#basically the intro in the show in nutshell to me

[andaniellight]

Jung-woo (in constant, never-ending, hellish agony of being accused of two murders in his small hometown even before and after he got into prison since he was a highschooler) praying on his knees crying: Please... I need someone to support me on this... An angel who'd believe in me... The nicest angel you have, God...

The Angel in answer: [a goddamn rabid cop climbing up from the tragic rock bottom of his life laughing like the devil incarnate itself ready to pounce on anyone who ticks his radar even just the slightest wrong]

[svt-kiki]

( 📺 )　𝐅𝐀𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐃　　⌅ .　

　𓈃　PREDEBUT ERA KIKI WAS SOMETHING ELSE　

────📄 ❛ kiki being saint pirate queen in predebut era aka sometimes the one who remain calm among the lunatic situation is the one who’s most dangerous

𝗔𝗣𝗧.　୵　𝗌𝗏𝗍 × 𝖿!𝗈𝖼𝗆𝖾𝗆𝖻𝖾𝗋　ʬʬ　𝖼𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗄, 𝖿𝗅𝗎𝖿𝖿, 𝗌𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗌𝗁𝗂𝗉, 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝖼𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗄, 𝗄𝗂𝗄𝗂 𝗀𝖾𝗍𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗎𝗉𝗉𝖾𝗋 𝗁𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗋 𝗌𝗏𝗍

#1　📼　LIFE IN LOOKS BY VOGUE　◜　intro

they showed her first profile picture of her back in 2012. she gasped in an instance and said, “oh my god where did you found this??? look at this bangs that exactly on my eye.” kiki laughs, “i wonder whenever looked back those pictures before the debut, all girls had this type of bangs, long and always covering one of our eyes. it’s nostalgic.”

“it was tough time. i’d never lived abroad nor surrounded by so many boys like that, they always surprised me how they could be…” she hesitated a second but carried on anyway. “a bit… wild, you know.” she giggled.

#2　📼　PREDEBUT KIKI IN A NUTSHELL　

always in the background of most unhinged situation yet remain calm and peace

kiki, later on the magazine interview : that’s the special skill i gained by hard working haha

the footage of seventeen tv in 4x speed while all boys moving left and right and never stay still, while she sit on the table patiently writing something on the notebook entire time

it’s literally a superpower atp

kiki rising a voice from behind “don’t broke it they can’t afford a new one!” in woozi’s infamous guitar attack

not she correcting japanese teacher in tiny voices and make them regretting their life decisions

being whipped for samuel 24/7

“who’s trying to mess with my baby 😠”

she just keep practicing even every other people having fun around her because sometimes having no idea what else to do

judging others weird behavior in general

trying to hold seungcheol back from dragging seokmin trying to do something weird for 3624425th times on joshua’s first day ( bro came all way long from la and got traumatized )

by the time of seventeen tv broadcasting, they just got used to each other mostly and could care less about holding hands, hugging or pecking on the side of the head or cheek

seungcheol became wEAK in only front of her like wdym scariest dad being so blushy ?¿

jeonghan really relied on her back in the trainee days, she taught him dance, how to practice well and get over stressful monthly evaluation

jun and joshua being only normal friends of her

kisoon being dancing machine over big bang songs

kiki and woozi entered pledis almost at the same time they always had a special place in each other’s heart

mingyu seokmin wonwoo fighting over for kiki aka she set the war without intention

kisol is chaotic angels of melona prison

seungkwan is the most insightful for her condition changing in period, scold everyone be nosy and loud around her when poor japanese girl suffering over the pain in stomach area, telling them to buy pain killers and a pudding

dino is forever baby of kiki and jeonghan

#3　📼　GOOD MORNING 17　

she waking them up by banging ladle on the pan 😭✋🏻

kiki, with the most straight face ever : it’s the ghibli style, everyone

she constantly yelling ( not exactly more like the level of speaking loud but considering her usual speaking tone this is counted as YELLING ) “WAKE UPPP” to lazy sleepy heads

dino : noona i can’t find my socks :(

hoshi : noona have you see my tie?

samuel : kiki seokmin hyung bullying me :’( *lie*

kiki, packing vernon’s backpack : other pair of socks is in the drawer of room b, hoshi’s tie is on the chair in the living room since you didn’t put away two days ago, seokmin-na if you don’t let go of samuel i will end your life, now everyone MOVE OR YOU’LL BE LATE FOR SCHOOL AGAIN-

dk : noona i ain’t do nothing 😭

yep, she basically raised all these children

#4　📼　KIKI BEING HUMAN CINNAMON ROLL

taking care of dino and jeonghan when they weren’t the happiest

always soothes others when they got scolded, combing hairs and told “they said this to you because they care about you, we don’t want you get released by monthly evaluation and say goodbye to someone again, hm?”

kiki : can we have a little snack if we behaved good 🥺

staff : *couldn’t resist* ugh sure whatever you want ���

but she really had the POWER because she’s the most hard-worker and well-behaved kid among all the chaotic trainees

kiki’s ADORED by senior trainees and other ( good ) pledis girls like whenever boys and girls are together in the melona room girls never leave her alone, holding hands and asking questions about everything

and svt boys slightly got jealously how physically close they were

woozi : noona how to say this in japanese

kiki : *answered*

woozi : okay how to write it

kiki : *wrote it down*

woozi : your handwritings are really pretty

kiki : omg thanks ☺️

boys tried to use her as non combat area when they were fighting

kiki : could you please stop arguing for a sec and sit down and eat popsicle with me *puppy eyes*

other boys : *suddenly deactivated fighter mode and obeyed to her*

she’s everyone’s crush ™️

they celebrated her 18th birthday and samuel gifted a kiss on her cheek… that’s when she melted, literally

even bought a small cake from everyone’s light purse ( boys were broke ) and kiki was so happy and touched, they all write letters to wish her happiness and thanked to her hardworking that she still kept to this day

from this moment celebrating her birthday and buy a gift became group’s tradition—she’s under the second longest training period with woozi, got scouted from other famous companies time to time for her talent and great potential, but she stayed in broke ass company who barely can afford proper meals and training rooms just because couldn’t left this noisy precious boys behind

#5　📼　NO, MAYBE SHE WAS THE FINAL BOSS

if you think she being the softy kind person is enough to discipline these boys ass you’re very wrong

others : *playing around while they supposed to be practicing*

kiki : ………………and what? *took a glance*

others : *terrified because she hasn’t gotten mad YET*

actually she never really got angry or scold everyone but when they’d done something wrong, kiki just stared at them in very sad or disappointed eyes and shook the head before trying to leave, and sometimes it worked more because now they all scared what will happen if she actually got mad because no one knew what is be like

besides she making most of meals in the dorm so kiki could just let them skip the dinner as a punishment, again she held that much authority back then ( she never did nor implied to do it but that’s just how their daily lives worked )

© SVT-KIKI　/　2025 .　

( tag list )　@smh-anon @jennwonwoo @angie-x3 @scarlet789 @cheeksung

[official-wonho]

[INTERVIEW] Wonho And The Infinite Blue

If you grew up in India, during the ’90s or in decades preceding that time, there’s a good chance you’ve come across a blue inland letter. It might be an almost forgotten form of communication now, but that humble one-sheet, foldable form flew across every part of the country, from the biggest cities to the smallest villages. This writer was in boarding school, high up in the Himalayas, aged 10, and would curl up every week to write home. That blue letter was always filled with the love and longing that came from a very young, wistful heart, sitting far away from family. Wonho was told this story, as we sat down across time zones on Zoom to discuss his latest E.P, Blue Letter — a name that triggered these bittersweet memories. As he listened, intently, his expression was a mixture of sincerity, understanding and endearment. It’s very clear that this is someone who really gets the poignancy of emotion. “Woah! Thank you so much for sharing that story,” Wonho smiled. “It actually makes me really glad that I have this album coming out.”

Sincerity is an adjective that is so particular to Wonho — something his loyal fanbase WeNee (short for We Are New Ending) will attest to. It’s evident in the music he makes; he’s deeply committed to production, lyrics and performance in equal parts. Wonho is an acclaimed artiste in a musical landscape that isn’t just confined to South Korea — the artistes who dominate that industry are bonafide global stars, and for good reason. He’s been solo since departing from Monsta X in 2019 for reasons that have been amply and unequivocally cleared and put to rest. Wonho’s debut EP, Love Synonym Pt. 1: Right For Me released in September 2020, with the sexy, crisp title track, Open Mind. It also featured Losing You, which is an intimate, heartfelt missive to his fans. The E.P’s second half, Love Synonym Pt. 2: Right For Us arrived in February this year — a triumph, arranged across genres. There was a fantastic, audacious collaboration with singer-songwriter Kiiara called Ain’t About You, and Lose, the opener, had Wonho flexing his abilities as a singer and producer in an entirely new light. Each offering provided a new definition of love — freedom, hope, new beginnings.

Blue Letter provides deeper insight into Wonho’s heart and mind. This isn’t a new era for him, though. He has an entirely different take on the K-industry definition of a comeback — where both image and style follow a particular concept. “Instead of me coming into a new era, I think it's like my endless story. It's my music. My music is my endless story. So, instead of me establishing an era per se, I think it's just a continuous process,” he explains, sitting comfortably, breaking often into an easy smile, dressed in a simple black shirt and leather jacket, blonde hair highlighting his almost poreless skin. His album art also hints at the episodic nature of his sonic voyage. Both parts of Love Synonym had blue sleeves, all in different shades, as does this mini album. “When I look at my fans, they remind me of the colour blue. I just see the colour when I look at them. So that has become kind of like my signature colour. So, I've been using blue in my albums as well. And, for this album, I want it to convey my genuine feelings and I thought blue was the perfect colour to do so,” he states, describing blue as the personification of his current state of mind; ruminations he’s arrived at, through the last two years.

Think of a blue ocean, connecting every single one of us, across continents. It separates us, echoing a sense of isolation and loneliness. But the ocean also symbolises a need to dive into adventure, into experiences — the great, infinite blue. That, in a nutshell, is the sense Wonho wants to convey with Blue Letter. It’s a grateful letter, of sorts, to life, music and his fans, linking all these beautiful metaphors and ideas together, like a cypher. “Being thankful and loving my fans are just the basics of my state of mind. But then, again, through the album, I want to show a more genuine side of me by talking about my feelings and my thoughts. I hope that it could both encourage my fans and give them courage,” he says, summarising the central message. Consider the introduction — Seasons and Patterns. It sets the tone, illustrating waves of time, through piano keys that swell up and wash over the listener. “I think through my Intro: Seasons and Patterns, I can really show different feelings such as when I wrote the songs for Love Synonym Pt. 1 and Pt. 2. I wanted to convey that there's an expression … like patterns in love,” he muses. “Like if there were patterns in love, how would that sound in music? I wanted to express that in the Intro. And the overarching theme of the whole album is love, so I thought it was the right start to start the album.”

Blue, the focus track, asks the question, “Can you feel, feel the blue?” When people usually talk about “feeling blue”, they’re usually referring to feeling low, sad or depressed, linking to the sense of isolation mentioned above. In Wonho’s world though, the lyrics take on a more hopeful tone, opening with, “Diving into the blindingly bright blue. Don’t stop me. I’m fine, enjoying this feeling...:” Providing context, he says, “So yes, feeling blue means feeling depressed, right? I wanted to talk about feeling depressed and how it's important to accept it as is and then seize it, when you can. I want to talk about that attitude through my title track, Blue. I want to say that you're not alone if you ever feel blue or depressed.” It’s a beautiful thought; a way to honour dreams and rise above negativity.

Read full interview on femina.in

[popculturebuffet]

Amphibia Weekly Reviews: Spider-Sprig/Olivia and Yunaan: Look What Happens, Nightmare Time

Hello all you happy people! I”m Jake, I review stuff and things and it’s that time of the week again. And i’m actually on time this week! 

And good thing too as this is the big one as Sprig Fights Brad Garret! Oh and of course we finally get some huge answers in the main plot, some gold old fashioned nightmare time, and a name we’ve all be waiting for. Sadly it’s not Mr or Mrs.B’s as Jeff apparently isn’t his name. God dammit show this isn’t told from the prospective of a 6 year old and his stuffed tiger sidekick, we need parent names!  But it’s time to figure out whose been watching us this whole time and if a hero can save us, so i’m not going to stand here and wait. Join me under the cut for a full review with spoilers. 

Spider-Sprig: Behold the Fantastic Frog Man! 

I’ll admit I was excited about this one, as I telegraphed back when I talked about the solicit for this one: I love spider-man, I love superhero episodes, and I loved the concept of Sprig taking up a superhero identity to put his natural frog ablities to use. The costume helped, clearly taking from Spidey’s own prototype outfit in the mcu, but using the blue beetle’s color scheme. 

So it's not a huge shock I liked this one. It’s an eleven minute fun romp about Sprig as a superhero fighting comedy legend Brad Garret while throwing a bunch of nods to the Rami Spider-Man movies I grew up with. No outright homages but the villians design, the sketching scene and the big bus scene all scream to me that Braly and Co were big fans of Rami’s films. This episode may not be the emotional flex the previous slice of life episodes this season has been, but it’s still a hell of a treat and a nice fluffy episode before we get to the utter nightmare waiting in the second episode this week. 

Being more of a fun side episode, this one naturally has a pretty simple setup: After a fun intro where our heroes watch a tokusatsu style superhero film about a bug man who fights for those who hate and fear them, eventually earning their acceptance because of their noblility (Basically x-men meets kamen rider... or that weird one season spider-man show if you prefer. You do you), Sprig longs for his own glory on earth like Anne got at home. Problem is things are vastly diffrent: Anne was in an isolated backswamp town, in a world pre communication and whose only goverments are a bunch of toads they fought for moral reasons anyway, and a king who left day to day managment of the smaller towns to said toad while he worked on his evil master plan, and who at most would’ve brought anne to them right away had he found out about her, as she was vital to his plans and his manipulation of marcy.  In constrast Sprig is stranded in LA, one of the biggest and most populous citeis in america, in a world where a picture can go up for everyone to see in minutes and spread like wildfire like that. Even before they had a fabulous beauru of investigation agent on their butts, it wasn’t remotely safe for them to be public with what they are. It’s undrestandable Sprig also wants to be accepted for who he is but it’s just not fesable. So far only a select group of people know and all of them found out by accident, and it was just lucky that Dr. Jan, the IT GIrls and the entire thai community of Anne’s part of LA happened to be very good people. 

Sprig isn’t satisfied though so he decides to become a superhero himself, and we get a very Sam Rami Spider-Man style costume sketching sequence before he puts together his outfit, becoming FROG MAN! Probably more of a Frog Boy but eh, Peter was 15 when he called himself spider-man, and miles is doing the same at the same age so fair enough. We also get some fun with Polly as she’s not a fan of the superhero genre, poking fun at alll the backlash superhero movies get from a section of the online community,  and we get the best exchange of the episode tha talso sums up the superhero genre in a nutshell

Polly: You can’t fix systematic problems by putting on a costume Sprig: Watch meeeeeeee

Sprig goes on patrol and spies a cranky old man in the neighborhood giving some kids a citation for having a lemonade stand. Why is it every saftey monitor in Disney history after Filmore is a power hungry dickhead? I mean it’s only been really two, Elliot and this guy, but it’s weird it happened twice. This lovely person is Robert Otto, the local saftey guy for the neighborhood who doesn’t take kindly to vigilantes. As I haven’t remotely hidden he’s voiced by Brad Garrett, a comedian I genuinely love and admire whenever he pops up despite avoding his breakout role in everybody loves raymond like it was tetnus. 

 He also proves to be a bit of a gloryhound, trying to stop a runaway bus with his face and only making it worse. Sprig thankfully pulls an aweosme webbing style stunt by wrapping his tounge into a web and using it to harmlessly bounce the bus. God damn , I didnt’ know amphibia frog tounges were that long or had that much prenhinsile strength. This naturally gets our hero the praise he deserves..and even more naturally makes Robert entirely jealous, especially when Bobby Jo, a ten year old or so from his beat, walks right by the guy to thank Sprig. 

Sprig lights it up, doing good deeds across town and even showing up on Conan before he closed up the show. Anne finds out and flips her bushy hair while sprig is getting more and more self absorbed, becoming more and more booster goldish, ironic given whose color scheme he’s borrowing. 

Robert meanwhile gets the supervillian origin story you all knew was comiing and not just because the trailer spoiled some things, stewing in a junk yard and finding the Annsterminators arm, which now it’s detached fits perfectly on robert’s arm and gives him an extending arm with lasers. Robert decides to get his revenge and puts on a trench coat and green goggles, clearly aping the Spdier-Man 2 versoin of Doc Ock.  His last name is even a nod to the good doctor, while is first is a nod to Brad’s role from that show I don’t watch. 

So the next day Spirg is basking in the attention when Robert attacks, clearly mad Raymond dosen’t call him anymore, and Sprig is excited for his first superhero battle. Said battle... is fucking awesome as all the series fights thus far has been, and perfectly gets the astetic and pacing of a good superhero fight.. while also not glossing over the colatteral our hero and his nemisis leave in their wake. We also get a fun bit where the two strike a pose with kicks and everything.. only to recoil in pain.

The two fight and wreck up the place for a while before Bobbi Jo calls BOTH out, citing how the two aren’t heroes, and are just wrecking up the place. And she has a point: Sprig COULD’VE tried talking Robert down to avoid a fight first, and then would’ve been in his rights to have the fight. While in most supervillian cases their attacking a city or something, Sprig was the sole target here and could’ve lead Robert away from civlians like most superheros would. Instead he priotized getting a cool fight over people’s saftey. And robert.. well he’s just an asshole woh felt overshadowed by an 11 year old and wasn’t disliked because Sprig showed up: he was disliked because he treated people like crap and took his job way too seriously. Robert COULD have used his new powers for good and to genuinely help people but CHOSE to attack sprig instead. 

This gets sprig to wake up and smell the cup of roasted coffee, and he apologizes to Bobby Jo and decides to fix the collateral damage, which Robert also agrees to. The two successfully fix what they broke and Sprig makes a new friend in Bobby Jo while Robert will probably make some neat new friends in jail for property damage. They can teach him how to make a shiv, how to make toilet wine and how to deal with a corrupt overcrowded system that treats him like cattle. We wrap the episode with Sprig talking to Anne who gets ready to chew him out , but Sprig’s already learned his lesson and admits he made things worse, and Anne realizes she missed a hell of a day so she lays off.. until Sprig admits he cut up her clothes to make the outfit. Oh that Sprig. 

Spider-Sprig is just pure fun: it stilll has some neat character work but it’s mostly about just having a great premise, some fun actoin and a good moral in being a hero because it’s the right thign and not for the glory. It’s a simple one but a good one for a superhero story. I also hope Sprig wears that scarf again because that scarf is dope. 

Olivia and Yunnan: OH GOOD GOD

So from a fun, sweet little superhero pastiche to pure fucking horror. I mean ther’es SOME jokes but this is easily the darkest the series has went and keep in mind the last season ended with a child being stabbed in the gut on screen.  This episode somehow manages to TOP THAT. You can probably tell that just from the image above that this one probably need a content warning it didn’t get which is strange both because of the whole True Colors debacle.. and said debacle giving them a content warning they can already use. Maybe they didnt’ want to blanket it over the whole episode, maybe sci fi stuff gets a pass I don’t know but this one is fucking brutal. You’ve been warned. Let’s get into the nightmare time shall we?

So we open with a flashback to 5 and a half months ago: We see Marcy on crutches after falling down some stairs, getting her first good look at the world and it’s majesty. We also get some more depth to Lady Oliva’s character: as it turns out she’s from a long line of servants to the crown who have done so to protect this sacred land and it’s beauty from those who’d harm it. Marcy vows to help her do so in return. 

Naturally as you’d imagine this leads to a gutwrenching smash cut to how badly things have gone since as her ladyship looks out.. and sees things have gotten really SATAM really fast, with Andrais having strip mined the once beautiful nature of amphibia to build more factories. Seriously given Matt is a sonic fan and just how much the scenery, complete with toxic waste barrels, reminds me of SATAM, I can’t imagine this was a concidence. I can however want him to do a sonic show after the upcoming one wraps as I think he’d be awesome at it. 

Her Ladyship is naturally pretty crushed to see everything she protected her whole life, everything she worked for die for a man she greatly respected but now wholly fears. And what a coincidence Andrais has one of his frogbots ask Olivia to go see him, where she runs into Yunan. Turns out neither has talked to him since Anne disappeared, as he’s been cooped up working on his plans.. and when they find him he’s not doing great as he’s trying to convince his master NOT to use Marcy for whatever dark purpose the thing has in mind, which to them looks like he’s gone mad. 

He has some new jobs for them though: He needs Oliva to oversee the factories as they finish strip mining the planet and Yunan to capture some frogs to help run his factories. Likely while he can run them with just robot labor, it’s likely more effective to use the frogs as easy slave labor and save the robots for more conquests. He also tells them to give anyone who tries to stop them a stern talking to.. JK he wants them to die slow die fast now. 

Naturally being asked to directly oversea the anthises of everything she’s worked for her whole life after only staying this long because she had no choice is the last straw for Olivia who decides to openly defy the king. Yunan wonders if she’s really talking treason.. before whisking her away... not in the fun  way but because talking about it directly in front of his throne is kinda dumb. But Yunan agrees. She didn’t sign up for this madness or a mad king and agreees to whatever Lady has planned. Olivia figures they need an actual stratgest for this; Olivia herself is clever but clearly was outplayed by Andrias himself and knows it and Yunan is good at stabbing thigns, sneaking around and doing that thing with her tounge olivia likes, but not so much strategy. She’s an arrow, she needs someone to guide her shot. 

