#you know a video series is good when it got released almost 7 years ago and i still think about it regularly

[majflodder]

Who killed Markiplier but it's in the Twilight Zone

[rezdragon]

Hm, how about a project update (August 4, 2023)

The Disaster Archives Since I finally finished Normal, now I can invest all of my TDA time into Everyday, which is TDA’s next story. I’m still working on Rez’s route, but TDA is currently taking a backseat while I focus on other projects, which I’ll talk about below. You could definitely say that it’s currently in the pre-production phase and I’m going to be spending way more time in pre-production this time. Zero promises when it will be out. I want to say 2024, but even that I feel isn’t totally accurate. It depends on a lot of factors as to when I will finish it.

Behind the Scenes Video for Normal I took a break from working on anything for almost two weeks and then started making an album instead (more on that below). In the middle of that, I thought “Oh, I better work on the behind the scenes video.” because I nearly forgot about it (depression). I’ve gotten about 7 minutes into it so far, I’m starting to run out of behind the scenes footage heh.

New Album - State of Agony A new album has been rumbling inside of me since early July and I’m finally getting it out, this is what I’m working on currently. It’s called State of Agony, but I’m taking my time working on it. I probably won’t release it until September. I’m trying to make real sounding music on it, but hey, dark ambience stuff slipped in there anyways. I promise, I’m actually trying really hard to NOT make this an overly long monster like AloneSea was. There’s one track that I finished this week that I think I’m gonna share after I make this post (at least here on tumblr, elsewhere will have to wait).

Fine Art Shows YES! This is what I’ve been working on since literally May of this year, but your creature Rez is working on showing in Fine Art shows! I’ve entered into a show in Spokane, Washington called Terrain. I’ve been waiting for an acceptance letter which is suppose to come next week! If I get into Terrain, I’ll be busy with getting that set up and ready to go. I’ve got a table that I have to destroy. It’ll uh... it’ll make sense when I finish the piece, you’ll see, I’ll post about it. I’m also working on getting into another gallery in Spokane with an art group I’m in. If you’re wondering what medium it is, it’s SOUND! I’m known as the sound artist of the group!

Ghost Stories of North Idaho I want to come back to this project, would love to get it out in time for Halloween. I think I needed some space away from the stories before I give them a second look over. I know I keep threatening to work on this, but I think I will legit come back to this once I finish tinkering with my album.

Short Film Writing has stalled pretty badly on this, and I’m getting tempted to start over because I’m having a lot of trouble writing the conclusion. I really wanted this out in time for Terrain, but I just could not get the writing to work with me, and I didn’t want to submit sloppy work. There’s always next year, but I was a little disappointed in myself that I couldn’t submit a film (has to be a film I can legally sell, so machinima is a no-go).

Orintheous’ Revenge I posted about this awhile ago, but I’ve been wanting to focus on more original content that I can sell, and the fine arts galleries and shows is why. I’m trying really hard to get my name out there (believe me, I’m pestering public radio), and I’m beefing up my portfolio as well. So unfortunately, I haven’t had a lot of time to focus on OR, but I will come back to it someday, that story is too good for me to ignore (although I should really spend a day writing out the series bible before it all leaves my brain, having been forced out by TDA).

The Trickster It’s been shelved for the time being, for the same reasons as OR, but I will ABSOLUTELY come back to it someday, I have wild ideas for it and I want to use them.

[cutegirlmayra]

Hiiiiii, I rly like your writing X3 I was wondering if you’d answer this question: What is your interpretation of what SEGA is doing with SonAmy as of right now? Seems like it’s becoming more and more canon. I know you’ve done similar question before, but could you maybe just answer this for 2021? Thanks!💖💙

No problem! And thank you, lovely Anon~<3 I love writing for the feels~ But also for the accuracy to be as close as possible if I can manage it! First of all, they’ve always been canon? Maybe not ‘in-world dating’ canon but canon in the sense that they are a official SEGA advertised couple since the get-go.

Amy was created to literally be in the slot of ‘Sonic’s Girlfriend’ where she had feelings for Sonic and always a fun mystery as to decipher Sonic’s subtle ‘returned caring’ for her.

As for 2021 we are so FREAKIN’ HAPPY to hear that SEGA is FINALLY marketing the two and VISUALLY SEEING the sales of their ‘couple shirts’ and the like make some profit. Furthermore, we have long-time fans and professionals in the careers within SEGA also vocalizing that they don’t mind the couple and even support it. With less emphasis on the ‘fandom fanatics’ of the raging past and more so on the fantastic marketability and popularity the couple brings to SEGA’s exposing their main IP, it’s become almost common ground to expect more and more people liking romantic and suggested romantic couples in all ranging medias.

We need also mention the alarming rate of the worrisome numbers in Japan recently. Conducted studies have shown that most of Japan’s population is elderly, and in the very near future (About 5 years or so) a good chuck of Japan’s population will die. This means the Japanese Government is promoting more and more companies within both entertainment, advertising, etc. to be more ‘promoting family’ in their media. Japan needs more babies! And guess what?

Mario Odyssey comes out with a completely ‘Wedding themed’ video game.

Dramatic romantic underlying's in Zelda’s new game.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake’s focus on romantic underlying’s along with Cloud willingly saying (English version) “Do I have any say in this?” As though to fight the idea that romance can’t happen and-

Kingdom Hearts 3′s romantic underlying that literally has a song (Japanese) talking about rings and getting married called “Chikai” or also ‘Oath’ that in English is rewritten to a romantic song about going deeper into love called “Don’t Think Twice” but literally has the two ‘making their fates intertwined’ in a symbol of ‘romantic intentions’ such as marriage or even just fidelity in a relationship.

So? How does all this influence the latest Sonamy supersonic boom we’ve seen in the media recently?

Although Sonic is his own character, he’s also only 15 (But as many of you have seen in Anime, Japanese ages of appropriateness are different then our own cultures and societies) we see faint glimpses. In the mostly American-made Sonic Boom t.v series, the comedic moments of Sonic and Amy are very much to a genre of American audiences and how we view ‘funny love’ should normally be marketed as. (I don’t always agree with what they say, but that’s how they’re trained and believe the ‘trends’ go... so ... can’t argue with professionals? Eh? -I personally think they’re outdated *cough cough*)

Sonic is not one to express feelings in overly dramatic ways which is common place in American television and media, but he’s also got a ‘boy’s heart’ which means we won’t see a lot of things from him BESIDES ‘romantic underlyings’ that are probably going to be initiated and themed mostly and primarily in Amy Rose’s character (If at all shown or expressed.)

For these reasons, I believe SEGA is just hopping on the bandwagon and doing what they’re told, while also following the latest trends that the other big fellow companies are making a significant profit on. I know we wish and want SEGA to be ‘special’ in how they think, but they really are just a company that is trying to survive and outlast the competition.

It’s sad to think that way, especially when SEGA used to be so creative and always influencing the next best thing but that was YEARS ago and they’ve learned to tread water since then...

(Goku being a grandfather emphasizes family in this particular scene where they take his granddaughter before a big tournament fight to a fair/festival. We see Goku with his family too, or at least, a successful son with his wife and daughter, spending time with his Father-In-Law, and the like.)

We see it in Dragon Ball emphasizing family, we see it in more romance-themed animes (and those that have only recently done romance, when they--for the longest part--never indulged in such things before or previously) and we now see more japanese games and media centralized around that.

What does that mean for Sonamy? Hopefully good things! Because if you buy the merch, they’ll produce more content. It’s a basic ‘supply and demand’ formula. If the demand (meaning how much you spend and want Sonic and Amy couple merch) goes up, then they have to supply to keep their business afloat. If they don’t they sink, but that DOES NOT MEAN TO BE AGRESSIVE. It means just support when they do something you like, and positively, kindly mention what you liked and wish to see more of if the future allows. No one reads aggressive writing unless, they too--wish to be aggressive back.

SEGA’s had issues with aggressiveness before, please let them see that couples in the sonic world won’t have a negative impact on their branding with irrational and bad-media frenzies. (Now, after saying this, I know people will start to do just that, don’t feed fire with fire, just let the fire burn till it has nothing left to consume, and carry on happily posting fanart or fanstories of what you love. Ignore to extinguish, which is what SEGA will do to Sonic shipping fans if we don’t act somewhat reasonably, okay?)

My predictions are such: 1. Amy’s crush will sadly lessen in impact and become more of a novelty, something that is treasured when moments arise to reveal her crush on Sonic, which in my opinion, is not her personality, but due to the heavy influence of women’s portrayal (Especially in America) being overemphasized and not done well, this is how they will try and combat it... (No one does this right and you shouldn’t base a characters solely on political reasonings...) 2. Sonic will have moments of caring for Amy or doing something sweet that can and probably will be interpreted as ‘a couple moment’ but he’ll remain mostly about other things, and the ‘underlying romance’ will have to come through Amy Rose’s character. 3. SEGA will loosen some rules after seeing more and more of the productivity and trend associated with marketing romance, and to keep up with demand and growing times, will finally let small moments emerge between the two, but the fandom will not be satisficed since we will now be desensitized to overly avert demure and oblivious stereotropes that will date their characters. and won’t allow them to proceed smoothly into the new area of customers and audiences.

Children are becoming extremely observant and aware. They are clever, and they always have been. It’s time to market to Children and Young Adults, not babies.

My ways to avoid this, predictions 1: New employees will surface that will start to get a name and reputation in the Sonic Fandom, along with youtube and internet stars who will influence certain marketing schemes (as is starting to appear now, and I feel will be just like ‘star marketing’ or ‘influencers’ that will be popularized in fandoms that companies will slightly make use of.) that will encourage new ideas and bring about a sudden ‘boom’ not expected. (Especially after the lull of the pandemic, I feel there will be an abundance of things happening in the upcoming years... but nothing right now, unfortunately, but at least they’re forced to focus on working on things instead of just releasing to keep up with other companies.)--In other words, they will incorporate new blood with the old, and they will lead Sonic’s IP into a ton of nostalgia and new beginnings that will actually stick and become Sonic’s new brand identity. (This will resonate with fans old and new, but still be a fresh leap into the future for the franchise and fandom.) 2. Sonic’s negative popularity will start to decrease, leading and paving the way for fame and possible adjustments such as more romantic themes to keep up with trends and Japanese Government demands (especially when the population starts to wither and it becomes an emergency situation to start encouraging family ties). Other than sonamy or romantic things, I believe new characters will pop up to ‘test the waters’ and see if we like romance intertwined adventures. 3. Villains will become more sentimental and caring, less comedically, they will be redeemable entities so that the company can market them more. This can also lead into funny romances that help other romances develop and have more meaning. (In other words, they’ll dig into their vault of familiar and new faces, go off the trend of ‘redeeming the villain’ and have more heart-to-heart moments that may inspire more canonical couples... especially if a newer villain were to have a crush that ended up helping two canon characters get together and leave the audience sympathizing more with the villain. This is an actual trend starting where Villains have more character and roles other than just being evil and staying that way till death. I suspect this will be popularized in American and possibly foreign media as time goes on.)

(I actually have a lot of the sonamy shirts lol But here’s an example of the villain actually helping the canon couple have more ‘romantic underlying’ moments together <3)

Those are my current predictions, though I admit that some don’t sound all that hopeful. But hey! All my hopeful and positive predictions have already come true XD Sonamy is being marketed, the new media (Sonic Boom at the time) had subtle but more forward comedic hinting (that I don’t feel went all that well? But eh, that’s just me!), and SEGA continues to try and reface Sonic which his brand doesn’t need. I believe they will still try and rebrand Sonic continually until something sticks for them that they like. Sonamy may go through many iterations, as they are still hesitant with it, and we see that by only marketing their ‘younger selves’ as in Classic Sonamy, and are too ‘shy and uncertain’ if backlash would happen if they advertised a more mature-looking Sonic and Amy marketing. Again, I don’t know if they’ll fully grow out of this, so I predict they won’t.

(I have this one but in black <3 <3 <3)

That’s it for now! My positive last comments would be the more we buy/purchase Sonamy merch, the more we’ll start seeing it in their media and entertainment products. Until then, do your best and write, draw, and review -kindly- to keep those articles of enchantment alive with the sweet sound of--”When will Sonic and Amy finally have a love song AMV moment for us?” lol

[olderthannetfic]

It's really surprising that you're so well versed in older fandoms and yet participate in new popular ones (that cdrama, kpop) is this by design? Im in my twenties and my interest turnover is already way slower than it used to be

You know, that’s a really interesting question. I wouldn’t say it’s by design exactly in that I do tend to just follow what strikes my fancy, and I can’t force myself to want to write fic for just anything. (I find it easier to like reading fic without serious involuntary emotional investment, but writing takes more. Vidding I can do on command most of the time, but I don’t usually bother unless I have a lot of feels or I’m fulfilling someone’s prompt.)

However, me getting into BTS was 100% due to me wanting to understand BTS enough to explain to people who weren’t very interested but wanted to know what was going on in fandom lately. Under normal circumstances, I run the dance party at Escapade, the oldest extant slash con. We borrowed vividcon’s thing of playing fanvids on the wall--all of them set to dance music--as the soundtrack for the dance party. This means I’m creating a 3-hour mixtape of fannishness, which has amazing potential to make people feel in the know about Fandom Today... and equal potential to make them feel alienated if nothing they care about shows up. Only about 100-150 people attend the con, so it really is possible to make a playlist that feels inclusive yet informative--it just takes a huge amount of work.

Every year, I do a lot of research on which fandoms are getting big and look for vids from vidders people won’t have heard of, so there is an element of consciously trying to keep up with things. Generally, I only get into these fandoms myself if I had no idea what they were and then suddenly, oops, they’re my kryptonite, like the buddy cop android plot in Detroit: Become Human, which sucked me in hard for like 6 months on the basis of a vid.

(So if you’re into cross-fandom meta and associated stuff as one of your fannish interests, you tend to have broader knowledge of different fandoms, old and new, than if you’re just looking for the next place you’ll read fic. It’s also easier to love vids for unfamiliar things than fic.)

But though I was only looking for a basic primer on BTS, BTS has 7 members with multiple names and no clear juggernaut pairing, not to mention that AU that runs through the music videos and lots of other context to explain. The barrier to understanding WTF was going on at all was high enough that to know enough to explain, I had to be thoroughly exposed... And once I was over that hurdle, oops, I had a fandom.

--

In terms of old vs. new, here’s the thing: kpop fandoms in English and c-drama fandoms in English right now feel a lot like anime fandom in English did in the early 00s. I had a Buddy Cops of the 70s phase in the middle, but my current fannishness is actually a return to my older fannishness in many ways.

What do I mean about them being similar?

Yes, I know some wanker will show up to say I think China, Korea, and Japan are indistinguishable, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the way that I used to routinely meet Italian and French and German fans, Argentinian and Mexican, Malaysian and Indonesian and Filipino too. English-language fandom of SPN or MCU may have all those fans from all those countries, but it feels very American most of the time. English-language fandom of a non-English-language canon is more overtly about using English as a lingua franca.

It also tends to attract people who as a sideline to their fannishness are getting into language learning and translation, which are my other passion in life after fanworks fandom. (I speak only English and Spanish and a bit of Japanese, but I’ve studied German, French, Russian, Mandarin, Old English, and now Korean.)

Nerds arguing about methods of language learning and which textbooks are good and why is my jam. This is all over the place in English-language fandoms of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean media. Those fandoms also tend to be full of speakers coming from a Germanic or Romance languages background who face similar hurdles in learning these languages. (In other words, if you’re a native Japanese speaker trying to learn Korean, the parts that will be hard for you are different than if you’re an English speaker, but you’re also usually not doing fandom in English.)

