#so that would mean at the earliest i would probably finish this game by april 2024... LOL... im the slowest guy alive!! yay!!!

[crest-of-gautier]

2 hour session of pq today!!! went from 38% -> 89% done with the third floor of the 2nd labryinth! (i just need to open the door that was locked...)

today was a short session but i really enjoyed it! (some screenshots of transcriptions of my related favorite events under the cut)

i think the highlight of what i saw today was aigis :) the way she responds to things is very humorous to me. she doesn't always realize how her words come across but thats ok i still love her regardless. i just think the way that aigis has a continual work in progress of her understanding of the world is nice :3

there was also a thing about a love potion and rei goes:

Rei: Wait, they don't exist!? But it comes up in so many stories!

and i am!! once again!! reiterating my tags from my previous pq posting.

like all of the stuff i said here still stands... i think her line about the love potion just cements to me that rei is.. so very young. she's like a twelve year old to me. maybe younger. i don't know how old she is and i don't want to know until the game tells me what's bonking with zen and rei's identity...

i think in a previous pq post i had... some kind of spitballing about zen and rei with respect to the mechanics of persona q and subpersonas... it was mostly me wondering if their skillsets alluded to anything, but... lately i've been thinking about how rei takes up the bottom part of the 3ds screen in the same manner a subpersona does... and i'm like... trying to look at that and think about what that implies.

so you have me asking questions to myself, including, but not limited to: would this make rei a persona? how is she in that state? what caused that to happen? and if so where/how did she acquire abilities that are reminiscent of a subpersona? is it tied to whatever zen is?

there's definitely a part of me that leans into zen specifically being an entity of sorts, in the same vein of ryoji and marie- idk something about his skillset just makes me lean into this idea of him being a fragment of a powerful deity. god knows who what that deity's name is. but anyway. maybe if we operate under the assumption that zen is in an amnesiac state of an deity/entity whatever, this could mean that rei having abilities like a subpersona is because of him??

i dont fucking know man!! i'm spitballing based on what the game has offered and similar threads/themes i've seen from the persona games i've played/watched. groans. i'm fucking insane and it's going to take me forever to get answers because i'm a small little worm who's inching through this game and probably won't finish it until next year.

anyway. good game session. zen and rei make me crazy with conjecture (i would like to say that i can reach the boss of the group date cafe soon bc i want to see what zen and rei have to say about it post-boss fight so that i can spitball even more nonsense. but it'll probably take at least two sessions...? these floors sometimes take awhile). and i really enjoy how certain characters are highlighted through this game's interactions (aigis for today specifically). i love persona :D

[stewystew]

I Made A Leverage Timeline Because I Was Bored

Warning: this is like. way too in depth. and very nit-picky in terms of evidence, because I am a horrible perfectionist and my work is never finished.

Episode # - Approx. Date, Length of Job (Explanation) (extra details)

- Time Between Episodes

Most of the lengths are like. The MINIMUM amount of days for the job - “It was night in this scene, and in the next scene it was morning! That’s two days!” - not counting client meetings because there’s usually no way of knowing how much time was spent planning the job. Also, the dates I’m very super not sure about are marked with *asterisks*.

1.1 - May/June 2008, 2 weeks+ (NBA playoffs are April-June, and at that time the fifth games of each round were at the beginning and middle of the month. The stockholders meeting was “at the end of the month” - May/June 27-31, presumably - meaning Dubenich met with Nate within the month of May/June. Personally I think the game was in the semifinals (second round), and in May, bc the first and third round games were literally the first three days of the month and that doesn’t seem like enough time to plan a heist, and calling the finals the “playoffs” sounds weird to me) (this is the most adherent to reality I get, I promise)

- I actually have no clue, but it must have been at least a couple weeks

1.2 - 4 days+

1.3 - 1 week+

1.4 - 1 week+

1.5 - 1 day (Mile High, less than eight hours from the initial break-in to the plane landing)

1.6 - 5-6 days (Miracle Job, ends on a Sunday)

1.7 - ? (Two-Horse)

- However long it took to hook the judge guy

1.8 - 1 day (Bank Shot)

1.9 - 1 week+

- At least one job (team’s mad at Parker for being reckless)

1.10 - 1 week-ish (Juror #6, in Hardison’s closing argument he says that the trial lasted a week)

1.11 - 4-5 days

1.12 - Oct 2008 (Measured from 2.1, and is ~4 months after my 1.1, which lines up with my length estimations, plus a few weeks of wiggle room)

- Four Months

1.13 - Feb 2009

- Six Months

2.1 - Aug 2009 (I don’t actually remember where I got this date, but it’s 15 months from my 1.1, and in Nate’s interview at the beginning of the episode we find out that he’s been with the team for around a year, when the interviewer asks about the gap in his resume)

2.2 - 6+ days

2.3 - 1 day (Order 23)

2.4 - Sept~Oct 2009 (Fairy Godparents, has to happen during the school year) (Sophie spends two days putting together the “science-sical” but I don’t feel confident enough to estimate the rest of this episode’s length)

2.5 - *Sept~Oct 2009*

2.6 - *Late Oct 2009* (The mark mentions a “record breaking third quarter”)

2.7 - *Nov 2009* (Two Crew Live, probably about six months before 2.15 because Eliot says 2.8-2.14 happened within “the last six months”, but I’m willing to fudge by a few weeks)

2.8 - *Nov 2009*

2.9 - <1 week

2.10 - ?

2.11 - Jan-Feb 2010 (Bottle Job, snowing)

2.12 - ?

2.13 - ?

2.14 - Apr 2010 (the East Coast Triple-A baseball league at the time, International League, started playing games in the first week of April)

2.15 - Apr 2010

- Five to Six Months (3.3: Nate was in prison for six months)

3.1 - Oct 2010 (6 months before 3.15)

3.2 - Late Oct 2010 (mark’s company had disappointing quarterly results, Sophie also rescheduled a reunion that would have happened June-July with this date, which makes sense for a reunion) (reunion was on the 28th)

3.3 - 1 day (Inside Job)

3.4 - Nov 2010 (5 months before 3.15)

3.5 - ?

3.6 - ?

3.7 - ?

3.8 - ? (note: Boost Job, mark’s employees are watching the NBA playoffs, and the literal earliest I could possibly push this episode is like. Late July. so I’m ignoring that piece of information.) (however, the NFL playoffs are in January. And that works for my timeline 👀)

3.9 - ?

3.10 - ?

3.11 - one night (Rashomon)

3.12 - Feb 2011, 3-4 days, four months after 3.1

3.13 - 2 days

3.14 - Christmas 2010 (Ok. Listen. Listen. Seasons 3 and 4 just Do Not Work if 3.12 happens before this episode. They just don’t. So I’m going to make the claim that this episode was aired out of order because ✨Christmas✨. Thank you for understanding. I promise, it fixes the whole thing.)

3.15 - Apr 2011 (six months after 3.1) (Also, ~one year after 2.15)

3.16 - Apr 2011, 1 week (from the time they take over the campaign) (Hardison is 24 here, making his birthday somewhere between Mar 25 1986 and Mar 24 1987) (The 2002 Oscars, when he was 15, was on Mar 24)

- Less Than Two Weeks

4.1 - Apr 2011 (three months after a storm in winter shut down the mountain)

4.2 - 2 days (10 Li’l Grifters)

4.3 - ?

4.4 - 1 day (Van Gogh)

4.5 - 1 day (Hot Potato) (exactly two days counting client meeting)

4.6 - ?

4.7 - 3+ days (Grave Danger)

4.8 - ?

- One Very Exciting Job

4.9 - 2 hours (Cross My Heart) (six hours counting the surgery)

4.10 - 3 days (Queen’s Gambit)

4.11 - Sept 2011, 1 week+ (The real life secret society that this was based on recruits in April-ish, but that would shove the past nine episodes into like a month, and also make it so the mark is still doing tests for his “senior project” within weeks of his graduation, so we’re not doing that. It’s My Fav TV Show’s Fake Secret Society And I Get To Pick The Rules)

4.12 - *Sept-Oct 2011*, 4-7 days (Office Job, at beginning of episode the buyout is happening “at the end of the week”)

4.13/4.14 - one night

4.15 - *Mid Oct 2011*, 2 days (Lonely Hearts, I just don’t think the weather in the Hamptons would be quite that nice any later than that?)

4.16 - ?

4.17 - Nov/Dec 2011, 1 day (Radio Job) (a Sunday)

4.18 - Nov/Dec 2011 (Dubenich was in jail for 3 years 5 months 4 days)

- One Year?

5.1 - Nov 2012 (plane’s anniversary is Nov 2nd, 2012)

- Christmas 2012 is when they went “overboard” on gifts

5.2 - Feb-Mar 2013 (That’s when playoffs were for the closest irl thing to that semi-pro league) (there aren’t actually any semi-pro hockey leagues in the US currently!)

5.3 - ?

5.4 - ?

5.5 - Apr-May 2013 (Gimme a ‘K’ Street, cheer comps)

5.6 - ?

5.7 - ?

- Parker tore her ACL, minimum six weeks from here to 5.9

5.8 - 5+ days

5.9 - Aug 28-Sept 11 2013, 1 day

5.10 - Aug 28-Sept 11 2013, 2 days (Frame Up, dates are in the document Sophie prints out)

5.11 - Sept 2013, 1 week+ (Low Low Price)

5.12 - Sept-Oct 2013 (White Rabbit)

5.13 - Sept-Oct 2013 (Corkscrew, harvest season)

5.14 - Christmas 2013 (Toy Job)

5.15 - 2014, 1 day (Last Goodbye, counting only the job)

In conclusion: FUCK season three for having such a clear timeline. Season 2 can stay but it’s on thin fucking ice

Most of this is soooo bullshit but I had fun. so.

[oops-prow-did-it-again]

were do the one shots of pokemon character interactions go? i saw someone ask for one of nanu and white. i really want to read it. do you have an estimate for when it will be out?

I apologize in advance for how long and rambling this became! But I figured I’d clear up some questions for anyone else as well.

Short Answer - 3 months.

In the meantime, you can follow me here on tumblr as well as AO3, and FFN to keep up with the stories that are out. Reviews, comments, asks, etc are ALWAYS welcome!!

Pokemon Retold - AO3 (series link)

Pokemon Black - AO3 | FFN - Hil (Hilbert) has been dreaming of a way to escape his suffocating home for a while. He is offered a way out in the form of a partner pokémon and the offer to traverse the Unova region with his friends Cheren and Bianca. He never had the intentions of becoming champion or fighting Team Plasma, and yet, that's exactly where he finds himself--clashing with idealistic N over deadly truths. ((Warnings: referenced suicide. Occasional strong language. Mild Bianca x Cheren shipping. Occasional descriptions of blood/violence. No explicit sexual content.))

Pokemon Sword & Shield - AO3 | FFN - He's chasing a ghost and she's wishing he'd see sense. Gloria and Hop's adventure through Galar is one that will surely change them, for better or for worse. ((Warnings: Occasional descriptions of blood/violence. Occasional strong language. Brief mentions of alcohol. No explicit sexual content.))

3AM in Unova - AO3 | FFN - Sequel oneshot to Breaking the Ice. Bede discusses a one-night stand with Piers. ((The prompt behind this will end up canon, however this particular oneshot will be taken down/updated once Black, Black 2, and SwSh are finished. WARNING - strongly implied sexual content. Strong language.))

Breaking the Ice - AO3 | FFN - Prequel to 3AM in Unova. The Galarian and Unovan gym leaders meet up and have a party. Leon pulls a dirty trick on Raihan. ((The prompt behind this will end up canon, however, this particular oneshot will be taken down/updated once Black, Black 2, and SwSh are finished. WARNING - mild sexual content. Alcohol mentioned. Possible strong language.))

Some Nights - AO3 | FFN - The usually unshakable new gym leader of Ballonlea, Bede, has his heart thawed by a little girl who begs him to give her a starter pokemon and an endorsement for the Galarian Major League. ((This oneshot is canon to the SwSh retelling and will be moved to the appropriate Galar oneshot collection once I make it. No warnings.))

Marlon’s Misunderstanding - AO3 | FFN - Marlon is forced to face the music over his past following the Plasma Frigate’s attack on Opelucid City. ((The prompt behind this oneshot will end up canon, however, this particular story will be taken down/updated once Black/Black 2 are finished. WARNING - strong language. Reference to physical abuse.))

Long Answer - 

So, before I get to the oneshots, the primary stories have to be finished. What’s a “primary story”? Well, that’d be the retelling of the game(s) involved. Why do these need to be finished? Because, as I write the primary story, stuff I have planned to happen can change. If I were to write the oneshot before then, it may no longer adhere to the retelling I write of the game, and therefore end up unrelated, which is not the intention. These are all supposed to fit into the same coherent universe.

The only reason some oneshots are written prior to their primary story being finished is because I had those ideas before I intended to make this a series. Those oneshots will be edited to conform to the universe and reposted in their respective oneshot collections once their primary stories are finished.

So for Nanu and White’s (who goes by Hilda in my stories), that means Black, Black 2, and Sun/Ultra Sun (they will be merged into one story in my universe, probably just called Sun) would need to be finished. Black is currently underway and I expect to have it finished by the end of May, and Black 2 by the end of July. Sun/Ultra Sun, on the other hand, will be started in probably June and finished by the end of July. 

