#haha and then what if I made a chart for how it differs for class and gender and—*I am forcibly removed from the stage*

[jaimsjam]

What if… I made a timeline of elf fashion. Like I know i would be banging my head against the table but like, what if…

Lots of draping fabric and elaborate hairstyles for the Trees in aman

A move to simplicity and use of furs as the noldor return to middle earth and have to start from scratch.

Back to elaborate posturing with fancy and diverse clothing because nationalism :D I’m picturing 14th century Europe.

Tbh I’m imagining fourth age aman as the modern kind of slutty. Vanyar in general have had more opportunities to be slutty.

[astrosky33]

heLlo Hi its Me coming to ask you another question, i can’t help it.

I KNOW KNOW

anyways

so you went to college for astrology right? How was that like? I was thinking of doing it because i want a degree and honestly i like astrology.

So any chance if you could tell me your experience with getting the degree and do you need to be really good at maths for it?

OKAY that’s all:)

𝐍𝐎 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐒! 𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐊 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 <𝟑

𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

No you don’t need to be good at math haha! They do sometimes go over mathematical terms when you learn about astronomy but there’s no work you have to do involving math

You do have to pay it’s not for free unfortunately

I did the course online because it’s in Shoreline, Washington and I live too far but if you live near there you have the option to do it in person I’m pretty sure

Basically once you enroll for whichever main course you choose they mail you the books for the courses and you go to online classes every day for 130 weeks

For the electives the times vary since they’re focused on just one specific topic. For the specific electives I chose they were only 5-10 weeks long

𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐈 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤

To get a full diploma I had to take 130 weeks of course study, 115 weeks of required courses, at least 15 weeks of electives, and give a final demonstration of learning

The courses I took were astrological fundamentals-natal chart, astrological fundamentals-prediction, astrological counseling and relationships, astrological professional development, astrological heritage, and astromapping

I took some electives as well including medical astrology, horary astrology, traditional predictive astrology, calling and the soul’s transformation, comparisons and composites, intro to psychological astrology, and more

𝐌𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬

Astrological Fundamentals - Natal Chart

I thought I knew all the basic information in astrology before taking this course but turns out I did not and I learned a lot of new things as well as lots of info about misconceptions that are made a lot by many fake astrologers online

Astrological Fundamentals - Prediction

This course was for sure my favorite out of all of them because I love learning about predictive astrology and impressing my friends with how accurate it is

Astromapping

I got to learn way more about astrocartography and will definitely be posting more about it now

𝐌𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬

Counseling and Relationships

Talks about compatibility (sexual and romantic), relationship longevity and success, attraction, potential relationships, etc

Hellenistic Astrology

Learned about Derivative Astrology in this class which was really interesting to me. I used to think it was a Sidereal technique but it actually originated from Tropical Astrology

𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐎𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬

There’s another course is called Alternative Traditions. I’m not entirely sure what that withholds because I didn’t read about it or take it

There are also over 20 different electives you can take other than the one’s I took but I didn’t have any interest in them

𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐀𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨��𝐞𝐫

Once you complete the main courses they give you a diploma and you are then considered a certified astrologer!

Once you compete the electives they give you certificates for each elective you complete!

You don’t have to complete all the electives I did to become an astrologer only the main courses and 15 weeks of electives but I took extra classes because I wanted to learn more astrology methods

𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐏𝐄𝐃 <𝟑

<- 𝗠𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧

[rozzwil]

ROZZ SHOW ME SHOW ME SHOW ME. Artist asks: #1, #14, #15!

1. Show me your most recent wip

I already showed some but I'm gonna do a few more because I might never post them haha

This one's from a casual class swap AU me and @diirthara-ma came up with! If I didn't get the vibe across this is Cassandra as a Necromancer and mortalitasi. I wanted to explore what might happen if she had been a mage and had embraced the nobility lifestyle 👀

This one's just from a body lineup reference sheet I was messing with from a while back! It's a little outdated but here's Ivan Amell, Alexander Adaar, and Isha Lavellan

14. How has your art changed over the years?

I'm house sitting and away from my computer but that means I DO have access to really old pre-digital art 👀

PreK/Kindergarten: Most of my early art was exclusively Pokemon related. Here's a poster advertising a "Pokemon Klub" and a reference sheet I made for myself of Unkown

Elementary School: Still very into Pokemon and Digimon. Here's two self portraits from around 2nd and 3rd grade lol

Middle/High School: I was still going hard on Pokemon and spent a couple years working on my own Fakemon region. Here's some of my concept art for my starters feat. my water starter which was a lifeguard/arctic wolf. Scott Pilgrim and shows like Adventure Time were also big influences at the time

I bought my first tablet when I was 15 and that really transformed my art habits. I switched almost exclusively to digital and began posting on social media. In retrospect, I would section out a couple big arcs for my art since then.

From 15-19 I was really motivated to make art a career and was excited about building a following. Within a year I gained a few thousand followers and was really excited that I was able to sell my art and commissions for money.

By early college I started to lose interest in grinding and was bouncing around several different career paths. At this time I started to try out a lot of new art styles and explore concepts I had always felt too intimidated by before. From 20-22 I didn't create much art that I was proud of or wanted to post. This is the hardest era of my art to look back on but it was also when I experienced a lot of growth. In particular, I started painting and using color in ways that I had never tried before and I started taking a lot less shortcuts when it comes to anatomy and rendering difficult poses. This was also when I began exploring original concepts and characters through RPGs like Dragon Age and D&D.

I associate age 23- the present with my art focussing almost exclusively on original concepts. I'm also very disengaged from social media outside of a small community of friends and artists I enjoy. This allows me to disentangle my motivation to create from external factors which has helped me enjoy sharing my art again. Most of what I draw is done through collaboration with @diirthara-ma and I take a lot enjoyment from other forms of creating like talking about characters, creating charts, moodboards, and playlists, as well as sculpting and miniature making (for D&D). I also enjoy the process of drawing a lot more and spend much more time just doing figure sketches or playing around with another artist's color pallete.

15. Biggest artist pet peeve?

This one's hard! I'd say that I have a bad habit of constantly desaturating my color palette for no reason throughout a piece and then having to resaturate everything again later.

I also got so chill about not posting I now have a hard time remembering to post my art. I also tend to forget I've drawn something if I don't post it so I constantly find old art in my folders I never did anything with lol

[honeymilkuwu]

I understand that you're young but expressing a lack of empathy for a whole country of people, particularly those in said country that are poor/suffering and about to suffer worse is reflective of you as a bad person, not them. A country's government does not speak for its people, there is more in common between the poor of all countries than there is between many and their own government.

honestly idek why i'm answering this but whatever.

look, you don't really know anything about me based on a few comments i made. like saying "you're young" (? i mean yeah i guess i am but why would you assume that?). or someone else on that thread saying that "i don't care about POC" (how would you even know i'm not a POC myself? i already replied to that one and said that yeah i'm white passing but i could have perfectly not been?? and fyi i DO care about POC).

in that same way, you can't say that i'm a bad person because of my lack of empathy. i mean, i don't particularly consider myself a good person but i'm most definitely not a bad person bc i don't go around doing bad things to ruin other people's lives you know? if i had to place myself in the alligment chart, i would say i'm lawful neutral.

but i digress.

of course i know a government does not equate a population, as i stated before i dislike my own government. and i don't hate every single individual living there, but i have plenty of reasons to dislike the UK and feel apathetic towards their problems.

also yes there might be a lot of things in common between poor people of different countries, but if you live in a first world country you still have more privilege and opportunities than in a third world country. and i'd like to add that what y'all consider poor is more like what we consider middle class and what y'all consider middle class, for us is being rich. so y'all saying that the UK is going to face a bit of inflation??? haha noobs we live with inflation every single day of our lives. we wake up every day not knowing how much the bread will cost because the prices change that fast. and it has been like this for decades. so how about maybe y'all gringos have some empathy for us instead?

[my-tc-is-an-angel]

Intro post :)

Disclaimers:

I don't condone pedophilia and won't be making a move on H while still a minor at her school bc that would be a horrible thing to do

Nor do I condone bigotry, particularly transphobia, ableism, racism, antisemitism, islamophobia, misogyny, homophobia and others. Bigots, DNI

Use my goddamn pronouns

Who am I?

You can all call me L! My pronouns are he/they, I'm an english nerd (which is good bc that's what my tc teaches), I have cheese toasties for breakfast in the morning, I'm trans and use the specific term nonbinary trans man but if I were to truly describe my gender it'd be a 20,000 word dissertation.

Who is my tc?

I'll call her H. She uses she/her pronouns. She's an English teacher, taught me from September 2021 to January 2022 but has stepped back due to long COVID. She still works in my school and I come and chat to her once every couple of weeks (+she's in charge of English prefects and I'm going to apply soon !! ) but she doesn't teach classes above a certain age any more (if she misses school, having a substitute teacher matters a lot less for younger students). I miss seeing her but I'm glad she's doing what's necessary for her health and it's not like she's left the school.

She's so beautiful ajksjsksjkskjsj!!!!!!!!!!!! Her hair is beautiful + oh my god just the glossy waves aaaaaa, it's dirty blonde. She has blue-green eyes. She's roughly 5'2'' or 5'3'', a little shorter than me but she wears heels and I wear docs so it's hard to know what the true height difference is lol :))

I now know her age, the age gap isn't huuge but she's achieved so much in her life goddamn! She is in a relationship, so, I hope she's happy (it sounds like a boring relationship but if she's happy then who am I to judge?). I don't fully know her sexual/romantic orientation but she seems to have had the experience of not being accepted by her family (we were talking ab it) and my friend has seen pictures of her at Pride with the pansexual flag on her cheek. She also owns multiple pride flag bags and is very into diversity and is one of the most enlightened cis people I've ever met (vis a vis trans rights). So... make of that what you will.

She's funny as hell, has a dark sense of humour, sweet face and often wears red lipstick. H is honestly one of the funniest people I've met (or the best at making me laugh). I can't stress that enough. She has a lil star chart to keep track of how we're doing with homework and at the end of the year, she gives a gift basket with books and stationary to whoever has the most stars. I was in the lead (as I always did any extra homework she set with my best efforts)

How is our dynamic?

H has always been super helpful and kind: fighting to be able to use my correct name and pronouns; always listening to me and making time for me; just never not being so lovely towards me even when she's literally been ill.

