#tho at least those ARE english production so it has a pass but on this one your thin ice is melting my dude. | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

kris-p-banana-bread · 4 years ago

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Here DOAFP fandom, have some organic, locally-sourced, home-grown pain. This is basically just me, a scarred older sibling, projecting on Bobby, another scarred older sibling. I really reached into my post-loss psyche for this, so I hope you enjoy the headcanons and meta (AKA I hope you shed at least one tear).

It won’t let me link it here so the post that inspired this is under the read more at the bottom ✨

- When I first watched doafp, I couldn't understand Elena's aversion to Sam becoming a prominent figure in her mom's and her life. Now I understand it almost too perfectly. There was never supposed to be someone after Robert. He and Gabi were deeply in love and happy. Robert was it; he was the first and true love of Gabi's life. Sam showing up probably felt like a huge and utterly disrespectful slap in the face of Robert's memory, because he wasn't even supposed to be there. I don't know if that's as eloquent as I wish it was, or if it makes sense, and it probably sounds really mean to Sam, but it's not even really about him. It was always supposed to be Robert; Sam hasn’t earned the right to be apart of or associated with her family

- After Robert dies, Gabi and Bobby make it a habit to find and keep photos and recordings/videos of Robert, even if the latter only has him saying one sentence. They won't make Elena join them for the search, but after they find some of those old audios of Robert, they'll sometimes play them back for little Elena

- Bobby put up the keep out sign (I credit this to a few other blogs for discussing this tho) because that's where he would cry sometimes. He actually used to be pretty close with Elena, but after he put up that sign and started distancing himself from them a bit so they wouldn't see the times he cracked, he got a little more short and jaded with her. It's that, plus just growing into a teenager and stuff. And I'm not saying that he and Elena have a bad relationship, but he's become more snappy and has more walls up than he used to

- Sometimes Elena feels bad because she doesn't always remember her dad's voice. She was pretty young when he died, so even though she recalls it a bit, and the recordings help, it's been a while since she's talked to him in person, so of course she doesn't quite remember what it's like to actually talk to Robert and she's forgotten some of his mannerisms. She likes to think she's all done (she marked the stages down in her grief journal after all) but grief isn't linear or all that rational, so it hits her hard sometimes

- I keep reading as an action close to my heart because that's a strong bond me and my mom shared. She would rec books to me, and we would joke and talk about them, or she would hint to some future event and then refuse to tell me until I caught up to that part. So Elena and Bobby do something similar in their grief. Elena has writing and words, because that's something Robert loved if I remember correctly (but if I’m not and that’s not canon, then I now declare it so) and Bobby has tennis. But besides tennis (I sent a couple anons to @freshlybakedfandoms about it but I'm not sure where she went) Bobby also was taught to play guitar by Robert (I liken it to Devi Vishwakumar and her harp) so when he misses his dad or is just sad, he'll take out his dad's old acoustic and strum

- (This next one is something I also think a lot about so this is pretty much 98% projection) Bobby thinks sometimes about the fact that he was never able to come out to his dad. He hadn't really started growing into that part of himself yet, and he never got to show it to his father. He wonders what he would have thought of him. Would he be angry? Would he dismiss him and say it was just a phase? Bobby didn't think so, but a little part of him insisted that you could never be too sure. After he comes out, Gabi and Cami assure him that Robert would've been so proud of him and would've loved him regardless (Since we know virtually nothing about him, I maintain that Robert was one of those dads who teases their kid relentlessly about their crushes and I think he would've done that with Bobby and eventually Elena)

- When Elena's quince rolls around (if she chooses to have one of course), Sam dances with her during the father-daughter dance. A part of her still hurts, still aches and wishes that Robert were dancing with her too; still knows on some fundamental level that he and Gabi had planned for this day, but he had simply never made it. But she's known Sam long enough that she feels comfortable here. Nobody can replace Robert, but Sam is her family, and it feels right like this.

- I might do some more research and deliberate, but for the moment I'm saying that Robert had cancer, I’m thinking along the lines of colon. My mom was terminal, but idk if I should make Robert terminal? Maybe towards the end. Or maybe he was diagnosed as incurable early on but Gabi kept it from the kids because, tbh, being told your parent is balancing on that kind of edge is traumatic for them. So anyways, I’m going on that assumption for this last point, and I’ll see if I can recover some of my old knowledge and talk about technical stuff later if anybody would like to hear it

- Elena and Bobby were both pretty young. Bobby understood about PET scans and tests somewhat, and knew generally what different answers from doctors meant. Elena mainly just understood what was happening by reading her parents' and brother's expressions when getting lab results in from the doctor. They both remember on some level what it was like when Gabi would leave the kids with Cami and take Robert out to the car (later she would have to help him) and they would all feel like they were holding their breath until they got back and confirmed that everything was ok (and later, the little shocks of fear when the answers were no longer as positive and there was more apprehension and risks. After all, cancer doesn’t deal in absolutes)

- Bobby can still remember Robert when he had to stop walking around a lot. He still remembers the phone call that Cami got from his mom, saying that something had gone wrong, and if this last treatment didn’t work, he wouldn’t have much time before he passed. Still remembers Cami rushing into a room when she got that call, and trying to hide what was happening until Gabi could get home and explain it; but Bobby was a sharp kid believe it or not. He heard about the treatment, heard Cami crying. He still had hope... but when Robert came home in a gurney, when he could barely stay awake sometimes, when his voice was quiet and his skin was a little jaundiced, Bobby felt incredibly empty. But Robert always had a smile for his wife and his beautiful kids, even if it was small and very tired, his eyes still crinkled the same. He always had a smile; right up until they had to say goodnight and get some sleep one night. And then... he passed.

- After he passed, the Cañero-Reeds needed help, and a lot of Gabi’s coworkers would bring food or materials if they were running low. Cami and Danielle would babysit and would distract the kids when Gabi needed a good cry.

- Like you’d imagine, and because of what is sort of implied in canon and in my own head, the kids dealt with it in different ways. Bobby put up that sign, and withdrew. He wasn’t awful, but his patience with certain people got a bit shorter and he was a bit quieter. And he was a really good helper when he had the energy and he cared deeply, but he would sometimes get physically and emotionally exhausted after helping Gabi/Elena/Cami/anybody else with something and would go into his room or mentally tap out to recharge. He took comfort in things that seemed natural and that he sometimes took for granted before, like video games and skateboarding (hehe bobby skateboards. Anybody second me on this?) and clothes etc... and other stuff. A lot of materialistic things or experiences that he would skip out on before. But they bring normalcy back to his life now so he loves them for that.

- Bobby doesn’t wanna think about big themes or anything anymore, which I can’t remember but I think it was Vi (freshlybakedfandoms, again, idk where she is and I hope she’s ok) who said he was a math and science person and I think that as much as that could transfer over to those subjects as well, it’s much harder to avoid existential and emotional themes in English and History class and Bobby doesn’t like it as much as Elena does for that reason. He had to live with the back and forth of his dad’s treatments and tests, so math and science is comforting because it’s more concrete (There could be a million arguments for why he would distrust math and science because of his dad’s passing though, I realize) Ultimately, though, it reminds him of Robert too much.

- On the other hand, after a period of shock and confusion, Elena threw herself into new things. First it was a grief journal, to make sure she was going through the motions. Then she read a lot, and when she felt too alone or like she wasn’t doing enough, like she was stagnant, she’d just find something to focus and persevere on again. That feels like her personality type to me; something is wrong so let’s fix it right away. But that could also transfer sort of negatively into “Something feels off or I’m very sad, let’s get this thing done and be productive so we can put off having to confront that but at least we get work out of it” but I could be entirely wrong (this is based off some of my family members and how they dealt with the loss.) And Elena throws herself into history and english because her dad loved it, and she wants to remember more of him. Because she believes words have power and history is a lesson and that’s incredibly interesting for her

#bear talks #doafp #robert cañero reed #bobby cañero reed #gabi cañero reed #elena cañero reed #camila doafp #sam faber #fun times #sorry?#I can write a cute fluffy fic to make up for it #i cri #also sorry if I made these a bit too much about bobby #I just relate to him as the older sibling #I added some more so if it got out of hand I’m sorry #tell me and I can make it neater #my meticulousness might just make myself do that on my own tho

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mulanxiaojie · 5 years ago

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Are you excited for the film? It seems that ur posting both positive and negative news on the new movie. No hate or anything. Just curious.

I guess it’s because I feel there are both good and bad things about the film. Nothing is 100% perfect or 100% horrible…that being said, all opinions so far are reblogs from other people and not 100% of what they say are what I agree with either. It’s more to promote different viewpoints.

For me…a live-action Mulan has been a dream of mine since 2015. I’m all four of their target demographics. A couple weeks after I fantasized about it, Disney actually announced it and I was ecstatic. Then they took so long and I lost interest. Then came the good and the bad.

Good: An all-Asian cast with a competent Chinese woman who can do martial arts. However, this should be a given and I’m not really applauding them for this sort of ‘representation’.

Bad: I never really liked Liu Yifei that much in the first place because she honestly just can’t act. What I’ve seen her perform in prior has looked so emotionless and sucked any heart or soul out of a story. I also don’t think she fits the role, looks or personality-wise. It’s the same offscreen too – she chose to show herself more through politics than expressing her personality to the wider world. Her impression to me to this day is still a more cold and distant one than a warm and friendly one. Through the trailers, I can tell that that wooden face will likely be the weakness of the film, especially since she takes front and center.

Good: More research was done with a little more thought put in it. Iconic but cringy things from original taken out (Mushu, hair cut) with more Chinese elements added in (phoenix, wuxia).

Bad: It’s still not enough. They removed the worst of it but there is still so many little things that snuck by, and new inaccuracies they decided to add (like her hometown). So you see the crew repeating the 1998′s crew history of patting themselves on the back for being so ‘true’ to the culture while, honestly, still majorly lacking in accuracy and authenticity. Despite what they think, there is still subtle stereotyping and generalizing of the culture.

If you check the cast and crew IMBD page, you’ll see that while the cast is something the internet approved of greatly, the behind-the-scenes crew is still very questionable. It’s like Disney casted Chinese and other Asians to please the public but still secretly wanted westerners to control the story and Chineseness. It’s all just for show.

Just because the fantasy/wuxia elements and set/costume details were done doesn’t mean it was done well. Sure they consulted cultural experts, but then decided to do the art themselves. Why didn’t they just hire Chinese people to work on the production design/costume design/art direction/makeup and even the music? At least a few people in charge of the culture they hold near and dear? Then the westerners can still take part in the project by being assistants instead of acting as the authority. All I see of those in control of art departments of the film is a sea of western influence.

There’s a huge noticeable difference between a Chinese person putting their heart and soul in their cultural arts, and a foreigner messing with this clunky alien thing they did not grow up with. Ends up that even though it is all high quality and highly detailed, I can still sense the shabbiness and orientalism in it. I mean, in some of the behind-the-scenes close-ups, why does the armor look so rustic and imperial gowns look like they are made of cheap fabric? Why did westerners make these decisions..? Well I have some ideas.

No matter what, they are still seeing through a western lens, and altering the art and story to satisfy western sensibilities and emotions. Making it actually Chinese would be too awkward and unnatural for them. Meanwhile we have to watch them tamper with this cultural icon, and viewing it will make it awkward and uncomfortable for us.

For example they wanted to include a kiss in one scene, which would have been a huge mess…thankfully that was shut down by Chinese critics and they removed it. I suppose a lot of bigger things were firmly dealt with, but I’m sure there are a plenty more parts the creators didn’t realize got passed anyway because the cultural experts who first viewed it were too exhausted to nitpick and debate every single subtle little detail.

People want to give Hollywood props now for not lumping all Asians as one, but even among Chinese we recognize the differences and diversity within the culture. It truly, sincerely, is not a monolith. Yet Disney is doing the same again by lumping it all as the same.

Also one of the worst parts is that they speak English instead of Chinese…in an ancient Chinese setting with real actors…it’s going to feel so weird as though it’s dubbed…it’s the biggest complaint of my friends and family…but I guess that can’t be helped.

In order to create a balance that is both true to Chinese culture and still clearly a Disney film, my idea would be to let Disney handle the overall funding and story because they are master storytellers, and then let Chinese people handle the production art and little details and critique during the process. Just consulting isn’t enough. Let people have authority and control over their own culture. Then maybe it would have worked. I don’t think it’s impossible. After all, Dreamworks has done it.

At the end of the day I have no say or control in the movie so I really have no choice but to go along with it. So there you go, I’m posting about it anyway.

Well I went on too long on the bad parts, and I may not even be right, and I haven’t seen the film yet so who knows? Another good thing is that there is the amount of Mulan merch that is going to come out of this. Both cute American novelty trinkets targeted towards Disney fans and gorgeous Chinese fashion with items targeted towards stylish women.

Lastly, there is the music. I’m not interested in the new vocal songs released, but the background orchestra of the original soundtrack is really gonna…I don’t even know how to describe, it’s going to move me to emotional heights, I’m going to soar. Cue the waterworks.

I really rambled on; this ended up being long and yet is only a summary of my thoughts. Initial reviews are saying it’s a good movie though. So I guess I’ll just have to wait and see! It’s gonna be while now tho lol

#admin post #but seriously why is there a huge difference in quality #just comparing the live action disney gifs and the chinese drama gifs I reblog #side by side #lmao #the orientalism #honestly wish I could answer this privately #I'm not looking for any arguments #asian pasian #mulan #disney #live action mulan #ask #answered

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bliphany · 6 years ago

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5, 10, 11 (feel free to answer only one or all of them) for the fanfic meme thingy, with your JessiKara fic. :)

[from this ask]

!!!!!!!!!!!!! THANKS ARA

*****Long post alert*****

10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?

Actually, I came up with the pairing before the story. It was February 2017, and @talking2thesky made a Person of Interest Femslash Rarepair post for Femslash February. It was the first time I heard about the event, and I thought it was awesome. The post caused me to brainstorm at, if I don’t remember it wrong, 2 or 3 a.m. HAHA. My brain went through those ladies, and suddenly it occurred to me that Jessica/Kara could work in a canon divergent AU. It started like this:

“Kara is pissed because Reese gets distracted by his ex gf - the connection between him and the world they shouldn’t go back to anymore. On her R&R, Kara pays Jessica a visit, trying to gain some information so she can use it to annoy/control Reese, but instead, she finds Jessica’s husband is an asshole and that Jessica is in an abusive relationship. She kills Peter because that’s what she joined the CIA to do; kill bad people so the world will be safer. She should leave after that, but she keeps coming back…”

Then Sky and I talked about it. It was a wild and fab brainstorming, and then I found that once I touched the possibility of Jessica being alive, I wanted it to happen, so I took Femslash February as motivation and finished my first fanfiction. :D

The final product is a lot different from the premise I first came up with, which I’ll save to answer in 11 because those I changed along the way while writing it are those I like best about it.

(But I just find out the original premise can produce a more angst one ahaha, so I’ll put it on my list. :p)

5: What part was hardest to write?