Actually, I’ll just go ahead and clarify my plan-

Red - Started by October 1st. Finished by November 30th

HeartGold - Started by October 1st. Finished by November 30th

Omega Ruby - Started by November 1st. Finished by December 31st

Platinum - Started by August 1st. Finished by September 30th

Black - Started April 1st. Finished by May 31st

Black 2 - Started June 1st. Finished by July 31st

Y - Started August 1st. Finished by September 30th

Ultra Sun/Sun - Started June 1st. Finished by July 31st

Sword & Shield - Started March 17th. Finished by May 31st*

*Sword/Shield is technically already finished, I have just been having to overhaul significant parts of it prior to releasing them because I started writing it prior to thinking of making this a series. 

It takes about 2 weeks to fully organize/plan a retelling and then about a month and a half to completely write it out, at least as far as I estimate it. So, with the above dates in mind, any oneshot prompts involving characters from the above regions/games will happen after the official retelling is written out. Once some of the main stories above are finished, you can expect a pretty steady stream of oneshots, likely once a week or more.

So the earliest you could expect one involving Nanu and Hilda is early August. 

[momiwanabeanautistwhenigrowup]

So here I am. Doing the one thing I have steadily avoided for the last 4 years…somewhat.

I shouldn’t start off this way but fuck I hate writing. And there goes the first impression, etched forever in your subconscious.

She’s not going to be happy about this. Meh.

So I’m a 30 y/o stuck in this hellhole and this is my story? I guess. I mean it’s really ours.

I basically made this account to vent ..uh then I realised I’d have to go all the way back for it to make sense…and I guess my life has always been this series/rpg game so it might take shape in that style. I’m mostly explaining this to myself.

Jump to 2016. I started this biography venture bc in my short 25 years I’d amassed a set of experiences that were not so average middle class life experiences, and not in the good way. Now if you take my story and place it on the backdrop of each life on this earth then, in my opinion, my life is pretty ordinary too. Hence the (reason I tell myself there was a) delay with finishing this biography. Anyway so I sat down to write this thing a total of two times(fucking literary genius) in 2016, sometime in April if I recall correctly. It was horrible but necessary, and then I guess I found magic? And decided to halt production since well…I was busy coming into awareness. I still have the draft on this pc... I stopped when I was 10 years old.

Jump to 2020 and I’m in front of this computer with Tumblr as my backdrop in order for me to feel like I have and audience and therefore someone to talk to (I decided to type this shit out on word before copy pasting to tumblr bc apparently I don’t like living on the edge??)

I’m high as fuck (I would like to say.. but na, I’m just regular high off some freshly home-grown microwaved weed.) anyway this is probably going to be my last indulgent ingestion of the stuff. Hopefully.

Don’t get me wrong, weed isn”t to blame and I have people I can talk to, but the problem is

Everyone

Has

Their

Own

Shit.

None I know has the space. I’m the most equipped to deal with myself. To me, that is deeply unsettling right now. Like… most people don’t even know where to begin and..well..I’ve been here before so I know what to do and honestly it’s fucking shit haha.

And as shitty as I feel, it doesn’t change the fact. I gotta figure this out on my own.

I’m a 30 y/o natural med student in my second year of my 5 year degree. I live at my parent’s house in a relatively good neighbourhood, I have the most comfortable bed, a loving cat, a good-looking bedroom and many middle class luxuries…like an en suite. I have a very comfortable house to live in and there is always food whenever I feel like eating or even just to cook for fun(my talents lie in the kitchen, potions, medicines and treats are my favourite pastimes, I love to nourish people. Don’t let it fool you though.) it’s c o v i d year rn and I don’t pay for shit.. factually, I’m pretty privileged to have all that I do physically.

My parents have always been around in physicality, even when they weren’t there, especially when they weren’t there… which was and still is a lot.  And in rolls one of the overarching themes emerges. Welcome welcome.

I got that far and took a Facebook break, bitch she runnin

So yeah I was born in this bitch back in 1990, two guys got here before me, one 11 years prior, the other 3 years after the first. Then I showed up after our parents reconciled after a 6-month separation. But like…that doesn’t happen in my life till 2019.

I’m currently contemplating piercing my lip or nose but I threw out all of my old jewellery. Geezus, it’s her and she is 22. (side note to myself,  please ignore)

Anyway so yeah I get borned unto these guys; a drummer butalso telephone technician and an accountant, both were raised as worker bees but are actually uh..nope. spoiler one is a caster the other is a timekeeper. Both mages, but they don’t know.

I was this scared to shit little creature of a child. I slept between them once It was safe to do so (I know almost nothing about kids but I’m assuming it’s a safety hazard to sleep next to new-borns? let alone to let them sleep between two people whom are also asleep. Also, I recall sleeping in this white, wooden cot thing which used to chill next to their bed. It opened up like some gates did in those medieval(<-never understood this word tbh) castles, the ones that go vertically up and down. (Yes, I remember. I remember realising I was back on this plane when I was 2 months old, it’s my earliest memory-trust me this becomes highly unimpressive once I turn 23 so hold on before you think I’m lookin for clout on this one). Like I get that that is cute and all, legit I was cradled in safety but like, that cradle started to close in very soon. Too much of a good thing changes poles kids. Leave Jesus alone he wants to have some him time.

So yeah a lot happens that was quite significant during these first 4 years but I don’t remember much but a few glimpses. Bouncing on my dad’s chest, the lounge on a sunny Sunday, mom in a beige coat, long pretty hair, a family vacation where I wore this 2 piece I loved and there was a blue waterslide tube, a fight about racism (early 90s, go figure..but like also 2020 fr) a roller-skating rink, a “haunted” forest walk, Easter…. man that vacation was fun. Most of the things I remember were from age 4 onwards. But I do have snippets of before.. playing dress up with my cousins, hiding in cupboards, hiding behind makeshift tents, maaaaany makeshift tents, talks about camping outside by the pool (oh we had quite a nice sized house with a huge yard and quite a big pool too, I learned to swim when I was two, I spent a lot of time in and around water as a kidling) I spent and remember most of my time with my cousins and being angry at our aunts. I did ballet from the age of 4 as well, I remember my mom asking me if I wanted to do ballet and I said yes, we were in this blue ballet room where one of my cousins was busy with her class. She got here 7 or 8 years ahead of me too.

Idk my childhood was pretty colourful, even today, I remember it being filled with lots of adventure. At least until I started going to crèche, but only for mornings until the other kids got here and it took my mind off of the fact that my mom wasn’t there. I hated it when my mom left me anywhere, I still remember what that felt like and it’s still nauseating despite the fact that I’m about 26 years older now.

also i’m finally posting this now and the high has already worn off. 24 hours to go.

fuck.

[fairymagicheart1]

Half Court Havoc

(I imagine this right in between the time right after Snow Day but right before Insane In Big Mama’s Train, and this is how I see their relationship in it's earliest as a budding couple in Fanfic version. :3

Mentioned OC: Dani is an OC belonging to my friend @mermaidsoul8, she helped me greatly in her input on this!! Kudos goes to her as well!

PS: This is my LONGEST fanfic so I hope you all enjoy it!)

It was just after 5 PM as Tati finally came through the Lair entrance and dropped off her bag. “Hey, guys! Sorry I was a little late, got held up at school with April, Sunita, and Dani..” Tati said as she passed by Splinter; sitting in his chair. “Uh hey, Sensei.. where’s Leo?” Then Some crashing can be heard, “I recommend looking in the kitchen, he’s been in there all day.” Splinter said rather nonchalantly. “Uhh... thanks, Sensei.,” Tati said as she walked ahead.

Leo was stumbling about to put the pots away after he had tipped them over. “Ok just keep it together Leon.. just turtle up and just ask her.” He said to himself, of course in his practice mode; Leo had knocked over the pots by his clumsy nature. Then a lightbulb appears over his head! “That’s it! I’ll just play it smooth like Lou Jitsu was before we found out he’s our dad..” He decided and with a proud smirk on his face.. which quickly changed to a surprised shock upon hearing...

“Leo? What was that?” Tati asked as she stood by the entrance to the kitchen. Flip-flopping around to face her, Leo tried leaning smoothly on the counter and showcased his trademarked grin. “Just uh... chilling you know?”To which, Tati just raised a brow and lightly smirked back. “You’re sure making a lot of noise for just “Chilling?” Leon?” She giggled, helping away to put away one last pot. “So uh, Tati? I was thinking you wanna go shoot some hoops with me... I mean if you want to?” He asked while leaning on his left elbow, even though on the inside he was shaking.

Tati turned and looked up with a smile. “Sure Leo! Should we ask your bros to play too?” She suggested but Leo shot up. “Oh uh I already checked in! They’re all.. busy! You know.. with their.. ninja stuff too?” He grinned nervously from the raised brow on Tati, “Well alright then, just let me get my phone.” She shrugged but smiled. She turned around to walk out and leaving Leo to do a dab and cheered in secret.

It turns out that the three brothers were already walking in from off-screen and were all smirking, they had heard the whole thing. “You know, a girl like it better if you just ask them straight up Leo,” Donnie said and chuckled as Mikey just grinned. “Aw come on!” Leo slumped his arms down.

“You didn’t have to lie, Leo, just go and have fun.” Raph smiled and Leo smiled as he took off to meet with her... with Donnie adding with: “How much you wanna bet he screws up?” Mikey rose his hand and Raph slapped his face.

The two already made it to the surface as Leo showed off his spinning ball trick with Tati smirking... with some unsavory eyes watching them... it was the recently mutated Ghostbear! “This Tortuga has a Novia now? And on a date? I shall ruin it like he and the other Tortugas ruined my pro-wrestling career!” He cackled and proceeded to follow...  Upon arriving at a half-court, Leo spun the ball and tossed it to Tati and grinned. “Let’s see what you got,” Tati smirked and held it. “Oh, I’ll bring it, Blue Bolt...” Tati started the game.. with her practically running with the ball without bouncing it! Though Leo caught up to her. “I’m not a rules guy but you’re supposed to bounce it as you run.” He smirked and Tati held it away above her head with her own smug grin. “Why can’t we?” She teased and stopped when Leo stepped in front of her. “Gotcha! The two of them ended up laughing as Leo tried to reach for the ball and knocked it into the air! Tati grinned as she used the magic from her hand and controlled the air to carry the ball right into the basket!”

”Ok that was not fair.” Leo teased and Tati just teased back. “Hey, you did say to bring it, and you were up against a fairy that in tune with air.” They both end up laughing... and they just realized how close they were standing still and blushed.

”So if you wanna do this more often..” Leo started to ask smooth... that was until a loud landing crash happened in front of them. Ghostbear decided to take action this time and cackled loudly. “Peekaboo Tortuga!!” He called out and cackled. “GHOSTBEAR?!” Leo cried in horror, This was the LAST thing he wanted. Leo took out his Odachi sword and tried charging at him... completely forgetting about his new ability to go Ghost!! Falling right through the mutant!

“I’ll ruin this date like you ruin my pro wrestling career!!” He cried out evilly and tried to swipe at Tati, jumping back, she tried unleashing her gale-force attacks and it did knock Ghostbear to the brick wall. Though he roared and Leo took the distracted opportunity to hit Ghostbear from the side.

Now was the time for a retreat! The noise brings people and people mean more risk in innocent civilian damage. Rushing down the alleyway they came from the first time with a raging mutant polar bear in pursuit.

Leo quickly found cover in the separate alleyway as Ghostbear was busy searching for the two and tore open any garbage bins, Leo covered his face before he turned to face Tati. “I’m so sorry about this, I tried being smooth and confident to ask you out and yet this happens.. probably messed up so bad now..” He sighed but Tati, with a pink shade to her cheeks, grabbed his hand. 

“Leo, no matter what and despite this evil, crazy, and might I add very petty mutant polar bear... I would’ve and always will say yes; I would love to go out with you.” She confessed and Leo squeezes his hand back in hers. “Really?! I-yes!” He said (rather) too loudly and Ghostbear turned to that direction and poked his furry head in.“Peekaboo Tortuga!!”

Before Ghostbear gets a swipe in, Leo and Tati quickly jump out of the way and in midair, Tati said quickly “Uh maybe not the time and place for a romantic confession!” “Agreed!!” Leo concurred fast as Tati had caught him and used her wind magic to help him land behind another alleyway. Tati and Leo poked their heads out to observe the seeking mutant bear.

“Señor Fuzzy-Jerk won’t leave us alone unless he’s stopped! We gotta do something..” Tati said.. then gave a knowing look to Leo. “Well, Leo?” In her eyes, she fully believes in him.“You.. really think I can?” Leo said looking surprised. “Leo, I know you can.” She squeezed his arm and now they both looked determined to the approaching Ghostbear. Leo lifted the basketball and he whispered his quickly made plan.

Separating as Tati ran out first. “Hey! You!! Over here Mal Oso!!” She cried and with an evil laugh, Ghostbear foolishly chased after her. Supposedly cornering her by a gate in the alleyway and Ghostbear cackled. “Looks like the Tortuga is gonna have to find another novia.. because I have ruined his date!!” He cackled so evilly.. but didn’t exactly noticed the smirk on Tati’s face.

