#I’ve been taking a lil break from the internet in general but I think I’ll be properly back after my exams :)

[valenhell]

From the studio that brought you “I can’t find good Byler fics in the ao3 tag”, comes:

"The Definitive Byler fic rec list"

Literally no one asked for this but because I spent the majority of last year (...and 2019, and 2018...) reading byler fics and coping with life, I thought I’d make a list of some of my absolute favorites. 

The other day I was basically starving for some byler fics and the angel @magicalfairy provided me with some of her faves so I thought I’d do the same, because I love reading, and I love all of these fics and I appreciate their writers💗 And fic writers in general, come on!

- This is a mix of long works and one-shots/short stories. - Everything is mostly fluff with a tad of angst and a lot of internalized homophobia conflict.  - Every fic is completed, except for the ones I mention that they are not. - I try my best to lay out the stories in a way that I won’t spoil you the plot but also warning you of some stuff you might don’t like. Either way, all of these fics are correctly tagged by their respective authors/owners, so read at your own risk. For better understanding, in between brackets I denote Rating, Words and quantity of Chapters. - I feel like I should clarify, none of these are narrated in the singular first person. None of that “And I told him...”, no. 

Long fics

a dream always the same (T, 99k, 35 chapters) What happened in those few weeks between the Battle of Starcourt and the Byers leaving Hawkins. Literally a satisfying and very needed fill in of season three, with a good dose of Mike’s thoughts and conflict. Mike’s characterization is specially amazing in this one. The writing style is amazing and I know the author put everything into making it historically accurate, and it was really sweet. You probably read it, it’s by the amazing sevensided here on Tumblr🧡

Spring Break (T, 120k, 14/15 chapters) The slowburn of my dreams. Lots of internalized conflict and conflict with each other. Conflict within the Party (uhh kind of), conflict with Mike and Will. Byers family has moved and the kids are visiting! Chaos. Characterization is on point. Yeah, I know it’s unfinished, but the fourteenth chapter actually serves as a pretty nice ending. 

This is where it starts (M, 148.8k, 24 chapters) Aged up characters. The Party is in college and Will disappears again, but now it’s different. Mike knows he didn’t vanish from thin air, and the discovery he and the Party end up making is pretty insane. Mystery solving/fantasy/third dimension, throw in a bit of D&D and Mike realizing some shit, and you get this marvelous fic. It’s a breath of fresh air. The world building is definitely one of the elements that stands out the most, because it’s very nicely described, it sounds like a dream and it’s completely immersive. Absolute gem of a fic. 

there’s a Starman waiting in the sky (M, 30.6k, 8 chapters) Do I need to say anything? Will is out there living his best life and Mike realizes that wow, umm, maybe his best friend looks a bit too nice with that costume... and wait, is he getting horny? It’s actually really fun and sexy.

The Evening Speaks (T, 23k, 7 chapters) In where Mike is a late-night college radio host and Will is the art student that stays up till late to catch up with Wheeler on the Mic. They flirt through songs y’all, this one is really sweet. 

heads or tails? (E, 24k, 3 chapters) Aged up characters. I know most people don’t enjoy sex in fics and with specific characters but this one is insanely well written. It’s a slowburn that commits to the tension and with every word you are grasping and anticipating their next move. I think you can find the author here on Tumblr as yousaidyes🧡

The Man of Average (M, 56.7k, 5/? chapters) Aged up characters. No but you don’t understand, the writing here is absolute gourmet. The story is exciting as well, it’s super interesting. Weirdly enough, for being very aged up characters, they are well characterized but they don’t feel like teenagers. They are naturally Mike and Will. The author really captured Mike and Will’s essence. I know, it’s unfinished and it’s updated very rarely, but this is the typical fic you can’t believe someone just posted on the internet for free. I will say though, I think it’s definitely not for everyone. Read at your own risk.

Heartstrings (E, 82.8k, 24/? chapters) Aged up characters. By the same author of The Man of Average. A collection of memories, the road to Mike and Will’s happy ever after. And fucking hell!!!!! You’ll cry and get angry, you’ll cheer for them, then you’ll want to crash their faces together because god dammit you love each other!!! But yeah, same thing here. The writing and the way the story is laid out as a nonlinear narrative is brilliant. And I also think this is one of the best Will versions I’ve read. The author might as well be the og creator of this two characters tbh. You can find the author here as mylesimeblr🧡

Sinners behind the walls (T, 1.5k, 1/1) And because I can’t stop recommending this author, a little thing of Mike tormenting himself but also being too deeply committed to Will. 

The Red Envelope series (T/E, 167K, two completed works) Something happens that Will thought was impossible and from there, pure drama and romance. Anything by this author has the potential to become your absolute favorite fic, but this series in particular is amazing. I doubt that any of you haven’t read this, but it doesn’t hurt to put it in this list. I’m pretty sure the author is serendipitous-magic on Tumblr🧡

A New Fight series (T, 91k, two completed works, one WIP) And finally the Star Wars AU that we all needed. But this isn’t your typical “Mike is Han”, “Will is Leia” and “El is Luke”, it’s way more interesting than that, and the author has appropriated the Star Wars world like no other. I’ll admit I’m not a 100% fluent in SW lore but this is amazing to me either way. This author is also on Tumblr, tea-for-one-please🧡

- Yes, most of these are (if not all), in a way, canon compliant/canonverse/canon continuation into fanon. (In a way)

One-shots and short stories

Sundae for Two, Please (G, 4.8k) Steve being the supportive friend and older brother these kids collectively need. (not Jonathan erasure, we love him). Steve is very sweet himself, and this little cute thing through his POV is gorgeous. Yes, it’s byler.

Backstage (T, 10k, 2/2) Jonathan, you forgot to mention to Will how hot your new band’s guitarist is, dude. Now he’s hyperventilating and weirdly flirting with him in the corner. Background Stonathan because why not.

102 Peach Street (G, 3.8k) Established relationship, but not only that, they are married :’’))) PURE fluff. Extreme fluffiness. Diabetes. 

sweatshirts and bottled up feelings (T, 3.2k) Or, Mike thinks that the sweatshirt Will wears looks insanely good on him. And kitchens are for lovers. 

kiss it better (T, 16.3k) Basically one of the best character studies of a few precise moments of Mike and Will’s relationship and feelings. 

will wonders ever cease (T, 11.3k) #i ship will and happiness. Omfg what a beautiful piece of fanfic. Will centric, this kid really deserves all the good in the world.

The Calm After the Storm (T, 1.6k) Tooth rotting fluff, boyfriends in love. Boyfriends being lazy, cuddling, love words, kisses. Boys loving each other’s company... Basically, Mike and Will in their element. What more can you ask for?

neither of us ready to let go (T, 4.8k) That scene from season three, but a bit of a fix it. 

Still in love (G, 1k) Domestic, married life au fluff. Y’all, I’m a sucker for established Byler, even if I can’t find many fics with it. But this is very sweet. It takes place in 2020, but I don’t think there are any mentions of the COVID-19 crisis that I remember.

I Nver Find Out ‘Til I’m Head Over Heels (G, 12.5K) Classic 5+1 fic. If you haven’t read it, where have you been? This is your moment. In where Mike keeps inviting Will to the school dances and Will thinks it’s just a joke until he realizes it’s not. 

Before You’re Gone (T, 5.9k) Will is leaving Hawkins and Mike thinks this is a great moment for a confession. This one I discovered last friday, thank you friend @magicalfairy 💗

You’re weird Wheeler (M, 4.5k) Mike unintentionally starts a tradition of going to each other to talk about their sexual encounters just after they finish. Will keeps getting more explicit with the details he shares, and he makes his best friend interested. This one is really fun y’all.

Out-Of-Town Friends (N/R, 4.6K) It’s not rated. I haven’t re- read it but I’d say it would probably fall in a T rating. So cute!! Will has new friends and sneaks off every friday and the Party doesn’t know where he is going, so Mike decides to follow him and is surprised. 

Snowed Under (G, 1.3k) By the same author of The New Fight series. Mike is spending christmas by himself in college because a snowstorm hits Chicago and Nancy can’t drive to see him, but then he has a surprise visitor. Ahhh just a lil sweet holiday fic. Super cute. 

you love me anyway series (T, 7.1k, three completed works) Literally just the cutest thing ever. Established Byler. Will loves to take pictures and he loves taking pictures of Mike. It’s adorable. 

you wanna be friends forever (i can think of something better) (T, 9k) This one is so amazing. So. Amazing. From Will’s POV, my kid deserves the world and he gets it. 

okay not to be okay (T, 4.9k) Mike is a bit sad but then everything is okay. 

can’t hold out forever (G, 18.4k) Y’all!!!!! 5+1 sweetness. Mike has been falling in love since kindergarten. And it’s long af, you’ll enjoy it. 

even if it takes forever (G, 1.3k) College short AU, they miss each other, they love each other, they promise all to each other. It is sappy y’all.

clear as day (N/R, 18.4K, 4 chapters) It’s not rated, but I’d say it falls in the T category. Strangers to friends to lovers. And also, everyone is pretty gay; we have our dynamic trio Mike, Max and El as disaster lesbians (and gay). Will works at the library and he is also gay. Lucas and Dustin and Will are the best friends we needed. It’s very sweet and the Party is kind of formed here!

I went overboard with the one-shots, so you must have realized how much I love long one-shots and I favor them over long works lmao but they are all amazing!!! If it’s on this list, I probably read it at 2 am, sobbing in my bed. So. Hope you enjoy it☺️🧡

[little-murmaider]

@cthene @squeeto and @failedintsave have written three distinct flavors of Skwistok Apocalypse Fic and they all live in my head rent free so I felt like doing a lil end-of-the-world scene. (If a modified version of this pops up in the Stay Alive sequel that doesn’t exist shh shh shh shut up ❤️) 

The bunker didn’t offer much in the way of creature comforts. A holdover from the Cold War, it was 1500 square feet of steel buried beneath four stories of cement. There were suggestions it had been built for a group, but there was only one bed—a twin cot that only Pickles could fit on comfortably, though Toki made due if he tucked in his knees. The bar and the armory were fully stocked. A connection to the outside world was available via a 360-degree live feed of the surface, visible from a claustrophobic surveillance room. It wasn’t impenetrable, but it was a lucky find. And until they received marching orders from Offdensen, it was home. The only spray of color amongst the sterility was a faded, amateur mural canvasing the entirety of the southwest wall. A panorama of the snowy, mountainous Montana landscape. The proportions are all out of wack: Distant trees and prominent foreground boulders seem to have the same weight and dimension. Toki sits on the floor opposite it, eyes fixed on the blobby bug-eyed buffalo grazing the sorta serene-ish tableau. He thinks of the person who painted this. How they were probably really proud of it. How making it probably brought them some form of peace. How they were long dead. The despair makes him nauseous.  Skwisgaar is curled in the space between Toki’s legs, head resting on his chest, arms wound lightly around his waist. They all agreed to take turns “keeping watch” in the surveillance room.  But everyone was on-edge, everyone was scared, everyone was a little too focused on their own anxiety to notice how deftly Skwisgaar switched shifts. His impulse to assuage the others often tipped into the unhealthy territory but in the last few weeks it had made a full tilt into self-destruction. He’d been holed up in that room, delirious with sleep deprivation, for almost two days days before Toki caught on. He was only convinced to leave when Toki started crying. (He’s not proud of that tactic, but hey, it’s the end of the world. Lots of people are doing lots of things they’re not proud of.) As he idly plays with the ends of Skwisgaar’s hair, Toki hears the echo of footfalls drawing near. They’re so swift, so light, Toki knows exactly who it is well before the worn sneakers appear in his periphery. “Hey,” Pickles says. “Heys,” Toki answers. A half-empty handle of vodka dangles from Pickles’s fingers. He tips his chin at Skwisgaar’s sleeping form. “Why doncha take th’bed?” “Nathan’s using its.” Pickles nods and takes a long pull from his drink. A beat passes.  “…That buffahlo is pretty fucked up, huh?” “I can’ts stops looking at its.” “I’ve never SEEN a buffahlo in real life but I’m,” he pauses, squinting to calculate, “73 percent sure they don’ look like that.” “Onlys 73 per-cents?”  Pickles shrugs. “I mean, hey, maybe buffahlos look exactly like that, I dunno whut I dunno.” Toki’s silent laughter shakes him. But then a muffled moan vibrates against his collarbone. “Toki?” He murmurs, sluggishly starting to rise. He code-switches on instinct. To answer in English, with an audience, is too raw. “Jeg er her.” He cups the base of Skwisgaar’s skull and guides him back to his chest. “Gå tilbake til sengs.” Skwisgaar’s hold tightens. “Lämna mig inte.” “Aldri, elskede.”  He settles against him and sighs. “Tack, älskling.”  Skwisgaar’s weight sinks into him, and after a few moments his muscles relax as his breathing falls into a slow, even rhythm. Again, it is quiet. “Whut does it mean?” Oh right Pickles is here. “Whats?” “Th’ e word and th’ a word you guys use fer each other.” Toki freezes. “At least I think they start wit’ an e and an a, I can’t be bothered t’ look up th’ spellin’ in that elven language  a’yours.” He smiles crookedly but his eyes glass over. “That and we’re 40 feet underground and th’ internet doesn’t exist anymore.” “You’ve heards us says dat?” “Dood ya do it all’a time. I may naht know what yer sayin’ but I’m pretty good at pickin’ up patterns.”  He taps out an invisible rim shot, hissing the cymbal crash as he winks. Toki briefly considers lying. But he knows it’s a waste—Pickles is primed to hacksaw through all his bullshit. “It don’ts...translates, exactly, into English.” He waits a moment to see if Pickles accepts this as an adequate explanation. He doesn’t. Toki continues shakily: “Wells, it does but nots, um, de emotion…” He scrunches his nose and starts over. “Yous don’ts use it for everybodies, yous supposed to saves it for somebody who’s really…” Sighing, he thumbs Skwisgaar’s shoulderblade like it’s a lucky talisman. “I don’ts know whens we starts doesing it.” “A while ago, dood.” Oh.

“Oh. Um. Wells.” Heat rises to his cheeks. “Elskede in Norweigian means,” he winces, “beloved, and älskling ams kinds of de ex-quibbi-kent in Swedish buts it means, uh.” He tucks his chin to his chest and shields his eyes in embarrassment. “It means darling buts you don’ts use its de way you does ins English, it’s, um...” His thumb and middle and index finger squeeze into his eye sockets so hard stars flash across his vision.  “...It’s somet’ings you use for de poirson what ams most specials to yous, likes de poirson you mights maybe marry one days wowee saysing all dis outs loud makes me feel real stupids cans I please stops?” “Okey okey.” When Toki opens his eyes he sees Pickles waving his hands like he’s trying to break up a bad smell. “Asked an’ answered.” The tips of Toki’s ears burn, a shameful sludge spreading thickly behind his sternum. He tips his head back, skull thunking dully against the wall. “Don’ts tell de guys abouts dis, Skwisgaar will nevers forgive mes.” “Nah, dood, don’ worry, this stays in th’ vault.” The drone of the overhead fluorescent lights and the muted thrum of generators thrums like locusts. Skwisgaar inhales deeply, exhales sharply, and nestles closer. Toki’s gaze darts about the terrible mural, searching for something to latch to, but his focus swings as if by gravitational pull back to Pickles’s face. When he at last resolves to glance up at him, he’s braced for ridicule. But when he does, his tension deflates. Pickles doesn’t look like he’s about to make fun of him. Pickles looks like...Toki doesn’t know what Pickles looks like. “Whats dat face?” Pickles’s smile widens, head cocking to the side. “Stops dat! What’s dat face!” “What face! There’s no face! I don’ even have a face!” He bites his lower lip, muffling a chuckle. “Awright bud, I’m naht gunna lie, me and these other dooshbeegs have had our suspicions about the, errrr aaaah...” He cinches one eye shut. “...Nature of yer relationship. But none’a us suspected you guys were, y’know…” He rolls the wrist holding the vodka, liquid splashing to the floor. Toki stares at him questioningly. “...Fully in it.” Toki blinks. “In whats?” Pickles pinches his lips and squints as if to say, come on dude, but doesn’t press further. “Welp.” He kicks backwards to push himself off the wall and stand upright. “It’s almost sunrise. Or sunset, I dunno, this steel box has really fucked up my internal clahck. But I’m gonna watch th’ sun do somethin’ wit’ Murderface until my shift on watch.” He pivots to face the long corridor leading to the surveillance room. I’ll see ya around.” He pauses. He points a finger in the air, draws a small circle, and glances over his shoulder with a small smile. “Abviously.”  He’s gone as quickly as he arrived. Toki’s attention returns to the mural. The staticky grasslands. The angular mountains. The flat plane of the lake. Toki’s not an art guy but he knows this is bad. Still, it moves him. He doesn’t understand why. Maybe he doesn’t have to. He and Skwisgaar have always talked around it. They’ve always had an understanding, leaving little secrets and codes for the other to crack. They did, mostly. It’s the same, mostly. But it’s the end of the world and Toki needs to say it out loud. He buries his face in that soft golden crown and whispers, “I loves you.” “I loves you, too,” is the sleepy reply.  He was wrong. It’s different. It’s better.  “Is likes Pickle says.” He pushes himself up to press his lips to Toki’s neck. “We’s fully ins it.”