There’s also an element of scarcity and difficulty of access and a communal attempt to construct a canon (in the other sense) of stuff from that country that pertains to one’s fannishness. So, for example, a primer explaining the genre of xianxia is highly relevant to being a n00b Untamed fan, but just any old thing about China is not. A c-drama adapted from a danmei webnovel is perhaps part of the new pantheon of Chinese shit we’re all getting into, but just any old drama from decades ago is probably not... unless it’s a genre precursor to something else we care about. Another aspect here is that while Stuff I Can Access As A N00b Who Doesn’t Speak The Language may be relatively scarce, there’s a vast, vast wealth of stuff that exists.

This is what it felt like to be an anime fan in the US in 2000. As translation got more commercial and more crappy series were licensed and dumped onto an already glutted market, the vibe changed. No longer were fans desperately trying to learn enough of the language to translate or spending their time cataloguing what existed or making fanworks about a show they stuck with for a bit: the overall community focus turned to an endless race of consumption to keep up with all of the latest releases. That’s a perfectly valid way of being fannish, but if I wanted that, I’d binge US television 24/7.

Anime fandom got bigger, but what I liked about anime fandom in English died, and I moved on. (Okay, I first moved on to Onmyouji, which is a live action Japanese thing, but still.)

Hardcore weeaboos and now fans of Chinese and Korean stuff don’t stop at language: people get excited about cooking, my other other great passion. Times a thousand if the canon is something like The Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, which is full of loving shots of food preparation. People get excited about history! Mandarin and Japanese may share almost nothing in terms of grammar or phonology, but all of East Asia has influence from specific Chinese power centers historically, and there are commonalities to historical architecture and clothing that I love.

I fell out of love with the popular anime art styles as they changed, and I’m not that into animation in general these days. (I still own a shitton of manga in art styles I like, like Okano Reiko’s Onmyouji series.) I’ve become a filmmaker over the last decade, and I’m very excited about beautiful cinematography and editing. With one thing and another, I’m probably not going to get back into anime fandom, but it’s lovely to revisit the cultural aspects I enjoyed about it via live-action media.

BTS surprised me too, to be honest. I really dislike that early 90s R&B ballad style that infests idol music (not just Korean--believe me, I resisted many rounds of “But Johnny’s Entertainment though!” back in the day). While I like some of the dance pop, I just don’t care. But OH NO, BTS turn out to be massive conscious hip hop fanboys, and their music sounds different. I have some tl;dr about my reactions in the meta I wrote about one of my fanvids, which you can find on Dreamwidth here.

--

But back to your comment about turnover: I know fans from the 70s who’ve had one great fannish love and that’s it and more who were like that but eventually moved on to a second or third. They’re... really fannishly monogamous in a way I find hard to comprehend. It was the norm long ago, but even by the 90s when far more people were getting into fandom, it was seen as a little weird. By now, with exponentially more people in fandom, it’s almost unheard of. I think those fans still exist, even as new people joining, but we don’t notice them. They were always rare, but in the past, only people like that had the stamina to get over the barriers to entry and actually become the people who made zines or were willing to be visibly into fanfic in eras when that was seen as really weird. On top of that, there’s an element of me, us, judging the past by what’s left: only people with an intense and often single passion are visible because other people either drifted away or have seamlessly disappeared into some modern fandom. They don’t say they’re 80 or 60 or 40 instead of 20, so nobody knows.

In general, I’m a small fandoms and rare ships person. My brain will do its best to thwart me by liking whatever has no fic even in a big fic fandom... (Except BTS because there is literally fic for any combination of them, like even more than for the likes of MCU. Wow. Best fandom evar!) So I have an incentive to not get complacent and just stick with one fandom because I would very soon have no ability to be in fandom at all.

My appetite for Consuming All The Things has slowed way down, but it also goes in waves, and a lot of what I’m consuming is what I did back in 2000: journal articles and the limited range of English-language books on the history of m/m sex and romance in East Asia. It’s not so much that I have a million fandoms as that I’m watching a few shows as an expression of my interest in East Asian costume dramas and East Asian history generally.

I do like to sit with one thing and experience it deeply rather than moving on quickly, but the surface expression of this has changed depending on whether I’m more into writing fic or more into doing research or something else.

But yes, I do do a certain amount of trying to stay current, often as a part of research for fandom meta or to help other people know what’s going on. Having a sense of what’s big doesn’t automatically mean getting into all those things, but I think some fans who are older-in-fandom and/or older-in-years stop being open to even hearing what’s new. And if you’ve never heard of it, you’ll never know if you might have liked it.

[coeursetcolores]

What I Would Add/Change About: Dead or Alive 6

Hello internet! As you probably know, I love video games and I would talk about my feelings for the ones I’ve played for hours. Unfortunately, I don’t pay too much attention to the various gameplay and added content mechanics, so I don’t feel as though I’m qualified to give full-on reviews; my focus is usually on the story and characters, but I am learning to keep a more open eye. So, I’ve decided to start this series! On the anniversary of a game I’ve played’s release, I will talk about what I think a game could have included to improve certain elements or what I think they should have just changed all together about something in it. I will make sure to include what I liked about it as well to keep these from getting too negative. 

This is all just my own personal opinion and if you disagree with me, that’s perfectly okay! If you’d like to talk about a point I made, please let me know, but please try to respect my opinion as I respect yours.

Fair warning, I won’t talk about online stuff. I’m not an online gamer, that’s just not me.

Well, with out further ado, let’s get started!

Today is March 1st. Two years ago in 2019, Dead or Alive 6 was released. Bet you guys didn’t know I was fan, did you?

Yes. Yes I am. And there is one thing I love more than that entire series all together.

Kasumi.

I love that woman.

I have yet to see any other woman that I would even consider loving as much as her.

Amazing main, best girl, gripping protagonist, top-tier waifu.

But back to the subject!

Almost seven years since Dead or Alive 5 was released and left it’s audience wanting more, today we ask: Did it live up to seven years of expectations?

For me...

YES! 

...Mostly.

I had a real fun time playing when I could (I didn’t have constant access to the console I played it on, don’t ask) but even with how polished the series has gotten, there were a few things that left a sour taste in my mouth. 

Let’s go over them, shall we?

SPOILERS AHEAD!

To keep a positive spin on this criticism, I’m going to talk first about all the things I absolutely LOVED about the game:

IT’S. STUNNING. The graphics look amazing, and the slow-motion and visible injuries along with DOA5′s sweat and dirt gives the fights such a weight, it’s brutally gorgeous and I love that video games have reached that level of detail. 

Voice acting is good, and I’d have to give best performance to Karen Strassman’s Helena just for her after fight in Kokoro’s story mode because. My gosh. The way she begs Kokoro not to leave her is just heartbreaking, and to do all that while doing an accent is just amazing.

Funniest part of the game was definitely when Zack told Tina she couldn’t be governor. I love how he just shot her down in a whole series of her dad failing to drag her away from her wild dreams through fighting, Zack accomplishes it just by reminding her how the law works.

Kasumi is safe! ...Apart from all the evil clones sent after her. But Ayane is finally leaving her alone!

Helena in the ending. My gosh, the way she just shuts NiCO down and calls her out on failing to move on healthily is a good message about properly dealing with grief and really shows how much she’s grown in the series from the vengeance seeker she started as.

I genuinely liked the addition of Marie Rose. She had a cool design and her character was really charming. The team could easily have made her super annoying, but she was pretty solid, and I appreciate that.

Kokoro’s dress with the beret. It’s just too cute!

I still love kicking opponents off the stage.

Still glad the series hasn’t decided to sink into hyperrealism.

COLORS! ...Those are dying in video games. :( 

The story for the most part is interesting and every character gets to shine in their own special way.

Diego was really cool, I always love the addition of an untrained street fighter keeping up with these professional martial artists, it really goes to show that in a fight anything can happen.

I really loved watching Tina and Bass become a tag team, aww! Tina does love her daddy!

The costumes, as always, are awesome.

Vibrant backgrounds, as expected.

The fact that it happened! I was worried I’d never see my sweet Kasumi again!

Alright! Now that we got all the things I unquestionably loved about the game down, here are some things I feel the game was missing.

ADD:

MORE KASUMI! If she’s your heroine, give her more screen time! (What do you mean I’m biased?!)

Have some more time with Kasumi, Ayane and Hayate, show just how conflicted they are by their tragic circumstances when they have to work together when they all know that they will never be able to go back home together. That ending scene was bittersweet, but I feel like they could have done more.

Bring Bayman into the alliance? I mean, he does want revenge on Phase 4. I get that he kinda works with them, I just think they could use him more.

Have Kasumi have a fight with the main Phase 4? I think it’d be interesting to have this clone weapon, who hates that she hurts people, face off against the original who’s now accepted the brutality of the world and will show no mercy to those who stand in her way. I feel like it’d give Kasumi some introspection and see just how much she’s changed; in a way, Phase 4 is a lot like how Kasumi started: she didn’t want to hurt anyone and make enemies, but she couldn’t do anything about it. The difference is Kasumi became the way she is because of her own choice and beliefs while Phase 4 literally can’t stop herself.

Have Lisa explain herself, geez! What is up with this woman?! What are her goals exactly?! Wait...how is she still alive?! Woman straight up had a building fall on her! Why are we just letting her walk away?! LISA!! GET BACK HERE!! WHAT’S YOUR DEAL WOMAN?!!!

So...I guess we still don’t get to beat the crap out of Donovan? Sigh...guess they’re saving that for 7. Hopefully.

And that’s all I think they could have added. And now, here’s everything I think they should have thought about twice.

CHANGE:

Really? You’re just going to bring Raidou back for the final boss? Really?  Why not use prime Phase 4, that would have been interesting, a final boss who doesn’t WANT to be the final boss? Come on DOA, you’re better than this! You had seven years to make a final boss! If you couldn’t think of one, just go DOA2 and pull something random out! There’s even another tengu you could have used! Who even remembered Raidou at that point?!

LESS. HONOKA. My gosh, she’s annoying! I’m sorry, I’m sure she has fans, but she just irritated me! Not only was she shoehorned into the plot, but she’s also a total Mary Sue! And that voice, AAAAGGGGHHHH! This is not a knock on Kira Buckland, she’s cool and great at her job, but AAAGGGHHHH! With so many three-dimensional and interesting characters, she just falls flat (metaphorically, of course).

Was Nyotengu actually necessary? I get that the tournament itself is just a distraction now, but she honestly bored me.

Why does Helena’s mother need to come back to life? Seriously, what did M.I.S.T. see in reviving one of the mistresses/mothers of their rival? Is this supposed to like torture Helena or something? This was just unnecessary, there was no reason for this. Sorry Maria.

Oh, so Rig’s mind controlled now? Would have been great if they had foreshadowed that in 5. You know, so it wouldn’t have come out of nowhere and helped explain his whole 180 when he was introduced!

Does Jann Lee really need another rival? Just focus on Lei Fang, she’s awesome!

Bit more meta, but did Rig and Christie really need new voice actors? The new ones are fine, but it just seemed unnecessary.

I’m really mixed about how story mode is laid out in modern DOA. On the one hand, putting everyone’s stories in one playthrough really makes it hard to really get attached to one, which I think is a very important aspect of fighting games. On the other, doing it in this style really helps keep the general plot coherent and easier to follow. I think a good way to handle this would be to make different story modes; a campaign to follow the whole vs. Donovan storyline and a different one that has each character’s individual story outside of the main plot.

Alternatively, divide the story between the tournament and the fight against Donovan; ‘cause I don’t think the Mugen Tenshin clan and their allies are going to be in any tournaments anytime soon.

BRING BACK UNLOCKABLE OUTFITS! Outfits may be understandable for DLC, but it’s just so much easier to unlock them all! I’m not made of money!

Even with all these negatives, I still had a great time playing! It was great to see the cast I loved so much (with one in particular) come back and beat the crap out of each other and I can’t wait for the next one!

...In five years.

[natsubeatsrock]

10 Things I Enjoyed in 2020 that Aren’t Fairy Tail

Well... it’s almost over? With all the crazy stuff that’s happened this year, it’s hard to remember that there were some good things to come from this year. So instead of 7, here’s 10 things I enjoyed throughout this year.

#10. Sonic the Hedgehog

Not unlike many people, this would be the last film that came out this year I would see in theaters before everything shut down earlier this year. While I have gone out to watch movies throughout this year since, this happens to be the only movie I’ve been looking forward to that came out this year. Since the release of Detective Pikachu last year, the fraught history of video game movies has started to look a lot better. For all intents and purposes, I think this film is better than that one, and I’m a much bigger fan of Pokemon than Sonic. If certain spoilers are a sign of anything, a future sequel will be interesting to see and greatly anticipated.

#9. Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia

One of the blessings-in-disguise of being locked down with extra money is the ability to get and enjoy things you haven’t gotten the opportunity to before. In my case, I was able to play through some of the Pokemon games I’ve been waiting to play through. My favorite of the bunch has been the second installment of the Pokemon Ranger series. The Ranger games have been greatly underrated and overlooked by fans. I was reintroduced to the original last Christmas and believe it to be a solid game, but this easily blows it out of the water. While this year also marked the sad end of the 3DS cycle, I’m glad that this game came my way.

#8. 42

With the unfortunate passing of its lead actor, Chadwick Boseman, and the racial tensions which came to a head after the death of George Floyd, it makes sense theaters would reopen with this movie. Jackie Robinson’s story is one that’s interested me as the talks of integration and racism have gone on this year. He became the first African American MLB player because of both his talent on the field and his character off it. He wasn’t just skilled in stealing bases. He didn’t allow the anger he rightly felt towards racism control him.

#7. Bakuman

The famed writer and artist duo behind Death Note teamed up to deliver another smash hit manga for Weekly Shonen Jump. This time, about... a writer and artist duo who team up to make a name for themselves by delivering a smash hit manga to Weekly Shonen Jump. As I read Bakuman, I was struck with the genius of its construction. It’s one thing to read the information about Shueisha and WSJ this series shares in a book. It’s another for that information to be shared within the confines that the series itself describes. Special shout-outs go to Ayakashi Triangle and Phantom Seer which started in WSJ this year.

#6. Power Girl: Power Trip

Oh? Were you perhaps expecting to see some other female character owned by Detective Comics Comics who graced the silver screen take this spot? Well, maybe next year, depending on how things go. I love my comic book heroes with healthy doses of snark and existential crisis. While I might have gone in expecting the former, I wasn’t expecting the latter as much. If you know about Power Girl, you may know about her famous “boob window“, which is in lieu of a real symbol. It turns out that she was originally thought to be Superman’s cousin, but has recently been proven to be otherwise. I’m not so against DC that I’m unwilling to admit when they make books that I like.

#5. Carole and Tuesday

Carole and Tuesday holds a special spot as becoming the latest 10/10 anime I’ve seen. This is easily one of the most diverse anime that I’ve ever seen. It’s not just a matter of showing people of different walks of life, ethnicities, and sexual orientations. It’s also showing artists different music styles from folk to jazz to rap to electronic to new age to operatic rap. And none of it feels forced or unnatural, though some of it might come off as offensive. If you’re on as big a planet as Mars, you’ll expect to see all kinds of people and hear all kinds of music as long as you’re willing to listen. Shinichiro Wantanabe is one of anime’s best directors and this might be his best work yet.

