#these are all very good reminders. especially during exam season (i am suffering. but at least i'm working on art coursework so it's | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

crybabysunflower · 4 years

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How I relate to all the members of The Seasons

//TW- mentions of personal problems

In terms of personality, I am nearly like Mafuyu (because we are both introverted, shy but can be really mean and impulsive at times) but I relate to all the members of The Seasons. I relate to Ritsuka because his attitude towards music reminds me of my attitude towards blogging. We both started from square one in both music and writing respectively and gradually improved (my friends say I have) but more we got higher the more we started to lose interest, however both of us still continued with it (because it's quite hard for me to totally give up on blogging). To me sometimes blogging feels like a chore which makes me procrastinate. Back in Highschool I was also quite prone to fall asleep easily

I relate to Haruki although we are actually quite different from each other. The way Haruki loves Akihiko reminds me of my feelings towards my highschool crush. I especially related to him when he said that he is satisfied with watching Akihiko from afar, same goes for me because I just want him to be happy, I am hardly possessive with him.

As for Akihiko, he reminds me of one of my dark side, his relationship with Ugetsu sometimes reminds me of my relationship with the smartest girl of my class. Just like how Akihiko is immensely jealous of Ugetsu because of his talent, I am quite jealous of her and just like Akihiko who always feel that he is below Ugetsu, whenever I interact with her I get that same feeling which makes me quite panicky inside whenever I talk to her. Because of this both Akihiko and I share a hate love relationship with Ugetsu and this classmate respectively. My jealousy makes me hate her but at the same time I regret hating her because she is actually a really kind person, because of her extremely kind nature, I try to keep these feelings of mine hidden. Although I don't really think she is like Ugetsu anyway (she is more like a mix of Haruki and Mafuyu in my opinion).

When it comes to experiences I certainly think that what Mafuyu had to go through is way more worse than what I had dealt with but some of our experiences are similar.

It is very common in Indian (and probably many other Asian) households to use physical punishment whenever the child does or says something wrong and having growing up in an Indian family, I did get my ass whooped by my mom from time to time during my childhood and in teens mostly regarding studies because I was anything but studious and I am prone to get easily distracted. However unlike in Mafuyu's case I can't really say if that has affected me because this is such common thing that most of us make jokes about it.

What Mafuyu had experienced through one person (Yuki) I had experienced it through several ones. I had lost a good friend of mine due to illness back in March and I had to go through a rough time for the next two months, those times I used to cry myself to sleep and sometimes felt really angry about the fact that why such a kind person like her had to leave, we weren't exactly close friends but I remember some incidents few weeks before she had left, I was really nervous about my exams, and I receive a text from her where she had told me to do my best from her side (since her illness had prevented her from giving the exams) another night I receive a text from her where she told me to not be nervous and that I will do well. I am kind of "over" the grief but I still miss her sometimes and I haven't deleted any of my Instagram posts liked by her, she had gifted me an envelope full of Kpop idol's pictures and I still treasure it and have kept it safely. I think I am luckier than Mafuyu is because I was able to cry. I now imagine that she is a better place, probably watching over me and occasionally laughing at my antics.

I have many internet friends and most of them suffer from mental health issues such as depression and anxiety especially my bestie who suffers from Bipolar disorder and had a rough childhood, this sometimes makes her suicidal and it kind of scares me when I think that I might end up losing her and go through the same pain as Mafuyu had. I remember I was once trying to console her when she was quite uncontrollable and I felt tired and helpless, I felt that my efforts were useless. I also don't want to lose her because over the time she has become both a friend and a big sister for me and I really love her.

Just like Mafuyu I am a shy introvert with hardly any friends in real life, even in Internet my friends are quite dispersed. However I get easily excited when my favorite topics are mentioned.

Just like him, I am quite passive aggressive and when I snap I can be a really nasty with words and I am quite impulsive that time. But I try my best to be nice as much as I can. Just like him, I am also quite naive at times.

