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medea10 · 11 months

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My Review of Tomo-chan is a Girl!

How did I get into this anime? I’ve seen this advertised on Crunchyroll weeks before premier and a few hypes elsewhere. Okay, let’s see what you’ve got.

Tomo Aizawa has been best friends with Junichiro Kubota (or Jun for short) for years. They attended many schools together and were bros for the most part. Once high school came around, things changed for Tomo. She seems more worried about being seen as a girl and has developed feelings for her long-time friend Jun. Tomo even said, “I love you” in the first minute of this anime to Jun. And all she got in return was a, “Ah, I love you to bro”.

Jun is a dumbass! It’s clear that he wasn’t aware that Tomo was a girl for the longest time. It was probably in middle school when she wore a girl’s uniform. Despite that fact, Jun still treats her like one of the guys…which also includes butt-slapping. Jun really should think twice about slapping anyone’s ass.

When I saw him slap Tomo’s ass, my mind went straight back to an old King of the Hill episode. It didn’t end well for Bobby. But I digress! Tomo, I doubt this meat-head will ever see you as a love interest, let alone a girl. We have about 12 or 13 episodes to see if this changes for the better.

BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: Holy shit! Same day dub? You’ve gotta be yankin’ me! Okay Crunchyroll, you’ve upped the game yet again. We haven’t been treated to this since the days of Space Dandy. And another rarity these days, the English cast actually sings. It doesn’t happen that often nowadays, but we did get Lexi Nieto sing karaoke in the dub. That was actually comical. That whole scene was. Good job Nieto! Before I go to the cast, something surprising happened in the cast.

A RARE OCCURRENCE: So, I’m about ready to eat my hat when it comes to this. Back when I reviewed Love Live Nijigasaki, I was pretty vocal on the fact that the fans wanted Mia’s Japanese seiyuu to voice Mia in English. I snarked and said it would never happen. Jump to this anime and holy shit, we have someone voicing the same character in both Japanese and English. Even though it is very rare, it has happened before in the past. I’m not including Pokemon here because it should go without saying that Ikue Ootani as Pikachu is a staple everywhere.

Sally Amaki voices the ditzy blonde friend Carol. Because I had the privilege of watching this anime dubbed, I got the chance to hear Sally in English. Hearing her felt weird yet somewhat familiar. I think it was mostly me trying to pinpoint who is actually voicing her. I didn’t figure out that it was Amaki until like six weeks later. The familiarity was because I had heard her once before. It’s because she was a member of 22/7. Damn, I knew I heard her before. Sally Amaki is someone I expect to hear more from in the future. And the fact that she’s fluent in English surprised me. I mean, REALLY fluent! Okay, that’s enough gushing over this. Here’s the cast.

JAPANESE CAST: *Tomo is played by Rie Takahashi (known for Emilia on Re:Zero, Megumin on Konosuba, Sumi on Rent-A-Girlfriend, Mash on Fate/Grand Order, Ena on Laid Back Camp, and Shino on Girlfiend Girlfriend)

*Jun is played by Kaito Ishikawa (known for Kiawe on Pokemon SM, Genos on One Punch Man, Naofumi on Shield Hero, Iida on My Hero Academia, Sakuta on Bunny Girl Senpai, and Rokudou on Rinne)

ENGLISH CAST: *Tomo is played by Lexi Nieto

*Jun is played by Ricco Fajardo (known for Tatsumi on Zombieland Saga, Mirio on My Hero Academia, Sakurai on Uzaki-chan, Natsuya on Free!, and Kyousuke on Danganronpa)

FAVORITE CHARACTER: Misuzu…my girl! I love you, but…there’s another! Even though I relate to Misuzu on so much…I’m jumping on the Carol bandwagon.

Carol for the win!

SHIPPING: I’m sure something will progress by the end of the season. That was my premature take on the matter. Now, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of the main ship.

At the beginning of the series, it felt as though Jun didn’t seem to be affected by the love-bug or even aware of how girls feel at a certain age. It’s going to take some time for this idiot to get the message. And when it seems like he’s showing some sort of emotion towards Tomo, Jun says something double-standardy. Like other women can do this, but not her. At least that’s how it felt to me.

Later in the series, we notice that Jun is really starting to see Tomo as a girl and question little bits of their relationship. In fact, in the first episode when Tomo confessed, he thought it really could mean an actual confession. We even got flashbacks throughout the series with how these two really were. And yes, Jun really was that fucking stupid and didn’t know Tomo was a girl until much later. But that’s when he started to feel something there.

…

I’m sure you’re waiting for me to mention Carol and Kousuke since there was a very powerful episode that involved some revelations and “I love yous”. But um, I think everyone here is forgetting some important matter to this cutesy crap.

They are cousins.

Oh yeah, the Misuzu debacle. She just used Jun to further her own advances of getting him together with Tomo. And Jun kinda did the same thing. The whole thing ended in less than two days and their relationship hasn’t been pleasant from that day forward.

ENDING: There has been some turmoil between Misuzu, Tomo, and Jun. Misuzu has been feeling guilty about all her advances of girling Tomo up in order to win Jun’s heart. Misuzu ends up distancing herself away from Tomo, but Tomo still lures her back with her forgiving nature. Now comes the Tomo x Jun dilemma. Tomo likes Jun and has been dropping hints at him throughout the majority of this series. Jun likes Tomo and the feeling has been blooming in him for quite a while. Things finally erupted when Jun admits he likes Tomo. But then he also revealed about playing it off when Tomo first declared her feelings in episode 1. So, things didn’t go that well if you’ve got Tomo calling Jun an idiot after he says “I like you”.

The two eventually have a long talk. They both really like each other. But Tomo has been thinking this through more than Jun. If they go into a relationship, everything changes. And depending on how things end up it can be either successful or will destroy the relationship they already have. But Jun wants Tomo as a buddy, a bro, and a girlfriend. They even go on a date to the movies. Unfortunately, another wall stands in their way to a happy romance. That wall is Tomo’s dad. He refuses Jun to be her boyfriend unless Jun faces and wins a match against him.

Tomo did not take this well. Jun of course was very worried as he knows he’s not going to win this one. Tomo’s dad is like Bluto in a judo uniform. Regardless of the situation he’s in, Jun is going to go for it. The end result, Jun was actually able to put a dent in Tomo’s dad and was able to make his hands hit the ground for a brief sec. Guess that’s a W here. Tomo x Jun is a go and this ship has sailed.

Unless of course we get a second season and we get a secret lover of some sort?!

No? Okay. Still a great 13 episodes though. Yes, this was a very cute high school romcom. Literally, all of the characters were likeable. Even ones that are rarely in it like the parents. Seriously, Carol, Tomo, and Misuzu’s mothers are something else. With everything that has happened in these 13 episodes, do we even need a second season? The manga is over and with only 50+ chapters, I don’t know. Manga readers, did they cover everything here? Is there any more material to make a second season, movie, or special? I know Tomo and Jun are together. And Carol even got a chance at love. But Misuzu seems to be left out. Is she going to remain the status quo or will she eventually end up with that twank that’s been following her since the beginning? I forget his name. I’ll call him a twank. I personally would rather keep this anime at one season. I wouldn’t mind a special episode in the future, but best to leave things as they are. Any high school romcom fans, come over here. I approve.

If you would like to watch Tomo-chan is a Girl, Crunchyroll has this available in several languages.

#anime review #tomo-chan wa onnanoko!#tomo-chan is a girl!#tomo aizawa #junichirou kubota #carol olston #misuzu gundou #kousuke misaki #gorou aizawa

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wint3rbreez3 · 1 year

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❄ BASICS

STAGE NAME :: Emiko

BIRTH NAME :: Tanaka Emiko

KOREAN NAME :: Jang Eunchae

BIRTHDAY :: November 11th, 1997

ZODIAC :: Scorpio

BIRTH PLACE :: Kyoto, Japan

HOMETOWN :: Tokyo, Japan

ETHNICITY :: Japanese

NATIONALITY :: Japanese

❄ CAREER

PROFESSION :: Idol, Model, Actress

YEARS TRAINED :: 3 years

YEARS ACTIVE :: 2016 - Present

LABEL :: Flowerbank Entertainment

FANDOM NAME :: Flurries

SURVIVAL SHOW :: THE HIVE [ranked 11th]

PREVIOUS GROUP :: Seasons, Girlcode

❄ PHYSICAL

FACECLAIM :: Myoi Mina

HEIGHT :: 164cm | 5′4.5″

BLOOD TYPE :: O-

❄ HISTORY

Tanaka Emiko was born in 1997 as the only child to a well-off couple in Kyoto, Japan. Growing up with a good chunk of money, Emiko had been enrolled in the top-notch private schools since she first began attending school. Due to her parents’ occupations taken up most of their time, Emiko spent most of her childhood being take care of by her grandmother when she wasn’t busy with school.

Having a strong interest in dance since she was a toddler, her family enrolled her in dance classes as soon as she turned four. Not only did she have an interest in dance but she also had a natural talent for it, easily and quickly picking up on multiple forms of dance but she primarily excelled in ballet. When Emiko started middle school, her parents sent her off to a private boarding school in Tokyo, where she was also became enrolled in one of the best ballet academies in Tokyo.

During a special performance held by her ballet academy, Emiko was scouted by a member of staff for Angelico Entertainment. Not having much of an interest in kpop or in becoming an idol, Emiko originally just ignored the scout, but after months of the scout attending her performances and asking her to audition for their company, Emiko finally caved and submitted an audition. When she received the news that she had been accepted as a trainee, it took a while for her to make the decision if she was going to become a trainee or not. Emiko finally made her decision and became a trainee under Angelico Entertainment in the summer of 2013.

After training for three years, Emiko was informed that she would be making her debut as the next Winter in Angelico’s girlgroup Seasons. The idea of debuting in a well established group scared Emiko for a while but after getting to know her members and officially debuting, Emiko could not have been happier. Being one of the longest standing and most popular member of Seasons, everyone was shocked when the group went silent in the beginning of 2019 and then when the girls were announced to be graduating from the group. Not much is known about why Emiko graduated from Seasons or what went down behind the scenes, but Emiko held her official graduation concert called “A Winter’s Breeze” in early April of 2019 and released her graduation song called “BABE”.

After graduating from Seasons, Emiko quickly terminated her contract with Angelico Entertainment and signed a contract with a small company called Clockwork Entertainment. It didn’t take long after she joined Clockwork for them to announce that she would be debuting in their new girlgroup called Girlcode. Re-debuting in Girlcode in August of 2019, Emiko became the leader of four other girls that were relying on her previous experience in the industry and popularity to get them out of nugudom. While the group did have a two or three popular releases over the fourteen months that they were active, their company was just not making enough money to keep the group well promoted and active.

When Girlcode officially disbanded, Emiko quickly found herself signing a new contract with BE:LIFT LAB to become a trainee on their newest survival show “THE HIVE”. After weeks of grueling challenges and heart-wrenching eliminations, Emiko placed 11th in the final ranking, sadly missing out on debuting in Honeymoon (@hcneypit) by one position. Her time on the show garnered her a bunch of attention and led to multiple companies wanting to sign her as an artist. Emiko ended up signing with Flowerbank Entertainment in the end, and after training with them for a couple months, Emiko made her official debut as a soloist with the song “Woman” in February of 2022.

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kq-originals · 1 year

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AVALON {M E M B E R #1: Oliver}

Birth Name: Ahn Haneul Stage Name: Oliver English Name: Oliver Ahn Position: Leader, Main Vocalist, Performer Nationality: Korean-American Birthday: 25th June Blood Type: O Zodiac: Gemini Height: 177cm Banner Colour: Rose (Pink) Element: Light (Sun) Spirit Creature: Pegasus Visual Reference: Seoho (ONEUS)

Fact Rundown

Oliver was born and raised in New York.

He attended a Performing Arts school before he was scouted and is trained in Theatre performance.

In an interview, he revealed that he was scouted by an unknown label during a street performance but he decided to sign to KQ Entertainment.

Out of the members of AVALON, he trained for the longest period of time.

Nicknames: Ollie, Guardian

Languages: English, Korean, Japanese (currently learning)

He tends to read during his time off and keeps a book in his bag while traveling.

Favourite Artists: IU, K.Will, FINNEAS, Lauv

Alongside some of the other members, he contributes to the lore of AVALON.

He wasn’t used to Korean food when he first arrived in Seoul but he now loves kalbi (Korean barbeque) and tornado potatoes.