[written-prose-things]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale & Laura Hale, Laura Hale & Stiles Stilinski Characters: Derek Hale, Stiles Stilinski, Laura Hale Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Miscommunication, lil bit of angst Summary:

Laura Hale has been the alpha of a teenaged pack who's seen everything from draculas to faeries. How is she going to deal with Stiles getting her brother's name as his soul mark? Especially when said brother already has someone else's name.

(the fic’s under the cut as well)

Even if the pack’s a bit more grown-up now, they still act like the kids they were when she first met them. So as she’s sitting down on the couch with her noodle soup, to enjoy some reality tv, that one pack member or another is going to bust through the door and start clamouring for her attention. But she’s nothing if not headstrong.

The staple fight between the Kardashians is barely in its first act when Stiles rushes through the door, his sneakers squeaking and plaid shirt and jacket flapping around. He smells of anxiety and nervousness, exactly like he did the first day they met.

He whispers urgently, “Laura??!”.

She yells back from the den, “Here!!”

He walks towards her quickly, muttering, “Oh my god, be quiet!!”

When he finally turns the corner and enters the den, Laura puts her bowl aside and pats the seat next to her, “What’s wrong pup?”

He takes a deep breath, and she already expects a long-winded rant, “So, you know about soul marks, right? Obviously, you got yours, you’re still looking for the person with that name, so you know about this thing. Everyone gets it, right? But does everyone get that of the person that reciprocates? Not always. Sometimes people have different names.”

Laura frowns. Why’s he talking about soul marks suddenly? God knows it’s been a sour topic for him since his 17th birthday passed and he didn’t get-

“Oh my god!!! You got your mark??!! Stiles! You-” Stiles muffles her mouth quickly.

“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!” He whispers urgently, “Someone might hear!”    

Laura batted his hand away from her mouth, “No one else is here.”

Stiles raises an eyebrow, “Derek?”

Laura shrugs, “He said there was some work that needed to be done on the roof so he went to get supplies from the hardware store.”

Stiles smirks, “Wow, I always thought that nothing short of an apocalypse would make that homebody move from the mansion. But hey, in miracles we must believe.”

Laura smacks his thigh, “Shut up about Derek already, tell me about your mark, where is it?”

Stiles’ smirk becomes a little stilted as he replies, “I can’t really stop talking about Derek, he’s related to this whole mark thing that’s happened to me.”

Laura stutters, “You- Derek? You got Derek?”

Stiles’ smirk is now a full frown, “Yup.”

Laura knows she shouldn’t point it out, and that Stiles knows it already, “But he already has a-”

Stiles doesn’t let her complete, “Yup.”

Laura sighs. Everyone knows that Derek has a mark, he’s had one since they moved back to Beacon Hills, but he doesn’t like showing it or even talking about it, other than the one time he told her that he’d finally gotten his mark.

Laura sighs, “I’m so sorry, Stiles.”

He shrugs, “Yeah well, it is what it is. But that’s not why I came here.”

Laura barely stops her jaw from snapping open, one of the worst things on this planets happened to him and the boy wants to talk about something else. He’s either finally lost his mind or it’s a whack plan to set things straight.

“Oh? What did you want to talk about?”

Stiles shrugs, “I read this thing yesterday. when I got the mark, I couldn’t just wring my hands and cry about it right? So an older version of your uncle’s bestiary has mentions of a ritual that only werewolves can do to exchange marks.”

So whack plan it is. Laura interjects, “Stiles what the hell are you talking about? How can someone tempt fate like that? Also, why would I take my brother’s mark on my self? That’s so many levels of gross and weird.”

Stiles shakes his head, “No, I-”

The thing about the Hale mansion is that after years of use and the god awful fire, the house creaks and rattles with even the smallest wind. So Laura has trained herself to file little noises inside the house away. But she should know better by now. In giving Stiles her full attention, she didn’t keep an ear out for Derek.

And now her younger brother is standing at the door in front of them.

Stiles lets out a faint choking sound, “H-hey Derek, fancy seeing you here.”

Derek growls, “This is my house.”

Stiles laughs like he’s at a polite office party, “Just uh- How much of that did you here?”

Derek grits his jaw, “You don’t want my mark.”

Stiles bobbles his head, “Well, no- but. I- Look Derek, it’s been 3 years since my 20th birthday. I’ve made my peace with being alone and I don’t want to come in the way of you and whoever it is that you have. So it’s a spell that I’ve read. Any werewolf can do it and I then we can exchange names. So I was thinking that I could get the person with your soul mark to switch with me and the both of you can-”

Derek growls again, “No.”

Stiles stutter, “-get togethe- or no. right. Sure. Uh, What exactly, does that mean? No? Like I can’t give your name to your mark, or…?”

Derek sighs, “Give me my mark.”

“Huh?”, Laura knows better to get in the way of, what ever the hell this is, but Derek’s response is entirely unexpected.

 Stiles holds up a finger, “I’m sorry, but what now? You want your own name… as your mark? Isn’t that a bit vain?”

Derek growls and Stiles quickly amends, with his hands tucked inside the collar of his shirt, “Not that there’s anything wrong with being vain. Late-stage capitalism ya’ know, everyone’s on their own...”

Stiles’ voice peters out under Derek’s stern gaze.

Derek grumbles, “There’s nothing wrong with taking my name back. I’ll finally be able to do my own thing and you’ll be fine, the person with my name is some old polish dude. You’ll be rid of him sooner or later.”

Stiles nods jerkily, “Yeah, right. That- It makes sense.”

Laura gets up. She doesn’t want to do this at all. She trusts Stiles with her life and seeing Derek give that up, it breaks her heart. But it’s his life and his choice, she doesn’t want to come in his way.

“Right so what am I supposed to do?”

Stiles startles like he’d forgotten that she was even there, “You don’t need to be here for this lulu, we can manage on our own.”

She sighs and walks out of the den, she’s too tired to nag Stiles about the nickname.

oOo

Stiles holds his arm out to Derek, his sleeves fall back and Derek sees his name written in a neat freshly-dried inky script.

“What am I supposed to do?”

Stiles replies in a whisper and the gravity of the situation dawns on Derek, “Where do you have your mark?"

“On my leg.”

“Okay.” Stiles slides a chair towards him, “put your leg here and roll your pant up.”

Derek does as he’s told while the younger man busies himself with pulling out the photocopy of the tome his uncle had compiled.

“Now what?”

Stiles nods and looks up from his book, “It’s a little awkward, but we have to make our marks touch and-”

Stiles stops short of touching Derek’s leg with his forearm and Derek growls out, “What?”

He knows that the name is funny. He’s spent years on the internet looking for someone with that name and trying to understand the meaning of the name.

“I- That’s mine.”

Derek huffs, “Yes, that’s going to be yours when we switch. You seem to care much more about this then you let on.”

Derek can’t help but get irritated. Stiles wanted nothing more than to get rid of Derek’s name, he was willing to pawn it off to some stranger, but this god-awful key smash of a name is making his sappy?

Stiles looks up at him, “No, I- That’s me. I’m Mieczyslaw Stilinski.”

Derek huffs, “Oh.”

[hey-hamlet]

BNHA AU Ideas: Power Transfer

Also on AO3!

TL;DR: 

One for all is a power that has been passed down for generations. Turns out the most recent generation can afford to be a whole lot more liberal with his sharing. Also turns out sharing quirks runs in the family.

An AU where Izuku can share OFA full cowling with multiple people at once.

shared power ofa,

izuku giving aizawa 5% of one for all durring the usj or izuku giving toshinori 99% of OFA durring the last fight

cause consider the world never finding out about small might, all might retires but izuku knows

the rescue team all having the max amount of ofa they can use, which is around 2% each, cause a lil sparking team of heroes

izuku using kirishima to give bakugo some too n them using it to get away

izuku having two quirks is my favourite goddamn thing bc him being able to share his quirk but not having anything to share is great

he gives bits to allmight, like a constant 1% so he can teach classes and do press stuff

some rando wants to do an "all might" where is he now segment and it spans a good few months so izuku is continuously in the background just

conspiracy theory starts that izuku is a villain or allmights son

a villain and all might's son

izuku has no double toe joint but the doc cant find any evidence of a quirk? so he tells them izuku is either quirkless or has an invisible quirk. something subtle, or specific enough to have not activated by now

bakugo kinda,, is chill with izuku. he was waiting for izuku to develop a quirk till he judged him, but he never did so he kinda withheld judgement long enough for them to become decent friends

anyway, izuku likes to ramble about different things his quirk could technically be, bakugo likes to join in. they can go at this for h o u r s cackling about stupid hypotheticals

they workout together, they both do boxing and try out random moves they see on the internet on each other. they have a pile of gym mats in the woods like the weirdos they are

bakugo is like,, convinced izuku's quirk is actually an intellect up but he just shrugs

izuku has to grab something before he heads home so he takes the underpass and we get basically episode 1 from there. all might says no, the villain gets away, attacks Bakugo. izuku runs in, throws dust in the villain's eyes and pulls at bakugo's hands. all might jumps in, saves the day yada yada

some background for u about all might bc his past is a touch different here. during the battle with afo, afo was distracted. all might sustained the same injures but won more easily.

night eye never looks into his future because "my purpose is done, nighteye. let's live like everyone else, no fate of the world on our shoulders" he never looks into all mights future again at his request

they stay together

so instead of the big argument they go get ramen and get drunk because they don't have to be superhuman anymore, they can relax now

back to the main timeline-

so izuku is already fit, cleans the beach in 8 months, nighteye supervises

all might gives izuku the quirk 2 months before the entrance exam, nighteye is there to "oversee" (he wants to see izuku choke on a hair and laugh at this kid hes become pretty fond of)

also mirio! is izuku's bro because i love he

izuku eats the hair and gets the quirk like, instantly which?? is confusing nighteye and all might. nighteye has like,,, hidden behind a car because hes the only person with self-preservation

allmight touches izuku and the lightning climbs up his arm and he just pOofs out into swolmight. hes ShooK, so is izuku

anyway, he manages to turn it off and izuku is just standing there like "oh my god what the fuck"

"izuku,, what,, happened there"

",,,, one for all??? leaked out??? into allmight????"

...

"nighteye come over here."

"izukU nO"

"STAND STILL NIGHTEYE I JUST NEED TO TRY SOMETHING"

nighteye is forcibly given a little of ofa and regrets a lot of stuff

anyway, izuku breaks an arm trying to use ofa and hes muttering trying to work out how to use it, nighteye basically says "well, think back to how ofa came about" and izuku is like ",,, what"

and nighteye screams because TOSHI YOU DIDNT TELL HIM?????? and allmight ",,, o o p s"

so izuku gets to hear the story of all for one while hes being driven to UA for recovery girl hes,,, really quiet for a second

"when did you fight him?"

"six years ago, april?"

",,, this has to be a coincidence"

hisashi went out on a "business trip" 6 years ago and they haven't seen him since. he calls, but hes never visited and izuku has this terrible feeling

because izuku cant calm down and because nighteye thinks this kid might be on to something they call tsukauchi and he agrees to meet them at UA

izuku gets treated, naomasa is in v quickly afterwards before he calls his dad he turns to nighteye, allmight and Naomasa

"i've never been able to lie to my dad. i thought he was just really good at reading me but,,"

"if hes afo he might have a quirk"

"yeah. so i'll just twist the truth. im good at that, but thats all i'll be able to do"

anyway, he calls up his dad and slaps this big grin on his face. the phone is on speaker

"hey dad!!!!" "izuku! is something wrong?"

"oi, cant i call my dad for no reason?"

"you, willingly calling someone? dont make me laugh"

izuku giggles despite himself

"anyway, you'll never guess!!"

"did youuuu,,,, hmmmm, meet all might?"

they freeze but izuku just laughs

"yeah,, but thats not the most exciting thing!!! my quirk came in finally"

"oh?"

"yeah! imagine the worlds most basic power enhancer, but i can share the energy! you have any idea where that could have come from?"

"no! i can't think of anyone in our family with a quirk like that! sounds crazy!"

naomasa looks grin, and mouths "liar"

izuku pales but keeps his smile

"do you think you could visit, id love to show you!! oh, maybe we could test it together! you always had the best ideas for my quirk notes"

"id love to izuku, but im stuck in america for the near future, you know it is. i'll see what i can do tho, ok champ?"

naomasa shakes his head again "lying" izuku looks like hes going to be sick. nighteye is pale, all might looks stunned. izuku grits his teeth but his voice is still light and happy

"i'm gonna make it into UA so you can watch me kick butt from america! you better cheer me on!"

"im looking forward to it. say hi to your mother from me."

naomasa nods. hes telling the truth. that makes nighteye feel the sickest

"love you izuku"

",,, love you too dad"

izuku hangs up the phone and retches into the bin. nighteye is shaking. all might storms out. naomasa punches the wall

izuku looks up with tears in his eyes

",,, does my mum know?"

nighteye wants to cry

"i dont know kid"

izuku tells katuski that his quirk finally came in! but,,, in the worlds biggest mess of a way

basically hes lying in bed, trying to work out why he can't use it without breaking bones but the people he shares it with can, he bolts upright

"POWER MODULATION OH MY GOD"

he runs out his door all the way to bakugos house and climbs in through his window, grabbing a sleeping bakugo by the shoulders

"KACCHAN ITS POWER MODULATION"

"IZuKU whAt tHE fuCK"

"my quirk!!! i was breaking bones because i wasnt modulating it!!!"

",,,,q QUiRK/???/?"

",,,, oh yeah oops"

mitsuki runs in with a frying pan ready to murder a villain but its just izuku

"carry on"

izuku doesnt tell him its ofa but he explains his quirk has finally showed up, bakugo asks him if hes registered it yet

",,,noooooo"

"wait what? you, breaking the law? mister "i cant kill an ant because all might himself will call me a villain""

izuku, w the most shit-eating grin, explains that you only legaly have to register your quirk when it shows up, or after you are tested when you are five, whichever happens first so, legally, he doesnt need to register because it would be seen as voluntary updating

cut to the enterance exam

aizawa is holding the papers for the kids hes observing right then

"quirkless? that kid doesn't look quirkless"

and yagi sighs

"of course he didnt,,,"

"all might? do you know him?"

"NO NO IDEA WHO MID- THAT YOUNG CHILD IS"

",,,, r i g h t"

“aizawa listen i have never seen young midoriya in my life ever”

basically, izuku is hiding the "transfer" part of his power from most people bc hes stubborn and thinks it could be useful

also,,, in this au shinso makes it in on hero points thanks

bakugo is about to rush the 0 pointer but shinso can see its going to fall on him shinsou yells

"HEY FUCK FACE"

"HA-"

"MOVE MOVE MOVE GET OVER HERE BEFORE YOU FUCKING DIE OH MY GOD MOVE I DONT WANT TO SEE SOMEONE DIE TODAY"

shinsou and bakugou are the type of friends that flat out have no love for each other but would punch anyone who says anything bad abt the other. like shinsou walks into school and bakugou s just

“dammit i thought u fucking died smh”

“i wish i did then i wouldn’t have to look at ur ugly ass”

in this au shinso and izuku bond when they are standing outside they door bc izuku looks like hes gonna fucking cry hes so scared and shinsou is like "wow big mood"

shinso is not shinson in this au! bc izuku is gonna do a soft

basically, quirk test? shinsou is s w e a t i n g bakugo looks a little worried for his new friend but no one would notice if they weren’t izuku

shinsou turns to him like "my quirk is mental im going to fa I L"

izuku grabs his hand and he feels this rush of energy, you can almost see it dancing along his skin. izuku grins

"i think you'll find you do just fine"

(izuku gave him like,, less than a full 1% but hes like doubled in strength and speed and hes??? shook?? bc whats happening)

aizawa is lost bc shinso has a mental quirk he shouldnt be doing this well, so he tries to cancel it

nothing happens and aizawa is so lost??? bc shinsou is kinda reedy and not super fit but hes placing solidly in the middle

and he noticing that shinso’s eyes seem to be glowing and so are they eyes of the kid coming in second and gives a big "hm,mmmm"

anyway, ball pitch, he cancels izukus quirk and turns to look at shinso, his eyes are dim. izuku looks sheepish but also like hes ready to throw down and its an interesting look

aizawa just sighs "you know what? just throw the ball."

izuku g r i n s and yeets it into next year using more of his quirk than he like,, really should have? to prove a point (his finger is bruised, not broken. he used 25%)

anyway aizawa shows the results, shinso is in the middle, izuku second, hagakure is last and sadly shes not getting expelled bc plot reasons – im sorry I have a thing against her shes perfectly valid probably im just still convinced shes the traitor even tho its totally a teacher

he calls izuku out on it but does admit he didnt say you couldnt help eachother, so its kind on him. shinso looks like hes going to pass out with relief

Hagekure is the traitor in this au though, 100%

during the camp she is at the pick up zone, hiding. izuku pulls bakugo out of the way, they all seem safe

but

she pushes izuku in through the portal as it closes

fyi afo takes her quirk and leaves her braindead in the nomu factory bc shes not useful anymore. also because now he needs to have a really awkward conversation with his son he was hoping to avoid

also usj? is really melodramatic

he gives aizawa 4% which is the max nighteye could hold without it hurting

aizawa takes a hit from the nomu and he reaches out his hand

izuku cries as he gives him an extra 4% and aizawa gets free but he can see bruises forming with every step his teacher takes

[spookyboywhump]

Songs that make me think of your stories

Right so this is a submission of all the songs I could think of that remind me of your stories. There’s probably a ton more so I guess if I ever want to submit more I’ll use the ask box and refer to myself as music anon. I don’t have a tumblr cause my hyper-conservative dad thinks the internet is powered by satan himself and I don’t need to fuel his anger issues any further.

