#but yeah I can see why after all that the class of 2018 and onward got special disaster training

[hotgirlssupportlando]

one day x lando norris pt 3

this is a part of my series following one day of every summer from 2016 onwards in y/n’s and landos lives, exploring their friendship and love for one another. ofc not a smooth ride with some angst and fights along the way. a friends to lovers, growing up together kind of thing. read first part here pairing: lando norris x fem!reader summary of this part: y/n having a hard time adjusting to life at uni so she turns to her friend lando for comfort warnings: none? a little sad wc: 1,1k a/n: sorry it has been a while since posting, i've been finishing my masters thesis and processing lando's first win!!! yayyy :) BUT i'm going to upload more frequently now x

late summer of 2018

y/n was on the verge of tears, breathing heavily to calm herself as the outgoing facetime call echoed in her university dorm room. she was sat on the floor of the dark room with her back uncomfortably leaning against her bed.

”please, please, pleease lando pick up” she whispered desperately, praying that he wasn’t too busy preparing for another upcoming f2 weekend. seconds felt like minutes when the only person she wanted to talk to didn’t pick up his phone. y/n sighed and was about to end the call when the  deafening silence suddenly was cut with a loud and excited ”hellooo my smart girl!!”. in about two nanoseconds y/n could see that lando was at the gym training with jon, immediately regretting that she called.

”oh i’m sorry i can call you later” y/n said trying to sound as happy as she could in the state that she was in. but lando knew her from inside and out so her act wasn’t very convincing.

”hey y/n, what’s going on? are you okay?” lando said after processing the sight.

”yeah no it’s nothing.. i can call you when you’re done training” y/n said as she faked another smile. 

”y/n seriously you have a nice smile but you can’t convince anyone with that, i can see from miles away that something’s wrong. and however i’m done with training so i’m all yours” lando said with a concerned voice as he walked over to a private part of the gym. 

”thanks lan.. I, I just-” y/n whispered, looking away from the boy up to the ceiling to prevent any tears from developing. ”I just don’t fit in here lan.. it’s not at all what i thought it would be”

”oh darling.. i’m sorry to hear that”

”i just don’t know what to do, i haven’t even got any friends lando! how pathetic is that?? i’m surrounded with geeks and people with zero social skills who all have found friends but not me? ugh i just hate this place, i hate all these people..” 

the girl in his phone who had tried her best to keep it together bursted out into tears. ”you know how much i wanted this! i’ve always imagined that the university would be my thing, where i would find my place and blossom. but tell me how can i do that when all i manage to do is sit alone in classes, sit alone and eat and then go to my dorm to - surprise - sit alone on my bed being depressed.”

”i’m so sorry y/n..”

”…AND as the icing of the cake, not a single on of my friends are even close to fucking edinburgh - couldn’t somebody have prevented me from coming here? why didn’t i just stay in london where everybody else is? nooo, i just had to be special.” y/n sobbed as tears streamed down her face. 

”i ju-, just miss everyone so much lando. i miss my friends. i miss my family. i miss you. i miss you for not being five minutes from my home. i miss our drives and talks and laughs lando. it feels like i haven’t seen you in forever”

”i know y/n i miss you too, it has been too long since i saw you in any other place than my phone”

y/n wiped away her tears ”yeah.. i’m sorry i know you’re busy with everything in f2, i don’t mean to blame you for this.. i just miss your stupid hugs so damn much sometimes” she said as a small smile cracked upon her lips. 

”heey i didn’t know my hugs were that badly ranked” lando giggled receiving a laugh from y/n too. 

”and y/n?”

”hm?” ”why haven’t you told me that edinburgh is in a different timezone than london?” he asked.

”what? it isn’t? who tricked you into that?” y/n answered confused.

lando laughed, ”y/n look around you, it’s so pitch black in that room i can barely see you! the only thing my screen is picking up is your bleached teeth”

”lol lando it’s called depression” y/n laughed ”i’m always in depression-timezone, always hauntingly black surroundings, nothing for cheerful and life-enjoying boys like you” she joked.

”no, no, no let’s not go back to you being sad again, i just managed to make you happy again!!” lando proclaimed. 

”whoops sorry” she smiled ”no but seriously thank you lando, i really needed this. someone to vent to. but now i really have to go, i’m getting late to my class, even though i’m pretty sure no one’s missing me”

”stop it y/n, you’re missed, if not by your lame classmates then by me and all your friends and family”

”thanks lando, that’s very sweet of you. bye now” y/n smiled, this time genuinely. 

”bye darling”

—

hours later that night y/n was, like every other night, sat on her bed watching friends for the millionth time. her newly made tea was way too hot to drink so she put the mug on her bedside table. as she was on her way to snuggle back under her sheets watching her series she heard a knock from her door. y/n froze. without moving too much and making any noise she looked at the clock on her wrist. 23:38. after watching way too many documentaries she automatically drew the conclusion that it with most certainty was a killer of some sort. with this in mind she quietly picked up the nearest item to defend herself with, a hot cup of tea. 

it knocked on the door again. but it wouldn’t be possible for anyone to enter the building without anybody noticing, right? y/n calmed down a little bit, taking her phone with her to be able to call for help if it was needed. slowly she walked to her door and opened it. the sight in front of her was beyond what she had imagined. it was lando. there he was standing in her corridor in the middle of the night with a bouquet of flowers in one hand and 12-pack of pepsi max in the other. the sight made her revisit the memory of them meeting two years ago when he, with the same smirk on his face and a similar bouquet of flowers in his hand, won a bet against her leading to their first kiss. y/n smiled when she noticed the pepsi in his other hand, as he since that day in 2016 always provided her with the drink as some sort of consolation prize for the lost bet.

”i heard you were in need of a stupid hug” lando smiled

—

taglist

@amberpanda99 @phantomxoxo @landossainz @chezmardybum @lan4cha16

[stunudo]

BAU Prep School AU: Class of 18

A Criminal Minds Fan-fiction Series

Welcome to the Frederick Buchanan Institute located in scenic Quantico, Virginia, a senior high academy that shapes the best and brightest minds. Its motto is “Behavior, Analysis, Unity,” the mascot the Submariners, colloquially “the Unsubs”. The small school supports the most accomplished faculty from across the country. 

2016-2017, Class of 18, Previous Chapter: Scavenger Hunt

Warnings: Infidelity, sexuality crisis and character death.

Break It...

Saturday March 24, 2018

10 am Grant Anderson’s Townhouse

              Luke had barely slept, the fear and worry cascading into frustration and self-pity. Grant had seen Phil propose, though Luke hadn’t responded to his ex’s messages for months. Luke was desperate; Grant hadn’t answered any of his calls and left his texts on read. He parked in front of Luke’s place and waited, too nervous to be turned away, too devoted to let Grant go without the truth. Without a fight. He took a deep breath and centered himself. He climbed from his truck and hopped up the stairs, knowing he was being watched. Luke cleared his throat and knocked on the heavy oak door. He counted to thirty and peeked into the framing windows, but there was no movement inside. He knocked again and waited fruitlessly.

              “You just missed him,” a wizened voice offered from the upstairs balcony.

              “That so? Thanks Mrs. Armenson,” Luke waved. “Any idea when he’ll be back?”

              “You know I don’t like to pry into you boys’ business,” the old lady whispered, patting at the curls at the nape of her neck. “The way he’d been talking it sounded like you had big plans. Honey, why aren’t you with him? Did you get your signals crossed?”

              Luke sighed. “Yeah, something like that.”

              They said their goodbyes, but Luke was even more disheartened then when he arrived. Grant had a special weekend planned and he had ruined. Well, Phil had ruined it, but the guilt was still on him. He waved at Grant’s upstairs neighbor and pulled off out of the angled parking spot on the quiet street.

Sunday March 25

The Hotchners’

8:32am

           Kate had been dying to get outside, the entire winter felt like she was trapped in one building or another. So, once they had the chance, and the weather allowed, she and Haley met for coffees with their nearly identical strollers. There was a great little bakery just passed the next subdivision that Haley had been meaning to try and Kate didn’t mind some carbs to balance the one-and-a-half-mile round trip. The air was chilly, but Kit and Jack were bundled up. Haley wore a windbreaker in FBI scarlet while Kate wore a Columbia fleece pullover, free hand tucked into the pocket until she built up her body temperature.

           Jack was babbling and pointing at the ducks in the pond as they passed, Kit sucked on his fingers and snuggled his plush stegosaurus that Penelope had “left behind” the last time she and Derek babysat.

           “Earth to Kate,” Haley giggled. “Where were you lady? You seem distracted.”

           Kate gave her best friend a tired smile, shrugging. “I guess I just have a lot going on this semester. I can’t believe it’s Easter next week.”

           “Early spring breaks can be a godsend, but something tells me that this stress or whatever isn’t—entirely--- student related,” Haley was an amazing listener and just as good at reading people as her husband. That’s why Kate and she got along so well: empathy.

           Kate shrugged and let the flush fill her cheeks before she faced Haley’s concerned eyes. She changed hands pushing the stroller and tucked her hair behind her ear, looking at her wedding band wrapped around her engagement ring as the truth bubbled inside her.

           “It’s been really difficult this semester, because of Tara,” Kate started.

           Haley’s features furrowed. “I don’t understand, I thought you got a long with her since she took Jason’s spot?”

           Kate swallowed back a groan and covered her eyes in embarrassment, she suddenly felt sixteen again. “It’s not that I don’t get a long with her, it’s that I very much get a long with her. Like, like her, like her.”

           “Like her, like her? Kate-- are you bi?! How did I not know this?” Haley’s voice went up into almost shrill levels before she got it under control. They were perched at a crosswalk, waiting for the lights to change to enter the parking lot of the bakery.

           “I don’t know! I don’t if that’s what this is, Hales, honestly. It’s just. We kissed on New Year’s and—” Kate was cut off.

           “Excuse me?! You what on New Year’s?! WHY AM I ONLY HEARING THIS NOW, KATHRYN CALLAHAN?!” Haley barked after her friend, who had started scampering across the street. By the time Haley and Jack caught up with Kate and Kit, they were wedging the door open to check if there was room for both of their strollers.

           “I need details, Kate, this is--- just--- Does Chris know?!” Haley was stage whispering as they tugged their sons from their seats. Tossing diaper bags and blankets over their shoulders as they wove around the cramped space.

           “It was a mistletoe thing, I froze. But it was—” Kate broke off, considering.

           “Magical?” Haley offered almost sadly.

           “Yeah.” They found a table, but there was only one highchair, leaving Kate to hold Kit on her lap since he was older, more prone to wander and squirm.

           “I just can’t believe you didn’t tell me!” Haley looked hurt, which just added more guilt to the confusing chaos inside Kate.

           “I didn’t think it was a big deal at the time, just slightly tipsy bad choices. But now—” Kates eyebrows shot up telling Haley more than her words could articulate. They quickly placed their orders, taking turns watching the boys as they settled with their coffees and muffins.

           “What are you going to do?” Haley asked, tearing her croissant into Jack-sized pieces.

           Kate shrugged and shook her head. “What can I do? I married. We’re happy. This isn’t just something that changes all that. I mean, people have crushes, it doesn’t stop the world.”

           “No, but this has been months, Kate. Just, be careful. Okay?” Haley clasped her hand over Kate’s on the table.

           “I will, it’s not a bad thing. It’s just, confusing for now.”

           Haley gave her a compassionate grimace and the conversation moved on. To teething, spring break plans, Meg, redecorating the nursery into a big boy room, potty training and all manner of things that come up with young mothers whose lives are so intertwined. It was a mystery that Kate had kept the secret as long as she had, but it felt good to have it out there. Even if Haley was certain to tell Aaron later that night, Kate knew she had made the right choice in confidant.

