#it is the 4th time there has been a total closure at about the same point in the road

[alianoralacanta]

The road outside my house is completely closed, with clear signage. I've been here just over an hour and the number of cars which ignored the "road closed" sign to have to put on the emergency brakes when encountering the road-spanning hole in the ground is already in double figures.

[wishingstarinajar]

I know, I know I'm a scratched record

But I'm dying to hear your thoughts on the Wakfu finale when you get to it!

I just finished watching it and it's uuh... hmm. I read people saying the finale was "satisfactory" but I am not fully on board with that sentiment.

Too much left unanswered, not enough wrapped up, too rushed to get to the end.

I know the Waven game is a continuation of sorts, it takes place decades after Wakfu's conclusion so that game might hold some answers or closure, buuuuttt... I'm not interested enough in the game to play and find out. I guess I've grown a bit tired of the whole cross-media info/lore some franchises love to do (like Blizzard and covering important info across the Warcraft games, books and short stories).

Wakfu season 4 obviously has an open ending, no matter that it is the final season, so who knows what might follow. I'm just a little saddened that the story picked up a little too late this season but the animation, particularly during action scenes, was pretty great... when not using the same static images of characters xDD They loved that a little too much but I understand the budget wasn't that big so I can't really fault Ankama for it.

Did I like this season? Mmmyyeeaaah, it's a mixed bag. Better than season 3 but not better than the first two seasons or even the OVA episodes. Glad it exists but I don't feel super satisfied with its conclusion.

HEAVY SPOILERS ahead, so be mindful but gonna share some thoughts:

Seeing Joris play a bigger part in the second half of the 4th season, and him vibing with Adamaï made me very giddy and happy. Love that for them, hope they become good friends. And thank fek neither of them died. RIP, Qilby, Armand and Brakmar (maybe?). The guys who needed to redeem themselves got their chance, at least.

Goddess Eliatrope was a big disappointment and an unlikeable character but I guess that was kind of the point...? Angry that she totally ignored Chibi and Grougal, like what the fuck even? Didn't even show a hint of acknowledgment towards them. What if they wanted to meet mom, huh?? And what even happened to Baltazar and Glip, who were in Emrub with the same kids that were asleep in Goddess Eliatrope's belly? What did she do with them?

But hey, at least my headcanon that the Sadida and Eliatropes will combine into a single kingdom/people (which I also wrote about in my Rebirth fic) actually happening was pretty satisfying x'D It even has Wakfu-infused trees, om nom nom.

A little frustrated with Necroworld (not the same Necroworld from the Transformers: Lost Light comics) because it's supposed to be a different planet in some other universe but it had dofus (dragon eggs) and races of the Twelve like Sadida, Sram and Sacrier. It was pretty confusing... Imo, it should have been something similar to The Upside Down (Stranger Things), or an alternate version of the world of Twelve rather than a completely separate place. But eh...

Why did nobody care about the state Inglorium was in, or that the Gods have disappeared? That bothered me so so so soooo much during the first two episodes; nobody non-Eliatrope or non-demigod cared that their God/Goddess was... well... gone. Aside from God Iop, where are they?? Hated the disinterest, hated the silence around it. Guess that's a mystery that will be unraveled in some other media.

Yugo grew tall and handsome and I'm not afraid to say it. Happy for him, though him suddenly growing so quickly was a bit silly. I figured there would be a time skip to justify his 'growth' that we saw in promotional images and teasers. Won't complain though, he deserved to finally be in a body that reflects his actual age, it took him long enough!

"Bootleg Alys" from the Dofus movie made a cameo in episode 11 which made me snerk. (I noticed a few more background characters from the movie that were re-used in episode 11.)

And that's all I have to say, at least here on Tumblr. It was quite a ride.

A big thanks Ankama and all the Kickbackers that made it possible; this show had its ups and downs over the past decade but it was enjoyable and loved. It still holds a special place in my heart and I will keep a tiny eye out for more Krozmos stuff in the future (like Welsh & Shedar, gimme!!).

[wosoimagines]

Afterlove

Book 3/25

Started on January 4th, 2025

Finished January 6th, 2025

383 pages.

Paperback.

Favorite quote: "Maybe we'll burn bright for a few weeks then collapse in on ourselves, but that's how galaxies are made anyway.

Ashana Persaud meets Poppy Morgan and its love at first sight basically. Ash hasn't had much luck when it comes to girls, but Poppy's different. The two start to see a future together but all good things must come to an end. Ash's life ends on New Year's Eve before it ever really begins. As the last person to die before midnight though, Ash becomes a reaper. Now she's tasked with finding lost souls and helping them cross over. To those who aren't close to death she looks totally different than she did when she was alive. But for those close enough to death she can be perceived. When Ash runs into Poppy, and Poppy recognizes her, they aren't sure what to think. Could it be a second chance or were they just doomed for tragedy from the start?

Rating: 5/5

Up next: The Dark Tide by Alicia Jasinska

A note. I am rereading the Harry Potter series to reanalyze it. I will not be posting book reviews for those (because fuck J.K. Rowling) so if you notice a skip in book numbers on the year that it why.

SPOILERS BELOW

This was a book I had a hard time putting down. It was really well written, and I did enjoy it a lot. It was another book that moved fast to me so that was a huge bonus to keep me from putting it down.

Literally the worst part about it, to me, was the epilogue. But I've also been reading stories where the epilogues are vague and leaving me feeling as if the reader isn't getting the closure to the end of the story. With this epilogue, Ash gives up being a reaper to cross over in the afterlife, but we have no idea if Ash and Poppy find each other in the afterlife. And for me that's very frustrating because I need the definite ending.

But I do think that this was a bit different than most of the other books I've read so far. This was the first book that was character driven instead of plot driven. It was actually nice.

I do feel like this book was very diverse. Ash, the main character, is an Indo-Guyanese British girl. It does explore Ash's family a little bit which was really nice to see. Then obviously we have Ash and Poppy who are both queer.

I love Ash. It was really easy to connect with her as someone who has also gone through the whole worrisome thoughts of has this parent who knows I'm not straight told my other parents that won't take to it as well. Ash is also just real. Like she isn't some unachievable standard person. She's very normal and there isn't much in this story that changes it. It was nice to go from reading mostly fantasy books last year where there was a hero to this where the main character can just be an average everyday character. Also, if I too died on New Year's Eve and was told that I'd become a reaper I'd have reacted the same way.

Poppy is written in a similar fashion. Her parents are smart and wealthy but she's still down to Earth. She's also just normal. Maybe a much different normal than I'm used to, but it wasn't like she was hiding some big secret or anything.

It really was refreshing to just see normal characters.

I also really loved Esen and Dev. Both of them are opposites and I wish I could get a story on the two of them before Ash becomes a reaper. I do really think it'd be interesting to explore the two coming to terms with being reapers because both do seem to enjoy the job. The two being willing to support Ash as she got what little time she had left with Poppy was nice to see as well.

I was seriously pulling for a much happier ending to be honest. Like I wanted the two to be reapers together. It was nice to be given the hope that they found each other, but I was hoping it wouldn't be a tragedy.

[just-like-playing-tag]

A totally self indulgent compilation of my favorite works on this blog of the year June 13, 2020 - June 13, 2021

2019-2020

The following lists are all in chronological order according to the date each post was first published.

Top 10 panel edits:

#1: It's our first morning

Date: Aug 20th, 2020 Time: ~ 2:18 h I really like how this one turned out!!! The 2020 Emma b-day edit has a lot of major panel redraws, but this is probably my favorite. I I really enjoy how I made the shadows work!! And the ear banfage looks pretty neat. Nice!!! Immagine

#2: Norman birthday edit 2021

Date: Mar 20th, 2021 Time: ~ 2:21 h Awww, soft Norman :') There was a bit to redraw, but I think everything turned out pretty neat!!! I believe everything works out fine. Though looking back at it, the part of the ID I added is definitely top small :')

#3: Manga dub: Yuugo gets knocked out

Date: Mar 27th, 2021 Time: ~ 5:05 h Here start the Manga Dub redraws to which I gave my everything ahah. This one turned out nice! I think the shoes turned out particularly good eheh. I like how Yuugo's clothing lineart- for the texture, I wanted to go for something heterogeneous, but I'm not fully confident in the final result. Gilda looks very rushed but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

#4: Manga dub: Yuugo makes his dramatic entrance

Date: Apr 5th, 2021 Time: ~ 4:02 h This is pretty cool!!!! The coat took ages to redraw, but sis it turned out perfect!!! I'm very proud of this.

#5: Manga dub: RayGildEmma hug!!!

Date: Apr 9th, 2021 Time: ~ 1:31 h Awww, a beautiful panel I was really happy to have the chance to redraw. Taking into account what there was to redraw, I'm actually surprised with how little this took! Ray's backpack was a pain to make, but I think it turned out fine. I'm very happy with Emma and Ray's heads!!

#6: Manga dub: Formalities

Date: Apr 12th, 2021 Time: ~ 5:31 h It is not always easy to give sense to Demizu's perspective, but I do my best!!! In this I am *so* happy with how Don and Ray turned out, they look neat! The background on the other hand... It took hours to make ahah. I'm not fully confident in the perspective, but I'm happy with the details I've added- I really did my best to make it look like athe other manga panels and I think it paid off!!!

#7: Manga dub: We may be weaklings, but we're still alive

Date: Apr 30th, 2021 Time: ~ 1:37 h This little Emma is so cute!!!!!! I think the redraw turned out pretty perfect. I'm really satisfied with how this one turned out, and it's such a cute little Emma!!!! She's so brave and optimistic, I love her. It's a shame this panel didn't make it to the episode :')

#8: Manga dub: Goldy Pond Gang

Date: May 7th, 2021 Time: ~ 8:44 h lmao This is probably the panel redraw I'm the most proud of ever :') Just think everyone turned out very nice!! The ceiling is not exactly perfect, but it still works somehow. I'm very happy with how Gillian's back turned out!! I don't really like the fading effect on the right, but 8h in I got pretty tired of working on this ahah

#9: Manga dub: This is Goldy Pond

Date: May 21st, 2021 Time: ~ 1:29 h I'm very glad for how the Manga dub has been challenging me to learn to redraw backgrounds, something I had quite literally never tried before. It can be a little frustrating, but it's so satisfying to see the final cleaned piece!! With this panel, I also learnt to use copy and paste, which is something I had never done before beyond texture

#10: Manga dub: Good morning doctor

Date: May 21st, 2021 Time: ~ 3:42 h This is another background that turned out pretty good!! That one Norman is one I knew I would have had to fully redraw sooner or lager- the background was a bonus ahah. I'm very happy with the final result!!

Top 5 edits as whole:

#1: The Promised Neverland manga ending edit

Date: Jun 14th 2020 Time: ~ 12h 41min (5h 45min of cleaning panels in the edit + 5h 37min of cleaning panels that didn't make it to the edit + 1h 19min of resizing) + time spent cleaning panels I've deleted the file of so I can't see lmao This is overall very nice!!! The concept of an Emma evolution through her back is cool, and I think overall the edit turned out very aesthetically pleasing. The concept idea came to me while I was working on the 2019 Emma's birthday edit, a long time before the manga ending announcement- back then I wouldn't have imagined using it in occasion of the manga ending, but I think it ended up making a nice tribute. The colors add a nice touch, since so far my edits had always been black and white- it makes a sweet closure. To make that edit I selected 76 panels of Emma framed from her back; I plan to make other versions of that edit using the discarded panels eventually!

#2: Emma - Chapter 181: Beyond Destiny

Date: Jul 12th 2020 Time: 2h 57min My last edit for the manga 🥺🥺 I think this one is my very "manga ending edit" because to me it really signed the ending of weekly chapters and their weekly chapter edits. It makes me a little sad to look at it, but it's also, I don't know, kinda sweet to see how I grew both in my panel cleaning and as a person since I first started my blog. I'm glad I got into TPN!

#3: Emma birthday edit 2020

Date: Aug 22nd 2020 Time: 8h 54min This one turned out so well!!! Though I used the same concept for all the trio edits, I think this one is the best one. The two panels on the left / two panels on the right alternation combo never fails ahah. The colors are nice (shout-out to my sister for making me a palette), despite the fact that it was hard for the lighter ones to make them work with the images without having those disappear. I'm very satisfied with the panels I chose for this, I think they work really good together! Also, it got me very happy to read everyone's comments saying they liked the fading effect in the last panel :)

#4: Emma + Eyes Close Ups [1/?]

Date: Jan 24th 2021 Time: 5h 55min This one was really nice!! Another idea I got when working on the 2019 Emma birthday edit I was glad to finally execute. Started the edit in September, finished it in December. I'm overall very happy with how it turned out... I hope I will be able to make more in the future!

#5: The Promised Neverland Parallels → (9/?) » 114 // 122

Date: Feb 23th 2021 Time: 5h 7min (panel cleaning only) Aaaaahh I really like this one!!!! A parallel I love very much, and I'm really happy with how the edit turned out. All the hair redrawing looks neat!!!! The gif is maybe a little excessive, but I think overall it's a nice edit. I like it!!! Fun fact, I completed it on August 26th 2020, but I couldn't find the right moment to post it ahah.

Honorable mention: The Promised Neverland Parallels → (5/?) » 08 // 16

Date: Aug 30th 2020 Time: 2h 52min (Second picture cleaning only; I deleted the first picture art file so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ) I don't have much to say about this one except!! It turned out very nice!!!!! Love the pen lmao.

