#Ill upload more during summer <3

[yourl0cal1ncorporealb3ing]

lucifer stimboard!

I've been meaning to do somethin hazbin hotel related since I finished the show so i decided to make a stimboard of my fav character Lucifer! also i definitely plan on doing the other characters!

(I tried to keep the board spoiler free)

[microbiologynerdd]

Placement Applications Top Tips - Student to Student

Hello Everyone!

I hope you are well and happy.

So I have some good news... after months of searching I FINALLY got a PLACEMENT!🎉

It has been a very long process, especially considering the pandemic that is occurring... not that you could forget that though, haha!

Given my recent success, I have decided to share my top tips that I have learn’t along the way to help anyone else out their looking for an internship. Some of these tips are more aimed at placement/internship years, however they are adaptable to short term internships too! Enjoy.

Top 10 Placement Application Tips:

1. Have your CV ready

In the UK Placement opportunities are advertised from September (the start of our academic year), thus you want your CV READY for September 1st... or there abouts. So when it comes to applying for positions you are ready to go.

2. Have a draft of your cover letter

Most placements want a cover letter, so draft one during summer. Find an old placement advertisement that is similar to role/s you are looking for. This way when you comes to sending a cover letter for a specific company, you are not working from nothing.

3. Make your cover letter job specific

If you are planning on sending a generalised cover letter, don’t. You are reducing your chances of getting an interview/ or being selected for the next stage of the process.Tailor the letter:

- Talk about the qualities they are looking for... e.g. good organisation or communication skills, mention how you have them.

- Look into the company, show that you have done your research. Tell them why you want to work for THEM. Make this concise.

4. Use your university academics to your advantage

Your lecturers, personal tutors and careers department are there to HELP YOU. So use them, you are paying £9000+, get your moneys worth!

Ultimately you want someone within your field to look at and analyse your CV and Cover letter, just to make sure you are writing in your departments style. As a science- based CV is different to a law-based CV.

5. Get Company feedback

This is more relevant to interviews but some companies also do this for applications. If your application wasn’t followed up to the interview stage... ask WHY! Be proactive, most companies wont give out feedback unless you request it.

USE THIS INFORMATION, is there a common theme? Apply this to your applications, edit your CV. Make your CV stronger!

If you dont ask, you dont get - Simples!

6. The more applications you apply for the bigger your chance of success

I say this within reason, if you are sending off applications in the masses and you are dropping in quality, then no this isn’t going to work. But if you are putting your hopes and dreams on 1 or 2 companies you are limiting your options.

I made this mistake, I applied for 3 companies and had interviews lined up for a couple months after. Just because you have an interview doesnt mean you are guaranteed the position. Many companies, particularly science offer positions within September to December, keep applying.

Competition is fierce, you will not be the only amazing application.

7. Don’t apply for placements that you aren’t going to accept

May be obvious, but some people do this. It’s a waste of time, dont do it. Put your time into your university work or other applications.

8. Don’t wait for the deadline - apply ASAP

If you see a placement, apply for or it straight away! Make the time!

Many companies can start interviewing early even when the deadline still hasn’t gone. For example, I applied for a placement on the 12th July, interviews occured on the 16th and 17th of July. The application deadline was the 24th. If they think they’ve found the right person, they aren’t even going to read your application.

9. Keep track of your placements applications

Make sure you know who you have applied for: save the advertisement, the deadline, organise your company-specific CV and Cover letter. Have you applied? Have you received an interview? Any feedback?

Make a table to keep track of it all!

This way you can stay organised and keep on top of everything - if you want a cop/template of the table I used for keeping track of my placements, let me know, and ill upload it!

10. You WILL get REJECTED - but that’s okay

A slightly direct statement but true. Accept it early on. You aren’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, or what every company is looking for. But that’s okay, its a common theme in life, and a very NORMAL theme.

It doesn’t mean you give up, it means you try harder. I was rejected 9 times, 4 of those being at the interview stage. But I managed to get hired, you can too!

Learn from your experiences, every application, every interview is priceless chance of experience and knowledge. By the time you get into the big world of adulting you will a pro, and your rejections will reduce!

There you have it, my top 10 tips for CV/ applications! If you would like another one of these for interviews, or have any specific questions you want me to answer pop them in the comments or message me privately!

Remember I believe in you, its now time to believe in yourself! You’ve got this 💪

Speak soon, stay positive,

Lucinda x

[twokinkybeans]

Company (FINISHED) - Masterpost

“I know you need a miracle right now to help with all of this and- well, I don’t really know anyone who’s good at that kinda stuff, but... “ MJ scoffs an awkward laugh before continuing. “I mean, the help of a Fae would be nice, but it’s not that those just show up if you ask them to.” “A Fae?” Peter chuckles, though his eyes don’t spark. “Like Puck? From the play we had to do at Summer camp?” “Sort of, yeah!” MJ grabs Peter’s other hand and places both of them on his knees, resting her own on top. “But I’m playing with you, Pete. It’d be a stretch to find one willing to help,” MJ says. Lucky for Peter, he is quite flexible. Or: May's health is deteriorating fast and Peter is running out of options (and money), so he goes into the woods at night on Halloween to find a Fae willing to help him out. ____________________________________________

Warnings: Mentions of chronic/incurable illness, blood, etc. Magic and folklore. Slow burn with resolved sexual tension. Lots of mischief, a bit of spooks and of course fluff, angst and smut.

Read Company on AO3 ____________________________________________

Author’s note: Welcome to my new multichapter fic! I've been wanting to write this fic since Kim and I were working on Jar of Dirt (which was like half a year ago, whoops). Originally, Kim was going to be writing for this too, but with her large to write list we decided to take some pressure off her shoulders, so she's going to focus on those! Kim has wayyy more knowledge on Paganism than I do, though, so she will be beta reading my fic on all the folklore, etc! She also makes the moodboards for this fic! <3 Important to know: This fic is going to go with the flow! There will be a teaser poem during the wait, but every chapter will be posted on the next Pagan celebration. This means there will be an upload schedule:

Teaser 1 Chapter 1: Samhain (uploaded on October 31st 2020) Teaser 2 Chapter 2: Yule (uploaded on December 21st 2020) Teaser 3 Chapter 3: Imbolc (uploaded on February 1st 2021) Teaser 4 XXXX (No teaser due to writer’s block) Chapter 4: Ostara (uploaded on March 21st 2021) Teaser 5 XXXX (no teaser once again cause life happened lol) Chapter 5: Beltane (uploaded on May 1st 2021)

The wait is long, but it's all with good reason! It will give me the time to do it properly, it'll give me time to work on other fics/one shots in between and I gotta say, it also gives another layer to the artsy-ness. Everything you read happens on the day it's posted! Every chapter will contain a brief summary of what happened in the last, so you won’t lose track of it! If you want to be added to a taglist, please let me know! <3

I'd love to hear your thoughts and input on this fic! While I do have a set plot I follow, I'm actually very keen on implementing what the readers would like to see! Thank you for your continued support and I hope you enjoy this fic!

------------------------------------

EDIT: THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR JOINING ME FOR THIS PROJECT! I JUST UPLOADED THE FINAL CHAPTER AAAAA <3

[lucyhq]

hiiiii loves, i’m aimee and this is my baby lucy !!! pls plot with me while i watch brooklyn nine nine for the 7th time. also this is long bc i ramble a lot, i apologize in advanced… love me?

chicago’s very own lucille “lucy” withers has been spotted on madison avenue driving a ferrari dino 206 gt , welcome ! your resemblance to lennon stella is unreal . according to tmz , you just had your twenty-first birthday bash  . your chance of surviving new york is uncertain because you’re taciturn , but also being benevolent might help you . i think being a scorpio explains that .  3 things that would paint  a  better picture of you would be half smoked cigarettes , middle of the night adventures , behaving recklessly .

trigger warning for: cancer, loss of a parent and eating disorder mentions.

THE BACKSTORY

lucille withers was born on october 31st to jenny and vincent withers. she was their third and final child, the only girl and they couldn’t have been more overjoyed.

they raised their children in chicago with vacation home by the beach in malibu where they spent most of their summers.

the withers family was quite wealthy – vincent being a big time corporate lawyer and jenny being a respectable editor for a fashion magazine. however, the three children were raised as normally as possible ( if you ignored their massive house and the fact that they were encouraged to participate in more sports and activities than they had time for ).

lucy grew up in dance classes, piano lessons, figure skating, she was a cheerleader in school and she spent a lot of time volunteering at animal shelters as her parents instilled in all their children the value of giving back to their community.

when lucy was six her mother became very ill, cancer cells attacking her brain on progressing quickly. they made her comfortable for as long as possible but just three days after lucy’s seventh birthday her mother passed away in the night.

things changed after that, her brothers were constantly getting into fights at school and lashing out, her father was rarely home any more always working and little lucy was doing everything in her power just to keep the peace. the seven year old made herself invisible to not cause any more problems at home.

things changed again a few years later once her brothers left for college and lucy entered high school.

their dad got married. he’d met a woman with two children of her own and vincent withers was smitten, combining their lives with these other people suddenly. he was paying more attention to this lady and her children than he ever had to lucy and her brothers, only her brothers weren’t there to truly experience any of it.

lucy felt like an intruder in her own home, her childhood home – where her mother walked the halls and played hide and seek with them. where her oldest brother punched a hole in the wall and they still hadn’t fixed it, just put a picture over it.

the young withers did the only thing she knew how to do, it had worked for her brothers after all, she became the problem child. they couldn’t ignore her if she was starting fights at school, smoking in the girl’s bathroom and coming home drunk on a tuesday.

all it did though was cause her new step mother to shriek about parenting and blame lucy’s mom. it caused lucy to become more isolated from her family and to lash out more. her dad couldn’t see her cry for help or how all she wanted was his attention.

she couldn’t even count how many times she’s heard “why can’t you be more like lydia.” ( her perfect step sister ).

it got to the point where she began to go on hunger strikes, refusing to sit and eat with her “family” and controlling the only thing she felt she could – food.

eventually they’d had enough and sent her off to boarding school in london. she spent two years there in an all girls prep school. but even they couldn’t control the young withers girl. they viewed her as a lost cause.

by the time she was a senior in high school, lucy withers had a terrible reputation and was back in the united states to stir up all the trouble she could manage. only when she came home it wasn’t to chicago but new york city, where her family had moved during her time away.

the only thing that kept her from completely going off the rails was her ever growing social media fan base, where she posted pictures on instragram of her rebellious lifestyle and impeccable style.

SOME FACTS ABOUT LUCY

with over four million instagram followers to her name, being in new york has aided her social media career, though lucy hasn’t shed her rebellious ways.

she cares so much about people and animals and all living things – she wants to help people. she has a massive heart and honestly, it’s her biggest weakness. if her social media career hadn’t taken off so fast she would have gone into nursing.

her big heart causes her to get hurt easily, she doesn’t like to show that she cares because then it sets herself up to be hurt. she pretends to not care about anything or anyone but when she’s at the nursing home or the animal shelter, you really get to see that soft side of her.

after fainting from mal-nutrition when she was sixteen and away at school, lucy now uses that because she knows it’s a sure way to have her father pay attention to her for a few hours. but also it  get’s her out of doing things she doesn’t want to do – lucy will starve herself. it makes people pay attention to her and she takes twisted joy in that.

despite her rebelliousness and how much of a hot mess she is, she takes her career very very seriously. she works herself sick, making sure she’s constantly uploading new content and always looks her best. she’s always looking for ways to stay on top of her game.

she volunteers at the nursing home twice a week, her soft side really comes out when she’s helping the seniors, making them laugh and smile.

lucy is allergic to cats, tomatoes and is lactose intolerant. she’s also vegetarian and tries really hard to eat vegan as much as possible ( when she does eat ).

her brothers have always been her best friends, she would do literally anything for them.

her favourite colour is yellow, her favourite flower is a sunflower, her favourite food is coffee, her favourite song is burning love by elvis presley and her favourite season is summer.

she hates snakes, pickles, when people cuss too much and people spend all their time complaining or talking about someone else negatively.

her bloodstream is 98% coffee

stops to pet all the dogs

is the most loyal friend you will ever meet once you win her over, would take a bullet for you

acts tough but is really very soft

hOT MESS

SOME WANTED CONNECTIONS

people that know her from chicago before she left for school.

her older brothers’ friends – we could make this fun or angsty ( maybe she hooked up with one of them and her brother still doesn’t know ), like it really could be good.

her brothers or step siblings !!

ex boyfriends, good, bad or one sided. give me them all. though bad terms would be fun and maybe they ended because of lucy’s inability to really open up and deal with her shit. he could have gotten sick of her attention seeking. being with lucy would be draining.

some good influences, someone needs to tell this mess to calm down and stop ruining her life all because of things she can’t control.

party buddies, someone she can drag out to the clubs on a tuesday night or is always down to get drunk or high with her.

someone she can just be real with, someone she can talk to openly and honestly, but also someone who does the same with her. they just talk and let each other get things off their chest without judgement or fear they’ll go telling someone else.

maybe a fellow volunteer at the nursing home ??

someone who picks up drunk lucy and makes sure this mess gets to her bed at the end of the night and doesn’t end up drowning in a ditch or something like that

and of course she needs best friends and a squad, don’t we all.

maybe a current boyfriend?

one night stands

a childhood best friend that knew lucy when she was a happy, loving child – was there when she tried to become invisible during her preteen years and then watched her fall apart in high school and progressively get to where she is now.

anything else you might have in mind i’m really open to all ideas tbh

just come love me and lucy

pretty please

[kurtbastian-land]

Hi! I'm currently on Kurtbastian fics binge read, so I was wondering if you could share your 10 favourites?

Wow, my top 10 favorites. That’s going to a tough one. I’m obviously going to skip the major well-known ones that this fandom knows - A Change In The Weather - cacophony, Don’t You Remember -  discordandrhythm and Glad You Came - daftydraw and JWMelmoth. With that being said, any other stories from that authors are bangers as well! But off to the actual list (in no particular order)

TOP 10 KURTBASTIAN FICS (MULTI-CHAPTERED, COMPLETED)

1. Europe Is Our Playground [Explicit] - GlassParade

Summary: Eight years and half the world away from home, a chance encounter in a Paris club leads Kurt and Sebastian - each running from the ghosts of their pasts - into the diversion of chasing each other across Europe.