I’ve already given you Horns by Bryce Fox, and the two IDKHOW songs but I can never find theme songs for my own characters lol.

ANYWAY

~ Do It For Me by Rosenfeld (Vanessa)

Say my name All I wanna do is hear you scream in pain Say my name I promise I’ll love you if you do it So do it for me

~ I’d Rather Drown by Set It Off (Zander @ Vanessa)

I know you already listen to Set It Off so you might already know this one

I’m the master of construction Because I’m building walls like it’s my occupation If you portray a liar, I’ll shut you out without hesitation It’s an art form of consummate skill Oh, how she plays them like the pawn Making boys drool at her will Like Pavlov to the dogs

~Novocaine by The Unlikely Candidates (Zander)

Same old shit Runnin’ my mouth until she busts my lip So many problems, you can take your pick I know I’m never gonna change

~ Castle by Halsey (Devlyn/Less)

Oh, all these minutes passing, sick of feeling used If you wanna break these walls down, you’re gonna get bruised Now my neck is open wide, begging for a fist around it Already choking on my pride, so there’s no use crying about it

~ Bury Me Face Down by Grandson (Zander)

When I go into the ground I won’t go quietly, I’m bringin’ my crown When I go into the ground Oh, they gotta bury me, bury me face down

~ Lemon Boy by Cave Town (Zander and Wren’s relationship)

So Lemon Boy and me, we just gotta get along together I’ll help him plant his seeds and we’ll mow the lawn in bad weather It’s actually pretty easy being nice to a bitter boy like him So, I got myself a citrus friend

~ Meteor Shower by Cavetown (Alessander)

Missing pieces of my skull I’ll sew on patches of my own soul There’s nothing you or I can do so let the stars fall ‘Cause from up here the sky is my thoughts And we’re all so small

~ Pit of Vipers by Simon Curtis (Zander/Cain/Wren)

There’s a game they play that I’m not part of Tearing at the weaknesses and all the faults they know It’s impossible to navigate around It’s inevitable that you’ll fall in It’s improbable I’ll ever come back down I fell in and now I think I might drown

I also don’t have any songs for the 20s AU, but “Line” and “Crooks”, both by Sim Gretina both make me think of it a lil (just the general air of menacing swing I think)

Maybe one day you’ll know my entire life story and music taste through tumblr-dot-com, but that day is not today.

***

Holy shit anon I am LIVING

Also, also, I am THRILLED you put Novocain for Zander because YES I’ve been replaying that song a LOT lately with him in mind. 

 Thank you so much anon I am literally So Fucking Happy, all of these are going in the playlist 

And can I just say, you have GREAT taste in musc!!!

[firelord-frowny]

SIGH so like. 

I’m doing some lil exercise/dance videos to work out and I’ve been so encouraged by the ~body diversity~ being featured in the videos. We’ve got buff dudes and buff ladies and skinny people and ~average~ people and chunky people and fat people and they’re ALLLL killing the workouts, even though they have varying degrees of what we think of as “fitness.” And like?? It’s encouraging to see that there’s no one singular Super Special body type that’s the only one that’s capable of being healthy and active and having a lot of energy and stamina. 

So, I broke the one rule of the internet and I looked at the comments for some STOOPIT reason. 

First comment I see is from a lady expressing gratitude and feeling encouraged by the presence of fat folks killing these workouts right along with ‘fit’ folks. She says,

The beautiful plump girls are making me feel less insecure about this workout! LOL. Can we please have more of this? I'd like to see some women or men my size trying to be and or remain healthy as well. :-) Thank you for this! Diversity matters!

Next comment I see is a reply from a hating ass, self-loathing ass, bitter ass ASS who’s like 

I understand cause i am fat as well but I find the insecurity and the shame to be helpful because no one should ever be contempt with being fat. When it comes to workout videos seeing overweight people losing weight does help but maintaining health while fat is delusional. These workout companies just put these people just to make people feel better and do not really care cause if those fat people become healthy then they would fire them and replace them with another fat person.

Like??? what the literal fuck is wrong with people that they can’t hear SOMEONE ELSE talk about the positive psychological impact of seeing people with their body type working out without feeling the need to show up and vomit negativity and shame all over them?? 

Nowhere did OP even say that people should be *content (not “contempt,” illiterate ass jerk) with being fat though if you ask me, people have every right to be content with however the fuck their body is, “healthy” or not. I’m just saying that’s not what the OP said.

This is literally one person witnessing someone else’s confidence and comfort, feeling threatened by it, and going out of their way to force that person to feel as much shame and self loathing as they do. 

And?? This whole idea that fat people ~should feel shame and insecurity because iT’s nOt HealTHY~ is so fucking transparent, because literally no one is going around harassing people with any other health issue under the sun, even if it is caused by ~lifestyle choices.~ Like jeez, smokers and drug addicts catch less shit for being “unhealthy” than fat people do, and the ONLY reason for that is that smokers and drug addicts can still fit the narrow-ass parameters of “attractiveness.” And I’m not even saying that smokers and drug addicts should be shamed and ridiculed, because they shouldn’t! They should be given access to resources to help them get healthy, and if they’re determined to Not Do That, then they should be given the tools to do what they want to do without hurting anybody else!

And I’ll say this: All three of the chunky folks in this video (a dude and two ladies) were almost literally twice my size. They’re killing the damn work out. They’re not out of breath. They’re not drenched in sweat. They’re not visibly uncomfortable. They’re not stopping to take breaks every 90 seconds.

You know who is??

ME!! 

Me, who no one (besides my sad sad mom) would ever think to describe as “fat” and who actual Fat Folks might even describe as thin. Me, whose dietary habits are of the sort that cause people to drop dead from heart attacks in their 40s or 50s. Me, who’s not nearly as strong or as enduring or as energetic as ANY of my heavy friends and family who eat way healthier and live way more active lifestyles.

I guaranfuckintee that all three of those chunky folks in that video have stronger hearts than mine. Shit, maybe they do have health issues I can’t possibly know about from looking at them, but that’s the damn point. ANYONE who eats a shit diet and doesn’t move their ass with any regularity is gonna have fuckin clogged arteries and low stamina and a weak immune system and be at higher risk for heart disease and strokes and cancer and general Death, REGARDLESS of their weight. 

If I’m going to feel “ashamed” of anything (which I’m not), it’s going to be the choices I’ve made and the habits I’ve allowed myself to develop that put my long-term health at risk. I’m NOT going to be ashamed of or embarrassed by my jiggly thighs or my extra Soft Tummy or my blubbery arms, because that’s all fucking irrelevant. If my body is meant to be smaller or firmer when I become someone who eats healthy and gets exercise, then that’s what will happen. And if I’m meant to stay jiggly, then I’ll just be fit and jiggly. Either way, I’m not about to waste my precious mental energy on feeling ~insecure~ because OTHER PEOPLE are superficial assholes when I could instead be feeling confident and proud of my choice and grateful for my ability to change my lifestyle in such a way that I stand a better chance of living longer and having a richer, more fulfilling life.

[time-is-a-pain]

OC dump!

It’s late, I’m tired and feeling the love for my babies tonight so I’m gonna talk about them :D

First off I’d like to apologize in advance for any typos I don’t catch or anything that doesn’t make sense, I started this at 2 am and it’s dark in here so I can’t really see the keys

Lee Hammond: Lee’s a short lil’ redhead who can see into different realities. He’s 20 years old and has been adopted as a big brother/son/family member by a lot of his neighbors. Most of the time Lee can only watch the other places he sees and talk to/physically interact with one person from that reality. Sometimes that reality can interact with Lee’s world through him, but usually that ends up with Lee getting hurt (if you read the latest thing I reblogged from @whump-with-wren about the scars thing.... yeah it happens a lot and Tris is one of his best friends from a different reality) He’s generally a hard worker and recently he’s been working on taking breaks for himself because a whole bunch of people pointed out that the way he had been going about things was sure to burn him out extremely soon

Bella Rose: So, Bella popped into my head while I was watching Good Omens. She’s fairly tall with black hair and red and blue stripes. For a while I toyed with the idea of her being descended from a witch and being able to swallow someone’s voice. I made a post about her and the voice thing on my Good Omens side blog @randomly-good-omens (I reblogged it to this blog so it should be fairly close to this post) As I said in that post, Bella first met the Ineffable Partners as a small child and the idea for her is that over the years she just keeps running into them/ frequents Aziraphale’s shop and they just sorta, adopted her as their child. I wrote the first meeting and posted it to AO3, I’ll put the link in the reblog. The longer she stays the less I think she’ll have the voice thing, but it’s a cool idea and I may keep it for her. Other than the voice thing, I think Bella is the normal-est oc of mine. She nearly always has earbuds in/headphones on and kinda wiggle dances to the music. She loves to cook, and the one time she managed to get Aziraphale and Crowley to cook with her it was a disaster. But everyone came out laughing in the end and the food still tasted pretty good so she considered it a win. She may or may not end up opening a restaurant where her adopted uncles end up eating every day, we’re all unsure on that point.

Renee: This lady popped into my head for The Umbrella Academy. She’s one of the children born at the same time as the academy kids, Hargreeves just didn’t manage to get her. Renee’s abilities are similar to Klaus’s in that she can also see the dead (I only watched the show, I don’t know what Klaus’s comics abilities all are), though the ghosts she sees aren’t quite so vibrant? colorful? I don’t know what the word I want is. Basically the ghosts Renee sees are muted to almost black and white. (She dyes her hair crazy colors all the time to combat the dullness of ghost colors) She can also gain the abilities of ghosts that she helps to move on. For example, once she helped the ghost of a contortionist and the next day she had to do something that involved bending and staying in that bent position. Or if it was an ordinary ghost who happened to be bilingual, Renee could then speak the other language. etc. etc.

Lily Jackson: Yep, my Percy Jackson oc. Lily is Percy’s twin shh canon is asleep it’s time to dream, same black hair and green eyes, and her powers are largely the same, though Lily tends to cause more ground rumbles than personal cyclones and she can use the water in the air to kinda sense things around her. Nothing too op, the water in the air thing only extends about twice as far as she can reach out you know like when you t-pose kinda and the ground rumblies are only just strong enough to throw people a little off balance. But she can still do everything else Percy can, talk to horses, breathe underwater, control water, avoid getting wet if she doesn’t want to, etc. etc. Lily still likes listening to music, but because of the whole broadcasting a giant “I am Here” signal through stuff like cellphones and internet searches she doesn’t get to very often. She tried bringing a walkman to camp once, but someone smashed it so she never did that again. She doesn’t really like her dad, or the other gods, that much. The way they act grates on her seriously, we did all the work, stop patting yourselves on the back for romping in the sheets and be there for your kids

And that’s it! Those are my main ocs. I’ll most definitely come up with more as I come across new stories and I’ve probably forgotten a few but again,,,, it’s late. 3 am now whoops.

[lordgeebsdom]

2019, a year in review: Superlative Edition

-Gareth Bill

Athlete of the year:  Lamar Jackson - QB Baltimore Ravens.  HM: Kawhi Leonard - SF Toronto/LA

Lamar Jackson came out of nowhere to light the league on fire in 2019 breaking Michael Vick’s all-time record for rushing yards by a Quarterback and redefining the position in the process.  From his five touchdown performance in Miami to being the assumed MVP, there wasn’t a week where Lamar Jackson didn’t dominate headlines and he continues to show superiority as Baltimore has secured the Number 1 seed in the AFC.  Honorable mention goes to Kawhi Leonard for producing the first ever buzzer beater in a game 7 in NBA history and for also bringing Canada their first NBA title.  Even against a Kevin Durant-less Golden State Warriors team, Leonard stepped up and delivered when it counted most.

Song of the year: Lost Lately- San Holo.  HM: Daemon Veil - EPROM & G Jones

Sander van Dijck, better known by his stage name “San Holo” surprised us with “Lost Lately” in June of this year.  A melancholic and melodic ballad of discovery and feeling “lost in aftermath of a breakup” spoke to feelings of insecurity and extends a friendly hand to those in need.  From an endearing marketing campaign featuring “lost” posters where fans could call a “helpline” to hear an exclusive sample of the song, to a music video taken straight from EDC: Bitbird executed an almost perfect build and drop for “Lost Lately.”  Great followup work to last years “Album1” and I definitely am excited about his future projects for 2020.  Honorable mention goes to the IDM monster “Daemon Veil” by EPROM and G Jones.  Plain and simple, I loved this ear worm.  There’s so much going on from the initial baseline drop to the stuttering minefield of drops and turns that follows before a calming conclusion.  Every time I hear this track, I see it too: the flying snares, the zips, zooms and wubs, the story it tells me….its captivating and satisfying.  While it isn’t as friendly for casual listening like my 2018 song of the year “Time” (also by G Jones), Daemon Veil is an IDM banger that I’ll continue to blast well into 2020 and beyond.

Album of the year: Good Faith- Madeon.  HM: Hollywood’s Bleeding - Post Malone

This was a tough call for me, there was a lot of great albums that came to us in 2019 but Madeon’s “Good Faith” stands tall above the rest.  From the initial singles of “All My Friends,” and “Dream, Dream, Dream,” to the unexpected bangers of “Miracle,” and “No Fear, No More,”: “Good Faith” makes a solid argument not just for album of the year but possibly even for the decade and I simply cannot recommend it enough.  Honorable Mention goes to “Hollywood’s Bleeding” by Post Malone.  Like many, I have thoroughly enjoyed the evolution of Post Malone from SoundCloud sensation to certified super-star, and “Hollywood’s Bleeding” continues to show us that this artist is just getting started.  I loved “Goodbyes,” “Circles,” “Sunflower,” and many other tracks on that album, and I’m confident many others did as well. Rapper, Rockstar, Soul-singer and bro: best of luck in 2020 and beyond Post, we’re all eagerly watching.

Movie of the year: Its a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood.  HM: Avengers: Endgame

Easily the most contested category of the year and the hardest decision made in these superlatives.  2019 produced some awesome films but Tom Hanks’s take on Fred Rogers gave me chills that I hadn’t felt since seeing Christopher Reeve’s Superman as a child.  Like Superman, his presence among adults and children alike would universally cause awe and calm, almost god-like tranquility through security. In a year that was defined by division, unrest, cruelty, and anger: Fred Rogers reminds us that there’s still a great deal of hope for humanity, and it all starts with being a good neighbor.  Young, old and everyone in between can learn something from this deeply affecting story about humanity and connection.  Honorable mention goes to Avengers: Endgame for managing to be the only major franchise ending this year (Game of Thrones, Avengers, Star Wars) that managed to do it with a consensus BANG!  It was a 3 hour film that somehow felt like an hour and half, and when Captain America held Mjornir with every Avenger ever at his back and said “Avengers, Assemble!”, I couldn’t help but fist pump with a grin from ear to ear.  Tony Stark’s dying words of “I am Iron-Man,” gave me goosebumps and Black Widow’s death made me feel genuine loss: The Marvel Cinematic Universe managed to execute a singular plan and vision over 23 films and that is truly exceptional. 

Actor/Actress of the year: Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur/Joker.  HM: Florence Pugh - Midsommar

Joaquin Phoenix’s long anticipated and controversial performance as Joker was the best singular work I saw this year.  Authentic, gut-wrenching, thought-provoking, and anything but boring: Joker gave us the next step in comic book cinema and a new cultural icon in the process.  Arthur Fleck is a poster child for mental illness, something that currently is at the forefront of our society and gave the general public a poster child for such conditions.  Phoenix’s Joker will one day be recognized in the same light as we currently see Che: an underdog figure of resistance and revolution standing against a seemingly unstoppable status quo and inspiring the unseen masses in the process.  Honorable mention has to go to one of my new favorites in Florence Pugh and her performance as Dani in “Midsommar”.  Her pain, confusion, and ultimate triumph that unravels throughout a trip to a small village in Europe during their mid-summer festival is the stuff of “slow-burn horror” wet-dreams.  There’s a scene early on where her character has to convey immense grief after suffering a personal tragedy and I can still hear that crying in the most haunting way.  Pugh’s performance stuck with me in a year full of great ones, and I’m very excited to see her future work including “Black Widow” in May.  

