#Could be more far cry 5 related in da future

[skoll-sun-eater]

So I used to do 'belly' dancing publicly. I don't really do that anymore (because a lot of heavy reasons), once in a while I will dance with my troupe but only if it's just a private hangout. I'm trying to find the fun in it again, I mostly dance at home, cause it's a good supplement workout to go alongside with my running.

However, I've been doin some stuff, fusing the fc5 cosplay with this and may do a dance thing dressed up as John, Joseph, Faith and Jacob in the future. But yeh I might dance as John or faith for ya'll sooner than the others since I have the pieces for them more so already.

I miss performing...

Btw my dance styles are usually fusion, mostly Egyptian cabaret and some ATS since I danced with a troupe.

[rieshon]

Best of 2019

It wouldn't be a best of the year post if it wasn't hopelessly late.

10: Shinchou Yuusha ~Kono Yuusha ga Ore TUEEE Kuse ni Shinchou Sugiru~ ∥ White Fox ∥ Dir. Sakoi Masayuki: The title makes this sound like it could be terrible but this series has a Konosuba-like aplomb that makes it one of the best comedies of the year. Toyosaki Aki is absolutely brilliant as the shithead damegami Listarte and the animation consistently matches her over-the-top comedic masterclass. The show even has a real ending; opinion is split but I found it surprisingly satisfying.

9: Babylon ∥ Revoroot ∥ Dir. Suzuki Kiyotaka: This is the first Strand-type anime. Babylon is incredibly hard to describe and, having only seen it once, I'm not even fully confident in saying what it's about. It is a wild ride that meditates on some serious themes and seems to come to conclusions that won't be entirely comfortable for a lot of readers. This is one you really have to experience for yourself.

8: Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari ∥ Kinema Citrus ∥ Dir. Abo Takao: The most discoursed-about series of 2019 ends up being a surprisingly mature take on the isekai tensei genre. Like the best entries in the genre it features a protagonist who is deeply flawed and Naofumi's journey to learning to trust and love again is genuinely moving. It definitely does come off a bit like an incel fantasy at first but it is ultimately way more nuanced than that could ever suggest. Also, Raphtalia is best wife.

7: Kouya no Kotobuki Hikoutai ∥ Gemba ∥ Dir. Mizushima Tsutomu: Tsutomu, you son of a bitch, you did it again. While Kotobuki doesn't reach the rareified air of Garupan (pun not intended) it is very much in the same vein, and offers unending joy to any nerd who loves warplanes or just aviation in general. The script from the always-excellent Yokote Michiko is tight and compelling and gives a genuinely interesting backdrop to the frenetic plane action. Kotobuki is an excellent example of the power of showing rather than telling, something anime is woefully bad at: the fact that Kotobuki's isekai setting is never really expounded on makes it that much more interesting.

6: Hitori Bocchi no Marumaru Seikatsu ∥ C2C ∥ Dir. Anzai Takefumi: If Katsuwo's other work to be adapted into anime, Mitsuboshi Colors, is about being a child, then Bocchi is about the fraught transition from childhood into early adulthood. The titular Hitori Bocchi will be a frighteningly relatable character (my comment for the first episode on my blog was 'We Are All Bocchi') but unlike other series clearly aimed at alienated nerds, the show never feels sorry for Bocchi and most importantly, Bocchi doesn't feel sorry for herself. The show is explicitly about the importance of stepping outside of your comfort zone and although it's hard for Bocchi to do this, with the help of her friends she's able to work up the courage necessary to grow from a scared child into a functioning young adult. Also she's cute as fuck.

5: Machikado Mazoku ∥ J.C. Staff ∥ Dir. Sakurai Hiroaki: This is one of the best Kirara anime in ages. Kohara Konomi and Kitou Akari are a wonderful comedic combination, and Shamiko is probably the cutest girl of the whole year. She's pretty much the definition of the phrase "moe through helplessness" which makes her quest to be an evil demon truly hilarious. Like all the best Kirara anime, Machikado Mazoku slowly becomes a yuri anime as Momo's character develops and it becomes increasingly clear that she's just hard gay for Shamiko. I could watch these two be tsundere for each other forever.

4: Joshikousei no Mudazukai ∥ Passione ∥ Dir. Takahashi Takeo: There were a lot of excellent comedies this year and I always find them hard to review. Where Mudazukai particularly excels is the crassness of its characters: like the title suggests these aren't your typical cutesy anime JKs. They crack dirty jokes, take the piss out of each other, and feel more genuinely like friends than a lot of high school girls in anime. Akasaki Chinatsu in particular is pitch-perfect as 'Baka,'  its like she was born to be stupid. Probably the funniest show of the year, even though I have one comedy ranked above it.