Jessica’s and Kara’s relationship itself is pretty hard to write tbh. Firstly, if she stays alive, Jessica is a victim of domestic violence/ abusive relationship, and we know Kara has that manipulative/abusive side from the show, which is enforced further in fanon, too. The last thing I want to do is to save Jessica from one abusive relationship just to put her into another, so I put a lot of effort into it. For example, my Kara has to care about Jessica a lot, but she probably shouldn’t be overprotective to the extent that it represses Jessica’s free will. The core reason they end up together can’t be “Kara saves Jessica’s life from Peter.” And it should be explainable that why the Kara Stanton who did manipulative things to Reese treats Jessica differently without making her a completely different character from who she was in the show. I gave myself a lot of restrictions XDXD I feel they turn out to be beneficial to the story though!

11: What do you like best about this fic?

It was my first time writing in English, so apparently, the prose isn’t super beautiful, and there are many grammar mistakes. But those I like best are the thoughts I put into the fic and what they grew up and became, which surprised me. For example, different from the original premise, instead of killing Peter directly, the part Kara played in saving Jessica was to help her to help herself without Kara knowing it. A pro in this approach was that Jessica had more agency and played a more active role in her life. She did act stronger than I initially expected. I had so many scene plans where Jessica played a more passive role, and all of them didn’t live through the second drafts because they just didn’t work. As a result, I think I can say my Jessica is what I like best.

I also like that, although it was only briefly mentioned in the passing, Jessica has friends other than Kara in her life after getting rid of Peter. (Also, if we count the Jessica Lives AU series as a whole fic, she and John reunite and stay good friends. She plays a part in the story line after Ordos and where Dead Reckoning happens, too because she’s Jessica XD) I like that the fic probably can pass the Bechdel test LOL. They talked about things with each other, and their topic wasn’t mostly about men. Which seemed a bit hard to me at first since the primary mission was to save Jessica from Peter, and they both knew John. (Kara wouldn’t reveal it of course, but he’s still Jessica’s ex bf who she certainly thought of now and then, so I had to come up with plot or motivations that at least reasonable to me.) As a fic for femslash, I think it does a not bad job probably.

And finally, the totally unexpected part. I never planed it, but Kara’s and John’s partnership became softer at the end of the first fic, too. (It becomes not that soft when in the second fic after Kara abducted John and wanted to hurt Harold tho! AHASJSDKD but it’s another story.) I was totally in shock when I wrote to that part. I made a note in my diary: “who can expect that Kara’s and John’s relationship resolved earlier than hers and Jess’? Not me.”

Oh my, I have to stop LOLOLOLOL being too emo and talkative because of those girls XDXD. Sorry for the long post ahaha you can see how excited I am :P

#long post #aragarna #jessikara #jessica arndt #kara stanton #person of interest #asked meme #my fic

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quranreadalong · 6 years ago

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#124, Surah 23

THE QURAN READ-ALONG: DAY 124

Surah 23 is called Al-Muminun, meaning “The Believers”. As far as I recall, it does not contain a single original thought that we have not seen in a previous surah. Because of that, I’m gonna pad this surah with a lot of shit that hasn’t fit in anywhere else. We got some history lessons, we got some, uh, abortion debate. Get ready.

Most of this late Meccan surah concerns Mohammed yelling at disbelievers who question certain aspects of his theology, like resurrection and the afterlife. While the surah as a whole is undoubtedly from Mecca, there are some who believe that parts of it, including the first eleven ayat, are from Medina. You’ll see why in a sec.

The best thing about Al-Muminun is that we’ll only have two more suwar more than 100 ayat long to go once we’ve finished it.

The possibly Medinan, possibly Meccan introductory ayat state the following: Muslims who are humble before Allah in their prayers are awesome and will be successful in life. They avoid “vain conversation” and pay the zakat. They do not have sex with anyone except their wives or their sex slaves. (Those who do have sex with women who are not their slaves or wives are transgressors.) They keep their covenant with Allah and keep up their prayers, so they will go to jannah.

Right. So... what have we got here? It’s mostly neutral, as each ayah is a short little line. I’ll put down the raping of sex slaves as bad and the avoidance of “vain conversation” and paying the zakat as good as per usual.

Here are a few reasons why this section might’ve been from the Medina days. First of all, as you’ll see, the style of these ayat is different from those that come after them--the rest of the surah has longer ayat, and the section after this starts with a totally different train of thought. Second, most (but not all) of the time the word “zakat” is used, it’s a Medinan ayah. (Some say that the zakat mentioned here is meant in a general sense of paying money to the community, rather than the specific tax from Medina with all the rules associated with it.) Finally, the only other suwar that allow raping sex slaves are from Medina. It’s totally possible that this is nonetheless from Mecca, but it’s hard to tell either way. I guess it doesn’t matter much, tho.

Anyway, today’s second section concerns an entirely different topic: fetal development! Allah created humanity (Adam) from clay, “Then placed him as a drop (of seed) in a safe lodging”, ie in his mother’s womb. The “him” here appears to refer to humanity in general, since it doesn’t really make sense in the context of Adam himself. Lo! Allah needeth to work on making his pronouns clearer.

The word translated as “a drop (of seed)” here, by the way, is nutfah. This literally means a drop of liquid, and in the context of conceiving a child refers to semen. So Mohammed is saying that from Adam and Eve’s kids onwards, humans have been created by men splooging into women, thereby forming babies that grow inside their mothers. Fair enough!

The embryology lesson continues in 23:14:

Then fashioned We the drop a clot, then fashioned We the clot a little lump, then fashioned We the little lump bones, then clothed the bones with flesh, and then produced it as another creation.

So the timeline here is semen -> clot -> lump -> bones -> bones with flesh -> baby. A hadith from Sahih Bukhari elaborates:

The creation of every one of you starts with the process of collecting the material for his body within forty days and forty nights in the womb of his mother. Then he becomes a clot of thick blood for a similar period (40 days) and then he becomes like a piece of flesh for a similar period. Then an angel is sent to him (by Allah) and the angel is allowed (ordered) to write four things; his livelihood, his (date of) death, his deeds, and whether he will be a wretched one or a blessed one (in the Hereafter) and then the soul is breathed into him.

From this, the “drop” stage lasts until day 40 or so. The “clot” stage lasts until 80 days, and the “lump” stage until 120 days. After each stage is completed, according to another hadith, an angel reports to Allah and Allah decides whether he wants the pregnancy to continue or not. After 120 days, the bone stage begins, at which point the fetus receives a soul, its destiny, and becomes “alive” in a religious sense. At least according to that. This other sahih hadith in Sahih Muslim implies something else:

When forty-two nights pass after the semen gets into the womb, Allah sends the angel and gives him shape. Then he creates his sense of hearing, sense of sight, his skin, his flesh, his bones, and then says: My Lord, would he be male or female? And your Lord decides as He desires and the angel then puts down that also and then says: My Lord, what about his age? And your Lord decides as He likes it and the angel puts it down. Then he says: My Lord, what about his livelihood? And then the Lord decides as He likes and the angel writes it down, and then the angel gets out with his scroll of destiny in his hand and nothing is added to it and nothing is subtracted from it.

Here, it seems like the fetus’ destiny is decided much earlier on--with the process starting closer to 40 days and its endpoint being left unspecified. This doesn’t explicitly have the breathing-in-soul part, but it nonetheless suggests some form of humanity or “life” is present at an early stage of pregnancy, as the fetus’ lifespan, sex, occupation, etc are all decided here.

Now you may be wondering, based on the above, how Islam in the modern era approaches abortion. The answer: it’s complicated, just like other religions. Like Jesus (one of the rare times I can use this phrase!!), Mohammed did not discuss women intentionally terminating their pregnancies anywhere, either in the Quran or in any ahadith. So Islamic jurists have had to base their opinions on everything I quoted above. Everyone agrees that after 120 days (~17 weeks), it’s not allowed, unless the mother is literally dying or the fetus itself is dying or something.

The question is whether it’s okay before that or not. Some schools of Islamic jurisprudence say it is frowned upon but allowable, at least in some circumstances, based on the Bukhari hadith. Others say it’s absolutely forbidden after 40 days, based on the Muslim hadith, but allowed before that. Still other jurists say it isn’t allowed, period, based on the prohibition against killing one’s children. So to summarize, the main positions on abortion are:

never allowed

allowed up to ~40 days

allowed up to 120 days

Which is correct? No one knows! No one can agree! There is evidence for all three opinions! You can read more about this debate here if you want, but see what happens when you bill yourself as a prophet but can’t get your stories straight... damn it Mohammed!

Anyway...! I assume it goes without saying that, uh, none of the above is an accurate description of fetal development, nor are other... curious ahadith about the topic. It is instead based on what the products of a woman’s miscarriage look like--clotted blood, small lump, identifiable fetus--at the given stages, and the designation of the 120 days point for ensoulment is due to the fact that this is the point at which fetal movement can be felt by the mother (17-18 weeks). This is called “quickening” in English, literally meaning the point at which something comes alive, so in fairness to Mohammed, he’s not the only one who thought of that.

This turned out to be a long section, so I’ll wrap it up with 23:15-16, which just says that all people die and will be raised on the Day of Resurrection. All of that is neutral I guess.

NEXT TIME: Cows! Olive oil!! Death by drowning!!!

The Quran Read-Along: Day 124

Ayat: 16

Good: 2 (23:3-4)

Neutral: 13 (23:1-2, 23:5, 23:7-16)

Bad: 1 (23:6)

Kuffar hell counter: 0

⇚ previous day | next day ⇛

#quranreadalong #surah 23 #al muminun

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yunhycran-blog · 7 years ago

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( the cuteST )

for once i don’t have a long ass spiel typed before introducing myself, imagine that ! hey i’m kat, i’m 20, canadian, and uh, i’m rly pulling this stunt again huh !! bc of lo siento fucking me up, i’m giving this brat one last shot in the group rp realm rather than pick up a new muse ( i am.. v convinced i kill or ruin rps by presence alone but with her ?? it’s tenfold so fingers crossed GKSKGKSL ) i’m just.. rly attached to her ok.

i’m a uni student and in love with sowoo if that wasn’t already obvious, plus i’m 90% sure at least a quarter of you have seen me use hyeran before so this shouldn’t be a surprise to you SDKGJGKLDFS. you can find extras abt her — including stats — HERE, hmu on d*scord if you’d like ( STREAM LO SIENTO !!#2030 ) and with that, i’ll shut up and ( re ?? perhaps ? dfgjslkg ) introduce you to this brat !

` +⬦･ﾟ——— SHE/HER, PANSEXUAL — YUN HYERAN is said get mistaken for JEON SOMIN on campus all the time. they are TWENTY-TWO and about to go into their SENIOR YEAR. rumour has it they’re majoring in MUSIC COMPOSITION and came all the way from DAEGU, SOUTH KOREA. their roommate says they’re EBULLIENT & RESOLUTE but also SELF-CRITICAL & CIRCUMSPECT. ( kat, 20, gmt-3:30, and she/her )

yun hyeran, a daegu native with an older and younger brother, an ambivert and an all around baby

tbh this is a copied intro from a few months back that i tweaked a bit for the rp, and i don’t have the time to perfectly incorporate much of her bg, so you can check out all of that HERE

buT she became involved in music through her father, who studied it in uni and ended up becoming a music instructor with a focus on piano, flute and vocals

her and her mom.. also her older brother, didn’t have the best relationship when she grew older, which seemed to die altogether when her parents divorced and her mom left. but her and her brother’s still exists, albeit barely. he’s a bit of a toxic influence on her, or at least that’s how she perceives it, and she tends to distance herself from him

would visit jeju island when she was younger bc her aunt lived there

she adores said aunt, her dad’s sister and the maternal figure she Deserves, so overall jeju holds a special place in her heart

went to uni in seoul to pursue music like her father ( a daddy’s girl too like ) but transferred to busan u after some.. shit and her own feelings ? anyways she was content when she settled here and soon found her way into the world of production !! by junior year, she’d transferred out of her original program and majored in that instead and has loved it ever since

for the time being, she works full-time as a barista at a café off-campus

she’s also making something of an income as the creator of an acct on youtube and soundcloud for her music, something she’s had for abt a year now

she’s not even close to making it big yet ofc, and she doesn’t mind if she never works for a moderately to highly popular label — though she should if she wants to get by

among the aesthetic, lo-fi music crowd ( one of those yt accts with a livestream for certain playlists that go on for hours, rip ) where for the most part, it’s personal faves mixed with her own works, and has a substantial following as of now. but has an interest in experimenting, with mashups ( as a lover of them ?? i couldn’t help myself sgflkdsjg ) for example, with a small fear of how that change would be received

this is so short since i took out a bit from when she was recent uni grad!hyeran so, pardon that sgkljgskfld

in terms of her personality and other things:

she’s a very loyal person, v e r y. while like i said ( and will elaborate on in her bio ), her relationship with her brother is Not Great, she hasn’t completely given up on him. maybe for the time being — by that i mean another two years or so ?? LJSKSDFGJ my baby’s still hurt by his bullshit so — but her being someone who’s open to the idea of people changing for the better somewhere down the line, leaves a bit of room for her to possibly change her mind if he does enough to allow her to consider it

so she can be a bit of a doormat in some cases, it all depends on how she sees the person that determines if that’s the case, but she generally won’t let you off if you’re being dumb/an ass to someone or if she gets advantageous vibes from you for example ( given she can.. be a little naive and is a p gentle soul ) so.. idk fgklsj good luck to the 99% ig ??

don’t confuse that with her being v forgiving, weak, etc, etc. she’s a soft bitch, p vulnerable too ngl but.. she’s not that Dumb sdljfkg

speaking of vulnerable, she does have a slight dependency on others despite her thinking all signs point to the opposite, and even though her and her mom never rly had a good relationship she still reels from the neglect/abandonment some days so handle her with Care if she deems you a close pal

spontaneous tbh, transferring to busan was a little last minute on her part, for one

she’s a bit reclusive when focused on something, if she tells you she’s working on a track, it’s essentially a head’s up that you might not see her for a couple of days depending on how soon she gets it done — lowkey that bitch™ who makes up an illness to her boss, so she wouldn’t even show up for work if it’s more than just her fucking around

bc admittedly, a lot of what she posts is fucking around and liking it, her more thought-out and effort packed projects are hidden away on her laptop

a bit insecure with her work and just her general disposition ?? those first few points above mess with her a lot and leave her disheartened so.. my poor child

v strong overall, takes people’s shit and if it gets to her, she gets over it p fast. doesn’t dwell on much and will be courteous to you even if she’s declared you too toxic to stick around 24/7

isn’t exactly one to get angry ?? she’s basically just disappointed or annoyed at best 99% of the time, it takes a lot to get her beyond that

positive, ugh. maybe not sickeningly sweet, but.. still dgklsf

don’t confuse that with optimism tho, bc she’s a bit of a defensive pessimist deep down, with her optimistic side always trying to overpower it

a cute bean who wants the best for everyone

uhhh

has a good understanding of english, her mom’s an american national so she grew up with it being spoken in the house at times

prob speaks it better than i speak french ( and uh, i studied that for almost ten fucking years with a shit end result on that end of things LKSDFGJGDKF ), but still wouldn’t consider herself fluent

.. i would tho js

plays piano and bass guitar, but knows her way around a flute and tenor sax ( you don’t know how tempted i was to say clarinet as an homage to jiwoo gjflkgds )

prob had some kind of little amateur rock band with a few music majors and took up bass for the hell of it lmao

loves animals, leans towards cats or big dogs. corgis and those little spaniels get a pass tho

speaking of, she has a cute little calico kitten back in daegu ( i’m shit with pet names so if lucy sounds lacklustre.. you know why rgkjls ) who she Loves, her baby !!

sweater, ball cap and basic t shirt junkie

those glasses somin wears a lot ?? hyeran wears them too but.. actually needs them for reading and especially while she’s working on shit on her laptop, not even close to a fashion statement

doesn’t don much makeup unless someone’s dragging her to a party or something

thaT’S when she looks a little more like a classy early twenties bitch.. which lbr, is hard enough when adulthood is a whole Train Wreck for the most part LGFJSDL

not a heavy drinker, but the textbook definition of a lightweight so.. she’s always praying for anyone who has to deal with her dgfjklsfg

lattes are her livelihood

a bit of a hopeless romantic, just a bit, but god help her nonetheless

her favourite subject in hs was literature/writing and reads quite a bit on her breaks at the café, even took up a couple of courses since attending uni

favourite music genres.. it’s easier to say what she doesn’t like/finds boring, which is prob country and some aspects of edm/pop, not into punk/metal either

these are super basic but.. i’ve gotta get myself together for the day so this’ll do for now i hope ??

so if you’d like to plot, im me here or on d*scord ! i prefer the latter personally, but whichever’s easiest for you. i have a list of a few of the specific wcs i have in mind ( for the time being, catch my lazy ass avoiding listing all the basic ones and revising a few i have on an old blog ) for hyeran up now, which you can find here, so just lmk if any of them appeal to you !!