2. A Shot In the Arm [Explicit] - somebetterwords

Summary: Kurt Hummel was a catch. Kurt was a catch, and Santana didn’t know what she was talking about. That’s what he’d tell himself until he believed it. But actually, talk was cheap. Kurt was going to go out and dangle himself at the gayest nightclub in the tri-county area and watch the men clamour to catch him. He wasn’t having a slutty meltdown or anything. His self esteem was not dependent on the attentions and opinions of strangers. He just needed an ego boost, one single night of his life for recalibration and encouragement from unbiased observers and also drinks. He just needed… a shot in the arm.(Though it wasn’t exactly a needle he was looking to stick in himself, and he didn’t want it going in his arm either.)

3. Live Without Shame / Call Me Anything You Want [Teen and Up Audiences] - Walden_pond313

Summary: Kurt is fed up with being heartbroken or disappointed when it comes to guys. Maybe it's time for some fun... / Sequel to Live Without Shame. Basically, season 2 if Kurt/Blaine never happened

4. Barista Confessions [Explicit] - TheFirstMrsHummel 

Summary: Unsure of his future following graduation, Kurt finds the status quo impossible to maintain. And when Sebastian Smythe comes crashing back into his life, it gets even more complicated. PLEASE NOTE NOT KLAINE/BLAINE FRIENDLY

5. The Boys of Summer [Mature] - MoreThanTonight

Summary: A camera. A jacket pin. A phone. Lemon balm leaves. A bottle cap. A box of condoms. A bottle of sleeping pills. On the last days of summer before college, Sebastian remembers the most eventful summer of his life and the items related to it. Kurtbastian.

6. Before You Met Me [General Audiences] - ellodoctor

Summary: When Kurt goes to Dalton to spy, he meets Sebastian Smythe who then points out lead singer Blaine Anderson, his latest “goal.” After Kurt runs into him again at sectionals (and actually meeting Blaine), he suddenly finds himself to be a fast and slightly coerced friend to them both. He’s thrown right into figuring out how much Sebastian cares about Blaine, how Blaine feels about Sebastian, confessing his bullying problems and dealing with Sebastian’s ego. And it actually seems to be worth it. But will that last?

7. give your heart (a break) [Mature] - drunkonwriting 

Summary: Post-TBU AU. Life moves on after heartbreak: Kurt knows that more than most. As he tries to put his life back together after Blaine, he finds an unexpected ally in his new coworker and Isabelle's nephew: Sebastian Smythe. As Kurt goes through his new life as a single man, he finds an unexpected depth to Sebastian and realizes that losing the first love of his life doesn't mean he'll never love again.

8. (Let’s give them) Something to talk - MemeKonGlee (MemeKonYA)

Summary: “I need you to—”“I heard you the first time,” Kurt interrupts, putting his fork and knife down on his plate and pushing his half-finished pancakes aside. “What I meant was: what the hell?”He points towards the neglected pancakes, trying to stall in the face of Kurt’s reaction.“Are you sure you don’t wanna finish that first?”The look in Kurt's eyes tells him in no uncertain terms that no, he doesn't want to finish his pancakes, Jesus.And so Sebastian has no option but to take a deep breath in, exhale slowly through his mouth and just… get on with it, internally cringing at how unbelievably ridiculous it all sounds when he puts it in words, all out there for the world (and more importantly, Kurt fucking Hummel) to judge. It all boils down to: I fucked up and I'm too proud to deal with it the mature way.

9. Twitch Verse [Teen and Up Audience] - sincerelyjessy*

*A series of oneshots that explores Kurt Hummel and Sebastian Smythe’s relationship

10. Would You Hold It Against Me [Mature] - deliriumbubbles 

Summary: The Warblers discover that they and McKinley will be doing the same musical during the fall semester. After a spot of espionage against their rival school McKinley, new Warbler Sebastian finds himself fascinated by one of the young auditioners… and unintentionally becoming the Warblers’ nefarious leader.

TOP 10 KURTBASTIAN FICS (ONESHOTS)

1. The Daily Grind - orphan_account

Summary: Kurt Hummel is a bored barista, and Sebastian never gets off his phone.

2. The One with the Amusement Park [Teen and Up Audiences] - a_storm_of_frustration

Summary: “It was the only place I could think of where we could have 'fun’”, he grits his teeth.Snorting indelicately, Kurt rolls his eyes as he fixes the lapel of his sky blue pea coat. “And by 'fun’ you mean snark at each other and insult each other’s weak points until we feel like murdering the other? And whoever gets to do it first wins?”Sebastian immediately grins. And he had to bite down that grin the minute that he sees Kurt grinning at him. “Well, I did pick a public place. Full of people. Potential witnesses.”“There are rides that provide some sort of privacy. I’ll take the chance, however brief it is.”“There’s always the Tunnel of Love.”Kurt gives him a look. Sebastian bites his tongue so hard he could taste blood.--In which Sam thinks that his best friend and his boyfriend should get to know each other better and…Well, bond.

3. Weather With You [Teen Audience and Up] - chocoholicannanymous

Summary: Kurt Hummel might not exactly be the last person Wes expects to see at the club, but not far from. Who he's with, and what he's doing however... Yeah, that might the last thing he expects.This is a fic-of-a-fic, showing a scene from "A Change In the Weather" from another point of view.

4. The Truth About Sebastian Smythe [Mature] - DasWarSchonKaputt

Summary: Sebastian Smythe does what he wants. Fuck the world. Now, if only the world would quit fucking him back. AKA: Sebastian Smythe's therapy journal, ages 17 to 18.

5. Misery Loves Company [Teen and Up Audiences] - prettypurpleflower

Summary: Kurt and Sebastian keep getting ill and it messes everything up. Especially their feelings.

6. One Shots, Drabbles and Prompts (Oh My!) [General Audiences] - bastiankurts (orphan_accounts)

Summary: A collection of various pieces of written work for Kurtbastian that are either too short to upload individually or that I just felt worked better archived in this bundle. The majority of these have been shared on my own tumblr in the past and are labelled with their titles and the blurb they originally were given when first uploaded, and they include different scenarios for Kurt & Sebastian as well as a few familiar faces along for the ride!

7. Joysticks and Glitter [General Audiences] - supercanaries

Summary: Series of daddies!Kurtbastian drabbles and oneshots going through Kurt and Sebastian's path as parents and their choices that drove them towards this direction.

8. First Brick [Teen And Up Audiences] - supercanaries

Summary: It’s only when he has almost managed to suppress any thought about his boyfriend’s unusual silence that Sebastian speaks, his breath heavy and preceding a revelation Kurt has been aware of for a long while now."I’m gay."

9. Let Them Look [Not Rated] - AnarchyWretch

Summary: Sebastian observes his boyfriend in his element, surrounded by adoring NYADA boys. It's kind of an inflation to his ego, really.

10. The Textactive Stalker [Teen And Up Audiences] - Wednesday Thunder (wednesdaythunder)

Summary: Sebastian: Ever since he started getting text messages from an unknown number, it becomes evident with every new text that the other person knows exactly who he was. Yet, even the creepy stalker factor wasn't enough to stop Sebastian from forming a real connection with a friend he only knows by written words. Or does he? Kurt: Never the one to go down without a challenge, he anonymously starts texting to Sebastian Smythe, trying to find any weakness in his armour. But never was he prepared for the boy he got to know, or the feelings to grow stronger with each unopened message...

Honorable Mention (if you truly want a binge)

1. Lady Divine (fhartz91)

[madaboutmerlin]

Merlin Writer Month: Round up

Hello Merlin fans! We hope you’ve all had a fabulous week and that you found new authors to enjoy. 

We wanted to let you know that we’ll be posting a compilation of all your recommendations every sunday so, please, if you uploaded something remember to use the hashtag: #MerlinWritterMonth2018; so that we may include what you shared. 

This post will always be divided by the pairing that is the focus of the fic, if it is not tagged under one, then it will go under a General category that  will be at the end. Also, all fics will be found after the cut, because this is a long post and we don’t want to clog yout timeline.

With all of that out of the way, enjoy!

Arthur/Merlin

1. If Merlin’s Into It, by Remianly Length: 660 words Summary: Arthur realizes he’s in love with Merlin and wishes to convey his feelings. He asks Gwaine for advice to help him in writing a love song.

2. The Witchfinder by StoriwrYNos Lenght: 4,669 Summary: When a witchfinder comes to Camelot looking for the person responsible for the magic witnessed there he quickly settles on Merlin as the perpetrator. Will Arthur be able to come up with a plan to save Merlin in time, and will he even want to if he knows what Merlin really is?

3. Em-bare-assing by alienvomplanetenwooh Lenght: 1,589 Summary: Letting down your pants in public can lead to unexpected outcomes.

4. A More Comfortable Place to Sleep by JimJamDavis Word Count: 912 Summary: On the floor in front of the fireplace he could see the tasseled edge of one of his cushions, where it had no place being. The misplaced cushion wasn’t what had stopped him however, but the curl of delicate fingers loosely grasping it.Apparently the room wasn’t quite as empty as he’d thought. Merlin falls asleep on the floor, and Arthur makes him more comfortable.

5. Dead And Breakfast by yourrockyspine Lenght: 4,345 Summary: After his Mum’s demise, Merlin kept her beautifully-maintained B&B up and running.And though he mostly loves having his mother’s ghost nearby, it’s some of the other deceased residents that make it exceedingly hard to please his (living) clients.[This was originally going to be a Happy Merloween chapter, but it’s just too silly and whimsical. No scary here, just utter madness. And a spot of smut and romance.]

6. My Major is Pre-Sorcery by princepratness Lenght: 5,843 Summary: Merlin’s in the pre-sorcery department and Arthur’s in the Prince program. The last thing Arthur expected is for them to ever get along. However, they do. In fact, they get along so damn well that Arthur’s stuck wondering how he never noticed when the insults became kisses instead.

7. Modern Merlin AU by V_L_G_4200 Summary: Inspired by tumblr posts by ‘katiemcgrath’“Almost got arrested.” Lenght: 6,494 “What?? Why?” “Punched the Prince of Wales.” “Was he angry?” “I don’t know. Gave me his number.” “You going to call him?” “Nah, gonna post it on Twitter.”

8. all the best it could be (just you and i) by pynk (pinkjook) Lenght: 7,860  Summary: Arthur’s never been much for pining, but he’s never been much for lying, either. Not even to himself.

9. Between the shadow and the soul by fireatwill52 Lenght: 29,333  Summary: Arthur meets Merlin at a wedding and falls head over heels. About an hour later his fiancee Vivian talks Merlin into being their wedding planner. Arthur thinks this is fantastic, because he gets to spend more time with Merlin… if only there wasn’t going to be a wedding that married him to someone else at the end of it.

10. of blowjobs and candy rings by coffeeandparchment Lenght: 6,221  Summary: "No.“ "What? I didn’t even say anything yet.” “You didn’t have to. It’s all in your beady little eyes. You want me to give you a piggyback to the club.” Arthur said. “My feet hurt,” Merlin said, as if that was a good enough reason for a piggy back. At Arthur’s silence, Merlin pouted. Gods, maybe he was a little more than tipsy. Arthur slowed down as Merlin walked past. “What are you doing now? For someone who is all about doing these quickly you sure ar—” Merlin cut off as he turned to see Arthur stopped and crouching down. "What are you doing?” Arthur huffed in annoyance. “What does it look like, Merlin? Are you going to get on or just leave me crouching here like an idiot all night?”

11. If You’re Still Breathing You’re The Lucky Ones by Withstarryeyes Lenght: 1,722 Summary: But the concern wasn’t the fact that his eyes itched, but what that meant. Ever since Merlin was a child he’d get random fevers at least once or twice a year. They’d stay for a day or two but they always spiked during the night, leaving him delirious and shaking under blankets. He would wake up with itchy eyes, then at midnight he’d have a 105-degree fever and his mother would have to tend to him all night to make sure didn’t die or boil alive. But tonight, Arthur was going on a hunting trip with the knights and Merlin had to tag along to cook and clean and polish armor and his eyes itched.

12. Carry On, Calm or Not by yourrockyspine Lenght: 14,765 Summary: After an inadvertent attempt on his life, 17-year-old Merlin finds himself stuck in the Camelot Ward for Troubled Adolescents. Forced to work through his feelings of helplessness, Merlin develops a new lease on life and learns to find happiness in the strangest of corners.

13. You Can Be King Again by asuralucier Lenght: 14,886  Summary: Victorianesque — Arthur Pendragon, Marquess of Harington flees to his (father’s) country estate for a well-deserved summer holiday. He has his hands full with Merlin, the surly stable boy and Arthur is also pretty sure there’s a ghost haunting his father’s house.

14. The Vacation by Mina264 Lenght: 5,718  Summary: Merlin needs a vacation from Camelot and Arthur tags along. They make some realizations during this vacation that will change their lives forever.

15. Fractured Magic by LunaCanisLupus_22 Lenght: 141,847 Summary: “Oi!” Merlin shouts. “People are trying to study in here. Piss off somewhere else!” “What did you say, spellbegger?” he calls back, tone arrogant and haughty like just about every other Knight on Campus. “Come down here and say that to my face.” Or the Sky High AU where Knights and Magic Users attend University to learn how to fight evil magic and Merlin and Arthur do not get along. Until they do.

16. Knights on the case by TheGameIsOn_Geronimo Lenght: 3,707 Summary: The knights decide that they just can’t deal with all the pining and sexual frustration that comes from being near Merlin and Arthur, so they decide to take matters into their own hands. As (probably) expected: chaos ensues.

17. The Jealous King by guessimaclotpole Lenght: 2,057 Summary: “How about jealous Arthur when he finds out there are loads of other knights and servants who have crushes on Merlin (who sometimes flirts back) and he loses his shit when one starts to court him and is just like “no” and kisses him up against the wall and afterwards Merlin is just like “it’s about fuckin time” mm yeah that’s some good shit right there”

18. inhiare ardens by mishcollin Lenght: 9,616 Summary: Merlin starts a courtship, and Arthur’s fine with it. Completely fine with it. In which Arthur discovers that he’s not fine with it, and some other things about himself.

