#i wish nothing but the best for his family and astro and every fan that’s grieving

[jungkxook]

in disbelief about moonbin💔

[vanilla-blessing]

qb’s Mid-Season Reviews (Spring 2017)

Now that we’re at the halfway point for the season, I wrote some blurbs on my favorite and least favorite shows from the Spring 2017 season that I’ve watched so far. They’re loosely ranked by how much I’d recommend each anime, and go over the apparent strengths and weaknesses of each one. My favorites are the mostly the same as I speculated from the start of the season, but some of them didn’t turn out so great. These are what I’d say are easy recommendations: 

Alice & Zoroku

weaknesses - Alice & Zoroku has a tendency to be slightly maudlin, prone to a few tonal swings, and its necessary double-length first episode can be an obstacle. Additionally, it’s on the darker side of magical girls, and although it isn't defined by violence, it doesn't hold back in portrayals of cruelty, even when it probably should.

strengths - It pulls off a Nanoha-style combination of sci-fi and magical girls, and successfully balances high emotional peaks. Sana discovering the world and integrating into Zoroku's family in turn raises the stakes for the magical battles which threaten her new family. Zoroku the grumpy florist is a straight-up boss, and his role in the story as a grounded role model is both innovative and a perfect fit for this style of magical girl anime. 

  Grimoire of Zero

weaknesses - Grimoire of Zero is a pretty conventional high fantasy on the surface, and if there’s one major flaw it’s how the magical action scenes tend to read like a novel, with lots of flashy lights and words but not much actually happening. 

strengths - It handles an incredibly precarious fantasy world filled with dangerously heavy topics like witch burning, slavery, complex magical rulesets, mass murder, sanctioned killings, and political tensions with aplomb in a remarkably natural way. It also has character relationships that are just as natural and incredibly endearing that serve to balance learning about the brutality of the fantasy world, but manages to never feel out of place. Although Grimoire of Zero is certainly conventional, its incredible tact with extreme topics and naturalistic writing are rare qualities for the genre anime fans are probably the most tired of. 

  Tsuki ga Kirei

weaknesses - It’s a very conventional school life heterosexual romance, and although it’s a modern take, it still has those limitations. It uses a lot of 3DCG for crowd shots that tends to stand out when you notice it, but that’s a rising trend that we’ll get more used to over time until we’ll hardly notice it at all. Maybe.

strengths - Tsuki ga Kirei is particularly strong at making conventional romance tropes interesting through a modern lens of smartphones in a way that keeps the show fresh and relevant. Contrasting to the crowd shots, it features extremely detailed and personal character animation where it counts, seemingly animated on the ones at times. It’s very good at what it does, plus the gag clips at the end of each episode about the side characters are really funny and good for relieving drama. 

Seikaisuru Kado: The Right Answer

weaknesses - Kado uses an ambitious style of 3D/2D animation that’s kind of distracting, and it can’t seem to decide if it’s going for the tone of a slow-paced live action drama or a traditional anime style, and kind of mixes both. Plot-wise, its resolutions to world-changing problems are a bit too simple and notably Japan-centric. 

strengths - Kado showcases a fascinatingly hard sci-fi and sociopolitical thriller without the mandatory robots or war you’d expect, and provides the kind of story that you would never normally see in anime. It’s designed to be way up the alley of theoretical physics nerds and succeeds at that with its gigantic space cube. Toei has touched on an interesting well with the themes of negotiation and dilemmas and has chosen an ambitious and unique style to explore them in. 

CUBE

ORB

ORB FROM CUBE

Unfortunately, some of the shows I had early hopes for haven’t delivered, and some of them belong in the Poo Poo Garbage:

Atom: The Beginning

strengths - Atom (prequel to Mighty Atom aka Astro Boy) has an Amazingly animated OP sequence, straight up one of the best segments of animation I've seen all year. It also features intricately designed robots and creative mechanical movement that has been fun to watch.

weakness - The humans are very boring, static, and ugly, and are a majority of the show’s runtime. There’s a serious lack of enthusiasm with anything that involves things that aren’t robots and it sucks all the life out of the show, ironically.  