#busans.intro #╳┊: — bitch you’re gonna die ! •「 ooc. 」#i've had this saved in my drafts since right after i sent my app in sgjklsfdg

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chopping-onions · 7 years ago

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Let me look up the definition... My problem with Greg’s understanding of language

This morning I stumbled upon Onision disrespecting LaineyBot video. Here, Greg is trying to explain how language and words work. I have a problem with the way he claims using literal definitions is showing respect for the language you are speaking.

I’m not sure how many of you in this community are from Europe, but here (at least in my country and this part of the continent), we have high schools with special curriculums. We have medical schools, technical schools and so on.

The school I went to is a gymnasium, where students choose from 4 different fields of curriculum focus: general, linguistics and social sciences, informatics, and mathematics. The curriculum which I picked and finished is linguistic and social sciences, which means that my main focus for 4 years has been language. I’ve studied my native language, English, Latin, and German.

A gymnasium education takes four years following a compulsory eight or nine-year elementary education and ending with a final aptitude test called Matura. In these countries, the final test is standardized at the state level and can serve as an entrance qualification for universities. With the final test, we also have to pick one subject, write and defend our own thesis to graduate.

Why am I explaining this? Because I’ve spent four years studying language and social sciences, my finishing paper was about language and literature and I’ve finished my education with high grades.

As a result, it really pisses me off when Cucky McFucky decides to play the all-knowing here because he has no fucking clue how language works.

The first thing we were taught is: LANGUAGE IS A LIVING, CHANGING MATTER. And I don’t think you need to study language excessively to know that. Words evolve and they change their meanings all the time. I’d really love to see Onion boy trying to talk to Shakespeare because for the love of God the only way to respect your language is to blindly follow dictionaries.

I won’t be addressing how clueless he is about biology and social dynamics here because that is a whole other story.

But here we go:

First, what is language?

Language is a system that consists of the development, acquisition, maintenance, and use of complex systems of communication, particularly the human ability to do so; and a language is any specific example of such a system.

(I am aware that Wikipedia is not always the most reliable source, but on this particular subject, it’ll have to do. I could list my sources here and even retype paragraphs and paragraphs of official literature that supports these statements but it would be pointless considering that the literature would be unavailable to most people reading this. And if anyone is interested in more in-depth reading on the subject I’m sure you can find all of it online in the languages of your choosing.)

Languages evolve and diversify over time, and the history of their evolution can be reconstructed by comparing modern languages to determine which traits their ancestral languages must have had in order for the later developmental stages to occur.

But to notice how language changes you don’t have to study ancient languages, just pick an older person to talk to. Talk to your grandmother- chances are she is using words and phrases which you never use, or she uses those words differently than any person your age. If you don’t really feel like talking to old people go ahead and watch an 80′s movie or open an older book.

See the difference? Those changes don’t seem like a big deal, but they pile up and in about hundred years a language gets a complete makeover.

All languages change as speakers adopt or invent new ways of speaking and pass them on to other members of their speech community. Language change happens at all levels from the phonological level to the levels of vocabulary, morphology, syntax, and discourse. Even though language change is often initially evaluated negatively by speakers of the language who often consider changes to be "decay" or a sign of slipping norms of language usage, it is natural and inevitable.

But even if we disregard this phenomenon, language is not a simple set of rules. It consists of many layers. American English is a great example of that. A person born and raised in Texas uses language quite differently than a person born and raised in California. Things get even more diverse when we include class differences, levels of education, and age. These differences within a language are called dialects, sociolects, and idiolects.

In this particular video, Greg focuses on the definition of male and female.

He lists google definition of female:

femaleˈfiːmeɪl/

adjective

1.of or denoting the sex that can bear offspring or produce eggs, distinguished biologically by the production of gametes (ova) which can be fertilized by male gametes." a herd of female deer"

noun

1.a female person, animal, or plant.

But let’s look at other definitions (I personally prefer Merriam-Webster dictionary).

Definition of female

1a (1): of, relating to, or being the sex that typically has the capacity to bear young or produce eggs

(2) : having or producing only pistils or pistillate flowers

b: made up of usually adult members of the female sex: consisting of

females

c: characteristic of girls, women, or the female sex: exhibiting

femaleness

d: designed for or typically used by girls or women

e: engaged in or exercised by girls or women

2: having some quality (such as small size or delicacy of sound) associated with the female sex

3: designed with a hollow or groove into which a corresponding male part fits

Oxford dictionary

female

1. Of or denoting the sex that can bear offspring or produce eggs, distinguished biologically by the production of gametes (ova) which can be fertilized by male gametes.

1.1 Relating to or characteristic of women or female animals.

1.2 (of a plant or flower) having a pistil but no stamens.

1.3 (of parts of machinery, fittings, etc.) manufactured hollow so that a corresponding male part can be inserted.

Wiktionary

female (not comparable)

Belonging to the sex which typically produces eggs and/or, in mammals, has XX chromosomes.

Belonging to the feminine gender (social category).

(grammar, less common than 'feminine') Feminine; of the feminine grammatical gender.

(figuratively) Having an internal socket, as in a connector or pipe fitting.

This is how these four dictionaries define a female. Google, Merriam-Webster, Oxford, and Wiktionary all give slightly different definitions of a female. How can that be? Ever noticed how when you open an actual dictionary there is more than one definition listed?

The thing is a female (and it’s not the only example of how sometimes a simple little definition is not enough) is quite a broad concept. There are both biological and social connotations tied to it. And guess which is easier to define?

How does Greg identify males and females? Does he ask each and every person he meets about their ability to produce offsprings? What about people who are infertile? What about people who have certain chromosome variations? Women who can grow beards and men who have more pronounced breasts? How do they fit into this neat little definition?

Even if we stick to the binary division of only two sexes and genders, it is impossible to go strictly by biological definition in everyday life. I’m not saying we should completely ignore biological definition, but there is a reason biological definition is not the only one.

And what really annoys me is how he screams SCIENCE, even tho three seconds earlier he didn’t even know what’s spermatozoa.

Just because you google the fucking definition doesn’t mean you understand science, Greg. Science is one of those pesky little things where you really need to go in-depth to understand shit, Greg. People study biology for years, get specializations in specific fields, Greg. Believe it or not, actual people of science dedicate their entire lives to specific fields just to gain an actual, deeper understanding of how shit works. Science is not two seconds of googling it takes you to find whatever definition you like the best, Greg. If any of my professors heard this man talk on any subject whatsoever they’d probably return him to preschool.I swear to god, I’ve met thirteen-year-olds who are better educated and have more understanding of how stuff works than him.

And I’m a bit lost here, now. He takes the biological definition to define males and females. Then he jumps to defining sexuality. He gives definitions which are directly tied to sex. If infertile people aren’t male nor female, does that mean they have no sexuality?

This is where I’m finishing this video, I can’t bear to listen to this obnoxious man any longer.

So, to all you trans ladies and gentlemen out there, don’t listen to this giant manchild. Your gender and sexuality are valid, you are respected, you don’t deserve to listen to this sort of bullshit.

Sorry for this unnecessary rant, but it annoys me when a person with no actual understanding of a matter tries to lecture others about it.

#anti onision #onision #laineybot #its christmas here and im stuck with all of my family so this is how im venting

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nimeve · 4 years ago

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who else is incredibly fucked up by internalized racism. like it seems to be at least somewhat commonplace with dominicans-the colorism is real- which makes sense given history, but like fuck man.

idk im white passing af so ik i have privilege and don’t deal with as much shit, but i feel like my family’s internalized racism has kept them from connecting to our culture and passing it on to me and my sister. i feel So disconnected from my heritage. we never spoke spanish in our house growing up bc my father is a fucking gringo (and also a piece of shit, not rly relevant but fuck that guy) and so the only time i was exposed to a lot of spanish were the times we visited my aunt (and when i was younger and she was alive my grandmother) bc my grandmother didn’t speak english and my mom and aunt speak to each other in spanish a lot. so i wasn’t really exposed to it until taking spanish in high school where i had awful teachers and you never really do much speaking in high school language classes- at least in my experience- so its not the best. so theres 2 points on the “i feel like a shitty latinx” board.

another point for knowing p much nothing about dominican history and only recently learning a bit. which i think my fam is somewhat to blame. tho thats also in part bc white people are trash and our voices and stories are never taught or told. so i don’t feel As bad for that one but still feels bad fam

and another big thing that has really been bothering me is my hair. my sister and i have similar hair and its not much like our mothers. in the curly scale we’re like 3b hair (with my sister airing on the 3a side and me on the 3c side) and we both don’t really know what to do with it. bc our mom always took us to the salon and we’d get it straightened, or otherwise it’d be braided or pulled back. so the past few years its just been me and my sister trying to figure out how to style and take care of our hair and what the best products are and im still so frustrated about it. my sister’s kinda found some stuff that works, but our hair isn’t totally the same even tho its hella close. and ugh i just feel like crap bc im used to years of straightened hair and that being “pretty” and my natural curls being “messy” and it all just sucks. im trying to figure out the best way to style it and my self esteem drops and ugh.

and then theres just that mixed feel when you’re too white for the latinx crowd and not white enough for the whites. like im white passing af no one ever thinks im dominican, but i am. but bc im so white i feel weird and bad about owning the latinx/poc labels even tho i know i am those things. but again i feel so disconnected from my heritage and culture so it makes sense even if it isn’t factual. (+2 points) just AUGH

#this is a long rant #in which i complain about mixed race issues #you can ignore it bc its mostly just a compilation of me whining about shit i feel bad about #when your entire family is garbage so you have 1 familial tie and zero connection to any heritage

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rimalupin · 7 years ago

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50 More Interesting Questions

Rules: fill this out and tag at least one person you’d like to know more about! Or just fill it out! Or don’t! Answer only some of them! Make up your own questions! “What kind of requirement is that”, you ask? A reasonable one! Who am I to tell you what to do? Anything goes!

Thank you for tagging me @theempresskaizer & @kakihoden! :D <3

1. What kind of food can’t you stand?: Anything fermented. Like, ew. Also brussel sprouts (Then again, I have yet find someone who can cook brussel sprouts “well.” :b)

2. If you could choose one minor inconvenience to never have to deal with again, what would you pick?: Public transit schedules. They’re so darn inconvenient (And yet I’m commuting for the remainder of my uni career. At least I’m saving money..?). -.-’

3. Have you got any useless talents?: I try to make use of my talents, so I’m gonna say no. :b

4. If you could be really really good at one thing, what would it be?: Taking (good & worthwhile) risks because I’m always so darn careful so I end up not trying new things sometimes.

5. Name a few people you think are extremely good-looking: ALL THE FRIENDS AND FAMILY I KNOW AND LOVE. <3 Oh, also Emma Watson, Gal Gadot, Shawn Mendes, Tom Holland, and all the other celebs I tend to fangirl about (I can’t name them all rn, haha sorry~. :P).

6. What was your favorite way to pass the time as a kid?: Singing all the Disney songs (Which I still do nowadays, haha~.). I would also read books, write my own stories, and act as if I was on a Disney Channel show (I was quite the Disney fangirl back in the day. xD)

7. What is something you’re proud of?: My friends who are just starting college/uni this year. Most of them are already setting up their dorms and getting ready for classes. They’re growing up so fast! :’)

8. What’s one character flaw in people that you just can’t tolerate?: Dishonesty. I don’t associate with phonies.

9. Do you consider yourself to be more of a leader or a follower?: I’m a bit of both. Then again, being a follower makes you a kind of leader: you essentially lead people to follow your leader, if that makes sense Okay I’ll shut up about leadership theory sorry y’all. :P

10. What kind of student are/were you?: The diligent one (but people often claim I’m the overachiever even tho I’m not always a straight A student lololol).

11. Butterfly effect question! Has there ever been a seemingly minor decision you’ve made (at the time) that ended up having a profound influence on your life?: Ohhhhh yes. This kind of thing has happened to me many times (In like the best ways possible, thankfully.).

12. Name your most irrational fear/aversion: Being alone/left out (Even though “I’m never really alone” ((Which I know I’m not. Hence the “irrational” part of this particular fear/aversion.)).)

13. Are there any fictional characters you find especially relatable?: Yup. Plenty of ‘em.

14. If you drink, what kind of drunk are you? Alternatively, what sort of person are you at parties?: I don’t drink... Yet. My Canadian friends are trying to get me to drink with them since I’m now legal in Canada but I’m scared heeeeeelp. :b I’m usually the wallflower if I don’t know anybody too well at a party. However, if I find people I’m comfortable hanging out with, I’ll stick with their squad throughout the event, talking, eating, dancing and taking pictures/SnapChats to our hearts’ desires~. ^-^

15. Do you fall in love easily? Or does it usually take a long time for you to trust someone?: Nope. I have to get to know the person before I “fall in love” with them, let alone having a crush on them. Which is why the biggest crushes I’ve had were on some of my closest friends. But I’ve never told them because I didn’t want to risk our friendships IDK I’M A NOOB WHEN IT COMES TO LOVEY-DOVEY THINGS. :b

16. Would you rather have one close friend or 100 casual friends?: One close friend. <3

17. Do you consider yourself to be more of a slob or a neat-freak?: Neat-freak. Definitely a neat-freak. xD

18. Describe a place (imaginary or real) that you would find incredibly cozy:

Both of these locations are places where I’d have more than enough room to move or think. ^-^

Outdoors: Somewhere near the sea, where I could feel the sand on my toes, hear the waves splashing onto the shore, smell the ocean breeze, and watch the orange sunset glowing along the horizon.

