#part of this highlight is skipping near the last verse for me... LET ME KNOW if that's not just on my end it should all be there

[rathologic]

This is the song I sang about Bad Grief when we passed the $200 fundraising milestone (at around 3:28:00 in the Daniilionaire marathon). Lyrics under the cut :-)

The Scourge of the Gorkhon Town (by rathologic, after "The Star of the County Down")

By a warehouse south of the park in the Mouth That September that went awry From an alley free came an NPC And he smiled as he passed me by

He looked so grand from the knife in his hand To his skirt and his short red hair Such a coaxing elf, sure I shook myself For to see I was really there

From Stamatin’s Loft to the Bone Stake Lot And the Polyhedron’s crown No maid I’ve seen like the red Bad Grief That I met in the Gorkhon town

As he onward went, sure I scratched my skin And I coughed with a feeling rare And I say, says I, to a passer-by "Who's the Bound with the bright-red hair?"

He smiles at me, and he says, says he "That's a vile and heartless clown Grigory Filin, from the criminal village He's the scourge of the Gorkhon town."

From the Abattoir to the Stillwater And the Polyhedron’s crown No maid I’ve seen like the red Bad Grief That I met in the Gorkhon town

At the Humble square he’ll be surely there So I'll dress in protective clothes With my bandage right and my saint in sight For a cure from my bright-red rose

No meat I'll smoke, no bulls I'll yoke Till my veins they are rust-colored brown Till a healing gleam, in my own bloodstream Flows the Scourge of the Gorkhon Town

From the Tadpole Yard to the Broken Heart And the Polyhedron’s crown No maid I’ve seen like the red Bad Grief That I met in the Gorkhon town

From the Shekhen yurt to the Theatre And the Polyhedron’s crown No maid I’ve seen like the red Bad Grief That I met in the Gorkhon town

[hatterstan-shameblog]

Here is the first one

Second :D

And last..he's looking at you 👀💦

ALRIGHT you know WHAT—

There’s…a lot going on here. So much so, that I have decided to create

CONTEXT

for these three images that is

COMPLETELY FAKE

because I think it’ll be a fun writing exercise. kind of a cringe move on my part, but consider: i have fun making up ridiculous lies about characters who don’t exist in real life.

(which is how I’m treating these, by the way. yes, they are pictures of kaneko nobuaki, but for my purposes, they are NOT actually him. they are distinct fictional characters who are not real.)

so if you’re feeling adventurous skip below the cut and watch me break it down:

Image 1: Accidental “Date” Makes Cousin’s Wedding Less Terrible Than Originally Expected

The year is 1999. Your cousin (who you are not particularly close to) is getting married…on a cruise ship. Your mother insists you attend. You insist upon spending 90% of your time sipping margaritas on the deck and flipping through the latest issue of Marie Claire while trying desperately not to think about the fact that you are surrounded by nothing but open ocean.

One of the (very drunk) bridesmaids tries to toss you a beach ball because you have been, and I quote: like, a total bummer this whole time. She misses. It hits the person next to you in the face. Great. Awesome. You think: well now who’s being, like, a total bummer?

Luckily the person who got hit in the face laughs the entire thing off. He says your friends seem…’lively.’ You say that’s pretty rich coming from a guy who looks like a rejected member of ‘The Clash.’ He insists that he left them, not the other way around.

You slip into conversation. You tell him that you’re here for a wedding. He offers his condolences. You accept them. He says he actually likes weddings—something about two people making a life-changing commitment speaks to him on a soul-level. That and the open bar, of course.

You suggest he crash the wedding. He says he’s not sure if he can make it—there’s a shuffleboard tournament that evening that he would just hate to miss, plus the latest issue of Soap Opera Digest is waiting on his bedside table just begging to be opened. You say that’s perfectly understandable, but, if he suddenly finds himself caught up on the latest All My Children gossip, he can meet you back here at four.

Surprise, surprise: he shows up. He’s wearing the same shirt he was before, but buttoned up this time—and with one of the most hideous neckties you’ve ever seen, which he apparently borrowed from the kind old man next door. Instead of complimenting his attire (because it is truly un-compliment-able), you take the opportunity to mention that this is a Titanic-themed wedding. He says that having a Titanic-themed wedding on a cruise ship is “kind of fucked up” and you solemnly agree.

Everyone is very surprised and pleased to see that you’ve brought a date—even the bride, who tells you that you’re “just like Jack and Rose.” You agree, much to her delight…until you say that, if the ship goes down, you also won’t share the door and let him freeze to death in the icy water. He insists he’d be the guy who jumps off the ship and hits his leg on the propellor—that’s his favorite part of the whole movie, and it’d be an honor to re-enact the scene.

The wedding is…a wedding. Vows, toasts, pictures—and you’re sipping champagne through the entire thing. The two of you spend the evening getting completely wasted and telling everyone a different story about just who your ‘mystery date’ is. Highlights include: the captain’s unruly son whose been tasked with following in his father’s sea-faring footsteps; professional cave-diver who discovered a new species of slug and is spending his reward money on a nice vacation; head of marketing who gives all those clever names to the nail polishes at OPI; the guy who folds everyone’s towels into animal shapes.

