#fotw(tbh)

[lasanya539]

update <3

[putschki1969]

Japan Travel Diary 🎌

Okay, here it is, a more or less thorough report of my Japan trip in January (which mostly consisted of doing Kalafina-related stuff so I thought it might be interesting for some of you XD). Sorry, this is like 5 million years overdue. @mello-chi‘s comment about looking forward to my upcoming Japan trip reports actually reminded me that I still had this post in my drafts so I thought I better finish this now before I have to write another one XD

Without further ado, let’s get to it 〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→

January 14 (Sunday) This was my first ever non-direct flight to Japan so I was not looking forward to it. I boarded my plane at around 10 am (Austrian time), I arrived in Paris at around noon and I landed at Narita Airport at around 9 am the next day (January 15 - Monday). Here’s a rare selfie of little me waiting to board the plance wearing my beloved Cakey bomber jacket by Lily Brown (it kept me warm during the flight ^_^). PS: Excuse the excessive use of filters in this pic. I was wearing no make-up.

You know what I find annoying, they have all these Japanese artists like LiSA and Nana Mizuki in the plane music library but absolutely NO Kalafina. Why?? And no, you don’t need to answer that, it was more of a rhetorical question anyways. I know of course that for some weird reason Kalafina aren’t as popular as those other artists….but still, so frustrating… I ended up watching a ton of movies :P I really envy people who can sleep during a flight.

January 15 (Monday) I didn’t do much that day tbh. I was too exhausted from my flight. I am glad they let me check in early at my hotel (which was in Kanda btw – very convenient location for tourists if you ask me) After I had freshened up a little at the hotel I did make a short trip to Akihabara to check if I could find any second hand Kala goods. That day I found a Blue Day wristband, a KNGNN postcard and a cheap Consolation Pamphlet (something I had always wanted but I never felt like paying the full price on CDJapan). Throughout my stay I managed to find quite a lot of stuff actually but more on that later. Here’s a sneak peek tho XD

January 16 (Tuesday) This day was dedicated to shopping. I think I spent almost an entire day in the Shinjuku/Harajuku/Shibuya area. I bought a bunch of Disney stuff and Pikachu merch for my sister and nephew respectively and then I searched through all the Kala-clothing stores trying to find some WaKei outfits. I am super happy because I got my hands on this cute patchwork skirt by Redyazel, the one that Keiko wore quite recently for the Songful Days promo video. I also bought a matching top because they had a special “buy 2 pieces and get 30% off” deal. I can never resist deals like that even though they actually make you spend even more money in the end XD (sadly, they didn’t have the turtleneck sweater that Keiko is wearing here)

After looking through each and every Lily Brown store in Tokyo I finally found this =>The long cardigan Keiko wore in Nikko (it’s so cute and warm!).

Aside from that, I didn’t really find anything else. I came across the Fig&Viper pullover Keiko recently wore but meh, that’s not really my style and it was still quite expensive. I also saw the Mila Owen dress that Wakana wore a while back but it just wasn’t worth the money (and now I regret not buying it T_T).

January 17 (Wednesday) In the morning I went to visit the lesser known Shinagawa Aquarium which – sorry Wakana – was VERY underwhelming and I can totally understand why it’s not as popular as the other one. The only cool thing was the free shuttle bus, it had a cute design. The aquarium itself looked quite run-down and it was much smaller than I expected. But hey, I met Shirowani-san and I got to touch a dolphin which was pretty epic. Of course I had to eat the parfait that Keiko ordered when she was at the aquarium together with Wakana back in the summer time. It was really yummy but it definitely wasn’t the best day to eat it because afterwards, I was freezing my butt off. Oh well, the things I do for Cakey XD

I really wanted to buy the cute shark backpack but it was just way too expensive T_T Forever sad...Now I regret not buying it. Then again, it’s not really my style.

In the afternoon I met up with my friend Pae and I finally received my goods from the Harmony events and the Acoustic Tour. BANZAI! As for the Harmony event merch, I got the black t-shirt, the blue parka and the keyholder. From the Acoustic Live goods, I got the pamphlet, the clearfile and the postcard set. (I love the black t-shirt SO MUCH! I have worn it a lot since I have gotten back)

Together Pae and I went on a quest to find more Kala-goodies and I got lucky once again. I found two old singles, a limited edition of Magia and a regular edition of Hikari no Senritsu (one of these days my singles collection will be complete XD But I have to be patient because I just don’t wanna pay full price for singles >_>). Aside from that I also bought the limited edition of the Seventh Heaven album which includes the live DVD. They also had a BEST Red Day cup for sale at Radio Kaikan (one of the many tokutens from back in the day) but meh, I didn’t feel like getting it. I wonder if any of you bought it? They also had a FOTW and 9+ONE pamphlet and a few other CDs (but I already own all of those so I ignored them). After my meet-up with Pae, I made a trip to Roppongi to eat at my first out of many Kalafina-restaurants/cafés. That’s when it started raining heavily (so annoying) but at least I found the place rather quickly (thanks to google maps!) I went to the very popular Tsurutontan where they serve huge bowls of udon!! I ordered Katsu Curry Udon (my favourite) and some yummy fried dumplings on the side (OMG, they were SO FREAKING GOOD!!)

