer than people.” We also learn that Sam is adorable in his little brown striped hoodie. 

Dean, meanwhile, is making out with a fellow student in the broom closet. This whole scene is a gold mine for Dean analysis. Needless to say, the more Dean tells the girl about his life, the more her alarm bells are going off for him. You’re life isn’t normal or healthy, Dean bby.

Sam and Barry run into Barry’s bully, Dirk, in the hallway. Sam tells Barry to run while Dirk threatens Sam. Sam just stands him down, and starts to walk away before Dirk punches him. His English teacher breaks it up.

In the present day, Sam and Dean burn Barry’s bones and leave town.

Sam laments the fact that if he could have stayed at Truman High just a little longer, maybe he could have helped Barry. Dean tries to console him, and tells him that it was a good thing they got out of there so soon. Sam doesn’t think it was all bad.

Flashback to Dean raging about what Dirk did to Sam, but Sam doesn’t want Dean’s help. He wants to be normal. They’re stuck in this town for at least another week (MY GOD, JOHN WINCHESTER. This. Is. Child. Neglect.) (Sidenote: Dean tells Sam that Amanda wants him to meet her parents. He then says he doesn’t “do parents” and well, we know he met Cassie’s mom and he met Cas’s dad, so sometimes he’ll meet the parents. Just saying, and welcome to my world where I can make literally anything about Dean and Cas.)

Back in time, Mr. Wyatt pulls him aside to ask him about a “non-fiction” essay he turned in where he describes how he and his family killed a werewolf over the summer. Sam’s only somewhat abashed. He’s clearly taken on the mentality that whatever he does in class won’t matter since they’ll be moving on soon. But the teacher tells Sam that his work is good enough that he could be a writer someday. Sam shuts him down: he has to go into the “family business.” (Hey Sam, you can always write on the side, baby.) The teacher asks him if he wants to go into the family business. “No one’s ever asked me that before,” Sam says. SAMMY. While I weep over Sam’s childhood, the teacher encourages Sam to make his own choices in life.

For Pretty Patterns Science

In the present, Sam heads back to find the teacher who encouraged him when he was a child. Standing nervously outside the door, he’s interrupted by a girl who asks him for directions. “Thanks, Sam,” she tells him when he helps her and then she STABS HIM OH MY GOD. “You got tall.” 

She starts beating him up, ectoplasm oozing. Sam shoves a handful of salt into her mouth and expels the ghost.

Back at the car, Dean mirrors the school scene from earlier. He feeds Sam alcohol while he rages about ripping out the ghost’s lungs. “Or, you know what I mean.” They realize that all three of the attacking kids rode the same school bus.

Cut to Dean stalking through the suspect school bus with his shotgun, as one does.

They’re looking for hair, for skin, for anything that might tie a ghost to the bus. Dean finds the bus driver’s recent certification; he started the route 2 weeks ago. He’s the dad of Dirk, Sam’s youthful tormentor.

In the past, Sam confronts Dirk for beating up Barry. When Dirk attacks him, Sam’s had enough. He pulls out his raised-from-birth fighting tactics and quickly beats Dirk to the ground. “You’re not tough. You’re just a jerk. Dirk the jerk.” The nickname spreads like wildfire.

Sam and Dean talk to Dirk’s dad. Dirk died when he was 18 of an overdose. Dirk Sr. tells them that Dirk was poor and bullied. When he was thirteen, his mom got cancer and Dirk took care of her while he dad worked three jobs. As a cloud of guilt descends on Sam, Dean asks for Dirk’s burial site. Unfortunately, Dirk Sr. had him cremated. “All of him?” Dean asks. Dean. Bean.

It gets the job done. Dirk Sr. keeps a lock of Dirk’s hair in the bible on his bus.

That evening, the bus ferries a load of (presumably) football players to a game. Ectoplasm oozes out of the bus driver’s nose. The bus rams over a set of road spikes. I’m asking the screen WHY there are road spikes when Sam Winchester approaches the bus driver. Yeah, motha fuckahs, it’s a Winchester trap. (Related: they keep ROAD SPIKES in Baby’s trunk? Ooookay.) Dean ties up the bus driver, aka Dirk, in salt-soaked rope and then heads into the bus to find Dirk’s remains. He gets recognized as the gym teacher but Dean deflects: He’s 21 Jump Street, man. This ain’t nothin’ but a drug bust.

Dean finds the bible, but there’s nothing in it. Dirk falls into his villain monologue. In his experience, Sam and the popular kids are the bullies - they’re evil. “I’m not evil,” Sam protests because he is CUT TO THE CORE by being called evil. (Me: remembers that this is Season 4 and nods knowingly.)

“We were scared and miserable and we took it out on each other...that’s high school. But you suffer through that and it gets better.” Sam’s words don’t convince Dirk, who bursts free of his bonds. He gets shot out of the bus driver’s body and possesses one of the students. While Sam’s getting the crap beaten out of him, Dean searches everywhere for the hair, eventually finding it in the bus driver’s shoe.

Dean fumbles with his lighter (MY GOD invest in better lighters, boys) and then lights the sheaf of hair on fire. Dirk bursts free from the student and dissolves into flame.

And...we’re in flashbacks again. Dean’s kissing a different girl in the supply closet. Amanda walks in and Dean very, very poorly tries to cover.

Amanda delivers a scathing analysis of Dean: “I thought maybe underneath your whole ‘I could give a crap,’ bad-boy thing, that there was something more going on. I mean, like the way you are with your brother. But I was wrong. And you spend so much time trying to convince people that you're cool...but it's just an act. We both know that you're just a sad, lonely little kid. And I feel sorry for you, Dean.” This devastates Dean, of course. We close the episode with Sam riding an absolute high, beloved by the school and Dean at his lowest. John Winchester shows up just in time, or way too soon, depending on your viewpoint. They climb into John’s car, Sam waves goodbye to Barry, and they leave town.

In the present, Sam finally heads in to talk to Mr. Wyatt. (Sam’s still bruised and cut from the fight so...awkward.) He thanks Mr. Wyatt for the advice he gave him years ago. Sam admits that he made his own choices for a little while but got pulled into the family business in the end. Oh, Sammy. <3 “You took an interest in me when no one else did,” Sam tells him. “That matters.”

“The only thing that really matters is that you’re happy,” Mr. Wyatt tells him. “Are you happy, Sam?”

And...fin.

Rollin’ with the Quotes:

You got your lunch? Books? Butterfly knife?

The whistle makes me their god.

I have to go into the family business.

There may be three or four big choices that shape someone's whole life, and you need to be the one that makes them, not anyone else.

Want to read more? Check out our Recap Archive! 

[guylty]

Apart from Michele lobbying for this film in the wake of the horror of Hannibal, I wouldn’t have considered 2014 disaster flick Into The Storm for a rewatch, had ITS not been on Irish free TV at the end of January. That already preempts my verdict to some degree.  You see, I don’t think that it is what we call “ganz großes Kino” in German [great cinema]. To stay with the metaphor, it’s probably more along the lines of “ganz großes Damentennis” [great women’s tennis]. Ok, those are in-jokes for those who can speak German. Very bad form, Guylty, very bad! What it means is: ITS is not a triumph of early 21st century cinema. And this is why:

Recap

It’s an ordinary day in Silverton, Ohio, where single-parent assistant principal Gary Fuller herds his teenage sons Trey and Donnie to school. Trey is documenting the day with his camcorder; Donnie, the elder of the two, is pissed off with his dad. Daddy Gary at the same time is distracted by the preparations for the afternoon’s graduation ceremony. Meanwhile, a motley crew of ‘storm chasers’ have come into the area because they expect a strong hurricane to landfall. And it does – but it’s the mother of all hurricanes, a monster storm that wreaks havoc in Silverton, scatters the graduation, and, worst of all, traps Donnie Fuller together with love interest Kaitlyn in a disused mill where they nearly drown – if it hadn’t been for Daddy Fuller, the quirky brother, and some unexpected help from the storm chasers. But all’s well that ends well: daddy comes to rescue, the youngsters are saved at the last minute, the nasty career-storm chaser gets his comeuppance but simultaneously redeems himself, and the Fuller lads are one happy family again.

So, we’ve got the ingredients for a regular summer blockbuster here: (natural) disaster with opportunity for big time CAD, vaguely topical issue (global warming), family dynamics (dad vs son), small little love story (Donnie & Kat, Gary & meteorologist Allison), nasty slave-driving boss getting what he deserves, single-parent mother separated from her child because of work, two country-bumpkin eejits for light relief, major, nail-biting drama and a happy ending. Maybe some of what is wrong with the film is already visible in that list: There is too much in it, and it doesn’t *quite* know what it wants to be. It takes on too many things, and instead of just being content with being a two-dimensional, silly disaster movie along the lines of Sharknado, it wants to take itself seriously, attempting “issues” in order to attract viewers. The strength of disaster movies is usually the special effects or the computer design of the catastrophe. So why obscure that silly fun with serious issues? Global warming as the cause of intense weather phenomena? Of course, we know that. But do I look to a summer movie to learn more about the effects of climate change? Eh, no! Just as much as I don’t want to get into a subtle subplot about single-parent issues and the strains of having to separate from your child in order to earn money. Just get on the with the disaster, throw around a few 10-ton-trucks and jumbo jets, and I’ll be happy.