That someone is Marcy. Yunana isn’t enthused since 2/3 humans they’ve met are outright traitors, including Marcy but it’s clear Olvia sees the bigger picture: Marcy didn’t betray her friends out of malice, but out of pure desperation.  She’s not going ot betray them especailly because none of this trio had any idea what Andrias was really up to. He played ALL of them. And since Olivia clearly dosen’t know how to outplay them and Yunana really dosen’t, they need someone who at least has a chance of doing so. Oliva is able to get Yunan to agree by saying she can’t POSSIBLE get them into the castle depths without being scene. Her response is exactly what you’d expect

Oliva heads deeper underground, there’s too much panic in this town, into the forbidden section of the castle we saw back in the slumber party ep. We also finally get some contexxt for the creatures down here, or at least the start of it: turns out while unsettling their all harmless, with a moss man even giving Yunana  a flower as a token of friendship> Turns out this si where the previous royaltiy used to store their interdimensional prisoners, and thus the moss men and phantoms come from other worlds. This also might explain the skipman as that might of come not from earth itself but another world with similar tech. 

Our heroes continue their descent into the creepy basement, and unknowingly get spotted by a thousand eyes watching them all through the night as they find Marcy’s pod. After yanking her out Yunan tries slapping Marcy awake, then procedes to shake her like a polaroid picture. While Oliva reconsiders having kids with Yuann she properly helps Marcy recover with some tea and a blanket. Marcy is straight up high , likely because the pod had her on a shit ton of sedatives. 

The trio try to leave.. but turns out the Watcher with a Thousand Eyes, while stuck in the wall isn’t defensless and pumps some mist into the area before taking our heroes to what appears to be outside.. and into their greatest nightmares. First up is Oliva who faces the greatest nightmare of all: parental disapproval. Specifical her own deep seated fears she’s failed her mother and her family legacy by letting Andrias strip mine things. While she has had no way to stop this till now, guilt isn’t remotely rational. The Watcher kicks it up a notch by turning her mom into a corpse tornado with nasty crooked teeth. I.. I have no jokes here this thing is legitly disturbing and well deisgn. 

Marcy starts to regain cohernce and notices that the fears being genorated are holograms. That dosen’t make it any better for Yunan though as she’s up next and encounters a grubhog! 

While this is a joke for a second Yunan has good reason to fear the thing as she had an incident as a kid where one shoved her entire arm in it’s mouth. I’d be scared too.. and given the pattern set by Oliva’s nightmare, the grubhogs quickly turn into horrrifying monsters straight out of HR GIger’s 2nd grade notebook. 

Marcy tries to logic things out.. but ends up in her own personal hell. And unlike the other two, which revealed more about their pasts and characters, this time we know EXACTLY whose waiting for her: Anne and Sasha, who in Marcy’s nightmare won’t forgive her for what happened and the turn into a horrifiying two headed merged abomination. 

Thankfully this unreleased nightmare on elm street sequel gets a repreive as Yunan happesn to bump into one of the projectors.. the eyes on the wall themselves. Marcy quickly advises them to take them out and our heroes face their fears by punching them in the throat. 

So with that our heroes can escape and everything is better and i’m just lying to make myself feel better because what happens next.. is easily one of the most disturbing things i’ve seen in a kids cartoon. And I grew up with the rugrats where angelica is tormented by a deep voiced nightmare of her possible future sibling, i’ve seen things. 

Andrias shows up to stop them, because as it creepily turns out the watcher didn’t tap into their brains or anything as it’s revealed Andrias had one of it’s eyes in his crown.. and it’s been watching our heroes this whole time. And if you thought that was creepy you aren’t ready as the Watcher itself descends shreiking like a  metroid boss and throughly disturbing our trio. 

We also finally find out just what the hell this thing IS and what it’s real name is: The Core. After decades of research, using the mossmen’s medical technology and some unknown one aquired from the phantom beasts, Andrias’ ancestors found a way to stop death. The Core is a hivemind, a collection of amphbia’s greatest minds working in unison for their horrifying grand design, whatever it may be. I’ll still call it the watcher with a thousand eyes sometimes both because I love that refrence and because the Core.. is kind of a weak name. It’s not TERRIBLE but for something this horrifying and powerful, for what’s clearly going to be the final boss of the entire series.. it’s pretty mundane. 

It then horrifyingly yanks marcy into a thorne it has set up, something it and Andrias have been working on. Even having been spoiled by the Season 3 trailer, serously they should NOT have included that shot... it’s still utterly horrifying as Andrias explains thing: his master needs a vessel and while he TRIED to get it to take someone else, revaling that as warped as the man is he does care about her in his own twisted way, but she was too perfect a vessel: someone smarter than even the cores greatest servant and the reason they’ve gotten this far. 

So with Yunan and Oliva looking on in horror we get the scene: marcy desperately struggling to no avail to break free as a crown slowly descends on the poor girl.. before we get some sharp constrast shots as it descends on her and she screams in pain, only blacks and reds as we watch her agony.. before a signal shot of the poor child SCREAMING as she’s engulfed in flames, soon after red ones and zeros fillign her suit. 

Oliva asks what the hell the Core’s plan is.. and Andrais says it can now tel lher itself.... as it sickingly makes some cracking nosies and smiles, saying hello and saying goodbye to marcy. 

We end on some red text over some ominous music as even Matt wasnt’ dumb enough to put the cheery and fun season 3 end music after.. that. Good... christ. It’s an amazing sequence but just.. shit. Fucking shit. 

Olivia and Yunan is one of the season’s best thus far, an utterly horrifying episode that slowly builds up dread and shows just how bad things have gotten back home and what’s at stake should Anne and her rag tag bunch of misfits fail to stop Andrias and The Core: desolate worlds strip mined of life to keep the conquest going. And there’s no telling if there will be any amphibia LEFT even if they win. And somehow they manage to go from that to make it evne worse, taking one of the most beloved characters in the setting.. and putting us through her utterly horrifyiing possesion by an utterly creepy enemy. The reveal the watcher is a hive mind is an intresting one, somethign I can’t wait to see more of.. even with the circumstances. 

Next Time: THANK FUCK nothing as traumatizing.. I hope. Hop Pop goes to Hollywood to act and stuff and Anne may have found a way back. More plot stuff but not.. THIS. And given the descriptoin for the holiday episode.. I feel it’s only a matter of time till anne meets this new abominatoin using her friend as a meat puppet. *Shudders*. If you enjoyed this review follow me for more, and feel free to join my patreon

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[fauxpromises]

Random musings about Talking Heads & Kuja

Been getting back to writing again and felt like it would be kind of fun to write down my thoughts on the artist and album that inspired some of my thematic ideas for my fic. Though realistically this is more of a general character analysis re Kuja than anything specific to my writing, lol.

Analysis below the cut!

Part of why I was inspired to write is, well, Kuja is one of my favorite characters in fiction and I feel that a lot of his most important themes and characterization go almost completely unexamined. Specifically, I notice fandom tends to focus on his characterization prior to his big change in trajectory. That trajectory results in his constructed persona being pretty much completely destroyed, and in the wake of that, I see his post-arc persona being much more muted and lacking in a solid foundation of identity. No longer the excessively theatrical, outgoing identity that he created in order to convince himself that he was unique and important (neither of which his origin would lead him to actually believe).

And that’s exactly why I relate Talking Heads, and more specifically Remain in Light to him as a character. It’s an album with the central theme of identity conflict, at times in a very abstract way, that I feel fits him as a character so entirely well. The actual style of music has either a chaotic, rapid “racing thoughts” tempo to it, or a subdued sound that nonetheless has feeling of looming dread to it. Sometimes they feel rather casual, but in a superficial way. But the theme is pretty consistent across the track list. Even the title “Remain in Light” and the album cover is meant to convey that something is being obscured and is attempting to come into visibility.

The narrative voice as performed by David Byrne is also extremely fitting. He’s good at conveying a personality that is eccentric and at times seemingly detached from the human experience. He makes quirky, coy observations and tends to muse on the state of humanity or others in ways that almost seem as if he excludes himself from that lot. You could call it somewhat dissociative, while still portraying a lucid train of thought; there’s often a difference in the degree of intelligence the narrator shows in his observations, and his ability to understand the emotions that they yield.

Of the songs on Remain in Light, I believe the ones that most relate to the identity disturbance theme are “Once in a Lifetime”, “Seen and Not Seen”, and the big one for me, “Crosseyed & Painless”. I give a shoutout to “The Great Curve” because it kind of informed the romance dynamic, which, while not supposed to be foremost to the character study, represent something Kuja as a character has almost no interaction with in his canon context (outside of Dissidia anyway) - a tangible connection with another person. That track really complements the theme of delusion that the album insinuates, as it’s a sort of fanciful love song describing an idealized, lofty portayal of a woman. It’s abstract and nonspecific, barely a love song in the conventional sense, but I like the idea that someone who is themself conflicted or deluded about their own identity would struggle to see others as they really are.

Anyway, “Once in a Lifetime” is probably one of the best known TH songs. It’s an almost comedic take on an existential crisis, the narrator reflecting on his uncertainty of the nature of reality to the point of questioning the basic objects he interacts with in his day-to-day (like his wife and his car). “Seen and Not Seen” is a much more obscure track that is an extended metaphor. The narration describes a man who is able to change his physical appearance at will, trying to make it match that of idealized others (like celebrities) or changing it to better suit his perception of himself. It’s a representation of how people shape their personalities and identities, and how they can err in doing so.

But really, I’d say “Crosseyed & Painless” is the song that really, to me, is Kuja’s character arc in a nutshell. I really love the live version from Stop Making Sense specifically for the extended and stylized intro. It starts with a really calm and casual instrumental and guitar line, which gradually (and disconcertingly) transitions into a really fast tempo and guitar which reminds me way too much of “Dark Messenger”. It’s pretty clearly a musical depiction of a descent into insanity as something rather incremental, but ultimately landing with force. It’s definitely something that has to be heard to be understood.

Lyrically, the narrator describes a feeling of identity confusion. Due to an unspecified cause, he feels like he is caught between an assumed identity and a true identity, pretty well explained in the first verse (Lost my shape, trying to act casual). It’s a cause of great distress as evidenced by the third line, “I might end up in the hospital”. And beyond that, the phrase “I feel like an accident” indicates something has occurred that is inevitable.

After the narrator explains his own predicament, to me it seems he turned his skepticism to the reality of everything else rather than admit that the delusion and conflict is within himself. It’s rather clever. He speaks at length about facts, as in the second verse: (I'm ready to leave, I push the fact in front of me/Facts lost, facts are never what they seem to be). Facts are something unavoidable and true by definition, but he focuses his attention on both lamenting their immovability and still trying to rationalize that he can alter them. There’s also talk of doubt, which I expect is related to the aforementioned conflict with facts - despite the denial of them, doubt always voices itself. The chorus in its various versions reaffirm this with the statement “the feeling returns whenever we close our eyes”.

The prominent refrain, however, is the “I’m still waiting” repetition. An annotation on the song on Genius.com sums up the meaning behind it very well:

“What I love about this refrain is that it seems to reconfirm a desire for facts or some kind of master signifier that will give order and meaning to the world, despite the song’s overall critique of facts. The repetition of “still waiting” ties in nicely with the line in the bridge that “Facts cut a hole in us.” This reminds me of what Jacques Lacan calls objet petit a – the object-cause of desire that our desires forever circle around without obtaining.”

If you care to give any of these songs a listen, I’d recommend the album version for all but “Crosseyed & Painless” which has a significantly better version in my opinion on the live album. There used to be an incredibly amazing downmix of the whole album on Youtube but it has since vanished, very unfortunately.

[littlemisssquiggles]

Hey miss, my friend and I made bingo boards for the upcoming volume, what about you?? The 2 I’m hoping for the most is an Oscar badass moment and a rosegarden moment. Hopefully that’s not aski for too much😋

Hiya Dark. Nah fam, I don’t think wanting an Oscar-worthy badass moment or another wholesome Rosegarden moment is too much at all. On the contrary, I think it’s something all of us Pineheads, Rosegardeners and Rosegardening Pineheads alike would love to see too.

For me personally, I would love to see an Oscar solo fight where he faces off against a giant Grimm on his own and defeats it through the combined efforts of his own strength and training and Oz once again aiding him in combat through more Ozma memories, allowing Oscar to unlock and utilize more of his magical abilities as we witnessed in the V7 finale. So yeah, you’re not alone in that, fam. No worries XD

Regarding the RWBY Bingo Cards---well for the past two volumes---V6 and V7, I made a habit to making my own bingo cards before the new season dropped. However this time for V8, I decided to not make a card. Honestly didn’t feel up to it for this season; sadly. I mean, there are things and certain developments that I'd love to see come out of the volume particularly regarding my favourite characters (like Ruby and Oscar, for example) however I'm trying to go into the new season with as little expectations as possible. In respect to the Rosegarden pair, the main thing I want to see outta V8 for these two smaller, more honest souls is Oscar and Ruby's budding bond continuing to progress, possibly even blossoming into something meaningful, magnificent and unique for the two of them since I would really, really love to see Oscar be a fuel to Ruby’s sport---fulfilling his role as a great support to her and step up and aid Ruby in mending the fragile bonds within their group. In a nutshell, I just want to see our little prince being responsible for his true rose ; caring for and aiding her in this dire time where tensions are high, the team is divided and doubts and suspicions may be flung in Ruby’s direction for the acts of V7.

I want this to happen especially if Oscar is expected to be taken prisoner by Salem at some point. Personally I still believe it would be an interesting idea if the volume ended on a very grim note with the complete desolation of Atlas and Mantle with our heroes being forced to flee and leave poor Oscar behind in the clutches of their foes after Oscar nobly surrendered himself over to Salem in a failed effort to protect his comrades by actually bargaining with Salem. That’s what I would love to come out of Oscar’s side of the story for this season but, as always, this is only just me and the likelihood of this actually becoming canon is slim.

Basically fam, based on all the little things the CRWBY have been dropping to hint at the season (not to mention their track record from previous seasons), I really just want to quietly rock back and just watch what they have in store for us without placing too much thought on what I would like to see or even expect to see based on how the showrunners have currently shaped the narrative, y'know what I mean?

Last volume, V7 was hyped up just as V8 is being now and I still walked out of that season feeling...well let's say conflicted (to put it nicely) on certain elements to the PLOT and direction of the characters. And I expect nothing different from V8. The RWBY showrunners have teased this season as being "dark" and...I’m curiously curious to see what their definition of dark is since the only thing I wish to anticipate is that we, as the audience, are probably in for one wild ride.

That and I’m really, really excited to see the V8 intro. That’s what I’m looking forward to seeing the most from the first episode (besides Oscar of course)---the intro, the tone of the opening song and what the visuals will imply about the overall theme for this new season.

So yeah, this is just my long-winded way of saying no squiggly RWBY Bingo Card  for V8. But I will give my usual RWBY commentary and share any theories I might have here and there based on what I see done in the show when I can.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2020)

[afterspark-podcast]

Let’s Play Transformers War for Cybertron, Chapter 4 Transcript

Episode

[This can also be found on AO3!]

[Intro Music]

O: Welcome back to our Let's Play of 'War for Cybertron'!  We are on chapter 4: Death of  

O: Hope.  Um, as always I'll be playing Megatron, and I'm Owls.

S: I'm Specs.

C: I'm Chezni.

O: And here we go!

O: I'm back with my asshole- S: The Death of Hope-

O: [laughs] What? S: THE DEATH OF HOPE!

O: Yes. S: Ahhh!

[Steve Blum: Zeta Prime is conquered.  But the device Megatron] O: Is he now?

[Steve Blum: believed to be the Omega Key simply activated the key]

C: He got his heart ripped out. [Steve Blum: Omega Supreme.]

O: Tha- that's dead!  That's different than 'conquered'. [Steve Blum: Megatron quickly discovers he can use the device to track Omega Supreme.]

[Steve Blum: And races above the skies of Iacon in pursuit of his quarry.] S: Well, I mean 'conquered' can be a euphemism for many things.

C: [laughs] O: Many things!  That's why I was laughing at it.

[Megatron: Maintain this heading!  The device shows the Omega Key is directly ahead!]

O: Wow, everybody drives but Megatron. [Breakdown: I thought Zeta said it was gonna come to US!]

[Soundwave: We are being intercepted.] S: Yeah.

S: Oh, who were the other characters available in this?

O: Oh!  Same two.  It's gonna be Breakdown and Soundwave for the next two chapters.

[Breakdown: It's coming right at us!] S: Okay.

[Megatron: Stay your course! Breakdown: We're gonna dieeeeeeee!]

C & S: [laugh] C: Deja vu.

[Megatron: Turn around and-- where did it go?] O: [laughs]

[Breakdown: He's gone!  What is this guy? You think he knows about the Omega Key?]

S: Uh... O: Yes.

[Megatron: No Breakdown.  HE IS the Omega Key!] S: Considering he probably... yeah.

[Omega: Identity: Omega Supreme.  Enemy Status: TERMINATED.]

O: That seems a bit... ya know...

C: Presumptuous? [Breakdown: What are we gonna do NOW Megatron?]

O: Yes. [Megatron: Silence!]

S: Yeah, I mean why didn't you just... [Megatron: This merely modifies my plan.]

S: Omega, why didn't you just hammer it against the ground!?! [Megatron: If Omega Supreme IS the key...]

C: Or sit on it! [Megatron: then I shall FORCE him to open the planet's core.]

O: [laughs] Like, really make sure he was dead, SUPER dead.

O: Also sorry, I had to- um, I had to close some things on my computer because they

O: were making noise at me.  So there's like a beep from Google Hangouts in there somewhere.  

O: ALSO why does Megatron keep waking up in a wrecked ship!?

O: [laughs] This is the second time! C: Yeah he really-

S: It's his equivalent of going on a bar crawl. [Soundwave: Megatron-- there is a Decepticon dropship]

C & O: [laugh] [Soundwave: across the bridge.  They appear to be scanning for survivors.]

[Starscream (COM): Come in Megatron!  This is Starscream, do you read me?]

[Megatron: Starscream!  I am 7 clicks north of your position!]

[Starscream: Megatron!] O: The fuck's a click?

[Starscream: I watched you crash and burn...] S: Oh god, another...

[Megatron: Enough!  Meet us at the bridge!] S: I'm assum-

S: [sighs] I don't know it could either be a distance  of measurement or a time measurement.

C: Well, a click is a shorthand for an 'astro click'-

O: UGH! C: -a uh, distant cousin of the 'astro second.'

O: Nooooooooo... [laughs] NO!

S: I don't like that they're just you know like, plexi- O: Astro-units!?! [laughs]

S: Well, I was going to say like, plexiglas panels that are part of the walkway.

C: It is a bit concerning. [Omega: Identification: Decepticons.  Action: Terminate.]

[Decepticon Grunt: Fall back!  Fall back and take cover!]

C: Omega Supreme is pretty.

[Decepticon Grunt: Help us!  Megatron!] O: Autobot scum.

C: He has big like, beam wings- what would you call those? [Soundwave: Our weapons are ineffective.]

[Breakdown: We can't fight this thing!  We've gotta get out of here!] S: [laughs] Well, I,

S: they're part of like, tracks in his-in G1. [Megatron: Stand your ground, Decepticons!  Destroy the bridge supports!]

C: Tracks? Oh!  The- the course, right

C: because you could race little cars around him. [laughs]

S: Yeah. O: [laughs and says something unintelligible]

C: Quiet you! [laughs] S: But if you did, I'm not terribly familiar with his toy.

O: Well, neither is Chezni.  Big boy fall down.

S: And this is why you don't have battles on bridges in the middle of- C: Ha!

[Breakdown: That did it, all right -- but there goes your Omega Key!] C: Yeah!

[Megatron: We can salvage the wreckage for what we need.]

[Omega: Target: Acquired.]

C: This has been uh, advice from Specs. [Omega: Mission: Destroy.]

C: Don't have epic battles on bridges if you don't wanna to fall down. [Megatron: Fall back.  Inside.  Quickly!]

O: Well, it- it's also that um, they forgot [the] he could fly thing. S: Yeah.

[Breakdown: We must return to the door!] O: Again, you know?

S: Yeah. [Breakdown: It's no use, Megatron!  The door's locked!]

[Soundwave: Suggestion: Use Dark Energon to open the door.]

O: [laughs] Soundwave's like, "UH, the obvious, please?" [Megatron: An excellent idea, Soundwave.]

C: [laughs]

O: Because Soundwave is the best!

S: Because somehow, Dark Energon is your lock-picking tool of choice.

S: It's such a... such a useful, uh... space crack.

O: Space crack doesn't just make you FEEL like you can do anything [Breakdown: Now what?  How are we gonna beat this guy, Megatron?]

O: it lets you do anything! [Soundwave: During our approach to this sector,]

[Soundwave: my scanners detected ion cannons near the top of the chasm wall.] C: If it was a DND ability it would be like-

C: pick a door as if a thief, only use your strength stat instead of dexterity. [Megatron: I see... We will lure Omega Supreme up there,]

O: Yeah!  Yeah!

[Megatron: and use the Autobot guns against him!] S: [laughs]

S: [laughs] That's funny. O: Very, very accurate!

O: And I mean, does that not fit Megatron in a nutshell?  I mean, let's be honest. [Breakdown: I don't like it.  It's too quiet.]

[Breakdown: Why the cease-fire?] S: Yeah, that's pretty 'Megatron'.

O: He- he doesn't know what picking a lock is, he just breaks the damn door down.

S: He takes it off- Well, yeah, Soundwave would either pick it or take it off its hinges.

O: I like that. S: Um, Megatron would just demolish it.

O: I-I like that- C: Breakdown [Knockout] would whine about not being able to open it until somebody blew it open for him.

O: Or he would like, try to out sex the door. C: [laughs]

S: [laughing] Out sex the door!

O: "Hey good looking, do you want to open up for me?"  It would be something like that alright?

S: That's a bard move. C: [laughs]

O: Okay, I know he's a healer, but I'm just saying- I don't think he should be a cleric!

C: Wai- wai- wait, so Breakdown's [Knockout's] a bard,

C: Megatron is the player who's playing a fighter or a barbarian but has strong-armed the DM by threatening him several times

C: into using multiple home brew abilities that let Megatron's character do whatever he wants when he wants to.

S: [laughs] O: Yes!  Yes!  You know, essentially how I play DND.

