#180/180 + 7

[joshay98]

Day 534 - 543 (1 year, 170 - 179 days)

Heya, how are we doing this week? Hope it hasn't been too stressful. Just a quick update today because I don't have a lot to tell.

So new thursday, new traveling spirit. This time the Grateful Shell Collector from the Season of Sanctuary. I didn't actually expect them. But hey, at least this is another spirit crossed off my list. They also gave me my 187th winged light. I'm getting there.

They arrive with a hairstyle, a cape and a prop. In total they cost 162 candles. On the average side for a spirit with three items.

First the cape, it is a normal-sized pink cape in the shape of a shell. It is genuinely pretty with it's design. Might go well with ocean theme outfits. Otherwise it still works as a pink filler. ^^

The hairstyle reminds me of coconut head. It's pretty sleek, being same lenght all around. It also has a small tuft sticking out the top. Adorable. :D

And lastly, two wooden chairs. They act as a chat bench as well and are able to be used in shared spaces. A nice thing if you like chatting with strangers. ^^

And that's all. Now the developers did mention that they had a fire in their server room where they keep future update content. So the quest on monday and events might get delayed. Let's see how it will turn out. I will see you then. ^^

[jae-in-a-trenchcoat]

Benrius week, day 2: fights/resolutions!

Been thinking a lot about Ben introducing Brooklyn to Dark Jurassic and the consequences and so this was born

[coolbattlegirl]

Dreaming in Solace

The first thing Silver notices when he wakes up is that he’s no longer in his dorm room. The second thing he notices is that he’s alone in a forest. Which is strange because the last thing he remembers is attending a party and then… and then nothing.

Silver frowns slightly as he mulls over his memories. But no matter how much he ponders over it, he can’t seem to remember what happened after the party. In fact, he can’t seem to remember who the party was for either, and Silver likes to think he has a good memory. He entertains the thought that perhaps he had another sleeping spell, but that wouldn’t explain how he ended up in the woods.

Nor does it explain the sense of dread he feels.

Despite the strange gap in his memories, Silver feels oddly calm. Not wanting to waste any more time, he picks himself off the forest floor, brushes the dirt off of his knees and looks around. And it’s when he finally looks around when it clicks.

“Oh…” Silver whispers out softly, and any tension in his body disappears, “I know this place…” How could he not? It was the forest he grew up in. Silver couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief, there was no need to ponder his destination any longer. Soon, he finds himself walking down a familiar path, one he had walked many times.

As he walks, Silver passes by a wryly old tree, and he can’t help but stop to see if it’s still there. And it is. Silver brushes his hand against the trunk, his fingers tracing out the small indentations of a carving that had been etched into it. “S.V.” and “L.V.” It reads. His and his father’s initials.

He remembers exactly when he carved it. It had been his 13th birthday when his father had gifted him a small dagger. A gift that caused Sebek’s father to scold Lilia, saying something along the lines of how children his age shouldn’t be given weapons.

A small smile ghosts his face at the memory. Silver can still remember how his father laughed at the scolding, “But they grow up so fast!” Lilia laughed as he ruffled Silver’s hair, “And what’s the harm? He has to learn how to defend himself when little old me is gone!” And suddenly, the small smile on his face slips away.

“My time has come… That’s all there is to it.”

Silver feels his throat tighten and his eyes burn as his mind lingers on the memory. And there’s something more to it, but he can’t seem to grasp it.

Why can’t he grasp it?

Silver’s not sure why his heart aches at the memory, so he pushes down the sudden surge of emotion that promises to devour him, and chalks it up to feeling nostalgic. His gaze lingers on the tree a little longer before he finally looks away. There was no use loitering around any longer than he already has. And so he starts moving again.

After a few more minutes of walking, Silver pushes through a clearing and there it is in all its glory; home. The cottage is exactly as he remembers it to be. It stands tall and proud and his heart feels warm upon looking at it. Silver takes note that the inside of the cottage is dark and quiet, but still, he wastes no time walking up towards the door and knocking, bracing himself for Lilia to bust the door open with a big smile.

There’s no answer…

Silver lets out a small sigh, “Of course…” He whispers, he really should have expected that. Still, he can’t help but feel disappointed. He’s not even sure why he’s surprised by this, because he knows Lilia won’t be coming back home anymore.

