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softieteez · 3 years

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backstory

warning: death, cancer, drinking, mental abuse, some physical abuse, cussing, crying, anxiety attacks, suicidal thoughts, child neglect

genre: angst

summary: before ivy even got to her teen years, things were more difficult than most adults lives. from losing her dad, to experiencing neglect.

a/n: ivy’s story is pretty deep. feel free to skip this post if you are triggered by anything listed. also i’ll be using her birth name a lot throughout this story.

languages: normal = english. italic = korean

olivia min was born june 4, 2001 in michigan. she is the youngest of three siblings. miya, the oldest, was born february 20, 1997. and austin, the middle child, was born august 4, 1999.

growing up, olivia had an amazing relationship with her family members. her parents were always really supportive of anything she wanted to do. and her siblings, were annoying, but they all love each other so much. the family was pretty middle class, maybe more upper middle class. they had enough money to buy nice things and go on trips, which was nice and it gave the kids experiences they’d always remember.

when she was a baby, the families friend jax, had given her the nickname ‘ivy.’ the name stuck with him and eventually spread to friends at school. but her family members always called her olivia or jisoo, her korean name.

in school she was a social butterfly, running around recess practically collecting friends like they were collectors items. and because of her loving nature, no one could say no. she’s also very smart, she’s always had straight a’s and was usually willing to participate in class. teacher would say she was a sweet and smart little girl, and of course she could make the class burst into giggles at any second.

olivia started dancing at the young age of 4 when her parents enrolled her into dance classes. there, she met new friends and became one of the best youth dancers in their town.

her grandparents lived in ohio, which meant a lot of the times they would travel there for the holidays. olivia had a friend named aggy that lived there.

aggy lived next door to ivy’s grandparents. she was diagnosed with leukemia only five months before meeting the family, this was when ivy was maybe 7 years old.

through the years, ivy excelled in everything from piano lessons that she started when she was 5, to even cooking. she was a cheerful and happy little girl. until she reached age 9 when her dad was diagnosed with lung cancer.

this was a huge reality hit. she didn’t really understand it though, her dad was healthy. until he wasn’t. she remembers that day so clearly

“where’s mom and dad?” olivia asked walking into the kitchen and seeing her sister sitting next to their sleeping brother on the couch

“hospital, grandma and grandpa will be here in a few hours. for now our neighbors are gonna look after us”

“hospital? but why?” the little girl tilted her head

“i don’t know olivia. go back to sleep it’s early” miya did know, she saw her dad getting worse and worse as the months went on. but the last thing anyone wanted to do was worry anymore people. especially austin and olivia.

“okay…” she responded and went back toward her bedroom.

a few hours later she woke up to her grandma shaking her awake “wake up olivia. grandpa and i brought lunch.” the elderly woman spoke

olivia smiled at her grandmother as she sat up and stretched. the girl walked to the kitchen.

she still remembers all the yummy food her grandparents made, now knowing it was out of grief. later that night was when her parents revealed the truth to the kids.

and suddenly her whole world collapsed.

she would miss dance class and sometimes even school because her father would be in the hospital. because her mom and dad were always gone, she and her other siblings were expected to help around the house. occasionally with their grandparent by their side.

when she turned 10, she didn’t have much of a birthday blow out. and her present was some nail polish because that was all her family could afford at the time. when she turned 11, they spent her birthday in the hospital. her dads condition became so much worse that he wasn’t able to leave the hospital.

“i’m sorry you have to spend your birthday like this livvy” her dad held her had. his skin was paler than usual. colder too.

“it’s okay dad, i’m just happy we’re all here” she smiled as she held back tears. but her dad knew she wanted to cry.

“me and your mom got you something” he smiled and looked at his wife. the woman smiled sadly and reach in her purse to pull out a small purple box.

olivia grabbed the box from her mothers hand and opened it slowly. a beautiful butterfly necklace was revealed.

“it took a little while for us to find the perfect one” her moms sniffled. “we wanted you to love it”

thinking back on that moment. ivy now understood they wanted it to be special because it would be the last gift she would ever receive from her father.

“thank you mommy. thank you daddy” she whispered and pecked her dads forehead.

sadly, on june 29, her father passed away in the middle of the night. for some reason, her brain blocks this moment out. it’s all a blur.

her and her sister were sleeping on the little couch the nurses had set up and her brother was laying on the sleeping bag he had brought on the floor. it happened so suddenly. she woke up to her mom hysterically crying and weeping.

her brother and sister were frantic as nurses guided them three of them out of the room. but she does remember the last look she had at her dad.

he didn’t look real, more like a painting. or a sculpture maybe. his skin was practically white and his body was lifeless.

her whole family was in a depression, especially her mom. after losing her husband, she started drinking to numb the pain.

her grandparents left ohio and went back to korea completely unannounced. it was up to miya and austin to take care of themselves, each other, and of course olivia.

after a month of her fathers passing. the family had got a call from aggy’s mom informing them that aggy passed away july 25. so now she lost her dad and her best friend. along with that her mom isn’t stable enough to take care of her and her siblings, and her grandparents were m.i.a.

when she turned 12, that’s when her moms drinking got worse. she was living off of beer and tv dinners. she was also now mentally abusive toward her children.

austin became the child that started work. he would work late at night and then go to school all day. he was responsible for the families income at age 14.

miya was rarely ever home as well, but she was gone to escape their mom. she would rebel, hang out with her boyfriend, who ivy later found out was physically abusive.

then ivy was the kid that did the chores. she would also clean the neighbors houses to help pay her dance fees. the neighbors would always feel bad so they’d usually give her $30 for each chore she did. that was barely enough though.

and somehow, none of their friends ever noticed anything. except for austin’s, he’s always shut down plans to work and was overly tired all the time. but the friends did start noticing behavior changes

ivy became really depressed and spent most of her days just waiting for them to end.

the family got some income from the bank after the fathers passing. the kids were all in his will, earning $114k each. but they wouldn’t receive that until age 18.

around this time, ivy got into contact with her grandparent. begging day after day to move their and live out her dream of being an idol. her siblings would even call and beg the grandparents to let her, not wanting her to experience this life anymore.

after months of begging, her grandparents finally agreed to move her out to korea. she had already submitted audition videos to big companies like sm, jyp, yg, bighit etc.

she was 13 when she was officially moved into korea. she lived with her grandma and grandpa for a month before moving into the jyp dorms. she trained there for a year before being sent off to audition for produce 101.

during this time, she experienced great stress. her anxiety and depression led to suicidal thoughts and almost had to leave the show because of it. many fans who were supporting her throughout the show noticed her getting skinnier and skinnier by the episode.

somi, who became her best friend instantly, was also worried for her. ivy felt bad that she was worrying people. but she couldn’t help it, her mind controlled her. her thoughts were always telling her to do something. she would practice all the time and forget to eat.

somi would often watch after her to make sure she would at least eat a bagel and drink water everyday.

it wasn’t long before ivy would share her story, only parts of it publicly. her story reached american headlines, meaning her family and friends had seen it.

she was struggling for years. and it was only recently when she found inner happiness. she worked hard during produce, and didn’t win. and of course, she left jyp and moved to kq where she met her life long friends.

her boys have helped her so much, they were there to listen to her story, to hug her when she cried.

those are her boys, her family. her home.

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lurking-latinist · 3 years

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for the AU meme: Iris Wildthyme? :D (and you can pair her with any other characters you like, I just think Iris in the Wild West would be amazing)

I was expecting this to take me longer than it did, but here you go! As you suggested, I threw in some other characters that Iris has crossed paths with more or less tangentially. I love writing Iris so much!

AU Meme Fill: Iris Wildthyme

(Is anything really AU for Iris? But here are some things that haven’t happened to her in any official stories yet:)

1. Wild West

There was a strange woman in the saloon. Very strange.

“Hey there, Doc!” she cried, interrupting the town’s physician, a stout, fair-haired fellow with a quick temper, who was in the middle of advising Yukon Zeke on his headaches.

“Do I know you, ma’am?” His gaze took in her luridly mauve gown, her enormous hat, and—most of all—her wicked grin.

“What! Don’t say you’ve forgotten old One-Shot Wildthyme, the fastest stagecoach driver in the West!”

“I only wish I could,” he muttered.

2. Coffee Shop

“…seven shots of expresso, three pumps of caramel, and some of them little chocolate curls,” concluded the customer, whom Jo had decided could be charitably described as eccentric. She exchanged a horrified glance with Mike, behind the espresso machine.

The customer saw their expressions. “It’s me secret hangover cure,” she explained. “Patent pending. Don’t you nick it.”

“…Are you hungover?” Jo ventured at last.

“Not yet,” admitted the customer. “You see, love, it works wrong ways round in time. You drink the cure first.”

Jo shrugged and opened the till as Mike pulled the first of seven espressos.

3. Pirates

“Most of my audios are free on Spotify,” said Iris in a metafictional tone. “No piracy necessary.”

“Captain Wildthyme’s raving,” said her first mate, bending over her anxiously. “I think she’s had a blow to the head.”

Her eyes snapped open. “When there’s Spanish treasure involved, however,” she said, struggling to her feet and reclaiming her position at the helm, “all bets are off!”

4. . . . In SPACE!!

(2001: A Space Odyssey)

“Well, that isn’t normal,” Iris said to the giant space baby. “Not even in the Vortex. Has somebody spiked me drink?”

5. Schoolfic

It was funny how, whenever the teenagers played “spin the bottle,” Iris always seemed to end up paired with the Smith kid. You’d almost think she could manipulate space and time, or something.

6. Urban Fantasy

“Are you going to Putney Common?”

“Read the sign,” snapped the not-quite-human bus driver.

“I did,” said the passenger diffidently. “Only… it said ‘Putney Common and Realms Beyond.’”

“Got all the modern conveniences now, them Fae do,” said the driver. “Why shouldn’t they be on the bus route?”

7. Regency/Historical

“Does it really need to be quite such a realistic costume?” came a plaintive voice, muffled by heavy black-and-white fabric. “I’m sure the British rustic has no clear notion of what a panda is supposed to look like.”

“No,” said the sideshow proprietress, not unkindly. “They don’t. That’s why we’re ‘Madame Iris an’ ‘er Amazin’ Chinese Bear.’”

“I wish you would at least get your natural history straight,” said her partner in trade. “Pandas aren’t bears.”

“If we ever get a real panda, I’ll keep that in mind.” She grimaced at the actor’s angry huff. “Oh, take yer ‘ead off and ‘ave a gin.”

8. Magic/Fairy Tale(/Mythology)

“It’s your turn, Hermes,” said Iris, the part-time messenger of the Gods.

“No it isn’t,” said her colleague. “I’m an Olympian, Zeus confound you! It can’t be my turn every time!”

“I can’t go. The Celestial Chariot’s blown a gasket,” she said smugly.

“Well, my sandals are giving me blisters,” he muttered.

“Shouldn’t of picked flyin’ sandals, then,” she said. “Daft way to get about, if you ask me.”

9. Canon Divergence

“Congratulations, Iriswildthyme. The High Council has chosen to acknowledge your claim to be a Time Lady, with all the rights—and duties—appertaining thereto.”

Iris clutched her handbag a little tighter. “I never really meant….”

10. Crime/Detectives

“I do understand the concept of copycat criminals. I understand that the ‘Blue Iris’ is deliberately modeling her burglaries on the famous unsolved ‘Doctor’ cases. What I don’t understand is how two separate thieves can both contrive to steal the Mona Lisa, more than once.”

Here’s the ao3 version: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32976505

Hope you enjoyed, gurt! Thanks for the ask!

#doctor who #big finish #iris wildthyme #doctor who fic #fic #fic meme #au meme

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crowdvscritic · 3 years

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round up // JANUARY 21

New year, not-so-new Crowd vs. Critic! It’s another batch of films, TV, music, and reads that were new to me this month and think you would enjoy, too. As we cozy up inside for the winter, nothing warms you up like a good piece of pop culture.

January Crowd-Pleasers

Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

Does this sequel reach the heights of 2017’s Wonder Woman? No, but I wish more superhero movies were like this one. I explain why at ZekeFilm. Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 8/10

21 Bridges (2019)

A solid action crime thriller with a solid Chadwick Boseman at the center. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7.5/10

The Lethal Weapon Series (1987-98)

I watched the first Lethal Weapon in 2017 for ZekeFilm, but now I’ve a decade’s pleasure of progressively over-the-top action sequences and progressively more absurd ways to destroy Roger Murtaugh’s (Danny Glover) house. The Murtaugh/Riggs bromance holds this progressively sillier series together, and an supporting cast of charismatic actors (Jet Li, Darlene Love, Chris Rock, Rene Russo) are game for whatever comes their way. Joe Pesci is the true MVP. Series Crowd: 9/10 // Series Critic: 7/10

The High Note (2020)

Tracee Ellis Ross’s Grace Davis is a diva in every sense of the word. A high-strung and highly successful singer, she’s also highly demanding of her assistant Maggie (Dakota Johnson), who wants to step out of her shadow and become a music producer. This rom-com-adjacent flick is one of the most fun escapes I’ve had from a 2020 movie, and it’s perfect for a girls’ night in. Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 7/10

Double Feature—Rom-Coms With a Magical Twist: Just My Luck (2006) + When In Rome (2010)

Disclaimer: These movies are not good. In fact, they’re junk, but they’re my kind of junk. In Just My Luck (Crowd: 7.5/10 // Critic: 6/10), Lindsay Lohan loses her life-long lucky streak when she kisses schlimazel Chris Pine. And When in Rome (Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 6/10), Kristen Bell attracts unwanted admirers (Will Arnett, Danny DeVito, Josh Duhamel, Jon Heder, and real-life future husband Dax Shepard) after she steals their coins from a wishing fountain. To their credit, both of these movies know they’re silly, which means you have permission to just sit back and laugh along with (or, honestly, at) them.

WandaVision (2021)

I sometimes fear for the world of entertainment when I think of how much intellectual property Disney has gobbled up, but WandaVision is evidence the company is a benevolent dictator at least for now. This odd delight is a send up and a tribute to sitcoms like I Love Lucy, I Dream of Jeannie, and The Brady Bunch, and Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen are so charming and weird I don’t need whatever mysterious sub-plot they’re building.

Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993)

If you want to make the most of watching Robin Hood: Men in Tights, first watch Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991), an action flick I saw last February and didn’t include in my monthly Round Up. This Mel Brooks spoof is a direct response that self-serious Kevin Costner adventure, even down to copying its costumes. While I wish I could find a Mel Brooks comedy with any substantial female character (in every movie I’ve seen so far, the joke is either, “She’s got a great rack!” or “Wow, she’s an uggo!”), I still couldn’t stop laughing at this 104-minute version of the Robin Hood scene in Shrek. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/10

Aliens (1986)

Peak ‘80s action. Peak alien grossness. Peak girl boss Sigourney Weaver. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 8/.510

Big (1988)

After talking about Laverne & Shirley with Kyla on SO IT’S A SHOW?, I had to check out Penny Marshall’s classic. While a few moments haven’t aged so well, its heart is sweet and the script is hilarious. And that Tom Hanks? I think he’s going places. Crowd: 9.5/10 // Critic: 8/10

Unstoppable (2010)

I’ve laughed at SNL’s spoof of this movie for a decade, so it’s about time I got around to enjoying this action thriller very loosely based on the true story of a train that got away from its conductor. Denzel Washington (“You’re too old!”) and Chris Pine (“You’re too young!”) are our heroes in this over-the-top ridiculousness, and their chemistry is so extra it makes me hope they team up for another movie again. Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 7/10

January Critic Picks

Double Feature—‘90s Space Adventures: Apollo 13 (1995) + Contact (1997)

I have no desire to join Tom Cruise as he films in space, but I know I’ll be pumped to watch whatever he makes because I love sci-fi and space adventures. Apollo 13 (Crowd: 9/10 // Critic: 9/10) tells the story of an almost-disastrous NASA mission in the ‘60s, and it taps into our hope for the human spirit to overcome obstacles. Contact (Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10) surmises what might happen if we received communication from extraterrestrial life, and it taps into our struggle to reconcile faith and science.

McCartney III by Paul McCartney (2020)

I spent January catching up on the albums on Best of 2020 lists, and the one I listened to for hours and hours was Paul McCartney’s latest solo album. Catchy, thoughtful, and musically surprising, it ranges from pop to rock to folk in 45 minutes and still feels like it’s over too soon. Like Tom Hanks, this Paul McCartney guy is going places!

The Thin Man Series (1934-47)

Like Lethal Weapon, I watched the first installment of The Thin Man awhile back, and Kyla and I even covered the series on our podcast. But thanks to a full series marathon on TCM earlier this month, I’ve now laughed through all five. When you talk about great chemistry, you’ve got to talk about William Powell and Myrna Loy, who make Nick and Nora’s marriage feel lived in and romantic as they solve crimes together. Witty, suspenseful, and jaunty, this series is still sexy cool over 80 years later. (Also, Asta? Still one of the cutest dogs in cinema.) Series Crowd: 8.5/10 // Critic: 8.5/10

The King and I (1956)

Here’s your regularly scheduled reminder Hollywood works differently now, and many casting decisions of the ‘50s wouldn’t fly today. What has aged well in this film: The Rodgers and Hammerstein music and the sumptuous costumes and set design. I love extravagant musicals of yesteryear—perhaps it’s time for Hollywood to revisit and remake The King and I for modern audiences?

youtube

Inauguration Day

In a year with no major televised events with celebrities in a room together, Inauguration Day felt like the most exciting cultural event in ages. We’ve been missing major fashion, but then we got Lady Gaga! We’ve been missing live performances, but then we got Amanda Gorman! And I got a lot of tears during that poem—not just me, right?

Good Reads

Writing that made me think and smile this month:

Steven Soderbergh’s list of everything he read, watched, and listened to this year, Extension765.com (2020) – An indirect inspiration for these monthly Round Ups!

“My Year of Making Lists,” NewYorker.com (2020) – I made a lot of lists in 2020, so I feel this author’s #mood

“Betty White Says She Will Spend Her 99th Birthday Feeding Two Ducks Who Visit Her ‘Every Day,’“ CBSNews.com (2021) - “Betty is a treasure,” I say as I watch The Proposal for the 99th time

“A Sculpture’s Unusual Journey to SLAM [St. Louis Art Museum],” SLAM.org (2020) – With a casual mention of an attraction I never knew about in St. Louis

“The Culture Is Ailing. It’s Time for a Dr. Fauci for the Arts.” WashingtonPost.com (2020) – An idea that occurred to me a few months ago: Why don’t we have an Arts Cabinet?

“The Arts Are in Crisis. Here’s How Biden Can Help.” NYTimes.com (2021) – Partly in response to that Washington Post piece, a historical look at how artists have made it through difficult times in the past and how we can revive artists’ livelihoods mid- and post-pandemic

“The Right’s Message to Silicon Valley: 'Free Speech for Me, But Not for Thee,'” TIME.com (2021) – A more thoughtful and less reactionary take on a volatile moment in the history of modern technology

“'It Makes Me Sick With Grief': Trump's Presidency Divided Families. What Happens to Them Now?” TIME.com (2021) – A study on how politics has done damage to family dynamics in America

“Help, the Only Cinema I Can Handle Is Zac Efron Prancing Angrily in High School Musical 2,” Vulture.com (2021) - In a lot of ways, same

“50 Easy Things To Do When You are Anxious,” ShopTwentySeven.com (2021) – I especially endorse coloring, puzzling, and watching happy movies!

Double Feature—Miss Marple Mysteries: Murder at the Gallop (1963) + Murder Ahoy (1964)

Remember when I was all like, “Watch these Agatha Christie movies so you’re not sad Death on the Nile is delayed”? Remember when I said I was just a few movies away from becoming an Agatha Christie junkie? Well, I think I’m there because I can’t stop with the murder mysteries! Margaret Rutherford is a treasure whether she’s solving a murder at a horse ranch or on a boat, and a cast of colorful supporting characters (including Rutherford’s husband) makes these breezy instead of heavy. Crowd: 8/10 // Critic: 8/10

8½ (1963)

File this with 2001: A Space Odyssey—I don’t know if I really understood this film, but I think I liked it? Federico Fellini’s surrealist, male gaze-y drama blurs the lines between reality and imagination, love and dysfunction, and the past and maybe some future that involves clowns? What resonated with me was the story of a director with creative block, wondering if he’s already peaked and if he’ll create anything worthwhile again. Crowd: 6/10 // Critic: 9/10

Sense and Sensibility: The Screenplay and Diaries by Emma Thompson (1995)

Sense and Sensibility is not just one of my favorite Jane Austen adaptations—it’s one of my all-time favorite films. One of the co-hosts of one of my favorite podcasts has raved many-a-time about Emma Thompson’s journals from the making of film, so it was only a matter of time before I read them myself. Witty, informative, and all-around lovely, Thompson’s journals are an excellent insight into the filmmaking process and how novels are adapted.

Also in January…

I reviewed the new-ish documentary Flannery for ZekeFilm, which is all about the writer Flannery O’Connor and feels a little like going back to high school English class.

In addition to the Lethal Weapon and Thin Man series, I rewatched all of the X-Men series this month. You can see everything I am watching on Letterboxd, including favorites I love returning to (i.e. X-Men: Days of Future Past) and the movies I try that don’t make my monthly recommendations (i.e. The Wolverine).

Photo credits: Paul McCartney, Zac Efron, Sense & Sensibility. All others IMDb.com.

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asiaberkeley · 3 years

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Afghan is beautiful

I am a half Afghan woman. An Afghan-European American. An Afghan American.

Admittedly, it took me awhile to offer up this information in the aftermath of 9/11 when Afghanistan became synonymous with terrorism in the eyes of many Americans. Taking pride in my heritage suddenly and painfully became controversial.

People didn’t know about my Afghan-ness though because I had my mother’s surname and not my Pashtun father’s: Hotaki. Also, I didn’t wear any kind of head covering because I was raised Catholic. It was easy to hide and pass for completely White.

My late father, an aspiring doctor and med school student who spoke six languages, left Kabul with his family before the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan as a child. They were the lucky ones. He spent most of his life in Germany where many Afghans have sought refuge. One of my fondest memories is flying kites with him and my Irish-Swedish-French American mother in the Munich Public Gardens as a child. There was no wind that day and we dragged the kites in dizzy circles…laughing together...just as I imagine him now when he was a boy: kite flying in the streets of Kabul.

Since my father died when I was six, I returned to my mother’s hometown of Boston with her in 1996. I was later left to contemplate what it meant to be Afghan in a place with very few Afghans compared to Virginia, California, and New York. In college, as an Asian Studies major at Wellesley College and later at the University of California, Berkeley, I often corrected people who said that Afghanistan is in the Middle East and not in South-Central Asia. I wondered why it seemed that no one had received much education on this country’s history or people outside of reading the popular Khaled Hosseini novel, The Kite Runner, especially since we have been at war—fighting together with the Afghan forces against the Taliban in the longest war in American history.

Many Americans don’t realize that the attackers on 9/11 were not Afghan. The attackers did seek a hiding and meeting place in Afghanistan, however. But those facts shouldn’t matter. Because it doesn’t matter what ethnicity, race, or nationality someone is if they commit a crime and it doesn’t matter where they were hiding. The guilty party does not represent all people of their background or country just like Hitler does not represent all Germans or all of Germany and El Chapo does not represent Mexico or all Mexicans. Similarly, the latest mass shooter in El Paso doesn’t represent all white American men.

After former President Trump pondered out loud the mere possibility of a concocted plan to kill 10 million Afghans and wipe the country off the face of the earth – presumably through the use of nuclear weapons – I have thought more about what it means to be Afghan American today. And it’s not because of those unimaginably cruel musings which add insult to injury in the homes of all Afghans traumatized by decades of war. Indeed, nearly every person who is not a white man has been made to feel worthless, subhuman and criminal under the rhetoric of the former Trump administration...so Afghans are not alone.

But Afghans were alone in the discussion of their genocide in 2019. I have contemplated my identity even more because not one leader or politician in America of any background spoke out formally against those disturbing statements. (And it doesn’t matter if this was an actual plan of his or just an imaginary scenario dangling in the recesses of his mind.) What does the national silence mean?

After 9/11, Afghan American author of West of Kabul, East of New York and Destiny Disrupted, Tamim Ansary, went viral with an email he sent. In it, he wrote:

“The Taliban and Bin Laden are not Afghanistan. They’re not even the government of Afghanistan. The Taliban are a cult of ignorant psychotics who captured Afghanistan in 1997 and have been holding the country in bondage ever since. Bin Laden is a political criminal with a master plan. When you think Taliban, think Nazis. When you think Bin Laden, think Hitler. And when you think “the people of Afghanistan” think “the Jews in the concentration camps.” It’s not only that the Afghan people had nothing to do with this atrocity, they were the first victims of the perpetrators. They would love for someone to eliminate the Taliban and clear out the rats nest of international thugs holed up in their country. I guarantee it…Some say, if that’s the case, why don’t the Afghans rise up and overthrow the Taliban themselves? The answer is, they’re starved, exhausted, damaged, and incapacitated.”

After 2001, my family warned me that just telling people I was Afghan may offend or anger them because they may have lost a loved one on 9/11 or they may have had a son or daughter deployed to Afghanistan. In middle school, a classmate told me I was from the land of the terrorists after I proudly showed her an autographed book I received from an Afghan British writer, Saira Shah, called "The Storyteller's Daughter." My American cousin, a veteran, was later deployed to Afghanistan and brought back a burqa which I showed to my classmates in high school to teach them about the Taliban’s oppression. Contrary to what they may have assumed, what they saw was not traditional Afghan clothing. Traditional Afghan clothing, banned under the Taliban, is colorful, intricate, deeply hued, bright and beautiful. Google it.

A year has passed since Trump discussed wiping Afghanistan off the face of the earth. After it happened, I regularly checked Twitter and the news to see if any of our nation’s leaders denounced those remarks. I called my Governor, Congresspeople, and many others asking if just one would put out a statement to support Afghans and Afghan Americans against talk of our annihilation. The Governor’s office simply said that he did not put out a statement. I still haven’t found any. However, some Americans did speak out on social media. Thank you.

We have studied the long-lasting horrors of the U.S. nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in our classrooms. I thought we concluded as a nation that something like that could never happen again. That not a single person in power thought it worth it to speak out against the possibility of the U.S. committing another nuclear genocide bewilders and frightens me. Is it controversial to say out loud that Afghans civilians do not deserve to die en masse? Are Afghans so vilified in our society that it’s a public risk to defend us?

If you still blame the Afghan people for 9/11 even if only on an subconscious level, think again. Many of the Afghan people are suffering in ways you can only imagine in your worst nightmares. They are not responsible and took no part in this. Like the poor souls who were killed in the Twin Towers, Afghans are survivors and casualties of terrorism as well. Afghan women have lost their entire families. They have been abused and pillaged. Men, women, and children have been bombed and maimed. Their history, including the rich Buddhist Silk Road history of Afghanistan, has been destroyed by the Taliban and others.

Discussing our nation's capability to conduct nuclear genocide of an entire people and country is an affront to all humans.

So I suggest to all of our nation’s leaders who have remained tight-lipped in the face of the unspeakable: Take time to learn something you don’t know about Afghanistan. Perhaps that could start with the story of progressive Afghan Queen and feminist Soraya Tarzi who asked, "Do you think, however, that our nation from the outset only needs men to serve it? Women should also take their part as women did in the early years of our nation..." Or it could be about the life and death of iconic Afghan singer Ahmad Zahir. You could learn about the courageous resistance of Afghan women and girls throughout history or visit that Afghan restaurant you were too timid to enter and try a sweet pumpkin kadoo dish.

As the war in Afghanistan, a war based on lies and deceit, may be coming to another tragic end with even graver implications for the women left behind who have fought so hard for equality, maybe it’s finally time to read another book that is not the Kite Runner... and most importantly, time to look deep inside of ourselves and question the possible anger, hate and bias that has developed towards the Afghan people after the catastrophic and traumatizing events of September 11, 2001.

*See the Washington Post’s Afghanistan Papers which deemed that the American military did not know what it was doing there and that the war was based on lies and deceit. Government officials misled the American public about the war. The war has cost the lives of thousands of American soldiers with many more wounded as well as 100,000+ Afghan civilians killed or hurt. Many of the American troops have returned with PTSD. 30% of the Afghan casualties were children.

Sources

https://apnews.com/a2a8d7a4f89ec0515379dc4d4a38b56a

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/investigations/afghanistan-papers/documents-database/

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lonestarbabe · 4 years

Note

I was thinking while rewatching the scene where Owen saves TK in 1x10 that the words in the song they used during the scene (Unsteady by X Ambassadors) really fits that flashback scene at the start and the pieces of canon we're trying to fit together with this discussion over what happened with the Strand family after 9/11. Makes that scene feel extra powerful/impactful.