H jokes with me a fair amount (although she jokes with everyone) but I'm anticipating some great inside jokes. I've only known her since September so not yet, haha.

She's 1000% comfy swearing in front of me which I hope means something good? We've bonded over shared trauma because our childhoods are scarily similar (we both had fucked up, morbid childhoods and used books as escapism)

She used emojis in an email to me which made me so happy! And in her xmas card, I said something about her humour being immaculate and apparently she was bragging ab it to my class when I missed a lesson which is honestly so cute :))))))))))))

When teaching me:

She occasionally caught me looking at her but not enough to be suspicious (I hope). She often ended up making snide/sarcastic remarks about the government bc in my country it's pretty terrible. Like, the child poverty rate is steadily climbing, etc. She's anti-capitalist which is a HUGE GREEN FLAG for me. I just wanna hug her and kiss her and hold her a-

She can't have gluten (like me) and once she brought in seperate biscuits for me during a biscuit lesson!!!! (yes, she does biscuit lessons)

[eldritch-elrics]

svsss: the (not so) grand return of peerless cucumber

so a LOT happened in the chapters i read last night (44-49) and i have. SO many thoughts

not as many as i had right after i read but i really had to go to bed so i couldn’t write them all up.....

i put some reactions in individual posts but i’ll repeat them here!

first of all. shang qinghua. fucked off to the demon realm. like, good for him? but also. i want to see my boy

binghe keeping sqq’s body??? xue yang vibes OFF the charts

so I’M IN LOVE WITH THE MUSHROOM PLOT

i love how every so often sv will hit me with a twist that is SO up my alley that i just. lose it a little bit

HE MADE HIMSELF A CLONE BODY OUT OF MAGICAL MUSHROOMS AND TRANSPORTED HIS SOUL INTO IT.

i love mushroom shit and i love bodyswapping and. my god.

the fact that sqq has died twice and been forced to inhabit 3 different bodies??? wei wuxian wishes he were this cool

sidenote but the mental image of sqq doing radio calisthenics in the forest is really funny. or maybe it’s just funny to me because of the associations i have with this one time in japanese class?

sqq’s new body looking like a cross between shen yuan and shen qingqiu is really interesting and perhaps... symbolic....?

also hey does this mean he doesn’t have to deal with the cureless poison anymore. i assumed that it would be cured in his eventual sexytimes with binghe but hmmm i guess not!

the point where i really lost it was when he realized he was disconnected from the system. i know now that it wasn’t permanent but that was just so interesting, how much he hates it and wants it gone. which makes sense! even though it has helped him get out of bad spots at times, it’s a sign that he’s not really from this world. now i’m just really curious what’s gonna happen to the system at the end of the novel. maybe it’ll shut off once he achieves the “goal” it’s seemed to have set for him and gets together with lbh?

also i’m glad that sqq seems to have matured a little bit in terms of his people skills / problem solving skills? though uh. remains to be seen how he’ll act in front of binghe when binghe realizes who he is

it also seems like i was completely wrong about sqq’s motivations for sacrificing himself lol. lot more selfish than i thought? but it makes sense! fun twist

mxtx sure likes to have her protagonists execute plots that they don’t tell the reader about until after they happen lol (i’m thinking of the golden core transfer)

uhh back to plot reactions

love the running joke about peerless cucumber. also the demon names... six balls <3

also hold on a minute, peerless cucumber is a dick joke? lmao

thank you airplane for making it clear binghe has a big dick. absolutely vital character information

so i’ve said this before but sqq’s narration really CARRIES this novel. here i’m thinking specifically about his diatribe against sha hualing’s nails

shl is pretty fun. sexy evil lady!

sqq can turn his fan into a blade. nie huaisang get ON that smh

yang yixuan my beloved!

also HAHA i predicted that sqq’s super mushroom powers could help the xin mo thing and i was RIGHT

so sqq is just. SO invested in getting the plot back on track. like with all the harem members and stuff. it’s so funny because like bro. surely you’ve noticed by now that things are going very differently than in pidw. and also... you don’t WANT to go back on the pidw track bc that would kill you!!!

so the system reactivates when binghe turns up right? i am thinking about. the fact that when it tries to reboot it’s like “contacting customer service”

WHO IS CUSTOMER SERVICE.

it’s so interesting because like... obviously the whole system thing is so much bigger than just A Book? it’s even got airplane trapped inside it. and he’s the fucking author! who is running this thing? and for what purpose?

sqq listening in on the gossip about how lbh is DEFINITELY obsessively in love with him was SO funny. poor man

so binghe. he has become so COLD

i don’t like it :(

once more. my dude go to therapy.

wait also random but sqq has a beard now and for some reason that’s so funny to me

life at the palace seems terrible lmao no one is doing ok

smh, mxtx protags keep dying and staying dead for huge amounts of time and then coming back in different bodies

the fact that binghe’s happiest memories are training with sqq :(

THE FACT THAT BINGHE IS ABSOLUTELY SHIT AT KISSING

my god. that entire scene

went from “awwww headpats” to “AAAAAAAA”

the fact that the system congratulates him i’m sjkdhgjhsdhgjsds poor sqq.... didn’t ask for this shit.......

after 50 chapters, he’s finally realized he turned the male lead gay <3 say goodbye to all those funny oblivious moments!

i had to stop there because it was way too late at night but wow. we shall see how this relationship progresses

i can’t see it improving anytime soon but at least sqq knows lbh likes him now???

i had a LOT of thoughts last night but now i’m pretty much just like. i really need to see where it goes before i make any judgements on bingqiu

rn i’m not a big fan because 1. sqq is so wildly uncomfortable (understandable lol, even if lbh thinks it’s just a dream) and 2. lbh is very obsessive and that’s not really my favorite trope. but like it’s obviously not meant to be a healthy relationship, at least definitely not right now, and i do like some good fucked up romance! i’m excited to see the developments where sqq realizes what his real feelings are

i’m also fairly neutral on binghe as a character atm. his main personality traits seem to be “obsessed with sqq” and “trying not to die from evil sword qi poisoning” and i don’t find that all that compelling? between him and lwj i have to say that mxtx’s love interest characters are not really my favorite, though i wouldn’t say i dislike either of them.

furthermore i’m slightly concerned with how lbh’s “i’m the main character and i get what i want” attitude is gonna affect the romance. i know there’s some dubconny stuff later which i can’t say i’m excited for but i am excited to see how binghe’s character is gonna develop in general

my aspirations for bingqiu is that they’re both able to eventually break free of the expectations of the system

because, look at this from sqq’s pov. there’s this ai in your head that has, for literal years, been steering you towards a romance that you (at least outwardly) don’t want. isn’t that fucking terrifying? i love it. the system (at least how i see it) has been bending the established plot of the world in order to make this happen. it’s like fate but you can see the gears turning.

and even if sqq does end up liking lbh back, can you imagine the existential crisis of like. wondering if he really CHOSE to get with binghe or if he was somehow compelled to by the system which acts based on binghe’s emotions?

i think that would be so interesting

however what i think is Actually going to happen (based on that one time when airplane was like “hey cucumber, uh, is lbh just a character to you or is there more...”) is that sqq is gonna realize that he’s had a bit of a crush on binghe since reading pidw and is only just now dealing with his internalized homophobia. so him getting together with binghe has less strings attached

i think there’s some opportunity here for a commentary on the soulmate trope? because svsss is just so steeped in themes about agency and fate. i think that would be really cool but we’ll have to see. i feel like the ending is gonna be simpler and happier than i want it to be but obviously i cannot make any judgements yet! i’m just having Thoughts :)

so, i also read one of the extras (the one where he goes with lqg to battle succubi) because the translation i’m reading recommended it! it was pretty fun

sqq SO clueless. like i get it, he doesn’t think he’s into anything other than Pretty Cis Women, but. sqq we’ll work on this

also ASKING LQG IF HE’S A VIRGIN. sqq literally stop

(that was so funny though)

liu qingge ACE RIGHTS

actually lqg’s outburst in this chapter was kind of bizarre and can be explained in a few different ways i think?

i really like the idea of him being aroace. thinks true love doesn’t exist etc

i feel like the intended implication of lqg’s outburst is that he’s realized madame meiyin is referring to binghe and is like “holy shit no sqq can’t be with Him”

maybe lqg is just homophobic?

but i. also kind of wonder if lqg is gay and in love with sqq? and is just putting up the “such deep love doesn’t exist” thing because he really doesn’t want sqq to know

there was that whole line where the succubus was like “well you’re not his soulmate you don’t know” and it made me think

on the other hand i can’t really see lqg liking sqq that way; they seem to have more of a Bro Bond

then again lqg does keep fighting binghe for sqq’s sake

either headcanon is fun! i’d be excited for more insight into lqg in general i think

[cosmidoodles]

finally whipped up a relationship chart for my camp camp high school AU that took me a lot longer than i anticipated, here’s what it looks like:

below are descriptions for each relationship

Dating

Liz and Petrol have been dating since their sophomore year. They’re madly in love with each other and went even as far as discussing marriage and parenthood.

[Shown in Related Category]

Kevin and Charity (Cute Waitress) have been dating for a bit over a year and are currently living together. The two met after Kevin got his act together and applied for a job at the same restaurant Charity worked at. Their love for each other is transformative.

Bonquisha and Jacob are happily married to each other and are raising Celine together.

David and Gwen are married (have been for about 3-4 years). They first started officially dating after David adopted Max and after a year, David decided to propose. During his proposal, Gwen felt sick and the two realized they were pregnant. They then got legally married and Gwen gave birth to their twin children, Willow and Rowan. They never had an official wedding.

Crush

Max has a crush on Nikki that he doesn’t want to act on in favor of their friendship, luckily Nikki is oblivious to all the clues.

Neil and Erin have a crush on each other but have yet to confess to each other. Neil occasionally tries to make a move but often fails or makes it very awkward. Meanwhile, Erin is very aware of Neil’s feelings but hasn’t made any moves because of Tabii’s past infatuation on him.

Nerris and Harrison have crushes on each other and still try to pretend they hate each other. This act didn’t really work as everyone thinks they’re just acting like an old married couple. Neither of them have actually owned up to their feelings.

