#bc people weren't going to be there consistently including me

[daisydisciple]

ok so I'm the new choir director in my ysa ward and we sang today and it turned out really good and a bunch of people came up to me (both in the choir and not) and thanked me for putting it together and the bishop texted me and thanked me and ✨💕✨🌸🎵✨ anyway it's just nice to be appreciated bc I did put in a lot of effort and it didn't feel so much like pulling teeth getting people to come like last time I was choir director in my last ward and like. yeah just doing my calling I'm happy to do it but everyone was being so nice to me :)

[rabbitsrams]

having a tough time and thinking about schlatt with a perpetually lonely reader

he’d be so sweet always inviting you out with him and his friends, just spending so much time with you if you’ve had a hard week. bringing you home your favorite food and all his love

i need a big guy hug i need to be squeezed to death stella

aww scout this is a sweet idea :( also relatable bc that's my life in college :( i hope it gets better for u soon ilysm 🫂🫂🫂

yes schlatt is 100% that welcoming friend. like you two met in a class or something and he knows you don't have many friends at school so he makes it his goal to try and include you in everything.

it starts off simple. he invites you to eat lunch with him after class, which takes you by surprise since you usually eat alone and he always eats with his friends. but he insists you join him.

meeting his friends is a little awkward at first, but they're very welcoming especially since schlatt has talked you up so much to them (!!!!!!).

and it's nice!! you get along with them very well :)) mostly just vibing

but after it's all done, you think it's the last time. you know these things are usually one-time, they're not actually your real friends, they were just being friendly.

but you're surprised when schlatt texts you that weekend. he's at your building, asking if you want to hang out. you're confused but you accept, cause you weren't doing anything anyway.

and you have just as much as a good time, if not even better. it's a lot more chill at his dorm, not worrying about others being loud in the dining hall and being able to relax. you were never invited back to someone's dorm before and it was a nice feeling.

schlatt becoming a consistent guest at your dorm (you're so thankful that your roommate is often gone) and you guys study together, hang out, talk, etc.

meets you outside your classrooms after class and walks with you to get food <3

also takes you out to his favorite sports off-campus to eat <333 and insists on paying <333333

you often lament to him about your difficulty to make friends. its not like you haven't tried, because you have. it kind of boils down to people not being genuine, you not getting a connection with them despite trying to.

and he reassures you that you don't need to have 1,000 fake friends to be happy in college. these people probably won't matter after graduation.

"hey, if makes you feel better, 'least you've got me."

that makes you cry. you hug him tight and he returns it with equal fervor, squeezing you and never wanting to let go. you mean so much to him, you're such a genuine person and probably the best friend he's ever made at that school.

and possibly wanting to become more than friends 😉

[recentadultburnout]

Info for writer in Thai series fandom: Buddhist ceremony

Buddhism has a principle called "Ovada-patimokkha", which is sometimes called the "heart of Buddhism." In the Ovada-patimokkha, there are three main principles we see as a basic lesson and talk about a lot.

1. Cease to do evil (abstain from sin) 2. Cultivate that which is good (make good deeds) 3. Purify the heart (clear your mind from sorrow or sinful thought)

By trying to follow the teachings of this principle, it leads to an attempt to do good deeds by actions that can be seen. It consists of 3 things:

1. alms: the giving of one's possessions for the benefit of others 2. Precepts: keeping the body and speech in order. 3. Prayer: training the mind to be calm and wise.

The Buddhist ceremony is where we will do those 3 things together with other Buddhists. Sometimes it happens as a national event and sometimes as a personal event between groups of families and friends.

The ceremony that is organized for personal reasons can be categorized according to the occasion into two types.

1. Auspicious ceremonies such as merit making, ordaining, topknot shaving, getting married, moving to a new house, and so on.

2. Inauspicious ceremony such as the death of parents, teachers, or relatives. When a Buddhist dies, their family will make merit at the funeral for 7 days, 50 days, or 100 days depending on their ability and determination. They will also make merit on the anniversary of the death of loved ones. Or if other bad things happen, people will also organize a ceremony to try to make the misfortune go away or to alleviate the sorrow. 

