#ive got another series to re-binge

[pan-magi]

I see that youve been a fan of magi for a long time, how do you cope with the lack of content and pretty much dead fandom? Ive been a long time fan or magi too and ive been trying to get my friends into magi.

Hi, Anon! I guess I have. It doesn't really feel like it though? I got into Magi early 2017 sometime and ran this blog for about 6 months or something until I vanished. This was meant to be my hyperfixation dump blog. The first one was Magi, and it... stayed Magi, lol.

This becomes very long but the tl;dr is Magi was more popular once upon a time and you can track down and return to older stuff with the lack of new content. And be honest to your friends about the ups and downs of what you like or what they could like about the series and keep conversations going with them.

At the time, I'll say Magi content was fairly active. The manga was ongoing but wrapping up, the main anime had ended but Adventures of Sinbad was only a year out or so. It wasn't anything to do with the series of why I left. More so I found new shiny things to focus on -- I had recently graduated college, yes, I'm old -- and fell out of love with tumblr more so than Magi and soon was not producing the content or consuming enough to stay interested in the series after it wrapped.

I'd love to give some great advice to stay interested in less popular series because I feel honored you asked. I can't claim to be good at it myself though. I got back into the series when I was sick late 2021 and binged everything. I re-watched the anime and then reread the manga when I got better.

You can try promoting it to your friends as good binge material. Magi does deal with themes you can sink your teeth into but it isn't super heavy. You don't realize how much you've gone through until you have.

I apologize for such a long answer. Let me try to get to your main point. I don't really think of it as something that's inactive or dead. The anime may be incomplete but the manga is done with. I don't think Ohtaka has much more to say on it, and that's why she has moved on to Orient. The series is wrapped- for better or worse. I'm not here to dissect how good or not the final arcs are. This is long enough and getting off topic XD. If you only have/can watch the anime then that's understandable. Accessibility and availability options are different for manga. For me, knowing the author has a complete version out there in some form and having access to it makes it easier. Content will come and go. Yes, I want more. I at least have a full course meal even if part of the dessert has disappeared into the ether.

Another thing that helps is that Magi is a young series. Not in the age range it appeals to but in how long it has been around. 14-15 years? Baby isn't old enough to drive in most places, lmao. The majority of fandoms I've been in are older or about as old as I am (30s). I am used to droughts in content and things coming in and out of popularity. Both in my ADHD-wired brain and by the fandom at large. I don't mean to say that younger fans are too fickle. As I said, I'm awful at it myself. There's a large gap of time (late 2017-2021) where my interests and priorities were elsewhere. I've only been active in the fandom for a few years at most.

I will say to help out try to explore the backlog of content if you have the chance and haven't already. New fan content may not be the most plentiful. Out of all the fandoms I follow the most relate to Magi and all of the tags are the quickest to breeze through what's new. It's sad. I haven't been active in this fandom for years, and there's stuff in its peak that I haven't gotten around to seeing that is still there for me to find. 14 years may not be that old in the grand scheme of things but that is still a long time for various fan art, fic, and other content to have been put up. If there's not enough new stuff to interest your friends, recommend older stuff you are aware of. Tumblr does not have the best search option and in my experience tags dry up after going back far enough even though I know older stuff exists. That is annoying and don't have a good counter on how to combat it.

Remember the old when you don't have enough new. Cycle through your favorite things at different intervals. Not for Magi specifically, but I reread some of my favorite fic that were over a decade old at the point of me discovering them. Now they're almost twice that age. One day go through one artist's backlog, then the next do someone else's, or read the fic that got you to love the fandom in the first place. If you get tired of older things or seen the same old too often- no worries! You can take a break or watch/read the series again (accessibility or availability again to be determined and yeah that majorly sucks). Scribble your own ideas down, regardless if you want to post them. Scratch that itch for you and no one else.

That is the best advice I can give. Try finding something else you haven't seen before or let yourself enjoy stuff you have. For your friends, this may sound counterintuitive but one thing I do when recommending stuff is give them a heads up as well on stuff they may not like. Like, mine is that I despise Aladdin being a little pervert. I've mentioned before how it turned me off the manga when I first picked it up at random. Don't try to catch them off guard by saying how wonderful something is and leaving out something that may turn them off. In my experience, that leads to annoyed friends. Give them the full picture, with spoilers being whatever you guys agree to, and let the strength of what you enjoy outweigh the caveats they have. Sometimes something is just not for them, and that is okay too. If they do start getting into Magi, keep the conversation up, ask them their favorite or least favorite thing, ship, how annoying and annoyingly charming Sinbad (or anyone) is, etc. Be someone to talk to about it even if they can't find new good shit to enjoy. Be that for each other. I dunno. I don't have friends irl who like Magi. If I did that's what'll I do. *shrug*

I am so sorry for the length and I don't feel as if I have been very helpful. I tried to edit it down and be as concise as I could. I can't do that on short notice or not being able to save drafts on asks. I hope this was a fun anecdotal read at least.

[dlamp-dictator]

Quick Thoughts on Summer Anime

Somehow I was able to finish about 3 anime over the summer season, and given that I’m a 28-year-old man that only watches anime for fun and to pass the time that’s a bit of a surprise for me, even more so that three shows got enough of my interest to keep up with them weekly instead of just waiting and binging them on my day off. So before we move into Fall I wanted to talk about them for a bit in some small (or not-so-small) blurbs.

Overlord IV

This season was good. Not incredible or something I’d consider a must-watch, but I enjoyed just about everything that was presented before me. I know think it was mind-blowing as some of the other stuff I was hearing about this season, but I do think if you like Overlord and want to see some kind of conclusion to the whole Re-Estize situation then this is the season to watch. With that said, I was hearing a lot of talk about this season skipping about two or three volumes within the light novel proper to keep the focus on Re-Estize and its neighboring kingdoms. While I can understand the frustration of skipping content given what I understand about the skipped volumes I find it an unfortunate but necessary measure. Keeping things toward Re-Estize instead of moving around the world too much helps keep things focused, especially when some of the earlier volumes seemed to to have been really setting up Re-Estize for a big event in later volumes. Skipping ahead is unfortunate, but it’s very common in anime story telling. Sometimes arc 6 is a better conclusion for the season than arc 4, so you have to skip around to keep things focused in terms of the anime. This might just be the last season of Overlord we get until the light novel finishes and we can have a proper conclusion. I hear this series is about 4 more volumes from finishes, so I say expect a final season in about two-ish years.

Lycoris Recoil (Spoilers Ahead)

I’ve already discussed my opinion of Lycoris Recoil here and none of my thoughts or feelings have changed much, especially my criticisms. Chisato still feels like too much of a manic pixie dream girl for me to fully be interested in her development, especially with how that final episode ended and more or less did nothing to fully challenge of her morals or take on life aside from “killing is bad, and people should live how they want so long as they don’t harm others in the process”. A good mindset and lesson, but coming from someone that works in an assassin organization the words ring a little hollow. The worldbuilding around DA and the Lycoris Recoil world as a whole feels kind of weak as well(especially after that climax). Given how things ended DA should either had been completely disbanded or completely reworked as a non-killing organization that followed Chisato’s mindset in order to keep public perception of the group with as little suspicion as possible. But that didn’t happen and I know the finale ended the way it did for either a movie tie-in or a season 2 outright, there is no other reason to have things end that... “cleanly” unless that had plans to continue this series either in movies, another season, or some light novel. I still think this anime is dumb fun, but that’s really it. I’d put this a level lower than Kill la Kill in terms of narrative, but overall a good show to watch.

Black Summoner

I also already talked about Black Summoner here and my opinion has only lowered. To keep things brief Kelvin as a character isn’t that interesting to me and I feel like the anime should had kept itself to the first two volumes of the light novel and do more to expand on the world building. To go down the list, Kelvin’s battle addict personality is neither truly challenged nor punished aside from the finale and even then not by much. While I��m fine with a power fantasy I feel like to make it work you need to either make the main character a fun, charismatic person to watch blast through challenges effortlessly (The Misfit of Demon King Academy), make their seemingly underdog victories a matter of how rather than if (No Game, No Life), or deconstruction the powerful character to be seen as more of a threat to the world than a boon (Overlord). Kelvin just doesn’t meet any of that to me since his personality traits are so... normal until a fight happens, and even then since he isn’t challenged that much until the finale the victories feel neither earned or worth it. Also, a small side thing, but Rion also feels like a useless character to me since her appeal as both a reincarnated human and someone with the title of hero forced upon have been done in more interesting ways by other shows and media, along with the fact that she’s just meant to be the little sister character for Kelvin. Honestly, there’s a lot about the last fourth of the anime that left me disappointed and I think I’m going to wane off the isekai for awhile.