Gwaine/Merlin

1. For the Love of All Who Gather by  Nebula5030 Lenght: 92,053 Summary: Merlin hadn’t wanted Arthur to discover his magic like that: with Merlin performing a spell in the woods and Arthur simply stumbling across him. But with wounds both old and new festering within him, Arthur believes he has no choice- and banishes his dearest friend. Forced from Camelot, Merlin and Gwaine find themselves living amongst Druids, and Merlin discovers he has the chance to learn more about his magic, his heritage, and the prophecy that binds him and Arthur together. But with tensions stirring both near and abroad, past lies come to light, and everyone finds that not everything is truly as it seems.

2. My Dearest Merlin by Nebula5030 Lenght: 2,305 Summary: A week after the Battle of Camlann, Merlin receives a letter.

3. Private Moments by Nebula5030 Lenght: 758 Summary: With Gwaine’s body against his, the mattress to his back, and Gwaine kissing him slowly and deeply, Merlin found himself wondering why they didn’t do this more often. Why they always waited before taking time to do this. Merlin’s hand began to slide up under Gwaine’s shirt- “Merlin?” Gaius’s voice came through the door. Merlin and Gwaine both froze, their heads snapping to the door. Oh. That was why.

4. Obelus: Doubt The Tale by Lion_owl Lenght: 2,427 Summary: Gwaine's got back to Camelot and Gaius is safe; now, he's worried about what's become of Merlin. But soon they're reunited and they talk everything out.

Arthur/Gwen

1. got to be (something bigger than me) by CyberQueens Lenght: 30,620 Summary:  A thousand and a half years (or thereabouts) after Camlann, Gwen finds two strange men at her door. Written for roundtablemanagers' Round Table Minutes March 2016 prompt 'Once and Futures'.

2. Baby this is it by sadpendragon Lenght: 342 Summary: It had given Arthur a certain joy to tease Guinevere about the words she had told him during his illness. But it had also made him think.

3. Knights & Merlin (+ Gwen) by tymedfire * Lenght: 9,171 Summary: This is a collection of unconnected fics, with each fic focusing on the relationship between Merlin and a Knight of the Round Table, with a bonus addition of Gwen. There will be fluff and angst, though mostly angst, but who knows. There WILL be fluff, though, I promise you that.

* We decided to put this one here because even though most of the fics in this series are not tagged to go with a certain ship, one of them has Arthur/Gwen as the tagged pairing.

Gwen/Merlin

1. Kiss me when I’m down by sadpendragon Lenght: 937 Summary:  We were each other’s first after all.

Merlin/Morgana

1. Any Other Name by RemixConstellation Lenght: 1,024 Summary:  She fits him, like nothing else he has ever worn. Nothing he will ever wear again. There’s a bounty on their heads. One they cannot out run. One that flows in their veins and lights up their eyes. Sometimes, in the glow of the fire, he wonders what crime it is to just be born. How could a king with magic under his sign, put a sword through a sister’s chest for the magic under her skin?

Arthur/Leon

1. A Poetic Affair by sadpendragon Lenght: 732 Summary:  Leon knew what poetry meant, and Leon wasn’t so sure he was amused by it anymore.

[remade-graystudie]

how i got a 29 the first time i took the act

i just wanted to give you guys some tips! not all of these work for everyone though so keep that in mind. also, i am going to take the test again in april for those interestedin knowing

to preface: i took the test while pretty sick and it was the morning after the opening night for a Christmas dinner i do each year, so i got maybe 6 hours of sleep. not the best conditions

my scores

composite score of 29

english score of 31

mathematics score of 26

reading score of 31

science score of 29

science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) score of 28

understanding complex texts of "above proficient"

progress toward career readiness of "progress toward gold level NCRC"

some general tips

choose a test center close to you. you will not want to wake up for the test. you will not want to drive there. it doesnt matter if youre unfamiliar with the place, people will be there to help you. but bring your own pencils and an eraser, they probably wont help you with those.

try to get as much sleep as possible. i didnt get much so to force myself awake i took a cold shower, but no caffeine because i feared crashing.

my breakfast that day was just some poptarts while i drove to the testing center, but i started to get hungry during the break. for the next test, im going to plan better and eat some cereal or toast.

take advantage of all leftover time. for me this meant going back to the questions i was super unsure of and making sure im satisfied with my answer choice as well as making sure all bubbles on my answer sheet were filled in enough. it also meant taking 5 minute naps where i drooled on the test booklet a little. oops?

use your break wisely. the testing center i was at had vending machines so i borrow a dollar from my friend and ate some m&m's as a pick me up. i also put a bunch of cough drops in my jacket pocket. after i did this in the span of like 3 minutes i went back to my room and took a nap.

take advantage of the fact that everything is multiple choice (except the essay portion, obviously) because it reallycomes in handy.

i didnt really struggle with nerves because i went into the test with the mindset "i get what i get". i had done what i felt was necessary to prepare and i knew this wouldnt be my last time. realistically, my act or sat score could be the thing that keeps me from entering my dream college (a school with a 7% admission rate and average act score of 34) but i am happy with my other choices of colleges. i have done all that i can do (which in this case was like.. 3 days of studying).

my biggest overall tip: know what the test will be like. know the order of the tests, the number of questions, and the time limits. this will leave no surprises. i was really glad i did this because i always knew what was coming.

tips for individual portions

english portion

75 multiple choice questions with four possible answers in 45 minutes.

dont read the entirety of the passage! read the first paragraph and the last paragraph before you read the questions then for each question skim for the info you need to properly answer the question. this allows you to spend more time with each question and to focus only on whats necessary.

brush up on word groups like there/their/they're, it's/its, and two/too/to. a lot of these questions are about following grammatical rules.

math portion

60 multiple choice questions with five possible answers in 60 minutes.

do what you know first. i almost ran out of time because i couldnt remember some things and spent too long on them so when i got to questions i knew at the end i was rushing and panicking and probably got some wrong.

if youre not sure how to do a problem, guess and check to the best of your abilities. guess and check works wonders.

reading portion

40 multiple choice questions with four possible answers in 35 minutes.

tbh i thought this was really similar to the english part so similar tips. but if the passage is on the short side, just read the whole thing.

science portion

40 multiple choice questions with four possible answers in 35 minutes.

real talk, i thought i bombed this portion like i walked out thinkin it was the reason id do so badly.

do NOT treat this like the english and reading portions! read the entirety of everything! redraw, rewrite, and rename things if you need to!

this part really focuses on graph interpretation and they will try to screw you over so hard with names of things. make sure you know how to interpret graphs well.

this was the only section where i rechecked every single answer. i was so used to the sat that i didnt know how to handle a science portion. it freaked me out.

essay portion

1 essay based on a promot in 40 minutes.

i didnt actually take this part because the only college on my list that says anything about it just recommends it and that school happens is my safety college. if youre really confident it will help your composite score, then take it. i chose not to mainly because im lazy and i didnt want to take the risk of it hurting my score even though i thought it could help since i write pretty strong essays, even under time constraints like id experience on the test.

some final tips

the act company sells a book. buy the book. its genuinely super helpful and im so glad i chose to buy it. i know some people use ones from outside sources, but i dont trust those as much. the official book is actually where i got a lot of my tips from.

take the test multiple times. i took the test in december because i knew i was unfamiliar with the formatting and wanted to have a basis for comparing my april score too. if i still am not happy with my april score, i plan on retaking it during the summer.

pay the extra $20 dollars to get your answers sent to you. it is quite literally the easiest and fastest way to see what you need to focus and improve on.

if you know youre taking the test, sign up as soon as possible. at the very least, sign up before youd have to pay the late fee.

dont add your picture until its like almost the last day. im the kind of person who changes uo my appearance often, specifically my hair color. if i uploaded a picture for the april date now, id be blonde in the picture even though ill probably have brown hair when i take the test.

a reminder

dont peace your self worth on this test. could it impact what college you go to? sure. but whether or not you did student council could too. im very proud of my score, but its not my end all be all. im more proud of the way i fold clothes or how organized my closet is than my act score.

good luck on all your tests everyone ❤️💕

[elegantshapeshifter]

What dates are the Wild Hunts on?

I have a proverb: “It’s not me if we don't miss a day without talking about the Wild Hunt at least once!”

To answer you seriously: it depends on where you live.Exactly like the days of the Sabbath, the days of the Procession of the Dead/Wild Hunt change from region to region in all Europe. Also its leader changes, we have sometimes Hellequin, other times Odin, other times again Perchta, Holda, Herla, Diana, Gwyn ap Nudd, etc. It also not always take the appearance of a Procession, sometimes it's just a lonely Hunter with dogs (the dogs are - according to the legends - souls of the damned transformed into animals), and other times too it's a Mass of the Dead, in which people go the Day of the Dead (2nd of November) to listen to a normal mass for the deceased while they see that all around them the people are dead, and then escape but stay ill for 3 days after the event.So you have to take a book of folklore and see where in your Country there are legends about dead that ride together and/or about a ghostly hunter. 

You can also find a lot of material in:

- Carlo Ginzburg's "Ecstasies: Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath" and "Night Battles: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries";- Jacob Grimm's "Teutonic Mythology";- Claude Lecouteux's "Phantom Armies of the Night: The Wild Hunt and the Ghostly Processions of the Undead";- Karl Meisen's "Die Sagen vom wüttenden Heer und wilden Jäger" (paradoxically there is a translation in Italian but not in English);- Wolfgang Behringer's "Shaman of Oberstdorf: Chonrad Stoeckhlin and the Phantoms of the Night";- Emma Wilby's "Burchard's strigae, the Witches' Sabbath, and Shamanistic Cannibalism in Early Modern Europe", "Cunning-Folk and Familiar Spirits" and "The Visions of Isobel Gowdie";- Eva Pocs's "Between the Living and the Dead", "Fairies and Witches at the Boundary of South-Eastern and Central Europe" and "Traces of Indo-European Shamanism in South East Europe".

Sorry for the so big list of books but since I don't know where are you from I give you material from all Europe ^^'''

Obviously these are texts which take into account a lot of Countries, so in order to understand when the date is in your region, you have to search in a more limited area, for example in the books of legends in your region or your Country.

Moreover, If you don't find the exact date of the Wild Hunt, use the date in which legends say that witches or fairies gather together (the date of the Sabbath in legends), because according to Carlo Ginzburg the Wild Hunt, the Sabbath and the Night Battles all come from the same origin, so if you find the date of one, you find the date of the others.

Moreover, in your area, what are the days that folklorically and historically are linked to the dead? It's more probably this the date in which the Procession of *THE DEAD* will pass... for obvious reasons :D 

In general, however, we can say that the most common date for the Wild Hunt was the Thursday of the Ember Days Week.

The Ember Days were an old Catholic (now not longer celebrated, only Anglicans do it) celebration for seasonal change that required 3 days of fasting during the week, four times the year (in fact we talk about the "Four" Ember Days, Quattro Tempora in Italian).

So you had Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday linked to fasting, and the Thursday free in the middle. Because of this the Thursday was linked to the celebration of life, to paganism and therefore to witches, fairies and ghosts.

This is the reason why it's the most common date for the Wild Hunt and the Sabbath in all Europe (even if there are many regions of Europe in which the dates for these phenomenons were others).

This year, we'll have: - the thursday of Ember Days of Spring the 22nd of February (it's near!!); - the thursday of Ember Days of Summer the 24th of May; - the thursday of Ember Days of Autumn the 20th of September;- the thursday of Ember Days of Winter the 20th of December.

You can see from here the week of the Ember Days and see which day is the Thursday of the Ember Days' week: http://www.saintgregorysthreerivers.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/2018-calendar.pdf

[alxspeaks]

As some of you may have noticed, I have been pretty quiet on social media recently. In fact, I went roughly 2 months without as much as opening up a social media app. In total, it was 3 months until I officially made a post from any of my social media accounts. Now this may not seem like such a big deal, but like most of the world’s population I was addicted to social media.

In 2019, it is estimated that there will be around 2.77 billion social media users around the globe and that figure continues to increase (The Statistics Portal).Social media is everything right now: people turn to Twitter before they turn on the news, every business has a social media platform, and it is now the easiest way to contact anyone from your Mom to Cardi B. Everyone is involved in some aspect of social media and it is so easy to get caught up without even realising it. I would often find myself constantly hopping between Facebook, Instagram ,Snapchat and Twitter, scrolling, uploading and posting. It was the first thing I did when I woke up and the last thing before I went to bed. I would stay up late with nothing but the glare from my phone screen glowing on my face as I would constantly follow updates and news feeds. It had gotten to the point where I began to feel uncomfortable without my phone in my hand and whenever I felt a bit socially awkward it was the first thing I would look for. I began to depend on it and this twisted relationship started to trigger a lot of problems for me.

It all began in March 2018 just after my 24th birthday when I started to really notice a big change in my overall mood: 50% of the time I was unhappy and the other 50% I spent worrying and feeling anxious. Throughout my time at University I had been noticing increased anxiety and changes in my mood but after graduation it just seemed to be getting progressively worse. It came to a point where my overall outlook on life was consistently negative and I was miserable, unable to eat, sleep or think clearly. I had this feeling that I was just a total failure at everything and I was finding it extremely difficult to cope with life. I was really scared of the thoughts going through my head and I felt as though I had no control over my emotions. Although I had felt overwhelmed and stressed before, I knew that this was different but I had no idea what was happening to me. I sought advice from a friend who I knew was open about her mental health journey and after speaking to her I took a huge leap and decided to refer myself to my local mental health team.

This was just the worst thing for me as I hate drawing any attention to myself, yet, here I was,  preparing to talk to total strangers about my life. I started doing my own research into the way that I was feeling and I began to discover that I had symptoms similar to that of Anxiety.These were symptoms that I had been suffering with with for over 5 years and I had just put it down to stress or to me simply overreacting and being silly. I was later diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) Social Phobia and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. MAD! One day i’m just me trying to live my best life, and the next I suddenly have three Anxiety Disorders that I now have to manage and understand. The change was huge and I felt as though I had to learn who I was all over again as all of this time I had been living with a mental health condition that I knew nothing about. It’s crazy to think that if I hadn't taken my health into my own hands I would have never had any answers for the way that I had been feeling all of these years.