Because Lilia is going away to live far away in the Land of the Red Dragon…

Because Lilia is losing his magic…

Because his father is dying-

And Silver freezes. Because what is he thinking? He lets out a shaky breath as the suffocating feeling from earlier looms over him again. His heart aches and so does his head, but most importantly, he just wants to scream and cry because there’s something terribly, terribly wrong going on and it’s eating up at him because he knows it’s important but he can’t remember-

“Oh. So this was where you were, Silver.” Silver gasps as his eyes snap open, he’s not even sure when he closed them. Whirling around, he is greeted with the sight of Malleus walking past the clearing he came through earlier.

“M-Malleus!” Silver gasped out, clearly not expecting to see the older fae here. “Wha-What are you doing here?” He asks as he tries to compose himself, hoping that he doesn’t look as frazzled as he feels. However, the older fae doesn’t respond, he simply stares at Silver silently. It’s only after a few moments of silence, that Silver decides to speak again.

“Malleus…? Is everything alright?” He asks quietly, feeling slightly unnerved by the silence now. Malleus finally blinks and a small fanged smile graces his lips, “There is no need to fret, Silver. I can assure you that I am quite alright.” He practically hums as he walks towards Silver. And as the prince approaches him, something inside Silver screams for him to run. But why would he? This is the person who helped raise him. The person who sang and read to him when father was away. And Malleus would never hurt him.

Right?

Before Silver can think any longer about the growing unease in his stomach, he’s quickly pulled out of his thoughts again when a cool hand brushes against his bangs. He looks up and is met with Malleus’s glowing green eyes. The fae prince’s brows are now furrowed and a slight frown has replaced his smile from earlier. Silver would almost say he looks a bit worried. “But what about you? You seem…a little distressed.” He hears the older fae said as he looks over Silver.

“By the Seven, do I really look that bad?” Silver feels a bit embarrassed, as he had been hoping Malleus wouldn’t notice. “Ah… Don’t worry, Malleus, I’m okay.” Silver says in hopes of reassuring the prince. However, judging from his unchanging expression, Silver can tell that he isn’t buying it.

In a moment of slight panic, Silver blurts out “I… I was just worried you were still mad at me…” The moment those words leave his mouth, Silver realizes how silly it sounds. And Malleus must share the same sentiments because he sees a spark of amusement flashes across the prince’s face.

“Why would I be mad?” Malleus asks as a smile graces his lips once more. Silver looks down at the ground, “Because I…I…” Silver paused, feeling mystified. Why was he so sure Malleus was mad at him? Silver frowned slightly as he tried to remember, yet the answer eluded him. “I… I’m not sure…” Silver finally admits, feeling a bit frustrated.

“There is no need to fret, Silver,” Malleus lets out a sigh that sounds fond, “However, if it brings you any comfort, do know that I could never stay mad at you for long.” As Malleus gently brushes the strands of hair away from Silver’s face, for a fleeting moment, his face seems mournful. But it disappears so fast that Silver can’t help but wonder if he imagined it.

Suddenly, Malleus moved away, “Well, I believe that we have lingered here long enough. Lilia and Sebek must be growing impatient.” Malleus extended his hand, offering it to Silver. Silver stared at the gloved hand held out towards him, and once again, something inside his brain screams for him to not take it. But why wouldn’t he? It’s Malleus.

So, Silver takes his hand, a chill running down his spine as he feels Malleus’s fingers wrap around his hand. And as Malleus whisked Silver away from the forest, the silver-haired boy failed to notice the once vibrant forest being devoured by the pitch black darkness that had followed him. And with it, disappeared the glimmering hope adorned with an aurora gem.

.

.

.

Clink

“Oh? It finally came off?” Ink stained hands grasped around the fragile golden chains, gently slipping it off the wearer’s neck. Glowing emerald eyes scrutinized the necklace. “Such a troublesome thing…”

CRACK

[scribbletea]

clone high season 2 episode 6

[cirrus-grey]

My mom has given me the golden offer of listening to one (1) episode of Archives/Protocol with me since I've ranted to her so much about it. Which one do I show her???

Advantage to Archives: My main obsession, can introduce her to Jon and Martin, there are a lot of episodes without too much metaplot so I don't need to explain as much going in. She's not a horror person, and there are plenty without any excessive gore/graphic violence that I could show her.

Advantage to Protocol: I've been giving her weekly updates on the plot so she kind of knows what's going on already, it would give her a chance to pin voices to names for all the characters, I think this was the show she was actually interested in hearing before I mentioned that the horror is a lot more gorey.

I've narrowed down a list of episodes; pros and cons of each are elaborated under the cut.

Episode Pros and Cons:

TMA 23: Classic episode format. Not too violent or gorey. Nice little stand-alone statement that you don't need any extra context for. Has both Jon and Martin.

TMA 53: Same as above. Does not feature Jon reading a statement, but does feature the idea of Other Archivists - which I've talked about a bunch with her because of Protocol.

TMA 180: Surprisingly easy to explain the metaplot going into this one, even though it's season 5. Lots of jmart cuteness. More developed soundscaping than the other two. Need to explain who Annabelle and Salesa are.

TMAGP 1: It's the official introduction to the series so you truly don't need any context going in. You meet pretty much every major character except Celia. It's a bit long though, and she'll probably want to skip the two cases to get it down to dinner-length listening.

TMAGP 7: Has every major OIAR employee in it, the case isn't too disturbing, and most of the metaplot is self-explanatory... except for the Klaus bit, which might require pausing the episode to remind her where Gwen got that video.

TMAGP 19: Again, all the major cast, and the metaplot handles itself. The case is pretty tame... except it’s about a 50/50 shot she'll be really put off by the whole "experimenting on a dog" thing. She does like historical stuff, though.

[wen-kexing-apologist]

Top 5 Emotional Outbursts

See if no one else on this website has my back, I know Ben has my back because he is giving me a chance to talk about my boy Patts once more

TOP 5 EMOTIONAL OUTBURSTS OF 2023

Patts, La Pluie

gif by the beautiful, marvelous @liyazaki

Episode 10 was just an absolute masterclass in emotional outbursts. The fight between Lomfon and Patts, then Patts and Tai, then Lomfon and Tien, then Patts and Tai again. Like goddamn, finally thank fuck, Patts is able to let out years worth of frustration and pain at Tai's silence was just so beautiful, and cathartic, and necessary. What an absolutely incredible moment to not only witness but experience. Patts has been so kind, so patient, so forgiving, and it was time for all the pain that he's been letting simmer for two years out. Good! For! Him!

Uea and His Bio Family, Bed Friend

There are few characters in this world I hate more than Uea's mother, and it was so so so so so so wonderful to see Uea finally give her a piece of his mind. I am so proud of him for speaking his mind, standing his ground, and getting the ever living fuck out of his bio family's house. Too personal, sorry, but this fight hit especially well for me because I too have had a parent say they'd live perfectly happily without me, and it was great vindication of my reaction to that to see Uea GTFO immediately after.

Secondarily, James' sobbing screams at the beginning of episode 4 and in the flashback of him getting dragged in to the bathroom when he was an adult have never left my brain. James absolutely crushed those scenes and this was going to be my Bed Friend pick before I remembered this fight exists.

Jim and Li Ming // Heart and His Parents, Moonlight Chicken

I don't think I am exaggerating when I say that Jim and Li Ming's relationship dynamics is one of my favorite of all time. Aof is such an incredible screenwriter/director and I feel like he's able to make such realistic depictions of families in all their complicated glory. The screaming match between Jim and Li Ming is SO good, and really is what solidified my appreciation for Fourth's acting skills because there was a fucking storm cloud on his brow. Happy fucking birthday to you Uncle Jim I guess. Poor fucker.

And then of course, one of the first ever posts I made in the BL Sphere of tumblr was a full essay on Heart's confrontation which I loved so motherfucking much. Once again a much needed fight with lots of interesting, complicated emotions flying around the room.

Kiyoi and Hira, Utsukushii Kare Season 2

gif by @itsallaboutbl

"I'm sorry that I like you" one of the best moments of the year for me by far. This fight between Kiyoi and Hira was desperately, and I mean desperately needed. I know changing will be a slow process for the two of them, and even in Eternal they are no where near where they need to be, but Hira needs/needed to cut this Pebble to a God bullshit out and I am so glad that Kiyoi was able to call him on it. Also from a performance standpoint, Yagi Yusei had his work cut out for him as a scene partner to Hagiwara who absolutely bodied his role as Hira. In season one Yagi did not need to do all that much for his performance because we didn't know as much about Kiyoi until closer to the end, but that cannot be the case for Season 2 and Yagi knocked it out of the motherfucking park.

Sunshine and Q, 7 Days Before Valentine

Okay, almost positive this isn't a BL but I love when people structure TV shows like stage plays, and there was a fight between Sunshine and Q in like Episode 4 or 5 where they were shouting over each other and it just felt so real and the dead silence that hit the room when Q said something that struck a chord with Sunshine was expertly handled, and some of the best work I've seen out of Atom the whole show. I don't think anyone gifed it so I can't put the scene in, but I think you talked about it in your Stray Thoughts @bengiyo

And just cause I wanna, the Top 5 Emotional Outbursts of the pre-2023 shows I watched this year:

In and Wang's fight in 180 Degree Longitude Passes Through Us, Ep 8

Gav sobbing about his aunt in Gameboys (the movie, i think?)

Pran sobbing in to Pat's shoulder in Bad Buddy, Ep 10

Tarn's fight with Teh in I Told Sunset About You, Ep 4 (shout out to Smile there because I still cannot believe it was the first thing she filmed on set)

Shiro being terrified Kenji was dying and Kenji being worried Shiro was dying and the resulting clownery from them blurting that out in What Did You Eat Yesterday? I think it was the New Year's special.

ASK ME MY TOP 5 OF ANYTHING BL 2023

[nikkiissleepy]

cn announced a temporary event shop where you can exchange STAMINA for gems, privilege cards, fantasy tickets and even dyes for hair and clothes, INCLUDING URs... what the fuck this is insane

[red-hibiscus]

BL characters I relate to most as a mentally ill gay trans man

Daisy from SCOY

Surprising no one, I, a trans person, relate to Daisy. They're outgoing and seemingly don't care about how people view them. They know they're visibly queer and they normally don't mind it (from what I see). But at the end of the day, society does affect them. They're hesitant to believe Touch genuinely cares and is attracted to them despite Touch being an absolute green flag who is very direct with his flirting. Even after, Daisy was worried about people would view their relationship with Touch and tried to become Day, a more masculine version of themself. Impossible of course and they broke down emotionally exhausted. I feel that so much because I also don't believe it when people, especially cis gay men, are attracted to me. I've caught myself trying to change my behavior to be more masculine (as I'm a bit on the nonbinary side of things). It's bad, but I know how Daisy feels.

Wang from 180 Degree Longtitude Passes Through Us

As a 26 year old trans gay immigrant in a country that doesn't want me, I have a shit ton of pent up anger that has been building up since I was a child. I've calmed down over the years, but I can still be stubborn and argumentative when it comes to politics and human rights. I'm also a linguistics major, thus an academic.

Wang is so much like myself and like a lot of people around me. Like me and Wang would be close friends irl I know it. We're young and stubborn. We're angry at the older conservative people around us, too much sometimes. So he lashes out. Many of his points are correct, but they're not hitting. Partially because the people he's talking to don't want to change, partially because he himself is stubborn. People like us yearn to be free, to be ourselves and to learn. Wang has a passion for the humanities like myself. Yet he knows society really only cares about STEM fields. I've compromised and am getting a master's in computational linguistics. Even though really I just wanna learn as much as I can about sociolinguistics.

Karl from Gaya Sa Pelikula

I haven't watched GSP in a hot minute, but I do remember feeling very seen.

So in the show Karl has his gay awakening, tries to internally and externally deny it, and eventually let himself be free to feel everything and be himself (at least in private).

Now I didn't have a gay awakening, but I guess you could say a trans awakening. In middle school I felt different, I suspected maybe some flavor of LGBT, but wasn't sure and I was too afraid to think about it too hard. Come high school I secretly wanted to join the LGBT club, but was afraid. Then I was essentially adopted into the LGBT club and dragged into the friend group during lunch because I was a loner like everyone else. At the time still "identified" as a cishet woman. As time went on people started to suspect. "Why are you in the club?", "why did you cut your hair", "why do you dress like that?", "your voice is low for a girl haha", etc. Much like Karl, I was not ready for any of that. I was still struggling to make sense of it all and come to terms with it myself. So I kept rejecting it and every time it hurt.

I kept rejecting it until I couldn't. Until someone I resonated with so much came out as trans and it clicked. My trans awakening was complete. I became able to be more myself, but only in private safe spaces. I wouldn't come out and live as a man until after high school and it was terrifying.

Adachi from Cherry Magic

I've only watched the jpn ver, but I'm sure that character remains the same.

I'm anxious and used to be quite shy. Now I'm just awkward. I'm really bad at seeing the good in myself cause I feel like I'm wandering around aimlessly in life. Not that impressive. So when people compliment me I think "haha they're just being nice" (refer back to me never believing people are actually attracted to me).

Adachi is the exact same. He has the same routine every day. Just going through the motions and not really thinking anything of himself. But then Kurosawa comes along and the ability to read minds. Adachi then realizes "wait, someone I respect so much actually loves me? And thinks I have a lot of good qualities? Makes me wanna cry." And me too Adachi. I'd be the same.

Jared from 7 Days Before Valentine

Jared, my precious baby, is described throughout the show as kind, but weird and different. We later learn that he has dyslexia, and honestly he seems to be somewhere on the autism spectrum. Even if he isn't, he has a behavioral difference people pick up on and then shun him for it.

I too was seen as kinda weird growing up. Maybe it was the autism, maybe it was the social anxiety. Probably both. And then of course there was the gnawing feeling that I was different than everyone else and it turns out it's because I'm trans.

So when Jared said that people didn't talk to him because he wasn't like other people it hit me so hard.

Myungha from Love For Love's Sake

The whole show is sad yet cathartic for me. Myungha is depressed yet spends his time comforting others. He has a hard time loving and receiving love. If you give him a fictional character who is very similar to him he will love them and see all the good, but he doesn't see it in himself. Relatable as hell.

I have an incredibly hard time being honest with my emotions and letting people love me and express attraction. Mostly in a romantic/sexual context. Dpdr is cockblocking me. So dating is hell, but I'm lonely and yearn to not be.

Probably if you put me in a situation like Myungha I'd also go "yep, that right there is my blorbo" and then not realize that all the things I like about the person and make me care about them are things I have.

Honorable mentions:

Both Akk and Ayan from The Eclipse

Nozue from Old Fashion Cupcake

Oh-Aew from I Told Sunset About You

Cher from A Boss and a Babe (I headcannon him as autistic)

Amber from DNA Says Love You

Uea from Bed Friend

Mitsuomi from Restart After Come Back Home

Jao from SCOY

Maybe I'll make another post for those later

[parcai]

how deep are u in this love hole sicko 🙁😫🩷

i need to get married 2 him rn 👍🙁

[rainbowpufflez]

Fine, I’ll admit that I like Lysandre 😔

[takeiteasyonmeimstilllearning]

zenigata and Maria part 2/2

[nosamyrag]

[lucisevofficial]

yo why the FUCK are physical copies of akuma no riddle volume 5 like. $200

[jokeanddaggerdept]

[barkjunhee]

Petition for Jeup and Sunyoul to join A.C.E

[wen-kexing-apologist]

7 Days Before Valentine

It's the first episode so I won't do any analysis, but I will give some Stray Thoughts:

7 Days Before Valentine has quickly ascended to the top of the Queer Asian Shows With Phenomenal Lighting pack. It gained my loyalty to watch the show regardless of whether it ends up good or bad within the first minute and a half of the episode, based entirely on the lighting they had going on.

I think I saw someone else mention this, but the style of this show feels like a mix of old detective noir pieces and also stage plays. I was worried about the script a bit at the beginning of the show, but once I realized how much this show seemed to be emulating noir films, that concern went away and I got with the program.

Aside from the lighting itself, the cinematography is brilliant

I am intrigued by the concept of this show, and do want to know how the rest of the narrative unfolds.

I really love how much Tu Punnasack's history as a playwright/in theater bleeds through his work. The sets always feel like they belong on a stage, the blocking of a scene often feels like it belongs on a stage, and as someone with a lot of theater study under their belt, I love how legible that style is in Punnasack's work.

I need to admit now that I will probably give this show a lot more wiggle room than I would others because Tu Punnasack is responsible for 180 Degrees Longitude Passes Through Us the show that sent me in to the biggest emotional distress of my life, and one of my favorite pieces of media ever.

BUT I will probably give less wiggle room to the actors in 7 Days Before Valentine because I know what Pond, Nike, and Mam were able to give us in 180 Degrees.

With that in mind, I am worried about whether or not Atom, who plays Sunshine is a strong enough performer for me to get emotionally invested in his character arc. I hate character's with Sunshine's brand of immaturity and so Atom has a lot of work cut out for him to get me to care about Sunshine.

I think Jet who plays "Q" has done a lot of interesting things in his limited screen time.

Ultimately, this show is a visual/technical feast and I do plan to stick with this for awhile, even if it's just to see some fun lighting design happening!