#i was obsessed with a characters hairstyle and unfortunately i am again

[grovylethegreat]

Aaa

[justsomeoneintoomanyfandoms]

Hey, it’s been awhile since I last did this, but I decided to go for as returning to Tumblr felt like a bit of a small nostalgia trip for me, so why not get back to one of my favourite MHA fan writers for old times sake and beside, a lot has changed since last time so why not….

Well anyways, as for the idea I’m going with, I am thinking of going with a remake version of my first Match-Up of an My Hero Academia and Genshin Impact Match-Up, if that is cool with you?

Things That Remained The Same: Of course, my name is still Mason, my zodiac sign is still a Taurus, as well as I still consider myself as He/Him and Straight, along with me having dark brown hair and brown eyes. I also still consider myself as a full blown nerd towards the things I am interested in, although now I am a mix of being a Marvel and DC fan as of currently, I’m still a fan of My Hero Academia though I left the fan base altogether because “MHA Fanbase being MHA Fanbase,” currently I’m looking for different shows that could peak my interest (Such as Zom 100 and maybe RWBY, although that’s because of one RWBY character I like and ticked that the writers killed her off kinda got me into the whole “I like this character, now I’m obsessed,” that being Penny Polendina.) I still do Graphics Designing although I mostly post on Deviantart rather than Tumblr lately, I still have trust and communication with my autism although thankfully it isn’t as bad now of days, as I am a bit more confident with my social skills but mostly towards the people I considered as friends. As of currently, those are all the things I would say that mostly remained the same, as while I get curious with different series and all that, the basic tropes I have such as being a Nerd who loves to do Graphics Designing remained the same. (Oh, and I’m also still doing the best person I can be, though now there are times when I questioned about the goal, but I still follow it as I believed it’s the right thing to do.)

Things That Changed: Alright, now we are getting to the nitty gritty on the things I considered to be pretty changed, I retook the MBTI Personality quiz and I ended up getting a mix of ISFP and ESFP due to the “E” and “I” being 50/50, and while I consider myself more as a ESFP lately, it could depend on my mood depending on the day. I unfortunately shrink down to being a 6’2, I’m planning on trying to get back to doing Voice Acting though I am planning on getting my main PC fixed before I pick up the prices for the plan, while I’m using my laptop to do the graphics designing while I’m waiting til I get the computer fixed up, as well as taking a similar path to trying to get back to writing. I’ve also been watching a lot of Instagram Reels just for laughs, as well as opening a new Instagram account for my graphics designing uploads, as well as moving to a new Photo Editing engine with more features that helped improve on the way I work on my Profiles and Thumbnails. I am also currently doing a bit more hard work to lose some weight, as someone I know personally ended up getting health issues and I didn’t wanna become like him, so I’m trying to be more active and trying to eat a bit more healthy, though it’s hard since I’m someone who likes food in general. And lastly, I am actually planning on growing out my hair to bring out more style to it, with a hairstyle similar to Diluc’s ponytail from Genshin Impact being my go to style if I reach to my satisfied length and width.

Overall, I think that is all the info I have for this one, this might be my biggest info dump I have ever given, as there are some that remained the same along with new things added and somethings changing in my life. I hope you enjoy and remember that you’re always a beautiful on the inside and outside!

Hi Mason! It's good to hear form you again. Getting an updated mutchup is something I think more people should do. Thank you for your request! I hope you like your matchups!

In My Hero Academia, I match you with...

The first matchup change. Although Uraraka would still be a close second, I think Tsuyu would better match you now.

I see Tsuyu as someone who would be surprisingly good at voice acting. It’s not so much that she can do lots of really different voices but she’s passionate and really good at putting emotion into her voice.

Enjoys working out with you. She always finds it more enjoyable when she’s got someone with her. That way they can hype her up and she can hype them up.

Very supportive of your efforts in trying to be the best person you can. Whenever you have moments of doubt, she’ll listen to your worries and give you her honest opinion.

Tsuyu is a firm believer that everyone should be the best person they can be. And she’ll do whatever she can do to support you in that.

Absolutely has one of your graphic designs as her phone’s lock screen. She likes how it looks, as well as how it reminds her of you.

In Genshin Impact, I match you with...

Yes, both of your matchups have changed! Collei is pretty similar to Amber so there not a while lot of difference in your relationship.

The main change is that Collei is significantly more reserved than Amber. While she opens up around people she knows, she’s pretty quiet around those she doesn’t know well.

You can both work on your communication problems and social skills together.

Modern au Collei definitely watches anime. I can see her as a fan of classic shows like Sailor Moon but she would also be into newer shows like RWBY.

Sends you so many Instagram reels. She’s on there all the time and loves watching anything you send to her.

Really good at knowing dietary tips and tricks so Collei is definitely the person to go to for information about eating healthier. If she’s not sure about something, she’ll ask Tighnari, who is sure to know the exact benefits of almost any kind of plant or animal you could ask about.

[berrifuu]

so i just found something to obsess over again and yes i will talk about because this needs to be released from my puny body or else i am going to burn down someone’s house 🤠

//SPOILERS FOR 13 SENTINELS: AEGIS RIM\\

ok fist off i gotta just gush over the visual aesthetic of the game overall. ITS SO WELL MADE??? LIKE HOW??? EVERYTHING IS SO DAMN DETAILED BUT IT WORKS??? THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST VISUALLY PLEASING PIECE OF MEDIA I’VE EVER COME ACROSS! and the ligHTING?? gorgeous. this whole game is just 🤌🤌🤌

anywho, next is getting the plot outta the way. now i’m not fully done with this game (i’m following NicoB’s play through since i don’t have a PS4 :,( ) and i’m currently halfway done with episode 16. i’ve been binging this ish non stop yet i absolutely cannot make sense of what the fuck is going on. like there’s time travel but it might not be time travel and also mecha’s and alien robots who aren’t really aliens and who in the fuck is the bad guy here why is there like 10 different Iori’s and whAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING SHIBA??? all i know is that this game is one giant ass mind fuck and i love it.

next is the characters (literally the best aspect of this game) and since there’s a lot of them i’m just gonna-

Juro Kurabe: NOT Juro Izumi, uhh so far i just feel bad for this dude. like give my mans a break he just wants a normal ass life 😭🤚. also he reminds me of Hajime Hinata from SDR2 so i have a personal liking for him 😳

Megumi Yakushiji: get away?? from?? juro please?? like gurl leave the poor guy alone 😭. also what’s with her whole Madoka Magica aesthetic?

Natsuno Minami: she’s so cute and for what? i just wanna be friends with her tbh

Ei Sekigahara: i absolutely ADORE him and i have no clue why. i think it’s just that his design is definitely one of the best ones in the game, but he’s also pretty interesting ngl

Keitaro Miura: tbh i thought him and Sekigahara were siblings when i fist saw them but they’re not which makes me kinda sad cause their friendship is cute. i haven’t seen much of this guy so i don’t have that many opinions on him

Shu Amiguchi: this dude is literally so chill and i love it. lowkey reminds me of Oikawa from Haikyuu so you know i’d love him. also i love is hairstyle

Yuki Takamiya: *deep inhale* i’m so fucking gay for her

BJ: he’s cute, especially whenever he pops his head out of Natsuno’s gym bag

Renya Gouto: dude appears like once and when he does he’s shot by Megumi, definitely needs a break and some coffee. nice voice tho 😳😳

Iori Fuyusaka: i like her design but she’s too much of a “Pick Me” girl so idk. and she literally simps for anyone and it’s staring to kinda get on my nerves

Tomi Kisaragi: she’s so sassy and i love it. also i love how whenever she’s walking you can see her braids just flowing in the air

Nenji Ogata: reminds me of Josuke from JJBA 🙈🙈. his relationship with Kisaragi is SO GODDAMN CUTE??? I LOVE THEM SM!

Ryoko Shinonome: BEST DESIGN IN THE WHOLE GAME!! but not the greatest personality unfortunately. idk it’s just creepy to think that she simps for a guy in his 30’s

Takatoshi Hijiyama: poor guy, mans just wants to enjoy some Yakisoba Pan and not be embarrassed by the fact that he fell for a trap😭🤚

Tsukasa Okino: literally the best charcter in the whole ass game, and i am so salty that he’s not a playable charcter. this dude literally has the balls to put on a skirt play dress up and fuck around with not one, not two, not three, but four (maybe even more) guys’ hearts and then just dip out. i adore this man

Miwako: literally too cute to put into words pleASE MARRY ME-

and that’s really all the charcters i can remember and/or care about. i’m tired so gn 💗

[mousehole5000]

tgcf chapters 107 - 120 this is one where i give some Opinions. i do overall like hualian a lot but i have some quibbles

wait why am i still taking screenshots? i can copy/paste again afskldfjasad

It really was hard to tell whether people would feel happy after watching such performances. However, in truth, slaughter and the sight of blood did create excitement in people. Whether or not there was fear, after the initial shock was over, a rush of adrenaline would be produced in the heart- me watching horror movies

“Shi Qingxuan said. “Then, Your Highness, Crimson Rain Sought Flower! I order you to—to immediately strip each other’s clothing!” - djslkadjlsd WHY DID HE SPECIFICALLY SAY THEY HAD TO STRIP EACH OTHER THISALSKDJ is this a normal thing is it a wingman attempt what is happening

“I’ll tell you what it is,” he said softly. “To watch with your own eyes your beloved be trampled and ridiculed, yet be unable to do anything. That’s the worst suffering in the world.” ... “Ming Yi asked, “What’s the biggest regret of your life?”- when truth or dare gets a bit too real

On the side, Hua Cheng was still only observing, and was already bored to the point where he’d changed back into his red robes. Then he changed to black robes again. Then to white robes. Almost every time Xie Lian looked back, he would be donning a different appearance, and with every new look there were different hairstyles, and different accessories, and different boots, and so on; sometimes playful, sometimes elegant, sometimes deadly, sometimes glamourous. Xie Lian was growing dizzy from all the colours and kept looking back, unable to look away. - THIS ISNT THE TIME HUA CHENG. YOURE PRIMPING. THE WINDMASTER HAS BEEN KIDNAPPED AND YOURE PRIMPING

obsessed with xie lian not being able to figure out to use the windmaster’s fan and just. using it to SMACK

also windmaster??? whats going on??? :( i know some things from spoilers like who is not to be trusted but i really have no clue whats happening rn

anyways back to puqi shrine lets check on those kids also can we PLEASE get some funds for this restoration smh. hua cheng and xie lian doing mundane hard labor together to fulfill prayers.... :pleading:

jailbreak in the heavens 2: dig a tunnel

Sure enough, the moment Ming Yi put pressure on his shovel, a hole opened up before them. With the shovel raised, he burrowed crazily ahead while Shi Qingxuan, in the middle, cheered him on crazily. As the only non-crazy person, Xie Lian brought up the rear. That treasured shovel of the Earth Master was indeed magical, and with only a few strokes, a new tunnel of over ten meters was dug. - anybody remember mulch diggums from the artemis fowl series? this is much more dignified than that but i think this is only the second time ive read a character just starting digging a tunnel as a plot point

okay so much is going on i wish i hadnt spoiled who certain characters actually are for myself but i have no one to blame but me for a) not blacklisting spoilers at all and b) just having a little freefall through the tags. oh well. anyway heavenly college admissions scandal except way worse. the corruption extends to the heavens and the windmaster is having a very bad day

i guess we’re having a high seas adventure now?

im gonna keep it real im getting tired of how often we get told how handsome hua cheng is. i know its all xie lian’s pov and while im not terribly familiar with it i know what genre we’re working with and im assuming thats pretty typical. its something i dont much care for in general and idk maybe it sounds better in the original but ngl its starting to make me roll my eyes. love you goth king but god okay we get it.

i guess what i will say about hualian so far is that overall i like them and i like how they interact in general they have a lot of nice moments and they just genuinely seem to like each other which is really nice to see EXCEPT for when it actually comes to things that could be romantic or sexual which is a shame bc i dont think it has to be like this. again disclaimer that im only reading a translation and dont know everything might not have all the knowledge necessary to accurately criticize etc etc and im assuming a lot of this is expected from the genre (disclaimer to this disclaimer that i cant say that for sure its just based on things ive picked up about the bl genre over the years) but idk like xie lian was so distressed after their underwater kiss scene. it was kind of uncomfortable to read and maybe im being unfair i know his cultivation is based around abstinence or whatever but idk i dont care for it. and that scene alone doesnt have to be a bad thing like idk i guess its his first kiss ever (?) and it would make sense if he feels weird about it but i just have my doubts thats going to be addressed or resolved in a satisfying way. also im like. dude everyone is like centuries old. xie lian’s been on earth for 800 years. has he really never met or heard of a gay person during all this time? maybe he hasnt idk what he got up to yet maybe that’s actually a thing. also same thing with the reactions from the immortals to xie lian in a dress and characters like the windmaster like again you’re all centuries old and its not uncommon to be able to just completely change gender presentation. why are you all weird about a man wearing a woman’s dress? i just feel like that shouldnt be a big deal to these characters idk

also again not going to lie part of this that im not really a big fan of reading romance in general. yes i am reading this book. yes i do read and write a lot of fanfic that includes or centers romance. im multifaceted. but really what im talking about is the like physical side of it and descriptions im extremely picky about it. ill give an example. early on in the torture pit (or whatever it was called i cant remember lol) when xie lian kind of accidentally felt up hua cheng in the dark when he was being carried. i dont think thats a bad thing to have happen between the two romantic leads i think thats fine and good to include that early but i just did not enjoy reading it when it happened idk maybe it was the wording and i do think that moments like these work better in a visual medium. ive definitely read het romance that reads like this and i wasnt a fan of that either lol same with fanfic i get tired when writers go on and on about how hot one characters finds another character. this isnt a huge criticism of it like i said im picky but again like with the way that hua cheng is described it just makes me roll my eyes sorry kings

okay back to the reading. this whole saving the fishermen thing feels like a big set up for something narrative-wise. hua cheng specifically insisted on coming and i know one of the characters involved ends up dying im wondering if thats now it would be a good time tbh if things get just a bit too unfortunate during this heavenly calamity... and the brothers are notably not having a harmonious time... also tho it feels very likely we’ll just have another Hualian Moment (tm)