Television show of the year: Watchmen- HBO.   HM: Good Omens - Amazon Prime

Watchmen blew my mind, and I the less I say about it, the better.  A continuation of the story told in my favorite book of all-time, “Watchmen” managed to tie together many loose plot threads from that story while also moving the universe forward in new and exciting ways that matched the tone of the graphic novel.  Regina King’s “Sister Night” was a complex, likable, and tragic protagonist uniquely qualified to walk us through this new chapter, and without spoiling things anymore than I already may have: YOU NEED TO WATCH THIS.  Honorable Mention goes to Good Omens on Amazon Prime.  To any familiar with the story or Neil Gaiman’s work in general, you know what to expect: deep stories, complex and likable characters, and witty dialogue that will make you pause and think or laugh feverishly in equal measure.  Its only 5 episodes, so there’s really no excuse to not dive into this one and see how the world ends…..or rather was supposed to…

Game of the year: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice - PS4/XboxOne/PC. HM: Apex Legends - PS4/PC/XboxOne

From Softwares’ “Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice” stands tall in a year that finally saw long awaited projects like Obsidian’s “Outer Worlds” and Kojima’s “Death Stranding” get long-awaited releases.  An exciting and more stealthy evolution of the Dark Souls combat system made me feel like a real Ninja for the first time since Ninja Gaiden Black on my original Xbox.  The demanding, but fair gameplay combined with a variation of environments including haunted Japanese forests, Sengoku Temples, Palaces and gory battlefields came together to give the most complete package I played in 2019. Just don’t be too surprised if the final boss gives you problems because that f***er can almost made me break a controller.  Honorable mention goes to the game that managed to dethrone “Fortnite” as the most popular game for like a whole two months.  Respawn entertainment developed the awesome Titanfall series that I personally enjoyed and rumors had been circulating for quite awhile that they were looking to expand Titanfall into the booming genre of BR or Battle Royale.  Apex Legends is the answer to those prayers and still continues to push out new skins, content and weapons at a regular rate.  Did I mention it is also completely free to play? 

Story of the year: President Trump becomes the third President to ever be impeached 12/19

HM: Henry Nobrega wins the fucking BVN Football Fantasy Football title. 11/19

To be perfectly honest, this is the first category that really could have gone either way for me.  President Trump becoming the third President in US history to be impeached for abuse of power and obstruction of congress was massive; regardless of how you feel about President Orangutan.  His tenure as President has produced a number of newsworthy moments but this story stood out among the others for sheer importance and international embarrassment.  Speaking of embarrassment, that’s essentially what my good friend Henry’s fantasy football team has managed to be every year that I’ve played with him.  A perennial basement dweller that typically auto drafts due to some BS excuse, and a resident near the bottom of our power rankings but this year he flipped that script on its head.  He managed to draft my Athlete of the year, Lamar Jackson, and the last great white running back in Christian McCaffrey.  Not only did Henry surpass his preseason ranking of bottom, he managed to win both regular season and postseason titles and beat a solid team by Graham Heck in the process.  I got love for you bro, but I’m still perplexed on how your season managed to be as dominant as it was.  Sorry Greta Thunberg, but these stories had my jaw on the floor, maybe next year lil’ Queen.

Meme of the year: Baby Yoda of the Disney+ show “The Mandolorian” 

Was there every really a doubt here?  Baby Yoda or “The Child” as he’s known on the show is the biggest pop culture icon born on the internet in 2019.  The gap between Baby Yoda and what I considered to be an honorable mention was so wide that he will officially stand alone in this category.  Baby Yoda’s cuteness managed to melt even my stone cold heart this year and that is absolutely an achievement.  What made this creature so endearing was the universal applicability though music, sports, culture, and food: Baby Yoda was everywhere and the internet found common ground and shared meaning through sharing little graphics everywhere prominently featuring him as the centerpiece.  Well played Jon Favreau, we love this little guy and everyone thanks you for creating him.  

[kae-karo]

Hi I used to be into the phandom so much but fell out in like??? 2017??? Maybe??? Has anything big happened at all? Has anyone died/caught on fire ( ;) )??

oh dear god where do i begin??? well fortunately both our lads are still alive. let me just start with saying 2018 has been like. probably the best year for dnp to date? i’ll try to go in some kind of order here but bear with me i’ll touch on a bit of 2017 stuff and then go into 2018 for ya

so first of all i’m not sure when you left the phandom in 2017 but the lads moved out of their previous flat in april of last year (x) (april-ish it was def before they posted the vid)

also our dear lil dani snot on fire is no longer not on fire (x) so uhh is he on fire now ig? i mean yeah that’s arguably true

*insert phil’s badaladala sound bc on the scale of Significant Things i don’t think anything else massive happened*

day one of demon month, we got this amazing vid from phil wherein viewers (aka dan) picked his outfits n he looked like a snacc and a half (would’ve been 2 snaccs if he’d embraced the quiff sooner but that’s getting ahead of things) (x)

!!!! then a week or so later dan posted his vid ‘daniel and depression’ where he opened up abt his struggle with depression (x) which was imo the start of him just being more open about himself in general. he also started working with young minds (a mental health org for young people in the uk) and shortly thereafter with prince william’s program to help prevent cyberbullying

then! on the day love was invented! dnp released their board game, truth bombs (x - yeah i linked the second vid and not the first, and wot) which u can buy if you’d like but it’s a lot of fun (x)

then these idiots did a conjoined jumper baking challenge and didn’t fucking wear shirts under the jumper like what dumb gays idk (x) but it was real funny and Good Content

then early nov dnp announced the interactive introverts tour (x) and then uhhh it happened (like 80+ shows??? in a ton of countries???) (x) and they’re releasing the filming of it along with some bonus content like a director’s commentary and u can preorder it (x)

also pinof 9 happened which as a legacy phan u know is always a Thing but this year it was especially a Thing so i recommend catching up (x, and the bloops - x)

and phew okay that’s the majority of 2017 Important Events but before i go on to 2018 i’ll just recap a few important events from dapg (basically just some gamingmas stuff):

wherein dan smacked phil in the face

and phil crushed the presents but dan helped him up

where phil pretended not to remember gamingmas was happening, leading to the most iconic simultaneous heart eyes howell/love eyes lester to date

dnp singing baby it’s cold outside together whilst playing yasuhati

iconic pinof 9 moment

dnp play charades but it’s phil’s turn, and he’s touchy

the not my arms challenge!!! playing mario kart

okay! and before anyone starts yelling i know there’s more but god if i put every iconic thing in this post would break there’s Too Much so let’s hop into 2018 bc it’s gonna be a long one

first i cannot believe dan fucking gave phil a philussy cake and phil’s parents asked phil what it meant jfc dan (x)

THE EARRING!!! dan’s first selfie with the lil hoop and it never leaves and we love it (x)

phil is just trying to take a selfie and dan ruins it (x) spoiler alert: phil gets him back in colorado (x)

okay big sigh two large events happen in march: the first, dan’s ‘trying to live my truth’ vid (x) it basically dan saying ‘i’m still figuring things out but i want to be more authentic and true to myself, and also authenticity is important for some people to feel happy in life’ vid that a lot of people hyperfixated on the end line of, where he said he would go ‘laugh at a joke with a chocolate bar and...something else in my mouth’ which people assumed meant a dick and therefore it was a subtle coming out vid, dan did a liveshow afterward (x) wherein he said that wasn’t the point of the vid and people got mad at him for ‘backtracking’ (if u want more of my Opinions on this feel free to check em out - x)

the second v v big event happened at the end of march when phil posted this iconic selfie that would be the downfall of the fringe (x) this has been titled the quiffening by some

shortly after that he began styling his hair in a quiff permanently which was probably the best decision he’s made since responding to one of his obsessed fans back in 2009

quick detour dan’s proud of his hubby (x) for winning fortnite and ‘fuxkung’ is now what ‘fucking’ autocorrects to in my phone

we also had dan releasing his merch (x) which is basically all black and themed around the eclipse logo and ‘don’t talk to me’, though he just released the exist line for world mental health day which has his quote ‘have the courage to exist’. he’s also mentioned possibly wanting to do more creative things like wide-necked or asymmetrical shirts dan just do a fashion line pls oh and he mentioned in a recent ls he might do an internet support group mug sometime soon

and then,,,,,pigeonfest. we watched. five hours. of phil livestreaming their patio. and literally nothing happened bc someone was like down on the street feeding pigeons so there weren’t even any pigeons for like 90% of the liveshow. but he literally didn’t talk it was just five hours of their patio and we all watched it. we all just watched it like the whipped phannies we are (x)

and then we got a brief but overwhelming dose of,,,,,,something from the easter baking vid (x) phil was hopped up on sugar and also confidence from his quiff and probably smth else as well

everything just blows up from there we have giving the people what they want (x) where, in preparation for ii (for which the underlying theme was ‘giving people what they want’), dnp reacted to pinof 1, swapped clothes, did the ‘yoga challenge’, recreated ditl manchester, ‘got a dog’, and made phil say fuck. honestly it shook the entire phandom to its core at the time but like. i’m less shooketh now? it’s sort of just fallen by the wayside in terms of how unpredictable dnp have been this year

then phil drops week in the life of dnp shortly thereafter which is just very very domestic even for them and their ditl style vids??? (x) phil filming dan in bed being one of the big demon highlights at the time

it’s right around this time too that insta stories start and my god it just goes jfc like i don’t even have the mental capacity to recall all the Iconic ones but i recommend checking out this playlist (x) which has all the ii tour stories goddamn there were a lot though they really put out that content didn’t they

in early may we get phil talking about why he changed his emo hair (x) and arguably the first official vid of the casual rebrand - phil’s more open and genuinely vulnerable about his fears about making a change to his hair, and i don’t think we’ve ever seen him that open before. the vids don’t stop being open though, with what dnp text each other (x) giving us coop and doop along with other iconic stories, dnp basically sitting on top of each other in that and other gaming vids on the tour bus, phil being very open abt his attraction to men (x) and the iconic final google feud vid with way too much of a specific kind of Energy (x) (ofc again there are More Vids but i don’t have the time/mental capacity to recap them all so i’m pickin the Big Ones)

monochrome mates (x)

phew okay so the tour in general as well - like if u don’t mind spoilers, i did a big ol analysis of what that was all about (x) but one of many many highlights is dan calling he and phil “best friends and soulmates” 

finally finally finally after months of waiting we also get some phil merch! (x) plant and animal themed, and he even released a lion plushie which sold out like instantly and he claimed he’d do more of but we have yet to see that. he says he’s got more ideas for other merch as well

now okay fast forward to october after the tour’s over bc i think the insta stories and the analysis cover it but then. then. then we get the pizza mukbang (x) thirty three minutes of dnp being more open and honest and casual than literally they’ve ever been on camera maybe ever, and i’m including liveshows in this statement. no holds barred, authentic vulnerable dnp. a religious experience

end of october spooky week hits us and i think the key vid to call out here is the creepy mind of phil lester bc i think it was another open honest authentic vid (x) where they talked a lot, casual domestic w.e got some insight into phil’s mind it was v good

and then they carve pumpkins jfc which was an experience (x) there were a lot of innuendos but also one of the first years they didn’t do a halloween baking in a while (though they have hinted at possibly doing christmas baking) idk i’m fully overwhelmed at this point lmao like a Lot happened this year

phew okay and Then just yesterday philly dropped his vid on why he went to (the) hospital (x) idk soz that’s a british thing i think like we say ‘the’ anyway. which i’ve been talking abt quite a lot lately but it was another very open and honest vid in which he expressed a lot of vulnerability and fear and perceived flaws and it was just a quality like. open vid.

jfc okay hope that helps obviously there’s a lot i didn’t mention, but this should at least get you caught up on some of the big stuff!! and while i’m at it have a few more Important Gifs from this year

a very important moment of communication whilst on tour, deciding whether or not they’re okay with doing a ‘third wheel’ pose

dan flinging himself off the chair in anger whilst playing getting over it

nose boop from phil’s instagram explore pages vid

subsequent nose boop from the extreme tetris vid

and a cheek boop from the overcooked 2 vid

dan pulling phil’s hand off the mouse in fear during spooky week, swamp simulator (shrek slender)

touchy!dan during pizza mukbang

oh god. okay. again, this is not everything, just a big list of some big events over the past year-ish. i’m sure i’ve missed some important stuff but i think i covered most of it! hope this helps ya get caught up dear!

[nordic-breeze]

I was going through my files and I came over this document I sent to my friend @distant-rain pretty much the same day I realized I had fallen in love with Arthur, after weeks of being in denial or shrugging off my daydreaming of this cowboy as nbd or thought experiments and boy was I confused. 

I knew next to nothing about RDR1 when I wrote this December last year and I didn’t know much about RDR2 post chapter 2 either except for Arthur’s fate, which I had just learned of, and oml was I upset and confused. Though also scaringly accurate about certain things.

Now over six months later, I love this cowboy even more. And I kept true to my word. If anyone wanna read the rambings of a fangirl who had just found her new obsession be my guest.

I was blown away by how massive this game is. The level of detail is incredible and I greatly appreciate the effort put into creating this world. Yeah, we’ve all heard about the horse testicles shrinking in cold weather but it’s not like it’s just one bizarre detail being essentially a dick joke in an otherwise average game. No, RDR2 is detailed enough that it actually makes sense to add in peculiarities like that. The amount of wildlife alone, I mean, ever since the PS2 era I’ve been used to seeing animals in games but R* created whole-ass ecosystems in RDR2, several of’em, from snowy mountains to marshlands, with animals that act so much like actual animals. Just listening to the birds singing, it’s like being out in an actual forest!

Characterization is another thing that amazed me, in particular the protagonist. I knew nothing about the first RDR when started playing RDR2, nor did I know anything about RDR in general other than it was western-themed and made by the GTA-guys. I expected somewhat of a similar characterization as GTA where every character is a stereotype or a caricature. I genuinely liked GTAV’s story for what it was and even though every character was more or less an asshole, some of them were also weirdly likeable and even earned my sympathy (and hint of affection) occasionally.

But it never really went deeper than that nor was it particularly long-lasting (still way more than I expected tho). I bonded with one of the characters more than I thought I would but not nearly as much as I would had the characters felt more like actual humans and not like the epitome of stereotypes. But it is what R* wanted and it worked. I expected the RDR2 characters to be the same but to my surprise the characters, especially Arthur, are fleshed out, complex, even relatable (depending on your actions I guess). Unlike GTAV, they act and react like actual human beings. Well, human beings that have lived their entire life (more or less) as outlaws. In a country and time period foreign to me. But still they felt human. Ofc I’ve not gotten to know any of the NPC’s as well as Arthur but from various missions and eavesdropping on their conversation I’ve gotten to know them a bit. Hosea is my favorite. He seems like a good man despite being an outlaw and I love how everyone goes to him for advice and how supportive he is. I also wish more people (esp a certain Dutch man) could listen to him more. I also really like Charles. He definitely got morals and could be a good influence on Arthur and the others. I haven’t seen much of Sadie yet, but think I’ll like her too. Lenny seems nice. That one scene when he and Arthur went out drinking together was absolutely brilliant! And lil Jack’s adorable ofc. Only one I don’t like is Micha or Miach or whathisname. I know no one in the van der Linde gang are saints but that guy is a total psychopath. I kinda wish Arthur had gotten his way there when he said they should just leave him in jail as he was nothing but trouble and it annoys me how Dutch is sticking up for him. Yeah, speaking of, not too fond of Dutch or that German guy either atm.

But all in all very impressed by the large open world, the level of details to well, everything and the characterization. Soundtrack is great, graphics are stunning, animations smooth, the horse-riding simulation is just extraordinary and you never know what’s gonna happen as you ride through the map. The amount and variety of random events and encounters are truly impressive. Often comical, like that wildlife photographer who keeps getting almost eaten up by the wildlife he’s trying to document, sometimes eerie like the serial killer side story, or sad like when Arthur met with his former love. Or a combination of said elements like the pig farmers I ran into. With no pigs. But were still veeery well fed. You know, when people are just a liiitle bit too friendly? That eerie feeling you get when you just know something’s wrong but you can’t quite put your finger on it. Until you can. I thought they were husband and wife I really did. You shoulda seen my face when I realized they were in fact brother and sister. Me and Arthur had the exact same face. They were living as husband and wife tho. Well, up until I killed them.

I also love the contrast between the more ‘modern’ world and the simpler life. I could go into town, buy food at the saloon and rent a room or take a bath at the hotel. Or I could ride a few mins out into the wilderness, hunt and gather my own food, cook it over a bonfire and sleep under the stars. Electricity exists, but people are still completely dependent on oil lamps and open flame. Trains and trams exist, cars have been invented, but people still mainly travel on horseback. This contrast between old and new as an era is ending and the modern era is about to begin has been an amazing experience considering the level of detail the game has. The colonization of the new land, which has been largely unknown to me, the contrast between this and modern-day America we see on TV. So many people did not even speak English, I often find abandoned buildings, or burnt-down buildings, some with bodies inside, leaving me wondering what happened to them, I found a ghost town whose inhabitants had been wiped out by a plague. It was tough for many I reckon.