The food was delicious but it was a little too much for me. XD Curry soup is much more filling than regular soup. And I underestimated the dumplings quite a bit, they were also super filling. I had intended to go to the Manon Mimie store afterwards but I wasn’t feeling like getting drenched in the rain so I headed back to my hotel. I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t end up going because I messaged the store that night and asked them if they still had the Cakey clothes in stock and turns out they don’t *forever sad* I should have tried to find a way to order it back then when the pretty skirt and sweater were still in stock.

January 18 (Thursday) The first half of this day was dedicated to visiting the Imperial Palace. If you arrive early enough you can make a same-day reservation for a tour so that’s what I did. It was an interesting tour for sure and the weather was amazing!!! After the tour was over I decided to walk to Budokan since I was already in the area. I wanted to check out the venue to make sure I wouldn’t get lost on the day of the concert. At that point I was getting quite tired (and super hungry) so it was time for yet another Kala-food-experience. I took the subway to the Akasaka area and paid a visit to the gorgeous café/restaurant/bar La Maison Kioi (the place where the girls had their special SPICE off-day interview). It was so fancy and pretty. I ordered a crazy expensive Afternoon Tea Set but it was totally worth the money, it was incredibly yummy!!! Once I had eaten each and every single piece of food on that tray, I made my way to Shibuya/Harajuku to do some more shopping. This time I came across this gorgeous red skirt that Wakana has been wearing quite frequently. I think I never actually made a post about this skirt o.O A fellow fan on twitter discovered it right before my trip to Japan and when I saw it in the store I obviously couldn’t resist. On my way home I made another stopover in Akihabara and I found the limited edition of the 5th Anniversary Live Selection album. Had to get it of course XD

January 19 (Friday) On Friday I bought my 3-Day-JR-Tokyo-Wide Pass to do some traveling outside of Tokyo. It was another gorgeous sunny day, perfect for touristy stuff ^_^ The first place on my list was Kamakura. There’s lots of nice stuff to see but I mainly wanted to go there because it was the destination of Keiko’s 60 km walk on New Year’s Day back in 2014 (OMG, has it already been four years!!??) One of these days I wanna do that kind of thing as well. I went to see the big buddha of course and I also checked out some of the surrounding shrines and temples. At first I wanted to go to Enoshima as well but then I decided against it, didn’t really feel like going there. Not a fan of beaches anyways. I took the train back to Tokyo but got off in Yokohama (the second place on my list) where I also did some sightseeing. But first I needed to restore my energy so I had some late lunch in Yokohama Chinatown at Jogenro (the restaurant where Wakana ate her shark fin course – she went to the place in Tokyo tho). I really wanted to try the shark fin lunch menu but they wouldn’t let me order it since it is meant for two people T_T Such a shame! The only downside to traveling alone, getting food is troublesome. Then again, if you have company it’s even more of a hassle because it’s hard to find something that everyone likes. Also, tbh, I probably wouldn’t have been a huge fan of the shark stuff anyways so maybe it was for the best. Either way, since I couldn’t have my shark lunch, I decided on one of their regular lunch menus. Wahhh! So tasty!! I love Chinese food! It was too much tho, so many different things to eat, I almost exploded towards the end but I really wanted to finish everything. I hate wasting good food. In dire need to walk off all the calories I had just put into my body, I explored the rest of Yokohama. I walked to Mirai Minato to check out the two Red Brick Warehouses. Back in 2011 and then once again in 2014 Kalafina performed their Christmas Lives at the Red Brick Warehouse. They have mentioned on multiple occasions that this is a very special place for them. Of course I also had to ring the bell of happiness. ^_^ I couldn’t leave Yokohama without riding the Ferris-wheel so I did that in the evening when the sun was setting. I had a great view of the city up there. Later on I managed to take some nice pictures of the colourful and sparkling Ferris-wheel at dusk. And that’s a wrap for my first day-trip outside of Tokyo.

January 20 (Saturday) On Saturday I took the train to Nikkō. One of the main reasons I purchased the JR Wide Pass was because I wanted to take the Shinkansen to Utsunomiya. It’s much more convenient than the other options. And then I got to ride the Nikkō Line which looks really cool. I think you all know why I traveled to Nikkō XD I wanted to see the venue of Kalafina’s World Heritage Special Live. During my last Japan trips I already got the chance to visit Nara and see Kōfuku-ji but I had never been to Nikkō before. And hey, even if Kalafina hadn’t performed there I still would have liked to see Tōshōgū, it’s absolutely gorgeous. And *weeee* I got to witness a traditional wedding. Everyone was all dressed up and the bride looked stunning!! Afterwards I explored the area for a while and walked around a lot. (I walked so much during my Japan trip) I was considering going to see the waterfalls as well but I thought it might not be the best season to experience it in all its beauty and glory. I’ll come back some day soon, I promise! In the afternoon I returned to Tokyo and I once again found myself in the Roppongi area to eat some Kala-food :P Literally the only reason I went to these fancy schmancy areas was to eat at Kalafina restaurants/cafés. This time I ate at “The Counter Roppongi”, the place where Keiko had her YOLO burger meal this winter. I wanted to order the same burger that she had gotten but turns out it had all kinds of weird ingredients (like mushrooms >_>) so I ended up ordering a chicken burger XD I think that might have been the best burger and some of the most delicious fries I have ever eaten. Really impressed! The only thing I could have lived without was the overly sweet brioche bun. It just doesn’t go well with savoury food. I don’t understand why you would use a brioche bun for a burger, doesn’t make sense to me at all o.O Is it a Japanese thing? Or maybe an American thing?