#4. Lupin III: The First

If you told me a few years ago that one of the best anime movies would be a fully CGI film, I would have looked at you like you were insane. Nevertheless, this movie exists. I was skeptical about the idea of a fully CGI movie for a character like this. But when I saw a clip from the movie, I could tell they knew what they were doing. This movie is by no means anywhere as good looking as Spiderverse, but it looks amazing in its own right. Content wise, this serves as a great heist film for anyone regardless of proximity to the series. Arsene Lupin III makes  It makes a fine introduction to the world of one of anime’s most longstanding series, and a good launching point for his earlier antics. Props to Weathering to You for keeping this slot warm. (Ironic considering things...)

#3. John Byrne’s run on Sensational She-Hulk

So I wasn’t going to say this talking about Power Trip, but I need to say this here. American comics are at a weird spot. In attempts to reach a wider audience, they’re not doing a great job of keeping the fans they have. Or make actually new ones. The current run of Savage She-Hulk has been no exception to this. Though it wasn’t always like this and John Byrne’s runs on Sensational She-Hulk is proof positive. Byrne took Jennifer Walters with more fun than I’ve seen any author write any comic book with. This especially shows in one of the more notable abilities of She-Hulk, breaking the fourth wall. I was very worried when I heard Marvel Studios was going to do a series with Shulkie. But with this as inspiration, maybe there’s hope for this project after all. (Please be good!)

#2. Burn the Witch

Tite Kubo is back, baby! This spot doesn’t go to any of the sets of chapters to be published in Shonen Jump. Rather, his collaboration with Studio Colorido is my choice for anime of the year. Burn the Witch tells the story of a different Soul Society than Bleach fans may be familiar with. It’s almost cheating to compare this mid-length film to the other shows to come out this year, even if it was broken up into three episodes for streaming sites. However, film or otherwise, no other anime grabbed my attention as much as this did. This also marks the best anime from WSJ I’ve seen this year. Surely I’m not forgetting anything big to come out recently in saying this, especially from this year with everything that got delayed. Honorable mentions go to TONIKAWA: Under the Moon, Bofuri, BNA, Keep Your Hands off Eizouken!, and Misfit of Demon King Academy for nearly taking my spot.

#1. Skullgirls

This year has been a tough year for a lot of people, companies, and fandoms. Though, I’d be hard pressed to think of a fandom that has had a worse year than this indie fighter. One of its founders was revealed to be terrible, one of its parent companies went under, and a prime opportunity for the spotlight in EVO Online being cancelled, it wouldn’t be a mistake to say things aren’t going well. Thankfully, the fans and dev team have done everything they can to keep this game alive before and that didn’t stop this year. It feels somewhat on-brand for this series to have survived the kinds of situations that would normally kill a game off. This game would have made the top spot by virtue of being the most fun game I played this year. I’m proud to put it at this spot knowing everything that’s surrounded it this year.

For extra honorable mentions, Pokemon’s seventh generation of games, especially the Ultra versions, were fun to finally experience and they have the best stories of the 3DS era of Pokemon. Cobra Kai was a fun series and almost definitely would be here if I were more emotionally attached to the Karate Kid series. I rewatched Neon Genesis Evangelion and it’s better than I remembered originally. Finally, I’d move heaven and earth to add Oregairu or Hilda on this list, considering new seasons came out this year, but I know better.

As usual, check my list for EZ, which also has 10 things, and be glad we’re almost done with this year. See you!

[local-femme-gentleman]

10 things I’ve watched in the quarantine (so far)

1. Dazed and Confused 1993 ‧ Comedy/Indie film ‧ 1h 43m

So, I kicked off the apocalypse lockdown with Dazed and Confused - and yes, even though the movie made me realise I was going to have to survive literal months without my usual amount of marijuana consumption, it also filed me with that warped sense of nostalgia and longing for a bygone era that Dazed and Confused always leaves me with - especially a deep yearning for seventies music because the soundtrack of this movie may be one of its best aspects. It is equal parts kinda stupid, ridiculously fun, and wholly introspective, and at the end of the day I love this movie for helping me see what my boomer parents - and their whole generation - were like as teenagers more than anything else.

2. 2001: A Space Odyssey 1968 ‧ Sci-fi/Adventure ‧ 2h 44m

2001: A Space Odyssey has since its release become an absolute classic, and I for one adore it to absolute death. This was one of the first ‘adult’ movies I watched, I was 11 years old at the time - and although I didn’t understand it then, and frankly got a little bored, revisiting it now (after having rewatched it many many many times, and as a slightly older, well, kid) I’ve come to absolutely love it. I personally was looking for some slightly longer movies for the lockdown - considering I have more than enough time, and if you are too then this one may be just what you’re looking for - even if you’ve seen it already. There’s always more to discover in a movie like this one.

3. Okja 2017 ‧ Adventure/Drama ‧ 2 hours

Of all the movies on this list this may be the one I recommend the least. Not because it’s a bad movie, because it honestly and truly isn’t ( Bong Joon Ho still definitely came through for this one), however, this movie is, in my opinion, far too heartbreaking for this exact moment in time. If it was any other period in history I would be overwhelmingly promoting this movie, because I honestly and truly loved it - but it made me want to give up meat in a period of time where I simply do not have the resources for that to be an option. So if you’re down with your day just getting a little bit sadder, albeit in a not entirely bad way, I’d say watch Okja - if not, then I’d say, just for now, maybe stay away.

4. Spirited Away 2001 ‧ Animation/Fantasy ‧ 2h 5m

Okay, I love this movie, my parents love this movie, your parents love this movie, your sister loves this movie, your best friend loves this movie, you’re-cousin’s-nephew’s-dog’s-best-friend’s-owner loves this movie - and, if you don’t love this movie, well, each to their own but you’re kind of a monster. Spirited Away is one of those universally agreed upon masterpieces, everything about this movie just makes you feel good, from the colours, to the world, to the characters, to the animation. Spirited Away wraps you up in a blanket of all things warm and comforting in this world - if you’re looking to just feel better, which given current situations you probably are, this is the one for you.

5. Before Sunrise 1995 ‧ Romance/Drama ‧ 1h 45m

I’ve always loved this trilogy, yes, it may be one of the most teenage girl things to ever exist, the ultimate teenage girl fantasy, but what’s wrong with that? Before Sunrise, at every watch and rewatch, makes me want to meet a stranger on a train and just wander somewhere in europe for a single night. I’m fairly sure this will never happen, but this is the perfect time for daydreaming and so I will. Honestly, this movie truly is good, the amount of angles explored in Jesse and Celine’s still forming relationship over a single night is fascinating and it’s a very pretty film. If you’re just looking for something light and easy to watch - that gets you just the right amount of emotional, this is the one for you.

6. The Royal Tenenbaums 2001 ‧ Drama/Comedy-drama ‧ 1h 50m

Oh so you thought I’d go one recommendations video without mentioning Wes? Ha. Okay look, The Royal Tenenbaums is probably my fifth favorite Wes movie, but considering I love basically every Wes Anderson movie that isn’t not saying much. The Tenenbaum siblings stand as some of my favorite Wes Anderson characters and I love Angelica Houston no matter who she plays. The Royal Tenenbaums is just a good Wes Anderson film, and you get exactly what you’d want and expect from it - whip pans, impeccable wardrobes, symmetrical shots, a Wilson Brother, a sugary colour pallette, the futura font, and rich white people, well, being rich white people

7. American Vandal 2017 ‧ Satire ‧ 2 seasons

Ok I’ll say it, this is the perfect quarantine show. It’s completely stupid in the smartest way possible, absurdly funny, and overall one of the best shows netflix has ever produced. If you’re looking for a laugh, and I know I was when I clicked on this, then this is the one for you. American Vandal is satire at its peak - and I can officially say that both seasons hold up at a third rewatch, because yes, I’ve watched this entire show three times over. If you like true-crime series, or The Office and Parks and Rec (and yes I see the disparity in genre) then you will absolutely adore American vandal - and the fact that this show didn’t get a third season is a whole tragedy. Shame on you Netflix, shame on you.

8. Marriage Story 2019 ‧ Comedy-drama/Drama ‧ 2h 17m

Again, considering current times Marriage Story may have not been the best choice, but hey, I love this movie, and as sad as it makes me, it also makes me incredibly happy in a bittersweet sort of way. The good thing about marriage story is that it’s one of those films you truly get lost in, when I watched it just a few days ago, I truly and honestly, for just those few moments, forgot about everything going on right now, and - i say this at a risk of sounding selfish, I know - it felt good. Marriage Story is by far one of my favorite movies of last year, the writing is gorgeous, the editing is genius, and although the movie isn’t intrinsically happy in nature, it may just be what you need right now.

9. Every John Mulaney Special New in Town ‧ The Comeback Kid ‧ Kid Gorgeous ‧ etc.

So I, in true Gen-Z fashion, have watched every John Mulaney Comedy Special  many many times. I love these specials, they truly mean quite a bit to me. I like playing these in the back while I do other things like cleaning my room or cooking. I think I watched him so much  that his voice has become almost comforting - I may have formed a bit of an attachment. Chances are you’ve probably seen at least one John Mulaney Special, if you’ve only seen one watch the rest! And if you’ve seen the all then rewatch like I did! For me, this is the perfect time to just watch some good standup, so even if it isn’t John, just watch a comedian who makes you happy - trust me, it’ll help.

10. Tangled 2010 ‧ Animation/Musical ‧ 1h 40m

Ok so honestly my friends put this on together on Netflix Party to watch that first song and get some self-quarantine ideas - but then we just watched the whole movie so, yeah. I do love Tangled though, it was one of my favourite Disney movies as a kid, granted I’ve always been more of a Pixar girl (speaking of which this is the best time to binge on Pixar movies!!!!). Honestly, this is just a solid disney movie, it’s cute, it’s adorably animated, I properly adore Pascal and Maximus because no matter how old I get I will always adore a fun animal sidekick. Honestly, now is just a good time to watch a good disney movie, I had fun with this movie okay, no lie it was great.

[independentartistbuzz]

Good News, Good Music 1.0

Here we are at the end of 2020. We don’t need to tell you that this has been a very hard year. We are feeling beaten down by the bad news and music is the one thing that lifted our spirits again and again and saw us through. We have partnered with our friends at Cyber PR Music to bring you a series of GOOD News from artists who carried on making music in spite of all of the insanity that was happening and continues to grip us.  We have cried listening to some of the tracks, felt deeply inspired and yes we laughed as well.  What we have seen is the Cyber PR artist community is rich and varied - there are artists from all across the USA included as well as Jamaica, Australia, South Africa, France, Sweden, The UK,  Germany and Scotland.

So - we bring you part 1 of our 4 part series GOOD NEWS, GOOD MUSIC.

Please Follow the Spotify Playlist below to hear all of these amazing tracks.

Thanks to all of the artists who shared their music AND their good news.

JVMIE & Lionel Cohen | “We Will Rise Again”

Started A Collaboration From A Quarantine Hotel Room and Got Nominated For A Major Award

We had a crazy year but some great things came out of it! I was forced to leave LA and head back to Australia until things ‘calmed down’ but started a remote collaboration with LA based film composer Lionel Cohen - we received a grant from HOTA (Home Of The Arts Gold Coast) to create an album and we were just nominated for a HMMA Hollywood Music In Media Award :) The whole process of collaborating and talking every day was what helped me keep my sanity throughout this crazy year!

Perle Vybz | “Electric Dancefloor”

Almost Lost Her Partner To COVID And Took The Leap Of Faith To Release Music 

My debut single 'Electric Dancefloor' was released on Dec 8th, against the odds. A few months ago , my partner almost lost his life (to COVID). He was hooked up on a ventilator and had a really rough time. At the same time, I lost my main source of income and so, during the pandemic lockdown I had more time on my hands to focus on my music. So I'm glad that in spite of what was happening around me I was able to take that leap of faith and get my music out there.

Arielle Silver | “What Really Matters”

Became Music Connection's Hot 100 Live Unsigned Artists and Bands and Top Prospects 2020 lists in their year-end issue

As COVID shut everything down in April, I leaned into my commitment to authentic connection and inspiring creative expression with the creation of two weekly livestreams: Tomes & Tunes, a weekly show where I interview songwriters about books, and Arielle's Acoustic Happy Hour, both of which are going strong. In June, I released a new album, A THOUSAND TINY TORCHES, along with two official music videos (one shot entirely during quarantine), which have been featured in American Songwriter, Music Connection, and more.And in September, in the wake of closing studios, my sweetheart and I launched a new online yoga studio, Bhavana Flow Yoga, with online classes, workshops, and retail. 

Alongside my own sorrow at the pandemic, I have been living a year of creative expansion, and was recently featured in Music Connection's year-end issue on both their Hot 100 Live Unsigned Artists and Bands and Top Prospects 2020 lists.

Hannah Judson | “Deep Sea Diver”

Launched The Backwards Record Release Concept  And It Worked!

The 2020 lockdown was an exploration of new ways of doing and connecting. Everything became an experiment as new processes were developed to replace the no longer actionable old ones. I launched the Backwards Record Release for "Stingray," a rock/folk collection of songs. The 8 week campaign started with a socially distanced concert in a chateau courtyard, was fueled by my new podcast the Hannah Judson Beat, conversations with women in music, and concluded with a capstone edition of MUSEfest Online, a music festival I normally produce in major cities that promotes women in music, film, art and culture. I stayed connected with colleagues and fans, envisioned future projects, and maintained momentum and enthusiasm for creative projects, present and future. 

Evan Mazunik | “Comfort and Joy”

Funded, Recorded & Released A New Holiday Album

I’m grateful that I was able to successfully fund, record, release, and sell my new holiday album this year.

Eli Lev | “Anywhere We Can Go”

Released A Touching Global Fan Driven Music Video 

I had a powerful experience this year when my music community from all across the world helped me create the music video for 'Anywhere We Can Go.' I was in happy tears editing it and seeing all these wonderful faces come together and make something truly special. Here it is and I hope it brings some joy to folks.

Jeff Oster | “Five Great Mountains”

Found Solace (And Music) In Mother Nature

I was lucky to spend three months in the fall of 2020 up in Vermont. In the midst of all of the turmoil, Mother Nature just kept on shining. I was able to create this video on my iPhone, in an attempt to capture her beauty.

Beca Dreams | “Calm Before the Storm”

Had A Creative Burst That Resulted In Ad Campaigns & New Singles

It’s been a very challenging year, and yet I’ve somehow managed to have some awesome wins I am super grateful for. 

Partnered with Bounty to write/perform Quicker Picker Upper, currently streaming on all major platforms and has gotten over 7M views on Tik Tok and 150K streams on Spotify so far. Composed/performed song for an ad campaign for fashion designer Asher Levine on launching his new groundbreaking LED outerwear line (who’s recently worked with Doja Cat, Lil Nas, Lady Gaga). I also released 2 singles “Calm Before The Storm” and “Taking Time For Myself” and  most recently was featured on “Dance Party In The Living Room” by UK producer Fritz von Runte, about making the most of the quarantine.

I feel so lucky to be making music and doing what I love, which has been a huge silver lining during these dark times.

AfriCali | “The Struggle”

Turned An Eviction Into A Special Retreat & Healing Place 

Our landlord lost her pilates practice and couldn’t afford her Oakland home so

Our family of four with a baby due any month now had to figure it out and find the humanity in moving out before the lease was up. In the magic of mother earth and without knowing we were blessed with a beautiful place to be away and seven thousand feet above the mountains where we could have this beautiful bundle of joy. Which would turn into a special retreat healing place after our departure this past October.

