#not a review just a lot of flailing

[shredsandpatches]

Congrats on watching the 2004 Faust! Bryn Terfel's Mephisto has to be one of the best acting efforts in any opera recording ever, to me. Mildly unusual take on the character, but just honestly 100% perfect in every scene. He's so ugly! And he's so disappointed! And he's evil! Performance of all time. And I agree the serenade/duel scene is fantastic.

Oh their Marguerite also has the rare combo of being super beautiful and sounding super good. I love her. Alagna Faust also not bad, I like how he's so small. And the cartwheel of course.

And the ballet dancers 😭😭😭 And how the devils come out to cheer / mock the patriotism during the soldiers' chorus. That's like borderline poignant.

Well this was really more of a comment than a question but I just love that recording.

(I like Keenlyside and I like Valentin but Keenlyside Valentin is meh to me) (Degout Valentin is where it's at)

Okay I gotta admit: I actually thought Bryn Terfel's Mephistopheles was really hot. In a creepy and sweaty way, certainly, but also, really hot. Maybe I'm weird? (Or a Marthe kinnie.) He absolutely rocked that ballgown. And we are, at any rate, in complete agreement that he was AWESOME. THAT SOUL-PIERCING STARE. I honestly saw a lot of Marlowe's Mephistopheles in his take on the role--that very grim quality he brings to it, and the touches of melancholy at the beginning and end. Maybe the Marlowe vibes are a British thing? Really interesting contrast with Erwin Schrott's Mephistopheles, who brings a lot more of the traditional sass (and who also absolutely rocks the ballgown, of course). Terfel's version would never do the dork dance that Schrott does at the end of "Le veau d'or" (NB. I love the dork dance.) I also thought the 2004 had more homoeroticism than the 2019 and of course I'm always gonna be on board for that.

Angela Gheorghiu is pretty much always great, I agree. She was still married to Roberto Alagna when they did this and real-life couples don't always have chemistry in performance but they did here--obviously they are playing a disaster couple but you still need to have chemistry. I'm not a huge fan of Alagna's singing generally (too reedy and scoopy for me) but his acting and especially his physical acting was really good. (Another interesting contrast: Michael Fabiano in 2019 reads a lot younger than Alagna does in 2004 even though the relative ages at the time of the performances are not that far apart: 35 vs. 41. They were both younger than I am now! I guess Fabiano is just more baby-faced but their duets with their respective Marguerites read pretty differently.)

Also agreed about the soldiers' chorus--given the setting in Belle Epoque (and the fact that I wrote a giant term paper about it in high school) it gives the impression that the war they're coming back from is the Franco-Prussian (even though the localization is not that literal/specific) in which case, of course, they'd be coming back from getting pasted.

ANYWAY. YES. Love this production a lot, both versions. Oh, I also thought that although the DVD quality wasn't as clear (it predates HD I think, or at least HD being common), some of the scenes were filmed in a way that makes the narrative a little clearer -- the Walpurgisnacht ballet in particular. I thought the actual dancing was stronger in 2019 but the 2004 filming put you closer to it. (Also you got a better sense of Faust's reactions; in the 2019 you could hardly see him.)

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

bits I remember from John Mulaney's tour act that didn't make it into the Netflix special:

- his Natasha Lyonne impression 😔 it was much funnier than the Fred Armisen one tbh

- something to the effect of 'before my intervention everyone agreed to be nice to me in their speeches. except they all forgot to tell Nick Kroll that. and he went FIRST'

- during the 'trust doctors' bit he got sidetracked and started making a flat earth joke, he was like 'I'm not saying I believe it, but like-' and someone in the audience yelled 'BOO' and he immediately shot back 'OH FUCK YOU YOU DO NOT WALK AROUND GOING WOOOOoooooOOOO I-I-ITS A-A-A S-SPH-PHERRRREEEE' while doing this truly incredible flailing of his limbs

- 'do you know how weird it is for your baby to get mixed reviews? do you know how goddamn weird it is to announce your baby and have people go 'ehh, I liked his old work better'

- he also joked that getting divorced, getting into a new relationship and having a baby so fast was just him following the "baby steps" rules of getting clean lol

- when he was listing everything he was addicted to one of the drugs got a 'woo!' from the audience which turned into crowd work of finding out what everyone in the theater was addicted to

- he asked a teenager in the audience if he vapes and the kid said no and then his friend sitting next to him screamed 'DON'T LIE TO HIM!!!' loud enough for the whole theater to hear

-oh also there was a lot more about going back and forth with his poor accountant lol. this is all I noticed off the top of my head! wondering what was different in other tour spots?

[grogumaximus]

While Verstappen was able to continue, and was later given a 10-second penalty for having caused the collision, McLaren driver Norris had to retire due to the subsequent damage his flailing tyre had caused.

Although Norris’s race ended in disappointment, he told the Chris Moyles Show on Radio X on Wednesday that he feels he did the right thing and has no regrets about taking the fight to Verstappen.

“I reviewed everything, we’ve gone over stuff, and let’s say I won’t really change what I did,” he said.

“I was fighting, and that’s what we want – we want to fight!

“We don’t want to complain, we don’t want things to end like they did, both from my Max’s side and from my side. So, that’s life sometimes.

We’re fighting, we both want to win, and we’re going to push it to the limits – some slightly more than others. “At the same time, I’m excited. We’re going to have more fights together, and I look forward to those times.”

While opinion between fans is divided about who was to blame for the incident, Norris acknowledged that in the heat of wheel-to-wheel competition it can be difficult sometimes to be pinpoint sure of where your car is.

“It’s tough,” he said. “It’s a lot harder to do some things when you’re behind the wheel.

“It’s never as easy as saying, ‘Why did you do that? Why didn’t you do this?’ Because when you’re in the car and you’re making these decisions…”

He added: “It’s so hard to be as accurate as what it looks like on TV. So when it is those two centimetres that it should be or stuff like that, it’s almost impossible to judge.

“But that’s what it is, that’s the competition we’re against, and we love it. We want to go out and race hard and we want it to be easy, because we just want to win.

“But at the same time, it puts a smile on our face when we can have that competition in a race, and I think it’s good for everyone watching.”

[toskarin]

before I start on this ramble about sca-ji, I'm boilerplating it with "this isn't an original thought, this is an amalgamation of thoughts I've digested from other people, regurgitated as a positive review of a writer's approach to the unfamiliar"

which, after writing that out, seems oddly fitting for praising sca-ji's writing lol

one thing about sca-ji's writing that makes a lot of people bounce off of it is that it's got an omnipresent confrontational tone, which means you can read unintended hostility into it

the thing is, that's an enormous disservice to how he writes, which is something you can see reflected more clearly in how he talks about philosophy in interviews (and on his twitter)

you can interpret SubaHibi as "anti-christian" or, overcompensating, read it as an aesthetically christian story that doesn't necessarily expect you to interpret the symbols with their traditional meaning. that's also pretty ungenerous

fundamentally, sca-ji is someone deeply fascinated by trying to understand things, in particular by writing stories about people trying to understand each other, and he comes to understand things by wrestling with their core ideas in his head until he eventually finds himself standing in the same position as the person who wrote the work he's studying

the christian themes in SubaHibi are less about trying to understand christianity than they are about trying to understand christian philosophy that developed to try and understand christianity. the symbols aren't necessarily to be understood scripturally, but they absolutely have to be understood theologically

sca-ji's way of understanding something is to find the arguments it's making and then force himself into those same arguments, from the same direction, until he feels he's gotten a grip on the (unwritten) emotions that led to the writing. then, because these emotions are derived from western philosophy, he creates a sort of "international dialogue" by attaching these emotions to characters who are navigating (more familiar) japanese cultural events that emotionally resonated with him

characters like to sit across the room from each other and rattle off citations that seem extraneous, but are actually (two degrees removed) attempts to figure out where they're going to disagree before they actually reach the point of disagreement. if it's not connecting, it will either feel superfluous (in the case you aren't following the conversation) or overly confrontational (in the event you are, but can only see it for the disagreement)

this is present in all of his writing. even when he's just rambling about other people, he's flailing at the air in what seems like anger, trying to force his body into the shape of their opinion and loudly announcing every difficulty he discovers in doing so as it emerges

which is really cool! it's a pretty distinct style of almost-vulgar writing, the gonzo journalism of existentialism, that's admittedly a bit underrepresented outside of like... the mid-20th century nihilist-orientalist wave that seemed to have an epicentre in france

and mind you, that entire trend was much much much more annoying and cruel towards things they weren't willing to understand

[ejzah]

A/N: We return for a brief sojourn into the FLETC saga.

***

Your Own Worst Enemy

Deeks rolled his head, stretching his neck as a fifteen-minute mock interrogation video ended. As the screen turned black, Instructor Reczick flipped on the lights, briefly blinding everyone, then walked back to the front of the class.

Three weeks into the advanced interrogation, they’d moved on from studying techniques and rules to more practical application. It was pretty much all review for Deeks, but he usually enjoyed the opportunity to role play. And pick apart the various videos.

“Alright, what is the first mistake the Agent made in this example?” Reczick asked, pacing to the left while he waited for a response. A female cadet, Dakota, raised her hand, successfully providing the answer. A few more questions later, Reczick pointed to Deeks.

“Our resident legal expert. Any glaring mistakes that would invalidate this interrogation?”

“Well, he did ignore the suspect’s request for a lawyer, but somehow I’m guessing that’s not what you’re going for,” Deeks replied. Around him, the room had gone quiet, most of the class’s attention glued to him, as had become increasingly frequent. At first, the attention seemed to come from a morbid curiosity, but now they seemed genuinely interested in what he had to say. “I’d also say that the prolonged amount of time the suspect sat in isolation, not to mention threatening the welfare of his family, would make a good case for coercion.”

“Excellent.” Reczick nodded to Deeks approvingly before moving on. Half an hour later after the video had been throughly dissected, Reczick announced a five minute break before they would break into small groups of two or three.

Deeks took the opportunity to send Kensi a quick text. Based on their phone call this morning, she’d be too busy to respond until later, but he liked to rest thought out the day when he could. It was a poor replacement, but the closest they could get to their usual banter.

God, he missed her.

“Well, look at you showing off again,” a scathing voice interrupted Deeks mid-text. He looked up slowly to find Alan standing next to his desk, shaking his head in apparent disgust.

“I beg your pardon?” Deeks said neutrally.

“You just had to showboat, didn’t you. Let everyone see the big lawyer on campus.”

“I’m not sure what you what from me here. Did you expect me to give the wrong answer?” Deeks asked. He was legitimately confused by the younger guy’s response. Since the day they met, Alan Porter seemed set on hating Deeks, no matter how much he kept to himself. Or tried to help when Alan was clearly flailing.

“You didn’t have to answer it so perfectly.”

Setting his pencil to the side, Deeks braced his arms forearms on the table, turning to face Alan directly. It occurred to him how young Alan looked despite his twenty six years.

“Alan, did it ever occur to you that I’m under a lot of scrutiny here? I have a history with NCIS and experience that the most of you don’t, which means the instructors are expecting me to perform at a higher level than the average cadet. I’m supposed to know how to perform an interrogation because I’ve been in law enforcement for a decade and a half. I’m not showing off or trying to one-up you or anyone else. I’m just trying to survive. Just like every other person in this cohort.”

Deeks pause to let the words sink in; Alan’s eyebrows furrowed briefly, and for a second, but then he snorted dismissively.

“Yeah, it’s easy for you to say when you’re a teacher’s pet. You run around everywhere with your little study group hanging onto your every word, idolizing you,” Alan sneered. Even though it wasn’t the first time he’d expressed his dislike, Deeks was a little taken aback by the pure vitriol Alan threw at him.

“Hey Porter, good to see you socializing for one,” Reczick said loudly, coming up behind Alan. “Why don’t you pair up with Deeks? It’ll be good practice for you.”

“Yeah right,” Alan muttered at the suggestion and walked away.

“I don’t think he’s a morning person,” Deeks commented glibly, drawing an almost-smirk out of Reczick.

“Hmm. Some people just don’t know how to help themselves,” he sighed. He patted Deeks on the shoulder. “C’mon, you can practice with me.”

Deeks took another look in Alan’s direction. He didn’t need the guy to love him, but it would certainly make life a lot easier.

[gtunesmiff]

7 Things That Will Doom Your Novel (& How to Avoid Them)

You can doom your debut novel from the start with these 7 (tongue-in-cheek) strategies for flailing, and failing—or, you can do just the opposite.

There are a lot of ways not to do something. Like the new boat owner a few years ago who was filling up his pleasure craft with fuel for that first time out. Only he mistook the tube meant to hold fishing poles for the gas tank. After completing his work he started up the engine.

The gas fumes ignited and blew the boat owner into the sky. He came down in the drink and was rescued, but the boat was a goner.

You can be just as creative in finding ways not to write your novel. With a little thought and not much effort, you can easily devise methods to prevent yourself from actually finishing a book—or finishing a book that has a chance to sell.

So if not finishing or not selling are your goals, I’m here to help you with the following seven tips:

1. Wait for inspiration.

Go to your favorite writing spot with your laptop or pad. Perhaps your location of choice is a Starbucks. Sit down with a cup of coffee and hold it with both hands. Sip it slowly. Do not put your fingers anywhere near the keyboard. Glance out a window if one is available. Wait for a skein of geese flying in V formation. If no window is available, simply observe the other patrons and make sure they can see your expression of other-worldly concentration.

You are waiting for inspiration. It must come from on high and fill you like fire.

Until then, do not write a word. If you’re tempted to start working without it, open up Spider Solitaire immediately. Tell yourself this will relax your mind so inspiration can pour in.

Of course, those who think it wise to finish their novels do things backwards. They don’t wait for inspiration. They go after it, as Jack London said he did, “with a club.” They follow the advice of Peter De Vries, who said, “I write when I’m inspired, and I see to it that I’m inspired at nine o’clock every morning.”

These poor souls think the secret to writing a novel is to write, and work through minor problems quickly, and major ones after the first draft is done.

They do things like this:

Establish a writing quota. The quota is based not on how much time they spend thinking about writing, but on how many words they get down. Some do a daily quota, others do it by the week. But they figure out what they can comfortably get done and set a quota about 10 percent above that as a goal.

Review the previous day’s writing and move on. By looking at what they wrote the day before, they get back into the flow of their story. They fix little things, spelling and style mostly, but then get on with the day’s work.

And one day they look up and see a finished manuscript. They have lost sight of how not to write a novel.

2. Look over your shoulder.

The great pitcher Satchel Paige said, “Don’t look back. Something may be gaining on you.”

It’s good life advice, but in order to not write your novel, you must ignore it.

To not write your novel, constantly worry about how bad your book might turn out to be. Pause every thousand words or so and think, This is about the worst piece of crud known to man. Where did I put the bourbon?

This is sometimes known as the “inner critic,” and he’s your best friend.

If you think about those doubts long enough, you can even develop them into fears. Jack Bickham, a novelist who was even better known for his books on the craft, put it this way:

“All of us are scared: of looking dumb, of running out of ideas, of never selling our copy, of not getting noticed. We fiction writers make a business of being scared, and not just of looking dumb. Some of these fears may never go away, and we may just have to learn to live with them.”

Of course, some writers learn not only to live with doubt and fear, but to defeat them. How do they do that? I shouldn’t tell you, because it’s counterproductive to not writing your novel. But mostly they simply pound away at the keyboard.

They concentrate on the words in front of them and kick that inner critic to the curb.

They train themselves to do this via writing exercises, such as:

The Five-Minute Nonstop. Write for five minutes, first thing in the morning if possible, without stopping to think about what you’re writing. No correcting. Just write.

The Page-Long Sentence. Choose something to describe (a room or a character) and write a page-long sentence about it, not pausing to edit and instead going on whatever tangents present themselves.

The List Maker. Whenever you’re stuck for an idea to pursue, make a list. Brainstorm ideas without assessing them. Turn off your filter. Get lots of ideas, then pick the best one.

Writers who have dulled the inner critic don’t worry about getting the words right. The only thing they worry about is getting the words written.

They really have not got this not writing a novel thing down at all.

3. Ignore the craft.

This piece of advice on how to not write a novel applies whether you finish your first draft or not. It’s the cry of the artistic rebel who will go to the grave denouncing rules and techniques and anything that gets within a hundred yards of structure.

This does create a very good feeling, like you’re the king of the world. You can completely ignore all of the storytellers who came before you (be sure to call them hacks or sellouts). The fact that you’ll most likely not place your book anywhere shouldn’t hinder you from your intractable writing course.

The misdirected scribes who actually sell their books and build readerships take the craft of writing seriously. They study it without apology. They have people give them feedback—editors, critique groups, trusted and objective friends—and they read countless novels and examine what’s going on. They’ll do the following:

Analyze successful stories. They ask questions when reading and use their findings to help strengthen their work. For example:

How does the writer make me want to turn the page?

Why am I drawn to the lead character?

When are the stakes raised?

How does the writer integrate minor characters?

What makes a scene work?

What’s the key to conflict?

How does the writer handle dialogue?

These studious writers will be spotted reading Writer’s Digest and books on writing. What they learn they apply and practice, and through the wonder of trial and error find themselves growing as writers.

But this is an article on how not to write a novel, so follow their example at your peril.

4. Keep a chip on your shoulder.

Here’s a surefire way not only to create a novel not worth reading, but scuttle your career as well. Decide that arrogance and defiance are your two weapons of choice to bulldog your way to publication.

When you have a manuscript rejected, treat it as a personal insult. Think of editors and agents as nasty creatures who love saying no, who sit at their computers laughing Bwahahahahaha as they fire off their favorite thing: the impersonal form letter.

You can carry all this to your social media sites and publicly rebuke such shortsightedness. By name.

Those who do break through and obtain a career have the crazy idea that they can recover—even learn—from rejection and use it as motivation to write better.

They foolishly remember the admonition of writer Ron Goulart: “Never assume that a rejection of your stuff is also a rejection of you as a person. Unless it’s accompanied by a punch in the nose.”

Yes, they recognize that rejection hurts. But they believe it’s part of the process and always will be. Writers like this do the following:

Wallow, then write. They let the rejection hurt for half an hour or so, then get back to the keyboard.

Learn from the critique. They go through the letter and their manuscript and attempt to draw out any lesson the rejection brings. They understand that people in the publishing industry actually want to find new authors.

Of course, these are terrible tips for not writing a novel!

5. Write for the market only.

Now let’s talk about one of the biggest keys to a novel that really has no chance. Start by chasing the market. Study the bestseller lists and try to identify a trend and jump on it.

There’s a saying in publishing that the moment you spot a trend, it’s too late to join it. By the time you finish writing something you think will be popular because it’s popular now, that ship will have largely sailed.

Ignore that saying, or you may end up with something agents and editors look for: a fresh voice.

Such writers are market conscious. They know that publishers are in this business to make money, a return on their investment in a new writer.

But they still manage to bring something new to the table, namely their own heart and passion filtered through a craft that enables readers to share their vision.

Yes, vision. Any genre needs it. As super agent Donald Maass says in The Fire in Fiction: “What the hell are you trying to say to me?”

Writers with fresh voices:

Explore all facets of a story. They concentrate on feeling the story as well as writing it.

Read a wide variety of material. These writers read outside their genre—even poetry!—not to find out what’s hot, but to expand their stylistic range.

But just beware that if you do find your voice, that means you’re not not writing your novel.

6. Take as many shortcuts as possible.

With the boom in e-books and the ease with which anything can be “published,” writers have a new way not to write a novel that might be worth reading. It’s by holding the thought firmly in mind that whatever they write is worth putting out as a self-released e-book, and they will do it no matter what!

This relieves a lot of the pressure of trying to grow as a writer. One can combine this with the chip-on-your-shoulder attitude for a terrific double whammy.

Of course, other writers—those who are laying a strong foundation in the nontraditional realm of digital and independent publishing—foolishly continue to find surefire ways to vet their work:

They will use test readers. They don’t trust themselves in all ways. They know they need objective readers, so they cultivate people they trust to tell them specifically what’s not working. Then they’ll figure out a way to fix it.

They will hire a good freelance editor. They know that the big benefit of a traditional publisher is professional editing, so it’s worth it to them to find a reputable freelance editor to go over their work. Note the word reputable. There are less-than-savory services out there that will gladly take a writer’s money for very little quality work. (And if you’re trying to not write a novel that’s publishable, you should probably use them!)

7. Quit.

If all else succeeds and you’re still intent on not finishing your novel, you have a surefire fallback: Stop writing.

Forget the examples of those who persevered and eventually found an agent or got published. Like Kathryn Stockett. She wrote and edited The Help over a five-year period, then got three-and-a-half years’ worth of rejections from agents—60 in all. It was agent 61 who took her on, and the rest you know well.

Published authors will tell you it’s all about perseverance, the one characteristic all successful writers share. They’ll tell you as long as you’ve got a computer and keyboard, or pen and paper, you can write. And as long as you write you have a chance to get published.

Author David Eddings said, “Keep working. Keep trying. Keep believing. You still might not make it, but at least you gave it your best shot. If you don’t have calluses on your soul, writing isn’t for you. Take up knitting instead.” 

With several bestselling series under his belt, he definitely wasn’t very good at not writing novels.

… Wait. What’s that? You actually want to write a novel? Well, I’m not the writing sheriff. The choice is yours.

~ James Scott Bell || Writers Digest || 4/29/2016

[the-axe-and-flail]

YAAAAAAALLL

Look who arrived today!!!

He's fucking GORGEOUS and HUGE and he weighs a fuckton and IM IN LOVE 🥹

Just look at the scale of this beast

This is him next to my 8 inch banpresto and the hashira kneeling banpresto

Not to mention just the flail itself is the size of my palm!

Anyway review time- Link, for any interested

I purchase him from FavorGK and the experience was incredibly easy and very streamlined. You pay for the fig in two options (either via payments or upfront total). If it is a pre-order there will be a wait, but otherwise the website customer service emails you giving you the shipping total, and then it ships out direct from production line to you. I paid for shipping on March 4th and he arrived today (June 21), so shipping definitely takes a hot minute, but a package this massive (literally the box was wider than my little trex armspan) will travel much slower.

He arrived with 0 damage, very very well padded, and with lots of wonderful identification as well. The thing weighs like 10 lbs, and is solid resin. Pieces were very easy to assemble and most of them were magnetic to make fitting even more simple.

I cannot recommend this process enough and when they announce Genya, Kyojuro, and Mitsuri I'm gonna snag them all too!

Overall- 9/10, the only beef I had was UPS being shit with updating tracking. I had no idea he was even in the states before he was on my doorstep. The detail, the quality, and the customer service we're absolutely tops!

[boydepartment]

Can you make another sunghoon comfort fic, thanks and your work is so amazing <3

sure i can!!! i hope you’re doing well ❤️

MASTERLIST

Tell me baby!- Park Sunghoon x Gn! Reader

wc- 550

“I just don’t understand why she said that!” You exclaimed, you just got back from your afternoon class and some girl just totally read over your screen without asking.

“She just started peer reviewing your paper without asking?” Sunghoon asked, trying to grasp the situation. It sounded crazy to him, well, as much as he could understand. He hasn’t really been to a ‘normal’ school.

“Yes!” You flopped down on the couch. You put your face in a pillow before continuing, “she even said she was surprised I made it to this class!”

Sunghoon watched as you vented with your head in the pillow. Even when you were upset or stressed, he still thought you were attractive. It was cute to see you flailing as you talked but still keeping your head in the pillow. He just watched you talk; he was listening… mostly.

“And then! She got her friend to look at it! It was my rough draft like give me a bre-“you sat up now, hair messy, and those pillow dents in your face. Sunghoon was just watching you with a smile.

“What?” You questioned, trying to fix your hair.

“Nothing, you’re just cute even when you’re mad.”

Your brows furrowed and you crossed your arms, “yeah! I am mad! My paper didn’t suck it was just a draft! Oh, and you won’t believe this!”

Sunghoon sat down next to you, “do tell me what I won’t believe.” He loved times like this with you. He was glad you trusted him with these things, confined in him. Sunghoon confined in you too. However, the things that caused him stress seemed so insane compared to yours. Yours made him feel like he was a college student like you. He could put himself in the mindset of college boyfriend. He loved it.

“She was like, ‘oh you like enhypen? I see your polaroid on the back of your phone.’ LIKE GIRL STAY OUT OF MY BUSINESS!” You said and leaned back on the couch looking at Sunghoon.

“Were you even listening?” You asked, he looked like he was in the clouds.

“I was!” Sunghoon said, it was sort of a lie. He was giddy at the fact you had a polaroid of him on the back of your phone.

Either way, you smiled at him and leaned into him, “thank you for listening.”

Sunghoon looked at you like you were the one star in the sky, “my favorite thing to do is listen to you talk. I may not to be able to offer you advice sometimes, but I will always listen.”

Sunghoon saying that to you meant a lot, with some past friends and partners they didn’t listen to you often. You couldn’t express yourself around them. However, with Sunghoon it was different. He made you feel like you were special. Sunghoon made you feel like you were the celebrity.

It was unspoken how you both made each other feel, it didn’t have to be spoken though. Feeling it was enough for you both.

“I love you.” You whispered, all calmed down. Sunghoon smiled at you, he pushed your hair back.

“I love you more.”

You sat up, brows furrowing again, “that’s not true!”

“Um, yes, it is! Now c’mon we are going out!” He sat up, grabbing your hand. Your heart smiled as you looked up at him and let you drag you off to wherever.

[books-in-a-storm]

Paranormal Star Review

Title: Urban Academy #3 Semester 3

Author: Mazzy J. March

Pages:101

Rating:⭐⭐⭐(3/5)

Synopsis: There’s someone after me. My body knows. My senses know. They are after me, and they won’t stop until I succumb. I have enough going on without this new facet of my life. I have three guys who all are trying to claim me in one way or the other. I have school. I have a job at the bar, and, I still fill in at night for the academy, as their janitor. Then there’s the suitemate who reminds me that I’m human every five seconds. Some days I think we’re friends. Others, I lock my door at night. It’s our thing. My scent is getting me in trouble. Yeah, I knew that shifters scented their mate in different ways, but I’m attracting a whole hell of a lot more than shifters.

Jinns, warlocks, demons, shifters, and vampires alike are flocking to the bar for a look and maybe a grab at what one alpha called the new, ripe peach in the Moonlight. I’m wearing the amulet Josephine told me to but it doesn’t seem to deter the perverts. Being walked home by Storm, someone attacks us. I scream. I flail. I trip, fall and hit my head. I see blood on my hands and hear ringing in my ears. Whoever has been stalking me has finally caught their prey–and their prey is me. I was just about ready to accept Storm as my second mate…but I may have waited too long.

First And Last Sentence: Here

[chris-continues]

Wholesome request 1

Livio who has a part time job walking people's dogs, bumps into reader when one of the dogs goes tugs a little too harsh.

Then it's the whole cliche dogs tangling them in the leashes.

Missteps

College AU Livio / reader!

TAGS: @h4venpha @millionsvash @lune010 @vashfantasy @cowboylivio

NOTES: OH MY GOD YES perfect I’d imagine both him and Wolfwood have these neighbors who aren’t able to walk their dog and he’s surprisingly really good with animals so they ask him! This is in college au btw! Also idk much about livio 😭 I watched some of tri98 and all of stampede and I’ve read a bitttt on him but I hope this isn’t OOC! Feel free to comment constructive criticism on his characterization in this, I hope it transferred well :)

Thank god Livio had managed to find a decent paying job to help handle both him and his older brother’s finances, because the genius had come up with the excellent idea of having both a dingy motorcycle and car instead of just getting one partially crummy one. (Preferably a car. Livio was still terrified of riding in the motorcycle). Dog walking hadn’t been the worst idea- firstly, he could enjoy life outside and take a break from studying, and even if he did need to review any coursework he could always listen to the .mp3 files in the online textbook he’d found (he thankfully got his hands on some online copies of his textbooks. Made the mistake his first semester freshman year of buying the actual books, brand new. Never again).

But it was therapeutic. Nico was always pestering him to loosen up, offhandedly offering a cigarette to which he refused, sighing tiredly with his forearms resting on his knees, head heavy with the stress of the day. Birds chirping alike in the teeming trees seemed to bring him mirth, replenish his senses and it was awfully refreshing as he tried to not recount the several assignments he had to work on.. haah.

Of course the one time his attention was split, when he made the god awful mistake of checking his notifications while walking did the toe of his shoe catch on an uneven crack in the sidewalk, dog tugging him further in anticipation for someth- wOah!-

Breeze rustled his hair as he flailed in an attempt to catch himself, only to be met with his hands awkwardly mashed on your torso. One, on your shoulder, the other, bent strangely at the elbow, flush against you.

“Oh my god- yeah, I’m so sorry..” he made an attempt to step back, only to find his calf caught in a tangle of leashes.

The dog you’d been walking, for a friend, had managed to find playing with Livio’s man (dog) of the hour a lot more amusing than your calls of “here!” “C’mere!” In a panic.

He swallowed thickly, turning his head away in respect while trying to croak out a few calls of his own. Your body squirmed against his, only managing to embarrass him further. He was almost as red as the fire hydrant they were.. yeah. Ok. Yep. They’re bonding.

“It’s- it’s fine, I’m sorry.” You looked up at him, chin resting slightly against his chest.

Wow. Your eyes are really pretty.

He caught himself, “Oh, no yeah- don’t worry about it. I’m sure they’ll be back soon.” His throat felt tight, voice tapering closed as he muttered out the last of his scrambled thoughts. It’s amusing, really, how a guy so giant wishes he can curl up really small and just go.

In an attempt to make the situation a bit more bearable, you gave your name, and he offered his shyly in return. Thank god for his dog finally being loyal enough to return, as he’d begun to almost lose it. While never one for much conversation, he shied away far more than usual, muscles twitching nervously and sporadically, eyes darting anywhere but you.

It. Was. So. Embarrassing.

Your hands reached nearby him to fumble with the leash, grazing his elbow as your chests touched and oh god your arm was wrapping around him, and suddenly-

“You’re untangled!” You beamed, picking up the other leash that had previously encased the two of you, “I’ll see you around, Livio.” A small smile graced your features, yet all he could do was give a feeble wave and a, “Yeah, later.” In response.

And suddenly, the gust of wind against him doesn’t feel as exhilarating as it used to.

Not in comparison to your grazing touches against him.

[thelediz]

Hi LeDiz!

I wanted to say that I miss your reviews, especially the one about Sonic Underground, it was really cool that you saw all 40 episodes of the series!

So I wanted to ask you if you've seen Sonic SatAM, for me it has the same feel as Sonic Underground, but with a different cast

I'd love to read your thoughts on the episodes!

But of course, if you're okay, you don't have to do that.

Hope you are having an amazing day!🩷

Hi there! Thank you so much, it's nice to hear someone was enjoying them - sometimes it feels like you're just screaming into the void and annoying the neighbours.

I have seen SatAM, though I would need to find a way to watch it again if I was going to do a watchalong.

The problem with sharing my thoughts on SatAM is the fandom. A lot of people are very protective of this show, and so while Underground I can be frustrated with and flail at and most people will just pity me for daring to enjoy it in the first place, commenting on SatAM runs a very real risk of offending people.

Especially because Sally suffers the same damn issues as Sonia, just without the girly fashion. And she is ADORED by the fandom.

So I don't know. At the risk of sounding like I'm begging for interaction, I would need a bit more proof that people would enjoy it before I go risking another round of abusive fic comments by reminding the Archie/SatAM crowd I exist.

But with all that said, as a general rule, from what I remember, SatAM was a good show, with great animation and writers that (mostly - I love Dulcy in the comics but her existence in SatAM was weird at best) gave a damn. It had some really cool ideas that the comics expanded out for better or worse. And the comics were what kept my love for Sonic alive for years.

But it was still a product of its time and I think Sega have mixed feelings about it, for good reason. There would be a lot to talk about there!

[deadcactuswalking]

REVIEWING THE CHARTS: 06/07/2024

Some may argue that this is the first Labour-led #1 on the UK Singles Chart since 2010. I would disagree: much of the tracking week, like has been the case since at least 2021, has been under the watchful eye of a functionally flailing Conservative government, but indeed, Labour got their landslide victory, and if we’re going for political analogies, it seems pretty apt that in an election where the Conservatives are doing anything for you to stick with them and Labour’s just desperate to get anything done in spite of their organisation… I feel like a third week at #1 for Sabrina Carpenter’s “Please Please Please” is pretty fitting. Welcome back to REVIEWING THE CHARTS!

content warning: language, UK politics

Rundown

As always, we start with our notable dropouts, which if you don’t follow the show, are songs exiting the UK Top 75 (that’s the region I cover) after five weeks there or a peak in the top 40. This week, we bid farewell to: “Genesis.” by RAYE - awfully prematurely but as to be expected with a song structured like that - “Pedro” by Jaxomy, Agatino Romero and the late Raffaella Carrá, “We Ain’t Here for Long” by Nathan Dawe, “we can’t be friends (wait for your love)” by Ariana Grande, “Thank You (Not So Bad)” by a rogues gallery of people who should know better - Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Tiesto, Dido and W&W to be specific - as well as “TEXAS HOLD ‘EM” by Beyoncé and finally, “Valerie” by Mark Ronson and the late Amy Winehouse.

So what’s filling in the gaps? Well, bizarrely enough, some songs that had dropped out just last week: “3 Lions” is at #73 of course, I’ve written extensively about that song, but “Gata Only” by FloyyMenor and Cris Mj has also crept his way back in at #75 for some reason, and same goes for “Carry You Home” by Alex Warren at #60. We also have a Glastonbury impact in terms of its most viral performers having catalogue songs returning: Coldplay’s “Yellow” and “Viva la Vida” are back at #66 and #63 respectively, and they peaked at #4 and #1 respectively too. The latter debuted at the top for one week in 2008 whilst “Yellow” was stalled out by another suprisingly still relevant act, Eminem, who was #1 that week in 2000 with “The Real Slim Shady”. In addition, their new track, “feelslikeimfallinginlove” soars up to #16. The second notable Glastonbury impact is Dua Lipa, as not only is the #2-peaking “Houdini” from last year back at #38 but she sees a gain for “Illusion” at #25.

Speaking of gains, we definitely have a plenty notable ones here, starting with “The Man Who Can’t be Moved” by The Script at #55, “misses” by Dominic Fike at #50, “Kisses” by BL3SS and CamrinWatsin featuring bbyclose at #35, “NIGHTS LIKE THIS” by The Kid LAROI at #30 (helpful reminder that this song isn’t even 90 seconds), “HOT TO GO!” by Chappell Roan at #26, and finally, “KEHLANI” by Jordan Adetunji at #24. Looking pretty dire, Starmer, you’ve got to release a diss track to spice up the game.

And now of course, finally we have the top five where there’s not much change but what is there I’m sure will make a lot of folks happy. Firstly, Billie Eilish’s “BIRDS OF A FEATHER” is steady at #5 - in fact, the rest of the top five is completely still - but secondly, Chappell Roan brings her breakout “Good Luck, Babe!” to #4, and outside of the fact that her other songs are doing so well that the streams might be spread out, I don’t really see it going anywhere. Otherwise, it’s as normal: “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” by Shaboozey at #3, and Sabrina Carpenter with the top two spots: “Espresso” at #2 and the aforementioned “Please Please Please” at the very top. The gap between the two is tiny, but also pretty unimportant: it’d be Sabrina either way. That’s that Keir espresso, or something to that effect.

New Entries

#61 - “Move” - Adam Port, Stryv, Keinemusik, Orso and Malachiii

Produced by Adam Port and Stryv

Okay, I’ll bite: who in God’s name are any of these people? Seriously, it’s not every day that five acts debut out of nowhere all on one song. To be fair, this was bubbling under the top 75 last week, and it has 39 million streams since June worldwide, so clearly there’s a big hit on these guys’ hands… I just want to know how the royalties are split. I feel like Mr. Port gets a bigger slice of the pie here, as thankfully, some of these guys are actually the same people. Port is a DJ from Germany who is part of the Keinemusik collective, though no other members feature on this track. Those who do however include Stryv, who is also credited twice as Orso is actually another DJ duo between him and Justin Kam. Stryv also seems to be pretty proud of his work on Ye’s VULTURES 1, so much so that he even pinned it on his Instagram. Telling. As for Malachiii, he’s a California singer who acts as the vocalist on this Afro house track that despite all the names attached is relatively relaxed and subtle in its execution. It’s got a slightly chalky Afrobeats groove, a very staccato lead melody to begin with that does get a bit annoying and some minimal Auto-Tuned vocals from the nasal Malachiii who I suppose does his job within the cloudy atmosphere, and I wouldn’t expect much lyrically, but there’s still very little here other than a relatively solid beat and constant wooshing and flowing. There’s barely even a drop, mostly just a synth that slides in occasionally, and that might be for the best, as it seems much more concerned with just flowing across smoothly, which it… tries. The second clap sound they bring in is way too loud and mixed bizarrely so it just sounds obtrusive, and there’s really not enough here melodically to chew into for it to function on “just the vibe, man”. Honestly, for three producers, it’s impressive how dull this ends up being.

#49 - “Rockstar” - LISA

Produced by Ryan Tedder and Sam Homaee

For your badass solo single about living the dangerous rockstar life, you bring in the most milquetoast pop rock singer and one of this milennium’s safest songwriting choices on the boards. That really should tell you all you need to know about the new single from LISA, a member of BLACKPINK who seems closely tied with JENNIE in terms of who is the biggest solo star so far. As the first of our two K-pop songs, which really makes up for half of what is a nothing week, I was at least expecting some punch and we do get that, with an annoying beeping synth is placed under vaguely factorial but not quite industrial trap drums, that end up not hitting nearly as hard as they should be. As for convincing me on selling the rockstar lifestyle… maybe some actual guitars would help, or at least an instrumental that isn’t minimal weaksauce outside of abrupt, bizarre synth blasts that would act as interludes if there wasn’t a more fitting phrase: random insertions of unfitting textures in place of actually being interesting. Also, there’s nothing rockstar about synth organs, or having gold grills you don’t use, or knowing Japanese. If the life is so fast, big and exciting, and you’ve got a beat that isn’t subverting that hard-hitting expectation, at least sound like you could care about selling it, both lyrically and in the delivery, because this isn’t even on an annoying level of obnoxious or heavy. It’s once again just stunted and dull. If that’s the theme for this week, well, I suppose make a political analogy out of that, it’s not difficult.

#47 - “GIRLS” - The Kid LAROI

Produced by Jon Bellion, Pete Nappi, Rogét Chahayed and Tenroc

I really thought that LAROI’s career has been hanging on strings for years now, and I’m still not entirely convinced that’s not the case, but he still ends up notching minor hits just out of complete luck, I suppose. Spin of the draw, surely, because the songs aren’t particularly any more catchy, unique or charismatic than other pop singers, including this one’s co-producer, Jon Bellion, who seems to make every song he writes a hit, for anyone other than himself. In this one, he tries to flip Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” but I suppose they didn’t have the budget so he just… plainly references it instead when the song’s chorus reads as if it were clearly written with nostalgia sample bait in mind. For whatever reason, this was replaced with a flat orchestra and buzzing, Neptunes-lite groove that isn’t awful but is still plain and much stodgier than Pharrell or Chad Hugo would ever allow. LAROI himself is whiny and useless as always - that’s not even an insult, he’s practically trying to be - and there’s something particularly gross about the sinister, whispering delivery Mr. LAROI opts for when flipping an anthem for women having fun and being themselves into how he’s just trying to get some ass. It’s decidedly unpleasant, barely saved by a surprisingly decent swell and sizzle in the bridge that shows at least one guy in pop music - probably Jon Bellion - still cares about bridges. Yet I still prefer it to half of this week. It’s nights like these, I suppose.

#46 - “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band” - Jimin featuring Loco

Produced by TBHits, Mr. Franks, Pdogg and GHSTLOOP

…Huh? Okay, so the smeraldo flower apparently has a deep connection to BTS lore and iconography, first being used in 2017 and ending up featured on cover arts, promotional pictures and the like. Hence, when releasing his solo single for his upcoming album, Jimin fused the concept with that of a similarly massive band with an obsessed fanbase, the Beatles - and “obsessed” isn’t necessarily a negative in either case. The Smeraldo Garden Marching Band sounds like word salad but seems to reference Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, and he’s enlisted fellow Korean rapper Loco for a track with similar swell and narrative to that record… right? Well, no, but there is a certain childlike joy to the chipmunk vocal chop and the cheering sound effects used to punctuate Jimin’s unfortunately Auto-Tuned and often weirdly-inflected lyrics, flinging between Korean and English. I actually really like the goofy ad-libs and decoration added all over the mix, even just for tonal clash’s sake, but I’m somewhat disappointed in the actual song, which feels a bit underwritten given the nothingness of the basic, lovestruck chorus and a surprisingly blank production that does not layer the mix as consistently or as effectively to not demonstrate some of the faults of both artists’ vocal deliveries, with Loco in particular coming off as indistinguishable and avoidable, though Jimin’s vocal processing fading right into the drums he’s against is pretty egregious too. By the time the horns come in above the heavy-handed drums, I start to understand the silliness and bombast it’s going for - maybe a late-stage Panic! at the Disco - but for a song with that name, it spends way too much of its runtime on a five when it could probably justify being on eleven, and I think Jimin would be up for that. As it stands, it functions, I just don’t really vibe with it as much as what could have been.

Conclusion

Welp, welcome to Downing Street, Sir Keir Starmer. I feel like you don’t need a mediocre chart week to have your stint in power recognised largely as mid, but it helps. Worst of the Week goes to LISA, sadly, for “Rockstar” - I don’t dislike BLACKPINK and they can sell more bombast and fun than she did here - and Best of the Week fittingly goes to the other K-pop act, Jimin, for “Smeraldo Garden Marching Band” featuring Loco. Hey, a fun title will get you places in my books. Thank you for reading this short little episode, long live Cola Boyy, and I’ll see you next week!

[stitching-in-time]

It's Prodigy Season 2 day!!!! I'm going to interupt my regularly scheduled Voyager posting for some Prodigy posting- don't think I'll be doing in depth reviews/analysis like I am with Voyager, because it's a lot of work, and I want to just enjoy Prodigy on first viewing, but I want to flail about it and help keep the buzz going for it!

About to start season 2 now!!! Ahhh!!!!

[deitiesofduat]

[01] -- OSIRIS

✦ TITLE: Lord Osiris, King of Duat -- The God of the Dead, the Afterlife, and Resurrection

✦ SACRED ANIMAL: The Bennu Bird ✦ DIVINE WEAPON: The Crook and Flail ✦ NOTABLE EPITHETS: "Ruler of Eternity; Lord of Silence; One Who Presides on His Throne; Sovereign of the Underworld" ✦ PROFILE: https://deitiesproject.com/portfolio/osiris/

----------

Lord Osiris, the King of Duat, is the first-born and eldest of the royal children of Nut and Geb. He is the husband of Isis, and the father of Horus.

The once-deceased god-king Osiris dutifully serves as the ruler and judge of the underworld. He was resurrected following years of conflict within his divine family. He values his second life, but understands his solemn burden of restoring stability to the entire pantheon.

DEITIES x OC_TOBER -- Deity Profiles [Full Character Lineup]

----------

Lmao ya'll thought Set would be the first one, didn't ya B')c

Thematically, Osiris is the first born of the Royal Pesedjet (aka the Ennead, at least the four from Osiris’s generation), so it makes sense to feature him first for OC_Tober! A lot of the myth revolves around Osiris's death and resurrection,  though I'd like to revisit and give him some attention so he's not only a passive character in the story. I know he’s deeply important to Ancient Egyptian culture and would like to reflect that more.