“Yeah, I don’t think you have you moron.” She then pressed her cloaking badge and revealed her fairy wings and green eyes. “You really should watch out behind you!” She raised her hand to catch the basketball and used her air power to launch it into Ghostbear’s face hard and very quickly, in Ghostbear’s surprise and his guard was hit backward.. into Leo’s already opened portal!

Leo opened two more: one above the other to gain speed and finally a third opened to lead into the Hudson River and had shot Ghostbear through. “TORTUGA!!!” He cried before hitting the waters and he burst out soon after to catch on some driftwood.. exhausted and frustrated that he failed again.

Back with the couple, Tati and Leo high fives each other and laughed about it. “Leo! That was so good! You knew thy enemy and used it to our advantage!! You're amazing!!” She threw her arms around his shoulders and Leo enjoyed this feeling.

“And you’re amazing too Tati! Everything! Your wind powers and everything about you?” Leo complimented back and the two blushed and were silent for a quick moment.

“Let’s call this a pre-date and finish this night off with Pizza?” Tati suggested, “Pizza! Run Of The Mill?” He held his arm out and Tati gladly took it. “Run Of The Mill.” She giggled and the two finally went off towards the Yokai Pizza place... feelings confirmed but willing to take it slow.

[heda-fleimkepa]

Quarantine Tag Game

I was tagged by @gaymelie

Are you staying home from work/school?

Yes. I mean, university has been cancelled until mid-April (at the earliest) anyway, but I am currently working on writing my Bachelor’s thesis which I am doing from my parents’ home.

If you're staying home, who is with you?

My parents.

Who would be your ideal quarantine mate?

Oooof. Maybe my bestest bro ? Or my good friend Hannah? Both would be nice and chill. We would have lots of great food in both cases.

Are you a homebody?

Eh, depends. I’m a social introvert, so I need my me-time at home, but now that going out to cafés and libraries just isn’t an option anymore, I realise how much I miss it and actually thrive on doing calm social stuff.

An event you were looking forward to that got cancelled?

My birthday week. And it looks like the concert and holiday in June that I was really looking forward to also most likely won’t happen, so there’s that.

What movies have you recently watched?

I’m not really that much of a movie-watcher actually, so the last two movies I’ve watched probably are “Sharknado 5: Global Swarming” (please don’t judge me) and “The Invitation”.

What shows are you watching?

I’ve just finished “Star Trek: Picard” and currently I’m watching the second season of “Timeless” with my mom. And I usually also watch the most recent edition of “Heute Show” once a week. Then, there are a ton of shows that I’m actually also still watching, but have been put on pause, because my mental state currently doesn’t let me focus on more than one show at once.

What music are you listening to?

Mostly video game soundtracks of various Nintendo games.

What are you reading?

Except for boring-ass papers for my thesis, nothing actually. I’ve been meaning to start on the second “Trials of Apollo” book, but alas... my brain won’t let me start a new thing rn.

What are you doing for self care?

Walks. Lots and lots of walks. Listening and singing to music whenever I have the chance to be alone. Solo dance parties in my room or the bathroom. ANIMAL CROSSING.

I don’t know who to tag, so whoever sees this and wants to do it, consider yourself tagged!

[laurasauras]

2019 fanfiction summary!

Happy new year! This post is to revisit my most popular fics by kudos for every month of 2019! (Where I updated a fic in multiple months, I chose the earliest update and didn’t double up). The quotes I’ve chosen were posted in the corresponding month.

January: Long-Distance (Dave/John, NSFW, finished, 4k)

‘Dave,' John says, and he's using his commanding voice. The one he used last time he came down to visit you. You dropped to your knees so fast after he told you to that you actually had bruises the next day. You're kinda powerless against John's commanding voice.

'Yeah,' you say.

'You're gonna take me to the movies. And you're gonna do what I say. 'Cause you're good for me, aren't you?'

February: Olympus (alphabetaot8+Karkat, Dave/Karkat, NSFW, illustrated, finished, 24k)

CG: WHEN I LEAVE OLYMPUS AND PEOPLE ASK ME, HEY, KARKAT, YOU HAD AN INCREDIBLE RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. TELL US, WHAT ARE THE GODS LIKE? CG: I’M GOING TO HAVE TO TELL THEM THAT YOU’RE ALL HORNY BASTARDS WITH NO CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS. CG: FUCK IT, YOU DON’T DESERVE MY OPEN COMMUNICATION ABOUT WHAT RANDOM TIDBITS I’VE PICKED UP FROM MY VISIONS. CG: SUFFER IN IGNORANCE WONDERING WHAT SECRETS PAST KARKAT HAS WHISPERED THROUGH MY DREAMS AND CHOKE ON MY BULGE, ALL OF YOU.

March: An Opportunity for Wisdom (Dave/Karkat, SFW, finished, 2k)

"You don’t know what you were expecting, bruises maybe? But he mostly looks unfocused and young, probably because his signature shades are resting on his bedside table instead of his nose. Roxy hops onto the end of the bed and pats a spot for you, but you’re having some kind of staring malfunction.

‘So I assume you’re fine,’ you say. ‘The surgeon didn’t take out your spleen along with your excessive enamel or anything?’

Dave blinks slowly at you before turning to Roxy.

‘Rox,’ he stage whispers. ‘Whoooo is this movie star in my bedroom right now.’"

April: I Married My Best Friend. Ironically. (Dirk/John, SFW, in progress, 30k)

John isn't your most platonic friend. He's the dude you've been in love with for months and you've got no idea why you were denying this to everyone, including yourself. You like being in his arms and he's smiling at you in this gorgeous way that makes you think if you kissed him, he'd be even happier.

May: Open Up Your Murder Eyes (Dirk/Hal, NSFW, in progress, 86k)

‘This is all going to be okay,’ you tell him. ‘I'm very good at planning. And I'm very good at holding blood in my body. I do it all the time. I'm gonna fall asleep if you keep doing that, stupid magic hands. That's probably on your palms too, has the ability to make Hal melt, will not use this responsibly. I'll write it on if it isn't already, gotta warn for this shit.’

June: Reason To Believe (Jade/Nepeta, SFW, finished, 7.5k)

You can’t remember how to breathe. You don’t think your heart knows what it usually does either. You feel your hand twitch in hers and oh my God, you’re holding her hand.

‘Can I kiss you?’ she asks.

You might die if she kisses you. You don’t think your body can cope with it. You don’t care. You nod enthusiastically.

July: Irresistible Thoughts (AlphaDave/Dirk, NSFW, finished, 8k)

You have to let him sleep. You have to talk to him about this. You have to … probably never do it again. No, you definitely have to not do it again. (But what if you didn't tell anyone?) Your thoughts are evil and you're not to be trusted alone with them.

August: Your Boyfriend's A Snack (John/Dirk/Bro/Hal, NSFW, finished, 20k)

He plays a good game. Dirk seems to think he hung the damn moon and Hal is delighting in “corrupting” him, but you know better. Your John is rotten down deep. You can feel a kindred spirit in him. And you bring it out in him, too. He steps towards you until he would be in grabbing range if your arms weren’t bound against your side, your forearms behind your back. You’re tempted more than ever to make a real effort at breaking the rope, but you’re curious as to what he might do. Because John has decided that you’re a bad guy. And it doesn’t really matter, in John’s warped please let me do what I want morality, if he does bad things to a bad guy. You love John’s morality. And you love being his bad guy.

September: Murder Is A Very Intimate Fantasy (Death Note, Light/L, NSFW, finished, 10k)

‘One day, I’ll hear you say something that isn’t a lie. Until then …’ L ran a thumb across the flexible material of Light’s collar. ‘Murder is a very intimate fantasy.’

‘Tell me your name,’ Light said.

‘When you tell me yours.’

Light let his head fall onto L’s shoulder and laughed. No, he wasn’t going to confess. But this was an interesting development in the game. He would have been disappointed if L had let him win, even now after all these years and the most brilliant plan he’d ever come up with. What was the point of love if it didn’t challenge you?

October: Knight of Spades (Dave/Karkat, NSFW, in progress, 65k)

The movie finishes and you stop hiding in a strategically hornless patch of Karkat’s head. You straighten and notice that everyone has leaned somewhat towards the centre. Gamzee has his head on Karkat’s lap and his long legs outward. Vriska and Kanaya are both using Terezi as a (presumably much less comfortable) cushion like Karkat and Rose were for you. The Mayor is curled up like a cat in front of everyone. You feel …

Identifying your feelings wasn’t in any of the lessons you had growing up, but this makes your heart ache in a really good way. You feel like you’re safe, really safe, even despite your doomed timeline. You would do anything for the people in this room. Of course everything will turn out okay.

November: I'd Tap That (oh fuck I didn't mean to tap that) (Dave/Karkat, SFW, finished, 17k)

‘What the actual fuck! He used to bully me in high school for being gay! Are you fucking—’

Terezi grabs your phone from you, needing it closer to make up for her appalling vision despite her fancy glasses, and her thumb slips over the screen. The tiny fire icon at the top of his bio fills in.

You both freeze. That’s not a favourite, not like pressing a button so you can come back to his profile later and stare at it while you consider messaging him. That’s a tap. He’s going to get a notification. You’re a fucking lurker, you don’t tap people, you tentatively message polite men back if you’re feeling brave and otherwise stare at pictures of guys you’re never going to date.

December: Double Trouble (Dave/Karkat/Latula/Mituna, NSFW, finished, 5k)

Karkat rolls his eyes and grabs Dave by the upper arm. Dave protests quietly and at length as Karkat drags him towards the smooth area that Mituna and Latula are skating on, but most of it is about the ethics of kidnapping a president so Karkat tunes it out in favour of keeping his focus on the ground under his feet. Dream bubbles sometimes throw unexpected things out there.

[ili-qu]

that hyperfixation post has me thinking

i bought p5 on release date, and it took me about a month to beat it. i loved it, obviously. whether it was better than p3 I couldn’t decide, but i figured i’d let it settle first and make a decision then. so this would be about may 2017.

for both p3 and p4 I waited... a while, before starting new game+ and going for 100%. technically it was because i played p3 and p4 in succession before going back, but even post-p4 it was a long time, i’m pretty sure.

i started p3 in january 2013, and then dropped it for a while somewhere around the hierophant/lovers full moon, before going back to it because... ??? im very glad I did though. I think counting that break it took 6 months to beat, though i forget if that included the answer. I DO remember starting p4 like two days after so yeah. i needed More

p4 i think i dropped twice? once right before shadow yukiko, and again during shadow rise’s dungeon, but maybe i only stopped once and just remember rise’s part for some reason. anyway the reason i got back into it was because i read a p4 arena lp. which spoiled A Lot, but got me really invested in finishing the game to actually understand what they were saying. i think it was january 2014, when I finally finished.

...I assume i started p3 ng+ later that year, and then persona q came out so that held me for a while, and THEN i did p4 ng+. and after that was pq ng+, and after THAT i played p3p for the first time, and I know the timeframe for that because of these posts. feb/march 2016, doing a sort-of challenge playthrough as minato to set up for ng+ hamuko, because... I think i though there was ng+ exclusive content. portable just doesn’t do that, for some reason.

anyway all of that is background to how quickly i started my ng+ 100% run of p5. I finished in may 2017, told myself i’d wait at least until december so the experience wouldn’t be too fresh in my mind, and caved in august 3 months later. good job, me

and if i’m being honest, all of THAT is background to how a: how slowly i became obsessed with futaba, and b: how long-lasting said obsession has been. because no other character has been like that, not just in persona (though aigis and hamuko came somewhat close), but in any media.

I know my love for futaba didn’t take hold at ALL while i was playing p5. not during my first playthrough, or my second. (although i was too lazy to finish my ng+ file because i didn’t want to farm money the smart way to finish the compendium, so i had to do it right at the end on normal enemies, which is Painful, but yeah.) my first run, i romanced makoto, like a lot of people did. second, haru. pretty sure I saw akira/futaba as having a brother/sister-like dynamic, or maybe it was thinking futaba wasn’t emotionally mature enough to even have a relationship, but either way i didn’t date her.

(and side note: even though i ship them now, her rank 10 non-romance scene > rank 10 romance scene. you can actually see her go and buy what she wants, and she’s perfectly fine, and it’s nice that the romance one focuses on the romance but they didn’t need to just skip her personal growth like that argh)

i loved futaba as a character, but at this point i was tossing up between her and makoto as my favourite, and either way they weren’t that far above everyone else.

how futaba did become my favourite... is a very good question. I mean, i can relate to her a lot - social anxiety is Not Fun, obsessing over your interests and shutting off everything else for days Is Fun (just Not Healthy) - but why didn’t that happen while i was actually playing p5? i guess... i saw myself in her more than i thought i did?

fanfic is most likely-actually no fanfic is definitely a reason. i’m taking around late 2017/early 2018. there are excellent futaba-centric fics from that period of time that i’ll probably add to this post later, that 100% contributed to my love of futaba. i’d say they even solidified her as my favourite, but even then the fixation on her didn’t start just yet.