Meli has a crush on Preston and doesn’t want to act on it because Preston doesn’t care about romance at the moment and is more focused on his passions.

Dolph has a conflicting crush on Space Kid and Space Kid is blissfully unaware of it.

Colin has a crush on Nurf but Nurf is unaware since he’s more focused on his after school plans and scholarships.

Ered and Celine have a crush on each other, Ered is more open with her attraction and flirts with Celine while Celine tries to hide her feelings and has more huffy reactions because she believes a relationship of any kind (romantic and/or platonic) is just a distraction.

Snake has a crush on Tabii but is too afraid to speak to her again after what went down between them at the Lake Lilac Summer Social. Tabii is unaware as she’s currently going through her journey of self-love.

Pikeman has feelings for Vera but she’s suspicious of his affections due to her being clueless about love and thinks he’s playing some trick on her.

Attraction

Nikki’s fascination with Ered still lives though her need to gain her validation has decreased. Ered doesn’t really notice Nikki (unless she’s hanging out with Nerris and Dolph).

Sasha is attracted to Jermy after his huge change over the years. Jermy, now gaining more self-confidence and intuition, wants nothing to do with her.

Sasha is also attracted to Max, but she’s really more attracted to the idea of him being a bad boy.

Despite not reciprocating his feelings (because he’s unaware), Nurf is aware of Colin’s existence and thinks he’s cute.

Even though he has intense feelings for Tabii, Snake is attracted to Vera. I mean, could you blame him? He likes his girls brutal and beautiful— but he respects Pikeman’s crush on her and doesn’t let his feelings wander into something stronger.

Exes

Erin and Ered were talking to each other through social media in Erin’s freshman year and Ered’s sophomore year. It stopped after Ered lost interest and ghosted her. They’ve never spoken to each other in person, but they have face timed.

Tabii and Pikeman had briefly dated for a few weeks during the summer of Tabii’s freshman year and Pikeman’s junior year. It wasn’t anything genuine as Tabii used Pikeman as a “rebound” while Pikeman was desperate to get with any girl. Their breakup was a mutual decision and agreed it wasn’t anything serious.

[Shown in Related Category]

David and Bonquisha previously dated but broke up (as you all know). They haven’t spoken to each other since the incident at the restaurant.

Ex-Crush

Tabii had an obsessive crush on Neil up until he made his disinterest clear during her freshman year (and his sophomore year).

Dolph had a crush on Ered back to when they were children. This ended by the time he reached puberty.

Erin had a crush on Snake during the Lake Lilac Summer Social and you all know how that ended haha.

Colin had a crush on Liz during their time in middle school, though his infatuation ended by the time he realized she’d never return the feelings. He never told her about this past crush.

Best Friends

Max, Nikki, and Neil are still close to this day and are often seen together. Though they have very different classes, they try to hang out with each other during lunch or passing periods and even outside of school.

Harrison and Preston grew close to each other during middle school because of their performative interests. Throughout the years, they would give each other the moral support they most often lacked in their childhood. To this day, they have contrasting schedules but Harrison decided to join stage crew as a means to hang out with Preston.

Nurf and Meli have a special bond that grew after Meli’s mother/Nurf’s therapist got them to befriend each other. When outside of their extra curriculars, they are inseparable despite being polar opposites on the surface.

Meli and Preston quickly became friends in each other’s freshman year during the fall musical-- Preston was only an understudy and often hung out in the make-up room with Meli whenever he wasn’t needed on stage (which was basically the majority of the show). Fast forward to the present, Preston and Meli are usually seen around each other during rehearsal.

After Ered and Nerris went on their journey to the abandoned half-pipe on Sleepy Peak Peak, they quickly became good friends by the time they reached high school, they became best friends.

Dolph and Space Kid have grown close over the years due to their closeness in age (much of their peers are older than them) and how they’ve always felt like outcasts ever since their childhood. They usually hang around each other and chill or Dolph uses Space Kid as his muse for his art. Space Kid also calls Dolph “Rudy” and is the only one who calls him that.

Despite their friend group drifting apart, Erin and Tabii maintained a close friendship and often confide in each other. They are typically around each other-- walking to their classes, eating lunch together, or gossiping during their free blocks.

Liz and Colin are childhood friends and are attached to the hip. They typically are around each other at school-- with Petrol third wheeling (cause y’know… he doesn’t speak)-- and outside of school.

Although there’s a gap with age and emotional maturity, Snake and Petrol have stayed right by each other’s sides throughout the years.

Friends

Nikki, Nerris, and Dolph have also maintained their friendship after all these years and occasionally hang out with each other whenever they all can.

After their decision to reside in Sleepy Peak, Dang, Hwan, and Vera have stuck together and tried to reform themselves in their new homes and have a begrudgingly sibling-like dynamic. Pikeman is still friends with Snake and Petrol to this day, though he isn’t necessarily close to them. They all hang out sometimes but it’s not often because of Pikeman’s other activities and priorities.

Meli had befriended both Harrison and Dolph through the theatre department, all three of them being a part of stage crew (Meli being in charge of makeup & costumes; Harrison, lighting; and Dolph, painting set pieces). They sometimes hang out with each other during rehearsal.

Harrison is also a part of Broadcasting Club (thinking he could show off his magic skills… oh, how he was wrong) and only hangs out with Max— they’ve surprisingly gotten along a lot better.

Throughout his high school career, Preston got to patch things up with Nurf and befriended Tabii. They’re the only actors in the theatre department who aren’t annoyed by his boisterous nature.

From their time together in the Academics Team, Neil and Erin grew a pretty solid friendship and typically try to study and practice together as an excuse to be around each other. This friendship rekindled an old crush for Neil and sparked a new one for Erin.

Liz and Space Kid are both talented singers and in advanced choir. In class and practices, they love to goof off and sing together. They sometimes hang out outside of that curriculum.

Dang had also befriended Dolph and Space Kid. He and Dolph became close through their love of art and he became acquainted with Space Kid after he volunteered to be his muse for one of his photo shoots.

Dolph and Ered maintained a friendship throughout the years as well and have an older sister-little brother dynamic (which is strange considering Dolph’s past crush on her but let’s not talk about that-).

Erin and Colin are friends as well, they met from having a class together and the two immediately clicked. They aren’t really close and only hang out in that one class they share.

Colin is also friends with Jermy, who he met from Marching Band, and the two usually discuss about that activity and sometimes hang out.

Acquaintances

Pikeman, Sasha, and Max still share a “leadership” solidarity that they grew years ago. They still act like assholes to one another but it’s clear that they all care and respect each other.

Nurf knows Petrol (both in the football team) and Snake (both are in wrestling) and occasionally talk to each other during the practices of the respective activity.

Throughout the years, Jermy drifted from the Wood Scouts (Petrol, Snake, and Pikeman) but if they ever bump into each other, they try to catch up on each other's lives.

Sasha and Vera still sometimes speak to each other but only when Sasha needs a vicious favor, though they like to talk shit about the girls at their school.

Snake and Neil sometimes talk whenever they come across each other and most often, they hype each other up or give some advice if it’s needed.

The only person that Celine can consider an “acquaintance” is Hwan and that’s mostly because they share a very similar schedule and whenever there needs to be partner work, they choose each other since they both have no friends.

Dislike

After getting her heart broken, Tabii felt bitter and immediately grew a disdain towards Neil. But hey, at least it somewhat helped her move on.

Harrison and Neil still share a rivalry— it mostly consists of Harrison purposefully saying something stupid or doing anything to tick Neil off.

Sasha still belittles Nikki whenever she gets the chance, which annoys Nikki more than anything. It should be noted that Sasha is actually envious of how despite being everything she’s against, Nikki finds herself happy and content with everything/one she has while Sasha lost her childhood friends.

Max and Celine are both in the Broadcast Club (which also happens to be the School News Club bc their school sucks ass) and are often put together— which typically ends in disaster because of their contrasting personalities but also their strikingly similar stubbornness.

Nerris and Harrison still try to pretend that they hate each other for old time’s sake. But as mentioned previously, it’s clear to everyone that isn’t the case.

Though it’s been stated that they both have feelings for each other, Celine tries to mask her emotions by putting up a bitchy and unapproachable front for Ered.

Neil and Hwan share a rivalry within the Academics Club due to how Hwan keeps putting himself in a leadership position that Neil finds to be very aggravating.

Neil also has a one-sided rivalry with Liz. Both are passionate about science and Neil, being the petty asshole he is, dislikes the fact that Liz could be better than him at his biggest passion.

Even though it’s out of his nature, Space Kid despises Vera and vice versa. Mostly because their views heavily contrast one another. 

Related

Gwen and David are parents to Max, Willow, and Rowan. Max’s relationship with his parents is very much the same as it was in the series but more loving. His relationship with his younger siblings aren’t what you’d expect— he loves them dearly and is very protective of them. He also tries his best to be a better version of himself around them.

Nikki and Neil are step-siblings after Candy decided to give Carl another shot (mostly for her own personal gain) and the two got married. However, Neil is mostly in his mother’s custody and sees his dad on the weekends. Neil and Nikki’s relationship hasn’t really changed other than the both of them gaining a new sense of brotherly/sisterly love for one another.

Jacob is Celine’s biological father while Bonquisha is her step-mother. Celine’s relationship with her dad is quite healthy and she’s considerably close to him (especially after her mother’s death). With Bonquisha, she doesn’t mind her but doesn’t try to make any sort of bond with her much to both Bonquisha and Jacob’s dismay.

Liz is Charity’s (Cute Waitress) niece. Liz considers Charity to be more of a motherly figure than an aunt as she looked after her while both of her parents were at work. 

[a-woman-apart]

Watch "I'M BACK! WHY I LEFT YOUTUBE FOR TWO YEARS!" on YouTube

This scared me so badly, because this is EXACTLY what happened in my life, except it was all in The Reverse.

I graduated with an Associate Degree in Music Performance in 2018, but instead of running TOWARDS my dream/calling I ran hardcore AWAY from it. My pride in graduating only lasted a month before I declared myself Utterly Unmarketable and sought to go after a "real degree" and get a Big Girl career.

Between 2018 and 2020 I had major life changes.