C: [laughs]

O: Am I wrong?

[Soundwave: Megatron, I am receiving a Decepticon transmission.] C: Soundwave is the one who's actually read all the rules and

O: Yes.

C: has min-maxed his character to be extremely specialized  [Starscream (COM): To all Decepticons who fight for the glory of Cybertron!]

C: and no one appreciates it.

O: No one! No one!  Like, the man has somehow wrangled out a summoner class- [Starscream: Megatron has fallen!  I Starscream, have taken my rightful]

[Starscream: place as your leader!] O: um, in like this, you know,

O: really basic rule set. [Megatron: Starscream, you halfwit!]

O: it makes total sense- [Megatron: I still function...]

O: everything is on the up and up. C: Yeah! [Megatron: a fact that you shall regret,]

O: But no. No one has uh, no one has done this, but him. [Megatron: when I choke the life out of you!  Now -- ]

[Megatron: I order you to deploy ships for immediate evacuation!] C: [laughs]

C: And like the the game- the game was never even intended to support a- [Soundwave: Starscream cannot hear you, Megatron.]

C: summoner class but he's made it work. [Soundwave: All communication to the surface]

O: Yeah!  Yeah! [Soundwave: has been jammed.]

O: Because he is fucking Soundwave and Soundwave does what he wants, [Megatron: Grrr!  Let's head for that lift, before that idiot]

O: but he does it legally! [Megatron: Starscream causes irreparable harm.]

S: I'm afraid that sort of um- O: I love that- Oh!  Go ahead.

S: Sorry, I'm afraid that sort of reminds me of when I did the summoner dog. C: Oh, yeah.

[Breakdown: Uh- oh... Here he comes!]

C: Uh, for the audience: Specs played a dog at one point. [Megatron: Keep moving, Decepticons!  We need to reach that lift!]

O: A talking dog. [laughs]

S: Whose name was- well... his name wasn't Rainbow

S: but he was an amnesiac and that's kind of what everyone called him, [Soundwave: This lift will provide passage to the surface when activated.]

S: despite him being a black dog.

C: Ah, so many elevators. [Breakdown: What's wrong with this thing?]

[Breakdown: Why can't we get it to move?] S: They just love elevators.

[Soundwave: The elevator is locked down.]

[Megatron: A simple solution, then.  Break the locks!]

C: [laughs] He does!  He just breaks everything! O: Yeah, he's like, "I'm not gonna wait!"

[Megatron: Starscream -- come in.  This is Megatron.]

O: [laughs] [Soundwave: There is too much interference.]

[Soundwave: We must move higher to relay your signal.] O: "No, I'm fairly certain

O: he's just ignoring me, Soundwave." [laughs] [Megatron: Can this feeble Autobot mechanism]

[Megatron: not move any faster?!?] C & O: [laughs]

[Megatron: It appears we've lost that dull-witted brute, Omega Supreme.] C: "Too much interference?  Break the interference!"

[Megatron: Not that he stood a chance against my intellect.] O: "Uh, sir... that- that

O: would be the ceiling we need that." [Breakdown: Uh, Megatron...]

S: [laughs] [Megatron: What?  WHAT?]

C: "The laws of physics won't allow it!"  "Break the laws of physics!" [Omega: Target: re-acquired.  Weapons: engaging.]

O: "Sir, that's not how any of this works." [Breakdown: Wow...he looks REALLY angry.]

O: Why am I getting Bayonetta vibes? [laughs] C: Yeah, that looks scary.

S: Yeah! C: What the heck is going on?  Omega Supreme-

O: Uh, Omega Supreme is like, "I'm going to blow up everything." [Omega: Target identification:]

[Omega: Megatron, Decepticon leader.] C: Can he not aim!?!  Does he-

O: Apparently not! [Omega: Recommendation:]

C: What if he just pointed a little lower!? [Omega: complete termination.]

S: He may not be able to tell who they- or that [Megatron: You think you can destroy me, Omega Supreme?]

S: that's them. O: HA!  Megs is pissed!

[Megatron: You think you can destroy MEGATRON?  ...Do your worst!]

S: Or possibly he's just starting at the top and working his way down. C: Yeah, I think you're right.

C: Also, can we give props to Megatron for basically

C: laughing at the face of death in that laser? [Breakdown: We're still alive?  We're still alive!!]

[Breakdown: ...What happened?] O: Right, yeah like, I mean-

O: just like- "Oh, you think you can FUCKING kill me do you!?! [Megatron: Open fire on the emergency locks!  Destroy them!]

O: DO YOU!?!"  I'm like, that's- that's amazing. C: "You think that laser intimidates me?"

[Breakdown: Megatron -- all due respect, but are you CRAZY?] O: "That laser that's bigger than my entire body is tall!?"

[Breakdown: If we go out there, he'll melt us into scrap! Megatron: Would you rather face his wrath, or mine?  Now jump!]

O: [laughs] Sorry, I love how angry he is, about all of this.  This is a huge inconvenience to him and he hates it.  Also, where am I supposed to be going?

O: I have a feeling I went the wrong way. S: I think you turned around.

C: Oh, you're not supposed to go down? S: Well, maybe you are.

S: Oh.  That looks... mmm. C: Explodable. [laughs]

[Megatron: Move faster, Decepticons!]

O: Megs, wanna tell me- can you give me a little bit more direction there?

S: You do appear to need to go down. O: Hello-

O: We need to go down in a this-a-way direction, apparently.

C: As the heavy metal rock music plays.  O: It's his theme, alright?

C: Oh, Owls is using the game's worst weapon! O: Shut up, I don't have a lot of options.

C: Specs, you managed to make some use of the shotgun.

S: Maybe.  Umm, prob- mostly by luck?  It looks like there's some ammo? C: [laughs]

O: Yes, I'm loading my guns, so I get more ammo from them. S: Okie-dokie.

O: It won't load the clip you're using, essentially. C: Video game logic.

S: Ah.

[Decepticon Grunt 2 Weeks Away From Retirement: Megatron -- you're still functional!  Thank Primus we found you!]

O: Welp, they're going to die.  There we go. S: How did they get so far?

[Decepticon Grunt 2 Weeks Away From Retirement: AAAAAAA!!!] O: I'm-

[Omega: Decepticons: Located.] O: I-

C: Did... Omega Supreme just eat them with his hand? [Breakdown: He's trying to grab us!]

O: Uh... yeah.  Yeah. S: Yeah.

[Megatron: Stop whining and start shooting, Breakdown!]

C: Oh!

O: I think my question is- he's blowing up so much stuff  [Breakdown: Omega Supreme's right on our tails!]

O: that I'm like, how is he gonna know [Breakdown: There's got to be some way to shake him!]

 O: when he kills Megatron, anyway!? [laughs] [Megatron: Move back inside!  Perhaps we can avoid Omega's]

C: Yeah, maybe that's why he didn't aim when you were on the elevator. [Megatron: tracking systems.]

O: Yeah... maybe. [Soundwave: Fortified Autobot position located]

C: He just didn't know. [Soundwave: straight ahead.]

[Soundwave: Jamming Autobot scanners now.]

O: Ugh, all of my options are terrible! [Soundwave: Our approach should be undetected.]

O: I- I just want my sniper rifle back guys, I just- I just need my sniper rifle. C: [laughs]

O: I don't know what to do with myself without it. [Megatron: They must be coordinating with Omega Supreme,]

O: I don't remember what this is, but I guess I'll try it... [Megatron: trying to locate us.  Well, we'll give them what]

S: It's a mini gun, so it's prob- more like a gatling gun I think? [Megatron: they want... along with a painful death!]

O: Ah.

O: I love that Soundwave is like, motioning me forward.

O: I don't know why, it makes me laugh. [Megatron: Megatron has arrived!]

[Autobot Grunt 1: What's going on!?! Autobot Grunt 2: Someone's breaking in!]

[Autobot Grunt 2: Assume defensive positions!]

C: Ah, here we go- a true fire fight!

O: It's very much the spray and pray sort of... thing.

C: So it's a Specs' gun.

S: Ehhhhhhhhh....

C: [laughs]

S: ...yeah, I guess.

C: Hey, there's nothing wrong with spray and pray!

S: Yes, but the problem is I'm just- I am not good at first- I'm not good at shooting games.

[Breakdown: Now you're talkin'!  Weapons ready!]

C: Eh, it can take some practice.

[Autobot Grunt: Weapons overheating!] S: Yeah, I don't know and I just-

C: [incoherent] frustrating things.

S: Yeah, I don't play uh, honestly, games consistently enough... to get better at it- better at them so it's...

[Megatron: Excellent work, Soundwave now unlock the exit door.]

O: Hmph, what'd you say honey?  Soundwave still being the brains of the operation?

C: I mean, generally speaking he is.

C: In G1, uh, he certainly seemed to be the guy with all the plans. S: Yeah.

C: Although his- let's be real- Soundwave- early, early days

C: of Soundwave he needed to work on his operation names. [Breakdown: These guys don't know when to quit, do they?]

[Megatron: Smash through them!] O: [laughs] Yeah...

C: It was like- it was like, "Operation: Make a Tidal Wave." [laughs] O: Yeah.

C: "Operation-

O: -Destruction. C: "Open the Door".

S: "Operation: Ground Pound." C: Yeah! [laughs]

S: Though that may be a song name.

O: I don't think he ever actually did that one, but- but the problem is- that doesn't sound like one he *wouldn't* do?

C: Right. S: It sounds like something that Rumble and Frenzy would be involved in.

C: [laughs] O: Oh, DEFINITELY!  As they are with most bad plans.

S: Yeah. C: Like, I would never want him to use code words, or attempt to use code words

C: because it would be like he'd code- he'd code word things the way that Megamind code words things.

O & S: [laugh]

O: Yes!  He absolutely would. C: He'd be like, "Code: I'm going to go make coffee."

O: [laughs] Yeah!

S: "Code: Spy Mission." C: "Code: The Autobots will never suspect I'm sneaking up on them."

O: "The Autobots will never suspect I am in Ironhide's backseat."

C: [laughs]

O: You think I'm kidding. C: Well, to be fair though, they wouldn't!  Even if they heard him say it.

C: The Autobots, are completely inept. O: Dude, they- they saw him

O: and they didn't do anything!  I think that's the one that really kills me, is I'm like

O: that is clearly Soundwave!  And no one is doing anything about him being RIGHT THERE!

O: It hurts my brain, okay! S: Yeah...

C: Yeah, I think the episode you guys just uh, did that I edited- 33 Berserk or something?

O: Auto Berserk. C: I'm pretty sure Soundwave...

S: Yeah, that's the one where Soundwave was in um, the back of Ironhide's-

O: No it wasn't. S: No?

O: Uh, the one he just did, the one we released today was the one where it was the military guys because

O: they were trying- because the Cons were trying to uh, uh, steal that 'thing' the Autobots had come up with.

C: The Negaverse!

O: The Negavator or whatever. S: That is Auto Berserk.

O: Yes, but- but he's not in the backseat of Iron- he's not in Ironhide.  He's just outside and one of the military guys says, "Don't forget your tape deck."

S: Oh. O: Yeah.

C: [laughs] Oh right, that tape deck I never had. O: Yeah!  Yeah!

C: Specs, don't you also just walk around and be like, "Oh, that tape deck I never had."

O: Are- are there just... orphan tape decks must just be a problem in uh... [Soundwave: Megatron, the Autobot security systems are counter the effect of]

[Soundwave: Dark Energon.]

[Megatron: A futile gesture.] S: A very expen-

[Megatron: Decepticons!  Destroy the sentries!] O: In universe because like, he's- so many people take Soundwave home.

S: A very expensive problem.  They're obviously- obviously the reason people take him is because it's like,

S: "Ooh, fancy tape deck I don't have to buy something now for like fifty dollars." [Breakdown: Watch out!  Omega's mining the road ahead!]

O: Yeah. S: Or more.

O: Much more expensive at the time.

C: Yeah, that's a good point.  It'd be kind of more like finding a laptop- a laptop or a cell phone these days.

C & O: Yeah. S: Cuz-

O: Bigger than that.  I think like, 128 or something.  Something fairly large.

S: Yeah, I mean, he's basically engaging in passive social engineering. [Breakdown: HahaHAA!  Did you see me back there?]

C: [laughs] Wait, what? [Breakdown: Omega couldn't touch me!]

S: When Soundwave is just hanging out as a tape deck [Soundwave: Megatron -- scanners indicate a bridge nearby.]

S: waiting for people to pick him up he's engaging in passive social engineering.  [Soundwave: Crossing there will give us access to a second elevator.]

S: Basically, it's his method of infiltration. [Breakdown: Another elevator?]

C: Okay. S: He does it in the comics.

O: A lot.

[Breakdown: I don't know... the last one didn't work out so well.] S: Like he literally- yeah.

[Megatron: Do not test me, Breakdown.  My patience is a critical low.] S: He hangs out in, um...

O: [laughs] I'm using that at some point, "My patience is at a critical low!" C & S: [laugh]

[Megatron: This will channel my rage!]

S: Soundwave hangs out in at least one parking lot and military contractors decide to pick him up,

S: take him into their secure military base, and then put him in uh, their locker. C: I got it.

S:  And then he transforms and basically goes ham on the military base.

C: Owls finally has her sniper gun. O: It's not the good one.  I want the Null Ray!

C: We can't all have the Null Ray.

[Breakdown: We're pinned down!] O: Yeah, and Starscream has clearly

O: taken his back and is now pretending he doesn't hear me. [laughs] [Megatron: Starscream, do you read me?]

S: [laughs] Yeah. [Starscream: Megatron?  You're alive?]

C: He sounds... disappointed. [Megatron: Spare me your theatrics!]

O: [laughs] [Megatron: I need immediate air support!  Attack Omega Supreme!]

O: "Spare me your theatrics!"

C: Ouch. [Omega: New targets: Acquired.]

C: Wait, Omega Supreme FLIES!? [Omega: Initiating: Pursuit.]

O: YES!  That's why knocking him off  S: Yeah.

O: the bridge was so wildly ineffective! [Megatron: There, Omega Supreme is distracted!]

C: Oh, right, right.

[Megatron: Attack the Autobots!] S: I mean, he basically turns into a spaceship.

C: Yeah!

S: Though don't ask me how he works because like, bits of him detach in G1.

S: And I'm not familiar enough with this um, version to uh... [Megatron: Target the repair sentries, or we'll never destroy these Autobots!]

C: Yeah.

O: Oh fuck. [laughs]

S: Oh. C: Oh no!

O: Well, something was shooting me.

O: Again the whole, 'I can't see my own health when I am uh- [Soundwave: Megatron -- scanners indicate a bridge nearby.]

C: Yeah. [Soundwave: Crossing there]

O: Yeah, not- not great. [Soundwave: will give us access to a second elevator.]

O: Are you a Null Ray now?  No?  No.  I can dream. [Breakdown: Another elevator?  I don't know... the last one didn't work out so well.]

[Megatron: Do not test me, Breakdown.  My patience is at a critical low.]

C: That- S: Your patience is always at a critical low, Megatron.

C: [laughs] O: Okay, but also

O: Starscream is ignoring him and they're being chased by something the size of a size- a skyscraper for THEM.

C: Oh yeah, that's a good point  O: Okay, maybe not a skyscraper, but HUGE all right, he's huge!

S: Yeah. [Breakdown: We're pinned down!]

C: So if it's the size of a skyscraper for them, what would that be like for us? [Megatron: Starscream, do you read me?]

S: Umm... O: Oh god, so big.

C: Like, a mountain?

S: Mmm, maybe... I don't know. C: It's hard to put into perspective in your mind.

S: Five or six empire state buildings stacked on top of each other? C & O: [laugh]

O: Wow that is- C: What's bigger than a skyscraper?  Five skyscrapers!

A: [laugh] S: I don't know.  What's the tallest building in the world?  Let's go with like, five of that.

C: [laughs]

C: I- I don't actually know what the tallest building the world is.

C: Is it- is the Eiffel tower- O: I think- is it in Dubai?

O: I want to say it's in Dubai. S: Yeah, I think there's one- I think it's in Dubai, but I don't know what it called.

C: Gotcha. O: Are all the heal things dead now!?

S: Oh, I don't really see anything uh, hitting him that could heal him.

C: Wow, those guys are just uh, bullet sponges. S: Yeah.

C: Wait!  What?  You have something with a scope that's automatic? S: Oh, I guess that is-

O: Yeah, I don't like this one very well.  It's my least favorite scoped weapon.

C: I'm sorry Specs wha- uh what were you saying?

S: Yeah, it did look like there was a healing thing. [Megatron: [laughs manically] For glory!]

O: This is I think, Bumblebee's default weapon? C: So what is that, like an assault rifle?

S: Oh. C: Oh, it's Bumblebee's default?

O: Yeah, one of his, that's why I end up using Bumblebee in the Autobot campaign. C: Gotcha.

O: Because I don't like this one, but it's better than a lot of the other defaults. C: It's better than nothing.

O: Yeah, it's better than no scope. C: Ha!  No scope!

C: Sorry, uh... you know the whole nose- no scope 360? O: Oh my god, you stupid Autobot!

C: Oh great, he's taunting you. S: He's just dancing.

O: [laughs] I'm just like, he is just is constantly going back and forth- the frick!?!

S: Oh, it's crotch shot time. O: Aim for the crotch!  Aim for the crotch!

C: [laughs] I love it because this whole fight started out with you unloading like, the- an entire clip of a minigun into him.

C: And then you were like, "Okay, all these other guys are more important," and he's just been down there like, "Umm... what do I do?"

S: The thing is, that's not a Omega Supreme.  That's one of the people that he deployed.

C: Yeah.

C: It's just a... a bigger guy but not as big as Supreme. S: Yeah.

S: Like, I think in

S: Cyberverse that might be what Astrotrain's size is supposed to be, but I'm not sure O: Damn.

S: because I haven't gotten to that point yet.  C: I love the name 'Astrotrain,' I don't even know why. 

S: He's a train that's also a spaceship what's not to love? C: Yeah!

O: I just find it funny that you're like, all of your favorite ones are bugs. C: Oh yeah, no, Astrotrain's got nothing on the Insecticons.

O: Or Inferno? C: Oh, and none of the other Insecticons have anything on Inferno.

C: Inferno is the- is the cream of the crop.

O: Great, I'm like, completely out of ammo.

C: "Pain is my friend!"  He's the best.

S: Well, that guy's down. C: Oh wow.

O: Well, I think Soundwave or Breakdown did me a solid.

O: ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?! C: [laughs]

O: [laughs] Okay, I don't care.  I don't care.  I really don't care.  I'm just happy I've got my Null Ray back.

C: "Oh hey, did you know there's a Null Ray over there?"

S: [laughs] O: Yeah, you know what?  Knockout- not Knockout- goddammit.

O: Breakdown saw it, didn't say a damn word.  Because it didn't register it being important because he- he's kind of a dumbass here, not gonna lie.

S: Well, I think most of the Stunticons are generally considered to be not uh...

S: Not the brightest. O: I've got Null Rays for days, guys.  That one's also a Null Ray! [laughs]

C: Oh my goodness. S: Nice.

O: [laughs] I'm just glad I got 'em.  It's- it's really funny

C: Yeah, Breakdown kind of comes off as the [Megatron: I shall lead the way!]

C: whiny little brother who is gonna talk like they

C: can do everything without your help and then the moment they run into the most minimal of

C: obstacles they whine and cry because they can't get through it until you help them.

[Megatron: Bow in the presence of Megatron!]

O: Seriously, there was a 5x scope but no, I had to pick up that other one.

O: Okay guys, where are you?

[Autobot Grunt: Decepticons, ahead!] S: Over there, I guess.

S: Oh.

C: What do we call those ones? O: I don't know.

C: Halo boys?  Uh... bishop boys? O: Maybe, maybe,

O: I'm gonna need something to call them in the transcript that works as well as anything else.

[Megatron: Move quickly!  The bridge terminal is just ahead!] C: They have little like, rings over their head.

O: Yeah- S: For some reason...

S: Yeah, I don't know they kind of remind me of Brawn [Breakdown: There's Omega again!]

S: a little bit but I don't have a good reason for that. [Breakdown: He's getting ahead of us!]

O: It's the kind of bulky shoulders, maybe?

[Breakdown: Omega found us again!  We can't go that way... what do we do now?!?] C: I feel like this walkway would just be a nice place to casually still stroll through

C: during a non-war scenario. [Soundwave: Mapping alternate route now.]

S: Yeah. [Megatron: Let's get off this road and out of the open.]

[Megatron: We will find another way!] C: The glass window was nice.

S: I mean, honestly, we never see anything that even looks- [Breakdown: A dead end!  Megatron, we're trapped!]

[Megatron: Soundwave!  You led us to this place.  What is your explanation?] S: I mean, I know this is probably supposed to be a military facility

[Soundwave: Scans reveal poor structural integrity]

C: But we never see anything like a- a storage room [Soundwave: surrounding this maintenance access door.]

C: or a- or a break area or something like that. [Soundwave: Megatron -- these are Iacon power maintenance tunnels.]

S: Yeah.  Storage room, break areas um, um, barracks? [Soundwave:  Moving through them will lead to the bridge terminal.]

O: A normal office?  You- you know that- that people have to be office workers here or something. 

S: Yeah, or even like a commissary.  Well, I mean I guess technically that would be the

S: energon or like a med bay or even any place to- where you'd go and like... 

S: get entertainment. C & O: Yeah.

S: Or refreshments or- C: Or you know-

S: There's still going to be some sort of store, effectively.  At least I'd assume so. C: Wha- what is it called?  An energon bed?

S: Uh... C: [laughs]

O: I don't think the beds actually have names, you know? C: The- the nap in a bottle?

S: Recharge slab? O: Yeah!  Those.  I'm just dumb don't listen to me.

C: Recharge slab?  Sounds terrifying.

S: I don't know, there's a bunch of different- O: "YOU MUST RECHARGE IN YOUR SLAB!"

S: Uh, berth?  I could never- there's a bunch of different names.  I don't actually remember what the...