Monday March 26

The Faculty Parking Lot

3:22pm

           Dave didn’t need to be at the school as many hours as he usually was, but without something or someone pulling him home it was easy to putz around the expansive kitchen. He strolled out to his two-seater sports car, nothing absurd like the students drove, but still the nicest among the staff. When the car beeped unlocked, he spotted a young woman approach. She looked to be in her late twenties with large brown eyes and a flawless russet complexion.

“David Rossi?” She called to him; some sort of folder clutched to her chest.

“That depends on who’s asking,” the suddenly suspicious chef replied. Life wasn’t always bountiful in his line of work; he’d been served a time or two in his youth from debt collectors mostly.

“Family,” she answered after gauging his expression. That threw the old Italian for a loop.

“Whose family exactly?”

“Yours. I believe—you’re my father, Mr. Rossi.” She paused, but the almost angry expression on the man’s face somehow pushed her onward. “My name is Joy Struthers, my mother is Hayden Montgomery.”

The wind rushed through nooks of the school, spiraling in the parking lot with biting freshness.

“And what makes you think that I’m your father? Hayden and I—that was a long time ago.”

“Thirty-one years ago, in August. Today is my thirtieth birthday. This is kind of a resolution for me.” She smiled brightly, the buzz of finding him and coming forward piggy backing on the adrenaline from her nervousness.

Dave was dumbstruck, the resemblance to her mother was apparent, but he couldn’t see himself in this beautiful stranger.

“I don’t know what to say,” he replied, almost sheepishly.

“I don’t expect anything from you. I just thought we should meet. I have some pictures and a copy of my birth certificate and an open DNA panel—if you want to verify what I’m saying.” Joy handed Dave the manila envelope. “That that and, if you want, maybe we could go to lunch sometime?”

“You live in Virginia?” He took the envelope but didn’t delve into the assorted papers.

“Just moved back, got a new job and luckily my husband can work remotely.”

“Husband?” Dave raised his eyebrows.

“Shawn, yeah, and our son Kai. We just moved from San Francisco.” Joy nodded.

“Are you telling me that I’m a grandpa?” He smirked now, digging in to find a recent family picture, his ex, beaming in the background.

“He’s almost four,” Joy explained proudly.

“How’s Hayden?”

“Good, she’s back in Paris for now. I had a stepdad; he was a really good man. But he died a few years ago.” Joy trailed off. “But that’s not why I’m here, not really.”

“Look, this is all a little much for me to process,” Dave started. “We’ve got spring break coming up next week--- why don’t we do that lunch you offered?”

Thursday March 28

Latin Class

3:08pm

           Iggy Cruz was restless, his leg bobbing in place the entire 8th period. It was the last day before vacation and he wanted nothing more than to leave these brick walls and pretentious uniforms behind. Senioritis is real and he had developed a severe case. The clock ticked the seconds away above the door and Luke Alvez knew Iggy wasn’t the only one who was lost it its hypnosis.

Finally, the bell rang out freeing them all, student and faculty alike for ten glorious days. He shoved his Latin book in his locker and impatiently waited for Rita to catch up to him after her math class. The halls were pouring out students into the lawn and parking lots, teasing warmth of the spring sun shining across the grounds. Relieved excitement flooded back on passing faces, countless voices echoing and floating away. Iggy nodded toward his car at Rita, who had started texting Jax the moment they were out of the building.

           She followed without looking up, sliding into the passenger seat with practiced ease. Iggy cranked the bass on his stereo, covering all of the commotion around them. He pulled into the line of cars waiting to leave the parking lot and wind off the long drive back to the secluded road that kept F.B.I. hidden in the woods. Rita started squealing at something on her phone and Iggy gave her the older brother stink eye before looking back to the car in front of him. They had progressed three car lengths in the time it took Iggy to regain his focus; he floored the gas to catch up. At the last second, Iggy saw Mrs. Todd as she was thrown against their hood. He screamed, swerving too late and tossing a hand out to hold Rita back. They slammed into a car still parked, airbags deploying, momentum tossing the math teacher back to the ground. Iggy’s face fought the air bag, his leg pinned as the driver’s side door and wheel caved around him.

           Time froze as Rita panicked, Iggy was talking, but people were screaming and running all around them. The curtain of white couldn’t hide the horror forever.

 Alex Blake’s flat

11:13pm          

           Matt Simmons hadn’t been home. After the ambulances cleared the parking lot, he stayed with Hotch, Penelope and Kate with the kids making statements to the cops. Their parents were less than agreeable, but a teacher had died, and two students were on their way to the hospital. It was a long day, even for a former warfront journalist. He found himself driving after stopping for coffee and something doughy to chew on. When he realized where his car (and subconscious) had taken him, he parked in a hurry. Long legs pulling him up the stairwell along the back of her building.

           He didn’t text her in warning or call ahead, he simply knocked. He knew she wouldn’t be asleep. In fact he wasn’t sure she would ever let herself be that vulnerable.

“Matt? What is it? What’s the matter?!” Alex answered, in a controlled concern, smooth and soothing. Her eyes were wide, but her full lips were in a straight-lined frown.

“Let’s go somewhere,” he offered.

“Now?” She asked, squinting, taking stock of his state.

“Yeah, now, tonight,” his eyes sparkled as lip quirked in a sexy smirk.

Alex’s mouth opened and closed a few times, swallowing the air as she considered it. “I don’t know, we leave Monday for New York—”

“I can call Emily, there aren’t that many kids going. Derek and Penelope can handle it, maybe JJ will go too, now.” He had crossed the threshold, brushing the thick strands of hair from her face. He loved the silver sparkling in the dim light, the deep lines around her lips as she tried to reason out of his request.

“Alex, let’s go, after everything today. I don’t want to keep playing this game. I want you. I want to be with you. Just let me?” His thumb stroked her cheek and she finally remembered to breathe. This wasn’t supposed to happen to women her age, whirlwind romances were for nimbler souls. She thought she was passed this kind of sensationalism. She was wrong and that was never easy for her to admit. She placed her hand on Matt’s broad chest, feeling him real and solid and impossibly able in front of her.

“Alright,” she whispered, closing her eyes.

“Yeah?” Matt pulled her chin up to lock into her fathomless eyes.

“I said alright, Simmons, don’t make me repeat myself,” she huffed, rolling her eyes before reaching up on tip toes to press her lips to his.

^*^*^

[nicklesthename]

Here we are again, at the end of another year of our lives and nearing the beginning of one more. That means it’s time to look back and see how I did with my resolutions from last year. I’ll be honest, it’s not good. I’ll say that right now.  This year seemed to kind of get away from me and it doesn’t help that in the last two months of it, I was in a depressive episode. That really put a dent in my goals. Excuses aside, here is how I did during 2019:

Run a 5k

Yeah…this didn’t happen. I started off the year pretty strongly, running on the treadmill a couple times a week. I just stopped at some point. I think I had to miss a couple times and I let that discourage me enough to just give up. I really didn’t exercise much at all in 2019. I tried to get Just Dance and do that regularly, but I just didn’t follow through. I have a fitness-related goal for 2020, but this is a much more realistic one.

Get 100 subscribers

I may not have hit this goal in 2019, but I am proud of the growth my YouTube channel saw. I started the year with 74 subscribers and ended it with 85. That may not seem like a lot, but to me, every new subscriber means so much to me. The fact that anyone watches my videos is amazing to me, so the fact that someone would subscribe to see them all is amazing. Maybe next year with be the year I finally hit that 100 subscriber mark I’ve been after for about 2 years.

Increase watch hours to 400

Just to remind those who aren’t familiar, watch hours are how many hours have been spent watching your videos total. At the end of last year, I was at 195 watch hours. And at the end of this year, I managed a grand total of 112 hours! Hooray! Yeah, so I didn’t do very good in this department. A huge part of that is that comes down to the fact that I haven’t really been making videos for the second half of the year at all. That is due to the aforementioned depressive episode.

Receive 10,000 views on my blog

My goal for 2019 was to go from 3,450 to 10,000. Instead, I regressed back to 2,866. My theory on why I set such a lofty goal is because, at the end of 2018, I got a big boom of search engine and Pinterest referrals. It seemed like things were on the up. And maybe I would have been able to reach such a goal if I actually wrote a good amount of posts in 2019. However, from basically September onward, I didn’t write any posts at all, let alone good, searchable, relevant ones. I think I could have hit that goal if I had been writing.

Complete the Popsugar 2019 Reading Challenge

This resolution might be the closest I came to succeeding all year. Instead of just giving myself a number of books to read all year, I wanted something a little more creative and challenging, so I decided to do a reading challenge. Popsugar does a reading challenge every year. It’s two pages of prompts relating to different aspects of books, from specific words in the title to the art on the cover. There were 40 regular prompts and 10 advanced prompts. I did 35 regular prompts and 0 advanced ones. So all in all, I completed 70% of the whole challenge! I think that’s not bad. It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. Finding books that fit such random criteria as having a plant in the title or on the cover or set in Scandinavia AND I also thought it sounded interesting and compelling? Not so easy. It led me to reread a lot of books that I knew were short, easy reads that matched a prompt. I don’t want to have to do that again, so 2020 will not be featuring this type of challenge.

Learn sign language

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Onto 2020!

Find a form of exercise that I enjoy doing

This resolution is about as simple as I could make a fitness-related goal. I’m tired of trying to make running more interesting or fun. It’s just not that interesting or fun. Neither is doing different workouts on the ground or mindless cardio. I want to find something I actually look forward to doing and does not feel like a chore to do. There are a million and one ways to get my body moving out there, and I’ve only tried such a small percentage. Things I am going to try first include: Just Dance, Ring Fit Adventure, yoga, and some fitness classes.

Listen to music every single day

This goal might seem lofty since it requires I do something 365 times, but this one is important. Music makes me feel good. It inspires me, energizes me, and makes me want to get things done. The only reason I don’t already listen to it every day is that I know it’ll make me feel this way and my depression brain would rather lay in bed and be sad. If I listen to anything, it’s My Favourite Murder, which is an amazing podcast but hardly does anything to inspire or motivate me. So from now on, I have to listen to at least one song a day. I think I can take 2-5 minutes a day minimum to help with my mental health.

Get 100 subscribers

Yep, we’re doing this one again! I swear, one of these days I will reach 100 subscribers, it’s just taken a couple years longer than I thought it would take. No biggie. 2020 is the year, I can feel it!

Reach 5,000 views on my blog

Last year I really shot for the moon with trying to go from less than 4,000 to 10,000 in just one year. That’s a pretty lofty increase to try to complete. This year I am going to shoot lower and then I might be able to blow the goal out of the water instead of failing again. I know that all I need to create content regularly and the new views will come. For over a year I’ve been getting views on my blog every single day. Not a ton, but its the consistency that is the key.  Search engines are working for me. I just need to work for me.

Read 60 new books

As I mentioned in my wrap up from 2019, I have a bad habit of just rereading books in order to reach my reading goals. I choose short, easy reads that don’t really challenge me and definitely don’t give me a new experience. So instead of doing some big list of complicated prompts or just giving myself a number to reach, I just have to read all new books. I can read sequels of books I’ve read before, but not if I’ve read that sequel before. This should be easy for me since I have such a huge to be read list, I just keep ignoring it to meet arbitrary goals.

Those are my 5 new resolutions for 2020! What resolutions do you have for the first year of the new decade? Do you bother to set resolutions anymore? Let me know!

How did I do meeting my goals last year? And what do I have planned for 2020? Here we are again, at the end of another year of our lives and nearing the beginning of one more.