Not sure where this gif comes from – credit to the maker

In that sense, the strongest scenes in the movie are the action/disaster sequences. When Gary runs across the street after his car is inadvertently crashed, and a pick-up truck smashes into the pavement about ten feet beside him, then that is great (disaster) cinema. Armitage clinging on to a car door for dear life – and to save met lady Allison from being sucked up into the tornado: predictable but essential ingredient to a disaster movie. And bonus: wet bum shot. Of Armitage! Not the woman! *That* would be sexist! A whole group of helpless humans, huddling in a massive drain for shelter against the storm, being thrown around by mother nature – great both in terms of providing scale as well as giving more opportunity for heroics. But all that sentimental crap about Allison not being with her daughter, Gary and Donnie’s relationship being strained, and Pete the storm chaser pressuring his underlings into risking their lives – unnecessary and not believable.

  Cardboard Cut-outs

Not least because the characters are mere cardboard cut-outs, stereotypes, and as such just a cheap trick to offer a quick n easy way to identify or engage with one of the characters. Yet I found it strangely difficult to get invested because the characters were just too stereotypical: The hard-working father who is trying his best to bring up his sons; elder son has an issue with dad being over-protective. Young son OTOH is happy-go-lucky popular kid. Met lady has small daughter who lives with grandparents because mum has to travel for work: I should’ve latched on to these people immediately because I share one massive characteristic with them – I am a parent. (Happy mother’s day, btw.) But that one facet in a person is not enough for me to connect and engage with a character. I understand that ITS is a film that is basically telling a story in real time. So there is no opportunity for massive insights or for character set-up. Or maybe there would’ve been if the film had concentrated on fewer characters. Apart from Pete the head storm chaser, did we need Allison and the other storm chasing crew? We certainly didn’t need the town eejits, and we probably could also have done without the burgeoning love story between Donnie and Kaitlyn. If Gary Fuller was the main character, then the film should’ve focussed on him – and his heroics. That would’ve done the trick.

As for Armitage in the film: No complaints as such. His performance is solid – as it always is. You can sort of tell that this is basically his first time playing an American character. The accent doesn’t sit well with him – it just doesn’t sound right imo: When he speaks, his whole voice changes. It’s deeper in tone, and not as melodious as usual. Which is a pity, because his voice (and his vocal talents) are always an asset to any show. Otherwise he gets away with portraying the great looking, fit and healthy athletic All American dad, right down to those beautifully regular white and shiny front teeth. I do buy his act as a dad – in fact more so than his act as the vice principal of a small town high school. The man just is too gorgeous for such an existence. Casting fail *grins*.

The effects in the film work well – once you suspend your disbelief, everything is possible, and the fire tornado or the monster hurricane that bounces jumbo jets around as if they were matchbox toys, look reasonably real. The climactic storm scene – with Pete’s (literal) comeuppance – OTOH is designed straight from baroque altar pieces (see right).  Towering clouds fading into white… You almost expect the eye of providence to pop up on top of the screen. And so sickly sweet with its bright clouds and shining light and predictable that it spoils the otherwise hair-raising disaster porn.

For me, the greatest regret of the film is that its concept obviously changed at some point. The initial idea of basing the majority of the film on “found footage” – was actually a great idea, both in terms of aesthetics as well as story telling. But that concept eventually is thrown out of the window even though little brother Trey, who executes the concept at the beginning of the film by shooting a ‘time capsule project’, continues to carry the camera with him. From the middle of the film found footage is not happening anymore – which makes the film strangely asymmetrical. One wonders whether the film was significantly reshot after screen testing? There definitely were reshoots, as can be seen as early as the first scene of the film when Gary’s hair is definitely shorter than a scene later…

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Miraculous hair growth. Well, RA has mentioned before that he has won prizes for growing his beard faster than anyone else… Looks as if the Armitagean follicles are stuff of legend and miracle!

Final verdict

Unfortunately, the second time ‘round, the film doesn’t improve. When I watched it in the cinema – summer evening, teenage son with me, bag of pop corn at the ready – it really did what it set out to do: It was a meaningless summer flick, more aimed at the boys than the girls, easily whiling away 89 minutes with lots of rain, thunder, assorted farm equipment flying through the air and the occasional jumbo jet twirling across the airport concourse. Four and a half years later, the film hasn’t exactly become a cult classic. And it’s easy to see why: It’s neither excruciatingly bad, nor exquisitely good. Maybe the audience wants to see even more extreme effects – or the opposite is true and in light of global warming the audience *doesn’t* want to be reminded of the havoc that the climate can play with us. And without any particularly exciting human interest story in the film, ITS has been laid to rest in the mid-week movie graveyard. That’s not what Richard Armitage deserves – who gives his best as he always does. Maybe all it was for him, was an elaborate screen test. He certainly comes across well. And at least he has ticked another genre off his list.   

What about you? What do you think about the film? Comment below or write a post on your blog and link back to me so we can discuss! 

PS: April is coming! And we need a new re-watch. Suggestions?

Re-Watching Into The Storm – Not Much of a Twist Apart from Michele lobbying for this film in the wake of the horror of Hannibal, I wouldn’t have considered 2014 disaster flick…

[nikihawkes]

Title: Storm Cursed

Author: Patricia Briggs

Series: Mercy Thompson #11

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rating: 2.5/5 stars

The Overview: My name is Mercedes Athena Thompson Hauptman, and I am a car mechanic. And a coyote shapeshifter. And the mate of the Alpha of the Columbia Basin werewolf pack. Even so, none of that would have gotten me into trouble if, a few months ago, I hadn’t stood upon a bridge and taken responsibility for the safety of the citizens who lived in our territory. It seemed like the thing to do at the time. It should have only involved hunting down killer goblins, zombie goats, and an occasional troll. Instead, our home was viewed as neutral ground, a place where humans would feel safe to come and treat with the fae. The reality is that nothing and no one is safe. As generals and politicians face off with the Gray Lords of the fae, a storm is coming and her name is Death. But we are pack, and we have given our word. We will die to keep it. -Goodreads

The Review:

Storm Cursed had a lot of the elements I’ve come to love from the Mercy Thompson series. Pack dynamics (I love it when they don’t get along lol), fun mysteries (in this case involving miniature goat zombies), and a world filled with so many interesting characters it’s hard to find page-time for them all.

Alas, despite having all the same ingredients, Storm Cursed was my least favorite since Frost Burned. I have some thoughts as to why:

The main character, Mercy is where I see my most prominent dissatisfactions here. For one thing, she just doesn’t seem like the same Mercy I fell in love with at the beginning of the series. Her character seems very different these days, at least to my perceptions. And not because of how her profile has evolved (because character growth is essential to any good series), but more from a writing standpoint (i.e. what Briggs chooses to have Mercy’s POV focus on). She’s very concerned with mundane things that don’t add any real character value for me – such as making sure to not use her phone while driving, or taking care to wear gloves while working on an engine. Moments like that are clear moments, and I’m finding them distracting. The sentiments are all good, for sure, but there are other ways to convey a character’s practical nature without sounding like an after school special. I read a really good article by Chuck Wendig about why including the mundane, even to establish character, can work against you, and much of what he warns against was present in this book (I’m referring specifically to his “Not Everything is Interesting” section).

Maybe it’s just me. Most of the readers in my Goodreads group didn’t have any of these same objections. Maybe all these mundane things add to the experience for others and I’m just being too picky. For whatever reason, it’s just didn’t work for me in this book.

The problem compounds even further for me. Mercy used to be a catalyst! An instigator of change who took her destiny into her own hands and made things happen. But in these last two novels, she was kind of a non-factor when it came to the conflict resolution… very reactionary. This issue doubles down in Storm Cursed because many of the conflicts happened off-page (on the periphery of the story, where the characters find out about them after the fact), which only served to increase the distance I felt. Maybe that’s why I had more time to scrutinize the characters – there wasn’t as much active engagement as usual.

Now for some positive talk (because, after all, I still love the series). What definitely didn’t let me down were the side characters and the overall advancement of the series. Between Mercy Thompson and Alpha and Omega, this world has so much depth! The number of stories and characters Briggs could expand on are boundless. Every side character is interesting. Every backstory compelling. Every supernatural faction is still mostly an enigma. The care paid to its overall construction and development is brilliant, and it’s also why Briggs is one of my favorite authors (not to mention she’s one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. Working as a bookseller, I’ve met countless authors over the years, and she’s still responsible for my favorite interaction to date, by far. If you can catch her at a signing – go!!).