He prefers sour candy over chocolates.

Oliver is close friends with Hongjoong & Maddox; he confessed that they were the first to welcome him during his first months.

One of his dreams as an Idol is to perform in his home town and release an OST.

#ateez oc #ateez oc group #kpop oc band #kpop fake group #kpop oc #oc kpop group #ateez original character #kpop original character #{ pegasus : o l i v e r }#{ avalon: p r o f i l e s }

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insomniac-jay · 2 years

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Piers Taitessa

Piers Taitessa, otherwise known as the Steadfast Hero: Ajax, is a character that appears in all the BNHA Next Gen universes. He is one of Avyanna Harkness-Nightwalker's ex boyfriends and the one she dated the longest.

Appearanace

Piers is a tall, muscular man with tanned skin, slicked back gray hair and "glassy" light purple eyes. He keeps in very good shape and was even a member of the basketball team during his high school years.

He often dresses in button up shirts or tank tops with camo pants and combat boots but he will dress up for formal events. He is also fond of pocket chains.

Backstory

Piers was born in the United States to Japanese immigrant parents and is the eldest of four children. Being that he was the eldest child, he took on a lot of responsibilities and often helped his parents around the house. Thanks to his skills at basketball, he was received a scholarship to a prestigious school.

Piers had always wanted to be a hero just like his idol Ironhide. His mother, however, was against it as she saw it as extremely dangerous and she didn't want her son getting hurt or possibly killed. But Piers had no intention of giving up his dream. He trained his Quirk almost daily and wrote down track records of it.

When it came time to choose a college, Piers decided that he would go back to his roots and attend a college in Japan. While his family was delighted that he was going back to his roots, they weren't so happy about his choice of school being the infamous U.A. University. But Piers insisted that things about the school had changed and that he was still going no matter what.

It was in Japan that he met his now ex girlfriend Avyanna Harkness-Nightwalker, who was heading to Seiai College's entrance exam. It was love at first sight for the both the them and eventually they started dating.

Personality

Piers is a responsible and reliable young man. He's had to be so since his parents were often busy with work. Others can always rely on him to get any task done whether it be work, training, etc. But while he is responsible, he is also very stubborn and very set in his own ways. Piers is very insistent on having things done the way he wants; if something can't be done his way, then it can't be done at all.

He's more of a team leader than a team player because of this. He's not opposed to working in groups as long as he's the leader. However, he is extremely loyal and protective of those working with him, especially if they're his friends.

Piers has a hard time of letting go of certain feelings such as his love for Avyanna and his inability to let go of certain grudges. He tries to but everytime he does, those feelings find a way to creep back. And in turn, he becomes very jealous or aggressive as shown when he was jealous of how Augustus Du Bois easily charmed his ex.

Quirk

Primary Quirk: Iron Chain - Using the iron in his body, Piers can create durable and strong iron chains. He can create numerous chains but doing so will deplete his iron faster.

Secondary Quirk: Construct - Piers has the power to craft objects out of various kinds of resources. While it is similar to the Yaoyorozu clan's Creation Quirks, Construct does not require lipids to be used.

@calciumcryptid @floof-ghostie @peachyblkdemonslayer @pizzolisnacks @opalofoctober @elflynns-horde-of-stuff

#bnha next gen #jay's bnha ocs #characters: next gen ocs

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enheojin · 2 years

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HEO JIN profile

Face Claim: Joung Min (bbcanotherworld/girls planet 999)

Stage Name: Heo Jin (허진)

Birth Name: Heo Ji-Min (허지민) but she legally changed it to Heo Jin (허진)

English Name: Colin Heo

Position: -

Birthday: August 6th, 2004

Zodiac Sign: Leo

Height: 168cm (5′6)

Weight: 49kg (108lbs)

Blood Type: A-

MBTI: ISFJ

Representative Emoticon: 🐰

Nationality: South Korean

Heo Jin Facts:

Heo Jin has one younger brother who is three years younger than her.

Total Training Period: 6 years, 5 months.

Training Period (Under BE:LIFT): 4 months.

She ranked 7th in the final episode of I-LAND with 1,073,711 votes.

She participated in Produce 48 in 2018 and placed 14th in the final episode.

She was born in Daejeong-Eup, Jeju-Do, South Korea, but she moved to Gwanak-Gu, Seoul. South Korea when she was eight years old.

She is fluent in standard Korean and Jeju dialect, which is very different from standard Korean. She is also nearly fluent in Japanese.

Her nicknames are “heojeon” (meaning “empty” in Korean), “heol jin” (meaning “OMG jin” in Korean), “heo jinjja” (meaning “heo-really?!” in Korean), and “heokki” (a combination of her name + “bunny” in Korean).

Her fandom name is “jinsadoong”.

Heo Jin auditioned for Bighit in early February 2014 and trained there for 6 years and 1 month before being moved to BE:LIFT Lab.

She joined the company to train when she was nine years old. (HEOSUN VLIVE 211104)

She joined Bighit after watching BTS’ “Boy In Luv” music video. (HEOSUN VLIVE 211104)

Heo Jin trained along with TXT and fellow ENHYPEN members Heeseung, Jay, Sunghoon, and Jungwon.

She has known Heeseung longest out of all ENHYPEN members because they trained together for the longest. (en-o’clock episode 1)

Her father is South Korean.

Her mother passed away in 2010 when Heo Jin was six years old due to a chronic disease.

She is a fan of Girls’ Generation (Applicant Profile).

She used to attend an international school, but now she attends SOPA.

For her Produce 48 audition, she performed a solo audition that was “Milky Way” by Kwon BoA.

She auditioned with another solo for I-LAND, and her performance was Sunmi’s “Siren”.

For EN-CONNECT, she performed a solo performance of Sunmi’s “Full Moon”. She also performed a 2020 version of “처음이라서”.

Heo Jin would like to raise a cat in the future.

Pre-debut, she self-wrote and self-composed a song titled “처음이라서”. It does not have an English title, but the Japanese title is called “初回”. She has not given it an English title because she is not confident in her English. Both titles mean “first time”. (4J VLIVE 210817)

She has her own room at the dorms.

She is interested in studying English but thinks it’s very hard. (SOLO VLIVE 210713)

She can play the piano and the guitar. She also knows the basics of the violin.

She thinks she might be an ESFJ instead of an ISFJ. (HEO JIN BIRTHDAY VLIVE 210805)

She is interested in writing lyrics or producing for ENHYPEN.

Ideal Type: taller than her, a fun person

Specialty: eating spicy food, taking selcas

Hobbies: dancing, practicing, eating, studying

Charming Point: visual, eyes

Likes: the stage, dancing, singing, Jay, haemultang

Dislikes: taking tests, school, waking up early

Motto: live comfortably

#enhypen #enhypen oc #kpop oc #enhypen au #enhypen female member #enhypen female addition #enhypen 8th member #enhypen ff #enhypen added member #heojin #heeseung #jay #jake #sunghoon #sunoo #jungwon #ni-ki

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nctinfo · 4 years

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[TRANS] WayV’s interview with ELLE Korea May 2020 issue!

— Kun

A suffering leader, everyone's Kun — With a meticulous personality. The pros and cons would be: I think I am the leader thanks to my sense of responsibility and delicacy. [But] when there is too much to take care of, it is a bit cumbersome. There’s no member who gives me a hard time because they all pick on me one by one (laughs). If I had to introduce my hometown, Fujian Province, it's a quiet city with clean air and few people. Many people come to visit because the mountains and the lakes are beautiful. When I think about nature, I start missing my hometown. At school, I was the head of the student council's entertainment department. I might look like a serious person since the members are so active and mischievous, but I'm also a fun person. Times when I feel like we’re one team are when you know what the others are thinking just by the look in their eyes and, when we dance and the movements are 'synchronised'. WayV to me is the comfort of being able to share everything with each other. All the members worry a lot about music so a lot of ideas come out every time we hear new music. It is certainly an advantage that all seven have a lot of desire. I have a bright young voice, but my desire as a vocalist is to have a thicker and more mature voice these days. Wouldn't it suit dance songs that match our [team's] style more than ballads. I graduated in Practical Music. If there is a song I want to arrange: I'm still trying to look for my style while listening to various songs. I want to challenge not only the arrangement but also the composition. I am a good cook. The dishes I recently made for the members are the dishes that I learned from the main chef of the company while I practiced them [on the members]. The menu with the biggest reaction recently was DongPo Pork. When I can't sleep, I deliberately watch low-rated movies and these days, I watch a four-hour-long landscape video shot from a train driver's perspective. It makes me fall asleep really fast (laughs). The most memorable stage after debuting was as expected, MAMA 2019. When I was giving the award speech, my hand that was holding the microphone was shaking and it was all captured [on camera]. What I want to say to myself in hard times is to be confident! The moment you lose your confidence, everything becomes more difficult. The mindset I don't want to lose is to be grateful. Everything I do right now is impossible to do by myself. This is the most important. To Winwin: who has known me the longest among the members! I hope you always take on challenges with courage because I will always be there beside you to support you. Also, all the members know that you are cute.

— Lucas

Healthy energy, hot Lucas — Between a boy and a man, I feel closer to 100% boy! I don't think I feel mature enough. [Maybe I’m just like] a baby who wants to be a man (laughs). The most impressive man to me is a responsible person. And also, a man who gives everything to his loved ones. Having an attractive rapping sound because of a low and husky voice. My desire to sing is big! I want to sing a sad song. I've heard from people around me that a calm song suits my voice. Like the calm songs of Paul Kim I normally listen to too. My favorite song is "Take Off, The killing point is the dance break, with the powerful guitar riff. Emotion is what is the most important on stage. I believe each song has its own soul, and it is important to immerse yourself. My role in the team is positive energy. Although always looking bright, surprisingly, I have a lot of thoughts. Yesterday too, I had a lot of thoughts before going to bed, so it took me a while to fall asleep. Not long ago, Kun hyung played me a song he had composed and so many ideas came up so I wrote them down and sent it to him. WayV to me is a friendship that feels really deep even though it’s been only a year since I made a debut with the people I love so much. So much that when we come back from a schedule, as we laugh and talk together, the stress will suddenly be gone. The most important thing in a team is to have sincere conversations with each other to understand each other's differences. Only then can we get along well because of the wider understanding. Having appeared in a number of familiar variety shows like the Chinese version of <Running Man> <Let's Run Season 3> I like that I can go to various places the most. It's also a special opportunity to meet people with other jobs and not only artists. I think I'm often called/casted [for these shows] because of my sincere youthful reactions. The mindset I don't want to lose is the promise I made when I debuted to be a good influence on people. That's what I always keep in mind. I want to be a person who always gives positive influence to people, family, and fans around me. To Yangyang: who I know is really smart, you're still a cute little brother to me (laughs)

— Winwin A quiet presence, Winwin — In the reality show <Dream Plan>, mingling well with the elders in the village was impressive. Special trick behind it was thanking them for looking out for me! Since they were all kind natured, I guess treating them with sincerity looked good. When Lucas and I visited their home, we got served a meal and received a warm welcome. A performance video of Ten and I has been released. As a dancer, Ten is a member whose strength is being versatile. He helps the members at dance practices a lot. I’ve learned dancing in a special dance school. At the time I was the shortest and least talkative kid until I grew taller in high school. I’ve spent most of the time practicing alone. Chinese dance is similar to modern dance mixed with ballet. Learning the choreography is fast and it’s an advantage to be skillful in tumbling. I would like to properly showcase a modern dance at a concert someday. When I’m on the stage what I care about the most is my gestures and facial expression. During ‘Take Off’ promotions, the gestures and facial expressions I did during my part varied from stage to stage. I hear that I’m ‘pure’ a lot. A new charm that I want to have: our fans call me ‘Baby Chick’. I want to showcase more of an ‘eagle’ image, so I cut my hair short. Isn’t it similar to Park Saeroy (laugh). Something that makes me angry, although I normally have a good temper is being unsatisfied with stage performance to the point I can’t sleep on that day. But it’s okay to just take a nap. I just need to do better. The most memorable moment in WayV promotions was receiving the Best New Asian Artist Award at the MAMAs, it was the first time we’ve gotten an award together so I was very happy. The reason why I went to Beijing on my own as a middle school student seems to be fate. I passed my exams without much determination, left my hometown and went to school in Beijing where I was noticed and then debuted. Coincidence became fate. To me WayV is a path that we’re talking together, a team with a lot of growth potential. I’d like it if the younger members came to me whenever they need someone. I feel our fans love and support the most when: I’m always amazed and grateful for our fans hearts. All of the people who always look out for us even when we’re not promoting any albums and who support us are an immense source of strength. Success to me is when more people get to know us and we get to perform in many different countries. I want to think about my personal success after my team’s success. To Kun: when members want advice, we reach out to Kun first before our families. He knows a lot, can do a lot, and is a person we can depend on.

