i have grown from a cry baby and a pushover to the tough strong woman i am today, and nobody will ever bully me without have a taste of my revenge. today i called bell and had this rep who tried to put on a condesending tone with me and spoke with me with disrespect. perhaps because of my asian name he thinks i am weak and foreign so he can not respect me? when i requested a supervisor he tried to argue with me why i asked for me and my response was "i dont need your approval for a supervisor, get ur facts straight", he pretended he couldnt hear me and didnt transfer me hoping id give up. surly i gave him 3 warnings and called back, requested a supervisor, provided his employee id and name also the story, supervisor said he could be terminated. very happy someone might lose his job. this is also a lesson for anyone in my life who tries to disrespect or bully me because of my gender and descent, try and you will get a taste.

On a rainy Saturday afternoon not so long ago when internet connection was fluctuating in most homes, the 80-year-old Cecile Guidote-Alvarez, widow of the late Senator Heherson Alvarez, carrying a mini iPad, hurriedly alighted from a three-wheeled pedicab Toktok and stormed her way into a popular coffee shop in a mall in Manila.

A senior citizen in panic mode, she told the stunned baristas she’s looking for a Wi-Fi connection because she was about to interview retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Antonio Carpio via Zoom.
The coffee shop, a known world brand, has Wi-Fi exclusive to its employees, so the old lady was told to try other establishments. She went from one coffee shop to another only to be told the same, until a kind stranger led her to a well-known beauty salon with a free internet connection.
The lady salon attendant was very accommodating to the octogenarian, even typing the password on her IPad. Of course, she needed to avail herself of their salon services. Initially, she opted for a haircut, but since she needed to talk and hear clearly who she was talking to, she settled for a foot spa with pedicure.
“They lowered the volume of the piped-in music, and since there were less customers because it’s been raining all day, I was able to do my interview,” Guidote-Alvarez said.
For the next half-an-hour, the hair dressers and manicurists working with their scissors, nail clippers and cuticle removers on their customers’ hair and fingernails, listened to Carpio and Guidote-Alvarez discussed how Filipino fishermen and the Philippine Navy ships helplessly negotiate their ways in Scarborough Shoal amid the territorial disputes in the West Philippine Sea.
“They were all very nice to me. I was able to finish my interview, with newly pedicured nails,” she told The Diarist.
For those who’ve worked with Guidote-Alvarez, her steadfast, almost stubborn, nature to accomplish a task, is nothing out of the ordinary. She would improvise, find alternatives, call up friends and former students, wake them up from sleep, just to get things done.
But now, in her 80s, legally blind and nearly deaf, she has mellowed down.
Cecile Alvarez with her mentors, National Artist for Literature Alejandro Roces, Jr and Fr. James Reuter. SJ
In her twilight years, Guidote-Alvarez has been solely hosting the 57-year-old Radyo Balintataw on DZRH, one of the oldest radio stations in the Philippines, where she tackles a wide range of topics, from climate change, women’s health, theater, culture, dance, to current issues, apart from playing old recordings of classic radio plays she produced and directed, dating back to the late ‘80s.
She shared with TheDiarist.ph how she started and continues to host one of the longest running advocacy programs on AM Radio.
Theater on TV
After founding the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) on April 7, 1967, or exactly 57 years ago, Guidote-Alvarez thought of the need to expose PETA’s members to television, so she started conceptualizing Balintataw, which in Filipino means the pupil of the eye, but in a larger context has something to do with having wild imagination, or what you might see if you have a third eye.

“I designed Balintataw as a bridge between cinema and the stage, where the youth being trained in theater skills can have a ready-made laboratory experience linked with the film and entertainment industry that would likewise have a natural on-the-job training and orientation regarding the theatrical discipline of working with a literary script, whether dramatic or comic—not the regular improvised script done on taping or copycat scripts from foreign themes,” Guidote-Alvarez wrote in her yet-to-be published Memoir of a Freedom Fighter’s Wife.
“A primary goal when I conceived PETA was to initiate and sustain artistic expression that draws meaning and power from the lives of the people, and sharing the literary gems with a greater number of audiences through a Broadcast Theater-Film Program with Balintataw on Channel 5,” she added.
“No matter how little the pay, at least it provided our local writers with a little honorarium. I sought permission for award-winning pieces of the Palanca Playwriting contest to be fleshed out to reach the masses. The much-awarded playwright Bert Florentino served as our literary manager, assisted by Mauro Avena. Eventually, Isagani Cruz took over when Bert left for the US,” she wrote.
“Writers need exposure and encouragement through a regular TV performance that will give them a sense of achievement and inspire them to keep on writing with some kind of honorarium. I was glad Lupita Aquino (now Kashiwahara) agreed to be TV director and Robert Arevalo as TV host.
She got members of the PETA Kalinangan Ensemble to serve as stage directors. “This is to undertake preliminary preparation with a rehearsal with the actors for character development and memorization and preliminary staging,” she wrote.
Five months after PETA was founded, Balintataw TV premiered on Channel 5 on Aug. 19, 1967, coinciding with the Buwan ng Wika birthdate of President Manuel Luis Quezon.
The first play, whose title escapes her now, featured Armida Siguion-Reyna and Maria Eva “Chingbee” Kalaw. She employed photo journalist and award-winning photographedocumentarist/cinematographer, Romy Vitug, to work with her in filming outdoor scenes for Balintataw.

In the pre-Martial Law Balintataw, among those initiated into television were Lino Brocka, Elwood Perez, Nick Lizaso, Maryo delos Reyes, Mario O’Hara, Joey Gosiengfiao, Behn Cervantes, and Frank Rivera.
Among the stage actors who crossed over to television were Lily Gamboa, Angie Ferro, Lorlie Villanueva, Jonee Gamboa, Joy Soler, Sherry Lara, Gardy Labad, Noel Trinidad.
Like with PETA, Guidote-Alvarez directed and managed Balintataw for five years. Because of Martial Law, she and husband Heherson went on exile in the US to escape a military shoot-to-kill order on Heherson, who was tagged as a subversive.
Post-Martial Law
Internationally acclaimed auteur Lav Diaz mentioned in several interviews how he learned writing radio and TV scripts in Balintataw.
This happened in the late 1980s, when the Alvarez couple returned from exile.
Despite its absence on the air in the Martial Law years, Balintataw was honored by Star Awards as among the 20 unforgettable outstanding broadcast programs in the Philippines.
“This encouraged me to consider reviving Balintataw on TV. Another blessing was a FAMAS award for having an important role in the development of cinema recognizing Balintataw as a bridge for synergizing cinema with the stage, providing a pathway of entry of our PETA artists into film and for movie stars to consider enriching their experience by acting on the legitimate stage,” Guidote-Alvarez wrote.
Though she didn’t return to PETA anymore because it had been surviving well and had its own set of officers led by Brocka, she just tapped some of its members for the return of Balintataw.
For 14 years, the Alvarez couple lived in the US as political exiles, shown here during a Ninoy Aquino Movement meeting. Cecile revived Radyo Balintataw upon their return in the late 1980s.
Channel 4 stint
“I arranged to revive TV Balintataw on Channel 4 in 1989. We began with a drama about a rebel returnee, title escapes me now, but I clearly remember it was written by Lualhati Bautista and directed by Maryo de los Reyes. We also had a good story series on the hazing of Lenny Villa, an Aquila Legis Frat neophyte,” she wrote.
At the time, Heherson had been elected senator after having served as Agrarian Reform Minister and eventually Cabinet Secretary during the first year of the Cory Aquino Administration.
“We were able to unravel the deadly hazing process from a fellow neophyte who broke the code of silence as we revealed graphically, acted the cruel process used. I had Jose Mari Avellana direct it. This presentation won all the awards. Lav Diaz was training with us and he started writing teleplays. We also had Nora Aunor in an adaptation of Bert Florentino’s The World Is An Apple, adapted by Frank Rivera, and I had Nick Lizaso direct.”