Top 10 analysis:

Too many analysis,,

#1: Post chapter 181 Emma analysis

Date: Jul 9th 2020 Mmmh a nice analysis. I think it was important for me to put down in words what I think of Emma's characterization and the manga ending, so I'm happy I did it!

#2: A long Oliver analysis because I love him very much

Date: Dec 6th 2020 What can I say I just love Oliver tons 😔😔💕💕 This was very fun to make!!!

#3: TPN s2 previsions

Date: Jan 14th 2021 Really love the effort that went into this + me proving that 11 episodes GP could have possibly worked + it's just a lot of fun to read again after s2 ended pffft

#4: More s2 delusional previsions lmao

Date: Jan 27th 2021 I think the points and previsions I made where pretty neat!! In my defense, it was pretty impossible to predict the anime would have ended with this season. I always feel honoured when friends and Anon ask for my opinion, I'm like "you wanna know what I think? Wow. I'm flattered (◍•ᴗ•◍) " Thank you to anyone who ever sent me an ask!!

#5: Why Emma not wearing pants is 𝕨𝕣𝕠𝕟𝕘

Date: Jan 29th 2021 Really proud of this!!! Pants Emma is important!!!!!

#6: Post episode 5 manga Emma analysis

Date: Feb 4th 2021 A depressed analysis, but a necessary one 😔

#7: Norman analysis

Date: Feb 12th 2021 I love him!!!! And I'm happy I eventually got to put down in words what I love about his character. The day I posted this ww3.readneverland was in maintenance so I couldn't use the volume scans for it- the thought of that post having fan edited and fan translated scans still haunts me

#8: RayDon rambles

Date: May 12th 2021 I had a blast writing this and like. It's likely the post of mine I reread more often of them all. I love this ship tons!!!!! I'm satisfied with how I put down in words what I like about them. I LOVE THIS SHIP

#9: Chapter 58 analysis

Date: May 23th 2021 I've wanted to express this concept since like the first time reading the manga- I'm so happy I finally did!!!! This concept is one of my absolute favorite things about tpn- the feelings that people are good. The concept that kids who got to live in an healthy and supportive environment will always be inclined to kindness and altruism, because humans are just inherently good. From the Three Character Classic: “people at birth are inherently good”. I want to have faith and courage to hold on the goodness in myself, and to hold on the goodness in the world, no matter how difficult it to do that (Chloé Zhao).

#10: Norman and Lambda squad relationship analysis

Date: May 24th 2021 I think this was a pretty sharp analysis and I like what I did with it!!

Other stuff:

#1: Krone birthday edit

Date: Jul 15th 2020 This edit is so good ;; Like not perfect since it was my first attempt at coloring gifs but still I believe it turned out so good ;;;;;; The time and effort that went unto this is crazy, but... Maybe I'm happy to have dedicated time to something I like for a satisfying result.

#2: Get to know my ship- Wolfpack Trio

Date: Aug 24th 2020 Uuuh a good post. A good ship.

#3: Gilda + blank glasses

Date: Aug 27th 2020 This is such a cute nice compilation!!! I love looking at it. A few panels are missing but still :')

#4: Apollo Ray AU

Date: Sep 7th 2020 (Though it was written Sep 2nd 2019 lmao) I'm so happy I finally gathered the courage to post this 😭😭 I really enjoy what I did with this AU, so this one and its other installments are all posts I have a lot of fun rereading. More than everything, I was astounded and overjoyed by the positive response it got: that gave me tons of confidence to put my ideas out there, no matter how unique they sound!!! Here's to hoping I will be able to post my RayEmma Hadestown AU, by other big AU from late summer 2019 :')

#5: TPN timeline project

Date: Dec 2nd 2020 This is like. I don't know it's a lot ahah. Arguably the project I'm the most proud of ever making. I'm just so happy of all the months long hard work and of the final result!! The post didn't receive much response (though the ones I got were extremely kind and sweethearted so that totally makes up for it), but in the end I don't really mind? I'm just so proud I accomplished that idea :')

#6: TPN calendar

Date: Jan 4th 2021 A nice sum of the tpn timeline + everyone's birth dates!!! I really like how it turned out visually. It's a cute little tpn calendar!!!

#7: Ray smiles compilation

Date: Jan 17th 2021 Ray's smile. That's it that's the post :')

#8: Trans Oliver headcanons

Date: Jan 24th 2021 MMMH really like this headcanon I think about it a lot

#9: Thoma and Lani theory

Date: Jan 28th 2021 I really don't want to brag but this is the best joke I've ever made :')

#10: My TPN AUs

Date: May 10th 2021 Ok you gotta admit those are very good AUs, I'm glad to have made a list out of them!!!

#11: Ranking Emma promotional art outfits

Date: May 16th 2021 This is one people seem to have liked a lot which makes me happy ahah. I'm glad to know we can all agree Emma deserves more pants outfits!! Please stop it with the gendered clothing :') This is the post I want to be remembered for

#12: TPN musicals AU part 2

Date: May 20th 2021 A GREAT POST I can't stretch enough how happy I am with those character-song associations. I hope I have time to make a part 3 in the future!!

#13: TPN Drive folder

Date: May 30th 2021 This was born as a way for me to have all the tpn extra contents easily accessible, but I'm happy to have shared it with people- I hope it will turn out to be useful to others too!

#14: TPN s2 recolorings

Date: Jun 12th 2021 A more diverse children cast is good for the soul :')

That's it, this year was really fun!! Thank you to everyone who supported me through it, I can't express how grateful I am for all the kindness and validation I received. Here's to many more months in the fandom!!! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*.✧

[pkmnjesus]

⏪ P J’s PokéAni Rewind 2019

Hello, yes I’m still alive for those wondering or care at all :] Just been taking an indefinite leave from all my social media accounts (though you can still see me on Discord: PokémonJesus#2495) since mid-November going through some personal self-discovery journey...nobody misses me anyways. I’ll address that maybe in a future post, but let’s not make this about me...because RIGHT NOW it is time for my 4th annual year-end (and favorite) Tumblr tradition! 2019 was a stressful year for me personally (as you can tell I’ve been on and off  here), and I appreciate all of the friends I’ve made within this fandom who’ve stuck with me through it. It was also the year of the successful launch of my new PokéAni exclusive side-blog @pokeaniepisodes​ where I would do my weekly episode blogging/screen-caps/GIFs for the #pokeani tag. Within the span of 10 months, I would gain over 1,000 followers! Thank you to those who have followed me there as well. Obviously due to my current circumstances, that has been put on halt as well after Sun & Moon ended. Apologies, but I’ll be back in 2020 hopefully. As for PokéAni, it was bittersweet as we bid Alola farewell with the Sun & Moon series ending heading into the next generation series. If you’re curious to hear what I have to say about the new series, well here’s your post! The Pokémon anime has officially wrapped up for this year with Ash & Go in the Hoenn region earlier today, in where he WON another tournament showing Go how it’s done! But now, it is time to highlight some of the best episodes (this post will be following the original Japanese release dates, but will still be using the English/game dub names for a universal understanding by all) I personally found noteworthy from each month. Without further ado, let’s take a look back at what the Pokémon anime had to offer in 2019. 1, 2, 3. LET’S GO!

JANUARY - Hello Hapu

The Poni Island adventures begin! And also, the road to Ash’s final grand trial to complete. This mini-arc started a very fun series of character-centric episodes among the main cast and their Pokémon while they were in the island without Professor Kukui’s guidance. From Sophocles’s Charjabug evolving to a Vikavolt, and Lana’s Popplio evolving to Brionne (plus getting Primarium Z!). But the highlight out of all of this was the character arc of the soon-to-be Poni Island Kahuna, Hapu! She was a stubborn trainer who didn’t want to interact with anyone or battle Ash. She eventually opened up to him and his friends slowly after getting back her stolen radishes from Team Skull (the first appearance of Plumeria as well). She was a key figure on the class’ expedition throughout  Poni for their respective research projects, while Tapu Fini and her late grandfather keep an eye on her progress. Eventually when she did became Kahuna, Ash finally had his rightful battle with her for a grand trial. She didn’t gain only a new set of confidence, but a new set of friends too.

FEBRUARY - Mama Mallow makes us cry

As the group continues doing their personal research projects in Poni Island, and after Kiawe clears his own trial with Tapu Fini, we get a feels trip to Mallow’s past. Thanks to Tapu Fini’s mysterious mist that allows people to see the departed, Mallow relives her childhood days with her mother. We not only get a teary backstory of what Mallow said to her ill mother before passing away, but also Lillie & Gladion’s attempt to see their “deceased” father, Mohn. Mallow seeking proper closure, finally reunites with her mother in the mist as they spend as much time catching up with one another ever since their improper argument at the hospital. We then discovered that Bounsweet was actually caught by her mom before gifting it to Mallow as her first Pokémon...who is now a fully evolved Tsareena. There were a lot of good moments like seeing the Stoutland that (as if this wasn’t enough of a feels trip) help raised Ash’s Torracat when it was still a Litten, and that Mohn is nowhere to be found in the mist meaning that he’s still alive! Stoutland’s final gift to Torracat was upgrading its Ember move to eventually learning to use Fire Blast. But the most important thing about this episode, is that it teaches us to be grateful to our parents (or those who raised us) even when it looks like they don’t seem to care, we misunderstand and overlook how much they truly care for us. Never take things for granted and live in the moment. In the end, Mallow’s mom gave her one final gift before going back to the afterlife, a Shaymin to care for. Thanks mom :’)

MARCH - Ya boi is never too late!

All we can just say when he was first announced was...finally...or about time! Team Skull boss Guzma’s long awaited appearance in the Pokémon anime happened when he and the rest of his gang visited the Pokémon School to confront Professor Kukui. After hearing about the official announcement that the first Alola League was going to happen, Guzma is determined to eliminate everything for what it stands for. Meanwhile, everyone in Alola wanted to get in on the action for an opportunity to become a champion, that includes Ash who stood up to Guzma for Kukui. After wiping the floor with Team Rocket, Guzma battles Ash taking interest with his utilization of the Z-Power Ring. Despite newly perfecting Corkscrew Crash, it had almost no damage on Guzma’s Golisopod. As the battle rages on, Golisopod’s Emergency Exit activates when Pikachu starts to get an upper hand. A stubborn Guzma not wanting to admit what really happened leaves and berates Ash as he sends a clear message on his vow to destroy the Alola League. Guzma and Kukui went face-to-face before Team Skull left, and it’s clear that his intentions were more personal. There’s always a reason behind of it all, and Guzma was seeking for vengeance.

APRIL - Mohn is missing

After discovering that their father may still be alive (as mentioned in my February highlight), Lillie and her family are searching for answers with the help of the Aether Foundation. Lusamine then confesses to her kids about an Ultra Wormhole incident that caused Mohn to disappear. As they continue to get more info, they stumble upon Mohn’s room and discovered two very important treasures. A Z-Ring which he used to wear, and a Magearna that doesn’t seem to be responsive. Lillie decides to wear and use her Z-Ring until her father is found, while also finding away to bring the Magearna he left back to life. With the blessing of Kahuna Hala and her friends’ support, she deicides to finally put her Icium-Z to good use by practicing the Subzero Slammer Z-move with Snowy now that she finally has a Z-Ring at hand. She fails at her first attempt, it won’t keep her down from practicing until she gets it right. The episode ends on a very touching note with Lillie reading an entry from her father’s old journal revealing that Mohn did in fact bought an inactive Magearna in hopes to restore it to give it to his one and only daughter as a gift <3

MAY - Lana’s lure of fate

In one of my personal favorite episodes (totally not because she’s my favorite and the best girl), I got shut up for even doubting that her Brionne would evolve this soon (don’t you just hate it when anime previews spoil?). Lana finally decides to make her dream a reality (referenced in previous episodes) to hook a Kyogre at sea! With the help of Ash, they were able to track down a Kyogre that suddenly appeared while the class were fishing. When they discovered that the Kyogre had been poisoned by Pokémon hunters, Lana decides to cure it with an antidote hooked to a special Misty lure she had been given while Ash deals with the troublemakers. Even after curing the poison, the hunters attempting to catch Kyogre made it rage even more. Lana tries to save it by trying to hook him out of the Hunter’s capturing device. She was successful in freeing it but ended up dragging her to the ocean rapidly as a storm develops from an angered Kyogre. And it was at that moment when Brionne wanted to save her  trainer from getting dragged all over, evolving to Primarina was the only way to end this perfect storm. Primarina’s singing calmed down Kyogre, as Lana lifts up her rod graciously with Kyogre in the sky. Dream achieved, and a moment has been made with new sea friend. Now when Lana tells this story, it’s actually the truth and there will be no one laughing now! Later on another episode, Lana & Primarina would learn how to use and master the Oceanic Operatta Z-move, and it’s all thanks to the hook of this Kyogre. I’m sure Misty is proud as well :)

JUNE - Kid Kukui and Little Litten

There’s a Celebi in this episode...you know what that means. Back to the past! While Ash was training with his Pokémon for the Alola League, a Celebi stumbles upon them and transport Ash & Torracat to the same place where they were at, but only many years ago. They meet this little kid that had Litten with him and it was clearly obvious that his was younger Kukui and his (The Masked Royal’s) Incineroar who hasn’t evolved yet. However, Ash still had no idea he was in the past and treated little Kukui like any other kid he’d meet traveling. The two bond throughout the episode with their similar attitude when it comes to battling, and Ash gladly guided the little kid on executing Z-moves with their Pokémon. The two even worked together assisting a Totem Trevenant in sheltering all the nearby Pokémon as a rainstorm approaches. Thanks to the good heart of Ash helping out everyone, he receives his own Firium Z from the same Trevenant that gave Kukui his Firium Z. He eventually gets back to his timeline where it seemed to have an effect on the present day Kukui. If it wasn’t for that meeting, maybe the professor would’ve had his vision of forming an Alola Pokémon League if it wasn’t for that mysterious older boy he met with his Torracat. A Pokémon time paradox? Maybe...but what I loved about this story is that it repeats itself for the next episode but from the perspectives of Ash’s Pokémon that were left behind in hopes of finding their trainer. Really reminds me of that time Pokémon got separated from their trainers during S.S. Anne arc in the original series, only difference is that the perspectives of the trainers and Pokémon were happening at the same time. But you gotta love a pure whacky Pokémon adventure! Pretty much like a Pikachu short you see before movies.

