#which SUCKED cause !! their dynamic is !! really fun!! I love them sm

[a-tale-of-legends]

Hmmm. Okay first, I suggest looking up the five man band trope. Overly Sarcastic Productions have some videos on it that I love, and was what honestly got me to this train of thought.

In the more recent games, the player seems to have gained a friend for each game they're in. XY is the most obvious,the rivals literally being categorized as friends, but after that the cast of kids surrounding the mc is noticeably bigger than previous games. Ok, when I thought about it more, I think this trend started with BW with Cheren and Bianca, but after XY the cast just became bigger up to three. Now, if you interpret the games with two protagonists like me, then you can find yourself in a spot with a group of 5, hence why I mentioned the five-man band. And within that five-man-band, there's the heart. So now I'm wondering who is the Heart of each game is ( among the friend group I mentioned earlier).

Tbh, this is just an excuse of me to talk about the five man band trope, cause when I learned about it for the first time I was hooked. I don't really use that trope- or at least don't follow it word for word, anymore. But it's a fun trope and I wanna talk about it.

Also. A protagonist doesn't always mean a leader. Most of the time, yes, but they would be other things as well. So let's start off with where this trend really kicked off

XY: The Heart of this group is pretty obviously Shauna. I mean like. Come on. She's the one who talks about doing things together, and pretty much wears her heart on her sleeves. She brings the group together! Shauna is The Heart of the group.

SM/USUM: Lillie. Easily. I was going to argue it's the protagonist, but they're the big guy of the group, the literal strongest one of the kids who handle the threats. Gladion is actually the leader, the only with an actual plan for certain things and actually takes the charge towards the Aether Foundation, and Hau is his lancer. Not all lancers are angsty loner types. The only thing missing is the smart guy, which can either be occupied by the other main protagonist if we are going with the dual protagonist thing, or Lillie doubles as the heart and the smart guy trope. ANYWAY. Lillie is the heart and a damn good one at that. She's the motivation for a lot of characters which then reminds the audience that they are, well, characters. Characters that grow and change. The protagonist doesn't really do that, huh? Yes, as the protagonist , characters change as you progress, but it was never really you who caused that. Lillie did. She's what brought Gladion and Hau together under a common goal, after all. So yeah, Lillie's The Heart.

Swsh: This one was hard, but I think The Heart is going to have to be the protagonist, and that's by a small amount. Cause realistically, the protagonist doesn't bring the group together. At most, it's them and Hop, but Marnie and Bede? Nah. Which sucks cause I genuinely believe that they all would be good friends post game. So why the protagonist? Well. Partly because the only other person that's a clear Heart is Sonia and that's towards her own friend group not the protagonist. And partly because on a way, while they didn't bring the rivals together, they did cause change that would eventually lead them to be. But still. Swsh feels like there isn't exactly a Heart among the main kids, which is fine. A trope is not exactly something to strictly follow, more like a suggestion imo. The characters and their dynamics are still interesting and they can still be friends despite of it.

SV: The protag again but much easier to figure out. Do. Do I really need to explain this one? I feel like I don't, but I'm going to anyway. Literally what brought the rivals together, as well as helping their character growth. Just look at everything during Area Zero, and you'll get my point. Shout out to Nemona for being a minor heart, since she does act as the peacemaker among Arven and Penny, and generally has shown more concern for the players well being ( despite always wanting to battle them). But overall she's The Big Guy/Gal of the group ( as in she's the muscle. They literally point this out in the game).

Bonus. BW: THE PROTAGONIST IS CLEARLY THE HEART OF THEIR FRIEND GROUP CHEREN AND BIANCA LITERALLY HAVEN'T INTERACTED WITH EACH OTHER IN 2 YEARS WHILE THE PROTAGONIST WAS AWAY. THE PROTAG WAS THE GLUE THAT BOUGHT THEM TOGETHER!!!!!!!

Ahem. Anyway. This was very self indulgent. If you read all of this, thank you!

[sapphiczuras]

okok. I’ll take the bait

[wexhappyxfew]

Ho Shannon! I’d love for you to make a post about your writing process; if there’s something that you struggle with while writing, if sometimes you find yourself writing just because “you have to” and not because you feel like it, or on the countrary if you ever have your head full of ideas but can’t put it into words! (Always happens to me, that’s why I’m asking, ha!) I mean, tell us how you cope with all the struggles! I love that you’re so passionate about your own writing 💛 ily!

Hello!! Thank you so much for your question, I am so excited to answer it!! :) 

WRITING PROCESS

So just to start off simply with my writing process, when I start getting the feel for a book that I want to write or something that I want to play off, I get very into, very quickly, and I start writing little one or two sentence notes of dialogue or topics I want to pinpoint and soon enough I have notes that are FILLED with things!! And my writing process in general is a very loose one. I write when I want, I don’t have a plan in mind, more of just little things about my characters, where I want the plot to go, character dynamics things like that. But something that works best, is no promises to myself in the beginning, because I can guarantee that I’m not going to be kept on the path I choose in the beginning! I just write and see what happens because for me, personally, it turns out better for me because I just let the flow of writing carry me! 

Now to your questions!! 

Something I struggle with while writing is making sure that I continue to write like I did throughout the story and that I keep it consistent and that I stay true to my characters and their thought process and such. I tend to go off track and get distracted by things, easily really, and then I lose focus and start writing something I wouldn’t. I’m also hard on myself if you can believe it :( i’m just a perfectionist though, so I want everything to be the best it can be, even though it won’t always be perfect, but I try to the best of my ability. 