Indoors: An empty practice room. Wooden floors, large mirrors in front of the room, dance barres along the side walls, a few windows displaying the outside world, and a speaker/stereo system perfect for blasting the music around the room.

19. Do you have kids? If not, do you want them someday?: No kids atm, but I love working with them! Yes, I’d like kids someday~.

20. What was your favorite book as a child?: I read many books as a wee child. But one book I can clearly remember is Stellaluna. It’s an adorable story about a bat who discovers who she truly is thanks to both her adoptive and biological families (The former being a family of birds and the latter being a family of bats.).

21. Name one thing you just don’t get what all the hype is about: Fidget spinners. I’m still seeing people freak out about those things. Didn’t the trend die a month or two ago?

22. Name one thing that you think is tragically underrated: Myspace. *evil laughs despite the fact that I never had a Myspace account* :P Sorry I couldn’t think of anything else bahaha~

23. If you had to be glued to a person for a month, real or fictional (who you have never met), who would you choose?: I mean, I’ve never met MYSME’s 707 IRL, so I’ll stick with him And we can visit his space station, haha~ ^-^

24. What’s something you’d like the chance to do someday?: Act in a theatrical production. I haven’t done theatre in a year and I already miss it. T.T

25. Do you typically speak your mind when you have a controversial opinion? Or do generally prefer to not rock the boat?: I’ll definitely speak my mind if I’m well-versed in the topic and if I’m passionate about it. If I want to present a controversial opinion, I have to be sure that I can articulate my POV eloquently and professionally. I’m also more than willing to listen to the other side, as long as they fully know what they’re talking about (Frankly, I will not take any B.S. if I suspect B.S.).

26. What’s the dumbest fad you’ve been caught up in?: I’m blanking... Yeah, IDK, but I’m pretty sure I got caught up in some kind of dumb fad back in middle school. *shivers b/c I don’t want to relive those years*

27. What’s something you thought was cool as a kid/adolescent, but now cringe at yourself for?: When I was younger (like elementary/middle school-age), I dreamed of becoming a singer. In order to accomplish that dream, I joined my school and church choirs: however, that turned out to be a pretty toxic experience since almost everyone I was singing with treated every single practice and performance as a singing competition. Like, c’mon you guys: we aren’t on Glee. -.-’

28. What’s a trait you consider to be very admirable?: Honesty: I admire people who are genuine and true.

29. Is there a particular kind of item people always tend to give you as gifts? (For instance, people always get you things with ducks on them because you like ducks, etc.): Books (people know I’m a huge bookworm), clothes (b/c I’m usually too lazy/don’t have time to shop for my own clothes, LOLOL), stuffed animals (I’m a child at heart and I love cuddly & cute things), sweets (especially chocolate).

30. Do you speak multiple languages? Which ones?:

English is my mother tongue.

I apparently used to speak Tagalog fluently when I was very young, but then I stopped speaking that language once I started preschool; however, I’ve picked up some terms over the years, so I can sort of dissect my parents’ conversations w/ the other adults (”Yes, Mom, I knew that you were talking about my uni stuff with Tita *insert name here*.” :P), plus I’m going to take a Tagalog 101 class in Autumn Quarter, so I’ll (hopefully) learn how to say complete sentences instead of just the names of foods, holidays, and Filipino Folk Dances. xD

I learned Spanish throughout my high school career, so I’m okay in that department even though I haven’t practiced speaking/listening/writing in that language recently. I’m still fluent enough to help my sisters with their Spanish homework, so that’s something. :P

I tried learning some French, Japanese, and Korean through various language learning apps, but to no avail. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

31. Would you rather live in the big city or the countryside?: Can I choose like a little town instead? Big city: the countryside would be MUCH too quiet for me (Plus I’d be much too tempted to run atop every hill Sound of Music style and start singing at the top of my lungs - which would probably annoy a lot of people, myself included. :P).

32. Has there ever been something you were certain you’d hate, but ended up loving?: Giles Christophe a.k.a my Midnight Cinderella bias. Ironic, huh? xD <3 Also Jumin Han from MYSME. :P

33. Do you mind being the center of attention, or do you prefer the spotlight to be on someone else?: I will hide from the spotlight like I’m a friggin vampire unless there’s a damn good reason for me to be under it.

34. Favorite holiday?: CHRISTMAS!!!

35. Are you a more go-with-the-flow type of person, or do you need to have things planned meticulously?: If I’m in charge of scheduling something, then I MUST have everything carefully planned. If I’m leaving the scheduling to someone else, then I’ll just go with the flow~.

36. Is there something you loved so much you wish you could forget it and experience it all over again? (A tv show, book, series–anything.): My first trip to Hawaii: I’d love to explore the islands and swim in its oceans again.

37. What hobbies do you have?: Reading, writing, singing, dancing, listening to music, playing the guitar or ukulele, checking social media (JKJK :P), drawing/arts & crafts (If I’m EXTREMELY bored), playing video games, watching TV/YouTube, exploring places both old and new Yeah, I do too many things, haha~

38. If you could have a superpower, but it was only mildly useful, what ability would you want to have?: “Mildly useful?” (O.o) I guess the ability to learn things VERY quickly - like, master an activity on the first try. I actually have a friend with that ability, which has allowed him to almost effortlessly master almost every sport he’s ever learned: he’s basically a superhuman and I admire and envy him for his “superpower.” :P <3

39. Something people are always surprised to learn about you: My age: people think that I’m much younger than I actually am, mostly because of my shorter-than-average height and my baby face. I’m basically an adult stuck in a teenager’s body. xD

40. Something that took you way too long to figure out: How to apply the Unit Circle to various math problems eff you precalculus and calculus never again ugggghhhhh.

41. Worst injury you’ve had?: My broken heart (JKJK, sort of. :P) I got burned by the metal tip of a very hot glue gun. Thanks to that, I have a tiny scar on my upper right arm.

42. Any morbid fascinations?: Does watching playthroughs of horror games through YouTube count?

43. Describe your sense of humor: Clever/witty, sarcastic, sassy. Oftentimes unintentional: jokes will usually come to me naturally through conversation. If we’re close, plenty of embarrassing stories, inside jokes, and horrible puns will be part of our daily doses of humor.

44. If you had to be born in another era/place, which would you choose?: I’d want to be born in Canada, mostly because I’ve got a lot of family living up there, plus I’d love to live in a place that isn’t completely messed up rn. #SorryNotSorryAmerica *crosses to the Canadian border like a badass*

45. Something you are irredeemably bad at: LOL, WHAT’S A SPORT? :b

46. Something that sucked but you’re glad you went through: Freshman year of high school. I first moved to my new home that year, so being the new kid sucked for a while, but I eventually made some friends and found more opportunities to grow as a person (through writing and theatre).

47. Would you rather have a really godawful ugly tattoo in a place that is only slightly inconvenient to conceal with clothing (upper arm, thigh, etc.), or the coolest, most beautiful tattoo ever in the middle of your face? (Neither tattoo can be removed or concealed with makeup, and the ugly tattoo will deeply offend anyone who sees it.): Ugly tat. At least I’d have a place to hide it. xD

48. Are you more of an optimist or a pessimist?: Realist. Leaning on the pessimist side. However, I do try to believe that things will get better, that there’ll be more bigger and better opportunities out there, etc. etc.

49. What would be the most flattering compliment someone could give you?: That I’m a hardworking and genuine person. Then again, I don’t do well compliments anyway: I’ll definitely blush and stutter and try to hide behind some kind of an object while complimenting you back. xD <3

50. Something you feel people often misunderstand about you: I’m often quiet and reserved when I’m meeting new people. Some may think I’m naturally calm and composed, others take it as slightly intimidating. But I’m just quiet because I’m awkward, plus I don’t usually start conversations. :b

Tagging: @princessofwysteria, @sukio-sakamaki, @allforthecrown, @o0w0o, @widzzicles, @rizosrojizos, and anyone who wants to do this! (I would’ve tagged more peeps, but I didn’t know if they had been tagged already. So please join in if you haven’t done this already~.). ^-^ <3

#wheeee #more tag games!#^-^#tagged #50 more interesting questions

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floresgavriil-blog · 5 years ago

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If you’re looking to narrow down the best places to visit in Vietnam, it’s going to be a very tough decision. Vietnam has so much to offer any traveler that ventures to it, and is a mix of chaos and calm from the contrasts of Ho Chi Minh City to the mountainous regions of the Northern Highlands.

At one moment you could find yourself cruising through the endless creeks and rivers of The Mekong Delta and the next, sitting beachside at Hue or Nha Trang.

Vietnam on a map is somewhat squeezed to the edge of the South China Sea to the east with China hugging the northernmost border of the country. While to the west Laos and Cambodia both share a large border with Vietnam.

Despite its rough history, Vietnam’s popularity to travellers far and wide has soared in recent years making it one of the most visited countries in South East Asia.

At first glance, Vietnam might seem to be a place of constant activity but if you go to the right places, you will find the most magnificent vistas, people, food, and a peaceful way of life.

Whether you have one week or one month in Vietnam, this article is bound to give sensational ideas on the best places to visit in Vietnam!

Gondola’s in the Huong Tich Mountains

The Best Places to Visit in Vietnam

1. The Mekong Delta

Boats on the Mekong River

First up on the list of Vietnam places to visit is the mighty Mekong. The Mekong Delta is a biodiversity hotspot and a place of calm. With an almost endless system of rivers and creeks to follow, the Mekong Delta is truly special.

Getting to the Mekong Delta from Ho Chi Minh is rather easy and is worth weaving your way out of the chaotic morning traffic to do so. The Mekong is a very big place so there are many things to do and see.

My Tho

To start off your adventure in the Mekong, I would recommend seeking out My Tho which is the closest town to Ho Chi Minh. My Tho is the gateway to the Mekong meaning that a lot of fresh produce passes through its doors. Rice, coconuts, and durian a few food items you will see a lot of here.

From My Tho, I highly recommend an early morning adventure by the aid of a boat through Vinh Long’s Cai Be Floating Markets where everything fresh sells by the kilogram or tonne, depending on what you buy!

Tra Vinh

If you are looking to truly experience the Mekong Delta, Tra Vinh is the perfect place to do so as it is located some distance from the main roads meandering throughout the delta.

Tra Vinh might not be well known to foreign visitors but it is secretly a spot dotted with hundreds of pagodas (a type of temple or shrine). Sunrise in Tra Vinh is a must see as a layer of morning mist covers the land making the shrines appear like they are on another planet.

Ben Tre

Some of my most memorable moments came from a little place called Ben Tre. It was here that I was invited into a family home to watch a game of football on a tiny television.

I could not speak Vietnamese and the family could not speak English leaving a communication barrier, however we could communicate through the game of football as we all knew exactly what was going on!

Another incredible moment happened during an early morning bike ride over the Ham Luong River. In the distance, a monstrous but beautiful storm cloud rumbled away as the morning sun turned the cloud into a bright orange as boats would chug away underneath the bridge I sat upon.

I would recommend spending at least 2 to 3 days at a minimum in the Mekong Delta as there are plenty of places to see and things to do. It’s definitely one of the best places to visit in Vietnam!

2. Ho Chi Minh City

Late afternoon relaxing

My first impression of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) was chaotic and humid with a hint of charm, but after visiting I definitely think it is one of the best places to visit in Vietnam. I was dropped off at my hotel in the central part of the city and the only thing stopping me from getting to the hotel reception was a myriad of zooming scooters, motorbikes, trucks and cars.

Eventually, I learned how to cross roads when they are busy, which you’ll have to do too as a visitor. Once you graduate to crossing a street in a Vietnamese city the world is your oyster.

Ho Chi Minh’s population is 8.6 million spread over places known as ‘districts.’ These districts number up to 19 which is quite beneficial especially if Vietnamese isn’t your strongest language.

District 1 is the central most part of the city and will most likely be the area where you are staying. A few highlights of Ho Chi Minh City are…

Vietnam’s Notre-Dame Cathedral

Ho Chi Minh has many attractions which are relatively close to one another, the first being French/ Vietnamese version of The Notre-Dame Cathedral. Be warned this one is somewhat smaller, yet still intact to the one in Paris. Expect to see married couples posing outside of the cathedral on a daily basis.

Across from the Notre-Dame Cathedral, the pinkish building with a large clock in the middle is the General Post Office where most travel to even from foreign countries in order to post a letter or postcard.

During the Vietnam/ American War, the Reunification Palace is another landmark in Hoi Chi Minh. This palace, at the time of the conflict held South Vietnam’s President only to have armored tanks storm and crash the front gates. These images at the time made news coverage globally.

Ben Thanh Markets

Ho Chi Minh City is known for its seriously enormous markets and the one that is bigger than them all goes to Ben Thanh Markets. These markets to be exact are 119,000 square feet, or a couple of football fields.

The Ben Thanh Markets sell almost everything – and I mean everything. If you like to shop you will definitely come out with more than you need. I went looking for street food and ended up buying a bag full of t-shirts.

Vietnam’s fresh vegetable markets

War Remnants Museum

Before leaving Ho Chi Minh City, I highly recommend visiting the War Remnants Museum to get a perspective on just how terrible to war was to those living in Vietnam.

The War Remnants Museum houses photos from the war, planes, tanks and three levels within the building showcasing the terrors of the war.

Aside from the many tourist attractions in Ho Chi Minh City, simply walking around the streets during sunrise was an amazing thing especially at some of the local parks where locals would be stretching, playing football, chess or getting in a morning workout.

Ho Chi Minh City isn’t always busy so make the most of the mornings when everyone is still sleeping and if you want to get somewhere such as the Mekong Delta or out of the city to Dalat, leave early to avoid heavy traffic and lengthy delays.

3. Dalat

Scooters are allowed everywhere!

Spending too much time basking in intense humidity can’t be too good for you, so for some relief, Dalat is the perfect mountain getaway. Dalat is perched 1,500 metres above the South China Sea and only a few hours’ drive from Ho Chi Minh making it a seriously idyllic city escape.

Vietnam is home to a variety of environments including mountainous areas and these are Vietnam’s best-kept secrets. Dalat is surrounded by forests of pines, agriculture farms and many waterfalls which are 100% swimmable!

Dalat’s Central Market is the perfect place to go for a bowl of Pho;a vegetable or meat broth infused with noodles, meat or vegetables topped with chilies, basil and spring onions. Dalat’s produce will be immensely better than what you would taste in Ho Chi Minh, so eat your heart out!