January 21 (Sunday) I took the special Holiday train to Kawaguchiko because I wanted to get a clear view of Mount Fuji. The mountain was still visible while I was on the train but slowly but surely clouds started gathering around it and by the time I had arrived at my destination, Mount Fuji was hidden completely T_T It’s a real shame. The sun was shining and the sky was blue, it was literally perfect weather but each and every cloud in the area had decided to cuddle up to Mount Fuji. I think I made the mistake of taking the later train. I should have taken the train at like 7am or something. Apparently chances of seeing Mount Fuji are highest before 9 am and I think that’s true, I am sure I would have gotten a good view if I had been there earlier. I was there at like 9:30-10:00 and that’s just too late. Oh well, we all learn from our mistakes. In two week’s time I will be closer to Mount Fuji than I have ever been XD I didn’t want my trip to be wasted so I still took the ferry across the lake and of course I took the Kachi Kachi Ropeway which ascends to an observation point near the summit of Mount Tenjo, from where Lake Kawaguchiko and Mount Fuji can be seen. Riding that cablecar was rather unpleasant because it was jam-packed. I wasn’t aware you could even squeeze that many people into a cablecar. I got some nice views despite there being no sign of Mount Fuji. Afterwards I bought a bunch of souvenirs for my coworkers and took the train back home again. I really love all the train designs! So cute! Since I still had my JR Pass I thought I’d use it for a few trips along the Yamanote Line. I was trying to avoid using my Suica as much as possible as long as I had the JR Pass XD One of my stops was Ikebukuro. I am not a huge fan of the area but I still wanted to see if I could find anything interesting. Bought some more Pikachu merch for my nephew at the Pokemon Center and then I did some window shopping. A girl-group was performing at Sunshine City while I was there but I didn’t stay long enough to figure out who they were. People were going crazy about them tho so I guess they might have been popular. Who knows. Either way, with all these people occupied the shops were pretty empty so that’s definitely a good thing (especially on a Sunday where it’s usually busy as hell). For dinner I had yummy Coco Curry (for once not Kalafina related :P).

January 22 (Monday) a.k.a. Crazy Snow Day This was the day of our tumblr fan meetup. Probably the worst day we could have chosen but hey, what can you do? And it’s not like any of us could have known that it would snow so heavily. It’s almost funny because I am always in Tokyo when crazy snow storms happen. I was there in 2014 as well. XD Thank God I am more or less used to snow (which is something that can’t be said about most of my fellow-fans that were at the meetup). I took things slowly that day since I was already stressing out about the meetup. I went to Akihabara again and this time I found a FOTW wristband in one of the second hand stores. BANZAI. Back in 2016 when I went to see the FOTW Special Finals I actually forgot to buy a wristband. This has annoyed me for the longest time but I didn’t feel like buying it online so yeah, this was definitely a lucky find. Yippie!! Then I went to Don Quijote to buy some more souvenirs (mostly chocolates). I’ll be eating all this stuff foe the next few weeks. :P So far my favourite purchase is Hokkaido Melon Kit Kat. The BEST Kit Kat I have ever had! It’s so DAMN amazing, I regret not buying more T_T When I got back to my hotel I had to figure out a way to squeeze all the chocolates into my luggage without everything getting crumbled on the flight back home. I think I managed pretty well. I had some sandwiches for late lunch and then I headed to Shinjuku to do some more (window) shopping and to wait for everyone to arrive at the Karaoke place. Sorry again @okeuphemia, we totally kept missing each other at Lumine Est. And sorry to everyone else who had a hard time finding Karaoke Kan. I know it must have been quite the hassle for some of you, especially in this horrible weather. But thankfully, almost everyone managed to get there (eventually). My apologies to Jimmy who didn’t make it! Maybe next time (if there ever is a next time :P) I hope you all had a good time at the meetup. There were way more people than I originally expected and we had some hardcore karaoke singers amongst us (you all rocked btw!!) so we weren’t really able to talk properly but I think it was still nice for most of you. Sorry if I seemed a bit awkward, I am just not very comfortable being among such a big crowd of people. I am glad a few of us decided to leave early and grab a cup of coffee, it gave me the chance to get to know some of you a little bit better. It’s really nice to finally know who is hiding behind those tumblr nicknames (shout out to @audiojapanstyle for just being a super nice and comforting presence!) And hey, such a funny coincidende, that day I found out that @theraspberrybushes  and I stayed at the same hotel. We ended up going back together in the heavy snow.Sorry for always rushing ahead. >_<

