#aaaahhhh~ Aria~

[lightning-arias]

@bucketkicked for a very special planned starter

Elva rarely did live shows these days. It was just... too much work and stress, so she tended to not tour and rather would just do a small recorded session. With largely being a voice actor and composer, it wasn't really an issue anymore. Besides, she had other money set aside that it wasn't something she needed to worry about. Music was for music's sake at this point.

So this live show was an anomaly. Carlo hadn't wanted her to do it at all, but she had ignored him and he had agreed to be backstage to help her out. Tickets had sold quickly, but all the good seats and back stage passes she had given to radio stations to raffle off. Carlo was off doing final checks for her with the touring band so she was alone in the green room when her first backstage pass holder was ushered in as she lounged on the couch.

She looked up, her heart stuttering a little as she sees a face she often sees in her dreams and everywhere she can in passerbys, but her expression was careful to hide this. "Hey. Glad you could come to the show."

[starless-aria]

Well, I say that, but I do actually need to start getting ready for work right now-

[kittenclifford]

you participated in the fic event???? omg!!! thats great i'm so excited lmao

yesss, I'm excited too!! I'm offcially in my writer era now! The fic will be yours to read tomorrow!!

[itsheccincheebs]

Hi miss cheebs!! I just want to ask, will Aria be like a hero-idol once she graduates? Because if that is so, its so cute like Deku / Teacher Izuku gushing about his wife/gf AAAAHHHH

Henlo fren! That's a really good question. I think that'll depend entirely how I ultimately decide to end the fic.

But if I do go with a more lighthearted ending, she'll definitely take him to big events and everyone would see how gross and affectionate they are. When their schedules don't align, it becomes an unspoken rule to not mention Midoriya-sensei's wife in class because he'll go on for HOURS unless someone stops him like the lovesick goober he is. 😊 He'll have dinner waiting for them when she comes home and on the days she works late, he'll leave little love notes on the bento he makes for her. 😢💕 In return, she'll take weekends off when possible and take him on romantic dates and finish the night cuddling on their giant bed watching movies. 🙂

[mangomaking]

tallest and smallest

original images under the cut!

[hen-na-onna]

When you have strict parents, your friends:

[thesweetestpoison]

How would everyone react to their darling secretly drawing them in a little notebook?

Elijah would be filled with immense satisfaction, and temporarily released of any jealousy-induced worries. If you drew him, that must mean you like him, right? At the very least as a friend. If he just found the notebook lying around somewhere, he’d simply close it and plan to return it to you the next time he saw you... after staring at the picture for the rest of the day. He may flip through the rest of the notebook, too, to see what else you’ve drawn. If you’re the one that showed it to him, he’d just ask if he could keep the picture- and probably look through it later.

Owen would... hmm... To him, this serves to push the idea that you really do love him even further- and if you’re dating, it makes it seem like you love him more. If he found the notebook on his own, he’d be heavily tempted to keep it, but would eventually settle on just taking a picture and returning it later. If you showed it to him, he’ll do his best to contain his utter glee and tell you he likes it- which isn’t a lie- and ask to take a picture of it so you can keep it. Isn’t he such a gentleman? Either way, he’s going to be obsessing over this for a few days.

Alucard would be pleased- but also be a bit critical, being an artist himself. Don’t get him wrong; he’s very, very happy that you took the time to do this. But he also wants you to better yourself. If he found the notebook himself, he’d return it to you, tell you he saw your drawing, and give you whatever pointers he could. You’d get a slightly more emotional response if you showed it to him- he’d take the notebook and stare at the picture for a while before complimenting you on it. No pointers this way, though- he’s just happy you showed it to him yourself.

Aria would be absolutely delighted! She loves just about anything you make- you’re so skilled! She wants you to sign it and let her keep it. Then she can carry it around and, if you’re not there, she can still have something from you! If she found the notebook on her own, on the rare occasion she wasn’t dragging you around with her or sticking to you, she’d go to find you immediately so she could ask you to sign it for her. If you showed her yourself, she takes a minute to stare at it before asking. It’s just such a nice picture- so let her keep it.

Emery would be touched. She’d never tell you that- though her expression speaks for her. If she found the notebook herself she’d return it to you as soon as possible. If you showed her the picture, and you pointed out her expression or teased her for it, she’d get all flustered and thrust the notebook back at you. Regardless of what happened, though, she’d really want to hug you afterwards- if you’re okay with that. She doesn’t worry about you liking her very often, but it’s nice to be assured you think well of her.

Ashe would be very, very happy! A huge smile on his face and everything. He adores everything you make- and the fact the picture is of him makes it a hundred times better! He worries about you liking him a lot- a lot. But this is so nice! If he found the notebook himself, he’d return it to you. He wouldn’t tell you he saw the picture of himself, but he’d certainly compliment you a ton on your drawing skills. If you showed it to him, though, he might just shed a few tears. He still compliments you a lot, but if you let him, he’ll hug you for a few minutes.

Lauren would be very pleased. Any show of affection is very, very well received- they’re freakishly needy, even if they don’t show it. They’ll take a picture of it to look at later. If they found the notebook themselves, they’ll return it to you- and poke fun at you a bit by saying how much you must love them to do that. If you showed them yourself, they’ll praise you a lot. Like, a lot. If they get it in their head that you like drawing, then they’re going to want you to draw with them sometime. So have fun with that.

