#the first 2 games had a good blend of humor and sadness

[ghostorbz]

I can't with this game bro

[just---keep---simming]

Zest - Spring 2

We join Johnny and Peaches in their apartment in San Myshuno, following the birth of their child - we'll get to him soon. First, though, the two of them are having a conversation about their living situation.

"It's really too small here, don't you think, Johnny?"

"Yes, absolutely. We made it work for Axel, but he was a bit older when he started staying here. I don't know about raising another child here, especially if we're going to still have Axel with us half the time." Which was the plan - although John had received legal custody in his and Peaches' divorce, he'd been increasingly open to a more shared-care arrangement.

So the Zest family pack their bags and head out of San Myshuno. Their new home is a retro-modern build in Del Sol Valley. It's still very urban, but there's a lot more space than you'd ever get in a city apartment.

After selling the apartment and most of their furniture, Johnny and Peaches have enough to buy their new house and also outfit several of the rooms. There's still a lot that needs doing, including whole rooms they can't afford to fit out yet, but everyone in the house at least has what they need. A nursery goes in next door to the master bedroom for their newest addition, and Axel gets a room downstairs for whenever he stays with them.

As for the newest addition, here he is! Peaches and Johnny had a boy while I was off playing one of the other families, because I forgot I could pause pregnancies while I did that. The same thing happened when Eliza Pancakes was pregnant, and the game named her daughter Adrienne, which was so pretty and was exactly what I could imagine Eliza calling her daughter. So what did the game choose for Johnny's son?

Adolf.

Maybe not. Meet Hendrix Zest! I wanted another name with an 'x' in it, to match Axel. Peaches and Johnny actually have both the same hair colour and the same very pale green-blue eyes, so Hendrix obviously inherited both of those too. Hendrix is a 'sunny' infant, so a cheerful little guy, and he quickly picked up a range of really cute quirks, like 'loves wakeup time' and 'feeding tinkler'.

As soon as Peaches, Johnny, and Hendrix are settled in Del Sol Valley, they have Axel over for the first half of the season.

I love the face Axel makes as he gets a kiss from his mother! Johnny gets to show Axel his new room and it's very sweet when Axel shows his step-dad his appreciation with a hug. Peaches and Johnny really took pains to fit Axel's room out nicely and make him feel welcome - he currently has the only computer in the household!

Then it's time for Axel to meet his half-brother. He starts happily chatting away to Hendrix immediately, which is so cute and wholesome. These guys are really crushing the blended family life.

Of course, Axel being much older than Hendrix, it's important he gets some age-appropriate activities to enjoy away from the baby as well. Johnny takes him to the Humor and Hijinks Festival, where he performs a couple of sets, and Axel...does his homework? But also hopefully enjoys eating some street food and hanging out in the city for an evening!

When Love Day rolls around, Peaches and Johnny get a babysitter for Hendrix and Axel, and head out for a breakfast date. This serves double duty in making sure they both enjoy the holiday and also progressing Peaches' soulmate aspiration. The restaurant is a cute breakfast-focused place in Newcrest.

Johnny also works on his aspiration, Jokester, for which he needs to max out his comedy skill. Naturally, he has a microphone and mirror set-up in the master bedroom again, so he can refine his routines.

Peaches is still working her retail job for a few hours each morning after having Hendrix. Johnny works in the evenings, so he can be around for the baby while she's at her shifts. She gets home mid-season in time to say goodbye to Axel, who is heading back to his Dad's right after school.

Peaches is always sad after Axel leaves, but Johnny does a good job of cheering her up.

A very good job, in fact. He's the perfect distraction!

So is Hendrix, who with the loving attention of his parents, is racing through his milestones. Pretty soon he's sitting up, trying new foods, and babbling away.

There's also staying in shape to consider. Johnny has always loved jogging to clear his head and stay fit, and he's enjoying the change of scenery in Del Sol Valley. Peaches has taken up yoga, and although she's not very good yet, it's nice to be out amongst her (as yet unplanted) garden and the little pool that came with the house, which she and Johnny hope to expand one day.

Peaches and Johnny also get to meet another resident of their neighbourhood, Venessa. She's hoping to make it big in Del Sol Valley, and both Johnny and Peaches think she's good company.

Johnny's favourite thing to do at the moment is hang out with Hendrix, though. He put his bachelor days behind him quickly after meeting Peaches, but Johnny doesn't seem to have any regrets about jumping into fatherhood fairly young either. Cheerful Hendrix is about as easy a baby as anyone could have hoped for, and Axel has been a pretty great step-kid too, so he's having a great time with the parenting lark.

And so spring of the second year comes to an end for Johnny, Peaches, Axel (a visitor for the picture, not a resident of the house), and Hendrix. The house still needs some work but Del Sol Valley seems to suit their growing family down to the ground!

[pair-annoyed]

Anime I Watched This Summer

Summer 2020 has officially come to a close. It’s fall in Animal Crossing and the trees are beginning to turn. Much like quarantine, I spent a lot of my free time watching anime when I wasn’t stressing over starting college. Now that the school year has begun, I thought it would be nice to reflect on everything I’ve watched! 

These Anime were seen between 6/14 - 8/31 (my Birthday!) and are listed in chronological order.

They will be rated on a 1-10 scale; 1 meaning complete garbage, 10 meaning masterpiece. I will offer my thoughts on what I did/didn't like about each show!

1. Bakemono no Ko - 8/10

This was such a great way to start out the summer! I love the dynamic between Kumatetsu and Ren. Overall its a little cliche, but it’s also very wholesome. It’s by the same studio that made Wolf Children (which I loved!). so I knew it was going to be good. My favorite aspect of this movie was its backgrounds and world building! 

2. Wan Sheng Jie - 9/10

Oh my gosh! I know that this is technically a donghua, but its on MAL, so it counts. This show quickly became my favorite slice of life of all time. I adore the art style and all of the characters. The comedy, plot, and design blends so well together. Everything in Wan Sheng Jie feels warm and comfy. It’s also confirmed for a second season! After seeing its cliff hanger ending, I’m so anxious for what comes next! 

3. Dororo - 7/10

I’ll be honest, I’m a sucker for studio MAPPA. I really liked the historical aspects of Dororo. From the outfits to the ways characters behave, its grounded in the constraints of feudal Japan. I would have given this show a higher score if it was a little more grounded in science. I feel like more time should’ve been given to the demons and antagonists of the show. Our MC was so over powered, which made the final fights of the series more lack-luster. I think its less of the anime’s fault and more because the original source material is from the 60s. That being said, I loved this show! It was cute and action packed. Though it isn’t perfect, it holds its own.

4. Bungou Stray Dogs - 5/10

The concepts and action are misconstrued in Bungou Stary Dogs. This is one of those shows that I chose to watch because it was all over Tumblr. The powers themselves are cool, but I can’t understand why this series is so praised. At it’s core its predictable and basic. The fights seemed low stakes and low energy. None of the humor really felt like it belonged. It tried too hard to be something it isn’t. I don’t think I’ll watch beyond this first season. 

5. Kami no Tou - 4.5/10

First off, fuck Rachel, me and my homies hate Rachel. I really really had high hopes for Tower of God. It paves the way for Webtoon adaptations in the future. Its such a shame that this adaptation SUCKED. I have not read the source material, I’m going solely based on the anime. It wasn’t good? It was horrible. I hate Bam, I hate Rachel. I think all the characters expect Rak were awful. Please don’t make a season 2. Please. If you’re interesting in Tower of God, just read the webtoon. 

6. Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun - 7/10

Shoujo anime is my guilty pleasure. I especially liked the way Gekkan Shoujo tackled Sakura and Nozaki’s relationship. Besides just the main characters, even the side characters were enjoyable! It was a fun and creative show. My only complaint is how dense Nozaki is, but I also absolutely love that part of him.

7. Jojo no Kimyou no Bouken (Parts 1-2) - 6.5/10

Jojo is not the saving grace of shounen anime. It isn’t something super revolutionary and it certainly will never be a 10/10. Part 1 was so slow and boring. Jonathan was just mediocre at best. I definitely liked Joseph a LOT more than Jonathan. Part 2 overall was much easier to watch than part 1. The fights are good, but there’s just something about Jojo that I can’t get behind. Although I’m completely bashing this series, I’m going to keep watching it. At this point, I wanna know what a stand is. 

8. Clannad - 5.5/10

I was expecting Clannad to be sad, but instead I got a cute, slice of life, romance. It wasn’t unenjoyable, but it was also a pretty slow-burning show. I loved watching Nagisa and Okazaki slowly fall in love with each other. It was funny at times and sad at other points. I am currently watching Clannad: After Story (which I’ve heard is heartbreaking), so I’m hoping to get some catharsis out of that. 

9. Otome Game no Hametsu Flag shika Nai...  - 6/10

This show is only 12 episodes, and yet it still has filler episodes for some reason? I’m a person who doesn’t typically watch isekai because the genre is so over done. However, when it’s done in a very specific way it’s really fun to watch! This show was definitely a lot of fun, it’s also cute and has so many interesting character-character interactions. The ending is painfully cliche, but I think it adds to this shows charm. 

10. Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen  - 8/10

I loved Love is War so much! I love their weird romantic dynamic. I love the characters, and I love the animation. It’s over the top and executes it humor masterfully. The entire show fills you with anticipation for the two main characters. Kaguya is my favorite character. Although I haven’t seen season two yet, I most certainly will! I’m so upset I hadn’t seen this show sooner.

11. Great Pretender - 8.5/10

This show is so colorful and bubbly. The animation is so smooth and they are able to tackle so many different kinds of things given its plot. The whole show itself just feels like summertime. It came out not to long ago, so some people may not be familiar with it. On top of the show itself, the music is great, with a Jazzy OP and and ED that features Freddie Mercury

12. Steins;Gate 0 - 8/10

 I loved the original Stein;Gate so much! So it’s no surprise how much I liked the second season. It builds significantly off the first season in a sort of “off shot” OVA kind of way. The events of Steins;Gate 0 don’t actually happen, but that doesn’t stop it from being meaningful. The big “twist” was predictable and a bit of a let down, but I still enjoyed this. Granted, I’m bias. 

13. Seishun Buta Yarou wa Yumemiru Shoujo no Yume wo Minai - 9.5/10

I sobbed. So much. This movie was phenomenal, it was such a trip. Having watched the original series, this tore my heart apart. It gets a high score for being able to take the characters I love and creating a wonderfully emotional experience. If you haven’t seen Bunny Girl Senpai, please watch it, and then watch this movie. You won’t regret it! 

14. Hotaru no Haka - 6/10

Grave of the Fireflies made me stop watching anime for a while. Studio Ghibli created something grim, something that leaves the viewers feeling hollow. Its a movie about WWII from Japan’s perspective. As an American, all I could feel while watching this was immense guilt. I will say though, that some of the movies main plot could have easily been prevented if the main character had swallowed his pride. His younger sister was also my least favorite character. I get that she’s a kid and that kids are fussy, but you would think that during wartime, she’d be more understanding and at least try to eat the things she dislikes. 

15. Yagate Kimi ni Naru - 9/10

This was a great way to end the summer. This is more that just GL romance, its a love story. Its about growing up and learning to understand your feelings. I related to Yuu so much, which made this more emotional than I expected. It’s really unlike another romance anime I’ve seen. I hope it gets confirmed for a second season. If not, I’ll be reading the manga. 

Seasonal Shows: (Things that are still airing as of 9/5/2020)

1. The God of High School  7.5/10

Another thing done by studio MAPPA. Are you surprised? I absolutely love the action in GoH. The plot however, is all over the place. The story seems fragmented and hard to follow. Like Tower of God, it was poorly adapted. I’m giving it such a high score, because it’s SO much more enjoyable then Tower of God. 

2. Enen no Shouboutai: Ni no Shou - 4/10

My thoughts on season 2 are about the same as my thoughts on season 1. The only difference is that this season has more Jojo references. I’ve rated it lower because its so repetitive. I’m so sick of watching it, but I’ve got to see it through the bitter end.   

3. Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu 2nd Season - 8.5/10 

All I’m going to say about Re:Zero is that I love it. I can’t give an accurate review of it because I’ve been hyping this season since it was announced. If you’re into non-typical isekai, watch Re:Zero, its so enjoyable!

[ladyloveandjustice]

Spring 2021 anime overview: Quick Takes

Now for my Spring 2021 anime thoughts! I’ve decided from now on if a season’s like, 20- to-24 episodes I’m just going to wait ‘til it’s done to review it unless I feels super passionately, so though I watched To Your Eternity (it’s good!) and MHA (eh), I’ll comment on them next time. Also, for the record, I watched the first eight eps of Joran: Princess and Snow of Blood but I dropped it because it had clearly crossed the line from entertainingly dumb to boring dumb. 

I will probably give Supercub and some other stuff a shot later, this was a stacked season! May give updates on all that later, but this is what I have for now.

ODDTAXI

Quick Summary: A mild mannered middle-aged walrus taxi driver is drawn into a case involving a missing girl, yakuza, Youtube clout-chasers, manzai comedians and idols with big secrets.

It’s rare to walk away from media and be like “that is a singular experience I will definitely never see repeated again” but ODDTAXI is definitely one of those. A tense noir thriller murder mystery starring cartoon animals that spends an entire episode detailing the one (cat)man’s very fall into darkness triggered by addiction to gacha games and an online auction for a novelty eraser? Also there’s a porcupine Yakuza who speaks entirely in rap? Also there’s tons of meandering conversations about stuff like manzai comedy and the struggle to go viral on Twitter?

Admittedly, I had a hard time getting into the first episode, the dry meandering humor not being enough to hold my attention while I was sitting still, but once I watched this while I was working out at the end of the season, I found it an easy binge. A ton of characters with dark secrets or dangerous ambitions, each with their own part to play in a tableau of intersecting events- and it all actually comes together really well.(As for the female characters, it’s a pretty dude driven story, but they do get nuanced characterization and even some good heroic moments from one of them.)

 It’s a great example of a carefully planned narrative paying off, with all the twists appropriately seeded and foreshadowed to reward viewers who paid attention. Even when it ended on a perfect “OH SHIT” moment and denied me closure, I couldn’t help but respect it. If you that all sounds interesting to you, definitely check out the first couple episodes and see if you like it- you’re likely to have a memorable, satisfying experience!

