#io could really go for that right now at 11 at night

[iowriteswords]

Hi Io! I was looking at your Tumblr and saw this post:

https://iowriteswords.tumblr.com/post/758746805347532800/fanfic-author-ask-meme

I wanted to ask you some of the questions! Actually all of the questions if you have time, but if you don't, I'm most interested in your answers to 3, 5, 7, 11, 12, 14, 17, 18, 31, 34, 36, and 38 (you can answer any or all of them).

Alternatively, you could just answer the questions you most want to answer. XD

Got this ask by email! Answered all of them, because I was bored last night, and I think I bolded all the questions you mentioned specifically.

Thank you for asking!

1. What was your first fic and could you stand to reread it today?

My first was Homecoming, and I’m still pretty happy with it. I reread it fairly recently when someone left a specific comment, and I had to go back and see what they were talking about. It was my first fanfic, but I’d already been writing for several years and had gotten a degree in literature and writing, so it certainly wasn’t any kind of early writing project. I’ve improved since then, but I already had a decent grasp on what I was doing.

2. What’s your most recent fic and how far do you think you’ve come?

I have one called Voice that I’ll be publishing on November 19. I don’t know that this is the best demonstration of how far I’ve come; it’s a short piece that doesn’t necessarily show off a lot of my strengths. But I do think I’ve come pretty far. I have a better understanding of my characters, I’m better at writing more complex characters, I can juggle a large cast better.

3. In your opinion, what’s your best fic?

Probably Robins and Other Flightless Birds.

4. In your opinion and without looking at any numbers, what’s your most popular fic?

Definitely Robins and Other Flightless Birds.

5. Is there any fic that makes you super happy to reread and remember you wrote that?

The Most Important Thing. I just like it.

6. Is there any fic that makes you super embarrassed to reread and remember you wrote that?

Nope. Occasionally I’ll read back, like, a certain line or scene and be embarrassed, but not a full work.

7. What’s the fic you most want to continue (unfinished or no)?

Right now what I really want to do is the sequel to Who Shall Make the Clown Laugh? I mean, excluding my current project; it doesn’t seem right to talk about plans to continue when I’m, like, actively working on it. (15 chapters written, 0 posted.)

8. What’s the oldest (longest since last update) fic you most want to continue (unfinished or no)?

I guess the Flightless Birds series? I mean, it hasn’t been long at all yet, but I know it will be a while, and I don’t really have very many other things I’m planning to go back to? It has been way longer since I worked on Ozma, but idk if I’ll even post the next bit on ao3; it’s in the public domain, so eventually I’m going to heavily edit and what I have posted now will be the first 2 chapters in a book.

9. Have you ever written for a fandom without watching/reading/playing the source material?

No, though I’ve definitely read a lot more of the source material since I started. There is just so much Batman to read and watch.

10. Have you ever written for a fandom without reading other fanfic for it?

Nope.

11. Have you ever written a fic for a concept you know someone else has done before? How did it impact your writing process or feelings after posting?

Not really, although someone else did start posting a Tim and Jason in Arkham fic after I started mine but before I started posting it. I just avoided reading it so I wouldn’t be influenced, although I do intend to read it now, if it ever finishes.

12. Have you ever written a fic and decided never to publish it? Why?

Not a complete fic. Before I started Batman I tried both Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but only got a couple hundred words into each.

13. What’s the biggest change between your style when you started in fandom and today?

I don’t think my style has changed much. I’ve matured and become a better writer, but I think the core of what I do and how is basically the same.

14. What’s the biggest change in your taste between when you started in fandom and today?

I don’t think it’s really changed very much. I’m more inclined toward Redemption for Everyone, probably, and much more reluctantly to let anyone die. I have less tolerance for anything tragic or unhappy. I read a wider range of things, in terms of both fandom and subject matter.

15. Have you ever purposefully written one fandom/fic idea over another because you knew it’d be more popular?

I’ve only ever posted fic for Batman and Oz, and I definitely prioritize Batman because people actually read it.

16. Have you ever stopped writing a fic/for a fandom because it wasn’t receiving enough attention?

I will eventually finish my Oz stories, hopefully soon, but for now, yeah.

17. In your opinion, what’s your most overrated fic?

I don’t want to say any of them are overrated? Like, I do not want people to like any of them any less. I’m always surprised by how much people like them, but also I don’t want to be like, no, that one’s not as good as they think it is - I worked really hard on all of them.

18. What’s your most underrated fic?

The Oz ones. For Batman, probably Maybe Someday We’ll Laugh again? It has the fewest views out of the ones that weren’t posted pretty recently.

19. If you had to pick one fic/scene/chapter of your work to describe your entire portfolio to a stranger, which would you pick?

Fic, scene, and chapter are, like, wildly different options to choose from. I generally point people toward The Most Important Thing, as a good representation of my work that isn’t a major time commitment. For one scene I’d say the one in Robins and Other Flightless Birds where Bruce and Kate are talking about the kids on patrol, which contains one of my favorite lines I’ve written: “Mine is a pity bat theme, so you don’t have to be a dork on the streets of Gotham alone.” I think it’s a good summary of the kind of Batman I like to write. I do not remember individual chapters clearly enough to answer for that.

20. Have/Would you ever rewrite a fic? If yes, would you take the original down?

I’ll rewrite the Ozma ones as I turn them into the start of a book. Otherwise no. And I don’t plan to take them down.

21. If someone starts kudosing and commenting your fics in a spree and has a few works of their own, would you go look through theirs?

Yes, I’ve done that several times.

22. Has there ever been anyone who’s made you freak out because they read your work and followed/favorited/reviewed?

I remember on my first or second fic someone whose work I’d read a lot of commented, and that was exciting. But I don’t remember who it was - that was like 6 years ago.

23. What’s the nicest review you’ve ever gotten?

Most of them are so nice. Like, I don’t know how to single out one review. Raberba girl leaves a long, amazing comment on every chapter of everything. I got a review I loved on We’re All Mad Here that I didn’t answer for like a year and felt horribly guilty about; I think the commenter was seaofserendipity.

24. What’s the meanest review you’ve ever gotten? Do you think the reviewer intended it?

I don’t know. I try not to think about them. Something from Rewind, Reset, I’m sure.

25. What constructive criticism, however well-meaning, always makes you feel bad when you see it in a review?

I can’t think of any, like, genuinely constructive criticism that I’ve felt bad about.

26. What aspect of your writing do you most enjoy to see praised?

I’m not sure. Maybe when people think it’s funny? Or maybe when they like how I handle complex issues around mental illness and trauma. Which are two very different aspects.

27. If you could only ever write crossovers or single-fandom fics ever again, which would you pick?

Single fandom.

28. if you could only ever write for a single crossover or a single fandom again, which would you pick?

Batman.

29. Does the division of your writing across fandoms line up with your reading? What’s the biggest discrepancy?

No. I really only write Batman. I read Batman, other DC, Buffy, Veronica Mars, and Star Wars pretty often, and Marvel, Harry Potter, and Supernatural if I’m in the right mood. I love Oz fic, but don’t read a lot of it because there’s not a lot currently being written.

30. Do you continue to write for a fandom after you’ve moved on or do you focus solely on the new one?

Not really applicable to me with my single fandom writing.

31. Who’s the one character you’ve just never managed to get perfectly right?

Idk. I don’t know if I’ve ever gotten anyone completely perfectly right. I definitely struggle with Damian. Yeah, my answer’s gonna be Damian. I have gotten around the difficulty of writing him by making him younger twice (and have a 3rd story planned where I’m also doing that), and since he’s younger/newer to the family/newer to existence as a character, he often just doesn’t show up at all because I’m starting from a pre-Damian point in the timeline.

32. Who’s the one character who shines without you even trying?

Probably Tim. I have a Tim thing.

33. Is there any particular character whose scenes always wind up being longer/more frequent than you expected? Does the quality hold up?

Tim. Always Tim, in every fic. And I think so, for the most part.

34. Was there any fic that you wrote that really surprised you in the fandom reaction? Was it just by the numbers or did they take it an entirely different way?

How upset people got about Rewind, Reset, definitely.

35. Have you ever written a ship into a fic without meaning to?

I almost never mean to. It just happens. When I wrote my 2nd novel, the first scene I wrote was one from the middle of the book where they had a conversation about how Definitely There Is No Romance Here, specifically so that the platonic were locked in and it couldn’t happen to them.

36. Have you ever sincerely written a ship you do not support into a fic?

Nope. My fics aren’t, like, super ship heavy, and I don’t have really strong feelings about any Batman related ships. I just go with whatever feels right for the story.

37. Have you ever purposefully bashed a character/ship in a fic?

I don’t think so? I definitely portrayed some characters as worse people in earlier stories than later ones, like Harley and Talia, but that wasn’t, like, bashing - I just hadn’t read as much about them yet and didn’t have a very nuanced understanding of their characters.

38. Have you ever purposefully written something you know your readers would find uncomfortable/would not enjoy? If yes, why?

The scene where Bruce shoots Black Mask in Rewind, Reset, and the scene where Barbara lets aliens get tortured in Pinioned. Although no one was really unhappy with the alien situation like I worried they would be. They just felt like the right moves for the story.

39. Do you consider yourself to have a readership?

Yes. I have a good sized group of people who read all the bat-fic I write.

40. Do you feel like you put out enough content?

Yes.

41. If you cross-post your fics on multiple sites, do you have a favorite? Are there certain fics you would only post on certain site?

I only post on ao3, except occasionally snippets on tumblr.

42. How many views has your most popular fic gotten?

250,247 (Robins and Other Flightless Birds)

43. Your least popular?

680 (Ozma: Part II)

44. Do you follow/favorite/kudos/comment/review more stories than you have received?

I don’t comment as much as I should. I kudos everything I read. Sometimes even if I don’t finish reading it. I don’t really keep track of numbers.

45. If you had to call yourself an author of a single genre (besides fanfic) what label would you give yourself?

Outside of fanfic, I’m definitely a fantasy author. But in terms of, like, what genre my fanfic falls in besides just fanfic - idk. Is Trauma Recovery a genre?

46. Do you consider yourself a diverse author?

Does this mean do I have a diverse range of stories? If so, not really. I always write for the same fandom, I do the same things with characters again and again (JJ!Tim), and in non-fic work I almost exclusively retell fairy tales.

47. If someone you know in real life who isn’t involved in fandoms asked to read your work, would you let them? If yes, what would you recommend they read first?

Depends on the person, and probably The Most Important Thing. It’s short, it doesn’t get into complicated multiverse stuff, and I like it.

48. Does anyone you know from outside of fandom know you write fanfic? Are they involved in the same fandom too?

My parents know and a few friends, and none of them are particularly interested in Batman.

49. Has anyone in your life ever read your fanfic just because you wrote it?

I think my ex boyfriend started one, but he wasn’t a very fast reader and didn’t have much time, so I don’t think he ever finished. My former roommate read my first fic and part of my second before I posted it, mostly as sort of a critique partner.

50. Has writing fanfic had a significant impact on your life? Would you say it’s entirely positive?

Yes, and yes. I’ve gotten so much better at writing male characters, at writing large casts, at maintaining a schedule, at finishing projects. I’ve become a better and more confident writer. I’ve build up a small audience for my original work that I know came over from the fanfic.

[ppangjae]

PLANET GIRL | part 1

SUMMARY. When Jaehyun turned twenty-one, he started to hear his soulmate’s voice singing an unfamiliar song in his head. He should be happy, right? Wrong. There are two things wrong with this:

He’s taken. He’s off the market. He’s in a 3-year relationship and,

The voice singing in his head is not his girlfriend’s voice.

Now what?

GENRE. soulmate!au | cinderella!au | cupid!reader | college!au | fluff | angst

WORD COUNT. 6k+ words

author’s note. after much consideration, i decided to post this fic in three parts so that it’s not as hectic! you know me, i love adding ✨drama ✨ now, before you come at me for posting this and not a made to fall in love update, this first part of this fic has been done since mid-september. i’d rather release it than let it collect dust in my drafts. so yes, here she is. happy reading!

taglist: @billiondollarworth @cafemochi @stae-yong @chanyeolscoon @ggaayyyong @soothingjae @taestannie @plump-peach @oshmendes @lanadreamie​ @justineasian​ @jjpmoans​ @beryllium-io​ @jaeismytamtation​ @noonapabo127 @hanniesbubble​ 

PART ONE. cupid | PART TWO. jupiter | 2.5 intermission | PART THREE. PLANET GIRL

“Mark, get your ass over here before I do it myself!”

“Holy shit, what’s the rush?”

“Tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day.”

“And what about it?”

It’s that time of the year again; Valentine’s Day. It’s the day where people fall in love or get their hearts broken. But to you, it’s the day where you’re designated to a new target. To put it simply, you’re Cupid. You are part of a family of Cupid’s. However, you hate being called Cupid, you moreso see yourself as a matchmaker. 

Every Valentine’s Day, you’re designated to a new target. As a matchmaker, it is your responsibility to make your target fall in love within one year. If you fail to complete your mission, you will be stripped of your abilities of matchmaking. 

Last year, your target was Johnny. Johnny was an easy target to work with, for he fell in love with the local cafe barista within three months. The two of them are happily dating now and it’s almost as if they’re still in their honeymoon phase. 

Two years ago, your target was your roommate Mark. It took a while for him to fall in love. He was quite difficult to work with because he was so focused on his studies that he barely batted an eyelash at a human of the opposite sex. But you still managed to do it and all it took was to introduce him to Mina, the studious chemistry student who’s been crushing on him since freshman year. 

But this year, you’re not quite sure who to expect. 

“Are you getting your new assignment tomorrow?” Mark finally enters your room after what seems like forever, falling against your bed. He lands and lets out a soft ‘oof!’. You turn away from your desktop to face him. 

“Of course,” you reply with a quirk of an eyebrow. “What kind of question is that? Tomorrow’s Valentine’s Day, the day of love and the day of heartbreak.”

“Are you excited?”

“Not the slightest bit.” You let out a tiring sigh.

“Why not?” He frowns.

“Because I have to stress over someone else’s love life for another damn year.” You shrug your shoulders as you explain. “I already have other things to stress out over.”

“You’re always granted a year per love assignment. A year is enough to make someone fall in love, right?”

You laugh. “A year per love assignment? I wish a year was enough. A year goes by with a blink of an eye. Before you know it, it’s Valentine’s Day again.”

“You’re being too hard on yourself. Why don’t you just skip out on the matchmaking just for this year?” He suggests and you shake your head.

“I can’t.” You purse your lips into a tight line. 

He lets out a snort. “I’m sure it’s possible—”

“It’s impossible.”

There are many great things about being a Cupid; you help people fall in love with each other and the outcome is always beautiful. But there are also many downfalls about being a Cupid, one of them being cursed to never fall in love. You’ve always craved the feeling of being loved by someone. As much as you hate to admit it, you’re needy for love. But the closest you’ll ever feel to being in love is witnessing the love being shared by two people, specifically between your love assignment and their soulmate.

You wonder how it feels to have someone care for you. You wonder how it feels to be sought after. You wonder how it feels to hug someone and hold their hand. But you guess you’ll never know because you’ll never experience it.

“God, I want to throw up.”

Johnny lets out a snort as the both of you pass by the seasonal section of the department store. There’s a plethora of Valentine’s Day chocolates on the shelves, along with teddy bears and heart plushies. Seeing the bright, flashing red on the days leading up to Valentine’s Day is surely a sore to the eye. 

“I know, it makes me want to poke my eyes out.” Johnny sighs.

“And what are we here for again?” You ask Johnny as you follow him to the baked goods section of the department store. Your question seems to be answered when you find yourselves standing in front of a shelf filled with ready-made birthday cakes. You quirk an eyebrow. “Who’s birthday is it? It’s definitely not Mark’s birthday, don’t even try to trick me.”

“It’s Jaehyun’s birthday tomorrow, I figured it would be sweet of me to get him a birthday cake.” He shrugs his shoulders as he points between two cakes on the shelves. “This one or this one?”

You point at the plain birthday cake on the left. “This one. You know what would be really funny? If you printed his face on the cake.”

Johnny looks at you and squints his eyes. “You're a genius.”

You have no idea who Jaehyun is. You don’t even know what he looks like. You’ve only heard of him through Johnny. The both of them host the university’s famous evening radio show, Night Night with JohnJae. You’re a listener of their show, mainly because you are supportive of your best friend Johnny. You’re sure Jaehyun is a great guy, especially since Johnny and Jaehyun share good chemistry with each other. You’ll probably get along with him well if you met him. But that encounter has yet to happen. 

As Johnny hands the cake over to the bakery chef to print Jaehyun’s face on it, he turns towards you. “And now we wait.”

“What time do you have to be at the studio?” You question.

He looks down at his watch. “I’ll make it on time. By the way, Mark has been making great song requests by this SoundCloud artist. From what he tells me, the artist is a student from our university.”

You quirk an eyebrow, gulping nervously. “Who’s this SoundCloud artist?”

“Planet Girl.” Johnny pulls out his phone and opens up the music app before handing it over for you to see. You stare at the artist’s profile. “Do you know her?”

You shake your head in reply. “Unfortunately, I don’t.”

“Damn,” Johnny lets out a sigh. “I was hoping you did. Jaehyun and I want her to be a guest on the show, it could probably help her get more attention in the industry.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” you purse your lips into a tight line. “I only know so many people in my program. I have a very small, closely knitted group of friends. They are the only people I’ve known since I stepped on campus in freshman year.”

“I was hoping you’ve heard of her, at least.” He chuckles. “But damn, her music is so good. I can’t wait until her mixtape drops. I’m sure it’ll be such a banger.”

“I should probably check her out.” 

“You should!” Johnny exclaims. “I wonder who she is.”

You fiddle with your fingers. You stare at Johnny who’s scrolling through the SoundCloud artist’s profile, adding a couple of the artist’s songs to his playlists. You blink and with a slight tilt of your head, you clear your throat. “Yeah, me too—”

“I have an order for Johnny!”

11:51 pm.

“Right before we sign off for the night, do you have anything to say to our listeners?”