[stormikins]

2, 6, 16, 24 and 42 from the fifty more shep questions 😈

2. Your Shepard is making a sandwich. What’s going in it?

- Ham, in a buttered croissant. Or lettuce, tomato, avocado on hogie roll.

6. What would they be doing, if Shepard never joined the alliance?

-Oof. SO Jenn has the earthborn background so I think they would have mainly stayed in the gang and then branches out to do more Kasumi/Zaeed's work as a way to escape the gang. She would disagree with the xenophobic way the Reds gets after they start branching out off Earth. Shepard gets a reputation as a good get away driver, good tech skills and biotics. She's in high demand and the gang isn't above forcing her to stay. So she runs, tries to split off. She'd want to get off Earth as fast as she could, maybe hit up Omega, maybe Illium.

-Oh this is making me think of her joining the blue suns and teaming up with Zaeed oh my god. SPOOKY Her and Zaeed!!! Mirrors of each other AAAAHHHH

16. What does Aria think of Shepard?

- The mixed ending you get in the Omega DLOC sums it up best: "I've lived for a thousand years, Shepard, and you may be the most powerful and baffling being I've ever encountered. I have no idea where I stand with you." / "I like it better if you don't know. I'd hate to see you get too… comfortable." / "You are truly dangerous person."

- Shepard is an amalgamation of saving innocents and being bloodthirsty. She doesn't trust Aria. Like? Sure. Understand? Yep. Shepard has experience with gang leaders, maybe not to Aria's caliber explicitly, but don’t end up on their shit list (she doesn't have time for that) and don't be friends (she doesn't want to be coerced into anything) is a good way to go.

- She can work with Aria and get what she wants from her and making everyone happen. What was that turian said? "A con-man leaves someone angry. A con-artist leaves them smiling." Something like that.

24. How does Shepard handle house arrest? How do they fill their time?

- Shepard doesn’t mind being isolated bc being along is fine for them they just don’t like the reason. Do they understand? To an extent yes. But the council wants to keep going over Aratoht and what happened again and again and not doing anything about the real threat. Let’s just say everyone gets tired of everyone very fast.

- She fills her time with card games mainly, and music. I don’t really know what she would be allowed exactly so. She keeps up to date on her workout regimen, her and James talking about that.

42. How does Shepard handle the reporters? What are they like in an interview?

- Shepard doesn’t like interviews and she switches between dry, quick answers (that probably have a subtle insult if they are stupid or insulting in turn) or long flowing diplomatic answers depending on her mood and the interviewer.

[monotonous-minutia]

Les contes d’Hoffmann (Zürich, 2021) reactions, pt. 2

on to Act 2!

...why are they both here right now

she’s so pretty (and so is her voice)

this stage setup reminds me so much of the Berlin one from a while back but this production is SO much better (again some annoying line deleting but so far a good edit)

poor Antonia :(

Frantz is so cute

they gave Hoffmann Nicklausse’s line in the bit with Frantz so I was worried they’d skip the Violin Aria, but luckily Nicklausse comes in after so *relief*

so sassy

taking refuge with the barrel (bc Hoffmann is being Mean) (also they skipped the second half of this recit which is really annoying)

the laurel is back

aaaahhhh here we go

eeeee

Hoffmann, get a clue

um??????

aaaaaand he walks away

Nicklausse isn’t giving up

seriously HOW can anyone not read this as a love song

her voices slays me

“he’ll get there”

Nicklausse walks off when Antonia runs in

do you want to tell them or should I

obviously Nicklausse and Hoffmann are otp but these two are also very cute together

haha yeah she laughs at him right there

she’s so cute

here comes my second-favorite trio!!

Hoffmann’s turn to seek refuge by the barrel

why is Antonia here

yeah he’s definitely controlling people with that cane

...this doesn’t really work if she’s actually onstage

...except she isn’t

oohhh they did the extended version of the trio. love.

why is Hoffmann hanging out in the back there

OH HECK

there he goes again

nooooooo

oh wow he actually goes to help her for once

poor Antonia :(

[some-cookie-crumbz]

Hi! You're one of my favorite kidge blogs ❤️ I have a prompt request for some sweet Keith/kidgeling interactions! Only if you have the time though :3 Have a nice day!

Erhmahgerd, thank you so much!!! I’m so glad you enjoy my works! Consider this sweet little bit of fluff an apology for my last fic! x3

Pidge’s business trips away were an odd mix of stressful andinvigorating for Keith. Once upon a time, he disliked them because it meant he’dbe all alone in their home for an extended period of time. But as the yearswent by, they got married and started having children, it became a little lesslonely. He still missed having his wife around, which he felt was a given, butit was also nice to have some one-on-one time with their kids.

The week had been a bit chaotic between appointments and extra-curricularactivities, but he made sure that Friday night was all theirs. It worked outwell, as the dark foreboding clouds over the head made the kids more hesitantto leave the house after they got home from Amber’s fencing lesson. He’dordered pizza for dinner and played Uno. Well, Amber, Kaden, Newt and he hadplayed Uno. Ari, only two years old, hadn’t understood and simply enjoyedshouting Uno every time someone lost or gained a card. After the game, got theolder kids into their pajamas and put a movie on for them, then got Aria in thebath and tucked into bed. When he headed back out, the movie had ended and theboys had passed out hard. Amber, meanwhile, had changed the channel to a newsreport.