JULY - Let the League begin!

The moment everyone has been waiting for...the Alola League has officially begun! With everyone prepared to unleash their Z-Power, it’s time for the qualifying round to start. Unlike previous Leagues, this starts off with a free-for-all Battle Royal with a total of 151 competitors but only 16 will advance to the next round. Most of the trainers in this League are recognizable characters if you have watched Sun & Moon in its entirety up to this point. From Mina to Kahili to Acerola to the entire Team Skull gang to Hiroki and even Pikala, every Alola character is here! While all the Island Kahunas serves as the officials for the event. It was fun way to kick-off a 4-month long League arc and they couldn’t have it done any other way. The top 16 has been decided and it gave us good match-ups to follow in the next couple of episodes such as, Mallow vs. Lana, a childhood friend clash which also tests Mallow’s courage in battling. Our favorite Team Rocket duo in disguise facing off against one another (can’t remember when was the last time we saw that). A sibling battle and a trial on how far Lillie has gone as a Pokémon trainer facing off against her strong big brother, Gladion. And of course, the friendly birby rematch between Ash and Hau. The line-up of matches is stacked! I could not remember how hyped I was for this long-awaited League arc. Some battles might’ve been short and quick, but every participant mattered! How can you not love the Sun & Moon series?

AUGUST - The Alola Final Four

And then, there were four. In the semi-finals bracket, we first have Gladion facing off against Kiawe who defeated Acerola and bested a friend in Sophocles. He’s pretty much the dark horse in this, but he’s been working hard all series with his battling to get to this point. As Lillie and Mimo (Hoshi) cheer on their big brothers, it was Gladion who got the upper hand and the two exchange in a very meaningful handshake of sportsmanship. Meanwhile on the other side of the semi-finals, Guzma, who blasted through Ilima and Lana, getting his rematch with Ash seeking for retribution after his soft defeat the last time they faced off. It was a clash of personalities as the Team Skull boss vows to get to Kukui by destroying someone who resembles him in Ash and get a big W for his fellow Team Skull outcasts. This battle was more than just advancing through the semi-finals but also the integrity of what the League will become if Guzma is successful in his ploy. Guzma was very aggressive during this match to the point of even scolding his Golisopod. But when you mad, you don’t focus well and that became Guzma’s downfall eventually resulting in his defeat against Ash who battled with his heart. Guzma had to learn the hard way, maybe softened his mindset a bit, but even after losing Plumeria and the rest of the grunts still want to be by his side improving their own skills in battle to be like their fearless leader. You never see a heartwarming ending for a “villainous” team in Pokémon before, but I think Team Skull had their own happy ending.

SEPTEMBER - The “Curse” is finally broken

Ash vs. Gladion. Here we go, the League finals to determine the inaugural champion of Alola. I mean I already made solo-post last September about how BIG this episode/moment was for our capped hero. Their rivalry has been amazing from the get-go. From their first meeting at the beach by Kukui’s place with a feisty Rockruff that wanted to battle, to the Manalo Stadium battling for a prestigious championship title with Ash’s Lycanroc fully controlled over its rage with dirt. It wasn’t a full battle, but 3-on-3 showdown served us one heck of battle! It may not be considered the best by many, but it was still an amazing and fun bout between two trainers who promised each other to meet in the finals of the big stage. The laugh they shared, the flashbacks that was shown to us (with the awesome Type: Wild! music playing in the background), and the storytelling of who wants it more makes you get to the edge of your seat, cheering for Ash to finally win a major Pokémon League. Ash’s newly evolved Melmetal showcased it’s new strength but still wasn’t able to beat Gladion’s  Silvally. Then, when Zoroark and Pikachu knocked each other out, it was the 1v1 Lycanroc battle that really put this friendly and competitive rivalry full circle.

Ash has NEVER defeated Gladion...until this moment. He’s been training for this, and it finally paid off. The two Lycanroc’s took no prisoners and went back and forth with one another. In the final blow of that match, Gladion’s Lycanroc used Counter against Ash’s Lycanroc that was charging towards it, but then our big brained hero fights back with their own Counter attack. Never have I heard of Countering a Counter in the Pokémon universe, but using it in this one moment nobody expects, it was the HYPEST way to swerve fans from almost losing the match but ultimately gave an epic counterattack that would knock out Gladion’s Lycanroc. And for the first time since the Orange League, Ash is a Champion. Only this time it is a way bigger deal! Mostly because this is a game-based series which has more meaning when it comes to the Pokémon League.

Old fans, new fans, and casual viewers a like were buzzing within 24 hours after this episode released in Japan that caught mainstream media attention. People who have never seen a Pokémon anime episode in their life (or a subbed episode for that matter) past the original series, wanted to see how this episode went down to see a childhood hero achieve a major trophy. This is how big of a pop-culture icon Ash & Pikachu was among many generations of fans since the show’s launch internationally. This was truly THE PokéAni moment of 2019. Again, big congratulations to our Alola Champion, Ash Ketchum/Satoshi! Too bad Guzzlord had to ruin the closing ceremony afterparty... 

OCTOBER - A fiery full final battle

So after becoming Alola Champion, sending three Guzzlords back to where they came from, reuniting with Poipole who evolved into a Naganadel, and The Masked Royal’s identity publicly revealed as Professor Kukui ALL IN THE SAME NIGHT! We finally get our exhibition match between Ash and The Masked Royal, who would like to go under his real identity. This is the final battle, and the promised reward the first Alola Champion gets. This is honestly also reward to the fans giving us one final hoorah for the Alola region with a full 6-on-6 Pokémon battle! I believe this is the only full battle we got to see in Alola and it was definitely worth the anticipation and surprise. Kukui had a lot of secret Pokémon up his sleeve that the viewers don’t know about (unless you get spoiled by freakin’ Oha Suta), and it is also the first and only official battle that Naganadel will be part of under Ash’s team. So the excitement levels of this fun 5-PART episode battle were off the roof! Kukui had amazing Pokémon that he kept a secret, but what I do want to focus in this spotlight is the showdown between Incineroar and Torracat. Just like with the Lycanroc duel, these two have similar stories with Torracat never being able to beat The Masked Royal/Kukui’s Incineroar. Ever since it was still a Litten, the desire to battle strong opponents still burns inside. As the two fiery cats clash in this epic battle, both sides have the same intensity when receiving and taking attacks.

As the battle worn out, both Kukui and Ash activated their Z-Rings together to use Inferno Overdrive against each other. After a gigantic explosion from the Z-move collision it was Torracat who was the last Pokémon standing finally beating its personal battle rival. After a victory screech, I was surprised as everyone seeing it fully evolve into Incineroar. Unfortunately, that evolution took a toll on the newly evolved Pokémon and is unable to continue further. Rest well big kitty, you beat who you wanted to beat and deserve a good rest.

As if that wasn’t epic enough, in the final phase of this full battle, Tapu Koko steps in and serves as Kukui’s last Pokémon and even granting both parties to be able to use Z-moves once again. Fast forward, Ash and Pikachu finally defeated their first opponent when they first set foot in the Alola region with the Z-Ring Tapo Koko gave them in the first place. It clearly now knows that Ash was a worthy holder of using Z-Power and a Champion that everyone can look  up to. What a battle. What a series. Thank you Alola. Thank you Sun & Moon.

NOVEMBER - Pikachu Origins

Enter the next chapter. The new era of the Pokémon anime finally launched this in a very different way. The first episode basically serves as the prequel to the Pokémon anime series before Ash had set out on his quest to become a Pokémon Master. Long story short, we can Pikachu’s background story on how he came to be the loving mascot recognized everywhere on paper. I mean who would’ve thunk it? I just love the fact that we’re getting an origin story of how Ash’s Pikachu when it was still a wild Pichu. Although it wasn’t explained how Professor Oak ended up catching the little guy, Pikachu always had a good heart (you know despite rejecting Ash at first lol). The most adorable thing about this episode was the family bond Pichu temporarily shared with this little Kangaskhan family. The little guy was an outcast not really sure where to go or what to do except survive and find food. When that Kangaskhan picked him up as if it was one of its babies, and gained a new caring sibling in the process. It was a wholesome story of calling someone family even though there is no blood relation. Pichu was literally not their kind, but they still loved him as it was them!

Meanwhile, we get a little preview of our new characters from seeing their childhood and setting up the premise for them to cross paths with Ash in the future. The newest protagonist, Go, was a little know-it-all about Pokémon, and he sure bragged a lot of his knowledge on it during one of Professor Oak’s camp (in which Ash failed to wake up for). Along with his worrisome friend, Koharu, they spotted a Mew while going off course in Oak’s tour around their campsite. It would also be the saving grace of the lost baby Kangaskhan who accidentally fell off a cliff after attempting to play with the Mew. After seeing Mew’s psychic abilities, it was clear for Go that he needed to catch Mew one day. This is the initial goal that Go wanted to set out for when he’s old enough.

After the incident with his Kangaskhan sibling, Pichu had to re-think if he wants to continue being a part of a pack that he doesn’t even properly belong it in the first place. When the herd of Kangaskhan took shelter in cave during heavy rain, Pichu had to make a tough decision and leave his foster family behind while they were asleep because he knew that the mother Kangaskhan would not let go of someone who it sees as a child of her own. Pichu knew that was the only way, but despite his sad decision he was grateful for the happiness they provided for a lone wolf Pokémon that wandered in the wild looking belong somewhere. It was that same happiness that gave Pichu the strength to evolve to the Pikachu we all know today, and found a forever home with a certain tardy boy a couple of years later that they both formed an inseparable friendship.

DECEMBER - The Great Gigantamax in Galar

Of course, you can’t have a new series without showing off a new region?! As our “research fellows” Ash & Go continue their exploration in the Galar region learning more about the Dynamax phenomenon that causes Pokémon to grow bigger in size, they are about to be in for one gigantic dilemma. They had some trouble when they met a bunch of trickster Pokémon in those Nickit and a dirty Scorbunny trying to steal their food, but that wasn’t the last they saw of that Scorbunny. When they took the train to explore the Wild Area, Scorbunny secretly tagged along in hopes to be partners with Go after feeling a connection with the trainer during their first encounter. After MANY attempts of trying get Go’s attention, he finally notices Scorbunny after it kicks a rock to knock down fruit on top of a Snorlax they were observing (that hits Ash’s head first oof). Scorbunny attempts to get caught by Go, but he declined due to his vow for Mew to be his first catch. After the sad rejection, red lights then start to surround the Snorlax that ended up Dynamaxing it to Gigantamax Snorlax! This caused a big road blockage that affects a train line in that area. Ash, Pikachu, Go and Scorbunny decide to team up and move the Snorlax before the next train comes by to avoid a disaster from happening. Ash and Pikachu were able  to cut down a big fruit from the Gigantamax Snorlax’s body and pass it on to Go and Scorbunny to make sure he jumps (just like earlier from Scorbunny’s accidental fruit pick) for that fruit in time for the train to pass by without anyone getting hurt. It was a tough task getting all the way up to the belly of beast, but thanks the Double Kick boost Scorbunny gave that big fruit, Snorlax not only moved in time for the next train to stop by, but return back to normal (big) size.

Unfortunately, Scorbunny was also swallowed in that big gulp, but it was a good thing that Snorlax didn’t munch it all the way. After the teamwork Go felt with Scorbunny during all that, he decides to modify his dream a bit and wants Scorbunny to now be his first Pokémon catch. Both are happy to be with one another, and we all know this was going to be the start of wonderful friendship. With this addition to the group, the main cast for the new anime series is now fully-set. Let the true adventures around the Pokémon world begin!

Some honorable mentions…

2019 for PokéAni marked an end of an era, but a start of a new one too! No doubt one of the most impactful years the show has had in the world since the XY&Z arc. Besides the historic Alola League, we also saw the continuation of Brock & Misty’s trip to Alola (not to mention Brock & Olivia’s adorkable interactions together), the class’ crash-course golf lessons with none other than Kahili! Ash catching a rare Meltan that appeared out of nowhere, The Sparkling Trio of Mallow, Lana & Lillie uniting as Alola DrinKyun (’Refreshing Trio: Alola Idols’ in the English dub), Ash challenging Ryuki’s Kantonian Gym, the high-speed Vikavolt race, Mallow’s vision in opening her Pokémon café, Matori’s unexpected visit to the Team Rocket base in Alola, and let’s not for get about the Ultra Guardians finishing up their final missions in capturing the remaining UBs: Pheromosa and Kartana. And honestly, after seeing all of Sun & Moon, can everyone just agree that Kukui is the BEST Pokémon professor?!