Johnny has a shit-eating grin spread across his lips. He comes back into the studio with a birthday cake. It’s not just your typical birthday cake. It’s a birthday cake with Jaehyun’s face on it and it’s blown out in an odd proportion. The candles aren’t birthday candles either, in fact, they’re heart-shaped candles, perfect for Valentine’s Day. Jaehyun lets out a sigh. What is he going to do with Johnny?

“I just wanted to greet our handsome radio host slash Valentine boy, Jaehyun, a happy birthday! We have—” Johnny glances down at his wristwatch before continuing. “—nine more minutes before it’s officially Jaehyun’s birthday and Valentine’s Day. And what’s better than celebrating it with a birthday cake?”

“Is that my face?” 

“Who else would it be, doofus?” Johnny scoffs, pulling out a lighter to light the candles. Jaehyun lets out a snort as Johnny starts to sing him a happy birthday. After the happy birthday song, Johnny frowns and sends him a death glare. “Why aren’t you getting emotional? I did all of this to get that reaction?”

Jaehyun gives him a look. “And so as we sign off for the night, I just wanted to thank Johnny for his efforts in kicking off my birthday on a high note. I also want to greet everyone with a Happy Valentine’s Day. Whether you are happily dating someone or admiring someone from afar, just know that you are all in our hearts.”

“Stop being greasy.” Johnny winces. “Anyways, we’re going to sign off for the night with a song request from Mark Lee! Goodnight and see you tomorrow, here is Loose by Daniel Caesar.”

They turn their microphones off and Johnny pushes the birthday cake towards him. “Quick! Make a wish before the candles go out.”

Jaehyun clasps his hands together and makes a wish. With a satisfied grin, his eyes flutter open and he blows out the candles. Johnny’s taking a video of him blowing out the candles before dipping his finger into the icing. Jaehyun gives him a warning look but it’s too late because Johnny smears the icing on his cheek.

“You little shit—” 

“It’s midnight! Happy birthday, Jaehyun!”

12:01 am. 

It all happens quickly. Johnny’s dipping his fingers into the icing to smear more of it on Jaehyun’s cheeks. Jaehyun hears a slight ringing in his ears and his eyebrows knit together. Johnny doesn’t seem to notice how uncomfortable Jaehyun feels until he’s about to smear his cheeks with icing. 

“Jaehyun, are you alright?” Johnny asks him with a concerned look.

The ringing in his ears halts to a stop. He remembers this. He remembers his father telling him that he experienced a distinct ringing in his ears before he started to hear his mother’s voice humming in his head. Jaehyun blinks. The ringing in his ears causes him to see different specks of colours, red, blue, and even green. He feels like his head is spinning. He feels like he’s going to pass out. But it only happens for a brief moment.

Suddenly, he hears a soft voice humming a melody in his head. In an instant, the soft humming in his head stops him from seeing colours and he no longer feels faint. He’s too absorbed in his thoughts to snap back to reality. Johnny is waving his hand in his face to pull him out of his trance. Jaehyun sucks in a deep breath, almost like he’s gasping for air. The soft humming in his head slowly turns into a voice that’s singing an unfamiliar song. He’s never heard this song before.

Johnny sighs with relief when Jaehyun snaps out of his deep trance. Jaehyun looks at Johnny with slightly widened eyes. 

“Johnny, I think we have a problem.”

Johnny snorts. “What are you talking about? You’re probably just tired. We should head back to the dorms before you knock out cold in the studio again.”

Jaehyun runs his fingers through his hair. “R-Right. We should probably go.”

Johnny rests his hand on his shoulder. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s—everything’s alright.” Jaehyun stutters.

No, nothing’s alright. Nothing’s okay. 

His phone buzzes in his pocket. He pulls it out to see a new text notification from his girlfriend. 

ara (12:03 am): happy birthday my love! and happy valentine’s day! i love you 3000.

Jaehyun just turned twenty-one. Not only that, but he just started to hear his soulmate’s voice in his head. He should be happy, right? Wrong. There are two things wrong with this:

He’s taken. He’s off the market. He’s in a 3-year relationship and,

The voice singing in his head is not his girlfriend’s voice.

Well, shit. Now what?

It’s the day you dread with your entire existence; Valentine’s Day. The campus couples flock to the local cafes and parks, the dormitories and even the campus football field. It truly makes you want to throw up. If you could take a shot of vodka for every time you’ve witnessed a couple kissing or giving each other their Valentine’s Day chocolates, you’d be shitfaced drunk by now. 

The only person keeping you sane is Mark. But even with Mark’s presence, he’s too absorbed by the presence of his own girlfriend, Mina. You guess this will do. It’s not like you really have a choice.

Today, you’re going to get your new love assignment. You’re not sure who to expect. Every year, it’s become less surprising and more disappointing. You guess it has to do with your aching desire for love, but you’re not going to dive deep into that. 

You’ll know who your love assignment is when you meet their eyes. When you meet your love assignment’s eyes, you won’t see yourself reflected through their eyes, but their soulmate, their partner you’re supposed to link them to. The moment you witness it, your year to make them fall in love begins. 

Be careful though, time is ticking.

“Can you guys stop talking to each other in baby voices?” You snap at the couple sitting next to you on the picnic blanket. 

The couple had decided to bring you along on their picnic date, just because they figured that you needed to ‘spice’ your life up a bit. You feel like a huge burden to them because whenever you’re with them, all you do is complain about all the things they do as a couple. Could you really blame yourself at this point? 

“Y/N, if only you had a boyfriend, you would know how it feels.” Mina sticks her tongue out at you and you feel your eye twitch. 

Mark lets out a nervous laugh. “Y/N is an independent woman who doesn’t need a man—”

“Yeah, your boyfriend’s right.” You cut him off, looking at Mina dead straight in the eyes. “Got a problem with that?”

“Stop giving me attitude—”

“And stop acting like I didn’t help you and Mark get together.” You snap.

She smiles and laughs sheepishly. As she gets up onto her two feet, she dusts off her straight-cut jeans before pointing towards the local cafe. “Do you guys want anything? My treat.”

“I’ll have the usual,” Mark replies. “Take my card—”

“Babe, no—”

“I’m not letting you pay for our drinks again—”

You let out a scowl, placing some cash into Mina’s hand. “Here. I’ll pay. I’m this close to ripping my hair off my scalp and it’s because of you two.”

“Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?” Mina frowns. “You’ve been petty all day.”

“Get me a double shot on ice,” you mutter. “No sugar or cream. Got it?”

“You’re just like how you like your coffee,” Mina folds her arms. “Bitter.”

As Mina is walking away from you and Mark, you fall back against the picnic blanket. The clouds come by in funny shapes today. You spot a tiny, heart-shaped cloud floating past in the blue skies. You snort, love seems to be everywhere today, even in the skies. Your eyes flutter shut. You’re so close to dozing off into a quick nap until you hear a loud yell from a couple of metres away. It’s too late for you to open your eyes and see who’s yelling because the moment you do, there’s a soccer ball flying in the air. The size of the soccer ball grows when you start to realize that it’s literally going to land right on your face—

“Nice save, dude.” Mark says as he looks at you with amusement. Just in time and with your fast instincts, you managed to cover your face with the palms of your hands to catch the ball. 

Mark’s pulling you up into a seated position. As you sit up, you see someone approaching you from the corner of your eye. 

“I’m so sorry about that!” A soft voice exclaims and you turn to your right. You look up at a woman around your age. She has long black hair and a soft face. She looks warmhearted. Her vibe radiates happiness and happy-go-lucky, welcoming and sociable. Everything you’re not. She’s sporting a soccer jersey and a pair of athletic joggers. “Are you alright? I hope you didn’t get hurt or anything.”

You wave it off. “I’m A-okay. There’s nothing to worry about. Here’s your soccer ball.”

She slightly bends down to retrieve her ball. Her long black hair blocks your eyesight for a brief moment until the wind blows it away. Your eyes meet hers and a soft gasp threatens to escape your lips. 

You’ll know who your love assignment is when you meet their eyes. Her eyes are a nice warm brown, shining underneath the sunlight. You swear you could see stars in her eyes. No, scratch that, you can see galaxies and stars in her eyes.

When you meet your love assignment’s eyes, you won’t see yourself reflected through their eyes, but their soulmate. And indeed, you look at her with slight surprise and shock when you don’t see your own reflection through her eyes. Instead, you see what seems to be a soccer player. The more you look into her eyes, the more information you obtain about her soulmate. He slowly turns around and it reveals his name on the back of his soccer jersey—

“Yuta?” You whisper.

The woman’s eyebrows knit together in confusion. She takes her ball and straightens up her posture. “Thanks again. What’s your name? I feel like I’ve seen you before.”

You snap out of it. “Y/N! My name’s Y/N. Nice to meet you.”

She smiles and her eyes form into beautiful crescents. “Nice to meet you, Y/N. I’m Ara. I should probably get going before I run late for lecture. See you around?”

You nod your head vigorously. “Yeah, I’ll see you around. Nice to meet you too, take care.”

You find yourself staring at her as she walks away. Mark looks at you as you seem to fall into a deep trance. He follows your gaze that falls on Ara. “Hey, is everything alright?”

You tear your gaze away from her to look at Mark. “What’s her name again?”

Mark looks at you with a funny smile. “You forgot her name already? Her name’s Ara.”

“Mark,” you gulp nervously. “She’s my love assignment for this year.”

Mark’s face pales. His funny smile vanishes from his face. He looks like he’s seen a ghost. You can’t seem to comprehend the expression on his face but you know that something’s not good. There’s an unsettling feeling in the pit of your stomach as Mark’s mouth hangs open.

“You’re joking, right?” Mark frowns. “How could Ara be your love assignment? That’s���That’s impossible, I—”

You shake your head. “I’m not joking. I didn’t see myself reflected through her eyes, I saw Yuta—”

“You saw Jaehyun.” Mark cuts you off. “Right? Jaehyun. You saw Jaehyun, right?”

You let out a nervous laugh. “Why would I see Jaehyun? I didn’t see Jaehyun. I saw Yuta, the university’s soccer team player. He was wearing a jersey and he turned around. I saw his name printed on his jersey. Nakamoto Yuta—”

“Please tell me you’re kidding.” Mark winces.

“I’m not kidding!” You exclaim in a panicked voice. “Why would I be kidding?”

Mark palms his forehead and lets out a laugh of disbelief. He shakes his head. You stare at him questioningly. What’s happening? What’s going on? 

“Mark, you’re confusing me.” You say with worry etched on your face. “I am telling you the truth. I saw Nakamoto Yuta reflected in her eyes—”

“Ara is Jaehyun’s girlfriend. They’ve been dating for three years. Now you’re telling me that Ara’s your love assignment and you don’t see Jaehyun reflected in her eyes… but Yuta?”

“Holy shit.”

“I’m back with our drinks! Wait, what’s wrong? Why are you guys looking at each other like that?”

The image of Yuta’s reflection in Ara’s eyes never seems to leave your mind. In fact, it has been the only thing haunting you ever since. The revelation leaves you in nothing but a spiralling mess. You are required to make Ara fall in love with her soulmate, who so happens to be Yuta. But at the same exact time, to complete your mission, you must do something to end Ara’s relationship with Jaehyun.

You wish it was a joke.

It all comes down to whether you have the heart to lead Ara to her destined soulmate and end her relationship with Jaehyun or leave things for her to figure out but lose your matchmaking abilities as a Cupid.

The sticky situation makes you want to pull your hair off your scalp. It makes you want to look up to the heavens and yell at your ancestors for being Cupids, for passing down their matchmaking abilities to every generation after them, and for passing down the curse of never falling in love. 

“Stop thinking about it too much, it’s making you age faster.” 

You glare at Mark. “I don’t even know Jaehyun personally but I’m sure he’s a great guy who deserves everything in the entire universe, not some soccer player and a so-called Cupid to ruin his three-year relationship with Ara.”

“What happens if you don’t make Ara fall in love with her soulmate within a year—oh, Johnny, hey!”

Your mouth clamps shut and your head whips around. Johnny occupies the empty seat next to you and greets you with a light nudge. He nods his head at Mark. “What happens if what?”

Mark gulps nervously. He lets out a squeak. “Nothing!”

Mark makes eye contact with you and you give him a warning gaze. Johnny shrugs his shoulders and brushes off the conversation by starting a new one. “Tonight at six. Jaehyun’s apartment. We’re going to have a chicken and beer night.”

“This is exactly what I needed—” Mark points at him.

“I think I’ll have to pass on that one. I have a—” 

“Uh, no you’re not.” Johnny shakes his head. “What excuse are you going to tell me this time? Your excuses are getting lamer every time. It’s quite obvious.”

You sigh. “I’d rather study. Besides, I have a midterm coming up and the last thing I want is to tank it.”

“It’s just one night. Chicken and beer. Who turns down chicken and beer? With friends, too?” Mark tries to convince you but you’re using your eyes to communicate the idea that this will not turn out well.

“Who’s coming?” You tear your gaze away from Mark when he doesn’t seem to take a hint. You’re reaching for your water bottle to take a quick sip of water.

“It’ll be me, Mark, Jaehyun, Jungwoo, Ara,” Johnny recalls the guests from the top of his head. “Oh! Yuta is coming too—”

You choke on your water. As you’re going through a coughing fit, Mark grabs your water bottle to prevent any more water from spilling onto the table. Johnny pats your back. “Y-Yuta? As in, Nakamoto Yuta?”

Johnny smiles. “Indeed. Why? Do you have a crush on him or something—”

“No!” You and Mark blurt out in unison.

Johnny gives you both a funny look. “Okay, geez, I was just joking around. Unless, you do, have a crush on Yuta, Y/N—”

“Look who we have here.” 

It’s a foreign yet familiar voice. You’ve heard that voice somewhere. You sneak a quick glance at Mark, whose eyes are wide like saucers. You could see his Adam’s apple bob up and down as he gulps nervously. Mark’s eyes trail down to meet yours. 

“Jaehyun! Ara! Perfect timing!”

Definitely not perfect timing. You mirror Mark with the same wide eyes. It’s almost as if you’ve shrivelled up or froze up into an ice statue. Johnny doesn’t seem to notice you shoving your things into your tote bag out of sheer panic. Mark’s eyes dart between you and the newly-arrived couple. 

“Hey, sorry, I completely forgot that I have a meeting with my group for our project.” It comes out as a squeak. Everyone’s looking at you and you can’t find the strength to look at any of them in the eye. But you can surely feel the attention that’s been shifted towards you. 

“Leaving already?” Johnny pouts. “I just got here—”

“Sorry!” You exclaim, standing up from your seat and making a beeline for the exit doors of the study room. You look over your shoulder. Johnny has a cute pout on his lips as he watches you scurry away from them. “I’ll make it up to you!”

“You’ll make it up to me by joining us tonight for chicken and beer!”

When Jaehyun and Ara take up the spot you used to sit at, Mark can’t help but look at Ara with round eyes. He just can’t seem to look at Ara the same way anymore, especially when she’s with Jaehyun. Mark decides to settle his gaze on Jaehyun instead, but he still feels the same. He can’t look at Jaehyun the same way either. The first person that comes to mind when he looks at the couple sitting across from him is Nakamoto Yuta. The second and last person that comes to mind is you.

There are two innocent people being brought into this mess. It’s you and Yuta.

And what’s worse is that Jaehyun and Ara are just as innocent.

You and Mark find yourselves standing in front of Jaehyun’s door. Surprisingly, it’s quiet. You don’t hear Johnny’s loud voice through the thin door. Instead, right when Mark knocks on the door, you hear someone’s faint shuffling that gets louder and louder as they get close to the door. The door swings open and your mouth slightly parts open. This is—?

“Jaehyun!” Mark exclaims, crashing into Jaehyun’s arms. 

You stand there awkwardly as you watch them embrace. Jaehyun pats Mark’s back until his eyes meet yours. Jaehyun. You’ve known of him. But now that you can put a face to his name, you’re immediately brought back to your freshman year, specifically your freshman orientation week. You’ve seen his face before. Jaehyun was amongst the popular freshmen in your year mainly due to his charisma and charm. By the end of freshman orientation week, he had become a magnet that attracted everyone to him. But not only did you remember him from orientation week, but you remember being one of the many people who were attracted to him. He had become your first university crush, but ever since orientation week, you never saw him again.

Until now.

“I’m guessing you’re Y/N?” Jaehyun asks and you find yourself snapping out of your trance. “I’d be surprised if you weren’t.”

You slowly nod your head. “Yes, that’s me.”

“The one that was scurrying away earlier?” He chuckles.

You roll your eyes. “God, please don’t remind me. That was embarrassing.”

“Nice to meet you,” he smiles and oh boy, are those dimples? 

You swoon. Too bad Jaehyun’s off the market. But at the same time, it’s a shame that you’re going to be the one to ruin his relationship and put him back on the market. You muster up a smile. “Nice to meet you too, Jaehyun.”

You and Mark make yourselves comfortable in Jaehyun’s apartment. Your eyes scan the place and just by the small touches to his apartment, you can pick up what kind of person Jaehyun is. From the LP turntable sitting in one corner of the room accompanied by a great stack of records—he has some exquisite taste in music—to the mini fridge filled with bottles of wine, you can tell that he’s a young man with an old soul. You turn to your right when you spot a piano and a microphone stand. It’s a makeshift studio in the opposite corner of his living room. He sings?

“I’ve heard many things about you from Johnny,” Jaehyun starts a conversation as he hands you a can of beer. “And Mark, of course.”

You open the can of beer to take your first sip, making sure to squint your eyes at Mark. “I hope they’re good things.”

He smiles. “There’s nothing to worry about. They put you up to the highest standard.”

You cough. “As they should.”

Mark scoffs. “You’re being too obnoxious right now.”

“Shut up,” you mutter, taking another sip of your beer. “What’s taking Johnny so long to get here? After scolding me for bailing out on every single function, here he is, pulling up later than promised.”

“Speaking of,” Jaehyun says as he stares at his phone. “His uber just pulled up. I’ll meet up with him downstairs. While I go fetch him, make yourselves comfortable.”