Shadows House

Quick Summary: Emilyko is a ‘living doll’ who’s told she was created to act as the ‘face’ of her shadow master, Kate. The shadows and their ‘dolls’ all reside on the mansion and are required to pass a ‘debut’ to prove they’re a good pairing. If they don’t pass, they might be disposed of. And so the mystery of the Shadow mansion grows...

This slice of gothic intrigue was my favorite of the season, tied with ODDTAXI. With an interesting premise, slightly tense undertones and a strong focus on character building and relationships, it kept me hooked the whole way through. And for any squeamish fans put off by the hype about it, don’t worry, while there are some suspenseful elements, I wouldn’t qualify it as horror. I thought the relationship between Kate and Emilyko might end up being a completely sinister one, but it’s thankfully a lot more complex than that and it’s really interesting to follow how both their characters and relationship grow. The focus of the show is, unsurprisingly, on the “dolls” slowly discovering their autonomy and personhood as they struggle under the rigid system imposed on them by the mysterious elders of this weird Victorian mansion. Can they develop a more equitable relationship with their shadow “masters” (who are also shown to suffer under this system)? There’s a lot to dig into there, and the show has the characters develop through learning to understand and appreciate each other, which is pretty heartwarming. Our hero, Emilyko, is the typical plucky ball of sunshine (they even nickname her sunshine), but she’s also shown to be clever in her own off-the-wall way and she bounces off the far more subdued and cynical Kate well, not to mention the other ‘dolls’ she ends up befriending. 

What’s more, the show spends plenty of time to developing several other character pairings and combinations, and they all have their own interesting dynamic that makes you want to see more of them. Same-gender bonds are at the forefront of this show, and many of them are ripe for queer readings (I definitely appreciated the healthy helping of ladies carrying ladies), but even outside that it’s nice to see a show where a strong, complex bond between girls is at the forefront. My only real complaints about the show are the anime original ending is noticeably a bit rushed (though it’s not too bad, and leaves room for a season 2) and I wish the animation used the whole “shadow” theme more strikingly (like the opening and endings do)- instead the colors are a bit washed out which makes the shadows blend into the background sometimes. The “debut” arc also drags a bit in places, but it makes up for it by having a lot of good character integration.

I hope to check out the (full color)! manga soon and see more of this quirky, shadowy story. There’s some physical abuse depicted, sad things happening to characters and naturally the whole “oppressive familial system” thing, but otherwise not much I can think of to warn about. I give this one a big rec, especially If you’re a fan of gothic fairytales and stories of self discovery.  

Zombie Land Saga Revenge

Quickest summary: In this sequel season, everyone’s favorite zombie idol group must claw their way back into prominence after a disastrous show- the fate of the Saga prefecture LITERALLY depends on it!

This was a fun follow-up to the first season- if you liked the first zombie-girl romp, you’ll probably enjoy this one. In fact, there were a couple areas it improved on- namely, Kotaro failed, ate crow and embarrassed himself a lot more this season, which made him more likeable (as did the fact the girls gained a lot of independence from him). This season also shed more light on what the ‘goal’ of this zombie raising project is and what kind of shit Kotaro got involved with to make this happen, and it’s appropriately off-the-wall and ridiculous. We finally got some backstory for Yugiri too! I wish it had focused on more of her interiority, but she got to be a badass in it, and it was a treat to see this zombie idol show turn into a period piece for a couple episodes (also her song ruled).

 Tae also got a cute focus episode and there was a particular SMASHING performance early on! Also That revelation last season that had the potential to turn creepy hasn’t yet, and hopefully never will. The finale was heartwarming with big hints of more drama to come- I’m definitely down for more zombie hijinks!

Vivy: Flourite Eye’s Song

Quickest Summary: A songstress AI named DIVA (nicknamed Vivy) is approached by another AI named Matsumoto, who says he’s from the future and they must work together to prevent AI exterminating all of humankind 100 years from now.

This show is absolutely gorgeous visually with some really nice action scenes, but when it comes to the story my feelings basically amount to a shrug. It’s fine! I guess! Vivy starts out as an interesting layered character- and I guess still is by the end- with her stoic but stubborn determination bouncing off her fast-talking bossy partner Matsumoto well. She never listens to him, which is delightful. The way the show took place over the course of 100 years was an interesting conceit as well. However, it bought up a lot of themes and then sort of... dropped them. For instance, Vivy interprets her mission (PRIME DIRECTIVE if you will) as protecting humans at all costs, no matter how destructive said humans are or what their fate is supposed to be, and is perfectly willing to murder her fellow androids to do this, showing she inherently thinks of androids (herself and her own people!) as less worthy. Which is a little alarming! There’s a very dramatic point in the show where they bring this up as a potential conflict for her character but then it’s sort of...dropped. Pretty much.

Actually, despite the premise, the show doesn’t dip into the “AI rights” as much as you think it would with the main theme being more about Vivy’s search to find her own creativity and discover what it means to ‘pour your heart into something’. Vivy herself doesn’t actually care if she has rights or anything. Which is in some ways fine, because ‘AI as an oppressed class’ has been done to death, but IT’S ALSO KIND OF IN THE PREMISE, so that means that the show just shrugs really hard at a lot of the questions it brings up  basically just going “humans and AI should work together probably” and that’s it. There’s a lot that feels underexplored. The antagonists in the show also either have motivations that don’t really make sense or have boring hackneyed motivations. In the finale in particular, it feels like a lot of things happen “just because” and it falls a little flat.

I also have to warn that one of the arcs focus on a robot ‘pairing’ where the dude-coded robots actions toward his partner are straight up awful and rob her of her autonomy, but it’s played like a tragic love story. I suppose you could read it differently too, but it definitely made me go ‘ew’ the story seemed to want me to sympathize with this robo dude,

Overall, I wouldn’t anti-recommend this show, it’s an all right little sci-fic romp (and definitely SUPER pretty). My favorite element was definitely the episodes where Vivy develops an entirely new (an loveable) personality, because it played with the idea of of an AI getting “rebooted” really well and interplay between her two “selves” was done really well. But there are a lot of other parts of the show that just feel...a little underexplored and empty, making me have an ‘eh’ feeling on the show overall. It’s definitely an ambitious project, and while it didn’t quite stick the landing, there’s something to be said for a show that shoots for the stars and falls short over a show that just languishes in mediocrity.

Fruits Basket The Final

Quick summary: The final season of that dramatic drama about that weird family with a zodiac curse and the girl who loves them.

It’s very weird that after not cutting a lot out, they kinda sped through some material for, you know, the finale. I guess they thought they couldn’t stretch this final arc to 26 episodes? Or weren’t cleared for another double cour? However, though there were a couple places that felt awkward, despite being a bit condensed it mostly held together pretty well for a D R A M A T I C and ultimately heartwarming conclusion. I was really disappointed they kept the part where Ritsu cut their hair for the ‘happy ending’, I thought  their intro episode not showing them in men’s clothes meant the anime had decided their presentation didn’t need to be “fixed” but WELL I GUESS NOT. That was the only big upset for me though, otherwise the adaptation went about how I expected, sticking to the source material. Furuba has a lot of bumps, from weird age gap stuff to ...gender, but it also has a lot of important feels and great character arcs. It was a gateway shoujo for many and has its important place in animanga history, so I’m glad it finally got a shiny, full adaptation.

[jenivi7]

writing tag game!

Thank you @clyde-side and @bdeblueyes for the tag!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

22 plus a small handful on ff.net that I still intend to move over to AO3.

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

30,445!  I’m surprised it’s that much considering how short most of those stories are. (And it’s a little deceptive since it doesn’t include the 80k monstrosity that is Ryou and the Thief. That one’s probably going to stay on ff.net though.)

3. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Those Things He Keeps for Himself (Total agreement. Personally I think this is the best thing I’ve written so far.)

Human (Was at #1 until very recently! I attribute this entirely to the story being on @shinayashipper’s Rivalshipping Rec List. Thank you Red! <3 )

Black (From when I wandered into Homestuck fanfic for a brief time! I’m still stupid proud of this one though.)

Ghosts, Goths and Other Anxieties (original short story) (I swear I’ll get back to posting the big bang version soon)

Finality (This one’s so old but I guess people still like their tendershipping! I mean, same~)

4. Do you respond to comments, why or why not?

I do try to respond to everything! I so appreciate when other authors respond to me and do my best to return that good good energy. Also I genuinely like chatting with people (especially about something I wrote lol) even if I get overwhelmed sometimes and can be slow ^^; 

5. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

This is a tough one cause when I start a story, it’s usually with the goal of giving the characters a happy end but it’s probably Coffee and Cigarettes. It was for a pairings competition where the random pairing was Mana/TK Bakura and I gave them a weird little break in the middle of canon where they both know what’s about to happen and it just came out sad.  NO WAIT I’M WRONG. Lol I just gave my story list another look and it’s definitely Crazy for You! That was an insane asylum AU that’s ABOUT everything going straight to shit.

6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Oh goodness, almost all of them! I love a happy ending. Like, the story doesn’t have to be all fluff, it can have an impossible looking problem or be about two people who just don’t go well together but I love a good, satisfying resolution. Most recent happy ending is No Betting, just a bit of adorable, domestic, peachshipping fluff. Favorite happy end is probably A Million Missed Chances, Mai/Valon. I feel like Mai is a challenging character to give a happy ending to. She’s just stubborn like that <3

7. Do you write crossovers? If so what is the craziest one you’ve written?

So, I haven’t written a crossover yet by myself but @miss-moberg and I will often throw around ideas for ones where we will use YGO characters or parts of the world building or magic system to fix things we don’t like in other canons. Right now we have a RP that’s a BNHA/YGO crossover where… oh, spoilers for BNHA: instead of going crazy and faking his own death, Toya grabs both his brothers and just fucking leaves. They run away to Domino, get picked up by Ryou and Akeifa (TK Bakura) and it quickly becomes the found family story I didn’t know I needed. We do some wild things blending the two canons. Domino is this little pocket where shadow magic keeps the hero and villain nonsense out and the citizens are pretty ok with it. Yugi and Atem are the city’s guardians. Ryou and Akeifa are not allowed to use shadow magic though they have access to it. I think Ryou and Yugi had proper quirks that they sacrificed to the shadows at some point, each for something different thing that they wanted or needed. Oh! We have quirks being derived from shadow magic at some point in the distant past and the shadows are always happy to take a quirk back to fulfill a wish or desire. They’re tricky though and usually corrupting. Very classic fairytale where it’s a thing you don’t want to make a deal with. Seto is quirkless and basically runs the city behind the scenes. He can’t deny the existence of heroes and villains but still refuses to believe in magic. This always gives Atem a headache when they have to coordinate to protect the city. Which is often.

8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?

A couple criticisms but no outright hate I don’t think. Or if I have it was so long ago I don’t remember. I was on ff.net at the worst times too and somehow all the hate just passed me by.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I love smut so much but I rarely write it. For stories I just usually end up with one or two erotic sentences. RPs are the exceptions to that though and are where all the good stuff happens. >.>

10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Nope. Haven’t had one stolen, haven’t had one taken down. I’ve stayed small enough to fly under the radar for both things luckily enough!

11. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I wish! Man that would be amazing <3

12. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! Ryou and the Thief is a cleaned up version of @miss-moberg and my very first RP. (And the only RP of ours to ever hit an actual ending.)

13. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

Puzzle with Gemshipping very close behind though I ship many, many things.

14. What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Phoenix. It was one of my very first fanfics started almost 15 years ago and while I’d love to finish everything, that one’s just not going to happen. It’s been too long and I’ve grown way too much as a writer to go back to it now.

15. What are your writing strengths?

I think it’s dialogue. And maybe the ability to be amusing. Not funny-funny but like, lightly humorous when setting scenes or winding up to something.

16. What are your writing weaknesses?

RUN ON SENTENCES. Sometimes they get away from me a bit XD

17. What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic?

Haaaa, actually when I first started writing fanfic I would throw in Japanese phrases and honorifics and looking back, it’s pretty cringe. BUT I can appreciate it as it was originally intended: learning and practicing a new language. If it makes sense for the character or situation though it’s really cute, like in Allargando by Slaycinder where Atem uses Arabic endearments for Seto. (Have I gushed about that fic on my blog yet? It’s so good.) Ancient Egyptian is the exception to everything I just said. I absolutely LOVE when someone takes a stab at putting ancient Egyptian in their fic. I go a little feral for it and it was the hardest but the most fulfilling thing about writing Ryou and the Thief was doing all the research write actual AE dialogue for Akeifa early in the fic.

18. What was the first fandom you wrote for?

Yu-Gi-Oh. I’ve done a handful of things for other fandoms but Ygo is the one I keep coming back to and definitely the one I’ve written the vast majority for.

19. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?

Oh no this is hard! They’re all my babies and I love them! Probably my favorites have been listed in previous questions already. Ryou and the Thief because of the sheer amount of work that went into it and the fact that we ran the boys through a whole ass adventure, Coffee and Cigarettes because it’s such a fun, quirky little thing with a great atmosphere and Those Things He Keeps For Himself because I feel like I was able to really capture the idea in my head effectively and there’s some great imagery in it.

TAGGING:  Oh my god this took me so long to finally sit down and complete that probably everyone I would tag has done it already!  So not tagging anyone this time but please do it if it seems fun!

[mykpopwire]

interview: WOOSOO returns as solo singer ‘Because of You’

1.     How have you been, what are you occupied with lately?  

I’ve wrapped up my group’s activities and now I’m quite busy preparing for my solo album.

Since it’s the first time I’m showing music in my own style, I wanted to try various things and challenge myself. I’ve been making songs that I always thought of while working as a producer. I also took a new challenge by composing and writing the OST of a Korean drama.

I’m also enjoying leisure life that I had not been able to enjoy before, such as café tour, famous restaurant tour, etc. 

2.     It has been around 8 months since your last song release, how do you feel?

‘Because of You’ has a very different style from the previous song ‘The Rain’ (비가 내리면). Actually, ‘The Rain’ was made for MASC, so rather than saying it’s my solo work, it felt more like an extension of MASC. I think I’m making my first step as solo artist WOOSOO through ‘Because of You’.