Of course, how can I not mention the final episode of Sun & Moon? In what was probably one of the most emotional farewell episodes in the anime’s history. If you don’t have bias from the original goodbye with Brock & Misty in Johto, this would probably be the best one. It was executed perfectly with Ash’s class figuring out what to do in the future with Ash himself not sure what to do moving forward. Naganadel had to return back to its homeworld, the Rockets had to say leave their Alola Pokémon with Bewear as she sends them off one final time, Nebby returns to see Ash one final time, and Lillie decides to search for her father away from Alola after brining Magearna to life. With everyone deciding what to do, Ash heads back home to explore the world (which transitions to the new series) leaving all his Alola Pokémon behind in Kukui’s lab, while Rotom Dex decides to work for the Aether Foundation. The boat scene with Lillie was a good touch on how her character evolved thanks to Ash’s help, and the departing airport scene with Kukui, Burnet, and Ash group hugging was touching. Even Ash teared up as he gets in the air leaving Alola as his friends and Pokémon he left behind wave goodbye. If that wasn’t a good send off for the Sun & Moon series, Mallow’s Shaymin finally achieved its Sky Forme (which have her mother’s eyes...could be a touching symbolism that she was always watching her ;_;) from a Gracidea flower before taking off, AND ON TOP OF THAT, the final shot of the series no less, we find out that Professor Burnet is pregnant. Never in the history of this anime has ever done that to a major character in the supporting cast. The Sun & Moon series continues to break ground as one of the best Pokémon series.

Other than that, we got the new series (which I still wish we had a proper sub-title for -_-) giving us a taste of what to expect in the new Generation VIII era. Our newly appointed research fellows, Ash & Go are at Professor Sakuragi’s Institute helping with his research along with Mimey and Koharu helping out with the household chores. Lugia brought these two together, and are now living under the same roof. And, can we talk about Mimey?! I’m so glad a classic character from this anime is being used as a permanent supporting character for this series. Not to mention that he battled alongside Ash in the Hoenn tournament and won! It’s also refreshing to see updated animation within Kanto where they’re home base is at, and I absolutely cannot wait for them to go back to other regions with this fresh new art style. With Go’s goal to catch every Pokémon there is for him to index, he’s bound to meet Mew again one day! He’s literally every Pokémon games’ protagonist and I’m glad we have a main character like him who actually focuses on catching them all. As for Ash, he’s still our Ash carving his own unique path on his continuing journey to become a Pokémon Master because it’s more than being the strongest trainer and more than just catching Pokémon. I’m going to take his word for it! I don’t know if you noticed, but Go kinda looks up to him a bit due to his experiences in battle. Just look how shy he was just wanting to be his friend. You just gotta love it when they make Ash this mentor-type friend especially now coming off a huge victory in the Alola League becoming a champion.

Overall, the Sun & Moon anime gave us a variety of different set of stories every week leading up to the anticipated Alola League. Everyone had a story to tell building up to the Alola League, and just look at the list of episodes we’ve had this year that went back and forth with characters that get a main focus other than Ash (or even Lillie). Most of these episodes I’m talking about are either development for a Pokémon in their team evolving, or a perfecting a Z-move with their respective Z-Crystals. This shows much the writers care about each main character gets enough screen-time before they’re ready to take on the League with Ash. If you are still thinking on whether or not to continue/finish watching the series if you haven’t yet, I would still recommend to please watch until the end! It’s a really fun ride to sit through it all in my humble opinion, unless you want to just bolt straight into the League episodes only caring about Ash’s story. You do you. As for the new series, it will definitely pick up the pace sooner or later with the initial episodes are setting up to lead into something bigger. If you aren’t hooked in yet, definitely be patient because I’m expecting a lot of good opportunities for them to pull off in this cross-region based format. Sure it isn’t based 100% on the latest games in the franchise Sword & Shield, but that’s what separates the anime and the games. The anime is doing its own thing with an original story, but I’m pretty sure they will mix-in some of the interesting storylines and feature important characters from Sword & Shield every time they revisit Galar because it’s the new region on the block. They should feature/market a lot of episodes from all the new content Galar has. So I would definitely still keep my eyes on the Pocket Monsters series 👀

And there you have it! This post as long as it already is, so I’ll stop here. If you’ve read everything I had to say (maybe a few typos here and there lol), then thank you for your time! Feel free share your own favorite PokéAni moment 2019 with a reblog or a reply if you choose to do so. Thanks so much for an amazing year, and it’s time for us to GO to 2020. More moments await for us, and maybe even some surprises we might see since Ash is returning to previous regions he already visited in the past. See everyone in 2020 for the first full year of the new ‘Pocket Monsters’ series. Let’s go (with Go heh) and have some fun! Yes, I think used the word ‘go’ here too many freakin’ times lol

Happy New Year to all my followers, and the rest of the Pokémon fandom!

If you haven’t seen these yet, and you are new to my blog, check out all the previous year-end PokéAni Rewinds I did in the past: 2016 | 2017 | 2018

[labetalol]

little fires everywhere thoughts

so i like doing this just because it kinda like. gives closure to these open-ended shows that get me like doozy the days after finishing it because its just SO much. anyways thoughts below!

-the direction was really well done, honestly, like all the scenes were so picturesque, the acting gave exactly the vibes that they were going for- elena  acting so perfect that it’s almost ingenuine, that there’s something far worse underneath, a facade to hide what a monster she really is. pearl and mia’s relationship, where it seems to be good to the richardsons, but obviously mia’s secrets dictate pearl’s actions, where she’s lying where she is/who she’s with, seeing the richardsons behind mia’s back... it overall gives the story of two families, both with their own problems, in which some sort of blazing fire, whether literal or not, destroys everything as they know it, and they rebuild it accordingly. mia decides to set things straight with her daughter, to allow her to meet her family, to acknowledge pearl’s needs, to stop with the secrets. elena finally admits to her wrongdoing, leading to vvv

-i HATE elena but reese did an EXCELLENT like aboslutely excellent job of executing that horrible, self-absorbed woman who will never acknowledge her own faults in anything. there was this song in the soundtrack, marvin gaye’s piece of clay, which pretty much exemplifies exactly what elena did to her kids, to everyone in her life, where she has this perfect little plan and everyone needs to follow it. when her ex was against it, it like... crushed her, to the point where she still needs to visit him in the middle of the night while her husband keeps calling her, wondering where she is. that sure, izzy wasn’t expected, but elena was so willing to blame everything wrong in her life to izzy, that she didn’t get the promotion or whatever... that her husband and her were on thin ice, that she had to buy a pacifier late at night. and this sort of abuse when on izzy’s ENTIRE LIFE! elena constantly degraded her, making her siblings hate her too, like, izzy was so alone and bill at least kinda was nice to her, or at least more understanding than elena, yet even he has his limits of how understandning he can be, so its like. absolutely horrid how elena treated her. like even in the little scenes, where elena’s like, ‘oh why don’t you keep your hair down? its your best feature” and when izzy was ready for homecoming, elena’s like “eh, could be better, here’s some lipstick.” like... its terrible how elena aligns all her actions to ensure that where she is in life? the kids, the house, the job, the stagnancy and boredom? it’s all that 4th child’s fault. so when that fire happens, burning down her entire house, she finally like. GETS it and its like... insane, that she DID burn down the house. SHE DID!!!

-i love mia and her story is so sad. i love kerry washington, i rewatched scandal like a billion times, but kerry delivered a totally new character that is so like. strong-willed, so proud yet humble, like. i love her but obviously there is flaws with her. this show also offers the question- what really makes a mother? love? genes? money? mia was paid to have this baby, so she wasn’t technically pearl’s mother. yet, mia knew that because pearl came from HER body, she is HERS and that sort of mentality, is that wrong? immoral? i personally think not at all, it’s natural to feel that, but the ryans didn’t deserve that sort of betrayal. ok but also about the ryans...

-the scenes in the subway. this show gave some scenes that were absolutely haunting, that were super terrifying, like the obvious elena’s “YES YOU ARE!!!”, when mia took elena’s photo and burned it, and the number 1 in my opinion was the scene in the subway, where mia looks over to see joe ryan, then it quickly shifts to elena. that scene comes early on in the show, leading me to think that (without knowing who that man was, i assumed it was a past abuser) that mia sees her abuser in elena. but now knowing who that man actually is, i think its sort of saying, how the two are these rich people who can hold power over her, like if joe ryan wanted, he maybe could take pearl away, or at least sue mia, send her to jail, something, and elena can do the same, she has that sort of power too as a rich white woman. so i just. really liked that scene it was so powerful.

-bebe and may ling. i didn’t like the mcculloughs, but may ling... i hate to say it, but may ling would have had a better life with the mcculloughs. so this brings that question back- what makes a mother? a GOOD mother? bebe gave up everything for may ling, and shes a good mother for that. but would she have been a better mother for letting may ling go? what about the mcculloughs, i forgot the lady’s name, but she obv loved may ling, yet there were things she could never provide that may ling deserved- that cultural aspect. so its like. really sad. i dont know what to think of how their story ended.. its hard.

-this show was GOOD!!!! 

[lullabiesandgoodbyes]

Okay, you’d probably expect a dump of feelings regarding La Casa de Papel P4:

( here be spoilers, obviously )

It’s a fact that the writing of LCDP has never been brilliant. The heist was clever, but some scenes were far-fetched and the dialogue faltered many times. Still, I was mainly here for the characters: criminals, flawed people whose human side was revealed through the episodes, that was the reason why I got attached to the show.

I can’t help but to feel disappointed that they seemed to have lost perspective of them: the characters were turned into puppets for the sake of dRAmA!!1, became caricatures of what they used to be - this is already our 4th year with them, we know them, and please don’t call it character development when it’s so obviously just bad writing. They deserved better than this.

That being said:

- It’s not even the fact that Nairobi was killed; it’s the fact they’ve created and developed a strong female character, shot her for a cliffhanger at the end of P3, saved her at the beginning of P4, had both her body and mind tortured multiple times while still not fully recovered, and then simply put a bullet in her head by betrayal, with no honor nor glory. And for what, shock value?! Fuck you!!

- Since we’re talking about Nairobi: it’s not that she shouldn’t want to be a mother ( people claiming but she’s a feminist!! can shut the fuck up ), but she already was a mother, despite having no son for years, one that once got offended after being told that she should just have another baby to replace the one she had lost. Now, not only they gave me no closure regarding Axel and the way the Police used him to bring her down, but they also forced me to witness this marvellous woman emotionally manipulating a man that she knew to be in a committed relationship to have a baby with her and then partying with his partner ( her supposed friend ) without telling her the truth;

- The same can be pointed at Tokio, going ( again! ) after Denver, “ let’s fuck and pretend it never happened “ - they actually tried to tell us female friendships, yay!! and then have her sexually pining after her supposed friend’s husband, twice. Like, what are even women to each other if not rude bitches, right?

- Look, I don’t know what kind of wet dream these writers have about Tokio, but it’s time for them to actually acknowledge her faults, no? Nairobi would never consider her a good leader; the team would never accept her as a good leader; Tokio is simply not a good leader. Also, so much disgust at all the sexual innuendos between her and Gandía and the general idea that he only kept her alive because she turned him on...

- I was honestly laughing at the whole surgery scene; I gave it a pass when they helped Mónica with that infected wound back in P1 because..., but this was so ridiculous it was too much for me to bear. Tokio is becoming the Rachel Berry of LCDP and you have no idea how much it bothers me to write these actual words;

- She still had her moments, though. Not enough for me to love her, but I will always defend Tokio from a fandom who hates on her at the same time that idolatrizes Berlín, for fuck’s sake... -.-

- Raquel was one of the best characters this show had on P1-2. If Lisboa doesn’t grow a personality detached from El Profesor, I’ll be punching a wall, seriously, what did you reduce her to?

- But not everything was bad: Estocolmo is still MY GIRL!!!1 I’m still pissed they had to break up her marriage to give her some attention ( women are allowed to have partners and a life beyond them, in case you didn’t know ), but I generally liked her in P4 and how she’s slowly gaining her own place within the team. The whole discussion about seeing Denver in a new light was interesting ( I could write a whole essay about it ), but should have been better worded and developed, especially because this fandom is overall dumb and is already blaming it on her - but what else is new?

