#but! i just did some sketches for the second half of the song and i'm so excited

[creamiceandsugar]

the "law being haunted by people from flevance" wasnt even a new idea i had i did it for the WIP i still have of the lyric comic i'm making (i'm being optimistic i know it's been literal years) and it's still one of my favorite panels :)

[iid-smile]

#06 ୨ৎ ⸝⸝ @berryzai ⋆

how did i COMPLETELY skip over this ask omg this is adorbs! the amount of dazai lovers ive got is crazy 3, 20 and 21 are all headcanons, but 21 has a realllyyyy short drabble 🤗 (can you tell my brain started to fart the further down you go? im not proud of it but i legit have no idea what else to add)

#3 🍰 | your anniversary

he brings you to an art museum! dazai always gets interested in what you're interested in, so don't be surprised when you lose him half way through and he's on the other side of the building

treats it like a birthday and buys a cake for the two of you to share + he brings some to work the next day <3 (only for him, he doesn't share)

also buys the clothes/accessories of your dreams, and he does it every time. sometimes he just knows what you want

definitely the type to buy jewellery on an anniversary. sometimes he likes to scare you with a ring, but it's usually a bracelet or necklace.

changes his ringtone every anniversary to your favourite song at the time. he loves hearing you hum along whenever somebody calls him

#20 🍦| love language

acts of service

he learns how to do laundry for your clothes so none of the dresses get ruined. he reads every single care label and has separate hampers for separate conditions

shoos off weird guys trying to flirt with you before they even approach. he doesn't want you to close off yourself when you're already having fun, so no strangers are going to ruin that!

carries you to bed when you overwork yourself. he's half debating between letting you sleep at a desk/table with his coat draped over you, or making sure you're comfortable and won't be sore the next morning

always makes sure ingredients are stocked and goes grocery shopping for you. he does get into a bit of trouble, but he does the job

quality time

dancing. dazai loves big dresses, and is 100% convinced that he has to dance with you every time you put one on.

back and forth banter. he banters with literally every person he knows, but it's special when it's you.

physical touch

you're affectionate, so he's affectionate too.

a big hugger, and also the type to massage. he puts his hands to good use all the time, and your shoulders are within easy reach, so...

randomly touches your waist if he's just walking past, or playfully taps your forehead when you're laying around

#21 🍦 | where they like to kiss you

hands

admires the fact that you can create lovely work with your hands

he kisses them as if you're actual royalty, so he gets on one knee and everything.

he also massages them if they cramp up

forehead

it feels right

an easy spot if your hands are too busy, and isn't complicated to kiss. basically it's a good spot no matter what you're doing

he likes kissing your forehead a lot in public or if you visit him while working. it's not too showy, but not too closed off either, if you know what i mean

you've had your gaze trained on the light pencil sketches in front of you for an unimaginable about of time. perhaps dazai had been walking around you for a bit, but you really didn't notice. "i'm busy, osamu." you say without looking up, feeling his fingers graze and tug at your ear.

"i know, i just wanted to kiss you first."

just that comment manages to make you draw your eyes away from the paper you were so focused on. "but i'm—"

"your other hand doesn't seem so busy to me..." he muses, his fingers sneaking up underneath your palm and seizing it in his grasp. "what's with you and avoiding my kisses? do you not like them?"

for a little while, you look conflicted, then a smile overcomes your features. "you distract me." you respond simply, a teasing lilt to your voice.

damn him for being such a good actor, as he almost had you fooled, his face looking so disheartened as he stared down at you. it only takes under a second for him to softly grin, kissing all over your knuckles. "as i should."

event masterlist

[yellow-py]

hello! you've probably been asked these before, but i'm here to ask how long it typically takes for you to make animatics, if you have any tips, preferred methods, and what you use? i saw your funger animatic and it looks absolutely gorgeous! i love all the detail that's jam-packed into the art and story telling, so i'm curious about your animatic process.

sorry if this is a lot! no need to answer if you don't want to. i love your stuff and i wish you well!

Hi! I don't mind answering some questions!

First things first, I'm not a professional storyboards artist. I've done a few things for some youtube channels. I wouldn't call myself an expert. This is to say that my method of doing things might not the best for people who actually work in the industry. 

Most of the time I work in Storyboard pro 7. But honestly, any editing software works as long as it can handle pictures and audio. For the disco elysium animatic I only used  clip studio paint and some random editing program called Camtasia. It worked alright but it takes a bit longer to finish stuff since storyboard pro is more streamlined. My go-to method right not is to draw the backgrounds in clip studio and the characters and editing in storyboard pro. That way, I get the best of both worlds. 

The funger animatic took about 2 and a half weeks to make. It usually takes longer, but the song wasn't that long so that saved me a lot of time. But as another example, my disco elysium animatic took +3 months. So it really depends. I did work longer on each frame for that one tho, so idk. On average, it takes me about 2 months. But that number keeps going up since my expectations of myself keep rising. 

Anyhow! I'll be bringing up my fear and hunger animatic as an example of my process. 

My animatics usually start out having the ugliest thumbnails known to man. It does let me experiment with framing and timing, which is absolutely crucial. I do not recommend that people start refining frames without having planned out things beforehand.

After that, I just save every thumbnail and import it to storyboard pro. I just scale it up to the current canvas size. Then I just line up every frame with the audio. It is a little bit tedious but you gotta do what you gotta do. 

After that, I begin to draw the backgrounds in clip studio. I do the same thing as in storyboard pro and just size the thumbnail up. And then I just sketch over that! Technically, I could have drawn the backgrounds in storyboard pro. But their brushes are pretty uggo so I prefer to not do that :)

As dumb as it might sound, it kind of stresses me out when my storyboards aren't "pretty". Which is pretty stupid since storyboards are literally made only to be a guide for what an animation should be. so in actuality, it's alright if they're kinda crusty. But since I never intend to animate my animatics I find it nice to spend more time on each frame. Which is sorta stupid because I'm shooting myself in the foot by working so long on every frame...

Either way, after that, I import the new backgrounds into storyboard pro and begin to draw the characters. Technically I could draw them in clip studio as well. But its faster to draw them in story board pro and it also allows me to do some semi-animated things and work faster. So, after a lot of experimenting, clip studio backgrounds and storyboard pro characters is the way to go for me! 

And just to note. This animatic might have only taken about 2 and a half weeks. Which sounds pretty good. But when it comes to animatics I can become a real workaholic if im inspired enough. So every day after school I would sit non stop working on this from the second I got home to when it was time to sleep. As well as every second of the weekend after I was done with my chores. So that is to say I work pretty fast and persistently, which i know is not healthy or realistic. So take my timing with a grain of salt. 

But that's kinda my process. I just draw backgrounds and draw characters until the thing is done. 

If I had to give any advice, I would say it's important to have fun when making animatics as a hobby. When I make an animatic, it's because I personally want to see that animatic, and if other people like it, that is a plus! If you're excited about an idea, it'll be a lot easier to add fun details and soul into it. 

But yeah that's it. I can't really come up with anything else to say. I hope I gave some good insight!

[jealousmartini]

KPOP DR INTRODUCTION

GO! BEYOND! We are MKB!

∘₊ ✧───────────────────✧₊∘

MKB [initally called MaKe Believe] is a 5 member KPOP girl group that debuted around 2014-2015 under the company of JYP with their winning album : 5ALIVE! and their most popular songs Superstitious, Greedy hearts and What's more?. Adored for their GIRL-CRUSH aesthetic and catchy choruses that is presented in a film cinematographic manner that tells a story through the visuals as well as the lyrics in the genres POP, EDM CITY-POP, fans around the world can't help but feel entranced by the music and the lore that is made along the way.

∘₊ ✧───────────────────✧₊∘

She can sing? She can dance?? She can rap???

SHE'S A TRIPLE THREAT

— BASICS

Date of dr : 2015 02 04

Stage name : rochie (pronounced roe-she)

Most commonly called : keisha/keesha

Birth name : "CR name" keisha rochela banks

Spanish name : audriana rochela banks

Nicknames : rochie, roe, keesh, audrey

Fanbase nicknames : lol doll, jazz hands, dimples, glasses, curly fries

Date of birth : June 20th 1997

Zodiac sign : gemini-cancer cusp

Height : 5"7½

Ethnicity : half puerto rican, half korean

Languages : spanish, korean, english, japanese, portuguese

Group positions : main rapper, lead/main dancer, main singer, visuals, maknae

Representative animal : red panda / bunny

Representative colour : orange

Representative fruit : also an orange

Fanbase name : charmings !

Training period : 10 months

Company : JYP

— KNOWN FOR

Keisha is a witty and ambitious idol who's personality shines brightly through her snappy and energetic choreography, while also showing a raw and passionate side of her through her singing and rapping. She is praised for a her precision, accuracy and emotion by her manager and JYP himself as well as from other Idols.

She is known for occasionally appearing in other k-groups lives either heard in the background or directly in view, rambling about something and coming to say hi to their fanbase. Charmings are shocked to see how close she is to TWICE and BTS in particular, making them wonder how long she has known both groups before she officially became an Idol, and what their relationships are like off camera

She's known for having a pet bunny called Tiffany, Tiff for short. Tiffany often makes appearances in her own lives. Tiffany is very cute and is loved by the fanbase

She is an artist. She tends to draw a lot and can see having piles of stuffed notebooks of drawings in her room. She's too shy to show her art but there was a screenshot of her accidentally leaving one of her notebooks open showing a double page section filled with well drawn sketches of recognised idols. Some from BTS some from TWICE.