[letholojimin]

Redamancy (JHS ft. KNJ)

MASTERLIST

- reposted because i accidentally deleted the original post dated march 2018

Pairing: Jung Hoseok x Reader ft. Kim Namjoon

Themes: best friend + roommate au

Genre: angst, mild smut!!!

Word Count: 4,115

Summary: With your love life failing at every attempt of yours, you fail to realize that you’ve been looking for it in all the wrong places.

“I will treat you better than anyone else. I will treat you how you deserve to be treated, but all I need is a chance, Y/N…”

SMUT WARNING

Rays of light from the sun shine in from the coffee shop’s glass window beside you and you keep yourself occupied by drinking from the warm beverage you had purchased to keep you company as you wait for Jennie to arrive. She had texted you an hour prior to the present, informing you that she had something she wanted to tell you. Luckily, you had both been in the university during that time and would be free during this time so you wait for her, scrolling through your phone.

It’s winter- the season of loneliness and though that never really bothered you to an extreme extent, you know that you would prefer to stop spending the cold nights alone. You had gone through a certain number of boyfriends and flings- none of which ever lasted. It was always a problem with your schedule that caused your break-ups, all of them complaining that you weren’t as invested in the relationship as they were because you were too busy attending to the things you had to do.

You never kept them around or wanted them back if they said that because if they couldn’t understand that you have other commitments as a university student with a hectic life, then you couldn’t be with them because it would be irrational for them to think that you’d give up your own life just to be with them. Sure, at times you’d cry over some people if you really did like them but sometimes relationships ended just as soon as they would start and you wouldn’t be that attached.

The chime of the coffee shop’s door distracts you from your thoughts and you see the girl you’re waiting for, her brown hair tucked into a beanie and her hands taking her gloves off. Jennie spots you and smiles, pointing to the counter to inform you that she’ll be with you shortly as she’d like to order something first. You nod and wait, nothing else occupying your mind after that.

Jennie takes a seat in front of you taking a long sip of her drink before placing it down on the table in front of you both. “Hey,” you greet. “What’s up?”

“I’m just going to go straight to the point here because I know that you probably have something to get to in at least the next thirty minutes.” She starts and you grin because she knows you too well. Your organization had a meeting twenty minutes from now so you were glad that she knew better than to be slow. “I know this guy, and he’s probably your type.” She continues, telling you that he’s much more mature than any of your previous significant others. He’s a hardworking student just like you and so since both of you understand the pressure of intense schedules, maybe you’ll balance each other more than you’ll clash.

You lean forward and raise an eyebrow, urging her to continue. You haven’t even dated in a while so a date doesn’t exactly sound that bad. Jennie briefs you on his name and tells you that he’s in the same year and that he’s an Engineering major. Jennie knows him because of a mutual friend who informed her that he’s looking to date and when her friend told him all about what he’s like, she thought you might like him.

The quick meet-up ends with Jennie giving you his number and telling you that he already has yours. You should expect a text from him soon.

Jennie’s Recommended Mystery boy - 3:47 pm

Y/N, right?

Y/N Y/L/N - 3:50 pm

That’s me.

Jennie’s Recommended Mystery boy - 3:52 pm

Hey there. My name’s Namjoon.

Y/N Y/L/N - 3:53 pm

Hi :) You’re Jennie’s friend right?

Namjoon - 3:53 pm

Yeah, a friend gave me your number :)

Namjoon - 3:54 pm

I actually know a place that serves really great pasta, maybe you’d like to head there with me sometime?

Y/N Y/L/N - 3:57 pm

Sure, why not?

Namjoon - 3:58 pm

Great! How’s tomorrow night?

Y/N Y/L/N - 4:00 pm

I’m free from seven onwards, so I don’t see why not :)

Namjoon - 4:02 pm

Send me your address, then? I’ll pick you up then. Dress fancy :)

The meeting for the organization passes by quicker than expected and your classes end at five o’ clock, leaving you room to drive home during the rush hour. You live nearby the campus so traffic is the least of your worries but you’re so eager to shower and change into more comfortable clothes. That’s probably a downside of college- you’ve always got to wear something different so since you’ve run out of clothes, you’re facing more uncomfortable fabric.

If there’s one positive thing about being in university, it’s the fact that you get to live with Jung Hoseok- your best friend from high school. He’s a constant beam of light in your life, always taking care of you and helping you however he can.

Both of you live under the same roof in a relatively large apartment funded by both of your parents who tell you to simply focus on being students for the meantime, and so the two of you are always working so hard in university. His course is no joke and with the addition of dance on the side, he’s left mentally and physically tired everyday but he never fails to maintain communication with you and make you smile. Needless to say, with the amount of support your parents give you, both of you are afraid of failure. You and Hoseok are perfectionists, but when everything is too much for each other you’re always there as a support system.

When you get home after all your obligations that night, you and Hoseok share McDonald’s takeout over your kitchen table. It’s tradition to have dinner together at your shared place during the rare times you both get home early enough to have the meal together, so you always make the most out of it. Tonight, greasy fried food is on the menu.

Hoseok tells you about his day briefly, telling you that it’s just the same old- nothing new happened or nothing is interesting enough to be talked about. When it’s your turn to share, you get straight to the point and tell him about your scheduled date tomorrow.

“Do you know anyone named Namjoon?” You inquire. Maybe he’s met him, and if that happens you can hear about what he’s like. To your disappointment, he only shakes his head from side to side and asks why you’re asking then continues eating his meal, utensils clanking on the plate slightly as he cuts through his chicken.

“Well…” You begin, nonchalantly wiping off the salt on your fingers from the fries you’ve been eating as you continue. “Jennie set me up with him, and now I’ve got a date tomorrow night!”

Hoseok’s suddenly more invested in your conversation, eyes looking up to see you beaming- this was your first date in quite a while but instead of happiness for you, there’s a completely different feeling and he knows deep down why he’s not enjoying the news. “Yeah?”

“Yeah!” You fail to see how he doesn’t exactly want to hear more about this date of yours but he puts up with it, your cheery voice still not enough to distract him from the jeering thoughts and the uncomfortable swirl in his stomach.

Your chatter continues for only so long before your meals are finished and you dispose of your plastic waste quickly, not having to wash anything due to the containers. He’s quick to escape you, disappearing from your sight the moment he’s thrown the trash and you- you are ignorant.

With thoughts of you littering his head, he tries and tries to do anything and everything to get you out of his system. He can’t shake off the fact that he might lose you again for god knows how long, but he tries to think about how maybe you’ll be happier and maybe this boy will treat you better than all those you’ve met before. But Hoseok knows he’s lying to himself, because he can treat you better than anyone else.

That night, Hoseok doesn’t sleep.

You’re clad in a black dress which cinches at the waist and flares down up until your knees- a comfortable piece of clothing to make up for the painful thing on your feet. You endure it, pushing yourself to get through the night and you simply hope that Namjoon is tall, so that your heels won’t make him look shorter than you. You won’t mind if he is, but you also wouldn’t mind if he isn’t.

He texts you when he’s outside and you get up from your seat on the couch when Hoseok exits the kitchen, only looking you up and down before going back upstairs wordlessly. You don’t expect him to say anything so you grab your coat and open the door, coming face-to-face with a blond boy holding a bouquet of roses. Once he sees you, Namjoon quickly greets you politely and offers you the roses. You place the flowers on a table near the door and smile at him, murmuring a sweet ‘thank you’ and walking outside with him right beside you.

The boy sports a dress shirt and black slacks along with leather shoes, you notice. He stops in front of the passenger side of his car- a sleek black automobile- and opens the door for you. You blush lightly at the thoughtful gesture and step in, the smell of air freshener and leather entering your nostrils.

Namjoon rushes over to the driver’s side, lanky frame passing in front of the hood. You wonder just how the night will unfold, considering that so far, he seems to be a gentleman. Maybe this will be different from all your past dates. Hope is something you cling to because it’s the only you can grip and you tell yourself it’s possible for you to get something more than a disaster out of this.

Lips pressed on bare skin and hands are groping each other and you and Namjoon are slowly turning into (if you aren’t already) a sweaty mess of flesh and lust, actions driven by desire. You guys simply hit it off after a night of wine and Italian food at a fancy restaurant and now you were in his apartment, making out with each other.

He leads you to his room and soon enough, you’re lying underneath him naked and begging for more of his touch, for him to pleasure you. Namjoon’s fingers thrust into your heat at an increasing pace, digits slick with your juices.

Arousal drips from your center, and soon he’s getting a condom from his night stand and sliding on his length, turning your body around before placing his tip right by your entrance.

His fingers grip your hips tightly before he slides into you, your nimble fingers gripping his cotton sheets. Namjoon groans when you urge him to move, thrusting in and out of you rhythmically. It’s not long before you slam your hips against his with every movement of his, moaning and whining. You tell him to move faster, harder, and he complies.

Soon, you’re at your peak, body falling into the mattress. If not for his hands holding your sides upright, you would have fully collapsed. He rides out your high and chases his own, slamming against your spot relentlessly. He comes, spilling into the condom and you move away from him from overstimulation.

After disposing of the condom, he collapses beside you, breathing heavily. You don’t meet his eyes though, closing yours and pretending to fall asleep.

Namjoon might be a good fuck, but what you’re looking for is real love.

When your heels click into the living room, you’ll find that Hoseok is still up- he looks like he hasn’t slept at all and though it’s common for you to ask each other how a date has gone after going on one, you didn’t expect him to stay up this late. When you look at the clock, it’s just struck half past three o’clock in the morning and there’s an unsettling feeling of doing the walk of shame, regardless of if you’re facing your closest friend.

“Where have you been?” He asks, standing up from his seat on the couch and placing his mug of hot chocolate on the table in front of him. Hobi looks at you and only then do you realize that there are dark circles under his eyes- ones you fail to notice during the daytime wherein the sun shines too bright that everything else is simply cancelled out. Sometimes, the light is too blinding- and you’re a sucker for being blinded.

“Out. You know I was on a date, Hoseok.” You reply curtly, undoing the straps of your heels and neatly placing them near the door. Though you’d normally place your shoes in your room, you have an unnerving fear of tripping down the stairs wearing heels so you opt to keep them near the entrance. He was the one who suggested you do this, in fear that you’d be your usual clumsy self and that one day he wouldn’t be around to help you. It’s easier that way.

Though your best friend would normally dismiss you, it seems like he’s a bit more persistent this time. He stays, walking closer to you. “Do you know what time it is, Y/N?” His voice raises ever so slightly towards the end of his question and you can’t help but be a little taken aback at the unusual amount of concern he’s displaying. “Do you know how long I waited just for you to get home?”

“You don’t always have to wait for me, Hobi. I appreciate it but you don’t need to stay up for-“

“But I do!” He cuts you off and you’re rendered speechless. You’re in the dark- you have absolutely no idea where this is going and why this is happening in the first place. Hoseok’s voice only grows louder and more angered and though it’s probably a false notion- you’d think it’s pained.

“What…” You whisper under your breath, but you know he heard it. You look up to meet his eyes once more and you notice that he’s very near you now- near enough for you to see the details on his face: the curvature of his jaw, the slant of his eyes and the bridge of his nose. His eyes hold something mysterious, something you aren’t used to because as close friends, he tells you everything, no exceptions.