You are very right. I didn’t think of the lyrics before when I watched. I was too in the moment at the time, but going back, I see exactly what you mean. I definitely felt the emotional energy of the song right away because I went through a phase a bit ago when I listened to it on repeat because I felt Unsteady™️ and I connected to it. But now 🤯 I’m losing it as I think of the lyrics as they apply to the show because they fit so well, and you’re right it adds so much to an already emotional moment. 10/10 song choice.

Because my mind is in gear, let’s take a look at some of the lyrics:

“Hold onto me cause I’m a little unsteady” this one is the most prominent lyric and obviously fits the scene because of literal unsteadiness and literal holding on involved. Still perfect fit just not the galaxy brain moment because it’s so overt while the other lines are more subtle and therefore, kill me more as I listen now (omg the scene will forever be more powerful)

Now for the next lyrics. (Hold on I’m a little unsteady)

“Mama come here, approach, appear” well we don’t know much about TKs mother but it’s interesting because now that he’s an adult, she’s the distant one. She’s abroad for business and we didn’t see her at all while TK was in the hospital. I’m fact, we saw another woman in Owen’s life (which hmmm makes me think). This lyric is one sign of the complex and dynamic family situation TK and Owen had. Things have clearly shifted in the times since TK was a kid. TK’s dad is the one that is holding onto him in this time of his life, but I think as a kid his mother was much more present and so maybe he wants the maybe distant relationship between his mother to be not so distant while the relationship with his father still remaining close.

“Daddy, I’m alone cause this house don’t feel like home” that is a direct attack on my heart and ouch that feels exactly like the family dynamics we discussed. This lyric represents TK’s fears of his father letting him go and the abandonment he felt as a kid. As he played with his fire truck in 2001 (which connects to his dad, himself and the little boy who shot him in interesting ways), he was surrounded by his family but as his parents fought, he felt alone and like his home wasn’t really home because it lacked stability and probably shifted dramatically post 9/11. We see this echoed in the scene with the kid who shot him who has become isolated and quiet because of the trauma. The boy blames himself for hurting TK and maybe TK relates to that feeling. Maybe he blamed himself for the chaos in his house which is why he goes out of his way to reassure and uplift others because he doesn’t want them to feel the same unsteadiness. TK certainly felt lonely as he played by himself (it must feel good for him to have new siblings in the 126 😉). Back then it was just TK and his fire truck. He wa lacking a team to make the fire truck fully meaningful to him. The toy fire truck was then a way to keep his dad close, which reflects TK’s career doubts. He wonders if maybe he just wanted to be a firefighter so his dad would hold onto him (and maybe also so he could hold onto his dad even when his dad was on calls and in dangerous situations because he probably feared his dad’s safety and increased distance would make those feelings harder).

Or “if you love me don’t let go” owwww. This lyric shows that there’s still some part of TK that wants proof that he is loved. He still has doubts even as an adult. He wants his dad to hold onto him instead of walking away. I also am reaching too much with this, but it’s interesting that TK thanks his dad “for saving us” because the life of the woman in the bus was just as important to him as his own life. In many ways, saving the woman was also holding onto to TK because saving lives, particularly hers, is so intergral to who he is and losing that woman would have shaken him to his core. She was, to him, a test of whether saving lives was his calling. When he’s out of the us, TK’s dad physically embraces TK and holds onto him, which matches the lyrics, but he also lets him follow the woman into the ambulance, which metaphorically allows TK to hold onto himself and reconnect with the firefighter inside, the little boy playing with the fire tuck, and the person he’s always been but felt detached from after he was shot. By helping to save the woman and having his father be there to save him, TK is ultimately able to hold onto himself.

“Mother I know that you’re tired of being alone” this sounds so relevant too because TK’s mom basically had to take on the parental responsibilities completely because Owen detached from the family and thrust himself into work while TK’s mom tried to provide her son a sense of safety and stability. 9/11 must have been terrifying for TK so I imagine his dad dealing with mental health issues (probably) and working so much would have been incredibly hard for any child to face. It was altogether an awful situation where no one in the family was to blame but they are all part of the dysfunction. His parents were doing there best. They were trying to hold onto their family and their marriage, and I think in this case, divorce was the way to hold onto some semblance of happiness even if they had to let go of their nuclear family (which is no doubt hard to do and makes TK want to hold onto to what he has even more). His mother wants Owen to at least show up to TK’s birthday party, but again, she’s left alone in that respect. She was abandoned by Owen too, which would be hard as a presumably working woman trying to keep a whole family afloat while everything cracks around her. She’s desperately holding on but it’s left her feeling alone.

“Dad I know you’re tying to fight when you feel like flying” Owen is facing demons after 9/11. He probably has survivor’s guilt and is pushing himself to rebuild the fire station in a way that seems unhealthy and results in neglecting his family to some extent. He is fighting his own grief and trauma but he’s also trying to bring things back to normal by rebuilding. He fights TK’s mom at home and is filled with personal conflict but then as a firefighter he “flies” like a super hero and saves lives, which he can’t do again until he has healed. He can’t reach the high he feels when saving lives until he fights all that stands in his way. He builds something from nothing but the conflict remains. Owen wants to fly again so much that he focuses on his works. He wants to be back to his normal self but the ghosts of 9/11 are dragging him down. He must first work through his trauma before he can truly fly for his family and save them from their dysfunction because until he does, he’s only adding to the problems (even though again he’s not to blame fully because there are no villains in this). This lyric also plays into the present circumstances because Owen is fighting cancer, another wound of 9/11 that shows how enduring the attacks are in Owen’s life. He keeps a piece of the one tower as a reminder and we see him looking to it througout the season especially during times he’s challenged to fight some kind of personal or professional struggle. He hasn’t fully let go (nor should he) and there’s still this thing that keeps him down. He doesn’t want the cancer to get him down, but he struggles to do things that used to be easy. Again, he wants to fly, but sometimes it is better to be grounded. He has to learn when to not fly and instead fight his struggles on the ground because flying all the time won’t make him better. It won’t get rid of his sickness.

We can see the reflection of Owen in TK in this way. TK is an addict who wants to break through the gray and see colors that are the high and make him feel like he’s flying. He holds onto that need but like Owen did when TK was a child, TK is still sorting out what can give him those colors without destroying himself. He’s trying to find things to hold onto so he doesn’t get lost in the dark abyss of self-discovery.

TLDR: this is why I should not be awake at 1:54 am. I’m really sorry for this likely nonsensical ramble.

#911 lone star #asks #Strand Family Dynamics #strand family dynamics #💖💖💖#omg i am actually insane #el rambles #911 lone star takes #long #Season 1 #meta

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johannesviii · 4 years

Text

Top 15 Personal Favorite Hit Songs from 2002

13 to 14 years old. Most of the year was pretty good. Summer was great. But in September I arrived in 2nd (local equivalent of 10th grade), so I was 14 in a class of mostly 15/16 years old students, and I looked so out of place that inevitably, bad shit started to happen very quickly.

Thankfully, it was a damn good year for hits. They say music never sounds better than when you are a teenager, as if that was a bad thing - but maybe they’re right? So yeah, nostalgia is in full force there. This year was so good for music, in fact, that this is a top 15 instead of 10. It was already super difficult to keep only 10 songs before I even looked at the French year-end list, and then I just gave up.

Disclaimers:

Keep in mind I’m using both the year-end top 100 lists from the US and from France while making these top 10 things. There’s songs in English that charted in my country way higher than they did in their home countries, or even earlier or later, so that might get surprising at times.

Of course there will be stuff in French. We suck. I know. It’s my list. Deal with it.

My musical tastes have always been terrible and I’m not a critic, just a listener and an idiot.

I have sound to color synesthesia which justifies nothing but might explain why I have trouble describing some songs in other terms than visual ones.

This list originally had SIX horribly painful cuts so I decided to do some damage control and make it a top 15. There’s still a whole bunch of honorable mentions, though.

Heaven remix (DJ Sammy) - [Insert here rant about Johannes liking overproduced dance garbage full of colors and lights]

Move b█tch (Ludacris) - Just a ton of fun to sing along that chorus.

Whenever Wherever (Shakira) - I claim overplay, but that is still legendary.

How You Remind Me (Nickelback) - Nobody’s gonna disagree if I say they’re a terrible band, but you gotta admit, their first hit was pretty great.

The Middle (Jimmy Eat World) - In a year full of fantastic earworms, some had to stay out of the list.

Can’t Fight the Moonlight (LeAnn Rimes) - Just re-read the previous statement.

Get the Party Started (Pink) - More on that later.

Inch’Allah (MC Solaar) - Not his best song by a mile (obviously; I mean, the guy who wrote a song about making Satan explode into antimatter can’t really top that because nobody can) but still very nice.

Cleanin’ Out My Closet (Eminem) - Yeah, the rethread of The Real Slim Shady is on the list and not this. What can I say, I told you I had bad taste.

Just Like a Pill (Pink) - The last cut from the list. I just really, really liked Pink, can you tell?

This is when I started to listen to the radio A LOT in my room, because my access to the family computer was restricted and radio was basically the only media I still had 100% access to and full control of. Which might explain why I suddenly liked a ton of pop music. Or maybe that year was simply really good. I guess it’s a mix of both.

Also, I still didn’t have a key to the appartment, but I was a lot less supervised when I was outside, and I would sometimes sneak out to go the library or to the disc store.

So... here’s some of the first singles I ever bought, for the record, and also because I think it’s fun to see all of them together.

They’re all on this list, just to clarify.

15 - I’m Gonna Getcha Good (Shania Twain)

US: Not on the list / FR: #67

Well, that was quick. So yeah, I loved this song. The accent meant I couldn’t understand half of the lyrics, but it was still a ton of fun and a delight every time it was on the radio.

14 - Wherever You Will Go (The Calling)

US: #5 / FR: #53

I didn’t love this song that much at the time and only put it on one tape, but it really grew on my over the years. Yeah, it’s your standard 2000s pop-rock song, objectively, but I don’t know. It didn’t have to go that hard with its metaphors. I mean the guy is ready to follow that person into hell and turn back time if necessary. I really don’t know. It shouldn’t work so well but it does for me. Maybe it’s because I’m very literal-minded.

13 - Le Chemin (Kyo ft. Sita)

US: Not on the list / FR: #55

Basically: A Ma Place by Axel Bauer & Zazie from the previous honorable mentions of 2001, except with half the amount of Hetero Drama(tm) and a pop-rock flavour to make it more palatable.

The first hit of a band it would very quickly be super cool to hate in my country (and I do mean very quickly, like a year or so) because everyone (including me, mind you) thought their lyrics were a bit too cringy even for pop-rock songs.

Doesn’t mean I didn’t buy the album and listened the shit out of it for like two years, though. The saddest part is that my favorite single from it by far, Je Cours (”I Run”), isn’t elligible for any list. Dammit.

12 - Murder On The Dancefloor (Sophie Ellis-Bextor)

US: Not on the list / FR: #26

This was a huge hit in Europe and somehow I thought it had reached the US, but apparently it didn’t. That’s a shame.

Also, overplay didn’t manage to kill it for me and that’s impressive.

11 - Complicated (Avril Lavigne)

US: #11 / FR: #83

Loved it, bought the single, loved it even more, and then one of my uncles sent me the album for christmas, and all was nice and good in the world.

For the record, I thought Sk8er Boi was one of the worst songs on the album (my favorite was My World), and I still dislike this particular song to this day, so this is why it’s nowhere to be found here.

10 - Don’t Let Me Get Me (Pink)

US: #36 / FR: Not on the list

You already know that because of the honorable mentions, but yeah, I loved Pink. This was the second album I decided I had to save money for months to acquire instead of just a single and which my parents would probably find acceptable. And this song is the best and it kicks some serious ass, on top of being full of self-loathing and extremely relatable at the time ("everyday I fight a war against the mirror, can't take the person staring back at me"? "I wanna be somebody else"?? Big, big dysphoria mood right there).

No regrets, baby.

9 - Hands Clean (Alanis Morissette)

US: #95 / FR: Not on the list

In just about every list I’ve made so far, there’s one song which makes me think “if I had better taste, this would be much higher”. This is one of these songs. Still love it, still put it on a tape and burned it on a cd. I found the cd in question again yesterday while making this list and it contains, in that exact order: Visage, Evanescence, Kyo, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Talk Talk, Scatman John, Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Shania Twain, INXS, Freur, Alizée, Linkin Park and this exact song by Alanis Morissette. It’s a great little time-capsule of my debatable tastes.

8 - Die Another Day (Madonna)

US: Not on the list / FR: #86

This has the same kind of weird, disjointed beat as Music, but it sounds much more aggressive and sinister. This dropped right when I started to have real problems at school, so it’s a bit difficult for me to listen to it nowadays without having unpleasant flashbacks at the same time, which is why it’s so low on the list even though I listened to it on a loop back in the day. It might be a subpar James Bond theme, and might have dumb lyrics (god the Sigmund Freud line sdfghjhgfdfg), but on its own? It’s great.

Also I loved the music video. My mother, obviously, hated it, which only made me like it more, because, I mean, obviously it did. That’s how it works when you’re 14.

Speaking of which.

7 - Without Me (Eminem)

US: #21 / FR: #11

By that point, it was becoming pretty clear that I would never be able to buy the music I wanted if my parents disapproved of it, so I had to be sneaky and buy every, uh “debatable” single with a second more acceptable single to hide the first one. The one I bought alongside this one was a cover of Désenchantée, sung by Kate Ryan.

Success.

It is, in fact, less good than The Real Slim Shady, and I could only understand about one third of the lyrics, but still. I listened to it a loooooot. Because I actually had that single and not the other one which it was basically referencing to the point of self-parody. And just like the other one, I obviously don’t endorse all the lyrics, and the beat is great.

6 - All the Things She Said (Tatu)

US: Not on the list / FR: #12

Just like Die Another Day this one is a bit difficult to listen to nowadays for me but it’s a monster of a hit nonetheless. Have to say, though: I listened to Not Gonna Get Us even more, which means THAT one is even more linked to bad memories, to the point of basically being unlistenable because it triggers a literal fight-or-flight response with me. Not kidding in the slightest. Still love it though.

5 - J’ai Demandé à la Lune (Indochine)

US: Not on the list / FR: #4

This is one of my least favorite hit songs from Indochine. It’s still #5 on a list where I had to keep 15 entries instead of 10. This is because almost no other song I really really like from them will ever be elligible for these lists and if I can’t put a single Indochine song somewhere, especially from the Paradize album, I will have to punch a wall, dammit.

So here. Have the one in which the guy asks the moon if his significant other still loves him and where the moon answers “dude it’s not my problem”.

