#I rewatched all of gravity falls and I’ve been waiting a WEEK for the book of bill to arrive at my house

[brainrot-radio]

Every You Every Me - Placebo

[knackeredforever]

AN OWL HOUSE SHOW RETROSPECTIVE BEFORE THE FINALE PART 1 SEASON 1:

So we’re around two weeks from the finale and I’ve spent the last two weeks rewatching all of the owl house (I’m not the kind of person who can binge a lot of episodes in a small amount of time). First of all my relationship with this show is somewhat unconventional to say the least I started watching the episodes on Disney + while just season 1 was on their because I had heard of the show’s similarities to gravity falls (which is one of my favourite shows) and really liked it and was excited to watch the later episodes however due to living in the uk Disney who in their complete dumbfuckery had already stopped airing the Disney channel / Disney XD here like they used to do I had to wait for the episodes to come to Disney + and so I couldn’t really interact with the fandom to avoid spoilers which was infuriating. Even more because with every chunk of season 2 that came on Disney + it became clearer that the owl house is one of the best shows to come out of the last few years with amazing characters , story and animation that was simultaneously really funny but also very mature and the fact that Disney decided to shorten the show is legitimately one of the dumbest decisions in the company’s history and We can only hope that them finally realising the shows success means we may get future content in this world hopefully more than a book or two although only time will tell. Anyway with the introduction over I’m gonna talk about the actual episodes not all of them I’ll be skipping most of seasons 1 cause it’s the only season with filler episodes and probably a few on season 2 but not cause their filler I just don’t have much to say about them:

A lying witch and a warden/witches before wizards: The first two episodes of the show but arguably some of the lesser quality compared to later episodes probably due to luz, eda and king being the only actual main characters but they are still important from a story sense so their still fine episodes in there own right… however the first two S3 specials make these first two episodes way more tragic I’ll obviously talk more about the S3 episodes when I get to them but damn does what we learn about luz’s past with her father’s death being the catalyst for her love of azura make these episodes so much more interesting in retrospect and S3 E2’s all I’ve ever wanted was to be understood makes this idea of luz’s desperation for a sense of belonging and believing she’s special to escape some of the unfortunate parts of her life so fucking tragic. I also find it funny how people referred to S1 luz as luz before the trauma when she’s been using her love of azura and hyperactive attitude to deal with her trauma in the first place. So yeah while this doesn’t change the fact these are both just ok episodes S3 does contextualise them in a completely new light.

I was a teenage abomination: the first episode to introduce willow, gus , AMITY and hexside as a whole in general a step up from the last two episodes purely because of the introduction of new main characters including amity (we will get back to amity later when she gets character development) who in this episode is mean girl who is absolutely feral. This is also the first episode to introduce abomination magic which will become one of the most interesting and unique parts of TOH’s magic system which essentially combines concepts such as magitech, homunculi and used in a way similar to waterbending in atla (quite appropriate considering katara and amity share a VA) but yeah a good episode overall.

The intruder: in my opinion this is TOH’s first great episode while the plot twist is quite obvious the suspense the episode creates is really good the way luz learns her own unique way to do magic through the glyphs is great the owl beast is genuinely quite creepy mainly for me due to the noises it makes but one of my favourite parts is how edas curse is a beautiful done metaphor for chronic illness shown through the line “nobody likes having a curse but If you take the right steps it’s manageable” (or something like that I misremember stuff easily ok) anyway not much else to say genuinely great episode overall.

Covention: This episode is basically what sets up most of the plot of season 1 with introducing lilith and her mission to capture eda overall lilith in season 1 is a pretty generic villain compared to what will come later with belos in season 2 onwards. Lilith isn’t that interesting until in season 2 when she becomes the much superior cool aunt lilith. This episode is also what introduces the concept of the coven system and one of the most interesting ideas of toh that being that it’s magic system is constricted and controlled by the ruling government the emperor’s coven and that the coven system is an inherently evil thing so Is separating the different types of magic which is s thing that many magic systems in fantasy do so it’s cool toh takes that idea and puts it in a negative light. This episode also contains TOH’s first major fight scene and oh god it’s great. Overall toh definitely does quality over quantity with its big fight scenes so this is great for the first major one the giant Hooty statue that grows smaller hooty’s is definitely the best part. This episode is the first one that shows luz and amity’s relationship and amity try’s to kill luz for the second time although this is also the last time amity try’s to kill luz so progress? Anyway good episode.

Lost in language: not much to say about this episode except more lumity development which is cool i like Edric and emira and. I like how emira calling luz cutie and luz blushing because of it is an early tease of luz being bi. And finally amity’s line about trying to figure out why luz keeps trying to be around her and deciding on luz is a bully has literally been living rent free in my head since I watched the episode because it’s such a good line and unexpected that the character that has been presented as a bully thus far actually thinks the main character is trying to bully her is something I’ve never seen in another piece of media before and It’s just interesting how amity views luz in this episode.

Something ventured ,someone framed: I hate / love Matt tholomule so much and the detention pit is so insanely overkill it’s funny like they casually just throw kids into a lovecraftian horror for detention and everyone from the BI just thinks that’s normal.

Escape of the palisman: PLEASE tell me we’re gonna get a conclusion to who the bat queens original owner was int the finale.

Sense and insensitivity: the episode that first introduced kikimora my beloved / should probably be put on trial for crimes against witch kind.

Adventures in the elements: ice ice lesbians. But this is a really good episode too and I love how luz finds the second ice glyph also love how at this point eda is fully willing to let the blights die if she can escape the slitherbeast which if that did happen do you think eda would let Odalia and alador know or she would pretend not to know. Just me wondering that ok MOVING ON.

The first day: the first day 13 episodes in is a fine episode luz has the worst look with school in the universe and gets sent to detention eternal on her first day of school for mixing magic where she meets the detention squad including: viney , guy who knows French for some reason and a talking dog who can tell the future they’re great the part where luz is looking through the secret openings and see’s amity trying to convince herself she’s not gay for luz is hilarious and adorable. The main plot focusing on the invading basilisk is ok in the episode but cooler in retrospect because it sets up vee.

Understanding willow: the first episode that sets up willow and amity’s past friendship and also willow’s character arc of becoming more self confident in herself which is funny cause she spends most of the episode partially comatose. This is also the first episode where amity transitions from having gay thoughts for luz to being blushing tomato gay girl which is great. I love how this episode sets up the idea of entering the mind in a lower risk environment compared to hollow mind where all the shit hits the fan. The fucking he’ll scene with eda being absolutely manic is great. Cool how this is the first episode that shows odalia and alador. It’s interesting how amity’s parents forced boscha to be her friend considering what we learn later about boscha having a crush on amity. And what odalia says when she finds out luz is amity’s girlfriend. Makes me wonder if odalia and maybe alador thought boscha would be an arranged marriage for amity in the future it’s interesting to think about. I like how because amity is nice to willow now they don’t immediately become friends again because of what amity did but they still are understanding of each other it’s a very nuanced ending.