“Dad, what’s going on?” She asked, looking over her shoulderat him and indicating the screen with the remote. It was a report about therecent threats made by an alien race known as the Awzurians. The Awzurians hadbeen a Galra-aligned world that willing joined Zarkon years ago, as a way togain power and protect their people from slavery. In the years following Zarkon’sdeafeat, they’d been struggling to maintain control over any worlds handed overto them. At a conference two weeks ago, when Keith and the others had discussedthem peacefully releasing the remaining planets under their control, theirleader swore that Earth would pay for such an insulting request.

It was part of the reason Pidge was gone; she’d left to helpthe coalition forces determine what kind of technology the Awzurians had attheir disposal.

He frowned a bit, taking the controller and turning thetelevision off. “It’s nothing you need to worry about, sweetheart. Come on, offto bed. It’s getting late,” He said quietly. She didn’t seem convinced, hereyes bright with the same skeptical gleam her mother had pinned him with toomany times to count, but she went along without a fight. He carefully scoopedup his two boys and carried them off to their rooms, tucking them both inbefore going to wish Amber a good night.

He hoped that in the morning, he’d feel better, but hetossed and turned for a good hour, unable to sleep. He was good at pretendingit didn’t bother him, that he didn’t see the Awzurian leader, Chespa, and herfollowers as a threat, but he was rather concerned. After all, they’d workedwith Zarkon for years; how much did they know about Zarkon’s practices? Didthey have any Galran technology of their own to use? And what if they knew howto make use of quintessence? What if they did launch an attack on Earth?

And, if they did attack, what if something happened to thekids?

A loud crash erupted outside, causing him to jump and dartout of bed. A quick glance outside revealed it to only be the crash of thunderoverhead. He released a low sigh. "It’s just a storm, Kogane. You’regetting yourself all worked up over nothing," He paused when there wassuddenly a loud, distinct shriek down the hall. He picked up the baby monitoroff the bedside table and toggled it to the only camera still in operation.

There, standing in her crib, little hands on the edge of thebanister, was a wailing Aria.

“Oh, baby girl,” He said softly, setting the monitor backdown and heading out. The hallways was barely lit, a small flash of lightningilluminating the little wooden sign hanging on her door. It had been a giftfrom Shiro, one for each of their kids, with their names carved and painted intheir respective favorite colors. He tried to flick on the hall light butnothing happened. “Huh… Must have knocked the power out.” He mumbled beforeslipping over and opening the door.

The moment he poked his head in, Ari’s big green eyes fixedon him and she screamed again. “Dada!” She wailed, holding her arms up towardshim.

He crossed the room quickly and scooped her up "Hey,baby girl. It's okay, Daddy's here," He cooed softly, stroking along herback as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"Scary monsters!" She hiccupped.

"Sweetie, there are no monsters," He said softly,carefully readjusting his grip on her.

She lifted her head long enough to point at her window beforeducking back down into him. He glanced outside and, when another flash oflightning and thunder rumbled rushed through, he saw a branch from the treescratching at her window. "Scary monster noises!"

He knew he’d forgotten to do something during the week."Okay, baby girl. I'm sorry for upsetting you," He said, turning andmaking his way to the door. "Come on, you can sleep in bed with Daddytonight. I'll keep all the scary monsters away. Does that sound good?"

She nuzzled into him, little hands clenching in the fabricof his night shirt. "Mmhmm,"

He headed out into the hallway, checking again and sighingwhen they didn’t. He hadn’t expected the storm to come in nearly as fast or asloudly as it did. He paused when he saw a small clustered of shadowy figures congregatedin front of his door. Could it be Awsurian spies? He shifted and moved morecarefully, wanting to see what was going on as quiet chattered started up amongthem.

“Does everyone have a something to defend themselves with?”

"I brought this,"

"Just thebat? Really?"

"Better than what youbrought. Which is nothing,"

"Hey! Ibrought my brains! Brains are just as important to a fight!"

He blinked then frowned, walking closer at the familiarvoices. "Kids?" He asked in slightly surprise, all three littlefigures turning towards him.

"AAAAHHHH!" They all shouted, the soft whoosh ofair in front of his face echoing after the shout. There was a frantic rattlingsound before he was blasted right in the face with a bright, yellow light.

"Oh! Dad!" Amber gasped, moving the flashlight sothat it was pointed above his head, so that they could all see each other.There, right in front of his face, was the end of his older son’s yellow wiffelball bat. "Kaden, put that down!"She huffed, reaching over to shove the bat down.

The younger male looked away sheepishly, tucking the batbehind his back. "S-Sorry, Dad,"

He reached over and lightly ruffled his son’s hair, keepingone arm secured under Ari to keep her close. He then looked from each of themin turn. "What are you three doing up?"

Newt scoffed a bit, raising an eyebrow at hi. "Littleunfair to be the only one asking questions, don't you think? What are you doing up? And what about Ari?"Amber rolled her eyes before reaching over smacking him over the head "Ow!Dad, she hit me!" He whined, covering the sore spot as he looked up athim.

Keith sighed and shook his head. "Amber Rose," He warned lowly. From the corner of his eye hespotted Kaden wandering off, but turned his attention back to his eldest.

"What? He's being annoying!"

"That doesn't mean you need to hit him. Now, why areyou three up?"

"We heard screaming," Newt said with a shrug,having recovered from the smack.

He blinked a bit in surprise. "Wait, you heard Ari,too?"

"Ah, no," Amber said, looking off to the side uneasily.

"Unless herscreaming sounds like a certain stinkyolder sister of mine? Then no,"Newt quipped. Again, Amber smacked him upside the head and pinned him with alook. "Ow! Da-ad!"