Finally, just like him I am essentially a clingy person, Mafuyu was quite clingy to Yuki and later to Ritsuka which makes him prone to feel lonely, I am quite clingy to my Internet bestie and I feel lonely if I don't get to talk to her for a long time (though I try to explain myself that she has a lot of work to do since she is an adult).

Thank you for reading

#mafuyu given #akihiko kaji #haruki nakayama #ritsuka uenoyama #yuki yoshida #mafuyu satou #uenoyama ritsuka #given anime #yuki yoshida given #mafuyu #haruki #ugetsu murata #ugetsu given

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on-the-shelves · 5 years

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on my shelf: soundtrack to my third year of uni - summer

Now that was a busy semester! It felt super long (and super short). The first half was relatively relaxed but I’ve been permanently stressing out about something uni-related (usually my English Lit oral exam) since the end of May. But the worst is finally over and I can finally make this post as per tradition!

Basically, in the first half of the semester I listened to a bunch of different stuff, but since May I’ve basically only listened to one group and consumed almost exclusively their content... dear readers, I have become an ARMY. I never thought it would happen, but here we are. More on that below. Let’s get into my soundtrack for the semester (and this time it’s basically in chronological order)!

SWMRS: Berkeley’s on Fire (2019)

My first encounter with SWMRS was seeing them open up for All Time Low in my first or second semester and I loved them. But I couldn’t really get into their first album (Drive North) and Berkeley’s on Fire also took me a while, but only because I was so busy listening to Charlie Burg in February. I think this album is much more representative of who SWMRS are as a band and of the group I saw live in 2017. It’s diverse but full of energy from start to finish. It’s got heart, it’s sincere, and it talks about a whole range of topics that are sometimes important and sometimes more heartfelt. I especially loved listening to “Bad Allergies” during allergy season, because, well, same. This album gets you moshing alone and also contemplating life, which is very much my cup of tea. My favourite track is probably “Trashbag Baby”.

The Maine: You Are OK (2019)

Another band that I have listened to before, on and off, and never really found much of a connection with (though I did kind of love American Candy - the Warped Tour Instagram account gave out digital copies for free once, so I downloaded it because- free things). Some of my mutuals were very excited and in love with this album though and I also needed to hear that message, so I checked it out and completely understood what they were on about. I’d call some of the songs “epic” without them sounding forced to be like that - they don’t have that stadium rock, U2/Coldplay/Imagine Dragons feeling, where it can sometimes seem heartless and corporate. This album drips with love and heart and genuine caring. It makes me feel uplifted and wallowful, comforted and sad, all at the same time. I especially love the first four tracks and would recommend checking out “Slip The Noose”.

Vampire Weekend: Father of the Bride (2019)

It finally happened!! For the first time since I became a fan in 2013/14 Vampire Weekend finally released new music!!! And it’s so good!!! For a solid like 2-3 weeks this one album was all I listened to. It’s both quintessentially Vampire Weekend and somehow also totally different than their previous stuff. Although, MVOTC was also a pretty big change and now it’s just a normal part of the trilogy. Album 4 is very long, but listening to the whole thing in one go isn’t any effort at all, because the tracks are so diverse and the order they’re in mixes the styles up nicely. You have some country-leaning tracks (the duets with Danielle Haim - which had me very excited because I love HAIM) that invoke more classical country and are very tasteful (as is the entire album to be fair). You have upbeat, fun tracks like “This Life” and even “Harmony Hall” (that brings back one of my absolute favourite VW lyrics: “I don’t wanna live like this, but I don’t wanna die”) that still have a dark undertone (”This life and all its suffering / Oh Christ, am I good for nothing?” over a boppy guitar). You have moody songs like “My Mistake” and rock-y songs like “Sympathy” and just basically a whole bunch of different things that all have that undeniable VW essence, even with a whole lot less of Rostam. I can’t forget the first time I listened to the album at midnight and was surprised by every new song. Would recommend for summer listening, but probably every other season as well. “Sympathy” is my favourite track.

