#you have to slay with style. its what ive always been saying

[matrinki]

dad's favourite

[thesimulacrasimp]

So yeah, here we go again! I just watched 3rd n 4th eps of hazbin hotel so, again, my thoghts abt it. Idk if i really need to put spoilers warning anymore, but ig ill do it just in case. As with previous post there will be some screenshots.

HAZBIN HOTEL EP 3-4 SPOILERS WARNING!

So tbh i dont have much to say about 3rd ep. Overall it was a really cute ep where everyone kinda got along. Also we met alot of new overlords (that one giant wolf girl was cool as hell) n got a few bop songs. I really like all new voices we got here. Also Velvette was killin in this ep, like slay queen!! Also i didnt know this girl (idk her name srry) was Carmillas (idk if spelled the name correctly--) daughter, that really suprised me.

Ok 4th ep... I have alot to say about it. First of all when that Angels moive started i was like: WTH S GOIN ON WHAT????? Then i thoght that its Angels dream (or nightmare-) n that wolf guy was representation of Valentino. N then when its all started i was like: Oh. I get it.

Speaking about Val, when all that fire started n he opened his wings, that was FUCKING BEAUTIFUL N I REALLY DIDNT EXPECT HIM TO HAVE ACTUAL WINGS, I WAS LIKE: :O I FOR REAL ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT WAS JUST A FUR COAT--- ok n thats literally the only good i can say about Val by now.

That one awful scene with Val n Angel was literally so scary... Ive never been in SA, ive never had such "experience" (and thank GOD for that), but i know that feeling of fear when you just in trap and you cant do anything, i know how that feels to be abused, when you just hiding in corner feeling so fucking scared that you gonna get beated up n yelled again, you KNOW that will happen and you just wait for it in terrify, you literally feel yourself like a little child who cant do anything, you want to share your problems to someone, just wanna cry to someone, but you cant and you need to pretend that everything is okay. I was so scared for Angel in that scene and i really felt it. And the way Angel tried to make Charlie leave before that all happened.. Yes, he definetly knew whats gonna happen n thats so scary...

Anyway OMG VOX HIIII!!!!!! :DDDD

BTW THE FACT THAT HES HOLDING VALS HAND LIKE HE WAS ABOUT TO KISS IT----- THIS SHIP IS TAKING OVER MY BRAIN PLS SEND HELP

Yeah, yknow what really strange thing about all that? Is the fact that Val s obviously a horrible person consindering all the things he done to Angel, but he is still an ENJOYABLE CHARACTER. Like- ofc that awful abusive scene was not enjoyable at all, but for some reason i just cant hate him!! I TRY BUT I JUST CANT N THATS SO WEIRD. probably its because i know its not a real person, its just a character but still-

Also (someone pls count how many times i used this word-) i really didnt expect to see an ACTUAL SEX SCENES IN THE SONG. Ig i shouldve expect it n i kinda did, but i still didnt-

Also this little scene made me fucking cry, for real. But not the fact that Angel crying made me cry, but his line: "If i end up broken, I wont be his favourite toy anymore. And maybe he'll let me go.."

I dont know why this exact line made me cry, but it did and i think this is awesome, because they really made me care for Angel, even tho, again, ive never experienced such feelings so i cant relate to that, but i still feel so bad for him.

Ok can we talk about that Husk was AN OVERLORD??? I WAS LIKE: WHAAAAATT????

And OF COURSE that one Husk n Angels song. You already know how i feel about it so im not even gonna talk bout it! SIKE‼️I WILL!!!!! THIS SONG IS SO FRICKIN CUTE, THE FACT THAT HUSK STARTED TO JOKINGLY (or maybe not jokingly-) SAYING THAT ANGEL IS A LOSER TO BRIGHT HIM UP IS ACTUALLY SO SMART! THEYRE BOTH SO CUTE TOGETHER SINGING AND HOLDING HANDS FOR A LITTLE TOO MUCH!!! AND THIS SONG IS MUSICALLY ALSO SO AMAZING, ITS LITERALLY MY STYLE OF SONGS, MAYBE MY NEW FAV SONG I CANT REALLY TELL RN! And the meaning of this song is really good too. Whatever is happening to you, unless youre not alone, everything is better!

Andddd everything is ended quite good and wholesome! They came to the hotel, Charlie apoligized and everything is good!!

soooo yeah! Thats it i guess! Im pretty sure im gonna edit it if i remember something else i wanted to say, but thats it by now!

My review/thoughts on eps 1-2

My review/thoughts on eps 5-6

My review/thoughts on eps 7-8

[kim-lexie]

summer 2022.

well fam...has it been a minute or what? i realized i was getting more anxious to upload, because it seemed all too daunting. i have accepted that this will inevitably be a subpar rewind just because oh so much happened. and after this year i hope to get back to more frequent posts. any waayyy...

music.

‘world’ by seventeen. AKA SONG OF THE SUMMER. AKA OWNER OF MY HEART. AKA THE BESTEST TRACK EVER. it literally is full of sunshine and rainbows. it cures any ailment. i freaking love this, fills me for breakfast, lunch and dinner. it is the absolute best track. and it fills my heart. 10 out of 10 recommend.

seventeen. literally their whole discography. i had the immense pleasure to see them live during their north american tour. all i can say is that it was such a unique experience. listening to their music since debut, watching their survival show, and seeing them grow. it was wild to just see them, because when i first got into k-pop i never thought i would be able to experience a live show without going to korea. then to see the first group that got me into k-pop, host an arena tour…i was so emotional seeing them in real life. like we are talking ugly crying level. 

‘slam the door’ by ciipher. a complete an utter bop. thank you to ‘yoshified’ on youtube, because dang this person really recommends the best tracks. and i would never have had a complete summer playlist without this. 

‘scared’ by p1harmony. let me start by saying this was noisy but it an absurdly good way. like oh my goodness they just came for me like that.

nayeon. our queen. ‘pop’ and ‘no problem’ on repeat. we stan. (p.s. ready for jihyo’s solo) 

monsta x. ‘whispers in the dark’ and ‘if with u’ also on repeat. all the time. 

onlyoneof. the single tracks that they’ve released. i am in love with ‘be free’ by KB, and ‘begin’ by yu jung. and the music videos and the intertwining storylines, like yes please and thank you. 

newjeans. ‘you got me looking for AATTTTEEENNTTTIOOOOON’ catch me screaming their lyrics at the top of my lungs. the way they dropped their singles, like woah hold up. ‘hype boy’ definitely a favorite track. and ‘cookie’ is never played it makes me immensely uncomfy. i hope they stick to chill appropriate concepts, because come on hybe…

blackpink. the queens have returned and this album…controversial opinion….the title tracks were not it, but the B-sides. fammmmm these slayed it. catch me crying in the bathroom, i love them. 

‘after like’ by ive. how can they always release bops, and the b-side ‘satisfaction’ like come on stunning. 

’24/7’ by DKB. this track. i love that it comes in with the chorus. i freaking love it. 

‘my type’ by brb. this is a new group i discovered and love them. technically not k-pop, it’s in english, they are from singapore but i couldn’t not include because the vibes are there. and it sounds heavily influenced by k-r&b and i am here for it.

‘excuses’ by twlv. another chill bop. like this dude has an incredible voice, and he could sing my grocery list and i would love it. 

‘sexy nukim’ feat. RM by balming tiger. FAM. when this song dropped i was like WOOOAHHHHH. these artists’ style and groove, i can’t get over it. thank you namjoon for collaborating with them and putting them on my radar, because they pass the vibe check. 

‘us’ by moon jong up. randomly stumbled upon this gem, and i am so sad that there is not more content from this stunning human. 

‘mascara’ by XG. it’s a bop, i scream it. ‘baby girl don’t you ever be wasting your good energy’ like amen honey!