Jaehyun leaves you alone in silence. The moment Jaehyun shuts the door, Mark shoots you a cheeky grin. He’s wiggling his eyebrows at you and you can’t help but squint your eyes at him. 

“Why are you looking at me like that—”

“You like him, don’t you?”

You scoff in disbelief. “I do not like him like that—”

“You do.” Mark cuts you off. “I’m getting that type of energy from you—”

“Well, sorry to disappoint, I don’t like him like that. Besides, he’s in a relationship with Ara—”

“He’s in a relationship that you’re destined to end.” Mark reminds you and you frown. “What? It’s true!”

You shake your head and with a stern voice, you say, “I don’t like Jaehyun. I just find him... charming.”

“That’s all—”

“And handsome—”

“Oh—”

“And sweet.” You add. “But other than that, I don’t like him. I’m Cupid, remember? I’m cursed to never fall in love and so the chances of me liking Jaehyun? Very slim.”

Mark smirks. “But you find him charming, handsome, and sweet. Isn’t that more than enough to like someone?”

“There’s a very distinct line drawn between infatuation and love, Mark.” You state with a matter of fact. 

“So, you’re infatuated with Jaehyun—”

“What’s up party people, put your hands up!”

Both of your mouths clamp shut at Johnny’s freakishly loud voice echoing the apartment the moment he walks in. You dumbly put your hands up and Mark lets out a loud cackle. Entering right after him are Ara and—

“Yuta, my right hand and my go-to!” Mark exclaims.

You wish you were invisible, especially when Ara spots you on the couch and sends you a wave. You’re mustering up a very tight-lipped smile as you wave back at her. Great, this is going to be a long night. Jaehyun follows suit, throwing his arm over Ara’s shoulder and pecking her cheek. Mark sneaks a glance at you as you’re tearing your gaze away from the couple to take another sip of beer.

“Y/N actually came for once,” Johnny teases you. 

Everyone gathers around the small coffee-table. Scattered on the small table are three boxes of chicken along with a can of beer for everyone. You’re sitting right across from Yuta, who hasn’t uttered a single word since he got here. But surprisingly enough, his eyes meet yours and you quickly look away. Your heart begins to race. 

And your heart starts to beat much faster when Yuta never seems to break his stare at you for the rest of the night.

Yuta has definitely seen you before but he can’t seem to pinpoint exactly where he’s seen you. It must have been a fleeting moment, where the both of you passed by each other unknowingly. But after looking into your wandering eyes, after watching you chug a can of beer right across from him, he has found his answer.

Valentine’s Day.

He was biking on his way home after a three-hour lecture. Too many couples. He remembers the excessive amount of couples strolling down the busy streets. He remembers having the urge to rip his eyes out whenever he came to a stoplight and spotted a couple sharing a passionate (way too passionate) kiss. But he also remembers the sudden loneliness he felt.

Ara. He’s always found her pretty in her own special way. His first encounter with Ara was when she auditioned for the co-ed soccer team. He was seated at the bleachers as one of the head coaches who chose the new team members. She was everything he adored in someone. It was like she had her own glow whenever she ran down the field, with her hair bouncing as she ran. 

But too bad because she’s—

“Taken?”

Jaehyun let out a sigh on the other phone line. Yuta pursed his lips into a tight line. “Listen, I tried to get those concert tickets for you tonight through my connections. But all of the available seats are taken. Well, there are still some seats but the seats you wanted are gone.”

“Do you have tickets for other seats?” Jaehyun questioned.

“Yeah, but the seats are pretty far from the stage. Are you alright with that?”

He heard distinct chatter on the other phone line. He heard Ara’s soft voice and a smile threatened to escape his lips. Right… she’s taken by Jaehyun. “We’ll take them!”

“Perfect.” Yuta chuckled. “I’m on my way to your apartment, actually. I’ll be there in a couple of minutes to give you the tickets.”

Yuta turned to his right and into a familiar neighbourhood. He slowed down his bike when he reached Jaehyun’s apartment building. As he headed up a couple flights of stairs, he reached Jaehyun’s apartment completely out of breath. The door opened and he saw—

“Oh, hey, Ara.” He scratched the back of his neck nervously. “Is Jaehyun here?”

Ara beamed up at him and nodded her head. “Come in. You look like you’re out of breath. Do you want a glass of water, or something?”

“I’m good. Thanks.” He mumbled, too shy and nervous to utter anything other than those three words. Ara bit her lip to stop herself from smiling. God, why is he so nervous around her?

“Yuta!” Jaehyun said in a sing-song voice, greeting him with a fist-bump.

“Hey—oh?”

Yuta clamped his mouth shut when he looked into Jaehyun’s eyes. Jaehyun’s eyes sure do look pretty, he could see stars shining back at him. But that’s not what he saw.

He saw an unfamiliar woman. He’s never seen her before.

In Jaehyun’s eyes, he saw a woman holding what seemed like a microphone. She had headphones on and her face was illuminated by what he assumed was a laptop screen. She was singing a song he couldn’t hear. Yuta blinked, soaking in every little detail about the woman he saw in Jaehyun’s eyes. But it was not long until his face paled when he realized something terrible.

The woman he saw in Jaehyun’s eyes was not Ara.

Valentine’s Day. It’s the day he dreads the most out of the entire year. It’s the day where he receives his love assignment for the year. He has one year to make his assignment fall in love with their soulmate. But how is he going to do that when his love assignment is Jaehyun? 

Cupids are cursed to never fall in love. Although, Yuta does have sheer hope that he could definitely find love. How could he not, when he’s a hopeless fool in front of Ara? It’s this specific Valentine’s Day that he dreads the most out of all the Valentine’s Days he’s spent. Why? Because while he found out that Jaehyun’s soulmate isn’t Ara, that surely doesn’t mean that he has a chance with Ara. In fact, he’ll never have a chance with Ara. He could potentially be the man Ara will hate the most.

Because one way or another, he must tear Ara and Jaehyun apart.

author’s note. welp, i hope you enjoyed the first part! i should be able to post the second part after all of my midterms. look out for it! thank you for reading!

[dianaburnwood]

Family, Grief, and Vengeance

Let’s talk about one of HITMAN 3′s more poignant subjects: loss. 

This is probably, in my opinion, the hardest theme to tackle in this game. IO took the heavy-handed, leave no room for doubt approach when it came to themes of power, corruption, responsibility, and freedom. The messaging is clear as day, and the game almost beats you over the head with it. 

Loss, on the other hand, is treated delicately. Carefully. Subtly. I’m interested in the choices behind that, and I think a lot of it has to do with 47 and his own ways of processing trauma. 

Grey’s last words were: “Tell the Constant to start running.” You’d expect a blazing revenge tale after that, right? Grey obviously expected 47 to avenge him. After Absolution, you’d expect 47′s ways of dealing with grief are to go ahead and burn a city to the ground. And while he does make sure to get Edwards in Romania (and anyone who ever touched Grey, if you like), the theme is not vengeance. It’s not retaliation. It’s strangely enough about moving forward, into the light. Because revenge brings us to dark places (e.g. TLOU2), but HITMAN 3 ends on a note of hope. Of acceptance. A better understanding of the world, and how to live in it. 

But I’m not gonna talk about hope here. I’ve done that already. Now I wanna talk about the darkness. And, in my opinion, never has there been a darker Hitman level than Berlin. 

In many ways, HITMAN 3 was a more realistic, more mature exploration of grief. No explosions, no drinking yourself into a stupor, (though you can argue that was mostly down to guilt as well as grief in Absolution). Instead, IOI took what I think is a wonderful opportunity to explore the nature of quiet grief. 

And goddamn was Berlin QUIET. 

Berlin, in a big departure from other levels, has a cold opening. IOI took the risk and turned away from flashy briefings, or even a cutscene for now. Instead, we open in silence. It’s unusual. It’s uncomfortable. It’s deafening. The silence presses on you, on 47, as you’re still trying to process what you witnessed in the previous scene. 

It’s a dark night, on a dark road, next to a closed gas station. There’s no sign of anything behind or in front of you, the road just stretches on into the darkness. No NPCs in sight. It’s nothingness. It’s the purest isolation, that liminal space of a roadside in the middle of the night. The stillness. The in-between. The uncertainty. The limbo. 

In case we weren’t getting it, we have 47 himself. He hasn’t said anything. I’m sure they didn’t change his expression either, and yet - the lighting, the glint in his eyes - I was agog when I saw this for the first time. It’s such a huge contrast to the previous scene, it makes the entire tone of this opening feel like distilled shock. 

And then... he’s wearing the coat. Interestingly, the coat is not called “Lucas Grey”. Nor is it called “Subject 6”. Instead, it’s called “Number 6″. Why? 

Surely “Lucas Grey” would have been more personal... and yet, it wouldn’t have been true. That wasn’t who he was to 47.  Not “subject” 6 either, a word reminiscent of experimentation. Instead, IOI chose a “number”, just like 47. And 47 wraps himself up in Grey. In Grey’s perseverance. In his cause. 47 literally takes it on himself. And I really think that echoes real people, and real grief. Smelling like the person you lost. Keeping them near you. Trying to be who they needed you to be. 

The sense that something’s off, that something’s missing, doesn’t stop here at the gas station. In fact, it’s the entire point of the level. You are quite literally missing information, missing a handler, missing targets, missing weapons. You don’t even get through to Olivia when you first call. You are alone, with nothing. With no one. 

While I can’t wait to run through this club, John Wick style, I can’t ignore the way the club wants me to feel. Lost in a crowd. Numb. Listening to other agents and their handler, listening to them chat with their friends about work, about getting a drink later, about dumb shit. About nothing. 

I glide through the crowds like a shark. I find them. I hear the rising panic in their handler’s voice and I think “good”. Suffer with me.

But it gets taken away from you. You can only kill 5. I have no idea how many there are. On my last play, I found 11. I knocked them out to kill them later, thinking I could get them all - but once I’d gotten 5, the unconscious agents were no longer targets. They didn’t matter anymore. None of it mattered, really. The numbness comes back. Because you don’t even get the triumphant exit music at the end of this level either. It’s just the throbbing bass of the dance-floor. People laughing, drinking, dancing, sweating. A distraction from life. Dear GOD what a great setting for this moment in the game. 

Leaving the club almost feels like relief. The cool night washes over you again. 

And I can’t bear to leave Grey’s coat behind. 

[sophiamcdougall]

EXPLAINING SANREMO

(PART 1) Last week I was swept away, helpless, by the avalanche that is the Sanremo Song Festival and I am still recovering. For your safety, I’ve tried to keep the insanity contained on my Italian side blog. But I want to try to offer you a rough summary of what I’ve learned. Sanremo inspired the Eurovision Song Contest. Over five nights, 24 acts, each with a brand new song, compete at the Ariston theatre in Sanremo for a tacky little golden lion, and the glory of being the year’s Song for Italy. 2020 marked the 70th Sanremo, so depending on who you ask, it’s a venerable national treasure or it’s stale and embarrassing (Many Italians are sick of it. Or say they are, but see below.) It is also an EPIC STRUGGLE between THE FORCES OF GOOD AND EVIL FOR THE SOUL OF HUMANITY Let’s meet some of the protagonists: 

AKA: host Amadeus, entertainer and comedian Rosario Fiorello, il Bel Paese, and competitor Achille Lauro.

Amadeus got things off to a bad start before the show even began by praising his various female co-hosts - all seasoned TV professionals - for their beauty and their ability to stay “a step behind a man.” Outrage ensues, Amadeus claims he did not mean it like that, but keep this in mind for later. Also competing are Morgan (below, left) and Bugo (below, right.), who are performing a duet.

Going in, the one thing I know about Morgan is that on more than one occasion, he trashtalked my beloved and blameless Fabrizio Moro. So I hate him and want him to suffer. And apparently he has quite the reputation for throwing tantrums, picking on fellow-artists and sabotaging events he’s part of. But hey. He’s supposedly talented and Bugo clearly thinks he deserves another chance.  And we’re off!

Irene Grandi kicks things off with  “Finalmente Io” (“Finally Me”). But I’m starting with her not so much because she’s the first to sing as because I don’t think the song’s  got enough attention -- either for the fact that it bangs or for what it represents in the drama that’s about to unfold.

Finalmente Io is what, in the business, we call foreshadowing.

There’s a magical thing that happens to women with when they turn 40. The  develop Not-Giving-A-Fuck superpowers. The song is basically about that. It’s about freedom, and self-acceptance, and being 100% done with male bullshit. (It's also a bit of an ADHD anthem but let’s leave that aside for now.)  “I’ve lost all my patience, and all my fragility,” she sings. 

And, “If you want sex, let’s do it now. Heeeeeeere.”

Irene is the portent everyone misses, a harbinger of what is to come. 

Think of her as John the Baptist.  Onwards. So the first thing one discovers about the Sanremo Festival is that just because we have to get through 24 “big” acts AND 6 (?) new/junior artists, and they all have to perform multiple times, that doesn’t mean there’s any RUSH. Guest singers wander on and perform a song or ten. There’s comedy. We can stop everything to talk about football.  A lady comes on and talks for a million years about how her granny taught her that True Beauty is Found Within. There are also speeches about important subjects like violence against women. In fact, we are going to talk about that a lot, but also a bunch of competent and experienced female TV personalities are stuck taking turns at playing Amadeus’s Glamorous Assistant of the evening and he can’t shut up about how beautiful they all are while they cringe and lean subtly away from him. So it’s ... slow, and awkward, but within its own cheesy terms, things are normal. Too normal. Enter Achille Lauro. 

Softly, almost whispering, he begins to sing a song called  “Me ne frego”  (”I don’t care” - but with an edge of “fuck you”). This is both an everyday Italian expression and a fascist motto. Well, it was till now. 

A nation is convulsed. Right-wing Italian boomers are screaming because YOU! CAN’T! DO! THAT! AT! SANREMO! THERE! ARE! CHILDREN! WATCHING! Italian Tumblr, which like the rest of Tumblr is feral, thirsty and gay, is screaming for different reasons entirely. 

Achille, you scandalous creature, what have you done? What have you got to say for yourself?

Something strange and magical  has released and it cannot be contained. On with the songs. Good songs, bad songs, blah songs. I like “Tikibombom” by Levante - a love letter to weirdos and rebels, “Rosso di Rabbia” (Rage Red) by Anastasio about being, well, angry but scared you can’t do anything useful with it, and “Eden” by  Rancore, about... the nature of sin?? touching on everything from September 11 to the mafia to Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.   However, this contest is being judged (mostly - it’s complicated) by an industry jury of FOOLS, COWARDS, and TRAITORS who KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO, so virtually all of the above artists are so far languishing towards the bottom of the provisional rankings. Achille ends up in 17th place and  Rancore at 22.

Truly, the light hath shone in the darkness and the darkness knoweth it not.

LOOK WHAT YOU’VE DONE TO RANCORE. 

Rapper down, repeat RAPPER DOWN. SEND HELP.

However, for people who went in implacably biased against Morgan, it’s not all bad news. "Sincero” (Sincere) by Morgan and Bugo is in last place. Whether this is anything to do with the song or because Morgan is a nightmare of a person who has systematically alienated everyone in the Italian music industry except the trusting Bugo ... we can but ponder.  Sanremo grinds on. Days blur into each other and I’m not even going to try to cover events in exact order. Sanremo knows no order. Sanremo is like the universe, linear time is a construct that doesn’t really exist, and chaos happens very, very slowly.  But meanwhile, somewhere on the astral plane:

At least that is what I deduce must have happened.

The competitors and guests look deep within themselves. Do they have what it takes? Are they ready to answer the call? 

Let’s see! It’s Covers Night! Which is also Duets Night!

That’s Elettra Lamborghini (yes, that Lamborghini) and Myss Keta.

 Are they in tune? No. Does it matter? ALSO NO.

Meanwhile ... something strange is brewing between Amadeus and Fiorello...

 But wait, PLOT TWIST.

Enter Roberto Benigni.

The beloved actor and director is the latest avatar of the Dionysian frenzy that has chosen Sanremo 2020 for the place of its birth. He is the One who will unite the electric queer mayhem and the impossible grinding tedium  of Sanremo. In him, the two strains will fuse and become unstoppable. He is going to talk about sex for twenty-six minutes

He reads from the Song of Songs, which ... I knew it was sexy, and all, but is it really like that? Do you ever think about NAKED BODIES? Roberto does. Do you believe in PHYSICAL LOVE? Roberto wishes you would. Anyway, just think of all the sex we could all be having, literally right now, right heeeeere, whether we are  “a woman, and her man. Or a man and his man. Or a woman, and her woman!” He is awful. He is magnificent. He is excruciating. He is spellbinding. We are hanging on his every word and we are considering chewing our own arms off to escape. He proposes an orgy in the orchestra pit. 

Hand on heart, all of that happened. Italian Tumblr, bear witness.

And what of Achille Lauro? He unleashed this madness upon us all,  is he just going to sit back and let everyone else do all the work? Of course not. Achille Lauro came to bring not peace, but a sword, to the world of toxic masculinity and gender in general and his work is not yet done.

”I too was once a little girl,” Achille sings.

Dressed as Bowie-as-Ziggy, Achille duets with Annalisa on “Gli Uomini Non Cambiano” - “Men Don’t Change”. It’s a heartbreaking song by Mia Martini from 1992 about male abuse of women, and not a single word, or a single pronoun has been changed.

However, although he’s the one in the competition, and the one dressed to dazzle, he leaves Annalisa the spotlight. It’s like she’s the tortured protagonist of the song and he’s a voice in her head, a sympathetic spirit who can’t swoop in to rescue her but can quietly affirm that she deserves better than the the hellish treatment she’s singing about. in fact, he pointedly stays a step behind her at all times. And she’s majestic. 

Of course, he’s not fucking DONE

He’s still got to sing “Me Ne Frego” again. Can he top the cape-drop? You be the judge.

So Italian Tumblr,  is now writhing on the carpet,  making a sound only bats can hear, and shitposting itself into delirium, but has it all been ENOUGH?