You end up where you started: on neighboring lounge chairs, with a margarita, and talking to this stranger who has recently crossed into “acquaintance” territory. You chat about how “My Heart Will Go On” is actually a good song, and he promises not to tell anyone that you said that. He also says that this is the best Titanic-themed cruise ship wedding he’s ever been to, and he can’t wait until somebody decides to do Jaws.

Eventually, you both stagger back to your rooms with promises of seeing each other at breakfast. Unfortunately, you have the worst hangover of your life the next morning and even the thought of ‘breakfast’ makes you want to roll over and die, so you don’t manage to stumble out of bed until it’s time to disembark.

You see him at port, and you each offer each other a little wave before going your separate ways. Six weeks later, you get a Polaroid of the two of you together, sitting at the bar and laughing at something that must have been very, very hilarious.

You don’t remember most of what happened that night, but you remember it was not as terrible as it could have been.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

Image 2: Extremely Weird Guy On The Street Has You Questioning Your Sanity

It’s 6:00 in the morning—a truly terrible time to be awake, but a necessary evil. Your flight leaves at 10, and since it’s an international thing, you want to make sure you get there in plenty of time to get to your gate (and maybe sample all the fancy perfumes you can’t afford at one of those high-end stores that are always in airports.)

The streets are mostly empty, save for a few random pedestrians and a handful of passed-out salarymen snoozing on the curb. The sky a rainy gray-blue as the sun tries to rise behind the springtime cloud cover—it’s no doubt going to be another dismal day, as is common during this time of year. Hopefully there’s not too much turbulence on your flight…

You stop at a crosswalk, waiting for the little walking man signal to show up on the light across the way. You’re soon joined by another person—a man in a soft-looking jacket who supplies you with a small “good morning” bob of his head. You respond in kind, throwing in a small smile for good measure. It’s nice that he too understands that it’s entirely too early to be having any kind of conversation, even if it is just a simple verbal greeting between strangers on a street corner.

The light changes, and you both begin your trek across the street. Your fellow walker is faster than you—or, more likely, has longer legs and, ergo, a longer stride than your own—and is nearly halfway across by the time you get your wheeled suitcase over the curb. He seems decent enough. You hope he’s going somewhere nice.

It’s then that you make the mistake of looking up. It would have been much better if you had just continued watching the white painted lines on the road and thinking about how it reminds you of piano keys—and how you hated the six months of piano lessons your parents forced you to take in the first grade.

But no. You noticed someone walking towards you, and you just had to look up.

The first thing you notice is a rainbow tie-dye shirt. The second thing you notice is that the rainbow tie-dye shirt is on a very cheerful looking gentleman, who seemed to be bobbing his head in time with a song only he could hear.

The third thing you notice—and this one’s the real kicker—is the large blue-and-green reptile sitting on his shoulder. It’s bulging eyes are hooded in pleasure as it’s red-pink tongue darts out to eat the green something—maybe a grape or a small piece of melon?—from the rainbow tie-dye man’s hand. It is nothing short of a spectacle, honestly, and you feel a piece of your sanity evaporate.

The rainbow tie-dye man continues on, uncaring of your confused stare at his strange pet. You even turn around to make sure that you weren’t somehow hallucinating, and sure enough, there is definitely some kind of creature draped over this stranger’s shoulder. It’s tail even sways in time with the man’s steps, which is both cute and confusing.

Because it would not do to stand in the middle of the street all day, considering the existence of rainbow tie-dye man and his exotic pet, you do the only thing you can do: turn back around and continue on your journey. You need a coffee. Maybe with an extra shot of espresso, after witnessing whatever the hell that was. Something to set you right again.

“Was that…?”

The other man—the soft-coat long-stride one—is speaking low enough as to not draw attention, but loud enough for you to hear as you make your way towards the sidewalk. His expression reads ‘concerned, but trying not to show it’ which you suppose is the polite and mature way of handling the situation.

“…an iguana? Yeah,” you answer him, “I saw it too.”

The man’s brow furrows. His mouth puckers into a small frown as he considers…well, something.

“…Okay, then,” he concludes, shrugging his shoulders, “Hell of a way to start the day.”

“Yeah.”

And you both continue on your way. He turns left at the next intersection, you turn right—but even though your paths may now be different, you will forever share an unbreakable bond over the fantastical sight you’ve witnessed today.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸����

Image 3: Near Death Experience At Open Mic Night

You are not a poet.

Well, not professionally, anyways. You’ve been known to dabble in the written word, often scribbling little snippets of rhyme in a notebook over your lunch break or tapping a verse or two into the notes app on your phone. It a kind of outlet, you suppose—a way to keep the creative energy that bubbles inside of you from boiling over.

It’s also worth mentioning that you are not a confident public speaker. Not since that unfortunate incident in the third grade where you forgot the single line you had in the school play and ran off stage, tears streaming down your face and—actually, no, you’re not going to think about that right now. Or ever again, hopefully.

So when your (tipsy) coworkers decide that it’s a good idea to push you onto the stage at the local dive bar’s open mic night—while shouting at you to “read the one about the night-blooming jasmine”—you freeze up. There are at least seven strangers staring at you, expectation rising with every passing second of your inaction. It’s nerve-wracking in the way that the third-grade incident was not, and you gulp against the nervousness that rises in your throat.

