#i almost gave up but i'm glad i persevered

[gothic-goon]

[beforeiread-studies]

Easy Korean Reading, the perfect reading material for beginners

Easy Korean Reading by Jeanie Kim (who is also a teacher on Italki btw) is a series of 8 graded readers for Korean learners that will lead you from complete newbie at reading Korean to upper beginner.

There are 4 levels, 2 volumes for every level. Every book has about 20 short chapters, 2-3 pages long. Everything has an English translation and there is a dictionary at the end.

Every chapter is disconnected from the others. You will see the same names repeated over and over but they aren't really characters and there isn't an overarching story. The situations vary from dialogues, to descriptions of daily routines, to talking about various aspects of Korean culture.

Let me warn you that the first couple of chapters are very, very basic and boring. I almost gave up but I'm so glad I persevered and got through the first book. It becomes more difficult and interesting quickly.

The books also teach you grammar patterns through sheer repetition. I've learned so many of them like this!

I started reading this series 3 months ago, 5 months into my Korean learning journey so I can testify that it's really perfect for beginners.

All the books are available on Kindle Unlimited and I found the layout to be particularly perfect for reading on my phone. Every page is divided into two columns, Korean on the left and English on the right. So I would zoom on the Korean text, hiding the English translation on the other side of the page but still having it easily available if I needed to check something.

This is a relatively resource, not that well known yet, but I think that every beginner should check it out! It really improved my comprehension and confidence with Korean in general.

Go check it out!

[bengiyo]

Cooking Crush Ep 12 (Finale) Stray Thoughts

Last week, the bullies uploaded a clip of Ten punching Changma, leading to netizens to call for their disqualification. Ten and his dad fought about the matter, and Ten was forced to recognize that his dad was right about the trouble he caused for his friends. Ten and Prem talked it out and affirmed that they are a team. Ten apologized to Changma, who then went on to also apologize publicly for his own role in this. Meanwhile, Ten and Prem cleared up the last confusion about whether Prem was scamming, reminding us there are no tropes they can't defeat. Dynamite has told Fire multiple times they need to be more like Prem and Ten. The squad persevered and moved to the final round. Fire publicly celebrated Dynamite on television. We left at the duo preparing to face Ten's dad.

How does finding the sticky note in Ten's room that he already knew about land as some sorta Gotcha here?

I'm going to miss this intro.

Dish 12: Fish & Rice Romance: a Dish Made of Love

Despite my feelings about the father, it's not unreasonable to ask Prem to be accountable for the money he got from Ten.

I like the reveal that the grandmother had the money and she would have preferred they just tell her about the mishap instead. She's great. She reminded Prem to gather his conviction for his choice.

Pang, give the sign to Metha.

GMMTV loves making us invest in an competition all season just to have the characters lose and take other meaning from the struggle.

I enjoyed the precision that Fire used in his coming out speech to his mom. He makes it clear that Dynamite never deceived him, and then reveals that he's known who he is for a long time. He was hiding it to appease his mother to make her happy, but that's not what's best for him.

This show really gave it to the babiis. So many kisses.

LOL, y'all were right about Pang and Samsee.

I am glad the dad returned the money to Prem. It feels like he's respecting Ten's choices. I'm also glad he and Ten finally spoke about the mom's illness. I'm sure it was devastating for him that he couldn't find a way to save his wife.

Okay, I like the apology from Fire's mom, and how she is able to give this stern kind of acceptance with Dynamite.

The squad is still going strong years later, and Prem even opened his own restaurant.

They let Off smash some garlic and immediately cut away.

Thank you for confirming that these two have an active sex life and that Ten is still horny. We love to see it.

Final Verdict: 9, Highly Recommended. I'm always going to appreciate a show about losers doing their best and finding a version of success. I liked how often communication triumphed in this show. Things that might have dragged in earlier stories across multiple episodes got handled almost immediately throughout this show. This show also gave me Dynamite, my blorbo of the season. I love loud gays who know who they are and who they want, and aren't demure about it. I really loved the cast here, and I loved the two friend groups. They're different, but they're all supportive of each other. Samsee, Dynamite, and Prem are going to stick with me. This is the kind of dramatic stakes I enjoy most in my romcoms.