She is a spanish black person. This makes her stand out from all other idols. But when she made her first appearance onto a game show, Black fans and Spanish fans of kpop had basically gone crazy seeing a black Idol speak their language for the first time and the number of Charmings doubled, if not tripled.

She is known for being so fucking painfully honest about everything it's funny. She's basically voluntarily called herself out on multiple occasions. Like when she admitted that she likes both man boobs and woman boobs (she's bi) or when she brain vomits her thoughts onto her tumblr page (yes she is in fact a tumblr girly), thinking no one would've seen her viral post that read "namjoon thinks I'm a bad influence on army cus of how vocal i am as if they didnt already want be crushed by his beefy arms before I admitted I did. They just get me (i joke btw.. kinda)" that she had deleted the second she posted it, but of course it got screenshoted and reposted onto twitter☠️

— FUN FACTS

She is older than Jungkook by 4 months

She is close friends with NAYEON, Sana, Chaeyoung, YOONGI, JIMIN, JUNGKOOK, Namjoon, J-hope, TAEHYUNG, Jin, BANGCHAN, Felix, Hyunjin and YUNA

No one knows this yet but she has a crush on 4 of the idols listed and 2 of the highlighted names are part of the four, the other 2 are not

Red Panda is her animal representative because there was a video circulating of her dressed up as a mascot for her highschool as a red panda

She is an excellent cook and loves to cook for her members and her idol friends

She is the 2nd most shipped with trainee in MKB before she even became an Idol. She is now the first most shipped idol in MKB.

She is a genuine ARMY herself lmao😭😭 way too many times has she been caught singing a bts song when on camera

Tags! : @livingmydreamlife5555 @cocozydiaries @theshifterbear @4ellieluv

Side note💌 : she's so silly guys. I hope no one suspects me having a crush on any of the idols in my dr.. — 🍊💭

[moonlit-mystery-writer]

I'm back for the exact three you brought up lol Celeste and Luce's kids, Lal and Celeste's kids and Noel and Celeste's kids!

Hell yeah! Starting with eldest first!

Celeste/Luce - Rosalia

Flame - Sky

Rosalia is Celeste’s eldest, however, she’s obviously Luce’s second. This means Rosalia won’t be in line to become the next Giglio Nero boss.

She’s thankful for that though. Rosalia is what some people would call a “dreamer”, she tends to have her head in the clouds and enjoys a lot of creative arts like poetry and drawing. She prefers to be somewhere quiet, humming along to whatever new song she’s found or she’s come up with.

Her siblings are pretty sure she inherited the Giglio Nero’s ability to see the future, or she’s simply just really perspective and the world’s ultimate prankster with the specific things she warnings her siblings about. She’ll never tell them, but, the answer is both. You can use future sight to try changing fate for the greater good, but sometimes it’s more rewarding to use it so Eliot’s chair falls apart under him because he stole the last of Maman’s brownies before you got one. She does at least give warnings before the prank happens.

Rosalia, like a lot of her siblings lol, doesn’t have many traits from Celeste outside of the hair sheen. It’s a toss up whether her blue eyes are from Celeste or from Luce since both of them have that trait lol. But! Rosalia’s hair is noticeably more wavy compared to other Giglio Nero women and [with Rewriteverse’s version] she’s a bit shorter than them. (188 cm/6’3 compared to Aria’s 196 cm/6’5 and Luce’s 200 cm/6’7)

Calls Parents: Celeste = Maman, Luce = Mamma

The others get Mom or Dad.

Lal Mirch/Celeste - Rosario

Flame - Rain

Celeste’s third kid, second son, and Cecilia’s twin brother. Yes, Celeste was pregnant with Colonnello’s and Lal Mirch’s children at the time lol.

Rosario is far calmer compared to his twin sister. While he can be worked up into being competitive with him other siblings, he prefers watching from the sidelines. By all means, he could step in and order them around to behave like a drill sergeant. Thing is, half the time he doesn’t care. It’s not uncommon for him to just let Cecilia waltz her way into a decision that gets her hurt or in trouble. He’s not his sister’s keeper after all.

That being said, he does care a lot about his twin. If she’s hurt, he’s always waiting right there with a first aid kit and such to help. If she gets into trouble with their parents, he lets himself get into trouble with her for not stopping her when he knew she was doing something she wasn’t supposed to. Back when Colonnello accidentally made her cry as kids, he in fact tried to fight him. His dad was only saved from his righteous fury because Rosario didn’t really know how to throw a punch yet and he was just 5 like his twin.

A lot of his features line up with Lal Mirch, for the most part he looks like a male version of her. Except, he entirely has Celeste’s hair; white color and hair sheen with the wavy texture. He tends to style it like Colonnello’s rather than either of his moms.

Calls parents: Celeste = Mamma, Lal Mirch = Mom, Colonnello = Dad

The others tend to get their names.

Celeste/Noel - Estelle

Flame - Snow

Celeste’s 8th kid and 4th daughter. Estelle is pretty warm and borderline bubbly in personality, often drawing people around her with her charming ways. These people are almost guaranteed to be into dumped to though. She’s not as athletic as either one of her moms, but she did grow into a combination of their interests. She loves fashion history a lot, loving to map out how and why fashion changed in certain ways. She also likes to draw sketches, namely of whatever fashion has caught her interest that week.

She looks the most like Noel in appearance, even having her short height. (Estelle - 158 cm/5’2, Noel - 152 cm/5’0) She does have Celeste’s blue eyes though. I imagine her hair is styled like this picture I found, the beads being either white or some color other than blue lol.

[boyswhowawa]

Artisaint [Dancing's Done]

(trigger warning, stylized blood and violence)

Played around a bit

Had a lot of fun making this piece, ajds;lkfja;sldkfjakl;skdfj, took me a bit over 3 hours...

some more fun stuff under the cut >:D (chat about process/alternative color one/song pairing)

First things first, this piece pairs well with this song, to me;

"People like you and me were born to run" my brain went "ough that's them alright" "Where we goin' when the dancin's done" and I was like "well yeah they're doomed to eternity aren't they... there's nowhere TO go" "Take me to the edge of afterlife" and I was like, very literal with this one i was like "oh yeah neither of them can ENTER the afterlife, they're stuck on the edge"

and also just, the song slaps ngl ajs;fdklajdf;la

and also also

alt colors version !

one where Saint is more blue to match, and Arti is more red to match, pretty simple, but I like both versions a lot, ajsdf;laks

The first one isn't evven their natural colors, it's just done for fun and such, and I thought those colors looked good for the piece, but then I wanted an alt wehre they were more red and I ended up liking it ! so I am sharing both

OKAY PROCESS LET'S GO

The initial sketch of course

it was at this point I went "oh god is this too much for me?" "hey, it's okay Foxes, you just gotta try, okay?" and so I did

Saint and Arti<3 I did arti first, then saint, and I had a ton of fun figuring out how to do them, I wanted to limit the amount of colors I was allowed to use for them, 3 base colors for the body, then eyes I could do whatever (which was mostly for Arti)

It made me really think hard about what I wanted to do, and I'm really happy with how they came out

so close......

this is when I finished the void worm! I learned my program had filters so I went kinda crazy using them on this piece, asjd;flkajdsf;al

for the arti half, i was basically just using the sketch as a rough guide, and I was doing it one layer at a time

the second layer of pink on the right done

the second layer of pink on the left done

this centipede wasn't in the sketch at all!! but I thought adding it would help with the variety of things there, and with the balance of the piece, originally it was just gonna be another spear there

left side all pinked up

and right side all pinked up!!

I really loved how it all looked, it was super fun playing with those colors, and I'm DEFINITELY doing something like this again sometime

did some filter wrok, and boom, it was done!

it was a blast to work on, and I hope y'all enjoy it >:D

[aleniksimmer]

Miraculous the movie

Final thoughts:

-if you watch it alone without any prior knowledge of Miraculous it feels extremely random, the characters are flat, the powers blurry, their objectives kinda lost in the songs, which are there but don't really clear the situation or move the plot forward

-if you watch it knowing the show it does make even less sense, the powers are completely fucked up, sometimes the suits protect them, sometimes not, the characters feel a very faded copy of what they're supposed to be and most of the times the plot doesn't plot, things just happen cause it's fanservice and "a laugh for the kids", it really feels like a fanfiction in which the author was focused in a couple of scenes and then tried to connect them together even if they don't work. Conflicts starts and are closed at random, there's zero build up, as I said before it all feels like it happens because the "author" wanted it to happen but not because the story makes sense developing in that way through the characters (as it should be with a well written story)

In the end, I enjoyed some visuals, I enjoyed some 3d models, but in general it's not something I would want to watch again, it feels uneventful and it does feel like you just have to be a casual/passive spectator. There's no foreshadowing, no messages between the lines. They tried to make the line "save a life, save the world" meaningful but it really gave nothing.