NO.

Poor Rancore has died again. Toxic masculinity still exists. Amadeus is still pretty gross. Everyone is going to have to GAY HARDER. CAN THEY DO IT? This post is, like Sanremo itself, getting insanely long, so ... STAY TUNED FOR PART TWO, in which Fiorello’s true nature as a chaos being is revealed, Amadeus faces his Calvary, and the gun on the stage goes off.  ----- UPDATE: Part 2 is here

[goldeneyedgirl]

2020 Fic Meme

It happens every year like clockwork. The Fic Round-Up Meme. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t looking forward to it this year because I’ve written so much. As usual, compiled from ancient Livejournal fic memes. I like doing it as kind of a time capsule of my writing. If anyone else wants to take a crack, feel free. I love reading writers’ throughs on their own work. <3 No tagging because that is PRESSURE. 

Twilight

12 Days of Fic-Mas (Twilight, WIP) Day 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 + Christmas Eve Twelve days of fic extracts, previews, and drabbles focusing on Alice Cullen and Jess/Jasper Hale: Anathema, the KidFic, Married in Vegas, Daemons, Memento Vivere, Human Alice Kills James, Jess and Alice do Prom, Forgotten, Vampires in Vegas, Shadow to Light Missing Scene, Hybrid, Cowboys and Angel Solstice, and All These Broken Things

Afterglow (Alice/Jasper, AU, Romance, G)  There were three things of which she was certain. The first was that her name was Alice. The second was that she was born an angel. And three, she was getting ready to die.

Against a Wall (Alice/Jasper, Human/Vampire AU, Romance, Angst, PG) If you asked anyone with the surname ‘Whitlock’, they’d tell you that the family was cursed. It was the Whitlock Curse to blame the day the bank took the ranch away from Jasper’s own father.      

And Found (Alice/Jasper, Soulmark AU, Romance, PG) The soul mark appears when Alice is six. It is a twisted ribbon of a mark, from the inside of her left elbow, up her arm, over her shoulder, along her clavicle, over her right shoulder and down to her right wrist. What ugly, soulless individual could inspire such a mark?

Jar of Hearts Pt 1 Pt 2 (WIP) (Alice, Emmett, Seth, MCU xover, Angst, PG) The snap came for everyone - “He said he’d never leave me,” she says in a wobbly voice. “He promised me.”“It wasn’t by choice,” Emmett rushes to tell her. “You were his last thought; he tried so hard to get home before he…”

Never a Question (Alice/Jasper, AU, Angst, G)  Carlisle is quite sure that he’s watching his son’s heart break into a million pieces as he stares at his human mate, slowly dying alone, not a single person allowed to hold her hand.

Hand in Hand (Alice/Jasper, AU, Fluff, G)  “Never,” he swears, pressing a kiss to her cheek that makes her beam -  “There’s not a single moment I can think of that cannot be improved by your presence, darlin’.”

Love & Duty (Alice/Jasper, AU, Romance, G)  A trainee witch is sent to treat a wounded cowboy from her brother coven. 

Shadow to Light (WIP) (Alice/Jasper, AU Angst, PG) In 1918, Jasper lures the newborn known as Mary-Alice back to Monterrey. He is lost to her before it even begins. (Ch 6-8)

The Way of Things (Alice/Jasper, AU, Drama, M)  She truly doesn’t know what comes next. He truly doesn’t know if it will be good or bad. They will live this life for as long as it lasts, long may it last, surrounded by the people they love and trust. 

What You Say (Alice/Jessamine, Canon, Angst, M)  Edward might have thought Aro was their reckoning, but Alice knows for her, it is Jessamine’s hurt.

Total number of completed stories: ELEVEN. 

Total word count: 90,155 words were formally posted - not including snippets, previews (aside from FicMas) or anything that was shared on the Discord server. 

Looking back, did you write more fic than you thought you would this year, less, or about what you’d predicted? I fucking nailed it. Like, seriously. THREE chapters of Shadow to Light? Every single day of JaliceWeek AND FicMas? I mean, I think the lockdown definitely helped with free time, and not going to lie, the iOS shutdown of Fortnite probably assisted my productivity. 

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted in January? The Discord has so much to answer for. I wrote porn. Like, what. What. What. What. I find this bizarre and did not have ‘let’s just go full NC17 in 2020′ on my bingo card, but it happened. In fact, 2019 Lexie has just gone full spit-take and yelled, “WHAT?!” at the top of her lungs. 

And to make it more surprising, it’s both het and f/f porn. Like, mind-blown. Who am I anymore?

What’s your own favourite story of the year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you happiest? The Way of Things, What You Say, And Found, & Afterglow. All fics that came together really well, that felt like *me*, and had hopeful endings. I’m really proud of them. 

STL doesn’t get an opportunity to be apart of this til it’s finished. 

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them? The porn. 

Apparently, I can write it. Who knew? 

I definitely threw caution to the wind with JaliceWeek and just went for whatever crossed my mind and stopped worrying so much. Like, whatever, this is what I want to write so I will. I mean, the MCU crossover is happening in a slightly more obscure way than I initially envisaged it, it’s definitely a better fic for it.

I joined the Discord, and that’s been amazing. I’ve spent my last few fandoms existing in kind of a vacuum because of bad experiences and the fact I’m usually doing something niche, so having people to talk to who are so nice and welcoming and are happy to ignore my special brand of obnoxiousness is so lovely and has had such a good affect on my mental health. Sometimes you need people you can be your dorkiest self with. 

My instincts are pretty good as far as fic goes, people are awesome, and I can write sex scenes. It’s been a learning curve, let me tell you that. 

Do you have any fanfic or profic goals for the New Year?  I have to balance grad school, my business, and my writing, so that’s going to be interesting. I think I need to look at my fic more as downtime than a high-stress ‘job’ because I LOVE writing it. I love writing. I love reading. But I get in my own head and overthink. So my goals are BALANCE and RELAX. 

My best story of this year: Oh man, that’s not something I can judge. I am so incredibly proud of how Afterglow, And Found, and The Way of Things turned out. Especially considering I was so behind with JaliceWeek, and I think I was putting out a fic a day, and freaking out because I was lacking ideas, so when these three just came together exactly how I wanted them, it was a good moment. 

My most popular story: Shadow to Light. Look, if that’s my legacy to fandom, I’ve done pretty damn well. I’m really, really appreciative of how enthusiastic people are about this ‘verse. I don’t always understand it, because I can see how my writing has changed and how the story has evolved massively (first it was supposed to be a one-shot, then five chapters.) I hope that it ends up being satisfying for everyone because I have LOVED writing it, even if I am slower than molasses. 

Story of mine most under-appreciated by the universe, in my opinion: Everyone is always so damn enthusiastic about my writing. I think maybe Hybrid is kind of a big question mark for everyone at the moment because there are so many questions and no answers yet. 

And any of the Jessamine/Alice. That’s a new niche, I get not everyone is into it. But it’s happening and will continue into 2020.

Most fun story to write:  What You Say or Jess and Alice at Prom. Jess is a little snarkier than Jasper, less controlled, and the girls are super fun to write, even high-tension scenes. 

Most Sexy Story: Oh, I can answer this now! Um, maybe The Way of Things or Jess and Alice at Prom? Yup, those are my picks. 

Story with the single sexiest moment:  The Way of Things. This happened before the Discord Intervention, and I’m genuinely not sure if I’m happy with the end of the Prom fic, so it might be reworked slightly in the future. But The Way of Things I was really happy with because it covered so many ideas I had in a way that fit together well. 

That’s where she makes good on her unspoken promises from aeons again, of their private victory celebration. She sits astride him, her hips rolling hard against his, drawing out his groans and growls as he grips her thighs almost tight enough to crack. Their gazes are locked the entire time, her tongue skimming over her lips, as she lets her emotions tell him everything that she wants and everything she plans to take.

He remembers fucking her in the dirt in Dacia; his mouth between her legs as she hollered obscenities in a Paris attic; and the urgent, passionate loving-making of a marriage finally consummated.

She remembers bloody emeralds looped around her throat and resting between her breasts as she gets down on her knees and takes him into her mouth, his fingers tangled in her hair; the delicious weight of him on top of her, their sweat mingling and cooling in the frozen night as their flimsy bed creaked against the wall; and his soft encouragement in her ear as he grasps her around the waist, their hands resting together on the gentle swell of her stomach. 

Most “holy crap, that’s wrong, even for you” story: I think I restrained myself from anything too dark or twisted this year, actually. Oh, wait, Vampires in Vegas. That one has some pretty dark implications about Alice’s life, about the vampire underworld, and Jasper’s behaviour, especially as it goes one. No fic that deals with someone being put into sex work without educated consent is going to avoid being dark, and I think it’s logical that vampires would have their hands in a lot of illegal yet profitable areas. 

Story that shifted my own perceptions of the characters: Anything with Jessamine/Alice because, like, Jess isn’t a name-swap of Jasper, and the relationship dynamic shifts with the slight personality shifts. And then you have to consider the family and social dynamic of two women in the relationship, so working all that out was fun. 

Jar of Hearts is another one, because I had to work out who the fic was going to follow and what was lost. And Emmett and Alice pretty much don’t interact in canon, but they were chosen for a reason. I’ve stripped them down to their worst, most isolated selves without their ‘true north’ (Rose and Jasper) or their moral center (Carlisle and Esme), or even their secret weapon (Edward). Seth, too, has been isolated from his family and friends, and is especially ‘other’ in this situation. This is an MCU crossover, so we’re kind of following a heroes’ journey with the last of Forks’ supernatural creatures.

Hardest story to write: Shadow to Light because of the way I have to use language, because of the plot strands from canon when I hate writing canon material, and how the characters have changed and how this new version reflects the old version. 

Against a Wall, as well, because of the in-verse time crunch I had - I needed Jasper damaged, military-minded, and changed by age 19. And I needed the boy broken. I’m happy with it, the story is done and dusted, but it didn’t quite turn out how I planned. And that’s okay, because I like this version. But I think I tackled something a lot bigger than I anticipated with it. 

Most disappointing:  Look, I love the verse and the set-up, but I think Love & Duty could do with another 2k words for build-up. I just ran out of time, honestly, to build up that mutual attraction between Alice and Jasper. 

Easiest story to write: Anathema, because Alice’s voice was so clear in it. Anathema!Alice knows exactly who she is, and that’s always fun. And the Shadow to Light Missing Scene; it wasn’t as long as I hoped, but it turned out exactly as I imagined it happening. 

Biggest surprise:  Everyone really, really liked Forgotten. And Vampires in Vegas, which I honestly thought were the weakest offerings during FicMas. 

Most unintentionally telling story:  The Way of Things. There’s so little dialogue, and it’s covering such a massive amount of time and story that it’s intentionally written to tell. 

Story I’d like to revise: Love & Duty, and Married in Vegas. A little polish, a little shine, it’s fine. For Love & Duty, it’s definitely the time crunch I need to go back and fix; for Married in Vegas, it’s just reflective of how long ago I started it. I’m a better writer, I know the characters more, and I’m less prone to overly dramatic plot twists. 

Story I didn’t write but will at some point, I swear: Look, let me lay the groundwork now so that no one who isn’t on the Discord isn’t startled. 

There’s going to be a Jess/Jasper/Alice threesome fic, and I regret nothing. 

I really, really want to get All These Broken Things redone and posted because it’s getting silly how long it’s just been sitting there. 

I want to actually write Monster, which is a fic I don’t talk about much but I want to write. It’s a question about who the monster of the story is, and I’m not sure I’m as skilled as I should be, to write it, but I want to try. 

And one of my numerous attempts at a Haunted House Cryptid fic. It has to happen, I have so many ideas!

[hakuryuu]

PLEASE I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW (EITHER-OR!) NEW OR RONAH’S ANSWERS FOR THE WHOLE MEME YOU POSTED

NEW 1. How would you (or they) describe their gender, without using standard binary terms?: new would describe her gender as the color the sky gets right before the sunrise gets started in the summer


2. Are they religious?: no…..sort of…….religion is hard one bc gods like Canonically Exist in this world and she Knows This And Believes In Them but she’s not particularly spiritual and doesn’t have one god she’s particularly devoted to AND because of the memory thing she only like vaguely knows that the gods exist at all so sjdflkjs


3. What social media platforms would they use (if in a world where those existed) and what would they use them for? Bonus: What would they get cancelled for?: new would probably have an instagram but not use it very much, she’d maybe post pictures of stuff now and again and she likes to follow people who make cool things but i think she would mostly make an instagram account and then forget about it (bonus: paz and caramel are BIG on twitter)


4. Do they have any weird scars, and how did they get them?: she has a bunch of regular accumulated life-living scars from like scratches and bug bites and falls and stuff, but nothing really weird except for that she doesn’t remember how she got a lot of them


5. What crime are they most likely to be arrested for?: loitering U__U


6. Ok, what crime are they most likely to have actually committed?: trespassing


7. If the one prison phone call thing was real, who would they call?: paz w/o hesitation (paz is the richest and will probably show up with caramel and run anyway)


8. Do they collect anything? What do they collect?: she collects little trinkets and things! usually small emotionally relevant items that are from or remind her of experiences she’s had (her haircutting knife, that portrait of run in her bag, the small bells off her dress, etc)


9. Who would they platonically marry for tax benefits?: PAZ…….


10. What superstition/paranormal entity/conspiracy theory do they believe is 100% real, whether or not they admit it?: i can’t think of anything like this for new im sorryyyyy i’ll come back to this one


11. What’s something embarrassing they did as a child/teenager?: [REDACTED DUE TO MEMORY LOSS]


12. What’s something embarrassing they probably did yesterday?: walked up to someone without looking directly at them, assumed they were run, started talking to them, and then realized that they were just a random stranger and not run


13. What hobby did they try once and give up on? Why?: jewelry-making! she wanted to make more fun earrings and stuff for herself and her friends but she doesn’t have access to many of the right tools for it and the stuff she managed to put together didn’t look how she wanted it to so she just stuck with weaving as a hobby


14. What niche topic do they get incredibly pedantic about?: SJKDGLF THANKS TO HER LIKE WEEK OF RESEARCH AT THE PIPER TOWN LIBRARY THAT ONE TIME SHE KNOWS SO MUCH ABOUT OLD RICH FAMILIES ON PANSIA…..paz will make some offhand comment about a family the mahaleys work at and new will be like. eyes emoji


15. What’s their favorite food to make?: she loves apple cinnamon oatmeal and loves to make it from scratch ;__;


16. What do you think this character’s worst decision was? What does this character think their worst decision was?: New Has Done Nothing Wrong In Her LIFE (SHE thinks her worst decision was agreeing to abandon caramel and run & go with paz when paz left them, even though they ended up turning back pretty quickly)


17. Is there anything you wish the writers had done differently with this character? Why?: I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO SEE THE WRITER GIVE HER SOME MORE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN THE SECOND HALF OF FMFY, I THINK THAT SHE AND ALL OF THE CHARACTERS COULD HAVE REALLY BENEFITTED FROM EXPLORING THOSE NEW WEIRD DYNAMICS BEFORE THE CLIMAX OF THE BOOK,


18. What character from another work do you think they’d get along really well with?: within my own works (elise nano extended universe) i think that she would get along with maimou from ttsp (he’s that kind of friendly that would put her at ease and draw her out of her shyness somewhat i think), and outside of my own works i have this vague sense that she might get along with charlotte’s oc io?


19. What character from another work would be their mortal enemy?: not mortal enemy but i think that she and turnadot from lamsm would be at odds because of the like difference in approach they have to everything that’s happening to them and the difference of experience… oh iro i think would get frustrated at her easily i think


20. What’s a headcanon you’ve always wanted to share but none of these ask memes ever ask you about it?: I Am Constantly Sharing All My Headcanons And No One Can Stop Me

---

RONAH 1. How would you (or they) describe their gender, without using standard binary terms?: you know when you light a fire in the snow at night and the light is orange and the shadows are this bright blue? that color


2. Are they religious?: yes! they’re a big believer in the moon and the cycle (ironically….. :( )


3. What social media platforms would they use (if in a world where those existed) and what would they use them for? Bonus: What would they get cancelled for?: gjsdlgjsf i really feel like the closest they have to a social media presence is like. a goodreads account. and then they show up in the background of thrip’s tiktoks sometimes and their brothers reference them in tweets and raiv’s instagram has a lot of selfies with them


4. Do they have any weird scars, and how did they get them?: the only weird scar they have is one on their thigh where they accidentally cut themself mid-switch between elf and wolf forms and it took forever to heal and it’s BRIGHT red


5. What crime are they most likely to be arrested for?: grim answer: being a wolf shifter


6. Ok, what crime are they most likely to have actually committed?: accessory to murder U___U


7. If the one prison phone call thing was real, who would they call?: they’d want to call raiv, but they would call laithe (they would consider calling bliss “walked barefoot across the country to get out of a witchcraft trial” parvo and then immediately decide against it)


8. Do they collect anything? What do they collect?: they have a modest storybook/folktale book collection, just a small shelf of their favorites, but they aren’t really the collecting type


9. Who would they platonically marry for tax benefits?: they would (queer)platonically marry bliss for tax benefits, although honestly bliss is getting the benefit because it means they never have to do taxes again because ronah will do them


10. What superstition/paranormal entity/conspiracy theory do they believe is 100% real, whether or not they admit it?: probably one that they’re kind of embarrassed about but still believe deep down that lonaih and unaech (wolf shifter folk story cornerstones) are still alive and out there somewhere somehow


11. What’s something embarrassing they did as a child/teenager?: they were VERY into performing songs and plays and stuff when they were younger, which is something that they feel kind of silly and embarrassed about now (but they still love to tell stories)


12. What’s something embarrassing they probably did yesterday?: walked around the corner and saw themself in a mirror and scared themself


13. What hobby did they try once and give up on? Why?: music, because it was impractical…. :(


14. What niche topic do they get incredibly pedantic about?: LITERALLY EVERYTHING, THATS LIKE THEIR JOB, I LOVE THEM


15. What’s their favorite food to make?: do you remember that braid of pesto bread iro was briefly eating in the beginning of lle? you might not because i suddenly can’t remember if you read the whole thing or just the kavi chapter, BUT ronah learned how to make that because it’s both iro and thrip’s favorite food


16. What do you think this character’s worst decision was? What does this character think their worst decision was?: i personally think that the decision to actively assist their family in a scheme to murder a moon goddess for revenge isn’t the BEST idea they’ve ever had. ronah thinks their worst decision was leaving raiv behind


17. Is there anything you wish the writers had done differently with this character? Why?: it would be cool if the writer had. written the last three to five chapters of the book they’re in. i think that would have been neat
.