[ealvara7]

Beetlejuice Coloring Process! 🪲

Since my new artwork is gonna take me some time to complete, I decided that now would be a good time to talk about my coloring process for Beetlejuice's design! Specifically, I want to talk about picking out the palette for his eyes and outfit. It was a confusing process that's nice to look back and reflect upon.

Beetlejuice took me the longest to design... I almost gave up on completing him, but I'm glad I persevered! I really love how he came out in the end!

Since this will be a long post with several images, I will add a "read-more" link in case people wanna keep scrolling.

Otherwise, here's my coloring process!

-

After I finished laying out the colors for his skin tone and hair, I started thinking about how exactly I wanted his eyes to look like. I really like designing eyes in general because I feel it adds a lot more character to a design!

My initial idea was to give Beetlejuice slightly dark scleras with yellow pupils in order to create this eerie, uncanny effect.

The problem with that idea was that it ended up feeling... too eerie.

I felt as if it was leaning a lot more on him being a demon, with not enough leeway to show a more human side of him. As a result, it made it difficult to connect with him as a character... which was not what I wanted.

My next idea was to merge the color palettes from my two artist references - creaturologie and shnikkles.

While I felt like I was moving in a better direction, this made it very clear to me that I needed to find a palette that better suited my art style, because I felt the red here was just... too much? It ended up overpowering the green which was definitely not what I wanted.

Finally, I decided to stick to the original stage production and make his scleras white. This also made it easier for me to balance his eyes with his skin tone.

As for his pupils... I started thinking about amber stones, and how they illuminate in a way that is very subtle and beautiful...

That's when I realized that Beetlejuice's pupils didn't need to be consistently illuminated in order to have that subtle, eerie effect. They just need to create the illusion that they can illuminate wherever he went or however you looked at him.

With this in mind, I created the final version!

I couldn't be any happier with how it came out! I felt as if I finally hit that perfect balance between his human and demon characteristics! You're able to connect with him better, all while he retains the more frightening elements of his character.

That being said... his eyes can very much glow in the dark, if he so chooses.

-

I'd like to quickly touch on the outfit, because I had been going back and forth as to whether I wanted to add some semblance of color to his design or not...

I did try coloring his button-up with a magenta similar to the cartoon version... but I wasn't a huge fan of it. I realized I wanted more of a consistency to Beetlejuice's design.

This brought me to another challenge - how much value did I want to add in each part of Beetlejuice's outfit? I knew right away that I did not want to use pure black and white, but I still wanted to create a distinction of some kind for each outfit piece.

For this, I heavily referenced the musical - I've always loved how Beetlejuice's outfit wasn't a bright white. Rather, it was weathered out to be gray. It gave him a more gothic feel, which I fell in love with. I took it up a notch and gave him just a slight tinge of blue, as an homage to Corpse Bride - one of my favorite Tim Burton movies! I would eventually use a similar palette for Lydia in order for her and Beetlejuice to match.

With that, I completed the look of my Beetlejuice design! ✨

[ladyprocrasinator]

Good Omens FINALE

THE NICE AND ACCURATE PROPHECIES OF AGNES NUTTER, WITCH

Rating ★★★★☆

When I say this book was a rollercoaster I mean it. I was almost completely blind going into this book. The most I knew about it was that Crowley and Aziraphale existed and that they were not yet 'played' by David Tennant and Michael Sheen (who I look forward to seeing in the series). To be honest I was very thrown off guard by the writing style, like I mentioned in my last Good Omens post it felt like a combination of a British Comedy and a philosophical book. Which I'm very sure was purposeful. However this change in style made it harder for me to read. For the first third of the book I was highly considering giving the book three out of five stars, but I persevered. Now I sit here being glad I did so. The book really became interesting to me when the apocalypse really started and we started to learn more about Agnes Nutter Witch. I became fascinated with how Gaiman and Pratchett portrayed Agnes's visions and how all the point of views the reader has seen was coming together. On the other hand I continued to enjoy how the two authors portrayed Adam (He had awesome development as well). Overall I really liked how the book came together in the end and gave the reader (at least me) a sense of contentment. Like if everything does go to hell (no pun intended) it's our friends and willingness to take hold of one's own destiny that makes a difference.

Favorite Character

As promised since this is technically a part of my reading challenge (TO READ OR NOT TO READ) I must pick out a favorite character. Except I'm torn between two. Those two being Adam Young and Agnes Nutter. So I've decided I'll make an argument for both.