I was very excited while preparing for this song and I’m very much looking forward to being able to show my music to the public with WOOSOO’s first solo.

3.     Please tell us about the song, ‘Because of You’. What do you want to share the most through this song?

‘Because of You’ is a song that blends the excitement of love with the R&B and soul feeling. It’s a song that expresses a heart fluttering feeling that something good will happen.

I think this song goes well with the upcoming spring.

Through this song, I wanted to appeal to the public that a singer called WOOSOO can do this type of music, and I wanted to share that my strengths and charms fit well with various music.

4.     Can you share interesting moments while shooting for the music video?

While filming for the music video, the producer and I were thinking “what kind of video would be good” and we decided that a pop-like live video would suit the most. The natural and friendly feeling.

The filming was held at an outdoor location, but since it was on the weekend, there’s so many people. Haha

A lot of people might have thought we were doing a performance, quite several people sat in front of us. They sat in groups, watched and listened, and they also took videos as if it was such a real performance.

In the middle of the video there are scenes where people pass by, but to pursue the naturalness feeling, there are many scenes where people pass by that we included without editing. I think it'll be fun to find those scenes. Hahaha

5.     What attracted you to music career and what made you decide to be a singer?

I like singing since I was young, and I like to stand in front of people and take the lead in doing something. When I was younger, I used to sing in school, on the streets, just everywhere I could. Since I couldn’t neglect my studies, I built my dreams by participating in singing contests and competitions and I was at my happiest when I sang in front of other people.

I’ve always had a lot of friends because I’ve always been sociable, but apart from that, I’ve always loved the eyes of the people watching the stage when I’m singing in the contests. So, I decided to become a singer.

6.     You have recently made your name as a composer and lyricist, what is the hardest challenge you face while writing a song?

I always have a lot of worries when it comes to work that requires creativity.

I’ve thoughts like, “I have to create something new”, “How do I express this through image directing”, “What would suit me well”.

I’ve started the music that I like through this solo, but I’m always concern about how much the public would like my music, and whether I can make music that many people can relate to with honest stories.

7.     What aspect of your music do you want people to focus on?

In addition to the image that I’ve shown as a group member, I’d like people to focus on how diverse and challenging the singer WOOSOO is as a solo artist. How talented I am in making good music that the public can feel happy when they listen to my songs, sympathize with sadness, and feel the joy and sorrow.

But this time, I metaphorically expressed the excitement of spring and the feelings of love.

8.     What impression do you think you give when you first meet someone?

When I was promoting as a team, just by looking at me without having any conversations, lots of people think I’m scary, difficult and edgy person. I think the reason was because since I hold the pillar in the position of a leader who takes care of many members, I thought more of the team rather of my own self. But once we started talking, they said I’m friendly and humorous.

Nowadays, I heard a lot of things like, “You’re friendlier than others” and “I want to befriend you”.

I tend to pursue natural things. For example, I prefer small shops in the neighborhood rather than large supermarkets.

That’s why I enjoy doing internet broadcast. There, I love to talk to people comfortably like a friend, not as an artist or entertainer.

9.     You have been actively communicating with your fans through social media and online live apps, what is the first thing that you would you like to do when you can meet with your fans face-to-face?

I want to say thank you and hug all the fans who waited for me. It was such a short time, but a lot of things happened over the years.

There are more people who waited for WOOSOO than I thought. It’ll be great to have a performance with my fans, but I’m thinking having a face-to-face talk with them over delicious meal would be great as well.

And of course, it’d be great to share my new challenges and music with all of you!

There are still many fans that I haven't met, I want to meet fans from various countries.

10.  What is your proudest and happiest moment as a singer?

My happiest moment as a singer is that there are fans who listen to my music.

“I gained strength through your music”, “I’m WOOSOO’s long-time fan”, “He’s a great singer”, when I hear those kinds of words, it really makes me very happy.

If there is at least one fan who loves my music and supports me, I’ll do my best until the end.

11.  What if you can achieve another dream other than music?

I have a lot of interest in fashion, so I thought about being a fashion designer, and I think it's good to have a job where I can deal with people because I like meeting people.

Recently, my dream is to open a small cafe and meet various people to communicate and create a fun space. (It's a secret that I'm recently learning to make bread~ haha)

12.  If you could snap your fingers and instantly make the world better, what would you do?

I think the most difficult thing right now is that many people around the world are suffering from health and psychological anxiety caused by the virus.

Many people are having a hard time, losing their jobs. Korean singers are having a hard time too, I want to get rid of the virus right away. I want to go back to the days when there was no Corona.

I'm praying and hoping to meet a lot of fans again.

13.  To the people who just got to know WOOSOO, what is the best way for them to get to know you better?

I upload photos and videos about my daily life on Instagram. YouTube is not up yet, but I'm going to start soon, to do covers or various music for many people. I'm making lots of efforts to meet many fans.

Usually, they can get to know me through live broadcast on the Internet. But I haven't been able to do it recently because I'm busy. But I'm going to communicate with many people through internet broadcasts again soon. (Of course, I like doing games broadcasts too. Haha)

For those who got to know me for the first time, to know which group I was part of, what kind of show I did, I hope you’ll watch all the shows available on YouTube!!

14.  Any projects that your fans can look forward to in the near future?

My plan now is to release a new album every month. Once the Corona is over and we can travel just like before, I want to let you listen to variety of songs. But in the meantime, I’m planning to release many songs.

15.  Lastly, can you say a few words to your fans? 

Thank you so much for waiting for me for a long time. I’ll be back with better music in the future.

Watch Because of You here!

Don’t forget to like and follow My K-Pop Wire for more K-Pop interviews, events, debut and comeback updates!

Instagram: mykpopwire

Facebook: My K-pop Wire

Twitter: @mykpopwire

Connect with WOOSOO!

Twitter: @wys1989

Instagram: w_youngsoo

Youtube: WooSoo

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamuy chapters 239 & 240 - character background arrives for Kikuta

Hello all, this is a much belated meta for the past two chapters.  I was very busy with work last weekend and I’m feeling the usual work related exhaustion with the covid-19 situation on top of it.  I’m currently living in a part of the States which still has a much stricter social distancing policy and it is still unclear when I can return to work, even if we follow new social distancing policies.  Suffice to say, it has been a huge struggle for me.  I’m already more prone to suffer from depression and this situation has just been really hard with friends and family very far away from me.

I usually like to give my all into my meta analysis of a chapter but I really didn’t like chapter 239.  The sense of humor that underlies the “midnight shoot out” just well - well.  I wasn’t keen on it.  I have a pretty dirty sense of humor so it isn’t even the fact that it is a part of male body part humor; just how it was implemented.

So I’m just going to go with this.  Usami and our “Jack” convict are men cut from the same cloth who link sexual acts with violence.  The only difference between them is that Usami was found and groomed by Tsurumi, thus appearing to be a more contributing member of society (as a member of the military), while “Jack” has been left to his own devices and is a free roaming serial killer.  Usami is the correct member of the 27th to do the field work for this convict.  What is more interesting is teaming him up with Kikuta.  After Usami and Jack’s “shoot out” Usami pursues him on foot while he’s on horseback.  Usami’s general response is to try to beat someone via brute force.  It isn’t surprising that he just jumps for the man only to get knocked down, he acts on instinct.

Kikuta has a much more tempered response as he first had Usami and him split off to try to pinch him off between the alleys/streets.  It gives him a clear shot at Jack.  Here he’s using one of his revolvers in his right hand.

Jack is lucky as Kikuta hits his top hat. This pause in action allows Kikuta to spring into action.  He sprints towards Jack tossing his revolver so that he can grab onto the convict with his right hand.  What I really like about this is how is shows how Kikuta thinks very quickly on his feet as we saw at the hot springs.

He’s able to use his left hand to reach into his coat where he likely has at least another revolver in a holster.  It should be game over for the man as he tells him that he’s got him with the revolver to the back of his head.

Unfortunately, Kikuta is defeated by “Jack’s” manly abilities and it is just plain gross and unnecessary.  Kikuta is one of my fav current members of the 27th, I just didn’t like this entire scene.  As a result he escapes and Kikuta is likely feeling - well feeling used, gross and assaulted.

Usami and Kikuta continue to pursue him and hear a woman scream.  Sure enough he managed to kill her and Kikuta looks shocked as they find the body.  The fact that Usami looks at Kikuta from the corner of his eyes makes me think that Usami is not surprised by anything our killer does.

In contrast, despite his years of experience, Kikuta is uncomfortable with this type of criminal activity & violence.  He’s no stranger to violence but he clearly has a strong moral compass.

The next day, they return to the scene of the crime in daylight.  The sketchy and questionable police officer is there with our sad and pathetic reporter.  Kikuta muses what the killer is thinking.  Due to all the things that have transpired so far, it is clear that Kikuta is really trying to rationalize things.  In contrast,’knowing’ his mind, Usami just offers an explanation that makes sense to him since it takes one to know one.

This only further highlights the difference between these two men.  It is clear that Tsurumi wants them to keep working together, even if Kikuta is really uncomfortable with Usami.

Usami is eager to visit the other crime scene, Kikuta hangs back and lets Usami go ahead.  He uses this time to casually approach Ariko. Everything about Kikuta’s body language, behavior and vibe scream - spy/secret agent.  He’s able to address Ariko with a calm demeanor and then when Ariko almost panics he instructs him how to behave.

Kikuta cuts the tension by teasing Ariko, stating that he’d recognize his figure anywhere and to think he’d be difficult to recognize is a bit of an insult to Kikuta’s intelligence.

He’s able to approach Ariko about his role as an unwilling double agent.  Since he’s there under direct orders from Tsurumi he knows that for the time to being he should be in the loop as far as Hijikata’s movements.  If Ariko is in Sapporo, it is a logical extension that Hijikata is there as well.

The chapter then wraps up with Tsurumi leading most of his men to Sapporo leaving only two to remain near Otaru to look for Asirpa.  He reports that Kikuta is the one who sent him the telegram about our convict, Jack.  If Tsurumi is reporting the truth to his men, it means that Kikuta only reported on the convict and requested backup but Kikuta may be withholding information about Hijikata being there as well.  This chapter leaves it up in the air as it shows Tsurumi looking military dictator-ish while Hijikata stares off into the distance.

What is most important in this chapter is setting up how Kikuta is going to be some sort of player in the hunt for this convict in particular. 

Chapter 240 begins to bring the manga plot back to the aspects that I like of it, more intellectual, big picture moves of the different groups as well as a side of good old fashioned spy business.

The chapter title page helps us to establish Ariko’s and Kikuta’s personalities even more.  Ariko is playing cat’s cradle with Tanigaki in the trenches while Kikuta literally has Ariko’s back and he watches them.

This shows several things.  1.) Kikuta is similar to Ogata as he’s always watching.  Since he was one of the “Russian” kidnappers, we know he has a background in intelligence and he’s a clever guy.  We also know that he cares about Ariko as a person, hence comfortable enough to lean up against his back as well as cover that back. 2.) It let’s the reader know that Ariko is similar to Tanigaki.  He’s a large, soft, dopey man.  He is simple, he’s outwardly friendly and like Tanigaki he has natural outdoorsman/hunting skills but that he’s an okay solider and but isn’t the most intelligent.  Neither man is a good liar and they are predictable.

Ariko is 100% out of his element and trying to be a double agent is pretty much a situation ripe for failure.  He just can’t do it.  In direct contrast, Kikuta looks completely natural and at ease.  He’s used to doing things like this and he’s confident with the games of espionage and intelligence.

Ariko is barely able to hold himself together, voice unsteady, sweating, looking like he’s got no out.  So Kikuta tells him to team up with him in contrast to Hijikata and Tsurumi.

Of course Ariko is shocked by this statement.  Kikuta continues his argument. He frames himself as Ariko’s only option. They survived the war together, they saw that same moon together.  The flashback shows, Kikuta reaching out to touch Ariko while he goes to hold his hand.

They’ve survived together against the odds.  So Kikuta is willing to ask Ariko to ignore everything else.  Forget about his father’s involvement in the gold theft and his murder and the fact that Tsurumi will try to get his cooperation by threatening family.  He summarizes it doesn’t matter which man he tries to align himself with, the outcome is same - it is terrible. So then he let’s him know that “central” is going to let things play out in Hokkaido.

This is enough information for Ariko to figure out why Kikuta was so keen to regain Tsurumi’s trust.  He’s the spy for central that Tsukishima has been always on the look out for.

The angle of this panel is just great, Ariko is in shock while Kikuta adjusts his bowler hat.  And with that, a running joke that originated on a discord server when Kikuta first showed up became the truth.

With Kikuta’s appearance several of us tried to figure out what is role would be and we came up with a nickname for him, “Roger”, which was coined by Merdopseudo.  This was due to how he looked like Roger Moore, one of the actors that played James Bond.  I 100% agreed with the Roger nickname and as a result, I struggle to write any meta post about Kikuta without referring to him as Roger instead.  I personally was leaning toward a more Clark Gable inspired look but Roger was just better.

The chapter then has Jack hanging around a church with no informative text.

The action then shifts to Hijikata’s group which is all in disguise.

The wee babe, Kantarou is a newsboy, selling newspapers.  Hijikata is a goldfish vendor. Ushiyama and Toni are buddhist monks, and Kadokura is a Koya-san pilgrim.  Ogata is a filial piety puppet performer and Nagakura and Ariko are just random looking civilians. Kirawus remained as himself.  Perhaps they thought if he tried to blend in as Japanese it would be obvious? 

Our morally bankrupt reporter, is able to elaborate on the details of the Sapporo serial killer - calling him a copycat of Jack the Ripper.  The Cliff Notes version of things is that if this is a true Jack the Ripper copycat, the fifth and final murder will happen 40 days after the two murders from the night before.  It seems proper that Hijikata is the one to summarize the situation that his group is in.

Interestingly, Kadokura, Kantarou and Kirawus are shown sweating in the background while Ogata is deadpan.  Clearly, Ogata is not bothered by the 40 day time limit.

This makes a nice transition to Sugimoto, Shiraishi and Asirpa now in Barato.  Shiraishi, being the smart dude that he is, points out an interesting article.  Sugimoto assumes it is about “Jack” but instead he notices children have gone missing.  Boutarou is able to immediately connect these crimes to another tattooed convict.