‘talk that talk’ by twice. it’s twice you know its gonna be a bop. the dance addicting. 

dramas & movies *spoilers ahead*

my mister. i would give this drama a 9 out of 10. we follow dong-hun who is really going through it, like bad. like his wife is having an affair with his boss, and his family is a mess. his brothers live with his mother, and they are kind of subpar not doing the most. he meets ji-an a young girl in a difficult situation, she is being harassed by loan sharks. things get shady when she comes to find out about the affair, and uses it to blackmail the vice president and she has to get dong-hun to leave the company. she obviously doesn’t go through with it, but fates get tangled, and i would be lying if i said i was upset that our main actors didn’t get up together. but i understand why, they learned a lot from each other. it was tragic, raw, and everything you want in a melodramatic drama. 

tomorrow. fam i started this drama for rowoon, but i finished it for soohyuk because dang….we follow jun-woong who is struggling to get a job after school but ends up in a coma and meets grim reapers. they come up with a plan to get him back to the world of the living by helping the crisis management team. this team’s goal is to save suicidal people. i loved the dynamics between the team, and i loved the ending of this drama. i would give this drama a 9 out of 10. i loved the style of it, each episode being a new situation and issue to solve. this was a difficult drama to watch at times, it obviously covers the trigger topics of suicide, domestic violence, and depression. the concept was unique and i loved how they offered reasonable ways to overcome and get necessary help. i loved the relationship that was unpacked between koo ryeon and joong-gil because it went so far back, and his choice to completely forget it because the situation pained him so much. but she remembered it all. i recall my heart breaking into a million pieces as their story unfolded towards the end. like there were not enough tissues to rescue all the tears.

like literally look at the way he looks at her. let me weep.

sh**ting stars. this drama was a 10 out of 10 cute fun summer drama. we are in the entertainment world with our girl han-byeol (lee sung kyung) as our leader of the PR team, and she actively manages gong tae-sung (king young-dae). he is the top actor, and their relationship is everything. she starts the drama unable to tolerate him, because she has known him since college. we come to find that he has always had feelings for her, and little misunderstandings had driven them apart. but my goodness you know that by the end of the drama they were together, and sooooo stinking cute. i loved their interactions. i also freaking loved how everyone ended up happy! like our second male lead was no second male lead, he got his own happy ending. and i loved the coworkers that ended up together in this drama too. like yes we stan character development all around! it was great!

sound of magic. i don’t know what i expected, but dang it was a musical and outright wild at times. i gave it a 9 out of 10. yoon a-yi is a high school student working hard to support her sister. she doesn’t have a supportive father because loan sharks drove him out of the home. na il-deung (hwang inyeop) competes with her to be top of the class. he likes her (obviously). our girl stumbles upon an amusement park and meets a magician there. he encourages her to believe in magic, and a quite odd relationship ensues. definitely not going to lie it was on my radar because my hwang inyeop is in it, and literally anything and everything he touches is gold to me. but it was incredible, and i loved all that they did in this drama, though it was short lived, i hope they will continue this story. 

yumi’s cells 2. i was hyped fam. really hyped about it. like yes ba-bi (jinyoung), he is our man. we stan, we love. men fail. he failed us, and i’m not going to lie did that bump my rating down to a 7…yes. yess it did. once again we follow our girl yumi, in her life through work, pursuing her dream of writing. achieving her goals. and seeing ba-bi be absolute trash. so yeah. i hate ba-bi and if anyone asks i never liked him. i am ready for season 3 to come through and give us a happy ending. i am deserving of this after surviving this long, only to be betrayed by ba-bi. 

dear m. FINALLY i got to see this gem after waiting forever (only) to see it. so sad about the delayed release because it would surely have taken over everything if it was a live drama. i loved the concept of always trying to figure out who ‘M’ was, and it looking like it was anyone and everyone. we follow joo-a who has been besties with min-ho (jaehyun) for forever, and they are at university together. we follow their university struggles as they get through the semester, and we meet their roomates, who are all great. and i loved that we got to see all their personalities develop and grow. there was also immense growth from joo-a, which we love to see. i loved all the characters we got to meet. and seeing jaehyun freaking slay, i stan. i would rate this an 8.5 out of 10.

weathering with you. this was an anime that i watched and it was stunning. i loved the concept. a high schooler runs away from home to tokyo. he befriends a girl who has the power to control the weather. it wrecked me emotionally and i loved it. i would give it a 7

studio ghibli: my neighbor totoro, ponyo, howl’s moving castle, spirited away. not me rewatching these studio ghibli titles. they are always a 10 out of 10 recommend. 

why her. once again hwang inyeop. my man coming through with the dramas that will make me cry. in this drama, we follow oh soo-jae a freaking boss lawyer. like the youngest partner at the best law firm in korea. she is driven out and gets demoted to be a professor at a law school. gong chan is a student there and it turns out they had met in the past. he was wrongly accused of murder and she was his public defendant, she was the only one who believed in him. but it turns out that she didn’t give the case her all as the defendant. but he knows her true intentions, and how she was blackmailed by the political moves happening. they all work together along with other students in their law clinic to uncover the truth. it was really frustrating/infuriating at times, because the head of the law firm is absolute utter garbage and the things he did were AWFUL. but overall i loved this drama. a 9 out of 10 recommend. 

the uncanny counter. i loved this one. we follow so mun who gets possessed by a spirit that rescues people on the verge of death, to hunt down evil spirits. these fellow counters operate out of a noodle shop. and we meet our crew of unlikely heroes here. i loved how they were a found family, and they all come together in various situations. there were so many hilarious laugh out loud moments imbedded in this quite sad theme. se-jeong is the best and i picked this one for her. i would rate it an 8.5 out of 10.

extraordinary attorney woo. if there was ever a green light drama this would be the one. a 10 out of 10 recommend. it was so precious, and i loved all the characters that we met. we follow woo young-woo an incredible bright individual who happens to be on the autism spectrum. she starts working at a law firm, and this brings about the best and worst in others. each episode was a new case, and we got to see her unique perspective on conquering each case. we also saw her relationships with others in the hanbada office. freaking fell in love with lee jun-ho, and her bestie from university yoon-kyung. they were always looking out. and we loved the character development that happened with their coworker joo jong-hyuk. this one shall get it’s own recap. because i have so many feelings and favorite moments. 

alchemy of souls. when i say i didn’t know what to do with my life when this gem of a drama ended, i literally did not know what to do. it was a top tier drama for me. like the characters, the set design, the world building. it has it all. it shall too have its own recap, because dang, too much happened and i am not emotionally ready for december. i would 10 out of 10 recommend. we follow jang-uk from a noble family, rejected by the skilled teachers. he stumbles upon mu-deok, who happens to be naksu an elite warrior/assassian trapped in mu-deok’s physically weak body. she decides to be his master and teach him fighting skills. a lot of crazy nonsense goes down, and so many plot twists happen. and i freaking loved it. i loved the character development especially from out naksu and wanting to put others around her first. like yes queen. 