18. What character from another work do you think they’d get along really well with?: i think that they and kavi would bond over a love of family and stories!! w/i my own works i kind of like to think that they would get along with farfara from tayl. sonia from ttsp would also remind them of their family, and i think they’d like her for that


19. What character from another work would be their mortal enemy?: this is niche but the bounty hunter from see me through would hate them


20. What’s a headcanon you’ve always wanted to share but none of these ask memes ever ask you about it?: they used to dye their hair when they were younger!

[astonishinglegends]

Ep 199: The Disappearance of Frederick Valentich Part 1

“It is hovering and it’s not an aircraft.” 

– The last known words of pilot Frederich Valentich at 7:12 p.m., somewhere over the Bass Strait in Australia, October 21, 1978

Description:

On Saturday, October 21, 1978, at 6:19 p.m., 20-year-old Frederick Valentich took off from Moorabbin Airport just south of Melbourne, Australia, for what was supposed to be a routine training and pleasure flight over Bass Strait to King Island. A serious student aviator, Valentich had been flying for two years and had accumulated over 150 hours of solo flying time in his goal to one day become a commercial airline pilot. Although rated for night flying by instrument, the sun was still up, and with clear visibility and good weather, there was no reason Valentich shouldn’t have easily completed this trip, which he’d taken several times before. However, just over halfway through the flight at 7:06 p.m., Valentich contacted Melbourne Flight Service Unit and reported seeing an unidentified craft above him, traveling at high speed and shining four bright lights. Valentich would radio back a few minutes later that it didn’t appear to be any known aircraft, and now it had even more unusual characteristics: it was long, shiny metallic, and a green light was emanating from it. Even more unsettling, this craft he described was deliberately toying with him as it orbited above while his plane’s engine was sputtering. At 7:11 p.m., the last statement anyone would hear from Valentich would be that the object was still hovering and that it was not an aircraft. Valentich and his plane had vanished at that moment, but whether it was an elaborate hoax, a deliberate crash, or merely a misidentification combined with a mechanical failure, no investigation has been able to determine. What is not in doubt is that the case of Frederick Valentich remains one of Australia’s biggest aviation mysteries, if not in all of UFO lore.

Location:

Moorabbin Airport, where Frederick Valentich took off from on October 21, 1978, headed for King Island across Bass Strait.

Reference Links:

The Frederick Valentich case on the original Unsolved Mysteries, Season 5, Episode 2 on Amazon Prime

“Disappearance of Frederick Valentich” on Wikipedia

Cessna 182 “Skylane”

Valentich’s missing aircraft report online, from the National Archives of Australia

Download of Valentich’s missing aircraft report as a PDF

Bass Strait

Moorabbin Airport

“'Truth' was out there after all –An accidental discovery sheds new light on the mysterious disappearance of a pilot in 1978, writes Miles Kemp” from The Advertiser

Australian UFO researcher, Keith Basterfield

Melbourne, Australia

Tasmania

King Island, Tasmania

Visit King’s Island

“Biography of Bette Nesmith Graham, Inventor of Liquid Paper” on ThoughtCo.com

Bette Nesmith Graham on Wikipedia

Australian crayfish

The TCAS or Traffic collision avoidance system

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Credits:

Episode 199: The Disappearance of Frederick Valentich Part 1. Produced by Scott Philbrook & Forrest Burgess; Audio Editing by Sarah Vorhees Wendel. Sound Design by Ryan McCullough; Tess Pfeifle, Producer, and Lead Researcher; Research Support from the astonishing League of Astonishing Researchers, a.k.a. The Astonishing Research Corps, or "A.R.C." for short. Copyright 2021 Astonishing Legends Productions, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

[placetobenation]

When it comes to this year’s Survivor Series, things look great at the top.

We’re all excited to see just how The Undertaker will give his Final Farewell and just how will the WWE present it to us. It’s rumored that we could have guests like Kurt Angle, The Godfather to be joined by Triple H and Shawn Michaels. The Phenom deserves a proper send=off! 

Outside of the traditional 5-on-5 matches, it’s champion vs. champion across the board. Roman Reigns vs. new RAW champion Drew McIntyre has that big fight feel. Asuka vs. Sasha Banks, although we’ve seen it before on multiple times, is still very good no matter the venue. Plus, The New Day and The Street Profits looks really good on paper and actually has some history lately with Big E supporting his teammates from across the show on SmackDown. I wonder if we get a heel turn for TSP and they end up beating up Big E at some point. Not really feeling the Sami Zayn vs. Bobby Lashley match as there’s no real consequence and no real heat between the two.

As for those elimination matches, both have done nothing in the build-up to their respective matches. It’s been all about how Team RAW hates each other. What a difference a year makes as one year ago, we were all excited about how Team NXT would fare across the board against RAW and SmackdDown. This year, do we really care which side wins? Not me folks. All of the bickering has left me disinterested as I’m sure the WWE will try to force some kind of Lana survives angle only to be dropped through a table again.

We’ll have predictions later, but for now, here’s the updated card:

The Undertaker’s Final Farewell

WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Universal Champion Roman Reigns

RAW Women’s Champion Asuka vs. SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks

RAW Tag Team Champions The New Day vs. SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Street Profits

United States Champion Bobby Lashley vs. Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn

5-on-5 Women’s Survivor Series Elimination Match (RAW – Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, Lacey Evans, Peyton Royce, Lana vs. Ruby Riott, Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, Bayley, Natalya)

5-on-5 Men’s Survivor Series Elimination Match (Keith Lee, Sheamus, Braun Strowman, AJ Styles, Riddle vs. Kevin Owens, Jey Uso, King Corbin, Seth Rollins, Otis)

Dual Brand Battle Royale (Kick-off Show)

"I'm nobody's joke."

#WWENXT @LEONRUFF_ @RealKingRegal @ArcherOfInfamy pic.twitter.com/oD0UqkJRe7

— WWE (@WWE) November 19, 2020

Star of the Week:

Leon Ruff – Why not?! In the past two weeks, Ruff’s won two matches over Johnny Gargano and the North American Championship to boot! He’s stood up to Damian Priest and shown he’s more than just a jobber. Well done Leon!

RAW

RESULTS

Asuska, Dana Brooke, Mandy Rose defeated Shayna Baszler, Nia Jax & Lana

RAW Tag Team Championship Match: The New Day defeated Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin to retain titles

RETRIBUTION defeated Braun Strowman, Riddle, Sheamus & Keith Lee

Bray Wyatt defeated The Miz

WWE Championship Match: Drew McIntyre defeated Randy Orton to win title

HE DID IT!!!!!@DMcIntyreWWE is once again #WWEChampion! #WWERaw pic.twitter.com/XtVtVSGeZG

— WWE (@WWE) November 17, 2020

Monday Night RAW was all about the main event folks. Putting the title back on Drew McIntyre, as we’ve said before, is a good move. Randy Orton earned his win at Hell in the Cell, but Orton vs. Reigns had no feel for it. In just 5 seconds last Friday night, McIntyre and Reigns already felt like a heavyweight fight. They have history in the Royal Rumble. And they have the look of two big behemoths battling for one night and one night only (for now). I ilke it. I love it. I want some more of it. Good move for Survivor Series and for Monday nights beyond. Now, where does this leave Orton for Survivor Series? Also, I am digging the McIntyre/Sheamus vibe with their backstage vignettes. I wonder if Sheamus is lulling his old friend to sleep only to turn on him for a title show?

WHAT A MATCH!#WWERaw #TagTitles @TrueKofi @AustinCreedWins pic.twitter.com/zAeN1DdFxb

— WWE (@WWE) November 17, 2020

Now, outside of The New Day’s title defense of the RAW Tag Team Titles, the rest of RAW wasn’t really that good.

RETRIBUTION vs. Team RAW was just a waste of time and I’ll be ecstatic that we don’t have to hear about captains and who doesn’t like each other between Keith Lee, Sheamus, Riddle, AJ Styles and Braun Strowman any more. I have no rooting interest in any of it. The same can be said on the women’s side of Team RAW as well. Enough of Nia Jax & Shayna Baszler against Lana. YAWN! And now they drop Dana Brooke & Mandy Rose for Lacey Evans & Peyton Royce. Does nothing for me either way, although Evans is an upgrade, not that they’ll do anything with it, though.

.@LaceyEvansWWE and @PeytonRoyceWWE have been added to #TeamRaw at #SurvivorSeries.https://t.co/2FCVGuwtUM

— WWE (@WWE) November 17, 2020

Another Angel Garza vignette. Why?! Ditto for Jeff Hardy and Elias dredging up the whole car angle again. It wasn’t believable then. It’s not believable now. Move on!

NIGHT NIGHT!#WWERaw @WWEBrayWyatt @mikethemiz pic.twitter.com/WhpvW2D5UR

— WWE (@WWE) November 17, 2020

Bray Wyatt vs. The Miz was kind of just there. How quickly we forget that The Miz hated Wyatt/The Fiend for being in his daughter’s room, right? If nothing else, we got a really cool Alexa Bliss flip over John Morrison. Speaking of Bliss, I guess we finally have the kick-off of the Bliss/Nikki Cross feud.

NXT

RESULTS

NXT North American Championship Match: Leon Ruff defeated Johnny Gargano by DQ to retain title

Blindfold Match: Dexter Lumis vs. Cameron Grimes went to no-contest

Candice LeRae & Indi Hartwell defeated Kayden Carter & Kacy Catanzaro

KUSHIDA defeated Arturo Ruas

Ember Moon & Toni Storm defeated Dakota Kai & Raquel Gonzalez

Timothy Thatcher defeated August Grey

NXT Women’s Championship Match: Io Shirai defeated Rhea Ripley

Ladies Night. War Games. OMG! NXT worked on every level this week.

W A R G A M E S !

#WWENXT #NXTTakeOver #WeAreNXT pic.twitter.com/dZE1HXpAo1

— WWE NXT (@WWENXT) November 19, 2020

THIS IS AWESOME

,

,

x INFINITY #WWENXT #NXTWomensTitle @shirai_io @RheaRipley_WWE pic.twitter.com/ktlfcwFtIj

— WWE (@WWE) November 19, 2020

Wednesday night was on fire at Capitol Wrestling Center. Kudos to the women’s division that stole the night! Io Shirai and Rhea Ripley absolutely ripped it apart in the main event in another NXT classic championship match where both ladies come out strong and Shirai looks unstoppable at the top. Adding to that, we got the announcement from Shotzi Blackheart that War Games is coming December 6th. It looks like we’ll get Candice LeRae, Indi Hartwell, Raquel Gonzalez and Dakota Kai against Blackheart, Ember Moon, Toni Storm and TBD in what is shaping up to be an amazing match. BTW: Moon and Storm are everything Dana Brooke and Mandy Rose whould be on RAW. I can see them being future tag champs if the WWE wanted to go down that route. They are that damn good! Another good showing too for Kayden Carter & Kacy Catanzaro. Losing to LeRae & Hartwell is nothing to be ashamed of as they’re getting better each week.

Toni Storm & @WWEEmberMoon working together. We love to see it.

#WWENXT @RaquelWWE pic.twitter.com/Scf4U1gYw9

— WWE (@WWE) November 19, 2020

The cat, @FinnBalor, is BACK… and LOOK who he dragged in with him. BOOM.

#WWENXT @AdamColePro @theBobbyFish @KORcombat @roderickstrong pic.twitter.com/wRMsEMBpsC

— WWE (@WWE) November 19, 2020

On the men’s side of War Games, NXT Champion Finn Balor returned to close the show. But, when Baor was challenged to bow down his title to Pat McAfee and his new crew – The Kings of NXT, Balor brought out the returning Adam Cole and the rest of The Undisputed Era. Chaos closes the show as McAfee takes a wicked stiff shot to the face from Cole to end the night. TUE are veterans of War Games and it should be interesting to see how McAfee, Oney Lorcan, Danny Burch and Pete Dunn fare in their debut in the cages! It’ll also be interesting to see if McAfee actually gets into the match or if there’s a fourth member coming to join The Kings of NXT.

Elsewhere, good for Leon Ruff! Good to see him standing up to both Johnny Gargano and Damien Priest as he hangs on to this title when Priest clocks him to give him the DQ win, a DQ finish that actually works for the storyline, unlike so many of the DQ finishes on RAW and SmackDown.

We all could’ve done without the Blindfold Match between Dexter Lumis and Cameron Grimes. But then again, we told you that was coming last week and we’re glad it’s over!

KUSHIDA still rocks. Tommaso Ciampa vs. Timothy Thatcher will be a physical beating for both men.

Finally, who is the “she” that is coming according to BOA?

SMACKDOWN

RESULTS

The New Day & The Street Profits defeated Sami Zayn, King Corbin, Dolph Ziggler & Robert Roode

Last chance Survivor Series Qualifying Match: Natalya defeated Tamina

Murphy defeated Seth Rollins

Daniel Bryan defeated Jey Uso

Good to see The New Day and The Street Profits playing nice before their Survivor Series match. No shortage of bravado on either side, but they put it aside for an opening 8-man tag team victory over Sami Zayn, King Corbin, Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode. Good match to kick things off, but they continue to misfire with Big E. Otis gets the nod to join Team SmackDown. Meh. Would’ve rather seen Big E get the nod. Looks like he’ll be limited to have some type of invovlement in the tag team match.

#TeamSmackDown is STACKED!#SmackDown #SurvivorSeries @itsBayleyWWE @RubyRiottWWE @YaOnlyLivvOnce @NatbyNature @BiancaBelairWWE pic.twitter.com/KeETofOmM0

— WWE (@WWE) November 21, 2020

Nice to see Bayley trying to unite the SmackDown Survivor Series women’s team now that it’s complete with herself and Natalya being added Friday night. I agree with Corey Graves. The SmackDown team looks stacked in comparison to Team RAW. Natalya’s match with Tamina was a snoozer though.

"@DMcIntyreWWE you will always be my favorite #2."@WWERomanReigns has been on

tonight.#SmackDown pic.twitter.com/qE2cIFdcvn

— WWE on FOX (@WWEonFOX) November 21, 2020

Less continues to be more when it comes to Roman Reigns. Perfect placement of course with Roman at the head of the contract table. Even when faced with a challenge from another show, WWE Champion Drew McIntyre, it’s still the same message. Reigns is THE CHAMPION and your tribal chief – the head of the table. All the arrogance continues to flow with a line of love. “You will always be my favorite #2” will live in WWE history as a great line from Reigns to McIntyre. It’s going to be a war come Sunday night between these two! Now, that’s good business for everyone.

Murphy vs. Seth Rollins put forth a good final chapter as Buddy finally gets the better of his former mentor, the Messiah. Murphy’s Law says Rollins is in for some time off after Survivor Series to welcome the birth of his child with Becky Lynch. It’s a good time for a break and to see what’s next for Murphy, Aalyan and the rest of the Mysterio family. I did think the celebration was cut short, maybe due to time constraints.

"I told you to watch your back, Banks! I just checked, and Boss Time is OVER." – @CarmellaWWE

@WWEAsuka isn't the only Superstar @SashaBanksWWE should be worried about. #SmackDown #SurvivorSeries pic.twitter.com/0kXjNFKkl4

— WWE (@WWE) November 21, 2020

SmackDown had a little too much talking this week, but it did get all of the main stars together from both shows to hype the PPV, which, at the end of the day, is the main job of the go-home show – give me a reason to want to watch the PPV. In that vein, it worked. It was kind of odd having Asuka just watch as Carmella beat Banks down in front of her though. Doesn’t help Asuka to help her and it moves forward Carmella’s story to take Banks out for a title shot after Survivor Series. So, for that reason, it worked on both fronts.

Jey @WWEUsos sends @WWEDanielBryan through the announce table!! #SmackDown pic.twitter.com/YVpMrjOwzH

— WWE (@WWE) November 21, 2020

Daniel Bryan is a national treasure! Returning to face Jey Uso in a hard-hitting main event, Bryan again saw himself going through a table. Uso tried to make Bryan see there was nothing personal, but of course it’s all personal with family business. But, in true babyface form, Bryan gets his revenge with a sweet rollup for the victory. Could we get Bryan vs. Reigns up next for the title when Uso couldn’t get the job done? Sign me up!

Parting Shots:

So, will we really get The Rock vs. Roman Reigns at the Main Event of WrestleMania 37? The only way it happens is 1)it has to fit into The Rock’s schedule 2)there has to be fans. We would all love to see the fight for who’s truly at the head of the tribal table and just watching to see Reigns believe he is on The Rock’s level would be interesting. But, no fans = no match. No need to waste it with no in-person reaction.

It’ll be interesting to see how the WWE changes the look of ThunderDome when it moves from the Amway Center in Orlando to the spacious Tropicana Dome in Tampa. Going from a 20,000 arena to a indoor stadium will create different opportunities visual and could lead to letting in fans if the COVID-19 pandemic allows.

Survivor Series Predictions:

WWE Champion Drew McIntyre vs. Universal Champion Roman Reigns has a funky finish. Either it goes to a no-contest or Reigns wins via DQ with Randy Orton and The Fiend involved.