My point is, even though Storm Cursed didn’t quite tickle my fancy like past novels have, I’m still a huge fan of this series and will definitely be reading anything Briggs decides to write next. Which, incidentally, is NOT going to be a random spinoff novel about Christy… apparently Briggs & Co. played an April fools joke where they announced she’d be taking a break from the main characters for a while. Unfortunately I didn’t see the original post, just a summary in a weekly newsletter… meaning I read about it on April 7th and had no reason to suspect it wasn’t legit. So I spread the word… and then facepalmed when I found out it was a joke lol. But I suppose it’s a testament to this author that I would’ve been totally on board with a Christy novel! I’m not sure how I feel about jokes in general on that scale, but considering that’s how the Hugh books in Ilona Andrews’ Kate Daniels series got started (Iron and Magic was bomb), I won’t complain too much.

Recommendations: while Storm Cursed contained many of the components I’ve come to love from this series, a bit of the magic was missing for me, making it my least favorite in a long while. However, it advances the plot nicely and will give you a few laughs along the way. Definitely don’t pick it up unless you’re up to date with the series. 🙂

Other books you might like:

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Stray by Rachel Vincent

Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Storm Born by Richelle Mead

Skinwalker by Faith Hunter

Bitten by Kelley Armstrong

by Niki Hawkes

Book Review: Storm Cursed by Patricia Briggs Title: Storm Cursed Author: Patricia Briggs Series: Mercy Thompson #11 Genre: Urban Fantasy Rating: 2.5/5 stars…

[redsletterday]

What They Call “Real World”

#22 Trust me, those sleepless nights trying to get your papers/thesis done will be nothing compared to what will happen after everything; after graduation thinking about what career you will work on. Or maybe it's just me taking a course that can bring me anywhere. Nevertheless, these are the thoughts from the nights that take hours from my sleep thinking where to spend my working days in. Three years ago, I posted a photo of myself wearing an IMC shirt that was given to me. Now that I think about it, maybe I should have actually done it - the caption I wrote. I've been going through my head thinking about what to do, what to do, what to do. In the process I've thought of who I am, how I've become, and what I want to be. In doing so, I'd have to recollect to years back and recollect I did taking hours from my sleep. Was the Humanities the right choice? Did I label myself too much that I got myself in too deep? How am I going to turn things now? Before entering college, I seemed so sure of what course I wanted to take. I applied for European Studies for ADMU, A.B. Psychology for DLSU-D, Chemical Engineering for UPD, and of course, M.A. Humanities for UA&P. Okay maybe I wasn't sure, but I had the sense that I was ready to take any course and got too excited for the idea of college. It's in that idea of college that I got myself too preoccupied in that I may have taken less priority for the course. I have to admit that the family pressure has always favored Ateneo. It never really mattered or occured to me what course I would take as long as it was in Ateneo, or should I say, the Ateneo as I can almost hear my relatives saying it. Of course, I ended up going to UA&P which was at least the second favored university between my relatives given its Opus Dei status. My great grandfather was an Opus Dei associate who apparently is in Dr. Dumol's circle of friends. Anyway, between the two courses I had to choose from, I went with my first choice, M.A. Humanities. It made a lot of sense to me that time given that I did think of myself as someone who likes to think "deeply" (or so I thought until I got into majors and met a lot of other people who think so well I'm honored to be friends with them but this is an entirely different story). My formative years, mostly High School life, was generally me being quiet and observant thinking about why things happen, why people act this way, why I'm like this and etcetera. You're maybe wondering now why I chose different courses for different universities that don't exactly have anything to do with these. Let's just say: these courses say a lot about me during my High School life. I took Euro Studies for Ateneo because I was so into football watching all the Euro countries in different leagues that I wanted to study their culture. I also specifically wanted to know how people work in a scientific perspective hence the Psychology course for DLSU-D. In third year H.S., I loved Chemistry and went to Chemistry Camp in Ateneo for getting the highest grade that ultimately got me interested in it when applying for UPD. So why the Humanities? Well, thinking about all the why's in life was the one constant in my life which UA&P's Humanities offered. They didn't offer the answers, of course, but they did offer us to think about them better. Why didn't I just focus on the Humanities then since Ateneo had Humanities too? Well, I never really thought about it because again, back then, I just wanted to get into Ateneo. When I had to face the hard-slapping truth that I didn't pass for Ateneo's scholarhship, it didn't hurt as much thinking about what the UA&P's Humanities. But man did it hurt a lot to think about a lot for a lot of the majors a lot of the time. Don't get me wrong, the pain was worth it and I learned a lot and more than I expected. My younger self, the self before college, would have been very much satisfied had he known what I know now. But I guess that's where the problem comes in. He and I are no longer the same person. Of course, that guy and I are five years apart and counting, because a lot can happen in a day, let alone five years. What I mean to say is, I'm no longer just the quiet person thinking about the whys of life, I'm now a person who wants to share what he learned about those whys through stories in whatever form those stories may take. This is not to say that I lost my former self, but I guess it's just how I grew throughout the years. I want to tell stories. And now here comes the second problem The Humanities has given me an abundant of material to find the right contexts and background researches for stories I want to make, but the course does not exactly teach us the making itself of those stories. The IMC and MEM courses are the ones specialized in those. If the Humanities focuses on the pre-production of these stories and lacks the lessons for the production itself which is offered in IMC and MEM, am I saying that these two courses don't have knowledge on the pre-production of these stories? Absolutely not. Why else would they need CAS subjects as well? Why else would all courses in UA&P need CAS Subjects? Am I now then saying that I should have just taken IMC or MEM instead of Humanities? Well, I would be surprised if you only caught that question now, but yes, binggo. Maybe. A big maybe. While I could say yes that I should've just taken IMC or MEM given the reasons I already explained above, I said maybe; that there's are areas I would say no and still stick to the Humanities. But before that, I have to bring up one huge factor to my realization and to the continuous growth of my ability to tell stories: theater. Outside these UA&P courses are the theater organizations, Dulaang ROC, ViARE, and the ones outside school. It has even led me to doing solo mini-theatrical acts or soliloquy-like plays in spoken word performances. It has been theater that made my pre-college self open up more to people definitely developing my social skills and generally raising my emotional quotient way higher. It turns out, that the me who thinks about the whys and the me who tried and now loves theater, is equivelent to the me now - one who wants to tell stories about the whys: about the things people take for granted, the things that are right under our noses that people fail to realize busy looking ahead. So why still the Humanities? As much as my majors don't exactly have anythiing directly related to this, it's the critical thinking that has been ingrained in my head. I mean, I wouldn't have realized all of this, everything I just said, if it weren't for me thinking about it critically which the Humanities has greatly helped me in. After all, I guess that is the goal of the Humanities, or at least one of them: to make you realize who you are as a person, what you were, and what you can become. As I write that, it's funny how that's the same thing Dr. Mariano said during my campus orientation: "The Humanities is generally about what man was, what man is, and what man can become" or something along those lines. Okay but going in to the "Real World," how does this all apply now? Well it looks like I'll be going to the creative departments of companies then. Before writing this, I've went to BBDO Guerrero's (where Joey Barreiro and Dino Robles works) and Dentsu Jayme Syfu's (Kat Olan and many other UA&P alumni) websites and careers and work and unlike my pre-college self who said he was sure of what to take in college, I'm now sure of what I want to become. Okay again maybe not exactly, but at least I do know that I want to be in the creative side of things. After all, getting to work for a creatives company is a whole other journey and just like college, it'll be definitely another adventure and finding myself more and more which would have not been made easier without the help of the Humanities. On a side note, I still hope I get into Megaworld's creative department or whatever they call it. This is of course despite Tito and Kuya being there. Right now, I'm almost sure I didn't make it. Amiel had three calls from three different departments few days after he gave his resume through Tito. It has been more than a week for me and I've got no one calling me. Nevertheless, here's to me about to make a portfolio for BBDO Guerrero or Dentsu Jayme Syfu so I can send my application with it. Here's to me hoping I get into one of them. And on a side side note, here's to me hoping I get to graduate this year - I hate financial problems.

[inazuma-eleven-translations]

Animage September 2013 - Interview with Suzuki Tatsuhisa (Ibuki Munemasa)

Full scans can be found here: http://inazuma.pmsinfirm.org/?p=322

Translator’s Notes: This is for @shindouyerin. Since I haven’t seen Galaxy yet, I’m really sorry if I made any mistakes! But I kinda like Ibuki, because he reminds me of Hakuryuu. He seems soooo stubborn, haha.

He painfully lost 3 goals to Resistance Japan! What should Ibuki study from here on in order to become a guardian deity for Raimon?

Ibuki Munemasa/ Inazuma Japan GK/ Shirt Number 1

Joined the team under the condition that he would get to study basketball overseas. Incidentally, his way of speaking is informal*, so is this one of the characteristics of Gassan Kunimitsu’s soccer club?

*He doesn’t use polite Japanese.

Special Move - Wild Dunk

Just like a dunk shoot from a basketball player, he slams down on the ball with shockwaves from a big hand. “Speaking of keeper special moves, Endou’s God Hand has a strong impression, so I was glad he could also unleash a big hand with bang. With Ibuki’s special move he swings down from the top, and meeting the ball face to face like Endou is very Ibuki-like. I feel like he’s not relying on any tricks or anything. But I think he can learn even cooler special moves from here on, so I’m looking forward to seeing them.” (Suzuki)

Captions

Gassan Kunimitsu Soccer Uniform - At the meeting for choosing the representatives, he appeared in Gassan Kunimitsu’s soccer club uniform. He wore the same red goalkeeper uniform as Hyodou, and his shirt number was 20.