Enchanting grom fright: not much to say for this episode despite the fact it’s essentially the episode that started to skyrocket the owl house to popularity because damn the dance scene is one of the most important and beautiful scenes in animation of recently and the only things to top it are later episodes of the the owl house Itself. Luz being so oblivious to amity is hilarious but sort of sad considering it’s out of a fear of previous rejections on Luz’s part that cause her to not even assume the idea that someone has a crush on her damn this girl needs a hug. Also the ending first teasing vee but as this terrifying doppelgänger instead of the wholesome cinnamon bun she ended up being is just the cherry on top

Wing it like witches: it’s funny how confident amity was dancing with luz in the previous episode probably only fully realising what she’d done in retrospect explaining why amity is a complete and utter lesbian disaster in this episode every other sentence from amity in this episode is gold and she has become an evolved gay tomato new power unlocked being scooped up by your crush and going oh wow sports. When I first watched this episode I had to watch it again because of just how fucking wholesome I haven’t even talked about the episode itself but it doesn’t matter rename the episode to amity down bad because that’s the highlight of the episode and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Agony of a witch/young blood old souls: the two part season 1 finale amity was too gay so she’s been sent to the time out corner so is not present throughout the rest of the season finale. It’s interesting how willow and gus actually respect belos at the start of the episode thinking he’s the BI’s greatest witch showing how far and wide belos’s propaganda has spread. The general aesthetics of belos’s castle due to how the BI has been shown to be hellish in its design with all the plant life being read literally being on the dead body of a long dead Titan and bonesborough’s design especially invoke that feeling so it’s appropriate that the villains castle is actually the opposite looking like this holy palace from its golden interior and the emperor coven’s design of gold and white are not that of typical villains but due to the unruly chaotic design of the BI makes the emperors coven look like they do belong their which they don’t they are their to restrict freedom of the people and though most of its members don’t realise they are helping bring about there people’s destruction for a ruler that secretly hates them. The designs of stained glass windows obviously show the religious inspiration of the emperor’s coven which is really cool but when you enter the emperor’s throne room you see the twisted pipes and the steampunk dark atmosphere and the giant beating heart which can always be heard in the background of the throne room which always adds to the ambiance their making it way more terrifying. Now my thoughts on belos in this episode is that with what we now know about him everything he does in this episode is way more intriguing and interesting. But taking this episode on its own belos is presented as incredibly mysterious but also not super interesting on his own he is shown as a tyrant that has very vague goals who lies to his underlings to get them when I first watched this episode I saw belos as in a joking manner “ sans undertale hollow knight reject” referring to the mask getting shattered later in the episode revealing his one blue eye and the fact his mask makes him look like a hollow knight character (although considering how similar some of his actions are to that of hollow knight’s pale king I guess I sort of predicted the future with that one) little did I know belos would soon become one of my favourite villains of all time as season 2 progressed. The second fight scene between eda and Lilith in agony of a witch is even better than the last with it being anime as fuck. And considering how similar due to eda being morally opposite sibling fighting each other with similar powers and with the good one in a red colour scheme and the bad one in a blue colour scheme the fact that Lilith never said “foolishness eda foolishness” as a DMC reference is one of the shows biggest missed opportunities in my opinion. Also Lilith being the one to curse eda is an insanely obvious plot twist considering their was literally no other character introduced at that point who could have realistically done it but it works in the story as a way to show how far people will go to serve the emperor. In young blood old souls luz goes into murder mode and basically single-handedly takes down the entire conformatorium security including warden wrath who was the main threat in the first episode so it’s a good way to show how far luz has come as a character power wise it’s also cool how the first and last episode of season 1 takes place in the conformatorium. When we get to the Lilith vs luz fight all I can think is how much I wish toh had a higher age rating so we could have actually gotten luz saying “talk to the glyph bitch” anyway belos being the sassy can not recognise irony if it stared him in the face asshole that he is sitting on the demon skull throne in shadowy lighting about to use the most demonic magic possible motherfucka probably thinking to himself what a considerate morally good guy he is. WAIT TUMBLR HAS A TEXT POST LIMIT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[imgoingtohellsofuckit]

Dipper Pines Is Bad At Romance

Adult Dipper x Reader

Warnings - None

Summary - Mable kicks Dipper out for the day and he meets a girl that seems too good to be true

soo i’ve been rewatching gravity falls and I remembered my childhood crush on Dipper so I decided fanfic time

"Dipper you've been staring at that book for hours!" Mable groans, "stop being so boring!" Dipper rolls his eyes as he moves the book up to cover his face. It's just like Mable to bother him about nothing. I mean he's working on a case he doesn't have time to not be focused. Sure they saved the town- no the world but that doesn't mean she's come to her senses about how they need to focus on these things."Mable I'm kinda busy," Dipper groans.

"You're not busy you're boring!" Mable exclaims.

"I'm not boring I'm trying to help Ford with this investigation," Dipper says at once, "I mean this is important!"

"You know what else is important?" She asks looking over her brother, "socializing, going outside every once in a while. When's the last time you talked to someone that wasn't related to you?"

Dipper thinks for a moment. He can't remember if he's being honest. He's just been working with Ford so he hasn't had time to worry about talking to other people.

"And you reek- have you showered either?" Mable asks him.

"I-"

"No no thats it as your twin I'm putting my foot down," Mable says fiercely, "you're going to go shower-and then I'm making you go into town and socialize!"

"I have a job to do," He says defensively.

"Dipper you're wasting your twenties away!" Mable exclaims, "come on all you've done the last three weeks is work on this. You're just burning yourself out so. You need a break. So I'm forcing you to take one."

"Ugh kid this room's disgusting," Stan groans, "I'm pretty sure it's a biohazard."

"I've almost got it-"

"No you don't," Ford says simply, "Mable you can look over his notes for now, Dipper you need to leave the house."

"But-but-"

"Dipper you are disgusting," Mable says harshly, "come on go into town and I don't know get a coffee or talk to someone. Get some new clothes so we can burn those."

"Hey!"

"Now shower and go!"

Dipper caved. Well is it really caving when you're bulled into it? So he showered and got his car keys from Mable and went in town. If for nothing than get everyone to shut up.

"Well what now," Dipper says as he walks along the sidewalk. His eyes scanning the building, "god why did they have to do this now? I was so close to a break through!"

"Man have I heard this one before," Dipper hears a unfamiliar voice say. He turns to see a girl around his age looking at him with a soft smirk. He's never seen her in town before. Must be new. "Team throw you out even though you were almost there?"

"Family actually," Dipper replies.

"Ouch thats even worse," She adds, "traitors the whole lot of em."

"Tell me about it," Dipper says chuckling lightly, "how do you think I feel."

"Positively filled with despair?" She teases lightly.

"Well I wouldn't go that far," He says with a chuckle, "I haven't seen you around before. You live here in Gravity Falls?"

"Ah I'm fairly new," She shares.

"Pretty random place to decide to move to," He says looking to the girl. She chuckles lightly.

"A friend from college grew up here and had a free room," She tells him, "I love small towns with weird people and thats pretty much the staple here." Dipper chuckles.

"You don't even know that half of it," Dipper says brightly, "I'm Dipper by the way."

"Dipper? Nice name," She says eyeing him closely.

"Nickname actually," He says as he rubs the back of his neck, "ya know one of those childhood nicknames that stick with you for the rest of your life."

"Oh man well at least you've got a cute one," She flirts, "the names Y/n."

"You're really pretty-No! Wait no you are pretty but uh uh- I mean that's a pretty name," Dipper stumbles. She chuckles.

"Thanks," She says giving him a soft smile, "so Dipper how about you and I get a cup of coffee?"

"Uh yeah," He stumbles, "that would be great."

"Come on," Y/n says leading them into the coffee shop. As they get into line his eyes keep on her closely. He's never met anyone so confident like this- well maybe Mable. But she's so much more calm and cool. They get their drinks then take a seat together at one of the tables by the windows. "So Dipper- aren't you Mable's twin?"

"You know my sister?" He asks.

"Oh yeah she's like always at the record store I work at," Y/n says, "she made me a sweater. Honestly I adore her."

"Everyone does," Dipper says softly.

"I'm sure that you hear it all the time," She says to him, "ya know she talks about you a lot. She's been trying to get me to come down the shack to meet you for like three weeks now."

"Whoa really?"

"Yeah she says we'd be good friends," She explains, "something about how we both are nerdy and like the paranormal."

"Paranormal eh?"

"Yeah I'm a paranormal investigator on the side. It's kinda the perfect place for that job," She smiles, "I know you guys aren't supposed to talk about it. But when Pacifica told me all about it-"

"Pacifica? That's your friend!"

