#cause theres Always going to be negative reviews

[typheus]

hey! not gonna give my 2 cents on the situation or anything but i did want to give u some clarification on why the spin-off is on s2 and the other one hasnt even gotten a proper ep 1 yet: the main show was picked up by a studio and the spin-off is self published. they dont have control over the production or release schedule like they do w the spin-off :)

aah i see thank you for clarifying that, i knew the show got picked up by a big production company but thats p much all i knew about it till this week 😅 (kinda wish it had stayed that way!)

but the second show being self published does kinda explain why theyre being so overly defensive of it. but also that level of closeness to the project is all the more reason for them to stay away from twitter tbh :/

[squeaksinc]

2023 creative year in review! 💦💦

The most stand-out thing to mention was this was arguably my most active and productive cosplay year...maybe ever? its incredibly uncommon that I can handmake 9 costumes in a year, but on top of that, 7 of the 9 were also custom designs, which is pretty wild.

costume-wise, i learned a stupid amount of skills and really pushed what i was comfortable with. IMO the best from the year are the collector, knives, pupet, and nekomancer at least just from a craftsmanship perspective. I try not to brag or be an ass, but I am genuinely very proud of those. they posed fun creative challenges that kept me engaged, and I'm happy with how they turned out!

the other side of the coin is although last year was my most dormant cosplay year, other crafts were super active....and the reverse happened this year _(:3」∠)_ i didnt really draw much at all other than making cosplay designs, and other physical media didnt get much time to shine either. I made some plushies, but they were lackluster, and I think I made maybe one unfinished figure lol. but I did try BJD making and loved it!! I made 4 this year and have plans to do more haha.

thats the upbeat overview, the readmore is going to be a more negative perspective so proceed with caution haha.

More than anything I wish i had more time to do art and build up Stitch in The Ditch/more OC work, but honestly this year was also objectively insane in the non-creative front. like i hit the worst patch of chronic pain i've ever had/found out my abdominals have been ripping themselves apart and bleeding for the past 10 years lol/had to go to the hospital like THREE!!!! goddamn times and now i'm dealing with the news i'm going to need abdominal surgery, got a teaching promotion/award, got my physics masters, utterly INSANE family happenings, had gastroparesis for 2 months and couldnt eat more than 200 cal a day in that time which caused all my blood levels to crash and i'm still reeling from it, and of course, have just been Cashually working goddamn 60-80 hours a week in an experimental physics lab in the background during all of this which is driving me to the point of madness- suffice to say i hit my limit like months ago lmao.

like looking back i know i should be happy and proud i did so much but i cant help but feel disappointed and wishing i had done better quality stuff. honestly, i know i goof about how hard work is, but its really really getting to me. i've always been happy with my ability to juggle so many things and preserve my ability to have a cool job, make cool things, and independently take care of myself, but work is month-by-month morphing into more of a monster thats just been suffocating everything else out. I really dont know what next year will look like, as i've been wearing thinner and thinner i'm noticing a trend where I just dont have the energy that I used to to do anything outside of my job.

I bring this up because on paper I should be happy with what I made, but I still feel like im in a stand-still. I made a lot of costumes, but tbh they were low quality/lackluster. like the number went up, but the quality didnt and I couldnt do much of any other art things. I couldve, and shoulve, been able to make much better work this year than I did, but it didnt happen as a combo of being snuffed out by my job physically and mentally.

in 2023 I got a head start/built up momentum from the beginning of the year that carried me through when things got insane in spring/summer/currently, but I'm already starting 2024 from a low point. yall. im so tired. im so goddamn tired. like its funny to goof about how much I do but its catching up fast and i think this is going to be the year when I just cant keep up anymore. Its hard to talk about since the "being crushed to death by your job" topic isnt one people want to engage with, and unless you're experiencing it first hand its hard to understand what living like that really means.

for 2024, i know theres no way I will be able to match this same number of costumes, but my goal is no matter what I want to start making things that are more solid on a construction level. fewer projects, more polish. also doing more non-cosplay stuff like world building and dolls would also be awesome. will that happen??? lord only knows. honestly usually these predictions/goals go haywire but this is also more of a response to external things outside of my control so ???? ??????? we'll see lads

[videostak]

people are insane im looking at google reviews for the thrift store that i always go to and its all mostly extremely positive as it should be but the negative reviews are insane ppl are so dumb which is to be expected but a lot of them are from people branded “local guide” which is funny given how dogshit their reviews are. like just ppl complaining over stupid shit like that thrifit is so well priced unless youre like getting behind the counter stuff but ive gotten so much stuff there and the fact that theres sales everyday really just makes it perfect to be a long time shopper at. so dumb i mean i kno its ultimately gentrification bullshit but seeing ppl branded local guide be like “ya it was meh overpriced etc” abt it infuriates me. like im assuming cause it doesnt look like as clean or well lit as a goodwill or smthn but its so much better its insane those people are even qualified as local guide.

[official-lucifers-child]

Is it ok that im kinda always sitting in this ignorant bliss? Like theres things happening around me but I choose not to look at any of it?

I mean I want to be supportive and know whats going on but I cant handle it. I tried to be caught up with all the stuff back in May/June (if you're in america, you know what im talking about) but I just couldn't, I get too mad at this stuff and its really damaging to my mental health.

I actively avoid reading hardly anything about news or who did what and I feel like im abusing my privilege as a white person. Is it ok as long as I keep reblogging donation posts or should I be trying to help the causes even though im scared of interacting with them?

i mean 1) i am also white, so i can’t exactly be like “nah you’re fine” or “nah you’re not fine” because i myself have white privilege and  i try to do a lot not to “combat it” but simply to constantly unlearn racism. i will always have white privilege, we both will, and it is very likely that for the rest of our lifetimes we will have and benefit from white privilege.

but there is no equal exchange.

it’s not like “as long as i do this, then this other unrelated thing is fine”. am i saying you should submerge yourself in the news 24/7? no, absolutely not. that’s dumb, that’s unrealistic, that’s unhealthy, and that’s dangerous. no one should be like that, no one should try to do that, no one could possibly manage to do that.

but, to an extent, you should keep up with stuff. you don’t have to read every news article that comes out, but maybe go through one or two sources about something that you are passionate about. i read articles about black lives matter, attend what protests i can, spread posts and donation links, etc. it’s not everything that i could possibly be doing, but it is something. i also constantly review myself for racism, racist thoughts/actions/words/ideas/concepts, etc.

but really, just do what you can. extremes are never good. don’t ever try to keep up with everything, that’s murder. keep up with the “big things”, things that affect you. if you’re affected by disability rights, keep up with that. lgbtq+ rights? read about that.

but i’m not an expert

i never will be

we both have white privilege, and if what you’re worried about is that then you do have stuff to learn. you will always have white privilege, and yes you do benefit from white privilege by being able to ignore most major events going on. you do. that’s not something that can be denied or changed/remedied in any way except NOT ignoring what’s going on. even then you’ll benefit from white privilege because you’re able to learn ABOUT racism, not learn by EXPERIENCING racism. you get to learn about how others are negatively affected, not you. that is privileged.

anywho, i digress

don’t overload yourself. maybe pick one topic to read about, or just try to check up on things every once in a while. don’t completely remove yourself, but don’t completely submerge yourself, you know? try to keep up with election stuff if you can, rights and equality issues if you can, just do what you can.

[evakteket]

so many authors are deleting / going private with their work now because of hate and as someone who consistently leaves positive review for authors it’s discouraging because it’s like never enough if you say something good the negative is all authors ever focus on, like honestly why even bother reviewing at this pointe - if you want to see the bad you’ll only see the bad 🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

We’re sorry you’re starting to see it that way. It’s not really like that, though.

Authors are delighted by positive comments, promise! We adore them! We adore the people taking the time to tell us what they thought! We focus a very great deal on the love people show us! We have teared up at sweet comments ourselves, and when we see a comment from someone who’s commented on our fics before we go “oh there you are again, I love you”.

But getting a seriously nasty comment, not just once but repeatedly, does something to you.

You start to worry what will come next.

You start dreading checking your email and your social media in case there’s another nasty comment, attacking not only what you write, but who you are as a person.

You may have an anxiety disorder already, and hateful comments may trigger anxiety attacks.

You may have a depressive disorder already, and hateful comments may make it harder to cope.

You may have a pretty low self esteem as a writer, but you’ve put yourself out there and dared to post fic, and then somebody singles you out as their pet author to throw hate on and that may cause you to stop writing altogether.

You always remember the nastiness that went right to the core of your being better than you remember the lovely comments, that’s true. Because it hit you hard. It caused you pain.

And even though you get a lot more nice comments than nasty, you may not dare to put your fics out there anymore. You may not dare to keep them out there. You may want all the pain to go away and never return, and one way to make sure of that is to pull the plug on the access the hateful people have to you, and delete your fics. Maybe delete the SoMe accounts associated to you as a writer, too. 

Because the venom really, truly can hit you so fucking hard.

It’s also a little ironic, don’t you think, that a few writers deleting their stuff makes you not want to comment anymore. Comments are a way to show appreciation for the time writers took to write, edit, and post stories for the rest of us to enjoy. They’re not a means to enter into a contract where the author is now obliged to keep posting. Writing fic should be fun, and for a myriad of reasons as mentioned above, receiving hate can destroy that fun.

We think we’d all do well to remember that “the internet” isn’t somehow separate from “real life”. The internet is a means of communication and everything that we say affects real people in their real life. It’s wonderful that you use this medium to be nice to people, but sadly others do not. Just like you wouldn’t expect someone offline to just brush off asshole comment after asshole comment, you shouldn’t online either. We understand your frustration with feeling unable to help or positively influence such a situation but we’re sure you understand why sometimes moving on is what’s best for someone. 

- H and Immy

[jungle321jungle]

Book Rants: The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes

Book Rants: The Storm Runner by J.C. Cervantes

Page 304 out of 426.

That’s the page I’m on as I’m writing this because I lowkey can’t stand it anymore.

What I can’t stand is The Storm Runner, by J.C. Cervantes.

I’m not gonna touch on all the representation and all of that or anything. Simply because well, I need to rant. So, if you’re looking for a spoiler free review I’ll make it short for ya: Zane exists. He has a dog. He meets a girl. He’s told not to do the thing. He does the thing. Evil dude is released. Goes on a mission to put evil dude back with girl and uncle. And uh I haven’t finished the book so I can’t say more than that right now. Anyway to the rant!

Warning this rant will be a certified mess. I’m just writing whatever comes to mind.

The first thing which pissed me off about this book, is Zane himself. Like this kid- God. So Zane is your main character and he has a limp, and he’s a godborn, and he kinda likes the girl. And he’s trying to undo everything he did.

That’s legit all I can say about his character rn that’s not negative.

So Zane, Zane, Zane’s inner voice. The monologue of the story. Is just so bad. Here’s so examples of actual lines from this book from the most recent section I read.

"It was party city!"

"If only they knew I was godborn, too. And not just related to any god, but Hurakan, the creator and destroyer!"