I think the earliest i could say it started, or at least when i became aware of it, is with p5d and p5a. p5d because i watched and re-watched her trailer once it came out, partially because Futaba partially because that days when my mother was there remix was/is SO GOOD, and her dancing is just adorable. good on you futaba, for coming out of your shell and dancing in front of everyone and having fun she’s so happy aaaaaaa

now with the anime I know was aware. I think it was around this time period (march/april 2018) where i started following more persona blogs on here/twitter, actually seeing more of the fandom. and while most people were hyped for it, i remember what I was thinking:

futaba waiting room.

i wasn’t going to start watching until futaba’s arc. which is exactly what i did. was it a good decision? i mean i basically binged half the anime until it got to the point i was interested in. so yes.

which takes us to june/july 2018, at which point i was in deep, i KNEW i was in deep, and i did not care at all. i started writing fanfic, which has... not exactly gone anywhere, but i want to keep going. i binged whatever fan content i could find, which started with mostly RP blogs and through those lots and lots lots of art. futaba took over this blog.

and with the pq2 trailers, the later episodes of p5a, p5d coming out in english, and all the fandom content, my love for her hasn’t died down at all. I didn’t expect something like this to last so long - it’s been, what, about a year now? and i’m still coming up with headcanons or theories or fic ideas that i want to write some day. (not that i post much of it, but i should.) still loving my wonderful sweet hacker gremlin. still drinking that Loving Futaba Juice.

[sakuya123draws]

for the end of year meme: 1, 8, 10, 14, 20 !! Please and thank you!

OH MAH GOD IT’S LATE!!! (I am so sorry @nalufever I finally got around to answering asks and I’m starting with the most recent ones!! It’s appropriate as they are for the “End of the year” meme I reblogged!)

 Anyways, without further ado, let’s answer these lovely questions~! >w

1. First things first, did you have a good year?

A: Well, I guess that is the first thing to ask when jumping from one year to the other! ^_^ If I’m being honest the year started out really bad. Lots of family problems, stress from college and my horrible relationship was weighing me down and draining me of my energy. I never want to blame anything on anyone, but I was in a dysfunctional relationship with someone and I finally got out of it around April. It’s a long story, but I don’t feel like dwelling on that stuff. I’m stronger now! (I mean I “hope” so ^ ^;) I was happy that I got in the honours roll for my first year which gave me entry to showing my artwork to judges at the college I got to! It was an amazing experience and I made some cool friends along the way! It’s a small class, but we’re like a family. :D As for my actual family, I lost my grandma…She was an inspiration to me and even today I will always show my appreciation for my grandparents! Other than that, my family had gotten better and we can finally understand each other a bit more when it comes to communication which is always a plus!! :3 Even on here with Tumblr being who it is, I still have lots of friends that didn’t leave and I’m happy to see they are better from last year! In short, (cause you can see THIS is a paragraph xD) I think the year was wishy-washy! It was all over the place, but it made up for it at the end to be called “good”. ^v^

8. Which fashion trends did you hate?

(I thought of him when I thought of the word fashion xD Don’t kill me, I LOVE Max

A: Even though my mom is a lady who lives by fashion, I can’t say I know the styles of 2018! ;w; I looked up a source (well you know Vogue and all that jazz :/) to base my opinion on. I only think this would be easier if I could say what I “loved”, but it’s a hate one so gotta be mean xD lol. I mean I never “hate” anything, so I’m gonna give it a shot. 

One thing I don’t like about fashion trends if I’m being frank is that it’s usually clothes on the runway. Many styles I see based on Vogue’s source are styles I can’t see the everyday person wearing. Personally, I wouldn’t wear half of those designs outside. That’s just me. My sense of style is a hybrid of my mom’s fashion she wears/sells, 80′s-90′s fashions and cutesy outfits. (that I think I’d look bad in ;w;) I’m gonna give a small bullet point list. (I know I always say small xD)

 Arty Impressions - This was the first one on the article I read. From what I can gather it’s fashion with famous works printed on it. (Artworks, for example, Andy Warhol’s, screenprints) I mean I can see the connection, but for me wearing something with a reproduced art piece is hard for me to personally wear. LIke it has to be done like how T-shirts have a design in the middle or small embellishments on it to make me wear it. The example I saw is fun and creative, but for me, I couldn’t see myself liking/wearing those pieces. It depends. 5/10? I guess xD

Plastic/see-through material - This honestly has been a reoccurring style that I have seen. It’s become more prominent now according to last year’s trends. I can’t stand the “see-through” look. I don’t know what it is, but it’s just too awkward to wear outside. LIke people will defend that you can wear what you want, but for ME and ME Only, I can’t wear those kinds of stuff. I would feel very scared/concerned with how I look. (Even to myself) If you don’t know what I am referring to, I mean like that umbrella looking material. (I’ve added the source in the paragraph above for this question! ^_^)

Geometric/Flannel Print - I can never see myself liking the flannel scene. For pyjamas, no problem! To wear outside, I can’t bring myself to do that. You can see me in an old sweater, but flannel I don’t think any of my friends have seen me in that xD I just can’t say it’s aesthetically pleasing to me. I have a problem liking this style. Maybe I will when I get older, but as I’m young and creative I see myself wearing clothes for the young generation! :P (my mom says that anyways xD lol) The clothes that make you feel like partying, even though you don’t go outside like me xD lol 

As much as I love talking about fashion, I think I would bore everyone with my opinions. xD (You’re definitely not here for these are you? xD If so, thank you) 

10. What song sums up this year for you?

A: I don’t have a definite answer, but I went through a lot of things. Many times I wanted to be in a dream world…Like to escape everything. All the pain and depression. I still feel that way, but in 2018 it was WAY worse. This song I originally heard in Silent Hill: Downpour (A GAME I LOVE ;w;) was a song I thought of when I see this question. I think it’s a great song! sad, but I’d recommend it. The singer’s voice is lovely. It invokes so many emotions in me ;w; (I’ll give a youtube link) 

Ed Harcourt - From Every Sphere

14. Favorite new TV show?

(I HAD to make it this guy >w

WARNING: HUGE ANSWER BELOW!

A: Well, as you may know, I don’t watch many shows anymore. I mostly play video games, but for the sake of this amazing question, I’ll say what anime(s) I did enjoy last year! I don’t think I’ve ever loved an anime as much as I love Gintama. It’s really funny because I originally “disliked” Gintama. It was a naive thing for the young me to have said at the time. I judged the show so harshly after seeing anime (IMO) being shat on with the usual themes and scenes I ALWAYS see. I began to give up on anime as a whole. My story starts when I was pissed at my brother telling me, “Gintama is amazing Tash, trust me you’ll regret hating it.” I answered with my normal response of, “ sure Ja, you ALWAYS say that. How will this be any different?” Maybe I shouldn’t have said that…Well, it’s too late now for present-day me. My brother showed me all the “humorous” parts first. (I honestly felt like he tricked me, but the show really starts that way xD) Anyways, we eventually watched a few episodes and I told him I didn’t understand the humour. (it’s honestly hard to get into if you’re not open-minded or don’t understand the comedy Sorachi uses) Until he decided to hit me with his ace, “The Shinsengumi Crisis Arc”. All I can say is, a different side of me was born. I started to see what a show could truly offer if it was done right, the way I wanted to see it. It’s hard to explain, but without Gintama’s sad/inspirational/happy/stupid/clever story writing/arcs I don’t think I would have ever gotten through 2018. I haven’t finished the episodes as of its recent update, but I really learned a lot from the show. I want to give a HUGE shoutout to Sorachi for writing this masterpiece and I would 10000% recommend it to ANYONE! It’s a show that changed my views on people’s situations and lives. I think all the arcs are amazingly written and so far I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of it! It really got me in the feels. I can honestly say that if you can’t feel after seeing an arc in Gintama, you haven’t felt. It’s that amazing! (Then AGAIN, it’s an opinion not everyone will sadly share xD) Also, I am really enjoying Bleach! I’m sad at how it ended in terms of what things happened and I honestly hope Kubo will be ok. I loved his episodes and the earliest ones really touched my heart like Gintama. He’s also really great at making me cry every episode! :P

(GOD SORRY FOR THE ESSAY AND STUPID STORY LINES xD I’m sorry I can’t add a RM for this b/c then everything under can’t be seen like the other answers ;w;) 

20. Did you develop a new obsession?

Well…YES! Many obsessions!! The real question is which is the one that I obsess over the most? Well I’ll put some bullet points to hopefully make it smaller xD

First of all, I don’t want to say it but I’ve taken a “liking” (what an understatement lol) to Gin Ichimaru from Bleach~! >////

I think everyone knows, but I have an obsession with cute/pink/pretty stuff. (Can it be called that?) I just LOVE pastel colours or pinks/blues/purples. Those kinds of soft colours you see in Hello Kitty toys or Fairy Kei/Kawaii merch (if I’m correct xD) I just have a HUGE soft spot for childhood stuff! I literally still act like a kid xD lol I don’t think I’ll be growing up anytime soon haha xD lol I just love to collect them! :) 

Vaporwave I guess has become a new obsession and old art styles of the past! I just can’t stop being in awe at those marble statues! The curvature and bodies are so magnificent! >w

So many different art styles that are brought to this world! :D This is the truth! I absolutely love most styles I see on here and whenever I encounter them! >w

Other than that, I don’t think I have any other obsessions I know about :P Sorry, I’m super boring xD That’s the art student life lol (only me guys xD dw)

THANK YOU SO SO MUCH FOR MESSAGING ME AND SENDING THIS AMAZING ASK YOU AWESOME PERSON!!! @nalufever I am so happy to have gotten something from you and I hope you’ve had a great Christmas and Happy New Year, friend!! I hope you stay happy and healthy this year!! All the best to you! Thank so much once again for taking the time :)

If anyone else is interested, you can send me something as well~!

Take care from me and Happy New Years everyone!!!

Saku~!

[iloveyoupittsburghpirates-blog]

You Are Average, Pittsburgh Pirates

You’re nothing if not consistent. And you prove time and time again to be consistently average. After a 3-3 week, you remain smack dab at .500 with a record of 74-74. You lost two out of three to the Cardinals, who now find themselves tied with the Dodgers for the second Wildcard spot. They allowed that to happen by losing six of their last ten. What a shame. You followed that up by taking two out of three from the team with the top spot in the Wildcard race, the Milwaukee Brewers. You have had their number this year, but they just performed better mostly because of their stacked lineup. The race is heating up and your only role in it is to play spoiler. Even with you winning the series against the Brewers, they still have a three game lead in the Wildcard and are only 2 ½ games back in the division. It’s starting to look like the worst-case scenario for them is the Wildcard game at home.  Worst case scenario for you was a random injury to your best hitter that could jeopardize his ability to be ready in time for the start of the 2019 season. Well…

That Gregory Polanco injury that was originally reported as a significant knee bone bruise and a shoulder injury evolved this week. It turns out he dislocated his shoulder which required surgery that necessitates a 7-9 month recovery period. That means Polanco could be ready to return at the beginning of next season, at the earliest, and potentially not until June. This is about as bad as I could have imagined. You already are light in the hitting department and to lose Polanco for possibly half a season is a disaster.  Even if he’s ready by the beginning of April, that probably means he’s missed all of Spring Training so it’s unlikely he’ll be ready to start. He’ll have to go through his own truncated version of Spring Training to get himself in baseball shape. This makes your need to sign an outfielder this off season even greater. Dickerson came back to life a little bit this week, but he’s been so abysmal lately that you need more options. Sign an outfielder, start them while Polanco gets healthy, and then you could bench Dickerson if he’s struggling when Polanco returns. Even if Dickerson is hitting, we saw the benefits earlier this year of having a fourth outfielder. If these guys can get more days off, maybe they’ll be less likely to get hurt. Signing a free agent outfielder was originally supposed to be a luxury for depth when Polanco was healthy and Dickerson was ripping. Now with Austin Meadows gone and no outfield prospects close to the majors, you HAVE to sign an outfielder. It’s not an option anymore.

Adam Frazier crashed back to Earth this week. The person who has all but been handed the starting second base spot for next season gave us reasons again to doubt that is the best option. He went 6/29 this week for a .207 batting average. His OBP was .207 and his slugging was .276 making for a .483 OPS. He’s still bating .278 on the season with a .787 OPS so it’s not like his numbers are suddenly garbage. That’s still third best on the team which says less about Frazier and more about the lack of offense you possess. Kevin Neman has looked a little better at the plate, so you could do a platoon situation by starting Frazier against righties and Newman against lefties. When Frazier is hot, he starts regardless. If Newman gets hot and Frazier is going through a cold phase, then you swap them. Ideally, I wouldn’t want to rely on those two at all and I would want you to sign a free agent. The problem is there aren’t many good options on free agency and you have other spots to fill as well. Making a trade isn’t out of the question but you don’t have a lot of enticing assets that would net you anything worthwhile. Frazier has shown some good signs, so he might just have to be the concession you make when deciding to sign people this offseason. You do have some money to spend but not enough to cover every hole you have in the lineup which now seems like quite a lot.