January 23 I pretty much covered the entire day in my live report but I haven’t talked about my after live activities yet so I guess I will do it here. Originally I had just planned to go back to the hotel to get some sleep. After all I was supposed to fly back home the next morning so I wanted to get some much needed rest. However, my friend Pae convinced me to go have dinner with a few Japanese Kala-fans. I am glad she did because it was actually very nice. But once again, there were way more people than expected (slightly overwhelming – even Hachimaki was there; it felt like I had been invited to an elite Kalafina fan meet-up XD). We went to a Chinese restaurant and had some yummy gyoza. Literally the entire place was filled with Kala-fans XD We didn’t stay there for long so thankfully I didn’t get home too late. Right before we left I managed to REALLY embarrass myself when one of the Japanese Kala-fans approached me. I wasn’t aware he wanted to talk to me, I thought he was trying to get past me or something so when he started talking I turned away from him. Pae had to literally drag me back to him and then I realised he had wanted to start a conversation. Major fail. That’s why I keep telling people that I suck at social interactions. Oh well, we ended up talking about Vienna, seems like he travels there quite frequently for work. Having dinner with all these fellow Kala-fans was a really nice end to an already amazing day. I even have a couple of pictures to remind me of that little meet-up.

Okay, this is officially the end of my travel report. Congratulations to everyone who read the whole thing. I hope it wasn’t too boring. I have lots of Kalafina activities planned for my next trip so I am super hyped ヾ（〃＾∇＾）ﾉ♪

[kalafhana]

Announcements...? ;-;

I’m sure you are all aware that Kalafina has just had their 10th anniversary live on Tuesday! There were a few songs in the set list that surprised me, but for the most part I would have absolutely loved to go and I am glad that everything went well for those who managed to attend. (~˘▾˘)~

As far as I have seen, no one has made any mention of the fact there were apparently no announcements on the night x_x which is something that I was really taken back by. I've always wanted to make a post on speculation about 2018 for Kalafina, so here it is now...! Feel free to reply if you think I am missing something.

I suppose I’d better start with what’s been confirmed already 🤣🤣 

On March the 30th this year which I somehow mistook for January the 30th by accident until today, Kalafina is releasing their two-week documentary film called 「Kalafina 10th Anniversary Film ~A Sparkling Harmony Spun out of Dreams~」

The film is said to focus on the second half of 2017 and all the lives that occured around then (e.g. World Heritage lives, Acoustic lives). It is also meant to “showcase Kalafina’s 10-year history” somehow, and provide a glimpse into their future.

At the end of last year, there were two questionable articles published by Sponichi regarding Kalafina’s (and Yuki Kajiura’s) activities for 2018. As it turns out, it’s reasonably clear that YK and Kalafina will not leave music, even if YK does decide to leave Spacecraft! If anyone wants to check out or be reminded of what happened, I’ll link @putschki1969‘s post(s) describing the whole situation which relaxed pretty much the whole Kalafina tumblr community: https://putschki1969.tumblr.com/post/169070405086/tweets-by-yuki-kajiura-regarding-next-years.

With Kalafina’s future still in mind (remembering the film will ‘provide a glimpse’ of it), the articles and YK’s tweets also mentioned three things of importance to me:

1. YK continuing to “rest for a while” like she has done end 2017 (as @putschki1969 has mentioned ^o^).

2. A possible song (a single...? $_$) released in Spring 2018.

3. A possible world tour in Autumn 2018.

Ok, so now up to the part where I will speculate based on all this ^^ (Please note that these are purely my thoughts and I’m not speaking on behalf of anything except me eeek)

For these articles to be even considered reliable, this song scheduled to be released Spring 2018 (Feb, March, May) must be released around this time. In other words, no Spring single = no Autumn world tour x_x . This “song” will need to be announced real soon seeing as there is a gap of about three or more months from the announcement to the release of most of Kalafina’s singles. Unless, of course, there is a new Rekishi Hiwa Historia ending theme on the way. I don’t pay much attention to the show itself, but these Kalafina ending themes are typically used for 2 years at maximum. You may search for yourself here: https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AD%B4%E5%8F%B2%E7%A7%98%E8%A9%B1%E3%83%92%E3%82%B9%E3%83%88%E3%83%AA%E3%82%A2 or look below:

エンディングテーマ（いずれも梶浦プロ��ュースユニット・Kalafinaが歌唱） 「symphonia TV ver.」（2011年1月 - 2012年12月） 「夢の大地」（2013年1月 - 2015年3月） 「far on the water」（2015年4月 - 2016年3月） 「into the world」（2016年4月 - ??）

I’m sure you all can tell that we are approaching our 2 year time limit with ‘into the world’ as the latest ending theme.