— Ten

Ten who is curious about what's next rather than what’s now — The secret to adapting well everywhere is attending an international school. I had friends of various nationalities and I also traveled a lot. Wherever I went, I went to see the common [places] first. Learning an unfamiliar culture is fun. I’m learning Thai, English, Korean, Japanese and now working hard at learning Chinese. I memorize expressions that I can use while watching Chinese variety shows and dramas. Although it's still difficult to read the buzzwords and hanja. The most important thing as a performer, and what makes you an outstanding dancer, is to have your own style while not being trapped by masculinity and femininity. I am different now from a few years ago and I'm trying to challenge myself by being flexible in various aspects. What I've learned since debut is, in the case of WayV, that when you work with various genres the main concern is the vocal style and with SuperM, I learned about the importance of performance through the activities [we did]. 'It's important to dance well, but you must also have your own [style]', 'think about what you want to express in front of the camera, but you must be faithful to your feelings on every stage in order to develop [yourself]' is the advice I received from the Hyungs (Baekhyun, Kai, Taemin). For the dance video that I did together with Winwin, the concept, music, settings, and outfits were all decided by us together without the company's advice. I came to realize the difficulties of being a staff member (laughs). I can [now] see the wider picture and more details. I like poetry too. I think poetry expresses emotions. It helps me understand the world and the society as a person and not as an artist. The lyrics of my 2nd solo song 'New Heroes' feel like an autobiography. If 'Dream in a Dream' was all about the performance then 'New Heroes' is a song about the time spent committing [to something] and I thought anyone can sympathize with that. The [original] lyrics were so great that I asked them not to change it and to just go with it. I want to write lyrics myself someday. The kind of person I want to be is [someone who] always tries to go with the flow as I think that making plans and setting expectations can make it more difficult on yourself. I hope I could be a person who can leave a good impact on others. WayV to me is just like a family who always does everything together and takes care of each other asking ‘have you already eaten?’. Everyone has an open mind to try and accept new challenges. During the 'Moonwalk' promotion period, I was kinda surprised how well we got along. Having received recognition for my skills since debut. The times when the expectations are high are: Art and languages too are ever-evolving disciplines, so it's not easy to keep up. Nevertheless, there are self-expectations and anticipations to show a new side of myself. I will work hard (laughs). I still play Pokemon Go and I'm waiting for the June update. I will catch a lot of new Pokemon again! To Xiaojun: with whom I saw Harry Potter together yesterday! Let's make an appearance in Harry Potter when there is a reboot.

— Hendery

Flexible midfielder, Hendery — Something I’ve gotten into recently is practicing playing drums. Kun hyung is cooking a lot lately so I’ve been reviewing the food too. The other day he made kimchi jjigae so good that it even got an approval from manager hyung. My favourite track is ‘Take Off’. We filmed the music video in Ukraine and spent loads of happy times together, so I feel happier whenever I listen to it. Something I’ve improved on since debut is that recording songs takes less time. When I hear a member of staff say ‘Is this really Hendery’s voice?’ I feel proud of myself. The charm of my vocal is: I’m still looking for it, but I feel like my rap sounds nice when I spice it up with a little melody. Good at giving advice to our members. A tip to giving good advice is: it’s important to have helping and not making decisions in mind. Talk about both bad and good points about the A and B. The secret to always looking like I’m at peace is my parents always telling me ‘Your happiness is the most important. You always have a home to come back to, so work as much as you can enjoy’, thanks to them I grew up as someone with little stress or worries. Mindset that I don’t want to lose is the excitement before going on stage. I think the most important thing for an artist is their greed for performing. When I get on stage the most important is interacting with fans. The most memorable stage was our Korean debut on <Show! Champion>. I couldn’t believe we’re performing Chinese songs in Korea. I was so overwhelmed to see our fans welcoming us so enthusiastically even though they didn’t understand what we were saying. I opened an instagram account recently. My posting plan is ‘This is where I am‘ ‘I am filming today’. I want to showcase my daily self. I hope our fans can smile for a brief moment when they see the pics I had the most fun taking. To me WayV is: I feel empty when I go away to see my family for a little. Every time that happens I facetime them to relieve the sadness. Lucas is the member who picks up the most (laugh). To Lucas: No matter how busy we get, even if we become grandpas, I’ll always be by your side. It’s something I want to say to all of the members, but Lucas is a friend I'm especially attached to so I really wanted to say this.

— Yangyang

Infinite potential, bold maknae Yangyang — I speak Chinese, German, English Korean and Spanish. Great language skills are useful when you travel. Whenever I talk with friends of various nationalities, I think it's fortunate that I can speak many languages. In our team alone, it's full [with people who speak] Chinese, Thai, English, and Korean (laughs). My role in the team is being the happy virus! Although of course, the hyungs think I'm a maknae that requires a lot of energy from them. WayV to me is a high tension team that can deliver strong and positive energy. If someone shows a slight sign of exhaustion, we immediately stick together and somehow infect each other with energy. I think that such energy is conveyed to fans on stage. If I have learned anything from living together with the members [it would be] the habit I have developed to control my greed and to care for others. I'm used to looking at the other's feelings now before doing something. My favorite song is ‘King of Hearts’, because I participated in writing the lyrics. I also love 'Love Talk' from the 2nd mini album. It is a charming song that is sweet and sexy but has a way to make your body move. My ambition as a rapper is the flow. Because I think this is the aspect that determines the impression of a song from the listener's point of view. I want to be a multi-talented person who is good at not only rapping but also dancing, singing, and writing lyrics. I've always had a lot of ambition. The attractive part of writing lyrics is that I can tell my story, since from a long time ago, I wrote lyrics little by little and it's always fun work. I want to steadily keep doing it. I like Virgil Ablo and Demna Gvasalia, and the fashion icon who caught my eye these days is Mike Amirie. I am drawn to people who have a simple yet clear style. The same goes for musicians. I like people who have a clear style like Travis Scott and A$AP Rocky. I’ve said 'I like who I am' before. Instances when I am especially like myself is when I'm confident. When I have confidence and want to show off, I can show much more than my actual skills. I use SNS to check on NBA and fashion news. I see the news on sneakers I'm looking forward to fast. Surprisingly, I don't look up anything about me [but] when a stage or performance is over I do look up the reactions. Most of them are good, so every time I read, I get energized. To Hendery: hyung, you seem to really get into gaming, but don't try too hard (laughs).

— Xiaojun

Warm voice, Xiaojun — Something I’m into these days is practicing the songs that will be included in the next album that we are preparing for. Before debuting, I only sang my favorite ballad song, but nowadays, I want to sing songs of other genres such as R&B. I've been uploading videos of me singing on my personal Instagram. My favorite song is ‘Face to Face’. My heart warms up every time I hear it. I really like the lyrics ‘You won’t be lonely because I’ll be your strength, I won’t let you cope with your wounds alone in silence’. The keywords that describe me are kind. Friendly. Positive. I often say ‘I wish my songs were healing different people’. The way I heal myself is: my heart calms down when I look at pictures with many memories sealed in them. I take a lot of pictures of the scenery and especially when I look at the pictures of my hometown in Guangdong I feel healed. The reason behind my strong sensitivity is the big influence of my dad who’s a singer and my older brother. Ever since I was little we would often watch movies together. I graduated with a musical major. My greed for musicals is: I’ll surely do it again later. I like starring in musicals but one day I’d like to make my own. A musical piece I’d like to recommend is <Dear Evan Hansen> who won at Tony Awards and Grammys. It’s a warm story about a lonely high school boy suffering from social anxiety disorder, who is working on his trauma and healing from the pain. My way of dealing with stress is quiet time on my own. Just like positive energy, negative energy is easily spread to others, so I’d rather be alone. A memory I really want to make is a trip, I promised to go on before debuting, with the members. The destination is still undecided. The kind of team member I want to be is a silent supporter. It would be nice if I can be 'my people/dearest' to others. Something I want to do this year is to have an event for the fans. I like to surprise friends or throw surprise birthday parties. I think fans will love it if we would do a guerilla performance. I told you here so I have to throw [that idea] away and I will prepare something else (laughs). To Ten: You are one of the 'Hyung-line', and you Korean is the best so there are many times you have to lead us. Don't carry everything on your own and sometimes lean on us! The same goes for Kun hyung.

t/n: Due to the structure of this interview there might be inaccuracies as many things only made sense in Korean but sounded kinda awkward in English (more so compared to other translations we did). We tried our best to convey what they meant, but please keep this in mind when reading this interview.

Translation: Alex, Esmee @ FY! NCT (NCTINFO) | Source: ELLE Korea Scans — Do not repost or take out without our permission!

#NCT #wayv #kun #ten #winwin #lucas #hendery #xiaojun #yangyang #t:trans #t:interview #ELLE #ELLE: May 2020

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loverofallthingssmart · 4 years

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this is for you @sokkadyke and because i got yueki as the athlete power couple feels in the middle of the car and had to draw them so let’s go!......

suki

soccer team is called the kyoshi warriors (duh!) to honor one of the best soccer prodigies known, kyoshi

she’s captain

pakku used to be the coach but he’s oh so very sexist so suki got him fired with katara’s help

sokka is an honorary member of the kyoshi warriors (meaning he can attend their practices but he prefers to stay on the headlines

suki has been playing soccer since she was 8 when her mom was a star player and she fell in love with the sport

now she does it to stay close to her mom (she feels really guilty since she doesn’t really celebrate her japanese side a lot and soccer helps her in taking that stress and worry away)

they are the only team at the school

they have a longest winning streak of the district

suki has been the best goalkeeper every time (except for that one time where she was staring at the new, pretty cheerleader to block anything but)

her team gets a lot of shit since they’re like a fully asian team and “shouldn’t you guys be hitting the books and not playing ball” but it’s alright when she sees their faces after the kyoshi warriors kick their asses

let’s move on to yue,

she’s a transfer and joined cheer because it was something in her life her dad didn’t have to decide for her

she was homeschooled because she would get sick easily and resorted to gymnastics as a way to pass the time

english is her second language so she’s not the best at it and she’s in double english classes

she’s a flyer and is the best at tumbling

she loves practicing stunts under the full moon or just at night because she was born under a full moon and feels connected to it

she and katara love to swim and she loves playing chicken fight (especially with her great balance)

BROWN EYED YUE FOR THE WIN

sokka and yue and katara are gossip buddies and like having gossip sessions in their native language so no one else knows what they’re saying (they’re literally just gushing about wonderful their significant others are with each other)

now to the yueki part....

they meet through sokka

suki is best bi friends with sokka and yue and sokka dated in middle school once and remained friends

both of them vehemently deny their attraction to each other because “she’s out of my league”

sokka is now realizing how much of an oblivious idiot he was and might just have to give katara a present for dealing with him all these years

he sees them stealing glances at each other during practices and does the best thing and sets them up (to pay suki back for introducing him to zuko)

they have a cute diner date with milkshakes and french fries and sit and look at the stars in the night

suki helps yue with her practicing her stunts sometimes (suki is an incredible base) and yue helps with suki and doing drills to help with speed

suki helps yue with her english homework and also assists her when she can’t really speak and resorts to inuktitut to describe things

(sokka helps teach suki inuktitut so they can BOTH help yue when she needs help with her english)

they love watching each other practice (which is not good since they practice on the same days on the field)

overall they’re amazing and i love them

#avatar the last airbender #atla #yueki #yue #suki #modern au #yueki au #2 am ramblings #e’s art journey #dont focus too hard on the actual limbs because then you’ll realize i am a horrible artist #faceless because again i cannot draw faces right #tell me if anything here is offensive!#i didnt really want to whitewash their experiences but like...im not japanese or inuit so #my post

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fangofthedawn · 3 years

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30 facts

hehe i wanted to do this too..