Twin Angel BREAK

strengths - The magical girl transformations and OP look good, and it's funny in a broad sense that it was made and continues to exist.

weaknesses - There’s almost nothing notable about Twin Angel BREAK (Twin Angels BREAK) at all, its comedy consists of extremely obtuse jokes that don't work, and it’s even significantly less interesting than the adult-oriented slot machine version that has heavy fanservice because this one doesn't even have that appeal. It also loses the sole strength of the Twin Angel series by having laughably terrible fight choreography that rarely looks passable. I expected Twin Angel BREAK to be either amazing or entertainingly bad and it has done neither. Twin Angel BREAK has no weaknesses its good actually

 Hinako Note

strengths - Hinako Note is generally pretty funny for a moe girls in a club show, and features endcards that reference famous movies and stories that are cute and good. 

weaknesses - It does not stay funny, in fact the jokes run dry very quickly. There’s a distinct gap between portraying the same characters as hyper-sexualized and chibi multiple times in the same scene that is extremely disconcerting and inconsistent. On top of that, the fanservice that is there is horrendously inappropriate in all senses of the word, sexualizing characters that are FAR too young even for the nearly nonexistent standards of moe anime, and even when the girls aren’t disturbingly young it always feels really out of place every single time they go for it. This extends to some of the endcards, which are usually cute and clever but occasionally fetishistic and gross. I’ve never seen an anime’s tiny, insignificant problems fester into absolute dealbreakers as quickly as Hinako Note managed to.

Overall, this season seems to be as strong on average as any other season, but lacks the punch of the seasons we’ve had lately, with crazy projects like Flip Flappers, Yuri on Ice, Rakugo Shinjuu, Scum’s Wish, and even Kemono Friends. Kado seems to be ambitious, but possibly in the wrong direction, and everything else that’s good tends to build off of established conventions. We might have been spoiled with unconventionally successful anime from the last year, and it certainly doesn’t mean this season is bad, but it’s looking like the original anime of Spring 2017 will be overshadowed by the gamechangers we’ve enjoyed recently, and the concurrent sequels to anime everyone already knows are good. 

-magical girl liker qb @queuebae

[radgeorgie]

~~~tag game~~~

shoutout to @pastel-sk1es​ for thinking my blog was cool, and also tagging me in this

im tagging @samiramueller bc i wanna get to know you better!

1. What Time Is It Where You Are?

3:48 (Michigan, USA)

2. Current Energy Levels?

85%, i slept for 12+ hours last night surprisingly

3. Song That You’re Obsessed With At The Moment?

any song twice has come out with

4. Other Kpop Groups You Stan That Aren’t BTS?

tooooo many (that you can find here lmao) but I stan these religiously:

TWICE

Red Velvet

Monsta X

SEVENTEEN

ASTRO

5. Bands Outside of Kpop That You Stan?

Little Mix mainly, but I do like a few american pop songs

6. Cats or Dogs?

cats! but i did volunteer at a dog shelter not to long ago...

7. Favourite Sound?

stereotypical white girl but rain? the sound of my own snoring? lmao

8. Something That Made You Laugh In The Last Couple of Days?

thinking about how im gonna get through college? im so royally screwed?

9. Favourite Thing About Your Bias?

how he never stops trying. He keeps trying to be a better person for himself and his members and his fans.

10. Apps / Sites that you use often?

tumblr (obliviously), twitter (kimsjoonie), snapchat (cronuss-ampora)

11. Where Are You From?

born & raised in the usa

12. Are You More of An Introvert or Extrovert?

introvert

13. Since When Have You Been Into Kpop And How Did You Discover It?

2012, but I didn’t really get into it until august 2014. I was scrolling through tumblr for playlists & found snsd’s the boys (eng ver). I really fell in love with it wanted to research more, but I was young & didn’t really like listening to music that didn’t ing to music that wasn’t in english (lmao) so I kind of forgot about it? It wasn’t until Jessica left SNSD that I really wanted to get into KPop, bc I was falling out of the anime fandom lmao. I decided to nosedive into KPop and here we are now!

14. Who Was The First Kpop Group You Got Into?

Girls Generation! (with SHINee following very close after)

15. Do You Have Any Pets? If Yes, Which One(s)?

one, a dog named bo (also known as bobo, bobo pet & bobo baggins)

16. Tea or Coffee?

neither, I hate both lmao

17. Day or Night?