My dad died of stomach cancer

I broke up with my neglectful boyfriend

I turned down a Full Ride to a major college

I hospitalized myself for Suicidal Ideation (Sept 2019)

I quit my job of 5 years

I started working for my best friend and became her Office Manager

I started dating the Love of my Life

I lost my friend group and peer support

I lost my mind and left college due to COVID-19 (but not before making one of my best decisions in taking a Screenwriting class because I WANTED not NEEDED it)

Started distancing myself from the toxic women in my life and definining Womanhood/Adulthood for myself

Visited my brother's grave after over a decade of waiting and got closure

Fully acknowledged my childhood trauma/abuse

Rediscovered my sexuality

Was disowned by who I erroneously thought was a close friend of 17 years over my political views

Joined and exited Unity2020

Turned in my car for repossession

Spent a week in the hospital after having a severe, paranoid psychotic break, but came out completely free of the vice of self-consciousness I was living under

You know what is nuts? I feel in many ways, I have completely reverted to who I was in the summer of 2011. I was off my meds, and it WAS mania, but personality-wise, the tempestuous, gum-chewing, cigarette-puffing, flirtatious, humorous, free-spirited ball of fire that drove all the way to Colorado on a whim wasn't rebellious, SHE WAS ME.

I just wasn't Me around the right people, and it wasn't the Right Time.

My inner Sagittarius moon would remain in a dormant state for almost a full decade. I would spend the next 9 years heavily sedated, sleepwalking through life, only alive at The Sound of Music.

It was Torture to feel so much but be afraid to express myself. I had to Hide while doing a major that demanded that I Command Attention. I am by nature "dramatic", "theatrical", "emotional", "expressive" but that part of me was so suppresed that I was frequently told I sang with excellence but without emotion.

Aside: During my 2011 manic episode, I spoke a lot about Doppelgangers. Without going into excessive detail, this is a German word that means "Double" and it is considered bad luck to encounter yours.

In the past 2 weeks, I have encountered people that look/sound like me (Josephine is Nigerian-Canadian and I am Nigerian-American and I kept thinking about her work even though I initially disagreed with her lot) and a woman with my name (different spelling) who was NOTHING like me and I also think might've had malice in mind for me.

I was DEFINITELY an agnostic atheist when I started this year, but as a result of undergoing so much weird shit I almost certainly believe in God, and yes, "God is a Woman." (More on that later)

Also, I realized that I really DID, as many teenage girls, "lose interest in math and science" but that was because of the terrible, unfactual way it was presented in my homeschool curriculum and by my mom, who was a Math major but whose disinterested detachment made every algebra lesson an excercise in torture.

I have always loved biolology and anatomy and I remember so much more chemistry than I thought. Geology class in community college was amazing and also helped me understand-- even more than the Theory of Evolution-- why young earth creationism was completely impossible.

As for math, I spent 15 years thinking it was my greatest weakness when I have had to use arithmetic in cashiering, my managerial work, and my monthly budget for the last 7 years. Also, as annoying as it was to hear constantly, my mom parroting "What you have to do to one side, you have to do to the other" (but in reverse) gave me the ability to do Algebra quickly and (mostly) effortlessly. I could never get A's, but I got a B in Quantitative Mathematics with no real help aside from occasional teacher input and the "Help me solve this" function of MyMathLab.

Here is where it Gets Weird. I am a Creative. I have been writing stories since I was 6 years old. I have loved Story all my life. My parents were in math and science fields and they completely lacked any creativity. COMPLETELY. It was part of why they were so religiously rigid, authoritarian, and draconian. There was no room for spontaneity or childish imaginativeness.

Looking back, I had major sensory and processing issues. I was likely speech delayed, I learned to read late, and I recently confirmed that when I am stressed my dyscalculia kicks in bad (it IS real). Numbers and symbols get really interchangeable (like an 8 and infinity symbol become kinda the same) which is why I had to recite phone numbers out loud to remember them or write them on colorful backgrounds so I can see them in my head as an image. Also explains my aversion to math but my ease with fractions (1/2 is half a sandwich, etc).

My spatial awareness is also shit when stressed. Before I turned in our car, I had earned the nickname "U-turn" from my boyfriend because on that Floating Death Machine left and right got completely crossed, frequently.

By the way, I struggled with right and left until I WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD. I literally didn't understand the concept of a mirror and 3D space, meaning that the basic understanding that my right is someone else's left didn't come into play until I had an argument with my [now-deceased] brother about it.

What is so weird, is that because of years of correcting for these issues, my sense of direction, ON FOOT is good, if not better than most people. Also, once I realized that, given the opportunity, I very much do whatever I can with my left-hand, and that my hearing is MUCH better than I even thought, I am far less clumsy. Depth perception is still crap, but that is probably also because I was forced to spend years without the glasses I needed (and got earlier this year after living with chronic eye strain)

When I talk about these "issues" it is in line with female autism, but you know what? If really do have adult autism, then I am a Complete Boss because I have pwned that ho.

After being rehospitalized, a kind nurse suggested I may have PTSD and suggested medicine for insomnia and nightmares. It was extremely helpful. I had been looking into C-PTSD for a while, because I didn't think I had "suffered enough" to have "real" PTSD. But that isn't how diagnoses work.

Btw, I still have Bipolar I, Psychotic Features. Another kind nurse told me I don't need anti-psychotics, and no, I don't. I was given Zyprexa by a bitch nurse and it was like getting drunk. I stumbled the halls, almost fell over (possibly did) and woke up with a neon "Fall Risk" bracelet. Anti-psychotics also fucked up my menstrual cycle for years and I have had lingering hormonal isssues. Haha no thanks.

Anyway, I digress. Of course I am fucked up. I lived under family members who questioned my reality, attempted to crush my dreams, threatened me with physical punishment any time I behaved in non-neurotypical ways, violated my rights and interfered with my treatment even though I was a full legal adult, undermined my relationships, tortured and socially isolated me, etc., all under the guise "of knowing best."

In minority cultures, our darkness hides in plain sight, and ESPECIALLY in the Bible Belt, with its supeestition and idolization of familial hierarchy/patriarchy, victims of financial, spiritual, emotional, and physical abuse have no where safe to turn. The Long Arm of the Law is often Short when it comes to "breaking up the family", and women and children are victimized openly with little to no intervention.

On top of doing my Creative Work, I plan to create legislation to make sure that what happened to me and my siblings isn't allowed to go unpunished. We lost my older brother, and I almost died, too, but Enough is Enough.

The Time is Now.

P.S. If Josephine is an Air Nomad I identify as a Water Bender. I basically have no water in my astrological chart, but water signs bring me great comfort in times of need (and make bad romantic partners for me obviously)

Also, this is one Bad Biyatch.

I also found out I am an ISFJ, not INFJ. Yep. Gonna be a Playwright and Director. I want to be a part of the action, not just writing about it.

[blurry-fics]

English Class

Pairing: high school!Tyler Joseph x Reader

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1964

Request: could i request something related to the rose colored boy series? as i’ve said i love that story a lot haha. but maybe just a little imagine about how they met each other and their first impressions?

Author’s Note: As stated in the request, this is part of the Rose Colored Boy storyline! Their meeting in english class was mentioned on multiple occasions, so here it is for you to read :) I hope you enjoy it! Also, yes, I have listened to Level of Concern and I love it!! (picture credit)

Your POV

Music blasted in your headphones as you made your way through the halls towards your English class. Your fingers were wrapped tightly around your backpack straps, tucked into your sides to avoid bumping into anyone. Getting to English class was always the worst part of the day since you had to walk all the way from one end of the school to the other through crowds of juniors and seniors who were just getting back from lunch, hence the tucked in arms and loud music to move quickly and drown everything out.

You were relieved when you finally made it to the English hall. There were only a few kids hanging out outside of their classrooms, mostly talking to friends and putting off going to class as long as they could. They hardly gave you a second glance as you walked past and ducked into your own classroom.

You started to head for your seat out of habit until you realized that Julie was sitting in it, scrolling idly through her phone. Confused, you turned towards the projector to see if there was some warm up activity about sitting at a different table. Your stomach practically dropped when you realized that there was a new seating chart. You had just gotten comfortable enough to make small talk with the people you had previously been sitting with.

After a minute or so of working out how the seating chart was aligned, you figured out where your new seat was and sat down in it. Your table partner, Tyler, had already arrived and was scribbling something down in a bent notebook. He glanced up at you and smiled as you took a seat, but didn’t say anything.

Probably because of the headphones.

You snuck a glance at Tyler when he seemed particularly wrapped up in whatever he was doing. The two of you had never talked before, but you knew a little about him. He was one of the kids from the other middle school that a couple of your friends had gone to; they were always talking about how they had huge crushes on him in seventh grade, but he had never really been interested. You could see why they thought he was cute, his eyes were nice and the brief smile he had given you was enough to make your stomach flip. That, and he played basketball; that was always a bonus in your friends’ eyes.

He started to turn in your direction, so you quickly made yourself busy by unzipping your backpack and pulling out your designated english notebook. The front was already covered in doodles from the friend that you used to sit next to in this class, but now she was on the other side of the room. From the looks of it, she was having no problem making friends with the new people that she was sitting with. Your table, on the other hand, was largely ignoring each other’s existence.

When the bell finally rang, you paused your music and tucked your headphones away into your pocket. You were only a few months into the school year and had already received numerous warnings about listening to music in class. Mr. Brown had even said that if he caught you one more time, there would be detention involved. You weren’t really looking to have to explain that to your parents… or Carter, for that matter.

“Alright, class! Good morning! I’m happy to see that all of you were able to find your new seats,” Mr. Brown said, making his way towards the front of the room. “I will be using that to take attendance today, so please make sure that you are sitting in the correct spot so that you don’t get marked absent. While I do that, I would like you to take a few minutes to introduce yourselves to your table members. You will be working closely together during the next unit, so I want you to at least know each other’s names. Go ahead.”

You slid a little farther down in your seat, not wanting to be the first to introduce yourself. Thankfully, Tyler was more than willing to start everyone off.

“Hi, my name is Tyler.”

He looked to you and raised his eyebrows. You cleared your throat and sat up a little straighter.

“Y/N,” you said, forcing a smile.

The rest of the table introduced themselves and then went quiet, getting back on their phones or making faces at their friends across the room. You idly tapped your pencil against the cover of your notebook.

“What music were you listening to?” Tyler asked.