In fact, I find the exploration of this foreign but also somewhat familiar, beautiful but harsh world and its many random events and encounters waaay more interesting than the actual main story itself, which is why it took me forever to reach chapter 3. In fact, the story is probably my least favorite part about RDR2, as backwards as it may sound. I’ve never been into western stories or aesthetics, and I’m certainly NOT into the whole ‘outlaws till the end’ stuff ugh. I fail to sympathize with the whole ‘boo-hoo the world no want outlaws like us no more it’s unfair’. Ugh, go cry me a fucking river. And then go get a job. A real job. Yeah, I get it that adapting to society is tough, life’s tough deal with it and stop preying on others. Wow, robbing two trains in short time and staying in the same fucking area actually has consequences, I’m so shook!

So yeah, story-wise I don’t quite ‘get it’ and Dutch is really starting to get on my nerves, which is probably why I prefer to just ride off alone and experience the world. I guess RDR2 story will rely heavily on being torn between gang loyalty and your own morality and principles but since I have virtually no concept of group loyalty that is all lost on me. My own morals and principles all the way. I’m like, ‘these people suck, take Hosea, Charles, Sadie, Tilly (maybe John Marston and his family) and leave these bitches behind’.

At the beginning, I did kinda liked Dutch. He seemed genuinely sorry for Sadie, took her in and saved her life, even if it meant another mouth to feed in dire times. And he showed Kiran mercy despite hating the O’Driscol’s. But as I’ve progressed thought the game, his grand speeches about sticking together, sticking with him, slowly but surely has turned from pep-talk to keep people’s spirit up to sounding like a cult leader desperate to keep his following no matter the cost. Yesterday when I was playing, I overheard him quote some quasi-philosophy book to Lenny and used the words to twist them into his own convictions to support his decisions. And when Lenny objected, Dutch literally said ‘you’re breaking my heart, kid’. Wow Dutch, talk about manipulating your protégé.

It was the mission when those lawmen approached Arthur as he was fishing with Jack that really made me consciously see Dutch in a new light. Up until then, RDR2 had mostly been fun and games but that conversation left me feeling a bit uneasy. But I just figured it was the main story finally picking up pace and also, I figured I was near the end of the chapter. I carried on, suddenly eager to see what would happen and was thoroughly surprised by how the chapter ended. In a bad way.

While both chapter 2 and chapter 3 begins with a ‘new start’ vibe, chapter 3 felt very different from chapter 2. Mostly it was that feeling that Dutch’s obsession with ‘sticking to this life’ is going to get people killed. Idk, it’s this eerie feeling something’s wrong but can’t quite put my finger on it-feel again. But thanks to internet being internet I already knew some spoilers so I couldn’t help but to look up something and… well, let me put it this way. I’m never going to finish this game. Ever. It breaks my heart because in so many ways it’s truly an amazing game and a fantastic experience. But I’m just not that into the story, I don’t like where it’s heading and I don’t want to see what’s coming to character(s) I’ve come to care deeply about.

I still want to explore the world more, see what unfolds, do more challenges, add stuff to my compendium, maybe get some trophies… but I doubt I’ll ever progress much story-wise. Quite the contrary, I might reload an earlier save and just stay in chapter 2 forever.

(wrtten a couple of days later)

Seems my instincts was right on the money, esp concerning Dutch. Sad thing, I do believe he is sincere. In the first few chapters at least. He is manipulative but I also believe he’s convinced himself that he’s doing the right thing. And then his obsession will eventually get the better of him and when people and the lifestyle is slipping away from him, he doesn’t handle it well at all. Ugh, it’s so frustrating, I just wanna gather all my favs and yell: “leave nooow, before it’s too late!

It’s not for the sake of spacing it out or making it last. I just don’t want to progress in the story at all. I hated losing Horseshoe Overlook. HATED IT HATED IT HATED IT!!!! Yes the new place is beautiful, yes I know it’s the life of the outlaws and RDR2 does show that life for better and for worse whereas most stories tend to romanticize the whole thing, yes as outlaws they can’t stay for too long in one place. But as mentioned I have a hard time sympathize with and immerse myself into that lifestyle. Yes, I got all my upgrades and a whole new area to explore, a bigger nearby town, and closer to that big city. Still hated it. Horseshoe Overlook was my place. The Heartlands was home. And the view was stunning! And I liked Valentine. It was small and dirty but I had good memories from there. Until I had to shoot up half the town. My motivation for continuing the main story is at absolute zero.

It was more what the transition represented, I guess. You never know what will happen in RDR2. And it’s true, for random encounters, and many of the individual missions. But when it comes to the story as a whole, I feel like I already now can predict how it’ll play out. Every chapter begins with the gang on the move, finding a place to settle down and have a fresh start, even chapter 1 (as they were on the run bc a heist gone wrong or something). Then they settle down, go into town to get to know the area and establish connections and looking for easy money, often at the expenses of others. X random events later, they get too overconfident or careless, screws up or get hunted down, it ends with a shootout, then they are on the run again, finds a new place to settle down where Dutch promises that THIS TIME IT WILL BE DIFFERENT until they’re wanted on the entire map and can’t go anywhere cos the wild west is ending. I really liked it at Horseshoe Overlook and whenever Im in that area again I’ll just get sad.

I had no idea I’d gotten so emotionally invested so I was really surprised at how much I disliked moving camps and all. I’ve also gotten so fond of Arthur. I was so busy with exploring, doing challenges, learning to hunt etc I didn’t even realize it happening. Until one scene had me almost tearing up! I think because, we as the player really have to look out for him. Even though I make sure that he eats regularly, he’s still underweight. When out riding I usually set up camp when night falls so that Arthur can get some rest. Something I’d never think about in any other game. And I always give him coffee in the morning. Then it’s his journal that gives such valuable insight into who he truly is as a person. There’s no doubt he’s so much more than just a mere outlaw. He writes surprisingly well and is open and is surprisingly honest about his thoughts and feelings. How torn he is between the life of an outlaw and wanting to be a better man, a better person. How he admired Charles because, for him it was ‘so easy to just be good’ whereas he himself always feel torn between good and evil. And his journal entries when he meets his long-lost love Mary and saves her brother from the cultists. The expression on his face as he said goodbye to her on the train station… how utterly heartbroken he was… how she still loved him too… man, that one tore at my heart. Still does when thinking about it.

I wish I could take Hosea, Charles, Sadie, Tilly, John’s family and maybe Lenny too with me, run off and start anew. Charles would have good influence on Arthur and encourage him to turn his life around and find his place in society and encourage John to be a better father and role model for Jack and they could all learn how to live as free men and women without robbing or hurting anyone (unless they deserve it). Like, Charles is an excellent hunter and tracker. He’d totally get enough food for the gang and maybe even enough to sell. He could train Jack too. Hosea was always more of a conman/grifter than a brute/robber. He could con bad guys or rich assholes Robin Hood style. If anyone gave him grief, John and Arthur would settle the score. Arthur could sell animal pelts and John could take up carpeting. They’d be such a happy lil family. But, RDR1 is yet to happen so it’s all just wishful thinking *sigh*

[eggoreviews]

Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC Rate Their Chances #1

Hi! This is a new thingy I’m trying based on the RTC series by Smash youtuber Billybo10k where I’m gonna take 5 characters, weigh up whether or not they’d potentially make into Smash as DLC and then give them a chance and a want score out of 100. Hoping to make this a regular thing so if you’re reading this and want me to rate a character, drop me a comment!

The characters I’ll be rating in this post are:

Geno (Super Mario RPG)

Sora (Kingdom Hearts)

Bandana Waddle Dee (Kirby series)

Rex (Xenoblade Chronicles 2)

Rayman (Rayman series)

Hope u enjoy!

Geno

Okay so, unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few months (or depending how long you’ve been into Smash, the past 12 years or so), you probably know all about Geno by now. Geno is a character who gained an unprecedented amount of fan support after only appearing and having a major role in one game that was made over 20 years ago, Super Mario RPG.

In terms of his moveset, Geno, as far as I’m aware, is a puppet who ended up harnessing the power of a star. His main sort of ‘thing’ in his home game is the gun on the end of his hand, so Geno would likely end up being similar to Mega Man in some regards, though obviously not with the powers Mega Man uses from the various bosses in his home series.

And I won’t beat around the bush. Geno has a very, very good shot of making it in. For lots of reasons. First off, we’re now aware that the Smash ballot from Smash 4′s DLC had a direct influence on the newcomers for this game, with the likes of Ridley and King K. Rool, both major fan requests, joining the roster. There is no doubt in my mind that Geno did extremely well on the ballot and, on top of this, Sakurai has actively tried to negotiate Geno into the game before back in Brawl, but Square Enix (the current owners of Geno, considering they were the developers of Super Mario RPG) were unwilling to play ball. But now? We have CLOUD from Final Fantasy in Smash, not to mention Geno’s mii costume from Smash 4, who was the only mii costume to get his own splash screen. Sakurai knows how much people want Geno.

The only potential sticking points for Geno I can see are more on Square’s end than Nintendo’s. Geno’s inclusion all hinges on whether or not Square is going to want to hand over the rights to a dead character. That is, Square Enix could be so unwilling to hand over Geno because they want to include more marketable characters that still have relevance. For example, Sora, as Kingdom Hearts III is just around the corner. And if Ultimate is all about the most requested characters making the cut, why wasn’t Geno in the base roster? Not saying this drops his chances hugely, it’s just a thing to note, as it’s not as if Geno had the problem other characters such as Spring Man had where they came into existence too late to be considered.

With all of this in mind, I’m going to give Geno a 65% chance of making it into DLC. All of the factors in Geno’s favour, as well as credible leaker Vergeben repeatedly mentioning a new Square Enix rep, put Geno in a very good position. But hey, nothing’s certain. And Sakurai has confirmed on Twitter that Nintendo made the selections for this game’s DLC line-up, so it’s really down to both Nintendo and Square whether or not they’d want to include a character that isn’t marketable to people outside of the core Smash fanbase.  But as for a want score, I’m going to give Geno a 35%. Nothing against this wooden boi, I’d just rather see Sora or a Dragon Quest character make it over Geno in terms of Square reps. Plus, I have no real attachment to the character.

Sora

Now onto the other Square Enix rep in this post, as well as my third most wanted character, Sora from Kingdom Hearts, the big strange crossover between Disney and Final Fantasy. Is he a good fit for Smash? Well, he’s got his huge freakin keyblade and a whole host of spells he could utilise in his moveset, so the answer is very easily a yes. And the thing is that Sora has one big leg up over Geno in terms of chances; relevancy. But I suppose it all depends on what is being taken into consideration when characters are chosen for DLC. For the base roster, it seemed to be all about fan demand, specifically drawing popular picks from the Smash ballot. But now that Nintendo as a whole is choosing who joins the fight, I’d say we’re much more likely to get marketable characters such as Sora (Basically what I’m saying here is, don’t expect another character like Piranha Plant. As much as I love Piranha Plant). And in terms of Nintendo history, Sora’s home series has made its way onto several of Nintendo’s handhelds over the years in the form of spin-off titles.

Sora, like every character, has a couple of hurdles though. The moveset potential, the Nintendo history and the fan demand are all there, but at the end of the day, it’s all down to whether or not Disney want to play ball. Because, contrary to what some people are saying, Sora is in fact owned by Disney and not Square Enix, as Disney hold the rights to all Kingdom Hearts characters that are original to the series. While Disney are notoriously stingy when it comes to their properties, I have little doubt that they would hand over Sora if it benefited them directly. Right now, we know that Kingdom Hearts III is not scheduled to appear on the Switch, but with a sort of ‘Switch Pro’ rumoured to be around the corner, KH3 could feasibly be ported over. And with Sora being exclusively a video game character, they really aren’t going to be saving him for anything else, are they?

For me, there’s a hell of a lot of factors going either way for Sora for me to be convinced either way, as Sora is a very difficult character to speculate on when Disney is involved. But he has a good chance. Right now, with things as they stand, I’m going to give Sora a 50% chance of appearing in DLC. It honestly could go either way. But as my third most wanted character, Sora gets a 95% want score. Kingdom Hearts made up a lot of my childhood and I’d love to see him included.

Bandana Waddle Dee

The bias is alive and well in this post as we take a look at our third character, and my second most wanted character, Bandana Waddle Dee from the Kirby series. At first glance, Bandana Dee could be dismissed as a weird side character or generic ‘mook’ character that has no place in Smash among the other iconic characters in the series. But this is very, very wrong. Bandana Dee has cemented himself in the Kirby series as the fundamental player 4 in the series, making regular appearances as the fourth protagonist of most of the modern Kirby games, most recently appearing as one of the three main dream friends in Kirby Star Allies alongside King Dedede and Meta Knight. And boy, does he have a lot of fan support. In Japan especially, Bandana Dee has an INSANE amount of support and this undoubtedly would’ve shown up on the ballot. And I have no doubt that Sakurai would be able to create a moveset for this perfect boi, especially considering we’ve never had a spear user in Smash before.

However, Bandana Dee’s issues come with what Nintendo’s priorities are in this latest cycle of DLC. We aren’t sure on what goes into consideration when picking these characters but my best guess, as I have stated above, is how marketable the character is, not just to the hardcore Smash fans, but to the casual players as well. Nintendo are likely going to be looking at what characters are most likely to sell as DLC, as well as what characters are going to promote their other titles. And I’m not entirely sure Bandana Dee fits this. Sure, Kirby Star Allies recently was released and, if he came with a Star Allies stage (yes pls), this could be a good promotional push for that game and there’s no doubt that Bandana Dee would sell well as DLC considering how many people love him. But with a new Fire Emblem game coming next year, alongside other potential first party reps Nintendo could’ve prioritised, it could be that my poor lil Bandana boy fell by the wayside this time.

Overall, I’m giving Bandana Dee a 60% chance of appearing. I’m fairly confident in his chances, as he’s a well-loved first party rep with a unique moveset potential and unquestionable marketability (I mean come on, tell me you wouldn’t buy him). But it’s all down to what Nintendo wants to promote in this cycle of DLC and whether they’ll want to keep their focus on upcoming titles or try and sell more of preexisting ones. But my want score for Bandana Dee is honestly a 100%. I love Bandana Dee and his design so, so much and I really want to see the Kirby set completed. Pls let it happen Nintnondo.

Rex

Rex is the main protagonist of the recent and extremely popular Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The character has a lot of fan support, is from a relevant franchise and is a Nintendo owned series that they’re going to want to promote. So why don’t I think he’s getting in?

Let’s break it down. I can see Rex being an obvious choice for DLC, especially if Nintendo themselves are choosing who gets in this time, as first party reps with a good amount of relevancy are more likely to take precedence. But after this last Smash direct, his chances are slim to say the least. Sakurai stated during this direct’s reveal of Rex’s mii costume: ‘We decided which fighters to include when we started planning, so we couldn’t add characters from titles like Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which was announced after planning had started. I hope this outfit will help you feel like you’re playing as Rex.’ So basically, I think this is an instant death sentence for Rex. Sakurai recognised how popular Rex was, so wanted to make sure the Xenoblade fans knew he wasn’t getting in so they wouldn’t be disappointed further down the line. And yet, I’ve still seen people all over the internet saying that Rex is a ‘guaranteed lock’ and he’s the most likely character n everything. And I don’t wanna kill these people’s hype but the proof is right there in that sentence. I feel like the people who are still predicting and asking for Rex didn’t see that part of the direct, or at least didn’t fully understand what Sakurai was saying. Rex isn’t getting in.

So with this in mind, Rex gets a 1% chance of appearing in DLC. While I’m confident he won’t be one of the 5 announced, the 1% is on the slim offchance we get a second season of DLC, which I don’t see happening either, as this cycle would bring us up to early 2020, which is almost exactly how long Smash 4′s DLC cycle lasted, as the game released 2014 and the last two DLC characters, Corrin and Bayonetta, were added in early 2016. On top of this, I’d say 5 more characters is plausibly our final roster for this game, considering Smash 4 had 7 DLC fighters and three of those were returning veterans. So yeah, I’m really not holding out hope for a season 2 and, in turn, Rex. But for a want score, Rex gets a 70%. Shulk is one of my mains and I love the look of the Xenoblade series, even though I haven’t gotten around to playing it yet. Rex is someone I’d like to see, though there’s another Xenoblade character I would much prefer that I’ll cover in a future post.

Rayman

And here we are, at my most wanted character, Rayman. With Rayman at the top of my want list, I have put a lot more research into him than I would other characters, but I promise I will avoid bias in my final rating. Lessgo.

Rayman is an iconic third party gaming mascot owned by Ubisoft. And bias aside, he has a hell of a lot going for him. His moveset basically writes itself, as he could utilise items and attacks from his various mainline games and, as much as I wouldn’t be too hot on this, the Rabbid spin-off games too. I have no doubt in my mind that Rayman would be a perfect fit for Smash and would blend in well among the other third party mascots in the game, as he has a notable Nintendo history considering the majority of his games have appeared on Nintendo consoles. On top of this, he’s been a fan request for some time. After the infamous ArtsyOmni leak during Smash 4′s development cycle that falsely revealed Rayman would be in the game, he surely would’ve received a huge boost in support that definitely would show up on the ballot. While this is just speculation on my part, I think it’s pretty safe speculation. But would Nintendo and Ubisoft be able to negotiate Rayman for the game? I think the answer is very easily a yes. Nintendo and Ubisoft were already working on Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle back in 2015, showing a partnership between the two companies that has continued all the way through Ultimate’s development cycle. As well as this, Nintendo recently lended Ubisoft one of their characters, Fox from Star Fox, to appear in the Switch edition of Starlink: Battle For Atlas. Nintendo lending characters like this isn’t exactly common and I think it’s extremely likely that Ubisoft will return the favour by lending one of their characters to a Nintendo IP. And where better to put him than Smash? As a final lil thing, the Rabbids have been included in Smash Ultimate as spirits, while Rayman himself appeared in Smash 4 as a trophy when he had no other content in the game. So Ubisoft already have a presence in Smash.

