#so until then let me have my nostalgia moment :'D

[mitamicah]

Music inspirations: A Road to Damascus (DK)

Self indulgent post incoming but I need to talk about the last time I felt this passionate about a musician/band (and yes it was over a decade ago) because I just rediscovered them and oh my gosh they are still giving me the strongest feeling of seretonin and I can sing along with almost all their songs !!! (until I stopped listening to them in 2014 since those songs I’ve only just heard now)

Let me introduce you to the danish band A Road To Damascus - a metal/rock/pop punk band I learned about when they played a local gig in my hometown - I fell in love with them from the moment I heard this one song (second below). No, actually I fell in love as soon as I saw the guitarist’s purple guitar x’D (I got to hold it afterwards :3). Since then I basically followed them around anywhere on their Danish tour, bought all their albums and merch, gifted them a piece of fanart (and got them to sign the copy for myself) and even was gifted back a sheet of chords (signed of course) so I could play their song live at an open mic event :’3 It got to a point that I was on first name basis with most of if not the entire band :’D

I’ve tried to find some of my favourite songs from each album (they don’t have a lot but it is worth checking out anyways) below :3

1) Sweetheart, 2010 (Pretty alright for first outing :3)

2) Head High, Hands Down, 2011 (aka the song that got me HOOKED)

3) The Best is Yet to Come, 2011

4) Home is Where Your Heart Was, 2014 (aka the song I got the chords to)

5) All Said and Done, 2014 (the intro sends me back so it’s a big nostalgia kick - funny when the lyrics fit with my current state more xD)

6) The Last Straw, 2019

7) Fearless, 2020

6) Sirens, 2023 (as soon I heard it, it reminded me how much I love these guys!)

There’ll be some even more selfindulgent parts under the line x’D

Here’s me with the bassist and guitarist (I’m wearing their merch which is sadly almost too worn to wear now and I ruined it by trying to make it into a croptop x’D):

Here’s me and the frontman (don’t mind me looking away x’D): 

Here I am holding up the signed copy of the fanart :3

Here’s me in their music video:

So yeah if you need something to listen to I can recommend these guys.

[rae-not-rey]

In honor of Voltron being taken off Netflix, here is my review of each of the seasons as I rewatched it for the first time in eight years, as well as my ranking of all of them.

Season one: Kind of boring, a little childish, but I can see where it was setting up future plot arcs (Galra Keith, Shiro trauma).

Season two: Getting more interesting, diving into Keith and Shiro especially. Episodes are just generally more fun than the first season. Characters are taking shape. Bonding moment! LOTOR???????

Season three: This season is much shorter than one and two. I believe this is the beginning of the end, unfortunately. Not as exciting as season two was, but still interesting to watch. Lots of lore, especially on the original paladins. Didn't conclude in a big fight, so it was a little underwhelming.

Season four: I will NEVER get over the scene where Pidge finds Matt's grave. They definitely got way more creative with the animation style this season. The ice show!! The end was slightly disappointing. I'm upset by the lack of Keith, and how short this season was. But overall a decent and fun watch, even if it was in one sitting.

Season five: Started pretty slow, but picks up quick! Krolia is here! I feel like season four and five were meant to be one season, considering how short both of them are. The character and plot arcs also make more sense as one season.

Season six: So far, Keith is gone and Lance is straight. Not pleased. The D&D episode is fun though. SHIRO AND KEITH FIGHT??? Overall, this season turned out pretty... okay. Not awful, but definitely not the best.

Season seven: Starts off with Keith and Shiro, very nice. Romelle makes a point about how fast the plot is moving along and I agree. Oh my God I totally forgot about Adam.

Ranking (favorite to least):

Season two

Season five

Season four

Season six

Season one

Season three

Final thoughts

I never got to rewatch season eight, because I started my rewatch too late. And honestly, I'm not too upset about that. From what I remember, season eight sucked. I hated the ending, it felt rushed, everyone felt out of character.

I was a Voltron fan from the time it aired in 2016 until it ended in 2018 and let me tell you, those two years felt like a lifetime. I'm glad I watched the show. I'm glad I was a fan. It was a huge comfort to me in those two years and the years since. I just can't believe it started airing when I was in middle school, and now I'm almost done with college. It truly is the end of an era.

I'll miss VLD, but it's a different feeling because I never actually rewatched the show. I would say that I was blinded by nostalgia, but honestly, most of the show still held up! Do I think it was rushed and the second half of the show was aimless and drama in the fandom influenced how the end of the show ran? Absolutely. But I still think overall it was a decent show. At the very least, I'm still in love with the characters and the universe, even eight years later.

So long, VLD. You were the best recurring nightmare I could have ever wished for. Perhaps I'll see you on the seven seas someday.

[annawayne]

Hi Anna!!!! I hope you're taking care of yourself :3 For the writers ask game, in regards to MYLYSW:

1, 2, 5, 9, 11, 13, 14

Please take care Anna, and I wish you lots of energy and inspiration and good moments to do the things you want to do :3

Oh, Moon, hello-hello!

*sigh* I'm not very good because one of my chronical health problems came back yesterday, but well, I'm as fine as I can be, considering all the circumstance, but thank you a lot for your words and questions!

It was such a great distraction to answer all of it about My Yellow Light in Your Soft Whispers (⁠ ⁠◜⁠‿⁠◝⁠ ⁠)⁠♡

1 What inspired you to write the fic this way?

From the very start, I really wanted to explore Annie's character and far, far into the future, where she already experiences a lot of new things and the date of her death, when she was under curse, long expired. But since this whole traumatic event happens at the very beginning, all the next chapters are the mix of the past and the present. I think, that when something terrible happens to us which shatters all the world we knew, we always tend to look at the past, how the things used to be with the sweet longing and nostalgia. And yet, with these flashbacks I also want to show that not everything was so unclouded back then. They were happy, but didn't they just simply convince themselves for it because "this is how it should be"? Plus, all the flashbacks + the present events work together with Unreliable narrator tag - Annie IS unreliable narrator, and that's why some things the reader should read with sort of skepticism.

I think that is such a mix of the past and the present is a great way to show how messy Annie's mind is - she's constantly looking back, not even realizing that some things she sees the way she wants to see, and completely ignoring the present. The past - is her salvation. But is it a blissful oblivion or life-saving escape? Who knows. And this is what I also try to explore in this fic, and that's why we have s great amount of flashback in (almost) every chapter.

2 What scene did you first put down?

Oh, Moon, thank you a lot for this question, because the very first scenes that appeared in my mind are quite the backbone of the whole fic. One of them, is the scene from Chapter 5, with the reveal what really happened that day in March; another one - it's the scene I'm actually writing right now (like, right now-now, I made a break to answer your ask) from Chapter 10, and also the very beginning - this whole day in March was very vivid in my mind, when the first idea came to me, particularly, the scene on the stage - and the transition to AruAni's cottage, where a few times I play with readers making them believe that it was dream - or not - until we realize that it really DID happen. I did my best to confuse the readers as much as possible, and I hope it played out because I really wanted to show how much this day in March affected Annie and how it sets the whole narration rhythm from the start: we can't trust her fully, and yet, to find where's the truth which is the part of her healing, this is what I try to do.

Another scene, it's going to be a bit later, and it's maybe of the most emotional moment in the whole fic. This moment is one of the main catalyst for Annie's character, and I'm quite nervous for it, but well... I don't think too much about it for now, since we have a long way to go :D

5 What part was hardest to write?

This part is actually only yet to come... In the next chapter, 11. This is something that was, let's say, in the second wave of brainstorming for the MYLYSW plot, and I was eager to write it since the beginning, but because this scene is also VERY emotional and marking the new route for AruAni, it's a very responsible scene.

9 Were there any alternate versions of this fic?

There's some very, very, very rough idea of the alternative scenario where Armin never wakes up from his "coma", but I dismissed this idea almost right away because I wanted primarily to explore how two souls overcome something so grave and something so earth-shattering, finding the love - for yourself, for the life and for each other - once again, from the knife-edge pieces of their past scattered around. So I dismiss this very tragic scenario, and stick to "Angst with Happy ending", where through all the difficulties and turmoil, hope and desire to live are much stronger than everything, much stronger than death.

11 What do you like best about this fic?

You know, I left this question for the very end when I was answering all the previous ones because it's always a bit difficult for me to say what "I like" about my writing (and I know you know, and you asked me this question on purpose :D), and after some though I realized that I really cherish this fic for the rawness of emotions and feelings. For the way how it's all so honest that it could you even uncomfortable, how bare and how on display these characters, or, in particular, Annie is. I really wanted to reach this borderline of frankness and truth where is nowhere to hide. I don't know if I succeed, but I do my best to show nothing without sugar-coating and to dive so deep into character's mind, that sometimes it may be scary to see what really hides beneath all layers.

And I think, that this is what I like the most about this fic. How honest and raw it is.

13 What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?

Oh, I have the whole Playlist for this fic, and it's 11 hr 42 min... If anyone is interested, I can share it, but please let me know T^T

And I have a few "main OSTs" for this story which are like the main lead music that settles the whole mood and vibe of the fic, and here it is:

14 Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?

I'll refer with my answer for this question to my answer for the question 9, too: I really want to give hope to everyone who is going through very difficult times that, no matter what, the sun will always come. Even if everything looks so devastating, gloomy, scary and absolutely terrifying, I just want everyone to feel that the things don't get better overnight - it's a process. Long and something torturous, but it's a process, and every day, step by step, you're closer to the moment when things will be better. No matter how angsty this fic is, it has a happy ending, a catharsis which declares that any desire to live is stronger than anything, then death itself, and that it's worth fighting for. You are worth fighting for you, and your happiness is wort it.

For me, this fic is also a reminder for myself. That no matter how difficult and scary my life is, everything ends. The last three years are the pure nightmare for me, and yet, I get up every day with the thoughts that my life is worth it, it's worth to open my eyes and it's worth to cherish it. It's worth the future. And this fic - this is also for me, and for everyone who lost their paths and their grounds. I really hope to give this hope and to show how two completely lost and broken souls find happiness and peace, and if anyone, who will read this fic, will feel some ray of hope or sign to move forward - I'll be enormously happy. Truly.

This fic is like the transition season between winter and spring: first, it's snow that melts, the barren, dry soil peeks trough the piles of dirty mess which is not even snow anymore, but just some slobs. Nights are still cold, maybe even with the frost. The sun starts shine more, but still cold. But some first petals and buds start to bloom - and they're first to die because the winter didn't leave fully. But, with each day. the sun is warmer, the snow melts into the soil and gives water to the new flowers, and the trees blossom with young leaves - and March, this endless March, when the weather always deceives you, finally go and here comes the spring, when everything is born again.

Thank you so much, Moon, for all these questions, and, to be honest, while I was answering all of it, I realized more about my own story then it was before... So thank you for it, always (⁠っ⁠˘⁠з⁠(⁠˘⁠⌣⁠˘⁠ ⁠)

writer's game in question

[new-tella-us]

Alright. No art. Just positive rant. The entire point of my redesigns was me being slightly annoyed at the designs and story of Seduce Me and having way too much positive nostalgia to be normal about this game. I love-hate this game. However! The one thing I will never, never shit talk Seduce Me for is its characters. The main six love interests (Yes I am counting Diana as a main love interest. Thank Demon War for that) are all so well written! I genuinely love them. Even Sam, my least favorite character, isn’t boring. I don’t dislike him for being a bad character, I dislike him because the tsundere trope annoys me.

But this isn’t a rant about the characters as a whole. This is a rant about Damien. Let me rave for a second. Because as melodramatic as his backstory is, it got me hook, line and sinker. I am convinced that either Michaela had a period of being obsessed with Damien or some redheaded fuck boy named Damien pissed her off so much that she made him into a character just to make him suffer. This boy is tragic!

Like b r o, all the other boys’ backstories can be summed up with “The palace life is boring, my dad is kinda shitty and I got one other, reoccurring, minor inconvenience” and then there’s Damien being like- “My mom suffered as my dad’s harem girl until she couldn’t take it anymore and tried to murder me before killing herself. Also my dad is extra shitty to me. He tried to kill me a few times. Food? That’s a luxury. Energy? I’m used to not having it. A room? What is that? Please let me become human because mind reading kinda sucks, oh wait, I only got a 1 out of 6 shot for that ending. And I’m not even the canon ending!”

And another thing! Matthew’s main bad ending has traumatized me for multiple reasons but that line, “That’s what you get for making me go to the human world” after he kills Damien! Now, Matthew is a favorite of mine, but in that moment, I wanted to shake that little bitch until his soul evacuated his body! Like, I don’t care that he was being controlled, how d a r e he come firing shots at Damien when all he wanted was a good life away from his abusive ass dad!? Bro Damien may have been the illegitimate child but at that moment Matthew was the bastard.

Tragic…

On a different, lighter note, I do love the sort of contrast between him and Matthew, at least on the topic of “naivety”. Of the two, you expect the fun loving, goofball to be the naive, kind of innocent one. But that’s not the case. Matthew is optimistic, Damien is innocent. Matthew knows what he wants and while the world is a wonder to him, he goes about the world with this sort of maturity, knowing what he wants to see and when. Damien is more of the spacey type. There is this level of inexperience to how he grasps the world as if he can’t even believe that it can exist. Plus, as much as he has an idea of what he wants to see, sometimes he feels like he must ask permission. Like in the New Years Episode where if you go on Damien’s route, he asks “Can we do this every year?”.

In conclusion, I want to wrap Damien into a blanket burrito and tell him that everything is going to be okay. And then take him to therapy because this man probably has C-PTSD. As my friends would say, I am mentally ill for this demon equivalent of a sad, wet dog.

[weirdthoughtsandideas]

10 perhaps? 👀 i miss lunina sleepovers!! sounds cute :D

Takes place either S3 or post-show, or else it would be too risky for them to sneak out like this x)

10. Lunina sapphic sleepover

Nina had spent the night at Luna's more times in the past year than she had ever in her life. She just never had a lot of friends to have sleepovers with growing up.

Really, the only sleepover she remembered going to was when she was a girls scout in middle school. But it felt less like a sleepover and more like a sleepaway camp, as there were so many people sleeping in the same room. She never had a sleepover with just one other person until she befriended Luna.

But she loved it. Even if they didn't do anything special, it was just so fun to spend some more time with Luna. She also appreciated not being home, even though Mora's house definitely made her feel a lot more free than her mom's.

Tonight they sat in Luna's room, just talking.

"Did you ever have sleepovers in Cancún?" Nina asked.

"Yes!" Luna chuckled. She lied down on her bed, with her eyes glowing with nostalgia. "Me and Simón used to have ones when we were younger. My favorite time was when we decided to swim in the pool in the middle of the night."

"A pool?"

"Yes! The mansion in Cancún had a pool... we went swimming, and then saw someone turn a light on. We panicked and ran away from there."

Nina giggled. "Aww, I can picture it so vividly!"

Luna giggled too.

Nina smiled at her. "I love your laughter, Luna. It's so contagious."

"Thank you." Luna leaned down to Nina's mattress to hug her, but accidentally tripped and thus fell right on top of her.

They stared at each other for a brief moment, before awkwardly chuckling.

"Uh..." Nina said, "You can let go of me."

Luna was still embracing her, which she had not at all realized.

"Oh, sorry..."

As she let go, there was another silence.

"So... what should we do?" Luna asked. "I'm not tired."

"Me neither," Nina admitted. But then, she formed a mischievous smile. "What if... you and I sneak out..."

"But we don't have a pool!" Luna said.

"We could do other things, right?"

"I guess... like what?"

"What if we... just go out in the garden? And look at the stars?"

Luna lit up. "Yeah! That sounds so fun!"

-

They walked downstairs as quietly as they could. Luna was not sure why she was so nervous - she was allowed to be in the garden. It was her house now.

And yet, it just felt better knowing that no one knew what they were doing. Like a silly little secret only she and Nina knew.

They went outside, holding hands so that none of them would get lost in the dark.

Nina looked up in the sky. "Wow... you can really see the stars well."

Luna also looked up. "Woah... I've never noticed it..." She started beaming. "You know... wherever you are, you have the same sky. The same stars... aw, this reminds me of Mexico."

"Did you watch the stars a lot in Mexico?"

"Sometimes. It was always really soothing..."

Nina looked around. "The whole garden looks more... magical, in the darkness."

It was true. The way the garden lit up by the moonlight, and all that was heard was crickets and other insects... it was this aesthetic over it that just was so beautiful.

"You know what I wanna do?" Luna asked. "I wanna run."

"Run?"

Luna laughed and started sprinting away. Nina snickered a bit from surprise, but then decided to run after her.

"Can't catch me!" Luna exclaimed, putting her arms out like she was an airplane. "Wee!"

"Wait up!" Nina laughed.

It was like Luna got some sort of energy boost and she needed to run. Nina soon got out of breath, and had to rest by a tree, while Luna continued running around.

"I'll get you!" Luna said, and ran towards Nina. Nina closed her eyes, afraid Luna would tackle her.

But instead, Luna picked her up mid speed and carried her. Nina yelped, as Luna continued running.

However, Luna could only run for a few seconds, before she realized that Nina was a lot heavier to carry than what she was prepared for. So, Luna had stop and put her down.

"Everyone always carries me," Luna said, "So I wanted to try carrying someone else."

"Everyone's taller than you, so of course you're easier to carry!" Nina chuckled.

"Really? Can you carry me?"

Nina tried to lift her up. "Nah, you're too heavy."

Luna leaned onto Nina's shoulder. "Wooh... I really feel like I got to let out all my energy. This was a great idea."

"Yeah... but we might go change clothes. I don't know if we should sleep in clothes we've had in outside."

"Maybe... but I don't think my pajamas is dirty enough to change!"

Luna then had the great idea to jump onto the ground, rolling around on the grass.

"Luna!" Nina exclaimed.

"Come on! Join me!"

Nina hesitated for a moment, but then decided to join her. She carefully placed herself on the ground, crawling up to Luna.

Luna embraced her. "Now we really need to change sleepwear!"

"Luna, we need a bath... there's grass and dirt in your hair."

"Hm... should we take a middle of the night bath, then?"

Nina frowned. "Together...?"

"Yeah! There's a bathroom with a pretty big bathtub we got, several people can sit in it at once! And we could wash each other's hairs!"

"Ok..."

-

Nina wasn't sure why she felt oddly nervous of taking a bath with Luna. She had seen her change clothes plenty of times, both at P.E and in Luna's room.

And friends taking baths together was normal. Especially in some cultures. Nina noticed the bathtub resembled one of those japanese bathtubs that fits a group of people (except this one was a lot smaller). Which, considering how rich the Bensons were, she wouldn't get surprised they had a bathtub like that.

She watched Luna undress, and instinctively looked away. She took a deep breath. She would just take a bath with a friend, like they did in Japan, or like Nordic people hung out naked in saunas with their friends. Totally normal. Nudity is natural.

And frankly, both of them did need a bath after their garden adventures.

So why did Nina feel awkward out of nowhere?

She more or less looked down on the floor as she entered the bathtub. It was warm and really was calming.

Luna grabbed some shampoo. "Should we wash each other?"

"Sure..."

"Do you want to start with me?" Luna asked.

Nina nodded, and grabbed the shampoo bottle. Luna placed herself in front of her. Nina slowly applied it into her hair, gently massaging her scalp.

"Aah..." Luna mumbled. "You're good with your hands, Nina."

Nina blushed. "Thanks."

"My turn!" Luna exclaimed after Nina was done. "Turn around!"

Nina did so, and soon felt Luna's hands in her hair. The way she touched her... she felt this electric feeling running through her head down to her legs.

"You ok, Nina?" Luna asked.

"Y-Yeah... I just... I'm getting tired. The bath calmed me down a lot."

"Well, I know a quick way to wash the shampoo off!" Luna said.

"How?"

Luna giggled and then went completely underwater. The shampoo in her hair colored the whole bathtub.

Luna then got up again, giggling.

Nina looked at her, and felt her heart beating faster. There was something about Luna that just was so... pretty.

"What?" Luna asked, noticing she was staring.

"Uh... I just think, I don't know if they shampoo gets off just by being underwater. Maybe we should also rinse it to make sure it really gets off."

"Good idea!" Luna said and stood up, which Nina was not prepared for. "We need to wash our bodies with soap properly, too."

She took out the plug holding the water, and then turned on the shower that was attached to the bathtub. She then grabbed some soap. "Come on! Let's wash ourselves off properly!"

-

10 minutes later, they sat in bathrobes drying their hairs. Nina was not sure why she was feeling so awkward.

Every time she had looked at Luna today, she felt a flutter inside. Which was why she tried to avoid eye contact.

As the two walked out from the bathroom, they suddenly noticed a door opening in the corridor.

This very bathtub happened to be in the part of the mansion close to Ámbar's room. And Ámbar was for some reason not sleeping. She was standing in her pajamas, giving them a frown.

"What are you two doing here?"

"We..." Luna said, but didn't know where to begin.

"Did you two... take a bath together?" Ámbar asked.

"Yes," Nina said, looking down on the floor.

Ámbar raised an eyebrow, but then shrugged. "Interesting... spare me the details." She then closed the door again.

As they got back to Luna's room, Luna gave Nina some new sleepwear as she had only packed one pair with her.

As they both had changed, Luna laid down on her bed. "Oh gosh... there's something so cozy going to sleep after a bath... feel my sheets! Come on, lie next to me."

Nina laid down next to her.

"Newly washed skin against bed sheets is just... ahh..." Luna said.

"Yeah..." Nina said.

"Your hair smells so good," Luna commented, turning her head to Nina.

Nina turned her head to Luna. "Your hair, too. We both used the same shampoo."

"You know, Nina... you're really pretty. I've always thought so, but especially tonight..."

"Thank you..." Nina felt her heart beat even faster.

"Nina..."

"Eh..."

Nina tucked some hair behind Luna's ear, as she leaned in closer. She stared at Luna for a final time, raising an eyebrow, as if she communicated something telepathically.

Luna nodded in response.

In the next moment, the two girls kissed.

Nina let go quickly. She was red in the face, and laid down, staring up at the ceiling.

"I..."

Luna also blushed. She let out a snicker. "That was..."

"Yeah, I... don't know."

"Me neither, but I liked it."

"You did?"

"Mhm. You're a good kisser."

Nina smiled. "Can I kiss you again?"

"Yes."

They kissed again, and then giggled about it.

Luna embraced her. "I think you should sleep in my bed tonight. We'll share it."

"I was thinking the same thing."

-

As Monica woke up in the morning, she quickly peeked into Luna's room. The two girls were still fast asleep.

But they were still in each other's embrace, Luna holding onto Nina's upper body like she was hugging a pillow.

Monica smiled.

Later, as Luna and Nina ate breakfast, everyone could tell something had happened between them. Monica wanted to ask, but Luna didn't give much answer. She figured the girls would tell them when they were ready, or when they wanted to.

Luna and Nina still needed to process the night they had. One thing was clear, though: It was one of their most memorable sleepovers they'd have in a long while.

[swearyshera]

So we are at the end of the road on something that has always been about the journey, not the destination.  I’ve taken my time to gather some thoughts.  This blog has meant a lot to many people, not the least of which is me.  I’ve had a hard time these last few years – I think it’s been hard times for everyone, in one way or another.  Personally, I seem to remember discovering this blog not too long before I had a breakdown and handled it very poorly, making bad decisions that cost me a lot of friends, or at least people whom I thought were my friends up until a breaking point.  (Your blog was unrelated to this).  When I came out of hospitalization I had a few things to rely upon – a video therapy group was one, certain family members and, well, as silly as it sounds, hitting up tumblr for my daily dose of Sweary She-Ra to make me laugh. And then in mid-January, 2023, one of the people who was closest to me in my entire life died suddenly of technically unknown cause but considering his health issues, probably a heart-issue. It was sudden and devastating.  We shared She-Ra and the Princesses of Power together because he was kind of curious about it and I was a nostalgia-fan of the ‘80s series.  We both became massive fans of Entrapta.  In fact, my nephew / best friend got me into the fandom in the first place because he had a silly idea for a fanfic about Entrapta wrecking havoc in the Fright Zone just post first-season and had little confidence in his fanfic writing, but decided to pass along said idea to me, an inveterate fic-writer for many fandoms.  I was put through the wringer this year – it’s the first time I’ve been in partial charge of a memorial service.  I am feeling better now than I did at the beginning of this year because I’ve found the strength to keep doing things that he and I liked to do together and time helps.  And again, in all of this, I had a silly little comic where a sparkly purple princess calls people “twattingler,” others make liberal use of the word that originally meant Fornication Under Consent of the King, one character swears all the time but apologizes for it, one character is contractually obligated to use Ned Flanders style cursing and there’s a fourth wall breaker and an incompetent boss with indecipherable accent and Marxist unicorns and all the rest.  No matter what was happening with my emotions I could just… take a little break and look at the funny fancomic.  Sweary She-Ra for me has been like a warm mug of tea on a cold day or a bowl of baked macaroni and cheese with a butter-cracker crust made out of the old 1960-70 something Betty Crocker cookbook.  It’s been Internet comfort food that has been sorely needed at times.  So thank you.  I just want to thank you for this funny little fan project.  I don’t think you have any idea how much it has meant to your audience.  @freedfromthegalactichivemind

And I don't know if the audience has any idea how much it has meant to me!

When I started this, things were pretty shit, weren't they? Here in the UK we'd just come out of the second Covid Lockdown, with the third expected to happen imminently; the weather was miserable, we'd barely seen our friends in months, the world in general just sucked. And I'd love to say that I felt a calling to break through that with some humour, but no... it was nothing like that. This is what happened...

And so it all went from there.

I almost just went for random scenes as I thought of them, rather than starting from the beginning. But I thought "Eh, fuck it, let's see how far I get", and the rest is history.

Even as the storylines got more complex (bear in mind, I started purely with the intention to do the original script with a few swear words peppered in), I always wanted to keep things upbeat. The painful moments are those 'this is the good stuff, hurt me more' moments rather than actually horrifying things - I know there's been a couple of exceptions, but in general it's held true.

But I've always been driven by one thing - the world isn't very funny right now; it's stressful, sometimes downright terrifying. And if I can alleviate that for ten, twenty seconds per day and make that tiny bit of difference to someone, then I consider that a job done. I'm not out here claiming to have the cure for depression, or some kind of plan to save the world, but I (hopefully) can make a few people smile in the midst of all the shit that's happening, even if it's just for a moment.

So much has changed in the last three years, but this blog has been such a central part of my world, it'll be weird when it's over (maybe that's why I don't want to stop there!). But if this coming Friday really is the last chapter in this part of my life, I'll still be happy that it happened. And if you've ever smiled or laughed at the blog, I'm happy that happened as well.

[meonlyred]

Finally got around to look into DAV, all I say I don't want to step foot into the tag again. DA fandom, never change

Braving than any US marine. I will never go into the tags. I get enough that leaks into my dash as it is.

I have blocked more DA fans in the past month than I have tumblr bots. I knew this was coming. I was joking with my friends on discord that I couldn't wait to block most of the DA fans. That the 17 of us on that server are the DA fandom to me.

I am going to use this opportunity to rant a bit. Sorry. I have been very good at trying to keep it all contained to private conversations. I deserve to take people to task as a treat. (And threat.)

I am trying to be as light one spoilers as I can. This also ended up being a fucking shit load longer than I meant. I just have a lot of bitching to say.

I have criticism for the DAV but they really come down to very personal tastes. For example, I miss DAI's tinting station for armor. I miss the Golden Nug so I can just have all the armor looks I want right off the bat. (But that was added in later DAI patches. I can't recall if the tinting station was too. It been too long. There might be hope for that.) I was also upset at how long the bug that kept resetting my Rook's appearance took to get fixed. That really sucked.

Besides that, there is nothing that takes substantially away from my enjoyment of DAV. It was another Bioware game that did that to me.

I thought the pacing at the beginning of DAV was way too quick but then I remembered how Bioware games usually go. Ostagar, Haven, the Citadel, and the Nexus is what I liked to call my Bioware graveyards. Its where all of my new characters go to die. The plot comes to a screeching halt at these areas. Bioware has always does good with their openings; action, intrigue! Let's go! But once you get through the flash opening... now wander around for a few hours picking up fetch quests and talking to 30 people all with so much dialogue to dump on you. Some of it is not bad dialogue but some of it is wholly unnecessary or way too much in one go. Like Varric's 10 minutes of "remember what you did in the last game?" Its bad when I dread talking to Varric of all people or just skip through his dialogue.

I appreciate the quick pacing much more on subsequent play throughs. It keeps me moving until well after recruiting Lucanis. By then its even out into a steady pace that keeps me engaged.

As for the fandom, which I hesitate to even call them that, because I don't think they even like Bioware games, has some of the most bizarre criticism. Again, I excepted it going in, but the subjects of their ire has me so confused and disappointed.

I have seen people saying that Hans fucking Zimmer's soundtrack for the game is bad. Which?????? No???????? Its not?

This song playing while fighting dragons with Taash has me so pumped. I want it in my veins.

The romance theme (that also plays at other moments) is beautiful and heart aching. Which fits the tone of the scene when it plays. The saddest banging ever.

And those Inquisition leitmotifs really got me good. Never thought DAI nostalgia would hit me so hard but here we are.

I have also seen people mad about the ending credits song. And I can't say that I'm not EXTREMELY fucking suspicious as to why they don't like the ending credits song. Is it because its R&B performed by a black woman and not sad indie white woman????

(But thanks Bioware for introducing me to another amazing artist to add to my collection.)

Another thing that sticks out to me is the polarizing topic of Mary Kirby writing Lucanis with the intent for him to be pansexual/demisexual. Which she didn't need to say that for me to pick up on it when I was playing through his romance. One of my most beloved OCs is demi. (And I kind of think I might be too. But labeling my own sexuality is something I really don't bother with.) Detractors seem to bad for ????? I don't understand know why. Because demi doesn't mean his romance with Rook or Neve is a chaste, no sex/little sex, relationship. They clearly fucked in the romance scene. The best way I can explain demisexuality is sexual attraction might not happen until a strong emotional bond it formed. Which is exactly how it plays out for his romance. It also explains why he won't romance Rook if a certain game choice is made. I know demisexual falls under the ace umbrella but I know a lot of people who have been wanting a strictly no sexual ace romance. So when the dev said there wasn't an ace romances, I think they weren't lying.

However, I also despise are the people who were asking Mary Kirby if Lucanis was a virgin. And I am seeing "Virgin Lucanis" tags on Ao3. And let me preface this by saying I visceral hate anything concerning the virginity of characters or people. Because I have never not seen it used as a way the track someone's purity or as a way to disparage them. Making them out to be a naive clown. Virginity such an arbitrary thing, a made up concept that people hang a lot of hats on. It triggers an immediate flight or fight instinct in me.

In my experience and the experience of other queer people I know, your journey to understanding yourself is not always a clear defined path. You experiment, you do things that you realize afterwards don't fit with who you are. Sometimes you know from the beginning, and yay, good for you. I am sure you are very proud you got it in one.

But sometimes you aren't sure you're a lesbian until you have sex with a guy and realize nope, definitely lesbian. Sometimes you think you are cis and try to live that way and realize you hate it. And sometimes you are ace and had sex and realized it wasn't for you. These journeys are just as valid an any other and there are myriad of reasons you make decisions that you do. My point being Lucanis can be demi but also not a virgin. It doesn't fucking matter. Running to his writer on Bluesky to have her tell you point blank that he is a virgin is weird and inappropriate. Stop it.

The handing out of "good stars" pisses me off. It screams the same kind of homophobia I got when people found out I dated a bisexual guy and "ew, aren't you disgusted he sucked dick before? Aren't you afraid he'll cheat on you with a guy?" This being said to my face when in the back of my mind I was thinking "I like guys and girls too. But you will never know that about me because now I know I can't trust you."

So why does anyone care if an ace/demi character had sex before? Why do you really care? Hm?? All I hear with people asking if Lucanis is a virgin is "ew, he hasn't had SEX before, right?! I don't want to touch him if he has!!"

This is an extremely sore topic for me because I additionally I grew up being told that my worth was directly tied to me not having sex. Spoiled goods and all that.

Virginity is not a real thing, fuck off about it.

And then also that Lucanis and Neve can start a relationship if Rook doesn't romance either of them. I have see the most vile shit about Neve because of it. She isn't stealing your man. No, Lucanis does in fact care for Neve as much as he does Rook if they are in a relationship. There is no such things as soulmates, there is no such things as people being "meant" for each other. Rook and Lucanis' relationship is different than Neve and Lucanis' relationship because shock/horror they are different characters.

As much as I do ship some BG3 together, this is exactly why I am glad Larian didn't do this. Not because I don't like companion entering relationships together. I love when they do actually. I just knew people could not be fucking normal about it.

Speaking of Neve, I never unfollowed and blocked someone faster than "Bioware is wrong Neve only likes women." Queer characters in media are only barely starting to catch up with varying levels of blink and you'll miss them quality. Neve is already a queer woman, she already is queer representation in media. This fandom is just so fucking mask off biphobic.

As for romances being "too short" in general. I know I am ruined forever by BG3's romances. I knew I would be, I curved my expectation accordingly. It also helped that I went back and replayed DAI right before DAV's launch. Replaying, I remember just how short the romances were. DA2 more so. DAO, y'all don't remember DAO's unmodded romances.

Okay I am being unfair with the DAO dig. The talking part of the DAO romances were nice. Just those cutscenes, oof. ME1 came out just 2 years before DAO and it's romance scene wasn't this rough. More fade to black was the right call actually. Bioware you need to hire Larian's intimacy coordinators please.

But it is true we have had 10 to 15 years to make up in our heads how these romances played out. Years of art and fanfiction to make us make it more than it was.

I was privately streaming my DAI with some friends. We got to the part in DAI where Morrigan reveals herself to the Inquisitor. One of my friends who was watching is younger than us. He was too young to play DAI when it first came out and made fun of who jerky the animation of Morrigan descending the stairs was. Another friend and I explained about how rewatching it now, we were both caught off-guard by it too. Because in our heads we remember Morrigan floating gracefully down the stairs. When in reality that wasn't the case and it was all in our heads. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

Continuing, I have seen some people mad about a character from the books who is in the game. A character who is corrupted by the Blight. Who does bad things. People are mad they "did this character dirty." You mean the character corrupted by the evil Blight does things that are corrupted and evil?! Did they expect being horrifically Blighted would make them good????????? Man, DAO/DAA ruined Tamlen and the Mother too, huh?

And this is super fucking controversial, I think having only 3 imported choices was the right call. I would have like maybe a couple more choices carrying over but that is neither here nor there. The choices in Dragon Age Keep were so fucking bloated is was not funny.

Quick without looking her up: who was Ginnis and why was there a flag option in for whether or not she was alive? Who was Ghyslain and why did it matter if he was told his wife was dead or not? Why was blackmailing Ser Thrask a thing? Has getting Cammen and Gheyna together ever come up? What about Athras' wife? What about Zerlinda and her kid? I don't see anyone upset that Ignacio didn't show up in the DAV Crow story line. Why were any of these flags there in the first place? Did the writers think it was ever going to be brought up again if you feed the prisoner the guard's lunch? Even looking at Dragon Age Keep and the wiki I barely remember these characters. There was no reason to have these flags at all.

Speaking of killing your darlings. No we were not robbed when we saw the concept art. Its concept. Putting all of it in DAV would have been bad. Sometimes you have to leave things on the cutting room floor because including is not worth it in the end. And use as players will never know why it didn't work out. Use the concept art the same way as the devs did. Its there for inspiration. Now go draw it or write fanfiction about it.

People like to say that choices in DA used to matter, no they did not and never did. How was DAI actually different if Hawke chose to support the Mages over the Templars? You know, the crowning choice in DA2? Was the mages stronger in DAI? No, Fiona tells you that they are losing the war. The mages didn't have bigger numbers. You don't get any kind of stat or narrative boost. All choices in all the games are a net zero gain. Aside for some dialogue flare. The world state does not change crossing from game to game.

I do like that call back as much as anyone. I liked Hawke talking about their love interest in DAI. But if I wanted to truly experience that romance I have to go back to DA2 and play it again.

I have also seen people bitching about Taash's gender journey realizing they are non-binary. I am sorry I have a hard time caring about stranger's negative opinions about it, when I have loved non-binary friends talking about how they were deep touched and got emotional over Taash's story. Maybe Taash's story isn't your story but it is someone's.

We don't have the token trans character this time. We have three non-binary character. One a companion, one an ally healer, and one who turns out to be a bad guy. Which is in fact okay to have villain queer characters when you have many more queer good guys. We also have two trans characters who play more than passing roles.

Speaking of "trans" is "too modern" of a term. Trans is a Latin word. Tevinter speaks pseudo Latin. Next.

I just do not understand. If year after year you get so fucking upset about Bioware games, please just stop playing them. You don't have to buy them, you don't have to buy them at full price. Just go do literally anything else.

There are games I was going to play this year then saw something I didn't like about them and went, I'll pass. I didn't make hating that game my entirely personality.

Edit: Oh I forgot "DAV isn't dark fantasy like the others." No you are thinking about DAI. DAI was pretty much high fantasy with a couple kind of dark parts. DAV has too much body horror and bio horror to not be horror. Giant cysts and boils of blight organic matter that infects people and turns them into corrupted zombie like creatures. How much corrupted tentacles, human centipede trees, people getting ripped apart, eye teeth, and literal bloodbaths do you need until "dark fantasy"?

[felixblankspace]

This doesn't have a name yet, but it's a Leosagi AU ||ヽ(*￣▽￣*)ノ

I have some concept for my new rise leosagi au

My style in tradicional is a mess but hear me out (?

This is gonna be a long post I'm not sorry (??

Like a said in other post this AU is more Usagi centric and is with him being teleported to the turtles dimension but completly alone-

He endup in the Hidden City with Big Mama trying to mother him at first but Usagi was so confused and wanting to go back to his dimension that he just wasn't paying enough attention to her to fall into Big Mama's trap.

And the fact that she tried to mother him was not amusing either because the memory of his own mother is in his conscience and he is also old enough not to look for that maternal atention.

Big Mama also tried to "seduce" him when she realized that he was not interested in a mother and with that Usagi became more defensive since he recognized her as the spider yōkai from his own dimension Jorōgumo.

Big Mama reveals her true form and ends up attacking Usagi who managed to fend off her guards and deal some damage to her.

They fight, Usagi being caught in the woman's hand until there is a riot at the hotel. It's the Hamato doing their thing and in the distraction Usagi manages to run away but not before drawing the attention of Leo who managed to see him out of the corner of his eye.

Usagi manages to escape, but now he is alone in the Hidden City, with no money of any value in that place and without knowing how to get back home.

Now- You 87 turtles fans remember Obento??? The man who takes care of Usagi in the Episode "Usagi come home"

THIS MAN??

Well I'm making him a yokai and like in 87 he takes care of Usagi.

Obento will be a yokai who lives on the surface in a human disguise and will sell ceramic products such as plates, vases, figurines, etc. The yokai will look younger, but he is an old man and quite traditional, he has lived a lot by his nature as a yokai and he tries to help Usagi just because he can and it doesn't hurt to have company.

Usagi at first will not feel comfortable accepting the help, he is a traveler and his stays are not very long and he almost always leaves something in return as gratitude for letting him stay.

Obento ends up convincing Usagi to stay by offering him a job as his guard, to protect the store and to attend to it once in a while-

Usagi didn't want to be a vendor in the store, but he had no other options so he agrees...

With a job and Obento explaining the basics of the world in which they lived, he puts some rules

No killing

No killing even if people atack u first

and not showing your true form in the city with humans

Obento knows the era Usagi was raise and he does not want legal issues-

And Obento gives Usagi a cloaking brooche so he can work for him in the city--

With the brooche Usagi have a human disguise and he is not use to it-

The time pass, Usagi is missing his home, he gets close to Obento cuz he feels like someone he would know in this dimension and also he gets protective of him as his guard jsjs

And the first formal introduction with Leo is with the turtle trying to grab a vase from the store to replace one he broke at home-

Of course Leo in trying to go in ninja mode but Usagi notice him and they fight-

Leo: I'M NOT GOING TO STEAL IT-- I HAVE MONEYY Usagi: Thats a lie! then why are you trying to not being notice?? Leo: I'm a giant turtle-- Usagi: a--

Leo notice the brooche, he assume is a yokai and with that the relationship moves really slow cuz Usagi just have his home in mind... but he likes Leo a lot and in the moments when they are alone he tells him about his place and with a lot of nostalgia, being homesick ass fuck Leo just is there for him and starts to help to send him back home :D

This is all I have- I wanna make a comic about this- Like u can see it is pretty Usagi centric with his relations and how he moves in a world with no help, missing Gen and his friends and over all his life- This is also before the Krang situation- like a year before and Leo is not the leader get uwu

[voteformightyclocks]

The Last Wish: Spoiler-Free Review

Okay. so as none of you know, I'm a HUGE fan of the original Puss In Boots, and as such I bought a ticket for The Last Wish the day tickets went on sale. I waited impatiently for months for that movie to come out, and watched it on Christmas Eve, and I'm finally getting around to writing about it

For context, I believe the original Puss In Boots is better than any of the Shrek movies. Shrek 2 and Puss In Boots both hold up really well to this day, but Puss In Boots is better at capturing the magic of fairy tale stories than Shrek 2 was; Shrek 2 modernized too much for it to contain that same magic. And as such, I argue to this day that the best Shrekverse movie is Puss In Boots. The only thing holding Puss In Boots was just the spontaneous humor and the way they downplayed the central antagonist with humor

The Last Wish fixes those mistakes

If you go in expecting a movie similar to the original, the first, like, 5 minutes will be your cup of tea. It has the same spontaneous humor, the villain is basically just there for laughs, and Puss is this high-and-mighty outlaw. The leadup to the giant and the battle against the giant both showcase who Puss is: he's a rebel against the rich and a protector of the poor. He cares not for people with power, and instead uses his own skills and power to defend the common folk through his heroic antics. But, as the trailer shows, he carelessly gets crushed, and he's now on his last life

This is where the story takes a turn. We have several minutes of denial. "Retire? I am Puss in Boots!" But that's when the story's driving villain shows up. They weren't really highlighted in the trailers, so I'll be very secretive about who the villain is, but the moment they appear on screen, I had chills. This villain was not like the ones who had come before. This villain was not something to laugh about. And Puss realizes this. Puss is scared into retirement- I mean, into hiding, and gets used to the undignified way of life that is a housecat, until Goldilocks and the Three Bears show up: bounty hunters seeking Puss' help with reaching the mythical Wishing Star

Puss outsmarts them and decides to pursue this Wishing Star alone...

Well. Alone plus his emotional support dog. Short story, but a weird one to tell

And off he goes on his quest to find the Wishing Star and restore his lives

And that's the introduction to the story and most of the central characters, so I can't really progress further without spoiling major parts of the story

Downsides of the story:

The central villain is beaten in an unsatisfying way, and deserved a better conclusion

The secondary villain was mediocre at best, and falls into the trap of Laughable Villain Syndrome

Ofc they're going to end the movie with a tie-in to the upcoming Shrek 5

Upsides of the story:

Very deep story

Legitimately terrifying central villain

Tertiary villains are masterfully done, start to finish

My Personal Rating: 10/10

This movie has flaws, don't get me wrong, but this movie is also the best blend of nostalgia and storytelling that I've ever seen before. While most of the characters were well done, there are three particular characters that shine through every moment they are on screen: Puss, Goldilocks, and the central antagonist; especially the latter two. I'll also take the moment to point out that Goldilocks was voiced by Florence Pugh, so there's that :D

And yeah. This is 100% a recommendation! There's honestly no real theory fodder available in this movie. Like sure, maybe some minor theories, but nothing about the future of Puss, Kitty, and Perrito. There might be a spin-off for Goldilocks, but we don't know enough specifics about her past to guess where in her life a story might take place, let alone what it would be about. It closed pretty much every loose thread it had, except one, but I can't talk about that yet...not until I'm ready to discuss the most terrifying PG villain I've ever seen

[jeeperso]

D&D Quotes Without Context

Ravenloft edition, Fundertainment Land arc part 1

GM: Alright, last time on the Yawning portal runners. OOC: Wrong channel. OOC2: Wrong thread. OOC: Wrong channel thread. And our heroes took a well earned vacation to the most luxurious vacation spot in all of Ravenloft: The beautiful Sapphire Islands. Where there was sun, surf, a wedding, fabulous door prizes, and surfing against werewolves. Jonni: “I got this book of tips on being hotter.” Gorbash: “In a physical attraction sort of way or a things in my proximity burst into flame kind of way?” Jonni: “Yes!” “Okay, so, Marsh, I’d ask what I can set on fire, but I’m guessing everything. So we need a safe word for when you want me to light everything up. Normally, I’d suggest ‘funderful’, but given the locale, I’m guessing that would be triggering. So…’Bigbooty’ when you want me to go nuts.” “I find the best defense is a good fireball.” "Welcome to Gunder and Danzi's Fundertainment Land,” the woman says in a chipper tone. "We welcome you to our funtastic home, and we kindly ask you to acknowledge and abide by all the rules here. So that we can maximize our fundertastical experience. “ "No running, no outside food or drinks, no loitering, no littering, no intimate moments, no questioning the rampant consumerism no escape. No escape. No escape. No hope. No escape. No escape NO ESCAPE.” Gorbash: “This is why I picked mercenary work instead of retail.” Jonni: “Wait, BACK THE FUCK UP. What was that about no intimate moments? I demand to speak with and murder your manager!” "Sorry, just on hour 42 of a 72 hour shift. You get used to it.... Or you get a knife and start stabbing people.” "As said, we're the Union. I am here to ascend the Murderhorn, awake the Yettirrasque, and lead us all to freedom from the burning ruin I will leave.” “I get to make the ruin!” Yog-sothoth: "So Poom's character sheet now says 'Wizard' on it, and—" Azathoth: "I think we missed something.” Nyarlathotep: "Awww. But I liked breaking the game with.....uh, ahem, paying attention now….." Nyx: "Bad, Nyar, bad. No breaking the fourth wall: it was just fixed after the last time." Edmund: ”OH COME ON!” Vesh: ”You know, as a cleric of Ioun, you probably should have seen this coming." Jonni: “I suggest violence.” Poom: "I think I'm on Jooni with this one: light everything on fire, and light the stuff that doesn't burn on harder fire.” Jonni: “So, we’re 3 for on that. One more and I can start burning.” “Okay, honey, you relax. We’ll meet back up after I help Marsh topple the banality of evil and smite its ruin upon the mountain.” Gorbash: “Ah, yes. Money talks around here. If only until they part you from it.” Jonni: “Jokes on them: Vesh makes her own. Sometimes they’re baby mimics.” “If they try, give them this.” Jonni hands her a card. It reads “You put my wife in a flask, you’re next. Jonni.” "Let's get to the action of taking this place down already. The longer I have to smell all this over-sugared food the sooner I'm going to snap.” “Am I becoming a responsible adult?” “Maybe, but I doubt it.” "Until closing time, topside cast members try not to get caught.” OOC: Kruez, save some 20s for the rest of us. “I think he’s sweet on you, Eddie.” You suddenly see a stream of black blood start coming out of his mouth. “That doesn’t disprove my theory.” Jonni: “Man, why is it always ‘nightmare circus’. When do we get to go to the magic porno circus?” Azathoth: "Insert 'big top' joke here.” OOC: Gets you right in the nostalgias. “Bigbooty?” Edmund takes up a defensive posture. "I have... Funderful Dollars.” "Come with me I have something to show you.” “Is it a world of pure imagination?” "Only 20% imagination, We have to conserve.” "You want access to the Murderhorn, I will grant it, if you can fight six golden tickets hidden throughout the park.” Gorbash: “Sorry was that ‘fight’; not ‘find’?" “Please. We’ll obviously succeed because we are pure of heart. Mine’s full of lust. You all get your own vices.” “They got an adults only zone?” “I doubt it. Even if they did, the best you'd get is overpriced booze in novelty glasses.” "All kid friendly and no porn, Jonni.” “This is the worst place we’ve been.” "Flaws not withstanding, everyone here has pure and noble hearts that would face down the world if their friends needed them. I'll wager on our side anyway.” “What have we told you about gambling?” "The lab we go to last, please leave the lab for last, I just know we have a big fight waiting there.” “So we go there first while we’re fresh.” "Rats, I knew my logic would ruin it for me.” "Gorbash, don't do that. You are creepy when making those kawai eyes.” “Sure. Let do this and get out of this hellhole.” "That may be an insult to hellholes.” GM: Anyone who gets over a 15 notice something odd about the food vendors. OOC: Odder than being carny food vendors? "None of this will do your cholesterol any good... Not to mention I think its nutritional quality is equivalent of a piece of cardboard.” "Bet you cardboard is healthier.” "That's a big Big Burger.” "Oh god, it is the size of a cart wheel.” "The Double Triple Bossy Deluxe on a raft, 4x4 animal style, extra shingles with a shimmy and a squeeze, light axle grease; make it cry, burn it, and let it swim. Doesn't quite roll off the tongue.” ”MARSHAL, AS I LIVE AND BREATH.” Jonni: “I sincerely doubt you do either.” "I'm with the union. Together we can shut this park down and you return to the Indigo Moon of Yarrl.” "This guy here was my top student, the one I entrusted all my recipes too.” “He killed a man with one of those. Or at least put him in a diabetic coma.” Gorbash: “What's the game, Big Steve?” Big Steve: "Eating contest. One of you against me.” Gorbash grins. "Don't threaten me with a good time.” "Hey we got vegan dishes. Try our new cheese injected fried pickle. Or our goat liver filled with okra. Which is also fried.” "Neither of those are remotely vegan!” "Sure they are. Cheese is a vegetable right?" Marshal: ”Remember to eat the trough, too.” Gorbash: “Is it deep fried?” Big Steve: "And slathered with Hollandaise.” Jonni polymorphs Gorbash into a whale. “Marsh. Get a shovel.” Gorbash: “I feel like this was unnecessary.” Yog-sothoth: "As opposed to what else we've done?” "Ioun... Give pity to this good soul. Protect him from gastritis and heartburn…" Gorbash: “This is delicious Steve.” Big Steve: ”The secret ingredient is lard.” Nyarlathotep: "Not sure how secret that is.” GM: Next up: Baked Bean pizza. “The devil’s pizza!” "Told ya we had vegan stuff here. I mean if you eat around the pork.” "I traveled all across Yaarl, learning from the finest chefs I could find. Then I burned all my notes and made this in stead.” GM: Next up is... Meat Gelatin. “That was quite the quick escalation from unhealthy to war crimes.” "I think at least 3/4th of this park can be called war crimes, Jonni.” GML Next up is... LUTEFISK. Nyx: "No, not that abomination! I can't believe humans came up with that dish and demons didn't inspire them.” Yog-sothoth: "It was Deep Ones.” "No, how could you? That dish is banned on so many planes of existence.” "You think that’d stop me? I ate the last health inspector came round here.” "... I think i'm going to have to stick to salads for the next week…” "I used to eat people, and I agree." "Try our new Lasanga salad, with eight types of meat.” Gorbash: “Nothing teaches you to appreciate food quite like starvation.” "Await the sign, then all employees shall be released.” Inside is utter bedlam, you see dozens of screaming kids running around, jumping all over. OOC: player is getting Chuck-E-Cheese flashbacks…. You're pretty sure you see the kids pull down a waiter and skeletonize them. "Oh no...my irony sense is going off. It’s in the ball pit, always the ball pit.” "I hope not. I really hope not. do you know how unsanitary those are in NORMAL places?” “Those things are 60% urine by volume.” "As the one of us actually immune to disease, I volunteer as tribute.” “You'll rust from the ammonia.” Poom: "Wish whatever's in there'd eat a few of the kids. Turn the volume down.” "My guess, the balls are acid proof and that pit has acid underneath it hiding an acid swimming shark in it. Nasty things.” "Or it's a plastic-ball-ooze.” "No, no, no, no. Not again, not again. That happened at my 12th birthday party.” "I was distracted by the tiny slime.” “Why am I covered in goos!?!” "Sounds like a fowl condition.” “I say we cure the badger of his rabies and make him our standard adoptee for the domain.” “I mean wouldn't be the strangest thing we picked up. Also he should be a union rep.” Jonni makes a badger papoose and straps him in. “You shall be Vesh and I’s only son. You shall see the world through my eyes as I see the world through yours.” Gorbash: “Starting a family right after the honeymoon eh?” “Bitey. Avert your eyes. Mommy has to light some assholes on fire.”

[brainmoss]

Making a new post just because the other one was getting a bit long and I dont see myself being brief either. I was tagged by @sometimes-i-talk-a-lot! Thank you so much!!

Rules: You can usually tell a lot about a person by the type of music they listen to. Put your playlist on shuffle and list the first 10 songs, and then tag 10 people. No skipping! 

(but i really liked everyones live comenting and ill do it too : D)

(and also ill cheat a bit because i dont have one playlist with everything ive liked, i have several for diferent moods, so ill shuffle through those however many times i need until i get the 10, still no skipping though!)

1. Tell You by Graham Kartna. I'm pretty sure I found this song because of a sfm animation but I don't remember what!

2. Washing Machine Heart by Mitski. First song by Mitski I ever heard :,) At the time listened to it so much I would start slapping my thighs or clapping the rythm at random moments

3. What's Your Pleasure? by Jessie Ware. Amazing vibes, amazing sounds, amazing video. I should probably check out the artist.

4. The Closing Of The Doors by Róisín Murphy. Welp, nothing I can say rn :,)

5. Suspended in Gaffa by Kate Bush. Pleasant surprise when I first heard it! Love all the diferent ways her voice can sound.

6. My Girls by Animal Colective. This song hits so many spots i like! The soft synths, the acoustic(sounding at least) drums and drumsticks, the singing in a group, etcetc

7. tony thot by bbno$ (prod. lentra). I found this artist because of a youtuber's outros. Fun fact: his face is super similar to my sibling's, freaked me out when I first saw him ahah

8. Mais Uma by Filipe Sambado. just. one of those songs ye know (currently containing myself not to scream sing and wake up my parents). the instrumental is really good too, i could talk so much about it, this artist is one of the inspirations for a paper I want to write

9. Oliver e Benji (1ª Abertura - Portugal) by Hiromoto Tobisawa (Not sure about the translation but the whiplash isn't letting me go look for it right now ARE YOU SURE I CAN'T SKIP ANY omfg). So thats an intro for a cartoon i watched as a kid, its on a playlist with a section just for nostalgia. Excuse me while I go listen to other cartoon intros now ahah

10. Dead Of Night by Orville Peck. Oof what a way to finish this up! Amazing voice and it's an entrancing/hypnotizing song. Everytime I hear this song I can't do anything but sit there and listen.

tagging @heavenknowsffs @communistprickbiscuit @yikesss @calicake @baffledbassist

[tm-trx]

currents.05

weekly round-up in media [29 jan-4 feb 2023]

~ sp*ilers for 609 Bedtime Story, A League of Nobleman, The New Employee, and Never Let Me Go ~

[listening]

Monsta X’s “The Dreaming” album - new discovery and I’ve had it on repeat

[reading]

Imago series by NR Walker - short and sweet adult contemporary mlm romance set in Australia; come for the romance, stay for the butterfly conservation and near-death experiences - reread

Pocketful of Soul by @jenroses - Mo Xuanyu-centric MDZS time travel fix-it and one of my 2022 favorites - reread

Dawn Will Break by ca_pierson and darkmoore - Stargate Atlantis AU - Written for the 2010 Big Bang, this is one of my favorites. A bare bones summary: After dying, John Sheppard dimension hops into multiple versions of himself to fix whatever is wrong there, at the behest of the Ancients. - reread

[watching]

609 Bedtime Story - Well that was a way to end it I guess. I did like how they resolved things with Mint, but I was hoping she’d figured out the connection between Mum and Dew. But that would mean talking about the parallel world again and they apparently decided that the entire conceit of the show didn’t matter anymore after ep 9. I’m so annoyed. (Edit: I just found out there is an alternate ending airing next week; most likely an ‘unhappy’ ending. What are you doing, show? I’m not even mad about it, just more confused.)

A League of Nobleman - The show I’m enjoying the most this week. I didn’t expect such gorgeous visuals in a historical mystery that isn’t a fantasy. There’ve been two mysteries so far and the second one involved a serial killer. I enjoyed the heck out of that arc. I have affectionately nicknamed Zhang Ping ‘Eyebrows’ in my head because those are some fantastic ones he’s sporting. Kudos to the makeup team.

The Lost Tomb (2015) - Binged most of season one last night and I’m hooked. This is amazing. Also, surprise Yang Yang! (I’d forgotten why it was on my watchlist, so he must be why.) The quality level is about late 90s/early 2000s but that was early fandom in my life, so nostalgia is hitting me hard. I’m having a great time with this one.

The New Employee - Seven episodes feels like a weird episode count for a series, but okay - I watched the last two episodes back to back and loved how they ended it. I do find it interesting however, that we never saw the ex/crush again after he was the trigger for the main relationship blip. It felt like they were going to take that further. I probably should have waited to binge this in one go, because I had completely forgotten that there was a manager who could cause trouble until he caused trouble. These short form dramas are generally pretty frustrating to watch because I can clearly see a longer (usually better) show around them. This one did feel complete, but I’m hoping they release a movie version.

[anticipating]

SHINee - Key’s album repackage is this month! Onew finished recording something! Minho is too tall! Taemin D-57!

[random notes from my tv journal]

609 Bedtime Story, ep 11 - “The kissing sounds don’t match the video?!” (This show botched the ending so bad, in multiple ways. This particular way made me laugh though.)

A League of Nobleman, ep 6 - “Surprise serial killer! Neat!”

My School President, ep 9 - “Gun and Tinn’s little scene on the beach while spying on Sound gave me major ‘future old married couple’ feelings.” (And now I want to read that future fic where Gun is home on break from touring and teasing his doctor husband into relaxing after a stressful shift.)

Never Let Me Go, ep 8 - “That was an extremely ominous music cue to tag the bathroom confrontation scene with.” (Up until that last moment it felt like any other scene in this show, but the music change elevated it and made it seem like Ben was going to come back and murder the kid. It threw me out of the scene it was such a jarring escalation. I may go back and watch it again, to see how it feels on rewatch.)

previous Currents posts

[wrestlinghistorywithkay]

NXTREME : A Review Of NXT 2300

Last night , NXT went extreme. Shawn Michaels took NXT on the road to the 2300 Arena. The 2300 Arena plays a big part in professional wrestling because it was the home to Extreme Championship Wrestling( ECW ). NXT was aired on Wednesday due to the Presidential Election. Also, it went to head to head with AEW Dynamite. This is a review of the show. All thoughts are my own.

The introduction to NXT took me back to the 1990s which hit me with a feeling of nostalgia. I was born in 1997 during the prime of ECW, however , I go back and watch it on Peacock. In the intro , we hear the original ECW theme song with Paul Heyman’s voiceover. We see the stars of NXT such as Stephanie Vaquer, NXT Champion Trick Williams , Ethan Page, Ridge Holland , Cora Jade , NXT Women’s Champion Roxanne Perez , Guilia, Lola Vice, The Family , etc and iconic moments that took place in the ECW arena. We also see vignettes of legends such as Rob Van Dam , Dawn Marie , Francine , and the Dudley Boyz. This was the best show intro I’ve seen from them. Now , let’s get into the match card!

To kickoff NXT 2300, the Hardcore Match with Jaida Parker and Lola Vice took place. The legendary ECW Original , Dawn Marie, was the Special Guest Referee. Before the show started , Jaida and Lola cut promos on each other for the WWE NXT social media accounts. I thought their promos were phenomenal because it showed off how intense their rivalry is and their built up anger towards each other . Parker and Vice used any weapon that they could find from trash cans , kendo sticks , steel chairs , ladders, etc. However, I just want to know where did Ms Parker find a brick to hit Lola with? Jaida Parker backed up everything she said she was going to do in the match against Vice and picked up the victory. Both women put their bodies on the line and put on a phenomenal match . It was also amazing to see the beautiful Dawn Marie kill it as the special guest referee. I loved how she had ECW on her boots.

In a backstage segment, ECW Original and WWE Hall of Famer , Rob Van Dam , was giving the former NXT Women’s North American Champion, Kelani Jordan , a pep talk as she was preparing for the huge 10 woman tag team match which was the main event. After this , RVD was attacked with a steel chair by Wes Lee, who had a match against The Young OG, Je’Von Evans. This match was the battle of two of the best high flyers in the business in my opinion. With Lee being the Heel he is , he was going to hit Evans with a steel chair , until , RVD’s music hit. RVD was coming down to the ring to get revenge on Lee. Thus , Lee was going to hit the WWE Hall of Famer with a steel chair again , however , RVD dodged it. Evans picks up the victory. These two have amazing in ring chemistry in my opinion and need to have more matches together .

In a segment that was taped , we see the NXT North American Champion, Tony D’Angelo and The Family ( Channing ‘ Stacks Lorenzo , Adrianna Rizzo, and Luca Crusifino ) , met up with the legendary Nunzio and Tony Mamaluke ( Full Blooded Italians ) . The phone call Tony D got on last week’s episode of NXT built up to this. Nunzio challenges D’Angelo for the North American Championship. This was pretty surprising to me when Nunzio did this . I’ll get more into this later.

NXT General Manager , Ava, and her two associates, Mr. Stone, and Stevie Turner , came to the ring for a big announcement. Ava’s announcement was about NXT Deadline and the Iron Survivor Challenge. Deadline will take place on December 7 2024, which is on a Saturday in Minneapolis, Minnesota. After the announcement was made , Mr.Stone began taunting the fans and then, the lights went out while doing so. When the lights came on back on and Stone was still taunting the Philly crowd , ECW Original , and TNA Hall of Famer , Rhyno , was the corner of the ring . Stevie Turner told Stone to turn around and soon, he was Gored by Rhyno. Commentators , Vic Joseph , and WWE Hall of Famer , Booker T , went wild as well as the fans . I even went wild. I also laughed at Stone too because that’s what he gets.

In a small segment , we see Stephanie Vaquer , Zaria , Jordynne Grace , Kelani Jordan , Stephanie Vaquer , and Guilia preparing for the main event. Guilia tells them that they will beat all of their enemies. Lash Legend and Jakara Jackson interrupt them to put all of them on notice . Stephanie and Guilia step up to them. Lash and Jakara say their have their money on the champions of the division , Roxanne Perez and 1/3 of Fatal Influence, the Women’s North American Champion, Fallon Henley.

Next match is a tag team match . All EGO Ethan Page and Ridge Holland took on the NXT Champion, Trick Williams , and the legendary WWE Hall of Famer , Bubba Ray Dudley . The build up to this match came from Halloween Havoc and social media . Booker T was great hyping Trick up and always is when he comes out the ring . It makes me as a fan look forward to seeing Williams, so thanks Booker. The coolest thing about this match was seeing Bubba Ray rock the iconic Dudley Boyz camouflage and glasses . It was cool to see him put a pair on Booker T. The match was great. I think Dudley and Williams made a great team. To me , this introduced him to a new generation of fans. What shocked me was Holland pinning Williams to pick up the win for himself and Page. I was pretty happy about that because I love Ethan Page. Dudley and Williams had to defend themselves against the two again , however , when Bubba Ray told Trick to get the tables , he couldn’t find one due to Page’s rule of no tables under the ring . Therefore , the Dudley Boyz music hit again and here comes D-Von bringing a table to the ring . Ethan Page was put through the table with The Dudley Boyz raising Trick Williams’ hand and Williams becoming an honorary Dudley with D-Von putting the glasses on him. This was a great match and the table spot will forever be legendary.

The team of Cora Jade and NXT Women’s Champion, Roxanne Perez ( aka Team 2001 ) , and Fatal Influence ( Women’s North American Champion, Fallon Henley , Jacy Jayne , and Jazmyn Nyx ) , cut a promo against their opponents. They kept talking about how they wanted to be like them at the top. I’m not gonna lie , Roxanne Perez and Cora Jade both gave me major AJ Lee vibes during this promo. They were the two who stood out to me the most.

What I wasn’t expecting to happen was the North American Championship match . Nunzio is 52 years old and stepped in the ring against Tony D’Angelo. What I didn’t like about this match was seeing some of the comments made about Nunzio’s appearance online. Nunzio still has it in my opinion. Body shaming isn’t cool. I was on the edge of my seat during this match because I thought Nunzio had Tony beat. Tony D took care of business by retaining the North American Championship and embracing Nunzio in a hug and raising his hand. This is something I love seeing. What I mean by this statement is seeing legends in the business who still step in the ring and help young talent by putting them over. I’ve seen it happen at Independent Wrestling shows.

Before the main event , a video package and promo of Nikkita Lyons airs. She talks about how she did a favor for Oba Femi by taking Adrianna Rizzo out . She said she knew she had come back different when she returned due to being attacked lot. Now, she’s the attacker and is going to drop the Women’s Division one by one . She calls out Rizzo for a match. To me , I think she needs more work on her promos and in the ring . I didn’t like this promo at all.

Before the main event , ECW Original and the Queen of Extreme , Francine , was spotted and recognized by Booker T and Vic Joseph. I thought it was amazing to see her there. She’s one of the most iconic managers in professional wrestling. I always credit her as one of my favorite women in wrestling .

Now , time for the main event , the 10 Woman Tag Team match . All I can say is, this should’ve been and needs to be the Women’s War Games match for Survivor Series. This was a test of strength and stamina. It showcased how rivalries and storylines with Women’s Wrestling need to be showcased. I have two MVPs for this match from each team. For Team Vaquer , it was Zaria. Zaria showed her strength for her team. When she lifted Jacy Jayne , I thought Jacy was scared for her life . The second MVP is Kelani Jordan. Kelani took RVD’s pep talk to heart and killed it. She’s one of my favorites to watch. And for Team Roxanne , it was Roxanne Perez. They don’t call her ‘ The Prodigy ’ for nothing . The second MVP is Jacy Jayne. Jacy’s selling is getting so much better and how I could tell was when she screamed in fear when Zaria was going to slam her . When all the women came into the ring , I thought it was epic to see an all out brawl. They gave it everything they had . I thought that Team Vaquer was going to lose when Zaria accidentally speared Jordynne Grace and when Lash and Jakara interfered. However , Zaria made the save and Team Vaquer won. The 10 women tag match was the match of the night in my opinion. They killed it .

Kay’s Ratings:

Jaida Parker v Lola Vice - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Je’Von Evans vs Wes Lee - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Bubba Ray Dudley and Trick Williams vs Ethan Page and Ridge Holland - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Tony D’Angelo vs Nunzio - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

10 Woman Tag Match - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Kelani and RVD Segment - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

EGO Being Put Through A Table - ⭐️⭐️⭐️

10 Woman Tag Promos - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Nikkita Promo - ⭐️⭐️

Seeing Legends - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mr Stone Being Gored - 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Deadline Announcement- ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My Final Thoughts:

Chef Michaels gave us a legendary show ! I hope NXT 2300 can introduce ECW to the new generation of wrestling fans . My favorite moments were seeing Francine and RVD. What I didn’t like was not seeing Paul Heyman, the brainchild of ECW. But , if he comes back with the Bloodline story , I get it . I hope this can become a yearly show with NXT! Hell, make it a PLE!

Love Ya All,

- Kay

[boyfhee]

hehe, i know and thanks for the jay fic, in enjoyed reading it ^^ well thanks for the blassing but am still not ready :] and ill tell her to do well in her boards (from you who said it)

pcm is no fun, there is no reproduction to laugh at :/ i have fear of them and that was the only, only reason for me to not choose pcb... my mom wanted me to become a gynaecologist :( sadly, it wont be true... yeaa apothorax, i font know but yea medicine is still a lot to take it.

i just watched random fs programme and only hanyu was the one i knew, i didnt go in deep but yes, i still love fs... and for the coding languages, once again thanks ^^ atleast you mentioned what to learn bevause i dont know where to start :0

anyways, my fav album is border : day one and my fav track is all time flicker and let me in. my fav bsides would be chaconne, bills, upper side dreamin, prdx, mixed up and title track would be sweet venom, tamed-dashed and drunk-dazed :)

if you have an instagram account or ny other apps talk, i would love to know it and know you more ++ the fact that you are chiyuv (my fav writer back in 22' :0 i am in tears. i never went through your old mlist until today, so nostalgia hit me hard... your how to get back with ur ex + fair and square + unlikelihood are my favssss 😭😭😭😭😭 ill trade my spy x family manga for them to reread if they were to disappear some day 🥲

i stopped using tumblr in late 2022 and started using it now + stopped writing way back in early 2021 because my mom got to know my writing acc for enha on ig 😭😭) i wanna talk more about everything with you but tumblr feels like we are in a long distance relationship, where we get our letters once in a blue moon 🥲

— lover club anon <33

sweets, i'm telling you reproduction is only fun when you're studying penis and vagina but not the mechanism TT i was going thru hell in embryology lectures 🙏 also, it's neet's fav chapter i'm lowkey bored of it. we studied it sm times that there was an ongoing joke in our class that next lecture will be based on practical and visual learning 😭 also a gynaec :O that's cool ! i'm aiming for cardio-thoracic / neurosurgery, although more inclined towards the former ( imagine five years later i'm a doctor while still crying over jay )

one of my friends was a huge fs fanatic so she made me get into it and it's fun, honestly :> and you don't have to worry about coding yet ! once classes start, i think you'll get a good idea of where to start from. although, html is usually the basic ( in my case, it was? we learnt it before anything ) and then css cause that's a bit more advanced. we took html css and python together, but javascript was only for pcm + cs students. i hope you have fun learning how to code ^^

FLICKER IS SO GOOD TT i remember looping it for hours while writing my lab manuals lmfao. and upperside dreaming too it has such a nice melody :O i'm gna be honest i didn't like prdx at first but then it grew up on me and now it's one of my fav tracks :D chaconne 🙏 no one knows her like me. when the tl was ranking it last on the basis of highlight medley i had faith in it because anything titled chaconne can't go wrong i have proof to back this up ( it's so serious for me can u believe this ) me and a close moot had out daily chaconne stream sessions lmfao

drunk-dazed aged like wine because it sounds like the first time every time i listen to it :] my favs are bite me, sweet venom, blessed-cursed, ptm, i know if only you say yes will be on the list too the moment it's released because that melody and humming is stuck in my head ><

AND TRADING SPY X FAMILY IS CRAZY ??? pls i didn't expect you to be here for so long but i'm glad you remember chiyuv .. what an era 0_0 my instagram is beusoir if you want to follow and discord is znghao. i would love to talk more, just hmu on insta or disc ^^

[drewoclock]

Drying Paint

Originally written May 20th, 2014

OHHHHHHH YES!  Salutations, everyone.  I’m Drew D’Amelia, and inspiration has manifested itself as a phantasm and a club simultaneously, striking me as a phantasm with itself as a club to bestow me with some fascinating scrawlings for you to—

Stop right there!

D-hur?!

You’re going to write something about your outlook on life, aren’t you?

…b, but how did you know?!

It’s the same old whistle and wiggle with you, Drew.

…well, pah-haw!  I’ve got another jam-slammin’ topic to—

Is it about girls?

It’s about relationships!

But does it stem from girls?

…G-doir!  Well—well that’s all fine, I’ve got—

You’ve got ideas on physical appearance?  Nostalgia?  Your opinion on the way things should be?

Harrrrghar!  What are you making me?

I’m making you nothing, Drew.  You’ve made yourself.  You’re the stalest thing since stale bread.  Talk about something DIFFERENT, Drew, or I’ll tap my foot a little.

The countering literary device has a point.  I’ve written about things that I love in one way or another, but most of these topics have been more than familiar to me.  Very few have been new, and as someone that’s an active proponent of keeping an open mind, I feel obligated to do something about it.

But to write something new, I need two things.  First, I have to be passionate about what I’m writing about.  That’s not very implausible—I’m adept at finding things interesting.  I thought about paint drying as a joke to write here and legitimately started to think that it was cool.  I mean—think of the science behind it.  It’s liquid, and then it’s not, and it’s a new color.  It’s probably the most fascinating thing in the entire universe now that I think about it.

But second, I need something to write about, and that’s usually the problem.  Sure, paint drying is among the greatest treasures of this delectable planet, but what can I say about it?  It involves air, and chemicals, and paint, which has color, which IS SO AWESOME.  But that’s really just a sweet nothing.  It’s more than just discovering something.  It’s stumbling upon something to say.

It’s also hard to actually find something truly new.  I know about language, culture, history, arts, sciences… I’ve got virtually all of the main categories too in tune to be truly new.  If I want to hit new, I’ve got to dig deeper to get to the really specific stuff.  I can’t just think of fruit.  I have to think of a kumquat, grown under less than ideal conditions of a farmer who’s been fumbling under the pressure of educating his daughter on sexual intercourse.  And the kumquat is an atheist.  That’s not the easiest, especially when I’m operating in a less imaginative universe.  And then I have to be passionate about it, and find something to say about it.

To try to encourage myself, I’ve created a little game for myself I call Ten Degrees of Separation.  The objective is to think of anything that’s not immediately present in your moment right now.  So since I’m currently googling how to masturbate elephants, I probably shouldn’t think of Google.  So I’m going to actually authentically play this right now… Ghosts.  There we go.  Ghosts are currently not relevant, unless it’s a ghost that’s masturbating this elephant, and I’m pretty sure it’s not.  (I’m not actually watching a video of an elephant being masturbated.) (I did watch that yesterday though.) (That’s a joke, just to be clear.) (It’s a joke.)

The next part of the game is to think of something the thing you picked reminds you of.   Then do the same thing for that new thing, until you’ve hit a tenth thing.  Then see if that tenth thing provides you with what you’re looking for!  So let’s see here…

Ghosts

Haunted houses

My weird love for houses

My opinion on my home town

Names

Memory

Neuroscience

Popular things to major in

How to know what you want to do with your life

10. Broadening your horizons 

So as you can see, the game totally didn’t work this time around.  I landed on “broadening your horizons”, and that’s definitely not something new or unique.  If I wrote about that, it would fit right in with most of my other stuff, and of course, that’d be completely defeating the purpose of trying to write about something new hahahahahahahaha.  But I do hope to play this game for next time and hopefully, it’ll result in me writing about something both engaging and new to me.  I think it’s worth doing every once in a while to keep myself from being stagnant.  I want to be like drying paint: Colorful, cool, and showing no signs of drying any time soon.

[benefits1986]

Carla Bruni x Trauma Therapy

A PL for the soul bleeding in scarlet sins is therapeutic for trauma. 