Keith groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Amber,what did I just say?"

"Not my fault he's being a dumbo," She harrumped.

He shook his head at the duo and looked down at Ari again,who was whimpering softly. Had all the kids been startled awake by the storm?Or was it just Amber? And, he briefly wondered as he cast a worried look downat her, had she actually been woken up? Or had she, like him, been unable tosleep? Plagued by the fears of a different potential storm on the horizon?

He perked up when he noticed movement to his left. There,holding up his little sister’s favorite plush toy up towards her, was Kaden."Ari, look! I got Muffin for you!" He proclaimed happily.

She lifted her head with a sniffle, before reaching out withone hand and pulling the green dinosaur into her arms. "Thank you,"She said quietly, offering him a watery smile.

He beamed up at her before moving to stand in line with hisbrother and sister.

Keith smiled at him, warmed by his son’s thoughtfulness. "Goodjob, bud. That was very nice of you," He then looked back at the otherthree. Kaden was still toting the wiffel ball bat, tapping the carpeted floorwith it, while he spotted Amber toting her luxite blade. He reminded himself tolet her know in the morning that she should have left that hanging up on herwall, where he’d hung it up a few weeks prior. "You guys should head backto bed. Everything's fine and it's way too late for you all to be up.Especially since Mommy'll be coming home early tomorrow and we're gonna have abig family breakfast.”

Amber stared at him for a moment, before glancing down thehallways towards her own bedroom, and then back at him. "Yeah, but ourrooms are all the way down the hall,"

He blinked, turning to open his own door, then paused with hishand on the doorknob. "What?"

"You said it's late, so why make us walk all the way back to our beds? We can all just sleep with you and Ari, like a bigsleepover," She suggested. Ah, he realized what was going on. He saw aspark of recognition flash on the boys’ faces as well, seeing what their sisterwas trying to play at.

Ari lifted her head and looked at him excitedly."Sleepover! Sleepover, Dada!"

"Yeah! Walking is lame!"Newt agreed,

Kaden, ever the one to take the initiative, moved over,shoved Keith’s hands off the doorknob, and threw it open. "Come on, Dad!It's cold in the hallway," He said, Newt and Amber just a few quick stepsbehind him.

He couldn’t help butchuckle a bit as he followed after them. "You kids are ridiculous,"

He had been expecting that all three of them would just pileon to the bed, heedless to where Keith himself intended to settle in. But,instead, they all hovered by, waiting. It was he was settled in with Ari,getting the two of them tucked under the covers, before the three of them piledin with him.

Amber cuddled up beside her little sister on the left side,tucking up in Keith’s arm with her and snuggling her little sister lightly."Here, Ari. You can cuddle up here on this side with me and Daddy,"

On his left, Keith watched as the two boys came over on hisleft side, instinctively wrapping his arm around the two as they snuggled upagainst him. "Me and Newt will take the right, then,"

"Cool kidssleep on the right side! Dweebossleep on the left!" Newt announced, lifting his head long enough to blow araspberry at his sisters. Amber shifted, preparing to give him whatfor again,but Keith tightened his arms around them in playful warning.

"Kids, no more fighting,” He said gently.

Kaden snuggled down and smiled lightly. "Ari's worriedabout scary monsters, right? If we all snuggle together, then any monsterstrying to come in will see how many of us there are and leave!"

Newt turned to fix is amber eyes on his older brother."Well, that or they'll see our Dad is a flippin’ Paladin of Voltron,"

"Shush, dingus. We're trying to sleep," Ambersaid, stifling a yawn of her own. Ari, happily nuzzled in between her Daddy andsissy, had already started to doze back off.

Newt grumbled something else but was too quiet and muffledas he let out a squeaky yawn of his own, little eyes fluttering shut.

Keith couldn’t help but chuckle as he watched each of hiskids fall back asleep one at a time. Between the blanket and four little bodiessnuggled up against him, he was almost uncomfortably warm. His arms werefeeling a little tingly from having them both wrapped snug around the kids, butit was a sort of pleasant sensation. He’d never thought that he’d someday behappily married with a family all his own outside of his wildest dreams. Inyet, all these years later, through all the fears and tears and struggles they’dfaced, he had a happy life with a wonderful wife and four energetic kids thatmade up his whole world.

Were they perfect little angels all the time? No, but heloved them and wouldn’t change them for the world. He loved all the people inhis life, truly he did, but he loved his family the most. And, he thought as hepulled them just a bit closer in, his own eyes slowly drooping shut, he’d doanything he could to protect them.

[varaeya]

Reya Plays Midnight Cinderella: So peel away the bark...

...’cause nothing grows when it is dark.

AAAAHHHH I’M SO BEHIND I’M SORRY

Might wanna start here if you’re confused. Over here for the previous post.

So recently, Cyikemen/Cybird has threatened to take down videos of people playing any of their games. They don’t exactly specify what sort of video content, just “videos of the game”. In fact, I’m looking at the “Regulations Regarding Copyright Infringements” right now and the company says they’ll threaten legal action for posting “any images gained through the main scenario or game to blogs” etc. etc. Look, that’s not how copyright infringement works, buddy. I’m critiquing your game and what I have here is completely within fair use. I also use the spoiler tag when my posts contain spoilers.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the time nor resources to do anything should this developer come after me for some messed up reason, so my MidCin posts will henceforth use less pictures from the main stories and I will summarise plot points rather than go into nitty gritty detail.