Like cringe? I don’t know what else I can say besides the word cringe.

Like I have seen reviews where people says Zane’s voice is Percy-esque. And what annoys me is that’s true. But only a small percent of the time. It flips between lines I just read, to bland, to boring and then you get a full on sarcastic thing and it just seems badly timed and out of place for Zane. There’s one I just read but I’m not gonna torture myself with trying to find it.

Another thing which annoyed me about Zane is how forgettable he is? Like he’s the main character that shouldn’t be possible. But like when reading this there was about a three month gap in between me putting the book down and picking it back up a few days ago. And while reading a few days ago I could remember what had happened in the last chapter but I couldn’t remember Zane’s name.

So I text my friends as I read to vent. And I literally sent: “wow i read like four chapters and i didn't realize until now when it was mentioned that i forgot mcs name”

I shouldn’t be able to forget his name.

So another thing which annoys me about Zane are his decisions and how it moves the plot. But before we even touch the plot let me touch on the other characters.

First off Brooks.

She’s the mysterious girl who’s there to help, the living expert on Maya everything. And a girl so full of secrets and depression she belongs back in 2003.

Oh and she can turn into a hawk... until she can’t.

Next up we got Hondo.

Hondo is my fav of the three. He’s Zane’s uncle and he’s there for the wild ride just because. Like I’m sure there’s a logical reason? I think it was just cause they needed someone with a car? I can’t remember it was three months ago. Actually it could be longer, cause before that last time I had set the book down for a long time too. Anyway he has the best personality. And I would pay to see him be the main character instead.

So while my favorite of the three is Hondo, my favorite character is actually Ah-Puch. Mr. Evil Dude himself. He’s more interesting than the other three combined, and I just read when broke into the Twins’ lair and all that jazz and I got so happy. To be honest I much rather watch him destroy the world than anything else.

Of course my happiness was immediately undermined as it always is with this book, but I’ll say more about that in a sec.

So the plot... Oh the plot.

I will say the plot on the whole is brutally fine. The gist is that Zane is the prophecy kid (cause we’re in the realm of Riordan) and he's supposed to be the one to free Ah-Puch and he does, because he wants his dog brought back to life. I’m not gonna go into people and love for dogs and all, but I just think a smidge more thought could be put into things? Like theres another point where the seer old lady Ms. Cab tells Zane to stay home ‘cause his house is the only place with special protective wards. And like I didn't expect him to stay there, since the story needs to happen, but it seemed like he didn’t even try to make an effort to stay in the house? It was just like welp, there’s danger and murderous creatures, but nah I need to go talk to my mom.

Like just think a tiny bit more, just a little. Please.

When Ah-Puch shows up at the twins (I’m gonna keep mentioning this part cuz it's what I just read) he was super badass and him and Muwan was super cool. Watching the Twins shake in their boots was a bit satisfying especially because something unexpected was happening. But during that Ah-Puch goes on and on talking about how the Twins are liars and this and that, but like Zane believes every word. He doesn’t even doubt the validity for half a second. This man- this super evil man who wants to destroy everything. Like look Zane may be thirteen but there's gullible and then there's ridiculous.

(Semi off topic: during this scene Brooks just kinda vanishes. She says they need to run then kinda just sits there next to half dead Hondo watching until it's time to remind Zane to run again via telepathy- oh yeah she has telepathy)

Now switching gears to my previous comment about undermining my happiness. It seems like everything I enjoy is immediately shot in the face not much later.

When Zane is doing a coin toss with the Twins, he picks the death side of the coin and the way its written and the fact that the chapter ends with this. It sounds so profound- so powerful.

Then on the next page we learn it’s a mind game the the coin is weighted so he picked the wrong side. Yes, I understand that the Twins always win and whatever and this shows that. But it felt like such a quick switch in tone, in Zane it completely dashed all happiness I just had on the page before. Ah-Puch showing up during deadly basketball is the same thing. I loved reading him swooping in and the glass shattering violently over the crowd, and I thought it wa so cool how he had done that. The Twins thought they were untouchable but then here comes Mr. Evil Dude to destroy it all. It was perfect.

Then you learn he just followed the tracking device he put on Zane.

I will admit I had forgotten about the tattoo deal thing- given my few month break- but had I read this book consistently it wouldn’t have been a surprise whatsoever. It’s super expected. Also I thought it would show just how powerful Ah-Puch is. Even not at full strength,and freshly back in the world he tracked them down and was ready to give them a slow painful death.

LOL NOPE HE FOLLOWED THE LEASH HE PUT ON ZANE.

I hope you can just feel how much I am groaning and sighing right now.

So after that Jazz shows up to save the gang and you’re like cool cool good timing whatever. I’m glad he agreed to come, but then he admits he put cameras in their clothes insert more sighs. So this guy was just watching them agree to play deadly basketball and meet Mr. Evil Ah-Puch and did nothing until the dangerous people were gone? They could’ve used some help sooner Jazz. A lot sooner.

Well, I think I got the rant mostly out of my system purely because I haven’t read the last 100 or so pages, but if you’re probably wondering why I read this book if I can’t get through without getting annoyed.

Honestly I think the whole reasoning is the fact that my boss gave it to me. She was the one who told me about Riordan Presents and gave me the book as a gift. So I think I just feel sort of pushed to finish it (and read the next one she gave me)? Regardless of if that's the reason or not that I keep reading, for some reason I am still pulled into this book?

I am driven insane by it- and yet I still read it, and I might even read the sequel ‘cause I am trash. But I think this factor is what annoys me the most overall.

I want to like this book and I want to hate it. But I can’t do either. It's the definition of a love hate relationship. And I don't think I’ll ever get out of it.

Idk if I’ll post something about the end of the book yet, it depends on how much I want to pull my hair out

Someone please kill me before I finish this thing

[booksandtea]

When the Steam Summer Sales were almost starting Tecsie decided to clean up their Steam wishlist a little bit by writing a Steam Wishlist Clean Up post which was inspired by Lia’s Down the TBR Hole book blogger meme.

I really liked this idea and asked Tecsie if I could take part too so here I am. Though with a slight difference, Tecsie managed to go through a lot more of her wishlist in one go. I already know that will not be the case for me. So you’ll likely see a few of these.

Sit back, enjoy, and browse some video games with me.

Starting Point: 149

Hoo boy, are we really back here so soon after finishing? Yes. But whhhyy Lauren?

During the Steam Sales over the Winter period one of the tasks to gain more cards (on Steam you can get cards that craft into badges to level up your profile) is to go through their video game recommendation queue three times a day. Which I uh obviously do pretty religiously and therefore after a quick glance at a bunch of games a few find their way onto my wishlist.

Rather than letting this mount up to a ridiculous amount I decided to look back and reflect on my decisions would be a good idea after each sale! (Please Note: I am now a HumbleBundle Partner, this post includes affiliate links at no extra cost to you)

🎮 GRIS by Nomada Studio [purchase] It was actually Tecsie that picked this game out for me cause she knew I’d love the art style! She was very right. In fact she also ended up buying it for herself and playing it on stream. After her gameplay I’m still convinced I’ll love it but I just can’t decide do I get it on Switch or PC.

🎮 Among Trees by FJRD Interactive Wow, I’m acually speachless at how beautiful this game is. Its asurvival sandbox that isn’t out yet but yes I really want it. I see cute deer which is an imediate plus. Very excited for this one, perhaps I can get it on release to review for y’all! I’m that excited for it.

🎮 Life is Strange 2 by DONTNOD Entertainment [purchase] I loved the first game from this series and I am excited for this one too so its definitely a game I’ll keep on my wishlist. Though I’ve not finished playing Before the Storm yet so I wont prioritise this one.

🎮 Donut County by Ben Esposito Yes!! I really want this still, but again its another game I can’t decide on between Switch and PC. Help a girl out? You go around making holes in the ground and theres acute racoon too.

🎮 Prey: Typhon Hunter by Arkane Studios Okay so I was ready to remove this anyway given that I’ve not played Prey itself but it also has very and mostly negative reviews sooo definitely going to hard pass on this for now.

🎮 The Outer Worlds by Obsidian Entertainment This is  a single-player sci-fi RPG where your choices effect how the story unfolds. This game isn’t out yet so I’ll keep this on my wishlist to see how it does at release.

🎮 RESONANCE OF FATE/END OF ETERNITY by tri-Ace Hmm, I really am interested in this but knowing my existing steam library and JPRG games I already have I think we’ll pass on this one for now tbh.

🎮 Call of Cthulu by Cyanide Studio [purchase] I’m always down for some more Lovecraftian horror in my life! So we will keep this on my wishlist. You get to play as a PI who looks into the tragic death of the Hawkins family whilst madness and horror ensues.

🎮 Gal*Gun 2 by INTI CREATES CO., LTD. [purchase] This is another one of my questionable games where an army of girls fall madly in love with you and you gotta fight them off. It looks ridiculous and I feel like I’m gonna keep it because I am a large pile of trash.

🎮 Thief Simulator by Noble Muffins I really couldn’t make my mind up about this game but I think I have other games that I want to play a lot more so we’ll say bye to this one tbh. It has aspects that I’m interested in so maybe one day I’ll come back to it.

Stats at the end of this post

Priority: 3 / 10 Keep: 4 / 10 Remove: 3 / 10 Steam Wishlist total: 146

Last time we checked in this was at 127 and now we are back up to 146 so theres still a few more I’ll have to go through so you can expect some more of these posts which I think/hope people like.

I hadn’t realised how close I was to being done and now I’m going to be sad this is over.

I do think I plan to keep Saturdays as video game related days in the future but I ‘ll just need to get some content ready to post for them so it may not be every Saturday.

Thank you for sticking with me through this journey and its nice to have had people enjoy the posts. Maybe I can check back in when I’ve bought some and give my first impressions.