3: Senkizesshou Symphogear XV ∥ Satelight ∥ Dir. Ono Katsumi: The fact that a Symphogear series could end up this high on the rankings is something like a miracle. After years of me shitting all over it for incomprehensible plotlines and disposable characters, they somehow not only fixed it in the last season, but even retroactively redeemed some of the elements from those shitty third and fourth seasons and created some of the most thrilling moments of the year in the process. It even goes as far as to reach back to the first season and address the latent themes of Japanese nationalism that have always hung over the show in resolving Tsubasa's character arc. XV delivers such a satisfying conclusion that it fully justifies the past six years spent on developing the Symphogear series in a way I never thought possible. It's a beautiful thing to behold.

2: Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai ~Tensai-tachi no Ren'ai Zunousen~ ∥ A-1 Pictures ∥ Dir. Hatakeyama Mamoru: The romantic comedy is probably the most prolific genre in late night anime, and Kaguya-sama stands shoulder to shoulder with the greats. Everything from the voice acting (Koga Aoi should be a superstar, and Kohara Konomi is already on her way to being a household name) to the animation to the direction to the writing is superb. Kaguya even delivers in spades in the "romantic" side of "romantic comedy" which isn't something every rabukome can say. The number of series that I can say have made me cry from laughing and from emotion is pretty small, but Kaguya is proudly among them.

1: Araburu Kisetsu no Otome-domo yo ∥ Lay-duce ∥ Dir. Andou Masahiro & Tsukada Takurou: After all these years, Okada Mari has finally delivered her magnum opus. There has perhaps never been a more frank discussion of female adolescent sexuality than Araoto, drawing heavily as it does from Okada's own lived experience as a confused and bullied teenager. These girls are fragile people who are walking a knife's edge between childhood and adulthood, and they don't always keep their balance. As someone who didn't grow up as a girl, it's not something I can intrinsically understand, but it's a testament to Okada's writing that Araoto MAKES you understand what it's like to be a teenage girl going through puberty. It's ugly, it's dangerous, it's scary, and... it's something every woman goes through. Araoto deftly tackles themes of discovering ones sexuality, homosexuality, and the pressure put on young women by a society that both sexualizes them against their will but also demands that they remain chaste and pure. It is unlike almost anything else that's ever been made in this medium, and that's why it's my anime of the year.

Honorable mentions... Like I said above, this was a strong year for comedy so some good series didn't make the cut. Ueno-san wa Bukiyou was a great showcase for Serizawa Yuu's comedic chops (which us Pripara fans have known about for years) and featured some of the most memorable gags of the year... Kemurikusa saw Tatsuki triumphantly return to television with his first full length work since Kemono Friends, and I frankly found it to be better than Kemofure; a truly enjoyable work of post-apocalyptic science fiction... Speaking of science fiction, I also feel compelled to mention Kanata no Astra, which seemed underappreciated but ended up being an extremely well-written SF series. Of course, we also have to mention Kono Yo no Hate de Koi wo Utau Shoujo YU-NO if we're talking about science fiction; I didn't particularly like YU-NO's second half that much, but it's worth watching if only to understand where so much of modern anime comes from in the first place.

The awards go to...

Best Actress: Koga Aoi as Shinomiya Kaguya, Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai. I mentioned above that this girl should be a superstar, and it's frankly absurd that she hasn't gotten more leading roles considering the considerable talent she shows off as Kaguya. She's a one-woman wrecking crew in this series, with her ability to effortlessly straddle the range between "cold and detached psychopath" and "petulant 8 year old throwing a tantrum" being the lynchpin of a lot of the series fundamental humor.

(Honorable mention: Akasaki Chinatsu as "Baka," Joshikousei no Mudazukai; Yukino Satsuki as Magase Ai, Babylon)

Newcomer Seiyuu of the Year: Kohara Konomi. It's a sweep for Kaguya-sama, and the voice acting is a big part of the reason that show was so exceptional. It kind of feels like cheating to give this to someone who's already played a Precure, but Toei were just really ahead of the curve on this one. 'Koko-chan' exploded onto the scene in 2019 between her roles as Fujiwara-shoki and Shamiko in Machikado Mazoku, with a distinctive vocal style and a knack for comedic delivery. Several of the most memetic lines of the year, like Fujiwara's "Don da yo!" and Shamiko's "Kore de katta to omou nayo!" come courtesy of her, and I feel like that ability to stick in people's minds is a testament to her level of talent. Though I gave Koga the nod overall for her performance as Kaguya, it's clear that Kohara is the one the industry has earmarked for future success with the level of prominence she's had over the past year or so, so she gets this award.