As for what’s standing in Rayman’s way, a lot of his hurdles can be very easily worked around. Some people have been citing Rayman’s recent inclusion into Brawlhalla as a reason why he won’t make it into Smash. But Ubisoft bought out the company that makes Brawlhalla, Blue Mammoth Games, making Brawlhalla their property. So of course they’re going to put their own character into their own game. And if Ryu can be in Marvel vs Capcom whilst also joining Smash 4 in DLC, Rayman can likely do the same. And it isn’t as if his inclusion would ‘sabotage’ Brawlhalla, as he likely wouldn’t even be announced until 2019, giving Ubisoft an ample amount of time to build hype for Brawlhalla. But now we know Nintendo are choosing who joins the fight in DLC this time around, is it likely that they’d have chosen Rayman? Honestly, it could go either way. We have no way of knowing if there will even be third party characters in DLC, though my best guess is that there will be, as I think Nintendo is well aware that characters like Rayman would sell extremely well. And like I’ve already stated, Nintendo and Ubisoft are on really good terms and Ubisoft have yet to lend a character to Nintendo in the same way that Nintendo lended Fox. So with this in mind, Rayman could very easily be one of the five characters negotiated.

I promised I’d keep my bias aside for my final rating, but without considering what I want, the amount of evidence for Rayman’s inclusion is compelling. However, nothing is certain and it’s just as likely that Rayman could’ve been skipped over altogether. We have no idea how these negotiations take place or what Nintendo is looking for in bringing new characters to the roster. But taking all of this into consideration, Rayman gets a 70% chance of joining the roster. I know that’s high, but I’m confident in this rating. He’s got everything lined up in his favour, so it all depends on how the chips fall. But as for a want score, Rayman of course gets a 100%. Nothing really matches Rayman in terms of wanted characters for me so here’s hoping he makes the cut.

Thanks so much for reading! As I said, if you’d like me to rate a character, go ahead and drop a suggestion in the comments and I’ll rate them in the next post that should go out within a week or so. I’ll also be logging each character that I rate in a lil spreadsheet that you can check out here to keep track of all the ratings or whatever. Stay hydrated my dudes.

[moonraccoon-exe]

Oh no don't worry I wasn't upset. Well, not at you. I'm sending a separate ask to keep private but other than THAT, things are good. Foot is all better, Coctura is happy and healthy, I'm still with Coach, whose team just got silver in a competition btw. I think I just needed a break from social media in general, which is fine bc it gave me time to play LOTS of Red Dead Redemption 2. -Breakfast Girl

*HYSTERICAL INHALE*

BREAKFAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAST GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUURL BUDDYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY SHRIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

*eXPLODES*

*HYSTERICALLY SHORT CIRCUITING AND EXPLODING OVER AND OVER AND OVER*

Lemme add a very  nice keep reading right here :3

BG BUDDY MY SWEETEST MUFFIN CUTIE PIE YOU WONDERFUL SUPERB CREATURE MADE OF AMAZINGNESS, OMG IT U!!!!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

*EXPLODES*

ASKLDJFDALKGJASDKLAJDG KLAJFAKLFGJDAKLGJAFKLAGJ DAKLGJADKLF AKGDLJ GKLSJF

*UNCONTROLLABLY FLAILING AND SPASMING AND SHORT CIRCUITING LIKE A DESPERATE TURTLE ON ITS BACK AT ROCKET SPEED*

*SHRIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK*

BUDDY BG, ASKLDJADKLGJADLKGJDA, OMG OMG OMG

IT U

BG BUDDY

IT U

FLIPS EVERY FLIPPABLE OBJECT IN THE HOUSE*

*GLOMPS AND STAYS TIGHTLY HUGGED TO YOUR HEAD AND DOESN’T LET GO EVER AGAIN*

YOU SUPERB CREATURE YOU WONDERFUL CUPCAKE OMG HOW I’VE MISSED YOU FUCK OH MY GAWD HOW I’VE MISSED YOU, I MISSED YOU SO SO SO SO MUCH BG BUDDY AND II’VE HAD THIS HERE FOR SO LONG AND HAVEN’T ANSWERED AND I FEEL SO GUILTY BUT I WANTED TO GIVE YOU A PROPER ANSWER AND OMG BG BUDDY IT U I MISSED YOU SO MUCH KALSJDKLGJ AKLDJD

*THROWS EVERYTHING OUT THE WINDOW*

*TRASHES THE ROOM*

*tRASHES THE WHOLE NEIGHBORDHOOD WHILE SCREECHING*

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH AKLSJFDKLAGJ AKLFJDAKLGJDA DLJA

*HYPERVENTILATES*

RIGHT OKAY YES HELLO IT ME I’M GONNA FORCE MYSELF TO CALM DOWN BECAUSE *HYPERVENTILATES LOUDER AND FASTER* OMG IT U AND I WANT TO GO ON FOR PAGES AND PAGES SCREAMING EXCITEDLY AT YOU BECAUSE OMG BG BUDDY IT U AKLSJDKALG JAKLDGJ A*DROWNS* I���M SO HYPED SO EXCITED TO BE TALKING WITH YOU AGAIN BUT JUST LIKE LTAST TIME IF I KEEP GOING AND GOOING ABOUT IT I’M NEVER GONNA ANSWER TO YOU AND IT’S BEEN LONG ENOUGH ALREADY I NEED TO C A L M D O WN AKLSJDFKDLG JAKLDGJ LAKJSGD

*GOES AWAY FOR A MINUTE*

Ah. Ah. okAY I Got iT AKLDSJGKLFAJGLADKGJSFKLJGFSG

OKAY I GOT IT I BE CALM HNGFNHFGNHFG

SCREAAAAAAAAAAAAAM

BG BUDDY IT YOU!!!!!!! ( ´ ▽ ` ).｡ｏ♡

*snuggles*

Omg BG buddy, thank you SO much for dropping another ask!! PHEW, I?m so sorry it’s taken me this awfully terribly long to say something. Holiday season has been sorta busy for me this year, which has been both pleasant and time consuming. Definitely enjoyable, though! It’s the first year my family decides to take the week, so I’ve been busy with that!! Sorry, but thank you for understandin and waiting :3

I’m glad to know that you weren’t upset at me! But also very sad to know that other thing you sent in the private ask. I did worry a lot reading it, but at the end you reassured me it was fine and it’s all back to normal and that’s such a giant, immense relief, you have no idea. I’m happy it didn’t get any worse and that things turned out alright!! Aahhh, makes me wanna hug you both ( ´ ▽ ` )

Your foot is all better now!!! HOOOOOOOOOORAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY AYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ BG Buddy I’m SO happy for you omg, in the meanwhile you were quiet, I was wondering about your foot a lot. It also happened that in a fic I’m currently writing someone is dealing with a broken leg, so I inevitably thought about you even more, ahaha. Aaah, I’m so happy and relieved to know it’s all okay now!! o(>ω

*SQUEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK* DEAR COCTURA SWEETIE CUTIEPIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO hapy and blessed and lkasjdkladfja that you let me know about precious smol Coctura!!! *SQUEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAK* THAT PRECIOUS ANGEL THAT DESERVES THE WORLD OMG I’M SO HAPPY FOR THE PRECIOUS FLUFF ;A; Happy and healthy..I mean, it’s you looking after her, so it really doesn’t surprise me. You’re a kind and good person so of course lil Coctura would be in such a wonderful state

YOU STILL WITH COACH, AAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!! THAT’S SOOOOOOOO BEAUTIFUL!!! :’’3 Hgfhfghklnfghklfnh, I’m so happy that things are apparently working out between you two. It’s WONDERFUL! Means it’s been okay and that is a delight to hear. I’m so happy you both are alright, as in, both as a couple/friends and individually

GASPS Her team got silver recently!?!?!?! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE THAT IS SOOOOOOOOOO BADASS AND EPIC AND SO COOOOOOOOOL, AAAAAHH!!!! o(≧▽≦)o

TELL HER- TELL HER THAT YOU HAE A RACCOON FRIEND AND- AND AND ANDANDNDANAD AND THAT IT SAYS ZOMG CONGRATZ ON SILVER!!!! :D

ASKLDJLKAJFAKLDJFADLKGADJG SO COOL!!!

Ooooh, yesyes, I understand the whole thing about needing a break from social media. Looking after yourself is important, and it doesn’t always  mean to do something, sometimes it means to leave something, even if just momentarily. And somehow, for some reason, social medias have this…energy? Or this thing that consumes your energy, it’s sorta…draining. I don’t know why,, it looks like a simple task, but yes, internet-ing can be exhausting…

I’m very, very happy and glad that you decided to take a break, buddy. It means you were aware you needed it, and it takes something to acknowledge it, even more to actually do it. Social medias can be so…addictive, even when you know you n eed a time away.

So congrats, BG buddy. Once more, you prove to be a strong and mature homan being who knows you need of  You, and you need to look after yourself. And you handled it nicely. Like always, I’m not just happy for you, BG buddy, I’m so proud.

You truly are one brave person, I hope you’re aware.

BUT YEAH

I’m happy to know that you did what you had to. I missed you terribly, but so long you were away to do best to yourself, then I can wait for years, still gonna be here when you’re back, and I’ll definitely be cheering you on. You is important, and I’m glad that you know that, and that you’ve worked so hard on taking care of You. So proud you’re so strong, so happy you’re better now. That’s my BG buddy. ٩(◕‿◕｡)۶

OOOOOHHHHH!!!! Red Dead Redemption 2!!! I’ve heard FANTASTIC things about that!! (*°▽°*)  To be honest I missed a lot of the game world (never had any of the PS, and latest thing I had was a Wii), so I don’t think I ever heard about Red Dead Redemption 1? And if I did it didn’t seem important at the time. But now with the release of RDR2 I’ve heard WONDERS about it, everyone going nuts about its release, and it being a fantastic game!!!

I can’t say I know how much you’re enjoying it because I’m clueless on the game, but if you’ve been playing it lots, it means it must be lots and lots of fun to you!! And so epic and entertaining and aksjdakldgjadg omg BG buddy, that’s PHENOMENAAAAAAL!!!!! Games are always a fantastic experience, and one that seems to be so particularly epic? Gawd, I’m so happy you get to play lately, BG buddy!!! :3

Bg buddy, there’s not much more to say. I’m so, so, so happy to see you around again, and so happy to know things are going good. I’m happy that you did what was best to you, and I?m happy to see you wandering around again, and it’s, like always, my delight and honor to see you drop by my inbox. I missed you terribly, buddy, and it makes me happy like you have no idea to see you around again

I hope to hear from you again soon!! How are things going? I haven’t checked Endings in Reverse in a while.Gotta check it later! 

Meanwhile, I hope that you’re doing FANTASTIC, buddy! I’m sorry again for the awfully late response. I’ve been feeling very drained from asks, lately. Maybe it’s because of the two on going fics I’m writing, giganormous...so it really is only my fault, haha!!! But I’ll try to answer when I can, even if it’s by bits. And even when I don’t reply, I read all asks straight away as they arrive, so do feel free to message me if you ever feel like it, even if it takes me a while to reply

Buddy, I don’t know if you celebrate anything in these dates? But happy holidays. Merry Christmas, if that’s as you celebrate!! I wanted to reply to this before the 25th, but I failed ;w;Still, know that I’m sending you lots and lots of my warmest, luckiest, happiest, and most loving raccoonie hugs and vibes. Wishing you a very good rest of the year and a fantastically beautiful start of a new one, regardless of what you may or may not celebrate :3

Dear BG buddy, it’s a delight to be talking with you again!!!!

I hope you’re having a MOST FANTASTIC day or night, buddy!!! (ﾉ´ヮ`)ﾉ

[medakakurokami]

DOA6 post-weekend binge talk w/ spoils

Finished DOA6's story mode, like 80% through DOA Quest, played a lil over 100 matches online, unlocked maybe 4 costumes. Overall its all mostly good there's just not enough of it? Like the core gameplay, graphics, music are all great and improved a lot I think over DOA5, but all the trimmings are pretty scant so far. The exclusion of lobby mode at launch is already pretty maligned but we at least know we'll get it within the month. The story mode felt pretty rushed and disjointed especially near the end, reflecting the apparent 30 episodes that had to be cut for time, that will hopefully release as DLC later with a hopefully reasonable price.

DOA Quest I really really like, but I think more could have been done with it, and based on what seems like will be timed events in the game and the likelihood of a FTP version releasing I'm guessing DOA Quest might be expanded along with certain events. I'm almost finished with the base quests after only 2 days and its basically the only way to unlock stuff and I've barely unlocked anything yet... I think it would do really well with a procedurally generated quest mode where a new set of 3 are generated randomly every hour similar to the Yokai Realm missions in Nioh.

Because the reward system needs a major overhaul and basically makes Arcade, Survival, and Time Trial modes feel utterly pointless outside of practice, which you could just do in training or online. Like basically you have to obtain a certain number of parts for outfits to unlock them, and you're given those points at random on the completion of an online match or an Arcade/Survival/Time Trial mode and well, look at this

They basically give you a part reward that's like a random number between 1 and 15. This image is from Survival on Easy but I went and did a Master difficulty Arcade mode and ended up with 7... online matches are better and tend to give you 15-30 but its still pretty fucked. In DOA5 I used to take a break from playing and gettin trashed online by going and unlocking a couple outfits in Arcade or Survival and that really wouldn't work here. Starting tonight after maintenance they'll have it to where rewards are multiplied by 10 for the release event. Which I'll probably spend that time just grinding for all the unlockables while I can, and they really oughta just leave it multiplied after that.

Netcode is good. The majority of the matches I played were lag free and my internet is usually shit in general so that's good.

And outside of the it being really scant in nature, I did like most of the story that was there. It actually was sorta DOA5.5, starting from scratch as to who Honoka and Marie and Nyotengu and Even-More-Evil-Raidou were since they were basically DLC characters without much in game context. Marie and Honoka naturally stuck out like sore thumbs but in a pretty amusing way. Like watching Christie escaping via helicopter with an unconscious busty anime schoolgirl under her arm or Bayman walking around with a gothic lolita over his shoulder. Nyotengu's arc sorta went nowhere but as a character she is a hugely welcome addition to the cast and I hope she somehow appears in Nioh 2, and gladly apparently more story for her is the focus of the possible story DLC according to Shimbori and them. Diego and NiCO too. Diego was fun in his final bout with Jann Lee I was like "man that just overloaded with hypermasculinity" and then I was awarded the title "Manly Men" and that really cinched the tone, though a shame that Leifang and Jann Lee still in its holding pattern. And NiCO I really love playing and it was funny to watch them make excuses earlier in the story while she was just working in the lab with Christie as to how a fight needed to break out and so everything anyone said to her just pissed her off. Same with Kokoro! Actually everyone is just fuckin sisters now! That was some great soap opera bullshit! But again felt so skimmed from the lack of episodes. And Frankenstein Raidou was a thing I wasn't really excited for but it coulda been worse in the end. Guess after all that I need to go peruse the encyclopedia.

After all that not much left to do except start grinding ranked and hoping for good updates coming soon. And that's the thing I been seeing a lot of people even DOA fans online saying they just wanna wait on a complete edition release and like maybe that'd be a good idea. I hope the initial release does well, but it is lacking. They announced this last June and are releasing it now so its fair to say this game maybe had a bare single year development in a new third party engine while they also probably have their team working on Dissidia, Musou, Venus Vacation, and Nioh 2 at the same time so yeah, a good chance the trimmings of this game had to be cut down on just to make sure they released the game within a year with the core elements as good as they are. Just gotta hope they put out good updates.

[girlinatrenchcoat]

Stop hating on BTS

Well, it’s 2018. After BTS being called the biggest boy band by James Corden in The late late show and Ellenin The Ellen show. I see so many ppl in the internet against BTS being titled the biggest boy band majority of those netz being directioners

Before speaking further, let me make it clear. I’m a directioner since X-factor. I’m a ARMY since 2016.

Trust me, I didn’t like the idea of comparing the two bands. But yeah, here we are! Well to begin with, shouldn’t we talk about the popularity of English pop music and Korean pop? We don’t need statistics. The English speaking population is huge and so is the number of ppl who listen to English music. When compared to that, the Korean speaking ppl or the no. Of ppl who listen to Korean music is way small.