In such a situation, Pei Ming still acted the same. In the evening, when they rescued a few fishermen girls, so scared their eyes were blurry from tears, he held them in his embrace and soothed them with a gentle voice; a true show of honeyed romance, affectionate and charming. - pei ming please get pickled again.

also its funny that hua cheng is just kinda hanging out and everyone else just has to deal with it

Looking down from above, the entire area was painted in a terrifying black. It was easy to see the collision between the two different-coloured currents. Their fierce battle was what formed this enormous whirlpool. As the eye swallowed the ship whole, the two currents of water separated. However, the battle was far from over. Like two venomous vipers, they continued to snap at each other. Each collision was followed by a mountain of angry waves. - this pretty dope ngl. also love our wind and earth masters just chilling on a shovel i dig it. hehe

Yet, other than discovering Hua Cheng had a fine body, there were no other finds. Xie Lian was at his wit’s end and started to worry. - okay see this one’s funny im just also irritated bc im like WE KNOW!!! WE GET IT HE’S HOT AND XIE LIAN THINKS HE’S HOT OKAY GOT IT

okay kiss #2 again its not the kisses themselves its xie lian’s reaction it just bothers me idk im not saying i need him to be super into it and completely unconflicted about it rn but he’s just so freaked out about it and idk i just dont really like it just feels weird i dont care for that aspect of it. also dude hua cheng is a ghost and he did this exact same thing for you before just chill. i wish instead of xie lian literally running away while screaming that hes sorry he was just like “oh haha youre fine thats cool im gonna go look around the woods i dont feel weird about this at all haha” like idk its kind of funny but when its literally our two romantic leads i just feel like its confusing like it kind of makes me feel like they shouldnt be together if one of them freaks out this much again considering the fact that they are both CENTURIES old. i know i know xie lian is an 800 year old virgin but. he hasn’t been like this about anything else so yeah idk like it still could have been awkward and funny i just dont think it needed to be so :/ that being said it was funny that xie lian was then internally like “oh i did it wrong? perhaps i should ask him for more.. instructions....” if that actually happens i might like it bc it would complete this little watery theme

Before he finished, he immediately remembered. Coffin wood. There were trees here everywhere; and a deceased? There was one right before his eyes. Sure enough, Hua Cheng smiled. “Won’t it be fine once I lie inside? - love that hua cheng just sat on the fact that he can turn anything into a coffin. that would have been really useful information earlier but no he just waited until everyone but xie lian was gone afjaklsdjf

also i do think that oblivious xie lian thinking “wow whoever it is that hua cheng fancies is an idiot for not liking him back theyre totally taking him for granted :/” is kind of funny and sweet. actually the whole conversation they have at the campfire is good and im bookmarking it to think about later

“...You on top and me on the bottom,” Xie Lian replied. “Isn’t top and bottom the same?” Hua Cheng asked. - okay im sorry but. mood whenever theres discourse about top/bottom dynamics for a ship im just like jesus christ i dont care. tbh i rarely read fanfiction if its just sexual and ngl if i see a fic specifically tag characters as top or bottom i wont read it lmfao. especially when people have really strong opinions about this stuff when theres nothing canonical to back it up like headcanon all you want but whenever i see people argue about it im just like no offense but go work out your own sexual issues and dynamics instead of arguing with strangers on the internet about who’s a top and who’s a bottom. sorry to be mean but just thats how i feel lol

this was mostly a ramble with a few excerpts but im getting sleepy im going to TRY to take a break from this for like a day but we’ll see how that goes i do very much want to know what happens. anyway if you read this whole thing hiiiiii sorry for subjecting you to my opinions on top/bottom discourse

[lovemesomesurveys]

Do you have anyone you fully trust? Yes. I just don’t confide a lot to anyone for some reason. It’s not because I don’t trust them, I just... I have a hard time expressing myself and opening up. I know, shocking right? I ramble on and overshare on these surveys, but it’s not easy for me to do in person. I don’t like talking about myself (again, despite how it seems in these surveys) and having the attention on me. I don’t like burdening people with my problems. I also always feel like my problems are so insignificant and stupid that I feel no one wants to hear about. Which I know I could go to my mom with anything and tell her anything and she’d listen to me, but I still feel that way. I like that in these surveys I can just vent into the void.  What kind of pants did you wear today? Leggings, duh. How old is your television? I don’t know how old the TV itself is, but I think I’ve had it for almost 4 years. Do you have a laptop or desktop? Laptop. When did you last talk on the phone with someone? Yesterday when my mom called me on her lunch break. 

Are you currently sleepy? Of course I am. Have you ever deleted Facebook friends for a significant other? No. Have you ever had bad trust issues with someone? Yes. What accent do you think is the most attractive? Some southern and some British accents. Do you own any television series box sets? Yes. I have I Love Lucy and The Dick Van Dyke Show. Have you ever been in a fight with your best friend? Yeah. When did you last receive a hug and who was it from? Yesterday from my mom. Do you take any advanced classes? I’m not taking any classes, I’m done with school. What is your lucky number? I don’t have a “lucky” number, but my favorite number is 8. Was the last movie you watched a horror film? No, the last movie I watched was Freaky Friday yesterday. I watched 2 really good and creepy shows yesterday, though: AHS 1984 and Two Sentence Horror Story. Do you own a lot of tee shirts? Yes. I love graphic Ts and I’ve got myself a pretty good collection going.  Do you plan your outfits ahead of time? Only certain times like now cause I have a few Halloween shirts and sweatshirts, so I got those out.  Have you ever spent the night in jail? No Would you say you’re a bad influence on others? Definitely don’t look to me as an example right now. Describe your favorite jacket? I love all my hoodies, sweatshirts, and peacoats. List one word to describe your significant other? Non-existent.  Do you handle pain well? It’s something I’ve dealt with all my life. I used to be able to handle that and other health stuff better, but that’s changed these past few years. I’ve gotten so weak. :/ Have you ever been so nervous you threw up? No, but I’ve definitely felt sick. Where is your favorite place to go when you’re depressed? I spend most of my time in bed.  Do you remember the first survey you took? No, that was like back in 2005, I think. I’m sure it was your basic survey, though i.e name, age, location, birthday, etc. I wish I could access my Myspace survey posts and my Xanga account (RIP Xanga). Oh man, the memories.  How many friends do you have on Facebook? 100 and something.  Have you ever watched fight videos for amusement? No. I don’t find that stuff amusing at all. In high school, were you in trouble a lot? No, I never got in trouble in school. Do you enjoy your hairstyle? No. I badly need to get it dyed, trimmed, and styled. Do you have long hair or short hair? Long. How much make up do you wear on a daily basis? I haven’t worn makeup in quite awhile. I don’t think I’ve worn any this year... What is your favorite television show? I have several. Do you have a leather jacket? I have 2 pleather ones. Do you think anyone dislikes you for no reason? I’m sure if anyone dislikes me they have good reason. Do you have any children? Noooo. Have you ever been interviewed on television before? Yes. Do you have weak upper body strength? Now I do. :/ I use to have really great upper body strength. I’m a paraplegic, so it’s all upper body for me and I used to be active when I was going to school and had a social life. These past few years due to health stuff, I’ve become quite inactive and spend majority of my time in bed. I lost the muscle mass I used to have. 

What is the worst insult someone can call you? I don’t know, man. I put myself down enough. Do you write on your hands a lot? No. I used to sometimes when I was in high school. Are you good at sketching? Nope. I suck at drawing.  Do you think hugs are awkward? They definitely can be, yeah. Depends who I’m hugging. Do you think facial hair is gross? I wouldn’t say it’s gross, but I personally don’t like a lot of facial hair. I like some scruff on a guy, but that’s it. Would you ever dye your hair an unnatural color? I’ve dyed it red for the past few years.  What color was the last cup you drank from? It’s a clear glass with Disney characters and facts on it. Ever play Angry Birds? Nah, I never got into that. I remember when it seemed like everyone was playing that. That, and Farmland. Omg the game invites on Facebook used to get on my nerves until Facebook finally made the option to block those.  Have you ever been to the zoo before? Yeah, several times. What instruments do you know how to play? I used to play some piano. I regret not taking it more seriously. I wish I had kept up with it. :/ The last time I played was over 10 years ago. How late did you stay up last night? I went to bed around like 230. How late do you plan on staying up tonight? It’s almost 230 now and I probably should try to sleep after this. Whose wall did you post on last? It was a birthday post for someone. Have you ever done hard drugs before? The only drug I’ve done is weed.  Has anyone ever been weirdly obsessed with you? It kind of felt that way with my first boyfriend. Do you own a Snuggie? I do. What is your favorite band of all time? One of them will always be Linkin Park. Would you consider getting a tattoo any time soon? I’ve wanted one for several years, but I’m a big scardy cat. I can’t see myself actually getting one. Are you afraid someone might steal your identity someday? No. Are there any paintings on your wall? Speaking of which, what color are your walls painted? Yes, there’s a few. My walls are white. Do you have any talents that come naturally? I don’t feel like I have any talents. What is your favorite piece of jewelry? I have a few favorites. Is there a place you’d rather live right now? Yes. My family and I want to move. We’ve wanted to for a long time, but we just haven’t been able to yet, unfortunately.  What movie did you last watch with someone? The live-action Aladdin with my mom and aunt a few weeks ago. Do you go out often? No.  Are you afraid of airplane rides? Yes, but I’ve been wanting to travel via plane for awhile now. I’ve had this weird urge. I think probably because I’ve gone with my mom to drop off and pick up a family friend several times at the airport and just recently my dad did. It’s been 13 years since the last time I’ve flown and I’m like, okay it’s my turn to go somewhere now. How many times a day do you brush your teeth? Once. Do you consider yourself a sensitive person? I know I am.  Is there anyone who is overly nice to you? Uhh I don’t know about overly nice. What do you think is the best smell in the world? I have a lot of favorite scents that I love. If you’re reading a book, what page are you currently on? I’m not.  Do you think people are intimidated by you? Uh, no. Do you have a job you like? I don’t have a job. Have you ever lived with a roommate before? No. What song is your favorite right now? I have numerous favorite songs, but I don’t have a current particular favorite. Have you ever had a surprise at your doorstep? Well, like packages. Obviously I know what it is since I ordered it, but it’s still always exciting to get them. Ooh, but during Christmastime my family and I are all ordering stuff and the stuff they order for me is a surprise.  Do you like candles? * Ehhhh. I like them more in theory <<< Lol, same. I love many candle scents and Bath & Body Works has a lot I like that smell good and look cute, but I don’t actually light any candles. I have like 4 in my room that I never light lol. Would you prefer internet or television? The internet if I could only have one since I could watch my shows online as well. What is something you lose often? My patience and temper. Well, I don’t get angry very often, but I get frustrated and irritated all the time. :/ Do you enter a lot of sweepstakes? No. It’s been a long time since I’ve entered anything. What is your favorite possession in your room? Everything. I have it because I want and love it. What will you be doing in the next ten minutes? I should try and sleep. How old is your oldest sibling? He’ll be 36 next month. Do you consider yourself physically active? Nope. I’ve explained this already. How many scarves do you own, if any at all? Zero. It doesn’t get cold enough to where I’d need a scarf. Plus, I don’t like things around my neck. As it is I’m always pulling down my shirt cause they ride up. Do you have any cuts or scratches as of now? Yes. Where did you last sleep? My bed. Do you have Netflix? Yeah. Are you colorblind? Nope. Do you know anyone personally who is colorblind? Not anymore, but like I said in a previous survey recently I had a science teacher in high school that was. Do you enjoy dancing? My “dancing” is just me bobbing my head along to the music and maybe moving my arms/hands a bit. Have you ever considered writing a novel? Yeah, actually. I used to like writing short stories when I was younger, and I thought about writing novels.

[makeste]

KHR 061: Feelings All Up in My Daily Life Arc

If for some reason you ever ask me what my favorite Daily Life chapter is, and I tell you I don’t have one, you should know that I am straight up lying, because I do and it’s this:

This was requested by @gokudirt! This is also the last of the chapter requests, but seeing as it takes place right before the start of the Kokuyou arc, I’m thinking I might just continue the reviews chronologically from here. At least until I finally tire of doing this (which could be a good long while from now).

Anyway, let’s discuss Target 61, which started me on a path of being obsessed with Gokudera Hayato for the rest of my life.

Before we get to the actual chapter, I want to take a moment to appreciate that title page up there, because I think it’s the first time Amano successfully achieved what she was so obviously trying to do from the very start, which is to make Gokudera’s hair sexy. It’s not at peak sexiness yet, but it’s come so, so far from his intro nearly 60 chapters ago. I attribute this to him finally turning fourteen. We all know thirteen is a very awkward age.

Unfortunately the change is not quiiite permanent just yet, as we can observe on the very next page.

The thing is, I feel like she’s getting better at drawing him from side angles, but from directly front-on it’s a whole different story. His hair is still doing the thing where the back parts stick out awkwardly at extreme pointy angles, and also his bangs hang down way too straight and rigidly, like they’re one big sticking-together blob, instead of being all soft and ~wispy-looking~ the way they get to be later on.

I, a fully grown adult woman who apparently has nothing better to do than to analyze Gokudera’s hair and rant about it for multiple paragraphs, can actually tell you the exact moment when that transformation finally becomes permanent and perfect, and it’s right at the very start of the Future arc, immediately after TYL!Gokudera poofs back into normal Gokudera. It’s like Amano drew TYL!Gokudera’s hairstyle, and then suddenly everything just clicked about what the teenage version’s hair was always meant to be. It’s a beautiful thing. Haha, this chapter recap is going to be waaaay too long and very singularly focused, isn’t it.

Suddenly some thugs appear, because I guess they just wanted to get their asses kicked by the future Vongola Tenth’s right hand man!

Firstly, “as if there weren’t already this heat” is SUCH a July 2018 mood, so thank you, Gokudera.