“Look, it’s late and we should both be getting to bed, don’t you think?” You remove the loose ponytail which your hair was stuck in, a practical style you’d gone for before you left his room tonight. “No, Y/N- I want you to stop going on those fucking dates, alright? None of them ever work for you anyway,”

If it wasn’t for the proximity you wouldn’t be able to hear the last part- but you did. It stung, and you didn’t get it- you don’t understand why he was saying that to you when he knew all too well that your love life is always a complicated mess from the busy schedule your practical life revolves around. You never have times for these kinds of things and now he’s telling you that he wants you to stop going on dates at all? Who does he think he is?

“What the fuck, Hoseok?! Who are you to tell me what to do? This isn’t even like you!” The rage in your voice becomes more and more prevalent with each word but his expression doesn’t falter. There’s a kind of fierceness in his disposition and it’s unnerving because you’ve never exactly seen him like this before about this kind of topic. “Are you telling me it’s a crime to fall in love?!”

“It’s a crime to fall in love if you’re not falling in love with me!”

You’re speechless at the words that escape his mouth, feet planted to the floor. You can’t move, you can barely think and from all the things you’ve ever heard in your entire life, you consider this to be the biggest surprise of them all. Hoseok doesn’t have any regrets- not even when he sees the flabbergasted expression on your face, not even when he sees your eyes growing wide because relief is a feeling that overpowers all of that. After all, he’s very much tired of hiding from you and running away from the truth himself.

“Hoseok, what are you saying?” You find yourself mustering up enough courage to finally say something, anything. “Why?!” His voice is stern, and melancholy is laced within the word. It’s almost like you can’t reach him anymore and you wonder just how fast everything went downhill. “Why do you wear all those ravishing clothes and dress up so well for guys who only want to dress you down?”

You never expected him to say something like that- never even expected him to comment on your dates gone one night stands but it’s different now, and you can tell that this pains him to say just as much as it keeps you at a loss for words. He’s finally burst, and you don’t know what to do or what to say because this has never happened before. “Hobi,” You exhale, treading on dangerous waters.

“I don’t get it, Y/N!” His hand raises to his hair in frustration and for a split second he turns away from you. “Why do you go out on these stupid dates so others will look at you yet you don’t realize that you’re the only girl that I see?! I don’t need that, all I need is for you to give me a chance…” His fierce gaze softens as he continues to speak, finally spilling things he’s been yearning to confess for longer than you could ever know. You can’t believe what you’re hearing, and though your heart would normally flutter at the words, what takes over your thoughts is the person who’s saying them. “You don’t see how I look at you and you don’t understand that you’re fucking exquisite- and I,”

“I will treat you better than anyone else. I will treat you how you deserve to be treated, but all I need is a chance, Y/N…”

Hoseok sees your face. He sees just how confused you are, how unsure you are of what to say and decides that he hates himself. He can’t believe how stupid he was to think that maybe one day, when he would gather up enough courage to tell you about what he feels about you, maybe, just maybe- you’d reciprocate and things would turn out for the better. But he was dumb to even think of that, blinded by his own need to be honest with you and there’s nothing that sounds more appealing to him than just turning around and escaping to the door, grabbing his coat and his keys on his way out.

Just like that, Hoseok walks out on you for the first time in your life. And you have no idea when and if he’ll be coming back.

If he had liked you since before, you don’t know how you could have been blind to all of it. You’ve known the boy since you were fifteen and you didn’t even notice a change in behavior whatsoever? Ridiculous.

Midnight paints your thoughts colorful, drawings pictures of memories and retracing the words he had previously said in the past few days in a desperate attempt to gain something, to look for a sign before everything came crashing down. It’s silent in the household even as you leave your door open- there’s no sleep music faintly playing from his room, no plates clattering in the kitchen for midnight snacks, nothing.

It’s a dark thought leeching at the back of your mind, forcing you to stay awake even when the clock rings to signal a new day for you and when the sun rises up in the horizon, light streaming in through your blinds. You don’t hear anybody in the shower or nor do you hear the sound  of the television downstairs and it’s just lonely.

You’re probably overreacting. You’ve been through nights wherein Hoseok doesn’t sleep in his room. Parties, projects, outings- you know what it’s like without him. But what you aren’t used to is the fact that he is not present because of you and the fact that you did not end in good terms.

So you get up after a long night of no slumber, going through the same exact routine you go through every single active day, except today it’s a lot duller.

The next few days, Hoseok doesn’t show up when you’re around. He times his visits to his own house when he knows you won’t be there. He has a copy of your schedule and so you know when he won’t dare to come, and you take this as an advantage. When you hear the jiggling of keys outside, you know you’ve got him.

The sound of the doorknob twisting interrupts the silent atmosphere in the house and he walks in, sighing. He turns to close the door so at first glance, he doesn’t see you in the living room. When he leans on the wood, however, he sees you sitting on the couch and though your relationship with him isn’t in the best place, he shrieks lightly before putting a fist to his chest. “Fucking hell, Y/N,” He breathes out in shock.

You offer him a light smile in response, opening your mouth to speak. “Hobi, we need to talk.”

“About what, Y/N?” He says exasperatedly. It’s a terrible feeling that registers within him, the pain of unrequited love something he can feel within his veins. “You already know how I feel, and I already know what you feel. What else do we have to talk about?”

Hoseok knows that he’s being irrational. Of course you had to talk because you couldn’t ignore each other forever. You lived in the same place and sneaking around when you were at university wasn’t something he could do for the rest of time. You had to speak to each other but it was eating him alive because he knows what you’re going to say. You don’t feel the same way, and he has to accept that sooner or later. He hoped it was the latter.

You urge him to sit down on your couch and he does so, but why is it that though he’s only feet away, he feels so distant? He feels so far away, and you wish everything could just return to normal.

“How do you know how I feel?”

He turns to look at you and his chest aches, yearning for something he knows he can never have. His role in your life was to be your best friend and he was going out of line. He knew that, but he was done hiding behind it. It would be unfair to you if he kept lying about what he really wanted, so he finally told you. Look where exactly that got him. Honest, but still unhappy. “Your silence was the answer.”

You’re at a loss for words. It’s true that you didn’t feel the same way about him, at least not yet, but during that time you were so shocked with how fast everything was happening that you didn’t even have ample time to process everything properly.

“Then will you wait for me?” You ask, the whole point of why you waited for him finally being brought into the conversation.

Hope takes form in his eyes, barely there but present. You take his hand and slowly entangle your warm fingers with his cold ones while you wait for him to reply. “What do you mean?”

“Will you wait for me? Will you stand by my side?”

He breathes in and smiles because at least there’s the smallest glimmer of light for something more, the kind he believed he could never have. He clutches your palm in two of his own before his voice comes out shakily. Even if it doesn’t end up in both of your favors, he’ll know that he had you at some point. He hopes he doesn’t screw up and he swears that he won’t because like he said, all he needs is one chance.

“However long it takes.”

[bio252]

Fire, Ticks, and No Significance: Oh My!

Okay so two weeks ago I went on a little adventure, but instead of going to Puerto Rico or China, I found myself out in the forests. This was my first time venturing out to the forests/prairies, specifically one known as the Conard Environmental Research Area (CERA). My classmates went there a few weeks before to watch some birds in the cold, but luckily sadly I wasn’t able to go because I got pretty sick a few days before. When we arrived at CERA I knew that we were going to go out and count some plants, but I definitely underestimated the experiment. When we first arrived, I found myself a bit overwhelmed as the details of the experiment were explained to us.

“Poison Ivy.

Ticks

Outside.”

Those were the words that got my blood pumping, but before I could really respond my classmates and I shuffled into another room to be trained in plant physiology. Then in less than 20 minutes from arriving, my fellow Grinnellians and I become very error prone botanists. As we walked into the forest to collect data, the further in we got, the more I realized I was not living my best life. Forests and me? Yeah, not a good pair. I just never had a need to walk into a place filled with a lot of dirt, insects, and potential danger.

But I’ll save all of that for another post. Anyways, when my group and I arrived at our assigned plot, we took 16 random samples of 1 meter squared areas and observed how many different plant species were there (Biology Department, 2018). Now let me tell you, trying to tell apart two different blades of grass along with a lot of other similar looking plants (looking at you Ranunculus abortivus  and Viola adunca) can be so tiring. Once we finished I was so happy to return to a building that I didn’t even mind doing the data analysis. Each group (18 in total) then determined the richness, diversity, and richness per meter squared of their plots using their sample data.

Pause.

This is just a quick update on what each of those variables meant.

Richness:

The number of different plant species in a plot

Evenness: The abundance of those various plant species in a plot not considering species richness

Diversity: The abundance of all the different plant species in a plot that considers the species richness

Now before I continue, I just want to mention one quick thing. At first you may have thought

 “Come on Steffie, why were you so dramatic about going outside?” 

But after this you’ll understand. So as I was sitting in my seat, waiting to go back to school, I felt something tickle my neck a bit. Instinctively, I reached up and grabbed whatever was there, thinking it was just a piece of lint. But the next thing I know I see a little black thing with legs between my fingers and before I could even think I screamed and tossed the little bugger away. And what were the repercussions of my amazing survival skills? The whole class staring at me.

Yeah, I was not living my best life yet again.

Despite that one traumatic experience, I trudged onward and began focusing on the important things. The data. The purpose of my trek into the wilderness was to see if controlled burns would actually increase the species richness of the entire plot, richness per meter squared, plot diversity, and plot evenness of the burnt plots. We believed such a difference would occur because in oak forests, such a change was observed in the past and although this experiment focused upon the herbaceous and shrub plant community on the ground we thought a similar trend would be seen (Kruger and Reich, 1997). 

But guess what...

No difference was found.

And this was after I ran four two sample t-tests comparing the unburnt plots to the burnt plots. Now let me tell you, there’s nothing sadder than seeing a p-value greater than 0.05 when you’re really hoping that there is a significant difference, especially after using Minitab. Although previous research has found that certain herbaceous plants did manage to grow better after a fire treatment, those plants were not observed in our plots (Hutchinson et. al, 2005). After this massive disappointment I took some time to breathe and began to consider potential reasons why we saw such a lack of effect with the fire and I have come up with three reasons: 

The seeds of some plant species at CERA are basically immune to fire. I say this primarily because the plants at CERA may have hardier seeds that allowed them to withstand the annual fire treatments than predicted.

 How I imagine some of the seeds may have reacted to the fire.

Iowa’s lovely and absolutely annoying strong winds may have carried some seeds from the unburnt plots over to the burnt plots. Thus reintroducing plants into the burnt plots to increase plot richness, diversity, etc.

The plant species there at CERA are naturally strong competitors. This increased competitive ability in the plants may have made it so that when new plants sprouted in both plots, evenness between the two plots became similar because none of the plants were able to outcompete the rest to create a skew of appearance in the proportions.

The Rock -- a human version of these CERA plants.

So now, you may be thinking

 “Steffie, would you do this again?”

 Quick answer --

  No.

But it has nothing to do the lack of significance found, it honestly has everything to do with the idea of venturing out into the wilderness and potentially encountering a tick again.

#NotMyMood

However, I still would 110% support anyone who would continue on with this research. This is because although no significance may have been found in our data, this may not be the truth for all existing herbaceous and shrub plant communities. Instead I believe that we should persevere and continue on with our research. For future similar experiments at CERA, I suggest that a physical barrier be put up between the burnt and unburnt plots. This may be helpful because it would make it harder for wind to carry the seeds from the unburnt plots to the burnt ones. Maybe then we’d see a significant difference between the two plots.

Who knows?

But hey, if you’re interested in this, comment and I’ll help you plan an experiment in your own community!

Let’s burn some plants!

References Listed Below

Biology Department. (2018). Organisms, Evolution, and Ecology Activity Manual. Grinnell College.  