There were various different factors that had led up to this point in my life, University being the main one as that was when I had my first signs of anxiety: my self-confidence had really plummeted and I found myself feeling completely lost. After graduation, everything just seemed to be going wrong like my entire future was slipping away from me and I was helpless to stop it (Post-Graduate Depression see article links below). I was under way too much pressure from myself, my family (being the sole carer for two parents with long term illnesses), and from life in general with no help and no one who could truly understand. I was really unsettled and didn’t have anywhere to truly call my home. Job rejections had just become so commonplace that I didn’t even realise how much it was affecting my self confidence. Family and friends that I thought I could count on had all left and in the space of about 3 weeks my friendship circle had more than halved, at a time when I needed the most support I felt truly alone. During this time, I was still active on social media scrolling away, but the more I scrolled the worse it made me feel about my own life and each time I put down my phone after being on social media I felt upset. At times, I was even drawn to tears. Not only was it lowering my self-esteem and fueling the ideas in my head that ‘I am a failure’, it was also a huge trigger for my Anxiety. Once I realised this, I knew I had to take action, but I honestly didn’t know how. Then, one day, I went to spend some time with one of my closest friends and she said four life changing words to me. ‘You have a choice’. As obvious as this may seem I had genuinely forgotten that I actually have the option to choose whether or not to participate in social media. She explained that she had been through a similar experience and that she had to set herself some very strict rules. One of them was that she only logged in when she was making a social media post and logged out straight after; she never scrolled! That was all the advice I needed and I immediately logged out of all my social media accounts and guess what? The world didn’t end and I finally felt as though I had control over one aspect of my life. I now controlled social media; it did not control me. The moment I logged out, I didn’t feel the urge to log back in for months. However, I still found myself reaching for my phone out of habit. So, to shift my focus, I downloaded apps that are constructive uses of my time such as wordscapes, Duolingo (started learning new languages) and Headspace (mindfulness meditation).

Throughout all of this I was still struggling whilst awaiting my first counselling appointment on a 3 month waiting list, but I put on a brave face, carrying on with business as usual. Then, one day, I snapped. I had a huge panic attack and during this whole episode I accidently smashed my phone. I had completely given up on life and I felt as though no one understood what I was going through.

So, there I was, completely broken and no phone, no contacts, no apps, nothing! Ordinarily I would have been even more of a mess after breaking my phone, but I later found that this gave me the push I needed to understand that I don’t need to be contacting people all the time and people don’t always need to be updated on my every move. In fact, it’s when I am most quiet on social media that I am working my hardest, and at this particular time it was vital that I put all of my efforts into working on me and my well being.

In addition to this, (I have a confession to make, here it goes…) I haven't picked up a pencil in over a year! Unfortunately I have not been able to design as much as a vest since last year summer. When my mental health deteriorated, so did my creative flow. However, I did not see it at the time so I just put more pressure on myself to create a new collection until it made me sick and my body started to shut down. I went without sleep, food, water, social life, pretty much everything a human needs to function. I was forcing myself to produce work in ridiculous time frames, frantically trying to prove to myself and the world that I am good enough. The fact that I couldn’t think clearly just caused me more frustration but mostly I didn't want to let everyone down: all of you who believe in me and my creative talent. I already felt like a failure in my own eyes and I didn’t want anyone else to think the same. My desire was to be constantly seen on social media doing amazing things in fashion but that just wasn’t my reality.

The truth is, I had built up so much pressure around myself and my fashion career that it became a huge anxiety trigger for me. As a result, I haven't been able to return to my beautiful design studio in nearly a year. Me, Alex, who lives and breathes fashion. I wrestled with the idea for a long time but I was forced to take an extended break from fashion design and my other projects until I saw some improvement in my mental health. I once said that if I was to suddenly die I wouldn’t be upset because I was no longer alive, I would be upset because I didn’t get the chance to live a life that I enjoyed living. I had to take a break and readjust my whole life, it was seriously a matter of life and death; I had to put my fashion career on hold.

I’ve heard of so many artists, musicians and writers taking creative breaks and now I completely understand why. My creativity is such a huge part of me but it only works when i’m in good health. Anything that I create outside of that is just not a clear representation of me as an artist. I was so focused on trying to live my best life through the eyes of others that I forgot to look after myself. Right now, living my best life currently looks like attending my therapy sessions, remembering to breathe, drinking plenty of water and practicing mindfulness. I plan to take as much time as I need to focus on me and my health so that I can come back stronger and produce something that’s true to who I am as a designer when I am at my best. So next time you see me, don’t ask how my collection is going, ask me how I am doing!

We often look at people who do great things and admire them from afar. In our eyes they might seem like the best and the brightest and it’s easy to assume that all is well with them. But, my experience has shown me that this is one of the most dangerous assumptions a person could make. I was still going through all of this trauma when I was raising the money for my collection, when my shirt design was sold in Hawes and Curtis and when I became one of Birmingham’s 30under30 finalists. I realised that I had been wearing a happy mask and suffering in silence for years until it eventually fell down and I was left to deal with everything that I have been hiding from. It came to the point where I was just waiting for someone, anyone, to ask me if I was ok. Then, finally, I took my health into my own hands and bravely asked for help.

I am currently undergoing therapy sessions with the best therapist ever and we are working through small steps to help me get better. I finally have somewhere safe that I can call my home and i’ve started spending more time doing things that I enjoy like being outdoors and writing poetry. I also started doing yoga and practicing mindfulness meditation so I can learn how to switch off when my head is just doing the most (the Headspace app has literally saved my life, check it out). My relationship with social media is now so much better and I have set rules for myself #noscrolling and I logout after every session. I have seen huge improvements in my mental health, self-esteem and body confidence since doing this and I just feel generally more positive about life. I still have a very long way to go and I am nowhere near better yet but each day I learn something new and I make progress.

I logged out of social media and it was one the best decisions I have ever made for myself. On my 24th birthday I told myself that this was going to be the year of me and so far it has been. Although it has been my most difficult year to date I have been forced to focus on me and put my health first because, at the end of the day, that is what is most important.

For more information about Anxiety Disorders and mental health advice check out these links below.

For Useful Contacts

https://birminghammind.org/contact-page/emergency-contacts/

For Information

YouTube- The 5 Major Anxiety Disorders

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzaNQAh3NiY&t=7s

Mind

https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/anxiety-and-panic-attacks/anxiety-disorders/#.W6GCdy2ZNsM

Beyond Blue

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/anxiety/types-of-anxiety

Post-Graduate Depression

https://metro.co.uk/2017/07/17/why-is-no-one-talking-about-post-graduate-depression-6760769/

https://www.topuniversities.com/blog/we-need-talk-about-post-graduation-depression

References

The Statistics Portal https://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number-of-worldwide-social-network-users/

[twilightvolt]

A 3 month late art summary featuring art that i haven’t uploaded here due to my absence. unless i randomly feel like it, i don’t think i’m gonna go back and upload them here. if you wanna see them, though, they’re all on my DA.

I know i've pretty much said all the important bits in A Sacrifice for the Wind, but i figure i reiterate everything said along with expanding upon everything that occurred during 2017. piece by piece. and yes, i did intend to make an art joke. So, to get it outta the way, 2017 stunk more than a dead fish on a city bus. i lost a lot during that year. i lost the will to believe in whatever the future had in store for me, i almost lost a few friends, i lost my motivation to work on my projects and above all...i lost the smile i've always kept on every year before that. never have i been so emotionally damaged in all 5 years of my artist life leading up to this point. But, i can't say it was completely terrible. as much as i bashed it, art wise, 2017 was a very progressive year. looking at every wedge on the clock, i can't stop staring at how far i've come since the end of 2016. after being stripped of my tablet at the end, i've even learned how to not be afraid of making permanent mistakes. But yeah, let's begin. by turning the clock all the way back to January. when things were much simpler.... January: Hukaro Nakawa ~Final Mix Yeah, this was done in October, but i uploaded it in January for Moon's birthday. plus, there was nothing noteworthy this month. i still remember all the nice comments i got. this was the beginning of a year that i ran right in and yelled "LET'S SHOW THIS WORLD THAT WE WON'T STAND FOR ANOTHER 2016!" Oh how naive i was... February: The Beast Inside Remember when i played a lot of League in my free time? i sure do. anyway, this was my next attempt after Hukaro to continue doing my "Squeenix Cinematic Style." this time on the, at the time, new revamp for Warwick. needless to say, i still think i did a better job on Hukaro. BUT, this was still pretty good. it was during these first few months when things were really lookin' up for me. i was continually working on things cuz i really wanted to make something and school was pretty cool too. March: Digimon ZX Cover ZX ISN'T DEAD I SWEAR! *ahem* I MEAN....hai. owo As we march on into March, i think R2 of Digimon Temporal Jump was going on at the time. we were going through our story entries and things were pretty great being with my best buds. i also began doing art streams i'm pretty sure, with this drawing in particular being done during two days of streaming. i'm being serious, by the way. ZX is not dead. i've been typing up the story on my phone, so look forward to those chapters sometime soon! April: Are You Ready? Yup. in anticipation for Digidestined.Com, i decided to start seriously developing Digimon Unchained ahead of time so people would be able to get to know Yuki beforehand. unfortunately, i didn't actually get to start the story until much later, but that was just me being a lazy bum. i was hangin' out on Discord and stuff, talking about how excited i was for what was to come. we all know what happened, but at the time, being able to go back to the world i once knew with Luneth was a big deal for me. it's like i was going back to the beginning. And fear not, peeps! i've been working on Unchained for quite awhile. you'd be surprised how much i've worked on it with Gao. ^w^ May: Bits n' Bytes Ultima Vocal Collection Oh yeah, i did a birthday gift for Fire too! just so you know, i do still wanna make OSTs for my other Digimon adventures, but without my tablet i can't really do them right now. this month was pretty alright if i remember. making new friends and strengthening bonds with old friends. things were pretty fun in the sun cuz y'know......summer was coming. June: Connection Flow in Ice and Snow AWWW YEEEAAAAH, LET'S KICK IT!!! *Another Way by Girugamesh plays at full blast* (if .Com had a vocal OST, that would be opening.....3 if i remember the list i made. would've been the final opening i think. it's been awhile since i looked at the files.) Now that .Com finally began, i was on the hype train to the sun as i feverishly worked hard on my .Com stuff. this poster was one of my proudest works this year tbh. i promised i would make something great outta this story. this would be the closure that Luneth and Vivi so desperately needed, and Yuki and Arcus would be the ones to save them and close their book for good. not only that, but i was also graduating high school. after throwing my cap in the air, i said my heartfelt goodbyes to all the friends i've known since elementary and middle school including the close friends in my AP Art Squad. Team AP Art Will Never be Apart! honestly, things couldn't be any more exciting for me. Gee, it would be a shame if something were to happen that would trigger a chain of events that would divide my friends forever and send me down a spiraling pain train to the void known as crippling depression. July: DigiJuly Day 5: V-Mon (Vivi) This drawing was done to commemorate three years of adventures with Luneth and Vivi. this was during DigiJuly, when i was doing Digimon doodles nonstop for the duration of the month. What was once a hype train became a train wreck once July came around. things were ok until DTJ burned down in a raging fire and that set the stage for the rest of the year. i literally wouldn't be able to overcome any of this until November or so. i don't wanna dwell on it anymore since i'd be sounding like a broken record at this point. August: D3P: D-Sona 3 Portable Not a lot of art this month either. can you believe that? XD Hoo boy. August. need i say anything more about this month? we thought things settled down after DTJ shut down, but something was amiss.... This was the month that it happened. the climax of the story best left untold....even though i told it a hundred times already. >_>' Outside of the incident, time was running short for our stay at our current home and we were thinking of our next move. i began to worry about college as steep student debt caused us to have a change of plans on where to go. i was beginning to doubt if i even had a future to believe in. i was running out of options, and i was running out of hope. And trust me, it only gets worse from here. September: The Next Generation After awhile, things were still going on outside my realm of knowledge. it only made me feel worse seeing everything transpire long after the initial conflict. with this stigma hanging over me, i finally decided to pack my bags and leave the Digimon group era of my artist life. it was a pretty sour note to end it on, but let's be real here, there was no way i could wait any longer for things to get better. granted, my birthday was awesome, and i couldn't thank everyone enough for coming together to try to bring my spirit back. unfortunately, my bout with depression was just beginning. it was so bad, i pretty much stopped taking care of myself, which would lead to a few days ago when i'd end up with one less tooth in my mouth. i swear i won't let it get that bad again. With everything plummeting down to the dark abyss, i said goodbye to the life i once knew. from here on, things were about to change. i wasn't gonna end here. not now. October: Howling in the Shadows From this month forth, my family had no idea where we were going. the beginning of the tale of the borderline homeless that still continues to this day. Packing away my computer and drawing tablet for what feels like an eternity, i was moving out of my current home that we rented for the duration of my senior year and into grandma's house......in a raging storm. i'm not kidding. the rain was so bad that when we got there, our clothes were completely soaked and we couldn't even see 5 feet ahead of us outside that night. i knew immediately that it was some sort of ill omen for what was to transpire in the coming months. in fact, i even had dreams of the aftermath of what might happen. Now that i was stripped of my digital art abilities, i had to think of something else to do. so, i decided to dedicate myself to going back to traditional art. Boy, did i have fun. November: Return to the Realm of Sleep Now, this was the only thing i was able to crank out in November. BUT, that doesn't mean i didn't draw. i drew stuff, but nothing noteworthy enough to upload here. i'm gonna tell it to you straight now. Arcus will return. With my mental health still kicking me in the butt (it hit me so hard i had a panic attack one day.), i wasn't really motivated to draw much. in fact, i even hid myself away from the internet for quite awhile. without my friends or my sense of purpose, i felt like i had nothing and i was pretty under the weather for a majority of this month. that being said, i snapped myself out of it by force. it was stupid that i still felt the way i did months after what happened. sure, it was horrible, and i wish i could forget everything. but i can't stay stuck in the past. And so, i picked up my colored pencils and other such tools, and began my journey to recovery. December: Lexicon (Lex) and A Sacrifice for the Wind I got the hang of drawing traditionally pretty quickly. throughout the month, i was on fire, drawing masterstroke after masterstroke. (at least, in my opinion. XD) Making my new home in the mobile communities of Amino, it was a nice change of pace from the big screen of my computer. i made a bunch of new friends (to the staff of the Aminos i'm in and the rest of the crew in our Digimon Discord server, you guys are the best and thank you for healing the pain of yesteryear!) and had a grand old time making new OCs, Lex being one of them. i honestly luv Appmon and i wish we got more, but i'm content with what we got tbh. it'll live on in Seikatsu and his friends. be ready to see them once again in the near future! And so, in the wake of destruction as the world continues to change around me, i chopped off my signature anime emo locks, revamped my wardrobe and set my sights toward the future. Nowadays, i've completely moved on from the pain, but that doesn't change the fact that it still happened. overall, 2017 was a complete pile of poopoo garbage and i'm glad the nightmare is finally over. Even if i can't completely write it off as bad, there's just way too many negatives that weigh down the rest of the year for me personally. it's March now and things are pretty hectic, but i've got newfound courage and i know this year will be better than the last. time for me to get back up and charge forth to a better tomorrow!