"Yeah we were room mates in college," Y/n shares, "she's great for the most part. She told me all about you when you were like what 12? How you used to solve mysterious and helped saved the world."

"Really she talked about me?"

"Pacifica? Oh she talked all the time about the Twins who made her than a spoiled brat-"

"We did didn't we."

"Cocky aren't ya," She smirks, "you're lucky you're cute."

"I'm cute?"

"I thought you knew that already?" She chuckles as she twirls the ends of her h/c hair. Dipper chuckles nervously.

"So what did you major in?"

"I double majored in physics and parapsychology" She answers, "my parents were very confused. What about you?"

"I majored in biochemistry and minored in photographer and film production," He shares, "I loved it and it helped me start producing my online show."

"Online show?" She asks, "thats awesome."

"Yeah awesome," He says blushing brightly.

"I'll check it out sometime," She says smiling. He chuckles nervously again. She's pretty she's making him so nervous. I mean pretty girl who likes the paranormal and already knows about his weird past she's perfect- maybe too perfect. I mean girls aren't really interest in him and I mean she did just pop up out of no where. Oh man she's too good there has to be something wrong with her. She's a murderer, she's Bill! No she can't be. Oh my god is she just a bunch of  gnomes? Or a unicorn? Or a mermaid? "You okay Dipper?"

"Uh yeah I just need to call my sister," He says standing. She nods then looks to her coffee as he slips outside the coffee shop. He moves dialing Mable's number at once. After the third ring she picks up.

"You can't come back yet," Mable groans, "we're still cleaning up your toxic wasteland of a room." Dipper rolls his eyes.

"Listen Mable I think I need you to come into town... Look I met this girl-"

"You met a girl!"

"Mable listen to me!"

"Yeah okay okay listening!"

"I met this girl and she said she knew you but she's like crazy perfect and I think she might be gnomes," Dipper exclaims.

"You should crazy."

"I'm being serious Mable her names Y/n and-"

"Oh my god you met Y/n! Dipper I've been trying to set you two up for weeks!" Mable exclaims, "she's perfect for you! Oh do you like her?"

"Mable you aren't taking this serious!"

"No shes perfect for you!" Mable exclaims, "she's pretty, she's nice, she like mysterious! What's the problem Dipper?"

"She's too perfect!"

Mable sighs loudly. Of course her twin would do something like this. It's Dipper for crying out loud. He'd see a girl so obviously perfect for him then find a reason to mess it up.

"Dipper I'm begging you not to ruin this," Mable says firmly, "I've been setting you guys up for so long now and if you ruin it because you are too paranoid I will make you join that speed dating thing."

"What? Mable no!"

"Dipper you're ruining this! Just give her a chance she's really nice!"

"Too nice!"

"For a guy who's so smart you're kinda dumb."

"Mable," He groans. She sighs. What could she do to convince him that this is a good thing?

"Dipper?"

The boy turns to see the girl in question behind him.

"Y/n hey," Dipper says tensely.

"You think I'm a bunch of gnomes? Like what stacked up in a crop top and jeans?" She teases lightly.

"I'm hanging up now Dipper... Don't mess this up!"

"Mable-"

No use. She already hang up. Dipper sighs as he looks to the girl.

"I just- I don't know I've never met any cute girls who also like the science and the paranormal."

"Your sister was right you are dorky," She says with a chuckle, "listen I'm not a bunch of gnomes or a vampire. Not even a zombie. I'm just me. A normal girl." He avoids her eyes. He feels bad. I mean they were having a good time and he just had to freak out and ruin it like always.

'God dipper why do you always have to do this stuff!' He mentally screams.

"You know I don't meet a lot of cute guys who are into science and the paranormal," She says smirking at him, "I'm still kinda convinced you're a shape shiftier who's trying to get my brain. Paranoia comes with the job. We kinda need to get used to it. Think we can but aside the crazy theories and hang out? If you're like what Mable describes I'm sure we'd have a lot of fun."

"Really?"

"Yeah," She smiles, "I'm thinking you and me go and look at this haunted  mansion a couple towns over."

"Yeah?"

"I think it would be a great first date for us."

"Date?"

"I mean if thats okay?"

He smiles.

"It's okay."

[ukiyoexo]

Quarantine Tag

I was tagged by @mithrilnen, thank you for the tag, gosh I wish I lived on my own or was able to go out and see friends but we’re on full lock down in the uk.

Are you staying home from work/school?

Well I’m staying home from school, but I don’t get any online work either... I was doing my GCSEs and because I’m not taking those exams anymore, there’s no work they can actually give me. I am however going to work because I work in the village grocery shop.

If you’re home, who are you with?

Umm well my parents both have to work so it’s me, my older sister and younger brother at home during the week - all five of us at home on the weekend though. Not gonna lie, my siblings might as well not be home because I get up at 8 and won’t see them for at least another five hours.

An event you were looking forward to that got cancelled?

Idk really, me and my mum were supposed to go see mamma mia the play and go to some comedy shows. I guess in a way I was waiting for my exams, I’ve been working towards them for the past three years and it’s something you know you’re gonna do even when you’re in primary school so it’s weird to not be doing them.

What movies/shows have you watched recently?

Me and my sister have been powering through hello my twenties (or age of youth, whatever you call it). I’ve been rewatching gravity falls with my brother and I started watching Tokyo ghoul (the first anime I’ve ever watched) and descendants of the sun! Oh and I’ve rewatched To the Bone about 100 times.

What are you reading?

I just finished reading Radio Silence by Alice Oseman and I’ve been reading Misery by Stephen King on and off. I just bought this true crime book about hunting for an assassin and I have Pet Semetary, The Amazing Adventures of Klavier and Clay and Sherlock Holmes to read.

What are you doing for self care?

Honestly not much... I’ve been making sure to get up everyday before 9am at the latest but idk not much. Why look after myself when I can starve instead? 💀🔫

Once again thanks Kath for the tag,, I hope you are doing well, love you loads 🖤🖤

I’m going to tag @erfanic @uwu-yifan @lilithpooped @peachjaem00 @joully @mingiholic @mingyulonglegs

[capricious-writes]

21 Questions Tag Game

Rules: Answer 21 Questions (they do not have to be the same questions) and tag [21] people (Don’t know who to tag right now, so I’m gonna leave this one open ended)

Tagged by @quilloftheclouds    

>>> There, I finally got this all filled out! There was no way I was gonna just give this one up, because there were one or two questions that I REALLY wanted to answer ... <<<

 1. Height?

I’m 5′7″. Not 5′6″. NOT 5′6″ (I will go to my grave with this) [Excuse me I have a taller younger sister]

2. Eye Color?

Medium Light Brown (Glorious) Idk

3. Hair Color?

Chocolate Brown (Equally GLORIOUS)

4. Favorite Color?

Brown. (See it’s all falling together)

I actually have an incredibly complex system of favorite colors for different reasons, the explanation alone of which would take multiple paragraphs, but - 

- Brown

- Pink

- Purple

- Orange 

- Green

(in that order... why am I like this?) I don’t care, it’s fun

5. Favorite IceCream?

Default Chocolate, but sometimes I need a mix-up.

6. Favorite Music Genre?

EDM. I didn’t used to know edm ~existed~ so I thought I liked pop-music. But what I really loved was the strong beats, the electric syncronicity, and the strong technic sort of sound. Yeah - that’s EDM apparently. 

7. Favorite Song?

Default - Party In My Head by September

8. Following How Many Blogs?

wow, 95 apparently. I’ve never looked at that till today, and I’m certain it’s increased within the last week or two from slipping into Writerblr territory.

9.  Favorite way to procastinate from writing (Besides Tumblr)?

My Favorite? Probably laying on my bed and staring at the ceiling while I wonder if I’m gonna take a nap. I like it because a) it’s mind decluttering time, and b) maybe I get bored and try to write. I don’t do it TOO often though.

10. Favorite way to get inspired for writing?

Just think about what’ll be interesting about the next scene I write. Or focus on what scene I want to get to. Otherwise, not sure really.

11. Favorite Live action movie?

Knight and Day. Whatever its issues - it’s my default ‘favorite,’ even if I’ve seen a better movie. It’s got tons of action and humour and I LOVE that. AND I’ve rewatched it several times - rewatch value is always a big one. It’s a tad lackluster, story-wise, but it still entertains every time.

12. Favorite Non-Disney cartoon

There are way too many good ones, so I’m going to have to default to all the animated Justice League cartoons. Mainly because their batman is my FAVORITE batman, despite even them not blending the Bruce IS Batman idea together. I think Gotham got the closest to that, but I haven’t watched more than a season of it I think. 

13. Favorite Disney cartoon

So hard to say! Cars 3 was particularly satisfying because I knew the movie was going to be fantastic the moment the trailer took my breath away. On the other hand, there’s also the fantastic DuckTales reboot - but then there’s always the Milo Murphy show that tied in with Phineas and Ferb during its finale and - 

Guys there’s too many!

14. Favorite Book character

I really liked Artemis Fowl. Him being a protagonist good guy as a villian slowly reforming himself without knowing was SUCH an amazing characterization. There was always something missing from it though. I could never quite pinpoint what,  but it got SO close that it was still the most brilliant and fantastic thing I’d read up to that point. 

15. Favorite Fanfiction

Very difficult. “Flowey Isn’t a Good Life Coach” had me hooked for two days until I finished it (leaving me empty, disorientated, and lost). But there was also tons of Gravity Falls fanfic that I adored (I made a rec list on my mainblog a while back too actually). And I think there was another fandom that I just had to look at ... but I don’t remember it right now. 

16. First Original Story

I have these spiral notebooks with words in them from when I was 12. Half ready and rumbling to write, half seventh grade writing project - I think my MC was named Jane? No more than 20,000 words at most.

- Girl goes to different world where danger threatens to destroy it. She is 'chosen one' in a line of 'chosen ones' and her best friend is actually from there. He's basically been her guardian all the while, and he's sort of half lizard mutant.

- Along the way they meet a useless mad old man. An angsty but suave, but irritable dude named shadow. And a more sensible local guy who leaves his 'tribe' to help save his world.

I just ... I love how - to use a euphamism - how 'classic' it is.

But you know what, there are some good parts. Just starting out, tropes, cliches, and plenty of mistakes sure. But it’s also telling of my style even just beginning. For instance, the main MC and her friend that’s a Guy have these moments that are really close and build their relationship - but it’s not romantic. Everyone’s ‘friends,’ and it’s really telling of where my priorities aren’t, ha.

17. Favorite Book

I DON’T KNOW. HOW DOES ANYONE CHOOSE?

18. Favorite Book Genre

Action, adventure, but also with magic-is-science I guess? 

19. Favorite Trope?

I love funny tropes I guess. Subverted tropes. Oh! I recently saw a drabbled post about a villian and hero’s friendly, but still antagonistic relationship. I ADORE that. Think Doofenshmirts and Perry the Platypus's relationship. Or Megamind and Metroman. It’s fantastic.

20. 5 skills/interests you have other than writing

1. Amateur-Intermediate Origami

2. Amateur-Intermediate Piano

3. Amateur-Intermediate Lollygagging

I don’t really know what else. My interests leap from place to place. 

21. 5 Fav Mythology Creatures

1. Dragons are cool

2. Phoenixes are GREAT

3. Kitsune and or Foxes with lots of tails are just - Stunning 

4. Three-headed doggies are thrice the fun, adorableness and blood curdling terror

And I’m required to say Gargoyle, because I have another WIP named the same after the MC. I’m completely ignoring it until Blooming Under Night is finished (or I decide to be a fickle beast), but it does have a few thousand words to its credit, sitting in a file just waiting for me to figure out how to give it proper TCL. 

[kingofthewilderwest]

Alright I’m writing this post before I wimp out on this decision that I need to make. I’m going to try to explain with some thoughtful honesty about where I’m potentially going to be heading with my main blog. But because I have the habit of being... verbose... I’m putting my TL;DR at the top:

I am opening my ask box even though I still have dozens of analysis prompts saved from before I closed the ask box. It’s because I’m tired of not chatting with people in this amazing fandom. I love interacting!

I can no longer consistently analyze prompts. This means I cannot guarantee I will give a thorough analysis if I receive an analysis prompt. I will have to start giving answers like “I don’t know,” “I don’t remember,” or something based more on my gut than thorough research. If a topic really intrigues me, I might give a classic Haddock thorough response. But I can no longer guarantee long, consistent asks. I will, regardless, still respond to every ask I get!

I am so thankful for the experiences I have had with the HTTYD fandom and I would not trade my time on tumblr with you guys for anything. Seriously, you’ve all been amazing. I never would have expected to have such journeys, find such laughter, or make such friends as I have with all of you. Here’s to more fun times to come!

So now... the long version... 

I do encourage people to read it.

I have known for at least a year, if not two, that I could not keep up the pace of my blog analyses... not without sacrificing major opportunities or experiences in my life. I will be honest, me spending too much time on tumblr during my one year of the PhD program could have been one of the key reasons I couldn’t keep up. As much as I enjoy the community and as much as I am so happy to answer asks - it’s very fun and somewhat addictive - I know that I have to make decisions with my limited time.

I’m currently working three part-time jobs (~60 hours a week), am trying to find a good game plan for a stable lifelong career, and I have a lot of other adult-ing to do. When I do have free time, I want to be able to spend it hanging out with irl friends, reading books, studying theology and other topics of interest, reintegrating myself in the local church, writing novels, playing music, composing, drawing, conlanging, cosplaying, hiking, jogging, skiing, snowshoeing, watching good tv shows and movies, playing video games, spending time with family, making meaningful memories, etc.

I want to say that answering analyses on tumblr is something that is very meaningful to me. I don’t know how to say how touched I am that people are curious to hear my perspective. I never intended for kingofthewilderwest to be an analysis blog, yet here I am, wowed and grateful for over five thousand followers who have listened to me yak up a storm about an amazing franchise. I never would have imagined this would happen. I’m beyond grateful. What’s made it so worthwhile is interacting with you guys. I’m so happy to have had this experience and... I want to keep having this experience.

That said, answering asks on tumblr is perhaps not as “helpful” to me in the long run as working on a novel I hope to someday publish, or making sure I get a good night’s rest so I’m ready for another day of work. If I want to reach my life goals and have the meaningful experiences I dream of having, I have to make changes to my current day-to-day situation. I HAVE to. I want to get my life back in order, and I recognize my life has not been as “put together” since I started investing more time in tumblr. To get myself really firmly on track, I do have to loosen my hold on some of my free time activities, if not drop some things out altogether.

Answering analyses is a very time consuming process. VERY time consuming process. It can take me forty minutes or four hours to answer a single question. Not an exaggeration. This is because I often have to rewatch episodes and movies, do a bit of research online, give myself time to mull, and, all in all, invest a lot of time into answering a question. Even when I do consistently try my best to stay on track with answering asks... I cannot keep up with the volume of questions I receive. I wish I could, but I acknowledge I can’t. I still have asks in my inbox from the new year or older (Btw: the way my ask box system works: I keep the ask box open until I am >100 asks behind, then I close the box and answer all those, then open the ask box again). I am so, so sorry that I haven’t responded to all of you who have been patiently waiting for me, or you who may have even forgotten you sent in a question or comment.

I am sorry for all the people I will disappoint by not getting to your submitted asks with the thoroughness you were hoping. I will answer them, albeit not to my previous thorough standard. However, I hope you understand I feel it would be more thoughtful to provide you any response than to never return your messages.

My ask box has been closed because I still have about fifty asks left to answer before I’m caught up. But my ask box has been shut for a long time and I want to hang out with people and chat back and forth. So...

I’m going to open up my ask box again, but I hope you understand I suggest you do not inundate me with analysis requests. I want to open up my ask box so I can interact closely with everyone again... I always feel a little shut off and stale when I have my ask box closed. Now, you can send me analysis requests (when I’m not going through the really old ones in my drafts... again, sorry), but I cannot guarantee I will write an analysis in return. I’ll answer, but it might be a short “I’m not sure” or a few sentences of speculation instead of an essay. I’m happy to chat, I’m happy to discuss back and forth, whatever I want to do when I have the time for recreation, but I cannot be a one-person powerhouse publisher.

I don’t like doing this, but I’ve been needing to do this for a long time. So while I have the guts to write this and post it, I’m going to do it and make the decision final. Don’t make me back down. Don’t make me reverse this choice. Keep me accountable to my long-term life goals.

Another truth, and I am sorry to admit this to you guys, is that I’m not someone who’s used to staying in one fandom mindset for so long. I mean, I always love what I consume and always will get into it. But I’m more of the person to dance from passion to passion, from current interest to current interest, jumping in and out of the buzz of what I love. For instance, I might be on-and-off again with Star Wars, one year thinking about it and fanning about it a lot, another year not really caring. And I usually don’t get involved WITH a fandom... usually just scream about it with a few close irl friends and then move on. How to Train Your Dragon was a notable anomaly, a strange divergence from my typical patterning, and frankly it’s something I wouldn’t have stuck with for so long if not for my interaction with tumblr. If not for the HTTYD tumblr community, I likely would have been out of my HTTYD craze by mid-2015.

And while the HTTYD community has helped me sustain my ongoing interaction with the fandom, my personal passions are focused elsewhere now. I’m still always happy to talk dragons, mind! You guys can fuel me up again when I see you posting about it on tumblr. But in the last year and a half or two years, my mind hasn’t been focused on HTTYD. It’s been first Gravity Falls, then Undertale... and then, with the release of Andromeda, the Mass Effect franchise. I’ve also been going through crazes for things like Voltron: Legendary Defender. So, currently, my head is obsessing about Paladins and Alteans and Salarians and Spectres and Pathfinders and Space Exploration... not so much dragons and Vikings. It’s why my video game blog has been more active and responsive than this one. I’m very sorry if that statement disappoints you, friends. It’s a little weird for me too because I don’t know who all I can shout about my interests with (I only have a few friends who share these interests with me, and I’m sort of annoyingly “late in the fandom” if you know what I mean... don’t want to annoy the same people over and over again about something that’s 5+ years old, but who else do I talk to?). But, well, it is what it is. And it’s more fun for me to charge around with my latest obsession.

Let’s be clear: I’m not leaving you guys or running away or shutting myself off or becoming a hermit or anything. XD You guys mean too much to me to run off. I’m stuck here for good with you dragon nerds. Again, this community has been an extraordinary thing to me, and honestly, my interactions with the HTTYD fandom was the way I got out of a big depressive slump in 2014. So I’m still here! I’ll be staying here! I’m still going to commit to respond to every sincere message I receive! I’m just saying I’m going to invest less time in original posts, especially analyses. That’s all. :) 

It’ll be the best for my life. I hope you friends can all understand. We have to make decisions about the limited time in our lives.

But please! Feel free to chat and say hello and hop into my inbox again! Send little nothings or whatever’s on your mind. I’ve missed getting new asks! It’d be wonderful to hear from you again. <3

So yeah! That’s my honest report and stuff.

Take care, dragon nerds. 

[thefinalcinderella]

DIVE!! Book 1 Chapter 2-WHO IS THAT CAT?

New chapter! And I’m starting on Book 2 today! 

Something trivial: when I rewatched the second anime PV, I noticed that the MDC seems to have their own club building, which is weird considering the book makes a point of talking about how hard the president of Mizuki had to struggle to even get the club running (It’s why they dive at Tatsumi and the Sakuragi pool instead of having their own pools)

Also, I wonder how would technology impact the story, since the book is set in 1999-2000, and the anime is set in modern day...?

Full list of translations here.

Previously on DIVE!!: I can’t believe Tomoki’s relationship problems (platonic and romantic, maybe even familial??) were foreshadowed from Chapter 1.

When Asaki Kayoko showed up again, Tomoki had thought “As expected”, and although he had expected that they would meet again, he still kept his eyes open for the unexpected shape their reunion would take.

A week after that, Kayoko showed up again at the Tatsumi Swimming Center, this time greeting Tomoki and the others in a black athletic swimsuit.

Tanned skin. Her long hair gathered at the top of her head. While she was slender, her body suggested hints of strong muscle. Long eyelashes framed her cat-like eyes as ever, and as soon as she spotted Tomoki, they shone like they had on that day, but there was also a mischievous light, like a child waiting for the moment a secret is revealed.

The reason for that would be discovered soon.

Today, when the stretching exercises before practice were finished, Coach Fujitani called everyone over and introduced Kayoko.

“From today on we will have a new coach here. This is Asaki Kayoko-kun.”

The elementary school students cheered over the unexpected appearance of the new coach, Tomoki and the other middle school students looked at her blankly.

This woman is their new coach?

Moreover, Kayoko said she would succeed Coach Nakanishi, who had transferred out of the club.

The MDC originally had three coaches: Ooshima, a portly man, was the coach of the elementary schoolers; Coach Nakanishi was in charge of the middle schoolers; and Coach Fujitani was the head coach who supervised both groups. In other words, Kayoko would be in charge of Tomoki’s group.

“I will work hard to send out strong competitors from this club.”

Before the dumbfounded middle schoolers, Kayoko greeted them like a cat hiding her fangs. In the circle, Coach Fujitani asked Youichi a question.

“What are you going to do? Do you want to be instructed by Coach Asaki from now on, or will you continue practicing with Coach Abe like before?”

“I’ll do the same as before,” Youichi answered without hesitation. “But I will do the dryland training together.”

“Well, okay. If you aim for the top, either way it’s better to practice with people older than you rather than younger than you.”

Coach Fujitani nodded, knowing that there was no opponent at Sakuragi High who could motivate Youichi. Despite being father and son, Youichi and Coach Fujitani had a certain distance between them. Tomoki always marveled at how strangely formal they were with each other.

“Well then, let’s start practice. Ah, a word to elementary schoolers. During practice, please don’t pluck the poolside plants. Plants are for enriching the eyes, not tearing…”

With their backs to Coach Fujitani’s voice, Tomoki and the others slowly went to take showers.

“Seriously? She’s our coach? Is she even qualified for it? Sheesh.”

Next to Ryou, who had a torrent of complaints, Reiji also looked uneasy.

“No way, she must be Mizuki’s spy, right? She must be a bad coach sent by them to destroy us.”

“I don’t think so. It’s a weird thing to do. Mizuki can close us down whenever they want. Besides…”

Besides, Kayoko had said that she hadn’t come to destroy the MDC, but to protect it. Tomoki now understood that this is what she meant.

Nonetheless, if Kayoko really was serious about wanting to protect the MDC, she would need to devote all her strength and perseverance into it.

Diving was a sport where the coach wielded a great deal of influence. Obviously, the diver would not be able to see their own form when diving from a platform or springboard. Things like how precisely is their body moving, or how big of a splash are they making during entry, were completely unknown. When they received the explanation from their coach about what they are missing, the diver would know how their performance was for the first time. At the same time, issues and problems were pointed out, and tips for improvement were given. Without that relationship of trust, there was no chance for improving one’s skills.

“Well, if she’s a fake coach, then she’ll be fired. Let’s check that today.”

While Ryou fixed his eyes on the diving board in an aggressive manner, Tomoki secretly made a checklist in his head.

First, how much did she know about diving at such a young age?

In conclusion, for today, it wouldn’t be Kayoko who would be checking them strictly, but the other way around.

“First of all, I want you all to try diving one by one.”

Prompted by Kayoko, the first one on the platform was Ryou. Being a show-off, Ryou tended to choose a fancy move that was more than he was actually capable of, perhaps wanting to display his good points in front of the new coach, and he was standing on the tip of the platform longer than usual to build up his fighting spirit. Finally, when he raised both his hands and was about to dive, Kayoko clapped her hands from the poolside.

“Alright, I see now. Get off.”

“Huh?”

“You don’t need to dive. Please come down from the stairs.”

The one who appeared next on the platform, Reiji, was by nature a careful diver. Today he also closed his eyes lightly, concentrating his mind on his performance from now. Then, before actually diving in, Kayoko’s cruel voice rang out. “Yes, it’s fine. Come down.”

Tomoki, who was last, was also similar. In order to not follow Ryou’s and Reiji’s examples, he was intent on diving as soon as he got onto the platform, but he didn’t stop at the edge for three seconds before Kayoko hurriedly clapped her hands.

“Yes, good, it’s over now. Please get off quickly.”

The three made their humiliating descent off the platform, and were made to do “standing posture” practice on the poolside. They hadn’t touched the water even once during today’s practice.

“A diver who can’t stand in the proper posture cannot perform proper dives.”

“You’re exerting too much force in your necks. Pull in your butts more. Your arms are straight, but not stiff. Align your fingers, but don’t exert force into it!”

“Relax your upper bodies, but stiffen your lower bodies tightly. Gather all your strength into the center of your stomachs.”

“All of you have been diving for years, but you can’t even do proper body alignment?”

Body alignment—something Kayoko fussed over a lot. In a few words, it meant the correct position when diving. She wanted them to imagine a plump bunch of grapes. If you drop the bunch from off the platform, it would be broken apart and rain down everywhere as its center of gravity was tilted, and landing in the water in an ugly way as its balance was disturbed. But, would this happen to a cucumber? A straight cucumber would fall in a straight line and cut into the water vertically. Body alignment isn’t the ability to distribute power around the body (e.g. grapes), but to turn your whole body into a stiff board during your performance (e.g. cucumber). It was the foundation of a beautiful aerial performance and a no-splash entry, and Kayoko tried to drill it thoroughly into their heads on the first day.

However, that persistence was opposed by Tomoki and the others.

“We just stood on the poolside for an hour!”

“She’s crazy. It’s just not sane.”

The first half of practice has passed, so Kayoko told them to take a ten-minute break before continuing. They had all dashed to jump into the Jacuzzi bath, where they let loose everything that they had been forced to put up with up till then.

“How many times did she keep talking about how body alignment is? It’s stupid thing to do for one and two hours. It’s like telling a land athlete to stretch their Achilles tendon for an hour.”

“It’s a strategy, a strategy. She’s making us do weird things on the first day, to freak us out. Isn’t this her true plan?”

“Yeah, she’s that type of deceiver. Those underhanded tricks are only used by those who have no self-confidence.”

Then, to the ears of the three people who yammering on and on in the same vein, came Youichi’s voice.

“It’s true that type exists.”

Turning around with a start, they saw Youichi’s shadow floating on the other side of the frosted glass that partitioned off the Jacuzzi bath.

“Youichi-kun…”

“I’ve met them too, that type of coach. When I was at a training camp in middle school, a male coach from America came and he taught exactly like how that woman teaches. The first day was all about body alignment. The second day was dryland training. The third day was take off and approach practice. In the end, we were never actually taught diving itself. Just like you guys are doing now, everyone was complaining nonstop about it.”

“I thought so.”

The three all nodded, but Youichi continued on. “But, after that coach went back, I saw that everyone’s diving had become almost unrecognizable. It was like a toddler who could only walk suddenly started skipping. The Japanese coaches were stunned. Also, I learned this later, but that coach also trained the American gold medalists.”

“…”

On the other side of the speechless trio, Youichi stood up with a splash of hot water. Tomoki chased after him as he went back to the poolside.

“Wait, Youichi-kun. Does that American coach have something to do with her?”

“No, not really. It’s just that their coaching styles are similar. But, it doesn’t seem like that woman is an ordinary person.”

“Why do you think that?”

“It’s said that you’d know a first-class diver just by looking at them standing on the platform. And somehow, you’d know a first-class coach just from looking at them on the poolside,”

Following Youichi’s gaze to the poolside, there was Kayoko’s figure, wearing a yellow t-shirt over her black swimsuit. It seemed like she was helping with the elementary schoolers, making it harder for her to return to Tomoki and the others. She was using hand gestures to instruct the little divers, who were moving around restlessly. Certainly, her unique presence and elegance were affecting.

Diving pool.

Main pool.

Sub-pool.

There was a lot of noise coming from these three inside the building.

Water was spraying on people.

The aloof diving tower that overlooked everything.

The springboard that’s next to it.

The sounds of the footsteps of the elementary schoolers running along the poolside.

The dazzling lights from the ceiling.

The smell of the pool chemicals.

The drowsiness that could attack him in a moment—

Because she’s used to it, Tomoki thought. That woman had been accustomed to all of it, as though she’d fused to become a part of it.

“She has a nice butt.” While blushing from what Youichi murmured, Tomoki was thinking about it once again.

Who is that woman?

“Hey, you’re Sakai-kun, right? Wait up.”

Tomoki was called by Kayoko after they were finally released from two hours of torture, as the others staggered off towards the showers.

“I want to give something to you. Will you come to the lobby before you get ready to go home?”

“Sure.”

While conscious of Ryou and Reiji staring at him, Tomoki tried his hardest to nod as though he wasn’t interested.

Something she wanted to give me?

However, while he was changing clothes, Tomoki was silently thinking about this a lot, making it very obvious that he was interested in it.

The three of them changed clothes in silence, and left the locker room which echoed with the shrill voices of the elementary schoolers. At some point while the atmosphere was strained, Reiji greeted his father and left with him, and Ryou said he’d “go on ahead” to Crostini on the first floor, and left quickly.

Crostini was a coffee shop which overlooked Akebono Bay from a glass window. The mother who was on pick-up duty usually waited for the two of them there while reading.

Left alone, Tomoki waited for Kayoko as the perfume of the synchro-moms flooded the lobby.

“Sorry for the wait.”

Twenty minutes later, Kayoko appeared, who had let down her hair in a pretty hairstyle, fixed her makeup, and glossed her red lips.

Even though she was keeping a middle school student who was exhausted from practice after school waiting, she still took the time to put on makeup. That just shows that I shouldn’t put much trust in this woman, Tomoki thought resolutely, but without voicing his thoughts, he said, “The thing you wanted to give me, what is it?”

Kayoko took out several pieces of paper clipped together from her well-worn leather bag (1).

“This is it.”

Taking them and looking at them, Tomoki was speechless.

“What are these?”

“A training schedule for every morning.”

“For who?”

“Don’t play stupid all of a sudden!”

“This…must be a joke…”

Indeed, he cannot believe that she was sane. The self-training schedule Kayoko made was intense. It seemed time-consuming, like digesting French food, and it would take two hours to digest a full-course meal properly. That was described how much time he was going to have to spend on this every morning.

“It’s self-training, so I’m doing this voluntarily, right?”

“I don’t have to tell you to, after all, since you’re all Japanese kids.”

“I will do it, sometimes.”

“What kind of mediocre athlete would you be if you only do this sometimes? Extraordinary athletes always do extraordinary training.”

“I’m mediocre anyways.”

“I know. During last year’s Junior High School Championships’ Kanto meet you were tenth place out of twelve. You couldn’t even participate at the national meet. When you were in elementary school you had no success at the Junior Olympics, and finished without leaving an impression in either the tournament’s records or in people’s memories. You might be even below mediocrity.”

Tomoki glared at Kayoko sullenly. Her beautiful face was armed with makeup, with eyeliner firmly applied to that hateful thing.

“So, is Coach saying that giving me self-training is going to turn me from a below-mediocre to extraordinary?”

“Exactly. But I will check on you in this case. However, what exactly do you think is extraordinary?”

“Like…winning the Japanese Championships.”

Winning the Japanese Championships. Tomoki smiled weakly at the extremely overambitious words he had just said.

But Kayoko did not laugh at him at all.  “You’re a small-minded boy, huh.” She told him seriously.

“What?”

“What we are aiming for are the Olympics.”

On Sunday the next day, on a road in Setagaya Ward brightened by the morning sunshine, Tomoki was running alongside his pet dog Chikuwa.

Chikuwa was a stray dog found by Hiroya six years ago on a rainy day. His wet fur was then blow-dried, and when he was shown the refrigerator, the pitiful little dog jumped in joy. He ate as much as he was given. He liked eating chikuwa (2) so much that Hiroya named him after it, but when Tomoki thought about it later, he realized that was probably because he was just hungry. He would have been named “Cheese” if there was cheese in the refrigerator, or “Kamaboko” if there was kamaboko (2). Every time he saw Chikuwa, Tomoki kept thinking about the role fate played in that.

The neighborhood in the freezing early morning was deserted, and still covered in an opaque thin mist, but when they passed by people occasionally, they looked surprised to see Tomoki and Chikuwa going through it at a fast speed.

Chikuwa swung his bushy tail, his milk-colored body shaking with delight. Tomoki, who constantly made Hiroya take a walk with him instead, rarely took him outside, and he made him run at a faster speed than usual at a much longer distance. No matter how much Tomoki panted as he gripped his leash, or how sweaty his whole body was, those things became irrelevant to Chikuwa.

Tomoki’s exercise clothes were damp. Tucked into his pocket was the schedule Kayoko had given him yesterday.

Why I am doing this?

Why am I doing exactly what that woman told me to do?

He kept running, not understanding anything. As he let Chikuwa drag him ahead, Tomoki’s head swirled with the words Kayoko had thrust at him yesterday.

“I’m telling you this for your own good. Even if you think about falling into the gutter, give up and listen to what I’m saying. First of all, do some jogging every morning. If you have a dog, you should run together for at least an hour. Don’t forget that anything that happens in your daily life can count as training. Of course, you don’t wear socks and stuff like that at home, do you? Diving is a barefoot sport, so isn’t it good to try to sharpen the sensation of being barefoot everyday?”

As soon as he finished jogging for an hour, Tomoki returned to his room as quickly as he could, taking off his jacket that was sticky with sweat. After a short break, he started to do stretches in his T-shirt. From his ankles to feet, arms, shoulders, neck…his whole body was stretched. Tomoki’s double-jointed body, which was discovered by Kayoko, certainly bended well.

“Basic physical strength is the basics of basics. Okay? There are a lot of intervals in a diving competition, and it seems easy at first glance compared to other sports like soccer and basketball, but in order to do the nerve-wracking performances that last until the end in those long competitions, you will need extraordinary muscle strength, concentration skills and mental strength for the performance. I think in the end these will all form the foundation that is basic physical strength.”

After stretching, it was muscle training. Since Tomoki was a middle-schooler, his body hasn’t matured yet and therefore he could not use machines to do full-scale muscle training. However, Kayoko said that the most minimal muscle strength should be trained from now on to create a foundation in the future.

Abs and back muscles, and then push-ups. He did fifty push-ups for one set for a total of three sets. In other words, he did a hundred and fifty of them. How much is minimal? Tomoki thought as he gasped for breath.

“And after that, though I’ve said it many times, it’s thorough body alignment. Every morning and evening, check your posture in the mirror. Are you exerting force into your shoulders? Is your stomach sticking out? Are your buttocks tight? You have to keep that posture until the very last moment to ensure that you have a good water entry. And in order to keep that posture, you must have the corresponding muscle strength and power.”

While doing it in bursts of intervals many times, he finally finished muscle training. He dropped down onto the floor and could not move. But he was still not released from Kayoko’s schedule yet.

He had to do handstands for thirty seconds ten times.

“Doing a handstand on the platform is in the sixth category of diving.(3) Many Japanese divers are not good at it. The reason for that is obviously from lack of practice. The muscles necessary for handstands can only be trained from doing handstands. Every day, do handstands to death. If you have free time, or during recess at school, do handstands. If you get called the Handstand Boy behind your back, that’s great. Since diving is a mental competition, if you’re confident about an event that everyone else isn’t good at, it will definitely lead to a wide margin during the competition.”

Tomoki summoned his remaining strength and got up, and placed his trembling hands on the floor as he kicked his feet about it. He raised his lower body with a great amount of effort, and felt lightheaded as his toes approached the ceiling. However, because his fatigue from the muscle training dragged on his arms, he had no strength to support his entire body and…  

Thud. Tomoki fell forward and hit his forehead against the floor.

It hurts. It’s painful. I feel dizzy. Oh, I feel awful!

“Hey, what do you think are the qualities that a diver must have? Good proportions, excellent leg muscle strength, explosive power, a feel for rhythm, strong force of will and expressiveness…as many qualities as there are, I think the most important one is flexibility. It’s obvious if you look at who’s at the top in the world. Their bodies are very pliant. That pliancy gives their performances beauty and stability. Speaking of flexibility, you are born with qualities that they cannot not defeat. And beyond that…well, we will do that another time.”

A cool wind blew through the open window, comfortable against his sweaty skin. On the other side of the billowing blue curtains was the even bluer sky with scattered pale clouds that hovered over it.

The sky looks like a diving pool this way, Tomoki thought suddenly.

A blue boxed in by a square border.

I’m always boxed in by the world outside the pool…

“I only promise one thing. You will definitely grow. You improve as much as you polish your skills, and perhaps you can become a greater diver. Of course, it’s not going to be easy for you, having to do self-training every morning and attend practice after school, not to mention homework. But, you will definitely seize that result only if you work hard. It should be a result that’s the most realistic thing that you’ve ever savored so far, pleasant, and easy to understand. Is there anything else in this half-hearted country that can make you feel like that?”

School and home were enjoyable in their own ways, but they always felt constrained somehow, and he felt like he’s surrounded by a box. A very small, cramped box. It made him sad to think that even he himself was small-minded.

It was an unclear feeling of suffocation, or an unidentifiable depression.

By comparison, everything looked so much clearer in the water.

“Aim for the top. You are a kid who can do it. Focus on ascending to a higher place.”

To a high place?

“Yes. Always ascend.”

Ascend.

“There’s a scenery that only you can see.”

Scenery.

I can go beyond the box—?

“Hey Tomo, phone.”

Suddenly, a voice from reality sounded outside his head. Tomoki, surprised, returned back to himself.

He looked up to see Hiroya peering in from the half-open door.

Hiroya, who was getting into river fishing recently, would be going to a river sometime today. He was wearing a thick navy blue down jacket, and was handing him the phone while telling him to “hurry up”.

“Miu?”

“No, it’s Hirotaka from Class A.”

Relieved, Tomoki raised his aching body up and took the phone.

“Hello, Hirotaka?”

“Ah, Tomo. Are you free today? Everyone’s talking about meeting up in Ishii.”

“Um…actually, I’m doing dryland training this afternoon.”

If it was before, he would have skipped practice after some hesitation, and go out with Hirotaka and the others.

While thinking this, he said, “That’s why I can’t go, sorry.”

“Diving again? Oh well, I’ll just ask someone else.”

“Sorry, maybe some other time…”

The other side hung out before he finished talking.

Beep—beep—beep.

Tomoki listened to the cold machine sounds for a while, slowly moving his gaze at the receiver in his left hand to his right hand.

In his right hand that was damp with sweat, he clutched Kayoko’s crumpled-up schedule.

Holding a handstand for thirty seconds ten times. Then jump fifty times. And lastly, cooling down exercises. Carefully massage the whole body around the wrists and toes.

Tomoki let go of the phone, and quietly continued his training.

Translation Notes

1. More specifically, “bag made from cow hide tanned using tannin”.

2. Chikuwa is a tube-shaped fish-paste cake, and kamaboko is a steamed seasoned fish cake in a semi-cylindrical shape.

3. There are six groups of dives: Forward, back, reverse, inward, twisting, and armstand.

Next time on DIVE!!: Saaaaaaaaalt.

[haleyfury]

June was another transitional month into my new normal, with plenty of books in tow. I’ve been keeping busy, between starting my remote jobs and grad school. It’s crazy to think I finished my first round of grad school classes, and my second round started this week. I started experiencing some Zoom burnout this month, so reading and taking my eyes away from my laptop screen with books helped things. I actually have to read two YA books for my grad school classes in July, and I’m so excited to be getting to read YA for school – I read two YA books for undergrad, but that was purely because I decided to do my capstone projects on them.

My reading and TV watching were all over the place this month. I read a lot of contemporary and reread a few books, while I still dove into a reality TV this month. I often had trouble really concentrating on TV, movies especially – I had one night where I tried watching three different movies and then ended up rewatching Cheaper by the Dozen 2 and an episode of Queer Eye. 

What is also improving my reading mood even more is that my local library re-opened for door side pick up! I may or may not have put 15 books on hold as soon as the online catalog re-opened. Although there are plenty of good things going on personally right now, there’s definitely still some uncertainty this summer, to say the least. While my state’s covid-19 cases have significantly decreased over the past two months, we’re seeing multiple states have huge increases in cases. Between work and school, I’m typically home Monday through Friday but these increases has made me rethink a few weekend plans and curious to see how my state moves forward with re-opening plans. I went to my first outdoor restaurant and first trip back to Barnes & Noble last week, but my family and friends and I are still being cautious and smart about where we go. 

Beach Read by Emily Henry | 5/5 Stars

Like me, I’m sure you’ve seen Emily Henry’s Beach Read EVERYWHERE, but I’m here to confirm that the hype is more than worth the read! There’s such depth to this contemporary romance.

Love at First Fight by Sandhya Menon (novella) | 5/5

I’m a firm believer that Sandhya Menon is the queen of novellas, with Love at First Fight as no exception. You don’t have to read it before picking up 10 Things I Hate About Pinky this July, but it was a really fun addition to the Dimpleverse! 

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell 5/5 (reread)

One of my best friends IRL is reading Fangirl, aka honestly my all-time favorite book, which led me to make the decision to reread Rainbow Rowell’s contemporary books this summer. Attachments still reigns as my favorite adult fiction novel of hers. 

Slay by Brittany Morris | 4/5

If you’re looking to read more YA books by black authors, as well as books that reflect some of the conversations we’re currently having about race in the U.S., Slay is definitely worth checking out. 

Landline by Rainbow Rowell | 5/5 (reread) 

I forgot how much I loved Landline, including its many one-liners and sarcasm. I also loved the cameo from one of my all-time favorite fictional couples. 

10 Things I Hate About Pinky by Sandhya Menon (ARC) | 4.5/5 

Over the past four years, my summer reading has not been complete without a new YA contemporary from Sandhya Menon. 10 Things I Hate About Pinky was such a summery take on the enemies-to-lovers trope. 

The Play (Briar U #3) by Elle Kennedy | 4/5

Elle Kennedy’s Off-Campus and Briar U series reign among my favorite new adult romance novels. It wasn’t my absolute favorite, but The Play was still a fun and flirty installment. 

The Boy on the Wooden Box by Leon Leyson | 5/5

The Boy on the Wooden Box is one of those books I can’t believe I didn’t read until 2020, but I’m so, so glad I read this Holocaust memoir from child survivor, Leon Leyson, who worked for Oskar Schindler during the war.

Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All by Laura Ruby | 4/5 

Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All’s critical praise really caught my attention. If you’re looking for an often untold story from the World War II period, I recommend checking this YA book about a girl living in a Chicago orphanage out – did I mention it’s also narrated by a ghost?

You Deserve Each Other by Sarah Hogle | 5/5

I am not joking when I say that You Deserve Each Other might be the funniest and most clever contemporary romance I’ve ever read.

My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick | 4/5 (reread) 

As you might be able to tell, I was on a small rereading kick in June, My Life Next Door included. I didn’t LOVE this one as much as I had the first time around – a lot more unresolved issues than I remembered – but it is such an atmospheric summer contemporary. 

Jenna Takes The Fall by A.R. Taylor (ARC) | 3/5 

Jenna Takes The Fall wasn’t necessarily my favorite read, but it made for a really entertaining read while floating around my pool. 

The Sullivan Sisters by Kathryn Ormsbee | 2.5/5 

I really wanted to love The Sullivan Sisters because I tend to seek out books about sisters, but it was just a miss for me. 

The Politician S2 (Netflix) – The Politician was my favorite show of 2019, so I could not wait for its second season to air. I’ve realized that this show is slightly ridiculous… but that doesn’t make it any less good!! Once again, I was so impressed by the acting, and this season had a few more politically relevant themes than last season. 

Athlete A (Netflix) – If there’s one thing that you must watch on Netflix, it’s Athlete A. This documentary walks viewers through the several sexual abuse cases involving Larry Nassar and USA Gymnastics. To say the least, it is such an infuriating and emotional watch, as we hear from several gymnasts about USA Gymnastic’s abusive environment. I found tears rolling down my face throughout, especially because of Maggie Nichol’s story. This is such an important watch that demands more from USA Gymnastics and overall how female atheletes are treated in sports. 

The Bachelor GOAT (ABC) – I’ve been loving putting on these wrap-up episodes  while I work as background noise, and even more, I love listening to Here to Make Friends‘ recap episodes on my walks. 

Below Deck Mediterranean (Bravo) & Outdaughtered (TLC) – Reality TV is still one of my favorite forms of escapism. My Below Deck obsession is still alive & well, while I’m bummed that Outdaughtered was only 5 episodes long -although I completely understand why in order to protect the Busbys and the camera & crew. 

Lenox Hill (Neftlix) – Let it be known that I am one of the most sqeamish people when it comes to medical things and, let’s face it, the sight of blood. I learned quickly that being a nurse or doctor was not for me while taking anatomy in high school. However, I found myself obsessed with Lenox Hill, a docuseries following Lenox Hill Hospital in NYC. It was such a fascinating watch, following the neurosurgery, OB-GYN, and emergency medicine departments of the hospital. 

Some other random things I watched include Shtisel S2 (Netflix), The West Wing S1 (Netflix/NBC), and Clueless (Netflix). 

Reviews

NEW ADULT FUN: The Play (Briar U #3) Review  

SUMMER MUST-READ: Beach Read by Emily Henry

WAS IT WORTH THE HYPE? : Where the Crawdads Sing Review

MUST READ NOVELLA: Love at First Fight Review 

NEW ADULT REVIEW: Until the Last Star Fades

June 2020 Mini Reviews: Books I Should’ve Read A While Ago

FINISHING THE THOUSANDTH FLOOR: The Dazzling Heights & The Towering Sky Review

Bookish & Other Fun:

Summer Reading Recommendations: The YA Edition

Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag: 2020 Edition 

If We Were Having Coffee: June 2020 Edition

TBR & JUNE READING PLANS: The Stuck At Home Book Tag

Summer Reading Recs: Based on What I Read in 2019 Edition

Gravity is Heartless Q&A with Author Sarah Lahey

What did you read and watch in June? Anything that I mentioned? Share in the comments! 

BOOKS, TV, & MY CURRENT NORMAL: June 2020 Wrap Up June was another transitional month into my new normal, with plenty of books in tow. I’ve been keeping busy, between starting my remote jobs and grad school.