1. the title of “unremarkable great genius” is self-appointed to mimic the way sun wukong’s title of “great sage, equal to heaven” was an empty title too-... unfortunately steel said it enough that others eventually picked it up as a legitimate title which bothered the fck out of their superiors

2. their hair is dyed - it’s originally black, but after an unfortunate overtone accident, they just decided to bleach it

3. they prefer loose-fitting or layered clothing, so their b3 outfit is actually more comfortable than what they wear on the job (2-piece suit... they used to wear a skirt, but it’s more difficult to move in than pants unfortunately)

4. in high school they were a member of the kendo club and functioned as captain; they also studied martial arts at home, though, which is why they didn’t go to many team outings

5. on that note, they were neither popular nor unpopular in school; coming from a family of “exorcists,” but having a friendly personality (and demonstrating that they know how to hit things with intent and accuracy) people liked them but they weren’t particularly close with anyone until they entered the work force

6. their family follows something close to the shisei seido system (or the yakuza.. and swordsmanship schools) with one, main family and its several subsidiary families all banded together beneath the same clan -- steel has the privilege (?) of being a member of the Main Family, but this is also why (other than the fact that they’re only blood related through their mother) they have a different surname from both of their siblings

7. their biological father was a swordsmith working for the main family, and he initially taught them how to use a sword

8. i lied in chat earlier i think they should be allowed to be fluent in japanese (native) and mandarin.... with marginal proficiency in english (they’re still learning)

9. they’re technically engaged to a ningyo, although the entire thing was a sham in order to expedite their fiancee’s exorcism... unfortunately, being a total normie, steel cannot lift her curse and she does not know that yet :[

10. they can play the koto, the shamisen, and the piano with okay proficiency... they’re not super interested in music on the whole, though

11. steel is also proficient in archery, though they favor swords and their fists over using a bow

12. the organization they work for was previously covert -- their only clients were typically superstitious people, rich people, and rich superstitious people. of course, things are different now thanks to [something that will be on the worldstate doc], and steel is personally grateful for the opportunity to show off

13. on that note, they have a bit of a bad reputation among some in their field -- some respect the fact that they’re a complete normie who manages to stand side by side with other exorcists, and some find them a nuisance that makes “real exorcists” look bad... they don’t care either way. they think they are a delight :3c

14. they have little fangs!! and their nails are sharp!! ... tiger motif yyes..?!

15. the longest their hair ever was was floor-length and they had to cut it bc they were sitting down seiza in a dark room and almost gave one of their family’s attendants a heart attack... haunted mf...

16. they're scarily good at mahjong... they could’ve been invited to summit for it, if they bothered to do it seriously...

17. they’re very particular about their title! of course, they prefer “grand exorcist” as opposed to just “exorcist” but they are fully opposed to being referred to as an onmyoji -- because “the position no longer exists, and i’d rather not get in trouble for parading around with a title that doesn’t exist” ... even though ... (looks at point 1)

18. their way of speaking changes when they’re on the job, they tend to sound more dramatic... Exorcist Persona

19. of course, they’re a big fan of monkey/journey to the west, though in more recent times they’re an avid sasuke watcher !!

20. they don’t smoke and request others don’t smoke around them; they take their health very seriously !! on that note, they tend to limit their alcohol intake as well

21. while they represent the white tiger of the west, their associated element is fire, rather than metal

22. their mbti type is ESTP

23. their occupation puts them adjacent to ‘supernatural hunter,’ although they claim that things like silver, holy water, and wooden stakes are for lazy people -- “a katana should be more than enough”

24. their favorite movie is tampopo

25. they like golden snub nosed monkeys

26. they own a hatsune miku gatebox. it was a gift from a friend.

27. their family is very fond of epithets and monikers; growing up they were referred to as “crimson collateral” until eventually earning the name “fang of the dawn” part of the reason for this is because of the shiesei-seido stuff mentioned previously in addition to people disliking referring to them by their surname

28. they don’t save anyone’s number in their phone, so unless you put your number in yourself, they’ll respond to most texts with “who is this”

29. they buy and sell gacha accounts for extra spending money. they have not gotten in trouble for this yet but they should

30. steel’s siblings were the only ones to see them off before they departed for summit!

#ooc #sneakin these in.. for fun..-

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cakep0psugar · 4 years

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BTS

jin: kim seok jin (김석진), stage name: jin, oldest in the group at 27 yrs, born dec 4th 1992 in anyang, gyeonggi-do south korea, sagittarius, 5′10, blood type O, he has a mom, dad, and older brother, nicknames: fake maknae, worldwide handsome, and eat jin, in 2015 jin was nicknamed car door guy from coming out the door and stunning fans with his visuals, was an exchange student in australia during his middle school year, both his middle school and high school were all-boys schools, has the longest legs in BTS, shoulders are 60 cm wide, speaks chinese (mandarin) and basic english, likes disney princesses, a very good cook, favorite number is 4, favorite color is blue, habit is blinking his left eye when hungry, can open a bag of chips with his feet, loves eating, jin and RM used to be the least skilled dancers in BTS but they improved a lot, wears really strong prescription glasses but he doesn’t like wearing them because he’ll become insecure, hes the closest to v, wakes up 2 hours earlier than the rest of the members, had a dog named JJanggu, can play the guitar and the piano, is really good at snowboarding, has a habit where if he makes eye contact with anyone for more than 3 seconds he winks at them, hates scary movies, jin and jungkook bicker a lot, likes strawberries but he doesn’t like strawberry flavored things, used to work at a strawberry farm, makes dad jokes, and is the first idol to hit 100 million hearts on a solo vlive.

suga: min yoon-gi, stage name: suga (슈가), second oldest at 27 yrs, born march 9th 1993 in buk-gu daegu south korea, pisces, 5′8, blood type O, has a mom, dad, and older brother, got his stage name from the CEO because he is pale and his smile is sweet like sugar, he’s in charge of fixing the things that RM breaks he changes the light bulbs, fixes the toilet, etc, members often call him “grandpa” because he sleeps all the time and can be cranky, he usually scolds and nags the younger members when they make a mistake, nicknames: motionless min, grandpa, and mr. appendix because he had appendicitis surgery in 2013, was an underground rapper and was in a group called D-Town, when he was an underground rapper he was known as gloss cause that’s the english translation of yoongi, suga has been making and producing music since he was 13, loves sleeping, bad at japanese and english, suga’s personality is quite straightforward, can play the piano, when he has a problem he talks to RM because their age gap is small and they also have things in common, suga said in a interview he comes from a poor family, was in a car accident and hurt his shoulder while working as a delivery boy and delivering a meal on a bike, favorite food: meat, meat, and meat, speaks with a satoori accent when he’s nervous and when he cries, for suga his charm is his eye smile, bad at drawing, and fav color is white.

j-hope: jung ho-seok (정호석), stage name: j-hope (제이홉), third oldest at 26 yrs, born feb 18th 1994 in gwangju south korea, aquarius, 5′10, blood type A, has a mom, dad, and older sister, j-hope was a part of a street dance team called NEURON, won an underground dance battle and even performed at a festivals, fav color is green, has a dog named mickey, hates exercising and working out, used to be a tennis player in elementary school, bad at drawing, when having problems or worries he would share them with rap monster or suga, when he was younger he was quite famous in the gwangju dance underground, likes if someone strokes his hair – he says it helps him to sleep, things he wants to steal from other members is jimin’s chocolate abs, rap monster’s rap skill and his good english, j-hope’s ideal date: “i love the sea, i would like to walk down to the beach and hold hands”, features in drake’s “in my feelings” MV, on march 2 2018 j-hope released his 1st mixtape “hope world” with the title track “daydream”, j-hope’s ideal type is a girl who loves him, is good at cooking, and thinks a lot, in the dorms he shares a room with jimin, 3 requirements for j-hope happiness: family, health, and love, is known for his sunny personality, j-hope is a bright guy and laughs alot, loves sprite and hamburgers.

RM: kim namjoon, stage name: RM (old stage name was rap monster), fourth oldest at 26 yrs, born sep 12th 1994 in seoul (sangdo-dong) then he moved to Ilsan gyeonggi-do south korea when he was 4, virgo, 5′11, blood type A, has a mom, dad, and younger sister, RM studied in new zealand and lived/stayed there for 6 months, he’s currently enrolled to global cyber university, pre-debut he had already been performing as an underground rapper, he’s really smart with an IQ of 148 he was previously ranked in the top 1% of the nation in his high school exams, speaks english fluently, RM’s TOEIC (the test of english for international communication) score was 900, there was a rumor among the korean fans that at the age of 15 namjoon had a heart surgery with a 30% chance of living (but that’s just a rumor), hobbies: surfing the web, walking in a park, cycling, photography, mountain climbing, good at ice-skating, hes a great supporter of the gay/lesbian’s rights, he has a younger sister the same age as jungkook but when asked if he would introduce her to him he said N.O, RM has composed/produced 100+ songs, RM’s nicknames are rap mon, leader mon because he is the leader of BTS and the destroyer bc he destroys everything he touches: sunglasses, clothes, doorknobs, bunk bed ladders, fav colors are black, pink and purple, has a dog whose name is RAP MON, is the english translator for the group when they go to america, and his fav number is 1.

jimin: park ji min (박지민), stage name: jimin (지민), fith oldest at 25 yrs, born oct 13th 1995 in busan south korea, libra, 5′8, blood type A, has a mom, dad, and younger brother, pre-debut jimin entered busan high school of arts as the top student in modern dance but later transferred to korea arts high school with V, jimin was the last member to join BTS, fav color are blue and black, fav number is 3, nickname: mochi, he used to view himself as “fat” and he was self conscious of his looks and cheeks, favorite foods are pork, duck, chicken, fruit, and kimchi jjigae, doesn’t like spinach, prefers a sunny and cool weather, known for his impressive abs, he jokingly hits his fellow members as a way of showing his affection for them, if music is playing he will start to dance no matter where he is, he is most confident in his eyes, enjoys reading comic books, according to jimin the requirements for his happiness are: love, money and stage, jimin has black belt in taekwondo, jimin is close with EXO kai, jimin usually solves his problems himself if he can’t solve it, he will share it with V and ask for his advice, jungkook is always teasing jimin about his height, things he wants to steal from other members are: rap monster’s height, V’s talent and gaze, j-hope’s cleanliness, and suga’s diverse knowledge, money is important to jimin, jimin’s ideal date: “sitting on the bench, drinking together… i would like to have a countryside date we would also walk holding hands, things he dislikes: jin, suga and V, known for his angel voice, is the shortest in the group, and his “fake love” fancam already reach 29.3 mil on youtube which is the most viewed fancam in k-pop.

V: kim tae-hyung (김태형), stage name: V (뷔), sixth oldest at 24 yrs, born dec 30th 1995 in daegu but later moved to geochang where he spent his life until he moved to seoul, capricorn, 5′10, blood type AB, has a dad, mom, younger sister and younger brother, can speak fluently japanese, fav color is grey, fav number is 10, nicknames: taetae, blank tae (bc he always has a blank expression) and CGV (since his visuals are so perfect and outstanding like the computer game character), he has been in the group for awhile but fans didn‘t know or hear of him until the time around his debut, has one single eyelid and one double eyelid, has a 4D personality, he clenches his teeth while he sleeps, he can only drink one glass of beer before he gets drunk, doesn’t like coffee but loves hot cocoa, likes anything that is unique, can dance in high heels, is the pickiest eater out of all the members, his role model is his dad he wants to be a dad like his dad someone who takes care of his children, when V has a problem he will share it with jimin and jin but he thinks is more easy to talk to jimin since they have the same age, V is one of the mood makers in BTS along with j-hope, namjoon said that taehyung is the 2nd best english speaker in BTS, loves GUCCI, he has been showing interest in photography lately if he wasn’t an idol he would probably be a photographer, has a habit of collecting ties, is in charge of the washing machine, can climb a tree but he can’t get back down, is ambidextrous he was originally left handed but he’s now ambidextrous, comes from a poor family he said, acted in the korean drama “hwarang” (2016-2017), and ranked 1st in the “top 100 most handsome faces of 2017.

jungkook: jeon jung kook (전정국), stage name: jungkook (정국), youngest member at 23 yrs, born sep 1st 1997 in busan south korea, virgo, 5′10, blood type A, has a mom, dad and older brother, jungkook attended seoul performing art high school he graduated in february 2017, favorite foods are anything with flour (pizza, bread, etc), fav color is black, loves playing games, drawing and soccer, has a weird habit where he sniffles a lot because of his rhinitis he also wriggles his fingers a lot, fav number is 1, likes shoes and makeup, dislikes tasteless things, bugs, getting hurt, and studying, speaks korean, japanese and english (basic), knows taekwondo (he has a black belt), in 10 years jungkook wants to be the owner of a duck meat restaurant or a tattooist, after randomly seeing and falling in love with future member rap monster’s rap he decided to join big hit entertainment, nicknames: jeon jungkookie (suga calls him a lot), golden maknae, kookie, jk and nochu, jungkook wants to go on trip with his lover someday, loves reading comic books, is the baby of the group, is a big fan of iron man, thinks he’s a pro gamer, can play games on two computers at once, jimin says that jungkook smiles when he swears, owns a dog named 구름/gureum (cloud), members say that jungkook’s dorm room is the messiest but jungkook denies, things that he wants to steal from other members are: rap monster’s knowledge, suga’s diverse knowledge, j-hope’s positive mind, jimin’s persistence and his effort, V’s natural talent and jin’s wide shoulders, has his own room, and is good at literally everything.