The question took you by surprise. Sure, your friends had told you that he was talkative at times, but you never really expected him to talk to you. You stopped leaning on your hand and turned to face him.

“Oh, you know, just random stuff,” you said, too embarrassed to give him the actual answer.

“That’s cool,” he nodded.

“Do you… ever… listen to music?”

Really?

“Yeah, I’m really into music.”

“Who do you listen to?”

Tyler shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “I think The Killers and Death Cab for Cutie are my favorites right now, but it’s always changing.”

“My brother really likes The Killers, he’s constantly playing their music while he does homework.”

“Same, I listen to their music when I practice basketball, usually.”

“You play basketball?”

Yes. You already knew the answer.

“Yeah, I’ve been playing since I was little.”

“Are you going to try out for the basketball team?”

You were surprised by how easy conversation with Tyler was becoming. Maybe it was the encouraging smile on his face or the fact that he hardly even blinked when you were stumbling over your words. Either way, you were beginning to be thankful for the seating arrangement change.

“I’m thinking about it, but I’m not sure that I would be good enough.”

“It’s worth a shot, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, you’re right,” he smiled. “I guess I don’t want people to think I got picked just because my dad is the varsity coach.”

“Easy, just make sure you’re actually good at basketball,” you laughed.

“I am, don’t worry.”

You were about to make a joke about his cocky attitude, but the teacher grabbed everyone’s attention again and started to talk about what he had planned for the day. Tyler smiled at you over his shoulder before turning and paying attention.

This was definitely turning out better than you had anticipated.

Tyler’s POV

“Alright, I’m going to give you the last ten minutes of class to silently work on next week’s short story assignment! If you have any questions, I’ll be at my desk.”

Silent? That wasn’t going to work.

I glanced over at Y/N, who had already written a few sentences at the top of her page. Her hand was moving quickly across the page, writing sentences that looked much neater than mine would if I ever started writing. I would much rather sit and talk to her, but there was no way I would be able to get away with it during silent writing time. There had to be some other way that I could keep up a conversation.

I quietly ripped out a sheet of notebook paper and pulled off the perforated bit on the side. Across the top, I wrote down a question for her to answer as an icebreaker.

What are you writing about?

I folded the paper in half and made sure that Mr. Brown was turned towards his computer before sliding it to her. She stopped writing and glanced at the piece of paper. With furrowed eyebrows, she unfolded it and scanned the question I had written. I watched as she wrote out her answer, folded the note, and slid it back to me.

It’s kind of hard to explain, but basically there’s this city that all these people are stuck in and they try to escape. Only one of them is successful though. I don’t know, it’s kind of stupid and I’m not explaining it very well. What are you writing?

Stupid? That didn’t sound stupid at all. I made sure to write that down.

I don’t think that’s stupid at all, it sounds really cool. I’m not really sure yet, any ideas?

Y/N took a moment to finish her sentence before grabbing the paper and reading my new note. She pursed her lips and took a moment to think before answering, trying - and failing - to conceal a smile as she wrote back. It was cute.

Wait, what?

What if you write about a castle that’s under attack by something ridiculous? Like a giant pineapple or something?

Now I understood why she was smiling. We shared a look before I started to write back. It had to be funny, that way I would get to see her smile again; something about it made my stomach fill with butterflies.

And once they destroy it they celebrate by making piña coladas for the entire town?

I passed the note back to her. She opened it and smiled.

Success.

Before she had a chance to pass it back to me, there was the sound of footsteps behind us. The two of us turned around to see Mr. Brown standing behind us, his hands clasped in front of him. In our excitement over the story idea, we had failed to keep an eye on him and make sure he wasn’t paying attention. Wordlessly, he bent down and picked up our note. He was nice enough to read it silently.

“I’m expecting you to come up with your own ideas, Mr. Joseph, but you should be thankful that Ms. Y/L/N is nice enough to help you.”

“Thanks,” I said, turning to her. She tried so hard to conceal a laugh that she ended up snorting.

“Back to work, you two.”

I didn’t make a second attempt at trying to pass her a note, not wanting to get her in trouble for my bad decisions. Her ideas had helped me create my own, though, and I was able to spend the last five minutes of class writing a couple paragraphs.

“I want to actually thank you,” I said as I started to put things into my backpack. The bell had just rung and the entire class was filled with the sounds of shuffling paper and zippers. “I didn’t use the pineapple idea, but it did help me come up with something.”

“I’m glad I was able to help,” she smiled as she pushed an earbud into her ear.

“Also, you should totally listen to Death Cab for Cutie and let me know what you think.”

“I think I’ll do that.”

I could see that she was eager to go and I was the only reason she was hanging behind. Not wanting to keep her longer, I said a simple, “I’ll talk to you next class.”

“Bye, Tyler.”

She put her other earbud in and walked out of the room without another word. I finished packing up my things and walked into the hall to meet up with Nick, who had just finished his own english class.

“How was class?” he asked.

“Really good. We got a new seating arrangement and I’m sitting next to this really cool girl.”

“Oh yeah? Is she cute?”

“It’s not like that,” I said. “She just seems like someone I would want to be friends with.”

“You can be friends with cute girls, you know.”

I shook my head, although my cheeks were already getting hot. “Ok, yeah, she’s cute.”

“I knew it!” Nick laughed. “Still, that’s really cool.”

“Yeah.”

For the first time ever, I was looking forward to the next time I had english.

[fayewonglibrary]

Just Only One Faye (1999)

* SOME REVISIONS TO SPELLING/GRAMMAR/WORDING * by Liu Jie Qi

Intro: Normally when Faye Wong releases her albums, it causes the marketing department of her record company headaches because she is not too enthusiastic about doing many interviews and photo shoots. At most, she will only do a Q&A kind of interview for her record company to use as promotion. Is she cooperating this time? It’s up to you to decide.

Even so, Faye is still a brand name in the pop music scene. Her latest album, ONLY LOVE STRANGERS, already topped our local best selling chart at the #1 position for 4 continuous weeks since it was first released. Faye is still Faye. There is just only one Faye.

Report: Last September, during my trip to Hong Kong to interview Faye, it was not a bad experience. Her friendly, cheerful and very cooperative attitude makes the many negative reports on her refute themselves.

The fact is, it is a matter of respect between people. For example, other artists may think that these things are inevitably standard in the entertainment industry and will give in to their manager’s demands and requests. But Faye is not like other people. Faye is still Faye. What she wants to do and who and how she loves is really not the business of anyone but herself. This is because at the end of the day, she only needs to be responsible for herself. We always knew that Faye is afraid of doing interviews, thus this interview is purely trying our luck. We received Faye’s tape before she left Hong Kong for Taiwan to lend her assistance for charity programs after the earthquake in Taiwan. Her replies were easy-going and relaxed, with lots of laughter and her mood was beautiful. Q: Except for “Spectacular” in this new album, unlike your previous albums, there were not many of your own compositions, is there any special reason?

Faye: The main reason is because there was not much inspiration to write. There are no other reasons.

Q: Your daughter Tong Tong appears again in your song. It’s very fun and innocent laughter. Was this your idea? Will she be a frequent guest in your future songs? Is this a way of bringing your loved ones into your working world?

Faye: Tong Tong in "Only Love Strangers” is only dialogue. It was purely a sudden thought. There was no planning and no arrangements. It was only when I was reading through this song, there was this line that actually was supposed to have been said by Dou Ying (Dou Wei's sister, Faye's backup vocalist), and I just thought of letting Tong Tong say it instead. There is no complicated reason behind it.

Q: From some reports, it seems like you do not really like the song "Spectacular". Is this true? Is there any special reason for putting this song into your album?

Faye: This song has a very personal feeling. This is the only song that I am involved in the making of. I feel that among all my compositions, this song is not the most satisfied, so there’s nothing wrong with that, right? haha! But the songs I don’t like doesn't mean that others don’t like it, right? Normally those that I don’t like, others will like. hahaha...

Q: In the album, more than half of the songs are written by Lin Xi. Do you especially like his writing? What about his lyrics that attracts you?

Faye: I have always liked Lin Xi’s lyrics all along. This is because we have been working together for a very long time already. Every time I receive his lyrics, there are always elements of surprise. His way of writing is often very special. In fact, you do not really understand what he is trying to say, but you can feel that feeling and scene that he is trying to convey. I like this kind of method. Besides his words are all very unique.

Q: In "The Moon at That Moment" MV, you have 5 different images. May I ask which is the real you?

Faye: (cheekily) Every one of them is me. I can wear different outfits everyday. Haha.

Q: In the “Spectacular" MV, the filming consists partially of past memories. Do you have any feelings about your childhood years? Do you have nostalgia remembering past events? That kind of feeling?

Faye: Actually when filming, of course there were some moments. For example, when doing the somersaults, it reminded me of my days in physical education classes. But I was not immersed in past memories throughout the filming of the entire MV. It’s not that serious lah!

Q: Are you one who only looks forward and always walk towards the future? Is there any person or thing that will make you stop for a while and look back and think for a while?

Faye: I think I cannot control this. Sometimes I don’t think I’m a “always look forward and never turn back” type of person.  I quite often will turn back and see. I think everyone is the same way, right? But after looking back, you can only continue to walk forward. Sometimes, stop for a while and look, think for a while, you can say it’s kind of adjusting our mood. One kind of feeling that we need I guess. But no matter what, everyone still needs to continue to walk forward.

Q: Recently, are you busy with filming Wong Kar Wai’s movie "2046"? It has been a few years since you last worked with him. Do you have any different feelings?

Faye: Although it’s been a few years since we worked together, but because we have one experience of working together on "Chungking Express", I can better understand what he really wants. There's more chemistry and I can better understand the situations I guess. Because the last time, I really totally did not know what was going on. But I feel this may be what the director wants. Maybe he hopes that I never know what is happening. Faye's Chat Room:

Q: Which song do you have the most feeling for in the new album?

Faye: Many ah! I like "Last Blossom", the music arrangement overall is very good.

Q: What about "The Moon at That Moment"?

Faye : It expresses the kind of feeling like time is lost. We forever cannot see the past and future of ourselves. If "they" could be together, what is that feeling? This MV has many different Faye’s to bring out this concept. Many shots by the director required calculations and markings to be made beforehand, then later the computer handled it. The filming was tough, but very fun.

