#i have my gripes with the english language but i have to say it really went off with 'you' being both singular and plural

[the-eclectic-wonderer]

Summary:

Studies show it takes water millions of years to cleave its way through solid rock. It takes Dorothy about the same time to finally break open. A sequel to 'i hope you do believe me / i've given you my heart'.

No, don't -- don't look at the word count. Don't mind it. It's fine!

For anyone that remembers that old ask game about the WIPs in my folder -- this is the one that was called 'karst'. The reason will hopefully become clear as you read it.

Just like its predecessor, this work was originally inspired by this post (thank you once again, friend!). If you read it, I hope you'll enjoy it! It gave me some trouble here and there, but all in all, it was a pleasure to write. Hugs and kisses to you all!

[jojotichakorn]

ARCHER'S WE ARE FANCON EXPERIENCE

i promised i would share my feelings, so here they are!

first of all, while i do still maintain that the venue was too small for how beloved the series is, even with the split into two days, and i have some gripes with merch sales, the organisation was otherwise good. it was always very clear where and when you needed to go and what you needed to do, which is always great for an anxious person like me. all the explanations were in three languages too (thai, english, and chinese), so navigating the space and the benefits was easy. the little setup of things to do before the concert starts was also great - there were merch booths for all of the boys who had merch to sell (which is everyone aside from aouboom), there were photobooths with different 'we are' themed templates, there was also, of course, gasha (or, as i like to call them, gambling machines) but hey! i got some merch off of that as well, so i'm honestly not even complaining.

now, onto the actual show! it was incredible, i can hardly imagine anything that would need to be added or changed. it honoured both the series and the artists on their own in many ways.

there were multiple performances with the entire cast, including a surprise appearance of jj, tee, and pepper (or, our mattmickbeer trio) during one song, who then also stuck around to talk about their characters and favourite scenes. friendship is a huge part of the series and they did not forget that. a lot of stage backgrounds and props were an homage to the series too (the one that felt particularly thought-out to me was the background for 'truth in the eyes', which was a lush garden - a callback to the mv's concept metaphor). the couples performed both their main songs and also one cover each, which were picked out by every cp for different reasons, but all of which were great. before every main song, there was a little video with the couple's moments that encapsulated their relationship, and they were really lovely and well-done (a great way of giving the artists a second to breathe too).

i think there was also pretty much everything each of the main eight could want to do on stage. pond and aou got to dance (together as well!), winny got to rap, phuwin and satang got to sing together. at least from what they said, they were given a lot of creative liberty in terms of choosing what they want to sing and do on stage as well, so that is also lovely. all of the performances were, of course, absolutely fantastic and even exceeded my expectations in some ways.

all the little chats between performances were also wonderful and everyone (or, almost everyone) got really emotional closer to the end. we had marc crying first, talking about how much this experience means to him and thanking poon for being his first real partner, and then the floodgates just opened. poon also teared up, winny started crying because marc started crying, then he cried some more when he actually started speaking himself, then satang started crying too, they talked about how much all of this means to them and how much they mean to each other, they held hands. then dear sweet boom almost sobbed on stage and aou cried too - they were also very thankful for everything and especially each other. pond tried very hard not to cry (and succeeded by breathing out every ten seconds and twirling around the stage), talking about how happy he is that everyone loved the series and them so much, saying that the cast became like a little family, and thanking phuwin for being a great partner, and phuwin also talked about how he was afraid of having high expectations and how grateful he is to the cast and the fans. this was definitely one of those moments, which made the whole experience so much more meaningful and emotional. i also wanted to hug all of them and tell them how amazing they are 😭

the appreciation for the audience was huge throughout. pond kept putting his hand at his forehead to try to see all the fans sitting farther away, at one point aou asked for the lights to be turned on, so they could see everyone, during the last performance (which was 'we are forever'), they all came down from the stage and walked around us, waving at everyone.

after the huge three hour concert, there were still the benefits to work through, which ended up going on for five hours (until almost 2 am). the boys were all really lovely and nice throughout and i'm genuinely impressed by their ability not to let the understandable tiredness that they were all feeling interfere with their interactions with fans and each other.

so, to conclude! this was an absolutely incredible experience and i am so happy i decided to come here for the fancon (and actually managed to get the ticket). there are multiple countries they are going to next, as you know, and there will likely be more added in the future. so if you live in any of those countries, i am definitely saying you should go. and if you don't but it is within your means to go and you just weren't sure whether the fancon is worth an entire trip abroad - i am confirming that it very much is. i am confident you would not regret going.

[vastill]

Don't you miss it?

Melissa Schemmenti/fem!reader

warnings: 18+, smut, NSFW, oral, pet names, swear words, strap-on use, let me know if there are more

words: 2000+

My requests are open!!

English is not my first language!

A/N: hii im back! i really struggled with writing this one but i think im done now. tbh i don't know if i like it or if i don't:( but i hope you will enjoy and let me know what you think!💚

As you began dating Melissa, you quickly learned that this was her first same-sex relationship. In fact, before meeting you, she had only had a couple of one-night stands with women, but nothing more serious.

Both you and Melissa had many insecurities and uncertainties at the beginning. You wondered if you were doing things right. Despite all of this, you both made an effort to communicate with each other. You learned to talk things out, always finding some sort of solution.

But there was one that you were scared to bring up.

You saw how Melissa looked at all those guys in movies or magazines. Her eyes always lingered a little more on them than the others. And that made you wonder if you are good for her.

Maybe you weren't enough.

Was Melissa missing being with men?

You tried to shake that thought off of your mind but it always came back to you.

And on one particular evening after catching her ogling the man on the screen you felt the urge to ask her about it.

“Don’t you miss it?”

“What?” She looked at you confused.

“You know…” You shot a glance at the TV looking directly at the man and then at her.

“You mean dick?”

“Melissa! You don’t need to be this vulgar!” You softly punched her in the arm.

“Yeah said the one with a mouth of a saint. And no. Why would I? You gave me more orgasms than any dick I had.” She said smirking and you blushed.

“But you had only been with guys before me, I don’t know maybe it's just my insecurities but I don’t know.” You sighed.

“Did you think I don’t enjoy sex with you because you don’t have a dick?” You lowered your gaze to your lap. Your reaction telling Melissa everything. “Oh hon, why didn’t you talk to me earlier about this?”

“It’s stupid. Forget it.”

“Baby, you give me exactly what I need. Everything that I need. And if you are this worried, there are ways that we can make it happen.” She said lowly grinning at you.

“I’m not agreeing to a threesome, Schemmenti!” You quickly said. “Especially with a man.” Your face twists in disgust.

“That’s not what I was saying.” She said laughing lightly at your face. “You know there are some toys that can help you with this insecurity, you know?”

“I-what? Oh! OH!” Realization hit you like a truck, your face instantly turning red similar to the color of Melissa’s hair.

“Yep, that’s what I thought. So maybe we or I can do some online shopping, and we will see about that? What do you think?” Melissa asked.

“So you miss it?” You said grinning.

“Oh, fuck you! You are the worst! I’m trying to help you and that’s what I get.” She said getting up from the couch.

You quickly grabbed her arm and tugged her on your lap. “Okay, okay. You can buy it. But admit you miss it!” She looked at you kissing you slowly.

“I don’t.” You send her a glare. “Really I don’t but frankly I think you will look so good with a strap.” She said her eyes darkening as she imagined what it would look like.

You blushed deeply at her words, feeling a mix of embarrassment and arousal. “Don't go horny on me now, we don't have it yet. Go and buy it.” You said and Melissa's face lit up with excitement and she leaned in to kiss you again.

“I knew you would want it.” She whispered teasingly.

“Schemmenti.” You said with a warning, griping her tights harsher.

“Okay, okay. I'm going!” She laughed climbing off your lap and going to her laptop. “You will love it!” You only shook your head with amusement watching her excitement.

And the week passed in a blink of an eye.

Since the package came you two didn’t have time and strength to do anything about it. Work completely tired you out. But today was Friday you had nothing planned.

The evening was peaceful as you relaxed on the couch with Melissa lying on top of you. The TV was on in the background, but the two of you were lost in each other's company. Her head was nestled on your chest while you mindlessly played with her hair.

Melissa started planting light kisses on your collarbone and neck moving to straddle your lap. Your hands instantly went to grab her waist under her shirt scratching softly her sides. She moved her face kissing you. The kiss at first was innocent and light quickly turned into a heated make out. Hands wandering under shirts and exploring all the parts that you had access to.

Melissa slowly ended the kiss and lowered herself to your ear. “Wanna shake the sheets?” She said, a smirk evident in her tone.

“You couldn't word that any sexier, Schemmenti?” You laughed.

“What are you more of a funny business kind of gal?” She wiggled her brows at you.

You couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh my God, stop that. I don’t want to know how many more of this you have.”

Melissa rolled her eyes, grinning. “Plenty, but maybe on another occasion.” She climbed off your lap and grabbed you by your wrist, urging you to stand. She slowly neared your face, kissing your jaw and earlobe. “Now we have more interesting things to do.” She turned around and walked to the bedroom swaying her hips. You couldn’t take your eyes away from this view. She is so beautiful.

“Take a picture, it will last longer.” She said amused, light blush covered her chest and face from the way you were looking at her.

“You are so gorgeous, Melissa. I’m in awe every time I look at you.” You said coming to sit on the bed.

Melissa smiled, her eyes sparkling with happiness. “You always know how to make me feel special,” she said, pulling you down for a kiss. You straddled her lap and kissed her passionately, your hands roaming freely over each other's bodies, only stopping to take off each other clothes.

Your lips were everywhere making a path of kisses to her breasts. Your hands moved to her back to unclasp her bra, and you took one nipple into your mouth, sucking and flicking it with your tongue. Melissa’s back arched as she moaned your name. You switched to the other breast, giving it the same attention, and she ran her fingers through your hair, urging you on. After a while, you moved down her body, leaving a trail of kisses to her stomach and further down.

You took off her panties and tossed them aside. Melissa spreads her legs, giving you full access to her. You leaned in and kissed her clit, and she moaned loudly, her hands gripping the sheets. You started to gently lick her, moving your tongue in circles and flicking it back and forth. Her moans grew louder, and you knew she was close. You increased the pressure and speed of your tongue, and she came with a loud scream, her body shaking with pleasure.

After Melissa came down from her high, she pulled you up and kissed you deeply. She could taste herself on her lips, which only made her want you more. You both were panting, and you could feel the heat emanating from her body. She pushed you back onto the bed and climbed on top of you, straddling your waist.

“So maybe we can try it? I mean we don’t have to but you have no idea how many times after our talk I had been thinking about you fucking me.” She whispered in your ear. “It makes me so wet baby, you make me so fucking wet. Do you feel it?” She started sliding herself on top of your stomach. You could feel her juices spreading all over you.

“Melissa, fuck.” That’s all you could say as you watched her entranced by the pleasure she was feeling. You imagined her riding your strap, what a view it would be. You grabbed her by her hips and stopped her movements.

“What the hell are you doing? I was so close.” She looked at you displeased.

“Giving you the best night of your life.” You said changing your position, you stood up and grabbed the package. You took out a red strap-on and put it on you. Melissa sure knew what to buy.

“How did you know how to put it on that quickly? You sure you never used one?” Melissa asked smirk evident in her tone. And you were glad you stood with your back to her because your face must be in the color of her hair. “I watched videos.” You said embarrassed. Melissa laughed lightly. “Always prepared. I like it.”

You felt stupid with something dangling between your legs. It was weird.

“Sweetheart?” You heard behind your ear, you were so caught up in your thoughts that you didn’t hear Melissa approaching. “Talk to me.”

“I feel stupid. It's there and uh it's weird. I look stupid.” You said not looking at her as she came and stood in front of you.

“Well, it’s not stupid you will get used to it.” She said grabbing your chin and making you look at her. “And I think you look good, so good. I picked the best color, red is your color darling.” Her eyes scanned you up and down, when she looked you in the eyes her pupils dilated, and desire twinkled in them. “Come to bed darling, make me see stars again.”

You followed her to bed still feeling a little self-conscious about the strap-on. But as soon as Melissa started kissing you it all went away.

“Are you sure?” You asked her as her kisses traveled to your throat.

“Yes, please.” She said breathlessly, her hips rutting against the air.

You positioned yourself between her legs, taking the strap in your hand you slide its head through Melissas’ slick folds. She moaned in anticipation when you nudged her clit. Slowly, you pushed the strap-on inside her, and she gasped at the intrusion. You gave her time to get used to the new sensation and stretch.

After a few moments, Melissa opened her eyes looking directly at you. “You can move sweetheart.” You started moving in and out of her, the strap-on hitting all the right spots.

You couldn't tear your eyes away from her face.

You couldn't tear your eyes away from her face. Her eyes were closed, her mouth slightly open, and her face twisted in pleasure. You felt a wave of heat rush through your body as she moaned and dug her nails into your back. With each thrust, she moaned louder, her body writhing beneath you.

Her eyes were closed, and her back was arched, her body moving in rhythm with yours. You knew she was getting closer to her orgasm. The way her moans turned into screams and breathless panting.

“Baby, open your eyes. I want to see you all when you come.” She opened her eyes, and her green orbs looked directly at yours. “That’s my good girl, yes, look at me.”

You increased the speed as your hand reached down to play with her clit. Melissa’s body started to shake from the pleasure she was experiencing. She came with a loud scream of your name. You slowed your motions to let her ride out her orgasm.

She whined as you slowly took the strap out of her and laid next to her cuddling.

After a few moments of silence, Melissa turned to you and grinned. “Wow. That was amazing. You are incredible.” She said still breathless. “Did you also watch videos on how to use it?” She asked nudging you.

“No, that's pure talent.” You smiled back at her, feeling proud of yourself. “I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.” You said, snuggling closer to her.

“Who said I’m done enjoying myself?” She said as she straddled your lap capturing your lips in a heated kiss.

[dr-spectre]

So brainwashed Callie in official content is cringe. Do you feel the same about it in Fanfiction? Have there been any takes on Hypno Callie that you enjoyed?

Honestly? I don't feel the same way about it in fanfiction. There's a lot of information and different takes floating around about certain things in the franchise so I dont necessarily blame people for using the word "brainwashed" for Callie in their fanfiction. The English localisation of Splatoon has said she was brainwashed despite other languages and the original Japanese version not using the word. At least from my own knowledge. So I get why most fans would take that information and immediately believe it's true.

Plus there's more people talking about what actually happened to Callie on twitter and tumblr which is really incredible to see!!! Im so happy to see Callie being treated with more respect!!!!! It is a night and day difference compared to the treatment in 2017 to 2020.

Surprisingly enough I don't actually consume a lot of fanfiction. I can read my own writing easily but I can't read others that well and... I feel really bad about it... but I have read a bit of this one fanfiction that got Hypno Callie 99% right. I fucking forgot the name but i was recommended it by someone in the past, it had "dome" in the name? It was about DJ Octavio and the Octarian domes.

The way they explained the shades was actually really interesting and unique! It's basically shades that play catchy music and that's how Callie got hypnotised. It fits in line with DJ Octavio too as he's well... a DJ. Plus daydreaming and listening to music goes hand in hand so it has some basis in reality too. Everyone at some point has been put into a daydream state when vibing out to music.

Although I say 99% because there's this one line that Callie says, "Are these shades brainwashing me?" And it was so clunky I'm sorry LOL. And there's this implication that its also doing something further to Callie's brain but it's not that explained well, which i really dont like. Other than that, my Hypno Callie content is mainly fanart and 99% of that has been phenomenonal and powerful stuff.

However.... my biggest fucking gripe in "fan content" if you wanna call it that is... timeline videos and people going over plot details and stuff like that.

These people actually do RESEARCH and spend a lot of time analysing the story of Splatoon and trying to put the pieces together. Yet for Callie it feels like they just do a quick read through of Inkipedia and that's it because they dont give a flying fuck about her character. It drives me fucking psychotic and i cant be safe watching Splatoon videos anymore. How hard is it to say hypnotised? HOW HARD IS IT?!?!?! JUST USE THAT WORD!!! THATS ALL YOU HAVE TO DO!!! GOD DAMN!!!! DO YOU EVEN KNOW THE MEANING OF THE WORD BRAINWASHED AT ALL?!?!?!

It's really disappointing to me that this outdated timeline video is the ONLY VIDEO to say Callie was hypnotised and not "brainwashed." And that... makes me kinda pissed off.

YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE THE CHOSEN ONE!!!!

YOU TOO!!!!

I can't even watch these videos anymore man. I'm sad. I'm not even trying to send hate over to them, they put in a lot of work... except for a character I really care about....

Imagine you like a particular character and you feel really strongly about them. Now Imagine people saying wrong or yucky things about that character and treating it as fact despite you knowing "Hey something is not right here. I think there's more here than people realise." And all the most popular and well liked content is spreading that kind of information around about your favourite character. It would drive you crazy yeah? I'm sure everyone has that one character in every fanbase.

Anyways, thanks for the ask! Sorry if it was long... I tend to ramble about Hypno Callie LOL! (Autism)

[aquatark]

Can I ask your opinion on Endless Ocean Luminous?

Thanks for the ask anon! :D

I've been trying to get my thoughts on this game together into something that makes sense for a while now, but no better time than the present!

tldr: I seem to like it more than most people! I think this game is alright though it's still very flawed, and I'm still enjoying myself with it, but it seems very clearly rushed and it shows. I'm still very happy that the series has a third entry at all, and am looking forward to the future of the series after this game!

...okay, now I'm gonna aimlessly ramble for wayyy too long lmao (spoilers under the cut if you haven't played)

So, to get a few of my biggest gripes out of the way:

Having completed it... the plot is god awful (esp the ending, iykyk). I think I would have preferred having none at all, but Daniel is cool

The English voice of Sera isn't ideal, though this is an issue other languages (like Japanese, French) don't seem to have

The setting, character development, and lore is much more shallow, uninteresting, and poorly-explored through gameplay than any other diving game Arika has made, which is saying a lot bc EO1's plot was invented pretty close to release, and is known for also not being great

The game doesn't run as smoothly as I'd like. maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I remember a time when devs didn't feel like they could release their game if it crashes as often online as this game does

Some of this game's creature textures are far less polished than they ought to be for a Switch game. Surprisingly, most of the ones ported from Arika's defunct mobile fishing game are fine! It's stuff like the megamouth shark and bigfin reef squid that really stand out to me as sub-par

I'm not as bothered about this as some ppl seem to be, but I would have liked a little more customization freedom, ala EO2's suit cuts

Many creature descriptions are copied verbatim from EO2, which I really dislike. wasted a perfect opportunity to highlight different aspects of creatures, not rehash the same tired and basic facts

Though I love the concept of dynamic time of day underwater, it's executed very poorly imo. Could have done with some more fine-tuning (something that could be said abt... a lot of this game lol)

All of this however only detracts a little from my enjoyment of the game overall.

The fact that something like the story can be shipped in the final product with a dev team that shares many many people with the original EO games (seriously, compare the staff lists on the wiki, I genuinely teared up seeing so many familiar faces again)... suggests to me that this game was subjected to crazy time constraints, though I don't have any concrete proof. Nintendo has been known recently to be anti-crunch with some of its biggest IPs, so maybe an Arika problem? Regardless, this game shouldn't have released in the condition it's in, and definitely should not be the price it is.

I really don't like being too negative though, so I won't be! After all, and this may be controversial coming from an EO blog... but the various flaws of Arika's previous diving games made this not be the biggest surprise to me. I mean, I 100%ed EO1, including collecting every salvage and getting all gear/hairstyles! Do you have any idea how hellish that is? I eat slop for breakfast!!

I've still been playing a lot of this game with my dear friend MDB (us pictured below), and there are a lot of things I like about it!

I will, for example, drool all over this game's sound design till the day my son "dies" in a tragic submarine accident. Ayako Saso (main talent behind Everblue 1/2, EO1/2, and Luminous' original compositions and sound in general) knocked it out of the park as usual, with the menu sfx feeling really Everblue reminiscent in a way I adore, and the music easily being some of the best in the series. I know many fans are disappointed by there being no vocal tracks, but honestly? While I like the fact EO1 and 2 had them, they simply wouldn't have fit in this game. So I'm chill about it.

I think the random generation and focus on multiplayer are fun and fresh for the series! I have EO1 and 2 when I want polished singleplayer gameplay, and this game when I feel like something else. EO1 and 2's multiplayer objectively sucked, so it's a really interesting angle to take. The gameplay loop is entertaining enough for me - I like salvaging, scanning creatures, collecting tags, and hunting orbs, both in solo and shared dives. The framework is solid, but could use a little more meat.

The fact they were finally able to realize the "Ancient Sea" concept that had been thrown around during development since EO1 is lovely. Despite having been a dinosaur kid, I'm not really knowledgeable on any of the species depicted in-game, so their designs don't bother me... I'm just a sucker for human ruins overrun by prehistoric life!

Though there are some categories of sea creature that I'm a little sad not to see anymore, like seadragons, sea slugs, and many marine mammals... I don't mind this game's different roster. I like the creature variety, because imo, it would have been a little boring and predictable to have the roster just be every creature that was previously in EO, plus some new ones. This system avoids the kind of problem Pokémon games are currently having, where they have so many critters that they can't possibly put them all in one game, but fans are upset not to have the entire dex ported, y'know? It's like playing EO for the first time again!

I've seen several people theorize that the series was "intentionally sabotaged with a bad new game, so that they have an excuse not to make any more EO games", and... I mean... all I'll say about that is that there's no use killing something that's already dead lol. There'd been no games for over a decade, and very little demand for one - why would a game company looking to make money put so much effort and money into marketing, development, pre-order bonuses, and My Nintendo rewards in order to create hype for a game that's bad on purpose... when they could have kept the series dead for free? Nintendo clearly believe the concept of diving games has legs (or fins ig), with a staff team who love the ocean and dive irl, and are trying new things to see if it sticks better than the previous four games they've made, which collectively sold worse than Luminous did.

It may not all be great, or even good, but experimentation and trying unconventional things is what made EO such a special series in the first place baybee! We just remember the parts of it we liked, and forget the really dumb stuff. The EO team has never been perfect, and I can see their smudgy fingerprints all over this game... I mean, these are the same devs who didn't notice a crash so bad it had their game recalled, and repeatedly yoinked copyrighted material without permission to use in their games... but that's a long post for another day lol.

Soooo yeah! Those are some of my thoughts! Feel free to express your own thoughts on the game here - I'd be curious what other people think, and I'd be more than happy to answer more asks on specific elements of the game, or just getting me talkin' about this game, or any other game in the series for that matter! Any EO questions at all, ask away~!

Thanks for reading, hehe! >( ')

[autisticlancemcclain]

fic rec friday 10

welcome the the tenth fic rec friday! where, on friday, i rec five of my favourite fics.

1. A Rain-Check on Redamancy by @youraveragemushroom

Burnout these days usually came from working long nights at the Garrison. If Lance from five years ago could see himself today—working part-time to rebuild Earth and full-time as an instructor at the very same institution that gave him his crippling anxieties—he would probably shit a brick. Hell, five years ago he hadn’t even known aliens existed (although he always knew deep down that humans weren’t alone in the universe), and now he’s best friends with multiple! One of which had apparently texted him an hour ago.

Forgoing proper texting procedure due to fatigue and general doneness, Lance tapped on the icon to call back.

“Hello?” a familiar deep rasp answered from the other line.

“Hey, mullet,” Lance replied, pushing aside the papers in front of him to lay his head down on the desk. “What’s cooking?”

In which Lance finds himself ignoring how late it is and indulges himself in pining after Keith. Which becomes slightly more difficult when said object of his affections shows up in the middle of the night to rescue him from paperwork, stress, and the melancholy that came from being away from him.

the ‘god i wish you were here’ ‘look behind you’ trope will get to me EVERY single time idc. always makes me all stimmy bc its THE epitome of romance. this whole thing was so so romantic and full of parallels to the first episode to show how deep their relationship has gotten...i love me some romantic parallels fr

2. sweetheart by @jilliancares

“Sorry, babe,” Keith says. He even smiles, no doubt proud of himself.

And Lance knows it’s his fault. He started it, after all, but at least the biting term of endearment made sense when he was the one doing it. Keith had been talking to him like they were some old married couple. The kind who’ve been married too long and don’t love each other anymore and gripe over meaningless shit, only managing to piss each other off even further.

That’s why Lance called him dear. Because it made sense in the situation. It was a calculated insult. A strategic jab.

Keith, on the other hand, is weaponizing the term of endearment without any rhyme or reason, simply to get back at Lance.

Or: Keith and Lance have gotten into the habit of using pet names as condescending insults. They're not really terms of endearment.

ooooooo god endearments going from sarcastic to desperately genuine and the inherent hopelessness in that....whew boy. its def a Concept that u indulge and then you have to clutch ur stomach. i remember reading this as i was getting ready and brushing my teeth and the cliff scene made me gasp out loud and stop just to i could pay Full Complete Attention

3. don’t speak the language by @goldengalaxies

“More importantly” Lance says. “I am currently having a breakdown in this lift because look at him- I am so incredibly gay.”

“Lance!” Hunk buries his face in his hands. “He could speak English you know, your skills of deduction are really not that good.”

Lance ignores his warning in favour of groaning dramatically. “Oh, Dios mio, Hunk, he’s so gorgeous. Look at those muscles. He could probably bench press me.” Lance fanned himself. “Oh my God, fencing is my new favourite sport, fuck swimming.”

(or the one where Lance thirsts after a random guy in the lift who he thinks can’t speak English. lance is very wrong and hunk is very much done with his shit.)

let me tell u about this fuckin FIC. it’s hilarious, but i first read it before i meticulously started storing and bookmarking my fave fics, so when i wanted to reread it i couldnt find it. but i KNEW it was hilarious so i spent fckn hours looking for it, and it took me hours too bc i coulnt figure out which tags to filter. but it was WORTH IT. the entire concept of this fic is hilarious and makes me laugh. amazing work.

4. Whose bright idea was this? by IronScript

When Lance is captured during a mission with the MFE pilots, he wakes up aboard Haggar's ship, though the witch herself isn't there, so he figures why waste an opportunity? Then he finds something that he definitely hadn't expected.

All the while, he has no idea that back at the Garrison, his team and a few select others are watching his every move.

bro the idea that the team is panicked for lance’s safety and they desperately organise a rescue mission for him terrified that hes getting tortured and losing hope but by the time they find him he’s already got one foot out the door and has rescued himself is ENDLESSLY funny to me. like he really said ‘damsel in distress who’ and i love him for that lmao

5. Garfle! Warfle! Snick! by IronScript

How the game show episode actually should have happened.

I'll admit to being a Lance stan, but even people who don't like him seem to agree that he was really fucked over in this episode. So here's my attempt at it. Is it more realistic than what actually happened? I like to think so.

another ironscript fic bc they nail bamf lance. this is how the gameshow WOULD have gone if vld gave a shit about their characters like actually. like yes of course the team is proud of each other and capable of acknowledging mistakes. of course keith knows lance’s worth. of course lance is a badass. of course the team knows wtf theyre doing. love to read this when i get mad about the game show

that’s it for today!! i’ll see y’all back next friday for the next fic rec post!!!

[bkblaise]

I'm dumb as hell, so can you explain me why JPtwt is so pressed about Manga leaks?

I mean, I have heard that those who leak spoilers earn some money out of it, so does this money come out of the Mangaka's pocket? If yes, then I'm against it. If not, then what's the big deal? I think there are many bigger issues than this to focus on.

Further, spoilers come weekly, I guess? That too, in Japanese language, so it's the same amount of time as the official release of a chapter—you getting me?

Hi there! Sorry the response is so long. Basically, JPtwt considers leaks ("hayabare") as a crime (it is), engaging with them is something they find extremely distasteful. Not sure why the reaction is so strong, but it is. Maybe it's being protective over manga bcs it's a big industry nationally. However me being Korean, a LOT of people pirate manhwa... so... (though manhwa is generally not as big so the gripe is spoilers & not leaks.) It's upsetting in my opinion specifically because of the fact that the spoilers themselves only come out like 2 days earlier, but, this time it came out on a Friday when they were originally on Mondays (officials come out on Wednesday. But a long time ago, I heard these came out on Fridays and in Korean? Lol. I wasn't there.) Most of the people who were targeted including myself are artists. This is the source of my gripe with this callout/block list, because we never reposted the official copyrighted material in the first place, so bombarding us with blocks and possibly getting our accounts locked when there are people who rely on commissions and a platform to gain said commissions/communicate with commissioners, for instance, is a bit... odd? They could mute us instead... Yes, there are also plenty of people posting the official panels as well, and I get their frustration. But a Japanese twitter user put it well, saying something along the lines of "these users were all also forced to see leaks just like you, except they're not being [immature] about it". In my opinion if I could disengage with leaks regarding manga I would, since this was my policy up until me getting super excited about Kaiser's backstory specifically. I previously did not post about leaks on twitter. The issue is the people posting the original leaks, but they didn't even put them front and center, which I just found confusing. I think technically since English has (online?) simurelease with Japan, it can affect sales. By how much, I'm not sure, because Twitter isn't a real good gauge of just HOW many people see the leaks (a user called Rayuga is the main one as far as I know, and their main has like 90k+ followers, so I'd imagine their reach is still above that follow count... but it also can be less, because twitter is twitter.) I apologize if this is already common knowledge because before joining twitter, I mainly got my leaks from Reddit without considering the source. Scanlations (A group called PO2? is currently scanlating Blue Lock) also probably has the same effect, which when I was in Scans, in my group we had a hard rule that an English official copy being released would warrant us to drop a series so that the author would receive fair support. So not doing that when there is an english copy, is probably damaging. I never checked if PO2 takes donations or have a Patreon or anything like that, which from my time in scans is GENERALLY looked down upon internally within the community. If they do, this is something that I wouldn't really condone openly, specifically because it's still unauthorized redistribution. Attempting to profit off of that usually is because sometimes scan groups will pay their staff. Me, personally, I always worked for free. But if they don't, then I have nothing to say. I don't think people who would have not bought the chapter even if that was their only option would've ever contributed to sales in the first place, right? So it depends. In conclusion, I'm sure there are losses. But it's hard to gauge by how much, so I simply listed all the possible factors for you to judge by yourself.

[mythicpopularculture]

ELEMENTAL SPOILERS FORTHCOMING

So I went with my daughter today to an early showing of Elemental. I have to say, one of the initial quick takes I had was “this is Zootopia if the WildeHopps shippers were given creative control,” because of certain story beats that lined up for me.

I’ve seen some criticism that it has a lazy racism storyline. I’m here to say that, in my professional (MA in English) opinion, this is not a racial allegory, but instead a commentary on the general immigrant experience, and what it’s like as a first-generation native-born, trying to be yourself.

That’s not to say there isn’t an ETHNIC element: Ember’s family gives a vibe of being from the general area of either the Middle East or Indian subcontinent, especially due to some of their ethnic dress and reverence to the blue flame (the Zoroastrian faith uses fire as a focal point for prayer and devotion). Wade and his family, on the other hand, has the “old-money WASP” thing down to a science.

No, the main commentary here is how immigrant groups are generally treated by native-born populations in society. Starting from the beginning when Ember’s parents are given Anglicized names because of language barriers with an immigration officer (a common practice particularly with Eastern European immigrants at Ellis Island), then the issues with finding housing (reminiscent of many images of landlords refusing to rent to Irish or Italian immigrants), and on into their eventual settlement into a run-down storefront/apartment, in “Firetown,” a segregated district in the city (much like many Chinatowns, Mexicantowns, and Greektowns around the country).

There’s also been gripes about the animation style, that it’s boilerplate Pixar styling, that it’s boring. I refute that, to an extent. The animation works for its purpose, to visualize what’s REALLY doing the heavy lifting, and that’s the writing and acting.

Writing-wise, this is beautifully done, even with some of the rom-com tropes that appear, they’re given a unique feel based on the environment and the strength of the immigrant narrative. The final climax, as the flood bears down on Firetown and Ember finally confesses her love to Wade just before he evaporates, was particularly strong on an emotional level, making the catharsis that much better when Wade returns to life (I had to laugh that he literally cries himself back into existence!).

The voice acting is also a big strong point, especially since this film did not have the typical Pixar stunt-casting: the only name I recognized in the cast was Catherine O’Hara playing Brook. These actors with not-so-recognizable voices did a beautiful job with the script, and brought real feeling to their line reads.

This was well worth the time and money to see. It’s going into my Disney+ rotation the instant it arrives. The only bad luck is that it came out in the same year as Across the Spider-Verse, otherwise it would be a strong contender for best animated feature, based on the writing alone.

[realcube]

YOU GOT: SHOYO HINATA

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ matchup for @yourmelluna

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚ if you would like a matchup, read this!

'Love Language : — Physical touch'

𓆩♡𓆪 hinata is soo a physical touch and words of affirmation guy

𓆩♡𓆪 he hugs super tight and they are always spontaneous

𓆩♡𓆪 like he'll run up to you in the halls and you'll almost be knocked over by the force of his huggery

𓆩♡𓆪 and maybe not so much before y'all are dating but afterwards, he's always taking any excuse to touch you

𓆩♡𓆪 like fidgeting with your hands/fingers while y'all walk, braiding your hair (he has a little sister so he defo knows how lol), or just randomly squishing your cheek while you talk

𓆩♡𓆪 he likes to poke you too, that's literally his love language

𓆩♡𓆪 in the stomach, on the arm, on the cheek, on the forehead, on the hand, anywhere!!! you will be poked!!

𓆩♡𓆪 and yes he is going to say 'boop' when he does it ofc this is hinata we are talking about

𓆩♡𓆪 and whenever he does it in public or in front of his teammates, specifically any of the other first years they are always like barfff

𓆩♡𓆪 but he doesn't care

𓆩♡𓆪 😤 he thinks it's cute and likes seeing you smile so

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

'— Best at English,

— Worst at Maths'

𓆩♡𓆪 same for shoyo except he's worst at both lmao

𓆩♡𓆪 but it's okay bc he has you now :D

𓆩♡𓆪 so when you guys fail maths together, you can find solace in each other's arms

𓆩♡𓆪 (and also gripe about how hard and unfair that test was 😣)

𓆩♡𓆪 although he is known to try his best so he'd probably get you to do maths study dates with him

𓆩♡𓆪 basically where you meet up and his house and watch maths tutor videos on his phone

𓆩♡𓆪 but they are so verbose and unhelpful, it's just got you both stairng at the screen like

𓆩♡𓆪 after a while hinata, once he realises that you are equally as confused as he is, he'll lean over his shoulder and look at you like... maybe the problem is that we need a break and nutrition to feed our brains .. snacks??

𓆩♡𓆪 SNACKS!!!

𓆩♡𓆪 staying up until 1am to raid hinata's pantry when you both have a test the next day 😗✌

𓆩♡𓆪 as for english , he's not good at that either so he is gonna need a bit of your help

𓆩♡𓆪 though it should be okay because you did say that you're forgiving and non-judgemental

𓆩♡𓆪 and it's good that you don't judge him bc... lord knows most people would

𓆩♡𓆪 pls don't laugh at him when it takes him ten tries to spell gorgeous

𓆩♡𓆪 and even after ten tries you're like, 'okay, maybe the word gorgeous is too hard. try beautiful?'

𓆩♡𓆪 and he spells it like bewteeful

𓆩♡𓆪 sigh..

𓆩♡𓆪 he really does appreciate you for helping him though and will always provide snacks for you whenever you come round

𓆩♡𓆪 ALSO it all worth it when you see him face light up with joy as he comes running towards you in the hallway, holding his english test in his hand

𓆩♡𓆪 '(y/n), (y/n)! look!'

𓆩♡𓆪 'what is it, shoyo?' you ask , and he looks absolutely ecstatic so you assume it's good news

𓆩♡𓆪'look what i got on my english test'

𓆩♡𓆪 he shows you the paper and it says C-

𓆩♡𓆪 and now you're confused...

𓆩♡𓆪 'hinata .. that's a C minus.' you clarify , just in case he maybe missed that part.

𓆩♡𓆪 'i know!! which means i passed!!'

𓆩♡𓆪 you nod, since what he said is technically true, even if C minus is the lowest possible passing grade, and you open your arms to invite him for a hug, and he virtually throws himself into you

𓆩♡𓆪 'good job, shoyo. very well done.'

𓆩♡𓆪 'thank you.. but i couldn't have done it without you!! let's get meatbuns to celebrate!!'

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

for @yourmelluna: i was thinking nishinoya at first but settled on hinata.

[cerastes]

Siracusa getting a proper Italian dub gives me hope we might get more dubs in other languages and my one gripe about the en voices would fade into nothingness cause I can just change their voices into the intended experience™️

Now the big question tho. What would the Sarkaz use? They're not one clean analogue like other countries, and as much as I like to personally insist HRE Germany is the closest, I can't deny the clear Latin focus they always give the Sarkaz.

What's your thoughts on this?

I'd really love to see a Tekken approach as well, if we could have The Intended Language for every given Operator as an option, it'd be incredibly refreshing.