[jayflrt]

omg speaking of cbs on my last ask enha's cb!! tbh i couldnt get into the title track and this is coming from someone who liked sticker on first listen 😭 idk if its just the style or there's smth missing in the song which is why i cant get into it. the visuals in the mv slayed like always tho so 🫶🫶 ive been into watching kpop commentary videos and they look at the music a little more critically and if i had to say smth i think its just bc the song is not an "enha song" i.e. doesnt follow what i think their musical identity is so im having a harder time to get to it. even b-c took me a few times to get used to (but thats also bc b-c didnt have a bridge so)

the b-sides tho !!! they were great! paradoxxx reminded me of a late 2nd gen/early 3rd gen song which is totally up my alley! shout out has to be my fav from the album which could be totally subjective bc i have a soft spot for that genre (like emo rock??? lmao idk what to call it but yea 😭) tfw is also a nice chill song! ik that hybe doesnt dissapoint with diversity in albums and this one was no different (just maybe not the tt tho for me 😭)

- 🌻

omg dw !!! the song’s not for everyone :’)) i personally liked it but i can see why it would be more of an acquired taste HAHAH but one thing i did wish was maybe more build up to the chorus ?? maybe that’s why?? i think enha’s definitely experimenting a lot more with their music variety so this sounds a lot different than their previous tts :o i rlly like it but i do want another drunk dazed kind of song 🤧

the bsides were rlly good !! 🥰 i think paradoxx has title track potential too honestly it’s soooo good <3 foreshadow is my fav even tho half of it is narration HAHAH AND OMG YES I LOVED SHOUT OUT 🤩 there’s def gonna be albums/tracks we don’t vibe with so hopefully the next one hits for you !! 🥰

[bmpmp3]

i just watched saw 2004 after like 10 years of hearing about it and like 2 years of seeing gay fanart of it THAT SHIT WAS CRAZY that shit was nuts hold on i wanna talk about it a sec

only really talking about the first movie because thats the only one ive seen as of 10 minutes ago but i know theres like. 20 other movies or something. theres like 50 other movies. who knows BUT you know this movie because of its status as the first in a somewhat infamous franchise, its reputation really takes over

like FIRST OF ALL i was a little scared to watch it because like, im good with horror movies and im usually pretty good with blood and gore (particularly with movies released before 2010, post 2010 movies have a style of cgi gore that like makes me. dizzy? motion sick? i have no clue LOL) BUT i shouldntve have been that scared like its not too bad, im assuming the sequels probably up the stakes so thats probably where it gets its reputation. LIKE dont get me wrong its bloody but surprisingly a lot of shit was off screen or barely in focus, like the foot situation or Sing getting killed in the gun trap. the only thing that got to me was Tapp's throat getting cut but i think i just personally get squeamish about gore with necks and heads for some reason LOL my one weakness......

second of all and this is purely a me thing but ive always jokingly referred to saw 1 as like. patient 0 of the post 2000s blue-ification of horror movies (weird incomprehensible observation i have. im sure it started earlier but horror every movie after 1999 kept getting more and more blue visually to me fkjdahkfds) in my head because every clip ive seen from it was in the bathroom which has some strong blue color grading BUT thats not fair. this movie is also very green. and has its reddish moments. i view movie colour grading like this. sorry

but speaking of its green and red moments NOBODY told me how nuts the plot of this movie is. there were like 20 different plotlines intertwined and like every 20 minutes there was a new twist half of the dialogue was written like a detective manga it RULED i loved all the monologuing adam and lawrence did at each other near the end in the bathroom VERY horror mystery light novel esque. half expected someone to turn their back to the camera and spin around pointing saying "and the murderer was YOU" despite that not being what the movie was about LOL and like the editing really added this near, like, absurdity to the pacing, really heightened which i think makes the bloodier bits more palatable too, really great

and lemme tell you. they were not joking about the homoeroticism in this feature film like Tapp and Sing. Tapp and Sing. okay tapp's my favourite character I KNOW hes an obsessive unhinged disgraced ex cop BUT thats why he slays. and man people dont talk about it but Tapp's relationship with Sing and his obsession with vengeance really haunts the first 3/4s of the movie, talk about haunting the narrative with Sing wowza. and then that last 1/4 with like the most heartwrenching "dont leave me" from Adam topped it off.

great movie. i was not expecting the final twist IT CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD SOMEHOW after 20 years...the twist got me.... probably because there were like twelve other twists before it LOL soundtracks really good too. almost action movie theme esque?

will you think less of me for the next sentence i am about to write. so ive been really into movies where dudes get locked up in scary bathrooms and warehouses and get tortured in shitty little white t shirts. i watched some found footage movie that was probably inspired by by saw that i cant remember the name of or much about BUT i do remember thinking the same thing when it got to a part where some guy gets locked in a scary warehouse in his pajamas. lock a guy in a scary bathroom today, its good 👍

[artificial-d3vil]

Here is some of my submas headcanons! Its just what i think fits them, fits their vibe.

Sorry if the post is a little long, ive been adding to my list atleast everyday ;’ ‘

-Emmet is left handed.

-Both type very fast but Emmet makes many grammar mistakes and only realizes them after sending the message. His brain moves slower than his body. (If that makes sense)

-Emmet sleeps with little to no blankets and has one pillow but ends up not using it. While Ingo sleeps with many blankets that are thicker, and has at least 2-3 pillows. He also sleeps under covers, he doesn't like the feeling of his head not being covered.

-Ingo doesn't like being cold, gets cold easily.

-Emmet saying ‘pog’ and ‘slay’ is funny. “You’re a verrry strong trainer. Slaaaaay!”. He learned these words from someone, maybe hears someone say them.

-Emmet curses, ingo cannot, you can't make him curse, it won't happen

-When not at work the way they dress is a bit bland in color, keeping the monotone style or earthy tones. Their style is more simplistic and laidback completely opposite from their work uniforms. They never wear bright colors.

-ingo would definitely have a sneasel, oshawott, and purrloin on his team. So then his team would be Chandelure, Excadrill, Sneasel(hisuian), Oshawott, Purrloin, and Klinklang. Emmet's team would be Elektross, Acheops, Durant, Joltik, Sneasel(original form), and duosion. The both of them do change their team depending on who they’re going against but those are their main pokemon.

-The both of them are tall (6’0)

-Their birthday is in May. Which makes them Gemini s

-They both talk pretty fast but Emmet sometimes forgets his words

-I completely doubt Emmet lies but if he ever does his ears flush

-Both of them are at least 27yrs, pla Ingo is late 30s-40s

-Pla Ingo wears reading glasses

-Ingo is unaffected by spicy food, in fact he loves spice. Emmet on the other hand…hates spicy food

-Emmet’s joltik is almost never in its pokeball, it just hangs around on him

-Since Emmet has electric type pokemon he always ends up being staticy so if you make contact with him like a handshake you’ll get shocked.

-the both of them know ASL(American Sign Language) just incase they come across someone who needs to communicate with it but its also a way for them to communicate with each other too

-EMMET’S AN EAVESDROPPER he’ll listen to convos so much, HE'S SO INTO THE DRAMA, he just loves hearing the stories that people are talking abt. He also goes and tells Ingo of what he has heard!

This is all i have so far. Whenever i think of more headcanons i’ll definetly make a post abt them!

[kpop-rambles]

ᙢᗩᖘ 0ℱ Tᕼᕮ ᔕ0ᕰᒪ: 7 ℱᕰᒪᒪ ᗩᒪᗷᕰᙢ ᖇᕮᐯᓮᕮᗯ

Im doing thing as i listen

ON

: im convinced that bighit is obsessed with one shot mv styles and im here for it because it was amazing. 1st listen was me admiring the video 2nd listen was me admiring the lyrics. Also, is it just me or does Jungkook sound like one western artists voice that sings rlly high??? Like im not sure who but when he sang that whole part in english, like omg. The only complaint i have is that Jin had too little lines for my liking. I guess its cause hes the first one to go to the military so theyre giving him the least lines, bu besides that nitpick i loved everything.

ON feat Sia

: ok, bts has to stop having collabs if the person theyre collabinb with only has 3 lines. I want a whole verse! I was expecting way more from Sia, she has such a unique voice. Of course i feel like a verse from her in the middle of the song would feel off. But overall, i liked the parts where she did sing, her voice suited it.

Louder than Bombs

: honestly, this was a rlly sweet song for me. Like i loved it, it was unqiue amd it was different. Honestly the different Boy With Luv gave me wasnt it but Louder than bomb was so effin good man. I need to listen to it again rn to keep it fresh in my brain.