BTS: (basically their entire discography since The Most Beautiful Moment in Life) (2015-2019)

Quick rundown of my history with BTS (even if probably no one cares): ARMYs start showing up everywhere on the internet in about 2015 and I’m annoyed by them and by the K-pop industry because of the manufactured feeling I got from the music (although I did love SNSD’s “Gee” - it’s a classic after all). The first time I really paid attention to them was around the time “FAKE LOVE” was released and gained a lot of international attention. I wanted to check out the hype. I disliked it so much, it made me uncomfortable because of how they looked and there was just too much going on for me in the music and in the video. But I’d also heard of “DNA” being popular and I kind of loved that song, although the music video was still too busy for me. Same with “IDOL” when that was released - super overwhelming. I wish someone had told me that they also had songs that weren’t nearly as overwhelming and very much my taste in music. But I figured that out by about May this year. So they started promo’ing “Boy With Luv” and I checked out a couple of their live performances on American TV of it and was pretty impressed by the song, their look, their dancing... When they were at the Grammy’s J-Hope’s smile seemed so genuine, friendly and warm, and that was the moment I thought - oh no. Here we go. Ultimately, it was their performance(s) on SNL that got me hooked. I wanted to know their names and watched a bunch of YouTube videos explaining who everyone is and their personalities got me. Everything I thought about K-pop - they weren’t and aren’t it. I started watching interviews and loving Suga because he can be so dead-pan. I started listening to their music and it just made me feel so good. Even though I don’t understand 95% of what they’re saying exactly, I can still tell, because their genuineness, their heart, their message comes through in the music and the tone of their voices. Map of the Soul: Persona was the first album/EP of theirs I listened to and I was kind of skeptical about if I’d like their music in general or not, but then I listened to J-Hope’s Hope World and decided to give their other music a proper chance, and I’m so glad I did. They cover so many different styles of music that there’s definitely something for everyone. Their music, their personalities, their seemingly endless video content, their message, their authenticity, their love for their fans, their existence is literally the only thing that got me through the past couple of months. Because of them I was able to wind down after a long, stressful day and just laugh out loud. Because of them, I didn’t have a chance to wallow in my sadness. Man, this is sounding so cliché and sappy, but whatever, this is the truth. And while I was very embarrassed to admit it a couple of months ago, I can now openly say I love BTS. I love every member (but since this is a thing in kpop fandoms: my bias is Yoongi/Suga and my “bias wreckers” are Hobi/J-Hope and Jin) and I love every album/EP (but at the moment especially Love Yourself: Tear). Some songs I love a lot are “Seesaw”, “Epiphany”, “134340″, “Pied Piper”, and “Spring Day”.

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This was a long post, I’m sorry! But I just wanted to get all of that out there, also just as a reminder for myself of why I loved these four albums so much this semester. The take away from this post, I think, is that sometimes, it might take a while before you appreciate something, but when you do, it’s all the more rewarding.

#summer sounds #soundtrack to university #bts #swmrs #the maine #vampire weekend #i'm learning korean with duolingo at the moment but it's not been very helpful in understanding bts lyrics or kdramas #i do know when they're saying man and when they're saying food - arguably two of the most important words #on my shelf

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seasideopinions · 7 years

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New Year, New Me?

The New Year always brings with it the heavy weight of expectations for the future and the burden of wounds from the past. It seems as though everyone indulges in some self introspection and soul searching come January 1st. Typically,this comes in the form of paragraph long Facebook posts and Instagram captions, some new hair cuts, and declarations of “new year, new me.” I, like the masses, am somewhat guilty of engaging in these superficial traditions. Which brings me to this post.

After a hefty holiday season, and saddled with high expectations for the upcoming months, I thought that the general public might need a little reminder to take care of themselves through it all. And being a self centred millennial, I decided to do it by talking about the example I know best: me.

2016 was, as Kylie Jenner so eloquently put, “the year of just like, realizing stuff, you know?” Collectively we realized many things, such as the general ignorance of the American public (Trump supporters, we're looking at you), the beginning of a neo-coldwar relationship between Russia and ,well, everybody, and the level of atrocities required before the world pays any attention (Re: Syrian Refugee Crisis). Globally, we might all agree that 2016 may have been the beginning of the end; that maybe the Mayans were four years premature in their prediction. In 2016 we realized countless things, and personally I realized more than I thought was possible.

The past 12 months were tumultuous for me, at best. My resolution going into the new year last January was to get myself back to the gym and take care of my health in a way that I had been lacking. That lasted for about 4 months, during which time I lost 12 lbs, gained a lot of self confidence, and a much happier mindset. It seemed as though nothing could go wrong.

Unfortunately, right when things are going smoothly is when you're the most unprepared for a speed bump, and the shock of it can send you hurtling off the shoulder of the road. That's what happened to me when, after months of having everything under control, I suddenly found myself finished second semester, desperately looking for a job, and struggling to keep my head up in a sea of anxiety and depressive feelings. These issues are not new to me, however I was entirely surprised at their return, as things had been going so well. Fast forward through the summer months, past a grueling 40 hour a week job, a wrecked knee, and a therapist, all the way to September. Things were starting to get better for me. School was back in session, work was less demanding, and I seemed to be reaping the rewards of 2 months of counselling. But once again, things began to unravel. Work was exhausting, and I was dealing with health problems, including nasty side effects from a new medication that left me sick, tired, and unable to eat enough for five weeks. The next bout of medication I tried was very successful, and the weeks of drowsiness and nausea were behind me. The hospital trips and tests were over as things worked themselves out. But, with the stress of finals, work, and the holidays, the anxiety returned. Following a particularly nasty panic attack, I finally booked back in to see my therapist. During a conversation with my boyfriend, we decided that what I need to do in 2017 is focus on myself, and stop worrying so much about what I thought I should be doing. This lesson is something that everyone can benefit from.

During our 20s, it's very easy to get caught up in the idea of the perfect trajectory of our lives: Graduate in four years, move out, work a part time job, get a fancy internship during the summers, make connections and network, have a relationship, party on the weekends and go on Instagram worthy vacations because it's the best years of our life, dammit! It's totally, 100% unrealistic

I, like most students my age, spent the better part of 2016 working on everything except for myself. I spent every weekend working this past semester and I took five 3000 level classes, all while ignoring my own health and well-being. I didn't spend time doing things that I enjoy, nor did I spend enough time with my friends. I was so busy that even when I had a day off of work and school, I felt obligated to do something productive, like go shopping, see a friend, or go on a date with my boyfriend. There were very few days this year, especially the second half, that I spent on myself.

To start off my year, the first thing I needed to do was make more time for myself. Between work and school, something had to go. Rather than stalling my education or quitting a job I love, I decided to simply slow down. I plan on taking three courses instead of five this semester, and then take two in the spring. Rather than sprinting from January to April, writing exams, and then working 40 or 50 hours a week from May until August, I plan on leisurely strolling through the first half of the year. My goal is to take the artificially created pressure off of myself. As students living in a world where housing, food, and education prices are all rising, and the job market is competitive, we're conditioned to believe that we should always be doing something more. Take more courses, work more hours, join more extracurriculars. This mindset can be so harmful, because when we're constantly working towards something, we don't take the time to enjoy what we do have.

My second goal is to spend more time doing things that I enjoy. The value of time spent doing things simply for pleasure and not for work is entirely underestimated. I plan on honing my photography skills, playing the piano more often, learning how to play the guitar, reading more books, and writing more often. I want to try out new cafés, explore new areas of my city, learn to drive, and go on more day trips. All of these things are thought of as luxuries in this fast paced world we live in, but they shouldn't be. Taking the time to feed your passions and your creativity is so important to your happiness and sense of satisfaction in your life. If I was to ask each and every person reading this if there’s something they wished they had more time to do, I'm positive everyone would be able to list off at least one thing. This year take time to enjoy things that are valuable to you on a personal level, not on a financial or academic level.

My third goal for 2017 is to take control over my own health. This is about understanding that health encompasses the body and the mind working together, and that if one isn't in tip top shape, the other will suffer. As students, we rarely have the time to take care of our bodies or our minds, and many of us take their good condition for granted. However, like anything worth having, our health is worth working for. Personally, I need to workout for my mental health as well as my physical health. I need to be aware of what I'm putting into my body, from alcohol, to fast food, to nothing at all. I need to make sure to get enough sleep, get enough fresh air, and take my vitamins. I need to talk to my friends, my family, my doctor and my therapist when I'm not feeling my best. I need to act in a way that's responsible and conducive to all types of health: mental, physical, and social. My hope is that taking more time for myself will allow me to do these things naturally, without additional stress. I sincerely believe that by making your health your number one priority, everyone can lead a much happier life.

As 2017 begins, we know that the world around us is unpredictable. More celebrities will die, Trump will become the President of the United States, and the Kardashians will probably do something stupid. While we can't control any of that, what we can do is take care of ourselves. Not everybody has the luxuries that I do, and not everyone can do everything on this list. But in some way or another, I believe that by slowing down our lives, spending more time doing things that we love, and taking control of our health, we can all enjoy a happier and healthier New Year.

#self care #new year #2017 #health #balance

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paulisweeabootrash · 5 years

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First Impression: My Hero Academia

After a long delay, today I'm finally crossing another show off the list of "things a lot of my friends seem to be into and probably assume I also already watch". Let's go further beyond to invade North Africa and colonize the Americas become heroes with...

My Hero Academia (2016).

Episodes watched: 3

Platform: VRV

"Before we knew it, the supernatural became normal, and dreams became reality. The world has become a superhuman society, and about 80% of the world's population now has some kind of special trait." And it shows. In the world of this show, although most people have superpowers —or, excuse me, "quirks" — few are actually superheroes or villains, and those who are are celebrities — and also casualties of how mundane this all has become already, judging by the line about someone using their quirk for petty thievery being "the incarnation of evil". I already expect from the first few scenes of the first episode that this is going to be a highly genre-savvy show, steeped in the absurdities of the superhero genre and its implications. Okay okay. This is not the kind of thing that usually gets my attention. Even though I do kind of like superheroes as a concept, I don't usually seek them out because I'm not the kind of person who truly appreciates The Fight Scene or The Tournament Arc as story elements, and I assume the show is going to prominently feature both just based on its premise. But you know what? I like One Punch Man, which is also a Japanese take on American superheroes, and I know enough people who are fans of this whose taste I trust that I'll finally give it a try.

Our main character is Izuku, who has long been devastated by learning as a small child that he has no quirk. He and his childhood rival and/or friend Bakugo, whose quirk is literal explosions, both aspire to get into UA, an elite high school for superheroes. By chance, Izuku gets saved by his idol, the absurdly American top-rated hero, All Might, and soon learns that the hero suffered a secret injury that limits his ability to be an effective hero. He advises Izuku against trying to become a hero, since even with a quirk — indeed, even as the world’s most acclaimed hero — the job is horribly difficult and dangerous, but that it's still good to have dreams. But when the same monster All Might just saved Izuku from attacks Bakugo too, Izuku rushes to join the heroes who have already responded to the scene. He almost very slightly helps, and when the fight is over, he is scolded for trying to be helpful while Bakugo is told he could be "an excellent sidekick"... comments that are patronizing and make sense in universe. Of course we should expect that, especially after several generations, people with quirks would treat those without as helpless, and of course despite quirks (or maybe even because of the additional responsibility of having and using them) our teenage main characters aren't taken seriously. But privately, All Might tells Izuku this his reckless behavior the other heroes scold is proof that he can become a hero without a quirk. What heroes have in common in their origins, he says, is that "their bodies moved before they had a chance to think". And I have to give the show points for understanding that instead of portraying heroism as some kind of Great Moral Choice.

All Might makes a surprising offer to help Izuku obtain a quirk (something it's not commonly known is even possible). And so they go to Dagoba to prepare. No, really, the sign says "Dagoba Municipal Beach Park". All Might accordingly takes on the Yoda role to Izuku's Luke by being kind of obnoxious and giving him tasks whose relevance is not clear at first. The quirk Izuku is training to receive, called "one for all", is All Might's own quirk, and it gives the person it's conferred upon the combined physical strength of all of the past people to have it. As long as you're sufficiently muscular to handle it, anyway, hence the training. Anyway, over the course of an episode that's pretty much entirely a training montage, Izuku meets the exhausting requirements for workout, studying, and diet, and All Might confers the quirk to him (and hey, his hair didn't even fall out from over-exercising!). I have a hunch that the "one for all" quirk is going to turn out to be a "magic feather", but I'm also pretty frequently wrong when trying to guess the direction any story will go.

As I leave off here, Izuku is about to take the physical part of the entrance exam to UA, consisting of fighting simulated villains, and he is easily the most visibly excited to be there, contrasting with a gallery of Very Serious applicants. It doesn't feel like a great place to end to actually fairly evaluate the show, but based on the titles of the next several episodes, this may be as convenient a place as any to pause, because it looks like the application ordeal is going to be a decent-sized story arc of its own, or maybe the entire remainder of the season. That could be fascinating or it could be a drag, there’s no way to know in advance. But I’m interested, so I'll definitely watch the rest of the season to see how it goes.

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W/A/S: 2 / 1 / 4

Weeb: Another example of "not so much weeb as general nerd". Although it is very clearly a Japanese comedy, there are many homages to the style and content of American superhero comics. And, for some reason, Star Wars references.

Ass: Mt. Lady sure seems to think there's supposed to be ass in her intro scene, but giants are not my kink, and the show seems tame otherwise.

Shit (writing): This show is very silly and I am enjoying it a lot so far. Not remarkable, but certainly not bad. It's kind of cheesy in the ways you'd probably expect from both American superhero media and other Japanese comedies. The serious moments also fit in and hit without being too over the top. Each episode ends in... not exactly a cliffhanger, but an obvious transition to the next episode, which makes it seem like it's written with binge-watching in mind, but it's not quite engaging enough to be one of the few shows I can binge-watch.

Shit (other): This show has quite a lot of limited animation — only a single character or object moving, using panning or motion lines instead of moving elements within the frame — but handles it well. It didn't bother me except for the occasional shot of motionless background crowds. There's the occasional off-model expression or dumb-looking shot during an action sequence that looks like sloppiness rather than comedic effect, but the animation is generally successfully expressive. The opening is underwhelming as mostly a gallery of rapidly-shown still images of the large ensemble cast still yet to be introduced, but I like the music. It's overall neither bad nor a standout.

Content: Nothing in particular. Less realistic and/or horrifying violence than I'd expect from a lot of contemporary American superhero material.

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Stray observations:

- Bakuhatsu, Bakugo... ah, I see we're following the proud American superhero comic tradition of names related to powers or super identities here.

- I love that even unnamed and background characters got some amount of design to them — not just generic-looking crowd people, but crowd people who clearly have external signs of having some sort of quirk. It reminds you that we are indeed in a world where the wide variety of superpowers are considered normal.

- Izuku is firmly establishing a tendency towards fanboying and mumbling to himself about what/how he could do. As a fellow nerd who often feels like my more-accomplished friends have unattainable talents, and who frequently talks out loud through to-do lists, it's relatable and endearing.

- And with that, I’m off to The Great New York State Fair. See you next month, nerds!

#weeaboo trash #anime review #first impression review #My Hero Academia #Boku no Hero Academia #bnha

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