It’s crazy where you sit right now. From a pitching standpoint, you could argue your roster is set for next year, aside from maybe adding a long reliever to the bullpen. The offense, however, now appears to only have four legitimate starters for next season. One has health issues with concussions (Cervelli), one just went through an epic slump and will only definitely be a starter because of a lack of options (Dickerson), and one had the most disappointing season on the team this year (Bell). The fourth is Marte who is solid though I’d love to see his OPS a little higher than .765. That leaves three infield positions, an outfield position, and bench spots. There was a time where it seemed like you might be able to spend money on the bench only, but now it will most likely be filled by guys like Osuna, Newman, Luplow, Diaz, and maybe Kramer. All very young and inexperienced so certainly not ideal. Your payroll looks to be about 80 million right now so it’s reasonable to believe the highest you would be willing to go is 100 million. That means you have twenty million to spend on a starting OF, SS, and a 3B. I’m not even saying 2B right now because that already seems difficult to imagine you finding three starters for a combined 20 million next year. You have a lot of work to do this offseason and how you handle it could determine the next three years. No pressure…

This week begins with an easier opponent followed by another division rival. You start a three-game series at home against the last place Kansas City Royals. They already have 97 losses on the season so if you sweep them, you can put them at 100. Their offense struggles more than your’s does so this could be an opportunity to put yourself over .500. After a day off Thursday, you play yet another series against the Milwaukee Brewers. I know they are most likely going to the playoffs and you are not, but I really do enjoy watching that team lose. This is the second to last week. It’s been a roller coaster of a season to say the least. It would be nice to finish strong and, most importantly, finish healthy. Moves like sitting Keone Kela for the remainder of the season to due usage makes perfect sense. I’d be fine doing the same with others. Play hard but play smart and safe. That’s the motto for the last two weeks. Finish strong and I’ll talk to you next week. Love you!!!

                                                              Desperate For A Clean Bill Of Health,

                                                                                         Brad

P.S. unfortunately stands for Pittsburgh Steelers which, after yesterday’s game, can only be described as pathetic. The offense showed up for the most part scoring 37 points and keeping them in the game. The defense, on the other hand, was embarrassed time and time again. Bad communication and a lack of execution in every facet led to Patrick Mahomes, in his third career start, throwing six touchdowns and putting up 42 points to beat you by five. The same excuses have been happening since the Shazier injury and they just aren’t justifiable anymore. This needs to turn around quickly or defensive coordinator Keith Butler might not make it to the bye week…

[yuli-ban]

Anarchy in Prague/Belle Grand-Mär Megapost

See, now this is a megapost. The goth one was only about two unique pictures. This one has three.

Current theme song for Anarchy in Prague. Harkens back to the days when it was described as a “Stoner Rock Scott Pilgrim”. 

Drawn by @dalf

She’s 27 at the time the story starts. She is literally on the edge of being a Millennial (I’m one of those who thinks the cut-off between Millennials/Generation Y and iGeneration/Generation Z should be 2001, but some say it’s actually 1996).

Drawn by @alouissever 

If two people share a 1-Up, how would that work? Also, you can tell they’re getting close to 30 just by how stoned they look when, in fact, they’re trying to stay awake for New Year’s. I love this aspect of Anarchie, rambling about how Millennials are growing old and are no longer the dominant youth generation. In 2024 (which is 7 years away), there will be 40-something Millennials. I’ll be 30, holy fucking mother of fathers.

Drawn by @dalf

Muriel and Malfiore. Pan’s goth “girls”. Muriel’s, like, 28. However, Malfiore/Marie is 37. She’s still a Millennial, yo. 2024-37=1987. She’s a fucking ‘90s kid and she’s already growing some grays and finding the protoforms of what will one day become wrinkles.

Drawn by @alouissever

Arthur and his sister, Daria (yes, I know it was Darya; deal with it). Daria’s nonplussed about how childish Venus remains.

Drawn by @alouissever

I actually couldn’t find the bottom image for the longest time, so I think this is the first time I’ve posted it to Tumblr. See? It’s not all reposts. I kinda like how Venus looks like a ghost in the second picture, but Dalf forgot about the Saint Vitus logo! And yes, that’s a Pepper robot. I imagined that they might gain a bit more utility between now and 2024. Also, funny thing about Venus being a “hipster”. She’s actually not. She’s more of a moddie than a hipster. But since Arthur’s a hipster, she sometimes tries to be one ironically.

Drawn by @dalf

Arthur Tartakovsky, Venus’s ultra-hipster boyfriend. This was before he gained his ironic mustache. He used to be in an indie pop band in an earlier draft, but nowadays he’s still in an indie pop band. The actual change was his other hobby: before, he was a comic artist. Now he’s an indie game dev specializing in retro games and VR cyberpunk. The world of indie game devs can get hectic, especially in a tight job market. He has to deal with rival devs sabotaging each other and himself sometimes, which is why he developed electrokinetic powers.

Early sketches of the original trio. Only Venus has really changed visually. She was much less notable.

Drawn by @dalf

I already did the posts where @pan-pizza gets his nuts crushed. I see no reason why I should post them again other than to goad Pan into reblogging this megapost. Pan, do not  reblog this.

Drawn by @alouissever

Drawn/animated by @spookyfishcakes

Drawn by @nicolas-px-art

Early form of Malfiore. She always wears Ed’s clothes (a la Ed Edd n Eddy), but it was much more faithful in the earliest sketches. Just ask Alouisse-Ver. Also, she used to have Daria’s hairstyle.

Muriel’s first sketch, back before she had her top hat. I created her as a loveletter to Pan Pizza and his gothosexual tendencies; Malfiore was always going to be a part of the story.

Drawn by @alouissever

Anarchie’s still got a lotta stoner rock in it (Venus’s band and their scene mates are all either stoner rock or heavy rock), but even back in 2014 when I first created the story, I left some room for indie rock. Nowadays, they both take up an equal amount of space. If it ever becomes a movie or a cartoon, it’ll probably be the only one in history where the OST consists of Nebula, Kyuss, Radio Moscow, and Orange Goblin right alongside The Pillows, Kodaline, Arctic Monkeys, and Porno Mags. Radiohead one second, Pentagram the next.

And, for now, that’s all for Anarchie. I’ve yet to commission pictures of Kalo, Syd, Adamski, or Azura Meco, but those are coming. I’m just actually working on the story. Shocker, I know. Even I’m surprised. I just did a 30,000 word outline in about 10 days; the real rough draft should be finished by April.

And now for BGM, which is basically “Anarchie + Cyberdelic Pharmaceuticals”. The early posts here don’t show that off well, but the world will know...

Title card still pending.... I made that 3 yea— holy fuck, I made that three years ago?! How is it 2017 already? 

Pure stardream. It sounds like dreamrock, honestly. The moment I heard this, I knew I had found BGM’s BGM. No pun intended. It was either this or Stand Up. 

Belle. Belle Grand-Mär. British moddie, real name “Indira Elizabeth Jones”, elective mute, severe and antisocial, freeskating and freerunning traceause, yadayadayada. If Venus was a female Scott Pilgrim fused with Murdoc Niccals, Belle is Ramona Flowers + Haruko Haruhara + Ryuko Matoi + Garnet + a mime + Neku Sakuraba + a silent cartoon character. I’m glad I’m a writer. Try creating a silent character! You’d better have mastered visual emotion.

Aurora. Real name “Farideh Moradi”, Persian-Briton moddie, freerunning traceuse, Belle’s closest friend and whatnot. She literally got her name from the reference to the Aurora Borealis in A Flock of Seagull’s uber-80′s hit “I Ran (So Far Away)”. The 2020′s are basically the ‘80s with more cyberdelia, after all.

Bomb. Real name “Madeleine Violetta Dumont”, French moddie, actually dead and works as a psychokinetic grim reaper whenever she feels like it. Also Belle’s rival and foil. Freeskating traceuse. She was created in 2009 as the lead character in a story that was literally “JSRF: Jet Set Radio Future + The World Ends With You”. This is why she seems like someone badly took a character from each of those games and fused them together.

Drawn by @alouissever

Parov Stelar’s beautiful little electroswing track. It’s so 2020′s.  BGM has much more of a stardream atmosphere than the down-to-earth feel of Anarchie. There’s a lot more chiptune, dreamier rock, electrofunk, and whatnot. If you took the soundtrack to Super Mario Galaxy and Steven Universe, mixed it with the soundtrack to Jet Set Radio Future, and made it thrice as eclectic, you’d get something like BGM’s presumed BGM.

You may have noticed that all the characters for BGM thus far are moddies. That’s no mistake or coincidence— it’s a moddie story. It has a stronger character than Anarchie, to the point I can even call it when aspects of Anarchie “seem like something out of BGM”.  Moddies are already getting started, though no one’s yet calling them moddies. But you see how vaporwave’s gotten so big? How neon and pixel art is dominating Tumblr? Seapunk and dyed hair are everywhere, everyone loves hallucinogenics, and everyone loves the ‘80s once more. Major Lazer, for the fucking win. Right now, we say that these are signs of hipsterdom. But in the 2020s, we’re going to look back and realize what it really was— the birth of the moddies. We’ve not yet reached the moddies— we still need a Transhuman Be-In, cheaper OLEDs, and a Sgt. Pepper moment for electronic music (where people stop seeing it as purely dance music). And I don’t see anyone who owns a robot like Pepper or ASIMO yet either. And while luminescent hair is definitely a thing, it’s not yet become a common thing. Nor has leaving up Christmas lights all year, or being obsessed with bright primary colors.

But we’re getting there. And the thing that will trigger the final separation between post-hipsters and moddies isn’t a Transhuman Be-In, but simply time: us Millennials are indeed growing older. I was born in ‘94, and I’m 22 going on 23. Millennials brought back hipsterdom, but ‘10s hipsters suffered a brutal blow due to the loss of Bernie Sanders and the rise of Donald Trump. Our whole zeitgeist became fragile. Hence why people are looking for harder music instead of the previously comfortably twee indie pop and nu-folk. Being vintage and authentic hasn’t helped us one bit, and the kids— those younger than ourselves— don’t believe in our ideals. They just see a blizzard.  Some may mock the hair colors, but they secretly love it. They want something more than what Millennials are offering. They are loving several aspects of what’s big— aforementioned things like vaporwave, electronic music, dyed hair, cyberpunk revivalism, ‘80s and ‘90s love, etc.— but other aspects, they are eager to discard. There’s a strain of neo-futurism in the iGeneration, which isn’t surprising considering they were raised as something of a proto-cyborg generation.

And that’s the moddies in a nutshell. Kids who recognize they live in “The Future™” and wish to own it. They don’t just listen to electronic music because it’s cool; it also aids that whole sense of living in years that previous generations thought were purely sci-fi. They don’t see electronic music as just dance club/background music. They want electronic versions of prog rock and conscious hip hop. They’re more than happy to drop acid and fuck robots. They don’t love the obsession with a minimalist future with sterile colors— they want neon. Neon lights, neon paint, and a cyberdelic attitude. If that means making cities look like one giant rave, so be it. Because ha ha, they live in the Future.

You can forgive them for their incredible optimism; they’re just kids. And they want you to know it.

[ciathyzareposts]

10 Years of Commenters

When I started this blog in February 2010, I immediately found that I enjoyed the blogging process–enjoyed it enough, I thought, that I would continue to do it even if I didn’t seem to have many readers, or any. After all, people enjoy writing in diaries with no expectation of external approval, and my blog was, if nothing else, an ongoing diary.

10 years later, I can’t imagine the past decade without all of the readers who have commented along the way. I’m sure I’ve said this before somewhere, but I regard my commenters as co-bloggers. There have been plenty of times that the best information about a game, or the most unique perspective, was found not in my entries but in the comments. My commenters offer alternate perspectives, fill in gaps, solve mysteries, correct errors, answer questions, offer hints, and make connections that I often miss. They have individually gotten me past several blocks and collectively have guided the direction of the blog.

I’ve often felt bad that I’ve never done anything like The Adventure Gamer’s Companion Assist Points and its associated leaderboard, constantly recognizing commenters for their service. For a while, I had a plan to start scoring comments and creating such a leaderboard. It’s something that I might still do in the future, but I think it needs to be lower on my priority list than a few other blog-related tasks. For now, the best I can do is publicly recognize some of the people who have helped the most over the 10 years of blogging.

Before I get into the actual data, let me clear up a few things. First, I obviously cannot know for sure when two handles belong to the same individual, so some people may not appear on the lists by virtue of having their comments split. Second, because of the way I pulled the data, dates are somewhat approximate (and end on 12/13/2019). Finally, the totals refer to the number of entries commented upon rather than the sheer number of comments.

My 10 Most Prolific Commenters

I don’t confuse quality with quantity, and plenty of the best comments on my blog have been anonymous or one-offs from people we’ve never seen again. But I’m lucky enough on my blog to have generally high-quality commenters, and so quantity does equal a certain aggregate quality. These are the 10 individuals who have contributed comments to the highest number of entries over the lifetime of the blog. Without them, the blog would be a very different place.

I like and appreciate all of the individuals below, so if any of my teasing comes across as having an edge to it, that’s a fault of my prose rather than my intent.

10. UbAh. Comments on 325 entries between 11 May 2011 and 1 April 2018.

UbAh, whose name sounds like someone from Maine ordering a rideshare, was so prolific that he makes the top 10 even though he’s only commented once since July 2015. A lover of roguelikes and (like many of my readers) skilled at obscure technical things, his comments are usually short and of the amiable, supplementary sort–rarely controversial, never rude–although there was one memorable moment where he took down a blowhard and almost immediately regretted it.