~~~night~~~

18. What Kind of Movies Do You Prefer Watching?

horror mostly, i don’t watch movies that music

19. What Is Your Biggest Wish For The Future?

another stereotypical white girl answer, but to be happy. im sick of wanting to die all the time

20. What’s Your Way of Being Creative

photography & music

21. What’s Your Dream Job?

idk at this point in the game. im going to college of photography so i guess that? thats what i wanted to be when i was younger too

22. Which Country / Countries Do You Desperately Want To Visit?

any, I wanna visit every country at least once

23. How many languages do you speak?

one bitch I live in the whitest country ever

24. What was your favorite subject in school/college/university?

history, although only a little, i hate that place with a burning passion

25. Do you play, or have you played, any musical instruments?

i used to play trumpet back in 7th grade, but my band teacher bullied me out of it so I dont play it anymore

26. Do you believe in horoscopes/zodiacs?

yes bitch tf

27. Is there anything you really want to learn or to do?

i really wanna learn another language, but im tired & lazy

28. How many times in your life have you moved house/city/country?

twice, once when I was 5 & again when I was 15

29. Would you rather have no children or a lot of children?

no children, fuck em

30. Are you religious/spiritual?

no

31. Do you drink alcohol?

im the lamest bitch ever, no

32. If you got to spend a whole week alone with your idol, what would you want to do? (apart from sex… ¬_¬)

I’d love to visit their hometown with them. meet their family, see where they grew up, meet their childhood friends & eat at the same places they love. I’d love to see them happy & healthy surrounded by friends and family.

34. If you could be the best in the world at ONE thing, what would it be?

something that would make me successful & happy

35. What Are Your Passions?

sleeping.......death........

36. What are your pet-peeves?

slow walkers, people with annoying laughs

37. Favourite Anime / Manga Movies?

i haven’t watched anime in 20 years, but ouran high school host club still has me feeling some type of way

38. Favourite Anime / Manga Tv Shows?

isnt this just a repeat of question 37?

39. What is your favourite season?

fall~~

40. If you could have whichever nationality you wanted what would it be and why?

i mean...being american kind of sucks, but i dont think id change it.

41. Would you rather visit outer space or the deep sea and why?

outer space, id love to visit the stars & see planets from an outside view

42. Greatest fear?

another white girl answer, but being lonely (lmao bitch tf @ me wtf)

43. What was the most memorable moment of your life?

starting high school. i cried for two days & wanted nothing but death.

44.  Something you can’t live without?

sleep & my phone

45. If you were granted one wish, what would it be and why?

to matter to someone on a personal level

46. What would you say to your idol if you met them?

tell them that I love them & hope they remain healthy & happy for the years to come

47. Somebody you care about a lot?

my friend & namjoon lmao

48. Life lesson you learned?

it fucking sucks & the best deal to deal with it is tough it out

49. What would you say to your ten year old self?

remain happy as much as you can & fuck what everything has to say

50. What are you most thankful for?

nothing really????? im sorry?????

51. Have you ever been to a K-Pop concert?

ive been to a dumbfoundead concert, but I don’t know if you’d consider him k-pop...

52. What are your goals for next year?

in ill be in college, to make friends

53. Who are your role models and why?

prolly namjoon lmao. just his life struggles, how he went with what he wanted in life not with what he was the best at, his goals & his accomplishments I could go on but honestly nobody cares lmao

54. What motivates you to keep striving towards your goals?

the idea that ill have a good life once i achieve them

55. If you could be anyone for a day who would it be and why?

like a 95 year old that lives in a retiring home so I can sleep 4ever lmao

56.  Who is your bias list wrecker?

i have too many, but in BTS its def suga

57. If you could listen to only one album for the rest of your life what would it be? Why?

quite surprisingly, but FOB’s album Save Rock & Roll, I love every song on that album & the impact it has.......holy shit dude

58. What’s your favorite food from your home country? (because I honestly love food so much)

holy shit.... honestly...america has stolen like half of its menu from other countries, but im in love with chicken pitas, and i think thats an american thing? I could be wrong tho.

ADDED QUESTION:

59: do you watch tv often? what tv shows are you obsessed with recently?

[aroha-x-astro-blog]

Dear Astro

So this is the letter I wrote to Binnie on his birthday. I don’t know why I’m posting it so late but better late than never right?

Dear Moonbin,

Happy birthday!!

It’s your birthday in Korea today, and I can’t express how happy that makes me. To know that you’re a whole year older and smarter and mature and just the fact that you’re blossoming into such an amazing person feels like i’ve received a gift today, if i’m being completely honest.

This is also your first year as an adult. You’re beginning the long road that is adulthood and i know that you’re going to do perfectly fine. You have some of the greatests hyungs i have ever seen; they’ll help you get through this transition, so don’t worry about it being an awkward thing. Awkwardness is almost always expected when you start something for the first time.