There are days where I find myself forcing myself to write just because I know if I don’t, I won’t ever get through the rough patch I’m in. So some of the things I do are play playlists of like soft rock, or gentle calming music and I immediately find myself drawn into the writing mood. Other times, I tell myself, you know what, don’t write, do what you want, that sorta mentality, because my writing for me is just for fun and I don’t want to stress myself out over simply just writing because then it wouldn’t be fun anymore and I’d feel that would suck :( Something else I do is look at quotes, about life and stuff and I feel the inspirational juices in my brain start flowing and immediately find myself drawn in - as you can tell, I easily draw myself into the context of writing LOL 

Now on the opposite side, I have more days filled with all the ideas and the inability to write it the way I want or fear I’ll forget what I initially wanted to write and I get overwhelmed. I then use notes, to write down topics or sentences or phrases just so I have something to look back on and just have there for myself as I write, which usually helps me remember most of the time. 

AW THANKS! I am super passionate about my writing because it has been such a good thing for my mental health especially in quarantine I feel because I can express myself through an art that is just words on a page. I can evoke emotions and feelings in people through words and I find that so amazing!! So thank you!!

I feel the most prevalent thing about my writing is that I do it for fun and if it doesn’t feel fun anymore, I know there’s an issue. I always find writing so much fun, so when I recognize myself getting into different moods where I don’t want to write, I have to stop and rethink. It helps!! And taking my time!! If I don’t feel ready for an update, I tell myself I’m not ready and I take all the time I need for it, and tell myself I’m doing this for me, for myself. Because that’s what matters - if you like your story, that’s all that matters. I feel that’s the biggest part of writing, if you love your story, that’s the best part. You control your story and no one else. 

Sometimes I’ll see comments on my stories, like your character should’ve done this, like that’s not their character or they’ll be telling me everything I’m doing wrong when I’m just trying my best?? And it just gets me down sometimes, because I do as much research as I can and I truly try my best, so I try not to let it get to me, but sometimes I can’t help but feel bad about it, like I messed up when I’m just trying my best and writing a story. That’s definitely something that gets in my mind a lot. And when people start telling me what my characters should do in comments, I get a bit peeved if I’m honest, because it’s my characters, not theirs and a writer knows their characters the best, they’re like children to us. I usually answer back kindly just saying that this is what the character in my head would’ve done, things like that. But it sucks sometimes and I know it shouldn’t be a big deal, but to have people tell me to do certain things that are out of character just bothers me because I know my character like my own child :) never let anyone say something to sway your decision. Always do what you feel is best for you for your story. 

And reach out to people!! I know people are always willing to give such good suggestions for stories and such good advice, even on the littlest things like character development and such! I always support the whole writers supporting writers thing - they may not know your character but they know things about writing that can help you expand so much and can give such great ideas and helpful tips! Writers are friends - great ones at that!! <3 

And something I want to talk about, just a helpful little tip I’ve learned about while writing like I have, is simply writing with the flow of things. Let me give you an example: 

The silent soldier sat with a loose fitting white shirt, that had some holes in it - it must've been the PT shirt guys wore underneath, and he had dirty OD bottoms on, with socked feet. His eyes had dark circles that surrounded his eyelids, and his eyes seemed emotionless, like a dark gate was pushed over them, concealing each and every emotion that was inside, back and away from sight. His eyebrows were slack, relaxed, but the stress lines around it showed. He was young and he already had the stress marks of a 30 year old. His lips had cuts in certain areas and his cheek had a tiny scar, from the war, Hazel assumed. His dark brown hair was greasy, he hadn't showered in a while and the stubble along his face was unkempt - but this was the war taking over a human life form, not a soldier of war.

This is from Chapter 7 of Ad Astra Per Aspera called The Silent Soldier. Something I like to do in my writing, is use description to my advantage as well as emotions. I’m actually creating a post about emotions specifically associated with The Soldier of Stars because I really talk about how I want emotions to really show whether they are happy or sad, I feel it is important :) 

I really like to go in depth, and describe the external figure or topic I’m discussing like “ his eyes had dark circles that surrounded his eyelids and his eyes seemed emotionless “ as the external description. Then I move into internal, based off emotions “ like a dark gate was pushed over them, concealing each and every emotion that was inside, back and away from sight.” I feel writing it like this, expands on that external feeling with an internal feeling as well, I’ve always liked using this concept. 

By the end, I usually relate it to the overall concept, something in this case that has to do with the impending war that has caused all this “ but this was the war taking over a human life form, not a soldier of war.” In the way I use it, I talk about as if there is this alien species taking over a human; in this sense it is something turning from a human to something that was that of a human-like form. By then ending it with ‘a soldier of war’, a soldier of war gives the idea of that perfect soldier on those posters of the war, and the previous description gives the complete opposite of the harsh reality and that’s what I hoped to portray!! If that makes sense though :) 

I hope this helped!! My inbox is always open, and feel free to ask ANY questions you ever have, I will always answer to help anyone and give any of my insights that I have!! I know writing can be stressful sometimes so if I can do anything to help I am always glad!! Thank you sm for the ask and I really hoped this helped!!

[cow3survivor]

Ep. 7: “Your Guess Is As Good As Mine” - Daisy

MADISON

IM SHOCKED AND AWED AT THE FACT THAT PETE IS GONE. it just shows that the dynamics on the other tribes are so strange and mysterious its so odd

LINDSAY

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qSVSaCEI7BiTkgRv40PFwQRZX_tueMQ3/view?usp=drivesdk today i dont know the date

JENNET

another day.. another tribal.. another blindside. vl still hate me?

(a little later)

and when the power gets to my head? what do i do then?

JAKE

https://youtu.be/4W2fgDQVQm8

JESSICA

Bye Pete! I am sad you got voted out but there was quite literally nothing I could do as I was on another tribe.