Last very personal opinion, as a hardcore fan of Frozen movies and shorts, it feels like the animations/camera angles/songs were heavily inspired by that and classic Disney in general instead of focusing on the canon material. I get they wanted to retell the story in a shorter format but it didn't quite deliver the intended result for the mentioned reasons.

Spoilers

So I finally decided to watch the movie cause I need something lighthearted rn, and a few seconds in I'm hating how they are presenting the miraculouses "they were only given to heroes but the butterfly is the most evil one cause evil butterfly ohhhhh" like the fuck did you just smoke Fu? Seems like Zag didn't really watched the show and had this vague idea that the butterfly miraculous is EvIL. It would be a long watch. I will edit this post each time I have to say something.

-

I'm a DIE HARD fan of musicals, like half of my songs on Spotify are from musicals, I have playlists of Disney songs. But this?? Seems Zag watched more Anna from Frozen than the actual show. I know Mari was very insecure in the beginning, but this is all over the place, and the dialogues, they are so detached (and I don't want to shit on the animation, but for fuck sake she wants to be a fashion designer, her whole room is pink, her sketches are colorful but the best she can imagine is a gray smoking and a white dress?? Not even a hint of color?? And she stops in front of a white dress?? For frick sake she's Marinette not "I love a sterile environment with bland people" Gabriel Agreste). And I'm 5 minute in. God save me

-

At least I can relate to the flute scene. What a vile instrument c_c

-

Ahh I don't know how to feel about them using that tune and those scenes that resemble so much the parts of the show that make you heart skip a bit in a context that feels so less deep. I think I'm missing the build up to the crucial point.

-

The long hair?? Gabe with the long hair?? I'm crying 😂😂

-

Oh come ooooonnnn. They give Nooroo a fuking bad reputation like this. And it doesn't make any sense design wise. If the butterfly is the worst of the worst why does it have a random place in the circle of secondary miraculouses. I hate it.

-

And now the jewels fly. Okay. OK. I need to forget about the show.

-

Ok. Now I'm 100% certain that Fu is high on something.

-

No Tikki, the butterfly is lost due to Fu and you perfectly know what it is capable of? Otherwise you wouldn't call it the eViLlllll.

-

So, what did we learn today. The gargoyle is there to do nothing, no objective, no plan, no correlation between the emotion and the akumatized result. Gabe should want their miraculouses but apparently the akuma is just trying to play with them through the city? Why sneaking behind? Why attacking CN at random and then going around? Why staying in Notre Dame and just make noise in the beginning? Second, the yoyo is doing all the work, God forbid Mari learns how to use it. Just make the yoyo do the job and LB is just there like a sack of potatoes. Everything is so random.

-

Who needs heroes when you can crush the akumatized person with a train, right?? Also that poor akuma got fried to death just to make the batman symbol.

-

He keeps making fun of her, treat her like an inferior but he's in love?? I'm face palming hard right now. Also, a fucking God of destruction apparently has a digestive system he can't control. Nice. Really really nice. So funny. Ha ha. 😑

-

He really went for that disney villain vibe..

-

I NEED a figurine of them on the moon.

-

I am weak for Ladynoir, ok? Ok. Don't care much about the song but how they interact now it's adorable. They're dancing. My poor heart. 😭

-

Really, hawkmoth decided to become batman.

-

And now he's a Jedi, ladies and gentlemen!

-

Oh, the flying superman shot was really missing now.

-

Physically and canonically everything doesn't make any sense but okay. God feels like a fanfiction.

-

Show Gabe would have laughed maniacally and grabbed that ring without any second thought. Oh well.. This is anticlimactic.

-

So.. Are we finally going to see a lucky charm at the end of the movie ooooor... Nope, just some dust and Elsa building skills.

-

NOT EVEN THE KISS??? YOU DIDN'T EVEN GIVE US THE KISS??? YOU REALLY WANT TO MAKE A SEQUEL OF THIS?? Like what, Mayura and the other 3 heroes? Oh for God sake. I would prefer this investment in the quality of the show animation than in this.

[wellhalesbells]

TAG SOMEONE YOU WANT TO KNOW AND/OR SOME OF YOUR BESTIES

Tagged by @kikiroo - thank you, my darling!!! *friendly shark bites at you*

Last song: Probably either The Man or Anti-Hero by Taylor Swift. I just spent a week with my sister on vacation and she had just watched the Eras Tour movie so she was getting both of those stuck in my head all the time, and then we'd have to listen to them ofc.

Last movie: It was Host by Rob Savage (or at least it was when I started this, lol). I watched it 'cause I saw something on Insta about the Top 10 Scariest Movies according to what the average resting heart rate is for it. I didn't find it very scary (got me at the end though, woo boy) but I did love it - but then I love things that use the pandemic well and this definitely did imo. Plus it's all structured around (and shot through) a Zoom interface so it's only, like, fifty-seven minutes long because that's all you get when you don't pay for Zoom, haha.

Currently watching: Goosebumps, Last Week Tonight, The Fall of the House of Usher, Two Sentence Horror Stories, Our Flag Means Death and Ghost Files and I am half-assing all of it. I've either only started the first episode or only watched the first episode on all of those. I have no staying power these days. Though I am only one ep behind on Last Week Tonight \o/

Other stuff I watched this year: Unfortunately for you guys, I write fucking everything down and it is now the tenth month of the year. I GOT RECS. Well, Meg 2: The Trench, which is a cinematic masterpiece and I will take no questions on that (unless they're Joming related). (Cognizant of the month) Here are spooky things I watched this year and liked a lot: X, The Black Phone, The Menu, Terrifier and Terrifier 2 (this is definitely only for gore fans though), Bodies Bodies Bodies, Cocaine Bear (also a cinematic masterpiece, also not taking questions), Interview with the Vampire, Wednesday, Severance, Evil, The Last of Us, Over the Garden Wall, Magpie Murders, What We Do in the Shadows, and Shining Vale (haven't started the second season yet!). Also really liked: Paddington, Nimona, Barbie, Spider-man: Across the Spider-verse, Vivo, Derry Girls, The Bear, The Boys, Mythic Quest, Only Murders in the Building (I haven't watched the new season yet though but I expect great things), Reboot, Tuca & Bertie, Los Espookys, Barry, Extraordinary, Crashing (I literally watched it three times in a row - watching Sam and Fred fall in love 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻 plus I fucking love Jonathan Bailey - I consistently find him ridiculously charming), Hacks, Avenue 5 (so sad this got canceled when I feel like it just hit its stride), Staged (I've watched it probably six times now), Abbott Elementary, A Black Lady Sketch Show, Ted Lasso, I Think You Should Leave Now (just for that one sketch, you know the one and, if you don't, I am HAPPY to tell you about it!), Unstable (petition for Fred Armisen to be in everything though, right?), Black Mirror, Central Park, Elite (I haven't watched the new season yet!), Reservation Dogs (ditto), The White Lotus, Good Omens, Letterkenny, Minx (what's ditto but for the third time?), Heartstopper, Sasaki and Miyano, and The Other Two.

Shows I dropped/didn’t finish: I'm behind on everything all the time so I'm only going to answer for shows I dropped and I don't think I've dropped any this year?

Currently reading: The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw & Richard Kadrey (about halfway through), House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (I'll be reading this until I die, I think), Cunk on Everything by Philomena Cunk, The Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. Schwab (nearly finished!), The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith, My Darling Girl by Jennifer McMahon and The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice (decided to do a reread of the IwtV series this year since I never actually finished it and only got to book ten and I read it way too long ago to remember anything that's happening if I just picked it up now).

Currently listening to: My calendar alarm telling me to go to my dog's vet appointment.

Currently working on: getting at least a third of the way through My Darling Girl

Also absolutely no pressure tagging @andavs, @callunavulgari, @piratefalls, @clotpolesonly, and anyone else who wants to do this!

[jinxed-ninjago]

explaining why i chose to make an animation for lloyd and harumi based on choice by jack stauber because it's my blog and i do whatever the fuck i want

first of all go read the lyrics if you haven't already, the song is 40 seconds it won't take you that long to read the lyrics

also go watch the storyboard/sketch i did for the animation im doing. this is half self promo and half for context lol

basically, i thought the song worked for these two. i was like "if i do this right, i can make the lyrics show the contrast between how lloyd and harumi are as characters and i think that's a really cool thing" so thats what i did. of course, i wouldn't be making this post if i didn't want to go more in depth so i'm gonna explain some frames from the sketch/storyboard.