Gassan Kunimitsu Basketball Uniform - He has the strong, sturdy arms of a basketball player. Since it’s the same color as Minamisawa and the others’ uniforms, is this the school color of Gassan Kunimitsu?

The Lone Wolf Sportsman, Ibuki

First we’d like to hear about how you felt when it was decided that you would play Ibuki.

First I received the script and Ibuki’s character design.

It wasn’t an audition, but you were asked to play him?

Yes, the role of Ibuki was offered to me. Since I hadn’t been part of the Inazuma Eleven series since the movie ‘The Invasion of the Strongest Army Ogre’ where I played the role of Escavan, I was looking forward to seeing what the story would be like this time. I feel this way no matter what the role is, but to me meeting the character I’ll play is the most important thing. I thought about things like ‘In Ibuki’s situation he’s a basketball player, so why is he going to play soccer?’ and ‘I wonder if he has a pretty combative personality?’ But my impression of his is changing as time goes on.

How is it changing?

I thought he was a lonewolf. He’s carrying a burning fire within him, but he doesn’t always show it. So to the people around him, he’s a difficult kid to decode at first glance.

When he was doing special training with Tsurugi, he didn’t say anything to the Captain, Tenma, about it. He just suddenly disappeared from the morning assembly.

That’s right (laughs). There’s no meaning to a keeper that can’t stop shoots, so he put everything aside to train. Ibuki also doesn’t really participate in the scenes revolving around the players’ daily lives. He’s a character we haven’t even once seen how he speaks to the other team members, so it’s hard to tell if he’s close to the others.  So I’m pretty worried too. Just what kind of kid is he, anyway?

We can conclude he’s not too close to them.

Probably not. He doesn’t seem to have much interest in what’s going on around him. I think he truly is a good kid, but isn’t his way of getting close to others in some respects not great? It’s because he’s a very straight-forward character that his pride is high that he shows a lot of stubbornness, and he’s the type who creates a lot of unnecessary friction between himself and the people around him. He’s cool, but he’s also faced a lot of difficulties and we can only imagine and look forward to his thoughts and the parts of him that haven’t been shown yet in the story. Ibuki is getting to know his true self.

The drama Ibuki has had so far is mainly clashing with Shindou.

Yes. Ibuki’s probably worrying about ‘Why is Shindou acting this cold to me?’. ‘Let me at least do this!’ and ‘Even though I’m trying my very best!’. I think this kind of story can happen in real life too. Whether you’re in school or in your work life, there are situations where your efforts just don’t feel appreciated or recognised.

When he said ‘I don’t care about soccer or Inazuma Japan!’ it left a deep impression.

‘I don’t care about anything else, so just recognise me already!’ was how he felt, wasn’t it. When you put people under pressure, you can divide them into two types. The type who retreats into their own shell, feeling extremely depressed or the type that even if everything around them crumbles they’ll keep showing you that they’ll do things their own way. I think Ibuki is the latter.

During the match where they can withdraw from the team (Note: Haven’t seen Galaxy don’t know the context) Ibuki declares immediately that he will stay behind. He says ‘If I leave now, I’ll be unsatisfied.’

Right. I think Shindou’s harsh but correct criticism provoked Ibuki’s pride as a sportsman.

Then even though if he leaves the team he can play basketball abroad, he refuses.

I think that before he’s a basketball player, he’s a sportsman. Even though he was suddenly told to play soccer, it doesn’t mean that he’ll hesitate in practicing from morning to night. So he’s not really thinking of it as turning down an offer to play basketball abroad. He knows the thing he needs to do right now is not play basketball, but train as a goalkeeper.

Thanks to that training, Ibuki’s become able to stop shoots. But Shindou still doesn’t recognise him.

Yeah, ‘why not?’! There’s the feeling that something’s still missing before he can truly be able to play soccer. I think Shindou’s true intentions will soon be revealed, but right now he’s the one person challenging Ibuki. But though be challenged Ibuki grows as a person which I think he’s grateful for. But if he’s to put it into words, he won’t say anything more than ‘That Shindou is a really annoying guy,’ (laughs). Everyone else recognises that Ibuki is doing his best, but for Shindou, who is aiming for the world, he’s still not satisfied.

The first time he successfully used Wild Dunk, everyone else gathered around in awe.

Shindou didn’t move. Shindou is a good soccer senpai for Ibuki. What Ibuki can receive from Shindou and Tsurugi, who have a lot of experience with soccer, is (Note: can’t figure out this sentence atm). It’s nothing to do with age or gender, I think Ibuki is the type to really enthusiastically get into people who recognise him.

It would be good if he became closer to the other members too.

It seems like he especially has no connection with the girls (laughs). Since he really only has interest in training, he’s not really aware of the other members. When he opens his heart to everyone sooner or later and one by one communicates with them, I wonder about just what kind of odd conversations he’ll have with them (laughs). When I think about that, I look forward to it. In episode one the other Raimon members appeared, and everyone looked like really close friends. The two goalkeepers Shisuke and Sangoku were particularly memorable.

Finally, Ibuki’s highlights from here on out. The match against Resistance Japan is a painful memory, but…

It’s because of this painful memory that makes Ibuki want to train even harder. Resistance Japan’s level was certainly a different level than what he’d faced so far. I think it was very beneficial for him to face them so soon after just starting to play soccer. Because Ibuki’s had good sports reflexes from the start, and he’s trained that ability during his time as a basketball player so from now on he can definitely find his feet and show his real ability. And his being a lone wolf will change in a good way. There’s a tendency to think ‘I can surpass everyone by myself’ but through Ibuki understanding ‘Everyone’s hearts being linked together is an important thing too,’ I think it would be good if this message can also be transmitted to viewers. Since Ibuki will learn some important things, I’d be happy if he could watch over everyone’s growth in Inazuma Japan.

[usnewsaggregator-blog]

Spain expected to impose Catalonia direct rule

New Post has been published on http://usnewsaggregator.com/spain-expected-to-impose-catalonia-direct-rule/

Spain expected to impose Catalonia direct rule

Image copyright AFP

Image caption Catalonia’s independence referendum has thrown the country into crisis

The Spanish government is holding a special cabinet meeting to approve measures to take direct control of the semi-autonomous region of Catalonia.

The meeting comes almost three weeks after the region held a controversial independence referendum, which was ruled illegal by the supreme court.

Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont argues that the referendum result gave him a mandate to pursue independence.

But Spain’s government disagrees and is preparing to take back power.

How did we get here?

Catalonia’s regional government held a referendum on 1 October to ask residents of the region if they wanted to break away from Spain.

Of the 43% of Catalans said to have taken part, 90% voted in favour of independence. But many anti-independence supporters boycotted the ballot, arguing it was not valid.

Mr Puigdemont and other regional leaders then signed a declaration of independence, but immediately suspended it in order to allow for talks.

He then defied two deadlines set by the national government to clarify Catalonia’s position, and the government announced it would pursue Article 155.

What is Article 155?

Article 155 of the Spanish constitution allows the national government to impose direct rule over Spain’s semi-autonomous regions in the event of a crisis. It has never before been invoked in democratic Spain.

It says that if a region’s government “acts in a way that seriously threatens the general interest of Spain”, Madrid can “take necessary measures to oblige it forcibly to comply”.

Catalonia currently enjoys significant autonomy from Spain, including control over its own policing, education and healthcare.

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Media captionWhy is there a Catalan crisis? The answer is in its past

But the Spanish cabinet is now expected to recommend dissolving Catalonia’s government and holding elections in January, as well as taking control of the region’s 16,000-strong police force.

After Saturday’s cabinet meeting, the steps will be debated by a Senate committee before a final vote. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s conservative Popular Party (PP) holds a majority in the Senate, meaning the proposals are likely to pass.

What are the economic arguments?

Catalonia accounts for about a fifth of Spain’s economic output, and supporters of independence say the region contributes too much to the national economy.

Opponents argue that Catalonia is stronger as a part of Spain, and that breaking away would lead to economic disaster for the country as a whole.

Image copyright EPA

Image caption Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is meeting with his cabinet on Saturday

Nearly 1,200 companies based in Catalonia have re-registered in other parts of Spain since the referendum, hoping to minimise instability, according to the AFP news agency.

And Spain this week cut its national growth forecast for 2018 from 2.6% to 2.3%, blaming uncertainty over the future of Catalan independence.

Could Spain’s steps backfire?

James Badcock, BBC News, Madrid

The dissolution of Catalonia’s parliament and the holding of snap regional elections may appear to offer a way of defusing today’s state of extreme tension, but there are plenty of reasons to doubt that such a strategy would provide a clear solution to the crisis.

The far-left CUP party has suggested that it would boycott any election imposed on the region. Other pro-independence forces might do the same. Massive street protests against any form of direct rule from Madrid can also be expected.

Mr Puigdemont has promised to call a formal vote on independence in Catalonia’s parliament if Article 155 is invoked. If such a declaration were approved, the pro-independence forces could style the ballot as the election of a constituent assembly for a new republic, the next stage laid down in the pro-independence road map.