And that’s really it for this anime season. I’m currently rewatching some of my older comfort shows for the fall seasons instead of keeping up with the seasonal chart, but if something catches my eye I might give a peek. But anyway, that’s it for me.

[princeanxious]

I just had a major memory flashback and scrambled to confirm it wasnt some childhood delusion and it indeed wasnt(AND INFACT IS ACTUALLY CURRENTLY UPDATING??? LIKE WOAH)

And maybe this was a very niche part of old youtube?? Idk

Does anyone else know about/remember the youtube series by Stickfreeks called Fairy Foxes??? Like, the first episode is from 12 years ago. Holy heck?? And I've been in the loop since episode 6 came out i think, checkin in every few months that i remembered it for a new episode, and oh my gosh??

Fairly sure this series was the whole reason my 8 y/o self decided I was gonna be an animator and goddamn still stands as a dream hobby of mine aaaaaa I srsly go recommend it if your into animated stories and years of progress stuff bc just. Watching the quality of the episodes progress and advance over the years is just so fckng cool oh my goshhh

[kinneys]

long post of my tma thoughts just to get them on the page

ok so context ive only been into it for just over a year, and I binged s1-4 quite quickly last year. i dipped out of s5 for a few months this autumn/winter, it definitely slogged in the middle for me. in feb i caught up on s5, relistened to all of it in one go around 197 airing, then in the last 3 weeks (!) i managed to relisten to all of s1-4 which was an Experience. 

anyway i will firstly say i think s5 had the weight of insane expectations and the slow release + delays from covid definitely dampened it. s5 was MUCH much more engaging to me on a binge relisten, and unless you just fully despise the ending, i would really suggest anyone on the fence do that.

i will secondly say i think tma suffers both from an audience that wants it to be much darker than it is and an audience that wants it to be much happier than it is, the latter of which has extreme parasocial relationships with the RQ crew and seems to aggressively try and cancel them constantly for very minor issues lol. tma is a horror tragedy podcast but its always been VERY clear that you’re supposed to see jon and co as The Good Ones and root for them to succeed at preserving their humanity+love in the face of Evil Forces. im absolutely fascinated by all the parallels between jon and elias and all the attention given to the fact that this IS something jon chose, he IS culpable, the delicious tension in s4 where he’s stealing statements from people without their consent, etc, but ultimately i dont think its really fair to the overall mood and clearly telegraphed arc of the podcast to have expected it to have an utterly hopeless jon is an evil monster ending or to have the relationship with martin ever be anything but wholly loving. it IS not something i think fully works narratively because it requires a big suspension of disbelief; it’s hard to believe someone who had undergone the things jon had could still be a loving and good person and partner, but that is pretty firmly established as the universe of the show. 

so i dont think it is fair to say that the relatively happy finale and its intense focus on jon and martin’s love for one another is something the teenage fans bullied them into because they couldn't stomach Full Horror. the ending is still pretty horrific - the Web is strongly implied to have like 100% won, and Jon’s been cowed into helping it grow immeasurably more powerful in incomprehensible ways, ultimately his agency was denied to him re: choosing an alternative: that ‘oh no’ realising he let go of the lighter is a very bad moment for him. i think jon would have loved to make the ultimate sacrifice, and was prepared to kill all of humanity to kill the fears for good and redefine *his* place in the story, as selfish and awful that is, but his love for martin did tear him away from that. because he loved martin, he gave in to what the Web wanted, allowing himself to potentially doom innumerable worlds, forever, because he couldn’t let go, and because his other choice involved killing Martin, which he couldn’t bring himself to do. to me that is still a pretty tragic ending, but my personal criticism of it would be that it absolutely does feel like trying to have it both ways re: being tragic but not so tragic they get yelled at on twitter. 

overall s5 is mixed-to-good for me. its really hard to compare it to the other seasons - really it is only vaguely comparable to s4, and even then, its just so far removed that its hard to. i thought daisy and basira ended perfectly. martin got so much added depth as a character that was executed very well. a few of the episodes are definitely series-best for me, like Helen and Scalesa. so much of the character exchanges between jon and martin i really really enjoyed, i have never been that into them at all as a pairing but I got so much more invested. but there are absolutely balls that they dropped and the pacing was definitely inconsistent. some statements were great, others not. 197 was a high it never hit again.

i am very obsessed with elias, he is a fantastic villain, and I do think he was underused, but I do think they kind of wrote themselves into a trap if he is the final boss - of course you’re not gonna see him until the very end. i was sooooooooooo glad to hear his snide little voice saying ‘that we serve’ to Jon, it’s always been so important to me that he forces Jon to acknowledge his complicitness and their shared lust to Know and the way they are paralleled that way. but jon is clearly nothing like elias fundamentally - he has clung desperately to his humanity where Elias has severed every inch of it (except his gay marriages) and I think a climatic showdown between them was only ever gonna read as Good vs. Evil. i liked seeing elias be pathetic at the end, not a king of anything after all, and beg for his life and jon get to deliver the final blow.

so tl;dr....I don’t think s5 was as successful as the other seasons in sticking its landings but I do think the ending still is notably horrific in a big existential way and I don’t think we were ever gonna get the intense traumatic tragedy some people seem to feel cheated out of. i think if you want just imagine it ended at s4 lol

[kinktae]

The penultimate part🥺 I’m not ready to say goodbye, Bitchin!Jungkook has definitely been one of my fav characterizations of him that I’ve ever read. Thank you so much for sharing your work with all of us💖

bitchin 9 asks bc i suck

sapphireprinces5 said: bitchin’ pt9 was just so beautiful?? the way you explained the emotions and interactions between the characters was just amazing!! I felt myself hanging on every word wow excited for the end but will miss bitchin’ so much 🤧

Anonymous said: TAEHYUNG AND YARA SIGN ME UP GURL!!!!

Anonymous said: Like I just feel like if Jk really liked y/n he wouldn’t have slept with Kiri, you know? It shouldn’t matter that he didn’t know how y/n felt. And it’s obvious that he has feelings for y/n so I just hope that’s something y/n addresses when she talks to him. Don’t settle for less girl! Get you a man who will fight for you regardless 👏 (btw this is not me criticizing how you wrote it in any way! I’m just so invested in the characters and am thinking about how I would feel in this scenario :) )

Anonymous said: I KNEW SOMETHING WAS GONNA HAPPEN WITH YARA AND TAE I FELT IT SO DEEP IN MY BONES IM SO HAPPY FOR THEM 😭😭😭

Anonymous said: Hi! I just binge read bitchin in a day and can I just say that I loved it! I really love the female characters as well, you’ve written them so beautifully 🥺 if I was y/n I wouldn’t be concerned so much about Jk not sleeping with Kiri if he knew the way y/n felt, but rather the fact that if Jk didn’t want to sleep with Kiri, he wouldn’t have, regardless of y/n’s feelings or not. IMO y/n’s feelings shouldn’t be the issue here, but Jk’s should! If I was y/n’s bff that’s what I would tell her LOL

Anonymous said: OH MY GOODNESS! YES !!!! YESSSSS Y.E.S Muchas graciaaaas!!!

Anonymous said: tae and yara are my new ship)

unknowntalesx said: okay but like tae and yara thooO they got me all smiley being like oh yeah bayyybeEE das what im talking about 😏 ALSO OKAY NOW THAT I AM MORE LUCID KIRI GOT FUCKING WRECKED I LOVED THAT SHE GOT A DOSE OF HER OWN MANIPULATIVE MEDICINE I AM 😤😤😤😤😤

Anonymous said: im not ready for bitchin to end )):

Anonymous said: I SCREAMED WHEN Y/N TOLD KIRI THE TRUTH. YES QUEEN. STAB AND TWIST THE KNIFE!