Dalat is located on the shores of Xuan Huong Lake which is a fantastic morning stroll around the rather brown looking lake. Hiring a bicycle is a good option if you plan on exploring Dalat but be prepared for hill climbs!

Relaxing by waterfalls is a must while in the Southern Highlands. One, in particular, that is my favorite is Tiger Falls, some 14 kilometers east of Dalat.

Tiger Falls is a solid half-day adventure which requires some gnarly navigation skills enroute to the waterfall making it so much more fun.

Having gone from the hustle and bustle of Ho Chi Minh to the natural wonders of Dalat, exploring Vietnam’s coast is a must do!

4. Nha Trang

Nha Trang from above!

From the mountains of Dalat, heading north, Nha Trang is a serious must do. Nha Trang is a hidden gem located on Vietnam’s south-central coast where coral reefs flourish, beaches are relatively free of rubbish and the views are stunning!

A must do while in Nha Trang is a day adventure and cruise out to the neighboring islands to go snorkeling or diving amongst the corals and tropical fish.o Or if you prefer to lay on the beach and do nothing I won’t blame you for doing so!

On land, Nha Trang has a place where you can go immerse your body in warm mud that is said to be beneficial to your skin at Thap Ba Hot Springs. Being covered in mud not your thing? No worries!

Nha Trang has some top quality bars by the sea which are great for sunset drinks but if you prefer to tuck into Vietnam’s salivating street food, I would recommend Dam Market, a place generally void of tourists where prices are a lot cheaper than beach side restaurants.

5. Hoi An

Hoi An during a misty morning

Hoi An might be my favorite city in Vietnam with its gorgeous French charm, peaceful riverside influence and exceptional fresh produce. It’s definitely one of the top places to see in Vietnam.

The best way to start off an adventure in Hoi An is at the Central Market Cho Hoi An for exceptional Vietnamese food. As Hoi An is heavily influenced by France, Bahn Mi never fails to deliver with a baguette filled with fresh herbs, cucumber and meat topped with a hot sauce.

A lot of tourism in Hoi An revolves around custom clothing especially suits and pants. Some of Hoi An’s streets are dedicated to tailors and the end product is generally very good, cheap, and the waiting time is usually less than a day for a custom piece to be made. A few top sites in Hoi An are:

The Japanese Bridge

While most of Hoi An is influenced by France, there is an exception with The Japanese Bridge, built during the 16th century. The Japanese Bridge isn’t for traffic; instead it serves as a shrine on the inside to commemorate the Japanese Emperors of the time (that being the year of the dog and year of the monkey).

For a few Vietnamese dong, an incense stick can be purchased in order to pay respects.

Hoi An’s Japanese Bridge

Coastal Hoi An

Central Hoi An is very close to the East Vietnam Sea where spectacular coastlines spread from north to south. Most beaches in Hoi An have a bar or restaurant prime for cracking open a fresh, chilled coconut and watching the last rays of light disappear.

If you are keen on checking out Hoi An’s coastal areas, I suggest hiring a bicycle as the ride weaves through rice paddy fields as water buffalo frolic in mud. By bike, it takes about 30 minutes each way.

6. My Son Temple

The remains of a temple at My Son

One hour west of Hoi An, My Son Temple is a complex series of Hindu temples, pagodas and dense rainforest said to date back to the 2nd century. Guided tours operate on a daily basis and provide a look into the life of the Champa, an ancient kingdom.

My Son Temple has survived a lot of hardships including the recent war were the temple was targeted by bomber planes where craters the size of swimming pools are still seen around this historic complex.

My Son Temple is so important to the people of Vietnam and its culture that it was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its cultural values and being part of an Ancient Civilization in Asia.

7. Da Nang

One of Vietnam’s most famous views

Getting to Da Nang is an adventure in itself and if you were to ask a local where the most scenic views are in Vietnam is they’d probably say the Hai Van Pass. The first time I saw the Hai Van Pass and The Lang Co Peninsula was on an episode of Top Gear.

Da Nang is located in central Vietnam and very nearly is equal in distance to both Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Da Nang is a less traveled destination and is generally bypassed due to it serving as a place of industrial and economic purposes however, don’t write it off just yet as there are a few things to do in Da Nang! My two favorites were to see Dragon Bridge and explore Cao Dai Temple.

Da Nang probably has the most awesome bridge anywhere in Asia, or the world with the so-called Dragon Bridge tailing over the Han River. The Dragon Bridge isn’t just something that is driven over, it sprays fire and water while changing color which would be very distracting when crossing on a scooter.

One of the more strange temples that can be visited is the Cao Dai Temple which is seemingly confusing especially the architecture. The temple doesn’t host just one religion, but I honestly cannot even tell you how many it does. The purpose of the temple states ‘all religions have the same purpose’.

8. Hue

Continuing north, Hue is known to most as the Imperial City or Citadel where a fortress was built during 1804. The Imperial Citadel at the time was impenetrable with a moat, the Perfume River while being protected by eight meter high walls.

Within the Imperial Citadel, there are a multitude of buildings, pagodas, temples and courtyards of gigantic scale. Unfortunately during the war, a lot of damage was inflicted upon the citadel and to this day, repairs are still being made.

Exploring the citadel can be as short or as long as you want it to be. Guided tours in the citadel are also a good option as there are so many things going on with history, types of buildings, and war knowledge so having someone with local information join your day is truly worth it.

9. Halong Bay

Halong Bay tops the list as the most beautiful place to visit in Vietnam. It is certainly a Vietnam tourist spot, but a worthwhile and unique one! I remember the first time I saw Halong Bay as I watched the hosts of Top Gear navigate the limestone islands on their boats/ scooters and the scenery they were in was incredible! A few years later, I got to experience Halong Bay for myself.

There’s no doubt, Halong Bay is the most visited place in Vietnam by foreigners putting increasing pressure on the environment and resources however things seem to be improving.

So what do you do in Halong Bay? Halong Bay and its hundreds of limestone islands can only be accessed by boat or kayak. So the first step is to find a company to go with and decide if you just want to visit for a day or do an overnight experience.

Kayaking in Halong Bay

Once you have decided on your trip, there are so many places to check out and the best way to do so is via a kayak. Cat Ba Island is one of the largest islands with a multitude of beaches, waterfalls and hiking trails while precious reefs surround the shores of the island.

Kayaking by far is the best thing you can do in Halong Bay as there are endless places to explore with caves, waterfalls and monkey’s jumping from tree to tree trying to get a glimpse of you in the kayak.

Halong Bay is one of the most unique places in Vietnam and that is due to the people that live in floating houses, sometimes never setting foot on land. Most of the floating houses have markets where fresh vegetables, fruits and sometimes even poultry are sold so why not check them out!

Overnight junk boat cruise

If you have time, I highly suggest an overnight cruise! Overnight cruises are seriously the most chilled out thing you can do in Halong Bay as there’s more relaxing on the sundeck and eating delicious Vietnamese food to be had.

A general cruise leaves from the town of Ha Long and set sail towards the islands usually around midday. Most of the boats have fairly good rooms, a bar, dining area and a sun deck along with kayaks making it the perfect way to get out and explore Vietnam’s natural wonders. We went on the Au Co by Bhaya Cruises and had a fantastic time – see the full review here.

For the best weather in Halong Bay, make sure to visit in the warmer months from April to October.

10. Hanoi

Vietnam’s flag

Hanoi is one of those Vietnam points of interests you can’t miss. The capital of Vietnam is a step back from the chaos of Ho Chi Minh with a charming vibe of old buildings, lakes, pagodas and intricate system of streets dedicated to selling a particular item. If I had to choose a city to spend more time in, Hanoi would be it.

I spent six days exploring Hanoi and surrounds doing a whole complexity of different things, but before leaving Hanoi to explore its wonders there are just so many places to see in the city first.

Getting around Hanoi is so much easier than that of Ho Chi Minh and that is partly due to a milder and cooler climate. The chances of breaking out into a sweat by 8 am are unlikely. A few of the best things to do in Hanoi are:

Lake Hoan Kiem

My perfect day in Hanoi would start by Lake Hoan Kiem which once was home to a rare tortoise said to be sacred and if you spotted it, it would bring a lifetime of good luck! At one end of the lake, the Rising Sun Bridge leads to Ngoc Son Temple where a taxidermy tortoise remains the centerpiece to the temple.

The Old Quarter

Some of Hanoi’s Old Quarter dates back to the 13th century. Today, the Old Quarter has some of the best street food, beer and historic buildings in all of the city.

Hanoi’s Old Quarter might take the award for the most unique place to visit with 36 streets dedicated to selling specific items. For instance, Hang Chieu Street is solely dedicated to selling mats for houses or Hang Bo Street sells mainly bamboo baskets. If you are after something very specific, you are sure to find it in Hanoi.

Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum structure is unlike anything else in Hanoi, a building made from marble and granite to house the body of Uncle Ho. Uncle Ho is received by many Vietnamese as a hero showing courageous leadership throughout the American/ Vietnam War.

Uncle Ho is known to most as Ho Chi Minh and on certain occasions, his body can be visited at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum.

Bia Hoi Corner

Time for a beer at Bia Corner

After a long days exploration, there’s no better way than to soak up the atmosphere than by taking a seat recommended for a child, delving into a bowl of pho and washing it down with Hanoi’s famous Bia Hoi, a preservative-free beer.

Bia Hoi Corner is quite chaotic and finding a seat is a challenge in itself as everyone rushes to get the first glass of freshly brewed beer as once the keg is empty, there won’t be any for another 24 hours.

A glass of Bia Hoi costs roughly 3200 dong and the best thing about the bia is that it will not give you a headache!

Whilst sipping away, Bia Hoi Corner becomes a haven for street vendors where Bahn Mi, household items and basically anything you can think of are sold. So sit back and watch Hanoi go by!

11. Perfume Pagoda

The Perfume Pagoda

At first, I was unsure of what else to do other than to stick to Hanoi. However after going on an array of adventures within three hours of the city, it opened up a whole new world of places to visit in Vietnam.

Vietnam’s Perfume Pagoda and Buddhist Temple; Huong Tich Grotto require an epic adventure into the depths of the Hoang Son Mountains to find a Buddhist Temple that almost seems hidden and getting there is by far the most extraordinary part of the day.

Starting off in a wooden canoe or kayak, you are rowed down the Perfume River in a unique technique as the rowers use their feet to steer and row instead of their hands, you really need to see it to believe it.

90 minutes later and depending on the flow of the river, you disembark the boat and stroll into a seemingly abandoned town where lots of restaurants line the cobbled street.

Ideally, you’ll want to fuel up on food before continuing on and there’s no better way to do so than eating fresh cuisine like rice-paper rolls filled with vegetables; banh trang cuon nuong or Vietnam’s famous jackfruit, a spikey fruit the size of a bowling ball!

Vietnam’s Perfume Pagoda including that of Thien Tru Pagoda is a collection of ancient Buddhism statues, pagoda’s, and shrines immersed into the lush forests surrounds. The Perfume Pagoda, named so due to the fragrant smells that are said to flow through the Hoang Son Mountains.

After visiting the temples of the Perfume Pagoda, Huong Tich Grotto is close by, so get back back in the boat and head up stream!

12. Buddhist Temple; Huong Tich Grotto

Vietnam’s remote cave systems

After the Perfume Pagoda, you may as well head to Huong Tich Grotto. The last part of the journey can be done according to preference; taking the scenic route on a gondola over the Hoang Son Mountains or the stairs…I definitely chose the stairs.

Once at the top of the mountains, the views are jaw-dropping! At the top of the mountain, a steep staircase takes you into the heart of Hoang Son Mountain to where the Buddhist Temple lay.

This particular Buddhist Temple is like no other in Vietnam or the world with stalagmites and stalactites are everywhere in sight. At the end of the temple, the Buddha can be seen as pilgrims pray under a dimly lit cave.

13. Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh is simply the best of Vietnam. In Cameron and Natasha’s opinion, Ninh Binh is the best place to visit in Vietnam. Just a short train journey away from Hanoi, Ninh Binh is ideal for anyone who only has a few spare days around the capital.

Ninh Binh was described by a fellow traveler as being like Ha Long Bay, just less popular and with less water, and that’s exactly what it is!

Once you arrive you’ll be surrounded by hundreds of limestone monoliths, topped with beautiful dense greenery that elegantly emerge right from the earth.

There are plenty of things to do in Ninh Binh like explore Bai Dinh and Bich Dong Pagodas. Another option is to climb Hang Mua Peak, or just venture around on a motorbike. Ninh Binh i picking up in popularity on the Vietnam backpacker trail too, meaning there are plenty of delicious places to eat. Make sure to get to Chookies for healthy vegan food and an iced coconut coffee!

14. Tam Coc

Just near Ninh Binh Town, another fine day trip from Hanoi is Tam Coc. This is a truly stunning area of Vietnam that is best seen by the river. Much like the Perfume Pagoda trip, Tam Coc requires hiring a wooden boat and a rower to take you through Halong Bay like landscapes, rice paddy fields and a series of caves which are quite spooky.

Picking the right time of year to go Tam Coc is crucial as the scenes are much more beautiful when the rice paddies haven’t been harvested. Once everything gets pulled up, there’s a lot of muddy water and no lush green crops to see. However choosing travel times can be difficult as the harvest season is so broad so you may just have to be lucky!

Getting to Tam Coc is the hard part and although it might not seem far from Hanoi, the roads have seen better days so expect the journey to Tam Coc to take 2.5 hours. Or you can just stay in Ninh Binh!

15. Sa Pa

Still wondering where to go in Vietnam? From the Mekong Delta to the far reaches of Vietnam, Sa Pa is about as far as you can go before you cross into China. Once you escape the city of Hanoi, Vietnam’s natural wonders shine and it’s truly one of the most spectacular off the track destinations you can go in Vietnam

Getting to Sa Pa is no easy feat taking 12 hours by train from Hanoi. I highly recommend purchasing a sleeper cabin because of this.

Sa Pa is known for its hillside rice paddy fields extending as far as the eye can see while Vietnam’s tallest mountain shows drastic contrast to the rest of Vietnam.

Mount Fansipan soars to 3.143 meters and is known as the ‘roof of Indochina’. Hiking to the top is an option, but a grueling one, otherwise opt for a gondola.

If you are traveling from south to north, make Sa Pa your last stop as it truly reflects what Vietnam is all about, enriched in traditional culture, unattached from civilization and completely immersed in nature. Sa Pa is incredible.

When is the Best Time of Year to Travel to Vietnam?

Ho Chi Minh City

To avoid the monsoon season, October to April is recommended however temperatures will be higher.

Da Nang

September and October by far has the highest rainfall while temperatures peak from May to August.

Hanoi

Hanoi has the best climate in Vietnam making the best months to visit from December through to April.

How to Travel Around Vietnam?