- I’m also only supporting this because I believe she’s dealing with her previous choices, and basically coming together after the initial Stockholm Syndrome, and will eventually get back together with Denver. If not, I’ll burn Netflix down;

- Also, being sad that Nairobi died, yes; coming after Estocolmo because she should have died instead, no, fuck you!! >:(

- Now, the major disappointment: thanks for throwing THREE years of development out of the window so Denver could chase Tokio’s ass, as if he ever felt for her half of the things he apparently did on P4, and thanks for nearly ruining my favorite character on this fuckery, starting with his rude commentaries about women ( he was in love with Mónica and still pushed her away because she wasn’t able to fully consent their relationship, but sure, let’s all agree that he sees women like cars because so funny!! Also, implying that he only ended up with Mónica because he couldn’t get Tokio, yes, that’s totally what happened, who the fuck wrote this shit...?? ) and ending on the toxic jealousy over his best friend being traumatized and finding his only comfort with his wife ( like, WTF was that even?! );

- Managing to regress Denver into someone he even wasn’t at the beginning of the show was probably worse than watching him die somewhere along the way, and, trust me, I hate to write this :’(((

- But thank you ( and this goes to Jaime Lorente, not the stupid writers ) for bringing him back on the last episodes. I guess this is what you get when writers don’t know how to properly do their jobs, but the writing has been a general mess since P3 so I’m choosing to still love him and want all good things for him. Including his wife back, because admitting his shit and trying to be better is still Denver’s redeeming quality, and I think she’s ready to accept that;

- I still think Ricardo is a better fit than Daniel :(((

- I admit that Manila was cool, but she still felt like a way for the show to gain some diversity points with a trans character that is not even played by a trans actress... Her conversation with Denver, although sweet, was vague and only complemented the initial feeling, since it could have lead him to reorganize his thoughts over male/female friendships ( as if P1-3!Denver ever needed that... ) and eventually served for nothing;

- That is, I’m choosing to believe they won’t make Denver/Manila happen on P5 because fuck them if they do...

- Also fuck everyone who’s coming after Río for being weak, and fuck whoever let the boy stay at the Bank after months of torture. The writing of his arc was just as bad as nearly everyone else’s ( perfectly able to shoot a missile in one day, incapable of holding a gun against Gandía on the other, wants everyone to kill him next... ) but his friendship with Estocolmo was worth it, loved them;

- He’s also a baby and he’s now Estocolmo and Denver’s new baby <333

- Last, but not least: I really didn’t like the way they turned Arturito into a major creep and confirmed rapist. This was a character we hated on principle, for being a headache and playing hero when he wasn’t more than an idiot, but this... What was even the point of this?

Some other random thoughts I have left:

- Helsinki: honestly, stop hurting him, please;

 - El Profesor: I can’t get myself to like his character, sorry I’m not sorry;

- Marsella: a good boy;

- Palermo: please die;

- Bogotá: not convinced, still don’t like him, can still die;

- Sierra: the best antagonist;

- Antoñanzas: the best sidekick;

- Moscú: I missed you, papa </3/3/3

- Berlín: * you’re not allowed in Heaven with the rest of them, go back to Hell, motherfucker *

- The Bank’s governor was cool, helping to save Nairobi, protecting Amanda and telling Arturito off :)))

- Hope Amanda gets her well-deserved revenge, let her cut Arturito’s dick when he’s asleep ( or awake, it doesn’t really matter );

- I missed Cincinnati and Miguel x_x

Also, the cast and crew saying P4 was a satisfying ending when it so obviously was a non-ending felt dishonest and I don’t like being played like that. Just assume you’re trying to milk the most out of it - and apparently losing grip of it all together.

So, yeah, I’ll be back for P5 because they left me hanging on, but the disappointment is real. I wish they had left it where it was supposed to end. :(((

[shellofaretard]

Incel Manifesto

I am the BIG INCEL. The perennial incel. I was a virgin before you were born. I was a virgin when the universe was formed. When i close my eyes the world dies with me its hymen still intact. 

Incel has always been the default of western civilization. We are the inheritors of this w/o any disparity to what came before. Metaphor about ancient statues and their lil shrimp dicks.

Sir Isaac Newton was an incel. Nikola Tesla was an incel. Jesus Christ was an incel. Has anyone who’s NOT an incel ever created anything worthwhile??

soul

Ripped apart by natural selections icy north winds. Tossed around by autism chromosome waves. Mogged by 4/10 clouds. Masticated by roastie whirlpool.

The Incel project is an indictment of Creation that is, at the same time, rooted in an observant piousness towards its laws and the impossibility of moving outside its boundaries. The duty of Man to accept and affirm the inherent cruelty of the cosmos, and ponder his destiny within it.

For the <0.5/10 genetic sewage, to expose oneself to the flesh-burning mog radiations of the outside world is comparable to Julius Evola walking around the city during bombing raids.

body

Really hope incels start walking the walk and actually go ahead with those elaborate plastic surgery plans they love to talk about soon.  In post-modern body modification culture, surgically administered transformations are seen as an ascent towards the narcissistic illusion of a more “authentic” self. We have understood that the vanilla modernist paradigm in which Man is assigned one body, whose form, “health” and integrity it is his duty to preserve unto death, was never going to work.

Until very recently, it was normal for bodies to undergo unwanted dis- and transfigurations due to war and disease, their personal notions of bodily integrity routinely subdued to the amoral whims of the medieval War God. It is this view of the world that the incels, these ferocious dreamers of Galilean proportions, these weavers of cruel, delectable phantasms after my own heart, are returning to, finding themselves thrust into a hostile universe whose rigid biological laws are stacked against them with no humanist justification of “fairness”.

Incel chin osteotomy is then a religious act completely removed from narcissism. It is done out of reverence for a cosmic order radically irrespective of the incel’s interests and feelings. The ontological conduit between God and man takes the form of a leash, one by which Man is dragged to the plastic surgery clinic precisely in order to serve God better. I would like to argue that Incel is the most legitimately religious (anti-humanist) movement of our time in that it is based on an acceptance of human insignificance in the face of the cosmic order.

will

Much has been said about the supposed ‘entitlement’ of incels, but this can easily be reframed in a different context. Incel is, at its heart, a radical human agency denialist movement, seeking to redefine the role of Man in the universe by finding spirituality and reverence in the acceptance of total biological determinism, and beauty in the order of chin curvatures, neural pathways and DNA spirals of differing quality. The total absence of free will means everyone is always already entitled to exactly what they get. Genuine incel is less about demanding more than what is deserved than a retreat into a meditative position, neutral like nature itself.

If you’re willing to sell your purity for some used up 3.5/10 roastbeef: fuck off. This is supposed to be a modern monastic movement, where disciples eventually achieve true serenity and a connection with supernatural powers (wizard) in studying the patterns of the cosmos, of God’s plan; taking in the thorny architectures of inherent hierarchy without ego. It is about seeing the face of God in the cute waterpolo boy who nearly bullied you to suicide in 4th grade.

If you believe such a thing as ‘volcel’ exists in this world utterly bereft of all and any free will, you have reasoning skills akin to a donkey, I’m afraid.

time

Incels see time as a byproduct of the sad compulsion of humanist perception to form linear narratives of ‘progress’ and change. Such narratives are to be deemed illusory and rejected to the best of our abilities. In the Incel conception of time, everything is always already happening at the exact same time, meticulously arranged into a rigid, immutable hierarchy by the will of God himself alone.

This also means that it is pedantic and somewhat shallow to necessarily equate Incel with total sexlessness. Since no narratives ‘connecting’ one moment with the next are real, technically, every man not currently experiencing (undergoing?) direct roastie friction in this very moment is an incel, with whatever horrible baggage that entails.

virginity

I’m a virgin myself but my impression is that sex probably isn’t as big a deal as elliot rodger thought it would be. I look at sex havers and don’t think they are truly happier than i am (I’m a pretty happy retard). They were just born with higher quality DNA but i’m not sure if that is correlated with happiness whatsoever. I hate and envy them because I must but there is no objective ‘truth’ behind my ostensible assumption of their having it better.

All partaking in an act does is destroy the soul and dream of that thing. Only virgins understand the metaphysics of sex, only incels are capable of having a soul. This is why elliot rodger was so dangerous to the system. He had dreams that were unquantifiable and untransferrable, and the system thrives solely on the quantifiable and transferrable. I know y’all want to fuck Elliot now but thats like wishing jesus had the chance to get into nintendo wii instead.

If elliot rodger’s ideas of what sex (and ‘love’) would have been like could somehow be quantified, externalized and turned into a reality for all to simultaneously experience, the entire world would collapse, submerged in the brutal, monolithic singularity of joy.

religion

There is a reason religious, celestial imagination is all over incel culture. Think of st. blackops2cel and compare it to the brash, earthy vulgarity of YASSSS KWEEN or something. It is st. blackops2cel whose hand i am taking. It is through him that i discover weightlessness and liberation from the ballasts of the body. It is with him that i dash through the firmament and enter the pearly gates. Perhaps in the near future, the only two ways to die will be euthanized by the state following a lengthy bureaucratic procedure (hell) or shot by a cute incel at school (heaven).

-------

Now awaiting my gentle ascent into wizardry. Male pattern balding. Hormonal makeup changing. Still worship sathanas and aktion t4 and cut myself under the full moon. Still loathe god for giving me the tard genes and curse the faggot christ for normalizing the enabling of retards. But also know this is definitely all there is for me to which there is a certain closure. Know this basement is, at the end of the day, safe. Know theres not that much left at least.

How does the eventual ascension into the more serene state of wizardry feel for you. My angry incels. My romantic incels. My aching incels. My defeated incels. My broken incels. My incels who just want to see the world burn.

[followedbyraven]

About 15 years ago, from the very first episode, I got hooked up on a new tv show, “Supernatural”. It was amasing! 

It was a kind of magic that: - grips you and doesn’t let go; - follows you and stays on your mind for hours; - walks side by side through the years, sometimes becoming your shadow, sometimes wandering so far away that what is left is only a glimpse on the horizon of life.

After being for many years a part of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fandom and finding some kind of uneasy closure when Angel: the Series concluded I thought I swore the fandom life for good. I was young and somewhat naive, and didn’t understand the simple truth: once you step into this river - you will keep coming for more. 

Initially following the road that the Winchester brothers took in the first three seasons I was what is called a general audience. Ok, a bit more, cause I’ve long ago lost count how many times I watched each and every episode of seasons 1-3 during just that period. 

It was indeed MAGIC! Then came hellatus between 3rd and 4th seasons and I have to be honest, my interest in SPN was by that time slowly slipping away. I was incredibly busy at work, living life on the road, barely at home, working sometimes 14-16 hours a day, and loving every single moment of that. It was hard but I treasure memories of those times, despite terribly missing my husband, and comfort of home, and loved ones. Also it was almost impossible to keep up with SPN airing schedule. Not to mention that it was already some kind of miracle that I was almost religiously following SPN for three years. I do follow other TV shows but don’t get so attached.  I love parings, OTPs, to write and read fanfiction, to admire the talent of fanart creators and ingeniousness of meta-writers... but it takes two to tango, in other words - I need an OTP to properly function in the fandom. I wasn’t into any of the brothers and was a strictly het!shipper; I used to write slash for friends as a gift or commission but wasn’t really interested in it. Plus I’m One Fandom at a time, one OTP at a time kind of shipper, I don’t multitask when it comes to fandom life.  So yeah, for SPN I was a general audience for 3 years until an ruffled angel broke through the barn doors, got knifed in the heart as some kinky way of thanks for the save from Hell, flashed Dean some shadow wings and... It was amazing and it was awesome, and it was magic. Again. Just like that day I’ve watched SPN 1x01 for the very first time. 

Jack is a baby of the family. I wasn’t sure about this character and was afraid that I wouldn’t like him. So much suspense was build around his first appearance, so much negativity. But I was worried for nothing. He is a sweetheart and a darling, great addition to the story and to the show, he can be soft, naive and uncertain, but also fierce and protective of people he sees as part of a family. I was a complete “feels, feels, so many feels” from the first episode he appeared in. I still have half of season 14 and the rest of season 15 to catch up, but so far I like what I see.  Sam. I like Sam a lot and he means a lot to me and to a relationship I have with my brother. I may not often mention him but I treasure this character and admire him. I look at him for understanding, when me and my little brother, who is a head taller than me by now, can’t find a common ground. Sam taught me when I need to take a step back from heated discussion, evaluate my bro’s side of the argument once more, just simply understand and admit the very fact that some things I will never get, not really, not fully, but if this is his, my little brother’s, thing, I have to respect that and give him a much needed space. In the end it is his business, and his life, and it is he who has to live it and to have a control over it. Dean. I can’t get enough of Dean and I respect him. I’m not attracted to him, never was, just not my type, i guess, but to me he is that dear friend that gets it. Just simply GETS IT! He is an older brother just like I’m an older sister. And through the years, through the moments when I’m again and again completely baffled by my bro’s attics and can’t come with an appropriate response, one thought always comes to my mind:  What would Dean do? So yeah, 15 years of “what would Dean do” and that character feels like one of my best friends and supporters. He gets it - the straggle between the instinct to protect and the need to let go, make own way, through mistakes and hardships. Ready to offer support but not choking my babybro with it.

Cas. I adore Castiel, simply adore him. He is my favourite after all. But what is more important, I get inspiration and that extra infusion of strength from this character. I got a gift of better understanding my brother from Sam, and a possible course of action, a kind of battle plan, from Dean, but Castiel helps me to be myself, to enjoy life even when all I want is to crumble and weep. From him I got: If he could do it, so can I.  This is something unique, what I couldn’t receive from another human being, real or imagined, because I also often feel like an alien being. I don’t have a mental illness but I did experience a trauma when I was but a small child. And this kind of guano never fully goes away, never truly leaves mind. I lack a deeper understanding of a lot of simple things that many people take for granted, there are days when it feels like I don’t have a strength in me to step over the threshold into the street (but I still do it every day), and I still often stumble through the words to make a simple purchase at the supermarket (even after 10 years of going to the same store), and I feel disconnected from the world at large. I’m uncomfortable in the crowd and I’m that awkward weirdo at the party sitting al alone in the corner. 

