#forgot about asia for a moment there

[calandrinon]

*laughs in eurovision*

Reblog and list in the tags which languages/dialects (besides your first or primary one(s)) you have songs in in your music library.

[lara4eclipze]

“what am i supposed to do without you?”

sypnosis; work , train , new city the cycle never ended for yoonchae drowned in fame—she starts to drift from the only love of her life

cw; fluff , angst , lovey dovey , yoonchae is a sweetheart, a lil crying just a little , miscommunication , pabo is a Korean word which means stupid or dumb, a bit of jelousy

now playing; “Mr.Loverman”

"Lets welcome KATSEYE!". the speakers blare around the mall , as the girls walk out

"hi I'm yoonchae" you heard her sweet voice , you got to sit at front since vip i guess?

for obvious reasons you had to keep the relationship a secret but you enjoyed it , cheering the group seeing her shine on stage was definitely a cure to your sadness

—

"you did amazing" you said as you enter the dressing room , Lara and Megan where there as well so you greeted them

"aww thanks" yoonchae responds , her smile highlighting her face

you hug her and give her some flowers

"soo... when's your next performance" you ask

"I don't know yet—but we're going to korea to have a meeting with Hybe" the younger responds

"ohh" you didn't really get what she meant but you had to say something

"you don't get it?" she asks

"no I do" you chuckle

"yeah right pabo" yoonchae says giggling

—ᝰ.ᐟ

now you get it , yoonchae is in Korea currently and apparently their talking about the next comeback of the group

song named touch or something , the chorus was very catchy , yoonchaes voice suits it you thought

"and we went to eomma to eat" the younger says over facetime

"ooh , was it good?" you ask , smiling at the girl who kept on yapping on the other line

"yep , Lara and Sophia literally fought over the last piece of tteokboki" she chuckles remembering the moment

"I miss you" you said

"I miss you too , but I am going back in a week I think" she replies to with a pout

—ᝰ.ᐟ

maybe you were overreacting but who wouldn't? , yoonchae hasn't answered your text and calls for like a week

yet you kept on reasoning maybe because she was busy?

"yoonie , I miss youu (⁠ ⁠･ั⁠﹏⁠･)" you chat her , besides she should be in the U.S by now

you wait and wait then wait , you kept on waiting

as you wait you scroll on Twitter , until you see katseye has a schedule to perform at a mall

you wonder why yoonchae hasn't told you yet — but maybe she just forgot to tell you

you bought tickets and got ready for the day

—ᝰ.ᐟ

music was loud , people were loud hell even the chairs you sat on was too loud for your liking

yes your social battery is as low as zero right now but what kept you in the mall was the upcoming performance

finally the girls were on stage , they were in position for their song "Debut" you really loved the song not only for it's fun choreo but the lyrics were amazing too

"hello everyone we are katseye!"

one by one the girls said and introduced yourself

"hi I'm Sophia!"

"hello everyone I am Manon and I am Lara"

"hi mall of Asia I am Megan!"

"Hola I'm daniela"

"annyeong— I'm Yoonchae"

you cheered and so did everyone else,they were beautiful

yoonchae saw you , and waved at you — you smiled back and held up a little handmade sign

"we love you katseye" written in some messy handwriting

the girls signed back a heart sign showing their gratitude

—ᝰ.ᐟ

after the show you stayed for a while meeting up with Lara's mom

"hey auntie" you said waving to her she waves back and you see Rhea behind her

"wanna come the girls are gonna eat at some restaurant" you nod In agreement

—ᝰ.ᐟ

"yoonie.." you ran up to her hugging her

"missed you" you pout at the younger

"me too" she giggles

"anyways let's sit down.." you said walking with her to your seat

after eating you asked yoonchae why she hasn't been online lately

"just busy" she replied nonchalantly which weirded you out , I mean she would've atleast sent you a hi but she didn't

"oh" you reply with the same tone

"lets call later?" she ask , which obviously lightened up your mood

a small grin plastered on your face

"yes please , what time?"

"maybe somewhere around 8-9pm" she replied

"okay yoonie " you kiss her cheeks , getting caught by Lara who makes a disgusted face

"yeah as if you and Manon are worse" the younger teased back

—ᝰ.ᐟ

finally home you took a replenishing bath and wore the pyjamas yoonchaes mom bought you

you text yoonchae about the call , and she replies with a thumbs up

weird. you thought

getting bored of waiting since It was probably getting late I mean look at the clock it's 10pm there's practically no sign of yoonchae

*this might be desperate" you exhale , you decided to call Lara instead to atleast know where yoonchae is

"hey , oh she's at Nayoungs place" Lara replied, you thank her and tell her to stay safe

"blah blah blah nayoung" you mutter under your breath , you excuse it as an freind thing but god you hated it

—ᝰ.ᐟ

7:30am

yoonie💗:"babe sorry , I was busy last night — i forgot"

yoonie💗:"sorry :(( , i love you"

you read the texts , yes it was mean not to reply to her but it constantly felt like you were the only one reaching out is there even a point to try?

you cook up something to eat , whilst getting ready to go to the gym

"shit" you mutter as the toast you bit in to was too hot

—ᝰ.ᐟ

while working out you listened to some music, debut was always and will be in every single playlist you had

you felt someone tap your shoulders

"hey"

you turn around pleasantly surprised, Ezrela?

"ezzie! , hey how are you??" you ask hugging her

"sorry bout the sweat" you said chuckling

"I've been good! , and no problem" The shorter replied

"i was wondering if you wanted to come over later—i invited the others aswell since you know I just got casted for some movie" She giggles

"yeah! , what time?" you said excited upon hearing the news

"come by at 8pm you know my address anyways" she said after so walking away

—ᝰ.ᐟ

at the party you saw some dream academy contestants and you knew the girls will be here aswell

"hey ezzie!" you run up to Ezrela giving her your gift

"congratulations by the way!" you said smiling at her

"aww thank you" she said leading you to the backyard

you saw some familiar faces , like Emily , Adela , Lexie and Nayoung — you forced yourself to smile and greet all of them

since most girls were adults their were drinks offered and mocktails for the younger

you were distracted waiting for the front door to open and her to come in , you missed her , plus it was getting late

Lexie approaches you , and you both got into a deep talk , maybe it was the alcohol hitting you but somehow the subject turned to you and yoonchae

"i really miss her you know—sometimes i wanna just keep her with me and hide her from the public" you said

"that's like kidnapping" Lexie chuckles to which you chuckle too

"but I get it — either way , just think about her being successful it will make her happy and what makes you happy?" Lexie follows

"her being happy" you repeat

you failed to notice how yoonchae was already in the party to busy talking, you excuse yourself to the bathroom from Lexie to which she nods too

"babe" you hear someone whisper

looking behind you saw yoonchae , fiddling with her jacket

"oh hi" you replied, you started feeling your eyes blur knowing damn well you were gonna cry you push into the bathroom

"are you okay?" the concerned younger one asks

"yeah.." you replied using some tissues to wipe away any stray tear

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize how far I got from you—i saw you talking to Lexie about it , and I just don't want us to drift this far ever again" the younger states , her hands itching to hug you , a pout evident on her face

you took the initiative and hug her , she rest her head on your shoulders as she mutters some apology

"don't worry , I love you that's what matters" you replied, joy just filling you up

"i promise I'll make sure to stay in touch with you" the younger exhales

"i thought about you wayyyy too much , for my own good too ya know , i mean i didn't hear from you for like two days" you said , the younger presses her lips to your cheeks

"love you"

"love you too" you replied

[hallmarkdestiel]

This one is about one of my favorite ships. Sabriel is the relationship between Sam and Gabriel. Now I know what you’re thinking.

“But he tortured Sam in the Mystery Spot episode by killing Dean over and over again.”

I get it. That’s a valid point. But here’s the thing. Sam and Gabriel have similarities in their storyline. The younger brother who just wanted out so he ran away. He wanted to be free. I’m not sure how to do this. This is hard. The point of Mystery Spot was that Gabriel was trying to prepare Sam for Dean’s death. Oh and the fact that he played ‘Heat of the moment.’ By Asia which by the way, is a LOVE song.

‘I never meant to be so bad to you

One thing I said that I would never do

A look from you and I would fall from grace

And that would wipe the smile right from my face’

Those are the first words in the song that played every morning. Gabriel was apologizing to Sam for doing this. He was trying to make a point but clearly this wasn’t exactly the best way to do that. I should probably add in here that Sam knows how Gabriel feels and what he went through in hell. They both shared the same trauma. By that, I mean they were both tortured in hell. Oh and they both have trauma due to Lucifer. If you consider the fact that Gabriel was killed by his own brother. (Or well we were meant to think that for EIGHT years.)Gabriel stayed back with Lucifer at the hotel, telling the Winchesters to leave with Kali. He stayed behind in the AU world with AU Michael. Do you ever think about the fact that Gabriel stayed behind twice because he KNEW he was going to die? He knew he wasn’t going to survive and not only that but when Sam begged him to bring Dean back, Gabriel did (Sam gave him the puppy dog eyes. The power that he has.) Even back at the hotel, he looked at Sam first before he looked at Dean. Oh and here’s something else. You know how Castiel says, “Hello Dean. Sam.”