Akira AK | “Pearl”

Completed His New Release Remotely Over Zoom

My "good news, good music" story is simply how I was able to release 2 major projects this year despite everything that is going on: putting out my second EP and my first music video.  The EP in particular had been in the works for 3 years and was SO CLOSE to being done when everything started to shut down, so with the work of my engineer, we set up remote sessions via zoom that helped put the last song over the line and get the release out there! From there I was able to promote it with it's adjacent merch.

As far as my first music video is concerned; I was able to safely show up in person in NYC and film it with the help of a great videographer. The conceptualizing of the video is very special and I think speaks to the experiences some of us have had about going to that special place inside your head where you feel most powerful/comfortable/fierce to deal with whatever is going on externally. The promo for the video was also a success in terms of being able to schedule it on time and put it out there to hype the video itself. And once it was out it was really (unexpectedly) well received!

Those are just my personal success stories and I'm excited to see others' as well!

Monsterboy | “Ain’t Worth the Dime”

Played 60 Livestreams That Reached 7,000 Households

When my husband and I found ourselves without gigs and our small business closed, we decided to go live with our music and stay in touch with our fans. We cobbled together equipment from our home studio and gigging rig, going live in that first week. We really didn't know what to expect. The messages we got from people were so heartwarming, we built a little community for them night after night, reconnecting with existing fans and finding new.  In total, we did over 60 live streams during the shutdown and reached over 7k households on some streams. Entertaining and interacting with people was our way to do our part for our community. A podcast found us via the streams and started hiring us to produce music for their shows from it.

Artist: Crotona P., Producer: Pablo Brownbeats | “Silk”

Forged An International Collaboration South Africa and the USA via A Chance Facebook Meeting

I'm Pablo Brownbeats, a producer  who has been producing  since my youth and creating music for the last 12 years. I just released my new Ep with Crotona P from Rochester New York featuring Street Da Villain, Dj Shawn Touch, KING Flamez all from Rochester New York and SOLO MAJITA from Free State South Africa. The African Ep is available on digital stores and Bandcamp.  I enjoyed making this project and it will be an honor to share the leading single Titled Silk.

This project was recorded during the  early days of Covid19. Me and Crotona met over Facebook and exchanged some few words and he agreed to do the single (silk) then African EP was born.

Scott Whitfield | “A Bi-Coastal Christmas, Vol. 1, by Scott Whitfield & Friends”

Released A Christmas Album That Features Artists Who Have Passed That Started Recording in 2004.

Despite the challenges, I was able to release a Christmas album on Bandcamp!  It's available as a digital download OR a physical CD.  This is the culmination of MANY years of work (some tracks date back to 2004, and, sadly, a few of the artists who played on them are no longer with us).

John Maksym | “Drinkin’ & Thinkin’”

Worked With 22 Collaborators Spanning 7 Countries and 16 Cities

I kicked off this year as a solo recording artist for the first time in my life and had an ambitious goal of releasing music every 5 weeks. When the pandemic struck, I had just started recording my 4th single in the studio and everything got shut down. Within a couple of weeks I was able to pivot and invest money into building my own little home studio, to continue to create. With every musician in the world stuck at home, I was able to connect with a dream team of collaborators who helped me finish the song that I had started and go on to record 8 more songs through remote session recording from their own home studios. All in all I worked with 22 collaborators, spanning 7 countries and 16 cities, which I would never have thought of doing had the world not been in lockdown. It also allowed me time to revise my original release plan and build a more robust plan to release a number of singles and eventually an album throughout 2021.

Stay tuned ...There’s more Good News Coming!

[lovemesomesurveys]

Are you still in quarantine/under stay at home order? (if you're taking this during Covid-19, that is) The state isn’t, but I am. 

Has stuff been opening back up where you are? Yeah. Although, now dining in isn’t an option again in my area. 

What have you missed most that you haven't been able to do due to Covid-19? I didn’t do much even before all this, but I did like going grocery shopping with my mom and going to the movies, which we did quite often. And now with it being summer I’m really sad I can’t go to the beach. Beach days were the only thing I liked about summer. I could still go shopping with my mom and go to the beach, but I just don’t feel safe or comfortable going out in public and being around people right now when the number of cases are still so high and continue to rise. It makes me extremely anxious and scared. It doesn’t help that my state is a hotspot.

What state do you live in?  California.

Do you personally know anyone who has had Covid-19? Yes. She actually ended up recovering from that, testing negative later on, but she died recently from complications caused by it. She was on dialysis and after she got sick, even though she got better, it affected her kidneys and she had to stop dialysis. Once that happens, it’s not long after that you pass away. She was my grandma’s best friend, thus a very close family friend. :( She was the sweetest, caring, kindhearted person. 

Have you had it? (or think you might have?) No, not so far. Although, whenever I feel crappy or cough for any reason my mind automatically goes there. It’s not unusual for me not to feel well and have days where I’m feeling extra crappy, but nowadays I have to play the game: is it my normally crappiness or something else? :/ I also have dry mouth and my throat tends to get dry in the summer anyway and ugh again it’s something normal for me but I have to wonder about that, too.

Do you know anyone who is a healthcare worker? No. Well, apart from my doctors obviously.

Have you still been working these past few months or not? I don’t have a job. I wasn’t working prior to this either.

If you weren't working, are you still in school? No, thankfully. I graduated UC 5 years ago, so I’ve been done way before this started. What is/was your major in college?  I majored in psych.

Or if you're not in college yet, what do you want to study?

If your school closed due to Covid-19, do you miss it?

What are you most excited about when life goes (somewhat) back to normal? It’s hard for me to even see that point right now. I know people think I sound like a Negative Nancy, but I think I’m just being real. It’s goings to be a long time before we get to a point where we don’t have to have this virus looming over our heads everyday. It’s been kicking our ass. It’s never going to go away, it will likely be like the flu in that we have a covid season, but I pray we get to the point where we can get under control and managed. A point where there’s a vaccine and effective medication. But like I said, that’s going to take time. Masks may be the new way of life for many of us.

Did Covid-19 impact any major plans you had for this spring/summer?  No beach trips or birthday vacay. :( That’s not important, I know, but I am still sad about it.

Do you collect anything? Key chains and giraffe stuffed animals and knicknacks.

What's the name of your favorite restaurant? (chain or local) Wingstop. 

What is your favorite thing to order when you eat there? I get takeout, but anyway I love their boneless garlic parm and lemon pepper wings with their ranch. 

Have you still been able to get food from there during Covid-19? Yes. I always got takeout anyway, so that hasn’t been any different for me.

Are you planning on eating there anytime soon when they reopen? I’ll say it a 3rd time haha I just get it to go and eat at home.

Have you discovered any good new music during quarantine?  Yeah, but not because I’m in quarantine. That implies I’ve done so because I’ve been home and had more time to do so or only did so because I didn’t have anything to do. I’ve spent most of my time at home the past few years, not just this year.

What's a new song you've been loving lately? (not necessarily newly released, just something you've recently discovered) Lately I’ve been getting new music from TikToks. A couple recent ones are Dream Girl by Ir Sais and Summer Days by Martin Garrix ft. Macklemore and Patrick Stump.

Have you been able to keep in touch with friends during this time? I don’t have any friends, so that hasn’t been an issue. 

What is your favorite Starbucks drink? White chocolate mocha, caramel macchiato, and their fall and winter seasonal drinks. 

Do you prefer Starbucks or a local coffee shop? Just give me coffeeee.

What was your favorite TV show when you were a kid? do you still ever watch it? I had a lot of favorites. Some I still watch like Boy Meets World, Full House, Family Matters, Disney Channel shows like That’s So Raven, Lizzie McGuire, The Proud Family, Hannah Montana, etc (thanks to Disney+) and old Nick shows like Rugrats, Doug, and Hey Arnold. I recently found out Hulu has Step by Step, so I’ll be watching that again at some point.

Have you been watching a lot of movies during quarantine? >> No more than I would be usually, since my daily life didn’t change as dramatically as most people’s did. But yeah. <<< Yeah, I’ve gotten into a few new shows and binge watched a few old ones during this time, but again I wouldn’t contribute that to quarantine cause I would have been home majority of the time still anyway.

What is your favorite Disney movie? Alice in Wonderland, Winnie the Pooh, and Toy Story are among the top

Do you have Disney plus? Yep. That’s how I watch those old Disney shows I mentioned before.

Are you a fan of Hamilton? I’ve never seen it.

Are you planning to watch Hamilton on Disney plus? I have thought about checking it out, so we’ll see.

Have you seen Hamilton live? (Broadway or elsewhere) Like I said, I’ve never seen it.

What is your favorite musical? Sweeney Todd.

Have you watched any musicals online recently? No. Or ever.

What was the last live performance you went to before quarantine? I saw Phantom of the Opera 3 years ago.

What was the best concert you've ever been to? All the concerts I went to were awesome. Man, it’s been over 10 years now since my last concert I really miss ‘em.

Do you volunteer anywhere? No. I’ve volunteered at a few places in the past, though.

What is your favorite movie on Netflix? >> ??? There are... so many movies on Netflix. <<<

Did you relocate due to Covid-19? No.

What is one positive thing about the past few months for you? Uhhh.

Do you prefer streaming music or buying it? I stream it.

Do you use Spotify? Yep.

What was the last book you read? I recently started The Girl and the Deadly End by AJ Rivers. It’s the final book in a 7 book series. 

Have you been baking during quarantine? Nope.

What is your favorite thing to bake? It’s been a few years since I’ve done any baking. I used to love it during the holidays.

Do you enjoy doing crafts? I think they can be fun, but they’re not something I do very often at all. I lack the artistic ability, creativity, inspiration, motivation, and energy. 

Have you ever done crafts for money? No. 

Do you shop on Etsy? Yes. I love Etsy.

Have you ever sold anything on Etsy? Nope.

What song are you listening to right now?  I’m not listening to music, I’m listening to an ASMR video.

What genre of music is your favorite? I like a variety of music.

Can you speak any foreign languages? Not fluently, but I know some Spanish.

What is/was your favorite class in school? I always enjoyed English and then later on in college I enjoyed most of my psych classes as well. 

Who was your favorite teacher most recently? I’ve been done with school for 5 years now.

What is the lock screen and home screen on your phone? The lock screen is a photo of the ocean with a Bible verse on it and my home screen is a rose gold background.

Do you play Animal Crossing? Yeppp. 

Do you have any pets? What kind? What is/are your pet(s) name(s)? I have a 3 year old German Shepherd/Lab mix named Princess Leia. <3

what is a song lyric you love? >> Right, I’m definitely not going to think of that off the top of my head right now. <<< Haha, right. Not to mention, I have a ton of favorite lyrics.

Have you done anything recently to support Black Lives Matter? I’ve signed petitions.

Are there any songs you feel transport you to a world that doesn't exist? Jason Mraz songs were kinda like that. Haha. It seemed like he lived in some whimsical fantasyland.

What songs do that for you? “but my breath fogged up glass, and so I drew a new face and I laughed” lol okay Jason Mraz. Haha that’s the only thing coming to mind right now. It’s almost 7AM okay I can’t think.

What is your favorite ethnicity/cuisine of food? Italian.

What are some popular things that you don't like/aren't interested in? Hmm. What’s even popular right now? I’m out of the loop.

When was the last time you got a haircut? Back in February.

What was the last movie (or musical) you watched? Ferris Bueller’s Day Off the other day.

What was the last movie you saw in the theatre? The Invisible Man.

How soon are you planning on going back to work? (If you've been off) I don’t have a job, remember?

What is an item you own that means a lot to you? I’ll always cherish my giraffe stuffed animals and knickknacks.

Do you have a favorite t-shirt? All of my graphic tees.

What other proshot musicals would you love to see streaming online? You sure love musicals. I like a few musicals, sure, but I’m not super into them like you seem to be. There aren’t any right now that I want to see that I can think of. Well, apart from maybe checking out Hamilton. What is something you're looking forward to? Summer being over.

How do you plan on celebrating Covid-19 being over, whenever that is? >> The problem with this idea is that... it’s not that simple? From what I understand, it’s not like one day we’re all gonna say “that’s it! we’ve officially eradicated this virus from the earth and we will never have to worry about it again!” I’m guessing it’s going to be a slow process of reopening with a lot of false starts and rollbacks (as new waves crest and protective measures have to be re-implemented). Even that first day that I go out to a restaurant is probably going to feel really weird and even a little “wrong”. I’m not sure how much celebrating is really going to be happening. <<< All of this. Like I said earlier, it’s not ever going completely go away or be over. We’ll hopefully get it under control at some point and find an effective vaccine and medications and not have the fear of it constantly looming over us, but we got a long way to go.  And when that does happen, I’ll still be cautious. It’s sure going to feel weird when I do feel comfortable to go out again, though. It felt so weird just going outside for a bit recently one night cause it was the first time I had been out of the house at all since my doctor appointment back in May. That was really weird and scary for me. Prior to that I hadn’t gone anywhere since early March. Sooo yeah. I clearly won’t be rushing out anywhere anytime soon.

[ivalice-tifalucis]

My ramblings on FFVII Remake

The irony never lost on me that after so many years on tumblr, I finally act on my username, actually post things related to FF.

So I finally finished FFVII Remake this Wednesday although stupidly I quitted the game before the credits finished rolling so I had to replay the last part again on Saturday. Thank goodness I already knew what to do so I only needed an hour to finish the last part. Took me 2,5 weeks and close to 50 hours of gameplay to finished as I also have real life obligation to do and couldn’t just play video game for whole day. And oh my god what an experience. As non OG fan who got introduced FFVII and FF in general because in 2006 her school best friend couldn’t stop yelling about Advent Children, who have watched Advent Children for god knows how many times even though she could barely understand the context, who felt weird at Dirge of Cerberus, and who cried stupid at Crisis Core ending, this game is beyond my expectation.

In 2015, when they announced the release, I was like ‘ oh great, finally they’re gonna make this after all’. I have waited for the remake for almost a decade at that time yet I felt empty because I was no longer care so much about FF anymore. I still haven’t even played FFXV yet I waited that for so long since the first FFVersusXIII trailer. So finally Square Enix got their shits together, great for them.

And then FFVII Remake was released. Y’know what, I didn’t even see the trailer. I didn’t care. But then covid-19 happened and I was bored. My brother kept suggesting me to buy FFVII Remake, said that the game got great reviews and I’ve waited for so long. I was like ‘ok, let’s see what the fuss is about.’ I never actually play the PS one game because 1) Never got the chance to, and when I could have the resource to play it, 2) I lost interest in FF. So it’s a good way to play a game you only read about it all this time. Then I read some of the review and bits of spoilers, because I’m that kind of person, that the game is not exactly a remake, that it’s only first few hours of original game, which quite dissapointing at first because you thought you’re gonna play like the real ans whole reimagined FFVII. And people talk about Zack. That’s what pique my interest more. I thought it’s only flashback because Zack did appear as flashback in OG but then spoilers said he’s alive??!! What??? Ok gotta have this game.

And so begin my geeky nostalgic journey. I haven’t heard The Prelude for so long and it was so beautiful hearing it on the menu. I stopped to listen to the song. Then the intro, beautiful, exactly what I always dreamed about if FFVII got a remake. Then the first bombing mission is done and Cloud met Aerith for the first time in Loveless street. And holy maholy, ‘wait, is that- omg The Promised Land from Advent Children!!!!’ Yep that sold me. No getting away from this.