Asirpa looks nervous as, well she’s a child and she was teased additional information than what Sugimoto got from meeting him.  Boutarou is upfront and immediately is able to identify him for the rest of the group.  Asirpa is totally freaked out as the identifies him as the candy peddler.

Sugimoto then has murder eyes and angry screentones as he concludes that he is of course one of the convicts. 

This chapter is setting up a clear confrontation between all the different groups.  I like how it finally begins to ratchet up the the tension and put pieces in place. Usami showing that he’s terrible at spying and discretion both makes them stand out but also tips Kikuta off that something else is likely afoot on Tsurumi’s side. 

The missing children are a trail indication the direction of Ueji Keiji.  I like how Shiraishi and Sugimoto are looking at the paper while Boutarou towers over them and looks at the paper.

The chapter ends with our two shaded convicts surrounded by swirling newspapers.  Both men are making their actions clear to the public.  I would guess are both reading the newspapers as Jack let’s his activities know while Ueji is potentially communicating with him as his own actions are showing his direction, moving towards Sapporo.

The chapter then ends with a dark Ogata joke.  He’s really into his filial piety act and has to be yelled at firmly by another member of the group. 

Overall impressions on 240 and some brief ponderings.

1.) I love Roger, er Kikuta so much.  His character has a level of class and sophistication that many characters lack.  He is also a ‘self’ made man who rose through the ranks to be a valuable member of military intelligence.  It is clear now why Tsurumi would have kept his distance from him and why he was so insistent on getting back into Tsurumi’s inner circle.  It is clear that Kikuta is not a “Tsurumisexual”.  He is also the type of man who Tsukishima was suspicious of going back to his showdown with Ogata.  Tsukishima is livid that Ogata sniped Maeyama and told him that he’s the pet cat of “central” he’s waiting to sell out the 27th to gain position in the military establishment.

Therefore, our three “Russian” kidnappers are all originally enlisted men who likely gained a lot of skills working for a fallen elite like Tsurumi.  Tsukishima stresses loyalty to comrades.  Ogata has never shown much loyalty to those around him, but it is obvious that Kikuta has loyalty to Ariko.  He had to put on an act to look like Ariko had betrayed him and Tsurumi.

I have begun to wonder if Ogata is the red herring deflecting the focus from Kikuta.  Ogata doesn’t believe in the words of Tsurumi that are used to stir loyalty and dedication to a cause.  Is this because Ogata believe it is complete bullshit or that he’s aware that Tsurumi uses these types of concepts to control most people?

What I want to know now is if Ogata is working with or in parallel to Kikuta.  I still don’t see Ogata as a spy for central.  It goes against by gut reading on Ogata.  I could see Ogata and Kikuta being aware of each other and their objectives where Ogata may have even tried to make it look like he’s the spy to deflect attention from Kikuta.  Again, Ogata’s goal from this entire situation is still completely unknown.  Was Kikuta linked to the rebel group - RIP bear death trio.  I still haven’t forgotten you.

But based on Tsukishima thinks of Ogata as a putative spy, it fits Kikuta’s personality better.  Kikuta still has loyalty and connection to others from the 27th, e.g. Ariko.  His discomfort working with Usami on Jack’s trail shows that Kikuta has a stronger moral compass and thinks about what actions are justifiable and which are more ‘evil’ or morally questionable.

2.) Ogata needs a therapist.  Of all of the “disguises” he could choose, Ogata picks the filial piety puppet show. >_<  He put on makeup to look like his own father, and a son puppet that has a striking resemblance to his half brother Yuusaku.  Therefore, the bastard child is performing an act where his devoted brother does everything he’s expected to do as a model son for their asshole father.  The fact that his line is “What a dutiful son. Please give him the reward that he deserves.” can be read on several levels.  Basic text reading - Yuusaku was a good son, and he truly deserved the reward for being a good son.  He kept his virginity and purity, was un-corruptable by Ogata and therefore, he had no choice but to snipe him.  Subtext reading - due to Ogata’s clear “daddy” issues, he is actually the dutiful son and he wants the reward that he deserves.  Ogata entered the military and performed well both in intelligence for Tsurumi, on the battlefield as a sniper and did everything that was asked of him before he liberated himself from Tsurumi.  In that regard, Ogata was an excellent solider if not better one that Yuusaku with hands on/real world experience long before Yuusaku was a flag bearer.  I think this situation should both be read on the text and subtext level.  ‘Cause it is Ogata dammit and he’s not some obvious character.

Ogata is a character who wants and desires nothing more than love and acceptance.  Of course being the cynical intellectual that he is, he would pick something like this. . . . it just makes you want to cringe and go “Ogata . . .”

The fact that they almost left Ogata behind indicates to me that he’s acting out his own plan for - something.  Our man of mystery - Ogata.

[minicoopdetat]

Hey is that [GREGG SULKIN]? No, that’s just [AUGUST COOPER]. They’re [TWENTY-THREE], and have spent [THREE MONTHS] in Dayton. I hear that they’re kind of [OPTIMISTIC], but also [OBNOXIOUS]. Did you hear their vices are [PARTYING & SEXTING]? Can’t wait to see [HE/HIM] at the next party! 

full name: august levi cooper 

nickname: cooper. mini coop. coop de tat

age: twenty-three

date of birth: april 2

place of birth: dayton, ca

zodiac: aries

gender: cis-male

nationality: american

sexual orientation: heterosexual

romantic orientation: heteromantic

relationship status: single *

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES.

height: 5’10

weight: 166 lbs

hair color: brunette

eye color: hazel

need glasses/contacts? yes

tattoos: he has seven ‘dragon balls’ in various places ( 1:inner wrist, 2: inner wrist, 3: shoulder blade, 4: hip , 5: behind his ear, 6: back of neck 7:ass); nightwing symbol (ankle); squirtle squad shades ( coming soon )

distinguishing marks: scar on his right leg from crashing his moped 

BACKGROUND INFORMATION.

hometown: salinas, ca

current residence: dayton, ca

past residences: salinas, ca

living arrangement: family home; phaedra’s old place

spoken languages: english, japanese, vulgar words in various languages 

financial status: loaded by proxy

education level: high school, college ( BA biological science )

occupation: vet tech

FAMILIAL INFORMATION.

father: maxwell cooper

mother: elizabeth cooper

siblings: maxwell cooper jr (36), summer cooper (34; heartborn), dawn cooper (32), buzz cooper (30; heartborn), willow cooper (28), skye cooper (26; heartborn)

children: none

pets? Satoshi; “foster” dog

other: phaedra cooper; grandmother

PERSONALITY.

positive traits: loyal. optimistic. passionate. outgoing. confident

negative traits: loud. tactless. gullible. dramatic. reckless 

likes: nightwing, late nights. martial arts. dbz. music. animals ( all kinds ). parties. soccer. hockey. movies. sex. pokemon. learning new things. tarot. philosophy. sunny days. tiger king ( joe exotic ). social media. tik tok. family gatherings. sexting. 

dislikes: waiting. twitter. strategy games. opera. reading. bullies. people who go out of their way to make someone else feel stupid. injustice ( the video game...and the other thing he guesses ). seeing other people treated like shit. sad sacks. clutter. messy landscaping. carol fucking baskin. animal abuse. 

quirks: knows karate and aikido. Has a 3rd degree black belt and used to teach in college. owns and drives a moped. loves to record himself ( mtv cribs style ). is really great with kids. surprisingly organized, his place is pretty spotless. doesnt wear shoes unless absolutely necessary. has a skin care regiment. 

moral alignment: neutral good

THE RUN DOWN.

CHILDHOOD; 

Cooper was born August Levi Cooper to Elizabeth and Maxwell Cooper on April 2nd twenty-three years ago in Salinas, CA.

His siblings like to refer to him as the family’s April fools surprise.

One reason being is he was very much an accident. The plan was always 3 biological and 3 adopted children. A large loving family blended with those born from blood and those from the heart.

While Cooper was unexpected, he never felt it growing up. A family consisting of nine different personalities is bound to have disputes and there have been a lot over the years, but they’ve always loved each other deeply. Family was important, a top priority always, and Coop grew up surrounded by love.

As a kid, he was always going a mile a minute. Always jabbering on, always into something. His mother, Elizabeth, never seemed to mind. If anything she embraced it using a somewhat free range approach to raising her children. She let them do as they pleased as long as they practiced reflection and responsibility after. The consequences were theirs whatever decisions were made.

So if he wanted to take apart the toaster, fine. He had to put it back together. If not? He would be working to pay for a new one. Want to stay up all night watching anime? Fine. If he fell asleep and failed his quiz the next day? The tv was gone.

It was a process for Cooper, who multiple teachers recommended that he take some form of medication for his outbursts and inability to follow directions without being distracted or derailing the entire class. His mother refused, but she did begin to focus on helping him regulate and make better choices.

Did it work? Eh. But he managed to scrape by.

But where he lacked impulse control, Cooper made up in kindness. He always the first to volunteer to help, whether it involved the teacher or another student. He’d give away  his lunch money to someone he thought needed it or sit with the kids that seemed alone, talking their heads off about the latest thing he saw on late night tv. 

He was the kind of kid you dreaded and loved all at once and if you ask him, he’ll tell you his childhood was a wonderful thing.

Some highlights include, starting Karate at age 5. Martial arts was one, if not the only way, to really get Cooper to slow down and focus. It was and still is a passion for him. He earned his black belt by age 9, his second degree by 11, and his 3rd by 14, making him one of the youngest in the county to have a 3rd degree blackbelt.

Began learning Japanese at age seven. It started as self teaching, but eventually his parents brought in a tutor. 

ADOLESCENCE; 

As he hit his preteen years, Cooper began to play sports. Soccer was his poison of choice and he was good...but some of the other kids found him to be odd. He was the youngest of seven, so there were always jokes made about the rag tag crew or about how he spent more time talking about japanese cartoons, comics and superheroes than he did the sport or the usual topics. Small, he was picked at, but Cooper? He never really noticed.

He was the butt end of jokes, but always the first to laugh. He was confident, even then, that the things his ‘friends’ did were often in good fun and never to take advantage of him or be malicious. Even when his trips to the principal's office became more frequent and his detentions began to pile up, he insisted things were fine. He was loyal and they just had different ways of showing their friendship to him.

He was sixteen when a new kid moved to town and his friends turned their attention to him. Coop thought they were looking to welcome him into the fold, he was a bit quiet, always reading, kinda awkward, but the more time they spent with him, the more Cooper started to notice the shit way they were treating him. The jokes they had used on Cooper, they were funny to him, but this kid? Not so much. It didn’t take long before he began to see their relationship with this kid and their relationship with him? They weren’t harmless and in one very explosive day, Cooper not only stood up for the kid, but may have broken his best friend’s jaw.

He was ousted from the soccer team. Fine. He needed new friends. Fine. He had one and that was fine with him. He took it all in stride. Stayed confident and though he had a nasty mark on his record, his parents were proud he finally stood up for himself and someone else. In the end, his dad able to make it go away, but still.

That summer, on a mission to be his own man and less of a sheep, he began frequenting the local game shop. He’d play in the pokemon league, try out various boardgames and chill. It became a home away from home and where he met Callum ‘Goodie’ Goodrich, the closest person to a little brother he’s ever had. 

They started as rivals, which some might consider odd considering the age difference, but Coop respected the kid and his skill. It was never an angry or aggressive thing. Goodie had a sense of humor and Coop was too easy going and before long they were exchanging tips and just hanging out for the sake of hanging out.

When things began to get rough for Goodie, Cooper didn’t ask. It wasn’t his business, but he began to notice a change...so he began inviting Goodie home for dinners, hang out sessions, etc. His family didn’t mind, if anything they enjoyed having him around and soon Goodie became an honorary Cooper.

In the three years that followed, Cooper juggled a lot of different things. He began helping at his dojo as well as the local animal shelter and his partying streak started up.

At eighteen, he was granted access to the ‘family ranch’, his parents attempting to let their children get whatever they needed out of their system. Rather than sneak around and drink or smoke or fuck, the ranch was available. It was a risk, especially for his father, a judge, but as loving and great as his family was? Their moral code wasn’t quite in line with the rest of society. His father had no qualms as long as they had some common sense. Were there hiccups? Yes. But they managed. There were six before him, so by the time Cooper came around, they knew what guidelines to lay down.

It was wild year, definitely one of the most fun he’d ever had. His grades though? They suffered. School wasn’t exactly top priority and to him, that was fine. Why did a bunch of numbers have to dictate his life?

It wasn’t until he decided he wanted to help animals for a living did he realize good grades were probably a good thing. But by then it was too late to get in anywhere prestigious. Which was fine. He made his bed and he was quick to figure something else out.

He decided on taking a gap year so he doubled down on volunteering and started learning aikido while continuing his partying and hanging with Goodie.

Or at least until he disappeared. One day he just...stopped coming in. Cooper figured he was sick or just rough off, but when he couldn’t get in touch with him, he genuinely began to worry. He even went as far to check the news...and saw the headline. It hit him hard and his dad, despite being in the court system, had no info. That whole summer, he had to just, keep checking out the shop and hope he’d run into him. But as the days went on, it became clear his friend was gone… hopefully to some situation that was much better.

Cooper finished up the summer and went off to school the next August.

TWENTIES; 

Not that he went far. He spent four years at a college between his home town and Dayton, CA. Phaedra, his grandmother, and his grandfather helped him pay for his schooling so he began visiting Dayton during the summer. He spent most of it in Salinas but he’d spend a few weeks in Dayton.

His time in Dayton was mostly spent helping Phaedra or working at the local shelter. But by the time he hit 21, partying was added to that roster.

One bachelor’s degree and a certificate later and here he is. Vet school is something he’s thought about but his grandfather passed away last year and Phaedra needed some assistance with the house. 

So while she’s off jet setting to ease the pain, Cooper’s taking responsibility for the upkeep of her Dayton home. He has no clue about home repair, but he’s more than happy to squat, make sure she’s not robbed and start work in a town that’s always kept him hype.

[demonic-pokeyfruit]

10 Gifs From My 10 Fav TV Shows

I was tagged by the lovely @alridpath to do this! I love being tagged, so feel free to do so in the future!

The numbering has nothing to do with how much I like these shows. More or less its which ones popped into my head first!

10. Breaking Bad

This may be the closest I've seen to a "perfect" show. Starts off somewhat lighthearted, and by the time it's over, there's a melancholy that seems to linger. Well developed characters, a staggering sense of dread, and great build up and pay offs. Better Call Saul, it's prequel, is also quite good! Strongly recommend!

9. Game of Thrones

Seasons 7 & 8 didn't happen. Sandor and Sansa live happily ever after, and Dany finally gives Jorah the attention he deserves. There. I said it. Fight me. lol

Anyways, regardless of when it was bad, it was good. Damn good. I really cannot imagine my life without being exposed to this at some point. Definitely recommend, but proceed past season 6 with caution.

8. The Walking Dead

Eh, by now this show is more of a guilty pleasure than something I full on enjoy. I spent a lot of time watching and followed the story for years. Negan's build up to the season 6 finale was the last time I felt invested. Once he became a regular, it felt like a chore to watch. A lot of great moments, but way too long and that script needs to be trimmed down.

7. Ash Vs. The Evil Dead

Bloody, over-the-top, and ripe in exploitation!

I love horror, and after being first exposed to the Evil Dead franchise, it became my favorite horror franchise above all others. And as you can imagine, this keeps the gory gravy train rolling!

6. The Haunting of Hill House

Don't watch if you deal with sleep paralysis. Plenty of nightmare fuel to go around!

Horror, but more on the subtle end. It serves as a long character study of a family, and takes many liberties to stray away from the source material, but in a productive manner! I do advise caution if you deal with depression, however. 98% of the screen time is quite sad, and you WILL get punched in the feels. Not the biggest fan of the ending, however.

5. Bojack Horseman

I watch a lot of adult animation. A lot. This is the first time I felt like I could connect towards a show. It's main objective is humor, but it also makes you think. You may even fall into personal self-reflection like I did. The funeral episode is my fav.

4. South Park

Ya'll know what South Park is. I love it. xD

3. Wolf's Rain

Does anime count? It does now I suppose. Lol

This had a huge impact on me, so much that it helped me decide I wanted to be an artist for a living. I saw this at age 11, and that ending ruined me for several months. Definitely watch, but if I had to watch the three final episodes, you do, too. We'll hurt together. <3

2. The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross

This seems like a troll answer, but it isn't. He's one of my role models, and I enjoyed waking up every Sunday morning to watch him! We didn't deserve Bob Ross. He's too pure.

1. Batman: The Animated Series

I'm sure if this show never happened (and the Christopher Nolan Trilogy), odds are I wouldn't care too much about Batman as a whole. I'm not a super hero gal, though this series blended in light and dark. It wasn't all bright colors and catchy one liners. It was serious at times, not to mention it treated it's viewers with maturity. It's okay for kids to be exposed to darker themes, and this went about it the right way!

And there we go. I'll tag @hallowed-talon ! I don't really have many friends who are still on Tumblr. Hope y'all enjoyed this!

[captain-azoren]

I’m Getting Married! & Why I Write

First off, thanks to anyone who’s ever liked or reblogged any of the content I’ve made in the past month or so dedicated to this absurd little crossover ship. Every little bit motivates me. I realize I don’t exactly have a big following, but nonetheless I wanted to get this out there and now I feel confident enough to talk about it.

In a little while, I’ll be traveling to literally the other side of the planet to marry my fiancee, a woman I’ve been in a long distance relationship for over a decade now. She means the world to me, and finally getting to spend the rest of my life with her is a dream come true. 

That we stayed faithful to each other for so long despite the distance and all the hardships makes me feel like, as sappy as this sounds, that we really are soulmates and this was destined. As the date kept drawing nearer, I thought more and more about this, and I wanted to find a way to express how I felt about this to others. That’s where my story White Knight, Red Queen comes in, a love story about two people who find each other despite coming from two whole different universes. Why I chose Azula and Soren in particular...

First, just to be clear, my fiancee and I are not like Azula and Soren. I am a lot smarter and much more reserved in person than Soren, and my fiancee is very sweet and has none of Azula’s smug attitude. I will say though that Soren is one of my favorite archetypes and I wish I was more extroverted, and I think my fiancee is the most beautiful, smartest, perfect girl in the world who doesn’t settle for less than what she deserves and I love her for it.

Now, I chose these two characters from these two series for multiple reasons that go way back. My fiancee and I actually met through an Avatar the Last Airbender fansite, so we have a special connection to it, even if we aren’t as big of fans as we used to be. As for Dragon Prince, the two of us got to go to our first San Diego Comic Con last year, where we got to attend the Avatar Legacy Panel and then The Dragon Prince premiere panel that came right after. Now TDP is a little special to me as well because of that.

Why Azula and Soren specifically; honestly, I just happened to be really into these two at the time. Weird thing is, I used to dislike both of these characters while simultaneously wanting to like them; when I first watched Book 2, I thought Azula was too much of a smug jerk for me to like despite how cool she could be. She seemed too invincible and too mean to Zuko, whom I heavily identified with at the time due to a lot of issues I was going through (I was trying too hard to impress people who didn’t deserve my admiration. Glad I met my fiancee when I did). I thought Soren was too much of a dumb jock after I initially thought he’d be my favorite.

Things changed though. Azula’s scenes in The Beach and then her breakdown finally made me feel sympathy for her, but it really wasn’t until this year when I started reading analyses of her character did I really come to understand Azula, and Ehasz saying he wanted to give her a redemption arc got my mind going. With my new perspective on Azula, in some ways I can identify with how she felt. As for Soren, his crisis at the end of s2 won me over, and I came to appreciate the goofiness and humor he brought, letting me re-contextualize his character in a way I could enjoy.

Because I just happened to be digging into these two at the same time, it got me thinking and I decided to create this blog as a little joke. I actually really enjoy crossover ships, having once participated in a big crossover RP with my fiancee where that was a thing. The more I thought about it though, the more I started to like the idea of Azula/Soren, and from there it got me thinking about doing a story.

ATLA and TDP share quite a few talent and staff, so a crossover between the two feels particularly natural, having similar writing and art style and even voice actors on top of Ehasz being a major creative force. Blending the two worlds together was not too much of a stretch. On top of that, doing this story actually lets me use a bunch of stuff I’ve wanted to write about for a long time, but could never craft a good plot for, namely a knight teaming up with a magic wielding princess, who are from two different worlds/cultures.

Being from two different worlds is where the inspiration from my own love life comes in. I wanted to write about how two different people, through a series of random events leading to a chance encounter, meet each other. They form a bond, one that never breaks no matter how far apart they’re pulled from each other, one that is everlasting. That is why it’s important that my story is a crossover, because Azula and Soren come from not just different places within the same fictional universe, but from two completely different universes altogether. They couldn’t be together.

In my most recent chapter of White Knight, Red Queen I wrote a dream sequence where one character (Soren) sees another character (it’s Azula) crying, but he’s unable to reach her; he’s blocked by a glass barrier, and can only watch and listen as she weeps. I wrote this to reflect my own feelings of being so distant from my fiancee for so long, and feeling so miserable and helpless whenever I was unable to comfort her properly when she was sad or upset. All I could do was look at her and try to use my words; being unable to just pull her close to me and hug her, unable to make her feel better, that’s torture, and I’m glad that barrier will be gone.

Themes of abandonment and undying loyalty are what I really want to examine with my story, as they’re what I’m familiar with, and with Azula and Soren I’ve found a way to do that, as they deal with these themes in different ways. For a while I thought I was going to live the rest of my life alone and unloved, but I took a chance to tell my future fiancee how I felt despite how scared I was of being hurt. She was one of the few friends I had left, and I was so afraid that I would drive her away like I did to others, but she stuck by me, she gave me a chance, and she gave me hope. I’m never letting that go, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life giving my heart to her for saving me.

And if all that sounds really sappy, and it does, well, we also both find each other really hot, and Azula and Soren are both attractive, so there you go lol. My fiancee is my dream girl and this silly little blog and fanfic are just one big love letter to her. Besides, writing feels way more fun and productive than getting angry at video games.

[babevogue]

Shows that made my 2017 better

So last year I made a list of shows that made my year better. Now I will say that 2016 was a FAR WORSE year than 2017 was for me. In 2016 I had academic pressure than was awful and I started a new school and all my friends ended up in different classes than me together, so that was fun. But then came 2017 and was all around just AWSOME and along with that awesome-ness came some amazing shows. Last year I just made a bullet list, but I thought that this year I should make some mini reviews, so here I go:

Fist off, my 2017 was dominated by animated shows/anime, so my eyes have really been opened to this amazing artform this year. HERE I GO:

 My hero Academia/Boku no hero Academia

What an awesome show. I watched this in November/December and I love the premise, characters and plot. It has really breathed some life into the superhero genre and is an all-together fun look at what it would be like if everyone in the world had different super-powers. It has stunning animation and the manga is also super-cool and goes in a great direction. Both the anime and manga is super-recommended.

 Favorite character(s): I love Todoroki, he is awesome (and I’m a slut for angsty backstory so…). Deku is great. Actually, can I just write every character here? except Mineta, fuck Mineta!

 Greatest qualities about the show: The character dynamics! The way the characters interact with each other is immaculate and they just fit together great. I also really like how each arc is structured and paced.

 Negatives: The girls are sometimes a little bit passive for my liking, and if there was an arc with Mineta dying I would not be mad.

Bojack Horseman

I binged this show and fell in love. What might just appear as just a wacky adult cartoon at first glance (and first couple of episodes) is actually a deep depiction of many modern-day topics and problematics such as depression, alcoholism, drug-use, sexuality, sex work, feminism, politics and of course life in Hollywoo(d). The human-like animals might be jarring at first, but it uses the character designs to its advantage with hilarious animal-puns and situations alongside making the show more lighthearted despite the shows heavy subject-matter.

 The show is about the horse Bojack who was a famous sitcom star in the `90s and his slump of a life post sitcom star life and his journey back to stardom. The blend between humor and chilling, haunting realism is amazing to watch unfold alongside clever and real character development that is beautiful to watch. Ironically the most aesthetically absurd looking show on this list has the most realistic story. Great social commentary disguised as a comedy.

 Favorite character(s): Everyone is flawed in Bojack Horseman, but the most interesting characters in this show for me are Bojack and Diane. So, I would say Diane is my favorite to observe.

 Greatest qualities about the show: The way it discusses social issues. Its stunning and thought-provoking.

 Negatives: It’s a little bit slow and odd in the beginning and some might find it a little too sad.

Rick and Morty

I discovered this show around Easter time and WOW! No show like any other on this list handles surrealism and absurdist comedy, parody and satire quite like Rick and Morty. The show about the scientist Rick and his grandson (with his grand-daughter Summer joining inn somtimes) Morty going on wacky space adventures. Ricks dick-ish nature contrasts Morty’s wide-eyed curiosity turned cynicism perfectly. The show has fun world building, alongside a great blend between one-off adventures and overarching plot. Visually the show is both stunning and disgusting making it an interesting aesthetic journey for the viewer. Funny, crazy and surprisingly deep at times. And btw watching Rick and Morty does not make you smarter nor require you to be a super-intellectual.

 Favorite character(s): Morty is always delightful.

 Greatest qualities about the show: Its really funny and has really great world building/concepts within the show.

 Negatives: It sometimes boards on a little to gross and has some growing pain in the start.

 This is kind of a shout-out to a second season of show from last year’s list so:

Stranger Things 2

Such a good “sequel”. I enjoyed every moment of the show (even the controversial Chicago episode). The characters developed, the plot developed, the new characters were amazing and tone and aesthetic from the first season was carefully preserved and used immaculately. The 80`s reference game was just as strong. For anyone who has lived under a rock the last year and a half the show (first season at least) is about the mysterious disappearance of middle-schooler Will Beyers. The year is 1983, location Hawkings, Indiana.

 Favorite character(s): Steve Harrington deserves the world in season 2. I also really like Mike.

 Greatest qualities about the show: Addicting story. SO BEAUTIFULLY SHOT! Amazing acting from everyone.

 Negatives: Ok, I lied the Chicago episodes stagnated the plot to some extent. I just don’t hate the episode as much as everyone else.

 And last but CERTANTLY not least:

 Ok so I’m cheating on this one I watched this show in January but I watched the first episode in December so I’m including it and also I’m so in love and I wanted to include it here rather than next year’s list because I want it fresh in my mind.

 Fullmetal Alchemist/Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood

 So, this entry is technically 2 shows. One was created in 2003 based on a manga by the same name but diverges from the manga around the half-way point because it ran out of material to adapt and goes in its own direction. The other is from 2009 and is a straight adaption of the manga. This creates 2 shows with the same central characters, plot and starting points that diverges GREATLY from each other and they are both amazing!

 The plot goes like this; In a world where alchemy developed, you cannot create something with alchemy without having the materials that equals to what you want to make. Example: if you want to create a radio you need all the materials that make up that radio to create it. This is known as equivalent exchange and it cannot be broken.

 When the young brothers Edward and Alfonse Elric’s mother dies they try bring her back using alchemy. In the process Edward loses and arm and a leg while Alfonse loses his entire body and is only left with his soul which is now bonded to suit of armor. The brothers must seek out a way to find a way to get their bodies back.

 IT IS AMAZING! Both versions are amazing, but I slightly prefer the 2009 version also known as Brotherhood. It explores dark and philosophical themes and questions such as mass genocide, the life of the military, PTSD, fascism, war, politics, what is god/playing god, what is the price of a soul is, loss and most importantly daddy-issues.

 There is no end to how much this series deserves praise (mostly referring to Brotherhood here). From the way its gorgeously animated, to the pacing, the way it handles it subject matter and issues and has relatable characters. The character development is perfect, and the plot never meanders or goes into dead ends and concludes beautifully. Even the attention to details is impressive with examples such as the way it shows the characters physically aging and demonstrating where in timeline the scene takes place with subtle hair changes. Fullmetal Alchemist (brotherhood) is like watching someone pouring all the puzzle-pieces out on the table and watching someone cleverly and creatively putting them together, thus creating a magnificent art-piece in the in the process. I would also like to mention one of the most amazing aspects of both versions being the way female characters actions, traits, part in the plot, abilities and dialogue are some of the best female writing I have ever seen. Ironically enough in a work marked towards teenage boys.