Second, he’s really fucking violent here and I kind of adore it. He’s so often a glutton for punishment that it’s sort of nice on those rare occasions where he gets to kick ass himself. Especially here where it gets really physical with elbows and knees and the whole business! Usually this kind of brutality is Hibari’s domain.

Anyway, it turns out they were sent by Dino!

STILL SO HANDSOME. How come there were never any problems with his hair??

At any rate, Dino has some “good news” for Gokudera. (FYI those aren’t just any quotation marks--those are full blown sarcastic air quotes.) Now that he’s fourteen (ALL GROWN UP), the Ninth has apparently decided to promote him and put him in charge of a bunch of casinos. That makes so much sense! And he asked Dino to tell Gokudera because Dino is basically an honorary Vongola. That part actually does make sense. Does anyone really think of the Cavallone as a separate family? Pretty sure no one is raising their hand.

What great news! Oh but there’s just one small thing; the job is in Italy! Which, aside from probably not being Gokudera’s favorite place in the world for a multitude of other reasons, is also notably NOT where Tsuna is.

This is followed by one of my favorite Gokudera moments in the entire series.

Okay let’s press pause and engage rant mode.

So as we all know (I assume? Unless you’ve never actually read this chapter, in which case go do it! because it’s great and I love it!!), this whole thing is actually some kind of fucked-up loyalty test that the Ninth came up with, because for some reason he was suspicious of Gokudera and whether or not he’d actually stay devoted to Tsuna. So they figured they’d offer him a token power position, and see if he’d take them up on it, even if it meant abandoning his boss!

Here’s why that’s the most ludicrous fucking thing anyone has ever tried to do in this entire series.

SERIOUSLY? YOU NEEDED TO TEST GOKUDERA GODDAMN HAYATO’S GODDAMN LOYALTY TO THE GODDAMN TENTH? HAVE YOU EVER MET GOKUDERA?? PLEASE SPEND TWO FUCKING MINUTES WITH HIM AND THEN COME BACK AND APOLOGIZE TO ME ON YOUR KNEES FOR WASTING ALL OUR FUCKING TIME.

But okay, for some reason the Ninth has inexplicably become an outrageously bad judge of character. So fine, let’s test Gokudera’s loyalty. Except that

HE PASSES THE TEST ALMOST BEFORE THEY CAN EVEN GIVE HIM THE TEST TO BEGIN WITH.

Seriously. “Gokudera here’s a promotion for you but you’ll have to leave Tsuna and go to Ital—” “WHAT THE HELL IS THIS THE ONE I FOLLOW IS THE TENTH NOT THE NINTH, IF IT’S GOING TO BE LIKE THIS THEN I’M NOT GONNA DO IT.” Dino, your response should be, “Well, shit, okay then,” and then you walk off and tell the Ninth what an asshole he was to even fucking try this.

But instead!!!

So Gokudera already passed the test, which is all about being loyal to Tsuna, but Dino tries to guilt him by insisting that staying is selfish, and leaving is actually the best way to serve Tsuna? What kind of damned-if-you-do bullshit is this? We’re trying to see how loyal you are, so we’ll tell you how to be loyal, but if you listen to us you will actually fail the test. What the fuck kind of fucking logic…

Anyway, lacking any other type of mentor figure (because Shamal is a fucking deadbeat), Gokudera goes to talk to Reborn about it.

WTF WHO’S THIS RANDO—

REBORN-SAN YOU APPEARED OUT OF NOWHERE

Things I will never get tired of: this fucking gag.

So Gokudera explains his problems, but he frames them in such a way so as to make it seem like he’s worried that Tsuna won’t be able to get along without him, when of course it’s really the exact fucking opposite. Reborn is exactly as helpful as you would expect Reborn to be.

Having just savagely murdering Gokudera’s hopes and dreams, Reborn proceeds to set a challenge for him.

Hahaha. Okay, so. On the surface, this seems really fucking harsh, and kind of like Reborn is trolling the ever-loving shit out of Gokudera in this chapter just for giggles. However, I don’t think that’s what’s actually going on. But I’ll get to that in a bit.

So Gokudera accepts this challenge like the sweet delusional child he is, and goes to visit Tsuna.

Tsuna’s just so fucking thrilled to see him.

Gokudera’s wavelength: ~~~~~~

Tsuna’s wavelength:

                                            ~~~~~~

DO YOU GET IT THE WAVELENGTHS ARE DIFFERENT Critical lack of communication and understanding between these two kids who are trying to be best friends but neither of them has the slightest fucking clue how to do it. That’s all I’m saying.

This is something that’s better suited for an essay, so I’ll leave it alone for now, but it’s just interesting to note the contrasts in how they think of each other at this stage in their friendship.

They sit in Tsuna’s room and Tsuna drops moods for all to enjoy.

Pictured above: every thirteen-year-old since the beginning of time.

Gokudera has a stars-in-eyes moment of thinking Tsuna is about to ask him for help, buuuut

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF SOMEONE WHO’S FULLY AWARE THAT HE’S FUCKING OVER HIS FUTURE SELF, AND DOESN’T GIVE A DAMN.

Tsuna continues his mood marathon by freaking out at the sudden appearance of a cockroach!

Gokudera gets ready to BLOW THAT SHIT UP (you don’t fuck around with roaches okay)

But Tsuna ignores this completely and calls his mom because of course he does. What else are moms even there for?

Next, Maman calls Tsuna for help moving the couch. You can see where this is going.

…Okay, I was trying to hold off on essaying about this until the end, but this in particular is the perfect example of what this chapter is trying to get at (and outright says later on). Tsuna and Gokudera occupy different positions in each other’s minds, and right now, these feelings don’t line up. Gokudera thinks of Tsuna as his boss—someone above him. But Tsuna does not think of Gokudera as his subordinate (someone below him). He thinks of him as his friend! An equal!

But unlike Gokudera, Tsuna is actually aware of this dissonance between them. After all, Gokudera makes no secret of the fact that he worships Tsuna. And because Tsuna doesn’t like it, he goes out of his way not to actually treat Gokudera like a subordinate. Therefore, he doesn’t ask Gokudera to do menial tasks for him like killing a bug or moving the couch. If they actually were more like normal friends, he probably wouldn’t hesitate! But since Gokudera constantly treats him like a boss as it is, the last thing Tsuna wants to do is actively encourage it and actually start bossing Gokudera around in any sort of way.

This is something Gokudera just doesn’t get, and I’m 100% sure is one of the main reasons why Reborn came up with this challenge for him to begin with. Because if these two are ever going to learn to understand each other better, Gokudera needs to realize this for himself.

Anyway.

Next up, Lambo haphazardly endangers someone’s life again because that is basically his sole function in the entire Daily Life arc. Long story short, he blows up a telephone pole, which proceeds to fall over, nearly killing Tsuna in the process. Fortunately, Gokudera is there to save the—

Well. He tried.

Anyway, once this is all over, and Gokudera apologizes, Tsuna finally asks him what’s wrong, because of course he was able to tell because he’s the best, TSUNA I LOVE YOU. So Gokudera tells him all about the promotion.

Tsuna acts fucking thrilled and over the moon for him and insists on throwing a party to congratulate him, and I’m sorry but I have to stop and rant AGAIN, because Amano packed so many feelings into this simple little chapter, and I don’t have any more room in my closet to put them!! So I’m just going to vomit them all over my blog s-sigh.

This.

is.

all.

fake.

Tsuna is not thrilled to hear that Gokudera is going back to Italy. He is not actually happy. But he pretends to be happy, for Gokudera’s sake. Whoa there, HOLD THE FUCK UP because LOOK AT THIS SUPER SNEAKY CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT THAT JUST DIVEBOMBED IN OUT OF NOWHERE.

So Tsuna has gone from being terrified of Gokudera, to genuinely thinking of him as a friend! To the point where not only is he upset to learn that he might be leaving, but he’s also conscious enough of Gokudera’s own feelings to pretend that he’s not upset and to try and support Gokudera as much as possible.

And maybe that doesn’t seem like such a big deal, but it is, because if you go back to some of the earlier chapters and look at their relationship, it’s so fucking different from this. The only emotion Tsuna ever seems to show around Gokudera in the early chapters is “stressed.” There is literally a chapter dedicated to making fun of the fact that all Gokudera ever does is stress Tsuna out and all Tsuna ever does is complain about it.

Fast-forward to here, where Tsuna has become completely accepting of Gokudera’s weird behavior and just rolls with it, because underneath that initially scary layer of “wacky, destructive, overly-devoted Gokudera” is a solid core of “Gokudera who is my friend.” They’ve known each other for a year and a half now, and Gokudera has always been there for Tsuna no matter what—even when that commitment only ends up causing more trouble—and Tsuna has finally come to appreciate it. And it’s about damn time too, because Gokudera Hayatos don’t just grow on trees! KEEP APPRECIATING HIM, TSUNA. You lucky bastard.

Sob so where was I oh my god. Okay so Gokudera gets a ton of warm fuzzies from this and decides that he really will go to Italy, for Tsuna’s sake. Because remember, Dino is a fucking liar.

So Gokudera runs off! BUT SUDDENLY he realizes he left his lighter at Tsuna’s house. How convenient! And at this very same moment, Reborn abruptly decides to initiate a conversation with Tsuna all about how much he really does appreciate Gokudera as a friend and doesn’t actually want him to leave. ALSO CONVENIENT.

Except I don’t think for one second this is a coincidence, and in fact, I fully believe that Reborn actually stole Gokudera’s lighter, waited for him to realize it and come back, and then purposely went and got Tsuna monologuing at exactly the right moment for Gokudera to “accidentally” overhear it. Yep.

Am I giving Reborn too much credit here? Maybe. But then again, maybe not, because it’s Reborn, and if you don’t think he’s playing the long game with Tsuna’s future right hand man just as much as he is with Tsuna himself, then you may just be underestimating him.

Anyway, so we then get a page or two of Tsuna blabbing about his complicated Gokudera feelings, but since I already essayed about them above, I will spare you the rehash.

Gokudera overhears it and has a Moment of Feels and decides he will stay in Japan because Tsuna wants him there, as his friend, and to Tsuna that’s more important than Gokudera serving him in Italy as just his subordinate.

If you don’t think that’s exactly what Reborn fucking planned, then clearly we are not reading this series with the same conspiracy goggles.

The next day, a wild Yamamoto appears (wow it’s so weird how you run into people at the airport don’t you think that’s weird), all set to go on a trip to Italy with Dino, because Gokudera told him that was a thing that was happening, so obviously Yamamoto believed him because WHY WOULD GOKUDERA EVER LIE.

This is adorable, and while you may think it was kind of dumb of Yamamoto to actually pack his bags and everything, you have to consider that it’s impossible for anyone to actually say no to that face. Which was probably his back-up plan, AND IT FUCKING WORKED, too.

Dino is happy that Gokudera didn’t come, and Reborn pops up and they have a very disturbing conversation about how there was a plot to murder this innocent child if he actually did fall for their fucked up bait-and-switch, and even though Dino says he would have secretly helped Gokudera escape if it came to that, I still kind of want to punch him in his handsome face, just a little bit.

But Reborn knew all along it wouldn’t happen.

Because he’s the master fucking manipulator raising the splendid tenth generation of the Vongola, and we’re all just here to watch him do his thing

Finally this chapter ends, on two note-perfect moments.

This may honestly be my favorite line in the series.

And words can’t express how much I love the fact that Dino, faced with the prospect of turning down Yamamoto’s innocently smiling face, decided it would be easier and less taxing on his soul to just actually fly him out to Italy for a nice vacation. I wonder how many times Takeshi has pulled this kind of bullshit with his dad. I wonder if anyone has ever turned him down for anything, if it comes to that. Dino, you done been played.

[dangermousie]

All the Turkish shows I have not finished so far and why

(I am excluding currently airing shows because duh and also Icerde, which I am currently actively watching.)

But yes, I have a short attention span and my ratio of finished to started is pretty small so I wanted to list all the ones I’ve started but have not finished (yet.) Some of these I plan to get to (after all, I finished Cesur ve Guzel even if it took a year) and some no way. Ones I plan to go back to have an asterisk.

1001 Nights - Love the OTP, hate everything else. If someone gave me a cut of just their scenes (which take 10 minutes per ep ugh), I’d be much happier. As it is, I do not have the patience for this tbh.

*Adini Feriha Koydum - OK, confession time, I made it through a few eps and was bored. And now that I know the ending, my desire to check it out is not great. But since watching this for the first time, I realized I liked the leading pair elsewhere and the writer is the writer for my current obsession Fazilet, so I plan on giving it another chance. 

*Ask-i Memnu - I really loved it and binged but, 80 eps OMG. I had to take a break for my sanity, got sidetracked and never went back. I definitely plan to because I haven’t even gotten to the OTP smooches yet. 

Ask ve Ceza - on netflix! Pretty people! Cool set-up! Story that is slower than molasses in January! Aside from one fateful meeting, the OTP doesn’t meet again forever and ever and ever!!! Instead I have to watch business dealings of hero and issues of heroine, both of which are so exciting, I want a nap! I actually, despite my ranting, may go back to it at some point with extreme forwarding thus not on netflix, but not any time soon. 

*Bizim Hikaye - I actually really liked this, even if it was a little OTT for me. But I can only have so many airing shows and one had to be temporarily dropped so it was this one. I promise to get back to you!

Bu Sehit Arkandan Gelecek - I was so excited to watch this because it starred Kerem Bursin whom I’ve adored in Gunesi Beklerken and the first ep and the love story set in it were so delicious. But then the show really lost the plot and put the love story beyond the back burner and just wasn’t my thing any more. I still considered maybe going back to it some day with some fast forwarding but then I checked out the ending, and nope nope nope.  

Calikusu - the 1980s version was my very first Turkish show when I was a teeny kid. The new version has good actors, much better budget but it’s like pulling teeth. They basically left very little of the novel in the story, problem n1. Problem n2 is that it’s slow and problem n3 is that Feride’s sharper, less cool edges are demonstrated more in romantic relationships and less when she’s being an amazing rural teacher. By not allowing her the latter, the show leaves her bad qualities and not allows her, her best ones. I finally gave up when I realized I was ffing whole eps and checking out. 

