#if you asked me in july 'am i sad' i would say not really

[youngcreature28]

Fault - July 30th, 2024 - Jegulus microfic - into-the-jeggyverse - word count: 957

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“Jamie,” Reg says softly, looking up through his eyelashes to where James is laying on his bed. 

He feels bored, and he’s been watching James ignore him to read his magazine for twenty minutes without even looking at Regulus.

James immediately looks up from his quidditch magazine, dropping it shut without thought, a small smile forming on his face as he looks at Regulus.

“Hi, baby.”

A small smile appears on Regulus’ face despite himself before schooling his expression into something more serious.

“If I asked you something, would you tell me the truth?” he says sweetly, his tone almost sickly.

Straightening his spine, James focuses all of his attention on his boyfriend.

“Anything,” James answers without hesitation. “I’d never lie to you, baby.”

“Hmm,” Regulus hums in return before sighing sadly, fighting back a smile as he drops his shoulders and looks down. 

James is up and in Regulus’ space immediately, his own smile dropping as his brow furrows in concern and he reaches out to cup Regulus’ jaw.

Hook, line, sinker.

Regulus allows himself to lean into his touch, unable to deny James even during a ploy.

“What’s the matter, love?”

“Sirius was being mean to me earlier,” he confesses sadly, blinking a few times until he feels tears line his waterline. 

He allows himself to look up, eyes wide and sad.

“What’d he do?” James frowns. Regulus loves how protective he can become, even when it comes to Sirius and Regulus’ bickering. 

“He said-” Reg sniffles, “he said you love him more than me.”

James’ eyes widen slightly, blinking roughly a few times. 

“Do you love my brother more than me, Jamie?”

Regulus fights back a laugh, knowing James would be panicking inside. 

“I-” James stutters, swallowing roughly. 

Regulus doesn’t so much as move, not wanting James to catch on. 

“You know I love you more than anyone,” James confesses, “I love Sirius, you know I do, but the love I hold for him is completely different to what you make me feel. They’re not measurable.”  

“Then why did Sirius say you told him you love him more than anyone in the world?”

“It's not my fault,” James immediately blurts, and Reg fights a smirk, knowing James could never keep anything from him.

Regulus blinks innocently. “What’s not?”

“Sirius and I had a bit of a competition where we were arguing about who loves the other more,” James confesses easily, unable to keep anything from him. “I couldn’t let him win.”

“Hmm,” Regulus hums again.

“It’s not that it’s not true, I do think I love him more than he loves me, but that doesn’t mean I love him more then I love you,” James reasures, resting his forehead on Regulus’. “It’s not the same love.”

Regulus leans back, tilting his head back as laughter bubbles out of him, unable to keep it up any longer. He can’t fight the large, giddy smile that is brought to his face.

“I can’t believe that actually worked,” Regulus ponders in amusement.

“Hey,” James whines, his eyes narrowed. “That’s not fair, you tricked me. I thought you were upset with me.”

Regulus brushes his lips against James’ slightly in apology, smirking as James unconsciously tries to follow his lips.

“All I had to do was pout and tear up and you folded like a deck of cards,” Regulus teases, “who knew you were that easy to trick, Jamie. I guess you really are whipped for me.”

“I am,” he agrees without a thought, not even trying to deny it.

Then James dives forward suddenly, knocking Regulus onto his back as his forearms barricade Regulus' head and his lips hover over Regulus’ once more.

Regulus swallows roughly, his breath hitching, suddenly not in control of the situation. 

James smirks, his nose gently rubbing against Regulus. “Everyone.”

“What?” Regulus shakes his head, forcing himself to come out of his daze, his words said on an exhale.

“Everyone,” James presses his lips to Regulus’ between each muttered word. “Knows.” kiss. “How.” kiss. “Much.” kiss. “Control.” kiss. “You.” kiss. “Have.” kiss. “Over.” kiss. “Me.” kiss. “Baby.” 

He leans back, his eyes meeting Regulus, his expression sincere and adoring. “It’s not a secret, Reggie. It’s not something I try to hide. You have full control over me and everyone knows how much of a fool I am for you.”

“There's nothing I wouldn’t do or give for you,” he confesses simply. 

Regulus’ eyes flutter shut.

His chest constricts and this time the tears that brim his eyes don’t feel so fake. 

“Anything?”

His voice cracks. 

“Everything.”

The confession shouldn’t come as a surprise, Regulus has always known that when James cares he gives it his all and doesn’t hold back.

Regulus just never thought he would be the one James would do anything for.

“And I won't stop until you believe me,” James says, a determined glint in his eyes before he presses gentle kisses to Regulus’ closed eyes as if he knows him enough to know he’s fighting back tears. “You're it for me, baby.”

That sounds like something Regulus could live with.

Regulus doesn't reply, a sense of desperation overcoming his body, his hands coming up to tug on the strands of James’ hair and pull him forward to him.

Their lips crash together and Regulus sighs happily into the kiss, trying to pull James as close as possible.

James is quick to take control, allowing a few minutes of rough and desperate kissing before he easily softens the kiss and helps Regulus to calm down.

“I guess that you’ll just have to remind me everyday, just like that,” Regulus offers breathlessly, a smile forming without his consent.

“My pleasure,” James grins against Regulus’ lips, kissing him again. “Everyday, baby.”

[tavolgisvist]

The Lovers That Never Were

(for @i-am-the-oyster because)

As for you, you sit there playing this game You keep me waiting

(The Lovers That Never Were, 1987)

Don't keep me waiting here Lead me to your door

(The Long and Winding Road, 1969)

Linda: The sad thing is that John and Paul both had problems and they loved each other and, boy, could they have helped each other! If they had only communicated! It frustrates me no end, because I was just some chick from New York when I walked into all of that. God, if I’d known what I know now… All I could do was sit there watching them play these games…

(Paul and Linda McCartney, Dec.1984, interview with Joan Goodman for Playboy, 1984)

All of the clocks have run down Time's at an end

(The Lovers That Never Were, 1987)

But in a final tender moment, the Observer said, Lennon wrote under a photo of himself with McCartney: “The minutes are crumbling away.”

(Associated Press: Lennon’s resentment of McCartney reflected in book notes, July 20th, 1986)

So you, you must tell me something,…I love you, Say goodbye or anything

(The Lovers That Never Were, 1987)

And I won't go away until you tell me so No, I'll never go away Yes, I know what I feel to be right

(No More Lonely Nights, 1984)

When all of the clocks have run down All over the world We'll be the lovers that never were

(The Lovers That Never Were, 1987)

In another world we could Stand on top of the mountain With our flag unfurled In time to come In time to come we will be Dancing to the beat played On a different drum

(Tug of War, 1980/82)

We had the whole musical universe to choose from – a rock and roll song, a love song, what would it be? – so I said, “Well, let’s start with Smokey Robinson and the Miracles. Let’s think of them”, so we started off and ‘The Lovers That Never Were’ came out. It was our first song together.