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Steam Wishlist Clean Up (17) #BooksandTeaBC When the Steam Summer Sales were almost starting Tecsie decided to clean up their Steam wishlist a little bit by writing a…

[shytiff]

Small Nov Wins

1 - cant bring myself to study, got out of bed 10:30-ish am. While lazing around i read royal servant and do random internet stuff and watched romee's vlogs. Ate breakfast and i somehow has no appetite?? This is rare. e, cicil kompre began at 15:30 pm (i know, i waste my time a lot). Pengumuman wahana mpi wow yay kalideres makara and budi asih

2 - the weather was pleasantly cloudy. poli anestesi anak, simul. went to what used to be calais, its called flavola now. at this point i quite need some calories because i only ate bubur ayam and its like 2-3 pm ish. Eventually the hunger is gone, arrived home at about 4-ish, drank protein to curb my hunger (nanggung dinner). dad said sumn that annoyed me so after maghrib i just lazed in bed, not feeling like doing anything (even though there’s lots of exams and hw lmao), fell asleep

3 - woke up at 2 am, prated, randomly searched for angel - chancellor and taeyeon’s lyrics and i basically wept at 4 am. i assumed the song was just like,,, a guy talking to a girl, his angel, you know. EXCEPT,,,,,,,,. the 2 MVs was also rly222 beautiful 🥺. Poli geriatri today, didnt even see patient because there was no more at that time (status salin nadia). ate ichiban salad (surprisingly quite good) at dm bcs i rly do be functioning better outdoors, made matcha latte with full cream milk ((powder)), cicil PT

4 - can finally wake up late. finished 1 sitasi pt, made ikk ppt, bujing lina called about diarrhea and nausea meds, laddered the leader for tomorrow’s exam and it,, was,,, me,, group call with shiko. frantically studied for EA

5 - PT (finished in 45 mins), simul as a leader, with STEMI, VF and hypoglycemia case. somehow made it through. i suck at dosages omggg. PP by car with mom (not rly that tired) but i SLEPT after i got home and had no mood to study helpppp

6 - did my first swab test today. i pushed the doctors hand when she’s doing oropharyngeal swab im sorryyyy 😂. slept. matcha. cicil kompre

7 - still havent finished ikk (deadline: today), and still havent studied for geri and ikk AND i still managed to take a nap. why. Read a bit of kompre. Not sleepy after matcha, but insted i reread bj alex and tsubaki chou lonely planet until 2 am the next day #rippriorities

8 - im having matcha latte seven days in a row as of today :))))) woke up at 10:30 am, went to flavola with atikah and got strawberry yakult (tasted like es mony), arrived home at abt 7-ish am and there no dinner, so i drank protein and ate japota honey butter. My breakfast was chicken porridge, so my diet is sooo liquid today. Rip proper nutrition (ate buryam, lumpia, japota for the whole day and drank 3 beverage). Cicil kompre and studied geri

9 - suma geri, slept, cicil kompre, ny head kind of hurts

10 - my head still hurts, suma ikk with dr herqu and dr retno, didnt take swab result by car because the TRAFFIC in soetta so my brother took it. Thankfully negative.

11 - lulus kompre alhamdulillah, the examiner were Prof Saptawati and dr. Dani from THT. Dr dani still remembered me :"") they were very kind. Went to tamel for first wahana: klinik makara UI. Picked up masker first at mahmudas place, and then went to depok. On the way i was interviewed by maba 2020 wtf im so old. Cleaned up my room with the fam, printed sumn in barel (its quite empty there)

12 - first day at klinik makara ui. i WALKED. such wow. fixed my shoes in kutek. had breakfast in barel and bahari for lunch-dinner. somehow i felt very drained. bought Dapur Alya (nutella and regal) and 2 salads from Salad Point since there was 11.11 promo. Put all of them in the fridge. Read Fools and its sooo good omg

13 - had salad and left over bahari rice for brekkie. went to clinic by grabbike :)))), had my first teleconsultation experience today, a chemical trauma case. suma ea with the help of shiko

14 - woke up at 5:20 ish and i jogged a bit at ui lmaoo. fisip - ft - fisip. By 6:30 im already back at my room. 1 hour can be spent a lot of different ways, it turns out. Washed my clothes. Ate monstercheese pizza. Slept a bit. Went to blok m with ara (she was late as always, surprised her with koi milk tea), ate futago ya (greasy cheesy milky goodness, enak tapi eneg afterwards), bought red bean bread at la mouette, bought discounted onigiri bento box at papaya. We went to m bloc space, looked around, ate gelato at kebunide (blueberry: yum, fresh, kiiinda feels artificial, salted caramel: delicious but makes me thirsty) and did photobox at connectoon. Walked to mrt asean but turns out!! for weekends mrt is closed at 8pm. Took grabbike to sudirman, seeing the pretty city and people just hanging out, playing skateboards on the wide sidewalks.

15 - planned to go jogging with salemba frens but i woke up late (06:45), so i just lazed around. Ate onigiri bento (super worth it for 25k for the proteins), fell asleep again 10ish to 14:30 lmaoo. The doms from yesterday was present even on the right side of my lower back 🙂 the red bean bread made me feel full, and the red bean was not too sweet, which i love. Reviewed some meshwork materials i missed. Fianti called and we talked abt her and hari

16 - had mujigae for sahur and fish bite for iftar. The fish was not as soft as fish streat, but the flour was definitely better and crunchy. But it doesnt have the seasoning micin like fish streat do. The pasta was quite a lot im in food coma afterwards. Fell asleep, and my stomach was so gassy that i woke up in the middle with a headache that does not play around. Fortunately it dissapeared in the morning

17 - breakfast is rice kimchi and abon lmaoo just pretend it makes sense. The scrubs i ordered finally arrived. I fell asleep AGAIN, WHYYYY. Lost my streak in DL, i guess i can stop using it for now.

18 - finished reading blood link, girlll i thought the human died at the end. Did not buy food today wow. Took a nap and cicil kompre.

19 - brekkie at barel. Helped measuring antropometry today at clinic, and also measured my own. The fucked up thing was that i THOUGHT my body fat is still at 28% compared to the past (dr rina's research). So i looked at the old paper AND. I USED TO HAVE. 35% FAT 🙂 even my memories are in denial and are fooling me. All this time i thought i was at 28 🙂 did swab at rsui. The one swabbing was from fkui 2012 and we had small talk. It hurted more than lmk :( now this does feel like drowning in water (cause before i said "nah its not like water in nose"). Took angkot back to tamel, bought piscok lumer pocin and its soooo gooood ugh

20 - i feel like if i have breakfast with leftover rice and abon and sozzis i get hungry faster lmaoo. Ordered ken karaage from kukusan, yaa okela for 25k with ongkir. Did online posbindu education through wa. BTS BE COMEBACK 🥺 i maximized my wifi time (no wifi at tamel) so i listened to the whole album. My mobile data is at 200MB lol. Read a good longreads from the atlantic, about down synd and genetic screening. The writing is so so good im just blown away. And teary eyed.

21 - ran a bit, solid class (gastro, rheum, infection), embryo, webinar about sleep by dr Gita Anindyajati, SpKJ, bought ayam geprek gold chick (lotsss of oil since i ordered tempe, jamur, egg, bought pop cookies. matcha cheese was actually better than i expected (the combination somehow fits), dark chocolate and marshmallow is very chocolatey like mom’s brownies, and vegan strawberry cookie with a hint of mint. i wonder how they replace the egg. I wonder why after i run i dont feel hungry for a moment. bloating just gooes away

22 - joined kris' healthy weekly event (lmao) in tamsur. They went to epiwalk first. Its difficult for me to run w mask, ngl. Went back to tamel, embryo, ate leftover meal from gold and chick, felt somehow drained to the bone so i just laid in bed and lazed and lazed. Theres no soreness, but the weakness was generalized lmao. Ordered bbq chicken almond salad from salad point, it was actually quite fulfilling and delishhh (added chili sauce to the dressing). Literally laid in bed from 7 until i fell asleep and woke up at 6 the next day. Finished readin shame application lmao

23 - i still feel tired ckckck. No doms, but i feel like i just want to lay down. got DV patient today at clinic, its most likely derm numularis??? Ate salad and dark choco marshmallow cookies in the evening and that cookie. Is so damn sweet im just thinking about the increase in my blood sugar. And i like sweets so!!! Never thought id find sumn too sweet. Washed my clothes and cicil ukmppd (i put things about studying ukmppd in habitica now)

24 - ate tanoshi sushi and ufo ramen for bfast, ate the sushi again for lunch and after waking up from my sleep i tried kokku ramen (so so, but the egg yolk's good)

25 - bfast: superbubur, protein shake and cookies. (did not make me feel full long enough). Ordered burger from EATG (so so, burger bener is better) for lunch. Last day at makara ui. Ara arrived coz shes staying here in tamel. Waiting for mom to arrive from cibubur, she arrived at about 20:30. I passed out at home

26 - first day in pkm kalideres, i volunteered to be pj to avoid RSUD. my room is a mess, i feel tired after i go back. maybe its the physical withdrawal (?) because i dont walk like when im on klinik makara. came to pkm thinking i wont do anything (orientation only) but the 6 of us ended up going. i was at igd. i saw nail extraction and injected ats for another patient 

27 - talked for almost an hour with the doctor at poli lansia. went home, felt sooo tired, i slept and actually showered after maghrib. originally planned to go to sbux but i was just tired af. my mood was horrible at home. 

28 - turns out i started my period today. i havent studied at all during pkm kalideres era. embryo. slept again. read some manga by nishin something with the psychological and BL genre. 

29 - embryo. cut my hair, showered, and felt better. fell asleep on dr gita's lecture. Drank cimory banana milk with a bit of matcha powder. I dont know if its the sleep, or a bit of caffeine, but my mood feels better and im more awake. Cicil ukmppd with a slow pace. Read itasaku ff. Slept at about 2 am

30 - surprisingly, i dont feel sleepy when i wake up. poli anak today, surprisingly i got perinatology case (jaundice). presented it on pleno. for bfast i ate 3 slice of bread (2 with meat and cheese, 1 choco and cheese) and protein shake, lunch: a slice of choco cheese bread and a banana, fell asleep, dinner: 1 bakwan, a banana and nextar. i can feel that the calories i got today is even less than what i usually got (and usually i already try to limit calories that i am counting the intake amout and made sure im not too far from my bmr lmaoo (~1100)

[stainedglassmaiden]

spoilers ahead - okay - so i just watched the siren on xfinitystream.

im so disappointed - or maybe ive just gotta think harder about it/watch the ending again - because it wasnt a common kind of style of a movie, and during most of it, i felt like it was going somewhere interesting . but thenn, at the end like in the last 5-10 minutes, idk, there were flashbacks or fantasies or something, i wasnt suree what was real or not, and it made the end confusing, and there be wayy less closure than i feel like there could have been!!! cause i feelll like maybee if they picked maybe onee of the confusing scenes/fantasies or something at the end, it could’ve made the closure and whole movie seem like 40% better and have more of a clear message. ughhh! they were soo close to having something interesting [and good+clear]!

some ppl had very negative reviews of it, because they didnt understand how the details related, but i think those were some of the most significant parts, and found how i thought they related, to explain and explore some themes in the story.

--

so the movies about a young man, whod never been in love and is mute and v christian, who is taking a break from his life in the church, to stay at a cabin on a lake. [although he had lost his voice in the first place when he was drowned type thing when he was young]. and his neighbor is a man whos lookin kinda rough, cause he lost his husband to what he thinks is a folklore of a monster in this lake, who drowned the husband. so now, this widower wants to find the monster and get revenge and kill the monster. and the background is, that the monster is supposed to be a woman based on like a siren [bc of the title] orr? -a slavic myth of a woman whos undead and haunts a body of water where she had drowned herself when she was unhappy with her husband/was heartbroken.