Q: You give people the feeling that you are very cool, so why would you agree to go underwater in the "Spectacular" MV?

Faye: As long as it’s reasonable and goes with the content, I can accept it. Actually, I am an active person.

Q: You once said "I am not an idol, do not worship me". Why?

Faye: Idols at least have to set a good example. I am only a normal person. I don’t feel that I’m a good example. I have my faults.

Q: From the past to now, do you feel any changes in your singing?

Faye: In the past, I focused more on the singing techniques and type of singing, but now I place more importance on my feelings towards the music. Singing out my feelings is more important.

Q: Any plans for the future ?

Faye: I never have plans. Even if I have them, they keep on changing. I’m more of a let everything happen naturally type. I don’t like to purposely do something. If I reach a time when I do not want to sing, then I won’t sing.

Q: Any dreams?

Faye: My dream is to be happy and hope all things go well. Although it is simply a few words, but it’s hard for it to come true. I treasure all things that I have now.

------------------------------------------------------------------

SOURCE: I-WEEKLY // TRANSLATED BY: UNKNOWN - PLEASE CONTACT ME

[johannesviii]

Top 10 Personal Favorite Hit Songs from 2004

15 to 16 years old. A chaotic year for sure, but with a high quality soundtrack. So here’s a top ten list in which, as usual for that decade, several painful cuts had to be made.

Disclaimers:

Keep in mind I’m using both the year-end top 100 lists from the US and from France while making these top 10 things. There’s songs in English that charted in my country way higher than they did in their home countries, or even earlier or later, so that might get surprising at times.

Of course there will be stuff in French. We suck. I know. It’s my list. Deal with it.

My musical tastes have always been terrible and I’m not a critic, just a listener and an idiot.

I have sound to color synesthesia which justifies nothing but might explain why I have trouble describing some songs in other terms than visual ones.

To provide the usual personal context, that year, being that-weirdo-in-the-back-of-the-class suddenly became great when OTHER people were also considered weirdos-in-the-back-of-the-class, and together, with a guy who kept falling asleep in class because he had insomnia, another guy who had elocution problems, and a girl who arrived directly from Cameroun in the middle of winter and was kinda depressed, we formed some sort of losers club and suddenly things weren’t so bad anymore. Unfortunately I completely lost contact with these people after highschool and that’s one of the biggest regrets of my life.

And then in September I once again ended in a completely different class in Terminale (equivalent of Senior Year in the US unless I’m mistaken) and made another great friend. So while life at home was still pretty bad, at least it was much better at school.

At this point my parents also stopped checking what kind of singles I was buying, which means that instead of this madness from 2003 where I had to hide some purchases with other ones...

...I only bought this in 2004 and the rest were actual albums.

Also, I found some old tapes and oh my goodness look at the label on this one. Late 2002/early 2003 at its finest right there. Kyo written with a typo, next to Eminem, next to Mylène Farmer. Love it.

With all of that out of the way, here’s a list of honorable mentions first. A very, very long list.

Yeah (Usher feat Lil Jon & Ludacris) - Thank goodness I thought this song was pretty cool, otherwise I’d have been miserable while listening to the radio in 2004.

Milkshake (Kelis) - Ooooooh daaaaangerously close to the So Bad It’s Good category.

Let’s Get It Started (Black Eyed Peas) - Don’t have anything to say, it’s a lot of fun.

Dragosta Din Tei (O-Zone) - This took like four more years to chart in the US but we heard it all summer here. And it wasn’t unpleasant at all to be honest?

Heaven (remix) (DJ Sammy) - Hang on, wasn’t this on the 2002 honorable mentions? Yeah but it took two years to chart here so it was elligible for 2004 as well.

Turn Me On (Kevin Lyttle) - A quality earworm that somehow isn’t annoying? Sign me up.

Call On Me (Eric Prydz) - Hey, look, another repetitive dance track in my collection of repetitive dance tracks!

What You Waiting For? (Gwen Stefani) - I think this is the only Gwen Stefani song that never made me turn the radio off after a minute. Pretty good.

It’s My Life (No Doubt) - Love the original. This version, not so much.

Parce Qu’on Vient de Loin (Corneille) - Favorite artist of my best friend that year. That song was so moving and well-written. Never got tired of it but never actively listened to it either. If I had better taste it would probably make the list.

The Reason (Hoobastank) - I thought this was ok and pretty nice if a bit bland, and didn’t deserve the success nor the hatred it got. However, thanks to the rock journal I was buying at the time which was like “hey, please listen to the album itself, it’s great!”, I followed that advice, listened to the album at the cd store and bought it instantly. If you dislike this song, please listen to the rest of the album, I swear you’ll enjoy it. Here’s the first track, Same Direction, to get a general idea!

Don’t Tell Me (Avril Lavigne) - Her second album was very good, wasn’t it? What happened to her in recent years?

Je Saigne Encore (Kyo) - This was the last cut (HA, get it? cut?? ok sorry that was terrible) from the list. While I loved it back in the day and while I’m willing to ignore how cringy some stuff I loved as a teenager can be now, I'm not willing to ignore how this is basically a song about a white boy being dumped for the first time and hurting himself because he can’t deal with the mere concept of jealousy. And I’m like “holy shit calm down dude and please drop that knife”.

And now, the actual list.

10 - Hey Ya! (Outkast)

US: #8 / FR: #41

Who’s surprised. Come on. Everyone loved it. I even bought the single! And to think I almost considered leaving it out of the top 10 to put friggin Kyo on it, of all things. The indignity. But yeah, I genuinely loved this. The only thing I can say against it is that it’s a bit too exhausting to be listened to on a loop.

9 - 100 Years (Five For Fighting)

US: #77 / FR: Not on the list

I only heard this a couple of times that year and never paid much attention.

Then I heard it again in 2018 right in the middle of a very, very bad year, after losing my grandfather, and it absolutely destroyed me.

It’s very, very good.

8 - Face à la Mer (Passy & Calogero)

US: Not on the list / FR: #11

Very overplayed that year. A delight every single time it was on the radio, though. Don’t have anything else to say about it.

7 - Modern Times (J-Five)

US: Not on the list / FR: #26

A hiphop song sampling a scene from Modern Times with Charlie Chaplin. It peaked at number 1 here! Not kidding! I bought the single after hearing it exactly once. It’s fantastic and I’m really sad time buried it like it did. If you’ve forgotten about it or simply never heard it before, please give it a listen, it needs more love.

6 - Hit My Heart (Benassi Bros)

US: Not on the list / FR: #74

Remember last time when I said I was a major sucker for Benassi Bros? Well this isn’t an exception. That is a killer drop right there. It looks great and dark and glittery all at once and, by the way, the sunny and summer-y music video completely contradicted how the song looked like in my ears, haha.

5 - My Happy Ending (Avril Lavigne)

US: #54 / FR: Not on the list

I’m not entirely sure what went wrong and when in Avril Lavigne’s career the shift happened, but a couple of years after that song her music got a lot less interesting. I may have enjoyed her first album Let Go a lot, but this song might just be her best one ever.

The sudden shift from “YOU WERE everything” to “HE WAS everything” near the end, in particular, is great writing. Love that.

4 - Left Outside Alone (Anastacia)

US: Not on the list / FR: #76

Usually, voices, good or bad, have zero impact on me except when they border on unlistenable, or when they are physically painful to hear/look at. The guy from Muse for example has a voice that looks like the equivalent of a flashlight in the dark and it hurts, and I’m like dude. Can you please tune that down a little bit. Please.

This lady’s voice right there is fascinating though. Her voice is green and dark and it’s such a strange, rare voice I’m charmed whenever I hear it, and in this song in particular. This was on SO MANY of my tapes it’s not even funny. And the chorus is fantastic and a joy to sing along with even if you don’t have a good voice yourself.

3 - Orchestra (The Servant)

US: Not on the list / FR: #97

So we were on vacation, and they were giving away free cds at one stop. And I put the one I got in my portable cd player, and wasn’t that excited by the first tracks.

And then the fifth one started. And I was instantly captivated.

You already know I absolutely adored Placebo at the time (sadly, Protect Me isn’t elligible here either), and that guy from The Servant had a similar voice and the song was roughly in the same ballpark, and the lyrics were so, so weird.

There's an orchestra in me, Playing endlessly I even hear it now They play in the devil's key, An endless symphony I even hear it now And I listen to the music, Beautiful music Yes I listen to the music, Beautiful music

And, again, I’m terrible at describing sounds but the colors are so disquieting and there’s an unpleasant vibe except the song itself isn’t unpleasant? It’s so damn weird. And that band never struck gold again after that.

I still don’t know what happened or how all of this works. It’s a mystery. A very beautiful and curious mystery. This would have had a good shot at winning the #1 spot if it hadn’t been for [shakes fist] these other guys.

2 - Breaking the Habit (Linkin Park)

US: #79 / FR: #89

Only #2? Does... does that mean Linkin Park isn’t going to top my lists three years in a row? Holy shit, dodged a bullet there.

Should I really repeat my whole speech about Meteora. Should I really. Come on. It starts with the sound of a closing door, then broken glass, and then guitars explode in your face. The first line of the album is “sometimes I need to remember just to breathe”! Somewhere I Belong is one of my favorite songs from the band! I was trying to match the flow of Faint even if my English was still extremely shaky and my accent terrible!

And then there’s Breaking the Habit, which sounds almost pleasant compared to the levels of aggression displayed by the other songs. But it’s weirdly tense and stressful for that exact reason, because this relative calm sounds like a menace.

It works even better out of the context of the album, where it sounded a tad more aggressive than the average pop song, but still tense and stressful. And the music video is fantastic. I had it on a giant poster. I know I’ve kept it folded somewhere. If I only knew where it was, I’d show it to you. Covering up the (bright pink) walls in my room back then was a lot of work.

Edit: Nevermind. Found it:

Gotta say one thing though. At least they aren’t #1 for the third year in a row. What’s left of my dignity has been saved.

1 - Enjoy the Silence 2004 (Depeche Mode, Mike Shinoda remix)

US: Not on the list / FR: #89

Waiiiit a second. This was remixed by Mike Shinoda, wasn’t it. Mike Shinoda. From Linkin Park.