By the release of this game, it brought me to realization that not every FFVII fans are keen of Compilation of FFVII which is too bad because I love Compilations with all its ups and downs. I wouldn’t like FFVII if it’s not of the Compilations. What makes FFVII far more interesting than other FF series is the mystery and big world building. Midgar is only tiny piece of Gaia compare to what we would explore in later Remake chapter. Every characters, good or bad have their own story and mystery. And while many of the backstory is explained in the OG, some of them got fleshed out in sequels and prequels. Listening to The Promised Land brought me to realize that FFVII Remake is not merely a remake but more like another chapter or maybe the first chapters that could conclude FFVII for good. Because I would love to see at least the definitive end of FFVII, where at least all the mysteries are answered. 

The introduction of the Whispers or Arbiters of Fate during first encounter with Aerith made me realized immediately that this is what people meant when they said FFVII Remake defied from OG. I think if used well Whispers could give deeper impact to Remake. It adds more mysteries but it could also answer mysteries. Yes, including Zack’s fate. It depends on how Kazushige Nojima and Tetsuya Nomura used it. Of course I’m also a bit anxious. I don’t remember what but something Nomura did and said in the past is actually what made me driven even further from FF and honestly I’m afraid. I never played Kingdom Hearts but I heard people talk about how it becomes bumbling jumbo which I agree since that’s the reason why I never play KH because I had no clue what it is even about. Even reading the plot made my head hurts. And in the last two years I have been let down by my favorite franchises that are Game of Thrones and Star Wars sequels. However I’m optimistic because I don’t think Tetsuya Nomura would want to destroy his own legacy. FFVII is what makes him the top tier guy in Square Enix in the first place. It’s his precious baby and he has complete control over it. 

In other topic, the game is absolutely beautiful. I had doubts when my brother told me they used Unreal while FFXV used Luminous Engine which based on what I saw on youtube made FFXV so beautiful and immersive (I hope someone could explain to me why). FFVII Remake is also beautiful game within its capacity. Of course because the engine limitation there are few downs on the graphic and render. I couldn’t get over that door in Sector 7 slums looks so unrendered I thought the game had rendering delay. But overall the game has reimagined Midgar perfectly. Other than objects that you could way too easily kick, there is so little bug. Other than Crisis Core, which was only PSP game and couldn’t do much, this is the only time we see Midgar before disaster other than the OG game. And Midgar is amazing. The upper plate, the cities look modern and well planned while the slums look so lively and dense. The Wall Market is festive and crazy, the mission is also crazy. I had a great laugh and snicker all the way during this part. Exactly what I would imagine Wall Market would be when I read about it all this time. The puzzles are great. The gameplay is also great. It’s not repetitive and makes you feel accomplished. Each enemies require different approach. I sometime had to look into walkthrough so I could find a good suggestion on how to defeat certain boss, after I failed so many times. There is a need for strategy so I have to prepare what kind of materia and accessories I would use on certain character which sadly lacked in the last FF game that I played almost a decade ago, which was FFXIII. 

The music, damn I haven’t stop listening to Hollow since I finished the game. You notice that the previous posts had me got mind blown by it. Nobuo Uematsu has done it again. He touches my heart with his music, and he has done it again. The rest of the soundtrack is also great. Did I mention that I stop for a while to listen to The Prelude? Also got nostalgic and humming along with Main Theme, Aerith’s Theme, Tifa’s Theme, Shinra’s theme, Those Who Fight.

All in all, the fact that I couldn’t stop talking about this game, to me, is indicator that this game is amazing. 9/10 (because I don’t like that they used Unreal).

[kiramxchis]

Stuff I noticed in the OVER/5Y video because I like to over analyze anything Banri gives us and I need an outlet for it

One of the good things about IDOLiSH7′s promotions (or any of their media really) is the fact that they are FILLED with fun Easter eggs for fans of the series. Here’s everything I collected when watching and rewatching the video since it was released two days ago. There will be some slight spoilers for the main storyline though, so if you’re an Anime Only Fan please keep that in mind. A lot of these are mostly just speculation, so don’t take a lot of these to heart or consider them facts

These certainly aren’t everything. In a true IDOLiSH7 Style there’s refrences everywhere and some things were purposely left out (like how each character still has costumes from the Live Shows in it). I’m still discovering new things as I watch the video and Tumblr does have a paragraph limit so if you saw something you think I left out, feel free to add onto this post!

1. Starting off with a simple and very obvious one: Each of the Centers (Riku, Tenn, Momo and Haruka) all have an animated bit. Riku moves some clothes on a rack, Tenn opens a drawer, Momo takes a pullover off a rack and Haruka turns on a table lamp. While the actual anniversary isn’t until August, I have a feeling that they’ll be putting a lot more emphasis on the Center’s for the 5th Anniversary. It’s also worth noting that while Re:vale is a duo, when doing group photos of the Centers and Leaders, Momo is always paired with the Centers and Yuki the Leaders. The same goes for ZOOL, which actually have Duel Centers. Since Touma is also ZOOL’s Leader, he is grouped with the Leaders

2. The Logo

This is something I just recently noticed, but the logo for the OVER/5Y Promotion has a Compass Rose. IDOLiSH7 kinda has a thing for journeys, such as with WiSH VOYAGE and DiSCOVER THE FUTURE, both of which are the anime series two openings. I can’t remember if that has always been the case or if it’s a recent addition but with the Compass Rose taking up most of the logo, I’m gonna say it was always there. According to anamcaralife(.)com, the Compass Rose represents spiritual direction, awakening and discovery. Additionally, the four directions represent infinite possibility, the present, the past, and the future [X], meaning their journey isn’t done here, and there’s still many more years for us to learn, grow, laugh, love and dream with IDOLiSH7, TRIGGER, Re:vale and ZOOL. That’s probably what the “OVER” part of “OVER/5Y” means. That this series is going to live on beyond it’s 5th anniversary

3. References To Past Events

Obviously in a video for the upcoming 5th Anniversary is going to have references to past events. It’s a pretty big milestone for a series (RIP, my Stones come August). We see lots of examples of the previous campaigns CROSSINGXUS, Light Future and Non-fiction. I’m not surprised that the What Is Non-fiction reference and one of the CROSSINGXUS I found were in ZOOL’s segment since that was the first campaign they were apart of. The first CROSSINGXUS reference I found was in Nagi’s still. Part 4 (which was being released during the 4th anniversary) focused very heavily on Nagi and ZOOL so that made me happy

I also think a CROSSINGXUS reference is in Ryu’s still, but it’s blurry so I can’t really read it

4. Visual Board Tour Photograph

This one get’s it own separate point! The photograph inside the drawer Tenn pulls out is a photograph “taken” right after IDOLiSH7 gets back from their Visual Board Tour, bringing gifts for TRIGGER and Re:vale

5. 14

The number 14 is easily one the most noticeable things in Touma’s still. It’s right there by his shoulder so you can’t really miss it. 14 is a multiple of 7, math is my worst subject and even I know it. Touma’s most obvious Character Foil is Riku, and he’s also the member of IDOLiSH7 that Touma is closest too. Ever since Part 3 the main storyline has made it very clear that Riku sorta has this innate ability to draw attention to himself outside of just his cute face and bubbly personality. Small bits of evidence can be seen early on but it grows more and more as the story progresses. By the end of Part 4 it got to the point were shirts Riku wore on variety shows were being sold out within minutes of being restocked and women stopped wearing perfume with strong scents after Riku said he didn’t like it during a TV interview.

To understand why this effects Touma, we must look back at Touma’s backstory. Touma used to belong to an Idol Unit called NO_MAD. NO_MAD disbanded shortly before the series began due to TRIGGER’s rising popularity. Many of their fans became TRIGGER fans, lots of jobs that once would have gone to them went to TRG instead and Touma fully blamed the group’s decline in popularity solely on TRIGGER. When NO_MAD disbanded, Touma was full of resent and hatred for TRIGGER, enough to the point were he was easily convinced by Ryo to join ZOOL. Touma rejoined the industry with a black heart, claiming he would never sing seriously again because why did it matter if their fans would leave them for the next shiny thing? Touma’s entire ideology crumbled underneath him when meeting Riku, and remainders of his past love for singing and preforming began to shine though his bad boy persona. By the middle of Part 4 Touma had almost fully turned around. He began to see Haruka, Minami and Torao as actually groupmates, people he wanted to bring to the top with him and not some people he should at least get along with for the next 3 years. And that was all because of Riku. Whether he liked it or not, Riku was able to bring back the old Touma. I couldn’t find any numbers in any of the other Leader’s still so TouRiku Stans Come Get Your Bread

Going back to Touma and TRIGGER for a second, 14 minus 8 is six. Six is a multiple of 3. There are three members in TRIGGER. I don’t think much else needs to be said

6. Gaku’s Birthday

For some reason Torao’s still had a calendar that’s set to Gaku’s birthday (August 16th) meaning this is sign of warning that something big is coming on that day, or it’s a reference to how Torao usurped Gaku for his position as the Most Desired Embrace

And that’s all I collected so far! Again, if you saw something you think I didn’t notice or purposely left out and want to bring attention to it, feel free to add it on! Hopefully Banri never makes me do something like this again

[takingcourage]

Additions: Part 1

Pairing: Jaime x MC

Word Count: 2,850

Summary: Several years into marriage, Jaime and Arden make an important decision about their family’s future. 

Note: This mini-series is a departure from the sorts of things I’ve written before, but it’s been part of my headcanon for these characters for ages and I just had to get it out. 

With that said, I know that this story isn’t going to be to everyone’s taste. If you’re currently being tagged for this pairing and want me to leave you off my list for the rest of this series, just let me know! I promise I won’t be offended or upset.  

September, 2026

Arden was no stranger to the fact that her entire world could change in a matter of minutes. The lightning strike, her mother’s death, that fateful gubernatorial debate – each had heralded new epochs in her life. But even with all of that previous experience, this particular set of minutes still managed to surprise her.

It was the first time she’d been speechless on camera, knowing that tears would begin pouring if she even tried to make use of her vocal cords. Ellen had covered for her admirably, but Arden’s palms were still sweating when she left an hour later.

She pulled out of the studio parking lot, punching buttons on the LED display of the dash.

Dialing.

A repetitive dulcet tone echoed through the vehicle.

“Arden?” her husband’s voice broke through the speakers and the tears threatened to rise again.

“Jaime, where are you?” she managed faintly, blasting the air conditioner in an effort to preserve her composure.

“In my workshop. Are you okay?” His strained concern brought her back to reality.

“I don’t know – but don’t worry about me. I’m not in danger or anything.” The sniffling wasn’t doing anything to add to her credibility, so she shifted tactics. “I just need to talk to you.”

“Sure. I’ll be home for another hour before I need to head over to the worksite for a meeting. You on your way back?”

“Reschedule it, babe,” she commanded gently, ignoring his question.

“Arden, you’re scaring me.” From the jostling on the other end, she could envision him pinning the phone close with his shoulder, hands occupied in searching for his truck keys.

The slam of the workshop door confirmed her suspicions.

“I’m almost home, Jaime. Stay there.”

His sigh dissipated through the vehicle.

“And I’m scaring me too…” the confession was almost a whisper. “But I think it’s a good scared.”

_____

Jaime was waiting on the front step when she arrived home, Opie sniffing at the bushes that lined the side of the house. As she rolled into the driveway, he ushered the dog inside and met her on the pavement. 

“You’re trembling, babe.” He held out a hand to steady her at the elbow, but she rushed on ahead.

“Jaime, I saw our kids.”

He almost tripped up the doorstep, leaving Arden grateful that she hadn’t taken the assistance he’d proffered. “What do you mean?”

“I know we haven’t talked about it in a while, but you know how we always said we wanted to adopt someday?”

He just gawked at her, dumbstruck.

“We were doing the Wednesday’s Child segment this morning and I don’t even know how to explain it, but the kids we featured in the video? They’re ours.” Taking a seat on the couch, she drew out the laptop from her satchel. “Here, I’ll show you.” 

For the space of several moments, the house was silent save for the sound of her fingers clicking on keys. Having found the webpage, she slid the device toward Jaime, reading the familiar text along with him. 

Sophia, age 11.  Sophia is a lively girl who enjoys spending time with her brothers and making new friends. She loves to sing and hopes to continue playing flute in band at her new school. When she grows up, Sophia wants to teach kindergarten or be a pediatrician.  

Alexander (Alex), Age 9. Alex is a talented artist who loves to draw and make things with his hands. He can be shy around people he doesn’t know, but he’s very sensitive and affectionate once he warms up to you. When he isn’t drawing, he loves to watch movies or build with LEGO.  

Will, Age 7. Will is very energetic and enjoys playing outside. His favorite sport is soccer and he dreams of one day playing professionally. He is friends with everyone and always has stories to tell. Will loves animals and hopes to have a pet of his own someday. 

Sophia, Alex, and Will are very close and need to be adopted together. They would do best in an active household that has a backyard so that they can spend time outside. They deserve an adoptive family that can provide structure, patience, and lots of love. 

When she came to the end, her eyes darted back to his face, heart thundering wildly at the conflict she saw there. She ran her hands against the skirt of her dress and waited for him to speak. 

“Arden.” Jaime shook his head and swore under his breath. Blinking, he pushed the laptop a few inches across the coffee table.

“See?” The tears were threatening again, called forth by the raw emotion in his tone. 

He nodded vigorously. 

“And there’s a video,” she continued, scrolling further down the page. “I can’t stop thinking about it.” 

Feeling Jaime tense beside her, she extended a palm toward him and clicked the play button. The musical interlude began, followed by June’s voiceover. 

Every week, we introduce you to a child in our community that needs a family. Today, we’ve chosen three very special siblings who need a forever home...

Arden’s eyes stung as she saw them again, heart skipping wildly just as it had done before. Curious as she was to know Jaime’s reaction, she couldn’t tear her attention away from the screen. 

These were their kids. 

There was no question in her mind. 

Jaime’s grip tightened around her fingers as the voiceover resumed. “How do we bring them home?”

Her finger trailed the trackpad, hovering over the link for more information. “I can fill out the preliminary paperwork tonight. After that, it’s going to be a lot of training and home visits and a lot of waiting. It’s not going to be easy.” 

Jaime pulled her hand to his lap, thumb tracing anxious circles through her skin. “When have you ever been known to back down from a challenge?”

“Basically never,” she laughed ironically. “But are we sure we’re ready for this?”

The enormity of the decision rolled over her like a freight train. Talking about wanting kids and actually pursuing them were two very different things. 

Jaime leaned back into the couch, and her heart beat erratically in the long seconds before his response. What if she was wrong? What if he didn’t feel as strongly as she did? It was early, sure, but despite her fears, Arden had her heart set on seeing more of those three small faces.

“We’ve been planning to have kids for forever.”

“We’ve just been waiting for the right time,” she added softly. 

“I think we’ve found it.”

She clicked to open the new tab. “This isn’t committing us to anything. At this point, it’s really just an expression of interest. If we change our minds later...”

Jaime recognized the implication. “I don’t think we will.” 

Releasing his hand, Arden lifted the computer to her knees. “Neither do I.” She started filling in the blanks slowly. She was an expert typist, but something about this particular form encouraged her to linger over every word.

Jaime shook her sleeve gently, the motion stirring her to look back at him. “Let’s talk for just a second.”

Her posture straightened, hands falling back to her sides. He changed his mind. Arden drew a shaky breath as she met his eyes. 