Also please don’t be afraid that we’ll stop loving you for any reason now that you’ve become an adult. All arohas around the world love you so much that there’s nothing, nothing, in the world that could change that.

I love the way you smile. Your smile is one of the reasons that i smile. Seeing you be happy and smiling makes me happier than almost anything else in the world. Seeing you be happy is a blessing that not even god has the power to bestow on us because it really does such wonderful things.

I love the way your eyes smile when you’re laughing or when you’re happy, because this means that you’re genuinely having a good time and enjoying yourself, which is all i want for you. I want you to have fun doing what you’re doing, no matter what it is. Seeing your little eye smiles make me happy because then i know that you’re truly enjoying yourself.

I love the presence you give off when you’re on stage, whether it’s singing or dancing or just standing on stage. I’m gonna break this into parts because there’s a lot i want to say here.

I love seeing you dance. It doesn’t matter whether or not you’re on stage or not, because i can see how much fun you’re having. I can see the look on your face and think, “I wonder what you feel when your dancing… i wonder what you think about while you’re dancing… i wonder how much do you really love dancing… will i ever find something that i’ll love even half as much as you do… “ i have these thoughts because i can’t even begin to imagine the joy you feel when you dance. The passion you have for it makes me want to try harder in whatever task i’m currently be doing, whether it’s my homework for school or a workout or just something as simple as cleaning my room. You make me wanna to it to my best ability. You inspire me because you’re so dedicated to your dancing and everything that it makes me wanna try harder.

Your singing amazes me so much, and i can’t really explain this one but i’m gonna try. Your voice to me is so distinct that i can pick it out from everyone else’s. The part that makes me feel like i won’t be able to explain this in a way that will make sense to you is that the fact that you practice so hard to hit that high note, to make sure that you can keep your voice steady, that it amazes me beyond words. Your voice is so stable and you sound just as good live, if not better, than your recordings. That’s how much i think of you and respect you. I mean, as such a young age, you’ve accomplished so much and your future is just so bright, and you’re just starting out. It hasn’t even been a year since your debut, but you’ve released three mini albums, gone on multiple variety and performance shows, gained an enormous amount of fans, both national and international, gone on an asia tour, gone to kcon LA, won the SMA Hallyu award, which no rookie has ever won before, and become the most caring, wonderful, hard working group of boys that i have ever seen.

Individually, you have come so far too. You went from going through the trainee process during the entirety of your teenage years. I don’t know what the process is or what you have to go through when you’re a trainee and i don’t know if i wanna know. If i did know, i think i would just get really sad from the rumors that i’ve heard about some companies and their trainee systems. Thinking that you went through a similar experience breaks my heart, to be honest. yOu had to learns how to deal with growing up as a kid away from your parents and your family. You had to stay up until who knows what hours just to learn some choreography or practicing the song you were being evaluated on the next day just to make sure you don’t end up being kicked out of the company; you went through all of that as a teenager.

I’m barely making it through high school right now, i don’t know how you managed to juggle both being a trainee and a middle/high school student. It doesn’t seem like it should be possible, but you did it somehow. You showed me that you’re never too young to start chasing your dream, and that if you really, really want it, then nothing can stop you. If you really want to achieve something, and you’re determined to do it, then you’ll be able to handle everything else around you. I feel inspired by you to try my hardest on school so that i won’t have any regrets when i apply to the colleges i want to go to.

I love how well you get along with your members. I think this is my favorite part of you because your members make you who you are almost and i think that you’ve made them that much of a better person than they already are.

With Sanha, you’ve always played with him and been such a good brother to him. I know that you look out for him because he’s your little brother and you want him to be the best person he can be. I know you complain about having to play with the baby, but you have so much fun with him and he has so much fun with you that it always makes me smile seeing the two of you having fun.

You and Minhyuk’s relationship to me is so strong i don’t think that there’s anything that can break it. You’ve both trained for so long that it’s insane how well you probably know each other. You two have such a good chemistry with each other that if someone told me that you were really brothers, i would believe it 100%. Thank you for caring for him like he really is your little brother.

Now the whole fandom knows how much you and Dongmin love each other. You’re so close and that might be because you’re the same grade in high school or something, i can’t explain why i think that you two are so close and I don’t really need to. Seeing you two together, having fun just being together and everything makes me so happy that i can’t really explain it in words.