Last Sunday, dad and I went biking with Vici, my OG boss; my first born, my therapy dog. Dad didn’t like getting up early because he’s in his Netflix deluge era. Since it’s Mother’s Day, I made sure we steer clear of very likely spaces where moms are too many; because Mother’s Day is a trigger for me; and I can vividly see my dad’s sedated self shaken. He dragged his lazy ass off at around 6 am and I stopped him from his Facebook trash content curation routine. Dad has very specific routine and that means giving him about 2 hours to go about his rituals.  While driving to a sedated spot in the South, he asked me to play Moon River. His best version is that of Frank Sinatra. I told him that it’s Louis Armstrong for me on usual days and nights. Of course, we had another bashing session why Frank is better than Louis. We didn’t budge, as always. HOWEVER, since I watched Something In The Rain as recommended by a number of single lady friends, I gave in. Naging laughable song na for me ‘yung Stand By Your Man kasi ano ‘yun? Ako na naman maga-adjust? LOL. So, bigyan ko na ba chance mga XY and XX na sobrang bata para maiba naman? Basta, ‘wag ko lang i-compare sa mga mas advanced sa career and life na mga beings and doings? Anyhow, I really like Carla Bruni because she has a certain style that swims across the usual.  It’s the first time dad heard Carla’s version of Moon River. Sabi niya grabe naman daw version sabay wipe ng pabagsak ng luha while driving. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. I told him that Carla is a Venn Diagram of Sitti x KZ  Tandingan x Moira. LELS. Sabi niya, tigil-tigil daw ako. ‘Di raw siya client or stakeholder na kailangan kong kumbinsihin. LOL. Pero, he told me to play it again and then told me to stop the song na kasi mapanakit.  Marketing is part of daily grind. LOL. Trauma Marketing slanted on Trama Therapy to be exact. I shared previously that I ate my shit words when I chose to forgive my dad without him saying sorry out loud when he abandoned me when mother dragon expired. Losing a mom, as dad shared is something he didn’t realize he is NOT prepared for. LOL. Sabi ko is tumigil siya kasi ako, mom expired a year before she turned 60. Ina expired at a really curious age of 88. Doble 8 ‘yan. :D Eternity x 2.  Trauma marketing is more than pain point probing. It’s a mix of nostalgia and core memories dressed to appeal to the aspirations and hidden wishes and fetish of your audience of one. Truth be told, apart from the two universal common grounds, taxes and death, marketing is the material and immaterial ground where your audience of one is slithering in as they try their best to manage their each and every mischief without the Maurader’s Map, The Philosopher’s Stone, The Elder Wand and the most coveted Cloak of Invisibility.  Ever wonder why Pixar’s earlier films like Up, Toy Story, Cars, WALL-E and Inside Out make you tear up while the kids who are watching usually have their mouths wide open and their eye glued? Trauma marketing. Trauma therapy. :D HUY.  LOL. Mag-keynote na ba ako sunod? PAK. Buo na first 100++ words pa lang. CHOZ. Feeling ko! Hahahahahaha. Sige, sa brown bag session season ko na lang para makapag-practice ako. Baka sabihin, masyado naman akong appealing to ad misericordiam pero ganun talaga ang marketing. Wala tayong maggagawa kung ‘di to bump up the numbers using irrefutable truths and let people consume in the name of battling their harshest and sadly, inescapable realities. HUYYYYY. ANO ‘YAN? Ang aga-aga, mhie. ‘Wag gigil. 

I keep going back to my first mentor and his first pasavogue in class, DAY ZERO. Marketing is the moment you wake up until the moment you die. POTA. Siya na talaga magaling. Ateneo x UA&P Dragon’s Lair (eme) x all-boys kasing alpha male na mahilig sa beautiful beings and doings dahil malimit niyang nasi-slip na tumatawid sila sa Maryknoll noong kabataan niya. Gwapong-gwapo sa sarili e.  LOL. HAHAHAHAHAHA. LOL. HAHAHAHAHA. Kaya kung ‘di lang din mas pasavogue sa unang buga niya, bye. CHZ. Ang layo pa nung first 100 words ko. Need to prune para pak. Namiss ko tuloy first mentor ko. Thinking since 2022 H2 na to reach out to her daughter to ask how he is bilang he rarely checks his email, and almost wala siyang digital footprint pero siya ‘yung nag-egg sa akin mag-adver and eventually, mag-digital. Sana this H2 2023, mapush ko na sarili to check on him and his whereabouts.  I realized that ang deep, dark and delicious ng slant ni OG marketing dad ko. Hahahahaha. Ngayon lang din while I am typing this thought fart. Very first world but anchored on the Asian vibe as a Fil-Chi si OG marketing tatay. Also, sobrang swerte ko lang na napansin niya ako sa lahat ng kinanginang case studies and papers ko na siniguro kong A+ or A na walang minus para magkaroon ng runway na maging mentor ko siya bilang wala naman akong connection sa mundo ng elite marketeres noon hanggang ngayon. HAHAHAHAHA. Side Note 1: Mag-Shakey’s nga ako work on weekend para ma-imbibe ko ang kapangyarihan at bertud ni OG marketing tatay. ‘Yung mga pagtatawa niya sa ... pati na sa propenents of PH business management and marketing tulad nina... ayoko na lang mag-name drop kasi baka ma-SS ako. Hahahaha. We don’t do that literal shit gaming. Mag-Google ka if you’re not catching my drift. :D Pero, approve sa kanya si Minyong Ordonez at si Mon Jimenez. HAHAHAHAHAHA.  Side Note 2: Back in practicum days, tawang-tawa ako kay Mon J. Pababa ako ng Pacific Star noon tapos nakasabay ko siya. Syempre, fan girl. Hahahahaha. Kaya todo kaba ko pero RBF. I just smiled a small smile. Then nahulog ‘yung twenty peso-bill niya. Pinulot niya pero ‘di abot kasi mala-Snorlax tummy niya. Tumingin siya sa akin tapos tumawa. Sabi OOPS. Then nag-bend over siya ng slight then naabot na niya. Ganun ang leader. Ganun ang management style. Mhie, owner na ‘yun ng isa sa mga profit-based ad sa Pinas for a good number of years, kaya mhie, ‘wag tayong magmaganda kung wala below minimum ang ganaps mo. HAHAHAHA. Part din ng onboarding nina Mon J noon ‘yung pagkwento ng humble beginnings nila where they actually make calls para sa billings nila tapos todo stress levels kasi nga ‘di biro lalo ‘pag ang mga kalaban mo sa billings are the high and mighty multinational agencies.  Sa kanya ko rin natutunan na it’s okay to make mistakes, to cry like there’s no tomorrow and to fucking fail forward sa bawat Shakey’s with draft beer session namin sa South. Siya rin dahilan why I am unbothered na akala sa akin sugar baby ako kasi narealize ko rin na kahit lagi kaming may specific safe distance bilang tatay-anak nga ang aming connection, wala. Maraming gago at tarantadong akala mo maka-judge, wagas. Kinangina. At kikinang ang inang ito kasi lagot ako kay mother dragon ‘pag hindi. Saka mother dragon-approved si OG Gemini marketing dad as a tadong Taurus na sobrang maka-judge pero napapagpaliwanagan naman at dalisay makaintindi ‘pag kinausap mo na parang pre-school consistently in about a month or so. LOL.  ________ Carla Bruni’s version of Moon River is cutting so deeply that even when I’m not spiraling like crazy, ansakit, bhe. Ansakit talaga. In fact, her melancholic style is really, really breathtaking.  As we went biking that Sunday, wala ang mga bikers. Either iwas sa COVID trap na naman or natakot kasi parang ang lakas ng babagsak na ulan. Actually, dad refused to ride kasi baka nga raw umulan and crazy daw ako. Sabi ko naman, tigil siya kasi puwede namang sumilong. LOL. And ako bahala kay Vici if ever abutin kami ng ulan.  JICYMI or want to indulge in trauma therapy, here’s the link to Carla’s Moon River cover. Also, grabe ‘yung version niya ng The Winner Takes It All. HUY. As a Mamma Mia fan and ABBA (another favorite ng nanay ko) na ‘di nakapanood ng musical at hinintay ang encore ng Mamma Mia sa Manila, mhieeee, ang tinde. :D 

https://open.spotify.com/track/3sICyTPASesVzpfGc1nM2t PS: Searched my OG marketing tatay and nag-message na ako. LOL. Malamang, nakalimutan na naman neto PW neto sa personal email niya and malamang, nagpalit na ‘to ng 0917 OG number niya kaya, tignan natin if he still remembers me. Permission marketing x Shakey’s sa South. Tanong ko next if he is biking tapos padyakikak sesh kami. Ako naman manlibre sa kanya ng draft beer para maiba rin; pero for sure, as a gentleman, hindi na naman siya papayag mag-insist ako. :D Good dayyyyyyy! Let’s friggin’ slay the pests of the blue green ocean because this bitch is off to Juno szn. And will need to keep up because wala e, ‘di tayo good job, ever. LOLOLOLLOLL.  PS2: Lagay ko lang din dito ‘yung isang email exchange namin bilan super busy AF person siya. Minsan, kwento niya sorry daw ‘di siya nakareply kasi nag-meeting siya and immersion sa isang cooperative somewhere. Nagzi-zipline pa ‘to with his wife na sobrang chixxx at her mature age. HIHIHIHIHIHIHI. Loveeet. Ganyan kaming mag-ama. LOL. Amfeee ko na naman. Makapang-asar sa isa’t isa, wagas. Far and few convos pero tagos na tagos. Shet. Naluluha ako. Servant leadership... ‘yan ang core ni OG marketing tatay and hopefully, I can emulate and apply it in my next chapter with NA’s HOW CAN I HELP vibe. :D Sakto, lapit na birthday neto. Humanda siya. :D Humanda siya talaga sa muli naming pagkikita. ‘Wag niya lang idadarang na naman sa social entrep kasi makakatikim siya sa akin ng monologue about 2024 and beyond. ;) Paka-arte talaga netong poised gentleman na gagi rin at his core, always. ‘Pag ‘di niya pa kilala si Brene Brown, bilhan ko siya ng book nun for his character arc development na rin. CHZ.  Malamang matinde rin ang galawan ng SRA booklets niya kasi, mhie, ang galing niya magsulat kahit sobrang tanda na niya. HUHUHUHUHU. Sana all... not. Char.  This reply was long time coming. I was caught up in quite a number of things and I didn't want to bounce off a reply without at least putting some thought to it.  Nakakahiya naman - I was reading a literary gem.   When you get to a certain age, birthdays are something you want to remember less of all celebrate.  Thanks for the kind word ... I could not even remember if I did all of those things.  I just do what I feel should be done - because I feel that it is part of sharing what I little I have.  I'm glad you picked up a few things although I'm not quite sure if I'm exactly the model figure you should emulate.  I have made so many mistakes in my life although a number of them have forged me to be a better and humbler person. It has taught me that the more you want to be in control, the less you are in control.  Faith in the unseen gives you a sense of direction and a firm purpose in life even if you don't have a full grasp of it. That's the irony - by learning to live your life for others, you fulfill and find yourself.  It's a bitter lesson learn - hopefully, in your case not too late in life. Thanks for reminding me I'm getting older, that there's still a few years that can be lived longer and for reminding me that the work is not finish in sharing what little life's riches one has. ! Belated happy birthday - di ka man lang nagpainom.  Ha!ha!  Hope you're getting younger in outlook and zest but mature in term's of taking the punches life throws at you. I'm freer now after last week's winding of my commitments; let's find time with the gang to toast to you year of inching to maturity. Eto naman part nung aking birthday message sa kanya kasi, mhie, ‘wag na. LOL.  As I set foot in the real world, things start to toughen up; but I am confident that, as I fail, I'd be able to make it in time, for I carry a chunk of you in me. To live life with a passion of a kid To find a job I'll enjoy, and worry not about the money To commit mistakes early on To be mature enough to do the things I may not like, but are needed to be done Love, light and shadows in black and white,  B