#sorry to the world. I had watched a youtube video by an australian person and it was on my mind at the time

[eyivibyemi]

✧ I won’t really write descriptions for these, but see original post tags for explanation/commentary on the song snippet ✧

[bucksblr]

tagged by @leonzhng​ thanks for making me dig through my most embarrassing crushes 😭✋

i’ll tag @highwarlockkareena​ @yibobibo​ @lan-xichens​ @purplexedhuman​ @aheartfullofjolllly​ @lanzhansmiles​ @nyx4​ i feel like i tag you guys in everything i am so sorry please ignore this if u don’t wanna do it !!

putting this under a read more for reasons

MEN 2010 – 2016

literally nothing more embarrassing than falling on the same type of white man over and over again (with the exception of minho from shinee bless his heart)

tommy joe ratliff → he was the bass player for adam lambert during his glamnation era (think of songs like for your entertainment and if i had you) idk why exactly i liked him so much but i just did.... however i searched him up again quite recently and found out he’s one of those republicans that says the dumbest shit on twitter so Big Yikes

harry styles → “baby you light up my world like nobody else, the way that you flip your hair gets me overwhelmed, and when you smile at the ground it ain’t hard to tell...” and BOOM 13-year-old me was sold for well over two years

louis tomlinson → basically i liked harry most until around 2013 when for some reason i started to like him a little less, and i got more focused on louis tomlinson, and although i didn’t like one direction anymore louis tomlinson always had a special place in my heart

ashton irwin → so ashton is 5sos’ drummer, i discovered 5sos through one direction & i stanned them until late 2014

harries twins → the harries twins (jack & finn) are basically the reason i started spending a lot of time on youtube, they were funny and pretty and they just had good videos in general, so for almost two years i’d watch their content regularly

choi minho → my first steps into kpop happened bc i was watching videos on youtube (most probably the harries twins) and suddenly i saw the sherlock mv in my recommended videos so i clicked on it and then 14-year-old me proceeded to fall for minho like an idiot

brooks twins → still youtubers, the brooks twins were 3/5 of the janoskians (jai & luke brooks, beau brooks, daniel sahyounie, & james yammouni), an australian youtube comedy group that was active from 2011-2018 though i was only around from 2012-2014 (when jai brooks was dating ariana grande)

jc caylen → surprise! another youtuber! jc caylen was part of o2l (our2ndlife) a youtube collaboration channel on which each of the 6 members posted videos on a certain day in the week (mondays with connor, tuesdays with ricky, wednesdays with sam, thursdays with jc, fridays with trevi (my 2nd favorite member bc she participated on the x factor), saturdays with ricardo, and then they had surprise sundays every week) and i remember how much joy jc & the others always brought me with their silly videos

misha collins → up next, you might know him as the gay angel that was sent to superhell after confessing his love to the homophobic hunter on supernatural, it’s misha collins! basically misha was a huge source of comfort for me, and i even went around calling myself emmisha for almost two full years (cringe)

henrik holm → he played even bech naesheim in skam and my crush on him reached that level of ridiculousness where i actually tried my hand at learning norwegian (i can only remember how to introduce myself and some curse words i would make a great first impression on him)

MEN 2016 – 2021

min yoongi → okay so my baby steps into kpop happened through shinee’s sherlock, but i only got really invested when yoongi dropped agust d 1 because Holy Fuck y’know??

kim namjoon → oh man i remember thinking namjoon was cute and a very good leader and then BAM he dressed like THAT at the 2016 mma’s and i fell in love. hard

park seojoon → i started liking park seojoon whilst i was watching hwarang (you guessed it, i watched it bc of taehyung), although he wasn’t my favorite character by far, but he was very silly off camera & i liked that (i’m not that into him anymore tho </3)

kim seokjin → OH BOY LET ME TELL U i liked seokjin from the very beginning (i got to know bts in late 2014) and i always liked seeing him perform and be himself and god once i realized i had a crush on him it just hit me like a mf truck, and he’s still one of my favorite people to this day

jung hoseok → god fake love era hoseok really hits different.... also yes i know i have all of bts’ hyung line on my list BUT bts was a really big part of my life for almost 6 years soooo honestly they deserve it i still think they’re great guys

choi san → when ateez made their debut in 2018 i immediately fell in love with san, he was such an amazing dancer and he captivated me right from the very beginning, to this day he’s still my bias in ateez uwu

xiao zhan → AND THEN, OCTOBER OF 2019 HAPPENS AND I WATCH CQL AND... i fall in love with xiao zhan, something i’d never expected would happen bc when i watched cql for the first time i wasn’t as invested in the story, but i really really really liked xiao zhan and one thing led to another and now here i am as a xfx

wang yibo → the thing is, i’ve known yibo since eoeo except i didn’t know cql yibo was uniq yibo (bc i’d forgotten his name) and when i looked it up i can tell you my jaw dropped to the floor bc holy shit????? also he is very silly and i love him loads ok

lee minho → ah, the man who has been my skz bias since 2018, not only is minho my bias i also kin him (there’s a lot of aspects of myself that i see in minho and vice versa) and he’s very comforting to me

bang chan → honestly, it was only a matter of time before i’d fall for bang chan, i knew the moment i got into skz again that i’d start biasing him and, well, here i am, double biasing chan & minho

WOMEN

this list is shorter bc i’ve in general always had less crushes on women than on men??? blame society forcing me into thinking i was straight for a LONG time

ariana grande → remember the 2011 layout of twitter?? where u could not only have an icon and a header, but also a background and ur twitter page was smack in the center of ur screen with the big ugly menu bar at the top??? yeah ariana grande was always my background for my l*rr* st*l*n*s*n layouts

perrie edwards → this was right around the time she was dating zayn & little mix was breaking out into the spotlight, yeah i just really loved her

andrea russett → okay so remember o2l?? andrea russett was kian’s girlfriend for a pretty long time and they always did videos together and i always thought she was super pretty

lily collins → maybe i don’t like clary in tmi all that much but i sure liked the way lily collins looked

alona tal → MY BISEXUAL AWAKENING, it’s only when i saw alona tal in spn that i realized, fuck i might be gay

park jihyo → i discovered twice (my 2nd jype group after day6) through the like ooh-ahh mv and red-haired jihyo really did something to my heart (i just rewatched it and god zombie bang chan is so mf cute)

kim jisoo → when bp made their square two comeback i was immediately smitten for red-haired jisoo in playing with fire, it’s also when i realized she was my bias out of the four members

shin ryujin → the reason that i have blue hair is partially bc of ryujin and her amazing intro in wannabe :D

xuan lu → her portrayal of jiang yanli was SO ON POINT and she’s just such a kindhearted wonderful person wow i want her hand in marriage

lee yoobin → god i’ve known dreamcatcher from back when they were still called minx and ever since i’ve always looked at dami that bit more than the rest, i was also able to see dreamcatcher live in october of 2019 and the whole experience was just so amazing !!

FICTIONAL CHARACTERS

there’s a whole lot more than just these 10 but i wanted to fit the evolution into one (1) slide as best as i could lmao

peter pan → this movie came out in 2003 (?) and he’s honestly the first fictional character i remember ever having a crush on

legolas → i was really doubting between placing haldir or legolas here but i only really got a vague haldir obsession when i was like 14

zuko → LOOK. ZUKO IN ATLA? HOT. ZUKO IN LOK? HOT EVEN IF HE’S AN OLD MAN.

will turner → man was annoying sometimes but i really liked him and his relationship with elizabeth was cute

jo harvelle → gosh i can’t believe she’s the only female character in here???? yeah she was one of my two spn faves and i’ll never forgive the screenwriters for the way they killed her off

castiel → does your fave ever get sent to super hell for being gay? no? well. mine did

kili → fili and kili’s storyline tore my heart out, spit on it, and then laughed straight in my face, KILI WAS LITERALLY MY FAVORITE DWARF

howl → i only watched this movie for the first time in 2020 so i kinda fucked up the tl cause i watched cql in 2019 but shh, anyways howl with his blonde hair was good looking but howl with his black hair just hits differently. i want a howl

lan jingyi → MY BABY BOY, TINIE LITTLE BABIE WHOMST I MUST PROTECT ok no but seriously this kid. i love him a lot

mu qing → BARK BARK. that’s all (that’s not all i love him a whole lot and it hurts me to see so many people misunderstand his character and only see the bad parts of him when they can forgive others for fucking up (eg. xie lian himself & feng xin) but bc mu qing doesn’t deal well with emotions suddenly he’s the bad guy??? i s2g if ppl are gonna do to him what they did to jiang cheng in the tgcf la i will RIOT)

[not-poignant]

Hi Pia, I hope you’re well. Please feel free to ignore this if it’s too personal... but how do you deal with death as a concept when you have the chronic illnesses that you do? Are you afraid to die, and if you are, how do you keep from constantly thinking about how you could die early (so to speak) if your health takes a turn? I’ve had a lot of health scares recently and it’s getting harder and harder to just live without feeling constantly afraid. Thank you for everything you do.

Hi anon!

Firstly, I am very sorry to hear about your health scares. They suuuuuck. They really suck. I’m replying partly out of solidarity, but I don’t know if I have anything that will really work for you, because sometimes I really struggle to find things that work for me, but I’m happy to share what I’ve picked up along the way. <3 And I hope in the meantime that things pick up for you.

The timing of this is pretty spot on, in that I’m going through pretty serious scanxiety at the moment (what we call ‘anxiety around getting scans for cancer’ in my cancer support group that I’m a member of). I had a full body PET scan two weeks ago (no results yet), and I have a head/neck MRI on Friday, for which I can hopefully get the results Mon/Tuesday. But I don’t have my follow up with my Endocrinologist until late July, so I won’t know for about 6 weeks if I have any new tumours in my abdomen.

I definitely don’t want to die from this disease, and it will probably be the thing that kills me. Not any time soon, that’s less likely, but it’s just...likely overall. A lot of the statistics are stacked against me, I have three primary tumours in my head/neck, and there’s no indication that my body is going to stop growing them, and there’s no cure and likely to be no cure in my lifetime.

So yeah, I get anxious. I am afraid to die (I mean in general, unless I’m suicidal, but also specifically the way this disease is likely to kill me: progressively taking my hearing, my ability to swallow and talk, my ability to move my arms and my head and my neck, my sense of balance and ability to walk upright without collapsing, and more - which doesn’t even count metastatic disease - is a horrible way to die). And I live with the knowledge that like, it literally takes one scan result to change my entire life all over again (hence, scanxiety).

BUT, living in constant fear is just...not helpful. It’s understandable, it is an understandable emotional response, but it’s not a helpful response. Because what matters most in these scenarios is quality of life; and you get quality of life (in chronic illness and acute disease) by managing emotional outcomes as vigilantly and with as much self-compassion (and patience) as possible. So these are the things that work for me, if they don’t work for you, that’s fine, some might even feel completely wrong for you, that’s also fine and normal. The things we tell ourselves to cope in this are deeply personal. I hate the phrase ‘fuck cancer’ for example, other people who have cancer use it as a battle cry and feel strong because of it.

***

* ‘Can I literally do anything more than I’m doing to change the outcomes of my illness without hurting myself? No? Then admit you have no control over this and let it go.’ This is something I tell myself when I start panicking. ‘But what if I get this result what if this happens what if this tumour starts growing again what if.’ I just look at myself sternly and say: ‘HOW is this helpful?’ It’s NOT. Knowing the answers to any of those what ifs changes nothing in the moment except my anxiety, distress and fear levels. And then I say ‘so WHAT would be helpful? What do you have control over?’ And then I might wait and think... ‘well...I really like that Youtube channel One Meal A Day I might watch one of those videos’ or ‘well...I might journal about my feelings and give them some space (see further down) and then try and let them go because just cycling around them isn’t productive.’ Sometimes we hang onto anxiety because our brain convinces us it will somehow be helpful. With this stuff it rarely is.

* WORRY TIME. Yay worry time! Set aside 5-20 minutes a day (or every three days, or once a week, but you might need to start with once a day when things are really bad) to write down ALL of your worries about your illnesses. All the irrational things, the logical things, ALL of it, no matter how embarrassing. And omg, chase those worries down. Really sit and be with your worry. Give it space. Let it speak! But do it with the intention that once those 5-20 minutes are over, that’s it. You’re done. If your worries start up again, say gently to yourself: ‘You told me all of this during Worry Time, but if this is new, please save it for tomorrow, I will give you space to share with me then!’ Treat your worry like a little animal that doesn’t know any better, and has to be taught some boundaries. Worry Time becomes the boundary. That doesn’t mean you won’t feel anxious the rest of the time, just if you do, it’s easier to step back mindfully and go ‘huh, I’m anxious right now, that’s really interesting, but I’m going to do something about that tomorrow, and so for now I’m just going to acknowledge it but I’m going to try not to let it ruin my day.’

* ‘Everything right now, this moment, this second is exactly the way it should be.’ This is Taoism, and some people hate it. I use this most often when I’m in excruciating pain, or terrified, or literally in a panic attack. I don’t know why it helps so much, but it does. And I think it’s because it works like this: ‘Everything right now, this moment, this second is exactly the way it should be. Terrible things are happening all over the world. Other people are feeling pain like I am. Animals and plants go on living and dying. Right now everything in this moment is perfect messy imperfection and I am a part of that, a small cog in a huge ecosystem. I am a part of something, I belong in this, and I hate it - I really hate it - but even that is part of that messy imperfection. It just is. And therefore, I can release any attachment or urgency to change the things that I cannot change.’ And then...I will still be in pain, or having a panic attack, or terrified, but it will feel integrated and connected to me. It will feel like it’s a part of something. Still, ultimately, sometimes useless but...even useless excesses of terror are a part of the messy imperfection of life.

This leads onto the second:

* ‘In this moment, I am okay.’ Not like, literally 100% healthy. I’ll never be that. But I’m okay. I’m okay as a person and a human being who deserves love and comfort, and I’m okay to just grab another minute to feel okay. You can pair this with mindfulness meditation, and Smiling Mind has a great free app, and most of the meditations are between 5-8 minutes long. Sometimes ‘I’m okay’ doesn’t mean ‘I feel okay’ - and that’s okay too! I’m not trying to erase my emotions, I’m not trying to make myself never feel afraid of dying, that is an appropriate response to something that literally threatens my life but isn’t doing it urgently right this second. And because it’s not doing it right this second, well, right this second, I’m okay.

* Goals that have nothing to do with your health. For me, probably pretty obviously, it’s my writing and my art and similar. I have responsibilities towards my loved ones and my animal companions. Sometimes just...putting my head down and getting stuff done helps take my mind off things, and that also makes me feel productive and like I’m more than my illnesses. Socialising is a part of this. You are so much more than your illnesses, but you have to live that way too, that’s your responsibility to yourself, to remember that you are more, and then to embrace that in your actions (I mean, keeping in mind spoons/energy levels), even when you’re not always feeling it.

* Look at the things you can control and shore them up where you can. Like, consider writing a will. One of the things I’ve had to do is consider what I’ll do if I get sick so quickly I can never finish Fae Tales or never write anything again. These practical steps can be distressing, but sometimes they can answer background anxieties you didn’t know you had, and put them to bed. ‘I don’t need to worry about this, I’ve already done this part.’ Sometimes it’s just knowing that every time you see a specialist, you’re going to write down your questions, so you no longer need to worry about forgetting them. Things like that seem little, but they add up as background anxieties we do have control over.

* If you can afford it; Therapy. Depending on your illness/es, there may be support groups. Some are dodgy as shit (Fibromyalgia groups have categorically been the worst spaces I’ve ever encountered for genuine support), but generally speaking for serious illnesses, there are support groups. They can be an incredible resource. I help moderate the Australian/New Zealand Para/Pheo Support Group (there’s only one, lol), and like sometimes it’s depressing (people I care about do, on occasion, die), but knowing I’m not alone, knowing I can get advice about what to ask my surgeons or my Endocrinologists or Oncologists, especially for a rare disease? Fuck that’s so invaluable. And being able to help other people advocate for themselves has been really empowering for me.

* Don’t expect to get rid of your fear or anxiety entirely. If you’re alive and you’re human and you like life, you just can’t do that. So remember that when you’re feeling those things, you’re being a normal human being, and you are not alone (even when you feel like the loneliest person in the world, even that’s a part of it). It won’t fix those things, sometimes you can’t. Some days I just give as like, shit days, it happens. June I’ve given up as kind of a shit month honestly. Am I having good moments? Yes. Am I stressed every day about this disease? YES! Fun times. (I won’t be stressed every day if the scan results show that everything is the same tbh, like, then I’ll go back to ‘normal’ where I rarely think about it).

* Don’t write off the day until the day is over. I used to have this habit (and still can sometimes) of writing off the day as being ‘a bad day’ because of a terrible morning. I actually started this habit as a child, because of trauma and abuse, and it was something I kept doing because of mental illness. So this is something I was doing long before cancer came along and additionally kicked my ass. These days, even though I feel so bad sometimes I feel like hell, my entire life is a write off, I try and keep in mind that one thing can change the tone of the day and make it better. And that ‘thing’ can be me and my choices. And the fact is, even if I try some Youtube videos, or to pet my cats, or talk to friends, or whatever and it doesn’t work, at least I can look back and reassure myself: ‘You’re trying so hard, you’re really trying your best’ and also ‘you know this never lasts, it never has, you still have moments where you feel good, which means you’ll have a moment where you’ll feel good again. It’s okay. I’m okay.’