(Honorable mention: Fairouz Ai. "Fai-chan" made a splash thanks to her unusual background, but she's also proven to be a talented actress after appearing from seemingly out of nowhere to play Hibiki in the Onegai Muscle anime. It's out of the scope of this post, but she really made an impression in Oshibudo as Eripiyo, but her body of work is still too thin for her to win this award outright. She's shown she has a knack for the funny with her brusque and aggressive delivery, but I'd really like to hear her as a dramatic lead sometime soon.)

[yasbxxgie]

"I still don't know if I am truly creative," writes Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in the introduction to Creative Quest, his new book exploring what it means to be a creator. "At times I feel like I'm a way better student than I am teacher or maker." Despite winning three Grammys with the Roots and counting author, DJ, designer, producer and culinary businessman among his varied pursuits, music's most affable multihyphenate writes with a deep humility and constant curiosity toward the mindsets of those he admires.

Backstage after a Tonight Show taping, Thompson explains why he wanted to write a book blending his own history of artist collaborations with advice on how to generate ideas, how to deal with failure and how technology has affected the creative process. "I'm asked all the time, 'What advice would you give?' And I hate doing that whole, 'Just stick to your dreams, da-da-da-da-da,'" he tells Rolling Stone, sounding more animated than annoyed. "It's a self-help book for music and art heads."

Part manual, part manifesto, part music-nerd history, part textbook – "I would like this to be a gift that parents give their college students," he says – the book is an indispensable resource for anyone looking to understand the impulse, psychology and spark behind creative ideas.

Who are your heroes? My dad [doo-wop singer Lee Andrews] taught me everything I know about the music business. But if you're talking about who I look to and worship in my daily life, the Father is Don Cornelius, the Son is Prince and the Holy Ghost is Michael Jackson. The first thing I do every morning is watch an episode of Soul Train. Why? I don't know. Because I can. There's always some Prince surprise around the corner. And the last three interviews on my podcast are heavily Jackson-related.

What's the best advice you've ever received? [Drummer] Bernard Purdie was doing a session for my father in 1975. Dad said, "Bernard, tell my son how you keep food on the table," and he says, "The two and the four." I didn't understand the jargon then, but I know it now. Which is why whenever parents make me meet their four-year-old and the [kid's] looking at me like, "Who the hell are you?" I just say, "You're not going to get this now, but trust me, you'll understand this 20 years from now."

My dad was always a rigorous, bandleading disciplinarian when it came to keeping it in the pocket. That stuck with me. In some ways I've become my dad, especially with the Roots. All of our arguments have to do with numbers. Also, my dad always said, "Son, remember: They can't get you if they can't put anything in you." That's probably the reason I don't drink. I think he had these fears of me partying at a bar and picking up a random person.

What advice would you give to a teenage Questlove? If the Questlove Jacob Marley figure could go back in time and tell 19-year-old me that you were about to face the hardest 25-year fight of your life, would he still stay in the race? It's like, "I got good news and I got weird news. The good news is you guys are going to be in the industry. You're going to make it. The weird news is that you'll probably be closer to 50 before you get the moment where you can just be like [exhales]."

[Over the years] I had panic attacks over [other people getting] undeserved Rolling Stone covers. I remember, "How the fuck they get five mics [in the Source]?" I threw tantrums; I threw glasses. Many times, I quit. But there was always the hope that one day you were going to make it. I jumped in the river and there's piranhas and sharks, but as far as I'm concerned, I have a 500-foot lead on them.

Was there a career moment, though, when you thought you "made it"? I knew when I had a DJ gig for the Super Bowl in 2010. I asked my DJ manager, "Wait, how much are they going to pay me for this?" and my manager joked, "Hey, we should make this your new price." I was like, "No!" My thing was always, "Go super under because all I want to do is have something to do after a show." I never wanted to be the guy that just slams on the table like, "Give me six figures," to a club that I knew can't afford that. My manager's like, "Dude, doing these $5 DJ gigs for nine hours is not going to further you along. Trust me on this one."

What first drove you to play hours-long DJ sets? There's a lot of boredom on the road once you get off the stage at midnight and there's girls and there's Patron there. So I made sure that I was accounted for between the hours of 12:30 and four in the morning. I don't want to start a cocaine habit. DJ'ing was my cocaine.

