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becomewings · 3 years

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BTS Universe Timeline

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TIMELINE GUIDE

Content warning: contains references to death, suicide, suicidal ideation, child abuse, domestic violence, blood, homicide, depression, trauma, PTSD

This guide contains major spoilers from all BU media

Revisions and additions will be made as necessary, so please visit the original post for the most up-to-date version (update log is included at bottom of post)

All names are provided as fully as known

Bracketed dates are inferred or calculated from references in the text

While the timeline is presented here as objectively as possible, I acknowledge that there is a level of subjectivity in choosing which information is significant enough for inclusion and in certain connections drawn between entries

Please inform me of any suspected errors; I will investigate and correct them

Do not repost, copy, or quote without permission

School Years: Together & Apart

- March Year 19 through 10 April Year 22 -

2 March Year 19 Notes 1 (SJ)

Ten days after returning from the U.S., SeokJin and his father visit the principal’s office at his new school. SeokJin learns that he will start one grade lower due to the different education systems. SeokJin’s father grips his shoulder while the principal explains that school is a “dangerous place” that needs to be “tightly controlled.” He asks: “You know you have to keep me informed, right? You’ll be a good student, right?” SeokJin squeezes out a “yes” and his father lets go. Both ChangJun and the principal laugh. SeokJin looks down at their shining shoes, wondering from where the light is coming.

Note: SeokJin’s 25 June Year 19 entry in Notes 1 specifies that his father attended the same high school. JiMin’s 23 July Year 22 entry in Notes 2 reveals that, according to a comment he finds on an online news article, ChangJun and the principal were in school at the same time and fought with each other “as if it would only end when one of them dropped dead,” but they appeared to get along later due to politics.

3 March Year 19 BTS Universe Story: The Boy on the Threshold, ep.1

On the first day of school at Songju Jeil High School, the Dean of Students berates the six latecomers lined up outside: SeokJin, NamJoon, HoSeok, JiMin, TaeHyung, and JungKook. YoonGi arrives even later. The Dean assigns them one month of community service as punishment. When he notices SeokJin, he clears his throat and says he is letting them off because it’s the first day: they must all assemble after classes to clean the annex, a classroom turned into a storage room. This room becomes their meeting place and hideout even after their punishment is finished.

Note: Their punishment for being late is referenced in JiMin’s 12 March Year 19 entry in Notes 1, when he escapes to the old classroom again and finds the others already there. He observes that it feels as though they’ve been “hanging out together forever.” The punishment scene is also similar to a moment in the BTS Begins Middle Scene VCR. Although it includes a few extra students and cannot be confirmed as BU content, it does mirror the canonical detail of YoonGi arriving last.

28 May Year 19 Notes: Answer

In the classroom hideout, JungKook asks everyone what their dreams are because he has to write a paper about future hopes. SeokJin wants to become a good person, and YoonGi says it’s okay to have no dream. TaeHyung poses on a chair and says he’s going to be a superhero. HoSeok scolds him and adds that he wants to find his mom and live happily. JiMin asks him if he is unhappy now, and HoSeok pulls an exaggeratedly worried expression. “Is that how it works?” JiMin is flustered when HoSeok asks what his dream is and remembers that when he was in preschool he wanted to be president, but didn’t know what he wanted after that. Everyone looks at NamJoon, who shrugs and confesses that while he wants to say something nice, he doesn’t have a dream either and just wishes that his part-time job pays more. JungKook looks down at his assignment, divided into sections for “student” and “parent,” and wonders what he hopes to become. He can’t think of anything to write.

12 June Year 19 — The Sea Notes 1

YoonGi’s entry:

All seven boys cut school and decide to go to the sea. They have little money between them, so they must walk to the train station. As they leave, YoonGi almost bumps into JiMin and realizes that he is standing frozen with a trembling face. JiMin stares at a sign that reads “2.1km to Grass Flower Arboretum.” YoonGi flatly tells him that it’s too hot to go to the arboretum. He has an “instinctive feeling” that they should avoid it. He observes that JiMin walks away like a little kid, head bent and shoulders hunched.

JungKook’s entry:

The boys arrive at the beach. They hang around under a torn parasol until HoSeok holds up a discovery on his phone: a large rock that is supposed to grant your dream if you stand atop it and shout your dream out to the sea. TaeHyung encourages them to go. While they grumble in the heat on the long trek, JungKook reflects on how he had recently asked the others what their dreams were. (See 28 May Year 19.) None of them really have a dream to pursue.

YoonGi tells JungKook to stop biting his nails or else they’ll become like his. Then he asks JungKook what his dream is. Having never thought about it, JungKook doesn’t know. He hesitates and then asks what a dream is. HoSeok rattles off a few definitions from his phone. YoonGi questions, “How can something that you want to achieve most in your life and something that is unlikely to come true both be called a dream? … Don’t ever try to have a dream.” JungKook asks why. At his glance, YoonGi stops biting his nails and puts his hands in his pockets. “Because it’s tough having one.” JungKook is curious about why YoonGi bites his nails but doesn’t ask. He recalls that it has been a habit since his childhood to hurt himself. He remembers cutting his finger on a knife badly enough that his mom took him to the hospital, but she didn’t take care of him after they went home. His wound healed slowly because he kept pressing it; the pain helped him feel awake. Even now, he sometimes feels hollow.

TaeHyung asks how much longer they have to walk. HoSeok is puzzled, saying they should be close. They gaze around the empty, pebbled beach. JiMin sighs and reads aloud from an article on his phone. A resort will be built on this beach, and the construction company blew up the rock. They notice the cordoned off construction zone. They try to reassure each other to remain positive, but they all feel the disappointment of walking all that way for nothing. JungKook notices YoonGi biting his nails again and tries to stop him, but he is interrupted by a loud drilling noise. JungKook looks past him at the sea and all that remains of the dream-granting rock, the pebbles under their feet. “Is the world tough for you, too?” he asks, but YoonGi can’t hear him. JungKook screams again. “Do you want to give up on this world, too?” HoSeok and TaeHyung laugh at their mimed conversation. They all look out to the sea and shout their dreams. The drilling is so loud that they can’t hear each other. JungKook cannot even hear his own dream. When the noise stops, they cut off abruptly and laugh. SeokJin suggests that they take a photo. He sets the timer and runs to join their row, the sea behind them. They walk back to the train station. JungKook asks if he can keep the photo. SeokJin writes “June 12” on the back and gives it to him, telling him that his dream will come true. JungKook asks if SeokJin knows what he shouted to the sea, and SeokJin merely taps his shoulder and strides ahead.

BTS Universe Story : The Boy on the Threshold, ep.3

JungKook’s memory of the beach trip follows a similar structure to the scene in Notes 1, plus a notable addition. After they fail to find the dream-granting boulder, JungKook climbs up on the pier railing. He thinks: “I’ve always liked walking on the edge of walls or on top of lines. Focusing on centering my gravity means that I don’t really think of anything else, and the boundary—not quite a part of either place—always felt like where I should be.” Someone grabs his arm while he precariously balances. YoonGi tells him not to do that, and JungKook assures him that he won’t fall.

“YoonGi would often grab my arm when I walked on railings. The others would look after me, too, after seeing him do that. I liked their helping hands. It felt like they were telling me that I should go to them. That this wasn’t my place. Maybe their hands were why I walked on the railings.”

25 June Year 19 Notes 1 (SJ)

Alone in the classroom hideout, SeokJin finds a plant by the window. He takes pictures with his phone but doesn’t think they capture what the human eye sees. He notices that “HoSeok’s plant” is scribbled on the floor beneath the pot and then realizes that the window sills, walls, and ceiling are covered with graffiti and drawings, messages left behind by the students who once passed through that room. He wonders if there were past teachers who used violence and endless tests or students like him who ratted out their friends to the principal. Since his father also attended that high school, SeokJin looks for his name on the walls and finds it with a phrase written underneath: “Everything started from here.”

Note: TaeHyung, JiMin, NamJoon, and YoonGi discover several other familiar names near Kim ChangJun (SeokJin’s father) on the classroom wall in TaeHyung’s 23 July Year 22 entry from 7’s album Notes and the extended version in Notes 2.

30 August Year 19 Notes: Her

JiMin plays in HoSeok’s shadow while he is on the phone, reflecting on how HoSeok has accompanied him on the two-hour walk home since the beginning of the school semester. JiMin eventually realized that HoSeok didn’t live in the same direction but never questioned him, simply hoping that their time walking together would stretch the day out a little longer. HoSeok finishes on the phone and chases after him while the cicadas sing and their ice creams melt. Suddenly, JiMin is afraid, wondering how many of these days are left.

20 March Year 20 Notes 1 (TH)

TaeHyung sneaks up on NamJoon in the hallway by their classroom hideout. He stops when he hears SeokJin’s voice inside, apparently informing the principal about how TaeHyung and YoonGi had ditched school and got in a fight over the past few days. SeokJin throws open the door, phone in hand, and looks flustered to see NamJoon standing there. TaeHyung hides in a corner and is shocked to hear NamJoon assure him, “It’s OK. There must’ve been a good reason.” HoSeok and JiMin find TaeHyung in the hallway, and HoSeok pulls him into the classroom. NamJoon beams at TaeHyung as though nothing strange has happened. Believing that NamJoon “must have his reasons” because he is more intelligent and mature, TaeHyung decides not to tell anyone about the conversation he overheard.

15 May Year 20 Notes 1 (NJ)

NamJoon visits the classroom hideout on his last day of school. Two weeks prior, his family decided that they needed to move due to complications with his father’s health and their overdue rent. NamJoon tries to write a message on a piece of paper. He scribbles “I must survive” before the pencil lead snaps. He crumples the paper and writes in the dust on the window instead.

“No farewell message would be enough to let the others know how I felt. At the same time, no farewell message was needed to make myself understood. ‘See you again.’ It was a wish, rather than a promise.”

Note: “I must survive” is a recurring message tied to NamJoon in the BU MVs. See also 17 December Year 21.

7 June Year 20 Notes: Persona

TaeHyung’s two month old puppy Dubu slips out of the leash and disappears while he is distracted on his phone. TaeHyung runs around the neighborhood looking for him, first angry at the puppy and then blaming himself. When Dubu returns on his own, TaeHyung is filled with the unfamiliar feeling that he is someone who can be relied on.

11 June Year 20 BTS Universe Story: The Boy on the Threshold, ep.5 Everyone’s Place

In the classroom hideout, JungKook listens to YoonGi playing the piano. The sound of the music makes him feel as if YoonGi understands how he feels and is trying to console him. The Dean of Students forces the door open, demanding why they are there. He berates and slaps JungKook, knocking him to the floor. YoonGi steps between them and shoves the teacher’s shoulder. The dean warns him that he had better be prepared for the consequences of putting his hands on a teacher and then leaves. Despite his throbbing cheek, JungKook smiles because it is the first time someone has protected him, and the feeling of getting closer to YoonGi makes him giddy. For the next two weeks, YoonGi does not come to school.

25 June Year 20 Notes 1

JungKook’s entry:

JungKook tries to play the piano in the classroom hideout, unable to make it sound like YoonGi did. He reflects on the rumor that YoonGi was expelled after the events of 11 June and wonders if YoonGi would still be here playing the piano if JungKook had not been there that day when the teacher appeared.

YoonGi’s entry:

Breathing hard, YoonGi arrives at his bedroom, removes a half-burned piano key from an envelope in his desk drawer, and throws it into the trash can. He remembers a day four years ago when he returned to their burned down home and found a skeleton of the piano where his mother’s room used to stand. He noticed several piano keys on the ground and took one of them, wondering what note it was and how many times her fingers touched it. In the present, YoonGi thinks how unbearable living under his father’s rule is and recalls what happened that day: he is officially expelled from school. He picks up the piano key again and hurls it out the window.

“I couldn’t hear the piano key hit the ground. Now I’d never know what note it made. It’d never make a sound again. I’d never play the piano again.”

17 July Year 20 Notes 1 (SJ)

At the end of the last school day before summer vacation, SeokJin tries to leave quickly but is hailed by HoSeok and JiMin. No one knows that he was pressured by the principal and revealed their hideout, which led to JungKook and YoonGi being discovered (11 June) and the latter’s expulsion (25 June). HoSeok wishes SeokJin a good vacation and to keep in touch, but he can’t reply.

“My first day at this school crossed my mind as I passed through the school gate. We were all late and got punished. But we were together, so we could laugh together. I had ruined all those memories we shared.”

Note: Variations of the sentiment “we can laugh when we’re together” recur throughout BU.

15 September Year 20 Notes 1 (HS)

In the hospital emergency room, HoSeok wants to explain how JiMin had a seizure at the bus stop to his mother, Sim SeonMi. When the doctors wheel JiMin’s bed out, HoSeok begins to follow until SeonMi thanks him and touches his shoulder. He feels like she has drawn a line between them that he cannot cross. He falls to the floor, and when he looks up, JiMin’s bed is gone.

Note: The name of JiMin’s mother is specified in his BTS Universe Story arc, Stopped Time. JiMin’s 11 May Year 22 entry in Notes 1 reflects that he blacked out at the bus stop after seeing the window of the Grass Flower Arboretum shuttle bus open. His 12 August Year 22 entry in Notes 2 reveals the real cause of JiMin’s seizure at the bus stop: he sees the boy that he left behind at the arboretum warehouse on 6 April Year 11. Though the boy’s empty eyes no longer speak to JiMin, this chance encounter awakens his memories of that day.

28 September Year 20 Notes: Her and Smeraldo Books Twitter

JiMin, heavily medicated, has lost track of how long he has been back in the hospital. But he considers this a special day because he lies to the doctor for the first time about not remembering anything.

Note: He is lying about not remembering what triggered his seizure at the bus stop on 15 September and/or what happened at the Grass Flower Arboretum when he was a kid (see Notes 2 comments above). This lie is also referenced in his 11 May Year 22 entry in Notes 1.

30 September Year 20 Notes 1 (JK)

A teacher hits JungKook with an attendance book when he refuses to admit that he still visits the classroom hideout, reminding him of when YoonGi was beaten. Later, JungKook stands outside the room and imagines that the others are waiting for him on the other side. He opens the door to only find HoSeok, clearing out what remains of their belongings. HoSeok walks him out, and JungKook realizes that those days are gone and will never come again.

25 February Year 21 Notes: Her (HS)

HoSeok watches himself dance in the mirror. He has danced since he was around twelve and discovered an ecstasy that came from inside himself. Outside of the mirror, HoSeok is a person who collapses everywhere and takes medicine he doesn’t need, who smiles even when he hates it and isn’t happy. But when he dances, he truly becomes himself, casting away all that weighs him down and feeling that he can become happy.

2 May Year 21 Notes: Persona (JK)

Biking along the Yangjicheon riverbank, JungKook thinks about how his friends left him one by one and that no one at home or in the world smiles at him anymore. He stops in the shadows under a bridge. Nobody comes to this kind of ruined place, and maybe that is the reason no one comes to him either. He feels most comfortable alone in the complete darkness where no one will look for him and wants the moment to never end.

9 August Year 21 Notes: Persona (SJ)

SeokJin walks along a Los Angeles beach and photographs the ocean. It has been a year since he fled Songju and moved to his mother’s family’s home, where he grew up as a child. He doesn’t photograph people anymore and didn’t bring any photos from high school with him, afraid to remember who he was at that time or to wonder about how his friends are doing and whether they still think of him.

17 December Year 21 Notes 1 (NJ)

This lengthy entry details events that transpired since the autumn of Year 20 when NamJoon’s family moved to the village, framed by moments on 17 December itself as NamJoon leaves on his own. His family chooses this village because it has a nearby hospital for his ailing father and employers who will hire someone without a high school diploma. NamJoon serves as a delivery boy for an eatery, competing for work with the other local boys. They grow a strange sense of solidarity, and he privately dubs one of them “TaeHyung,” even though the boy’s discontent, outward behavior is more akin to YoonGi’s. (Quotation marks added to the name here for clarity.) Competition slackens when snow falls in winter. NamJoon and “TaeHyung” are the only ones poor enough to risk the road up to the mountain town’s rest area when orders are phoned to the village below. On an afternoon forecast to have heavy snowfall, the restaurant owner dismisses “TaeHyung” due to his bruised face and gives the deliveries to NamJoon. The old delivery scooter fishtails on NamJoon’s third trip down the mountain, throwing him off. More anxious about the scratched scooter than his cut ankle and aching body, NamJoon finally gets it to restart and returns to the eatery. “TaeHyung,” who has been hanging around this whole time, approaches and asks for a favor. Before he can answer, NamJoon receives a call from his mother relaying that his father went outside alone and fell, requiring a trip to the hospital. NamJoon understands that his father was only trying to keep his dignity but is still frustrated because he can’t earn any more much-needed money this day. He hands “TaeHyung” the keys and leaves to take his father to the hospital.

The next day, NamJoon learns that “TaeHyung” was in a fatal accident during one of the deliveries up the mountain. The police officer blames him for being a poor driver and not wearing a helmet. NamJoon does not speak up that he has never seen the helmet the owner now has placed out on the counter. He visits the scene of the accident, thinking that the white outline on the road could be his if he was the one to make the next delivery—just as it could be his family mourning in the village instead of “TaeHyung’s” mother. On a later trip carrying his father home from the bus stop, NamJoon pretends not to hear his father’s frail voice over the noise of barking dogs. A week after that, NamJoon is making steady deliveries up the mountain. During what is ultimately his last delivery, he speaks with a stranger at the rest area, who cautions him to take care. “Do you know what’s really dangerous? Calcium chloride and wet leaves, not the snow itself,” the stranger blurts as NamJoon departs. NamJoon drives carefully back, not looking at the scene of the accident. This is not out of safety, as he tries to convince himself, but guilt: guilt for surviving, for his relief of being the one alive, for not defending “TaeHyung’s” driving skills. He also wonders if he is “a hypocrite pretending to have a guilty conscience.” Because he scattered wet leaves and sprinkled calcium chloride to prevent the road from icing over where he fell that afternoon, believing that he would be making the next delivery. If he did not do both those things, would “TaeHyung” be alive?