We did a nice but very, very rough demo of it, just Elvis and me, but when we tried to record it properly it didn’t really work out. So I ignored it for Flowers In The Dirt and decided to try it again for this album. And we thought of bringing in a 4/4 bass drum over a 3/4 song ~ this is for the musicians among you – which just makes it swing. It’s an old rhythm trick but it made it come alive, and we then had a version that we liked.

(Paul McCartney, 1993, Club Sandwich)

It was a waltz and not working, until Paul said, How about putting a 4/4 on top of this thing. And that was so complicated, waltz and 4/4 at the same time, but I tried and Paul’s looking at me saying, You all right? I’m struggling (claps in fours, stamps in threes), but I say, Just give me five minutes. A real head twister, but it was such a groove. Made the song happen.

(Blair Cunningham, from the “New World Tour”)

Baby’s In Black we did because we like waltz time – we used to do If You Gotta Make A Fool Of Somebody, a cool 3/4 blues thing. And other bands would notice that and say, ‘Shit man, you’re doing something in 3/4.’ So we’d got known for that. And I think also John and I wanted to do something bluesy, a bit darker, more grown-up, rather than just straight pop. It was more ‘baby’s in black’ as in mourning. Our favourite colour was black, as well

(Paul McCartney, Anthology)

“Baby’s in Black” was recorded by the Beatles on 11 August 1964, and was the first song recorded for Beatles for Sale. Lennon and McCartney sang their vocal parts simultaneously through the same microphone. This was done at their own insistence in order to achieve a closer feel to the performance. (x)

It was very much co-written and we both sang it. Sometimes the harmony that I was writing in sympathy to John’s melody would take over and become a stronger melody. Suddenly a piebald rabbit came out of the hat! When people wrote out the music score they would ask, ‘Which one is the melody?’ because it was so co-written that you could actually take either. We rather liked this one. It was not so much a work job, there was a bit more cred about this one. It’s got a good middle.

(Paul McCartney in Many Years From Now by Barry Miles, 1997)

They performed Baby’s in Black live during their appearances from late 1964 until their last tour in 1966. In 1996, a live version of Baby’s in Black was released as a B-side to Real Love, the second single from their Anthology project.

[panda-writes-kpop]

you're mine, and i'm yours ~ h. yj.

a/n: another request within a few days woo go katie!!! anyways happy july (best month EVER because it's katie's b-day month 🫶) and here's the request for any curious parties:

tw: slightly angsty because reader/yunjin are in a mostly long-distance relationship, but it's really fluffy at the end :)

summary: Since you and yunjin have an afternoon to spend together, you take the time to enjoy NYC with your lover. a few months later, you reminisce on this date with some extra weight in your hand.

related fics: international love

♡ Masterlist ♡

“I can’t believe your manager let you spend part of your day with me.” You say as you gently place your hands on Yunjin’s waist.

“I can’t believe my manager let me out of their sight.” She jokes before grabbing her jacket. “Do you want to head out, or are you just going to keep feeling me up?”

You pull your hands back before a sheepish smile appears on your face.

“Guilty as charged. Lead the way, babe.”

~

Yunjin’s hand feels comfortable in yours as you walk through the streets of New York City together. You didn’t know if it was the sunglasses hiding your faces, or the carelessness of the people who passed you by, but no one recognized either of you.

You didn’t mind when people recognized you - it was a part of your job, as an actor - but sometimes you just wanted to be a normal person who went on dates with their girlfriend. You could tell Yunjin felt the same, as she became more relaxed as you continued to walk together.

“What’s the plan?” You ask as Yunjin checks her phone.

“I was thinking that we could see a Broadway show, then head to a nearby store and grab some supplies for a picnic.” Yunjin looks up to give you a warm smile. “How does that sound, dear?”

“Can we go back to the hotel and cuddle for a bit? I know you have rehearsals tonight, but I thought it would be nice to spend a bit more time together.”

Yunjin presses a soft kiss to your cheek before dragging you forward.

“It sounds perfect, my love.”

~

“You could totally sing that.” You quietly remark as you shuffle through the crowd towards the exit of the theater.

“You just like to hear my voice, even if I’m singing way out of my comfort zone.” Yunjin says as you lead her out of the crowd.

“You sound beautiful when you’re singing opera, pop, or Broadway show tunes – so yes, I do love your voice as it is.”

She playfully slaps your shoulder as a light blush appears on her face.

“Thanks.” She mumbles as you laugh.

“No cute quips or funny remarks?”

“Wait until we eat, and then I’ll have plenty. I’m too hungry to think.” Yunjin says as your stomach grumbles in agreement.

~

“Let me pay for it-” You hand your card to the cashier before Yunjin bats your hand away.

“I can get it, I promise-”

“I can’t make my girlfriend pay for my food, that’d be ridiculous!” You laugh before the cashier rings out your order. “Spend your money on something you want. I know you have plenty of it-”

“So do you!” A soft whine leaves Yunjin as she grabs the bags from the cashier. “You paid for the hotel too. When do I get to spoil you?”

You turn around and lightly grab her cheek before leaning in to kiss her.

“Your love and affection is more than enough for me.” You press your lips to hers for a moment. “Besides, I don’t get much of a chance to shop anymore, and I like spending money on my loved ones.”

When you pull away, Yunjin grabs the collar of your shirt and kisses you again.

“It looks like I have a lot of kisses to repay, then.”

~

“This is nice.” Yunjin looks up at the midday sky as you take a bite of the food in front of you. “I wish we could spend more time together like this.”

She bites her lip as a wave of sadness crashes over her. You grab her hand and squeeze it as a way to comfort her.

“You’re busy chasing your dreams, as I am. One day, we’ll settle down together, and we’ll spend every day like this.” You wistfully say as she softly looks at you.

“You promise?”

“I do.” You nod before handing her a napkin. “You have a little bit of something-” 

You flick away the food crumb on her face before flashing her a smile.

“There, got it.”

“Thanks, babe.” She wipes her lips before a smirk appears on your face. “Do you remember when you asked me if I had a cute quip or funny remark to your teasing?”

“Yes, I do.” You fold your arms. “Let’s hear it.”

“Well, I was just thinking about how you’re just as attractive and charismatic as the characters you play in your movies. Do you remember the one where you saved the girl by kissing her?”

It’s your turn to become flustered as you cough into your hands.

“I didn’t know that you watched the… romantic ones.” You scratch the back of your head as she continues on.

“Of course I do. It makes me feel closer to you, even when we’re an ocean apart.”

A sweet response like that is nearly enough to send you into cardiac arrest, but you’re able to calm your fast-beating heart with a few deep breaths.

“I think we have a bed calling our names back in the hotel room, babe.”

“Lead the way.” She offers you her hand, and you grab it before heading back to the hotel.

“Come here.” You lightly pull Yunjin into bed with your interlocked hands.

~

She laughs as she crashes into you.

“Smooth.” Yunjin continues to laugh as she snuggles into your chest.