SmackDown Women’s Champion Sasha Banks defeats RAW Women’s Champion Asuka

RAW Tag Team Champions The New Day defeat SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Street Profits

United States Champion Bobby Lashley defeats Intercontinental Champion Sami Zayn

5-on-5 Women’s Survivor Series Elimination Match – Team Smackdown (Ruby Riott, Bianca Belair, Liv Morgan, Bayley, Natalya) defeats Team RAW (RAW – Nia Jax, Shayna Baszler, Lacey Evans, Peyton Royce, Lana) with Bianca Belair surviving

5-on-5 Men’s Survivor Series Elimination Match –  Team Raw (Keith Lee, Sheamus, Braun Strowman, AJ Styles, Riddle) defeats Team SmackDown (Kevin Owens, Jey Uso, King Corbin, Seth Rollins, Otis)

Coming up this week:

RAW: Survivor Series fallout

NXT: The Road to WarGames continues Kevin Owens guest commentator

SmackDown: Survivor Series fallout

Thanks for letting us share our thoughts! Shoot me an email at jcrowe567@gmail.com. We’d love to hear your comments and suggestions! You can also check out my blog, The Crowe’s Nest as we delve into more pro wrestling, sports entertainment and the World of Sports. My apologies ahead of time – I AM a Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins fan! If you’re not down with that, I’ve got TWO WORDS for you… NEW ENGLAND

[hyuckcherie]

tagged by @honeylovecult thank you sm 🥺❤️

1. Nickname(s): em, mimi

2. Bias: park jisung 🤧

3. Blood type: i don’t even know

4. Favorite food: chicken strips!

5. Birthday: may 28

6. Zodiac sign: gemini

7. Pronouns: she/her

8. Hair lenght: just below my collarbones

9. Height: 5’5

10. A crush: sungie

11. What do you like about yourself: i’m pretty good under pressure and amazing (so far) at doing things last minute

12. Right or left handed: right

13. List of three favourite colors: light pink, mint, black

14. (Right now) eating: a thick stick of peppermint

15. (Right now) drinking: nothing

16. I’m about to: go back to my drama

17. Listening to: lights down low - max

18. Kids: yes🥺

19. Get married: yes

20. Recent phone call: my mom three days ago

21. (Have you ever) Dated someone twice: never dated once asfjdj

22. Been cheated on: no

23. Kissed someone and regretted it: no

24. Lost someone special: yes

25. Been depressed: definitely

26. Been drunk and thrown up: nope

27. Had glasses or contacts: i wear glasses

28. Had sex on the first date: nO

29. Broken someone’s heart: i don’t know

30. Turned someone down: kind of

31. Cried when someone died: yes

32. Fallen for a friend: yes

33. (In the last year have you) made a new friend: a lot

34. Laughed until you cried: ye

35. Met someone who changed you: everyone changes a piece of me

36. Found out who your true friends were: found out who my fake friends were

37. Found out someone was talking about you: no

38. Lips or eyes: eyes

39. Hugs or kisses: both

40. Shorter or taller: taller

41. Romantic or spontaneous: both

42. Sensitive or loud: sensitive

43. Hookup or relationship: relationship

44. First best friend: tianna.

45. Surgery: never

46. Sports I joined: none officially

47. Do you believe in yourself: not very often

48. Miracles: yes

49. Love at first sight: not really

50. Heaven: yes

51. Do you have any pets: a lot

52. Do you want to change your name: no

53. What did you do for your last birthday: nothing

54. What time did you wake up today: nearly 9 am

55. What were you doing last night at midnight: sleeping

56. Something you can’t wait for: to have my own place

57. Last time you saw your mom: about half an hour ago?

58. What is one thing you wish you could change about your life: where i live

59. What’s getting on your nerves: my headache

tagging if you want to: @kayakookie @lilac-park-jimin @la-vie-en-tae @snowy-meowl @taetaespeaches @star-daegyu @getmemyfries @io-is-lame @hugseoks @txtdiaries

[lordshaxxion]

All that apply for Edix!!

oh boy this is gonna be a LOT under a cut bc tbh I’m just gonna do all of them >.>

01: Do you have a good relationship with your parents?

“It’s better now with my dad. We hit a rough patch during the Red War after he ran away to Titan and left me practically in charge of everyone, since they recognised me as the Commander’s son and all. It wasn’t a good time for a while between us, but we got better and now we have a better understanding of one another too. My Pa? He’s long since dead, before I was resurrected too, so I don’t have a relationship with him.”

02: Who did you last say “I love you” to?

“..... I’m not sure. I feel awkward saying it sometimes, like it’s reserved for romantic relationships only. Though I say it to dad sometimes, and to Artie too.”

03: Do you regret anything?

“A lot. Not being able to save my Fireteam in the Hellmouth being one, not being able to save Cayde being another. Lots of things.”

04: Are you insecure?

“.... Yes. Though it’s not so bad anymore, not like it used to be at least.”

05: What is your relationship status?

“Complicated. I like Asher, but sometimes I think he just sees right through me. Though I’ve taken to actually going out into the City more at night with some friends. That’s led to a loooot of kissing various Guardians.”

06: How do you want to die?

“I’d prefer not to, to be honest. Though I’d like to avoid death by Hive at least. I’m not sure, I’ve never particularly thought about a final death kind of scenario.”

07: What did you last eat?

“I don’t remember.”

“You had cookies Zavala made you, because you forget to eat.”

“Oh yeah. Dad makes great cookies.”

08: Played any sports?

“Does running around Io for Asher, collecting samples and fighting Vex count?”

09: Do you bite your nails?

“Only when I’m nervous, but even then I’m more likely to just fiddle with loose threads or bounce my leg.”

10: When was your last physical fight?

“Two days ago when I needed to gather samples of Radiolaria and Phaseglass for Asher. I’m still finding bruises from that.”

11: Do you like someone?

“Asher. But he doesn’t see me, not really. At least, not outside of being his assistant, I don’t think.”

12: Have you ever stayed up 48 hours?

“Yes, and I don’t remember any of it. I try not to do it too much, Spiro is forever telling me off and so is Dad.”

13: Do you hate anyone at the moment?

“Since I don’t count, no I suppose not.”

14: Do you miss someone?

“Yes. I worry for Artemis when she’s out on Hive murder-sprees and I... often miss her greatly. Cayde too.”

15: Have any pets?

“Too many! I have three cockatiels, two cats and an Ahamkara!”

16: How exactly are you feeling at the moment?

“Weary and very tired.”

“Well that all-nighter you pulled in your greenhouse didn’t exactly help.”

17: Ever made out in the bathroom?

“Probably? I know that I made out with a Titan on my first night out when I was very much wasted, but whether it was in a bathroom or not I couldn’t tell you.”

18: Are you scared of spiders?

“.......”

“He stands there like he’s rooted and cries if it’s a big one. He’s that scared of them.”

19: Would you go back in time if you were given the chance?

“Yes. I know it’s never a good idea, but... I know I could save Cayde, if I could go back in time. I know I could get to him on time.”

20: Where was the last place you snogged someone?

“In the corner of some club in the City, I think.”

21: What are your plans for this weekend?

“Studying my plants and tending to my garden.”

22: Do you want to have kids? How many?

“God no, never. It’s hard enough just taking care of Kilgharrah and myself, let alone anyone else.”

23: Do you have piercings? How many?

“I’m tempted to get some, at least some in my ear.”

24: What is/are/were your best subject(s)?

“I don’t really know. I’m good at botany and horticulture, and I’m learning more about the Light in-depth but other than that I don’t know.”

25: Do you miss anyone from your past?

“My Pa. I didn’t know him, I was killed as a toddler and at the same time as him, so I don’t have any memories. Dad showed me pictures of him, though, and he looks nice. I wish I did know him better.”

26: What are you craving right now?

“Peace and quiet. A partner. I dunno.”

27: Have you ever broken someone’s heart?

“I don’t know. I’m more likely to break my own half the time with how attached to things or people I get.”

28: Have you ever been cheated on?

“Hah, no.”

29: Have you made a boyfriend/girlfriend cry?

“At time of answering, I don’t have one, so no.”

30: What’s irritating you right now?

“Being so god damn cold. I have a sweater on and the heating on and my own Solar Light and I’m STILL COLD!”

31: Does somebody love you?

“My dad does. I don’t like speaking for anyone else I know, though.”

32: What is your favourite color?

“Largely any of the Io shaders. Blue’s good too, and green.”

33: Do you have trust issues?

“Depends who’s asking me to trust them. I trust my dad, Artemis and Dad with my life. Plus Othion and his husband Izel. Oh, and Vigil, since he guards the Speaker. Ikora, too. But the likes of the Drifter? It’s getting harder to say.”

“Long story short, sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn’t.”

34: Who/what was your last dream about?

“I dreamt of a throne world that belonged to Crota, and it was filled with warped versions of the plants in my garden. Everything was a sickly Hive green and there was a broken throne with vines snaking all around it. I was sat in it, and there were hordes of Hive knelt around me like I was royalty.... I think it’s just a scrambled memory, after getting that shard of Crota’s soul crystal in my eye.”

“Yeah, that’s all it was. Don’t think on it too much, Edix.”

35: Who was the last person you cried in front of?

“My Ghost. It feels weird to be crying around anyone else sometimes.”

36: Do you give out second chances too easily?

“Yes. Sometimes I’m too kind for my own good.”

37: Is it easier to forgive or forget?

“I think it’s easier to forgive. That way you can move past it and carry on, rather than forgetting about it and then it coming back to haunt you at inopportune times.”

38: Is this year the best year of your life?

“I doubt it. Cayde died, Dad and Ikora have been arguing, the Drifter moved into the Tower Annex, the Black Armory opened its shady doors, the Spider is very interested in even more shady things, the Nine have rocked up with their Emissary and even with Mara gone, she’s up to no good as usual and I don’t like it.”

39: How old were you when you had your first kiss?

“In mortal terms, around 24 or 25? As a Guardian, no idea. I don’t count the years so much.”

40: Have you ever walked outside completely naked?

“Oh my god no. I’d rather die than do that.”

51: Favourite food?

“Not sure I have one, to be honest with you.”

52: Do you believe everything happens for a reason?

“Sometimes. Not everything can be attributed to that logic, given the nature of this bastard existence some things are just at random and have no or little reason to them.”

53: What is the last thing you did before you went to bed last night?

“Worked on some more jellyfish to give to families in the City. They lost more than we did during the Red War, so I try to give something nice back to them when I can.”

54: Is cheating ever okay?

“No. If you can’t do it on your own merit, then you don’t deserve to reap the rewards through cheating.”

55: Are you mean?

“I can be, but I don’t like to.”

56: How many people have you fist fought?

“Not that many. I’m not all that strong, physically.”

57: Do you believe in true love?

“I’d like to, but sometimes it just doesn’t seem possible.”

58: Favourite weather?

“When it’s raining on an autumn day, because at least I’m not too cold. But also I can just sit by the window, wrapped up in blankets and listen to the rain while I crochet or read.”

59: Do you like the snow?

“Yes! It’s so much fun to roll around in it and throw snowballs at other Guardians!”

60: Do you wanna get married?

“I don’t think so. It’s bold to assume a relationship would last that long.”

61: Is it cute when a boy/girl calls you baby?

“Depends who’s calling me that and the circumstance of the name. If they’re taking the piss, and I don’t know them, then I’m not happy about it.”

62: What makes you happy?

“Little things. Looking after my plants, helping Asher, my crochet projects, being able to spend time with my friends.”

63: Would you change your name?

“No. I like it how it is.”

64: Would it be hard to kiss the last person you kissed?

“Probably, since I don’t know who they were, their name or what they looked like. I was... very drunk.”

65: Your best friend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do?

“Well that’s literally never gonna happen, so I’m not even engaging in this hypothetical.”

66: Do you have a friend of the opposite sex who you can act your complete self around?

“Yes. Artemis is very dear to me and we have an understanding of one another. Even with our differences, I still feel comfortable around her.”

67: Who was the last person of the opposite sex you talked to?

“Artemis, duh. Well, maybe Ikora.”

68: Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with?

“Probably Artie again. We talk about the Hive a lot, given our dispositions.”

69: Do you believe in soulmates?

“I’d like to, just not in my own case.”

70: Is there anyone you would die for?

“My dad, Artemis. I’d die for Asher and, in fact, have. Many times. Curse you, Pyramidion.”

[isasodas]

( amanda arcuri | she/her | demigirl ) hey, you hear wannabe by why mona playing over on the 1st floor? that’s where isa sosa lives! i heard they moved in from red cloud, nebraska exactly four days ago. they’re very intuitive but also pretty blunt. maybe that’s why davie keeps calling them the occultist. starlit is full of people, but this twenty year old is really going to liven things up around here! ( nomi | twenty one | she/her | est )

ayo everybody it’s ya girl nomi coming at you a second time with my chaotic bby isa! i love her and i rarely get the chance to play her so i’m honestly hype. down bellow is the nitty gritty about her! please give this post a like and i’ll slide into your dms, but tbh i’ll probably do that anyways skjdsjk

SHORT BIO isa’s actual bio is long as hell and also in a really weird format idk why I did that to myself but anyways here is the short form

isa lived in a small town in nebraska pretty much all her life. she was raised by her (horrible, neglectful) mother alone until she was six and her mother abandoned her. she was then taken by the police and given to her grandmother because her father has never been in the picture

her aunts and grandma literally never knew who this man (her father) was either??? like literally no one knew who he was and everyone was honestly convinced that even isa’s mom didn’t know for sure either if you know what i mean like? isa still doesn’t know who this man is until this day and tbh she doesn’t really care

isa was taken in by her grandmother (gemini or gem for short) and aunts ( persephone and venus) and pretty much raised by the three women above their family shop 

the sosa’s owned a fortune telling shop that also sold new age merchandise like crystals and talismans etc. isa actually comes from a family of ‘psychics’ (like her aunts are fortune tellers, her grandma was one, her great grandma was one, etc. the only one who really broke the pattern was isa’s mother) so she was always kinda surrounded by weird things and told weird things.

she worked front desk at her family shop since she was about six and would honestly probably still be working there if she didn’t move. was the worlds worst receptionist for years. 

anyways isa was bullied pretty heavily during school when she was younger because she was different. she didn’t really act or dress like the other kids did so they picked on her until isa basically put a stop to that by pretending to cast a spell on a girl who was bullying her. she used pigs blood that her grandmother helped her get from the butcher (her grandmother actually helped her come up with the fake spell if that tells you anything about their family) and some really impressive acting for an eight year old in her little performance so yeah people left her alone after that pretty much for the rest of her school career. she probably traumatised that little girl a bit too big rip

so yeah isa never really had many friends through school, a bit of a social pariah, you know how it goes uNTIL she left nebraska and made some of her closest friends, but i am waiting for said friends before i write up how she met all of them!

before finding her little crew isa’s closest confidant was actually her grandmother growing up. isa still calls her often to let her know what she’s up too. she’s one of the few people who completely understands isa in and out

isa ended up leaving nebraska for art school on a scholarship she never in her wildest dreams imagined she’d get. while she was in art school she was working as a personal assistant for a billionaire art curator who was a dick tbbh i’m not going to even lie. he was horrible to isa and everyone else, cheated people out of their money, stole art, took from charities, the whole lot of it so isa started a plot with some of her friends to rob the asshole blind, and that’s exactly what they did. now they’re here at starlit a few million dollars richer and trying to lay low. isa honestly is no stranger to stealing, honestly she’s a bit of a klepto, but this is the biggest robbery she’s ever done. she’s not particularly nervous about getting caught because they did cover their tracks really well so she’s kind of treating this like a little vacation even though she shouldn’t smh

CLIFFNOTES

born io salma sosa (yes she was named after the moon)! has gone by isa since her aunt gave her the nickname as a kid though. uses she/her pronouns although she doesn’t fully identify as a girl.

Isa true love is art. you can pretty much consistently catch her doodling. 

Speaking of doodling, lets talk about doodling on things you shouldn’t (what a smooth transition amiright), Isa is lowkey a graffiti artist. She’s one of those people who thinks that art shouldn’t be contained and that it should be free, so she tends to spray paint and draw everywhere. She has yet to get caught but not from lack of trying on the police’s part. Isa tends to cause a fuss wherever she goes with her graffiti considering that Isa’s art tends to be creepy to say the least (she tends to go for the gory and freaky over the pretty) and people tend to take pictures of it, put it on instagram and twitter and the like. Isa’s actually made quite a name for herself in the online community, with people commenting on her art and discussing it (kind of like banksy but nowhere near as big). They tend to refer to her by a few different names (scythe, tweek, creep, etc) and they have really yet to decide on one. Isa, being the troll she is, occassionally joins the online debates for fun (if you were wondering, Creep is her favourite)

Like I said, Isa is a bit of kleptomaniac (she used to steal out of necessity, and she still kind of does when necesarry (although she won’t have to as much now considering she’s Rich), but sometimes she also does it for fun), and she doesn’t actually have the healthiest relationship with her emotions (which is what tends to happen when you know, trauma happens) but like catch this girl at therapy over her Cold Dead Body, she’ll die before talking about her feelings she really will

Like I said earlier, the Sosa family are psychics and sell new age retail (you name it they have it and they’ll at least try to con you into buying it.) that said, honestly, they aren’t real psychics. One of Isa’s aunts knows she isn’t and has gone full con artist with the whole thing, and the other thinks she can really see and sense the future which is just a whole other thing but ANYWAY isa is kind of in between them. she doesn’t fully believe in everything but she will charge you a twenty to read your aura yk

apparently chaotic evil according to a test i did one time so there’s that. also an aquarius

has the emotional range of captain holt but like if captain holt was a tiny latina yk

also only 4″11?? not even five foot?? amanda arcuri is tiny af y’all

fun facts: loves aliens, is bi as hell, is also a vegan, very liberal as you might guess, has picnics in cemeteries and might lowkey seem kind of emotionless but i promise she wants to be your friend so please hmu if you wanna plot, although knowing me i might just hit you up first

WANTED CONNECTIONS ;

exes (maybe a past hookup that’s kind of like a ?? what are you doing here situation? also maybe even a full on we dated and broke up what are you doing here situation. i haven’t settled on where isa lived after nebraska and prior to living here so this is open to everybody because isadora sosa (not her name but dfmdf) is bi as hell send tweet

a Muse (someone who  isa kind of makes isa itch for a pen yk? isa could be secretly drawing them from afar while she’s bored at the hotel.)

party friend (isa likes to party a lot more than most would expect so if anyone wants to get high and host parties in the hotel room with isa or even go out dancing with her she’s down) cliff, abba

enemies (someone who hates isa that isa is just kind of ??? about because isa doesn’t understand conflict a lot of the time tbh)

someone for isa to influence i guess?? isa kind of tends to be on the morally grey side a lot of the time sO KJDJKD if anyone wants to allow isa to drag their muse into some shady situations step right up elsie

partner in crime (isa’s already got her girls but i figure this person specifically will sneak out of the hotel with isa at night and help her tag maybe? maybe this person is a fan of isa’s online graffiti personality?? idk i feel like this could be fun) malia

fwbs, neighbours, and anything else under the sun i’m hype.