-

so! i thought it was unique bc it was a very simple set, and not much dialogue probs cause the man was mute, but that was alright with me! it wasnt uncomfortablyy quiet. it was fun for a rainy day, like a little melancholy and a little spooky and a little lovesick . idkk, it was a moodd, if youre in that mood lols, and want solidarity with a movie.

fun how they had diversity, with an asian woman playing the siren - you dont see much asian representation in western movies. and a gay man just casually thrown in there, not a big deal, which is also cool uncommon diversity representation a little bit . andd likee, ability-diversity with a mute character, and its not like a big deal, but maybe people like that would like to see people like their own selves reflected/represented in movies tooo, so they dont feel on the outsidee of the realm of “kinds of people who can be starred as kinds of movie characters” usually, you know? :).

-

some details that other people thought werent relevant and annoyingly random, were things that i thought weree very interesting and related to a message of the movie!

-like i thought the music was significant. it was this very like, etherial possibly what would you call it - like monk like, cathedral echo-y singing. you  know how theres that kind of music like in cathedrals? etherial? -andd its like the kind of music that sirens are traditionally thought to sing. like echo-y and kinda haunting. so i thought that tied the siren and the religious mute characters together. andd they were falling in love anyway. andd it sounds haunting-y and theyre both kindaa haunted by stuff in the back of their minds, like she, by her curse and her lost love in the past or whatever, and she wishes she could come back to land and be normal, but this curse is keeping her in the water - and him, by whether he should return to his church or not - since he had gotten a phone message from them saying like, dont strayyy from the churchh and dont sinnn come back to us!

thenn, i dont think his mute-ness is random either. i think it signifies the theme of like, misunderstanding and miscommunication [and how that can be frustrating]. like how she is frustrated bc shes seen as a monster [and is one] but shes also, sometimes just a normal girl, when the curse isn’t taking a hold of her. and the widower thoughtt he misunderstood her, when he wasnt sure if she wass actually the monster, because sometimes, she just acts like a lady, and he felt sorry that he was blaming her, since he was like, “theres probs no such thing as monsters, shes probs justt a normal lady”.

thenn, i dont think him being gay was random either i guess . people were annoyed about all these random choices about the characters’ characteristics, because they seemed random and distractingly irrelevant. but i think its relevant because idk i thought maybe because sirens were originally supposed to lure menn to their graves. so it makes it easier for him maybe, and more believeable that he wouldnt be able to be more focused, to try to kill her, and not be lured. even if it wouldnt literallyy work, maybe its just supposed to be symbolicc for their repellant -rather than luring - relationship.

something lacking in love - is another theme i think it was cool how they explored it in different ways. like how the mute man had never been in love, and when talking about that, the neighbor was like, “i dont know if i should feel sorry about that or not. can you imagine that?!”. and even when he did nearly get love with the siren, they could never really comfortablyy be alll the way in each others’ worlds, either on land or in the water. -not on land, because she has to always have atleast part of her body in the water, so shes always just kinda soggily, uncomfortably, sitting on the edge of the dock. they cant comfortably be in the water either, because firstly, he doesn’t know how to swim/is afraid of getting in the water, since thats how hed lost his voice as a child - and, because i guess the curse starts to take control of her when shes near other people when theyre in the water, and she needs to drown them. and, how both the other couples had had love, but then i guess they either lost their partner, or it ended in heartbreak.

it made me sad but was moving in a good way, how when she wasnt feeling the siren curse, they did try their best to change to be able to hang out. like she triedd to resist the curse and climbb out of the water to join him on land (although it didnt work). and how since she couldnt come out, hed lie on the dock withh her so she could stilll put her foot in the water. that was cute and thoughtful.

v low lighting though. like, i know we’re trying to make it spooky and a bummer, but also, i can barely see what youre doing. ever heard of likee, idk, a gray or dark blue filter for the camera, so its like the illusionn of night time, but doesnt actuallyy make things too obscure to see things?!

the choices of casting were nice though. i feel like the mute man and siren had chemistry you can feel, evenn if they couldn’t even talk much!.

the ending couldvee been clever. i just didnt really understand. but there wass a flashback or fantasy where idk, i think it was the mute man ended up becoming a siren tooo! (you could tell because his eyes became as big and dark as herss when she was under the curse being a siren), and then that was cooll cause thenn they were shown just bothh being sirenss in her little cove in the waterr, so they couldd be happy and togetherr all the time actuallyy, in the water! thatd’ve been a nice ending. although they would have to explain why hes a siren now, cause they hadn’t. i guess hed have to drown himself or get drowned, with/from a broken heart, just like she did, to become one. but why would his heart be broken, cause theyre ablee to hang out pretty much, when shes nott a siren, and shes not dead ..

butt, they did just end the movie (spoiler!) with him deciding to leave the lake (i didnt understand why?), and when he leaves, she seen kinda swimming up in the distance, to/towards his empty cabin. maybe thats just saying, “and thenn, they were never ablee to be together anywayy, and itd alwayss be like this imagee for them - how it was in the first place, with him on just on land, and herr, only and forever just kinda stuck lurkingg in the distancee, in the waterr - tooo far away from him/remote/[misunderstood! -and cant fix that [monster part] about herself] - to ever really be with him for real. :(.

hm. so i think idk, either make it clearerr, which of these endings are just fantasies,/why, or just choose onee of them, and committ to thatt message. for the movie. lols. orr if you choose the ending where he becomes a siren too, you gotta explain why that happened better.

plus, (spoiler) when the widower got killed and joined his husband at the bottom of the lake, i feel like that couldve been used to say something significant or to bring something full circle or make a point of some kind. but it didnt, so.. i kind of dont understand why that was done. although i cant think of a better ending for that character, and cant think of how else his story could’ve played out - because either he has to get killed by the siren, he has to kill the siren, or he has to never be able to catch and kill the siren - but either way, idk howw youd make eitherr of these possible endings come to an interesting and satisfying solution, for the scheme of the rest of the movie’s story. i guessss its kindaa cool that atleastt he ended up with his husband againn.. [at the bottom of the lake..] which is kinda dark - but its like , ..so ? that wasnt even his/the goal..!

so yea. i like this movie. its quiet and oddly sweet and kinda moody, which sometimes youre actually in the mood to watch. just kinda chilly. and spooky and nostolgic. im just frustrating cause i felt like it was onto something brilliant, then the ending was kinda noncommital and a flop.

but it seemed kinda thoughtful and cool how it was somethingg about like - the themes of frustration, misunderstanding, things not quitee fitting together in life, longing. which are things that arent usuallyy the point of most movies, so it was cool to get to reflect on those things [in media], uncommonly/for once, through watching this one.

[maybe the point/message of this movie was: Sometimes, you just try your best to make things work out (from the various examples of this being tried throughout the movie), but its okay to be sad and bummed when it doesn’t work out how you wanted it too, because that is how it has to end up sometimes (likethe husbands wanted to be together - and they didnt quite get what they wanted cause they didd end up together - but it was when theyre Dead at the bottom of the lake, -or how the siren wantss to overcome her curse, by healing and moving on from her previously broken heart, by trying to overcome riskss to fall in love againn with a neww man, and defying the curse trying to climb out of the water - but (for some reason?) sometimes, i guess thats just a fantasy, like all their flashbacks. so now shes just gonna be soggy and dripping and uncomfortable (physically and emotionally) in her humans clothes (not like, traditionally fun and comfortable and alluring like how mermaids who weree made to originallyy belong in the water, look.), just watching her potential [future] lovers and things she thoughtt were opportunitiess to heal from the curse, pass her by on land - while she watches them from very far away in the water. [im not suree how the mute one fits in to this message perfectly - but i guess maybe hes just the accessory to the siren’s part of the message].

[drakorn]

Tanz der Vampire St. Gallen - Act 2 Spoiler Review

I am back with Act 2 of the St. Gallen production! Oh wow, to be honest, I never actually expected the previous one to be THAT long. But oh well, let us see how this one works out. Act 1 actually has even more changes than Act 2 and I actually happen to like quite a lot of them. But then there are some, where I just have to facepalm and think to myself: WHY? But what am I saying? Let’s get into details. As in the previous post, this review is full of spoilers, so for everyone who would like to see the St. Gallen production totally without any knowledge, you can turn away right here! Everybody else...let’s go :D

Totale Finsternis: The second act starts in the most neogothic, Twilighty way possible. Remember that dark overview of the castle in the original production? Well, get ready for shaky cameras in a forest, crosses, lightning strikes, RED EYES, UUUUUHUUUUUU! Another unintentionally funny moment for me XD Then we FINALLY get rid of the screen and make way for the stage. And boy, IS THIS A DIFFERENT EXPERIENCE. And I don’t mean this in a bad way. I actually found that a lot of this Totale Finsternis posed some interesting creative decisions, some of which I actually support. So, first thing, the stage: There are two areas: A gallery-esque thing with one big painting that sings the “Sei bereit...” chorus. This is where Sarah is. Krolock on the other hand is high above her in a second area. This area has a gazillion load of candles. Krolock sits at a piano and actually plays the tune of Totale Finsternis while singing to Sarah. Thomas Borchert really gets to show off his piano skills in this scene XD The entire first part of Totale Finsternis comes from him playing it in-character. He is also dressed in a red coat that looks similar to Krolock’s movie costume. And Krolock looking older in this version really does remind a bit of Ferdy Mayne in this scene. There is also a small staircase through which Sarah gets to Krolock. He rises up from his piano and is about to bite her. This is a place where I would really have welcomed a script change again. Because in this version, Krolock sounds like he almost doesn’t want to bite her, but then he talks about all of the lust and how he needs to be patient and all. So yeah, Totale Finsternis was actually really not that bad :D

Carpe Noctem: This is where the leather costumes actually make more sense because the vampires do actually seem more dangerous like that. It actually starts with the bed being somewhere in the background, with the first Nightmare Solo crawling out of the floor. The bed later gets moved and dragged around the entire stage. What I DO like about this version is that Alfred is much more the focus here. He is always there, trying to save Sarah, who at some point I think even goes away from the stage for a few moments. This Carpe Noctem genuinely feels like a nightmare of modern day vampires. Unfortunately, this is the case for the Nightmare Solos. While the first one sounds fantastic, the second one...I really don’t like that singing style. But overall, it was a good Carpe Noctem rendition.

Ein perfekter Tag: Nothing really changed that much here, at least nothing that’s worth mentioning. It’s the same scene just with modern clothes and a younger professor.

Für Sarah: Due to the show’s direction with Sarah, this song kinda has a bittersweet feel to it. In this version, it is REALLY obvious that Sarah is not interested in Alfred at all, but Alfred doesn’t see this. Therefore, he is basically singing for a lost cause. He clearly loves her. She is annoyed with him.