*Fatmagul’un Sucu Ne? - I do plan to get back to this one! In fact, it’s one of the best shows I’ve seen from any country. It’s just it’s 80 eps and with my attention span, I cannot binge an 80 ep show in one sitting. I got to 50-something through an insane binge and then wandered off to something else. But I really must go back because I remember loving it so. 

Filinta - I checked this out because it was on netflix, and it looks like a million bucks, but I almost never like mystery shows and this was yet another one that failed for me. I just find police procedurals, even ones set in Ottoman Turkey, BORING. Also the hero didn’t interest me and I think fez hats are up there with Qing hairstyles as some of the ugliest men’s fashions out there.

*Gecenin Kralicesi - I checked it out when it aired and liked the dysfunctional set up (heroine is ditched by hero who wanted a divorce from his insane wife to be with heroine but his mob FIL said he’d kill heroine if that happened, so hero lied and dumped her awfully. Heroine marries the FIL. Hahahahahaha) but didn’t have the energy to keep up with it airing. I keep meaning to go back and watch it properly though because it’s not very long and has a happy ending. 

*Kara Para Ask - OK, it should probably not be on this list because I just started it, but whatever, it’s my list and I will do what I want. And what I want is to watch another ep tonight!

Kurt Seyit ve Sura - I was here for Kurt Seyit and Sura so when it switched to Kurt Seyit and Murka, I bailed. I don’t care if it’s historical, don’t switch my OTPs on me in the middle of the show, show!

*Kuzey Guney - I think it was my first Turkish show when I got back into them as an adult! And I really liked it a lot! (Obviously, since I sought out more.) But one of the things I loved the most was Kuzey’s hopeless love for his bro’s girlfriend Cemre so when the show suddenly started showing him having an angsty thing for the redhead girl, I got super annoyed and bailed. Like! How can he love the redhead, he’s supposed to love Cemre! I was fine with him having a wife since there was no love there but a genuine love interest! I felt betrayed. And I walked. I’ve since been informed that Kuzey realizes he wasn’t really in love with redhead but using her to deflect his forbidden feelings, so I am gonna go back to it. 80 eps doesn’t seem so scary any more, unlike when I first discovered Turkish shows. I do think the bulk of s1 he chases the redhead so extreme ffing will be implemented. 

Magnificent Century Kosem: Murad - I liked the original MC and MCK. However when MCK got into its second season and reigns of Kosem’s children Murad and Ibrahim - ooooh boy. I liked it at the start but the more the season went on, the more I lost interest - they never were able to explain how Murad went from an A+ bro/ruler/person to a homicidal and fratricidal lunatic and Kosem herself went from a fascinating character to a very pretty cypher. 

Mehmetcik Kutul Amara - I love period things but this one did not work for me. It was hard enough to get used to seeing WWI as a glorious enterprise, but the characters didn’t talk, they declaimed! Nor could I tell most of them apart from the other. It’s like Vatanim Sensin but without people for me to care about, thus not like Vatanim Sensin at all!

Olene Kadar - the premise! Engin in the lead role! I was so happy. And I was so happy with the first few eps. But then they switched writers and did weird things and I drifted away. And then I found out about the ending. I am used to Turkish tragic endings but this seemed so patently unjust and horrible, I am never watching this unless someone pays me serious $$$ for pain and suffering. 

*Sila - Loved this insane mess of a show, loved it! Short attention span won again after 40 eps and I wandered off. But I am about to restart this crazy, delicious, guilty (only I refuse to be guilty) pleasure. 

*Soz - watched first ep, rolled my eyes at the fridging of hero’s unfortunate fiancee, decided I had no room for another airing show. I will probably go back with some major ff because the OTP looks delicious and ff will allow me to skip military bits that bore me.

[veterveter]

Hi there, it's the anon who saw Gandía on the subway!

You're completely right, it had been kind of haunting me for days... My brain just travelled towards it every now and then, like "you saw Gandia in the subway, have fun dealing with that bout of knowledge". I'm glad you liked my trauma story!

Are you MAGIC? I truly am gay bike anon!!! I don't think I am why are annexes anon? But honestly, I am not sure, and I can have forgotten?? When I'll see the ask again, I'll probably know and I'll tell you whether that was me or not. I love how you realized it was me by the sheer weirdness of the asks, I love how my chaotic energy apparantly radiates even through the internet ehehehe

Your description of Gandia made me snort and then laugh so hard, I had to actually stifle my giggles so everyone in the train I was in whilst reading this wouldn't go "???" (I literally clasped my hand in front of my mouth, then realized how futile that was because of the face mask hahahaha)

So, I googled Promising Young Woman, and I directly knew who you meant, and he does look a lot like Moscow! Also, the movie looks great and I'm definitely going to watch it soon (after I finished my exams, or, y'know, to avoid having to study for those sksksk)

YOU'LL MAYBE WRITE ME A ANDRÉS X GANDÍA FIC??!!! AHHH I WOULD LOVE THAT!!!! I truly thought I was crazy when I realized that there was such weird energy between the two of them in that scene, with the way they were eyeing eachother, the way Gandía walked around Andrés, but turns out I'm not the only one who thought so :) And indeed, "gay bike anon" is not my birth given name, but I'll gladly take it as my second name/ as a nickname :)

Oh no! I hope you're okay and that you're not slowly melting away behind your computer... We've been having hot temperatures here as well, nothing close to a heatwave though, even if everyone acts like it is. (It has been around 26-27 degrees Celsius for a while, and everyone was going crazy about the national plan for heatwaves on Twitter...Like, no, just don't... For a nationality often portrayed as brutally honest and very matter-of-factly, we can get incredibly dramatic sometimes sksksk) It's colder now, though, we've had a few days with rain and now I think we're back to normal temperature for the time of the year.

I'll let you know! That is such a good idea, I'm going to practice Martín's speeches in the mirror right away, the eyepatch would make an interesting look... I'll wear my black suit and shirt with black brogues, my father probably has a dark gray tie which I can borrow. I'll just have to find a cane somewhere. Oh, and fill my bag with muffins. I'll practice my chaotic screaming (well, tbh I don't think much practice is necessary anymore) to channel my inner Martín. Maybe I'll even bring my Berlín funko pop, tell him "remember Alfredo Kesmann, you know, the risk analyst you looked at as if you were a lion and he was your prey, huh? Well, look at who he turned out to be..."

By the way, I just read you Little Mermaid AU and it was just so beautiful, so cute, whilst they still remained the assholes interesting characters they are <3 Martín thinking a fork looked like a weapon made me laugh so hard, because it definitely is a weapon to another version of Andrés sksks. Also, I was listening to MIKA on shuffle and when I was reading your Little Mermaid AU, 'Underwater' came on and ugh, the song was fitting so well for them, poetic cinema.

Gay bike anon ❤️❤️❤️ To quote some Motion City Soundtrack: It had to be you // I knew it was you. I'm happy you saw my stray ramblings @ you. Should you choose to continue talking to me (you should, I love you, gay bike anon, please continue to be my friend), I'll continue to tag them under # only love for gay bike anon. There, that is you.

I'll be surprised if you're not why are annexes anon [if you are a separate person, humble apologies, come @ me for my crimes] but I'm also going to gatekeep that ask for x number of weeks or months because prompts are hard to keep the mystery alive. I love how you say you'll maybe recognise it, if it is you. I also sometimes look at things I've said and I'm like "well it's my account so it must be me, but I could swear I am not me--" I'm so glad you're gay bike anon because it's literally your name now so if you weren't them??? It'd be like naming a child something peaceful and the child turns out to be everything but. Which almost happened to yours truly, I'll have you know. Dodge that bullet, I did. Also, if you were not gay bike anon, you'd be like "¿¿qué?? what does that even mean??". (I was so delighted by the ask that I sent a screenshot to my friend and since she didn't watch the semis, this was her reaction.) You have the perfect chaotic energy, dear friend. Recognisably so.

I love your phrasing, by the way. "My brain just travelled towards it every now and then". I can perfectly envision this scene, you're just trying to live your best life (travelling by the subway, buying cookies, that sort of thing) and your brain is just like hey guess what???? SUBWAY DRIVER GANDÍA!! thanks brain, that's nice, I guess. The plot twist is that now this story also lives rent-free in my head, but I truly do appreciate it. Thank you again for sharing it.

I'm glad you also feel me re: lawyer guy in Promising Young Woman!! I'll take all the reassurance I can get that I'm not simply too LCDP-obsessed. I really do recommend the film, it was really good and so nicely filmed. Her hairstyles? The outfits? The colours and the framing??? Gorgeous. Come @ me with your thoughts once you've seen it, please. ✨ Also, bestest of best luck for your exams!! I have all the faith in you. Do your best and reward yourself accordingly afterwards, the reward part very important! Maybe you can buy yourself a tricorne. This is foreshadowing for how you're going to be a pirate, by the end of this reply. And for the record, I'll consider myself prompted to write this subway driver! Gandía fic, and some day I will absolutely consider actually writing it. Just you wait.

We had like an entire week of 30+ degrees (and I'm from Finland, you know, so that's definitely illegal temperatures here) and it was just, ugh. But it was actually raining yesterday - I'm sure it started around the time you sent me this so I'll credit it to you, thank you for the rain, dear friend - bless!! everything was so dry. I'm glad to hear your temperatures are normalising too!! Climate change can go away, thanks.

I absolutely lost all coherent thought when you said "I'll practice my chaotic screaming" hgjrfkpfjeghr yes you do that, it sounds 100% legitimate. You'll make the perfect Martín, hanging out with your totally super platonic best friend in Funko pop form. Hissing at Gandía, should he come too close. Threatening him with the Funko. Leaning on your cane but like, menacingly. You might also need a Denver to lead you around, should the eyepatch impair you depth perception.

Also, after you've had all this practice with the eyepatch, you can become a pirate. Or a privateer, first, and then through a series of unfortunate events, you can be drawn to a life of crime. The money is just so much better. And guess what? Yeah, you bet the captain of the ship is the spitting image of Arturito. Good luck, you. :) At least you can mutiny.

Ahhh I'm glad you liked the Little Mermaid thing! Martín absolutely gets that the pointy thing look exactly like a weapon, even if he's not necessarily imagining Andrés to stab someone with it for insulting his clothes. You know, one of these days I was tagged in a tag thing and I mentioned about how much I currently love Underwater?? (mandatory shout-out to @es-imposible because I'm stealing her taste in music for my own) Manifestation. Or one brain energy. Poetic cinema.

I hope you'll have a great week, gay bike anon!! Take care of yourself!! Drink lots of water, eat lots of cookies, stay safe from Gandía / any lookalikes. Best of luck for your exams for a second time! All the best, dear friend. See you around! 💌

[the-cowgirl-bookworm]

Chapter 1

Zoey is talking with her best friend Kayla by her locker when she notices a “dead guy”. This guy is apparently a Tracker, sent to mark teenagers as new vampires. We also get our first characteristic of Zoey when she complains about her “freakish inability to fit in”, despite the fact that her family lives comfortably and she is dating the star quarterback of the football team. Really not fitting in, huh? While seeing this guy close to her locker should make Zoey aware that she could be picked, all she does to talk to her friend Kayla about how her boyfriend went to a part without her and drinks a lot. The quote below shows how Zoey completely ignores how Heath, her boyfriend, is becoming an alcoholic and she is only concerned about how this affects her, i.e. his attractiveness.

"The point is that he was wasted for like the fifth time this week. I'm sorry, but I don't want to go out with a guy whose main focus in life has changed from trying to play college football to trying to chug a six-pack without puking. Not to mention the fact that he's going to get fat from all that beer." I had to pause to cough. I was feeling a little dizzy and forced myself to take slow, deep breaths when the coughing fit was over. Not that K-babble noticed. "Eww! Heath, fat! Not a visual I want." I managed to ignore another urge to cough. "And kissing him is like sucking on alcohol-soaked feet." K scrunched up her face. "Okay, sick. Too bad he's so hot."

I rolled my eyes, not bothering to try to hide my annoyance at her typical shallowness.

Zoey then reiterates how there is a dead guy by her locker, and that vampires in this world have crescent moon tattoos in the middle of their foreheads. He recites some poem, points at her, and she blacks out as she gets a crescent moon outline on her forehead, the mark of a fledgling, who could one day become a full vampire. Zoey wakes back up and finds Kayla freaking out like a reasonable person because someone she is close to basically just got handed a death sentence, as apparently the tattoo means that Zoey is going through the Change, which could kill her if she doesn’t get around full vampires immediately. You’d think the Tracker would hang around so that the fledglings actually had a chance to make it to the obligatory school. Zoey then gets mad at Kayla for getting emotional.

"Stop crying. You know I hate it when you cry." I reached out to attempt a comforting pat on her shoulders. And she automatically cringed, and moved away from me. I couldn't believe it. She actually cringed, like she was afraid of me. She must have seen the hurt in my eyes because she instantly started a string of breathless K- babble.

Yeah Zoey, your friend has an instinctual reaction to a stressful situation and you immediately start bitching. Not to mention that Zoey had already mentioned how people seem to have a backwards view of vampires, despite what we’ll see later.

"Oh, God, Zoey! What are you going to do? You can't go to that place. You can't be one of those things. This can't be happening! Who am I supposed to go to all of our football games with?" I noticed that all during her tirade she didn't once move any closer to me. I clamped down on the sick, hurt feeling inside that threatened to make me burst into tears. My eyes dried instantly. I was good at hiding tears. I should be; I'd had three years to get good at it.

Our first Mary Sue trait, our poor abused heroine who tries to be tough and not cry. Zoey then remarks about how she’s glad she got Marked inside because she didn’t want every one including her “Barbie-clone sister” to see her out by the buses. Zoey then gives us a big dump and makes it clear about why I hate her as a character.

