Monday, September 25, 2017

30 Day Got7 Challenge

Over the past few months, I've fallen deeper and deeper into my obsession with KPop. If you follow me on Twitter, you've seen the spiral happening. A few months back, I posted a 30 Day INFINITE Challenge,  and at the time they were the only KPop group I was fully obsessed with. Fast forward a month to July, when I discovered Got7 and got completely obsessed with them. Since then, they've reached the same status of obsession and love as Infinite, so I figured it was about time to do the 30 Day Got7 Challenge as a chance to obsess over my babies and talk about why I love them so much. Without any further ado, let's jump in!


1) Your ultimate Got7 bias and why.

Starting out with the difficult ones right off the bat? Not cool. Per usual, I have difficulty choosing a single favorite. Of the 7 members, I tend to refer to myself as hyung-line biased (aka the 4 oldest members). But, for once, I do actually have one favorite among those 4: Jinyoung. 

Like with my precious Woohyun before him, there was a very brief period when I first got into Got7 that I considered Jinyoung my least favorite member. The first things of theirs that I really watched were a lot of their dance practices, and he's often a bit understated in those. But, as I started to watch more of the compilations of moments for each member, I fell more and more in love with his personality. Like Mark, he tends to be one of the quieter members, which is something I really gravitated toward. But honestly my favorite thing about him is the fact that he's simultaneously a precious adorable sweetheart and a savage, manipulative, snark-master. I also love that he's one of the more "intellectual" members. And I don't mean this in a pretentious or snobby way or anything-- I just really love books and reading and learning and those are also things that Jinyoung also loves. 

Just really quickly, the others are Mark, Jackson, and JB (probably in that order). Mark- because I always relate to and gravitate toward the shy, quiet members. With Jackson, it's a bit more complicated. When I first got into Got7, it was kinda a love-hate type thing. Jackson is a lot. 24/7. And for someone like me who likes the quieter people, I found him a bit obnoxious. As I got more familiar with the group, I began to really appreciate him more, though. His energy is consistently so positive and happy and he constantly brings a smile to my face. He may be super extra but he's also an absolute sweetheart. Finally, with JB- he's just a living meme. He's the leader and he does definitely take that seriously, but he's also rather silly. Also his hatred of aegyo is possibly more adorable than aegyo itself.

2) Reason why you continued to follow Got7

This question seems a little oddly worded to me, but what I think they're getting at is: What was it about them that intrigued you or made you want to learn more about them/become a fan? (The alternative is that they're curious why I still follow them and the obvious answer is because I love them. So this is the more interesting route.)

Anyway, I think the thing that initially made me curious to learn more about them was their If You Do MV. Hard Carry was the first song I listened to by them that made me want to hear more, but If You Do was the one that really hooked me. It's still my favorite song by them, and I really fell in love with absolutely everything about it. Everything about it is just so satisfying-- the way the lyrics and the music combine in the verses and chorus is fantastic, the percussive footwork fits in perfectly as well, and I'm even obsessed with the MV's coloration. Just everything about that concept got me completely obsessed and that's what really hooked me with Got7.

3) Which Real Got7 episode is your favorite? Why?

Ugh, there are so many to choose from! I'm personally slightly more partial to the Hard Carry series and Got7ing, but I think this tag was made before those were released. So very quickly-- 'sing'ing, 'holiday'ing, and 'game'ing are my favorites. And for Hard Carry, the hide and seek episode is my favorite by far. But, like I said, I'd probably rather watch any Hard Carry/ Got7ing episode over pretty much any RealGot7 episode. Except the ones listed below!

Anyway, my favorite Real Got7 episodes are usually the ones with some sort of game involved-- namely the Mafia episode (the S4 one, not the S2 one) and the Escape Room episode. Also, since when was Real Got7 on Netflix?! I was trying to find a master list of all of the episodes and ended up coming across S1-3 on Netflix. Wut?!

4) Who was the first member to catch your eye? Why?

I think that for most people, it was Jackson. And he was definitely the first one that became easily recognizable to me. But in terms of the one who was my initial favorite, definitely Mark. Pretty unsurprising, as Mark and Jackson are definitely the two most recognizable to non-fans, and Mark is especially popular because he's American. And, like I said earlier, the sweet quiet ones tend to be my favorites. So he was definitely the first one I gravitated toward.

5) What member would you want to be best friends with? Why?
Ugh, this is such a tough question, especially given that it's kinda paired with the next one about which one I would want to be related to. Funny enough, my best friend is the exact same personality type as Jackson, but they're also really different (she's borderline introvert/extrovert and he's about as extroverted as you can get). Anyway, I actually think I might have to go with JB on this one.


That might seem a little out of left field given that I didn't name him as one of my favorite members, but here's my explanation. And it's based a bit on MBTI (Myers Briggs personality types). The reason I'm using that so heavily is that it's about as close to actual accuracy that you can get, given that people often subconsciously act differently when on camera & in front of people than they do when just by themselves.

So: If you're unfamiliar, here's the TL;DR MBTI explanation. 16 personality types. Each one consists of 4 letters. For each letter, there are 2 different options (like being introverted vs extroverted). Got7 took the MBTI test and JB was an INFJ. He leaned really strongly toward IN, and the FJ was kinda borderline. What this means is that he's very introverted and leans strongly toward theorizing/ideas/abstract stuff vs the concrete stuff. I'm personally an INTP, so given that he's borderline on the last couple facets, we have very similar personalities. On top of that, I tend to lean toward friends with "N" traits because I'm very strongly "N" and find it much less interesting to talk about the boring facts of life than some interesting idea I have floating around in my head. So having a bestie with the "N" trait is important to me. IRL, that's the ONLY one my bestie and I have in common, but it works perfectly.

Sorry that got so technical, but I'm an INTP-- can't expect much more out of a robot. *shrug*

6) What member would you want to be related to? Why?