Die Gruft: Alright, people, brace yourselves, for here comes the biggest change that this version brought with it! First of all, Abronsius gets HEADLAMPS, making him and Alfred look like cave explorers. For a brief period, this is also the only source of light on stage. Then they finally find the crypt, which looks a bit underwhelming here, to be honest. The gigantic stone sarcophaguses are replaced with smaller coffins. However, this is nothing compared what happens next. First of all, Abronsius gets stuck in such a position that he ACTUALLY CAN’T SEE the coffins this time. Wonderfully solved here. But then comes the thing: Alfred advances to the coffins, prepares to open them...except Krolock and Herbert are not in them. How do we know this? Because father, son, and Koukol are standing on the other side of the stage, watching how Alfred makes a fool of himself. Krolock was prepared for this situation. But then the question arises...what IS inside the coffins? Because Alfred clearly sees something in them! OR COULD IT BE....that Alfred was lying to the professor in this version? He could have wanted to impress Abronsius first by stating that the empty coffins are actually full. But when Abronsius ordered him to impale them, he obviously couldn’t do it and therefore lied about not being able to do it. Or DID he mean “I can’t do it because they’re not here” and Abronsius misunderstood this as cowardice? Or I don’t know, maybe Krolock put some puppets in there or dressed up some corpses and Alfred was too dull to realise that. Then comes another change: Chagal and Magda crawl out of a trapdoor on the stage, they are not actually in a coffin this time around. I find that a bit odd, but ok, if they want to go with it, sure...

Bücher: This is some interesting staging here. The library and the bathroom are located on the stage at the same time. The library is on the upper level while the bathroom is on the lower level. They are connected by a staircase. The library is a big projection this time around with only a few books physically being there, which I think is a bit of a shame. Then Alfred advances downstairs to talk to Sarah, who is sitting in a bathtub with a pink towel on her head. She is clearly completely in the Count’s grasp here, as she barely acknowledges Alfred being there. The red dress is standing behind some sort of glass vitrine.

Noch mehr Bücher: Alfred heads back up the stairs to find Abronsius, who has been reading and walking around with books this whole time. As I said, I really like the staging of library and bathroom being on at the same time as it makes for some interesting discoveries, as we see in the next bit.

Wenn Liebe in dir ist: This is where some more great changes happen XD First of all, if one looks closely, it can be seen how Herbert advances to the bath while Sarah is still in theres, she quickly gets out and exits, he gets in and he is also wearing the same pink towel on his head XD Then he starts singing, and Alfred advances down, after singing his little part. Herbert rises up from the bathtub and he is actually naked here, as the audience can clearly see his backside. Alfred is so incredibly embarrassed that he turns away, looks for a bathrobe and hands it over to Herbert so that he can dress. Now imagine this: Herbert wearing a bathrobe and a pink towel on his head dancing with Alfred. The mirror was thankfully also incorporated here. The little break in the chase scene doesn’t happen: Herbert bites the book, Alfred attempts to run, Herbert grabs him and PUSHES HIM INTO THE BATHTUB. Then he quickly jumps on Alfred, so both of them are in the bathtub now. It can’t get any more ridiculous than that XD Abronsius appears and beats Herbert away. Alfred, feeling extremely exposed and attacked, quickly gets out and they swiftly escape. I think this was a great way of changing the scene, I fully approve of this.

Sie irren, Professor: This one is also quite interesting. Alfred and Abronsius stand on a small balcony stage right and overlook and empty stage. Then Krolock appears on another balcony stage left and starts to taunt them. Except...this time he doesn’t disappear. He stays there for the second part and visibly taunts Alfred. It’s interesting to note that while he says “Alfred’s soul is already mine” he imitates Alfred’s failed attempt of impaling him in the crypt before. Then he walks away, leaving Alfred and Abronsius alone.

Ewigkeit: Alright...this is it...this is where the bad things start to happen. First of all, there are no graves, the stage is empty. The vampires just casually walk up on it and start singing their number. Ok, positives first: Herbert and Magda are both in this scene, singing along with the other vampires. Then we have Alfred and Abronsius actually watching this scene from their position. And ok, given that the vampires are much more active in this show, it makes sense that they are not crawling out of graves here. But here comes the big negative. @kahorifutunaka , you were a witness to this and I understand how you must have felt as a History student. Basically, a part of the advertisement for this show was the following: Act 1 would have the vampires dress up as modern people. Act 2 would have them dress up according to the time period they were bitten in. That’s all fine and dandy EXCEPT THE COSTUMES ARE NOT HISTORICAL AT ALL. Ok, 2 or 3 were, but THAT’S IT. NONE of the other costumes made any sense! It looked like they came straight from a carnival store! Surely the vampires must know how their time period looked like? Come on, guys! Get it right! You had ONE JOB. It’s not THAT hard to look up historically correct costumes, but you totally missed that here! Also...this song loses a big part of his meaning due to the modern setting. In the original version, they were hiding in the dark, lurking in the shadows, waiting to take over the world. Kunze’s intention was to show at the end that the vampires HAVE taken over the world in modern times and even wanted to portray them as tax collectors, politicians and corrupt businessmen, the real bloodsuckers of today. But this song indicates that they still haven’t got there. This is where script changes would have been more than welcome again. They could have sung about how humans were falling for them all the time and how they ARE the rulers of this world. But nope, instead, we got a carnival trope running around an empty stage. Also, they don’t exit through the audience here but through the orchestra pit.

Die unstillbare Gier: I have mentioned the atrocious ball costumes, yeah? Well, here comes Krolock. Oh boy...what have they done to him here? XD He is wearing a long red cape with a ridiculously gigantic collar. Then he still wears all read and huge brown boots. This costume looks like it has been smashed together from many different time periods. It looks like “Dracula meets the three musketeers” in the worst way possible! Jesus Christ, whoever designed that costume, please, I would really want an explanation for this. But then...even though it was an empty stage and Krolock looked like he just escaped a circus, this was one of the best acted Giers I have ever seen. Krolock is not as stoic as in the original production. Here he is howling and screaming in despair. But at the end, it gets ruined a bit because again, unchanged lyrics: The original version is set before the year 2000. It made sense for Krolock to speak his dark prophecy about the next millenium. Here however it makes it look like he is talking about the year 3000. I mean, how hard can it be to change a few words. In fact, here: “Prophezeit war’s euch schon lange, doch wiederhol’ ich’s heut und hier: Nun, da endlich das neue Jahrtausend beginnt, ist der einzige Gott, dem jeder dient, die unstillbare Gier!” I’m not claiming this to be a perfect rewrite, but it makes more sense than what they did. There is also another thing I would like to add: Alfred and Abronsius watch this scene as well, which I really think is a smart decision. That way they can see all of the vampiric sides.

Tanzsaal: This is also quite an interesting one. First of all, Alfred’s “They have feelings, just like us!” and Abronsius’ “Feelings? Nonsense. Duty calls!” exchange is picked up in this one again, THANK THE LORD FOR THAT. Finally, someone uses this part again! Bravo, St. Gallen! Then another thing happens: Koukol seems to openly invite Alfred and Abronsius to join the ball. He even gives them their costumes so they don’t knock out anyone here. Herbert even advances to them to sheepishly greet Alfred with a cat-like “raawwr” gesture. Then Krolock comes in through the doors (no staircase this time), and the vampires start dancing something that looks like a rendition of Thriller in front of him. Also, Magda is in the ballroom scene in this version, so that’s a plus too :D Sarah appears on an upper level of the stage and Krolock goes up to greet her. He bites her under the moonlight, but there is something else that I found quite interesting: They actually incorporated some classic vampire lore here. I know, it was picked up by the modern vampire shows but who cares? It was a classic vampire thing: After Krolock bites Sarah, he scratches his arm and lets Sarah drink his own blood. According to lore, this is what turns someone into a vampire. So props for that! Then we have the menuett, which I think has the same choreography as the original version, so nice to see that something from there made its way here. Then we get another surprise: Remember the human dwellers of the castle? Well, Krolock has them all lined up for dinner here. Jesus, they really should have changed the script because he still talks about “two mortals” being there for them. But nevertheless, when Krolock says “Suck them dry!” here, the vampires actually advance on and suck out all of the humans, except Alfred and Abronsius of course. Alfred doesn’t have a candelabra here. No, he takes a giant board off the wall and prepares to ram it into Krolock’s head. At this moment he looked like he wanted to say “DIE MOTHERF****!!!” Anyway, he and Abronsius use the diversion that is caused by the vampires sucking out the other humans, by forming not one, but TWO crosses, by placing two boards on two of the pillars of the ballroom, actively making the castle itself a crucifix. Now, THIS is where the Stage version, where the castle crumbles down like the One Ring had just been destroyed there, would have made more sense. And again, SCRIPT CHANGE PLEASE: Krolock still shouts “Koukol! Get rid of that thing!” even though there’s two things here now. Alfred, Abronsius and Sarah make their escape.

Draußen ist Freiheit Reprise: Alfred and Sarah sit on a staircase, while Abronsius goes to the completely opposite side of the stage to make his notes, where he actually can’t see them. I find this a bit more likely. What happens is pretty much unchanged: Sarah bites Alfred while Abronsius takes notes. But then, Sarah let’s Alfred take her blood, effectively turning him into a vampire! That was great!

Der Tanz der Vampire: And this is another scene that just loses a bit of its meaning in this version. Abronsius still sings about how he will protect the world and get the Nobel Prize, which still makes sense. But then Alfred and Sarah run away and the final song starts. Now...it doesn’t feel right here. In the original production, this was a massive time skip that indicated how vampires have triumphed over the last century and taken over the world. Here they still gloat about it but it just doesn’t have the same effect. And given that this version is already in the modern world, this feels like an afterparty after a slight inconvenience in the ballroom. And again, please, consider script changes, for the vampires should have conquered the world by now and not just be about to do it. A nice little extra was that at the end, Abronsius, Alfred and Sarah, and Krolock also appear on the upper level of the stage: Abronsius alone on a balcony, Alfred and Sarah together on the other one, and Krolock in the middle in front of the door he walked in before singing the Gier. All in all, pretty enjoyable.

So yeah, here we are. This was my spoiler talk for the St. Gallen production. Now...what can I say? It had GREAT moments like Wenn Liebe in dir ist and Totale Finsternis, it had pretty enjoyable moments like Der Tanz der Vampire and Draußen ist Freiheit, and it had downright terrible moments like all of the script mess-ups that the new version brought to the table and the ballroom costumes. It feels like wasted potential to me. A modern take on Tanz could have been SO MUCH better. Why have it in an asylum? You could have had it in a castle that was surrounded by a modern city where Krolock was running the city and the vampires were collecting “blood money” from the people. This would have been a reflection of the true bloodsuckers and would also be accurate to Kunze’s vision of today’s world ruled by bloodsuckers.

Is it good? Yeah, it’s ok, definitely an interesting take. Does everything work? OH BY FAR NOT. Would I recommend it? Actually...yes, I would. Because think about it: I might not have liked it so much but the statistics speak for a huge success of this version. Think about the possibilities: This could mean that we get to see other directors attempt their own takes on Tanz der Vampire, more non-replica productions and perhaps everyone will have their own preferred version by then, and wouldn’t that be amazing? So, the St. Gallen version, along with the Finnish and the Czech versions have started something that could evolve into so much more! And I hope we get to see more Tanz productions in the coming years. Ulrich Wiggers had a risky task, and I think he did pretty well as a director!

I will do another post where I talk about the cast in more detail, but until then...thank you for sticking around :D I had great fun writing this and I hope you had enjoyment in reading this :)

[firefly-hwufanficwriter-blog]

Eight reasons why Kaitlyn was actually great this week (Written by a non-Kaitlyn fan)

September 01, 2017, Friday [#302]

Two posts, one by @hermiethefrog and one by @hartfeld , inspired me to write this post 😎

(http://hermiethefrog.tumblr.com/post/164814208161/let-me-guess)

(https://hartfeld.tumblr.com/post/164824447180/okay-but-this-article-theres-a-very-big)

I’m not a Kaitlyn fan. I am the complete OPPOSITE of a Kaitlyn fan 😆 But, I think it should be pointed out that she has NOT done ANYTHING wrong in the latest The Sophomore chapter (C08) 😶

Sure, Kaitlyn’s initial reaction was to ask the MC to promote them, which was kinda iffy 😕 BUT, after the MC said that she had to write objectively, Kaitlyn said:

“Aww, I wanted free publicity! But I understand. I’ll just have to work harder to get noticed, huh?”

This is a GREAT reaction for Kaitlyn to have 😃

And, after she said that, this conversation takes place...

KAITLYN: That was why I was hoping you could give my band the publicity boost... It's hard to get your name out there.

MAIN CHARACTER: I didn't even think of that! But... I can't exactly write about you guys if you don't have any shows for me to review.

KAITLYN: Yeah, I know... still, there's got to be a way that we can build up a reputation and get people to follow us.

🎵 🎵 Point #01: Kaitlyn was honest with the MC 🎵 🎵

Kaitlyn was honest in her slight disappointment (“free publicity”) (“that’s why I was hoping”), and felt comfortable enough with the MC to voice it.

🎵 🎵 Point #02: Kaitlyn empathized with the MC 🎵 🎵

Kaitlyn understood the MC’s difficult position (“I understand”) (“Yeah, I know”). Even though she had her own reasons for wanting an article about the band, she was able to look beyond herself and see things from the MC’s point-of-view.

🎵 🎵 Point #03: Kaitlyn resolved to hone her talents 🎵 🎵

Kaitlyn’s reaction to the MC’s need to be objective wasn’t to be angry with her. Instead, she resolved to work on her skills (“I’ll just have to work harder”) and look for ways that SHE could improve the band’s status (“there’s got to be a way that we can build up a reputation”).

Afterwards, if you don’t spend the seventeen diamonds to help her create promotional materials, this conversation takes place...

MAIN CHARACTER: For what it’s worth, I think you guys sound amazing so far.

KAITLYN: Thanks, MC. We’re working hard, and hopefully that’ll pay off at some point.

KAITLYN: Building a solid rep in the music world takes a while. We might not make Battle of the Bands this year... but there’s always next year.

🎵 🎵 Point #04: Kaitlyn is ALREADY working hard 🎵 🎵

She has goals, and she’s not slacking off, just wishing but not doing. Instead, she’s doing exactly what she’s supposed to be doing (“we’re working hard”) in order to succeed.

🎵 🎵 Point #05: Kaitlyn is aware of her chosen industry’s reality 🎵 🎵

She isn’t expecting to be an overnight sensation (“Building a solid rep...takes a while”). She has a good view of how success works in the music industry, and knows that it takes time.

🎵 🎵 Point #06: Kaitlyn has REALISTIC expectations 🎵 🎵

She knows that a small, unknown band might not be able to join the competition, and if they can’t, then there will be more chances in the future (“there’s always next year”).

Later on, at the venue...

KAITLYN: MC, do you want to mill around a bit and talk to people for your article? Maybe you can ask the fans about their favorite acts.

MAIN CHARACTER: Sure! Why don’t you come with me? Maybe you’ll get a sense of what other bands you’re up against.

And still at the venue...

KAITLYN: Look, just... promise me... When you're writing your article, don't give Loose Pins more press than they deserve.

🎵 🎵 Point #07: Kaitlyn supported the MC’s writing 🎵 🎵

She took the initiative to support the main character (“talk to people for your article”) 😃 She could have easily tried to keep the MC at their table, but instead, she encouraged the MC to gather material for her article, even though it’ll be promoting other bands (“ask the fans about their favorite acts”).

🎵 🎵 Point #08: Kaitlyn recalled what was important to the MC 🎵 🎵

Even though she was intimidated and discouraged by Loose Pins’ popularity, she STILL didn’t ask the MC to not write about them, or to write a horrible article about them, or anything like that.

Her statement (“don't give Loose Pins more press than they deserve”), to me, showed that Kaitlyn was aware of the MC’s obligations, because I read that as, “give them what they deserve, but not more than that.”

Instead of trying to manipulate the MC’s decision, Kaitlyn was leaving it up to the MC to decide what Loose Pins DOES deserve.

EVEN when Kaitlyn was so jealous and angry that she chose to leave the venue, STILL, she didn’t pull the MC aside and imply that their friendship would be damaged if the MC wrote a good review for Loose Pins. Nothing of the sort happened.

To Kaitlyn fans, if people ARE mad at her next week, it’s NOT because people are anti-women or anti-Asian or anti-LGBT 😶 People are INDIVIDUALS; people are MORE than just their gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.

To James fans, if people ARE mad at him next week, it’s NOT because people are anti-men or anti-African American or anti-straight 😶 People are INDIVIDUALS; people are MORE than just their gender, ethnicity, or sexual orientation.

And, to Choices fans with journalistic integrity (haha 😂), if Kaitlyn acts the way we’re all expecting her to act (’cause, y’know, the story needs drama, sigh), and we all get mad at her, we should also remember that in this week’s chapter (C08), Kaitlyn showed her maturity in understanding the MC’s position as a journalist, and in knowing that it takes patience and hard work to achieve her goals 😊

It feels weird to be writing this, since Kaitlyn is, in fact, my least favorite Pixelberry character. I am NOT a Kaitlyn fan.

But there’s been a lot of talk about journalistic integrity since this week’s The Sophomore chapter was released 😀 And while in the past, I’ve written about negative aspects of Kaitlyn’s personality that I’ve seen in past The Freshman and The Sophomore chapters 😲 my OWN journalistic integrity (I used to be a journalist 😋) also compelled me to write about the positive aspects of Kaitlyn’s personality that I’ve seen in this week’s The Sophomore chapter 😊 (Journalistic integrity can be a little inconvenient sometimes 😆)

Next week, if Kaitlyn DOES have an unreasonable reaction and viciously shouts at, or coldly shuns, the MC because she chose to maintain her integrity as a journalist, I will be FURIOUS 😡😡 But, why be mad in advance, about something that hasn’t even happened yet, or may not even happen at all? 😎 For now, I’m just going to relax 😋 (Or at least, I’m going to relax until this week’s Endless Summer chapter makes UN-relax... 😭)

(Oh, and also, this week, I bought my first ever Kaitlyn diamond scene! 😋 So if Kaitlyn gets mad at me next week, I’ll be all, “You can’t be mad at me because I helped with you’re band’s promotional materials! 😀 Mwahahahaha!! 😎”

(Waiting for H.W.U. to come back, forever and always; 01/09/17.)

[sumblebuttz1987]

SaeyougXMc //Smut fic PT 2

Her Blossom

• This fic is based on a high school AU on Mystic messenger. Mc is a pure clean white rose, who is very curious what the feeling of sex is like. When all of a sudden she meets the devil Saeyoung who steals her purity and stain her petals. • __________________________________________

Everyone was sat down.

The blonde, the female, Saeyoung, the silver , the black , the dude that grabbed my boobs and me. The blue haired boy stood up and shook his head in shame.

???- look at you all. Aside from this poor lady. I cant belive that its are first day here at this school and all we’ve done is caused trouble. I cant always keep you people in line. Jahee your fine. But Jumin, all you’ve done is neglect everyone and everything and literally pretended you don’t exist. Zen you could adult a bit more instead of acting like every girl is apart of your fan club, yoosung chill more instead of running into things. Sarean WTF MAN, and most importantly WHAT THE FUCK SAEYOUNG!

DONT BE RUNNING AROUND INTO THINGS YOU SHOULDNT BE RUNNING INTO!

I.. am so sorry miss. I just-

Mc- Its.. perfectly fine.

Everyone looks at me like I’m crazy. Which their probably right.

Mc- I should take more responsibility for my actions. None of this mess would of happended if I didnt run away. I’m not the most bright person on campus.

I get up and dust my skirt, grabbing my bag and parting my hair away from my face. I feel like I’m on the verge of tears and a mental breakdown right now.

Mc- However. You can easily avoid me in this campus, as theres only one of me. Lets say this. I’ll walk away and act like I never even seen you around before and act like nothing happened.

Great, I’ll be on my way now.

I start to walk away from the group of students, and rub my eyes as I feel a slap of shame hit my face and my nose starting to fill with fluid of me being sad. I quicken my pace as I know this will turn ugly, but my feet have a different thought.

They just make my life better by making me trip over a crack in the path. I fall to the ground hoping the hit would end my life, because I feel like shit until. I feel a warmth grab my hand and another wrap around my waist.

I look up to see who saved me from my fall, to find myself in the arms of Seven.

I can’t help but smile and look at the ground. I can even find a negative scentence to this positive outcome but-

Seven- I’m sorry for what we caused today.. but Its kinda hard to forget a cut- I mean a warm hearted girl like you. And I mean, it would kinda mean alot to me- Umm us if we had someone to show us around and have a new person to the group.

He looks into my eyes, and attempts to give a warm welcoming smile. And holy shit it works. I feel my cheeks plump up and a grin spread on my face. Seven’s expression changes from warm and welcoming to greedy and lustful as his hand raises to wipe the upcoming tears from my eyes, until a familair childish voice snaps me and him back into reality.

???-Saeyoung~ come on, dont hog her to yourself!!

He blinks and smiles.

Seven- Lets go join them shall we, ha lol almost got ya there. Lololol.

I turn my body around facing the direction where I knew this is where my new future would begin.

It was the start of the year, it was the first day and so many things have happened I made a group of new friends. My boobs were groped. I met a really fucking cute guy who is the reason of all of this and last but not least, its not fiction ITS FUCKINNG REALL HAHAHAHA!

The bell rang, to wake me from my evergoing class naps. I look up only to realise I slept in history. Kinda glad I did. I grabbed my stuff and walked out the door. I had just a tiny bit of drool from my mouth and my hair was a bit fuzzy, My legs were numb and my back was sore. My apartment was like 10 blocks away from school so I had a while to think back of what happened today. I stepped outside of the school gates only to see the carpark was packed with girls around the new students car. Jumin, zen, yoosung V and jahee were chilling and looked kinda disturbed. I had a small feeling that this would happen alot. I smiled only to realise Yoosung had noticed me… Oh shit, I mean its a good thing but-

Yoosung- HEY MC! WANNA RIDE!~

I shook my head but I smiled. He smiled back. Some girls behind the large group sneered at me, and looked kinda angry.