But hang on, I’ve been speaking as if the song needs to be released as a single during the Spring 2018 period. ‘far on the water’ was released as an album in September when it aired TV-size in April, and ‘夢の大地’ released inside an album in March when it aired in January, and ‘symphonia’ released inside an album in September when it aired in January. There could be a new song that’s being produced to air in Spring to take over as RHH’s ending theme, but not exactly a single as I would’ve expected... Or they could do an ‘into the world’ and not release it in full version for a year!!11!!1! smh

Moving on, I’m hesitant to say that a world tour will even happen in the next 5 years unless Kalafina experiences a major boost in audience. It’s just kinda unrealistic to say that they could travel (especially not even in the security of it being an anison or anime tie-in tour!) to even a few countries around the world. However, if the single or song does happen, then I won’t be in for a shock if it’s announced! And isn’t that what the point of the SACRA label is???

Now -rubs hands together- I’m sure we’ve all been waiting for another album. Perhaps this “song” will turn out to be the next ‘fotw’ with an album later this year. The Sponichi articles didn’t say anything about an album... but I guess it’s expected sooner or later:

Studio Albums

[2009.03.04] Seventh Heaven [2010.03.17] Red Moon [2011.09.21] After Eden [2013.03.20] Consolation [2015.09.16] far on the water

By this trend there is meant to be an album releasing around now at the latest 🤣🤣 welp looks like that didn’t happen. Not surprised seeing as Kalafina did a mass of lives in 2017, and YK was taking a break during the latter half + the first half of this year.

We now return to Kalafina’s documentary film, releasing March the 30th. There is oBVIOUSLY an announcement at the end of that. And if there is not I will be very very surprised... Will it announce this new single? Will it announce it as just a song for RHH? Will it be an album? A world tour? Perhaps it’ll be something no-one ever saw coming! I am fairly certain there is going to be a tie-in with the show, unless I am missing something big. YK has said she’s still taking a break early this year but who knows what will happen tbh. At this stage we have I idea x_x , but my bets (from most likely to least likely) are:

1. A new song is announced as an album

2. A new song is announced as a single.

4. A series of Japan lives are announced.

4.5. 10th Anniversary Live BD (altho we have got a lot of those lately...)

5. A world tour is announced.

Okay! So that pretty much sums up all I can think of regarding Kalafina’s activities later this year! Apologies seeing as it’s a bit of a mess of a post and a big one too. Please reply OR REBLOG with your thoughts about 2018 for Kalafina, and if you think this massive-ass post hit or missed the mark with what you are expecting for Kalafina in 2018.

[toymakesflags]

It’s been a minute, hasn’t it? I didn’t forget about this, I just had a lot going on and wasn’t really able to spend time on this, but things are starting to settle down now and I’ll try to get back to posting more consistently.  I promise I’ll get back to the UK, but today we’re going back to the US with new and exciting ways to make Connecticut and New York gay again. I found this very nice (but poorly sourced, FOTW traces it to “Flags to Color from the American Revolution” which is a coloring book published in 1983) Connecticut privateer flag. TBH if Connecticut adopted that as their state flag I might be willing to remove them from the Blue Bedsheet Club.  Naturally, my response to seeing a historic US flag I like is to try and make it gay. I like this one a bit more than the current Connecticut flag. The current flag is tolerable because of the good heraldry but this flag boils down the symbolism while retaining the meaning and still being visually appealing.  New York also had a cool historic flag during the Revolutionary period featuring a black beaver on a white background. Beaver furs were the core of New York’s economy for decades, so the beaver has been used as a symbol for the area as far back as 1623 when it was still the Dutch colony of New Netherland. It was officially adopted as the state animal of New York in 1975 and even today it can be found on the seals of New York City and Albany (and by extension on their flags).

The original beaver flag hoisted in 1775 featured a black beaver on a white field, but I also tried using colors with more LGBT symbolism by putting a pink beaver on a black field. 

[lasanya539]

disaster twins my beloved

Y'all ever ̵̢̧͕̘̱̜̣̮̮̬͖̠̭̣̬͚̺̖͑̀̂̆̑̏̓̏͛̋̈́͆̀̏̃͒̽̽̆͗̑̈́̄͛̕͜͝͝͝ͅ&̷̨̡̧̢̢̠̟̲̗̦̮̮̩͇̠̝̹͇͍̭̫̦̭̼̳̞̜̦͖̙͔̪̬̩͍̺̻̜͍̪̞̺̫̹̍̏̂͊̓͛̇͊͆̐̾̊̈̽̐̉͌̏̑͒̐̏̐̄́̑͒̐̊̿̉̇̏͆͊̓́̆͘͘͜͜͝͝͝͝%̶̛̛̛̝͉̠͚͓̭̐̒͑̒̉̚(̴̡̢̛̬͙̜͎̖͈̻͕̲̟͉̻̭͚̰͔̥͕̝̲͇̼̮̳̉̆̔́̒̃̎͗͆͛͂̅͊̀͋̈̆̽̅̚̚̕͘ͅͅ#̵̧̨̨̨̡̡̳̩͇̮̹̥̰͚͎̤̳͔̗̗̤̻̮̠̖̗͖̳̠̤̠̹͙͚̗̲͓̙̯̝̖̙̤̳̫̰̦̓̋̾̋̍͆͗͊͆͆́̉͂̍̌̋́͐̐̎́̄̓̈̓̍̀͛̏̃͐̍͆́͆͌̾͜͜͝&̷̸̧̨̧̛̛͍͕͚̙̤͓̥̭͍͕̞̰̰̭̟̝̞̫̹̗̥̰̮̹͍̗̦͇̣̥̘̞̯͕͎̪͎̹̻̈̈́̒́̊͂̈́̓̃̀̄̐͌̍͌̑́̽͛͆͐̉̈́̇̍͂͆̊́̒̈̌͗̈̔̆͑͌͋͛͊͗͗̉̍̋̏̅̉̇̚̚̕͜͝͝͝ͅ