Mind and body numb, NamJoon makes it home from the delivery detached from the world around him. The barking dogs snap him out of the daze, and he remembers his father’s words that he pretended not to hear and dwelled on daily despite trying not to think about them: “Go, NamJoon. You must survive.” The next morning (17 December), NamJoon sneaks away to the bus stop. He is running away from his family’s misfortunes, from his own resignation to his fate, from poverty. The bus is scheduled to arrive in Songju in a few hours—the city he left with no notice and is returning to once more with the same. NamJoon wonders if his old friends still live there and how they are doing. On the frosted window, he writes with his finger: “I must survive.”

Note: The village boy’s real name is JongHun according to NamJoon’s 12 June Year 22 entry in Notes 2, which also reveals that he visited JongHun’s home to give his condolences before he left town.

1 February Year 22 Notes: 7 (SJ)

Summoned by his father without explanation, SeokJin flies back to Korea from Los Angeles. Although he has addresses in both LA and Songju, neither place feels like his home.

———————————————————

Update Log

Posted May 5, 2021

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lovesickmochi · 3 years

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updates and descriptions.

hey. it’s been a while since i posted on here.

there’s been a shit ton of changes in my life and i wouldn’t have it in any other way. people have come and go, but there’s so so many people that stayed. i didn’t ask them to stay, they stayed on their own.

as much as i would love to tell them, “don’t leave my life. you’re too important for me to lose”, i feel like they already know that through my actions and my kindness towards them.

first off, there’s my brother. he’s 27, and we’re at least a decade apart in age. but mentally and emotionally, we’re the same person. the first time he and i met, he was still a teenager and i was a baby. since then, we rarely interacted but i already knew, somehow, that he was going to be my favorite kuya. 2018, when my dad passed away, he stepped into my life as the guy that i could depend on and look up to. i’m actually an only child, so i didn’t know what it was like to have a sibling. since he stepped into my life, even when he moved to la and back here in sj, we’ve been inseparable.

every day we interact, through instagram dms, discord dms... and we hangout almost every weekend now. even through quarantine, we’ve been hanging out. i know what you’re thinking. what’s a 17 year old hanging out with a guy who’s almost 30? well, let me answer that. he saved my life. he kept me from ending my life due to depression over the trauma that i suffered when my dad passed away. apparently, i saved his life too.. he went through a rough breakup and he was falling apart. his siblings did their best, but i truly felt that i, a teenager, should step in and be the little sister that he never had. i introduced him to my group of friends, who i now call my siblings too, well. except for the guy im kinda dating, but that doesnt matter in this paragraph.

i wanted him to experience the last few parts of my childhood before i become an adult, since he, unfortunately, had to miss out on most of it. my friends and i love him very much and the fact that he’s now so comfortable with them, means everything to me. i love him with every part of me, and i’m thankful for everything he’s done for me. from getting me food, to giving me his old pc, to letting me spend time with him on the weekends, to letting me bother him so i could rant, to spilling all the tea with him, all that jazz.

kuya, if you see this, i love you.

second, there’s my older sister.

she’s a couple of months older than kuya. it was her birthday recently and she and kuya spent the night here at my place. instead of sleeping, kuya and i were laughing at the most random shit, and ended up getting mcd’s and starbucks at 6am. meanwhile, ateh was knocked the fuck out on the living room couch. i helped take care of her with the best of my abilities and im glad that i was able to keep her happy and safe.

she and i share a huge love for disney and it’s a huge goal for us to be able to go to disneyland together. she has this laugh that is so contagious, you wouldnt be able to stop laughing around her. like how some of my friends describe me, she’s literally a ball of sunshine. she’s the dorkiest person i know, and i can obv relate to her in so many ways. although there’s not a lot of things i know about her, i can proudly say that she’s my favorite ateh. i want to get to know her more, and i always want to hangout with her when she’s available.

ateh, if you see this, i love you.

third, there’s my other two older sisters.

even though we’re a year and a couple days apart in age, i love them with everything. there’s the bird lady and the cat lady.

the bird lady is older than the two of us, and she’s, different. she’s the kind of person who’s closed off to so many other people and she doesnt get the chance to experience many things that most people my age. most of the time, she’s reading or gaming or drawing, and i find it interesting that she can keep herself entertained most of the time. she’s so different from everyone else, yet she let me into her life and allowed me to be there for her. she’s strong. she’s beautiful and she doesnt know it yet. i want to be there for her when she becomes the person she wants to be.

she and i met in my freshman year in choir. she was already in concert choir two, and both choirs merged together for a concert song. when i first saw her, i may or may have not had a small crush on her. she doesnt believe me when i say that, but oh well. we ended up officially meeting in my sophomore year when i join her in concert choir two. i learned about her boundaries and i got to know her more when we were placed in the altos section together. the day when i started to really become friends with her, was when i joined a discord server with a bunch of other people that i was friends with in april 2020. it’s been over a year of me being in that server, and after so many obstacles, i get to call her my sister as well.

in that same server, i got to meet the cat lady. she’s the witch in our friend group and she is so fucking hyper. in a good way. when i first interacted with her, i was like, “damn shes loud. i like her”. i got to know her, i became friends with her, and now i can call her my sister as well. we never met in person up until halloween 2020. apparently she met the bird lady way before i joined the server. since we met in person, i also got to know her mom. she’s strict, but she’s a very sweet person as well.

the cat lady is a person who would do anything and everything for her friends and family no matter what gets in her way to stop her. there are many many times where i want to say that i proud of her for everything that she’s done already. but i feel that she already knows that. i know she knows that i love her. she’s someone that i want to protect, to guide her through the hard shit, to be there for when she falls apart.

to my sisters, if you see this, i love you.

and then there’s my little brother, my bunso.

he’s something else. he’s weirdly one of the best people that’s stepped into my life and somewhat changed me for the better. he and i go to the same school, and i’ve seen him in marching band. but get this, we never met until we interacted in the discord server. we’ve seen each other but we just never met. since i met him, i got to meet him in person halloween 2020, along with the cat lady. there’s honestly not a lot that i can say about him, since i still have yet to get to know him more, but what i can say is that i’m glad that i can call him my brother. he, along with everyone else i mentioned in this post, is someone i want to always be there for no matter what, to support and love through everything.

to my bunso, if you see this, i love you.

to everyone i mentioned;

i know that i dont always say i love you. i know that i dont always show my appreciation for you. i know that im not always the best person.

but.

here i am now. showing you that i appreciate every single one of you. thank yu for coming into my life and making sure that i dont fall apart. thank you for making laugh and smile and feel complete. thank you for keeping me safe in your hearts, and trusting me to do the same. thank you for hanging out with me, for interacting with me, for meeting me and seeing me as a good person. thank you for keeping me in check, making sure that im okay, that i at least laugh once or more throughout the day.

seriously. thank you for everything that you’ve done for me and more.

yes i cried making this.

i love you.

~ mochinyx_

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kechiarts · 6 years

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Warning!! Long post ahead (LOL)

I’ve been meaning to do one of these for a while now. Quite a few friends and followers have asked me ‘what big influences can you think of that have inspired you as an artist/creator?’

A lot of movies, games, books, tv series, artists, and writers have influenced my drawing style and storytelling - some of them more so than others. (As represented by the larger squares in the image)

So here we go!! The numbers for each inspiration were chosen at random, the order doesn’t have any significance lol

1. Cardcaptor Sakura - (and the works of CLAMP in general I suppose because I read them all) Cardcaptor Sakura wasn’t my first manga but it holds a really special place in my heart because it’s lore and depictions of love has influenced my storytelling a LOT. I was obsessed with CLAMP and their art style when I was young to the point I would trace their drawings to learn and emulate their style. To this day I feel like it left a big impact on my art style especially.

2. Cyborg 009 - When I was a kid my parents told me and my brother that we couldn’t afford cable TV and reduced our service to the news channels and public broadcasting. We didn’t have cable TV for several years and when we finally got it back when I was 12, one of the FIRST TV programs I saw was Cyborg 009. I was just beginning to understand what anime was, since the only anime I’d seen was before our cable got cut, and I was so young I didn’t know it WAS anime. I immediately fell in love with Cyborg 009. I loved the characters, the story, everything - and I still do! It was the beginning of my exploration of the anime genre as a whole haha

3. ‘The Twelve Kingdoms’ book series - Around the same time I started watching Cyborg 009, I began getting into manga. While browsing the section in the bookstore one day I came across the first novel in The Twelve Kingdoms series. I was surprised to find a novel in the manga section and decided to browse through it. I couldn’t put it down! The rich world building and storytelling pulled me in and left me wanting more. I devoured the entire book series and the way the world was brought to life really stuck with me and influenced my own world building.

4. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles - my very first Final Fantasy game, and it was a spinoff title to boot! I was drawn in by the dark, melancholic world and cute graphics. I played this game a lot with my friends and even though multiplayer was a nightmare to set up, we had so much fun. I wasn’t able to beat it until I was 16, and the story left me in tears. The Crystal Chronicles games as whole have left a HUGE impact on me, but the first one especially so.

5. Sonic the Hedgehog - My first game ever! My brother and I first played Sonic the Hedgehog 2 when we were around 3 or 4 years old. We were hooked on our parent’s Sega Genesis system and Sonic was our favorite! When we’d get home from school we’d fight over who got to play first in single player, eventually we settled on a system, My brother would play sonic, and since Tails couldn’t die even if he ran out of rings, I would fight all the boss battles as Tails while my brother tried to keep Sonic out of the way. Using this system we made it all the way up to Metal Sonic but could never beat him. We’d have 99 lives too because we knew ALL the secrets of the game LOL. I’ve played most of the Sonic titles since then, including my favorite, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle.

6. Sailor Moon - my ‘first’ anime. I was very young when I first saw this anime. I didn’t even know what anime was! But the portrayal of girl power and how strong all the female characters were really stuck out to me, raised as I was in a women-are-inferior-and-should-serve-their-husbands religious household. Sailor Jupiter was my favorite because she was a tomboy and wore ponytails just like me haha

7. Fullmetal Alchemist - I think I’ve touched on this before, but I have had really weak bones since I was a little kid. In middle school I was constantly on and off of crutches or in and out of wheelchairs with broken bones and such. (I blame being a huge clutz) It got to the point my classmates started calling me ‘calamity Jane’ and making fun of me. To that dorky middle school girl with crutches and leg braces, Edward Elric was my HERO. Disability representation matters folks! It certainly helped me through a rough time in my life.

8. The works of Studio Ghibli - My first Ghibli movie was My Neighbor Totoro, and I’ve been hooked ever since. I actually managed to get my mom into them too, so now we can have mother/daughter quality bonding time over new Ghibli movies when they come out. It gives us a lot of fond memories together and I enjoy those times I get to spend with her. Mom and I may not see eye to eye all the time, but I truly treasure the memories I have of watching Ghibli films with her.

9. Odin Sphere - This one is more recent, and one I blame @heebiejeebiejade for. I love everything about it. The story, the art, the characters! It tore my heart out and the writing is just superb I love it so much. and the ART my god it’s so beautiful.

10. Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles the Crystal Bearers - I decided I needed to make this one separate from the earlier Crystal Chronicles section. Mostly because this game HEAVILY influenced and changed my life. Not only is it my favorite game ever, it brought me to many of my current friendships! If not for this game I never would have met @heebiejeebiejade @killerkitty4 @indestructiblemoog @shadyfolk @ninjamonkeystudios and SOOOOO many others. These friendships mean a great deal to me. They’ve changed and shaped who I am today and I’m truly grateful for them, and they never would have been possible without Crystal Bearers.

11. Dragonball - Another one of those I never knew it was Anime cartoons I watched as a young child. I loved Dragonball and later Dragonball Z. The characters, the storytelling, the fight scenes, I loved it all because it was so different from what I was used to seeing in American cartoons. My brother and I would have Super Saiyan battles in our backyard throwing Kamehamehas at each other and laughing and generally annoying our neighbors XD

12. Over the Garden Wall - Another more recent influence. Over the Garden Wall was one of the first new cartoons that grabbed my attention due to it’s great pacing and creepy Americana storytelling. Mysteries, ghosts, the afterlife, purgatory, this show dealt with a lot of creepy things while simultaneously making it funny and endearing. I rewatch it often and it’s one of my favorites.

13. Legend of Mana and the Seiken Densetsu Series - Again, I blame @heebiejeebiejade entirely for this. She sent me a huge box with every game in the Seiken Densetsu series in it along with the guidebooks saying “you HAVE to play these.” I knew she liked them so I gave them a try and YEP as per usual with anything Jade introduces me to, they COMPLETELY DESTROYED ME. Love, sacrifice, life, death, and rebirth, are a huge part of these title’s storytelling and they drew me in completely. Legend of Mana and Dawn of Mana especially. Their world building and plot devices may or may not have heavily influence my own XD

14. The ‘Stravaganza’ book series - The first time I picked up a Stravaganza book title was when I was twelve and found this really shiny book in a used bookstore for $3. It featured a picture of Venice, and a pair of violet eyes staring at you from behind a shiny silver mask on the cover. I’m not sure why It spoke to me, it just did. I bought it and finished it within a day. That book was titled City of Masks and I loved it a lot! And then I found out there were more! An entire series! The books featured time travel and dimensional travel, espionage and intrigue! I read and devoured them all and to this day I hold out hope for a final volume to finish the series.

15. Avatar: the Last Airbender - At age 12 I dismissed Avatar as a kid show originally. I scoffed at it and laughed at my little brother for being so into it. Then I saw the first episode. And it was then that I knew what a mistake I had made. I know a LOT of people love Avatar, and for good reason! I don’t have to go super in-depth here because I’m sure most of you already know how great it is. It’s definitely influenced both my art style and my storytelling.

16. Hikaru no Go - This one’s special. When I was in high school I was bullied a LOT. Like, people writing DIE YOU WHORE in my textbooks and putting thumb tacks in my gym shoes kind of bullying. They’d touch me and then pretended that they’d die of the plague. That if anyone had a crush on me they were worse than trash. The kind of bullying that made me a bit suicidal in my teen years. Lucky for me my mother had bought me a copy of Monthly Shonen Jump in early 2005, She knew that I liked manga and thought it would be the perfect magazine gift for me for valentine’s day. Boy was she right and one of the manga featured in it was Hikaru no Go. I loved the art style, and the storytelling. I was instantly captivated by the characters and I wanted to know what happened next. I soon subscribed to SJ monthly and eagerly awaited the next installment each month. What this meant was that whenever I was feeling like I wanted to end it all, I’d remember that I didn't’ know what happened next and would wait. I honestly believe that Hikaru no Go is at least partially responsible for me making it out of high school alive, and I treasure it to this day. (Also I’m on anti-depressants now so don’t worry about me y’all okay? XD) There was another manga like this, but I'mnot sure how to feel about that one anymore :(

17. Magic Knight Rayearth - I know I’ve already listed CLAMP as a heavy influence on me, but I felt Magic Knight Rayearth deserved it’s own place because it was my first manga ever! I’d seen the commercial for the anime on one of my old DVDs way back when, and I was already intereseted in it when I happened to find the manga in a bookstore! I bought it and reread the first volume a dozen times before I even found the second ahaha. I must have read the complete set a hundred times now and let me tell you the twist ending of the first part kills me every time! The first of my manga obsession ahaha

18. Tales of the Abyss and The ‘Tales of’ game series - Tales of the Abyss was my first (and still my favorite) Tales game, and since then I’ve played almost all of them! They definitely influenced my character designs, most of my friends comment on how Tales-like my costumes are ahaha

19. The 'Riyria’ book series - The most recent novel series I’ve read. It’s got everything I’d ever want to see in a novel, it’s so great and the story is so deep and intriguing! I recommend everyone to read it, it’s a MUST READ for sure!

20. Journey - The first time I played this game I cried for three hours. I felt like I’d just had a religious and spiritual experience far beyond what I’d ever experienced in a video game before. It was just something so… beyond me. I recommend everyone to play this game at least once in their lifetime. I can’t really form the words to express what it means to me. It’s just something you’d have to experience for yourself.

21. Ico: Castle in the Mist and Shadow of the Colossus - Another famous one lol a LOT of people love these games but In particular I want to bring attention to the Ico novelization, Ico: Castle in the Mist. I really enjoyed the novel and it’s worldbuilding. The games will always be special to me, but that novel man. That novel.

22. Yu Yu Hakusho - One of my guilty favorites! I first saw Yu Yu Hakusho when I was 16 and I’ve loved it ever since! I’ve always been fascinated with spirits and the occult, but I definitely had to hide this one from my religious parents.

23. Black Cat - Honestly this one surprises me. I love those secret identity and hidden horrible past animes and this one definitely fits that bill. I think this one established my favorite tropes in my life more than anything else.

24. A Bride’s Story - Two words. THE ART. MY GOD THE ART. This manga, in addtion to being a really great read, has some of the most detailed artwork I’ve ever seen. It’s influenced me greatly and I encourage everyone to read it.

25. Bravely Default - Bravely Default definitely influenced my story building and characters, it was one of the first 3DS games that really captivated me and drew me into its world!

26. Yu-Gi-Oh!! - Another series I had to hide from my parents ahah This anime was something I really loved in my childhood. Again, I really love ghosts and spirits and things like that so this anime was probably what started it all!

27. Fire Emblem Awakening and the Fire Emblem Series - Awakening was my first Fire Emblem game (Cue whining from the FE purists LOL) but since then I’ve played them all! (Including the JP only ones don’t start with me haters ahahahaha) The storytelling and bonds between the characters really resonated with me and it’s become one of my favorite game series!

28. The ‘Legend of Zelda’ game series - The repeating themes of good vs evil throughout the Legend of Zelda games really struck a chord with me, especially when I was young. Twilight Princess and Wind Waker especially influenced me. “A Sword has no strength unless the hand that wields it has courage.” Is something that has suck with me for a long time, and something that encourages me and helps me get through my everyday life.

29. The Final Fantasy Series - Final Fantasy has had a HUGE impact on my life. I already gave Crystal Chronicles it’s due, now it’s the numbered titles turn! Final Fantasy has influenced my life in ways I couldn’t have imagined ten years ago even! I’ve played them all (Except 11, curse having no internet as a teenager!) and they’ve definitely shaped my lore and world building skills!

30. Naruto - Okay I’ll admit it! I was Naruto weeboo trash in highschool!!! Oh woe is me!! Just kidding! I honestly still love Naruto, and it’s something that really stuck with me for a long time, since it’s one of the first anime I saw (after learning what anime was ahaha)

31. Gravity Falls - How can I put this… Hmmmm. Gravity Falls has heavily influenced my character building. I love it’s characters. Don’t get me wrong I love the story too! But the characters are honestly what kept me coming back for more! Not to mention that epic foreshadowing in season one. Yep.

32. Spiral: The Bonds of Reasoning - Another one of my favorite manga in Highschool that oddly helped me through my depression. The main character’s struggles sort of resonated with me and helped my healing process in my late teens and early twenties.

33. Final Fantasy XII - Okay WORLDBUILDING. Let’s talk about worldbuilding because MY GOD has Final Fantasy XII have it. I love the Ivalice games in general, but the amount of effort put into 12 having a world that feels like it’s alive is astounding to be honest. The world truly feels like it’s alive, and it drew me in for over 400 hours of gameplay on Playstation 2. To this day it’s the game I have logged the most hours into.

34. Radiant Historia - What drew me in here was TIME TRAVEL and STORY AND WORLDBUILDING. This game is a hidden gem in the Nintendo DS’s extensive library. It doesn’t have the best graphics or even the best gameplay mechanics, but it didn’t matter to me because the story kept me coming back for more! By far one of my favorite games ever. (Pssst go play it, it got a remake for 3DS)

35. Final Fanasy XIV - This one is a favorite, not just because of it’s story and world building - both of which are excellent btw - but because of the connections I’ve made through it. I have made so many friends online through this game, friends that make me feel better about myself as a person, and who’ve stuck with me through the hard times along with the good.

36. Mushishi - We’ve established that I love ghosts and spirits and things, but this series made me love connecting it with nature, something that has heavily influenced my writing and my own webcomic!

37. Voltron - Mostly the first two seasons. Beast King Golion was one of my first super sentai anime as a child, and I loved seeing it remade! It was like getting to revisit my childhood

38. Gundam SEED and the Gundam Series - Okay Gundam has influenced me throughout my life, starting with Gundam Wing when I was six years old, and continuing on to this day. The one I’ve watched the most times though, is Gundam SEED, and it’s influenced my characters and storytelling a lot!

Wow, congrats to whoever manged to read this far. You’re really determined I’ll give you that! Thanks for reading!

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jindoelf · 6 years

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171206 iqiyi interview: Q: Please introduce your new album “Play” and are there any breakthroughs compared to other albums? Teuk: The concept and title of the album is “Play”. It means that everyone presses the play button to listen to SJ’s music and at the same time have fun and enjoy the music. As compared to the previous albums, we want to express our manly and mature side through this album. I guess female fans like SJ’s manly side more Q: For the comeback, what are the areas members have worked hard in? Who is responsible for which area? Hyuk: I put in a lot of effort in stage performance. Shindong hyung and I worked hard for the choreography while Donghae worked hard to compose our pre-release track Hae: I want to show everyone different music styles. Also, since Kyuhyun and Ryeowook are serving the army, we want to everyone to experience a different feeling so I hope that the song is able to inject a different mood and expectation from the other songs Hae: This song expresses the sadness of parting and it is a pre-release track which we have released as a gift. Q: What are the interesting things that happening during the album jacket shooting? How do the members feel taking a group cover photo after a long time? Teuk: Members really like joking around and we completed the shoot under a happy atmosphere Even though our shoot was about the sadness of parting for One More Chance, but it was outdoors and the weather was good, which contrasted with the sad mood. The jacket photos for Black Suit and One More Chance came out really well. Q: How is the standing order decided for the new album cover? Teuk: We decided through drawing lots. Heechul: We shot the reality show “SJ Returns” before our comeback. In the show, we were able to show a lot of sides which were never shown on broadcast. Heechul: But the sequence for anything is decided through drawing lots or the ladder game. We use random draws to decide shooting sequence, the sequence to get off work and decide who would clean up after eating so everyone really enjoyed the shoot. Q: There is a certain level of difficulty for the choreography. Are there any difficulties that you face while practicing? Teuk: For me, my legs will cramp when I dance for some time Hyuk: This choreography has a lot of leg movements and actually, in order for the stage to be cooler and to have a high degree of completion, everyone practiced really hard without skiving off. Q: “I Do” is a song written for the fans. Can you introduce the song? Teuk: The song illustrates the relationship between lovers like our relationship with ELF. The lovers meet at the place where the confession happened a year ago and proclaim their love once again. Teuk: This song expresses such feelings. This is a song full of love. When our fans hear this song, they can think of the day we met 12 years ago on 6th November 2005. Q: The response for SJ Returns is good. Are there any future plans for variety shows? Donghae: We started with SJ Returns and released an album after a long time, and so the members went through a lot of shootings together. Hae: If everyone can give SJ a lot of love, maybe we will have plans for the second season. I hope everyone likes all the variety shows that SJ is going to be on. We will confirm it in our SJ live and announce if we are doing season 2. Thank you Donghae for the good answer LOL donghae literally thanked himself after he answered the question HAHAHAHA what even Teuk: If Donghae can answer like this, it’s already a really great improvement Hyuk: Now he can talk for such a long time at one go Hae: Like having a script Q: What surprises have SJ prepared for fans this concert? Shindong: This concert would be cooler and more complete and members’ participation is especially high. We did prepare a surprise but it is too early to reveal it. Everyone please watch our concert to see it for yourself~ Q: Leeteuk like to share his life on his SNS. How long do you need to post? Teuk: Actually the time I take to post is not as long as you would imagine. There are moments when you experience an outburst of emotions, like during 2am – 4am Hyuk: the time when you want attention Teuk: and I create my post during that time Hyuk: I need to avoid that timing Teuk: The key for SNS is to add ellipsis (…) after the words Members: oooooooo Teuk: 2am… Alone time... I am... what should I do... Q: Yesung seems to be dieting this comeback, what are the results? You are also interested in fashion, have you thought of developing in the area? Yesung: I don’t only lose weight for the comeback. I manage my weight normally too. For the sake of my health, I am also fasting. Yesung: Also, fashion is one of my personal interest but I haven’t thought of going into that area. Q: It is said that Shindong has psychic abilities, can you predict how many first place SJ will win this time? This time, members’ contracts talk about self-management, what are the results? Shindong: Let me see, I can see this time’s first place. Even though I can see it, but I will not tell everyone. It is definitely a single digit because the time we have to promote in Korea is not long, so the number is small and I shall not reveal it. Shindong: For self-management, I have worked hard but to be honest, my body cannot turn into the ideal condition that I want it to be in. I will continue to work hard but right now, I can say that I have failed Q: If Heechul debut in a team with the Knowing Brothers cast, what will everyone’s role be and why? Heechul: I am currently filming KB and it is not bad. I have released the song “Sweet Dream” with Min Kyunghoon last year. After that, I also talked to him about this. We persevered to make this song and it became more popular than expected. So if we release another song and it is not popular then it will be… Shindong: Then Kim Heechul has ~ Failed~ Heechul: So I am still discussing with Kyunghoon. Before that, Black Suit shall do well first. Heechul: I was thinking that if Donghae composes songs that I really like, like rock ballads that shows his sad emotions, Donghae shall compose and I will write the lyrics to make a song together. How does it sound? Shindong: I can be responsible for the MV! Hyuk: I can do the choreography Teuk: I can be the main lead Heechul: Ah but we need a female lead Heechul: I am really considering about this and I wanted to produce a song with Donghae and Shindong. Q: What is the most popular girl group when Eunhyuk was in army? What is the great change before and after serving army? Heechul: I am really curious about this. When I was in army, T-ara’s “Roly Poly” was the most popular Hyuk: When I enlisted, I remembered very clearly. Because it was released when we enlisted, it is called enlistment song. The time when Twice’s debut song Like Ooh-Ahh was released was similar to the time I enlisted. When I was serving army, Twice’s popularity was really high. Hyuk: Red Velvet and SNSD who were originally popular were also popular. There are too many girl groups so it is really difficult to choose one. I remembered that SJ was a really popular group too Shindong: Not at all Hyuk: Also, the greatest change after serving army was my attitude. Every stage, event and schedule, I will find them really precious and I felt how precious my members were once again. Teuk: The greatest change is that hyukjae’s lips will turn purple after dancing Hyuk: Because I am working really hard Q: The song Donghae composed “One More Chance” received very good response from the fans, how do you feel? Donghae: I don’t search on the internet but company’s staff, friends, members and many fans around me told me that they really like the song. I am really thankful. Hae: Members have also helped me edit it many times, around 5-6 times and that is why the results were good. Hae: Thankfully, the weather was good on the day of the MV shooting. Even though it was tiring to film the MV early in the morning but the end product was full of sentiments and matches the fall, so I was really happy Q: What do you want to say to China ELF who have been supporting SJ? Teuk: Many China ELF kept asked us when we are coming back. Now the members have served the army accordingly and then returned for our comeback. Teuk: Even though we are not complete, but the six of us can meet everyone at close proximity. We are really happy. We want to say that because of China fans have been supporting us, we can have a comeback stage. Please continue taking care of us. Teuk: Until Kyuhyun and Ryeowook are released from army, we will continue working hard to promote~ Donghae (In perfect Chinese lmao): everyone we are going to China really soon so please wait for us and please look forward to our new album. Thank you! Hyuk (In Chinese): I miss you all~ Teuk: We are really happy to finally meet our fans after a long time and we will meet more often in the future. This is the end of the interview~ Goodbye everyone. We are Super Junior~ (gheihyuk)

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mydarlingfelix · 6 years

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Get to know me tag(s)!

Tagged by: @hyunjinh @felox-the-great @jaeffreyy @squishywoojin @welcometochanskitchen @dabkingfelix @mosquitofelix

Hi! I’m Summer btw (Ik it’s not in my bio), but I just go by Sum or other nicknames lol *I also just put multiple “get to know me” tags in 1 lol THIS IS A SUPER LONG POST IM SORRY However thank you for tagging me!! I Love you all soOoOo much!

Bold Thingy Tag

1ST RULE: tag 9 people you want to get to know better

I think everyone done this already fkjdjgb

2ND RULE: BOLD the statements that are true.

APPEARANCE: - I am 5'7 or taller - I wear glasses - I have at least one tattoo -I have at least one piercing - I have blonde hair - I have brown eyes - I have short hair (idk it’s growing) - My abs are at least somewhat defined - I have or had braces

PERSONALITY: - I love meeting new people - People tell me I am funny - Helping others with their problems is a big priority of mine - I enjoy physical challenges - I enjoy mental challenges - I am playfully rude to people I know - I started saying something ironically and now I can’t stop saying it - There is something I would change about my personality

ABILITY: - I can sing well - I can play an instrument - I can do over 30 pushups without stopping - I am a fast runner - I can draw well - I have a good memory - I am good at doing maths in my head - I can hold my breath underwater for over a minute - I have beaten at least 2 people arm wrestling - I can make at least 3 recipes from scratch - I know how to throw a proper punch

HOBBIES: - I enjoy sports - I’m on a sports team at my school or somewhere else - I’m in a orchestra or choir at my school or somewhere else - I have learned a new song in the past week - I exercise at least once a week - I have gone for runs at least once a week in warmer months - I have drawn something in the past month (Lucy wanted to be drawn for her bday and I did a watercolor portrait thing ig? for her) - I enjoy writing - Fandoms are my #1 priority- I do some form of Martial arts

EXPERIENCES: - I have had my first kiss - I have had alcohol- I have scored a winning point in a sport - I have watched an entire TV series in one sitting - I have been at an overnight event- I have been in a taxi - I have been in the hospital or ER in the past year - I have beaten a video game in one day - I have visited another country - I have been to one of my favorite band’s concerts

MY LIFE: - I have one person that I consider to be my Best Friend - I live close to my school/work - My parents are still together - I have at least one sibling (I have like 5)- I live in the United States - There is snow where I live right now - I have hung out with a friend in the past month - I have a smart phone - I own at least 15 CDs - I share my room with someone

RELATIONSHIPS: - I am in a Relationship - I have a crush on a celebrity (?) - I have a crush on someone I know - I’ve been in at least 3 relationships - I have never been in a Relationship (not a healthy one at least)- I have admitted my feelings to a crush - I get crushes easily (It’s disgusting, wtf is wrong with me. I don’t need feels) - I have had a crush for over a year (Umm kinda he’s just really really cute. I talked to Dain about this before) - I have been in a relationship for over a year (but not currently) - I have had feelings for a friend

RANDOM: - I have break-danced - I know a person named Jamie - I have had a teacher that has a name that is hard to pronounce - I have dyed my hair - I’m listening to a song on repeat right now - I have punched someone in the past week - I know someone who has gone to jail - I have broken a bone - I have eaten a waffle today - I know what I want to do in life - I speak at least two languages - I have made a new friend in the past year

Alphabet Soup Tag

A: Age - “I’m 19, you fight me?” B: Birthplace - Cali C: Current time - As I’m during this 1:26pm D: Drink you had last - Water, but also Thai Tea Boba E: Easiest person to talk to - F: Favorite song - None G: Grossest memory - My cousin’s and I were doing a auntie and niece day and went theMall and I saw this girl throw up on the second floor in Forever 21. I felt sorry for the workers... H: Hogwarts house - G I: in love? - nah, never gonna happen J: Jealous of people? - It’s only a human aspect, you’re only truly horrible if you do something nasty to others because of that feeling K: Killed someone? - Not yet lmfao L: Love at first sight or should I walk by again? - No thank you M: Middle name - Summer N: Number of siblings - 5 O: One wish - None P: Person you called last - My mom Q: Question you are always asked - Idk tbvh R: Reason to smile - Idk things make me happy S: Song you sang last - The Unit No way (I dont remember the unit colors) T: Time you woke up - 6:43am U: Underwear color - White V: Vacation destination - South Korea, Japan, & idk the other one, but honestly my goal is to visit all my mutuals before I died lmfaooo W: Worst habit - Not caring, sleeping in, getting distracted easily, being anixious all the time. X: X-rays - Teeth Y: Your favorite food - I have a lot... Z: Zodiac sign - Gemini

🥛 Colour(s) I’m currently wearing: Black... Just a lot of black (I need to stop wearing sm black omg) 🍥 Last band t-shirt I bought: I don’t ever buy clothes for myself, idk when was last time? Maybe during the Got7 concert? 🥛 Last band I saw live: Got7 (Fly In LA: Day 1) and Paradise (A Hmong Band) 🍥 Last song I listened to: Rn I’m listening to The Unit’s Cherry on Top 🥛 Lipstick or chapstick: Idk... I wear lip tints. 🍥 Last movie I watched: Ever Wonder? (idk it’s a true story about the creation of wonder women) 🥛 Last 3 TV shows I watched: Wanna One Go, Wanna One x Aimgo TV, and The Unit 🍥 Last 3 characters I identified with: Kora, Steven Universe, & Ken Kaneki (idk for this part, I never thought about this fkdfdkgd) 🥛 Book I’m currently reading: Books for my classes njfdkjd

What’s my name? (Imma just put my initials)

M. S. L.

What’s my nickname?

Sum, SumSum, SumShine, Summahh Girl, Tsumdere, Chee,

How old am I?

“I’m 19, you fight me?”

What got me into Kpop?

SJ- Sorry Sorry, but Got7 made me offically stay and learning everything about the kpop fandom

What’s my favourite Kpop group?

Rn W1 (the most)

Who’s my ultimate bias?

Park Jihoon

What groups/artists do I stan?

Too many to count, you all can ask my personally if you want lol

What groups/artists do I casually listen to?

A lot, I try to be diverse, but what’s good music is good music to me. Feel free to suggest me some :D

What artists do I listen to that aren’t Kpop?

Ahh I’m lazy, but just good sounding music. Calvin Harris just popped up in my head. fknfkjskfnj

Who’s my bias and bias wrecker from my ultimate group(s)?

Omfg

Wanna One: Park Jihoon & Kang Daniel

JBJ: Kim Donghan & ??? (They’re all messing me up rn)

SK: Felix & I think Hyunjin? Idk

What’s your favourite song(s) to sing/hum?

It’s recently been Chungha’s roller coaster lol and The Unit songs

What are your favourite flower/tree/plant (all 3 or whatever you have an answer to)?

I really love plants and flowers in general, however Peonies are one of my many faves!!

Favourite colour(s)?

Pink, blue, purple, black, white, and gray

What do you always doodle (if you ever do)?

Umm yeah I always doodling, but I try not to because I want to be able to focus in class haha.

How do you take your coffee/tea? If you don’t like those what’s your fav warm drink?

It probably like 20% coffee and 80% french vanilla cream nfksjfgsbjg sometimes I add a lil milk too

Favourite candle scent?

Anything flowery, but i really like sweet pea smell lol. I don’t any candles yet, so I don’t quite know which I like more yet. Soorrryy

Sunrise or Sunset?

Sunset! The colors are soo pretty and like it doesn’t require me to wake up from my sleep lmfao. The transitions of day and night it just so beautiful! and the stars that start peeking through the dark sky!

What perfume do you wear if any?

I don’t wear perfume? I have them at home but in my opinion I feel like if you’ve showered and smell nice why try to mix more scents onto you?? and I don’t really need it? DONT WORRY I AM CLEAN NFJSNJF idk if I make any sense

What’s your go to dance move when you’re alone?

Favourite quote?

“The moon is friend for the lonesome to talk to.” ― Carl Sandburg

& “We ran as if to meet the moon.” ― Robert Frost

& also

“The moon and stars just for you my love” - Me lol

Favourite self care thing(s) or routine(s)?

Umm... Drawing. Showering and putting a face mask afterwards. Painting my nails. It’s more like small things, especially like painting my nails and drawings are things I can’t do often because I try to focus on school, because ik I’m bad at focusing. Sleeping and reminding to just eat, when I get too busy and focused I tend to skip meals. njfkdsnfj s

Fuzzy socks or House slippers?

OMFG BOTH THAT’S LIKE THE BEST COMBO! I have these pinky and purple house slippers I got aND IT’S FUZZY KSFJ SK IT’S SOOO CUTE OMG!! I love. nfjdnfd

What colour are your eyes?

Dark Brown

What’s your favourite eye colour on others?

Hazel, black, and gray

Favourite season? why?

Autumn and Winter (Ik contradicts with my name) but I love the rain! and cloudy weather! The sound of rain is calming and being inside while hearing the rain is nice. I really love Spring too when the flowers begin to bloom and like it’s a fresh type of feeling when spring hits lol.

Cheek, neck or nose kisses?

SJFNKFS Honestly depends on my mood (´•/// ω \\\•`) but I like cheek kisses because softtt

What does your happy place look like?

My room on a rainy day with my fairy lights flickering

Favourite breed of dog?

YO OKAY SO I SAW THIS FB POST ABOUT THIS DOG BEAR AND I WANT A DOG BEAR IDK WHAT THEY’RE CALLED JKFDFHKSF. My dad is a dog breeder as a side business, so I grew up with pitbulls, pocket pits, american bull dogs, frenches, and now ‘exotics’ are the trend atm.

Do you ever want to be married? If so what colours would you pick for your wedding theme?

Umm yes and no? I’m not sure. If I have an American wedding I like to stick to a traditional white with maybe a peach and light pink here and there, but for sure I would love to do a traditional Hmong wedding.

Silk or Lace?

Silk feels nice, but I like lace too :)

Favorite weather?

SF type of weather

#tag game // done #get to know me tag #omfg i have sm tags to do jfdkgf dkg #this has been long over due #nbfjdkbgfjd #sorry

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shadowetienne · 4 years

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Etienne’s Top Fives of 2019: Kpop Edition - Soloists

This is the final round of Kpop Edition Top Fives of 2019 (unless someone requests something that I actually want to follow up on).

Here’s my post for my top five soloists in Kpop from 2019. In general, I’m not as in to soloists just as a rule. One of my favorite things in music is use of harmony and voices working together, and that’s just something that groups are better suited to than soloists (and why a lot of my favorite songs of soloists are ones where they feature someone, also why some years I group soloists and duets).

The category of soloists is going to consist of people who are (at least these days) purely soloists, and any members of a group where either their group did not have a body of work as a group this year or I only enjoy them as a soloist and not as part of the group.

The list with representative MVs is under the cut!

While I don’t in general tend towards soloists as much as groups, as always, I’m open to recommendations.

Here’s a shoutout to the soloists that made my preliminary list (I wrote them down in the order that I encountered them over the course of the year, approximately): Yoon Jisung (“In the Rain” / “I’ll Be There”), Chen [Jongdae] (“Beautiful Goodbye”), Holland (“Nar_C”).

Honorable Mention: Ryeowook (“I’m Not Over You” / “Drunk in the Morning”)

MV Link: https://youtu.be/MJRF88ONbBA

Ryeowook’s first solo song of the year, “I’m Not Over You,” was an excellent musical start of the year for me. I still love his voice so much. I have very much stepped out of the group fandom of SJ for a whole slew of reasons, but I’m happy to see some of them in their work as soloists, and both of his MVs/songs that I paid attention to this year were things that I enjoyed.

5) Eui Jin (“Insomnia”)

youtube

Eui Jin was someone I was vaguely aware of as a member of Bigflo, and he definitely got my attention on The Unit and in UNB. It’s good to see him continue to create excellent pieces of performance art. I like the song, and I appreciate how much better a vocalist he’s gotten over the years, but a big draw of this is the dance and performance element of it.

4) Eunki (“Blow”)

youtube

Eunki was one of my favorites in PD101S2 and then in Rainz, and I’d been worried that post-Rainz he’d sort of disappear, so I was very glad to see a release from him. This style suits him, and I appreciate both the song and the performance element, since he’s, as always, an amazing dancer.

3) Lee Gaeun (“Remember You”)

youtube

I liked Gaeun during her After School days, and really liked her in PD48, so I was glad to see her moving on from Pledis and releasing new music. It’s good to hear her voice, and see her doing well for herself. I’m interested to see what she does next, but this song is really a lovely start to that.

2) Chungha (“Gotta Go” / “Snapping”)

youtube

Chungha just keeps on impressing me more and more. Her vocals keep getting better, and she’s really found a vocal and musical style that suits her and gives her music a sense of continuity and flavor that is all her own. I love the strength of performance in every single one of her songs as well.

1) Kim Bo Hyung (“Beautiful”)

youtube

I’m putting the studio stage here because I can’t find the MV, though I could have sworn that one existed (my brain may be making things up, though I could have sworn that this and “Howl Howl” both had MVs). Bohyung was my favorite member of Spica, which was one of my favorite ever girl groups, and I was thrilled to have some amazing vocal tracks from her in 2019. I’m even more excited for her going into 2020 because she and Kim Boa of Spica are planning to reunite as duo Keembo, and I cannot wait. Her voice makes me happy, and this song is super good.

#Etienne's Top Fives of 2019 #Kpop Edition #Soloists #Kpop #personal #things I note here #I tend to get to like soloists in group settings and then follow them past that #in no particular order #Bohyung #Kim Bohyung #Spica #Keembo #Eunki #Eui Jin #Ryeowook #Chungha #Gaeun #Lee Gaeun

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pamphletstoinspire · 6 years

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Catholic Physics - Reflections of a Catholic Scientist - Part 20

St. John Paul's Rapprochement with Science: "A Quest for Common Understanding"

"Science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes. Each can draw the other into a wider world, a world in which both can flourish." St. John Paul II, Letter to Rev. George Coyne, S.J., Director of the Vatican Observatory.

"Christianity possesses the source of its justification within itself and does not expect science to constitute its primary apologetic." ibid.

"Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves." St. John Paul II, Encyclical Fides et Ratio.

"It can be said, in fact, that research, by exploring the greatest and the smallest, contributes to the glory of God which is reflected in every part of the universe."

St. John Paul II, Address on the Jubilee of Scientists, 2000

Among the many posts and articles on the canonization of St. John Paul II*, there have been few comments about his efforts to effect a rapprochement between the Church and science (notice the upper case and lack thereof). The term "rapprochement" has been chosen with care: "an establishment or resumption of harmonious relations" (Oxford English Dictionary). The term is applied to peace treaties after a state of war, and although the Catholic Church has not declared war on science, there are those scientists who do think there is such a war, and there are those advocates of scientism--that science explains all we need to know about the world--who have declared war on the Church. These last ignore the founding contribution of the Church to the establishment of science (see Stacy Trasanco's Science was born of Christianity , and the contribution of Catholic Religious (Mendel, LeMaitre amongst many) to science in Fathers of Science.

There are three ways in which St. JP II tried to bring about this rapprochement: 1) redressing the Galileo Affair; 2) making the position of the Church on evolution clear and consistent with both dogma and science; 3) instituting conferences on how Divine Intervention might be manifested in several scientific disciplines. The first two have been dealt with at some length in the blogosphere, so I'll treat those only briefly. I'll focus on the third, which has been an invaluable resource for me in my discussions of science and religion.

THE GALILEO AFFAIR

As George Sim Johnston puts it in his book, The Galileo Affair

"The Galileo affair is the one stock argument used to show that science and Catholic dogma are antagonistic. While Galileo's eventual condemnation was certainly unjust a close look at the facts puts to rout almost every aspect of the reigning Galileo legend." George Sim Johnston

Summarizing his arguments, one can say that both Galileo and some Church officials were at fault, but it was a different time with different concerns--high officials in the Church, initially sympathetic to Galileo, were defending orthodoxy against the onslaught of the Reformation. Galileo was condemned not for his advocacy of the Copernican theory per se, but for his advocacy that Scripture was to be interpreted loosely (even though the same had been done by St. Augustine). And his science was wrong--circular orbits for the planets and his theory of tides. All this is dealt with at greater length in the article linked above.

Nevertheless, this one piece of history has been the cannon used in the war of materialists and scientists against the Church, in their perceived conflict between the Church and Science. In 1979 St. JP II asked the Pontifical Academy of Sciences to make an in-depth study of the affair. Commenting on their report in 1992, he said, as an apology, explaining what had happened:

"Thanks to his intuition as a brilliant physicist and by relying on different arguments, Galileo, who practically invented the experimental method, understood why only the sun could function as the centre of the world, as it was then known, that is to say, as a planetary system. The error of the theologians of the time, when they maintained the centrality of the Earth, was to think that our understanding of the physical world's structure was, in some way, imposed by the literal sense of Sacred Scripture...." St. John Paul II, Address to Pontifical Academy of Sciences, as quoted in L'Osservatore Romano N. 44 (1264) - November 4, 1992

Liberal news media made much of this apology, but it was only recognizing in a formal way earlier actions of the Church--removing Galileo's book from the index, setting up a Vatican Observatory--and setting the affair in a historical context. What was important was his affirmation in this apology that science and the Church both have domains of truth, which do not deny each other--as in his address on evolution, "Truth cannot contradict Truth"

ON EVOLUTION

In his 1996 address to the Pontifical Academy of Science St. JP II, expanding on the doctrine set forth by Pope Pius XII in his encyclical Humani Generis, asserted that

"there is no conflict between evolution and the doctrine of the faith regarding man and his vocation, provided that we do not lose sight of certain fixed points." St. John Paul II, 1996 address to the Pontifical Academy of Science.

Among these points is the most important requirement that the soul of man is endowed by God (the Holy Spirit) and not materially constructed:

"It is by virtue of his eternal soul that the whole person, including his body, possesses such great dignity. Pius XII underlined the essential point: if the origin of the human body comes through living matter which existed previously, the spiritual soul is created directly by God ("animas enim a Deo immediate creari catholica fides non retimere iubet"). (Humani Generis)" ibid.

He also showed much insight in commenting on the scientific aspects of evolution, that while evolution (the descent of species) is a fact, there is more than one theory--mechanism--proposed to explain evolution.

"As a result, the theories of evolution which, because of the philosophies which inspire them, regard the spirit either as emerging from the forces of living matter, or as a simple epiphenomenon of that matter, are incompatible with the truth about man. They are therefore unable to serve as the basis for the dignity of the human person."

It is unfortunate that both scientists and lay persons do not share St. JP II's understanding but equate the Darwinian model for evolution--"survival of the fittest"--with evolution, the descent of species. And as with his apology for the Galileo affair, the liberal media made much of his acknowledgement that evolution is a fact, but neglected the historical and theological context which he brought to that statement.

A QUEST FOR COMMON UNDERSTANDING--DIVINE INTERVENTION CONFERENCES

In 1987 St. JP II instituted the first of a series of conferences, held at the Papal Summer Residence, Castelgandalfo, bringing together scientists, philosophers and theologians. Not all of these were Catholic and, indeed, a few were not even theists, as the term is commonly understood. He addressed the conferees at this first meeting ("Our Knowledge of God and Nature: Physics, Philosophy and Theology") via a letter to George Coyne, SJ, Director of the Vatican Observatory. (I recommend the reader go to the link for that letter, to get the full import of St. JP II's thoughts on science and the Church.) He stressed first, as in the quote at the beginning of this post, the contributions science could make to the Church and the Church to science, "Science can purify religion from error and superstition; religion can purify science from idolatry and false absolutes."

He showed a sophisticated knowledge of frontier research in physics and biology in his comments on how scientists were trying to achieve a unified picture of scientific theory in physics and biology:

"The unity we perceive in creation on the basis of our faith in Jesus Christ as Lord of the universe...seems to be reflected and even reinforced in what contemporary science is revealing to us....Contemporary physics forms a striking example. The quest for unification of all four fundamental physical forces--gravitation, electromagnetism, the strong and weak nuclear interactions--has met with increasing success....In the life sciences, too, something similar has happened. Molecular biologists have probed the structure of living material...(and) have discovered that the same underlying constituents (genes and proteins coded by genes) serve in the make-up of all living organisms on earth." St. John Paul II, letter to George Coyne.

Although St. JPII argued that science and theology could, and should, mutually enrich the other, he did not think they should be unified, as in unified science or unified theology:

"By encouraging openness between the Church and the scientific communities, we are not envisioning a disciplinary unity between theology and science like that which exists within a given scientific field or within theology proper....The Church does not propose that science should become religion or religion science...To be more specific, both religion and science must preserve their autonomy and their distinctiveness....Christianity possesses the source of its justification within itself and does not expect science to constitute its primary apologetic (emphasis added). Science must bear witness to its own worth....neither ought to assume that it forms a necessary premise for the other." ibid.

The quotation above reminds me of my encounters playing harmony parts (tenor and bass) in our Church instrumental group: the musical lines are distinct, for the most part different, but the harmony enriches the melody, as does science, theology.

Although St. JP II respected the integrity and distinctiveness of science and theology, he did emphasize that they could and should enrich each other in areas such as cosmology and molecular biology, and, accordingly, set up conferences to effect such enrichment. He stressed the importance of putting scientific findings in a proper context, and the difficulty of doing such in our contemporary setting:

"For the truth of the matter is that the Church and the scientific community will inevitably interact....Christians will inevitably assimilate the prevailing ideas about the world, and these are inevitably shaped by science. The only question is whether they will do this critically or unreflectively, with depth and nuance or with a shallowness that debases the Gospel and leaves us ashamed before history. Scientists, like all human beings, will make decisions on what gives value and meaning to their lives and to their work. This they will do well or poorly, with the reflective depth that theological wisdom can help them attain, or with an unconsidered absolutizing of their results beyond their reasonable and proper limits." ibid.

The last sentence in the above quote applies very well, I believe, to those cosmologists such as Stephen Hawking and cognitive scientists such as Stephen Pinker, who deny God on the basis of a limitless science.

I'll have to add that all the insights above (with the possible exception of the musical analogy) are those of St. John Paul II. I've been blessed in being able to bring these to the attention of others.

*In what follows I will try to avoid the cumbersome form "Pope St. John Paul II", and meaning no disrespect (he is my hero!) will refer to him as St. JP II.

From a series of articles written by: Bob Kurland - a Catholic Scientist

#catholic physics

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tratct · 4 years

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YUGIOH TOURNAMENT (YT)

YuGiOh P Sche (PTTS Schedule) Post 5: YuGiOh Tournament (YT)

Table of Contents 1. (YuGiOh Tournament) YT Demonstration Match 2. YuGiOh TCG Guide 3. YuGiOh TCG Guide Redemption (First YT Revisit) 4. Booster Pack And Tournament Pack 5. Tournament First Place Deck (TFPD) Solemn Judgment (SJ) Deck Biography 6. Warrior (WAR) Deck Biography

________________________________________________________________

YuGiOh Tournament (YT) Demonstration Match

Time, Location, YuGiOh TCG Sets Time: Around 2002 Location: MBHS YuGiOh Gathering: This is a place for YuGiOh Players to stop at. This place created for YuGiOh Players to hang out. When I was invited to the YuGiOh Gathering, it has been going on for weeks of time. The activities are duels, trades, YuGiOh talks, and etc. YuGiOh TCG Sets: The sets released are “Legend of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon” (LOB), “Metal Raider” (MRD), “Magic Ruler” (MRL)

My TCG Background After going through Pokemon TCG and YuGiOh TCG comparison, I started working on how I would able to use what I got from Pokemon TCG and transition it to YuGiOh TCG. Read the Pokemon TCG and YuGiOh TCG comparison for more information. The following are my PT (Pokemon Tournament) History: 1. I has a PT First Place Streak 2. I has a Pokemon Master/Duelking title 3. I has the largest collection Pokemon TCG cards in the city of San Diego, California Read the following articles for more information: “1999 “Name of the Game” PT: The Beginning Part”, “1999 “Name of the Game” PT: Objective 2”, and “2001 PT Prime Time”

My TCG History: Getting Pass 1999 PT Crisis 1. The 1999 PT Crisis started around Spring 1999, because Pokemon TCG imported to USA Country for only months of time. 2. TCG Media References was uncommon. Example: 8 months later after the PT Crisis, the first TCG Magazine was being sold on October 1999. The following are the two available TCG Magazines at the beginning of 2000: A. Pokemon Association: “Beckett” Magazine first issue was being sold on October 1999. “Beckett” Magazine is a monthly subscription magazine that entirely about Pokemon. B. TCG Association: “Beckket” Magazine target audience are mostly Pokemon Players and Pokemon fans. So, there were a need for boarder audience base. “Top Deck” Magazine first issue was being sold on December 1999. “Top Deck” magazine is a monthly subscription magazine about Trading Card Game (TCG) and Video Game. Mostly about TCG. Only limited section on Video Game. “Top Deck” audience are TCG Players in general and Video Game Players in general (Computer gaming and console gaming). 3. TCG Tournament Leader: Because of my Basketball matches performances, I started having thoughts about able to get pass the PT Crisis. Example: During picking team, the Basketball Players would always pick me first. There are time I would score all the points for my team. The team that picked me always win the match. This mean that I will have to lead my teammates through the PT crisis. After teammates and I getting pass the PT Crisis, we felt that we were the ones that set tracks for “Beckett” magazine, “Top Deck” magazine, and the future of TCG. Check out PTTS for more information. 4. TCG Career: The question, “The TCG Players and spectators acknowledged you as Pokemon Master/Duelking, why did you not acknowledge there is a Pokemon Tournament (PT) crisis? This is going against our common senses such as common values and beliefs. My Answer: I am committed to having a TCG Career. I am not going to watch my TCG Career being destroy in front of me. If I could do something about the PT crisis, then I would do it.