Enough of that. Let’s play a game! How many of the bachelors below can you identify?

“Hold on!” you say. “I see what you’re trying to get at here. You’re trying to point out how similar the guys look. Well, that’s just the art style!”

Oh? Let’s play another game. Match the men on the left to the same character on the right!

The characters above come from the webcomic Namesake. A free webcomic that updates three times a week. All of those images were randomly taken from completely different pages.

“Well, uh, webcomics are different from visual novels!”

Yeah, no, that’s not going to fly either.

Anyway, it’s all fun and games until a post needs to be written, so let’s get down to business.

In the last installment, Louis and Sid finally got married the wind willed itself a body our protagonist sassed Sid Sid the mullettail bachelor calls Aria sassy despite her not doing or saying anything to indicate sass, and flirts with her while claiming to not be flirting with her.

It turns out that our Mullettail man is actually engaged to Elise, daughter of “the wealthiest man in Wysteria.” Because “the other woman” trope is such a unique way to create tension in a romance. So wow. Much creative.

{Image: A closeup of a somewhat surprised-looking Sid. He’s in his formal outfit, which consists of a long blue jacket layered over an orange waistcoat layered over a white waistcoat layered over some sort of black shirt layered over a white shirt. He’s on a balcony overlooking a hedge maze. It’s daytime. Aria is saying to him, “I didn’t know you had a fiancee, but you knew all along. Yet you still kept making moves on me.”}

Er, that is a really weird statement, Aria darling. Of course he knew all along that he had a fiancee o_O

Our princess leaves Sid to think over his actions.

{Image: Same scenario as the previous image. Sid is now smirking. The narration text reads, “He enjoyed sparring with her, and listening to her bold retorts; she always kept him on his toes.”}

Don’t take much to keep you on your toes, does it? Pretty sure a lot of women would say something similar to what Aria said. That’s not sassy or bold. That’s just pointing out how much of jerk you are.

And then Aria gets kidnapped RAISE YOUR HAND IF YOU SAW THIS COMING y’all should have your hands raised.

This time around, Nico does the kidnapping because, um. Alright. So. According to him, some rich dude’s “been funding extremist groups in Stein” and by kidnapping Princess Aria, these groups will... “freak out”? Yes, those are the exact words Nico uses.

{Image: Closeup of a serious-looking Nico wearing his “casual” outfit. He is inside a sparsely decorated bedroom. He’s saying to Aria, “If they hear that Wysteria’s princess has been kidnapped, they might do something rash and reveal themselves.”}

I... don’t quite fellow.

Nico further explains that he’s discovered who the rich dude is: Archduke Sannes, father of Elise.

Sid comes to Aria’s rescue because the Knights Incompetent are, well, incompetent. And he promptly lets Nico run off becaaauuse......??

Anyway, condensing time! It’s revealed that Sid agreed to marry Elise because he suspected Sannes of funny business and wanted her to supply any information on her father. Sannes frames Sid as the guy funding extremist groups, Elise gives Sid up because Aria obviously loves him, Elise agrees to testify against her father, Sid finds evidence proving Sannes is the bad guy, Aria does absolutely nothing useful, and we conclude the Honey ending.

What’s in the Sweet ending? Pretty much the same thing, except the bureaucrats still don’t trust Sid and want Aria to marry Louis instead. Our protagonist begrudgingly makes Louis prince elect. Sid makes his father adopt the now penniless Elise and leaves his family. Louis and Sid stage Aria’s death. Sid whisks Aria away and they live [presumably] happily ever after or something.

And that’s it for Mullettail! This post was brought to you by the following Sailor Moon wannabe outfit:

*UPDATE* Next post is up!

[vianna-orchidia]

Kalafina 27 Week Challenge - Week 1

Week 1 - First Impression

Aaahhhh this brings back memories. The story of me finding Kalafina is a bit long tbh. At that time I was roped in Pandora Hearts manga so much, and even though I haven’t watched the anime (it was shit) I have listened to the whole soundtracks (it’s widely recommended). It’s just like what my friends said: the soundtracks are captivating. I liked everytime you kissed me and Parallel Hearts so much.

Then I asked the same friends for song recommendation. I said I’d like the same type of songs. This one friend recommended ARIA and fairytale. They said it’s from the same producer.

It was instant love.

asdfghjkl I played the songs in repeat for God knows how many days. That is like the moment I discovered my taste in music. Dark, opera-like. I then began searching for Kalafina’s other songs. I liked red moon album better than seventh heaven tbh.

Funny thing is, I didn’t even realize there are three singers in Kalafina lol. I didn’t look at the pictures when I searched the songs, and I’ve always believed it’s a one-man show, especially in red moon. I don’t know how I could be so dense lol.

And then I started searching the PVs. I remember watching Lacrimosa and fell in love with Keiko (she’s so cute wth) while questioning the existence of Hikaru (ugh that high nose is eew). You see, Hikaru doesn’t really have a line in Lacrimosa.

Everything changed when the Fire Country attacks--I mean, when I watched red moon live DVD. I was like, I CHANGE MY MIND HIKARU IS MY BIAS NOW SHE’S THE CUTEST FIGHT ME. It’s filled with personal taste tho lololol. I fell in love with Hikaru’s awkwardness during MCs but at the same time being the strongest during performances. And her fangs! Her laugh! Even her still-immature voice! My heart beats for her. (I watched the whole FJ Live Vol #4 Day 1 even though I don’t like Yuuka just to watch Hikaru sing as chorus, believe me.)