I love them and Paradize is an absolute monster of an album which rightfully made them relevant again, from new wave sensations of the 80s to favorite mainstream band for every young French punk/goth kid ever in the 2000s. This is not a diss, by the way, considering I was very clearly in that core demographic. Especially if you look at the top three I made for that year (and for the next one but let’s not get ahead of ourselves).

4 - A Thousand Miles (Vanessa Carlton)

US: #6 / FR: #51

Yeah yeah, you knew this was coming when you saw that pic of the first singles I bought, and you can start laughing now. I know it’s basically a meme now (and a good one, mind you), but sometimes, songs are remembered for more than one reason, and you have to admit that one is still great on its own. I listened to it SO. MUCH. Especially before everything started to go wrong for me that year, so basically this is the sound of “how things should have been”, and it’s so pleasant and nice to listen to it even today. It’s no longer on my mp3 player, but, no joke, I think it stayed on it from the day I bought my first mp3 player to something like 2017. Is it an indicator of quality or yet another indicator of my debatable taste? Probably both.

In any other year, there would be a clear #1 either towering above the other songs or just slightly ahead of the rest. 2002 was so good I can’t, for the life of me, decide which of these next three songs is the best one, even subjectively, in a “hey I like this one a little bit more” kind of way.

So I’m ranking the top 3 according to the lengths I went to to listen to each of these songs at the time.

Let’s go.

3 - C’est Une Belle Journée (Mylène Farmer)

US: Not on the list / FR: #46

This is what I’d call the Last Great Mylène Farmer Song. Oh she was still making music, pretty great music, in fact, after that. She’s still making decent stuff nowadays, from time to time. But in my opinion, it’s all downhill from there.

Still. This kickstarted my obsession with her at the time, because someone (I still have no idea who that was) was foolish enough to buy me the cd for Christmas. This is also why it’s #3 and not higher; I didn’t have to work at all to listen to it.

So... This is a song about killing yourself, disguised as a bouncy energetic pop tune. And it works horribly well. It’s very vaguely sinister but if you don’t listen to it very closely, it’s nearly impossible to notice what it’s actually about (translation here), and it charted super high and for a super long time without any controversy in its wake.

As I said: all downhill from there, because... how do you even top this?

2 - Lose Yourself (Eminem)

US: #63 / FR: Not on the list

You probably guessed this was coming. I’m not sure what the consensus for the “best Eminem hit song” is nowadays, but that one has to be pretty high on the list. And it’s also kind of a meme because of the spaghetti line, I know, but still, quality, man. The most important thing about it in the context of this list is that it was juuuuust slow enough to allow me to understand most of the important parts with my still-limited English, and I loved the little story it told. I remember trying to put it on a tape for days and waiting for it to pop up on the radio and instantly pressing Record after the first note.

And of course I wanted to see 8 Mile and I couldn’t, but a few months later, the local book/dvd/music store, which had screens broadcasting scenes from new stuff they were selling, had a screen with a few battle rap scenes from 8 Mile on it, and once I noticed I stood in front of the screen for a long time in silent admiration. What can I say, I was an angry little thing, and seeing angry people fighting each other in ways where no-one gets hurt was very satisfying and cathartic.

1 - In the End (Linkin Park)

US: #7 / FR: Not on the list

The music video had hilariously bad cgi even at the time, just to clarify. But yeah, that sound right there had the perfect balance of color, energy, sadness and anger to be the hit of the year for me back then. And I could understand nearly all the lyrics! I. Loved it. The local library had Hybrid Theory and I listened to it so. MUCH (my favorite song on it was actually One Step Closer (singing CAUSE I’M ONE-STEP-CLOSER-TO-THE-EDGE, ANDI’MABOUTTOBREAK felt great) and I thought Crawling was a bit embarrassing). Thank god that library didn’t have fines if you returned your stuff after the due date because I had to wait until I was able to make a copy of it first. The “parents-proof” “”cryptic”” label I wrote on said copy wasn’t particularly cryptic, though, and I’m gonna share it with you right now because that’s kind of funny.

So what do you do when you’re 14, pretty sure you understood the whole song, are finally able to listen to the whole album, burn it on a cd, and listen to it way too often? You write down the lyrics, painstakingly, with a fountain pen, in a small notebook where you try to write down the lyrics of every single song you love & can understand entirely. That’s what you do. Of course.

When I stopped doing that in 2007, there were two notebooks like that. I lost one of them, apparently, but the one I was able to find already had 63 songs in it. I finally had my own internet access later that year and I could find all the lyrics I wanted whenever I wanted, and I stopped doing that once and for all.

But it helped me get a lot better with English, so in the end, it doesn’t even matter.

So yeah, In the End?

Loved it and loved that band. I still do.

Next up: wow, “all edge no point”, uh?

#Johannes’ bad not good pretty terrible music lists #music #long post #eye contact tw #suicide ideation tw

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iampikachuhearmeroar · 4 years

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some dumb ass dude on a linkedin post about “giving millenials a go for their first job” or what have you: the generation you’re speaking of is not millenials!!! they’re too young to know what 9/11 is and to remember 9/11!!! millennials are Gen Y. get it right. the kids you’re referring to are gen Z and the wrong generation!!!!! like i hate using 9/11 as the example here, but get your facts right!!!

me, a generation fucked™️ (meaning youngest millennial age born in 1995 or early gen z being born in 95) person, mentally replying to this fucking tool:

adam. for the love of fucking god. why the fuck do think whether people remembering 9/11 is worth mentioning on a post about millennials and jobs???

like what the FUCK is your connotation/connection with that???? i was born in 1995 and i remember 9/11 because i was 5/6 years old. like yes. i’m in australia and yes. i was a bloody child. that’s true. but that doesn’t mean that i don’t fucking remember some of the worst fucking film images of all time and the hysteria around them for years to come in the media, at all, adam.

like obviously i didn’t understand ANY of the political stuff bc i was C H I L D, yes. that much is true. but fucking christ.but i don’t remember 9/11??? the planes crashing into the world trade towers??? those towers crashing and burning to the ground???? the people falling from the buildings??? i saw that shit on the news, you dense motherfucker. i wept for y’all in the states. it was heartbreaking. i wrote prayers in school for the victims and for your country, adam. don’t even get me started on how the news being about almost nothing other than “weapons of mass destruction” etc etc for literal Y E A R S after 9/11, adam.

one of my favourite bands sang and talked about it because they saw it happen firsthand. take a stab at who it is, because it’s on public record and you can easily find interviews with gerard way talking about it. i’m pretty young sure it was used in some other bands music videos as well after it happened???? like christ. it took me literally 10 years to realise it, but green day’s album american idiot (in some songs, particularly “holiday”) was about billie joe armstrong’s dislike (to put it politely) of the Bush administration after 9/11.

“younger millennials/gen Z aren’t old enough to remember 9/11.” what a stupid fucking point to make. it bombarded aussie news for M O N T H S. just because I was a literal child does NOT mean I don’t remember some of the most harrowing images of the modern world, you old hack. christ. like I thought the big black fences that were going up around aussie schools in my area in 2001 were because of terrorism measures because of 9/11/... and the aussie government wanted to keep terrorists out of schools or something.... because 9/11 terrorism hysteria didn’t die down for MONTHS/YEARS in both australian and international news. it was a whole world thing, you fuckwit.

now it’s just an annoying stain that douchebags like you like to use to grossly sort of flex on younger generations for not “remembering”. I remember you fucking fool. I remember. and I’m sick of hearing about it in this context, for fucks sake. and I’m not even fucking american. christ “younger millenials/gen Z don’t remember 9/11”. ugh. there’s anniversary news stories every fucking year about it, and it dominates the aussie news for a week in september every year, as well as my social media feeds/dashboards. shut the fuck up.

#life #about me #shut up ilona #ilona’s linkedin thoughts and woes #ilona tries to be political for once

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weirdthoughtsandideas · 5 years

Text

The Quagmire-Baudelaire switch part 1: Don’t worry world don’t feel disgrace

Reference guide

Chapter 1: A very sad day

There is a long reference to the Catalan Kids show ”the triplets” but it’s explained there what it is and what it’s about

”Quiet you will wake up Tweedle dee and Tweedle dum” a reference to the characters of the same name from Alice in wonderland

Chapter 2: Why Mr. Poe should not take care of guardian choosing

”One bed.” Isadora sighed. ”Fantastic.” A reference to the deleted scene from the 2004 movie

Chapter 3: Olaf slaps a child (or technically a teenager)

”Quigley had got stuck on a story about three children that ran away from home, and they just found a homeless man that sold glue” A reference to the swedish movie, ”På rymmen med Pippi Långstrump”, or in english, ”On the run with Pippi Longstocking”

”Duncan had found an autobiography about some girl that claimed she was the most prettiest (...) girl in the world.” Reference to Carmelita’s autobiography

Chapter 4: A spoon of complaints and a cube of evilness

No particular references in this chapter

Chapter 5: Duncan is made for theatre

"Only something about a lady giving all of her money to her cats after she died, so the butler kidnapped them and then he got himself to Timbuktu." Obvious reference to Aristocats

Chapter 6: A long and confusing chapter including a play

No particular references in this chapter

Chapter 7: The Quagmires first (and last) day of school

”It was the roof of the house she and her sister lived in. And the girl wanted to see if she could fly, so she borrowed her dad’s umbrella and jumped of the roof to see if she would fly away!" A reference to Astrid Lindgren’s ”Madicken” which is the book Isadora was reading

”(...) You can't kill the one who the story is about!" Reference to all the... stories where the main character dies?

”(...) And you were already weird because you just invent things and have to put up your hair to think!" This is most likely a very famous character they have encountered

Chapter 8: Everyone is unharmed in the reptile room

”Holy shiitake mushrooms.” A reference to Carmen’s catchphrase in Spy Kids

Chapter 9: Why Stephano is something you shouldn’t name your child

No particular references in this chapter

Chapter 10: Stephano gets kicked out (or does he?)

No particular references in this chapter

Chapter 11: Stephano goes Carrey-style

"Probably some old man's fucking bones." A reference from a line in IT chapter 1 (2017)

"Did he just do a Carrey?" This refers to the title but also the fact that in the 2004 movie, Olaf, played by Jim Carrey, just dashes out of the house when he’s Stephano.

Chapter 12: Three four year olds vs a large lake

No particular references in this chapter

Chapter 13: No one listens to Quigley

"I remember a lot of things from my early childhood! Like the time we broke that spoiled girl's teddy (...)” A foreshadowing to a later chapter

Chapter 14: The Quagmires have various conversations

No particular references in this chapter

Chapter 15: Candy canes for the people

I don’t know if it counts, but Poe calls the Quagmires the wrong names multiple times. He calls them the ”Baudelaires” and the ”Calibans” for example.

Chapter 16: Isadora speaks like a finnish female pirate

"Shiitake mushrooms." Again, a reference to spy kids

Chapter 17: Everything happens so damn fast

No particular references in this chapter.

Chapter 18: Why Duncan hates treehouses (and trees in general)

"Don't call me Ish!" ”Why would he call you Ish?" A reference to a certain dictator who doesn’t force you to use that name

"Tattle-tale." Isadora whispered grumpily. Hard to know, but it’s actually a reference to Berlioz calling Marie a tattle tale from the Aristocats

Chapter 19: Phil is happy to be your co-worker

"I had a dream where I lived in ancient Greece and met some girl with black hair and a bowtie who wanted to tell me something." Ok. In ancient Greece lived Sappho. Sappho was a poet, just like Isadora. The girl with black hair and a bowtie is a main character in asoue.

”(...) what kind of irresponsible teacher would just forget three children they are responsible for?" A reference to all the fucking irresponsible teachers in the world

Chapter 20: Duncan gets dust in his eyes

"Duncan, I can assure you that nobody here will break their arm or leg for that matter due to any wood." Fooooreshaaadoowiiiing~

Chapter 21: Inordinate amounts of weird behaviour

No particular references in this chapter

Chapter 22: A fatal, optimistic accident

"Why, but you are so small!" (...) "Uh, yeah?" Duncan said, "We are children." A reference to a line from Charlie and the chocolate factory from 2005

Chapter 23: A real fatal accident at Lucky Smells

No particular references in this chapter

Chapter 24: The Quagmires kill a spoiled girl’s teddy bear

Carmelita’s mom is named Veruca, based on Veruca Salt

Chapter 25: New school, new chapter

No particular references in this chapter

Chapter 26: Where the shipping starts

No particular references in this chapter

Chapter 27: Very lovely indeed with a twist

No particular references in this chapter

Chapter 28: Olaf ruins everything

”What if we walk in on him stroking his violin?” I did this joke some chapters ago but this time someone else than Nero says it. It’s a dirty joke.

Chapter 29: Why many children was afraid of P.E after reading the austere academy

No particular references in this chapter

Chapter 30: An examination gone wrong

”This is a solidarity act” Violet is bisexual and Isadora is a lesbian. It’s a WLW solidarity

”Quigley, what color were the elephants I saw floating in the sky (...)” ”Pink” This is a reference to pink elephants on parade from Dumbo

”What comes after ’love love, peace peace’ in the second chorus of the song?” ”It’s ’and a burning fake piano” THIS GUYS is a reference to the song Love, Love, peace peace from Eurovision song contest 2016.

Chapter 31: Rich kids exploring a rich party

No particular references in this chapter

Chapter 32: A penthouse of familiarity and funny names

”I am Isadora Avi Quagmire.” A reference to the actress Avi Lake who played Isadora in Netflix

The hairdresser is named Bobbi, after Bobbi from Phineas and Ferb (who also was a hairdresser)

Chapter 33: Gunther ruins everything, yeah thanks for that Gunther

”I have seen stranger things.” ”We all have.” A reference to Stranger Things

”My name isn’t Quiglefort.” ”Yes, it is.” Foreshadowing to a thing in part 2 of this AU

Chapter 34: This abyss of world destroyed

The title is a reference to the Gothic archies ”This abyss”

”Don’t worry Baudelaires, don’t feel disgrace (...) The Quagmire triplets are on the case.” Reference to that poem from TAA, and also a reference to the title of QBS. Part 1s undertitle is ”Don’t worry world don’t feel disgrace” and part 2 is ”The Quagmire triplets are on the case”

Chapter 35: Runaway triplets

”Duncan? Did you just OD in there?” A reference to Steve and Robin’s famous bathroom scene from stranger things

Chapter 36: Too many rules for a village

”Rule 2001 says ’do not quite people from other universes’.” Quigley said shiitake mushrooms, which I have explained twice is from spy kids. Spy kids came out in 2001.