JENNET

stream evermore! give captain a big hug for me also, miss him sm

SAM

https://youtu.be/uXFV0NN_xO0

JONES

https://youtu.be/jLaAFbr06LI

JENNET

geeking out, teehee https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nzn0Ex19YyJA8V__6O8kVktvRjeIJWMswhVKxnt9I6M/edit?usp=sharing

ETHAN

Ok, so I am thinking about throwing this challenge. I trust Jennet 100%, and rn it is 2-2 if THEY sticks by me. If I throw here, tell Jennet to vote for me, then idol myself, it would be 2-1 next vote and I would be in the majority. If I did this I would be unable to tell Jennet about this, she is far too kind. If we win here, then lose next tribal, I am screwed. I think throwing here might just be the best play, but I am terrified about some kind of idol nullifier or some advantage, since Jones and Nicole bought those boxes. Nicole got a disadvantage in this challenge, which helps me throw better if I want to.

JENNET

ethan just told me he found an idol.. how did i get so lucky heeeheeee

MIKEY

Honestly not much tea going on. Im working my ass off to form social connections on this new tribe though because I know im going to desperately need them. I've told Sammy and Jake about my half idol, so hopefully they trust me, and I went to Sam and told him about my Extra Idol Run so he thinks were together. My age may genuinely be benefitting me here because me and Sam seem to connect very easily. I dont mean it, but I always tell him how I feel were ignored because of our age.  Madisin is literally inactive in DMS tbh. I constantly message her with no reply back. If we were to go to tribal next round, I dont think id go home considering Sammy and Sam trust me a bunch, but honestly you never know bahaha

SAM

https://youtu.be/wv_yylitO-o

NICOLE

I believe I am going to be idoled out tonight, and that’s fine with me. I am sort of upset because I really wanted to be on jury like so so so so so so so so bad. But at the same time, I don’t feel like it’s anything I did? So it is okay. There’s literally nothing I can do if Ethan has an idol and I’m on the chopping block behind him.

SAMMY

woohoo I won go fish hoes...but found nothing with my extra idol search:/ Jake is a kind human and I’m still vibing with Mikey <333 other than that i think my connection with sam/Madison is not where I want it to be...i really have been slacking on my idol searches and everything but with these games when I’ve literally been to what? 1 tribal? There’s just no gameplay but I have to make myself appear as beneficial to members so I tried in the reward and I got our tribe 2 points!! So I’m not high threat level but I’m proving myself as worthy.

JESSICA

I don't really have anything to write about as we won immunity! Hooray. I have been just hanging out and vibing, waiting for merge.

SHANE

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-Wx4upIDF1E8FRZ5KfJySwATB9CYPNYI

JESSICA

Also I DO have thoughts about the game and I AM doing things! But those "things" are mainly talking to people so they like me. There isn't really much to write about for that!

MADISON

Its kinda sad i feel like i have more reads (good or bad) on the other tribes as opposed to my own. Sammy is attending tribal tonight which means i will for sure get the tea on whatever goes down, regardless if he tells the whole tribe or just me. I feel like the biggest threats in the game are Shane and Ethan, and if i make the merge with them, i have to gain one of them as an ally, maybe pin them against one another ASSUMING Ethan survives the night (will be very sad if not) I feel like Jennet will leave tonight just because i dont think they submitted for the challenge or didnt complete it but idk it might Ethan's time but we will see what happens at 9 so stay tuned.

DAISY

https://youtu.be/g6yYACAcD6k

JAKE

https://youtu.be/qpwmq6NXkWs The rumors are trumors, I filmed a confessional 🤩

ETHAN

AHH TRIBAL IS SCARY AND IT SUCKS SEND MESSAGE

LOVELIS

Feel like I’ve resurrected from the dead this week LMAO it’s been a crazy couple days but I’m so glad we won immunity & have a chance to breathe. I wish we did more like fun stuff as a tribe like a game night or somethin but I guess it’s because we’re more into the game side of this now.. either way I’m glad I still have Shane in my corner on this tribe but I just hope we don’t go to tribal cause I could easily see someone like Daisy try to get Lindsay into her pair with Jessica to assume some role of power, despite the four of us having an alliance with Ethan from the original tribe regardless. It’s so hard to rly know what people are thinking now as we head into final thirteen but I’m just gonna have to judge what i see at face value & hope my deductions are accurate. They have been so far, so so far so good!

[felicityb-reviews]

Review Roundup - February 2018 Week 1

Hello, my loves!! My name is Jace (aka Felicity B), and this is your Review Roundup for Week 1 of February 2018!!

So... Last Friday, I mentioned making some changes to my Review Roundup format. The reasoning being that as I've expanded my network of Korean music channels, It's become very clear to me that it's too difficult for me to write a substantial review of 25+ videos every week without each review mixing into the last. I've also come to realize that I can't include *every* song I find that happens to be in Korean, and that's fine!! Most songs are either ballads or OST ballads (which are even worse), and it's just not worth my time to flog those at you guys.

So, I'm gonna try to explain this to y'all as best as I can. It sounds more complicated than it is in practice, but I wanna give y'all an idea of what's going on.

I'm gonna present to you all the playlist of songs for the week. From there, you'll see a new segment called the Titacular Ten. Yes, I am aware "titacular" is not a word, but catch me not givin' a fuck in these streets. These guys are songs I enjoyed, but didn't like enough to put in the Fabulous Five. They'll be rated (*not* reviewed) according to my replayability scale.

And speaking of my rating scale, I've decided to add a new category called KoKoNotABop (because nothing brings me joy more than pissing off the stans of my favorite K-Pop group). This sits in between Conditional Replay and Trash Bomb with Shuffle Bait. I decided to add KoKoNotABop, because there wasn't really anything for those songs that weren't complete Trash Bombs, but fell short. I could enjoy these songs from time to time, but I wouldn't intentionally put them in a playlist, so I didn't want to call them Shuffle Bait. In short, I just wanted to expand the range of my extraness.

Moving on, you'll see the Honorable Mentions/Trash Bombs of the week after the Titacular Ten. The Honorable Mentions are tracks that didn't make it into the week's Fab Five, but I still wanted to speak on. And if you've seen my previous RRUs, you know what Trash Bombs are.