9. Alexander Sebastian Schulz. Comments on 336 entries between 30 September 2013 and 21 May 2019.

Alexander joined me after reading an article in Der Spiegel. (Why did every newspaper and magazine want to interview me during the first year, when my project seemed insane, but no one has contacted me in the last 5 years?) His comments show a certain universalism–a willingness to find value in every culture and every thing–a value that I (perhaps wrongly) associate with continental Europeans of my era. Alexander is always ready with a compliment and a congratulations and generally agrees with me about the games that I like. He was a big help with the translation of some German titles. Finest moment: waxing philosophical on how the world of Fallout reflects the modern world.

8. VK. Comments on 336 entries between 13 January 2013 and 5 December 2019.

Russian VK is one of my several–and I mean this affectionately!–“RPG nerd” commenters–the small cadre of people who have probably played more RPGs than me, particularly in the 1990s period. He’s been my advanced scout on upcoming titles since his earliest comments (just a couple months ago, he warned me about some quirks in Challenge of the Five Realms), and he’s frequently there to make connections that I missed and to offer defenses of games that I panned. He’s not afraid to argue but doesn’t seem to get overly worked up about his arguments.

7. Harland. Comments on 386 entries between 19 October 2012 and 15 December 2019.

To meet his full potential, a writer needs both champions and critics, and thus for every Alexander Sebastian Schulz, it’s nice to have a Harland–someone who’s always there to tell me what I did or said wrong. But he’s also always there to swat spoilers, as well as commenters who start to grumble when I haven’t posted in a while. And for all his grumpiness, I know he likes my blog. Maybe had a tough childhood because his parents gave him an Intellivision. His recent absolutist rants are a somewhat newer thing.

6. Raifield. Comments on 486 entries between 5 April 2011 and 12 December 2019.

Raifield is always polite, useful, cheerful, and to the point. And while I’ve covered 350 games in 10 years, he’s managed to spend nearly that long on just three. I have this theory that the next Elder Scrolls game won’t be out until he’s finished with Skyrim.

5. PetrusOctavianus. Comments on 643 entries between 14 January 2011 and 12 December 2019

Blend the “RPG nerd” credentials of VK and the bite of Harland, and you have PetrusOctavianus, one of only two of the “Top 10” to have been with me since the first year. His count is artificially low because when I caught him saying some negative things about me on RPGCodex, I renamed his Secret of the Silver Blades character “Brutus,” and he commented under that name for a while. Sometimes I get the feeling that he follows my blog more as a professional courtesy than because he actually likes it. But despite his obsession over something he calls “level design” and certain words that he finds problematic, his comments are invaluable for one major reason: He knows RPGs better than anyone.

4. Zenic Reverie. Comments on 697 entries between 14 January 2012 and 15 November 2019.

My counterpart at The RPG Consoler, Zenic puts me to shame by being much more active on my blog than I am on his. (Then again, one might say that he is more active on my blog than he is on his.) Despite his name, he admirably does not push the toy versions of various games on me, but instead simply offers perspectives on how games changed or adapted in their console ports. He seems to like non-console and adventure games, too, and he was a big help with Xoru last year.

3. Tristan Gall. Comments on 856 entries between 8 August 2012 and 15 December 2019

I’ve never told Tristan this, but I think he’d be the person I’d be most comfortable turning The CRPG Addict over to if I ever had to abandon it permanently–like if I was dying or something. I’d trust him to keep the tone and intent, while of course farming out most of the actual writing. He engages with other commenters as conversationally as he does with me. He has my dry humor. When he agrees with me, he often makes the point better than I do; when he disagrees, he often changes my mind. If he hadn’t been so intent on being “right” in that argument on gambling probabilities, I’d probably put him in my will.

2. Kenny McCormick. Comments on 1,040 entries between 23 March 2012 and 8 February 2019.

Kenny hasn’t commented in almost a year, and I worry that we may have lost him. What will we do without the master of the single entendre, the prince of puns, the great User of Exclamation Points! Without him, sure, I won’t have to moderate things quite as much (“do all of your comments have to involve male genitalia in some way,” I once had to ask him), nor scratch my head quite as often, but the comments section will have lost a lot of its life. Some of my favorite moments are when I tee something up and he knocks it out of the park.

1. Canageek. Comments on 1,266 entries between 2 January 2011 and 18 August 2019.

Canageek: the one commenter that I feel like if I ever meet him in real life, I’ll know immediately that it’s him. One so regular that I once heard from him more often than my wife, although for the past three years (since he started dating one of the Nine Divines) he’s mostly relegated himself to random comments on games I finished ages ago. Though clearly very smart (he’s a chemist), he’s also so guileless than when I made an account called “MexiFriki,” he had no idea I was sending him up. I particularly appreciate the comments that come from his perspective as a dedicated tabletop RPG player.

Honorable mentions: Helm (318 entries in 9 years); Gnoman (297 entries in 5 years); Gerry Quinn (292 entries in 8 years); JJ (290 entries in 10 years); PK Thunder (288 entries in 6 years); Amy K. (239 entries in 3 years); Joe Pranevich (238 entries in 7 years); Buck (231 entries in 4 years); william (223 entries in 9 years–you were never a “gadfly,” buddy); Mikrakov (216 entries in 8 years); Petri R. (213 entries in 6 years); HunterZ (213 entries in 9 years).

My 5 Oldest Commenters

They might not comment very often, but these individuals have been around since the beginning and have all posted within the last year. (Note: I excluded a few people who used handles so generic, like “Brad” and “Robert,” that I could never be sure if it was the same people.) These are sorted by the number of days between their first and most recent comments:

5. mprod. First comment on 8 October 2010, most recent on 5 December 2019. 20 total.

4. Boroth. First comment on 5 August 2010, most recent on 8 October 2019. 105 total.

3. Adamantyr. First comment on 8 September 2010, most recent on 3 December 2019. 137 total.

2. Andy_Panthro. First comment on 13 August 2010, most recent on 8 December 2019. 130 total.

1. Cerdric. First comment on 21 February 2010, most recent on 21 September 2019. 18 entries total.

Honorable mentions who have all commented before my first anniversary and in 2019 or 2020: Eugene (79), Georges (176), Jason Dyer (181), Dungy (64), Alan Twelve (44), JJ (290), Reiko (62), Malkav11 (103), PetrusOctavianus (643), Moonmonster (14), tormodh (7), Kyle Haight (55), Bunyip (54), Giauz (94), trudodyr (90), HunterZ (203), Canageek (1266), william (223), Helm (318).

10 People Who Have Helped Behind the Scenes

These individuals may not have commented a lot, but they’ve done a lot of work to make my blog function. These are not sorted in any particular order, and I am deliberately excluding game developers who responded to my inquires or commented on my blog; they’re a subject for another entry.           

Abalieno kept sending me fixes for my Amiga problems until I ran out of excuses not to play games on it.

Adamantyr has been behind every successful run I’ve made at a TI-99 or TRS-80 game.

Buck made it possible for me to (vicariously) “play” Drachen von Laas and to win Seven Horror‘s. 

Bunyip and Gabor both read my entries shortly after I publish them and send me typos and other problems. So if you’re in the habit of reading my entries more than 24 hours after initial publication, you’re reading better versions because of their help.

Joe Pranevich worked out my collaborations with “The Adventure Gamer,” basically co-blogging about the Quest for Glory titles. 

Lance M has made it his personal crusade to clear everything off my “Missing & Mysteries” list. He’s also alerted me to a lot of typos and maintains my entries on HowLongToBeat.com

Laszlo Benyi and Nleseul. These two made it possible for me to play The Dragon & Princess (1982), the first Japanese RPG, and Laszlo has continued to help with my Japanese since then, he also got me a working version of the C64 Realms of Darkness, and he’s sent me a lot of typos to fix on past entries.

Marc Campbell made a random name generating application in 2010 that I still use today, and he’s helped me with a few Japanese RPGs.

OldWowBastard offered the site’s first guest post. I thought it worked out reasonably well and I’m honestly not sure why I haven’t followed up with more.

Sebastian from Switzerland made me a logo for Gimlet Publications. I haven’t had a chance to use it yet, but it’s coming!

          I’m sure I’ve missed one or more people who deserved to be recognized, for which I’m sorry. I value all my commenters, and I look forward to 10 more years of analyzing RPGs with you!

source http://reposts.ciathyza.com/10-years-of-commenters/

[joneswilliam72]

A conversation with Henry Jamison: "everything is personal and political depending on how you’re looking at it."

Today sees the release of Gloria Duplex, Henry Jamison’s followup to his excellent debut, The Wilds. While The Wilds acted as a captivating collection of short stories set to audio, Jamison’s sophomore effort is more focused, dealing largely with the topic of toxic masculinity. We talked to Jamison about this divisive issue, what he’s learned since recording his debut, and more.

----------

How did tour go? Because I understand that you did quite a few dates between The Wilds and the new album.

It’s almost like asking me how my life is going, because it’s such a huge part of everything now. Most touring went very well and was easy and great. Some of it got hard, especially at the end of the two months that I did April and May. And then, more recently, it’s been pretty easy. I’ve gone to full band, which actually was in May as well. It’s very different at least, you could say, and it’s fun and good.

What have you learned since the release of The Wilds?

I’ve learned that certain things that everyone knew from biopics and stuff about how much life changes when you become a touring musician, that those are true. I’ve learned that however hard it is, I’m going to keep going, which I wasn’t totally sure about, to be honest. Well, for one thing, I wasn’t sure it was how hard it would be. Then, I imagined that if it were officially hard, that I’d take a step back or in a different way and it just seems like right now I need to take every opportunity I can get still. I’m kind of like waiting, maybe, for the moment where I can make more decisions with myself, but I’m happy where I’m at.

Your new album Gloria Duplex is largely based on the topic of toxic masculinity, how did you decide to give that as the focus of the album?

It was more that I basically had half of the album written and it was about that, and I think the only reason I was wrestling with that at all is because it’s a very important topic in my personal life and a very nice intersection of the personal and political. I think sort of everything is personal and political depending on how you’re looking at it, but it all starts with other stuff too. I wouldn’t even call the record especially political.

Is this something that you want to reach people who are affected by toxic masculinity or those who might be complicit in it?

Well, I would say that people who are complicit in it, namely men, are affected by it adversely. I think there’s a myth, and not in a good way, if it’s just the perpetrator is a man and the victim isn’t a man, when in fact, the perpetrator is also a victim, in a way.

How did you first become aware of toxic masculinity?

I witnessed the culture around college. I think it was there before, I just didn’t have any input. I didn’t even know books and what was problematic about it. I had a pretty wholesome sheltered childhood, and I was playing Army men and boys playing around pretending to kill people which is, in a certain essence, totally natural to us. At its root, it is natural, just not in the way that it happens.

Do you think that this is an issue that is going to be continued to be discussed and developed in our understanding or do you think it is going to become like a buzzword and lose its impact?

I don’t know. I keep thinking that we achieved this stop and in a lot of ways, it did, but...the 24-hour news cycle is people just jumping on stuff, and then they jump off it and onto something else. But I think this is too big an issue. I already am not super into the term “toxic masculinity” because it was helpful for a little while, and it is a good term, like, toxicity is a very good metaphor for what it is. As soon as it loses its metaphorical meaning and it just becomes a buzz term, you’re not really sure what you’re talking about anymore.

I’ve noticed a sort of reoccurring motif in your lyrics. You bring up video games a few times in a way that’s very nostalgic, talking about being at the arcade or playing Grand Theft Auto. With video games, with things like the whole “Gamergate” controversy, there’s a lot of talk about video games and the effects they have on masculine minds, is that something you intended or something you were interested in?

In a certain way, I think that was like low-hanging fruit. Like that might be one of the first things you could think of in terms of conditioning, and maybe because it was an easy thing, it was a very good way into singing about it. Because what you need in a song is not like a theory or anything that is worked out intellectually. It needs to be in images like poetry. So, like a video game, it was perfect with Grand Theft Auto in particular, because I did play that game growing up, and a lot of it actually was very beautiful. Because it was like a beautiful scene, but then what you’re doing in it, it’s like prescribed action; you almost can’t do anything but kill people. So, you can just walk around, but even if you bump into someone, someone’s probably gonna punch you. So, it’s this very kind of strange combination of looking at the haze of San Andreas and then also being in a complete warzone.

A lot of this album, like your previous one, is autobiographical in some regards, correct?

Yeah, mostly.

So, are these events ones that just stuck with you since the moment they happened, or are they ones where you look back and you realize how significant they were?

I’d say it’s more like slightly-fictionalized versions of eras of my life. In my song ‘True North,’ there was a moment where I pulled over, and I was driving down the 101 and I looked up on the ocean and the moon was shining down and all that. And then one time in London in Trafalgar Square, I had not any kind of truly worrisome crisis, but just like a feeling of being very high and dry. So, there are definitely moments that are on the record that are particular, and they’re also kind of poeticized and thrown into a bigger narrative that also exists but is not something that I can trace in any literal way.

You are in pretty good company with other folk musicians of incorporating events into lyrics; I think of Mark Kozelek, I think of Phil Elverum. How do you think this sort of trend of specificity helps with songwriting?