With Jinwoo, i love the relaxed relationship not only you but the whole group has with him. I’m glad that you feel close enough with him that you can make fun of him and make jokes about his height and everything but when it really counts you respect him and i think that’s the best kind of relationship you can have with your leader and i’m thankful that you have such a good relationship with Jinwoo

With Myungjun, i’m really happy how playful you are with him. I’m glad that you can enjoy being yourself around him, but you still show him the same respect you would to someone older than you. You two really get along so well and that makes me really happy too. Knowing that you have an older brother that you can have fun with is really comforting and i love how close you are with him.

I love how close you are with all the members and i can’t describe it in words because there are no words to describe you in words in any language because you break all the definitions for what an angel is; for what a kind person is; for what a caring person is; for what a hard working person is; for what it means to be a good person. You break them all because your very existence is the definition of these words.

All i’m trying to say Binnie, is that I love you so much and on every level and Everything about you. I want you to have the greatest first year of adulthood and a great year just in general. I want you to have an amazing rest of your life aND that whatever you decide to do, that you’re happy doing it. If i had one wish for you, it would be that you stay healthy this year, that you don’t get injured or sick; that you’re happy doing what you love; that you’re well rested; that you know how loved you are; that everyone is proud of you; that you’re proud of yourself; that you’re ultimately happy with your life and that you’re more than satisfied with it.

I wish that you love yourself as much as we love you, because you deserve so much more love than you’re receiving right now. The whole world could love you and it still wouldn’t be enough love. You deserve nothing but happiness and good things in your life and I don’t know how I’m gonna explain to you how much love you deserve other than saying that the whole universe could be filled with people who would love you and you’d still deserve so much more.

Moon Bin, I love you.

I really love you more than this letter or an infinite amount of letters and i’d still never be able to even scratch the surface of my love for you.

Happy 20th binnie.

I love you,

Fatuma omer

A proud aroha

[taesthetes]

(1/?) Travel-anon-hi! Sorry for the late reply, I've been feeling a bit under the weather D: But wow! That's so sweet of you for what you did for your mom! My family's not big on celebrating parent days, but we do go out for dinners - my mom's bday is a couple days before, so we merge the two ;u;~ Thank you! I'll probably come back with a pile of photos, and be super picky which to instagram, haha. Oh! Good idea with the perfume! I normally don't carry any, but this sounds like a good reason to.

(2/?) Aw, you had to give up your internship? I’m sorry D: but on the bright side, vacation? Would you be able to do the internship another time? In terms of expensiveness, I think HK topped it for me. The livelihood there is super high end and overpriced to me :/ And ikr! I wish it were like that here too, but North America’s just too big and spread out for that unless you lived downtown, but that’s expensive D: In December, one Japan night was 24 degrees celsius ouo;; that’s pretty much summer

(3/?) But it does depend where you’re at in Japan! That night I was in Tokyo! It’ll be colder if you’re farther north~ I don’t know if the magikarp promo is still going D: but if it is, you definitely have to try it! I actually like the “crispy sandwich caramel” haagen dazs! I can’t get it where I’m from ;u; so depriveeeed. Your convenience stores sound so much better than mine! All mine have are dollar store things and candy OTL? Usually super grungy looking too. Aw, that’s cute! Do you visit?

(4/?) For the cat, not your sister (well, I guess her too), haha. I don’t remember, did you say you’d try to get a pet in the future for yourself, maybe? Yep! Certain holidays or popular events cause tickets to be more expensive to those countries during those times~ It’s still modern art?! Why isn’t there any traditional ones D:?! I actually prefer modern art, haha; mostly the interactive type ones! I don’t particularly have a favourite artist; I appreciate based on how interesting their-

(5/?) concepts are and how well they executed it. I mean, we did drop a lot of cash on the machines (and won nothing a lot of times), so I’m pretty sure that’s why they took pity on us, haha! I hope you’re lucky enough to either win it yourself, or find someone to help you! I also wish for you to be good at those games ;D! Have you had any more ramen since I last spoke to you? You’re still making me crave for it, and I can’t have any right now ;u; Oo, barely any jet lag can be a good thing!

(6/?) I don’t jet lag much when I travel, but the bits that I do, I accounted for, and used it for long-term traveling within the country! Oo, I hope I get to try a vietnamese hot pot some time then :D! If we ever manage to meet up in another country, let’s hit up vietnamese hot pot, haha. Omg, both of those movies were so good!! Infinity war, I really hope you do get to see it soon D: There’s so many spoilers out already, and it would suck if you got completely ruined to it beforehand!