Filter

: i dont know what i expected but this was WAY better. This is probably my favourite song Jimin has sung alone.

We are bulletproof: the enternal

: i think this is the first song by them thats actually made me tear up. Jungkooks 'We are not 7 with you,' first sounded insulting but then i realized it meant that they're not 7 anymore because we are with them and BTS is way more than seven. Honestly all the lyrics were heart warming. Ive never been more touched by a song. Thank you BTS.

Friends

: this was just an adorable duet by V and Jimin anD I CANT DECIDE WHAT IS MY FAV ON THIS ALBUM BC I LOVE ALL OF THESE SONGS. omg, i knew that i would love this album after listening to SHADOW and EGO but here I am surprised that all of these songs are good.

00:00

: this is the song that I would listen to after a shitty day and watch the clock tick by until the next day. Its a great song because it makes you feel like the next day will be the best day of your life (even though its still morning for me and i have an exam tmrw it still works!). Again the lyrics are rlly sweet and heartwarming and this whole album is amazing. Vocal line slayed this.

Moon

: all these solos are hyping me up. I love this one, as much as I love epiphany, Jin was probably under a lot of stress hitting all those high notes. This song was a treat, it's not too hard to sing and it's a good song. I love this.

Respect:

This was another bop. I don't have much to say other than RESPECT. (that ending where they talk is hilarious, it's translated by one comment in LEMORING's lyric video)

Inner Child:

This was a sweet and hype song too! I saw a comment talking about this song does really fit Tae cause you can see how much he's changed over the 7 years we've seen him on social media.

My Time

: I feel like this was for the fans because he wants to meet them all and communucate to them all but its hard because of everyones time zones so if he goes live at 5pm in korea a lot of ppl in foreign countries are asleep and he just wants time to stop so he can contact eveyone. I think it being to ARMY he cant always talk to is why there is so much english, bc its pretty much a global language. Also rapper jungkook is Baack.

Shadow:

Im gonna give a quick thought abt this and EGO so sry its short. I loved this. It made me realize i was going to love the album. It also gave me a reason to belive this album was going to be dark and more abt their struggles.

Ego:

But ego countered that and said, " ONLY FUN VIBES HERE," and that also was true. This whole album was a mix of shadow and ego and I loved it.

Album review

: beautiful. I'm probably gonna give this my favourite album by BTS award. It was all AMAZING. Thank you for this great album BANGTAN. I loved it.

[coralstudiies]

*continued* bcus a lot of ppl have started to gear up for o levels but what ive gone thru was so traumatic that my friend asked me to see the counsellor. i hope i can get better w her help. i havent been studying w the same passion, energy and consistency that i used to study with. Is mid march too late to start? Im not failing or anything its just that Im q stagnant n i cld be doing better if i was mentally happy. What do u think? i need good mental health to do well in sch.

ok like i said mid march isnt too late la dont worry HAHA

wt u can do now is think how u want to keep to ur studying routine??? like how do u plan to study? do u wanna make notes for a topic once it's taught? do u like notes, mindmaps, flashcards? which one suits ur learning style better? how many hours do i wanna dedicate to revision a day? Note that doing hw is not equals to revising. at the same time, think of how u can take care of your mental wellbeing while still studying.

also its gd that u alr know what u need to do well in sch. so pls take care of urself so that you can really reach your fullest potential. knowing is always the first step to positive change so you're deffo on the right track!

lastly i wanna say thank u for reaching out to me haha i cant believe ppl actually trust me abt such a personal and scary thing :") && you're rly brave for stepping out to seek help and trying to change yourself for the better.

if u need any more help, feel free to send me a dm/ask. and ofc if you want to be friends or u want a study buddy u can always hmu and i'll be here for u! lesggo man u can slay this :>

[luminis-infinite]

Fic Rec Challenge!! (only if you wanna, of course) - here are your options should you accept this challenge! List your top 5 of either: (a) one fav fic per each of your fav pairings, (b) top 5 fics of all time to date, (c) top 5 inspiring fics or (d) recent fics people need to stop and read RIGHT NOW! Do one, do them all, do none - just thought this might be fun. ;)

Jesus christ, gear up knuckleheads, Adene’s going digging. I have read so much fanfiction that this is indeed a challenge, but I’m bored, it’s Saturday night, and I have nowhere special to be tomorrow, so why the fuck not?Note - this list isn’t exhaustive by any means. 5 Favourites of All Time (To Date)i. Into the Woods by bluebeholder, aka as @wanderingnorkNot the first story she wrote for me, but probably my favourite. Nork is an amazing, wonderful and talented person, and it’s always reflected in her writing. The world she builds in Into the Woods is so tangible, you can follow along in your head. And besides, who doesn’t love a little Fae!Graves?

ii. Honor Thy Father by Abi_A, aka as @abi-does-stuffAbi’s dialogue slays. She was the first person I know of to convincingly pull off Graves having kids, and she does so masterfully. The entire story is just amazing, at times painful and at times hilarious. Definitely gotta check this one out if you want adorable babies and a fresh perspective on Credence. 

iii. Meaningful Exchange by headbuttingbearsWhat can I say? Gritty 1930s painted out for us in amazing detail - the hardships are so well written I can taste the dust and desperation on my tongue. This entire story is gripping and believable from the moment we step foot into it, but with a wash of complexity beneath the surface that will take your breath away. iv. nothing to remember except the story by straddling_the_atmosphere The writing in this piece and its sequels is just stunning, and the relationship between Seraphina and Graves so well developed you might believe it’s canon. The world building in this one too is fabulous, and I ache at the author’s descriptions of Graves’ Other side, and also Seraphina’s. It’s just an amazing read. 

v. the king of oak by sultansI confess, it’s been a long, long time since I read this one, but I came across the title and instantly smiled. This one is another gritty, dark and action packed adventure, but amazing in it’s imagery and realism. Graves is dark and sarcastic and bitter and wonderful, and I definitely recommend it to people looking for a Credence who isn’t a pushover.

5 Inspiring Fics

i. Shell Shock by bluebeholder, aka @wanderingnorkThis is the first work Nork wrote for me, and the last line still hurts my heart in the most wonderful of ways. Shell Shock pushed me to write more Thesival, and to talk to Nork more, and it was a wonderful decision. This one is jam packed with research, and is bittersweet and wonderful. 

ii. the walk by @funkzpiel​The Walk hurt my heart. The imagery is simply breathtaking, and the depth of Percival’s pain and loneliness profound, but the story ends on such a wonderful note that your heart will warm with it. The quietness to the story, and Funk’s ability to let the words speak for themselves is what made me put this down where it is on my list. Simply a wonderful read. 

iii. The Case of the Missing Obscurus by manic_intentChapter 8 of this story won it it’s place on the Inspiring Fic list, although it’s one of my all time favourites too. Such a complex and well thought out story written in a beautiful style, and with so many humorous bits I earned myself some stares in line at Tims. This is definitely an amazing Gramander fic, and inspired some of my headcanons about Graves’ and his relationship with his house elves, amongst other things. 

iv. Shadowplay by @acroamatica​I’ve simply never read a music AU like it, and certainly never one so good. The writing is excellent, the world complex, and the depth of acroamatica’s expertise and knowledge is just fascinating. Inspiring in it’s intensity and subtlety, and really, really good. 

v. Timestamp: Obscures Books, 2000 by lyonetThe last few lines in this story sent shivers down my spine. Credence’s words, “It was hard, but we had each other,” are some to live by, which is why this fic earned a place in my Inspiring Fics section, although it is definitely a favourite. 

Others to Go Read

i. Guilty by kalistob, aka as @thegaypumpingthroughyourveinsIf ever there was a story that could sucker punch someone in the gut, it would be this one. ii. a better mirror by bluebeholder, aka as @wanderingnork​The Accidental Epic, and an amazing piece of work which earned me one of my best friends. Iii. Hands, like secrets, are the hardest thing to keep from you by @graves-expectationsWritten by a wonderful, talented person who puts up with my Colin Farrell obsession and writes some really fucking good stories. There are a million others out there that I have read and have not listed here. To those who haven’t made it onto the list - I apologize. Your stories are wonderful, they deserve mentioning, I just don’t have the space nor the time. But know that I do enjoy your work, and it deserves to be heard. So keep writing, tag me, and I’ll keep adding to the list!

[archonreviews]

The Archon’s Review of SOULCALIBUR VI

SOULCALIBUR VI is the seventh installment of a venerable series of fighting games that started with Soul Edge. The series is created by BANDAI NAMCO Studios, more specifically by Project Soul. In the 16th century, rumors of a powerful sword, Soul Edge, have emerged. Many seek it, some to wield it in service to a greater cause, others in service to themselves. However, only a few know of the truth, that Soul Edge is an evil, soul-devouring blade that slays every wielder to comes into its possession. Fewer still know that Soul Edge has a twin, the spirit sword, Soul Calibur. In the midst of this turmoil, many warriors fight for good or evil, order or chaos, and future of the world and all its souls hangs in the balance...

While I was never very good at fighting games in general, I consider myself passing skilled in the specific arena of 3d fighters. I’ve played the shit out of Soulcalibur II, Soulcalibur III, and even Soulcalibur IV. When I heard that another one of these was coming out, I was rather quite pleased, especially since it’s out on Steam.

So, in case you haven’t heard, the Soul Calibur series is a tale of souls and swords, eternally retold. In this case, it really is a tale retold, as it is a soft reboot of Soul Calibur, which came after Soul Edge. What this really means is that we get the tragic backstories of certain characters as they were told in SC, plus the tragic backstories of other characters as they were told in SCII and SCIII, and some stories were changed entirely, just for funsies, as far as I can discern.

“But Archon,” I hear you ask, “this is a fighting game. Story would have been shunted faaar down the priorities list; why are you talking at length about it?” And to that I would ask you how you got into my house. But also, I would say that the Soul Calibur series has always put a whole heaping helping of plot and story in its titles, and that story is often... interesting, but not skillfully executed, leading to some... peculiarities.

I’ll start with the main story. They call it “Libra of the Soul”, and it’s called such because it uses a set of scales (or “Libra”) as a metaphor for their moral choice system. So you’d think that if they’re naming the main campaign after the moral choice system, then that system would be executed well. You would be wrong, sadly. Basically, what happens is that every so often, usually after a fight, you’ll be presented with a binary moral choice. Some of them make sense, such as “Steal this defeated bandit’s weapon, or tussle his hair and tell him not to do bad things anymore”. But the decision that sets the tone, the very first one, in fact, is completely bonkers. See, you’re in a dream sequence, and you’re presented with two swords, one golden and one azure. You’re told that the golden one represents freedom and the desire to forge your own fate, while the azure one represents a desire to impose order and harmony on an inherently chaotic world; you’re then asked to choose one. Naturally, because I am a red-blooded, eagle-fucking, burrito bowl-eating American patriot, I picked the golden sword, after which the game literally told me that I was “Aligned with the darkness.” Oh I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that wanting to forge my own destiny made me a bastard! And there are plenty of other choices that the game boils down to either “good” or “evil”, despite being more complicated than that. Worse yet, the post-game content, as far as the morality goes, is literally just picking from those fucking swords over and over again. So why is it even here if it’s so poorly presented? Well, the only things of substance that seem to change if you’re good or evil is which of the two plot-important swords your character wields in certain cutscenes, and a particular line your character spouts after a post-plot optional fight. The game will tell you that certain optional fights are only available to characters who are either good or evil, but I don’t buy that, frankly. And certain weapons have an increased rate of scoring critical hits depending on your alignment, but realistically, you can just wield the one with the biggest average damage and you’ll be fine.

(This question about fate is the only moral choice in the game with a neutral option, and frankly, it isn’t even really a moral choice, in my humble opinion.)

While Libra is the story of your OC (more on that in a bit), the game also infuses the main cast with individual stories of their own. And it even does something quite revolutionary for fighting games: it creates a central canon and has the cast all tie their plots around it, so that you don’t have a case where theoretically one character’s ending is just as canon as another’s, unlike most fighting games I’ve played and seen. However, this creates a couple of glaring issues. First, it means that the main cast can’t be fighting each other all the time, because they’re all in different places and times. To solve this issue, a not-insignificant number of plot relevant fights are against total randos who contribute nothing to the story. This contributes to the second issue, that is to say that any character’s plot outside of the main canon feels tacked-on and unnecessary. Most of the characters don’t even interact with the main macguffins at all. In addition, many chapters are extended dialogues instead of fights, which seems extremely misguided seeing as how we are here for the fighting. One particular instance that really got my goat was the character Zasalamel, who’s entire plot is given via monologue, without a single fight. It honestly made me wonder what I was even there for.

(Now, when the game decides to go full cutscene, it’s pretty stunning)

So a fighting game has a poor plot; and in other news, bears remain Catholic. I bring attention to it, however, because SCVI just has a shitton of plot, more plot than is socially acceptable for a fighting game to have. This makes me wonder something. A thought, you see, crept into my brain pan as I traveled across the world map of Libra, stopping intermittently for plot-relevant fights and sidequests which I had little personal investment in. That thought being, “Would Project Soul be more comfortable just making RPG’s?” I mean, the Libra mode has all the trappings of an RPG: an expansive world map, random battles, tons of sidequests, weapon and item drops, a levelling system, and expansive scope, a binary moral choice system. And yet it was bound, or maybe cursed, to be a fighting game. So, Project Soul, if you guys happen to read this ever: Would you guys be more comfortable making RPG’s? Because I can’t speak for other people, but I would play the shit out of a Soul Calibur RPG. Just something to think about during the next company meeting when some bigwig from BANDAI NAMCO is droning on about how you’ve gotta make Sophitia twenty percent more “milfy” or how you’ve gotta make Siegfried sixty percent more emo.

So, lets veer away from plot and get more mechanical. I’ll start with the character creation; and let me just say that I’m actually more mixed on it now that I’ve had time to reflect. When you first create a character, the game gives you a list of fantasy races to choose from (my idea from when I was like, 13 years old, but go off I guess), and you can be as fat or as skinny as you want to be, and you can modulate your character’s voice to be however you want it to be. All in all, first impressions were good. However, I was disappointed to learn that you couldn’t be a female lizardperson. In fact, several races lack female options, which really irritated me, because I had an awesome idea for a lizardwoman character, but I couldn’t use the female clothing options to make that idea a reality, so I just had to use male clothing options and headcanon my own OC as a female, even though it said “Male” on her sheet. What chuffed me even more was the fact that you could have a female skeleton, skeletons being the one entity I could imagine skipping out on gender designations for. In addition, they still havn’t brought back the custom character styles from SCIII yet, nor have they allowed you to make your own, forcing you to use a pre-existing style, which, as has been stated before by better critics than I (notice me Yahtzee), is basically just crafting a custom model for an already existing character. This wouldn’t be a problem if they just brought back the custom styles from SCIII or let us create our own style in the vein of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon. However, the creator may be more robust than I give it credit for here; I did manage to make some characters that I thought were pretty awesome, and plenty of people have bent it toward the ever-noble goal of transplanting Pokemon into the Soul Calibur universe. Basically, if you want to create a fun and interesting-looking character, great. If you want to have a custom moveset, or if you wanna make a big-tittied lizard play a female lizardperson, so sorry.

(Seeing this screen actually brought me no small amount of joy.)

Now, what about the mechanics of play? Well, this is the reason I, despite all my earlier criticism, really like this game. The fighting is solid, each move having appropriate weight and impact. The controls are responsive and smooth, even at high graphical settings (online play notwithstanding). Guard impacting makes a triumphant return after its apparent disappearance in SCV, although, it seems like the timing on it is a little more lenient than in previous installments. Soul Charging is its own little cutscene and knock-back effect, instead of SCII, where I remember Soul Charging being a liability that no one used. There’s also this new thing called a Reversal Edge, where you and your opponent both press a button and the person who pressed the best button wins. Okay, it’s a little bit more complex than that, as when the two players tie, they do it again, except verticals win, except if both players did a vertical, in which case the instigator wins, so the whole process ends up being like speed Rock-Paper-Scissors with extra rules. People seem mixed on whether this is a welcome edition to the formula or if it’s pointless and dumb, but I personally like it. If nothing else, it’s flashy as fuck. The move list also seems slightly more simplistic, although that could just be down to me finding all my favorite moves early.

Now for small potatoes and nitpicks! They changed many of the voice actors since SCIV, although, since I didn’t play SCV, I wouldn’t know if these are recent changes. While I really didn’t dig most of the choices, I will admit that Siegfried’s VA was spot on, capturing a sort of perfect middle ground between tortured hero and lovable wangsty-man. I remember liking the old announcer more too, although I fully admit to having nostalgia goggles on for that.

The amount of objectification of women in this game is frankly intense, although, if you’ve ever seen the models for the characters of Ivy the dominatrix or Taki the ninja, that shouldn’t surprise you. What may surprise you is that clothing damage is back, which is weird, because while in SCIV, clothing damage had a purpose, as certain pieces of clothing informed certain stats, it doesn’t seem to serve any mechanical purpose here. However, it does mean that the men can get in on the sexualization action too. In fact, I’ll tell you all a little secret: Raphael, the fencer, has a move that can tear off all the clothes of any other character, leaving them in their skivvies. Step one: Soul charge. Step two: Use the Triple Botta In Tempo (forward+vertical, then vertical vertical vertical vertical...). If you’ve completed step one, and the enemy hasn’t blocked, Raphael will do this kind of Zorroesque maneuver and wham bam thank you mam, all your opponents’ clothes fall off. Do it on Mitsurugi the samurai and...

(Both of these characters are only based on the mentioned characters, but I hope it demonstrates my point. On the left, my Raphael-style character.)

One last point, and one that’s been made to death: the guest characters. While Geralt from The Witcher series made sense, being at least aesthetically consistent with the other characters, BANDAI NAMCO are apparently going to put in 2B from Nier: Automata, and frankly, that doesn’t make much sense to me, but I may very well be in the majority on this, so I won’t say too much more about it, since this gripe is even more subjective than usual.

To sum, would I recommend Soul Calibur VI? I would say so, if for no other reason than that the game mechanics are solid, and frankly, if I take the nostalgia goggles off, I have to admit that this one is the best Soul Calibur so far. In addition, this character creator is pretty robust, if you don’t mind not being able to do very specific things, such as making a big tittied lizard. While the unnecessary sexualization and weirdly grandiose story can bog things down for some, I’d still recommend it for the gameplay alone.

(No big tittied lizards, but Pokemon/Human hybrids are okay. Sure.)

[metapikakirby42]

2. SHINee

I 👏🏽 love 👏🏽 SHINee 👏🏽 . They are the reason I took the chance to explore K-Pop. They are legends when it comes to K-Pop and they have been slaying for years ever since they’ve debuted. A group that has managed to have songs that display various different styles of music while still retaining a distinct and unique sound that always screams SHINee. They’ve done rock, EDM, funk, R&B, retro, new age, and much more. Their dancing is iconic and they continuously provide engaging and iconic performances. Their style has been all over the place but equally visually satisfying in many regards. Their vocal quality is top tier. They are a full package and truly are a model group when it comes to K-Pop. SHINee is a talented group and they deserve every ounce of success they’ve worked hard for. SHINee is my second favorite K-Pop group.

Bias: Minho

I 👏🏽 love 👏🏽 Minho 👏🏽 . Minho is visual perfection to me. It’s almost hard to describe how freaking attractive he is (at least to me). This boy is so handsome, beautiful, sexy, stunning, ugh the adjectives could go on forever… This guy has had the best and most consistent hair since Lucifer, he’s looked flawless with bleached grey-blonde hair (bless him for doing that for the 1 of 1 comeback it was a dream come true), and he’s drop-dead gorgeous with contacts in View. Do I have a crush on him? Unashamedly, yes. Every SHINee video I’m drawn to him and I get excited to see him whenever he gets a solo moment or screen time. I was fanboying so hard when they made a comeback and I was sitting there excited like a fool to see Minho in the spotlight again.

It all began with Lucifer. I was watching a React video while being bored on YouTube. It so happened to be YouTubers reacting to K-Pop. Of the three videos, the one that was most appealing to me was SHINee’s Lucifer. Why? One, it was actually what I expected to sound like and it was a sick song with a beat that just stuck in my head (funny because the other two are more catchy: I Got A Boy and Fantastic Baby). Of the five members in SHINee, the only one that caught my eye and interest was Minho–mainly because he was the only one with a decent haircut and a reasonable outfit 😂 .  It was a while until I came back to SHINee actually. But what truly sold me was Everybody. I had skimmed over Sherlock, Replay, Juliette, Ring Ding Dong, Love Like Oxygen, Dreamgirl, View, but it was Everybody that kept bringing me back in. I’ll talk more about that later.

The moment when it was set in stone was SHINee’s performance of Dynamite for their SHINee World IV concert. If you’ve never seen that performance, you’re in for a treat. SHINee isn’t a stranger to sexy and Minho puts on a scorchingly hot performance 🔥 . Call me a sucker 😏 , but from then on I was madly obsessed. SHINee was all about Minho for me. Whether it was a variety show or a music video, my eyes would intently watch and fanboy over Minho. I could only dream about getting a boyfriend or be as handsome, amazing, and cool as Minho. A total dreamboat, my bias, that’s Minho 😍 .

Bias Wrecker: None

Lol. This might be a bummer, but there is just no one else in SHINee that competes with Minho for me. Maybe I’m a loyalist. I’d say it’s just Minho just screams perfection to me. Don’t get me wrong, each member has their own charms and I can totally understand the fanbases each of the members have–it’s definitely deserved. Onew is SHINee’s fearless and adorable leader with a voice that can make your heart melt. Jonghyun is immensely talented vocally and one of the best vocalists in K-Pop that I’ve heard ever since he debuted and has only gotten better; he’s got a body to compete with Minho and a strong masculine aura about him. Key has a distinct voice that can rap and sing; he’s got a sassy personality and an entertaining fashion sense to boot too. Taemin literally does everything: visual, sing, dance, etc. Taemin is a star and truly deserves every ounce of success he works for as an artist and entertainer. Almost painfully so, to the point it feels like he’s “over-milked” per se when it comes to comebacks and videos. 

Each member of SHINee is pivotal to the group. My heart would break if SHINee lost one of its members. While Minho might not have the vocal range as the rest of the group, he makes up for it with where his vocal range actually is; and his voice is just perfect, smooth, and a joy to hear. I may not have a bias wrecker in SHINee, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love and appreciate each of the members for their amazing talent, skills, and performances.    

TOP 5 Songs:

1. Everybody

This is K-Pop. Solid concept. Mind-blowing choreography. Stellar vocals. Breathtaking visuals and style. Poppy music video. Amazing funk-pop dub-step sound. If there were songs/music videos that defined what K-Pop is, Everybody is one of them.

I am not a particular fan of dub-step, but this is some good stuff right here. Everybody really woke me as to how much fun it was to explore K-Pop and find music that really just spoke to me. Minho doesn’t rap, but rather sings which is refreshing to hear. And even though he doesn’t belt out notes like the other members (and all of them belt a note), I can help it when his part comes. Seeing him in the video and hearing him sing just makes my heart melt 💖 . Everybody additionally has a lot of gems in it like Onew’s windmill arms and of course Taemin’s abs. 