I will not go into detail about how you should go and organize one yourself. But if you want any details in particular, please do let me know. Except if you are really about to organize one by yourself, then please consult with someone else, not me. I usually just do what others do, so I kind of know what the ceremony consists of, but I never remember the order in which things happen. 

The ceremony will begin after the monks we have invited arrive at the ceremony site, so that will be the first thing to happen. The organizer of the event will then light incense and candles and pray to the Triple Gem, followed by the churchwarden (makanayok) taking over for a while before the monks begin to chant.When the chant is over, the host will offer food and various equipment to the monks. 

Different things can have different meanings if you believe in superstition, so it can be a factor in what you choose as an offering, but I think it will be best to prioritize efficiency first when choosing what to offer or donate. Something like alcohol and accessories is forbit and if you include it, it can be considered as sin.

After the monks accept those things, they will bless and anoint/sprink holy water on the attendees. Then the ceremony is kind of done. 

When I attend a ceremony organized by my school, there is no lunch break because it will finish before that time, but if it is organized by my relative, the food offering will happen at lunch time (before 12 p.m. bc eating after 12 p.m. is against the rule for Thai monks), and we will offer other things after everyone eats lunch, and we will pour ceremonial water somewhere near the end.

If the one who organized the event requests the monks will preach on the requested topic, I'm not sure when but they will. 

Other things

Attendees are expected to chant some parts along with the monks. I never sure which part and just copy someone who sit near me.😅

pouring ceremonial water is a symbol of the intention of giving the merits that we have done to those who have passed away. We will pour water into the ground or pour it into some sort of container and then into the ground or at the base of the tree afterward. When there weren't enough jugs, many people have a habit of touching one another, starting from the one who has it when it's time to pour the water in order to participate.

Ordination can occur from many intentions and occasions. Some people might do it with the intention of being a monk for life, while others might do it only for a short period on a special occasion. The occasion can be when a close relative or a benefactor passes away and he enters the priesthood while the body is being cremated, before he gets married, when something bad happens, or to make his parents happy. Sometimes it was even to redeem oneself. When a person does a bad thing and feels guilty, they might choose to compensate by ordination and, in some cases, they will do it as a life-long commitment. It was also a way for the poor to give their children access to an education in the past. Because when a child becomes a novice monk, they get to learn how to read and write. Most Buddhist men will be ordained at least once in their lives. 

5 and 8 precepts. 5 precept is to abstain from taking life, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech, alcohol or other intoxicants. 8 precepts is the same as 5 precepts but with 3 more, which are don't eat after noon, don't partake in entertainment such as dancing, singing, and also anything related to making yourself pretty, and don't use a high and soft bed. 

Index

[seffien]

any headcannons for your agents?

oh plenty, but let me keep it as short as i can

cap'n 3 (real name junko 'jun' ishikawa):

country kid who was entranced by inkopolis plaza's unusual (to her) look

was originally super cheerful and peppy before Various Incidents

very creative, but none of the adults in her life ever appreciated it

likes to draw (doesn't do it much now) and bought a bass guitar during the events of splat 1 because she loved squid squad that much

became suuuper close with gramps and the squid sisters (as a matter of fact, the 'jun' nickname came from marie) bc her own 'family' was. um.

being sanitized kind of ruined her a bit. her left eye is a slightly lighter shade than her other one to this day, and the sanitization gave her memory loss, an aversion to food, and general odd behavior for a while

looks menacing, is really kind of tired and also shy

gave 4 her old agent outfit (cape included) since she didn't really need it anymore

still cannot believe she's the captain

very different from her younger, happier, more awake self, but she tries not to think about that.

agent 4 (real name naoki 'masu' masuda):

parents wanted her to be a prodigy, and the pressure they put on her made her snap and run away. most pre-inkopolis square memories are deeply repressed

basically no one gave a shit about her when she first moved to inkopolis except for the splat 2 promo kid with the black v-neck tee. they're still kinda sorta friends

liked flow because she felt like she cared (and she actually kinda did)

pushes herself way too hard, somewhat self-conscious

got a few injuries during hero mode and was hesitant to let marie patch em up

straight up did not speak until callie got saved. still doesn't really talk much.