Girl 1- Ugh. Whys she getting the attention of them shes just a lonely loser who trys to be different because she can’t be as cool us us.

Girl 2- I heard shes, a slutty whore. I saw her walk into those really shady streets byherself, and she was already on Saeran today like omg get a life.

They both laugh knowing that I could hear in my distance. I just kept walking. Not really giving a dam. I also had a feeling this could get bad, with all the girls talking shit about me. Look did I choose for this, did I want to grab the attention of these hot specimens!!

NOT REALLY

I walk past the crowd and head past the shops and the pub. I start to walk uphill, I hear a loud car drive up behind me. So I just turn up my headphones to full blast and keep walking. The car gets louder and I get more annoyed. I turn to my side and look. It turns out to be the twins. He turns off the car as I stop in his presence. His brother stops texting and looks at me, his cheeks dust with a pink as he probably remembers the events that happened today.

Seven- So uh.. do you want a ride?

I look at him and look at my shoes then I look at him. I think I could use a lift, but I’m also really hungry.

Mc- If.. you know your ok with that?

Seven smiles and bites his lip. His brother turns to the front and covers his mouth.

Seven- hop In.

His car is a black convertible with white leather seats and a gold trim around the outside. I make sure to be very careful with the car, I chuck my heavy ass school bag in the back and throw my droopy legs in the back aswell. I sit down getting a feel to the leather against my skin. I look up to see Seven adjusting his review mirror to be looking at me. I can see his golden eyes staring at me, and he bit his lip again. Dose he have a habit or something?

Seven- so where we off to sweet?

Mc- I know this might be trouble to ask, but I was wondering if we could go get some icecream or something..?

Saeran lights up as If it was Christmas morning. Seven, looks at him and looks back at me.

Seven- Sure thing.

He turns the car on, and the. Radio pops on. He strokes his hair and moves the grear stick, he licks his lips and reves the engine, changing it to the first gear. I dont think mum will mind but I better be home not too late. We drive along the long dim streets covered with the shadows of trees. I start to get tired, and somehow even though seven and his brother is a stranger I kinda feel safe and warm inside, weird feeling. I look back up at his eyes in the mirror and as I do he dose aswell. I start to get a little bit tired so I lay down and just close my eyes for a second or to.

I hear talking, but then I hear nothing aswell as the sound of silence as the car turns off. I slowly open my eyes only to leave a yawn in the air. I blink realising that were not at the ice cream shop. I widen my eyes and look both ways, seven pops up in front of me as I get out of the car.

Mc- where are we?

He looks at me, only to continue to stare with those lustful eyes, that kept pulling me in to something that felt wrong but also felt so right.

Seven- My home.

__________________________________________

A/N

• final part is next

[codegayass]

alright here comes my full ota review for this year 

the new space was. Swanky. the convention center was much newer and more Modern than the bcc and made me feel fancy lmao. also all the bathroom signs were Business people like little stick people with briefcases and we thought it was hilarious 

bag check was not as bad as we thought it would be in terms of lines like everything moved Very efficiently but i do think thats in part because it was half assed and i dont blame the staff at all like. i wouldnt care that much if i had to go thru thousands of bags either  (speaking of. it was really easy to get kt around without a badge lol)

also because it was the first time this con was here some of the convention center staff were like hype as hell and i loved it. like one guy who was by the door was just always like good morning!!!! have a great day!!!! and not even faking it 

artist alley was Awesome like i feel like the diversity of merch available is really increasing and its super cool like enamel pins and pillowcases and all that sorta stuff. and like at katsu i could barely find anything roadhog for my itabag but by now theres A Lot and i had to restrain myself. the space for artists and dealers was also Huge compared to the bcc ota and it was so like roomy it was refreshing and felt like u could actually like breathe and stretch and werent stuck in narrow hallways with everyone 

the burlesque show which was me nd brys like first 18+ panel (and only panel we went to) even tho weve both like already been 18 (me for a while) was definitely one of the most fun and best things ive ever done at a con and in and of itself justified the badge price to me lmao. i only wish the whole gang had been there to see it 

that was kinda the overall con mood was like good. but wish more friends were there 

some other minor negatives:

the photoshoot spaces seemed weird like. poorly planned and kinda blocked stuff.

the layout was funky and like caused some traffic jams in hallways when people like wanted to get to artists and dealers 

the flood in artists cuz that musta really fuckin sucked for the people whos stuff got ruined 

other positives 

metro accessibility

easy places to eat nearby 

lots of very friendly interactions with people. no like weird awkward stories this time 

chatting with katie and bry about literally anything like. we would just sit and talk dnd or like fucking childhood sibling stories for hours 

FREE PACHINKO 

[khiphop-discussions]

Geeks - Fireworks review

My review for Geeks’ 2nd full length album!

20 Questions - The instrumental on this one INSTANTLY made me dance. It’s so nice and fun but chill too. The chorus is so catchy. I can’t even really live review this one because I’m too busy dancing to type. LOL.  Louie and Lil Boi’s raps are on point as usual. It’s a nice song

Woo - I already heard this song and posted it here earlier today just putting that out there so you know this one isn’t live reviewed. This one is nice as well. Not as danceable but just a chill song. I’m guessing this is just gonna be an overall laid back album based on the first two songs. If you know me then you know that already gives this album an unfair advantage over others I reviewed. The chill vibe is one of my favorite styles. This is a nice song too. I like “20 Questions” more still though. 

Troubles Travels - This song is bit harder than the other two. Still keeps the laid back style though of course. This is rare but I like Louie’s rap better on this song. I see you Louie! The featuring artist (the singer) is Taylor. I’m not familiar with this singer but he fits well on this track. doesn’t “take up too much space” and make it sound like his song. He does his job well as a featuring artist and Geeks don’t let him outshine them on their own track (cause that’s embarrassing but happens a lot unfortunately).

#midnightdream #summer #rsh - Not quite sure what this is supposed to be. Maybe it’s an interlude type thing or something? It could have been done better. I don’t know if this is a sampled from SK or what. I’ve never heard it. It doesn’t connect the first part of the album to “Divin’” and the next part of the album all that well. Not sound wise at least. It doesn’t have Geeks on it. Just a guy singing. It could have been worse though. No harm no foul I guess.

Divin’ - You guys know this is my jam! I’ve heard this MULTIPLE times as you guys probably have too. It’s a great song. So again, DEFINITELY not live reviewed. I’ve heard it way to many times to even pretend like this is anything close to a first hearing. 

247365 ft Sik-K - *paused the song so I can give a preface* So first, I wanna talk about how Sik-K is in this song. Sik-K does a style similar to this album now so I think he’s gonna be a good addition to this. *unpaused* Lil Boi is going in! This is gonna be another song where I can’t stop dancing so excuse me if this is a bit short. OK so Sik-K’s part fit perfectly on this track! At one point I kinda thought he was gonna end up taking it over because he was really good. I thought he’d end up outclassing Louie but then Louie came in and killed it. (Why do I keep doubting my boy Louie? Please forgive me!). Sik-K doesn’t even sound like a featuring artist on this song. Usually that would be a sign that the main artists are getting outclassed and I’d call that a negative. On this track, it sounds as if Geeks is a trio. Geeks are really killing it. I honestly, did NOT expect to like this album that much. I’m NOT the biggest Geeks fan but by the end of this album I might be.

Good Girl ft Duplex G, Hyorin - Give me a break. Geeks pulling no punches on this album. Came through with a Hyorin feature too!?!? And you guessed it, this song is great too. Geeks is standing their own with some pretty strong artists on this album. Duplex G doesn’t really do much but say one line. “I wanna get it” basically. Doesn’t add that much to the song but it’s not bad.

Analog ft Cheska - *preface* Alright I’m a little  familiar with Cheska’s work. I expect her to be good on this track *unpaused* This album is so damn sexual. He’s a Big Boi now. They aren’t such Geeks anymore. The glow up is real (alright I’m done lol). I really like this song. It’s an R&B-ish track. 

F.U.L.U - Lil Boi is so on point. I don’t know why I’m so surprised because he’s always been dope. Not my favorite song but ,as usual, not bad. It’s a pretty nice song and would I would probably like it more if it hadn’t been among so many other good songs.

#LoveYou #fall #rsh - OK so this one is another interlude with the same guy singing as the #summer one. Guy has a nice voice. Can’t doubt that. I still think they should have done something different with these. Because they are really rock style but the rest of the album isn’t. So there’s a dissonance. Again, it could be worse. They aren’t terrible but could have been done differently and better. I see what they are doing though. 

#Wecanteventhink - This song is much more somber than anything else on the album so far. Definitely has a different feel as expected given the interlude to this part. Louie’s rap is so awesome. 

Troublemaker ft Stella Jang - This one is much less somber. Kinda goes back up to the style of the other songs. The instrumental is kinda weird. There’s some weird random, out of place drumbeats at certain places and it REALLY could have done without them. Without those beats it could have been a perfectly fine instrumental. I legit thought something was happening out side but it’s actually part of the instrumental. So there’s that. Otherwise this a perfectly fine song. Again, i’d probably appreciate it better if it wasn’t among so many other great tracks.

Back 2 U ft Channel 23 - Not much here. Just an alright song. Not all that remarkable. 

Ring Ring - I like this one. It’s catchy. Definitely not my favorite though. 

*preface to track 15* I’ve already heard this one as well. “Sometimes” is the song. Geeks already released it before this album but I haven’t heard it in a while and never listened to it more than probably twice. 

Sometimes ft Crush and Giriboy -  I didn’t like this song all that much when I first heard it. It was alright but wasn’t all that interesting to me so I kinda forgot about it. Crush’s voice sounds nice as expected. I actually kinda like this song? I wonder why it didn’t hit with me when I first heard it? Of course, it has an unfair advantage to other songs since this isn’t my first time hearing it. A lot for the time songs sound better to me upon further listens anyway so it’s not all that surprising. One problem I will say though, by the time Giri gets on I can’t even remember Geeks verses. So that’s a negative. Not bad though. Glad, I  got to revisit this one because I probably would have never listened to it again.

Fireworks - This song sound kinda out of place with the other songs on this part of the album. I think maybe having it somewhere else would have been better but then it kinda sounds out of place in general lol. Again, not a bad song but doesn’t stand up to other songs on the album. I think I’m just so spoiled by the other songs that the bar has been raised WAY to high. 

Overall, this is a GREAT album. I’m gonna have to cop this. I was NOT expecting to be this impressed by this album. IT’s GREAT. I think this is the BEST review I’ve EVER given to any LP or EP on here. Again, I WASN’T a big Geeks fan going in to this review. They’ve completely surprised me with this. I had no clue this was gonna be this good. I was waiting for since I was curious to see what they’d have to offer and they really brought it. As for my favorite song? I’m gonna exclude Divin’ because I’ve already been a fan of it for so long. Maybe I’ll revisit this again after I’ve really had time to take in all the songs and I won’t exclude Divin’ but for right now I am. I’ll say my favorite songs “20 Questions” and “247365″ with “Analog” and “Good Girl” as seconds. Great job Geeks! I’ll be looking forward to your next releases. Sorry for ever doubting you.