[bloomsburgu]

Child life practicum delivers amid COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 nearly canceled this summer’s field-based practicum for Bloomsburg University’s child life specialist program.

Instead, the 28 students made history by going virtual with their 120-hour experience with Camp Victory in Millville and the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in London, United Kingdom. It was a first of its kind virtual child life practicum, according to Michael Patte, professor of teaching and learning and child life specialist.

“Both face-to-face experiences were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Patte said. “With some creative thinking, Colleen Cameron (instructor of teaching and learning and certified child life specialist) conceptualize offering the practicum virtually.”

In fact, the virtual option may have proven even more worthwhile according to Amanda Kline, a medical imaging major who is pursuing minors in child life and gerontology.

“Initially, I planned on traveling abroad for this practicum in London,” said Kline, who has volunteered abroad twice with MEDLIFE during her time at Bloomsburg. “Once I found out there would be an online option I was totally on board! Although working hands-on with children and child life specialists at Camp Victory and Great Ormond Street Hospital was ideal, this online experience allowed us to connect with both sites.”

Patte said one of the practicum requirements was creating and implementing various play plans spanning a variety of developmental domains (expressive arts, music and movement, nature, and mindfulness).

“For Camp Victory, our students produced play plans in hard copy format and then create videos of themselves implementing these activities which are then uploaded to Camp Victory Facebook Page,” Patte said. “Then campers and families could view and participate in the activities anytime that was convenient.”

According to Patte, practicum students implemented their play plans with Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children synchronously, in real-time with the children and families.

“Because of coronavirus, observations and volunteer hours are nearly impossible to obtain, but we actually had the opportunity to gain experience virtually,” Kline said. “We worked with a variety of patients of different ages, developmental stages, diagnoses and units. Every play worker provided different activities and perspectives that really helped me develop a sense of what it looks like to work with children and families in medical settings.”

This experience gave Kline a taste of what to expect in her future career field.

“I’ve always wanted to work in healthcare with children,” Kline said. “Having a clear understanding of how to work and communicate with children in a medical setting will be applicable in (my field).”

Adding to the practicum learning environment, according to Kline, were several professional development speakers from all over the world who work with children, including the famed Patch Adams, as well as a virtual play conference to close up the practicum.

“Hearing from a variety of professionals who work with children in hospitals, refugee camps, orphanages, schools, etc. has personally helped me broaden my view on the child life field,” Kline said. “She added, “This (child life) minor has helped me have a greater understanding of childhood development, the importance of play, and had the chance to connect with a variety of professionals in the child life field and beyond.”

Child Life Specialist

BU's Minor in Child Life Specialist and Child Life Specialist Certificate are the first of their kind in the PASSHE system.

-> Child life specialists are pediatric health care professionals who work with children and families in hospitals and other settings to help them cope with the challenges of hospitalization, illness, and disability. -> Child life specialists provide children with age-appropriate preparation for medical procedures, pain management and coping strategies, and play and self-expression activities. -> Child life specialists also provide information, support, and guidance to parents, siblings, and other family members.

Child Life Specialist Minor Course Descriptions

PROFSTUD 340 – (3) – The Children & Families in Medical Settings course introduces students to the role of a child life specialist and a psychosocial care framework of children and families in medical settings. Through a review of historical and current influences in pediatric healthcare settings, basic child life theory and practice will be explored.

PROFSTUD 341 – (3) – The Death, Dying, & Loss: Child & Family Perspectives course provides students with an understanding of pediatric death, dying, and loss by exploring the psychosocial, sociocultural, and ethical aspects of loss and through examining concepts of grief and bereavement. Theories of child and adolescent development provide students with a comprehensive framework for understanding illness and end of life care.

PROFSTUD 342 – (3) – The Applied Research Methods course helps students to understand and critically evaluate research, develop basic skills for conducting research, and to apply these skills in practical settings.

PROFSTUD 343 – (3) – The Child Life Practicum course provides students with the opportunity to work with hospitalized children and their families under the supervision of a Certified Child Life Specialist. Practicum students will observe pre-procedural preparation, procedural support and distraction, and medical/therapeutic play. Practicum students will also facilitate playroom programming and bedside play activities.

PROFSTUD 347 – (3) – The Play & Expressive Arts for the Developing Child course provides an overview of the principles of therapeutic play, including history, theories, techniques, applications, and skills. The content focuses on understanding the role of therapeutic play as applied to clinical and non-clinical settings with children, adolescents, and adults.

PROFSTUD 414 – (3) – The Child, Family, and Community Engagement course introduces students to the family as a social system, including historical and contemporary theories related to family structure and functions, interaction patterns during times of transition, and the dynamics of family life. Students examine diverse family systems, including parenting, caregiving, and family life from a cross-cultural perspective. From a clinical perspective, students learn how factors such as abuse, violence, and poverty influence development and how multidisciplinary teams provide optimal care to the child and family.

(*) Courses, which are offered in both online and face-to-face formats, will be taught by BU faculty along with certified child life specialists.

[term7itmedia]

Reflection 24/03/2020: Middle Stages

So, here we are in the middle stages of the FMP, or as I call it, the TFMP. Here, I’m going to reflect on what I have done so far, and what I’m going to do in the next 6 weeks. While that may not be a lot of time, I’ll do my best to do as much as possible.

Week 1 - 03/02/2020 - Start

It all began with what everything starts out as... an idea. I started out doing some concept art, which is not one of my best features, but I gave it a shot anyway as I was going to have to make some at some point, because I wanted to.

Here is the concept art for my main character. The name in the top left “Darohn Terlex” is just a random name I came up with by combining multiple names together (Darren, John, Terry and Alex). I did this because I couldn’t think of a suitable name for my character who both has a male and female variant, as seen in the picture above.

But how about the actual design of it? Firstly, I chose to focus on an outfit style. I had ten in mind, five for both male and female individually. Each of them follow a different outfit (and hair style) that is worn by that, or both gender(s), excluding the headsets.

While the headset styles were wildly random ones I have thought of with no inspiration or facts, I chose to stick with the first one (Virtual Reality) as it is more realistic than the other ones. Like... have you ever seen anyone wear a headset that looks like a pair of bog-standard glasses? ...me neither.

As for colour schemes, I chose to stick with the grey, red and black one I mentioned in my Colour Schemes post. I have added those colours to the concept art, which is not a thing people normally do as concept art is mostly outlines and rough sketches. More on that in an upcoming post.

Week 2 - 10/02/2020 - Creating the character + base game logic

Creating the character in Adobe Photoshop proved to be tricky at times. Mostly because I didn’t know what outfit to pick. I chose to go with the Fashion style for the male character, and a mix of Summer and Fashion for the female. I have chosen to do this because I liked both designs, but didn’t feel comfortable with using just one. That, and I felt it was more appropriate.

As you can see, in the concept art, the character is wearing boots, while in the sprites, they’re barefoot. This is because I was originally going to give them jet-boots in the game, but decided to go with a more advanced approach instead, as I’m using this time to expand upon my skills. However, that doesn’t mean I’m going to keep them barefoot. I’ll probably give them basic shoes or something, but it all depends on if I feel like it or not.

After the characters were finished, I took to the game. This allowed me to experiment with animations and sound effects. During this time, I was using placeholder sound effects that were dumped from a video game called Undertale (more info on that in posts mentioning it), which I quickly removed shortly afterwards.

Unfortunately, I came down with an dizzy illness near the end of the week, causing me to feel dreadful throughout the majority of February half-term, unable to work on anything. I recovered just before the next week started, though.

Week 3 - 23/02/2020 - Enemy intelligence

What is a game without intelligence... ARTIFICIAL intelligence. Okay, granted, it is not programmed intelligence that lets a virtual being learn as things goes, it’s just hard-coded intelligence (meaning it cannot be edited without editing the source files).

During this time, I got to work on the first level of the game. While doing that, I also got to work on the parallax background (learn more about that in my 2.5D Platforming post).

You can also see that I have implemented a pie chart. But not just any pie chart... a life pie chart!

Basically, this pie chart is the artistic way of telling the player how many hits they can take before dying. More info on that in an upcoming post. Alongside the pie chart, there is a semi-transparent shape at the bottom of the screen with text on it. That is the game’s way of guiding you through what to do. It has been programmed to show for 6 seconds, after which it goes completely transparent, hidden from view.

You’re probably wondering how I keep track of every detail I have implemented... that is because I have been taking videos and screenshots of development! I won’t share any footage yet, but here is a picture of every video I have taken (as of 16/03/2020).

As you can see, I have captured over 13 hours of footage! I actually have over 17 hours now, as some of it has been recorded recently but isn’t shown in this image. I am not uploading these raw, but I will provide a link to an unlisted playlist on YouTube with these videos in, except for #5, which dragged on for too long. I’m putting all of these raw videos into an hour long time-lapse so you can see how this game was made from the ground up if these screenshots aren’t enough for you.

Week 4 was mostly bug fixes, I’ll post a video here when I have created it, and as such this section will be edited.

Week 5 to 6 - 09/03/2020 to 16/03/2020 - Sound design and playtesting

This video goes over what program I used to create the sounds. Adding them to the game wasn’t hard, as I knew exactly how to add sounds and trigger them to play on demand at random intervals.

The source code needed to play the sound isn’t hard to understand when looked at, but since I’m not posting source code online (apart from small extracts in images I’m posting here), I’m pointing out what does what, since you probably don’t understand source code anyway.

The Break... Out

As you’re probably already aware, the UK became part of a pandemic called the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak, which affected over 5,000 people in less than a month. To contain the spread of the virus, all schools, colleges and universities had to shut... including mine. I picked up everything digital and stored it online via Google Drive (except for the timelapse video, which I exported then uploaded it in private to YouTube for me to download it later on so I can still edit it), YouTube and GitHub (which is a development platform that I can upload and download my source code from), seeing as we may not be back in college until the summer holidays... which would be too late to do anything.

Now that I’m stuck in my house for goodness knows how long, I can still work on my project with ease seeing as I have a powerful computer to deal with the situation, as well as having all the software I use at college, which has been made free for students by the software developers so that we can temporarily work with them during this difficult time without having to pay a penny.

Soon, I will have my time-lapse video ready, as well as a full playthrough (and download link) of the game when it is finished. Keep an eye out as I will have more development posts coming soon.

[polixy]

Before recent outbreak, vaping was on the rise in U.S., especially among young people

Before recent outbreak, vaping was on the rise in U.S., especially among young people;

An employee vaping at a store in New York City. A July 2018 Gallup survey found young adults are more likely than older people to vape, but less likely to smoke cigarettes. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

An outbreak of lung injuries among e-cigarette users across much of the United States has focused national attention on the potential dangers of vaping, prompting the federal government and some states to take policy steps in response.

The exact cause of the respiratory illness has not yet been determined, and there is still uncertainty surrounding the specific health risks associated with vaping. E-cigarettes create a water vapor that users inhale, using cartridges that typically contain nicotine, flavorings or cannabis products along with chemicals.

As medical professionals and policymakers grapple with questions over e-cigarettes and public health, here’s a look at what survey data – gathered before the recent outbreak – shows about e-cigarette use in the United States.

1The shares of secondary students who have vaped nicotine in the past month have roughly doubled since 2017. From 2017 to 2019, the shares who had done so increased among 12th graders (11% to 25%), 10th graders (8% to 20%) and 8th graders (4% to 9%), according to preliminary data from the University of Michigan’s Monitoring the Future (MTF) survey.

In addition, vaping increased among college students from 2017 to 2018, the most recent year for which MTF has released data for this group. In fact, the uptick in vaping among college students for nicotine (from 6% in 2017 to 16% in 2018) and marijuana (from 5% to 11%) were among the greatest one-year increases for any substance asked about since the survey was first administered in 1975. (The long-running annual survey is first distributed to a nationally representative sample of students in eighth, 10th and 12th grades, and a randomly selected sample from each senior class continues to receive surveys biannually after finishing high school.)

Nicotine was the most commonly cited substance being used in e-cigarettes for most groups of students in 2018. Vaping just flavoring, by comparison, was more common for 12th graders (14%), 10th graders (13%) and eighth graders (8%) than for college students (5%) in the previous month.

Across all four student levels, the overall shares who report vaping any substance during the last 30 days have increased since 2015.

2Young adults are more likely than older people to vape, but less likely to smoke cigarettes. In a July 2018 Gallup poll, 9% of U.S. adults said they “regularly or occasionally” vape – still below the 20% who said they “regularly or occasionally” smoke cigarettes. Two-in-ten Americans ages 18 to 29 said they vape, compared with 8% of those ages 30 to 64 and fewer than 0.5% among those 65 and older.

Although adults are more likely to smoke than to vape, the share of 18- to 29-year-olds who smoke traditional cigarettes has fallen over time. In the early 2000s, about a third of young adults (34%) reported smoking cigarettes in the past week – the largest percentage of any age group, according to Gallup. In July, just 14% of young adults said they smoked in the previous week, compared with 19% of those ages 30 to 49 and 18% of those 50 to 64.