I think Mark Kozelek has taken it a little far [laughs]. Even though I really love him;I love him very much. I always think that it is a very kind of quintessentially American thing, because I have a very inaccurate of what Tom Petty and also an inaccurate idea of what Bruce Springsteen is. I thought that what they did was sing story songs over “chugaluga” beats and add guitar chords and stuff. And then it’s always different than that. Mark Kozelek is extremely specific, and I thought those guys were and that it was an American thing, and there’s the other side, the more archetypal. My friends in Darlingside are always talking about Proverbs or the son. And I’m trying to hit this middle point, where it’s very specific, but also there are sort of grander ideas behind those specific things happening.

Your music, like on The Wilds, is so beautifully presented in terms of the performance and the singing. Do you ever worry about people missing your message, getting too caught up in the beauty that they might not realize what you’re really saying?

No, I would be in some kind of state of hypertension if I felt like I was proselytizing in a way like I had to say this and I had to be heard. To me, I want to make music, so there’s still a lot of ego in it. I just basically pat myself on the back that I have a message that’s important for me and for other people maybe, but there are many facets to it. If I were trying to say something very clearly, I might’ve not made the record [laughs].

You collaborated with some pretty significant names for this album, Thomas Barlett, Patrick Dillett, Rob Moose. How did it feel to have them on board and what sort of effect did they have on the finished product?

Well, Pat mixed it, and I think he did a very good job and has a very particular mixing style. I would say Rob is on five songs and he did a very good job, but Thomas is on so many instruments on every track, and his production style is very specific and beautiful and I think he taught me a lot. The only difference that I did not like as much was that we were on a much tighter schedule than I had before. Which, in a certain way, was really good, because what everyone knows about deadlines, it made us work really hard and maybe made things a little raggedy, in a good way. But it also meant that my stress levels were higher, especially going at the end of it, because we had to do it. But it was an awesome thing that happened.

How tight was the schedule?

We made in two weeks.

What do you see as being the big difference between this album and The Wilds?

For starters, more of this record, though not all of it, was written specifically for this record. Whereas The Wilds is more like a collection of songs. The idea of The Wilds is such a broad one that it could be called a concept, but it’s just more like “We’re in various wildernesses, and these songs are about life so they’re kind of tied together by that.” Gloria Duplex is more specific, more sophisticated in a lot of ways in its structure; I guess just in its focus.

What sort of hopes do you have for your next album, if you have any?

I’m writing songs and I have some thoughts about maybe some over-arching ideas, but I don’t know that I will record it until the fall at the earliest. So, I feel like I have a good chunk of time in which I have enough songs now that have thematic throughlines that maybe I can start writing a little more specifically along those lines. But I think that I’ll probably do more, at least two-thirds of it would be a live-tracked band. So far, it’s more audio decisions, but it’s also the deadline thing that really gets me to finish songs and flesh out the ideas and stuff.

----------

Henry Jamison’s new album Gloria Duplex is out now on Akira Records.

from The 405 http://bit.ly/2TCL63t

[hashtagsmitty]

Smitty's Thailand Adventure - Day 7

Goddamn happened again - I spent two hours on this post and my phone deleted it.

In which snakes get tortured, an expatriot hero is honored, a suit is fitted, and axes don't get thrown.

I slept weird again last night - I'm not used to box spring mattresses. I have a Koala foam mattress and April has a futon, so springs poking me in the ass all night is a new experience for me. Plus the air con, it's hot then it's cold, etcetera.

Usual morning routine - the Hitler Youth and White Family Mart for breakfast. I planned my day while I ate - I wanted to visit the snake farm. Technically, the late queen's memorial snake farm. I thought that sounded awesome.

Skytrain to Siam, swapped to the other line. Not much new to say about the skytrain except there's this jingle that one of the ads plays that I will never get out of my head. Also, there's barriers around some but not all of the platforms, and the train stops perfectly such that the doors are between the openings in the barriers. It's pretty special.

Crazy Thai traffic aside, I made it to the snake farm. It looked like something out of the Walking Dead:

It was mostly the rust on the spikes. And the overgrowth. And the barriers in front of the entrance. And the red cross trucks unloading pallets of gear. I did not think I was supposed to be in there, but the sign said this way to snake farm, so in I went.

I found the place fine. Once I got past the zombie movie shit anyway. The farm looked awesome!

It was a big pagoda with open air snake enclosures all over the place. Very tropical, very novel. There was a big old rat in one of the enclosures. I watched him for ages to see if a snake was going to get him, but he was as still as a statue, with only his tiny rat ears twitching.

After the pagoda was an indoor museum - much the same, but with single cages for each snake. With glass. It wasn't quite what I expected from a Thai snake farm - far more like a zoo than a snake farm. Not enough zero-fucks-given Thai dudes with snakes wrapped around them. I looked at the snakes for a while. This guy was my favourite:

He's a Malayan Mangroce Cat-Eye Snake. I think he's gorgeous. I also thing I have a thing for snakes. They're like nature's ropes.

There was maintenance work going on inside - some drilling or digging or something. Lots of noise. I found it unpleasant, and I'm not a creature whose entire experience of the world is through vibrations. I didn't stay long inside, and left straight after.

I'm not 100% certain that I would never get a snake as a pet. I was before the snake farm, but now I'm not sure.

On the way back to Siam, I saw the Jim Thompson store! I had to go inside and pay my respects to a true expatriot hero.

Thompson's business was selling Thai silk, so the entire store was silk scarves and shirts and other stuff. Expensive silk stuff - one shirt was $200. The cheapest thing I saw was a scrunchie for $40. I looked around for a while then left, richer for having experienced the life of a great man. Also richer for not having bought any of that tourist bait.

I went back to Siam and went book shopping. I had almost finished Growth Mindset and needed something else for the plane. I found this awesome bookshop:

It took up the whole floor, it was so big. It had the largest non-fiction section I'd ever seen. I spent an hour walking around looking at stuff. It was great. I love bookshops.

I bought Meditations, by Marcus Aurelius, a stoic philosophy book I've been meaning to read for ages. I also got The King in Yellow, by Robert W. Chambers. Lovecraft listed it as one of his influences, and I love spooky.

The coolest bit was that the clerk wrapped the two books in plastic to keep them safe. I thought that was a really cool idea, and I was impressed by how quickly she wrapped them - like 5 seconds each. I only noticed later that the plastic had the store's logo on it - even better, now I won't forget its name.

I went home via Thai KFC. I wanted to try it before I left. I knew it was a mistake going in. I always know that KFC is a mistake going in, but this was bad. Weak McDonald's style chips, boring chicken "pops". A waste of time, what with bonchon around the corner. I regret it immensely.

I went home and chilled out for a while - it's been a big week. I've walked a good 75km, according to my phone. I finished Growth Mindset and wrote some notes, listened to music, charged my phone, lazy stuff. Josh texted me and I met him at my station. We went back past Siam to a station near the tailor.

We got bonchon chicken for a late lunch/early dinner. It was great - best I've had in Thailand, and way better than the culinary abortion I had for lunch before. I distracted Josh with a game I've been playing :

It's a programming game, which is 100% Josh's thing. He hated it, but couldn't keep his hands off it. It's based on Assembly, a really old programming language. The first one, pretty much. It frustrated him because it wasn't like normal programming, but I thought it was a good challenge in thinking iteratively.

We walked to the tailor from bonchon. I cursed that I was going to be fat for the fitting. Josh could barely move - we got 18 pieces of chicken and he had 12 of them. I was still full from my mistake earlier.

On the way, I told Josh how frustrated I was with Bangkok's footpaths. There are lips and cracks and broken bits of concrete everywhere. Manhole covers that could drop you into a sewer if you're not careful. Just look at this:

That's a tame one. I've lost count of how many of these things I've tripped over. Or on trick edges to the footpath - step down onto the road, expect it to be level, nope there's another step down, don't you look smart. Or, walking down the steps from the skytrain, again, expect it to be level. Nope! It's on a raised platform, enjoy your trip, see you next fall.

Josh told me to not stand on the manholes.

We walked past some massage girls. I finally saw first hand what Josh has been talking about all week - they pretty much screamed at him. "hey handsome man," they'd say, and he'd say "no thank you," and they'd say "come over here sexy," and he'd say "no thanks". It looked uncomfortable for everyone involved.

I don't know if I Iook less approachable, less wealthy, less naive or less desperate, but none of them have reacted to me like that. Maybe it's because he's 6'3".

We got to the tailor. The suit was almost ready :

Looks awesome - the vest turned out exactly how I wanted it to. The tailor is going to courier it to the hotel tomorrow after some last minute changes. I hope.

We walked back to the skytrain, but the foot traffic was terrible. Peak hour in Bangkok is insane compared to Melbourne. We couldn't even get onto the platform last time we tried. So, we sat down at Starbucks and shot the shit for a while. I showed him my notes on Growth Mindset, and we argued about that a while. He talked about how he was going to do some of Bill's contract, then renegotiate. Seemed reasonable.

We headed home around 8 - our earliest night this week, but it's been a big one for both of us. Josh is moving to a new condo tomorrow. The train ride back was bittersweet - it's been a fun holiday. We both said while walking around that there's very few people either of us could hang out with for a full week without going crazy. He's probably coming back to Melbourne next month though, so it's not too bad.

I'm going to miss him when I head back. But I'm not going to miss much else. Bangkok is -

I guess I'll save my thoughts on the city for when I'm safely no longer in it.

I found this set of signs on the street today and it made me laugh:

[investmart007]

Minnesota Twins | MLB serves up a frosty start to new season, more snow coming

New Post has been published on https://goo.gl/gGKouK

Minnesota Twins | MLB serves up a frosty start to new season, more snow coming

April 6, 2018 (AP)(STL.News) Steady and sure-handed, Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier is a confident mitt man.But the Gold Glover didn’t feel that way this week, standing in the snow globe of PNC Park in Pittsburgh. “I always want the ball to hit to me, but that was the one time where I was hoping it wouldn’t be hit my way,” Dozier said. “It would have been very tough trying to catch a popup in those conditions.”

From Yankee Stadium to Great American Ball Park to Comerica Park, the big winner so far this season is the wintry mix. Nine games already postponed amid a chilly spring, several others held in frosty settings.

It was 27 degrees at Coors Field in Denver on Friday, when snow and sleet caused a one-hour delay in the Rockies’ home opener against Atlanta. Cleveland also opened in bitter and blustery conditions.

No luck at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Despite a more seasonable climate, the Giants were rained out at home for the first time since 2006.

Bundled-up players and fans might not catch a break anytime soon, either. The weekend forecast in New York, Washington and several other spots is for weather better suited for throwing snowballs than pitching baseballs.

At Target Field in Minneapolis, there’s an outside chance Seattle and Minnesota could play the coldest game on record in major league history. The current mark is a first-pitch temperature of 23 degrees when Colorado hosted Atlanta in 2013.

Mariners manager Scott Servais said the heated benches and hot air blowers will help.

“Mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it shouldn’t matter,” he said.

Maybe, said Boston outfielder Mookie Betts.

It was barely above freezing at Fenway Park as he tried to limber up before Thursday’s home opener against Tampa Bay.

“It’s cold. You keep trying to play mind tricks, but it’s still 40 degrees. No matter how much you say ‘mind over matter,’ it still matters,” Betts said.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora wore three layers and a jacket for the game, which the AL East champions won 3-2 in 12 innings.

“It’s funny because it’s cold in April, but it’s never cold in October. And the weather is still cold in October. But it’s something about it in October we don’t care. And in April we do,” he said.

“Where are we shooting to go? It’s going to be cold in October. This is a dress rehearsal,” Cora said.

The season began on March 29 and marked the earliest start date in the majors, excluding special openers in international sites such as Japan and Australia.

As part of the labor agreement between players and owners, this season will span 187 days, instead of 183. That will allow for extra days off and more room to reschedule makeups. It also sets up for Game 7 of the World Series, if needed, to be played in October, rather than November.

Chicago White Sox general manager Rick Hahn admits it’s tough to see games played in flurries and frigid conditions. He also said the additional four days off will benefit teams later in the spring and summer.

“It’s a part of the price to pay for that, I think,” he said. “Unless you’re going to push back the postseason, which I think is distasteful to a lot of people, or shorten the season, which is probably a long shot, I would say there’s probably not much we can do.”

As in, no going back to a 154-game schedule or adding in a bunch of doubleheaders.

MLB has tried to adjust the schedule in the past to have teams with warmer climates and indoor parks play first. A lot of them did open at home this year, including the Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona, San Diego, Miami, Atlanta and more.

But some openers are bound to be in New York, Kansas City and Detroit. Plus, not every club wants to begin with a week on the road.

The Tigers are playing their first 25 games in Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Comerica Park.

“You’re not going to get me to criticize Major League Baseball. I’ve already seen my face enough on TV,” said Detroit manager Ron Gardenhire, who was ejected on opening day.

“I’m not a schedule-maker. I just let them do their thing,” he said. “We’ve always said it would be nice to start down South for the first week and play in better weather areas. Eventually, you’re going to have a home opener soon. Our folks don’t want to wait.”

In the meantime, players do their best to cope.