Not my usual quality, honestly I was mostly messing around with this one (plain ver. under the cut)

[lasanya539]

It’s been probably less than a week since they’ve defeated the Shredder, but the Hamatos seem to be doing better than ever. Their weapons look cool, magic’s strong, and connection even stronger (both Ninpō and Wi-Fi). They’re even playing IRL Subway Surfers at their new lair with chalk and spray paint! So imagine their surprise when Mr. Rat-of-the-Year decides to go ‘nuh-uh’ and puts Leo of all people in charge of their little vigilante group, starting a cascade of emotions through the traumatized crime-fighters in a way that dismantles all their old rules and roles and leaves each to his own devices (but mostly Donnie’s Genius Tech™). With convenient timing, the criminal underworld is already up and running, suddenly very interested in these mystic mutants who seem to have saved the world with little more than ‘the power of family’. When all their lives are all on the line, the only question remains: how strong is it, truly?

shameless plug <3

[lasanya539]

finally decided to create an offical blog instead of being an anon account stalker <3

ongoing works:

family of trees wanted (to be haunted) -> post s2 family angst

finished works:

tuck your head under the covers -> insomniac leo, family fluff, tmnt write fight 2024

make this heart beat on and on -> casey jr. angst, emotional hurt/comfort, trigger warnings apply, tmnt write fight 2024

all drabbles will be under the tag #sanya's drabbles

lover of all things rise turtles! fic ideas, character analyses, rottmnt memes welcome in ask box!

TCEST DNI

[putschki1969]

How did you get into learning Japanese?

Hi!!

What an interesting question! However, my answer might be a bit disappointing, it’s really boring XD

To be honest, I’ve always had an interest in Japan. Unlike today, I was very much into anime and manga back in the day (as a child/teenager). My sis was the one who got me hooked and we would watch popular anime together all day long (pretty much all the World Masterpiece Theater shows, Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, Pokemon, Digimon, etc - bear in mind, these were the early 90s). We also collected a ton of manga (up to this day we own an enormous collection, one that could rival Hikaru’s I would imagine XD).

My friends back then were also into that kind of stuff so we had a lot in common (funnily enough, they were all Chinese and they loved drawing. I feel like I keep attracting the same kind of people XD).

For quite some time I was a passionate fan, super serious and dedicated. My sis, my friends and I developed an interest in everything related to Japan but at that time I would say that my interest was pretty “basic and superficial”. I didn’t wanna go to Japan or learn the language back then (probably because at that age I was scared of EVERYTHING so I couldn’t have imagined traveling anywhere). Then when I hit 16 or so I started to lose interest in anime/manga. I’d still buy some new volumes here and there (to finish my collection) but I wouldn’t purposefully go out to get a new bunch of manga. I also didn’t watch any of the new anime shows (I think I stopped watching anime long before I stopped reading manga, the last anime I watched properly was probably the third Digimon season or something). I still enjoy all the old shows I used to watch but for some reason I can’t get into any of the newer stuff (I’ve tried it with some anime - and succeeded - but for the most part, I just didn’t enjoy it).

A few years followed where I didn’t have any interests related to Japan. My sis however was still an avid fan so I was aware of most of the things that happened in the anime/manga world. That’s how I came across some soundtrack pieces by Yuki Kajiura. Then in 2011 my sis had bought a CD and I think one of the tracks was “salva nos”. I was immediately intrigued and did some quick research. That’s when I came across a FJ performance on youtube and the rest is history as they say XD

With my growing interest in FJ/Kalafina I was suddenly very motivated to learn Japanese. I also did some major research by myself regarding various things related to Japan. I really got into Japanese culture and history and pretty much absorbed all the information I could find. That’s when I decided to get a bachelor’s degree in Japanology (which combines language classes with a lot of cultural and historical aspects/it’s also very research heavy so 40% of my studies were spent writing research papers). I didn’t have too much time to focus on my Japanese studies since I was super busy with law school but I did manage quite well (probably because I’ve always had a knack for languages). Later when I started with my Kala-translations, my Japanese improved even further.

In 2014, I made my first trip to Japan (which was an eye-opening experience in so many ways) and then in 2016, I traveled to Japan a second time (mostly for Kalafina’s fotw Special Final (ﾉ^ヮ^)ﾉ*:・ﾟ✧). I don’t know how I am gonna make it happen but I am definitely going to Japan again next year (for Kalafina’s 10th Anniversary activities - whatever that’s gonna be XD I hope we’ll find out on June 4).

As for right now…well…I still have A LOT to learn. My listening comprehension sucks since I never talk to anyone in Japanese…I could definitely use some practice but tbh, I am incapable of proper social interaction so I am not sure that’s ever gonna happen *sighs* Sometimes I wish I had watched all these animes in Japanese but I was too young to care about things like that and we had all these awesome German dubs. These days I am trying to watch some dramas here and there to get used to “everyday/colloquial” Japanese (which I still have problems with because we only learned standard Japanese at uni T_T)

As always, this turned out longer than expected. >_

[lasanya539]

oh my god i cannot

13 with sunset duo :)))

dialogue prompts

13. “I would believe that you’re fine, but you have a goddamn knife sticking out of your leg, so.”

x

Raph probably would have been successful sneaking to his room if Mikey hadn’t decided to swing by the kitchen for a snack refill. When he flicks the light on, his biggest brother freezes mid-step cartoonishly and they both just stare at each other, one caught, the other confused. 

“Uh, hi,” Mikey says. “Is your Goon Gala with Casey over already?”

It’s what the former Foot recruit calls it when she and Raph get together to be rowdy and reckless and somewhat violent but like recreationally. Full throttle vigilantism. Mikey tagged along once and was so exhausted by the end of the night he had to be carried home—allegedly!!

The twins quietly disapprove, but they haven’t ratted Raph out to pops yet. They probably think the same thing Mikey does; that it’s good that Raph has something that’s his. It would be better if it was something safer, shared with someone slightly less likely to commit felonies for fun, but it’s a start. 

“Uh, yep,” Raph says awkwardly, standing kind of sideways. “Raph’s actually pretty wiped, I was gonna—”

Mikey’s eye for color pings. That’s the only explanation for why his subconscious was like hey something’s wrong about this picture and his gaze flicks down to follow the thought. 

It lands on the hilt of a knife sticking out of the thigh Raph is trying to keep out of view. Deep red drips down his knee.

Mikey drops the empty popcorn bowl, stray unpopped kernels scattering across the floor. 

“Hey, hey, no, it’s okay,” his brother says quickly, heading off the very loud reaction he can sense building up between them like an active geyser. “Shh, Mike, come on. I’m fine.”

It would work a lot better if one of the two hands he held up to shush him wasn’t bloody. Mikey’s panic wracked up another three levels automatically. 

“I would believe that you’re fine, but you have a goddamn knife sticking out of your leg, so–”

“Language,” Raph scolds by rote.

“Don’t language me!!” Mikey says shrilly. “What happened? No, don’t answer that. I know what happened, you got stabbed. You should be in the infirmary already! You go, and I’ll get—”

“No!” Mikey is grabbed by the shoulders, actually lifted off the floor so he and his brother are eye-to-eye the way Raphie has a bad habit of doing when tensions are high as Raph goes on, “Leo doesn’t need to know. I’ll take care of it.”

Mikey blinks, processing that. It takes a minute, because it might be the stupidest thing this particular brother has ever said directly to his face. And then he scowls. 

When he bellows, “LEO!” it’s in that particular baby brother voice that gets every older sibling in a mile radius moving with gusto. If Donnie weren’t at April’s for the night he would have removed the kitchen wall to get there two seconds faster. 

As it is, Leo tumbles into the room wild-eyed, probably wondering what the hell could have happened in the three minutes between Mikey asking him to pause the movie and this targeted attack on every protective instinct in Leo’s body. 

It takes him a second to clock that Mikey is present and correct and just sort of dangling in Raph’s hands still. Then he leans against the doorframe, playing it cool. What a nerd. 

“So this is where the party’s at,” he says, doing that thing where he manages to look at Raph without looking at him. “So what’s the cover fee? Any live music?” 

He probably would have kept going, but he’s processing the scene with sharp eyes, and that’s about when he connects the blood on Raph’s hand to the blood on his leg. Every single ounce of disingenuous charm and cheer evaporates from him instantly. His smile drops like a ton of bricks. 

“What the fuck, Raph?” Leo says in a tone Mikey doesn’t know if he’s ever heard from him before. “Is that a knife? Casey let you get fucking stabbed? Sit.”

He moves while he’s talking, so fast that Mikey isn’t a hundred percent sure he didn’t actually teleport. He has the daisy-printed dish towel formerly hanging on the oven door in his hands and he’s kneeling at Raph’s side, wrapping it around his thigh and pressing down hard. 

“Jesus, language,” Raph says, lowering Mikey to the ground before taking a resigned seat in one of the kitchen chairs. “Casey didn’t let me do anything. I’m fine, I’m handling it.” 

“You’re—you’re handling it,” Leo parrots blankly, as if those words in that order don’t make any sense to him at all. “I should see the other guy. Is this a joke to you?”

“Oh, that’s rich coming from you.” Raphael’s annoyance makes sense, since Leo has adamantly refused to take anything seriously since he was given the leader badge to wear. If Leo slacked off before, he is pointedly doing the absolute bare minimum now. 

He’s obviously trying to prove something to someone. Donnie just sighs when Mikey brings it up which means that he’s right but also that Donald isn’t going to break the disaster twins’ honor code by admitting out loud that he’s right. 

“This isn’t about missing training,” Leo grits out. “This is about you sneaking around with a knife sticking out of your leg and scaring Angie and letting me find out by accident instead of—I dunno—calling the second it happened? Were you just going to go yank this out of your leg in the shower and put a bandaid on it?”

He’s really, properly angry. Raphie is in pain, and his temper has been poked, so he replies, “For the past month you’ve been acting like nothing matters to you anymore! You’ve wanted nothing to do with me, you don’t want my advice, you don’t want my job—the job that’s always been mine, that pops took from me and just handed to you. So where’s the line drawn? For all I knew, you wouldn’t want to help with this, either.”

If Raph had slapped him, the look on Leo’s face probably would have been exactly the same as it is right now. He’s kneeling there on the floor and there’s blood staining his fingers and the big brother he adores so much is telling him right to his face that he thought Leo would have rather just let him bleed than help. 

Mikey folds his arms tight, tucking his hands away so no one sees if they start shaking. There’s a saying April quoted last week when she was working on a paper for her Introduction to Literary Journalism class, can’t see the forest for the trees. Mikey didn’t get it then, but it makes an unfortunate amount of sense now. He knows better than anybody how much his brothers love each other. He doesn’t understand how they could be so blind to what’s right in front of them. 

Raph is the kindest person Mikey knows, and he knows when a hit has landed too close. Some of the anger coiled up inside him like an animal has no choice but to relax its jaw. 

“I don’t know what’s going on in your head,” he goes on. “I don’t know what you want from me.” 

“I want you to stop,” Leo says. It’s not a shout, but it’s loud, filling the cavernous kitchen and bouncing off all the polished surfaces like a reverb. “Stop believing in me. Stop acting like I could ever be half the leader you were. Stop—stop getting hurt and acting like it doesn’t matter. What would we do without you?” 

What will I do without you, he doesn’t say, when you’re not there for me to follow anymore?

Raph’s eyes are huge in his face, and he lifts his hands in an automatic response to a little brother hurting within arms reach, but Leo ties the dish towel and steps back. He’s doing the not-looking-while-looking trick again. 

“Bleeding’s slowed. Let’s get you to the infirmary, big guy. Angie, Dad and Dee aren’t home so I may need your hands, okay?”

Leo always trusts Mikey to be able to help. It makes him feel three feet taller. 

“You got it!” he says, hoping one of them remembers to clean up the kitchen before Splinter gets home and wanders into a crime scene. 

When he heaves himself off the chair, Raph staggers a bit. Both his little brothers flock to either side of him instantly, and he says, “Raph’s just a little dizzy, that’s all. Let me lean on you guys for a bit.”

“Of course, Raphie,” Mikey says, willing to carry him if that’s what it takes. 

“We gotcha,” Leo adds, every other thing he must be feeling back to being a well-kept secret behind every layer of armor he owns. 

Raph puts his arms around them both and holds them close for the walk down the hall. He said he was dizzy, but his steps are pretty steady. Everything about him is as steady as it’s always been. Mikey thinks he’s pretty good at sniffing out a scheme, but if he points out that Raph was only angling for a hug, then Leo’s going to run away like a feral cat who can’t tell the difference between affection and an attack.  

So Mikey doesn’t say anything, and squeezes closer beneath the arm Raph has around him—smiling to himself when Leo squeezes closer, too.

[ohifonlyx33]

#lana stans have entered the chat#and we're mad#its kinda funny tho#because her plot is like.. realizing shes not living the life she wants to#and dealing with the trauma of losing her parents so young#and then the rest of the show is like... ✨shapeshifters✨

NO CAP.

this show without Lana would not have worked? Or it have been so much less emotional. She brought so much sweetness and so much heartbreak to the series. Any series today (on just about any other network) would have had to slow down a little, use fewer FotW plots, and explore her trauma more. And TBH I think if they had written the show like 10 years later (or on a different netwrk) , they would have. But Smallville's FotW formula had to walk so we could run.

I miss Lana Lang. I want her on my screen again. And no, I don't mean the middle aged woman who is married to some no-name on the new Superman show. No offense to her, I'm sure she's lovely. But I want the girl next door who keeps a smile on her face while dealing with trauma and angst. And I want Clana. (with no l*is is sight)

I just started watching Smallville... this is my takeaway

everyone in the f*ing town to lana: