#i like all genres therefore my top 5 looks like this LOL

[royai]

nearly 30 books into the year and my favorites are:

1. big swiss by jen beagin

2. yerba buena by nina lacour

3. her body and other parties by carmen maria machado

4. daisy jones & the six by taylor jenkins reid

5. skyward by brandon sanderson

[fenristheorem]

Asks/Headcanons/Stories

Rules, Details and Other Important Information

Updated May 22nd, 2021

Status: Currently NOT accepting requests / asks 

See my Masterlist here!

***The ask box will be closed within a couple days of the updated post date (April 30th). It will be closed for a couple of weeks while I bring my request count down (it’s reached over 30 requests) and due to my schedule limiting how much time I can spend writing. Any new asks I receive will be immediately posted stating the box is closed (although I’m still open to receiving comments and other questions via ask box). 

How long for an answer: About a month depending on how much work will go into it, my askbox is quiet as of late but I have many that I’m working on currently. I have almost 20 drafts and a nearly equal amount of untouched requests in my ask box.

(Rules under the cut)

Hello! If you’ve reached this post you may be interested in asking/requesting something - go ahead and do so! Just make sure you keep in mind the information I list here because if an ask/request is outside my rules I probably won’t write it (there may be some exceptions heavily depending on certain factors). Therefore, please read everything (even if it’s just skimming) so you get a basic idea of what to expect from me.

The only fandom I write for is Eldarya, if you couldn’t tell by my posts lol.

Who do I write for? (Romantically)

Primarily Lance, he’s the only route I follow on my two accounts and I’ve spent a lot of personal time nit-picking and analyzing his character so I’d say I have a thorough understanding of who he is and how to write him.

I'm second most comfortable writing Valkyon, he was my route in Origins. Even though Origins is past now, I'm still happy to write about him

I’m not very interested in the other routes, but I have a general idea of what they’re like, so I’ll write for Leiftan and Nevra, too (although what I write differs. I’ll always write friendly or fluffy relationship stuff, but I draw the line around in-depth, intimate asks. I don’t know them too well so I don’t mind writing semi-vague things about them, but they won’t be very specific). I’m more comfortable writing Leiftan than Nevra overall.

I won’t write for Mathieu as I don’t know him well enough, he seems to be a pretty basic character but I doubt that’s the case so I don’t want to write something I know will likely be nowhere near relevant to who he is.

I may write for Koori, but not as of right now; I’ll update this if I decide to do so later when I know her better.

Other than what’s detailed here, I won’t write romantically for any other characters.

Have a request that’s not romantic? Awesome, I’ll write general headcanons for any of the characters.

General headcanons basically means anything not too intimate (or an ask that covers many different topics, but that's besides the point right now), I’ll write friendly requests, but not romantic ones. Have a request that seems to walk the fine line between friendship and a platonic / fluffy relationship? Go ahead and ask anyways, I may write it and even it I don’t, it helps provide an example of what I will or won’t write.

I'm happy to write any characters as Origins instead of New Era, just be sure to specify in your ask.

What do I write? (I will add warnings for NSFW and certain angst or violence prompts and how heavy it is in the writing)

Nearly anything, really

Romance

NSFW 

Friendships/friendly fun stuff

Angst

Violence

A lot of others

There may be some things I’m not thinking of currently, but again, I’ll write pretty much anything (and I’ll keep updating this list in time)

That being said, I’m comfortable writing some genres with some characters and others not so much. But again, if unsure, ask anyways.

What DON’T I write?

Non-con (no consent)

Yandere

Suicide (I’ll write how it effects others, but I won’t write the specifics on how an actual character does it)

How to specify your ask:

So I’m a very specific person, and I can go on very long rants; just take this headcanon and this second one as an example. However, I know some people prefer small and short, so I’m asking that in your request/ask you specify which type of writing you want so I’m not constantly thinking ‘oh try and keep it short - but maybe one more bullet - oh god how did this get so long? - m a y b e   I   s h o u l d   j u s t   w r i t e   t h i s   a s   a   s c e n a r i o  - did they want headcanons or a scenario/short story?’ Don’t care about how long my response to your ask is? Cool, don’t worry about specifying length, just send your ask (but seriously, be prepared for something close to a novel lol).

In order of shortest to longest:

Mini-headcanons - Usually the fastest to write - Not as ‘mini’ as you may think. It’s not entirely short, I’ll still put in my fair share of thoughts, but I won’t go on major rants about one thing during the ask. It’s a very straightforward / to the point ask. Not interested in possibly reading an essay on why I think this is this and how I feel this effected this person? This is pretty good for you then.

Normal headcanons / headcanons (otherwise known as medium or long headcanons) - Writing time can differ based on how much I rant, but will usually take longer than mini-headcanons - Are you ok if you end up reading a small novella or a post with so many words it rivals a dictionary? Awesome, this is the type for you! Depending on the ask, I can’t promise that I’ll go on major rants that take centuries to write, but it gives me the freedom to specify and clarify things, while also adding in a few of personal comments. This type of ask really allows me to be creative and provide examples or special situations with the characters.

Scenarios / short stories - Will most likely take longer than both types of headcanons - This type of response doesn’t take place in bullets. It’s exactly as it says - a story. I won’t include my personal opinions / theories in this as stories are a narrative, not an analysis for me. This type is a bit restrictive for me as I will press myself to stay as close to canon as possible, improvising my own theories / headcanons only when necessary to bridge aspects within the story (unless otherwise specified in the ask), but other than that I don’t like to intrude my own thoughts / theories in a story. Good for readers who want drama, descriptions, scenarios, or who feel headcanons just won’t fit the ask this time. These are typically a couple hundred words long for me.

Like mentioned above - if you don’t care about how it’s formatted, don’t worry about specifying anything or just add in the ask that you’re flexible to any format. In this case, I’ll choose what format to write in based on what I feel can fit best the ask while being written well. My default is usually headcanons, though.

Other important information:

This’ll be updated more in time

Have any specific details you want about the ask? Be sure to mention it!

I’m fine with writing asks with gender-neutral characters and such. Writing the S/O’s and reader-inserts are female by default for me, but I have nothing against writing different gender alignments

Writing takes time, especially since I try my best to write quality on every ask. It will usually take me no longer than 5 days to a week to write nearly anything, however, if my ask box is busy or there’s a particularly long request that I’m writing, it could take me within 2 to 3 weeks to write some things. I’ll try to keep it first-come-first-serve, but as some asks may be shorter than others, or I’m feeling a bit more productive on certain asks than others, response time may change a bit. I’ll keep a general idea on how long to expect a response post underneath the status listed at the top of this post

I will write for OC's (original characters)! If you're comfortable with it, I would recommend you send these asks not anonymously; I'll probably DM you to get more information. Otherwise, be sure to DM me saying what your ask was so I can connect the details you give me with the specific ask. I don't mind receiving some details via Anon ask, but it would greatly restrict me if I can't clarify some things so I can write better. That being said; if you would like your ask to be anonymous but need to DM me for details, I promise I'll keep your identity a secret. It's none of my business why you wanted to send anonymously, so I won't go revealing anything.

I have a tendency to swear, but only to stress points humorously or sexually. It’s really only to add to the tone of the story. However, if you’d like to request no swearing specifically then I’ll honor that.

With that: go ahead and ask! I always look forward to writing my next request!

Over all, I’ll write nearly anything, and if you’re unsure, just ask anyways and I’ll clarify if I’ll write it or not. And the more specific you are in your ask; the better I can write it (with reason, of course. Too much limitation will hinder).

Have a request? Ask them here!

Submissions are open! Just click on me!

[sandalaris]

SethKate for the 10 sentence meme?

one sentence per genre for a pairing

How can anyone do any of these with just one sentence?! At least I tried.... there’s a lot of run on sentences in this, btw, although after a few I just decided the one sentence rule could shove it and went with keeping each one short, and at least one I said screw it and made it pretty long for a one-sentence story.

1. Angst

A shadow self, that’s what Amaru called them, the ones she twisted and turned and brought forth from the other side, and logically Kate knows he had no choice, knows he did what he had to do to save Richie and her and the world, but logic has no hold in the face of screaming gaping wound in her chest that pulses and weeps grief and guilt when she looks at Seth’s face. It’s a cruel and ugly twist of fate, to still love the man who killed her brother.

A/N: A mild AU I will never write (but have thought about what would happen before) in which Amaru did her shadow-self thing on Scott and Seth is forced to kill him.

2. AU

There’s nothing wrong with the school itself, she decides, even if she does find some of its rules and traditions a bit odd. She wouldn’t even need to be here except Our Lady of Sorrow holds the only duel credit program with both an opening in Statistics and Intro to Psych that was willing to let Kate in given her... unusual circumstances (being homeschooled, a devout Baptist, and technically enrolled at a local public high school - a PE credit apparently requires a bit more than her daddy and the internet can provide - had her sure that even applying was a lost cause). She only has to spend half a day on campus and only one of her classes is even near the annex building so she hardly sees Seth (she refuses to call him “Mr. Gecko” on principle. She’s only somewhat a student here, and he is certainly not her teacher, even if he is a teacher.. she thinks).

She’s counting the weeks until the semester ends.

A/N: I would love to read this as a full fic... just not sure I want to write it, lol. 

3. Crack

No. Nuh-uh. No way. Seth is not some pansy assed prince charming setting out on a quest or one of those glory seeking wannabe knights who graduate from the Fairytale Training Academy, and he’s certainly never wanted to be anyone’s goddamn hero, so little miss damsel in distress, who’s probably some secret lost princess because Seth’s read this tale before and he hated it the first time around, can save her sob story for some other guy because he is absolutely not-

“Please.”

...fuck.

A/N: A reluctant Seth who is entirely too aware of fairy tale tropes and trying everything he can not to be in a one? Way more amusing than it should be to me.

4. Future fic

Seth eyes the group of sparkly wrapped boxes sitting on the counter with distrust, part of him already counting their numbers and trying to figure out how many have his name on them. After last year, when Seth managed to sneak a peek at every single last gift and “ruined the surprise,” Kate had managed to hide every Christmas present so well he’d begun to wonder if she’d decided he didn’t get any this year.

He reaches for a small, shiny box, the tag just peeking out from the curly bow and revealing a “th” in a familiar loopy penmanship, when Kate suddenly hisses behind him.

“Don’t even think about it.”

A/N: “Future” makes me think domestic fic (at least in FDtD), and that’s not an area I’m real familiar with, so *waves hand* this is what you get. :P

5. First Time

Her hands are shaking. Not visibly, but enough to make her fingers feel weak and the gun in her grip far too dangerous.

“You ready?”

She doesn’t know if she’s imagining the doubt in Seth’s voice, regret bleeding through at agreeing for her to play a bigger role, but she nods firmly anyways, tightening her grip and stepping forward.

A/N: Kate’s first heist... although I doubt Seth let her use a gun the first time. Too dangerous in the hands of an amateur. And I’m pretty sure Seth kept Kate’s role as danger-free and background as he could, because she was still fighting so hard to be considered an equal partner at the beginning of S2.

6. Fluff

She’s just managed to settle into the perfect spot when the bed shifts slightly behind her and a familiar hand fumbles sleepily at her arm and over her stomach before finding the hollow dip of her waist. Kate lets out a half-hearted protest, bits of warmth escaping at the blanket slips down and the sheet bunching beneath her as Seth wastes no time tugging her across the mattress, the sound dying into a soft laugh as he tucks her half under him and grumbles wordlessly against her temple without even opening his eyes. She shifts, tugging the corner of the pillow down a bit so its not digging into her neck before letting out a happy sigh. Perfect.

7. Humor (I had a hard time with this one, so I just wrote something random)

Kate makes a noise of frustration, pushing herself from her chair and snapping, “I’m gonna die a virgin. Again!”

“You know,” Richie says with far too much brotherly glee, “if you’re looking for someone to-”

“Shut up, Richard!”

8. Hurt/Comfort (another one where I didn’t exactly want to go full hurt/comfort, so instead I went Hurt? As in injury? Yeah, lets go with that.)

“Ohgodohgodohgod.” She can’t seem to stop the litany of words, repeated phrase cycling through her mind as she presses harder. There’s blood, so much blood, seeping red and too thick through her fingers that she can’t even feel the pain.

She should feel it, she thinks, she did before. Or maybe its better that she can’t, she doesn’t want a repeat of the well.

She takes another step, seeing the door just a few steps away. There are people beyond it, Seth and Richie’s people (Seth’s going to be so pissed, she thinks with a kind of worrying detachment.) It’s a simple goal: get to the door. Everything will be alright if she can just get to the door.

A/N: Kate is totally OK in this. It’s bad, but not as bad as she thinks, and while she doesn’t make it to the door before collapsing, someone comes through really quickly and sees her.

9. Smut  Hand holding?

The leather is soft against his skin, well worn from years of near continuous use and Kate’s dedicated care. He remembers when she first got them, the fancy looking box with its folded tissue paper holding them inside like they were a gift. He had hated them, hated the way they covered Kate’s small, deadly hands, the way Dad expected for her to be grateful, how necessary they were.

He slides his hand up, pad of his thumb brushing over the expensive leather covering her palm before it presses against the soft, vulnerable skin of her inner wrist, and he swears for a moment her can feel the nervous flutter of her pulse before he curls his fingers to lock around her wrist.

She looks at him, an amused quirk of to the edge of her lips as he raises her hand between them and he meets her gaze, not bothering to measure the redness of her eyes as he reaches his free hand up to pinch the fabric just above her pinkie.

“What’re yo-” She cuts off with a choked gasp when he tugs, but doesn’t jerk back. He’s inexplicably proud of her for it.

Her eyes are wide and a little panicked, bottom lip trapped between her teeth as she watches him tug at the top of each finger, loosening the well-fitting glove until it sits loose on her small hand.

He takes in a shaky breath, feeling unaccountably nervous as he grips the empty tip of the glove’s middle finger, like he’s removing far more than just a simple bit of leather. But then again, maybe he is. After all, Kate’s almost never lets any of them see her without her gloves, not willingly.

He pauses at the thought, gaze flicking away from his task to look at Kate. He regrets it almost immediately. He wasn’t going to stop once he started, wasn’t going to give Kate cause to think he held any of the fear she’s convinced he must feel. But maybe she sees the question in his eyes, or feel it in the sure way he holds her wrist because she nods, small and hesitant but there. He pulls the glove the rest of the way off and lets it fall to the floor.

He lets out a breath just as Kate seems to suck one in, her gaze locked on her bare fingers and Seth loosens his grip, fingers already turning so he can run the flat of his palm up her wrist, forearm pressing against forearm as his hand aligns with hers.

He’s grinning, sudden and full of too much smug satisfaction if Kate’s affectionate eye roll is anything to go by, but Seth doesn’t care, already lacing their fingers together so he can hold her hand proper for once.

A/N: This is part of a tUA inspired AU that has no plot and therefore will never be written. But I know exactly what Kate and Seth’s abilities are, which is part of why this is such a thing for Kate here and why Seth feels her fears are unfounded.

10. UST (Unresolved Sexual Tension)

She doesn’t blink, barely seems to be breathing, holding herself so carefully behind her desk, straight backed and fingers laced together as she stares stubbornly up at him. He smiles, slow and measured and knowing, letting his gaze sweep over the cardigan she’s begun buttoning all the way up since he joined her little class, before leaning close, meeting her gaze and dropping his voice low, like a secret between them.

“And what do I get if I get it right?”

A/N: Seth goes back to school to get his GED, Ms. Fuller is not what he was expecting. I actually had a whole scene playing through my head for this, because I like build up, and it was really hard to pick just a small part to put here.

None of these are edited, despite how long it took to post, meaning I have mixed feelings on them, lol. I think I like more of them than I expected to, so yay!

[yoon-kooks]

Witch Hazel- Pt.6

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Genre: FanficWriter!Jungkook, Idol!Reader, College!AU, Angst, Fluff

Summary: There are two students in your art class with a secret: you and the quiet Jeon Jungkook. You’re a problematic idol singer, infamous for your ice cold reputation and perpetual resting bitch face; he’s the artist and author behind the viral comic series based on a certain ice queen idol. After a blowup of destructive rumors, lost motivation and inevitable solitude, you stumble upon Jungkook’s comic and find a new and unexpected light.

Word Count: 3.5k

Warnings: none

Parts: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // ?

A/N: i’ve had mixed feelings about the tumblr fic community as of late :/ but heres something to read🥺

-

Holding the boy’s pinky in your own, you stare once more at his drawing of you with your guitar and flower crown—a superhero to those whom you shared your music with.

No. Your music hasn’t saved anyone. You’ve never been a hero to anyone. If anything, you’re the one who needs to be saved. You’d always thought you could grow strong enough to save yourself if you just closed yourself off from the world and did everything on your own. But in the end, that only seemed to hurt you more.

You should’ve known. It’s okay to ask for help, to reach out, to let him in.

“A few years ago, I had a thought. It wasn’t a very smart thought, but I decided I wanted to share part of myself with the world. I thought about the different ways I could go about that, but the way that made the most sense for me was music,” you say, finally letting go of Jungkook’s pinky and making yourself awfully comfortable on a bed that doesn’t belong to you. “So I auditioned for Polar Entertainment. Not to be an idol, but to be a songwriter.”

Jungkook doesn’t say anything, but he nods as if it’s not a shock to him, as if he saw it as “a Y/N thing to do.” At the same time, his gentle eyes wait for you to continue, curious to know what’ll happen next.

“Do you remember the song you heard me singing the other day in the music room?”

Jungkook cracks a smirk and starts singing your song word for word in a surprisingly in-tune whisper. Oh, he remembers it alright, and he’ll apparently never let you live it down. He doesn’t stop until you throw one of the balled-up blankets at his face.

“That was the first time I picked up my guitar and sang that song since being rejected at the audition.”

“I can imagine how scarring that would be. Rejection,” he shudders at the word, though you’re sure he knows little about the feeling with art skills as professional as his. “They really didn’t like you though?”

“They liked certain parts of me.” Your vocals, your beauty, your body. “But not the ones that mattered.” Your music, your creativity, your personality. You.

“That’s their loss,” Jungkook says in the midst of a yawn, practically inaudible. But you heard him.

“Maybe they had a point,” you say, looking up at the ceiling. “Because when I look back to that time, it was quite foolish of me to believe my music would reach anyone when it came from a place of desperation, not my heart. The song was a plea for help, not one that would save others.”

“What made you suddenly sing it again after all this time?”

You grab hold of the boy’s hand and form yet another pinky promise. “Promise you won’t laugh at me for my reason.”

“I can’t promise you that,” he says with the straightest face. He’s ready to burst out laughing again and you know it.

“Then I won’t tell you.” With a hmph, you bury yourself under the fluffiest blanket. You wonder how he would’ve reacted if you told him it was that dang jk.seagull and his fanfic that gave you the courage to sing again, to go back to your roots, to follow your love of creating music. It’d obviously sound ridiculous to admit it out loud, but the joy you feel from reading Witch Hazel is what reminds you of the very thing you want to provide others with—happiness.

And that’s perhaps all the encouragement you needed to start sharing your music again.

“I won’t tell you what it was exactly that made me do it, but I’ll tell you why,” you peek your head back out of the blankets to see the boy still waiting patiently for an answer. “I wanted to move on… from the failure I faced that day. That way, I can finally become that superhero you speak of.”

You place the drawing of your superhero self onto the nightstand so that it doesn’t get crinkled up on the bed. No, she’s not a superhero yet. But she will be someday.

“I’ll look forward to it.”

“You better not tell anyone,” you remind him. “This isn’t something I share with other people. Ever.”

“I won’t tell anyone,” he assures you, with not only his words but also his warmth.

“Good.” You smile whilst closing your eyes. You meant to tell him that he could confide in you too, but the warmth pulls you into a deep slumber before you could do so.

-

It’s been a minute since you’ve awoken in someone else’s bed, though this is the first time you aren’t all wrapped up in their embrace. Rather, half the boy’s body is hanging off the side of the bed for dear life while you’re right smack in the middle, all bundled up in one of the blankets.

If you wanted to, you could push him over the edge with the tiniest tap of your foot—that’s how close he is to falling. But as tempting as it would be to get even with the boy who teases you to no end, you opt to quietly check your phone without disturbing him.

To your surprise, you have two new notifications: a text from Seokjin earlier this morning and a late-night update from jk.seagull posted sometime after you had passed out. You’ve always been the type to take care of work obligations before indulging in guilty pleasures, so you open Seokjin’s text first.

6:04AM jinnie “so jimin’s manager reached out to me”

6:05AM jinnie “and you want to collab with jimin?”

7:12AM Y/N “oh yeah i asked him to have his manager contact you”

7:13AM Y/N “but i guess i forgot to tell you LOL”

It’s not that you forgot. You were just hesitant to tell your manager about it yourself. Because if possible, you’d like to minimize your own company’s involvement in this top-secret scheme of yours.

7:15AM jinnie “are you up to something?”

7:15AM Y/N “mayhaps”

7:16AM Y/N “but dont tell boss lady pls”

7:17AM jinnie “shes going to find out one way or another”

7:19AM Y/N “thats true 🤔 ”

7:20AM Y/N “well tbh knowing her, she’d probably approve of the collab anyway since it should clear up those dating rumors while (hopefully) appealing to jimin’s fanbase”

7:21AM Y/N “just dont tell her the logistics of the collab”

7:21AM jinnie “what are you scheming lmao”

7:22AM Y/N “youll see”

7:22AM jinnie “ 😒 dont get me or yourself in trouble Y/N”

7:23AM Y/N “i wont! i promise! 🥺 ”

7:24AM jinnie “okay fine”

7:25AM jinnie “ill arrange a meeting with jimin and his manager to discuss everything formally”

As you move on to the more exciting notification on your phone, you see that the sleeping Jungkook has slipped several inches closer to falling flat on his face. Maybe you’ll save him from his impending doom. Maybe you won’t. But that’ll have to wait until after you see what jk.seagull had to say on his blog.

“do you ever think back to that one time in math camp when a little girl screamed in your face that she hated math and wanted to become a musician instead? apparently she somehow confused ‘musician’ with ‘mathematician’ LMAO”

You aren’t sure what provoked the silly seagull guy to share such a random thought, but you do get a good laugh out of it. After all, you can totally relate as someone who went to math camp one summer despite knowing in your heart what you truly wanted to do-

Wait.

“Jungkook,” you say in a half-hushed, half-urgent tone, though calling his name wouldn’t be what actually wakes him from his slumber. “I think I know who the seagull guy is.”

Thud. You swear on your life you didn’t lay a finger on the boy when he fell, despite all the devilish thoughts you had about it earlier. He fell on his own. You’re innocent. Therefore, you have a right to laugh.

“Are you okay?” you snicker, peering down from the bed at the dazed boy. He might have been the biggest klutz for rolling off the bed and stumbling around to find his glasses, but holy shit. His wild bedhead and scattered blankets across the floor make it seem as though the two of you had a lot more than just an innocent heart-to-heart in his bed last night.

“I’m fine,” he stretches his arms and combs the bedhead out. Yes, he is fine. “But, uhh, what’s this about that seagull guy?”

“I think I know him.” You expect Jungkook to be as excited as you are, but he just seems kind of puzzled—perhaps from his lack of sleep.

“…and how did you come to that conclusion…?” he asks. Or maybe he doesn’t believe you.

“You didn’t see the post! Look at the post.” You join the boy down on the floor and make yourself at home there with your phone and some of the fallen blankets. He leans over your shoulder to read the infamous post you won’t shut up about.

“Math camp?” Jungkook continues to squint at the cryptic message before chuckling. “Also, did that girl seriously confuse musician with mathematician?”

“Stop laughing! That dumbass was me.” Now you wish you had kicked his ass off the bed.

He stops laughing, not because you told him to but because he’s mildly shook. “What?”

You take a deep breath in because you know you’re setting yourself up to be clowned for the rest of your fucking life. “When I was like ten, I told my parents that I wanted to be a mathematician, thinking that word meant musician. So they signed me up for camp that summer.”

“Did you ever stop to think that mathematician has the word math in it and not mu-”

You interrupt the boy’s unwelcomed commentary with an air-punch to his guts before continuing on as if nothing happened. “I was so excited until I got there. It was absolutely mortifying to learn that it was a math camp, not a music camp.”

“I like this story,” he nods with his arms guarding himself in anticipation of another air-jab as you square up.

“Still, I tried to make the best out of the situation since I was actually kind of good at math,” you say. “The camp director even told me I’d make a great math professor one day.”

“I can’t imagine you as a math professor.” He settles down with all the chuckling.

“I couldn’t either, so I ran off to an empty room where I thought I could escape without anyone finding me,” you soften your tone. “But somehow a crying, wandering boy found me.”

“Was it the seagull?”

“Maybe. All I remember was hearing music playing from somewhere outside. I sang along as a way to comfort and distract myself from the whole math situation, but it seemed to cheer up the boy as well.”

“Your voice does have that effect, you know.”

“He told me the same thing.” You can’t help but smile a little at the compliment. “But in that moment, it felt like my dream had a purpose beyond fueling my own desires. And I needed to share it with someone. Anyone.”

“So you shared it with the boy?”

You nod. “I told him my dream was to be a mathematician, but he knew what I meant.”

“Did he at least clown you first?”

“He did. He laughed right in my face, and at first I thought he was a jerk for making fun of my dream. But after he kindly taught me the difference between musician and mathematician, I announced my actual dream to him and him alone.”

“And how’d he respond?”

“He said it was cool beans.”

“He said cool beans?”

“Those were his exact words, yes.”

“And that was it?”

“That’s all I can remember.”

“So you don’t even remember his name or anything?”

“We never introduced ourselves,” you shake your head. “I don’t remember his face either because it was covered by a hood and long hair.”

“That’s too bad,” Jungkook sighs. “I bet it really was that seagull guy after all.”

“I have a feeling it was him, too.”

It would be nice and awfully romantic if you had somehow crossed paths long ago with the very seagull who continues to inspire your craft with his own. But even if that isn’t the case, you’re content with having that memory and entrusting it with another boy who has done nothing but lift you up.

You lean yourself gently against the Jungkook’s shoulder as you slip your phone back into your pocket, debating on your next course of action. The two of you should be getting ready for class, but that doesn’t sound very appealing. There are other things you’d much rather be doing, like maybe thanking the boy for lending his ear. But for some reason, it’s still difficult for you to say those two simple words of gratitude.

Perhaps it’s difficult because there’s a lot more you’d say than just “thanks man.”

“Can we just cut class and get coffee instead?” Yes, you’ll thank him for his service by treating him to coffee. Unless…? What if this is just your subtle way of asking the boy out on a date? What if he says no because you’ve already spent way too much time with him in the past 24 hours? What if he hates coffee? What if he-

“We should probably go to class to turn in our project, yeah?” Jungkook brings up a good point. But the thing is, you don’t really have your priorities straight at the moment and your mind has only two things consuming it: coffee and boy. “But we can get coffee after class.”

“Ooh, good, because there’s this one coffee shop I want you to try!” You chirp up despite your nonexistent dose of morning caffeine. “It’ll be my treat as thanks for… letting me hog your bed.”

“Oh right... that,” Jungkook hops to his feet and starts tidying up said bed. You help by picking up and folding all of the blankets. “I nearly froze and fell to my death because of that, you know.”

“I saw,” you bite your lip, trying to mask any naughty thoughts that come to mind. Because next time, if there is in fact a next time, you won’t let the boy freeze.

-

By the time art class ends, the weight of the dreaded group project has been lifted and your craving for coffee begins to settle in once more. And apparently, the hunger and excitement is radiating off you because someone has the audacity to make a comment about it.

“Why does your face look like that?” Taehyung teases, but you’re mildly offended.

“Because I’m getting coffee from my favorite café. That’s why,” you hiss but there’s still a hidden glow about you and your excitement. “Coffee is to me as girls are to you, Taehyung.”

“Ooh, speaking of girls, do any cute girls work there?” He strokes his wise man beard. “Maybe I’ll tag along.”

“I don’t fucking know.” And even if you did know, you wouldn’t say yes.

“How boring,” he yawns while nudging the boy next to him. “Hey Jungkook, wanna go on a double date with me? I met a pair of gamer girls, but I don’t know all the nerdy gaming stuff that you know. And think about it, this could be the first time you get laid since-”

“Actually, Jungkook’s getting coffee with me,” you interrupt. And if you had been brave enough to look up at the boy as you spoke, you would have seen the healthy pink radiance on his cheeks.

“Oh, so the two of you are dating all of a sudden?” Taehyung nods, as if he had hit the mark.

Neither you or Jungkook give an immediate answer, probably due to the unspoken yet very apparent shift in dynamics between the two of you as of late. Yes, you’ve developed certain feelings for the boy, but no, you aren’t technically “dating.” You just hope he’s on the same page as you.

“It’s just coffee,” you want to say, but it comes out of Jungkook’s mouth instead. And even though you would’ve said the same exact thing, it hits a little different hearing it from him.

At the same time, coffee is coffee and Jungkook is Jungkook. You need to remind yourself that your craving for coffee with the boy will be satisfied, regardless of whether it’s a date or not. After all, “dating” is not an option for an idol who should only be focusing on her music and fans.

“Which drink would you recommend?” Jungkook asks as you lead him in the direction of the café.

“If you like coffee, all of the drinks are good in my humble opinion,” you say, though you realize you should probably give the boy a few specific suggestions to make his decision a little easier. “You can get a standard mocha or latte if you want something simple. Or, their signature hazelnut coffee is really really good. Or if you want something iced, you should try the cold brew because it’s literally the most refreshing dose of caffeine ever. Oh! But if you’re into something more plant-based, I suggest the maple oat-”

“You’re not narrowing down my options if you recommend the entire menu, Y/N,” the boy chuckles at your coffee enthusiast behavior.

“Well, here’s my thought process: if we go at least once a week after class, you can eventually try every drink on the menu by the end of the school year. Not including all the different types of milk options though.”

“I don’t know if I should be impressed or terrified that you even bothered to do that calculation.” His eyes are bigger and brighter than the sun. “But that must mean you really like coffee then, huh?”

“Of course! Is that even a question?” The snobby coffee enthusiast jumped out real quick. But even beyond the coffee, you did the calculation to see how long your little coffee not-dates with the boy could last before you have to return to your idol obligations. “You like coffee too, right?”

“Not really,” he sighs. Your jaw drops. Who the does he think he is? “Are there any tea options? Or like a banana milk or something?”

“You can’t just walk into a coffee shop and not order coffee.” Is this guy for real? No, he’s just fucking with you. Probably. “I better start reevaluating who I hang out with,” you say with a sarcastic hmph.

“I’m kidding, kind of.” He doesn’t do a very good job of reassuring you of that. “I like… coffee.”

“That hesitant pause doesn’t sit well with me, Jeon.” You raise an eyebrow at the suspicious boy. It feels nice to tease him for once. “Why are you grabbing coffee with me if you don’t love it?”

“I just curious about this coffee place,” he nudges you, “since someone seems to really enjoy it.”

So it’s because of you…

“Good to know I’ve successfully peer pressured you into consuming caffeine,” you hum, playing it off as if his words weren’t absorbed right into your heart. It was never about coffee.

It’s about you and him.

The thought of that makes your heart scream a little, so you hide your flustered face behind your phone as the two of you approach the coffee shop. You have an unread text from your manager.

2:35PM jinnie “good news”

2:36PM jinnie “i set up a meeting with jimin and his manager in an hour”

You stop in your tracks. That’s not good news. Well actually, it is good for your top secret collab. But the timing of it all is anything but good.

“Are you searching up the menu online? Oh wait, you already have the entire menu memorized from A to Z.” He thinks he’s funny. Now is not the time, Jeon. His teasing smile doesn’t disappear until the distress is written all over your face.

How do you cancel a not-a-date date without a proper explanation? How can you do that to a boy who has only ever done you right? The thing is, you don’t have to hurt him.

You can cancel the meeting, you can bail out on the collab, you can disappear from the idol world altogether if you choose to do so. And if you didn’t want to go that far, you could instead tell the boy of your deepest and darkest secret, of your idol identity, and he would surely understand your reasons for having to leave so suddenly for work.

You could do any of those things, but you decide not to. You won’t allow yourself to make such a rash decision, even if it’s the right one. So you decide to keep the meeting, you decide to keep your idol self hidden in the shadows, and you decide to abandon the boy.

[readyplayerhobi]

BTS Fanfic Reader Survey Results

So! This week, I put out a request for all you lovely folk to do a survey for me. Initially, it was so that I could get a good gauge on the interest of my readers but so many people responded that I ended up just getting a pretty good idea of a lot of reader’s opinions on fanfics regarding BTS.

Now, to preface...this will be skewed obviously because I am a Hoseok majority fic blog and therefore it’s expected that will likely be the most popular member people read on here. However...the results may surprise you with what you expect.

238 people did this survey. For reference, apparently if you want only a 10% margin of error on the opinion of 10,000 people...you only need to survey 100 people. For a 5% margin, you would survey just under 400. Just the facts there for you lol

I’m not going to put these questions in order of how I put them in the survey and some had too many responses for me to make an accurate chart without it looking ridiculous so you’ll get a generalisation.

-

Question 1

Now then...who expected to see that Taehyung would be the second lowest because I didn’t. I fully expected it to read as Hoseok then the maknae line. But instead, Hoseok took the clear win but Yoongi and Namjoon were surprisingly in the top four for a while. Jimin appears to have made a leap, but he’s only 1.3% ahead. To give you clear numbers, Jimin only got 3 more votes than Namjoon.

Question 2

Pretty even split here! So don’t worry people who want to write multi-chaptered stories, you’ll find a positive reception!

Question 3

Again, an almost even split. Which is both encouraging for people writing stories but also slightly discouraging knowing that people aren’t going to bother until you’ve finished it. But hopefully that would mean people would Netflix style binge!

Question 4

This surprised no one really, huh? The stats are overwhelmingly in favour of longer fics and I understand why. You get more from it and get to stay invested in a world for longer.

Question 5

Now, this made it look like everyone only liked to read fluff or smut when I looked at it but putting it into a chart actually give me a more in depth look! So, this is very interesting to read because while smut is very popular...people seem to like it mostly with other stuff. (for some reason it’s put them both ways round so take that into account). If we combine the multiple answers, then it’s pretty clear that fluff and smut together is the most popular combination of genres to read. After this, it’s the combination of all three with angst, fluff AND smut. Angst on it’s own isn’t hugely popular but people seem to like angst mixed in with everything else.

Question 6

What is your favourite sub-genre to read?

Take this with a pinch of salt because it will include multiple answers, so some people put slice of life and fantasy. But it still gives you a pretty clear indication that slice of life and college are the two most popular. I presume this to be because the fanbase/readership is often college aged which makes sense. Fantasy and supernatural are always clear winners in the fic verse! Other answers that were given include hybrid, mafia, idolverse, OT7, CEO/businessmen, soulmates, unrequited love and office.

Question 7

What is your least favourite sub-genre to read?

Unsurprisingly, horror was the least favourite genre. I don’t think anyone will be shocked over that, but I was a little surprised at how high single parent ranked! Also, science fiction being the second most unpopular *cries in Starfire*, but again, not surprising! Other answers include: yandere, CEO, artist, florist, r*pe, historical, idol.

Question 8

True is yes, false is no. It’s nice to see that a lot of people are willing to read fics that also include members of other K-pop groups for anyone who’s wondering about whether people may be interested in that!

-

And that concludes our survey! I hope it was interesting for both readers AND authors! It’s a useful insight into the mindsets of people to see what they think regarding the stories that they read! Feel free to share :)

[chrisstevenson]

The Lows of High Book Prices

A thousand pardons if I come off like a rant. I'm a mashup between J.A. Konrath and Harlan Ellison. I'm a writer advocate and defender of the written word. I also watch the industry like a stealthy Sasquatch. These articles are always meant for Guerrilla Warfare for Writers, my down and dirty blog. There is no BS here. Maybe some inaccuracies. I don't even like posting these articles to my YA website--no one reads me there anyway. I hope you suffer me well.  

First and foremost, if you are a celebrity author you don't need to be reading this. If you are an A-list author, pass on by. If you are a very popular author with a huge reader fan base and have a enormous mailing list that draws purchasing customers in like flies, audios. If you have a break-out or bestseller, you can kindly leave by through back door. There will also be some outlier exceptions. This article is not a call to arms for you. You are profitable, consistent and probably comfortably set in the mighty realm of book sales.

If you are new to writing with a minimum number of releases, an old-time mid-lister like me with a ton of books out there, or a new writer launching your first book, I think you better read this and make some grave determinations. It's unlikely a publisher is going to read this, but I've been with and seen too many that need to know what is working and what is not as far as ad pricing. This warning goes double for authors who just don't care that their e-book prices are going to be placed high regardless. It goes triple (as of this writing) because of the corona virus and the financially stressed atmosphere it has created.  People are buying essentials. As far as entertainment, they are streaming movies and playing games. Who started the the rumor that they were buying books hand over fist? Do you remember when this news was sent out on the wings of doves at the very beginning of the pandemic spread?

I would like you to read three paragraphs (below) which come straight from the keys of most of the advertisers I know and have dealt with. The wording might not be the same but the implications all point to the same conclusion. They don't want your high-priced book. They want rock-bottom cover prices and freebies. The reason is twofold; Shoppers want bargains, plain and simple. That's why W-Mart and Amazon rule the nest. Yet the second reason is that the company itself doesn't want to lose a potential customer. That means you won't be coming back for seconds if there are flat sales. They are also competing with other promotion and marketing sites that have the same mindset policies.

Here's my statistics for two YA fantasy/thrillers that had excellent covers and blurbs. Both of these ads were run before and during a Halloween special (the horror factor was quite evident).. Both books were priced at $2.99.

Book one ran for 15 days on a $45 budget. It received 5,391 impressions; total clicks--5--and a CTR of 0.09%

Book two ran for seven days on a $100 budget. It received 10,195 impressions; total clicks --13 and a CTR of  0.13%.

I don't think I have to do the math for you. Except for the takeaway, which was $145.00 from me and some wide-eyed experience. I later changed companies, dropped the e-book price to .99 cents, and still fell flat--no sales. We could argue all day long about what I did wrong with these two companies. I did not stop there. I enlisted in seven of the companies listed below, with very low, rock-bottom prices. Please excuse my spelling on the names.

Just Kindle Books

Fiverr--bkknights

Fussy Librarian

FreeBooksie

E-book Hounds

Robin Reads

Kindlebook Review

Book Barbarian

Booksends

BookDealio

Ebookdiscovery

Ereader IQ

Ent

Book Reader Magazine

Pretty Hot books.

Out of my promotions, I received three apologies and full refunds. I think I sold two books from Ent. That was it. I won't go into which seven, but I did do my research beforehand. They were my best picks.  

Have you ever heard that it wasn't the gold miners who made money off their digs, but the merchants who sold them the supplies, tools, products and other services? We basically have the same thing going on here, with grandiose claims of the promotion and marketing companies talking about going to the top of the sales charts, breakouts, unlimited exposure and guaranteed results. Results. Not sales. Impressions and clicks are a normal state of business and you'll see them. What you won't see are voluminous click-throughs--buys, sales, mullah.

There are many Indie writers who are exceptions to this rule because they have targeted outfits that payoff for them. Might be some trade published out there too. This comes from a lot of trial and error--R & D--and it NEVER ends because the books can go through an insufferable amount of tweaking to fine-tune the results. This happens when an author watches his/her ups, downs and in betweens--the stats that govern peak sales. Self-published authors also get a larger percentage cut of the royalties than the small trade-house authors. Many of the elite Indie authors pay thousands for ads a months, but they reaps thousands plus in return. So it is a revolving door for them--huge investments that garner huge profits. You want to make money, you have to spend it. That's not my quote, lol.

Look, all I'm saying is be wise and careful with your expenditures. You are going to see, if you already haven't, self-proclaimed experts that can do all forms of editing, covers, formatting, book tours, pod-casts, trailers, page ads, listings, book-to-movie deals, screenwriting, agent introductions, publisher submissions, blurbs, illustrations, writing courses, query letters, one-on-one instruction, translations, ghostwriting, expedited (paid) reviews, synopsis's, proof reading, evaluations and all other manner of Internet blasting services. Can you pay for some of these services without losing your shirt or blouse? Sure you can! It's up to you. But be aware, unless you really need and believe in any of them, you'll lose out every time.

I often wonder if we are just giving our books away because the sea is awash with them. So many tens of thousands of books are published each year that the numbers keeps compounding and burying the authors under tons of pixels. Nobody can find you, lest you post on FB that you will commit suicide if somebody, anybody doesn't buy one of your books before you take that leap. Well, if it goes viral and you were bluffing, it would work. I think you get the idea. Dear gawd, I've often entertained the idea.

1. Your deal price should be as competitive as possible (This is a company motto BTW).

"We promise our subscribers the best deals available. The better the deal, the more appealing it is to our subscribers, and therefore the more likely it is to be selected by our editors/readers. We rarely feature books priced above $2.99, and even $2.99 is an unusually high price for many of our categories.(I JUST LOVE IT WHEN THEY SAY $2.99 IS UNUSUALLY HIGH).

"While your deal price should be based on your book marketing goals, pricing as low as possible will entice more readers to download your book. The lower the price, the higher the conversion rate of a Deal. Knowing this, our editors prefer books that are competitively priced, since those will drive a higher volume of reader engagement. They’re also able to select a higher percentage of discounted books. If you’re not selected for a deal between $0.99 and $3.99, consider resubmitting your book for a free promotion, as this can be a really effective way to increase your chances of getting selected.

"Keep in mind that the competitiveness of your price depends on your category. While it’s normal to see a higher priced book in Cooking, for example, prices are usually lower in the Mysteries or Romance categories (THOSE TWO ARE THE BEST-SELLING GENRES, BTW).. Browse through books in your category to see what’s competitive in your own genre. Again, if your book is not selected at one price, try resubmitting at a lower price or for free. Your chances of being selected will be higher."

Note the last sentence. They are going to select you in accordance with how profitable they think you can be.Sounds to me if you don't go low enough to suit them, they'll politely blow you off.

I've heard some positive news about AMS, BookBub featured ads, and in a blue moon, FB and Twitter boosters. I've used all but the grand daddy feature ad. While these might still show some profit, they certainly aren't working like they used to. Profit has measurably declined, and I mean this in a general sense.

What does my crystal ball tell me for the future? I can only take a wild stab at it and say that the heavy visual sites like Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr and others are driving a wedge between the other competitors. They could be the wave for future book exposure. I know their swords are drawn against Amazon

Anybody have any solutions or ideas about gaining some profitability in this industry? I'd love to hear it. Or any promo/marketing site that has fulfilled your dreams. BTW, just like FB put the whammy on My Space, do you see another FB type site in the future? I dooooo,

Blessed wishes, please stay safe and healthy.

Chris and Christy.  

[thesinglesjukebox]

FULL TAC FT. LIL MARIKO - WHERE'S MY JUUL??

[6.11]

Do we choose rule, or do we choose suck?

Alex Clifton: Juuls. Juuls. Juuls. Oh my god, Juuls. [7]

Katie Gill: It's a little bit telling how all the comments on the YouTube video are comparing this song to other meme songs and not talking about the merits of the song itself. Still, there will always be a place in the world for meme songs that are serviceable memes but less than serviceable songs that teenagers can obnoxiously quote on the bus. "Where's My Juul" fits that niche perfectly. I expect a fleet of TikToks featuring people lip-syncing to this and will be very disappointed when this inevitably doesn't happen because I am out of touch with the youth. [6]

Kalani Leblanc: I can see there's already an abundance of blurbs submitted for this song, and the number will have risen by the time I finish this. After thinking so hard about how to go about being the fifteenth person to say "It sounds like "Shoes"," I'm realizing it's not really "Shoes" anyway. While they're both jokes that bear a resemblance in the thrash of a breakdown, "Where's My Juul??" is also listenable. The comparison is getting tired because it's like did anyone listen to "Shoes"? As a song? In earnest??? While this is not an entirely impressive piece, no concerto or FKA Twigs production, it's enough. Since 2006, we've been making everything into jokes, so it makes perfect sense. Nicotine-induced freakouts would've been the subject of an after school special ten years ago, but now they're joke material for hypebeasts and others on Twitter. Lil Mariko makes an impressive case while trying to find her Juul; I can't find anything this song did wrong, sorry. [8]

Will Adams: The mid-song 0-to-11 ramp is what takes this past the mean-spiritedness of "#Selfie" and the meme-spiritedness of "Phone" into effortless "Shoes"/"Let Me Borrow That Top" absurdity. The Juul is a placeholder; sub in any other monosyllabic cultural artifact, and Lil Mariko's rage against Full Tac's electroclash-y beat would cut through just as effectively. "Sorry, guys!" she says at the end, except there's nothing to apologize for. [7]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: I wrote 20 pages about Juul culture in 2018 so I should in theory be the exact target audience for this. Yet "Where's My Juul??" doesn't really click for me. It's charming and funny in parts (Lil Mariko's spoken verses, which transmit nervy anxiety and barely restrained fury effectively) but the hook, which takes up most of the very long minute-forty-five, is comedy via brute force principles: repeat a phrase enough and it will transfigure into a joke. [5]

Brad Shoup: About as funny as the related TikTok meme, though not as menacing, surprisingly. I wish so badly that Full Tac had gone full hardcore -- or even brostep! -- but am glad that Lil Mariko's Danny Brownian ad-libs and sudden reversals grind "#SELFIE" into the dirt. [7]

Oliver Maier: I need not catalogue the myriad ways in which this is transparently designed to blast off on TikTok -- you would probably know better than me -- but that cynicism detracts from "Where's My Juul??" for me. There's none of the spontaneity or sense of genuine fun that animates certain other genre-agnostic, threat-spewing, extremely online weirdo duos, more savvy than it is genuinely silly. It's not badly executed, but I felt like I got the picture before even hitting play. [4]

Will Rivitz: I get this is supposed to be more meme than song, but I so wish it had leaned into the latter for more than half its runtime. The "FUCK!!!" at the beginning of its second chorus is worth at least a [7] on its own, and its redlining nu-metal production is such a tight fusion of XXXTENTACION's sonic fingerprint and simplified TikTok trap that I'm surprised the "oh my God" ad-libs aren't followed by a "Ronny." As it stands, "Where's My Juul??" and its just-a-little-too-long interludes that grate after listen number four or so functions as a sort of "Thrift Shop" for the current day, a track defined by its novelty that we as an Internet music-Twitter hivemind all agree was genuinely good about five years after it's exited the public consciousness. It deserves more. [8]

Ian Mathers: Both less musically compelling and with less of a point than "Can I Get a Box?". [5]

Katherine St Asaph: It's kind of amazing how it took seven years for Rebecca Martinson to release her debut. [1]

Nortey Dowuona: Lil Mariko is actually kinda weird in the lol so random funny way that people think that [insert overrated white comic who had a Comedy Central show] is and has a really great metal screaming voice. I don't know who made this dull approximation of Kenny Beats and Pi'erre Bourne, nor do I care. Lil Mariko will hopefully get a recurring cameo role on Nora From Queens and get her own show from that. [5]

Mo Kim: The best joke here is the escalation of nonchalance (hey, where's my Juul?) into something desperate, and therefore dangerous: it hits like the drop in a rollercoaster when Lil Mariko finally breaks out the deep-throated metal screams, but the moment wouldn't have half the thrill without the masterful way she gradually ups the heat on the song's first chorus before that. Both of her spoken monologues, where she merges Valley Girl affect with murderous menace, only sweeten the deal. [8]

Ryo Miyauchi: "Where's My Juul??" gets spiked with an infectious dose of adrenaline when it suddenly turns a lot more aggro than you'd expect from a meme-y cross-section of Rico Nasty's mosh-pop and PC Music's ironic bubblegum. The demented beat stings with a pungent metallic sourness, and while her Valley Girl accent scans as an obvious put-on, Lil Mariko's blood-curdling scream is legitimately hair-raising. The song rapidly combusts, ensuring the joke doesn't overstay its welcome. [7]

Joshua Lu: Yes, hearing the unassuming Lil Mariko scream and snarl over a missing Juul is intrinsically funny, especially accompanied by a music video that knows exactly how to push the limits of its concept. But the real strength of "Where's My Juul??" lies in its sheer relatability. The title could be anything -- where's my wallet, my phone, my eraser -- because anyone who has ever misplaced anything can relate to the escalating panic and rage in not only the cataclysmic vocals, but also Full Tac's discordant production. Also crucial to the song is its sense of plot, as it steadily progresses from confusion to blame to outright violence. The ending, though predictable (Lizzo used the exact same twist not that long ago), is a necessary denouement, as it provides the moment where everyone involved can look back on the last minute and a half of chaos and laugh. [8]

Iain Mew: As a song structure trick, I love the fake-out final verse, those ones that seem like something slowly developing before the artist brutally cuts it off for the chorus or instrumental to come back stronger than ever; the "Don't Speak" and "Your Best American Girl" kind of thing. The key moment of "Where's My Juul??" comes in taking that same trick to a ludicrous, brilliant extreme. It has a drawn-out, jittery verse, a cartoon scowl of a chorus, and then one question into verse two it veers straight into swearing, screaming and fucking everything up. That's perfect enough that it would ideally be even shorter than it ends up. [7]

Kylo Nocom: Full Tac and Lil Mariko do in less than two minutes what took Justice five. The gimmick is the least fun part, and judging by my sample size of BigKlit's "Liar" and Full Tac's very own "CHOP" the producers behind this might not even be as funny as this video would imply. But I've long settled with music that's good on the merits of just being fun; when the production here is layered with discordant guitar sampling, analog drum kits, and distant screams of "piss!" and "fuck," I'm willing to buy into the ugliness. [8]

Joshua Minsoo Kim: Full Tac returns with another take on "Liar," succeeding because the goofy conceit here finds an appropriately goofy (that is, unexpected) vocal performance. Part of the appeal is how "Where's My Juul??" could sit comfortably alongside songs from Rico Nasty and Rina Sawayama, but has the appeal of shoddy viral videos from yesteryear. It's that "Kombucha Girl"-type reaction it's striving to elicit, and it accomplishes that as soon as the screaming starts. The best detail, though, is the most subtle: the moment Lil Mariko stops herself from saying "who" and politely asks "have you seen it?" [7]

Michael Hong: Have you ever been dragged to a party only for your only friend to disappear, leaving you to mingle with a group of people you don't know? And one person makes a comment so absurd that you just giggle along with the rest of the group even though you're not really sure if they're layering their statement with even a hint of irony or if there's something much more unsettling lurking underneath? But the jokes are getting more and more uncomfortable and suddenly fewer people are laughing along, instead furtively glancing across each other with an exasperated look as if to say "is this person for real?" And instead of backing away, that person instead starts doubling down, getting more and more aggressive, screaming across the room for what feels like hours and surely people must be ready to head out. Instead, when you finally catch a moment to glance down at your phone, you find that only two minutes have elapsed since you arrived and you realize that not even a quarter of the time has passed before your ride will come and you can leave this godforsaken party. You have absolutely no choice but to continue standing in the group in discomfort, waiting for this moment that feels like an eternity to finally finish, with the only background noise being the stereos blaring what sounds like someone's first attempt at using GarageBand. [0]

Crystal Leww: While I was digging through "likes" on SoundCloud, I noticed that a friend of mine had liked "Baby Let Me Know" by Full Tac, which sounds like the synth heavy dreamy pop that was popular at the beginning of last decade. I did not stick around for "Where's My Juul??" so imagine my surprise today when I turned this on and it's umm, screaming. A consistent genre as an essential part of an up-and-coming artist's brand is less essential than ever, especially in an age where (waves hands) dance music has eaten itself alive in its swirling storm of troll energy. Chaos in and of itself is a brand -- from 100 gecs to Alice Longyu Gao's dueling sister tracks "Rich Bitch Juice"/"Dumb Bitch Juice" to any DJ Bus Replacement Service set, it has fully infiltrated dance music. How this goes from sweetly threatening to full-on psychotic and back to cutely apologetic is chaotic so yes, I think Full Tac could make some noise (both in creating a fanbase and also like literally) with this. [8]

[Read and comment on The Singles Jukebox]

[muthaz-rapapa]

Idol Precure Series: A Gratuitous Costume Parade

Because that is literally what this is. An excuse to dress everyone up in cute clothes. 

Not complaining, though. The girls look fabulous~

Anyways, y’all aware they were grouped together because of what their civilian identities have in common, right?

Well, that’s how I see it so I typed this up so I can use it for reference later.

Initially, it was just a companion (?) piece to this StarPre prediction post (therefore, the StarPre girls haven’t been included yet so go check out that post until they are) but now I’ll come back to edit/update it again when more new stuff is released or I find better quality pictures.

I also have some ideas for possible new groups if they ever add or mix-and-switch the current ones but that’ll be on another post altogether to avoid confusing myself, ahaha~

Anata no kokoro o mitoshi-tai (Team “I see through your heart”)

Members: Yukishiro Honoka, Hanasaki Tsubomi, Tsukikage Yuri, Shirabe Ako, Yakushiji Saaya

At a glance, it seems like they put all the smart ones together but it’s really because these girls all wear glasses.

Yep, the meganekko group.

I mean, they are smart but the key point here is clearly the glasses. Which is a tad bit of a shame because I feel like that (moe aspect) takes away from recognizing them for their intelligence first.

On another note, interestingly enough, I believe there’s a play on words with their unit name. If you say it out loud without knowing the context, it really sounds like “I want to look into your heart”. Can someone confirm this? My amateur Japanese isn’t enough to explain it eloquently.

Others who can fit into this group: Hishikawa Rikka

Bunbu Ranbu (”Martial Dance”)

Members: Myoudouin Itsuki, Aoki Reika, Yotsuba Alice, Hikawa Iona

Martial arts practitioners.

Also, I’m pretty sure Reika knows some kendo along with kyūdō since we’ve seen her wielding a giant ice sword as Cure Beauty multiple times throughout the franchise. We just didn’t see her do it in civilian form. Hmm. :/

Others who can fit into this group: ...

Eternal Moment

Members: Higashi Setsuna (Eas), Akagi Towa (Twilight)

Former villainesses who turned good and became a main heroine.

I’m so glad they didn’t forget about their evil alter-egos cuz Eas and Twilight (or perhaps just Twilight) can be considered separate characters in their own rights so it’s nice to see them show up in advertisement again every once in a while.

Hmmm, their name though... it looks like this unit might only be intended for two people (”Eternal” for Towa and “Moment” for “Setsuna”).

That is, unless they add onto it like HNMH (see below) if they plan to include more girls into this category. If so, then...

Others who can fit into this group: Kurokawa Ellen, Lulu Amour

Mystic Diva

Members: Kurokawa Ellen, Kenzaki Makoto

Haresora Concerto (”Clear Sky Concerto”)

Members: Minazuki Karen, Hojo Hibiki

Haresora Concerto with Mystic Diva (collab?)

Additional members: Tategami Aoi

Girls with strong affiliation to music...I think?

We saw Karen playing the violin in Yes!5 Precure’s OP and her parents are famous musicians themselves (just like Hibiki’s) but I can’t recall if she ever played any instrument during any particular episode in Yes! 5 or Gogo(?). Anyways...

Mystic Diva contains those who are renowned singers from another world (I don’t think Ellen sang much after she sorta permanently remained in human form but as Siren, she was one of the top contenders next to Hummy to sing the Melody of Happiness so there’s that).

Haresora Concerto obviously are for those who practice classical instruments.

Finally, the collaboration...is it a collaboration or did they really merge the two units together? If not, then Aoi will still need to be assigned to a group and if we’re going by the above criteria, she doesn’t fit into either one (Mystic Diva isn’t really her style anyway and she’s long given up the violin to play the guitar).

Maybe they’ll come up with another unit specifically focused on the rock genre in the future cuz we have Emiru and Lulu now so that’ll be enough to start one.

Others who can fit into Mystic Diva: Lulu Amour (+ guitar) [??]

Granted, Lulu didn’t sing before she arrived in present day Hugtto but she did say she’s going to bring music back to the future so...why not count that and the future as “another world”, hmm?

Others who can fit into Haresora Concerto: Yotsuba Alice (piano), Haruno Haruka (violin), Akagi Towa (violin), Kaidou Minami (violin) [??]

I don’t really associate Minami with music even though she is skilled at playing the violin. It’s just that compared to Towa and Haruka where the violin played a significant part in their story arcs, Minami and the violin is more secondary (pfft, not even) to her connection with the sea. But then again...Karen is in this group so I dunno :S

Did I forget anyone else who plays a classical instrument? I feel like I’m missing someone...

Others who can join the collab: Everyone listed above + Kasugano Urara (singing), Aisaki Emiru (singing, piano, violin and guitar)

Haruka Nozomu Mirai no Hana (”Wishing for the Flower of the Far Off Future”)

Members: Yumehara Nozomi, Haruno Haruka, Asahina Mirai, Nono Hana

The dream chasers.

And by far, the unit I find the most aesthetically pleasing. ^^

Also, I feel like some people would try to argue that Mirai “didn’t have a goal and therefore, she doesn’t belong in this group” so as she is my beloved daughter, I need to make them eat the dirt of their WRONGNESS.

Because MahoPre’s epilogue obviously showed her trying to find a way to reunite with Riko and Ha-chan, aka bring their two worlds together again, so that definitely counts as her dream (not to mention, the most ambitious one out of everybody else’s in this group). Furthermore, if you actually watched MahoPre more closely, you would know her dream of the two worlds coming together came to her gradually rather than happening at a particular moment and was solidified after she had to separate from her team after the Big Boss fight in the finale.

And you know what? Her wish was fulfilled in the end so y’all can suck it. :P

Others who can fit into this group: ...

Home Maid

Members: Kujo Hikari, Minamino Kanade, Madoka Aguri, Omori Yuko, Usami Ichika, Arisugawa Himari

Cooking or maybe, more accurately, sweets enthusiasts? *makes side eye at Aguri*

Well, besides that, they also either helped out at a restaurant or provided a service that had something to do with food (tea ceremony in Aguri’s case).

Hence, the “maid” part, I guess...

...but if so, then this is a poster for a maid cafe, not an idol unit! :P

Others who can fit into this group: Hyuuga Saki (family runs a bakery) [?], Akimoto Komachi (family runs a Japanese confectionery shop) [?], Hino Akane (family runs an okonomiyaki restaurant) [?], Haruno Haruka (family runs a Japanese confectionery restaurant) [?], Kotozume Yukari (learned from her grandmother how to perform tea ceremonies) [?], Kirahoshi Ciel (owns her own sweets restaurant), Nono Hana (grandparents ran a Japanese confectionery shop)

With the exception of Ciel, a lot of “?” cases here because similar to the Karen/Minami in Haresora Concerto, their main interests don’t particularly lie in cuisine and most of them never stated any intention of carrying on their family business. So it’s really up to whether you want them in this unit or not. Personally, I think Home Maid has enough members already so...

Oh and Hana was crossed off the list since she became the president of her own company at the end of Hugtto.

M.V.P.

Members: Misumi Nagisa, Hyuuga Saki, Natsuki Rin, Hino Akane, Midorikawa Nao

This one’s self-explanatory. Athletes. Sporty types.

Not much else to say.

Others who can fit into this group: Hojo Hibiki, Kagayaki Homare (?)

Yes, while Homare does participate in a sport, singles figure skating is mostly an individual event so the MVP title can’t really be applied to her. I guess that was the reasoning behind why she wasn’t placed in this group even though that’s what she’s most known for.

Osha-Revolution

Members: Kurumi Erika, Shirayuki Hime, Kagayaki Homare

The fashionistas!

This is my most favorite idol unit name out of all the others not only because it sounds like the most cleverly thought out but also because just hearing the word “revolution” gets the legendary Utena Revolution OP playing in my head again. *jams to the beat*

Thankfully, it’s got no connection to this idol series cuz *GAAASP*......*whispers* no.

Anyways, I’m glad it’s universally agreed upon that Erika and Hime would get along like five runways crisscrossing simultaneously at Fashion Week. Adding Homare to this lineup is appropriate because she’s always being complimented for dressing so stylishly.

Also, having someone as tall as her stand in between Erika and Hime like a giraffe hanging between two Hyacinth Macaws, lol is really...picture perfect.

Others who can fit into this group: ...

Secret Lives

Members: Mimino Kurumi, Hanami Kotoha, Kirahoshi Ciel

Mascots who can transform and became one of the main heroines in their respective seasons.

I like their aesthetic, too. Even though they give off cute vibes as much as any of the other idol groups, there’s still a “mystery” air about them.

Others who can fit into this group: Kurokawa Ellen (?)

Ermmm...Ellen was a mascot but she wasn’t aligned with the good side in the beginning. And after she became a Cure, she didn’t revert back to cat form again... *shrug*

Soushi⇄Souai (”Mutual Love with Creativity”)

Members: Mishou Mai, Akimoto Komachi, Hoshizora Miyuki, Kise Yayoi

Those whose strongest weapon is the pen (or brush) in their hand. Or something like that? I was trying to go for something more artful but I guess not. :P

This group’s name gave me a little trouble in translating but I think what I settled for in the end gets the idea across well enough. They love creating so much that they’ll be rewarded in kind with lots of inspiration.

...which sounds a bit unfair for everyone else suffering creative blocks but okay.

Others who can fit into this group: Nono Hana

Triple Heart

Members: Momozono Love, Aida Mana, Aino Megumi

The love-obsessed.

Not much else to say here either.

Others who can fit into this group: ...

Up to Me

Members: Aono Miki, Izayoi Riko, Kotozume Yukari

The Ladies.

At least that’s what I like to think them as. “Up to Me” gives off the impression of a very decisive person. Along with how mature they act, these girls fit that description to their own special degrees.

Like, Miki is very focused on her modeling career and confident she’ll go far, Riko has good work ethic and always aims for her goals and Yukari is, well, good at almost everything and is also a very “my pace” kind of woman.

...they all have purple hair, too, so I’m wondering if that’s another prerequisite for being added to this unit.

Others who can fit into this group: Tsukikage Yuri, Kenzaki Makoto (?)

Yuri would fit in no problem but Makoto I’m still teetering back and forth on...

Urara*Kirara

Members: Kasugano Urara, Amanogawa Kirara

Ra♪Raa♪Raaa♪Raaaa♪Raaaaa♪ Suīto Suīto Puri-Kyu=AH♪

Girls who aspire for the stage (acting and signing for Urara and modeling for Kirara) and have “-rara” in their names.

If that’s the case here, guess this is another unit meant for anyone who fits those limited criteria. Otherwise...

Others who can fit into this group: Aono Miki (modeling), Kenzaki Makoto (singing)

White Coat Angels

Members: Yamabuki Inori, Hishikawa Rikka, Kaidou Minami, Kenjou Akira

Those with a future in medicine.

But Minami...hmm, well, though it was never clearly stated what her profession was (I don’t think?) when she grew up, she could’ve gone on to become a wildlife veterinarian after she achieved her degree in marine biology so yea, she counts.

Others who can fit into this group: Minazuki Karen, Yakushiji Saaya

Exclusive??

Kiratto! Open to All

Members: Kira Kira Precure a la Mode

Twin Love

Members: Aisaki Emiru, Lulu Amour

Pretty damn sure the first one was made specially just for KiraPre. No other girls sport blatant animal imagery on them. Plus, there’s no point in including anymore members than how many this group already has.

As for Twin Love, it’s a canon idol pair unit in Hugtto. Adding anyone else in it would not make it “Twin” Love anymore.

So that leaves the question of where Emiru and Lulu will go in the next series, I guess. Though I’m sure they’ll stick together wherever they’re assigned.

Side B

Royal Road

Members: Kokoda Koji (Coco), Natts, Ouji Masamune, Prince Kanata

Fairy Five

Members: Amai Shiro (Syrup), Pop, Raquel, Lance, Aroma

Did anyone else think that “Side B” also stood for “Side Boys” before Dark Party was released? (And yes, I know what a B-side track is so you don’t have to tell me)

Anyways, Royal Road is obviously for the prince characters (though I don’t think they really needed to add Ouji-senpai since he’s just a minor recurring character, not supporting but whatever) and Fairy Five is for the younger male mascots who can transform.

Others who can fit into Royal Road: Prince Zeke, Wakamiya Henri, Aisaki Masato (?)

If Dark Dream can join an idol unit despite being a movie-only character, then I don’t see why they can’t integrate Prince Zeke into this unit as well. All that matters is how popular or memorable he was in HaCha’s movie because everyone who was picked out for Side B had to have had an impact on the audience one way or another. But at least Zeke makes more sense than Ouji-senpai.

Henri needs no explanation as he is the “Prince of the Ice” but if you want a prince to accompany his occasional “princess” role, including Masato wouldn’t be a bad idea. Though I still think Masato’s more of a knight than a prince.

Others who can fit into Fairy Five: Kuroro (?)

Granted, Kuroro only got a human form by combining powers with Lock in the final battle of Go!Pri and hasn’t technically earned it yet since he only begun fairy training when the season ended...but if he can, why not?

The Enemy Boys

Members: Irisawa Kiriya, Luntarou (Wolfrun), Kurosu (Close), Rio (Julio/Pikario)

Off-White

Members: Soular, Westar, Phantom, Shut

“The Enemy Boys” ...more like “School Infiltrators” since they were the few among villains to pose as students in order to get closer to the Cures.

Off-White consists of bishounen villains who eventually came around to understanding and siding with the good side. Which explains the “off white” part, I guess, since it wasn’t an immediate reform for them but a more gradual one that needed a lot of persuasion and thinking.

Others who can fit into The Enemy Boys: ...

Others who can fit into Off-White: Charaleet

Precure Legendary Heroes

Members: Cure Fire (Ban Kenji), Cure Sebastian (Sebastian)

Dark Party

Members: Dark Dream, Dark Precure, Regina, Bibury Vibry

Legendary Heroes is clearly a parody of the Precure franchise itself but since we already grew out of those jokes thanks to Hugtto, I’m hoping I won’t see any updates for this group ever again. And I will be absolutely livid if they dare to put Cure Infini in this unit because that is not funny.

Dark Party needs no extensive explanation as they were former nemesis/rivals to the Cures who never really got a “good” form even after their Heel-Face Turn (Dark Precure didn’t even get one of these). Which is fine because that’s essentially their charm. What makes dark magical girls so appealing is how awesome they are even when they’re “evil”.

Also gotta love the gothic lolita clothes that a number of them usually wear. If they didn’t keep Side B separate from Side A, I totally would’ve liked to put Eas and Twilight in this group as well.

Others who can fit into Dark Party: ...

List of updates under the cut...

[1/29/19] - Post published.