Sarkaz are a really difficult question and I personally don't think they are one people specifically -- I don't want them to be one people specifically -- as much as a bunch of different peoples united less by real world circumstances reflected into the game and more by in-universe circumstances. Some say that Kazdel finds its etymology in každé, proto-slavic for "everyone", but then Sarkaz apparently finds its own etymology in sarkasmós (σαρκασμός) (Greek), "to tear apart", but I've heard of other possible etymology I think it was in German that I can't recall right this second. Then you have the fact that "Sarkaz" is as much a race as an umbrella term for a wide, wide variety of very different people: You have Vampires (Eastern Europe) like Warfarin, Gargoyles (French) like Mudrock, Goliaths (Hebrew) like most Sarkaz enemies, Wendigo (North American) like Patriot, Banshees (Irish, Celtic, Scottish) like Logos (*Though keep in mind that in Chinese, they are explicitly called Ni Yao, which is more often associated with succubi (Hebrew)), among others, and as you can see, pinning all of them into One country or people is, in my opinion, to ignore the nuance.

I've seen people make good points as to why they would be a German allegory and a Jewish allegory, but I personally prefer Sarkaz as not being Any One People, and for the sake of languages, I'd go for their etymologic origin and justify that in-universe one way or another, or, the idea I like the most, just the language that the specific character would be expected to speak based on their lore and circumstances. Vigna, for example, would be English given she's a Sarkaz from Columbia.

[gdrar]

2/18/24: Teatro d'ira - Vol. I by Måneskin

Hey, I know these guys. This'll be the first album where I've listened to one of the songs on it before, specifically 'I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE'. It's not regular listening for me, so it'll still be pretty fresh, anyways.

Maneskin is a band that expertly manages to walk the tightrope between having a unified sound while still having each of their songs sound unique, a problem which anyone who wants to make music has to contend with, and this album is an excellent showcase of that. The sound is a very clean one contrasted only by the singer's gritty voice (I considered also including the guitar as part of this contrast, but I'd say it's more satisfyingly crunchy while lacking the distortion/fuzz that would really make the mix dirtier). It also has a lot of interest crammed in that space between the guitar and the bass, which just makes it really engaging to listen to.

As for individual songs on this record, 'I WANNA BE YOUR SLAVE' has a really nice staccato to it that makes it stick out nicely, one that I hadn't really noted when listening to it before. 'LIVIDI SUI GOMITI' and "IN NOME DEL PADRE' both have some impressive vocal work with some fast singing while still managing to keeping it tidy. 'ZITTI E BUONI' is just a banger in general.

If I had any gripes I do wish there was a song or two that stepped a little farther outside of their comfort zone on this album. The farthest from their conventional sound on this album is the final track, 'VENT'ANNI', and unfortunately it steps closer towards the generic than to the unusual. I also wish the couple solos that are present popped a little more. They aren't bad by any means, just okay- I feel like they could do better.

I'm also rather ambivalent towards the lyrics of the two songs in English. They're pretty horny (which I imagine probably applies to the songs in Italian as well), which isn't really my thing but they keep it pretty moderate unlike some artists and they mask most of it with clever language, so I'll give it a pass. 

That's all! See you tomorrow for! Something!

[whitepassingpocs]

I really know if I even have the right to call myself a poc

For reference, i’ve dirty blonde hair (that stage in which it’s very hard to tell if it’s brown or blond), blue gray eyes, and i’m very pale(though that’s a combination of a genetic condition and the fact I do not go outside, saying that the rest of my family is 3 to 4 times darker than me)

I’m a

Louisiana creole-

Since the term generally covers a wide group of people, for simplicity sake, let’s just say Appalousa&Homa/European. I’m still doing research into the indigenous part as it’s not something I have a full fledge certain on, but I understand it is a very high high probability due to a combination of factors. I do understand that blood quantum is a colonial thing, but even if like I knew for certain I was any part indigenous, bad if I even tried to reconnect with it because of the way I look.

I am relatively connected to my Louisiana Creole culture, I was fortunate enough to grow up in Louisiana in a very, very creole community. The only thing that I a lot of people, especially people not from my community gripe me on is the fact I do not speak our language fluently. For those who do not know the US government came in and Americanized Louisiana, and when I mean by Americanized, I mean cultural genocide. And that’s where the Cajun identity really came from, as before any Cajun was really just known as a Louisiana Creole, but also not because it referred back to them being from Acadia, it’s complicated man I don’t have enough time to speak about it, the major thing you need to know is it was to segregate POC and white people. But there is a line in one of our little cultural centers, it’s on a whiteboard, something that would’ve been used in a school house during the Great Depression and it says “100 lines | I will not speak French in the classroom” that image is still burnt into my mind, and I think about it every once in a while. It gets especially tough in combination with the fact that I am dyslexic that I have moved from my home state, and the lack of resources means it is very hard for me to even attempt to try to learn the language, though I am still trying. It is still something that I get this very deep and unruly, describable sadness I guess to say. Which is always made even worse by the fact that our identity thrown around very weirdly, what the actual hell is a Cajun past. We just we have Italian food, putting shrimp and seasoning into a thing does not make it Louisiana creole at all, and again only really further ads insult injury about the Cajun part, though I will acknowledge the differences in the cooking styles between the more west regions of Louisiana and New Orleans. How the rest of America really views us I feel like it’s just really the end result of the Americanization of our people, and it really only does add insult to injury.

As a system(DID), something that I have realized as a host is the reason why I don’t have a traditional Louisiana accent was just because I Americanized myself to fit in and not be made fun of . If you know anything about vernacular English, you understand. Even though I still do use CajVE I don’t have an accent, and what I do have is a speech impediment from the remnants of my accent, as I still have the features of the dialect. That I developed as a mask to fit into the rest of American society, because yeah, thinking back on it the times that I would be made fun of for the way that I speak probably was more hurtful than I thought it was. Even then I still have moments where me and somebody else will have a conversation and somebody will say something, and there will be a misunderstanding due to the fact I speak vernacular version of English that came out of the Americanization of my people.

I love my culture I grew up dancing and telling folk stories, and cooking, gardening, and learning folk remedies, and Catholic magic. But that was only just one side of my family. 

Slavic-

Even though I wasn’t as connected to my Slavic culture as I was to my Louisianian one, it was still enough to ostracize me from my fellow Louisiana creole. Sometimes in a bad way sometimes in a good way, i’m pretty sure a lot of people whose countries are post-Soviet can understand that a lot of the times the west will, for some reason group, anybody who is post Soviet as Russian, it was even weirder is, it’s not just Slav. There is an expectation that you know a lot about Russian traditions not your own. It’s weird I really don’t want to go into it because it’s less part of this but it happens and I still feel like I should acknowledge it.

Anyways, I grew up dancing traditionally, Slavic dances, something that I will always find funny about myself is that as a FTX person that the best Slavic dance, that I can do is a traditionally male only dance. I grew up with stories about Germany invading Poland ,Czechia, and Slovakia, learning that the reason why my great grandmother did not teach my grandmother any Slavic language was out of fear. Though even still out of fear and stuff there are some traditions that my family does that are just Slavic. There is no other option. It’s not anything else it was just Slavic. There is not much of an explanation I could give my other relatives on why we threw dolls in the river every spring. 

A reason why my abusers picked to abuse me, and to do horrible things to me, was out of the fetishization of my ethnic features, there’s this really weird thing about Slavic women and that were submissive and were this on the other. Honestly, I don’t fully get this as if you actually look at Slavic history look at how many powerful and strong women they were, not even just Slavic history. Look past Central Europe, and you’ll start hearing amazing stories of strong people no matter their gender. 