[squidsy24]

The Or is it

Yes it's a ddadds post no I don't care that much if you hate it but I've tried writing the is like 3 times and bits always to long so personalise it for your dad Sona I'll give a summary of what happens with mine when this shit happens

so there's a not secret ending I found when I played ddadds the 3rd time I was going for the okest dad achievement and bits was like oh let's try to ace the wall Mary home scene (I didn't) and in the okest dad thing you have to sleep with Robert (love that but he is a shit head after) so you get ditched by both your kid and Joe and you have to clean up the party it's sad as shit dadsona keeps whispering to him self that it will all be ok and its sad I nearly cried with him so I'll do the first part of what happens 8months after and the rest fill in with things from your dad's on (I'll Sumerize mine)

SHOWTIME 🖤

"Keep the change" The driver accepts the money and drives off you put in i two earbuds play a soundtrack called sad shit Amanda made it back in high school ok Neil you got your shift covered at the hospital and have the next day off you can be sad now o thought while swinging my legs over the wooden railing so my feet were closer to the edge of the cliff time passes by I didn't even notice my playlist was almost done I just sat there music on blast knowing I could cry I'm alone but no tears formed I noticed some rocks in front of my feet I grab them and through after each phrase "I'm sorry Amanda! I'M SORRY I DIDN'T RAISE YOU RIGHT! I'M SORRY ALEX I MESSED UP OUR KID! I'M SORRY... I'm so sorry everyone sorry I wasn't strong sorry I'm weak sorry I'm SORRY! " I slowly stood up with each rock but after the last one I crumbled to the ground way am oi such a failure I mess up everything I put my head in my hands and cried softly when all of a sudden a hand was on my back I was too scared to look up but big pulled out one of the earbuds after the song finished I spoke trying to not break "if your here to kill me just do it quickly " I look up slowly but didn't look at who was next to me "well actually Neil I'm here to tell you I'm pregnant and your the father... I haven't been with a man since " Confused I looked up pulling out the other ear buds it was Robert I chuckled" Well Io messed up my last kid so I don't think I'll be the best father to the fetus in you guys but I will pay child support" He chuckled " Now tell me what has gotten my baby daddy so sad " I looked out to the skyline "you don't care about it your just making small talk I'd you wanna be alone I can leave" He looked away from me and toward the city" I hate small talk kid and although it is pleasnt to be alone I don't think you should be " "My stress won't be good on the baby and plus I got a friend" I lift up my bottle of Jack Daniels "me and jack here were gonna have fun" I take a swing Robert looks to be willing? "Listen kid in not one for sappy shit and this kid is already messed up from my stress so lay it on me and after I would love to hangout with you and jack" I look down at his project it looks like a lion? "Well if you must know I'll tell the tale mostly cause I just need to talk. My husband died 11 years ago leaving me a single dad with Amanda things were good I thought when we moved to the culdasac I thought it would be good to have a change of scene to be honest when I saw you in the coffee shop I thought you seemed cool and well honestly hot but before what ever happened with us happened I met Joseph ya know wanting what's wrong what's bad it's kinda a part of my self destruction and ya know what ever happened with us happened which I don't really regret it I do however regret falling for the pink sweater head ya know thinking we had something thinking he will leave Mary but nope got my heart broken little by little from you Amanda and Joseph I've just been working trying to distract myself from every thing. Also what ever happened with you and Joe" He stops widdling "what do you you mean there" I look at him in the eyes "I saw the photo the sweater everything hey I fell to joes just ugh " I offer him some of jack he nearly gulps it down he then spoke" I don't regret bit either ya know" I know in look puzzled but then I remember he means the night " Well you drank it all I'll have to kill you for that " He laughs whil pocketed his carveing and knife "ok fistfight right hear right now " I stand up " Ok " We both go it attack mode he almost hits me before he says "ya know I don't really wanna harm you come on I'll get you the refill" I agree that fall down would hurt I jokingly hit him in the shoulder "ok but you drive " " I can and will still fight you so don't touch me" We part off to his red truck the drive to the bar was silent but it was a comfortable silence.

Now here's what happened in short woth y dadsona but you can fill in how you want it to go

We both got drunk (me far more then Robert) I don't remember much I remember sneaking into the movies and falling asleep with his jacket on top of me when I woke up we drink more and I fell on a rock and split my head I was to nervous to go to my hospital and said I was fine although Robbie incested that he clean it or else I would die and he can't have another body on his hands going to his house made me remember the night we had it hasn't changed his dog bestsy snuggled me and I was inclined by dog code not to move Robert ordered a pizza with pineapple and black olives it was delicious (I accurate that last night 101/0) I wound up pucking it up on my shirt and I blacked out I woke up in a red shirt and Rick and Morty boxers with best on my side I walked down stairs to see Robert in my eorye onsie he was making eggs for me? He finished them and said my cloths were drying he then said to tell me before he left and went outside to smoke I accidentally stole his shirt and boxers but he kept my onsie so... He asked me out on another adventure when we weren't both being depressed it was great spending time with him and having someone to talk to we wonder up continuing our gun times we even went cryptic hunting he taught me how to widdle and it was wonder full we both opened up a part of ourselves and talked to our kids

Boom mic drop

Fill in what you don't like I just hattttttee the ending I got with Joseph and the okest dad I wanted things to change so nice did 🖤 love you Robbie🖤

[whatpush-blog]

Whatpush

What Push

Mobile Promotion is the current buzzword and push telling is absolutely an integral portion of the promotional trip. Reaching the consumers from this program use wasn't a simple undertaking however, the push notifications are made it easy. It has the capacity to remain apart without becoming lost from the colossal bunch of messages that are unread. Although push notifications are the perfect method of grabbing consumer attention, they may be readily manipulated - in the event, in wrong hands, it's more sway to do wrong than anything else right.

What Push

Issues

Published one year before, folks find push notifications quite bothersome. The simple fact is push messages are only attention seekers. They prefer to catch the user's answer being a direct communication line between the client and the program. It's necessary that only relevant messages get to the program user without infuriating them. The issues that usually arise in the Event of push alarms are

· Once the consumer is giving Permission for push notifications, entrepreneurs must guarantee only the applicable updates are reaching the client by understanding their set of tastes.

· It has to be realized shortly that push notification is a privileged tool which should be utilized for spamming users with day messages that are routine.

· Incorrect timing can annoy an individual and make them automatically delete the program. To avert such a thing, place the timer directly for applicable alarms.

· Before sending any drive messages particular criteria such as age, time, essentially all user information is must, because you are certain to send erroneous messages to wrong men and women.

· Drive advertisements through notifications are a whole no for any person that wants to remain with you and enjoys your program.

· Late messages may frighten people to the center.

· Marketers must guarantee that picking out of drive messages have to be as simple as choosing for notifications. Easy settings can prevent the consumers from deleting the program completely.

Industry Review

The Year 2015 was regarded as the match changer for push telling market. From typical push messages, the attention changed to segmented alarms to target users according to their tastes. The changeover from spam, unrelated drive messages to intended strategic ones significantly increased consumer participation, retention, and expertise. Every business has to be adaptable enough to stay in the forefront of their varying flows of client requirements. The fashionistas and founders struggle to envision the following popular fad, whereas, the healthcare scholars attempt to retort to character's toughest queries. To be a pioneer in a specific industry setting tendencies is much more significant than simply following them liberally.

Push notifications would be the most economic and greatest  Way to induce program retention and engage your clients. Butoften it's used at a careless, insensitive, and frankly indecorous way. A fresh report from Accenage that's predicated on over 38 billion pushbutton messages indicates, if these alarms are implemented and used fittingly, push messages can be quite powerful on Android (before the launching of Android M OS), together with a 100% opt-in pace.

The Push Notifications are as crucial as the user experience (UX) of your program because the investigators feel that more than 71 percent of the program installations are often triggered by the drive messages. The main point is poor push practices could be detrimental since push notifications instantly hit the consumers rather than the apparatus. So let us check out a number of the ideal drive practices to reach the bull's eye.

1. Respect to the Particular Neighborhood Timezone

It Is quite simple to think and behave in accordance with your time zone such as"its 8 p.m. In India so let us begin circulating the drive messages". The drive notification does not work like that. When your clients are involved, it becomes crucial your messages hit on the consumer at the ideal time when they're prepared to get it in accordance with their time zone. An adequate push service will surely lower the server load and stagger the messages within a window if needed.

2.

What  The entrepreneurs often believe, the further, the better. Right? It's not exactly the exact same in most scenarios. Many times, more may lower your earnings, your customers, use, opinions, and what. Sending 23-50 compels a day to the clients can't just irritate them but make them uninstall a program. Therefore, internally prioritizing a message into a 5-10 maximum every day can assist and match the majority of the software.

3. Prevent Generic Pushes

Contemplating  A tough limit to numerous pushes daily may be an effective exercise. You could be considering sending a variety of solutions which may aid your program interact with the consumer, notify them and gain consumer taste knowledge. However, generic drives can be termed as poor practice. Giving preference to the transactional messages may catch more care of the consumer.

4. Worth Your User Sleep

As Much as nighttime is worried, people usually need a fantastic night's sleep to be able to begin an original moment. Mobiles are often put on quiet or don't disturb manner while people are sleeping. Considering that, do you really think people actually have enough time to go through all of the drive messages pouring in during the evening or in the morning? Thus, entrepreneurs should also appreciate the consumer's sleep and restrict the alarms until day time. Perhaps a summary push notification in the daytime could be more powerful than 10 strange messages at nighttime.

5. Personalise Content For Clients

The Push messages can be sent and delivered to the consumers to make it even more valuable. Except for spam and insignificant messages, news alerts, bargains, and chats according to consumer preferences can produce a positive effect. Numerous advertising automation is potential with some rather basic information inputs. Like how long that the program is installed onto your device, what degree of this match you're presently, your very last use, and lots of such tiny items can assist in personalizing drive messages to your consumers.

6.

The 1:1 push messages which are usually directed into the individual user and aren't commonly unique with viewers branch, is known as as a brute force. For example, their package has been sent or there is a new just like, and much more. Such notifications are easily customized in accordance with the definition. However, timeliness is among the best practices that you has to adhere to.

7.

When A message is only meant to get an individual and is suggested with the consumer's name at the drive messages, such as Ronit, it's time for the doctor's visit in a different four hours; folks take it seriously and genuinely like such alarms.

8. Make it Easy and Brief within 10 words

To Create effect in minds of their consumers, 10 words tend to be more than sufficient to communicate the ideal message, what you would like to allow your user know.

9.

To Maintain the 71% stats displayed above at bay, so implementing the alarms rightly is essential. It isn't only about certifications and provisioning.

10. Seeking Permission is Really Vital

The Pop-up alert appearing in the start of installing a program seeking permission is the most crucial checkpoint. Without the consent of the consumer notifications can't be pushed.

11. Search a 3rd Party Service

Placing  Up push notifications isn't a simple job to do it all on your own. Seeking assistance from the 3rd party support would be the best choice concerning topping, consistency and very good capabilities.

12. Elect Content Preload

If You're guided to a in-app content with a push material, preloading it by accessible API is the most likely to perform. This may delay the drive by couple of seconds but you have the prepared to go UI, without needing the annoying loading screen.

13. Easy Availability of this Notification Settings

Difficulty In finding the telling configurations can be bothersome for the consumers. Simple accessibility to this setting to turn off or about the telling is essential.

14. Personalize Message according to Location

Appropriate Location-based major messages will create involvement with the consumers. Personalizing messages based on the positioning of this consumer may be fantastic practice.

15. From the Box Thinking

It Is crucial that you deliver particular price and one of a kind content to end users while integrating the push notifications on your preparation strategies. This necessitates out-of-the-box thinking. The drive advertisements aren't solely a piece of your communication strategy; it's a part of client's mobile engagement with your brand.

16.

The CRM applications or the in-app behavior has to function as smart factors for clever segmentations. The consumer behavior and profiles are required for a good branch planning.

17.

The Mobile key performance index is able to help you realize the actual engagements, longterm conversion or retention, and life or earnings value of this product, whereas, the click and conversion rates only assists in comprehending the preliminary accomplishment of a effort.

18. Content plays a Significant Role

The Content of your message produces a strong effect on the achievement of notifications. For example,"away","discounts","promo code", etc. have a solid interest of their customers.

19.

Apart In the text material, the Android eternally lol and iOS 10 brings forth wealthy pushes. Now, your drive previews may incorporate GIF pictures and videos. For random views from the iOS 10, you are able to study in detail.

20. Expired Message elimination

After  The message loses its significance, it has to be automatically eliminated. For Example, 50 percent off on shoes has been an offer legitimate a week past but at present Is of no use to the consumer, therefore it has to be removed automatically.

[studyally]

update from my hiatu-niverse

Okay guys, I’m back just to post an update from my studyblr hiatus. It’s more of a reflection though, so, yea 

This post has two objectives: to list my progress, and then list tips based from that. You can immediately scroll down to the second part if you don’t wanna read my progress. It’s all good, ma dude.

FIRST PART //  Before the hiatus, I said I’d post when I finish my 111 days of "restart in progress” which is basically me trying to get myself together. Here’s the post if you wanna read that. And this post will be for update on my progress:

I can technically wake up at 4 am now, but I sleep immediately after just looking at the clock tsk tsk. I still don’t know how to address this. HowEVER, the main goal here was so I won’t be running late to class, and so far, I haven’t been late yet so I guess it’s 50/50 good? Btw, my classes used to be at 7 am, now for second semester they’re at 8 am 

Sleep at 11 pm to 12 mn. Yep. Although I admit I’ve had a night or two where I had to pull an allnighter due to certain requirements which I “underestimated” regarding how I easy I thought they’d be to make. *ahem* portfolios *ahem ahem*

Naps at certain times of the day - I just can’t, dude. Just heck nAH. It’s not “compatible” with my sched at all. Oh well, I tried

Notes. Yea, so far, so good. Been catching up to them all right. Plus, I got the habit of writing the main points on index cards which made it easier to study and review. I’ve been using even other class lecture times to write them, not all the other subjects though. Just get a feel of the class. 

Regarding reading the notes in the weekend, I revised this to reading after and before the class. Just a quick scan before the next class for that subject. BUT I do start studying or memorizing/familiarizing as soon as I finish writing the notes and it’s hastening my study pace

I DO finish by Saturday now but that only accounts for tasks I have to do for the coming week. I just choose to do more on Sunday instead of relaxing and reviewing just so I can have less tasks to think about doing

Avoiding social media is going smooth too. I can’t completely avoid facebook though because we have a class group chat and a page for announcements, assignments, reminders, even helping each other out on certain tasks. So what I’ve been doing is I’ve uninstalled the main facebook app from my phone. I only have Messenger on. When I need to use facebook, I use my browser or my laptop

SECOND PART // Overall, here are what I’ve learned:

Get yourself a habit tracker. You may not fill everything up and feel like giving up halfway but the fact that you have this thing to make you think about your activities keeps you mindful enough that it reflects on your daily goings-on. Eventually, you’ll develop a second mind or smth to catch you when you’re not doing what you should be doing. 

Sleep at the same time every night. It allows your body to get used to being sleepy during that time. It prevents from pulling allnighters because hey, your body’s telling you to sleep. Also don’t do anything on your bed to condition yourself that “I’m in bed, I should be sleeping.” 

I recommend using this sleep calculator to calculate what time you should sleep if you wanna wake up at a certain hour or vise versa. 

If you’re looking for an alarm clock to REALLY wake you up. Here’s what I’ve been using (iOS, Android) and I wake up every time. I just... don’t... get out of bed. So, hehe, oops

Sync your devices’ calendars. I have an iPhone, a Windows laptop, and just last week I bought an Android tablet. I use Google Calendar just so I can sync my stuff. I don’t have it installed on my iPhone, I just have my Google account on there and it syncs immediately. Plus, I made public calendars through iCloud. A quick Google search will tell you how to do that if you don’t have an android and only need to sync between your iPhone and Windows laptop like I do.

Sync your notes. I use Microsoft OneNote and it has made my life easier honestly. You can get the app for free on both iOS and Android stores. Basically, you put your Microsoft account and you can choose which notebooks to sync across devices.

Notebooks: have a big one for the information-intensive ones so you can have more space writing and won’t have to keep flipping to another page while catching up with the prof’s talking. You can do what I do, which is to use both back and front instead of dividing them right in the middle. For the not so info-intensive subjects, use a binder or you could use other smaller notebooks.

Notes: highlight the main sections after the class. This will serve as a quick scan after the class

Keep an overview list for all the tasks you have to do with the subject at the left and deadline at the right. I use a whiteboard for this. I have it in my room and I update them every weekend. Why every weekend and not every day? Well, that’s because I don’t need to have an overview of a “this week’s” tasks because that’s all in my two-page-per-week bullet journal spread anyway. What I need is to not forget about things I’ll have to do for the next weeks. It allows me to anticipate them instead of the tasks giving me a “hello motherfucker” impression 

If you’re like me who can get in the trap of being in social media for longer than planned, I really really recommend just accessing them through your browser because eventually you won’t want to access them just because it’s just not as smooth as when you have the apps installed. 

If you’re using Google Chrome, there’s the StayFocusd extension to block certain websites during certain times of the day which you can easily set up.