Emmy Awards
Balintataw TV was selected as one of five soaps for social change recognized by Emmy Awards. The Philippines was one of five countries cited, with Mexico, India, Brazil and Kenya.
“The nomination was made possible by the wonderful support from David Poindexter. It was a supreme honor for our country to be recognized in the Emmy Awards, to be cited among the five Third World countries using soap opera for social change.”
Poindexter was a Methodist minister and TV producer who founded the Population Communications International.
Surviving on radio
“In spite of the cry about how television can be deadening the minds of the people with copied themes with an eternal favorite love triangle story, there was really no funding for Balintataw,” she wrote.
“Sponsors would go naturally to the commercial stations where big stars were paid highly for the starring role. Balintataw may have substance but we could not afford payment of bankable stars,” she added.
“Financial stress forced me to drop TV and remain on radio because I didn’t want to kill Balintataw per se just because we didn’t have funds.”
Creative classroom
“We have focused on Balintataw as a creative classroom on the air. I was able to talk to Fred J. Elizalde of DZRH and the president of the network, Mr. Jun Nicdao,” she wrote.
In the ‘80s, the HIV/AIDS became a global epidemic and in the Philippines, the general populace was still clueless on how to deal with it.
“In order to get funding, the first series I did was about the explosive news regarding AIDS in Asia. I got the DOH Secretary at the time, Dr. Juan Flavier, to act as himself, providing the data. It was easier to start off with an AIDS radio serial.
They did a minimum of 13 episodes to raise awareness about the disease.
“From then on, some of our television scripts we transformed into a radio version. DZRH provided us with our initial production staff, so we used some from the network and some of its resident artists and drama talents. Our time slots were changing but always coming after the long-running horror drama, Gabi ng Lagim.
“We worked on the themes of overseas workers, the drug problem, corruption, aside from portraying contemporary and literary classics serving as social commentaries,” she wrote.
Women playwrights
“We dramatized the works of noted women writers and playwrights like Estrella Alfon, Genoveva Edroza Matute and Marilou Jacob, who is distinguished in being a founding president of Women’s Playwright International.
“Apart from our PETA staple of writers, we involved young, upcoming and budding university and community theater groups.
“We also had a lot of foreign plays, where we could feature theater festivals beyond borders. We could do Shakespeare, we could do Euripides but also the current playwrights in the Arab region we translated in our language.
“We brought in Chinese contemporary plays, Malaysian, Indonesian and from other women writers from ASEAN member countries.”
Virtual history book
“The significance of Balintataw is portrayed as a virtual history book on audio as it unveiled events in the country. Radio is fresh, instant and up-to date,” she added.
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Balintataw became Guidote-Alvarez’s outlet and therapy. Having lost her husband on the second month of the pandemic, a widow cocooned at home, she began hosting it six days a week, learning how to use an iPad and interviewing via Zoom.
The word “Balintataw” has been associated with her name.
Visual artist and editorial cartoonist Benjie Lontoc in casual meeting told us how in his younger days, when AM Radio was a national past-time, he was surprised to hear a Filipino adaptation of No Exit by Jean Paul-Sarte. This was when radio was airing soap, fantasy adventures targeting housewives and children.
Another was the airing of Larawan as a radio play in the 1990s, with Guidote-Alvarez as the voice of Candida Marasigan.
Leopoldo Salcedo (left) as Manolo in a confrontation scene with Dante Rivero as Tony Javier in PETA’s 1968 ‘Larawan’ directed by Cecile Guidote-Alvarez. (Photo from PETA archives)
In the 1960s, she directed Larawan, the first Filipino adaptation of Joaquin’s A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino for PETA’s second season. It ran from December 1968 to January 1969 at the Raha Sulayman Theater at Fort Santiago in Intramural. In the cast were Rita Gomez (Candida), Lolita Rodriguez (Paula), Leopoldo Salcedo (Don Manolo) and Dante Rivero (Tony Javier).
Guidote-Alvarez has a funny recollection of the radio play. It was Nick Joaquin himself who told her years ago how his pedicurist suddenly started a conversation about Larawan.

Joaquin was relaxing on the barber’s chair having a post-haircut pedicure and foot spa when the lady pedicurist asked him how the story would end. Joaquin was stunned because he didn’t want to be known in the barber shop as Nick Joaquin the famous National Artist for Literature, but just a regular customer.
“He told me he almost fell out from the chair. He was a very private person and the pedicurist recognized him as the playwright,” Guidote-Alvarez, laughing, told TheDiarist.ph.
When she was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000, she was given only three years to live. It’s been more than two decades since then. She has also conquered COVID-19 twice.
Over and beyond her work in theater and various advocacies, Guidote-Alvarez is among the few surviving practitioners of AM Radio broadcasting.
The beauty salon incident wasn’t a first for the octogenarian radio host. She occasionally went back there to interview guests and record her shows whenever Wi-Fi connections in her home fluctuated.
Despite all setbacks, man-made or otherwise, the steadfast Cecile Guidote-Alvarez’s voice continues to be heard in this mass media platform in an era that knows mainly Spotify. As Joaquin wrote, “to remember and to sing, that is her vocation.”
(Except Saturday, Radyo Balintataw airs daily on DZRH 666 Khz AM radio after ‘Gabi ng Lagim’, and live streamed on radio.org.ph. Some episodes have been uploaded on YouTube.)

We have been dating for almost three months now he tells me he loves me every day but the only thing that makes me insecure is that he didn't even change my name on his phone I mean my full name..am I not official yet?

Mine was named Brandon and I never thought I'd have sex with a Brandon but I did. He also had a big dick for an Asian guy which is cool.