Hutchinson, T., Boerner, R., Sutherland, S., Sutherland, E., Ortt, M., & Iverson, L. (2005). Prescribed fire effects on the herbaceous layer of mixed-oak forests. Canadian Journal Of Forest Research, 35(4), 877-890. doi: 10.1139/x04-189

Kruger, E., & Reich, P. (1997). Responses of hardwood regeneration to fire in mesic forest openings. I. Post-fire community dynamics. Canadian Journal Of Forest Research, 27(11), 1822-1831. doi: 10.1139/cjfr-27-11-1822 

[piilokarsastus]

End of the year ask game - 2019

1. Favorite book you discovered this year? Not sure if I’ve started any new books this year

2. Favorite movie that was released this year? It seems I also didn’t go to the movies this year apart from one time but the movie wasn’t that good

3. Favorite TV show you discovered this year? Fargo

4. Favorite artist you discovered this year? I don’t really do “artists”

5. Favorite music album that was released this year? The kind of music I listen to doesn’t come in albums but Veli Kujala’s Violin Concerto “Auseil” has got to be one of the greatest modern pieces of music I’ve heard.

6. If you are using a music streaming platform that provides you with stats about this year, post them! I’m not

7. Favorite memory of this year? Maybe the time I went biking with a good friend in July

8. Favorite song this year? It’s so hard to pick favourites, but Grieg’s Jeg elsker dig always has a special place in my heart

9. Post a selfie from January of this year and one from today. I literally haven’t changed at all so no

10. Favorite travel destination of this year? I didn’t really travel much but our short excursion to Lappeenranta was fun

11. Did you make new friends this year? How? Yeah, I’ve made a lot of new friends in university, and also one of the students I hung out with during my work period at OUAS in 2018-2019 has since become a close friend. I got many other friends of varying levels there but she’s the only one I still see and talk to regularly.

12. Did you lose a friend? Why? Well not really, but kind of. We’re still officially friends and we recently even texted each other for the first time in months but I just can’t bring myself to connect with her more since I have this feeling that she isn’t really interested in seeing me because I had a crush on her a year ago. The fact that she never texts first doesn’t help either.

13. Any deaths in your social environment this year? My grandpa passed away in September at 83

14. Any newborns in your social environment this year? no, although my cousin and his wife have a baby under way

15. Favorite concert you´ve been to this year? This one concert of new music in Oulu, in October

16. Favorite festival (music or other) you attended this year? Uuden musiikin lokakuu (see previous question)

17. Did you quit a job/an education this year? I didn’t exactly quit, my work period just ended as scheduled

18. Did you start a new job/education this year? Yeah, I started university

19. Did your relationship status change during the year? If it stayed the same, did your perception of this status change? nope, still single

20. Any new piercings this year? no

21. Any new tattoos this year? no

22. Any other body modifications this year? no

23. Favorite clothing item of this year? I just got a really cute shirt for Christmas, so I’m choosing that even though it’s only been in my life for a few days :D

24. Favorite person this year? that would be a certain HK. Funnily enough those initials can refer to two people, both of whom played an important part in my life at different parts of the year: one in December-February and the other especially from May onwards. 

25. Favorite place to be this year? (can be a city or just a place like a library, home, a certain forest and so on…) Ever since I moved out, my old home (at my mum’s) has been my favourite place since I come there on holidays to do nothing except relax and enjoy life.

26. Any dreams you fulfilled this year? Started studying in the university I wanted to study in and now I finally have a genuine friend squad who actually do fun stuff together outside of school and we just have a really great group spirit. It’s something I’ve always wanted to have but never had. I’ve mostly just had singular close friends and all the friend groups I’ve been in before rarely did anything outside of school or just weren’t very close friends to begin with. I did have a small group completely separate from school in 2014-2016 but we hung out quite rarely and have since lost touch completely even though I really enjoyed my time with them.

27. Which was your happiest month? Why? I can’t decide on one favourite but the happiest times for me were January (when I had recently met someone special and was heavily crushing on her and life seemed great for a while), July (when I spent a lot of time with an aforementioned friend) and then October (or any month in autumn because I’ve had a great time in uni)

28. Which was this years worst month? Why? On Feb 27 the preceding period of happiness ended and my dreams were crushed, and that sadness was present for the entirety of March and for some time after that as well.

29. Anything you started this year? (sports, drawing, tarot…) university, as I’ve already mentioned more than once.

30. Did you move this year? If not, did you change anything about your place of residence? Yes

31. Did you change anything about your look or your style during this year? Not exactly, but I can feel that change is in progress in a way I can’t yet describe. And last winter (starting already in late 2018) I did start preferring sweaters to button-ups

32. On a scale of one to ten, ten being the best: how would you rate this year? a solid 8,5

33. Any political scandal in your country this year? yeah our government fell after barely six months in office, but as a result we got an even better one with the worlds youngest (and female!) prime minister. 

34. Any global event that happened this year that had a strong impact on you or your way of thinking? I can’t remember whether it was this year or the year before but the IPCC reports have certainly made me more aware of how doomed capitalism is

35. Anything you did for the first time this year? (Bungee jumping, drinking alcohol, traveling by plane ….) nothing I can think of

36. Any big mistake you made this year? yyyeah about that Feb 27th thing... I confessed my feelings to someone I was really really interested in but nothing good ever came out of that decision and my self-esteem hasn’t been the same since

37. Favorite Youtuber this year? muyskerm probably

38. Favorite music artist this year? didn’t we go over this already?

39. Favorite hobby this year? making music, same as always

40. Relfect on the year: what are the strongest memories? In the first half of the year, I had a great time at OUAS and there were many memorable moments in that job. My favourites were maybe when I was teaching aural skills classes and when I worked as an accompanist for the opera ensemble class. In May, a large-scale piece of mine was finally performed after I worked on it for the entirety of 2018, which was a big milestone for me as a composer. And finally, in August, we had a super fun orientation day at uni and it was the first time I spent some true quality time with my new squad, sitting in a dark corner talking about music :D

41. Which goals that you had for this year did you reach? Come to think of it, I’m not really a goal-setter.

42. Which goals that you had for this year did you not reach? it would’ve been nice to get into a relationship or even just have sex at least once

43. Any injuries or major diseases you had this year? no

44. Did you have to go to the hospital this year? yeah, but just for a root canal treatment

45. How much/how often did you travel this year? not very often, mostly just between Oulu and Helsinki

46. Did you spend most of your time alone or with others? If with others, who was/were this persons(s)? Well I lived at home until August so my parents, I guess

47. Any new blogs you made on tumblr? yeah, just a private place for a new kind of aesthetic

48. Any blogs you deleted on tumblr? no

49. Any social media that you started with that year? Well I finally got into tiktok but I don’t make content there

50. Favorite food this year? pizza, as always

51. Favorite sweets this year? chocolate, as always

52. Favorite drink/beverage this year? water, as always

53. Any celebrity you really looked up to this year? nah

54. Tell us a quote that inspired you during this year. I’m not a quote person

55. Any new device you bought this year? no

56. If you are wearing makeup: Did your makeup style change during this year? makeup isn’t part of my current style

57. Are you looking forward to next year? I kind of am actually, not really for anything specific but I just have a good feeling about things

58. What are your goals for next year? to learn a lot of new things, discover a lot of good art and basically just continue rebuilding my identity and self-esteem and make myself into the best person I can be. And yeah that girlfriend would be nice too :(

59. What would your biggest dream for next year be? To have a private lesson with my favourite musicologist who will be a visiting professor at my university next year

60. What do you hope will change on this world withing the next year? can we like finally eat the rich, please?

61. Any changes within your own life you have planned for next year? I’ve considered starting working out again since I haven’t done much since school started

62. What are your fears about the next year? that school’s going to be even more stressful since I have more classes

63. How and with whom are you going to spend new years eve? alone and with my mum, currently am

64. Any song that is connected for you to new years eve? no

65. Any new years eve traditions you practise? no

66. Any travels planned for next year? no

67. What do you want to focus on more during the next year? I’d like to make more art but we’ll see how much time I have

68. Any release you are looking forward to next year? a number of tv shows are set to release a new season

69. Any behaviour you want to get rid of during next year? I wish I could stop dwelling on the past

70. Do you think this year changed you? Why? Definitely, I can’t really put it to words but I’m on my way to feeling a lot happier being who I am

71. Do you think next year will change you? Why? hopefully for the better

72. Any changes planned for next year already? (moving, job change etc.) no

73. What major changes happened for you during this decade? In the beginning of 2010 I was year 4 in primary school and now I’m first year in university, so there were a lot :D Biggest ones were maybe starting puberty and my parents splitting up in 2013, starting to compose music seriously in 2014, getting my first girlfriend in 2015 and my second, longest-to-date relationship in 2017, as well as said relationship ending in 2018. And yeah, in 2019 I moved away from home.

74. Post a picture of you from 2009 and one from 2019. lol not going to happen

75. New people that came in this decade into your life? pretty much all of my friends except for like 3

76. People you lost during this decade? Grandpa I lost literally although we weren’t that close, and there are several friends who are still friends but who I’ve lost in a way since we just don’t stay in touch anymore and we just aren’t as close as we used to.

77. Dreams you fulfilled during this decade? When I downloaded musescore in late 2013 and typed in my first, cringey attempts at composition, I could only dream of being able to write music like Mozart. And here I am now, pursuing a career as a composer. 

78. Favorite music artist of the decade? I still don’t do artists

79. Favorite movie of the decade? there are so many

80. Favorite TV series of the decade? you could just ask me my favourite tv series altogether, it’s equally impossible to decide 

81. Favorite book of the decade? Does this mean books published in or books I just read this decade? I’m picking the latter: while they’re perhaps not the best books of all time (although still really good), nothing has impacted my adolescent years more than the Harry Potter series.

82. Favorite music album of the decade? I’m just going to say Mozart, okay?

83. Favorite celebrity of the decade? The idolisation of celebrities is a phenomenon I don’t really endorse but the Justimusfilms guys are a precious bunch of idiots I’m always happy to see whatever they do

84. Favorite author of the decade? I haven’t read nearly enough and diversely to consider this a valid assessment but of the few authors I have read, Herman Koch seems like a really interesting one

85. Celebrities you admired that died this decade? Christopher Lee, Einojuhani Rautavaara, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Alan Rickman

86. Favorite actor/actress of the decade? I find it hard to name a favourite, I don’t really enjoy a particular actor but rather the roles they play if they’re written well and played convincingly

87. Favorite travel desitnation of the decade? Italy (2011) and St. Petersburg (2017)

88. Any changes in believe this decade? no

89. Did your main occupation (student, working fulltime etc.) change during this decade? it did for one year but now I’m a student again

90. Favorite memory of this decade? I’m happy my life has been meaningful enough that this question is entirely impossible to answer. Besides, there are two very distinct periods in this decade, late childhood and teenage years, which are hard to compare

91. Hobbies you gave up upon during this decade? violin and badminton

92. Hobbies you started during this decade? piano, writing, composing... and violin and badminton

93. What new did you learn during this decade? (Languages, arts, crafts…) basically anything I’ve ever learned after 4th grade, including, but not limited to, the Swedish language, music theory and composition, and how to boil potatoes 

94. On a scale of one to ten, ten being the best, how would you rate this decade? Since I’ve only lived through two, I don’t really have much to compare it with but I’d say 9. Overall I’ve had a really nice and happy youth but there are things I wish went differently especially in middle school.

95. Favorite quote during this decade? “yolo swag” -Albert Einstein

96. Which body modifications did you get during this decade? none

97. New dreams you gained during this decade? all of them

98. Dreams you gave upon during this decade? I once thought of becoming an author but music took me in the end

99. Worst year of this decade? Why? 2012. the end of sixth grade was pretty okay but seventh grade sucked tbh + atmosphere at home wasn’t the best. Meanwhile I was still a kid so everything was hard and I didn’t control anything that happened in my life. I did start writing that year, which was nice.