Why did you want to include a chapter in your book about how to deal with failure? There have been a lot of pie-in-the-face moments. "Oh, you're Questlove and you're an icon and everyone loves you." But I cry over record reviews and have done horrible projects. It's important to let people know.

I was a little dismayed once Will Smith joined Instagram [laughs]. I have this failure thing on lockdown [claps]. I'm going to be the first person to be like, "Yes, you must fail!" And then Will Smith came with, "Failure is great," and I was like, "Ah, fuck!"

Do you ever get impostor syndrome? Every day of my life. I was trying to explain to my girlfriend recently: "Look. You know how you look at me as this dweeby nerd that gets on your nerves? You do acknowledge that there are some people on this Earth that hold me in a higher superman regard, but you're stuck with Clark Kent." A lot of us are afraid that we'll get found out as normal. The reason why bodyguards and velvet ropes really exist is mainly because a lot of celebrities don't want you to know how normal and regular they are.

After Things Fall Apart came out and this whole new world opened, there were still questions to answer, like, "Ahmir, why are you still driving that Scion?" I was on a date last year and the girl looked at me like I disrespected her. She's like, "You're driving a Kia Soul? Why?" I was like, "Well, it's boxy, but it's also Afro-friendly and my hair won't be flat when I get out the car. You do know about me, right? You know I do regular guy shit like shopping at Ralph's at three in the morning."

When I interviewed the Revolution, to hear that Prince was doing his laundry and making sandwiches while making "When You Were Mine" in his house. ... He's literally recording a life-changing record and running upstairs [to finish laundry]. I would rather kill all expectations and let you know from the get that I'm a super-dweeb.

What are the most important rules to live by? Get out of your own head. When I write about that, I'm trying to explain being in the alpha state where you do things so naturally that you don't overthink it. Some people over-prepare stuff and overthink things; some people don't do their homework and just wing it and are under-prepared. But there's that middle place where it's so natural to you that you just don't think about it.

I know I'm coming off like that weird guy that I used to always roll my eyes at whenever I saw people talking about metaphysics and now I've become that person. But my peers overthink shit and call me at four in the morning, like, "I can't!" Panic is just people's default. They don't trust the Force. I'm dismayed that U2's "Get Out of Your Own Way" didn't hit bigger.

You write that your response to seeing someone else's creative innovation is to be "overcome by a kind of paralysis." What was the last thing that made you freeze? [Dave] Chappelle did a four-hour private show at the Comedy Store at NBA All-Star Weekend. Chappelle is in his mid-1960s free-jazz Coltrane phase. Especially now, when people are finding some of his work problematic. Just to see him have so much confidence ...  He spent 30 minutes talking about pumpkin juice. Thirty minutes! I am thoroughly amazed at anyone who is so confident in the science of their work.

He knows that he is Mel Blanc plus Richard Pryor. He has his whole science thing down from the [impersonates Chappelle] intonation of his voice that reminds you of Mel Blanc and Bugs Bunny. He always does this thing where he'll take a cigarette and not light it and put it to his mouth. He's hypnotizing. He analyzes the science [of comedy] and he'll go out and test it. It's so fearless to me. The best part was, the last three hours? All misses. [Chris] Rock was rolling his eyes like, "Alright, man. Tell Dave, let's go to the restaurant" and I was like "No, man! That's the best part!"

Hypothetically, the creators of Black Mirror ask you to create an episode. What's it about? I'm obsessed with time travel so it's a time travel episode with an African American, but I need them to have two options: They can either travel to an alternate universe in which there's no civil unrest or civil injustice. So if I go back to the 1600s, slavery doesn't exist. However, you're not allowed to take the knowledge that you have with you in present day, so I can't invent the basketball or [know to] make friends with four guys from Liverpool, England, and be their manager. But, if you choose that option, you only get 80 years on Earth and you will have Benjamin Button syndrome and can't get old.

Or, you can take the 10-year test and go back to whatever time period and have to deal with the social consequences, but there's going to be a price to pay. If you can manage to survive those 10 years, you can convince the Beatles that you can be their manager [laughs]. It's the challenge of staying alive.

How far do you think the Roots would've gone if you'd stayed with your original name, Black to the Future? [Laughs] One and done. One album and that's it. Those [kind of] group names never ...  yeah. But [some crate-digger] would've paid $500 for that one record.

What's the best and worst thing about success? The best thing about success is I don't know if I have it yet. The worst thing about success is I'm still grasping to get some [laughs].