I guess Linkin Park IS topping my lists three years in a row in the end sdfghjhgfdfghjkjhg end me

But yeah. So. Enjoy the Silence tops a second list of mine, then. 14 years after the first one. I’m not gonna repeat what I’ve already said about that song. It simply got a brand new coat of paint, but still, even if it’s basically street art painted over a framed painting, what a masterpiece. Was genuinely gawking the first time I heard it on the radio.

And then Depeche Mode released one of their best albums ever the very next year, and it was the album of the year for me, and I became a big fan. So yeah, thanks for introducing me to their music, Mike Shinoda.

Bonus: I noticed my trusty old radio/cd player was in the background of a pic my brother took around that time! I miss that radio. It was pearl-colored and I had added stickers of birds and insects on it. So everytime I say “on the radio” in these posts, just picture this round little thing which was at the center of my universe back then.

Next up: Not the best song of the decade but pretty close

[kiimagure]

Ayakashi Gohan Okawari!: Human route, Spring (Part one)

Spring, April

It’s now April and we’ve become high school seniors. I headed towards the classrooms with Uta, Yomi, Suou, and Haginosuke, same as always.

Rin: (It’s been a while since I’ve walked down these halls.)

Haginosuke: “The new semester makes you super excited doesn’t it. It is the season of new beginnings after all~”

Yomi: “...That being said, our grade only has one class though.”

Suou: “I have to see your faces all day again? How boring.”

Yomi: “That should be my line. Also, haven’t you been yawning a bit too much this morning?”

Rin: (I get to start the new semester with all my close friends. It may be something normal for others but for me, it’s my first time. It makes me feel kinda nervous.)

--------

Yomi: “So, this is our new classroom? ...It doesn’t really feel any different.”

Haginosuke: “All of the classrooms are set up the same way.”

Suou: “Jeez, how boring can this get.”

Male classmate 1: “Oh, hey, you guys, It’s been a while!”

Uta: “Hey, what’s up!”

Female classmate 1: “You too, Akane-san! Good morning~!”

Rin: “G-Good morning.”

Yomi: “Good grief, you humans are so loud in the morning…”

Female classmate 1: “Ah, Inushima-kun, that isn’t your seat.”

Yomi: “...? What do you mean?”

Female classmate 1: “Since it’s a new school year and all, we’re gonna be changing seats too. There, look at the blackboard.”

Haginosuke: “Oh, you’re right. There’s a new seating chart written on the board.”

Uta: “Hmm, so this is what you call “changing seats”.”

Suou: “My seat better be next to a window with a good amount of sun. I absolutely refuse if it’s next to the cold hallways.”

Rin: (Changing seats, huh... Um, my seat is…)

Haginosuke: “Seems like you get the seat all the way in the back, next to the window, Rin! How nice~ That’s the best seat in the class!”

Rin: “Eh? It is?”

Haginosuke: “Yeah. I mean, look, if you get bored in the middle of class, you can relax and stare out the window as a change of pace...”

Uta: “It’s the best spot for taking a nap on nice, sunny days too! Ugh, I’m so jealous!”

Yomi: “What in the world do you two even come to school for…”

Suou: “...Hey you, Rin, trade seats with me. You can have my seat next to the hallway.”

Rin: “Eh, w-we can’t do that…!”

Haginosuke: “Yeah, yeah, just give it up and sit in your seat, Suou!”

Suou: “Grrr…”

Rin: (It’s just like everyone to get so lively just because of a single seat. Now then, I should get to my new seat too. So this is my new desk… It’s true that sitting all the way in the back feels pretty nice. I feel all warm and fuzzy inside… The hard part is that I probably will get sleepy on sunny days.)

...hm?

(There’s something carved onto my desk… What is that? It looks like an animal…. A fox? Or maybe a racoon? Hehe, it’s kind of similar to Tsuzuru-kun’s doodles)

Teacher: “Alright, kids~ Time to sit down~ The opening ceremony is about to start but… before that, I’d like to introduce a new transfer student.”

Male classmate 1: “A transfer student?”

Female classmate 1: “Wow~ We haven’t had a transfer student since Akane-san got here!”

Uta: “Is there gonna be another student?”

Haginosuke: “I wonder what kind of person it is?”

Teacher: “Kimura, come in”

Rin: (Wah… He has such pretty features. His silky smooth hair is also really charming. He gives off a strange vibe, like everyone’s eyes just naturally land on him…)

Teacher: “Kimura, Introduce yourself”

???: “Okay. It’s nice to meet you all, my name is Kimura Asagi. I’ve moved here due to my father’s job. Please treat me well.”

Teacher: “Get along well with him, you guys.”

Male classmate 1: “Okay!”

Female classmate 1: “It’s nice to meet ya~”

Teacher: “For your seat… seems like the one next to Akane is empty. For now, you can sit there.”

Asagi: “Okay.”

Rin: (Eh? Next to me?)

Asagi: “What’s your name?”

Rin: “My name is… Akane Rin.”

Asagi: “Rin, huh? It’s nice to meet you.”

Rin: “...!”

(I-It made my heart skip a beat being called by my first name all of a sudden)

Uta: “Wha--!?”

Suou: “Unya…?”

Uta: “W-What’s with this guy…! Calling her “Rin” the first second he gets here!”

Suou: “There’s an extent to how over-familiar you can get. What a creepy guy.”

Haginosuke: “Uta, Suou, calm down. You shouldn’t glare at him like that. He’s probably feeling lonely having just moved here and all.”

Uta: “Keh”

Suou:  “...hmph”

Yomi: “Hah… The new school year has just started and it’s already so noisy.”

Rin: (Uta and Suou are glaring at Kimura pretty intensely. I’m worried… I wonder what this feeling I get is though. The way the air feels around him… It’s like he, himself gives me a nostalgic feeling. It’s like he’s an old friend whom I met with often…)

--------

The opening ceremony quickly ends and now, it’s finally time to go home.

Kimura: “Rin, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Rin: “Ah, yeah. See you tomorrow.”

Uta: “Rin! C’mon, we’re leaving”

Suou: “I’m hungry. Guess, I’ll get something to eat at the restaurant. Rin, let’s go.”

Rin: “Eh!? W-wait a second, you guys.”

Haginosuke: “Hey, you two! You can’t just drag a girl around against her will like that…”

Rin: “Kya!?”

(W-What!? There’s something flying in through the window along with the sudden wind…)

Uta: “!? Hey, Rin! Ouch…”

Rin: “U-Uta!”

Haginosuke: “W-What? There was suddenly a strong wind and then it looked like something flew in from the window but…”

Yomi: “...Was it this?”

Suou: “...nuts?”

Uta: “How did something like this get blown in? Is this what they call the first storm of spring?”

Yomi: “That’s impossible. The timing is off.”

Rin: “...Uta, thanks for protecting me. Are you okay?”

Uta: “No worries. It was like getting bitten by a mosquito.”

Rin: (But this nut has thorns. It looks painful. If a human like me were hit with it, I probably would’ve gotten seriously injured considering how fast it flew in thanks to the wind. I’m thankful that Uta protected me but…)

Yomi: “...Hopefully this isn’t the work of something supernatural.”

Haginosuke: “Hm? Did you say something, Yomi?”

Yomi: “No.”

Rin: (Supernatural… does he mean it might’ve been an ayakashi? ...No, I’m probably overthinking it. It was just a random gust of wind…)

Suou: “How long are you guys planning to stand here and talk? Let’s go already.”

Uta: “Shoot, you’re right! Let’s get going, Rin!”

Rin: “O-okay.”

--------

Uta: “Hah… it’s only the first day and I’m already all riled up. What is up with that Kimura guy?”

Rin: “Uta, you shouldn’t talk about something you just met with that kind of tone. I’m sure he’s a really nice person. He had a really carefree laugh…”

Suou: “I thought all the hair on my body would stand up just by seeing his smiling face.”

Haginosuke: “Hm~? Isn’t that just because he’s so cool and you’re jealous?”

Suou: “What are you talking about, you piece of red bean rice cake. There’s no way I could be jealous of that guy.”

Uta: “What part of him is cool? Let’s be real, I’m totally way cooler~”

Yomi: “Heh.”

Uta: “Yomi, you lil--! You just snickered at me didn’t you!”

Yomi: “It’s just your imagination.”

Uta: “Jeez, you really aren’t cute at all. Argh, now I’m even more hungry ‘cuz I’m all mad.”

Suou: “You got it backwards. You’re getting really angry because you’re hungry.”

Yomi: “Does it even matter which way it is?”

Haginosuke: “Haha, you’re right.”

Rin: (The new semester has just started and it kinda seems like there’s already a lot of trouble brewing…)

Choice

1. Sigh (Uta ♥↑) 2. Talk to yourself (Haginosuke ♥↑) 3. Look up at the sky (Suou ♥↑)

1. Sigh (Uta ♥↑)

Rin: “Hah…”

Uta: “What are you sighing about, Rin?”

Rin: “...You’re usually really friendly with the boys and girls in the class, aren’t you? Why do you act like that only towards Kimura-kun?”

Uta: “Eh? That’s ‘cuz… It feels like… He’s gonna take you away from me or something…”

Rin: “Eh?

Uta: “...I didn’t say anything! Anyway, I just don’t mesh well with him, okay!”

Rin: (What is he so flustered about…? How weird.)

--------

2. Talk to yourself (Haginosuke ♥↑) 

Rin: “If only everyone could just get along…”

Haginosuke: “Right? I think so too.”

Rin: “!? You were listening to me?”

Haginosuke: “Sorry, I overheard it. But, I see you’re pretty worried about Kimura, huh?”

Rin: “Yeah… Since he’s already transferred here and all, I’d really like for him to think about how fun it is living here. Kind of like me…”

Haginosuke: “Then, How about this? You and I should try and make situations that makes everyone want to get along with him. If we do that, I think it should start to become natural for them to want to act like that.”

Rin: “You’re right…! Thank you, Haginosuke.”

--------

3. Look up at the sky (Suou ♥↑)

Rin: (Hah… I wonder if the new semester will go okay like this?)

Suou: “What’s wrong? If you look up at the sun like that, you’ll have to sneeze.”

Rin: “I-I’m fine. More importantly, why are you acting so cold towards Kimura-kun?”

Suou: “Because I’d be annoyed if he started talking to or touching you all willy-nilly even though you’re mine.”