* Dark humour can be a saviour. Oh boy, can it ever. But be careful who you share it with.

* Gratitude for what you have now, and not what you might not in the future, because the future is an illusion, it’s not here now. But you are. I have a journal where I write down something I’m grateful for every day. Even if I’m feeling cynical and hateful and anxious and bitter. And then I might just say ‘I’m grateful for chips’ or ‘I’m grateful for that nice leaf I saw but nothing else’ lol. Just something. I’m grateful I can still hear, I might not hear one day, but I’m listening to a song right now. That matters. I’m grateful I can walk. I’m grateful I can read this post. I’m grateful I can still write my books despite the mild cognitive brain damage I got from radiation. My gratitude doesn’t always feel warm or nice, but I am still, somewhere, deep down, glad I haven’t lost those things.

***

It’s hard, and many of these things take time to learn, and repetition, and getting back on the wagon when you forget. Some days they won’t help, and some days you’ll be so glad of one 5 minute mindfulness meditation it saves the whole rest of the day for you. Sometimes sleeping is a really good reset tool for the brain.

Some people find Buddhism helpful (all life is suffering can become pretty zen when you’re suffering), I found the philosophy of Taoism helpful on top of my regular paganism.

ANYWAY this post is now...2,200 words long fuck that’s longer than some of my university essays I’M SO SORRY so I’m going to stop. Just, please anon, from the bottom of my heart, be gentle with yourself. It’s hard. This stuff is hard. It requires an unfair amount of effort to make it less hard, but that’s all life gives us, because life never promised to be fair or just or compassionate to us. So we must be fair and just and compassionate to ourselves. And that, in its messy imperfection, is all we can do to be a perfect part of this world. <3

[theadventurek9]

Hello, I was wondering if I could pick your brain a little bit since you are basically doing everything I want to do with my dog. If all goes well, I will hopefully be picking up my Australian cattle dog puppy around Christmas. I know the early puppy stage is super important, but honestly all the information out there is a bit overwhelming. So... What should I focus on for a good foundation? links and resource appreciated.

Of course! I’d love to help! First though, I hope all goes well and you have a nice round fluffball for christmas!

There is so much information out there. I know I was incredibly overwhelmed when I was preparing to get Aayla. I wanted her to be a model citizen and my adventure companion. So I’ll list the things that I did with her I think that shaped her into a stable dog, and some things I wish I would have done differently. Okay so I wrote a lot more than I expected, I’m sorry!

In short, do a lot of socializing your dog to all different people, animals and environments. Crate train, do puppy group classes, use puzzle feeders, and reward your dog for being good! Find groups that train in events you might want to do. Volunteer, attend trials and so on. Even better if you can crate and walk around your dog way before they trial at other practices and trials. Let your dog sniff on a long line for walks. Don’t do any jumping/repetitive activity until full grown. Have fun!

If you wanted the long answer!

Research the breed! Know what you are getting! Talk to people who have raised cattle dog puppies. Whether that be the breeder, someone here on tumblr, or so on. I know that we both have herders so the main thing that is common is the nipping! They are bred to bite ankles, they are bred to snap at things that get into their face. Watch videos of working cattle dogs. Herders like to feel like they are in control and like to put animals in their place. Be prepared to walk around with a toy in your pocket. Redirect redirect redirect! Cattle dogs are a hard tempered breed, they tend to be opinionated! So you may have to work harder with socializing and basic husbandry more than your happy golden. Yet they are fun dogs! I’ve always liked them. If you’re looking into getting into dog sports or adventuring they thrive in it!

Crate training Do it. Its something you will use like crazy if you get into dog sports. It will give you peace of mind, helps potty training, and helps a dog learn to settle.

Socializing Okay so I’m constantly doing research on this. With my next puppy I will do some things the same and some things different. I want to my puppy to experience a lot of different people. Adults, kids, babies, elderly, men, women, people in uniform, people with walkers, and everything I can think of. Yet that doesn’t mean I want everyone saying hello and playing with my puppy. If I had another confident puppy I would err on the side of really polite people, who will listen to rules, can reward for sits, and maybe some petting if the puppy can remain calm. No jumping, no over aroused mental state. A nervous or shy puppy, can get food rewards dropped around the people they are unsure of, but are never forced to interact. Puppy doesn’t want to be pet, puppy does not get pet. Yet in general, just being around all these people while getting ignored. Great places for this are parks with playgrounds, home depot, lowes, breweries (non busy hours), coffee shop patios, neighborhood schools when kids get out, and any other dog friendly locations. As for dog socializing, the more I learn the more I find that puppy class socializing is not ideal. Find friendly, calm OLDER dogs (3+ years) for your puppy to interact with. Older dogs that are willing to correct without harming or terrifying your puppy. If you don’t have access to that, then do try to find a puppy socializing class. Your puppy should be around (but doesn’t have to play!) with a lot of different dogs.

Let your dog, be a dog. Let your dog sniff on walks, get a long line and give them some freedom. Let them explore and discover their world and not feel so confined to your side. If you have safe areas that you can let your dog off leash, (and you know they won’t take off) I’m a big advocate that off leash walking is really healthy for your dog’s mental health. But that being said, your dog should not bother any other person or dog. So make sure you have enough awareness of your soundings and a good enough recall to leash them when you are around others. Be safe, and I’m not telling you to break leash laws. If you can’t off leash, then long line is amazing!

Loose leash training started with Aayla the moment she came home pretty much. People often start way later and let their dog yank them around. I started around the house and back yard. If she pulled, I simply didn’t walk until she loosened the leash herself. I also rewarded walking with me, at my speed heavily. Aayla has pretty great leash manners 90% of the time.

Kibble in a bowl is a waste Kongs, puzzle feeders, snuffle mats, pupcicles and training are all ways Aayla ate as a puppy. Everyday I measured out the amount of food she should be eating, then had one bowl with a little of that kibble for every room in my house that Aayla had access too. Whenever I saw a behavior I liked from her, I had rewards close by to give to her. I rewarded chewing on toys, settling, laying on her bed, calling her name and she came to me...and so on. Then the rest of food was given in kongs or puzzle feeders when I couldn’t watch her and she needed to be in a playpen or crate.

Puppy classes I already mentioned I’m not the biggest fan of the puppy crazy play time. Yet if done well the play can be good. There should be short sessions of play with lots a toys and things to explore. It shouldn’t just be an empty room where all the puppies do is wrestle with each other. But I do have to say that getting into puppy obedience classes is really good for your dog. Aayla attended group classes her whole first year. We didn’t need help learning the basics, it was an opportunity for Aayla to learn to work with me in a distracting environment with other dogs and people around.

Find a community. So whatever sports your want to do, find clubs and trainers early. See if they have puppy level classes. They will help with a lot of the early stuff if they are good. Offer to volunteer at events! If you can bring your puppy (after 4 month vax) and have them crated at classes, events and trials. They will be a pro by the time you actually are ready to show yourself! Walk them around trials, and get them used to the environment. Plus let me tell you, getting into dog sports is SO MUCH EASIER when you have people that know whats going on to help you.

Don’t rush it - Spend a lot of time just enjoying your puppy. Go on leisurely walks, play together, not everything has to be super intense training. You have to wait for a lot of stuff for after their growth plates fuse anyways! So no jumping higher than their elbows, and no consistent jumping until after a year at least. Save any repetitive movement (like weave poles, playing strenuous fetch (think chuck-it stick until dog is tired)) until after a year as well. 

Keep it positive - Your puppy has no idea whats right and wrong. They are not (and never will) do anything out of spite or to get you back. They just don’t know what you want or how to be a good dog. So its important to have a lot of patience to help shape them into mature dogs. Reward reward reward. If you are able to ignore your puppy, they should be getting rewarded. The more fun you make training, the more fun it will be and the more your dog will want to work with you. 

Okay so I can’t think of anything else right now, though I’m sure I’m missing a lot. If you know what sports/activities you’re interested in I can give more details on those as well! Otherwise here are some resources for you!

+After You get your puppy - Ian Dunbar (Pretty great details on most common things, good read)

https://www.dogstardaily.com/files/downloads/AFTER_You_Get_Your_Puppy.pdf

+Fenzi classes are great! For a new puppy I’d look at a lot of the foundation classes. 

They have a self study that is: Raising a Performance Puppy

https://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/index.php/courses/24

Kikopup on youtube has some great puppy videos!

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF26FD559887E7EA4

If you let me know what else you’re trying to get into sport wise I can provide more resources too! 

Podcasts : Drinking from the Toilet and Cogdog Radio 

[xopinkmilk18xo]

Get to know me!

1. Name

Courtney Jane Smith

2. Nationality

Australian

3. Age

18

4. Birthday

11th December 2001

5. Zodiac sign (or your primal zodiac sign)

Sagittarius / Ophiuchus

6. Gender

Female

7. Sexuality

Bisexual💙💖💜

8. Your looks (add a picture or describe yourself)

Ew I know

9. What do you/did you study?

I will be going on to study Children’s Nursing at University but in school I studied Sociology, Photography and Childcare

10. What’s your current job like?/What job would you like to have?

I currently hold a part time job at my local corner shop, but will hopefully end up with a job as a children’s nurse or something to do with childcare:)

-

11. Your birth order

Aaron, Charlotte, Abbey, Me:), Lacey

(I think that is what this means)

12. How many siblings do you have?

4

13. Do you have good relations with your family?

Yes but not with my first oldest sister

14. How many friends do you have?

Like 2 lol

15. Your relationship status

Taken🥰

16. What do you look for in a SO?

Good personality, being good looking helps (dont want to date a troll u know) and well I guess that’s it really

17. Do you have a crush?

Yes on my boyfriend

18. When did you have your first kiss?

When I was 14

19. Do you prefer serious and meaningful relationships or casual dating/one night stands?

Serious and meaningful

20. What are your deal breakers?

I’m not really sure:/

-

21. How was your day?

It was okay, could’ve been better but overall it was meh

22. Favourite food & drink

I love pasta like I could marry pasta haha. And my favourite drink is probably either fresh orange juice or something fizzy

23. What position do you sleep in?

On my side, hugging my pillow with my leg out as if it’s straddling someone (I’m lonely, my boyfriend needs to stay over at some point)

24. What was your last dream about?

I honestly wish I could remember but they are so fucking crazy right now

25. Your fears

Spiders, snakes, heights, large crowds, death (morbid I know) and being lonely:(

26. Your dreams

To travel the world with my baby🥺 as well as buy my own house, get my dream career, get married and have babies (basic I know but this is what I want in life and will feel so lucky and blessed if this happens)

27. Your goals

Same as the above I guess? To travel the world with the loml, become a child nurse, get my dream house then get married, have babies and live a happy long life:)

28. Any pets?

Yes! A cat called Binka and a dog called Shiro (Japanese for White as he is a white Japanese Akita)

29. What are your hobbies?

Cooking, baking, cleaning (weird I know), singing, dancing and sleeping haha

30. Any cool places in your area?

Um, I mean I live about 30 minutes from the beach and it has a “hidden cave” (it’s quite easy to spot if you know where it is) that I go to with a few friends some nights and watch the sunset. So that’s pretty cool

31. What was your last awkward situation?

They happen so often I don’t even know which one to write about I’m such an awkward person lol

32. What is your last regret?

I don’t know really

33. Language/s you can speak

I can speak Italian, Spanish, Russian and some French

34. Do you believe in astrological stuff? (Zodiac, tarot, etc.)

To a certain extent, yes

35. Have any quirks?

Um I’m not sure?

36. Your pet peeves

I have so many but my BIGGEST pet peeve is the people who like to one-up a situation so I have a friend like this but she’s like one of my only friends so I don’t want to say anything woops but for example I could say to her “I only got 5 hours sleep” she would then turn around and be like “oh well I went to bed at 11 and woke up at 3am and couldn’t sleep” it’s like okay cool but stop trying to one up me thank u bye

37. Ideal vacation

DisneyWorld or Bora Bora (two complete different places I know but I’ve been to both many times and they’re both amazing)

38. Any scars?

I have a scar on my chin from when I hit it on the stair rail when I was a child and I have a surgery scar from when I had my appendix removed

39. What does your last text message say?

It’s me texting my email to my boyfriend because he needed it for something (kinda personal nothing bad tho)

40. Last 5 things from your search history

Majority of it right now is me googling Birthday presents for a family member as well as flight times because I was curious what the time from LA to Texas was haha

41. What’s your [device] background?

Lock screen is me and my boyfriend and my home screen is a flower picture I took

42. What do you daydream about?

A lot of different things, it all depends on how I’m feeling

43. Describe your dream home

Something small and quaint yet modern and big enough to raise a big family

44. What’s your religion/Your thought about religion

I have nothing against religion and what people believe in. I personally am not religious but I do believe in something. Not God or Jesus but I believe that something like that HAS to exists (sorry if I offended anyone I really did not mean to:/)

45. Your personality type

Really shy and quiet (social anxiety tings😚dont worry I have actually been diagnosed) but ince you get to know me I come out of my shell a bit more

46. The most dangerous thing you’ve done

Went sky diving (it was terrifying)

47. Are you happy with your current life?

Yes but no

48. Some things you’ve tried in your life

I don’t really know how the hell to answer this question I’m sorry🥺

-

49. What does your wardrobe consist of?

A lot of different colours but I wear mainly grey and black clothes hehe

50. Favourite colour to wear?

Black or grey🤪

51. How would you describe your style?

I don’t really know, definitely not trendy I can tell you that but all the styles I want to try I just KNOW will look bad on me

52. Are you happy with your current looks?

Not really no lol😚✌🏼

53. If you could change/add something to your appearance - impossible or not - what would it be?

I honestly would change my entire face, especially my nose, if it was smaller I’d feel slightly better about my appearance (nothing against big noses lol I just don’t like mine)

54. Any tattoos or piercings?

I had my ears and nose pierced but took them out and just forgot to put them back in and now the holes have sorta closed up.

I then also have a small turtle on my ankle - for a close friend (still alive lol but it’s just a nice thing to have) and I have plans to get a few more just need to decided when I want them because I keep chickening out

55. Do you get complimented often?

Yes sorta but only by my boyfriend

56. Favourite aesthetic?

I’m not sure?

57. A popular trend that you dislike

I’m not really aware of any popular trends as of right now tbh

-

58. Songs you’re currently obsessed with?

Adore You by Harry Styles and for some reason Feel so Close by Calvin Harris

59. Song you normally wouldn’t admit you like.

Mr Brightside - I hate the song (dont attack me pls) but it lowkey, high key is a BOP

60. Favourite genre?

Mainly throwback songs so I guess pop songs? Tbh my genre of music is all over the place

61. Favourite artist/band/genre?

I love 5 Seconds of Summer and One Direction but that’s it really

62. Hated popular songs/artists?

I HATE Dance Monkey and High Hopes (they get on my nerves so much idk why)

63. Put your music on shuffle and list first 5

September - Earth Wind & Fire

Truth Hurts - Lizzo

Jealous - Labrinth

Bad Romance - Halestorm (such a bop)

Break Free - Ariana Grande

64. Can you sing or play any instruments?

I can sing, I also play piano and guitar (strings have broken though and so haven’t played in a while)

65. Do you like karaoke?

I LOVE karaoke

66. Own any albums?

Yes, mainly 5SOS and One Direction haha

67. Do you listen to radio? What stations?

Sometimes, no particular station as I only listen to it to fill in the silence in certain situations

-

68. Favourite movie/series?

I love the Frozen films but also the Harry Potter films sooooo much

69. Favourite genre of movies/books/etc

I don’t really have a favourite tbh

70. Your fictional crush/es

I know it’s typical but I have the biggest crush on Harry Potter lol

71. Which fictional character is you?

I don’t know?

72. Are you a shipper? List your otps, if so

No not really

73. Favourite greek god?

I don’t have a favourite Greek god but I like Athena purely because I like the name haha

74. A legend from where you live that you like

I don’t really know of any legends however there is a myth that a Panther is on the loose in the Blue Mountains

75. Do you like art? What’s your favourite work or artist?

I like to look at art and admire it however I do not have a favourite artist or anything like that

76. Can you share your other social media?

I sure can:)

Twitter       Instagram      Wattpad

Snapchat - cjmushmush (you don’t have to add it and also don’t question the name I was 11)

77. Favourite youtubers?

Shane Dawson, Ryland Adams, Morgan Adams, Jeffree Star and The Dolan Twins

78. Favourite platform?

I am obsessed with Tik Tok so I’d say that’s probs my fave

79. How much time do you spend on the internet?

Far too much I can tell you that

80. What video games have you played? Which one’s your favourite?

I used to play minecraft and now all I do is play Sims 3 and 4 which are my absolute faves

81. Your favourite books (manga also counts)

I don’t really have any

82. Do you play board/card games?

Yes but not very often

83. Have you ever been to a night marathon in cinema?

No I didn’t even know that was a thing

84. Favourite holiday

I LOVE CHRISTMAS SO MUCH❤️💚❤️💚

85. Are you into dramas?

Yes

-

86. Would you use death note, if you had one?

I don’t know what a death note is?