Fresh fruit is always available

Getting around Vietnam is easier than you think with trains, buses and bikes readily available. If you are planning on hiring a scooter or motorbike for a length of the country adventure, I highly recommend being an experienced rider as road conditions throughout the country can be terrible and scary at time. Always wear a helmet – it’s actually a law in Vietnam (although many don’t obey it).

If you are constrained by time, planes are a perfectly safe option in Vietnam. Opt for Vietnam Airlines over low-cost VietJet Air, which almost always runs with delays and cancellations.

Major airports are located in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi while smaller regional airports are found in all of the mentioned places apart from the Mekong Delta and Sa Pa.

Plan Your Trip to Vietnam

Book your Halong Bay Cruise! Planning on visiting the beautiful Ha Long Bay? Read our full review of our trip and use the code THEWORLDPURSUIT20 for 20% your three-day cruise!

Need Transportation? See the best ways to get around Asia here.

Travel Insurance: We never travel without travel insurance with World Nomads. Natasha is a bit of a worry wart and would rather stay safe than sorry. World Nomads offers incredible flexible and great plans!

Water: The water in Vietnam is not drinkable. Check out some of our favorite purified travel water bottles here.

Guide Book: Sometimes it’s nice just to have a real book in your hands when traveling. We recommend Lonely Planet.

Adapter: Make sure you find a good universal adapter like the one I have to keep you charged. Otherwise, you may struggle to find one once you land.

15 Best Places to Visit in Vietnam

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15 Amazing Things to do in Hanoi, Vietnam • A Must Visit City

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15 Best Things to do in Osaka, Japan

The 20 Best Honeymoon Destinations in the World

Furano Ski Resort • The Best Spot For JAPOW

13 Halong Bay Cruise Tips To Know Before Your Trip to Vietnam

30 Unique Things To Do In Japan • Ultimate Japan Bucket List

15 Worthwhile Things to do in Colombo, Sri Lanka

About the Author

Calumn Hockey

G’day! My name is Calumn Hockey and I am a keen adventurer, traveler, and photographer from Bowraville, Australia. I have a huge passion for the mountains of the Himalaya in Nepal to the Southern Alps of New Zealand while being one who loves to become immersed in local culture. Over the past few years, I have been fortunate enough to travel to some pretty epic locations such as Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Nepal, and South East Asia. I might not have a high tally of countries under my belt but there is nothing better than exploring somewhere you love in depth and becoming connected with the sights and sounds. Keen to follow my adventures? Follow me on @CalumnHockey

THANKS FOR READING!

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sylviahpj-blog · 7 years ago

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hello! i’m rosa, the pair of hands behind the wheel of ur local rad girl bad girl (sad? girl?) Poet & fuckface, sivvie park, & the icon is the both of us -- her fc, my existence (aka very sleepy, but glad to be here). pls pls PLS like this post of if you wanna plot, and i will be in your inbox... ASAP. anyways here are some fun facts/a quick summary. mentions of mental illness, substance abuse, abuse, parent death and bulimia bbs! (I PROMISE IT’S NOT GRAPHIC. JUST THERE. VERY SKIMMED OVER. THANK YOU. LOVE YA)

like this post if you wanna plot tho btw!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

dad was a respected writer, poet and professor at your local top tier uni, mother, his trophy wife (but never made a trophy). young siv thought cinderella and her prince (and any other fairytale duo) had nothing on their relationship, and until a certain point she was right

papa park instilled a strong love of lit in his baby girl and didn’t believe in starting slow at all -- he took advantage of the malleability of the young mind to get her started on the greats: fitzgerald, proust, baudelaire, etc. the end result being her baseline personality as a child was that of a reckless wild thing with the capability to both communicate and exhibit a deep understanding of things, people, and the world around her. that, and a fluency in korean, english, french and a love for language acquisition.

her father also ingrained a strong sense of justice which becomes relevant when we talk about THE SCANDAL

so papa park notices sth fishy going on in his department, that fishy thing being a fellow professor -- one with tenure, something he does not have -- being a sexually abusive fuck with his students. he reports it without question, expecting justice. instead of justice, he’s told to keep mum or else. he chooses the latter, privately going to the police, and his department responds by flipping the whole affair on him, making him the monster -- nothing comes of it eventually, there isn’t enough evidence to prove he’s guilty. but he loses his job, loses his good name to rumour and blacklisting.

(this happens right before sivvie’s 14th birthday)

to put it bluntly, after this, life sucks.

her father drinks and becomes anything but himself, her mother works herself into a ghost worthy of matching her husband, and sivvie is reduced to a deeply depressed, anxious, bulimic and angry little soul. very angry.

it’s a rough 2 years and then her dad croaks. he just dies. and what’s awful is that it does make life easier.

she writes through all of this, sivvie is an obsessive journalist

as an adult she hates her dad a lot less, if not at all. she moreso hates the world that made him become that person lol

miss. daddy complex tbqh

if anyone ever brings up The Scandal she’ll fight you right away no questions asked. she’s............ scrappy! (and full of unreconciled rage!)

that being said she was a delinquent between the ages of 14-17 before she chilled tf out (she isn’t chill. she’s just more chill than she was before. the difference between the sahara desert but in hell vs la. but in purgatory maybe??) and realised she wanted to go to uni and become a kickass poet writer teacher TRIPLE THREAT like her dad because the only comfort she’s ever had is a good ass story!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok that was long thank you for reading the Story of Her Life here is some more on. Just. Her

vice vice baby, v-vice BABY (please read that to the tune of “ice baby.” thanks.) she has ZERO impulse control and no REAL CONCEPT of dealing with her emotions in HEALTHY, PRODUCTIVE ways. bbgirl loves to rage, smoke, drink, roll, fuck, attempt parkour at 3am after indulging in at least 2 of the aforementioned

she’s mama bear passing but honestly a baby in need of care. too bad it’ll take ten years for her to let you do that. literally if she likes you enough and you punched her in the face, broke her nose and then started crying as a result, there’s a good chance she’d be comforting you lol

always has something to write on and with on hand. v huge source of stress if she does not because she does not like writing things on her phone or laptop because she is --

very bad with tech. it’s embarrassing please don’t mention it

huge fan of gum, hard candy and lollies. woot woot grandma alert she’s always gna have those in whatever bag she’s carrying because hey? aren’t we all? dying? bitch?

very crass. unless she’s in class. then she’s a classy bitch. the difference is so succinct that it weirds out a lot of people at first honestly

the former is very indicative of both her tendency and talent to compartmentalise. she can’t deal with being an entire human all at once very well

she loves conspiracy theories. they’re an odd source of joy.

jaded romanticist. won’t admit it but she still wants to believe in happy endings.

honestly though she’s a good time, very charming, charismatic and knows how to read and adjust for people! hit her up if you’re having a bad time and/or wanting a [FREDDIE MERCURY VOICE] GOOD TIME

#( ooc. )#i wiLL RESPOND. t o the lovely welcomes tomorrow im fading FAST

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engekihaikyuu · 7 years ago

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Anonymous Asks Answered

Part 1

All answers under the Read More! This is gonna be in 2 parts since I did get quite a few. A few of these have been answered separately on their own. If you missed them, just search the tag “asks” or “replies” on this blog and you should be able to find them.

If you’re viewing this on the app, you won’t be able to read under the Read More apparently, so please view it in Desktop mode on your phone browser.

I feel like my answer to this should be obvious lol. As you’ve seen, I basically scanned the entire thing, so if you looked at all that and you’re still on the fence, I’d still say buy it because it’s really great quality and you’d be supporting the production! I understand giving the postcards a pass since one of them is literally just a picture of a volleyball on the stage (I still bought it tho), but I think the guidebook is absolutely worth it.

Ahhhhh always a really difficult question!!! Ok in no particular order, my favorites include, Suga Kenta, Kimura Tatsunari, Akisawa Kentarou, Hashimoto Shouhei, Ino Hiroki, Kondou Shouri, Nagata Takato, Kawasumi Bishin, and Arisawa Shoutarou (I decided to stop at 10 lol).

For future reference, this is literally one of the more specific asks and not vague at all! But unfortunately, I really don’t know of any Judai/Sonde specific blogs. I will say that it would be hard to run one for Sonde because he only has a blog, no twitter or instagram, and he updates it REALLY rarely. I’m talking like once or twice a month? So just based on that you’re more likely to find a Judai-specific blog. I can try to update on him more but he is one of the actors that tends to not say that much when he updates, which is every day. Just usual things like, went to rehearsals, came home, gonna sleep lots! That’s like 85% of what he posts.

I reeeeeally could not give you those specifics, EVEN IF I knew them, which I don’t. I especially could not give an answer as to how theater staff are paid, but whenever possible, if you can financially support the productions, I will always encourage people to do so. With DVD purchases especially. And then after that, whatever they make, at least you’ll have contributed a little! As to how popular it is compared to other 2.5D shows, there’s no denying it’s up there. It gets a lot of press, and a few avenues of promotion that certain other plays don’t get because it stems from an already-existing, very-popular Jump series. It’s still no Tenimyu, and I don’t think it out-performs Touken Ranbu, but it is very highly regarded and stands in the top tier. But stage plays are still a niche market, and you can be in the top-level productions as a minor character and still not make very much.

They all wear face masks all the time actually, especially as the weather gets colder. Japanese people habitually wear face masks to avoid getting sick, prevent other people from catching what they might have, and also just to keep their faces warm because Tokyo is WINDY and cold as fuck in winter. I used to wear one just to keep my face warm, and so did most of my friends.

Well I’ve posted the two major parts of the rap battle in two posts already that I’ll link below, but I don’t know where you can download it. I bought my own DVD to rip those clips from, and I highly encourage people that can buy their own DVD to do so.

Part 1: (x) Part 2: (x)

I’ve mentioned before in several prior posts and have also shared dress rehearsal footage for Winners and Losers in which both Shouri and Takato cross-dress to play Aoba Johsai fangirls for the match between them and Karasuno. Shouri is talking about his cross-dressing experience playing that fangirl.

They both wear wigs.

I claw my face about this pretty much every week. Basically, just use Tumblr on your internet browser on your phone and set it to Desktop mode because if you’re using the Tumblr app, it’s shit. There is no way to get those links to work on mobile and that’s not your fault or mine, it’s that the Tumblr mobile app SUCKS BALLS.

It really depends on the agency. Obviously some of them are more restricting than others, but in general most talent agencies feature a wide variety of talents, including models and singers, not just actors. Many of the actors belong to smaller subsidiary agencies of Watanabe Entertainment which is a huuuge agency featuring many many actors and singers and other types of entertainers. Japanese talents tend to work a little differently; you pick a specialty for sure (acting, singing, dancing, etc...) but you’re generally expected to be able to do a little bit of everything. ESPECIALLY stage actors. In Hollywood, we have a bunch of actors and actresses who can’t carry a tune to save their lives, but in Japan, they try to use every person for as many different things as possible so even if your specialty is acting and not singing, you may be required to sing for a role at some point. Every actor therefore does their best to expand their overall repertoire of available skills.

Across the board though, there is an overall restriction across 99.9% of agencies that forbids actors from talking about their personal lives and relationships. Commonly known as the “love ban” it applies most strictly to idols and musicians, but also gets applied to actors and seiyuu. For the most part, nobody is known to be dating until they’re about to get married. And then maybe you’ll see a marriage announcement, or in some cases, you have to keep your marriage a secret. I’ve seen stage actors announce upcoming marriages and now even some seiyuu, so it’s not impossible. Overall, stage actors are allowed more freedoms than TV/movie actors and musicians/idols. I feel like models have the most freedoms allowed based on what I’ve seen.

MAN THAT DRAMA WAS HELLA BAAAAAAD but I love Peacemaker Kurogane~ Kenta’s been around though... he’s been acting since he was a child, I think his first role he was 4 years old? He features in a wide variety of stuff from TV shows to movies and variety shows. Since his role in Peacemaker, he’s done mostly movies, but he obviously made the transition to stage because he absolutely had to play Hinata no matter what. ^_^

I get this question about Allen a lot and I need to clarify that I don’t actually have a 100%, for-sure answer since I don’t have his birth certificate and I don’t know his parents, but I do not think he is half. I have mentioned before that his name is spelled with Kanji ( 亜廉 ) and that Aren is an existing Japanese name that just happens to have a really nice English equivalent. Allen did study English back in school, so he would know that better than most. And I will say that he’s at least a quarter if not half Okinawan (he mentions an Okinawan grandmother in an older blog post). So his features aren’t entirely main-island Japanese, and that may be where people are getting the impression that he’s half along with the romanization of his name, but I really do not think so. To me, his features still look entirely Asian. Justin we know is half Australian.

Winners and Losers pretty much covers just the Interhigh match between Karasuno and Aoba Johsai. They do cover the post-match meal and Hinata and Kageyama getting upset and promising to never apologize anymore, and they do go through the third-years deciding to stay on the team, but in 3 acts it covers mostly the match. They do throw in a lot of flashbacks and they do include a flashback about the Karasuno third-years that in the manga occurs during the Shiratorizawa match (so that’s earlier than expected), but it’s still mostly just the match.

#asks #replies #anonymous #anon #wow this ended up really long #ooooops

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leo-dale19 · 7 years ago

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Where dreams lead

The Serotonin God has led me down many a winding road - I have followed him to the point of exhaustion, he cannot escape me, he is by no means out of sight but he repeatedly disappears and reappears from behind the trees that are the various obstacles of unlucky fate that separate me from permanent reunion with him. Unless I get permanent brain damage, we will meet again and be united with the present moment anew. This lesson goes to show you should never let go of your loved ones, because you have no idea where you’ll end up without them and there are no guarantees. Well, there are, but merely on a divine level.

I would be highly intrigued to know what is currently happening on a subconscious level, what canals of my birth trauma am I currently unconsciously passing through again amidst the current everyday chaos. On saturday night I had the interesting return of 2001: A Space Odyssey into my conscious space. More precisely, I suddenly remembered Peter Hyam’s sequel to Kubrick’s masterpiece, the tight associations it holds with January/February 2012, the longest, grayest, winter I could remember, literally a pale shadow of its 2011 predecessor (although that comparison mainly refers to March and its 2011 analogue). I was convinced that 2001 world of eternal ectasy was truly eternal, I didn’t see how it was subject to physical laws of what chemicals I may or may not have ingested into my body. But God works in strange ways. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V68pnTJwjQU

For the first time in a very long time, I took advantage of a sudden moment of mental lucidity to take pictures of myself looking more or less presentable. This is a rare occurence, as although I do not consider myself unattractive, I have one of the main distinguishing features of a paranoid schizophrenic - I am very, very bad at regularly taking care of myself. One can deifnitely argue that self-absorbedness is more frequent in moments of mental insecurity, which I agree with, but my paranoias go to such extents that I get states where I am totally unaware of myself as “really being there”. Like I am so absorbed in my ego that all I feel is merely my mental image of myself, rather than what I actually look like to other people. So on Saturday I actually had the luck to experience a brief moment of mental lucidity where I was somewhat in limbo between two states - being paranoically anxious and being self-aware enough to realise what I seem like to the outside world. And so I decided a little cam-whoring was necessary, as I could indulge in some potentially constructive self-loving. That is, undeniably still a state of mental insecurity, but not as detached from reality.