Rin: “Eh? What are you saying?”

Suou: “...hmph. There’s no deeper meaning to what I said. Now, let’s hurry up and get to the restaurant. I’m starving here.”

Rin: (He’s hard to understand as always…)

TBC

[wardogxicarus]

“Noah, we’re stationed in Hawaii. I’d rather be soaking up some rays than-” Leland frowned at the rocky and damp path before them, “-than exploring some dank sea cave.”

“What?!” Noah beamed at his squad mate, “My corn-fed hick buddy, top of the class in Basic, is put off by some salt water and rotting kelp?”  “No!” Leland retorted hotly, his ears reddening, “I just had a different idea going on when you said we were going to the shore.”  “Okay, so I wasn’t very specific; but I promise it’s worth it!” 

Leland leveled an annoyed stare at Noah for several seconds. Eventually he let out a huff and let his shoulders relax. It was hard to ignore that infectious grin of his. “Okay, but only for a little bit. I still want to get some beach time in before dinner.”

He had no idea how much time would pass once they entered.

The briny stench was the first thing to hit Leland, but then his flashlight illuminated a breathtaking sight. Rocky floors and walls rendered smooth from the ocean shimmered in a mesmerizing display. The way the caves twisted and turned and fell and rose as they trekked deeper in felt otherworldly. He had no idea this was here! 

The two Marines chatted away as their exploration pushed them onward. Even with their training, though, youth still had a way of rendering them ignorant to small details. When they finally reached a dead end, they found a dry spot to rest and marvel at the coastal formation. Nearly an hour passed before they agreed to start heading back. 

Noah cracked a joke, leaving Leland chuckling as he threw his backpack on and started for the exit. His laughter came to an abrupt halt when he splashed into a substantial puddle. He lowered his flashlight to examine the water and then looked back at Noah. The chamber was devoid of puddles when they entered. Horror seeped into his friend’s face as their situation dawned over them.

“We need to get out...... now!” “Come on!”

Noah abandoned his pack and joined Leland as the two took off in a mad rush to return to the mouth of the cave. “Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck! You didn’t check the tide chart?!” “Leland, can you chew me out when we’re out?!” “I can’t believe you didn’t check the tide charts!” “You didn’t bother either!” “I THOUGHT WE WERE GOING TO THE BEACH, YOU IDIOT!”

The argument continued until they were forced to focus on the path before them. Some parts remained easily navigable, but in other spots they had to start wading through sea water. It was a struggle that gradually became more dire as the ocean pressed in. More than once they had to swim to cross a space. But then came the most dangerous hurdle. 

“Shit!” The two stopped at the edge of the water. The camber was filling, and their path to freedom on the other side was already submerged. After a moment of consideration Leland looked to Noah. “We have to dive.” “The flashlight won’t survive being submerged.” “Better than staying here to drown.” “True.. I’ll be right behind you, okay?”

Leland nodded and waded in, abandoning his backpack and carefully swimming to where the tunnel sat below the surface. He took two practice breaths before inhaling, Noah following suit. The light from the flashlight lasted only a minute before the two were plunged into darkness. The swim continued on, but time seemed to slow as the pressure on their chests mounted. 

More than once, Leland wanted to stop and search for an air pocket. His instincts screamed at him to gulp down fresh air while what remained in his lung burned. Each time it happened, he had to force his way through the urge. Just keep going.. just keep going...

Suddenly he felt his head breach the surface. The instant his lips hit air he gasped and sputtered and took to treading water. “Hah... haha! We made it! We’re out!” He turned, expecting to see Noah behind him and his smile fell. He wasn’t there. “....Fuck!”

Wide earthy hues searched the water around him before making out a vague shape several feet down. Noah! Without a second thought he went back under and hurried to his friend’s side. He was struggling, foot caught between two rocks. Leland felt around for the spot until his fingers brushed it and began to pull with all his might. The small outcropping eventually broke off and the mad dash to rush Noah to the surface resumed. 

A minute later the two clawed onto dry land and collapsed, coughing and wheezing. “Holy shit... we’re alive..!”  “I’m making an executive decision; no more sea caves.” “Agreed.”

[icykeys]

Aaravos isn't wearing a shirt. The blue of his chest is also his skin.

My goodness how could I be so blind as to not notice the obvious lack of shirt!

Unnecessary sarcasm aside, yes, he has 4 different and defined shades of skin tone visible. I was originally talking about just his face and bust, as that’s the area most art I’ve viewed so far focuses on the most. But from what we can see, he’s still mostly grey.

I hope this is an informative enough image. The dark indigo of his middle? Nah, I don’t consider that grey. You do you on that one. But it’s not part of his bust.

The hands, I’m borderline on because they appear bluer than the other greys, but looking at the charts/pickers, it’s no more saturated than the others, so I’m personally ruling it to be grey. However, I do have to be my own devil’s advocate and note that the value of the color (brightness) does have an effect on visual confirmation of two colors of the same saturation. Eg, if I pulled that dot straight up, it would look like pastel blue and I would call it such. BUT, the blue of the hands is too similar to the other shades (namely the face) for me. I’ll let you decide if you wanna call those blue or not, but you gotta admit it looks at least blue-grey, right?

In the end, words are just words, names are just names, and art is just art. You wanna draw a Lotor-colored Aaravos? Or a hot pink Aaravos? You go for it! And show me! I like art. A lot. I have yet to find any Aaravos art I dislike and I doubt I will anytime soon. Arguing is not a hobby of mine. I just went to art school and that digital color theory class I took made me a little too pumped about colors haha.

but yo, just enjoy the show and the fan art.

when i say that, it’s directed at myself too. and tbh i hope you and anyone reading has a good week.

[exhaustedcloudd-blog]

so heres the hoedown throwdown my dudes

I come from a decent family, I haven't had any traumatic experiences, I am okay now (ish haha), and I don't usually talk about this kind of thing, but I'm here, and I'm hoping this will help someone out there somewhere. so here we go, 

I am taking my GCSEs, and I am taking many creative subjects which require lots of homework and coursework. on top of this, I have had undiagnosed severe panic attacks and a bucket load of anxiety. I have a history of getting very down and hurting myself. emotions run high in me 😅.

I panic a lot, I worry a lot about things that I don't need too, I manage to work myself up a lot and bring myself down too. since I was about 7 I had a chart which I would get read to every day, I would have to answer the questions and let the teacher know how I was feeling. I used to have many fears, about things like being separated and big public spaces and getting lost and knowing what was going on. 

I don't know how it came to be, but my centre point of all this is control. I feel like I need to be in control all the time, I need to know what's going on, I need to know any organisations, I need to know who's who and what's what, otherwise I panic. and it is not an obnoxious thing, it's not like I need to be best or I am being bossy, trust me I am not😅. sometimes I can be super quiet, where I don't speak up, but at the same time, I'm very social and I like meeting new people and talking lots!

some stuff has happened, a little fight in my family (meaning I didn't see my uncle and my cousins for over 3 years), for some reason I can never trust my parents and worry when they go out, and I feel like I have to act as a parent, my uncle dying, my aunty dying, and my best friend, my grandad dying of dementia in April. (all these deaths occurred between March and April this year) which kind of sucks....

I have a history of when I wasn't in control I turned to not eating and hurting myself, I hated that I was tall and skinny before I started starving, creating a vicious cycle of hatred between myself and my body meaning I wanted to not eat and be in control even more. then I started cutting, which made me feel awful, it just felt so reliving at the moment, but the marks and scars made me feel so upset and so self-conscious afterwards. I was angry and frustrated and it made me cry a lot. I had panic attacks that could last up to an hour of me hyperventilating and shaking in the corner of my shower. I got myself down into a spiral of 'depression' ((i don't know if I should/ could call it that because I haven't been to the doctor and been medically diagnosed, and if there's one thing that annoys me the most is when people say they are so 'depressed' or 'have an eating disorder' or have 'really bad anxiety' when really they are just a little bit upset or not hungry... don't even get me started on people like that!!!)), I even had horrible thoughts of killing myself a couple of times, I basically was in a really low place putting way too much pressure on myself for a couple years. luckily, by the end of year 8, I managed to dig myself out of that hole, with an unsupportive school councillor and a form tutor who really wanted to help but really didn't know how and a mum who still thinks even to this day I'm doing all this for attention.

<<if you want some specific stories on any of these then just comment and ill make one! I don't mind if it will help you!>>

I have a history of help, different charts and art therapy, counselling, just talking to a pet or my mum, group therapy and now my new school councillor has hooked me up with one to one talking therapy and a group session, and talking to her once a fortnight and also maybe an exit card for when I get panicky in class (wow she's so amazing I cant even-). however the one thing I can't do is go to the doctor, my mum doesn't think I need to, I don't know how I could without an adult's permission...

at the moment I have a love-hate relationship with myself, I'm going back into a group session on Fridays, which I do enjoy a lot because the lady who runs it is so lovely. I have some vitamin tablets with extra iron which will hopefully make me feel less tired and therefore more motivated as I think I'm lacking in that aha! I'm trying my best to keep up with school, doing art and product design does mean a lot of coursework, but I enjoy it so it should be fine! no boys for me at the moment, I still have a lot of guy friends but dating can and should wait... been there done that! my body,,, eeehhh.... I'm quite skinny in my eyes but to others, I apparently look normal... I hate my legs, think they are way too skinny... I'm starting at the gym to try and get what I want to look like, but that's a very slippery slope that again,, been there done that! I know it's what your mum or granny would say,, but social media is impacting us SO much! panic attacks are still coming and going, my most recent was my worst I think, I was in the corner of a room for about an hour and I couldn't control my breathing, my dad had to pick me up and physically help me calm down. my relationship with my parents is..... okay, this morning my mum shouted at me and in short she said something along the lines of ''you can't be bothered to do simple tasks and say its mental health issues which then you make the school pay for your therapy and you are just lazy and blaming on mental health'' which then obviously I had a go back, but it hurt a bit. I mean,,,, I'm working on it, I don't think they mean it, I just think they aren't educated as to when they were young, kids didn't really have problems like ours. anyway.... I'm working on that. 

I think that's all to say for now! and I hope that I could help or relate to at least one person!! and also comment if you would like any specific stories!

thank you :) x

-exhausted cloud

[ligenepaw1986-blog]

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