#bts

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pens-swords-stuff · 5 years

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Please read!

On March 11th, 2011 Japan has gone through a cataclysmic earthquake, followed by a massive tsunami that has destroyed much of Northeast Japan. Hundreds of lives were lost, homes were washed away, and the effects of the disaster can still be felt today.

If you go to yahoo.co.jp and search “3.11″ today, Yahoo will donate 10 yen (approximately 9-10 cents) for tsunami relief.

Please take the time to do this. It will take about 2 seconds at no cost to you, and the money will be used for a good cause.

It’s been about 8 years since the disaster, and Japan has still not fully recovered. Every little bit helps, and in the chaotic cycle of news it is really easy to forget about major events like this. Thousands of lives were affected, and I would really appreciate it if you took the time to participate, and take a moment for all of the lives affected.

I have a personal connection with this disaster, and it is really important to me that this gets as much awareness as possible.

Please reblog to boost awareness!

If you would like to know my personal story and connection to tsunami and earthquake, it is all underneath the cut. [includes pictures]

For those of you who don’t know, I am Japanese-American. Although I was born in and grew up in the United States, both of my parents are Japanese and I used to go to Japan every summer to visit family.

My mother’s hometown of Kesennuma was the very first place hit by the tsunami. In the image below, the star was the epicenter of the tsunami, and that little place circled in blue is Kesennuma.

Almost the entirety of my mother’s side of the family lives in Kesennuma including my grandmother and numerous relatives. Kesennuma is basically my second home, I grew up going there every year, I attended school there, I grew up playing on the beach, and running through the streets as a kid.

On the morning of the 11th, I remember waking up because the phone started ringing at around 4 AM, and didn’t stop. My mom usually wakes me up at 7 AM to get ready for school, but she didn’t that day. When I woke up on my own and went downstairs, my mom was staring at the TV. The only thing on the TV was a building being swept away by massive waves.

My grandmother lives right next door to Kesennuma’s City Hall. When I was a kid, I used to open the window in my grandma’s house and wave to the office workers across a small alley — that’s how close it was. The only thing that was on the news at the time, during the disaster was “The City Hall of Kesennuma has been engulfed in waves!”. Over and over, for about two weeks, that was the only source of information that me and my parents had. For two of the longest weeks of my life, we had absolutely no idea if my grandma, my cousins, my family, and my friends were dead or alive.

During this time, the electricity was down, cell phone signals were wiped out, and despite the entire world paying attention and sending prayers and well-wishes to Japan, they received none of it because they had no way to communicate with the outside world. Me and my mother spent these two weeks combing through the internet and playing the news 24/7 for any update. But we didn’t get any, the only thing that was on the Japanese news that we watched was the news of Kesennuma’s City Hall being swept away.

About 2 weeks later was when we finally managed to make contact with my mother’s cousin. Aid was finally beginning to arrive with limited access to basic necessities including portable chargers so people could contact their loved ones.

It was only later that I heard the full story of what happened.

City Hall was actually safe, and so was my grandmother’s house. About 6 feet of water had flooded the area, but it was actually the point where the waves begin to recede, and City Hall became a Refugee Camp for people in the area. My grandmother went there to evacuate, and during those 2 weeks everyone was stuck there, huddling over limited quantities of food, as they watched people die and their homes get destroyed.

When aid finally arrived with food and blankets, one of my grandmother’s friends told me that everyone was too despondent and in shock to move. So my grandmother is one of those people that cannot sit still, she always has to be moving, and she always has to be helping people in need, and she decided that she wasn’t going to sit around in shock. This 84 year old woman went around, cooking meals for hundreds of people and making sure that they were as comfortable as they could be without anyone helping her. We later found out that she had broken her foot in the tsunami and didn’t even realize that was why her foot was hurting her so much because she was so caught up in aiding others.

I went to Japan in June of 2011, 3 months after the tsunami, and here are some of the photographs that I took of the aftermath.

The last image in particular, that was where my relative’s house used to stand. They lived right by the coast, and it always smelled of sea salt there.

Right near their house, there was a massive vat of oil, as giant as buildings. That was knocked over in the tsunami, spreading oil all over the water. Somehow, that got ignited and my mother’s cousin described it as an ocean of fire.

They retreated to a nearby hospital which was the highest point of the area, but they got stuck there for days as the tsunami ravaged the area around them with fire dancing over it. They had to be rescued by helicopters several days later.

As I mentioned, my mother and I went to Japan as soon as we could, three months later. The town that I remember walking through was completely unrecognizable. The streets were gone and replaced by a gravel path, hastily laid out so that people could drive through. All of the buildings were gone, and even though there was quite a distance to the ocean, I could see it clearly because all of the buildings that once stood there were completely wiped out.

Despite all of this hardship, the first thing people would say to me and my mother when they saw us was “You must’ve been so shocked. Are you okay? I know everything is different now.”

They had gone through hell. They had lost their homes, and were living in temporary housing that made a college dorm room look luxurious in comparison. They had lost their friends, family, money, belongings, and the first thing they did was worry about how me and my mother took the news. Not a single person complained about their situation even though they were 100% justified in doing so. They were suffering, but they were too kind and caring to let it show.

I also had the opportunity to visit some of the temporary housing that was literally put together like a giant doll house in any open space, like a playground. When I got there, I had the privilege of listening to their story. And when people told me their story, they were always smiling and reassuring me that they were hopeful, and that I didn’t have to feel sorry for them, even though they were the ones that had gone through a terrible natural disaster that took everything from them. They literally had nothing, and were living off of donations but when it was time for me to leave, they would offer me food, trinkets, anything they could spare for me to take.

These people are so kind, so generous, so giving in a situation where it would be completely understandable if they weren’t.

This is just my secondhand story, and my experience. There are thousands of other stories out there, thousands of experiences and tragedies, and a lot of hope that managed to remain even throughout all of this tragedy.

Obviously, 8 years later things have improved. But remnants of this disaster can still be felt, and things still aren’t back to normal in not only Kesennuma, but all over Northeastern Japan as well.

For those of you who got to the end, thank you so much for reading. I know this isn’t my most coherent piece of writing because it’s a very painful and emotional memory for me — I can’t even imagine what people who actually went through and experienced this feel like.

My grandmother is okay, and my relatives have recently built a new home after living in a too small temporary house for so long. My baby cousin was born a day later on March 12, 2011 and he’s also doing fine. Most of my family members have survived, even though they may have lost their homes, photographs, memories, etc. And they’re recovering. I don’t know if they’re 100% better yet, but they’re getting there. I’ve lost some friends to this disaster, and I just hope that they’re in a better place now.

Thank you for your time, and thank you for your donation. We still need your help, and it is greatly appreciated.

#tumblr #tsunami #japan #please take the time to do this!#it literally has no cost to you and will take two seconds of your time.#i know it was a long time ago but its still relevant to thousands of people #and we still need your help #please dont forget

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ezimin · 4 years

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An Anime that some believe is not really an Anime

Some people believe that there are two criteria that must be met for a show to be classed as an anime:

The show must be animated by a Japanese animation company.

The show must also be animated in a hand drawn format or must look hand drawn/2D

Neither of these are actually true, although I understand why these misconceptions are so widespread. Afterall, almost every anime you see meets one or both of these criteria. A show which doesn’t is RWBY, which is animated by an American animation company (Rooster Teeth) and is also very obviously digitally animated and does not even attempt to mimic the hand drawn/2D style in a lot of other anime. It is true that RWBY still has some resemblance to traditional anime, such as in the design of its characters, with big eyes being a common trait among most of them. Given that the writers of this show call it an anime, that’s good enough for me and I will continue to refer to it as one of my favourite animes. I would though have to include an asterisk beside ‘favourite’ because the most recent season was not one of my favourites. However, earlier seasons were good and I think, based on these earlier seasons, I would recommend it.

RWBY is a show that starts off as a typical high school drama which follows 4 girls (Ruby, Weiss, Blake and Yang). They attend a school essentially for trainee monster hunters.However, I need to stress that it only starts off in this way because a bit into the anime the whole plot seems to change. This is one of the things I really enjoy about RWBY, the way in which things so dramatically and unexpectedly change.

RWBY is one of my longest watched animes. I don't mean this in the sense that there were lots of episodes (Bleach and Case Closed with over 100 episodes each, take the biscuit for this), I mean it in the sense that it is a series which I have been following for the longest amount of time. Seasons of RWBY are released yearly and are called Volumes, for some odd reason. Each Volume has around 13 episodes (Chapters), but the length of time it takes to watch them is not extensive. in fact, you can watch the entirety of season 1 in about an hour. The most recent Volume of RWBY that has just come out, is Volume 7. Given that Volumes are released in Autumn each year, it is not that difficult to work out that the series has been running since 2012 and I have been watching it since season 1. As it is such a long running show, with lots of time between releases, I often find that I tend to forget what is happening to the characters and where the plot is going. When I watch the most recent season I often find that I have to go back and watch the previous season, to figure out exactly where everyone is. I think that this may also be a problem for the writers. In Volume 7 there is a scene which makes me think that the writers struggle with the continuity as well. In this scene, Blake, being a marginalised member of society, is being tormented by 2 men. Weiss steps in to ‘save’ her by throwing one of these men into a dumpster, with Blake watching on and making no comment or attempting to stop Weiss in her actions. Obviously this is meant to have comedic effect and while this is true, it does not take account of Blake’s back story. In Volume 4 and 5 her whole storyline outlined her strong disagreement with the local rebel group for her minority who wanted to use violence against everyone else who disagreed with them. For 2 seasons Blake argued against this and so it would be difficult to see how she could stand by and do nothing with violence going on in front of her and on her behalf.

In my opinion, Volume 3 is the best Volume. When I previously stated that dramatic and unexpected changes happened in the series, these all happened in Volume 3 and so I think that the writers are possibly trying to get back to the ‘glory days’ of the anime. They seem to build up certain elements as being ground breaking and that they will change everything, when they are normally pretty expected and not actually all that interesting. For example, for Volume 7, even before the Volume came out, the writers were all talking about how all the characters would have a massive change in outfits and weaponry and that this would be a pretty big deal. However the changes consisted of new hairstyles, hair cuts and minor alterations or repairs on weaponry. These changes do not exactly live up to expectations and are in no way as groundbreaking as they were promised to be.

I stand by my previous statement that RWBY is one of my favourite anime and so I would recommend it, although please do not be too disappointed when you come to watching the end of Volume 6 and Volume 7. I believe that while these two parts of the series probably have the most issues, I still believe that every volume has some good points and so I wouldn't say to miss them out. I know that over the past year there have been some major changes at Rooster Teeth, around the writing staff and others and I do know that at the moment they are working on Volumes 8 and 9. I just hope the writing team can make RWBY as good as it was in Volume 3 because it would be a real shame if they ruined one of my favourite animes.

#rwby #anime recommendation #rooster teeth

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shibashouse · 4 years

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Self-study of English (2) ーHow the Internet Has Changed Learning Styles

* writing in red: learning tools or styles which emerged in the Internet era

Before the Internet prevailed, self-study of foreign languages was monotonous sometimes and often took discipline. I still remember I was given lots of penmanship assignments, such as writing every new word 10 times each in my notebook, which I thought time-wasting sometimes.

When my eldest daughter entered junior high school, there was at least one computer at average families in Japan. My husband and I used an e-learning app for TOEIC Test on our (old Windows XP) PC from 2003 to 2006. Preparing for the TOEIC test with a computer was extreme fun compared with my Eiken preparation in the 20th century: the computer app responded to me right after I answered the questions, which was as if I were playing a computer game.