And that’s it from me, just another study ally. If you read the whole thing then, man, here, have an imaginary potato-- oh wait this isn’t 9gag. Oh well, you can still have the imaginary potato. 

Thank you for reading and I hope you get through that productivity slump. Remember, discipline is a choice. Bye!

[xonemi]

Bored So I'm Here to Rant

4 o'clock in the morning. I have been sleeping all day yesterday, and woke up around evening time. I saw my typewriter keyboard and have realized that I haven't been using it much.

Reasons for not using it. I mainly use it to type on my journal app called One Day. I haven't been able to do that because the journal app One Day is an iOS app and is not available for windows. My current laptop that I have is a Windows laptop. My Mac laptop that I have is being borrowed by my sister who lives far from me. Oh well.

I could just get a windows journaling app, but as it turns out I looked up the best journaling apps and Day One was number 1 and the next best one that can be used on Windows you have to pay monthly for premium. I am not paying for another journaling app. I already paid a one time deal for Day One.

Anyways, my rant is not about that. My rant is about pyramid schemes. In today's techy world, I am amazed people are still being BAMBOOZLED into pyramid schemes. Like hello? Google that shit maybe? Idk.

Look, I understand that not all pyramid schemes are scams, but they are still fucking pyramid schemes, which just doesn't seem right to me. BUT WHATEVER.

So I had a coworker friend who asked me to go with him to this "business" meeting with him. I thought it was just his aunt trying to sell some random crap. I know there are some people out there who need to do presentations on selling a product but they don't actually need everyone in the presentation to buy the product.

My initial thought was okay, go to this so called business meeting, listen to the presentation and then leave. But boy was I fucking wrong.

Days before the business meeting, my friend sends me and a group of people a link about the product. I look up the company, and I see articles about it being a pyramid scheme.

Already my mind is closed off. Like there's no way in hell anyone is going to get me into some damn pyramid scheme. I don't care if he is a really good friend, there is no way in fucking hell.

I stopped doing any more research because that is all I needed to know. Pyramid scheme. Nothing else will change my mind. But I still made a promise to my friend that I would go to this meeting, so I didn't back down.

Friday, I had to do overtime at my work. My plan was to only work 8hrs so that I could get some sleep because the stupid meeting was in the morning.

The weekend shift didn't have a properly trained person working the laboratory so the shift supervisor asked if I could stay the whole shift which was 12 hrs and ended at 4:30 in the morning.

I was livid, not because I had to stay but because someone who actually works that shift, is always going home early. I wanted to go home early, but couldn't yet this mother fucker was allowed to? And what makes me more mad is his reasons are lies. One time he used the excuse that his girlfriend's grandmother (who lived with him and his gf) was depressed and needed his help. If she really needed help, why the fuck is his gf partying it up? Posting vids on social media of her drinking the night away. It just fucking makes me so mad that this fucker gets away with anything… It's not my shift but still... Whatever.

Back to the pyramid scheme. I worked until 4 am. Got home and went straight to bed. I was hoping I could sleep through the morning meeting because I was so tired and I know that my friend won't be mad because he knows I worked until 4:30.

He ends up calling me after 9 am. I somehow wake up. I ignore the call cause my eyes literally wouldn't stay open. He leaves a voicemail saying that it's okay if we arrive at 10. My subconscious is starting to feel guilty. I did make a promise and I hate breaking promises. Since he said 10 was okay, I got up called him back and said okay I will leave now.

This foo goes, "don't leave yet because I still have to pick up our other co-worker, that way we could arrive at the same time."

I should have taken that moment to go to starbucks and get breakfast and coffee because what happened afterwards was just a shit show.

I get ready and leave after 10 mins. My GPS says I will arrive at 950. I get there and my friend calls me. He asks where I am at and I tell him that I was at the location already. This mother fucker tells me he's barely on the way. It will take him 30 mins to get to the location. LIKE BRUHHHH. Are you fucking kidding me?

I'm tired. I am a very cranky person in the morning. I am definitely not a morning person despite working 1st shift for 6 yrs. (I now work night shifts) I was fuming mad. But I stay calm. I look at instagram for awhile, I try to stay awake while I wait.

20 mins pass and this guy tells me that his uncle will pick me up and that I should just go ahead without him. This mother fucker gives him my phone number (I don't want calls from these people in the future, I might have to change my phone number.) and calls me telling me where to meet him. He takes me to their like lounge eating area. I sit there for almost another 20 minutes. My friend arrived almost fucking 11. They go to different area. Turns out the presentation already started. Thank goodness I didn't go there from the beginning. After 10 minutes of listening to the guy do his presentation, I was already over it.

This guy had no good selling points. I was squirming in my chair the whole fucking time. My other coworker brought her 5 year old son with her and he was dying of boredom. I looked at him and was all "you and me both man"

I really do believe that their product works. It seems to be a legit product. But that foo wasn't selling the product, he was selling the business. I am not an entrepreneur. Although I like money, I do not have the social skills to go around selling a product and a pyramid scheme. So this presentation was not geared towards me. I wanted to leave so badly.

The guy's selling point was that you had to pay $2500 and get 4 other people to pay $2500 and you could start making $500 a month. And from there it could only go up. First of all. I do not save money. I am a spender. There is no way I have $2500 in the bank on hand. That's not me. I barely have $300 at most, most of the time. The only reason I have actual money saved right now is because I am waiting for my speeding ticket. That is the only reason I have money right now. Once that speeding ticket is paid, I am back to being a broke ass bitch because I will more than likely spend the rest of the money left over after the ticket is paid.

Looking around the room during the presentation, the people there were mostly people over 50. Only me, my friend were under 40. It just blew my mind that they were all just very into the presentation. I felt like I was in a cult or something. They were really buying this dude's sell. Which understandably, I could see it. He made it seem easy to earn money through their program.

It really did seem easy to earn millions in a year. But this is where my problem lies. You have to go out there and recruit people. Recruit people to pay $2500 so that they can recruit people to pay $2500 so that those people could recruit people to pay $2500. Those older folks, could easily find people to spend that kind of money because they're old and probably have savings that could be used to pay that $2500 and have cultivated lots of friends, but me? Someone who has limited friends, who is shy, hates any social event, like bruhh, you're barking up the wrong tree here.

The second guy who spoke in the presentation, he was even worse than the first guy. He said "i'll make this short. 10 mins top." This fucker speaks for another 30 mins. Only stopped because the afternoon session started walking in.

He went on to talk about the types of people you needed to recruit. He used an acronym... He wrote EMPOWER on the board. So this is the type of person you need to recruit. E for Entrepreneur M for Motivated, P for positive, O for Open minded, W for Willing, E for Enthusiastic, R for (i forgot, i legit started tuning him out after awhile because I was bored and hungry and sleepy.)

First of all. My friend made the wrong choice in trying to get me into this. Even until now he is trying to convince me.

If there's one thing you should know about me is I am a very negative person, and the funny part is my friend knows this about me. Why he thought I would be POSTIVE here was actually a surprise. Open minded? YEAH NO. FUCK THAT. There is no way in hell I will ever be open minded about Pyramid scheme. I was open minded about their product, but definitely not their business structure. I am the type of person who loves to spend money on myself and others, but NOT ON PYRAMID SCHEMES. And then there's WILLING. Bruhhh I am so fucking lazy. The fact that I was willing to go to this business meeting in the first place was already too much for me. How many times I almost tried to cancel. If he wasn't a good friend to me, I would have done everything in my power to get out of it. But yeah me willing to put in any effort on a pyramid scheme is soooooooo not going to happen. Enthusiastic???? HHAHHAHAHAHHAH I had a sour face the whole time. You aint going to catch me be enthusiastic about any type of pyramid scheme.

I dont know. I still can't fathom why anyone would join a pyramid scheme.

A few hours ago my friend messages me before he went to sleep saying he was sorry he knew that I didn't have much sleep. I was fine. I just love to complain a lot (part of my negative vibe I am trying to put out into the world) anyways, I went to it that's all that matters to me, that I was able to keep my promise... but then this foo saw my "pyramid scheme" story on social media, and he sends me a video link titled "Is *COMPANY NAME* a scam?" I didn't watch the video. I went straight to the comments section. Of course the top comments are from "users" and "reps" of the company boasting about how great the company and the product is. All the way at the bottom was the real comment. The commenter said something about how the person on the video didn't mention anything about the company and their business structure, he was just selling the product. So was the video link my friend sent me proof that the company isn't a scam? NO. I never told him I thought it was a scam, i merely mentioned it was a pyramid scheme, and like I have said somewhere in this post that not all pyramid schemes are scams... I just don't like pyramid schemes.

Anyways, Pyramid schemes aren't for me. Nor will I partake in any form of joining them.

Side story which is funny and stupid... I didn't want my friend to look bad so I went straight to that stupid meeting without eating breakfast... when the person came and took me to the lounge area, they had donuts and coffee provided, my dumbass thought they might have put their product into the donuts or coffees so I didn't eat or drink anything there. hahahahha. I feel bad for my friend if he actually joined, hopefully he will be able to bamboozle someone else. that isn't me. He shouldn't tell our coworkers if he tries to recruit someone else from work that I went to that meeting, because let me tell you, there's no way I am lying to them. I will tell them not to join. AHahahhaha

[whatdoesshedotothem]

Wednesday 4 July 1838

6 ¾

10 40

were to have been off at 8 – could not get our passport till 9 – very fine morning – breakfast at 8 ¼ left Josephine – took George, and A- and I (with merely our night things, a change of linen and our journal books in one sac de nuit) off at 9 50 in a calêche and 3 horses for St. Jean de Luz having our passport visaed for Spain at the French mairie, and at our own consulate and that of Spain – A- and I both in good spirits – A- had taken of letter paper to date to her sister from St. Sebastien – excellent road – very pretty interesting drive – the mountains fine on our left and in less than an hour about 10 ¾ the sea fine on our right – at 11 20 passed the poste aux chevaux at Bidart (1 ½ poste) and Tamarisk hedges – at St. Jean de Luz (1 ½ p. more) chez M. Junca, maitre de poste aux chevaux, hotel de la poste, at 12 50 – gave him the letter from our host M. Theodore Détroyat à Bayonne, begged him to arrange all about our passport – not safe to go by land – must go by a sea – in a steamer if there happened to be one – if not there might be a boat going – or we might hire one – M. Junca un petit homme vif – sent off a woman to see about a boat – the boats not here, but ½ hour off – ordered a mutton cutlet for A- and she having

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 fastened her door, I went into the nice little town for ¼ hour – singular church – one large lofty vaulted space – the large organ and large organ-loft to contain the clergy at the west end and the high altar in a richly-covered gilded bay or apse at the east end – 3 oak ballustred oak-pillar supported galleries on each side – the 1st gallery perhaps 5 yards from the ground (the floor boarded) and the 2 above about 4 yards each from the lower gallery and from each other and about 2 or 3 yards perhaps from the square of the roof – called at the poste aux letters – the courier goes Fridays and Tuesdays but now goes by land – so that the idea of crossing with the courier is at an end – on my returning found A- had put on stocking for fear of monsieur how unlucky on my return A- had had her cutlet, and M. Junca had heard of a Patron de Chaloupe (Captain of a boat) just going to start for St. Sebastian with a little cargo and would return on Friday – ended by agreeing to give him 50/. for a boat to ourselves to return with us tomorrow or if we chose to stay till Friday to give him 55/. – Corrigo [or Conigo] Eguia, Patron de Chaloupe a Spaniard but très honnete [honnête ] homme that M. Junca knew well and could count upon – we could not be better – to be ready in ½ hour – A- and I walked down to the church to spend the time there – she made a little sketch of the exterior while I stood by watching a man making linen-listing sandal-soles, and a woman sitting by him serving on the bit of upper-linen (coarse string stitched together by button-hole stitch) to cover the toes – Mr. Junca came to see us embark on the quai in the grande place –

Embark at St. Jean de Luz

written out Monday eight

on one side the house where the d. of Wellington spent 2 or 3 months – on another the old chateau like house while Louis xvi. lodged and on another the house where the infante of Spain his bride Marie Thérèse lodged – A- seeing no rowers hoped there were rowers – yes! four – she had not thought the boat was so small (a little chaloupe about the size of a Scarbro’ cobble) – however we embarked at 2 – there is always a little surf at the entrance of the little harbour – I saw A- was nervous – our little sail made us lean a little on one side every now and then and there was little bit of up and down – A- grasped my hand – said she could not bear it – would return – there was no danger – the afternoon was beautiful – the little wind or air was in our favour and it was a pity poor A-‘s nerves were not stronger – but I saw she was right to return – our captain could only speak Spanish – I had difficulty in making him understand that he must put in at Choco (the fort of ) I really could not make him understand to turn back – but by dint of ‘timore – ella – morire – io –pagare – intrate [rientrate]’ pointing to the fort of Socoa (pronounced as if Choco (tschoco)) I got him to put in there – there was no time to deliberate – besides our 4 rowers we had a stripling boy and a lad about 12 or 13 on board – left the latter to go back with A- and carry her cloak and the travelling bag – took out merely my night-chemise and cap and 50 francs and left all the rest with A- except my umbrella and parasol and 2 cloaks – asked her if she would like me not to go – said if she had least wish for me to stay, I would – no! she had rather I went – in 5 minutes poor A- was landed, and left, and I was re-embarked and off at 2 35 – In a moment I had lost sight of her – and I was pitching in the bay of [?] in a small open boat with a Spanish smuggler (for such is Corrigo) and 3 Spanish rowers and one old French basque rower and my servant George! – about ½ dozen words of French were all our crew could muster and about as Many English (‘good bye – very quick’) – in 40 minutes (at 3 ¼) Andaye (pronounced Andāiah) in sight (a village or little town – with a little tower (church tower or steeple?) and at 3 35 lost sight of Fontarabia (Fontarrābbĭa) [Hondarribia? ]nearer the sea than Andaye and on high ground – looking like a convent, or fort, or what? Irun (could hardly distinguish the building) forms the apex of the triangle between the two (at Andaye and Fontaribia) at the foot of the high 3 or 4 pointed torso or crest of mountain that is so striking from the top of Bayonne cathedral – at 3 35 re-embarked at Socoa – in 40 minutes (3 ¼) Andaye in sight – lost sight of Fontarabia at 3 35 – and ten minutes before this had had the 1st distant glimpse of St. Sebastian or rather the high tower (fort) on the top of the hill on the west of the harbour – the tower of Biarrits’ (pronounced Bēeăris) closes the wide bay towards Bayonne – and the rocky pointe de Figuieras [Figueres?] shuts out the embouchure of the Bidassoa (on which are Andaye and Fontaribia) – Sick at 5 20 – fine as is the afternoon and I quite warm the sea here seems to me as swelling as it was the night we went to Antwerp – land at 6 ¼ - having passed the citadel-rock and high conical little rock doubled the island and entered the harbour to the westwards of it between it and the tower fort – 2 English steamers in the service of the queen of Spain lying at anchor – [?] up to the jetties under the west side of the town, and landed by stairs so narrow, deep, and rough one could hardly get up – at the Fonda (n°5 Plaza ricja (place vielle)  reuve Inciarte) in 10 minutes at 6 35 – queer dirty looking place Corrigo introduced me to the especial care of the people – I could not tell which was the mistress – several women  sat together at a large table full of washed but apparently ungot up linen – the daughter (Luisa) could speak French – asked her to send someone with me to see the town and citadel, and to let me have dinner – she said she would go with me herself and sent a woman to shew me my room – it was au 3me but lofty, and large enough – one common chair and ditto table and ditto bedstead, no curtains – no look of comfort – I was down again among the women in a few minutes but had to wait till young lady was dressed (1/2 hour) when she and Madama appeared in their mantillas quite dressed for promenade – the old lady was one who had been driven from the country – lost all she had and come into the ville, and was at the Fonda I could not make out on what terms – but the young lady could not trust herself with me and George without a madama – I said I was sorry they had made so much toilette and that I really was ashamed of my travelling costume – However the young lady aetatis 18 looked very well pleased and out we sallied – to the church – one large lofty domed space unbroken by anything save the large organ and its large loft at the west end – the clergy (now 21) sat or officiated the organ loft – the bay or apse of the high altar one mass of gilt carving – and a lessen altar on each side of it, transept-wise – imposing looking interior – large odd heavy old plain building outside with 2 low west towers – then to the citadel very few soldiers – saw perhaps a dozen – several people walking along the traverse walks along the rocky hill side – towards the sea one or 2 tombs – that and among 2 [?] of Sir Oliver de Lancy railed off – I went up to read the inscriptions but a solider called me back – not allowed to go! the sea-view very fine from one side – the tower as if laid down upon a map on the other – the grand place (arcaded) and another place and one or 2 straight streets all round round them seemed to compose the ville – 3 convents destroyed by the carlists (the girl said) and houses in all directions unroofed

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and made unhabitable by them (for fear of xtians should take shelter in them) gave all around a look of ruin – one whole village just on this side the river on the road to Hernani quite destroyed – could go very safely to Hernani now – no carlists between here and there – could also go to Passages – but no farther – asked the girl to get me a guide to Hernani in the morning – determined to be off at 6 and back in time to breakfast and embark at 11 – out from 7  5 to about before 9 when I had seen all there was to see – had to wait a little for dinner – they seemed to expect George to dine with me, but on my saying it was not selon [?] habitude, he fined in the kitchen or somewhere, and I told the young Louisa to come and sit by me or I should be triste – I had soup, ham, chicken and potatoes – I dined on the 1st and a little cheese and bread, nothing else looking tolerable – finding no chance of a guide who could speak word of anything but Spanish took a man to shew me the way (not far) and off about 9 20 to our consul – not at home – would return at 11 to supper – this would not do – at the moment 2 English officers went upstairs – spoke to one them – said what I was come for, and begged to have a solider to accompany me in the morning – the officer very civil – Lieutenant of the artillery as I afterwards found – promised me a solider at 6 tomorrow am – returned to the fonda and went upstairs with the fille to see my bed prepared – ready by 9 ¾ - very fine day – doubted for a moment whether to undress – my sheets not feeling very dry – took them off