S: I think they're circuit slabs in IDW. O: Oh.

S: IDW 1, um...

O: Yeah, you know cause there's two,

O: you know, just to make that more confusing for people. [Breakdown: Oh no, you're not messing up this face!]

C: [laughs] For the non-initiated like myself.

[Autobot Grunt: Nooooooo!]

O: Pft, I'm sorry that is still the dumbest death noise! C: That was like an action movie shot  

C: too.  You like, shot him and he flew off into the lava... or well, the edge or whatever. O: HA!

S: I mean honestly- O: Sorry-

O: it wasn't red so he wasn't sure he could hit him.  So it always brings me great joy when I can hit them. [laughs]

S: Mm.

S: Like, if one of these areas was...

S: like, if you were getting something from something- er, place that was you know, like

S: not a military facility but was more of a public area?  Like, you never se- I don't- for some reason I just  

S: anticipate seeing something that would be more like a shopping area or something and  

S: I don't think they do that. O: Yeah.

C: Yeah. O: Well and like, I guess the the most like,

O: room that didn't seem war oriented that we've seen yet has really been the room with all the moons in the last chapter?

C: Oh, yeah. S: Yeah.

C: I mean... I don't have a perfect recollection of it but didn't-

C: didn't number two [Fall of Cybertron] change up the locales a little bit? [Breakdown: Look out!  Sentries above us!]

O: A little bit.  Like, you're in this like- you're in some ancient  

O: ruins and a few other things.  Which is pretty neat! C: Yeah, cuz I think- didn't you go to a museum at some point?

O: Ah, it wasn't a museum but I know where you're talking about S: Uh-

O: and why you thought it was a museum. [Soundwave: Caution:]

[Soundwave: any contact with the energy beams will cause severe] C: "You belong in a museum!"

[Soundwave: systems damage. Autobot Grunt: [screams]]

C: Oh geez!  That guy got vaporized! [Breakdown: You want us to go through that power conduit?]

[Breakdown: No way!  The Energon flow is off the charts we'll be fried! Megatron: Get moving, Breakdown!]

C: [laughs] O: I- I'm good with waiting until like, after it goes again.

O: I mean, like, I know what I just said but I'm not a complete idiot .

O: Because I'm pretty sure it goes every couple of minutes, yeah.  Or- er, seconds, whatever.

C: Well, actually that was a couple astro-minutes! O: Oh no- no, no, no.

S: [laughs] C: Depending on the fact-

O: No-no-no-no-no. [laughs] C: [laughs]

S: Okay, time to jet! C: Oh, that is not good!

C: Three, two one- [laughs] O: Oh, come on, move!

O: Not what I meant to do!

C: I'm not entirely convinced that your allies made it through. S: Yeah... yeah.

O: Oh god- stop shooting at me! C: Oh no!

O: There we go!

O: Oh thank you sweet health. S: I kinda want cake.

O: Cake? C: [laughs] You're in the middle of a Cybertronian war and

C: the first thing you think of is cake. S: [laughs]

C: Or not the first thing but... [Breakdown: Move out of the tube or you'll get fried!]

C: Oh no! O: SHIT!!!  I messed up!  I have made a mistake. [laughs]

C: Oh, I thought you're gonna live. O: I thought I just watched it go!  I think this one you have to let it  

O: go twice though or something.  Oh, Soundwave you're beautiful if- if I had a kiss button I would use it.

S: [laughs] O: [laughs] Mwah!

S: Press 'G'- uh, press 'K' for kiss?

O: That sounds like a Tina... a Tina thing. (From Bob's Burgers.)

S: Press- press- C: Press uh, press 'B' to show platontic affection.

O: Oh, that's why, it's right here, sorry. S: Press 'F' to pay respects.

C & S: [laugh]

O: I think it's more like, you know, press 'A' to- to tell Soundwave he's the best subordinate ever.

C: That's- that's an Owls mod that's-

O: Yeah, it definitely is. C: That's only a feature of the game after Owls modes the game.

O: Yeah... What- what am I doing?  Where's the button.  There's the button!

C: Specs, wasn't here to push the button. O: Yeah, yeah I'm not used to it, alright?

O: Oh no!

[Soundwave: Tube temperature will soon be fatal.] C: Wow, they really make you move fast.

O:  Ahahaha!  I did it!  Like, it was you know, *so amazing.* [Soundwave: The bridge is just ahead.  It may be necessary to extend the tube by]

[Soundwave: accessing the bridge controls.]

[Breakdown: I don't like it, Megatron.  It's too quiet.] O: Thank you, Soundwave.  Shut up Knockout [Breakdown].

[Megatron: And yet still preferable to your incessant chatter.] O: [laughs]

[Megatron: Now get to those controls!] C: Yikes!

O: He didn't say that to Soundwave, he just said it to Breakdown.  And I called him

O: Knockout again, I'm sorry.  You know who I mean. [Breakdown: Did you see that?  Those Autobots were CLOAKED!]

O: Oh, that's why I can't see them.

C: That's the invisible ones, huh?  I really did not like fighting these guys.

O: Me neither.

O: There always- there always feels like there's SO many of them!

S: Yeah, and I mean, oft- there have to be barracks or something considering how many...

S: Just how many Autobots there are. O: Yeah.

C: You'd think. O: Something.

O: Okay, is there health over here?  Because I'm needing it!

C: Oh wow. O: Thank you!

C: Kind of amazed you lived through that. O: Me too!

[Megatron: My rule is destruction!]

C: So, I've been trying to keep an eye out for it while Owls has been playing but  

C: Specs, have you seen any of the uh, Autobot symbols? O: Oh, I shot one earlier! [laughs]

C: Oh, did I miss it? S: Yeah, there was one a- a few minutes ago.

C: Dwah! S: Then there's one there.

O: Oh!  Well, that's not the one you shoot. S: Ah.

O: Or are you talking about something else?

S: Sorry, I was thinking about the doors.  Oh, EMP mine. C: Reboot!  404 blue screen.

O: [laughs]

O: The uh, image of an Autobot bluescreening is really funny to me right now.

S: Well... you know Swindle would blue screen if someone suggested you give them something for free unless  

S: it was Megatron in which case, Swindle would have- O: "Yes, sir!  Please take it, please take it, sir.  I don't need it anyway!"

S: "I got it for you, sir!  As a present!" O: Something like that.

C: The only thing that Swindle would give someone for free is an IOU. S: [laughs]

[Megatron: Activate the bridge!] S: Yeah.

O: Only after we find ammo ya dumbshit! C: [laughs]

O: This is how I would actually die, is calling Megatron a dumbshit. [laughs]

O: Okay, you're still not ammo.  But maybe if you're something you'll give me some ammo?  No, I'm good.

C: Love that name 'Scrapmaker.' O: Yeah, it's a pretty- it's pretty good name because  

O: it's like the Cybertronian equivalent of the 'Widowmaker'.

S: Yeah.... C: Right.

S: Or corpse maker. O: Yeah.

C: Oh, Megatron is uh- O: What do they have to do?  Like, reach into your brain to activate that, or what?

C & O: [laugh]

S: You might have to like, do an uplink to it, I don't know. [Soundwave: The bridge is extended.]

[Soundwave: We now have access to the other side.] C: Oh, I guess that makes sense.

[Megatron: Finally.]

[Megatron: Decepticons -- move quickly.] S: They're robots.

C: Yeah. [Megatron: We must reach those guns!]

C: Maybe it'd be the equivalent of like, a- well, no it wouldn't be quite the equivalent of a retina scan because retina scan is biotic to machine.

C: We don't really do anything that's biotic to biotic.

[Breakdown: At least get me out of the blast range!]

[Breakdown: There's Omega Supreme!  Watch out... Megatron: Faster, Decepticons!]

O: You're the slowest one here, buddy. C: [laughs]

O: I'm sorry but ya are!

[Breakdown: Heads up!  More mines!] C: Who keeps putting these things in here?

S: The Autobots?

[Breakdown: Is Omega still out there?  Did we lose him?] O: How- how do you think they control speed?

O: Like, these are speed traps, baby! C: [laughs]

S: They're kind of shitty speed traps.

[Breakdown: Guess not.] O: Well, I mean, you would pay attention to the speed limit.  If you didn't would explode.

C: [laughs] S: Okay, that's not so much a shitty one.

C: I mean that's a good point I'd have to imagine that people would [Breakdown:  We're not going to make it!]

C: be more willing to follow the speed limit if the other result was DEATH. [Megatron: You WILL reach the other side, or I'll have your head!]

C: I think Owls thinks the objective is to run into as many of them as she can. O: "We will reach the other side or I will kill you!"

O: I don't remember if this was the right thing to do! [laughs] C: Oh god.

S: Looked like, yes! O: Apparently, it was.

C: When in doubt.

O: When in doubt, just keep fucking going! [Breakdown: We made it!  I can't believe it!  WE MADE IT!]

C: [laughs] [Megatron: Yes, Breakdown

[Megatron: your constant whining saw us through.] C: Who do you have a picture up on your wall?

C: Right next to you.  Right now.

[Soundwave: Megatron -- the second cargo elevator is nearby.] C: Of- of the the robot that says, "Just get it done!"

[Soundwave: It will take us directly to the heavy ion turrets.] O: [laughs] It doesn't say, "Just get it-"

S: Ultra Magnus? O: Yeah

O: I've got a picture of Ultra Magnus and Minimus. [Megatron: Perfect.  We shall ascend, and Omega Supreme will follow...

[Megatron: to his destruction.] C: It- it sounds like, it's that- in line with that.

C: When in doubt, get it fucking done! O: [laughs] I mean...

O: Kind of... maybe?

[Autobots: [Growling noises]]

O: Is this more invisible fuckers? [Megatron: More cloaked Autobots!]

O: GOD DAMN IT. [Megatron: Destroy them!]

S: Yeah... [Megatron: Shoot anything that moves!]

C: [laughs]

O: Yeah, I could be done with these!  You guys can take care of them, I don't care anymore!

O: And I'm legitimately curious what's over here but...

[Soundwave: Autobot cloakers.]

S: Unfortunately, there is no cake.

[Megatron: All Autobots shall perish!]

C: Oh no, no cake.

O: "Megatron wants MEGA CAKE!" S: [laughs]

C: You know for being invisible they aren't terribly crafty. S: Mmm.

O: Yeah, I know, right?  Like, you would probably want to utilize different strategy than this.

C: "We're invisible!  Let's charge right at them!"

C: They were just putting on a concert!  That's the stage! O: No, no

C: Didn't you see that one dancing? O: it's a service elevator.

C: Wow that one died really quickly.

[Megatron: Autobot weaklings.  Onward, to the lift!] O: I hit it with the- I hit it with a mace.

O: I'm good.

O: So many elevators!

O: Why are there so many elevators!? C: Well, like Specs said-

C: Like Specs said, gotta reuse those assets!

O: [laughs] S: Yeah...

[Soundwave: Megatron -- I detect numerous Decepticon and Autobot signals a few dozen meters above us.]

[Soundwave: We are nearing the surface battle.]

[Megatron: Starscream!  Status report!] S: A few dozen meters...

[Starscream (COM): The Autobots are counter-attacking!]

[Starscream (COM): Retreat!  Decepticons, retreat!] S: And how tall are they?  How many meters tall are they?

C: [laughs] [Megatron: BELAY THAT ORDER!]

O: They're space meters, Specs. [Megatron: Decepticons, this is MEGATRON!]

C: [laughs] [Megatron: Anyone caught fleeing this battle will be]

S: Space meters! [Megatron: marked on sight!]

C & O: [laugh] [Megatron: Press your attack IMMEDIATELY!]

O: Goddamit, Megatron! [Starscream (COM): Attack?  But Megatron -] 

[Megatron: Especially you, Starscream!]

[Megatron: I order you to continue the assault!  Megatron out!] O: [laughs]

C: "Especially YOU, Starscream!"

O: "You pissed me off by ignoring me, asshole!"

[Megatron: We've reached the ion turrets.  Now-- let Omega Supreme come!]

[Autobot: Target the Seekers!  Get those Decepticons out of the sky!]

[Breakdown: Looks like the Autobots are still using these guns, Megatron.  Our Seekers are getting shredded.]

C: [laughs] Oh dear. [Megatron: Blast the Autobots and take those guns!]

C: So Specs, if there was going to be a commissary,

C: would it be in one of these buildings out here? [Megatron: Decepticons, follow me!]

S: Um, maybe?

S: There's an awful lot of like uh, weapons and placements for a commissary.

C: That's true.  I've always wondered why these weapons are here?

C: Like, I suppose- O: Maybe they were installed later, like after the war started?

C: That would make sense. S: Maybe?  It's just the thing is like,

S: it's a good 'dungeon' effectively, but I'm not sure what the point of any of these are because  

S: there aren't any offices right or anything. C: Right.

C: I mean maybe- maybe that is the answer is

C: that these locations have been just converted into a war zone.

C: Although, I do feel like it's a missed opportunity.  I think it would be pretty cool if you like, had

C: to fight in a library or something. You could even throw a O: The archives.

C: Right- right- right. O: I think you actually go into the archives in the Autobot level if that makes you feel any better?

C: Oh, okay.  Yeah, a little bit.

S: Yeah, that's interesting.  I didn't know that.

O: I might be misremembering, but I'm pretty sure that's where you fight Soundwave and his gremlins.  [NOPE.  I'm very wrong, I'm thinking of the prison level. ~O]

C: Gremlins?

S: Uh, Rumble and Frenzy, I think? O: Yes!

C: [laughs] O: They are TINY!  They're like half your height and like

O: you have to attack them. C: And you don't want to feed them after midnight.

O: Yes!  Well, I- C: You don't want to feed them Energon after midnight.

O: Uh, mistake!

O: Fuck you, whoever's shooting at me.

C: Like, uh, Ravage, Buzzsaw-

O: Say that again?  You cut out. C: Oh, I'm sorry.  Uh, so they- what are they called, minicons?

O: They're- well, minicons, the cassettes, either. S: Yeah. 

C: So out of- out of the ones that we know of, which one would be Gizmo?

S: Gizmo? O: Uh, from Gremlins.

S: Oh.

C: Oh, sorry- O: I- I don't think any of them are, sweetie.

C: Fair enough. O: [laughs] They're all just little- little gremlins.

O: Oh my god, I hate you ALL.

C: There's quite a lot of fire going on right now. S: Yeah.

S: I mean heck the way this is outside this looks like it could be

S: say, an outdoor shopping arcade or something, maybe.  Which...

O: Well, that works. [Megatron: Suitable for one such as Megatron!]

S: Makes me wonder like, whether the um...

S: say the medical packets, would be something like, whatever Energon goodies would be.

C: Yeah. O: Maybe?

[Soundwave: Megatron-- analysis indicates the firepower of those turrets is sufficient to damage Omega Supreme.]

[Breakdown: Speaking of Omega Supreme...] C: Well, Specs did say that the Nucleon

C: stuff was crazy powerful, so that kind of makes sense. [Megatron: Precisely as I had planned.  Decepticons!]

S: Yeah. [Megatron: Man the turrets, and blast that obsolete hulk out of the sky!]

S: Like, Nucleon was kind of the original Dark Energon [Omega: Targets: re-acquired.  Attack: commencing.]

S: plot wise for G1. [Omega: Decepticons: prepare for destruction.]

C: Okay. O: Oh god!  Why- why can he blast through the wall? 

O: Why-why can he pass through the wall guys!?! C: He has no clip turned on.

S: [laughs] O: That- that is cheating. 

C: [laughs]

C: You expect Megatron Supre- er, Omega Supreme to play fair!?!  I can't- O: Yes!  You're a goddamn Autobot.

[Megatron: Decepticons!  Repair your leader at once! Omega: Rockets: Activated.]

O: Yeah, Soundwave buddy, where are you!?

[Soundwave: That was extremely inefficient.]

[Soundwave: You must commence repairs on me at once.]

O: Soundwave, heal me!

[Megatron: Yes, this is a true instrument of destruction!]

O: Oh god. C: He's too excited about that turret.

O: Well, I'm gonna die so what's- what's Soundwave gonna do then? [Megatron: Attack, Decepticons!]

[Megatron: We defeat Omega Supreme here or we die trying!] C: Uh... stab Dark Energon into you in the hopes that it resurrects you?

O: I mean, I suppose that's still a better option than what Starscream did, sure.

S: Yeah.

O: Seriously, ahaha, sweet god- health!

C: So here's a thought, where is Starscream during all this?

O: Uh, up in the air fighting or he ran away [Megatron: Homing rockets!  Take cover!]

O: uh, because he didn't want to die.  One of those two.

O: I think there were other guns, I should probably get up there and use those, huh?

O: Hmmm, this is too high.

[Soundwave: According to my calculations, our chances of defeating Omega Supreme are... very low.]

C: Oh, you're dealing damage now.

O: Oh, dammit- I keep using the wrong button!

C: Mm, now you're mobile. O: I'm using a controller not a keyboard so

O; those buttons aren't the actual buttons for me.

C: Yeah.

[Megatron: Decepticons!  Omega Supreme has deployed Aerialbots!] C: So, on a normal day what would uh,

[Megatron: Shoot them down!] C: what would Omega Supreme's functions be?

O: Well, he protected the Crystal City in the original G1. S: Yeah.

S: Like, um, he was a guardian robot? [Breakdown: Are we making any progress at all here?  I can't tell!]

O: Yeah, like, they would protect uh, cities.

S: Yeah, in Animated they were made specifically, I think, for fighting the Decepticons.  Um...

O: Yeah, they definitely were.

S: And they weren't especially- I don't think they were supposed to be esp-

S: particularly smart, but I don't it's been a while- O: They were basically *only* weapons

S: Yeah. C: Gotcha.

[Omega: Target: re-acquired.  Weapons: engaging.]

O: But yeah, in G1, Omega Supreme was the protector of a city, essentially. S: Yeah.

S: And uh, that's uh, the Constructi- O: That frequently is his function.

S: Yeah.

O: And I believe it was in the IDW comics as well? [Megatron: Omega Supreme's main weapon batteries are charging!]

[Megatron: Prepare for evasive action!]

S: I... think so too, but I don't actually remember.  O: Yes!  I hit the right button!

[Soundwave: I continue to require maintenance.]

C: It's kind of a neat idea. Just that uh,

C: you have these robots which are already big, and even though they're larger than life

C: compared to us they themselves uh, utilize- O: Live in a world where they can be significantly smaller than...

O: than like, the other things around them. C: Right, they build their own versions of what are essentially our fantasy golems

C: to protect them.

[Autobot: AHHHHHHHHH!]

C: There's your death cry, Owls. O: Yeah, there it is again.

O: I'm gonna be not very nice.  I think his spaceship form is kind of dumb? [laughs]

[Megatron: Your power is failing, Omega.  Soon you shall bend to my will!] C: it kind of looks like a giant eyeball that's just floating out in space.

O: Yeah, yeah, like, it's not... it's not great, alright?

C: I know they wanted to make this a fancy boss fight and everything but like, [Soundwave: Warning!  Sensors indicate Omega Supreme]

[Soundwave: is powering up his primary beam weapon!] C: I kind of feel like it would make more- if he's gonna turn into like a flying thing  

C: it would make more sense if he turned into an aircraft.  Like a flying aircraft carrier?

S: Uh, he kinda is? O: Yeah-

C: Really?  Am I just not seeing it?

S: Well, he deployed all of those dudes. O: Yeah, he is deploying them.

C: Oh, he is?

C: Oh my goodness, you're right!  I just never even noticed! [Soundwave: Megatron -- sensors indicate Autobot fliers incoming.]

O: My name is Chezni, and I do not notice things. [laughs]

C: [sighs] I do tend to miss obvious things. [Soundwave: Scanners indicate Omega Supreme's power levels are dropping.]

[Soundwave: Omega Supreme approaches!]

O: Dead yet, Omega?

S: Uh, no. [Soundwave: Caution:

O: I know. [Soundwave: We are being tracked]

C: [laughs] [Soundwave: by multiple explosive projectiles.]

S: He's got... a shield. O: Yup.

O: Gonna wait for that to go away and for him to stop shooting missiles.

O: There we go.

[Breakdown: HAHAHAHA!  He's going down!  Eat THAT, rust-for-brains!]

C: Now that's just mean! [Megatron: Omega flees like a coward!  Now-- let's finish the job!]

O: You- you do know how many shots the guy took, right? C: [laughs]

O: I mean, he took a lot of shots there, buddy!

[Outro Music]

O: Join us next time for the last part of the Decepticon campaign- The Final Guardian.  Fitting name.  Uh, thanks for joining us, I'm Owls.

S: I'm Specs.

C: I'm Chezni.

O: Have a good day!

[Outro Music]

[thewestmeetingroom]

Planting Seeds

Broadcast Jan. 2, 2021

SPEAKERS

Braeden, Janine, Rebekah, Sabrina, Melissa

[Intro Music]

Braeden:  Hello and welcome to The West Meeting Room. We are broadcasting on CiUT 89.5 FM at Hart House where we are taking up space on Dish with One Spoon Territory. My name is Braeden, and I'll be hosting the show today. Welcome to 2021 everyone. I hope this finds you somewhere safe and taking good care. A few weeks ago, we had a virtual meeting with our team of co-producers for the show. And before the pandemic we used to meet up in the studio once a week for these really beautiful and open-hearted roundtable discussions. I've been missing deeply sharing that space with everyone in person this past year. So for our last gathering of the year, we created a virtual Roundtable. So for this first show of 2021, we'll be bringing you into our last conversation of 2020 in the West Meeting Room. So grab a cup of tea and come join us. Joining me in the studio - Do you want to introduce yourself?

Sabrina:  Hi. I'm Sabrina. I feel like I'm a tired voice. [laughs] You might have heard me a lot. But yeah, I'm Sabrina.

Rebekah:  I can go next. I'm Rebekah. I'm not as tired. But um, yeah, I'll probably take a nap after this.

Janine:  Hi, I'm Janine. I'm really tired, too, but on a sugar rush. So god helped me today. Thank you. (laughs)

Melissa:  Hi, I'm Melissa. I'm new to the party. So I am very excited to be here, but also very tired.