Jaime looked back steadily. “We’ve been doing the no-kids thing for a while now. Having three of them all at once is going to mean a lot of changes. We’re financially stable, so I’m not worried about that, but this isn’t just sponsoring them or visiting sometimes -- this is an all-day, every-day commitment.” 

Arden rubbed the pad of her thumb in contemplation. “We’re not exactly used to being home consistent hours, but I think we could change that. I’ll still have to go to the studio every morning, but I can be home around noon most days. Your schedule is fairly flexible and my dad and Julie are literally next door. I’m sure they could help fill in some gaps if we ever needed them to.” 

“It would still probably mean cutting back on our work hours.”

"I’m willing if it comes to that. I’ve got parental leave for several weeks and other than our time fliming, a lot of my work can be done remotely.” 

“You’re sure?” His velvet eyes shone with the question. 

“I’m sure. We have so much love to give, Jaime. Look at their faces and tell me that we could seriously say no to helping them have a family.” 

“We can’t. And I don’t want to.”

_____

November, 2026

“Are we crazy?” Arden asked as they walked out of their first training meeting several weeks later. “Are we even old enough to have an eleven year old?” 

Jaime’s head fell back with laughter. “We would have had to stop pretending not to be in love with each other much, much earlier than we did. Like, right after high-school graduation.” He flashed her a wink from across the hood of his car. “But I don’t think that’s going to matter too much. When I first moved in with Paula, I thought she was too old for me, just because she had a few gray hairs. Clearly, I was wrong,” he stated, fumbling in his pocket for the keys. “In the end, all that mattered was being part of a family.” 

“I hope our kids feel the same way.” 

“Even if they don’t, I think we’re doing the right thing.” 

“I do too.” 

He unlocked the door and paused in the seat before starting the ignition. “Growing up, I never really understood why Paula was so excited to have me come and live with her. I think I get it now.”

Arden fiddled with the zipper on her purse, her mind having traveled in a similar direction. “We didn’t even know they existed six weeks ago.” 

And now we can’t imagine life without them. 

His thought tallied with her own. “Exactly.”

“We’ve got a long road ahead of us,” she continued, thinking of all they’d heard. Ready as she was to have the kids under their roof, part of her was grateful that the drawn-out process gave them so many months to adjust. 

“I’m glad you’re the one taking this journey with me.” 

“I wouldn’t do this with anybody else.” Arden clasped his knee firmly, eyes on the road ahead. “Still want to go home and talk about remodeling?”

“Yep.” He slowed for the approaching stoplight. 

“You finally going to take out that wall downstairs that you’ve been complaining about for ages?”

Jaime took the opportunity to cast a scrutinizing eye over her features. “Open-concept designs are on their way out. And it’s a load-bearing wall anyway. We’ve talked about this.” 

Arden giggled into the sleeve of her jacket, arching a brow at her husband.

You’re just trying to wind me up, aren’t you?

She squeezed his knee in silent confirmation. 

_____

April, 2027

Mommy is changing the walls! 

With a start, Arden shifted the roller to one hand. Her other pinched the pause button on her earbuds, putting the podcast to an end. “Opie, how’d you get in here? You’re supposed to be in the kitchen.”

Jaime’s step sounded in the upstairs hallway. “That was me. I didn’t realize you were painting -- sorry.” He coaxed the animal back into the hall and locked him out. Once inside, he cast an appreciative gaze around the bedroom. “This is looking really good. Are you sure painting walls isn’t your day job?”

She rolled her eyes at the compliment, but couldn’t hide the curve of her lips as she continued working. “You should see me assemble furniture. I’ve got mad skills when it comes to flat packs. But enough of that. How was your meeting with city council?”

“Really good,” he told her with a dazed grin. “They want me to draw up plans for about a dozen more buildings downtown.” 

Arden watched him as she came to the end of a stroke. “That’s excellent news! Everyone at work raves about those gardens -- I told you they’d want more.” 

He raked a hand through his hair, but her eyes were drawn to the blush that spread across his cheeks. “I thought they might want another three or four, but a dozen? I’m going to have to contract some of the work out to get it done in time. It’s going to be a busy few weeks.” 

“Then let’s finish up in here and take the rest of the night to celebrate. We could go out for dinner or catch a movie if you want.” 

“We could. Or...”

She pulled the roller down in a long, even line, not daring to look away from the wall again. “Or?” she inquired along with the final swipe. Wall completed, Arden returned the roller to its tray and turned to face him. 

“I was just thinking that we’re running out of nights to have the whole house to ourselves. Maybe I’d rather just stay in with you.” With a mischievous slant to his smile, he worked the knot of her bandana loose and slipped it off her head. Fingers delving into her hair, Jaime’s lips met hers in a kiss that banished all other desires from her mind. 

Arden tangled her hands behind his neck, legs latching onto his waist as he hoisted her up by the thighs. “I like this plan.”

“Good.” He tightened his grip and began to move. Staggering into the hallway, Jaime paused so that she could pull the bedroom door to a close. I’m definitely not doing this with kids in the house.

“That’s probably wi---” The first in a trio of kisses to her throat brought her statement to a premature end. Arden was never sure how he managed kiss her and walk at the same time, but she wasn’t going to complain. As they continued making their way to the bedroom, she heard their door bounce against the wall with a hollow thunk. She flashed a sassy grin when he deposited her on the bed. “In a hurry?”

“We’ll have plenty of chances to sneak around later,” he promised as he joined her.

“Does that mean we can be as loud as we want tonight?” she asked coquettishly, reaching for the buttons on his shirt. 

It’s like you read my mind. 

_____

June, 2027

Jaime closed the bedroom door behind them, the click of the latch quickly giving way to an unnatural silence. Arden took a few tentative steps, crossing her arms in an attempt to relieve her feeling of uselessness. 

They rallied in the middle of the room, weary bodies falling to the mattress as they tried to absorb everything that had happened over the space of the last several hours. 

“I can’t --” 

“I just --” 

Words overlapping, they laughed at the sudden break to the stillness. 

“You go first,” Arden urged, tucking one hand up under her cheek as she studied her husband’s face. His eyes were sagging from lack of sleep, but she’d seen the spark of delight more times today than she could count. 

“It’s nothing I haven’t said before. But I can’t believe they’re actually here.” 

She mirrored his radiant grin, muscles straining with her thousandth smile of the day. “It still doesn’t feel real.” Arden scooted toward him, turning to her side so that her back was to his chest. “This isn’t like visiting them with the caseworker. We’re the ones responsible here.” Breathing sharply, a fear came to mind. “Do you think I should go and check on them to make sure they’re still breathing?”

Jaime pulled her close, the weight of his arms drawing away some of the anxiety that been solidifying since the morning.

“I’m sure they’re breathing,” he reassured, the words ghosting over her ear. “And they’re probably as exhausted as we are.”

“I know, but they’re in a new place. What if they can’t sleep?” Idly, she toyed with the smooth band on Jaime’s finger.

"They’ll learn to sleep here sooner or later. If we wake them up by going in to check on them, it’s just going to make adjusting even harder.”

She hummed her assent as her mind wandered. “Did you see how long Will sat and played with Opie? I’ve never heard that dog have such happy thoughts.” 

“Having kids around is going to be good for him. He was starting to get a little pudgy.” 

“Hey!”

“It’s true. He’s not a puppy anymore and Jinx doesn’t let him chase her around as much as she used to. It’ll be good for him to have someone to play with him more often.” 

“That’s probably true,” she conceded, falling silent once more. 

“We ought to start getting ready for bed.”

Arden nodded, but made no attempt to leave his embrace. “How long do you think it will take for this to start feeling real? Right now, it just feels like we’ve got guests in the other end of the house.” 

He sighed into her shoulder. “Probably sooner than we think. We’ll just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.”

End Note: I know that I cannot begin to capture what it’s like to be a foster or adoptive parent, especially since my writing is coming from research rather than lived experience. If you have a more complete understanding of fostering or adoption and have concerns about the way I’ve represented these topics, I would be forever grateful to hear your suggestions for improvement. : ) 

[kenkamishiro]

Ishida’s Q&A comments from YJ compilation, Part 8

Once again Ishida continuing to give answers that don’t actually answer the questions at all lol.

For anyone who doesn’t know about the relevant Questions to Ishida contest, please read here. You can start from Part 1 here.

The recent set of zakki:re and interview translations take a lot of time and effort, so if you enjoyed it please reblog or leave a like. Thank you!

2016

No. 1

Still 1 month left of this year! What’s something you still have left to do for 2015?

The storyboard.

Good luck.

No. 2

Sensei, please share with us a piece of news that was important to you in 2015!

I forget.

I wasn’t feeling so great in 2015.

No. 3

December 17 is Airplane Day! Now then, please share with us a memory you have that is related to airplanes!

I like the window seats.

Probably that time on the plane to head to the New Years party, when the staff was forced to stop because of me...

[T/N: Referring to his New Year’s party escapades in the volume 6 omake.]

No. 4-5

December 24 is Christmas Eve! Now then, please share with us a present that you want now as an adult!

I don’t need one since I’m an adult.

Even adults want presents too, you know!

No. 6-7

When you think of New Year’s Day...you think of New Year’s money!! Please share with us one way you spent the money you received from New Year’s when you were a child!

On games.

I was jealous of other people’s families since I didn’t have a lot of relatives.

No. 8

Sensei, please tell us your philosophy when it comes to food!

I think of meals as work.

I consider meals as work when I’m eating alone. When I go with people I eat whatever I like.

No. 9

January 28 is the birthday of the late Komatsu Sakyou! Now then, please share with us one of your favourite sci-fi works!

Gantz.

It’s not Star Wars...

No. 10

Please share with us one aspect or behaviour of the opposite sex that you unconsciously care about!

Their face.

How they use social media.

No. 11

Please share with us a Twitter account that you’re most interested in now!

Inagawa Junji-san’s for his ghost story tweets.

I find that accounts of artists are helpful for studying.

No. 12

Please share with us one of your favourite genres/videos that you end up watching on video streaming sites.

I got Netflix so I could watch Terrace House.

I still use it.

No. 13

If you were to ever film a Taiga drama who would you pick as the main character?

Siebold.

But why?

[T/N: A Taiga drama is a type of long-running TV drama period piece, often produced by NHK.]

No. 14

Graduation season is in full bloom! Now then, please share with us one of your favourite graduation songs!

“Lion” by Amano Tsuki.

Uh-huh, yup.

[T/N: "Lion” was one of the songs included in Ishida’s Spotify playlist.]

No. 15

Sensei, if you could decide the design of the 10,000 yen bill, who would it be a portrait of?

A cat.

A cat...?

No. 16

Today is Weekly Manga Day! Please tell us your number one favourite manga that is released weekly!!

I’m curious about what Ooima Yoshitoki-san will draw for her next manga.

Just how much do you care?

No. 17

Sensei, please share with us one thing that makes you go, “Man, I wanna go see this,” now?

Commentary on demonstration boards for shogi.

I went to one! Man, was it interesting.

No. 18

The final day of March is...Orchestra Day! Now then Sensei, please share with us a memory you have that’s related to musical instruments!

I bought a piano recently, and I’ve been playing it almost every day.

And I still play it.

No. 19

Entrance ceremony season has arrived! Now then, please tell us about a schoolteacher who’s left the biggest impression on you!

Some student hacked the school server and the teacher intercepted the culprit.

That’s the kind of school I attended.

No. 20

New dramas are starting one after another! Now then, please share with us a series that’s left the biggest impression on you among all the dramas that you’ve seen recently!

Right now I’m currently watching Mad Men.

I watched all of Mad Men. I can’t believe what happened at the end of “Meditations”...

[T/N: Not entirely sure what Ishida meant by that last line, but I think “Meditations” refers to the last episode of the second season, titled “Meditations in an Emergency”.]

No. 21

Sensei, please share with us one game that’s popular in your circle!

The staff and I often play Mafia a lot together.

Recently we’ve been playing table RPGs.

No. 22-23

Today is the day in which the elephant was first introduced to Japan! Now then, please share with us a person/thing/culture from overseas that you would like to come to Japan!

David Downton-san.

I don’t think that.

No. 24

It’s that time of year where it’s getting warmer even at night! Now then, please share with us something about hanging out at night that you still remember!

That time I went drinking at a bar in the outskirts of Tokyo with Takahashi Kunimitsu-kun.

I don’t want to go there again.

[T/N: Referring to that time in April 2016 where Ishida and Takahashi were at a bar and a middle-aged woman started hitting on Takahashi for 3 hours lol.]

No. 25

May 19 is Boxing Day! Now then Sensei, please share with us what you thought was the best match ever!

I like the match with David Haye.

Clearly it’s Darth Maul vs. Obi-Wan.

No. 26

Please share with us a story about a debacle that you or someone else caused at a drinking party!

The first time I met Nakayama Atsushi-sensei, I made so much of a fool of myself.

I was so piss-drunk that I fell asleep in the bathroom I think.

No. 27

When you think of June you think of June Bride! Now then Sensei, please share with us a story that you remember that has to do with weddings!

I drew the welcome board for my friend’s wedding.

That time I left early since I didn’t want to be late for my senpai’s wedding, but the flight ended up being delayed by over an hour...

No. 28

Sensei, please share with us one of your favourite literary works for children!

Ringing Bell by Yanase Takashi.

Stormy Night.

[T/N: Ringing Bell (Chirin no Suzu) was referenced in :re by Kaneki during Arima’s death scene. You can read about it here. Stormy Night also seems to have influenced :re.]

No. 29

June 16 is Wagashi Day! Now then Sensei, please share with us a confectionary that you like!

It’s not available in Fukuoka, but sweet mochi cake.

I want some now.

[T/N: Wagashi is traditional Japanese confectionaries.]

No. 30

June 23 is Olympics Day! Now then Sensei, please share with us a competition from the Olympics that you still remember to this day!

Uchimura Kouhei’s horizontal bar performance at the London Olympics.

I don’t really watch TV much, so questions like these are tough for me to answer.

No. 31

Please share with us your slogan for the latter half of 2016!

I won’t be late. I wasn’t able to keep that promise for the first half of the year.

Good luck with that.

No. 32

Sensei, please secretly tell us about one shop that you think is the King of Restaurants!

The Chinese restaurant by my previous workplace.

The stir-fried oyster with lettuce was perfection.

No. 33

Summer has arrived! Now then Sensei, what do you think of as “summer food”?

The spicy Mexican crispy noodle salad from Family Mart.

Ah that, that was so good. But I don’t see them sold anywhere now...

No. 34

If you could see exactly one historical event or incident live in person, what would you want to see?

I want to see Tezuka Osamu-sensei’s workplace.

The Perry Expedition.

[T/N: Tezuka is the “father of manga”, having drawn iconic manga like Astro Boy, Black Jack, and the currently airing anime Dororo.]

No. 35

When  you think of summer, you think of the ocean! If you could raise just one sea creature as a pet what would you choose?

An octopus.

So I can eat it.

No. 36

Sensei, please share with us the most nerve-wracking moment you’ve ever experienced in your life!

That time when I had to address a speech to over a hundred people for the launch of the anime.

Finishing the manuscript before the deadline of the final chapter.

No. 37-38

Sensei, please share with us a word or phrase that’s been stuck in your head recently!

“Pandas exploding in the wild.”

It’s from group_inou.

No. 39

Sensei, please share with us a small luxury that you use in your everyday life!

On days I stay up all night I buy carbonated drinks.

Feels kinda pathetic huh.