(Look at this little angel aaaahhhh)

By the way, at first I still didn’t know who is who even after watching all Kalafina+FJ PVs and reading their short bio at CPM. I even mistook Hikaru for Yuriko Kaida lol. I also kinda couldn’t believe someone as doll-like as Kaori actually exist. Especially in Toki no Mukou, Kaori is soooo cuuteee I love her style there!

Back to Kalafina. I also fell in love with their costume aaakkkk. Look at that! So beautiful! I’ve always liked gothic lolita style. I even have a dream of remaking Hikaru’s black version of red moon live costume (the one in the pic above) because it’s waaaay too pretty.

For a reason this is deviating from ‘first impression’ to my fangirling history. Oh well. Long story short: first impression = love. And for me that time, Kalafina satisfied every aspect I want in a singer(s): type of music, type of voice, type of visual.

[shenanigumi]

Actual First Impressions: HakuMyu LIVE 2, Act 1!

Also contains some of Act 2 for reasons. Prepare for a LOT of rapid-fire half-asleep chocolate-high thoughts, consolidated into a single super-long text post to avoid spamming and/or oversqueeing.  Good luck disentangling my observations from my emotions long enough to make any sense of either…

Atsuku Ikiro => SAMURAI Future => Yaisa! Yaisa! Yaisa! – I love this song! It’s catchy as hell and everyone gets a verse and—WAIT IS THAT SAMURAI FUTURE?!?! They’re actually quoting music from the original run?!?! Oh hey it’s Yaisa except oh my god this instrumentation is fabulous. Pieces with traditional instruments and modern beats (or really any genre of music not typically set to a modern beat) is my not-so-secret weakness. That’s why electro swing is my favorite musical genre. AAAAHHHH THIS IS SO BEAUTIFULLY ARRANGED

Sidenote: The original cast can hold their own during solos, but get them all together and they’re nothing super-special. Conversely, the new cast sounds AMAZING all together, but with a few exceptions, solos seem to be their weak points. I’m still severely biased toward the original cast in most cases, but I won’t deny that I ADORE the group numbers with the new cast.

[interlude] – Huh, the audience is even more involved than usual… must be an unwritten rule of HakuMyu that Souji is a total attentionwhore. Is that Kazama and Shiranui in the background? Are they gonna reuse the “where are they” gag from the first LIVE? Oh wait. Oh wait… What the hell is happening? What are they giving Kazama, and why? Is that pocky, or something? No, that can’t be pocky; it’s too thick. But it is edible, judging from the fact that Shiranui is feeding it to him jfc please you two or else I’m going to start headcanon-ing that Shiranui hits on Kazama to make him uncomfortable whenever he steps out of line

Okita’s song (???) – …oh thank god another musical number to break up all the confusion and awkwardness. Except I don’t really recognize this? Either it’s new or it’s from Reimeiroku since that’s the only one to which I paid like, negative attention, since I hadn’t even seen the anime and had no connection to most of the actors and. yeah. nice shoutout to his part in “SAMURAI Future”, I guess, but made somewhat less awesome by the fact that they already performed the real thing. also oh Souji you just have to blow the audience a kiss at the end too, you know you’re the favorite. ugh. insufferable child.

[SKIPPING AHEAD TO] Hisuru Hana – …my mom’s watching this with me and she really doesn’t care about most of these guys, so I’m gonna see if I can’t find Kazama to make it worth her while till she goes to bed… oh hey that’s Kazama in a demon mask isn’t it. OH HEY THAT’S HISURU HANA ISN’T IT. OH HEY THEY’RE BRINGING IN MORE SONGS FROM THE ORIGINAL RUN. OH HEY HE SOUNDS A LITTLE ROUGHER THAN USUAL AND HIS MOVEMENTS AREN’T QUITE AS SMOOTH AS IN HIS OWN MUSICAL BUT GOD DAMN.

Harada’s song (Shinsengumi Kitan) – HOLY FUCKING SHIT HARADA AND CHIZURU ARE CUTE TOGETHER HOLY SHIT HOLY SHIT OH MY GOD HE’S LIKE 50 MILES TALLER THAN SHE IS AND HE’S CARRYING HER AND HE’S DANCING WITH HER OH MY GOD HIS SONG IS LONGER NOW AND THEY’RE SO FUCKING ADORABLE THANK GODS HARADA IS GETTING A MUSICAL YES PLEASE ALSO WAY TO SUBSTANTIATE MY BULLSHIT SUPPOSITIONS THAT THEY’RE A THING IN SHINSENGUMI KITAN

[Interlude] – lolol hey it’s the idiot trio what if they do “Asonde Bakka Jyanai Ze!”?! …nah Harada already had some time in the spotlight but… wait, do Nagakura and Heisuke have any songs, just the two of them…?

Jiyū ni Narero Basho – YES, YES THEY DO! ANOTHER FAMILIAR TUNE!! One of the ones I always forget I love, too. Heisuke—good job, kid. You may not be Ikeda Junya, but I’ll allow it. Nagakura, I am thoroughly unimpressed with your voice thus far. I need to do a comparison gifset between Toudou-hen and this choreography tbfh, so much of it is a direct parallel. oh hey Heisuke’s stomach is growling!! hahaha wouldn’t it be funny if they used that to transition into—

HUNGRY GUYS => mealtime number (Shinsengumi Kitan) – FUCK YESSSS THEY’RE DOING IT!!! I LOVE THIS NUMBER OMG YES oh too bad they didn’t put the fish gag in though. Wait, did they rip this out of “Twist and Shout” by the Beatles? Oh no that’s just the transition into the roughly equivalent number from Shinsengumi Kitan. Damn they sound good together.