Assuming the participation of all parties, voters would be bound to interpret the election as a de facto vote on independence. If a separatist majority emerged once again, it is hard to see how the conflict could be considered closed.

Original Article:

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[8-bit-dreamland]

December 2018 “Album of the Month” Mike Shinoda “Post Traumatic”

Review By Melissa Wilke of genreisdead.com

Original Link: https://genreisdead.com/album-review-mike-shinoda-post-traumatic/

“Catharsis (from Greek κάθαρσις katharsis meaning “purification” or “cleansing”) is the purification and purgation of emotions—particularly pity and fear—through art or any extreme change in emotion that results in renewal and restoration.”

This definition of the psychological concept of “Catharsis” (as defined by Europe’s first rock star Aristotle) perfectly describes Mike Shinoda’s new solo album Post Traumatic. As the title suggests, the record’s central theme is Shinoda’s very personal post traumatic experience after the tragic death of his bandmate, Linkin Park’s lead singer, Chester Bennington. The 16 tracks on the record describe Shinoda’s journey from a place of utter despair to the beginning of a new chapter in his life. It makes sense that Post Traumatic is the first release under Mike Shinoda’s own name after recording as Fort Minor for over a decade. Post Traumatic describes an act of extreme personal growth. A rebirth.

The album’s first track is fittingly called “Place To Start.” In the lyrics of the song, Shinoda asks “Did somebody else define me?/ Can I put the past behind me?” – an indication of the inner emotional turmoil. But fast forward, a day before the release of Post Traumatic, Mike has answered these questions himself. The melancholic track is a great opener to the record. It gives the listener the chance to emotionally prepare for this journey.

“Place To Start” is followed by the tracks “Over Again” and “Watching As I Fall,” two songs that channel the anger Shinoda has felt during the aftermath of Bennington’s death. The lyrics are very straight-forward, so it gives the listener a good impression of how hard it can be to pick up the pieces after a tragedy. All three songs were already released on the Post Traumatic EP on January 25th.

One of the best songs on Post Traumatic is the incredibly heartbreaking “Nothing Makes Sense Anymore.” The lyrics describe the despair any person who has lost someone dear to them can perfectly relate to. Shinoda himself annotated the first verse, “I used to know where the bottom was/Somewhere far under the ocean waves,” on Genius.com:

“When a loved one passes away, many people, myself included, describe the feeling as ‘being lost at sea.’ There’s a feeling of lack of direction and lack of control.

Part of making the Post Traumatic album was an attempt to find direction and regain control of my creative and personal life.”

After the first four tracks all related to Chester Bennington’s passing, Mike Shinoda almost breaks down the fourth wall with the next tune “About You.” In it, he sings about the fear that no matter which songs he’s going to release in the future, they will automatically be interpreted as creative outlets to deal with the death of his bandmate. If the listener actually listens to the lyrics, it will cause him to realize that this song is the beginning of a new chapter and they have to adapt their approach of the next tracks accordingly. The song is a radio-friendly hip-hop number featuring the great vocals of blackbear.

“Promises I Can’t Keep” describes another moment of uncertainty of what the future might hold, but “Crossing The Line,” the first single of Post Traumatic, is the epiphany. The turning point in which Shinoda makes the decision to actively shape his own future. Alone, without his Linkin Park bandmates:

“Here, “Crossing A Line” means deciding to do something that is risky. Starting a solo project from the ground up, as opposed to using an existing platform (Linkin Park or Fort Minor) will inevitably be more work, harder to do, and may not agree with everyone. But I realized that it was the right thing for me.” (genius.com)

The following half of Post Traumatic has a more diverse sound to it. The variety in style demonstrates Shinoda’s talent and affinity to all genres of music. While the first half of the album is incredibly precious due to its emotional content, it’s the second half that intrigues me more. The lyrics are still raw and show emotional depth, but the music is more hopeful, almost inviting to see the world from a different, better, angle now. It shows what we can expect from the artist “Mike Shinoda” in the future and especially what he has to offer. I think many of the songs will surprise the audience.

“Ghosts” is an infectious danceable and uplifting tune. Its video was released last week and features the funny characters “Boris” and “Miss Oatmeal,” a statement to show that it’s important to laugh again after the months of grief.

“Ghosts” is followed by two incredibly strong tracks which feature some great artists. “Make It Up As I Go” features guest vocals by Illinois singer and songwriter K.Flay. Her voice has a very unique sound to it. It’s somewhat gritty and rough, which immediately captured my attention. Its beat is again very danceable and radio friendly. I can see myself dancing to this on a warm summer night with a big glass of Caipirinha.

“Lift Off,” featuring Chino Moreno and Machine Gun Kelly, starts with a precious melody played on the piano, but then Shinoda starts rapping and the melody is joined by a beat. The way his vocals enter the song causes an amazing clash of styles. The combination of the piano and the rough rap parts makes the song’s sound so interesting. It’s reminiscent of Jay-Z’s “Empire State Of Mind” and we all know how that one ended.

“IOU” is one of the hardest tracks on Post Traumatic. The song displays Shinoda’s skills as a rap lyricist:

“Friends like “Mike I don’t know who you are lately” But pride and hate has made nay-sayers mistake me For wasting brain space on ratings they gave me I don’t need your respect, I got history I’m 81 Reagan with that nonsense, miss me Father like Francis, Anakin or John Misty Not to be touched, sucker Tell ‘em take an I.O.U!”

While “IOU” isn’t very accessible, it’s quite refreshing because of this very reason. All in all, Post Traumatic, is strikingly radio friendly, so a little roughness feels good.

The album continues with two absolute bangers. “Running From My Shadow” featuring Grandson is definitely one of the top tracks on it. Grandson’s verse is the special ingredient, giving the track some more spice. The song is followed by “World’s On Fire”, an atmospheric track directed at the person who gives Shinoda the support he needs to go on when the rest of his world comes crashing down.

Surprisingly the album’s closer “Can’t Hear You Now” seems somewhat bland after all the stand out tunes. It’s really not more than a nice pop tune which doesn’t fit the lyrics at all. The lyrics suggest a state of empowerment:

“Scared of what I didn’t want, scared of what I wanted at Thought that I was finished, but I hardly had begun in fact I’ma beast, I’ma monster, a savage And any other metaphor, the culture can imagine And I gotta caption for anybody asking That is “I’m feeling fucking fantastic”

The music sadly lacks the strength of the song’s message, but with all the great tunes on Post Traumatic this doesn’t really matter at all. The album is a journey and I really hope that all the kids out there listen to it front to back at least once. You just have to experience it in full to really get to the depth of it.

Unfortunately, the album has one weakness: its sheer length. Many of the songs deal with heavy personal topics which is amazing, but listening to all 16 tracks is very draining. Maybe though that is exactly what Shinoda wanted. Grief is not easy. Grief is a long process and even though the record ends on a hopeful note, Shinoda’s journey is far from over. It would almost feel wrong to get a perfectly assembled 12-track album. Go out, buy the record, listen to it with your friends or alone on your headphones. But listen to it and go through all the emotions. It’s exhausting but also the best feeling ever.

[5hfanfiction]

Lean on me

CHAPTER ONE

Lauren has a perfect life, which consist of a perfect family, perfect friends, perfect colleagues; everything about her screamsperfect but what is the life’s intentions, if you are perfect and still living. Right there is no word called perfect, we all thrive to be perfect but in reality we are thriving for being almost perfect…..          So what is Lauren missing that can make her almost perfect and make her existence living.. Miami Whatever you achieve in your life there is this part always reminds of your old days, old place, old people or sometimes old habits too… And they may be cherished or they can be act of regret.   So after a long time Lauren has arrived to her own hometown. She is beyond ecstatic. As soon as she arrives in the airport there are some paparazzi who has gathered around her.     Obviously, how cliche of her life, she works in scientist association and does some research in field of advance medicine and technology and she was recently a part of very successful cancer medicine which helps in rapid growth of immune system which fights the deadly monster.. and she was the main part of it.   “Lauren”   “How does it feel to be back home” “Can we ask about your new research” She was always a private person. She just ignores paparazzi as some kind of bugs and that’s why she is mystery to the media. She barely answers them, only in her private interviews she gives out about some work she is been working on but not all. When she gets bombarded with such questions she simply ignores them but when it gets to whole new different level, she forgets from what status she is coming from and all the formalities, and simply lunges to whoever they are like a rebel teenager. Like now, the man who is standing close to her is throwing his camera straight onto her face. What happens next paralyzes whole media around her, the man who was smirking a few seconds ago, is writhing on the ground with pain in his groin and his camera now is just a broken piece, poor him -he was target of Lauren’s exhaustion and aggression, but according to her it was completely his fault. Soon there were flashes over everywhere. “What has made Lauren so upset that simply taking her photo becomes crime in her book” “Is she working in most secretive yet powerful research that is keeping her this insane, considering that she cures insane people” Speaking of curing; she was not only scientist but she was as well a psychiatrist. She used to work in NYC Sanitarium in New York, the reason behind her coming to her  hometown was her profession itself. Few days before New York “Hello is Dr.Jauregui there?” “Yes, she is. You have appointment?” asked the receptionist in very monotone voice. “No, this is  close friend of her, Dr.Kordei from Miami speaking, she has her phone turned off, so can you like connect to her like right now, it’s emergency”. “Alright I’ll just connect you to her office hold on” The receptionist soon calls Lauren’s office and asks her permission and after she has got one she immediately connects to her office. “Hey! Mani, how’s you? Sorry I had my phone switched off due to some stuff” “It’s alright Lo, I just wanted to check on you and had some really important news to convey” “Okay, is everything alright?” “Yes everything is just fine, but coming to main intention of calling you is -we need you here in Miami” “Why? What happened?” “There is this special case which I was recently assigned to but no matter how hard I am trying– I can’t work out any trick to cure the patient, it needs more knowledge and utmost care and I have some other stuff to take care of, so that explains I can’t give all the time to solve this case which is the main requirement and you are the best fit for this” “Oh! Okay, but have you asked my dad about this and consulted any other specialist?” “Believe me we have tried everything, and  you are our last choice” she voiced with hopeful yet firm stance. “Count me in, I am coming as soon as I can, I have left with some ends to tie” “I am so grateful, I will be waiting Laur, see you soon”. Lauren sighed with longingly. She was a family woman. Sure she pursued her  ambition and chased her profession all over to New York but Miami has always been important part of her life. She has grown up there made best of friends had some teen love and also lost her loving mother. It was so bittersweet to her. After her mother’s demise she was devastated, she was no more a cheerful yet rebel teenager that once she was. She joined scientist association especially in advanced medical field the sole reason for that was her mother’s death.She gave away all her youth life to just make her dreams come true. She dedicated her whole life to people she wanted to serve and help the society grow. She was one of the most influential people around the world. She has everything which she can ask for but not the peace and love which she so wanted achieve. Yes ‘achieve’ cause she has this policy of targeting and chasing. But apparently, that’s not the case in her situation, right now. Love and Peace are not to be achieved they are to be cherished. After resigning her job as a doctor in New York much to her boss’s dismay, she immediately flies to Miami few days later. Present day As she pushes and dodges all the media around her she simply searches for her best friend at the baggage counter. “Yo, Lo!” She soon searches for the source of the voice but to no avail. “Here bitch” she is soon met with her best friend hugging her in most suicidal approach. “Veronica, you are suffocating me” she struggles as she voices out and tries to break the hug. “I am meeting my bestie after a long time and all you say is I am suffocating you. How can you?” She wiped her imaginary tears off of her eyes. So dramatic, after all where should all her theatrics go. Latins are born drama queens thought Lauren. “It’s not like that, god you have grown so much and gorgeous too"said Lauren with admiral. "You have plenty of other ladies to show off your charm and I am not falling for it Jauregui” Vero said with a chuckle, which was soon joined by Lauren. “I missed those days where we used to hit on random girls” Lauren said with some glint in her eyes. Soon they were out of the airport and were in Vero’s car hailing to Jauregui’s Sanitarium. “So what’s next?” asked Vero. “After visiting my father and Asylum, I have nothing to do” voiced Lauren. “Seriously, we need to hit the club, seeing you with all your medical stuff and with all your research work, I don’t doubt that you never got laid in these days” Veronica was most blunt in her group of friends. She never felt offended with her bluntness instead she felt proud that she had most honest friend. “I don’t have time for all that Vero” “You need some lady loving girl” smirked Vero. “But wait since you didn’t had any pleasure, did you make any medicine that can help you with desire and satisfaction” “Nope I don’t research on such things” firmly said Lauren. “Then you have to for my sake cause, all the ladies here are becoming boring now and I am only becoming young and horny day by day” she said with fake arrogance dripping in her voice. *** As soon as she was dropped off infront of her father’s sanitarium, she sighed. It was such a long time that she visited this place. The whole sanitarium was lit up in small lights and balloons as a welcoming gesture for Lauren. There was huge board captioning– 'Welcome Home Lauren’. Lauren was overwhelmed by all the gesture. “Hey Lo, sorry I couldn’t make it up to airport” said Normani while hugging the dark-haired woman. “It’s alright Mani, Vero was there” Lauren said with a smile on her face. “I heard about your mood at airport, your dad was complaining” “Yeah, I was exhausted and tired and all the media was being nothing but gentle” she retorted sarcastically. “Oh, enough of your sass, Mike is waiting for you in his cabin and meet me tomorrow, I have to discuss about that special case, now I am running late for my lunch date” she bid her friend good bye and made her way to her father’s cabin. “May I come in” she said after knocking on cabin door. “Mija! I missed you so much” squealed her dad while crushing her in a bear hug. “I missed you too Papi” “Now why were you grumpy at the airport” Mike asked in a stern yet amused voice. “Dad I was just exhausted” she rolled her eyes. “If you say so, you still had some work right then why did you come so soon” asked her dad in a confusion. “Mani said it was emergency, and I missed you all too” “But there was no such urgency mija” said Mike. She was so confused, she just couldn’t understand her dad. “I want to remain close to my family and friends now, I had had enough of all chasing” Mike was not satisfied at all. Why though? Who knows. She was just exhausted and wanted to go home and take a nap. “I will see you at home dad” *** “Felicita a Lauren por no olvidar su patria” all clinked their beer glasses for Keana’s cheering. “Qué bueno de ti Kea” sassed Lauren. “I am not returning from war” “Will you stop that bitchy attitude for a second” Lauren just scoffed. “Where is Normani?” “She had some work, she will be here by any minute” “OK we are going to dance floor, are you joining us?” asked Lucy. “No I’m fine” “Hey beautiful” she heard a husky voice from behind. She turned to see who the voice belonged to. She saw a brunette with beautiful brown eyes staring right at her with a smirk. She was surprised cause she used to be the one who hit on others not the other way around. “Hey” “So, can I know your name?” Oh straight to the point. She liked it. “Sorry, I don’t indulge with strangers” “Funny how asking name means indulging in anyway and here I thought you were a smart woman” replied the brunette. She was quite taken by it. “Lauren” she smiled at the brunette. “Isabella” the brunette sat across the older woman. “You seem to be underage to me” “Are you proving that you are smart by trying to guess my age and kick me out of the club” “So that confirms you are under aged” “Don’t worry I have fake ID unless you rat me out” “Not that I want to, but be ready at any moment” Lauren bantered playfully. She noticed the other brunette’s sad demeanor. “Are you alright?” She asked concerned. “Yeah, I am fine, now look at you caring for the stranger eh?” “It comes by profession I guess” chuckled Lauren. “So you do charity services?” “Nope, I am a psychiatrist” “Oh, then you go on reading people’s mind and stuff” brunette said playfully. “No just help people come out of their depression” “I know I was just kidding, but if you have a patient like me then you will be the one with the depression at the end”. She laughed at the other brunette’s words. “So what made you hit the club?” “I have just ran away from California to meet my sister here” the brunette couldn’t keep it anymore and now that beautiful psychiatrist was interrogating. “Why? Are you not living with your sister there?” “It’s a long story” sighed the brunette. “Where does your sister live?”. Soon she noticed the changes in the brunette. The entire playful face which was mere seconds ago was replaced with pain and tired expression. “Oh–” they were interrupted by the loud voice behind them. “Izzy come we are getting late” brunette’s friend shouted from the other end. “I really had a great time with you, see you soon and I didn’t get your number incase I get mad and need immediate help, you’ll be the one helping with” soon they exchanged their numbers and brunette left the club with her friend. “With whom were you chatting?” Normani inquired now replacing the place of the brunette. “It was just a random girl Mani” “Random girl who you were trying to get it with, I suppose you are still the player we have known back in the days” “Oh no it's  nothing like that, we were just talking” “Okay, if you say so, anyways I wanted to discuss that case with you” “Yeah, now that I am bored with this club you can tell me about that case” “I don’t know, I’ve never seen this type of case ever in my life, at the beginning I thought this was just a disorder that I could help her with but as time passes there is no progress made at all, and believe me I have tried everything” This made Lauren think. She was intrigued by it. If she had called for emergency then this must be serious issue. “Don’t worry we’ll check out the profile tomorrow, and how did your date go” she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively to which her friend blushed. She had lost count of how many drinks she had, what she remembered was–she was taken to the dance floor and soon her vision was nothing but blur. *** “Chancho, come on you have to eat it” Dinah said with trembling voice. But nope there was no response from other side. Camila just stared right back at her blankly. Her then bright chestnut eyes were now bore just dullness. Dinah was sitting with her for an hour now. Dinah tried to cheer her best friend by telling her their old memories and stupid jokes they used to make but she was failing miserably. She tried to hold back her tears for her friend’s sake but now she was on the edge. She turned her back to the older girl. “You don’t know how it pains to see you in this state” finally she let a loud sob which she couldn’t contain anymore. “Visiting you everyday is just worsening the pain, How stupid of me I could have not fought with you that day, Clearly this is all my fault, I had all the chance to protect you but no, I wasn’t there for you when you needed me the most” she turned back only to notice the brunette was already gone out of the room. Another failed day. She hoped she gets her friend back as before cause she considered her best friend as her soul sister. “Hey,it’s alright” Normani hugged her. “No, nothing is alright Mani. When does she get better. This is all my fault” she wept on her girlfriend’s shoulder. Normani felt sorry for her. “It was not your fault, stop blaming yourself, what happened to her was not because of you, this is nothing to do with your fight that day, if you were having slightest clue about what was gonna happen to her then you could have come to her rescue but you weren’t knowing. I have arranged everything. Now everything will fall back in place”. They stayed there for few more minutes in loving embrace. “Thanks for being there for me” “No thank you for confiding in me, will you join me for  the party, you need some change” “No I can’t, I have some errands to run, Thanks though” *** “They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” — Carl W. Buechner **End of Chapter one** - A/N: Well this is my first ever fan-fiction. Feel free to comment 😊 also check it out in the Wattpad… Thank you. Love, ~Charlie

[brokensidewalk]

With Louisville’s bike share system launching in less than five days, crews have been hard at work distributing stations across the city. And the photos are starting to make their way out!