No. 40

The disbanding of idol groups nationwide is hot news, but please tell us about an experience that you’re still reluctant to part ways with.

A little while ago, I bought a copy of Jump every week for several months.

It was so I could read Hunter x Hunter.

[T/N: Question is most likely talking about the disbanding of the top male idol group SMAP which was announced around this time of the year.]

No. 41

Sensei, what item makes you think, “whoever invented this is a genius”?

The PC.

Amazon.

No. 42

What was the most interesting reception you’ve received up until now that has made you the happiest?

I got a shikishi from the staff to commemorate 100 chapters of being serialized. Though no one from that time is left anymore...

I also got a shikishi from the current staff. I was happy.

No. 43

Sensei, please share with us a moment that’s made you feel the generation gap the most!

Encountering people who were born in the 2000′s.

Sha-Mail.

No. 44

It’s Reader Autumn! Please tell us what you consider as your bible!

Recently it’s “Speak Aloud and Rhyme”.

Now it’s “Drawing the Morphological Human Body with Boxes and Cylinders”.

No. 45

Sensei, please tell us about a manga/anime/novel that you’d like to see as a movie!

I’m looking forward to “Satoshi: A Move for Tomorrow” being released this fall.

I missed the chance to watch it.

No. 46

Sensei, what were you most enthusiastic about playing with when you were in school?

Smash Bros.

Games that are updated periodically.

No. 47

Sensei, please tell us about something that you’ve used for many years and have been unable to throw away!!

I throw things away when I need to.

My Cintiq 22HD (DTK-2000/K1) LCD tablet. The size and responsiveness of it matches it better than the latest model.

No. 48

Sensei, when was the moment you felt you became independent?

If I’m living.

What? Probably when I got my pay cheque.

No. 49

November 2 is Family Culture Day! Sensei, please tell us about a rule that’s only found in your household!

Playing no more than 1 hour of games a day.

That’s proper.

No. 50

Sensei, please share with us any furniture/interior work that you want to replace right now!

The bookshelf.

Same.

No. 51

Sensei, please share with us the first CD you’ve ever bought!

Morishita Reika’s “Your Wind is Blowing” (most likely).

Most likely, yeah.

No. 52

This year has had various movies become blockbuster hits, but in your opinion what work do you consider as a hit?

It’s actually a drama, but Game of Thrones.

I recommend it.

previous || next

[valentinahart]

Remember how Darren is accused of hiding and being ashamed of his Filipino roots and his mother, until he won awards for ACS? Really?...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Glee star Darren Criss is proud to be pinoy and he is coming home to the Philippines!

December 21, 2010

[x]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Half-Pinoy Darren Criss of Glee on his "bizarre kinship" with the country, his favorite Filipino dishes and more

Catch him live at the Trinoma Activity Center on December 22, 7 p.m.

Greenbelt Mall concert soundcheck

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dec 21, 2010

Darren Criss, Glee’s out-and-proud gay student Blaine who made the world feel like they’ve been living a teenage dream within seconds of his TV show debut, is in Manila to perform in two Ayala Malls, last night at the Greenbelt 3 Park in Makati and tonight, 7 p.m. at the Trinoma Activity Center in Quezon City.

Though he is now more known for his Glee character, Criss was already enjoying a cult following before appearing on the hit musical TV show. Criss worked as an actor, singer, composer and songwriter on the viral Youtube videos A Very Potter Musical, A Very Potter Sequel and Me and My Dick along with his partners in StarKid Productions.A graduate of the University of Michigan with a degree in acting, he also came out with an EP titled Human, containing five acoustic songs he wrote, this year. 

SPOT.ph got a chance to spend a few minutes with the multi-hyphenated Irish-Filipino artist who gamely talked about his Pinoy side.

We saw your Tweet ("Goin back to the Philippines... Sweet! So pumped! Wonder if they’ll serve lumpia on the plane...") Is lumpia your favorite Filipino dish? What else do you like?

There was no lumpia on the plane, unfortunately. Yeah, that’s the first thing that I’ll say. I’m a seasoned Filipino food eater. The first thing (I thought) when I landed was I want my lumpia, pancit, cassava cake, bibingka, adobo, everything, all at the same time.

I don’t know if we have the same kind of aunts and uncles but all of my aunts are like, "Darren, eat! You’re so thin; eat!"

So it’s always, always food... (Now,) I have my calamansi juice which is good for my throat.

Do you know any Filipino traditions?

As much as I want to say-you know, because I’m in the Philippines-that I lived a very close life to the Philippines, that’s really not the case.

My mom’s the youngest of seven. She’s Cebuano. She was born and raised here, and she came to the States looking for a different life... But that’s not to say-I don’t want to get this confused-that she disavowed Filipino culture. But she’s very much an American. So aside from (having) adobo... or having my Filipino family over, I can’t say (we have) other Filipino traditions other than having Filipino (food). To me, that’s tradition enough. My favorite thing about being Filipino is just having Filipino family and relations, and the grander community. 

(Also), there are just little things like really silly Filipino jokes-puns and a lot of Taglish jokes... I can’t think of any, but you know what I’m talking about, right? They all have to do with puns on the Filipino accent.

Have you been to the Philippines before?

This is my third time in the Philippines with (my) family. I was here in January 2008, almost three years ago. My cousin and aunts live in Makati.

My aunt has a restaurant called Lemuria in (Quezon City). [gorgeous place] My cousin got married in San Antonio Church... We (also) spent some time in Puerto Galera and Cebu because that’s where my mom was from.

Before that, I came to Manila when I was very young so I wasn’t very conscious of where I was. It’s interesting coming back here under very different circumstances... I’m not from the Philippines but I have this bizarre kinship (with the country). As soon as I got off the plane, I was like, "Ah, this is me back in the Philippines." I love this place. It’s cool. Whatever Filipino blood (I have) in me, it’s very happy to be here.

[x]

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Darren Criss Performs Live for Fans in Manila

 posted DECEMBER 26, 2010

TriNoma, Ayala Mall concert stage

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Fellow Dalton Warbler Telly Leung ("Rent", "Flower Drum Song") replied via Twitter to BroadwayWorld.com (Philippines) that said "you're going to enjoy the show. Darren is a stellar performer" as we were on our way to cover Darren Criss's ("A Very Potter Musical") first ever live performance at the TriNoma, Ayala Mall three days before Christmas. 

Criss, who is half Filipino and half Irish, greeted the packed audience (made up of young screaming fans; some parents in tow) with "Magandang Gabi" (which means "good evening" in Filipino) before launching into "I'll Make A Man Out Of You" from the Disney animated film "Mulan" while strumming the guitar.

"It's good to be back in Manila among family and friends. For those of you who don't know me I am Darren Criss, I play music a lot. I have a little EP (extended play) that's called 'Human'. It's very acoustic and simple," shared the charmer before launching into "Jealousy", "Human" and "Not Alone"-- some of the versatile stage and TV star's original tunes.

Criss, who has always had a penchant for singing Disney songs, delivered his own rendition of "Little Mermaid's" "Part Of Your World", which he shared is one of his favorite songs. He also sang "Somewhere Over The Rainbow", a song Darren opined that is one of the best songs in the world. In between sets, Darren goofily joked that his green thermal sweatshirt made him sweat and was inappropriate for the Philippines's tropical climate, but that he was still having a lot of fun, nonetheless.

Though he was enjoying a measure of success through "A Very Potter Musical", which went viral in July 2009 with more than two million hits, Darren is more popularly known to the fans of hit US television series "Glee" as Blaine Anderson, the confidante and potential love interest of the show's lone gay character, Kurt Hummel.  (more pics and rest of article continued at link) 

-- broadwayworld.com [x]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Glee’s Darren Criss treats fans to a Merry Criss-mas indeed at Trinoma

See photos and videos from the multi-hyphenated artist’s one-man show.

Dec 22, 2010

In front of hundreds of spectators, Darren Criss of Glee and A Very Potter Musical immediately started off his second show in Manila last night, as soon as he stepped onto the Trinoma Activity Center stage. "Let’s get down to business," the Irish-Filipino artist sang, covering "I’ll Make a Man Out of You" from the soundtrack of Disney’s Mulan. The actor-singer-composer-songwriter owned the stage that night, as he entertained the crowd for about an hour by himself, alternating between playing the guitar and the keyboard. The show was the essence of casual, Criss admitting when he played songs wrong, making up a part of the playlist on the spot, and forgetting his own lyrics (which he is charmingly known for). He treated Gleeks to two of the three songs he performed in the TV musical show; he picked up the guitar for "Soul Sister," and for the encore, he teased the audience with a few notes on the keyboard before playing "Teenage Dream."

He showed plenty of love for StarKid fans, playing songs from its theater productions like "Granger Danger," "The Coolest Girl" and "No Way." And, because he said he heard some of the audience members singing a bit of "Goin’ Back to Hogwarts" before the show, he performed practically the whole song. (The official track is almost 10 minutes long.) "There’s a reason I don’t do that that often but I hope you enjoyed it," he said. Judging from the roaring response from the audience-which includes at least two bubbly groups dressed in Criss’ signature pink-they probably found it totally awesome. Criss also played all of his self-written songs in the EP Human released this year: "Sami," "Not Alone," "Human," "Jealousy" and "Don’t You." Any fan of his would know-and anyone who isn’t would be pleased to know-that Criss likes his Disney songs. So it was only natural for him to throw into his packed playlist "Part of your World" from The Little Mermaid and "Go the Distance" from Hercules.

Capping off a surprisingly long show, Criss sent his love and season’s greetings to Filipinos with "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

December 2010 - Interview with SPOT.ph, Manila

 (He sounds like he has a cold)

Darren Criss-Philippines December 2010 (Full Performances + Extras) length 2 hours

This video consists of clips from Darren's visit to the Philippines in December 2010, including his performances at both Greenbelt & Trinoma, soundcheck, interview, & meet and greet with fans.

[thereunionvii]

Operation Reunion -The Fight for FFVIIR Legacy Cast FAQ

Hi there. I'm glad you're here. My name is Kelsey and I am a part of this wonderful movement known as Operation Reunion -a passionate, dedicated group of Final Fantasy 7 fans aiming to return the original English voice cast/our beloved VAs back to the remake. I’ll be more than happy to answer some of the more common questions that have come our way.

Q: Why are you doing this?

A: I'm a fan that loves Final Fantasy. Final Fantasy 7 in particular holds a special place in my heart. The original FF7 English voice cast introduced in Advent Children, Dirge of Cerberus, and Crisis Core are utterly PHENOMENAL. Many of these same VAs have been in other series I've grown with and they have been near and dear to me for a long time. They are talented and they clearly GET these FF7 characters to where they've always been just as irreplaceable as the original Japanese cast.

Q: Even Steve Burton?

A: YES. Absolutely. I'm not even a General Hospital fan (and that's putting it nicely) but Steve has always blown me away as Cloud. He just IS Cloud. He's played Cloud for almost 20 years, that doesn't happen if you aren't good and don't have the fan support. A lot of us here were ecstatic to have the English cast return for the remake.  

Q: So, obviously they're not in the remake now.  Did they just not want to do it?

A: Actually. . .no. . .it's far more complicated than that. . .The original EN and JP cast was always planned to return. In 2015 Gematsu interviews, producer Yoshinori Kitase and director Tetsuya Nomura repeated that the only voices that were left undecided at the moment were the ones that never had VAs such as Biggs, Wedge, Jessie, etc. In the 2017 trailer, Steve Burton and Beau Billingslea (Barret) are clearly still there. Steve Burton and George Newbern (Sephiroth) even returned for Dissidia NT only last year. Quinton Flynn (Reno and Axel (Kingdom Hearts) ) even returned just this year for Kingdom Hearts 3.

Despite all that, Kitase, who is not even the director and has no control over the localization made the absolutely feckless, unwarranted, and disrespectful decision to remove the entire cast-from what it seems right before the State of Play trailer. None of the actors were ever told they were being replaced and only found out along with the rest of us this was even happening. Some like Quinton Flynn and Crispin Freeman are STILL not even sure they'll be asked back for the remake.  To all of them, this change was just as much as a shock, and they were all very happy, willing, and beyond excited to come back as well. . .

Q: Won't the original cast at least be back for side projects? Kitase said so. . . .

A: Yes, Kitase claims they are keeping this "legacy" cast for future side projects but even if that were the case, WHAT side projects? Kingdom Hearts and Dissidia are pretty much done. Square has no control over Smash Bros. either. . .Everybody is busy with the FF7 remake and then the eventual FF8 remaster. There are ZERO "side projects" planned at the moment. Kitase's statements are just the "polite" way of confirming an entire cast was replaced without notice, even to the VAs themselves. . .

Q: Didn't the original FF7 not have voice acting?

A: Aww.. . .you're cute. . .Let's be real though. The remake was always going to have voice acting. Voice acting is a staple of 99% of major video game releases. Square has done voice acting for FF ever since FF10. And Square has always provided an English dub along with the original Japanese cast.

Q: Shouldn't we get a fresh, new experience with new VAs? This IS a remake. . . .

A: The original Japanese voice cast has ALWAYS stayed the same. The official Japanese cast list has never changed for anything FF7-related. Japan gets to keep all their original voice cast for the remake. It was only the English cast that got the abrupt and rude dismissal. . .

Q: I don't know, is it just too late to change this? The new VAs must be too far along. . .

A: Nope. Based on all existing evidence so far, and the fact NONE of the original VAs were made aware that they were being replaced, this change just happened. Likely just before the State of Play trailer. So at most, probably a mere 2-3 months ago. . .

Q: Did Square ever say anything about this beforehand?

A: No. Aside from a deliberately veiled 2017 interview https://www.siliconera.com/2017/02/22/final-fantasy-vii-remakes-voicing-main-story-pretty-much-completed/ that could have meant just about anything (and take a note that it says the voice acting is pretty much finished at this point. . .), Square gave ZERO warning to either the fans or the cast that this was going to happen. Even after the State of Play trailer, Square refused to give any official announcement over a new cast until E3, a mere two weeks ago. . .

Q: Why haven't I heard anything about this from Kotaku/GameInformer/Gamespot/IGN/my favorite video game news publication? Didn't you try to contact them?

A: Yes. I have tried. Several times already. So have several people from Operation Reunion. We haven't heard a response from anyone and the VA announcement rarely gets a passing glance in these publications as well. . .

Q: Have you tried Youtube? What about my favorite Youtuber who LOVES Final Fantasy? Why haven't they talked about it?

A: Beats me. . .Without naming anyone, I and several other members tried to get in contact with several popular Youtubers who are clear FF7 fans. The clear answer is that most of them are simply not interested, even if it might of interest to their fans. However, we are currently working on our own Youtube channel so stay tuned for some updates and more fun on that one.

Q: Okay. . .but why don't you give the new cast a chance?

A: Believe me, neither I nor anyone from Operation Reunion hold any malice towards the new cast. For the record, I actually kind of liked some of them. . .We have NOT, do not, or will not support, encourage, or endorse ANYONE to go out of their way to attack the new cast. . .HOWEVER. . .that doesn't change the fact the original English voice cast was always going to return, they always wanted to return, and Square replaced them at the very last minute. . .And that the original English cast deserves to be a part of the remake just as much as the original Japanese cast. . .

Q: But. . . what's done is done right? I mean, Capcom keeps replacing Resident Evil voice actors? Kojima replaced David Hayter as Snake for the last true Metal Gear titles. . .

A: Just because other people have done this sort of thing before doesn't make it okay. It will never be okay. I never forgave Capcom for sacking Paul Mercier, my favorite Leon VA. Nor when they fired Sally Cahill (Ada Wong), and refused to bring back Alyson Court, the ONLY voice for Claire since the beginning, for the RE2 remake because they didn't want to pay her more money, and found an actress who would be willing to do it cheap-which is a disrespectful to both those women. . .

What Kojima did to David Hayter, who will ALWAYS be Snake and has been Snake since Day One of Metal Gear Solid, was always unforgivable as well. . .Honestly, the Metal Gear fans should have rallied harder to bring Hayter back. THAT should have been the tipping point. . . but that is another matter. . .

But what Square did to their FF7 English voice cast. .. that is simply a new level of low in my eyes. . .This is replacing an ENTIRE CAST without warning and without their knowledge in the matter. . . An entire cast that has been loved and adored by fans for over a decade now. . .

As for "what's done is done". . .NO.  . .The English voice actors always should come back. And given that the remake is split into multiple installments, it is a fairly easy fix for Square to bring them back. Which is what this petition is for. . .

Q: But. . .that's unprecedented?!?!?!

A: Quite. But it never should have happened where the English cast was replaced. I will refer to this awesome comment left by the remarkable Fidgety Aura: "If Netflix can manage two or more audio options for languages I'm sure the developers can figure this out to let the new cast shine for newer fans without disrespecting the original English cast or all the English speaking fans."

The remake is slated to have a dual audio feature, it is not out of Square Enix's power to bring back the old LEGACY cast.

Q: But. . .isn't it just a "voice" after all?

A: NO. Voice actors are just as important and just as worthy of respect and recognition as any other actor. (Kotaku may not think so https://kotaku.com/why-excellent-video-game-voice-actors-cant-or-shouldnt-5821597.) English dub anime/video game VAs still don't get the credit, appreciation, and respect their deserve either. . .And that just finally needs to change. . .Replacing an entire cast is a VERY dangerous and slippery message to send to the video game industry-that any and all of our beloved VAs, any ACTORS are simply "disposable" at any given moment. . .

Q: Why don't you just stick to the sub?

A: Doesn't change anything. . .A lot of people love the original English cast as is and still want them back. Nor does that change what Square did to them. . .They always deserved to be a part of this remake. . .And they deserve to be brought back. . .

Q: But do the VAs even want to come back?

A: Yes. Both Quinton Flynn and Crispin Freeman have stated that they'd love nothing more than to come for some more Reno and Rude. Steve Blum has said he would love to come back-he "loves Vincent." George Newbern has said he's "always ready to assist if Square changes their minds." Steve Burton, Jamieson Price (Reeve), and Wally Wingert (Rufus) have all given support to this petition in some way. . .These VAs were just as excited to come back for the remake as we were. . .They still want to come back if given the opportunity. And they deserve every opportunity to come back. . .

Q: What can I do to help?

A: We have a petition to bring back the original English cast like they were always supposed to. . .If this matters as much to you as it does to us, please take a moment of your time to sign the petition. Share the petition with everyone you know. Keep tweeting Square Enix's official Twitter channels and comment on their Facebook pages that you want this to happen. . .Send the message that this is NOT OKAY and we all want our beloved voice actors back. Keep contacting your favorite Youtubers to do a video on this and keep contacting you favorite video game news publications to cover this story. We definitely have some fun things planned once we reach 777 and 1,000 signatures so stay tuned.

Q: But what can *I* really do? I'm. . .me. . .and Square is. . .Square. . .

A: A lot more than you give yourself credit for, actually. As a fan, it is your right to voice when you know something is just not right. No one can ever take that away from you. As a fan, you deserve respect, even to yourself. As for Square, they are never infallible nor impervious to criticism. If you are not happy with Square, you have the right to say, "NO. I do not like this. . .Here's why. . ." If you even just get involved for one person, do it for YOURSELF. Make Square respect you.

Q: Can I offer any ideas/suggestions that might help?

A: Oh, YES. Absolutely. Any new ideas/suggestions are always encouraged. This is a fan group made up of FANS, so there's nothing wrong with having a little fun with this along the way. . .And we're always happy to have anyone on board.

 Thank you everyone for all your support, kindness, dedication, and just overall awesomeness. . .And anyone who wants to join. . .Welcome, and we're always happy to have you. . .Let's make this happen. . .

[stokan]

Top 20 Things of 2018

1.) Beychella How do you make a long awaited surprise album between two of the biggest names in music that is also one of the year’s best feel like complete afterthought? Set the bar as high as Beyonce’s Coachella appearance.

First awards show performances, then music videos, now music festival gigs: is there anything that Beyonce CAN’T turn into high art?

2.) Explained by Vox The most exciting development in the world of television in 2018 was radically breaking the rules on episodes length. We saw 30 minute dramas, and hour long comedies. We got shows like Maniac where episodes were as long as 49 minutes and as short as 27 minutes. Now television creators can tell exactly the stories they want to tell in however much time they want to tell them in. And perhaps nowhere were these loosened restrictions taken better advantage than Explained, Vox’s documentary series for Netflix. Many topics cant sustain a full length documentary, but, say, 14 minutes explaining cryptocurrency to me? Sure! 17 minutes on designer DNA? Sounds great! 20 minutes on the origins of K-Pop? How do you say “yes please” in Korean? Every episode has a different narrator, a different look, a different feel, and varies wildly in subject matter. Yet they are all exactly the length they need to be. The only thing left I really need explained to me is why no one thought to make this series before.

3.) Serial Season 3 If Explained was a great example of the latest evolution in television, then the new season of Serial is at the front line of the evolution of our newest artistic medium: podcasts. Serial’s third season was nothing like its second, which was in turn nothing like its first. It’s a series still figuring out what it CAN be, while now defining forever what it NEEDS to be. Serial this year explained a deeply important topic in a way that wouldn’t have been possible through any other medium. They always say if you’re a writer you have to ask yourself what form of writing your idea needs to be. Don’t write a play that’s really a TV show, or a movie that should be a book. And now we can add to that don’t make a TV series that’s really a podcast. As Homecoming proved this year, the two mediums are very different and better equipped to tell different stories. And after hearing Serial Season Three I can’t imagine there will ever be a better way to explore the current American criminal justice system. It was 2018’s version of Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle. It may not change national food safety standards, but it hopefully will do something perhaps even more important: it will make us never again take lightly the election of local judges and sheriffs. It was a podcast for the heart, the head, and the time capsule.

4.) Black Mirror - “Hang the DJ” I know this technically came out December 29th 2017 but I’m counting it here because nothing was more 2018 than this. The sadness, the isolation, the uncertainty, the living in a world you don’t understand the rules of anymore, the unfairness of modern life, but the ultimate perseverance of hope and love: it’s all there in the best episode of Black Mirror’s third season. It made me cry out of sadness and happiness in equal measure. Could anything be more 2018 than that?

5.) Kesha at the Grammys Ok so maybe one thing was more 2018.

The Grammys, an organization led by Neil Portnow, a man who said this year that “women need to step up”, and an organization that didn’t offer its one female Album of the Year nominee a solo performance spot, also offered us 2018’s most powerful show of female solidarity and one of the most moving moments of the Me Too era. It all amounted to the perfect encapsulation of this year. Kesha scream crying and then collapsing into a sea of strong supportive women WAS 2018.

6.) Eighth Grade My favorite movie of the year was also the year’s best horror movie. It was so real, and visceral, and intense, and frightening that at times I literally had to remind myself to breathe. I watched at least half the movie through my fingers and on the edge of my seat. Proving what everyone who has lived through it already knows: there’s nothing in the world more terrifying than being in junior high.

7.) Big Mouth Speaking of junior high, the other side of the pain and trauma of growing up is humor, so why it took this long for someone to make a comedy series explicitly about puberty is beyond me. I guess, of course, making a show like this work is a fine needle to thread. It wouldn’t work without being animated and being on a streaming service that lets them go as far as they did. It wouldn’t work without writing that is both laugh out loud funny and deeply compassionate and human in equal measure. And it wouldn’t work without one of the best voice casts on TV, including a true tour de force from Maya Rudolph. But work does it ever. In a just world junior high health class homework would be simply watching this show.

8.) Emma Gonzalez speech Here’s how long 2018 was: this was from 2018.

Finishing off my personal 2018 Growing Up Trifecta is the most powerful 12 minutes of the year. That high school students could be more inspiring, articulate, and better leaders than the President of the United States is sadly, at this point, a given. But that they are now more effective and efficient than him at starting genuine political movements still feels revolutionary. The kids are our future, and our future has never looked brighter.

9.) Childish Gambino - “This is America” video 100 years from now if theres only one cultural artifact that still exists and is still remembered from 2018 this will be it. A “you know where you were the first time you saw it” level cultural event. No song will ever be more closely associated with its music video, and no music video will ever be more of an avatar for an entire cultural moment than this. THIS is, of course, a truly shocking and horrifying (in a good way) music video from the former fifth lead of the TV show Community. A profound and brilliant piece of art underscored by a fun-sounding dance song. The year’s most complex and important social-political message delivered in 4 minutes via YouTube. This is America indeed.

10.) Drake - “God’s Plan” video While Donald Glover may have perfected the music video as art form, it goes without saying that long ago Drake mastered the music video as promotional tool. And in that sense the music video for “God’s Plan” seems like minor failure. It seemed to sort of come and go from the culture, especially in light of the success of the In My Feelings Challenge. But for me, there was nothing more heartwarming and human this year than watching Drake give away almost a million dollars to strangers. It was an idea so simple it’s shocking no one had ever done it before. And so affecting I was shocked it didn’t seem to penetrate the public consciousness more. There’s so much going on at all times now it’s hard for anything to truly break through all the noise, but this really deserved to. It’s impossible to watch this without smiling, and is there anything 2018 needed more than that?

11.) Nanette The dumbest debate this year was whether or not Nanette was stand up. Form and genre aren’t delineators still worth discussing in 2018. It’s now only about the message and the messenger, everything else is just details. An important fresh voice, the most timely, and sadly, timeless message imaginable, delivered in a way that reached and deeply affected seemingly every person you knew? What is there to debate? Nanette may or may not be stand up comedy, but it’s definitely RISE UP comedy. And in the end, that’s all that matters.

12.) Amber Says What Please click on the link above. The final two minutes are by far the best comedy of 2018. It still makes me laugh so hard that it causes me physical pain. You’ve been warned.

13.) A Star is Born trailers A Star is Born is maybe a perfect film. The performances, the songs, the direction, the fact that there’s literally no human being on earth who could have played her part and made the movie work like it did other than Lady Gaga. It was all perfect. But there was actually something better than watching A Star is Born: anticipating watching a A Star is Born. Before the first A Star is Born trailer came out I thought the whole project sounded dumb and unnecessary. After I finished watching the first trailer I knew I was going to see A Star is Born opening night. True story: I was at a movie where the same A Star is Born trailer got played three times in a row for some reason. And it was riveting every time. There was no grumbling at all in the audience, and I for one was sad when it didn’t replay a fourth time. So as much as I loved A Star is Born what I would really love is be able to still want to see A Star is Born for the first time.

14.) Ariana Grande - “thank u, next” It’s genuinely impressive that a song released in November could be the song I listened to by far the most this year. Somehow it took less than two months for this song to feel completely ubiquitous. Hell, even the PHRASE “thank u, next” is omnipresent now. Forget Song of the Summer, this was maybe our first Song of the Winter. Which is perfect because has a hit pop song ever sounded more winter? It’s cold, but it keeps you warm. It’s the sadness of the holidays with the life reaffirming joy of the holiday season. It’s a sweater for you to wear on the dance floor. And it’s clearly exactly the song so many of us needed. No matter how many times I’ve heard it (and as I said, I’ve listened to it, uh, A LOT) its existence feels like a holiday miracle. Having a new and fresh take on the breakup song in the year 2018? That shit IS amazing.

15.) The proposal at the Emmys This is literally the only thing anyone remembers about this year’s Emmys. It was amazing, and special, and made anyone who watched it believe in true love. But for me it still cant touch the most heart-melting awards show moment of all time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lCJrku4fSxk

(Was this whole entry just an excuse to link to one of my absolute favorite YouTube clips? Perhaps.)

16.) Succession When I saw the promos for Succession I literally made the sound UGH out loud. The last thing the world needs is another show about rich white people behaving badly, I thought. How could there possibly be anything original left to say on that topic? Who on earth is still greenlighting shows like this in The Year of our Lord 2018?

People much smarter than I am clearly, that’s who.

Because from writing, acting, production design, direction - whatever element you want to focus on - this was the best and most exciting new show of 2018 by a wide margin. People have been saying for years that TV is the new movies; this show made movies look like the old TV. It was the most vibrant and perfectly crafted big budget feature film of 2018, stretched out over 8 episodes on HBO. Did it have anything new and important to say about the world? Probably not. And turns out, I couldn’t have cared less. The phrase compulsively watchable might have been invented just to describe the world these actors and writers created. I would watch the team involved with this show dry paint. 

17.) Angels in America on Broadway Angels in America is the best play of the past 30 years and its not even close. So the fact that it would get a production that’s this good is just unfair for everyone else on this planet who makes theater. It was so good it made all other plays I’ve seen since seem small and cheap and unimportant. It was such a towering achievement that it has made the entire rest of theater as an art form seem insignificant by comparison. When you hear old people talk about seeing Brando in Streetcar or watching the original production of Death of Salesman I now can relate to what they are talking about. I’ll be thinking about Andrew Garfield’s final monologue for the rest of my life. It was unfair that we the audience had to all leave the theater when the lights finally came up and that we couldn’t all just live in that feeling forever. The eight hours I spent watching this play are what art is all about.

18.) Jesse Plemons in Game Night If dying is easy, and comedy is hard, then they should cancel the Oscars and give Jesse Plemmons Best Supporting Actor right now for his work in Game Night. And ok, maybe it wasn’t the BEST performance of 2018, but it was DEFINITELY the best performance relative to what it needed to be. It should have been a dumb throwaway part in a big-budget mainstream ensemble comedy. But Jesse Plemmons crafted a performance so strange and singular and memorable that it elevated the entire movie into something way better than I’m sure even its creators expected. I legitimately don’t know how everyone didn’t break in every one of his scenes. It’s a master class in the comedic power of silence. It should be studied in acting classes everywhere. And 20 years from now when Game Night is considered a comedy classic, Jesse Plemmons will be the main reason why. You heard it here first.

19.) The 1975 - A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships Saxophones? Electric guitar solos? Backing choirs? A concept album about being uncomfortable with the internet? Dumb pretentious song titles? This album couldn’t be any more in my wheelhouse if I made it myself. Its best song is basically a modern reimagining of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” for God’s sake!

For me this wasn’t just an album, it was an experience. It was big music to get lost inside of. And I did. At age 36 it’s nice to know that sometimes I can still feel 16. And it’s fitting that a band named The 1975 would be the ones to make music that’s so transporting.

20.) Emma Stone Ok so as someone who once argued in this very space that Emma Stone deserved an Oscar nomination for Easy A, it’s clear I’m pretty deep in the tank for Emma Stone. But even an Emma Stone hater would have to admit than this was a banner year for Emma Stone. Signing up for the insane acting challenge that was Maniac and completely acing it while totally exposing two-time Oscar nominee Jonah Hill in the process? Going toe to toe with Olivia Colman in the battle of the best acting performances of the year in The Favourite? Coming across as more charming than Jennifer freaking Lawrence ?!?

2018 was Emma Stone’s year, we were all just living in it.