Next is the investments on the promotion of the bands. One direction were X-factor contestants(I mean c'mon! They were not really having a hard life when it came to food and shelter) Also they had a huge fan base that bloomed from the X-factor(almost telecasted in every major countries) increasing the worth of the band even before making their own music. On the other hand, let us not forget that bighit was a small company when the members of BTS started as trainees.They literally lived on ramen(the instant noodles). They were only kookie kings in their early times(there were so many bands that stared in the kookie king. So standing out in the show is definitely a big deal). Their fan base were mostly Korean.

Then comes the music videos! Of course,1D makes incredibly amazing mv with lots of expense and details and everything. But I’ve always felt that they barely really seem to really be on the video because they mostly have this act kinda video.In contrast, BTS has this amazing story line in their mv. Gosh its like they been telling stories for years. The mvs are unbelievably creative and the dance breaks woah. I don’t think its possible for everyone in the grp can be equally talented in dance but dude I’m sure they work like day n night for months to bring the coordination. It takes my breath away every single time.

I have a lot more to say but unfortunately I cant do that now. So I’ll try to shorten the end part.

Remember when 1D split into solo artist lil by little. We the directioners are still a little sad over it(don’t tell me you are not). Zayn did announce that he’ll leave one direction but they could have given some other goodbye gift other than *pop music isn’t exactly my thing*. It did break my heart. It was as though they made albums of pop genre as a part of business. But when BTS were asked about making solo career and having personal living space they all reply with more or less the same answer. It was “they are a package”,“we’ll be lonely”,“we lived together for 7 years. We are family”,“we produce music together”,“we write music together”. Ah my app is crashing. I’ll fill more to this when my phone’s good.

*wait! Late thing!! We ARMY don’t really care about the haters. Don’t even try to insult the boys. You are safe until then. Biggest boy band title or whatever. It doesn’t matter! But BTS will forever hold the title the greatest boy band of this generation And they will hold this title given by the ARMY for their passion, hard work, personality, humbleness and the pure love for their fans and well wishers. ~ARMY~ ~BTS~ Fighting.

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 09/01/2021 (Justin Bieber, SZA, Jason Derulo)

Happy New Year, everyone, and welcome to 2021 on REVIEIWNG THE CHARTS – or I guess you could call it “Season 4”. I’m going into this year with cautious optimism – that goes for pop music, mind you, and not actual world events which I suspect will just get even direr as the years go on. For 2021 on the charts, I’m hopeful and I hope that’ll show in this next year as I’m in a better place than ever, partly thanks to my decision to renew this series in the Autumn, and we’ve got a busy week – or year – ahead of us. I can keep up with new releases every Friday like I used to and generally kick myself back into a routine with all these musical hobbies. I stay cautious in my optimism for 2021’s pop music because frankly, looking at this top 20, I can’t say I like a lot of this at all. I mean, I guess I’m fond of some of these tracks but I suspect a fair few of these songs to have their last shred of success this Winter and not turn out as year-long hits. I can’t say that for our #1, which is “Sweet Melody” by newly-collapsed girl group Little Mix, the fifth credited #1 for the group and their first since 2016’s “Shout Out to My Ex”. Admittedly, I feel like Little Mix ends here, hopefully with a bang as this was one of the few bonafide smash hits that lasted through Christmas, and I see it lasting a couple more weeks at #1 as a good send-off because I don’t predict the band getting back together without Jesy anytime soon... not that I care about pop-group politics, of course. On that note, let’s divert to our rundown. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS.

Rundown

There is a single song in the UK Top 75 – which is what I cover – that has not gained, returned or entered for its first week, and that’s “Love is a Compass” by Griff from Disney’s Christmas advert down to #50 – it’ll be gone next week, but I honestly don’t really understand why it lasted an extra week. Maybe Soul and Disney+ had something to do with it, because I cannot see this getting consistent streams. Otherwise, look: I’m not mentioning every single drop-out because I would just be repeating every single drop-out because I would just be repeating all of the Christmas songs that I’ve already listed every single week since late November. I will say this: “Last Christmas” by Wham!, last week’s #1, is gone from the top 75, alongside “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey, “This Christmas” by Jess Glynne, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” by Justin Bieber, “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues featuring the late Kirsty MacColl, “Merry Christmas Everyone” by Shakin’ Stevens, “Step into Christmas” by Elton John, “Do They Know it’s Christmas?” by Band Aid and “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” by Michael Bublé are all gone despite staying in the top 10 in last week’s awkward grouping of holiday trite and regular pop. Everything else I’ve said over the last few weeks in the returning entries and gains sections, Christmas-wise, is gone, and I don’t want to list any other drop-outs, including even all of last week’s new arrivals. The only other notable song dropping off from the chart that’s not explicitly Christmas-related is Liam Gallagher’s charity single “All You’re Dreaming Of”, and that’s not exactly a surprise to anyone. Okay, so for our returning entries and gains, I’ll list them in some kind of janky order. Starting with returning entries, the category that fits most of these songs is: “year-long hits that have had one final and brief second wind after the holiday season that will later be replaced as Spring comes”. This includes “Giants” by Dermot Kennedy at #75, “Breaking Me” by Topic and A75 at #74, “Roses” by SAINt JHN and remixed by Imanbek at #71, “Rain on Me” by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande at #70, “ROCKSTAR” by DaBaby featuring Roddy Ricch at #68, “Don’t Start Now” by Dua Lipa at #67, “Lighter” by Nathan Dawe and KSI at #61, “Ain’t it Different” by Headie One featuring AJ Tracey and Stormzy at #60, “Savage Love (Laxed – Siren Beat)” by Jawsh 685 and Jason Derulo and remixed by BTS at #58, “Before You Go” by Lewis Capaldi at #56, “WAP” by Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion at #47, “Take You Dancing” by Jason Derulo at #46, “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles at #41 and “Looking for Me” by Paul Woolford and Diplo featuring Kareen Lomax at #39. Our next category is: “really old – and massive - songs riding off the coattails of a weak chart for a cheap additional week to add to their repertoire”. This includes “Shallow” by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper at #73, “Baby Shark” by Pinkfong at #72, “Perfect” by Ed Sheeran at #66, “Dreams” by Fleetwood Mac at #64, “Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi at #45, “Dance Monkey” by Tones and I at #38, and I guess even “Train Wreck” by James Arthur returning big at #18. Our third category consists of: “mostly more recent and decently-sized hits coming back because they’re still popular but won’t be re-peaking any time soon”. These include “Gnat” by Eminem at #69 (although you’d be stretching to call that a hit exactly – would have been without Christmas), “Show Out” by Kid Cudi, the late Pop Smoke and Skepta at #62, “Lasting Lover” by Sigala and James Arthur at #57, “Princess Cuts” by Headie One featuring Young T & Bugsey at #55, “no body, no crime” by Taylor Swift featuring HAIM at #54, “pov” by Ariana Grande at #52, “Tick Tock” by Clean Bandit and Mabel featuring 24kGoldn at #51, “Diamonds” by Sam Smith at #49, “Body” by Megan Thee Stallion at #44, “Plugged In Freestyle” by A92 and Fumez the Engineer at #43, “champagne problems” by Taylor Swift at #42, “What You Know Bout Love” by the late Pop Smoke at #36, “i miss u” by Jax Jones and Au/Ra at #34, “See Nobody” by Wes Nelson and Hardy Caprio at #33 and “Lonely” by Justin Bieber and benny blanco at #32. Our last category consists of songs that returned and peaked this week, including many in the top 40. These include “You’re Mines Still” by Yung Bleu and remixed by Drake at #59, “All Girls are the Same” by the late Juice WRLD at #53 (still very strange to see that song from 2017 peak nearly four years later), “Heat Waves” by Glass Animals at #48, “SO DONE” by The Kid LAROI at #40 (more on him later), “The Business” by Tiesto at #31 and “Golden” by Harry Styles at #26. These are the most important returns because they signify what could be coming down the line for our genuine Winter hit parade, or at least the post-Christmas half of it. What might better show this are our gains, however, as these songs were sticking through the holiday season and took advantage of it this week to poke through even higher in the top 40 and often top 10. We have “Forever Young” by Becky Hill at #35, “Midnight Sky” by Miley Cyrus at #29, “Lemonade” by Internet Money and Gunna featuring Don Toliver and NAV at #27 (as soon as I can stop saying that full song name the better), “Monster” by Shawn Mendes and Justin Bieber at #25, “No Time for Tears” by Nathan Dawe and Little Mix at #24, “HOLIDAY” by Lil Nas X ironically up to #23, “positions” by Ariana Grande at #22, “Holy” by Justin Bieber featuring Chance the Rapper at #21, “Loading” by Central Cee (still growing on me) at #20, “Head & Heart” by Joel Corry and MNEK at #19, “Dynamite” by BTS at #17, “Mood” by 24kGoldn and iann dior at #16, “Therefore I Am” by Billie Eilish at #15, “Really Love” by KSI featuring Craig David and the Digital Farm Animals at #14, “Blinding Lights” by the Weeknd still here at #13, “willow” by Taylor Swift at #12, “Prisoner” by Miley Cyrus featuring Dua Lipa at #11, “Paradise” by MEDUZA and Dermot Kennedy at #10, “you broke me first” by Tate McRae at #9, “34+35” by Ariana Grande at #8 and “WITHOUT YOU” by The Kid LAROI at #7. I can reassure you I’m overjoyed about that last one – not because the song is good, quite the opposite, I just like having easy targets ready for the end of the year when I actually end up doing a worst list. Oh, and that’s not the end of it: “Get Out My Head” by Shane Codd is at #6, “Levitating” by Dua Lipa and remixed by DaBaby is at #5, “Whoopty” by CJ is somehow at #3 and finally, “Afterglow” by Ed Sheeran is at #2. We already mentioned “Sweet Melody”, so now finally, it’s on to our new arrivals. What did you gain from reading me list sixty-odd songs in rapid succession with minimal commentary? Nothing. What did I gain from it? Whatever’s just above nothing, but as is the UK Singles Chart in early January.

NEW ARRIVALS

#65 – “Your New Boyfriend” – Wilbur Soot

Produced by Wilbur Soot

Before I put two and two together, I was incredibly confused to who this guy was and why he was charting – he’s doing particularly well on Spotify for this indie singer-songwriter, right? I did one quick  Google search – literally typing in “Who is Wilbur Soot” – and soon found out that I actually already know the guy from “SootHouse”, a YouTube channel I think I might even be subscribed to. Huh, I guess that shows how faceless social media platforms can be – his name is in the videos and I should have assumed from “Soot” but that missed me until now. Right now he’s part of that whole worryingly popular group of content creators that tread the very thin line separating Minecraft let’s-players from commentary YouTubers and Twitch streamers from paedophiles. I’m too old to understand any of this garbage but from what I see trending on Twitter all the time, it seems toxic and frankly I don’t want in any part of that. I don’t want to have my grandparents’ graduation photos leaked to the Internet alongside my address, thank you very much, so I think I’ll distance myself from the whole “Internet celebrity” and just talk about the music. This is the last in a trilogy of E-boy indie-pop songs, because of Goddamn course that exists. Song number-one, “I’m in Love with an E-Girl” is a dreary acoustic duet that forgets that comedy songs are supposed to be fun or witty, relying on obscure inside jokes and references to recently-outed paedophiles. I do like some of the jabs later on about romanticisation of mental illness and Chevy’s voice is really nice, whoever that is, but it’s too little too late to be a worthwhile track. Now for song #2, “Internet Ruined Me”, which is a slightly livelier rendition of what is pretty much the same song, with lyrical gems like, “My Twitter feed’s like my brain ‘cause I have it on dark mode.” At least it feels like a more honest attempt at a song, but song #3, “Your New Boyfriend”, the one that’s charting, is obviously the most realised out of these acoustic demo skits, with some pretty sweet piano melodies and Wilbur getting into his comically struggling high register to depict his naivety as a teenager when attempting to get into both a long-term relationship and career as an entertainer. Sure, the song’s janky and awkward, but the chorus has a genuine punk groove, even if it wants to stop to interject ad-libs for no reason and kind of ruin whatever momentum is there in the first place. By the second verse, the punchlines devolve to “No homo, though” and though I do like how those horns sound, they are somewhat clouded in a messy mix that does not help Wilbur out vocally at all. Chevy’s background vocals do help here and add a lot to the floaty atmosphere of the song, and, okay, I’ll admit: the song’s good, if a bit ridiculous and almost Weezer-like in lyrical content... but hey, I like Pinkerton, and there’s certainly enough pointless noise in this song to fit the criteria, so... Goddamn it, I have to recommend this one. Let’s just date this episode – and song – even further by requesting Carson and Pyrocynical hop on a nonce-rock remix, perhaps. Bring Dream along too.

#63 – “Reminds Me of You” – The Kid LAROI and Juice WRLD

Produced by Aaron Joseph, Theron Thomas, Sam Sumser, Sean Small and Dr. Luke

Oh, and speaking of sex crimes by men in places of power, welcome back, Loctor Duke, Tyson Trax, or as I prefer, (alleged) rapist. I don’t like to get too moralistic on this show because it is about the music but I cannot think of any person who would in their right mind know of “Praying” by Kesha and still want to collaborate with this waste of space who uses his monopoly on pop songwriting to continue raking in cash from vulnerable young singers, to the point where I’m not sure if I can truly blame artists for ending up with Dr. Luke production or writing credits... oh, wait, yes, I can! I don’t let Saweetie, Doja Cat or even Kim Petras off the hook for actively collaborating with Luke seemingly in defiance of, you know, moral decency, so I definitely won’t give The Kid LAROI a pass, especially if he and the label are going to use this as another opportunity to milk the passing of a genuinely talented man in Jarad Higgins, or the late Juice WRLD, for the sake of a chart hit for this bumbling Australian wannabe and a sexual predator. This is not the first time, either, but I’ll admit the story gets fuzzy, as Kim Petras did reveal that this performance from Juice was in the studio as she was recording a song, supposedly, that is – I have no hesitation to say I think stories could be made up by record labels to make whoever’s involved look a tiny bit less of an ass. Oh, and by the way, this isn’t even originally a Kid LAROI and Juice WRLD track. Let’s talk about “Reminds Me”, a pretty mediocre Kim Petras song where she blatantly imitates Juice on a trap-pop instrumental that’s just pitiful, as is her vocal delivery that makes lyrics Juice clearly wrote unconvincing. Kim Petras isn’t doing a homicide, I mean, I hope she isn’t. So now we’ve got a “reimagination”, “revamp”, “remake” – or to put it realistically, remix – of an already worthless, disposable song made by a sexual predator and its enablers, spat on by The Kid LAROI’s unforgivably gross delivery where he essentially covers the Kim Petras song and does even a worse job of it, mixed bizarrely – especially in the vocal department – and topped off with a tacked-on Juice WRLD demo verse, so lazily put together that they just repeat his verse to awkwardly lead into an anti-climactic chorus where Juice is nowhere to be found. Everyone involved in the making of this song lost whatever shred of respect I had for them in the first place for putting this out – and that doesn’t include Juice, who’s clearly being mismanaged post-mortem. If The Kid LAROI sticks around, don’t forget this and don’t forget everything he’s done – intentionally or unintentionally – to heartlessly pinch pennies out of Juice’s legacy.

#37 – “Goosebumps” – Hvme

Produced by HVME

I’d make the easy, cliché joke that this isn’t living up to “goosebumps” by Travis Scott featuring Kendrick Lamar, but... this IS “goosebumps” by Travis Scott featuring Kendrick Lamar. HVME is this boring faceless nobody—I mean, “mysterious” Spanish DJ who made a garbage deep house remix of a pretty decent Travis Scott song, but not using the original vocals and stems, which would have probably made this listenable, but instead covering the song himself, stripping of it of Travis’ original energy that carried the eerie trap instrumental and pretty pathetically attempting to replicate the “Straight up!” ad-lib. The mix is fine but puts way too much emphasis on all the swooshing and nothingness synths that do little to get in the way of the typical pumping bass-line you hear in this type of house, and, yeah, this is pitiful once again and reeks of no-effort dance music made in a bedroom you wouldn’t even hear bumped in clubs. He doesn’t even try and re-sing Kendrick’s verse – good – and his attempts at picking up Travis’ masterful flow from the original is comical at best, to the point where I genuinely laughed out loud as his measly “brr-brr-brr” sound effects. I don’t understand why this is so high, yet it has 112 million Spotify streams as his only release on the platform, and I can only assume this is thanks to Ministry of Sound and some Lithuanian record label (don’t ask; I don’t know either). I don’t see this surviving January, thankfully, so you can say goodbye to this guy and his awful, awful cover for good... hopefully.