Favorite character(s): Fullmetal Alchemist is the kind of show that I like to call having “parks and rec”-syndrome, where genually love everyone, however If I have to pick I might say Winry. I absolutly lover her and I think she is a great role model, hillarious and greatly written. 

Greatest qualities about the show: The way it deals with its subject-matter. And also everything else about the show, but especially that. 

Negatives: Nothing about the show, just a little girl and her dog that im a little tierd being meme-ed to death on reddit but also kinda laugh so im a little bit conflicted, but there is no negatives that I can think of. 

That was it, bye-bye 2017, I watched some fine televison in your year, and I hope to find some just as good in 2018. 

[akocomyk]

The Top 10 Books I Read in 2017

Funny how I wasn’t able to read as much books as I wanted to despite the fact that I wasn’t really doing anything for two and a half months.  I was able to read 25 books in 2017, just enough to hit my Goodreads 2017 Reading Challenge.  Usually, I go over my pledged number of books.  This was the only time, if I remember right, that I wasn’t able to surpass my reading challenge.

Finishing that challenge was an effort, mind you.  I finished reading the last book for 2017 on December 30, and i pushed myself just so that I can finish the challenge.  I blame all this slow reading to Miss Peregrine.  If you’ve read my thoughts on that book, you’d know why.

Going back to the real purpose of this blog... Of the 25 books I read this year, 15 were considered for this list.  I know that’s quite a lot, but that’s good, in reality.  That means I'm now more careful on choosing which books to read.

The sad part about this—similar to my dilemma last year—is that I have too many books that I want to include in the list.  It’s with great regret that I won’t be able to put them in here even if I wanted to.

Anyway... here it goes.

*The books in here are included regardless of their genre, release date, and author—whether they be Filipino or international.  As long as its a book that I’ve read within the given year, they can be considered for the list.

(Scores are on a scale of 1-5, inspired by Goodreads’ rating format)

10.  A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett (2005)

SCORE: 4.250

This is the second book in Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching series.  I really loved the first book and I’m so thrilled that whatever it is I liked from the first one continued with this—at times, even better.  But I’m a nothing-bests-the-original type of person, so the first book scored higher for me.  You’ll see it further on this list.

9.  The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Allire Sáenz (2017)

SCORE: 4.275

One thing that t I really love about Sáenz‘s books is the tone of his writing.  It’s utterly simple, yet very poetically beautiful—which for me makes it very quick and easy to read.

His other book that I read, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, is one of my favorite books.  Having known that he recently released a new book, I din’t mind that it’s still only available on hardbound, I immediately bought it when it came out.  I had high expectations for it.

This book gave me the same feelings when I read Ari and Dante, though it wasn’t as effective.  Toned-down would be a good word for it.  There are parts where it would hit you right on the heart.  Ironically, this is what the books is all about—love.  It’s about all types of love, even if the book never had an ounce of romance in it—maybe just a little bit.

8.  The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett (2003)

SCORE: 4.330

The story in itself is very similar to a fairy tale and you can even identify a few references grabbed from the classics.  But unlike those old tales of fantasy, this one is void of all the atrocities and rather has common sense and unwavering cleverness—not to mention, an ample amount of humor.

One thing that I also love about the book is that all characters are very likable and have distinct personalities—even the tertiary and background characters have personalities, it’s insane!

See full review

7.  The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill (2016)

SCORE: 4.345

I always love a book with amazing characters who have deeply rooted motivations.  This is what I adored about this book.  It felt like all the characters have valid reasons why they were doing the things that they did in the story, and the way it just pushed the plot forward and how everything went to be is just enchanting.

This is a book meant for children but it can certainly be enjoyed by any person of any age—except for the toddlers who can’t read, obviously.  This book is for the people who looooove fantasy.  I got into reading because of fantasy books—hello Chronicles of Narnia—and this creation by Barnhill is a unique jewel in the midst of middle grade to young adult novels which nowadays are starting to sound too similar to one another.

6.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (1999)

SCORE: 4.405

I had setbacks when I decided that I wanted to read it.  It was on the bottom of my I-plan-to-read-list primarily because I’ve already watched the film adaptation and I’m worried that I wouldn’t appreciate the book that much since I already know the story and thought that it would take away too much of the book’s charm.

BUT I WAS WRONG.

I didn’t really plan on reading it but on June 10, when I was alone in our house and wanted to do something so that I won’t get bored, I went out to find a book and eat at a local café.  Turns out, this was the cheapest book I found that actually pulled my interest.

Anyway, the book—much like the film—is very touching and fun to read.  Like, I never would’ve thought that the book was written during the 90′s because it gave me the modern YA feels, like it totally blended in with the books that I love reading.

It gave me the feels.  You know, the weird feeling in your heart when you read a book or watch a film.  It was very prevalent in this book.

5.  The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (2007)

SCORE: 4.475

I got this book as a Christmas gift from a fellow Star Wars nerd.  She loved it that’s why she gave me a copy.  Basing from the reviews it got from Goodreads, it is an amazing book.  AND IT LIVED UP TO MY EXPECTATIONS. 

I just love how the characters are fully made up… although some feel like cardboard cutouts, I don’t mind.  I mean, they’re very minor characters.  At most, the main characters are very interesting.

It’s a good substitute to those who are reading the A Song of Ice and Fire series.  It has the same amount of epicness, same amount of characters, ample amount of secrecy and mysteries, but thankfully not as grandiose and confusing\ as GRRM’s (yeah, as much as I love the ASOIF books, sometimes it goes a little too far).

It’s a really thick book which I would normally get bored of reading in the middle, but that didn’t happen.

4.  Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli (2015)

SCORE: 4.605

It is a truly wonderful book that proudly represents the LGBTQ community.

I love how Albertalli wrote it in such a sarcastic tone, and it reminds me of the time when I have a similar tone in writing—the time before I started doing all those melodramatic stuff.

There are times in the book that I almost wanted to cry.

Also, it’s one hell of a page-turner.  I couldn’t stop reading it!  The book laid open on my desk at work and I occasionally read a few pages every now and then.  I wanted to know how it ends so badly.

I also love the way that the story is also very engaging to the readers, like the way that you want to share with Simon’s adventure and search for the mysterious identity of Blue.  I had speculations.  I said, if this would be him, the story would be stupid.  If this would be a girl, it would be disappointing (and Will Grayson-ish).  If it was this other characters, it just doesn’t make any sense.  But there’s this minor character who would probably fit.  AND I WAS DAMN RIGHT.  I predicted it but it was good, because all the other options would make a really bad story.  I predicted it but it was good, because if I was the one who wrote the story, I would’ve written it the same way.

3.  Scythe by Neal Shusterman (2016)

SCORE: 4.610

This is only my second Neal Shusterman book and I think I’m starting to become a fan.  In this novel, he created a world that is so thought-provoking, and he made it distinct among the over-crowded dystopian novels of the recent years.

I recommend this to anyone who loved reading The Hunger Games—or just to anyone who loves to read—because it gives you the same emotions.  Different story, same feeling.  It will surprise you.  It will scare you.  It will excite you.  And at a certain point, it will crush your heart.

See full review

2.  We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson (2016)

SCORE: 4.615

This book portrays the message that no person in this world has a perfect life.  We are all flawed, and we all have reasons to be unhappy.

I was heavily impressed at how Hutchinson was able to incorporate that factor in all of his characters.   That is what I like most about this book.  Anyone in the world who loves to read may be able to have a connection to it—naturally, everyone of us has imperfections and we can empathize on the characters because of that.

I love the little sci-fi things that are enclosed in-between chapters, including the main premise that Henry (the main character) is abducted by aliens.  And I love the mystery by the end as to whether or not these abductions are true or just a figment of Henry’s imagination. *Spoiler alert, if you’re wondering how this part of the story is resolved… it was never resolved*

He’s depressed and he probably has anxiety so this could possibly his mind’s manifestations to cope up with his life.  This real-unreal phenomenon kinda reminds me of A Monster Calls… you know, you’re not sure if whether or not the Monster was real or not.

This factor adds a little interaction with the readers as it forces us to use our own creativity and rely solely on our imagination on how this all adds up.  It can be true.  It cannot be true.

And also, the book has these occasional moments that will really crush your heart.  You know how much I love books that do that to me.

AND THE AWARD FOR THE BEST BOOK I READ IN 2017 GOES TO...

1.  The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (2003)

SCORE: 4.630

I’ve seen this book on store shelves a couple of times and I always overlooked it.  Probably because the cover isn’t very much appealing to me, and I’m not a usual fan of books that center on war themes, especially those that are set in the middle east.

So when I finally paid attention to it, and saw the good reviews it had on Goodreads, I said to myself.  “I effin’ need to read this.”

Also, one of the reasons why I decided to read it is for this list.  At the time, this list was dominated by YA novels, all of which have LGBTQ themes in them.  Had We Are the Ants topped the list, for three years straight, YA-LGBTQ books bagged the top plum.  I have nothing against these type of books—I like them, obviously—but I thought that I just need some sort of variety.

Going back to this book... this has left me scarred.  There are scenes in the book that I will never, ever be able to forget.  Like there were scenes that I read while I was inside a bus on my way home, and I had to stop reading because I didn’t want people to see me crying in public.  Unfortunately, I still cried.

For me, this book tells us that life will always be full of sh*t.  You may have your good days, but it will always try to test you.  Other than that, it tells us that there are people in this world who would die for honor, and for love.

I will no longer tell anymore about this book.  I suggest that you should just read it.  I highly recommend it.  Definitely one of my favorites.

Other books considered for this list were I Wrote This for You by Iain S. Thomas, Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, Chasers of the Light by Tyler Knott Gregson,  Kids of Apetite by David Arnold, and Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon.  I really wish that they were in the top—especially the poetry books by Thomas and Gregson, that would’ve been a first—but I only need ten and 2017 was just crowded with good books.

I read better books this year than the past year.  You can just tell from the ratings.  The tenth place on this was already on 4.250—I had to include a third decimal to break the ties, that’s why the scores are so close.  Last year’s tenth was at 3.68, and the first book to actually go higher than 4.250 was All the Light We Cannot See with 4.32, last year’s fourth placer.  Last year’s first placer— I’ll Give You the Sun which scored 4.57—was edged out by this year’s with 4.630.

I wish I would still have the same dilemma for 2018.  I know it’s a problem, but it’s a good problem.

Happy book-reading this 2018!

[podcake]

Podcast Teatime: Boston Tea Party

Hello again, readers! To cap off this fine interview month, I scored big with pulling aside the creators of Greater Boston Alexander Danner and Jeff Van Dreason for some talk and tea.

(The following is a direct copy-and-paste from the email) 

Question One: I’ve always liked the semi-documentary style of your show. The way it often starts off with an interview that somewhat reflects the central topic of the episode is a nifty framing device. Is there any reason why you chose to do this? JVD: For one thing, our show is set in a real place, albeit a skewed, alt universe real place. Since we mention factual events and history, there’s already some bleeding between fact and fiction, past and present. Further, the show is about a community - a geographical area larger than a city. We have a large cast, but our thought process was the more individual voices that we hear from in the show, the larger our community feels, the more similar to a city and its surrounding areas it sounds. 

The answers we select from our interviews match the tone of what we’re going for, both for the show as a whole and the individual episodes. Some of them are funny, strange, sad, or a mixture of all of the above. It’s a nice, refreshing way to start, I think - hearing something real and authentic straight from someone’s mouth. It’s not written, it’s not rehearsed, it just is.  Finally, it was a good way to make the show more diverse, which was a huge concern for us giving that most of our cast members in Season 1 were white.

It’s a city. Cities are diverse, so it should have a diverse feeling.

Question Two: What is it about Boston that drives you write an audio drama based around it? Are you from that city or do you just personally find it interesting enough to write about?

AD: We’ve both lived in Boston for a long time, but neither of us is originally from here. We’re actually both from different parts of New York. For me, Boston very quickly felt like “home.” I love living in a city that you can reasonably cross from end to end on foot, and pass through such very different places. Boston’s one of the oldest cities in the US, so for good and bad, there’s a lot of history here, and Boston loves wearing its history openly. So it’s easy to find inspiration, both for quirky moments and dramatic.

JVD: Boston is such a weird city! So much of it makes very little sense. There’s this huge sense of working class ethos mixed with higher ed academia, it’s seriously progressive while also being incredibly old fashioned. There’s so much history and it surrounds us everywhere, but then there’s also a ton of development, so you have these old buildings next a bank-sponsored skyrise, the old Trinity Church is dwarfed by the John Hancock tower, but it’s also reflected in its windows. 

That’s Boston in a nutshell; this tiny, old little church directly next to and reflected in an imposing glass tower, Boston’s tallest skyscraper. In the Greater Boston universe, much of what’s happened in the past  remains in the present somehow; the sticky streets from the molasses flood in the North End, the fact that Wonderland is still an amusement park, the trash fire on Spectacle Island – and those are conscious decisions rooted in the fact that our history still surrounds us everywhere we look, whether we’re aware of it or not. 

There’s even some antiquated laws that are technically still on the books in Boston. I remember hearing you can challenge someone to a legal duel on the Boston Common because that law has yet to have been thrown out or redacted. And part of that weirdness to me is urban alienation. Every time I take the Red Line, I think of how weird it is that all these strangers are crammed together in this underground moving box, and everyone acts like they’re completely alone, ignoring the humanity, the community all around them. 

And that’s really a city in a nutshell. We’re all literally in the same situation, we have so much in common, but people sit seats apart from each other. They’re afraid of even their clothing getting too close to another human being. And I get it, because people are afraid of standing out and looking weird, or encouraging weird behavior from strangers. But I feel like the harder we try not to connect with other people? The weirder we all look! 

Question Three: Greater Boston is often described to be a sort of slice of life meets magic realism show…with a subway. Was this the genre you were aiming for or do you deem Greater Boston to be something else entirely?

AD: I think that description captures us pretty well. I worry more about the humor/drama balance than about nailing down a specific genre descriptions. That said, magic realism has certainly been a major influence on my my writing for many years, as have contemporary slipstream authors like Kelly Link. JVD: I appreciate the fact that our genre and tone are difficult to pin down. We wanted to create something complex, something that felt more like a novel in audio form, something that defied classification. It can be a tricky thing to balance, honestly, and we’re both very conscious about making sure some episodes are funny, some are more serious, while all of them sound a little…off, weird, strange, different. That’s the Greater Boston blend we’ve always been going for.