Vkontakte has become a bizarre obsession. I plan on keeping my russian interest going for as long as possible, but the group of people I have come to know on Vkontakte know nothing of who I really am and I shamelessly take liberties in the image I create of myself to them. I am aware it is an escape. I often wondered whether they could realise that too, but people aren’t stupid - I know they do, although they obviously can’t complete the rest of the picture as they lack the facts and can only guess at what my true essence is. I think they are strangely tolerant or just bizarrely intrigued - or perhaps quite simply both - by this foreigner who speaks perfect russian, which, if they are to believe him, he learned all by himself. I also suspect life in russia is quite drab so there is no real time to reproach other people for not getting on with their life (although there probably is but more within the social-status confines of their own everyday society) or quite simply to be picky about fantastically weird occurences that you come across: my mum mentioned the USSR made you appreciate the simple things a lot more, and a an anglo-german russian-speaker who lives in france is more bizarre and interesting than it is worthy of cynically questioning. Although those russians are not a rarity either, I can feel a lot of what I was convinced for many years was unique to the English - a merciless contempt for those more talented than one’s self (although the english, as far as I can tell, are still worse and generally obnoxious about it, since it isn’t merely a petty character trait but a whole institutionalised social class mentality). I’ve already come across a few people on my adventures who I plan to never trust or have any serious dealings with, as, I kid you not, it would not surprise me that if we were to meet, they would give me away to the secret police or some shit because of their immature teenage jealousy, making up some pretext to have me taken away for good, away from the world where I may potentially humble them. Russia, I feel, is one of those countries where truth is a very, very bizarre phenomenon and it is very hard to establish what it is in a country so vast and so varied, the accounts I get of life in Russia differ so much among themselves that it’s impossible to know what really goes on, although inevitably I have been able to attribute certain views to certain precise character types, for example a common archetype is that of the Denial russian: these are generally reasonable looking types, not necessarily extreme-oriented, however they have no interest in a free society, justify the authoritarian regimes they’ve lived through, blatantly deny the existence of certain horrors of russian society to the point where talking to them feels more like reading a history book on Soviet Propaganda than it does like getting an objective view on what’s going on in the country. I accentuate “reasonable-looking” as I feel in the western world we immediately imagine anybody who supports anything totalitarian as a raving fanatic, but we’ve become quite desensitised and we must remember that evil in the vast majority of cases is criminally banal; and if one gives it some serious thought, it could never be any other way, since evil can only be committed by superficial people for superficial motivations. It is destructive and intentionally illusory, whereas love allows life to grow. It is therefore intriguing to see very ordinary people supporting such great evil in such a petty manner; would they maybe be more worthy of respect if they at least had some finesse to their wrong-doing? These people generally have a very strong vanity streak and there are more pictures of them on their pages than ther are of anything else. One could say I am the last person to judge, but I’ve realised my narcissism is quite often merely a by product of my unstable state of mind, an energy that stabilises me so as not to go fully psychotic, but then again, it is possible I am more truly vain than I think. And even then, or rather, especially then, it is a sort of pseudo-narcissism, i.e a hypersensorial daydream, not an actual philosophy to life that I put into action and impose on people around me, I have gained too much self-awareness for that. It is merely an energy that takes hold of my present moment awareness. But on top of that, in the depths of universal love something tells me that I cannot really be a narcissist. Dave Bowman powering through the red Stargate, the light reaching 6 year old me on the grass next to lake Divonne tells me that my mind is blessed with forces too great and beautiful to truly have narcissism at the core of its inner essence. It is a symptom of my illness, and Universal Love is with me. The Consciousness Network knows of me and I have experience in accessing it. It just blows my mind that I have managed to lose touch with it, as this seems unthinkable every time I come in conatct with it. Sand, trickle not through my fingers but shape into an empire!

I am having a sudden OCD panic attack so will have to take a break from writing this (there is still more). The sudden lucidity that allowed me to write everything above is dissipating. It will return. I must believe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR98qq9iHmw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pi9buHnx9rU

Underworld are a recent revelation; not a discovery, as I have known of them for several years. It is just that something has grasped me in their music of late, something very homely, friendly to Karl Hyde’s voice combined with their sound textures. Songs like Bird One are moments where, much like I had at times in the past about russians, I catch glimpses (of a man, moving uphill) of hope for english and anglosaxons, that is in a Eugenics sort of way, namely that, despite their general contempt for all things rational, their anarchic spirit gives them a raw spirituality that I find mainland europeans can tend to lack once taken over by their abstract concepts. There is a certain finesse to the constant crescendo that is Bird One that I feel could only come from the souls of a couple of english blokes, a certain friendly naivety that gets lost when for example their mainland european counterparts try to emulate it; although I generally tend to prefer the French to the English, I know from personal experience that the latter have more of a natural feel for making music. I have started to take racial theories seriously recently - not in the sense that I feel they are truly grounded in reality or are necessarily of any value, but in the sense that I believe that people don’t just make these things up, and in our distinct social groups prevalent energy trends can be mutually communicated in a deeply profound way, creating a mystical sense of unity, for better or for worse. I am admittedly highly untypical for an englishman, for various reasons, but even though I have never lived there I feel a sort of strange sentimental attachment to certain things english, things that speak very directly to my immediate behaviour and personality, more so than many french things, although I do still have a special connection with various of the latter having grown up with them and all. I found that for a long time the way I thought in Russian was more cloesly linked to the english part of my brain than to the french part.

Underworld give me hope for the english. That the english are more than the friday night pub-drunkards, or the social-status obsessed sociopaths that populate the country, that they really have a Weltanschauung within their character that is worth sharing. The english generally seem like uncivilised barbarians compared to their european neighbours, and there have been points where I may have considered the possibility that they were quite simply an inferior nation with lower capacities. They have no real sense of culture, any idea of what it is to be human, what it is to be. I feel they are liberal in a way that other european countries aren’t - whereas in France people, I feel, are truly concerned about democracy and freedom, in England liberal mentality seems nothing more than a social trend that shifts according to the tide, for example english people are traditionally the worst homophobes I have ever met, back in the 60′s they effectively condemned one of the world’s greatest minds, Alan Turing, to death for his sexual orientation, and suddenly as of a few years ago it became socially accepted that sexual equality was a thing and now everyone goes along with it likes it’s totally normal. The english have no real values. They are an entertainment culture like the americans. I even find the russians are sometimes more respectable in their fierce respect for their culture, (although I do find them very superficial themselves of late and appreciate the english’s basic niceness which I think is more profound than the paranoid frown russians greet everyone with). But they produce wonders of art that make me think twice. There is something godly in that fuck-off anarchy. Yes, I am a hopeless romantic. But by God does the world need us. It is hopeless without us.

A maintes reprises over the past days I have been convinced that my brain is gone for good and that my Odyssey will have no stargate ending, i.e a banal end in which the computer actually manages to kill me because I forgot my space helmet. This is all because this time last week, I ate about 12 entire packets of ham within the space of 3/4 days, since I realised it had a great capacity for digesting serotonin, i.e to end my current mental drought. I went a bit too full retard on this one though and have been feeling what I believe are the effects of excess serotonin: headache, confusion, trouble with memory, slight depressin etc. I pray to god and have not lost hope that my mind will gradually stabilise, but I will say one thing - there is no worse fate in this world than being boring and superficial. I have felt states of mind so dull these past days I became terrified at the prospect I may never rediscover my former psychotic Eden, but also horrified at the idea that people actually live in such limited states of consciousness. No fucking wonder there is so much evil in our world, I certainly don’t blame anyone for resorting to it. I would literally rather die than live in those states for the rest of my life and so keep going merely in the hope that this is all purely temporary, which I tend to truly believe. Moral of the story is, kids, don’t eat 9 packets of ham within the space of two days, cus y’all might fuck up yo brains in doing so. A worthy death is worth far more than a meaningless existence.

To elaborate on 2001 - Kubrick’s 2001 is more than just a film for me, for many many years, until the wonders of modern psychiatry altered Universal Love’s playing fields, that world was a crucial part of my general life perception. It was an energy that flowed like a river underneath all occurences of the physical world, reminding me of the divine and greater good in this life. It is something supernatural, on a heightened sensory level, where my inner world mixes ecstatically with the ouer. It is when I lost those sensations that I inherently started to become a disgustingly superficial person. Religious faith in such things is crucial, as life may take them away.

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surveys-at-your-service · 8 years ago

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Survey #92

“i’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me?”