Gabriel said, “Sam... Dean.”

Also the fact that Richard Speight Jr himself thinks that Gabriel is a good Guardian Angel for Sam. Gabriel is the Angel of Monday and what was Sam born on. Yeah. You guessed it. A MONDAY. In the Thing, Sam was the only one that Gabriel let touch him. He wouldn’t even let his own BROTHER touch him. Sam sat there with Gabriel. He was patient. He was so gentle taking the stitches off. If you watch the whole episode, when Gabriel is with Sam. That is the ONLY time he blinks. Plus everyone knows that saying “I need you” is the Winchester way of saying “I love you.” Now I know what you’re thinking.

“But that I need you belongs to Destiel!!!!”

No. It doesn’t. It can apply to other ships too. Sabriel is just another parallel to Destiel. And I can tell you why. In Exodus, when Sam dies, Gabriel blames himself. He blames himself because he couldn’t do anything. He’s low on grace, practically human and he couldn’t do anything to save Sam. Then when Sam came back, he stood up and he couldn’t even believe his eyes. Sam was alive. And don’t even get me started on the whole leader of Heaven thing. They made this whole big deal about Gabriel being the leader of Heaven.

“Get off my moose!”

And before that, when Asmodick came back in the bunker to steal Gabriel back, that Boss hog wannabe hurt Sam and Cas and faced the wrath of a VERY pissed off Archangel. I forgot to talk about tall tales. The first time they met. The way they looked at each other is just like how Dean and Castiel look at each other. It’s obvious that Gabriel had a crush on Sam. He’s a trickster. He’s messing with Sam and doesn’t know how to handle it. Changing channels. He constantly screws with Sam. Mystery Spot. Again, he doesn’t know how to deal with his crush on Sam. Oh and did I mention that Gabriel straight up flirted with Sam? He literally said, “Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you’re just a pretty face.”

I think that’s all I can think of for now.

[putschki1969]

🇹🇭YKL vol.#20 ～Asia Tour 20th Special SETLIST～　【Bangkok】 Live Report🇹🇭

Wow, what a week it has been. My Thailand trip was an exciting but very exhausting experience. I'm finally back home and after spending an entire day just relaxing on Tuesday, I feel somewhat ready to tackle this live report. I'm back to work and there's a lot to do but I still want to post as much as possible before I lose all of my motivation. Still took me several days to finish this so I am sorry for the delay🙏 I'll start with some general stuff from the day of the live and then continue with a detailed report. Without further ado, let's get to it〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→

Before The Live

The concert was held on November 15th at Bangkok Union Hall. At that point I had already been in Thailand for two and a half days doing all sorts of Kalafina and touristy stuff. Needless to say, I was quite exhausted from my previous activities (more on that in a future post) but I was determined to enjoy the day to the fullest. The only major thing planned for that day was a meet-up with some fellow fans to get lunch and dinner so thankfully, nothing too strenuous. Although one could argue that social interactions like this are always a big struggle for me :P Anyway, I headed to the venue quite early in the morning to meet my friends. We were doing some last-minute shopping at a nearby mall to complete the presents for Keiko and Hikaru. Also, we wanted to check out our flower stand which had been put up earlier that morning. I was beyond happy to participate in this particular flower stand project. The HiKei chibis turned out super cute and the banner was also adorable (just look at little Moo Deng🦛). I'm a little bummed though that I didn't get to take the cardboard print home with me since the girls requested the flower stand to be brought to their dressing room after the live (initially, we had planned to take all the decorative stuff off the flower stand after the concert before the flower shop picked it up but alas, it wasn't meant to be). Oh well, we got all those sweet pics with Keiko and Hikaru so that pretty much erased any feelings of disappointment. Thankfully, I got my acrylic key-holders and stickers as a little consolation. I will certainly treasure them forever. During the meet-up with some fellow fans, I also got a bunch of presents, including some gorgeous fan-made articles for the two lives in China. Honestly, I feel so blessed to have received all of this. Thank you so much to everyone who thought of me!

Speaking of fellow fans, I appreciated everyone who came up to me to say "hi". I was also very happy about all the yummy souvenirs. The suncakes from Taiwan saved my life during the following days because I always had a lovely snack to accompany my morning coffee. Sorry if I came across as awkward or reserved to some of you, I am not used to being in big crowds like that and meeting strangers is not among my strengths. Also wish I had gotten more commemorative pics with everyone but oh well, in the heat of the moment it's easy to forget about stuff like that.

For lunch we had planned to go to a Hainanese Chicken place but unfortunately, they didn't have enough room for our group so we ended up going to KFC XD. I forgot to take pictures but our order was honestly not that exciting anyway. I was so eager to try spicy food during my stay in Bangkok but that stuff at KFC was a total let-down (probably our fault though for not looking properly at the menu - they may have had some spicier stuff that we just didn't see). Dinner that day more than made up for it though since my main dish was incredibly delicious. Don't ask me what it was called, it was some sort of fried pork concoction with garlic and chili, simply fabulous and probably one of the best things I had during that trip.

Despite having a lot of fun during these activities, I kinda regret not being able to see anything of the Loy Krathong festivities that day. The weird timing of the concert would have made it very inconvenient to check out any of the festival sites and on top of that there were some bad weather forecasts so no one wanted to risk getting wet😢 It's a real shame but oh well, I guess the live was worth it.

♪The Live♪

Seat

I was very lucky to have dedicated friends who made sure I'd get a VIP front-row seat right across from Keiko's spot on the stage [the picture below was taken at the end of the concert when I was already walking outside so it doesn't properly reflect my point of view - I was seated a little more to the right side]. She was pretty much right in front of me during the entire live so of course, I was in heaven. Taking my eyes off her was a real challenge and at times I honestly felt a little bad for the other singers because I didn't really pay that much attention to them whenever Keiko was on stage. Also, this might make me sound like a perv but I was absolutely mesmerised by Keiko's legs. During her main solo parts she would always turn to the side or turn her back to the audience. Not sure why (maybe because so the audience would focus on her singing rather than her gorgeous face? Or she was a little self-conscious? Who knows). Either way, during these parts her legs were on full display and since her skirt was quite short on one side, you could basically get a glimpse of her tiny safety shorts with every tiny move she made 🫣

One tiny complaint I had was that the stage was quite far away from the audience area and they even felt the need to put up a relatively high metal barrier which created a weird sense of distance despite being all the way up in the front. Nevertheless, the concert felt very intimate to me and I think for that reason, I enjoyed it much more than my past Yuki Kajiura live experiences. I also gained a new appreciation for certain songs that I previously didn't care for all that much. I honestly can't stress this enough, experiencing a concert like this in such an intimate manner is vastly superior to watching a DVD/BD/live stream or even attending it in a spot somewhere further away from the stage. Everything feels and sounds completely different. Your entire body is getting caught in this spectacle and you get a full-on adrenaline rush. It's during these moments when I barely notice any flaws or mishaps. I've been made fun of in the past for always writing these overly positive and raving reviews of concerts but I personally don't even notice half of the bad stuff when I am on such a high. Plus, I don't enjoy lingering on the negative stuff which is why you won't see much of that in any of my reports.

Venue

To be fair, it wasn't a particularly good concert hall, at least in my opinion. The venue was a lot smaller than expected and it felt more like a convention hall rather than a proper concert hall. There are much better venues available in Bangkok but they were probably already booked or too expensive. Also, from what I've heard, the concert tickets didn't sell that well so it was probably a good thing that they stuck with this sort of venue. At any rate, it was very conveniently located at a MRT/BTS station so yay for that. The acoustics were decent enough I guess but nothing to write home about. The sound system could have used some improvements though, I don't think the instruments and vocals were very well-balanced throughout most of the concert. But maybe that could be chalked up to my position in the audience. Just a little disclaimer here, I am not very tech-savvy in that regard but on more than one occasion I noticed that the sound was kinda off...Mind you, not to an extent that would have taken away from my overall enjoyment of the concert but enough for me to notice it several times.

Setlist:

the world: Will always prefer Keiko on main but it is what it is, Joelle on main is fine too. It's a good song so it's a treat to hear it live no matter who is leading. The harmonies at the end didn't quite work for me. Was a bit all over the place. I think the sound system was at fault here.

in the land of twilight, under the moon: Not usually one of my faves but I thoroughly enjoyed this rendition.

vanity: What a blessing to hear this live in concert again! My first time was in Taiwan and I don't think I ever recovered from it. Correct me if I am wrong though but they made a big change during the performance regarding Keiko's epic yayayay part. She flawlessly did her solo of course but then when Joelle starting to sing that final chorus, she didn't continue to sing in the background which she would usually do. I found that very unusual. Also checked the bootleg recordings from the live in China and she did the same thing there too. Huh...Since when did they change it? That was a bit of a bummer to be honest since the very final part felt less epic because of it.

My long forgotten cloistered sleep: So, so good!! Huge fan! Joelle is getting better at it too so I am enjoying her version more and more.

I swear: Wow, what a revelation! I did not expect to suddenly fall in love with this song. I am obviously a huge Keiko-stan but due to her using her cutesy voice in this, it's never really appealed to me. It's always been one of those songs that I preferred to skip during re-watches of home video releases because it didn't really do anything for me. This time though, it felt like Keiko was serenading me specifically (a delusion on my part of course but let me have that little fangirl moment XD). Anyway, this is what I meant earlier. All of a sudden, a song has a new meaning to you and it's only because you get to experience it on such a personal level. The lyrics couldn't be more appropriate: "♪I know, I’m in love♪"

fiction: Not my cup of tea so I tend to skip this but Joelle in particular always does a great job with this song. Her voice is a perfect fit. Definitely my favourite performance so far because I was more into it than usual.

I reach for the sun: Love, love, love.

in the garden of sinners: Damn it, this one hurt so much, I literally almost cried. I don't even really know why but I could barely handle it. All I wanted to hear was Wakana together with Keiko and honestly, it was her voice in my mind, Joelle didn't exist for me in those moments. No matter what happens, I will always associate these melodies with Wakana and Keiko. On one hand, this performance made me incredibly sad but on the other hand, it made me feel even more grateful about the upcoming Kalafina Anniversary Live. Just the thought of hearing the three of them together again is bringing tears to my eyes.

ARIA: What a shame. I knew what to expect of course but it still hurt to hear Joelle sing the chorus. Unlike others, I didn't think that Hikaru sounded all that bad so she could have definitely handled the chorus (especially being backed by Keiko). She might not have sounded her best but who cares?! This is HER song so she should be in the lead. Period. I remember someone saying that Yuki wanted to go back to the original key (more of a speculation, as far as I know, it's not actually confirmed) so she gave the chorus to Joelle but Joelle was kinda struggling with it too so ultimately, we didn't really gain anything from having her in the lead. On a side note, I am just so relieved that Keiko and Joelle didn't do the infamous arm gesture that Wakana and Keiko used to do all the time. All of this sounds rather negative but to be honest, I still liked the performance despite being a little disappointed with the vocal arrangement. it's one of my all-time favourite Kala-songs so it's always a pleasure to hear it.

Magia: By now I am used to the FictionJunction cover version of this and it's really quite good. Solid performance. No notes.

Kimi no Gin no Niwa: Again, good stuff but since I don't particularly like the song it was just okay to me.

ring your bell: Ugghhh, probably my least favourite performance of the night. It's such a difficult song to perform and I honestly don't even like most of Kalafina's live versions but this one was hard to get through. Maybe the sound system was to blame a bit because LINO LEIA's microphone did some weird stuff that made her singing sound worse than it probably was. Plus, I honestly don't think she is a very good fit for the song. Hell, not even Wakana is a good fit for the song 90% of the time. For some reason, LINO LEIA kept using her more generic singing voice when instead, she should've opted for a more controlled head voice. Towards the end we heard a more solid delivery but the rest was unfortunately a bit messy.

to the beginning: Okay I guess. It's certainly one of the better Kalafina covers they do at YKL because Joelle and Yuriko add a lot of dimension. And since I have never been a fan of the song to begin with, it's not like I am missing Wakana too much.

Yasashii Yoake: The See-Saw section of the live was so much more fun than I had expected. Actually really surprised how much I enjoyed it since I am not too familiar with Yuki's old work and don't usually listen to any of it. Also, with Keiko not playing a big role in this corner, I thought I wouldn't be into it. But I guess the songs are just really good with catchy melodies so I couldn't help but like them. Also, my proximity to the stage once again helped me to have a bit more appreciation for the music. All three songs were featured at Kaji Fes. but I don't recall them leaving a huge impression on me. Back then I didn't mind them but I didn't get too excited. This time, I was having a great time from the get-go. Love the Joelle/Yuriko duo here. Joelle's voice works super well for this type of song.

Obsession: I remember not being particularly impressed by the Kaji Fes. performance but the Bangkok version was so cool. LINO LEIA and Keiko did a great job. So cool!! After that rather mediocre "ring your bell" performance, it was nice to hear LINO LEIA sing in a more comfortable range.

Senya Ichiya: Starting to love rito's vocals more and more. She's so criminally underused during these lives. Despite being promoted to "regular" singer, she really doesn't get to do much.

the main theme of “L.O.R.D”: One of my all-time faves. Joelle's best song if you ask me. Will never get tired of hearing it. Although I feel like at this point Joelle had already run out of steam a little because the performance didn't quite hit the spot in terms of oomph-factor. I think it's because Joelle had to carry 90% of the show and was thus running on low-heat towards the end. Still had a blast!

absolute configuration: Love having all the girls on stage for these sort of epic battle songs. Gorgeous harmonies.

luminous sword: Same as above. Perfect transition and a lovely continuation of the epicness.

蒼穹のファンファーレ: Typically not one of my favourite songs but yet again, I found myself enjoying it more than I usually would. The heat on stage was contagious so I simply got swept away in the excitement.

En. the image theme of Xenosaga II: Don't remember much of this but it was nice.

En.nowhere: Wow, wow, wow! What an amazing performance. So much more energised than during the Kaji Fes concert. Definitely one of the songs where I very much appreciated my closeness to the stage. I could really feel the heat and had such a blast, especially when Keiko began to really interact with the audience. Almost made me want to stand up but in the end, I remained seated (really not the type to move a lot during a concert). I have to agree with everyone who has already shared their thoughts on the other Asia live performances, this was definitely one of the highlights for Hikaru as far as her vocal delivery was concerned. Her voice was very powerful here.

En.into the world: I love that this has become almost a staple of YKL. It's such a gorgeous song with a beautiful message and I think Joelle as well as Yuriko manage to improve the overall harmonies with their added vocals.

[dlstmxkakwldrlarchive]

240623 ONEW Fanmeet Guess 2024 Asia Tour in Macau

fanacc story about this: 'Hello, I'm the shawol on the wheelchair who couldn't came up o the stage. Yesterday I met a lot of good people! Thank you to all the shawols who gave me freebies and all the staff members who helped me; they helped me go down the stairs and said thank you for supporting ONEW. At first I thought I wouldn't get the hi bye benefit, at most I'd only see Jinki in person. But he didn't just showed up but also squatted down to talk me, and the translator lady also helped translating. It was really something I never thought before, I'm really grateful. [...] After the hi bye session ended he walked over I thought he'd just say hello to me, but he squatted down and asked me if I wanted to say something to him so I asked him when will he come (t/n: OP forgot to say, she's a longtime fan from Hong Kong), He looked confused and asked me 'where?', I said 'Hong Kong'. He turned his head to his manager and asked when eill he go then looked back at me and said he'll definitely go. I said I'm excited for him and SHINee to come together to Hong Kong, he smiled and nodded. Then the translator lady asked if I have more things to say to him. I didn't know what to say at the moment so I said no. He then waved his hands and walked to the translator lady and she taugh him how to say 'Good health' (t/n: as in 'wish you good health') in cantonese, then he said 'good health' to me (he said it very well). Translator lady said 'he wished you good health', I immediately replied to him 'you have to be healthy and happy too!!' He laughed and put his hands together to say thank you and kept smiling while walking off stage. The video captured it very well. fanacc replying to a comment: 'When I saw Jinki walked and squatted down to talk to me, I really felt his thoughtfulness. He actually didn't have to squat down, but he took the initiative, because I couldn't stand he squatted down to be on the same eye level as me, so I didn't have to look up to him. He made me feel respected, he's really gentle'

source | trans

[sepublic]

Adding to the possibility of Eda’s Requiem being the last “natural” TOH episode written where the writers didn’t have to worry about the shortening, where it was the intended pace and flow… It makes me think because in Hunting Palismen, we get our first proper glimpse at the coven heads, all nine! And then in the very next episode we see them again, this time without their cloaks, and are introduced to three.

I understand that with the shortening, the writers had to prioritize wrapping up pre-existing characters (with the Collector introduced as a second immortal friend for King when he outlives everyone else). And they tried to fit in Terra and Adrian where they could!

But man, if the writers didn’t have to worry… Makes me wonder if the next episode after Eda’s Requiem, if it wasn’t Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door, would’ve introduced another coven head; Maybe another three, per the previous episode, and the episode after that, the final three! Or at least two, one. Subsequent episodes having some coven head debut until that’s all nine.

I do speculate that Vitimir was slated next, given his presence alongside Terra and Adrian and nobody else; And not to get into conspiracy territory, but when asked about dropped coven head plot lines, Dana was able to remember Hettie Cutburn’s name, but not Osran’s, even if she talked about both. But she did name drop Vitimir even if she had nothing else to say. Which makes me believe he and Hettie were the most recent ones in Dana’s mind, due to being planned next!

After that is Osran and/or Mason; The storyboards for Any Sport in a Storm actually show Mason as one of the Penstagram accounts that Darius is scrolling through, showing off his grandkids! Seems like setup for Mason to make a proper debut with his family as a plot point. Makes me wonder if ASIAS and a few other episodes were also planned prior to the news, but had to be reshuffled and/or got left relatively intact.

(Did the writers also originally plan to include Mason before realizing they had no room, as they went through the process for 2B? Or was it just a cameo crumb they changed their mind on?)

After all, Clouds on the Horizon has storyboards depicting Amity with the portal key around her neck, despite that being lost long ago; Could just be a mistake by the storyboarder, I forgot which one. But what if that was going to follow up shortly after Eda’s Requiem, not Eclipse Lake, and would’ve been where Amity lost the key?

Of course, this implies that Alador would’ve gotten his act together even sooner than canon, or that CotH was changed quite a bit with some select moments still remaining the same, but the context around them being different due to the shortening forcing storylines to be reorganized. It’s amazing the end product turned out quite comprehensible and pretty satisfying!

With the original S3 plans involving the protagonists, Abomination mechs, and a desert, this all makes me think of Kikimora with Roka and her home of Palm Stings. And with Osran as someone who knew her mother and got her a position because of it, maybe his debut episode would’ve been there instead? Or he’s introduced around the end of S2A, and comes back for Kikimora’s backstory.

And since Odalia provides Roka the Abomatron, that whole bit wouldn’t have been there in the original version of CotH, maybe… Since Kikimora is there to kidnap Luz, which leads to her confronting Belos and Kikimora helping stop the Day of Unity in revenge. Or maybe she would’ve delivered the key to Belos, not Hunter. Oh to interrogate one of the writers over all of these things…!

[kimbap-r0ll]

White Day with the dorm leaders

It was White Day yesterday, which is basically Valentine's Day but specifically for the guys to give to girls in certain countries in Asia. The reader is still gender neutral though since I treat White Day as belated Valetine's. I wanted to write this earlier but I didn't have time, hope you enjoy!

Riddle

This man wanted to give you the best thing possible but couldn't figure out if a poem would be too cringe or if chocolates would be too cliche

He ended up doing both, getting really nervous about giving them to you, and then forgetting until the last minute to actually deliver it (how could he!)

Cursing at himself for being so clumsy, he runs to Ramshackle and knocks on your door. That's when he realizes he has no idea what to say, how to look perfect as a boyfriend, and then you open the door

"Uh, I heard it's White Day, um...here I just made something for you!" he pushes a little box into your hands and quickly flees before you can ask him what was in the box :/

Tell him you enjoyed the poem (though it was quite sappy) and the chocolates (he made some with Trey!). He'll be red in the face, but you can tell from his flustered smile that he was super happy you liked it

Leona

He didn't even know what White Day was until his brother's wife called him and said "did you get anything for your sweetheart?"

Leona's too lazy to actually get you something, but he does have a bunch of expensive jewelry and trinkets lying around. It wouldn't hurt to just give you one of those, right?

He ends up doing just that. Ruggie advises against it ("feels to haphazard, don't ya think?") but Leona's pride is too big.

You weren't expecting to get anything, so he was surprised at how much you liked it. He thought he would backfire, but seeing your eyes light up made him smile softly to himself

He won't tell anyone that he has that day marked somewhere now on a sticky note. The next time he gives something to you he doesn't want it to just be thrown on your desk as you're studying as he says "here, happy White Day."

Azul

Probably planned every minute of the day. He has an extravagant gift in mind (probably some new perfume or so he created with his own creativity) and he knows exactly how to act suave

Then when you actually show up to the Monstro Lounge he forgets how words work. He just stands there, looking at you, and then stutters a "hi."

You two end up sharing a few snacks together before he finally gives you the gift. He says he wanted to be a bit cooler but he has to keep his emotions from running all over his brain. Tell him it's fine to not always be perfect, he'll literally melt on spot

The perfume's perfect too. It's the exact kind of scent you like, not too strong but also not too dull, and it's even better that he made it specifically for you. It's a nice gift!

You two end up spending the whole night together just talking and going over some extra homework you brought (since you forgot it was White Day you thought you would be doing work). It's a nice moment to bond!

Kalim

He knew he had to get you something, but he wasn't sure if he should go with something small or something extravagant. He was going to basically give you a whole chocolate factory but Jamil said "NO >:("

He ended up trying to find a treasure or so he could give to you, and the best thing he could find was some jewelry and silks. He thought this would do and went to find you

He's the best at communicating out of all of the dorm leaders, especially when it comes to his feelings.

The first thing he does is he shouts your name, then jumps at what you think is about five feet into the air, and then tackles you. "HAPPY WHITE DAY!!!" he shouts while you try to get back up

The gifts are really pretty, and you can tell he wanted to give you more but let him know that what matters to you is that he cares for you. It'll make him super happy

Vil

Also someone who thinks he can be perfect but will have no idea actually how to approach a romantic partner

He decides it will be best if he were to get you a designer jacket from one of the companies he's an ambassador for, but he has no idea how to give it to you and what to say. From all of his acting career, he knows he should at least smile but then what about the words? Is it too cliche to say "I love you?"

When he finally meets up with you, he's very good at acting calm (remember, it's all just an act for now). Handing you the gift, he places a soft kiss on your cheek and asks that you open it.

Of course you show that you really liked it, but when you finally say "Thank you so much!" Vil has no idea what to do. He just awkwardly smiles and says "glad you liked it."

You might've not really noticed how he's emotionally constipated, but give him a hug and he'll be super flustered haha

Idia

He knew what this was because he's seen too many romance animes haha

He plans to give you something through an rpg game you two play. However, Ortho suggests that Idia should give you something in-person instead. But what would that be?

Idia has a few ideas: chocolate? No, "that's kinda normie ngl," or maybe something related to the characters you like? He ends up getting you a plushie from a game you enjoy

Idia doesn't know how to give it to you nor where to do it, so he just asks that you come by to his dorm. "Um, I-I got you something," Idia says, nervously handing you the gift. Tell him thank you and give him a big hug!

You two probably spend the rest of the day watching Ghibli (does that exist in Twisted Wonderland) films together and just vibing. He'll want to do this next year too!

Malleus

Didn't know about the tradition until Lilia brought it up. He wanted to get you something soon, so it worked out nicely!

Malleus probably wants to make you something, maybe a fae-related item. It could be a tiny model of a spinning wheel (a trademark item back in his kingdom) but that doesn't really seem right. He ends up getting you chocolates since he has no idea haha

Also one of the calmer people when it comes to actually giving you the present. He'll walk over to Ramshackle and knock on your door. When you open it, expect him to smile warmly and tell you "Happy White Day" before handing you the box

"I was hoping we could go on a walk together, it's nice weather outside too," Malleus says. You two end up taking a stroll, hand in hand, and stopping by the lake. Who knows, maybe you two will waltz!

He'll drop you off at your place and head back to Diasomnia later in the evening. Will he tell anyone about what happened while he was out? No. Was Lilia probably stalking the whole situation? Yes.

[flameswallower]

THE BEST FICTION I ENCOUNTERED IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2024!!

Due to what I feel is the most in my wheelhouse re: ability to give a critical defense or determine artistic quality, and also so I won't be here ALL DAY, this list will include books, comics, interactive fiction, and one short video webseries I really liked. It will not include movies, TV shows, non-IF games, or nonfiction, although I do also enjoy/partake in those things.

Everything on this list was new to me this year with the exception of the comic strip Junk World; however, Junk World released as a zine fairly recently, and I forgot to mention it on my end of 2023 list, so I feel fine putting it here. "New to me" does not mean something necessarily released this year, so I have put the year of release in parentheses next to the work where I know the year of release. A couple of these books haven't actually come out yet (I read ARCs); I've noted that when describing them and they will also be on the end-of-year list so people don't forget about them. : )

--------------------

Novels and Novellas!

Cuckoo, by Gretchen Felker-Martin (2024): This is a blisteringly angry book: a constantly burning blow torch pointed at homophobia, transphobia, and, especially, the pervasive scourge of hidden, ignored, and socially approved child abuse. Yet Cuckoo has great tenderness for its immensely damaged protagonists, and also takes the time to flesh out and empathize with some of its odious antagonists. This nuanced characterization provides a necessary counterpoint to the rage that fuels the novel, and makes it more moving and memorable than most other politically charged, hyper-violent works of fiction. There are quiet moments of connection and sorrow that are going to stay with me far longer than the scenes of dynamite explosions and shoot outs with shrieking, starfish-faced cops.

Failure To Comply, by Cavar (comes out in August 2024): Reading Cavar’s Failure to Comply, I couldn’t help but think of the recent David Cronenberg movie Crimes of the Future. Both deal with dystopias in which bodies and their modification are strictly regulated, and people with unauthorized bodies form a vibrant, perpetually imperiled subculture on the margins. Both use this conceit to speak metaphorically about the plights of trans and disabled people, although Failure to Comply’s characters are also presented as literally, textually disabled and trans. But, although Crimes of the Future is often accused of being a “weird movie,” Failure to Comply is undeniably much, much weirder. Cronenberg is super normal compared to this.

Maej, by Dale Stromberg (comes out in September 2024): a doorstopper I found difficult to put down and finished inside a week; a work of very unapologetic genre fiction that’s equally unapologetic in its intelligence and dedication to doing strange, creative things with language; a high fantasy story I actually liked. The setting is the city of Sforre-Yomn, in the country of Hwoama, whose culture combines elements from across the continents of Asia and Europe. But Hwoama is matriarchal: men are subordinate to women, who dominate politics, business, the military, and nearly all other professions. As a result of this fact, almost all the major characters in the novel are female. By turns this presents a fun, simple, mischievous inversion of maleness as the unmarked default state for fictional characters, and meaty commentary on the social construction of sex, sexuality, and gender. Stromberg has cited Le Guin as an influence on Maej and, in the most complimentary way possible, this influence is evident.

Wrath Goddess Sing, by Maya Deane (2022): I listened to the audiobook version, read by the lovely voice of Katherine Pucciarello, so I can't vouch for whether I would have enjoyed the novel (as much) in text form. However, the audiobook was an engrossing tale of bronze age sandal, sword, and sorcery. Although it is based on the story of Achilles, readers who want a very po-faced historically or mythologically faithful retelling would be wise to look elsewhere; that said, I for one have little interest in retellings that do not bring a lot of new stuff to the table, so I was happy with all of the strange, interesting, surprising directions this one went. I loved the bizarre, often horrific depictions of the gods; this book really captured the feverish, molten, giddy, and terrifying feeling that accompanies magic and spiritual encounters in real life. Like I said, this is essentially a lavish work of epic sword and sorcery, and I think it is best to set one's expectations through that lens.

More Bugs, by Em Reed (2024): A slow-paced existentialist character study/slice of life about a cynical, depressed butch woman going through a quarter-life crisis after circumstances force her to move back to her sleepy central Pennsylvania hometown and back in with her disapproving mother. Also a f/f age gap romance. Also a magical realist/sci-fi story about shapeshifting alien beings. It's unique, and I connected with it a lot.

Read and Then Burn This, by Rysz Merey (2024): Ah, young love! Have you ever been nineteen, shallow, insecure in your art, inexperienced in the world, and making poor sexual decisions? Haven't we all. This is a book about that. I find the relatively small scale of the proceedings, and the emotional numbness/constipation of the characters, makes this feel all the more sordid.

The Woods All Black, by Lee Mandelo (2024): This one has a couple flaws that bugged me while I was reading, but it's a revenge-horror romance story about two trans guys (or arguably: a trans guy and a butch) in 1920s Appalachia and it has blisteringly hot, graphic sex scenes of both the "regular" and the "monsterfucking" variety, so-- pretty much impossible for me not to enjoy overall! I thought the depiction of how 1.) people in the past conceived of transness differently than most people do today, and 2.) different trans people often conceive of their own transness differently, even if their embodiment is very similar, was nuanced and quite well done.

Short Story Collections!

Grime Time, by Ivy Grimes (2023): Some of the oddest short fiction I've read in ages! Grimes' surreal stories tend to be very brief, and they're almost always impossible to categorize. They deal heavily with ambivalence and ambiguity, two of my favorite things, and often end up unsettling the reader not because of anything particularly ominous or awful that happens in the narrative, but because it's very unclear what actually has happened, how the protagonist feels about it, and how the reader ought to feel about it. The definition of "really makes you think!" Grimes' prose is simple and clear, with minimal description, yet very distinctive. Often reminds me of Leonora Carrington.

White Cat, Black Dog, by Kelly Link (2023): Predictably enough, another all-bangers instant classic from Link. These stories are all based on fairy tales, with some following the original fairy tale quite closely and others taking very loose inspiration from the fairy tale or mixing and matching with elements from different tales. My personal favorite, the standout in an excellent collection, was "Prince Hat Underground," which is a really beautiful story about being in a long term relationship with someone you love but don't always get along with or understand, about accepting the inevitability of death and loss, and about what a fairy tale romance looks like when the people in the fairy tale romance are middle aged men on the cusp of old age, rather than wide-eyed young people.

Individual Short Stories!

"The Earth and Everything Under," by K.M. Ferebee (2014) is a slightly grotesque, surreal, fairy tale-like novelette about grief and witchcraft. I strongly suggest you read it at the link.

"The Clown Watches the Clown," by Sara S. Messenger (2024) is also slightly grotesque, surreal, and melancholic; it's about a young person in a space opera cyberpunk future who's caught in a rut. Again, you can and should read it at the link.

"The Evening and the Morning and the Night," by Octavia Butler (1987) has been anthologized in a few places and shouldn't be too difficult to track down, but I'd never read it before. It's an incredible work of sci-fi that deals with mad liberation/disability justice and also with (as in much of Butler's work) the idea of biology as destiny: to what extent are we at the mercy of our bodies and instinctual drives, and to what extent do we have the power to decide what we'll do with them? How do the stories we tell about certain kinds of bodies and medical conditions affect our ability to see that potential for choice, for agency, or just for things to turn out in a different and better way?

Comics!

Kiara's Junk World rules. I love the skillful inking, the cute animal characters, the playful and sardonic wit, the erudite references.

Interactive Fiction!

In a.c.d's The Beach That Makes You Old, you have to help a patient trapped in an evil hospice/psychiatric facility. (2024)

In K.A. Tan's Labyrinth, you play as the Minotaur, on the last day of his life. (2024)

Both games are free to play, with a play time of about forty-five minutes to an hour if you want to get all the endings/explore every aspect of the narrative. If you've never experienced interactive fiction before, it takes no special gaming skill: you just click through different links!

Video!

Mr. Samuel's Teatime Stories, dir. Yara Asmar (2024) is a distorted, Lynchian faux-children's show. Unlike, say, Don't Hug Me, I'm Scared, the tone is much more eerie, elegiac, and somber-- or, occasionally, surprisingly sweet-- than darkly comedic and satirical (which isn't to say there are no jokes or funny moments). I found it really moving by the end.

[numericalbridge]

TOH rewatch semi-liveblog. Season 3 Episode 1

- tbh i don't know why i made a separate post for this episode instead of doing all three episodes of season 3 together, but i guess i rewatched this one separately, so here it is.

- Maybe i was in the wrong mood while i was rewatching it, but i didn't particulary enjoy it this time, even though on the first watch this episode was easily my second or third favourite episode of the whole series, and it made me very excited for the rest of season 3.

But this time, while i still appreciate Luz's and Camila's character development and backstory, and i still think it had utilized the limited time fairly well, and the montages were great, the episode overall wasn't really that enjoyable. Maybe it's because now i know how the rest of season 3 goes, and episode 2 was a great disappointment. And there is too much focus on Hunter - which would've been fine if the episode finalized his arc and then moved the focus to other important characters, like Gus, but knowing that this won't happen... really doesn't help the enjoyment.

- (Unless he was meant to sound sarcastic to help Luz see that their friends wouldn't do something like that) I am actually glad that the part from the storyboards with Hunter listing to Luz all the terrible things their friends would do to them if they knew their secrets was not included. It seemed too over the top for this stage of their friendship development, unfair towards Willow, Gus and Amity without time for any proper examination of it, and more in line with the fanon clueless woobie Hunter.

- yes, i forgot the word 'storyboards' so in my notes i was calling them 'frames'.

- The opening montage is so good though, a great way to convey the passage of time and show the interactions that couldn't have been fully included. I wish episode 2 did something similar with the Boiling Isles instead of everyone just becoming puppets. Music is great too.

- The other palismen looked at Flapjack like the grandpa was finally losing it.

- Camila's s3 design is so good. I don't think anyone can be 'hot' in toh's style, but interesting how she is barely ever included with the adults who are supposed to be hot, even though her design is so much more visually appealing than many others, and somehow there are more people who think Belos is hot (i wonder why😒)

- Willow helping with Hunter's haircut is actually cute. I disagree that it 'should've been Amity'. Yeah, Amity has the plot of changing her hair to reflect character development, but Willow's somewhat rocky path to become the witch she always wanted to be (as well as the half-a-witch plot) were connected to Hunter's story since ASIAS and has parallels with some of Hunter's identity issues in the episode.

- Hunter's haircut was also good, i wish he kept it. Idk why people were panicking about that.

- Wish we saw at least a little bit of Luz and Vee interactions even just in the montage. And i know Luz is isolating herself, but still would have been nice to have some at least background moments with Willow and Gus too, since she still gets moments with Amity and Hunter.

- But what i really dislike is that the show barely touches on Gus's feelings about missing his dad and the Boiling Isles (and, of course, what he did to help Luz and Hunter and how seeing Belos's memories could've affected him are the plot points that are completely ignored). He basically confesses that he is unhappy despite all the outwardly cheerfullness, and then the show never actually digs deeper. And it would've been OK for this episode to just throw some hints, if more was done with Gus's story later and if he wasn't sidelined since s1, and if the show didn't immediately jump back to Hunter in such an obvious way. And Gus then had to immediately cheer him up and introduce the Cosmic Frontier for his sake? It is so clear which character is prioritized.

- This is a minor thing compared to Gus's treatment, but i also lowkey hate Hunter's comment about Darius's stitches. I understand that expecting some actual meaningful dialogue about Darius was not realistic; and anyway, i would have preferred if Gus had the chance to talk about Perry instead. But it was an odd addition after Hunter seemed to worry about Darius in KT. Alongside that comment in the interview about Eda and Darius potential team-up (that made it clear that any team up was never intended which hinted that Darius original role was likely very limited - which on itself is OK, just a little disappointing), this moment really made it obvious that there would be nothing done with Darius later in the season, and that there was no plan to continue the narrative conflict from ASIAS, and i am still bitter (though at least there was a moment of Darius and Eber opposing the other Coven Heads in the finale, which was a nice touch).

- I actually like Amity in this episode, probably because for once she actively interacts with the other kids.

- Montage in the Gravesfield is also cool. The giraffe bit was funny.

- The kids welcoming Vee as their friend is cute, but the whole lampshading that Amity, Willow and Gus were not really friendly before, feels so off and manufactured. On the rewatch it seemed less insincere than the first time, but still it feels more like the response to the fan criticism - like, 'see actually this all was addressed, it's the audience who was impatient!' - rather that something included organically. If the writers really cared about their friendship or lack of it, they could've included just small moments prior to it, like Amity mentioning to Luz that she wished she knew how to befriend Gus, or Gus's opinion on the Willow and Amity situation.

- What i do love is that Willow is the one who gets the camera and makes the album, and that Camila was the one who gave it to her. Willow was the one who bottled up her feelings (and still does it) and was going by 'out of sight out of mind' motto, and was willing to burn her own memories in the mindscape because they were painful. And we saw her having her friends' photos before this, but here she starts to actively collect and cherish new memories of being together with her friends, and that's nice. And the Nuceda home is full of family pictures, so its also nice that Camila, despite her own problems and grief, got to help her. (And, look, it has barely anything to do with Hunter!)

- Hunter is actually pretty mature overall. Really, a completely different person from the fanon version.

- the scene with Luz telling Hunter he is family and him crying was so good too, but, really, they could've finished his arc with this.

- Luz's and Camila's moments and their development are all good.

- Jacob's appearence also seems to be there just as a response to fan theories. (Also i've always disliked the theories that Jacob should be a Whittebane descendant because they were full of weird implications)

- When i first watched, at first i thought that Luz was intending to sacrifice her palisman to somehow open the portal, lol

- Amity's abomination looks different during the fight with Belos. But i think in the episode's beginning it looked normal? Anyway, interesting how the human world abominations would work, and whether they require human/animal/plant remains.

- Not to victim blame a bird, but Flapjack made so many terrible decisions in the episode, from being ok with Hunter touching Belos' goop to stealing the map from Amity to trying to peck possesed Hunter.

- The fight with the possesed Hunter is good, but the outcome is... meh. I think the possession would have worked better on its own, without Flapjacks death, if it finalized Hunter's arc with him fighting back and getting reassurance from his friends, and then the show moved to other characters. Because there is no time to properly address Flapjack's death anyway, and the show already struggles to balance its cast, so a simplier, even if slightly more cliche, plotline would've worked better.

Imo, this whole trauma upon trauma thing works for fanon continuations, but hurts the overall writing quality and pacing. Tbh, while i much prefer that Darius gets to adopt Hunter, i would have been OK with Hunter (with alive Flapjack) just staying in the Human World with Vee (edit: temporary until Belos' and Collector's threats are resolved), if Gus got an arc, and the show had time for proper interactions between Luz and Gus and Willow.

And some would say that Flapjack's death was necessary for Luz's guilt, but i think there were other things to focus on.

- What is going on with Amity's profile in the final part of the episode, lol

- Camila leaving Vee on her own is so 'yep, this is a kid show' moment😭

- But the scene of Luz and Camila going into the portal together is so good. Maybe my favourite moment of the series. Tbh i wouldn't have been mad if it ended with it.

Conclusion:

There is a lot of good stuff in the episode, but the heavy focus on Hunter and the way the possesion and Flapjack's death are utilized are dragging it down, especially knowing how episode 2 will go.

[unluckyservice4]

Out of curiosity, what are the other remnants of despair like in your universe?

Oh, uh. Hmm...good question. I don't....really socialize with most of them these days for reasons, but uh...

Sonia's in Novaselic committing global domination and colonialism. She's one of the Big Three. The remnants who hoard power over the entire globe, minus Junko herself. Gundam's usually with her, or at least aligned with her. Last I heard he was in the Americas stampeding and ruining their cities. They don't really need the help tbh after the cults took over.

Imposter's in the states too, they're considered one of the other Big Three, they're impersonating some important governmental figure, though I'm not sure who. They're a big reason why the cults got out of hand and run a huge faction in that area, at least that's what I last heard. I dunno the state of that location so they might've moved on.

Fuyuhiko's got most of southeast asia, pretty much this whole place is his Territory, though Towa's a provence under it's own power. That's part of the deal Towa made with the Remnants after all. He also doesn't have much control over where sections like the Future Foundation and other such corperations have settled. FF's got it's tendrils riddling all throughout everyone's territories, so far they've set up a kind of hit and run strategy of coming to a place, outfitting people with supplies and weapons and then dipping, when they aren't trying to go into all out mini wars with one of us. They've mostly been Fuyuhiko's headache since the lions share of their force is in Japan, though Sonia and Imposter have to deal with their own headaches, especially Imposter. The next Hope's Peak building was meant to be in the states but now that means Munataka's got connections over there. I hear there's an underground rebellion in New York or something.

Next is the smaller forces, most of us are still in Japan physically but the influence can still reach global. Mahiru's got a radio station, it's surprisingly practical past the propaganda, gives you updates on what we're doing or any public plans and about famous killers-there's like a top ten serial killer hitlist it's...uh. Graphic. Ibuki and Hyoko are doing their concerts, which end in death or brainwashing or spreading more propaganda. Oh, Peko's still with Fuyuhiko, though I hear she might branch out now and again. She's a trained hitman so personally I am......not eager to look too deeply into her exploits.

Akane is........I honestly don't know where she is. She spent some time with Nekomaru's training area-he runs a training area, but it's extremely dangerous and unhealthy. Steroids, extremely dangerous diets and workout routines, he's got a whole subset of cult members who're like, super beefed up and probably ready to burst a blood vessal at any moment. It's.......It's honestly horrifying. Anyway, Akane spent a while with him and then she came out extremely weak and malnourished and yet somehow still a terrifying powerhouse. She wanders around leveling buildings for fun, I think. I think it's for fun. It's...um....it's like getting hit with a natural disaster honestly.

And Teru-ah....Teruteru's in the party business. And by party I mean sex party. And by sex party I mean you get a full course meal that makes you high and then you end up either dying in very horrificly gruesome ways or you end up going crazy and tear each other apart. um. Sometimes in even more disturbing ways than I just described. Don't go to his parties.

OH I almost forgot Souda. Probably because he doesn't actually do much himself, but he's got his machines set up everywhere and if you try to tamper with any of them you're probably going to set off a trap. That's all he does though, his machines are awful, the entire reason the sky's scorched is because of him, but beyond his machines he's actually harmless. All he wants is to bury his head in a project, it's kinda...kinda sad.

I think that's everyone....?

[chocogoblin]

ToA x LMK (?)

Had a random crossover idea. Spoilers for people who haven't seen the last season of Trollhunters, but then again that show is years old so like :p

Basically, in the final fight between the Trollhunters and Morgana, when Claire and Morgana go into the shadow realm. Yano how it's not shown? Yeah had a funny idea if Macaque from LMK was coming through, and looked at the two and was like (to Morgana) "Bitch for the last time I told you not to start fights here," and beats the ever loving shit outta her.

Anyways, bro is looking around and is like "oh shit kid you're still here-" as he looks at Claire, who is still recovering from the fact Morgana is dead and gone now, and everything is over, and hey the shadow realm is nice without the fear of Morgana being there looking over her shoulder.

This is my convoluted way of saying that Macaque after seeing a baby shadowmancer, (cause you can never find any of those these days who aren't absolutely ancient) just looks at Claire and goes "you can do better than that" and starts helping her with shadow magic. Maybe at first it was a way to get more power and then he just starts to care for her. But in my head a majority of the reasoning that Mac decided to help her is because it's a dying art and she's probably the youngest shadowmancer in the world at the moment.

I can see a lot of stuff coming out of this. Like just from the top of my head:

-Claire becomes one of those immortal wizards and flash forward to the future meets LMK crew. (from this idea stems my second idea of Pigsy and Tang trying to unlock Claire's tragic backstory(TM) even though there isn't much of that here.)

-Dad Macaque, because, come on.

-ROTT movie just, not happening now that there's a monkey on par with the guy who beat up all of heaven including all it's gods on their side. I'd imagine Demi-gods (because that's what arcane order is listed as on the wiki) is alot easier than gods, and def a lot easier than losing (lol) to Sun Wukong.

-Angsting to eachother. Think of any lmk x toa pairing, and you can make an angst conversation out of it some way or another.

-Half-troll Jim just going to Megapolis with Claire to visit Mac and becoming obssessed with the anti gravity arcade because it's open at night and just hell yeah.

-Lore building perhaps with the two universes mixed together??

-Claire helping out with the shadow play stuff while she visits Mac. Bonus points if she gets a mention in his vent play about the hero and the warrior.

-Toby and Mei playing games together, and Toby getting his ass absolutely handed to him.

-Mac going away to visit Claire during s3 or between seasons to vent about "what the fuck is going on kid- " because alot of the lmk villains don't go outside asia except if they want to rule the world (cough, lbd) so they can't really find him all the way in California, America lol.

-Bonus points if Claire learns how to speak Mandarin or Chinese (i forgot what the LMK gang spoke originally because i'm a silly lil english speaker who only watches the eng dub) so now she's trilingual. Spanish, English, whatever the hell the lmk gang speaks.

I dunno the ToA fandom is pretty dead, and I don't know how many LMK fans know about ToA, so. rip me ig. if this post gets a few notes i'll consider posting the art i made for this so far ('art' as if i'm not talking about a few sketches in my lil book of sketch).

[battle-of-mid]

iwould like to hear your rant about lmk wukong's character assassination. In detail. if possible. please

(takes long drag of cigarette) it really did all start with the show itself coming out. see, after ROTTMNT came out, i don't think we could really expect flying bark to be "faithful" to its IPs and while whether that was a good thing for the TMNT franchise is absolutely something that can be discussed by people that aren't me, it's a whole lot more sensitive when you're handling a show based on a cultural treasure -

LEGO's line of toys dedicated to a sort of journey of the west spinoff is, in my opinion, an objectively good idea. other than boosting sales it feels kind of inevitable considering just how much LNY stuff they'd put out already, you know? to put it simply i don't have any problems with the lego monkie kid IP in concept, just with the way FB decided to run with its execution -- which ended up landing it squarely in "hot mess" territory.

basically - and i promise that this is relevant to wukong specifically, bear with me - i think that the first red flags were the fixation on their rendition of the six-eared macaque: a character that they've changed from being a single-use "evil twin" character that served the original Journey to the West's allegory for enlightenment (ie. that he was a manifestation of SWK's worst impulses) and then immediately fucking died when the situation called for it. he didn't show up for more than one storyline. they retcon a looooot of SWK's actual backstory as detailed by the book itself in order to make room for sadboy LEMH content so the writers could get their shipfix for him and SWK (which is annoying on more than one point, if you remember what I said about the evil twin thing. if you catch my drift. average flying bark moment)

but to put it simply i genuinely think they just made him... way too much of a lazy fucking self absorbed asshole? the beginning of the show has this which feels like a one-off gag but they double down on it later which makes they didn't write sun wukong -- this is after he's supposed to have ascended to victorious-in-strife buddha, mind you, and it ends up feeling less like sun wukong at any point in the storyline and more like... well, goku. from dragon ball super. which is its own, mostly unrelated can of worms in and of itself.

the thing is this is a character that's been used historically as an allegory, as representative of the people, objectively a cultural icon no matter where in china-influenced asia you find yourself (fantastic analysis of the problem with the way LMK pays homage to that allegory here), and also used in reference to, like, diaspora kids. this is a character that baaasically any chinese person with any kind of connection to the culture is going to see themselves in - especially in his reckless identity and subsequent ascension, you know?

and the main problem here is essentially that when you do this with a character that exsits as part of a media franchise... it's fine? it's whatever. people can just skip that. but when you are doing this as an attempt to adapt a piece of historically and culturally important literature - one that is made for children, one that is infinitely more accessible to diaspora children of that culture than any other adaptation that would be directed towards their age demographic, it feels like a punch in the gut. it's a level of disrespect that just really really hurts, all because the people in charge of it feel like they have to flanderize their characters for their fandom or they'll, like, die.

this isn't exactly organized nor is it every thought i have on the matter but basically tldr they forgot they were writing sun wukong and not their oc

[lady-lycany]

My werewolf proud never really let's me admit another type of kin. I just made an entry but couldn't bring myself up to post it :')

I think I need to read a little more into the species before I jump too quick into conclusions...

Don't get me wrong, I was, am, and will forever be a werewolf. I'm so extreme certain about it, that it's more to me than just a kintype, cuz my other type of "kins" are not nearly as intense. Being a werewolf IS who I am... The only thing that's unstable about that is the furcolor.

...But why is it so hard to admit that I actually could be a different type of caninekin. Cuz this one starts to make a lot of sense :')

(I think I'll just say it in this post now and delete the other lol)

I'm talking about Dingos. I knew of their existence, but completely forgot them, until insta just showed me a video. So I read a little into them and quite a few things add up to me:

Something that bothered me, when I said that I could be a shiba inu was that shibas are too small & the curled tail... The Dingo doesn't have that and still looks pretty similar to the shiba, the golden furcolor also almost adds up well, together with the white dot-eyebrows and the white chest and paws... they can live in every habitat and are mostly common in australia (as a kid I was obsessed with australia and had books over it and really wanted to move there. when I got older it turned into the rural areas of asia) They don't really bark much but rather communicate with a different variety of howls that almost sound exactly like wolf howls and even tho they can be kept as a pet, and were pets many many years ago, they'll never be completely tame and are unpredictable.

My main issue so far: the fur is too short (maybe my brain just confuses it with my wolf fur tho). But all the other stuff is weirdly accurate. They also live in tropical habitats with humid air and lots of rain... something I always was searching for a connection. well... there it is ':D

*sigh* yea... so... idk... I don't want to jump into conclusions yet but... since my blog is about all the otherkin stuff I felt like I should talk about it.

Being a werewolf with a canine-kintype is weird af and never feels right to me, I already regret this post while writing. like, the moment something adds up my wolfside says "nope that ain't it" and so I throw that thought instantly away

okay I chattered enough around. And again, all the text is just the mess in my head. not saying yes or no to anything. just that it would technically make sense. TwT

I'm doneso *drops the mic*

[bengiyo]

Be My Favorite Ep 4 Stray Thoughts

Last week, Kawi learned the limits of his time travel power, and set about trying to right things as best he could. He tried avoiding Pisaeng, and then trying to reconcile Pisaeng with his douche friends, only succeeding in pissing off Pisaeng. He also used his foreknowledge to succeed at the lottery and managed to get enough money to go on a class trip he missed in the past. Also, we got a classic Krist mouth wipe after a kiss; don't think I forgot.

I'm in love with Max. Is he single?

Kob Songsit is a really good actor, and we're honestly lucky we get to see him as often as we do.

What kind of bus lets you consume from glass bottles?

I'm glad we had the discussion about drinking culture in Southeast Asia yesterday.

Oh, Kawi. He's not the one to take this kind of hazing in stride.

I'm glad at least Pear's friend recognizes that Kawi is not okay with these people getting involved in his love life. They don't care about him in a personal way.

I'm with Max and the, "Couldn't be me!" energy.

Finally, a BL character that is trying not to sing.

Honestly, this isn't that intrusive of the seniors so far. Organizing a hangout, and then giving Kawi a chance to be alone with Pear isn't bad.

Ah, nevermind. They're spying. Now it's shit.

Aye Sarunchana is very good at hiding her eyes and posture to convey her discomfort.

Pear turns Kawi down as gently as she can. She acknowledges his feelings, thanks him for the intentions behind them, but lets him know that her intentions are directed elsewhere. She gives him no false hope without being mean.

Oh, Kawi, she has no obligation to tell you who she likes. Now it's even more awkward for everyone.

"Kawi, stop." I do not want Not's meddlesome ass trying to get Kawi laid.

I'm also with Pisaeng. The girl Kawi was dancing with definitely just hit on Pisaeng.

Hey, Kawi isn't wrong here about Pisaeng needing to make things clear with Pear about his feelings. I hope Pisaeng also makes his feelings about Kawi clear so we don't blow another Now Kiss moment.

I feel for Pear. I remember about ten years ago when a guy turned me down and he got so awkward after. I also said something akin to, "I'm not that fragile."

"You call yourself an intellectual. Act like one." COME THROUGH, MS. PEAR!!!! That read was well-deserved, and definitely directed towards the audience as well. I'm often uncomfortable about the way people record each other and turn the lives of their friends, classmates, colleagues, and neighbors into spectacle.

Pisaeng, blurry in the background between Pear and Kawi, was a great shot.

I really like that Kawi didn't jump to the future this time.

Hey, this was a really solid episode. You can definitely feel some of the post-SOTUS energy in this where the casual bullying of a junior is actively called out. I also like that both Pear and Kawi were firmly rejected. It makes total sense that Pear would further befriend Kawi after seeing his affections be abused by his seniors for their amusement.

Was not expecting this show to grab me like this, or for a Jittirain story to involve so much forthright communication. Kongpob's directness and earnestness was the main reason I liked SOTUS and why he still remains one of my favorite characters.

[gomzwrites]

✧✿✧˖° Chocolate °˖✧✿✧

Hello heLLOO! *waves excitedly over a round table* come come I have tea and dessert for everyone *pulls out a few chairs*

Alright, so. Some of my thoughts first regarding the Academic AU

I wrote this fic longer than intended because I was going heavy with the details and plot

Though I am wondering if this kind of smut is welcome here, because I've let a few of my friends to read it and gotten mix responses, some said it was lengthy while some said they liked it

Personally, I was trying to walk readers through the entire process, and since its the first encounter/$ex scene, I wanted to show the small details to indicate some stuff

Initially I was going to write like virgin reader for the innocent sake. but that will make my fic longer WHEEZE-

I ended up hinting the "innocent" part with the floral pattern on the brief, well I say hint but idk if that was obvious lmfao anyways-

not to say I dont like longer fics, but the longer I write, the more mistakes im gonna encounter (if you can't tell already, i struggle a lot with grammar lol)

In the end after much consideration, ive cut down heavily on the smut and condensed to what we have now and Im okay with it, tho I would like to hear your thoughts (send me anonymously if you're shy, or just comment, I dont bite I promise :D)

Okay, *pours everyone a cup of tea*, some headcannons and notes

So, as you all can tell, there was a hint of mlm there of Price x Simon, not sure how everyone think about it but I for one eat that shit up

Now, I did gave some thoughts about the subjects Price and Simon teach, in the end though I decided to leave it blank because I couldn't be sure

See im from Asia so the education system here is extremely different from the UK/US, and I got kinda confused and overwhelmed with the choices XD so I just left it blank

I was going to write them with STEM majors, but eeerrr Idk, cant really picture Price or Simon as engineer or medicine lecturers(iykyk)(rise up my STEM sisters and brothers-)

Perhaps you can give me some thoughts about it, I was thinking something about History for Price, then something about Linguistic/Statistic/Psychology for Simon

Okay, Gaz also made an appearance on the fic((of course he did, my precious bb)), now for him I have a solid idea to make him Pharmacology based or at least somewhere along the healthcare sector, hence the Dr

I might, also bring Soap in the future, but I dont know how or what his role will be yet (gym tutor? physical therapist?)

Will I make this into a poly thing? Im not sure, probably not XD but I might do a special moment with Gaz bcuz im that bias

oh yeah, forgot add on, but yes there's a reason for the name changes(Mr Riley to Simon) and name that stayed (Prof Price), its just to further show that Price has the power and all the sayings (you know cuz he is the Captain originally so I wanted to bring that over)

You wanna call him John? mmmm that's gonna take some convincing and time >:)

Lastly, some future plans (no promises) - nsfw here

many h0rny, many ideas, many tired

anyways, Im thinking of xreader individually fic(like Price x you then Simon x you separately), then eventually building it up to both of them destroying you in threesome manner (lovingly)

I want. I want to write Price being mEAN YALL-

Like him bullying you and putting a vibrat0r inside you and force you to come out to write something on the board in front of everyone, dialing up the intensity as you try your hardest not to cum right there

or or or or or

thinking about c0ckwarming under his desk- raaasdajdgajdh

then Simon...oh sweet sweet Simon

Im thinking maybe dom!reader, just a maybe.

Riding him until he's a whimpering sobbing mess

Idk if anyone remembered, but u know this part?

:)

yeah, maaaaaybe Simon has that exhibitionism kink

so lets abuse that shall we

thinking of doing it in the car park/in his car, you giving him head under the steering wheel as he pulls down the car window slightly to talk to a student who just wanted to chat

Poor him trying to be calm and steady his tone as his knuckles turned white, hands clammy as you suck harder, not giving a damn if you're going to draw attention

or or or or or or or

going back to the riding part, tying him up with his tie, not letting him touch you as you ride that dick like your life depends on it, you hear him begging and whimpering, bucking his hips up desperately

im very unwell

ANYWAYS, ye so far, these are the only ideas I have atm, but don't expect me to write it so soon haha

If im gonna be honest, this blog was created when I had a massive art block, and then somehow (even until today!!) my soft fics blew up and ye it escalated from there

not really but also- If you see me write a fic, its usually bcuz im struggling with art, likewise if you followed me on @gomzdraws or twitter, you would notice im more active cause I think for me, drawing is easier than writing

im grateful to be able to express in two mediums tho, even tho I suck at it haha

but I do sincerely want to make this into a series, so I thank everyone for being patience with me, I appreciate it

Ogeh, *brings out a briefcase* recommendation time

if you like Prof AUs, then boi do I have some fics for you here in tumblr

Guyfierii has a long Prof series and they're wonderful

mehh141's amAZING PROF PRICE ART IM CRYING-

Shroomie (one of the first few blog I was exposed to when I started reading cod fics :D) made 2 Prof fics as well - sadly I dont think they're active since April because of uni :(

ajhdkadh sleepyconfusedpotato, the god of both being a great artist and oc!fic writer made a post a while ago about tf141 possible Professor headcannons - give it a look if ya interested

that is all from me, and btw don't feel obligated to comment or send me a text or anything!! The fact that you made it till the end is already making me happy :D thanks for reading my babbling and points LMAO

Have a nice day/night friends :)

[waitmyturtles]

The hamster wheel of my brain can’t stop spinning, and I have a bit more meta that I need to chew on for Moonlight Chicken episode 6 (part 1 is here and part 2 is here, and I stg that I need to move awn from this episode at some point -- Aof, this is all your fault, I’m getting Bad Buddy-ed again). And whoops, I also have a tad bit of meta for episode 5, too that I forgot to add in that review (here), so here we go -- happy Saturday, fam, hope you’re brunching away!

(Ooooh, and also, I updated my MC Big Themes list for eps. 5 and 6. As always, if you have suggestions for great posts for me to list, please send them, and I’ll add them!) 

1) Episode 5: I totally forgot to mention in my first review that Aof hasn’t forgotten the big macroeconomic conversation about the impact of the food court on Pattaya. Namely, that business meeting that Wen was in, where the discussion of the purchase of the historic market buildings was happening. When that boss said, “This is Thailand. Big fish always eat small fish.”

I honestly think we see this theme returning in episode 6 -- when Alan refuses the loan to Jim. At that moment in time, Alan has resources, he has power. And he admits to Jim: I can’t separate work from personal matters, I can’t administer the loan to you. (Hmph, Mr. Professional, okay.)

Call this an extrapolation, but I wonder if Aof is making a point here. In the end, these big economics are about greed and resource hoarding. Is the food court in Pattaya about a mathematical calculation in “helping” or “investing” back into Pattaya? Or is it about making money at the hands of the private companies and government figures who are allowing the food court to be built?

Is the loan refusal that Alan makes to Jim about protecting Alan’s bank or the bank’s customers? Or is it about Alan’s greed and jealousy towards Jim in wanting Wen back? (I think this is gently reflective of how Alan commodifies Wen in episode 5, when he says to Jim, and I’m paraphrasing, “just return what was taken from me.” Alan is a banker -- he’s a resources guy, and thinks in resource terms, even about his love life). 

Love, in these instances -- a “love” for Pattaya, Alan’s “love” for Wen -- is being commodified for rewards and greed. 

2) Episode 6: I mentioned this scene in my last two (!! JFC, two) posts about episode 6, so I’m repeating myself, but I really, really loved the scene where Wen was falling asleep on Jim’s lap (yay, it got gif-ed!). For me, there was so, so much in that scene.

I keep coming back to Wen’s line: “Do you take this place as your home?” I wrote before that that line obviously refers to the conversation that opened the episode, about love-as-home, and I also meditated that I think that line could also be a reference to Pattaya itself.

But I think also why this scene is sticking with me is because of the meaning of falling asleep on a lap, in a room like Jim’s living room.

I think it’s just such a genius stroke of Aof to situate Jim’s living arrangement as an old-school house that happens to be a rental. On the one hand, the rental aspect gives the house a temporary nature in Jim’s life -- it could disappear at any time. On the other hand, the old-school design and layout gives the house such a rooting in the past -- as if the past is still permanent in Jim’s mind and world.

I’m going to take a guess here, but I think there’s deeper meaning to Wen falling asleep on Jim’s lap as they’re situated in Jim’s old-school living room. Those long, flat, wooden-frame couches with the flat cushions. If you grew up in SE Asia, or visited like I did as a kid -- you so know those couches. With your uncles sitting on them, with their legs crossed, ankles resting on the opposite knee. Or your uncles and aunties sitting with one leg tucked under them, the other leg with the knee up and foot perched on the couch. Just chilling, talking. 

When my fam would visit when I was a kid, and we’d go visiting to all the houses, as soon as we landed on those couches, it was like time slowed down. Our extended family got comfortable with us visiting Americans -- and we were all as one again, one big family, chilling, eating fruit, laughing, catching up. 

So I’m vibing that there’s an old-school comfort to that room that, I wonder, I think, that scene is referencing. If we were lucky enough to have kind parents as kids, we can remember falling asleep on our parents’ laps -- an easy occurrence to conjure on those old-school couches, for sure.

I think Jim and Wen are evoking “home” in that scene on so many levels. On the love level -- when you love someone, you’re home, and you are that person’s home. On the temporal level, and on the geographical level.

Wen asks Jim -- “do you take this place as your home?” This rental? This living room? This town? This person?

And Jim, in that scene -- at first, he pulls back. (Remember Nozue pulling back from Togawa in Old Fashion Cupcake as Togawa sobs?)

Then Jim strokes Wen’s hair. He eases up, he settles in. That’s what you do on those couches -- you ease up and chill out. Because, even in a temporary place, you can find home in a living room like that. Because you grew up with love in a living room like that. 

(SHEESH. AOF!!! DUDE! WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME.)