[Interlude] – GOD DAMN IT YOU TWO YOU ARE LITERALLY GOING TO MAKE ME SHIP RYUNOSUKE/CHIZURU JUST BECAUSE OF THIS SCENE JFC YOU’RE BOTH SO GODDAMN ADORKABLE but my mom doesn’t really care too much about Chizuru or most ships so let’s just keep right on going

[SKIPPING AHEAD WAY TOO FAST TO]—

Me: *MAKES LOUD AND SUDDEN GROANING NOISE* Mother: [annoyed] What?! Me: SHIRTLESS SHIRANUIIII Mother: …Oh.

[GOING BACK TO] the obvious femservice scene (Shinsengumi Kitan) – [here are the few semi-coherent thoughts I can remember] – fuck off Okita with your stupid suggestive water bucket – I guess at least he gets to participate this time? – please hit him with that fan Yamazaki – HOLY FUCKING SHIT IT’S SHIRTLESS SHIRANUI – HOLY SHIT – HOLY SHIT – OH MY GOD – TAKE ME NOW – oh hey also Ryunosuke who also has a literal six-pack but has to appear weak for the sake of characterization – SHIRANUI WHY ARE YOU FEELING UP HARADA – PLEASE DON’T TEMPT ME TO SHIP YOU TWO EVEN MORE UNIRONICALLY – CAMERA PLEASE – CAMERA – ZOOM IN ON SHIRANUI – PLEASE – YOU KNOW HE’S A GOOD DANCER I WANT TO SEE HIM DO THE THING – I WONDER IF HE SPECIFICALLY ASKED TO BE INCLUDED THIS TIME AROUND? – HOLY FUCK HOW IS HE JUST KINDA STAYING UPSIDE-DOWN THERE

[Interlude] – HE’S JUST CASUALLY DOING CRUNCHES AS KAZAMA ARRIVES ON THE SCENE – OF COURSE – PLEASE KAZAMA TAKE OFF YOUR CLOTHES – YOUR SHIRT – WHATEVER – I DON’T CARE – oh hey a watermelon ball, I guess that’s the new equivalent of the badminton scene? – NO SHIRANUI DO NOT PUT YOUR SHIRT BACK ON – KAZAMA PLEASE – SHIRANUI PLEASE – god damn it. [ladies and gents, my mother, voicing my scrambled thoughts – “I was kinda hoping it’d go the other way, that Kazama might…”] oh shit Amagiri’s missing again, isn’t he? Damn it, as much as I love that gag, I liked Naoya-san. Too bad he wasn’t around. But they’re probably not going to do Oni no Matsuei again, so… what next…?

Oni no Chikara – FUCK YES IT’S ANOTHER OF MY FAVORITES YES YES YES!!! wait, but if Amagiri isn’t here, why do I hear his theme—? Oh, I guess they’re just skipping it. never mind… oh and here’s Serizawa but at this point I’m really just interested in Kazama because my mom has to go to bed so

[SKIPPING AHEAD TO] Kazama’s new medley – aaaaaaaa exactly what I was looking for. Suzuki!Kazama in western wear. oh my fuck HOW can one person be so perfect. how. just. how. is it me or did they make his clothes even more form-fitting and sexier—? oh gods this is the intro to his musical!! and his singing is even more on point!!! oh shit I love that. oh hey now it’s his fight with Nagakura from Shinsengumi Kitan and they cut out his gorgeous wavering endnote on that one but whatever still a good theme. and—wait, they ARE doing Oni no Matsuei! that’s a throwback if ever I’ve seen one, but I am 100% all for more Shiranui so whatever. and—wait, “Kyōtō ~ Kyoran no Shi”? With half of Heisuke’s lines cut out? At least they slowed it down somewhat so the poor man can actually sing. And oh shit he was fighting Kodo? oh that explains why the end of “Sendai-jou no Tatakai” is happening now. and… oh gods now we’re at the end of “Bushi Toshite Ikiru Tame ni” and Hashimoto-san I love you dearly but did anyone tell you what notes to sing? NO, MOTHER, MATSUDA RYO WAS A BETTER SAITO BY A LONG SHOT, DON’T YOU DARE INSINUATE THAT HE WAS EVEN REMOTELY OFF-KEY. and ah good they’re ending it on the same set of notes, literally, as his first medley. nice way to tie it all together. good night mother

[GOING BACK TO] Saito’s song (???) – ah yes now I can record my reactions actually live instead of having to remember all that because my mother has gone to bed and I don’t mind interrupting myself. anyway this number is cool, but again, I don’t recognize it at all. did they hide it somewhere in Reimeiroku? but I like the shoutout to the instrumentation on “Don’t Forget My Style”. ok I can hear his Reimeiroku leitmotif now, so is this like, a small medley? also ok I know how childish and coincidental this is but I love that the last two lines rhyme like yessss

Hijikata’s song (???) – this kinda sounds familiar, probably from Reimeiroku. still never got the hang of Gaku-san as Hijikata, though; the notes get away from him sometimes, more often than the others I’ve heard. ya know, not that I could ever hope to sing any better while I’m doing that much but I’ve seen better Hijikatas in my day *adjusts hipster glasses*