#30 – “Love Not War (The Tampa Beat)” – Jason Derulo and Nuka

Produced by Nuka

I don’t think there’s any “Tampa Beat” to speak of so Jason Derulo, are you just putting “(Blank) Beat” at the end of all of your songs now? What do you even gain from that? Except there is a “Tampa Beat” – unlike Jawsh 685’s original track, however, it wasn’t called that. Nuka is a New Caledonian producer and she made a song called “4 Bryleans (WayzRmx2018)”. Alright, well now it’s the “Tampa” beat, because I’m sure Florida is close enough to a French territory in Oceania, right? Maybe he’s talking about the ghost town in Australia, or the... small Transylvanian mountain. Okay, I’ll stop kidding myself: this title is complete nonsense. At least he asked for the sample before using it this time, and if Derulo makes careers out of this, then I’ll be glad for these underground Oceanian producers. The difference is here it just feels lazy and co-opting a style he’s clearly not in tune with for the sake of hits for himself. It would make more sense for him to keep on working with Jawsh if he really had good intentions for producers out there in the Pacific. Anyway, much like the title, this song, produced by someone who claims to make the best cheesecake in the Pacific (which I wouldn’t think is that hard of an award to claim), is nonsensical. It’s stuck in 2014 with gross synth leads, clipping percussion and finger-snaps straight out of DJ Mustard’s older stuff, along with what I guess is the sound of the Pacific: Jason Derulo doing fake accents over incessant horns and over-produced garbage that seems like its sole purpose is to annoy... and I liked “Savage Love”! I think my favourite part of this production is when he pitches the horn line down for the verse and then it comes back mid-way through as annoying as ever, even if this mix is crowded enough for you to just barely ignore it. Derulo isn’t doing much here either other than straining his voice for a belt no-one asked for and having a complete dissonance between verse and chorus in terms of lyrical content. Oh, and there’s a copious amount of remixes that are all garbage. The instrumental’s on Spotify too under “Waterfall”, so I guess that adds another name to the list of names this song has for no reason. At least with “Savage Love” I got to hear BTS drop F-bombs, this is just worthless.

#28 – “Good Days” – SZA

Produced by Los Hendrix, Nascent and Carter Lang

I came into this episode all optimistic and ended up just moaning about sex crimes and Jason Derulo but I think if there’s going to be any shred of true quality from our new arrivals, it’s the new SZA track that’s shaping up to be genuinely big organically on radio and streaming, “Good Days”, from that new album, whenever Top decides he’s going to let her release it. I’m not the biggest fan of SZA; you probably don’t remember that she ended up on one of my worst lists a couple years back, although that’s mostly at the fault of Travis Scott more than her. This doesn’t mean I’m not excited to hear from her, though I did like some of the stuff off of CTRL, particularly “Prom” and “20 Something”... and, yeah, in terms of what I want from contemporary R&B, I’m not mad at “Good Days” at all, though it’s going to take a lot of growing on me because I immediately hate this mix and production, which relies on slick, lo-fi guitars being drowned out by overweight percussion that sounds organic but pretty unfitting and awkward amongst the reverb-drenched vocals and unrecognisable mix that doesn’t compliment SZA’s at times awkward delivery. That’s a shame to say because I think she harmonises well with co-writer Jacob Collier, especially on the chorus, where she wishes for good days ahead, which is lyrical content I can get behind: coming out of a bad place and knowing you have no authority over your future but wishing for good days regardless. When the synths come in after the third verse at about three minutes and SZA’s voice disappears from the mix, becoming less overbearing than it is, I can appreciate the song more and especially when that final chorus comes in... except there isn’t a final chorus to leave this song off with much of an impact, rather just a tacked-on instrumental section that felt like Jacob Collier was tasked with just extending a snippet, which given how the song was teased in “Hit Different”, might actually be the case. I like the lyrics a lot, and do think it picks up after the song practically ends, but I’m not sure about this right now, and could see it growing on me as good days either become more imminent or drift even further away.

#4 – “Anyone” – Justin Bieber

Produced by watt, The Monsters & Strangerz and Jon Bellion

I’ve done a lot of writing and reviewing this week so I’m glad I can sum this up in a few sentences. Justin Bieber is an overexposed hack who I cannot feel any emotional connection towards at all, so him continuing to make any art is moot. This song has a loading screen of a synth melody, and that’s before that really ugly chorus that Bieber really can’t save with his Auto-Tuned whine of a voice, alongside acoustic guitars that clearly do not blend well. Jon Bellion’s production at the end of this just barely saves it by doing some kind of 180 shift into slow synth-pop, clearly coasting off of the Weeknd’s success in the same style without realising what made his record worthwhile. Camila Cabello recorded a demo that I’m glad isn’t the official version because her squealing would not sound good here either; really, I think Bellion could have kept this to himself but he knows he would put a lot more effort and character into his own lyrics than this – he would also write an actual bridge for his own album, I’d hope. It isn’t catchy, it isn’t intriguing and it is gutless, like Bieber has been for the past two album cycles and I guess it’s not changing this time.

Conclusion

What a downer for my optimism about pop music going forward this was! Even the best songs here I feel mostly ambivalent on, to the point where I can give Wilbur Soot of all people Best of the Week for “Your New Boyfriend”, which shocks me since I thought SZA would run with it, although “Good Days” does grab the Honourable Mention. Worst of the Week should be a toss-up if it weren’t for the fact that The Kid LAROI exists so he can get that for “Reminds Me of You” featuring the mangled remnants of whatever’s left of the late Juice WRLD’s Google Drive folders full of demos and leaks. I suppose Dishonourable Mention can go to HVNE for “Goosebumps”, but I’d understand it for anything else here. Here’s this week’s top 10:

Follow me on Twitter @cactusinthebank for more rambling – I swear I’m not usually this angry – and I can’t really predict anything going forward either, other than unfortunately more Dr. Luke, but we’ll see what the charts decide to bring us next Saturday when it comes. I’ll see you next week.

[umusicians]

UM Industry Profile : : Wizkid News

As an artist, one of the biggest teams rooting for your success is your fan base. They are the ones who will purchase your releases from digital stores such as iTunes, stream your music on various digital platforms and buy tickets to your shows. They are the backbone to your success and without them you wouldn’t be where you are today. Wizkid News is a platform created to support Nigerian Artist, Wizkid. From posting about Wizkid’s releases and those of associated acts, they’ve been able to keep fans informed about all things Wizkid. They have launched several campaigns in support of Wizkid’s music endeavours and more! Since their launch in 2014, they have acquired a following over 2 million followers across their social media sites. This is something very rare that we have not witnessed with fan channels dedicated to other artists. Amandah Opoku sat down with the founder of Wizkid News to talk about why they started the platform, their recent website launch and more! Check out our interview below!

Amandah Opoku: Hey Wizkid News how are you?  Wizkid News: Been alright.  Same old quarantine routine.  I went to the park and did some content strategy. AO: For Wizkid News? Wizkid News: Yes, all day everyday!

AO: When it comes to the content you produce, what is your game plan? How do you choose what to post and when?  Wizkid News: It depends. There are times I’ll sit and plan content out for like the next 2 or 3 days, perhaps if we have a campaign going on for a video or project.  For the most part though, I just wake up in the morning and freestyle with my team.  We’ll post whatever feels right lol, or makes sense.  I often go scoping the internet looking for stuff that's interesting to post about Wiz or anything related to him.  So yeah that's pretty much that.  Oh, and we like dope content.  That’s it!  We’re just curating the page to look/feel as dope as Wizkid.

AO: That is very very cool! I know that in running a music site, we always had pressure to post this first or post that first. When someone releases a single for example, we wanted to make sure that we were the ones to break the news and everyone would come to us for the information. When it comes to the content that you curate for your socials, do you ever feel that kind of pressure? Like as soon as Wiz announces something do you have to be the first site to post it? Wizkid News: Definitely, I feel that pressure!  When I first started, I was REALLY doing the most to stay on top of everything.  I feel like I had an internal post notification alert before Instagram made theirs lol.  I guess I still have it now, to a certain extent.  It’s gotten easier now that I have a team.  

However, that pressure to get content out first is not what it used to be.  We’ve built up enough reputability where sometimes even if we’re a few, whether it be minutes or maybe like an hour late, I know people really value the news from a credible source like ours.  If Wizkid News puts it up, then it’s really a thing.  Wiz doesn’t usually share a lot on his social media, so I realize people often look to us as the source.  Being mindful of that, we always try to make sure the news is legit & is in line with how we view Wiz’s brand.  Yea, so being accurate & intentional are a lil more important to us than getting stuff out first. 

AO: I want to take it back to how you said that you are seen as a source, that people won't question what you post. Forgive me, I only found out about your page before No Signall’s Vybz Cartel v. Wizkid clash. Someone on Twitter had tweeted a screenshot of your Instagram page with over 1.7 million Instagram followers. And because of this Wizkid had an unfair advantage in the clash. What do you have to say to this? Wizkid News: Lol you’re forgiven!  The No Signall clash was dope, big ups to that crew for doing that.  It was really cool to celebrate the culture of black music, arts, & entertainment around the world.  I’m glad my team & I could contribute to the success of the Wiz v. Vybz clash!  

I don’t really like the word “unfair”.  We had an advantage, yes!  That’s due to the popularity of African music which is the new wave currently making its way around the world because of artists like Wizkid. Wiz just happens to have the FC, which is very passionate about him & his music. Wizkid is an icon, and that’s because of him, his fans, and African music lovers worldwide.  We, as a people/culture, worked (consciously & subconsciously) to build him & our music scene up to where it is today & I think we’ll continue to do so. We should be proud of that! AO: Yes, I totally agree with you on your comments about Wiz and his place in music and how Afrobeats has really grown. And I guess more and more people are welcoming that sound as part of their music catalogues and whatever they listen to on a general basis. 

AO: For you specifically, I’m going to take it back to the 1.7 million followers you have on Instagram. That is a lot for a fan page. Why do you think people, this could be Wizkid FC, I know that they go hard for Wiz so they want all the news or general fans of Wizkid, why do you think they follow you? Why are you specifically one of the only Wizkid sites with such a large following? Why do you think people are drawn to your content? Wizkid News: Hmmm, you know I still wonder about that too lol.  I think there's a few reasons. One of them is definitely consistency.  We've been really consistent over the years.  I started the page as a college kid back in 2014, and I’ve put a diverse team together to keep it moving, growing, & evolving to date.    Another reason is that people simply love Wizkid!  They love him for music, and everything else - i.e. his charisma and personality.  They love his lifestyle & what he represents.  What’s there not to like about Wizkid lol?  So, the page is basically like a lifestyle.  Every day, a fan can interact with the Wizkid brand in multiple ways since we try & feed followers a wholesome experience of Wiz.  

A third reason is that Wizkid doesn’t post much on his own social media, so it allows room for our page to flourish.

Lastly, our content is fresh!  I think our page really stands out in the media space!  I’m really proud of the way we’re curating.

AO: Speaking on how you mentioned that people are drawn to Wiz’s charisma and his personality. I guess you tie that into the fact that you’re right he barely posts. He’ll pop up when he has a song coming out and then you won’t hear from him ever again, sometimes promoting and sometimes not promoting. Do you kind of see yourself as an extension of his brand? Not an official extension because you are a blog, a fan blog, but anything along those lines? Wizkid News: Of course! I definitely do.  Before launching, I watched my brother/college roommate work as a contributor for a few Kanye West blogs.  Kanye, like Wiz, would only be on social media ever so sparingly. So TeamKanyeDaily & YeezyCentral, to name a few, were the go-to sites for all Kanye updates. TeamKanyeDaily still is today lol.  So, that’s how I sort of learned how to make my page align in an official manner with the Wizkid brand/camp.  

AO: That is very very cool to hear about your brother! Wow so it's almost like you guys have a knack for running blogs and everything associated with that. My biggest question is, why Wizkid? You could have started a fan site or blog  for any artist in the world, why did it have to be Wizkid? Wizkid News: Because Wizkid is dope!  He was my intro into Afrobeats & actually African music altogether.  I’m an American of Cameroonian descent.  Growing up, I used to listen to African music here & there at family functions but hip hop was my favorite genre - i.e. JAY Z, Kanye, etc.  In 2014, I was studying abroad in Europe. At the time, I was actually put on probation by the dean’s office at my school & had a strict curfew.  So, I was in my dorm room ALOT lol & my morale was down. That September, Wizkid’s ‘AYO’ album dropped & I came across it while bored scrolling on Facebook lol.  I recognized Wiz’s name since “Show You The Money” was big that summer & one of the FEW African songs I had on my phone. I decided to give the project a listen & I was hooked from that moment on! My whole mood gradually picked up as I vibed to that album repeatedly for days. From there, I went on discovering Wiz’s more & more of Wiz’s catalogue online. It was exciting! I realized I loved his music, and it was something for me to look forward to, despite being stuck in my dorm.  That vibe is what gave birth to Wizkid News! 

AO: Do you think in creating Wizkid news it helped you to better connect with your culture? I know Ebro from Beats 1 had a statement along the lines of saying we are drawn to Afrobeats because it's from the motherland, like where we’re from. Do you think that rings true of your creation of Wizkid News? Wizkid News: Yeah, 100%!  Like I said, African music was only something I’d come across while at family functions. My phone was filled with very, very few hints of it & endless amounts of hip hop. I’m actually a big JAY Z fan, he’s easily my favorite artist!  I own all his albums, all of them in CD format. However, Wizkid and that ‘AYO’ album really got me into African music. Wizkid became my next favorite artist & I consequently became a fan of African music genres! Wiz is truly a pan-African artist so I get introduced to so many sounds from the continent thru keeping up with his collabs, tours, etc. I’m able to experience the unity and diversity of African culture.

AO: Wizkid News…why that name? You could have called yourself anything. You know Wizkid Daily. Why did you settle on that name? Wizkid News: Yea, so I’m a big JAY Z fan. Jigga has a record called “Blueprint 2”  & in the intro he mentions “JAY Z News”. That’s where I got it from, and it fit the official feel I wanted for the page.   AO: Very very cool. I love how everything you do is tied to Jay-Z and his love for his music and artistry. You’ve really kept a bit about yourself in what you’ve created.

AO: From your point of view, what would you say is the most rewarding part of running this site? And what would you say is one of the most difficult things or challenges? Wizkid News: This page has changed my life and continues to do so everyday!  I’m very grateful for that. The most rewarding aspect of running this page is having impact!  Just knowing that my team & I are able to translate our digital influence to real life impact.

One of the challenges is just trying to get better & grow!  My team & I are all about improving our craft & finding new ways to increase interaction & reach! We actually just launched our Artist Aux feature where we highlight new, exciting artists in the culture!  It’s sort of our first time sort of showcasing other acts that aren’t necessarily connected to Wizkid/Starboy on a consistent basis.  We’re doing well to make it flow into our content mix, so I’m happy.  But, it’s a lot of work lol.

AO: Okay, so you must be a mind reader. My next question was going to be about why you decided to launch wizkidnews.net and I really wanted to go further into the Artist Aux Series. Wizkid News: I’m glad you asked! I feel like we were supposed to have had a website a long time ago lol. With the quarantine, we just had more time & energy to focus on getting it done.  It’s also instrumental now that we’re really expanding our blog with the Artist Aux & the Wizkid News Playlist. Wiz is really the inspiration behind the Artist Aux.  Wizkid was among the very first kid superstars on the continent. He inspires a lot of the young talents who came up around his time & those coming up today. Understanding this part of his brand, I thought it best to highlight some of these new, exciting talents! I’m glad we get to create more value for our features & our platform. Plus, I really love the African music scene worldwide. I’m genuinely a fan of many other acts and sounds. The Artist Aux & Wizkid News Playlists allows me to share and nurture some of my other interests.

AO: With the Artist Aux Series, how do you choose what artists to feature and interview? Do they need to be on Wizkid’s Starboy Entertainment label, do they need to have a large following, does there need to be a lot of noise behind them. Could they just be anyone? How does one get onto the website of yours? Wizkid News: My team & I select the Artist Aux features.  It’s really just based on who we are feeling at the moment. I love Oxlade’s EP & had met him last year.  He’s a really cool guy & a talented artist making waves, so I thought it best to feature him. Same story with Terri. We’re really excited about all our feature artists.  Stay tuned for the next one!  

AO: For any upcoming African artists how can they get in touch with you to potentially be featured? Wizkid News: I’m reachable via email & DM on IG. We try our best to review all throughout the week.

AO: People now have seen your success with Wizid News and we know that this was not an overnight success. You’ve been doing this for the last couple of years. For anybody who’s looking to start a fan site, what would your main piece of advice be? Wizkid News: Consistency + dope content are both key.  Be reputable.  Have impact.

AO: Wizkid News thank you for sitting down with me! To close this interview, what is your favorite Wizkid song and why? Wizkid News: That’s a difficult question. I can't even pick one Wizkid song because I have maybe a handful of songs that I like for various reasons. One that comes to mind right now is actually off of the recent ‘Sound Man’ EP, its called “Mine” with Kel-P. I love that song. Multiple reasons. Wiz is a versatile artist who can literally sound like an artist of any genre, but still be unique.  On that record, he flows so organically & creates a one-of-a-kind reggae feel that’s both soothing and heartfelt.  I think Wiz does a great job of making music that reflects his persona & this song definitely captures his very cool, calm, & collected nature.  I also like that he’s working with a young, buzzing producer - Kel P.

We’ve teamed up with Wizkid News to bring you a playlist of their favorite Wizkid songs because it was hard to choose just one. Check out the playlist curated by Wizkid News on Spotify!

Connect with Wizkid News on the following platforms: https://wizkidnews.net https://instagram.com/WizkidNews https://twitter.com/WizkidSource