87. What changes would you make in the world, no matter how impossible, if you had the power to?

I wouldn’t choose world peace because then everything would be the same and it would be boring but if I had the power I would make sure everyone had a stable home with at least hot clean water and a nice warm bed, as well as curing world hunger because I’m nice like that

88. Could you survive a zombie apocalypse?

Probably not

89. If you had to be turned into a paranormal being, what would it be?

A ghost

90. What would you want to happen to you after your death?

Become a ghost haha

91. If you had to change your name, what would be your pick?

Anything but Courtney - my name was almost Octavia so that would also be out of the question

92. Who would you switch your life with for a week?

So many people I’d love to do this with so I’m not sure

93. Pick an emoji to be your tattoo

🦥 (only because I love sloths)

94. Write 3 things about yourself - only one of them must be true

(these are the most random things I’m sorry)

I was born in the UK (not true, born in Sydney)

I am not single (True, I am in a relationship:))

I love avocado (I actually DESPISE IT)

-

95. Cold or hot?

Cold because that can = snuggles duh

96. Be a hero or be a villain?

Be a villain because I hate the attention (hero would probs get a lot of attention) and everyone hates me anyway lol

97. Sing everything you want to say or rhyme?

Probably sing everything considering I do that a lot anyway

98. Shapeshifting or controlling time?

Control time because I’d go back to the past a change some things then go back to today so I can still be with my boyfriend❤️

99. Be immortal or be immune to everything aside from natural death?

Be immortal that would be pretty fun

100. ….. or …..?

What does this one even mean?

[dramaqueeenamby]

Waves {drabble}

A/N: Well. Not too happy with this one. It was supposed to be based on @petit-funsize (WHAT IS YOUR NEW @ MA’AM) request for additional scenes of these two while Summer was pregnant, and while this does tackle that.....meh.

Words: 1.5K 

masterlist

Warnings: None

TAGLIST: @kpizzletrash @letsshamelessqueen-m @forbeautyandlife @90sinspiredgirl @honeyybey @amethyst-dreams-and-candy-canes @hello-therree @brittyevans @afro-royalty @periodtcevans @babygirlofwakanda @ERATOTALLES @blackandnoir @tntnv @chaneajoyyy @missyperle 

WAVES

“What about this?”

“Christopher.”

“It gets pretty decent mileage.”

“Christopher!”

“I’m thinking red.”

“Sir, if you do not stop this nonsense.”

“Since when is planning nonsense?”

“Baby, you’re talking about getting cars for children who aren’t even born yet!”

“I fail to see the problem.”

“You-“ Summer closed her eyes and shook her head. “How about we focus on things that we actually need now and not 16 years from now.”

He scoffed. “Excuse me for trying to be a good papa. Didn’t know that was a problem.”

“You’re going to be an amazing papa, Christopher without spending a ridiculous amount of money on cars that they won’t be able to use for over a decade.”

His eyes widened with excitement. “What about the little motorized ones?” Summer stopped in the middle of her brushing to turn toward him. “Come on. For their mobility!”

“I am seriously about to throw this brush at your big ass head.”

“I’m not the one who keeps stretching bonnets.” He quickly ducked as she lived up to her threat. “Now what did that solve?”

Summer threw her head back and groaned. One hand going to her back and the other to her stomach, she rubbed her growing belly.

At seven months, she was feeling every bit of her pregnancy. The twins were forever moving around, playing tag with her bladder, and reacting to every single thing that they heard. They were especially active when they heard herself or Christopher talking, and since relaying his entire day, play by play, to her stomach, became his new favorite pastime, sleeping was something that happened scarcely.

“I’m sorry.” Summer opened her eyes and immediately smiled at the soft blue eyes and childlike pout. “I’m just...so damn excited.”

“That you just can’t hide it?” She giggled at his scowl, his hand moving on top of hers. Sure enough, showtime. “Speaking of hiding, can you please tell Thing 1 and Thing 2 to take a nap or something?”

“Leave my children alone, you bully,” he defended, his other hand going to feel on her ass. He was obsessed with her pregnancy curves. “They’re getting restless in there.”

“Trust me, the feeling is mutual.” A hard kick let her know that her comment was not appreciated. “What! I wanna meet you both just as badly as your dumbass sperm donor.”

“Wow. I feel so loved.”

“You should.” She turned around in his arms, her pregnant belly forming a sort of barrier between them, prompting him to rest his hands on her hips. Christopher was big in contact. “I don’t just have children for anybody. What kind of woman do you take me for?”

“A fine ass one.” She busted her smile as he kissed on the side of her neck. “And mine.”

“Asterisk.”

“Shut up.”

Christopher eventually allowed Summer to finish getting ready, and 30 minutes and a sleeked down top bun later, she was ready to go out.

It was her first outing in about two weeks as she’d grown frustrated with the constant sneaking and following by the paparazzi whenever she tried to go out and engage as a normal person.

Both Summer and Christopher had taken a sort of break from social media following their completion of the Infinity War promo. They didn’t go out as much either, both the parents to be focused on preparing for the birth of their children.

Unfortunately, given their international fame and status, everyone was expecting what felt like monthly updates on one of Hollywood’s favorite couples.

However, neither Summer or Christopher were interested in making a thing of her pregnancy. They wanted to celebrate in private and without the judgmental and watchful eyes of the outside world.

“This is cute.” Summer mumbled, lifting up a pink and black floral onesie. “I like it.”

Christopher looked over and nodded. “Me too.” She glanced at him to see he had his phone on her, prompting her to smile and shake her head.

“Another recording?”

While the actor hadn’t engaged much in social media, it seemed like every day he had his phone on his wife. From recording her help decorate the nursery to just laying in bed, watching the movement of their energetic twins in her belly, he was capturing everything that he could.

Normally, Summer was opposed to her husband always trying to get her on camera, but not for this. This was special. These were memories.

“You got it,” he replied and moved so that he could be in view of the camera, holding up two fingers. “Just two more months, kiddos, and we’ll finally get to go to the beach.”

“You would want that to be their first outing.”

“The ocean is a magical thing, Chlorine.”

“You motherf-“ he moved forward to cover her mouth as she tried to pry at his hands.

“Your mother also can’t wait to meet you guys. She’s so excited that I had to say it for her. Isn’t that right, honey?”

He dropped his hand and Summer slyly moved her hand behind Chris’s back to pinch his skin. “Mommy just can’t wait for you guys to stop sitting on my bladder.”

He rolled his eyes. “Don’t listen to her. It’s an honor to have such wonderful children-“

“I can’t believe that you’re really out here recording. What’s next? A YouTube channel.”

“Who told you!”

She laughed and hugged him, resting her face on his chest as he kissed the top of her head. “We just want to hold you already. We love you.”

“Very much so.” A beat. “Hence why we’re getting you two matching Tesla’s.”

“Christopher!”

••••••••

Hand on the small of her back, Summer waddled out of the bathroom after finishing her nightly routine.

“Baby, reminds me to call your mom tomorrow. She found some more of your baby stuff that she wants to show me.”

“Yeah, sure. Of course.”

Summer sensed the distracted tone of his voice and saw that he was on his phone. Sucking her teeth, she shuffled over to their bed and snatched it out of his hands. “Hey.”

“Sir, I am sick of you and this damn book.”

Christopher and Summer’s first “date” took place while they were in the middle of filming AOU, and it really just consisted of him inviting her over to his rental where he cooked for them. During dinner, conversation transpired where playful and suggestive banter commenced.

During that conversation, the Australian shared that he was never big and still wasn’t on reading. Fast forward to years later, and every time that Summer checked in on her husband, he was downloading or reading some book on parenting.

Looking at the phone, her eyes darted do the top to check for the title.

Strong Fathers. Strong Daughters. 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know.

“Can’t I be productive?”

She gestured down to her stomach. “You already were.”

He smiled. “My best work yet.” She flicked him on his chest as he reached for the phone. “Okay. Come on. Give it back.”

“No. You’re obsessed with these damn books, and enough is enough.”

“Summer.”

“Christopher.” She matched his tone and placed the iPhone on their nightstand. Summer carefully  moved onto the bed, his arms reaching out to help her down where he welcomed her in between his legs. “Stop it. You keep reading these books and watching all these videos, and for what? You don’t need them, honey.”

He sighed. “I’m just tying to-“

“That’s just it, Christopher. You keep trying to be something that you already are.” Without waiting for him to comment, she continued. “Baby, you are an amazing husband. You’ve been so attentive and gentle with me throughout this whole thing. Even when we were filming, I know you’d go against set rules and break away from scenes just to call or even come check on me since Thing 1 and Thing 2 kept taking turns making mama want to throw up.”

“They did it with love.”

“You watch me almost every second of the damn day. Literally. You enabled Find My iPhone without even telling me. You march into the bathroom if I’m in there for more than five minutes!”

“You know now, and many a women have almost drowned in the bathroom, Sunrise!”

“And I know that you’re scared, baby. Shit, I’m scared too. There’s going to be two little rambunctious ‘us’ depending on us when we don’t even have ourselves together if you really want to go there.” She chuckled quietly. “But that’s okay, because we’re in this together, and we’re gonna mess up, sure, but we have each other, and I believe in us. I believe in you.”

“Christopher.” She moved her hands over his forearms, turning her body as best she could to look up at him. “You’re going to be the best papa ever. The kids are lucky to have you, just like I am.” A beat. “You’re freaking Thor for god’s sake.”

He laughed and pressed a warm, lingering kiss to her temple. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” She smiled. “Now stop worrying, and help me up. I have to pee.”

[vampireloreskill]

Get To Know Me 

tagged by @fourfinefreshfishforyou a billion years ago, thank you so much!! i actually Did have fun filling this out even if it took me forever 

 anyone who still wants to do this can say i tagged them!

1. WHAT IS YOUR FULL NAME? Who wrote this? A fed??

2. WHAT IS YOUR NICKNAME? Kris

3. BIRTHDAY? This year

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK SERIES? Would you believe me if I said Warriors

5. DO YOU BELIEVE IN ALIENS OR GHOSTS? Ghosts no, aliens sort of... I’m not sure I buy into whole other civilizations but I find it hard to believe that there isn’t some kind of life outside of our planet even if it’s just bacteria 

6. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE AUTHOR? Rick Riordan is pretty cool

7. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE RADIO STATION? Christmas

8. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FLAVOR OF ANYTHING? Strawberry or peach 

9. WHAT WORD WOULD YOU USE OFTEN TO DESCRIBE SOMETHING GREAT OR WONDERFUL? Amazing

10. WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT FAVORITE SONG?  Your Type - Carly Rae Jepson

11. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE WORD? I’m a big fan of defenestration

12. WHAT WAS THE LAST SONG YOU LISTENED TO?  Your Type - Carly Rae Jepson

13. WHAT TV SHOW WOULD YOU RECOMMEND FOR EVERYBODY TO WATCH? I don’t like to blanket recommend shows because everyone has such different tastes

14. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MOVIE TO WATCH WHEN YOU’RE FEELING DOWN? Tbh I just mope around until I either feel better or give up and go to sleep

15. DO YOU PLAY VIDEO GAMES? This is an Assassin’s Creed and Sims zone ONLY

16. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST FEAR? Strangers on the internet knowing my second biggest fear

17. WHAT IS YOUR BEST QUALITY, IN YOUR OPINION? Objectively it’s probably my ability to see things from other people’s perspective but TBH I much prefer my sense of humor and ability to laugh at my own jokes whether or not anyone else finds them funny 

18. WHAT IS YOUR WORST QUALITY, IN YOUR OPINION? My inability to self moderate

19. DO YOU LIKE CATS OR DOGS BETTER? I want to say neither,, but I may be leaning towards dogs in recent years :/

20. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON? Winter, but lately Autumn has been sneaking up on it

21. ARE YOU IN A RELATIONSHIP? Nah

22. WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU MISS FROM YOUR CHILDHOOD? Being small... I loved hiding in tiny spaces and being picked up

23. WHO IS YOUR BEST FRIEND? *cowboy voice* Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time...

24. WHAT IS YOUR EYE COLOR? Dark brown

25. WHAT IS YOUR HAIR COLOR? At this point it’s basically black but I still like to say dark brown

26. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU LOVE? God, my family, probably a lot of people idk I catch feelings easily

27. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU TRUST? Literally no one but God 

28. WHO IS SOMEONE YOU THINK ABOUT OFTEN? A lot of seemingly random celebrities, if you count constantly reciting names in specific patterns as thinking 

29. ARE YOU CURRENTLY EXCITED ABOUT/FOR SOMETHING? Yes, lots of things! 

30. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST OBSESSION? lmao

31. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW AS A CHILD? REDWALLLLL

32. WHO OF THE OPPOSITE GENDER CAN YOU TELL ANYTHING TO, IF ANYONE? I’m not sure what the opposite of shrug emoji is but the answer is still no one

33. ARE YOU SUPERSTITIOUS? I’m not, but someone needs to tell me that

34. DO YOU HAVE ANY UNUSUAL PHOBIAS? I’m not sure I have any phobias? Irrational fears, Sure

35. DO YOU PREFER TO BE IN FRONT OF THE CAMERA OR BEHIND IT? Behind it!

36. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE HOBBY? I REALLY want to get into dollhousing

37. WHAT WAS THE LAST BOOK YOU READ? I know I said Les Misérables in a previous tag meme but I now remember that I actually read the first book in C.S. Lewis’s space trilogy a while back more recently

38. WHAT WAS THE LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Spider-man: Into The Spiderverse which was........ AMAZING 

39. WHAT MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS DO YOU PLAY, IF ANY? When I was younger I had a lap harp but that’s about it

40. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ANIMAL? Opossums

41. WHAT ARE YOUR TOP 5 FAVORITE TUMBLR BLOGS THAT YOU FOLLOW? I’m not a fan of naming names in this context sorry!

42. WHAT SUPERPOWER DO YOU WISH YOU HAD? A lot, but I’ve concluded that for any powers gained I would inevitably just end up becoming a super villain and/or batman so hard pass

43. WHEN AND WHERE DO YOU FEEL MOST AT PEACE? When I first wake up, and just lie there trying to hold on to what I was just dreaming about

44. WHAT MAKES YOU SMILE? It’s basically physically impossible for me not to grin like a fool watching Wander Over Yonder

45. WHAT SPORTS DO YOU PLAY, IF ANY? Does Wii Bowling count

46. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DRINK? Apple cider

47. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU WROTE A HAND-WRITTEN LETTER OR NOTE TO SOMEBODY? I don’t know? Probably when I wanted to wake up at a certain time

48. ARE YOU AFRAID OF HEIGHTS? Sometimes? Depends on how possible it is that I could fall

49. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST PET PEEVE? Dry skin currently 

50. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN TO A CONCERT? I was going to say no but I have the distinct feeling that I have even though I didn’t remember absolutely anything about it except maybe the auditorium?

51. ARE YOU VEGAN/VEGETARIAN? No

52. WHEN YOU WERE LITTLE, WHAT DID YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GREW UP? Zookeeper

53. WHAT FICTIONAL WORLD WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE IN? Um. Eternia?? ajfghdk 

54. WHAT IS SOMETHING YOU WORRY ABOUT? Not growing as a person

55. ARE YOU SCARED OF THE DARK? Not really, but I do like the ability to turn on lights if I need to

56. DO YOU LIKE TO SING? My vocal cords were made for Christmas carols and little else. But yeah, sometimes.

57. HAVE YOU EVER SKIPPED SCHOOL? I’m not... sure?

58. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE ON THE PLANET? I’ll let you know when I’ve found it

59. WHERE WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE? Where I already do

60. DO YOU HAVE ANY PETS? Yes

61. ARE YOU MORE OF AN EARLY BIRD OR A NIGHT OWL? Night owl

62. DO YOU LIKE SUNRISES OR SUNSETS BETTER? Sunsets

63. DO YOU KNOW HOW TO DRIVE? I feel like I could make an educated guess in an emergency

64. DO YOU PREFER EARBUDS OR HEADPHONES? Headphones

65. HAVE YOU EVER HAD BRACES? No

66. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE GENRE OF MUSIC? I feel like it’s probably pop or disco tbh

67. WHO IS YOUR HERO? Jesus 

68. DO YOU READ COMIC BOOKS? Here and there, the only series I’ve actually read all the way through is Cable & Deadpool (2004) but I want to get into Venom

69. WHAT MAKES YOU THE MOST ANGRY? Not to be cliche but injustice of any kind

70. DO YOU PREFER TO READ ON AN ELECTRONIC DEVICE OR WITH A REAL BOOK? Real book, I like turning pages and the way the cover fits into my hands. Can’t say I’m a fan of the smell though.

71. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL? Vocabulary

72. DO YOU HAVE ANY SIBLINGS? Yes

73. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU BOUGHT? Sims 4 packs

74. HOW TALL ARE YOU? 5′2 or so

75. CAN YOU COOK? If it involves anything other than a microwave or a toaster then,,, no

76. WHAT ARE THREE THINGS THAT YOU LOVE? Vampires, villains in love, wood paneling 

77. WHAT ARE THREE THINGS THAT YOU HATE? Intrusive thoughts, Marius Pontmercy, mint flavored toothpaste

78. DO YOU HAVE MORE FEMALE FRIENDS OR MORE MALE FRIENDS? I... Have more female mutuals

79. WHAT IS YOUR SEXUAL ORIENTATION? Bisexual but like it’s Complicated. Also this is the first time I’ve ever actually said that directly so ✌️🎉

80. WHERE DO YOU CURRENTLY LIVE? A fed wrote this

81. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TEXTED? My mom

82. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Earlier this month

83. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE YOUTUBER? I don’t really follow any, but I used to be obsessed with the videos of this one guy who acted out crossovers of DC/Marvel characters with action figures and had a really great voice

84. DO YOU LIKE TO TAKE SELFIES? I do! I just never do anything with them once I’ve taken them lol

85. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE APP? I don’t have one right now, but I adore choose your own adventure ones

86. WHAT IS YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR PARENT(S) LIKE? Pretty good with my adoptive parents. I want to be closer with my birth mom but I don’t... really know how to go about that without being a disappointment. Never met my birth dad which has been eating at me somewhat lately.

87. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FOREIGN ACCENT? Uhh Australian maybe??

88. WHAT IS A PLACE THAT YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO, BUT YOU WANT TO VISIT? Mexico

89. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE NUMBER? 6

90. CAN YOU JUGGLE? Do you take me for a clown

91. ARE YOU RELIGIOUS? Yes, I’m a nondenominational christian 

92. DO YOU FIND OUTER SPACE OF THE DEEP OCEAN TO BE MORE INTERESTING? The ocean, it’s teeming with life and I find it bafflingly fascinating how there’s still so much we don’t know about it

93. DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF TO BE A DAREDEVIL? Absolutely not

94. ARE YOU ALLERGIC TO ANYTHING? Almost every single time we go shopping in Sam’s Club I get inexplicably feverish and nauseous and feel like I’ve thrown out my back until we get to the check out. That and I may have a dairy allergy? But honestly my stomach is acting out every other day so who knows really.  

95. CAN YOU CURL YOUR TONGUE? Ye

96. CAN YOU WIGGLE YOUR EARS? No

97. HOW OFTEN DO YOU ADMIT THAT YOU WERE WRONG ABOUT SOMETHING? Not as often as I should

98. DO YOU PREFER THE FOREST OR THE BEACH? Aesthetically, the beach, but forests are less sandy

99. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PIECE OF ADVICE THAT ANYONE HAS EVER GIVEN YOU? Pat, don’t rub (When drying your hands)

100. ARE YOU A GOOD LIAR?  mmMM I don’t really lie, like, seriously about stuff that I can recall? I’ll jokingly say stuff that blatantly isn’t true and even then I sometimes feel guilty and confess seconds later. Unless you count lying by omission? Or saying stuff like “I’m fine” LMAO. The World May Never Know

101. WHAT IS YOUR HOGWARTS HOUSE? We Don’t Discuss Harry Potter On This Blog, but ravenclaw all the way and any test that tries to sort me into hufflepuff isn’t Valid 

102. DO YOU TALK TO YOURSELF? Generally just when I’m alone

103. ARE YOU AN INTROVERT OR AN EXTROVERT? Introvert

104. DO YOU KEEP A JOURNAL/DIARY? I’ve tried, but I just don’t have the attention span for it asdfgh. Sometimes I write down my dreams though.

105. DO YOU BELIEVE IN SECOND CHANCES? Yes

106. IF YOU FOUND A WALLET FULL OF MONEY ON THE GROUND, WHAT WOULD YOU DO? Convince someone else to pick it up and check for ID

107. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT PEOPLE ARE CAPABLE OF CHANGE? Yes

108. ARE YOU TICKLISH? That’s a personal question

109. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON A PLANE? Yes

110. DO YOU HAVE ANY PIERCINGS? No

111. WHAT FICTIONAL CHARACTER DO YOU WISH WAS REAL? Count Dracula from Monster Family (2017) ok so,,, i know he tried to freeze the entire world because a married woman rejected him but LISTEN

112. DO YOU HAVE ANY TATTOOS? No

113. WHAT IS THE BEST DECISION THAT YOU’VE MADE IN YOUR LIFE SO FAR? Following Jesus

114. DO YOU BELIEVE IN KARMA? Mm, not karma per say, but I do generally think that what goes around often comes around in way or another

115. DO YOU WEAR GLASSES OR CONTACTS? No

116. DO YOU WANT CHILDREN? NO

117. WHO IS THE SMARTEST PERSON YOU KNOW? Idk! there a lot different types of smart people

118. WHAT IS YOUR MOST EMBARRASSING MEMORY? Nice try, but someone might actually read this

119. HAVE YOU EVER PULLED AN ALL-NIGHTER? I’m basically nocturnal so... yeah

120. WHAT COLOR ARE MOST OF YOUR CLOTHES? Various jewel tones

121. DO YOU LIKE ADVENTURES? Ehhhhhhh

122. HAVE YOU EVER BEEN ON TV? Not that I know of

123. HOW OLD ARE YOU? 21

124. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE? I can’t really think of one right now

125. DO YOU PREFER SWEET OR SAVORY FOODS? Whichever I’m in the mood for!

[purplesurveys]

429

England Do you like to drink tea? I only drink iced tea and only the artificial kind, so I don’t think that even counts as tea. My tongue never did adapt well to traditional ones. Do you like to put sugar in your tea? I like my iced tea super sweet if that counts. Have you ever explored an ancient castle? No but it would be interesting to enter one! If you're a Christian, are you Catholic or Protestant? I was baptized and still legally Catholic. Philippines is predominantly Catholic, with 80% of the population; I don’t how the % of Protestants, but it’s definitely a much smaller bit of the pie since the rest of the religions are divided into different Christian denominations, then Islam. Do you live in a big house? It’s definitely bigger than my childhood home, so that’s more than enough.

Are there a lot of seagulls where you live? I don’t think seagulls fly over to this side of the world? Correct me if I’m wrong though. Do you have a garden? Only a very small one. Name something you own with the British flag on it. Probs an old UK-themed notebook lying around, but I’m not sure if I still even have those or if they already got thrown out. What's your favorite part of London? I dunno. London always seemed like such a hectic city for me and I’ve never really had an idea about its identity. If you've been to England, what was your favorite city you've visited? If applicable, what is/was your favorite store in London? I’m not sure I know any London-based stores. Have you ever been lost in London? Nope. Would you say your personality is British? Do you think you'd fit in there? I’d say my personality is the furthest thing from that since I’ve never been submerged in their local culture. I don’t know if I would fit in; a lot of them seem pretty short-tempered lmao. Do you have English ancestors, or are you from England? I’m positively -60% English. Ireland What is one of your favorite celtic songs? I don’t know anything about Irish history/culture other than Becky Lynch, Sheamus, and Niall Horan. I’m laying that out this early. Do you have red hair? Absolutely not. Are you Irish? No Irish blood in my system at all.

Name 5 redheads that you know. Becky Lynch x2.5, Sheamus x2.5 lmao. Who in your family is/was a redhead? Nobody. If you've been to Ireland, what was your favorite city you visited? I haven’t been to Ireland but I would rather take a trip there than to London definitely. Did you have any bad experiences in Ireland? Do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day? No but Western social media shoves it in my face every year. I have no idea what it’s about other than they turn the Chicago River green. Do you like Irish food? I don’t know much about their food actually :o I don’t think there are places that serve it. What's one thing you like about ancient cathedrals? The fact that millions of lives with different experiences, all in different contexts have come and gone within them. Do you like rolling hills of green? ...I don’t know what you’re talking about. Are you just talking about hills? Because yes, hills are fine with me lmao. Do you like bagpipes? No. All this question gave me was the image of Ross Geller playing them on a Friends episode because he wanted to surprise Chandler and Monica on their wedding. If you're Irish, what part of Ireland is your family from? Do you like English accents or Irish accents better? I like both but I find English ones a wee bit more satisfying to listen to. China What is your Chinese zodiac sign? Tiger. ^Do you like it? Do you feel it fits your personality? I don’t give a shit about it. Do you like your American zodiac sign or Chinese zodiac sign better? I don’t give a shit about either, either. Do you like Chinese food? LOOOOOOOVE good ol’ family-style Chinese food. None of that fake Chinese takeout. List three of your favorite Chinese foods. Minced pork with eggplant, century eggs, spring rolls. Are you familiar with the topic of footbinding? I do. We were taught about it from very early on. What are your favorite books about the Chinese? I don’t really read books about the Chinese. I’ve read readings on Chinese history in high school and college–which I all enjoyed–but I’m not passionate about them enough to pick a favorite. Do you know anyone Chinese? I know a lot of them. Philippines has a very large Chinese Filipino/Filipino Chinese community thanks to their mass migrations way way back–they’ve since heavily integrated their native culture to the country, so we have a lot of Chinese restaurants and Filipinos typically love Chinese food, and we also (by law) celebrate Chinese New Year. There are also a lot of private schools established for kids of Chinese descent. Who is your favorite Chinese youtuber? I don’t have any. Have you ever cooked Chinese food at home? Not me because I don’t cook. My grandma and my dad have. Are you familiar with the Great Chinese Famine? Only a bit. Do you wish your school would teach you about other countries' history? It already does! UP’s very fortunate to have a very well-endowed history department: there are courses for West, East, Southeast, and South Asian, Latin American, United States, European, Spanish, and African history. We ain’t the top school in the country for nothing. Would you ever want to go to China? I already have. The old people there are SO rude and their sense of hygiene and manners is so different from what we have :( I’d still want to go back just for shits and giggles but their people are generally meh. Do you have any Chinese in your family? We do but they aren’t related to us anymore. The relatives who are Chinese are those who married into our family, but my family per se isn’t Chinese. Japan Do you like sushi? I’m fucking craaaaaaaazy about sushi. And sashimi.  ^If so, what are your favorite kinds? Any kind as long as the main part is tuna, unagi (eel), or uni (sea urchin).  What is your favorite manga series? I don’t read manga. Do you love Japanese street fashion? I appreciate it, but it’s too...hip for me hahaha. I’d stick to my preppy wardrobe. What color hair would you have as an anime character? Light pink maybe. Are you aware of the struggles of Japanese Americans during World War 2? Admittedly, not so sure about the situation of Japanese-Americans; but in general, the Japanese were unnecessarily big fucking bullies throughout WWII. They don’t even have the balls to say sorry completely until today. As a Filipino (PH was one of the countries it essentially raped head to toe), this continues to make me angry today. What is your favorite Japanese name? I don’t have. Do you like bonsai trees? They’re cool but I’m not like gaga over them. What's one thing you think Americans should adopt from the Japanese? Intelligence? Have you ever listened to Jpop? No. Do you like Hello Kitty? No. But my sister loves everything Sanrio. What is something you want to know about the Japanese? Why they can’t seem to apologize for their war crimes and criminals and and sex slavery and using of comfort women and cases of rape, torture, and abuse in my country. Do you know anyone who's Japanese? Yeah, I had a classmate from last sem whose last name was Mizushima and looked Japanese. Would you ever want to go to Japan? I already have. The people were very nice. Australia Do you have blonde hair? No trace of blonde anywhere on me.

Do you live near a beach? I live in an archipelago, so technically yes. The nearest beaches are still 3 hours away though. Do you surf? Nah. We’ve been to so many beach resorts that offer basic surfing lessons, but ultimately it’s only my dad, mom, and sister who try it out. I have bad balance so I was always too scared to try. Who is your favorite Australian youtuber? I like Jamie Zhu, but only the videos of him pranking his dad. I haven’t seen any of his other material. Do you watch The Norris Nuts? Never even heard of it. Who is your favorite Australian fictional character? I don’t know a lot of Australian characters other than Hi-5!!! Lmao. What is your favorite song by Hillsong? Fuck no. Have you ever tried to surf? See a few questions above. Do you skateboard? Nope. I can’t balance well other than on the ice skating rink. Have you ever been on an island? I live on an island. Do you live on an island? Yes. A country with 7,641 islands. Do you like Australian accents or British accents better? British ones. Have you ever heard the term, "Crikey, mate!" No...I’ve only ever heard of it stereotyped in the media, too. Is there any Australian here who can confirm if people say this everyday lol Have you ever met anyone from Australia? I probably have but my memory is rusty at the moment. Africa Do you know anyone from Africa? Yeah, I have a mutual friend who’s Nigerian.

Are you familiar with the War on Sudan? A little. I got most of my knowledge of it from my international relations class. Do you own an Invisible Children shirt? I don’t. Have you been to Africa? No, but I want to pay a visit so bad. What's your favorite wild animal? Elephants. Do you prefer dancing or drumming? Neither, but if I absolutely had to pick: drumming. Do you have good rhythm? Not at all. Would you ever want to go to Africa? Yes. What is a great African song? I don’t know any. Have you ever tried African dancing? Nope. Do you own any African jewelry? I don’t. Ever danced to "Waka Waka"? I never did like that song. No. What's the furthest you've ever walked in one day? Probably that time we were in Bali and felt like we walked for 7 days. It was soooooooo humid that day so I was really cranky after. Do you live in a mud hut? No. Mexico List 3 of your favorite Mexican foods. I’m not big on Mexican food that much so I’m sorry if my picks are a little basic haha. I like chimichangas, burritos, and nachos. List 3 Mexican names you like. Ines, Luis, Antonio. List 3 people you know who are Mexican. I only know wrestlers...Eddie Guerrero, Chavo Guerrero, Gory Guerrero? Aka members of the best Mexican wrestling family there ever is, was, and ever will be. Have you ever been to Mexico? I haven’t. Would you ever want to go to Mexico? I would love to go to every possible spot in the world at least once, so it’s a yes for me.   Do you think you could handle being around people all the time? ...How is this related to Mexico lmao? Anyway no I don’t think I can. I’m a huge introvert so I’m bound to get tired some time. Do you like spicy food? I love it but only when the spicy factor is integral to the food, like in curries or in spicy dips. I can always tell if spiciness is artificial. How do you do with crowds? I’m alright with crowds as long as people are not screaming all at the same time and if it’s not super compressed. Is it hot where you live? Very hot at the moment. There are places in the country with actual heat indices of 65ºC. HOW IS THAT REAL LIFE????? Do you like bright colors? I hate them so much. Can you speak Spanish? No but I can understand the contexts of some sentences and have what I’d say is an extensive Spanish vocabulary. Makes sense if you consider the fact that the Philippine was under Spain for 333 years. The effects, especially language- and religion-wise, are still very very strong today. Have you ever been to a fiesta? Yup. I was once part of a parade. Ever smacked a pinata? Nah we never used those for my birthdays. What's your favorite thing to order at Taco Bell? I don’t get Taco Ball because the branches that do exist are sooooo faaaaar away from where I live and from where I study. The Middle East Are you Muslim? Nope. Do you know any Muslims? I don’t know anyone personally but it’s not unusual to see Muslims around here.   Do you know anyone who wears hijab? Again, not personally. What are some of your favorite books about Muslims? Ever been to a desert? I wish the Philippines could count as a desert lmao but no I haven’t. Would you want to ride a camel? Is that ethical? I gotta make sure it’s a green-lit thing first. Did you watch the show Legends of the Hidden Temple? I was obsessed with it when I was younger. It was on every 5:30 AM, so it was the program I watched everyday while preparing for school. Korea Have you read To All the Boys I've Loved Before? Please don’t mention that stupid book/movie. ^Have you seen the movie? Did you know that North Korea is closed? I mean, it’s not literally closed; you can still book trips there but they’re still definitely super strict about what you can and can’t get away with. Would you ever want to visit South Korea? I already have. In terms of people’s niceness, they’re in the middle of Chinese (the shits) and Japanese (absolute angels). Most of the Koreans I dealt with were nice save for this one woman who shooed me away when I was taking a photo of something from her little bazaar. Have you ever had Korean food? YESSSSS I love Korean food so much, it’s so underrated. People gotta go deeper than sushi and Chinese fried rice cos there’s another East Asian with food that slaps as fuuuuuuuck. South America Have you read The Spirit of the Rainforest? I have not. Name one fact you know about Venezuela. I know nothing about Venezuela other than they also seem to be favorites in Miss Universe pageants every year along with PH. Do you know anyone who lives in Peru? I do not. That’s very far from where I’m at. Have you ever tried Peruvian food or drink? Nope. I definitely would if there were places that served such here. Have you ever been to South America? No. Do you know anyone from Brazil? I don’t think so. Would you ever want to visit South America? Yes. Name someone you know who owns llamas. Nobody. Do you like llamas? I like all animals except for cockroaches and other weird insects, so yes. Have you ever sewn on a loom? I haven’t had the chance to. Do you own a skirt from Guetamala? This is...specific. No. Do you ever wonder why we don't hear much about South America? Probs because people and media play a hand in painting it in such a bad light, e.g. poverty, drugs, crime and otherwise glorify its big brother North America as a place of freedom and diversity and liberty when it’s just as big of a shithole as anywhere else. But I’m glad social media exposes issues in countries that often go unignored, South American ones included. Thailand Do you like elephants? I LOVE elephants, they’re my favorite creatures. Would you ever be brave enough to try walking on stilts? I’d be so scared but wouldn’t be opposed to trying. Do you know about sex trafficking in Thailand? I’ve heard enough to be actively aware of it, but I don’t know specifics. Do you like Thai food? Obsessed.