Don’t get me wrong, I live a normal and fulfilling live, you may meet me on the street, in the crowd, shopping, smiling and chatting with friends (smile on my lips and easy going attitude), driving car, stepping on the train, I may even live next to you or in the same city. And you’ll never guess that despite the fact that smile on my lips is real (I am happy to be in this world, be a part of it), there is pain in my shoulders because I can’t relax them, and I feel lightheaded, and the world is slightly spinning and blurry from an effort to simply do what comes so natural to a lot of others - just walk on the street, just live my life, just be in this world. 

Many years ago I gave myself a promise: to get up everyday with a smile. No matter what, I always start my day with a smile. It’s a first thing I do when I open my eyes. Over the time it became a second nature. That little extra drop of good mood before morning tea comes automatically through no effort at all. During the day that small infusion of happiness may grow into a true joy or it may slowly fade away. And it’s that second scenario when I remember that if an alien being could do it - find inner strength to go on through high and low, to navigate the strange world of human beings... Well, I am human and simply because of my own nature, from the get go, I already have it much easier than him, this fictional character which slowly managed to mean so much to me.

Overshare much? Maybe. Actually, for sure.  My apologies to all who is not comfortable with such kind of openness.  I don’t feel that it is a right time and I am in the right mood to talk about my OTP, so I will leave it for another time when I have an urge to explode into a massive firework of feels and words. 

But this is my tribute to Supernatural and to all people who brought these amazing, wonderful, beloved characters to life, gave them shape and form: the cast, the crew, the team of writers, everyone involved on every step of the road.  15 years, people! This is a big slice of my life, of anyone’s life. This is my thanks, and my love, and my gratitude. I’ve never been to convention, never met anyone of them and most likely never will, but I needed to give form to what I feel. Am I sad that SPN is almost over? Sure, I will cry a river when the final episode arrives! But I understand that everything eventually comes to an end. It was a beautiful run but I respect their decision and stand by it. And I already know what I want for Christmas or as a birthday gift when a full 15 (or is it 16 now with such a long corona-hiatus between already aired and still in production episodes?) season boxset hits the stores (Blue-Ray, pretty please, with as much extras and bonus materials as possible)

P.S. But you know whom I also want to thank and hug, and shower with love? All my fandom mates, known to me and total strangers, all those incredibly talented, wonderful, amazing people who write fanfiction, create art, express their love for the show through any possible creative outlet. No matter the stan, no matter the ship, over the years I’ve met truly great, kind, friendly and positive people in every wing of the fandom. YOU ARE AWESOME!

[lucks-eterna]

cs-aura-fluffer------->lucks-eterna

After nearly 5 years with the same username, I decided it was finally time to change my tumblr url. When I first made my blog back in 2013, it was entirely dedicated to Captain Swan and Once Upon a Time but now that they’ve had their series finale and Lucifer has gotten picked up for a 4th season by Netflix (woot) it’s time to close that chapter of my life and start an exciting new chapter.

The reasons for picking my new url are manifold so I thought I’d share a few of them in this post.

1) It’s a play on words of lux aeterna, which is Latin for ‘eternal light’ and the name of a hauntingly beautiful orchestral piece by Clint Mansell that you should totally listen to if you haven’t already ;)

2) The obvious association with Lux and all things Lucifer.

3) The song that Lucifer sang to Chloe in 2x14 was ‘Eternal Flame’ ;)

4) I am an incredibly lucky person. Everyone who knows me in real life knows that things always seem to go my way, sometimes weirdly so. Just to name a few examples, I get into classes somehow when they are listed as full, I guess correctly on multiple choice questions when I have no idea what the answer is, and every TV I have been obsessed with has gone on to have long and healthy runs with 7+ seasons and proper closure. That was one of the reasons I was able to stay so positive throughout the #SaveLucifer movement because no matter what, bad things don’t seem to happen to me. Call it luck, call it coincidence, or perhaps blessings from God but whatever it is, I’ve led an incredibly fortunate life and I am so grateful for it.

5) I hope that I can be an eternal light for our fandom and act as a source of positivity and hope for all who need it. My ask box is always open if you want to talk about anything and I look forward to freaking out with you all when season 4 drops

Also, you can find me over on twitter with the same username. Idk how active I’ll be now that we’ve succeeded in our efforts but I’ll still use it to check in on things :)

[covid19updater]

COVID19 Updates: 07/29/2021

Oklahoma:  There are no pediatric hospital beds in the state of Oklahoma due to the #DeltaVariant. Children are being transferred out of state to Texas. Doctors are calling for a state of emergency.

Japan:   Two Games-related COVID-19 cases hospitalised -organisers LINK

Israel:  Israel's two-week window to halt the 4th COVID-19 wave - analysis LINK

World:  Some individuals vaccinated against coronavirus can have a much lower level of antibodies than other inoculated individuals and are therefore more at risk to get infected. LINK

Japan:  For the third day in a row, a new single day Covid record is set in Tokyo. This time, 3,865 new cases have been reported in the metropolitan area. Clearly, the Delta Variant has taken hold. (MP) #Tokyo #Covid #Pandemic #DeltaVariant

China:  Why Sinovac’s foreign customers are watching Chile’s COVID-19 experience amid Delta variant concerns LINK

China:  Beijing recorded its first Covid-19 case in nearly six months on Wednesday, as Chinese authorities scramble to prevent the spread of the Delta variant amid an outbreak linked to an airport in the populous eastern city of Nanjing. LINK (first in 6 months? I call bullshit!)

US:  Tucker Carlson escalates feud against Anthony Fauci by claiming he ‘created’ Covid “If the vaccine works as well as they claim it does, why are so many vaccinated people getting Covid?” LINK

Philippines: Pres. Duterte:  “Those who do not want it, well, for all I care, you can die anytime.” President Duterte warns that Filipinos who refuse COVID vaccines will be confined to their homes.

Israel:  Israel's #COVID19 data dashboard provided by the Health Ministry apparently no longer shows breakdowns of hospitalizations and deaths by vaccination status. (coverup much?)

Japan:  Pole vaulter Sam Kendricks tests positive for COVID-19, will miss Olympics LINK

Japan:  NHK has learned the Japanese government plans to expand the coronavirus state of emergency to Chiba, Kanagawa and Saitama, which neighbor Tokyo, as well as the western prefecture of Osaka. #COVID19 LINK

Indonesia:  Indonesia has set another record for Covid-19 deaths in a single day: 2,069 people died in the country on July 27.

Michigan:  Wow. 60% of the white-tailed deer sampled in Michigan during the pandemic had antibodies for SARS-CoV-2.

Florida:  Disney World to require masks indoors for everyone 2-years-old & up, regardless of vaccination status starting Friday - WLFA

US:  U.S. COVID update: Biggest one-day increase in cases since February, number in hospital continues to surge - New cases: 88,376 - Average: 66,633 (+4,222) - In hospital: 42,610 (+3,322) - In ICU: 10,463 (+612) - New deaths: 488

Georgia:  NEW: Atlanta announces mask mandate

US:  3 major companies have announced COVID-19 vaccine mandates: - Google - Facebook - Netflix

Japan:  NEW: Tokyo reports 3,865 new coronavirus cases, the biggest one-day increase on record

Thailand:  Thailand reports 17,669 new coronavirus cases, the biggest one-day increase so far, and a record 165 new deaths

Mexico:  Mexico reports 19,028 new coronavirus cases, the biggest one-day increase since January, and 537 new deaths

Australia:  New South Wales, which includes Sydney, reports 239 new coronavirus cases, by far the biggest one-day increase on record

India:  India's Kerala state orders lockdown as COVID-19 infections rise LINK

Australia:  Australian military to help enforce Sydney COVID-19 lockdown as cases rise LINK

Indonesia:  Indonesia's regional COVID-19 deaths higher than national tally - data monitor LINK

RUMINT (Arkansas):  Covid related death in AR that won't be reported as a Covid death... Hubby's family member lived in El Dorado area. Had medical emergency & needed intensive care. Had to be transferred to Fayetteville (~5hrs)...died in route. How many others are in the same boat?

Arkansas:  #BREAKING: @uamshealth says it will be opening a third COVID-19 unit tomorrow morning as cases explode across Arkansas. Hospital officials are also looking at opening a fourth soon.  #ARNews #COVID19

UK:  United Kingdom Daily Coronavirus (COVID-19) Report · Thursday 29th July. 31,117 new cases (people positive) reported, giving a total of 5,801,561. 85 new deaths reported, giving a total of 129,515.

Louisiana:  33-year-old fully vaccinated woman reportedly dies from COVID-19 complications in breakthrough case LINK

UK:  COVID-19: UK's daily coronavirus data 'looks a bit fishy' - as major symptom study suggests cases on the rise LINK

US:  Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group to require indoor diners show proof of Covid shots LINK

US:  Covid-19: CDC. Reverses Testing Advice for Fully Vaccinated LINK

Louisiana:  33% of all new COVID19 cases in Louisiana are CHILDREN.

World:  Pfizer's vaccine-supply contract has leaked. It stands out for its neocolonial terms that extend beyond no liability for adverse effects. The buying state cannot terminate the contract, even if Pfizer fails to deliver on time or an effective drug is found. LINK

Iceland:  Iceland’s chief epidemiologist has suggested that some COVID-19 lockdown restrictions may remain in place for as long as fifteen years. LINK (dripdripdripdrip)

World:  Experts turn to antibody treatment following swarm of breakthrough COVID-19 infections LINK

US:  NEW: Number of Americans hospitalized with COVID-19 tops 43,000, highest since April

District of Columbia:  Mandatory mask policy for Capitol Grounds , published 7/28/2021 and effective immediately.

Arkansas: Gov.  Hutchinson: "We are in a public health emergency. For that reason, I am reinstating the state public health emergency as of today. ... The emergency is in effect today."

Florida:  Broward County school students will be wearing masks when school starts, board decides 

Florida:  What a disaster. Florida is averaging 17,000 new cases a day over the past two days. Six weeks ago we were seeing just 1,500 new cases a day. We're now seeing some of the worst numbers we've seen since the start of the pandemic. #COVID19 #FlaPol

Texas:  About 43 fully vaccinated people from Texas have died of COVID-19, according to the state's Department of State Health Services (DSHS). Between the dates Feb. 8 and July 14 of this year, the health department reported that 43 people who contracted the coronavirus have died despite being fully vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2. LINK

US:  Two Navy sailors have died due to complications from COVID-19, amid growing concerns about the deadly Delta variant. LINK

Louisiana:  Louisiana judge allows people to opt out of community service if they get vaccinated LINK

US:  NOW - Biden administration is not ruling out new lockdowns and school closures in the U.S., the experts at the CDC are in charge.

World:  Study- Those previously infected are at increased risk of side effects when they take vaccine "prior COVID-19 infection was associated with increased risk of any side effect" as well as "increased risk of severe side effects, leading to hospital care." LINK

Iceland:  We have almost one thousand active cases in Iceland at the moment and most of them are fully vaccinated. They are all infected with the Delta variant. We have been seeing vaxed individuals infecting up to 6-7 people.

World:  Researchers are concerned about the possibility that COVID-19 might lead to dementia LINK

US:  NOW - Biden on #COVID19 vaccines: "It's still a question if the federal government can mandate the whole country, I don't know that yet."

Arizona:  COVID-19 cases rise in younger age groups as Arizona students return to class LINK

US:  CDC Director Walensky says new masking advice was largely based on soon-to-be-published data showing that virus can thrive in the airways of vaccinated people, even if they're asymptomatic - NYT

Italy:  NEW - Chaos erupts in the Italian parliament over new COVID "Green Pass" rules.

Tennessee:  Titans quarterback says NFL is going to make unvaccinated players' lives "miserable" LINK

Mississippi:  'Hospitalizations skyrocketing': 1,908 new COVID-19 cases, 4 additional deaths in Mississippi

US:  Breaking: US President Biden has suggested Americans may have to be fully-vaccinated if they want to fly abroad

US:  "With freedom comes responsibility": Biden says Americans who choose to not get vaccinated are putting others are risk and could lead to a shortage of hospital beds for people who need them LINK (The thing is, it is not the unvaxxed. You can still get seriously ill and pass it on if you are vaccinated)

Massachusetts:  CDC mask decision followed stunning findings from Cape Cod beach outbreak LINK

[livehealthynewsusa]

Providers talk about how pandemic affected mental health on Cape Cod

In New England, cases are falling as vaccinations go up

New England is a glimpse into the future if more Americans continue to get vaccinated. The region has one of the highest vaccination rates in the US and has seen a sharp drop in COVID-19 cases, hospital admissions and deaths. (June 4th)

AP

It can be overwhelming to think about how the pandemic has changed the lives of all of us.

Something that many struggled with during these troubled times was mental health.

At a forum on Thursday organized by the Cape Cod Foundation, representatives from nonprofits in the Cape that provide mental and behavioral health services spoke about the impact of the pandemic on their organizations and the communities they serve.

The speakers were Allie Anderson, Chief Clinical Officer of Gosnold, Inc., Karen Gardner, Chief Executive Officer of Cape Cod Community Health Center, and Cindy Horgan, Executive Director of Cape Cod Children’s Place. The panel was moderated by Kristin O’Malley, President and CEO of the Cape Cod Foundation.