100. Best year of this decade? Why? I’ve thought about this a lot. I remember 2010-2011 being nice with many lovely memories of playing with my best friend of the time. Many of those adventures are the basis of my eternal WIP novel and I have a special nostalgia for those years but they were so long ago and I was so young that I can’t really tell them apart as distinct years and I still think I can’t compare them with the other years since I’m a very different person now.

2012 sucked ass as I’ve already discussed. 2013 wasn’t as bad but not great either. Some of the shit from the previous year carried over, along with my parents separating, but on the other hand, I had my first date ever with my crush (even though she rejected me) and it was the beginning of my teenage years with many nice moments.

2014 is a strong contender: I met some new friends at confirmation camp, started gradually enjoying middle school and started hanging out with the girl I would eventually start dating. There’s not much bad to say about 2014 but overall nothing very big happened.

2015 was both the end of 9th grade (where I had a lot of fun at school since our group spirit was amazing) and the beginning of high school. I was doing well in life, got new friends and I also got into my first-ever relationship and that, along with the events leading to that, was a time of great happiness for me. Although our breakup in November kind of ruined the end of the year for me, 2015 has got to be one of the best years of the decade.

For some reason, my mental image of 2016 isn’t very distinct. I spent the better half of the year feeling a bit depressed because of the breakup, but there were happy times especially from May onward when I started growing closer with a good friend. That summer we texted literally every day, we basically just became best friends and I also eventually fell in love with her. From August to the end of the year I have nothing but good memories and I’m very nostalgic for that time.

Which leads us to 2017. I went to prom with my crush (which itself was really fun) and we started dating in March. I was so so happy, especially in the summer. I also had some early break-throughs as a composer and made some of the best pieces I’ve conceived to date. School was fun too, and generally I just enjoyed high school a lot.

2018 is a year I’m very divided about. I was still in a relationship and had some of the happiest times with that person in April-June. Then again, we had some communication issues and I had a recurring paranoia that she just doesn’t want to be with me anymore, which was a constant source of anxiety in January-March and July. The breakup did come in August and of course for the rest of the year it weighed me down quite a bit. However, generally speaking I was somewhat more fine than with my first breakup since I had new exciting things going on in my life such as my work at OUAS which helped keep my thoughts away from the loneliness and also introduced new friends into my life. And in December, I had what was probably the best date of my life with a new, interesting person, which ended 2018 on a positive remark.

2019 was a year of change, even more so than the previous one. A lot of things changed for the positive, although there is also a certain sadness to leaving old things behind. I was happy at work and now I’m happy at school, but I’ve also felt lonely and unattractive, especially after getting rejected in February by someone I had such high hopes for. Suddenly I was back to the preceding sadness and my self-esteem dropped drastically while I was left wondering why I wasn’t enough. Still, I’ve had so much fun with friends and so much personal and professional growth that 2019 is still up there in the top 5.

As you’ve probably noticed already, I suck at picking favourites. Every year had its moments, some of them more than the others. Overall, I’ve been very happy especially in 2014-2019, but of all those years, 2017 was maybe the coolest and had some of the best memes as well.

[comicteaparty]

November 26th-December 2nd, 2018 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from November 26th, 2018 to December 2nd, 2018.  The chat focused on Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R by snuffysam.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Week Long Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R by snuffysam~! (http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/comics/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Remember, though, that while we allow constructive criticism, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic. Below you will find four questions to get you started on the discussion. However, a new question will be posted and pinned everyday (between 12:01AM and 6AM PST), so keep checking back for more! You have until December 2nd to tell us all your wonderful thoughts! With that established, let’s get going on the reading and the chatting!

QUESTION 1. What has been your favorite scene in the comic so far? What specifically did you like about it?

QUESTION 2. At the moment, who is your favorite character? What about that character earns them this favor?

QUESTION 3. Since the comic utilizes a wide variety of comedy, what have been some of your favorite jokes to appear in the comic so far? What about the joke worked for you? Name as many as you would like for this question.

QUESTION 4. Do you believe that Mizuki will eventually discover her own magical talent, or will she be stuck stealing others’ abilities forever? What might her magical talent be? Also, regardless of your answer, how might this issue change Mizuki?

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

Okay, so I haven't actually gotten to reading this comic yet-- just started like... right now. But OMG. XDDDDDD I'm loving how they're breaking the fourth wall and poking fun at stuff. My favorite scene so far is this one:

And of course the follow up:

I really like the guard so far, though I have absolutely no idea if he'll ever appear again seeing as I'm still in the first chapter. ;v;

The fact that he makes fourth wall breaking remarks is what sort of sold me. If he doesn't appear again, hopefully someone else along with the main character will make better jokes that will sell me good.

BUT OMG!!! This one really caught me off guard:

XDDDDDDD

The comedy here is really up my alley man. ;W;

O v O

Just found my new favorite character.

Mr Holy Tree:

AH! Btw, I love how the siblings who are governers of the Sikode plain's clothes sort of match up with the work hours they took. <333

Just finished Chapter 3. 8^U!!!! If I have more time tonight, Imma try to read a few more chapters yo! But this comic is really snatching me with dem scripts.

snuffysam

glad you like it so far!

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

Of course! >W< Thank you for creating this silly hidden gem!!! <33333

ShaRose49

I love that it’s not perfect, and this is not an insult. My favourite character so far is the guy who sliced that squid in half he seems like a boss

It’s also amazing to see how far the author has come in their art, I looked at the original pages a bit.

snuffysam

Cahe Is A Good Boy

Kabocha

Cahe is good, but I do wonder about the magic of how quickly they had their baby... Maybe it's one of their magic love powers.

snuffysam

also yeah, I've changed a lot over these past three-ish years lol

there's been exactly one hint as to why that happened, and it's in probably the most obscure place imaginable

the game where you can play as everyone's favorite archery ace

ShaRose49

I obviously didn’t get to any baby yet whups

snuffysam

oh no that's not for a while

ShaRose49

Snuffy is pretty good at lighting and shading too. I still have plenty to learn about that

snuffysam

the baby doesn't happen for another like 350 pages from where you are

ShaRose49

Oh hi snuffy!

My bad lol

snuffysam

hi lol

i'm in blue this week

ShaRose49

Hey how do you know where I am?

snuffysam

oh i just assumed given your comments

ShaRose49

Yeah I know

Oh okay

I’m in the middle of chapter 2 I think

snuffysam

yup so i was right lol

Kabocha

Daaaaaang. That's some good accuracy. I'm lucky if I can remember my own name some days

snuffysam

i did have to look up the page numbers lol. it was just a matter of guessing that sharose hadn't started chapter 3 yet

ShaRose49

Hahaha

snuffysam

anyway yeah i wrote a shader script for blender to do the lighting properly. took me a couple years to figure it out but i got there eventually lol

ShaRose49

Oh my word I can barely use blender yet

So it IS CGI! I couldn’t tell for sure I thought maybe it was supposed to mimic CG

snuffysam

a lot of stuff is drawn in with photoshop. and i think i just recently passed the point where more than half the comic is CG as opposed to being drawn.

but ye

ShaRose49

Wow. I don’t think I’ll be doing my comics with CG but I do wanna be an animator one day. Good for you!

snuffysam

thanks!

ShaRose49

No prob. I just got to more doodley pages

snuffysam

yeah haven't updated chapters 3 onward yet

ShaRose49

Oh okay. I can relate lol. I’m glad to see this up here, you’re a brave artist

snuffysam

thanks ha ha

ShaRose49

They are so innocent ohmiword

“I thought for sure 1+1=2!”

snuffysam

mizuki may not have gotten an A in all her math classes, but she at least knows that much

RebelVampire

QUESTION 5. Who exactly are/were the Galaxy Knights? How did they come to be, and what goals did they have? Do you think we’ll see more former or current members? Also, what are your theories about their involvement in the story given they’re in the title?

RebelVampire

1) it's still the end fight of book 1. which i wont go into too much detail cause i dont want to spoil for those just starting up. but i still love the entire choreography of that fight. seeing mizuki solve everything in the most unconvenentional ways possible is so immensely fulfilling. 2) cahe's mustache. i cant wait till it gets fed up with cahe, rips itself off his face, and joins mizuki to fight the good fight. (but also probably electric zebra because he believes in the power of love) 3) there's too many jokes to name. theres a lot of great ones. although one of my favorite more recent ones has actually been a callback to the fact that cahe never names his village. and lo and behold his village is revealed to be unnamed village. i was slain by the joke. 4) i think eventually mizuki will discover her own thing. but at the same time i dont think thatll stop her from using others' abilities cause i think she turns what others view as a weakness into a strength. so basically mizuki will just have more ammo for her mind magic arsenal. 5) i mean the obvious answer is that they were protectors of ppl and that mizuki is gonna join them. but idk. i def think were gonna see more former and current members though given the title. and mizuki will thrash them all with the power of stealing their abilities and stubbornness. in the end, there is only one super galaxy knight deluxe and that person is mizuki. lets not ask what the r stands for.

shim

I haven’t even finished chapter one yet but I love this guard guy.

snuffysam

lodu is best boy. i'm actually planning on having him show up again for real in the next chapter. and by book 3 he may even have enough screentime to jump up to major character status.

snuffysam

also rebel you really have a knack for asking questions that will be straight-up answered within a month or two.

like in the weekly chat back in may one of the questions was "what is the plot of book 2"

not saying which of the questions you asked will be answered in a month but just overall, it's an impressive skill lol

snuffysam

and yeah chapter 8 is my favorite arc in hindsight. i'm not sure i'll actually manage to out-do the 1v1 fight choreography there for a while.

Kabocha

I have to admit, I'm really enjoying the current fight scene. The banter's top notch. >:3 Dramatic text meets no-nonsense. Now give Mizuki that damn generator so she can win the talent show!

snuffysam

talent show > crimebusting

Kabocha

he can get it back after the crimes are solved... But the bigger crime really is that the King--- wait the King gets to make the laws doesn't he

Kabocha

....wait, what I just said doesn't make sense. Oh well. He can get it back after the talent show is done -- it's a crime Mizuki can't win it!

snuffysam

the two of them should bring criminals to the talent show and bust them on-stage

RebelVampire

mizuki should get back to the talent show if only because i bet the old man is still on stage trying to tell horrible jokes

Kabocha

get that man a google assistant... or sub him to r/dadjokes

https://www.blog.google/products/assistant/ok-google-tell-me-a-joke/ I'm sorry, I can't get over how bad some of these jokes are.

snuffysam

it's been well over 12 hours, and it's the middle of the night now. do you really think he's still on stage?!

(the answer is yes)

Kabocha

Of course! He's waiting for Mizuki

RebelVampire

of course he is, he is an angel. and everyone is too polite to tell him to get off the stage and go home

snuffysam

well they're waiting for mizuki too

snuffysam

interested to hear what the caught-up folks' reactions to today's page will be...

shim

don't say that, now I want to throw all my homework out the window and catch up all the way

snuffysam

lmao

as much as i want to tell you to go for it... put your homework first lol

shim

I am definitely planning to catch up once I have homework and finals out of the way. Unfortunately…that will also be after this week's bookclub will be over and we'll be discussing someone else's comic by then.

snuffysam

aww oh well

shim

I hope to read more before, then, though, so I can discuss some things. I just won't be fully caught up, hehe.

snuffysam

and of course, no reason you can't keep reading after your finals are done and just comment in the comic itself

(though this is a much better place for people to get theories out there)

shim

-procrastinates from homework-

Okay this restaurant owner

"Everyone does horrible things sometimes. So really, I was completely justified."