I haven't had to rated many songs as Trash Bombs, but that should be considered a small mercy. Y'all know how I get when I don't like a song

So!!

Let's get started!!

This Weeks' List

The Titacular Ten

Saturn (Nevada51 featuring Gayoung Seo of Spy Girls)

Rating - Heavy Rotation

Perfectly Perfect (MxM of BRANDNEWBOYS)

Rating - Heavy Rotation

BLOCKED (Ash-B featuring Cherry Coke)

Rating - Heavy Rotation

Ballad of Full Speed (Evolution of Sound)

Rating - Conditional Rotation

Grayish (JUNA)

Rating - Conditional Rotation

Run Away (Mona)

Rating - Heavy Rotation

To the sky (CLC)

Rating - Heavy Rotation

If (Day6)

Rating - Heavy Rotation

Mi Amor (CoCoSori)

Mi Amori Dance Practice

Rating - Heavy Rotation

Good Bye (Hong Jin Young)

Rating - Heavy Rotation

Honorable Mentions

You Have a Crush On Me (No Brain)

If you guys can believe it, this was the type of song I loved during my J-Pop days. Oh boy, does this take me back.

And yes, I do realize this song is literally a decade old. There are idols active in the industry that this song is older than. But I'm gonna need y'all to bring me some freshly prepared fucks to care.

The children deserve to know about No Brain!!

Crush On Me (sorry, that title is too long to be typing over and over) is a punk track that is fun, personified. Every time I queue up the song to play, I just wanna dance the night away~ have my own little party, dancing and singing along. And don't think that you can get away from this song unscathed, cause the hook (neon naege banhaesseo) will stick itself in your brain and torment you till you're singing along like a good little Baby Borgie.

No Brain is a band that I want every single NuGen K-Pop (2014/2015) fan to get into. Every single one of you. Cause while this band is hella talented (they've literally been in the game for twenty years), they don't write music to show it off. They write music because they fucking love it. And that's the best kind, sis. I could clock this song for a lot of things I'd clock a modern K-Pop song for, but I won't because this song is entirely too fun to be picked apart like a science experiment.

My main reason for including Crush On You was that I love how fun this song is, BUT!! I also wanted an excuse to include No Brain's collab stage with Lovelyz from the 2017 MBC Year End Song Festival.

Now *that* was a oollab stage, ladies.

Rating - Heavy Rotation

No Gravity (Yoon Mi Rae)

Yoon MiRae is the OG Korean Female Rapper.

That's not my bias speaking (although it's definitely showing), I've never heard anyone speak ill of Mirae. NEVAH!! And I mean, why would they want to!?!?! She's magical. I literally can't say enough nice things about her.

I literally zone in on her and don't pay anyone else any mind when she's in a song. Whenever she's gracious enough to give us a solo, my wigs bow in reverence to her. I just love this woman so much. She can do no wrong in my book.

Gravity is a pre-release track from Mirae's upcoming Korean album. We have no word on what it's called or when it's dropping, but I already know it's amazing. Gravity is a midtempo rap ballad, and I usually find these cheesy af, but I really like Mirae's take on it. For those of you who've been YMR stans for a while, the vocals are arranged in Mirae's typical fashion - hard hitting rap verses, brackted in by Smoove™ vocals.

Yes, Mirae is the one who has your rap fave givin' Soulful Vocals™.

THANK!! HER!!

Gravity is just so nice, you guys. I don't know what it is about these Korean acts dropping really hopeful and healing tracks this year, but I want it to continue. These types of midtempos are usually reserved for Bad Days™, but I lowkey wanna listen to Gravity all the time. There's enough groove that it doesn't drag my mood down if I'm feelin' good, but at the same time, the uplifting vibe is great for everything kinda sucks.

Off Topic, but if y'all haven't heard Mirae's Black Happiness, I urge you!! It's S U C H a good song!! That's a song that's for the worst of days, sis.

Rating - Heavy Rotation

Free Somebody (Luna of f(x) x HEDA)

I really do not understand what the point of this release was. Can someone from SM DM me on Twitter and explain. Cause sis, this shit made no sense to me.

Firstly, congratulations to Ms HEDA are in order!! If you weren't aware (like me), everysing (a Korean karaoke company) and Genie Music (SM Entertainment's distributor) ran a contest called Battle Singer to select a new feature vocalist for an upcoming Station release. Why SM didn't give her her own Station track, I'm not sure, but I rather liked the way she sounded here. So, I can't be too mad.

Wha I *am* mad at, however, is why SM decided to have Luna and HEDA do karaoke on one of the unused sets of Younha's Parade video, and releasing that shit as a single. Y'all couldn't call in nobody to produce these vocals?!?!?! Every single one of y'all vocal producers were busy?!?!?!

K...

I'm just so over SMSTATION releases varying in quality and effort spent. Some weeks, SM puts in the time and effort to rock that shit out, but then we also get lazy as fuck all releases like these. And I get it, there was a contest attached to this and we don't know if SM is gonna pull Ms HEDA back in for a round 2. I'm hoping they do, but SM is fickle. I just wish this release was up to the standard as Luna and Amber's Lower. Some of y'all thought that song was dry af, but at least the video was dynamic.

Rating - KoKoNotABop

The Fabulous Five

5. Mystery (Jalhyejun)

Mystery sounds like Lim Kim and Neon Bunny decided to team up for a song. They didn't, but if they ever did, I'd need at least three albums worth of material from it.

Mystery is a very cutesy synthrock song. It lowkey reminds me of something Puffy AmiYumi would do 2003/2004, but it mostly sounds like a bonus track on Neon Bunny's Seoulite. Not a bad thing; Puffy AmiYumi were literally my gateway into J-Pop fifteen years ago (I still listen to them), and Seoulite is one of the best Korean albums of 2011.