Faster Internet Has Made the World Smaller

In 2007, I upgraded my laptop to Windows Vista and gave my old one to my eldest daughter. I kept on learning English using a computer; I started reading out my blog entries in English, recording my reading and attached the audio clips when posting them. At that time, there were just a few online English schools for practicing conversation, and I failed to activate Skype in my Windows Vista laptop. Learning English for me then was solving vocab drills on the Internet, zapping International radio shows ( actually, I subscribed to BBC radio, which cost 1450 yen per month ), and occasionally writing blog entries in English. Until 2008, I was an introverted housewife being devoted to learning English in front of my PC. I preferred learning English alone with my PC to hanging out with PTA staff members at my children’s elementary school; it was all because of saving money.

Since 2009, I went to work again. At first, I worked for a company cafeteria, which is about 10 minutes from home by bike. Unfortunately, I left there just for 5 months; I was too poor at cooking. Next year, I started teaching English at a franchised cram school. About half of the students there were 9th graders (the 3rd year in junior high school ), so teachers needed to handle them really carefully, especially one month before their first high school entrance exams. Personally, the times teaching English and preparing lessons at the cram school were my treasure, because I could study English deeply and check how precisely I understand grammar and word usage at the same time.

In the days I worked as a cram school teacher, my son studied at a cram school to prepare for his high school entrance exams. I attended parents' day meetings there and listened to the school owner’s lectures a couple of times. Luckily I hadn’t preached by the school owner about my son’s studying attitude, but he didn’t agree with my English-learning style making the most of the Internet; he wanted me to study traditionally, using printed materials.

In my 2nd year as a cram school teacher, I got my first smartphone, which was Android 2.1. I have bought less printed drill books since I got a smartphone; I prefer digital ones, especially English vocab books. Digital drill books (actually apps) have audio clips recorded by professional narrators, which are really effective for practicing pronunciation. Moreover, they told me whether my answers were right or wrong by the sound, took my study log and sometimes praised me with cute gimmicks.

I had to leave the cram school in March 2012 because of the management tactics change, in other words, the board preferred younger teachers. (I learned that later by the cram school’s website) Moreover, my mother wanted me not to work as a cram school teacher anymore, so I needed to look for a daytime job to relieve her. I promised to work during the day, but I had to wait for more than a year to teach English again. I went to a few factories as a temporary worker on weekdays and proctored the TOEIC test several times a year on Sunday then.

Eligible Skills for English Teachers in the Internet Era

In June 2013, I found my teaching license would expire in March 2014 unless I attended the intensive training to renew it. Signing up for the teaching license renewal training doesn’t take much time for teachers as long as they’re at work, but I needed one more step to apply for the training. I wrote the registration form for a temporary or part-time teacher bank and submitted it to the education ministry, and waited for the grant. I joined the 5-day intensive training in Hitachi City in August 2013, and two weeks after the training, I got an offer as a substitute teacher for 7 months at the longest. My workplace then was a public high school in the countryside, and just a few students liked English. Colleagues in the English department advised me to entertain students during lessons rather than teach the language, which was really helpful during my lessons and gave me a new perspective.

“Enjoy reading high school English textbooks as materials for myself, and entertain students with trivia about English words, phrases, or topics presented in the textbooks”

I memorized the word “hibernate” in a textbook for 11th graders (2nd year in high school), and the most difficult word for me in the textbooks I had taught with was “ventriloquism”, which I still need to google.

I taught English totally for 1 year and 7 months there and truly enjoyed giving lessons and learning English for myself at the same time, but I had been worrying about one thing: my TOEIC test score has not so much improved. I often heard a rumor that those who teach English should hold the 1st grade on the Eiken test or AT LEAST 900 on the TOEIC test (holding both is preferable), and I had neither of them. Ironically, company workers who hold both Eiken 1st grade and the full mark ( 990) on TOEIC test without the national teaching license are more welcomed as (private) English teachers or coaches than (licensed) schoolteachers without Eiken 1st grade or higher TOEIC test scores, because Japanese has been taught English as an entrance exam subject, which means English skills are gauged by test scores. Since I failed Eiken 1st grade twice so far and have never reached 900 on the TOEIC written test, I thought I was not eligible for teaching English in early 2015. Actually, I got only 815 in January 2015 and had come to want to see another world.

I think it’s natural that higher test score holders are respected more than schoolteachers who haven’t taken the Eiken test and TOEIC test since test scores are objective to everyone. Nowadays is not only the Internet era but also the AI era, young English learners can practice English 100 times more efficiently than in the pre-Internet era thanks to the Internet and digital gadgets. That means some highly advanced students can be over their English teachers in test scores, in other words, English teachers at schools with average test scores might be discounted easily even though they are nationally licensed.

I Stopped Teaching English to Enjoy Using It

In March 2015, I accepted a transfer to teach computing instead of English. Being a computer teacher, I don’t have to worry about rumors or criticisms of my English test scores anymore. I simply enjoy learning English, that means at the same time I’ve become a lazy learner compared to the past :) Zapping articles about the newest smartphones or computer software is really fun, although the words there are not listed in vocab books. Reading breaking news in English is also useful for me to enhance critical thinking since news articles reported in Japanese often seem biased or partly exaggerated to conceal the truth.

#esl #selfstudy

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yuzusorbet · 6 years

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My Sendai Holiday (April 2018) - Part 2: Ice Rink Sendai

Part 1 was about Yuzuru’s Olympic Victory Parade, the main purpose of my trip. The other purpose was to just enjoy being in Yuzu’s hometown. After I became his fan (since 2014 Sochi Olympics), Sendai is a place that I often saw in photos and videos and read about (and translated about), and so I have been wanting to visit for the longest time. The 2018 victory parade made it the perfect time to go. Yuzu said during one press conference, “By all means, please come to Sendai and spend some money.” And so I did! :D

(It’s another one of my VERY long posts, haha. I want to remember all my emotions and all the wonderful things that I experienced.)

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

My first afternoon in Sendai, I had no plans but my heart was yearning to go to Yuzu’s home rink. I knew I would be going there the next day with a friend Ella, but I realised I couldn’t wait! This is the rink where Yuzu grew up, the rink that he loves, the rink that he donates all his royalties from his 2 autobiographies to (‘Aoi Hono’ 1 & 2). It was recently renovated (in the 2nd half of 2017) with ideas/suggestions from him and Shizuka Arakawa. So I found myself going to the tourist information centre in Sendai Station to get directions to Ice Rink Sendai. (The tourist info centre is awesome! Photo above. There is staff who speak very good English. I did not need to use my Japanese at all.)

There are 2 ways to get to the rink and I chose the 50-minute bus ride. I wanted to relax on the bus and see the neighbourhood and eat my ‘zunda mochi’ and ‘zunda pudding’ (Sendai specialty, sweet deserts made from edamame, bought from a shop in the station) (Yuzu ate zunda mochi in ‘Weekend Sendai’ photo shoot). It was a delicious and scenic ride.

Photo above: Nanakita River and Yurtec Stadium, home to J.League club Vegalta Sendai (and also to Vegatta-kun, the eagle mascot that loves Yuzu very much xD). Being in the Nanakita area means the rink is near!

After alighting at the right stop (I checked with the bus driver to be sure), I looked around wondering where the rink was.... then I saw this ‘Fun-te’ sign; Ice Rink Sendai’s name and logo is there too!

Turning right at the sign, soon I saw a familiar building.

I am here!!! The rink that I’ve seen in videos and photos, and read so much about! There was a banner hanging down one side: “Congratulations, Hanyu Yuzuru senshu, gold medal”.

After entering through the glass doors, I saw this beautiful sight.......

Along the left wall was a Yuzu-in-kimono standee and LOTS of messages on the wall. They were support messages to Yuzu written before PyeongChang Olympics. Many of them were written on specially made oval-shaped paper with the words “PyeongChang 2018 Olympics; Ganbare!! Hanyu-senshu!!” at the top of the paper. The photo below is a close-up of 2 such messages.

These two were written by members of Pandalion, the Sendai group that composed cheer songs for Yuzu for both Olympics. One message says ‘Forever supporting you!!’ and the other says ‘You are a phoenix!!’ (the kanji is literally: You are the bird that never dies!) I was so touched reading the messages. They were all written during the long silent period when Yuzu was recovering from injury. The people here kept on believing in him (and I’m so proud to say I did too).

Next to all the support messages was a whiteboard with Yuzu’s messages from past years. The first one has no date but I saw a photo of it a long time back. It says: ‘Even though we are apart, our hearts are one!! Everyone “forward”!! I will also work harder and become strong!’ (my translation) And he signs off with a little mushroom drawing next to his name. Reading it, I felt again how much he loves his hometown and how difficult it was for him to leave Sendai to train in Toronto. (His desire to become a better skater was so strong, he knew sacrifices had to be made.) The other 2 messages are from 2014 (thanking everyone for their support) and 2017 (congratulations on the 10th anniversary).

Further down this left wall was the entrance to a little exhibition gallery with photos and memorabilia of Shizuka Arakawa and Yuzuru. Photo-taking is not allowed in this part. But here are 3 photos from news sources (thanks to ElenaC):

The cutest thing was a pair of small, black skating boots with a name labeled on the blades, ‘はにゅうゆづる’ (’Hanyu Yuzuru’ in hiragana)..... could be his earliest pair of skates!

On the right side near the entrance is the ticket machine and the reception counter. You buy a 200-yen ticket if you want to enter the rink area to look around and watch people skate. If you want to rent a pair of skates and do some actual skating, you buy the 1700-yen ticket.

Straight ahead were glass panels and a set of glass doors that lead to the ice rink. There is a sign on the door saying photography is not allowed inside. The young lady at the reception counter explained that it is for protecting the privacy of the children skating there.

It was quiet and peaceful on this day of my 1st visit. In the reception/exhibition area, there were only 3 or 4 people slowly looking at the messages, photos and exhibits. After spending some time here, I bought a 200 yen ticket and entered the area where the rink is.

There were many skaters in the rink. The first things that caught my eyes were 2 big posters of Yuzu on the opposite side of the rink; they were the ‘Aoi Hono’ posters (Book 1 and 2).... wow..... so beautiful...... I walked around and then I sat down on one of the viewing benches to watch the skating. Most of the skaters were school children having skate lessons after school.

After a while, a lady who looked familiar entered the rink and started to coach a group of children. It was Nanami Abe-sensei!!!! Aww....... I felt so happy to see her! The coach who was with Yuzu in so many of his earlier videos, the coach who was in tears after his legendary R&J in Nice 2012, the great coach that I have read so much about...... my heart was just so moved to see her for real in person. She was in a longish black down jacket, with short cropped hair and black-framed specs.

Pic below: there is a photo of her in the poster on the right, and a photo of her and other coaches of Ice Rink Sendai. The poster on the left shows the exhibition area before the renovation of the rink. (These posters are in the outer area where the message board is.)

She was coaching a group of children who looked about 12 years old to early teens (about 5 girls and 1 boy). I just sat there watching them, feeling very happy and contented.

After some time, I suddenly I heard Nanami-sensei saying in Japanese, “Photos are not allowed. Please do not take photos.” I realised that 2 ladies sitting on a bench near me were using their handphones to take photos. Oops..... maybe they forgot that it was not allowed in here. Nanami-sensei then came out of the ice rink and was now walking towards our benches! She went to the ladies and said politely but firmly, “Please delete the photos that you took.” They were not Japanese but Nanami-sensei just repeated herself until they understood. She stood there and watched them as they deleted the photos in their phones, and then she went back into the rink and continued with her class. Wow..... that was so cool!!! She is so cool!!! I sat there watching her with a HUGE amount of respect and feeling even more in awe of her! (And I couldn’t help feeling a little scared of her too, haha!)

I stayed there watching the skaters until it was closing time (6pm). Of course, I was tempted to skate as well. But I know I can’t skate to save my life and the ice is so hard..... I was afraid of falling and breaking something and not being able to go for Yuzu’s victory parade! I decided I would just have to come back here another day after the parade. :))

The next day was Saturday, ie. the day before the parade. My friend Ella had arrived in Sendai and I came to the rink with her. What a big difference today.... there was a long queue to go in! (The rink would be closed on parade day itself.) Pic below: I was waiting in line near the main entrance when I took this photo. The glass doors at the end lead to the ice rink. The banner hung above the doors says “PyeongChang Olympics 2018 figure skating Japan representative, Hanyu Yuzuru senshu, gold medal congratulations”.

Pic below: I was now inside and I took this photo from the opposite direction.