(also, just as a note, the specifics of what parts of the show the frames are based on will be more clear when the animation is done, but i will be specifying them here)

first 4 frames:

these four are meant to drive home the contrast between lloyd and harumi; that being when it comes to harumi, lloyd, even up to crystalized, has feelings for her (the art for love is based on when he first saw harumi in season 8, the art for heart is based on when harumi betrayed him in the same season) and when it comes to lloyd, especially in season 8 after she's revealed to be the quiet one, harumi is very vengeance driven (the art for brain is loosely based on the whole thing in the oni temple in season 8, and the art for control is just something i came up with lol. the art for control is meant to give a sense of harumi not being entirely in her right mind and being driven more by vengeance than anything else, and not someone you'd be smart to trust either).

for the caffeinate and melatonin frames, i also tried to show contrast between lloyd and harumi. throughout the series, wu is shown to use tea to sort of relax in a similar way some might use coffee to. additionally, certain varieties of tea in ninjago have relaxing properties, so i sort of view it as "tea has a significant role in the life not just of lloyd, but also in the lives of everyone who visits the monastery" for a multitude of reasons. on the other hand, harumi resorts to murder to resolve her problems (murdering her parents and hutchins, attempting to murder lloyd, etc). hence, melatonin with blood splatters. melatonin is a sleep hormone and also has an effect on mood, so i thought "melatonin with blood splatters for harumi" lol

for this one i wanted to show a combination of harumi's manipulative tendancies and her genuine affection for lloyd as of crystalized (as it's implied that she has some genuine feelings for him; when ordered to kill lloyd, she tries to sway him to the overlord's side instead, something the overlord responds with "i see now that you still have feelings for him" to. she protects him and garmadon instead of fighting with the guy she sold her soul to. basically crystalized implies her feelings for lloyd were genuine but she was using them for manipulative purposes which is what this frame's art is meant to show). i thought "you get me going" worked for harumi's attitude towards lloyd prior to dragon form; that is, her goal from the minute her biological parents die to the minute the overlord reveals everything was by his design was to get revenge on lloyd and the other ninja.

tl;dr, this frame is meant to show the complexities of harumi as a character. did i succeed? we will not know until i finish the animation probably.

these two frames are just meant to be indicative of harumi's betrayal and the wake up call it was for lloyd so to speak. that's literally it, i thought it worked lol.

again, meant to be indicative of harumi's betrayal. the art for this one is based on when lloyd and harumi were feeding the poor in season 8, as i feel like that's when lloyd really got to meet harumi and get to know her. obviously at that point she wasn't showing her true colors, which is what the second frame is meant to be showing.

harumi's betrayal we're moving on lol

these two frames are based on the scene in crystalized where lloyd is trying to talk harumi out of hurting innocent people and essentially telling her she doesn't have to be how she is and they get into a back and forth about it. i feel like this part of the song ("i am injury" "no you aren't, you make the choice to be") is what had me in a chokehold when it came to wanting to make an animation featuring these two lmao.

and the final frame. this one is meant to be harumi coming to terms with everything she's done and basically realizing that she's been taking her anger and trauma out on the wrong people her entire life. it's one of the most powerful scenes in the show to me, and due to the nature of this animation i wanted to make it the last frame.

so yeah, there's my explanation of

why i decided to make a choice animation for lloyd and harumi

why i think choice works for these two in the first place

[pyjamacryptid]

artists self rec! when you get this, reply with your favourite five arts/sets/edits/gifs that you've done, then pass on to at least five other people. time to shine and spread some self-love and appreciation 🥰 <3

oh my god sia i am SO SORRY i am only just now seeing this ask it's been so long i am so so--

Sia!!!

This was so hard to choose wow.

FANVIDS FIRST:

I'm Sorry | Merlin & Arthur from BBC Merlin [tumblr link] [direct yt link]

This took me over 2 months and, so far, it's the best fanvid I've ever made. I'm ridiculously proud of it and I only have a tiny bit of shame in saying so XD. The finished product ended up far better than the original concept I had in my head. I wanted to make a video that focused on how Merlin and Arthur forgave one another; Merlin, since the day he met Arthur, and Arthur when he learned the truth. Because the core of their relationship was unconditional love, to their own strength and detriment. I cried almost each time I worked on it.

2. I Became Greedy | Kurosawa & Adachi from Cherry Magic [tumblr link] [direct yt link]

This took me about .. I want to say a month? I'm also proud of this one. Cherry Magic is a light-hearted BL j-drama that - at its core - is about the importance of reaching out to others, and the bravery of reaching out and accepting someone else's outreached hand. I eventually want to edit a video on the overarching meaning of the show. But I... am a sucker for pining lol and I was so taken in by Kurosawa's pining. It was so poignant, I was literally clutching my chest in sympathy pangs. So, I wanted to edit a vid that emulated that and focused just on that feeling. And I think I??? did!

3. it's not living if it's not with you | Wei Wuxian & Lan Wangji from The Untamed/CQL [direct yt link]

This was the second fanvid I had posted to my youtube channel and I used a lot of editing techniques I had never tried before, so I learned a lot! I wanted to show as many aspects of wangxian's story and relationship in one video as I could without mucking up the pacing or making it messy in general. I love the colour palette and font I chose. Something else I really wanted to achieve was using a light-hearted song with a sad meaning over both sad and happy scenes, because that's a recipe for EMOTION. And judging by the comments I got on this vid, I dare say I succeeded XD I had a lot of fun making this! Even if I got stuck on it for a month and then thankfully could finish it when I was hit with an epiphany. I also cried quite a bit while making it shkgjhdf

Listen. I have. Emotions.

ART:

4. A Favourable Misunderstanding | Merlin & Arthur [link to full comic here]

A meme re-draw turned into a fluffy comic because it took on a life of it's own and Merlin & Arthur are a force to be reckoned with when being idiots in love. I was also super proud of this! Despite the many styles in one comic (which is fine, I was just worried about nothing looking like it matched) I was happy with how I drew them! Especially as I find Merlin's face very difficult to get a grasp of, for some reason. And I was also proud of their characterisations! I still get so happy to see how well-loved it is, and so perhaps it doesn't need its own rec but what the hell. I love it, too hehe.

5. Balls the Unfathomable | a comic about a weirdly wholesome demon summoning [link to full comic here]

My friends and I, while on a call, fell into doing a bit. That lasted a really long time. And during it, I became a summoned demon nicknamed "Balls". No, I'm not joking. It was ridiculous and hilarious.

Thankfully, I remembered most of it and immediately tried to commit it to paper for - what I thought - was going to be a short, half-assed sketch comic. Nope. I ended up with a multi-page comic with clean lines and everything.

Funnily enough, I hadn't actually ever finished a multi-page comic before this. Not one so polished anyway. Balls has that effect on people, I suppose. skjdhjkfdg

So yeah, I was proud of finishing it, and of choosing a cute, simple style and sticking to it (cute, "less realistic" styles don't come easy to me, so I struggled more than you'd think trying to figure out how I was going to draw this skdjhkfg) and of how I structured the panels, especially when I really was just winging it. I do not know how to panel (yet).

Basically; I adore my friends and the fun we have together and I had to share this particular shenanigan and Balls themself. They've become a beloved character amongst my friends and I.

_________

That's it! Long-winded commentary and all.

Thank you again for the self-rec, Sia! 🥺💕💕💕

psst hey, you should go totally check out Sia's blog - she does amazing edits and gifs

[umichenginabroad]

Kayak voyages and el Rio Misterioso...

Week 6

It's come to my attention that more people than I thought read my blog posts, so here's to all of my adoring fans who've been here since the early weeks! If you're new, I gotta say that these are definitely a treat (but of course I'm a bit biased). This post might be shorter than my other ones since it was a pretty relaxed week with not too much going on. However, read till the end! Treat it as waiting for the post-credits at the movies, I might have a hint about where I'm going this weekend...

Pirates of the San Sebastián Bay

I'm going to skip past Monday and Tuesday to just jump right into the rest of the week since those were mainly more days of research. Due to Tecnun having a university holiday on Wednesday, we were able to have that day off! It was super nice out so we decided to seize the day (most of the day after napping for maybe half of it) to embark on a kayak excursion. With the luck from a shilling and 5 euro note I found on the ground, I had high hopes that we would have the blessing of the sea on our side. The rental wasn't that expensive at all, especially for a two-person kayak and roughly 2 hour time slot. We originally planned to set sail for the island itself, but decided that we wanted to aim for an even bigger goal of going around the island. Everything was going smoothly until we reached the mouth of the bay, since this area featured a lot of unexpected rocky patches. As newly appointed seafarers, Jayashree and I wouldn't let this be our end. We successfully entered the choppy waters and were officially now out in open water! At this point, we should've been cast alongside Captain Jack Sparrow because we would make phenomenal pirates. Seeing the back of the island was really neat along with feeling how different it is being the only boat on the water. We ended up having a really good time and 100% would do it again!

Land Ho!

Afterwards we stopped by an icecream stand to reward ourselves on our journey, where I found a rather interesting choice to say the least. It was called a Frigo Pie, or Refrigerator Foot, and it was actually shaped... just like a foot. If I had to rate it overall, I would say a 6/10 for taste and 9/10 for presentation. What better way to cool off on a hot day, right?

It was a bit smaller than expected. I think to improve their product they should make it somewhere around a size 7-8 in US shoe sizes. More bang for your buck you know.

Photo Ops and Friendly Competitions

On Thursday, the night had a lot in store for us. To start, Jayashree, Izzy, Deidra, and I had the amazing idea to recreate some classic JCPenney-esque family photos. I don't really know how else to explain them besides just showing the results, so take a look below at the outcome and I'll do my very best to explain our vision:

We were attempting to create a square with all our hands. We almost got there but it resembles more of a rhombus.

Izzy may or may not have dropped me before taking this picture for the second time.

A big thank you to Diego for being our photographer! Later on, some of us had bought tickets to go to the local club, Bataplán, to get the experience of going out in Spain. To sum it up, we had a great time! We did some rounds of arm wrestling where Jayashree was the reigning champion, and enjoyed listening to all the spanish reggaeton music (there were also some english songs and also a random Can-Can remix).

A quick showcase!

Lately whenever I'm not at work doing research or something with my friends, I've been spending time getting back into drawing. It's always been something that I love to put time into and see how much I've improved over the years. At one point I considered going to school for storyboard animation, but I figured that I like art more as a hobby anyways :). I don't usually do architecture drawings, but I wanted to do a challenge for myself and also sketch it only in pen to up the stakes. Take a look and leave a review in the comments!

This street is from a picture I took when I was just walking around San Sebastián one day.

The Big Finale of the Week: Amusement Park!

On our very first day here, we were taken to Monte Igueldo for a lunch and the best view of the city. We decided to go back on Sunday since there's an amusement park at the top (meant for little kids but I mean we had to check it out). After disembarking from the cable car and reminiscing about the time we've spent here so far, we took a lap around to see what we wanted to do. Almost instantly, we locked eyes with a sign that read: Rio Misterioso. Intrigued, we saw that it was a little boat ride and immediately knew that this should be saved as the best for last. From there, our first stop was the rollercoaster, and boy was it actually more of a thrill than we thought it would be. Not on the same level as Cedar Point, but there were some worthy drops that gave a decent adrenaline rush. We decided to split up briefly, since Izzy and Jayashree wanted to do the bumper cars and Deidra and I wanted to take on the Casa del Terror. I was surprised that Deidra wanted in on this since she's not a fan of all things spooky, but this would be her first haunted house and one at a kid's amusement park is a pretty good starter. For 3 euros, it definitely was an experience. The theme inside wasn't exactly cohesive and varied between movie theatre, jurassic park, the shining, catacombs, and skeletons playing chess. I won't name names but a certain someone was jumpscared by a door, and I almost tripped because I didn't see the stairs. Once we left, we found Jayashree and Izzy living it up in the bumper car arena and then strolled our way with anticipation to el Rio Misterioso. It was a pretty calm and scenic ride with a view of the ocean and city, just shorter than we expected it to be. The route led us into a small underpass where we saw...Peter Pan? Seeing him made me feel magical and whimsical, making for a truly life-changing boat ride. With that, I think the mysterious river really did live up to its name.

The view from the top!

My homies Pennywise and Peter Pan!

As promised, I said that I have a sneak peak into what next week's post will bring. First of all, thanks for staying this long! I really do appreciate when people read my posts and get to see what I'm doing day-to-day :). Now for the hint!

You get 5 blanks: _ _ _ _ _

It's a city in France, there's a show with my name in it and this city, and the Olympics will be taking place here this year. It's probably a dead giveaway, but still fun to guess!

See you soon,

Emily Dobao

IPE San Sebastian, Spain

July 2nd, 2024

[thesinglesjukebox]

ST. VINCENT - "BROKEN MAN"

We like this era a bit better...

[6.00]

Harlan Talib Ockey: In 2014, St. Vincent released a self-titled album, saying “the hardest thing for a musician to do is sound like yourself.” In 2017, she decided that was too hard and pivoted to glossy, scripted “pop-level intention.” (For the record, I still liked it.) In 2021, another pivot to ‘70s cosplay. (Not a fan.) Now, after ten years, she finally returns to something that sounds like an evolution of the St. Vincent concept. “Broken Man” is the primal, slow-burning, ‘90s-industrial brother of “Bring Me Your Loves” and “Birth in Reverse”. The bass is a half-dead cement mixer. The guitars are a cannon blast. The drums are pedestrian enough to have not required a celebrity guest, honestly. With “Broken Man” posing like St. Vincent’s last two albums never happened, you could argue that this is a strange and disappointing step back. And in some ways, it is; the idea that an artist might be disowning their own progress is upsetting, and I would feel a little better knowing there were signs of Masseduction elsewhere on the album. For now, however, I’m choosing to say “neat, I loved St. Vincent (2014), this seems pretty cool.”  [7]

Katherine St. Asaph: An exhibition of sudden swerves: the thrilling swerve when the guitars come in to shatter the skeletal restraint, something you knew was coming but not that sudden or that big; and the slight letdown of a swerve when the song turns out to not be Annie Clark indulging her inner Trent Reznor, but Annie Clark indulging her inner Mac Aladdin. [8]

Alfred Soto: Annie's Clark restlessness is a strength regardless of the consequences. "Who do you think I am?" she asks wearily over skronked-up guitars, as if tired of reminding us. The rest of "Broken Man" uses Clark's impatient jabbing warble as a series of provocations. It could move faster. [7]

Leah Isobel: I don't get it. [5]

Hannah Jocelyn: For the last decade, if I’ve wanted to listen to St. Vincent, I’ve just listened to Torres imbuing Annie Clark’s fuzziness with extravagant theater kid energy (the highest compliment I can give). But Torres’ album this year was a surprising disappointment, so St. Vincent wins this round with a “Dance Yrself Clean”-sized volume jump and a crunchy, restless arrangement. Not to put two genderless guitar gods against each other, of course!   [7]

Jacob Sujin Kuppermann: At this point I'm getting nostalgic for St. Vincent albums I didn't even like – the Goats Head Soup worship of the last record did not inspire joy in me but at least it was an ethos of some kind (and I'll stand by "Down" as some of the finest electric sitar playing by a white person in the 21st century.) This is just rote alt rock fodder, a vague sketch of industrial textures without any hook or distinguishing characteristic other than the loudness of Dave Grohl's fills.   [3]

Nortey Dowuona: The drum breaks from Dave Grohl, Cian Riordan and Mark Gulliana take place in three places; the first drum fill, the second bridge programming, the outro groove. The final one swallows the first threadbare drum programming, largely unable to hold the weight of St. Vincent's thin topline, bulky guitar and thinned-out synthesizers. The melody is novel, floating atop the simple synth riff and becoming foggy and weepy at the bridge. Then the sudden avalanche of sound in the outro groove kicks the song into gear, enlivening a tense arrangement and adding muscle to the thin synth riff that remains looping at the center. The sudden ending leaves you broken in half, staring at the concrete and not knowing whether to crawl or crumple. [5]

Taylor Alatorre: The abrupt transition from abattoir atmospherics to an unchained "Get the Led Out" session brings to mind, of all things, the famously ambiguous ending of Taxi Driver. Did Travis Bickle really achieve a heroic redemption through the full flowering of his violent masculine instincts, or was it all a dying dream; and what lessons is the viewer meant to draw from either one? Whether Clark intended it this way, the heavy-blues riffage is bound to come off as triumphal after so much austere bleakness, and unfortunately it’s a bland sort of triumph that doesn’t feel fully earned, narratively or musically. It might have been a better illustration of the song‘s themes to reverse the sequence of the two main sections, so that the brokenness became more instead of less apparent over time. Would make for less of a concert crowd-pleaser, though. [5]

Isabel Cole: St. Vincent channels both Karen O’s snarling, twisting yowl and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ glitter-grime ambience to craft something tight and tense, fun with an edge of darkness that keeps building as if the song is straining against itself until it explodes. Listening to this feels like watching someone strut down a runway built in a junkyard, rhinestones glinting off her dirty fingernails until she lights a match and sets fire to the stage. [8]

Ian Mathers: I truly don't know whether it's her or me, but I used to hear a new St. Vincent single or album and feel the shock of the new, or at least of a distinctive voice. This is fine, and the guitar playing is certainly still bracing, but it just feels so much less... distinct. I don't want something that sounds like "Cruel" or "Digital Witness" or "Actor Out of Work," but I do want something that makes me feel the way all of those did. [5]

[Read, comment and vote on The Singles Jukebox]

[svioletg]

oh i'm in the middle of listening through every king gizzard album maybe i'll post about that here.

here's the latest standings as of now, listened to sketches a couple days ago

my rankings here are mostly based off how much i enjoyed the listening experience of the album front-to-back, though some are pushed up if a couple tracks in particular are supremely good

thus K.G. is at the bottom; i love Automation, Ontology, Intrasport, but i just don't find myself listening through it all that much.