her and marie weren't super besties at first, the only reason they ever clicked was because they were both sad loners with negative self-esteem

'masu' came from eight, and she's kind of fond of the nickname

agent 8 (real name emiko 'miko' yamasaki):

marina found her real name in the octarian records seen in that one chat room session

actually was in a few kettles, was not very good

never wanted to fight, always wanted to write (poetry, specifically)

learned inkling from 4 and eventually 3

kept thinking 4's first name was masuda (it isn't.)

did not like going outside when she first arrived to the surface

wasn't an artist, but tended to draw hypothetical mem cakes of people she deemed important, like 3 and 4

smiles to cover up The Internal Suffering, almost no one ever buys it because a) it looks very fake and b) she never holds it. as soon as a stranger disappears, so does the smile

along with 3, callie, and marie, she consistently reminds 4 that she's stronger than she thinks and that she matters and isn't useless

terrifyingly good in turf and ranked, even won a championship that off the hook basically begged her to enter. she got a trophy and still thought 'cool i guess. no big deal.'

works at ammo knights in splat 3, and since she knows a thing or two about wounds n stuff from her time in the army, she's also the crew's medic

new 3 (real name veronika 'ronnie' yamada):

chill, goes with the flow, probably the happiest out of all the agents (not even that happy, it's a low bar to clear)

everyman when it comes to every mode (tableturf, turf, ranked, what have you)

cheers up people she's played with between matches if they're sad

oblivious to hiro's sort of obvious crush on her

barely redesigns her locker, and when they do, it's usually to add a sticker

used a fake ID to play turf in the splat 1 days, was tall for her age around that time. she still feels kinda guilty about it

waved back to deep cut post-RotM

found shiver chilling in the alternan ocean with master mega a few days after the events of RotM, got to pet him

a character who's just kind of. well. there

adopted kid of an inkling and an octoling, literally lived in a cabin in the woods. she's still in contact with them

resting face looks like smash ultimate young link's

steph and her are both acquaintances and besties. acquaintabesties. steph took care of them while they were sick and they took care of steph after she slosher machined her way into muscle atrophy (not actually, thankfully)

has a walkman and a boombox. doesn't even care what's official, just buys things from in-universe eBay

[prosk8r]

mothers of large families (especially in poor communities) were probably some of the most capable and intelligent people in history and no I'm not even kidding a little bit

I won't pretend like there haven't been more educated people or more skilled and talented people, but in terms of like, groups of people who were consistently capable and should have/were respected and had authority, being a matriarch of a large family (especially if the family was largely still living considering how frequent infant and child mortality was) was quite a feat to achieve

you have to be able to manage a household, so any and all domestic affairs (cleaning, cooking, child rearing, finance, like all social engagement planning and the actual social performance), insane amounts of emotional labor, plus!! play doctor, play carpenter, play field worker, play basket weaver (which is another piece of domestic labor that would probably be sold for money so it's not like they weren't already!!! providing as a worker!!), and basically "play" professions that they weren't allowed to hold because of lack of means and their gender

if you're poor and you have one kid and they get sick, it's going to be hard but you can usually scrape together enough funds/donations to go to the doctor for your one kid who's sick (obviously dependant on the situation, this is a generic hypothetical).

if you have six, seven kids, hell even more! historically families would have like 12, 15 kids to make sure enough lived and were able to work, especially farmers. if you have that many kids, and one of them is sick, you don't go to a doctor, you start taking care of what you can at home. you don't get medicine, you use home remedies and leftovers from previous prescriptions. obviously im not saying like, it's a good idea to forgoe medical treatment or to share medications/save old medications (especially not anti biotics lol), but in the past, when you're poor, you would need to have a much keener sense of illness, of injury, of disease, in order to gauge if you NEED medical treatment bc largely it isn't something you can just go get

and this applies to any profession that they were capable of performing (didn't require apprenticeship or formal education/training to do nonprofessionally), bc you end up learning to do what you can't afford to buy. i bet your parents cut your own hair till you were a certain age. a lot of parents never stop!

this is all to say, I was texting my mom today ab a condition I had just found out I have, and she was able to name it by me just describing it, bc one of my siblings had it when they were little. she said "not officially diagnosed, me diagnosed" and I remembered the millions of times that I had brought up symptoms and she had a clue ab what it was, all the times she had a book for just the right task/craft/research topic. I remember her climbing on ladders and fixing things, painting, laboring in a way that most would consider "men's work" or tradesman work. There is so much that my mom has done because she needed to, for her or for her kids, and so much of that has been forgotten or taken for granted as I've needed less constant support to survive.