Agnes is one of the characters that play a vital role in the book. She is described as a handsome woman (or once was), and with her magic (knowledge of herbs and other things) she was able to heal and help people. I love her because she is such a witty and well thought character. Because of certain things she did in the book I consider her such an icon. One of them being how she prophesizes modern things (although it is also funny how she sees some of her descendant's futures). Unfortunately I cannot say much beyond this without spoiling so just keep an eye out for whenever Agnes is mentioned.

Where do I even begin with Adam? Well he is the son of the devil but he manages to still be a normal kid (There are also so many biblical references that I want to point out around him but won't for the sake of not spoiling). As mentioned in my last good omens post he and his group actually act like kids. They aren't prodigies and they aren't complete idiots either. All of them have a good balance between innocence and being complete rascals. Adam is a charming kid for being the son of the devil and simply wants the best for his friends and dog. Overall I enjoy the simplicity of his child mind.

Almost forgot but dog is an honorable mention and I love him.

Favorite Line/Lines

"Here's to next time," he said, "And ... Aziraphale?"

"Yes."

"Just remember I'll know that, deep down inside, you were just enough of a bastard to be worth liking."

SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT

What is under the cut

Other things I liked about the book

Funny moments or things I laughed at

Something I found very interesting about the book was it's take on religion. I grew up in a religious household and I'm still torn. My view on it is that I feel that there is a god I'm just not sure if anyone is completely correct. Going back to the book it tickled my brain how they handled religion. Like Armageddon was supposed to come around but because Adam was raised as a human his roots became unimportant and he denied his roots. He saw the value in life where heaven and hell just wanted to defeat one another. It's quite strange seeing heaven and angelic beings represented more as lawful neutral instead of true goodness.

Things I found amusing

"I saw a program. It had David Attenborough, so it's true. (154)"

"What a nice person," said Newt. "You could almost overlook her blowing up an entire village." (talking about Agnes Nutter, 199)

Crowley meeting Leonardo Da Vinci and having the original sketch was cool but 'knowing' he met the artist and Vinci liked the drawing more was hilarious.

All in all there is quite a lot I appreciate when reading Good Omens but that is for another post! Thank you all and I'll be posting my next To Be Read book soon!

[miashyperfixations]

EMLYN: NO-ONE CAME TO GRIEVE UK/EU TOUR

30.03.2023 @ The Deaf Institute, Manchester (250 Capacity)

Written April 2023

This was my second show at The Deaf Institute and Emlyn’s first show in Manchester however, this is her last show of the tour with only 2 other dates in London & Berlin, similar to the Dylan show I saw there. There was a Paris show when the tour was announced, but that was cancelled due to another opportunity arising for her album release. Emlyn’s alt-pop sound is a mixture of all of my music tastes - think Demi Lovato's 'confident' era pop anthems meets Taylor Swift's reputation era style mixed with Sabrina Carpenter's heartbreak lyricism.

I started listening to Emlyn’s music mid-pandemic and wanted to go to her album release show in London in the early summer of 2022. However, it clashed with my GCSEs, so I wasn’t able to go. This time, the minute she announced this tour, I made plans to go and was also able to book tickets for her meet & greet before the concert and talk to her, buy merch & have a full conversation with the opening act, Beth Mcarthy.

Her set was amazing, I had only listened to a few of her songs a couple of days beforehand, and what I heard was great. She also played an unreleased song and a cover of Billie Eilish’s ‘Happier Than Ever’. Something I found interesting is that she interacted with the sound tech at the back right beforehand whilst on stage, asking for alterations in her IEMs and double-checking the sound on her guitar. We then saw Emlyn’s band come on to double-check their instruments and IEMs inbetween sets and could see them alter a few monitors/boxes on stage & see the guitarist set up and soundcheck. In the intermission between sets my sister approached Emlyn’s manager to say potentially have a chat and say hi but Emlyn was due to come on stage very soon so told her he'd be hanging around after the show so we could come and find him then. The set itself was absolutely incredible. As I said earlier, I've wanted to see Emlyn live for a while now, and she didn't disappoint. If the fact that she had an entire set of belters and vocally challenging songs wasn't enough, her stage presence clearly showed that she's a pop powerhouse. The emotionally vulnerable lyrics of her ‘sad bitch anthems’ perfectly opposed her 'no-remorse bad bitch' anthems and encapsulated her message that it's okay to be a mess and a badass at the same time. After one of her most emotional songs 'Change For Me' the crowd (including us) held up flowers & pictures of her younger self with sweet messages for her to show her that she isn't alone. The transitions between songs were particularly interesting as some of them were medleys of other songs she didn’t play but had the same themes/vibes of those that she did play. Although I didn’t necessarily relate to any of her songs, it was fun to sing along in a room full of those that did and see how much Emlyn has impacted them/their lives.