There was only one other kid in the math hall--a tall thin dork with messed- up teeth, which I could, unfortunately, see too much of because he was standing there with his mouth flapping open staring at me like I'd just given birth to a litter of flying pigs. I coughed again, this time a really wet, disgusting cough. The dork made a squeaky little sound and scuttled down the hall to Mrs. Day's room clutching a flat board to his bony chest. Guess the chess club had changed its meeting time to Mondays after school. Do vampyres play chess? Were there vampyre dorks? How about Barbie-like vampyre cheerleaders? Did any vampyres play in the band? Were there vampyre Emos with their guy-wearing-girl's-pants weirdness and those awful bangs that cover half their faces? Or were they all those freaky Goth kids who didn't like to bathe much? Was I going to turn into a Goth kid? Or worse, an Emo? I didn't particularly like wearing black, at least not exclusively, and I wasn't feeling a sudden and unfortunate aversion to soap and water, nor did I have an obsessive desire to change my hairstyle and wear too much eyeliner.

Yeah, Zoey pretty much insults any group that she isn’t a part of. And it brings up how the Casts cannot seem to get past that fact that cliques are not in vogue anymore. When I was in high school, yeah you had some kids who sat together since they were in band or on the same team, but other people sat with them. It wasn’t clearly defined, and was malleable. What’s with the hate on the goths? Isn’t that one of your key demographics, the people who think Twilight isn’t dark enough for them? Zoey then sends Kayla way after her phone starts playing “Material Girl” as her ringtone, because why show her character when she can be accurately defined by a song title? Zoey angsts for a bit about how she has to go to “Vampire Finishing School”, which is the exact phrase that Cast’s agent used, and how all she wanted was to fit in at school since her home life sucks. Zoey decides to go to the bathroom and wait out the crowd outside, but stops to look through a window.

High-pitched girl giggles flitted to me from the parking lot. Great. Kathy Richter, the biggest ho in school, was pretending to smack Heath. Even from where I was standing it was obvious she thought hitting him was some kind of mating ritual. As usual, clueless Heath was just standing there grinning.

Thus begins the massive amounts of slut shaming in this book series. The Casts constantly promote this as some kind of feminist series, but anyone actually reading this can see that they are some of the biggest hypocrites I’ve ever seen. Kathy also gets no further descriptions and only appears for this one sentence. The Casts could have just had Kayla smiling at Heath and him smiling back and that would have worked better, planting some seeds of doubt about her friend, but no, we get a throw away character who solely exists to be slutty. Zoey doesn’t think about this, instead moving to the bathroom and talking about how she looks.

She had my eyes. They were the same hazel color that could never decide whether it wanted to be green or brown, but my eyes had never been that big and round. Or had they? She had my hair--long and straight and almost as dark as my grandma's had been before hers had begun to turn silver. The stranger had my high cheekbones, long, strong nose, and wide mouth--more features from my grandma and her Cherokee ancestors. But my face had never been that pale. I'd always been olive- ish, much darker skinned than anyone else in my family. But maybe it wasn't that my skin was suddenly so white...maybe it just looked pale in comparison to the dark blue outline of the crescent moon that was perfectly positioned in the middle of my forehead. Or maybe it was the horrid fluorescent lighting. I hoped it was the lighting. I stared at the exotic-looking tattoo. Mixed with my strong Cherokee features it seemed to brand me with a mark of wildness...as if I belonged to ancient times when the world was bigger...more barbaric. From this day on my life would never be the same. And for a moment--just an instant--I forgot about the horror of not belonging and felt a shocking burst of pleasure, while deep inside of me the blood of my grandmother's people rejoiced.

Yes, a character who is supposed to be part Native American just said that she looks more barbaric! How can a person’s mindset be so ass backwards that they write that? The other thing that bothers me is that Zoey says that she is the only person in her family with a darker complexion, despite the fact that her mother is half Cherokee. Even if Zoey’s grandma had a child with a white man, her child would have at least some Native American features. Not to mention the exotification and reducing Native American people to some kind of old fashioned magical people. Ugh, onto Chapter 2.

[thebigladjake]

AX3001: TV Show - Cognitivation: Main Characters and Roles in the Story

Alex, the PSI Prodigy

Alex is a young and adventurous boy in his small hometown, a self proclaimed protector, he roams the town with his trusty stick and keeps all evil do-er’s in order! He loves his home, his family and his friends. But, is suddenly forced to put on his big boy shorts and face the world outside of his hometown. The world is a big and scary place, Alex will be tested and his own emotions will come into question as he wonders. Why me? Why am I the ‘PSI Prodigy’.

Alex was the first character designed and is the heart of the whole series. His journey will be one full of self-discovery and self-doubt, I want to capture the pressure of expectations of children and how they can effect kids. The whole prodigy thing may be toned down, since I'm not the biggest fan of prophecy stories. I'm undecided, but right now, I think this will give him the added depth he needs and could be relatable to kids that may have the pressures of expectations, I know I certainly did.

Alex's name was originally Andy because he was actually inspired by a character called Alex, that Alex being from the Indie JRPG game known as YIIK (Y Two K, not Yiik). A game that suffers from several problems such as severe tonal shifts, terrible endings that make the entire game redundant and a character who is insufferable that doesn’t learn to change his ways and is rewarded at the end of the game. Alex is simply an awful character from an awful game and I was going to call my lead Andy, but that name wasn’t really vibing with me. So, I kept Alex since it was more gender neutral too, so boys and girls can reflect their own feelings onto him. It may still be subject to change, we’ll just have to wait and see.

Of course, as our lead character, I gave him a pinkish red and a gold colour combination. The red not being a strong red since red is a very strong colour and I didn’t think that level of passion would be embodied into Alex so soon. So, he’s simply a pinky red. The gold elements are there to reassure his good boy status, with the badges on his bag being a reference to the badges on Hambone’s hat from my first year film. Just a little Easter Egg that puts a smile on my face, like how Pixar or Disney may just throw something in there as a nod.

I chose the shorts as I’ve not drawn a lot of characters that wear shorts and a young kid that likes to run around would probably want the best clothing for the job. So, shorts it was. The cap too was to give him a unique silhouette compared to the rest as he’s the only one with the hat and very rarely will we see him without it. He also carries a gold coloured backpack that he keeps all of his helpful items inside.

Alex’s primary attacks are the most potent PSI abilities that Frank has ever seen and he teaches him how to activate them. Alex’s PSI abilities are both helpful for the team’s defence and offence. While physically, he wields a powerful stick that his Dad found and gave to him to use on his adventures.

For a main character, Alex gets the job done and I’m looking forward to where his character will go over the course of a season and over the course of this project.

Frank, the Frantic Freak

An aimless twenty something year old still living at his parent’s house, Frank is unemployed, never goes outside nor does many people know of his existence and since he doesn’t bother anyone, his parents just kind of let him exist. A member of the Orb.Net forum, he honed his PSI abilities purely from nonstop training with spoons. Bending them with his mind because he saw it in a movie once. Frank knows of the oncoming threat and for the first time in forever, leaves his room to embark on this epic quest with Alex. To save his world, a world he doesn’t even truly know.

Frank was always meant to be an outcast, original concepts were of him to be occupying a house where the kids would prank his house and get him to come out and shout at them. Until he finally catches Alex one day and recognises his psychic powers, taking him inside and telling him everything he knows about the oncoming invasion. Alex would then understand that, even though he’s a crackpot, he means well and is just misunderstood. While I loved this concept, I wanted to make Frank just a little stranger, so I went with the unemployed aimless twenty something who just practises psychic abilities in the comfort of his room.

Design-wise, Hector came first and then Frank was modelled after him. Since the brotherly resemblance was an important part of their design, it was important to nail what a younger brother of a family would look like first. And once I had the traits off of Hector, I used and tweaked a few things to make Frank older and also give him a few new design quirks. The main ‘quirk’ being his hairstyle as hair is always important to my character designs. I took Hector’s hair and instead of having the hair be styled up into a point, it was like an explosion. Symbolising his psychic powers being more volatile and dangerous with his hair all messy where his powers come from.  

His facial expressions were important to show that he was a bit nutty, Ghiaccio from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure served as inspiration for that. Just the way his face angrily distorts just gives him a different feel compared to the regular characters.

His outfit was just simple loungewear because since he doesn’t care about who sees him, he’s not going to dress up too nicely and definitely not going to wear clothes that are restrictive and make him uncomfortable like jeans. Compared to the rest of the colourful cast and even his brother, Frank’s colours are incredibly limited and a way to counteract this a little was to give him mismatching socks. Just a little asymmetry to make him stand out more.

Frank’s weapon of choice is spoons, not really as an attack, but a way of calculating how powerful his PSI attack is going to be. He also bends them regularly and spent most of his savings on spoons so he can always stay on top of his psychic abilities.

Frank was a part of the original four, he’s an idea I’ve liked for a long time and is now a character that I will really enjoy working on and writing for.

Hector, the Apathetic Assistant.

Hector is just a kid that’s kind of done with it, just everything that’s going on in the world. What he thought would be a regular friendship, unfortunately turns into a big adventure and he’d just rather have the life of a kid. But, it’s too late for that now as Alex needs him by his side. Hector knows too much and if he’s only going to see his friend if he comes on this epic quest, then so be it. Hector doesn’t have many friends, but those he does have understand his extreme loyalty.

Hector was created as a contrast to his crazy brother, being much more relaxed and apathetic to this whole world ending thing. In the initial concepts, there were going to be four main characters much like Earthbound has, but I decided to increase it when I thought about Alex’s and Frank’s roles and how it might be a little strange if some stranger suddenly shows interest in this young boy. So, I figured a good catalyst would be a little brother to the crazy stranger! Alex has someone to be friend with and gets the plot started too.

I also thought it was quite amusing that it was the little kid that was the cynic and the big brother has much more enthusiasm about the world. Like the strangeness of his brother has no effect on him to the point where Hector is like, “Oh god here we go again.”

Hector and Frank have near identical colour schemes, their primary colours being green and greenish hues. It was all in contrast to Alex’s bright red, white and gold elements that make him look like an adventurous youth. Hector has dirty blonde hair and pale skin, sort of to hint at the fact that he and his brother are a little odd.

His hairstyle was created to be similar to Frank’s, but being styled and maintained because Hector does care about his appearance since he is the one who will be seen by others. It was made to contrast against Frank’s hair explosion, with Hector spiking up his hair to meet all at one point. I also like to think Frank also had hair like this at one point.

Hector and Frank also have weird shapes ears compared to what I usually do because some people do have weird shaped ears or other body parts and it will never be brought up in the show that they look weird. It’s purely visual to normalise these little oddities, that people shouldn’t judge someone for the most trivial things.

Hector’s weapon of choice is his backpack full of spoons, I chose this as I was drawing his pose and thinking about the relationship between him and Frank. Frank’s obsession with spoons to keep his PSI abilities in check requires a lot of spoons and I just had this sudden image of Hector with this great big bag full of spoons on his back. Hunched over a little as he looks annoyed like “I’ve got to carry this around all day...” And since it’s such a heavy bag, I imagined him using it as a weapon whenever in combat because Hector doesn’t have any powers and Frank only taught himself PSI. However, the less spoons he has, the weaker it becomes, effectively making Hector weaponless at certain points.

Hector is a great character in my opinion who I feel turned out really well as he was everything I wanted him to be. He filled a gap in the story nicely and I got a nice character out of it. An absolute win in my book.

Benjamin [Benji], the Anti-Social Armourer

A renowned child genius, famous in the orphanage for his Tools of Destruction. The other kids never interact with him if he doesn’t want you to, having a strange attachment to his box. Hiding under it when he feels threatened or if he just wants you to go away. His only friend is aware of his skills and is a member on the same forums as Frank... Which sets a mission to get him adopted into motion...

Benji was created as representation of shy kids and how hard it can really be to come out of your shell and make friends. Wanting to stay in somewhere that makes you feel safe and secure. Also, as a representation of kids that others may consider weird and outcasts, so we could get a closer look at him and show kids not to judge a book by it’s cover, maybe even give a kid they consider weird in their own life a chance of friendship.

Benji does have one major source of inspiration and may just have to go a few more designs before I’m truly happy with this design. Near from the manga, Death Note. Near was the replacement of the main sort of rival character, L, and is a child genius himself that displays some cases of social awkwardness. While Benji does have a lot of these similarities, the main aspect of Near that attracted me was that whenever he had a scene, he’d often have toys surrounding him and he’d play with them while deducing the whole mystery of the series. I feel one of the reasons that this aspect is my favourite thing about him is because I’m still quite fond of toys and sometimes fiddle about with them.

A specific scene (I can’t find a better screenshot I am sorry) where Near was surrounded by model train tracks with the trains going around him resonated with me, I saw him placed in a safe space where he’s protected by his toys and that imagery immediately gave me an idea of a boy that hides to be protected, but uses his toys to fight rather than help him think.

His weapon being model cars and toy trains with motors in them, creating ticking time bombs, I felt was a nice way of weaponizing Benji for the conflicts they will run into. Carrying a toolbox within his box, never getting to see his operations, only the results of when he converts a plane into a homing missile.

Benji needs a little more work, in my opinion, but so far, I am happy with this character.

Lottie Sweet, the Tough Nut.

The younger sister of Dentist Gloria Sweet, Lottie is a no-nonsense thirteen year old and always has a serious pouty face as she’s out and about. Using a Skipping Rope as a weapon, she has mastered the art and uses it to keep people away from her at a distance. While she remains unfriendly, deep down she has a good heart and a strong sense of justice.

Lottie came to be as a younger sister for Gloria Sweet, she was created to add a little bit of conflict between the main crew. With her not having very high opinions of any of them and then she has to work with them, causing her to try and take the lead. However, things don’t go as she planned with Gloria and Frank often getting her out of trouble.

Since Frank and Hector turned out so nicely, I thought to make the group an even six by giving Gloria a sister. While Frank and Hector were purposely designed to have very similar colour schemes to hint at the fact that they are brothers. The only shared colours between the sisters is the skin tone and hair colour. I chose the orange and purple for Lottie because I felt it was striking and that matched her personality, plus nobody else had those colours on them.