Spoilers ahead, read at your own risk
We open this ep with Strawberry watering the plants, and losing control of the hose. This scene was definitely filler, but it didn't drag on, so it wasn't so bad. Then Honey Pie Pony shows up to tell Strawberry that the festival of the fillies is coming soon. We also get introduced to Honey's handstanding ability. Then, the humans travel to Ice Cream Island. The talking raven, aptly named Raven, sees Honey do her handstanding trick and tells Licorice Whip, who is the villain of this ep. This is the first time where we have a true villain in an episode. Yes, Peppermint Fizz is a jerk, but I don't view her as villainous. Licorice has the same vibe as the Pieman, and it's kinda disappointing that neither he nor Raven are ever seen again. Imagine the kind of episode we could've gotten if Licorice Whip and the Pieman collaborated. Oh well, what can you do? Anyway, the humans (Strawberry, Ginger, Orange, and Angel) meet some of the other horses on the island (Orange Twist, Cookie Dough, and Milkshake). This is the first time we see any mention of Orange Blossom being shy around new people, where Ginger says something about Orange being too surprised to be shy. Angle Cake tries to approach Milkshake by running to her, but she runs away (who could've seen that coming? /s). Angel gets sad bc she assumes Milkshake didn't like her. Also, sidenote: Huck isn't in this episode. Either the authors couldn't find a way to include him or the VA wasn't available for recording. Honey translates the other horses saying that they want Honey to lead the parade during the festival. The humans stay overnight on the island, and Honey leaves to practice. When they wake up, Honey is still gone, and Strawberry goes looking for her and sees the footprints of Licorice and Raven. I kinda wish we could've gotten to see the scene where Honey is horse-napped. Anyway, Milkshake brings the girls a wanted poster for the bad guys. The girls ride on the non speaking horses, following the wagon. Meanwhile in said wagon, Honey starts talking after Raven mentions stopping for lunch, and Licorice gets excited about her money making potential as a talking horse. When we get to where Licorice is camping out/holding the captured ponies, we get his evil little musical number about how he's gonna exploit Honey for entertainment and make a ton of money. Sidenote: this song is one of the few mentions of parents in this entire series, which is pretty wild. We get a brief scene of Orange Twist jumping over a ditch, which gets Orange Blossom excited, then we're back to Licorice. He hears Strawberry calling for Honey and orders Raven to go find out where the noise came from. Honey talks to the other horses who tell her that Licorice is evil. She tries to get out, but she almost immediately gets lassoed. Raven follows the girls, and his first instinct is to think that it's sweet that the girls are looking for their friend, which hints to us that he isn't all bad. One of his feathers falls on Milkshake's nose, and Angel remembers that there were bird prints too. They all start going faster, bit Milkshake trips on a tree root and gets hurt. Angel tells the others to go on ahead. Her gentleness with Milkshake contrasts with Licorice's abusive treatment of his abductees. As Licorice is trying to load the horses onto his ship, Raven gets all up in his face to warn him about the girls, which leads to him falling in the water, which is somewhat amusing. Licorice, once again, berates Raven, and so he vents to Honey. She helps him realize that Licorice sucks, so he goes back to help Strawberry and crew. He tells a mini sob story before pledging his loyalty to the girls. Licorice stupidly puts the horses in a fragile wooden cage. The girls get to the dock just as Licorice is leaving. Honey uses her handstand to kick down the cage, and she and the other horses escape in the nick of time. Licorice swears he will come back one day (and then never does, unless he returns off screen). The parade was delayed until Honey comes back. Then, we get the second musical number celebrating the titular festival, which closes out the episode. Overall, a solid episode with a few critiques here and there.
Comment your thoughts below!

maybe he can even save the economy, could you imagine what a championship would do for the Orlando economy??

Synopsis:
An engineer in another world—blending science and magic to achieve greatness in a world where skills and levels reign supreme.
—
Ethan was just a plain old engineer, but everything changed when he was reborn into a world of skills, levels, and magic. With his advanced knowledge far ahead of the time period he finds himself in, this new reincarnated life will be much different than his last, especially because he can construct, deconstruct, and reconstruct runes—something no one else can do.
But with royal politics, looming tax collectors, a mountain of debt, dungeon incursions, cults, and hostile fantasy races mixing together into a cocktail of bullshit that threatens to bury his dreams; Ethan must bridge the gap between steel and sorcery to grow stronger. — Runecrafting is slow burn. — What to Expect: - Weak to very strong progression - Hardcore wish fulfillment - A balance of action, kingdom building, and runecrafting. - MC will trigger an industrial revolution, revolutionize magic, modernize agriculture, communication, commerce, textile production, education, transportation, sanitation, weapons manufacturing, leisure & entertainment, and medicine.
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Chapter 04