I love this so much

THEY JUST COVER EACH OTHER'S FACES THIS IS GREAT

snuffysam

Protection from indecency!

RebelVampire

QUESTION 6. Why do you think Mizuki drifted apart from Cahe and Pejiba so much between Books 1 & 2? Why did the couple not invite Mizuki to their own wedding? Will Cahe and Pejiba make a comeback, or are they settled down into domesticity forever?

RebelVampire

im gonna be optimistic and say her letter just got lost in the mail

because cahe asked someone terrible to deliver it

maybe the anecestral tree

and cahe walked away before the ancestral tree could remind him that hes rooted to the ground

or the ancestral tree was pissed he wasnt invited

Kabocha

I think Cahe and Pejiba were just so in love they forgot! Or ultimately, they just didn't like Mizuki so much. Granted, it's been ... a very short duration

RebelVampire

maybe its gonna be an it was all a dream thing somehow

mizuki has been having trouble sleeping

snuffysam

there is a misunderstanding involved, but it’s less about “why didn’t they invite mizuki” and more “why would they invite zebra over mizuki”

RebelVampire

thats easy: zebra is the best

Kabocha

Zebra also is much better at music, so

ShaRose49

I don’t mean to be rude but I wish Mizuki would wear more clothes

shim

Actually, me too…

ShaRose49

And IMO the boobs are too exaggerated. But I like how she eats the food lol

snuffysam

y'all are on chapters 3-4?

shim

Yeah I'm on 3

ShaRose49

I guess she actually doesn’t know what a shirt is? Whoa there are cool animations!! And the lady’s power is cool. @snuffysam I’m not sure hang on I’ll check

shim

No wait I'm on 4, oops.

ShaRose49

I’m on chapter 4

snuffysam

she buttons the jacket in chapter 5, and her proportions get fixed when i switch to 3d

ShaRose49

Yeah she’s less exaggerated in 3D for sure, and I’m glad she buttons up the shirt

snuffysam

the outfit in chapter 4 is a reference to how in the original short film i made that this comic is based off, her actor decided to wear the jacket with no shirt (which is not something i, like, wanted or expected)

ShaRose49

Huh okay

snuffysam

but i changed it because i didn't think it made sense to draw her like that

ShaRose49

How did you get gifs in the comic?

snuffysam

(though the in-universe explanation is that it just got windier)

i use photoshop to animate, if that's what you're asking

ShaRose49

Oh awesome, I didn’t know photoshop could animate

shim

Oh cool! I've dabbled with PS animations before.

snuffysam

most things are frame by frame, with motion & opacity (like the lights fading in and out, cahe flying around the room) being done with photoshop's tweening

shim

Ahhh.

Ow hot sword.

ShaRose49

You are a better animator than me so far lol

Or you have more experience

I love how they’re like “Oh no prob!” After the whole fight

I think that whole fight was a test to see if the two main characters were fit to be the new Galaxy knights or something

And that’s a nice sunset drawing in chapter 4. I love sunsets

shim

"What, are you going to throw your sword at people now?" HAHA!

ShaRose49

So so,done just got shot in the face

Someone

Yikes that!s a mean lady

snuffysam

and a magic mean lady at that

ShaRose49

Yeah I can’t believe he’s not dead

snuffysam

captains are very resilient

RebelVampire

QUESTION 7. Do you think we’ll see Gynu and Suzigu in Book 2? If so, do you think they have one of the power gems Mizuki needs? Will they give it to her? Alternatively, what other places or characters might reappear do you think, and how will things have changed?

mathtans

"Maybe we DO want them to get the wrong idea."

Using this as an excuse to finally get caught up with SGK. Should have a remark or two by weekend.

snuffysam

looking forward to it!

RebelVampire

(the archive for last week's chat on The Angel with Black Wings is now up! @Mharz https://comicteaparty.com/post/180645388940/november-19th-25th-2018-ctp-archive)

QUESTION 8. Why do you think King Zebugu closed the magic portal? Is he up to something evil, or did he actually turn over a new leaf and is trying to do something helpful that he just won’t explain? Will he succeed or will Mizuki defeat him do you think?

snuffysam

king zebugu turns over new leaves all the time

birch, pine, oak

it's the highlight of the month

shim

what about old leaves?

-is still in chapter five and has no idea who this king is-

snuffysam

if my leaf of the month club sent me an old leaf, i'd probably cancel my membership tbh

unless it was like... historical in some way

shim

haha

RebelVampire

this is too plausible not to be true

7) I think we'll see Gynu and Suzigu probably. Although I feel Mizuki might be at a disadvantage since they already lost to her. so now they know what he game is or something like that. and i dont think theyre gonna just give her the gem given the whole food fiasco and i kind of get this sense they want to test her? as for other characters, i hope we get to see our favorite immortal captain again. and electric zebra. electric zebra needs to come and sing about the power of love and all that. or at least be on tour and give mizuki a signed cd. 8) i feel hes not doing the evil, but i feel whatever the king is up to probably is dumb at least. maybe this is an elaborate prank from the wizard guy who is mad about having to put all the food back. he gave the king the wrong prophecy and now the king is trying to undoom the world. at the end mizuki will win, but winning might not matter. i think shell lose the talent competition tho. shell make it back in time but get disqualified over something trivial. like misspelling something on the contest form.

snuffysam

something worth pointing out about both those answers - in book 1, nobody knew what zebugu was up to except for the people in the castle (and the ancestral tree, cause of the omniscience). people like gynu and suzigu wouldn't have agreed with zebugu if they had known what he was doing. in book 2, zebugu has roped other people into his plan by giving them a gem to protect. zaxaty knew what her brother did, and so did the ancestral tree (being specifically instructed by the king to guard the gem and not tell mizuki the reason why). even taci ramino knew that the portal had been turned off, and zebugu didn't even give him a gem! so if gynu and suzigu do have a gem, what did king zebugu say to them to get them on board? and was he truthful to them, or is this all an elaborate ruse?

RebelVampire

the fact hes roped other ppl into it makes me believe that it is for the greater good. but on the otherhand blackmail and bribery are also options. maybe zebugu has an embarrassing photo of gynu from their last xmas party.

snuffysam

*life day

RebelVampire

QUESTION 9. Do you think Mizuki will be able to win against Sword Warrior? Do you think Sword Warrior could be a potential ally, or is he just a one-off villain? What are Sword Warriors actual goals?

snuffysam

keeping in mind that sword warrior now has twice as many swords as before

RebelVampire

i feel like thats a hint

he must want the worlds largest sword collection

snuffysam

that was a hint as to whether or not mizuki can win

but sure

also, interesting how you seemed to describe "ally" and "one-off villain" as the only two choices...

RebelVampire

mostly cause i dont want the questions to be immensely long

snuffysam

lol

that's fair

RebelVampire

i believe in mizuki to be able to win. shes just gotta punch the swords hard enough to shatter them. and then sword warrior will have to change his name to just warrior

snuffysam

she already shattered a sword though. was sword warrior just "warrior" for that two-page period? are names all but an illusion giving us some sense of identity? is that identity earned?

RebelVampire

yes to all that, with a semi yes on the third one. you cant call yourself sword warrior without a sword. thats false advertising otherwise

mathtans

Okay, so, obviously the baby isn't theirs, unless gestational periods are really short or there was time travel hijinks. My money is on them looking after Zebra's kid, in exchange for him performing at the wedding. That's why they got him on short notice, for free. Though adoption's also possible.

snuffysam

I mean y’all can’t just skip over short gestational periods and time travel hijinks in a world where trees talk and sailors just forget that they’re mortal

But that’s a solid possibility

mathtans

I mean, there's magic, and then there's magic!

Clever plot twist in the most recent pages. I did not see that coming. I actually thought Taci had lied about getting one of the gems because he was embarrassed that the Swordsman had already stolen it.

Also, magic can be used to change dialogue into cursive, or something.

mathtans

I'll get to the questions later.

mathtans

-Scene-wise is tough, I don't even recall what I said last time. ^_^; The fight against the king was pretty epic though. Character-wise, I like Pejiba. Just something about her I guess, helpful, first major magic user, that kind of thing.

-Like Rebel, I'm not sure about grabbing any particular comedic moments. The stuff with the tree is pretty good though. Even more recently with the 'I am a jerk but that's not the reason' sort of thing. Also, used firewood...? O.o

-I dunno, stealing the powers of others can be a power itself, see Rogue from X-Men. Plus I think Mizuki'd be worried that once she finds her own, she'll lose the ability to copy everyone else.

-The Galaxy Knights are actually a bunch of mathematicians, that's why the King's advisor is one (if memory serves). Seriously though, I like how they were just randomly brought up recently. It's kind of like they're their own story running in parallel somewhere else. (Which isn't too far off, Gynu and them were in a guest comic series elsewhere, I think.)

Actually, it's impressive the number of guest comics and literary tie-ins that exist.

-Since only, like, a week passed between Books, idk. Maybe Cahe was given bad information, or their messages were cut off. Though the whole wedding seems like a rush job because honeymoon in an all female hotel what now? I feel like they'll still have cameos.

-Hoping we'll see Zaxaty again. That blush had to mean something. (Also, back to comedy, "Get out of my house", hah.)

-The King's probably doing this as some sort of test, like to see if Mizuki can be a new governor or something. After all, he seemed okay with how she spared him. Alternatively, the Galaxy Knights wanted him to do this, so that they could test for new recruits.

-Related to that answer is the possible answer to snuffy asking about what Gynu might have been told if he has a gem. All in a day's work. (Though a photo would be amusing.)

-Sword Warrior will be useful in terms of giving Mizuki many more magic ideas to steal. (Also, since he can make his own swords, I don't think Mizuki will win that way. Maybe she can get him to zip off the edge of a building.) I think Taci just has a thing for vigilantes.

snuffysam

math, are you completely caught up now? including wednesday and friday's pages?

mathtans

Yis.

I'm trying not to be too spoilery though. (I may be failing at that.)

snuffysam

na it's all good lol

also i don't remember gynu being in a guest comic series somewhere else? so if someone did that without letting me know

uh

whoops

actually i guess there were the crossover things on comicfury. but that was ages ago

if that's what you're referring to

mathtans

Yeah, the crossover things. I'd read those for the original Discord chat.

I haven't kept up on the latest literary stuff from StArt Faire though.

snuffysam

to respond to some of your things specifically - - the advisor is a statistician, which... i guess is a mathematician? usually when i think "mathematician" i think of people who write proofs for really difficult problems and not, like, nate silver. also, the wizard is a magic researcher, so he does a lot of math for his work. i guess the active galaxy knights are pretty math-y, except for that third as-of-yet-unnamed active galaxy knight that's shown up. -yeah the wedding was very much a rush job. zuzu was already a member of the family by the time cahe and pejiba were on their honeymoon. -we'll see zaxaty again sooner than you expect. and yeah, there's something there. blushes don't lie. (fun fact: the fight against zaxaty was originally going to be the first time in the comic it's implied that mizuki is into women. when drawing book 1 chapter 6, i changed my mind and worked a love triangle plot into the story. that's the main reason why mizuki never says anything to pejiba about being interested - because it's not in the script. that's also part of the reason why zaxaty's island is "lesbos 2: sappho harder". the timeline for making the comic gay got moved way up, so zaxaty had to be a bit over the top) -won't say much else here, but i like that people's impressions seem to be that zebugu's plot might be morally dubious, but maybe not exactly evil. we'll see how that pans out. -if he had the chance, taci would absolutely start dating sword warrior. he's totally into the tall, slender, vigilante crime-fighter type. (which may lead to some butting of heads down the line...)(edited)

mathtans

That's very cool... both about having Zaxaty in mind so early on, and for managing to foreshadow Mizuki's interests. Also, I don't know that Zaxaty was necessarily over the top (I didn't see a harem), though she does seem to like putting her interests (frustrations?) into her artwork.