Anyways, this is getting to the part that is some thing I learned more recently, I recently learned that I am also Finnish and Albanian and Georgian, really thinking about it. It’s not much of a surprise. And what I think is even more funny as I’ve always been interested in Finnish and Georgian culture. As I mentioned before, I was fetishized, mostly because of my Slavic. But now, as I’ve talked to more people from Georgia and Albania, and I’ve learned more about it, I can see myself(physically, and I guess the phenotype way), and it really wasn’t just Slavic, though. It probably was in the context of my abuse because I was Slavic. Anyways, that is besides my point if you have any good resources for finish or Georgian and Albanian, or even Louisiana creole or Appalousa and Homa stuff it would be really nice.

I don’t think I really should call myself a POC. Most of my family was European so I don’t think I really should and that I don’t really experience any bad bad discrimination. I will say, though I walkie very interesting line. I benefit from white privilege and I look white, but I have a culture I have a language I have songs I dance I kept a traditional name in a traditional naming style, and even though I have Americanized myself to fit into the rest of society which I don’t honestly know how much actively that I did on purpose, I don’t have memories I have DID. I’m sorry this was very Venti. I hope at least somebody can take some information about this. I know that at least Louisiana Creole are not talked about very much and that when we are talked about it’s through the lens of the Americanization and yeah.

Also, this is probably misspelled the high heaven as I said before I’m dyslexic I do not have the spoons to grammar check this, so I hope this is understandable!

hi. I don't know a lot about Louisiana Creole people or culture, but thank you for sharing your experiences. It's important to remember that how you look doesn't take away your culture. Your culture and heritage is yours. It does not matter that you are pale or blonde or disconnected. Your culture is still yours because you would not be here without it. Keep doing your research and making connections and you will feel less uncertain. I promise.

[glapplebloom]

Yep, I’m totally delaying reviewing Season 10 for as long as I can. Maybe not the best choice to do that with this.

Twilight Sparkle is planning to host an event for the school known as the Feats of Friendship. Four challenges where groups of seven have to work together to show just how great Friendship is. And because our Student Six is just six, we are introduced to their 7th Member: Swift Foot, the newest exchange student to the School of Friendship. And Sandbar immediately crushes on her...

She’s All Yak, which established the Sandbar/Yona ship, aired on May 11, 2019. The first issue was published August 7, 2019. And nowhere in the story shows Yona being upset with that. I could probably excuse the first issue since who knows how long it was written for, but the second one was released in October. They could have added something then. Oh boy, let’s get back to the recapping...

Now off the bat, the comic is letting you know something is up with Swift Foot. She said she’s from another sunny little village but the background is showing something MUCH different. And it gets on right away with what that is: getting these six groups of friends to no longer be friends by exploiting differences. Sounds like something Cozy Glow did in “What Lies Beneath” that was released on September 22, 2018. Except she did it better.

When Cozy Glow did it, she targeted specific aspects that were pretty much established from the series already. Since they come from places that don’t understand Friendship, she used that to target their friendships. Sandbar has to help since he came from Ponyville. Growing up as a love starved Changeling. Hiding underwater from an Evil King for years. Griffins not wanting to be around others. Dragons being fierce and degrading themselves into doing things. Yaks saying they’re best at everything makes it seems being friends with others not Yaks being a step down. Great targeting points.

Swift Foot, on the other hand, is honestly not based on anything. She targets Silverstream under the idea that they only helped when the Storm King affected them, all the while beginning with trying to remember who was the guy that caused them to hide. Off the bat, within the same issue, Swift Foot’s entire argument falls apart. How do you expect them to know about the Storm King until he shows up? The fact it took her a while to remember his name pretty much shows that knowledge about what happened wasn’t widespread enough.

With Gallus, she specifically targets him being the leader. That’s something only really established in this issue. As far as the series is concerned, they’re about equals. With Yona, she targets about her having to learn the language, something that even the show establishes that there is no specific Yak Language. Their kids speak English when they talk privately. Even Zecora doesn’t really have a language except that brief time in Season 1.

You’re telling me that Smolder doesn’t eat gemstones at school? The same school that sets a room aside for the ONLY TWO DRAGONS IN PONYVILLE to have a fire breathing contest There’s literally a gem cave walking distance from Ponyville and she knows Spike the Dragon. They definitely serve gemstones. And Ocellus, Swift talks about how Ocellus is forced to stay in one form... Yet she has numerous times changed forms in front of them with no issue. This is not something she’s forced to be. This is her default look. This is DC’s Act of God’s level of not getting the point. And Sandbar is too lovestruck to fall for her tricks.

But still, he sees all his friends being upset with Swift Foot’s actions and they go their separate ways. It ends with Sandbar walking Swift Foot back into the Inn where, when she’s alone, reveals she’s evil all this time! And I’m going to stop there because I thought I could review the entire series in one sitting, but I got all ranty and want to save the rest of the story for another time.

But so far, I am not liking the issue. My biggest gripes being continuity issues and being a poor attempt at the show’s specific plot. And why is she called Swift Foot? I keep typing it up as Swift Hoof because Horse Pun and have to go back and change it to Foot. And even ignoring all that, it’s basically a whole issue introducing this character and having 8 pages of her gaslighting characters you probably like depending on how you feel about them on the show. 

I’ll save my rewriting when I reach the end of the series. If that’s next week or the following I don’t know. It’ll depend on how much ranty I get in the next issue.

[likeabxrdinflight]

one of the annoying things about the subbed version of yugioh that's on crunchyroll is that sometimes I can tell the translation isn't very accurate. I don't speak japanese but I know just enough to sometimes be able to tell when the translation is just...a little to the left.

and this is a good example...because that's not what he says? atem says "ore no kawarini...aibou ga...".

now I know just enough of japanese language structure to realize this really is probably more along the lines of "instead of me...partner is/was...", something like that. and with some help from google translate, the line the subtitles give should actually be more like "karera ore no kawarini ore no aibou o totta..."

do not ask me to try and use japanese characters for any of this I truly cannot

and that's something else that's lost in this translation...atem isn't using the word "partner" as a title. he uses it as a name. it's a nickname for yugi. he almost never refers to yugi as "my partner." yugi is just "Partner." for him to say "my partner" would be "ore no aibou", which he just doesn't do very often. They didn't take "my partner", they took "Partner." and all of yugi's friends know who "Aibou" with a capital A is, to the point that in this particular clip they don't even react with shock until atem says the word "aibou".

and no it's really not a huge deal to re-work the translation to sound more natural in english, but...I kinda wish they wouldn't do that with subtitles. I wish they'd leave it as a more direct translation, because it gives you a better sense to how japanese is actually structured, what the characters are actually saying, and the implications thereof. I understand if you're translating for a dub you need to make it sound more natural, but subtitles don't have to do that, so...don't. let me try to learn at least a little bit how the language actually works. that's half the fun of watching the original.

small gripe.

[pinklovesandwich]

A review of Blackpink’s Singapore Leg of Born Pink

I want to preface this by saying that I am going to be rather critical. I felt that it didn’t live up to the standards that I would expect from the biggest girl group in the world right now, as well as from veterans that have been in the industry for over 7 years. If you enjoyed it, I’m genuinely happy for you and I do think there are things to enjoy about the concert. So let’s start with the positives

Girls looked really great. Some outfits I particularly liked were Jisoo’s Flower outfit and Lisa’s outfit for the second act.

Production looked really fantastic. It’s honestly the most beautiful lighting I’ve seen in the National Stadium (props to them for selling it out both nights) especially with the Pink Ocean.

They have some very talented backup dancers and musicians.

Solo stages were really good overall, and I would’ve loved to see more of that creativity in the group performances.