[RELUCTANTLY SKIPPING PAST “HISURU HANA” ET AL TO] Chizuru’s song (Shinsengumi Kitan) => Ryūnosuke no Kaiko – Okay, I actually really like Chizuru’s little leitmotif, and she really does have a wonderful voice. Second or third favorite Chizuru for sure, after Tanoue Marina and tied with Yamamoto Sayaka. ooooh someone’s in loooove though, what with that Hijikata action in the background~ and OH YES THIS IS INDEED THE SONG I THOUGHT IT WAS WHEN I WAS FAST-FORWARDINGGGG oh goodness I love Ryunosuke’s little aria so much. plus the added percussion is really nice, gives it a sense of moving forward while retaining its prettiness—OH THEY ADDED MORE TO IT! and it’s so well staged! and why isn’t this man more on my butai radar I need more Shiramata Atsushi in my life. oh hey Yamazaki whatcha doing here? oh just running away I guess. it’s cool. see ya later?

[VERY RELUCTANTLY SKIPPING PAST MUSCLE SCENE ET AL TO] Gōgan Fuson’na Shi – I kinda love Serizawa? even though I also really hate him? I just feel like Kubodera Akira has a really awesome time playing the role, I mean, getting the audience involved and everything. It’s kinda cute in a super-twisted way, considering he’s busy burning everything to the ground and disrespecting everyone under the sun. seems like I have this problem with a lot of characters given that Kazama is much the same. actual favorite character, possibly actual least favorite person.

[Interlude] – here comes Kodo and… uh… THEY’RE SAYING ONE ANOTHER’S NAMES LIKE LOVERS? CRACKSHIP CONFIRMED? is there a word for pantomime that isn’t necessarily silent because I see a lot of that in butai and it’s really amazing (edit: I have since realized that pantomime is exactly the word I am looking for) and they’re physically echoing one another’s movements like a villainous courtship dance and OH MY GOD THAT HIGH FIVE AND EVIL LAUGHTER WAS REALLY CUTE A+ BROMANCE I SUPPORT THIS 100% also Kodo’s bald cap is treating him decently now

Hen Wakamizu no Chikara => Horobi no Sakebi – you cannot hope to beat Edogawa Manji in a weird-off. He is simply the best there is. What is even going on right now. He’s involving the audience in his villainous schemes and you know that pantomime thing, he’s the best at gesticulating, he really is, he’s so underrated and I have such a high respect for him and… oh, Chizuru hasn’t gotten over her emote-face, I see, and—WAIT WHAT THE FUCK. KODO-SAN WHAT ARE YOU WEARING AND HOW CAN YOU LOOK SO SERIOUS. HOW ARE THEY PLAYING THIS TOTALLY STRAIGHT WHEN HE LOOKS SO RIDICULOUS. ok maybe “respect” was the wrong word. In fact, I think I’ll just have Suzuki Shogo summarize the rest of this scene for me (since this is only the second most ridiculous Edogawa-san has looked while in-character):

Shinsengu Tanjō => Bushi no Michi ~ Ima, Kakugo no Toki [3] => Shinsengu no Michi [1] => opening track (Shinsengumi Kitan)? – ah good they’re including this. perfect!! one of their better chorus numbers, and that’s saying something—but wait—no—they’re cutting out too much of it! and now Kondou is singing Serizawa’s part?? what is this. oh but there’s Serizawa singing his beautiful little piece that I love way too much given his character. (lord help me I think I might actually understand why Ryunosuke lets him kick him around so much; the man is fascinating.) ok but all masochism aside, time to switch to sadism, since it looks like they’re gonna be killing him soon enough. and it’s well-staged, too; I love it when they do the slow-mo thing. also, yes, Ryunosuke, you can in fact sing him sweetly to sleep, ignore the fact that he’s literally trying to kill you and everyone around you. also I guess Serizawa had a semi-literal ‘Kick the Dog’ moment there huehue. and oh wow that silence was powerful. I seem to remember that being a thing in Reimeiroku too…?

[Interlude] – oh hey it’s Yamazaki. oh hey Ryunosuke that little scuttle backward you did there was adorable. oh hey you two are in really close range. oh fuck am I starting to ship this in the same way I ship Harada and Shiranui…? oh fuck. NO RYUNOSUKE BBY DON’T CRY but also thank you for distracting me from my newfound ship doubt.

Shinsengu no Michi [2] => Yaisa! Yaisa! Yaisa! (original?) – YES MORE YAMAZAKI ACTION BUT NO MORE YAMAZAKI DEATH WHY IS THIS HAPPENING but hey he’s okay now because of the Power of Chorus™ bringing Yaisa! back into the equation. I wonder whether it takes extra effort to sing different words to the same tune? because there’s a lot of that throughout the musicals, come to think of it.

INTERMISSION – HOLY SHIT IT’S YAZAKI MOTHERFUCKING HIROSHI AS A GUEST STAR BUT I REALLY NEED TO GO TO BED SO I’M GONNA HAVE TO SPLIT POSTS HERE AND HOPE YOU STICK AROUND LONG ENOUGH TO HEAR ABOUT ACT 2. GOOD NIGHT EVERYBODY. it’s just as well, I can feel my thoughts getting less and less coherent eheh

Sidenote: …this “literal first impressions” thing was kinda what I was initially trying to do with the much longer HakuMyu Shinsengumi Kitan review, but this is easier for me since it’s just getting all my thoughts down and out instead of trying to do anything even remotely constructive or clever with them. Hope you enjoyed anyway!