The Skipping Rope as a weapon came to me because I imagined a girl using her imagination to see one as a whip and just like that, it stuck. One of the charming things about Earthbound was that characters had specific weapons, Ness had baseball bats, Lucas had sticks, Jeff had guns and Paula had... A frying pan. Not stereotypical at all... With Lottie not being that kind of girl, I felt a more sporty weapon could work and the Skipping Rope was appropriate as both a sporty weapon and a girly weapon, depending on how you look at it.

I have also never designed a younger girl character, so this was a nice exercise to do. As well as just a nice design, I really enjoy drawing her pout and her wider eyes. Usually I go with the round eyes, so it’s nice to change up the eye shape. Her hair was definitely fun, as it’s usually my favourite part to design on a character, I remember the girls in my school tying their hair back whenever they did activities. Obviously, it’s so their hair doesn’t swish around in their face while they do things and I added the little hair strands on the front of her head to sort of hint to how intense her movements may have been. Since two strands have come loose.

I wanted to create a sporty girl and I feel like I did. Lottie was a successful design that I am really proud of.

Dentist Gloria Sweet, the Healer.

Gloria is a sweet and passionate dentist, that understands not everyone likes her line of work. So, she takes their feelings into consideration and tries to make everyone’s experience comfortable. Born with these PSI abilities, she was just able to do them rather than training to enhance them.

Gloria was one of the characters first characters I thought up back when I had created this series. Inspired by Earthbound, my initial group was made up of four people with three people being PSI users with Gloria filling the healer role that the Earthbound series typically has, the one character that learns the healing moves. Although, more characters have an array of offensive moves to go along with their healing abilities, Gloria was created much more as a support ally rather than an offensive fighter.

Gloria’s PSI abilities had to play a role in her field of work and the first job that jumped to mind was a doctor. A doctor that healed their patients using their PSI abilities, that then evolved into a dentist as a lot of people don’t like the dentist and are scared of going to them. Luckily, the mad dentist I had was long gone at the time and my dentist helped to inspire this idea, since she’s nice and it’s always an easy time for me (Though that’s probably because I care about my dental hygiene.)

Since people viewed it as an unpleasant experience, I thought it’d be nice if she was a really sweet character that makes her business by ensuring her customers shall be fine if they have anything done to their teeth. This also played into her design, I didn’t want to give her blue eyes like Lottie and I didn’t think brown eyes looked all that great. Then, I tried red.

Again, it was a play on the whole scary dentist cliché. People find her incredibly unsettling as she’s staring at their teeth with those red eyes, but are quite comfortable with her personality and painless operations. I really liked how this turned out and I just love how it contrasts with how she is as a person. Very happy with how Gloria turned out from an initial concept.

[sheepiling]

Simself Tag

Tagged by: @mellocakes 

I tag: @flowerhoneysims @adsims4lw @sassysimmer98 @memesplayssims @jayeless-sims @sassie-sims @orenjisims @failor-moon @mwgaybachelor @dropletofstardust @sammysims-pixels @coliemoon4sims4 @simsstorytimeyt @sunnysimmerchelsea @noobooface @astoldbyzeke @christy-quinn @goyururisims 

Rules: Post a picture of your self sim and answer these questions, then tag some friends.

The uh.. rules don’t say how many people to tag so I’m just gonna tag a whole bunch of you guys LOL! 

Favorite season: Fall is my first favorite, Winter is my second favorite, and Spring is my third favorite! I love Fall because APPLES and Samhain! Samhain is my most favorite holiday~ And Apple Cider and anything Apple is my favorite food ever!!! And I love Winter and Spring because that’s my second and third favorite holidays (Yule and Beltane). I also prefer when weather is cool or cold because I like being wrapped in a blanket 24/7. Summer is the only season I don’t like all too much, but there are still things I like about it. Though I can only really enjoy Summer during the night time. The sun during the day in Summer is way too intense. 

Favorite books/author: For starters, I love every version of Cinderella there is. It’s my favorite fairy tale~ I also have a few top favorite series, they are:  Tithe: A Modern Faerie Tale by Holly Black (and it’s sequels, this is a trilogy)  Lament: The Faerie Queen’s Deception by Maggie Stiefvater (also a series)  Warriors by Erin Hunter (yes, that series about cats, that is my childhood LOL)  A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket (also my childhood <3)  Cinder: The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles is the series’s name, it’s got quite a few books in the series and is a sci-fi version of multiple fairy tales mixed into one story, I’m on the second book now titled Scarlet and I’m IN LOVE with this series).  aaaand I also really like The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and Twilight by Stephenie Meyer... You’ve probably already heard of those...  >.>;  When it comes to fictional stories I prefer series over singular books because I get to spend more time loving all the characters in it. This is also why I love tv shows or cartoon/anime series more than movies (aside from Disney princesses of course! I love all the princesses!!) <3 

Favorite song: I don’t have just one, I have a couple of them! Hello, How Are You is one of my favorites because I relate to it so much. The lyrics are the perfect description of my anxiety/depression battles. ╥﹏╥�� This is my favorite English cover of that song 

Merry Go Round of Life is a favorite because Howl’s Moving Castle is my favorite movie (well, it’s tied with the 2015 Cinderella for fav movie), and this song is just so light and magical~ Also, Waltz is my favorite style of dance so I instantly love any song that’s in 3/4 or 6/8. ♡ 

Speaking of Cinderella, Lily James’s version of A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes is my favorite version of that song! 💖  Fire Escape is SO FREAKING CUTE and I get such happy vibes from this. It was in the Cats and Dogs trailer and I’ve been in love with it ever since I first heard it. Also the video for it is hilarious XD  PONPONPON is another song I love because of the happy vibes! （＾ｖ＾）

Wolf Whistling Song is adorable and random and the singer has an adorable accent and the song is from the point of view of an anime character that’s obsessed with apples and you should know by now that I’m obsessed with apples so this song just speaks to my soul 

Eternal is originally sung by Tanaka Rie, and it’s the theme song for the MMORPG that I’m addicted to (the game is Mabinogi btw). The version linked is one sung by Miku from when we had a Vocaloid crossover event! :D  This song is remixed for basically every big update the game gets and I love all the variations so much! I’ve been playing this game since I started high school so it’s always really nostalgic when I hear this song. XD  This is our original remix of that song tho~ 

Despacito makes me wet 

and if I had a theme song it would be this one mwuahahaha 

if you can’t tell i’m a major weeb haha 

Favorite food and drink: For drinks it’s tea and apple cider! For food, Apples and anything with Apple in it I LOVE, and I also love all baked goods (cookies, cakes, bread, pastries, etc.) For like not-desert food, I love Italian food the most~ But I also really love Mexican, Indian, and Japanese food too! 

Dogs or cats: KITTY!!! <3<3<3 

The following isn’t apart of the tag but now i just wanna talk about my little simself~ This is kind of an outdated look for me. Since I stopped getting highlights, my hair is closer to a light brown than it is to blonde now, and I’ve grown out my bangs and am working on growing my hair out to be long now! I also stopped straightening my hair. But 3 years ago this hairstyle was absolutely a perfect match to how I styled it IRL. :D 

Obviously I’m not a Fairy, LOL, but I’ve always been in love with Faeries so when I was playing with my sim self I made her a Fairy. I also just chose one of the fairy life time aspirations since there really isn’t a sims 3 aspiration that fits me very well. I’m currently working on a Sims 4 sim self and the “Leader of the Pack” aspiration fits me perfectly since I’m a guild leader on the MMORPG that I play, and that’s basically like leading a club, lel. 

If I ever get my Sims 3 up and running again I’ll probably make an updated version of my sim self with longer hair and I’d make her a witch instead of a fairy, since I’m practicing real witchcraft IRL now (I’m Wiccan/Pagan)    (∩^o^)⊃━☆ﾟ.*･｡ﾟ 

ANYWAYS, if you’re interested I have my Sims 3 Sim Self put up on the Sims 3 Exchange. I know most people avoid the Exchange like the plague because of all the broken cc, but I can promise you that mine is safe to download, because I don’t even have cc downloaded on Sims 3 anymore! The last time I used cc was on my old computer. That stuff has never even been downloaded on this computer with all of my saves! All I have for Sims 3 now is a few basic nraas mods that are necessary to not have the game crapping out on itself all the time. So yea! If you trust me and are interested in binding my pixels to your will, then feel free to download me! HERE DA LINK  Just uh no re-uploads please and no claiming that my face is your creation (obviously) <3 

[the-salty-digest]

“Every Heart A Doorway”, or: What if all possible fantasylands existed, and you could travel to them? (hint: you're going to die)

Title: Every Heart A Doorway (novelette, 2016 winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novella) Author: Seanan McGuire Review by: Captain Clo Verdict: imaginative worldbuilding, unimaginative plot, stilted writing in random places.

I've first hear about this book around the time it was nominated for the Nebula Award, since the book also features an asexual female protagonist and a transexual male side character. That said, simply having LGBT characters does not a good book make, and for all that this novelette is definitely enjoyable, it didn't convince me. But if you:

are looking for a fairytale-styled fantasy with an asexual protagonist (which is, let's face it, extremely rare)

like the idea of a trans boy as love interest/charming prince

don't mind purple prose terribly much

this book is for you.

In my opinion, the best thing about this novelette is definitely the worldbuilding. The plot is based on the existence of a number of "fantasylands" or "parallel universes", accessible through magical doors that only open for specific people (generally children, but not necessarily) at specific times. The core concept is the same as a journey through fairyland, with children spirited away to worlds that fall on two of four "directions": Wicked or Virtue, Nonsense or Logic. The children pass years of subjective life in these worlds – whereas in the mundane world, only months or even days pass – and they stay willingly, as they feel that these worlds are perfect for them; or at least, those who manage to come back feel that these places resonated with some aspect of their selves so perfectly, that adjusting back to life in the mundane world is completely impossible. (It's implied that those who don't fit in those worlds end up dead. Told you you're going to die.)

That's where the setting of the story, the Eleanor West's Home For Wayward Children, comes into play. The Home is a boarding school for children and teens who have come back from such worlds so deeply changed, they can't – or don't want to – live a normal life anymore. Their only desire is to go back, but all of them were either kicked out (fairies are cruel like that, after all) or came back and lost their door. On a certain level, the Home reminded me of an asylum. At first is unclear whether these worlds are real or fabrications of the children's minds, and a lot of their behaviours, in real life, would be considered signs of a deteriorating mental health. The protagonist, for example, went to an Underworld where people were forced to act as statues – without moving, eating, drinking or sleeping – and she learned that act so well, once she returned to the real world she claims she can eat and drink very little without problem. Her meals consist of fruit juice and a few fruits, and it's easy to see in this a sign (a metaphor?) of anorexia. Most of the children in the boarding school have similar "disorders", but in the end, their experiences are real, and so are the worlds they went to.

The descriptions of the worlds and how the children fit in them are all pretty interesting. There are worlds more obviously based on faitytales – with Goblin Kings and quests – and some based on classics such as Frankenstein and Dracula. Every world explains the idiosyncrasies of the children who came back from them. In their own vision, they came back as a truer version of themselves; according to their parents, they came back wrong. And so they send them to the Home to be fixed. On the one hand, the children are changed in ways that make them unable to live normally; all of them are obsessed with the idea of going back, and all of them hate who they were before. They can't empathize with the parents who were left in anguish for months, and then had their children back, but so changed as to seem mentally ill. At the same time, however, all the parents who get a description are fundamentally bad parents. For example, Kade's parents can't accept his trans identity, which emerged once he came back, and want him to act like the "girl he was before". The protagonist's parents dig through her luggage and change all her chosen clothes for boarding school – all in black and white exclusively – with the more colourful ones she used to wear. Other parents are described as outright abusers. But, at the same time, what some of these children went through in those worlds they love so much IS abuse. The protagonist, Nancy, can't aceept the simple fact that the world she went to was "High Wicked" – the creatures, or fairies if you want, that dwelled there abused her, forcing her to act as a living statue; she even knows that those who could not perform as well as her were killed, but she thinks nothing of it. She is, simply put, broken, and in mad love with the King of that world.

Unfortunately, the plot of the novelette itself isn't about any of that; it's about a string of vicious murders that start when Nancy joins the school. It's a pretty standard murder story, with a pretty easy-to-spot culprit. I guess you could say that their motivations are more proof of how broken these children are, but... I just spent a page talking about the worldbuilding, and the plot paragraph is over already.

I don't comment on a book's writing style unless I find it egregious in some sense. The prose of this novelette made me roll my eyes in some places – random, odd places, not throughout the entire book, which ruined the reading experience. Those purple prose spots jarred my willing suspension of disbelief, and made me think of old-school fiction when goth style was all the rage (no offense to those who were into the rage... I was too). Take the description of Nancy:

"She wore black – black jeans, black ankle boots with tiny black buttons marching like soldiers from toe to calf – and she wore white – a loose tank top, the faux pearls bands around her wrists – and she had a ribbon the color of pomegranate seeds tied around the base of her ponytail. Her hair was bone-white streaked with runnels of black, like oil spilled on a marble floor, and her eyes were pale as ice."

I can't, for the life of me, figure out if the author is pulling my leg here. I haven't read something that screams "edgy teen Mary Sue-self" this hard since My Immortal. Also there is something simply ridiculous in how stereotypically goth the entire concept of the Underworld Nancy went to is – with the fascinating Lord and Lady of the Dead playing wicked games with their subjects, everyone forced to wear black or white, the pomegranate seeds, and the fashion style inspired specifically by Waterhouse. The 17-year-old goth me is cackling. Some other characters are as equally quirky, with elaborate descriptions of their clothes and hair and hairstyle and eye colour... it does set the atmosphere, but it's also very close to being a mash-up of several teenage "fascinations" for the hell of it. It adds colour, I enjoyed it, but underneath it all, the plot and the style are lacking.

The prose itself is too elaborate at times, adding explanations that are simply obvious, seemingly just for the joy of adding elaborate words – the very definition of purple prose, if you ask me. Take these examples:

"Nancy brought up the rear. Stillness and speed were diametrically opposed. But she did the best she could, and they reached the attic door at roughly the same time." [Was this even necessary? "They walked to the door" wasn't enough?]

"But the shaking continued as her traitorous body betrayed her, trembling like a leaf in a hard wind." [Added appeal of too many alliterations: "traitorous body betrayed trembling". Wow. That's way too much. And use of two sets of synonims in one sentence?]

"[She] whimpered behind the gag that covered her mouth, eyes rolling wildly as she looked for a way out. She wasn't finding one." [You don't say.]

"[Loriel said], but the heat was gone; her accusations had been met with reality, and they didn't have anyplace else to go." [Am I the only one thinking of a stereotypical high school drama were the mean girl is put in her place?]

Also, the author has a fascination for the Oklahoma accent that I really don't get. I mean, it's okay if you like it, that's not the problem. The problem arises when said accent is described in slash fanfiction style:

"What'n the fuck are you doing in here again, Sumi?" he demanded, Oklahoma accent thick as peanut butter spread across a slice of toast."

"His drawl grew thicker, dripping from his words like sweet and tempting honey."

LADY. STOP. PLS. Well, at least you could argue that Kade is treated exactly the same as a fascinating cis male would be in fanfic...

Another note I want to put out there is how Nancy's asexuality is brought up in the narration. I can't put my finger on what exactly didn't work for me about it, but the two instances in which it was discussed seemed to me like two other parts in which the flow of narration was stilted. In particular, this:

"This was always the difficult part, back when she'd been at her old school: explaining that "asexual" and "aromantic" were different things. She liked holding hands and trading kisses. She'd had several boyfriends in elementary school, just like most of the other girls, and she had always found those practice relationships completely satisfying. It wasn't until puberty had come along and changed the rules that she'd started pulling away in confusion and disinterest."

This part is definitely too didactic, giving the reader a lecture on what asexuality is. Although I can understand the need to do so, I think it interrupts the flow of the story. The use of the terms "asexual" and "aromantic" don't help either, since they're not much used in common parlance and they sound almost like medical tems. Of course they aren't, but the use of "ace" would have been better, maybe (it poses the problem of how many readers might know what ace means, of course). Conversely, Kade's gender identity fits the narration much better. In bits and pieces, the reader learns how his experience in the fairyland he ended up in helped him to discover his identity, and how the discovery had him kicked out of that world. His gender identity is integrated with his backstory, and it works much better.

[thesaltydigest]

Review: “Every Heart A Doorway”, or: What if all possible fantasylands existed, and you could travel to them? (hint: you’re going to die)

Title: Every Heart A Doorway (novelette, 2016 winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novella) Author: Seanan McGuire Review by: Captain Clo Verdict: imaginative worldbuilding, unimaginative plot, stilted writing in random places.

I’ve first hear about this book around the time it was nominated for the Nebula Award, since the book also features an asexual female protagonist and a transexual male side character. That said, simply having LGBT characters does not a good book make, and for all that this novelette is definitely enjoyable, it didn’t convince me. But if you:

are looking for a fairytale-styled fantasy with an asexual protagonist (which is, let’s face it, extremely rare)

like the idea of a trans boy as love interest/charming prince

don’t mind purple prose terribly much

this book is for you.

In my opinion, the best thing about this novelette is definitely the worldbuilding. The plot is based on the existence of a number of “fantasylands” or “parallel universes”, accessible through magical doors that only open for specific people (generally children, but not necessarily) at specific times. The core concept is the same as a journey through fairyland, with children spirited away to worlds that fall on two of four “directions”: Wicked or Virtue, Nonsense or Logic. The children pass years of subjective life in these worlds – whereas in the mundane world, only months or even days pass – and they stay willingly, as they feel that these worlds are perfect for them; or at least, those who manage to come back feel that these places resonated with some aspect of their selves so perfectly, that adjusting back to life in the mundane world is completely impossible. (It’s implied that those who don’t fit in those worlds end up dead. Told you you’re going to die.)

That’s where the setting of the story, the Eleanor West’s Home For Wayward Children, comes into play. The Home is a boarding school for children and teens who have come back from such worlds so deeply changed, they can’t – or don’t want to – live a normal life anymore. Their only desire is to go back, but all of them were either kicked out (fairies are cruel like that, after all) or came back and lost their door. On a certain level, the Home reminded me of an asylum. At first is unclear whether these worlds are real or fabrications of the children’s minds, and a lot of their behaviours, in real life, would be considered signs of a deteriorating mental health. The protagonist, for example, went to an Underworld where people were forced to act as statues – without moving, eating, drinking or sleeping – and she learned that act so well, once she returned to the real world she claims she can eat and drink very little without problem. Her meals consist of fruit juice and a few fruits, and it’s easy to see in this a sign (a metaphor?) of anorexia. Most of the children in the boarding school have similar “disorders”, but in the end, their experiences are real, and so are the worlds they went to.

The descriptions of the worlds and how the children fit in them are all pretty interesting. There are worlds more obviously based on faitytales – with Goblin Kings and quests – and some based on classics such as Frankenstein and Dracula. Every world explains the idiosyncrasies of the children who came back from them. In their own vision, they came back as a truer version of themselves; according to their parents, they came back wrong. And so they send them to the Home to be fixed. On the one hand, the children are changed in ways that make them unable to live normally; all of them are obsessed with the idea of going back, and all of them hate who they were before. They can’t empathize with the parents who were left in anguish for months, and then had their children back, but so changed as to seem mentally ill. At the same time, however, all the parents who get a description are fundamentally bad parents. For example, Kade’s parents can’t accept his trans identity, which emerged once he came back, and want him to act like the “girl he was before”. The protagonist’s parents dig through her luggage and change all her chosen clothes for boarding school – all in black and white exclusively – with the more colourful ones she used to wear. Other parents are described as outright abusers. But, at the same time, what some of these children went through in those worlds they love so much IS abuse. The protagonist, Nancy, can’t aceept the simple fact that the world she went to was “High Wicked” – the creatures, or fairies if you want, that dwelled there abused her, forcing her to act as a living statue; she even knows that those who could not perform as well as her were killed, but she thinks nothing of it. She is, simply put, broken, and in mad love with the King of that world.

Unfortunately, the plot of the novelette itself isn’t about any of that; it’s about a string of vicious murders that start when Nancy joins the school. It’s a pretty standard murder story, with a pretty easy-to-spot culprit. I guess you could say that their motivations are more proof of how broken these children are, but… I just spent a page talking about the worldbuilding, and the plot paragraph is over already.

I don’t comment on a book’s writing style unless I find it egregious in some sense. The prose of this novelette made me roll my eyes in some places – random, odd places, not throughout the entire book, which ruined the reading experience. Those purple prose spots jarred my willing suspension of disbelief, and made me think of old-school fiction when goth style was all the rage (no offense to those who were into the rage… I was too). Take the description of Nancy:

“She wore black – black jeans, black ankle boots with tiny black buttons marching like soldiers from toe to calf – and she wore white – a loose tank top, the faux pearls bands around her wrists – and she had a ribbon the color of pomegranate seeds tied around the base of her ponytail. Her hair was bone-white streaked with runnels of black, like oil spilled on a marble floor, and her eyes were pale as ice.”

I can’t, for the life of me, figure out if the author is pulling my leg here. I haven’t read something that screams “edgy teen Mary Sue-self” this hard since My Immortal. Also there is something simply ridiculous in how stereotypically goth the entire concept of the Underworld Nancy went to is – with the fascinating Lord and Lady of the Dead playing wicked games with their subjects, everyone forced to wear black or white, the pomegranate seeds, and the fashion style inspired specifically by Waterhouse. The 17-year-old goth me is cackling. Some other characters are as equally quirky, with elaborate descriptions of their clothes and hair and hairstyle and eye colour… it does set the atmosphere, but it’s also very close to being a mash-up of several teenage “fascinations” for the hell of it. It adds colour, I enjoyed it, but underneath it all, the plot and the style are lacking.

The prose itself is too elaborate at times, adding explanations that are simply obvious, seemingly just for the joy of adding elaborate words – the very definition of purple prose, if you ask me. Take these examples:

“Nancy brought up the rear. Stillness and speed were diametrically opposed. But she did the best she could, and they reached the attic door at roughly the same time.” [Was this even necessary? “They walked to the door” wasn’t enough?]

“But the shaking continued as her traitorous body betrayed her, trembling like a leaf in a hard wind.” [Added appeal of too many alliterations: “traitorous body betrayed trembling”. Wow. That’s way too much. And use of two sets of synonims in one sentence?]

“[She] whimpered behind the gag that covered her mouth, eyes rolling wildly as she looked for a way out. She wasn’t finding one.” [You don’t say.]

“[Loriel said], but the heat was gone; her accusations had been met with reality, and they didn’t have anyplace else to go.” [Am I the only one thinking of a stereotypical high school drama were the mean girl is put in her place?]

Also, the author has a fascination for the Oklahoma accent that I really don’t get. I mean, it’s okay if you like it, that’s not the problem. The problem arises when said accent is described in slash fanfiction style:

“What'n the fuck are you doing in here again, Sumi?” he demanded, Oklahoma accent thick as peanut butter spread across a slice of toast.“

"His drawl grew thicker, dripping from his words like sweet and tempting honey.”

LADY. STOP. PLS. Well, at least you could argue that Kade is treated exactly the same as a fascinating cis male would be in fanfic…

Another note I want to put out there is how Nancy’s asexuality is brought up in the narration. I can’t put my finger on what exactly didn’t work for me about it, but the two instances in which it was discussed seemed to me like two other parts in which the flow of narration was stilted. In particular, this:

“This was always the difficult part, back when she’d been at her old school: explaining that "asexual” and “aromantic” were different things. She liked holding hands and trading kisses. She’d had several boyfriends in elementary school, just like most of the other girls, and she had always found those practice relationships completely satisfying. It wasn’t until puberty had come along and changed the rules that she’d started pulling away in confusion and disinterest.“

This part is definitely too didactic, giving the reader a lecture on what asexuality is. Although I can understand the need to do so, I think it interrupts the flow of the story. The use of the terms "asexual” and “aromantic” don’t help either, since they’re not much used in common parlance and they sound almost like medical tems. Of course they aren’t, but the use of “ace” would have been better, maybe (it poses the problem of how many readers might know what ace means, of course). Conversely, Kade’s gender identity fits the narration much better. In bits and pieces, the reader learns how his experience in the fairyland he ended up in helped him to discover his identity, and how the discovery had him kicked out of that world. His gender identity is integrated with his backstory, and it works much better.

[recentanimenews]

Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei: The Power of Negative Thinking, Vol. 1

Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei: The Power of Negative Thinking may not be as relentlessly intertextual as Ulysses, but this Japanese import is nearly as rich in puns, social commentary, pop-culture parody, and allusions to TV shows, novels, movies, and manga. I can’t imagine adapting such a culturally specific text for Western audiences, yet the folks at Del Rey have made a game effort to do just that. Given the scope and complexity of the task, I think translator Joyce Aurino has produced an eminently readable script that captures the darkness and absurdity of Koji Kumeta’s original. I just wish it were, y’know, funnier.

The premise seems ripe with comic potential. High school teacher and profound pessimist Nozomu Itoshiki lands the gig from hell: an all-female class of stalkers, hikokimori, obsessive text-messagers, bossy perfectionists, panty-flashers, and perky optimists. Try as he might to escape his obligations, his students foil his repeated suicide attempts, compounding his sense of despair and driving him to more extreme, ridiculous measures.

Through a series of interconnected vignettes, we begin to grasp the true extent of Itoshiki’s negativity as well as the sheer nuttiness of his students. In “Zetsubou-Sensei Returns,” for example, Itoshiki instructs his students to complete a “Post Graduation Career Hope Survey” by listing the three dreams they’re least likely to realize, e.g. playing baseball for Yomiuri Giants, recording a best-selling pop album. His sour-spirited effort quickly backfires, however, when the school’s guidance counselor reads the responses and praises Itoshiki for encouraging his students to dream big. In “Before Me, There’s No One; Behind Me, There’s You,” Matoi Tsunetsuki, a.k.a. “super-love-obsessed stalker girl,” develops an unhealthy attachment to Itoshiki. Matoi pursues her teacher with steely determination, adopting his trademark yukata, building a shrine to him, and following him everywhere. The chapter ends with a brilliant stroke, as one of Matoi’s former love interests begins tailing her to find out who’s replaced him, only to discover a chain of stalkers trailing in Matoi and Itoshiki’s wake.

Unfortunately, many of the stories require too much editorial intervention to elicit real laughs, as Kumeta’s panels abound in the kind of small but important details that resist easy translation: brand name parodies, puns on famous literary works, misspelled words, and so forth. The story titles, too, require explanation; “Behind Me, There’s No One,” for example, is a riff on a poem by Kotaro Takamura, while “Beyond the Tunnel Was Whiteness” appropriates a line from Yasanuri Kuwabata’s Snow Country. Absent this rich network of cultural references, Kometa’s comedy loses some of its fizz, playing more like a mild satire of shojo manga conventions than a scathing commentary on contemporary Japan.

If the text sometimes disappoints, the artwork does not. Kumeta uses a stark palette with large patches of pure black and plenty of white space. His highly stylized character designs have a pleasing, geometric quality about them, as do the patterns in their clothing. Though his faces are the essence of simplicity— just a few lines and two dark coals for eyes—Kumeta animates them with skill, registering the full gamut of emotions from anger to joy. His students are virtually interchangeable, save for their accessories and hairstyles: a black eye and a sling for the class masochist, blonde hair and strawberry-print underpants for the class exhibitionist. Again, Kumeta’s economy of form works beautifully, underscoring the extent to which Itoshiki views all of the girls in the same light: as nuisances.

I wish I liked Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei better, as I think Kumeta is a terrific artist with a fertile imagination. But it’s awfully hard to laugh when 70% of the jokes require footnotes. (If you disagree, try this exercise: watch an episode of Seinfeld, The Chapelle Show, or South Park with someone who’s new to the United States. Then try explaining why the jokes work. You’ll quickly realize the degree to which the creators rely on your knowledge of literature, politics, movies, and pop music for laughs.) I’m also a little uncomfortable with the way Kumeta depicts the female students, as he skates a thin line between poking fun at stock manga characters and portraying teenage girls as desperate, manipulative, boy-crazed hysterics. I wouldn’t go as far as to label the text misogynist—that term seems much too strong—but I would feel more at ease with the material if Kumeta’s cast was comprised of troublesome girls and boys—equal opportunity neurosis, if you will.

That said, I’m not ready to declare Zetsubou-Sensei a dud; I’m just not sure how invested I am in a series that requires its own set of cultural Cliff Notes to decode.

This review originally appeared at The Manga Curmudgeon on March 4, 2009.

By: Katherine Dacey

[technewss15-blog]

Funny To A Point – Heeding The Call In Destiny 2

After years of listening to gamers gripe about how the original Destiny ruined their lives in every conceivable way (even as they logged in hundreds of hours), Destiny 2 is finally here. Does the shiny new sequel provide Bungie with the redemption it doesn’t really need and has never asked for? Seeing as how all the early criticism has focused on the way shaders are used to paint your guardian pretty colors, it seems like the answer is yes. But we all know that the real verdict won’t be rendered until the professional critics weigh in – and we all know that the only professional critic that really matters is ME. Well, fear not, dear readers: Like my hideous Smurfette of a guardian, I am up to the task and ready to save the day!

Full disclosure: I never actually managed to finish the original Destiny. I played for about a week or so when the game first came out, but lost interest when that weird emo prince showed up in the incomprehensible-yet-paradoxically-simple story. My experience with Destiny since then has been downloading every new expansion and then feeling progressively more guilty for not actually playing them.

So what imbues me with the expertise needed to weigh in on Destiny 2, you ask? Well, for starters I was one of the first critics to identify and outline some of the major problems of the first Destiny – I was so early, in fact, that I received a massive amount of hate from the same super fans who would become Destiny’s super haters once they realized I knew what the hell I was talking about. I also cracked Destiny’s biggest secret, which has still eluded everyone else, so I think that makes me the King of Destiny? I dunno. Anywho, let’s get on with it, shall we?

Note: You can click on any of the pictures for a better look at whatever misadventures are being documented.

Destiny 2’s opening cinematic lays out the series’ plot like it’s reading a picture book to a child, and it’s a decision that I wholly appreciate. At this point, all I really remember about the first game is that a giant ping-pong ball gave my zombie soldier some sweet superpowers, which I used to kill a bunch of angry aliens as I searched for shiny balls engrams to score more loot. The intro doesn’t contain any huge revelations (“a mysterious good force is fighting a mysterious evil force!”), but I no longer felt the need to look up a plot synopsis on a Destiny fan wiki after watching it, and for that I’m eternally grateful.

Actually, Destiny 2’s intro did contain one particularly rude revelation: Because I didn’t max out my Destiny 1 guardian (I’m going to go ahead and blame Prince Creep for that), I can’t import her into the sequel. So as far as I can tell, from a lore perspective my original guardian gets blasted to smithereens during the cabal attack that kicks off Destiny 2. Not being able to carry over my character isn’t a huge loss, but it does undermine the fantasy a bit:

The Speaker: “You are the chosen Guardian, who will rise from the dead and save humanity from the galaxy’s greatest thr–“

*BLAMMO!!!* [Guardian’s head explodes into a fine mist.]

The Speaker: [Shuffling over to the next corpse] “Ahem…You are the chosen guardian…”

Anyway, with my old guardian now super-forever dead, I resign myself to creating a new character from scratch. I go with the Hunter class, because like me they are crafty and roguish and it’s my fantasy world so I’ll believe whatever I want! I also opt for a female Awoken, because humans are boring and robots are probably going to kill us all one day and I don’t need to be reminded of it every time I pull the trigger. At this point I realize I’ve remade all the same class choices I did in the first game, so I decide to just remake my character entirely. Think you’re getting rid of my guardian that easy? Think again!

Creating a character in a game usually turns into an all-night affair for me, as I obsessively shift every slider back and forth to its extremes before settling on the default position. Not so in Destiny 2! You get to create the exact hero of your dreams – by choosing from 7 stock faces and a handful of the ugliest hairstyles imaginable, because apparently the barbers were the first ones to be killed off in the apocalypse. Normally my wife weighs in on every minute detail during the character creation process, but the only feedback she offers me about Destiny 2’s limited options is that one hairstyle in particular makes my character “look like a heathen.” I’m not even sure what that means.

This just looks like Conan The Barbarian’s haircut to me, though come to think of it he probably was a heathen, so I guess she was right after all.

I opt for a crazy space mohawk instead, then move on to the face tattoos, which are always being as pointless and ill-advised in character creators as they are in real-life. Even so, Destiny 2 sets a new low bar for the extraneous category. Once again, I imagine an intern – possibly the same one who made Andromeda’s preset faces for BioWare – whipped them up in a matter of minutes.

Intern: “Hey, here are some face dots.”

Bungie Employee: “…You mean freckles?”

Intern: “Nah man, just face dots.”

Bungie Employee: “Alrighty then. Next!”

Somehow my guardian ends up looking vaguely like Margaery Tyrell, if she was thrown into the Mad Max universe and also purple for some reason. As totally rad as that sounds, I immediately regret every decision I made as soon as she pops up in the first actual cutscene – the gaming equivalent of getting dressed in the dark and then realizing you’re wearing your wife’s shirt as soon as you step out into the sunlight.* My wife also didn’t seem impressed, simply stating, “she looks quite striking,” which I assume is a polite euphemism for fugly. But whatever – at least it’s time to finally start playing!

Destiny 2 wastes no time getting into the action; after a brief cutscene starring the three characters from the first game that actually had faces, players are thrust into battle against a new faction of turtle-looking enemies called the Cabal. The Cabal are hellbent on destroying The Last City, which would normally be the name of a piece of armor or some robot butler in a Bungie game, but in this case it’s an actual city. Come to think of it, the Cabal is also a perfectly adequate name for an enemy faction…has Bungie lost its edge?!

What the heck are the space moles from Mass Effect doing in Destiny? And why are they so mean?!

The gameplay opens with your guardian returning to The Last City after some kind of patrol (or a sandwich run for we all know), and landing on the outskirts of the siege. I spend a few minutes of getting reacquainted with the controls, which includes immediately throwing a grenade at my feet and blasting away half my health. From there it’s on to the first battle, though things don’t go quite how I expect.

Even after all these years, I still remember my first open-ended skirmish in Halo; how dynamic the battle felt, and how the A.I. enemies seemed to be thinking and reacting for themselves. In contrast, much of the opening level in Destiny 2 feels more like Disney’s It’s A Small World ride than an FPS, as you’re guided from one small murder diorama to the next. Even for a self-grenading chump like myself, the initial enemies you face are about as threatening as the paper silhouettes at a shooting range, taking a step or two and then waiting politely for you to shoot their heads into some kind of ghost vapor. On the positive side, the controls feel as silky smooth as ever, and the first two guns I picked up were called Origin Story and The Last Dance, so at least Bungie’s still got it!

After a few more underwhelming encounters, the game’s seamless co-op kicks in – another guardian is just over the ridge and is in need of reviving! I’m not sure how he managed to die during this dog and pony show, but by the time I get over to him, a third player has him back up on his feet. It’s the thought that counts though, right?

Our improvised trio rallies around the bald dude who despite being a blue alien is always going to be Captain Daniels to me and anyone else who has seen The Wire (to my wife he’s the captain from Fringe, which is basically the same role only with parallel universes thrown into the mix). Daniels tells me that I should stay behind his shield, but I get annihilated by an incoming missile before it’s even deployed. So that’s how my co-op buddy died…

The Night King shows up in Destiny 2, but apparently he’s a good guy now.

One of my anonymous pals revives me and we hunker down and fight off a few waves of enemies together. It’s a cool, ships-passing-in-the-night kind of moment that reminds me of Journey, albeit with more guns and grenades and slaughtering aliens as they mindlessly funnel into my murder canal.** Once the assault ends, I turn to wave to my teammates, only to see that they have disappeared without so much as a goodbye –apparently manners were also a casualty of the apocalypse.

I move onto the next area and run into another NPC who I should probably know from the first game, but she promptly tells me that she’s going to “kick the Cabal where it hurts,” and then jumps onto the nose of a spaceship and disappears. I assume she’s talking about their space nards, though that’s an assumption in and of itself – how does she know the Cabal are males? Way to assume their gender, only human lady left on whatever planet this is. Seriously, is this Earth? Whatever. On to the next fight!

The next encounter actually gives me a run for my money, thanks to one enemy in particular: Pashk, The Searing Will. I know that’s his name because I actually took extra damage just to grab a screen of it.

No wonder he’s fighting so hard – people have probably made fun of his name for his whole life!

Unfortunately for him, Pashk is no match for Ode To An Unbroken Heart, which is the name I just gave my melee knife because two can play that game, Bungie!

With Pashk’s searing will extinguished, I head onto the next area, only to trigger a cutscene that introduces Destiny 2’s villain: a massive Cabal warrior named Ghaul. Well, mostly massive – his tiny bald head makes him look like a dude in a mascot suit who took his head off for a breather. Also, what is with villains wearing masks that distort their voices? Have we learned nothing from Bane?

I’m sorry, a world without what? Work on your enunciation, Ghaul! Also, why yo head so tiny?

Regardless, Ghaul gives a little speech about how puny guardians are, then drives the point home by planting his foot in my face and kicking me off of the magic tower we were trying to defend. As if that’s not bad enough, he also puts some kind of massive chastity belt on the ping-pong ball Traveler, which sucks away all the guardians’ superpowers. Talk about rude!

Despite just being a regular alien lady again, my guardian somehow survives the stories-high fall off the magic tower – though I guess that’s probably because it wouldn’t be much of a game otherwise (“And so the final guardian perished, and the might Cabal took over the galaxy. Thanks for playing!”). I limp out of the burning city with only a pistol, shooting some strange spikey dog creatures that also barf up their souls when they die (seriously, what kind of bullets are you shooting in this game?). Eventually a woman with a hawk shows up and invites me back to her village, which serves as the game’s first social hub. By that point in the evening my narcolepsy starts kicking in, and I repeatedly fall asleep while kicking around a giant soccer ball, only to wake up a few minutes later to sight of my character being nuked for wandering out of bounds – always a good time to call it quits.

You thought I was joking about falling asleep, didn’t you? Think again!

While Destiny 2’s opening doesn’t leave the strongest impression (even by tutorial-level standards), it contains at least a few sparks of Bungie’s patented dynamic combat, and does a much better job setting up a story and villain than the first game. And while I wasn’t particularly blown away by anything in my first night (well, except for the out-of-bounds limit), my subsequent play sessions have been more emblematic of what Destiny 2 strives for: tense and challenging fire fights against formidable enemies; an addictive loot loop that has me switching up my arsenal at a satisfying pace; and fun public events that you can jump into during the final few seconds and still nab the rewards. There’s also the PvP that I’m sure I’ll get obliterated in, and co-op strikes and raids if I can ever get Jeff Cork to put down Path of Exile and play with me (oh how the tables have turned).

Oftentimes in my column I tend to either gush endless praise for a game or take a big dump on it, but so far Destiny 2 hasn’t elicited anything quite so extreme from me. I’m enjoying the combat and the sense of progression, despite the fact that my character feels more like a mute marionette puppet than a super hero (seriously, a silent protagonist? In 2017?). And while I’m enjoying the game more and more every night, I don’t know that I’ll be one of those crazy people who plays it obsessively for years on end.

Anyway, I continued writing down more impressions and anecdotes in the subsequent play sessions, but rather than weaving them all into a(n even) long(er) and (more) boring narrative, I’ll just throw them in with some pictures and videos, and use the extra time to play more of the game. If that’s not a ringing endorsement, I don’t know what is!

Few games take the term “monster closet” more literally than Destiny 2. It’s seriously just a door with mysterious black smoke!

The European Dead Zone is like a taxi zone at the airport – ships are constantly coming in and dropping aliens off on the same street. You’d think they’d have a better invasion plan.

All joking aside, Bungie serves up some awesome sci-fi environments every now and then.

The hawk lady seems pretty cool. Even if she fell for the face dots.

Titan looks like an awesome neon-blue planet when you view it on the map, but it turns out it’s just Mother Base. Also, what’s with all these potato-chip bags?!

Sometimes Destiny 2’s combat suffers from the level design, with enemies funneling into murder canals because it’s the only path through the environment. Then again, sometimes it’s also fun to rack up a billion headshots in a row.

I ran across these two little frog aliens, which I’m assuming are Destiny’s equivalent of Statler and Waldorf. I’m hoping they play a big role in the story later on.

Not to get too deep into spoiler territory, but Cayde’s torrid love affair with this chicken is as emotionally touching as it is sexually graphic.

There are a lot of big balls in Destiny 2. Just saying.

Seriously, they’re all over the place.

Bungie says the EDZ is the biggest zone they’ve ever created, but I don’t know how that’s possible when every rig on Titan contains an endless sprawl of identical rooms and corridors. One time when I was hopelessly looking for an exit, I ran into a big knight-looking dude and received a Lost Sector banner when I defeated him. In my case the “Lost” was quite literal. Also, does anyone else find it weird that Titan is a class in Destiny 2 and also a planet? Too many Titans, Bungie!

I don’t even want to know what that is.

Breaking news: The totally useless spaceships return in Destiny 2! They’re not fooling anyone, but they do make for a pretty snazzy-looking loading screen.

Everyone spawns into the same location on The Farm, making you look like some horrific, multi-headed mutant. The extra arms would probably come in handy during battle, though.

I was super excited when I got sword from a treasure chest. A sword! Then I found out it’s some kind of weird magic sword that needs ammo. How the hell is that better than a rocket launcher?!

And finally, it’s not a sci-fi game if you don’t have floating rocks – and also point out said floating rocks to the player via NPC dialogue. In this case, ghost speculates that they’re caused by some kind of Hive magic. How’s that for science fiction!***

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Funny To A Point – Heeding The Call In Destiny 2 was originally published on Tech News Center The Digital Generation