Obviously fathers, and poor fathers especially, have had to do and still do similar things. being poor is not a gendered phenomenon. but when culturally you are tied to an entire domestic sphere, when you aren't traditionally (or legally!) allowed to work or become educated, there is a unique aspect to that perspective that includes the expected societal role of women that I find very interesting, and sincerely overlooked

[chooseyouovereveryone]

I think people who talk about Brittana only focusing on each other and not friendships are talking about individual friendships, which santana was completely lacking in season six. Even Brittany had friendship moments, but not Santana.

It doesn't mean that she doesn't care but that the writers were lazy and didn't care about wrapping up her friendships and giving them closure.

Okay fair but I think as well as the writers, a lot of it is also down to the fact Naya was kind of done with Glee by S6 (after all the S5 drama). She really only came back to finish the Brittana storyline off, she was on with other projects by then and I don't think her heart was in it anymore because of everything that had happened at the end of S5 and I mean who could blame her? Her consistent professionalism was taken advantage of.

She made the decision to come back on a limited contract and said her main reasoning was to finish that specific storyline so I guess I totally understand why all her scenes are so Brittana heavy, and I'm aware as a Brittana shipper I sound biased, but honestly? I was just happy to see Naya back for S6. I'm more like "thank god Naya came back for S6 and Santana got closure" as opposed to "They did Santana dirty in S6". Like imagine 5x19 was the last we saw of Santana and we just got some throwaway reference in S6 that she was living happily with Britt. No final UHT number, no full circle proposing in the choir room paralleling how scared she was during Landslide, no Alfie, no seeing her abuela accept her (I'm aware real life isn't always this nice but I think it gave a lot of people hope seeing these scenes), no seeing Santana marry the girl she had shed so many tears over etc.

Of course I wanted more Santana overall. Of course I would have loved wholesome scenes with Mercedes, Kurt, Quinn, Rachel and all the people she formed meaningful relationships with as closure, but I also understand that due to Naya stepping down they had limited time to give closure to other things we wanted to see (Brittana endgame and seeing them have more scenes together after all the little screen time they had, Santana's abuela accepting her, Brittany being more vocal in her love for Santana etc). These are all things fans had asked for various times (Brittana fans were the best at getting things trending WW don't @ me). There's only so much they could fit in when Naya was on a reduced contract so I guess we can't have it all? & I just think as with all things Glee you have to revert to head canon and subtext. I.e. she arrived in Lima with Mercedes after just being on tour with her, she shared her wedding day with Kurt and Kurt and Blaine talk about hanging out with Britt and Santana in 6x13, re: Quinn we had a UHT number in 6x02 which showed the dynamics of their bond (even if Santana wants to say she and Quinn didn't call each other, it's obvious in every ep where Quinntana are featured after graduation, that whenever they're together it's like nothing has changed), and I think all the Pezberry clan wish there had been more post-feud closure in S6 (myself included bc I could get way more behind them if they got their S4/5 closeness back) but with the drama surrounding Lea and Naya I think it's obvious why that didn't happen, and I also think they had good closure in S5 (Santana covering for Rachel in FG and then Rachel thanking her over dinner). Also the 6x06 scene of the Glee Club being there for Santana as family, and how happy she is, is very symbolic. As is the fact they were all there for the proposal. Like idk all of those friendships had closure for me, and maybe they weren't as explicit as we would have liked, but if you read between the lines it's obvious Santana (and Britt) stayed close with all their friends.

S6 for Brittana was merely (by both actresses choice) meant to be a snapshot of a small period of their lives, which is the two of them temporarily back in Lima & getting married. Of course they're going to be in a bit of a bubble during that time, because they weren't settled into their real life. They were always together because they were planning their wedding and I guess their stint in Lima was like an extended holiday (or vacation bc most people reading this are probably American). I don't think for a minute that when they moved to New York they were constantly joined at the hip with no care for their friends. New York would be where their real lives started, and ofc I wish we got to see that, I long to see domesticated Brittana and I wish we saw them more in the flash-forward too but I get why we couldn't have it all.