(7/?) I preordered all 4 albums when they first opened it :D;; If I was only getting 1 of them though, I’d have gotten O! What about you? Did you preorder, or are you going to hit up a store when it’s released where you are? Which is your favourite concept? And, omg, yes. Jimin’s pretty hardcore when it comes to going 0 to 100, so I tend to die fairly often, haha. How do you manage to keep up with Tae?! He’s just as bad, if not worse, than Jimin’s 0-100?! He’s too pretty and amazing as a person!

(8/8) I was going to end this at 7, but well, here’s 8, haha. I follow on yt, and when a notice pops up, I listen and fav the song if it matches my tastes :D NCT is going haaard right now, like wow, almost every other week or two OTL I’ve been into kpop for so long that I like a lot of groups, so it’s hard to recount all of them, haha. What about you? Who else do you listen to? How long have you been into kpop? How was the Tswift concert?! Did you have an amazing time?? How early did you lineup?

hello, m’love!! oh noo, i’m so sorry to hear that ): are you feeling better now? make sure to drink lots of fluids and rest up! and thank you :’) i hope you had a good dinner with your family!! and happy belated birthday to your mom 💕 oh gosh, my instagram is a mess, i just post sporadically and nothing matches. but i think i’ll start trying to make a nicer instagram page though haha. yeah, it’s pretty helpful with the perfume because you can’t bring pepper spray onto planes or anything for travel, so i just pack a small perfume bottle instead!

yeah, i’m excited for the vacation!! i won’t be able to do an internship until next summer then unfortunately. oooh, i heard kong kong is really nice! but i’ll make sure not to go there until i have money lmao. yeah, the only way walking is fine in north america is if i live in one of the big cities, like nyc. oh my god, in december??? it’s going to be even worse since i’m going in the summer D: i think overall it’s going to be very hot in japan because it’s summer when i’ll be there. 

ahhh, even if there’s no magikarp, i’m still excited to eat taiyaki!! omg ok, i’ll make sure to get that ice cream flavor when i’m there :o and that really sucks ): hopefully, you’ll get to come back to japan soon and then you can get the ice cream :D ah yeah, there’s a lot of dollar store items and travel items too and candy. i think most convenience stores are pretty grungy tbh. i visited her last year! but that was before she got a cat sadly ):

and yes!! i want to get a dog and a cat in the future! i suppose there are a few traditional art pieces on display? but i think most people here enjoy modernized art more, like even the buildings and such in the usa are much more modern compared to europe. i guess it’s because the usa hasn’t been a country for as long as european countries, so everything is newer looking. oooh nice!! interactive art is always fun! :D modern art is really beautiful too, but sometimes, i see something like the entire canvas is painted one color with only one stripe down it and i’m like ??? how is this worth 91283472319 dollars???

asdfjkads that’s going to be me. i’m going to spend all my money on the crane machines and win nothing, so let’s hope someone will help me ahah and thank you!! fingers crossed! :’)  and i haven’t had any ramen since ): ramen isn’t the healthiest, so i try not to eat it often. ajsdhfalks but you can’t have any right now? D: did you run out? oooh, and that’s smart! i really hope the jet lag won’t hit so hard because i want to explore everything, but there’s never enough time. and yes!! we’ll definitely get vietnamese hot pot, and then you’ll have to show me all your favorite food places too :D ahhh, i want to see both of them soon! i took my last midterm yesterday, but i still have papers and several projects to do ): and my weekends are packed since i have some things to go to for my friends’ birthdays and i think we might do a road trip for the upcoming memorial weekend since we get monday off.

and omg so lucky!! all four wow :o well, i didn’t preorder it, but i don’t know which album i want either. maybe R or O? because they all look good in denim, but tae had that lip ring.. and unfortunately, they don’t sell kpop merch in stores anywhere near me /: so i’ll have to order it from amazon if i do buy it! honestly all the concepts are pretty though. jimin’s stage presence vs real life is mind blowing with how he can switch so fast. askdlhfjaj i barely keep up with tae, he’s too perfect and he’s such a sweetheart pluS HIS DOGS AND CAT ARE SO CUTE I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