White Sox teammates Leury Garcia and Yolmer Sanchez said they slathered Vaseline on their bodies to keep warm. Earlier this week, a few Mets built a snowman at Citi Field — balls for buttons, bats for arms — after their game against Philadelphia was called off.

It was 42 degrees for Washington’s home opener Thursday, an 8-2 loss to the Mets.

“Your hands being cold. Gripping the bat. I mean, that’s probably one of the hardest things,” Nationals star Bryce Harper said.

The wind chill factor was in the 20s on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh, and snow fell on and off all game. The announced crowd was 20,186 — even with a $1 ticket promotion, maybe there were 10,000 people inside the park.

Twins closer Fernando Rodney finished off a 7-3 win. At one point, he tilted back his head on the mound and caught flurries with his mouth.

“No, I’m not cold. But it is cold,” he said. “But you know it’s cold outside. Nothing we can do. Just try to find a way to get out of the inning as quick as you can.”

By BEN WALKER by  Associated Press – published on STL.News by St. Louis Media, LLC (U.S)

[ityasaarii]

- from @x-wearethefuture-x, Hyuk to Nayoung

This might have been a little too cheesy, even for Hyuk. Then again, the cheesier the better, right? At least that’s how he felt about food. Applying it to romance was basically the same thing! Well, maybe not, but if he admitted that to himself then he’d back out and choose to do something else for her, instead. He had spent the entire night before getting it all set up exactly as he wanted it, he didn’t have time to change plans now! He would only have until he had to leave for their dinner date at 4pm to figure out something else if he really did chicken out, and that wasn’t much time at all considering it was already past 11am and he’d have to leave here before 3. Ugh. Don’t overthink it too much, you idiot. It’s fine. She’s gonna think it’s cute. Hopefully. Dinner wasn’t anything special, really. Well, it was a fairly nice place with good food that he’d made reservations for and he’d brought her a small bouquet that they could leave in his car while they ate without having to worry much about it- the kind of typical stuff that you were supposed to do for birthday dates. Or what he assumed you were supposed to do for birthday dates. It was fun and Hyuk, personally, was having a nice time (he hoped Nayoung was, too)… though what was to come later was what really mattered. Start standard and build up from there. It was almost 7pm when they finally got to Hyuk’s place. A little behind schedule mostly because he’d lost track of time during their conversation over dinner. It’s not like there wasn’t really a schedule involved, anyway. Hyuk had just wanted to plan things as meticulously as possible to keep himself from getting too embarrassed about the silly thing he had done for her birthday. It’s not silly. It’s thoughtful. Stop getting worked up, dumbass. When they were finally standing outside of his door, he fumbled with his keys a bit though he was hoping she didn’t notice that he was kind of nervous, “You’re gonna have to wait here for just a second, okay? I need to check on something first.” He needed to make sure everything was still as it should be. After all, it would ruin the entire surprise if even one thing was out of place. He kissed Nayoung lightly then walked into his apartment and closed the door behind himself so that Nayoung couldn’t peek inside. (Not that she’d see much, but still). From there it only took about twenty seconds to determine that things were exactly as they should be, then he was opening the door for her again. This time, however, it was done in a semi-gentlemanly manner, complete with a half-bow and a sweep of his arm to invite her in. The floor was littered with rose petals (okay, so they were fake rose petals- but real rose petals were expensive and impractical!). They created a pathway past the living room and down the hall into the one, small, spare room beside his bedroom. Usually Hyuk had it set up as his photography studio- a proper desktop computer atop his desk (duh) and one of those cushioned, spinning, office chairs for maximum comfort while he meticulously edited photos in a dozen different ways… or played video games for 15 hours straight. There were also usually some ridiculous props from past photo shoots lying around- things that he thought he might use again in the future. But that wasn’t the case today. In one sense, this new set up was far more absurd. He’d removed all of that stuff (putting them in his bedroom where they were out of sight though totally in his way) and, instead, converted the spare room into a small photo gallery. He’d kept the photo sizes smaller than those you might find in a typical photo gallery- they were just a bit larger than what would be considered standard to find hanging in someone’s home. But he’d hung them with a couple feet of space between in beautiful, golden, picture frames and even put little “plaques” (cardboard spray painted gold and very carefully written on with white paint) beneath each one, offering “titles” for the pieces. There was a total of 12 in all, most of which were photos of them together that either Nayoung or Hyuk had taken. But there were also two photos of the night sky- one from their first photography “date” when Nayoung had helped him take photos of the stars. The other was more recent; a photo that Nayoung had taken on her own one night, with the camera Hyuk gave her, and then sent to him. He’d adjusted the colors, the brightness, the contrast, sharpness, everything, until it looked not like a photo but like a piece of the actual sky had been cut out and framed right there. It was realistic enough that it almost felt like you could reach in and touch the stars. Then there was a simple photo, one he’d taken over the spring while they were on a date- a field of pink and white and yellow flowers, gently kissed by the wind and sun, still painted with dew from a chilly morning just past. He’d shown Nayoung the field of memory laden flowers in his mindscape only a month or so after that photo was taken. She’d seen it before, of course, but only then did Hyuk actually explain that they were memories of her. Maybe now when she saw the photo hanging on the wall she would realize that he hadn’t been so insistent on taking the picture just because the flowers were pretty. There was also one picture that was purposely photoshopped- less romantic and sweet and more silly. It was a throwback to one of their earliest conversations (and a topic which he brought up from time to time even now): Hyuk was Han Solo, Nayoung was Princess Leia. He still had to stop himself from chuckling when he looked at it. 

“Ta-dah!” Hyuk exclaimed as he first threw open the door to the room, “Welcome to your own personal photo gallery!” Yeah, this was probably a bit silly of him. Over the top, maybe. Definitely weird. But it had seemed like a good idea at the time. Something so perfectly him that he was sure that now that Nayoung saw it she was thinking “Yup. I should have expected this.”¸ though also just random and unexpected enough that it hopefully hadn’t crossed her mind as a possibility before right this moment. He let her look at it, take it all in, as he stood back by the door so as not to disrupt her. His face was alight with hope and happiness to offset his nerves- she liked it, right? She almost definitely liked it. Probably. Uh, maybe he should have gone with the classic dinner and a movie or something. Then again, that would have been boring… and they’d just finished the dinner part of it all. What movies were even out right now that might be worth watching? Thor: Ragnarok is out. And Justice League. But, like, are either of those really birthday worthy? “So, what’d’ya think? I made sure they were still kinda normal sized photos so that you could take some of ‘em home with you if you wanted. Except that one of us as Han and Leia- that one’s mine.” He joked, offering a playful wink to accompany it. 

Once the initial surprise of it had worn off, though, and Nayoung had had time to look over her little gallery, he informed her that that wasn’t all there was. “I mean, that’s it for the photo gallery, but that’s not all for the gifts. I have just one more thing. It’s probably kinda dumb but… it can be as ridiculous as this, right? Wait her a second.” And then he proceeded to rush out of the room, returning only a few moments later with a rectangular package wrapped in sky blue paper, a pale lavender ribbon tied around it, “Happy Birthday, Nayoung.” This… this one gift was actually the most important part of it all in Hyuk’s opinion. Dinner, flowers, even the photo gallery, were all nice, but this was his favorite bit. It was just a scrap book. To anyone else it probably wasn’t very exciting- people made them all the time. But Hyuk had worked on it for weeks, months, putting it all together a little at a time to document each “landmark” in their time together- from the day they met (that first photo he’d ever taken of Nayoung, included!) to their most recent date just last week. He’d searched his mind and, after some time, had even been able to label each page with the month, day, and year the event happened. Then, alongside that, he’d given each a little note about what happened on that day, how he felt- nervous or excited or simply happy. Granted, not every single date they had gone on had it’s own page, just the actual, dates. There wasn’t much to say about all of those “dates” when they had simply gotten breakfast together before having to part ways for the day. Or the “dates” when they just hung out on his couch watching movies until they both fell asleep. But there was a two page spread to commemorate the importance of those ones, too- a bunch of photos with tiny stickers naming the days they had happened. After all, they may have been commonplace and semi-uneventful, but they were often his favorites. “See? There was a reason I was taking so many photos!” He chuckled, watching her flip through it, “I mean, I’d only been planning this since maybe April, so before that it was literally just because I like taking photos of you… but after that, it was only mostly just because I like taking photos of you and partly because I was trying to make sure that I had at least one or two good photos of each date so that I could put them in a scrap book for you. Well… compiling them into a photo album was actually my first choice, but my mom’s been scrapbooking a lot lately and she suggested that it would be more personalized that way. You know, with the cute stickers and notes and such. I think it looks better, too.” It gave him a chance to put extra time and effort into it. It gave him a chance to make it special. Even if it wasn’t perfect, it was something he thought was worth giving. A normal photo album was nice, but it would look more like a portfolio than a collection of important events and memories, “You said that you didn’t have enough photos of me. Most of these may be photos of us, but I thought that giving you a scrap book full of pictures of myself might seem a little narcissistic.” He jested, giving a soft chuckle. Then, gently, he touched a kiss to Nayoung’s forehead, “It’s not like it’s a lot. Sorry that I couldn’t get you something cool like the camera I gave you last year. But I hope it’s okay, anyway… I kinda thought it would be nice to have the photos, like, in real life. Not just on your phone or laptop or something, but where you could actually touch them. Maybe that’s a weird sentiment, but I’ve always kinda preferred print copies of photos than digital copies. They feel more real that way, ya know?“ His smile was bordering on shy, generally uncharacteristic of Hyuk but something that seemed to happen frequently when he was with Nayoung. Then, to cover up this particular moment of his own awkwardness, he quickly fell back into his typical self, grin and all, “If you like it, you don’t have to say so. But you do have to kiss me. If you don’t like it… you should still probably kiss me so that you don’t hurt my feelings.”

Nayoung never expected a fuss for her birthday. She never wanted for anything, except maybe a slice of cake and an extra hour in bed. For a long time, she’d resented it. A day marking her birth, a birth that shouldn’t have happened. A day her father had tried to ignore until her step-mother explained that is was cruel. After that, he couldn’t ignore it. Suddenly, that had felt much worse. It was only when she started staying with Sewon more that it became something happier. She didn’t suffer through it anymore. 

Now there was Hyuk. If there was one thing Hyuk had proven he was good at (and there were a lot more, Nayoung could attest to that) it was making a fuss. Or rather, making someone who had hidden from her real self feel like that self was worth loving. Funnily enough, Sewon had caught on quite quickly after her birthday last year. He’d spotted the camera in her hands when she came to visit him in his lecture theatre. Nayoung had a feeling the concept of “birthdays” only started to settle in as she told him what Hyuk had done for her, the stupidest of sappy grins on her face. Sewon had informed her it was a look that made him highly uncomfortable. Since then, however, he’d been taking it as a personal challenge to do one better than Hyuk. He was practical as ever, but his sentimentally was winning out. This year he’d given her a small music box that her mother had apparently adored. 

Nayoung had the tune in her head all day, humming it lightly as she walked to meet Hyuk for dinner. As soon as she saw him, she took his hand. Not even a second hesitation. Not a big deal. Talking was just a simple. Nayoung chose pasta for her main meal then joked they should share the plate and see what happened. 

She would have been content with just that. It was enough. Spending time with Hyuk was better than enough any day of the week. She just preferred storing up the hours into days, and the days into weeks, counting minutes as she went. She planned to count some more up tonight. Going home to her little apartment didn’t sound like any kind of fun on her birthday. If luck was on her side Hyuk would agree. 

He opened the door for her with a flourish. His workroom had been transformed. It was like… a gallery of them. Like what she had tried to do for him on his birthday, only so much better. These were not the snapshot experimentations of someone trying to figure out a new way to view the world. This was how he saw them - how he saw her. Nayoung’s gaze lingered on each, soaking up every detail. She halted on the capture of the stars. How vivid could he make such a static image? It didn’t look like a photograph. She felt like she could swim in it maybe. Or free it and let the stars dance about the room. 

When she turned to face Hyuk again, having to drag her gaze away, her eyes were suspiciously bright. She wasn’t going to cry, she wouldn’t allow that. She laughed instead at the photo of them as Han and Leia. “Yeah, okay you can keep that one,” She hummed in agreement, “Only if you agree to recreate it as the real thing next Halloween.” And she’d make the most of that.

The scrapbook was even better than the gallery, if possible. She could keep this. She ran her fingers across the surface, enjoying the physicality of it. He was right. Of course, he was right, he’d thought about this. He’d been taking photos for it all year. But he hadn’t needed that reason. “You don’t need any excuses. None.” Nayoung closed the book gently, planning to look through every inch of it, every comment later. Tucking it into her chest, she moved closer to Hyuk, resting her head underneath his chin. “Take photos of me whenever you like. Especially if I can see them like this.” When she looked up at him it was with narrow eyes, judgement melting into a smile. Nayoung’s chin bumped his as she moved in closer. “Not gonna hurt your feelings. I have to stay on your good side if I want to stay here tonight, right?”

When she kissed him she kept her arms between them, the scrapbook still there. A little uncomfortable, but she didn’t want to just drop it on the floor. “Thank you,” she whispered, his lips a breath away from his, “For today and all the other days, coming and gone.”