-1-
Ethan's heart thumped in his throat as he looked at the arrow's head glinting. Fortunately, Roland had grabbed it in an instant. The arrow hadn't hit Ethan, and it likely wouldn't have. Roland threw the arrow aside as Ethan heard a muffled grunt and glanced out the window to the right. An arrow had pierced the side of their driver, right between the shoulder and chest. Ethan whipped back into his seat just as another projectile smashed against the other side of their carriage, denting it. Roland immediately stood up with a calm demeanor and unsheathed his sword. "Lord Theodore, please remain seated. This inconvenience will be dealt with shortly."
Ethan blinked up, nodded, and clasped his hands around his knee while resting his head against the window ledge as Roland got out. Situations such as this weren't anything he'd ever dealt with back on earth, but he had plenty of experience keeping himself in check when fear took hold. He'd been a boxer, after all. Ethan tapped his finger on his knee, again and again.
"Die, you shits!" a voice yelled, then a meaty crash was followed by a pained groan. It was clearly someone falling over. Moments later, footsteps approached from the other side. A man swung the carriage door open. "Get—"
Before he could say much else, a sword pierced through his chest. He slumped and hit the ground without a word, revealing Roland standing with a blank expression. His eyes were different than anything Ethan had seen since his transmigration—Roland looked nonchalant even after taking a life, which was understandable given that the man had likely taken a lot of lives. Ethan closed his eyes, refusing to look at the dead body.
More footsteps grew nearer. Two sets. They stopped beside their carriage. "Well fuck, what a piece of trash." one man said, then lurched at Roland with a bloody shout.
The fight was over in an instant.
Roland simply disappeared from his position before Ethan. Reappearing behind the two bandits flanking him, he delivered an equally lethal strike to each in turn. Simultaneously, a sharp crackling and whooshing sound made Ethan tense. Spreading out on the floor before the carriage, a dark blue magical glyph buzzed like electricity, sending sparks of electricity slamming into the bandits.
Then, the bandits' bodies split in two halves, their blood sprayed across the dirt before they even began collapsing with electricity sizzling on their bodies.
Just as he'd felt movement in the air through [Magic Perception], a man materialized right in front of Ethan. Tensing, Ethan didn't know what to do
Roland shouted from outside. Adrenaline rocketed through Ethan's veins. Hand moving, he grabbed the bandit's hand and twisted it. The bandit tackled him, and with the tight space, Ethan felt the tip of a knife nicking the side of his cheek. The wound stung badly, and with it, Ethan's mind blanked and his instincts kicked in.
Roland swiftly spun, but not in time to stop the man from pinning Ethan against the bench.
However, it wasn't needed. Ethan used [Elemental Spells] and summoned fire all over his palms. A sizzling sound erupted as the bandit cried out and went for Ethan's eyes with his free hand. Ethan bit the bandit's hand, and only got half a mouthful of skin and cloth. The bandit reeled back and leapt backward from the sudden burning pain, crying out as he crashed. Ethan lunged at him, grabbed and force-flipped the bandit's hand, and plunged the knife into his throat with an aggressive grunt. There was a short, gurgled cry, before the bandit tried swinging the knife towards him. "Cunt... bastard..." his bloody mouth formed the words, his eyes staring fearfully, but Ethan pushed the knife aggressively.
Blood sprayed and gushed onto Ethan's mouth.
Then, finally, the man stilled.
The corpse's weight fell onto Ethan, hot blood spilling out of the bandit's throat and filling the air with an acrid odor. Ethan felt it on his face. Hot. Metallic smell. He saw it dripping down the bandit's throat, all across his clothes, even in his hair. It was heavy, almost. Layer upon layer, the heavy cloak of the man's life weighting down on his spirit.
System notifications flashed but he ignored it given that bile rose in Ethan's throat. His vision darkened, and a rush of blood roared in his ear as his heart thumped like thunder. A violent urge to vomit rose within him, his entire body twitching. He had never seen a man die in front of him like this before. Disgusting as it was, he gulped everything down, even the reality he had found himself in, the death, the violence, it all set in at that moment. However, he had no time to delve on it. Even though he felt like someone had squeezed his windpipe, like a bullet was tearing through his skin, he needed to act. Now.
Ethan flipped the man aside and sat on his knees, pulling out the knife from the bandit's neck. From his place on the ground, he glanced at Roland engaged with three bandits.
One slipped past Roland and made it to Ethan. They're trying to get a hand on me. Why? The answer was simple. Oh, right... I'm a noble, they can just put a knife on my throat and demand shit...
Instead of giving the bandit the upper hand, Ethan took a breath. Once. Twice. Now or never, thinking so, he raised the knife and dove headfirst toward the approaching enemy. Caught by surprise, the bandit merely moved his free hand to counter attack. His fingers grasping the bandit's arm, he twisted it away, giving him room to go straight for the eye.
With a meaty sound, Ethan plunged the knife through the man's eyes. Blood spurted with a slick sound. The bandit wasn't fast enough to make a full reaction, as a sort of instinctive scream of terror got stuck halfway and died out. Then, as the feeling of having ended another life settled within him, Ethan retracted the dagger and stepped back. His back slamming against the carriage, he slid down and pressed a hand against his forehead. His cheek hurt. He smelled sweat and blood.
Fuck... Fuck... Breathe. This is... I can't... Breathe.
A chill ran down his spine and his heartbeat roared. He took a breath, adrenaline still surging through his veins. The sick feeling didn't leave his stomach, his entire body twitched as if electrocuted every once in a while, and his eyes started going hazy, unclear. Black spots in his field of vision. Sticky warmth all over. Hot metallic odor in his nostrils.
"Lord Theodore!" Roland's voice acted as a way for Ethan to reorient himself into reality. Roland looked ashen, not because he was tired but most likely because he'd let Ethan get into such a vulnerable position. Roland glanced at the corpse, then Ethan, then back at the corpse again, looking tense, lips tight and hands clutched into fists. "Are you alright, my lord?"
"Yes, of course," Ethan said as he studied the wound on his cheek. I need a healing skill. However, he noticed the visible distressed Roland was having and continued. "I'm fine. Don't worry. It's no big deal. For the moment, we need to clean up this mess."
Ethan could tell Roland was uncomfortable with the situation and Ethan's complete indifference, but the warrior dutifully obeyed his lord's commands. Ethan slumped onto his seat and looked through the notifications.
Your race, [Human], has leveled up — Lvl 0 -> Lvl 1!
Your class, [Mage], has level up — Lvl 0 -> Lvl 1!
[Unranked Mage] -> [Initiate]
[Elemental Spells] — Lvl 5 -> Lvl 6!
A [Quest] approaches!
Hmm, this is the second time I see the message 'A [Quest] approaches'... What is it? Why doesn't the system just give me the [Quest]? Are there conditions? Regardless, it seems that [Elemental Spells] just needed some use in battle instead of just plain old practice. Curious.
Ethan leaned back with a sigh. Now that his heartbeat wasn't drumming in his ear, the fear slowly ebbed away. All things considered, this turned out well, given the situation. However, now that he'd calmed somewhat, his eyes landed on the corpse right beside him, and that fresh scarlet blood seeping into the floorboards. The heavy coppery scent, the unmistakable smell of death. It all came crashing into him and he could no longer deny what he'd done. It had all gone so quickly.
No theatrics, the knife had just flown in, and the bandit had struggled, then stopped struggling.
Ethan stared at the corpses. With his hands on his lap, he gazed vacantly. For a single, stretched-out moment, the only thing he was aware of were the lifeless bodies right next to him, the sensation of having one less enemy standing in the way. One of the bandits had his jugular slashed. Another had a knife poking into his eyes. Ethan had killed them. Him. It was nauseatingly easy, taking another's life. It felt good. Ethan was disgusted at that thought, but damn did it feel good. I—I... I won. He wanted to grin, but he didn't.
Soon, the bandits were dealt with. Not a minute was wasted, and they cleaned up and got moving in a hurry, before Roland could throw the corpse inside the carriage out, Ethan stopped him.
He'd been staring at it, sitting there, silently. Bile would rise to the tip of his throat before he'd swallow it, a stone in his gut making his movements stiff. It felt unreal. When he took that step to make sure the bandit was dead, his eyes met with those of the corpse—with glassy black pupils that appeared frozen mid-realization that he was dying. Fearful, horrified eyes. Human eyes. Ethan stared into them, felt every fiber of his body clench, saw the smears of blood across the man's mouth where his desperate breaths had made him cough up, to live.
Ethan stared, not because he was a masochist or someone who derived pleasure from other people's misery. Rather, it was because he wanted this to never happen again. His reaction. It hadn't been optimal. He just knew he'd need to kill and spill blood if he was to survive, and thus, he needed to familiarize himself with the sight of death—death caused by his hands.
His thoughts were a little less orderly than he liked. That needed to change, fast. It would always be a burden, so he simply chose to stare, knowing he was staring down his weakness—at his fear.
After a solid five minutes, Ethan turned around. Roland's gaze met Ethan's. For a brief moment, the gaze was averted, the warrior showing clear guilt. Ethan placed a hand on the man's shoulder. "Roland, don't blame yourself. I understand you must have felt cornered and unable to react. Just know I appreciate you. Don't beat yourself up for it. There have been no casualties on our side."
Roland bowed his head. Ethan smiled, though it was strained. Roland had been standing there for a while now but hadn't wanted to interrupt Ethan's self-reflection time, despite being tense himself. The guards had burned the corpses. Soon, the men Ethan killed were taken out, too. Then they left for the woods.
A guard who appeared to be a [Mage] that had a spell called [Cleanse] walked to the carriage, and placed his hands near the gore-splattered interior. In mere moments, a rune flickered into existence, then, mana got sucked out of the guard, seeping into the rune—soon, the blood and even the smells were swept clean and everything returned to being a neat and tidy.
The guard staggered a little before his comrades stabilized him. Must be quite demanding, Ethan noted, nodding appreciatively as the guard stepped out of the carriage. "That's quite the useful skill," Ethan said, examining the results.
Roland gave a silent nod, no doubt feeling pretty damn bad about his failure.
The guard, on the other hand, bowed with a smile, clearly appreciating Ethan's recognition. "It's a pleasure to be of service, my lord. This humble guard has had this skill ever since he became a mage."
Ethan made an impressed noise. "I see."
The guard beamed, then bowed even more before walking over to his fellow guards, who patted his backs at a job well done. Then, the horses pulled the carriage, and the carriage resumed moving. As soon as his back had settled into the cushion of the seat, an exhausting wave rolled over Ethan's body.
Before everything, however. I saw the rune. Ethan grinned a little, then willed mana into the shape of the rune.
It sputtered.
Ethan tried again, connecting different parts of the rune. One. Two. Three. Four. And as the rune sputtered again.
Throughout the journey to Deadwoods, Ethan kept at it.
He failed every time—
—and he didn't know why.
An immense headache assaulted him, and he had to stop his attempts.
-2-
The Deadwoods proved to be just what he'd expected. Dead. Charred branches and crumbling trees lay spread throughout. Roland looked around solemnly. Ethan was more interested in what kept this place the way it was. This land was, to put it simply, the most horrific location in the entire barony. It was a huge portion of a forest that appeared to be dead, thus why it had gotten the name Deadwoods.
Leaves crunched underneath Ethan's feet, and he studied his surroundings with morbid curiosity. The trees, branches and leaves were all dark in color as if something had scorched them. Many creatures lived here, animals like the usual game of deer, wolves, and foxes and sometimes there'd even been bears spotted. The dangerous thing, however, wasn't that the animals existed, it was that they were magical beasts. Mutants.
"Lord Theodore," Roland said, hand on his sword, eyes darting around in caution. "It is dangerous to be here—"
"Peh." Ethan waved his hand nonchalantly, much to Roland's shock at such an uncharacteristic behavior. "It will be worth it."
After all, I'm gonna have fun hunting monsters, leveling up, and finally, finally finding some goddamn tree ash.
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The Sleepaway Show was popular on my college radio.
JJ Savrin, Nicholas Mayflower, and Elena Fisher.
I was a big fan of their horror narrations.
“Yoooo, and welcome to another episode of The Sleepaway Show! I'm your host, JJ Savrin! I'm here with Nick and Elena, and we’ve got a crazy story for you! It's by Reddit user Broken-but-not-bent, and it's called Metal Baby. Now, this story is horror, but it's got a liiiitle bit of M. Night mixed in. It's one of my faves–”
“Hey!”
I flinched. It was too early for jump scares.
My ‘YouTuber’ roommate was in front of me, waving his arms. I pulled out an earphone, already anticipating the kind of conversation we were going to have.
The second he opened his mouth, I was ready for the complaining.
“I got a bad comment.” Connor grumbled, slumping down in front of me. “This one is threatening to strike my channel. They're relentless.”
He waved his phone with a scoff. “Shouldn't authors be happy they're being recognised?”
I forced a smile, resting my chin on my fist. “Do you think… maybe it's because you're using their stories without asking?” I said. “I mean, you did get a whole channel taken down–”
Connor rolled his eyes. “Nah. They're public domain, so I can use them if I want.” He pulled out a pack of chips, stuffing a handful in his mouth. “Also, the AI voice sounds human.” He prodded his phone. “See? Listen.”
When he started the video, a human-ish voice began the story, immediately pronouncing a typo.
Connor was right. It did sound human, but it wasn't human enough. It was too perfect, with the exact same drone-ey tone. Admittedly, AI had gotten better from text to speech to an almost human voice. But it wasn't the real thing.
Connor studied me with slightly manic eyes.
“Well? What do you think?”.
“It's good,” I said. “But why don't you read them? You have a good enough voice.”
My roommate shrugged. “I dunno. It's easier to just run it through an AI. I just copy and paste the story, and it's done.”
I regarded him with the look.
“Uh-huh.”
I corked one headphone back in, bleeding back into my favourite show.
JJ was in the middle of a monologue, his raspy voice immediately embodying the character. I could hear every piece of his voice, every breath, every time he messed up and choked on a laugh, or quietly correcting himself. But he was human. His mistakes, his awkward breathing and the cheap microphone letting in outside ambience. Even his stuttering, the way he mispronounced words and fucked up accents. All of it was painfully and beautifully human.
Metal Baby was a great story, and it ended with some of the best voice acting I had heard from The Sleepaway Show. Elena and Nick sounded insane, and JJ made the perfect unreliable narrator.
Especially for the Shutter Island type twist.
When it was over, Elena thanking their college patrons, I tugged out an earphone and settled my roommate with a smile.
Connor was glaring at his phone. When he caught my eye, he scowled. “What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Instead of answering him, I held up my phone, displaying the show. “Why not try finding a real human voice?” I said.
“You have cash from your job, right? Dump the robot-sounding AI, and pay a voice actor.”
I watched my roommate's expression crumple.
“Fuck.” he tapped his phone, a smile curving on his lips.
“You really think it'll work?”
“Well, yeah. The Dark Somnium. Mr Creeps. Lighthouse Horror. What do they all have in common?”
Connor’s lip twitched. “Millions of subscribers? Listeners who are obsessed with rule -based stories?”
“Human voices.” I said. “AI channels do exist with stupid amounts of followers, but they don't get nearly enough traction.”
Connor hummed. “So, what I need is a human voice?”
“Bingo.”
When I got home that night, I got a text from Connor.
Don't come into my bathroom! Narration in progress.
Bathroom ambience, I thought.
Sure.
The next day, though, to my surprise, The Sleepaway Show wasn't broadcast. On the college website, the page was offline.
Elena published a post a few hours later explaining that the three of them were still hungover from the night before, so there would be no show. I was bummed.
I was looking forward to JJ’s narration of a new cosmic horror story they were teasing.
Days went by, and still no show.
Elena had stopped posting updates.
Her last one simply said: PLEASE stop asking! We’re sick lol. No show this week.
That was weird. Especially when the three had managed to do a show suffering with food poisoning from bad shellfish.
I was checking for updates when I got home around 5pm.
No sign of Connor.
His laptop was open in his room.
He was editing.
I couldn't help it, risking a peek at his latest narration. I always get curious about the stories he chooses. Connor is a big fan of psychological horror.
Getting comfy in his chair, and taking an awkward sip from his lukewarm coffee, I pressed play on the edit. I'm not sure what it was that twisted my gut.
The coffee tasted kind of weird, and it was too hot in his room.
But, as I fast forwarded the edit, I realized I was listening to a familiar voice. I wasn't expecting JJ’s Savrin’s tone to bleed from the speakers.
So soon, too. It's not like I was doubting that he'd say yes to narrating, but he'd been sick, right? I twisted around, studying my roommate's room for recording equipment. Nothing.
Just a broken microphone on his floor, the one I accidentally stood on.
JJ’s narration sounded normal, at first.
But further into it, I began to notice something was wrong with it. The charm was gone, his smooth, velvet murmur had been airbrushed, perfected into a horrifying, AI-like robotic drone. There were zero mistakes, or breaths, or laughter.
*It was late when I left the restaurant.”
JJ’s voice was too perfect, skipping over the voice of the character, the atmosphere he put into his tone. “I was locking the door when I noticed something was behind me.”
The period at the end of the sentence was too noticeable.
Not natural.
“Oh no.” JJ continued in that same robotic drawl. “Did a customer want to kill me?”
The AI voice faltered, and this time, I did hear a gasp.
It sounded like pain.
Running through the edit, there were still chunks of recording, untouched.
“I… ice… cream…I…”
The sudden sharp inhalation of breath exploding from the speakers sent ice sliding down my spine. It was too human. I could see it in the levels, the way they hit red.
“It's so… dark. I can't see... anything."
The voice splintered into a cry, and this time, in the footage my roommate was trying to remove, to cut away, JJ did sound human. His shaky breaths shuddered through the speakers.
“Please, can someone help me? I don't know where I–” The edit skipped, bleeding back into the story. I was already backing away from Connor’s laptop, my heart in my throat.
I remembered stabbing the off switch on the laptop, but the voice continued, spluttering and crackling.
This time it was coming from behind me.
The bathroom.
“Is… someone there? I'm locked in the bathroom, man. I want to go home.”
JJ Savrin.
Was in our house.
Worse, my psycho roommate has kidnapped him, attempting to steal his voice.
When I stepped back, his cry was louder.
“Fuck! Is someone there? Answer me!"
“JJ?” I found myself in a daze, walking towards my roommate's bathroom.
“What... did he do to you?”
The guy let out a strangled cry. “Your psycho friend locked me in the bathroom! I think I'm blindfolded. I…I can't see anything, “ he paused, “Can you get me the fuck out of here?”
I swallowed down something slimy. “Did Connor do this to you?”
He broke out into a sob. “He knocked me out. I think he wants me to narrate for him. Which isn't happening, by the way. The lunatic is trying to steal my fucking voice!”
With shaky hands, I grabbed the icy handle, which turned, to my surprise.
“The door isn't locked,” I said. “Did he tie you up?”
The boy groaned. “Obviously! I can't fucking move!"
Opening the doors, I stopped, paralysed, and JJ’s voice faltered, breaking into a sob.
The contrast of red and white made my head spin.
”Can you… take off my blindfold? I'm… fuck, I'm terrified of the dark, man.”
I found my voice, stepping directly into warm red. It pooled between my toes.
“Sure.” I said.
I’ve been talking to a therapist about my reaction to what I found in my roommate's bathroom.
She says it was my mind trying to both deny and deal with trauma, but I'm pretty sure I had lost my fucking mind.
“I love your show.” I hummed, pulling out my phone and dialling 911. "You're a talented narrator."
9123.
9223.
912.
9013.
It took me five tries, and I think I threw up all over myself.
The toilet bowl was splattered with blood.
“I… thanks?” The boy let out a spluttered laugh.
I was aware of the ice cold steel of my phone pressed to my ear.
“You're welcome.”
”You've found me.” JJ whispered, when my gaze found the trash can overflowing with deep red, fleshy mounds of pink and white.
I wasn't staring at JJ Savrin.
“I... have.”
I was looking at his remnants.
Stuffed into the toilet bowl, a single lump of pink, wires protruding from it.
The thing pulsed, JJ Savrin’s cry collapsing into a robotic drone.
JJ’s voice didn't make sense.
It was alive. While he wasn't.
“So, why… why can't I see you?” His voice stuttered. "I can't see anything."
When I couldn't physically reply, he started to cry.
I heard every wet, human sounding sob.
“Are you… still… there?” He asked me, over and over again.
I didn't reply.
But he kept going, and I could hear them getting progressively more hysterical.
When the police surrounded me, JJ spoke again. “What's your... name?”
The sheriff shook his head, but I couldn't stop myself.
“I'm Sadie.”
A pause, before, “Can you stay with me, Sadie?”
I nodded, on my knees, struggling to breathe.
“Yeah.” I said. “I'm here, JJ.”
The rest is a blur.
It still is a blur, and this was almost a year ago.
Whatever was left of the narrator was disposed of. I wasn't even fully conscious, sitting in the back of an ambulance, my roommate's laptop squeezed to my chest.
The cops said it was evidence, but I didn't want to give it to them.
Due to the horrific nature of JJ Savrin’s murder, the full details were never released, and his full name was covered up. Nick and Elena have dumped the show, and the show itself has been wiped from existence. I heard Nick tried to kill himself a month ago.
Elena published a blog exposing what really happened to JJ, warning Youtube narrators.
It was deleted, of course, but she wasn't wrong.
I don't think people will go to extremes like my roommate, but human voices are precious.
Connor was taken away in cuffs, and he genuinely doesn't understand what he's done wrong. I think my roommate was so obsessed with views and comments, he would do anything to get them. And I was the one who pointed him to his victim.
The last thing he said to me was, “What? You told me to use a human voice!”
Crazy bastard.
In a way, though, this was my fault. And I'll live with this shit for the rest of my life.
I still have Connor’s laptop, and JJ is still with me.
At least, I like to think he is.

There was that one kid with a bad skin condition in kindergarten that put glue in my hair and another one stole my school supplies. The one that put glue on my hair point finger at me still years later bragging that he did that and is cool. The worst part is both of them are Asian too and their parents know my parents. I wished that my parents stand up for me and not stay in their basement sulking and wasting their youth time and life. It’s friends and they live in house, so they’re looking down inferior complex. I can’t even lie about my living condition and to kids bully diss the poor guy is edgy, easy, fun to expose. I also have a last name that easy to poke fun of, which I hate. However, one of my bully also have the last nameHo. We can’t be friend rather he choose bully lesser guy and hang out with “cool kids” like pretend posh Indian and absentee drop out weed white guy.
I’m so afraid of getting suspendedby teachers and it’s like end of the world to me, but somehow I got one because of accident. It wasn’t even deliberate or a meltdown and there the bullies gang up tell on me even when one of them got suspendedfor worst by throwing a fellow classmate against the chalkboard with his korean martial art. Yet to them their parent are proud they stand up or it not a big deal since for kids to be wild is good confident booster. Also, hate the fact the teachers and counselors can’t be bother or choose who to help and support while having scandal of their own reported on the news yet kept their tenure jobs. The worst is that they are afraid to confronts or deal with the worst students because of their stature and stereotype on what they might do. It’s like certain race perceived weak and won’t fight back out of pride and cowardice.

I remember listening to this song in 2021 but i cant remember the name, all i remember is:

1. The lyrics were either japanese or asian

2, It had 8-bit videogame sounds

1. The thumbnail is a white-haired girl in black clothing curled up in a white box(probably album cover for the band)
   
2. It is on youtube
   

Any help would be great.

I just finished this book, and I found it very entertaining! I've seen a lot of discourse on this book already, so I wanted to get my more random thoughts out there:
-Was it just me, or did anyone else think the story was going to involve COVID? I think the only date mentioned throughout the entire story is March 2020, when Adele publishes her takedown of June's Mother Witch with evidence. I thought this was foreshadowing that news of the pandemic was going to take over the media, and June's scandal would be quickly forgotten because of it, ironically being saved by this disease that originated in China and that resulted in a spike in Asian hate crimes. I really don't understand why the author included the date March 2020 otherwise....
-I guess I have to chalk this up to June's unreliable narration, but I got confused about how Athena said her WWI project was "finally finished," and it's emphasized how she doesn't let anyone see her work until she's completely done with it (she asks June to read it, meaning she's done with it for sure), but then June goes on to say it was not done at all and had a bunch of empty spots that Athena was gonna fill in later etc, etc.
-June also starts by saying how amazing the manuscript is and better than she could ever write in her lifetime, but this then becomes "it needed a ton of work" to "it was utterly unpublishable" lmao
-As insufferable and terrible as June is, I found myself rooting for her to get away with it... that is, until Mother Witch. At first, I thought it was completely fine that she was taking inspiration from that one paragraph Athena wrote. I didn't even think that paragraph was good (maybe I'm just not a literary scholar but it felt too vague and random to be interesting to me). But then it turns out June put that paragraph word for word into her opening????? JUNE WHY
-I'm not sure if this was intentional (to maybe show that June's not actually that good of a writer) or publisher error or stylistic choice by the author, but were there like... a ton of grammatical errors with the semicolons? Or do I just not know my punctuations lol?
Examples:
Geoff seems inordinately angry; far angrier than this response justifies.
^ should be a comma?
Sometimes her face is contorted in grotesque expressions; eyes wide, tongue wagging.
^ shouldn't this be a colon instead of semicolon?
-All of June's publishing team and friends advise her to keep her head down and not respond to any of the allegations, and I know this is good advice for the most part, but I think not addressing allegations AT ALL makes you look suuuuuper guilty. I think June's best bet would've been to issue one professionally written statement denying any of the allegations and then not speaking on it again, which is exactly what she ends up doing (later on) that initially turns the public back in her favor! (before the new Mother Witch scandal) Yes I know June had to make sure her "detractors" had no solid proof against her before putting out any statements, but her team who thought she was fully innocent didn't know that and still was advising her to say absolutely nothing. Idk, in my eyes, people who get accused of something terrible and don't address it at all are basically admitting their guilt with their silence.
-Speaking of, why do the characters keep insisting that June shouldn't be bothered by all these accusations as long as she's innocent? IF June were innocent, then she should be REALLY bothered that her name and career are getting dragged through the mud over something she didn't do. Who would possibly not be bothered by that?? She was literally losing connections and deals over it and people were treating her meanly.
-June literally says she wouldn't know how to explain to Eden why Athena's new Instagram post bothers her without having to admit that she's struggling with guilt from stealing. GIRL WHAT DO YOU MEAN. Someone hacked your dead friend's account, posted creepy photos of her being alive, targeted you directly--THAT'S NOT ENOUGH REASON TO BE BOTHERED?? GUILTY OR NOT?
-I'm confused about the timeline after Mother Witch's release. It says Adele's blog was posted 2 weeks after its release, and by the end of the month, Brett's saying it's "been awhile" since June worked on a new book. It's been.... a month....? That feels really short idk
-Was Patricia Liu's comment about "Athena would never write something like that" supposed to lead to something? I felt like that hinted heavily at an upcoming reveal into Athena's family dynamics but just got dropped
-Look, I get why Candice wanted revenge for getting fired, but seriously? She really thought leaving a one star review under her own full name and profile, for an author whose project she directly worked on, wouldn't hurt her professionally? Come on.
-How the hell did Candice convincingly photoshop multiple pictures of Athena where she was literally choking herself and lunging at the camera lmao?? And I'm assuming she got some recordings of Athena's voice to play at the Exorcist steps and spoke herself whenever her recordings didn't fit.
-June isn't driven by her passion for writing. She's driven by the idea of being famous and successful. She says herself that writing was only fun before she got to know how the publishing industry eats you alive, so if that's how she feels, she SHOULD be happy to pursue a regular stable income job and write in her free time instead, away from the publishing industry. But of course, that wouldn't yield her fame and fortune and envious glares from her colleagues, so she'd rather continue to dig her grave even deeper with the Athena scandal.
-I saw a lot of people were disappointed by the ending because we don't get to see June get punished but idk, I think we did? We spend the entirety of the novel in June's head so we know firsthand that she's... a mess. She is so deeply insecure and perpetually miserable, and she doesn't have enough self awareness to ever change that (though I do find it interesting how she will call out her own insecurities and projections and how things are her fault... But then always jump back into victimhood). On top of that, she DOES get dragged online and takes hits to her career like crazy for half the book, and she's gonna continue to get dragged once Candice releases her book. She's definitely faced her punishment; she just has the audacity to keep going lmao.

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Stephen Graham Jones, Earthdivers (IDW)
Mariko Tamaki, Roaming (Drawn & Quarterly)
Tom Taylor, Nightwing, Titans (DC)
Kelly Thompson, Birds of Prey, Harley Quinn, Black White and Redder (DC); Black Cloak, The Cull (Image); It’s Jeff, Captain Marvel (Marvel)
Mark Waid, Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, Shazam!, World’s Finest: Teen Titans (DC)
G. Willow Wilson, Poison Ivy (DC); Hunger and the Dusk (IDW)
BEST WRITEARTIST
Emily Carroll, A Guest in the House (First Second/Macmillan)
Bill Griffith, Three Rocks (Abrams ComicArts)
Daniel Warren Johnson, Transformers (Image Skybound)
Mokumokuren, The Summer Hikaru Died, vol. 1 (Yen Press)
Zoe Thorogood, Hack/Slash: Back To School (Image)
Tillie Walden, Clementine Book Two (Image Skybound)
BEST PENCILLEINKER OR PENCILLEINKER TEAM
Jason Shawn Alexander, Detective Comics (DC); Killadelphia, with Germán Erramouspe (Image)
Tula Lotay, Barnstormers: A Ballad of Love and Murder (Comixology Originals/Best Jackett)
Inaki Miranda, Godzilla: Here There Be Dragons (IDW)
Dan Mora, Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, Shazam! (DC)
Chris Samnee, Fire Power (Image Skybound)
Jillian Tamaki, Roaming (Drawn & Quarterly)
BEST PAINTEMULTIMEDIA ARTIST (INTERIOR ART)
Jason Shawn Alexander, Blacula: Return of the King (Zombie Love Studios)
Chaiko, The Monkey King (Magnetic)
Juanjo Guarnido, Blacksad, Vol 7: They All Fall Down, Part 2 (Europe Comics)
Liam Sharp, Nocterra: Nemesis Special (Best Jackett); Starhenge: The Dragon and the Boar (Image)
Martin Simmonds, Universal Monsters: Dracula (Image Skybound)
Sana Takeda, The Night Eaters: Her Little Reapers (Abrams ComicArts); Monstress (Image)
BEST COVER ARTIST
Jen Bartel, DC Pride 2023, Fire & Ice: Welcome to Smallville #1 (DC); Captain Marvel: Dark Tempest #1, Demon Wars: Scarlet Sin #1, Scarlet Witch #9, Sensational She-Hulk (Marvel)
Evan Cagle, Detective Comics (DC)
Jenny Frison, Alice Never After #1, BRZRKR: Fallen Empire #1, and other alternate covers (BOOM! Studios); Knight Terrors: Harley Quinn #1–2, Poison Ivy #8, #12 (DC)
E. M. Gist, Expanse Dragon Tooth #1, Something Is Killing the Children #28 & #34, Wild’s End, vol 2 #4 and other alternate covers (BOOM! Studios); Amazing Spider-Man #23, Doctor Aphra #36, Moon Knight #3, Nightcrawlers #1, Wolverine #38 (Marvel)
Peach Momoko, Demon Wars: Scarlet Sin, various alternate covers (Marvel)
Dan Mora, Coda #3, Damn Them All #4, MMPR 30th Anniversary Special #1, Rare Flavours #3 and other alternate covers (BOOM! Studios); Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, Outsiders #1, Poison Ivy #9, Shazam!, Titans #1 (DC)
BEST COLORING
Jordie Bellaire, Batman, Birds of Prey (DC); Dark Spaces: Hollywood Special (IDW)
Matt Hollingsworth, Captain America, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, Punisher (Marvel)
Lee Loughridge, Red Zone (AWA); Edgeworld, Grammaton Punch, Nostalgia (Comixology Originals); The Devil’s Cut, Gone, Somna (DSTLRY); Star Trek (IDW); Killadelphia (Image); Hunt. Kill. Repeat. (Mad Cave)
Dave McCaig, The Sacrificers (Image), The Walking Dead Deluxe (Image Skybound)
Dean White, Conan the Barbarian (Titan Comics)
BEST LETTERING
Emily Carroll, A Guest in the House (First Second/Macmillan)
Benoit Dehan and Lauren Bowes, Inside the Mind of Sherlock Holmes (Titan Comics)
Bill Griffith, Three Rocks (Abrams ComicArts)
Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, The Unlikely Story of Felix and Macabber, The Witcher: Wild Animals, and others (Dark Horse); Batman: City of Madness, The Flash, Poison Ivy, and others (DC); Black Cat Social Club (Humanoids); Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees (IDW); The Cull, What’s the Furthest Place from Here? (Image); and others
Richard Starkings, Barnstormers: A Ballad of Love and Murder, Canary (Comixology Originals/Best Jackett); Parliament of Rooks (Comixology); Astro City, Battle Chasers (Image); Conan the Barbarian (Titan Comics)
Rus Wooton, Monstress, The Sacrificers (Image); Fire Power, Kroma, Transformers, The Walking Dead Deluxe, Universal Monsters: Dracula, Void Rivals (Image Skybound); Hunt. Kill. Repeat., A Legacy of Violence, Nature’s Labyrinth (Mad Cave)
BEST COMICS-RELATED PERIODICAL/JOURNALISM
The Comics Journal #309; edited by Gary Groth, Kristy Valenti, and Austin English (Fantagraphics)
“The Indirect Market,” by Brandon Schatz and Danica LeBlanc, comicsbeat.com
Rob Salkowitz, for Forbes, ICv2.com, Publishers Weekly
SKTCHD, by David Harper, www.sktchd.com
SOLRAD: The Online Literary Magazine for Comics, www.solrad.co (Fieldmouse Press)
BEST COMICS-RELATED BOOK
Bryan Talbot: Father of the British Graphic Novel, by J. D. Harlock and Bryan Talbot (Brainstorm Studios)
Confabulation: An Anecdotal Autobiography, by Dave Gibbons (Dark Horse)
Flamed Out: The Underground Adventures and Comix Genius of Willy Murphy, edited by Nicki Michaels, Ted Richards, and Mark Burstein (Fantagraphics)
I Am the Law: How Judge Dredd Predicted Our Future, by Michael Molcher (Rebellion)
The Pacific Comics Companion, by Stephan Friedt and Jon B. Cooke (TwoMorrows)
Thalamus: The Art of Dave McKean (Dark Horse)
BEST ACADEMIC/SCHOLARLY WORK
Asian Political Cartoons, by John A. Lent (University Press of Mississippi)
The Claremont Run: Subverting Gender in the X- Men, by J. Andrew Deman (University of Texas Press)
Desegregating Comics: Debating Blackness in the Golden Age of American Comics, edited by Qiana Whitted (Rutgers University Press)
If Shehrazad Drew: Critical Writings on Arab Comics, by George Khoury-Jad (Sawaf Center for Arab Comics Studies and American University of Beirut Press)
In Visible Archives: Queer and Feminist Visual Culture in the 1980s, by Margaret Galvan (University of Minnesota Press)
Super Bodies: Comic Book Illustration, Artistic Styles, and Narrative Impact, by Jeffrey A. Brown (University of Texas Press)
BEST PUBLICATION DESIGN
Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein boxed set, designed by Mike Kennedy (Magnetic)
Gratuitous Ninja, by Ronald Wimberly, designed by Chloe Scheffe (Beehive Books)
Inside the Mind of Sherlock Holmes, designed by Benoit Dahan andDonna Askem (Titan Comics)
Iron Maiden: Piece of Mind, designed by Josh Bernstein and Rob Schwager (Z2)
Toilet-bound Hanako-kun First Stall Box Set, designed by Wendy Chan (Yen Press)
BEST WEBCOMIC
Asturias: The Origin of a Flag, by Javi de Castro, https://www.javidecastro.com/asturias-the-origin-of-a-flag
Daughter of a Thousand Faces, by Vel (Velinxi), https://tapas.io/series/daughter-of-a-thousand-faces/info (Tapas)
Lore Olympus, by Rachel Smythe, https://www.webtoons.com/en/romance/lore-olympus/s3-episode-226/viewer?title_no=1320&episode_no=231 (WEBTOON)
Matchmaker, vol. 6, by Cam Marshall at https://matchmakercomic.com/. (Silver Sprocket)
3rd Voice, by Evan Dahm, https://www.webtoons.com/en/canvas/3rd-voice/list?title_no=828919 (WEBTOON)
Unfamiliar, by Haley Newsome: https://tapas.io/series/unfamiliainfo (Tapas)
BEST DIGITAL COMIC
Blacksad, Vol 7: They All Fall Down, Part 2. by Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido, translation by Diana Schutz and Brandon Kander (Europe Comics)
Friday, by Ed Brubaker and Marcos Martin, vols. 7–8 (Panel Syndicate)
Parliament of Rooks, by Abigail Jill Harding (Comixology Originals)
Practical Defense Against Piracy, by Tony Cliff (delilahdirk.com)
A Witch’s Guide to Burning, by Aminder Dhaliwal (Instagram.com/aminder_d)

Last year I had done a semester in Japan, during which I accidentally purchased Ajishio while looking for regular salt. It's a kind of salt that has added MSG, and I thought that it would be a basic enough cooking item that I'd be able to find it again once I was back in Canada. Not the case! I've looked at a few Asian grocery stores here (including one that specializes in Japanese products) and haven't been able to find it (at least not the plain version, I've found versions with pepper mixed in but they're not what I'm looking for).
I know that Ajinomoto does have plenty of products that are sold here (like the MSG powder or some soup bases), so I'm sure Ajishio can be found here somewhere, but would it be sold under a different name? Or do I just need to look in more places?

Started watching this Korean (?) drama on Youtube but can't find it anymore. In the beginning, a woman is in an ambulance dying and the paramedic calls her husband but he does not care and she passes away. Then she wakes up a year previously and decides to divorce her husband. She moves out of their home and tells a staff member to pull up all the flowers in the yard on her way out because her husband doesn't like them. She also visits her family, who are awful, including a stepsister and stepmother. At some point, they take a video of her being rude to them and post it online. Then her husband figures out that she is secretly a well-respected scientist. But his former girlfriend tries to sabotage her work in the lab.
What is the name of this drama?

Off the top of my head there has been:
FF4: Spoony Bard FF6: Son of a Submariner FF7: Soldier Boy (cant remember if this was in the original or just the remakes) FF8: Chicken wuss FF10: Hornless
any others? It doesnt have to be insulting names, although most seem to be lol.
my favorite is definitely spoony bard. it was so random when I first saw it in the original game.
chicken wuss is second
what are your faves?

chance for t20

demographics: asian male, current junior competitive public school,
Location: Bay
intended majors: physics
SAT: 1550, 750 math, 800 erwc
gpa: UW: 3.7 W: 4.1 class rank: not offered by school
coursework: 11 APs (school only starts offering APs in junior year), DE not offered by school (Physics 1, Lang and Comp, CSP, Bio, probably 5’s all across)
ecs:

1. Independent research project in physics
2. Engineering club member
3. Founded a physics group with several people
4. Engineering internship program at UC Berkeley.
5. Paid tutor for math and physics
6. Ucsc SIP astrophysics and astronomy
7. Volunteered at a local nonprofit cultural summer camp
8. Frc CAD team member
9. 2 years of Track and XC, one var and one jv

awards:

1. Gold presidents service award
2. Medaled in a couple track meets but idk if that counts.

LORs:
Going to get an LOR from a grad student who I did research with who I love working with and can speak to my dedication and love for physics
AP Lang teacher - I talked to him a lot this year and spent a lot of time in his class talking about the c oursework. I really liked Lang and came to him for a lot of help.
AP Physcs - I spend a lot of time with him too; i think he likes me idk. He doesnt really know names but he knows mine so?
I was doing really badly in sophomore and freshman year, but I turned my life around junior year, with a 4.0. Hoping to write about that in my essays. I can also write pretty well so Im confident in my ability to cook up good essays.
Schools: t20, but holding out hope for princeton, purdue, georgiatech, UCs
chance for t20