I’d say that the peak of SHINee’s sound is Everybody. I’m not saying SHINee’s sound got worse or any future release never got better. No, Everybody was an epic presentation of SHINee’s ability to take music and mold it into SHINee’s unique sound. By this point, SHINee could conquer anything and slay the house down. Everybody is the culmination of everything SHINee could do up to that point and turned into overdrive at over 9000%.

Everybody is an amazing show-stopping song. The dance moves are iconic. The lyrics never fail to pump you up. It’s an adrenaline rush all the way to the end. Everybody is, without contest, my number 1 SHINee song.

2. Replay

I said that Superhero was one of my favorite debut songs. Well, Replay is the other. Imagine, that a song SHINee released in 2008 is able to compete in quality to the amazing songs they’re releasing today! The 90s R&B vibe is so smooth and extremely accessible. I fall in love with SHINee all over again every time I hear it. From the very beginning, SHINee was giving solid choreography, beautiful vocals, adorable visuals and more. While the line distribution is pretty trash when it comes to Minho in particular, the sound as a whole is perfection.

Replay’s sound is extremely nostalgic and is such a feel good sound. But it doesn’t stop there. SHINee’s performance of Replay at their 4th World concert is just so heartfelt and beautiful. The remix beat is gives it a special new breath to it that just let’s you fall deeper in love with Replay. But when the audience sings along and Jonghyun emotionally singing is one of the most touching and beautiful things to watch and listen too.

But wait…there’s more! Love Sick is Replay part two – released with View on “Odd Eye”. This beautiful funky R&B song is just the cherry on top. While it shares an abysmal line distribution for Minho 😂 , Love Sick sharing Replay’s choreography and vibe just makes it an important mention as to why Replay is so special and is my second favorite SHINee song.

3. Kimi No Sei De (Because of You)

SHINee has a plethora of gems when it comes to their Japanese releases. This is by far my favorite. With a strong funky beat during their verses and then a smooth and intense bridge melody it builds up to a mournfully beautiful intense chorus. It features various different sounds into one whole song effortlessly while also highlighting each of the member’s vocal strengths. Can I get an amen to giving Minho more singing lines? My heart melts when he sings. The dancing is intensely captivating and entrancing. The emotion in the song is so intense and gripping. It’s truly a shame I can’t buy this song off of iTunes because this is a masterpiece.

4. DxDxD

What can I say? I just love me some Minho appreciation. A more spread out line distribution is always better in my eyes. Whether or not the end result is fair, it feels great to hear each member multiple times throughout a song. If there’s one thing that the Japanese releases have over the Korean release is that there is more Minho 😂 . I love a good dance/club song–it’s my favorite song for my K-Pop groups. The video is full of poppy visuals, handsome styles, and lots of gratuitous Minho. To top it all off, it’s the closest Minho gets to being shirtless in a music video. My bias may be showing, but this song is almost as epic as Everybody. Another prayer for this to be on US iTunes one day 🙏🏽 . 

5. Lucifer

This is the song that got me into K-Pop, began my interest in SHINee, and started my love for Minho. This everything I expected K-Pop to be, but it was better than I imagined and even more my style. Sharp synchronized dancing. Silly fashion #choices. Questionable hairstyles (Minho being the only one I really liked 😂  which is also why this is favored over Ring Ding Dong the other SHINee hit-maker classic). Epic vocals. A very distinct asian style of pop that would sound weird to American audiences. Minho sings and raps in one song! What more could I ask for? Well…actually…I won’t go there 😂 . This song is truly special to me and it holds a special place as my fifth favorite song for SHINee. Now excuse me while I sing butchered Korean and dance like an idiot to this song 🕺🏽 . 

Honorable Mentions:

Downtown Baby

Did I mention that I love SHINee’s J-Pop releases? Well Downtown Baby has just recently become an intense favorite of mine but unfortunately had no room to make it into the top 5. To be fair, SHINee has a plethora of songs competing against each other for a spot. A video with overwhelmingly bright colors, cute style for the boys, and some sleeveless Minho. These boys are beautiful in the video and I get a little breathless whenever Minho stares into the camera. The upbeat and happy sound is infectious to listen to and is sure to put a smile on my face.

Sherlock

Ah, the beginning of “SHINee’s back”. As corny as it is, Minho manages to make it sexy 😆 . The intense pop-funk song is what begins the reimagining of SHINee’s sound into what it is today. The eclectic fashion, the strong concept, the artistic synchronized choreography, and hypnotizing choreography. Also: bless whoever does Minho’s hair, bless whoever makes Minho’s pants, bless whoever made Minho’s plunging neckline shirt, and bless Minho 🙏🏽 . Who doesn’t love “soy un Dorito” 😂 …I mean Sherlock? This was a flawless comeback. Talk about the beginning, or rather the continuation, of SHINee’s slayage.

Dreamgirl

From the beginning, Minho hypnotizes me and makes my fanboy senses go wild. I love me some good mic-ography and SHINee just takes to a whole other level. The boy-band colorful print blazers are adorable and refreshing to see. The music is funky pop that’s makes you want to get up and sing along. If you need proof that SHINee slays, you can watch their live comeback performance. Now tell me…did you notice that they went from 5 microphone stands to 4? Utterly professional talent boys. From Dreamgirl onwards, I tell myself that I won’t fanboy while I watch…but then Minho looks at me through that screen and I’ve lost. Dreamgirl is another stepping stone I need to mention that leads to Everybody. SHINee is truly a dream come true.

[awkward-stilinski]

Turbulence in Chicago

okay so im gonna put everything i can remember from the show in here because omg so much happened

since jb’s birthday was a few weeks ago, we started the show by singing him happy birthday

bambam dabbing for a minute straight (used both arms and his leg at one point?? he was rubbing his neck afterwards from dabbing too hard lmao)

jackson getting jb to say “netflix and chill”

if they weren't idols, yugyeom would be a dancer (HIT THE STAGE), bambam would be a youtuber (”SUBSCRIBE”), youngjae would be studying to be a music therapist :’), jb would be going to college and hanging out with his friends more (??? then jackson brought up netflix and chill and made it dirty but it sounded like jb had no idea what netflix and chill was and the translator was shook), mark would be in college (bambam said he would work at in-n-out jffgksdfjk), jinyoung would be an ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER (jackson got on his knees in front of him and jinyoung patted his head omg), and jackson would be an athlete because “i have the thighs for it” (HE SAID THAT)

jinyoung’s first question (he pulled two and convinced danny lim to let him do both) was for jb and asked “why are you so handsome”

jb said that he didnt know

so jackson shouts “YOU’RE GORGEOUS HONEY.... I LOVE YOUR NOSE” (me too tbh)

jackson said that his craziest concert experience was when they were doing hard carry at an award show and it was cold af, so when he was turning, his snot was flying out of his nose!! he said it almost hit youngjae but it missed him

if yugyeom was an animal, he’d be a golden retriever (jackson played fetch with him on stage??? and he started barking???)

mark’s ideal type is cute and shorter than him (so daniel lim basically)

bambam said that they’re the only group who ships themselves and then jackson starting yeling markbam and jackjae, bambam went over to gyeom and was basically like “ok but yugbam tho”

youngjae really loves chicago style pizza it was so cute when he talked about it

apparently the bed sheets in their hotel were super soft because they all started talking about it 

they get so competitive omfg their rock paper scissors match plus yelling their names in the mic so danny would pick them to say the answer

punishment #1 was doing 5 squats while flapping their arms like ahgase (youngjae did so many squats i was #blessed and jb started to bboy when he did his squats)

punishment #2 was doing that one aegyo song (i cannot remember whats its actually called but you all know what im talking about)

yugyeom won both games (with just the guys + the one with the fans)

when bambam’s partner was walking to the backstage thing, bambam was like “hurry up ive been waiting for u all my life”

jackson also said something similar but i dont remember

they were lowkey rushing because none of the girls introduced themselves???

so danny was like “whats your team name” and bambam was like “it’s lit” and then he turns to his partner and goes “wait whats your name?”

jackson shouted into his mic “YOUVE BEEN WAITING FOR HER YOUR WHOLE LIFE AND YOU DONT KNOW HER NAME???”

THE GIRL SITTING DIRECTLY NEXT TO US GOT PICKED TO BE MARK’S PARTNER AND I WAS SHOOK

youngjae’s vocals slayed as always and again i was Shook like fr stop sleeping on his talent he is an incredible singer (he started singing boomx3 a capella and it was AMAZING)

EAAAAASSSYYYYYY and SO AMAZING 

for ending speeches, jackson said he always asks himself if he’s happy with what he’s doing and went “the answer is always yes” and then he talked about wanting igot7s to be respected and that he doesnt want other group’s fans to look down on us

jinyoung KILLED ME WITH HIS ENGLISH HE’S WORKING SO HARD IM SO HAPPY FOR HIM. anyway, he said that we should stay healthy and he was like “we know it was really cold outside” (it was cold af i couldnt feel my hands for like 20 minutes when we were in line) and talked about how he’s happy to get love from american fans

mark talked about how chicago is the only town they’ve come to for 3 years in a row (see: my longest yea boi ever) and he also said that we should stay warm in the chicago weather (i zoned out during his speech bc i was looking at youngjae im sorry)

jb said that he’s grateful for all the fans’ love and appreciation for the past three years (again i was too captivated by youngjae to remember more)

youngjae said he really appreciated the passion that the chicago fans had and actually stopped for a minute because he couldnt think of what to say sdkjfdsh my baby

bambam said that chicago has this energy that got7 is drawn to and that he vibes off of the fans’ passion so he’s happy that we give them so much love

also bambam said that we aren’t allowed to look at other boys because igot7s are only for got7,,,,,,,, im not crying you are

instead of talking, yugyeom showed us his feelings by doing a sexy dance to prove it,,,,,,,, i watched kim yugyeom hump the floor and it was incredible

in the encore, jb kept throwing sweat towels into the crowd and being extra af about it

youngjae was standing on the pit barrier and it looked like he almost got pulled down into the fans but he got out of it before it could happen

they were all taking phones from fans to film videos and it was super cute

barely an hour after the show ended, they were on vlive from backstage at the theater

in conclusion, this was an incredible night and i’d give anything to live it again fgjfgdkgjfd

[casualarsonist]

Shadow of Mordor review

Oh Monolith - you created some of my favourite games of the mid-2000s and now I just don’t know what to say about this one. I played for nearly 20 hours, and it certainly didn't feel like 20 hours, but I'm not sure whether that's because I was having so much fun, or because there's not actually that much to do before you find yourself rinsing, repeating, and killing killing killing your way to the end. Shadow of Mordor is rather like so many first releases within a new IP in that it feels rather like a tech demo. Assassins Creed is possibly the closest comparison I can make in that it was impressive that it was attempting to be ambitious and try something new, but rather dry and bland in its execution. Rather neatly divided into two halves, Shadow of Mordor includes the half where you grasp the controls and prance around a rocky, muddy wasteland slaying anything that moves and indulging 2 or 3 types of missions, and the half where you prance around a rocky, verdant meadow slaying or brainwashing anything that moves and indulging 2 or 3 different types of missions. But rather than playing out as two halves of a whole, it feels more like two acts of a three-act play, with the ending feeling abrupt and rushed, and the story being left in its gestational stage rather than being allowed to develop into something more interesting. To be fair, I did enjoy myself for a large part. But it was upon staring slackjawed at the screen as the woefully anticlimactic final boss fight came and went in about 60 seconds that I realised that ultimately this game introduced one interesting game mechanic, rehashed a number of established mechanics (albeit well enough to make them functional and fun) and then offered nothing else other than a sandbox with which to exercise these abilities for as long as it took you to turn yourself to the main story. Which would be FINE if the story had a satisfying conclusion, or the sandbox didn't feel so much like a literal pit within which the developers had simply thrown some enemies leaving a lot of empty space with little else filling the gaps. I sound confused because I am. Monolith make well-designed and fun games, and Shadow of Mordor is both those things. But given that the review that convinced me to buy it stated that 'no-one could feel short-changed with the amount of content on offer', I felt remarkably short-changed. The Nemesis system is fantastic, there is no denying that, and it offers some of the most genuinely intelligent and dynamic enemies in gaming history. It truly is a gaming milestone. However, nearly everything else about the game comes from somewhere else - the parkour was better used in Assassin's Creed, the combat is straight from the Arkham series, the mission structures are ripped from nearly every open-world game in existence, the skill trees are old, the XP system is old, and on top of all that the enemies are practically deaf and blind...And it's this lack of true depth that left me feeling like the purchase wasn't worth my money. By the time I had finished playing, I felt like I had explored everything this game had to offer, and there was no reason for me to return. I didn't DISLIKE my time, but I didn't feel compelled to play again. I suppose I have been spoiled, because I bought Alien: Isolation at around the same time, and that's a game that left me feeling like I could play again and have an entirely different experience a second time around. I paid almost the same amount of money for this as I did that, and I don't think I'll go back again, which feels like a waste - like buying an $80 meal to find that you've eaten it before elsewhere, and cheaper. SoM’s point of difference is the ‘Nemesis’ system. Nemeses are named Uruk minibosses that exist around the world; each has a unique look, personality, and their own strengths and weaknesses. Killing them rewards the player with runes that offer various passive buffs, but leaves a power vacuum that is filled by strengthening a lower ranking Uruk. The Nemeses exist in a hierarchy, and killing underbosses will weaken the more powerful Uruks, allowing you easier access to the higher echelons, which may be controlled or killed for the player’s benefit. If the player is killed by a Nemesis, the Nemesis becomes stronger, and upon a second or third encounter will recall the last time they met and taunt you as such. It’s a wonderfully dynamic and well-fleshed out system and gives a lot of life to an enemy that is otherwise homongenous by design, but the game itself seems to exist only as a framework for that concept, and offers little else that the player can't get elsewhere. The issues I have with the gameplay here are the same as with, say, Infamous: Second Son (for those of you that have played): the MEAT, the things that you are actually given to do, all fall within 2 or 3 different categories, and all those categories involve killing a bunch of enemies that are fundamentally the same, and as such the environment becomes little more than a set of boundaries within which you can kill these nameless creatures, and your character becomes little more than a tool with which to kill. There are open-world games, and there are open world games. Games like GTA IV keep me coming back because every time I play I can turn a corner and find something new. The beauty of the first two Arkham games was that the city itself had such personality that there was always something to see for those who cared to look. Unfortunately, I feel that Shadow of Mordor falls into an increasingly large pile of games that have a lot of style and little substance. Which is a shame because there is so much right about the game - the characters are great, the animations are wonderful, the voice acting is excellent, the action is gory and adult, the Nemesis system is truly a step forward, and the LOTR lore is explored in a really engaging way. However, after a short time the game feels repetitious, the environments feel big and empty, and the story ends as if the writer fell off a cliff mid-sentence and someone had to smash together what they thought the ending was supposed to be. I'd love to recommend this game, especially as it is evident a lot of money and hard work went into its creation, and for a cheaper price I absolutely would. But for the good of the consumer, I can't recommend it for full price as it feels like a slightly-better-than-average tech demo - if this game were a bag of chips, the product would be delicious, but the bag would be mostly air.

6/10

Just Okay