Mystery sounds like it belongs in a kids' show, and that's exactly why I like it. It's not anything crazy energetic, but it's really fun and every time I listen to it, it puts the biggest smile on my face. And because it isn't super in your face, you could also use it very peppy background music.

We love a versatile queen, sis.

Rating - Heavy Rotation

4. To Do List (Kim Hyorin)

Okay, sis... I was a lil nervous when I heard the teasers for this. Too many of my faves been droppin' ballads as digital singles, and then disappearing into the ether. Hyorin is my girl, but I will *always* put the music first.

Fortunately,I had nothing to worry about; Hyorin did with To Do List what Henry couldn't do with Monster. Give me an engaging ballad.

Hyorin's To Do List is the same flavor of stripped back ballad as Henry's Monster; it's just Hyorin's sweet vocals layered over a clean electric guitar. It's just that she can emote with her voice and is an overall better vocalist.

I'm finding that I really enjoying this style of ballad. There's just an unexpected element to having a song be just electric guitar and vocals, ya know?!?! Like I mentioned above, I was very unsure about Hyorin making her solo debut under her own agency with a song like this, but I can see why she did it. Ballads do stupidly well in Korea, so Hyorin was catering to that market. BUT ALSO!! There's enough spunk here to keep the more adventurous crowd happy.

Of course, Hyorin could also sing me the dictionary, and I'd be like, "YASSS KWEEN!! BUILD THE CHILDREN'S VOCABULARY!! TAKE EVERY SINGLE OF MY WIGS, GODDESS!!".

So what do I know?!?!

Rating - Heavy Rotation

3. Unstoppable (The Night Of Seokyo x Minju)

I normally don't include covers on this list, and I definitely wouldn't put them in the Fab Five. But y'all, this fucking cover. I really wish they covered the entire song, because it's fucking M A G I C A L

Which only makes sense, because the original is even more magical, but still...

Minju and the Night of Seokyo's Unstoppable is a cover of Lianne La Havas's 2015 song Unstoppable. I have no idea why I don't know this song or artist, because they're both magical. I already said Unstoppable was magical, but I'm gonna say it again!! This song is so good!! Can I live in the feeling this song creates?!?! I'd enjoy that a lot, sis. It's just so calm and healing, and I need that to be my energy for all of 2018.

And Ms Lianne, y'all. My wig toppled off my head the first 30 seconds of the song, because ma'am looks like a Black goddess. Can I be her when I grow up?!?!?! She looks so cool, and her music is just so nice. God, I love just Black women, you guys. They're so amazing, and they never get credit for always being ahead of the curve (as mentioned in my Nega Dola review). But I love Black women. I wouldn't be who I am today without Black women. None of us would. And I think it's time that we acknowledge that!!

So now that I've gotten that out of my system (we are unapologetically stanning Black women in 2018 and beyond, sis), let's discuss the Night of Seokyo and Minju's cover of Unstoppable. Absolutely beautiful. Breathtaking. I felt like I was floating. I usually don't care for covers, because 90% of them fall into two categories - a) indistinct from the original because they do everything the original does and b) complete and total trash because they did Too Much™ when reinterpretting it. But Minju and the Night of Seokyo strike the perfect balance - the rearrangement for piano and vocal does Just Enough™ to stand out on it's own without feeling like it's fucked up the vibe of the song.

I really should have just done a standalone review of this cover, since I *clearly* have so much so say on it, but it's just so good. A very big thank you to my girl sunnysidae who found the original version for Unstoppable for me. You're the best, sis!!

Rating - Heavy Rotation

2. Baby Funk (Yoo Naul of Brown Eyed Soul)

Y'all.

Everything about this song n video is so Black!! I'm Shook™!!

I don't know Brown Eyed Soul that well, so I really thought Naul was the Black dude in the video. Thought BES had a whole ass (well, half ass) nigga in the group!!

Baby Funk's name is a little misleading - the only thing Funky about her is that guitar line (and the beatswitch that happens towards the end). But that's fine!! We love a good throwback to the Soul tracks of the '90s!!

I really don't know what to say, but tbh I really shouldn't have to - y'all *know* I L I V E for a good RnB/Soul track. And Baby Funk definitely delivers, babies!! I'm not gonna lie, the video did put me a off little, at first; I can't help but be suspect of the dynamic here. But you know, I'm just gonna receive this blessing, and keep it pushing. Naul made a love letter to Black culture with Baby Funk, and I Appreciate™.

Rating - Heavy Rotation

1. Blind (Planetarium Records)

Trigger Warning - intense strobe lighting effects are used in the live showcase video

One of these days, I'm gonna need to learn these dudes' names. Especially since they refuse to stop terrorizing my wig collection with their group albums.

Sidenote - whoever decided to bait n switch my Black ass with them teasers, ya mama's a heaux. And I expect a full version of T.M.N.T with vocals on Case#3!! That shit is too good to just be an intro!!

*ahem*

When I first saw the teasers for Planetarium's CASE#1, I didn't think much of it. I thought they were an EDM label, number 1. And number 2, teasers didn't really give me anything to be excited about. But they blasted onto the scene with Blah, which had me eatin' my words a lil. I didn't include ha in my Fab Five for that week, but I was definitely paying attention to them Planetarium boys. And then came a live video of Glue (which I did put in my Fab Five), and now Blind.

Blind is a very clear 180 from the very fun, very tropical themed Blah. But catch these niggas drivin' off into the sunset with my wig, because I am B A L D T.

Blind is an intense synthpop track with a slight RnB tilt. Which is to be expect, because Planetarium is an RnB/Hip Hop label. But guys, this song is just S O G O O D. If every idol boy band in K-Pop *has* to do overly series tracks because They're Super Serious Boys Who Very Serious All The Time Seriously™, I'm gonna need them deliver tracks on this level.

Show me you have soul, not that you have abs. I've seen enough shirt lifts to last me a lifetime, kids.

On top of giving us a music video that's a continuation of Blah, the Planetarium boys have also provided us with a live showcase video that you can watch here. Be mindful that there is intense strobing effects during the chorus bits.

Rating - Heavy Rotation

Alright loves, that's all I've got for you guys this week!! I hope the change in format isn't jarring, but I needed to do something to alleviate some of the work that goes into these lists. Cause pretty soon, I'm not gonna have the gobs and gobs of free time that I have now to do them, on top of my standalone reviews. My SHINee Feature Spotlight series has been halted, for now, but tune in on Friday at 12pm and 6pm EST for a special surprise. And be sure to tune in on Monday at 6pm EST for me full length review of the week.

Love, you guys!!

[elcisa-blog]

hello hello yall, it’s your gal ronnie with a second muse!! this is my honey eloisa and i have so many ideas for her and i’m so excited to bring her to life since i’ve been dying to play her properly for so long, so PLease feel free to come plot w/ us ok ? OK ! anyway, her full bio can be found here if you feel so inclined, but it’s a bit long, so i’ll have a couple points under the cut summarizing it. also under the cut are some wanted connections ! that’s pretty much it for now, k byE

that’s not EMILY RATAJKOWSKI walking around?? nah, but ELOISA GOMOLKA gets that all the time. SHE’S actually from TORQUAY, ENGLAND, though they live in LA JOLLA now.  you’ve probably heard that 23 year old SERVER of CALIFORNIA PIZZA KITCHEN being referred to as the ZEALOT of this place. you know, i always see them EXPLORING AND TRAVELING or blasting A LITTLE DEATH BY THE NEIGHBOURHOOD on their lunch break..whatever.

alright so my baby was born and raised in torquay, england to a pretty religious, polish family. her father is polish and her mother is english, but their lifestyle and culture at home was very much polish based

also her actual birth name is katarzyna eloisa gomolka, but growing up in england, many people had a hard time pronouncing her first name so her friends & classmates and all that often called her by her middle name instead -- eloisa. so it eventually stuck and she legally changed around her first & middle names. ..  . 

this girl loves loves loves learning languages and studying other cultures and lifestyles , like in school , she was always that girl that took as many foreign language classes as she could. she knows the basics to a bunch of different languages but she’s fluent in english, polish, french, and spanish. 

also shes WILD ok . . . like her own weird brand of wild. she’s so Unexpected .. . its strange. but i love her sm. she’s loud, opinionated, stubborn, unpredictable, SUPER adventurous, you name it. she’s either laughing her ass off with childish excitement or spewing fire From her mouth, knowing NO boundaries . . there’s no in between like . . . shes so random, all over the place and all in your face most of the time im sorry . . . & when she loves u she clingy

anyway she also used to play the violin and horseback ride a lot growing up. her grandpa from her moms side taught her how to ride horses and she loved going to his farm in the english countryside to ride & hear his wise stories and all that. he was like her hero.

however, one day, right before eloisa was about to start her last year of high school  . . . long story short . . . there was an accident and grandpa passed away *cries* .  . . el took his death super hard since they were so close . . which caused her to get less enthusiastic about going to college and she just lost all interest at caring at all tbh, becoming more of a troublemaker at school, so her grades dropped her last year and so did all her aspirations for her future

after high school, instead of enrolling in postsecondary, she just wanted to get away from it all so she decided to trust in her adventurous side and partake in a work abroad program where she would be backpacking across south america, teaching english and helping build up communities. she did that until she was twenty-one. it was a Wild ride

in the midst of the program, while in colombia, she got involved w/ some sketchy dude who was in the drugs and car stealing business  . . . she loved the thrill & she thought she was so in love BUt he was super gross and toxic and ended up betraying her, stealing her money, and leaving her on the side of the road one night on one of his heists. aNYWAY it sucked

she finished the program and then decided to work for the work abroad program’s headquarters, which are situated in california. . . so thats how she got to san diego

eventually her position there terminated but she decided to stay in cali bc its very much her type of vibe SO now shes working at fashion valley & thats where yall come in 

SOME WANTED CONNECTIONS 

OPPOSITES ATTRACT -- cheesy name but i think it’d be cool for her to have a pal who’s kind of the complete or near opposite of her but they kind of work ? ? like honestly this girl can TALK and ramble on for so long about random shit, so i think it’d be an interesting dynamic for her to have someone who just lets her Go Off and they just like to listen to her talk and she just likes having someone to listen to her . . . inspo is from this pic right HERE

EAT THIS --  while in south america, el kind of developed a huge respect and love for cuisine and cooking so now shes kind of obsessed with searching up random, exotic recipes and trying them out. sometimes her cooking backfires and is not the greatest but shes so determined to get things right and just loves Doing it so much that she doesnt care. . . so maybe she can have like a taste testing buddy or someone who likes to cook w her or something idk ? ? shfskd omg HC: she works as a server at ca pizza kitchen but i s2g she prob always tries to sneak in the kitchen and help cook But since shes so all over the place, theyre always like “ EL GTFO OF HeRE !!!!!” 

MOTHER HEN / PAPA BEAR -- this girl needs someone to keep her in line some of the time okay. she doesnt have any family here in cali so she’d love to have someone who takes care of her and makes sure she doesnt go too far ..  like someone she looks up to in a sister/brother/guardian figure type of way ? ? 

ZOOLOGY -- eloisa doesnt have any pets .. .  she can hardly take care of herself like what u think imma let this girl have a dog ? ? NO she can have a pet ROCK ( she does ) . . . but she loves animals so she’d love hAving a pal where she can just come by and play w their pets or smthg like she’ll be the best play mate ever  .. . i just wouldnt trust her to take care of ur animal for a week or smthg lmao

ADVENTURE TIME -- if u ever just want to do something crazy or try something new. . . literally just hit up eloisa . . . so i’d love for her to have friends who just text her up like i’m Not feeling good take me somewhere. . . and SHE WILL . . .or even if they’re not sad and just want to do something exciting . .. hit her up

OOPS :( -- ok So el can be a bit clumsy and random so i think a cool connection with someone would be like maybe one day eloisa broke something of theirs or fucked up their car or dyed their hair wrong or something stupid like that . . . basically eloisa fucked up . . . and ever since then, that person doesnt really trust her anymore and is kind of annoyed with her presence in general . . . BUT eloisa feels so BAD and guilty about it so now she basically tries to do everything in her power to make it up to the other person but they just keep not having it yknow ? ? 

ORANGE CRUSH -- ok ur typical crush plot bc theyre so fluffy and cute. . . but i think maybe a plot where the crush doesnt even have to be super romantic or sexual yknow ? ? like i can definitely see eloisa just being so interested in everything the other person does and just loving being around them and loving everything they do . . . so obsessed w their comportments . . . but it can be in such a fluffy, platonic way like That feeling when u see a rly cute puppy or baby penguin . . . eloisa just wants to hug ur muse and love them But not even sexually yknow ? ? 

TAKE ME WITH YOU -- ok i love this plot sm . . . maybe like a friendship where they both want to see the world together ? ? eloisa is really big on travelling so id love for her to have a friend where they’ve been slowly putting together their dream trip where they see the world together. and their friendship is so heavily based on them sending each other places around the world where they want to go and putting together bucketlists and itineraries for if they ever end up saving money and travelling together ? ? so fun

SCIENCE PROJECT -- there’s not much that scares el and she doesnt get pushed away so easily  . ..  but i think an interesting dynamic could be if there actually was someone who kind of freaks her out yknow?? a relationship where the person actually kind of intimidates her and theres just something about the person that makes eloisa question everything .. . kind of like a science project. shes always studying them carefully, unsure of how to react to what they say . . . they’re just bizarre to her and she wants to know more

POKE ! -- basically someone she loves to annoy and pick on , but not in a hateful way

TEACH ME -- maybe someone who is teaching eloisa a new skill or language or how to do something that they’re good at because eloisa would love that so much .. . she loves trying new things.. . .like honestly anything  ..  . even if she keeps failing

TINDER DATE -- ok so in my head, i feel like eloisa would be that type of person to troll people on tinder and play around with them ..  so maybe your muse got caught up in her trap once and she trolled them on tinder lmao ? ? ? i think thatd be so funny and she just loves laughing about it all the time . .

I DO . . . WAIT, NO, I DON’T ! -- ok So this is inspired by that one episode in friends where rachel and ross get married drunk in vegas once . . . so Like literally that lmao. like that is SO something that would happen to el. like maybe one time, they found themselves in vegas together, they got super drunk, and legit got married that same night super quick ? ? ? and obviously theyre divorced now but i think that’d be a funny dynamic and lil treasure of the past to have in a friendship/relationship

SOME TYPICAL ONES THAT I CANT GET ENOUGH OF -- exes, flings, hook ups, went on a few dates in the past, best friends ( someone to braid her hair and take bubble baths w her <3 ), enemies ( maybe someone who doesnt agree w how she lives her life or her whole vibe bc she can be a bit much sometimes lmao ), etc.

or literally anything else lol

[cow3survivor]

Ep. 6: “So Many Ways This Could Backfire” - Jennet

JENNET 

so the plan worked out great except jabari said that “now jake will know the truth” in front of daisy and the other tribemates🥺 i was hoping that i could pin this on lindsay so that once we merged i could lie about it and have lindsay be out next before the merge... this is truly sickening idk what to do

(a little later)

feeling really bad... is it my fault that jake forced me into a f3 with jabari who ive barely spoken with??? idk i feel like not only did i betray her but i betrayed a black woman and that makes me sick to my stomach.... hoping that i made the right choice and this propels me further in the game🥺 i honestly hated having to do that but maybe if ethan and sam have tribal connections left, when we merge, maybe we will be able to stick together and he’ll also help connect me

JESSICA

I GOT THE IDOL! It is good for 4 rounds and I still have my vote. And just in time as we are swapping into 3 tribes of 5 like I thought..... wow my psychic abilities! Jabari got voted out at tribal and I'm sad. I didn't know her but I think she was new to orgs and I really wanted to play with her! Plus she volunteered to do the tiebreaker for her tribe so I thought they'd keep her due to that. Time for a swap lets kick this game into gear!

JENNET

hoping jake isnt on the same tribe as daisy or lindsay

(a little later)

also hoping im on a tribe of winners so i never make it to tribal bc i DEFINITELY was/am the weakest link☠️

MIKEY

so. I FUCKING HATE THIS NEW TRIBE. THEY PICKING OFF ALL THE GOOD ORIGINAL CALUMMA MEMBERS AND MY GIRL JABARI LITERALLY JUST LEFT??? FUCK YOU JENNET. I KNOW THIS IS BECAUSE OF YOU! But anyways, its me and jake vs all OG (insert other tribes name) and i think I'm going next lool fuck ME. this is very sad indeed and idk im upset but ima try my mf hardest

JAKE

https://youtu.be/OzrGekDCG8I xoxo gossip girl

JENNET

jones and ethan on my tribe?? *blushes sm*

(a little later)

nervous about this tribe... ive pulled off three blindsides that ive helped orchestrate so if like if someone really wanted to look deeper into it.... they would be able to make a target out of me bc of it. definitely worried

(after cooking a fish)

this is basically an allstar team. everybody on here is a heavy hitter and that makes me worried bc if i wasnt the weakest link before, i definitely am now. wishing we had gotten rid of lindsay instead of jabari bc we just made another team stronger but it is what it is i guess