After the concert, we weren’t expecting her manager to remember us since we assumed he’d be distracted by work, so we were a little surprised when he came out from backstage and walked directly towards us. We had a full conversation with him as I'm considering going into a music business course post-college, and my sister wants to go into graphic design, specifically in the music industry. He gave us a lot of advice about the industry as a whole and a few specific notes into specific sectors. He seemed really enthusiastic talking to us about it. We were really glad that he took the time to talk to us and have a proper conversation with us.

One of my favourite things about Emlyn is that she’s currently working on her 3rd album yet is still almost entirely independent, working most of the time with just her manager and producer. She’s been in the music industry , working with her manager as a songwriter for almost 6 years, only pursuing a solo career for the last 3 The fact that she’s persevered and stayed chasing her dream just shows how determined she is and how much potential she has to be one of the next biggest names in pop.

I know that I said Dylan @ the o2 institute was my favourite concert, but this one definitely takes the top spot - I love this venue and to see my 3rd top artist of 2022 (below 5 Seconds Of Summer & Taylor Swift) at the Deaf Institute was the best birthday experience I could've ever imagined & I can't wait to hear her next album sometime this year.

[krawlernyannyan]

HSR 6-11-24

12x Destruction Calyx for Firefly.

A run through Simulated Universe for IPC baubles (just to try and buff my staple crew) - nothing good.

HSR 6-12-24

A run through World 5 for IPC baubles. Absolutely nothing today, almost everything was the Screwllum set.

12x Destruction Calyx for Firefly.

Did some work with Relics to get something decent set up for Firefly on Day 1. What seems like her best Relic set isn't coming until the new patch is live so I'm just boosting some Thief and Watchmaker backups I had lying around to put on her until I can get replacements.

Got another stage done in MOC!

STT Stage 10: The Ape gave us a little trouble but otherwise the first half was a breeze, finished with 25 Cycles left. SAM's always a rough fight and they got close to wiping at least one of us out but we persevered and wrapped up with 22 Cycles left and no deaths!

I'm not doing Stage 11 yet because I do not have the time or patience to deal with Gepard today.

Wrapped up the day with two runs in the Quantum Relic Cavern (as Jade prep, even if we won't know specifics on her kit for a few weeks) and another round against Septimus in the Grand Theater. Got a nifty headpiece from the Relic grind, and I'm glad I got to do the Echo of War in one go because the Embryo of Philosophy took out half of the party on the first shot and Welt and Gallagher had to wrap up the rest on their own.

Five-Star Fund: 194/180 Oak Cake Roll Reserves: 784 Days to Firefly: 5.5

[bikeit]

Old Cazadero local loop

I think I first heard about 'Old Caz' (Old Cazadero Road) when reading a recap of someone's 300km (yes, 180 mile) randonneur ride that included it. That's... ambitious.

I haven't been biking much due to pandemic sluggishness and malaise, but I was going up to Guerneville for the weekend with friends, so I brought my bike and set out to do a much smaller loop that included the mythical Old Caz. I've been gradually biking on more gravel and forest roads (just with my normal bike) and enjoying it...

I started up a fairly steep dead end road in some pain, ill-prepared on a hot day just riding in jeans and a t-shirt -- I almost turned back but someone at a stand set up to support a local race that day gave me energy drinks and snacks. I'm glad I persevered-- then it was curving paths down on gravel and dirt through the woods and through a stream-- only 10 miles from town but it felt like the wilderness.

I didn't really know what I was doing on dirt :), so I took it easy on the downhills (I passed someone who'd crashed during the race and broken a bone-- thankfully I read later that they'd healed well), and then had a relaxing flat ride on Austin Creek Rd through the redwoods back to Guerneville.

The route (about 25 miles roundtrip from Guerneville). I'd recommend checking it out if you're in the area (though I'm not going to go out of my way to do it again, we'll see).