asdf,nasd oh my god i love nct so so so much, like nct dream is my ult boy group favorite, and i’m so sad mark is graduating from the dreamies after this year ): did you see their chain mv? who’s your bias? oh my gosh i’m so excited to hear you like nct alskdjfhalew i really, really, really love taeyeon, like she’s my ult bias, but i also love shinee and blackpink (when will they release a new song)!!! i follow up with those three and nct the most. but i also listen to red velvet, gfriend, twice, kard, day6, wanna one, monsta x, infinite, vixx, astro, and f(x) like when are they coming back ): oh and (g)i-dle!!! i pretty much listen to whatever group that currently makes a comeback, so i know the title songs of most of the kpop groups, but i don’t know each of the members’ names. and i’ve been into kpop since early 2014 :’)

ooooh my god, the taylor swift concert marks the best night of my life, likE I LOVE HER SO MUCH I’VE BEEN A FAN SINCE 2006 AND I CAN’T BELIEVE I FINALLY GOT TO GO TO HER CONCERT!!!! but i got there two hours early for the lineup, and when it started, i sang along for every single song, and when she sang a mashup with long live included, i was over the moon, plus before the concert, i was like oh hey what if she sings the best day because it’s mother’s day tomorrow anD SHE ACTUALLY DID AND I CRIED OMG I GOT SO EMO i was shaking like i tried to get good videos on my phone, but my phone also died and the video will show you how shaky i actually was and wow i just– best experience, i will definitely go to her concerts over and over again and i just loved it so much. so yeah i was pretty excited and super happy overall :’) and how is your week going? 💗

[giantsfootball0]

Justin Verlander brings World Series hope to Astros and city of Houston

This story appears in ESPN The Magazine’s Oct. 2 MLB Playoffs issue. Subscribe today!

Aug. 31, 20,000 feet above Texas

All the navigation instruments indicate that the Astros’ team plane is back over Texas and, at long last, approaching Houston. But below, all anyone can see is water.

Anxious players and coaches retreat from the windows and sag back into their seats. After several minutes, they try again to sight land, pressing their foreheads against the top of every window. Nothing has changed: water, everywhere.

From his seat in the emergency exit row near the middle of the plane, outfielder George Springer says it looks “like we’re over an ocean somehow.” No one speaks.

Flying back from Tampa, Florida, where their home series against the Rangers had been relocated due to Hurricane Harvey, the Astros sit together for the final 30 minutes of the flight, staring down at the colossal swath of destruction left behind by one of the worst storms in U.S. history.

Seated in his usual spot in the front right seat of the plane, manager A.J. Hinch checks the map, the TV and the internet. Then he checks again. “They all said we were over land again, except we weren’t — the water, it never stopped, nothing was spared,” he says. “I took a picture on my cellphone and I’ll keep it forever. That was our first bit of reality.”

General Manager Jeff Luhnow was desperate to deliver a savior to Houston. With an Aug. 31 deadline to finalize playoff-roster eligibility hours away, Luhnow and owner Jim Crane suddenly found themselves on the edge of a potential blockbuster deal — the chance to land 2011 AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander.

As Luhnow put it to Hinch in Tampa, the feeling around the Astros had become “pretty bleak.” Injuries and a lack of action at the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline had sent the young and explosive team into a deep August funk. The Astros had lost 14 of their last 25, and when Harvey hit, the streaking Indians had already begun chopping away at the team’s overall lead in the American League.

Hinch was back at home with his wife, Erin, and two teenage daughters when the flurry of texts began. He’d gotten off the team plane and into his car, then struggled to find his way back to his neighborhood, his normal exit blocked by flooding. Hinch and Erin caught up about the storm and the trip they were taking downtown the next afternoon to visit evacuees at the George R. Brown Convention Center. He hadn’t given much thought to the trade deadline. He was actually texting with his coaches about college football when he noticed a call. It was Luhnow with news about the prospect of acquiring Verlander — a last-chance effort for the Astros to upgrade their roster for a legitimate run at the World Series. “Disbelief is the wrong word, but I was shocked, definitely,” Hinch says. “I knew right then I wasn’t going to bed any time soon.”

Aug. 27, Houston, 12:15 a.m.

With floodwaters pushing past the sidewalk and the giant old oak tree out front about to give way, Katie Bracamonte calls to update her husband, longtime Astros bullpen catcher Javier Bracamonte, who is riding out the storm with the rest of the team in Anaheim, California. “The water’s coming,” she tells him. “Be safe,” they repeat to each other. A few hours later, the water inching closer, Katie and her two groggy daughters pile into a closet for safety after a string of tornadoes threatens the area.

Sitting in the dark, Katie notices her half-asleep teenager clinging to something in her hand.