Bike share is a system of rentable bikes considered part of a city’s overall transportation network. It helps bridge gaps that are unwalkable but too short to drive. Or it helps locals and tourists see the city in new ways. It helps students make it from UofL to Central Park for a study break, and a West Main worker make it to lunch in Nulu. And it’s just a lot of fun.

The first station to be installed is at Spalding. (Courtesy Rolf Eisinger)

Louisville’s system is called LouVelo. When it opens on May 15, it will contain 305 bikes distributed over 28 stations in its first phase. Stations are located on a major north-south axis extending from Downtown, SoBro, and Old Louisville. (This fall, 15 more stations are planned at the University of Louisville’s Belknap Campus.) More stations are located in Nulu and Butchertown, and at the Waterfront.

A bike share station on Garvin Place in Old Louisville. (Erin O’Neil)

Future phases call for extending LouVelo’s footprint west into Portland and Russell and east into the Highlands. Mayor Greg Fischer was excited about the growth possibilities of bike share here at a late-April launch announcement. “We’re off to a good start with 300 [bikes],” he said. “There’s no reason why it can’t be 500 or a thousand, and then two thousand.”

First announced in 2014 and delayed multiple times, it’s exciting to see LouVelo hit the streets. And the colorful logo and color scheme lend the system a friendly and inviting tone. We couldn’t be more thrilled.

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A bike share station on Fourth Street. (Rolf Eisinger)

Adding a bike share station at the Belvedere entrance. (Rolf Eisinger)

Adding a station at Metro Hall on Jefferson Street. (Rolf Eisinger)

Installing a bike share station at Spalding. (Rolf Eisinger)

Assembling the stations. (Courtesy Bike Louisville)

Detail of the unassembled docking station. (Courtesy Bike Louisville)

LouVelo bikes arrived in boxes. (Courtesy Bike Louisville)

Bike Louisville’s Rolf Eisinger, in yellow, peers inside a giant box of bikes. (Courtesy Bike Louisville)

The first station was installed Monday at Spalding University’s Mother Catherine Spalding Square on Breckinridge Street. Now they’ve popped up all around town. Each station is a solar-powered standalone unit, simplifying the installation process. Once they’re assembled and loaded onto a truck, crews simply set them into place on the sidewalk or street.

Want to be among the first to ride LouVelo? There’s still time to become a founding member before Monday at a special annual rate of $99. Daily, monthly, and regular annual passes will also be available beginning at $3.50.

Want to know more about LouVelo? Check out our coverage of the launch announcement. Has a bike station been installed near your home or office? Share a photo with us at tips@brokensidewalk.com!

LouVelo bike share stations popping up all around town With Louisville's bike share system launching in less than five days, crews have been hard at work distributing stations across the city.

[newyearnewmebitches]

7/13/2020, 20:47

I feel like I'm in a bit an emotional rut. a part of me feels really bittersweet and empty leaving my current job, and I think I just want to free write my feelings to see where it’ll take me. so here’s a 30 minute long written rant about my feelings, maybe I'll discover something. 

So, I think this starts with my feelings over my unit, and when I first started there. I remember looking at the iCU unit as something that was so tight knit, and I envied the support on that unit. and when I joined, in was so excited to integrate myself, become a strong nurse and to be a role model for new, upcoming people. and obviously, as I started there, faces started coming in and out. the initial year of me being there, was a golden year for me. I loved the people I worked with, there was a nice balance of new nurses and older nurses, and despite a hard night, it felt like we were all in it together. it felt really special. a lot of the days I'd leave at 9AM-10am, and we’d be incredibly short staffed, and although I was burned out, I felt happy to be where I was.

during the past year was when it think I noticed a shift in my mood towards work. a lot of new faces were coming in, and the faces that I've grown with were leaving. and there’s nothing wrong with that, I feel like the demographic and mix of nurses in a unit should always be evolving- cause growth duh. but I think Spuh’s biggest selling point as a hospital is the family appeal and the close-knit units that keep people there- because it’s definitely not the pay lol. I think after getting certified, I felt comfortable to apply to other places, but I still felt too attached to st. peter’s to leave completely. 

then this pandemic hit, and I truly started to ... like working again despite the crisis and burnout. but the sense of team work and community on the unit was at an all-time high as our staff, float staff and agency workers joined together for a common cause. it’s was truly inspiring, and I loved the energy, of being there for each other through the loss and wins. I think I definitely ride on the emotional highs and lows way too much that’s just my empathetic soul, aint it?

this next rant is probably a deep dive to say, but working greg, one of our most long lasting agency nurses, is also what kept my morale relatively constant throughout the past year. when I first met him, it’s obvious to say, I had the biggest crush on him. and as I got to work with him, he was just such a reassuring person to work with, that if I needed something in a sense of urgency, he’d have my back. we’d help each other. and it’d be seamless. I didn’t need to ask. he’d always check on me. I'd check on him, and the energy just felt so reciprocated. he’d teach me things, we’d talk. and wow, he’s just such a good person. he’s taken, but even with that, it didn’t deter me. he’s just a person I haven’t encountered in a long time- and I think he’s truly rare- someone who’s just so selfless despite having a strong back bone, strong, kind, polite and overwhelmingly helpful and confident. he was such a joy to work with and every shift I was with him I knew we’d make it. we’re not fully friends outside the work environment- which is fine. I view him as the highest level of work support, and it’s this kind of cocmoradery that it think I need to keep me going onward. he's just such a precious soul, and I've never heard anyone speak ill of him. 2 nights ago was his last shift, and although I am also leaving, it's bittersweet acknowledging that this is our last shift working together. truly, such a great guy. and I wish him the best, as well as hoping we stay in touch. 

I think I started finally fully realizing how toxic the culture at work was starting to get as I was leaving and over the past couple months. I think I shoved it off my shoulder most the times, but I think now it’s starting to get me. which is why leaving now, and realizing that, feels so bittersweet. 

I'm overly friendly, and have become quite friendly with the residents. well some of them. and I guess at times, it’s overcedes the air if professionalism we need to maintain at work. and you know what, that’s absolutely true. residents come to Icu on days they’re not on the schedule to hang out, talking pictures at work, laughing loud at night. yeah, it’s a good time working. but retrospective, if I had a loved one at work and I noticed it, I'd be upset that my loved one was being taken care of in that kind environment. it take balance to be friends but also stay profesisonal- and that IMPORTANT. we’re care givers. we’re taking care of people in their most critical time, although not everyone is active dying and are “sick stable”, and there might not be anything to do, we need to keep a professional face for the respect of our patients and the face of our career. I guess with that intro delves with the upcoming and me recognizing I'm at fault. 

during the past few months, rose has been telling me, “behave at night, people are watching you.” and she was vague and I was just like how? who? what did I do? she wasn’t very specific. one night I posted a story on my IG of casidhe doing a split, and someone approached her the next day saying, “be careful of what you post on the internet, there are people watching you.” I asked her who, and she said it was Amy. so from there, I blocked Amy. although we were friends, I didn’t need someone to watch my stories and cause a fuss. I started to talk about it on nights, saying yeah. with rose saying, people are watching you, I figured Amy was one of day-shift Karens that killed wholesome fun, that wasn’t really impeding my credibility as nurse by something so miniscule. then covid hit and one shift where me and Dominique had time to drink water, I posted a silly 30 sec. but of us chugging water as a challenge, since we wear our masked the entire time. and you know at this point, people were MAKING TIKTOKS at work. it’s not like posting on social media * as long as it doesn’t violate hippa- there should be no problem. the next day, Ashlyn posted the same thing. and Dom told me, and I thought they were mocking us. so I posted it again with her captioned “the OGs”. 