Chapter 37: Why children shouldn’t help someone out of jail

”(...) if the council of elders find out-” ”We’re dead!” A reference to a line from stranger things 3 episode 1

There’s a whole paragraph where Duncan said he has checked atleast ”seven million billion thousand times” and then the triplets remember how they used to dance around a coffin in their uncle Elwyn’s house. That was a reference to the musical Fun Home, particularly the song ”Come to the fun home” where the children make a commercial about their funeral home.

Chapter 38: An emotional escape

”Shit.” (...) ”Where?” A reference to when Violet said ”rats.” in TVV, and Klaus thought it was actual rats. But, in the swedish translation they translated ”rats” to ”shit”. I thought it was so funny I had to include it here

That was all for part 1! Thanks for supporting this fanfic of mine!

#asoue #asoue au #isadora quagmire #duncan quagmire #quigley quagmire #the quagmire triplets #the quagmire baudelaire switch #violet baudelaire #klaus baudelaire #count olaf #esme squalor #reference guide

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murasaki-murasame · 5 years

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Thoughts on Fruits Basket 2019 Episode 7: “Spring Comes”

Therapist: “Hatori’s backstory episode isn’t real, it can’t hurt you”

Hatori’s backstory episode: *happens*

Me, crying: *shocked-pikachu.png*

Anyway, this was another really great episode. This is the part of the story where it really becomes clear how dark the story is going to get in the long run, and I think they nailed it.

Thoughts under the cut. [Spoilers for the whole manga]

As I was hoping, this episode combined chapters 10 and 12 together, leaving chapter 11 to be adapted in the next episode. I think they’ll spend the entire episode on that chapter, since the next part to adapt after that would be Haru’s intro, which is completely unrelated to the new years part aside from him having a short scene with Shigure in it. So I think they’ll just leave his whole intro bit for episode 9.

Funnily enough this is another case of the reboot’s pacing and structure being very similar to the 2001 anime. I think the Hatori backstory episode in the 2001 anime was my favourite episode of the whole thing, and I’ve always felt that the way they paced it out flowed a lot more naturally than it did in the manga. So I’m happy that the reboot had the same sorta idea and just combined the two Hatori chapters together. It’s not really a huge deal, but especially after seeing two alternate takes on this part that make the same decisions in how they alter the pacing, it really feels awkward that the Hatori part in the manga gets pretty much interrupted halfway through by the new years chapter.

But this episode definitely wasn’t a 1:1 copy of the 2001 anime version of it, that’s for sure. For one thing, some stuff near the end was changed so that they could incorporate the sequence from chapter 12 where Hatori sees Kana walking by with her friends, which the 2001 anime cut out. Which leads into one of the more subtle but cool things this episode added, which was that we got some cameos from characters who don’t even appear in the 2001 anime at all. On the note of that scene with Kana, we see Mayu walking with her and their other friend, which wasn’t even the case in the manga. I really liked that addition, though, since it helps give a little bit more build-up for the fact that she’s friends with Kana.

Similarly, we also get an even more subtle cameo appearance from Kureno, who doesn’t even show up in the manga until like chapter 50. It was so subtle I didn’t even notice him until I saw people point it out. I think it was a really good choice to add that little tease of him this early on, though. I’d always kinda wished that the manga could have had a scene like this where we see Kureno with Akito before we know anything about who he is.

I can see why some people are sad that they changed that whole scene with Akito, though. The scene of her in the window looking at Tohru was pretty iconic, and I’ve always loved it. But I also really love this new version of the scene, as a sort of alternate take on it. It gives us a look at Akito that, by this point in the anime, we haven’t seen yet. There’s the whole deal with us also seeing Kureno in the car with her, but it’s also the first time in the reboot that we see Akito wearing a masculine, western-style outfit. I think it’s also interesting how the way the context and framing of the scene was changed made Akito seem more petty and childlike, if that makes sense. In the manga version of the scene, she comes across as being super composed and ominous and in control, but here we just see her sitting in the backseat of a car someone else is driving, wearing an outfit that she looks like she doesn’t want to wear, and she looks smaller than she usually does, especially since the camera is angled down toward her from Tohru’s POV. It still feels ominous and uncomfortable in it’s own way, and you still get the impression that Akito is someone who Tohru should try and avoid ever meeting properly, but I think it’s really fascinating how the relatively small changes in framing help to expose the more nuanced and vulnerable side of Akito as a character, showing that in her own way she’s just another person bound by the curse, keeping up an outward image she doesn’t want, and keeping a specific person around her at all times out of possessiveness and loneliness.

Come to think of it, on top of the fact that we don’t see Kureno until around chapter 50, I don’t think we ever saw Akito wear that specific outfit until around chapter 100 when the big gender twist reveal happens. Up until that point I think she only ever wore either her kimono, or her black turtleneck.

On the topic of changes, I think the only other notable one is the flashback to Akito hurting Hatori, which isn’t all that different from either the manga or the 2001 anime, but still a bit different. In the manga we never actually see how exactly Hatori’s injury happened, and in the 2001 anime we see Akito directly smash Hatori’s face with a vase, but in this version we see her pushing Hatori into a mirror when he tries to restrain her after she attacks Kana. The 2001 anime version of the scene was really good in it’s own way, but I’m fine with the reboot doing it differently. I actually like that in the reboot it feels more accidental than intentional, with Akito pushing Hatori into a mirror instead of hitting him with a vase. We at least still got the bit with her attacking Kana to make it clear that she’s willing to get directly violent with people. The fact that there were like five mirrors in the room was a bit odd, but it did give us that cool shot of Hatori restraining Akito and us seeing it reflected in all the different mirrors.

Other than that the episode was a pretty faithful adaptation of the manga. It didn’t even have to rearrange too many things, aside from having the end of chapter 10 happen after the end of chapter 12. They did have to change the context of the stuff taken from chapter 12 a bit, since in the manga that happens after new years, but it all flows together really naturally anyway.

Before I forget, I also wanna say that this series still has some fantastic background art, and this episode really showed it off by giving us some different types of environments to what we’d seen before. The winter-y atmosphere of most of the episode was really wonderfully done, and they were contrasted nicely with the vibrant and warm flashbacks to Hatori and Kana’s relationship. A lot of the series in general takes place in the same overall set of locations, and the manga never really put much emphasis on how the backgrounds looked, so it’s nice to get stuff like this in the reboot.

Even though Hatori and Kana’s whole deal is the big centerpiece of this episode, I’m not entirely sure what to say about it. It’s just one of those times where it’s not like I’m able to give my first impressions on it, since this is like the third take on this bit of the story I’ve seen, lol. So I just naturally end up thinking about it more in terms of how it compares to the manga and the 2001 anime, than how it is in and of itself, if that makes sense. It still fucked me up even the third time around, but still.

I do still think this is one of my favourite bits of the whole story, though. It’s pretty iconic, in a way, since it’s the first time we get this sort of big backstory sequence for a supporting character that delves into the darkness of the Soma family. It’s one of the parts that I think sticks with people most, and for good reason. It’s pretty much impossible not to feel bad for Hatori by the end of it all.

I tend to dislike the ‘side ships’ in this series, for a variety of reasons, but I’ve always had a soft spot for Hatori and Kana. I guess it helps that they’d already broken up by the time the series starts, and so it feels natural that their relationship is only really focused on in two chapters early on.

Anyway, I’m curious to see exactly how the next episode will be adapted, since as I said before, it looks like it’ll just adapt chapter 11, which means it’ll almost certainly have a fair bit of original material to flesh it out. The 2001 anime also took that route with it, and I ended up not really liking the result, but I have faith that the reboot will handle it well, since I really liked how they fleshed chapters 5 and 6 out into their own episodes.

Personally, I really want them to find a way to actually show off the Soma family’s new years festival, since we never really get to see it properly in the manga. It always felt like a missed opportunity that we basically only ever saw the zodiac members in their dance outfits in colour pages. So I’d really like to actually get a scene showing Momiji’s dance.

I think it’d also help things out a bit if they add some scenes to include a bit more build-up to the scene where Hana randomly shows up to confront Yuki and Kyo about their decision to leave Tohru alone on new years.

And with how the reboot’s handled it’s original content thus far, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a whole flashback to Tohru spending new years with her mother, which would be really sad.

We’ll see how it goes, I guess. Either way, this was a really fantastic episode. It’s fun seeing new fans get more and more aware of the fact that they’re in for some serious drama and emotions in the long run, lol. I said before that I can’t really have a fresh reaction to this part [or really anything in the reboot that’s not original material] since I’ve already read the manga, but I’m glad that new fans seem to really like this episode.

#murasaki rambles #fruits basket #this was a very fitting episode to watch late at night in the start of winter lol

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kazemon15 · 5 years

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So, chatting with my friend, Moezy, we were listing our top 10 (.5) anime guys that we liked in all anime and/or manga that we have watched/read...here is my list starting from 10.

10. Kogami Shinya from Psycho-Pass.

Badass and intelligent. I just love this guy. His backstory is a sad one, but it’s not something that he regrets. He can be a bit emotional, but really, who isn’t? What I like about him is that he knows what the right thing is morally, but he just can’t help his emotions. He knows when he is doing the wrong thing, but won’t run from it either and accepts the consequences of his actions. And he isn’t bad to look at either!

9. Roy Mustang from Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood.

This guy is such a dork, but also badass. Powerful and smart, with a cool head (most of the time, which is funny, considering he uses fire). Like Shinya, he can also be a pretty emotional guy, and he uses his past as a reminder to not stray from his goal. He is also in one of my favorite ships, but that’s for another post. Also, did I mention he’s such a dork? lol

8. Yuri Lowell from Tales of Vesperia.

Now this guy is how you do a likable main character. Cocky and sarcastic and loves teasing his friends. He is also has a strong belief in stepping in and doing something about whatever wrongdoings is happening right in front of him, even if it means breaking the law and becoming a vigilante. He’ll do anything he can to set things right for those around him. Not so much of a sad past, but still a fun character! I love his sarcastic attitude at times.

7. Kai Hiwatari/Ray Kon from Beyblade 2001/V-force/G-Revolution

Okay I’m cheating a little bit here, but I just couldn’t decide who I liked more. Let’s begin: Kai: The cold emo Russian/Japanese boy with blue/gray hair. His past is extremely sad and it is understandable why he is such a cold jerk. However, I found his growth in the series amazing. He started off being forced to be a Team Captain for his group. This annoyed him to no end as he wanted nothing to do with the happy bunch. As time went on, however, he gained a soft spot for them and even started to become a real captain, giving advice and caring for their well-being. At first, he was prideful, so very prideful... but as time went on, that pride still remained, but only changed. He takes pride in beating his opponents fair and square and defending his comrades. (Despite betraying them 3 times in 3 seasons but...I chalk up the very first time to PTSD and mind-control of his past...other 2 times... well, that pride problem right?). Also, the irony, a cold emo FIREUSER. Right? lol

Ray: My Chinese catboy! Ray is very friendly and reserved. I was instantly drawn to him when I first saw him. Ray is one of the reasons why white tigers are my favorite animal. He will do anything for his friends and even a stranger if they need help. He always listens to both sides of the story before making a judgement and is the guy to go to for advice. Though later in the series, he does have his own personal battles which causes him to become a bit cocky and jerkish at times, but what can you expect from a nice guy who always put himself last and just wanted to do something for himself for once? Self-care, Ray! Self-care. And he isn’t the only catboy on this list...

6. Kimura Kouichi from Digimon Frontier

Another emo boy! But not a jerk like Kai. Kouichi’s past made me like this character so much and his struggle with his inner demons throughout the series is what made me love him. He was the first character to show me that the power of Darkness does not have to be evil, for without Darkness, there is no Light. He always holds a place in my heart is one of my favorite digi characters.

5. Eizen from Tales of Berseria

I wasn’t sure where to place Eizen. I had to think long and hard. At first I thought at putting him at 7, but then I realized I just loved this dork just a little more than the other characters. The comically serious... no seriously, this guy can fanboy at the silliest things with a straight face, like arguing over the name of a bug...or wanting to build underground tunnels...on an island... ...yeah... ANYWAY, I just love this guy because of his morals and creed. He never compromises his ideals and always faces the consequences of his actions. Yeah another one of those huh? Hm, starting to see a pattern here... Oh yeah, touch his little sister, and he’ll beat your face in and break all 10 of your fingers. Seriously, just...don’t touch Edna. Why couldn’t he be 1,000 years younger (2,000 in Zestiria...)? Such a badass long living adult!

4. Narumi Ayumu from Spiral. It’s a shame this manga isn’t that popular as Ayumu is a great character and his growth is amazing in the manga (not so much in the anime..) His growth is both sad and inspiring. He is such an inspiring character for me. He starts off as a stoic, with having no confidence in himself at all because of his brother, since he is constantly being compared to him and is reminded he can never be as good as his brother (I can relate)... but by the end of the series, despite all the sad things that has happened to him, he learned to smile in the end, no matter how painful. I really can’t go into details about why I love him so much, but you’ll just have to read the manga to find out why!

3. Niwa Daisuke and Dark from D.N.Angel

Yes I’m cheating again, but this is my list, okay?! Daisuke: I love this guy to death. A bit clumsy and timid, but never gives up. Always smiling and managing to find the best in people, even those who keep convincing him he is the enemy, he can end up friends with and change anyone with just that smile. However, even he is not all smiles and has his own concerns... even so, Daisuke doesn’t let such things get him down for long. He is a naturally empathetic person, and I have never seen him cry for himself. He cries for others, but also knows when to be reserved.

Dark: I wasn’t sure if I wanted Dark here or Hiwatari Satoshi, as they both have equally sad pasts. However, seeing as Dark lived for over 400 years and still manages to put up a cocky womanizing front to spare the feelings of others, Dark won out in the end. Again, can’t go into much detail, but the manga is amazing. I like Manga Dark so much more than his anime counterpart.

2. Sawada Tsunayoshi from Katekyo Hitman Reborn!

Ah yes my favorite series of all time....so then why is Tsuna at number 2?! Well, I’ll get to that when I get to number 1. Like Daisuke, Tsuna is a pretty empathetic person who cares for his comrades. He doesn’t necessarily have a sad past, but his growth is amazing in the series. Because he is around, he managed to help his friends through their own emotional turmoils and is just the light of the series to everyone.

1.5 Zeno from Yona of the Dawn/Akatsuki no Yona

Zeno and my number 1 favorite have ALOT in common, which is why I put him at a 1.5. Despite this, Zeno does have alot of things I like him for him. I love the fact that Zeno does not hesitate to help his family or be in pain for them when the situation calls for it. It is the only thing he can do to help and despite always being in pain, he would rather have all the pain in the world than to have pain inflicted on his family. That is what I love about him most. Of course, his silly childish side is so lovable too! Him and Eizen can talk about the suckiness of living a long life together...