Anonymous said: ROSE AHHSHSJSKSD FUCK U I’m all hot and bothered with anticipation for pt 10 now 😩😩😩🥵

sydney--chan said: We really stan y/n for using her big ol brain to rock kiris world oh my god I yelled also I say what's your damage all the time bring that shit back

Anonymous said: a tae x yara spin off series or one shot...... haha jk..... unless..... 👀

Anonymous said: Fuck kiri's scheming ass. I'm glad YN ripped her a new one

Anonymous said: AAHHHHHH once again, I love this chapter so much!!!! I was screaming at Yara and Tae part. Seriously!!!! I am SURE she felt that spark when he kissed her. Is she going to be the one falling for the guy while he wants something casual now? Or maybe Tae will fall for her as well? Ahhhh so cute! I feel like that would be a nice spin off yk (no pressure, I swear). And Erik, woah I didn't expect him to be like that. To be so nice and wise. Great character development indeed! It was really nice (1/2)

Anonymous said: To see their interaction and the way he opened her eyes (for some reason I couldn't help but picture him as Namjoon). Ohhh the Kiri part tho!!!! I felt really petty but in the best way lol. Anywaysss I am really excited for the last chapter (really sad too) and I am sure it is going to be the best because you are a genius! Thank you for sharing another amazing chapter with us! ♥♥♥ (2/2)

Anonymous said: OKAY I absolutely adored Bitchin part 9 😻 I always thought that it was also OC fault for what happened between her and jk, he obviously was the main jerk but she never actually admitted her feelings to him and he doesn't read minds so??¿¿? Really loved that she came to understand it. And I was rooting SO MUCH for yara and tae MAN I AM CRYING THEY DESERVE IT 🙌🏻

Anonymous said: you came through with the tae x yara content we all needed omg thank you!! if anyone’s gonna make yara fall in love it’s tae lol

Anonymous said: I honestly lowkey hate bitchin’ jungkook right now. I thought I’d get over it but I just can’t imagine how hurt and disgusted Y/N was when she found out that jk and kiri were together just hours before they were like ugh. It doesn’t help that I’m also really interested in Erik’s character development now so it would’ve been really interesting to see how he’d fit in Y/N’s life. 🥺

Anonymous said: jungkook and y/n wANT what yara and tae have

Anonymous said: TAEYARA YES FINALLY OUR WISHES HAVE BEEN ANSWERED 😍😍

Anonymous said: just want to let you know you’re an absolute angel and all you create is nothing short of perfection. *sends you all of the love*

spring2787 said: I jus came from a 4 hour long class and it's finally here... Thank you so much dear 🎂 💜

Anonymous said: Is yara me ? Like when she said that boy act like they understand the no string involved but then fall in love , dude I felt that , that's literally the story of my life lmaoooo Like the number of time a dude told me yeah I'm okay with that and then acted shocked when I told him I didn't feel anything for him is impressive lmaoo Anyway I'm so eager for the last chapter!!!! you did an amazing job!!

kuhweenbri said: The way I already finished but anyways girl I absolutely loved this part and now I’m excited for the next part 😭😭 will we be seeing more of T-ara??

Anonymous said: OMG YARA AND TAEEEEEEEEE. NOW I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEANT BY FANSERVICE. JSJSJSJJSBXBSBSB But on a serious note, this fic just keeps on getting better. The fact that there's only one chapter left still hasn't come home to me 😭 but thank you so much for blessing us with this!💜💜

Anonymous said: YO! bitchin is flippin brilliant! you have done so well! jungkook broke my heart in part 9! im emotional but also so ready for part 10! please take your time. have a lovely day

Anonymous said: i don’t normally talk to writers on here but bitchin is really bitchin, i haven’t read a fanfic in so long that makes me excited to read the next part and maybe it’s because i’m so used to all of the aus being recycled but bitchin is truly a breathe of fresh air to me for some reason, maybe because you fleshed out the right hand mans for both characters idk or the it being a different time period, but i just wanted to say you are smashing bitchin dude and i love it!!

shy-kpop-girl said: BITCHIN': I just caught up on 8 & 9. Shocked & angry at JK. Because regardless of whether he knew y/n' feelings it was a dick move to sleep with Kiri one night and y/n the next morning. And it wasn't like he came over to talk/tell y/n about Kiri & things escalated because he went right at it as soon as she let him in. Even tho it was hot. 😳 But Erik. I wanted to hate him but dude surprised me with his reasoning. I loved that dialogue! Once again your writing is amazing & I love this story!

Anonymous said: Bitchin is the best fanfic on tumblr. And no one can change my mind. You’re doing amazing!! Much love xoxo

Anonymous said: “Think of life as one big puzzle and everyone you meet is shaped differently, right? Yet somehow… they fit. We find those that complete us. And they’re not necessarily opposites but—“ MAAM that part hit SOOO different omg your brain!?! Outta this world! Like this is whole ass literature!!!! I stg Bitchin’ is the best thing on this app and I meant that w my whole chest.

Anonymous said: I'm not ready for Bitchin to end. It's soooooo good 😍😍😍

kmultifandom said: Since there's a cast for bitchin I wanna audition for y/n because i wanna be a biologist and I have some similar personality traits *mic drop* Also great work, I seriously love it. No other fan fiction I have read was so close to my actual self and that impresses me even more and make it like it 10 times more djksksks

Anonymous said: how will I live when bitchin ends agghhh I haven’t even read 8-9 cause I’m waiting for the happy ending before I’m heartbroken and left waiting for the last part

Anonymous said: you know what would be super fun and crazy 😛😛🙈🙈 if you dropped bitchin’ pt 10 right now 😳😳 haha just kidding .... unless 😏😏

Anonymous said: lets gooooo!!!!!!!!!!! bitchin pt 10 better haunt me for the rest of the year

Anonymous said: I feel like I’m going to get so emotional once Bitchin’ part 10 is released. It’s like I’m sending off my non-existing kids to university because I won’t be able to see Bitchin!Jungkook anymore 🥺

Anonymous said: I can’t believe Bitchin’ is for real ending 😩 it’s soo gud 

Anonymous said: Can’t wait till bitchin PART 10 Probably gonna fall asleep before u post but I’ll try to stay up for it 🥺

Anonymous said: i love your writing honestly and i just really want you to be happy. your writing is immaculate and i really want you to know that you are talented and skilled so yeah. sorry if this is out of nowhere but i just really want to show appreciation to writers because they don't get enough and you are definitely my favorite writer:)) hope you have a good day!!

Anonymous said: okay but if Bitchin' goes on for 50 chapters that would be good too.. just sayin'.

tpo-quinn said: Bruh, I can already feel that I'm gonna cry from the last chapter of bitchin'...I CAN'T WAIT!

leojjeon said: so i've re-read bitchin ready for chapter 10 an I am feeling all sorts of emotions. it's fair to say it's my favourite series I've read!

Anonymous said: y did i forget bitchin would have an end like 😳😐we’ve been on this bitchin journey w u for so long i’m sad it’s over

Anonymous said: What what what?? Bitchin is ending??!!! Didnt it just fucking start like all the drama and tae&yara!!!! Omg girl!!!

Anonymous said: ur the absolute fucking GODDESS of writing angst, ive never ever waited for a ff to be updated before as if it was a new episode of my fav show coming out. thank u for writing and be so active, muah ur amazing

Anonymous said: a moment of silence for our loved bitchin who will die soon 😔 gone but not forgotten, she will always be in our hearts. all the best rides come to an end 😭

[v-le]

Kmusic: JTBC’s 슈퍼밴드(Superband) Review

Foreword: SUPERBAND WAS AMAZING AND IT WAS EVERYTHING I NEVER KNEW I NEEDED IN MY LIFE. yup

--

After binge-watching this entire program, I knew I had to write something about it. This show literally took my breath away, this show filled all my senses with overwhelming excitement, appreciation, and respect for every single participant, and the music, THE MUSIC, that came out of this show will forever be some of the most amazing songs I have ever heard in my life. But above all else, this show filled a void, an emptiness, a traumatizing, painful longing in my heart that has been needing some intense healing for a while now.

With all the things that have happened with my singer, Superband coming into my life and being the show it was, with all those amazing artists doing what they did, it was a literal blessing and I just……. I just cant believe they did THAT. They did it and it was AMAZING.

First off, whoever thought to make an audition program for MUSICIANS, SINGER-SONGWRITERS, ARTISTS, PRODUCERS, and just instrument-playing people AND VOCALISTS…….. you are a fucking genius and I am so glad that this idea never died in the shadows and was allowed to come to life on the screens.

What I found so poignant about this show from the get-go was how GOOD THESE AUDITIONS WERE… these people came in being REALLYYYYY good at (presumably) one thing like the guitar, or singing, or the violin. These people each had their specialty, they were exceptional music-making people. No one was quite mediocre or “rookie”, each person had some pretty credible expertise or experiences with music, and that in itself, the fact that we got to start off with these sorts of contestants, is something ive never seen before.

I don’t want to compare to other singing shows or the Produce series or whatever else countless audition programs Korea has been churning out over the past years, but since Superband began with this concept, it was already a show that I knew I would LOVE. For the 2 times ive watched Produce, I was always so perturbed by these prepubescent pretty boys frolicking around on stage, barely being able to even pull off a simple note. I just thought so many of them were so TALENTLESS…. But who am I to judge.

I think it really just comes down to preference, and even though I knew very well that idols and k-pop are not even things I enjoy anymore, I forced myself through programs like Produce. But now, with Superband, I felt so HAPPY and glad to be watching and discovering such talented musicians…THIS IS WHAT I WANTED ALL ALONG.

Even with the very first audition with Ha Hyunsang… OMFG UGHhHhh THAT BOI IS SO FLUFFY but so good at the same time… I feel like each time I see him, I ACTUALLY just want to give him a hug :’-(( the emotional depth in his singing is beyond describable and im SO PROUD TO HAVE WATCHED HIM GROW !!!!!!

That’s another thing I really really realllyyyyyyy loved from this show........ it was the process of watching these people develop, mature, change, grow with show. Some contestants went through some major growing pains, but it was so heartwarming to watch them improve, not that they were even bad to begin with. And the reversals!! Or the expansions?? The turnarounds?? The CONMEN!!!

AHHhhHHhhh okay im still very obsessed with the infinite amount of talent some dudes had, but before I get to that, let me continue on with those stellar auditions, aka the three genius guitarists, too ;_______; they. Are. So. Amazing. I love them a lot. I think I completely fell for them. And I hate myself. I hate to admit it a lot because I used to ALWAYS shit on dudes younger than me, I disliked basically every contestant on produce that was younger than ‘99, I thought they were all useless young children… but 김영소, 이강호, & 임형빈, were a completely different story. I LOVE THEM!!! I always had a bias toward a man that could play the guitar well… but these guys holy moly, they blew me away… they are so exceptional at what they do and the fact that theyre still so YOUNG… good lord…..my poor heart was so conflicted but ultimately so happy to have discovered them.

To watch these guys be thrown into that first 1:1 perf, and literally tearing up the stage and setting the bar VERY HIGH from the very beginning of the competition… phew… my goodness…. The talent with these kids… o my…. Okay yeah, nope im never gonna get over it. The ‘Adventure of a Lifetime’ stage will always be an iconic one from this program, and we all know it. Who knew a pure acoustic, musical performance, no vocals included stage would be so amazing…. I LOVE THEM!! Have I mentioned that yet?

Going back to the reversals/scamming thing... I guess this goes with watching some people grow……. I want to give a holy and blessed shoutout to probably my favorite contestant out of this entire show: 신광일….. he was such a dark horse. In fact, I don’t even remember his audition tbh because he was THAT not-memorable in the beginning LOL (or also.. I believe they never showed his audition to begin with)… but he quickly caught my eye as the eps went on because he came out of nowhere and whipped out all (or maybe not even all…) his skills like secret weapons, stage after stage.. he came in as a vocalist, picked up the bass for two the performances after that (all while still singing, too), although having never played the bass formally... and then once joining hands with Juhyeok and Yechan, he just miraculously becomes the drummer, because they ultimately decided that they needed percussion in their songs. So from thereon after, since ‘Hold Back The River’, Gwang-il, to me, was literally GOD(신) Gwang-il, as he played the drums and SANG TOO…..and may I add, hes not even that old?????? HES FRKING ONLY 2 YEARS OLDER THAN ME WTF;__; the boy got all these crazy blisters while perfecting the drums, but he didn’t let anything stop him and he was sucH A SOLID BAND MEMBER ALL THROUGHOUT, AHHHHHH MVP GOES TO SHIN GWANG-IL, YALL….(also I just found out that hes a trainee from Mystic Story, aka Yoon Jong shin’s agency aka the agency that I’ve been following for many many MANYYYY years now bc a lot of my favorite artists have come out of it…. Wow what is this fate)

And special recognition goes to Im Hyung-bin aka one of the 18 yr old genius guitarists bc he … oh my…. He frking became the pianist and singer by the end of the show…. Omfg… yall.. HE is also another infinitely talented soul. AND HES EXTRA FRKING YOUNG…

Besides these two though, there were many many many manyyyyy other people as well that took up multiple instruments throughout the show, or even began singing, or just did EVERYTHING….I was so mindblown by this, im still honestly not over it at all.

Because like, is this normal?? Isn’t that so unprofessional?? Its already so crazy that this show already starts us off with NON-amateur musicians and artists. But then some of these dudes have never done any other things formally before they got thrown into it; they came into this show “specializing” in something completely different, yet they jump onto the stage and do what they needed to, HELLA FRKING WELL…… so many of these dudes, you wouldn’t know that was his first time playing the bass, playing the drums, first time playing that piano, or first time being on the keyboard AND being a vocal, you wouldn’t know any of that unless they mentioned it, unless you watched the show and saw their story.

Because they all pulled it off THAT well.. these people that did these things for the first time ever while being on Superband, they executed their roles so well and showcased such wonderfully exhilarating talent…. IM SO BLESSED TO HAVE DISCOVERED SUCH AMAZING ARTISTS….

That was one of the biggest feats of Superband for me. The limitless talent that came out of it. I LOVE watching people like this. Their passion for music fuels such undeniable skill and fervor, and when they step onto that stage, they are literally unstoppable. They made music that stopped my time, stopped my heart, in the moment, but literally MOVED me...i applaud these people so much. I really do.

Thinking back to it now, the number of stages that came out of this show was like…. Countless…. Like… A LOT…. Since episode 1, each stage was very well-produced and I truly enjoyed watching each one from the start. This show was just so jampacked overall, although I admit that sometimes it was arduous due to the GRIND that these people were on, presenting stage after stage after stage, and then listening to LOTS of feedback from almost each judge over and over and over, but it was still nothing short of musical masterpieces out there. I really appreciate how STUFFED, how FILLED TO THE BRIM, this show was with dynamic, enjoyable, exceptional performances (and words of valuable opinions & evaluations, too)

I can re-watch many of them, every day, for days on end. I loved it. And can we just talk about how impressive these dudes are for pulling off something new, for taking on a brand-new challenge with a brand-new set of members, time and time again, stage after stage, week after week, until we came down to the 6 solid bands in the last 3 episodes? They constantly had to work with new people, match their music preferences, fill spaces in their music where they didn’t exactly have someone they may have needed. They had to compensate, compromise, and ultimately DELIVER, at the end of it all. Multiple times. I don’t even remember how many rounds they did… was it 4? I think they had 4 rounds of eliminations before they settled into their official bands. But still... its crazy impressive to think about how driven and flexible a lot of these artists were, to be creating, producing & then performing despite all the different teams they were getting put into week after week.

ANDDDDDD, despite all the odds up against them like the time crunch, the new collab of members each time, the potential lack of a missing instrument or sound, SO many of these teams still came out with self-written and self-produced songs!!!!!!! I mean, even for the cover songs alone, many were already re-arranging everything & basically turning them into new tracks. BUT WITH THOSE SELF COMPOSED SONGS??????????? Some teams literally started from scratch each time, but busted out some amazing tunes and lyrics and executed very very very impressive stages and IM JUST AKFJAKJFKJBSN how…. Are they….. so…. Talented…… I still ask myself each time.

By far, the combo that took my heart and kept it for good….. LUCY ;_______;. I never expected to like Juhyeok’s voice tbh, it was a little TOO weird for me in the beginning… but watching him perform with Yechan and Gwang-il and Wonsang really brought to life his vocal potential for me… that team is literally a combination made in heaven, they have all the right pieces to make ARTWORK… their signature sound was so prominent from the very beginning and i was SO HAPPY when I saw that they stuck to the same exact members once the finale came around.

Before the winner was announced, I told myself very honestly that I didn’t even care who won because the two teams left over, Hoppipolla & Lucy, were already my two all-time favorite combinations of artists from the entire show, and I was already MORE than satisfied with all the wonderful music and stages that everyone had delivered up until that point anyway. But even with that, I was still thoroughly shocked when they announced Hoppipolla as the winning band LOL I gasped aloud. I thought that Lucy at least had a chance. Or like I guess, in my heart, I assumed that Lucy actually won.. LOL but they didn’t.

And in terms of the finale in general, I really would also like to address how I purposely tried really hard to avoid any spoilers and rewatching of performances on youtube before actually finishing the entire series. I tried like reallyyyyy hard, because I wanted to watch the program as thoroughly as possible without spoilers. I HATE SPOILERS. But oh the irony. It was in all in vain anyway.

Once I finally DID finish all 14 episodes, when trying to look for more information/reactions/articles/videos (initially searching in English), I actually struggled SO HARD LMAOOOO bc there was like NOTHING OUT THERE……..i should have known better; this show was definitely NOT catered to the intl. audience (yet?), especially because its in its first season still. There were probably like 2 articles max in English about Superband & it was just about its upcoming premier. Nothing about winners nor results nor anything else i was wary of, anyway. LOLLL THE INTL COMMUNITY DOESN’T CARE; or at least the intl population that DOES care about Superband, is probably reallyyyyyy small……a reddit thread I found was the most substantial discussion I could find, comprised of a few comments max.