Overall as a huge Santana fan (yes Brittana are my bbys but I adore Santana as an individual too) I was very happy with her ending bc it felt very full circle. Do I wish we had more screen time (which would have included more closure on her friendships)? Ofc. But ultimately it was out of our hands because that's what Naya wanted. It's the same as the fact I wish S5 had more Brittana (like Santana turning up in NYC and never mentioning Britt, what was that!?), but Heather was only a guest star bc she'd had a baby so you have to just read between the lines to know Brittana were still together. The same way I read between the lines in S6 to know that Santana and Britt still loved and valued their friends.

[randomboo256]

Sonic 2 Review

very light spoilers

I'll preface this by saying that the most entertained I was while watching it was when I starting playing Kingdom Hearts music over the movie whenever they talked about the power of friendship/teamwork/family. That was the only time I smiled, and that was because of my own joke.

The story is whatever. A lot of the movie felt like filler. A lot of the wedding stuff and the stupid dance off could have been completely cut. Also that weird online casino ad in the middle of it felt kinda random but idk I was kinda into it.

I would be fine with the plot more if the characters were entertaining. They weren't. I liked Sonic at points, but at other times I was genuinely annoyed by the blue rodent. The movie had awful humor, and the supercharged rat was the source of a lot of the jokes. A good amount of Sonic's lines in these films are just shitty pop culture references. Am I watching fucking Family Guy? Sonic is also still acting like a kid in this movie, even by the end. The film starts by saying Sonic should be more mature, and the film ends by... saying Sonic should be more mature.

WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THIS THEN??!!

From a character development perspective, this movie is a fucking filler episode. Maybe in the next movie Sonic will act more like the games? Or maybe the one after that? Or after that? or after that. or after that...

Tails felt completely unnecessary. Tails only feels like he's here because they teased him in the previous movie. Like "oh shit, we actually need to include him now". He's introduced so suddenly, like they retroactively forced him into a scene. He and Sonic also take no time before immediately becoming friends. He has almost nothing to do character wise. Even plot wise he has basically no point in being here other than further convince Sonic that he should be more mature, which Tails didn't need to be here to do. He also didn't have much of a personality. They insist he's a smart guy but he never does anything smart, except for once during the last fight scene. His personality is essentially the "obsessed yet embarrassed blushing fangirl" role. Wait a second...

Knuckles was ok, but he feels like a ripoff of Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy, mixed with a bit of Teen Titans Starfire with how they say sentences weirdly. "Base of the ball" is a quote from him. Originality. His turnaround was quick and jarring. He's like "but eggy weggy, I thought we were fwiends?!😢" and Robuttnik is like "bitch I've been shitting on the concept of friendship this whole movie. Shoulda saw this coming ngl". Then Knucklehead nearly drowns and Sonic saves him then Fuckles says "Y u save me?" and Sonic says "bc Im epic. Lets be pals".

They try to give all three "tragic backstories" which is such a played out trope. "Oh shit, how are we going to get our audience to feel empathy for our characters? I know! Just say that when they were a kid they got pissed and shit on or something!". It's just lazy writing.

Eggman was frankly annoying. It seems like the creators heard people liked Jim Carrey's overacting in Sonic 1, so they tripled down on it her. I thought he was ok in 1, but they pushed the "I'm a crazy smart weirdo" thing too far in 2. I was hoping that they would make Eggman act a little closer to the games in 2, but alas.

The humans had basically nothing. Tom was probably my favorite character just because he served as a straightman to all this nonsense, but even he barely had any screentime. The rest of the humans were either uninteresting or obnoxious.

All of this wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the consistently bad dialogue. It's like the movie was written in a week.. then thrown through Google Translate a few times.