Change in needs during the pandemic

The main impacts of the pandemic included an emphasis on the provision of necessities, the transition to telemedicine and an increase in substance abuse, according to moderators.

One of the most significant changes for Cape Cod Children’s Place, Horgan said, was that it began to focus on providing “specific needs” for families, such as food and money for early education and care.

COVID-19 mental health: Traumas persist even after the Cape Cod pandemic. subsides

Before the pandemic, the children’s square had a small pantry, the distribution of food became more pronounced with the pandemic.

Horgan said Children’s Place recently hit $ 39,000 in donated Stop & Shop grocery store cards it had given out to families.

Gardner said her organization had seen a significant increase in the number of calls. Part of it has to do with the closure of medical and health centers, she said. Community Health, she said, received 200 to 300 new applications from patients each month during the pandemic.

“… One of the most noticeable things we saw was the increase in disparities,” said Gardner.

Gardner spoke of a colleague, a complex care nurse, who said that the people the center treats are already “hanging by a thread”. These “most vulnerable” populations living in poverty have seen an increase in disparities.

COVID-19: Every Cape and island town is outside the risk zone

Anderson said the pandemic had resulted in a significant increase in her company’s outpatient substance use services. She found that Gosnold, Inc.’s general outpatient service program also increased by 50%.

“I think that only speaks to the isolation of the people and the fear and concern that this pandemic has really caused,” said Anderson.

Despite the radical change to telemedicine, Despite the forced isolation of the pandemic, the transition to virtual medical care had some benefits.

Anderson noted that telemedicine enables Gosnold to reach people that employees would otherwise not be able to reach, such as people who live in remote parts of the state or those with a lack of time.

Difficulty with telemedicine

Some of the difficulties of telemedicine. Anderson noted that some students who would normally receive mental health services while in school were no longer able to do so. In addition, many students felt less comfortable receiving telemedicine services at home that did not provide adequate privacy.

All speakers indicated that their organization would likely continue to use a hybrid system, including telemedicine.

The value of personal connection, however, has not been underestimated, as Anderson noted that those specifically dealing with substance abuse crave a personal style of treatment. Some have also spoken of “zoom burnout” or long sessions on video chat platforms.

More: Improved rural access to telemedicine is crucial after the pandemic, proponents say

Gardner also said that if patients fail to show up in person, such as diagnostic and chronic care tests, etc., patients may not get necessary tests.

On May 18, the US Department of Health issued a statement that the Drug Abuse and Mental Health Agency would distribute $ 3 billion in US bailout funds.

Moderator O’Malley noted that many of the details of the state and federal aid funds were unclear.

However, she generally wanted to know how organizations could best use the money.

One of the main ideas discussed was the desire to ensure that companies pay their employees appropriately. Many of the counselors Gardner knows have to have two jobs to make a living and support their families.

“(With) that money, if that happens, we really need to evaluate how we value people at work and pay a living wage,” Horgan said.

Gardner said her organization plans to increase its operating budget by a total of 25% for the new fiscal year.

Time to think: Funeral service in Falmouth honors those lost to COVID

Gardner also stressed the importance of the availability of reliable and affordable housing and its impact on mental health.

The moderators identified a few ways the public can help.

The notion of “helping the local” is common in retail, but the same practice is important in healthcare, Gardner said. She urged people to use local health services.

Anderson said people need to raise their voices, obey legislation, and lobby to support these causes. She said that when real people ask for help, it can be effective rather than organizations speaking alone.

“It speaks volumes when someone other than the larger companies and organizations is responsible for this,” said Anderson.

source https://livehealthynews.com/providers-talk-about-how-pandemic-affected-mental-health-on-cape-cod/

[frankireads]

meet cute diary by emery lee / 391 pages / 3.5 out of 5 stars

(cw for mild transphobia and description of panic attacks)

the short version: noah ramirez, a newly openly transgender teen, finally gets the chance to live the meet cute romance he’s been writing about on his popular tumblr blog, the Meet Cute Diary. what started as personal romantic fantasies quickly grew into a source of hope for many trans readers, and noah is determined to do anything he can to continue doing that after a troll exposes his “anonymous stories” as nothing but fiction—even if it means fake-dating-to-real-dating drew, a fan of the blog and noah’s first real meet cute. but can noah balance his new boyfriend, his now long-distance best friend, and a summer job with devin (who seems to be more tolerable than noah originally expected)? it’s a romcom with a trope twist that gets you in your feels. what more can i say?

the long version (with spoilers!) + full breakdown under the cut

the long version: so, noah’s spending the summer with his brother at college while their parents perform a cross country move throughout the background of the book. he’s got a pretty popular tumblr blog, the Meet Cute Diary, where he posts trans meet cute happily ever afters...except they’re not real. they’re all fake, and when a troll starts to poke holes in his stories, noah scrambles for something to grab on. that something happens to be drew.

drew, the ideal meet cute worthy boyfriend, works at the bookstore that noah interviews at (he does not get the job). after posting a meet cute to his blog based on interactions held with drew, their next interaction has drew confronting him about it--and then offering to fake date, all in the name of saving the blog. after all, what’s a little summer fake romance to save the hopes and dreams of trans teens? if noah’s got anything to say about it, it’ll end with them happily in love, so there’s really no harm being done in the long run.

at the same time, he’s dealing with his best friend, becca, being on the other side of the country from him. their relationship starts strong enough at the beginning of the book, but after being sidelined a few too many times in favor of calls about drew (and later devin), becca puts her foot down and calls for a break in their friendship, as noah’s selfish tendencies have made it harder for her to handle the fact that he is gone. he’s also dealing with his brother’s new girlfriend who characterized by her love of “exotic” things and being the true sole transphobic rep in the entire novel. noah’s brother, brian, shut their relationship down fairly quickly after the event--and is all-around a great big brother to noah, who’s maybe a little slow on the pick=up to some of noah’s jokes but loves him and supports him regardless.

then there’s devin--who enters the scene in one of the most charmingly disgusting moments i’ve ever read in my life. using the first set of neo-pronouns i’ve ever read in a book (e/eir/em), e manages to really steal the show (as well as mine and noah’s heart) as e figures out what’s most comfortable to em, while becoming a new and positive pillar in noah’s life.

as noah and devin’s friendship progresses, his relationship (or lack thereof) with drew deteriorates, and while at first noah thinks it’s cute that the diary brought them together, it also becomes one of the things that tears them apart. this, drew’s borderline obsession with being apart of the blog, drew’s inconsiderate date choices, and a big lie on drew’s part that he used to manipulate noah into spending time with him (which is a whole separate issue) help noah to realize that sometimes relationship don’t work out because you meet all the imaginary requirements and checkmarks. sometimes the best relationships are the truly unexpected one, the ones that you fight for in the end, and when the book concludes with another extremely charming gesture on devin’s part, there’s signs of growth and hope for noah’s future.

what worked for me: the relationship between devin and noah is really strong throughout, even at the beginning when noah’s in his “ugh i don’t want to work and i don’t want to be friends with this person who puked on me” phase. i think i just ultimately really liked devin as a character? e was really earnest, didn’t really play into noah trying to start fights, and was generally more enjoyable than more of the cast (unfortunately). i also liked that noah gave em space to try out different pronouns and see what worked best for them. it’s moment like this that were really the strongest parts of the book--when noah shined best was when he was supporting his friends and listening to them, like a good friend should. oh, and i really enjoyed reading a book about a trans character that wasn’t like...riddled with transphobia. the problems were not being of noah’s transness (or his triracial identity), but situational things, and i really enjoyed not having to brace myself for dread every other minute.

what didn’t work for me: the tone of the book in noah’s pov read a bit too young on the ya side of things for me, which is totally fine! i know i’m probably not the intended audience here. however, a side effect of this was that noah came off way more self-centered and i don’t feel it was resolved well-enough in the end. that, and the entirety of his relationship with drew was just. augh. was literally cheering along with his best friend when they broke up. i also hated there was no real closure to it? drew lied to him about something fairly big and i get it, you can just not have closure with relationships, it happens, but for this to be the romance that was marketed on the book as well the central focus for 3/4th of the book...it fell flat for me, and made the ending feel rushed.

to read or not to read: honestly, if you’re not in the target demographic you might not have the intended view of this book, which at its core is a very sweet message of living one’s truth and finding happiness despite. i don’t regret reading this book, but i don’t think i’d read it again? still, i’d be willing to check out whatever emery writes next.

[locationscloudusa]

Biggest Home Improvements Store In The USA

For USA customers, home improvements stores have created a distinctive path through offering quality products to do home remodeling jobs as well as pass on the knowledge to make projects a reality. Hardware product and home improvement spending have been steadily increasing with an increase in demand. Because of the Coronavirus pandemic, customers have given importance to home improvement having additional time as well as opportunities for home repairs and projects. It has increased demands for home improvement’s products as well as their prices. We have analyzed locations of biggest home improvements stores within the USA including Ace Hardware, Home Depot, True Value, Lowe’s, and Menards.

Brief Insights

Ace Hardware with 4.1K stores is the biggest home improvements store chain within the USA.

There are over 13,000 of home improvements stores within the USA.

California with 1,042 stores has the biggest number of home improvements stores.

You may download the data of home improvement stores utilized for the analysis as well as more from the data store.

Number Of Home Improvements Stores Available In The USA

We have analyzed a total of 13,444 different stores having 7 home improvements stores within the USA. Ace Hardware is a biggest home improvements chain having 4,118 home improvements stores available in 50 different states. The True Value is having the second-biggest presence having 2,266 different stores. In 3rd place, you have Home Depot having 1,976 different stores. Various home improvement chain stores are the finest solutions for all the house-related requirements, from furniture to construction materials, home decor, as well as accessories.

The Home Improvements Chains Having Maximum Locations For Every State

This map shows the leading home improvement stores in all states. Ace Hardware is a major state-wise home improvement store compared to other competitors’ chains. This chain is dominating in 37 different states having most of the states, available in the Central and Western USA. Lowe’s, as well as True Value, is in 2nd place with the maximum stores within 4 states. Tractor Supply as well as The Home Depot rule in three as well as two states correspondingly.

Ace Hardware’s Locations

The biggest home improvements store is Ace Hardware with 4,118 different stores in the USA. The states with a maximum of stores include California with 358 stores, Florida with 269 stores, and Texas with 223 stores respectively. Ace Hardware is world’s biggest hardware retail’s cooperative as well as the biggest American non-grocery retail cooperative. As per J.D. Power, the Ace Hardware is at No.1 in the customer’s satisfaction having customers preferring fast services as well as offline shopping compared to the competitors.

True Value’s Locations

You have 2,266 locations of True Value across the USA. The states having maximum stores include California with 358 stores, Florida with 269 stores, and Texas with 223 stores respectively.

Home Depot’s Locations

You have 1,976 stores of Home Depot in the USA. The states having the maximum stores include California with 233 stores, Texas with 181 stores, and Florida with 155 stores respectively. For retailing e-commerce business sales, the Home Depot comes at No. 5 after Amazon, eBay, Apple, and Walmart. Home Depot had 47% of the retailing foot traffic in the 4th quarter of 2019, the biggest traffic compared to competitors. The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in the surge of total people working in the home improvement events that have helped Home Depot through driving the share price more by 15.5%. During 2017, the Home Depot had released the multi-years strategy called One Home Depot, having $11 billion investments to make frictionless interrelated shopping experiences.

Tractor Supply’s Locations

You have 1,921 stores of Tractor Supply in the USA. The state having maximum stores include Texas with 212 stores, Pennsylvania with 98 stores, and Ohio with 96 stores respectively. Tractor Supply Company is getting strength for summer’s seasonal categories as well as daily merchandise including usable, consumable, as well as edible products. This company’s Omni-channel investments consist of curbside pickup, next-day delivery, same-day delivery, re-launched websites, as well new mobile apps that contributed to the growth of digital sales.

Lowe’s Locations

Lowe’s has 1,727 stores in the USA. The states having the maximum stores include Texas with 142 stores, Florida with 126 stores, as well as North Carolina with 113 stores respectively. Due to COVID-19, the people are taking more repairing as well as remodeling the projects themselves whereas hunkered down in the home. Amongst February & April 2020, the foot traffic increased by 21% in Lowe’s stores and it was the time when the retail spending and visits in the USA collapsed. Also, Lowe’s has directed young homeowners better with the millennial-dedicated marketing campaigns as well as is anticipating to overtake Home Depot store.

Harbor Freight Tools Locations

You have 1,101 stores of Harbor Freight Tools in the USA. The state having the maximum stores include California with 358 stores, Florida with 269 stores, and Texas with 223 stores respectively.

Menard’s Location

The Midwest chain Menards is having 335 stores within different 15 states. A state having maximum stores include Illinois with 60 stores, Wisconsin with 44 stores, and Minnesota with 40 stores respectively. Although Menards may not have a similar amounts of stores in the list, this has converted into a famous Midwestern chain, which holds its individual against the competitors like Lowe’s and Home Depot. Menards conceits itself for being a lower-priced leader in home improvement’s business as well as is well-known for special deals as well as rebate offerings.

The Top States Having Maximum Home Improvements Stores

California has the maximum home improvements stores having 1,042 different stores trailed by Florida having 935 stores as well as New York had 762 stores respectively.

How The COVID-19 Pandemic Has Affected Home Improvement Business?

During 2020, the homes have become everything, which makes a conventional customer’s life. As coronavirus pandemic has forced almost everybody to spend time at the house, there are no doubts the shared shelter-in-position experience would have long-term impacts on the consumer’s psychology. Considering the present industry state, spending $900 billion in the home improvement industry will continue increasing. In the coming three years, the growth rate might even start exceeding that about the new home constructions. Consumer’s interest is within the remodeling as well as homeowners are backing up, which interest with the increased spending at the places like Lowe’s and Home Depot and also having hiring of the contractors to perform professional renovations. However, whether the enthusiasm would continue through what might be a prolonged USA economic decline remains to get seen. The Data Store of X-Byte Enterprise Crawling tracks store openings as well as closures and publishes different store locations reports about pharmacy’s store locations, departmental store’s locations, urgent care’s locations, restaurant, and fast food closures as well as more location’s data analysis to do location’s intelligence. You may subscribe to different store data packages we offer as well as get datasets having data points like store closures, store openings, parking availability, store-in pickup options, subsidiaries, services, nearest competitors’ stores, and more.

[southcoastfires]

It’s not over till it’s over

Friends who live nearby who have a house with a small apartment underneath that they rent out as an airbnb place. They’ve had a woman staying with them for a few days. She lived in a rental property up Burra creek, which is an area to the west of Moruya. This area has been under threat or actively burning for a couple of weeks and in some areas, a month. She evacuated for the NYE fires to the campsite at North Head, next to the airport. North Head campground is a campground but also an unofficial semi homeless camp. That makes it sound bad I guess, but it isn’t, it’s just a place for people who’re travellers on a more long term basis I think. 

Unlike other local campsites, North Head allows dogs. This woman has one dog. She has been living in the camp for one month, in a tent, in the heat and wind and smoke. She can’t leave the camp to go into town without packing up everything, including her solar panel, because of theft. Her sister called a week ago (end of Jan) and organised for her to stay for a few days in our friends’ place airbnb. She said she was ‘so grateful’ as she had nowhere to go, and she’d just learned that she’d lost her house and everything in it, almost one month after she evacuated.

The idea of camping in a place, for a month waiting to hear if your house has burned down seemed like a particularly strange type of torture. She said she has possibly found a place to rent in Rosedale and she’s happy about that because it’s been burned all around the house, so she feels safe. Rosedale is completely blackened landscape. It’s hard for me to imagine living amongst ashes but many people actually feel relieved - it’s a comfort to be surrounded by something that won’t burn.  

People are so, so over it.

I talked to a guy on the beach. He said that this friend, who lives in the Deua valley and is in the Valley RFS, is totally fed up with talking about it and dealing with it. When they go for a surf they have an agreed limit on ‘fire talk’. Most people are getting to the same point - for the first few weeks you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing stories, and sometimes I would watch people visibly flinch as they listened to others’ telling their tales. People are only sharing them with each other. There’s nothing to say, no-one can make it any better. It’s like pouring a cup of water into a pond - everyone is at saturation point.

There’s an exhaustion and also a sense of anger how the fire are being seen from the outside. 

Because of the nature of the news cycle people from outside the area are really genuinely thinking that the crisis is over. We’ve all heard about the ‘new normal’ and that’s been cycled around in the media, but that hasn’t sunk in. People can’t even conceptualise being on fire for a couple of weeks, let alone the permanency of climate change taking place over years.

For instance, the Moruya Country Show was scheduled to take place in mid January like it always is, a huge festival of cakes and vegetables all wilting away inside a 45c tin shed. It’s great. The show committee cancelled the show, as it takes place at the show grounds, which was still being used as an evacuation centre in early January. However, they decided to run a ‘community day’ on the day that the show was meant to take place, on about the 3rd weekend in January. As it was, the community day took place just before a fire day, and so everyone was either organising, moving animals, packing things or evacuating. And the showground, where the community day was held, was still being used as an evacuation centre. 

Another example; The ABC’s Q & A show organised to film an episode in Bega, and advertised to get local people to join them on the panel. There was the clear idea that it was all over - I couldn’t imagine anyone having the energy to go on TV and make content for them. It’s all too exhausting for people. I think the media are used to talking to people in the immediate aftermath of a disaster when people have. alot of adrenaline still pumping around, and there are things to do and jobs to get done - the recovery. But the people in the Bega valley especially couldn’t get on with a ‘recovery’ of any kind because there were and are so many active fires in the area that they can’t actually get anything done. For some people they go back and camp on their burned out properties, but they’re experiencing road closures and a lack of power and comms and everything else, because the resst of the region is still on fire. After a month of living like this, these people are exhausted, everyone is exhausted, and it feels quite exploitative to have these shiny bums turn up and ask stupid questions about the impact and recovery when there can’t be any of either yet. 

This was made perfectly clear when the ABC’s Q & A show had to cancel their planned filming in Bega because there were three major fires burning close to Bega. They were worried about losing power, comms and even traveling the crew back to Sydney. The show was filmed in Queanbeyan. 

At work, at the beginning of February, I start receiving emails from our head office based in Sydney that begin with, ‘Hi everyone on the south coast, I hope you’re all recovering well from the fires!’. The email arrived while I checked my phone while we’re spending another two days evacuated. The email included a long list of jobs to be done, all of which required days in the office, which means taking the kid into work because school is cancelled. 

I marvelled at the lack of awareness but then remembered that the media cycle has moved on, and now everyone is talking about #sportsrort and the coronavirus, so those of us with friends who’re losing their homes, this weekend, should remind ourselves that the fires actually finished exactly one calendar week after media first turned up. 

I sat down and tried to compose a thoughtful email explaining how hurtful their sing song ‘hope the recovery is going well’ email was, when we’re all still very much freaking out about the fires on our doorstep. Every draft sounded churlish. I realised I’d spent 45 minutes trying to write a kind, thoughtful email asking people in their air-conditioned offices to please be a little understanding of the situation of those who’re still living in tents with their dogs, coughing awake every morning covered in mosquito bites. And I realised, after I’d finished, that it would be received poorly anyway. No-one likes whingers. 

It made me think about the people on the north coast, the fires that burned through communities in November and December. How much did I know about those people? Those communities? How much attention did I pay to them? I looked at the pictures, like everyone else, and I registered that there were homes, and in some cases, entire settlements lost. I googled ‘Wytaliba’ and marvelled at the remoteness of the community, completely surrounded by bush. That looks just like here, I thought.  

There’s also so much time wasted in the ‘gravitas talk’ where people burble out all the platitudes about how dreadful it all has been on the radio, over and over, as if they have any idea. Today I heard the presenter on ABC South East say that the state government was due to go back today, but they were asking for a week’s prologue because of the fires. And apparently Andrew Constance had put forward a condolence motion, so they could all sit around in their air conditioned debating chamber and hang their heads and offer their beautifully composed condolences, while everyone else on the south coast wonders if they should send their kids to school in this smoke (AQI; Moruya; UNHEALTHY!). The eulogising of an event that hasn’t actually finished yet is insulting. This is the definition of impotent political theatre. 

It’s like the sheer amount of stuff that was sent down to the area following the fires - donations of clothes for people who’ve lost their houses. Where are these people meant to put these clothes? People were sending desperate messages through facebook - ‘There are no babies in Nerrigundah! Please stop sending thousands of nappies!’ It also occurred to me that the swimming pool in Moruya could have given free vouchers for showers, alongside vouchers for the laundromat. Volunteers could have strung up washing lines in the park beside the river. There are many more useful things that could have been done that didn’t involve people sending their oldest pairs of polyester track-pants. One woman I know worked on the distribution centre, and spent her entire day explaining that people who were fighting fires needed cotton or wool clothing, not nylon footy shirts. 

What people need, if anything, are packets of new underpants, toothbrushes, bottled water, loo paper and soap - the same stuff that Australian charities routinely sends other impoverished countries dealing with unnatural disasters. I noticed how many people, including myself, cut their hair. I had hair down to my waist and after spending five minutes hosing dead leaves off a roof on the 4th of January, put it in a rough pony tail and got my daughter to cut it off to ear length. Many other local women did the same - long hair is not conducive to a lack of showers, heat, smoke and breathing masks. 

[luna-paradoxz]

Tsuki ga Kirei: Anime review

Finally done with this series. It took me 5 hours to binge watch all 12 episodes. And now here I am to write my thoughts on it since the series was really good.

In the recent seasons, we hardly see good shoujo with pure love nowadays that’s why it was a surprise to see two of them this season. Though I was gonna watch the other only and had put this one off for ages.

Fukumenkei noise the other shoujo was the one I really wanted to watch since they had announced its anime. I have been reading its manga since the starting and I absolutely love it, it's one of my fave shoujo of all time. 

That's why I was biased towards Tsuki Ga Kirei and just seeing PV I had assumed quite narrow-mindedly that it was a typical shoujo of middle schoolers hooking up. So I put it off for very long but yesterday I had completed all my watching list and felt like watching something fluffy and sweet and then this came to my mind. Still, I had checked its reviews and ratings on Reddit and then albeit reluctantly watched the first episode.

And that killed all my doubts and thoughts I had, even now I feel ashamed to have made assumptions without even giving it a chance. The first episode was sweet, slow and so painfully similar to my middle school days that I was reminded of exactly how I was, how all of us are as middle schoolers - Still kids but trying to be adults. 

During the whole series, I was feeling nostalgic and cringing a little since even I had experienced all those embarrassing moments. The story is nowhere same as mine in major plot out but the small parts were very similar. especially their relationship minus the cliche plots and the happy end. Leaving my personal story aside, the whole story was portrayed beautifully and realistic ( well as realistic they could, after all, they have to give that happy end). Their struggles with the school were quite on point and Koutarou's struggle with his passion and future and the family which came from good intentions was something I related really well. 

His mother though loved her son was strict on him since she knew how hard it is to live in a real world with a fantastical dream.  His dad who once shared his dreams wanted him to not feel cornered and always said him to do what he likes. The parent's portrayal was real, one who always supports you, one who is strict on you and their love for us and understanding only they have. Akane's parents were also in a way really cute with her mom supporting and encouraging her daughters, while her dad though quite loudly supportive he still tried to be intimidating and very protective. ( Which was really cute.) her sister is the perfect older sibling, best support and the worst enemy to have. Always ratting her out to parents and making her embarrassed while also giving her good life lessons and the words she needs to hear, and someone she can say things without worrying about appearances.  (though they are still annoying.)  

Next, their whole school drama was something you see everywhere quite often. Even in my school we had all the clinches, having a group which pretends to be BFF but you know you won't stay long with them, dealing with your best friends and guys, and obviously the other third wheels.  I had mixed feelings about Akane still being with Chinatsu even after all that happened. I don't hate her but there were things she shouldn't have done. But they are middle schoolers and we all make mistakes and she made up to them but I really wished Akane would at least set boundaries Like Koutaru did because those are necessary. The whole BFF group were a little annoying at times but I think their portrayal was quite real and kind of needed. I liked how they didn't show over the top drama like spreading rumours and back bitching ( except once, where it was expected.) because that would have ruined the show and destroy all realistic image it had been building up. And last I liked how it let them deal with their problems on there own while slightly involving the other but not too much because that would be overbearing and showing them slightly apart also built them individually which I had actually loved to see more than their love story. Because nowadays you hardly see individual character growth which is quite beautiful in its own way. 

There is more I want to write but I'll leave it at this now because or else it will become a short story. The final Impressions are - the story development was good, well paced and kept up with its original idea while not destroying anything they had set up from starting. The characters were put on point and something I could easily relate to. ( Koutarou is my favourite for now.) The end was really fitting and perfect. Them leaving with sad feelings but making it work out in their own ways and then the awesome happy end which we had all expected but seeing their conversations during ages grow was a nice cherry on top to the ending and character development. Final best moments, which are - koutarou getting angry, Akane and Koutarou dealing with their future while handling their relationship, the bittersweet partying and the last family photo. ( Gosh red thread tied to their pinkies had so many meanings perfectly said in one picture that it was stunningly perfect.) 

Now the bad points for me - Akane and Koutarou just didn't have that many conversations I mean as they got close I wanted them to be more open and understanding towards each other but they still kept them as introverted shy kids which are cute but almost a year has passed they need to get over a little shyness, not totally that would ruin them but a little more open would be good. Then the side relationships and characters which were not given a good closure. Come on you tease us with them and then you don't give us where they are or what they are doing is just so wrong to them. And the whole getting into the relationship was a little too fast in my opinion. LIke he confessed in 3rd while I would have liked it to be in 4th after school trip or between. It made it look they were just infatuated teens so that was a whole turn off for me. 

Last but not least, The Dazai Osamasu quotes which are not bad things at all but I have a serious question, how come he made the right quotes for every situation Koutarou was, like how? Man, I heard he was awesome but I am starting to actually think he understands a Teens heart way too well to write all the right quotes for the right times.

Judgement - 8/10. Definite recommendation.

With this, my review ends. I know it really long and I honestly don't expect any remarks on it. But a shout out to this show. To anyone, who read this and didn't watch the show please watch it even after you have read all the spoilers. Because it maybe not be the best shoujo but It's perfect in its own way and I totally recommend it. So go watch it and enjoy seeing the beautiful middle school love.