And so that brings me to how I always see a lot of comments begging for English subs and everything, but honestly…….. all I have to say to yall is: LEARN KOREAN IF YOU REALLY WANT TO WATCH THE SHOW THAT BADLY !!!

If after all these years, I could pick up Korean to an extent where I can watch things raw, im sure others can do the same as long as they put their mind to it. Ive been really appreciating how far my skills have taken me LOL not trying to be THAT person, but I just know that if I COULDN’T read or listen & comprehend or type in Korean like I can now, I would be missing out on a WORLD of amazing stuff. E.g. superband. And if anything, I would like to think that this show helped me practice my vocab skills a lot more. Listening to the judges’ evals after each stage was really enjoyable: I learned plenty of valuable words out of THEIR words.

This show was phenomenal in that all the contestants had total musical freedom. It was soOOOOO refreshing to watch. They got to choose all their music & their teammates in a fair manner (maybe not so much their competition), but seeing them take their passions & what THEY wanted to do with music and laying that all out onto the stage, was so compelling!!! This freedom allowed for countless, ICONIC AF transformations and growth journeys for soooo many of the artists too!!!! I really realllyyyyyyyy loved watching some of them stepping WAYYYY outside of their comfort zones / the image that they originally came in with (e.g. HONG ISAAC HAAAAHAHHA, Jisang, Hyunsang!!), and also watching alllllll those multitalented “scam characters”!!! HAHAHA, without this program being as open as it was, it would’ve been impossible to be able to see such a myriad of sides to so many different people. I appreciate, I really do.

And I really really realllyyyy enjoyed watching all the behind the scenes of each performance as well!! Of course, its normal to give viewers some background story before each stage, but in Superband, we got to see some very raw sides of music-making….. these dudes literally lived like hobos in the recording studios, all disheveled and sleep-deprived human beans, but ceaselessly making music because that’s what they love. I liked watching teams try out a lot of different songs & styles as they searched for THE right one. And then we got to see the final result on stage after the countless discussions and trials behind the scenes. And these processes repeated for months on end. All the contestants are so commendable in this right. The grind was real, and the show didn’t try to hide that. I enjoyed this very realistic approach !!

At this point, after drowning myself in this show for a few days straight… (those episodes are LONGGGGG, close to two hrs each) ive literally spent every night, and basically day, too, watching all the cuts that jtbc uploaded on youtube over and over and oVERRRRR….. ive also been watching some Superband concert clips, from when the entire final 6 bands went on a domestic tour and performed together for several concerts!!

THAT OPENING STAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BLESS THOSE PEOPLE THAT CAUGHT IT ON CAMERA BECAUSE IT IS LITERALLY SUCH A PIECE OF MUSICAL HEAVEN, omfg the energy on that stage IS SOMETHING ELSE… IF I WERE THERE IN PERSON I PROBABLY WOULDVE CRIED INSTANTLY……. lee juhyeok, kevin oh, chae bohoon, im hyeongbin, kim youngso, ha hyunsang, lee chansol, and kim woosung, all the guitarists/ vocalists lined up in the front… (hearing each vocalist sing a line each made my HEART HURT....I LOVE THEM SM) then the bassists, lee jonghoon, kim hyungwoo, kim hajin, jo wonsang, clustered up AND HAVIN A TIME all by themselves, and the three epic electric guitarists, yang jiwan, kim junhyeob, and Zairo, literally held SUCH stage presence… on the drums: kang kyungyoon all the way to the right, and red haired hwang minjae in the middle, and the super in-sync, traditional drum banging bois, choi youngjin, shin gwang-il, a-il, & jung gwanghyun, all 4 of them bouncing up and down in the back like intense oompa loompas LOL THEY LOOKED SO CUTE, and the string bois!!!!! Shin yechan & benji on the violin next to hong jinho on the cello; yechan and benji started off sitting down but as the song goes on they literally WENT AT IT HAHAHA as expected of two of the most high-energy musicians. On the piano, lee na-woo, the classic icon himself starting off the entire intro, and next to him hong isaac the transformation legend himself on the keyboard + his super distinctive voice!!!!!! And of course, d-pole with his much-expected little music break in the middle….. in fact many of them got ICONIC solo time: kang kyungyoon’s drumming part, kim hyungwoo’s super duper solid bass, minjae’s powerful beats, kim hajin’s LOUD ass bass, lee jonghoon’s legendary slap finger bass playing, jo wonsang’s super ting-y, classic bass section, and yang jiwan’s loud ASS ELEC GUITAR TOO, omg they were all so cute, pointing to each member & hyping them up as it was their few seconds to shine….AND THOSE COLLECTIVE VOICES???? HEARING ALL THE VOCALISTS SING TOGETHER ONE BY ONE… OH my gosh it was soooooo GOOOODDDDDDD.... just watching all those dudes literally have THE TIME OF THEIR LIFE on stage (literally an ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME), the energy was off the charts… I loveeeeee seeing them so happy, making eye contact with each other, jumping up & down, rocking out, laughing with each other, all while playing their instrument, so fervently, all 27 people on the stage, connected by one song…. Theres SO MUCH OVERFLOW of talent in one freaking place, that song sounded SO MASSIVE just thru the video I cant imagine….. if I were actually there omfg… that’s an actual BAND Like A HUGE FRKING BAND… AHHHHHHHHHH a really legendary stage.. the finest of finest……I can literally watch this opening on repeat without getting bored because I just loveeeee the concept of all of them being together like that :”)))

After watching member after member, team after team get eliminated, seeing them like this on one stage with such happy expressions and making a beautiful piece of music like that o MANNNNNN…. This show…… has really done something to me…

I appreciate every contestant SO MUCH and I wish I could watch everyone be together FOREVER….because knowing how artistically talented each person is on their own, to watch them join together is like the avengers times 72737446352 or something, its just talent & skill plus talent & skill stacked onto even more skill & talents and just an INFINITE amount of potential AND THAT…IS LITERALLY.. THE POWER…. OF A BAND………and of great ass music.

This show was GENIUS TO combine so many musicians from so many different backgrounds…but watching them work together to make pure art, that is so frking rewarding and heartwarming and I feel so blessed to have witnessed it all.

The genres and potential were literally limitless……I think this is what encompassed Superband for me, this is what made me enjoy it SO damn much…. I think ive finally run out of things to say… this piece of text is quite a mess, not very polished….. but I was hasty in recording my thoughts & emotions before they left me, so I tried my best.

My biggest regret with this show is that I didn’t watch it sooner. (what is really ironic is that it took me FOREVER to start the first ep, despite having tonssss of time on my hands... I had it open on one of my tabs for the longest time, but I lowkey grudgingly, eventually, forced myself to finally start it LOL..(thank god I rly did tho) I watched it 2 months after the finale, which is… kinda late? If I had watched it while it was airing, all while I was still in korea, I feel like I would’ve been EVEN MORE in love, even more fervent and passionate about everything. Digging thru old vids & watching things from contestants before they came out onto the show, seeing the artists they were, I could’ve easily gone and seen them myself probably… goddamnit I probably could’ve gone to the superband finale live show, if I had known.. I COULDVE VOTED IN REAL TIME... not that I could’ve brought myself to do it anyway, probably lol….. but basically, if I had known of this show WHILE I was there with them… I don’t know, I could’ve been a lot more active as a fan, I feel like..

Now im back to my original roots: crying in front of my laptop screen and tap-tapping away at my keyboard as a I rant to no one but myself. Being in korea made my appreciation for all kinds of artists, all my beloved ones, EVERYONE, a lot more tangible.. but being back in America… it all becomes hidden into the depths of my heart, once again…

PHEW……I think now is a good time to mention my favorite stages… as I mentioned before, the Lucy AND pre-Lucy lineup will always hold a really special place in my heart so basically all my faves include their stages LOL

‘Swim’ cover by LUCY(신예찬, 이주혁, 신광일, 조원상)

‘Hold Back The River’ cover by 신예찬, 이주혁, 신광일

‘Adventure of a Lifetime’ cover by 조원상, 김영소, 이강호, 임형빈

‘누구 없소’ cover by 케빈오, 박찬영, 신광일, 강경윤

‘선잠’ by LUCY

'Castle on the Hill’ cover by 아일, 하현상, 노마드, 홍진호

‘1000x’ cover by 아일, 하현상, 홍진호, 김형우

‘One More Light’ cover by HOPPIPOLLA(아일, 하현상, 홍진호, 김영소)

‘Cry Bird’ cover by LUCY

‘Viva La Vida’ cover by 하현상, 홍진호, 김영소

‘Flare’ by LUCY

‘Find You Again’ by People on the Bridge(이찬솔, 임형빈, 김준협, 강경윤,  김형우)

My favorite funny moments:

“이게 무슨 짓이야!!?” - mellow kitchen (the stealing of the 3 kiddo guitarists)

“okay let’s be honest, you can’t even hear the bass” - shin hyunbin 2k19

울보 팀

Hyunsang’s fam: 아일 the mom, 홍진호 the dad, 김형우 the hyung

“idk if im allowed to say this but it looked like zombie movie” - yoon jongshin, as they all gathered around the cello man

“I thought to myself, isn’t that cello expensive tho..” - yoon jongshin as youngso slapped & tapped jinho’s cello for percussion

Ah-il’s iconic castle on the hill pose

Zairo’s luck with member choosing lmao

HONG ISAK’S DANCING in ‘Time of My Life’ LOLLL IT GETS ME LAUGHING EACH TIMEEE (& all his nicknames, like eungalchi lmaooo)

Benji’s “YO-RO-BOON HAM-KAY HEY-YO” during ‘Woo-ing’

Gwanghyun’s “do-doom-tak”

Gwanghyun calling Gwang-il’s drum skills equivalent to that of a middle school band’s LOLLLL

**I watched Mone’s radio appearance on Arirang Radio where Benji is the host, and they were an absolute MESS LMAOOOOOO THEY WERE HONESTLY ALL REALLY FUNNY THOUGH.. they kept roasting the crap out of each other and laughing their asses off and man… it was gr8 time and it was really cute to discover that Hong Isaac is now a part of one of Benji’s radio shows too!

One important question I have for this show though: where tf did all the females go? Why was there no female presence at all in this show, I have no clue…… :/

At the end of the day, this show reminded me once again, how to feel happy and excited because of music. how to let great music fill my life with undeniable joy. Being able to look forward to listening to these songs every day, definitely had lifted a small part of me that has been down for all too long. I really appreciate, I am very grateful for, I just… im so thankful to have discovered this show & all its wonderful masterpieces & the beautifully, magically, PASSIONATE artists behind it all………. I needed this in my life at this point in time, I really did. 

Thank you for coming to be, Superband.

[darthreporter]

The ultimate guide to your 'Star Wars' binge

Now, when a lot of us are spending more hours indoors than ever, we have the entirety of the "Star Wars" entertainment catalogue at our fingertips. And with a new season of "The Mandalorian" not coming until this fall, revisiting the finer moments of this far away galaxy with a good stream or two doesn't seem like the worst idea. Especially if your viewing of "The Rise of Skywalker" felt like a disturbance in The Force.

Here's the best of the Star Wars universe, in the order you should take it in:

• The original trilogy (Disney Plus): What better way to start a "Star Wars" binge than the original (and still the best) trilogy? "Episode IV: A New Hope," "Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back" and "Episode VI: Return of the Jedi." From the destruction of the Death Star to "I am your father," the classics have aged well.

• The first two prequels (Disney Plus): The prequels were far from universally loved, even for the most die-hard "Star Wars" fans, but the success of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" — the animated series that takes place between episodes II and III — has shined a light on the richness of their universe-building. Watch "Episode I" (for podracing and the greatest live action lightsaber duel of all, among Darth Maul, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn) and "Episode II" (for the creation of the "clones" and the incredible CGI/live-action fusion of Yoda vs. Count Dooku). But before you dive into Episode III, you have to treat yourself to ...

• "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" (Disney Plus): If you've been putting off this series because you think animation can't compete with live-action when it comes to "Star Wars," you're selling yourself short. There are spectacular lightsaber battles, cool clone soldiers (no two are alike) and the most heroic take on Anakin Skywalker.

The prequels only had time to show Anakin as a wonder kid (Episode I), a brat in love (Episode II) and a tragically gullible pawn (Episode III). In "The Clone Wars," now in Season 7, there are hints of his fall, and yes, he's got a temper, but he's nothing short of legendary for more than 100 episodes. We also are introduced to Ahsoka Tano, Anakin's Padawan learner, who has become one of the most popular "Star Wars" characters ever.

There may be nothing in the "Star Wars" canon as thought-provoking and captivating as this series, and to experience it you must consume it all (if you're one of the few true fans who hasn't).

• "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith" (Disney Plus): Tragic love. The fall from grace. Anakin Skywalker vs. Obi-Wan Kenobi. And the birth of a legend: Darth Vader begins here.

• "Star Wars Rebels" (Disney Plus): "Rebels," which takes place five years before "Episode IV: A New Hope," is another (of multiple) animated "Star Wars" options on Disney Plus. While perhaps not as acclaimed as "Clone Wars," the series still has can't-miss moments, particularly Season 2's final episode, which features a lightsaber duel between the no-longer-a-kid Ahsoka and her former Jedi master Anakin, who has been Darth Vader for quite a while at this point. If you only watch one "Rebels" episode, this is the one.

• "Rogue One" (Disney Plus): It doesn't matter if you think "Rogue One," a movie that ends just before the opening moments of "Episode IV," succeeded as a "Star Wars" stand-alone or not. It ends with Darth Vader's greatest moment on film. Don't resist the urge to watch it multiple times.

• "Solo" (Netflix): "Solo" showed fan favorite Darth Maul's brief return to the "Star Wars" live-action cinematic universe after his death in "Episode I," a feat made possible by his rebirth on "Clone Wars." Darth Maul fans can only watch and wonder what might have been if sequels had followed.

Still, this is the origin story of a "Star Wars" legend, Han Solo. And Donald Glover is great as Lando. The film is worth a stream, which will have to be done on Netflix until July 8 (it then moves to Disney Plus).

• The comics (Marvel Comics app and ComiXology): After humble beginnings at Marvel Comics and then two decades at Dark Horse, "Star Wars" returned to Marvel comics in 2015, with tales taking place after the destruction of the Empire's Death Star. The run lasted for 75 issues, with contributions from writers Jason Aaron, Kieron Gillen, Greg Pak and a slew of talented artists. Highlights include issue No. 4, which features Darth Vader's emotional return to Tatooine, and No. 21, with the lightsaber-wielding Sgt. Kreel and his elite squad of stormtroopers.

Marvel's current "Star Wars" series, which began in January, takes place after Luke Skywalker learns Darth Vader is his father. There are other series exploring some of "Star Wars'" greatest evil figures, including Darth Vader, Darth Maul and Kylo Ren, who's represented in a recent miniseries by Charles Soule and Will Sliney.

• "The Mandalorian" (Disney Plus): Baby Yoda, bounty hunters and coming soon ... a live-action Ahsoka Tano. Taking place after the fall of the Empire, "The Mandalorian" is the next generation of live-action "Star Wars" storytelling with vibes of the Wild West merging with deep space. And the arrival of Baby Yoda has proved this series is anything but predictable.

• "The Force Awakens," "The Last Jedi" (Disney Plus) and "The Rise of Skywalker" (iTunes, Amazon and other on-demand platforms): "The Force Awakens" gave us the secret reveal of the next generation of Jedi, plus Darth Vader's moody grandson Kylo Ren and the cuteness of BB-8. "The Last Jedi," while polarizing, is the gem of this trilogy, even with its grump take on Luke Skywalker.

As for "The Rise of Skywalker," you can purchase it now, but why spend those Republic credits ($20)? The Force tells us to do the smart thing and just wait for it to arrive on Disney Plus (and maybe it'll even arrive earlier than you think, the way "Frozen 2" just did). "Rise" is eventually worth a re-watch for Kylo Ren, who's still intriguing despite his predictable character turn, and Rey's path of self-discovery at the end. This trilogy didn't exactly end with the most surprising of bangs, but at least Rey ended up with one really cool new lightsaber.

[sublimegentlemanalpaca]

Been re watching Spice and Wolf, so let me recommend.