OK, maybe it's not THAT bad. After all, I didn't hate the movie, but I was also struggling to keep myself watching it. I'll be honest, I'm very easily entertained person. If even I'M constantly checking the runtime, you fucked up. If this movie wasn't about Sonic, I wouldn't have finished it. I understand the movie is written for like infants, but I feel like a Sonic movie should target older age demographics. I've always imagined Sonic as a more tweenage focused series, but these films are clearly aiming lower. Oh well. The references were neat I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.

I don't do ratings, but I'd give it maybe a 4/10. The CGI and some of the cinematography looked good, I liked some of the action, and I think kids would probably like it. It's not for me, that's for sure.

[jinlian]

i know u said u weren't going to rant but i rlly want to hear ur thoughts on yuuri having a breakdown on the ice (which was p ic to me) and viktor just,, barely responding? like at first i thought he was following yuuri's advice abt staying close to him and not talking but then the entire 'lets talk abt how gr8 the other skaters are and also not defend yuuri from yurio at all' rubbed me the wrong way kubo why

okay i have a LOT of thoughts on it. let’s buckle in

you’re absolutely right that yuuri’s breakdown on the ice was very in-character for him. i wrote a lot of meta after episode 11 aired since there was a lot of debate regarding victor’s reactions, but i didn’t touch as much on yuuri. i think that breakdown made a ton of sense. first, i’m absolutely insistent that yuuri was criminally underscored. criminally. i know the idea is that he let his presentation slip but the technical difficulty (including his landed quad flip that only had a small negative deduction on the grade of execution) and his overall ability in steps, spins, and presentation could not have possibly been low enough to keep him below 100 points especially considering the ridiculous overscoring throughout the rest of the short programs. the only thing i can think of is that his actual spins were downgraded to level 3s but considering what we know of his spins and steps even when he’s an absolute mess (the last grand prix final, when he caught yurio’s attention?) i downright don’t believe it.

but it makes sense that he broke down, because it’s yuuri. the confidence he had leading into the grand prix final was absolutely fantastic. the glimpse we get of him with victor in practice determined to put the 4F in his short program sheds a lot of light on it, i think. yuuri’s determined to prove that his and victor’s love is powerful enough to do anything, to win. it’s been his theme the whole season: he’s going to win with the power of love. he had a poor free skate at the rostelecom cup and just barely squeaked into the grand prix final. he’s coming off of that, and he’s newly engaged, and he’s desperate to prove that he hasn’t been making this up all along. in his mind it’s approaching on his last chance. and when he doesn’t nail the 4F for him it’s like--well, i failed here. my love isn’t strong enough. it isn’t good enough. and he breaks down.

and as for victor’s side i really don’t think he did anything wrong. here’s the post i wrote after ep11 and despite his return in ep12 i actually still totally stand by it (still don’t think victor wanted to go back to competing. still think he’s doing it for yuuri. but the point is that yuuri had told him in episode 7 that victor doesn’t need to say anything--just to stand by him.

victor is very, very introspective. it’s not a new point to his character; this is consistent throughout the series, despite his occasional childlike happiness. he’s probably chronically depressed but doesn’t quite know all the answers of how to support  someone’s chronic anxiety but he’s definitely listened and he’s definitely trying, and i really think victor is thinking. he’s doing exactly what yuuri asked him to do, which was just to stand by him. they literally sit in the kiss and cry for far too long and hold each other while victor asks himself “what can i give yuuri now?”. victor doesn’t take his arms off of yuuri. what can he say? they both know yuuri scored low, they both know yuuri is extremely upset about it. sometimes there’s nothing too say. you just stand by the man you love and look forward to the next day.

victor’s allowed to enjoy other people’s performances. he’s allowed. it’s pretty much canon that he’d never paid much attention to anyone besides himself, and if he was preparing to bid farewell to figure skating, he’s allowed to watch other people’s performances!! he’s allowed to enjoy them! victor’s human! 

yurio is a mess lmfao honestly i’m just mad about the writing of his character in general and episode 11 was Messy. i don’t blame “no defending” on anyone but him bc it’s bullshit especially after ep9 that it was needed at all. and i mean what are they supposed to do, yell at a 15 y/o in public and point out further that yuuri didn’t have his best short program ever? wouldn’t have helped. 

ep11 was a mess but i don’t have too much of a problem with the main characters’ reactions. it’s just yurio where i’m like.. whatever