JONES

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbTUvzatQrw

JESSICA

Today's song is "Ribs" by Lorde because I have played it on repeat all morning. Also I forget if I said for my last confessional but that song was "Sober", also by Lorde. Basically I love Lorde and my life is better because of it. This swap worked out super well for me! I really said in my host chat "Could I please be put on a tribe with Shane and Daisy?" and the hosts simply said "Okay". I have my final 3 back together and we also have Lindsay and Lovelis. Lindsay seems really cool so far and Lovelis and I have a good thing going so I feel very confident on this tribe. I really hope we do not lose because honestly? I don't want to vote out Lindsay at all. I like that she is active and she seems like someone who really is putting in effort whereas Lovelis, as much as I like him, just really hasn't been here. I would rather play this game with people who are more active so to me it's like.... Lindsay is absolutely not the obvious vote if we lose. Not even a bit! I'd love to do with her what I did with Mikey and make a separate f2 so that when we merge, she's someone who will keep the target off of me. I didn't tell my alliance about the idol because honestly I just don't anticipate using it at all. It expires so soon and I really only took it so that no one else would end up having it. Also.... I don't know, I didn't tell them right away because I was a bit busy at the moment we swapped and now it feels suspicious if I do tell them? Also who knows, maybe they would not find my story believable and think I have an idol up to final 5 which I just don't want! I'd rather throw the idol into the sea so it causes no problems. This immunity challenge is an interesting one. If I knew what was in the boxes, I would probably bet more, but I bet some of those boxes have bad things or nothing in them and I simply do not want that. If I had to guess, one has the other half to that idol, one probably has an idol clue, another maybe has extra idol searches.... maybe another has an idol nullifier? Or a vote peek? Really none of these are things that I need. They're all cool but I'd rather be immune thanks! As far as how I feel in the game, I really do want the Maples to be f3. I'd rather be at the end with my alliance and lose than flip and be there without them. Ummmm what other thoughts do I have.................... I think that might be it. My mind is empty but I'm still moving forward.

LINDSAY

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1L5Nzch65XLD_njxnIxLKwqUs5vqXcYot/view?usp=drivesdk

JESSICA

Also if we lose this immunity....... I'll be mad because I bet 0 on everything and I am STAYING that way!

JENNET

feeling increasingly bad for voting out jabari /:: idk it doesnt sit right with me in the grand scheme of things. obviously its a game but the fact that i genuinely upset somebody to that extent is so sick. idec that we’re going to tribal, i want to be voted out

ETHAN

3 tribals in a row... I don't for a freaking second believe that Jones and Nicol "made a mistake" with their bidding. This feels like throwing, and if it is, it means that: 1. they feel comfortable enough with Jennet to have a majority 2. they feel comfortable enough with Pete to have a majority 3. it doesn't matter anyway, they now have 2 boxes and potentially an idol or two they could use Either way, this is a freaking sucky situation, and Pete is being super sketchy. People keep making bad play after bad play so honestly, it is hard for me because I keep assuming that they will be doing all of these things to throw the wool over my eyes when they actually aren't doing anything.

JENNET

im annoyed im frustrated and im angry... why were so many points used?

(a little later)

here i am... again... in the middle guys vs girls.... um this sucks bc like me ethan pete didnt use alot of points and nicole and jones did so thats like sucky bc initially i wanted pete gone but like now theres no reason for it to be him

(after soaking in the sun)

nicole says that pippa told her to wait to see whats in the box, so that could mean tribal or that could wait next round. or what if its a comeback power? i literally have no idea what to do

(after making a pillow out of leaves)

okay so the plan is, we get to tribal. me ethan and pete vote for nicole. jones and nicole vote for pete. nicole uses immunity on herself, pete goes home. there are so many ways this could backfire and honestly if it sends me home than im okay with that. i just hate going to tribal so many times in a row

MADISON

I AM FREE FROM MY BROOKESIA PRISON. Current tribe dynamic on Furcifer: me/Sammy have been on the same tribe this whole time, me/Sammy/Jake were just on swap Brookesia, and i know Sam from OG Brookesia so the only person i'm just now meeting is Mikey and that stresses me out so much less than if we had merged or something. My gut is telling me that the idol is long gone and searching might just get me annoyed before it gets me an idol. On the upside, i still have time to find one if it's it out there because i highly doubt I'll be in trouble anytime soon the way my tribe keeps winning everything. ALSO: i only said that i thought Calumma would lose because Shane was on that tribe and i just felt like he would go big or go home but that's an issue to address when our paths cross again. If our tribe ends up going to tribal sometime soon, i would hope it would be the obvious choice to vote Mikey seeing as how i know him the least but idk maybe thats wishful thinking i dont want it to come to that.

SAMMY

Mikey has my heart on this tribe....YUP I really just wanna keep all the fun ppl...im missing daisy:// umm I did not bid on a single thing and I kind of regret it but also??? At least I am safe from tribal...but damn I really should have bid huh? Anyways not much is going on...ready to start playing a more individual game tho hehe

SHANE

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-WUq5wfYK3Xb1Y-KNZptfyagwvSff4cd

NICOLE

I cannot believe I risked being voted out only to NOT BE ABLE TO PLAY NEXT IMMUNITY!!!!!!! what a round, I'm so sad. But I hope I stay.

DAISY

from f15 https://youtu.be/-_meWPNctO0

PETE

it’s literally... dude.. why can’t i just float to a merge whyyYYYYYYYYyyYyYyyyYyYy does it AAAALWAYS have to be so COMPLICATED like this is it this is the time im mufuckin ouutttiiieeeeeee that challenge was clearly thrown so like ✌🏼 it was fuuuun i hope y’all liked me enough to bring me back for whatever the next chameleon returnees thingy is uwu

(after being attacked by bees)

i know i’m paranoid and every tribal i feel sick to my stomach but nobody has talked to me today, except ethan about how fucked we are, it’s half an hour before tribal and no one really seems like they want to work with me. i still haven’t heard a name

TRIBAL COUNCIL

PETE EXIT INTERVIEW