Do you know anyone who's Thai? I don’t think so. United States If you live in the US, which state do you live in? Which states have you visited? Which states have you lived in? Have you ever been to Washington D.C? No. What is your favorite American food? I don’t know...I’m genuinely not sure what counts as American food because the ones I know were influenced one way or another from other cuisines. Maybe burgers? I love me a juicy burger with brioche buns, caramelized onions, and a mayo-based sauce. Do you listen to popular music? Hahahaha, guilty pleasure. Do you dream of having two kids and maybe a dog? Yesssss. ...and living in a two-story house with a white picket fence? House yes; not so much on the fence. Fences aren’t the norm here; people have big-ass gates instead. ...and having a good job and saving for retirement? Why is this just an American thing? Isn’t this like a people thing? ....where you can retire to Florida and live on the beach? Florida was never my ideal home. Did you go to college? If so, what was your major? I’m in college atm. Journalism. Were you abused by your parents? Emotionally/mentally/verbally. Do you know any nice people? ???????? I do, but I’m starting to dislike how general life questions were all clumped into the American category as if the whole world lives an American-centric life. Anyway IT’S NOT THAT SERIOUS ROBYN MOVE ON How often do you bbq? What's your favorite ride at Cedar Point? Other What's the best family vacation you've been on? Palawan was amazing. It was a local vacation but it was so much good fun. What countries have you visited? My own; Japan, China, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia. What countries do you want to visit? Morocco, South Africa, Egypt, Canada, Peru, Malta, India, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia. Have you ever been to NYC? No. Do you live in a big city, small town, or other? Big city, but I live in the quiet, more suburban part of it so it feels small.

Do you live in the city or country? City. What is your favorite country besides your own? I never claimed that the Philippines was my favorite country hahahaha um I don’t have one. What country do you live in? The Philippines. What is your ancestry? Filipino, Malay, Austronesian, possibility of Spanish. Are you happy with the American government? Right now? It sucks. I only recognize and like AOC. What currency do you use? Philippine peso. Do you think you have an accent? Everyone has an accent. I don’t know why this is a question. Have you ever been told you have an accent? Sure.

[wondroussimmer-blog]

GET TO KNOW ME-

Basically, no one actually tagged me in this, but I thought i’d give it a go anyway seeing as this is a new blog and you guys can get to now me a bit, so I tag anyone who sees this and also wants to have a go...

________________________________________________________________

1. What is your full name? I’m not putting my last name on here, but my first name is Maja (Miya) 2. What is your nickname? I don’t really have one 3. Birthday? January 1st 4. What is your favourite book series? I don’t really read book series’ 5. Do you believe in aliens or ghosts? Not 100% sure, I don’t believe in the sort of ghosts you see in films, but I think I believe our loved ones stay with us in some way. As for aliens, idk, we can’t be the only life but idk.  6. Who is your favourite author? I find the fault in our stars quite overrated, but i’d say John Green because some of his others are my favourites! 7. What is your favourite radio station? BBC Radio 1 8. What is your favourite flavour of anything? this is such a weird question, how can you have a favourite flavour for everything? but if it’s sweet, definitely strawberry! 9. What word would you use often to describe something great or wonderful? Again, weird question, but i use so many words for this, my most used are probably lovely and amazing 10. What is your current favourite song? this changes alll the time, but right this minute it’s probably sunflower by post malone and swae lee 11. What is your favourite word? is this a thing? 12. What was the last song you listened to? vacation by hippo campus 13. What TV show would you recommend for everybody to watch? big mouth, orphan black, queer eye, dexter 14. What is your favourite movie to watch when you’re feeling down? the breakfast club or mean girls probably 15. Do you play video games? only the sims 16. What is your biggest fear? probably the death of people close to me, and in the future not being able to have children 17. What is your best quality, in your opinion? probably that i’m a friendly person  18. What is your worst quality, in your opinion? i’m v insecure 19. Do you like cats or dogs better? DOGS... always dogs! 20. What is your favourite season? autumn/winter 21. Are you in a relationship? yes 22. What is something you miss from your childhood? having way more friends and barely any responsibilities 23. Who is your best friend? my boyfriend 24. What is your eye colour? blue 25. What is your hair colour? brown 26. Who is someone you love? my boyfriend and family 27. Who is someone you trust? my boyfriend and closest family 28. Who is someone you think about often? okay wow, so much variety in these answers but the same as the previous two answers 29. Are you currently excited about/for something? christmas and my birthday 30. What is your biggest obsession? probably sims 31. What was your favourite TV show as a child? Probably Tracy beaker or that’s so raven  32. Who of the opposite gender can you tell anything to, if anyone? my boyfriend 33. Are you superstitious? only slightly 34. Do you have any unusual phobias? cracking knuckles, moths (but only indoors), realistic looking mannequins and gas masks... so not much 35. Do you prefer to be in front of the camera or behind it? behind, every single time 36. What is your favourite hobby? playing sims, graphic designing, video editing 37. What was the last book you read? The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks 38. What was the last movie you watched? Muppet’s Christmas Carol 39. What musical instruments do you play, if any? I play a bit of guitar and can play the mr bean theme song on piano if that counts 40. What is your favourite animal? dogs 41. What are your top 5 favourite Tumblr blogs that you follow? I definitely have more than 5  42. What superpower do you wish you had? be able to teleport and go invisible  43. When and where do you feel most at peace? probably at home with my boyfriend 44. What makes you smile? sorry if this is becoming a boring answer... but my boyfriend! also my dog :) 45. What sports do you play, if any? I don’t at the moment, but I have done tennis, dance (ballet, tap and modern), swimming, karate, speed skating and netball 46. What is your favourite drink? water... how boring ik 47. When was the last time you wrote a hand-written letter or note to somebody? Last month, I made my boyfriend a scrap book as one of my boyfriend’s presents for our anniversary and wrote some letters as part of it  48. Are you afraid of heights? not if it’s a secure height 49. What is your biggest pet peeve? I have wayyy too many and so many grammatical ones, I absolutely hate when people incorrectly use was and were, so if someone said ‘we was going’, I think it’s quite an essex thing but I hateeee it, I can’t stand bad grammar, but also slow walkers, people who walk through the door without looking behind them to hold the door open for people behind, other drivers not indicating, people that have to be louder than everyone else, people that chew with their mouths open... basically I have a lot and this list could go on and on and on 50. Have you ever been to a concert? I’ve seen all time low, the 1975, imagine dragons, sunset sons, ed sheeran and paramore in concert so far and i’m seeing panic! at the disco in march which i’m MEGA excited about!!! 51. Are you vegan/vegetarian? vegetarian 52. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? This would change all the time, it went from radio dj, to dancer, to teacher when I was really young, then architect when I was a teenager, and now it’s clinical psychologist which i’m slowly working towards 53. What fictional world would you like to live in? I’ve not got a clue 54. What is something you worry about? EVERYTHING! I get a lot of social anxiety, so basically whenever i’m out of the house i’m worrying about absolutely everything and it’s the worst and gets me super down, so yeah, love that 55. Are you scared of the dark? okay so I don’t like leaving the dark, i’m fine being in the dark but I hate when i’m home alone and have to turn the lights off in the living room, kitchen and hall to go to bed... if that makes sense 56. Do you like to sing? i’m someone that, at home, is constantly singing, and when it’s only my boyfriend around, if one of us says a sentence that can in some way relate to a song, i’ll immediately sing it, but I suck so I won’t ever sing in public 57. Have you ever skipped school? in school I faked being ill a few times to get off of school, but in uni i’ve skipped way too many lectures over the past 3 years 58. What is your favourite place on the planet? I absolutely adore Spain, but also Belgrade (i’m half Serbian) 59. Where would you like to live? If not my current home town, i’d love to one day live somewhere like Norway or Sweden 60. Do you have any pets? yep, i’ve got a french bulldog 61. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl? I wake up pretty early, but I hate to start the day early 62. Do you like sunrises or sunsets better? sunsets. 63. Do you know how to drive? Yep 64. Do you prefer earbuds or headphones? the sound of headphones but I normally use earbuds 65. Have you ever had braces? nope, thank god 66. What is your favourite genre of music? this really ranges from charts, to indie rock, to ‘former emo kid’, to early 2000s r&b, to musical theatre 67. Who is your hero? probably my boyfriend 68. Do you read comic books? no 69. What makes you the most angry? as we’ve already gathered, I have a lot of pet peeves, so a lot! 70. Do you prefer to read on an electronic device or with a real book?a real book! 71. What is your favourite subject in school? I currently study psychology which has been my favourite subject since A levels, but during GCSEs I enjoyed maths  72. Do you have any siblings? 1 younger brother 73. What was the last thing you bought? some christmas presents for my boyfriend’s cousins 74. How tall are you? 5ft4 75. Can you cook? yes 76. What are three things that you love? spending time with people I love, travelling, collecting photos  77. What are three things that you hate? busy places, cheats, confrontation 78. Do you have more female friends or more male friends? I actually barely have any so this is kind of hard to answer 79. What is your sexual orientation? straight 80. Where do you currently live? England 81. Who was the last person you texted? my mum 82. When was the last time you cried? I’m not actually sure, which is funny because I cry all the time and super easily 83. Who is your favourite YouTuber? I have so many: in terms of sims: lilsimsie, urbansims, sophsims, simkim, plumbella, in terms of lifestyle: louise pentland, in terms of fashion and beauty: samantha maria, tati westbrook, busybee carys, patricia bright, antonio garza, and others: shane dawson, sarah baska, kendall rae, jaackmaate, and loads more! basically, if i’m not on tumblr, i’m on youtube, if i’m not on youtube i’m playing sims, and if i’m not on sims i’m on tumblr... 84. Do you like to take selfies? rarely 85. What is your favourite app? any social media  86. What is your relationship with your parent(s) like? fab 87. What is your favourite foreign accent? Australian and Scottish 88. What is a place that you’ve never been to, but you want to visit? I have so many but I won’t bore you with another long list, so just a few: Sweden, South Africa, Iceland and Canada 89. What is your favourite number? 1 90. Can you juggle? no 91. Are you religious? I was baptised but don’t really consider myself religious 92. Do you find outer space or the deep ocean to be more interesting? both as interesting as the other 93. Do you consider yourself to be a daredevil? not really 94. Are you allergic to anything? no 95. Can you curl your tongue? yep, one of my weird ‘party tricks’ is I can actually curl it 180 degrees 96. Can you wiggle your ears? no 97. How often do you admit that you were wrong about something? not as often as I should 98. Do you prefer the forest or the beach? probably the forest 99. What is your favourite piece of advice that anyone has ever given you?my dad probably gives the best life advice but there’s too much to put here   100. Are you a good liar? It depends 101. What is your Hogwarts House? Hufflepuff 102. Do you talk to yourself? All the time 103. Are you an introvert or an extrovert? I N T R O V E R T, i’m so introverted to the point I hate it but seriously struggle to change it 104. Do you keep a journal/diary? no but I have in the past 105. Do you believe in second chances? it depends 106. If you found a wallet full of money on the ground, what would you do? Hand it in 107. Do you believe that people are capable of change? It depends 108. Are you ticklish? VERY 109. Have you ever been on a plane? manyyyy times 110. Do you have any piercings? nope, I have but not anymore 111. What fictional character do you wish was real? no idea  112. Do you have any tattoos? nope 113. What is the best decision that you’ve made in your life so far? I’m really not sure 114. Do you believe in karma? to an extent, but at the same time bad things seem to happen to good people, sooooo 115. Do you wear glasses or contacts? neither 116. Do you want children? yes 117. Who is the smartest person you know? my cousin 118. What is your most embarrassing memory? omg my whole life is filled with embarrassing memories that I seem to always remember at the most inconvenient times or when i’m about to go to sleep that just haunt me out of nowhere...fun 119. Have you ever pulled an all-nighter? yes 120. What colour are most of you clothes? black or white 121. Do you like adventures? yep 122. Have you ever been on TV? no 123. How old are you? 20 - nearly 21 124. What is your favourite quote? not really sure. 125. Do you prefer sweet or savoury foods? sweet

[thebigmick284]

Thoughts on OUAT ending.

Big messy post and quick thoughts ahead!

It’s long past time (5 years IMO) that it should have ended. I have never seen a show nose-dive in quality so much... yet I kept watching and will till the end. Maybe Adam and Eddy’s message of ‘hope’ got to me, haha...

I still remember watching the Australian premiere of the pilot back in early 2012. Curious but unsure. I was only a casual watcher in S1, it didn’t fully grab me. I don’t really have too many memories of S1 apart from being invested in the Rumple/Bae storyline. These two really sold the papa/son relationship. Nowadays I do think it’s overall the best season although the fandom overrates it to the extreme at times.

Come the announcement of Captain Hook in that S2 comic con promo and I became more intrigued as the story of Peter Pan has been with me for as long as I can remember. I slowly became more hooked (ha) during 2A and remember not actually being too impressed with Hook at first. I wanted Captain James Hook, what was this Killain Jones BS? This is was where I first started looking around at the Tumblr fandom and it was still a shit storm back then so I kept to myself.

I remember being excited we would finally see adult Bae.... and then disappointment as he went underutilised. I actually remember being happy Neal and Emma admitted their love because I thought the SQers would realize that SQ isn’t the story they are telling and stop their bullying. I was really enjoying myself with the show, it was really great escapism. It made me believe that there could be parallel fairy tale worlds out there, haha. Especially as I was going through a lot of personal things. Again, I tried to stay out of the fandom drama but was disappointed people I found only really wanted to talk about shipping.

 But my fanboying reached overdrive when this promo came out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ihi_5gXAMOU

Holy crap that shadow! Wendy Darling! Neverland! I actually dared and interacted with the fandom after that. In combination with that fantastic goosebump inducing ending of S2 here, ‘Peter Pan Never Fails’-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRbG42dmGCw

I was ecstatic. I started liking O’Donoghue’s Hook too at this point. He had all the elements of Barrie’s Hook with OUAT’s own twist and when I rewatched his scenes, I found I enjoyed him so much more.

My excitement for S3 was probably the most invested I was in the show. I even started a blog where I posted reviews and stuff- Storybrooke Clock Tower and I think I had 1000 followers. I even sent and received a message from Parker Croft who played Felix. I could NOT wait for S3 to start.

Season 3 was just pure joy for me. They delivered by large and beyond what I had hoped for with their promise of a darker Neverland arc. Robbie Kay, again, someone I was worried about, blew me away. I just remember my thoughts after that final scene of 3x01 and then that ELECTRIFYING sneak peak of 3x02 with Pan sizing up Emma. Holy shit! This kid was sooooo good as Peter Pan, his intensity, that child like charm, having a British accent, his cocky confidence. I was in Pan heaven!

I even love 3B and it reminded me of how much I used to love the 30′s Wizard of Oz movie. I still maintain this was a great arc, it had the best visuals of the series- look at the Oz sets, how good the flying monkeys looked, all the characters still felt like themselves and had things to do, the missing year instead of tired flashbacks and the CS movie at the end.  Lots of fantastic material 

Oh and how could I forget OUATIW which also aired at this time. Starting off a little shaky (I remember the fan complaints) it just went from strength to strength and was a hugely enjoyable spin-off. Again, It reminded me of how much I loved Jafar as a kid and all that Aladdin mythology.

S3 was just a fantastic time to be a Oncer. But after the CS movie I had a funny feeling. It felt like it should have ended right there. With that final montage, with Rumple and Belle’s vows echoing the character arcs of the whole cast...It really felt concluded.

Still I watched on, nervous with the Frozen arc because it felt more like a financial decision rather then creative. I remember coming home after the CS movie aired and wanting to spoil myself so I checked FB and saw ‘Frozen is coming to OUAT’ and I was like... really? really?

Around 4A I shut down my old OUAT blog and just used my Bigmick284 one. I started not being afraid of interacting with fandom and used to reblog a lot of confession posts. I was really active on the FB OUAT page too. I fought with a lot of BAs, lol, and was bullied off the site even...

 People I remember getting along with include.

@mrs-emma-swan-jones-  I mention this a lot but...Anyway... You had a different username but I remember chatting with you a lot during early 4A. I still remember watching and smiling to your fangirling CS reaction videos on Youtube and smiling at all your excitement. Holy crap was that was really 4 years ago...

@lessawildmoon- in my quest to find people who loved to discuss CS intelligently and without resulting to bullying I found you. I remember thinking, I wish she would follow me, lol. And then you did! I always love your level headed posts. And for defending me more than once (ha).

@i-will-move-on-in-life- I remember you because you were always positive and someway down the line we found we liked a lot of things and had a lot in common other than OUAT and here we are still chatting and potentially even planning things! 

@seethem-dancing​- I just remember loving your deep and intricate essays which I always enjoyed reading.

To others who I don’t think are here any more such as FIO who I interacted with a lot over the bullying and hypocritical to downright disgusting ways of the fandom.

I’ve probably forgotten people so I am sorry if IhHave.

Fighting BAs and dealing with FB invasions, I felt stronger because I had friends here. Even with things drove me mad and I got personally attacked... I also learnt and researched many important issues such as rape culture. I learnt a lot and changed a lot about my own beliefs.

Even though I think S1-S3 and OUATIW was best, 4A was probably the last time I think OUAT was really enjoyable and I still couldn’t wait to get home and watch. They did a great job with the Frozen cast, I loved all the Emma focus and it was fun. Something sorely missing with 4B onwards which became a chore to watch.

I think the best thing post S4 was the interactions and friends I made with people who still also had hope in the show. People such as

@myst-l-vie​- fellow Aussie and someone who is very passionate about people and her interests.

@stormynoon​- not sure if we talked OUAT I think that’s how we met (but we love\ TWD!)