Braeden:  Well, thank you all, this tired bunch,  for joining me in our zoom studio today. Um, just wanted to, Yeah, just have some casual conversation to round out the year. But I guess, I did have in mind to maybe start with Sabrina because we were talking a bit about snail mail. And I know you put together a package of letters for your business. And I just wanted to ask like, Yeah, what were like - what sort of inspired that and what is maybe drawing you to like this slower form of connection and communication?

Sabrina:  Yeah, I feel like this is like a mix of business strategy and also like genuine inspiration. I created a product called Letters from the Tarot, which isn't super unique by any means. Like a lot of people do this in different iterations. But basically what that was, is like me going to my tarot cards and pulling just in general, like a general message, and then taking a picture of it in like a Polaroid style thing. So that that person had like a physical representation of the card, and then writing out their reading, like on proper letter paper, and like putting it in an envelope and making it like a super analog process. Because I usually do readings like online. One of the reasons for this is because the holiday seasons are coming up, and I wanted a physical product that would be like really good to put in some stocking stuffers. So that's like the business perspective. But also, I feel like there's a lot of screen fatigue going on. I was like really excited for the prospect of, there's like a restaurant down the street from where I live. And they're like, super, like spooky and like gamer-esque kind of thing. And I was like really excited to like proposition them over at Halloween and being like, I'd love to like sit in a corner booth in your restaurant and just like do live readings. And I'm like, I just get paid with tips and you can like bring people in or whatever. And then I can't do that because of  the pandemic and everything. So it's like, how can I reproduce that kind of physical experience and like bringing those messages that way. And it was really nice, because as we were discussing earlier, I'm notorious for over-committing myself, always. And as I was putting it together, I kind of, I got a wholesale order for them. So someone like bought a bunch of them to put in their store. And at that point, it was like at the point of no return I had to like buy all the materials and I was like, Hey, we're doing this. And midway through I was just like, this is too big like I can't do this. I've never done this before what if everything I do is gonna let this store down. I already bought all this stuff like this is terrible. I had like 18 assignments due and I was like freaking. And then I finally got to the point where I was just sitting down and like writing the letters. And it was like, super nice and meditative. And then I got like washi tape and  stickers and I like did them all up. And then I put them in the envelope. And then I did a wax seal, which is like  much easier than I thought it was going to be. So I learned a new skill and just going through all the process and like putting all the letters together, it was a great way to disconnect from my screen. It was a great way that I hope I can intuitively connect with just like people in the community in a way where they kind of have like a physical reminder of that reading. But also that like allows them to disconnect from their screens for a little bit as well. And maybe do some intuitive reflective work, just kind of like on their own with actual paper. And it was nice to write things. So yeah, that's kind of like the story of that. In a nutshell. I hope I answered your question.

Braeden:  Yeah, no, that's nice. It touched on it really beautifully. And yeah, you've got, you definitely inspired me to like, bust out the wax seal that's been in my drawer that I just like impulse bought at like a stationery store, and then never did anything with. So I think this is the season for snail mail. And that's why, yeah, I really wanted to connect with you about that.

Sabrina:  Oh, another point real quick, too, was that the other inspiration for this too, was with electronic readings, it's very much just me. But the sheer amount of supplies that I needed to do this required me to go out and buy things. And this was also an avenue for me to reinvest into the community. So all of my like materials are from, or not all of them completely all of them, but the majority of the materials, I made sure to look and try to source as much as I can from like local Toronto businesses. So most of my stationery stuff is from this place called Wonder Pens, which is like, in the West. And they're owned by the like this couple, who I believe are also people of colors, so I'm also trying to like uplift like BIPOC and other marginalized communities. And then I got like one of the cameras that I was using from this place called Henry's, which is like an independent photography shop in Toronto. So that was another thing too, was like a physical product means that I could get physical tools and buy them from other small businesses.

Braeden:  That's very cool. Thank you for sharing. Maybe in keeping with thinking about like analog and slowing down and time away from screens, and just sort of like, I don't know, connecting with tactile things in a meditative way - I think, Melissa, I'll toss it over to you. I noticed that there's a lot of foccacia popping up on your Instagram feed if you don't mind me sharing that? I wondered if you had any reflections on that that you could share with us?

Melissa:  Yeah, you would be right, we have been making like two foccacia a week, which is like not good, because that means we've also been eating two a week. And I mean it's, I guess it could be good or bad, depending on how you look at it. But yeah, I'm not sure if anybody is familiar with Claire Saffitz. She used to work at Bon Appetit. And now she's doing her own independent thing, which is awesome. But yeah, we took her focaccia recipe that she posted kind of as like the breakout on her YouTube channel. And we, my partner and I, aren't super big breadmakers, which actually thinking about that is a lie, because I do have a sourdough starter in my fridge. But yeah, we thought we'd give foccacia a shot, because in all honesty, I don't think I had  ever even eaten it before. So I was like, might as well just make it and try it all at once. And it is very therapeutic. In terms of slowing down, I mean, obviously, you do need to rely on the screen a little bit to like, watch the video and take your notes and stuff. But once you're there, it's a lot of waiting, which I'm not very good at. I'm not a super patient person. So I think that it's a good exercise for me to make things like bread where you are forced to wait. And, you know, if you don't wait and you get impatient, bad things can happen to your bread. So it's a really good exercise for me. And if you ever get a chance to make focaccia when you get to the dimpling part, where you have to like press down the dough, you will never feel anything like that in your life. It is amazing. And the better, like the more you  you let your dough proof and like the bigger it is. We also realized the first time we made it, we didn't put enough water. So the second time we made it, it was that much fluffier. And even that, like even if you don't eat bread, I would make the bread and dimple it so that you can feel it and then gift it to somebody because it's amazing. So yeah, that's kind of a way that we've been, I guess turning off and kind of spending some nice time together. Which is great. So yeah, we've been eating a lot of bread, you would be right in saying that my feed is all foccacia now.

Braeden:  No, it's wonderful. I really enjoyed it. So, yeah. What about you, Rebekah? Janine? Are there like some tactile analog screens-free activities that you're doing? Or maybe, or maybe thinking about doing in these coming weeks of hopefully getting some some rest and some time away from work?

Rebekah:  Yeah, absolutely. When you mentioned snail mail earlier, like with Sabrina, I was thinking like, over this entire summer, I actually also did a snail mail campaign where, because I was back home with my parents after having left Canada because the lockdown, I spent a lot of time like writing letters back and forth, like people I hadn't talked to in a really long time. I wrote letters to my cousins. I wrote letters to like classmates from like university and classmates from high school. And it was just like, really therapeutic. And that act of waiting. Like Melissa said, I'm not a very patient person. So that idea of like having to be patient for like the mail to be delivered. And then, you know, checking the mailbox every day thinking like, Oh, is it here? Like is the letter here? I don't know. I felt like SpongeBob in that moment, just like constantly waiting by the mailbox, just like for something to come. And then I also was staring at the stack of cards that I have sitting next to my computer on my desk that I bought on a whim because I was like, You know what, maybe we'll do like holiday gift - like holiday card ideas, like send out to friends and family. Um, haven't gotten around to that, because this semester has not permitted me to do so yet. But I think that that's something that I'm going to try to pick back up again. Because like Sabrina said, it's like really therapeutic for me to like, write to people, and then the idea of waiting. I just love getting something in the mailbox. Like, I think that's really fun. So, yeah, and another tactile thing. I'm just like constantly writing in my journal. Like, I always joke that like, my journal is going to be turned to a memoir one day. But like, I think I'm like actually serious about it. Now at this point, I'm not writing for other people still, but like, I'm very much thinking in that historian brain and like wanting to document like my life during this pandemic over the course of this year, because I've learned a lot about myself. I grew a lot, challenged myself a lot. And so I think it'll be a really cool way to like, look back, like during this time especially because this - time is fake - But like, especially looking back over this year, like, time has gone by so fast and so slow at the same time. Like February is right around the corner. And I'm thinking like the last time I went out and had fun was for my birthday, which was in February of last year. And that's like two months away. So not really sure what happened between now and then but it just keeps going by so I think a journal will be a really cool way to like, share that with my future family. You know, like you're learning about 2020 in school. Well, let me crack open a journal for you. And I'll tell you about what was actually happening. So yeah, that's kind of where I'm at.

Braeden:  Thank you for sharing. Janine, what about you?

Janine:  I feel like, during this time, I've gotten a lot more in touch with my creative side. Like the past month, I think I was super stressed. And one way that I kind of, like kind of took care of myself because I don't want to say self care. I want to just be like, Yeah, I was not doing well and it wasn't like a skincare routine. It was like, I felt like I was losing my voice for a bit because I was working like so hard on things to please other people that I kind of lost my creative voice a bit. And so I created this photo essay and I interviewed a lot of people around me about their experiences and about their lives about different themes. And that made me really happy. And I think that going back to my journalistic side, that's a lot more of just listening to people and talking about things in a more abstract way has made me feel more myself. So I want to do more of that. I want to explore, like photo essay type projects. Obviously podcasts, but even like just poetry. I feel like sometimes we work, work, work, work work, and we forget that our internal voice is still there. And I want to do projects that are true to myself as well. Because sometimes I get sucked into this idea that um you know, I have to be the perfect package of like a 4.0 student and a perfect daughter, a perfect sister, a perfect whatever. And I end up losing myself in the process. So doing projects like this really make me happy.

Braeden:  That's it. That's all my questions. [laughs]

Rebekah:  I was gonna say like, Braeden, what about you? Have you been linked in with any like tactile things?

Braeden:  I feel like I did kind of get into a flow with  cooking. I feel like the past couple weeks, there is something about like - I feel like it's so boring - but just like chopping vegetables. Like I can just turn my brain off. And not like, I mean - I'm sure all of you  wrestle with this - like work is showing up in your dreams and like, it just completely hijacks your brain space. And, and I find like when I'm cooking, it's just the smells and I'm chopping, you know, 1000 carrots. What's really nice, I think, that's helped me get into this ritual - I get a Good Food Box from Foodshare, which is a really amazing organization, every Thursday. And it's just like a signal to my brain  that I have to like - it kinda reminds me - I used to work, I've worked in a lot of restaurants as a cook. And, you know, you have your delivery days. And you just, like you just cook, or cut, chop, like 1000 things of everything. And so, yeah, every Thursday, I just  chop a ton of vegetables. And I can just -  it just feels like the only time that my brain shuts off from the things that I'm stressed about, or like my to do lists. And I'm just, I feel like fully present. And then I get a great nourishing meal out of it. So yeah, I feel like I'm actually also doing something nice for myself that is nourishing and generative. So yeah, that's been really nice. Thanks for asking.

Janine:  I love that you guys love doing things with your hands. And like, that's a form of therapy. For me, it's the opposite. Like I hate, like cutting things up for cooking and stuff like that. Like for me, I find a lot of comfort in stillness. And I feel like, granted I've burned down the kitchen once before or almost burnt down the kitchen trying to cook. So there's some bad experiences with that. But like, generally, I've just been having a lot of walks in trails and just forcing myself to, you know, just sit and journal and write or like, think of the first thing that pops into my mind. And I feel like, I don't know, I really love that you guys - like we each have different ways of expressing ourselves and different coping mechanisms. And I think, Melissa, it's funny that you mentioned foccacia, because I only learned about that yesterday. I didn't know what it was until yesterday. But my mom is also a bit big on making breads. I just for some reason, I am too scared to try it myself. I think if I tried it myself, it would go terribly bad.

Melissa:  You should definitely try it, I promise you, it will not go poorly. My only expert tip for you is don't forget the salt because I forgot the salt yesterday. And it does make a difference. But you should try it. It's really easy. And I can send you the video. And if it doesn't work out, then just slather some dip on it and dip it in balsamic vinegar. And it'll be fine. You can't mess it up, I promise.

Sabrina:  I think, too, there's like salience. And like, say your thing, like just try it. And like see, especially when it comes to bread. And I know especially in the everyone like being at home people are reconnecting to like growing plants. And like everyone's like baking bread and like doing these very kind of like slower tasks that take time. And I think something that I keep thinking about too is this post I saw an Instagram, which is not unique to that person, because I think it's just a general thing. But like "the day you plant the seed is not the day that you like harvest the fruit." And I think too, like we're talking about, like work showing up in our dreams and like having these expectations. And I think moving back to these things where it's like especially when it comes more to plants, I'm thinking more to plants, the philosophy like your breathing life into something that's like also its own thing. And sometimes things don't work out. And like that's okay. And even with bread, like honestly, sometimes the breads rising, and then it collapses. Like, it doesn't want to hold all that air in you know what I mean? L ike I don't - I mean I kind of subscribe to a form of animism. So I think there's life in all things. But I do think the life in bread is different than the life in like plants. But I think that's just like more of a testament to like, not everything can be controlled, or like confined into like a small test, test-case box. And sometimes things just kind of like, do run their course. And it's up to you to just kind of adapt and accept that and like wait and see how things crop up in time. I think there's virtue in that as well. Like learning to like live more slowly and like see what happens.

Rebekah:  Yeah, that's actually a really cool idea that like something that I've been trying to reflect more about recently is, you know, trying to like - this year has thrown so many curveballs in like many, like many ways than one and so the idea of like not really knowing what the final product will be like, and kind of like you said, Sabrina, like, you're planting seeds and like, you have to wait for them to grow and like see what kind of options and stuff kind of come out of that. And I'm in the process of like applying to different programs right now. And everyone's like, well, what's your number one choice? Like, where do you want to go? And I'm like, you know what, I'm just, I'm just planting seeds right now. Like, I'm just trying to, like, see and wait and not trying to get my hopes up too high. And just trying to like, become more comfortable with like, living in this ambiguous like, not being able to plan my life out for like, five or 10 years kind of thing. Um, over the summer, I actually like bought a stick and poke tattoo kit. As like a whim like, everyone's out here making foccacia or like making sourdough and was like, You know what, I'm gonna learn how to tattoo myself. So why not? Um, that was my quarantine project. And I did this one tattoo. It's like, what is it called, like a crystal ball. I tattooed it on my ankle. And I just really like the idea of a crystal ball. Because you're always trying to like, see into the future. Like, you're always trying to look and like, figure out what's coming next. And that was my entire shtick over the summer. I was like, what's coming next? When am I coming back to Toronto? What am I doing after this year? Like, how - what is life going to look like? And things were changing every two weeks. Like you couldn't really plan for it into the future. Like you had no idea what was going to happen next month. And even now my mom's like, when am I gonna see you? I'm like, You know what? I can only think till the end of December. I can't think past that right now. But yeah, looking at that crystal ball literally reminds me like, okay, you're always trying to look and see what's coming next. And like, of course, it's good to have a plan. I'm a planner. Like, it is what it is. But I'm just trying to like, remind myself like, it's fine. If you don't know exactly what's happening next. You are not supposed to that's like the really cool thing about like, this whole life thing or whatever. Yeah, I don't know, I think crystal balls are a really cool way to monument that and I got a really sick tattoo out of it. So yeah.

Janine:  I kind of feel the same way. Like, I feel like I've, I've always like, wanted to control everything in my life and wanted my plans to work out a certain way. And even though I'm really young, I still feel like, that's been a part of me, since I was really young. I've always kind of wanted to be an overachiever. Never really was, but always had that intention. And I feel like, as we're graduating next year, next semester, I feel this sense of like calmness knowing that I don't know what my next step is. And I like that. I like that, you know, I'm going  into this new chapter of my life, this new phase, where I'm not sure what's gonna come of it. But what I do know is I kind of - it's kind of cheesy - but I want to live a value-based life as opposed to like a goal-oriented life. And that doesn't mean that I don't have ambitions, but I am trying to focus more on the day to day values that I instill in my work and my friendships and my character, as opposed to like, you know, associating my worth with a certain career or a certain job, or, you know, whatever it is. I just, I'm kind of tired of like, putting my worth up against, like, my ambitions. And it's good to have a healthy balance with that. But right now, I want to take a break from that next year. And that's my, like, seed that I'm trying to grow next year. Yeah,

Sabrina:  I feel like what you're talking about when it comes to like, future planning is really salient. I was literally in my apartment yesterday talking to Max like, Okay, so we'll  graduate in June, and then we can like rent our new place, and we're going to foster dogs for a year and then we're gonna foster children. And I'm like, trying to figure out like my three year plan, because, you know, I came into it thinking that I was going to go to law school, which is not completely off the table, but I'm definitely not going to go right after graduation. And this is gonna be like, the first time in my life where like, I'm not - I'm like ending that - I'm ending a year, but I'm not knowing that I'm going to go into another year, you know what I mean? Like, I don't have that structure of school telling me like, where you're going to be and like, what you need to read and what you need to do, and it's a full time thing. And I was ready to like, until 24, just like have that structure. And then I got into this audio thing. And then I was like, I'm not gonna go through the torture that is professional school. Now it's like, literally, I turned to my partner and I was like, I just don't -  I'm, it's just hitting me that I need to figure out like, what am I going to do for the rest of the entirety of my life? Like starting in May, it's just going to be - like I'm not taking summer classes to get somewhere else. I'm not in pursuit of a degree or any sort of like outside metric of like something that like someone else deemed I need to get or like to get to something. I just can, I don't know, I can like move somewhere if I want to. I can like try buy a house. I can't buy a house. But like, theoretically, I could buy a house if I had the means, you know what I mean? Like, if we were in a different world, I could buy a van and like, go live in the woods somewhere. Like, I'm just like, freaking out. So yeah, I think I need to plant some seeds, but then like, let them grow. And stop trying to like envision what the life, what my life would be like having those fruits yet when I don't even know what seeds I'm planting.

Melissa:  I think that's such like, everybody's kind of echoed the same sentiments that like, you know, we all kind of have an idea. And then the pandemic had other ideas. And now nobody really knows what's happening. And obviously, nobody wants to be in a pandemic. But I think something that has come out of this is like, it's a very humbling experience for a lot of people. But I think especially for students, and especially for students who are, you know, like, everybody's kind of set already. Like, they have goals in mind. And they have a schedule, and they have a life plan and whatever. And the pandemic came around and was like, actually, none of that is on the table anymore. And, like, obviously, that's distressing. And a lot of people who have, you know, mental health issues are really struggling right now. And like there are a lot of negatives. But I think that the one thing that it's really teaching people is you, you can't know what's happening. And I think that that's okay. So yeah, I don't know. I feel like I also graduate this year from, in April, from grad school. Which is crazy. So we're not going to talk about that. But in general, like, there's just so much up in the air right now. And I think that, I don't know. I think that it's kind of healthy, especially for folks like myself who are really type A and really planners and organized and whatever. Like you don't know what's happening. And that's okay. And nobody else knows what's happening, either. So I think that it's been sort of, like the patience that is needed to make bread. I think that the patience that's needed now, too, is something that maybe nobody asked for, but maybe some people needed. I don't know. Yeah, I struggle a lot too with wondering what to do after because I haven't not been in school since I was like a kid. So I don't know, that's a lot of pressure. But I think that what you guys have said about like, just planting seeds where you can and figuring out which ones are going to grow and blossom and which ones aren't, like that's all right. And I think that's just part of the experience. So yeah, I don't know, just everything that you guys said was really nice. And I think that it's true that everybody has been forced to slow down, which has been tough, but I don't know, maybe unnecessary toughness for a lot of us. So it's gonna be interesting to see what happens when our seeds start to grow wherever we've planted them.

Janine:  And I don't know if you guys also feel this, but I have depended on other people's validation for a really long time with my work and what I want to do. And culturally, you just feel like, you know, it's a reflection of not just yourself, but your family, your parents. Like they've invested in you your whole life and stuff like that. So I I kind of had to let go of that pressure of I'm trying to impress other people, because I have to choose between, you know, being true to myself doing work I'm passionate about and being okay with uncertainty, and put other people's opinions of me aside and not give them the weight that they once had on the way I think of myself. And so, yeah, I just wanted to also add that.

Braeden:  Yeah, I'll jump in as, as someone who's sort of like on the other side of, of having gone through school, and then, you know, it feels like a long time since I was in school. But yeah, Janine I think that was like the biggest transition of - I remember, my first actually, my first job after school was cooking, was as a cook in a kitchen. And it was like, I had to retrain my brain. I didn't realize how institutionalized my brain had become where I would like, you know, I would like make something or prep something and be like, okay, but like, what's my grade on this? Like, how did I perform? Like, what's the bell curve on this like creme brulee I made? Like I was so desperate for this like feedback or like, you know, or how I'm doing or - and it was like it was a real, it kind of felt like a brick wall of a reality check of like, Oh, I actually need to source this from myself. And I can't just like move through the world trying to like mine this like performance based review from people, because that's not real life. Like it was, it was a really trying experience. Like going, getting out into the working world and also just as like, yeah, listening to all of you talk about like, what's next - like, I mean, you're just gonna live lifetimes. Like with each year that passes you're going to work so many jobs. You're going to go so many places. You're going to meet so many people that like before you know it, when you look back at the past couple years - when I look back at the past 5 years, 10 years, since I've been out of school, like I can't even list the number of different jobs I've worked in. It's just all just sort of snowballed one, one from the other. So yeah, I'm really excited at like the blank canvas that sort of lays ahead for all of you. And, yeah, I'm excited to like, keep in touch, you know, throughout all of that, to see where all of you are, are traveling and doing and creating.