Question Four: Your cast of characters are colorful, to say the least. Is there anyone in particular that’s the most fun to write for?

AD: Well, they’re all fun to write for in different ways, especially because we’ve really tried hard to give them all unique voices. But I don’t think anyone will be surprised to hear that there’s a particular pleasure in writing Mallory. She was only ever meant to appear once, giving her recounting of Leon’s death, back in episode four, but she was just too much fun to write not to revisit her. And now she’s an important part of the full ensemble.

JVD: Mallory is a blast, but she’s also very difficult to write because you constantly have to come up with new and creative ways to swear! I’m not sure I can pick a favorite, honestly, but I love writing scenes with Gemma and Charlotte. They just have such an interesting and complex relationship. I really like Nica too and I use her to express a lot of my personal frustrations and demons. And Leon. Leon’s character is so finite that it’s easy to slip right into that voice.

Question Five: You’ve gotten to collaborate with quite a few people including those behind Ars Paradoxica as well as cameos by Lauren Shippen, Rick Coste, and Ryan Estrada. What was it like getting to work with them and what do you think it’s done for the show?

AD: Oh, it’s so much fun! We’re very lucky to have so many wonderful people who’ve been kind to our show. Getting Beth Eyre in for a recurring part through Season 2 was especially exciting, and she was wonderful! But one of my favorite aspects of this community is how gamely people step into help out on each other’s shows. So many of us have appeared on each other’s shows at this point! (I’m especially proud of my turn on The Infinite Now, in the episode “The Martian Thirst Trap.”)

Of course, that we were allowed to actually *write* a piece of arsParadoxica was a particular honor. They allowed us to write something thoroughly ridiculous for their characters, which was generous and a delight to be a part of. And “Curses” won’t be the last bit we guest write for other shows–but I think we’ll have some announcements to make about that closer to 2018.

Question Six: One of my personal favorite things about Greater Boston has always been the music selection. How exactly did you manage to get a soundtrack that screamed, “This an alternative version of Boston!”

AD: The music began with Dirk and Emily, who are old friends of mine. I actually know Dirk from my days in making comics, and we long talked about collaborating on a project. We *meant* a comic, but Greater Boston became the first project we actually worked on together. He and Emily happened to be talented musicians, playing primarily Irish folk and maritime traditionals, which is perfect for representing Boston. 

They then brought in Adrienne, who introduced the hurdy gurdy to our sound, which was a brilliant addition. Jim, who brings in the drums, is someone we both know through our teaching jobs. We kind of pull talent from all over our lives. Dave Lewis, whose original piano music appeared in season 2, is someone I hadn’t spoken to since middle school, but the show brought us back in touch!

BONUS: I’m sure many people want to know what pushes you to keep writing and creating your work. In something as rickety as the podcast scene, you never know what audience you’ll attract and what success may come your way, so what is it that keeps you determined in such a broad and still growing art field? JVD: A lot of what initially pushed us into the genre of audio drama was our frustration with trying to publish our fiction and produce theatrical work. It’s really difficult to do either of those things and what I love about podcasting is that you can just do something independently. 

It takes time, it takes work, it takes hours scheduling and recording and producing, but you’re able to make something complex and beautiful on your own and with the help of your friends. It’s more collaborative and hands-on than writing a story, and there’s more evolution in story than a produced play. And in either case, you have time to build an audience. 

Neither of us had dreams of producing the next podcast smash when we made Season 1. We just wanted to get our writing and stories into as many heads as possible. We’re actually blown away with how much Greater Boston has taken off. That’s not to say we’re some kind of runaway podcast smash, but it thrills us so much to know we have an audience. A small audience, but a dedicated one. That’s so huge to us. It’s a tremendous responsibility, in some ways. We don’t want to disappoint people. 

We don’t want to let anyone down. But it’s also thrilling and pushes us into wanting to make our show even better, with each new episode and season we write and produce. We also have to credit how nurturing and supportive the entire audio drama community is. It’s one of the best artistic communities I’ve ever encountered and it feels incredibly exciting to be a part of it, right now especially. I think in many ways, we feel really lucky that the show came out when it did, because we were among a lot of other fantastic audio dramas being released shortly before or after we kicked off. I think we’ve both longed to be in a community like this, where we can pop into each others shows or help record something for each other or even write something for another show. 

There’s something so rewarding about that to me. It’s the type of creative situation I’ve looked for my whole life.

AD: And the fact that audio drama is still a growing, developing field only makes being a part of it more exciting. Right now, it’s possible to jump in, and right away have your voice heard, and even feel like you’re influencing the direction the form is heading. The whole experience has been creatively invigorating.

It’s always these creative duos that give me some of the best answers. Hopefully you feel as warm and fuzzy as I do after that interview and are eager to check out Greater Boston for yourself. Thank you all for joining me for tea…now get the fuck off my Red Line.

[commandertheory]

Custom Challenge: Partners

New name, been outta the magic game for awhile! Just coming back. (It’s Raptorthedoctor/Thelovelymedusa/Abyssal-Lolth) So uhh, deck challenge! Not sure if you still do those anymore, buuuut can’t blame a girl for trying, right?  You might remember one of the things I liked to challenge you with were custom commanders, and Partner gives some new space to that, so I figured I’d hit you up with some choices. Attached are 10 commanders with Partner, one for each color pairing. The rules are simple, just pick the two you like best or think are most interesting and work around them! Alternatively, if you want to use one of these with one of the existing partners, feel free to do that instead! I’ll go over the 10 below (and if anyone else wants to play around with them, feel free.)

This is Arketh. He was essentially made top-down from the art. An abomination resulting from Phyrexian experiments in Darksteel, Arketh must sustain himself on the lives of others to maintain his indestructible status. Or he can be found as expendable, and the research gained him the experiment used to aid another creature.  Commander-wise, he could lend himself to a lot of interesting utility uses, but I like to think he might be good in some sort of dual-Voltron deck, given that he himself is a miniature Yahenni for one less mana (albeit without the additional growth effect) but can also protect another one of your creatures.

I’ve been waiting to make this card since forever, really, but Helddagrif never really felt like it’d fit as its own fully-powered commander. I think it works well here as a supplement threat to some other group-slug partner. Helddagrif, most likely the result of some demon or necromancer getting their hands on our hapless hippo friend, brings along group discard and damage, sure to make you a hit at the table! (Just make sure you don’t go past 3 activations of his first ability or your hippo isn’t long for this world. Unless you had a way to give him indestructible…)  Definitely not as interesting or unique a card as Phelda, I’ll admit it, but the idea was humorous and I kind of like that this purple hippo now has nothing but hate in its heart. The perfect minion for some dastardly character!

Just slightly less cringeworthy of a name than Helddagrif is Hyss. B/G got a pretty cool toughness matters theme with Khans block, so I’ve extended on that here. Hyss is probably one of the more mechanically unimpressive looking of the commanders, but never underestimate a deathtouch threat you can cast over and over at instant speed. Hyss is from Amonkhet. Or, well… I had concepted a plane ages ago where one of my Planeswalkers dwelt, which was an Egyptian world that had become subjugated by Bolas. While Amonkhet seems to be a bit more than “Subjugated”, if the shoe fits, wear it! Hyss is an assassin known for her poisoned blade. 

The cheapest of the cycle rewards you for playing with the most expensive creatures. She might be undercosted for what she does, but she comes with some fairly strict deckbuilding conditions..  The flavor text and epitaph are a reference to Illaoi from League of Legends.  Lissana is from Zendikar. She seems to have survived the Eldrazi incursion on a remote isle guarded by sea monsters, preferring to hermit here, rather than involve herself more actively in the conflict.

If you remember my Sharuum deck, you know I love Sphinxes. Morius here is an evasive beater that have a big upside when he enters. An upside that grows the more things have died. Luckily, you’re in black. He might not mind being paired with a white creature to increase the amount of available options, though.  Morius, if printed, would be the most expensive Partner printed. Ikra Shidiqi, Kraum, and Ravos are all tied for second at 5 CMC. Morius is a Sphinx from Theros who dwells in the Underworld. While he wears the mask of a Returned, he himself is still quite living. Whether he works for Phenax or Erebos, or whether he’s simply crafty enough to evade their detection is unknown. 

I’ve probably complained along with everyone else about red/white commanders. Here’s my attempt at an interesting one. 

Champion is a mechanic that I always wished got a little more love. There’s a bit of good mechanical design space, including using the championed creature as a resource. Some other ideas for what Scor might’ve done with the Championed creature included getting +X/+0 based on their CMC, putting tokens into play based on their CMC, or dealing damage based on their CMC. But I felt like a sunforger on a stick was just gonna be a more interesting route to go. I’m not entirely sure if the wording on the activated is correct as I have no examples to fall back on. Had to cut the reminder text for champion cause even as it is, the card is a bit crowded.

Scor is from Estaroth, a plane where mighty champions go on quests to battle ferocious monsters in the name of the realm. With his appearance and elemental status, some might consider Scor to fall firmly into the latter camp, but the guy’s got a heart of (Molten) Gold.

A commander that makes use of the fact that you can have two commanders. I’m still a little scared of the power level of this one, so he’s costed and given an appropriately squishy body to reflect that. To be honest, I’m still not entirely sure how much of the “power budget” of a card Partner eats up, and this might’ve been pushing it just a little. Honestly though, rebound probably isn’t a powerful enough ability to prevent him from being a 2/2 or 0/3. Or maybe costing 3 mana. I erred on the safe side. I’m not entirely sure which plane Terisys is from. Perhaps I’ll explore that later. I can’t help but think he’s related to Bolas in some way, though.

I’m a bit sad I couldn’t get flavor text on more of these, but they were eating up space in that text box.  So I haven’t actually seen or own any Kaladesh cards yet, but I’ve looked over the block and it looks pretty sweet. (Getting an inventor’s fair for Sharuum.) The Fabricate mechanic presents an interesting choice. Do I go high or do I go wide? Yinna offers two different effects based off what choice you take on the fabricate, although there are definitely ways in green/white to break those rules a little. She definitely benefits from cards that can give her +1/+1 counters, being paired or partnered with beatsticks for her to grant trample, cards that can increase her token production somehow (like anything with populate or doubling season-type effects), and bounce or blink.  Yinna, of course, is from Kaladesh. She enjoys blending organic life, mainly plants, with her artifice.

For whatever reason, I’m really bad at designing blue/white commanders as well as red/white ones. Maybe white just isn’t my thing. Selkia comes with a pretty powerful moat-like ability, with the caveat that she has to be untapped for it to be turned on. Luckily, blue is the color of untapping things and white is the color of vigilance, although with her 2/2 body, she probably needs to be beefed up a little before attacking in the first place. Selkia’s power scales with the number of players in the game. Having a moat effect becomes a lot more valuable when lots of people have huge armies of creatures (Or armies of huge creatures) and are just looking for places to point them. Selkia’s cost reduction ability, one meant to mimic Commander 2016’s “Undaunted” mechanic, also becomes better with each extra player in the game.  Selkia is from Alyra. A plane where an invasion of the south by powerful demon lords has forced many of the plane’s inhabitants to migrate to the cold North to make a last stand against the ever advancing demonic forces.

Finally, there’s Mag, Gurana Stalker//Old Mag This is a pretty straightforward beater on the front side. The flavor is a lot like the idea of a ramping threat, like a movie monster. Sometimes, like the blob, the monster grows from small to larger and larger as it devours more people. Sometimes it’s the alien chestburster who undergoes a metamorphosis and emerges as an alien warrior. Other times it’s the raptors who learn how to open doors.  Once transformed, Mag gains a powerful combat ability to show off her battle experience. She wouldn’t have survived to become “Old” Mag on the harsh plane of Vera if she wasn’t tough! She’s a monster in combat, making chump-blocking or often blocking her at all not much of an option. Like any growing monster, the best way to deal with her is when she’s small.  You may get the most out of Old Mag by forcing creatures to block her. If you can get enough +1/+1 counters on her, she can make devastating use of Lure effects, often being able to take out all comers all at once with that double dose of power increase, once from the counters and again from her ability. Like any voltron, she’ll do well with some hexproof or shroud. Ways to give her haste can start the attacks and counter stacking more quickly, and ways to give her +1/+1 counters can hasten her growth into the tyrant queen of the riverway a little quicker. Anyway, those are my take on the partner mechanic! I hope you enjoyed and it wasn’t TOO long of a read for you! I look forward to seeing what/if you do with them! 

Rattlesnakes and Sea Serpents

The two that stood out to me out of this batch were Hyss and Lissana, as both of them encourage a deck that operates at instant speed. Hyss requires you to keep mana open on your opponents’ turns so you can threaten them with a surprise deathtouch blocker, while Lissana allows you to cast your deck’s biggest threats at the last possible second, thus allowing you to constantly hold up counterspells and spot removal.

The Beasts of the Deep

There are a couple of very strong sea monsters, but in order to fill enough slots so that our commander’s ability is relevant, we’ll have to settle for running a few that are normally a little too vanilla for this format.

+Kederekt Leviathan: When cast EOT, it’ll clear out potential blockers and allow you to be the first to rebuild your board. +Colossal Whale: Flash gives this guy pseudo-haste, allowing you to quickly answer threats. +Wrexial, the Risen Deep: One of the few sea monsters that generate card advantage. +Scourge of Fleets: Probably won’t trigger for more than 3 or 4 in this three-color deck, but it’ll disrupt your opponents’ utility creatures/mana dorks/etc. and steal some tempo. +Stormtide Leviathan: Protects you and improves the effectiveness of your other islandwalkers. +Breaching Leviathan +Shipbreaker Kraken: Casting it EOT can allow you to immediately mostrify it and clear out blockers while you swing for 10. +Elder-Deep Fiend +Great Whale +Aethersquall Ancient +Stormsurge Kraken +Trench Gorger +Aethertide Whale +Deep-Sea Kraken +Grozoth +Inkwell Leviathan +Pearl Lake Ancient +Simic Sky Swallower

Harnessing Tiamat’s Might

In addition to one or two cards that specifically support our deck’s tribal theme, there are lots of cards that have synergy with our strategy of “EOT drop some huge fat”.