MotU can probably stand to be a little higher, i listened to IIYMF -> nonagon -> motu in that order in the span of a couple weeks so maybe the lofi production and darker tone was just wearing on me a little at that point, a second listen down the line is perhaps in order. parts 1 and 2 are great, i wasn't really into part 3

petrodragon fucks severely and it will probably always be my favorite. actually, i first listened to it back in july of this year, half-asleep in the passenger seat during a 5-hour car trip, at the time i thought it was good but none of the tracks really stuck out to me besides maybe Witchcraft, Gila Monster

then on a whim i decided to give it a second go last december, and for some reason, it absolutely clicked in for me then. like, instantly, i was so much more into it, i was sitting there like "how did i not fucking immediately vibe with this the first time" it is. Ooughgh

which is interesting since right after that thrash-prog-metal epic, we have Paper Mache, Polygondwanaland, Changes, Sketches all next to eachother up there. i do tend to really like the chiller and/or jazzier gizzard stuff, Change is actually my #1 favorite song of theirs at the moment

this is getting long, to wrap up: yeah, Ice Death probably could be higher? Mycelium is great and Iron Lung slaps but i just don't find myself returning to the others much, idk

we'll see how the journey continues, i have a rough list of which ones i wanna tackle next (usually i'd go chronological for a discography dive, but since KGLW has so many albums and is so varied genre-wise i'm just going where my heart takes me here). Infest The Rats' Nest is coming up soon, i've wanted to tackle that for a while now but i've kinda been saving it, wanted to do some more laid-back albums after MotU

[keefwho]

November 13 - 2023 Monday

10:52pm

When I woke up I decided I was tired of my forming beard so I shaved it off. It felt good and had been around long enough to look weird with it gone. Before I shaved it completely, I gave myself a caterpillar stache which looked funny and also like something I could rock when I get older. In the shower when I was gonna use my close shaver, it wasn't charged so I had to wait for my second shower after my workout to get baby smooth. Breakfast was corned beef hash, an egg, 2 pieces of toast, and half a serving of cereal. It was a big breakfast to account for my workout later. In stream I only did a couple warmup sketches and committed to refining one picture because I didn't feel like being too imaginative this morning. I finished Blink's commission which turned out okay but he had a lot of (valid) fixes to be made so I had to go back to it a few times. Honestly I'm just annoyed at characters with needlessly complicated designs. Especially when they are generically "tribal". Like what are these even supposed to mean? AND I have to draw them all perfectly? After that was finished I worked more on the next YCH. Today's Mia episode dropped some important lore and today's He Man was amazing. It's the season 1 finale which I've never seen and it went hard. After stream I started my workout. 50 lunges, 40 situps, and a 2 mile power-walk/jog. It doesn't seem like much compared to 45 minutes of wood splitting so maybe I'll up the intensity. The problem is the time it takes because I almost never get the workout and cleaning done before lunch like I plan as it is. I meant to clean before lunch today but I only had time to shower. Lunch also made me late because it took a long time to cook. I made my custom stir fry. I felt confident during today's request but it didn't actually turn out as well as I wanted and it took longer than usual. Today's project was to sketch an art trade for someone but I really had to force myself to do it. At one point I took a small break to close my eyes and listen to a stream until I felt more up to the task. Daisy also wanted to JD which was the break I really needed. We were pretty in sync today for a few of the songs and that was cute. After dancing I got back to sketching and did everything I was supposed to do. Afterwards I tried decompressing with a stream but I didn't want to watch to be honest. I didn't know what I wanted though. I probably should have found something else to do. It didn't take long for Daisy to become free and we watched an episode of She Ra while she filled out a therapy questionnaire and job application. Then I played Mother 3 and beat it for her finally. The ending was nothing like how I expected but it was still good. I have lots of things to think about before I determine what I personally think happened to everyone. In bed I played Star Stable and we talked about what we want to do with our lives and how lost we are. I am confident we will both find our way though. The best thing is we'll do it together.

[dropthedemiurge]

Second part is here~ I've only retold half of the movie, oops xD

But we're getting first romantic scenes here~

When Hotae is asleep, Donghee gets up and puts healing balms in his own school uniform and penal. To make sure he'll always have them ready because Hotae keeps getting new wounds (from his 'girlfriends' who break up with him and fight him lol)

[I think there is some important scene but I don't remember it clearly anymore sorry… x)] If I'm not wrong, Hotae came to Donghee's art studio, caressed his clothes and name tag, and saw that sketchbook he didn't let him see before. He scrolled through (very beautiful!!) black and white sketches, and then on the next pages he suddenly saw his own portraits. Hotae's face, his eyes and mouth separately like an artist's studies.

Donghee comes in and Hotae barely manages to close and turn away from the sketchbook. Donghee comments about how the wound on Hotae's face still hasn't healed. He goes to his desk, opens penal and gets the balm out. While he puts it on Hotae's face, the tension is palpable.

Hotae asks him if he likes drawing. Donghee realizes he's seen his sketches. He says he draws everyone. Hotae asks why did he draw him. Donghee pauses, puts a bandaid above his eyebrow and then answers that he always has been drawing people that look like Hotae. He points at one of the busts (Agrippa) and says he looks like Hotae.

Hotae adds he was just curious, and then points at the second busts, telling that this one is Donghee then (bust with more delicate features and sharper nose). Donghee laughs and sends him home, saying he can't study while Hotae there.

Donghee gets a flashback about the first scene. Turns out, he was watching Hotae play football with kids in a funeral suit. "Your dad has passed away, but for some reason my heart was beating so fast".

He tells Hotae that he'll do anything for him (I think it was because his dad is not around to guide and care for him). "- Anything? - Yes. Should I teach you? Just let me know, I'll teach you everything." Hotae brushes it off and reminds that tomorrow is Donghee's birthday. Even if he doesn't read books, he's not a fool to not remember. He invites Donghee to go somewhere tomorrow together.

They go to a beach. Hotae sulks that they could choose something fun but they came here. It's not even fun since it's too cold to swim. Donghee says it's the most fun place for him. He used to come to a beach every birthday with his parents, eating food and taking photos. He tells Hotae to stand and take photos but Hotae refuses.

They want to walk but Donghee gets a phone call. His mom tells him to come home to eat some seaweed soup (birthday tradition). She says the father is not home and Donghee hasn't come home in a very long time. Donghee agrees, and he and Hotae have to part ways. He wants to walk for a bit longer with Hotae, but Hotae sends him home to the waiting mother.

Hotae and his mom prepare birthday dinner at home with cake, wondering if Donghee will return tonight since it's already late. The mom goes outside and notices that Donghee is sitting outside of their walls. He has bruises and his lips is broken and bleeding. She asks gently if it was his father's doing. She helps bringing Donghee home. Meanwhile Hotae is lighting up candles on a birthday cake and starts singing a song, but immediately is silent when he notices Donghee's condition. He's very angry, but his mom scolds him and tells to go treat Donghee's wounds.

Hotae and Donghee sit on a bench outside of the house, under the tree. Hotae spits threats towards Donghee's father. He puts balm on his finger and reaches out to put it on Donghee's lip wound. He feels feelings and is like "Oh, so this is how it feels to rub a balm on someone's face…" Donghee: "How?" Hotae, staring at his face and lips: "I don't know. A little bit… strange." Donghee replies to him that if he knows it now, he should stop getting hit then xD

Hotae goes back to rub the balm in his lip, and Donghee flinches, saying it hurts. Hotae apologies but notices that he's shaking. Suddenly, Donghee is crying and he is freaking out, not knowing what to do. Hotae sits there, Donghee's head against his shoulder while he wails. The mother is looking at them from inside of the house through the window with the sad look on her face.

Next day, Donghee walks away to school without Hotae. Hotae runs after him and complains, Donghee says he follows him fine anyway. Hotae's like "Am I a stalker to follow you?" :D

They go inside the school, Donghee walks to the corner of the corridor, then sees something and suddenly changes direction. Hotae is confused and asks him where he's going. Donghee says, he'll be in the infirmary. Hotae is worried that Donghee is hurt somewhere, but Donghee says Hotae is the one who needs to go to infirmary. Hotae says he's not hurt. Donghee replies cheerfully: "You will be very soon! So I'll go."

He leaves Hotae, Hotae walks further and then finally sees two of his ex-girlfriends are waiting for him. They see him and scream, running after him.

Cue to the infirmary, Hotae is storming in while Donghee is preparing. "- You left me?! - What, you wanted us to die together?" Donghee is treating his wound. The girls are trying to break into infirmary, the door is closed but one of the girls picks the lock xD They act like serial killers in a horror movie. Hotae drags Donghee away to hide. It looks like they are behind the curtain, girls pull it away but there's no one.

They leave, and Hotae with Donghee stay behind the second curtain. They stand very closely, their hearts beating. Donghee tells Hotae to move but Hotae pins him against the window. Donghee is staring at him. "- What are you doing? Are you crazy? - Kim Donghee. Have you ever kissed?" Donghee is taken aback, meanwhile Hotae is very fixated and asking again. He says he wants to try kissing for the first time. "Answer me. - To what. - Have you kissed? - …Yeah."

Hotae is surprised by his answer. "You kissed someone?! When? Who?!" Donghee is glaring at him. "What are you going to do if I tell you?" Hotae is gathering courage and asks Donghee to teach him then. "- How can I teach you that? - You can just kiss me. - Are you crazy? - Why not? Just think of it as a problem solving task. - Solving problems and kissing someone is different. - You told me to ask you anything I didn't know."

Donghee is silent. Then he says "Call me hyung then." The pause is long, and it looks like Hotae won't say it so Donghee wants to scold him not to joke like that, when Hotae finally calls him hyung. "Hyung. Please, teach me how to kiss." (very politely language-wise!!). Romantic music plays, and they slowly lean in together, having their first kiss.

Time of Fever (Donghee/Hotae story recap) #1

Since this movie (Unintentional Love Story's spinoff, prequel about Hotae and Donghee) is currently shown only in cinemas in Korea, I went and watched it :D And for people who don't mind spoilers or want to know what's their story without waiting until it becomes available and translated online, I wrote a recap!