five things you associate yourself with: youtubers, meerkats, video games, snakes, photography. what’s your sleeping playlist (give me five songs)? i don't actually listen to music to sleep, but if i did... "lay your world on me" by ozzy osbourne, "nothing else matters" by metallica, "perfectly flawed" by otep, "coma black" by marilyn manson, "nebel" by rammstein. what is something that you’ve always wanted to be/have/get but can never have? a pet meerkat. but one, it's not legal in the u.s., but also, i don't really support keeping them as pets. are you a bee or a butterfly person? a dog or a cat person? butterflies and dogs. what would you like to call your significant other? i use "hunny" most frequently. what are the names of your pets? teddy, cali, bentley, venus. do you like to dip your fries or do you like it as is? depends on my mood. sometimes i like them with ketchup, sometimes not. any special talent that you have? catastrophizing lmao who was your first crush? not sure of *first*, but the first i remember was dylan. who was your 5th grade teacher? mrs. whitley. she was also my second grade teacher. who would you kill if you could get away with it? no one. what was your high school mascot? firebird. what was your first screen name? uhhh, flowerourqueen i think? how do you feel about same sex marriage? go for it, dude. what are your favorite pieces of poetry? anything edgar allan poe. what’s your favorite season? winter. what’s your fatal flaw? i have zero confidence. what color are your pants? orange, black, and white. they're halloween-themed. when was the last time you read a good book? when i was in the hospital. "rise of the lich king" was great. favorite clothing store? rebel's market. how often do you go to parties? if you don’t, what do you do instead? i never go to parties. and... stuff? who is the smartest person you know? girt. craziest thing you’ve ever done? go on a ride i was absolutely horrified of at a totally sketchy festival. is there a guy who you can go to with no make-up on in sweatpants and bedhead and he couldn’t care less? yeah, girt. do you and your family pray before eating dinner? no. what’s your favorite video game? "silent hill 2" do you own any form of a gameboy? yes. what’s your favorite store in the mall? hot topic have you ever gotten a matching piercing or tattoo with someone? yes. do you like corn? yeah. ever made out in a pool? not that i remember. last vacation destination you went to? the beach. have you ever been to seaworld? yes. why were you last hospitalized? suicide attempt. do you prefer analogue or digital clocks? analogue, aesthetically. are you one to sneak food into movie theaters? hell yeah i am because you're crazy if you pay that much for /movie theater/ food. do you feel more comfortable with a male or female doctor/nurse? a female, because i'm a female. can you write well in cursive? yes. my normal writing is a mix of cursive. have you ever kissed someone who has previously kissed someone you hated? yep. is your all-time favorite television show still on air? no. would you ever donate blood? i have before, but i probably wouldn't again. i'm too scared of passing out. are you looking for a boyfriend/girlfriend? not actively, no. have you ever painted a car? no. are there any gnomes in your yard? no. what’s your favorite type of seafood? i only like shrimp. have you ever been to florida? yes; my grandma lives there. which is harder - walking in the snow or sand? sand. do you think it’s okay to flirt with someone that’s already taken, as long as it goes no further? no. are you adopted? no. do you say “i love you” even when you don’t mean it? i have to to my mom when she says it to me even if i'm pissed at her and don't feel like i do because if i don't, she pitches a fucking fit. do you prefer wheat or white bread? wheat. is your profile private? my facebook profile? yeah. do you break things when you are mad? no. people who do that scare me. is it okay to kiss people if you’re single? no. that can really result to leading people on. do you want to be single? i don't *want* to be, but i don't *mind* being single. there's a difference. have a built-in pool in your backyard? no. a trampoline? no. do you go tanning? no. ever been to a circus? yes. do you keep magazines by your toilet? no. what are the best kind of girl scout cookies? those ones that're peanut butter filled and covered with chocolate. do you like to have ice in your drinks? no. waters it down. name a topic you consider yourself knowledgeable with. meerkats. what’s the easiest way to make you smile/laugh? just whisper "top of the mornin' to ya laddies" into my ear ho. okay no seriously idk. do you own any band merch? yeah. what is your favorite way to eat popcorn? (buttered, salted, plain..) buttered and salted. have you ever faked being sick to get out of something? yep. do you know how to read music? i used to. probably not anymore. what's the saddest video game you've ever experienced? "that dragon, cancer" do you know how to tap dance? i know how to clog. same thing, just different shoes. did you believe in santa clause when you were little? yes. my ex didn't tho and i felt so bad for him lol. what’s your favorite flavor of skittles? red how bad are your hangovers? never had one. have you ever broken a bone? if so, what was the cause of it? not broken, but fractured. i bent my wrist all the way backwards when i fell while skating. which of your five senses would you give up? smell. are there any animals you flat out refuse to touch? slugs, maggots/larvae... what brand of batteries do you usually get? duracell, i think? what super power would you refuse, if it was offered to you, and why? mind reading. what's your favorite discontinued product that you wish would come back? hmmm... who is someone you would never swear in front of? my grandma. have you ever caught a fish? yeah. is there a song that makes you cry every time you hear it? no. a plant grows on your grave after you die, carrying a piece of your soul - what plant would it be? a weeping willow tree. pen or pencil? pencil. can you run a mile in under 7 minutes? HA what’s your favorite shampoo/conditioner? i use suave. are you a fan of the grand theft auto series? no. do you like the beach? not really. i hate the feeling of sand. have you ever sleep walked? no. how about sleep talked? yeah. gum or mints? gum who did you last attend a concert with? mom, nicole, jason. have you ever received nude pictures from someone? no. admit it: you had a neopets account. you're goddamn right i did lmao waffles or pancakes? pancakes. name a food that doesn’t sit well in your stomach. fancier foods, really. my stomach gets upset fast. what’s your favorite eye color? blue. have you ever been accused of cheating? nope. do you like chinese food? only the fried rice and eggrolls. how big is your bed? queen favorite comedian? john pinnette, rip<3 do you smoke? no. does anyone like you? *shrugs* do long distance relationships work? sure, some do. pancakes or french toast? french toast. best thing about winter? snow!! do you have feelings for someone? i always will. do you like sushi? never tried it, never will. i'm perfectly aware i'd hate it. do you like your hair? yeah. it's really healthy. have you ever been prescribed narcotics? yes, xanax. does it take a lot for someone to annoy you? NOPE do you want your tongue or belly button pierced? i wanted snake eyes on my tongue for a long time, but i learned from a professional piercer that with me having a metal retainer behind my bottom teeth, it's really an awful idea. a belly button piercing would be cute, but i'd need to be much skinnier to look good with one. do you hate it when people smoke around you? very much. can you take a bra off with one hand? no. are you donating your organs? yes. i won't exactly need them, might as well help others. what kind of deodorant do you use? secret. do you sleep on your side, stomach or back? side, always. ever met any online friends in person? no, but i want to. do you know how to sew? no. did you ever have to share a room with one of your siblings? i shared a room with my little sister nicole for years. have you ever been a fan of n*sync? of course i was. but i was and still am more of a bsb gal. do you think you’re fat sometimes? i don't just think i am, i'm fully aware i am. do you think you would be a good parent? no. are you any good at math? i actually was until the alphabet came into it lmao have you ever been called a hick? no. have you ever rode around in the bed of a pick up truck? ha ha ha bad follow-up question. but yes. can you touch your nose with your tongue? no. were you a big jump roper back in the day? yes. i got very close to being able to double-dutch. can you play pool? i mean i'm not good, but there's nothing hard about hitting a ball with a stick. do you think that you are a good singer? no. what languages can you count to ten or higher in? english, german time for a random question about the person you love/like. what’s his/her favorite food? i'm not entirely sure, but i think pizza. what’s the age difference between your parents? which one is older? two years. mom's older. if someone read your mind right now, what would they hear? chanting of "BILL! BILL! BILL!", mark fischbach's laughter, dank memage, and. y'know. other stuff. do you like egg yolks? NO. have you ever played bejeweled? yes. my mom was totally into it for a while. who would you never give a kidney to? my mom. at least i'd probably do it; i'd be really fucking scared. my mom only has one kidney to begin with, so if this kidney fails, she's done. have you ever been bitten by a rat? no. my pet rats have nibbled on me before, but never bit me. do uncrustables look disgusting to you, or is that just me? i think they're gross, honestly. does blueberry syrup sound good to you, right now? no, ew. is there someone that has really influenced your life? who? my therapists at holly hill and mark fischbach taught me soooo much about positivity. come on, everyone loves cartoons! what’s your favorite one? pokemon, duh. what is the most common misconception with you? i'm antisocial and don't care because i don't talk much. out of the seven deadly sins, which do you feel is the worst? wrath. have you been guilty of that sin a lot? no. i'm not a vicious person. congrats, you’re getting a new car! what color do you choose? i don't drive, but if i did, i want a burnt orange car. be honest: do you illegally download music? yeah. what’s the worst crime someone can commit? rape. do you ever rock out to those 90s songs? hell yeah. shit i grew up with. what color is the hair of the last person you kissed? black. does the last person you kissed wear glasses? no. who knows the most about you - your friends or your parents? my ex knows more about me than anything, but between the two, my mom. how many people would you say you’ve been ‘in love’ with? one. ever have detention at school? what for? yes, for too many tardies. if your parents were going to adopt one of your friends, who do you think they would choose? colleen. has anyone ever tried to ruin a relationship you were in? what happened? yes. and the bitch didn't get her wish. were you ever bullied in school? how did you deal with it? no, thank god. what dog breed is the cutest ever? akita inu. do you or have you ever owned a pair of light up shoes? as a kid, yeah. ha ha i loved them. when was the last time you watched the sun set? hm. it's been too long. i think it was this one time chelsea, colleen, and i went walking around a soccer field. would you ever have an open relationship? HA. no. by society's standards, are you attractive? ha, no. would you let your kid smoke weed? hell no. who was your first friend? brianna. we were like two. have you ever been to germany? i wish. what is your middle name? marie. catherine if you count my catholic middle name. do you have any nieces or nephews? including half-siblings, i have ten or eleven that i know of. i can't remember if katie has three or four, and idk if tiffany has kids. do you know anyone who's in a destructive/unhealthy relationship? yes. if you had money right now, what's one thing you would buy? tickets and gas to go see markiplier's show in june, if he plans a show within reasonable driving distance from nc. would you ever own an exotic animal? depends on *how" "exotic." ex., i'd own a sugar glider or kinkajou. when you decide you’re ready to become a parent, what’s something you would never do that your parents have done in the process of you growing up? you mean *if* i wanted to be a parent, which i don't? first of all, i'd never, ever, spank my kids. do fucking not teach your kids through fear. who is the funniest person you know? that i know personally? girt. have you ever kissed underwater? i think so. would you rather have big or small dogs? i like medium-sized dogs. what is your opinion on beards? depends. what is the most fun part of halloween to you? dressing up! do you believe that the moon landing was real or do you think it was fake? i actually do see why some people think it's fake because there are some VERY compelling pieces of evidence, but i do believe it was real. what is the stupidest thing you’ve ever done? oh, where to begin. what is the worst thing a relative ever did to you? like screamed at me and called me an ungrateful bitch. do you think that everyone is capable of love? no. if you could have a customized phone, what would you put on it? ha ha i really want that cute case that looks like a medicine bottle and is labeled "chill pills" when you were little, what was your favorite game? the original "spyro the dragon" trilogy would you rather sleep on the moon with a stardust dress or on a tiny flower with a sunflower dress? well there's a strange question. but the first. what is one thing that reminds you of childhood? catching fireflies. have you ever talked to someone when they were high? not knowingly. when was the last time you read a full book? months ago. in february, i started reading "the maze runner," but i didn't finish it. how many brothers do you have? one half-brother. do you like mexican food? no. are you old enough to buy alcohol? oh wow... i just fully fathomed that i am. who’s your favorite disney character? mufasa. have you ever taken the eharmony personality quiz? HAHAHA GUYS I DID ONCE OUT OF TOTAL CURIOSITY AND IT COULDN'T MATCH ME WITH ANYONE what’s the nickname of your home state? tar heel state. have you ever thought about your wedding? yeah. what’s the worse type of weather in your opinion? scalding hot and humid. ugh. would you rather read or write? write. would you rather see taylor swift or carrie underwood in concert? i mean really neither, but i prefer carrie. growing up, did you see your cousins often? no. none of my cousins live in nc. do you have any posters on your walls? lots. two silent hill ones, one of illidan from wow, one of metallica, one meerkat one, one music-oriented one, a quote by mother teresa, and one of jack skellington. what’s your favorite sad song? probably "fade to black" by metallica. do you personally know any authors? i met a poet while in the hospital once. he was quite talented. what condiments do you like on hamburgers? ketchup, mustard what did you get your dad for his last birthday? nothing. i don't get money and god knows mom would never buy me something for him. do you like foods with coconut in it? no. do you like carrots more if they’re raw, or cooked? i don't like carrots. what’s a chore you don’t mind doing? vacuuming have you ever been to costco? we don't have costco here. do/did you have to wear a uniform to your high school? no, thank god. how many video games do you own? A LOT. we have a huge case. do you like the name cindy for a girl? no. have you ever had a scary encounter with a wild animal? no. what are your point of view of the world? ex. liberal/conservative, spiritual/atheist: mostly conservative, religious. is there an age where being a virgin, you think, would be awkward? ... no? do you find zac efron sexy? eh, not "sexy," but cute. do you think aliens are real? no, but who really cares. be concerned about our planet first. do you have any scars on your body? left shin, chin, and the top of my right wrist. what was your favorite childhood toy? i actually had a bunch i used to play with. two t-rexes, a tricerotops, two crocodiles, two deer, and a few pokemon figurines. i actually still distinctly remember the deer was named kim and the crocodile was named marlin and they were husband and wife lmao. don't argue with my childhood logic. what color is your favorite eye shadow? black. what’s your favorite hairstyle on a guy? i am a fucking 14-year-old bc i have a huge weakness for the emo swoop okay. who was the last person to call you beautiful? tyler. what is your least favorite sour patch kids color? orange. would you take your ex boyfriend/girlfriend back? tyler, no. jason, only if he SERIOUSLY proved himself to me again. are your parents religious? yeah. are you religious? yes. do you actually read your friends' surveys, or do you just copy paste them and fill them out yourself? i do. it's a good way to learn about people. which is your favorite episode of “i love lucy”? i'm not gonna spell this right, BUT THE VITAMEATAVEGIMAN ONE. name two people who you are closest with? mom and sara. which one of those two people would you eat first if you were starving? neither. i'd rather die. there are some things where living would no longer be worth it. do you know what the heck the difference is between the statements “we’re just dating” and “we’re together”? yes. "we're together" is definitely more serious. what would you call your aesthetic? gore, glitchy art, pastels, jellyfish, lace, black, scene/goth/emo style bc LAME, space, vintage favorite songs at the moment? it's been "do i wanna know?" by the arctic monkeys for a long time. favorite movies? my #1 is "alice in wonderland," tim burton's version. i also love "the crazies," "blair witch project 2: book of shadows," "white chicks," etc. what’s the name of the last cat you pet? either lexi (our old cat), or one of anna's (sister's mother-in-law) many cats. have you ever eaten stringed green beans before? yes. when talking on the phone, do you place it against your left or right ear? right. what’s your favorite flavor of muffin? chocolate chip. does your father have any facial hair? yes. does your sibling have a significant other? katie, bobby, and tiffany, idk. misty and ashley, yes. nicole, no. any idea what you want for your next birthday? another tattoo. have you ever ridden an elephant? no. what parts of your body are shaved? armpits and legs. imagine you are 34 weeks pregnant. you are healthy and you didn’t have any major problems in your pregnancy. would you consider flying from the uk to germany, which takes one hour, without a bad feeling that something could go wrong or the baby decides to come out earlier? no. i probably just wouldn't do it. has anyone ever mistaken you for a satanist? yes, because of my wardrobe, especially in high school. would you take a very casually dropped 'maybe i should just kill myself’ as a warning sign? yes. are you aware that although only about 14 percent of the american total population is black, that about 70 percent of the people in jail in america are black? why does something tell me that the person who made this survey is racist?? do you agree with the people who say that everyone is bi-sexual even if they don’t want to admit it? absolutely not, that's ridiculous. if you knew that one of your friends was considering suicide, what would you say to them? cliche, but i'd tell them it's not the answer nor is it ever worth it. and i'd call 911 myself. which disney princess do you think is the most beautiful? why? hm. not sure. if you met the celebrity that you most admire, what would be the first thing you’d say to him/her? god bless if i ever met mark, i know i'd tell him first, "if there truly is a god, i want him to be like you." what genre of movie do you typically watch the most? i prefer horror. do you enjoy visiting zoos or wildlife parks? yes to both. if you could bring back any extinct animals, what would you pick? tasmanian tiger. would you ever eat a traditional "pet", like cat, dog or guinea pig? no. what kind of wild animals do you see where you live? squirrels, opposums, raccoons, whitetail deer... what do you think of animals like orcas/dolphins being kept in captivity for entertainment? i don't support it. which one of your friends have you known the longest? colleen. are you good at making new friends? no. can you describe what was going through your mind during your last kiss? it only lasted a second, but "i really don't know if i should be doing this." how many friends do you have, whose name begins with g? one: girt do you like the hunger games? i've read the first book and seen the first movie. it's fine. are you any good with kids? no. like i shit you not i once pet my niece's head lmao would you ever like to meet marilyn manson? no. he's one of my all-time favorite artists, but i don't want my already-poor image of him to be further defiled. love him as a musician, but he's honestly a pretty shit person. would you rather hold hands or link arms with your significant other? hold hands. do you always blow-dry your hair after you wash it? never. i would be there for a looong time. my hair is super super thick and takes at least ten minutes to fully blow-dry. have you ever witnessed a birth? only cat births. i never want to experience a human birth. it's not magical, it's gross. do you buy eggnog around the holidays? eggnog's gross. have you ever been on a farm? yes. last three texts on your phone are from? mom, sara, ashley. did you ever have braces? i did for too long because we didn't have the money to take them off. thank god they're gone now. what was the hardest language you’ve ever tried to learn? latin. that shit was like impossible. who is the prettiest person you’ve ever met? my friend alon. what does your voice sound like? mumbly, deep. what event did you last dress up for? who went to that event? my sister's wedding. and lots of people. do you believe prayer really works? honestly don't know. i kinda think it's just a display of faith to talk to god. idk if it really influences him to "do" anything. Nope. does it bother you when dogs lick you? no. do you feed your pets human food? they'll sometimes get a little piece. what’s the strangest or rarest creature you’ve seen at a zoo? i think i've been to a zoo that had a tiger once... do you think violence in video/computer games influences the nation? no. that claim is ludicrous. i’m sure you know of the gamer fad on youtube. who’s your favorite? markiplier, easily. but i also like pewdiepie and 8bitryan. deserts: dreary or beautiful? beautiful. ever seen a panda? no. ever actually seen a snake in the wild? yes. i've seen rattlesnakes, water moccasins, and others. have you ever had a PET snake? what kind? yes. i've now had/have three ball pythons. ever had an encounter with a snapping turtle? they’re scary! yes. my sister actually caught a huge one while fishing. dad sadly had to just cut the line. wherever you live, have you ever seen your national bird? once. ever had a reptile as a pet that you had to feed crickets? yes, a chinese water dragon. ever play hearthstone? yeah. didn't really get into it. ever gone hunting? biggest thing you’ve ever shot? no. i don't really support hunting for sport. how about fishing? biggest thing you’ve ever caught? lots of times. pretty big river catfish. coolest place you’ve ever been fishing? ohhhhh! there's this place downriver of a dam that's deep in the woods. like, DEEP in the woods. it's sooo fucking beautiful. what’s in a camel’s back? fat. steve irwin: foolish for messing around with animals or brave for teaching us? he was fucking amazing. don’t you think it’s a bit deceptive to wear a push-up bra? *rolls eyes* do you truly believe we came from chimps? nope. well, what do you think of extra bones and even organs in our bodies? why do we have them? do your research and you'll know that our "extra" organs actually have purpose; i can't remember which, i think the appendix though, is vital to an fetus's existence. as for bones, i honestly don't know, but i don't believe that automatically points to evolution. weirdest video game you’ve ever played? i mean i'd say the whole "silent hill" series is pretty damn weird. what’s your favorite kind of penguin? emperor. don’t you think we’re spending too much money on exploring the mere theory of climate change? "theory." get outta here. everyone always wants to know your favorite animal. what’s your SECOND favorite? probably rhesus macaques. i just really like social animals. would you marry someone of a different religion? depends on the religion, honestly. religion plays a key role in determining your core beliefs. favorite song by the band the offspring? "pretty fly for a white guy," probably. maybe "self esteem." have you had your wisdom teeth out? no, but i have one on my bottom right that technically needs out, but after hearing how painful that procedure is, i reeeaaally don't wanna do that. your appendix? no. do you like the idea of promise rings in relationships? sure. not quite ready to promise marriage, but promise to be ready some day. would you date someone 8 years older than you? yeah. what is your secret weapon to lure the opposite sex? lmao what secret weapon? do you have a favorite name? what is it? alessandra. do you watch scary movies on your own? yeah. scary movies just don't affect me. have you ever had to have stitches? yes, in my chin. what was your favorite pokemon as a child? charmander.

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