As to Zebugu's plot not being evil, it allows for a scene where Mizuki goes off on him and him having some sort of retort. Even if it is to defer to the wizard or something. (Hey, maybe the wizard wanted all magic off so that no one would know that he was on sabbatical.)

snuffysam

you don't see a harem NOW because zaxaty went into seclusion.

it would be nice if zebugu gave his wizard a vacation, considering that he was kind of a jerk to the guy in the first book

mathtans

Ahh, right, I vaguely recall that. Missed the free love vibes what with all the tripping out.

To be fair, he was kind of a jerk to everyone.

snuffysam

true. maybe this is part of his new leaf that he's turning over?

mathtans

I wonder who convinced him to collect new leaves. His other sister, Pokemon? ^.^

snuffysam

he's a big animal crossing fan

he thinks he's stealing people's furniture

Kabocha

I guess his wizard better tell him he's moving to another town soon, so Zebugu can try to give him leaves and present boxes to get him to stay.

snuffysam

wizards love to scam people out of presents like that

Kabocha

... T_T Same with half of my animal crossing townies

shim

ahhhh animal crossing

RebelVampire

QUESTION 10. What are you most looking forward to in the comic? Also, do you have any final thoughts to share overall?

snuffysam

one thing i'm really looking forward to as the author is creating book 3. i think it'll answer a lot of your questions about the series, and there will be a bunch of character interactions that I know people will want to see

DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio)

What I'm looking forward to is seeing the creator update all the pages into the 3d model style! <333 Although, I gotta say I really do enjoy seeing the hand drawn pages too. ;V; I'm still behind in reading, but hopefully when I have time, Imma try to get through more pages. But what I've seen, I've liked and enjoyed immensely!

But can I just say, I love how crazy and silly everything has been so far? XDDD Thanks to this discussion, I found this gem and ended up sharing it with a friend of mine. And they loved the golden comedy too! (Not to mention they're favorite scene was the tree saying they were a jerk as well. O v Obbb)

And I'd also like to commend the fact that the creator has been able to power through and draw so much content (not to mention reworking those pages into new ones. OMG!) OAO!!! As an artist myself, I know how much work it is to get to the number of pages I am now. Thank you so much for signing up for the discussion (because if you hadn't-- I probably would have never discovered yer work) and hope you continue to update the awesome sauce of a story Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe is! <333333(edited)

mathtans

More hints of Galaxy Knights is always fun. Wonder if they're all human, given there's a tree as a character.

snuffysam

@DA-POW! (Yayao Yuying Studio) glad you and your friend liked the comic! I hope you both continue reading after the week ends! and yeah, getting this far has taken a bit of time. I've spent over 1000 hours total on the art aspect alone!

@mathtans i originally planned on one of the galaxy knights being a giant cyclops (in a future book), but i ended up writing him out.

mathtans

I could see lack of depth perception being a problem.

The big twist is probably that Cahe's kid is a Galaxy Knight. Explains everything.

snuffysam

...i'm trying to remember if zuzu actually does grow up to be a galaxy knight or not...

"marries a killer cyborg" is definitely in there for one of the zuzus, but i'm not sure about being a galaxy knight

RebelVampire

im looking forward to finding out if that old man really will just continue on with the talent show until mizuki comes back. and then ironically winning because ppl decided they liked his talent of talking for billions of hours

RebelVampire

COMIC TEA PARTY- WEEK LONG BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R this week! Please also give a special thank you to snuffysam for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: http://sgkdr.thecomicseries.com/comics/

The Super Galaxy Knights Deluxe R Twitter: https://twitter.com/Galaxy_Knights

[thrashermaxey]

Ramblings: Thoughts on Voynov, Zetterberg, Gustafsson, why Krug is underrated, and more (Aug 27)

Ramblings: Thoughts on Voynov, Zetterberg, Gustafsson, why Krug is underrated, and more (Aug 27)

***

The last update of the Fantasy Guide was in on Friday night. This one just had a few tiny player moves, plus I put in my projected team goals-for (I projected another increase overall, but was conservative at 2.2%). I explained my reasoning with thoughts on goalie equipment rule changes…

*

Thursday will be my first re-birthday. When I reach the anniversary of my stem cell transplant on August 30 I will provide my readers with an update on my health, what all has happened in my battle with leukemia and where things stand. So be sure to look for that. (Spoiler: it will be good).

I’m going to try to get away with the family for a couple of days this week. I did that last week and no kidding within an hour of getting to the cottage all that site security crap hit and the emails came flying at me. Got most of it straightened out a few hours later (once I found out about it) with the rest fixed the next morning. Hopefully things work out better this time when I leave! *crosses fingers*

*

Slava Voynov has not yet received clearance from the NHL to play this year, according to several sources who quote Bill Daley. And the teams that need him the most and can afford him (Toronto probably the most, but also Ottawa and others) will be vilified for signing him. Especially in Toronto, a city that just got rid of Roberto Osuna (Blue Jays). His wife, who is standing by his side and has all these years, didn’t want Voynov charged to begin with. Does that help matters any? We will see. I have a feeling that there will be a team that takes the plunge, and that the court of public opinion will not like it at all. If you have lots of draft picks using one on them towards the end on him could pay off because he has a lot of offensive upside for a defenseman. He is not currently projected in my fantasy guide nor anywhere on my draft list so he truly is a sleeper pick right now, a huge risk and quite the long shot.

*

NHL.com’s Nick Cotsonika is reporting that Henrik Zetterberg is still unable to train and will probably not be cleared to play. He adds that Zetterberg would be cleared to play later, so don’t write him off for the season just yet. If Zetterberg cannot play, Andreas Athanasiou moves to center.

I don’t see Michael Rasmussen in the NHL this year, but Filip Zadina’s odds just increased. I really like what this does for Athanasiou as he moves from third-line winger with minimal PP time to second-line center with secondary PP time. Rasmussen’s odds certainly improve and now he may get a nine-game trial, I just don’t think he’s ready to stick. Dark horse long shot: Joe Veleno.

*

Notes from Twitter this week…

1) Someone commented on how Jaden Schwartz and Mark Stone are going very late in mock drafts. This is explainable by the fact that they are both Band-Aid Boys and so projected total points have them lower than they’d be had they played 80 games. Therein lies the flaw with projections. You print out your sheet (or plug them into the draft room online) and they are in the order of their season totals. But if your league has an IR you have to account for that, and this is where your own brain has to step in and make adjustments. Would you rather draft a player projected for 58 points in 66 games or a player with 65 points in 82 games? If you have an IR then you want the 58 guy because he will get more points when he’s playing and you can replace him at likely half the value or better via the waiver wire when he’s hurt. And who’s to say that this won’t be the year he stays healthy? Prognosticators can only give their best guess on games played based on track record, but this really is a variable. Go through your list if you have an IR and move up some of the players projected to miss 10-15 games. You can still get them at great spots, just don’t move them up too high.

On a side note further to that, if I project 80 points in 80 games for a player and another magazine projects 40 points in 80 games…but then he breaks a leg and ends up with 40 points in 40 games – is the other magazine better than I? Some who rank projections will say “yes” according to their formula. This is why I preach content, sleeper odds and updates as being more important than projections. Most projections for most players will be within a few percentage points of each other across prognosticators. It’s the meat of the sandwich that matters. And I say this even though I’m generally one of the more accurate people.

2) Someone wanted to know my thoughts on Erik Gustafsson. I love this question and immediately made a mental note to answer it here. The 26-year-old has improved steadily in the AHL and thrived last year with 17 points in 25 games. He finally got into the Chicago lineup on January 20 (likely delayed by Jordan Oesterle going supernova briefly before flaming out) and tallied two points. That earned him enough goodwill to keep him in the lineup for another 11 games but he managed just one point. That got him scratched. Gustafsson returned to the lineup February 19 and stayed in the lineup from that point onward, posting 12 points in 22 games with ice time that eked steadily upward to close to 20 minutes per game towards the end. Impressive!

All Chicago did in the offseason to address their lack of depth on defense was to sign Brandon Manning, who is hardly a threat to Gustafsson. I have him penciled in for 31 points in 67 games and as a strong sleeper for topping 40. Look at the team – Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook are in decline, but they are still 1-2. After that, competition for PP time is with Jan Rutta, Connor Murphy, Gustav Forsling and Brandon Manning (I don’t think the Hawks rush Henri Jokiharju). These are all No.6 defensemen on a lot of teams, as is Gustafsson. But it’s his spot to lose, which is the No.3 guy for PP ice time.

*

{source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-cards="hidden" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">What happens with Torey Krug this season and why is he so undervalued in pools?</p>— Andrew (@anjoot) <a href="https://twitter.com/anjoot/status/1033817985868152832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2018</a></blockquote>{/source}

Everyone has fallen in love with Charlie McAvoy and think that his arrival will spell the end of Krug. Injury issues aside (I have concerns, but I also have concerns about Krug so that’s a wash), McAvoy is not stealing the PP job from Krug anytime soon. I find that fantasy owners get hunches and while these hunches may turn out to be absolutely correct they almost never do within the timeline they expect. If they think “this year” it ends up being “four years from now”. Krug had 37 points in the second half last season! Thirty-seven! It’s true, look it up. Does that sound like someone on the decline? And for those who respond “Yeah, but that’s because McAvoy was hurt” – come on! McAvoy could return as an enhanced cyborg and it’s not going to remove a defenseman from his place on the roster after the guy got 37 points in 41 games to end the season!

  {source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-cards="hidden" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I’d like info on new goons. Our keeper has hits & pims. A guy like Haley FLA can get decent games out of no where and win me pims a couple weeks with one game. Seems like those guys come out of no where. Then leave. Who this year?</p>— Rian Shaefer (@L0RDFuDGE) <a href="https://twitter.com/L0RDFuDGE/status/1033818930169761795?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2018</a></blockquote>{/source}

There has to be a reason Ross Johnston was signed to a four-year contract. Maybe he only plays 12 games but he’s going to get 40 PIM in those games. Sometimes you just gotta follow the contract.

(PS – Torey Krug makes $5.5 million this year, another reason to feel good about his standing with the team)

  {source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-cards="hidden" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Which backup goalie do you see surprising many people?</p>— Blake Perkins (@bperkins21) <a href="https://twitter.com/bperkins21/status/1033821377239961600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2018</a></blockquote>

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

  Robin Lehner

  {source}<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-cards="hidden" data-partner="tweetdeck"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Does Vince Dunn get more ice time & special teams or is he sheltered again and used on the PP?</p>— FlyingVs (@ImUrHucklbrry) <a href="https://twitter.com/ImUrHucklbrry/status/1033822854138093568?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2018</a></blockquote>

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>{/source}

Yes and yes. Here is a direct quote from my Fantasy Guide (c’mon, buy it!):

“Dunn started slowly from an offensive standpoint, but he had 17 points in the second half (36 games). His ice time went up by about one minute per game and his power-play time gradually increased quarter-over-quarter until it was 2:14 per game in the fourth quarter.”

*

See you next Monday.

    from All About Sports https://dobberhockey.com/hockey-rambling/ramblings-thoughts-on-voynov-zetterberg-gustafsson-why-krug-is-underrated-and-more-aug-27/