“What’s that?” she whispers.

“It’s a Sharpie,” replies the girl. “We’re supposed to write our names and Social Security numbers on our arms … so they can identify us.”

Similar stories unfold across Houston. Houses with 14 feet of water in them. Storm surges so strong they swept away huge concrete traffic barriers like twigs in a stream. Neighborhoods hit with such destruction and despair that people nail their house keys to the front door with notes that read: “You can have it.”

Jaelyn Bracamonte, daughter of bullpen catcher Javier Bracamonte, collected donations before Houston’s first game back home. Michael Starghill for ESPN

HINCH COULDN’T BELIEVE what he was hearing. The Astros had been pursuing a deal for Verlander, the Tigers’ ace, since July. And now, with 45 minutes until the roster deadline, the negotiations had heated up once again. Luhnow would call Hinch, say things are looking promising, then hang up. A few minutes later he’d call back, say the deal was likely off, then hang up again. Twitter was going nuts.

With every new update, the mood in the players’ group-text chain shifted wildly. A series of sad and angry GIFs were followed by a long string of smiling-face-with-waving-hands emojis. There are unconfirmed reports of a cat GIF, or three.

“A move like this can make good teams great and great teams legendary,” says Astros lefty Dallas Keuchel, who was critical of the front office’s paralysis in July. “So it was like putting something big on your Christmas wish list as a kid. You didn’t want to get your hopes up too high.”

In between calls, Hinch nerded out with pitching rotation combinations. By his estimate, Verlander’s last 10 starts were some of the best of his career. His résumé would also instantly double the postseason experience of the Astros’ starting pitching staff. But there was more. “Credibility, presence, I mean, just listen to him, look at him, talk to him,” Hinch says. “Verlander is as big of a potential impact as we could possibly imagine.”

The two teams were in agreement on the major components of the deal — Verlander and $16 million in exchange for three of the Astros’ top prospects — but they had reached an impasse on granting Verlander full no-trade rights and, especially, voiding the option year (2020) in his contract. It seemed like a small price to pay after what Astros fans have endured during a rebuilding process that included 502 losses from 2010 to 2014. “If I was an Astros fan in 2012, I wouldn’t want to come to the park either,” says Keuchel, who was a rookie that season. “It was awful.”

Finally, before going back to the Tigers one more time about voiding Verlander’s option year, Luhnow and Crane discussed the third party in the negotiation: Harvey. “It led to the last concession we needed to get the deal over the top, wanting to give something back to this city in its time of need,” Luhnow says. “Our fans have supported us through thick and thin, and there was a lot of thin in there. We wanted to repay the favor. It’s not always about something more than baseball, but this time it was.”

A minute after the deadline, Hinch’s phone buzzed. He read the text from Luhnow and, without saying a word, turned the phone toward Erin.

WE GOT HIM, it said.

Aug. 26, Anaheim, 4 p.m.

As the storm continues battering Houston, the Astros are 1,500 miles away, trapped in Anaheim. Hinch glances in the clubhouse and sees Jose Altuve, his second baseman and American League MVP front-runner, staring at the Weather Channel.

Altuve’s wife, Nina, made the trip to Anaheim, but the couple’s infant daughter, Melanie, is back in Houston with family. A few minutes pass, Altuve watching the radar, its purple and red and orange blobs pouring 50-plus inches of rain onto Houston and everywhere around it. Nearly broken, Altuve walks over to Hinch.

“How long am I going to have to play like this?” he asks.

No one knows. The next day, they finish out a 2-1 series against the Angels, but catastrophic flooding prevents an immediate return home. Instead, the Astros fly to Dallas, where they wait for word on where they’ll play the Rangers. They’re only 240 miles away and they can feel it. As time wears on, the Astros begin considering something along the lines of a humanitarian-driven clubhouse mutiny.

“There’s just such a detachment and isolation from what had actually happened,” pitcher Charlie Morton says. “You feel guilty that you weren’t there to do something.”

Altuve, Morton, pitcher Luke Gregerson and others begin planning a mission to reach their stranded families. Renting a helicopter is discussed. There is also talk of buying inflatable rafts in Dallas, packing them into rental cars and driving as far south as they can get before ditching the cars for dinghies.

Once word begins trickling back in that Melanie and others are safe and dry, for the most part, the plans are put on hold. But not the guilt. That remains.

The post Justin Verlander brings World Series hope to Astros and city of Houston appeared first on Daily Star Sports.

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