TBA

TBA

[fearlyssa]

Something to consider

In honor of Karlie’s birthday today here’s something for those who don't believe Taylor could be with Karlie because they chose to only believe Taylor’s own words: a list of the lyrics on Reputation (Taylor’s own words) that reference Karlie vs those that reference Joe. I tried my best to be impartial and include everything on both sides but just a warning it’s SUPER long! So if you don’t feel like reading it or don’t have the time then keep scrolling. But for anyone who’s interested here’s what I came up with (including explanations of the references and links if I have them; feel free to disagree or add any I missed, I tried to think of everything so I realize some may be a bit of a stretch)

Lyrics that point to Karlie:

Ready for it:

1. Younger than my exes (she’s 26 today, younger than most people Taylor has supposedly dated, male or female)

2. No one has to know (they’re closeted)

End Game:

3. We got big reputations (they’re both famous; Joe was relatively unknown until recently)

4. You and me would be a big conversation (they’re both famous and both women who are supposedly dating men so if they were found out - at least right now - it would cause a scandal)

Don't blame me:

5. I would cross the line, I would waste my time, I'd lose my mind

6. For you I would fall from grace, just to touch your face (This applies to the line above as well; her reputation would be ruined if people found out she was lying about her dating life causing her to “fall from grace” but she loves her enough to risk it by continuing to date her secretly)

7. I once was poison ivy but now I’m your Daisy (at first listen this line might sound like nothing more than a Mavel and/or Great Gatsby reference but according to this person they both like Marvel comics and check out how the daisy she drew in the handwritten lyrics in one of the Reputation magazines looks just like the one Karlie posted from their Big Sur trip in 2014. 👀

Delicate:

8. Dark jeans and your Nikes (she models for Adidas now but was doing Nike ads when they met)

9. Never seen that color blue (maybe a stretch but Karlie's eyes are a shade of green that can sometimes look blue so that may be a shade of blue she's never seen before. And I won’t add this to the list because it’s not Karlie-specific but the girls back home line is also not necessarily straight as lesbians and bisexuals, just like guys, date women and ‘back home’ can reference anyone who’s not from exactly where you’re from. They’re from different parts of the country for instance)

So it goes:

10. All eyes on us (they're both famous, have been on stage together three times and used to often be seen together by paps in public - which I do believe was on purpose; this line reminds me of the chorus of This is what you came for too)

11. Lipstick on your face (there's candids of Karlie with lipstick smudged on her face in pictures with Taylor from July 14th 2014 - as well as pictures of Taylor from her 25th birthday - and I believe another day too -, where she’s with Karlie and has on one shade of lipstick but a while has Karlie’s shade of lipstick smudged over hers and vice versa. Note how their lipstick looks in the top two photos from her birthday party compared vs the bottom two)

Gorgous:

12. I got drunk and made fun of the way you talk (the weird way Karlie says important)

13. Your magnetic field being a little too strong (they’re very physically affectionate with each other and often bump shoulders when sitting next to each other as if they literally have magnets in them)

14. I got a boyfriend, he's older than us (she often dates guys older than her and Karlie is younger than them and her. Imo it refers to her bearding with Calvin specifically)

15. You’re so Gorgeous I can’t say anything to your face (At VSFS 2013 where they first met Taylor looks in awe of her like she doesn’t know what to say. She definitely looks like she thinks she’s gorgeous and while the term could refer to anyone, it's usually a female descriptor and she's literally a model for a living who is known for her beauty and has, seemingly on purpose, used the word on IG right around when the song came out. And on an unrelated note I also want to point out that the ‘If you got a girlfriend’ line is not strictly male-oriented so although it’s not specifically Karlie-related it could still apply to a bisexual or lesbian woman)

King of my heart:

16. like trying on clothes (another somewhat female reference and she's a model so she does that for a living so therefore even more often than most people)

17. Move to me like a Motown beat (As mentioned in the caption of their IG post about it she & Karlie listened to Motown while getting ready for the Met Gala in 2014 so it's safe to say they’re both fans of the genre and enjoy listening to it together)

18. American queen (I know they're both American but Karlie has referred to her as an American dream before which you'll notice was the original lyrics when Taylor was writing & recording the song)

19. Your love is a secret I'm hoping, praying, dying to keep (this is pretty obvious but if she’s closeted then her love life is obviously a secret she’d want to keep)

20. Drinking beer out of plastic cups (I know this line is pretty general and she seems to be referring to a different time when she was up on a roof but it should be noted that the only time she’s been seen drinking beer in a plastic cup prior to the album coming out she was with Karlie)

Dress:

21. Our secret moments in a crowded room, they got no idea about me and you (you can see them having private moments at events in candid photos and videos such at award shows, the VSFS and at the 1975 concert. All times when tons of people were around but didn’t seem to notice or care if they were affectionate with each other because everyone knows they’re close and just thinks they’re friends)

22. Golden tattoo (they wore them together at Drake's birthday party last October. And maybe this is reaching but some of them were stars and “gold star” lesbians are those who have never “been with” a man, Idk about Taylor, but Karlie is rumored to be one.)

23. I don't want you like a best friend (they’re known as best friends so that one’s obvious)

24. I’m spilling wine in the bathtub (in the photo of her and Karlie getting ready for the Met Gala in 2014 you can see that Taylor has drunk wine in the bathroom with Karlie before)

25. Everyone thinks that they know us but they know nothing (A common problem when you’re famous because a lot of people know OF you but don’t really KNOW you or your relationships like they might think they do. She also references this in the album prologue but when it comes to Joe, not many people knew of him before he dated her so he doesn’t have a big reputation or people who think they know him) Dancing with our hands tied:

26. I loved you in secret (again sounds like it references being closeted)

27. 25 years old (Karlie’s age up until today and *almost* Taylor’s age when Kissgate happened)

28. People started talking putting us through our paces (again sounds like it refers to Kissate; people didn't talk about her and Joe, only the media did months later when the album was already finished and she says never to believe them anyway. Plus you have to wonder how they already knew of her secret relationship with him even before pictures had come out of them together)

29. I had a bad feeling...but we were dancing, dancing with our hands tied (they were dancing closely/kind of kissing at a 1975 concert in 2014 and someone got a video and pictures that made it into many articles starting Kissgate. You can see in pictures how upset Karlie and their friends looked walking back from the concert that night carrying a very drunk Taylor. Maybe she knew there'd be a shit storm about it the next day but didn't care and did it anyway because she was so drunk. Their hands would then have been tied metaphorically speaking and they would’ve had to do what they had to do which was to keep dating guys publicly and to stop being seen alone together)

30. I loved you in spite of deep fears that the world would decide us (as the world sometimes tries to do with gay relationships, not so much straight ones)

31. So baby can we dance, oh through an avalanche (same points as above ^)

Call it what you want:

32. My baby's fit like a daydream (I know "fit" is English slang but still, Karlie is quite physically fit - she literally ran a marathon like the day after the song came out and in the Vouge Best friends video Taylor mentions her shiny abs)

33. Walking with his head down (I realize she's not a man but being as tall as she is she does do that a lot)

34. So call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to (some people say they're friends, others say they're in a romantic relationship, a lot of people think they broke up or are no longer friends and don’t even talk anymore etc.)

New Year's Day:

35. This is maybe a slight stretch but the references to a girl's party and polaroids that she often takes with her friends make me think of women and not really men, and as someone whose been to her house I can vouch that she has a lot of polaroids of her female friends; many of Karlie specifically displayed in her sitting room as well as a photo of them at Big Sur that she keeps in one of her bathrooms but not as many photos of guys who it’s hard to imagine would fit in all that well at a party like that but maybe that’s just me)

lyrics that refer to Joe:

In general:

1. The words he, him & his (and anything else masculine-sounding like the word handsome and king in reference to a current relationship. I guess this is a bunch of references but I didn’t actually count how many times she said he on the album because that would be a lot. lol):

Ready for it:

2. Younger than my exes (some of them anyway; her two most recent ones)

Don't blame me:

3. Toying with them older guys (he's younger than Calvin and Tom as is she however note that she's admitting to using them which seems like more of a reference to a bearding contract unless we're to believe she's admitting to being horrible to her exes)

Delicate:

4. never seen that color blue (his eyes are blue)

5. girls back home (they live in different counties)

So it goes:

6. wear you like a necklace (she has one with his initial on it. I’ve been told it’s a lesbian term as well but I didn’t add it to Karlie’s list as it’s not specific to her)

Gorgeous:

7. I got a boyfriend he's older than us -Sunset & vine (where his movie premiere was last October although we now know the song was written in September and interestingly enough the area is also well-known for it's gay bars)

King of my heart:

8. king of my heart (king is a male term and they have royalty in England)

9. Say you fancy me not fancy stuff (fancy is British slang for liking someone)

10. salute to me I'm your American queen (she’s American and he’s from the UK where they still have royalty)

Dress:

11. flashback when you met me your buzz cut, my hair bleached (if it's in fact true that they met at the Met Gala in 2016 that they both attended then that's a reference to the hairstyles they both had at the time though tbh the timeline doesn't really make sense for that to be true)

Call it what you want:

12. My baby's fit like a daydream (Fit is British slang for attractive and he's also physically fit)

13. Call it what you want (in reference to weather or not the relationship is real)

14. I want to wear his initial on a chain around my neck (because she wears a necklace with a J on it)

So there you go. I'm not saying you have to believe the album is about Karlie or not about Joe but there do appear to be a LOT more references to her so I'll just leave it up to you to decide what you want to believe, I just thought I'd post this to prove that there is in fact evidence to support Kaylor, it's not just a baseless conspiracy theory.

[brianjpatterson]

SPOTLIGHT: My Annual Business Plan Creation - “Twice As Good”

If you’re just joining Spotlight, then this is my personal journal of my personal journey as a performer. It’s a kind of way for me to look back on all of my experiences, and lessons I’ve learned, while simultaneously sharing what I’ve learned with you. Disclaimer: The word PERSONAL was utilized twice in the first sentence. Therefore, this is not the gospel or the truth, it’s just me sharing MY experiences in an effort to assist, if possible, in other people’s discovery (end disclaimer). Today, I’m going to get back to my A+B=C method which focuses on “Brian’s B’s” (Being, Behavior, and Business), and talk about the third of those B’s and that is business. Business is the one area in which most artists are lacking. Our education is so focused on talent and technique that we often forget that ‘show-business’ is by nature a business. But there is something that fuels my business which most aren’t aware. Let me explain...

There is an episode of Scandal where Olivia Pope is speaking to her father Rowan Pope and the exchange goes something like this…

ROWAN: Did I not raise you for better? How many times have I told you? You have to be WHAT? OLIVIA: Twice as good. ROWAN: You have to be twice as good as them to get half of what they have.

This was completely intentional. Shonda Rhymes was communicating the experience of minorities; Specifically those of African American decent. To give a bit of context about the AA experience:

Slavery was apart of the foundation of America’s creation and nearly all basic systems of government, commerce, education, etc. in America were constructed with the idea that African Americans had no place within said systems; Effectively communicating an exclusion as the status quo. 

While the abolishment of slavery was ratified on Dec 6, 1865, Jim Crowe laws remained in effect until President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights act of 1964. Yet the Voting Rights Act wasn’t signed until 1965. These happened an entire 100 years after slavery was abolished. Continuing the enforce the status quo for another hundred years. 

My point is that for 100 years after slavery was abolished, African American were STILL living in a society constructed to set them up for failure, and communicates on a daily basis that they are not welcome or equal. We only begun correcting these inequalities under 60 years ago. Historically, it took America an entire hundred years just to get around to correcting these inequalities. It’s completely obvious to me that we have not deconstructed the foundational inequalities upon which our country was built in only 60 years; to think so would be silly. However, it’s obviousness may be because I live it every day, and it is THIS experience about which Shonda Rhymes was speaking. The idea that you are not equal is a notion that has yet to be completely exorcised from the fabric of America, and it rears it’s head on a daily basis. I believe that the introduction of social media into society, has definitely permitted us to identify and isolate it more effectively, and it can be argued that we have increased the rate at which we correct, but it still doesn’t change the fact that it’s there, and it’s something for which African Americans in particular have had to adjust. The adjustments I see on the part of AAs are a powerful development of: a) social and situational awareness, b) GRIT/ability to cope with adversity, and c) adaptability. Yet, as a marginalized person who is systematically seen as unequal, you must constantly and continually prove to be equal by excelling at nearly two times the standard, just to achieve what those in the majority achieve with ease or think to be ‘normal’. I also believe that situational awareness, GRIT, and adaptability are things which have finally begun to be intoduced into common knowledge. It’s no mistake that many of these ideas are being brought forward to the collective consciousness by minorities or people who have done much study on minorities. For me personally, these ideas have permeated my life, and have effected my career in particular. They truly are the crux of my business model, and formulate the foundation of many of my business practices. They are why I have the extensive body of work that I do, and work with the kind of regularity and frequency I do.

That being said, I’d like to introduce you to one of my most powerful practices: My annual Strategic Planning Session which results in the creation of an annual business plan. I create this plan because very much like the idea that I need to be ‘twice as good’, my ability to achieve needs to have a gearing power behind it and must be executed with precision. If not, then I won’t produce the results needed to prove that I’m ‘twice as good’. Knowing that it is called ‘show-business’ I know that I should treated as such. Therefore, I set up my business as if I am the sole proprietor and CEO. One of the first things needed to create results for your business is a solid plan. If not, then you’ll never be profitable. As a performer, my idea of ‘profitable’ is: 1) making my living as a performer, 2) not having to do any kind of extra work, 3) being in well respected projects, 4) having all of my projects and work meet a standard of excellence, and 5) doing performance work which is unmistakably good (I must admit that I’ve fallen short of this a few times. lol). These to me are basic standards to be considered a performer when people ask you what you do for a living. I realize that I set this bar pretty high, but again it is the ‘twice as good’ standard, and it is one that I create FOR MYSELF. I’m proud to say that this business plan is one of the many processes I’ve created for myself, but for me it is one of the most important. I hope that you enjoy and get as much out of it as I do. Here you go…

There are essentially 11 steps to creating my business plan. 10 of these are printed sheets that go into the finalized product. I have broken them down into steps to follow, and it usually takes me two to three days to finish everything. Therefore, at the end of the year, I block out two or three days from around 10am until 3pm each day, and I dedicate the entire time SOLELY to the completion of this project. It takes a lot of time, but it is SO worth it, as this process has helped me to produce results that people told me were impossible. I do this all in PowerPoint, but you can choose any program you like and in which you feel most comfortable.

1. Theme - I create a theme for the plan, and also a catch phrase for the year. It’s always something that inspires me and keeps me on track, and is a great reminder to put me back on track during those inevitable moments when I falter. 2. Mission - this is my primary mission in life and career. It’s brief but specific. My current mission only has two sentences. However, I included an additional sentence to describe what my most valuable asset will be in bringing that mission to fruition. 3. Vision - This is the product of the mission. It’s what I will produce as I bring the mission to fruition. In addition, and this is going to sound like a contradiction, however the vision is also going to be how I bring the mission to fruition. The vision is the picture produced when the mission is on track. 4. Stats - Each year there are some specific bits of information at which I look with regularity. Most of which are tracked by my ‘work tracking sheet’ I created in excel. The top of the sheet has titles for each of the columns (Submission date, Source, Casting Director, Prod Company, Client, PRojet type, Age Cast, Role type, ethnicity, description, Pay rate, Audition outfit, audition date, callback, callback 2, audition thank you sent, hold/avail, booking date, director, dp, producer, post work thank you, etc.). In addition, I also have another sheet for the year which I am able to see other information (Annual Income sources, Average Day Rate, Booking breakdown by type, booking breakdown by age, booking breakdown by genre, Booking breakdown by casting director, etc., etc.). This allows me to see what I’m booking and why. If you’re focus is dance, music, or any other type of work, you may want to adjust these two sheets to fit your particular career or area of interest. What’s great about having such detailed information is that you can see many truths about your business. Which leads to my next section… 5. INSIGHTS - After I’ve ensured accuracy, I take a look at all of the stats and come to some conclusions. Once I list many of these conclusions, these are what make up my insights. They are very helpful when creating goals or giving a more clear perspective. Regardless of wether I wanted to hear/see them or not. If you are relying on extra work for income, this could be an insight. If you are booking a majority of under 5s this could be an insight. Personally, I found an insight which gave me an answer to a question that has bugged me for a long time. I always wondered why people were unaware of some of my other capabilities. Especially since for the last 6-7 years, 70% of my annual income was derived from theatre work. This perplexed me. However, after really looking at my casting numbers, I noticed that 50% of my roles cast were for commercials. Since a majority of the commercials and industrials I did were with really big fortune 500 company names, those were the things that received the most interaction and attention on social media or other types of media. Whereas the truly powerful work that I did on stage or in films just wasn’t recognized; Mostly because people either didn’t see it, or just weren’t aware of it. So while I was continuing my 25 years of theatre and character experience, it just wasn’t being seen. While I would see many many other people without as much experience achieving smaller roles without as much jutspah on network or big budget projects, they were seen as more ‘legitimate’ because of the notoriety. This informed me of the areas in which I needed more attention with regard to marketing, etc., and it also brings me to my next section… 6. S.W.O.T. - My SWOT analysis is the next part of my business plan. I take a paper and divide it into for equal sections writing the following at the top of each section: Strengths, Weaknesses, Outcomes, & Threats. I make a list of 5 things for each section. For instance, Under strengths I might write ‘character work’; Working as a character actor for 25 years I’ve been able to develop that skill. Since I know that many people get into acting for some form of notoriety and quite often don’t have the chops, it is a strength for me because it puts be in a separate category. Under Weaknesses I might write ‘networking’. My focus as a performer is making a living and doing good work (under my mission, of course). Therefore, I’m not reaching to try to get the most popular or exclusive projects. In effect, my networking skills are not as good as they could be. So this might be an area of focus for me. Under Outcomes I might write what my stats are as I have produced some really strong and irrefutable stats each year, and under threats I might write ‘television’ because I love tv and it can be a threat to my productivity. I think you get the picture here. Either way, having the informed stats, and the clear SWOT analysis, it helps me to create the goals for this year. However, before I do that, there is one thing that I have to either create or revisit… 7. Long term goals - I have created a list of long term goals for myself. I took this out of my business plan this year, because it just takes up space. However, I always have it as a part of my process, because I feel that these long term goals need to be referred to with regularity. ESPECIALLY during the ‘Life Goals’ creation process. I have what I call a ‘Life Goals’ document in excel. I separated it into six quadrants across the top: Career, Physical, Social, Personal, Financial, and Spiritual/Physical. Those are all the areas of my life that I feel are important and require special attention. Within those quadrants are five columns (which will come into play later). I then create a list of my primary life goals within each of those quadrants. Then down the left side of the document, I have the year and my age that year. With the pull down option of excel, I fill in the next 25 years. This way I’m able to plan the next 25 years of my life, and can move to creating the next section of the business plan… 8. Short term goals (this year) - This section is what determines how I plan the year. As I’m in the long term goals sheet, I take a long time to look at each of my goals in each quadrant of my life, and then think about how long it will take those to come to fruition. Once I have done so, I then list the incremental goals needed to bring said goal to life. Once I’ve done that, I have an idea as to where they can happen in my life. Hence, the columns/age on the left side. This is where i start to fill each of the years with it’s incremental goals. Being somewhat of a pragmatist, I can reference how old I will be when I achieve each of those goals, so that I can be realistic about my abilities and duration of achievement. Once I have the next 25 years or so filled in, I can then move forward to creating the next part of the business plan… 9. Timeline for this year - My timeline for the year is tool which gets me the most excited about my year. It’s when I can actually see what the plan is for the year before my very eyes. What I do is make a list of months (Jan-Dec) for the current year. Then, after looking at my short term goals, I can see what my goals should be for each month of the year. I simply fill those into the list and vualah! I have my important goals that need to be accomplished each month. Once complete, I can then begin not only putting them on the calendar, but also adding to my iCloud calendar what my daily tasks need to be to complete each of those monthly goals. Adding things to the calendar is probably one of the most tedious processes possible. Mostly because I have to be sure to adhere to a few rules: First, I color code everything. I use red for ‘work’, blue for ‘commitments’, yellow for personal, and purple for my production team stuff (like Kaleidoscope). Examples of the things that I add in each section are: Auditions, Check Avails, and bookings are red because they are work. Meditating, checking my finances, reviewing my to do list, my morning rituals, journaling, and any ‘9-5’ type of work I do are all in blue because they are just something that have to be done. They are things to which I have committed. The gym, meeting friends/having dinner, watching the UFC match, and tv shows, etc. are all in yellow because they are personal. I have given Kaleidoscope a purple color because it is it’s own entity and I need to be another person when I’m there; It reminds me to put on another hat. Once I have all this into my calendar I also set reminders for certain things in the reminder portion of my phone. In addition, I do this when new things come up and I need to be reminded about them. Once the goals for the month are completed as a list, and I’ve filled in the calendar and reminders are all set, I am ready attack the year. There is one thing to be mindful of: TIME. You will need time to rest and you will need time to adjust when things don’t go your way, which is inevitable. An unexpected monkey wrench will always be thrown into your plan. So it’s important to pad your schedule with extra time. One way in which I do this is by keeping a Monday through Friday ‘work’ schedule for everything that I do, and by having the weekends to rest, relax, and spend with friends or engage in extracurricular activities. This may not work for you. You may want to do an opposite schedule as this, or if you have a traditional 9-5 job, you may need to only devote a couple of hours a day to your acting business. That’s ok. Everyone is different and there is a different context to everyone’s life. The universe has a plan for you and you need to see it through in your own time. One step at a time! With that, remember that regardless of your time management skills and your ability to follow through, we all need to rely on support. Which inspired my next section…   10. Support team - None of us are an island. We all need support. Your support will coincide with your goals. So, if your goals are lofty, then you will most definitely require a strong network of support. Keeping this in mind, I make a list of my support team needed for bringing my goals to life. In addition, I sometimes write the qualities needed in that particular section of support. After that I write their names and a brief couple of positive words on how I see them. This way it inspires me to stay in a tone of positive inspiration/conversation with them. In addition, I also have a list of professional networks, Facebook groups, lists, and projects I work on with regularity so that I am reminded to massage those groups and interacts with them.   11. Follow Up and Next Steps - it is here that I make a list of all the things that I need to do differently or on which I must focus, in order to become successful during the year. It can be helpful to create a daily reminder specifically to revisit these commitments for success.

Once you have 10 sheets of the previous 11 components in place (Cover page with theme, Mission Statement, Vision Statement, Statistical Analysis, Insights, SWOT analysis, Short Term goals, Timeline for the year (by month), List of Support Team, and Follow Up/Next Steps) you should have a really powerful business plan which gives you a clear plan of attack for the years. Keep in mind that all of these will help you to formulate how to attack the year, what things require the most focus, etc. Everyone is different, and each person will need to do their own tweaking to make it a successful tool for them. But I guarantee this is a fantastic template for everyone to follow toward success!

Love and Light, Brian

[lazuliblade]

History of YOI fandom

As a YOI fandom grandparent, I felt it was my duty to write out all the fandom explosions for the newer fans who weren’t there to witness the big bang and gradual week-by-week creation of this universe. All the arguments, people blowing things out of proportion, blaming characters, death theories, awesome fans clearing up miscommunications, YOI breaking the internet... 

This isn’t a post to call out specific people on their arguments and theories - I’ll stay respectfully away from restarting flames and picking fights, thankyouverymuch. Rather, this is an overview of the topics and conflicting views that swept across hundreds and thousands of people and prompted strong reactions. I’m doing this now, because I know that 6 months later, 1 year later, 3 years later, etc. there will be new fans who will have many of the same exact arguments. We’ve been there and done that. I see fans now who say things without knowing where the spelling/quote comes from, or who don’t realize how much has changed, or don’t know why there are certain perceptions of characters. So here’s a little bit of passing down history.

I also don’t want to forget the crazy ride this was. Laugh with me at the silly theories; smile with me at how deeply YOI has impacted our lives. For those of us old-timers, let’s take a trip down memory lane. Remember when...

---------------- (Large arguments will be italicized or bold. Special thanks to @sachiro for reminding me of a bunch of stuff I missed, and looking over the draft in its various stages of being written and edited.)

Pre-series

Idea that there would be a love triangle (Yuri P.--Yuri K.--Victor)

Some fans started spelling Yuri Katsuki with two “u” in order to tell them apart.

Victuri ship name created for Victor x Yuri K. (in a comment to the PV)

The title

“lol ‘Yuri’ on Ice? Where are all the lesbians?”

“When it said Yuri on Ice, I thought we would get girls. Y’know what I mean?”

“Yuri on Ice? More like Yaoi on Ice! amiright?”

etc.

J.J. misspelling (English spelling “Jean Jack” instead of French Canadian “Jean-Jacques”)

you can see the remnants of this in the audience banners during the episodes, but it was corrected to “Jean-Jacques” on the official website and the in-show text

Phichit x Seung-gil ship created (there was more art for this than for Victor x Yuuri)

Episode 1

Victor vs. Viktor spelling arguments 

Although “Victor” is the official spelling and seen in-show, people argued that the creators are wrong and that we fans know better than them about Russian culture - thus the “Viktor” spelling was born.

People argued back that spelling is subjective and you can spell a name multiple ways and still be correct - thus transliterating his Russian name into English as “Victor” would be just as acceptable.

The YOI wiki held fast for a time on using official spellings and information from the official website, but the transition of power led to a new team that started using agreed-upon info rather than solely using official info. “Viktor” replaced “Victor” on the website.

this change from “Victor” to “Viktor” on the wiki happened around episode 2~3, but the arguments were in the page comments since episode 1 -- with moderators explaining their reasoning with sticking to official sources.

Victor is a flirtatious over-the-top character who will seduce Yuuri

Victor is the overwhelming seme and Yuuri is the shy whimpering uke.

People dropping the anime because Yuuri is overweight; people commenting that they don’t want to see an overweight main character

in addition, some people dropping YOI due to feeling that the series was “fat shaming” by using Yuuri’s weight as a point of comedy.

Conversely, some people praising that we have a main character that gains weight and actually has an overweight appearance. 

“Japanese Yuri” &“Russian Yuri” or “Yuri K.” &“Yuri P.” were used to differentiate between the two characters since they shared the same official English spelling “Yuri”.

Starting with ep1, “Yuuri” spelled with two “u” became more widespread due to convenience when typing.  

Japanese fandom simply used kanji for Yuri Katsuki and katakana for Yuri Plisetsky. 

Some fans argue that Yuuri is more correct because in Japanese his name is ゆうり(yu-u-ri). Other fans argue that “Yuri” is still acceptable transliteration because there are multiple spelling systems (Hepburn, etc.) and an alternative correct spelling would be with a macron (Yūri).

Fans point out that Yuri’s name would be spelled “Yuri” in official documents anyway due to lack of macrons on many keyboards.

Spoilers for episodes 1-3 were out because of the two Western fans who witnessed the first three episodes of YOI in a Tokyo preview screening.

fans relied on a certain blogger for info on YOI. 

“WHERE DID YOU SEE EPISODES 2&3???” was asked every 5-10 minutes (literally) and became an inside joke with us old-timers.

Yuuri = Yuzuru Hanyu, Victor = Evgeni Plushenko.

Some fans link characters with real-life skaters to encourage anime fans to watch real skating. 

Some fans saw these as one-to-one connections without considering that characters are a mix of various real-life skaters, and then went onto YouTube videos and spammed about “real-life Yuuri.” 

YOI fans being rude to skaters and sending emails to ship these real-life skaters (emails sent even to skaters who are married with kids)

Amazing researching fans:

find Victor’s apartment and the beach from the ending credits Instagram roll.

Love hotel

Makkachin’s name found in magazine Yuko was holding 

speculation starts on what “Makkachin” means and how it should be transliterated (Makkatine, Mocatine, Makkatin, etc.)

Comparisons of Yuuri to the main character from Parasyte due to similar appearances (Tadashi Hiramatsu, the character designer who adapted Kubo-sensei’s initial designs for animating, was the main character designer for Parasyte).

Speculation on the year in-series starts. 

Yoyogi for Worlds doesn’t match with Sochi as the GPF location.

Yuuri’s iPhone model is seen as a clue.

“Yuri on Ice” trends for 6 days on Tumblr

Episode 2

Victor is manipulative:

He’s a playboy and flirting all the time 

In episode 1 Minako mentions that he is desired by millions. 

His wink in episode 1 shows that he casually flirts with fans.

He will break Yuuri’s heart. He came to romance Yuuri, then drop him later.

He’s already pushing into Yuuri’s space with the chin-touching. That MUST mean he’s suave and planning to seduce and drop him.

“Victor calling him ‘piglet’ is so mean!” -- an extension to the fat shaming debate of episode 1.

Yakov’s angry comment to the press = more fodder about Victor being selfish and only there in Hasetsu for his own pleasure.

Victor is horrible because he broke his promise to Yurio x-number of years ago.

All of his happy smiles are a facade and he can’t actually be that nice. 

Counterarguments to trust the creators and wait to see more about these characters because it’s only been 2 episodes.

Koibito translation nitpicking (it’s not “girlfriend,” Victor is saying “lover.” It’s a gender-neutral term.)

people calling this queerbaiting

“It can’t get any gayer!” line starts to make its appearance.

Ship name “Victuri” cemented. “Victuri sounds like victory!”

Arguments about spelling it “victuuri,” because of the trend with spelling Yuri K.’s name as Yuuri to differentiate the two Yuri’s. 

Counterarguments that “Victurio” would be for Yuri Plisetsky, so therefore “Victuri” would be fine for Yuri Katsuki.

Evgenia Medvedeva starts watching around this time and posts comments on her twitter account.

The livestreaming IRC group is started. There were about 15 people tuning in (this grows to the hundreds by the last episode).

Mira makes her appearance (more of an appearance than the brief flash in ep1). Her name isn’t announced yet so some people nickname her “Natasha” (after the Marvel comics character Natasha Romanova/Black Widow)

Episode 3

Yurio was robbed. 

and all the counterarguments against this.

score calculating posts begin to show up.

“Victor is manipulative” evolves into “Victor is evil” 

“he didn’t keep his promise to Yurio”

people ignoring that he actually did keep his promise to choreograph a program

Eros story Yuuri tells Nishigori = parallel to how Victor will abandon Yuuri in the end. Victor is the evil playboy, confirmed!

People fighting this with meta about how Yuuri is the seductress keeping the playboy, and this was all Yuuri’s interpretation -- Victor may have had another story in mind and we’ll never know what it was. (<---until episode 10)

He forgot Onsen on Ice was about the competition and was there playing around as Hasetsu ambassador. He doesn’t REALLY care about the two Yuri’s.

“he didn’t notice when Yurio left and was having the time of his life with Yuuri on the podium”

Victor’s super-serious expression when Yuuri hugged him means he doesn’t care.

“Make a man pregnant” - the start of the ABO fic influx

“Katsudon ga daisuki da yo” is how we say “I love you” in YOI.

Boyfriend shirt has taken on a new level: boyfriend costume.

Yuuri and genderfluidity 

quite a few fics were spawned from this topic too

YOI is not yaoi -  how genre is not the same as tags. Posts clarifying what yaoi actually is and why Yuri on Ice doesn’t fit that genre at all.

Yuuri getting more confident by episode 3 already - initiating hugs and contact with Victor. “How much more gay can we get!? They already said ‘I love you’!”

Fanfic explosion 

due to Victor’s character being slightly more fleshed out, and the relationship between characters becoming more established

Top!Yuuri starts to make appearances

Going in blind to the episodes from here-on-out because the fan report from the screening was only through episode 3.

Real life skaters are noticing and posting on social media about YOI. 

Evgenia Medvedeva, Denis Ten,  Deniss Vasiļjevs & Stéphane Lambiel, Ashley Wagner, Danny O’Shea and many others from here on. 

Masterpost soon created to document all these skaters.

Kubo-sensei tweets about episode 4 being her favorite

Episode 4

Victor has cancer/is dying.

He was so dramatic and playful when he joked about balding. That means he’s hiding something. Balding = cancer. Therefore Victor is dying! (Note that cancer doesn’t cause balding, although it’s treatment with chemotherapy does.) 

Victor being that out of breath must mean something is wrong.

Victor’s comment about injuries = 

he’s hurt but hiding it

we can expect someone to be injured later

Rise of fanfiction featuring Victor with large past injuries he’s kept hidden.

Celestino getting annoyed at Victor = more fodder for Victor being evil. 

No coach likes him - that means he must be untrustworthy and there must be something that he’s hiding that we don’t know yet.

The Old Man in the onsen becomes a fandom celebrity for a while (captain of the ship)

Victor’s comment on Yuuri’s stamina = fic fodder

“You meet me where I am” - fans exploding at how meaningful this all is and how far they’ve come in four episodes.

“What do you want me to be to you”

---Victor said “koibito” but subs say “boyfriend”

---Daddy kink: “A father--” “Yes!” 

this is when we start to see this kink in fics and fanart/comics

Phichit makes his appearance. Fandom explodes with glee. People pointed out his appearance in episode 1 and more explosions of “no detail left behind”

Aeroflot

Enter Lilia and her teaching Yurio.

Evil Lilia and Yakov

“Yurio should have stayed with Victor”

Kubo-sensei laughs at the rumors of Victor dying.

Everyone and their mother tries to learn to make katsudon - various recipes float around; Crunchyroll releases recipe (Nov 4). 

Jokes and critique about YOI dub (Gru!Victor; Russia(Hetalia)!Victor)

Episode 5

Victor obviously knows no Japanese at all vs. Victor obviously knows a little Japanese after living there for 6 months (about whether or not Victor understood Yuuri’s love declaration due to him commenting about the tie and not the confession)

Fan comics/art and fanfiction about burning Yuuri’s necktie

JARAN jacket (that one scene with Yuuri’s jacket misspelled)

Lots of flailing and dozens of gifs of the lip balm scene

awesome fans finding the exact Chanel lip balm

Yuuri’s confident walk = flailing and keyboard smashing moment (gifs with explosions behind him)

Hug meta (back hug; “do the hands on neck mean anything?”)

Minami is a chicken nugget (McDonald’s colors + being small)

First time we hear Victor’s thoughts - people discussing this

Victor’s image shifts away from “evil Victor” towards something a little more positive

Leaks of the Oh! Skatra!!! Tracklisting (Nov 6).

Duetto title makes people freak out

Speculation on who will skate what piece.

Speculation starts on who will appear in which GP series competition.

Pre-episode 6

Jealous/Possessive!Victor due to the ending image in ep5 of him wrapping his arm around a flustered Yuuri.

speculation on where that is and who took the picture

Dengeki, the website that posts teaser pictures and text of various anime’s next episodes, posted a teaser summary on their site that used quite a few innuendos.

Starting from here, YOI episode previews start to be released later and later. This becomes a running gag among fans who stay up to wait for previews. 

Episode 6

Chris makes everyone uncomfortable.

wet ice comments

People freaking out about the hand holding (“koibito tsunagi/lover’s hold”) then about the lip licking

Victor’s innuendo and lewd mouth animation

Victor actually is sexually attracted to Yuuri

Paired with Yuuri being comfortable with Victor clinging naked to him at the restaurant, and worrying that people would think he’s not serious about the competition = fans arguing how far they’ve gone

Queerbaiting arguments still continue ( “fujoshi bait” and “fanservice”)

“Ai ha katsu” (Love wins!)

Georgi is an Evil Witch

Leo = awesome representation (non-white character representing the U.S.A.)

Phichit meme ( “scandalized” with hand on mouth)

Phichit is captain of the Victuri ship

Kubo-sensei posts summary of The King and The Skater 

Pre episode 7

Dengeki, what in the ever living F is that preview summary (twitter)? Along with the shortened version.

Another preview summary wtheck comment - this time from a YOI animator, Itou Noriko

“Drastic measures”??? Will Victor hug Yuuri? Violence? Harsh words? Kiss on the forehead or MAYBE the cheek?

fanfics, comics, lots of speculation

Episode 7

Kiss vs. Hug

drawings/charts/tracings to prove it was a kiss

queerbaiting comments continue

Western fans ask Kubo-sensei for a direct answer; she’s amused that Japanese fans didn’t need confirmation yet Western fans did

Yuri on Ice trends on Tumblr for two days at #1 (previous episodes had trended in top 3 for about a day).

“Japanese censorship is what made them cover the kiss!” -- and the subsequent posts that stopped this misinformation.

“Victor is evil” continues - he was cruel in the parking garage and the queerbait lip hug was obviously just consolation

Chris, stahp! (more wet ice comments)

Guang-Hong is badass, Leoji ship sails further

Georgi is creepy, some people hate Anya, some feel sympathy for her

Georgi’s outfit = figure-skating Elsa (photoshopped pictures)

Head boop

Aired after the U.S. election - “episode 7 is the only good thing that happened this week”

“YOI singlehandedly saved 2k16”

Watchers dropping the anime because Victuri became canon.

some people liked the anime as long as it was still ambiguous. This kiss/hug scene made it much less ambiguous and left them feeling awkward.

some people liked it as long as the pairing was not mainstream - they liked being a niche shipper.

Conversely, more people started watching once they heard it was canon and not queerbaiting/fan service.

Johnny Weir homage with young Victor’s outfit and rose crown at European Worlds.

Johnny hears of this and adds YOI on his to-watch list.

Kubo-sensei tweets about a certain scene - confirms and does not confirm it as a kiss

pre-Episode 8

Will YOI talk about homophobia and LGBT hatred?

They’re going to Russia next - lots of fanfiction about Victor dealing with past and current homophobia, and how Yuuri and Victor would act during their stay in Russia.

Magazine had the titles for episodes 8 and 9 - “Victor returns to Japan” has people theorize about what could be drastic enough to have him return.

Kubo-sensei strikes again:

tweets about looking forward to Dengeki’s summary this week and ends up trolling the fandom.

being one of us and wanting them to get married already.

Makkachin’s name revealed to have no meaning.

Dengeki posts 5 hours later than normal.

Episode 8

Angry fans yelling “Why didn’t they use this chance to address hatred?”

People arguing about how this is nice because we already have so many other series about hatred and would it kill them to let us have ONE nice thing in life? Let’s just appreciate that we get a happy relationship with no prejudice or hatred from the world for once.

Kubo-sensei defending the hate-free world she created.

Seung-gil feather duster/parrot/swiffer comments and comparisons.

Sala vs Sara

official site and subs romanized her name as “Sala” but a more natural spelling would be “Sara.” (sala means living room in Spanish and Italian) 

wihin the week, the spelling was corrected on both the website and subs to “Sara.”

Mila Babicheva was also changed to Mira Babicheva at this time.

Makkachin-related tags and comments

#Don’t die Makka!

#SaveMakka2k16

#Makkachoked

Speculation on what Yuuri will place - and who will make it to the GPF.

J.J. and the cross - many understood it as a religious motion, but it was soon linked by figure skating fans to Yuzuru’s cross motion to check body axis.

Kissing the ice - seen as “J.J. is so narcissistic and kissing himself,” then disputed by other fans as a sign of respect for the ice much like real-life athletes do with the ice, track&field, and court.

Yurio x J.J. shipping starts

Sub!Victor fanfic boom, BDSM, foot fetish, and other related body worship fics

YOI trends over Barack Obama (Nov 24)

Katsudon recipe released by Funimation on Yuuri’s birthday (Nov. 29)

Preview images for ep9 of Sara encroaching on Yuuri - some people worried that this would be in-series drama or that fans would ship it.

Dengeki still posting way later than they used to. This leads to lots of waiting and loss of hope for future episodes until…

Episode 9

Freaking out over the airport scene:

“What did Yuuri’s tears mean???” 

relieved/touched Victor cares for him and returns feelings? All the emotions catching up from their separation and the hard skating? 

guilt over hiding that he will retire soon? Sadness that this will only last 2 more weeks?

Clarifying why Victor brought up “proposal” (“Why does what Yuuri said sound like a proposal?”)

People “fixing” the subs (mis)translate the word “koto” as if it was the word “mono” and end up making Yuuri’s line to Victor sound super possessive/cheesy as a result.

Yuuri mentioning that he’ll win gold prompts discussions about “Does Yuuri need a gold medal to be happy? Is a gold necessary for his character?”

Fandom exploding over Yurio’s pure smile and friendship with Yuuri

People uneasy over Sara and Michele’s sibling relationship.

Mira x Sara ship gains steam and sets sail.

“Hug zombie” - the term given to Yuuri’s hugging spree

Johnny Weir planned to watch YOI “one episode per day,” but failed and watched two episodes the first day. Then binged the rest within two more days and caught up in time for episode 10 on Wednesday.

Naked Victor on the front page of NBC due to Johnny’s tweets

Crunchyroll releases Katsudon Pirozhki recipe (Dec 7)

pre-Episode 10

“Something round and golden” -- gold medal, wedding rings, cock rings, onion rings, golden snitch

Kubo-sensei fanning the flames

we were losing hope for teasers until... our saviors, Animate, took over for posting them. Dengeki still posted the identical teaser pics on their site, but did so at a later hour.

Preview lines about Yuuri recalling the previous year’s nightmare banquet.

Translation confusion led to people thinking it was a “nightmare bucket” “nightmare baguette” (and other attempts to find the correct foreign word) until someone pointed out that figure skating competitions have banquets.

Theories about what happened at the banquet. 

Episode 10

Rings

Yuuri buying one ring (with Victor buying the other) vs. Yuuri buying pair rings as a set 

would later be confirmed in a magazine post-series that Yuuri bought both rings

Are they really engaged or not?

Best plot twist ever.

The ending changes everything we ever knew about this series 

 people analyzing all the interactions since episode 1

“Poor Victor” comments and tags appear

“Victor was pining all along!”

Victor seen as super patient and willing to let Yuuri drive the pace (because he never brings up the banquet in order to respect Yuuri’s shyness). 

Victor flying to Japan with his dick out. 

Victor had a crush on Yuuri since the beginning.

“Victor is a dork who would do anything for love” mentality sweeps away previous malaise.

fanfic and fanart explosion of dorky, loving Victor 

This is when the loving!Victor image squashed any lingering remnants of evil!Victor 

Eros parallel re-interpreted as Yuuri being the playboy and Victor being the woman seduced and left behind. 

Victor is savage for making a program based on the banquet and thinking to skate it for a season. 

Pole dancers comment that the moves in Yuri on Ice reference actual moves (Yuuri is pretty good and has great grip strength; a couple of Chris’ moves are incredibly hard)

Otayuri (Otabek x Yurio) becomes a pairing

Beach scene discussion - was Victor angry or not, and why?

Hype for Kubo-sensei revealing that the GPF would have the most realistic animation of all the episodes.

Animate posted late (only a few hours before airing), but Dengeki even later.

Episode 11

“Scoring system is broken!”

Yurio’s score is literally impossible using the current real-life ISU scoring system (he’s about 5 points too high)

Yuuri scored low despite low number of technical mistakes

J.J. given a higher score than should be allowed because of his huge errors.

Discussion on Victor looking out at the ice during Yurio’s SP (“what was he thinking?”), and discussion about his flashback and burden

Chris’ mystery man ( “Chris’ boyfriend”? “Who IS that guy???”)

Half the fandom dies with Yuuri’s last sentence; half the fandom trusts Kubo-sensei (and comforts the other half)

Evgenia posts a tweet trusting everything will be alright

People’s view of J.J. changes - some sympathy and “??? I never expected to actually care for this guy!”

It seems everyone pitches their predictions about who will be on the podium.

“Phichit’s hamsters predict the podium?” theory

pre-Episode 12

We give up on teasers because they’re so late. Animate releases them a few hours before the episode airs.

Oh!SkaTra!!! Yuri!!! on ICE Soundtrack released about a day before the final episode aired.

“Spoilers” (but not really, because we had the tracklist since episode 5). We confirm the last two songs are the exhibition skates. People avoid Tumblr until the episode airs because of the “spoiler threat.” 

Episode 12

Breaking Tumblr, Crunchyroll, and Animate.

Crunchyroll released a statement on Twitter about YOI’s high traffic breaking it.

Tumblr crashed (traffic volume too high) right after the CR simulcast/subs came out around 4PM EST. It wasn’t fully fixed until several hours later.

Animate’s website crashed for the same reason as above.

“It wasn’t gay enough”

People feeling disappointed about the relationship between Yuuri and Victor because there was no second kiss or explicit “I love you.” People wanted something that could not be denied (wanted an “uncensored” kiss).

Others counter-argued that relationships can show deep love without needing an “I love you,” and point out how the relationship was built steadily throughout the series.

People feeling betrayed because Yuuri didn’t win gold.

“Otabek was robbed!” and “J.J. overscored!” complaints circulate

“I won’t kiss it unless it’s gold” prompted a legion of pictures/comics, and fics.

Gushing over the liberate use of ring flares

“History Makers” in the end credits - the extra “s” felt like an Easter egg to some.

Ice dance vs. Pairs - many fans mistake the final Duetto exhibition skate as Pairs when it’s actually based on an Ice Dance routine

How will Victor do both skating and coaching?

Will we get a Season 2? “See You Next Level” means a second season, right? 

After the series, we saw Oh!SkaTra!!! and the DVD/BD volumes sell ridiculous amounts - easily placing in either 1st or 2nd place on Oricon’s charts for DVD, BD, CD, and CD digital release. The Blu-ray and DVD volumes continue to hold high sales. Magazines continue to be translated. Some ideas/meta are confirmed and others become defunct.

It was a wild ride from way back when YOI was only a website and PV. Every week brought new ideas, writings, meta, art, and discussions. It was to the point where some weeks you would get in-depth meta and polished art just hours after the episode aired. In fact, there was so much made that you could easily reblog hundreds of posts in a day for the more explosive episodes, and meta would either get hundreds of notes or be lost in the current of new stuff appearing every few minutes. At the rate that it’s still going with new campaigns, events, and merchandise, Yuri!!! on ICE will be active for quite some time.

[fyodorscenarios]

I was tagged back by @leaunce. Thank you! I decided to do it, since I’m not afraid to admit that I kinda really love talking about myself.

I’m glad that I was able to get you into darkwave music! I’ve been trying to listen to new bands recently, but I haven’t spent much time on it so I don’t have many new recommendations. I’m not even sure what you’re already listening to, so I’m just going to list all of my faves (some of them have albums in other similar genres though):

- Joy Division - Black Marble - The KVB - A Place to Bury Strangers 

- Skeleton Hands - Trust - Belong - Лето В Городе (Summer in the City)

Questions:

1. What is your favourite type of food?

Sushi probably. Though I also really love ramen, pho, french fries, and stone oven pizza. 

2. What would you choose if you could play any instrument that you like? and why? (only one)

Well, I guess I’d go with the violin, since to me it always sounds very beautiful. Plus I feel like it’s too typical to say something like piano, since a lot of people know how to play that. 

3. What was the most happiest moment you ever experienced in the moment?

The happiest moment for me that I can remember is probably when I got accepted into University sometime ago. I had been declined by practically all the other schools I had applied to, so it was really relieving to finally be accepted into a program I liked. I was super excited at the time, and I still am now since I’m moving into residence there in a few weeks. 

4. What is your dream job?

I’d love to work in the field of AI, since I’m very interested in attempting to simulate consciousness and thought with a computer. I’d really love to help humanity as a whole understand consciousness and what exactly it is, and I think attempting to simulate it would be a step towards that understanding. I also have an interest in understanding the human brain, and in computers and computer science in general, so having a job in this field would combine all of that. 

5. What do you think about the society and and the search of “meaning” in our life?

Generally, I see society and its norms as fluid. Despite it always undergoing changes, there will always be problems with it. I’m convinced that it would be impossible for us to create a utopia, as we are not perfectly logical beings. 

In my opinion, the meaning of life is relative to each person. The way I see it, nothing actually has any meaning without us giving meaning to it in our own minds. Something that means one thing to you may mean something else to another. Therefore, I believe that inherently, life has no meaning, it’s up to us to define that for ourselves, and only ourselves. 

7. (This goes to @fyodorscenarios) What is the thing or philosophy that you most liked and not, from “Crime and Punishment” of Fyodor Dostoyevsky?

I like Raskolnikov’s notion that important people get away with murder as long as it’s for the good of something. Not the part about these people being extraordinary men though. I just think he’s right in the fact that sometimes murder is justified because it helps the supposed greater good. 

I also really love this quote from Rodya: “Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth”. 

I find that the quote above really speaks to me, it’s easy for me to relate to. I think that when you’re more intelligent, you have a tendency to think much more about things before you do them, and about life in general. Thoughts like that can really make one sad, especially with the state our world is in. Ignorance is bliss, if you will. 

In terms of what I don’t like, I’m not in total agreement with Dostoevsky’s rhetoric that turning towards the Christian god will save people and help them live better lives. This is simply because I don’t think that this solution would work for everyone. It would certainly help some people, most likely people who grew up as Christians or who are looking for something to believe in. However, I don’t think it would help everyone, though I wonder if Dostoevsky was even trying to argue that it would help everyone. He may not have been, I just read somewhere that we’re supposed to think that Rodya opened his bible in the future, though he never did it in the book. I understand why something of that sort may have worked for him specifically though. 

8.  What is your favourite hobby?

I don’t have a specific favourite. I guess I would say reading, watching films, or playing video games. 

9. What would it be the perfect date for you?

I’d love to go to an art, history, or science museum on a date. I think going to an interesting movie would also be fun, ideally something with good reviews and an interesting plot. Both would make for good conversation afterwards. I guess to top it all off we’d go to a restaurant that isn’t too formal but has great food. 

10. what type of superpower would you like to have? and why?

Super speed to the point that people almost look frozen around me would be pretty cool. Then I could travel without having to pay for airplane tickets. 

Pyrokinesis and reanimation are also favourites of mine. It’s hard to choose. 

11.  Do you believe in god? why? and why not?

Oh boy, I have some complicated feelings about religion, so brace yourself. 

I identify as agnostic, which means that I believe that there might be a god, or there might not be. Essentially, I’m open to most possibilities, but it gets more complicated than that. 

I don’t believe in any specific god, because there’s no solid proof that any of the gods people believe in are actually real. What I do believe in is evolution, since there’s a multitude of evidence for it. Therefore in my mind, if there is some kind of god or gods, they set evolution in motion, or at least caused something like the big bang. 

Really, I wonder what even defines something as a god. Since I suppose a god could just be some kind of being who has much more power over the universe as we know it than we do. It’s hard to say. 

The so-called god being(s) that may exist are unlikely to be anything like what any religion describes, in my opinion. For the most part, I believe that these descriptions are just speculations about what may have made us created by ancient humans. In my mind, religions serve two purposes. One, to perpetuate specific ideals in society. Two, to try to explain why the world is how it is and therefore reassure people that they will still exist after death. There is a possibility that a religion may be right, or at least partially right, though I think that possibility is very small.

To clarify, I don’t think that being religious is particularly bad. For most people it’s a great way to reassure themselves that they have a purpose and that they won’t disappear forever after they die. It’s comforting for some, but it’s just not something I can have any faith in. I’m too logical for that. I’ve accepted that I and everyone I love will die, no matter what that may lead to. However, my general belief is that even if there was something that created us like a god, there probably isn’t any way we can exist after death. There is no eternal soul, we are the electrical signals in our brains, and without the brain to run them we cannot continue on. 

-

I’m not going to tag anyone since I’ve already done that on the previous post. Sorry for getting so heavy near the end lol

[iamyemzi]

#YemziGirl Feature 16 (June) - Shae, Singer-Songwriter from Watford

1. Please can you introduce yourself including your name:

Well, my name is Shaé. I'm a singer, songwriter, actress and creative director amongst various other creative endeavours. I'm from Watford, which is just out of London but closest to north west. At this stage in my career, singing is my most prominent attribute so that's what I'm pursing most intensely as I believe it will give me the freedom or the leeway to explore those other avenues.

2. Tell us about the dream you are pursuing...

I've always been a very creative/artsy person. From as young as 11 I discovered that music and english were my favourite subjects. I've always loved vocabulary, poetry, stories, writing etc, and these go hand in hand with music so it was pretty much a perfect match when I realised I was born to merge the two. My relationship with singing traces back as far as I can remember. I started singing in church at a very young age and from there I began to listen to my own personal influences such as Lauryn Hill, Jazmine Sullivan, Erykah Badu etc and that helped to further develop my own unique sound. From about 14/15 years old I tried auditioning for talent competitions such as Britain's Got Talent and X Factor, (both to no avail lol) & even started putting up singing videos on Youtube, which were all later deleted due to my pubescent insecure stage. Never the less, the passion in me for what I do now never died.

Following that, I continued to sing blindly for a few more years. When I say sing blindly I mean I didn't know who I was musically; what genre I thrived in, the type of artist I wanted to be or how I wanted to be perceived by the world etc, in so doing I almost conformed to being an afrobeat artist when that wave first surfaced, lol, I'm glad I didn't because that would have definitely stifled the creative expression that people recognise today as ShaesUniverse. 

It wasn't until my second year of university, studying American Theatre Arts at Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama that I really began to find myself musically. This was heavily influenced by me finding myself physically, spiritually, and personally. Once all these things began to take shape, so did the conscious writing soul sista in me. I suppose my ultimate goal is to be a globally respected creative. Recognised for my music, songwriting, project involvement, acting etc, but most importantly, my positive public influence.

 3. Apart from following your dreams how do you stay fulfilled?

Well the first major key in life for me, is maintaining a steady and consistent relationship with God. I'm very spiritual and I believe that prayer has greatly helped me to remain grounded & humble as it always puts things into perspective for me; assuring me that regardless of my circumstance, I will always make it out on top.. and that is ever fulfilling to me. Outside of that, I also try my best to surround myself with positive, like-minded people who strive to be the best versions of themselves. This feeling of knowing all my close friendships are equal and balanced also keeps me fulfilled. And lastly, having your parents and siblings being in complete support of your vision is one of the most fulfilling feelings of all time I believe, for anyone. And I'm very thankful that I have that.

4. Which places do you call home and what do you love about those environments?

Nigeria is my first home. That's where I was born before I came to London aged 4 and that's where my family is from. I love Nigeria because that is my homeland. The people there are so full of life and character, the land itself is so wealthy and the beautiful areas/landscapes in Nigeria are honestly breathtaking. My second home would have to be London. Although I've lived in Watford for most of my life since moving to the UK, I schooled in London, grew up in London and therefore made most of my friends there. I love that about London; the familiarity I have with various different people from different parts of London (even more-so now because my music has helped me to branch out further). I also love how accessible everything is in London. I feel greatly privileged to have experienced life in two very different aesthetics because they both taught me to adapt differently.

5. 3 things you love most about where you live?

- How peaceful it is

- It's close enough, but far enough

- It's not bait so I can run errands looking mash up without having to worry about seeing anyone I know lol

6. What makes you a #YemziGirl?

My zeal for fashion and originality, my confident yet humble demeanour and my enthusiastic attitude towards life in general. These are the things that make me a YemziGirl!

7. Do you have a favourite Yemzi piece of clothing or collection?

Your SS17 pieces are definitely my favourite collection to date!

8. Are you more of a plain or printed type of girl?

I tend to alternate between the two depending on my mood

9. How long have you been creating your short music clips that everyone loves?

My first ever twitter video was for Krept & Konan's falling challenge at the end of 2015 so it's been about a year and a half now

10. How important do you think it is for emerging singers to post content online?

I think it is extremely important for emerging artists to post their content online and use the power of social media to their advantage. Social media does have it's cons however, I feel that one of the biggest pro's about social media is how crazily accessible it is to thousands of people. You'd be surprised at the amount of strangers that casually browse the things you post. And these days all it takes is for the right person to see it.

11. Do you have a routine to maintain your voice?

I don't you know. I really should as I spent 3 years in uni being flooded with loads of vocal resources/ exercises, however after graduating I got lazy and disregarded them. I'm currently training myself to get back to that level of discipline and to start incorporating a consistent vocal warm up practice before all my appearances.

12. And finally, what's your favourite quote? 

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude." - Maya Angelou

 Keep up to date via social media @ShaesUniverse

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Classicaloid 19 | ACCA 6 - 7 | SGRS 20 – 21 | Nanbaka 21

Not many people use faxes anymore…

It wasn’t just one Hasshie, it was two! Two, I tell you!

There’s an adorable little heart in the title.

Rotten-who?...Oh, okay. Rottenmeier. (It said in the subs what the reference was about but I checked it up anyway.)

One of them was green and another orange! That wasn’t a “black swan” in the slightest! *laughs anyway*

When people say they “watch it for the plot”, they mean Liszt. Definitely Liszt.

It seems even the staff have their pairings. I thought Motz was paired with Beethes in the fandom though…that kinda sucks for all the shippers of that pair now, doesn’t it?

Ah! These pictures of Swan Lake are absolutely beautiful!!! If only the subs weren’t on top of them…

This is “The Power of Shipping: The Episode”. ‘Nuff said.

“Suspension bridge effect”.  It’s a strangely psychological concept for Classicaloid…

So tsundere vs tsundere only devolves into fighting. Gotta remember that.

Where’s Sousuke???

Does anyone ship Kanae x Beethes now…? Or can Beethes love anyone, with enough “effort” on his part?

(ACCA ep 6)

“Peshi-Rokkusu Train Accident”.

Cuprite?

The feathers look pretty, in a North American Indian sort of way.

Yakumo reminds me of Grossular and vice versa.

That green-haired one’s a woman?!

“He’s just like a girl.”

Qualm. Funny name for a man.

(ep 7)

Egrette is how Aigrette’s name is spelt in katakana. Therefore, it shouldn’t be a long I sound but rather a short E.

“Yuki no tama” literally means “snow ball”.

Dang, the food looks good as always but this time it actually looks real.

Oh, it’s Lotta! Kind of.

Oh! The purple bread at the bakery is actually murasaki imo (purple yam…so it should be either taro or sweet potato).

Lotta’s a horribly simplistic person. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Natsume Ono-sensei was a man based on how Lotta’s characterised, but since I’m guilty of not characterising my character Amelie (One Wish They Never Wanted) better, I figure Ono’s a woman. I found an article on ACCA once that said Ono-sensei was a woman, anyway, so no disputes about the gender neutral name “Natsume” right now, ‘kay?

I seem to recall a sugary ball of dough that I’ve eaten, which is apparently called a “shayong”. Alternatively, it can be called something along the lines of “snowball”. It’s very oily and normally sold in paper bags as a result. It doesn’t have chocolate in it though.

Jean has some really large hands…

(SGRS ep 20)

“Speaking of which…”

Sometimes it’s hard to remember Shinnosuke is not actually Yota’s child…haha.

“Your life isn’t yours alone. Don’t even joke about quitting.” – Powerful words from Konatsu there. I have the feeling they could save someone’s life someday.

Those gingkos are probably CGI, but man, they look real.

“The inability to speak properly…it’s hell.” - Hmph, I should analyse this quote one day.

“Little sir”?...Oh, bocchama (young master). That should be the term they used.

Wowee, I never thought Yurie’s backstory would come up. Alsom I realised this is the present day, not the 70s…oops. I made the same mistake in my article (if you’re wondering which article exactly, it’s this one, but I’ve now edited my mistake out of it).

The style of Kiku’s rakugo has yet again been elevated, if that’s even possible. It’s otherworldly, even, but that may be because it’s a relic of time itself.

How old is Yota at this point in time?

Amanatto. IIRC Kinshiro likes it.

Oh wow. I never thought there would be that Yuri!!! on Ice-like twist in this show too! (I do have a problem with the fact Matsuda doesn’t look like he’s properly crying though.)

Seeing Yota in tears like this is heartrending…

(ep 21)

Mangetsu’s from Kyoto. (I forgot that.) That’s why it’s East-West.

Higashi no Tabi (Journey to the East). Sounds like a bad parody of Journey to the West.

Yakumo still hasn’t lost his edge. Nice to see that.

“SCARP”?

The ethics behind that revelation though…Higuchi, just how unethical can you be for the sake of art?!

So, say this was a supernatural show instead. Imagine Yakumo as a ghost, freely doing his rakugo. That would make him happier, but it would sure irk the living, LOL.

Note Yota’s not called “Third Generation” in the same way Yakumo is called “8th Generation”.

Bringing back Sukeroku from the dead in more ways than one. It’s not just spiting Yakumo, it’s inspiring him, right?

If you look closely at Konatsu’s fingers, they have bandaids on them. She must have practised long and hard for that to happen.

I don’t seem to recall when this boss man appeared first, so I can’t really put a younger face to “Kido Isao” (was it “Mr Boss Man” from ep 1? Certainly that guy had no respect for Yakumo the way this arrested guy does). Sorry.

(Nanbaka 21)

Nanbaka’s gotten to that “stand and deliver…lines” part of every show…that’s bad news.

It’s rare to see people animate eye blinks for non-dramatic effectthese days.

The problem with Nanbaka is like Aoharu x Kikanjuu, it has problems differentiating between drama and comedy, instead opting for a clear delineation between both genres. Dramedys don’t work too well for me, normally.

I wonder if this whole plot can really be resolved in 3 episodes…most of the second cour has been about cell 5, sure, but it’s dragging a bit.

The thing about this show is that while it is quite good at what it does, it’s only midpoint at what it does and doesn’t seem to use the unique Comico style of vertical manga to its advantage.

All these Journey to the West associations make me think about a “Mago Gosora” pun I saw on TV Tropes. It was from Dragon Ball.

Neurotoxin. Of course someone like Qi should know about that stuff.

[stephaniegooden-blog]

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Before the components deeper dives began, Mike Ybarra, Corporate Vice-President from the Xbox and Windows Video gaming System stopped by to describe just what he called the 'four backbones' responsible for Scorpio: gaining back the souls as well as thoughts of programmers, supplying adequate electrical power to hand in a terrific 'accurate 4K' take in, offering complete being compatible with existing hardware and software (and running old video games better) as well as - most importantly - making certain that Scorpio can 'light up' 1080p Televisions. The blacksmith and invalid child from King Robert Baratheon, participated in by Joe Dempsie, was last viewed in period 3 from Activity from Thrones, as well as has actually been lacking from the show since (although Dempsie was actually recently detected in Belfast). I'm surprised at the simple fact Stephanie Garber is a launching writer and also this is merely her very first manual given that that was actually every thing I really wanted and also more. I have additionally added my Job Food items Article at the top from my recipes webpage If you are searching for any of the recipes I have actually created PFB, that is where they are actually concealing! I would certainly adore to recommend, yet the book is on my Christmas list therefore unfortunately I don't have that but. While many adventure activities are loaded with dialogue and talkative personalities, Machinarium's actors from tin-can robotics never communicate. Unique Gameplay - The video game incorporates a selection from gameplay genres, including survival, secrecy, fray and also varied combat, expedition, and a lot more. I am actually not one from the screaming/crying fangirls of this particular factor, yet that was a really great little book. Potential Updates: This area is reserved for potential updates like Incident 5 screenshots and also the Episode 5 launch trailer. He doesn't-- that's where the area can be found in Ongoing problems, information, and also activity updates are curated by countless fans who talk about gameplay and also advancement on the World from Minecraft forums, the Minepedia (a wiki-style information where most visit find out effective ways to play the game), on Reddit as well as on various other off the record resorts. This is actually one main reason why in tennis I feel I continue boosting my video game as; I only can certainly not condemn anybody for my loss in an activity. In a dramatic (and also entirely fracical) Facebook Live disclose, Activity from Thrones showmakers motivated visitors to comment 'FIRE', which would result in a weapon to little by little melt away the ice sheltering the launch date.

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Which PC Gamings Have The Most Playtime Each Dollar?

Interestingly, the leading five most played games of 2016 are almost identical the those the year prior to. The job of a great matchmaking system is the make certain that you get matched into video games with individuals of approximately equal skill degree, as well as the takeaway from that is that you ought to really be hitting around 50% win/ loss ratio if things are suitable. It's additionally intriguing to keep in mind that three games - Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Phone call of Responsibility: Modern War Multiplayer, and Terraria - managed to go across over both sides. Heavy steam needs you to produce an account in order to begin obtaining web content, however it's a uncomplicated and fast procedure. look at this site The No. 2 team in the WWG CSGO Group Rankings, SK Pc gaming has actually brought home the most cash prize in 2016 with the players acquiring roughly $366,000 each. I really do play a much broader selection of video games yet these are some of my preferred franchises and also they simply take a long time to play them. I see people who like the genre respond but primarily to prevent unbelievably ignorant as well as arrogant people that have formed their oppinions based upon nothing apart from something foolish like how many hours his/her pal has played. Exactly what's more vital to appreciate is that the video game is still in the Beta but still has actually been able to make its place in the top 5 most played video games on Steam. Therefore, I assume it deserves having a look at leading acquisitions on Heavy steam as well, to see just how the top played video games compare with the top bought video games. BTW I do not comprehend why some people aim to require this or other games on individuals. It's not a surprise that Counter-Strike has actually gone to the top of Steam charts for several years and has in objective of backing down anytime soon. So let's take a look at just what I've played one of the most, according to Vapor's hours logged anyway. A lot of individuals make this error, and a lot of individuals miss out on just what is extremely most likely one of one of the most fulfilling, demanding, extreme, amazing competitive multiplayer video games ever before made. Basically, Steam Trading allows people trade games, in-game items, and online cards that are stored in your Heavy steam account. The most-played game on Steam by private player time investment is Football Supervisor 2014, whose gamers log approximately 169.2 hours each. Although, evidently I have much less time to play video games than many people on this online forum which does not amaze me in all.

As a matter of fact it's more important compared to the discovering procedure (there are various other uber facility video games with lots of learning that didn't enjoy the success of LoL or DOTA2). Valve's commitment to maintaining Dota 2 equally as similar to Defense of the Ancients - the initial Warcraft setting on which it is based - and to their improvement as well as facilitation of the contemporary shift of competitive video games right into eSports, is exactly what makes them and their gamers not just followers of the video game, however supporters. I had my hrs relied on Xfire (split) prior to Steam began taken hours into account. Although I do not bear in mind placing 167 hrs right into Borderlands 2. I mean ... the very first playthroughs on each personality were enjoyable, however damn that games stingy loot system and also aggravating problem without unusual gear in playthrough 2 as well as beyond. In spite of its controversial resemblance to Overwatch (or because of it), Paladins has actually rapidly turned into one of the most popular video games on Vapor. Inning accordance with some substantial study by Ars Technica, 37% of the video games that have been offered on Vapor or registered to Steam accounts via various other ways have never ever been played. Ultimately, it's increasingly typical for new video games to need activation with Heavy steam to work effectively, a security approach makings it impossible to share video games with close friends. The user interface is extremely just like the website, as well as downloaded and install video games are mounted directly into your computer in just a few seconds. I have not played many games (don't assume I have actually also strike the 50 mark yet), yet I have actually currently seen this both methods, where we've had the ability to phase epic returns over men that were initially farmed well over us, and also losses against individuals that we technically had 20+ kills over. While Human being 6 only had a few priceless months in 2016 to stake its claim, it eventually cannot vanquish its predecessor when it concerned the ordinary player count. Dota 2 was Heavy steam's the majority of played video game in 2014, averaging 636,607 players each hour. But obviously, virtually everyone from worldwide liked it which is why it made a place in the top 10 most played games in 2016. ArsTechnica keeps in mind that it just accumulated data from public Heavy steam profiles, so it's possible that those with personal accounts have dramatically different investing in and also playing behaviors.