1. Train Heartnet from Black Cat.

Of course, for this guy, I strictly talking about the manga, not the anime...the anime just does not show how awesome and badass he is.

Like Zeno, he is also a very empathetic person who always wants to protect his family. What I like about Train the most is, though, like Zeno, despite having one of the saddest pasts, and has all the reason in the world to go around being bitter and emo, he decides not to. He decides it’s better to smile, have fun, and make the most out of life. He does have some tendencies to become emo, but only when the situation calls for it. And despite being childish and silly, always having fun, he never let’s that get in the way of being serious and protecting those close to him when needed. He always tries to cheer everyone up in a bad situation, and is not above asking for help when he really needs it. Not to mention, he’s a catboy and left-handed at that, like me! All my favorite things in one!

#sawada tsunayoshi #train heartnet #kai hiwatari #ray kon #zeno #kogami shinya #eizen (tob)#yuri lowell #Niwa Daisuke #Dark #Narumi Ayumu #Kimura Kouichi #Roy Mustang

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nochuuuenthusiast · 5 years

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tag!

hii~ so i got tagged by @snugglemejeon thank you so much ! i think this is really cute hehe (to the people i tagged: i’m sorry if i tagged you and we haven’t talked that much... i don’t know that many people on tumblr... and also, you don’t have to do this challenge, so feel free to ignore it !)

rules are: (1) tag the person who tagged you (2) answer the questions (3) tag 10 people (sorry i don’t know that many people here on tumblr so i’m only gonna tag one or two :( but ps! if you wanna be friends with me, don’t hold back and just talk to me hehe)

(1) how tall are you?

i haven’t checked in a bit but i’m about 5′2″ (ish) so that’s around 158cm (*sighs* yeah i know... i’m pretty short)

(2) what color and style is your hair?

i actually got a haircut yesterday before my blackpink concert hehe so now my hair is layered and it goes a little past my shoulders. i didn’t start growing out my hair until late last year since i used to always cut it short (like, a little above my shoulders) so yeah... i used to dye my hair a longgg longggg time ago but now it’s its original color which is dark brown

(3) what color are your eyes?

a solid brown (not totally light, but not too dark) (my mom has really pretty light brown eyes but they didn’t get passed down to me so ahhaha *cries*)

(4) do you wear glasses?

yes, but no (?) i have glasses but i don’t wear them 24/7 since my eyesight isn’t that bad... i only wear them in class when i’m too far away from the board. i have kinda circular, brown glasses (lmao, i know no one asked but...)

(5) do you wear braces?

i used to wear braces a couple of years ago so now i just wear my retainers once a week (you’re supposed to wear them every night but whatever,,, i’m pretty lazy and irresponsible and my teeth haven’t shifted sooo once a week will do ahah)

(6) what’s your fashion sense?

i care about how i dress but i don’t worry about how i look all the time soooo... i’ll sum up my style in a few words: 26 year old single korean girl walking to an aesthetic cafe on a sunday afternoon. yeah. that’s basically my style. lol i hope you guys understand what i mean... if not, i’m terribly sorry

(7) full name?

only a few people on tumblr know my name... but i don’t want to reveal it here since i know everyone can see this, and tumblr is the only social media platform where my identity is hidden sooo...

but if you want to get to know me and learn my name then you can definitely message me or send something to me :) i’m nice, i swear

(8) when were you born?

july 2001; i’m 17 ;)

(9) where are you from and where do you live now?

i was born and currently live in los angeles, california however, i am 100% korean. both of my parents were born and raised in south korea. and yes, i am fluent in korean.

(10) what school do you go to?

i am a highschooler. and that’s all i’m gonna say. skool sucks :P

(11) what kind of student are you?

i would like to say that i’m more of a hard worker than a naturally smart person, but i am currently getting straight As and for those of you who live in the us, i’m taking 5 APs (which totally sucks :’( but i’m handling them kinda well... i think). and i don’t really like being complimented because one of my biggest fears is of me becoming arrogant so let’s move on,,, pls.

(12) do you like school?

hell no. but i have to deal with it since everyone does so :/// school isn’t that bad if you daydream and think about bts all day hehe. but in all seriousness, i think school is okay if you have the right friends to hang out with and talk to

(13) favorite subject?

history!!! i know this is really weird since not a lot of people like history, but i love ittt!!! i think it’s really fun since it’s kinda like one big story of our world (i’m sorry, i’m such a dork)... i took ap art history last year and i fell in love with it!

(14) favorite tv shows?

i used to watch kdramas a longgg time ago, but i kinda stopped but idk why... but my favorite tv shows are friends, the office, stranger things, jane the virgin, etc, etc... i can literally name so many tv shows that i’ve watched but then i’d go rambling on and on and on and i don’t want to bore anyone...

(15) favorite movie?

forrest gump !!! (and also, did anyone see the two bts movies? i watched both of them at cgv and i literally exploded when i saw the members... okay, moving on (sorry... i get off topic really easily))

(16) favorite books?

i read a book called “pachinko” by min jin lee over the summer and it was so! freaking! good!!! i highly recommend it everyone~ it’s a historical fiction novel about 3-4 generations of this korean family who lived in korea and then moved to japan. it takes place a little before the korean war and it talks about the discrimination that koreans faced in japan at the time. i recently went to the library to check it out since i wanted to read it again but they didn’t have an english copy of the book so i’m reading it in korean at the moment.

(17) favorite pastime?

rewatching and rewatching and rewatching bangtan. oh, and streaming their new album ;) oh, and stressing over the new test questions on the fan cafe that the staff upload every week (i need to level up but the test is so hard... i cry every time)

and writing for this blog! i originally made this blog to de-stress and write some scenarios and reactions and i didn’t know that people would actually like them and respond to them,,, so hey, thank you :) you make me happy every day

(18) do you have any regrets?

yes. too many to count. but i’m not gonna sit here and list them all lol

(19) dream job?

i don’t really know... but something in corporate law (?)

(20) would you ever like to be married?

yessss! have you seen my entire blog??? it’s an entire fluff kingdom!!! i mean, i know that marriage is not just one big fluff and i know that it’s tough, but i would still like to get married one day

i have my own little fantasies about how married life would be, but that’s a little secret so i’ll save it for next time ;)

(21) would you like to have kids?

as much as i love kids, i’m not too sure if i would want any... i mean, obviously my answer will change in the future, but i kinda want either no kids or just one kid... the responsibility of being a parent kinda freaks me out...

(22) how many?

oops, i kinda answered this already in (21) but i’ll answer again anyway: 0-1

(23) do you like shopping?

no, i absolutely LOVE shopping. i think i’m addicted lmao.

psssss: i know no one asked, but my favorite retail shop is madewell

(24) what countries have you visited?

ahhh finally... the question i’ve been waiting for... so if you get to know me, i really really really reallyyyyy love traveling and i’m so grateful for all the opportunities i’ve been given to travel at such a young age.

so, let me just list all the places i’ve been to (an i know not all of these are countries, or out of the us, but just hear me out,,, okay?) : france, italy, south korea, mexico, us (hawaii, nevada, utah, etc (lol, i can’t remember all of them))

my favorite location out of all of these places is definitely italy <3 (italy has my heart)... i stayed at rome and i also visited pompeii and positano (which were absolutely stunning and beautiful). i went to rome last spring (around april/may) and i personally, really love sightseeing and history and since rome is full of those two things i reallyyy enjoyed it there. oh, and don’t even get me started with the food <3333

i also really loved france... i stayed at paris and my favorite thing about paris was definitely the louvre museum (once again, i love art history) as well as this place called montmarte (ahh! it’s so pretty)

and last but not least, (as much as i love love loveee south korea) i really enjoyed mexico! i love calming, relaxing vacation spots so i got to go to cancun (twice!) and snorkel and swim and see little fishies in the clear turquoise ocean... yeah, i miss it there... :(

(25) scariest nightmare you have ever had

i would totally tell you guys, but it was too complicated so i’m not even gonna bother.

(26) any enemies?

i am a lover, not a fighter (hehe)

(27) any significant other?

does jungkook count? lmaooo it’s a joke... he doesn’t even know i exist lol.

my answer is no.

(28) do you get along with you family?

yes, yes i do.

(29) do you believe in miracles?

i believe things happen for a reason... so does that count?

last but not least... (30) how are you?

i’m actually doing pretty well :))) i was in this really big emotional slump that kinda felt like a roller coaster ride last year, but i’m over it now so... yeah... i doing pretty well :)

okay, so now that i’m done, i have to tag people, and like i said, i don’t talk to that many people on tumblr since i’m a loser lol so here are the people i’ll tag (sorry, i’m not gonna tag 10 people) :

@pjmochii @jsuga @kpopsffct @ anyone who wants to do it...

but yea, i seriously don’t know that many people since i haven’t been on tumblr for a long time, so i’m sorry to the people who i tagged (if i haven’t talked to you a lot, i’m sorry... i’ll try to be a better person and try to talk to you more ...)

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sailor-cresselia · 5 years

Text

Zi-O episodes 31 & 32 - AGITO TIME

Okay, I want to know how long this actually takes me this time around, so… I’m starting playback at about a quarter past midnight. (I got distracted earlier, when I told myself I was going to start. I’m not good at timekeeping.)

((also, as I mentioned in the previous liveblog, if you comment on any of the sections in here, I’d really appreciate it if you specify which statements you’re talking about. These recaps get really long, so… y’know, it’ll make it a little easier for a conversation.))

~cut goes here~

Bullet casings? In MY Kamen Rider? It’s more likely than you think!

(I haven’t seen Agito, but as with Ryuki and Blade, I’ve seen the History Of’s that Marcosatsu did. So, I… should be okay? Ish.)

But why do they want G3 units nationwide? Are they finally sick of all the yearly monster attacks, and doing something about it? … Okay, yeah, I don’t believe it either, but hey, we can speculate!

Ouch, rest in piece G3 user number 2. He got thrown so hard he’s stuck in the viewing window.

Another!Another Agito’s got some muscle on him.

aaaand this is the tribute arc where the Another Rider name scheme is going to be incredibly problematic, like people worried.

I get that there are six watches left to acquire – notably including Drive, since the one they currently have was brought back by Geiz. But would it have killed Toei to let the W and Kuuga watches be in-show? Would it? They had to make them appear in the movie? Specifically, the movie that the producer has said is only psuedo-canon?!

Six left, and Sougo doesn’t want them to become Oma Zi-O. He wants them so he can stop Oma Zi-O, so that he can match his power. But, you know, the team kind of lucked into finding them, what with the Another Riders being created… or… hm. They get the Ride Watches because of the Another Riders. The Time Jackers are the ones creating the Another Riders, and they’re from the future, and know full well how Zi-O acquires his watches. The thing is, they initially said it was to ‘find a new candidate for king.’ We know that that’s not nearly so true as Heure and Hora were led to believe, since Swartz already had his candidate chosen. And we were led to believe that said candidate was Hiryuu, Another Zi-O. Except! “I’ll see you on the Day of Oma” wasn’t… exactly said to Hiryuu, was it? And then, we saw that an earlier version of Swartz was responsible for the bus crash, as he was looking for A Boy Who Would Be King. He found Sougo.

Sougo has been his choice all along.

(un-Pause to hear Woz talk!)

“No, no, we just need to continue as we’ve been doing. The watches will show up.” … Well, you’re not wrong.

Junichiro rushes in, asking if they were watching. And, I mean, I don’t know Japanese, but I am pretty sure that under normal circumstances, people don’t usually use the English verb ‘to watch’ when referring to a news broadcast.

Come on, man, you just won me over in the last few arcs, don’t blow this.

Wait, the public knows about the G3 units?! Were they common knowledge in Agito? Or, at least, publicly available knowledge?

HAHAHA I didn’t even NOTICE that Woz hadn’t done his Recap yet! Oh man, I’m slipping! But no, now he does it, by Pausing the show, and incidentally casting everyone else in the room in shadow. … Wait, has he been actually doing that the entire time? Just? Pausing time for a moment to talk at us? I mean, I wouldn’t put it past him, the drama hog that he is. Also, where did you get the confetti, sir? And is that going to be in the actual room when time resumes?

Meanwhile, in… France, I think. “I must go. My planet city needs me.”

It takes four minutes into the episode to reach the Opening. It took me almost 20 to reach that.

Also, the shot of Zi-O II has been replaced by Trinity. I like how the pose they chose is basically a combination of all three of their styles. As a small note, it flashes over the faces in the order of Zi-O, Geiz, and Woz, before moving into a full-body shot. Also, I can’t remember if this change had been made last episode or not, but there’s no sign of the Future Note in the Kamen Rider Woz segment anymore. (I think it would have been a nice touch to have the Twilight Chronicle replace it in the background, but oh well.)

… and I just remembered that with Agito’s lore, that ‘my planet needs me’ quote isn’t nearly as out of left field as I intended when I made it a few minutes ago.

Okay, I know that we have the incredibly ominous “We really don’t know what Swartz is up to” discussion with Heure and Hora, and him interrupting as he is prone to do, and him being all “No, I’ve already got a plan going, as I am prone to do.” But what I’m stuck on is just how many sugar cubes he’s adding to his… well, I don’t know if it’s tea or coffee, but it’s far too many.

(Swartz has just joined Haruto and Kiriya in the ‘that can no longer be called coffee’ club.)

Damnit, Geiz, I wanted to make a crack about how ‘it’s less that the police are tracking the target, and more that the target is tracking the police’! It does make sense that this particular division would be fighting Another Riders, though, especially since they look even more like MOTWs than Kino did. Zi-O!Another Agito kind of has a toothy grin, too. I remember being weirded out by Kino!Another Agito’s design when I watched Gorider, but this is just. Eesh. Creepy.

Ohhh dear. If Tsukuyomi’s an amnesiac, that would explain her lack of last name. And since this is a time travel show, we’re all screwed! She could have been anyone! ...That sequence in the opening, with Tsukuyomi and the Time Jackers on the stairs, before they disappear and she’s alone is feeling really ominous right about now.

And this is a good arc for this reveal – since Agito’s Shoichi was an amnesiac protagonist. … hang on, wasn’t there a sibling confusion then, too, like in W? With… Philip… oh dear.

I have avoided shipping in this season at all costs, for precisely this type of reason. And because it’s time travel, to avoid whatever it was that happened in Den-O. (I haven’t seen past the first two episodes of Den-O. I’m working on it!)