--- this back story delves into a confrontation I received at 3AM on a night I was working from Amy. where she goes, “I'm refollowing  just so you know I blocked you because I heard you were talking shit.” and that specifically is accurate- because of what she said to casidhe, and all was saying was along the lines of how she was watching my story. she continued to bring up how she was being petty and I also admitted I was being petty. and she said she didn’t understand why it was like this because she thought we’d have each other backs. she said for example, there were so many things I've done as a nurse that she could’ve verged that she didn’t. that’s what got in my fucking head. because I validate myself the most by being a good nurse. at the end of this 3AM confrontation we agreed to a truce.

nights later at work, her comment on the the verge-abie things got to me head, since I'm embarking on a new job. I questioned if I was a good nurse, if I had what it took and if I was just too overly confident in myself. I started feeling like the unit that I had been a part of for 3 years that was my “home” was being fake to me, and that no one was ever transparent with me. and that’s when I got upset and started speaking to other night nurses. my new anm Natalie, mentioned this was harassment and bullying and that I should talk with my manager about it. truly I felt scared confronting about Amy because she’s such a credible nurse, and I always respected her as a nurse. that no one would take my aside, understand or empathize. my feelings were literally like, I'm leaving let’s leave it at all that. I'm done with the BS. but still, I felt so unloved by my unit if anything, just extremely expendable. to feel like the place I gave so much of heart too gave no shit back at me, sucked. to feel unsupportive. as a whole. sucked. 

I don’t know if it’s just in my head. if I take things to hard. I low key thing about “how would greg handle this?” because he’s just such a strong person as a nurse, and one morning we talked and he mentioned there was a time when he hated nursing and being in a toxic environment got to him- that helped me reframed things. he’s only been here for a year, so even though Spuh is so “close” doesn’t mean I can’t be toxic. I confronted Amy about how her comment made me feel, and she admitted that she was to drunk and regretted making that comment. that felt a little better. but still, I was harassed. I felt sad. I felt upset about work. and truly her comment made me question so much about my job that I had held in such value.

I know I overanalyze things too much, and that’s my down side. but it’s hard to let things to, I think overly caring is what also makes me a good nurse and makes me want to constantly improve, I just need to not take things so personal. and I think that goes hand in hand with feeling to comfortable at Spuh. taking things as professional critiques mistakenly got too personal, thus deeply affecting me. I think being cognizant of that is important. and moving forward take this as a lesson will help me succeed at Mount Sinai.

I will still miss Spuh for what is, and love it for all that it has taught me. especially this. initially it taught me how to be a nurse, and this lesson is teaching me how to have a back bone and stand up for myself. which is a long overdue lesson. even thinking back to when I was bullied when I was younger, I never stood up for myself.i was passive.

I won’t be fucking passive anymore. I need to stand up for myself. 

[smithdenlio-blog]

Have Mobile, Will Go to Town

When I entered advertising in the Eighties, cola was the happening category. Agency creative types would give an arm and a leg to work on a cola or a soft drinks account. Captions resonated in young people's minds, won awards for the agency that created them and quickly made it to the editorial as newspapers and magazines adapted the lines and made them their own. In all fairness many of the other categories, dominated as they were by multinational style advertising, had boring and predictable ads. Thankfully people still watched these ads as there was only one channel and usually half a programme to watch. This was before the days of oongli cricket as the remote control had not yet made its diabolical presence felt. And if my memory serves me right, there was research to suggest that people found the commercials more entertaining than the programmes themselves, which was perhaps an indication of how sad the programmes were at that point in time.

Having said that it would be remiss of me not to mention some of the pathbreaking ads of the Eighties, some of which I can still recall and which I still show my students today, some of whom were born after these ads were made. Ads for Vimal, the 'I love you Rasna' ads, the 'Lalitaji' commercials, 'Give me Red' for Eveready, 'Hamara Bajaj' and the commercial of the Cadbury's girl in the cricket field to name just a few, kept our collars up even if our wallets were thin. And yet, when I show these ads today they seem hardly as exciting as they were when I first saw them. It was for nothing that Bill Bernbach said "Today's smartest advertising style is tomorrow's corn."

Variety, the spice of life

Perhaps the greatest shot in the arm not only for the Indian economy but for Indian advertising was liberalisation when foreign brands came in quest of the 'great Indian middle class'. Some flourished while others floundered but advertise they did, with varying shades of creativity. And yet the greatest revolution, to my mind at least, has been the 'mobile revolution' as India took to mobiles the way a young Sachin Tendulkar took to cricket nearly three decades ago. Young India goes to sleep with its mobile and old India has sleepless nights about the next generation's addiction for mobile phones. But one industry that has not lost any sleep about the phenomenal growth of the mobile services industry is advertising.

Mobile service companies are advertising-dependent, to put it mildly. Companies are in cut-throat competition with each other in the prepaid and postpaid categories, have mindboggling schemes and sexy advertising. The target audience is young, irreverent, has a sense of humour and is completely relaxed as it spends its parents' money! Mobile services is a brilliant advertising category that can entertain, beat the clutter, make you smile and even win your agency awards. What more can anyone ask for?

Of course, there is a slightly discordant note that I must bring up (I think it is my horoscope that prevents me from seeing the brighter side of things) and that is about how far removed from the truth this advertising often is. Every mobile service ad talks about phenomenal coverage. The pug follows the little girl wherever she goes, signifying the depth and width of the coverage. It is a completely different matter that my colleagues in Mumbai are extremely fit as they have to run out every time their mobile phone rings, as you can't hear a word inside the office! Of course, the fact that I do not run much is evident from my middle!

One of the most recalled commercials for Airtel is one in which the grandfather who is in the village and the grandson who is in the train play chess. Forget connectivity on a moving train in distant lands; as an Airtel customer I can vouch for how dismal the coverage is in not-so-distant places such as Mumbai for I have hell when I go there and even in Bangalore where I live and work. Coverage is the last thing the brand should speak about, for it is like a red rag to disgruntled consumers such as us.

In fact, the advertising for mobile services reminds me of a competition that most management schools have called 'mad ads' where students are asked to do advertising for an imaginary product or service. Mobile services are definitely there and thriving, but they are like several other service products in the country whose actual performance has no relevance to the advertising that they portray. Make no mistake, mobile services advertising in the country is by and large brilliant, entertaining, and clutter-breaking. Why ask needless questions like "is what they are saying true" and "how good is the actual coverage?"

Withdrawal symptoms after IPL

The IPL is over and for a few days I had withdrawal symptoms as I would mechanically go and sit in front of the TV at 8 p.m. I miss the hysterics of Danny Morrison; Navjot Singh Sidhu's profound wisdom that would fill an entire calling card; the show of legs as the cheerleaders danced to Kannada and Tamil songs; the wistful gaze of an heir apparent on a largely disinterested young star; and the elusive smiles of Preity Zinta as her team discovered new depths; the missed sitters that made me think 'S***, I could have caught that'; the multiple teams on 12 points; the strategic breaks where the commentators were hard pressed to say anything remotely strategic; the haunting images of Lalit Modi with some pretty woman or the other... A weaker man might have been driven to drink! But thankfully, the ads for mobile services continue to entertain even if Lalit Modi or Shashi Tharoor refuse to. So let me talk about the mobile services ads that I like and that are current.

Show me your tattoo and I will show you mine

Have you seen the one where a lady with South Indian features is chopping vegetables on a kitchen table, Suprabhatham is playing in the background and her pretty daughter approaches her reluctantly and says, "I want to show you something"? The mother looks up, one suspects with dread, God knows what today's youngsters can show and lo and behold, she displays a huge and grotesque tattoo on her lower back. I stared aghast at the tattoo as I thought her mother would and imagine my surprise when the mother says in her pronounced Madrasi accent, "very nice". It was for "my song" and asks people to listen to what they would like to listen. I am sure lots of people with grown-up children like me love this commercial for Tata Docomo, as they would of the young man who goes for an interview and says exactly the wrong things and yet gets a job! Tata Docomo has been a game changer in the mobile category and its pricing has turned the market on its head. But its success in no small measure is due to the advertising.

Not far behind are the Airtel ads for night time calling featuring Sharman Joshi (I finally figured out his name, after all, South Indian names are a problem for North Indians too) where he speaks to his girlfriend's brother and advises him on what to study before he gets to speak to the girl or when he makes the shopkeeper speak to his mom and bargain on the sari price and butters up his professor on thermodynamics thanks to the Net... So what if Airtel has call drops and you can't hear, at least, they have interesting commercials. And what about Idea Cellular and its whacky commercials that feature crazy contests with Abhishek, his fat attendant and the dumb blonde? The whackier the contest, the more I liked the commercial. And what about Vodafone and the Zoozoos? I know that I am going to upset a few people, including my colleague who is a fervent admirer of the advertising, when I say that the current advertising is not as endearing as the earlier edition. Is it more in your face? More strident? More tailored to suit the brand IPL? I don't know, but I have seen better from the same brand.

And finally it is not only advertising

I have a sneaking suspicion that the mobile brands are taking the easy way out and focusing on creativity and advertising that is manageable. What about customer service and engagement? Let me give you an example as recent as yesterday. My wife received a mail from her personal relationship manager whose name I shall not mention saying "thank you" and that she was "special" and how she was her personal relationship manager. There was a small problem though; the mail started with "Dear Sir/Madam," and went on to say all those glowing things. My wife being the difficult customer that she is wrote back: