#but have lived in taiwan since forever

[primmsfairytale]

i want to join the miku as your culture bandwagon but tbh i dont know how to depict "constant existential crisis over what 'my culture' even is" in a visual and mikuable fashion

[pissvortex]

Imperialism under Biden/Harris:

- Started war with Russia over natural gas

- Sponsors genocide in Palestine

- Continued attempts to overthrow social democrats in Latin America

- Continued sabre rattling against China and the DPRK

Imperialism under Trump:

- Continued sabre rattling against China (except Trump seems fine not propping up Taiwan)

- Continued attempts to overthrow social democrats in Latin America

- Assassinated Qasem Soleimani

- Bombed Syria

So, overall, it's two spur of the moment bombings versus two entire wars. Plus Trump negotiated with the DPRK and wants to dismantle NATO. For idiotic reasons, obviously, but he's objectively the anti-imperialist option.

you seem serious so: You have a very juvenile understanding of imperialism that seemingly only includes military action. Even if Trump did dismantle NATO it would not change America’s status as the finance capital / usury state of the world - I see no reason to doubt what he says openly is his intention when he says this move would actually increase American financial domination. That is imperialism, albeit a deviation from the current neoliberal global partnership imperialism because Trump is an American exceptionalist and (perhaps naively) believes in total American domination. He doesn’t really care about traditional conservative/liberal notions of diplomacy or world relations, he just likes watching the numbers go up. Every time there was a dip in the stock market he would just pump it with a trillion more dollars from the federal reserve. He correctly identifies America as the world’s money printer, and since the world has a U.S. currency standard, he has no reason to fear this backfiring. It’s why he’s pursuing this idiotic tariff idea, he knows the rest of the world will take a lot of punishment to continue to be “in” on American finance and he can make his petit bourgeois constituents happy with free money for hare-brained small business. He leaves the actual big finance and megacorporations alone and lets small businesses live in this fantasy realm of free government funding forever. It’s like a fake economy for complacency layered under the real one. This is not anti-imperialist, it’s petit-bourgeois populism and it isn’t better by any means.

[absolutebl]

10 BLs That Shook Me

@trribledelight asked for "BLs that made you think or learn smthg or shook you culturally? Eg the political considerations in Not Me..."

Let's get the rough ones out of the way first, shall we?

1 2gether

Green. One of the most egregious reps for punching down humor against femmes in BL (and there sure are a lot out there). Seriously GMMTV? Must you?

At the time we all watched this because there wasn't anything else to watch, and it's been a long time since I bothered with a rewatch, but Green is one of the reasons I just can't with this series.

I'm not knocking the actor, but the character and how the other characters behave around him, and the director with regard to this aspect of the plot and portrayal was rough going.

What shook me was how casually homophobic 2g was. It was just so odd to watch a gay romance gloss over and degrade queerness. I was like, wait, aren't they supposed to me on our side?

(Ah, the before times.)

2 Fish Upon the Sky

Shall we address the head wrap in the room? This BL has some of the most shockingly racist content I've seen in a long time. Also punching down humor. I fast forwarded through it and I still don't want to think about it. GMMTV should be throughly ashamed of themselves... Again. I was shook, but in a bad way.

Okay, now for the ones that shook me in a good way.

3 Until We Meet Again

I watched this early in my Thai BL journey (while it was airing) and I had no idea what to expect. Frankly, you could watch it now and still not know. It's just very unusual for a Thai BL.

The plot twist about how they each ended up reborn. Just so brilliant. I still can't get over it. So simple. SO CLEVER. So punishing for the families.

Fantastic!

4 Secret Crush On You

This one kinda shook me all along but that Daisy & Touch scene. It lives on in my head rent free forever. Just because it was so beautifully sweet and genuine and kindly towards a femme character.

I still don't like this BL.

But I love that scene in it.

5 My Beautiful Man

I went on a JOURNEY with this show. Mostly because I didn't think Japan had it in them to land something this complex. But they managed it beautifully by not shying away from the delicious messy ugliness of it all.

Possibly the greatest final episode in all BL.

And from Japan. Usually so bad at endings.

I remain gobsmacked.

6 Unknown

I shouldn't have been shooketh by this one but I really was.

The style of it while staying so down home and gritty.

How old school Chinese BL it felt yet it still managed to be very modern BL about it.

The execution and quality of the acting.

How it was aired (available in YouTube?! we NEVER get that from Taiwan!)

Also the pair branding. We haven't gotten this level of pair brand from the leads in a Taiwanese BL since SamYu.

I'm was absolutely riveted by everything about this show and its production.

I loved seeing it. I hope we get more BLs like this from Taiwan as a result.

But I ALSO hope they realize that a big factor in the popularity and the success of this show was in distribution.

It's what's for dinner.

Along with the stepbrother trope.

KOREA'S SUPRISES

I watch a lot of Kdramas as well as BL, and have done for a really long time. I'm riveted by Hallyu, from an entertainment industry perspective (what I wouldn't do to get my hands on some of their proprietary data). I also listen to a ton of Kpop.

Therefore, Korea dominates the P'ABL gets shooketh list because I had (and have) more expectations firmly in place around Korea's media product sfyle than anyone elses. Even before they started to make a big play into the BL scene.

My favorite BLs from Korea, like Semantic Error and Light on Me are EXACTLY what I expect from them, manufactured perfection. But I was also shook more times by Korea than other BL nations because I had such rigid expectations.

7 Color Rush

Yeah yeah. But it starred an idol. It started out pretty and stiff and everything I was expecting and then the concept hit me up side the head and I never recovered from the CLEVER of this show. I'm not used to my Kdramas or my BL being this high concept and SMART about their sanitized perfection.

8 Blueming

What with the 8th Sense and others since, Blueming seems to have been somewhat forgotten about. But at the time, I was shook by the down home grit of this show. By the actual pain from the characters. By the higher heat concept. By Korea actually going THERE.

And then these babies came along...

9 The 8th Sense

I just didn't think Korea had it in them. Yes, I realize now that it was a bit navel gazey, and we were weighted heavily towards the seme and his pain. I would have liked a better balance between the leads, but that's in retrospect.

At the time I couldn't believe it. A KBL dealing with mental health?

And can we talk about those sex scenes? How insanely comfortable the actors were with each other? How easy in each other's personal space? I've not seen anything else quite like that from Korea. It's super rare. I had assumed they, culturally, just didn't do casual intimacy, or if they did, it wasn't allowed on screen.

Of course now I know the CAN do it, I want more.

10 Love for Love's Sake

Okay, lots to unpack with this one. A genuine isakai BL, in the original sense of the term. The death twist didn't shake me up, but the execution, acting, open gayness, and a couple other things did. Enough to make me still think on this show with fond surprise and affection, despite its undercurrent of darkness.

I like to be shooketh.

(source)

[putschki1969]

Hi Puts!

I just wanted to gush my thoughts to you about Keiko's recent performances! I was really surprised by the recent Magia live as Keiko hadn't been this dramatic since her Kalafina days. Then I saw some footage of the YK Shanghai concert on VK and... she's actually just like how she used to! With all the energy, the dramatic and cheesy hand movements - everything!

Ever since she started her solo career, it seemed to me like Keiko never wanted to perform like she used to. Even her FictionJunction performances were boring stage-presence wise. It seems like recently she's finally felt like getting back into how she used to perform and honestly it made me really emotional. Watching Keiko having so much fun when performing with FictionJunction in Shanghai, she was really stealing the stage at it just felt like I was watching Kalafina again! A small part deep inside of me thought she somewhat resented Kalafina, but these latest performances has made me remember that she really just loves Yuki Kajiura's music probably more than anyone and I love that about her.

This isn't really an ask, I just wanted to gush!!!

Hi there!

Another reply that's long overdue, I am so sorry!

Absolutely, Keiko's love for YK's music is certainly unparalleled. I'm sure she likes her solo stuff well enough but it's nothing compared to what she feels about YK's work. From what we know, Keiko very much appreciates contributing to something meaningful, having a purpose and knowing her place in the grand scale of things. Being part of the YK family achieves all of that. Her solo work on the other hand is not as structured or target-oriented so Keiko probably just views it as a bit of casual fun on the side.

As for Keiko's stage-presence in the past few years, I personally do not feel like Keiko's performances have ever been truly lacking in that particular department. Maybe some of her solo gigs are a bit stilted and awkward (which is to be expected I guess) but when it comes to FictionJunction performances, I still vividly remember being blown away by her enthusiasm at the YK Live in Taiwan back in 2019. And let's not even mention the most recent Budokan live XD That was on a whole new level of epicness.

I would say Keiko is the type of person who heavily feeds off of her fellow stage members. If she is alone on stage, there's no one to take cues from. However, if she performs with someone she feels comfortable with and who exudes passion, she will naturally let loose too. Another thing to consider is the fact that all the FJ performances we got to see in the past few years were official recordings for home video releases or online broadcasts. These tend to be a bit more toned down in general so Keiko will often fall back on a sort of "business-mode" for those.

Anyways, I am glad you are enjoying Keiko's performances. There's a lot to gush about indeed.

PS: I have really been enjoying your YouTube uploads as of late. The "LIVE Evolution" videos are so much fun to watch and truly fascinating. It must have taken forever to put all the footage together so thank you for that!

[feuqueerfire]

Unknown Live Blogging

I loveeeeee a younger pursuer character, especially when they've known each other for a while and the older is just like I love you kid (platonic/familial) while the younger is losing their mind with their crush/love/lust. Also, the fact that the novel it's adapted from is literally called Da Ge 大哥 ah, I've gotten more into adoptive or step-brothers trope since I got into live-action BL but I've only just watched Addicted/Stay With Me and Kiseki: Dear to Me 2nd couple, so it's exciting to add another one to the list.

This is also a novel from China that's being adapted in Taiwan so that they don't have to censor it, right? There are several other BLs currently in the works like this.

Anyway, seems like people really like this show (not counting the sex scene in ep 11 or something because I heard so much complaining about that lol), so my hopes are high.

Ep 1 (June 13)

ahhh crazy start/glimpse into future

starts when they're young but have been living together a while already

ahhhh trying to take care of things/the family/his ge by paying the bills using his gift money + some part time job maybe. isn't quite a grownup yet but he wants to be so bad

2007 - when they first met

oh fuck the child being hit with the metal pipe was scary and unexpected

oh man, Qian getting embroiled with gangs and doing their dirty work for money

oof, gonna have to win 3 boxing matches to leave the gang

Ep 2 (June 13)

the teacher saying an older brother is like a father

not them ganging up on Xiao Bao!

dang, Qian's mother hated him because he did well, that's wild

Qian is so attractive like woah

we've reached current year - 2016

Ep 3 (June 13)

Yuan to the rescue

Bao and Yuan's dynamic is so cuteee

damn, Qian mad as hell at Xiao Bao's outfit and it has a bit of the "proprietary" thing that so many father-daughter older brother-younger sister dynamics have (in media at least) but also most importantly it reminds him of their mother who they are both very traumatized by

I'm so nervous, I hope nothing bad happens to Xiao Bao (esp because we know this world has like gangsters and stuff)

Is this guy part of the gangsters? Does he know who Xiao Bao is?

Yuan recognizes the gangster oh no

Sam Lin as doctor, though I must say I would not recognize him if I wasn't already aware of this

sharing a bed

studying abroad mentioned

I don't wanna read thoughts of r/boyslove or look for gifsets on tumblr, I just wanna get to the next episode.

It feels like since they both scold/get upset at Xiao Bao in an attempt to protect her, she's not gonna retain any of the reasons they're worried about her but rather maybe rebel and end up in troublesome situations. please no rape storyline though plsplspls

Ep 4 (June 14)

Yuan's 18th birthday? adult Yuan alright

pls Qian thinking that Xiao Bao's saying Yuan watches porn

it's romantic stuff but is it yaoi/BL? because the one Sweet Summer or whatever novel seemed to be two guys on the cover?

Qian kinda reminds me of Na Jaemin (my NCT bias when I was into them) from some angles

I will forever love helping something with feet, whether it be shoelace tying, giving a massage/a foot bath, or now taking care of an ankle/foot injury. it's not even a foot kink, it's just... idek like lowering oneself... in aid of the other... taking care of them...

Yuan definitely doesn't wanna hear about them seperating and liking other people

this kiss must be in Yuan's imagination

so I guess Qian doesn't suspect Yuan's feelings toward him at all + also doesn't return the feelings (yet + he might be unconsciously feeling something but it's not as intense as Yuan's feelings). However, I'm unclear on whether he thinks Yuan likes boys? Like he saw Yuan's romance novel with 2 boys + asking about the high school class monitor...

Ep 5 (June 14)

I knew this was a daydream because of the dreamy filter + I kinda remember some post on reddit about Yuan's daydream but if I was watching this in real time, I would've lost my shit

oh oh my god okay. "Ge, do you already know that I like guys?" extremely forward and sudden, I wasn't expecting it

ahhh, I can't watch this, it's so T.T. like ik it's very Uncle Jim to Liming, looking out for their young(er) nephew/brother because being gay openly isn't easy but like T.T still

What year is this? 2016 right? while gay marriage became legal in Taiwan in 2019

I love a "it's my business who i like, not yours" or whatever

ah, Qian's nice to Yuan again, he likes gives him a little lecture but isn't like actually homophobic

Xiao Bao turns 18 too

damn, what's up with Qian? head hurts?

pls the colleague (is that San Pang? yeah right?) running into Qian's room to see him and Yuan in bed sleeping and cuddling and being like... hm

pls Qian himself being like "it's not what it looks like" before the other guy even says what it looks like

QIAN WHY ARE YOU TELLING HIM THAT YUAN LIKES GUYS?!

omg San Pang now coming over to talk to Yuan

pls I know why he's asking but the way he's talking about where Xiao Bao sleeps and where he sleeps like hey ! stop

that's her literal brother and they have no parents, I think it's fine if Xiao Bao climbs into her Dage's bed to sleep occasionally lmfao

oh I guess he was talking about Xiao Bao sleeping in Yuan's bed. whelp he'd have a point in that case I guess becuase Yuan def can like these siblings lol he just happens to not like the sister

pls Xiao Bao wants San Pang to ask about her, so whenever he talks about Yuan and Qian the way her eyes roll so hard that her whole head rotates, so funny

not the office fujos Noticing and Observing lol

ahh, Yuan's inner turmoil seeing his "future sister-in-law"

ah, San Pang straight up asking if the one Yuan likes is Qian

I just wanna know when the confession is gonna happen, is it gonna be next ep? because Yuan also has to go abroad (though I don't think that time skip takes too much airtime from what I've read). I want some stuff to happen after confession + after getting together too.

Ep 6 (June 14)

I wonder what role San Pang will play like will he help them figure it out or hinder all the way through? they're kinda hinting him with Lili, so he can't possibly be a "bad guy." I get him dissuading them now or giving them reasons why they shouldn't but once they do, I assume he'll be okay with it at least

"Don't tell me that guy also has some?" oh Qian

Qian feeling pity for Yuan and being like why do you have to like him... oh Qian, oh Yuan

aklsdfjalksdf ahhh Yuan about to me a drunken mess at this important work function plssss I'm nervous. but also... does the confession happen when Yuan's drunk? Is it gonna happen this ep?

Feng Ning is so cool I love her. if Yuan does anything that upsets her I'll get mad at him im negl

oh omg I have an image in my mind of when Yuan confesses maybe and it was not in this outfit and they were also maybe sitting, so the i like you and attempted kiss was like oh!

It also stressed me out that they're still at work

woahhh it hurts so good the way Qian not only punched Yuan but also didn't stop to care for his wounded hand

ahhh Qian avoiding Yuan and the home entirely

studying abroad plan on

Aw, Xiao Bao who is like ? wtf is going on, why are my brothers fighting and also Yuan literally going to NY

is that Yuan sitting on the floor with his paper on his face and crying? yes, same sweater stripes

The angst is done well. The situation must happen (I was anticipating the fallout from the confession so much!), it's not overdramatized (Qian reacts badly but then just avoids Yuan for the rest and Yuan tries to apologize a bunch but doesn't force anything when Qian ignores him), the acting-writing-directing are all good. I'm also liking the consequence of him moving away to a different country (for a few years?) because he's known Qian all his life and practically only talks to Qian, Lili, and sometimes people like San Pang or a classmate but he'll broaden his horizons now and it'll be less "he loves Qian because he only knows him"

Ep 7 (June 14)

damn, Qian's apparently been so apathetic that San Pang's like maybe I shouldn't made Yuan stay so that at least you wouldn't be like this

Qian's alcohol problem + his chronic headache bruh

San Pang straight up asking if Qian has feelings for Yuan too and Qian does not deny it

also it's been 2 years right? since it's 2018 now and 2017-2018 were blank for Yuan's height

Qian is truly so attractive. his face but also his mannerisms and expressions and gestures. woah. and of course my forever weakness: nice smile and there's a dimple too

2017 - 2023?! omg 6 years? that's a lot, I was expected 2-3 fr

Qian continues reading Yuan's texts but not replying to them. then impulsively calling Yuan and immediately hanging up again

first reciprocal contact in 6 years, if I was Yuan that call would've made me lose my whole entire mind fr

Bro, it's actally Qian who's losing his mind because he's sitting on Yuan's bed in Yuan's room and texting Yuan to come home if he misses it

Xiao Bao has truly become grown up model Lili

San Pang is at the office gathering, so who did she see at the door? would Yuan already be at home lmfao

ah, indeed Yuan's here lol

Yuan and Lili antics begin again, how fun

From a few Tumblr posts, I thought Lil iand San Pang's relationship was gonna get exposed? next ep i guess.

also saw some gifs that Yuan's gonna be petty toward Qian next ep and I'm so excited, how did people wait weekly for this? I can barely wait for tomorrow.

Ep 8 (June 15)

starting this around 7:30pm because I had to watch Wandee Goodday episode today. Hope I like this episode than I liked Wandee's

ah, Yuan's so bold now "Have you seen enough?"

The fact that Yuan made eye contact with Qian before handing the drink over to Xiong-ge. Qian expectantly holding out his hand but having to retreat and check afterwards that nobody else saw lmfao

It's killing me that Yuan keeps looking at the other two ges during the conversation while Qian keeps glancing at Yuan and can't keep his eyes off of him even when he tries

Yuan even thanking San Pang for making him go to the states...

the hickeys?!

Qian's incredulous look at 8:00 is really so Na Jaemin, why does he remind me so much of him

I would say Qian's slow for not catching on that they're together somehow but ig San Pang and Lili are LDR since she doesn't even live here anymore? and so Qian's not aware of it? but it's also funny to think his brain was barely working while Yuan wasn't here but managed to deduce it by glimpsing the hickeys as soon as Yuan came and Qian's brain started working again lmao

damn, Lili's literally shaking her head no, how dare San Pang make the executive decision to confess to Qian?

NOT THE BUTCHER KNIFE LMFAO

Yuan literally sitting back and eating fruits on the couch as he observes is so funny

and his smiles lmfaooo

and only inserting himself when Xiong-ge brings up Qian dating somebody else lmfao he's a menace

Yuan calling Qian as Wei Qian instead of ge is so .

Qian's mad because the two of them are dating and there's an age difference and San Pang's known Lili since she was a child and he figured it out through hickeys and he's the last to know and all those reasons but also... he's probably also mad that why isn't he with Yuan then? If those two can do it, why not him too?

Yuan knowssssss he's getting to Qian

I've seen a glimpse of a gif of Yuan feeding Qian ahh

and now that Yuan's indeed giving him his full attention at the table, Qian can't look at him

Qian's losing his mind and I along with him

Yuan's so bold now, it makes me nervous like chilllllll, move back like the way he kept walking toward Qian and nearly kissed him alksdfjla;ksfj

Yuan is suchhh a menace, the way he starting speaking loud and clear when he heard Qian at the door

my mom dragged me away right then but I'm back

plss he's talking about how he also likes somebody and both Xiao Bao and Ge know that person. lmfao. menace.

Xiao Bao reading from a script lmfaooo

Yuan truly is such a menace, sliding the family vacation into Lili's script pls

cryingggg Xiao Bao ditched the family trip to go to Milan

Yuan kept poking until Qian finally says to not keep feelings for him anymore, only to hit him back with "what makes you think i still like you?"

Yuan saying Wei Qian really does me in. "Wei Qian, don't you like Wei Zhiyuan?" was woah

agh, A'Le and gangsters next ep. hmph

I've been curious to see which other age gap older male/younger female ships I like because they usually give me major ick but I'm such a fan of age gap ships in m/m-f/f-noona romances. I think History 3: Trapped side side ship with the sister and bulter man is the only one I can think of and they barely existed lol. So I want to like San Pang and Lili, especially when she said she's the one who pursued him (I'm into that trope a lot too; like Yuan's also the younger one pursing the older one) but I wish San Pang wasn't a hypocrite/homophobe because if he's into Lili and has no problems getting with her but so disapproved and dissuaded Yuan, like the reason is homophobia yes? I wanted him to come to The Realization that Yuan liking Qian is... fine-ish when he developed feelings for Lili, not have him separate the two situations.

Ep 9 (June 15)

so many things to do but I'm watching this instead, goddammit. but been a little while since i've been so eager to binge and watch next ep (Kiseki and Triage last month I think)

Also, I saw a post that had a clip from the trailer that hasn't happened yet or something and I didn't watch it but there was text about how Qian looks Yuan in the eye when he confesses... omg now I'm so excited to see when that happens. I hadn't been thinking about how they'd actually come together but a confession must happen and I'd be very happy if Qian's the one who does it this time, even more so if he's very tortured about it

oh, abroad was 4 years ago? not 6

I like Yuan's whole spiel about I can't stop liking you but this is enough

Yuan calling Qian out on his bullshit, he can't kick Yuan out again

Qian can tell when Yuan's lying/hiding something

hmm they're calling Qian the snitch and the cops came back then... I feel like Qian didn't do it since he himself was involved

when's that napkin with the poem from?

what is the plan exactly? Lin's telling Yuan to remember that Qian cares about him...

damn, Yuan left for a trip with very short notice?

"You're acting like a wife trying to catch her cheating husband" read the room, San Pang. you can't tell this to Qian who is trying to not be in love with his didi

Dr. Lin so funny. also did We Best Love have eating raw noodles? I feel like it did...

Wei Zhiyuan means "belongs to Wei"

no but what was Yuan plan actually because mans just went to their lair, asked for Le-ge and now is just getting beat up lmfao

scary, Le-ge's got bullets

please why are we doing Russian Roulette rn T.T

Can't have a bullet in there if he's doing it on himself, right? I didn't see how many bullets he put in there. or is he just fucked up in the head enough to do it anyway lol

Qian hugging Yuan in desperation

omg that napkin was literally what Yuan wrote as he thought they were his last words stuck on a mountain during his study abroad. and Qian was avoiding speaking to him during that time godddd, what a tragedy it would have been

and it's a good time to reveal that since they just did the russian roulette for e/o

I don't wanna read ppls thoughts or look at gifsets, I wanna just watch the next episode omg but I won't look at anything after ep 10 until I finish the whole thing since ep 11-12 spoilers will also be there, so I should look at stuff now.

Ep 10 (June 16)

Qian remembering everything Yuan's said and done

nose bleed...

parallels w the hair drying and cuddling to sleep, it'd be funny if san pang woke them up again

does Qian think he'll die

lmaoooooo San Pangcame but unfortunaly Qian was aklready downstairs

i knew bout this blood clot

not the i wish i could tie you up with a rope

Idk how Qian thinks he could possibly hide this from Yuan lol I'm surprised he hadn't just listened in or bothered Lin about the info

the three of them just exchanging eye contact and the focus from San Pang -> Qian with a zoom! sound effect was very funny

Yuan is so funny to San Pang lmfao he keeps being like San Pang ge thank you <3 to the point of uncomfortableness

welp indeed Yuan figured it out on his own

ah, Yuan's mad that Qian hid it from him and keeps saying he'll deal with it on its own

Qian made all of Yuan's favourites to try to win him over askdf but Yuan's still mad

Yuan taking a brief break from ignoring Qian's existence to take away greasy food/beer and give him and San Pang salad instead

San Pang once again telling Qian to consider Yuan and getting with him seriously

Did he not that he wants Yuan to have a future without him?

I think I got a little lost about what exactly led to Yuan storming out but ahhh that convo, fuck. Qian's turmoil and inner conflict and Yuan being like it's mind to deal with, not yours but Qian not being able to let Yuan go.

Ep 11 (June 16/17)

I wanna binge these last 3 eps but it's Eid so I'm busy and gotta watch the rest later. I'm really excited for this ep since it's gonna have the confession and also the sex scene but I know it made everybody fucking mad because of the editing (they had flashbacks to them as kids?) + position top/bottom implications/confusions lmfaoo

The first time Qian took initiative to grab Yuan omg

wait, we're already going into the house okay

I need a pillow or stuffed animal to dig my nails into rn omg i keep grabbing air

what was the more correct translation of "I've been waiting all my life. This isn't fast at all." that made me lose my mind when I saw it and I hadn't even been watching the show back then

"You don't even know what I dream about you at night" hah. hahahah. haha. ok

hello why are we having flashbacks to a conversation from 5 minutes in between the sex scene instead of just... being linear??? I didn't know this happened bc it got drowned out w the other complaints ig lmao

yeah, interspliced scenes we haven't seen before + flashbacks of scenes we've seen during a sex scene are already annoying but then WHY ARE THERE CHILDHOOD FLASHBACKS. this is not the time to have kids on my damn screen wtf

also I just kinda took top Yuan from that, is it top Qian in the novel or something because I feel like people mentioned that it seemed one way but it wasn't supposed to be that way? or is it because the scene where Yuan had his bare legs splayed that gave the illusion of bottom Yuan and people didn't like that? I'm so curious

domestic morning kissing, they've really come all the way here

Lili's home?!

a fight? girl lmao ig Lili's the normal sibling who's not guessing that her other siblings are fucking, biologically related or not

what is this Le/Lin scene lmao

fancy dinner date at the same gangster restaurant as always lol but apparently Qian's reserved the whole place and made it romantic

Enough angles for one kiss!

restaurant owner gang uncle just witnessing all this lmfao I think it'd be hilarious if he gossips with Le-ge about Qian and his brother kissing

fuck, this nerve and surgery stuff is so scary fr

Okay, finished the last 10 minutes while having lunch the next day because I had to leave yesterday. Good to see both Yuan and Lili care about Qian and want to take care of him and such. Qian took up smoking again in all this stress. I still don't fully get all the mom stuff beyond she thoroughly abused him.

The sex scene was like... what??? and I'm glad I was already aware of its issues because I would've gone beserk if I was watching this weekly for 10 weeks and got that in return wtf. The whole show relies on their emotions and inner conflicts but it felt like neither aspect was truly explored in the scene and made worsened with the horrific editing.

Also I can't fucking reblog but this is maybe the post I was talking about with the translation during the sex scene. Yuan's line implies he's masturbated thinking about Qian which is like the most unsurprising thing ever.

Ep 12 (June 17)

Final episode, hope it at least ends well

Lili figures it out. she's kinda upset that she's the last one to know about it, her lines remind me of when Qian found out about her and San Pang haha

but what does she wanna say, why am I nervous that she's pregnant

lol Qian liking that Yuan's trying to help him out at work

I'm suddenly embarrassed, I really can't do office romances

Xiong-ge showing support in his awkward ways is nice

hehhehe Yuan coming to pick Qian up from work dressed up so nice and Qian kissing him outside after checking nobody's around

I got stressed out by Yuan kissing Qian at work omg in broad daylight with people around

yeah the office fujo will certainly keep this a secret lol as if a bunch of them weren't already gossiping like 4 years ago or whatever

I can't handle office romances guys my body shrivels up and my toes and fingers curl, I'm so embarrassed. can the employees stop squealing about it in public. I'm so stressed out by office gossip even if it's like shippy/supportive. also the excited fujo character can sometimes work for me in high school/college shows because it's like young characters but this in an office is like. no. their family and friends can know but i don't need to see their coworkers finding out unless it's meant to be a point of conflict

how can you be discussing top-bottom dynamics of your boss with your colleagues!! and asking your other boss about it !!!! let's get serious I hate this, I should skip through

HOW CAN YOU ASK THIS TO YOUR FUCKING BOSS?!?!?!?!? HOW CAN THIS BE A POSSIBLE THING?!?!?! this show is generally so grounded, even in it's more out-there aspects, that this is like... what world are we in? so inappropriate and also like probably homophobic because you would not be asking this if Qian was dating a woman

are they insinuating Qian's the top/tiger? That does not go with what I want form this trope so I'm ignoring it lmfao I can do verse because I can almost always ship verse but with the younger-guy-deeply-in-love-with-and-madly-pursues-older-guy-who-is-resistant-and-conflicted trope, I like a younger top

but i think people were also annoyed about this suggestion of top Qian lmfao, I think I remember reading comments about it

ah, Lili is indeed pregnant

aw, hug before the questioning but it's like genuine, not from anger. Especially important for them because their mother was terrible and they don't want a child to go through that again obvs

pls San Pang's also here loll I think it's good the ways they were all in different rooms

the panic when Xiao Bao knelt and the 3 of them also scrambling to kneel, especially when Qian also knelt

aw, Qian really was their da-ge, father, and mother all in one

Qian's afraid Lili will follow in their mother's footsteps (pregnant then married young) and be unhappy

why is this so good T.T

I can't believe the messy sex scene from last ep and the utter bullshit that was the office scene in this ep made me forget for a bit how good this show can be

Damn, they're really saving the surgery thing for the very last few minutes. anyway ik he doesn't die because everything would've gone up in flames if that happened

omg how much timeskip, there's a whole baby now

The office discussion actually made me so uncomfortable, it was so inappropriate and unnecessary, why didn't we take that time to... just show at least a bit of the surgery and aftermath or whatever? Like that was such a huge thing in the past 2-3 eps but it just... disappears and we assume it was successful bc of the ending

Overall:

I'm so glad I got over my pseudo-incest brother-lover aversion because I can now watch this stuff in delight. Though I must say, my favourite aspect of this show is the little family trio with Qian, Yuan, and Lili, with San Pang occasionally invited as well. I loved how they cared for each other and how though Lili was left out of the romantic duo inside their trio, it didn't feel like she was forgotten or sidelined. They each had specific relationships with each of the other people, their interactions had their own flavours and it was so good.

The romance itself hm I think the development was nice, especially from Yuan's side since we saw how he thought of Qian and how he supported him and such. We also saw a bit of how Qian was so lost when Yuan was gone that even San Pang was wondering whether Qian liked Yuan and it would've been better if they hadn't sent him away. It just feels like since there was so much angst and build-up for like 10 episodes, their actual coming together should have been grander. The sex feels a bit sudden, I don't think it should've happened right after that conversation because Qian was barely ready to admit whether he saw Yuan as more romantically than just a brother, and then the editing of it all was terrible.

The surgery stuff also kinda dwindled, if they'd brought it up, I wished they would've at least shown the direct aftermath or whatever. I despised how we had the office Yuan/Qian gossip for so long in episode 12, we could've used it for better things. At least we ended with the Lili pregnancy announcement and coming together over that, which reminded me just at the end why I liked the show.

Some other things I really loved: 1) Qian's face, holy shit. Qian is so beautiful, like incredibly attractive to me, woah. Reminds me of Na Jaemin who I was also taken by when I stanned NCT; is it the lower half of their faces/their mouths? 2) The 2 scenes where Qian finds out Lili and San Pang are dating in ep 8 + finds out Lili's pregnant in ep 12 and just going to kill San Pang lol (also loved how Yuan was enjoying it in ep 8 but was helping San Pang and Lili out in ep 12 lol). 3) The episodes, especially the earlier-middle ones, were so addictive, I didn't end up reading the on-air reddit threads because I was too into watching the next ep instead of reading about it.

In the end, I don't think I'll think about it often, especially not the Yuan/Qian ship unless just to remember the brother-lover trope and even then, Kiseki's Chen Yi/Ai Di gave me more intense brainworms for a similar trope I think. I'm disappointed that I didn't love the show, its flaws are at moments that are too important. So deeply conflicted about whether to give 6 or 6.5, I'll go with 6.5 for now.

Rating: 6.5/10

[gunsatthaphan]

~ Monthly BL Breakdown: February 2023 ~  

🧚🏻‍♂️ Happy March!!! 💐

Disclaimer: ALL shows can be streamed here or here, as well as on Youtube and other platforms. For more info on where to watch what, check out this post!

New breakdowns are coming at the end of every month - feel free to add stuff! (previous breakdowns)

What came out this month? (green tick = seen or currently watching)

🌟 Our Winter - February 3rd (Thailand/South Korea) ✅

🌟 Because of You a Thousand Times - February 4th (Vietnam) 

🌟 Moonlight Chicken - February 8th (Thailand) ✅

🌟 The Promise - February 8th (Thailand)

🌟 My Beautiful Man Season 2 - February 8th (Japan)

🌟 Marry My Dead Body - February 10th (Taiwan)

🌟 Oh My God! (movie) - February 10th (Vietnam) 

🌟 Cafe in Love - February 11th (Thailand) 

🌟 Bus Stop - February 11th (Myanmar)

🌟 Moments of Love (movie) - February 14th (Thailand, theaters) 

🌟 Destiny Seeker - February 14th (Thailand) 

🌟 Ghos Two Kita - February 14th (Philippines) 

🌟 Pure Vanilla - February 14th (Singapore) 

🌟 Boyband - February 16th (Thailand)

🌟 Jack Frost - February 17th (Japan)

🌟 Bed Friend - February 18th (Thailand)  ✅

🌟 Chains of Heart - February 18th (Thailand)

🌟 Justice in the Dark - February 18th (China, censored) 

🌟 Tin Tem Jai - February 27th (Thailand) 

🌟 Teach Me How - February 27th (Philippines) 

🌟 Blue Sky Complex - February 27th (Japan)

Monthly likes/dislikes

❣️ Moonlight Chicken - one of my most anticipated shows over the past year and admittedly the first 2 episodes had me a bit unsure about the pacing and the characters as it was so divergent, which changed rapidly with episode 3 though and by episode 4 I was hooked lol. The storytelling approach is unconventional and so many nuances about the characters and their lives feel so real that it hits home hard lol and the realism + minimalism is a very nice change of scenery coming from gmmtv. The cast is superb to say the least and also the ppl behind the scenes deserve tons of praise because it’s obvious that it takes a good amount of life experience as well as in directing and writing to narrate these stories in the distinct way that they do and I applaud everyone who’s part of it because you can tell they put their heart and soul into this production. 9/10.

👎🏻 609 Bedtime Story - this is a bummer because I was really excited for this one, also since it’s from the eclipse director, and it had a very promising start but then it got real weird. Like why make it so complicated? there’s no need for that. We get the idea and what you’re trying to tell us. So why make the plot so tangled? sigh. On the other hand I really liked Ohm in this role and it might be his best one yet. He was finally able to showcase that he is capable of more than just 1 facial expression lmao so I liked him as Mum but unfortunately he wasn’t able to save the plot. what a shame. 6/10.

New series & movie announcements

🎥 Playboyy (produced by Copy A Bangkok) - Date TBA (Thailand)

🎥 7 Days Before Valentine - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 Dinosaur Love (novel adaption) - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 STAY - Date TBA (Philippines)

🎥 Colorful Melody - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 Love Puzzle - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 Born to Be Y - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 Venus in the Sky - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 Love Mate - Date TBA (South Korea) 

🎥 My Blessing (produced by 9NAA) - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 Let’s Eat Together (Manga adaption) - Coming June 2nd (Japan) 

🎥 The Last Time - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 Y Universe - Date TBA (Thailand) 

🎥 Forever Yours - Date TBA (Philippines) 

🎥 My Dear You - Date TBA (Myanmar)

Other news from the BL world

❗️ Jam & Film, the mains of the BL To Sir, With Love, will be starring in a new series together under OneD. Further details have yet to be announced.

❗️ The main actors for the upcoming BL Pit Babe were announced. The main roles will be played by Pon Thanapon & Benz Natthapong. Others include Pavel Phoom, Nut Supanut, Michael Kiettisak and more.

❗️ The upcoming BL My Universe will consist of 12 stories with 12 couples and 24 chapters. 

❗️ The upcoming BLs Buddy Line Y Animal, as well as Man Suang, have commenced shooting. The release date for both is still unknown. 

❗️ Shootings for the upcoming multi-strand BL Our Skyy 2 have started. The episodes for KluenDao (Star in My Mind), PuenTalay (Vice Versa) and AkkAye (The Eclipse) have wrapped filming. Dates are still unknown. 

❗️ Actor Mew Suppasit (TharnType) expressed his frustration with his fans in a series of tweets where he stated that #MewGulf was never real and everything that him and his costar hinted at in the past was merely for fanservice purposes as him and G. were told to act like a couple according to their contract. He said him and G. have not spoken in over 2 years and told his fans to finally move on, as their obsession is having a negative effect on both their personal lives. He further told certain fans to get psychological help if they are unable to separate fiction from reality and stop their unhealthy obsession with a ship that never existed. Reactions from the fandom have been ambiguous. At the same time, filming for his upcoming BL Love Is like a Cat has begun. 

❗️ Actor Jeff Satur has left Be On Cloud. He will still be part of his upcoming series Wuju Bakery. 

❗️ The Chinese BL Novel “Silent Reading” has been adapted into a series called Justice in the Dark. Due to censorship, it looks like the show will mostly be bromance-themed. 

❗️ Fittings for the upcoming Domundi BL Punk Spy have started. An air date has not been announced. 

❗️ The currently airing BL Boyband has stopped airing on Youtube as announced by the production company and is currently only available for national fans. It is still unclear whether it will continue to be available for international audiences. 

❗️ Thai BL Triage won “Best BL Series of the Year” at this year’s BL News Awards

❗️ Thai BL Love Mechanics won "Best of Thai Series" and "Best of BL Series" at this year’s WeTV Awards. 

❗️ Park Seoham (Semantic Error) won “Best Drama Actor” at this year’s Forbes Korea Best Brand Awards. 

Upcoming series & movies for March

👉🏻 The Promise - March 1st (Thailand) 

👉🏻 All the Liquors - March 2nd (South Korea)

👉🏻 A Boss and a Babe - March 3rd (Thailand) 

👉🏻 Love Syndrome - March 4th (Thailand) 

👉🏻 Pastsenger - March 8th (Thailand) 

👉🏻 Our Dating Simulation - March 9th (South Korea)

👉🏻 Future - March 12th (Thailand)

👉🏻 A Shoulder to Cry On - March 14th (South Korea)

👉🏻 Unintentional Love Story - March 17th (South Korea)

👉🏻 Make a Wish - March 22nd (Thailand)

👉🏻 The Eighth Sense - March 29th (South Korea)

👉🏻 The Last Basic Together - March TBA (Vietnam) 

[transboysokka]

hey i just need to make this post so i can link to it as like an about me/faq

just so i can have some info about me that's not like all up in your face bc who cares honestly but also so that dummies can read about who i am before sending "dont post about autism if youre not autistic!!" messages, u feel?

not that i get them a lot but i would def get them a lot LESS if there was a post like this to refer to

okay hi lets see

i am gay

actually im on the ace spectrum if u must know, thank u so much antidepressants ive taken since i was 7 years old...

i am trans (ftm)

speaking of trans i am legally male but am not able to change my name and have not yet transitioned medically in any way despite having socially transitioned almost a decade ago

ive known i was a boy my whole life because thats another question people asked i just got Very Good at repressing it

i am white!

yes i am a whitey who lives in taiwan, that is because i am an immigrant!

i have lived in east asia since 2018 and plan to be in taiwan forever

i AM... originally... from the US.... ughhhh fuckkkk i know righttttt

i do not identify as american lolololol

actually i dont identify with american culture in general because i wasnt there for covid and life kind of carried on as normal over here during covid so there's like this huge cultural divide between me and other americans now

i mean i dont identify as taiwanese either lol bc that would be... wild...

ok anyway

i am autistic

what else have i been diagnosed with lol astigmatism i guess

i have clinical depression and anxiety lol love that for me

i am colorblind

i have fibromyalgia and occasionally use a cane

i have a bunch of other learning disabilities and a bleeding disorder but jesus christ you dont need my whole life story

ive had ARFID my whole life and it gets dangerously bad sometimes and im also recently "recovered" from anorexia lets hope it stays that way

i was raised evangelical christian but now i have Trauma about it

im still spiritual and am somewhat involved in buddhism

i have trauma about family issues like a shitty dad and fucked up siblings and parentification, all that jazz

i am fluent in english and spanish but my mandarin is actually not that good (like enough to get around obviously but i cant read and write like at all)

oh im a teacher and im trying to finish my masters #privilege

idk what else is interesting

i travel a lot ive been to 15 countries

i grew up between the US and guatemala, i lived for a bit in cuba as a student, and I lived a year in china before i came to Taiwan

ok bye have the day u deserve

[aleng-neng]

tagged by @recentadultburnout. What are my fave top 9 shows in no particular order. I finally have time to do this since I'm finally not homeless.

1. Gintama!!!

Whenever I'm feeling down I just watch this show. It does it's comedy really well. My favorite arcs are the lottery win arc and the reunion/kuroko no basuke parody mini-arc.

2. Doraemon

. . . Don't judge me! It's the first comic book collection I owned since it's relatively cheap. I still remember sobbing to the volume 6 ending when I was in 4rth grade. I thought it was the angstiest shit. Also my introduction to Japanese folktales.

3. Bad Buddy

Recent addition. Just something about the family dynamics that makes me writhe in an unpleasant personal way. 11/10 would torture myself thinking of Pran's family dynamics.

4 and 5. Julie and the Phantoms/My School President

This list makes makes me look 12 doesn't it? Ah who cares! I love a good musical. Especially a classic highschool teen as a protaganist. Musically, I like My School President's OST better but I really really love Julie. (Also both of these won't get a season 2).

6. Bocchi the Rock

A recent addition! . . . And another high school musical. I love fluff, friendships, interpersonal, and internal conflicts. My love for musicals like fulfills my need for real life friends who are attentive to your needs and wants and is there when you need them.

7. Oh No! Here Comes Trouble!

Anyone remember the time when Taiwanese dramas were all the rage back in early to late 2000's in Asia? Taiwan came in clutch and showed us how great they are at acting, writing, and nuance. Sobbed myself to the point of dehydration during the John Doe arc. I really like dramas with a slice of life-ish feel to it.

8. Avatar: The Last Airbender

I spend too much of my idle time arguing the pros and cons of different elements as if I can actually become a bender. So far I settled on earth as my element. It's just so fun. I hope there's an atla interest revival every 5 years.

9. Good Omens

One of my forever fandoms. I have a copy of the book that looks like shit but that's only because it is so loved. Everytime I crack it open, intending to only read the first few pages I end up nearly halfway to rereading it. And the tv live adaptation was so good. It's like Aziraphale and Crowley walked off the fandom's collective imagination and into the screen. I hope we get season 3 and I hope it's smooth sailing. I always wanted to write something for this fandom but watching the television made me realize British English is a whole 'nother beast and I'd rather not make a fool of myself.

Tagging @melto @indieedgycool @writerwithoutsound @lovesickfolly and @jazzingalive

[terubakudan]

Sup. xD

No, but really. Hi guys! Long time no see.

I see that Tumblr's changed, and believe me I'm re-learning how to use it. xD

So, um...usual life update I guess, you don't have to read this but I have to get this out of my system or I'll go crazy xD.

Honestly I really miss blogging and talking about fandoms, hobbies and whatnot. It's literally been over a year since I last blogged and there's a reason for that: literally no work-life balance at my old job. I say 'old' because I finally quit this year!! I'm really glad to be out of that soul-sucking hellhole xD For reference, I used to work at one of the Big Four accounting firms as an auditor, think hard before going in haha. The pay may be good...but at what cost?

For a while even when I left I couldn't stop thinking about work, I would always worry that there's something that hasn't been finished yet, and believe me at that kind of job the workload is endless Orz. On the plus side I did get experience, but I'm waaayyyy more glad to be out than in, believe me guys, work-life balance is something that everyone should have, I don't know what it's like in other countries (do feel free to share, I'm quite curious) but there's a reason so many foreign professionals choose not to work in Taiwan:

The pay is low. Especially compared to Japan and South Korea. As of now minimum wage is NTD 26,400 (USD 836) per month, and NTD 176 (USD) per hour, the thing is it's seriously not keeping up with inflation here. Bento used to cost NTD 60~70 when I was in college! Now it's NTD 90~100 on average.

Hours are long. Not all jobs are like this, but you are expected to do overtime without additional pay in most.

A lot of bosses here just...don't know leadership skills? Like they know how to work, but are awful at teaching and leading subordinates. Both Mom and I complain that the EQ of some locals is quite low ^^" No seriously, you do something well and somehow it's always your fault xD People here can be too materialistic sometimes and don't spend enough time on enriching themselves and others. It's really the fault of long work hours as well as the cram school culture here.

So yeah..welp.

My new job (accounting staff at a SME) may be lower pay but at least I get to come home earlier now, which honestly is a relief. Also weekends off. You'd be extremely lucky to get a weekend off at the old job xD

In a way, my Dad spoiled our family xD Because he was too nice we got really used to this rosy portrait of Taiwan and the locals xD But yeah, Mom, Bro and I will find ways to carry on.

Well enough about that! I hope everyone's getting on well with their lives, even when it's tough, there are always ways to carry on. ╰(*´︶`*)╯

I haven't been 100% offline actually xD Just a lot of lurking xD

Some things I've been up to:

You are now looking at a JoJo's Bizarre Adventure fan xD JJBA lives in my head rent-free and I don't regret it at all, I want to slap past me for not following JoJo sooner, especially as an avid fan of music and fashion. My brother’s pestering of me to watch it finally came to. I don't read manga, have watched Parts 1~6 (and made my Mom watch it with me ha xD she practically got almost all the music references xD) and am excited for a Part 7 anime!! Which could take forever sadly :( Along with Arcane Season 2, it’s been a while since there’s a show that I really look forward to watching, what with the current state of TV and movies nowadays. Too much on content and not enough on quality or well, basic storytelling even.

But I'm sad that I can't go to JOJO WORLD. QQ I really have a knack for getting into things too late.

My personal ranking: 2>5>3>4>1>6. This is just personal favoritism xD Each part has their own strengths and weaknesses and the writing in later parts is better as Araki has really matured as a mangaka and writer. But Part 2 is amazing. Period. I will not have it any other way. Special mention goes to this guy for simultaneously stealing my heart and *ahem* crushing (sorry) it, I have only cried for him:

He and Joseph should kiss.

2. I got into gaming again! Thank Steam really for letting lots of players save money on not having to buy separate consoles xD I got my brother to help me invest in a good gaming laptop, and it's just lovely. Some of my favorite games:

METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE

I got to experience Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and my god it's a MASTERPIECE. The OST also is just *chef's kiss*. The composer really did a great job with the music. The animation that plays every time Raiden uses Zandatsu is an absolute joy to watch xD My brother introduced this game to me through the memes, and he immediately regretted it when it was all I could talk about for a while xD But god slicing a Metal Gear in two while Rules of Nature plays in the background, how can you not squee?! xD

Mind you this is the tutorial boss xD I highly recommend this game, pure unadulterated adrenaline rush xD It’s so over-the-top and unapologetic, and just damn cool.

SEKIRO: SHADOWS DIE TWICE

I also beat Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. And as of now, it's still the best sense of achievement that I got from a game, it's the most difficult game I've ever played and let me tell you guys I'm good friends with the death screen xD

The adrenaline rush I got from beating Genichiro for the first time (and throwing the lightning back at him!!) as well as beating Sword Saint Isshin was unreal. At some point, the gameplay for me clicked, and it was immensely satisfying being able to perfectly parry the enemy's attacks. The clanging of swords is a sound that I absolutely love.

Though fuck Demon of Hatred xD. Joke I love the Sculptor character who I affectionately call 'Sculptor Dad' but come on you had to unlearn the game's combat system just to beat him. I agree that he's more of a Dark Souls boss than a Sekiro one.

Well deserving of 2019 Game of the Year 👏

DEVIL MAY CRY V

So you can probably see by now that I love action and hack and slash games xD I used to play Devil May Cry 3 when I was a teenager and even watched the Madhouse anime, the over-the-top-ness and Dante's quips won me over. Dante’s even the whole reason why I tried strawberries and now I love them xD So! It was only natural that I wanted to play DMCV, and I wasn't disappointed.

There’s a total of 4 characters you can play as, each with their own SSStylish gameplay, and I had lots of fun just sending the demons into the air while the extremely enthusiastic cast cheers me on xD

Also V is that Edgy Guy who’s a hit with the ladies xD My brother hates him but I adore him. He even said that I’m a sucker for the “starving artist” types xD Well…

HOW CAN I NOT BE A SUCKER QQ That smirk, dear god.

HADES

0:34 sold me haha 😂

You play as this really sexy Prince of Hell with daddy issues.

While Sekiro would frustrate me sometimes with constantly dying, every time I died in Hades it encouraged me to keep on playing, as whenever you die it actually advances the plot and unlocks new dialogue with the various characters, who are based on Greek mythology. If anything the game encourages you to die xD There was a time I was so determined to make it to the surface and when I did it was the next morning already xD

The art by Jen Zee is also just extremely gorgeous, and the OST by Darren Korb (who also voices Zagreus) is amazing. I also recommend Supergiant’s other games Bastion, Transistor, and Pyre. They are one of the best indie game developers out there. They put a lot of heart into their games, which is something a lot of AAA games lack nowadays.

Also I headcanon that Zagreus listens to Coldrain while hacking and slashing through hell. It just seems like a band he would listen to xD

And not to forget, but thank Supergiant for giving the option to romance this really sexy grim reaper xD I'm a sucker for the 'tsundere' types too, and let me tell you every bottle of gifted nectar and ambrosia was worth it. When he finally realized his feelings weren't unnecessary I squeeed.

DISCO ELYSIUM

Last but not least, an underrated gem.

Disco Elysium is one of those games that shouldn’t exist, and boy am I glad that it does.

It’s a choose your adventure game in which you play as a detective trying to solve a murder case with your partner, all the while getting to know the seaside town of Martinaise. Which once you get to explore it, isn't really that big and yet somehow feels huge, there's a whole fictional history that was created for it and for places outside Martinaise even, the worldbuilding for this game is insane. It also seems very real and similar to our own and yet it's all fictional, I really admire that level of detail.

I actually first heard of this game through an artist I follow on Tumblr, who draws True Detective and Disco Elysium fanart. I adore the first season of True Detective and never knew that MartyxRust does things to me. Read reviews about this so-called "True Detective/The Wire-inspired" game and was sold.

Also the developers really hit it out of the park with Kim Kitsuragi, god I love Kim 😭 One of the best companions that you can have out there. Whenever I felt bad and by extension made my player character feel bad (the game is choice-based, there's even an achievement called 'World's Sorriest Cop' xD), Kim would always be helpful and encouraging and god just the sweetest.

The humor in the game is also something I just found so charming, and the voice acting is perfect for every character, I find myself having fun mimicking the voices a lot. I kept pestering my brother to play this game, and his Evrart Claire impression is so spot-on, I myself like to impersonate the Fritte clerk with my 'm'kays' xD

Oh, and you can start a nightclub at a church. And believe me when you experience this scene in the game, it is glorious.

3. I had one of those 'happiest days in your life' moments: I went to see the GazettE's MASS final concert in Japan!! And the crazy thing is I specifically flew in just to see them, I was there in Japan for the concert and went home the next day. At the time I had booked my airline ticket thinking I would still be clocking in to my old job on Monday and well, I never thought I would quit xD

And silly me never thought that even Japanese trains could be late (the local trains at least), I was almost late to the 05:30 PM assembly time xD

By the time I got to the Budokan I was confused by the lack of banners and signs at the entrance at first, then I saw this procession of people in black heading to MASS (ha) and just knew. xD

And I thought I was the only one silly enough to fly to another country for a concert, then I heard Mandarin, English, Spanish in the crowd and thought: 'ah, music really brings people together'. It was beautiful.

Seeing the bouquet with the 'From overseas fans (Overseas fans より)' made me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Too shy to take my own picture xD But glad to know I'm not the only one extremely happy to be there.

I tried to take a picture of this Uruha banner and it just kept flapping in the wind like Uruha during the heavier songs, so I just gave up xD

The setlist for that night, when they played Miseinen (未成年) I think I started tearing up QQ Frankly the whole night was so surreal I couldn't stop thinking about what I experienced on my way back to the hotel. And I stayed at a capsule hotel for the first time! Specifically this one.

The song they played after the concert was an instrumental version of Knockin' On Heaven's Door, and it was absolutely lovely. They even teased a trailer for a new release next year(!!) and a trailer for their Christmas concert A HYMN OF THE CRUCIFIXION ver.2

Their trailers are needless to say, cinematic. I'm sad that they removed all their older trailers off YouTube though :(

As of writing this, there are still stuff I want to share and fangirl about, but unfortunately I have to wake up to a job tomorrow xD If I could, I'd spend my days just doing what I love and not having to deal with stupidity at work. I just want to say I'm glad that there are things in life to enjoy and make going through the daily grind even just a bit easier :)

[freehawaii]

IN MEMORY OF EMMETT ALULI, SHUT DOWN RED HILL

Counterpunch.org - December 15, 2022 - By Seiji Yamada

In November 2021, 20,000 gallons of jet fuel spewed from the U.S. Navy’s Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility into the drinking water well serving 93,000 mostly military personnel and their dependents on Oʻahu. Initially claiming that all the fuel had been recovered, the Navy defied the State of Hawaiʻi’s order to stop utilizing the facility for months. Hundreds of families were sickened, and those served by the Navy well had to live in hotels.

The Red Hill Facility consists of 20 underground tanks constructed in the 1940s, each of the 20 tanks holds 12.5 million gallons of fuel. Over a hundred million gallons of fuel remains in the tanks, located only 100 feet above the aquifer that supplies all of urban Honolulu. Having previously claimed before that the system was sound, the Navy now says that it could take one or two years to repair the pipelines in order to drain the tanks safely.

Most recently, on November 29, 2022, 1,300 gallons of fire-fighting aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) containing perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were spilled at the Red Hill Facility. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, PFAS are known carcinogens and can cause decreased fertility, developmental delays in children, hormonal dysfunction, obesity, and immunosuppression. The strength of the carbon-fluorine bond in PFAS resist breakdown, even by incineration. They are “forever chemicals,” persistent in water and biologically concentrated in foods such as fish.

They are toxic in concentrations measured in parts per quadrillion (a million billion). One teaspoon can destroy the water supply of a city. In Hawaiʻi only the U.S. military utilizes AFFF containing PFAS. Civilian firefighters in Hawaiʻi do not use it.

The revelation of the most recent spill prompted community organizations, including Oʻahu Water Protectors, the Hawaiʻi People’s Fund, the Hawaiʻi Youth Climate Coalition, Queen’s Court, and the Sierra Club of Hawai‘i, to organize a “Walk for Wai”  (wai = water) rally and march on December 10, 2022. What follows are my remarks at the rally.

Remarks for Walk for Wai

Today I am speaking on behalf of the Hawaii Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines or HiCHRP. I would like to reflect on the passing just last month of Dr. “Kauka” Noa Emmett Auwae Aluli. Dr. Aluli taught us that the health of the people depends on the health of the ‘āina. Dr. Aluli found it intolerable that the U.S. Navy used the island of Kahoʻolawe for target practice, making it unsuitable for human habitation, and finally cracking its water table. In 1976, as one of the Kahoʻolawe Nine, he risked arrest, his medical career, and his life by occupying and re-claiming Kahoʻolawe. It took another 14 years before the U.S. Navy finally stopped bombing Kahoʻolawe, but the bold action of the Kahoʻolawe Nine was the beginning of the struggle.

Even today, we see how the U.S. military utterly disregards the health of the people and the health of the ‘āina by their occupation of Red Hill. Global domination by the U.S. military is the overarching goal. If the land is poisoned or the people are poisoned along the way, so what? Sacrifices have to be made, and Hawaiʻi is a sacrifice zone. The role that the U.S. military assigns to Hawaiʻi is to be the command and control center for the coming war with China. As Kyle Kajihiro teaches us, Oʻahu is the head of the heʻe or the octopus. Therefore the placement of the Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaiʻi. Therefore the RIMPAC Naval Exercises, in the waters around Hawaiʻi. Since World War II, the Red Hill tanks have been used to store fuel for military ships and aircraft across the Pacific.

In order to contain China, the U.S. military seeks allies in nations surrounding China. Among them is the Philippines – which together with Taiwan, South Korea, Okinawa, Japan, and Guam – will play a crucial role as a staging area from where the U.S. will launch offensives. In November, Kamala Harris was in the Philippines to strengthen ties between the U.S. and Philippine militaries and between the U.S. and Philippine governments. Her visit gives legitimacy to Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., the son of the dictator who imposed martial law on the Philippines in 1972 and who oversaw the use of US bases in Clark and Subic Bay as staging areas during the Vietnam War.

In the Philippines, the Marcos government continues to red-tag activists, and perpetrate extra-judicial killings. Today, on international Human Rights Day, we must recognize that the human rights situation has not improved since Marcos took over from Duterte. This, too, is the price that the people pay for global domination by the U.S. military.

Dr. Emmett Aluli said, “We commit for generations, not just for careers. We set things up now so that they’ll be carried on.” It is up to us to carry on the commitment that Dr. Aluli showed by occupying Kahoʻolawe. We must not stop until we get the U.S. military out of the Philippines and out of the ‘āina.

Water is a human right!

Health is a human right!

[blocksruinedme]

ask anything? :D we talk empires n aus stuff a lot in the discord already so Im gonna ask: what were the best (and worst. if youre feeling the urge to be spiteful :3) parts of your last fandom before this? and what are the biggest difference, and similarities, between it and ur current mcyt fandoms!

Alright let's go. The fandom is The Untamed/Mo Do Zu Shi, and I will love it forever. If you've seen long hairedtruly beautiful chinese twinks in long robes in swords, it's probably then. the original source is a web novel written by an anime fic author, and I'm really into the live action version (there's also animated, comic, audio drama)

It caused me to learn a LOT about chinese culture language. Like, a lot, I tried Mandarin for a bit on duolingo but I can't even explain how much I learned about history, food, culture, forms of address, poetry, just, so much. The fandom is full of fancy smart bitches, one of my fave tumblrs is someone who majored in ancient china, and the analysis etc was just chef's kiss amazing. i wouldn't be doing chinese brush painting, and that's bringing me a lot of joy, i've never done visual art before.

I would not have learned so much about culture if it wasn't for my very tightknit group chat. I mentioned I'm on a plane to see friends? It's one of them & their spouse (who i've known since college) and one of the other people in the groupchat, who only knows them because I watched the untamed and introduced my friends. last spring us and the 4th member of the gc went on vacation together. I'm the only person who is fully monolingual, and the only one who isn't an immigrant or child of immigrants from taiwan. I've learned so much about so much of those experiences, and I didn't consider myself ignorant before, but you really need to get to know someone to understand some things (as much as you can without living it

the fic is FUCKING AMAZING. idk how many unread bookmarks i have of fic that is professional publication quality - partly because some of the authors are pro writers. I've been lucky to get to read a loooooot of fic by professional writers, cause my fandoms and ships overlapped. There is so much fic, closer to 100k than 50k i think.

i bonded with other friends by getting on calls and watching with them. i was maybe pushy lol. sadly i'm not gonna try and get anyone into mcyt

canon queer canon queer like deeply canon queer like there are extensive sex scenes in the novel and the entire thing is a gay/bisexual love story it's so good IT'S SO GOOD I CRIED SO MUCH IT'S SO GOOD. SOB SOB SOB.

xue yang my insane psycopath blorbo fuck i love him i got a painting printed on canvas hanginf over my bed.

the canon is closed. the script is a script and the actors are actors and nothing like feeling weird about the crossover can ever happen. i never got as much as i wanted with my side character blorbos but it is what it is.

Downsides

tha canon is closed ;-) I'll never get more than my 50 episodes, unless

Some drama and.... discourse has become such a loaded term. But sometimes you have things like conflict that comes up between the feelings and desires of chinese diaspora and jewish people about how things are portrayed in fic, right? And it's not fighting over nothing, it's (afaik) not fighting to fight, not fighting for clout or because you want to look cool or because you're unhappy with your life and think lashing out will help.

Also, there is fighting to fight and for clout etc. If I ever see top/bottom discourse again it will be too soon, i've got enough of that to last till the heat death of the universe

translations, man. translation is an art and i am glad to know so much more about translation but it's so frustrating to know you'll never really get it, and to try and tell people things like "i know he sounds very brusque but he's speaking ina. very fancy linguistic register and sounds fancy to the other people, and the way he said all those sentences there and they were all four characters long, that's poetic and significant and and and"

I was not inspired to write in general, I wasn't getting ideas. That wasn't notable because I've never ever ever written regularly, i wrote one yuletide fic a year for awhile, i old wrote novely. I am not someone who pops into a new fandom and writes 6 fic in 2 months cause that's the kind of thing that've done in other fandoms. this is insane. And now that i have the writing bug... well, the fic is so amazing, and plentiful, i'm not going to get much attention. i just wrote an exchange fic, my first time writing in the fandom, because my mcyt fic writing encouraged me. I am glad i did it, i made my recipient happy, and it will never get as many kudos as my least popular mcyt fic. I think it has 8, and I'm happy to get that. Here's the thing, i have so many things i *can* do with my creative energies, and multiple that i do to reach and touh other people, and i'm not going to prioritize things where i know I'm not good enough to get read. It's not that i'm choosing writing vs nothing because i want people to read it, i'm choosing writing vs. other things

Comparisons

Okay i think a lot can be pretty obvious from what I said above. We don't have that much fic, we don't have canon smut, afaik we don't have pro authors - not that you have to be pro to be good! or that all pro authors are good! but they usually are pretty good.

other people i knew irl or from my long fandom past got into it. i would get ao3 fic notification from people and eagerly check to see if they'd gotten dragged in. i do not expect that to ever ever happen here. i have ventured far away from the fandoms of my past!

For me... I was a pretty normal age in the untamed fandom, and i am wicked old here. I'm an elder millennial. When I was in my 20s I met fans in their 50s, including at cons that make it really real. I don't see any reason people should drop interests cause they age??? It's bizarre and incomprehensible to me and I always wonder how people will feel when they age. I don't think there's anything inherently childish about this source, and i am happy to talk to younger people, but it's different when you know you're at a similar level of life stuff, and the privileges that come with age. i try to be careful and aware of this with my interactions with younger people. power imbalances etc and i think i do a good job. (my fandom before the untamed, that i was much more casual about, was other youtube and that was maybe even younger?)

The canon! oh my god! LOOK AT THIS SHIT. I majored in media studies and focused on fandom and what was at the time new media and this is... y'all if i was in college now i would be writing desperately about this. As a media studies person, as a larper, as someone who is obsessed with watching the ways people can express themselves and connect and stuff grow... fuck man. SMPs????? fuck yeah!!!!!! gah!!!!! catch me sober and i can be more coherent.

connecting with people has been slower, but it's picking up. <3

the untamed had so few female charaters. empires being so female is just so amazing to me, and i *am* working on f/f, it's just. the problem is jimmy, okay? no women throw themselves at jimmy, it's not *my* fault.

i can't fucking vid it. i just. can't. i can't draw and i never finished any vids for the untamed but i have so many unfinished ones. i'm not a great vidder but i love it, and not even having the possibility... it makes me sad a lot, actually. but i need facial expressions and more dynamic footage.

in conclusion fandom is great. before the untamed i hadn't been seriously into fandom in years, i've always been in and out. it was insane how into it i got. i started watching as i recovered from major surgery, and was still deep in the pandemic blues.

mcyt has unlocked creativity in me I never ever ever expected. i'm an elder millennial and i started reading fic when i was 12 and fic writing was never gonna be my thing. in 2021 i beta read over 100k words to contribute, in 2022 i started podficcing to have some creative expression of my own. my therapist and i talk about it all the time (i've been with her since i was 19, we talk about everything, and fyi what you love can say things about what's up with you and therapists know that, talk about your blorbos). I've determined i'm not getting an answer anytime soon. The medium is a lot, right, but it's more. I don't know, but I fucking love writing like this, the satisfaction, the fact that i made someone *cry* with my silly cave ranchers fic. I've made people cry a lot with my larp writing, but that intended to make them cry, not something i wrote in a fever dream in one day.

So thank you everyone who is part of my experience, it's been really great and i hope to keep being so happy and fulfilled and encouraged in my creativity etc!

"hope that's what you wanted". i am only ever concise due to extensive editing lol :)

[mikeo56]

Saudi Arabia makes the decision to abandon the petrodollar and suddenly we’re hearing a lot more about Saudi Arabian involvement in 9/11? Call me a crazy conspiracy theorist, but I don’t think this is a coincidence. All I’m saying is don’t be surprised if a lot more information about 9/11 suddenly comes to light…

Saudi Arabia has basically had impunity for 50 years, thanks to the petrodollar deal to make the US dollar the world’s reserve currency. The constant demand for the dollar meant the US could print as much money as it likes, giving it an unlimited military budget. The deal was that the US would militarily support the House of Saud, ensuring it remained in power, no matter how many heads it chopped or how many women it lashed. Yay freedom!

The Saudis had agreed to exclusively use greenbacks to sell crude oil since 1974, after the Nixon administration abandoned the Bretton Woods system. Those greenbacks were turned into bonds to stabilise the US economy and control the inflation that emerged during the Vietnam War years. The US needed to ensure it could afford to keep bombing countries whose leaders didn’t do as they were told.

Back then, it made more sense for the dollar to be the global reserve currency because the US made up 36% of the world’s economy, but this has fallen to 24% and will continue to fall, no matter how many people wear hats saying Make America Great Again! Of course, the deal was never going to last forever because at some point, we were going to have to shift to energy alternatives.

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Saudi Arabia has finally opted for currency diversification and made the decision to join BRICs - an alliance of countries who are sick of US economic hegemony and aim to set up a new reserve currency that would take away American power to unilaterally impose sanctions. When your assets are in dollars, the US can cut them off whenever it wants to. This means the US can weaponise access to money and cause big problems for any country that doesn’t obey. No wonder Saudi Arabia is opting for currency diversification. Who wants to live under the thumb of the US forever?

The Saudis are working on a new global payment system called mBridge with China, which is now its biggest oil partner, accounting for more than a fifth of its oil exports. China has surpassed the US as the world’s biggest economy and the shift away from the dollar will turn that gap into a chasm.

In 25 years, the dollar has fallen from 71% of global reserves to 59% and that trend is only going to continue. The trend of de-dollarisation is the reason Taiwan is being armed up to the eyeballs and we are so close to World War III.

Without the petrodollar, the US currency would not have its disproportionate strength and would instead perform like you would expect of a country of its economic output. De-dollarisation could collapse the military industrial complex, but the warmongers are hardly going to go down without a fight, are they? I mean it’s not in their nature!

The media never even mentions the petrodollar because they want you to think the US empire is built around freedom, democracy and having the fairest possible economic system. What it actually has is a monopoly built on military might. The US economic system is no more ethical than the Roman empire was - having the strongest military is not the same as being the good guys.

The petrodollar deal was enough to blow the lid off the idea that American intentions in the Middle East had anything to do with freedom and democracy. The US was willing to prop up one of the most brutal dictatorships in the world, and any other dictatorship that got behind the might of the dollar. As soon as any country threatened the dollar’s dominance, they found themselves in trouble. Saddam Hussein tried to sell oil in Euros. Colonel Gaddafi tried to set up an African central bank. Don’t be surprised if the US suddenly becomes very concerned about the human rights situation in Saudi Arabia…

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                                                                      MARCH 2024 

THE RIB PAGE 

It seems Disney has wedding dresses to celebrate your favorite evil Disney gal. Hey Pixie: It’s time to renew those vows! 

***** 

Every year about 7 people in this country get diagnosed with the plague. An Oregon resident has just been diagnosed. 

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The Senate passed a $95.3 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The house killed it.  Proof positive that Trump and Mike Johnson etc do not want to fix this country at all. It is all about the power! * * Mitch McConnell has announced that he will step down in November. 

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It looks like the 1% have moved on from space to the underground. Billionaires all over the globe are getting their underground bunkers ready! This is not new , but it seems to be in overdrive right now. The $ people are so important and I wonder what they’ll do when they find out that humans do not live forever. 

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A very complete fossil of the Triassic’s Dinocephalosaurus Orientalis was discovered in South China. The beauty has 32 separate vertebrae to possibly look for food in crevices under water and was first discovered in 2003. 

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Alabama says that embryos are children. Drop a test tube and it could be murder. So.. People don’t need IVF anymore?? 

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Barry Tubb has sued Paramount for their use of his image in Top Gun: Maverick 

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There is trouble on the set of Sherri. Matt Uzzle, a top exec passed away amid a financial investigation into the show. 

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The Odysseus landed on the moon and fell over. 

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There was apparently a big cell phone outage and I didn’t even know it. Just one more plus to not having a cell phone. 

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Molly Shannon is joining Only Murders in the Building. 

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John Cleese and Eric Idle are sparring a bit on X. Eric seems disgruntled at Holly Gilliam who manages the Python biz now. The rest of the crew are good with her. Eric’s daughter Lily posted that she’s proud of her Dad for speaking out against bullies. Cleese has reported that he and Idle always hated each other. 

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Everything comes back around. Abe Lincoln talked of how Stephen Douglas was, “warping the public mind.” That is the perfect way to describe Scary Clown 45.** Come to think of it, it feels a bit like 1865 what with all the hate being pushed in this country. With elections in like 80 countries this year, there could be big changes. 

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Support the Max Gruber Foundation that is all about hazing in college. 

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Bullfighting is back. UGH! 

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Wendy Williams has been diagnosed with aphasia and Frontotemporal dementia. 

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Abbott Elementary, Celebrity Family Feud, Jeopardy Masters and Dancing with the Stars have been renewed. 

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The 2024 noms for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are out. This year there is Mary J. Blige, Cher, Mariah Carey, Dave Matthews Band, Eric B and Rakim, Foreigner, Peter Frampton, Jane’s Addiction, Lenny Kravitz, Kool and the Gang, Oasis, Sinead O’Connor, Ozzy Osbourne, Sade and A Tribe Called Quest. I mean, Geils? Zevon? C’mon stop it! 

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Ozzy is threatening legal action against Ye for sampling ‘Iron Man’. Permission was refused since Ozzy said, “I want no association with this man. He was refused permission because he is an anti- semit and has caused untold heartache to many.” ** Ye also used a sample from Donna Summer’s I feel love. He didn’t have permission for this either. These men and their egos. Yikes!! 

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A woman named Genesse Moreno opened fire on Lakewood church with an AR-15. She was killed. 

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RFK Jr. Is pissing his own kin off again with his ad filled with old Kennedy pics. 

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It’s the year of the Dragon! 

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123.7 million people watched the Super Bowl. This beats the moon landing as the most watched program ever. ** Marshawn Lynch had fun after the game by walking up to 49er fans and giving them a “fuck you.” 

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Watch for the new Doc, Kiss the Future. 

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The RNC may be run by Michael Watley and Lara Trump. ** Political candidate Valentina Gomez took a flamethrower to books she didn’t like. ** Trump was booed at sneakercon as he was pushing his golden shoes. He wasn’t used to a crowd that does not adore him. He should get out of his comfort zone more often. ** We’re here to overthrow democracy.-Jack Posoblec, a speaker at CPAC.** Trump tried to negotiate one of his penalties in court. 

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Days alert: Bring back Jen Lilley!!** Burnin’ down the Horton house?? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**First , a permanent move to Peacock then Jen then Arianna then burning the Horton  house?? They are just blowing the whole thing up, aren’t they?? I know the people in charge at NBC don’t give a flying fuck about elderly people but I still hear the elderly complain about not being able to see Days on NBC anymore. 

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For the second time, a memorial to the Pulse nightclub victims was defaced. A 19 year old did burnouts on the LGBTQ Pride crosswalk. Of course, the truck had a big American flag on it. Why is it this particular type of person feels the need to prove they are Americans all the time? A 22 year old genius did the same thing at an earlier date. 

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NY Dem Tom Suozzi won the house seat to replace George Santos. 

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Donald Glover has said that the script for the Community movie is finished. 

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The Chiefs won the Superbowl. Usher was the halftime show and that stage sure was bouncing. A 30 second ad went for $7mil. The Super Bowl went into overtime for only the second time in history. The parade to celebrate was interrupted with a shooting and a fan was killed. ** Are men really breaking a lot of tv’s because of sports? 

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Chris Coons tells us that the EU has approved a support package for Ukraine and wonders what the Hell we are doing in the U.S. Europe has already spent more on Ukraine than us. They are very concerned about Trump and his calling out NATO and discarding the hard worked for bill for aid. 

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The Oglala Sioux tribe has banned SD Gov. Christi Noem from their reservation. She told the South Dakota state legislature that she wants to send more state resources to Texas. ** Calling the U.S. southern border in Texas an invasion by illegal immigrants and criminal groups to justify sending South Dakota’s National Guard troops there is a red herring that the Oglala Sioux tribe doesn’t support . They don’t need to be put in cages, separated from their children like during the Trump administration or be cut up by razor wire furnished by, of all places, South Dakota.”- Frank Star 

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King Charles has been diagnosed with cancer. 

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Abortion providers filed a lawsuit in 2019 against the law that prohibits Medicaid from being used to pay for abortions. And now: To treat a woman differently based on a characteristic unique to her sex is to treat her differently because of her sex which triggers the enforcement of our ERA. - Judge Donohue 

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I’m beginning to think that all the hatred evangelicals have towards Taylor Swift is because everyone can see that she’s for more like Jesus than they are. - Chris Kratzer ** Taylor donated $50 mil to truckers, $50 mil to food banks and $20 mil to animals, not to mention that she gave $ to the victims family after the Chiefs parade. 

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Tesla has recalled 2.2 million vehicles to fix a warning light.** The investigation into Tesla is becoming more aggressive as they look deeper into safety problems of crashes with auto pilot. ** According to the NY Times, terrorists may be paying for the blue check mark on twitter. (I refuse to call it X.) -Stephen King.... Stop deadnaming X. respect our transition. - Elon Musk...  Why? You never respected your daughter’s transition. -transgender atty. Alejandra Caraballo..(Musk’s child Vivian Wilson filed for a name change to reflect her gender identity).... twitter twitter twitter and so on. Fuck your need to put your personal brand on everything.- Stephen King.....The NY article went on that X may be violating U.S. sanctions because the company accepted payments from individuals or organization that are forbidden from engaging in business with U.S. companies like state-run media organizations and terrorists from Russia and Iran. ** Leaders of Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels have subscriptions with blue check marks. 

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Tim Burton is to direct the remake of attack of the 50 ft. Woman. We need another one of those? 

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The Grammys came and went. My best dressed were: Taylor Swift (winner! ) , Chrissy Tiegand, Janelle Monae, Coco Jones, Gina Alice Redlinger, Romy Madley Croft, Caroline Polachek, Vic Lentaigne and Dawn Richard was a tree! Miley looked like Cher and Madonna put together. ** Killer Mike was arrested at the show for misdemeanor battery, but soon released. He won 3 Grammys.** Someone else had to make a stink about Beyonce. Her husband called out the voters for not giving all the awards to his wife, I guess?? Jay-Z won the global impact award. Why do all these people feel the need to talk for her. She is a grown woman, I think she can speak for herself. Are we supposed to expect macho declarations at every award show now?? ** Miley yelled at the crowd to get more into her song. What? 

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Look for Unfrosted: The Pop Tart Story with Jerry Seinfeld, Jim Gaffigan, Amy Schumer, Hugh Grant, Bill Burr, Daniel Levy, Jack McBrayer, Thomas Lennon, Bobby Moynihan and Fred Thomas. Did Jerry just call all the funny people he knew? 

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Aneurin Barnard, Hayley Atwell and Jack Lowden will star in Rogue Trooper for Duncan Jones. 

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The SAG awards were great with the fashion. My best were Emma Stone, Lily Gladstone, Da’Vine Joy Randolph,E lizabeth Debicki, Tony Shalhoub, Alex Borstein, Laverne Cox, Sheryl Lee Ralph, Kathryn Hahn, Emily Blunt, Jessica Chastain, Louisa Jacobson and Ali Wong and the dudes from Abbott who were amazing. Tan France had a horizontal tie that I couldn’t stop staring at. ** Jen Aniston presented Barbra Streisand the life achievement award. ** My favorite part was when Tantoo Cardinal was on stage. I adore her!!! ** Pedro got back at Kieran by winning. Succession came back for ensemble drama. The Bear still cleaned up as well as Lily Gladstone. 

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Hooray for Shawn Fain leading the UAW. We need more workers rights and less billionaires. EAT THE RICH!!!!!.. Order this shirt to support the UAW. 

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The Spirit awards were pretty much The Holdovers awards. There was a protestor outside the tent yelling, “Free Palestine” and “Ceasefire now “ all night. 

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The monarch population is down 60%. 

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It looks like the housewives are starting to sue Andy Cohen and Bravo. It was only a matter of time. 

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Aaron Bushnell. A U.S. Air Force member set himself on fire at the Israeli embassy. 

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Amy Poehler and Joe Biden helped Seth Meyers celebrate 10 years on the air. 

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Richard Tornetta sued Elon Musk in 2018 and won when a judge voided the $56 billion pay package.** Bill Maher admitted he can’t help it, he likes Elon. It was too funny that he told jokes about multiple things but when he got to Elon, he said, “just kidding.” What? 

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Larry David caused a stir when he when he grabbed Elmo on the Today show. He also insulted a drummer on Seth Meyers when he told him it was easy and he could do that. Just Larry being Larry. 

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The enhanced games are games with steroids. Peter Thiel is shelling out big $. The things that rich boys find to do with their $ is fucking unbelievable. Their statement is: The athletes will be unencumbered by anachronistic legacy systems that are anti science and stigmatize enhanced athletes. Oh my. Sounds like some people don’t want to believe in themselves. Nothing but phonies. Wouldn’t it be nice if all that $ went to children and animals that really need the help?  

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I was not raised with grown men who whine all the time. I will never understand these people who forever talk about the strength they get from God and then whine about everything in the world. Is God telling you this is the way to solve the problems? What about turn the other cheek? Forgiveness? These people are not like any conservatives or Christians that I knew. Gas prices and unemployment numbers keep dropping and wages are up. Quit bitching and let’s fix the other things that need fixing! ** I see a lot of the red hats that remind me of the brown shirts. Same gang??** A 3 judge panel said that there is no immunity for Trump. ** A judge ordered Trump to pay a $364 mil penalty. He is also barred from serving as an officer or director of any NY corporation for 3 years. ** A year long scheme to dupe banks and others with financial statements that inflated Trump’s wealth. It borders on pathological. - Judge Engoron ** Don Jr. And Eric were fined $4 mil each and are out of the NY biz for 2 years and no bank loans for 3 years. ** The hush money trill will start on March 25. 

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Jacob Elordi got into an altercation with a radio producer. 

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Carson Hocevar is driving # 77 in the Cup Race this year!! And.. Go Bell!!! 

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Tyne Daly was hospitalized and had to drop out of Doubt: A Parable on Broadway. Amy Ryan is taking over. 

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The BAFTA’s were held and Oppenheimer won big as well as Poor Things and Da’vine Joy Randolph. My best dressed were Sophie Ellis Bextor, Daisy Edgar- Jones, Claire Foy and Emma Corrin. 

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George Santos has sued Jimmy Kimmel. I wondered how he was getting away with airing his cameos but I assumed contracts had been signed. No. Kimmel and his staff used fake names to order cameos then put them o the show. And why would you want to give Santos the $? Didn’t he grift enough? 

***** 

New Hampshire’s Chris Sununu is so dismissive of others. He tells us that Trump has done this awful thing and that but I would vote for him. It seems this is a mantra for them. What dicks! ** Lindsey Graham called Zuckerberg and other big tech guys, “bastards.” Others said that after they grilled these guys, the Senators probably patted themselves on the back and went right out and used social media. ** Alex Smirnov, an FBI informant, has been charged with fabricating a multi million $ bribery scheme. Jamie Raskin has called for an end to the impeachment inquiry since Smirnov started all this. His story about the “Biden crime family” and the Ukranian energy company was all Russian BS. Jim Jordan does not care and keeps pushing. Putin must be so happy that he has these operatives in our Government. ** Russia has been hit with 500 new sanctions. 

***** 

Early spring?? 

***** 

Lauren Boebert’s son, Tyler has been arrested. There are 22 counts including theft and trespassing with multiple victims. 

***** 

We are seeing the SNL 1975 cast come together. Cory Michael Smith is Chevy, Matt Wood is Belushi, Ella Hunt is Gilda, Dylan O’Brien is Akroyd, Lamorne Morris is Garrett (that is perfect), Kim Matula is Jane and Emily Fairn is Laraine. ** Is it me or does this cold foam ad seem like a fake SNL ad? 

***** 

Sam Waterston is leaving Law and Order at the end of February and Tony Goldwyn is taking over. 

***** 

For the first time in the republican campaign, Nikki Haley has outraised Trump. A big portion of Trump’s small donors have gone away. 

***** 

DeSantis and company spent over $168 mil on his campaign. ** Could he be Trump’s VP pick?? He is throwing that name around, along with Tim Scott and a few others. ** The difference between humans and animals is animals would never let the dumbest animal lead the pack. ** DHS Secretary Mayorkas was impeached for no reason.* * Trump is always talking about water. That seems like a dementia thing. ** An Illinois judge barred Trump from the Republican primary ballot. Just waiting on the Supreme Court. 

***** 

So.. The Michigan chair of the RNC refuses to accept the results of her RNC election and Trump wants her out. Will republicans ever again accept results when they lose? 

***** 

Word came down that Wendy’s was spending $20 mil to add fluctuating price boards. The goal seemed to be jacking up prices during peak hours. Burger King decided they would use that and give away free whoppers for 3 days. Of course, you have to make a purchase and have an app. So.. A lot of people are left out of that “free whopper.” Wendy’s has since said that they were not using the boards that way. They may use them to give discounts at slow times and they swear they did not use the phrase, “surge pricing.” 

***** 

Karl Jordan Jr. and Ron Washington were found guilty of killing Jam Master Jay after being cut out of a drug deal. 

***** 

El Chapos grandaughter is looking for the Loch Ness Monster. 

***** 

The Geico ad that skewers conspiracies is cute. Insurance company commercials usually suck. 

***** 

A new book about first ladies tells us Melania was much detached from first lady business. A lot of her time was spent with lawyers and finance people. All tvs were tuned to Fox in the White House. 

***** 

The Supreme Court is looking into Bump stocks and Presidential immunity. They will stay paused until April 22. 

***** 

Oprah is leaving Weight Watchers since she admits she is using drugs to lose weight. 

***** 

We now produce more oil that Saudi Arabia. 

***** 

We have sent air strikes to Syria and Iraq after 3 U.S. military deaths. 

***** 

Brian Wilson’s family is looking into conservatorship due to a neurocognitive disorder. 

***** 

Sexual assault news: Kolchiro Ito was arrested on child porn charges. ** Sean Combs has a fifth accuser, Rod Jones. 

***** 

Bob Odenkirk will star in Normal. 

***** 

Beyonce is the first black woman to have a #1 country hit with Texas hold ‘em.!!! 

***** 

A shipwreck showed up on the shore of Newfoundland. Work was proceeding quickly before the waves take it back. 

***** 

R.I.P. Isabelle Thomas, Adele Springsteen, Henry Fambrough, Carl Weathers, Elmore Nickleberry, Wayne Kramer, Don Murray, Chita Rivera, Aston Barrett, Hage Geingob, Hinton Battle, N. Scott Momaday, Pamela Salem, Flaco, Claude Montana, Randy Sparks, Joe Louis Dudley, Dan Wilcox, Chris Gauthier, Jackie Loughery, Lynda Gravatt, Mickey Gilbert, Cecilia Gentili, Kelvin Kiptum, Alexei Navalny, Bob Edwards, William Post, Steven Ostrow, Ben Lanzarone, Alice Mackler, Tony Ganios, Ewen Macintosh, Charles Dierkop, Eddie Driscoll. Anne Whitfield, Toby Keith, Richrd Lewis and Denise I. McCabe. 

[crescendeyes]

I am grateful for

As we enter the month of July-Aug, I felt like I should really analyse what I am thankful for and count my blessings a little.

I know being critical of yourself is embedded in our DNA to humble ourselves from delusion. There is a beauty in delusion - its either things are SUPER DUPER BAD or FINE AND DANDY.

Being extremely fearful avoidant, I find myself constantly confusing people and myself on the decisions that I make. It is a constant push and pull that I struggle with all my life with a lack of awareness of it's existence.

People with a fearful-avoidant attachment style distrust others and withdraw from relationships in order to avoid rejection. This leads people with a fearful-avoidant attachment to avoid the very relationships they crave.

Struggling to manage this part of my life, I managed to fall into the traps of despair every time I make a decision. They were either too reckless or too careful - never anything in between.

So, in order to re-evaluate the quarter of my life, before I turn 30, I won't be a list of things I want to achieve. Instead, I want to count my blessings and start showing gratitude to myself and my life, including the people who made it possible for these little celebrations.

Set boundaries and realise what my dealbreakers are in a relationship.

Let me explain - in the past, I would fight for a relationship and continue to work on it till there was nothing left behind except resentment. MAYBE, just MAYBE, if Aaron and I didn't breakup the first time around and I didn't have to grow up after the string of bad luck in 2022, I could tolerate and continue to work on relationships like I used to. So, being able to set boundaries and be honest with myself what I want to keep vs don't was the biggest step I took to self love and actualisation.

2. Love someone twice

Some might find this very toxic but if you never try, you'll never know. Hence, no. 1.

3. Performed for a huge festival in the second time of my life

Yes, I performed at Peakstorm Festival to open for Joji. While it may not seem like a feat for most musicians and artist, but it was once in a life time opportunity that I will forever be grateful for.

4. Moved out

I finally did it. There is no way I can describe how lucky I feel to get a place that I only dreamt of getting back in 2020 - and it took 3 years to rent this place. Although, rent is expensive and I am looking for opportunities to move to a new place that would be more affordable. 2024 is a time I wanna focus on growing my wealth and saving money.

5. Travelling with Aaron, meeting each others family, a sense of stability....

It is difficult for me to find stability cause I've never known it all my life. But even for that short period of time, visiting his family and travelling to Taiwan & Phuket, I felt like this is it. He is my forever, and his family and friends LOVE me. Unfortunately, no. 1 was the path I decided to take.

6. Dad

Dad is better now and we are planning to travel to Copenhagen and London together as a family.

7. Mum

Mum is open to the idea of counselling and started to see a therapist after hearing me out. In a way, I'm lucky she was even open to it for assistance. I love her.

8. Miso

Miso was with me since 6 June 2023, she has lived with me for 17 days and she will forever be the best emotional support kitty in my life. I have never had a cat with me before so it was an amazing experience. I will miss her so so dearly <3

9. Fixed my relationship with Cel & Cam

10. I'm travelling again

11. I am not chasing relationships anymore

12. I am in a good stable career

13. I have a manager that trust me and doesn't micro manage me - plus, he kinda has a thing for me or something idk.

14. I got a new tattoo this year so yay

15. Aaron is making tiktok videos of me while I am seemingly unbothered by it

16. I now know Hoeden is not my real friends.

17. I am learning how to swim.

18. I attended Harpreet & Nicole's wedding this year.

19. I ACTUALLY became friends with Aaron Chan? Wow. lol. The universe is weird.

20. I have great friends and made more this year.

21. People LOVE my apartment and they often compliment it hehe

22. Renewed my insurance policy because I can afford it bitches.

So there will be more blessings and I can't count but I always do my best to remember them whole heartedly.

If you read it this far, thank you. I hope this brings you peace.

[erikacousland]

Tank Man photographer drops TRUTH bomb on MSM - YouTube

In this 2019 interview with the "tank man" photographer, Jeff Widener, some massive truth bombs were dropped which expose how much we've been lied to about the Tiananmen Square protests. Ironically enough, in the interview, Jeff and the anchor make it sound as if the Chinese people haven't a clue what went down in '89 when it fact it's the rest of the world that have no idea what really happened and how violent some protesters really were.

It's funny how they say "this photo“ should be the most important thing in the world just because the West and its criminal media have made it to symbolize the Tiananmen Square protests. There are millions of powerful photos from that crisis and there is no reason why this one picture should symbolize what happened nor should it be worshiped. In fact, when I see the "tank man" photo to me it says that the Chinese gov't didn't want to kill people as the tank stopped and tried to avoid this man.

*

calicocat * It's been 34 years this year, I think the tank guy was identified (saw on TV in Japan), late middle aged now, lives in Taiwan. BTW, professor Gregory Clark of Akita International University, now retired, has been saying for the last 30 years that the version presented by the Western media is false.

Taiwan is too busy talking about the other thing about it: one of the SA/SH perpetrators of the recent “#Taiwan MeToo” is a Tiananmen Square “Student leader”, who been taking money from their government for 30 years.

*

James Bovt * The interview be like: - And then he was killed by Chinese military right? - Well umm...  no? - And you felt so angry because China has no freedom and democracy? - Well uhhh... - Oh these poor protestors... - Well, uhh...  actually, they killed some soldiers... - So the meaning of this picture is how bad China is? - Bruh, it's just some strange guy standing in front of tanks.

*

ABC * What remains in my mind over all of these years is the incredibly brutal violence these students have done to the soldier who was the same age as them, they hang the soldier off the bridge and burn him.   That image has been carved in my heart forever since I was nine and will never be eliminated.

My uncle was in Beijing at the time, on his honeymoon travel. It is exactly what he talked when he got back to home.

*

MultiplierFX * In westerners' minds these points are held as sacred truth: Point #1: Chinese government bad Point #2: Chinese PLA soldiers bad

Even when you have an eyewitness here on TV telling you that the PLA soldiers were the victims of the Tiananmen incident, the average westerners would still think those 2 points are 100% valid.

No point in trying to change their perception. Being anti-China is an integral part of their coping mechanism to feel that last bit of fleeting comfort amidst their collapsing unilateral western world order. As multipolarity takes hold and mature, their opinion becomes irrelevant along with their diminishing purchasing power.

*

China Chicken Soup * Political memes and iconic political photos are the same type of things, they give people an impression. People that don't care would need this impression to know and remember, but since they don't care, they wouldn't care enough to research about the truth or think about logic, and they wouldn't even change their minds even if they are presented with more solid logic and proof. That is why people are easy to manipulate.

[malaysiankpopfans]

RADWIMPS Asian Tour 2023 in Kuala Lumpur

General sale begins Thursday, April 13th at 10am.

KUALA LUMPUR, 11th April 2023 — Renowned Japanese rock band RADWIMPS are thrilled to announce an exclusive Asian tour this summer, following the news of a sold-out US tour and the announcement of a European leg. The Asian tour kicks off in Seoul, Korea and will see the band bring their high-octane live experience to Taipei, Taiwan, Bangkok, Thailand, Jakarta, Indonesia and including Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the first time!

Promoted by InTour Live and Sozo, tickets to RADWIMPS Asian Tour 2023 in Kuala Lumpur are priced from MYR368 (excluding MYR4 booking fee). Tickets will go on sale at 10AM local time on Thursday, April 13 via www.ticketcharge.com.my

Lead singer Yojiro Noda says: "I don't even know how to express my excitement. It's been three years and we're all three years older. But our music has matured, too. I will come see you as if you're a lover I was longing to reunite with, so be ready! Can't wait to see you all in person.�� Bass player Yusuke Takeda adds: “It's been a while since we played a concert where the audience could scream and shout, so I want to have as much fun as we possibly can.”

RADWIMPS have also recently teamed up with highly acclaimed film music composer Kazuma Jinnouchi to create the perfect soundtrack and score for award-winning auteur director Makoto Shinkai’s latest film “Suzume” now showing in theatres across Asia.

"Suzume” is the story about a young girl traveling through various ruins across Japan while closing doors causing disaster. “Suzume” opened in Japan on Nov. 11, 2022. It was #1 for 3 consecutive weeks with a gross of over 14.22 billion Yen at the box office to date! The international rollout started on March 2nd in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau and Suzume has opened to number one in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea and Vietnam so far with over 2 million people have seen the film. The film just opened in one of the biggest markets in the world -China- on March 24th and it sold 70 million yuan (US$10.17 million) in pre-sale tickets ahead of its release, making it the highest number of pre-sales for an animated film in China ever. The soundtrack by RADWIMPS and Kazuma Jinnouchi also recently received “Best Music” at 46th Japan Academy Award.

Formed in 2001, Japanese 4-piece band RADWIMPS made their major label debut in 2005. Soon after, they garnered a broad fan base, with the younger generation at the core. The band has released nine studio albums thus far. The band's creation of music for Shinkai’s previous record-breaking animated feature films "Your Name." and "Weathering with You" led to recognitions at the Japanese Academy Award for Best Original Score. Their musical activities go far beyond Japan, including touring extensively around the world.

In Nov. 2021, the band released their latest studio album “FOREVER DAZE” and went on the road for a nationwide Japanese tour to support the album. “FOREVER DAZE” was written and recorded throughout the pandemic and speaks to the musical challenges the guys faced, their hopes moving forward and features a diverse group of collaborators and experimental elements. The album welcomed guest artists including the famous actor/singer Masaki Suda, as well as two of the most up-and-coming artists, Awich and iri.

RADWIMPS ASIAN TOUR 2023 IN KUALA LUMPUR

Date: July 25, 2023, Tuesday

Venue: ZEPP Kuala Lumpur

Ticket Prices: MYR408 / MYR398 / MYR368 (excluding MYR4 booking fee)

Ticketing: www.ticketcharge.com.my

Hotline: +603-92228811 * All prices exclude RM4 booking fee. * Each transaction is limited to 4 tickets only.