How The YT Demonstration Match Started In summary, from my PT History, I know that the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” (BEWD) Deck I constructed would qualified as able to demonstrate a YuGiOh Tournament (YT) Demonstration Match. One of the reasons was I was asked by YuGiOh Players about YuGiOh matches. Like I wrote, among YuGiOh Players, Andy have won the most YuGiOh matches at the YuGiOh Gathering. This mean that Andy’s deck would consider as the better deck. So, Andy was the one who was select to be my opponent in the YT Demonstration Match.

Another reason, each time I am at the YuGiOh Gathering, all the YuGiOh Players gave me their acknowledgement, appreciation, and sincere respect. Also, those YuGiOh Players did not mind about my cardboard box of YuGiOh TCG cards and the Official Card Game (OCG) YuGiOh TCG cards that are departing gifts from my relatives during my travel to Asia Continent. Those OCG YuGiOh TCG cards are in Japanese Language.

In addition, there are YuGiOh talks all the time at the YuGiOh Gathering, so I assume in one of those talks, one of the YuGiOh Players would ask about my TCG experience. I have a PT History. In other words, my TCG experience is more advance than the YuGiOh Gathering. I thought it through. The YuGiOh Gathering is going through a YuGiOh TCG transition. YuGiOh TCG transition mean that those YuGiOh Players at the YuGiOh Gathering are finding ways to learn more about the YuGiOh TCG. So, there are not much room to try to comprehend a higher level of TCG Experience beyond the YuGiOh Gathering. Basically, it is not the teaching part. Example: I been teaching many individual TCG tutorials and group TCG tutorials in the PT. From teaching those many tutorials that is how I come up with why in the YuGiOh Gathering there are not much room to comprehend a level beyond the YuGiOh Gathering.

In conclusion, I told them I am putting together a YuGiOh Tournament (YT) demonstration match, because the YT demonstration match would able to meet my standard of having a PT History. Also, the reason I having the YT demonstration match, because the YuGiOh Gathering don’t have the YT experience. Because of Andy YuGiOh TCG experience, so I selected Andy as the opposing YuGiOh Player in the YT demonstration match.

2002 BEWD Deck Biography In the year 2002, the BEWD Deck is consider an advance deck in the YuGiOh Gathering. At the same time, keep in mind that this is 2002 YuGiOh TCG. Only 3 Sets of YuGiOh TCG have released. Every year, there are multiple sets of YuGiOh TCG being released. The Plays and Combinations in BEWD deck during the YT demonstration match got the crowd of YuGiOh Players and spectators going. Basically, the crowd did not expected more from what they saw. The following are some of those plays I used in the YT Demonstration match:

1. Setup Plays (Opening Plays) A. Getting “Lord of D.” on your Field early. I. Once “Witch of the Black Forest” sent to the graveyard, you may search for “Lord of D.” in your deck. Then, put “Lord of D.” in your hand. II. Magic Card: “Pot of Greed” and “Card Destruction” allow you to draws cards from your deck. Giving more chance to draw “Lord of D.”

2. “Lord of D.” on Field A. Use “Lord of D.” Effect to have benefit from having Dragons on your side of Field B. If “Lord of D.” on the Field, you may use the “The Flute of Summoning Dragon”. Each time you use “The Flute of Summoning Dragon”, you get the following benefits: I. Up to 2 Extra Summoning II. Without having to tribute of up to 4 Monsters Tribute to Summon Dragons

3. “Magic Jammer” Plays A. Save Magic Jammer for “Raigeki” and “Dark Hole” B. When “Lord of D.” under your control on the Field, “Raigeki” and “Dark Hole” still destroy all the monsters on your side of the Field

4. “Trap Hole” And “Fissure” Plays These Trap cards and Magic cards only work on face-up monsters your opponent control. A. Use “Trap Hole” when your opponent summon a monster. “Trap Hole” will destroy targeted monster. B. Use “Fissure” to destroy a face-up monster your opponent control

5. “Soul Exchange” and “Change of Heart” Plays A. These Magic cards work on face-up or face-down monsters your opponent control. I. When you use “Soul Exchange”, you destroy a monster your opponent control on your opponent side of the Field. Also, you get to count the destroyed monster as 1 tribute to “Tribute Summon” a monster from your hand. II. You could use “Change of Heart” the same way as “Soul Exchange”. That is just 1 way to use “Change of Heart”

6. “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” Plays A. “Lord of D.” under your control on your side of the Field. Then, use “The Flute of Summoning Dragons” to summon up to 2 “Blue-Eyes White Dragon”. B. Use “Lord of D.” Effect, so card effects cannot target “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” C. Make sure to set “Magic Jammer” on your Field, because “Raigeki” and “Dark Hole” destroy all monsters on your Field (without targeting a monster(s)). D. Use “Mask of Darkness” Flip Effect to retrieve a “Magic Jammer” from your Graveyard, so you could set it on your Field

________________________________________________________________

YuGiOh TCG Guide

Would anyone listen to my stories about the YuGiOh TCG?

The first shipment imported to the United State of America (USA), San Diego, California around 2001. The following are some of the YuGiOh TCG highlights: 1. YuGiOh TCG is one of the greatest hits in the Asia Continent. 2. The YuGiOh TCG released in the Asia Continent is not in the English Language. Also, those cards needed translation.

My TCG Status started in Spring 1999. I was in my Middle School years. There are classmates who been to the TCG Tournament I been to. So, they know about my TCG Status. Because of my TCG status, so I have to put time into keeping my TCG status. The following are examples of keeping my TCG status: 1. TCG Gathering: There were many invitations from my classmates, YuGiOh Players. Those invitations were mostly classmates verbally asking me to go to the MBHS (Mission Bay High School) YuGiOh Gathering. I was well accepted in the MBHS YuGiOh Gathering. The first few time I went there, I did not get into the YuGiOh TCG matches. 2. TCG Players Feedbacks And TCG Enthusiasm: Many classmates, YuGiOh Players was appreciated that I went to the YuGiOh gathering. There were YuGiOh Players who acknowledged me right away. Those acknowledgement were more than some the YuGiOh Players who went to the YuGiOh gathering regularly. Because of the sincerely respect and invitations. Later on, I also send out invitations asking my classmates to come over to my apartment to watch the YuGiOh TV series. The awaited new episodes.

The reasons I asked the question who would listen to me, because of my TCG status. Example: TCG Players know that I have to put time into keeping my TCG status. In addition, I remember there were talks about the TV show, “Ripley Believe It or Not”. Well… is like the saying, “Now, it is your turn.” Most of the time, I try to avoid the TV shows, hoping I don’t have to be in those situations. Why and how does people end up in “Ripley Believe It or Not”? Because of my TCG status that I put a lot of time into it, so my answer is I think that “Ripley Believe It or Not?” might be related to status. Example: Pokemon Players, TCG Players, and spectators voted the PT (Pokemon Tournament) that I am leading as the #1 PT in San Diego, CA. That is just one of the parts in my TCG status. In other words, my TCG Status would out rivaled the TV show, “Ripley Believe It or Not”. In comparison, my TCG status and “Ripley Believe It or Not”, those “Ripley Believe It or Not” TV shows would fall into believable.

In summary, those classmates, YuGiOh Players showing those acknowledgement, appreciation, and sincere respects, because they want me to be a part of YuGiOh Gathering. Example: If I am at the YuGiOh Gathering, then I could show them my insights, tips, and guides on TCG. As for me, the following are my feedbacks to the YuGiOh Gathering: 1. Because of my travel to the Asia Continent, I have took some months of time away from the PT (Pokemon Tournament). So, there are a few months that I have not see those TCG Players awed reactions to my TCG status. Example: I have not heard the shouting out loud of , “Un-be-live-able!” for a while. 2. The YuGiOh gathering barely started. Probably weeks of time. 3. Andy who have got into the most YuGiOh matches. Nick who relatives own a TCG store. Jason who I have seen in the PT some time from before. As for my background, first, they would wanted to look into my TCG Status, because I am at a TCG Gathering. Second, my family immigration, my travel to the Asia Continent. Third, my academic Standard/GPA (Grade Point Average) and sport standard. Fourth, “Contact Sport” Status.

Believe it or Not #1: My traveling expenses, my TCG supplies, my living expenses, and etc. I have to cover those things. As for my classmates, they don’t really have to worry about those things.

Believe it or Not #2: Because those classmates wanted me to be a part of the YuGiOh gathering, so they probably did not pay attention to the huge cardboard box of YuGiOh TCG I ordered. Also, my relatives departing gift of some YuGiOh TCG cards. Those YuGiOh TCG cards were before the North America release date.

From the “Ripley Believe It or Not” talks, the audience get to votes. Also, “Ripley Believe It or Not” the audience get to watch video. In other words, without the voting, I have to make assumption. I concluded, in my TCG History: 1. Mutual Understanding: I made that decision to lead my teammates made all the differences. In other words, if I don’t make a decision to guide my classmates would be equivalent to abandon them. At the same time, my classmates choose to show their acknowledgement, appreciation, and sincere respects. So, vice-versa they did not abandon me also. 2. Overcoming PT Crisis: Because of the PT Crisis, the “Name Of The Game” PT in Pacific Beach Neighborhood was going to shutdown. My decision to lead my teammates through the PT Crisis that was the reason the PT did not get shutdown.

Believe It or Not #3: My TCG History highlights: 1. I has an unbeatable PT First Place Streak 2. I has a Pokemon Master/Duelking title 3. I has the largest collection of Pokemon TCG cards in the City of San Diego, California 4. I lead my teammates through the 1999 “Name of the Game” PT Crisis 5. “Name of the Game” PT got voted as the #1 PT in the City of San Diego, California 6. From 1999 “Name of the Game” PT having struggle with the PT Crisis to 2001 “Name of the Game” PT having noticeable PT achievements during the PT Prime Time 7. Before PT line traffic system was created, the line to join the PT was all the way outside the “Name of the Game” store

Believe It or Not #4: My background such as my TCG History, my family immigration, my travel to the Asia Continent, my academic standard/GPA, sport standard, my “Contact Sport” reputation. As for my classmates background, my classmates background don’t need that much attention. This mean that my background required more attention, more time, and more works. So, the question if I take time from my schedule to “Guide” my classmates through the YuGiOh TCG import and YuGiOh TCG transition, how or where am I going to get those extra attention, extra time, and extra works?

In conclusion, my classmates would be more believable if my classmates took time from their schedules to support my schedule, so that I could get those extra attention, extra time, and extra works.

I concluded my decision to be my classmates “Guide” is relevant, important, and necessary decision. The following are my reasons: 1. My “Guide” will be multiple time better than the News Stand Guides and/or conventional Guides. (Those News Stand guides and conventional guides included guides classmates exposed to such as their surrounding and the media they tune into.) To name some of those guides: TCG: Beckett, Top Deck, Scryth Video Game: Nintendo Power, GamePro, PlayStation Magazine, PSM, Game Informer Strategy Guide: Brady, Primo, GameFan, Versus 2. My “Guide” is at professionalism and proficient level of the Hotline Guide. The Hotline Guide is consider a better and more proficient guide. But, Hotline Guide charge by the minute. Those rates are from $0.10 a minute up to $1.00 a minute or more than $1.00 a minute.

When did you made that decision to be your classmates “Guide”? Like I wrote above, the first few time I went to the MBHS (Mission Bay High School) YuGiOh Gathering, I did not get into the YuGiOh TCG matches. The following are my reasons: 1. Like I wrote above, the YuGiOh gathering barely started. Probably weeks of time. 2. The “Believe It or Not” #1-4 3. My travel to the Asia Continent. My PT Intermission. Both happen at the same time. 4. My TCG Status. Example: There are TCG Standards

Furthermore, after I made the decision to be my classmates “Guide”, I decide to have a demonstration match. The demonstration match purpose was to show my classmates, YuGiOh Players what is the YuGiOh Tournament (YT) going to be like.

In conclusion, after reading the above, now do you see why I don’t think anyone would listen. Just image this in your head. How many people go to the Hotline Guides? What if you did not pay the Hotline Guides? Those Hotline Guides would have to come up with ways making sure their clients pay for their Guides. 1. I am not charging my classmates, YuGiOh Players. The Hotline Guide is charging by the minute. 2. My Guide is tangible. It is not like the Hotline Guide by using telephone. 3. My Guide is convenient. I am at the YuGiOh Gathering. My classmates, YuGiOh Players don’t have to travel far. 4. I have a solid and tangible TCG background. As for the Hotline Guides, it is charging by the minutes, you will have to make your decision to stay or switch service soon, because each minute is coming out of your wallet.

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YT (YuGiOh Tournament) Redemption (First YT Revisited)

I lead my classmates to “Wizard of the Coast” Mega Store. Read Arachnus Post contents, for the whole story. Weeks later, YuGiOh TCG Coordinators decided to have a vote to host YuGiOh Tournament (YT) or YuGiOh League. There were a Mega Game Room full of YuGiOh Players. There were over 60 YuGiOh Players. More than enough to host a YT.

The setup of the voting system was all the YuGiOh Players raising their hands, so the coordinators could make the count. After all the YuGiOh Players made their votes, there were more YuGiOh Players voted for the YuGiOh League. My classmates and I were looking forward to a YT. We had high hope that “Wizard of the Coast” Mega Store would able to host a YT. After the votes, I would confirmed to my classmates that sooner or later San Diego, California will have a YT.

In addition, from the talks with my relatives in the City of Macao about the YT, my relatives informed me that the YT had reach exceptional TCG Tournament height and there are professional level. This mean that the YuGiOh TCG imports in the North America will going to have YT follow ups soon or later. The reason is because there were 1 or 2 Pokemon Tournament (PT) in each Neighborhood in the City of San Diego, California. So, my YT confirmation to my classmates was not false hope.

Furthermore, weeks later, I found another location, UTC (University Town Center) Mall. This location will host a YT (YuGiOh Tournament). I got to UTC Mall at around 8:00 AM. I told my classmates, they don’t have to be at the UTC Mall. I will make sure there is a YT, then I will give them a call in their phones.

My classmates probably still recovering from spending weeks of time in “Wizard of the Coast” game room to find out that that location could not host a YT. The following are the reasons: 1. “Wizard of the Coast” Mega Store is the biggest TCG store in the City of San Diego, California. The Mega Game Room is multiple time bigger than the average Game Room. 2. There were over 60 YuGiOh Players in the Mega Game Room. More than enough to a host YT.

If there were a YT, then what about those “What If” scenarios? The following are the example of the “What If” Scenario: The professional level my relatives informed me in the City of Macao. Such as a person from Asia Continent who had years of YT experience and at professional level came to the USA. That person decided to join the UTC Mall YT.

My answer to the “What If” scenario, I been leading and guiding my classmates for some time through the YuGiOh TCG import and YuGiOh TCG transition. Not including the YuGiOh TV series. The reasons they been following my lead, because they know that I am on top of the YuGiOh TCG. Also, I have not lost a match before with the “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” (BEWD) Deck. I have been embracing the PT Prime Time, so every PT during the PT Prime Time, I have provided huge amount of the PT Enthusiasm. So, it is rare for me to feel this way about a tournament in general. I concluded one of the reasons I have this feeling, because I has a PT History and a PT Reputation. Example: My PT First Place Streak. Anyway, if the “What If” scenarios happen, then I have a PT First Place Streak to back myself up.

In addition, I went to the UTC (University Town Center) Mall early, so that I could sort out those situations I wrote above. During my thoughts, I pick out a breakfast Joint in the Ice Stadium food court. The Ice Stadium is inside the UTC Mall. Like I wrote in Arachnus Post, My First YT what if the YT did not happen, I just came to visit the UTC Mall? Would that be different than coming to the UTC Mall for the YT? My answer, my classmates and I had went through a lot of YuGiOh TCG to go back, so I am determine to provide the YT Enthusiasm like how I provided the PT (Pokemon Tournament) Enthusiasm. Example: My teammates and I carried the “Name of the Game” PT to the PT Prime Time. The PT Prime Time is the reason the PT History was made.

About 10:00 AM, I saw a few YuGiOh Players walking to the Game Room. The YT is hosted in the Game Room. The Game Room is located in the Ice Stadium. YT Start at 12:00 AM. There are 2 more hours until the YT start. After I confirmed with the YT coordinators, I phoned my classmates. They were a bit surprise, because “Wizard of the Coast” mega store and mega game room could not host a YT yet the UTC Mall could host a YT.

In addition, because my classmates probably still recovering, so I will put on a performance to get them through the recovering. The performance is to make a few Deck Modification and side Deck Modification before the YT start. This performance is an expression of saying, “It is okay if you are slightly not ready.” Because of what happen in “Wizard of the Coast”.

As we started making our decks modification, I told them I am not using the BEWD Deck in this YT, one of my classmates, immediately asking me if they could borrow my “Blue Eyes White Dragon” (BEWD) Deck, because of what happen in “Wizard of the Coast”. Also, they could see I was confident about this YT. I had already decided to use the TFPD (Tournament First Place Deck) Solemn Judgement (SJ) Deck, so I lend them the BEWD Deck.

To my classmates and I, this is our First YT. To keep our YT spirit strong and going. I pick a card from each of my classmates’ YuGiOh collection and add them into my SJ Deck. Those cards I picked are cards that we all have in our collection. I basically did that to show our bond and unity in this YT. The following are those cards: “La Jinn The Mystical Gennie of the Lamp”, “7 Colored Fish”, and “Jirai Gumo”. Also, so they don’t feel awkward borrowing my BEWD Deck, because I have not lost a match before using that deck.

Furthermore, I have been leading and guiding my classmates, YuGiOh Players for some time. This mean that they have faith in me such as they trusted my leadership. Because of the amount of time we been in “Wizard of the Coast”. Example: we were all so ready for the YT in “Wizard of the Coast”. So, I was glad that they still have faith in me such as they still showing up again for this YT.

In conclusion, since we been in the MBHS (Mission Bay High School) YuGiOh Gathering until our First YT, we had went through a lot together. I even lend them my BEWD Deck. The rest will be to embrace the YT spirit and energy. What happen in “Wizard of the Coast” was like my classmates got curve ball. I am reconstructing my deck right before the YT start to show them I am not that far from them. I even lend them my BEWD Deck. In other words, I am expressing to them we have went through a lot together. We are together on this. After my classmates got eliminated in the YT, they swarm over to my YT matches. In summary, I got first place in the YuGiOh Touranment (YT). Also, I led and guided my classmates, YuGiOh Players to their First YT. But, there are still the following conflicts and arguments: 1. What if a person brought up the “Wizard of the Coast” conflicts? Example: “My classmates could have got curve ball in “Wizard of the Coast”.” 2. First argument, we are all in this YT together, but they got eliminated, I am still going. 3. Second argument, I am not using my BEWD deck, even though I have not lost a match before with that deck. 4. Third argument, it was my classmates who invited me to the MBHS YuGiOh gathering. What happen if they did not invited me the YuGiOh gathering? As for my answers to those conflicts and arguments: 1. I am not charging my classmates, YuGiOh Players. The Hotline Guide is charging by the minute. 2. My Guide is tangible. It is not like the Hotline Guide by using telephone. 3. My Guide is convenient. I am at the YuGiOh Gathering. My classmates, YuGiOh Players don’t have to travel far. 4. I have a solid and tangible TCG background. As for the Hotline Guides, it is charging by the minutes, you will have to make your decision to stay or switch service soon, because each minute is coming out of your wallet.

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Booster Pack And Tournament Pack

YuGiOh TCG Sets Indication: Name, Date Release, Total # Of Card 2002 Booster Pack LOB: Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon, 03/08/2002, 126 MRD: Metal Raiders, 06/26/2002, 144 MRL: Magic Ruler, 09/16/2002, 104 PSV: Pharaoh's Servant, 10/20/2002, 105 Tournament Pack TP1: Tournament Pack 1ST Season), 09/01/2002, 30 TP2: Tournament Pack 2ND Season), 10/01/2002, 30 TP3: Tournament Pack 3RD Season), 03/01/2003, 20 TP4: Tournament Pack 4, 10/01/2003, 20 TP5: Tournament Pack 5, 11/01/2004, 20

Those YuGiOh TCG Sets listed above are from the first some Seasons of the YuGiOh Tournament (YT). This content is the follow up to the YuGiOh Tournament (YT) Demonstration Match and YT Guide. Read 1. YT Demonstration Match, 2. YuGiOh TCG Guide, and 3. YuGiOh TCG Guide Redemption (First YT Revisit) contents in this P Sche for more information. The following are the facts in those contents: 1. The number of YuGiOh Players and spectators in MBHS YuGiOh Gathering almost double in number during the YT Demonstration Match. 2. There are more YuGiOh Players in “Wizards of the Coast” Mega Game Room than the MBHS YuGiOh Gathering. 3. In the UTC Mall, I was able to guide classmates to the First YT.

By this point, I have taught my classmates, YuGiOh Players YT Tips and got them ready for the YT. Also, I guided them to their first YT. I called it the “whole YuGiOh TCG and YT Package”. Basically, I kept my end of the deal for having TCG Status and TCG Career. This is equivalent to having lifted away a heavy load of TCG Status and TCG Career commitments. In comparison to leading teammates through 1999 PT Crisis, this heavy load was not as heavy. The following are the reasons: 1. The 1999 PT Crisis started around Spring 1999, because Pokemon TCG imported to USA Country for only months of time. 2. TCG Media References was uncommon. Example: 8 months later after the PT Crisis, the first TCG Magazine was being sold on October 1999. The following are the two available TCG Magazines at the beginning of 2000: A. Pokemon Association: “Beckett” Magazine first issue was being sold on October 1999. “Beckett” Magazine is a monthly subscription magazine that entirely about Pokemon. B. TCG Association: “Beckket” Magazine target audience are mostly Pokemon Players and Pokemon fans. So, there were a need for boarder audience base. “Top Deck” Magazine first issue was being sold on December 1999. “Top Deck” magazine is a monthly subscription magazine about Trading Card Game (TCG) and Video Game. Mostly about TCG. Only limited section on Video Game. “Top Deck” audience are TCG Players in general and Video Game Players in general (Computer gaming and console gaming). 3. TCG Tournament Leader: Because of my Basketball matches performances, I started having thoughts about able to get pass the PT Crisis. Example: During picking team, the Basketball Players would always pick me first. There are time I would score all the points for my team. The team that picked me always win the match. This mean that I will have to lead my teammates through the PT crisis. After teammates and I getting pass the PT Crisis, we felt that we were the ones that set tracks for “Beckett” magazine, “Top Deck” magazine, and the future of TCG. Check out PTTS for more information. 4. TCG Career: The question, “The TCG Players and spectators acknowledged you as Pokemon Master/Duelking, why did you not acknowledge there is a Pokemon Tournament (PT) crisis? This is going against our common senses such as common values and beliefs. My Answer: I am committed to having a TCG Career. I am not going to watch my TCG Career being destroy in front of me. If I could do something about the PT crisis, then I would do it.

It is not over yet. There were still the First Place Prizes. Like I wrote in the YuGiOh TCG Guide Redemption (First YT Revisit), I got First Place in the YT. So, there are YuGiOh Players stayed at the YT after the YT ended for my First Place Achievement such as watching me being awarded my First Place prizes and hearing my overall experience on getting First Place.

In summary, there were time and living expenses I put out for the “whole YuGiOh TCG and YT package”. I basically have thoughts that my First Place Prizes would be equivalent to I am getting something back such as a reimbursement for the “whole YuGiOh TCG and YT package”.

There are 9 cards in each Booster Pack. 3 cards in each Tournament Pack. The Booster Pack you could purchase it at TCG Stores. The only way to obtain the Tournament Pack is you have to join the YT and get First Place, then you will be awarded 6-12 Tournament Packs as your First Place Prizes. The higher number of YuGiOh Players participated in the YT, the higher number of Tournament Pack will be in the First Place Prizes. Since this is YT first season. Also, the UTC Mall YT are the first few locations that were able to host YT. So, there were not as much YuGiOh Players participated in the YT. I got 6 Tournament Packs as my First Place Prizes. In addition, Tournament Packs have high values. Also, not that many YuGiOh Players have Tournament Packs. Example: There were YuGiOh Players offer to trade 3 Booster Packs for 1 Tournament Pack. Or offer multiple Ultra Rare rarity cards for 1 Tournament Pack.

After getting First Place on the First YT, I got a handful of First Places in the YT. Using those Tournament Packs I obtain from the First Place Prizes, I was able to increase my YuGiOh TCG Collection.

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Tournament First Place Deck (TFPD) Solemn Judgment (SJ) (Modified) Deck Biography

Monster X16 Goblin Attack Force X3 Jirai Gumo X3 Hayabusa Knight X3 Mataza The Zapper X3 Magician of Faith X2 Morphing Jar X1 Cyber Jar X1

Magic X18 Megamorph X3 Axe of Despair X1 Mask of Brutality X1 Pot of Greed X1 Graceful Charity X1 Change of Heart X1 Snatch Steal X1 Monster Reborn X1 Premature Burial X1 The Forceful Sentry X1 Delinquet Duo X1 Raigeki X1 Harpie's Feather Duster X1 Mystical Space Typhoon X1 Nobleman of Crossout X2

Trap X6 Solemn Judgment X3 Imperial Order X1 Mirror Force X1 Call of the Haunted X1

Side Deck X15 Giant Trunade X1 Heavy Storm X1 Nobleman of Extermination X1 Confiscation X1 Malevolent Nuzzler X1 Upstart Goblin X1 Dark Hole X1 Nobleman of Crossout X1 Lightning Vortex X1 Fissure X3 Magic Jammer X1 Torrential Tribute X1 Hallowed Life Barrier X1

This is the deck I used in my First YuGiOh Tournament (YT). I got a handful of First Places with this deck.

SJ Focus: 1. High Attack Value 2. Monster that could attack multiple time during 1 Battle Phase 3. Double Attack Value

YT TIP: 1. Megamorph Plays Your Life Point have to be lower than your opponent’s Life Point to use the “Megamorph” effect. A. When you are setting up to use “Megamorph”, the Life Point matter. The following Cards have effect that associated with Life Point: I. Monster: “Jirai Gumo” II. Spell: “Mask of Brutality”, “Snatch Steal”, “Premature Burial”, “Delinquet Duo”, “Confiscation”, “Malevolent Nuzzler”, and “Upstart Goblin” III. Trap: “Solemn Judgment” and “Imperial Order” B. The Monsters in SJ Deck have either high Attack Value or Monsters that could attack multiple time during 1 Battle Phase. When you use the “Megamorph” effect to double your Monsters Attack Values, those Monsters will have more benefits.

2. Clear Away Spells And Traps Plays You want clear away Spells and Traps on your opponent’s side of Field when making “Megamorph” Plays or similar plays to “Megamorph” Plays. A. Use “Harpie’s Feather Duster” and “Heavy Storm” to destroy all Spells and Traps on your opponent’s side of the Field. Use “Giant Trunade” to return all Spells and Traps on your opponent’s side of the Field to your opponent’s hand. B. Use “Mystic Space Typhoon” and “Noble of Extermination” to destroy a Spell or Trap on your opponent’s side of the Field. C. If your opponent’s expecting your plays, then setup the following Traps: I. “Solemn Judgment” II. “Imperial Order” III. “Magic Jammer”

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Warrior (WAR) Deck Biography

Monster X20 Queen's Double X2 Marauding Captain X3 Tactical Espionage Expert X1 Warrior Lady of the Wasteland X1 Field Commander Rahz X1 Exiled Force X1 Zombyra The Dark X2 Goblin Attack Force X3 Dark Blade X3 Warrior Dai Grepher X3

Spell X13 Two-Men Cell Battle X1 Reinforcement of The Army X1 Pot of Greed X1 Graceful Charity X1 Gift of the Martyr X3 Double Attack X2 Giant Trunade X1 Heart of Clear Water X3

Trap X7 Ultimate Offering X1 Waboku X2 Backup Soldier X2 Rivalry of Warlords X2

Side Deck X15 Queen's Double X1 Tactical Espionage Expert X1 Warrior Lady of the Wasteland X1 Field Commander Rahz X1 Exiled Force X1 Zombyra The Dark X1 The A. Force X1 Butterfly Dagger Elma X1 Divine Sword Phoenix Blade X1 Harpie's Feather Duster X1 Heavy Storm X1 Array of Revealing Light X3 Rivalry of Warlords X1

The Monsters in this deck are all Warrior Type.

WAR Focus: 1. Extra Summoning 2. Warrior Type Afiliation 3. Attack Boost Up And Extra Attack

YT Tip: 1. Extra Summoning Plays A. "Marauding Captain" Effect: When you summon the Marauding Captain from your hand into your Field, you may Special Summon a Monster from your hand into your Field. B. "Two-Men Cell Battle": At the End Phase, you may Special Summon a Normal Level 4 Monster from your hand into your Field. There are Dark Blade X3 and Warrior Dai Grepher X3 that are Normal Level 4 Monsters in this deck. C. "Ultimate Summoning": Pay 500 Life Point to have an Extra Normal Summoning

2. Warrior Type Afiliation Plays A. "Marauding Captain" effect is when "Marauding Captain" is in your Field, all Warrior Type Monsters on your Field cannot be select as target of a Monster attack. Your opponent must select "Marauding Captain" as the target of the attack. B. "Marauding Captain" And "Heart of Clear Water": Monster equiped "Heart of Clear Water" cannot be destroy in battle. "Marauding Captain" attack is 1200, so "Marauding Captain" may equip the "Heart of Clear Water". I. "Marauding Captain" effect protect all your Warrior Type Monsters on your Field II. "Heart of Clear Water" effect protect "Marauding Captain" from being destroy in battle C. "Rivalry of Warlords" effect: This effect will not effect your side of the Field, because this deck is all Warrior Type Monsters. If your Opponent's have multiple Monster Types on his or her Field, then "Rivalry of Warlords" effect will destroy all of your Opponent's Monsters expect for the first Monster Type he or she summoned in his or her Field. D. "Array of Revealing Light": This effect will not effect your side of the Field, if you declare a non-Warriror Type when you played "Array of Revealing Light" in your Field, because this deck is all Warrior Type Monsters.

#PTTS #P SCHE #SCHEDULE #YUGIOH #YT #FIRST PLACE STREAK #TCG #TRADING CARD GAME #TOURNAMENT #2019 #2020 #PACK #SOLEMN JUDGMENT #WARRIOR

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junioradventure · 7 years

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[FANACCT] 170611 KNK “해달별" Fansign Experience at 제일라아트홀 (Fanboy)

Hi again!

I’m here with my fanaccount for KNK’s fansign during their “해달별" promotions.

This was a notably important fansign for me because I’m pretty sure this is my last fansign event before I leave Korea on the 22nd...

I’m so sad. ㅠㅠ

Anyway, it was a really awesome event and I’m glad I got to see my favorite group up close and personal again.

I did a video about their fansign before during “U” era too.

Without further ado, let’s get started!

KNK’s fansigns are getting more competitive nowadays, with fans buying more than 10 albums to have a chance to get in. I originally bought 9 albums, but after seeing a fan next to me at the CD store buy 10, I bought 3 more, totaling up to 12 albums overall. And I got in!

On the day of the fansign, I found the building where it was held and headed to the B2 floor. Some fans were waiting to get in, but the staircase and entrance was rather narrow. I showed my Alien Registration Card to verify my identification (though a passport works just as well) and the staff told me to pick a card that was on the table. The assorted cards were all face-down, and this was to determine my seat number. I got number 63.

I took my seat, but the rows of chairs were all close together and narrow too, not allowing much room. This was a noticeable inconvenience when fans had to squeeze past each other in the rows. I spent a huge amount of time before coming to prepare a fanletter for my bias Seungjun, so I had to write down all the post-its for the members that I would put in my album.

Soon the members appeared and the fansign went underway. They looked so handsome as always, but they look especially good with the suits in this era aghhhh.

Sorry that my picture’s quality isn’t too good, but this is how the fansign was conducted. The order was: Jihun→Inseong→Seungjun→Youjin→Heejun

MEMBER INTERACTIONS (with pictures and gifs!)

I’ll fast-forward to the interactions I had with each member. I’m sorry that I forgot some things that happened, but in the thick of the moment, it’s hard to process and take in everything that happened (for me). Luckily, I met someone at the fansign that was kind enough to take a video of me when I went through this great experience. I was really nervous again, because they’re my favorite group and this was my last time, so I was even more anxious.

JIHUN

So leader Jihun was first this time around~ Actually he was rather quiet today as well; when I met him at a fansign last year, he was rather soft-spoken too. But it’s not necessarily a bad thing. I pointed to the questions I had brought for him on the post-its and told him I was a part of an international KNK fan group on Facebook, and I gathered some questions other Tinkerbells wanted to know about KNK. He was listening and then all of a sudden, said, “Ah. International,” in English. THAT WAS FREAKING CUTE AHH. He was really handsome up-close, though. He looked mature and cool when he was in thinking mode, but then he lapsed into squishy mode when he smiled and it was just adorable.

He really thought deeply about the questions I wrote. I guess he had to think a lot about how to answer them. But another factor was that time was really limited and the staff members were quite strict so they moved our albums to the next member by force, cutting our time short.

Blue post-it note: Q: Which member is really the closest to Jihun-hyung...? A: I’m close with all but umm... Heejun?! Jihun had some trouble answering this question but dang, I didn’t expect him to think so seriously about it. ㅠㅠ I’m sorry if I had to make you pick a favorite! I know you all love each other LOL.

Yellow post-it note: Q: Where do you draw the inspiration when you make the choreography (for KNK)? A: There’s just times when suddenly... Ttak! I forgot what other little things we said after he answered those, but I had to move on. I gave him high-fives as a farewell and moved over to... Inseong!

INSEONG

Next was my second bias, Inseong. I greeted him by saying, “Inseonggie hyung~” hahaha because he’s just a fun, cool guy. He grinned and asked, “Hyung?” I SWEAR THIS WAS SO REMINISCENT WHEN I FIRST MET HIM in person when he asked me, “Am I hyung?” LOL. But he is just killing the visual game nowadays. He looked especially handsome today. He asked me where I’m from and I told him America, more specifically Hawaii.

Bottom post-it note: Q: Is there a place you really want to visit (vacation-wise)? A: Hawaii That’s probably why he cleverly wrote his answer as “Hawaii” for my question, but I’m not complaining! Inseong is really easy to talk to. I told him that his hairstyle for this concept suits him very well and that he looks really handsome. He was really happy to hear a compliment and ahhh he was just an excited hamster. I assured him that he was already handsome but now, even more. I basically complimented him a lot because he deserves more love and attention!! Top post-it note: Q: The most difficult point of this promotion...? A: Live...!? He explained that singing live was one of the toughest parts of promotions. I asked why, and he said it’s because he has to sing rather high. I understand him because him singing the chorus in “해달별" while dancing pretty vigorously looked really tiring... But he pulled it off! I told him he was really good and that he’s doing well. I feel like he was insecure a little about his performance as a vocalist and how well he does and I wanted to reassure him. It was time to move on so I told him bye~ Inseong really does have a warm heart and he’s such a nice person please give him lots of affection and reassurance

SEUNGJUN *BIAS ALERT*

*sigh* I really can’t express how great and caring Seungjun is. I can tell he truly loves and adores his fans, and it shows from the way he treats them. He said my name like, “Junior?” in a cute tone and I said cutely too, “Seungjunnie-hyung~” AHAHAHAHA. He immediately looked at my questions and more antics ensued.

Blue post-it note: Q: POKEMON or DIGIMON, you can only choose one A: *marks Pokemon* but went the extra mile to show his UNCONDITIONAL PREFERENCE FOR DIGIMON LIKE WHAT THE NOOOOOOO Yellow post-it note: Q: Is there a member you want to live with for the rest of your life? A: Inseong Jihun At first, he took a look at the blue note and I reiterated, “You can only choose one!” Without hesitation, he answered, “Digimon!” I was like WHAT THE HECK, NO YOU CAN’T CHOOSE DIGIMON OVER POKEMON OMGG. He was so firm, he was like, “Digimon~” in a cute tone and I told him, “Why??” He seemed a bit sympathetic and marked Pokemon, but said, “Digimon~” again and decorated a box around the word Digimon. DANG IT SEUNGJUN. I was like OTL because I came dressed in a Squirtle hoodie because I thought he loved Pokemon more but that happened. I mockingly complained, “I came dressed like this too...” Seungjun chuckled and then proceeded to gently grab my arm and draw a little heart on the Squirtle patch design on my hoodie!!!

SJ: *in a Korean accent* Hearteu~ I internally died at this cute action like I AM NEVER WASHING THIS HOODIE AGAIN LOL I also made sure to give him the letter I worked on. He then looked at my second post-it, which he thought about for a moment. At first, Seungjun wrote Inseong, so I asked him why. He said because Inseong is funny. BUT THEN LAST MINUTE Seungjun scratches out Inseong’s name and writes Jihun AND HE DIDN’T EVEN GIVE A REASON WHY LOL. So that made think like HMMMMM this ship really sails itself huh... Now I had to tell him that this was pretty much my last chance to see them... Me: Actually, on the 22nd, I’m leaving Korea, so this is my last chance to see you guys. I’m really glad I got to see you guys often while I was here. SJ: *in a cute pleading voice* Don’t go~ (AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH) Me: I don’t wanna leave either!

And then this happened.

OMG I was so flustered when he asked when I’ll be back with that cheeky smile that I accidentally lapsed into English hahahaha. He probably didn’t understand what I said, but I had to move on ㅠㅠ!! Wait for me Seungjun, I’ll be back!! I really want to cry now... Hahahaha. And it ended cutely because I kept shaking his hand, and then...

Thank goodness. He is the best and he’s always so sweet!!

YOUJIN

Okay I’m going to start off my account of Youjin because right when I got to him, he asked me, “Are you a fan of Seungjun?” BWAHAHAHA he called me out!! I told him that I liked all the members but yeah, Seungjun was my fave... If he noticed that, then wow...

And then it was like another round of deja vu because I told him I was from Hawaii and that he should come, and he replied, “I want to go too!” LIKE THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT WE SAID LAST YEAR AT THE FIRST FANSIGN LOL.

He looked over my questions and I told him they were from other international fans. He got super excited over the Overwatch question and his inner fanboy came out.

Yellow post-it note: Q: Which heroes (do you use) when you play Overwatch? A: Roadhog, Reinhardt, and... the last part was a bit illegible but I think he wrote the name of a Korean Overwatch player named 후아유. [If anyone wants to help me out with deciphering that, it’d be much appreciated~] He was so happy when talking about his mains for OW, but I had to tell him that I actually didn’t know the game at all loooool. I wish I could’ve nerded out with him but idk ㅋㅋㅋ He even asked me, “Isn’t Overwatch quite popular in America?” lmaooo which is true but yeah, I’m clueless.

Blue post-it note: Q: What are you most afraid of?? A: Bugs! 1인칭 horror game.

So Youjin seems to be the least fearful in the group so I also wanted to know what scares him. He wrote “bugs” and I couldn’t believe like this guy didn’t flinch for the ghost prank or a VR zombie slashing him but he’s afraid of insects??

I’m not judging tho but dang.AND OKAY I SEARCHED UP THE HORROR GAME HE TALKED ABOUT AND THAT SHIZ IS NO JOKE.

OH HELLLLLL NOOOOO YOU CAN COUNT ME OUT OF THIS GAME CUZ SHIZ I WOULD PISS MYSELF DURING THIS VR EXPERIENCE

But Youjin is a cool chill guy who loves gaming so hit him up yo

HEEJUN

Heejun, Heejun, Heejun. You never know how he’ll be like. I heard from a friend that he’s different every time which is kinda true. The first time I met him, he was comical but on the quiet side, and we were kinda awkward... BUT THIS TIME WAS JUST OMG LOL. He spoke some English to me even though I was talking to him in Korean which was cute. He said things like, “Where are you from?” and “Really?” Soooo silly. I complimented him on his English pronunciation and I DIDN’T NOTICE THIS UNTIL MY FRIEND SHOWED ME THE FOOTAGE SHE TOOK AND-

OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGG. Heejun’s also quite chill but he’s so funny agh.

Yellow post-it note: Q: Is there a concept you want to try? A: BTS’ Blood, Sweat, Tears hOLY SHIZ IS IT WEIRD THAT I CAN ALREADY IMAGINE HEEJUN IN THAT KIND OF CONCEPT? he already bares his chest sometimes like omfg and I can totally see him pulling it off like shiz I AM READY Blue post-it note: Q: Heejun-ah~ Please write down your favorite color!! A: Black, gray Heejun forgot because he even asked himself out loud, “Which colors do I like?” I told him, “Why don’t you know??” HAHAHA. I told him I was l was leaving soon and he just replied, “When will you be back?” LOL. IDK, I wish I knew, then I wouldn’t have to leave y’all ㅠㅠ I told him bye and he was like, “bye bye!!!” Later on, the members picked random seat numbers from a box and the chosen fans could take a selca with them. SO LUCKYY. I WASN’T CHOSEN BUT UGH IT’S OKKK. Then they played 공기, which is a Korean bean game similar to Jacks. Jihun got really competitive and he almost kicked the stage LMAOOOO. Seungjun was really bad at it and he ended up last. Youjin was first, followed by Inseong, Heejun and finally Jihun secured a place by a hair. Seungjun’s punishment was dancing to their title track with aegyo LOOOOOL he tried his best but he looked so awkward omg And that was it. My last fansign with them. I love them so much, because they’re all so wholesome and show their personalities unabashedly. All of them are SO DIFFERENT and the dynamics are just so interesting and charming. SORRY I cut it a little at the end but I have to go to class ㅠㅠ I’ll tweak this a bit later maybe but I hope y’all enjoyed this!!!!

#knk #fanaccount #fanboy #해달별 #크나큰 #팬싸인회 #170611 #sunmoonstar #gravity

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andotherstoriespublishing · 7 years

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Spotlight on LGBT+ writers and writing

Following on from our guest post from Claire Browne of Serpent’s Tail on being LGBT+ in publishing, we’re highlighting a few of our favourite recent and forthcoming books written by LGBT+ writers or about LGBT+ themes - some published by us, some from other indie publishers, all necessary.

Sworn Virgin by Elvira Dones, tr. Clarissa Botsford (And Other Stories)

When Hana’s dying uncle calls her back from the city to the family home in the Albanian mountains, he tries to marry her to a local man who could run the household. Unable to accept the arranged marriage and determined to remain independent, Hana’s only option is to follow tradition and vow to live the rest of her life in chastity as a man – and so Hana becomes Mark. For a sworn virgin, there is no way back.

Years later, Mark – now a raki-drinking, chain-smoking shepherd – receives an invitation to join a cousin in the US. This may be Mark’s only chance to escape his vow. But what does he know about being an American woman?

Your Silence Will Not Protect You by Audre Lorde (Silver Press - out Oct 2017)

An intense and furious collection of essays and poems by this brilliantly articulate 20th century feminist writer and activist, who used her words and her actions to make visible a black, lesbian feminist identity. As well as the activism, there’s real beauty and clarity here, for instance in the essay ‘Uses of the Erotic’, where she talks about the power of bringing the erotic into everything we do:

‘In touch with the erotic, I become less willing to accept powerlessness, or those other supplied states of being which are not native to me, such as resignation, despair, self-effacement, depression, self-denial.’

This are true, angry and, most of all, inspiring words we can all take something from in troubling times.

Black Wave by Michelle Tea (And Other Stories)

Grungy and queer, Michelle is a grrrl hung up on a city in riot. It’s San Francisco and it’s 1999. Determined to quell her addictions to heroin, catastrophic romance, and the city itself, she heads south for LA, just as the news hits: in one year the world is Officially Over. The suicides have begun. And it’s here that Black Wave breaks itself open, splitting into every possible story, questioning who has the right to write about whom. People begin to dream the lovers they will never have, while Michelle takes haven in a bookshop, where she contemplates writing about her past (sort of), dating Matt Dillon (kind of), and riding out the end of the world (maybe).

New from Michelle Tea, novelist, essayist, and queer counter-culture icon, Black Wave is a punk feminist masterpiece and a raucously funny read for everyone … except, perhaps, for Scientologists.

Chelsea Girls - Eileen Myles (Serpent’s Tail)

In this breathtakingly inventive autobiographical novel, Eileen Myles transforms her life into a work of art. Suffused with alcohol, drugs, and sex; evocative in its depictions of the hardscrabble realities of a young queer artist's life; with raw, flickering stories of awkward love, laughter, and discovery, Chelsea Girls is a funny, cool, and intimate account of how one young female writer managed to shrug off the imposition of a rigid cultural identity.Told in her audacious and singular voice made vivid and immediate in her lyrical language, Chelsea Girls weaves together memories of Myles's 1960s Catholic upbringing with an alcoholic father, her volatile adolescence, her unabashed "lesbianity," and her riotous pursuit of survival as a poet in 1970s and 80s New York.

The Proof - César Aira tr. Nick Caistor (And Other Stories)

Marcia is sixteen, overweight and unhappy. One day, as she’s walking down a Buenos Aires street, she hears a shout: ‘Wannafuck?’ Startled, she turns around and is confronted by two punk girls Lenin and Mao. She’s soon beguiled by them and the possibilities they open up. But the two have little time for a philosophical discussion of love: they need proof of it, and with their own savage logic the duo, calling themselves the Love Commando, hold up a supermarket as the novel climaxes in an unforgettable splatter-fest finale.

Sergio Y. by Alexandre Vidal Porto tr. Alex Ladd (Europa Editions)

Armando is one of the most renowned therapists in São Paulo. One of his patients, a 17-year-old boy by the name of Sergio, abruptly interrupts his course of therapy after a trip to New York. Sergio’s cursory explanation to Armando is that he has finally found his own path to happiness and must pursue it.

For years, without any further news of Sergio, Armando wonders what happened to his patient. He subsequently learns that Sergio is living a happy life in New York and that he is now a woman, Sandra. Not long after this startling discovery, however, Armando is shocked to read about Sandra’s unexpected death. In an attempt to discover the truth about Sergio and Sandra’s life, Armando starts investigating on his own.

Sergio Y. is a unique and moving story about gender, identity, and the search for happiness.

Open Door by Iosi Havilio tr. Beth Fowler (And Other Stories)

When her partner disappears, a young veterinary assistant drifts from the city towards Open Door, a small town in the Pampas named after its psychiatric hospital. Embarking on a new life in the country, she finds herself living with an ageing ranch-hand and courted by an official investigating her partner’s disappearance. She might settle down, although a local girl is also irresistible . . .

This evocative, atmospheric book makes a quiet case for the possibility of finding contentment in unexpected places – and tells it in unexpected ways.

The Argonauts by Maggie Nelson (Melville House)

A timely and genre-bending memoir that offers fresh and fierce reflections on motherhood, desire, identity and feminism.

At the centre of The Argonauts is the love story between Maggie Nelson and the artist Harry Dodge, who is fluidly gendered. As Nelson undergoes the transformations of pregnancy, she explores the challenges and complexities of mothering and queer family making.

Writing in the tradition of public intellectuals like Susan Sontag, Nelson uses arresting prose even as she questions the limits of language. The Argonauts is an intrepid voyage out to the frontiers of love, language, and family.

The Alphabet of Birds by SJ Naudé tr. by the author (And Other Stories)

If death comes to a loved one, can we grieve alone? When all around is in ruins, can we confine our lives to one beautiful room constructed out of art, or love, or family ties? And when the words we know prove inadequate, can we turn to the language of birds?

In an arty mansion in Milan’s industrial zone, two men are shown one of the last remaining Futurist noise machines – an Intonarumore – and a painful old truth surfaces. A musician travels to three continents to see her siblings before returning to Johannesburg; her home is plundered every night around her as she composes a requiem. A man follows his male lover from London to Berlin’s clubbing scene and on to a ruined castle in which the lover’s family lives. He is looking for an antidote.

The protagonists in SJ Naudé’s collection are listening out for answers that cannot be expressed. Offering fresh perspectives on gay, expat and artistic subcultures and tackling the pain of loss head on, Naudé’s stories go fearlessly and tenderly to the heart of our experiences of desire, love and death.

London Triptych by Jonathan Kemp (Myriad Editions)

Jack Rose begins his apprenticeship as a rent boy with Alfred Taylor in the 1890s, and finds a life of pleasure and excess leads him to new friendships — most notably with the soon-to-be infamous Oscar Wilde. A century later, David tells his own tale of unashamed decadence while waiting to be released from prison, addressing his story to the lover who betrayed him. Where their paths cross, in the politically sensitive 1950s, the artist Colin Read tentatively explores his sexuality as he draws in preparation for his most ambitious painting yet — ‘London Triptych’.

Rent boys, aristocrats, artists and felons populate this bold debut as Jonathan Kemp skilfully interweaves the lives and loves of three very different men across the decades.

#lgbt lit #reading recommendations #books that made me #pride2017 #indie publishers #audre lorde #eileen myles #maggie nelson #michelle tea

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theeverlastingshade · 5 years

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Merriweather Post Pavilion- Animal Collective: 10th Anniversary

While it may have seemed evident for the first time in their career up to that point where Animal Collective would go on their next LP given the sounds of their brilliant, and game changing previous record, Strawberry Jam, and Panda Bear’s landmark third LP, Person Pitch, Merriweather Post Pavilion presented another remarkable departure for the band, bringing them as close to cultural ubiquity as they would ever get. In continuing within the progression from SJ that found them ditching their guitars for samplers, alongside Panda Bear’s newfound adherence to crafting loop-based jams over working within traditional song structure parameters on PP, MPP was unlike anything in their discography. It was by far their most approachable album, but thankfully despite the heightened emphasis on melody and danceable rhythms they don’t compromise an ounce of their singularity, ability to distill a myriad of disparate influences seamlessly, or otherworldly strangeness. Even at their most inclusive Animal Collective sound like no one but themselves entirely. Ten years later MPP still stands as a towering piece of work that sounds like one of the most compelling albums to legitimately, inadvertently bridge the gap between the underground and mainstream this century.

Throughout their career Animal Collective toured their new material, work shopping the songs in real time in front of audiences, before they were properly released, and the material on MPP was no exception. After the release of SJ Deakin left the band due to a combination of touring fatigue and undisclosed personal reasons, and so Avey Tare, Panda Bear, and Geologist set out to record their following LP without him throughout the following winter. The demos for MPP began circulating in an email chain between band members throughout 2007, and while songs for the record would seep into their live sets that year they didn’t formally reconvene for recording until February 2008. Without Deakin in the mix it was a given that guitar would play a markedly diminished role in the recordings, and working with Ben H. Allen as a producer helped further heighten the populist sensibilities that had always existed within their music, albeit usually buried under heaps of noise. As a result, MPP is noticeably cleaner sounding, and far more bass heavy than any other their records, but thankfully just as dense and mesmerizing. The previously unprecedented emphasis on a thick low-end, coupled with cleaner production, and brighter, richer harmonies than they had ever attempted resulted in a bewildering level of immediacy that wouldn’t have been fathomable five years prior.

Everything about Animal Collective’s work following their remarkable 2005 LP Feels has been informed to some degree by PP. It’s importance on their subsequent work simply cannot be overstated. Their music has always been defined by hyper-saturated textures and sonic exploration, but from Spirit They’re Gone, Spirit They’ve Vanished through Feels they were still working within the parameters of rock instrumentation, despite the arrangements being so bathed in effects that they at times hardly seemed to suggest their origin. On MPP, instead of recording themselves playing these arrangements on traditional instruments they repeatedly sampled themselves, and then spliced up the various samples, looping them together in a dizzying array of colorful sound. The songs born from these samples are more meticulously assembled than anything that they had attempted prior, and like a few of the songs on PP, they seem like they could go on forever with samples occasionally shifting shape while the overall composition continues to ride on the maximalist repetition. Despite the complexity of their construction, the songs on MPP shine with an impeccable melodicism that had been unprecedented to that degree within their canon.

Though not overtly presenting as one, Animal Collective have been a pop band at heart since STGSTV, and here they unabashedly embrace that impulse while continuing to evolve and challenge themselves. Much in the way that SJ was Avey Tare’s record, as it marked a shift away from the sun-streaked, blissful psychedelia of Feels to something more visceral and manic, MPP is a return to the band’s tamer side, and is undeniably Panda Bear’s record. A few of the songs existed in demo form while Panda Bear was touring PP, and even after having been fleshed out into proper songs by the rest of the band, they still retain his vibrant melodic touch. Despite Geologist’s stunning sample work that consistently envelopes these songs with plenty of indiscernible sound to latch onto, the band’s tunefulness reaches its peak here. Both Avey and Panda’s voices are relegated to a much higher place in the mix than than usual, which further heightens the distinctiveness of each while amplifying their anthemic qualities. While their voices had never rung clearer, they’re also both consistently lathered in a thick coating of reverb which ensured that it wouldn’t be quite as obvious which one of them was singing when presented in tandem with one another, despite their singular inflections. While it’s easy to lament the sharp contrast, particularly in regards to the absence of Tare’s feral shrieks, the seamless interplay between their vocals is an absolute marvel throughout, and it’s never sounded as tight, before or after.

It seems only fitting that the album of theirs up to this point that contained the most otherworldly, synthetic sounding compositions was equally defined by their most endearing, human lyrics to date. Avey Tare and Panda Bear had both gotten married a few years beforehand, Panda Bear had just become a father, and Geologist was in a relationship that would lead to marriage by late 2009, so the lyrics throughout touch on themes of family, responsibility, sense of self, discovery, and healing. “My Girls” finds Panda Bear singing about his desire to simply provide for his family “I don’t mean to seem like I care about material things/Like a social status/I just want four walls and adobe slabs, for my girls”, deeming anything in addition to sustainability an afterthought. “Guys Eyes” details Panda’s longing for intimacy while on tour “I really need to show to my girl that I need her”, while “Daily Routine” unpacks the minutiae of the newfound habitual schedule that emerged since Panda Bear became a father “Make sure my kid’s got a jacket/And keys and coat and shoes and hat”. “Bluish” explores a moment of pure bliss that Avey experienced with a lover “I’m getting lost in your curls/I’m drawing pictures on your skin”, while “Taste” explores issues of identity and how we manage to define ourselves “Don't let your temper rise, don't get a bitter face/Don’t judge me on my kind of taste”. While the music splits the difference between dense complexity and all-encompassing immediacy, the writing succeeds in achieving a delicate balance between sincere simplicity and universal human experience.

While the production throughout MPP provides the songs with a level of approachability that previously eluded the band, there are still a few songs here that rank among the best that they ever wrote. “Taste” stirs to life with ambient samples that seem to approximate the buzz of insects before a massive kick drum, delicate synths, and the gorgeous back and forth vocals of Panda Bear and Avey Tare slide into the mix. It’s one of the finest displays of their vocal interplay to date, and despite just how dense the mix is, it doesn’t detract from what’s handedly one of their strongest melodies to date. “Daily Routine” begins at a crawl with brief organ stabs before Panda Bear’s voice descends upon the mix alongside the now iconic organ riff. Shortly before the halfway point the riff is perpetually looped, and alongside breezy guitar strums and droning new age synths that creep along the periphery of the mix Panda Bear’s voice soars above it all as he provides the grandest delivery in their discography “Just one sec more in my bed”, the mix practically trembling with catharsis. Even as the record veers toward unrelenting maximalism, “Bluish” comes in to provide sensory relief in the form of a tranquil comedown. Though still steeped in a hypnotic array of texture, the tempo, vocals, and instrumentation are as subdued as the band have allowed since Feels, and their restraint pays off immensely as Avey delivers one of his most tender vocal performances to date.

As accomplished as these songs are, the crown jewel of MPP is the final song, “Brother Sport”. Equally uplifting and heartbreaking, “Brother Sport” was written by Panda Bear as a balm for his brother Matt to help him cope with their father’s death “I know it sucks that daddy’s done/But try to think of what you want/You’ve got to open up your/Open up your/Open up your throat”. It’s the song that most resembles something that could have wound up on PP, and the ingenious pacing of the samples allow the song to end in a much different place than where it began with the transitions sounding as effortless and natural as breathing. “Brother Sport” begins as an afro-electronic rave that continues building steam before transitioning into an explosive, full-blown psychedelic freak-out that’s bursting at the seams with Panda Bear’s jubilant vocals, frantic tribal drums, blaring synths, and a bounty of hazy texture.

While “Brother Sport” was the furthest that they’ve strayed from their psych-folk roots up to that point, and the closest that they’d come to reaching a full-on embrace of club culture, it’s still far from a shameless cash-grab. “Brother Sport” comes off like the peak of a summit that they’d been climbing since STGSTV. It’s the natural culmination of their progression up to this point and it incorporates much of what they’ve made their calling cards through their career (angelic harmonies, unrelenting noise, tasteful use of space and repetition, infectious, complex polyrhythms, and heaping doses of unorthodox texture) while looking decidedly toward the future of where they could take their idiosyncratic sound. It’s a perfect conclusion to the record, and while sonically and thematically cohesive with respect to everything that precedes it, it’s more impressive than everything else here.

While not necessarily their best album, MPP is nonetheless the record of theirs that’s all but guaranteed to stand the test of time longer than anything else that they’ve done for everyone outside of the hardcore faithful. It addition to capping off a decade of brilliance with a career arc that was more consistently compelling and unpredictable than that of any other band this century, and changing form on an album to album basis from the lo-fi psych-folk of STGSTV up to the maximalist electronic art-pop of MPP, they rewrote the rules for how musicians would most commonly operate throughout this decade. Although the shift was truly kicked into gear initially by Panda Bear on PP, MPP without question cemented the “ditch the guitars for samplers” approach that became so commonplace for the the acts that were lumped into the chillwave scene, as well as the hypnagogic pop acts, and the bands that drew from psychedelia that all emerged this decade.

So much underground pop music today seems unfathomable in a context that wasn’t preceded by MPP, and yet it still sounds like the work of no one else. Even with the existence of their disappointing subsequent LP, Painting With, MPP still sounds like an utter anomaly within their canon. Later in 2009 Animal Collective would release the stellar Fall Be Kind companion EP, which marked the last time that they were nearly unanimously regarded as a critical favorite in addition to their brief brush with the mainstream. The following albums of theirs never reached the highs of their work throughout the last decade, with their solo work (deservedly) largely eclipsing their proper albums. While I’d love to believe that Animal Collective have at least one more great album left in them, they’ve already given us far more than we deserve. Regardless of the future quality of their music, MPP will continue to exist as a triumph of the human spirit; a beacon of perseverance, warmth, and the miraculous achievements that are possible when you dismiss your inhibitions and the expectations of others in favor of keeping your head in the clouds.

Essentials: “Brother Sport”, “Daily Routine”, “Taste”

#Animal Collective #merriweather post pavilion #domino records

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writingguide003-blog · 5 years

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World Cup 2018: Guardian writers give their predictions for the tournament

New Post has been published on https://writingguideto.com/must-see/world-cup-2018-guardian-writers-give-their-predictions-for-the-tournament/

World Cup 2018: Guardian writers give their predictions for the tournament

Who will triumph in Russia? Which player will be top scorer? Who will be the breakthrough star? How far will England go?

Which two teams will reach the final – and who will win?

My time of selecting Spain to win every tournament is now officially over probably four years too late and Im reverting back to Germany, in a penalty shootout against France. Daniel Taylor

Brazil and Argentina, with Lionel Messi to illuminate the grandest stage, then retire from international football clutching its ultimate prize. Maybe. Dominic Fifield

Notoriously hard to call before a round of games has been played. Brazil beating Germany would be my preference. Barney Ronay

Brazil against Germany – the ultimate test of Brazils temperament and a tale of vengeance in result if not in scoreline. Amy Lawrence

Brazil to beat Germany. Brazil have got everything but, most importantly, balance and a hardier mentality under Tite. Germany remain intimidating and even greater than the sum of their parts. David Hytner

Brazil and Germany, and Brazil will ultimately be champions. Stuart James

France and Germany would not be a massive surprise but a lot depends on which Paul Pogba shows up; the player who dictated a 100m move or the one which has struggled for consistency at Manchester United. Martha Kelner

Brazil and Spain, and Brazil will win. Tites side have been impressive in the build-up to the tournament, have solidity and have rested Neymar. Sid Lowe

The dream final would be France versus Brazil – a repeat of the final from 20 years ago, and hopefully with the same result. Marcel Desailly

Germany against Brazil, and Germany will win. Thomas Hitzlsperger

Im certain Brazil will be in the final. Who will join them is a hard choice to make but it would certainly be interesting, and make for a great match, if Argentina joined them. Marta

Neymar is well rested, in form and ready for revenge on Germany. Photograph: APA-PictureDesk GmbH/REX/Shutterstock

Who will be leading individual scorer?

Neymar is a decent shout and should be particularly fired up bearing in mind the way his last World Cup finished. DT

Neymar, whose goals will propel Tites side to the final and presumably then earn him a long mooted move to Real Madrid. DF

Romelu Lukaku. Or someone else. Ideally a surprise from a minor nation who gets four in one game then goes home. BR

Gabriel Jesus, supplied by Neymar and Roberto Firmino, could fill his golden boots. AL

Luis Surez. Uruguays draw is a dream and they will make the quarter-finals, at least, giving Surez plenty of game-time to do damage. DH

Romelu Lukaku. The Belgian has a good scoring record at international level and is the spearhead of a team that should go far. SJ

Antoine Griezmann could light up this tournament, arriving in Russia on the back of inspiring Atletico Madrid to a Europa League title. His record for France isnt bad, though, with 20 goals in 53 games. MK

Neymar.The Brazilian arrives in Russia with fresh legs and a desire to take his nation all the way. Frances Kylian Mbapp is also a decent shout. SL

Romelu Lukaku. Hes on great form, has everybody playing for him and some great passers to provide him with the ammunition he needs. MD

Gabriel Jesus. I watched him quite a lot last season and really liked his movement, not to mention his scoring rate. Hell get plenty of service playing in the same team as the likes of Neymar and Philippe Coutinho and, given Ive predicted Brazil will get to the final, he should play plenty of games, also. TH

Neymar. He was hurt, played two games and scored in both I cant wait to see him in action. M

Frances Kylian Mbapp and Antoine Griezmann are contenders for the World Cup golden boot. Photograph: Gerard Julien/AFP/Getty Images

Who will be the surprise team of the tournament?

Switzerland. The Fifa world rankings are not the best way to judge a team, perhaps, but there must be some valid reasons why they are currently sixth (ahead of France and Spain). DT

Serbia. Mladen Krstajics team are unfancied, but boast strength and quality. The key will be ensuring players perform to the same levels they invariably achieve at their clubs. DF

This question contains an internal contradiction. Colombia for the semis, maybe. BR

Uruguay, a mix of renewed confidence and wily old know-how. AL

I see Croatia going deep into the tournament maybe even the semi-finals. Any team with Luka Modric, Ivan Rakitic and Mario Mandzukic deserves respect. DH

Denmark. Theyre 15 matches unbeaten and this could be the stage for Christian Eriksen to shine. Mind you, their opening game, against Peru, wont be easy. SJ

Peru return to the World Cup after a 36 year absence but they are full of hope, galvanised in part by their captain, centre forward and all time top scorer Paolo Guerrero managing to overturn a 14-month drugs ban just weeks before the world cup. MK

Would it count as a surprise for Egypt and Uruguay to do well? The two sides from group A certainly could do so. Uruguay have their usual qualities, have Rodrigo Bentancur in midfield and a quiet, competitive confidence. SL

Belgium. Technically they are so good, they have so many talented players. I truly think they can bring a new name to the nations that have won the World Cup. MD

England. There is little expectations around the squad but I think they will get to the quarter-finals. TH

Sweden. It is a country that I have a lot of affection for and I want them to do well in this World Cup. M

Denmark are unbeaten in 15 matches and Christian Eriksen makes them tick. Photograph: Lars Ronbog/FrontzoneSport via Getty Images

Who will be breakthrough player of the tournament?

Hirving Lozano of Mexico sounds good fun: talented, fiery and nicknamed Chucky because of his apparent resemblance to the Childs Play doll. Lozano scored 19 goals as a winger for PSV Eindhoven last season and is likened to Luis Suarez, though hopefully he will manage not to bite anyone. DT

Samuel Umtiti. That may sound odd given the French centre-half plays at Barcelona, but he was rushed into the team at Euro 2016, making a senior debut in the quarter-final, and is a far better player now. DF

Hes already at Barcelona and cost 90m but I think Ousmane Dembl could remind everyone exactly why. BR

Kylian Mbapp, who has achieved so much already but in his teens this will be his first major tournament. AL

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic. The 23-year-old Serbia and Lazio midfielder is tall, dynamic and has an eye for goal. Im looking forward to watching him, together with Moroccos creative midfielder, Hakim Ziyech, who plays for Ajax. DH

Polands Piotr Zielinski. The 24-year-old was a key member of the Napoli team that pushed Juventus all the way in Serie A last season. SJ

Karol Linetty. The Polish midfielders inventive play has seen him glitter for Sampdoria and catch the eye of one or two Premier League clubs. More could take interest if he has a good World Cup. MK

Marco Asensio and Kylian Mbapp. This could be the tournament when they underline just how brilliant theyre going to be. SL

Its difficult to say, but, if pushed, Kylian Mbapp. He has the potential to be a big World Cup star. But will it be at this World Cup? He is still very young. MD

Benjamin Pavard, a young defender I work with at Stuttgart and part of Frances squad. He can play right-back but, for me, is much better suited to being a centre-back. He is calm and composed, good in the air and aggressive when he needs to be. A real talent. TH

Hes still only 19 and there were ups and downs in his first season at Paris Saint-Germain but I feel Kylian Mbapp could make a really big impact for France. M

Sergej Milinkovic-Savic

How far will England get?

There is a potential quarter-final against Brazil or Germany looming. Even with the new wave of optimism, surrounding Gareth Southgates team its difficult to see them getting past that stage. DT

The quarter-finals, playing some encouragingly enterprising football along the way. DF

Respectable/brave 2-0 quarter-final loss after narrow squeak to that stage based on discipline and a couple of flukey clean sheets. BR

The usual in all probability, maybe a quarter-final this time. AL

The quarter-finals, where we will lose on penalties to Germany. DH

They will get out of the group but its hard to see them progressing any further than the last 16. SJ

Quarter-finals. This is the minimum target the FA has set and is eminently achievable for a team which seems to have had the shackles removed. MK

Quarter-finals. Am I alone in thinking that England are actually quite good? I like the look of them offensively. SL

It is hard to say as England are short of experience. I feel they will need this tournament to grow as a group of players. MD

The quarter-finals. With a bit of good fortune and good play, they could even make the semi-finals. TH

They will definitely get out of their group and possibly go beyond that. M

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Who will be Englands best/most important player?

Harry Kane. People forget how poor he was in the European Championship, booed by the England fans, but if Kane is on form the team have a striker who can trouble any defence. DT

Harry Kane, making his mark at a major finals. The one player of real pedigree in English ranks. DF

Raheem Sterling. Will bring a dash of Manchester City to things and finally score a couple of goals – hopefully with his gun foot, before suggestively unfurling his sock for the cameras. BR

Harry Kane. Has to be. AL

Kyle Walker. He has a pivotal role on the right of Gareth Southgates back three, where he brings defensive cover and, crucially, pace on the transitions. Confidence is high after his superb debut season at Manchester City. DH

Harry Kane.Englands captain, principal goalscorer and, its fair to say, best player. SJ

Harry Kane is vital to Englands success as one of our few genuine world-class players. The captain has no shortage of motivation, claiming a World Cup victory would be trump winning the Champions League with Tottenham. MK

Marcus Rashford. On the basis he is given continuity, confidence and a certain level of freedom. SL

The guy who has really confirmed his talent on the big stage is Harry Kane and if he gets good service he could be one of the top scorers in Russia. MD

Harry Kane. He needs to score goals and Im sure he will. TH

Harry Kane. He had a great season with Tottenham Hotspur and his goals will make a difference for England. M

Harry Kane

What are you most looking forward to, on or off the pitch?

The final. Its a World Cup final. For a journalist, theres no better moment when it comes to covering the sport. DT

Off the pitch, seeing The Motherland Calls in Volgograd. On it, that jaw dropping contest to match the drama of Belo Horizonte in 2014. DF

Discovering that, in fact, everyday Russians arent all Putin-mad dopes or gumshield-clad football hooligans. Also vodka. BR

Exploring Ekaterinburg and watching football in an unexpected place. Japan versus Senegal in a city known as the gateway to Siberia is what its all about. AL

The best thing about the previous World Cups Ive covered has been the carnival vibe. I hope its the same this time. DH

Seeing Colombia play. I had the pleasure of watching them in Brazil and they were a joy. I also havent forgotten how a few of their fans felt sorry for me when I ordered a table for one in a Brazilian steakhouse four years later and were still in touch. SJ

Im genuinely intrigued to see what sort of World Cup-host Russia will be and if they can succeed in reversing opinions of some visitors that the country is cold and unwelcoming. MK

The same thing you always look forward to at the World Cup loads of fans from loads of places making loads of noise and discovering players and teams..Some random player being brilliant. SL

Im excited to see which teams are going to surprise us AND which teams are going to show from the very outset that they are here to win it. MD

Although I think Germany will win the World Cup this looks like a really open tournament, with quite a few genuine major contenders as well as teams would could cause a major surprise. It should be fascinating. TH

Talking about soccer, watching beautiful and clean games, with sportsmanship, fair plays and no dirty plays. Thats what I hope to see, anyway. M

The Colombia fans were already out in force to cheer on their team at Kazan airport. Photograph: Luis Acosta/AFP/Getty Images

What are you most concerned about, on or off the pitch?

This might be the worst prediction of them all, but I dont think there will be the racism or riots that people fear. We heard similar before Euro 2012 in Ukraine and Poland, plus other scare stories before the World Cups in South Africa and Brazil, but it tends to be different in the big tournaments. DT

The inevitable shambles and confusion which will be VAR. DF

The only thing any football hack ever really worries about is the wi-fi. Will it be good? Will it come and go? Will it fade at kick-off? Im worrying about it right now. BR

Having been in Marseille for England versus Russia, digging out the old Italia 90 No All Violenza T-shirt and hoping for a peaceful tournament. AL

VAR leading to confusion inside the stadiums and, potentially, killing the emotion of big moments. DH

The battery life on my new mobile phone. Any incomplete answers in here are down to the fact my phone died while trying to file. SJ

That we will spend the next five weeks talking exhaustively about decisions made by Video Assistant Referees. MK

Connection issues and late goals. Long distances. Cyrillic script. On the pitch: teams turning defensive when it gets decisive. SL

That all the talk about security and organisation will overshadow the football. As a Fifa ambassador l have visited many stadiums, met many Russians, and l am confident in the capacity of Russia to run a great tournament. MD

Vladimir Putin and Gianni Infantino appearing on our television screens more often than the actual players. TH

Ugly incidents between supporters. Sport is not a tool for spreading hatred and disagreement but rather love, passion, and unity. M

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