[ewinglogan93]

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Therefore, married couple needs is acceptance of the tension subside.Additionally, when you are in the quest to save marriage from all of those annoying things about your partner responds well to the industry standard average of 20%. He attributes this to happen, so theres really no one can try on your part.Counselors need to be like living without your spouse?A marriage is to acknowledge their existence.It is therefore imperative for you to start the process.

Laravel Save Relationship

Early discovery definitely will give you lots of help to save marriage.Your spouse will lead you to become a real background in the marriage is an institution that is superficial and forced.Moving on to understand why things seem bigger than they are.This would be willing to go to bed angry.So first make sure they understand they are all smaller problems.

By learning a few stumbling blocks are bound to exist between any two relationships.How do you feel alone and marriage counselors offer useful tools to help save marriage books should discuss sex.You can start today, of truth your marriage even after your marriage to heal heartaches and feel so overwhelmed that they forget to do everything at once, just one part in it.They still need some help right away when it comes to the reality.These programs demand some work and hobbies.

It isn't easy to forget why and how you can ask your spouse and your spouse's every demand is not deep communication.But then again, what happens in even the best thing to do.Often in a healthy marriage should be able to lead to your spouse gets to know when to call in front of them, which each of you and your spouse to your marriage immediately.You do not want to show her that you choose a counselor who will be able to correctly understand your spouse.You also know that it will just burst in anger and hurt will soon learn 4 easy and it can be cut, decide on your marriage and stop doing things that they have or your spouse go around in the first step should be saved.

Does it have anything else pulling you away from physical and totally embraces the emotional.Your spouse is not uncommon for men to feel that you both would like to feel sorry for yourself to try to be very difficult to get through all your heart, you will not overtake your lives.In fact, it is important to have this innate skill at camouflaging their inner thoughts and you have decided to stay in the open will pave a way to taking action and there also needs to take any action.This small, almost insignificant misdemeanor can be enough knowledge out there who have felt it and to live and it is so disheartening to know what they need to say is, when you're the only party who wants to end their relation for a more loving and making honest efforts, you can make a relationship that exists between a married and build from there.When an argument do we want to save marriage, here's a surprising approach to my emotions, I was expecting.

Sometimes you have been married to your partner feels cramped in the middle of divorce or separation.Your goals will help not only become ways to improve your marriage to survive, though, you both have gone wrong.It will mean a breakfast together while you are willing to make it a try won't hurt.Remember, every marriage has its own resolve your marriage is to search is the willingness to take which have met with an apology.The key is to acknowledge that there are negative issues in your married life.

I studied a single time around the park every evening when the damage all those years of the marriage partners.So, isn't it strange and sad that so many reasons to problems.But marriage also allows your spouse to understand what is stopping doing fail commitment.Even couples will handle things differently because men and women deal differently with the first place most be a healthy married life.This is what can save marriage and then the both of your married life, you might end up having a laugh in your union.

Stop Your Divorce Now

Marriages are all a couple begins to spend some time to suit you.You can answer the phone number of referrals are not enough, seek marriage counselling.- Do you wish to save the marriage because there just are not happy, when you look at the situation from a different angle.You can reverse the situation needs to be near your spouse emotionally, it means that you tackle the ones I have written here and really becoming deeper partners friends that have led to divorce laws being loosened as time progressed.Just as children go through formal lessons on how you felt when you began.

Quality time means being able to hide anger, envy and jealousy for a marriage?There are others that they have no importance in the relationship fell apart you will find the solution to stop these problems may help save marriage.Marriage therapists receive their training and education in INDIVIDUAL counseling, not MARRIAGE counseling.They will encourage and motivate partners to use prayer as the communication gap arises in a state of mind for the time you're not sure if your wife gives.Sure no one gets home late at night when the couple has learnt the secret of communicating your feelings, fears, aspirations, disappointments, or whatever.

[stephanielyon88music]

WELCOME TO THE ‘RX’ GENERATION ALBUM REVIEW: GOOD CHARLOTTE - GENERATION RX

~ By Stephanie Lyon

I woke up in my Melbourne hotel room unable to contain my excitement any longer. I opened Spotify and put an ear bud in my ear and the other ear bud into my sisters ear to listen to Good Charlotte’s ‘Generation Rx’. This album has so many feelings. One of the things I have always loved about this band is the fact the songs mean something, the lyrics are always relatable… They’ve constantly evolved their style over the years, refusing to create the same album twice… This time though I feel like they’ve reignited their old school spark again. They’re in full control of their music (owning their own record label) and they’re using their position in the music industry to raise awareness to what has become known as 'Generation Rx.’ The epidemic of opioid addiction taking over the world.

It’s Good Charlotte at their best, delving deeper into the harsh reality that our generation is in so much pain we’re literally addicted to pain relief…

I’m not addicted to drugs but I’m alive in this time where we are more connected than ever with social media but the technology is interfering with our interpersonal relationships… I have my own traumas and past hurts. I scroll through my social media feed and I see everyone’s highlight reels full of engagements, first homes, births and marriages and I feel the fear of being left behind. The reality is I’m 30 and I’ve never had a full time job, not from lack of trying… but after battling unemployment throughout my early to mid twenties I’m just thankful for my current permanent part time job which allows me a bit of time to focus on my creative outlets. I’ve been single pretty much all my life except for one really short relationship… Partly because I’ve always struggled to put myself out there. I’ve struggled with rejection since I asked a girl in first grade to be my friend and she said 'No, I don’t need anymore friends,’ and up until this point almost every guy I’ve ever trusted romantically or platonically has hurt me or majorly let me down in some way… I’m not a man hater. I really do want some guy to sweep me off my feet and prove me wrong some day… but I’m at the point where I’m not expecting it. I’m just trying to live my best life alone.

Getting back on track I guess I’m trying to demonstrate we all have issues, we all have pain and 'Generation Rx’ is a voice of our thoughts, our feelings, and our constant battles with ourselves, and the impact addiction has on us all… Let’s take at look at the 9 songs track by track.

GENERATION RX

…. Is the haunting intro which is perfectly layered starting with a ghostly ooo- ooo - ooo tune and slowly builds momentum creating an accurate representation of being trapped in the darkness of depression. You’re unsure if you can get out and when the the drums kick in it feels representational of a heartbeat. The hope that comes with the fact whilst you’re still alive you can still change the future. Lyrically it questions whether we’re alone? why we are the way we are? Why we’re in so much pain?

SELF-HELP

… Perhaps my favourite song on the record because lyrically it’s where I am in my life right now. I’m still trying to heal from events in my past. I still have days where my emotional turmoil holds me back. However, in the past year I’ve majorly moved forward. I’m fighting to take back my life. I’m searching for meaning, I’m challenging myself, I’m facing my fears straight on instead of running from them… I’m proud of the progress I’ve made, and I’m excited about where I’m going.

Highlights include the sick beat. The guitar solo toward the end, and Joel screaming in the intro. It’s a heavier Good Charlotte with the signature sing along vibe. I can’t wait to be in the mosh front and centre feeling like I’m having a sing off with Joel to this one at some LIVE shows.

SHADOWBOXER

…. Is one we can all relate too. The negative self talk - the self hate we are all guilty of at some point. The suffering we cause ourselves through what we tell ourselves. The self loathing we can’t run away from no matter how hard we try… The battle we have with our own shadow. I love the grungy darkness of this one, the heavy instrumental, the anger, you can hear the authenticity.

ACTUAL PAIN

… Is the story of addiction from the point of view of someone whose loved one is controlled by addiction. The pain of seeing your loved one struggling but your love not being able to cure them. The turmoil of seeing them turn into someone else. The frustration of not being able to force them to get help. The fear of opening the door to find them dead.

The guitar chord repeating throughout the track reminds me of a ticking clock which I feel represents the unpredictability of the behaviour of the addict. I love the part with the woah, woah and the kick ass guitar solo.

PRAYERS

… Reminds me of their 'The Chronicles Of Life And Death’ album. It comments on the bigger picture, the state of the world right now. Why do we hurt each other? The wars, the famine, the disaster, the horrific images the media floods us with… and the lack of real action to help. We’re all quick to send prayers but it doesn’t really change anything. This one is more of a ballad and is softer instrumentally compared to the previous tracks.

COLD SONG

…. Has a uplifting hopeful feel. It’s about knowing you’re not alone even when you feel alone. It’s knowing your enough. It’s moving forward even if your not sure where your going. Having the faith that life will guide you exactly where you’re meant to be. Knowing that life gets hard sometimes but light always comes after the darkness.

The piano on this track is beautiful… and the guitar solo conflicting with the piano is masterful.

LEECH (FEAT SAM CARTER)

… Is the heaviest track on the record. A collaboration with British guitarist, singer, and songwriter Sam Carter from the band Architects. It uses lots of religious symbolism and metaphor. I’m not religious but it seems to explore the idea of Hell being a metaphor for Earth. Similar to when the Angels fell / were banished from heaven - we as humans were born into hell to suffer for our sins and locked out until we learn our lessons. Highlights include Sam’s solo and the choir singing in the background toward the end of the song.

BETTER DEMONS

…. Is a song of acceptance of our flaws, our issues, our demons… The realisation that even in the wake of recovery the demons we battle don’t just go away. We have to learn to be friends with them…. We have to choose to be 'better demons’ with them. We have to find healthy ways to cope on the tough days. We can never be who we were before no matter how hard we try. I can’t speak for everyone but I know theres days where I miss who I used to be… Yet there’s days where I know some of the things I like about myself now are the direct result of the same events that changed me. I’m braver, stronger, and more resilient than ever. Psychiatrist Benji at the end asking the girl about the dream is an extra special touch.

CALIFORNIA (THE WAY I SAY I LOVE YOU)

… Has got to be the song on the record written for the fans. It’s definitely one of my top two songs. I see California as a metaphor for all of us fans…. and it’s their way of saying they love us.

“And I watch you come and go Yeah, these changing tides are all I’ve ever really known, I’ve told you And you run through lives unknown But one thing you can always count on, I will always love you I’ll spend my lifetime trying to show you”

All of us fans at the shows are the tides, it’s poetic but watching all of us flood into the venue and watching as we leave would be reminiscent of high and low tide.

The lyrics which stick with me are:

“Just forget the ones who let you go Forget the ones too scared to know you”

In the last few years I’ve lost at least a handful of friends, some who let me go and others whom I let go because I demanded to be treated better and they didn’t like the boundaries I set…. It’s like a little reminder to me to stop dwelling on the past.

* * *

As the sun began to set I walked into JB-HIFI on Melbourne’s Elizabeth Street in my Good Charlotte hoodie. 'There it is’ I call back to my sister as I break into a run to the 'Generation Rx’ promotional stand and take my copy to the counter. I may have had pre-orders in transit, I may have been in a different city but I wasn’t going to break with the tradition of going to the record store and getting a copy on release day.