OKAY! That aside! I’ve noticed that even though Tsukuyomi has the tablet, and pulls up all sorts of information on it, Geiz is usually the one to bring up who the past Riders were. He knew about Wizard, I’m dead certain there were other instances that I can’t recall off the top of my head, and he knows who the G3 unit is.

Okay, I love that we finally have officials trying to keep untransformed riders out of the battle field. It’s about time, and not just for Zi-O, it’s been lacking in the genre as a whole. I also like that the people in G3 armor don’t seem to trust the three Riders.

HEY! HOLD UP! SOUGO HOW THE HELL DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE OMEGA SYMBOL IS?! I thought you were terrible at math and science! Those are pretty much the only place you’d see that, these days – wait. Sougo’s a history buff; or, at least, that’s his only good subject. Or, was his only good subject, because he’s graduated. (Good for him!!!) Omega is Greek, maybe he actually could have picked it up in a history class!

Also, is this confirmation that Agito is supposed to be written using omega, like it its logo?

Mind you, it’s not as though anyone is going to be actually doing that, but still.

JESUS FUCK WHAT THE HELL DID FAKE!ANOTHER AGITO JUST DO? He tore off the chest armor, and ugghgh that sounded like he was trying to eat the poor man, but now said man is getting up, what the hell-

AAAAAGHAAAAGH! OH SHIT! OH SHIT!

Agito powers as zombie plague.

Kino was Another Agito because Agito is more of a powerset than a name.

It is now 1:10. I am ten minutes into ep 31.

This explains the excessively toothy mouth, at least.

Tsukuyomi used a Time Stop. With the same effects and sounds as the Time Jackers. And it was super targeted, too – it only hit the Another Agito that was attacking her and the officer. She didn’t know she could do that. Woz didn’t know she could do that.

It looks like Swartz didn’t know she could do that.

It looks like the time stop is an innate power.

Okay, okay, back to 9-to-5.

So, yeah, everyone thinks the Another Agitos are really weird. Sougo wants to try and find Kamen Rider Agito. Absolutely nobody is surprised that he has no idea how to follow through on that idea. “What if we try the internet?” Sougo, he was active in 2001, internet archives are terrible for going back to 2011, to say nothing of – Sougo.

Sougo. Kid. Why do you know how to get auto-correct to make the omega symbol? Did you actually learn that for a history class? I mean, good catch on the spelling of the name, and it worked, so. Points? I guess?

Okay, why is Woz’s voice echoing so much today?! I thought the first time I noticed it was because they were outside, but it’s happening inside, too. What gives?

Heure, no. No ‘proving you’re still useful’ to Swartz. Get OUT of there! Just go! It’s not safe for you! You just keep raising death flags!

But what Swartz is most interested in right now… is testing Tsukuyomi’s new power.

Sougo immediately asks if Kamen Rider Agito is in. Like the blunt little fool he is. His second try isn’t much better. Being Geiz is suffering.

But when the woman – Mana, right? When Mana recognizes the name Agito as a person, Geiz takes notice. Remember, boys, everyone else still remembers now, too.

Haha, see, Shoichi has the right reaction to the ‘he wants to be a king’ speech! Dumbfounded shock.

GEIZ! Why are you suggesting heading ‘overseas’ with the Time Mazine to find Shoichi? That’s! That’s Sougo logic! Noooo don’t let that be what rubs off on you!

Case in point, Sougo thinks it’s a good idea!

UGH Both Swartz AND Woz have had that stupid echo all episode, it’s driving me up a wall. It makes it feel like the audio’s balance is off or something.

So, creeper mc-purple-coat wants to… ‘test out’ Tsukuyomi’s power. Fair. She says that it’s none of his business, and that she doesn’t have any power, which is also fair. But I’d say that siccing one of the Another Agitos on her is overkill. And terrifying.

...wait, could Shoichi tell when enemies were appearing in his season? I legitimately don’t know.

(16 minutes in and 1 hour fifteen minutes later)

Okay, so, your choices here, boys.

Zi-O II. Good call, powerful, can read movements ahead of time.

Quiz. VERY good call. His powerset ‘asks’ the opponent to answer questions, or get electrocuted. Normally, I’m decidedly not okay with that, but from a tactical point, right now it makes sense. The rampaging Another Agitos are like, well, they’re Fast Zombies. They can’t answer questions.

BUT STOP USING REVIVE. I get why Typhoon is a good choice tactically. Like I said, FAST Zombies. Being even faster is a good survival strategy. But using REVIVE is a very BAD survival strategy.

Kudos for the touch of Sougo telling the cops to help their wounded – which they notably weren’t doing before he said that.

HI SPEAKING OF BAD CALLS! IN THIS CASE TRINITY IS A BAD IDEA!

Like Geiz says, you need NUMBERS.

Running Decade and Ex-aid would be a better choice right about now! That would give you two Zi-Os! ...and if Geiz gets Ghost, he can summon some of the parka ghosts to help, because they let THAT be a thing for the Ghost watch!

WOZ NO. You don’t need to IWAE this! This is now a no REJOICE zone! Go directly to jail, do not pass Go, do not collect $200.

Although, now the cops are evacuating the heck out of there while Woz distracts the Agitos with his absurdity.

Unfortunately, he’s also distracting Sougo and Geiz with said absurdity.

Quick! Back to sanity! Tsukuyomi! We need you to be the impulse control for all three of the boys now! I’m so sorry, we kept Woz contained as long as possible, but this much proximity to Sougo at one clip has spread the cloud cuckoo lander traits.

“Oh, you don’t remember anything? Well, you’re probably better off not knowing, I suppose.” (F you too, Swartz.)

“Do… you know something?”

~The sound of a Legend Rider’s belt approaches from the shadows~

Kamen Rider Agito is on the scene.

And Swartz is smiling at that.

THAT! Is NOT how Bike Fu works!

OH LORDY the Power Knuckle buzzsaw and the spear’s… well, spear projections can combine into a massive, even pointier circular saw blade! Trinity really IS a fusion form, isn’t it?

“...wait, where’d the others go?”

It was! A distraction! And a very good one!

It is now 1:50. I’ve been at this for… one hour, 35 minutes. I’ve watched one episode.

Oh boy.

…

Time for ep 32!

Yooooo! Okay! So! Heure and Hora are stepping in because Swartz was ‘dragging his feet’, they weren’t invited, because he’s an ass. But Heure! Just! Pulled the Another Watch out of one of the transformed Agitos – not the main one, mind you, he’s ticked off now – and! He! Pushed it to Rider Agito, drained his power, and turned! The Another Watch! Into a real Ride Watch!

!!!!

Tsukuyomi stopped time to save Shoichi from Another!Another Agito… which is great! Good work! Except that it’s SUPER POWERFUL. She can move, but everyone else is completely frozen. COMPLETELY. ...Everyone but Swartz, who’s eyes are moving.

(click) AS IT IS WRITTEN HERE!

(GDI Woz)

(and with a SPOTLIGHT, too!)

(Theatre kid Woz confirmed)

Woz, you’re incredibly proud of Sougo for graduating, aren’t you? You mentioned that last Recap, too!

(insert 20 minute gap to take care of the dishes here, resuming at 2:20)

Huh! The title card came in from the opposite side of the screen this time! Interesting!

Heure, you can’t just put a regular Ride Watch into an Another Rider, That can’t be good for the poor host. And, oh, no, look at that, he’s just turned into a duplicate of Kamen Rider Agito. An exact duplicate. Appearance-wise, anyway.

WELP.

Okay, I rag on him, but Junichiro’s reaction to Professional Chef Shoichi complementing his cooking is great.

And then right back to serious, as soon as he leaves the room.

“I’m sorry… they took my Rider powers from me.”

“Which is really weird, since those are literally part of me. Trust me, things were weird in the early ‘00’s, kid. A whole bunch of us wound up being not entirely human.”

Hora? Hang on, can you clarify that? “Does that mean she’s a Time Jacker too?”

Are. Are you saying that being a ‘Time Jacker’ isn’t a group affiliation? That it’s the name of a powerset?!

… Just like how ‘Agito’ is?

Okay, so the current active party layout is:

Team One: Sougo and Geiz, dealing with a swarm of Another Agitos, while Heure and Another Agito Prime watch.

‘Team’ Two: Woz confronting Swartz about Tsukuyomi’s powers. Apparently Swartz is ‘the only one’ who can grant powers over time, which implies that he gave them to Heure and Hora. But he didn’t give them to Tsukuyomi, and he implies himself that the two of them are ‘cut from the same cloth’. Woz knows what that means.

Team Three: Shoichi goes to talk to Tsukuyomi. He’s the resident voice of experience on finding out you’re not who you thought you were, after all.

Well, him, Philip, and Sento, but the other two aren’t exactly here at the moment.

So, yes, as I thought he’d do, after bringing Tsukuyomi to the restaurant, he tells her about his past. About how Shoichi Tsugami isn’t technically his name. About how he tried to live his life the best he could, after losing who he was, and finding out he had powers. It worked out for him. And after all, hasn’t she already been doing that? The power is just a little more than she knew about.

And right after he says “Haven’t you already been doing that”, guess what starts playing?

The instrumental version of ‘King of Time.’

...Huh. It’s more noticeable with Geiz, who’s usually either frowning or exasperated. But… we never see Tsukuyomi smile, either, do we?

And then, with Sougo…

“I’m fighting to make the world better, and that’s what you’re doing too, right? So, does it really matter who you used to be?”

She responds with a smile. It’s a good look for her.

And of course, Woz shows up with bad news.

“So, fighting Agito’s a BAD idea, because once there’s one Agito, there can be countless Another Agitos. We are going to be overwhelmed. This is literally straight from Swartz. We’re screwed.”

“You better not be playing double agent agai-”

“Well, I mean, I already saw that was going to happen, so…. Besides, we don’t really have a choice in the matter, since we need to get that watch.”

““...fine...””

((It’s about 2:50 now, so I’m at… a little over two hours.))

Stop! Using! Revive! Unless you guys worked out how to keep it’s time compression from literally killing you a little more with each use, you! Need! To! Not! Use! That!

Unfortunately, Fury and Kikai make perfect sense here – the brute strength should help keep you two from getting too injured.

AAAND then they go for Typhoon and Shinobi for a speed-off. BOYS! Stop it! Although, I will admit, the flight and teleport spamming is pretty cool when you’re not using it on each other.

AHAHAH! Shoichi’s playing distraction in a G3 suit! That makes a LOT of sense! He can’t fight in his usual manner right now – on account of his powers being otherwise occupied. But the G3 suits were meant for humans to fight monsters on a more level playing field. AND the Another Agitos had been going after police facilities… which they haven’t mentioned again, but it sure seems to be drawing attention to him.

Tsukuyomi’s already got really good control, hasn’t she? The first time, she froze only the one Another Agito, and nothing else in the area. The second, she panicked, and was able to stop literally everything. Well, again, Swartz was slightly moving. Slightly. This time, it’s four Another Agitos, but Shoichi, who was right in the middle of them, is unaffected.

One direct hit from Zi-O II was able to knock the Ride Watch out of Another Agito Prime, and it rolled right to it’s proper owner. And for the first time, we get to see a Rider regaining their powers – the Ride Watch fades from existence, and Shoichi’s belt reappears on his waist.

“Transform!”

And then a (largely reluctant) transformation into Trinity. Geiz has had it up to here with Woz’s Announcements. You don’t have to do them every time, you know. You used to only make those when a new power was achieved. You guys have done this twice already.

(Tsukuyomi is in hell. That’s the only explanation she can think of.)

I like that ripple effect they used for Agito’s own Trinity transformation. I don’t know what sort of effects they used in 2001/2002, but it’s nice to see a nod to older FX in this incredibly flashy show.

(Tsukuyomi is definitely in hell. That’s the only explanation she can think of.)

Woz just has to do a proclamation. I don’t think it’s even part of his contract, I think he’s just THAT into this sort of thing. He was BORN to be a herald. Problem for HIM is, even Sougo’s had enough.

But!

He thinks this might work.

~Old catchphrases reappearing is actually my jam!~

~Who knew?~

...okay, everyone who’s been following me through this liveblog for the past… six months that I’ve been doing liveblogs for. Oh. Huh. I. Genuinely hadn’t realized it had been that long. I started doing these full reactions with the Gaim arc in November. Hm.

!!!!

!!!!!!!!

Over-Time included LYRIC SUBTITLES!

Zi-O! Why! Why can’t you put the song credits in the credits!

I mean, that would have been an INCREDIBLE spoiler in this case! But! Holy shit!

It would be a huge spoiler because this isn’t one of Zi-O’s songs.

This is from Agito. It’s titled BELIEVE YOURSELF.

This is appropriate.

The Zi-O team hasn’t had a real chance to fight alongside their predecessors. Not really. Zi-O and Geiz fought ‘with’ Build and Cross-Z, but they had to bow out shortly through the fight. Same with Ex-Aid. Ghost and Specter only fought together, not with the boys. Quiz and Kikai don’t count – they debuted in Zi-O. They fought AGAINST Decade and DiEnd. The next people to transform… were Blade and Chalice, and they weren’t working together. Their powers were taken before they could have fought as a team.

This? A fight with the Kamen Rider having his powers intact? Not just intact, actually, but returned? And not rapidly disappearing?

This is what we WANTED. I mean, hell, this is what the SHT movies SHOULD have been.

And the choice of song is incredibly fitting, too. I mean, here. Here’s the page on the KR Wiki. Go check it out, and you just try to tell me that’s not appropriate for Zi-O as a whole, but especially for the events lately, and of this arc.

Okay, okay, back to the battle. Which is glorious.

For one, Zi-O using one of the Agito Drones to hold part of his sword while he removes the mask element from it, so he can attach said mask to the other sword, and combining the two while the drone is still slightly impaled? That’s CLEVER. And I’m pretty sure that’s Sougo at work, too – he’s done similar before, getting others to turn his belt and complete his transformation. And the Kings Slash grows and impales several more drones before he swings.

And, interestingly, when Trinity and Agito prepare their finishers? Another Agito Prime forces his way through the drones to be the one to take the hit – to the point of standing directly in front of the two Rider Kicks, and putting his chest out there. Asking to be hit.

And that Dual Kick is SOMETHING ELSE! Driving him all the way across the plaza, knocking over any drones they encounter in the line of ‘fire’, and digging a trench into the ground! THIS is a fight scene!

Yet another entrusting of the watch.

Tsukuyomi has found her resolve.

Woz has found a secret.

And next episode –

Wait a minute.

(checks the calendar)

VERY nice.