@zumpie​- helped me enormously when I was bullied off the site and dealing with that.

@chrissascorner- helped me recover after I was bullied

@ deliriumdecadence- not just for OUAT chats but lots of great personal chats.

To you guys who are always around, friendly, and awesome to chat to-

@newyearsswifts​

@ultraericthered​

@awesomechocolatesauce​

@marvelouswhovianfairytales​

@zannereid27​

@fraddit​

@epona610​

@v-jolt

@rubbady-pubbady

@kereeachan

I’ve probably and likely forgot numerous others.

In the end you guys are what was most important during this time. I’ll never forget it!

And I’ll always treasure the first three seasons, OUATIW and bits and pieces from 4-6. It’s taught me a lot of what to do and most certainly not to do in creating a story.

Cheers!

-Mike

[wildixia]

11 Questions

Tagged by the amazing and wonderful @theginia <3

Rules: Answer the questions you’re given, write 11 of your own, and tag 11 people.

1 What language(s) do you speak?

English! I know some extremely basic Spanish and I took Japanese in college like 6 years ago so I can recognize certain words or phrases, but that’s about it. I got to the point where I could write a whole paper in hiragana, but it’s completely gone now and I’m so sad about it. 

2 Are you a good cook?

God no! I’m awful! I take after my mother when it comes to cooking, I just don’t have a natural talent for it. I can follow a recipe, but I’m a walking disaster most times I’m in a kitchen. 

3 What video games and anime do you like? What else can I fangirl at you about?

Besides Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, I don’t have a game I’m super into, although I love watching a lot of game-based youtubers. It’s pretty much the only way I stay in the know about most games. FFXV is the first game I actually played since FFXIII came out. (My younger self would be so disappointed in my gaming drought)

In terms of anime, I USED to be such anime trash back in high school but I fell out of it once college took over my life. I’m now trying to get back into it so if anyone has some good recs for me, I’d love it! Otherwise I’m in Yuri on Ice and Voltron hell, like I can’t get ENOUGH of both of those shows. (Any sheith friends out there? Can we yell about it together? Actually just go ahead and yell anything about Voltron at me. I NEED SEASON 5)

I also watched just watched Devilman Crybaby twice. I’ve got some feels. 

4 Toilet paper: Over or under the roll?

Here’s the deal, up until a year ago I had it under the roll and then I saw the light and thought to myself, omg what have I done, over is clearly better. 

5 What do you put on your fries?

Pepper. If it’s a treat yo self day, ketchup. If I accomplished something really stressful, then those fries get dipped in a vanilla milkshake. 

6 Favourite colour?

This is actually a hard one, I don’t really have a favorite. But I love soft pastels and neutrals. 

7 Do you live in the city or in the country?

A little bit of both?? I’m about 20 miles outside of San Francisco in a small town that used to be horse country (currently live with my parents because rent is LITERALLY too high. A studio in the city close by goes for 2k a month like fuck me you guys) and we have horses and a barn, but everything is getting built up so not really the country anymore. 

8 Do you have a guilty pleasure tv show you watch?

Oh god...yes. I watch a lot of TLC, I can’t help it. My 600 Pound Life is my current favorite, the transformations after just a year are amazing. Also Say Yes to the Dress, I feel like a wedding dress expert at this point. (Hire me, Kleinfeld)

9 Do you have any pets? Pix plz.

I do!! I have two horses, Shadow and Tam. 

And I have two doggies (my best friends)

First is Luke, he’s an alaskan malamute and almost a year old. He’s MASSIVE.

Now here’s Asa, he’s an australian shepard and 7 years old. 

10 Fave ffxv characters?

I love all of the bros, but Ignis is my leading man. Also I really want a snuggle session with Umbra. 

11 What’s a book or even a fanfic you’d recommend?

Funnily enough, all my reading for the past year has only been fanfics. I really wonder how many novels it would translate into by now. For books, I’m currently reading Game of Thrones and I definitely recommend it. Shit’s crazy on a regular basis. 

I should create a different post for all my fanfic recs, because there’s a lot of them, but if you love Gladnis and you haven’t read Oh, You Wondrous Creature by Ginia on Ao3 then stop reading this and go read that! (I say that also as a reminder to myself to get my ass over there too because I’m behind)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/11274465/chapters/25214940

I’m awful at coming up with questions, so I’m sorry in advance 

1. What was your first Final Fantasy? (To play/watch/get into)

2. Who’s your all-time favorite FF character? 

3. Are you a morning person or a night owl? 

4. What was the most recent movie you saw? 

5. You’re stranded on a deserted island, but you can have one of the FFXV chocobros stranded with you, who would you chose? 

6. Do you have any resolutions for 2018?

7. Extrovert or introvert? Or maybe a little of both? 

8. How long have you been on tumblr for? 

9. Have any favorite youtubers? Or streamers? 

10. What’s the first job you ever had? 

11. Are you a manga reader? If so, what are some of your favorites? 

I’m the worst at tagging people because I’m really shy and I never want to bother anyone, so I’m tagging literally everyone scrolling by who wants to join in on the fun!

Extra tags: (if you’re already been tagged/not into this, please feel free to ignore me! <3) @crossedquills @fairygodpiggy @precious-colours @hikarisnow @benelline @fieryfantasy @for-lack-of-a-better-world @dragongem777 

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior Home and Quibi Edition July 17, 2020: WE ARE FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME, DIRT MUSIC, THE PAINTED BIRD and More!

Apologies for being a day late with this week’s column... things came up. 

Since this is a relatively quieter week, at least compared to last week,  I want to talk about something that’s been getting a lot of ridicule and unwarranted hatred in recent months, and that is something called Quibi, and so…

IN PRAISE OF QUIBI

You know, I’ve heard a lot of shit-talking about Quibi for one reason or another.  I think it’s mostly the “too cool for school” #FilmTwitter kids, who haven’t even bothered to watch half the programming and content on the streaming platform – which has absolutely nothing to do with movies, mind you -- so they honestly have no fucking idea what they’re talking about. Sure, I understand the trepidation… short programs that you watch on your phone? Why would anyone get behind that? I mean, everything needs to be a 3 ½ hour Martin Scorsese movie that needs to be seen on the biggest screen possible, right?

Well, no. You see, CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg saw how successful YouTube was with their model – maybe not necessarily their original programming – and he figured he could do them one better. Instead of following the normal TV model of 22 to 60 minutes episodes, he decided to make every episode under 10 minutes. Maybe this seems weird to many people but if you watch any commercial network television, that’s actually the norm. All programs are broken up into smaller increments to allow for the commercials, and the smart shows time those breaks with mini-cliffhangers that makes the viewer want to return after the commercial break rather than switching the station. For the comedies and dramas, it just means you can watch as many episodes as you want without investing the hours involved with binging most shows. You can watch a lot of a series in an hour or more, and you’ll know right away if it’s for you. (There are some I really didn’t like at all such as Dummy and a few others.)

The big problem is that we really shouldn’t be looking at Quibi as an attempted competitor to Netflix, Hulu or any of the other streaming services. Quibi isn’t meant to be for watching movies or to be watched on the biggest screen possible. It’s quick, short bytes of entertainment similar to what you might normally watch on YouTube, but with actual programming. It’s a service geared towards people who don’t have 8 hours a day to binge-watch shows and maybe just want something to watch on a 5 or 10-minute break from sitting at their computers working. (That’s another good reason why having to be viewed on a phone/tablet makes it a good way to take a break from the computer.)

I totally understand some of the trepidation based on the early programming, because I haven’t found much in the narrative realm that has jumped out at me. I like Will Forge and Caitlyn Olsen’s Flipped, since it stars two of the funniest people on television, and the second story on Sam Raimi’s United States of Horror was far better than the first one. I also found a great guilty pleasure in shows like Chrissy’s Court and Dishmantled, each which put a spin on favorite TV genres, the court and cooking shows, both which are hilarious. I binged both of those series, which are about 10 to 12 episodes in a little over an hour, and Reno 911 and Jason Reitman’s The Princess Bride adaptation have been some great recent additions to the service.

The reason why you should be watching Quibi is for the daily programming, which is every bit on par with anything currently on television, mainly because Quibi has joined forces with some of the best news sources and content creators. For instance, the BBC show, Around the World with host Ben Bland, takes all of the great news from the BBC and puts together a daily six-minute “montage” of the most important news from outside the United States. There’s also NBC’s The Report, which offers two episodes on weekdays – the Morning and Evening Report – and two Weekend Reports, and it’s solid news reporting but also nothing that outlasts its welcome like the normal 24-hour news.

Then there’s so much other great programming, including Answered by Vox with host Cleo Abram, where you can learn about so many relevant and timely topics, and it’s become a particularly beneficial during the COVID pandemic. I have to admit that when I first started watching this, I was kind of amused by Abram’s twitchy interviews where she seemed unsure of herself, but over the course of the last couple months, her bubbly personality has really come out, as she’s tackled topics of special interest to herself. Quibi has rightfully been promoting the heck out of the show by advertising it on other shows. I also am impressed by the topics Shan Boodram covers on Sexology, an extremely candid and honest discussion of what some might consider taboo topics.

Similarly wonderful to watch every day is EW’s Last Night Late Night with Heather Gardner, which sums up the previous night’s late night shows – the best jokes, the best bits from the interviews, performances etc. – and there’s also Rotten Tomatoes’ Fresh Daily with Maude Garrett, which gives you a look at the best things to watch on streaming and digital on a day-to-day basis. (For full transparency, a person I greatly respect and one of the few I genuinely like in the industry, Mr. Simon Thompson, writes and produces the show.)  Video game fans may enjoy Polygon’s Speed Run, although it recently changed format and is now three days a week, rather than five, and each episode is now on one subject rather than the segment format previously used. I hope this isn’t a sign of Quibi or these companies trying to save costs because there’s some nervous about the platform lasting.  

Personally, I love Quibi, and I didn’t even hesitate for a second to shell out the $5.30 a month (including tax), mainly for the daily programming. Honestly, I really hope that we’ll get more of Chrissy’s Court and Dishmantled, and I hope to eventually get to some of the shows I haven’t watched, as well. (I’ve had a few issues with streaming and buffering in the last week, which I hope Quibi will resolve, because it’s very frustrating to sit down for my daily watches and just get the spinning ball repeatedly.)

Anyway, let’s get to the movies… and is it possible that Hulu may be receiving the coveted “Featured Flick” two weeks in a row? Certainly looks like it. If you’re trying to figure out what to watch after watching Hamilton on Disney+ for the 20th time, how about going back to the very beginning?

Andrew Fried’s doc WE ARE FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME (Hulu) looks back at how Wesleyan alum Thomas Kail and Anthony Veneziale put together the group of improvisational performers that would include one Lin-Manuel Miranda. I was lucky enough to know about Freestyle Love Supreme way back when they were starting out, since a good friend of mine managed the East Village club, Mo Pitkins, where the group frequently performed. I knew pretty early on how much talent Miranda had from seeing him perform. Make no mistake that this is not a movie only about Miranda, as it’s as much or more about Kail and Venziale’s efforts to keep the group’s shows happening while Miranda is pulled away to do In the Heights on Broadway, and then ultimately doing his magnum opus, Hamilton.  

For some reason, I thought this doc would mainly be about the idea of bringing Freestyle Love Supreme back for its limited stint on Broadway, but it goes all the way back to the beginning and how they met and came together, plus how they found new members to fill in for Miranda and Christopher Jackson when they went to Broadway.  Freestyle Love Supreme is a pretty amazing group because as the name implies, they’re a bunch of freestyle rappers who improvise every show based on things they get from the audience, but it also allows them to explore their own personal lives and histories and incorporate them into each show. I’m actually a little bummed I never got a chance to see it even though I’ve known about them since the early ‘00s. This doc might feel a little long even at under 90 minutes, but it’s worth sticking with since they’re such an interesting group and the combination of performances and interviews makes it a fine doc about these amazingly talented individuals and how the sum is bigger than the whole of the parts.

Another long-gestating project that has finally seen the light of day is the romantic drama DIRT MUSIC (Samuel Goldwyn), based on Tim Winton’s popular Australian novel that people have been trying to adapt since back when Heath Ledger was still alive. I believe Russell Crowe had been trying to adapt it, too. It stars Kelly Macdonald, who I’ve loved since her first appearance in Trainspotting and who I’m always hoping will find some of those great roles we see other actors her age getting. (Sorry, but Puzzle just wasn’t one of them.)  In Dirt Music, she plays Georgie, a woman living with fisherman Jim Buckridge (David Wenham), a widowed father with two sons, although they’re not married. When Georgie begins a relationship with troubled local musician Lu Fox (Garrett Hedlund), it causes problems within the tight-knit community, but instead of getting into a confrontation with Jim, Lu runs off.

I actually quite enjoyed this drama, partially because it marks the return of Gregor Jordan, an Australian filmmaker who has quite a few decent movies under his belt, including an earlier Ned Kelly movie. It is a little hard to figure out what is happening, partially from the accents but also from the decision to tell the story in a non-linear fashion that isn’t always apparent where each of the characters are in the story. Obviously, a major thing to pay attention to is how great Macdonald and Hedlund are in their roles in this possibly unlikely romance. You can totally see Ledger in the role of Lu, and the fact that Hedlund is so good should help you appreciate him more as an actor. Macdonald also still has this youthful energy despite being in her ‘40s, and that gives their relationship something akin to her relationship with McGregor in Trainspotting.

What really captured my attention was the gorgeous music by the Fox family, and I was even more  impressed to learn that the actors – Julia Stone, George Mason, Neill Maccoll, and yes, Garrett Hedlund – all performed their own vocals in the songs, which includes a gorgeous version of Tim Buckley’s “Song of the Siren” (famously covered by This Mortal Coil). Frankly, I’m most surprised by the fact that Hedlund had musical talent I never knew about, and you can combine that with the emotion he brings to Lu with very few words, and you have another example of why Hedlund just isn’t getting the credit as an actor he deserves. I really liked the way this story was unfolded and where it ended, and I hope we’ll see more great work like this from Jordan.

I was a little more tentative about Wetlands director David Wnendt’s THE SUNLIT NIGHT (Quiver Distribution), which was adapted by Rebecca Dinerstein from her own novel, but not only because it premiered at Sundance way back in early 2019. If you’ve been reading the past few months of columns, you’ll know that there are a lot of recurring themes of movies that play at Sundance, and this one stars Jenny Slate, who had such an impact at Sundance with the movie Obvious Child, which I really didn’t like.  Yeah, I’m not really a fan, even though I like her in smaller roles like her role in Gifted a few years back. In this one, Slate plays Frances, a New York artist, whose parents are about to break up and looking for a change, she accepts an internship with an artist in Northern Norway where the day lasts for months.  It’s a pretty obvious “fish-out-of-water” comedy premise like one we may normally see at Sundance, but it never really delivers on  

Probably my favorite part of the movie was seeing David Paymer as France’s father, mainly because we just don’t see Paymer in many movies these days, but Zack Galifianakis’ character, one of the Norwegians who has an affinity for Vikings, just doesn’t add very much to the story. While I liked the set-up for the movie and Slate is generally likeable in the lead role, the movie just isn’t funny enough to be deemed a comedy nor enough drama to have much of an emotional impact, and the romance between Slate and a local didn’t do much for me either. By the end of the movie, Sunlit Night had veered too far into the most obvious indie territory, so it ultimately fell short for me. I just wish Dinerstein had more (or anything) to say with this story, and I feel like Wnendt and his cast probably did the best they could with what they had to work with.

A movie that’s finally being released after playing a number of festivals last year is the Czech Republic’s 2019 Oscar selection, Václav Marhoul’s THE PAINTED BIRD (IFC Films), based on Jerzy Kosinski’s novel about a young Jewish boy navigating the landscape of WWII-era Eastern Europe all on his own, ending up in one horrifying situation after another.

While this is a beautifully-told story featuring equally beautiful and quite stark black and white cinematography, I can’t wholly recommend it to everyone, because that beautiful camerawork is used to depict some of the most horrible depravity and violence, all experienced by this young boy who just can’t seem to catch a break.

There is very little dialogue in a film that takes an episodic approach to following this young boy’s journey as he either watches horrifying things or is put through grueling torture and even rape as he’s handed and bartered from one adult to another. The “painted bird” of the title is a literal bird that’s painted to attract other birds that attack it, and it’s clearly meant as an analogy for the boy.

If you’ve watched any Czech films over the years, you’ll know that they’re generally pretty grim (they’re a grim people), and you’ll probably know fairly soon whether you want to sit through the entire 2 ¾ running time to see how this boy fares with everything he faces. (Note: A big deal has been made about some of the more horrifying violence in the movie, but honestly? Being in black and white, it isn’t that gory, and I’ve seen far, far worse. A lot of the worst of it is off-screen and your mind tends to fill in the blanks much like last year’s The Nightingale.)

Barely saying a single word, Petr Kotlár is able to carry the film, and it’s interesting when more familiar actors like Udo Kier, Harvey Keitel, Stellan Skarsgaard, and Barry Pepper are brought into this world Marhoul has created from Kosinski’s book. Like so many other movies right now, it’s a shame this won’t be seen on the big screen where you’re forced to really focus on what you’re watching without distractions.  

The Butterfly Effect writer/director Eric Bress’s latest horror film is GHOSTS OF WAR (Vertical) about a group of American soldiers -- including Brenton Thwaites, Sklar Astin and Theo Rossi -- who travelling across France during WWII when they come upon a French Chateau where they decide to hole up. That is, until they learn there’s a supernatural enemy that may be worse than the Nazis they’re hiding from.  

The premise for Bress’ latest venture into the supernatural is a fairly simple one, and it’s hard not to watch this movie and not think of the far superior Overlord from a few years back. As soon as the soldiers get to the estate, it’s pretty obvious (mainly from the title) where things are going to go from there, and unfortunately, the bland casting doesn’t do very much to elevate that simple premise, the weak writing, and none of it feels particularly scary.  If that general premise doesn’t seem very interesting to you, then Ghosts of War introduces a pretty out-there last act twist that’s either gonna be praised for changing things up or it will be condemned for being so out there. The problem is that the movie just hasn’t built enough good will to earn its twist, and viewers will probably just be even more annoyed by it.

Ghosts of War will be available On Demand, via Virtual Cinema Screenings and digitally after being on DirecTV for the past few weeks.

Down at New York’s Film Forum, you can rent Elizabeth Coffman and Mark doc Flannery (Film Forum), winner of the Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize with its look at author Flannery O’Connor. The repertoryVirtual Cinema adds Jean-Luc Godard’s Made in the U.S.A. (1966) and Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Michael (1924), the latter part of the Forum’s “Pioneers of Queer Cinema” program.

Starting on Film at Lincoln Center’s Virtual Cinema this Friday is Koji Fukada’s Mayak (Andreevsky Flah Film Company/Anniko Films), while FilmLinc is also starting its annual Dance on Camera Festival, the 48th edition, although this time virtually.

Available via Film Movement’s Virtual Cinema is Emily Harris’ adaption of Joseph Sheridan le Fanu’s Gothic vampire novella, Carmilla, starring Hannah Rae as 15-year-old Lara who lives in isolation on her family’s country estate with her strict governess Miss Fontaine (Jessica Raine) until a carriage crash brings a mysterious girl into their lives.

Now we’re getting to more movies that I just didn’t find the time to see even though I had screeners for a couple of them, like the latest in Hulu’s popular monthly horror series, INTO THE DARK:  THE CURRENT OCCUPANT, which will hit the streamer this Friday. It’s directed by Julius Ramsay and written by D.C. speech writer Alston Ramsay, taking place in a psychiatric ward where a man trapped with no memory, played by Barry Watson, believes that he’s the President of the United States and the subject of a political conspiracy. No, it’s not a documentary.

Over on Netflix, there’s Catrin Einhorn and Leslye Davis’ doc Father Soldier Son, which follows a former platoon sergeant and his two sons over a decade after his return home from a serious injury in Afghanistan, showing the long-term effects of military service on a family.

Dan Wingate’s doc Kaye Ballard - The Show Goes On (Abramorama) will get a Virtual Cinema release this Friday. I actually am not familiar with the actress, singer and comedian but apparently, she’s had a career that has spanned eight decades, starting in the 40s, and her friends include Ann-Margret, Carol Burtnett, Carol Channing, my good pal Red Reed and more, all of whom are interviewed, along with Ballard.

Also out on Digital this week is Steve Ohi’s sci-fi horror comedy Useless Humans (Quiver Distribution) about a ruthless alien who crashes a 30th birthday party causing four friends to team up to save the world. Will Addison’s Easy Does It (Gravitas Ventures), stars Linda Hamilton, as well as Ben Matheny and Martin Martinez, the latter two as friends who want to escape their Mississippi hometown when they learn there’s a cache of hidden loot in California. Hamilton plays their hometown criminal matriarch “King George” who learns of the money and has her bounty hunter daughter (Susan Gordon) chase the friends down.

On Friday, New York’s Japan Society will kick off its annual “Japan Cuts” program of new and repertory Japanese cinema, and like most other festivals and series this year, it’s going on line, beginning with Shinichiro Ueda’s Special Actors (the Opening Night film), Fukushima 50 (the Centerpiece) and Labyrinth of Cinema, for $7.00 each, which is a pretty good deal. (There’s also a new competitive section called “Next Generation” which focuses on new Japanese talent.) And then for $99, you can get an all access pass to watch all 42 films in the festival, which includes a lot of movies you may never have a chance to see in the States otherwise. You can watch a playlist of trailers from the movies here. All 42 films will be available starting this Friday, so make sure to include this in your weekend plans.

In related news, the New York Asian Film Festival (which cancelled this year altogether) and the Korean Culture Center of New York are teaming once again for Korean Movie Night, this year doing them virtually with a new program called “A League Of Its Own,” which focuse on Hit Korean Baseball Movies, plus there’s a bunch of other Korean films you can watch (FOR FREE!) here until July 25.

Also, if you’re anywhere near some of the drive-ins taking part in Amazon’s summer movie program, you can catch “Movies To Make You Proud” Black Panther and Creed on Wednesday night.

Next week, more movies mostly not in theaters!

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have bothered to read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or drop me a note or tweet on Twitter. I love hearing from readers … honest!

[popliar]

K-Con Australia, 20170922-23

The first Australian K-Con was held over the last two nights in Sydney, and @proteinscollide​ and I were there. I'm very behind on everything else as a result! I need to watch Knowing Bros! ANYWAY, short version: IT WAS SUPER FUN. Lots of rambling under the cut as usual.

22 September: SF9, Pentagon, Victon, Girl's Day, Exo

23 September: SF9 (again!), Up10tion, Cosmic Girls/WJSN, Wanna One, Monsta X

Overall this was an extremely well produced show and a really fun show - I had such a good time! Okay, the "convention" part not so much (I'll talk about this a bit at the end of the post) but at both evening shows, the concert ran like a slick machine, stage following stage with no pause, good sound and no technical hitches. Visually the show looked great, with massive screens giving good views of every performer as well as fantastically atmospheric backdrops.

It didn't sell out on either night, and again I'll talk about possible reasons for that more later, but as a vehicle for hallyu and for promoting Korean culture this is potentially such a powerful instrument. One of the most striking K-Con images for me is the footage of K-Con Paris from 2016 - the pan from the section of the crowd for the French dignitaries and delegates, all politely seated and clapping, to the massive auditorium of French youth going absolutely wild for these pop groups from the other side of the world. This show didn't have that element of official endorsement, it was much more a straight-up pop show, but hey you never know, that might come…

Soft power has its limits, for sure, but within those boundaries Korea is working so very hard at being the very best it can be. I admire the gumption, and more importantly to Korea I am happily consuming the product! Give me more product! I'm here for this!

As far as line-up goes, this K-Con wasn't the best. Exo are absolute stars of course and there were other notable groups like Monsta X and Girl's Day; on balance however this was a really rookie-heavy sausage-fest. The prevalence of rookies is probably partly bad timing - the show coincided with the DMC Music Festival (which was eventually cancelled anyway due to labour disputes, argh, we could've had it all!).

But the boy-heavy line-up? Frustrating. Apparently WJSN and Girl's Day are the first girl groups to perform here since 4 Minute some three-four years ago. WHY? Perhaps there's a perception that since Western fans are mostly girls then they'll only turn out for boybands - I know in Korea the audience for girlgroups is skewed towards boys. However, here in the West, pop as a whole is coded so heavily female that I'm sure wouldn't be a problem. I've been to many Western female pop star concerts and trust me, the girls SHOWED UP. Hell, at this very same arena, Little Mix are performing later this year. Besides, this argument falls flat if you look at other K-Con line-ups which, although boy-heavy, still manage more than a measly 2 girl groups. Gosh I'd have been so happy with the addition of any ONE of Red Velvet, Mamamoo, Blackpink, Pristin, Gfriend, Twice, etc…

...that was a long intro. Let's talk the show.

Chanyeol (EXO)

Night 1

The first night of K-Con began with a pre-show of kpop dance cover groups (they were all good but some were REALLY GOOD) and Kevin from U-KISS as MC (did u know he looks like Lee Pace around the eyes?), doing his cheesy best to hype up the crowd and also promote the con's primary sponsor.

Then the show got started with a VCR, featuring Monsta X's Minhyuk in a sort of spaceship-themed narrative? I don't know what I saw but apparently K-Con's first Oceanic showing needed heroes or defenders or something, i.e. kpop groups? Whatever cool. I do know it involved Minhyuk looking at a picture of a kangaroo so we're all good.

Also apparently Sydney is the city of "arts and culture" and also "romance"? I'm flattered on behalf of my home, and I can assure you we have plenty of all three, but really?? Those are not, like, the first words I associate with Sydney. But ok, you do you K-Con!

Exo's Suho and Sehun then came on as the night's special MCs to deliver a brief introduction and be cute together and make the crowd scream. Naturally, there were Exo jerseys and banners and lightsticks all over the place; earlier in the day I got handed a cute banner to celebrate Chen's birthday, which I then promptly used to test proteinscollide's knowledge of Exo band names. (She improved greatly through the evening!)

First group up were rookie boyband SF9 - I've enjoyed their songs and MVs without knowing much about them. This rapidfire 3 song performance made me more of a fan! They just hit all their beats really well, both in terms of performance and in their brief introduction ment, advantaged by one member who was a fluent English speaker. Their line distribution is kind of weird - there's maybe three members who dominate the vocals and the dancing, especially Taeyang who I kept thinking of as "that one guy who looks like Shinee's Jonghyun" - but not enough to detract overall. I have no favourite but maybe my favourite is the rapper with currently red hair who reminds me of SVT Jeonghan and Pentagon's E'Dawn.

Something like K-Con is the perfect platform for a rookie group to get this kind of exposure. My own first exposure to kpop (aka the reason for my eternal downfall) was winning free tickets to a Boyfriend & JJCC show - I knew nothing about them, knew next to nothing about kpop, and JJCC were a hot mess sorry - but seeing the groups in person and live was enough to make me want to know so much more. I feel like this SF9 set functioned in much the same way. It was SO much more impactful than just an MV or a youtube clip or a gifset. This is how fans are made! (That said… I'll get to it, but SF9 got two bites at the cherry. Why?)

Next up were Pentagon and their brief set was great. Their songs are such bangers - I SAID BANGERS, DON'T AT ME - and they were really polished and powerful. Kino's opening dance solo was super charismatic, and E'Dawn (aka the only one I can consistently recognise) was working that jawline of his so well, lol. He does the bad boy thing very well! I admire it! For their ment, they played the "Pinata" game as seen at other K-Cons this year, i.e. a random game was selected. (Would the game be 'Propose'? It was not propose, but one member did get down on one knee to E'Dawn anyway, good job good fanservice.) In this case it was a random dance play, and it was very amusing and silly.

Probably my favourite thing about Pengaton is how far and fast proteinscollide has fallen for them. Can you believe at this time last year she didn't even know all the MX member names? Now the student has exceeded the master! Post your Pentagon post bro!

Sehun and Suho came back to introduce a special stage: Exo's Chanyeol in duet with WJSN's Seola, for his OST track Stay with Me. This was a nice, pretty interlude and a bit of a breather after the fast pacing of the first two sets.

Seola (WJSN)

Third rookie group Victon bopped cutely to a very Australian-themed video backdrop and they were very entertaining, without necessarily making me want to seek them out further. I think that's more to do with their concept being more cute than Pentagon and SF9's, so less appealing to me on those grounds. But they have their charms and most importantly one had a mullet! I'm HERE for the mullets, don't even think I'm joking.

Next up were Girl's Day. They're down to 4 members now but their experience and their casual confidence made them so enjoyable to watch. They played their hits including Something, Expectation and Ring My Bell with such a sense of fun and sexiness, dominating the stage and playing to the crowd with the relaxed ease of vets who have nothing to prove. There was a hunger to the rookies that gave them more edge but sometimes you just wanna watch really talented ppl relaxedly doing their very talented thing.

With everyone acutely aware there was only one act left to take the stage, a couple of SF9s came out to MC a special stage. They did the usual "how are you guys enjoying the show" and "we love Australia" and all that jazz, and then made the fatal mistake of asking an open-ended question:

SF9 MCs: so who is Australia's favourite boy group? Crowd: BTS!!! MCs: Yes, Exo!!! #awkward

I lol'd! I am sorry! Bless you Exo but c'mon!

This was followed by a brief VCR of Australian fans naming their favourite boybands, and then a really fun special stage of boyband covers:  Pentagon covered GOT7's Hard Carry;  SF9 covered Exo's Monster; and Victon did BTS's Fire.

At last it was time for EXO - MUCH CHEERING FROM CROWD!  Exo-Ls were out in force. There were also tons of lightsticks in the crowd and everyone was hyyyyped.

Now some context for my reaction: I can name all the Exo's and I like some of their songs, but I don't quite click with their aesthetic/dynamic in the way that I do with BTS, etc. They were also at something of a disadvantage, with D.O absent from the line-up (I had to count them twice to make sure sob) and Lay MIA from this entire comeback (though I guess that's no longer surprising).

So let that be the background for me saying that I was totally entertained and impressed by their set. Starting with Power and ending with Ko Ko Bop, they came out and gave a great show. They are after all professionally charming and who was I to resist?

For me again it's that idea of a live show being so much more powerful than a video, even for something as preplanned and artificially constructed as pop. A concert is such a powerful reminder that it's more than the performer, and it's more than the audience too - it's about the relationship between the two, that alchemy of atmosphere and act that you only get in that specific environment.

Yes, Kai was deadly with his fucking winks and seductive looks (how dare you sir), but the way the audience reacted to his performance is what made the show go off. Xiumin aka Cat Pirate was also a scene stealer for me, and it was very darling when Chanyeol threw confetti at his head at the end awwww.

(I just wish, like, SM were less SM-y. I got a message from proteinscollide after the show - "Girl walking thru car park: shout out to SM who never give reasons for why members aren't there and if they're ok". Um, yep. I had to check on twitter to find out that D.O was off filming a movie.)

Ending stage was as usual with everyone coming out as tons of confetti rained down. I think a SF9 hugged a Victon? AWWW FRIENDS. A good night.

Night 2

We started again with dance cover groups - colour me EXTREMELY impressed by IME Dance Studio - and Kevin from U-KISS giving away a prize to whoever in the crowd did their best impression of their favourite thing to do in a hotel room. This led to a really hilarious scenario as the cameras zoomed in on 2 girls "dancing" together. "Yes, they're dancing!" Kevin said, "of course they're dancing!" Everyone just cracked the fuck up, Kevin included. They got the prize, bless them, which was - ofc - a free hotel stay!

The show started with the same VCR as the day before and then I was EMOTIONALLY DESTROYED by Monsta X's Jooheon and Shownu taking the stage together to drop an absolutely fire performance. Jooheon's duality is amazing - cuddly scaredy-cat off stage, fucking monster on stage - he was SO GOOD. Shownu's dance break was great as expected and I cried tears in my heart bc I love them.

SF9 returned for the second evening - again, they were slick and impressive, and they namedropped kangaroos and meat pies in their intro ment, good work on ticking off those keywords lol. But I really don't know why they got sets on both days? Did FNC decide they really wanted to build that fanbase and made the necessary commercial arrangement with the promotors? Like I said, stages like this can be real turning points in making a fan. So that's fascinating. If anyone knows, lemme know?

Daehwi (Wanna One)

Three Wanna Ones then took the stage to briefly MC. It was definitely Kang Daniel and uh, two other Wanna Ones! *hastily googles* It was Daehwi, who was the most fluent in English and was super cute & cheesy, and Minhyun, who was also cute but I don't remember much? Sorry team. The only Broduce bro I can 100% identify is Daniel, and sometimes Jaewhan. But! I think I'll remember Daehwi from now on - he was pretty memorable and did the most heavy lifting in the ments. Anyway they delivered some potted intros and then on to the next one.

WJSN then performed a special stage, covering two Kylie Minogue songs as two subunits - Locomotion (which I note came out in 1988, older than every single K-Con performer except for Sojin of Girl's Day) and I Can't Get You Out Of My Head (2001 - there are rookies debuting born in 2001! And younger! God i'm so old). Firstly much love for preparing a special stage with local appeal that didn't feel pandering and really spoke to the long history of amazing women in pop, and secondly THEY WERE SO GOOD. Fun, bright, poppy - I love them.

They were followed by Up10tion who did a high energy set and I remember why I liked them! They're good! I don't quite click with all their songs, especially their more recent ones which I feel are a bit hit and miss, but just like every other group in this K-Con they delivered their set with professionalism and skill and charm.

There was then a brief interlude with MX's Kihyun and I.M, MY TWO LOVES, MCing an audience dance game. We got to see Kihyun doing the Twice TT dance and my world was made. Gosh I love them.

WJSN

WJSN then came back for their set and I just really like them so much. They have that sleekness that I've come to associate with Starship because of them and MX, with both groups always having good choreo and catchy hooks. I like their concept a lot too - they're cute sassy cheerleaders, yes, but I also feel like there's this very cool edge to them, they could easily cut you! I love that! As they acknowledged in their ment, 2 members couldn't make it due to filming schedules (I think it was Cheng Xiao, the dancey/gymnastic one? And Mei Qi, possibly? I'm sorry, I don't remember) but they were still very good and I enjoyed their set a lot. And their main rapper - god, I'm sorry, I don't know if it was Bona or another member - she was SO GOOD? She had so much stage presence. Gosh. I need to find out her name.