Now on to the gripes I had:

Duration

o This is the most common one I’ve heard throughout the tour and for good reason. Tickets are really expensive – ranging from $190-$400++ (including booking fees). For that price, a 1hr 40 min runtime in total is just pretty underwhelming. This includes the long ass VCRs, performances by the backup dancers and musicians. That’s just really short no matter how you spin it. TWICE for example consistently puts out >3 hour long performances. I’m not expecting that length for all groups but I do expect longer than 2 hours at least.

Crowd interaction

o This is a major gripe of mine. The crowd interactions were both brief and few, and basically were just “How’s everyone? I love Singapore food! The weather is hot, I’m so sweaty! Ok our next song is!”. There were zero details or like follow ups about what they liked about Singapore in particular, it was so lazy and just made it feel like they were checking off a box. I don't expect an entire essay but I think there were only like..five short interactions in total? And the last one when Jennie was saying we only have two more songs I was like bro wtf u just got here, don’t gaslight us into thinking it’s been a long concert lol

o I don’t think language barrier is a problem since the girls are clearly fluent in English sans Jisoo, and if it was then just bring a translator up? A performer/musician should always want to connect with their fans on a strong level, because without the fans they are nothing.

o When I as a fan see how brief and obligatory the interactions are, it makes me feel that my idol seems to just want to go back to the hotel room and rest rather than be forced to perform and interact with the crowd, and makes it hard for me to enjoy the concert.

o Like come on man, you are making a killing on this tour leg and you can’t even be bothered to show some love to your fans…it’s kinda off putting

Performance energy

o This is the other major gripe.

o I know Blackpink isn’t a vocal/dance heavy group, but that being said it felt like they (with the exception of Lisa) were phoning it in for most of the night, especially when comparing it to their rightfully acclaimed coachella stages just a few weeks ago. Some of the remixes and arrangements of their songs are literally the same as their previous tour as well. Lazy is not swag. Performing is part of your job – you guys are a 7 year old group that has trained most of their lives to be idols. I felt like they only gave maybe 50% of their full potential to us. As a former dancer I can also tell you their dances are not hard to learn at all, it takes probably an hour or two max. There’s no real reason other than laziness to not go all out ESPECIALLY with how short the concert is (and the fact that Singapore is one of the last legs on the tour). A common refrain some will say is “I’d like to see you dance and sing at the same time”. Literally numerous other idols do it with way harder choreography before BP was even formed such as SHINee, EXO. It’s not an excuse.

o I watched a newly formed group, Le Sserafim's comeback show recently as well after BP's concert clips and I was really shocked. There is such a stark difference in the passion, the level of choreography and expression, the energy, the hunger to perform. All the girls give it their all and bear in mind this is just a one year old group. One of their members Sakura I found out even has been in the game longer than Blackpink – she’s been in the industry since 2011 with AKB48 and later on IZ*ONE….and she’s still bringing her A game no matter where it is.

o A group as old as time, SNSD came back after 5 years. Some of them who are actresses haven't performed for years and they only practiced when they had free time from their individual schedules yet they did well both in their comeback stages and concerts so I don’t think having a long break in between is a good excuse.

o Groups similarly around the 7 year mark such as TWICE, Mamamoo, Seventeen and BTS are still giving it their all in every performance they have…so that makes it rather disappointing as well.

o There has to be minimum standards for A WORLD TOUR, like do they just bring those for Coachella?

My thoughts on the individual members

Jisoo: Jisoo is my bias but she seemed a bit…off. Maybe it’s being the non-English speaking member but she just seemed like she didn’t want to be here and was politely going through the motions. Kinda low energy. She spoke barely a few lines to the crowd. Her solo stage was decent and she did sing live for the most part if I’m correct, so props for that.

Jennie: Jennie really really disappointed me the most. I get that she’s arguably one of the hottest female stars in the world, so why don’t I see it in her performance and energy? Is Singapore just not important enough a market? It’s disappointing cause she is talented even at pre-debut and you know she can bring it when she wants to - but it’s so fed up that you who probably only will see them once in your lifetime, have to be at the mercy of which Jennie will show up today. Is it the moody, tired Jennie who only complains about the heat? Or is it the fierce, charismatic performer? Sad to say it seems she doesn’t give a damn unless it’s Coachella or US, looking at the fancams. I felt a real lack of professionalism from her.

Rose: I think Rose kinda tried a bit to liven the mood up at the start but towards the end after her solo also just seemed very low energy. She’s not the worst offender but similar to the other two members above I felt they could’ve tried harder to engage the audience throughout the concert.

Lisa: I’ll admit I never understood the Lisa hype but honestly she may have just become my new bias. Even though she’s the youngest, she gave it her all in every single performance. She tried to always hype the songs up in the background with her vocals, danced her heart out, even did some really decent pole dancing for her solo (for someone that has only learnt it for under a year I believe). She really tried to interact with the fans the most as well. Very professional and I wish the other girls had her energy.

Conclusion

Singapore is one of the last legs of the tour so rusty and nervous should not be an excuse by now, especially for a group that’s been around as long as they have. Overall, as someone who has been to numerous concerts in kpop, I can’t help but feel let down. You can call me a hater if you want, but personally as a former hardcore Blink – I know the girls are just capable of more looking at other performances that they went all out. This inconsistency in performance energy especially with members not named Lisa is just rather offputting frankly for a group that people paid good money to come and see and have supported them despite taking uncommonly long hiatuses in the past between. Glad I finally saw them but probably won’t pay such an exuberant amount to do so again.

reproduced:

[paulk19]

Proud to Be a Highlander!

I’m privileged to live in one of the best public school districts, both in New York State and in the entire country.  In the 2021-22 state standardized testing, Herricks placed sixth in English Language Arts and seventh in Mathematics out of 686 districts for grades 3-8.  In grade 8 Math (Algebra) it ranked FIRST.  Way to go, Herricks!  I’m proud to say that I am a product of that school system.  I graduated many years ago, it’s true, but the schools were excellent even then. Reading the recent newsletter, I believe the district has upped its game even more.

I can’t help but reflect on what has made Herricks Public Schools so good for so long.  It’s driven by many interdependent factors: motivated students, devoted faculty and administration, involved parents, great facilities and resources, and effective communication with and by all stakeholders.  Of course, none of this comes cheaply.  Our school tax levy is roughly twice what we pay for all other town and county services combined.  We pay the tax gladly, as our contribution to keeping this tradition of excellence going strong.  While funding alone cannot provide or ensure a top-notch education, a top-notch education cannot be provided without adequate funding.

One of my pet peeves is when I hear someone say, “I don’t have children in school, why should I have to pay?”  My former neighbor used to spew this nonsense regularly, and we got into several arguments over it.  Already, American education lags behind that of most of the developed world, with China and India catching up fast.  If the United States has any hope of remaining an economic superpower, then we need to leave these ignorant viewpoints behind and start moving toward a world-class educational system that is forward-looking, student-centric, and devoid of culture wars fought by the extremists on both sides.  These are abstractions, and often prove to be unconvincing debate points.

The best counterpoint to the “why should I pay” complaint is that good schools boost property values.  If you want your house to command a good price, then support your district.  I guarantee that if our schools here deteriorated, home prices would soon follow suit.  That can be seen in other parts of Nassau County.  Those complaining about the Herricks tax bill now would really have something to gripe about then.  Or how about when YOUR kids were in school, others supported them even though their children had already graduated, or perhaps they had had no children at all.  Pay it forward, bro!

It’s more than just dollars and cents, though.  We all benefit from living in an educated society.  Study after study has shown that a strong educational system can have societal benefits far beyond economics.  Reducing crime, equalizing opportunity, and promoting understanding across diverse social groups are a few that immediately come to mind.  Americans talk a good game when it comes to education; it’s time to put some substance behind it, like we do here at Herricks.