It turned out to be... uhh... quite lengthy so I'll make several posts or comments :] Let me know if you want to be tagged in them!

Disclaimer: I'm putting everything under 'read more' so people won't catch spoilers accidentally! Screenshots are from the trailer, I put them along the scenes I described. Disclaimer #2: I'm not fluent in Korean (especially listening to it by-ear) and some characters had accents/satoori so some details can be missed. But I tried my best to write down what I was definitely sure about :D I'm re-listening to my audio recording so it won't be that far away from truth.

Enjoy!

Hotae is standing outside, dressed in a suit, looking far away as kids shout around. The camera pans out, and it's revealed he's dressed in a funeral-attending suit (seems like his father has died). The kids' ball rolls to his feet, and they ask Hotae to pass them the ball back. Hotae leads the ball and plays the football with kids, starting to smile.

Hotae moves to the big cottage-like house with backyard and peach trees where his mom (and also Donghee) has been living. He is eager to rush into the house, calling out 'Hyung!' but Donghee isn't at home. Hotae is looking at all the old shelves, childhood books and sport trophees. 

He texts Donghee "Hyung, I arrived! When are you coming?". Donghee hasn't responded but he was coming after school, hesitantly walking along the house outer wall. Hotae notices him and sneaks to hide in bushes, jumping over and surprising him. I think they haven't seen each other for 2(?) years. They bicker a little. Then Hotae says: "Hyung, you haven't changed at all". Donghee replied with: "You grew up well, Go Hotae."

Their moms are chatting and suggesting Hotae goes to Donghee's school, while Hotae is taking out books outside and Donghee is studying inside the house. They steal glances at each other through the window.

Donghee and Hotae go through school's gates, Donghee is grabbed by a friend and Hotae is stopped by the guard (because of his improperly looking uniform). Then we're at the swimming pool, Hotae is in the team, getting scolded along with other late students. The head(?) of the team is Donghee's friend who said Hotae better be working hard, if he wasn't Donghee's younger bro (not specified meaning sibling or just junior) they would've kicked his ass. Hotae bites back that he's not Donghee's younger bro.

Donghee came home late, Hotae was waiting for him. He speaks to Donghee very informally and disrespectfully, 'You know what hour it is? Don't you hear me? Hey, Kim Donghee!' Donghee: "Are you out of your mind? Why aren't you calling me hyung?".

Hotae asks Donghee if he got 1st place in competition and says that he has to also earn 1st place then. He asks Donghee to come see him, even if it's just evaluation and not competition. Donghee responds that he'll come see Jisoo (his friend on the swimming team), Hotae is annoyed. "Say it once again! Who you'll come to see?! - Yoo Jisoo. - Again. - Who?>:(( - Aaah damn it, fine. You, I'll come to see you, happy?" Hotae is, indeed, happy and promises to get 1st place.

The swimming competition starts, Hotae starts well but fails. Donghee's standing outside waiting. Jisoo comes to him offering to come get some food, but Donghee declines. Jisoo's like ah, you're waiting for your guy, alright.

Donghee goes to search for Hotae. Hotae is sitting near the wall in his swimming suit, towel on his shoulders and head, he's trembling while crying. Donghee sits in front of him and says: "Wow, you're really ugly :D Get up, let's go grab some food. No? Alright, just cry out as much as you can then. I won't tell anyone."

They walk back home down the train road, lit up by the sunlight. Hotae: "Aah the sun is so bright, my eyes hurt." Donghee: "Isn't it because you cried so hard?" Hotae: "No!>:(" They bicker a little, and Donghee laughs at Hotae's face expression again. Meanwhile, Hotae was emotional but now he's in awe because there is someone watering bushes behind Donghee, and there are droplets of water and bright warm sun, and Donghee looks so beautiful. They walk back home together.

Hotae watches his mother dot on Donghee as he leaves home again. Hotae follows Donghee and discovers he's often staying in the old art workshop schoolroom. There are old drawing easels and canvases, books everywhere and two plaster busts. Hotae wanders around and tries to peek into sketchbooks, Donghee rushes to him and grabs the dark blue sketchbook out of his hands, scolding him not to open it.

(screenshot not from this scene but this is the view of that school art studio~)

Hotae discovers some book lying around and opens up to read it. It's a story about man turning into an insect (I didn't see the cover but I can safely guess it's "The Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka?). Hotae is confused what kind of story is this. Donghee is like "If one day I get turned into an insect, (will you still love me) am I Kim Donghee or am I an insect?". Hotae is still confused about his question and the book.

Hotae falls asleep, napping in the studio while Donghee studies. Donghee walks away without him but slams the door loudly so Hotae wakes up and runs after him. It's raining outside, they are covering their head with hood (H) and backpack (D). In the middle of rain pouring, Hotae stops giving any fucks and spreads his arms, shoving his face under the rain. Donghee looks at him, smiles and does the same. They both enjoy the pouring rain and play in it, until they run to hide in the tunnel.

Hotae laughs, they remember their childhood. Donghee asks why Hotae doesn't call him "hyung". Hotae doesn't answer but comes to him and helps squeeze out the water from his orange fluffy sweater. Romantic mood, cue~

The rain turns into thunderstorm when they are already home. They sleep next to each other on different futons. Donghee's back is turned to Hotae, he's facing the window. He's trembling under the blanket. We get flashback to an angry man (his dad) punching and hitting Donghee to the ground amidst lightning and thunder.

Hotae stirs up and asks whether he's cold or scared. Donghee tells him to just go to sleep, but Hotae refuses. Then he's like 'aah whatever, move!', gets up and lies right next to Donghee (back to him). After a while, Donghee turns and scoots closer, clasping his shirt in his fingers, asking Hotae not to mind it.

Hotae asks: "You weren't like this before, what happened? - Everything changes, so I have changed too." Donghee almost noses into him. Hotae feels the breath from his lips on his back, gets shivers and remembers it next morning as well.

They sit on a porch of the house, Donghee brought Hotae some cut up tomatoes to eat. Hotae whines that it's too hot. He grabs tomato, bites in it and the drop of juice escapes down his arm. Donghee fixates on it and reaches out to wipe it with his fingers. Hotae freaks out about it, gets a bit rude and leaves.

He's swimming in the pool alone, full of thoughts about Donghee that obviously bother him. There's a random girl who meets him after his practice, she confesses to Hotae and asks him out. Hotae: "Well, alright".

They walk together, but Donghee was playing basketball and now is going home. Hotae tells the girl he'll be leaving and runs to Donghee, putting an arm around his back that Donghee says to keep to himself. Girl, frustrated, yells after him. Donghee is confused but Hotae tells him not to mind it and offers to go grab some food.

Days go by, Donghee keeps texting Hotae to help him with something (like 'buy some eggs on the way home', or 'bring me earphones' etc), Hotae ditches his new girlfriend because of "urgent thing", and rushes home with eggs.

Donghee is cooking and is surprised to see his face (there is a small wound). We learn that girlfriend cursed at Hotae and slapped him for not giving her any attention and constantly ditching her. Hotae says it's nothing, he just broke up with his girlfriend. "Why? - Because I bought eggs. - What even is this…" 

Donghee walks home from school, he sees Hotae and goes to him happily but Hotae's with another girl who confesses to him and asks to become her boyfriend, and Hotae once again says "Alright then". Donghee is upset.

He returns home late, and Hotae yells at him because he was worried and Donghee wasn't responding to any texts, yet he was holding a phone in his hand (idk why but he had two in the movie xD). They bicker again about Hotae addressing him impolitely. "- Ya! (Hey) - Ya? Ya?! Hey, are you really not calling me hyung, you–"

Hotae looks at Donghee. "I can't (call you hyung). I won't!"

He walks away from him, but after awhile stops and turns back. "Go faster!" He returns and grabs him by the wrist, dragging him towards the house. Donghee smiles. Even when he tells Hotae to take his hand away, Hotae won't.

[to be continued–]

[dreamrecorder]

The words we keep

Soulmate au - first words tattoed on the wrist

Includes: Venti | Diluc | Kaeya | Albedo | Zhongli | Xiao | Childe

Mentions of suicide in Zhongli; angst and brief violence for Childe

Oh you're here- I mean! I'm sorry I didn't mean to take your spot!

The bard had guessed that he'd meet his soulmate either in Angel's Share, in Windrise, or at the hands of his statue in Mondstadt. But the latter two were more unlikely. But he doesn't mind sharing his space with you really. In fact, Venti would be more than willing to let you in his space. But lo and behold! He didn't think he'd meet you at the hands of his statue!

Nights prior, you always heard a voice singing songs of various emotions. The voice eventually led you to Barbatos's statue. When you looked up, you saw the bard in green. His voice was very calming and pleasant to hear, so you always visited the statue at night. Until recently, your curiosity grew. Why does the bard always stay there at night?

Seeing your relaxed form on his statue, hair swaying in the wind. Venti just went soft. "Quite the lovely view isn't it?" 

He didn't mean to surprise but you still did become surprised. He found it endearing. "Oh you're here- I mean! I'm sorry I didn't mean to take your spot!"

Ah- you scared them. Please don't do that.

Now who did he scare and what did he do to warrant his soulmate's first words to him? Diluc has always been aware that he can be intimidating and usually he doesn't mind that. But for you- he does give half a mind.