Sougo’s birthday episode? Airs on his birthday. Nice planning, Toei! And you checked a calendar correctly this time!

(But you couldn’t be bothered to check the year when you set Kazumin’s phone, could you?)

Also, it looks like they might be aiming a little closer to the first part of Hibiki for the tribute arc, with the kanji appearing on screen in the preview.

((so, it’s now… 3:45, so I wound up taking… let’s see. Started at 12:15, so a complete time would be three and a half hours, but there was that twenty minute gap when I went from 31 to 32, so… about three hours and ten minutes to watch 40 minutes of a children’s Sunday morning superhero show.))

((WORTH IT.))

#kamen rider zi o #kamen rider agito #sailorcressy says #when did i start noticing musical cues so often?#i genuinely don't know #but oh man OT included the lyrics this time YES

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buddhismscience-blog · 5 years

Text

Otis Jones

9822131

Rough Draft

Buddhism in the West

The development of global trade and navigation allowed for Buddhism to spread out of Asia into the West. In the 1800s Christian missionaries wrote about the countries they worked in and Buddhism was discovered by western intellectuals as described By Coleman on page 56. They had a negative impression of Buddhism as nihilistic and idolatrous. However, with time Buddhism has found a home in the United States, where one percent of the population and as high as eight percent in some states according to a world atlas article citing a Pew research poll. Buddhism gained popularity as a religion which was more compatible with science. While Christianity was seemingly incompatible with Darwin’s theory of evolution, Buddhism did not have these problems. Buddhism is not only compatible with science in some cases it seems to be consistent with some modern psychology and neuroscience. The opportunities offered by the California Gold rush in the mid 1800s saw the first Buddhists come to America. These Chinese immigrants began building temples across California according to Prebish and Baumann. Soon after Japanese immigrants came to work in California and Hawaii. The Buddhist temples served as more than a place of religious practice, they helped the immigrants preserve their language and culture. Buddhism has gone on to get lots of attention in popular culture in America from Carl Jung’s commentary in a translation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead, and Hermann Hesse’s Siddhartha, describing the story of another Buddha named Siddhartha. Buddhism has found a home in west due to its compatibility and consistency with modern psychological science.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS2Y1wmg9f8

Starting with Carl Jung’s interest in Buddhism, Buddhism has been connected to western psychology. In Why Buddhism is True Robert Wright explains how the Buddha’s description of the human condition and human suffering is consistent with western psychology. We are beings shaped by human evolution, our cravings and impulses have been shaped by the process of natural selection to ensure survival of us and our offspring. For example, if you tripped on your shoelace on the subway in front of a bunch of people you didn’t know, that embarrassment would be in your head for the rest of the week and it would bother you. Letting this incident which will not affect your life at all cause you to suffer is completely pointless, you do not know any of the people. Wright says this is because our thoughts are controlled by “modules” which have been shaped by natural selection. So, in a hunter gatherer village of less than 100 people, an embarrassment would be likely to affect your reputation and therefore affect your mating odds in some way. So, our minds are not updated to the world that we currently live in. Wright says that the Buddha could not have anticipated the struggles of the complex lives we live today, however the Buddha did have the cure for our problems.

The practice of meditation allows one to not be attached to your evolutionary urges. The pleasures we get are short and fleeting, and they are designed to be short and fleeting. These pleasures are designed to make us repeat behavior. We are hungry then we eat and have some pleasure then we are hungry again. This is by design. If someone eat and then felt eternal pleasure, they would never eat again then they would die and not pass their genes on. So, Wright says that meditation as prescribed in Buddhism is the cure to being controlled by our evolutionarily shaped brains. In 2014 study lead by Emiliano Santarnecchi meditation was found to produce “a significant reduction of several psychological indices related to worry, state anxiety, depression and alexithymia”.

Robert Wright describes beginning a meditation practice to be like taking the red pill from the matrix where you begin to truly see the truth. In this case the truth is the truth of the human mind. The truth that you, your conscious self is not the thinker of your thoughts, rather your thoughts come in to you mind and control you. The practice of meditation allows you to see this happen and give your conscious self a bit more control over your evolutionary impulses. So with a consistent meditation practice we are less and less controlled by these evolutionary impulses and we could reach something like a state of nirvana.

It seems that Buddhism was able to find the solution to the problems of the modern world that have been found by science. So not only is Buddhism more compatible with science than Christianity and other religions, Buddhism seems to have a place in science. A quote from an essay published in the International Encyclopedia of Buddhism describes the scientific nature of Buddhism “Buddhism extends the natural laws, the laws of causality to the mental or psychic domain, or, more exactly, perceives their operation in this sphere, and thereby disposes of the idea of supernatural or transcendental agencies working independent of or in contravention to the natural laws of the universe” (2). So, the quote is saying that Buddhism does not follow the path of Christianity with having transcendental agents but follows and extends the realm of scientific thinking. Buddhism certainly makes some supernatural claims however the practice of Buddhism in the west smooths these over for a more accessible experience.

Buddhism is practiced in the west however despite an effort to keep the practice the same Buddhism in the west cannot help but be influenced by its location in the west. I talked to Manson Jones who attended the Santa Monica Zen Center several times a week from 2000-2005 he said that his experience was almost entirely secular. There were people who came to the Zen center who went to church and practiced other religions. He said while some people wore robes, most did not. There was some effort put into preserving the traditional practice so they did read some of the original texts with translations. However, he said that overall the main focus was meditation and community. He said there were clearly influences from a new age group called the landmark forum. The Santa Monica Zen center attempted to fight the stereotype of Buddhism being for liberals and vegans. He said he was encouraged to do some martial arts, and several of the other members had been cops or in the military.

Buddhism has found a home in west with various groups particularly in California and despite a commitment to preserving Buddhist traditions, Western Buddhist cannot help but be influenced by its location in the west and has intermingled with psychology, psychotherapy and the new age movement. Buddhism gained popularity due to it being more compatible with science than other religions like Christianity. Now Buddhism has been found to have insights to give to modern psychology.

Works Cited

Koppedrayer, Kay. “Westward Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Asia, Edited by Charles S. Prebish, and Martin Baumann.” Journal of Global Buddhism, vol. 4, 2015, pp. 38–45.

Mcmahan, David. “Modernity and the Early Discourse of Scientific Buddhism.” American Academy of Religion. Journal of the American Academy of Religion, vol. 72, no. 4, 2004, pp. 897–933., doi:10.1093/jaarel/lfh083.

Santarnecchi, Emiliano, et al. “Interaction between Neuroanatomical and Psychological Changes after Mindfulness-Based Training.” PLoS ONE, vol. 9, no. 10, 2014, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0108359.

Wormald, Benjamin. “Projected Changes in the Global Buddhist Population.” Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project, Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project, 12 May 2015, www.pewforum.org/2015/04/02/buddhists/.

Wright, Robert. Why Buddhism Is True : the Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment. New York, NY : Simon & Schuster, 2017.

Aggie, Ms. “US States by Population of Buddhists.” WorldAtlas, 8 Sept. 2017, www.worldatlas.com/articles/us-states-by-population-of-buddhists.html.

Baldoquín, Hilda Gutiérrez. Dharma, Color, and Culture : New Voices in Western Buddhism. Berkeley, CA : Parallax Press, 2004.

Coleman, James William. The New Buddhism : the Western Transformation of an Ancient Tradition. New York : Oxford University Press, 2001.

Prebish, Charles S, and Martin Baumann. Westward Dharma : Buddhism beyond Asia. Berkeley : University of California Press, 2002.

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drewandhardy · 5 years

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#cluecrewquestionnaire

1. What is your favorite Nancy Drew game and why? Ghost of Thornton Hall! My Nancy Drew Holy Grail. This game just does everything right. The backstory of the Thornton family is beautiful and terrible and is the backbone of this game. The cast of characters are amazing. Clara, Wade, Harper -- all tragically complex and interesting. I’ll even throw Frat Boy Colton a bone here and say he added something to the story. Harper is straight up modeled after Helena Bohnem Carter in every role ever (though she most closely resembles Bellatrix Lestrange, probably). I absolutely loved hunting through the graveyard and reading old books to find out more about this family, their past, and this bizarre little southern island they live on. (Side note: Do tiny pieces of real estate like this exist off the coast of Georgia? Okay, I have consulted GoogleMaps and it appears they do. Making a note to visit.) The setting is just gorgeous, in the dreary, creepy way you would expect it to be. It reminded me of the abandoned town of Spectre from Big Fish. In fact, the whole thing has an eerie but beautiful Tim Burton-esque vibe to me. You have some amazing spaces to explore, including locked doors and hidden tunnels to boot. Puzzles are on point. Every puzzle in this game is going to help you advance the plot; nothing is sending you on benign errands. This was just seriously an awesome game. It’s the first ND game I’ve played in the Blahunka era, and it really opened a door to some of my other series favorites.

FIN, DDI, SPY, and TRT probably round of my top 5.

2. Have you played all 32 games in the series? If not, which ones haven’t you played? If yes, which one did you play first? I played MHM first, back in the day. Nothing like a little Abby seance to turn you on to a series.

Though I’ve been play since I was a wee baby jr. sleuth, I really rediscovered the series about 3 years ago. Still haven’t hit some of the more clunky sounding ones: White Wolf, Venice, Twister, Ransom, Medallion (started it but I can’t get through this gd game). I also still haven’t played DED or ASH but definitely looking forward to those.

3. What is your favorite line from any character in the series? Because I’m fresh off of SPY, I’m going to say “Be good. Be a little bad.”

4. If you could change the ending to any game, which one would it be (no spoilers, though)? Less jet packs.

5. Which game is your least favorite, and why? I mean, SCK is obviously not the biggest thrill, but damn I really hated fucking Castle Malloy. I thought I was going to love this concept: An upcoming wedding at a dilapidated castle in Ireland, where the groom suddenly goes missing?! SIGN ME UP, I SAY. But I really ate my words. This game is such a tedious slog to get through. Kyler, the bride in question, sits on her ass reading her damn book while you go on a wild goose chase for her husband. (Wild goose chase is hardly even figurative: there’s a damn chase-sheep-give-them-mohawks puzzle for christ sake.) The puzzles are long, and you frequently have to hunt down several missing pieces before you can even start said puzzles. The ending has to be some of the most bizarro, half-baked writing the Nancy Drew series has ever seen. Not to mention, the final sequence was one of the most infuriating things I’ve ever experienced (and I’m not even certain that this is hyperbole). I blew myself up approximately 35 times before - in a fit of rage - I Googled what nuanced methodology I needed to master in order to simply lift a bottle.

6. Which character is your favorite? Why? Oy, probably Dagny. But give me dem Hardy Boys any day. Also, Hilda Swenson. And Renate (CAP). And Viv (DOG). I tend to enjoy the old eccentric ladies.

7. Which character is your least favorite? Why? I’m pretty sure Holt Scotto (DDI) is part of the alt-right, so.

8. How do you feel about the whole Nancy/Ned vs. Nancy/Frank situation? Do you ship her with someone else? Who, and why? Patiently waiting for Nancy and Frank’s love story to arise in MID.

9. Do you have any fun headcanons about any of the games or characters? DAN is based off of The Devils Wears Prada.

10. If you could visit any of the locations of the games, which ones would they be and why?

That absolutely wild underworld set in LIE (someone explain why you build an elaborate set UNDER the stage instead of on it...)

Dry Creek (SHA)

Thornton’s bouge island

All the cool Pacific Northwest locations in DDI -- lighthouse, island, whale cave, etc

Wickford Castle

Royal Palladium

The Train

11. Did you read any of the original Nancy Drew books? If yes, do you like them? If no, would you consider reading one? I have not! But absolutely. Someone recommend the best one to me!

12. What is one thing any good detective can’t live without? Locked shit.

13. Which game had the best soundtrack? I really liked the Irish-y jig music in DDI and HAU.

14. What is one thing you wish HER would’ve included in any of the games (a conversation, interaction, location, feature, etc.)? I want a decent explanation of what happened in past-Germany in CUR. As in, we know who’s responsible for the monster games in present day, but they sure as shit weren’t alive in the olden days.

15. Do you have any ideas for a future game? What is it? Maybe a game base around the witch trials or something?

16. How long does it take you to finish a game from start to finish? Depends! Replays I can usually do in a single sitting, but first plays will take me a few days.

17. Did any of the games scare you? If yes, which ones? If no, why? Hell yeah, MHM scared the shit out of me when I was little. That “I see you” is like straight out of the Chamber of Secrets. Now that I’m an adult, some of my scariest thoughts are routed in my family falling apart. GTH and SAW and SPY definitely get to me in a psychological way. Thanks Blahunka, you twisted human.

18. Why did you join the Nancy Drew fandom here on tumblr? I have no real-life humans to talk these things through with, so thank you for being my internet humans.

19. What is your favorite Nancy Drew joke (from in-game or even floating around the internet)? In game, it’s gotta be the mom jeans shade from SPY. On the internet, all of the “It’s Locked” puns.

20. Who is someone in the clue crew you’ve always wanted to get to know? All of ya!

21. What are three unpopular opinions you hold about the games? 1. CUR is overrated. 2. LIE is underrated. 3. Lukas > Jane Penvellyn any damn day. I love playing Monster and hate playing damn “Go Dig.”

22. Do you have any fun theories about any of the games? I really think that if Blahunka stayed on, we would have gotten a Nancy/Ned break up at some point, and then a Nancy/Frank relationship later on.

23. Who was your favorite animal character featured in the games? Whale friend from DDI.

24. Do other people in your life know about your love for Nancy Drew? Yes! I’m constantly trying to get others to play!

25. How long have you been playing these games? Since about 2001.

26. What’s your favorite in-game backstory/history?

Ballad of Dirk Valentine and Francis Humbert; it’s truly the beating heart of SHA and the greatest love story in the series history.

The random hilarity of all Jake Hurley’s famous friends in TRN (he’s basically Tahani). Like, they seriously worked the Lincoln Assassination into this shit?? It’s amazing.

TRT, but more for the Wickford story than for the Marie Antoinette story. (When I played this as a child, I became obsessed with Marie Antoinette as a result of this game. I was too young to realize how ridiculous it is that Marie Antoinette’s tower was mysteriously in Wisconsin. I’m now too old to see through that ridiculously convenient pothole.)

Mickey Malone, his bombass girlfriend Vivienne, and his cool speakeasy.

Everything about the history of the Thorntons.

27. What is your favorite cut scene? Oh my god that damn junk shop in CRY. WHY WHY WHY.

#clue crew #nancydrew #herinteractive #cluecrew

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