Because it was crowded, we didn’t stay long. Ella had a good look at the whole place and we both knew we would come back again soon. So we headed to a very nice Starbucks nearby and relaxed there with our frappuccinos.

Next to it was a big bookshop with a poster of Yuzu’s book ‘Yume wo Ikiru’ prominently displayed outside. Of course, we went in for a while. :)

Lots of beautiful books inside. :)

For the return journey in the afternoon, there were no buses that go to Sendai Station (they only run in the morning with a last bus at 1.35pm). It’s a short bus ride or a 20-min walk to the nearest station ‘Izumi Chuo Station’ and then take the subway. (Note: bus schedules may change according to month/season.)

Next day = Yuzu’s Parade Day = the hottest day ever recorded for April in Sendai. After the parade, the next few days were grey and rainy. I was so grateful thinking back to parade day...... thank God it was hot and sunny! (link to my parade day post is at the bottom of this post) With the parade over, it was safe to do some ice skating! So one rainy day, I went back to Ice Rink Sendai.

My initial plan was to take a walk around the Nanakita area, have a look at Nanakita Elementary School (that Yuzu attended) and Nanakita Park (where Yuzu sat on a bench in ‘Weekend Sendai’ mag), and then head to the rink. But it was not good weather for being outdoors. I decided to go to the rink first; maybe the rain would stop later and I could go to the park and the school after skating.

Pic below: on the way there by bus again.

In Ice Rink Sendai, the staff at the reception counter were the same ladies that I saw on the other 2 days, and one of them remembered me from my previous visits! haha, that made me so happy! :D

I handed them 2 postcards for Yuzu, one written on behalf of the FB International Fan Group and one from myself. The staff said they would pass them to him. :) Then one of them helped me with the purchase at the ticket machine; I paid 300 yen for a pair of plain grey gloves (mascot Irene gloves were out of stock but it’s ok cos I do have a pair at home) and 1700 yen for skating and rental of skates. I asked her “how many hours”, I thought it would be for 2 or 3 hours, but she said, “Until closing time.” Oh wow! You mean I can skate here the whole day??? Glad the rain made me come here earlier than planned!

Then she asked me if I wanted a ‘point card’ even though I may not be able to use it -- you get a stamp for each session, and 5 stamps will give you one free session. I had told her on my first visit that I don’t live in Japan and I came because of the parade, so she knew it would be hard for me to make use of it (card expires in one year). It was so nice of her to offer me one.... I told her I would keep it as a souvenir. How I wish I could skate here 5 times a year!

I entered the area of the rink. It was so quiet! There were only 3 adults skating as most children were still in school; their lessons would start later in the afternoon. For now, it felt like I had the whole rink to myself! I went to the rental skates counter and the staff helped me to get the right size of skate boots.

Then, one thing really, really surprised me. The staff actually asked a coach to look after me for a while! A female coach with a very kind and sweet face came to me as I was wearing my skates and said she would give me some guidance. Wow..... what a kind gesture from them!!! I was so touched! Thank you, staff-san and sensei!!!

Pic below: I am ready to skate!

Sensei showed me how to get onto the ice safely and how to move forward and how not to fall. We went very slowly round the rink together as I practised what she showed me. At first, I was very nervous and afraid of falling.... I know how painful it is! Then I started to get more comfortable on the ice and more confident, thanks to her instructions. And I love the ice!!! It was very dry throughout and very nice to skate on. I moved slowly around the rink, with Sensei patiently skating next to me.

Sensei was so warm and friendly, and chatted to me as we skated. (Once again, I felt very thankful that my Japanese is good enough for a decent conversation.) She said she loves skating and she has been teaching here for many years. I told her that I have been a Yuzu-fan since Sochi Olympics and I had come to Sendai for the victory parade and I really wanted to visit his home rink. So here I was! She was very happy to hear that and thanked me for coming. Then she told me that she was already coaching here when Yuzu was a little boy and he was so cute with his mushroom hair! Oh WOW!!!!! I am skating with someone who knew him as a kid!!! I felt so privileged to have her company! We started to talk about how great he is, not only as a skater, but as a person as well. It was very obvious that Sensei is extremely proud of him. :) She also told me some funny anecdotes. She said that among the little kids that she teaches now, the boys say, “When I grow up, I want to be Hanyu-kun.” And the girls say, “When I grow up, I want to marry Hanyu-kun.” Hahaha....... SO CUTE!!!!!

As my ‘lesson’ progressed, children and teens started to arrive at the rink for their lessons. As we continued to skate slowly round the rink, students would skate up to greet Sensei. She responded to each one with a gentle nod and a smile. These were all her former students, she told me. What lovely students, I thought. So well-mannered and respectful...... just like a guy I know. Ci

Then Sensei said it was time for her to get ready for her lesson with some children, so she would leave me to practice on my own. I thanked her profusely for her kindness and she replied that she really enjoyed teaching me. :D

Before she went off, she made sure I was ok. Told me that if I feel cold, there is a ‘warm room’ where I can enter with my skates and sit for a while. If I am hungry, there is a lounge where I can get food and have a rest, but no skates allowed there so I need to change back into my normal shoes for that room. She also said there are a lot of Yuzu’s books and magazines there so I should go and take a look!!! haha.... Sensei really understands the heart of a fan! Ice-resurfacing was going to start at 3pm; no skating for 30 minutes, perfect time to head to the lounge!

If you want to see the place, here is a link with 3 news videos: twitter. And this is an English news article with a few photos.

The lounge is a very comfortable place with neat rows of tables and chairs. And there are really a lot of Yuzu’s books and magazines there! Nicely displayed on a few low shelves that encircle a cosy sitting area further inside.

WOWWWW......................

I CAN STAY HERE ALL DAY........

There were vending machines selling drinks and hot food. I got a box of ‘yaki onigiri’ (grilled rice balls which I love), selected a few mags and sat by the huge glass windows that look out towards the rink. “Itadakimasu!”

What a perfect meal.

Soon, the zamboni had done its job and the skaters were out on the ice again. I found it so hard to leave the lounge..... I wanted to look through ALL the magazines first! But the rink closes at 6pm..... there was not much time left to skate. So after spending a bit more time on the mags, I tore myself away and went back outside to put on my skates.

Now there were several coaches on the ice and different classes were going on. I waved to Sensei who was teaching a tiny little boy..... awww Yuzu must have been like that when he started..... And then, I saw Nanami-sensei again! She came into the rink and started to coach a group of older children. I continued to skate slowly round and round the rink, trying my best NOT to stare and to concentrate on my own practice. I admire her so much as a coach and choreographer that I couldn’t help feeling excited to be skating near her. xD

The older children were practising jumps and spins. There were also a few adults skating. Everyone was so good and I must have stuck out like a sore thumb. But surprisingly, I was not embarrassed nor self-conscious. I think I must have been too overwhelmed with happiness to feel anything else. :D

Too soon, it was closing time. I returned my skates and thanked the staff for their help and kindness. I went outside and saw that it was still raining!!! And I had totally forgotten about checking the weather and trying to go to Nanakita-koen, haha!

I was putting up the hood of my parka when I heard someone call my name. It was the coach who had taught me..... Sensei! She asked me where I was going and I told her I was going to take the bus and then the subway to Yaotome Station. ‘Rikyu’, a restaurant near there has very delicious grilled liver and beef tongue, and also Yuzu’s signature, haha. And then, I got another HUGE surprise of the day.... she said she could send me there in her car!!! I quickly declined her offer, gosh how could I trouble her! But she assured me that the restaurant was on her way. She also said it was getting dark very quickly because of the rainy weather and she would worry about me trying to look for it in the dark. And again insisted it was no trouble for her as she was going that way. Awww...... Sensei, you’re too kind for words!!! I asked her to join me for dinner but she said she had to run some errands, so she couldn’t. We went to her car which was parked in the huge parking area outside Ice Rink Sendai and I had a very quick and comfortable journey to the restaurant. Sensei, domo arigato gozaimashita!!!

(Note of caution in case there are very young fans reading this: do NOT get into a car with someone you don’t know.)

(Photo above: I took this photo of the restaurant after I waved goodbye to Sensei and I was waiting to cross the road. There was a light drizzle.)

What a rainy day.... but oh how grateful I am for it! It made me spend the whole afternoon at Yuzu’s home rink and I experienced the immense warmth and kindness of the people there! Thank you, Ice Rink Sendai! Thank you, Sensei!

Part 1: victory parade day Part 3: coming up.... I will write about the rest of the trip, like going to places with Yuzu’s signature. :)) Update: Part 3 and Part 4

[Please do not use or re-post my stuff without my permission]

#Yuzuru Hanyu #ice rink sendai #such a wonderful experience #I feel so blessed

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purplesurveys · 5 years

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378

For a change. I love Internet people for never running out of survey ideas.

Just say what you think of (doesn't have to be one-word answers) when I mention these. Quick, simple, just for fun. Curtain: I remember a story JM told us of when he nearly burned his house down when he was younger - he was flying paper airplanes but not without lighting the tips on fire. One of the planes landed on the curtain and I think it burned that particular room pretty bad or something. Door: I have a door to my right at the moment. It’s brown and I know my dog is waiting outside because I can hear his paws. Shoe: We went shoe hunting yesterday for Joacky, because he wanted a pair of the Nike Cortez. It’s widely popular in the PH right now so even though we visited like 7 shoe stores yesterday, we weren’t able to find one in the color that he likes. Pants: I finally got a pair of mom jeans yesterday and I can’t wait to wear it for school. I’m tired of wearing the same bottoms. Wig: I attended a workshop a few months ago where the speaker disclosed that she has leukemia, and she took off the wig she had been wearing the whole time to show us her head. I also remember the RuPaul Stans part of Twitter because they say ‘wig’ all the time...

Makeup: Kate made me her subject last Thursday and she played with my face and put makeup on it. Ended up feeling really pretty because she did a pretty awesome job. Instagram: I snubbed Instagram for the longest time but thought that a ‘one-pic-for-every-day-of-the-year’ dump account wouldn’t hurt, so I made one of those for 2019. My photography skills are absolutely nowhere to be found, and my gallery is super haphazard, but I really want to make an effort to store memories this year. YouTube: Hmm first thing I thought of was PewDiePie. I subscribed to the dude when he had like 60,000 subscribers eight years ago and only had a couple of Amnesia montages up. I always feel like a proud momma/early bird whenever I remember how far and how big he’s gotten since. Life: Exhaustion, mainly. It’s gonna start snowballing by next year when I graduate. It’ll be nonstop from there - facing the prospect of coming out to my parents, graduating, getting a job, getting my first credit card, moving out, paying bills...it’s all very exhausting, exhilarating, exciting, and overwhelming to think about. Chili: Gabie and I had Japanese for early dinner last week, and I was a little weirded out by the restaurant because each seat had a red chili pepper on the placemat? I’m talking every damn seat in the place??? Idk if it’s some sort of good luck charm for the owners but it made things very slightly unsettling hahaha. Cherry: There was a WWE Diva named Cherry like ten years ago who had the gimmick of a 50′s chick, I think...I was never quite sure what her character was supposed to be, but she had roller-skates every time she went to the ring and would sometimes wear outfits with polka dots so I thought she was pretty cute. Neil: Armstrong. Haha I was going through Reddit awhile ago when I saw a video of Buzz Aldrin punch a dude who went up to him and said that the moon landing was a hoax. Not exactly Neil Armstrong but still a good story. Drive: I like watching car chases. It’s almost...therapeutic when the suspect crashes or loses control of his car and finally gets caught. Murder: I never got into How To Get Away With Murder. It’s too fast-paced for my life. I feel like I’m the only person who doesn’t understand legal concepts because so many people are able to catch up with this show even if Viola Davis speaks a thousand words a minute and they’re all really deep words??? Idk HAHAHA. I watched like two episodes and felt super dumb after. Ice cream: OMG I hate a la mode desserts. I’d eat anything, but I wouldn’t eat two separate things with different textures. Get your ice cream away from my brownie. Water: I can’t wait to go back to the beach. Hard: Hammer? It was the first image to pop up in my head. Anne: Harry Styles’ mom is named Anne hahaha the Directioner in me jumped out, sorry not sorry. Cow: There’s this video that went viral a few months ago of a girl who was playing the accordion; all of a sudden this adorable herd of like 15 cows come running up to her and just intently watch the kid. Wholesome af. Frog: Frog legs are served in some Philippine provinces. Tastes like chicken. Cheese: My lactose intolerant ass will grate half a block of cheese (exaggeration, but you get the point) for my spaghetti. That’s the only way to enjoy pasta. Bowl: Can’t really think of anything except that bowl cuts look so cute on babies hahaha. Television: Is something I never use nowadays unless I’m staying over at a hotel. Other than that, I cannot tell you the last time I held a TV remote control to change the channel or something. Skull: There’s an episode of Friends where Phoebe brings home a skull and nonchalantly sets it on the table where Monica, Rachel, and Chandler were hanging out. Chandler goes, “Pheebs...skull?” Phoebe says, “Yeah, it’s my mom’s,” and Rachel shrieks until Phoebe clarifies that her mom owned the skull, and that the skull wasn’t of her mom. Underrated segment. Rachel’s mini-meltdown was hilarious. Seasons: I had to watch Rent for film class several months ago. Terrible movie. Cemented my dislike for musicals. This is what I remembered because afaik this is the musical that has the minutes song. Language: I can speak two and can understand some archaic/modern Spanish because they conquered us for 300 years and subsequently ruined my country. Trump: McDonald’s. An international embarrassment. Chocolate: We found this AMAZING Chocnut spread at the mall yesterday. I had my initial doubts - I thought it was gonna taste like a cheap Nutella rip-off. But it tastes exactly like Chocnut, just in the most perfect spread-y form. I plan to finish the entire jar just with a spoon. Stove: I’m terribly afraid of using any and every kitchen equipment because I have a big fear of setting the house on fire. I only ever use the stove when I’m deathly hungry and I have to make something by myself. Toy: My family recently went to a kid’s birthday party that had giveaway bags with toys inside, but seeing as we’re all teenagers now who had no use for it, it was earning dust in the house. Now, the Philippines is abound with street children so when we went out yesterday, my mom gave the bag to a couple of kids who were knocking on our car. I know I’m not supposed to romanticize the situation, but they had the biggest smiles when they realized what they got and I saw them playing merrily at the side of the street and even invited some other kids to join in. Again, not glamorizing it - I’m just happy they were happy. Video: I could never run out of things to watch on YouTube. It’s one of my favorite websites, especially when bouts of depression have to happen. Kiss: It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this? It was only a kiss, IT WAS ONLY A KISS. Glass: The glass section of department stores always creeped me out. One wrong move and you can knock a whole shelf down, and the ‘You break it you pay for it’ signs all over the area don’t help at all. Light: Light and queen come together in this survey and all I remember is Lightning McQueen. Queen: ^ Moon: Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Moon river, wider than a mile, I’m crossing you in style some day. Blue: My organization’s color is blue, so I have a soft spot for blue. Cream: I like soups that are creamy. I say this because my sister had ramen yesterday and it was so oily and salty and fatty and creamy and ugh I loved it. Dead: The Misfits. They’re more horror than death, but still. Purple: My great-grandma loved the color purple and I remember when her house used to be peppered in purple stuff. All her dresses were purple. I’m fairly sure it was the reason why it was my favorite color as a kid. Lace: Underwear, hahaha. Cardboard: Gabie was munching on sunflower seeds when I picked her up last week. I’ve never tried those, so I asked for some and I said it tasted like cardboard. I’ve never eaten cardboard but I would imagine that that’s what it tastes like. Elephant: Majestic. Deserves to be saved and properly cared for. Harry: One of my fave members of the royal family. He’s so precious. Leather: Is bad. Paisley: Isn’t there a country singer with this name? Italy: Pasta and stuff. Joey Tribbiani. Immature: I saw the gun girl Kaitlin-something on Twitter because she got viral again for a dumb-ass tweet she made. She posted pics of herself in the snow and tweeted “Look at all this global warming,” like seriously America??? Wtf do they teach y’all in your schools?????? Crime: Raisins in cookies. Angel: I had a friend named Angel - talked about her a lot in old surveys. She migrated to Canada when we were 12 and I haven’t seen her since. We do follow each other on Twitter but all she tweets about is K-pop so I had to put her on mute. Great memories with her. Boil: When I read this tweet aloud in my head, what I did think of was Charles Boyle from B99. Key: Key lime pie. Never tried it, but I’m always down to try anything. Sacrifice: The Catholic schoolgirl in me remembers the crucifixion because textbooks and teachers would overuse the phrase, “Jesus sacrificed his life for our sins” or “God sacrificed his son to save the world,” and all those cheesy lines. It’s as though the Bible’s favorite word is ‘sacrifice.’ Larry: Punk and AJ’s dog is named Larry Talbot. Dog: ^ Psychology: I took one psych elective last semester, but the prof was average at best so it didn’t really win over the course as a whole to me. Psychology was one of my ‘what-if’ courses so at the start, I was excited about taking it - but the class that I had was just so boring and the prof gave tests that were way too hard for otherwise fairly easy topics, so I quickly ran out of enthusiasm for the class. Rag: I hate touching rags. Especially wet ones UGH. Sun: Hate it, unless I’m at the beach. Lips: My friends dragged me to the makeup section of the department store last week and there were rows upon rows of lipstick testers. As someone who’s never purposely browsed for makeup, I ended up swatching like 20 shades on my wrist and looked like a five year old who doodled all over her whole left arm. Cage: The UFC ring, because it looks like a cage. Alarm: I had/have several alarms set on my phone throughout today to tell me to start working on various deliverables. For example, I had an 8 AM alarm to work on my J 196 paper; then from 8:30 AM I had an alarm to compose letters that I needed to write as my org’s secretary; then at around 10 AM, my alarm was for finishing up my readings for Kas 154 (short for kasaysayan, which means history). Official: I have a batchmate from high school who just got engaged...she was honestly one of the weirder ones back then so as much as I didn’t want to judge, it was hard to take it seriously at first, but it’s whatevs. I have no business in her life and I’m happy she’s happy. King: I finished my history readings this morning and there were so many mentions of kings. Lost: That show. The general consensus is that they ended the show crappily, but other than that I know nothing about it. Dating: There was once a dude who joined a dating show. Ended up being a serial killer. I forgot his name though. Balm: I was at a Korean store yesterday and saw an array of lip balms and glosses. I was never much of a makeup girl but the collection they had was just so cute, it made me think if I should start investing in makeup as well hah. Tomato: Ketchup is my second least favorite condiment after mustard. Game: Hmmm I downloaded a bunch of new game apps on my phone because I recently realized that I’m so boring??? and I only have social media on my phone??? I got ten new apps to make my phone more alive haha. Lotion: Is slimy, but smells nice and makes my skin smooth and look better. I got two hand creams for Christmas last year and it was then that I knew I was getting older because I was genuinely excited to try them both out. Expensive: Everything is. Powder: Reminds me of babies. The smell calms me down so well. Cross: I was shopping for clip-on earrings yesterday and there were several designs with crosses on them, which just reminded me of Christianity and it kinda peeved me for like 3 minutes lol. History: My favorite subject. I’ve never been so excited to be dumped on with such a thick stack of readings until this semester. Sex: Haven’t had it in a bit, too busy. Rainbow: We watched a film called Rainbow’s Sunset, which was really promising because it told a story about two men, both very old, and are lovers. In a traditional, conservative, poisonously Catholic country such as the PH, it’s a very bold move to produce a feature film that tackled such a horrible, taboo, horrifying thing (please note the sarcasm/mockery). We didn’t escape the guffaws and the loud ew’s whenever the two leads would kiss, which was sad.

Anyway that’s not my point and what I really want to say is that the film was ultimately terrible, it was terribly-executed and it portrayed gay men in such a cheesy manner which in the long run, probably contributes to the continuing negative image of LGBT people in the Philippines. Gab, the bigger film buff between the two of us, felt so offended by how bad the movie turned out to be lol. Bay: Bayley, from WWE. She was a huge star like 3 years ago, but I think the bookers ultimately fucked her character up and now she’s stale. I feel so bad. Seth: Seth Rollins, also from WWE. Also very attractive. Pepper: I had okonomiyaki for lunch yesterday and there was like a thicker chunk of pepper that made it to my plate. Didn’t particularly enjoy that bite. Necrophile: Katie Vick. Google it to believe it. Wrestling is fucking dumb. Gravel: Funnily enough I do have a memory for gravel. Akeelah and the Bee was one of my favorite movies growing up; I watched it so many times that I had chunks of dialogue memorized at one point. One of the first scenes had Akeelah joining her school’s spelling bee, and one of the kids spelled grovel as g-r-a-v-e-l. He couldn’t understand why he got it wrong so the judge had to tell him that the word ‘grovel’ actually exists and what it means. Deep: I had a mental picture of the ocean when I read this word, so there’s that. Stephen: Hawking. Bucket: Chum Bucket. Hahaha Spongebob forever. England: Rugby? Grown: I always use the term ‘grown-ass’ haha. Spell: Spelling was one of my favorite activities in grade school and I would always score the highest in spelling exams. Kind of led me to my favorite job of proofreading/copyediting, really. Bark: My dog barked at nothing for five whole minutes a couple of days ago and it was hilarious. I shot two minutes of it. Long: Trees? Fan: Pamaypay, or hand fans in English.

Australia: First things that came to mind were the Sydney Opera House and Vegemite. Iron: Gabie’s nose bled last week. It wouldn’t stop flowing out of her nostrils and it smelled like rust for a good 15 minutes while she was trying to wash all the blood off, so it didn’t exactly help my case as someone who’s squeamish to death at the sight of blood. Melt: Chocolate. Beanie: Too warm for this country’s climate. Wax: Candles. Vigils. Burning your finger. Staying up all night to pray. Catholic school. Disease: Zombies. Resident Evil. Cannibal: The band Cannibal Corpse. Tried to get into them because Punk listened to them but it was too heavy for me. Flight: Airplanes, flights, vacations, away from everyone, nothing to worry about, good food, fighting with my siblings for the window seats. Porn: People be having weird fetishes sometimes. The thumbnails I see on websites...some of y’all crazy. Pot: I thought about how college life is so crazy. People would sell brownies or cookies with weed in them IN SCHOOL, meanwhile I still don’t even know if weed and pot are the same or if they’re two different things ohmygod HAHAHAHA I’m so sheltered wow I’m hopeless?????? Style: Taylor Swift and that subtle shade to Harry. People were shookened five years ago. Floss: Pork floss is really good. Star: There was a local celebrity who recently tweeted a pic, supposedly of a tiny tiny star that was beside the moon at like 5 AM, and she was asking what it was. Someone replied that it was Venus and explained what she just saw for her. Super cool. Nate: I don’t know anyone named Nate. I DID, however, remember the Naked Brothers Band. The older brother is named Nat, so it’s close enough. Soft: Pillows are soft. Orange: Hayley Williams’ hair 11 years ago. Witch: Philippine superstitions and how crazy and obsessive Filipinos can get. My mom, one of the most rational, no-nonsense people I know, scolds me every time I mock witchcraft or what we call ‘kulam’ cos she believes something will happen to me if I do. I’m all for honoring our mythology and traditions but sheesh, not to the obsessive extent. Mound: Ants. Root: Gabie used to watch this show where she shipped two girls named Root and Shaw. Oil: Massages. Hot: Deserts. Disc: Childhood, blowing on it to make it work, double-sided discs for longer movies, if a disc had scratches expect it to die soon. Soil: Plants. Planting trees. Muddy. Ugly: That scene in Spongebo where Patrick tells the story of the ugly barnacle. “Once there was an ugly barnacle. He was so ugly that everyone died. The end,” which didn’t help Spongebob who at the time was feeling super ugly hahahahaha. Sugar: Maroon 5. Also, my grandma used one particular jar for sugar throughout my entire childhood. It’s plastic, it’s clear, and it came with a red-orange lid. I’d often eat sugar on its own so I saw that jar quite a bit and it gives me a sense of nostalgia. I’m not so sure if that’s still the jar being used in the old house. Bone: Ribs :( Been craving for some. Sigh: Air??? I don’t know. Throne: Game of Thrones. I had to watch a 26-minute documentary of a GoT production for my broadcast management class. It’s insanely hard. So much respect to everyone involved in its prod. Calendar: I’m secretary for my org, which means that I always have to update everyone about our calendar of events. Carpet: Fancy. Flesh: The Walking Dead. Cement: Dangerous. Vow: The movie with Rachel McAdams and Channing Tatum. One of my guiltier pleasures. Sweet: Desserts. And now I’m hungry.

#survey #surveys #lengthy but a goodie

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