Finished rewatching the first season of Spice and Wolf and thought occurred to me. I’ve mentioned this show time and again, but I cannot recall if I ever explained why I enjoyed it or why others should watch it. Let me remedy this. To give a brief explanation of the series, the show follows a Traveling Merchant by the name of Kraft Lawrence (who manages to have silver hair while being in his mid to late twenties. I’m guessing either stress, or this being an anime. Probably stress) is in this one town that’s having its annual Harvest Festival. Due to various circumstances (like having Wheat in the back of his cart) Lawrence ends up meeting the Wolf Godess/Deity/Spirit(?) that the Festival is about named Holo. Due to various agricultural advances and other such things Holo has felt unneeded or unwanted and so makes a deal with Lawrence to help her get back to her homeland in the far north. There’s other stuff but that’s the gist. Traveling Merchant dude helping a Wolf goddess get back home and along the way he just goes about his business doing Merchant stuff. And I should note, this is a romance and the two fall for each other along the way. Now there’s like four to five reasons I’d highly recommend this series. First thing that comes to mind is that the sound track is one of the best I’ve heard. Second, the chemistry between the two main leads is great. Joking, teasing, playful, quite cute at times. Just all around quite solid. With wonderful performances by J. Michael Tatum and Brina Palencia (by the way I insist you watch the Dub over sub since the voices just fit a bit better imho). Other characters....well none are really mainstays...but overall everyone else is fairly good. Third reason is, surprisingly, the economics. Now it’s a common joke that people will have pictures of Holo with text saying ‘I watch it for the economics’, but that is legitimately a reason to watch it. With Lawrence’s job and livelihood based around stuff like Silver purity in coins or what’s worth what and various other things the show explains all the stuff in a way that makes it seem legitimately interesting. It’s not going make you switch to being a Business major or some such, but it is legitimately an interesting and intriguing aspect of the show. One main draw of it that a friend of mine noted was that it was just focused on a regular Merchant dude instead of some heroic hacking and slashing hero type. A refreshing anime occupation. Another reason is that I’ve found this show to be enjoyed by those who generally dislike anime. My late Grandpa and a good college friend of mine were both notable against anime. Or at the very least against certain aspects of anime (drastic changes in animation for comedic effect being something they both disliked). After some badgering from me ( In one case badgering two of my college pals to watch the show with me when they had the time and if they still had the interest) they went about watching it..and legitimately enjoyed it. So it’s a good starter anime I suppose? I recall another friend who was quite cross with me the day after I recommended it since he apparently felt compelled to binge the whole series (or at least the whole first season). I should note that the Church is obviously somewhat of an antagonistic Force. Mind you it’s not like there’s Church officials hunting after the two, just that it’s a threat in the risk of what Holo being discovered might mean. There’s also a corrupted church official here and there but mainly in the background. But most antagonists are relating to Lawrence’s Merchant Stuff. I should note it’s two seasons, each twelve or thirteen episodes long. Annoyingly the second season just sorta stops. The show being based on a series of light novels (of which there are 17 that’s ‘complete’ three after the end, and now there’s a sequel series of books with three out right now) with the anime only adapting the four (If I recall correctly) or so of the first five books. That being said I’ve actually picked up the books from where the show left off, and they’re also quite good. As to how you’d go about watching it..I watched the first few dubbed episodes on Funimation’s YouTube channel (the free ones) and then got the rest on Amazon video. Also, you might want to watch at least the first two to three episodes. Make of this what you will. Al, the Chronographing Cottager and Prince of Naming

[newyorkbaby]

If you see this, post a snippet from your current WIP

I saw @fondleeds post so I thought, why not!

Louis polishes his spoon with the hem of his shirt by the light of the fire, ignoring the ache in his back and the soreness of his bum. The flat cushion he's sitting on is easily the most uncomfortable bed he's ever had, but it's better than sleeping on the cold tube station floor.

He hums along to the radio, some oldies singer crooning out a song Louis has heard hundreds of thousands of times in the past six months. It's just habit, by now.

When his spoon is reasonably clean, he yanks open his satchel and digs around. While there isn't much left to choose from, he still feels indecisive as he pulls out a can of pork 'n' beans and a rolled up bag of Weetabix.

He considers the fact that it's the last of his cereal, the box having only lasted him a few days. He knows he should hold on until he can restock, knows he should savor it, but the cereal-aholic in him takes over and he grabs his bowl and dumps out the remains.

Some powdered milk, some (hopefully) less-than-lethally irradiated water, and soon Louis is digging in. The satisfying sound of his crunching muffles out the droning from the radio, and makes it harder to hear Grimmy's voice as the song comes to a close.

"That was Way Back Home by Bing Crosby and the Bobcats," he says, "in case you have been living under a rock for your entire life and didn't already know."

Louis chuckles to himself after swallowing another spoonful of cereal.

"Honestly," Grimmy continues, "the biggest tragedy of the apocalypse is being left to play the same 10 records over and over again! Anyway," Louis can practically hear Grimmy's eyes rolling, "up next is Roy Brown's Butcher Pete, so enjoy and don't forget to take your RadAway!"

Louis grimaces as the next song starts up, setting aside his mostly-empty cereal bowl and grabbing his pack. He hopes the food he's been eating hasn't been too contaminated, but everything he's eaten since leaving the vault has had that telltale metallic taste to it, so he's not quite sure.

He pulls out three empty packets of RadAway before he finds one with a little bit of solution left. It'll have to do.

Loading up the needle and taking the shot, Louis winces through the sting as the chemicals rush through his bloodstream. Fortunately, he's had lots of practice delivering intravenous medicines. He lets his mind wander as the solution settles, remembering the hours he had spent helping his mother in the vault's clinic, bandaging up scrapes for the kids and helping give the old-timers their pills. He remembers watching his mother struggle to find a useable vein in Mrs. Pennington, an old woman on her way out of this life. When his mum had finally succeeded at connecting the IV, they both watched as Mrs. Pennington drifted to sleep for the last time.

He remembers being afraid to die. Now, though, he knows there are worse fates than dying peacefully in a warm bed, surrounded by friends. Now he's afraid he'll die alone, brutally, without ever knowing the fate of his mother, his sisters, his baby brother.

Louis' thoughts are interrupted by shuffling from down the tube corridor.

He's been living in this underground station for months, having stumbled upon it when he gave up his search for his family near the vault and decided to move south. Since then it's been his home base, and he's suffered his fair share of visitors, mainly in the form of feral dogs and ghouls. Still, he knows that any day could be his last, and the idea of being ripped apart by the monsters of the wastes sends his heart rate spiking.

Leaving the radio on as a cover for the noise, Louis slinks away from the fire he's built in the middle of the platform and hides behind a pillar, loading his last few energy cells into the laser pistol that's barely managed to survive the past few months without repairs.

Louis holds his breath as the shuffling gets closer. He can't pick up any breathing, as is usually the case with feral dogs, and the average feral ghoul usually never stops howling and grunting. He hopes it's just a mutant mole rat or perhaps an oversized insect, but with Louis' luck, he doubts it.

Grimmy's voice continues to spout off on the radio, echoing off the cement walls and bouncing down the tunnels. He announces the next song, and the Glenn Miller Orchestra kicks off a jazzy rendition of At Last. The fire crackles loudly once, twice, and Louis tries not to let the idea that his killer could be on the other side of the pillar he's hiding behind.

When he hears the sound of tin cans being knocked over, and a quiet "shit!" is blurted out by the intruder, Louis' heart jumps into his throat. He acts on instinct, spins around the pillar and points his pistol at the dark figure looming over his things.

"Oi!" he shouts. "Drop your weapons and put your hands up!"

The intruder - a man, Louis notices - squeaks and drops what Louis recognizes as his own copy of Tumblers Today. His hands fly up as he turns towards Louis, and the light from the fire illuminates his face.

Louis' hands tremble as he takes the man in, from his dirty boots to the messy bun that sits on the top of his head. His eyes are wide and seem black in the poor lighting of the tube station, and his fingers are visibly shaking where they poke out of his fingerless gloves. He's taller than Louis, and broader, but he looks as if he's just seen his entire life flash before his eyes. Louis can't blame him, really. Nobody likes surprises, not in the wasteland.

"What are you doing here?" Louis demands, hoping the tremors in his voice are somewhat hidden by the gentle love song playing in the background.

"I-I'm just looking," the man stammers, "just looking for parts!"

"Parts? What do you mean, parts? What kind of parts?" Louis knows the man must be looking for weapons and ammo, same as Louis has been doing for the past six months, but he's so completely shocked to see another human that he can't quite figure out what exactly he should say.

"Anything," the man says. "I look for scraps, for tech, anything! Please don't shoot me!" His voice, though deep, jumps a few octaves when he pleads.

"Quiet!" Louis hisses, nervously rocking from foot to foot. His inclination is to believe the man, but his head is fuzzy and his heart is pounding and dammit, he didn't even know there were other people still alive out here! "Have you got any weapons?"

The man nods. "In my bag, and in the holster." He nods again, this time towards the belt that is resting snug against his hips.

Louis looks closer, feeling his heart return to a semi-normal pace of beating. The stranger isn't lying; there is definitely an old-school pistol tucked into a holster on his right side, and he can see what looks to be the barrel end of a rifle sticking out of the top of his backpack. There are also multiple purses slung across his chest, Louis notices, although he's not sure what their purpose is. He doubts the man is trying to make any fashion statements, but, stranger things, and all that.

"What else do you have on you?" Louis asks, lowering his gun slightly, but not entirely.

"Just scrap metal, a few batteries, ammo, some food-"

"Alright," Louis stops him. "I get it. Listen-"

"Harry," the stranger supplies.