Next up were Wanna One. Now, ofc, Produce 101 never officially aired in Australia. We had to watch it on the internet like a bunch of animals. And yet out of all the groups on both days, their fans were definitely the most intense and the most scream-y - yes, more intense than the Exo-Ls and the Monbebes!

I only ever saw snippets of P101 and as I said I can only ID Daniel with certainty, but I was, hmm, not surprised I guess that they turned out to be endearing? CAN U IMAGINE, a group of young men voted for according to their charms turns out to be extremely charming?! The shock!  (From a purely commercial standpoint, what a brilliant exercise this has turned out to be. I think the limited timeframe for Wanna One to make bank lends an edge of urgency to their fandom and means their machine is also geared to maximum efficiency. Make! Bank! Now!) And because they're young and new, there was a certain edge of rawness and spontaneity to them which is naturally part of their appeal too. I still don't quite know what I feel about Kang Daniel - like I know he's very fond of cats and therefore a good person, and he has this easy, cocky stage charisma which makes his appeal seem very straightforward. But I think I found him most endearing when he missed a step at the end of his dance solo and there was just the cutest expression on his face, like "my bad."

For their Pinata game, they did photo time with hyung line posing "cutely" and maknae line posing "sexily" followed by some kind of free for all - A HOT MESS, lol.

Daehwi also went off script - or at least, he said he went off script, but can you ever really know? We need to go deeper! - and wished happy birthday to Kuanlin, getting the whole audience to sing along too, awww. As I said: what a group of charming young men; the self-awareness that they were constructed to charm ultimately means nothing.

FINALLY MONSTA X. They're, like, my second favourite group after BTS so I think I would've been just fine if they'd shown up and waved at us and sang like a song or two. But they didn't! They were really, really good. As headliners they had a signficant chunk of time and I think I was smiling from start to end, non stop.

They've turned into such good performers - with something similar to that same easy confidence that Girl's Day and Exo had - and I felt like they really did the most, on the second night, with connecting to the audience. Their performances were all on point, and everyone of them looked and sounded great but Jooheon especially killed me with swag and Wonho's collar & cleavage can fuck right off, ISTG. It just made me so happy to see them doing these songs and choreo I love so much - Shine Forever and Beautiful and Fighter - and they ended with Hero, my very first MX song, which was amazing. (I am a little sad they skipped All In but ok I can live with it.)

For their ment, they played the proposal game, with three members doing their very best fanservice lol. A very happy woman in the standing area got to be audience surrogate as I.M laid on cheesy lines (something about angels and heaven, IDK, why is he like this and why do I love him so much), Kihyun sang a ballad to her (next to me proteinscollide died a death), and Wonho came down to the barrier to to give her a heart, selfie & cheek kiss. It was so! Cheesy! And Wonderful! #the selfawareness does nothing

Everyone then came out for the goodbye, though MX were the only ones who felt relaxed enough it seems to actually get silly with the confetti and do some more spontaneous bows & waves to the crowd. By comparison to every other group on the 2nd night, they must be the old hands at K-Con by now - they've done SO many. Gosh I hope they come back to Australia for a full show. I love them so much.

Fuck, I'm now at 3300 words so let's wrap this up quick:

Unlike other K-Cons which seem to have a proper programming and convention stream, the "convention" part of this was really a disappointment. Minimal programming, minimal stalls (less than 10 vendors), all in one room. It was free entry which is fine I guess except that people were queuing up forever to get inside due to the limited capacity and it was H O T (over 30 C each day) out there. In the end I queued for an hour, and spent about 15 minutes inside. It was really not worth it. Luckily proteinscollide & I had options and just went away for a few hours to pass the time before the show, but I imagine there were a lot of kids left hanging around Olympic Park all day with nothing to do.

The shows didn't sell out. What does this mean? Possible thoughts:

-It was really expensive and the audience skews young. Like, the premium tickets were REALLY REALLY expensive and good tix were expensive. I could afford decent tix, but if I were in my teens? No way. I'd have had to ask my parents for it.

-Sydney has had a run of shows including an Australian-exclusive BTS show. If you're interstate and you already spent $$$ going to BTS, or for that matter $$$ to go G-Dragon in your own state, how much money do you have left over for concerts in this year? There is a limited capacity for this audience to keep spending. Promoters should be careful not to spread us too thin. Put more shows on in Melbourne! (Though I don't know - are there more Koreans and east Asians in Sydney? I suspect there are. The audience, again, skews heavily to those of us who are Asian-Australian.)

-Exo, MX, and Wanna One are very popular but don't have the same mainstream reach in Australia as BTS. BTS also had the advantage again of being earlier in the year, only the 2nd major kpop tour in the year I believe. Since then there's been other kpop and khip-hop shows for people to spend their money on. I really thought Exo would give BTS a run tho, given how well their latest album performed on Australian iTunes charts.

...that was not a quick wrap-up.

TO CONCLUDE: I HAD A GOOD TIME, THANK U FOR READING.

[panda-plumbobs]

fifty questions you’ve never been asked tag

I was tagged by the amazing @inevitablesims​!

It’s quite long, so I’ve put it under the cut - enjoy!

1. What’s your favourite candle scent? I only really just discovered how AMAZING candles are last winter, but haven’t had the chance to go and buy more since! One of my favourites was a burgundy one from Primark of all places - but I can’t for the life of me remember what it’s called or find it on the internet!? I think it was wild berries and jasmine, but I honestly can’t remember!

2. What female celebrity do you wish was your sister? Lily Collins cos she is lyfeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ♡

3. What male celebrity do you wish was your brother? Sam Claflin - he is good-looking and just a good guy in general (and his dog is cute)

4. How old do you think you’ll be when you get married? Well, I’m not in a relationship right now, and probably won’t be anytime soon, but I’m aiming mid-20s really!

5. Do you know a hoarder? My grandma kept anything and everything before she passed away a couple of years ago. All of the stuff is probably still all at my grandad’s house now 😂

6. Can you do a split the splits? Very funny - no

7. How old were you when you learned how to ride a bike? I was really late cos I was absolutely hopeless (so not much of an improvement form now really 😂) - probably 10 or 11?

8. How many oceans have you swam in? 1 - although, technically there only is one ocean 😏

9. How many countries have you been to? 3 ½ including my home country (the ½ is because the place I went to is technically part of my country of origin, but I had to get a plane to get to it, and it was different from home so in my mind that counts as a half!)

10. Is anyone in your family in the army? Nope - my whole ancestry were farmers!

11. What would you name your daughter if you had one? Honestly I have no idea, I like so many names, but most of them are inspired by book characters, so probably something from the Mortal Instruments or something? It kinda changes all the time 😂 

12. What would you name your son if you had one? See above ↑

13. What’s the worst grade you got on a test? C on my French listening mock 😳

14. What was your favourite TV show when you were a child? When I was really young, I really liked Lazytown, but when I switched to the tween channel, I was obsessed with the Sarah Jane Adventures and Young Dracula (cos Vlad 😍). I also liked the game-shows like Raven and Jungle Run

15. What did you dress up as on Halloween when you were eight? After digging through a load of photo albums I came up with nothing… I was probably a ghost or a pirate princess, as those are the two costume I remember having as a kid!

16. Have you read any of the Harry Potter, Hunger Games or Twilight series? Indeed, I have read all three!

17. Would you rather have an American accent or a British accent? To be honest, where’s the option for Australian accents? I’m a sucker for those 😏

18. Did your mother go to college? No, she went straight into training for a job

19. Are your grandparents still married? Technically no, my grandfather is a widower 

20. Have you ever taken karate lessons? No

21. Do you know who Kermit the frog is?

Me: Tell them the truth - you only really know him from the Muppet’s Christmas Carol

Me to Me: Just show them the meme

22. What’s the first amusement park you’ve been to? There is a massive theme park not even a mile from my house, but for some reason that wasn’t the first one I went to 😂 No, I’m not going disclose exactly where but I was probably about 5 or 6, it was an absolute wash out and we spent most of the day sat in the car

23. What language, besides your native language, would you like to be fluent in? Pragmatically, Chinese, as it is predicted to surpass English as the widest spoken soon. But for funsises? Japanese!

24. Do you spell the colour as gray or grey? IT’S GREY

25. Is your father bald? No…

26. Do you know triplets? Nope

27. Do you prefer Titanic or The Notebook? That’s actually quite hard - I haven’t watched either for a while! Probably the Notebook, because Ryan Gosling > > > Leonardo Di Caprio

28. Have you ever had Indian food? Actually, no. I’m a really fussy eater, so never try things 😂

29. What’s the name of your favourite restaurant? Probably McDonald’s 🍟

30. Have you ever been to Olive Garden? No

31. Do you belong to any warehouse stores (Costco, BJ’s, etc.)?  Nope

32. What would your parents have named you if you were the opposite gender? Joe or Jack

33. If you have a nickname, what is it? Panda (obviously). I have many others but I don’t think I’m going to tell you them due to personal reasons and the fact I’m still anonymous!

34. Who’s your favourite person in the world? All of my family and my best friends!

35. Would you rather live in a rural area or in the suburbs? I live in the country now and it sucks, so suburbs!

36. Can you whistle? Yeah and actually pretty well! Sometimes I can even whistle tunes, but my range is quite short so…

37. Do you sleep with a nightlight? I have fairy lights round my bedpost, and I turn them on or off depending what mood I’m in (or if I can be bothered to go under my bed and turn them on 😂) 

38. Do you eat breakfast every morning? Only on weekends and holidays - ain’t nobody got time for that when you have school on morning! My lie-ins are too precious 😴

39. Do you take any pills or medication daily? No

40. What medical conditions do you have? Technically none, but I think I may have mild anxiety towards certain things, as I have definitely had panic attacks and felt very ill in certain situations (I won’t elaborate what, but drop an ask if interested).

41. How many times have you been to the hospital? 0 - I’m so healthy! (touch wood)

42. Have you ever seen Finding Nemo? Yeah!

43. Where do you buy your jeans? Mainly Primark, cos I’m a cheap-skate, and because their jeans are the only jeans I can find at a reasonable price that fit me?!

44. What’s the last compliment you got? I think it was someone saying that I looked older than my actual age (not granny old or anything), but to be honest I can’t remember if that was in a dream, which leads nicely onto the next question… 

45. Do you usually remember your dreams in the morning? Yeah usually. I have some real weird dreams though 😂

46. What flavour tea do you enjoy? I don’t drink tea - at all

47. How many pairs of shoes do you currently own? 7 or 8 I think

48. What religion will you raise your children to practice? Although I’m Christian, I don’t practice it, so I probably won’t raise my children with religion unless they/my partner wants to. We will celebrate Christmas and Easter though!

49. How old were you when you found out that Santa wasn’t real? About 7 or 8

50. Why do you have a YouTube? I made it originally so I could subscribe to channels. Then I dabbled in making videos last year - and realised what a massive mistake that was so just went back to using it for watching stuff 😂

I tag @lxcysims, @avaeternal, @calisimgirl and @asterllum - sorry if you’ve already done this!

[heyscience]

Holy shit you guys, Canada Day has just gone by, do you know what that means?? It’s exactly a decade since I went on a choir trip to Vancouver, Canada. 

I’ve been thinking about this trip a lot. Firstly because I am poor and from Australia, so I feel very lucky to have had the opportunity to travel to Canada when I was in High School - I was in a choir, we recorded a CD called ‘Young Australians’ for the ABC and got invited to sing at the Coastal Sound International Choral Festival in Vancouver. 

The reason why this trip was so amazing, apart from the fact that I got to fukn travel overseas, was that it was the first time I got to be so incredibly far away from my family. 

I spent most of my time growing up being afraid. My Stepdad is a volatile person and very controlling, so the house was always very tense. That’s not to say that he’s a wholly evil person - he encouraged me in my passion for science and the natural world and I have a lot of great memories of him taking me “adventuring” on bushwalks when I was a kid, but he has a hair-trigger temper; me and my brother often bore the brunt of it and mum just kind of let it happen. 

I was also fukn terrified someone would figure out I was attracted to women. In hindsight I don’t think anything truly awful would’ve happened, but at the time I was CONVINCED that the world would go to shit if someone found out. 

So there’s 16 year old me in the picture on the left, just about to board the plane to Vancouver. Apart from being an incredibly fun time this trip gave me the space to just be. I did a lot of things on that trip that I wouldn’t otherwise do because I’d be too afraid - I made a bunch of friends from the US, I hung out with Canadians and learned some folk song about a moose (and tried and failed to learn the national anthem), and I led 200 kids onto the stage of our final concert for an impromptu dance party because the Cuban a capella group that were performing were just SO FUCKING GOOD (the group invited me and a couple of friends to sing with them it was so cool). A bunch of parents and teachers tried to stop me but I was just like ‘sorry guys, girl’s gotta dance’.

I felt more myself than I ever had up to that point.

10 years have gone by and I have grown so much into myself since then. When I moved to Sydney from my small hometown at 19 I began a process of being me in a place where I felt safe. I was able to come out, be relentlessly passionate and political and make huge strides in looking after my mental health. 

The picture on the right is me and a friend at the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardis Gras earlier this year. It’s funny how so many things have changed and yet stayed the same - in both photos I'm incredibly excited, gay, and let’s be honest, probably manic. 

I get to be the me I was in Canada all the time now, and it’s pretty freaking great. I really want to go back to Vancouver some day, mostly because I only got to spend a week there (it was a super hectic week tho lemme tell you), but also to experience the city as I am now. Also, from what I’ve heard, Pride sounds fucking amazing and I am SO KEEN. 

Sending a giant THANK YOU to @foxnonny who not only writes incredible Dragon Age fanfic that thrills and chills me to my core, they also write the absolutely beautiful and wonderful creation that is Heart Says Go. 

You SERIOUSLY NEED TO READ IT - it’s a piece of actual minted gold Dragon Age 2 Modern AU fic, involving HAWKE TWINS, AND SET IN VANCOUVER. I’ve had so many great moments being like ‘Oh I know SFU! We stayed in the student accommodation! Rehearsed in their music rooms!’ and ‘oh man yeah, Granville Island, so pretty.’ READ IT READ IT NOW.

Shout out to @sophisti-cunted and @captain101 - I wish I could have shared this trip with you cos you’re great and beautiful and honestly kept me sane in High School xx

Thank you so much for reading this if you’re reading this. Sending you a tonne of love and appreciation for listening to my self-indulgent introspective wank xx

BONUS: wanna see a video of me from the trip I found on YouTube?? My American buddies wanted to film my Australian accent, so here’s a video of poor 16 year old small-town Lyndal freaking out about yellow stuff on my burger cos I’d never seen American-style mustard before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arg3ScvwqJg

[squashaholic]

Visual communities and social imaging

Platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest, Flickr, Snapchat and Facebook are ways in which people share photos and videos of their day to day lives. Technology has come such a long way, from once being cameras which had film in them that had to get developed, to now the digital cameras which you can upload your pictures and videos on to a computer in an instant, as well as mobile phones with cameras in them which you can upload to these platforms in a flash.

In this blog, I am going to focus on the trend that is selfies. A selfie is referred to as being “any photograph an individual (or a group) takes of themselves, regardless of whether that photo is privately held (or is thought to be privately held), transferred to others, or is displayed via social networks like Facebook and Instagram” (selfieresearchers.com 2017). In 2013 the term selfie was coined by an Australian when he took a photo of himself and then posted it on a forum with the caption, “Um, drunk at a mates 21st, I tripped ofer [sic] and landed lip first (with front teeth coming a very close second) on a set of steps. I had a hole about 1cm long right through my bottom lip. And sorry about the focus, it was a selfie” (theconversation.com 2016).

(youtube.com 2014)

Fast forward to today, as the selfie phenomenon has exploded, there have been more than 35 million #selfie pictures posted on Instagram, and 1 million selfies taken around the world daily (Hall n.d.). It has been blamed for ruining things from relationships to body image, and has even been said that you may be narcissistic or a psychopath if you are constantly taking and posting selfies on these platforms (theconversation.com 2016).

I personally am not a fan of selfies, and if I do take one, it is for showing off something like an injury or for a profile picture on my social media accounts. I do have Snapchat but I never send snaps, I have it for seeing what shenanigans my friends are up to. And my Instagram account is mainly for showing off pictures of things going on in my life rather than showing myself off. And to be perfectly honest, I really can’t stand it when people ask me to be in a selfie, or people who constantly take selfies. Plus, it isn’t the easiest thing to do to take a good selfie. Trying to get the correct lighting, angle etc. is a difficult thing to do, but some people are better at it than others. My 12-year-old daughter, for example, is a pro at taking selfies, but I try to teach her not to do it too often.

References:

Hall, L n.d., Selfies Fact Sheet, 1st ed, viewed 4 February, 2017, <https://images.tenplay.com.au/~/media/TV%20Shows/Living%20Room/Factsheets/selfiesfactsheet.pdf>.

selfieresearchers.com, 2017, "Introduction and Guidelines", Selfieresearchers.com, viewed 4 February, 2017, <http://www.selfieresearchers.com/introduction-and-guidelines/>.

theconversation.com, 2016, "Selfie is not a dirty word", The Conversation, viewed 4 February, 2017, <https://theconversation.com/selfie-is-not-a-dirty-word-68966>.

youtube.com, 2014, "What Is A #SELFIE?", YouTube, viewed 4 February, 2017, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PcKg5dGzbg>.