+Sunder: Once you have a bunch of large creatures on the board, casting Sunder can be an excellent way to close out the game. +Prime Speaker Zegana/Hunter’s Prowess/Hunter’s Insight/Rishkar’s Expertise/Soul’s Majesty: The ratio of cards drawn to mana spent on these is hard to beat once you’ve got a sea monster to target. +Greater Good: Good protection against board wipes and pretty thematic, too. Ever heard of whale falls? +Whelming Wave: Excellent way to clear out blockers while leaving our main threats untouched. +Toxic Deluge: Since most of the creatures we care about are huge, we can easily pick a number that will wipe out our opponents’ stuff while allowing our benthic beasts to survive.

Summoning the Sea

Given that the average CMC of our sea monsters is like 6 or 7, we’re going to need a fair bit of ramp if we want to consistently cast them.

+Ancient Tomb +Sol Ring +Mana Crypt +Joraga Treespeaker +Trinket Mage +Cultivate +Kodama’s Reach +Skyshroud Claim +Hunting Wilds +Ranger’s Path +Explosive Vegetation

Abyssal Magics

These are our primary means of interacting with our opponents; most of them are instant speed to keep with the deck’s theme of playing on our opponents’ turns.

+Crush of Tentacles +Rapid Hybridation +Pongify +Doom Blade +Sultai Charm +Nature’s Claim +Arcane Denial +Counterspell +Cyclonic Rift +Disallow +Forbid +Go for the Throat +Negate +Putrefy +Swan Song +Vendetta +Damnation +Toxic Deluge

Wrapping Up

The rest of the deck is mostly goodstuff, with one or two tricks to take advantage of Hyss’s deathtouch. You can take a look at the full decklist here:

Snakes and Serpents

Thanks for the extremely creative challenge (and for your patience) @lyla-lycoris! I’m working my way through my backlog and will tackle more submissions soon.

[spraceaesthetic]

literally all for the crush ask game u deserve it

I frickin asked for this I guess uh here we go 😂1- Do they drink coffee?- aye but it goes to her head and she blurts whatever weird stuff comes to her mind and she mutters “did I just say that?” a lot2- are they left or right handed?- I’m pretty sure right?3- how do they do their hair?- she has a lot of really curly hair so mostly a pony tail and she plays with it a lot it’s cute4- what’s their favorite animal?- idk but she has a pretty cute dog5- what is their relationship status?- single(!)6- what is their favorite band/singer?- her favorite musical is come from away7- are they a cat person or dog person?- dog8-what does their laugh sound like?- either low bubbles or high cackles with tears in her eyes9- do they know multiple languages? Which?- she’s in Spanish 2 and also knows this language that I’m blanking on the name but it’s a blend of a couple?? 10- how old are they? How old are you?- she’s 14.5 (she says this) and I’m 1511- one word that describes them- sunshine12- do they have any pets?- doggo!13- what is their favorite tv show?- idk we mostly talk about musicals, ik she likes doctor who though14- what is their favorite movie?- same thing as above15- what car do they drive?- she’s 14.5 and can’t learn yet16- what ethnicity/nationality are they- ik her mom is Spanish but there’s a lot of different ethnicities and cultures in her family so idk what she would consider herself17- where did you first meet them?- in rehearsal18- what was your first meeting like?- We started casually talking in the hall waiting for rehearsal to start, but we didn’t really start like talking a lot until we went to a show with a few other cast members and sat across from each other at dinner19- what is their zodiac sign? Are you compatible?- she’s a Leo and I’m a Scorpio, so somewhat compatible but depends on the individuals20- what month is their birthday?- presumably July or august since she’s a Leo lol21- what is your favorite outfit on them?- I love the suit she wears for our show, but she also has a cool sweatshirt with paper cranes on it that I like22- are they a good texter?- yes, she sends me cheese puns23- your favorite feature about their appearance?- her eyes are so sparkly and deep ahhh24- your favorite thing about their personality?- she’s charismatic and intense, great at making everyone feel comfortable in her presence 25- do they make you laugh- yEs?! Sometimes I start laughing so hard I’m crying and she calls me adorable I’m d e c e a s e d26- do you make them laugh?- somehow, but mostly bc I’m laughing and my laugh makes her laugh27- are they a good hugger?- we’ve only like half hugged before, we mostly do those weird high fives when we walk past each other backstage where you grab their hand and slowly let go as you continue on your way28- what is your favorite “flaw” that they have?- she recycles puns all the time and thinks I won’t call her out, dabs too much29- are they nice to strangers?- sO NICE30- what is the funniest thing they have ever said?- “James can wear whatever bra he wants” on wearing a hot pink bra under her costume bc the vest covers it up perfectly31- saddest?- N/A32- weirdest?- muttering to herself in the mirror about a certain song lyric that doesn’t make sense and referring to herself in third person while fixing her hair 33- cutest?- “do you come here often?” When she was trying to ask if I did many shows at the theatre, but we were in a restaurant so odd wording XD34- ever dreamt about them? What happened?- not sure I just remember she was there and she was wearing yellow and I told her she looked lovely in yellow35- how tall are they? How tall are you?- I’m not sure, I’m 5'5" but she’s only slightly shorter than me so maybe 5'4"?36- do they have a booty?- a lil 😝37- what are their hobbies?- theatre, but it’s more of a profession i guess?38- what are their talents?- she’s a theatre triple threat, but I love her singing the most. 39- what would your dream date be with them?- going to see a show, I’ve also always wanted someone who would go to an aquarium with me40- does anyone know about your crush?- like all my friends at school bc i never shut up. In the cast only my wing girl knows41- what do you guys have in common?- love of theatre and puns, and we have the same type of humor. 42- do they go to the gym?- she dances a lot so yeah ish43- do they go by their given name?- yes44-what is their favorite color?- goood question?45- how far apart do you live?- only a bit, we don’t go to the same high school but since we’re at the same theatre a lot it’d have to be fairly close46- what song reminds you of them?- the songs from our show, especially her solos. 47- do they listen to a lot of music?- indeed48- what do they smell like?- comforting, soft49- if they were in a book how would the writer describe them?- made of sunshine and light with a sparkle in her eyes, a bounce in her step and a confident, smooth voice that made people inextricably drawn towards her. 50- how often do you see them?- since we’ve had tech week it’s been every day, but now I don’t see her until weekends and I’ll see her less after we close 😫51- the last text/message they sent you- I was sad so I asked for a pun and she replied with “sorry I don’t have any, I stink. Wait, do you want to hear the one about my socks? Oh wait, that stinks too”52- the last thing they said to you in public- difficult? Probably break a leg after our convo before our show. 53- what is the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to you in front of them?- I regularly make a fool of myself but one time she and my friend fuckin roasted me bc I have a terrible sense of direction and got lost in a space that’s essentially a box54- do they have any tattoos or piercings?- just ear lobe piercings I think55- what color are their eyes?- brown 56- what is their clothing style?- casual and comfortable, lots of graphic tees and leggings57- what is one thing that makes them special?- her intensity in everything she does58- will you tell your crush your feelings?- I hope to by closing night at the latest??59- how long did you know them before you started falling for them?- not very long lol. Our first conversation hadn’t really happened but I couldn’t stop staring at her, that’s a little creepy sounding but uh yeah60- was there a defining moment when you knew you liked them?- I was bored and looking around during notes, she was playing with her hair and sitting in a sunbeam and I was thinking about how talented she was when I realized “oh shit I like this fucker”

[highonbits]

10 Great Movies to Watch During This Quarantine

Feeling bored in this quarantine??? here are some movies you can watch during this quarantine/lockdown. whenever you google something they show you some movies which you never heard before, so we recommend you these 10 movies which has everything, drama, entertainment, humor, suspense, period films and morals for life.

Avengers: Endgame

Phenomenally entertaining movie and a masterpiece! The movies have everything; drama, uptight, some funny comedy moments, adventure, mystery, and impressive action sequences. The movie will have you off the edge of your seat, surprises, emotional sad events which that you can’t miss at all. Their legacy of the finale is Perfect. Amazing movie!!! If we talk about acting, it was phenomenal and convincing. Beautifully directed and with a fantastic plot. An amazing emotional experience for everyone that has seen all the Marvel movies collected all together with our most favorite iconic characters. What an incredible journey of 22 Marvel movies. I can surely say that these movies will not disappoint you. With a bunch of great twists and turns, these movies leave a great impression on us. To deal with tragedy, disaster, and the consequences of our actions and to overcome our struggles in life. Countless heartwarming moments will make you melt.

You can watch this on Hotstar

The Godfather Part II

The Godfather Part-2 is a movie/series which has a theme of loyalty, family, and sacrifice. One of the first sequels ever to surpass its forerunner, the movie flows with confidence. Part II takes a look at Vito Corleone’s early years in Sicily, depicting his accomplishments before he became a New York City mafia. Robert De Niro joins Al Pacino in the role of the young Don in the greatest gangster movie ever made.

watch this movie on google play movies

Casablanca (1943)

Casablanca’s the great American movie. A brilliant blend of romance, thriller, and warlike field with two of his game’s top-actors in leading roles. You can’t deny the visibility of two world war adventures by Michael Curtis, who sees Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman as two lovers who can’t be together. The chemistry like them is chemistry is fantastic, it is the result of his off-set friendship which also gave the film its memorable small joke. Meanwhile, Bogart, teaches his co-star Poker, often repeated the phrase, “He is looking at you,” to Bergman with genuine affection.

watch this movie on amazon prime video

1917(2019)

1917, is a film by acclaimed director Sam Mendes. One can say that the movie is a great combination of excellent editing and superb acting.1917 is an example of absolute cinematic perfection. It gives the illusion of a single take and it works in conveying a feeling of realism in present-day films. It has its own sets providing a dramatic and even shocking contrast between the two. Thomas Newman did a fantastic job with the movie’s soundtrack, which feeds wonderfully into the already immersive atmosphere. I must say that the movie strikes the perfect balance of being calm and soft in some instances, or extremely intense in others. sound design had a great work in this movie. Here, each gun is the weight of the shot ton, making everyone question whether it landed or not. The cast is also brilliant. The story remains consistent throughout the film keeping you guessing all times. 1917 is without a doubt an absolute sensation.

the movie is available on amazon prime video.

Bloodshot

This movie is way deeper than its trailer. Trailer only shows the primary 1/2 the movie & it should make us think that this can be just another Sci-fi action movie, but it’s NOT! nobody can even presume a touch about the uptight of this film until it’s revealed after the interval. Fans of Vin Diesel will surely visiting Respect this. The computer graphics during this movie are worthwhile. It’s a big-budget film. they’re amazing and keep us on our toes. This movie is worth expecting its computer graphics. you will see that each scene has been highlight enough to know easily. Cinematography is so detailed that each action scene is felt by the audience deeply. that’s the most effective feature of this film. HIGHonBITS says that is has Neither too slow neither too fast but detailed concepts.

watch these fantastic movie on amazon prime video

Top 10 amazing web series to watch in HINDI

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood(2019)

the title says it all! The movie may be a period film and is about Actor Rick Dalton who gained fame and fortune by starring during a 1950s television Western, but he’s fighting to seek out meaningful add a Hollywood that he doesn’t recognize anymore. with a budget of $ 90-96M. movie earns $374.3M. one can say that the movie is blockbuster. there isn’t any shame in watching this movie. Multiple storylines within the modern fairy tale.

the movie is currently available on amazon prime video.

Joker(2019)

Dark as hell, Joker takes you through the journey of Arthur Fleck, from being a clown & a wannabe comedian (with just one joke with him – his life) to be THE “JOKER” this journey never looked fake. As this journey is logical and beautifully graphed also captured. Heath Ledger from the ‘Dark Knight’ was my favorite joker till date & Joaquin Phoenix took the legacy of Heath to a different level altogether. That laugh, that dance, that sprint, that walk! can’t endure that !!! inspite of all this. The movie gives such a large amount of morals to measure life.

watch JOKER on amazon prime video.

Dolittle(2020)

This movie encompasses a bunch of comedy punches and tragedy (the story of Dolittle’s wife’s fate and Dolittle being isolated for years makes the tone slightly dark.) But overall, the story is extremely light. The chemistry between humans and animals is well illustrated and provides us life lessons. The voice-over artists for the animals are very nice. This movie is a reunion of WWE player John Cena, Oscar winners like Marion Cottilard (La vie en rose) and Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody), singer Selena Gomez, Kumail Nanjiani, and RDJ and Tom Holland.

movie is currently available on amazon prime video.

Jumanji: the subsequent Level(2019)

In 2019, three years after their adventure in Jumanji, actors have developed their lives. If you’re someone who likes to watch adventure movies and have an interest in games you want to opt for this one! The movie is a few games where the lead actor and their friends travel from reality to the virtual world of games and the way they enjoy it’s worth watching. The group decides to carry a reunion brunch in Brantford that year. On his first night back, he begins to contemplate returning to Jumanji with a purpose of getting held onto the broken video-game system. The movie begins with the four friends Spencer, Fridge, Martha, and Bethany deciding for a reunion. Spencer, who gets skeptical about the meeting and somehow restarts the videogame! The film keeps you on the sting of your seat almost through the film. Film involves a bunch of hilarious jokes and humorous scenes. This movie may be a good combination of entertainment.

watch this on amazon prime video.

Toy Story 4

After the heartwarming finale from “Toy Story 3”, one among the best-animated sequels that have ever been made, it had been believed that the beloved saga had reached its end. Fortunately, thanks to how strong of a franchise it means to everyone who’s grown up with great fondness towards these characters, they simply can’t seem to urge enough of them. So with all the build-up and hype for nearly ten years, we’ve got this highly ambitious sequel, which picks up directly after the last film, where all the familiar toys we’ve grown to like are passed onto a brand new generation. A welcome expansion to the story. Children must opt for this movie. Fun entertaining and amazing experience while watching these.

You can watch this on Hotstar

To know about top 10 HINDI web series Click Here

Share this among your friends to help them getting rid of boredom during this quarantine. Because Sharing is Caring!!!!!!

from WordPress https://ift.tt/2YDh58X via IFTTT