There was a new winemaker that Connor had hired and Diluc has yet to meet them. Connor had even commented that their methods were a bit unusual. But if it's enough to get the former's approval, then Diluc will see to this newcomer.

Diluc met you during the night, just at the edges of the Stone Gate that signifies the border between Mondtsadt and Liyue. The man was simply patrolling around the area for any hidden dangers. That's when he saw you, kneeling on the ground with a group of slimes surrounding you. Seeing your plight, Diliuc quickly ran and summoned his greatsword. With a few swipes imbued with pyro, the slimes hastily retreated. He was about to chase them off, but he was more concerned of your safety.

Diluc was about to speak when you cut him off as you stood up, dusting your clothes. "Ah- you scared them. Please don't do that."

Diluc was dumbstruck for a second. He did not expect to meet his soulmate right here right now. Seeing his stupefied look, you raised a brow. "Are… you alright, Sir Diluc?"

"Those slimes were about to attack you." Diluc pointed out. His reply made you chuckle a bit and shake your head to the sides. Did he say anything funny?

"No they were not. I was trying to befriend them so that I could use their slime concentrations for the winery."

Now Diluc was even more confused. Slime? For tbe winery? "Wait- you're the new-"

"Winemaker. And your soulmate if you're not yet aware. Come on, let's go look for those slimes! We can talk on the way about our… professional and not-so professional side of our relationship." And with that, you trailed to the path of the slimes with a smile on your face. As for the wine tycoon, he was still confused- like a lost puppy, but there was this gentle smile that landed on his lips as he followed you.

Yes, I am suffering and in need of a Pyro Vision. Soulmate or not, if you don't have a Pyro Vision- shoo.

The text tattooed on Kaeya's wrist always left him laughing. He just knows, that this was meant to be a comical moment. He can even imagine the moment he meets his soulmate just from these words alone. But of course, he does worry about your well-being. Kaeya had his guesses. Maybe he would meet you in Dragonspine or maybe- you were an unprepared tourist enduring the permafrost of Snezhnaya and he'd meet you there. Well- in the end, he's still amused at your winterish pain.

Sure enough, Kaeya was tasked to scout Dragonspine for any Fatui activity. He could feel it under his skin that he'll meet you any second now. As he traversed through the mountain path, he noticed a group of warming seelies hovering over… someone? And that someone is shivering immensely. The captain grinned.

You heard footsteps approaching but you stayed in your crouched position, determined to preserve your body temperature. The seelies were helping, sure, but they were not enough to counter the coldness your Cryo Vision emanates. Damn it. Just because you're a cryo user doesn't mean you're immune to sheer cold.

The footsteps stopped and you snorted at the words the stranger spoke, "Could this possibly be my soulmate suffering in the cold and in need of a Pyro Vision?"

You huffed, you didn't want to meet your soulmate in this kind of situation. But it happened anyway, much to your dismay. Still crouched, you managed to turn to face the man as seelies continued hovering around.

"Yes, I am suffering and in need of a Pyro Vision. Soulmate or not, if you don't have a Pyro Vision- shoo."

Now actually hearing it from you made Kaeya laugh hard. If he was already amused just from the ink on his wrist before, Kaeya's now even more so deeply amused. You muttered sadist on his way. Deciding he's had enough a good laugh for today, the captain gave you his fur coat and a warming bottle. "Come on, let's get you some place warm, yes?"

You're not the only one! I actually did one for you, too!

When his mind is not occupied by hus studies, it would often drift ink embedded on his wrist. Everytime Albedo does so, he would often wonder what did the two of make for each other that would lead to you eventual meeting.

The Windblume Festival arrived, and of course, so will tourists from other lands. Usually, Albedo would simply pay no heed to the ongoing festivities and their participants. But this time- things were different. You unknowingly caught the alchemist's eye. There was this sudden itch in his hands- and Albedo knew he had to sketch you form. However, before he could even approach you- you left to another direction.

He caught sight of you again the next day. You were reading a book on a bench, with the plaza fountain giving you a beautiful background for Albedo. Discreetly, the alchemist sat on a bench front of yours and began sketching. Unbeknownst by him, you were also entranced by his form and you, too, began sketching.

Albedo was first to finish- and like usual, he would give the sketch to the person he drew of even if they were strangers. As he walked, there was this certain nervousness that found way in his stomach. This never happened before. Why was he nervous?

Once close enough, Albedo cleared his throat and handed you his sketch, "I know this seems suspicious, but I want you to have this. You have a wonderful form."

You'd be lying if you said your heart did not stop a beat at his words. When you saw the paper he was offering you, you gasped at how he caught every detail of you. Bashful, you tore the page you were drawing on from sketchbook and gave it to him.

"You're not the only one! I actually did one for you, too!"

When your words reached his ears, Archons bless you as he gave you a genuine and joyful smile.

Please... don't touch my heart that wants to disappear.

When Zhongli fully embraced his mortal form, he didn't expect the universe to gift him a soulmate. Like a snake, ink slithered into words that gave his heart a certain sadness. Zhongli knew, you were suffering somewhere... Out there...

He saw you first at the highest peak of Guyun Stone Forest. Everything happened so quickly. One second he was watching your distant form from the beaches below then the next he knew- his heart dropped, the same way you willingly fell to the hands of death that waited in the sea. The archon did what he knew is right- and that is saving you.

To Zhongli, immoratlity can both be a blessing and a curse. When your skins touched, he knew you were of immortality. He could sense it. And he could also sense the tiredness that nest in your soul from the burden of immortality.

Once Zhongli landed on safe ground, that's when he spoke. "I won't ask why, however is this truly what you want?"

The way his words reflected the ink written on your wrist made you open your eyes wide. When the realization sank in- that this man is your soulmate, you began crying. You were tired of life- but this man- this man is now your lock away from your want for death. If you stayed with him- another cycle of seeing the people you love come and go.

"Please..." you begged, "don't touch my heart that wants to disappear..."

Your voice was sad and pleading- but Zhongli was a stubborn man, just like his element. He wanted to help you but not by giving your death. He wanted you to see life in a new light, hopefully with him by your side.

Excuse me... Here- for you. Qingxin.

Xiao was always resolute in his resolve that he has no need of a soulmate deemed by the universe. However, there are times that he would let his mind flutter around the concept. Specifically, around the words elegantly written on his wrist and his soulmate. Xiao would question why would you give him qingxin flowers in the first place. Other than that, there was also this underlying worry in his thoughts about you and the qingxin flowers. These flowers... they can only be gathered on high stone peaks. What if you slipped and fall?

This leads Xiao to have days where he just spends his time at the peaks of Jueyun Karst, looking out for any foolish person scale mountains just for qingxin. It's not because he's worried about you no- Xiao just doesn't want anyone die under his protection over Liyue. There has already been too much deat-

"Excuse me..."

At the voice, Xiao's head whipped to your direction with eyes wide in surprise.

"Here- for you. Qingxin."

There was this bored look in your face, but Xiao could see the worry in your eyes. Worry? Were you worried about him? Xiao frowned at the thought but still took the flowers from your outstretched hand.

"Foolish mortal... you could have gotten yourself hurt. Climbing peaks just for qingxin..."

... But still a small smile graced his lips and your heart melted.

"Thank you."

You're the only person I recognize whose eyes resemble the deep blue ocean.

The words tattooed on his wrist always left Childe questioning about his soulmate and what led them saying these words. Somehow- imagining the possible scenarios always makes him melt. This string of words- it never fails him to bring a sense of comfort in his heart. Childe learns of yoir existance during a mission.

The mission was to assasinate a captain of the Knights- you. He observed you for days and took note how you're silent and alone for the most part but kind to the people who approach you- he almost feels bad for having to kill you. The day came when he had to kill you. It was supposed to be a quick kill- but he should know better. You were a captain for a reason, so you fought back. However, in the end, Childe was stronger as he wrap his hands around your fragile neck. Another second, he'd have you dead- until a child's voice cut through- your little brother. The way your eyes watered up at the sight of your only family. Seeing the hurt in your eyes, Childe's thoughts went overdrive- No- nonononono way I'm killing in front of a kid- He simply can't- he was reminded of his little brother, too. With a wavering will to disobey orders, Childe let you go and retreated to the night,

"Don't think this is the last time you'll see me."

Like a shattering glass- the words he uttered made your heart shatter like glass...

Childe saw you again, this time in Liyue. When your gazes meet- there was a shock that passed through with tension suddenly gripping your necks. Childe swore he hid much of his identity physically that night- but he knew you recognized him. He managed to corner you in Yuehai Pavillion by swooping into an empty seat right in front of you. There was a tense moment and an oppresive air. He noticed how your hands were ready to grab your weapon. "How did you recognize me?"

You carefully thought of your words. And when you did reply, Childe have never felt so much despair until today. "You're the only person I recognize whose eyes resemble the deep blue ocean."

Back before he knew you- these words always comforted Childe- but now? Childe felt chills in his spine as despair clouded his mind. Why would the universe decide to have person he was supposed to kill his soulmate.

Similarly, his heart also shattered.

A/N: Look!!! I got meself some banners ksks---- this is all Childe's fault rawr