Rebekah:  That's actually interesting, because it reminds me of an article that I read from the New Yorker yesterday. The article was about, like, if you could see other iterations of your life, like, depending on the choices and stuff that you made. And I love that concept. Like, I think that, you know, a bunch of sci fi movies kind of do that. But my favorite movie is called Mr. Nobody with Jared Leto, where he lives like three different lifetimes because he never makes a choice. And so at the end of his life, when someone's like interviewing him, like, Oh, so what was your life, like? He recounts, like, all of these different lifetimes that he lived because in his mind he never made a choice and actually lived all those different realities. It's a really trippy movie and I highly recommend if you get a chance to watch it. But the article was really fascinating, because, you know, this like concept of like, oh what would my life be if I made this choice? Or if I did this thing, if I did that thing? Like, for people who constantly live in that framework, you know, like, what if, what if? what if? what if? It can be like really overwhelming. Whereas like, some people kind of wrestle with that "what if" idea, and they're like, Okay, cool. That's a fun thought experiment. Now, let's get back to like, you know, regular life. I don't know. I don't know if anyone else like in this call does that but I also think about like the movie Meet the Robinsons, and how like, he built a time machine where he could have like seen what his life - like there's different alternate realities. I think alternate realities are really cool. But I sometimes wonder like what my life would have looked like if I had made different choices. But not trying to dwell on that. So I'll just toss it out there.

Sabrina:  Yeah, my main like philosophical stream is ethics. Not that they stream you in philosophy in U of T. It's just what I enjoy. So that is the life that I live Rebekah. I wake up in the morning, and I'm like, what if I wear this blue shirt? Like, is it immoral to wear it? Like what? I like go to the grocery store and I'm like, Is it wrong that I'm buying this? Like what if I didn't - you know what I mean. But it's like all the way down to like a micro, like microcosmic decisions to be like how would my life be differently if I changed my life in this way? Always from like, a moral perspective. And I definitely think that, it's like, yeah. I feel like there's definitely those people there who like have that thought experiment and then they like move on with their lives. And I think that's also really important to be able to cast like that. But when you're like trapped in that cycle of like, but what if I do this, but what if I do that? What if whatever? It can become like really overwhelming, like you were saying. Because then you just don't want to make a decision. Because who knows what's gonna happen. And I think that's the - that's that thing, too - is like that need for control that we're talking about. And like, some semblance of like I know where I'm going. And I know what's about to happen and I know that I'm going to be safe, right. I think that's like, the big thing, too, is like people looking for safety in like a lot of the visions of  the future that they see. And it's like an interesting balance to strike between like allowing yourself to consider all these possibilities, but then also acknowledging that you can't, like you were saying with a crystal ball, like you can't actually look into the future.

Janine:  Yeah, that's such a cool article. I really want to read it Rebekah. I love Meet the Robinsons was one of my favorite when I was younger. And I think that if you pose the question, would I want to know what my life would look like a year, two years, three years from now, the answer for me is always No. I do not have that curiosity in me because I actively create my own future every day. And that sounds like - I've - this sounds kind of, I don't know, I watched an interview with Miley Cyrus last night talking about her album. And I really liked what she said. She goes, "every night, I kind of say goodbye to myself and I wake up a new person." And so that's where self forgiveness comes in is, you know, you can't say that, you know, next year I have to have this like checklist for my life. And for this year, and I have to do this, this and that. And I have this intricate plan. Because when you do that life kind of laughs at you and just says no. [laughs] Refuses everything that you know, you've pushed yourself to you know obsess over and stuff. So I think it's like maybe this balance that we need to strike between actively working for what we want in our lives. And, you know, working and manifesting that every day, but also letting go of that control and being like, I have this self forgiveness, self acceptance. Whatever comes will come, and I'm okay with it. And it's a very hard balance to strike.

Sabrina:  I think too Braeden, going back to what you were saying about like that external validation is so real. And it's like one of the many, many, many, many, many reasons why I get very upset when professors like excuse their terrible policies being like, well, I'm just preparing you for the real world. Like, no. You're just preparing me to continue in academia. And that's a whole other kettle of fish. But like, the real world is not like this. I had to like work through this, like with my therapist. Because at my - this job is great, because it's all about creative expression. And there's like no punishment to that. But I feel like the world, "real world" is interesting. Because when you're like employed somewhere, like you can get fired. So there is that kind of form of performance review. But like, as long as you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, like no one's gonna check in at the end of your work every day and be like "Good job! B plus! Here's how you could have improved," you know what I mean? Like, maybe you should have used like, a blue paperclip and 12 point font instead of a red paperclip and 10 point. Like, they just want to know that you got the thing done. And I'm now in a position where I'm like working in a more of like a professional capacity where like, to me, it's like the concept of like being fired has like replaced the concept of like getting a C plus. And I'm like everything's terrible because then I'm just automatically gonna be fired. And I have to like, talking to my therapist about it, and I'm like, every decision I make, I'm like waiting for my supervisor to come back at me and be like here's where you could have improved. Here's where you did well and here's what you whatever. And it's like, she just wants me to get my work done. She does not care. You know what I mean? Like, she hired me because she thinks I'm competent. So she's like, there's ways that I'm being trained, but also ways where it's just like she's trusting me to do the thing. And it's more of like a completion mark, I suppose. If you want to keep up the school analogy. I think it's very interesting to be aware of those things, because I was not aware of it. And I also found myself too - and I think this is like another issue with like the post-secondary system - but like, a lot of the assignments that I do in class, I'm not necessarily doing what I want to do. I'm doing what I think my TA is going to mark well, right. And that's also another mentality that I needed to subvert when I entered like this sort of position where it's like, I need to stop creating things that I think my supervisor is going to like pat me on the back for solely because I want her to pat me on the back. Like I need to create good work that I'm proud of that I know she will be happy with. Because she hired me to do the work that I know that I can do you know what I mean? And I feel like these are like really important things to acknowledge that people might not even realize, because then you enter like these workspaces and you have this feeling of like, why does everything feel so out of place? Like, what am I seeking? Like, why does this feel so weird? And it's just like, because everything that you've been like taught to do and the way that you've been trained to like interact with the work that you're doing is not actually appropriate for this space. And like you're not the problem. It's just like your conditioning and the way that you've been working for the past couple of years. And, yeah.

Melissa:  I actually, Sabrina, something that you said made me think, actually kind of have a realization. I have an interview this week for a big person job, which is very exciting. But speaking of, you know, having that academic like evaluation sense instilled into you, I didn't even realize that I did this. But I reached out to somebody who like already works for the organization to try to get some insight into the interview process. And now that you said that, Sabrina, the only two questions that I asked her were about how I was going to be evaluated. So I asked her a question, how much do I need to know about x topic? Or like, Am I - I basically asked her if I was going to be quizzed. And then the second question that I asked is, does she want like, the interviewer, in your experience, does she want me to hand her a portfolio. And she basically responded and was like none of that is necessary. They're basically just - I hate, like, I don't want to say vibe checking, but basically they're just making sure that you're a good fit. And like, they made me do a personality assessment. So I'm pretty sure they're just making sure I'm not lying. But like, the first thing that I wanted to know is like, Am I being tested on my knowledge? And if so, how am I being tested? And if, like what is the test look like? And I didn't even realize that that was an academic thing until this conversation right now. And it's funny, because when I realized that it wasn't going to be that, I felt relieved. So I feel like, I wondered what that kind of says about those values that have been instilled in us from being in academia for so long. The fact that I feel so relieved that she's just going to ask me about who I am as a human being and not judge me based on if I get a pretend test, right. Like, I don't know. I just, I didn't realize but that's kind of just a personal anecdote about how that - I feel like that idea kind of creeps into your life in ways that you don't realize all the time, which is very harmful in my opinion. But yeah, that definitely is going to take some unlearning. So if anybody has any tips on how to unlearn years of academic pressure, let me know. [laughter]

Rebekah:  We're all like shaking our heads.

Sabrina:  I did want to say, like, the biggest like - this isn't necessarily like a learning process. It was just one situation, but that kind of like helped me put things in certain perspective. It's like - my, one of my siblings is like over, a decade older than me. So I was like, back in like, [Rebekah gestures "me too"] (whoo, yeah! Rebekah! Twinsies). So like, it was like, I was back in early highschool, early highschool. And he was at my house, and he was doing like an interview, like Skype interview or whatever. And I was just in the living room, but I was like, over listening, because he was just talking, it was like everyone's business in the common space. And, you know, he's talking about his resume. And he's talking about his qualifications. And he was just like, yeah, I speak French, like English is my native language, but I also speak French. And I was waiting for them to be like, okay, conjugate like passe compose. Like, he was like, whatever. And like, the interviewer, I believe, also spoke French, and then just started speaking French to him. And then they spoke French for like, five minutes. And then they moved on. And I was like, they didn't test him. Like, they didn't test them. Like, they just spoke French. And then they moved on. And then I - this is like years later, right - like, a couple months ago, I was in the interview for the job that I'm in now that I'm trying to unlearn these like academic things. And, you know, she was just kind of like "So I see you speak French on your resume." And I was like, yeah, and she's like, cool. Like, someone that we're working with also speaks French, so you can connect on that. And then we just moved on. And I was like, Wow, I didn't need to do a dicte. I thought I would going to like interviews and they'd be like, so here are your conjugation sheets, you have 20 minutes, hand them back and then we'll evaluate your proficiency. And I think it's really interesting because like, even like my partner, he's going into a different sector. And he actually gets quizzed in the sector that he's in. It's actually common to be quizzed and have take home assignments. And they'll send them to you and then see how you go through those assignments like to be hired, like, Oh my god, that sounds terrible. I'm looking at him right now telling him that like, that sounds terrible. So it's definitely not like all the case, I'm sure in certain respects like that academic training is helpful in certain sectors. And this is more of like a STEMy kind of sector for him. So that I think makes a lot more sense. Because it's more quantitative than qualitative. But yeah, I think what was very helpful for me was that seeing possibly the way that my life could turn out, even in  early high school by like watching my brother's interview, even years, or listening to my brother's interview like even years, years, years ago, and then experiencing that kind of situation myself, is just understanding kind of like, even what Melissa was saying. Like understanding the circumstances where like, you aren't necessarily going to be quizzed. And like, that's okay. And just know that like, not everything in life is going to be like some pop quiz trying to trick you into like, creating a metric for your performance or something. Some people will just like believe you. Which I think is also something like it's like, phased out of people as they move through like institutions and structured institutions. Like people don't believe people for things. Like you need a whole note that you have to pay for just to tell someone that you were sick. And like, can I get like a rewrite for this thing? Like yeah, it's just interesting that in the "real world" there's more space for trust and just kind of like taking people for their word.

Braeden:  Yeah, um, maybe to round out the end of our hour together I would love it if we could go around, and if everyone, if you're comfortable, if you could share maybe some work or an aspect of your work, or the way that your work that you work that you're proud of. And then maybe, do you have like an intention or a well wish to cast towards yourself over this break for your rest and restoration? Like, as we round out our last conversation into the year like what's like a good intention that you want to cast towards yourself to invest in yourself over the break?

Rebekah:  Oh, tough question. I don't know, for me, I'm working on a couple of different projects right now. And I guess I'm just really proud of the way that like, I've not only like sought out like these different projects that feel very different from what I usually do in my academics as a way to like challenge me. Like I'm working this writing project right now, and I write a lot for myself, but I don't really write for other people very often. And so this is a, like a challenge and a test, but I get to interview some people who I'm really excited to interview and like, you know, tell the story that I don't think that is like currently being told. But my well wish for myself for over the break is to reconnect with my grandparents. I know, that's completely unrelated to what I just said. But, um, I've been like, meaning to like, reconnect with them for a while. And it gets like really hard to do that like during the thick of the school year. And so I floated the idea to my grandparents a couple of weeks ago that I want to do like an interview style thing with them like I did when I was in high school as an updated version four years later. Because I think that there's like more questions that I want to ask them. And while I still have them here to ask those questions, I want to like make sure I can document that and like have that as a family historian type of thing. So, um yeah, that's my wish for myself is to like actually make that happen. And so I'm saying this now, because I'm gonna listen to this later. And it's going to remind myself, Hey, did you do that thing that you said you're going to do? And hopefully the answer will be yes. There we go.

Janine:  I love that idea. I think that just inspired me to do the same with my grandmas. To call them and ask them these questions. I think for me in the break, I want to just personally clear my head a bit. And like I said before, kind of find my voice again and find my passion again. Because I think I've lost it for a bit. Like not lost it, but it's definitely dim because of like, a lot of anxiety and stress and stuff lately. And I think that I want to meditate. That's one way that I want to take care of myself and whatever will come creatively will come. Whether it's writing or audio or visuals, I'm just giving myself that space to breathe. Like, it sounds like a simple thing. But it's, it's harder than it seems to just breathe and meditate and take care of myself in that sense.

Sabrina:  For me, something that I'm proud of, in my workflow - I think I've been moving into a space of establishing good boundaries across everything that I'm committed to in a way that honors how I've committed to those things. And doesn't like, have me like under delivering. But then also in a way where I can like juggle everything. And I think my like wish for myself for this, this kind of break period is honestly just to rest. And to like, just take some time to do nothing or like do things that I enjoy. Like for myself. I don't even know, I don't even know what rest means. Because I also have like a bunch of ideas. So it's like, people are like well you need to rest and it's like but I also want to do 1000 things. So like, I don't. I don't know how you marry those two things. But I will - I don't know, hit me up in three weeks, and we'll see if I figured it out.

Melissa:  Those are all really great well wishes to yourself. I think that it's really important to cut yourself some slack when you can. And on that note, I guess something that I am proud of is I was talking to folks about my education plan earlier. So it's basically just an academic assignment that I'm working on. And I'm really proud of it. Because I think that I surprised myself with how like legitimate it feels. Like I feel like looking at it makes me feel like maybe I am actually a museum professional. And I don't know, I feel like it kind of helps mitigate some of that imposter syndrome. So it's always nice when you produce something that you feel like, Hey, I could maybe actually show this to an institution. So that's been pretty cool. And it's also been fun to work on. And then my wish for myself I think is just to be nice to myself over the break. So if I need a day off to not do anything like that's okay. Whatever the outcome of this interview is, I think just being nice to myself about that. In echoing what Janine said, like, I'd also like to be creative over the break. I have a knitting project that I'm working on, but like if I don't finish it that's okay. So yeah, I think just giving myself space to be productive or to not be productive and trying not to put too much pressure on myself, which I'm pretty good at putting pressure on myself. That is I'm not as good at taking pressure off. So we'll work on that this week. And what about you Braden?

Braeden:  Um yeah, I think something, I think something that I'm, I'm proud of around work is that I'm realizing, I feel like for the first time, sort of my work is like integrating itself with me as a person and like who I am and how I move through the world. And like - and I feel like the actual bedrock of my work is in building relationships. And I feel like that's kind of who I am as a person. Like, I feel like I'm returning to who I've always been. And that's also just like integrating its way into work where it's just like the foundation of all of this, is in building relationships, building trusting meaningful relationships. But also, yeah, creating pathways for creative expression for myself and for the people around me. And so yeah, that just feels, it feels really nice to come into alignment with that after sort of years of like, a very like turbulent working life. And then something I guess, like some well wishes, I think I just want to read. Like, I just want to, I just want to sit on the couch and like read a book for three hours. And if I like fall asleep after 15 minutes with like,  with napping with like the book on my face, like, that's cool. That sounds like bliss. So yeah, thank you. Thank you all for for sharing. And for joining me in this convo. This is, this was really lovely. And I'm wishing all of you a wonderful restorative break and look forward to connecting in the new year and in hearing about all the nice things you all did for yourselves. Thank you so much to Sabrina, Rebekah, Janine, and Melissa for joining me in the West, Meeting Room for our last conversation of 2020. And a big thank you to all of our extended Hart House podcasting family who have all taught me so much about how to hold space for meaningful conversations. I hope this finds you heading into 2021 with a bit of a lighter load. And if things are feeling heavy right now, I would encourage you to call up someone who's helped you, someone who can bring you comfort, or someone who can make you laugh. Take care of each other in the meantime, and we'll be with you next week.

[excorcismic]

you ever have that one muse that’s just like . . . no matter how many characters you play , not matter how much time goes by , you will never get sick of writing that muse & they’re such a huge comfort character and mean the world to you ?? YES , that’s me with miss zelda here . i . . . love zelda ( the character and the series ) with every fiber of my being and after a lot of debate i finally decided i’d bring her here !! i’m doing leon’s intro next and will try to get to replies ( want to get down zel’s intro soon but i’d like to plot things first ) afterwards but pls pls pls here’s a detailed plotting call for my princess !! pls like / react if you’re interested - or let me know if we’re already plotting !!

IN A CANON NUTSHELL : so this zelda is the princess from the masterpiece known as breath of the wild - one hundred years before the events of the game , she was kind of the ‘leader’ of the champions , a group of people who were tasked to aid in protecting hyrule once calamity ganon rose again . link , who was also a champion , was assigned as her personal knight - in the beginning . . . she did not like him for the fact that he seemed to have everything under control and she didn’t . why ?? well , zelda , from birth , was told she had to unlock a power in herself that would potentially save hyrule from the calamity , and for some reason , no matter how hard she tried , she couldn’t do it . and she was mad at herself for feeling like a failure when she was put under an intense amount of pressure from her father & the prophecy - even called the heir to a throne of nothing because of how no results came from her ceaseless prayers . EVENTUALLY , her powers would reveal themselves . . . but only after the calamity arrived , all of the champions had been downed ( save for link , on the verge of death ) , and all seemed lost . but she would use her power to protect hyrule & keep the calamity contained inside hyrule castle until link would awaken and finish him off .

IN AN ALUCARD NUTSHELL : so zelda . daughter of a preacher ( father ) & a lawyer ( mother , now deceased ) , always expected to be the picture perfect child hence why she never got much of a chance to have a break from endless studying & extra things . she’s always been a straight-a student , has done fencing since she was a child , trilingual in english spanish & mandarin chinese , now a star college student majoring in biology ( her own choice , because she loves science ) and minoring in law ( because her father wants her to be a lawyer like her mother & she uhh hates it ! ) she’s seen as ‘little miss perfect’ because she can do so much and never seems to do any wrong but zelda is uhhh sick of that and is actually now trying to rebel against her father and throw herself into trouble . since lowkey all of this shit is killing her and she wants to breathe freely . she’s trying to do what she wants to do hence why she’s majoring in bio instead of law , working at the local florist instead of taking a law internship , actually trying to pursue a social life outside of the people her dad approves of . that stuff . she’s basically a genius who wants to say ‘fuck u’ to the people telling her what to do and go on her own path and i think that’s sexy .

BUT OHHHHHHHHHH YOU WANNA PLOT WITH ZELDA SO BAD OHHHHHHH

so zelda . given her situation ?? there is so much to work with . lemme spout off these ideas bc i’m so fucking excited .

firstly - people who know about her little miss perfect reputation and either dislike her or are intimidated by her for it . zelda isn’t a snob in the slightest but with someone who does as much as she does it’s only natural to assume she is . but she isn’t , i promise ; she hates that being her epithet .

kind of building off the idea of people knowing abt her whole ‘lmp’ thing - i’d love some folks who actually entertain zelda’s desires to break away from that and take her out to do rebellious shit or something like that !! because zelda wants to get the fuck out she hates it here .

some who encourage her and some who do the opposite - ‘you can do it, don’t be scared’ vs. ‘you really don’t belong here so go back to your books and pencils’

maybe ppl who hold zelda to some sort of pedestal bc of her reputation ?? which is equally as bad to her - she’s lowkey crumbling under all these expectations and she’s amazing but to be seen as someone . . . above other people , she doesn’t like that at all .

also those folks who in any grade of school rly have tried to exploit her need to get good grades & genius to their advantage aka if i pair up with the smart kid we’ll get an a guaranteed . can be anywhere - could’ve been in the past or could be now . 

CLASSMATES in general . from elementary , middle school , high school for the past , and now college classmates .

study buddies !! study buddies that zelda either vibes with immensely in terms of how she works or butts heads with them . her way of thinking is both incredibly organized but also all over the place . she can be either very easy or difficult to work with .

gimme some school rivals or equals aka ppl that zelda’s on par with in terms of intellect/grades and either they fucking hate each other or make a pretty good team . maybe both ! put the smart ppl in a room together and see what happens .

also want to clarify this can be on both the bio or law side for any of these college-based connections bc zelda is taking both she’s just . way more passionate about biology than she is law .

OLD FENCING TEAMMATES OR RIVALS PLEASE yes she is still fencing to this day and she’s awesome at it . she’s got a shitton of medals and she actually likes it but it’s another thing that was forced upon her since she was young .

her dad is a local preacher so by nature she’s always expected to be at church so ppl who know her as the preacher’s daughter/from church bc imma keep it real zelda ain’t that enthused abt that religion either but again . once again have to fill father’s expectations . one day tho she’s just gonna stop showing up .

i’d like maybe a social circle who zelda’s father approves of ?? like , friends who zelda has but they’re more so just bc that’s what mr. king wanted . i’d also like a partner/ex-partner to fit this description aka zelda’s not rly that into it or was into it bc it was again . kinda just ‘i’m just dating you bc my dad approves of you’ kinda deal and maybe she tried but overall . didn’t/doesn’t work .

i also , though , like the idea of a social circle who zelda’s father would never approve of and she hangs w/ them bc maybe she likes them or maybe she also just wants to prove a point . maybe she dated someone for this reason too - just the whole spectrum of ‘what dad wants vs. what dad wasn’t’ bc pissing off her dad is kind of a major goal at this point .

so maybe regular customers of the flower shop she works at - she just . zelda rly loves flowers & nature ( and again science as a whole , especially life science hence biology ) and she can go off on so many tangent about flowers please talk to her about flowers . maybe even bring her some flowers too jk unless

i’d rly find it awesome if zelda had some ppl who maybe liked her enough to follow her when she goes out just studying things and listen to her bc she loves to talk about her passions - she likes taking hikes and trips out into nature or the botanical gardens and stuff like that to do studies / experiments of her own . she likes museums , gardens , the outdoors - zelda loves knowledge and learning about things and if someone just kept her company while she did so that’d be awesome .

i’m a sucker for canon parallels with non-canon characters so . maybe a relationship that doesn’t rly have any specificity in what portion of zelda’s life ( school , father approved social circle , father disapproved social circle , night life etc etc ) but mirrors her relationship with link in breath of the wild - for whatever reason , zelda and this other character are around each other very frequently and the beginning for some reason she is very put off by it but then comes around and eventually this muse , they become extremely closer with her and important to her . in any way !! idk if it’s platonic or romantic but , in rps like this that’s lowkey my jam but it works the best with miss zelda

AS ALWAYS - friends ! enemies !  former crushes ! exes ! gimme anything and all !! the princess of hyrule is AT YOUR SERVICE and i’m so excited to write her . i love her .

and now . . . onto leon’s intro i hopefully go .

[cooperfmarchive]

𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒐  𝒊𝒕'𝒔  𝒎𝒆  again  !  lenny  back  at  it  with  another  long  ass  intro  ,  are  we  surprised  ?  below  the  cut  ,  you  can  learn  all  about  my  emo  boy  cooper  !  just  like  with  val’s  ,  give  this  post  a  LIKE  and  i’ll  slide  into  ur  dms  to  plot  !

also  ,  just  an  fyi  :  i'll  probably  be  a  little  bit  on  and  off  for  the  next  day  or  so  ,  but  i'm  always  available  to  reach  via  dms  because  i'm  unhealthily  attached  to  my  phone  !

(  tw  :  mention  of  drugs  ,  addiction  )

𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠  here  and  do  i  have  the  tea  for  you  .  𝑪𝑶𝑶𝑷𝑬𝑹  is  back  on  campus  ,  which  is  surprising  considering  the  threatening  note  i  left  them  .  yes  ,  i  know  all  about  𝑯𝑰𝑺  𝑺𝑯𝑶𝑹𝑻  -  𝑳𝑰𝑽𝑬𝑫  𝑺𝑶𝑩𝑹𝑰𝑬𝑻𝒀  because  of  their  𝑮𝑳𝑼𝑻𝑻𝑶𝑵𝒀  .  imagine  the  tabloids  and  how  the  𝑨𝑽𝑬𝑹𝑵𝑨  family  would  feel  for  such  information  to  come  out  ,  not  to  mention  the  reputation  of  𝑺𝑰𝑮𝑴𝑨  because  of  their  actions  .  at  this  rate  ,  he  is  better  off  staying  put  in  𝑩𝑬𝑳  𝑨𝑰𝑹  ,  𝑪𝑨𝑳𝑰𝑭𝑶𝑹𝑵𝑰𝑨  and  living  off  that  1.2𝑩  family  net  worth  .  what’s  the  point  in  studying  𝑴𝑼𝑺𝑰𝑪 𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑫𝑼𝑪𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵  with  plans  to  𝑻𝑹𝑨𝑽𝑬𝑳  &  𝑷𝑬𝑹𝑭𝑶𝑹𝑴  𝑾𝑶𝑹𝑳𝑫𝑾𝑰𝑫𝑬  ,  is  it  worth  it  with  what  i  know  ?  anyways  ,  they  may  want  to  continue  to  be  𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑴𝑰𝑵𝑮  &  𝑫𝑬𝑿𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑶𝑼𝑺  because  the  𝑨𝑫𝑫𝑰𝑪𝑻𝑰𝑽𝑬  &  𝑹𝑬𝑻𝑰𝑪𝑬𝑵𝑻  attributes  make  me  want  to  spill  .  (  austin butler  ,  lenny  ,  mst  )  .

*  /  ———  𝑻𝑯𝑬  𝑩𝑨𝑺𝑰𝑪𝑺  :

full  name  :  cooper johnathon averna

nicknames  :  coop , cj

age  /  birthdate  :  twenty3 / june 15th , 1996

gender  :  cis male / he , him

sexuality  :  pansexual

hometown  :  bel air , california

major  :  music production

*  /  ———  𝑻𝑯𝑬  𝑩𝑨𝑪𝑲𝑮𝑹𝑶𝑼𝑵𝑫  :

ok so funny story !!! i started writing this out , and then i kept writing ... and writing ... and writing ... and then my “ intro ” turned into a whole ass “ biography ” for my boy cooper so !! you can find that Novel right here ( the end is still a work in progress tho ) . below will be my attempt at the spark notes version of it all , although i can almost guarantee it will still get out of hand because i , like our lord and saviour jenna marbles , cannot control my too much gene !!!!

so our boy cooper is the older brother to our fav twins , summer and wynter averna ! together , the three of them are the youngest generation of the averna family . powerful , renowned , and manipulative — the avernas are made up of a long line of successful politicians . currently , daddy johnathan averna is the governor of california , and this heavy legacy has weighed upon cooper’s shoulders for the majority of his life .

in short , cooper is best described as the black sheep of the averna family . while his other family members are power - hungry , manipulative , and thick - skinned , cooper could be described as weak - willed , personable , and charming . this was a major disappointment to his father , john , because he’d been hoping for a son that would follow in his footsteps and grow up to make incredible moves in politics , but cooper couldn’t have been further from what a politician should be , and this caused for a severe lack of affection and validation from his parents on cooper’s part .

at school , however , cooper filled these holes with the popularity he gained within the halls of his private school . everyone wanted to be his friend and the affection and compassion that he lacked at home was made up for by his large circle of friends . but unfortunately , things were not as picture - perfect as they seemed , and in his sophomore year of high school , cooper discovered that his girlfriend had been hooking up with his best friend and in an extreme domino effect , cooper learned that the “ friends ” he’d surrounded himself with were just as power - hungry and manipulative as his own family and were using him for the sole purpose of gaining popularity and getting a taste of the prestige cooper’s surname promised . 

but cooper here is far too soft and desperate for affection , and his fear of loneliness far outweighed his desire to have meaningful relationships so he couldn’t bare to actually cut those who’d been using him out of his life . so instead , cooper found himself diving deep into bel air’s party scene , the adrenaline and excitement of it distracting him from the fact that everyone around him didn’t really give two shits about him .

cooper’s partying kind of snowballed from there . long story short , his parents literally never noticed that cooper had even an inkling of a problem , which further distanced him from his family . and as soon as cooper was eighteen , he booked a one - way ticket to europe to do what he does best : run away from his issues and drown them out with alcohol and drugs . 

he really just wanted to escape the weight of his surname and putting as much distance between himself and the spotlight that followed him constantly seemed like his best bet . and for about a year , it really worked for him . he bounced around europe , discovered its beauty and culture , and partied day in and day out , all while forgetting the legacy he’d left behind and finding what he wanted to : music — but we’ll get to that later .

but just short of a year , cooper got caught up in a drunken brawl in amsterdam that left him with a concussion and broken hand . luckily , daddy came to the rescue after a phone call from cooper and john paid off everyone involved in order to keep the story under wraps , but under one condition : cooper return home to bel air and attend university to hopefully clean up his act and get a degree .

cooper started at hollingsworth as a business major , but that didn’t work out as easily as he’d been hoping and he was just barely scraping by at the end of his sophomore year . however , when he was home for the summer , cooper rediscovered his love for music upon finding the belongings of his that had been shoved away by his parents two years prior , and he made the switch to majoring in music production when he returned to hollingsworth for his junior year .

his parents still do not know about his change in major , for cooper knows they wouldn’t believe it’s a viable career path for him to take and he also has an innate fear of disappointing them . he’s got some severe daddy issues , having always desperately craved the validation of his father but always lacking it because his dad only believed in only one possible future for his son : carrying on the averna legacy in politics . cooper realizes that it’s ridiculous , and that he is more than free to do what he wants and brush off his parents’ judgements , but that is a lot easier said than done unfortunately .

to briefly touch on his music : cooper’s voiceclaim is sir sly — edgy , emo , electronic alternative music . he’s incredibly passionate about his music , often spending many late nights in hollingsworth’s recording studios . he taught himself to play guitar while in europe , but upon enrolling in hworth’s music program has learned how to play the drums , keyboard , and properly project his vocals . he’s also gained experience in mixing and producing music , of which he mostly does himself with his own music . currently , he has one released album ( you haunt me ) , but is working on his next one ( don’t you worry , honey ) already .

*  /  ———  𝑻𝑯𝑬  𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑹𝑨𝑪𝑻𝑬𝑹  :

label(s)  :  the muso , the maverick , the enigma , the black sheep

muso ( a person who is musically talented )

maverick ( an unorthodox or independent - minded person )

enigma ( a person or thing that is mysterious, puzzling, or difficult to understand )

black sheep ( regarded as a disgrace to a family )

notable traits  :  charming , reckless , dexterous , addictive , reticent , truculent , intelligent , compassionate , adventurous

aesthetics  :  a sharpened pencil scratching against paper , ringed fingers plucking guitar strings , a piercing gaze , pursed lips , cigarette smoke curling in evening air , soft t - shirts and black jeans , shiny silver and gold jewelry , masculine cologne 

in  a  nutshell  :  basically , cooper’s an enigma at first glance . he has a mysterious aura to him : his gaze is shielded , his voice quiet , and his posture reclusive . he often prefers to keep to himself in unfamiliar situations at first until he gets a feel for the atmosphere , and the way he’s usually hunkered over a journal definitely screams “ leave me alone . ” the walls he built around himself in high school remain strong , because he knows he’s far too soft - hearted for his own good . overly eager to protect everyone he meets and show others the love and compassion he desperately craves for himself , he’s a walking contradiction in the way that he puts distance between himself and others , fearful of letting them too close , lest it be revealed that they’re only using him for his elite legacy and his heart be broken once again , but his need for attention and companionship has made him incredibly skilled at making you feel like there’s little to no distance separating him from you , distracting you from realizing that you actually know very little about him with his infectious smile and exciting presence . everyone’s a friend of cooper’s , at least on the outside . but if you’re lucky enough to actually wiggle through a crack in his walls , you’ll find a heart far larger than expected , a passion for music that he’s eager to share with others , and a protectiveness for his loved ones that is reminiscent of the brother you always wanted .

*  /  ———  𝑻𝑯𝑬  𝑺𝑬𝑪𝑹𝑬𝑻  :

it’s no secret that cooper loves to party — he’s all over hworth’s party scene , often one of the first to call for a round of shots on a night out — but what is a secret is cooper’s addiction to drugs , specifically but not limited to cocaine . 

upon his return to bel air , one of the promises he’d made to his family was that he’d stop using and beat the addiction that had haunted him . the news of cooper’s addiction was the last thing his father wanted to get leaked to the public , fearful for his own reputation as a clean , respected public figure if his own son had fallen prey to drugs . and for a while , cooper was able to bury his addiction and avoid his kryptonite while at parties — but as school became more stressful he found it increasingly difficult to continue to do so , and one night someone offered a line to cooper after a particularly stressful exam and he gave in , and the flood gates opened .

when he was younger and first entering the party scene , cooper had almost openly flaunted his drug use , probably as a cry for help to his seemingly clueless parents , but since relapsing he’s learned how to keep it behind closed doors . only a fair few know of his drug use and cooper will go to any length to keep it that way .

*  /  ———  𝑻𝑯𝑬  𝑴𝑰𝑺𝑪𝑬𝑳𝑳𝑨𝑵𝑬𝑶𝑼𝑺  :

wanted plots .

pinterest .

spotify .

also !!! i feel like i need to address the topic of cooper’s hair , because many of the resources that i will be using of austin have him with blond with long and shaggy hair , but cooper’s hair is actually what austin’s is right now : dark and cut short . but to kinda explain the photos of blond!austin , cooper actually bleached his hair and grew it out whilst travelling in europe as another act of defiance towards his family and to distance himself from his past self . over the past summer , though , he cut it short and dyed it back to his natural brunet , purely an impulse decision TBH , but also probably a weird metaphor for how he initially went blond to distance himself from his legacy , but now that he’s pursuing a career that really distances him from it , he went back to brunet as his own fucked up way of still trying to appease his parents’ fucked up expectations .

[aristccrvcy]

( gavin leatherwood, trans male, he/him, fire emblem: three houses ) * &. i know it must be scary for you, ferdinand von aegir, after surviving the takeover. to turn into someone like aeric-ferdinand “ferdie” vittori, a twenty-four year-old actor at castle town centre of theatre & dance, right here in castle town. just remember that you are as sincere as you are opinionated, and to be wary, be safe, be true to who you are : neutral through and through. ( hylia )

         i could never drop him i just. i could Not. i rly couldn’t but i DID ..... want to revamp him a bit so here’s take two on ferdie !! politics, war, death, & divorce tw under the cut !!

BEFORE THE SNAP.  /  F E R D I N A N D  V O N  A E G I R 

So alright. Chances are , if you’ve heard of Ferdinand , it’s because you’ve heard the infamous ‘ I am Ferdinand von Aegir ! ’ quote goin’ around which . . . attributes from. Him introducing himself every time you select him on the battlefield in FE3H. Don’t believe me ?? WATCH. 

...u don’t need to watch that whole thing I’m just tryna get the meme out of the way before I talk abt everything else.

BC ALL JOKES ASIDE I HONESTLY LOVE FERDINAND SOOO MUCH n I promise I’ll take him seriously bc holy fucking shit this character is my babyyyy.

So for STARTERS. Ferdinand is the legitimate son of House Aegir in the Adrestian Empire , which is the house that produces the Empire’s Prime Ministers. Now , here’s the thing ; Ferdinand himself isn’t involved in any of this , but thanks to the Adrestian nobles pretty much stripping the Emperor of their power in the past . . . the Aegir house ( much like the other houses , but Duke Aegir’s implied to have like , spearheaded it ) is pretty damn corrupt.

NOT FERDINAND , THOUGH , considering Ferdinand is actually someone who has very opposing views to his father. Ferdinand , in a nutshell , is basically the snobby noble trope you’re expecting turned upside down crossed over with a Disney prince. That’s the best way i can describe him.

Ferdinand is very aware of his noble status , but he is very steadfast in his opinion of what is truly means to be a noble. He’s well-aware of the difference between nobles & commoners , but where you’d expect him to use that to degrade people of lesser status , he . . . doesn’t. 

Ferdinand strongly believes the duties of a noble constitute of protecting & helping the common people , and that is why they’re so high in status - they’re there to assist and make things better , and not to make things worse , and it absolutely sickens him to his core when there are corrupt nobles who very clearly use their power for selfish & malicious gain. 

Like , he’s confident - he’s very confident and sure of himself , but he isn’t a dick ( in that sense ; he can be kind of a dick , don’t get me wrong ) about it. He’s actually extremely polite & respectful , very kind & genuine - like I really don’t think lying is something that this boy is capable of doing , I really don’t. But he’s humble in the sense that he isn’t afraid to admit when he did something wrong , or that he needs to apologize - IN FACT , a lot of his supports have him apologize for approaching someone wrongly or when he’s accused of something.

One example , he has a support with Dorothea where she tells him that she hates him , and instead of fighting her on it , what he does is he tries to figure out why she hates him so he can better himself and fix something he did wrong. 

Another example , his B-support with Bernadetta has him apologize for spooking her , and he respects her comfort levels by speaking to her on the other side of the door to her room because now he understands that Bernadetta feels extremely scared & uncomfortable during confrontation.

LIKE . . . okay , in the simplest of words , Ferdinand is just good. He’s a good person and he tries his hardest to be better if someone brings it to his attention that he’s doing something wrong.

BUT ALSO . . . the thing is , Ferdinand is also extremely opinionated to the point where he’ll share his thoughts even if not asked ; and sometimes , it comes out. Dickish. Like , really , he’ll criticize anyone if he believes he should because he hates the idea of someone who doesn’t - exemplified in the beginning of his supports with Hubert , where he condemns Hubert for not openly criticizing Edelgard but Ferdinand’s criticism can come out . . . harsh. Like , he’s respectful still , but he’s harsh. And that is because Ferdinand firmly believes in speaking his mind.

His determination also makes him stubborn & extremely competitive to a point where it becomes damn near annoying and this is , because again , he always strives to better himself - even going as far as to declare Edelgard his rival when she . . . really doesn’t think of him as one , and then he gets his ass kicked and runs with his tail between his legs because he lost. He’s. He’s competitive. I will not lie to you. Like he’s great but aLSO... this guy doesn’t. Know. When to let go.

Bt yeah in a nutshell - Ferdinand is a rich guy who criticizes other rich guys for being jerks and not caring abt other people , and he can come off as a dick but ultimately he means well & he is a LOT better than some of these other assholes out there. Ferdinand’s.... he’s just GOOD. 

Bt now that I have the basis of his character out of the way , I want to mention that a major change about him is that I’m changing what route I’m pulling him from - originally , I pulled him from Azure Moon , where if you don’t recruit him you have to kill him at the Great Bridge of Myrddin. So instead , now , I’ll be pulling him from Crimson Flower , where he’s still sided with Edelgard but now she has Byleth & she’s triumphant and everything’s okay on the Empire’s end. But - in other routes - while he’s still with Edelgard , he unfortunately doesn’t make it so if u have AM or VW muses . . . Ferdie didn’t make it.

BUT THAT’S WHAT MAKES THESE THINGS INTERESTINGGGGG and I love it so for that reason ,,, shoves. Ferdinand. In everyone’s direction.

AFTER THE SNAP.  /  A E R I C - F E R D I N A N D  “ F E R D I E ”  V I T T O R I

So the more major changes from his pre-revamp portrayal lie in his CT life - his name’s changed , his occupation’s changed , and almost his entire whole past has changed.

Aeric-Ferdinand Vittori was the only child of a film actor & stage actress , pretty famous people , and he was born with the spotlight on him immediately given that he scored his first role as a child at six years old. Since then , he never really had much of an easy time.

His big break was as a teenager in a teen drama that lasted from when he was fourteen to when he was nineteen , the co-star of a vampire television drama in where his character was a fan-favorite. He ultimately left the show and his character was killed off , and he had some starring roles in other movies & the like before he ultimately moved to Broadway. And in that , he had a bit of an easier time , but he would still often feel like he was about to crack under pressure since all eyes were still on him. He was known as a talented young man with a beautiful singing voice , and unfortunately , everyone wants something to do with you when you have something like that.

His parents were also always in the spotlight because of their very public divorce , and it started to bleed into Ferdinand’s career & public image as well with many people poking their nose into his life and asking his opinion on it. Multiple scandals came out claiming that he leaned one way or the other during it and ultimately , that ruined his relationship with his parents. So at twenty-three , he left the Broadway spotlight , and decided to step out of any light in general for a while.

Settling down in Castle Town , a place where nobody bothered to look , was a good start.

He still loved performing , so he worked as an actor at the local theatre on stage - trying his hardest not to get the big roles and take those up , because he was still a relatively big name & when you’re a big name , people lean into their biases.

And then . . . at this point was where he “woke up”. Because his whole past was fake - but there’s always a point where you realize it is.

He had a girlfriend in Castle Town beforehand that he broke up with due to his paranoia that she’d get caught up in the publicity that he did - Nerissa. And he had parents that he didn’t even talk to anymore , and it threw him for a loop because he was reminded of his father back in Adrestia. And suddenly , he’s no longer a soldier or a noble , but with his celebrity status , he’s basically the closest there is to modern nobility at this point.

So . . . Ferdinand feels. Strange. He always loved the opera & he always loved performances but he never thought of himself as someone who would actually do so. It’s strange , but he likes it.

So now , he’s trying to figure out exactly what the hell happened and how he got here and he’s grown pretty used to people not remembering who he is , but it still . . . hurts.

And THAT is where I end this !! I’m gonna go back 2 my plotting DMs and message more ppl but if this gives u some ideas pls do hit me up bc I love Ferdie SOOOO MUCH and I’m excited for his revamp !!

Also if ur curious ab his old intro still I’ll link it here bc there’s probably some pre-snap stuff I forgot in here that’s in there so !! yes. i’ll b around n will probs try n get an open up soon !!

[ofremis]

     hallo it’s me your trash queen jack back with another gorl ! you know the drill below the cut is info on my newest babs remi along with some wanted connections i’d love for her uwu ! smash that lil heart and i’ll slide into your ims or discord for plots ( probably tomorrow tbh a girl is wiped ) ! i also don’t have her pinterest board done and i feel so off brand ....

history ;

so if you haven’t figured it out already she’s moonie’s little sister ! if you want a full well written out backstory rather then my tid bits on their family check out his intro here !

both of her parents were lawyer with a lil con side business on the side

they both brought moonie and remi into their cons at a young age. while moonie took to it swimmingly, sadly remi did not. it wasn’t that she didn’t have the skills it’s just that she didn’t want to ?? to her it was too much work and never really interested her, so her parents were quick to be like uH yah do your own thing and while moonie was dragged further and further into bigger cons remi left it alone. low key though she can still use the manipulation skills she learned when she wants.

remi from a young age was a lil stubborn binch, you know that dance mom’s quote “i just want to stay home and eat chips” that was baby ( and probably older ) remi in a nutshell. she just wanted to stay home sit on the couch and play video games. interacting with people was never ever her strong suit, unless it was via a headset or chat room.

remi was fourteen when her parents were arrested and she really wasn’t sure what to think, for a while she didn’t fully understand what had happened. 

she got along a lot better with her grandparents then moonie mostly because she never really did anything??? she was a real boring high schooler, the only thing they probably ever really got on to her about was staying up all night or sucking the internet. 

she breezed through school and is actually v smart but when college came she was like uhhhhhhh huh and didn’t know what to do so instead she decided to follow in her brother footsteps and go to west bridge. 

she’s currently a film student and wants to be a producer or smth when she grows up. 

moonie was the one who dragged her to manon’s that night in an attempt to try to get her to interact with the college life instead of holing up in their apartment ( they live together uwu ) 

personality ;

ok so she big nerd

loves video games if you can’t tell, almost majored in video game design. her favs are overwatch, super smash, and sonic. plays online for hours on end, usually has a headset on her head and a coke in her hand. sometimes streams when she’s feeling frisky. 

never really been in any relationships and is really dumb when it comes to love. you probably have to scream at her if you’re flirting with her or want to go out with her

a total film snob but also the biggest star wars fan you’ll ever meet pls watch it with her

has a goofy laugh snorts a lil 

close w her older brother and doesn’t show it she’s fiercely protective of him

drugs??? she don’t know those somebody pls introduce her

probably has sonic posters on her wall

a classic rock fan

is that asshole that thinks being popular is overrated and will tell you, conforming to the status quo NO thanks 

is a NERVOUS wreck over the secret they’re keeping and is too scared of everyone to ever say anything

wanted connections ; all open to m/f/nb !

crushed on by remi ; i really want somebody who remi has big ass Dumb crush on and since she hasn’t really done relationships she be a big idiot about it

ex-significant other ; i hc she has only had one or possibly 2 relationships, she’d probably be a dummy about them and be clingy sometimes and then forget to text back bc she’s in a game

gaming buddy / partner ; ppl come over and play video games with her!!! 

somebody trying to get under her skin ; i basically just imagine somebody who is constantly bothering her trying to understand her and get her out of her dorm, maybe even in a romantic way they could be trying to hookup / flirt w her idk 

bad influence ; even tho moonie is a bad influence in himself, gimme somebody who forcing her out of her dorm and out into the world!!! 

ride or die ; just besties bc we all love some good ole besties

muse ; this would be somebody that she gets a lot of inspiration from and often asks them to be in her short films, etc 

online friend ; how cute would it be if they met online gaming or a forum or smth and just became like online besties?? they could know they go to the same school or not! 

rival ; could be via video games, another connect, school, etc she is just a competitive person 

dislike ; she’s very against the status quo unlike jo so if you muse is very into that there’s a good chance remi has mutter something dumb under her breath about them

acquaintance ; she doesn’t get out much..... so she doesn’t have a lot of friend so maybe they’re in the same class or something, write a blooming friendship w me pls

connection via her brother ; idk if your muse has an intense connection with moonie it could def overlap with remi considering how close they are, we love drama in this household 

gimme gimme everything !!!!

[supere1113]

The Conflict Within Myself - Track 3: Metamorphic

The suspense listeners are left in at the end of Making It is met with a cinematic sonic explosion that is the intro to track 3, Metamorphic.

As the tile might suggest, this song definitely goes through a few phases over its runtime. 3, to be precise. In the first phase, the intro, the genres of classical and electronica collide in tornadic, cinematic crescendo, stopped in its tracks by the following words: “I am alchemy in the flesh. / No genre suits me best. / I’ll blend them all in one song, and it will still hit you like a slug to your chest.” There’s a lot of ground we have treaded already here. My guess is that teenage me really wanted to drive the point home and felt that he needed to repeat himself in earnest to get it across.

What point(s), you may ask? The fact that he’s a genre-bender in every field he finds himself in. The fact that he refuses to be put in a box. the fact that he’ll show you exactly what he means when he states the two aforementioned facts. He’ll do whatever he feels is best, and his audience will still like it... in a nutshell.

Fun fact: I wrote and recorded this song in two different places: at my childhood home in Dallas, and on a cruise in the middle of the Caribbean, not too far from the coast of Cuba.

Metamorphic is largely a meditation on my musical goals, at least at this point in my life. For the majority of the song’s remaining lyrics, I speak of taking disparate influences and putting them together in the same place to create something new, you get the point, I feel. Genre-bending became an obsession of mine as I wanted to build off of what had already been, and what was currently being, done. I’m basically talking about creating the one thing I wanted to hear the most out of music that I wasn’t getting... so yeah.

Musically, the other two phases of Metamorphic evolve first into a genre that is so well-blended, I don’t think I can even name all of its components. Many of them just blend together like purified butter melted on toast. This is the alchemy that I would show the world that I embody. My therapist noticed that the music I create, at its core, is a mixture I use to describe my own personality: complex simplicity. I want to give you a lot, but I want it to be in a coherent, understandable way, eh?

And so the genre-bending continues...

[pcnaks-blog]

— bitches rly be an admin n be posting their intro almost a week late w their blog not even done yet.. it’s me, i’m bitches ! DKGJDG hello my luvs i’m tien (she/her, 7teen, cst) n i am a 100% a hot mess pls don’t look at my blog pretend there’s a cute theme i literally made this 2 mins ago haha xx if i’m gonna be honest this intro is gonna be messy i literally have nothing planned out i usually just have a vague idea of my charas n then just go along w it n see how they end up in the rp KDJGGDJDGJ but anyways here she is ladies ,, buckle up !

— red lipstick imprints on coffee mugs, old scripts with messy annotations all over, leather-bound agendas, late nights on sets, ink smudged blouses.

( LALISA MANOBAN, CIS FEMALE, SHE/HER, MUSE G ) did i just see NINA PANAK touching down in italy ? rumor has it this 22 year old PUBLICIST/PRODUCER is on their way to reunite with the brat pack. 

˚✧ ╱  BACKGROUND !

nina was born to two incredibly high-profile actors. her parents are the pride of thailand, both starting out as small actors in non-credited roles to becoming one of the highest-paying thai actors by the time they were in their twenties. her mom’s career started with modeling and beauty pageants where she first caught the attention of some important industry people and eventually ventured out into acting. after landing the starring roles in what would turn out to be a huge box-office success, the two actors were ultimately catapulted into stardom and became household names. they were like the leonardo dicaprio and kate winslet of thailand, with millions of fans always rooting that there was something more to that onscreen chemistry than just acting and rooting for the two to eventually get together in real life. after five years with continuous denial of any relationship rumors, they finally announced their relationship to the world with engagement news. it was like the type of romance you’d see only in films — two young starlets falling in love behind the scenes to become thailand’s golden, power couple ! after much anticipation from the public, their first-born daughter nina panak was born not too long after their wedding.

before nina was even born, there were already countless of people anticipating what the child of the power couple would turn out to be like. forums and gossip blogs online spent endless of hours speculating and debating her future and what she had to live up to. many believed and hoped she’d turn out to be an oscar-winning star and act in movies just as her parents had, many wondered if she would even be able to fill in their footsteps or if she’d always be in their shadow ? from the moment nina was welcomed into the world, a heavy load of expectations and pressure were put on her shoulders from the start. she was born during the height of her parents’ fame and success, which made it difficult as the first decade of her life she’d spend more time with nannies and people who were paid to take care of her rather than her own parents. as her parents continued to build their careers, venturing out into hollywood films and quickly gaining popularity and fans all around the world (very much like priyanka chopra and deepika padukone) — nina was learning how to walk and getting potty-trained by herself in their billion dollar mansion. 

though her parents were absent from her upbringing in much of her early years, they tried to make up for that later on by attempting to spend more time with her despite their packed schedules and often bringing her to the sets of their film. there, her interest in film and producing first sparked as she watched the entire process and saw how the magic of films came together before her very eyes. 

despite that, she always tried to push those thoughts and interests to the back of her head — wanting to focus on an acting career rather than a technical one to make her parents proud and to satisfy the public’s pre-established image of her. by the time she was in her teen’s, she was actively soughing out roles in tv dramas, going to auditions whenever she can to try and land any role that would jumpstart her career as her parents’ had at that age. her parents would use their connections to get her small roles in films and shows, but nina never got whatever acting gene that her parents had. she was a terrible actor, and was heavily criticized for each and every role she managed to play. eventually she gave up on acting, making many headlines and always leaving gossip blogs to speculate about her future — “nina panak quits acting ?!?!” “nina panak to become another celebrity kid with no talents ?” “click to read more about how [dad’s name here bc i havent decided] panak disowns his daughter, nina panak, after her failed acting career !”

during this time, the relationship between the power couple the media had loved so much had gone sour — much to everyone’s dismay. the day before, she was celebrating her parents’ anniversary with her parents and the rest of the world at their annual party, a party big enough to compare to the parties gatsby would throw in celebration of the day her parents first met each other on set. the next morning, nina woke up to endless headlines and pictures of her mom caught kissing another man off set — a much younger costar she had been working with over the past year for her new film. 

it doesn’t take much to guess what happened after that. her dad was filing divorce papers before she knew it — and their divorce case blew up to be a huge court battle as they argued about alimony and the division of their assets for months. 

after the divorce, nina soured as well. she put on a tougher image and hardened her shell as she put herself back out into the world — refusing to let her parents’ legacy and reputation be the only thing she had tied to her name. 

eventually nina ventured out to smaller jobs behind the scenes, and with the help of a close friend, landed a job as the publicist of a rising star. there, she managed the career of tomo katsumura for years meanwhile finally pursuing her interests in film-making and producing. before she knew it, she was being credited as the executive producer of many box-office hits. rather than being the one to fetch people coffee in the morning, she was directing and ordering hundreds of people around each day and bringing her artistic vision to the screen at the ripe age of 19 — leaving hollywood to ponder in awe about her newfound love and talent in film-making. soon enough, those negative headlines about her soon became headlines praising her for being the youngest executive producer in hollywood, with countless of directors and managers wanting to sign her on and work with her in their next project. 

˚✧ ╱  PERSONALITY !

ok now that u guys know her background and history/family, it’s time to know more about nina herself ! i’m gonna be rly brief w this n just try to condense this as much as i can bc u guys just had to read thru like paragraphs so ima make this easier for all of us KJDGJKDG

nina is very much like a hbic type character, she’s very independent, very powerful n can at times be manipulative if that gets her what she wants

her parents weren’t around much for her emotionally as a kid, so she basically always had to depend on herself n basically raised herself hence why she’s so guarded and has such a tough exterior

she doesn’t let her guard down easily, n even though she can be very mean n cold .. if u mean a lot to her n she trusts u she will do whatever it takes to protect n care for u

ok i would write more but i gotta go now so KGDJGDKJD this is basically nina in a nutshell ! i will make a stats page for her soon so stay tuned x but this is her pinterest right here 

pls plot w me i will message all of u very soon when i get home !!!!

[sol1056]

hey im the anon who asked about how you knew the stuff, sorry i wasn't too clear on what. i just read the post explaining EPs and how the behind the scene stuff worked and i wanted to know how you knew all that, like are you involved in the industry? or just a nerd?

gotcha! Well, remember how back in S1/S2, people kept pointing out Hunk could be… awfully nosy? always getting into things, asking questions?

I was over here going, YES HUNK IS MY PEOPLE. 

It’s a hallmark of a certain type of engineer: insatiable curiosity, and never satisfied with only one answer, always sure there’s more to discover. Okay, we’re not all engineers — a lot of us are Russian Lit majors — but the key is our drive to discover. We take apart, put back together, connect dots close and far, turn things around and study them from a new direction. We’re those people who randomly show up in your part of the building, poke our heads in the room and say, “so, what do all y’all do here? what’s this do? hey, what’s that?”

Despite the fact that most of us seem to be (strangely) strong introverts, that doesn’t stop us. We’ve got questions for everyone. We’ll talk to total strangers all day if we’re on the trail of a particularly interesting idea. In a nutshell, we’re utterly shameless.

I did post-production back when NLE was relatively new and the compositing applications required massive nearly-mainframe computing power. I was mostly in the sfx/cg areas, but I weaseled my way into the color suite pretty regularly. I sat in on editing sessions and was a happy lunch-fetching lackey if it got me a chance to watch the compositing team. Any lull meant a chance to chat up directors, cinematographers, producers, etc. I totally took advantage. 

It’s been awhile since I did that – and since then I’ve been a roady, a mental health & substance abuse admin, a doorman, and even owned a bookstore, before going corporate. But for every wacky thing I’ve done, I’ve also kept in touch with people I met. Frex: the friend who got me the post-production job is now an executive producer. Yes, I do call him with questions. He’s used to it. If he doesn’t know an answer, he sends me to someone who does. (Another reason we’ve been friends for so long.) One answer is never sufficient, never a reason to stop there.

Meet one novelist, get introduced to six more, and three of them write for TV. Oh, that’s handy. Should save that contact, could be useful someday. It’s actually rare for someone to say no, come to think of it. idk, as long as I can get access, I can usually get the person to tell me something I can use. 

However, since my actual area of expertise applies across many industries, I’ve worked all kinds of places. A lot of it’s client-facing, and if you think that means I’m not wandering around the client site poking my head into rooms and cheerfully interviewing people on the spot, then you haven’t been paying attention.

Now that I work at a multinational corporation, I have literally thousands of people in my network, including everyone who’s moved on to a new place. You might be surprised how many people are fine with, “hey, I work at X with Y, and Y told me you’d know this.” Of course, everyone has a bias and a view limited to their own experience, so you can’t stop there. You can’t really understand a situation without knowing the agendas of all the players. You gotta ask a bunch of people, make sure you’re getting the most rounded sense of things. 

Not really a hardship for me. It’s kinda the whole point. 

People are people everywhere (outside cultural quirks), and it’s rare I’m ever researching a single person (I’m not an investigative journalist, if you were wondering). Most of the time, I’m looking for the industry-based cultural expectations. As in, “given X and Y, what would someone who does A generally think is a reasonable action, in this situation?”  

The key is to have a believable reason for asking, and being a writer definitely qualifies. “I’m researching for a story, and I have a character who do X. I wanted to know if it’s realistic for them to know Y. Who do you think would be the best person to ask?” I frequently cold-call, and I never ask “is there someone there,” I ask who they think is the best person. A lot of times it ends up being someone that the phone operator knows (personally or by reputation) who’s full of bizarre trivia and enjoys a chance to show it off. (Plus, it’s amazing what you can learn about a person from all the other subtle cues people are unaware they’re telling, when they’re focused on their area of expertise.)

That’s how I ended up interviewing the Director of the DEA about whether a non-US-university degree would satisfy the education requirement. His letter of introduction got me monthly lunches for awhile with the DEA director in my city. (Oh, the stories I heard.) It’s how I learned about sheep subsidies from one of the top execs at the USDA, and that there’s a single surviving Civil War widow still getting a VA pension. Going in person is even more fun. You could wind up talking to one of the very few artists in the world whose speciality is touching up pre-Renaissance books so the repairs aren’t visible. Or the art historian whose job is going through the nation’s attic and identifying century-old fakes. 

I’ve talked to embassy officials from five different countries, NASA biophysicists and astrophysicists, OSHA inspectors, Nobel prize-winning economists, police detectives, celebrity chefs, environmental lawyers, arena-level sound-people, race-car drivers, potters, opera singers, patent examiners, train mechanics, fire marshals, foley artists, and club DJs. I’ve interviewed fashion photographers, farriers, puppeteers, lighting designers, Catholic bishops, bioethicists, rabbis, fighter pilots, public radio personalities, newspaper editors, chemists, club organizers, war correspondents, Episcopalian nuns (yes they exist), textile artists, prison architects, midwives, cabinetmakers, tall ship sailors, haute couture seamstresses, and civil engineers. On and on and on. 

Don’t neglect official avenues, either. The Department of Labor, the International Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, the Screen Writers’ Guild, the list is nearly endless — any organization, union, or federal/state dept that sets or guides policy. Everyone has a bias, so what people consider normal is sometimes… not. Or they just didn’t know (or saw no need to know, the fools) the reason for A over B. You have to check the rules, because a discrepancy between what you’re told should be done versus what people tell you is actually done… is also useful to know. 

(Labor practices are definitely one of those areas, since federal labor policy is something every company must observe. It’s the law. So when a workplace seems to be violating the law, it raises a lot of interesting questions.) 

And finally, of course, there’s traditional research. Textbooks written by people in an industry can be particularly interesting, especially if it’s a book meant for readers outside that industry (which usually means a lot of firsthand anecdotes to round out the gaps). Popular articles, academic essays, post-mortem white papers, TED talks, interviews. You need to do your basic homework, because there’s no waste of someone’s time quite like asking them a question that’s patently absurd once you get past common assumptions. 

I once explained the plot of a popular SF show to a NASA astrophysicist, and his response was simply, “Every word you used was English, but those words in that order make absolutely no sense at all.” Kind of a dead-end, there. You can’t come at a top-level expert with intro-level questions. 

Since I don’t always know who I’ll stumble over next, being an information sponge means I at least have a whole encyclopedia of analogies. If I can find  common ground (cars and houses are two of the best), I can at least get a basic idea of the person’s meaning. “Oh, so it’s like when you turn the key in the ignition, and the lights don’t come on because the battery is dead?” 

It’s asking the right questions, using an open and friendly approach, and having the right timing. Remember: there is no such thing as unskilled labor; there is only undervalued labor. That is, their time is also valuable, so be brief, open, and sincere. Treat every person as if they’re an authority in something, even if you haven’t figured out what that is. 

The world is a massively complex place, and contains more things than are dreamt of in our philosophies, all of it waiting to be discovered.

Or, the shorter version:

btw: I don’t actually recommend going in person to the Dept of the Interior, though. You’ll get lost. Like, instantly. That place is MASSIVE.

[scngrias-blog]

a KIM TAEHYUNG lookalike was strolling down broadway street in their louboutin dandelion spikes loafers. everett "evie" khang just had a birthday bash for his twenty-fourth birthday. he has been living in new york city for twenty-three years. i hear he tends to be hedonistic at parties, but also kind of exuberant. ( cismale & he/him. )

h-hewwo? is this thing on?? anywAYS hi i'm cait, i'm 24 ( internally 90 tbh ) i live in cst and i prefer she/her pronouns. NOW onto the good shit, aka the intro post about this bb right here. i will say that there's not a ton of super deep information bc i am still working on his background and whatnot but i have some general info and basics along w a bullet point bio / personality thing & some wanted plot ideas ( which are also v basic wow ). if you'd like to plot you can like this, hmu on tumblr ims or if you have discord you can find me @𝓬𝓪𝓲𝓽. ✨💮#7518 !! i'm literally about to walk out the door to go to dinner and a movies with my mom as soon as i'm done posting this so i won't be able to be on for a starter or plotting until LATER but please don't hesitate to hmu i'm v excited to be here !!!!

general information.

full name: everett khang.

nickname(s): evie, ev.

date of birth: october 10th.

age: twenty-four.

nationality: korean.

spoken languages: english, korean, chinese, japanese, french & spanish.

gender: cismale.

pronouns: he / him / his.

sexuality: bisexual.

faceclaim: kim taehyung ( v ) of bts.

background.

hometown: ulsan, south korea.

financial status: upper class.

occupation: socialite, trust fund baby & sugar baby.

education level: high school diploma.

biography.

born in korea though he didn't get to see much of it as his parents moved to NY right before he turned 2.

birth name was actually khang eunsu but his parents decided to make his name more 'americanized' for him due to the fact they were worried about people mispronouncing his name or making fun of him for it.

his parents were both well known for their skills in the medical industry. ( his father a surgeon, his mother a vet. ) and they happened to make quite a bit of money as a result.

this meant that evie never really had to lift a finger growing up, his parents buying him anything and everything he wanted.

basically bc of them he became a spoiled brat and thought the world revolved around him and well, they never corrected this behavior.

it wasn't because they didn't notice it, though. it was because of the fact they both were constantly gone, leaving evie with a handful of nannies that basically ended up raising him while his parents were at work.

so they tried to make up for it by buying his love and affection, getting the newest, latest and greatest of everything they could to try and make up for the guilt of leaving their kid in the hands of people who weren't his parents.

it worked, for a while. evie was content, a good student, never missed a day of school. the image of perfection for his parents, minus the sassy attitude and big mouth he'd had ever since the day he could talk.

but over the years, things started to change. everett grew up and started to realize what his parents were doing in buying him things or giving him money every single day they were gone and he started to realize that they were trying to buy his love.

this caused a pain in his heart as he started to think that maybe they just didn't want to be around him at all, finding every way to blame himself for them constantly being absent.

of course, it wasn't his fault, though. his parents work schedules were hectic.

but it still took a toll on him and due to that pain he felt, he turned to alcohol, cigarettes and drugs. anything he could get his hands on to numb himself ever-so-slightly, he'd buy.

that's when he started to ask them for more money, using their guilt of never being around against them only to turn around and spend it all on parties, booze & drugs.

they never found out about any of that, not once. evie kept that life and his life at home completely separate, continuing to excel in school while going on benders every weekend.

it wasn't until he turned 18 that they found out, his mother coming home to find a very drunk everett lying on the living room floor screaming out the lyrics to a queen song.

it didn't go over well, they threatened to take away everything if he didn't start trying to become an 'adult', threatened to stop giving him the money he needed to get his quick fixes if he couldn't provide for some things on his own.

so he started looking into jobs, though nothing stuck out to him. until he happened to stumble across a 'sugar baby' app. who wouldn't want to make money simply by looking pretty and spending time with someone else?

and before he knew it, he had quite a few benefactors paying for anything and everything evie could ever wants. cars, clothes, booze, drugs... it didn't matter. the money was flooding in and he loved every second of it.

personality.

a sweetheart, honestly. so caring and kind to ( almost ) everyone he meets.

however, if you piss him off, say something bad about him or a friend, or threaten him.. boy does his personality change like a flash of lightning. he'll go from innocent angel to someone who can rip you to shreds just by the words that flow from his lips.

but he could also physically hurt someone too, if it came down to it. his parents made him take kickboxing & self defense classes for most of his life so he knows how to take care of himself even though he tends to act like he's helpless.

extremely affectionate, will hug, hold hands, cuddle & kiss anyone and has no shame in that whatsoever.

a highkey shopaholic, he's shopping in store or online at least once a day, sometimes more.

outfits can go from a hoodie and sweats to a tailored three piece suit, very versatile and loves fashion so his 'look' changes a lot. as does his hair color.

has a tendency to be pretty bratty when he wants to be. ( which is most of the time )

one of the biggest flirts and teases anyone will ever meet.

a heaux.

extremely hedonistic and pretty much just does whatever he wants to do without thinking about how it'd effect him or the people around him.

loves drama.. will sit with a bag of popcorn on the sidelines watching it all go down w the biggest smile on his face.

loves to cook, cooks frequently and usually in abundance meaning he'll probably end up showing up with food like 'surprise!'.

him in a nutshell is that one tumblr post: due to personal reasons i'm baby.

plot ideas.

bad influence. ( on your muse. )

best friends.

childhood friend.

confidant.

current hook up(s).

drinking buddies.

drunken hook up.

enemies that used to be friends.

enemies.

exes who ended on bad terms.

flirtationship.

frenemies.

friendly competition.

friends that used to be enemies.

friends with benefits.

good influence. ( on everett. )

hate sex.

one night stand(s). ( past & present. )

partner in crime.

party buddies.

past hook up(s).

ride or die.

social media friends.

trouble makers.

unlikely friends.