3

As of summer 2018, those under 30 were less likely than older Americans to believe vaping is harmful to one’s health. Roughly one-fifth of U.S. adults (22%) under age 30 said vaping is “very harmful” to one’s health, compared with 40% of adults ages 30 to 64 and 48% of those 65 and older, according to the same July 2018 Gallup survey. Comparatively, large majorities of Americans say smoking conventional cigarettes is very harmful to one’s health, but there were no significant differences by age: Eight-in-ten or more in each age group said that smoking cigarettes is “very harmful” to one’s health.

4

As of this past summer, roughly two-thirds of Americans said they would like to see tighter e-cigarette regulations. In a July 2019 Gallup survey, 64% of U.S. adults said laws and regulations covering e-cigarettes should be made more strict, while around a quarter (26%) said regulations should stay as they are now. Just 5% said these laws and regulations should be less strict.

Younger Americans – those ages 18 to 29 – were split on laws surrounding e-cigarettes: While roughly half (49%) said laws should be made more strict, 42% said laws should be kept as they are. By comparison, roughly two-thirds or more of older adult groups said regulations covering e-cigarettes should be made more strict.

Women were also more likely than men to favor stricter laws and regulations (71% vs. 57%).

5Vaping by friends or family is a common reason why some students choose to do it. Among students in grades six through 12 who said they had ever used an e-cigarette, the most common reason given was use by a friend or family member (39%), according to the 2016 National Youth Tobacco Survey.

Roughly one-third of these students (31%) said they used an e-cigarette because of availability of “flavors such as mint, candy, fruit, or chocolate,” while 17% said they used it because they perceived them to be “less harmful than other forms of tobacco such as cigarettes.”

Less common reasons cited by middle and high schoolers for using e-cigarettes were because “they are easier to get than other tobacco products, such as cigarettes” (5%), “they cost less than other tobacco products such as cigarettes” (3%) and “famous people on TV or in movies use them” (2%).

; Blog – Pew Research Center; https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/09/26/vaping-survey-data-roundup/; https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FT_19.09.20_VapingFacts_feature.jpg; September 26, 2019 at 04:21PM

[witchhuntress]

GH Volume 3.4.4-3.4.6

Hello~ I’m taking a quick break from short stories to update these parts of vol. 3~ Upon second thought, maybe I’ll upload the rest all at once at BT once I finished. ^^

It’s been a long time since I’ve updated indeed; sometimes there’s just a lot to squeeze in here and there in my sched. This has been in my drafts for some time now, but rereading it again makes me fangirl so hard again for Mai (in a that’s-my-girl-crush kind of way). She’s so impressive in these parts! It’s such a shame the anime and manga doesn’t show these sides of her! Really, tsk tsk. :/

If you missed Part 3, go here. If you missed earlier chapters, go here.

Ghost Hunt, I Can’t Sleep Due to the Abundance of Evil Spirits Volume 3 Chapter 4: Curse Part 4

Naru ordered Lin-san to do something, and the latter went out to investigate. Me and Naru searched for Taka.

Once we had forcibly pulled her to the conference room during her class, we briefly explained the circumstances to the bewildered girl and asked for her cooperation.

“That’s fine with me, but… What can I assist you with?” inquired Taka in curiosity.

But Naru said, "Don't you have any idea about that cursed seat?"

"I would have told you if I had any..."

"Then I'll rephrase the question. The culprit has a grudge with a person who sat on that cursed seat. —Who was sitting on it initially?"

"I don't remember who it was on the first term. On the second term, it was a girl named Murayama."

"From what day and until when did she sit on that chair?"

Taka was wrapped in thought for a moment. "Um, we first changed seats on the middle of September. We change seats every 15th day of the month. So with summer break in between, I guess Murayama-san sat there from July 15 to September 14."

Naru nodded and took a note of that. "She had an accident, didn't she?”

"Yes."

"When did Murayama-san get into an accident?”

"Um, I forgot what day it was, but it was two or three days before the seat change. That's why at the beginning everyone thought nothing of it."

"Right... The culprit has July 15 to September 14 with summer break in between... So two or three days before...would be the 11th or the 12th day. It might be during that time that the jufu was stuck to the desk. Since the series of accidents and illnesses started occurring on mid-September, the person who sat there before Murayama-san probably had nothing to do with it. Murayama-san must have done something to cause the culprit's grudge."

"...I wouldn't say such a thing—" Taka tilted her head.

"How about another victim of an accident?"

"Nuh-uh..." Taka tilted her head thoughtfully more and more.

"Someone at least holds a grudge. It's possible that the culprit only knows how Murayama-san looks like. Meaning, a teacher who's not in charge of her class or a student from another grade may have that limitation."

"About that, just a second... You see, Murayama-san sometimes comes in contact with teachers who aren't in charge of her class, and she even gets involved with clubs and people from other grades at times. The strict Murayama-san also regularly visits the people in the literature club."

Naru tapped his pen against the desk. "Well, how about the track-and-field club? Who has a grudge with that club?"

"...Track-and-field... I heard that they have a never-ending squabble with the softball club regarding who has the right to use the field. But then there's a strong disagreement between the track-and-field and volleyball clubs. Because of that, the former seems to have a bad relationship with the volleyball club as well. And..." All of a sudden, Taka said, "The track-and-field club's advisor is a realist."

"...?"

"The advising teacher is the kind of person who doesn't believe in things like spirits and psychic abilities. Consequently, all club members are non-believers as well. Sawaguchi-san has track-and-field as a club of her required curriculum. But track-and-field club members are mostly there in the curricular track-and-field, and it's very likely that she was bullied by them."

After Naru pondered for a bit, he asked for the name of the advising teacher. The advisor was the teacher who said on our first day that a ghost appeared in his car, and he was hospitalized due to an accident afterwards.

...Sawaguchi-san…

"Did Sawaguchi-san frequent Takahashi-san's class?"

"...Yes. You see, during the Kasai Panic... That is, when the school was in an uproar since Kasai-san said she can bend spoons, she became greatly sought after. If they found her on the hallway or somewhere, everyone would drag her into a class. Sawaguchi-san was always found together with Kasai-san, so she had come to our class many times."

"I see..." murmured Naru, and then he asked, "Is Murayama-san, who had an accident first, a non-believer of psychic abilities? Or is she a believer?"

"...She's a firm non-believer." Taka stared at Naru anxiously. "Which reminds me, when we took Kasai-san into our classroom and such, she spoke with extreme sarcasm for us to hear. She wasn't sarcastic to Kasai-san and us only; even members of the biology club and Ubusuna-sensei were under fire as well. She clearly complained to us, who invited Kasai-san." After saying that, she looked at me. "Mai... is this the cause? Is Sawaguchi-san the culprit? Or is it...?"

"...I don't know."

Sawaguchi-san didn't come to school.  We heard she was persecuted by teachers and bullied by students and that in the end she dropped out of school after being absent.

She might have a strong grudge towards the people who attacked her. Since Sawaguchi-san wasn't in school anymore when we arrived, we forgot about her. Even she could bend keys... Naru had said that 'Superior psychics can be superior spellcasters.' In that case, the culprit could be Sawaguchi-san…

Part 5

Naru asked Taka about the names of the people in the anti-Kasai faction and marked them on a list of names. As far as Taka knew, they're the people who attacked Kasai-san.

After we let Taka return to her classroom, Naru and I gazed at that list of names. The marked people were all tormented by the curse, and they had come to consult with us.

"So this is it, as expected..." Naru muttered.

"...Is Sawaguchi-san the culprit?"

"I don't know. It sounds wrong to you, but it's also very likely that it's Kasai-san."

"It is, right? I don't want to say it, but doesn't Ubusuna-sensei also have a motive? What do you think about her?"

"I've got nothing to say... However, if anyone can cast the curse, there's no guarantee it will be successful. That's if that person didn't have a training beforehand."

"...Or have an ESP?”

"Yes. The person has psychic powers or had a formal training and so on."

How about Ubusuna-sensei?

She's well-informed about parapsychology, but no story came up about her having had formal training.

Besides, was there anyone who had a formal training in this school? Or someone who had ESP? Or someone with psychic powers?

...No matter how much I thought about it, the most suspicious ones were Kasai-san and Sawaguchi-san…

However, I believe in my own intuition. Kasai-san isn't the culprit. If that's the case, the one who remains to be suspicious was only Sawaguchi-san…

Naru stood up. "Let's meet up with Sawaguchi-san."

"...Yeah."

Naru and I went to a teacher to ask for Sawaguchi-san's address. Because she herself hadn't come to school, we had no choice but to visit her house. When we asked Sawaguchi-san's homeroom teacher, the latter said something unexpected.

"It seems like Sawaguchi-san ran away from home."

This homeroom teacher was in the group that attacked Kasai-san and the others, so it's expected that he would be tormented by loud rapping sounds wherever he went.

"I got a call yesterday from her home. I was told her money and belongings were gone, so she probably ran away. I told them to go out today for certain to file a missing person report to the police."

Naru went silent, looking perplexed. After leaving the faculty room, I parted with Naru to look for Kasai-san.

I caught Kasai-san before her class. I pulled her into an empty classroom around that area. "I heard Sawaguchi-san ran away from home."

As soon as I said that, Kasai-san was a bit puzzled, and after that she crouched down there. "...It's my fault."

"No, it's not. That's not true."

"It is. ...Mizuho told me that she would quit school and leave her house to work. She intended to run away from home since the beginning..." Kasai-san buried her face in her knees. "It's true, you see. She told me she was bullied at school, but her family scolded her to go to school. ...It's my fault."

"No, it's not. It's not your fault. Sawaguchi-san isn't fair!”

As though saying, 'What?' Kasai-san stared back at me.

"Well, isn't it true? You should do your best to not lose to those around you. If you're friends, you should do your best together. Kasai-san, although you're crying and worrying that it's your fault, you stayed at school alone, and she just ran away by herself. She should realize that!”

Aah, it makes me angry. Why did she run away? She left her friend and ran away by herself.

"It's not your fault. It's just that Sawaguchi-san is a coward and a slick one at that. You were also attacked. And yet you haven't given up. You don't have to feel responsible for someone who ran away and abandoned a friend that's in the same boat as her!”

Tears fell down Kasai-san's face while she squatted, and she looked up at me. "...It seems like I also thought of that... Now I feel a bit relieved."

"Of course you should."

After those words left my mouth, Kasai-san laughed. "That's right. ...Amazing. Mai, you're optimistically willful."

"Yup. I don't think like everything is my responsibility. I'm not a weakly emotional girl."

"...I'm sentimental, huh...? I think you're right."

"Yes, I am." I sat down next to Kasai-san.

"Mizuho...didn't go to school, and no matter how many times I asked her to go, she doesn't want to. Even though I called her recently, I just admonished her, so she didn't even answer my calls. I'm worried about Mizuho, but in my heart I felt sad. It seemed like she left me behind, so I felt helpless."

"Yeah." ...Of course she would think like that.

"I wonder when was the last time we talked on the phone. It's quite a while ago. At that time, Mizuho told me she'd quit school and go to work, and I cried after she hung up. Even I don't know why I cried, but I thought I was sorry for Mizuho so I cried. But right now, when I think back on it, it wasn't that. I felt abandoned by Mizuho and felt betrayed by my friend, so I cried because I was lonely."

"Yeah."

"Mizuho is unfair."

"I told you so."

"I won't lose."

"Excellent."

"I won't give up and I'll do my best. Mizuho will have a place she belongs to when she got the courage to come back home."

"Say, Kasai-san..."

"Yes?”

"You're the best~"

Kasai-san laughed once I said that.

"Don't you think it's stupid of Mizuho to abandon suuuch a good friend like you?”

"I do, I do. I even want to declare a candidate to succeed me."

"If you're on the right side, who's the opposing one?"

"You mean the left wing?"

"The stupid Mizuho will have it then."

"Yeah."

I was silent for a bit, staring at my feet.

"I have to go to my lesson." Kasai-san rose to her feet.

"You shouldn't worry too much."

"...Yeah. I'll do my best. Good luck on your work too, Mai." After smiling at me, she said, "In the field of that person as well, okay?"

"That person?"

"Shibuya-san."

...Aagh. As I said, that's…

"Does it seem like you have a chance?"

"Not at all. But you see—"

"But what?”

Ehehe~ I was useful, so he praised me~

When I told her my story, she said, "Heh~ Doesn't that mean you're not absolutely hopeless?"

"...I wonder~?"

"You'll be fine. Keep fighting."

"You too, Kasai-san."

"I'll win."

We both giggled.

"Alright, now I'm really going to class." Kasai-san raised her hand.

I also raised my hand and then abruptly called, "Hey, Kasai-san?"

"Hm?"

"You said it's been a long time since you've spoken to Sawaguchi-san, right?"

"What about it?"

"Then, Sawaguchi-san doesn't know the school's current state or that we came here to investigate?”

Contemplating, Kasai-san slanted her head slightly. "...Probably... I think she doesn't know… I had no chance to say it, but since I heard that she didn't even answer Kei-sensei's calls, I think she might not know. I should have told her. The attitude of everyone who attacked us must have changed a bit because they had seen a ghost. They became less aggressive, including Yoshino-sensei."

"Yeah..." I answered reluctantly.

...I didn’t want to say that.

It felt like my throat was clogged, and I tried asking her again. "Regarding Ubusuna-sensei... Can she see spirits?"

Kasai-san shook her head. "Why? If she could, she would have helped you guys a long time ago. I heard Kei-sensei doesn't have the talent to put something into practice. She only knows how to do it by theory."

"I wonder if she had no formal training."

"I heard nothing about it..."

I felt struck on the head. Ubusuna-sensei had no ability to cast a curse. So the ones left were Sawaguchi-san and Kasai-san…

But didn't Sawaguchi-san not know that Naru had come to school? In other words, wouldn't that mean that Sawaguchi-san couldn't curse Naru!?

She had no motive to do that. She didn't know about Naru after all.

Then, why did the ghost appear wherever Naru was?  That couldn't be a mere ghost. That was Enmi. It was an evil spirit summoned through Enmi.

So Sawaguchi-san couldn't be the culprit as well.

Part 6

When I returned to the conference room and told him about the matter in question, Naru gaped at me.

"Mai, what happened to you this time? Aren't you being extremely helpful?"

...I'm sorry, okay? For being useless until now.

"You're right. Sawaguchi-san isn't the culprit. Besides, why would the curse follow me wherever I go?”

"Isn't it because you're a hindrance?”

"A hindrance?”

"Well, aren't you here to solve the mysterious case in this school? As you're a hindrance to himself, the culprit decided to eliminate you."

"...If that's the case, then it shouldn't be only me who's cursed. Don't you think all of us should have been cursed? At least, the curse shouldn't be cast upon only me, but it should be on this conference room."

"That's..."

Oh, I see. I got it. Yes, it's true. Definitely true.

"So in other words, what's happening in this school is due to the curse, right? About the curse, didn't it come from Onmyoudou? Then, isn't an onmyouji the one who can break it?”

"...Yeah."

"That's the reason. Because you're an onmyouji, you're a hindrance to the culprit in particular..."

"What did you say I am?”

"An onmyouji."

"Why do you think I am one?"

...I blinked in surprise. Why... he asked. "...You're not an onmyouji?”

"I'm not."

Whaaaat! No way!! "But didn't you use a hitogata in the previous case!? Bou-san said only an onmyouji can do that..."

"It was Lin who made that."

...Lin-san… "...Is Lin-san an onmyouji?”

"Yeah, it seems so."

...Whaaat? Then, Naru's simply a psychical researcher? Somehow... I'm disappointed…

"It's unlikely that the culprit would misunderstand like that. Supposing I'm really an onmyouji, I don't think there's a way the culprit would know that..."

"I told someone..."

"What?”

"I told someone that you're an onmyouji."

"...Who?”

What should I do? "...Kasai-san..."

After giving me an intent gaze, Naru looked up at the ceiling and breathed a sigh. "So that's to say... Kasai-san misunderstood that I'm an onmyouji? Mai, that means..."

"Yeah. I know. The probability that Kasai-san is the culprit has gone up, am I right?"

"It was you who said Kasai-san isn't the culprit."

"Yeah."

"Will your belief remain unchanged?”

"I want to ask you about one thing."

"What is it?"

"Do you think there's a possibility that someone can cast a curse without knowing he's the one doing it?” Unconsciously, for instance. In a trance, for instance.

"That's impossible. Especially if it's Enmi..."

"Then... my belief hasn't changed."

Naru tapped the desk lightly with his fingers. "Very well. I'll believe you once again. ...However, if an evidence that suggests Kasai-san is the culprit comes out in the open, I won't agree with you."

"...Yeah."

It's not Kasai-san. That's impossible.

Naru rose. "I'm going to investigate something. You'll help everyone search for the hitogata."

"Roger that."

Note:

Jufu: (呪符) usually means talisman or charm, but in this case it has a negative connotation and is somewhat non-translatable (cursed charm? cursed talisman?—I just don’t think these encapsulate the use of it here very well.) 呪 will be for curse and 符 for charm/mark, and together they can mean a written curse or curse marks. In retrospect, jinx would come very close as an alternative brief description of what the hitogata is being used for here.

Thoughts:

I love, love, love Mai’s thought progression in these parts! Even Naru’s dumbfounded and impressed kekeke hihihihi~ She’s literally on fleek with all the step-by-step elimination method she’s doing regarding who’s the culprit, AND IT’S SO EXCITING! It was SOOO obvious in the anime and manga who it was, but in this novel you’re in for a puzzle. Seriously, if I didn’t know who the culprit was in advance, it wouldn’t be so easy for me to pinpoint it either lol. I will get thrown off many times just like Mai in these parts, which is such a blessing you know because Mai is thinking in the right direction; she just doesn’t know it yet hahaha.

I really love how much initiative Mai has in this case. She’s asking the questions that haven’t been asked, and even Naru can’t keep up with her sometimes XD I love how much Mai and Naru moments we have in this because they work really well together, and they both have so many ideas to throw into the fray and examine and pass back and forth with each other. That and it’s interesting to watch Naru be at a loss and sigh at the ceiling lmfao~ 

There’s actually a lot of burden on Mai in this because she’s leading Naru and the rest on with her hypothesis. And I think Naru has doubts himself that’s why he sticks to her ideas as of now and he’s going to “investigate something.” There’s also the emotional aspect wherein Mai has started caring for Kasai-san’s sake that’s why there’s the awkwardness of mentally disagreeing somewhat about what Kasai-san said regarding the comeuppance and change of her aggressors. Mai didn’t want to see her in a bad light nor does she want to see her glorifying the results of the curse on people who hurt her. Mai didn’t want to doubt it herself, and we can see that at the end of this chapter, she reinforces her belief of Kasai-san’s innocence.

On another note, I love how savage and sassy Mai can be lol. Naru can be matter-of-fact, but Mai does it well too haha Calling him a “hindrance” to his face as though it’s the most natural thing in the world! Pffft. Naru is Naru of course, and he’s used to Mai being as blunt as that XD

Anyway, I kind of hoped I’ve read the novels before knowing what happens in the cases. You know, discovering stuff and really being immersed in a puzzle where you don’t have visual clues like in the anime or manga. Ono-sensei has really crafted engaging stories, and it’s not a wonder why her sets of novel series are a hit—from Ghost Hunt to Twelve Kingdoms and Shiki. 

Moving on, the next chapters will be the climax~ It’s really different from the anime and manga~  That scene with Naru’s you-know-what which I’ve already translated in here will be up again soon. (It’s a spoiler, but I think everyone has an idea it’s coming anyway lmao~) I’ll do my best to update as soon as I can ^^

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 16th June 2019

Top 10

For the fifth week since its debut, Ed Sheeran and Justin Bieber’s “I Don’t Care” stays at the #1 spot, not to be dethroned anytime soon... except Drake and Taylor Swift, as well as Sheeran’s other song down the charts, are all viable contenders so we’ll see how that goes.

Meanwhile, “Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X is also pretty steady at number-two.

“Someone You Loved” by Lewis Capaldi isn’t moving either at number-three.

Speaking of not moving at all, “Vossi Bop” by Stormzy is also at number-four from last week.

Billie Eilish’s “bad guy” hasn’t moved from its space at number-five; seriously, whilst there a lot fo debuts this week, looking at the first half of this top 10 you’d be confused to why I’d consider it busy or even interesting.

We have got some traction with something in the top 10, however, with “Hold Me While You Wait” by Lewis Capaldi unfortunately being boosted up a single spot to number-six.

The release of the posthumous album TIM has lead the late Avicii’s “SOS” featuring Aloe Blacc up one spot to number-seven.

We actually have a top 10 debut this week, however, with “No Guidance” featuring Drake by... Chris Brown. Fantastic, we need more of him on the charts at number-eight. This is Brown’s 35th (!) Top 40 hit in the UK and 16th Top 10, and Drake’s forty-fricking-seventh UK Top 40 hit, which is insane, and only 17th Top 10 like Brown. Whether that’s due to general quality and talent or just latching onto what can be a hit and launching it into success by pure star-power without quality control or a need to think twice is up to your interpretation.

Ed Sheeran’s “Cross Me” featuring Chance the Rapper and PNB Rock is surprisingly stable at number-nine, although the UK Singles Chart says on the mid-week that this could be making a run for #1.

Oh, and Jax Jones and Martin Solveig’s “All Day and Night” featuring Madison Beer is up a spot to #10. That EUROPA collaborative album still isn’t out yet, though.

Climbers

Sigala and Becky Hill’s “Wish You Well” makes a sudden boost up nine spaces to the top 20 at #15, becoming Sigala’s eighth Top 20 and Hill’s fourth. On the topic of EDM, MEDUZA and Goodboys’ “Piece of Your Heart” is “up” 11 spaces according to BBC’s awfully-made first-draft page they upload instead of a legitimate rundown of the top 40, but it’s actually had its streaming cut and is down 11 spaces from last week. “One Touch” by Jess Glynne and Jax Jones is up seven spots to #23, “Easier” by 5 Seconds of Summer is up seven to #27, as is “3 Nights” by Dominic Fike at #31, and “Sixteen” by Ellie Goulding is up six to #29, but it gets more interesting in the fallers.

Fallers

We see the aftermath of Skepta’s album bomb last week, with “What Do You Mean?” featuring J Hus also moving “up” 11 spaces down to #25, and “Greaze Mode” featuring Nafe Smallz down 10 spaces to #28. “OT Bop” by NSG is also down six spaces to #32, while otherwise not very notable, Miley Cyrus’ “Mother’s Daughter” is “diwn” two spots to #33. How professional. “Falling Like the Stars” by James Arthur and “Carry On” by Kygo and Rita Ora are down nine and six spaces respectively to #34 and #35. “Location” by Dave featuring Burna Boy has interestingly survived on the Top 40 despite streaming cuts as hip-hop doesn’t often do, down 24 spaces to #36, and yeah, that’s all.

Dropouts & Returning Entries

Moving to an unofficial chart-watching site for this one because clearly the BBC can’t be trusted, after its debut, last week “Bruises” by Lewis Capaldi is out from #16. I’m pretty sure this is due to streaming cuts as well because it’s charted for 12 weeks outside the Top 40 and is an old song, so maybe it just went recurrent and dropped off so... “Grace” could return to #12. I know exactly what is happening and it’s kind of hilarious – Lewis Capaldi’s album is doing so well that the highest-performing songs are always on the chart, but since that can only be three, “Grace” and “Bruises” have been trading places for the last three weeks in the top 20. I think “Bruises” won’t be returning here though, because “Grace” has a lot more longevity although it has already peaked. We have a couple really sad drop-outs actually, as these are songs I pretty much loved that I feel are exiting prematurely, as “Summer Days” by Martin Garrix, Macklemore and Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy is out from #40 and “EARFQUAKE” by Tyler, the Creator featuring Playboi Carti and Charlie Wilson is out from #37. “Talk” by Khalid out from #28 also hurts but that’s due to streaming cuts and it was in the top 10 for God knows how long so I’m fine with this. There are a LOT of drop-outs actually, wow, mostly from hits in the Spring that are making space for Summer hits, like “So Am I” by Ava Max from #35, “Fashion Week” by Steel Banglez, AJ Tracey (We’ll be seeing more of him) and MoStack from #33, “Keisha & Becky” by Russ splash and Tion Wayne from #19, “What I Like About You” by Jonas Blue and Theresa Rex from #23, “Bullet from a Gun” by Skepta from #32 after the album’s hype died down and “Here with Me” by Marshmello and CHRVCHES from #20, all making way for... “Sucker” by Jonas Brothers to return at #40. That wasn’t worth it.

ALBUM BOMB

STACKO – MoStack

Yeah, I didn’t expect this but I should have been, I didn’t think MoStack was this big to have an album bomb, with two songs debuting in the Top 40 thanks to the release of his debut album debuting at #3 on the Albums Chart, entitled STACKO. I think I just under-estimated his success because I’ve never liked him to be honest, but his debut from last week, “Shine Girl” featuring Stormzy has grown on me quite a bit and I feel I quite like it now, so I guess my opinion reflects the public since it’s up two spaces to #13, surpassing Katy Perry. MoStack also has two debuts in the Top 40, one of which I’ve already heard because it had Dave on it and I love Dave so I had to check it out. The track listing for this album is basically a who’s who of the best guys from the British hip-hop roster, with Dave, J Hus, Stormzy and Fredo all making guest appearances, and I guess we should start with the lowest debut from the album...

#39 – “I’m the One” – MoStack featuring Fredo

Produced by Hazard and Steel Banglez

This is technically a “MoStack x Fredo” song but I don’t care, and it’s Stacko here’s fifth UK Top 40 hit, as well as Fredo’s fourth. You may recognise the name Fredo from chocolate confectionary in the shape of amphibians or his #1 hit with Dave, “Funky Friday”, from last year, which has grown on me a lot from my lukewarm initial review and it’d be pretty high on my list of the best UK hits from 2018. Despite this, Fredo is kind of boring? A lot of his work doesn’t rub off on me at all or just ends up being rather decent instead of being all that interesting despite it often showing a lot of skill and I liked his album Third Avenue quite enough. I doubt I’ll see more in Fredo when paired with MoStack, though, but this beat is something. I love the mellow keys with a distant vocal sample that’s eerie enough to contrast the funky, groovy keys that remind me pretty explicitly of the Wii Shop Channel... because of course, it does. The trap beat kicks in and the percussion drowns out all of the funk or groove it used to have and the shrill synths that come in during the verses where Fredo and Stacko trade bars are off-beat, I’m pretty sure. The content is the same as any other UK rap song, with Fredo being blunt and much more charismatic and intimidating than MoStack could try being, with his nasal voice and much less of the Auto-Tune but a lot more of his irritating inflections, repeating nonsense words in an accent that’s obviously put on in his second verse. Yeah, this could have been something as well, as the outro is pretty moody, pretty atmospheric especially with the lo-fi piano but I’m not a fan of the performances or even the percussion here. It’s mixed okay, I suppose, although I’d argue there’s not enough bass as there should be and that the rattling percussion is louder than everything else. As it is, like the best of MoStack’s music, it’s barely serviceable.

#19 – “Stinking Rich” – MoStack featuring Dave and J Hus

Produced by Ill Blu

When I first heard this, I remember actually being pretty disappointed, as Dave and MoStack have really impressed me with the song “No Words” back in 2017, which was one of my favourites of that year. This is Stacko’s seventh Top 40 hit, Dave’s eleventh and J Hus’s seventh, as well as Hus’ fourth Top 20, Dave’s eighth and MoStack’s fourth, and it really didn’t click with me at all, and it still hasn’t. MoStack is best playing to his strength, I feel, which is often just singing on Afroswing beats, to be honest and whilst I’m not that big of a fan of those songs they appeal to somebody, but I feel he’s clueless completely on hard trap beats. “Stinking Rich” is a massive example of that, as while this beat is okay, with gliding pianos typical of this genre playing pretty smoothly over a boring trap beat that reminds me very much so of “Options” by NSG, MoStack is... charismatic, I guess. He starts his verse off with, well...

All I want is more life and... more vagina

The way he delivers this is hilariously awful, and I’m finding a lot of UK hip-hop delivery to be similarly pretty comically blunt, but otherwise he’s just boring and often kind of pathetic. While I enjoy his break from the verse to croon his “Bang, bang” ad-libs, it’s clearly thrown him off as afterwards, he gets a lot louder and more angry and that leads to him being completely drowned out by the beat and the mixing means his furiously-delivered lines about council houses falls on deaf ears, and he’s slightly off-beat at times, or at least his flow is sloppily switched pretty frequently. I don’t know who’s singing the chorus, but whoever came up with the line “What’s your perfume? I said I’m stinking, stinking rich” is either a genius or a cornball, probably both, but with its overdone delivery it really sounds like a joke that falls flat in a stand-up routine, instead of a casual bragging punchline like it should have been. I don’t like to say this, but Dave’s verse just kind of sucks? His content is generic, and his wordplay, while at least being there in comparison to MoStack’s plain statements, is really freaking janky and while the rhyme scheme is impressive, rhyming “bust down” with itself and talking about how now he bought his girl a purse, these girls want to PURSue him doesn’t reflect well on his verse. I wouldn’t say it’s phoned in entirely, but when compared to J Hus’ verse, which is incredible especially with the way the beat builds up and elevates as his content starts with pretty mundane girl talk and ending with violent imagery about police and breaking a woman’s privates with his trigger-finger, which is disgusting in every possible way, before the chorus comes back for one last time, and you realise that J Hus probably should have put his verse on a better beat and a much better song. I like the trumpets at the end, I guess, but yeah, I had a lot to say about this song for some reason but that’s because I’ve had a lot of time to think about it, even though in the end it’s just mediocre. That’s all for the album bomb, and yikes, I don’t think I’ll be checking this album out at all, and I thought I’d give it a better chance, especially considering the features but I’ve heard them all now and I don’t think Stacko can handle that many solo tracks. I like “Shine Girl” though, that song’s pretty cute.

NEW ARRIVALS

#30 – “Strike a Pose” – Young T & Bugsey featuring Aitch

Produced by Toddla T

Young T & Bugsey are a British rap duo because I can’t escape that genre today (I’d only be complaining if it were the dull and samey variation, and trust me it is), and Aitch is some other dude. I’ve heard Young T & Bugsey on the charts before when they had that song “Ay Caramba” with Fredo, funnily enough, but otherwise they haven’t really had much chart impact. This is Aitch’s first hit too, I don’t even know who he is and I’m relatively in tune with British hip hop, even if I don’t like a lot of it. First of all, this song’s wavering 808 groove that starts the song is really funky and smooth, and its abrupt drop into Afroswing/dancehall-infused production with a couple buzzing synths creating some beautiful melodies in the background, sounding very 80s, is very effective because of how intimidating and menacing the song ends up sounding despite the singer’s smooth, double-tracked falsetto and the content being just about a woman dancing... Maybe this doesn’t actually work, but I don’t really care, because it’s only barely about a woman to be honest, as it’s mostly braggadocio from Young T & Bugsey, who have really charismatic voices, flowing quickly on the beat which they ride and really fit on to be honest, especially Bugsey’s more nasal tones. The chorus is incredibly catchy and while this doesn’t sound like it’s going to be big, I think I love this to be honest. The second verse sounds like he’s grinning for the whole time, and while the content is pretty disgusting and objectifying as always, it’s not like it’s being glamorised, I mean, can you hear this beat? It’s pretty dark and eerie, so I don’t think this is a celebration of the culture at all, with those pounding kicks and hypnotic 808s making this a lot more depressing than it sounds. This is a really interesting take on the faux-dancehall faux-grime fusion genre (That MIGHT be called Afroswing?) I see a lot on the charts, and is actually pretty good. This doesn’t exactly sound like a hit, though, but time will tell.

#26 – “Ladbroke Grove” – AJ Tracey

Produced by Conducta

I can’t seem to get a break, can I? This song has been bubbling below the Top 40 for a while, and has just now moved up to the Top 40, becoming AJ Tracey’s fifth hit in this region, thanks to its release as a single and a remix with Novelist. Now, Tracey is okay, and has never really given me all that much of an awful impression, although I have to admit he is kind of the poster child of a genre and style I’m not a fan of, even though I took a fondness to his performance on the awful “Fashion Week” and I liked “Butterflies” back when that debuted, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to me if I ended up liking this new song, and, well, I love it, I’m sorry. This is a perfect throwback to the urban dance music sounds of the 2000s, and I’ve heard a lot of deserved high praise for the song. It’s a genre called UK garage, specifically, which is closely related to grime, and that pitch-shifted, chopped-up Jorja Smith sample is inspired, despite perhaps sounding somewhat lazy. AJ Tracey is perfect over this beat, though, and instead of focusing on flexing or even women (Well...) he goes for a simple “DJ rock the set I rock the mic” topic that would be typical of MC’s who rap over music of this genre. The flow is rapid and fun over a bouncy instrumental, and to put it bluntly it’s an absolute tune. None of Tracey’s songs I’ve heard are the same genre, and I appreciate that, but honestly can he just stick to this? His verses are hooks in themselves, and are repeated incessantly because it’s UK garage and made for the clubs, and if they weren’t catchy I would be trashing it but this is so fun. His final verse, is especially powerful as it reflects what the chorus has been droning on about all this time, not specifically the topic but the tonal juxtaposition between her longing vocals and the beat, by mentioning cop cars and making it evident that this music is a form of expression against discrimination as dance music was and will be for people of colour... It’s not that deep, it just bangs. The remix is okay, as well, but yeah I’m impressed, Tracey. I’d like him to do more of this traditional, somewhat throwback UK garage and grime stuff like this and especially “Horror Flick” – that song’s even better, I really dig it and it feels oddly nostalgic.

#22 – “Shockwave” – Liam Gallagher

Produced by Greg Kurstin – Peaked at #1 in Scotland

In stark contrast, here’s everyone’s favourite “fat man in an anorak” (Noel’s words, not mine) Liam Gallagher, with his fifth UK Top 40 hit as a solo artist after the break-up from Oasis and later on Beady Eye. Now, Noel and Liam’s constant fall-outs and back-to-back disses have been victim to media ogling for decades now, but there’s one point I feel isn’t touched upon enough in terms of their solo work, and it’s that they both have essential components in each other that they now completely lack, and will forever sound like wasted potential. Liam has the very distinctive vocals and his aggressive attitude was often reflected in that powerful and often desperate, distant performance. Noel, on the other hand, could write coherent hit singles and can’t hold a note to save his life. Do you see where I’m going with this? In terms of solo work, Liam’s is what I prefer more often than not because he has more personality than Noel and his high-flying birds or whatever, although both of their discographies are hit-and-miss and honestly compiling it all would make the worst Oasis album, and that’s saying something considering their 2000s output. Is this new song any good then? Well, I don’t think it’s bad, but it’s definitely uninteresting. Liam sounds restrained, which is something I never want to hear him sounding like considering he’s at his best when he’s giving it his all. In fact, I hear some Auto-Tune on his incredibly safe vocal performance. In fact, everything here is safe, the guitar riffs are oddly familiar, the droning bass sounds like it’s an FL Studio loop, the drums are monotonous and the way the chorus “transitions” into the verses is janky and abrupt, once again showing how Liam’s songwriting isn’t great. The chorus isn’t even catchy and honestly, this has no grit or much passion at all. I’ve always preferred Blur, so maybe that’s my issue but even me, a Damon Albarn fangirl, could appreciate the best of Oasis back in their day, but no, this is really mediocre and kind of boring. Sorry.

#20 – “Heaven” – Avicii featuring uncredited vocals from Chris Martin of Coldplay

Produced by Avicii – Peaked at #2 in Sweden

I really hate this chorus, I absolutely despise it. It reeks, and honestly the fact that it was released is really despicable. I don’t hate posthumous music on principle, if it’s finished or the estate and/or person before their death has given the thumbs-up, it’s really none of my business, but when the music released is awful or has a severe case of tonal dissonance that is perfectly tuned and twisted to make it a hit song, that’s when it breaks me. This is from the late Tim Bergling’s “new” album TIM and all profits are going to charity, which is something I can congratulate it for mostly because I’m about to defend XXXTENTACION’s post-murder releases. When X spoke of death, it was never an extended metaphor in an otherwise lyrically upbeat track, it was very bluntly about death and was often on a melancholy, piano or guitar-lead ballad or bassy distorted SoundCloud trap beats. Whilst the profits didn’t go to charity and the painful attempt at fanservice by using the dumb stylisations he used in the song titles is evident of how the label cared more about preserving X’s quirky image and making him out to be a martyr to his fans than actually releasing finished, worthwhile music, at least the lyrical content wasn’t re-purposed. The twinkly lead synths are precious but then we get into the inspired EDM that sounds a lot like Avicii’s older stuff, and is actually pretty good. Then we get the uncredited Chris Martin feature, who also provides some guitar somewhere. Then he sings the hook in his typical lower register, “I think I just died and went to Heaven”... this song is about love. This song is not about Avicii’s death or him coming to a realisation of his own fading morality. This song is just about being in love with someone and having that initial spark in the relationship, but it’s obviously being marketed as the new hit single by getting the biggest guest star on the album, making it easily the most accessible track on the record and maybe I’m nitpicking, but the fact that it’s uncredited sucks too. Did Chris Martin not want to put his name on this cash-grab? I don’t blame him or Coldplay if that’s how he was going to be credited, because this is just a re-hash of drops I’ve heard from Avicii before with that infuriating, morally reprehensible chorus. This and “SOS” really reek of re-appropriating lyrical content to make it seem like it’s some kind of prophecy, but no, it isn’t, really. The fact that it’s Heaven as well, because we all know that he committed suicide using a broken WINE bottle and suffered severe alcohol- and drug-related addictions, meaning that no matter how good a person he could have been, he probably wouldn’t have gone to Heaven in the first place, if we’re theorising it existed. This is dreadful, and I’ve lost respect for everyone involved in this album, but in the end, it’s a cash-grab that’s for charity, so what am I to complain? Am I an awful person for thinking this is a morally unrighteous statement since its profits are going to a charity we should probably have a lot of faith in? God, and I thought Lil Dicky’s charity single was a can of worms. I’m not going to cover this on my end-of-year worst list because it is, once again, a can of worms, but this rubs me the wrong way, to say the least.

#18 – “Mad Love” – Mabel

Produced by Steve Mac

Yup, we’re not done. After ranting about MoStack’s album bomb and the immoral Avicii/Coldplay collaboration, as well as going on nostalgia-induced rambles about AJ Tracey’s UK garage throwback, we still have to cover two more songs out of our collection of eight, one of which is by Chris Brown. Delightful. Thankfully, I can skip past most of these songs since I don’t have much to say. This is the latest of about four lead singles from Mabel’s new album – by that I mean she’s released a mixtape, a deluxe re-issue of her mixtape and a Jax Jones feature that will all probably end up on the album, which will definitely have an album bomb since she only has one single on the charts right now. This is her sixth Top 40/20 hit, and for what it is, it’s pretty decent. I first heard it on 4Music (Yes, I know what you’re thinking, but I have to do my, ahem, research on UK pop music) and it hasn’t clicked with me yet enough to consider it any good, but it’s definitely not bad. The 80s synth melody is simple and cute, somewhat 80s-like, but the painfully fake finger-snaps accentuating Mabel which are too loud in the mix, as are Mabel’s vocals to be honest, as she and her pitch-shifted counterpart are clipping into the synths when the chorus comes in at times. The lyrical content is just some primal, “I like you, let’s have sex” in a similarly self-centred way to how Young T & Bugsey are asking for it, but instead of sounding menacing, this is just a burst of joy, and the fact that the main hook is essentially a nonsense phrase just makes this all the more fun. Is it great? No, as I’ve said before the mixing is pretty bad and I’m not over-the-moon about his incredibly repetitious nature, but her vocals are well-delivered and the production is pretty bouncy, and that’s all you can really ask from a pop tune like this.

Oh, did you know Mabel is Neneh Cherry’s daughter? That surprised me too when I first saw it, but does explain her rise to fame.

#8 – “No Guidance” – Chris Brown featuring Drake

Produced by Vinylz, J-Louis, Noah “40” Shebib and Teddy Walton – Peaked at #7 in Canada and #9 in the US

Can I just skip this one entirely? I’ve done a lot this episode, I don’t need to finish it off with Chris Brown and Drake. There’ll be more of each in the coming weeks as well, just give me this one, guys. It’s their first single together in a while and their first since Drake squashed the beef late last year that started as early as 2012 over Rihanna and honestly I don’t think she wants either of them so I’m glad both of them have quit trying. A couple glass bottles were thrown, I don’t know, I don’t care. I try not to follow anything Chris Brown does because he just makes me angry more often than he shows any true talent. For what it’s worth, the song’s okay, I love the distant, drowned-out vocal sample with all the cloudy synths around it and 90s R&B soundfont that has been a lot more prominent in recent years. Drake sounds great, and sure, it’s pandering but it’s what Drake does, and has done for a while. His performance is good, but not as notable as how they build up Chris Brown like a space rocket coming down to Earth, but he has this phaser effect that really weakens his impact and Drake tries to put him to a halt with a subdued “Ayy” before he even lands. Brown actually doesn’t sound bad wailing on this, he kind of sounds like Kanye at times? This is way too long, though, I assume these guys wanted it to be 4:20 for the novelty but after the half-way mark not much is worthwhile other than the kind of empty but still pretty heated rap verse from Drake, with falsetto ad-libs, pounding 808s and hilarious use of Chris Brown vocal samples as a shrill, gliding synth. This isn’t bad, which is surprising considering it’s Chris Brown featuring Drake, but it’s not even close to good either. Just passable.

Conclusion

I’d feel awful giving the Worst of the Week to a dead man... so it’s going to Coldplay for “Heaven”, with Dishonourable Mention unfortunately going to Liam Gallagher for “Shockwave”, yeah, MoStack is saved by Fredo and J Hus here from getting any mention in this conclusion. Best of the Week should be obvious, it’s going to “Ladbroke Grove” by AJ Tracey but an Honourable Mention should be going to, to my surprise, Young T, Bugsey and Aitch for “Strike a Pose”. For more pop music ramblings follow my Twitter @cactusinthebank and I’ll see you next week!