"Right. Harry. Listen, I-"

Both of them stop talking as a series of howls interrupt their encounter. The hairs on Louis' arms and the back of his neck stand at full attention. He knows that noise, absolutely.

"Ghouls," he whispers.

Harry is immediately three steps further away than he was before, though his arms are still raised. Louis re-aims his pistol on the stranger.

"Hold it," he demands, his voice a harsh whisper. Another series of howls rings out, and Louis regrets not switching off the radio before. The love song has ended and Grimmy is chattering away, likely drawing the ghouls in, but Louis refuses to turn his back to the stranger for even a second.

"I'm sorry I intruded," Harry says as he continues to move back incrementally, "but I really must be going."

"But!" Louis quickly runs through excuses to keep the stranger in place in his head. He is untrusting, and he's scared, but maybe Harry knows where other people are. Maybe he's seen-

More screeching, and grunting. The ghouls are surely just around the bend, soon to descend on Louis' hideaway.

"Come with me," Harry blurts, and Louis swallows hard.

It's a huge risk. Harry might kill him, or worse.

Still, between another living human and a pack of glowing, flesh-dripping mutants, the choice is somewhat easy.

"Okay."

Louis puts down his gun, grabs his pack, and shovels in what he can before he takes off after Harry. As they ascend the platform steps and break out above ground, Grimmy's laughter is drowned out by the howling of the feral ghouls.

[foursprout-blog]

All The Numerous Ways I’ve Failed At Curing My Depression

New Post has been published on http://foursprout.com/happiness/all-the-numerous-ways-ive-failed-at-curing-my-depression-2/

All The Numerous Ways I’ve Failed At Curing My Depression

Alivia Latimer

I had no idea what was happening to me. I had no map in dealing with whatever was plaguing my mentality. I didn’t know where I was going, I just knew I was going south. I figured whatever it was would go away soon enough, so I did nothing. It didn’t go away.

I spent the bulk of my days lying in bed until my mattress became indented in the center. I soundtracked this indolence with playlist chalked full of Kid Cudi and Elliot Smith dirges. I smoked bunk weed and binge-watched TV series’ multiple times over instead of honoring social engagements. I stuffed myself with high fructose corn syrup and other ingredients with scientific names and questionable nutritional value. I hid out in figurative closets, dimly lit dive bars and under unwashed duvet covers. I masturbated like I was sponsored. I felt myself getting irritated and rustled easily. I felt like my friends were a cause of my mindset and began searching for reasons to cut them off one by one until my social circle consisted of me and the four corners I imprisoned myself into. My addled mind told me they were against me and I rationalized my actions as my twisted perceptions became realities. Alienating them became the first thing I was successful at in a long time.

The pain alleviated briefly. I convinced myself that the bad memories pilling up in my decaying hometown weren’t helping and that I just needed a new setting, so I impulsively decided to quit my job and move 3,000 miles across the country. After 24 hours of driving, I parked my car in a random apartment complex in El Paso, Texas and cried in the backseat. I carried whatever was sullying my soul with me to Los Angeles.

I fell back into the same habits that maimed me back home. I got another job that I hated. I bought another mattress that I’d spend days stuck on until it began to sag too. I found myself drinking more than usual. I felt pains in my side and hoped it was cancer. I drank until I became interesting and met new people. We became allies in destructive dependency and late-night depravity. I blacked out on benzos in seedy bars. I had coked up heart palpitations in LED lit nightclubs. I popped molly and made out with strangers in underground warehouse parties. I was always hungover or coming down. I spent nights participating in wanton sport-fucking and mornings sitting in clinical waiting rooms with a curable souvenir. I inhaled amyl nitrite until my lips and nails turned blue and swallowed doxycycline until my dick stopped burning when I pissed. I necked Tramadol, parachuted Norcos, cold water extracted Percocets and snorted Roxicodone until I could hardly breathe out of my nostrils. I was always tripping over empty boxes Benadryl and bottles of white grapefruit juice. All of this made me feel better until it didn’t. I was paying damn near two bucks an mg. All of this made me feel better until I could no longer afford it. I tried to quit, but it wasn’t that easy. My sweat was sweating. My bones felt like they’d been shattered with a sledgehammer. I felt like a walking corpse. I lost my thoughts to psychosis. I popped Imodium pills that didn’t help. I felt like dying. I withdrew by myself on an air mattress that sunk to the floor a few hours after being blown up.

I let those friendships fade. I kept my distance until the relationships dissolved. My addled mind told me that they were against me. I became selfish. See also: self-involved, self-loathing, self-defeating, self-deprecating, self-destructing, self-sabotaging, self-vectoring, self-harm, and self-pity.

I spent hours scouring through depression reddits and reading articles. I realized that depression wasn’t that feeling you got after failing a test you studied hard for or watching your favorite team lose. I tried to correct the chemical imbalance. I ate salmon, avocados, and Brazilian nuts to improve the amount of omega-3 fatty acid, folic acid, and selenium in my diet. I took tumeric circumin, ginkgo biloba, and l-theanine supplements to enhance the dopamine in my brain. I popped B vitamins, ZMA, St. John’s Worts and SAM-e pills to no avail. I stood out in the sun for proper vitamin D synthetization. I logged weeks doing fundamentally sound push-ups. I bought a Perfect Pullup and resistance bands. I worked out for more than 21 days and still couldn’t create a habit. I read self-help books. I’d re-read them because I kept spacing out. I stared at myself in the mirror, giving myself boilerplate positive affirmations.

Nothing worked.

I sat cross-legged and attempted to meditate, trying to focus on my breath flowing through my Svadhisthana chakra, but straying into thoughts about cheeseburgers and Looney Tunes. I rearranged my bedroom, hoping to eliminate the negative ions in my life. I lit smudge sticks and placed selenite crystals and Himalayan salt lamps around my abode. I participated in early morning Runyon Canyon hikes, mid-day apartment pacing, and late-night sodium vapor lit walks. I attempted to quit masturbating and even thinking about sex period, but that just made me feel even worse. In a last-ditch effort, I prayed until my knees were bloody and bruised. I taped scriptures above my desk. I lit Virgen de Guadalupe, Ecce-Homo Gran Poder, and Siete Potencias Africanas candles until they burned out.

Nothing worked.

I swallowed a handful of pills and washed it down with vodka hoping to end it one day, but I guess my hearse caught a flat on the highway to hell because instead, I woke up 24 hours later feeling better than I had in a long time.

I met a guy that I loved more than I’ll ever love any man again in my life. I had a nice streak where I didn’t have my typical ups and downs or crazy mood swings. Things were going good…too good. I decided to end the relationship before I got blindsided and he had a chance to cause me harm first. I was creating chaos where there was none and getting mad about things that hadn’t even happened.

I moved back home and fell back into my depressive habits. I had a hard time even looking strangers in the face because I felt like they could see my anxiety and would feel embarrassed by it. I tried to reconnect with my high school friends. I got drunk and tried to talk to them about it until they shot off weird looks at me for letting my feelings fly unfettered. I was told to “man up” and “get over it.” I was reminded that there are people that won’t be waking up today, so I guess my feelings were invalid. I was a burden and pending wreak and they couldn’t understand the severity of it. I ghosted them for a year until they got the message.

I white knuckled it. I became detached. I heard that most people used this illness to scratch out a masterpiece. I got a job with insurance and set up an appointment with a doctor. I hopped into the world of prescription medication through a passionless doctor with a penchant for palliative remedies who barely listened to me while I was shooting off a list of symptoms. I went on medication roulette. I took Cymbalta which killed my creativity, Zoloft which made my dick useless, and Lexapro that electrocuted my brain occasionally. I tried to talk to a therapist but saw through the entire thing and blew it off two meetings in.

Defeated, I accepted that this was just my fate and told myself, “I must’ve had a hell of a past life.” I became more comfortable in my isolation. I became more familiar with my illness. I fed into it. Feeling out of place became normal. I was convinced that I’d just grow older, catch cirrhosis, and die alone.

And then, it seemingly just stopped. I was moderating mids like I usually do during more emotionally prosperous periods when a depressive episode ends, and never really dipped back into the red. I’m still not sure if everything I did to try to deal with the psych ache actually aided in my recovery, or if circumnavigating the issue altogether forced it to not become the most important force in my life. When I became content with how things were going to be, they stopped having control over who I was, or at least who I thought I was. Old tendencies die hard, and at times, I slip back into depressive mode out of a force of habit. But now, I’m better equipped to pull myself out of the dregs.

As tough as it was, I’d even say I was grateful for it. It gave me a different perspective on life. It gave me empathy. It gave me understanding. I pulled myself out of the inferno and the stars shined brighter than they ever have before.