Fun fact -- though I haven't drawn him as much, it seems that many people like or are curious about Osiris -- b/c his website profile is THE most viewed one out of everyone's!

This is closely followed by Set's, but uh... let's not give the guy another reason to loathe his older brother 😂

For any questions about Osiris or the rest of the project or cast, you can submit your message in the reopened Askbox and I'll answer them during the weekend -- just be sure to review the FAQs & Guidelines (as well as the latest update for more context), thank you! UPDATE: All wrapped up for this year, stay tuned for more blog updates later!

[9thbutterfly]

Tiny book reviews

(turns out it has been two months since I last did this. Though my reading speed has slowed down dramatically since I started working again...)

The Priory of the Orange Tree, by Samantha Shannon (reread)

Now, see, I already don't know how to review this one except by flailing and shrieking because I love it, I want to be reading it all the time, and I'm too tired to articulate why I love it

(and I have given up hope that I will ever again hit that elusive combination of "well rested enough for intelligent words", "alone, without a toddler climbing all over me" and "remembering that this is a thing I want to do")

Essbare Landschaft [Edible Landscape] by Sabine Eilmsteiner

One of our dance group buddies wrote a book on foraging, and while it was interesting, I'm still feeling too burned out to even do anything with the nettles in my garden, let alone actually going foraging.

Which I realise is not a review of the book so much as of my relationship to the book...

The Lies of Locke Lamora, by Scott Lynch (reread)

Meh. I kept thinking of hearing him say something about the numinosity of fantasy books at a convention, and having to look up the word, and thinking, yes, that is one of the reasons why I prefer fantasy.

And it is precisely the thing that I feel is missing from this book. It just feels grubby and grimy and yet bland. And I didn't care for the characters and I wish I hadn't bought the other two books way back when my friends were raving about it.

Die heilende Kraft des Waldes [The Healing Power of the Forest] by Sabine Eilmsteiner

Same thing as with her other book. Interesting but unlikely to be used.

The Dragon Republic, by R.F. Kuang

Interesting but depressing. I will read the third book for closure, but I'm unlikely to enjoy it.

Gewürze aus eigenem Garten [Spices From Your Own Garden] by Manfred Neuhold

There were a few small interesting bits, but mostly it repeats a lot of things I already know, and it also feels very old. Not old old, but "climate change and invasive slugs weren't much of a thing" old (iirc it's from the nineties)

Also, they're herbs, not spices.

The Wilful Princess and the Piebald Prince, by Robin Hobb

A Local Habitation, by Seanan McGuire

Didn't exactly captivate me, and elements of it felt a bit repetitive of things in the other Six Duchies books, but ah, it is a comfortable world, and I was sad to have to leave it so soon.

A Day of Fallen Night, by Samantha Shannon

Again, please picture flailing and shrieking.

Maybe one day I will have whittled down the tbr pile enough to reread this (and Priory) and give them a proper review. But not today.

A Local Habitation, by Seanan McGuire

Took me a while to get into, and a long time to read because of work and toddler and garden and stuff and things, and it has been long enough that I can't remember much of the first part, but I enjoyed it and want to read more.

[posthocpaganda]

More TMNT post hoc propaganda because this tournament has me in a deathgrip

@tmnt-crossover-polls

My AU's song is Dentist from little shop of horrors. A very fun choice to work with for sure. I'd look it up for some context on this

Raph sat on one of the benches of the practice rooms next to Chase, taking care not to rumple his dress, arms crossed as he watched House rehearse his part of the song

He didn't like how much enthusiasm he was putting into the lyrics.

Donnie and Foreman stood in front of House, seemingly doing another review of the script both of them sported focused, instense expressions as they wrote a few notes on it

Behind him Mikey was giggling, spinning around in his own lilac dress, clutching its skirt with both hands.

Raph frowned unhappily at the sight. He was going to end up stretching the fabric if he kept doing that

"You're having a lot of fun with that" said Cameron suddenly. The faint undercurrent of surprise in her voice made him narrow his eyes at her

"What, you've got a problem with it?" Said Raph with a snarl, not missing a beat

"No, of course not" She immediately denied. Since she seemed to be telling the truth he backed down, relaxing on his seat once again "And they don't either I just haven't met many teenage boys so excited to try on a dress"

"That sounds like a them problem" Called Miley loudly, spinning faster and faster trying to make the fabric flare up

At that moment House hit a particularly loud note and Raph's attention drifted naturally back to him, to the way the man sang the creepy lyrics almost too gleefully...

Was he the only one unsettled by this!?

Normally Leo would be the first one to be wary of these things but… it seemed that he was too focused on the musical thing to care, even sneakily encouraging House to crank up the psycho act, intent on winning the competition. He even spent most of the time practicing his part, when he thought no one was listening

Really, most of the reason Raph was even humoring this was because all that enthusiasm. Leo was clearly very invested in this for some reason

House hit another loud high note, face twisted in a huge, unsettling smile.

Raph scrunched his nose in discomfort

"It's a bit creepy isn't it?" Said Mikey, walking to his side with unsteady steps and flailing arms, clearly dizzy after all the spinning.

Raph was about to nod, thankful for the support when the next words came out of his brother's mouth, freezing him in place

"Thank god dentists aren't real" He said, absolutely seriously

Every person in earshot of that statement turned their heads so fast it was a wonder none of them got whiplash

"What?" Asked Cameron, blinking dumbly

"Yeah" Affirmed Mikey non-pulsed, like nothing was wrong about what he had just said

"Mikey" Raph managed, looking at his brother in disbelief "Mikey dentists are real"

His little brother squinted at him for a second before relaxing one more

"Pshhhh" He said rolling his eyes "I am not falling for that one again bro. You're not gonna scare me with that"

Chase spoke next, leaning forwards slightly, expression slightly manic as he said the next word

"They are real"

At this Mikey froze, looking between the three of them with an expression that quickly changed from scepticism to pure horror as he the realization set in

"No" He said, absolutely horrified

The three of them nodded silently

"Why aren't we doing something about this?" He asked in a high, breathy voice

"You… want to do something about the dentists?" Asked Chase, clearly confused

"We can't let them get away with this" Confirmed Mikey grabbing Raph's shoulders before storming off to find Leo

For the next half an hour they had to stop the rehearsal, as Leo tried to convince Mikey that no, they couldn't go around beating up every dentist in New York no matter how much Mikey insisted that they were already used to fighting evil scientists