I was throwing around several names in my mind, but for some reason, Yugyeom popped his lil head in, and the more I think about it, the more I think I would like to have Yuggie as a little brother. First off, he's absolutely precious. He certainly has his own annoying/obnoxious streak, but they all have that, and any time he does it, he does it in a silly way. His personality is basically the epitome of what you'd expect of a younger brother-- you kinda want to smack him for being annoying, but then he gives you a cute lil smile and you can't stay mad at him.

The other two I had floating around in my head were Jackson and Mark (a common theme here). With Jackson, I love him but I think I would get sick of him very quickly. I'd want a more chill brother... like Mark (or JB, honestly)! But I also want to save Mark for some of the relationship questions. So... we're at an impasse here. I've always wanted an older brother, but even Mark is barely older than me so none of the guys would really be like older brothers to me. I guess... gun to my head... I might go with Mark? IDK. This is difficult. I love them all.

7) Your favorite OTP. 
(one true pairing, for those of you who've never been online before.)


OK, not gonna lie here, I ship pretty much every single popular Got7 ship. Even conflicting ones. They aren't all equal, but I do love all of them, for their own unique reasons. That being said, I have one that I tend to gravitate toward, which I'll talk about more detailed & then I'll briefly mention the others super quickly.

My favorite OTP? MARKJIN! I love Mark and Jinyoung's dynamic. Obviously, there's a lot of fan service, but they're precious together. Also, these two are surprisingly willing to kiss each other-- even more than most of the other members. There are so many compilations of Markjin kisses. Plus, even ignoring the overt flirting, it's just super obvious that they are basically each other's weakness. For example, brief explanation of one of my favorite Markjin moments: Jackson leaves his seat next to Jinyoung & Mark immediately slides into Jackson's chair without Jinyoung noticing. He then starts to poke Jinyoung with his hat brim. Jinyoung hasn't seen any of this, so he turns to get annoyed at Jackson, but when he sees that it's actually Mark, his entire face melts into a grin, he begins to cuddle with Mark, and feeds Mark part of his snack. It's not some overly touchy-feely physical moment or anything, but it just seems like such a pure representation of how much he loves Mark. I also absolutely love all of the compilations of "Jealous Mark" moments, because he clearly doesn't want anyone else flirting with Jinyoung haha. 

So very quickly, some other ships I love:
JJParents- I'll get into this one on question 9, so I won't go into any more detail right now.
Yugbam- Not as a couple, but these two are legit best friends and their friendship is adorable.
Jinson- Sometimes I wonder if this is the real ship here vs Markjin, but honestly Jackson can usually be shipped with any member. But seriously Wang Gae Park Gae is super cute and I love them.


8) Your favorite live performance.

I've got a few answers for this, and none of them are really normal/expected ones. So, ya know, bear with me. One of my all-time favorites is their Live Free Dance version of Confession Song. Sure, they're not really trying to "perform" and are just generally being silly but it's hilarious. I especially love Daydreamer's "TYDN" version of it because it makes it even funnier. 

Another one that I love is their Cooking Live version of Never Ever. Once again, I'll link Daydreamer's "TYDN" version, which is honestly the optimal way to view it because it's the most accurate depiction of Got7 ever. 

And finally, here's a single ACTUAL normal live performance: their performance of Q. They have lots of other great live performances, but my favorite Got7 is Got7 being silly, and that's what they do during Q. They literally make Mario sound effects during the live performance of Q. It's hilarious. Honestly, I'd really like to know how that came about. Because I could really see Mark and Youngjae going to JB and being like "Hey... so this song you wrote. It's really good, but do you know what would make it better? Mario." Lol that just really seems like such a hilarious conversation and I'm dying to know how/why they decided to do that.


9) If Jinyoung is the mom, who's the dad? Explain.

I already mentioned this, but I feel like it's kinda obvious. It's clearly JB. Like... as much as I ship Markjin, the JJParents are literally the JJParents! So let's take a moment to talk about how much I love the JJParents! 

First off, the dynamic between Jinyoung and JB is often that of actual parents. There are so many moments where everyone (except maybe Mark) is freaking out and being way too excited... meanwhile, the JJParents are off to the side, giving each other the "what have we created?" face. Or Jinyoung is trying to control their chaos while JB just laughs at his idiot kids. Plus, he's the leader and Jackson even jokingly calls him dad, so it seems pretty obvious. On top of that, Jinyoung and JB were the original duo, so it just seems obvious that they would be the parents. Honestly, it seems more obvious that JB is the dad than that Jinyoung is the mom, except for Jinyoung declaring himself "mom."

Now just to talk about JJP as a ship-- I love them. Jinyoung has openly said that JB is the member he's closest with, and it only makes sense. They've literally been a duo for EIGHT YEARS. They've known the other members for quite a while as well, but certainly not as long as they've known each other. They've even said that they're kinda Yin/Yang. I don't see it quite as much (they're not really that opposite to me... idk, they have pretty similar personalities/personality types). However, if they think that they fit together almost perfectly like Yin/Yang, I'm not gonna argue. They clearly love each other, and even though I don't ship them as an actual couple, they clearly have a very close and special relationship.

10) Your first thoughts on Got7.

It's weird-- every time I get into a new KPop group, I have trouble remembering my real first impression of them. I remember whether I generally liked or disliked them, but I have trouble remembering much else. I honestly don't even know for sure which song of theirs I listened to first. However, when I actively searched out Got7, the first MV that I clicked on was Never Ever. Before getting into Got7, the only KPop group that I fully stanned was INFINITE. About halfway through the MV, I think I actually turned it off and switched to Just Right, because I determined that "these guys aren't as good as INFINITE" lol. I liked Just Right more than Never Ever, but it was another 2-3 weeks before I looked them up again. I'd gotten into line distribution videos and someone said that Got7's Hard Carry has really good line distribution. Not sure I agree, but that's the comment that got me curious. When I listened to Hard Carry, I immediately liked it.

In terms of the members, I think my first impression of Jackson was that he was obnoxious (I mean, he is, but he's the lovable kind). For Mark, I think I just thought he was sweet and quiet (accurate). For Youngjae, I'm pretty sure my first thought was just "Yikes... his English tho..." (lol also accurate but lovable). For Jinyoung, like with everyone, I thought he was the normal/boring one (couldn't be further from the truth). JB: I couldn't get over the bucket hat lol. Yuggie: Honestly probably the member I constantly forgot about. BamBam: I liked his name and thought his dabbing was funny.

11) Your favorite Got7 picture.

I couldn't pick just one, but I was able to get it down to just two. Which is pretty good for me. So I'll put them both below and explain why I love them.

I love this picture of all of them from the Just Right comeback. It's just the seven of them being their adorable, silly selves. Plus, it's got all of the fun colors. And it's for one of my favorite songs/comebacks. So I love it.


I might possibly love this one even more than the last one. I do have to say, I dislike when some members are less visible, but I love everything about the Mad/If You Do comeback, including the really beautiful coloration. It's so great.

12) Your favorite Got7 photoshoot.

I hate to be redundant so quickly, but the Mad photoshoot is probably my favorite. The entire concept of the comeback is so awesome, and the photoshoot/ its coloration is really beautiful. I know it's weird to harp on the coloration, but the colors are legit beautiful. Here are another couple pictures from the photoshoot.



13) A Got7 dance you'd like to learn.

I love the If You Do choreo, but for the sake of variety, I'll shout out the Just Right choreo, because it's by far the easiest. Or, at least, my favorite part of the choreo is...

14) A Got7 song you never get tired of.

I'm sorry to be such a broken record, but they put so many questions in a row where my immediate answer is "If You Do" (or the Mad comeback). I've already talked at length about how much I love that comeback and the song, so I won't bore you by re-hashing the details. It's just a fantastic song. 

Since I've mentioned If You Do so many times, I'll shout out another few that never get old: Just Right, Hard Carry (obvs, they're the 2 most played for a reason), Girl Magnetic, Who's That, Home Run, Q, and Out.
15) Your most played Got7 song.

According to my iTunes (which is about 2 months out of date, so take it with a grain of salt), my 2 most-played Got7 songs are Hard Carry (126) and Just Right (116). They're out ahead by a long-shot, but this info is from when I first started getting into Got7 so I'm sure that there are some other songs up there with them. And I really don't want to update it and potentially mess up my music on my phone (trust me, my iTunes is a mess), so we're just gonna go with Hard Carry for this one.

16) Your favorite Got7 lyric and its meaning.

OK, I'm going to break the rules just slightly, but I loooooove the lyrics of Tomorrow, Today by JJ Project. If you're unaware, Jinyoung and JB debuted in 2012 as JJP before Got7 debuted in 2014, and they just recently had a comeback throughout August 2017. And their single, Tomorrow, Today, was co-written by them and the lyrics really get to me. It's all about being a 20-something and not knowing what you want to do with your life, but being at the point where you're being forced to make long-term decisions that you're not necessarily ready to make. It just hits home so hard with me (JB and Jinyoung are the same age as me, so it makes sense that they get where I'm at rn). I didn't pay attention to the lyrics the first time I listened to it, but when I re-listened with a translation, I legitimately teared up because of how hard the lyrics hit me. It's just a fantastic song and I can't say enough good things about it.

17) Your favorite Got7 gif

It's not a gif of the whole group, but I can't go this entire post without sharing a few of my favorite gifs of Jinyoung being an absolute savage. So, here ya go: (there are about 10 more where these came from, because this boy is ruthless)




18) Your favorite Got7 cover of a song.


I think I really have to go with the Mr. Chu cover here. It's too adorable and seeing JB forced to do a girl group dance and do aegyo just makes me laugh incessantly. Also, shout-out to BamBam "singing" Loser, which makes me cry-laugh every time.

19) Your favorite Got7 interview.

Ooh, this one is kinda difficult. I think I might have to go with the DramaFever interview. The interviewers were kinda awkward, but I love their reactions to the questions. Plus, there are some really adorable Jinyoung moments, like him geeking out over superpowers and telling BamBam to stop talking.

20) A Got7 song that reminds you of someone/something.

OK, this question popped up on the INFINITE 30 Day Challenge as well and I didn't have an answer for it... and I don't think I have an answer for this one either. I'll change this if I think of anything, but I think I just have a problem trying to make associations like this haha.

21) Your favorite tweet by a Got7 member.

So, I'm actually going to go with my favorite Instagram by a Got7 member, because at this point I think Mark and BamBam are the only members who still have Twitter and neither of them update it regularly. However, all the members (except JB. Y U ruin me, boy?) have Instagram and update at least semi-regularly (except Jinyoung whyyyyyy). Anyway, I think my favorite Insta post by a member is this picture that Mark posted of them on a plane with the guys from Day6.

If you're not familiar with Day6, they're JYP's first band, and they've been close with Got7 since their trainee days. In fact, Jinyoung & Day6's synth/keyboardist, Wonpil, are still besties. They're almost as close as JB and Jinyoung, TBH. But yeah, you can tell from the picture that they're all just cute lil dorks and clearly enjoy each other's friendship.

22) A member you'd like to become for a day and why.

I think I'd actually go for Yugyeom! This might sound counter-intuitive, but think about it-- I'd get to hang out with my favorite members. Also, Yuggie and Jinyoung have this really cute antagonistic friendship and I love that kind of silly banter with my friends, so I could be snarky back and forth with Jinyoung, which is just general life goals haha. Plus, Yuggie's really tall and it would be cool to be as tall as him. 

23) A member you think your parents would like and why.

This is going to sound like I'm just trying to be biased (ayyyy, bad pun), but I genuinely think my parents would most like Jinyoung or Mark. Maybe JB next, but I think Jinyoung would definitely be at the top of the list. I won't reveal who they'd dislike (that's the next question, but you could probably guess, tbh), but they would definitely lean toward the more well-mannered yet funny members. Hence Jinyoung and Mark as my top choices. Jinyoung, because he's the clean-cut member, and comes off as rather intelligent. And Mark because, honestly, he's American and speaks English. Not that my parents have anything against foreigners, they're just more likely to prefer someone they can relate to more than the others. And that would be Mark.

24) A member you think your parents would hate and why.

Just like their favorite (er... only) child, my parents are pretty easily agitated. And the members that would agitate them? Jackson and BamBam. Possibly Youngjae as well. With my parents, it's really hit or miss with the "loudmouth" of any group. And it's usually miss (although my dad is less likely to hate it than my mom). And, to be fair, Jackson is the one who's most likely to be loud, dominant, and over-the-top. They would get annoyed quickly before recognizing his sweet side. And with BamBam, the constant meme-ing would annoy them. Not as much as Jackson, but they'd definitely be likely to get annoyed. With Youngjae, it's honestly more of him being overly-talkative and loud. He's an absolute fluffball... but he's a loooooud fluffball. My family is really low-key, so loud, overly-talkative people do not go over well with them. 

25) A member you'd kiss. 

How is it possible to simultaneously love and hate these questions? This popped up on the Infinite one as well and I felt equally uncomfortable trying to answer that one too. That being said, I'm going to choose different answers for this one & the "member you'd date" question, so for this one, I guess I'm going with Mark. Sorry to be predictable, but he's cute and sweet and idk I feel like a 15 year old right now so I'm going to shut up.

26) A member you'd go to a club with.

Like I said when this one came up on the Infinite challenge, clubs aren't my thing. If you couldn't tell from my love of Jinyoung & Mark, I like being chill and low-key. So a huge, loud crowd of drunken people reeeeally just isn't my scene. That being said, if I had to choose someone I think I'd have to go with Jackson. Jackson is the type of person who will be the life of the party, but will also care enough about the people that he's with that he'll make sure the other people are having fun too. And that would be necessary for me, as someone who would probably be miserable. That being said, in situations I'm uncomfortable in, I tend to latch on to my person and go around with them, so maybe someone like JB would be a better choice? Eh, IDK I'm sticking with Jacky.

27) A member you'd date.

I think we've established already that I'm obviously choosing Jinyoung. I love so many things about him, most of which I've already mentioned in some form or fashion. Overall, I just love that he's so savage, but also such a sweetheart. He's such a well-rounded, talented human, and also one of the most intellectual members (he's in college!). I don't want to re-iterate these same points over and over again, but he just ticks all the boxes of things that I love, and he's just such a cute sweetheart and I'd absolutely date him. 

28) Your favorite body part of your bias.

This might be a little bit of a not-ok answer, but I have to say hair! This is honestly true with pretty much any bias in any group, because I tend to notice people's hair before noticing anything else about them. And the picture above is my favorite of his hair styles. I find it interesting that I love Jinyoung so much given that he's such a clean-cut member (no piercings, almost never dyes his hair), given that I tend to prefer the edgy/punk look... but here we are. 

29) A gift you'd give Got7 and why.

Uuuugh, I dunno. I don't really think about stuff like this. I don't even know what I'd say to them if I got to meet them (we'll get there on the next question), let alone give to them. I think that if I were to give them something, I'd rather give each of them a note/letter explaining what they mean to me. It would be so much more meaningful than some little trinket that they'd probably only keep for the fansigning and then have to get rid of (could you imagine how many Pokemon would be in their dorm if they kept them all??). So, yeah. A letter or something. 

30) Anything you want to say to Got7?

Like I said, I'm really not sure what I want to say to them. I guess I would just say that listening to their music and watching videos of them just brings so much happiness to my life. I dunno, it's cliche and cheesy, but I like to think that I can be really great with language when I try, so I hope I'd be able to say something in a meaningful way that would mean something to them in some form or fashion, no matter how small.



So, that's it for the 30 Day Got7 Challenge. Like I said at the beginning and throughout the challenge, these guys have completely stolen my heart and are now right up there as one of my ultimate bias groups alongside Infinite. There are a few other groups that I've started to get into as well, so sometime soon you may see more of these 30 day challenges about other groups! Let me know down in the comments who your Got7 bias is and which of their songs is your favorite!

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Saturday, September 23, 2017

An Unhelpful Guide to Infinite!

Hey everyone. Bit of a random lil update post bc I started a new project that I wanted to share. So, I accidentally published a post this morning about the kpop group Infinite (it was supposed to go live next week, I accidentally set it up for LAST week. OOPS) and even though it was live for literally 2 seconds, some people had already clicked on it (y'all are fast!). So, since I've left a void where that Infinite post should be, I figured that I'd go ahead and share this video with you that I made, An Unhelpful Guide to Infinite! Just as with similar videos in this format, it's less of a guide than it is a compilation of all of the Infinite inside jokes, so I hope y'all enjoy! (although I guess it could help you learn a bit about them, idk)


It's the first video on the new KPop related YouTube channel that I decided to start, and I'm going to be making a lot more KPop and Infinite-centric videos soon (including one that goes alongside the one accidentally posted this morning), so check it out if you want to. I'd really appreciate it! :)


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Thanks for reading! If you like my posts, I'd really appreciate if you'd subscribe/follow so that I know you're enjoying what I'm posting! See you soon! 

Sunday, August 13, 2017

The Reading Quest TBR & Updates

FYI, before jumping into the post, this post goes alongside my TBR in video form, which is embedded below. However, given that my TBR is subject to change (and I need a place to keep track of my point totals and how far I've gotten into my TBR), I'm making this post to keep track of everything in a single place.


If you haven't heard of The Reading Quest, here's the link to the original post over on Read at Midnight, with all of the challenges, rules, etc: Reading Quest Sign Up.


Brief summary, for those of you who didn't read that post: Each person participating chooses a character (to start out as) between the 4 listed above. Each of those characters has specific challenges that take up one side of The Quest Board. Your goal is to travel around the outside of the board, completing the challenges for as many characters as possible, while also completing optional side quests. But, you have to fully complete a character's path before starting a different character's path. There are several more specific rules, but those are the basics. Like I said, check the original posts for more of the details.

Below is the quest board. Predictably, I'm going to be beginning as a Mage (and then moving clockwise from there). I'm sure that I'm not going to get around the entire board and complete all of the challenges, but I AM going to create a TBR with options for each and every challenge, which will be updated as I continue along. At the very least, I'm hoping to fully complete the Mage path before the end of the quest.


Now that all the explanatory stuff is out of the way, let's go through my TBR, challenge by challenge. 

Mage

A Book With a One Word Title
Elantris by Brandon Sanderson


Brandon Sanderson is one of my favorite authors (if not my favorite), and this is one of his adult novels that I have yet to read. It's also the one I'm most intrigued by, since the last standalone I read by him (Warbreaker) was my favorite book of last year. Super hyped for this one. 

A Book That Contains Magic
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

A few months back, I announced a series (called YA Bandwagoning) on my YouTube channel where I was planning on reading popular YA books and doing an "as I read" style of video for them. That was like... March/April, and I still haven't done a single video in that series or read a single book on that list. So I'm using these challenges to help me actually get to those books. This is the one I'm probably most excited about on that list, so I'll probably try to get to it pretty quickly. 

A Book Based on Mythology
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan

Look, I know re-reads aren't supposed to count (if I can't actually get points for this, so be it), but the last time I read this was 7th grade. I don't remember much about it at all. Plus, it's the only book I have based on mythology, and I never finished the series (and want to finish the series), so here we are. I've been meaning to get to Percy Jackson, so I'm guessing this is the best opportunity. 

A Book Set in a Different World
Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

Like with Six of Crows, this is for my YA Bandwagoning series. I've been meaning to read this for literally 3 years. I've had the book for almost 2 years. And I still haven't read it. I'm super curious about it, given the really mixed opinions on the series overall, but I'm also kinda anxious about it because it's so loved by so many people and I have a sinking suspicion that I might be one of the people who doesn't like it. But we'll see. 

The First Book of a Series
Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

I feel like a broken record here. This is for my YA Bandwagoning series. It's the first in a popular YA series. I actually think I might like this more than Throne of Glass. I feel like reviews of this series have been pretty solid across the board (but not outstanding), while reviews for Throne of Glass are all over the place (but generally on the decline as the series goes along). Anyway, I'm intrigued by this one and love when there are multiple plot threads following multiple characters throughout a novel. 

Knight

A Book With a Verb in Its Title
The Song Rising by Samantha Shannon

The Bone Season series is my favorite ongoing series, and (per usual) I have yet to read the most recent release. It's partially because I feel the need to re-read The Mime Order before jumping into book 3, but there's also a summary up on Samantha Shannon's website for The Mime Order, so I might just be able to read that too. IDK, we'll see what I end up doing when the time comes. I'm honestly pretty skeptical about making it to this point, given that I plan to do a few of the side quests before moving on to the Knight path. 

A Book With A Weapon On Its Cover
Furies of Calderon by Jim Butcher

I recently re-organized my bookshelves so that an entire bookcase is devoted to my TBR (well-- most of a bookcase. Fortunately, my TBR isn't as big as it once was). I have that bookcase organized by the year that I got it, and this is on the "2014 or earlier" shelf. AKA the ones I've had for way too long without reading them. So this is one that I at least need to try to read, even if it's one that I don't end up liking. 

A Book With A Red Cover
The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

This is another one that's on my "2014 or earlier" shelf. I discovered it on a book recommendation site after reading Ready Player One, and it's one that has a super intriguing premise, but I honestly just completely forget that I own it. It's been on my shelves so long that my eyes just glance over it when scanning for things to read. At the very least, this quest gives me a reminder that this book is still sticking around. 

A Book That Has a TV/Movie Adaptation
The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

I feel like a broken record again here. This is on my "2014 or earlier" shelf, and it's one I've been meaning to read for quite a while. And I also forget that it's there because of how long it's been sitting there. So... we'll see. I don't think I'm going to get this far. But... optimism! Yay!



Taking a quick step away from the main quest into the side quests, since I'm much more likely to get to these than I am to the other 2 characters' paths...
Side Quests

Potions: A Book by 2 Authors
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff

I tried listening to this during the BookTubeAThon, and I thought it was just alright. I'm hoping to start over by reading the physical book (while listening to the audiobook?) to hopefully immerse myself more in the world and make it a bit more interesting. This is one of the ones I'm a bit less likely to get to. But, it is a YA Bandwagoning book, so... maybe?

Multiplayer: Buddy Read a Book
Little Monsters by Kara Thomas

I'm gonna be real honest here-- I really don't plan to read this. I'll only get to this if it's my last available spot and I'm desperate. Which is extremely unlikely. Anyway, this is the Booksplosion book of the month, and it did sound kinda interesting. That being said, it's not a book I own, which motivates me a lot less. There are only 2 books on this TBR that fall under that category and they're both ones I don't really think I'm going to get to. But I figured I might as well still chuck them on here anyway. 

Time Warp: A Book Set in Either the Past or Future
Rebel Angels by Libba Bray

I started the Gemma Doyle trilogy during the BookTubeAThon, and I've been meaning to jump back into it ever since, so this might actually be the first thing I read instead of starting the Mage path. I'm really excited about continuing this series-- the first book was really awesome. 

Grind: A Book With 500+ Pages
The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray

Along the same lines, I'm also hoping to move on to The Sweet Far Thing. Rebel Angels also technically counts here (530ish pages, I think) but given that double-counting books doesn't count (ayyy, bad pun), I figured this was the better one to put here. It's real chunky-- 800+ pages. 

Open World: Read Whatever You Want
I'll probably end up doing this one, but given that I'm a mood reader, I'm keeping this open for now just so that I don't feel like I'm obligated to read whatever I put in this spot. 


Re-Spawn: A Book You Previously DNF'd
Daughter of Smoke & Bone by Laini Taylor

Honestly, I've DNF'd a lot of books on this list, but this one just fit nicely here. I didn't do it because I wasn't interested in the book, but rather that I was in a BookTubeAThon time crunch and didn't have enough time to read the whole thing. I've been meaning to return to it for almost 2 years now, so I think it's finally time to. Plus it's another Bandwagoning YA book, so that's good. 

Expansion: Companion Novel or Short Story
The Emperor's Soul by Brandon Sanderson

This is a companion to Elantris that's meant to be read after it, so I'll probably end up just reading The Emperor's Soul right after finishing Elantris. Like I said earlier in the post, I mean to get to a lot more of the side quests than the actual character paths. 


Mini-Game: Graphic Novel, Novella, or Poem Collection
Battle Royale Vol. 3 by Koushun Takami

I read the first 2 volumes of the manga adaptation of Battle Royale during the BookTubeAThon, so I want to keep on making my way through the series, so that's what I'll do with this. 

Animal Companion: References Animal in the Title

Honestly, I can't think of a single book on my TBR that fits this. Maybe I'm missing something (I didn't try too hard here) but I'm drawing a blank. I'll update this if I figure something, but... I'm doubtful.

Bard

A Fairy Tale Re-Telling
Geekerella by Ashley Poston

I got this back around the time it came out because I was in a reading slump and wanted to read it alongside Booksplosion to get myself back in a reading mood. Unfortunately, that clearly didn't end up happening. But, it still sounds super cute and it'll be a breath of fresh air, given all of the fantasy & darker stuff that I'm planning on reading. 

A Book Cover With Striking Typography
Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

If I'm planning on reading book 1 during the quest, might as well add book 2 to the TBR as well. At this point, I'm really kidding myself if I think I'm actually going to make it this far around the board, but oh well. 

A Book Translated From Another Language
Battle Royale Vol. 4 by Koushun Takami

I'll get to the side quest before making my way all the way here, hence the side quest getting Vol 3 & this getting Vol 4. Either way, I'm hoping to continue the series ASAP. 

A Banned Book
A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

I actually first got this for a class (my sophomore year of college. Another from the 2014 or earlier shelf) and I never ended up reading it because I just watched the movie instead. But it's always really intrigued me, so I've kept it on my shelf all this time, so I might as well throw it on my TBR, even if we've already established that I'm not making it to this point on the board. 


Rogue

A Book Published by a Small Press
London Belongs to Me by Jacquelyn Middleton

There are probably a couple other books on my shelves that could fit here, but I figured I should throw in a contemporary to lighten up this super dark TBR. I mean, I've got A Clockwork Orange on here. I'm going to need something happy after that. 

A Book With Less Than 500 Ratings on Goodreads
Gamescape: Overworld

This is the other book on the TBR that I don't own. I'm definitely intrigued by it and it's one that I want to read, but since it's one I'd have to pick up from the library it's a bit lower priority. 

A Book Cover W/ A Partially Obscured Face
Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor

Once again, I'm probably not going to be getting to this, but if I'm going to be putting the first 2 books on here, I might as well throw this one on too.



So, that's my TBR for The Reading Quest! Ultimately, I think that my genuine goal is to complete the entirety of the Mage path and a few side quests, but obviously it would be fantastic if I were able to get all the way around the board (don't get your hopes up!). Overall, I'm just really excited for this quest, and I hope that it helps me to get a lot of reading done and to hopefully crush a good chunk of my tbr shelf!

Check out my links below!


Thanks for reading! If you like my posts, I'd really appreciate if you'd subscribe/follow so that I know you're enjoying what I'm posting! See you soon! 

Wednesday, July 12, 2017

A Definitive Ranking of the Winners of RuPaul's Drag Race

A little over a week ago, I posted my rankings of the seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race, which you can check out by clicking HERE. It's one of my absolute favorite shows, which of course means that I love ranking anything and everything related to it, so I'm back again to do another Drag Race related ranking. Today, I'm going to be ranking the winners of the show. Like with the season rankings, I'm including both the winners of the main show and All Stars. 

I feel like I need to set up my criteria here just a bit, since this ranking seems a bit more subjective than the season rankings. As per usual, I'm taking a lot of different things into account when comparing these queens. Obviously, the first is their performance on the show-- how consistent they were, how many times they were in the bottom, their Dusted or Busted score, etc. But, another important factor is how they were as a character on the show. Were they one of the more entertaining queens? Were they likable? Were they so unlikable that they were entertaining? Stuff like that. And, of course, personal preference. Even if we can agree on paper which queens were stronger, pretty much everyone is going to vary when considering which queens they gravitate toward, like more, and generally rooted for. Given that criteria, this list is going to be pretty subjective. As always, I have my opinions & you have yours. I respect your opinion, so please respect mine in return by not yelling at me in the comments. I promise, we can disagree without getting in a huge argument. Now, on to the list!


11) BeBe Zahara Benet- Season 1
This should come as very little surprise given my opinion on S1. Overall, I didn't find much about the season compelling, and that includes most of the cast. BeBe was certainly one of the stronger competitors and one of the bigger personalities, but I definitely preferred some of the other contestants like Shannel, Ongina, and Nina. I certainly don't dislike her, but I just don't really have a strong opinion of her. I think that she was up against a cast that was clearly the weakest cast across the board. While she was a strong competitor, she certainly didn't completely dominate everyone, while some other winners did completely annihilate seasons with much stronger casts. My apathetic feelings toward her, the strength of the other queens on this list, and the weak field in her season all combine to land her down at the bottom despite the fact that she's a fierce queen overall.


10) Tyra Sanchez- Season 2
If this list were made after my first watch of Season 2, Tyra might've been all the way at the bottom. The first time I watched season 2, I really, really disliked her. After re-watching the season in May, my opinion turned around on her a bit. Some of the things I said about BeBe still stand for Tyra. Her competition was certainly weaker than modern seasons. The drag was more ready-to-wear. However, I think that Tyra did better in her respective season than she got credit for. Yes, she was a bit unlikable, and yes, she doesn't have as strong of an aesthetic as some other queens, but she was very polished, especially relative to the queens around her. She had a really strong track record-- 3 wins, plus several appearances in the top and only one in the bottom 3. Ultimately, she winds up here mostly because she's not a queen I like very much, and that despite doing rather well in her season, the level of drag that season was still rather ready-to-wear. 


9) Violet Chachki- Season 7
Violet is another queen that I liked more upon a re-watch of her season. Although she was really unlikable at the beginning of the season, by the second half, she'd really gotten a bit of a redemption arc. So upon a re-watch, I saw her in a bit of a different light. I'd never totally hated her, but upon first watch, I'd certainly been rooting for anyone but Violet in the finale. On re-watch, I still preferred a few of the other queens, but I found her to be a much more rootable character and felt like I understood her a bit more. That being said, Violet has some really clear flaws that I think makes her weaker than the queens above her on this list. Violet's big weakness is her ability to perform. She did alright in the lip sync performances, but the acting challenges were absolutely abysmal. That being said, she certainly does make up for it some with her fantastic fashion. So many of her looks have now become iconic, especially the one in the above gif. Like with the last two, season 7 has also been criticized for being a weak cast of queens. While I like the cast quite a bit, I can definitely see that argument, and I think that's a bit of a knock on Violet as a winner. Overall, I like her and think that her fashion is fantastic, but I also think that she has several weak points in her abilities. 


8) Chad Michaels- All Stars 1
I went back and forth on these next two queens, but I eventually ended up with this order because although I think Chad had a stronger showing on her season(s), I prefer the queen that I put in 7th place. That being said, I do really like Chad. Once again, it took a re-watch for me to really appreciate Chad. I've always respected her and her talent and how incredibly polished she is, but it wasn't until a re-watch of season 4 that I began to really grow to like her and root for her. Her personality is much quieter than many other queens, and I think that definitely contributes to the reason that I really had to warm up to her. Chad is one of those people who seems to be almost too perfect. She's so put-together, so polished, and just so perfect that she almost doesn't even seem human. Chad killed it not only in the All Stars Season that she won (in which she basically just demolished everyone), but also in her original season 4. Overall, I really enjoy Chad and I think that she's incredibly polished and amazing, but she's not a personal favorite for me. 


7) Raja Gemini- Season 3
I really like Raja. We're to the point in the list where I fell in love with these people my first time through, and even if they weren't my favorite in the season, I still cheered them on as they won. However, Raja was definitely my favorite in her season, and I really love her outside of the show as well. Of course, I watch Raja and Raven on Fashion Photo RuView, and I usually really like her opinions on things. And on her own season, I think she was also really great. While she was definitely firmly in the "fashion queen" department, she proved that she was incredibly capable in other areas and extremely well-rounded. She proved that she was funny and a competent performer, on top of her amazing fashion sense. While there was certainly a bit of a mean girl vibe to her throughout her season, she was also really fun and snarky and gave interesting confessionals. Like I said, at this point we've gotten to some of my all-time favorite queens and the only knock I really have on Raja is that she was a bit of a mean girl sometimes and that I like some of these queens better than her and think that some of them are even more well-rounded than her and have made bigger impacts on both the show and on drag in general. 


6) Sharon Needles- Season 4
This might be my most controversial placement of a queen, given that Sharon was such a monumental winner and because she's become such an icon for the show. Once again, I see Sharon as mostly tied with the next queen on the list, but for one reason or another, Sharon ended up just slightly lower. Like I mentioned already, Sharon was an incredibly strong competitor, who really made everyone think about drag in an entirely new way. When she walked into the workroom, she was seen as a joke, but she quickly proved that her uniqueness wasn't the only thing that she had. She won an unprecedented 4 challenges throughout the season and did well in many of the other challenges as well. She quickly became not only a strong competitor, but also a rootable, lovable character. She wasn't even really an underdog, but definitely took on that role because of how much people didn't respect her drag aesthetic. Overall, Sharon was just an incredible competitor, a phenomenal winner, and a lovable character. Like I mentioned with Raja, we've gotten to the point where I love all of these queens and the largest difference is just who I like more.


5) Jinkx Monsoon- Season 5
As I mentioned with Sharon, she and Jinkx are mostly tied in my mind. Jinkx edges her out just slightly, for a couple of reasons. When making this ranking, I went back and looked through the Dusted or Busted score cards just to see how they technically compared to each other on paper. That really shed light on how impressive Jinkx was, because she was in the top for nearly every challenge. There were literally only 2 challenges where she wasn't in the top. There's only one other queen who's ever done that, and that queen is also the only person to have a better Dusted or Busted score than Jinkx... but we'll get to her in a bit.

So, given Jinkx's impressive track record, you're probably questioning why she's all the way at #5. If she's that good, she should be all the way up at #2, right? My main reasoning for her being a bit lower (and I think I'm sounding like a broken record here) is just personal preference. There are just some other winners that I gravitate toward a bit more than Jinkx. That being said though, I still absolutely love her. The other slight knock on Jinkx is that she's not the most polished when it comes to her runway. She definitely has a clear aesthetic, and she turned out some amazing looks, but she also turned out some looks along the way that weren't quite up to par. But her performances in the challenges, her personality, and her humor were amazing enough to get her consistently in the top despite some of the lackluster looks. Overall, Jinkx is an incredibly strong queen, a deserving winner, and definitely one of my favorite Drag Race contestants. 

4) Sasha Velour- Season 9
Going into the finale of S9, I felt like Sasha was the underdog. Sure, she had the fan support by A LOT, but Trinity and Shea both had more wins under their belts and were generally seen as the obvious top 2. So, when she turned out those fantastic lip sync performances, I was so excited, just hoping that she would take home the crown. And she did! A look back at her track record proves that she certainly deserved the crown. She was never in the bottom 2 (and hardly deserved her one appearance in the bottom 3), was in the top 7 times (same # as Shea), and probably should've won at least one more challenge than she actually did. But that last one's just my opinion. 

Either way, Sasha was one of those queens who just spoke to me immediately upon the cast announcement. The second she marketed herself as the brainy, intellectual queen, I was sold. And she continued to impress me throughout the entire competition with how well-spoken and witty she was. She certainly wasn't one of the most out-there personalities on the show, but I kinda loved that. I loved that she became the go-to for an intelligent comment on the more serious discussions. I was a bit worried about her versatility at the very beginning, but she quickly proved to be well-rounded, turning out interesting looks, killing the challenges, bringing the humor, and ultimately bringing home the crown with her impressive lip sync skills. Overall, Sasha was absolutely fantastic and I was legitimately cheering when she finally won.  


3) Bob The Drag Queen- Season 8
Let's be honest, S8 should just be re-named "Bob's season." Bob was the front-runner from the very beginning and dominated the competition pretty much the entire way through. While she doesn't have the same flawless track record as some other queens that got a bit lower than her, Bob completely dominated the entire season in pretty much every single way. She was the clear stand-out personality, dominating screentime both in the workroom and in confessionals. She also got the most wins under her belt, beating out Kim Chi. For me, S8 is a season full of interesting, fun, and likable queens, so it should be difficult for one queen to completely steal the show, but Bob did it with ease. Any comedy challenge probably should've just been handed directly to Bob, because she didn't falter in the slightest. Her performance in the RuCo's Empire challenge is possibly the best single-challenge performance in the history of the show. It was masterful, over-the-top acting and comedy at its finest. Her Snatch Game performance was also top-tier. Pandora Boxx's Carol Channing has always been a favorite Snatch Game performance for me, and Bob did just as good a job, if not better. Overall, Bob was just an absolutely phenomenal performer and character, and while her march to the end was predictable, she was clearly the best in her season. 


2) Alaska- All Stars 2
Honestly, Alaska's All Stars win is the majority of the reason that I wanted to include All Stars winners & seasons on these lists. She's always been one of my favorite queens from Drag Race, and she was also probably my favorite to win All Stars 2. While her tantrum in the second-to-last challenge is still extremely off-putting, she's still definitely one of my long-standing favorites and she absolutely demolished the season. She was in the top for nearly every challenge, and she essentially won half of the challenges. She definitely came to win this season, and she proved it pretty much every single episode with how hard she was trying.

And while Alaska wasn't the most likable in her All Stars appearance, she was definitely my favorite on S5 by a long-shot. Don't get me wrong, I loved Jinkx, but Alaska's personality was so hilarious and so endearing, despite the fact that she had attached herself to relatively unlikable people like Roxxxy and Detox. Although Jinkx clearly had the best showing in the season, if not for the public outcry for her as the winner (due mostly to Roxxxy's bullying), I think Alaska could honestly have taken it. She was such a stand-out queen and character, and so many people just absolutely fell in love with her that season. While I'm a bit lower on her post-All Stars, she's still definitely up there as both one of my favorite queens and one of the best queens that's ever been on the show. 


1) Bianca Del Rio- Season 6
This is pretty much a given, right? Bianca Del Rio is far and away not just the best winner in the history of the show, but the best queen who's ever competed on the show. PERIOD. Not to rely on Dusted or Busted scores too much, but Bianca is the reigning champ on there, due to her 3 wins, 5 times in the top, and 0 trips to even the bottom 3, let alone the bottom 2. Not only did she show her skill in the challenges, but she was definitely the stand-out personality of the season. Sure, Adore was also right up there with her, but the development of their friendship was one of the prevailing storylines throughout the show. Although she markets herself as being hateful, Bianca was never afraid to lend a helping hand to anyone who needed it, simply because she knew she could still beat them. 

Sure, she delivered different versions of the same look over and over throughout the competition. But, do you know who else does that? RUPAUL CHARLES. If the looks are put together and polished, who cares if they look similar? Bianca knows what works for her, and she knows the aspects of her drag persona that are important. AKA- her humor, her wit, and her scathing rolodex of hate. Bianca is truly the whole package. She's entertaining, funny, intelligent, well-spoken, and despite being so snarky, she's inherently lovable. Bianca is, unquestionably, both the best contestant and the best winner in the history of RuPaul's Drag Race. 



So, those are my rankings of the winners of RuPaul's Drag Race! Sometime in the near future, I'm hoping to do a ranking of all of the queens in the history of the show, so if that's something you're interested in, let me know!

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Thanks for reading! If you like my posts, I'd really appreciate if you'd subscribe/follow so that I know you're enjoying what I'm posting! See you soon!