Shaking hands scroll frantically through your phone, looking for the requested poem—and after a few agonizing moments, you manage to find it. Your voice cracks rather embarrassingly as you begin to read, trying your damndest to get the words out right so you can slink back to the bar and drown the rest of the night in Chardonnay.

Everything is going well—or, at least, as well as can be expected—until you notice that the room is suddenly feeling very hot. That’s the last coherent thought you have before the room goes dark and everything falls silent.

Next thing you know, you’re staring at the ceiling. A man who you do not know is leaning over you, and his mouth is moving—oh, he’s probably trying to say something to you, but it’s very difficult to tell what he’s saying over the throbbing pain in the back of your head.

You ask him if you’re dead. It’s a possibility after all, that you’ve somehow died and landed yourself in some kind of special public-speaking hell. That’s what this feels like, anyways.

The man says no, you are not dead. You say ‘dammit’ in response. He tries to hold back laughter, offering to help you up by extending his hand. You take it and—ouch, ugh, ew, going from laying to standing is not a fun experience.

You thank him (albeit awkwardly) for helping you up, and he insists that ‘it’s cool.’ Passing out in front of an audience is not even remotely cool, but you nod and thank him again, anyways.

Before you’re able to converse with the helpful stranger any further, your coworkers have come to collect you. You are whisked away by someone from accounting, who offers to escort you home—an offer you gladly accept, very excited to leave the site of your failure behind you.

Safe to say, you never go back to that particular bar again.

[taocastleprincess]

shaman king (2021) ep 1

i said i was going to type smth up last night but teaching is literally so exhausting sooo i'm here now!! i have watched the episode like a million times since Thursday LMAOOOO i think i mostly have the dialogue memorized, that's how much i've watched it. i'm just so happy though, i've been a lifelong fan of SK, i was obsessed w it in my teens (still am but i was on a DIFF LEVEL in HS), and i'm just SO HAPPY we finally got a reboot!!! Shaman King deserves a canon adaption, so glad that Takei got it :)

this post got super long rambly so my thoughts/glows/concerns are under the cut!

gonna start w the GLOWS

-- honestly, i am in LOVE w the new OST!!! i have had it on repeat since it was released in Japan!! Megumi is a godsend and i feel like both the OST and the ED kept the same vibes as the og adaption OSTs and EDs. can't really explain why that is but the melodies and the feelings you get from the new OST are very authentic to the SK-verse.

-- the animation is absolutely beautiful and i could hardly focus on anything else the first 2 times i watched it. i was really scared about how the animation was going to look bc so many weird rumors about the animation team were circulating on twitter but it is nearly perfect. they stayed true to Takei's style and the background scenery is out of this world. i also think all of the characters look brighter and more... like them? like, i love the og SK but even as a kid i felt like the animation did not really capture any of the characters (especially Yoh, Ren, and Joco) in their true essence. Like, it was just very dull and didn't accentuate any of their key features. The reboot is beautiful and I love the way certain characters' eyes are drawn. I thought that the look of Ryu's crew was a great example of the animators highlighting and emphasizing defining features of certain characters. They aren't major characters at all but we know they are important to Ryu (and his story) so their designs are given their rightful due.

-- i know that a few people didn't appreciate the beginning scene of the episode for a myriad of different reasons and i find them all totally valid and understandable, tbh. however, i think the opening scene was really great. i had a few problems w it (i do think the 'chosen one' set-up for Yoh was heavy-handed and weird bc i don't think the source material really wants us to believe that Yoh is the stereotypical 'chosen one' and i think it pushes back on that trope quite a bit but i'm open to hearing diff opinions on that) but overall, i think it gives a very cool and mysterious set-up for the anime. i don't think it does much to spoil the eventual ~Hao is Yoh's twin!!~ reveal because, to me, personally, it wasn't that big of a reveal/plot twist. what i WILL say is that the opening scene was very diluted in comparison to the manga vers and that was a bit disappointing but i think they might revisit the scene/make it more dramatic later on in the series when there is more context around the events of that night so that may just be a little tease, you know?

-- this should not be shocking to read from an account that is named 'taocastleprincess' but... AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH THE ENDING SCENE WITH REN AND BASON WAS SOOOOO PERFECT AND I DIDN'T EXPECT IT!!!! ON MY FIRST WATCH I RAN IT BACK LIKE 300x!!!! THEY BOTH LOOK AMAZINGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!

moving on from glows and to CONCERNS, i spy a lot of possible issues w pacing, character development, and authenticity. the series is currently only slated for 52 episodes, a whole 12-eps shorter than the OG adaptation, and the entirety of the series is supposedly being adapted so... 52 eps for 300 chapters? to me, that seems extremely rushed even with best-case scenarios. i have read opposing views on twitter, people think that 52 eps is just enough if they cut 'filler' and 'stick to the most important arcs.' i don't think i can agree with any part of that argument. i really think that it's a REACH to say that Shaman King has filler chapters or filler arcs. there is a purpose for each and every chapter/arc in the series. plot development, character development, foreshadowing, etc. those all hold distinct and important purposes and the love, thought, and time put into the SK manga is exactly why people love it. 'filler' does not have a true narrative purpose, it only serves to lengthen the story, so to say that there are scenes/chapters/arcs that can be glossed or skipped over you would have to make the argument that they have no narrative purpose or bearing on the story. i personally think it would be extremely difficult (near impossible) to make that argument for anything within the og 300chap work but, again, i'm open to seeing if anyone can change my mind.

the first episode of SK flew through and glossed over a lot of important scenes for character study/development. by the end of the first episode, you don't really understand or relate to Morty as one might have done after the first episode of ogSK. and although Yoh is supposed to remain mysterious/confusing/weird for the first couple of chapters/eps, at the end of ep1 there is no GRAND interest that has been developed about him. The first episode operated at a breakneck speed and to its detriment. the characters so far are extremely flat regarding everything beyond character design. the viewer is hardly invested in the partnership between Yoh and Amidamaru because there is (little to) no build-up of their partnership and both of their characters are... not real to us yet. even the scenes regarding Amidamaru's past and his friendship with Mosuke doesn't affect or interest the viewer at all because it is referenced, addressed, problematized, solved, and wrapped up all within 3.5 mins.... huh?

what REALLY destroys me, though, is that the anime seems to be foreshadowing that Manta's character will be playing a backseat role.... the first couple of adventures are from Manta's perspective. he asks the questions that we have, situates us in this very weird world and helps to world-build without it being obvious or heavyhanded, and we start to understand the nuances of his character. none of that was present in 2021 ep1. it kinda felt like Manta was a plot device instead of a character. granted, like i said, none of the characters feel real yet but Manta getting this sort of treatment so early on is dismaying. i really do feel like Manta and Yoh's (developing) friendship and trust in each other is the heart of the first quarter of the series (and is continuously referenced and exalted throughout). rushing through (or, really, just straight up cutting out) the first couple of subplots/mini-adventures that they have together feel really weird and detrimental to the overall tone and purpose of the series. those early adventures cement so much and really lay the groundwork for the rest of the story. it's disappointing that they didn't get their due.

this isn't a very organized review/breakdown, i'm just typing as i think, but to sum up what i am REALLY worried about is this: if the series continues at this extremely crazy pace, i'm a bit worried that the characters will never feel fully developed. not only that, but SK has a lot of heart-wrenching scenes and also a lot of scenes that are beautifully filled with hope and care. i just don't see how those scenes are gonna hit quite as hard or even as they SHOULD if the pace doesn't slow down and let us really sit with these characters and their feelings and motivations.

i mean, i know that this is only the 1st episode of a 52ep series but a lot of things don't look too promising... anyway, these are my initial thoughts/concerns/feelings. i'm way too busy to actually sit down and plan out all of my millions of thoughts but hopefully this was good enough!

[captusmomentum]

8, 11, 13, 33, and 39 for Inan, Alhanin, Tace, and Fewena, E and H for you plz and thank you :D

UNSURPRISINGLY THIS IS V LONG SO IT’S UNDER A CUT

8. What were they told to stop/start doing most often as a childAlhanin:

to stop goofing off and do her chores, she was fairly good about doing things since she was Mom’s Little Helper when they weren’t with the clan and had that Be Good and Do Things mentality really early so she could help mom out but she’s always been really bad about stopping her chores to goof around with children.

Féwena:

to stop arguing or fighting or picking on someone. she was a tiny terror.

Inanallas:

to stop wandering off. to start their homework, do chores, try playing with the other kids more. the sort of things you’d tell a daydreamy child to do/not do. 

Tace:like, everything. stop back talking, stop trying to skip class, stop lying, stop reading above your approved level like– just think of what someone could tell a kid to stop doing in the circle/a circle like environment and he got it.11. How do they cope with confusion (seek clarification, pretend they understand, etc)?Alhanin:

asks questions like a functional grown ass adult until she’s sure she gets it. Especially when it’s really important. if it’s not too big of a deal might just let it slide tho.

Féwena:

basically interrogates, them/whoever’s available and is like Weirdly Annoyed she’s confused. But she’s always kinda >:| so  but yeah also tends to get progressively more snappish and heated as she asks questions for literally no reason. she’s just too salty to act normal.

Inanallas: 

depends on who’s involved, if it’s someone they know p well they’ll just ask them for clarification. but if it’s a stranger or someone they consider intimidating or something like that they’ll either look around fervently for someone like Thenvas, who they know and will see the confused terror in their eyes and know what to do, or feigns understanding long enough to scamper over to one of their friends and plead for help.

Tace:

gets really mad and petty for no fucking reason and bitches while asking questions then cuts them off from explaining to bitch more. or just doesn’t fucking care and ignores that the interaction even happened bc like, he wasn’t gonna do jack shit with that anyway.

13. What color do they think they look best in? Do they actually look best in that color?Alhanin: greens, especially olive-y ones. it certainly doesn’t look like shit but idk if it’s the best since she and few’s coloring is basically “different shades of red/red-orange”

Féwena: deep reds, darker colors, olive green, basically Edge Lord Colors generally. Overall yup on point tho idk how good the red and green are since her coloring is so red, more red is possibly just too much and green runs a risk of gross.

Inanallas: light blues. it does actually look very good on them and helps soften how pale they are while highlighting their eyes. also makes them seem more approachable and less spooky which the tattoos tend to do.

Tace: Every Color Bitch. he’s…. well he’s arrogant but he’s technically not wrong. his best colors tho are pastels and saturated colors, they really pop on him.

33. Could they be considered lazy? 

Alhanin:

only in her wildest fucking dreams, she likes to pretend at being the lazy lovable rogue but nope she’s a lil worker bee.

Féwena:

kinda, she certainly doesn’t lift a finger if she doesn’t see why she should.

Inanallas:

they can seem lazy, but it’s all the mental anguish keep them from getting things done. It was big problem in their inq au to manage their image, thenvas was doing all the inquisitorial work in skyhold (so basically running the whole dang thing) in their stead while inan still did all the field and in person work. it was month before they could even bare to leave their room after they got made inquisitor. it can take them ages to get anything done and to others it can look like their total slackers and completely irresponsible but the reality is they’re grappling with themselves over what to do.

Tace:

lol YUPPPPPPP. tace is HILARIOUSLY LAZY. he HATES working or doing ANYTHING and loves lounging around. to be fair, a good part of that tho is just like complete and total burn out in effect. but he also genuinely fucking hates like, all the kinda academia-esque shit the circles did and would just Not fucking do it bc Fuck You and go take a nap instead. even when he was in his poorly thought out affair with anders in his da canon verse and helping at the clinic he was forever moaning and groaning and whining.

39. How easy is it for them to ignore flaws in other people? 

Alhanin:

Honestly fairly easy. it’s a bit difficult to explain exactly but for Al, giving people a chance and not holding them to their flaws, thinking the best of them (within reason) is natural and also an important part of her whole philosophy. compulsive lying is bad, but the reason someone does it could be to protect themselves from something worse, so it’s important not to immediately judge or write people off because of flaws or actions and to reserve judgement until you know more and to always be willing to give people another chance. but at the same time, alhanin is always involved in the justice system somehow and is forever looking for people’s flaws and any/all potential red flags that they’re genuinely Bad or will just do it all again. So she’s both willing to forgive a lot but also ready to pin people at the drop of a hat.

Féwena:

depends on the flaws, if it’s one she finds unforgivable and/or annoying then NOPE and she will beat you up for it, mentally/emotionally or physically. otherwise she’s pm lets things slide until someone else says their not okay w/ something or w/e. she’s aware she’s really not in a position to throw stones most of the time since she’s a belligerent,  kinda xenophobic/bigoted/anti-human aggressive asshole (tho it doesn’t stop her from ridin’ that high horse around town whoops).

Inanallas:

kinda, it’s harder for them when they’re younger and things always feel more dire or visceral and they hyper focus on and distort the negatives but it gets better as they get older and they understand more about life and other people. post-trespasser or the au appropriate exp/age equivalent is very good at being kind and forgiving flaws, even when they’ve personally been hurt because of them. standard inan, which is aprox dai inan (usually pre-skyhold or near to the end bc of the Dark Zone) is very mixed and sporadic about it and hypocritical, clearly still trying to come to terms with how some flaws are okay, some are not, and how extremely situational that can be.

Tace:

TACE DOES NOT FORGIVE SHIT. TACE DOES NOT FORGET SHIT.

He fucking remembers every last fucking flaw a person’s got and will hold them against them until he fucking dies you can try and pull this from his cold dead hands and even then it won’t budge. even once he’s basically married to keshet and living in domestic bless he still is hilariously petty and loses his mind about all of keshet’s flaws (and tbh keshet exaggerates some, like the shitty jokes, just to rile him up), it’s kinder when it’s with people he likes/cares for, like Keshet and CONSIDERABLY less frequent and nicer when it’s someone he cares about and is Highly Sensitive like Thenvunin bc he’s not trying to make them feel bad. but he’s still judging, silently, in his Heart, and then out loud at home over wine while keshet very Obviously ignores him.

QUESTIONS FOR CREATORS

E) Are they someone you would get along with? Would they get along with you?Alhanin: ye ye, al is super chill and encouraging so that’d be cool. we’d get on just fine.

Féwena: there’s a chance we could but it’d be rocky there for a while, few is Rough to deal with sometimes and has a very brusk personality.

Inanallas: we’d get on really well and also overshare and cry a lot it’d be a sad lil tiny losers weeping club. inan would probably ask me to draw them shit all the time.

Tace: i have noooooo fucking idea. it’s hard to tell who tace will tolerate until he meets them. i’d probably wanna be friends w/ him but be too scared to talk to him bc he’s so INTENSE and he’d be like w/e, too busy losing his mind over shit elsewhere.H) What trait do you admire most?

Alhanin: 

how committed she is, how deeply she takes being Fair and Just to heart, how genuinely altruistic she is and how dauntless she is.

Féwena: 

her fire, passion and tenacity and her total fearlessness to stand up to anyone over anything. and her ability to actually control that somewhat so she doesn’t go completely out of control.

Inanallas: 

their bravery to push through and find a way to do things they need to even while scared shitless and the seriousness they treat things with when they finally accept responsibility or even if they haven’t accepted it yet. when they got made inquisitor they knew they were the worst choice objectively for a myriad of practical reasons and when thenvas arrived immediately began basically therapy w/ him and gave him pm all her responsibility bc he WAS the best choice and he knew her well enough to be able to help get them functioning again so they could do right by this shit.

Tace:

how totally unrepentant he is for his existence and how he refuses to let people try to convince him he’s the bad guy or that he deserves the abuse he gets and how he constantly stands up for himself against literally everything and everyone while doing his best not to fall into the trap of becoming as bad as them to survive it.

[arigathanksgozaimuch]

conjoined.

genre: fluff. character/s: markeuri | reader. overview: because being best friends with mark meant never having to do anything alone ever again.

"I'm not doing it if you're not gonna," Mark said, threatening to rip his paper right in the middle.

"Ugh," she groaned, shaking her head. "I wasn't informed we were suddenly conjoined twins."

Relenting, the girl sat upright in her seat and uncapped her pen once more. She would have dared him to continue tearing his paper into two, but knowing Mark, being the stubborn boy he was, he would have torn his paper anyway.  

"We're not," the boy retorted, happily resuming his work. "But it'd be fun if we were in the same club! Come on, the last time we were in the same class was, when, in kindergarten? Just finish your poem so we can leave."

[Y/N] brought the tip of her pen down on the paper, but moved no further. She was quite annoyed they had to make something out of nothing in just an hour as part of the admission test. Mark insisted �� 'begged' would be a better term – that they both join the journalism club because, according to him, it would look good in college application forms.

She drummed her fingers absentmindedly over her desk, where her still clean sheet of paper bearing only her name was placed. Knowing she would only get more frustrated if she glanced sideways, [Y/N] avoided looking over at Mark's paper. He had no problem scribbling down a Creepypasta-worthy horror story, because his strength lied in his prose. Hers, on the other hand, lied in poetry. Both having been raised in a literate household, with her parents being newspaper editors, and his dad owning a publishing company, the two of them have been writing since they could remember. But unlike Mark, she couldn't just come up with a stanza out of thin air; she needed to be extremely motivated and inspired first, and having a heavyweight college application form wasn't exactly motivating at the moment.

Looking out the window, she tried to look at anything, anything at all, that might spark ideas. She had less than 45 minutes left, and Mark sitting beside her was fidgety; maybe he was already proofreading his work. The time pressure was making her palms sweaty. She would never forgive herself if she turned in an unfinished work or, worse, a blank sheet.

"Pst."

She immediately turned to look at the source of the sound. Beside her, Mark was wide-eyed and grinning from ear to ear, which only meant he was up to something – and whatever that was, it didn't seem all that good.

"I have an idea."

She didn't answer at first, but her curiosity got the better of her eventually. "That is?"

Mark leaned sideways in his seat, his chair standing only on its two side legs. "Write that song you wrote for your dad's birthday last year," he whispered, his gaze straight towards the proctor, the journalism club president, who was sitting behind the teacher's desk with his headphones sitting over his ears. [Y/N] mulled over the thought and chewed on her bottom lip. She was indeed proud of that time she wrote a poem for her father's birthday, which her older sister combined with a few strums in her guitar to turn the poem into lyrics.

Quickly, so as not to waste time, [Y/N] scribbled down her poem, humming the melody to help her remember the lyrics. Mark was seal-clapping while laughing beside her. She didn't understand why – maybe he was excited? In fact, she didn't understand Mark at all. (She later wrote a poem for Mark's birthday, with all twelve stanzas highlighting how weird she thought he was.) She decided to ignore him, however, and focused on writing as quickly as possible.

After jotting down the last letter, [Y/N] felt like her hand was having cramps. She sighed loudly, her head slumping over her desk afterwards. Mark shook her shoulder and held his hand out, to which she placed her finally complete application form. With narrow eyes, he scanned the sheet from front to back, reciting a few verses of the poem silently to himself when he thought the phrasing sounded weird. Finally, he gave her the form back, including his own.

Her eyes widened when she noticed his paper attached to hers. "Whoa. You? The Mark Lee? Asking me? A muggle? To check his work? Is this the end of the world?"

The boy emitted a giggle, followed by a whine. "Just hurry. It's almost time and I'm so eager to get home."

[Y/N] laughed, shrugging her shoulders as she lifted Mark's paper up to her eye level. Ignoring his messy penmanship and a few erasures here and there, she decided his story didn't need much editing. They nodded at each other before standing up at the same time. Once they got to the proctor's desk, Mark insisted they both hold their papers together "for good luck" as they submitted it to the indifferent club president.

After gathering their things, the two hurriedly left the classroom. They skipped down the stairs and turned left down the hallway to exit the campus. She strode the way towards the train station with a small jig, happy to finally have the pressure lifted off her shoulders. Mark only followed close behind, nudging her out of the way when she was about to slam face first against a concrete post, or when she almost knocked over a stall selling apples along the street.

The overexcited girl only calmed down once they were standing by the platform, waiting for the next train to arrive. She looked over to where Mark was standing, both hands in his pockets, whistling as he observed the other people waiting in line.

"Hey Lee."

"Mhm?"

"What if I don't get accepted into the club?"

Mark snickered. "Then it sucks to be you."

She frowned, crossing her arms.

"I was kidding!" The boy quickly defended. "I'll tell them we're a package deal. It's either you and me or none at all. I don't even understand why you have to worry. We have our parents. We have leverage."

"Don't you think it's better if we get admitted because we have talent rather than we get admitted because of our parents?"

"You're right," Mark admitted with a sigh, watching as the train sped past them in a blur. "Though if I do get accepted and you don't, I'll refer you to the chess club."

"Hey!"

Mark didn’t have a chance to respond, because as soon as the doors open, he raced her to the nearest vacant seat, leaving her still standing on the platform while other commuters rushed past her. "Such a kid." She shook her head, unamused.  

She entered the train once the crowd thinned out, but seeing how all the seats were occupied, she was left to stand beside her comfortably-seated best friend. "Let's share the seat," she said with a frown once the train started to move.

He slid his arms free from his backpack and clutched it against his chest, shaking his head. "Nah. Standing for a long time would make you taller, and you do need a little more height, missy."

"You're such a pain in the ass," she groaned. "I could have gotten home earlier if you didn't ask me to go with you to that club."

"Oh please, we're required to have at least one club now, remember? If it wasn't for me, what club would accept you? And besides," Mark rolled his eyes and slouched further in his seat. "What would you do without me?"

Before the train completely stopped, [Y/N] held onto the metal pole near the doors and turned to look at him so quickly he was afraid her neck might snap. With her hair flying behind her as she smiled at him, he felt his breath hitch. She shrugged, one hand clutching the strap of her backpack.

"Without you? I'd die, Mark Lee. I'd die."

And then once the train comes to a complete halt, she gave him one last wave before stepping onto the platform. Mark waved at her from the window beside him, and watched as her figure disappeared among the crowd.

[santtechgq-blog]

Welcome to the wilderness: The best tech while going off the lattice Sun powered board knapsacks, key-molded USBs—Ars offers 10 things for the wild under $500.

Last Christmas, my cousin Martin do Nascimento got a Kindle 3G as a present from my sibling, Alex.

At the time, we as a whole figured it would be a decent route for Martin to peruse books while serving in the Peace Corps Nicaragua on the Caribbean drift. In any case, what we didn't know at the time was precisely how imperative it would be to him as he lived in a town so little that it scarcely has a Wikipedia section. Things being what they are this little, moderately modest gadget has been a gift from heaven for him in 2012, with its overall 3G Internet. Despite the fact that Martin lives in a remote region, I get notification from him almost consistently by email.

"The greater part of my messages I compose on my Kindle," he let me know as of late (by mobile phone this time). "I utilize it to keep in contact with companions, even [through] Facebook. The Kindle's not fabulous by any methods, but rather I can read my email dependably. It stacks inside a moment. Indeed, even with a 3G [USB modem] stick, [service] came in and out—I gave the modem away."

Certainly, the Kindle's program is a bit kludgy. Indeed, it's shrouded away under its "Trial" highlights. It can't open more than one tab at any given moment, and you can disregard connections. Any online truly difficult work obliges Martin to fly down to the neighborhood Internet bistro, which is liable to its own particular power and Internet blackouts every once in a while. He can't acknowledge an Amazon digital book I sent him—he needs to click a connection from inside his email, and once more, the program can't deal with opening new connections. (Supervisor's note: C'mon Amazon! Shouldn't I have the capacity to send ebooks specifically to his Kindle?)

In any case, as any Kindle-proprietor will let you know, its overall 3G get to is significant. Maybe much more vitally, the battery life is incredible. This can be colossally critical in its own particular right when living in a piece of the world subject to power blackouts, or while out and about, where control fittings might be few and far between.

"Generally I go two or over two days (without charging it), some of the time three days in case I'm not going insane on it," Martin included. "The battery is entirely respectable."

In these ways, the Kindle helps Martin with the major issue of remaining wired while in a remote range. There are basically two principle issues that you need to manage in these circumstances—electrical power and information association. The last might be quickly enhancing all through the world, yet either can raise its head at any point.

In the wake of counseling with Martin, and additionally various other sharp voyagers who invest a lot of their energy skipping amongst worksites and WiFi hotspots in remote regions of the world, we've concocted a short rundown of little things intended to keep you controlled and associated without breaking your wallet (or your officially over-burden rucksack). Of course, your objective in flying out might be to make tracks in an opposite direction from the dependably on way of life—however there are those of us that stay associated, or need to in light of our picked callings.

Considering that, we bring you 10 things that will make your time out in the shrubbery a smidgen more endurable. Furthermore, we didn't choose only any 10 things. On the off chance that you wind up gaining everything on this Ars list, you'll spend under $500 (even less in the event that you get an outside battery rather than Item No. 2).

The main stipulation we utilized when arranging: we're expecting perusers will bring no less than an opened 3G cell phone on their ventures. You're versed on swapping SIMs to get the best portable information rate when you get to another nation, isn't that so? That iPhone or Android handset can make an important WiFi hotspot for your tablet or portable workstation after all.Power, control, all around

Past the Kindle (Item No. 1—$140), we should proceed onward to the most essential thing on the rundown: control! Of course, you may keep running into a rustic charging station running off of an auto battery, however imagine a scenario in which you wind up on a long crosscountry transport trip for the majority of a day.

Enter the Voltaic OffGrid Solar Backpack (Item No. 2—$230), which is twice as exorbitant as the Kindle 3G. As the name proposes, this knapsack can charge your gadgets while you stroll around. It dons a couple of 2W sun oriented boards, which the organization says are "waterproof, lightweight, and worked to withstand mishandle." These can yield 6 or 12 Volts (contingent upon the chose application). Deciphered for those of us who aren't electrical architects, that implies around four to five hours to completely charge a telephone, however with a detectable lift following a hour or two.

The knapsack additionally has an inherent (and removable) battery that can store 3,000mAh of energy from the sun oriented boards, or be connected to AC or DC control, then release it by means of a USB link. Voltaic even offers rebates for Peace Corps volunteers. In the event that you would prefer not to purchase an entire rucksack, you can get the V11 USB Battery Pack and a two watt sun oriented board for just $60—like the Mophie JuicePack ($80), which our own particular Jacqui Cheng swore by before this mid year.

"The utility of having a sun powered rucksack turned out to be much more clear to me when, in December 2007, I was stuck in Eldoret, one of the blaze purposes of post-decision brutality," composed Juliana Rotich, a Senior TED Fellow and the official chief of Ushahidi, in an email to Ars.

Ushahidi is an online calamity mapping device that became out of the need to spread data amid the viciousness that emerged taking after the 2007 presidential decision in Kenya, Rotich's nation of origin.

"I had no entrance to power where I was staying and was exceptionally reliant on my cell phone to get on the web and get news," she included. "With a 5V yield, I could charge my own particular telephone, as well as the telephones of my relatives. It was significant, despite everything I go with my Voltaic rucksack at whatever point I go to the Kenyan countryside."Light your own particular manner

Another issue that surfaces with charging gadgets is the absence of outlets. Many individuals take care of this issue at home with electrical extensions—yet there are compact units with USB plugs on them, as well.

"The [Belkin Mini Surge Protector Dual USB Charger, Item No. 3—$12] is a lifeline when your visitor house just has one attachment—which happens regularly—and you have different things to charge," said Audrey Scott, half of the couple proficient voyager group Uncornered Market. "This is a standout amongst the most utilized things in our unit."

With your cell phone squeezed up, you may wind up needing a cybercafé where a little blaze stockpiling could be all together. While there are most likely many various types of USB sticks on the planet, I truly like the LaCie iamaKey 8GB drive (Item No. 4—$20). It's intended to resemble a real key, and fits pleasantly alongside different keys. Of course, you may have your Dropbox or whatever cloud-based capacity the children are utilizing nowadays, yet there's undeniable value in little, shoddy, solid convenient reinforcements.

In transit once again from the cybercafé, you'll most likely do out and about what you frequently do with your PDA while staggering around your urban condo amidst the night—utilize it as an alternative spotlight. Luckily, however, there are two better approaches to accomplish this objective.

The to begin with, the LuminAID Light (Item No. 5—$20), is a sun oriented controlled versatile light, about the measure of a little pad. Following four hours of charge in full daylight, the little LED light can keep going for "a few" hours, as indicated by the organization. However, another approach to keep your work-live space lit up is using a low-end cell phone with an implicit LED electric lamp, which can serve as your reinforcement cell phone and help control you along your way.

"One of my most loved devices while being off-the-network (or near it) is the Nokia 1202 (Item No. 6—€20 [$25])— a low-end cell phone, which I purchased for next to no cash when I was living in Nepal in mid-2009," said Christopher Derndorfer, editorial manager of OLPCNews.com and an understudy at the Vienna University of Technology.

"Beside the way that it's extremely vigorous and appears to run always on a solitary charge, it has an incorporated spotlight," he let us know. "In Nepal, where control blackouts are exceptionally normal even in Kathmandu, this was unfathomably helpful, since I generally had an electric lamp on me. Nowadays the electric lamp proves to be useful when voyaging (e.g. opening your room entryway in a lodging in Peru where the lights just work a fraction of the time) or while being at a music celebration which incorporates outdoors (I generally neglect to bring a genuine electric lamp, I always remember my cell phone)."

Remaining engaged

With six more-significant things off the beaten path, how about we swing now to a couple of things that may make your trek more tolerable. On the equipment side, spend a few bucks and get yourself a sound splitter (Item No. 7—$2.50). Rotich jested that it "may be the way to world peace." Sharing music is a simple approach to make/keep companions while out and about.

"What I adore conveying with me is a sound splitter for earphone jacks," she composed. "I was once on a flight from Turkey to Kenya that had the old school shows at the top rather than a show in the seat for stimulation. I saw them fiddling with one earphone, so I loaned them my sound splitter. They were super glad! I do utilize it to tune in to music with my associates when cooperating in Kenya or somewhere else. When going with companions, you can share your music when in a remote zone."

Lastly, here are three programming traps that will likewise help make your time "off-the-network" only somewhat more endurable:

Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, have regularly been utilized for a long time as a route for organizations to give secure associations with their nearby systems, or to muddle one's system causes. Be that as it may, VPNs can likewise be utilized as an approach to go around geo-fencing around alleged "US-just" online administrations, as Hulu or Netflix. For about $0.10/day (Item No. 8—$40/year), you can agree to accept a VPN that will give you an American IP address.