“I do my best.” You take your free hand and run it through her hair as your other hand leaves hers and wraps around her body. “Comfortable?”

“Very much so.” 

You’re both quiet - a rarity for both of you. There’s something tranquil about the way you’re cuddled together - domestic, if you dare to call it that.

It makes you wish that you could wake up next to Yunjin every day of your life.

~

“Actors on set in three minutes!” The director announces over the PA system as you scroll through your gallery on your phone.

Your trailer is comfortable, sure, but it’s nothing compared to a warm bed and a nice shower. You can’t wait to go back to your hotel room and relax for the day.

You pause when your eyes spot the pictures that you and Yunjin took on your most recent date in NYC. Sure, it was months ago, but you found yourself wanting to go back to that moment again and again.

The first picture was from the Broadway show - she was pressed against your side as a stranger took a picture of you two. You were both proudly showing off your Broadway playbills - speaking of which, yours is tucked into your luggage as a reminder of Yunjin, wherever you go.

The next picture you spot is from your picnic - Yunjin’s mid-laughter as someone’s dog has curled up on her lap. Despite not being a video, you can still hear her laughter echo around the trailer.

The last picture from that day is, by far, your favorite - she’s peacefully sleeping on your lap, with no idea in the world that you’re taking a picture of her. It was still your lock screen, all of this time later.

“Actors on set in one minute!” 

You quickly tuck your phone into your bag as you lightly fix your hair in a nearby mirror. That’s when you notice something else that needs to go in your bag.

Something you got for Yunjin recently, but you wouldn’t give it to her for a while. Something that says you’re mine, and I’m yours.

The ring feels heavy in your hands, like the weight of two futures that will be forever intertwined, but it easily finds a small pocket in your bag. You had a call with Yunjin tonight - maybe you’d talk about your future, just as a fanciful idea, for now.

Someday, Yunjin, someday.

[gardenwalrus]

The Beatles & Noël Coward

The songwriting ambitions of Wooler and the Lennon-McCartney team provided a rich topic of conversation. "I used to discuss this chiefly with Paul," said Wooler. "I did discuss songs with John, but he wasn't interested in my kind of songs. Whereas Paul McCartney was interested in what I had to say about songs, and Noël Coward, for instance. I talked to him about Noël Coward and how clever and how witty he was. And this is what I miss about rock'n'roll songs, the absence of wit. There's so very few of them have any wit about them. Which is very sad. They're all rather long-suffering, these songs. And all this pall rather appalled me. 'When I'm Sixty-Four' is really, I think, the only witty Beatles song, which is essentially a McCartney number. When I used to announce Paul at the Cavern, occasionally I'd say, 'Now Paul's going to sing a song of his own he's written; he's the Noël Coward of rock'n'roll!' I think he liked that appellation, that description."

- Gillian G. Gaar, 'I AM THE DJ: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE CAVERN'S BOB WOOLER', Goldmine (8 November 1996)

John and Paul meet Noël Coward at Alma Cogan's party at her London apartment, 1-3 June 1964.*

[Coward] found them 'pleasant young men, quite well behaved and with an amusing way of speaking'. [...] Though [Coward's] background was not so very different from the Beatles' - his father was an impoverished piano salesman - he swiftly assimilated into high society, readily adopting the mannerisms and accents of the English upper classes. Small wonder, then, that the current rise of working-class culture held so little appeal for him. [...] Coward made the mistake of relaying his encounter with John and Paul, in derogatory terms, to David Lewin of the Daily Mail. It never occurred to him that Lewin would quote him in print complaining that the Beatles were 'totally devoid of talent. There is a great deal of noise. In my day, the young were taught to be seen but not heard - which is no bad thing.'

- Craig Brown, One Two Three Four: The Beatles in Time (2020)

(*Craig Brown dates this meeting as 6 June, however the Beatles - minus Ringo - were in Amsterdam on this date, and the party was in London. Lewin's article is published on Friday 5 June 1964 and refers to Coward's 'last day' of his visit to Britain 'this week' - therefore more likely 1-3 June.)

A year later, Coward sees the Beatles in concert at the Teatro Adriano in Rome, 27 June 1965, and afterwards goes to meet them at their hotel.

PAUL: Brian came and said, 'Noel Coward would like to meet you boys.' We all said, 'Oh, fucking hell, no! No, no, no. I'm going to bed.' Nobody was really keen, we were better just casually interacting with people. Once you actually had to meet them, it became a bit official and our black humour would kick in and we'd try and counteract the fact that four of us were going to have to line up to meet the great man, so piss-takes would come fairly readily. No one was going to go, and Brian said, 'You can't, you just can't!' So I went down and met him. But then he said some not too pleasant things about us after that, so fuck him anyway.

- Paul in Barry Miles, Many Years From Now (1997)

...I was told that the Beatles refused to see me because that ass David Lewin had quoted me saying unflattering things about them months ago. I thought this graceless in the extreme, but decided to play it with firmness and dignity. I asked Wendy [Hanson, the Beatles' publicist] to go and fetch one of them and she finally reappeared with Paul McCartney and I explained gently but firmly that one did not pay much attention to the statements of newspaper reporters. The poor boy was quite amiable and I sent messages of congratulation to his colleagues, although the message I would have liked to send them was that they were bad-mannered little shits.

- Noël Coward's diary entry for 4 July 1965, referring to 27 June. (x)

[rapunzellovesbooks]

N fans attacking L for taking his gf to an event as if N hasn't been taking her bf literally everywhere including her movie set like wth man I'm tired like how is he evil forgoing to an event now and this is literally his first public appearnce since july last year so what does that has anything to do with N in first place and those events get organized weeks in advance so this whole he only went to an event because he was waiting for her to say they are friends in an interview is ridiclious because he only called N a friend last year and also how the hell is he gonna know what N say about him in an interview

This is my point exactly.

The issue is that, since it was Luke´s paparazzi photo that was published first, the infamous June 13th pic, he was always, ALWAYS, going to be the "villain" in this scenario. He will always be blamed if nothing more than the beautiful relationship that Nic and him have happens. Why? Because it gave folks the impression of Nicola then being left behind at the premiere, bla bla. Never mind that JD was also there at the premiere, but no cares about that. Nope, everyone only cared about the fact that this new mystery girl was thin. Sorry to say it, but it is true. If A had not been thin or, let´s say, not the same size as Nicola, who is gorgeous as well, none of this drama would have happened. Folks thought "oh, well, of course he chose someone else, fuck him, yay, go Nicola", using Nicola, AGAIN, as a self insert. So this girl became a villain too. Simply for how she looked. Then because of how people said she acted. Etc. Etc.

Do I think both could have saved themselves a lot of grief if they had just said at the beginning of the tour, hey, I am in a relationship? Yes. They would not even have had to disclose names, nada. CJ is in a relationship with a casting director and no one, NO ONE, gives a damn fuck. Come her season, it will be a breeze. But I also think that it was nobody´s business. It had nothing to do with the show or THEIR relationship.

The issue with Nicola and Luke is that they do have a very close relationship and, how could you not? You spend years working together, building this bond and then you go through this crazy thing together, you kiss, you touch more than normal friends do. Of course your relationship is gonna be unhinged to the outward eye. Heck, they know themselves that they are not "normal" but then again, there are people who ship CJ and Luke Thompson, which blows my mind.

Luke did not wait for Nicola to say anything. In fact, the interviewer for Nic´s SAG Award was lovely. He simply said "your chemistry is great, some fans want you to get married in real life, do you know?", he asked while laughing. He then stated that, to him, Luke seemed perfect and she agreed. Not because anyone was looking for a scoop, the dude was praising their work together and Luke as an actor and person which, and correct me if I am wrong, is what we fans have wanted for so long for him. RECOGNITION. How in the hell would Luke have known what she was going to say? And, even if he saw the interview before bringing this girl to the event, what does it change? Nothing. Nicola is not sad about this. She probably encouraged him to do it. She has been taken this JD guy everywhere with her, being carefree and stuff. And smiling and what not, which she is allowed to do with other men that Luke. She is, whether romantic or not (I do not really like JD, but that is besides the point of this). And for people saying he looks uncomfortable or it does not look natural like with Nicola... a) it is a red carpet for a fashion event. They are told to look at the camera a certain way. It is not a light hearted premiere in rural Australia. b) if for months all people had been doing is grill me, my closed ones and my friends for a paparazzi picture and then going to finally bring this person again to an event after all of that nonsense... I would be petrified too. I am proud of him for doing this, actually. It takes ball of steel after all he went through. Why now? Maybe cause it is the first event he has gone to. Maybe it is cause he is fed up with the invasion of privacy and he is like, you know what, fuck it. Maybe it is because before he was filming, both in London and in Rome, and it was not his priority. In fact, what to a lot of people is a big deal, this is just an event for him. Who knows.

If the only value Luke has to all of you is being with Nicola as her bf, then you are not his fan and you are not her fan either. Nicola is gonna have other costars in the future and so is Luke. They will, hopefully, have good chemistry.

I myself will live for the WT and even their interviews for season 2 and 1 and I will die when I get more Polin content, maybe as soon as the TV Awards on the 10th of February where both are nominated or at the Valentine´s Event.

Nicola ain´t crying about this. She loves that man. And if you hate on him, you hate on her. Simple as that.

[bengiyo]

2024 Recap: ✨A Summary✨

Post your most popular and/or favourite edit/gifset/analysis for each month (it’s okay to skip months!)

@troubled-mind and @my-rose-tinted-glasses brought this back, and @lurkingshan mentioned me in hers.

January:

most popular - Last Twilight Ep 12 (Finale) Stray Thoughts

favorites - An Apology to Ossan’s Love and The Novelist, and Goblin is One of the Best Shows Ever Made

Seems I decided to cope with Last Twilight’s disappointment by capping off three big catchups. I am still so glad that I went back to Ossan’s Love and The Novelist to watch them properly. I still think these shows get a bad reputation, and I’m curious to see how the Thai version lands with audiences. I feel like I could also say so much more about Goblin, because I’ve also been considering a rewatch.

February:

most popular - Quick Post about How Great It Is to Be a J-BL Fan

favorites - My first interaction with @happypotato48, Love for Love’s Sake Finale, Drama Shower Explainer, My Post About How Much I Love Dynamite

What a fun month! I made a new friend, and found a new favorite show! I was so correct about how much Japanse QL we were getting and how much we’ve gotten in the past year. Though I was disappointed in the end of Drama Shower, I’m still glad that MBS is making BL…and whatever Red Blue is (I want to watch it so bad). My love for Dynamite has only grown since I wrote that post. I need to see so much more Aungpao this year.

March:

most popular - Love is Better the Second Time Around Ep 2 Stray Thoughts

favorites - Perfect Propose Finale, Cherry Magic TH Finale, Cherry Magic Anime Finale

It really was unexpected that we got two good adaptations of Cherry Magic in the same year, both of which would supplant the original adaptation for me. I think the Thai live action might be the best one for viewers, but damn is the anime still my favorite. Perfect Propose also may have been short, but that show has stuck with me. I still think about Kai giving Hiro the first good sleep he’s had in forever.

April:

most popular - Threatening people to tag Unknown spoilers

favorites - A “violence” ask about I used to shout out Tadaima, Okaeri.

This month looks relatively quiet for me, but holy shit was Tadaima, Okaeri unexpected. I was not expecting one of my favorite shows of the year to be an omegaverse husbands becoming dads show.

May:

most popular - Asking other BL fans how often we’d seen a 69 in BL

favorites - My Post About Why I Don’t Like We Are, My Wandee Goodday Check In

Man, I really hoped that Wandee Goodday would be good. I’m still flabbergasted by how badly that show lost me. Oyei and Cher were so important to me. Pour one out for the homies.

June:

most popular and favorite - Love Sea: Tongrak is Kind of an Asshole, and I Like It

other favorites - My Love Mix Up TH: The Adaptation Changes to the Class Play

Becoming a fan of MAME was not something I ever expected of myself, and yet here we are. I’ve now enjoyed three of her shows in a row, and supported another adaptation of her work. I also am so sad that MLMU wasn’t something I could enjoy. I was so amped after Cherry Magic TH and had real hope that this could also be fantastic.

July:

most popular - I Hear the Sunspot Ep 5 Stray Thoughts

You can tell I was traveling this month. I was quiet.

August:

most popular - Ben’s Big BL Blurb

favorites - Knock Knock, Boys! review, Office Romance Meditation on The Trainee and Other Shows

There were too many episodes to catch up on after traveling, so I dropped Stray Thoughts. It was probably for the best, because it took up a lot of time, and it made me grumpy to write about shows that were in a slog. I’ve enjoyed writing more focused pieces since.

September:

most popular - Horniest Sex Scenes Ask

favorites - The Trainee Reflection on Adulthood, Happy of the End Review, I Hear the Sunspot Wasted Taichi As a Character

The Trainee was so solid that I wrote about it two months in a row! Unfortunately it coincided with two J-BL losses that I had to mark.

October:

most popular and favorite - Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo: We Are So Fucking Back

other favorites - An Apology to The Miracle of Teddy Bear, Love in the Big City Part 1: It’s Gay, Peaceful Property: There’s Nothing Noble About Being Poor

What an incredible month for me! I finished one of the best shows we never got to see properly in 2022, we got a fantastic adaptation of one of the best books I read this year, and Hwang Da Seul came back with an absolute banger.

November:

most popular - Let Free the Curse of Taekwondo reaction

favorites - Love in the Big City Part 2: The Weight of Homophobia, Making a Clown of Myself at the Beginning of Your Sky, Ben’s Big BL Blurb 2: Fall is Finally Here, Blue Canvas of Youthful Days: BL is So Good When The Characterization Holds

I feel like I must have had a lot of time to write this month. I still stand by what I said about Blue Canvas at this point, even if the finale threw a lot of this away. I also highlighted my Your Sky post as an example of how exciting the beginning of a new show can be before it veers off and loses steam. 

December:

most popular - Ben’s Big BL Blurb 3: Blue Canvas of Youthful Days Blew It, But I Still Recommend It

favorites - Random QL Superlatives 2024, Our Youth: “Don’t Do It At School”

I really love the end of the year posts as a time to reflect on everything we watched. What really stood out for me this year was how much I just let go. I’m glad I’ve watched less, and have stuck with things that compelled me in some way. Hilariously, I think it’s actually lowered my overall average, but my general mood is up because I’m not forcing myself to slog through shows. 

You can go here to find your top 10 posts of each month.

[cherrycherryking]

Wally x gardener puppet? Idk the concept to me seems cute,,,,

the concept is SO cute!! I know it was just supossed to be wally x reader but i looove concepts for welcom home characters!! like, how would you interact with the neighboorhood? what stuff would you teach?

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wally darling x gen!reader (platonic or romantic!) + drawings

Gardener Puppet Reader

────────────

✧You're a puppet like Wally or Julie! Your little house is mostly took over by the garden behind it, and most of your segments take place in your work table.

✧You talk about...well, plants! Easy ways to start kids on gardening with plants like beans or herbs. Your segments crossover to recycling and all things around taking care of the planet.

✧For this reasons you would often appear with Frank when it got to talking about insects or more technicalities about plants like bees or their life cycle! With arts and crafts to reuse trash Julie and Wally would accompany you :)

✧When not in your house you could be seen taking care of the flowers around the neighborhood, stocking food on Howdy's store or bringing fresh produce for Poppy's baking segments!

✧Look!! Its You!!! (or just an outfit idea)

✧Only gray so you can decide the color palette. I also thought it would be funny for you to be a scarecrow but that i leave up to you.

───────────.★..─╮ Wally x Reader part!! ─..★.───────────╯

✧As said before, Wally would appear in your segments about recycled projects

✧I like to think that Wally is really good at all types of paintings but not so much with arts and crafts.

✧Everytime hes your co-host the camera will be looking at you doing an explanation of the steps, cut to wally and:

✧Home has pretty white flowers outside, so you take care of them :) A good couple of episodes start with Wally looking out the windows or getting out of Home and saying finding you there!!

✧One day you decided to gift your friends some pretty plants, and for Wally you decided on an Aloe.

✧He's so so happy with the gift!! He promises to take good care of it.

✧It was nothing really, Wally has always been a dear person to you. He was so calm and smooth and charming that you couldn't help but want to hang around him all of the time.

✧And it seemed he thought the same about you,

✧Your patience with his mess ups, your sweet words of encouragement, the care you took of Home so its flowers and bushes were always healthy made his heart melt!

✧That's why he looked so sad when you opened the door after you heard his knocking.

✧"I am so sorry y/n, the plant you gifted me died :("

✧He kept apologizing but you stopped him, telling Wally it was okay! It wasn't yours but his, and you didnt felt angry or anything.

✧"Aren't you mad at me?" "No, of course not! If anything, i'm more curious about how it got like that..."

✧You gave Wally an Aloe plant on purpose. He was a little uhhhh lost some times! head empty, so you choose a plant that would do just fine with little care.

✧But it seem he took too much care of the Aloe. It got like this thanks to overwatering.

"Its okay" you told him, holding his face on your hands. "You just worried too much for the little guy."

"Oh- haha, I ruined because I overdid it?"

"C'mon! You didn't ruined it. Lets go to the back, i'm pretty sure we can still save the aloe. This time i'm going to give you a better guide to take care of it."

His gaze softened, leaning his head to one of your hands. "That sounds nice..."

┴┬┴┬┴┬┴┬┴┬┴┬┴┬┴┬┴┬┴┬┴┬┴┬┴┬┴┬┴┬┴┬┴┬┴┬┴

can you tell how excited i got with this? can you tell?!?!?! it was so fun omg

PLEASE!! pleasepleaseplease send me more asks about ideas for you all self insert! tell me if you want a puppet or like a human costar like sesame street.

[hellowblush]

📅 jul 3 pick a picture [click keep reading for more] ⓒ hellowblush

"Take action. That is what I want my July to be filled with. Taking more actions. Another way of boosting our confidence is taking more action and constantly doing it. Today, we are going to ask the universe for suggestions on what activities we could do to boost up our confidence!"

🌷: (me notes: this is only for fun (duh) take my messages as light as a feather. if you think they’re do not make sense, forget about it and move on. another reminder, please excuse if i would commit any grammatical errors. peace out.) 🌷: Let us get started! Before picking a picture, I recommend you to take three deep breaths. First, you have to gently breathe in and then slowly breathe out. Do this for three times. Close your eyes for a few seconds then open them. Now you are ready. Pick now.

🌷: EYE (pile one) 🌷: Greetings my pile one! I am sensing that the universe is suggesting for you are simple activities like self-care routines. This may boost up your confidence. The universe wants you to focus more on your daily routines like brushing your teeth and eating at the right time. Are you currently in a slump or experiencing low energy? I feel like most of this group are recently feeling like they do not want to move or do anything. I just discovered the term “girlrotting” on tiktok and it is described as a moment where you are laying on your bed for a long time. I think some of you are going through this phase and I am gonna tell you this, that is fine. BUT I want to be honest with you pile one, this time you have to get up and get back on track.

I feel that if you keep track of your daily routines, that may bring your energy back and may motivate you to do more activities. If you start to do these small practices, you'd be surprised how it could contribute to your confidence. I hope that makes sense. You can get out of this slump.

↓

Please note that if you are struggling with your mental health, i think it’s time for you to to seek for professional help or do activities that could help you deal with it in a healthy way. I am also getting a message that music can guide you when you are feeling confused or directionless in life. Hmm, I suggest you to do music-related activities. I will emphasize this one because I deeply feel that music is a vital tool for your confidence. Universe suggests you to not simply listen to music but to MAKE ACTIONS using music. MUSIC AS A TOOL. For example, activities like dancing, singing karaokes with friends, vocal workout in the morning, playing an instrument etc.

-end of reading-

🌷: I am grateful that you read my content, my pile one ♡ Remember to believe in yourself that you could get out of this slump! I got a little extra gift for you, I channeled a song just for your pile. It is Me and The Rhythm by Selena Gomez and the part "If you feel you are the spark then come out of the dark" may kind of ignite your energy in a way idk. If you resonate with my words and my reading, please do like and share my content! If not, maybe my reading isn’t for you (sad but at the same time thumbs up because maybe it’s not really for you and you have used your own discernment own intuition. that is good!) If ever you feel called to tip, my paypal is: @doswonder . You can also say hi to me on my inbox! As a reader, I love it when people show appreciation for my efforts through sending me messages! Doing a general reading isn’t easy and it is a long process of trial and error. Writing + editing + channeling energies. Gosh, it’s a struggle but it is very healing and rewarding.

𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒, 𝓅𝑒𝓉𝓇𝒶

🌷: CAT (pile two) Hello Pile two. How are you doing? I think you already know what to do to level up your confidence eh. Let me guess? It involves taking actions that are in accordance with your purpose, correct? For majority of this pile, you people may be the ones with specified life goals and damn I know how much you want to achieve those goals. Pack your bags and follow your purpose. When you do things that align with your desired purpose, you bring out your confidence. You feel the most confident when you move forward for yourself. This is a very short reading because you people already know what I am talking about. *wink* Break a leg! -end of reading-

🌷: I am grateful that you read my content, my pile two ♡ This pile has a vibe of people that know how to manage and handle their own selves. Interesting reading, pile two! If you resonate with my words and my reading, please do like and share my content! If not, maybe my reading isn’t for you (sad but at the same time thumbs up because maybe it’s not really for you and you have used your own discernment own intuition. that is good!) If ever you feel called to tip, my paypal is: @doswonder . You can also say hi to me on my inbox! As a reader, I love it when people show appreciation for my efforts through sending me messages! Doing a general reading isn’t easy and it is a long process of trial and error. Writing + editing + channeling energies. Gosh, it’s a struggle but it is very healing and rewarding.

𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒, 𝓅𝑒𝓉𝓇𝒶

🌷: WOMAN (pile three)

Pile three, welcome to your general reading. Bold for me to say this in a general reading but all of you may have a strong connection with animals and nature. It is very apparent in the imagery shown on my cards. You may want to decorate your personal space with greenery. It may make you more confident and calmer, that is what I am sensing. You got a consecutive card in my reading which is awesome and fascinating. I am seeing that you are actually in a good position in life at the moment but here is the deal, there is chaos inside you. (If you do not resonate with this, forget about this or skip) You know sometimes we get this uncomfortable feeling after we achieved a goal. You may ask yourself things like "That is it?" "What's next?" The level of our dopamine may suddenly drop and we may be confused what to do next. This may be shaking your confidence about yourself. The universe is gently telling you that you do not have to overanalyze what to do next. There are no specific activities the cards suggest but they want you to trust yourself this time, you have endured and worked hard for your achievements. Remind yourself to go with the flow of your life right now. I actually didn't receive a clear response from the universe about what would best boost you up right now. Maybe the answers we are seeking will come to you at a right moment. Although our reading lacks exactness, I think you should give decorating your own space a try. A personal advice from me is that maybe you could say affirmations such as "I trust myself" and "I am confident and today I am going to trust myself" That is a wrap, pile three! -end of reading-

🌷: I am grateful that you read my content, my pile three ♡ You are going to be alright, pile three. No explanations needed, you will be fine! If you resonate with my words and my reading, please do like and share my content! If not, maybe my reading isn’t for you (sad but at the same time thumbs up because maybe it’s not really for you and you have used your own discernment own intuition. that is good!) If ever you feel called to tip, my paypal is: @doswonder . You can also say hi to me on my inbox! As a reader, I love it when people show appreciation for my efforts through sending me messages! Doing a general reading isn’t easy and it is a long process of trial and error. Writing + editing + channeling energies. Gosh, it’s a struggle but it is very healing and rewarding.

𝓁𝑜𝓋𝑒, 𝓅𝑒𝓉𝓇𝒶

[jasminerva]

Jasminerva's Updates

Happy New Year everybuddy~!

Just to post a quick update (in case anyone was wondering)!

I'm alive! I've been busy with life, priorities, and "me time", but I am of the living!

I did manage to find time to watch the first two eps of SakaDays - and boy was it ever fun!!! A rushed rush, if you will. Sad we won't get to see Officer Nakase. I hope we get to see Sakamoto fight tooth and nail for Hana-chan's backpack though!!!

Been having trouble with cloud8 motivation! Writing in general, really! The muse, it escapes me, but I won't force it lol. Can't get nothing done if I force myself.

But otherwise on the plate:

cloud8 chapter 5

Gaku NSFW request (just need to make a satisfactory ending)

I have several asks I need to answer - my sincerest apologies for the delay!!! I'll get 'em out soon~ I hope 🙏 wish me luck! orz

A Shinful surprise ;3c

I'm planning on publishing my old stuff on AO3. Thankfully I hoard keep meticulous records. The Lunaescence migration to AO3 will only have post-2015 stuff, and all my stuff is pre-2015 so I may as well! They're all unfinished lmaooo but I figured I'd share. I do want to finish up a couple old projects (both in memoriam my late Tumblr best friend @mochisato).

Hoping 2025 is another fruitful year for me and to all y'all~! Whether it's with your studies or your professional and/or personal goals, I wish you all the love and all the best~!

I would like to write more this year but I'm realistic and happy enough to write what I can, when I can~! (Comments may help lol but I can't force you.)

Womanifest it~! 💅✨

Personal updates under the cut (don't wanna bore you~ but I wanted to share in case you were interested in my excuses for being busy / interested in me tootin' my own horn - gotta share the wins and positive vibes 💪 #empowered women empower women)!

Looking back on 2024

✧ I wrote 21k words in published AO3 SakaDays fanfiction. A few more thousands I'm sure if you include all the Tumblr-only stuff. It's not much, but it's honest work! Considering I just came back to writing after 8 years in July 2024, I'd say I did purdy darn good!

✧ My LinkedIn Rewind (with some deets omitted):

✧ Last year, I did a huge canyon swing by myself! Maybe this year I'll bungee jump or sky dive. Or both.

✧ Was part of several peace forums for Palestine, Sudan, and more. Still shaking my head at the yt people at the table. It's like talking to Trump's nonexistent wall.

✧ I also represented Canada at an international UN conference in New York. Same issues where I'm shaking my head so hard. At least I met some like-frustrated people.

✧ Did 3 talks (2 compensated, 1 global, 1 national). Looking forward to doing more this year!

✧ Took on a new mentee - another woman of colour with huge aspirations!!!

2025 so far

✧ My first policy advocacy letter was selected for International Development Week! I got paid AND they'll publicize it for all to see!!! Hopefully the dang government not only sees it but listens. I did their job laid out all the groundwork for them, so they better!

✧ My new job is about a double income boost. But we'll see what that actually is like after taxes lmao. I don't plan on buying another house, so I'll be buying experiences (travels, food, more food). I've been riding the zero waste / anti-capitalism movement for a few years now, so I'm going to buy minimal merch (I say this now). KonMari that shit.

✧ I'm looking forward to snowballing on my achievements, but not to the point of burnout (again lmaooo god we shall see orz).

Here's to an amazing 2025~! For those who have struggled thus far, I have been there! You got this~! 💪

“It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it, that matters.” - Epictetus

[taylortruther]

The way almost EVERY single line in YLM can be related to a previous like she wrote about Joe is INSANE. Like YLM is basically the song that would most fit the theme of Midnights (reflecting on the past and integrating it into the present) and guess what? She left it out (for reasons that I understand).

Here we go;

You say I don't understand and I say I know you don't// Give you the silence that only comes when two people understand each other

We thought a cure would come through in time now I fear it won't// I thought the plane was goimg down, how'd you turn it right around?

Remember looking at this room, we loved it 'cause of the light...now I just sit in the dark and wonder if it's time// The entirety of Daylight duh

Remember looking at this room, we loved it 'cause of the light...now I just sit in the dark and wonder if it's time// The entirety of Daylight duh

Do I throw out everything we built or keep it //I am an architect I'm drawing up the plans (I'm reaching here I know)

I'm getting tired even for a phoenix always rising from the ashes // I am ash from your fire

Mending all her gashes // is this the end of all the endings, my broke bones are mending

You might just have dealt the final blow // Darling this was just as hard as when they pulled me apart (these two lines feel so similar to me)

Stop you're losing me (I hope I never lose you) I can't find a pulse my heart won't start anymore// he got my heartbeat skipping down 16th avenue

Every morning I glared at you with storms in my eyes// after the storm something was born on the 4th of July

How can you say that you love someone you can't tell is dying// There's many different ways that you can kill the one you love, the slowest way is never loving them enough

I sent you signals and bit my nails down to the quick // I gave SO MANY SIGNS

My face was GREY but you wouldn't admit that we were sick // I don't like anticipating my face in a RED flush (I could write an essay about just this grey/red parallel but nvm)

And the air is thick with loss and indecision//clearing the air I breathed in the smoke

I know my pain is such an imposition // You don't really read into my melancholia // Always taking up too much space or time // I'm not your problem anymore

Now you're running down the hallway // I heard your key turn in the door down the hallway // You were standing hollow eyed in the hallway

And you know what they all say "you don't know what you've got until it's gone" // he better lock it down or I won't stick around 'cause good ones never wait

How long could we be a sad song // each bar plays our song

Till we were too far gone to bring back to life // Do I really have to tell you how he brought me back to life?

I gave you all my best mes, my endless empathy // I'd give you my sunshine, give you my best// After giving you the best I had, tell me what to give after that?

And all I did was bleed as I tried to be the bravest soldier // All the bloodshed, crimson clover // And if I bleed you'll be the last to know // soldier down on that icy ground

Fighting in only your army // I'd sit with you in the trenches

Frontlines don't you ignore me // I'm still trying everything to keep you looking at me

I'm the best thing at this party // best believe I'm still bejeweled when I walk in the room, I can still make the whole place shimmer

And I wouldn't marry me either // She would've made a lovely bride // I'd marry you with paper rings // all they keep asking me is if I'm gonna be your bride // the entire bridge of Lover

A pathological people pleaser // what a shame she's fucked in the head // mirrorball tm // my covert narcissism I disguise as altruism

Who only wanted you to see her // Walking with his head down, I'm the one he's walking to

And I'm fading thinking DO SOMETHING BABE // Some boys are trying too hard he don't try at all though

SAY SOMETHING // You don't ever say too much

LOSE SOMETHING BABE RISK SOMETHING // this ain't for the best

CHOOSE SOMETHING BABE I'VE GOT NOTHING TO BELIEVE // stood on the cliffside screaming "give me a reason"

i have nothing intelligent to say but I LOVE THIS, let's discuss

[ultraviolet-cello]

Aw man. Today's the last day of @tristampparty and I am surprisingly sad about it. I'll be catching up the days I missed at some point, but I've chucked all that I've written, including today, into a google document and I apparently wrote 7.5k words over the course of episode 6 to today.

That's! A Lot!

I really wanna thank everyone who reblogged and gave me their additional thoughts/commentary, and special thanks to Revenantghost for organizing this whole thing! you do good work for this fandom i am giving u a gold star

With that, here we go into Episode 0 - High Noon at July. CWs for pregnancy discussion and a less detailed than last time but still present analysis of sexual assault and transphobia, marked with a [CW] Ofc, spoilers for Trimax and Tristamp

Cowboy kid Knives is something u can pry from my cold dead hands but it's also,,, I don't watch a lot of westerns, but the way Knives describes it seems like he likes the high action and justice. Which yea. yeah.

A lot of ppl interpret Vash then saying that he doesn't like that sorta stuff as him having always had pacifistic tendencies but I don't really read it that way? I just see him being rather similar to Trimax Vash - chill kid with his own interests and hobbies and Knives being the very oversensitive kid so outshines him initially.

Regardless of version of Trigun (except 98. 98 didn't know shit about knives lmao), Vash and Knives have always started off wanting to coexist and be peaceful; it's just how they reacted to it later that differs. In this case, Knives wants to stand up for his friends and make a peaceful world through that, and Vash is more passive in that he just wants to have faith in humanity.

Not to mention they are kids. Young, idealistic kids. This is pre-Tesla, they don't know the extent of how horrible the world is. The loss of innocence and subsequent breakdowns relating to The Horrors is yet to come.

[CW] Mmmmm they really don't make the pregnancy imagery subtle now do they dfgkjdfjk

I also think there's like - merit in also interpreting Knives as trans. Not Just because i think he's also very trans coded (A lot of his breakdowns and story arcs have reflections in how some trans men overcompensate masculinity in a Bad Way. That's a very small subsection of trans guys btw but I am speaking from experience. I got better tho). Anyway it makes the fact that Knives is disregarding Vash's bodily autonomy very much Worse if you take the male plants are trans analogy into it.

He's so far gone that he's willing to do to Vash what would be the worst thing to be done to him; Violating his body to rebuild and make him a perfect independent ("remind him of biological reality"), physically overpowering him ("taking the aggressor, commonly masculine role in sexual assault") to do what he wants. Disregarding the wants and needs of the Plants ("women +fem-presenting ppl that he originally set out to protect because he knew their experience and wanted to help and still has that trauma from witnessing that trauma")

Ofc that's just a reading of the scene, but I quite like it as a trans guy because that makes a really good villain with trans themes/motifs! I hate him so much (affectionate)

No, no she doesn't. Meryl is making a choice and she's gonna damn well stick to it! She's been given agency and she's gonna spend it in the most eldritch horrific scene that someone on that planet could spend it lmao. Well, no Knives takes most eldritch and horrific. Meryl's second tho

Okay this fucking scene drives me INSANE. This is a memory, clearly, but it's one that's being tampered with. Vash asks Knives if they can get along with humans, and then Knives immediately messes with the memory to make sure that he says that he'll protect Vash no matter what. But that is very clearly not what was originally said, so... What did he say? What was present day Knives so desperate to cut off?

I've talked about the narrative being biased against Knives a lot, but something I haven't talked about is that Knives kinda tries to contribute to that narrative a lot. He wants to seem like he never cared about humans, he wants to seem like he always planned this and was going for justice ever since he was a kid. He tells Vash the Tesla incident was just a small grain of sand, he uses Luida to tell everyone he wants to kill Rem, he's unbearably cruel to Vash to make his point. The only difference is that he wants to be right.

So he doesn't let us see what the kid version of him says, because that would contradict the narrative he's built for himself.

I really wanna give props to Studio Orange here for both the design and way they modelled the wing here, that's a really difficult task when the guy you're putting a wing on has a tight as hell bodysuit. But the anatomy holds up surprisingly well!

Also many people have pointed out that the plant mech looks a lot like Rem, and Knives staring into the face of a Plantish representation of his mother that is created and controlled subconsciously by his brother and saying he was rejected is. It sure is a scene!

ONCE AGAIN. INCREDIBLE EFFECTS. I also would like to once again point out the angelic motifs of Knives' design here.

Also Vash saying this is SO important because Meryl!!! is so important!!! I see a lot of people brush Meryl's space in the story off and it Enrages me because Meryl is one of the most important people to Vash. Aside from our frontline yaoi soldier Nicholas D. Wolfwood, Meryl has one of the most tangible impacts on Vash's character.

When Vash is in his breakdown in Trimax, Meryl is the one to kneel at his side and believe in him; When Vash is having his god awful horrible mindscape time in Tristamp, Meryl does the same. When Meryl is kidnapped in Trimax, Vash instantly jumps out of a window in the chance of getting her back. Vash trusted her enough to fire the ion cannon in the sand steamer episode. He immediately went to July the moment she and Roberto were kidnapped.

Meryl has so much faith in Vash and she's insane for that, but Vash recognizes her and that faith pays off in giving him the strength to carry on. He heard her voice, too :]

Also oh to be floating slowly down to the floor while you're a meter away from a cube with the power of an atom bomb while someone named Millions Knives is summoning millions of knives in front of u. Meryl has guts, man.

And now that Vash has gotten his gun back, he's back to using it as a tonfa! (check I think my analysis of episode 7 for more on that). Watching for the swing blocks, the forearm guard, and thwacking the knife tendrils out of the way

This fight scene has soooo much love and care and detail in it I love it so much actually. From seeing Vash's bullets to all the expressions and beautifully detailed firing, there's so much detail in a quick space that you really have to slow it down to see everything.

Seriously how strong is Knives to be able to have a feasible chance again Vash's prosthetic - and Vash matches him! Also the chomp

Now something that I have the shakiest of theories on is that after summoning The Cube, Vash starts moving in a far more controlled manner, he stands still when reloading, he has his movement flurries and then stands still to aim. Which uh. Studio Orange works in 3d, but those are 2d animation techniques. He's moving like 98 Vash.

There's a lot I admire about Studio Orange's use of 3d (I am a mid-tier 2d artist lmao) but I love love love that they're able to get all these really nice, creative camera shots that would be impractical in 2d (all those overhead shots, for example, have a chance of turning about bad/looking weird in 2d, and puts more strain on animators, but 3d you have the models from every angle already. 3d isn't easier by any means, but it does have its strengths)

Also. how Did Wolfwood get over here, dare I ask. mans climbed a tower in just a few minutes what is Wrong with him

Also a nice detail, Vash usually has perfect trigger discipline, but he falters here against Knives, probably because he's been already shooting, but hey, he's stressed. I'll give him a break.

I also appreciate exactly how superhuman Wolfwood is now. Tristamp Wolfwood is on a different level. Like 98 Wolfwood is just some (attractive) guy, Trimax Wolfwood has a lot of gory body horror going on and a subtle kind of endurance/strength, but Tristamp Wolfwood just jumped off a very tall building holding a grown woman and the Punisher and was fine.

Oh hey, same symbol on the tower as was on the sandsteamer and on Vash's wanted poster - symbol of July, probably

Very horribly, Knives probably did just save Vash's life here. But also the rest of July's life (though ofc he just extended the timer)....

I'm not quite sure When Vash started using plant bullets, but he's definitely using them now. Also the nails on his prosthetic are a nice touch!

THE FLYING SAUCER STRIKES AGAIN. I wonder if that's gonna be the basis of the Ark, if that's the route season 2 goes.

I also. Was that allI the Plants collected that escaped in this, or were there a bunch still running in July that get obliterated too? Did Knives inadvertently cause the death of more plants? I mean, when Knives gets revived in Trimax he definitely causes the death of at least 2 plants (there are a couple of bulbs in the background of the blast radius, plus the one that was used to revive him... she uh. Didn't look like she was doing so hot)

Vash's little speech is always so,,, intense. He has such a strong sense of character and it's admirable how well he sticks to his morals despite it all.

On a more body horror note, Knives can survive a long fucking time trying to grab The Cube. In Trimax he gets hit with the angel arm and practically disemboweled instantly, but Tristamp Knives can take over a minute of just like. being right in the direct path of fire. They're really gonna have to work to reconstruct him. Good luck, Legato!

UFO SPOTTED !!! LEAVING JULY AS IT IS DESTROYED !! NOT CLICKBAIT !!!

^ I made that long ago and needed to use it somewhere dfgkjdfg

[RAUCOUS CHEERING]

And ofc I have to bring up Eriks :] I don't actually have too much to say abt him. Studio Orange strip this man and make him bark like a dog next season or we will riot

CHRONICA MENTION!!!!! YAYYYYYY

And that's kinda. It.

Man I have had such fun over the last 12 days, I've really discovered a love for analyzing and theories and putting that out there and chatting with people about Trigun :] I should do this more often lmao but I do want to get back to drawing. I'll find a balance, then!

Thank you all for coming, and Wow if you made it this far I must be doing something right lmao.

[tmasc-confessions]

I feel like such an asshole for being kind of bitter over not being able to transition. I dont know if jealousy is the right word and i dont think its right to say that i havent been supportive for my friends who have been able to transition. “Bitter” may not even be the right way to explain it either. I havent been rude in any way towards those around me that have transitioned.

Whenever I see others, including my friends transition i just feel a deep sadness and i even end up sobbing and needing to step away from the screen or situation. Its a constant reminder that my dysphoria is really bad, i have no support system and have been stuck in an abusive household my whole life until last june/july when i became homeless because i tried going on T.

My parents used to act supportive and just uneducated so I thought i would be safe. They were convinced i was the issue and was told that its better if I dont come back.

Im genuinely scared of being stuck like this for the rest of my life or wasting the majority of it suffering and barely living. I know its never too late to transition and those who transition later in life are so valid and deserve happiness but i dont want that for myself. I dont want to waste my youth being tortured by own body and living a facade. Not to mention how bad my dysphoria is and has been for years.

I wish i could just ask my parents to pay for my transition and that does not come from a place of hate. None of this comes from a place of hate. All of this is coming from a place of genuine suffering.

Its crazy that some people just go up to their parents and say “im ready to transition, can you pay for this please?” And then they do with absolutely no fighting or drama. My mother sobbed and begged me not to transition when i told her that i was going to start T. My dad and stepmom accused me of starting drama, ny mothers boyfriend accused me of hurting my mother. I was told i was separating the family and hurting everyone around me. I dont get unconditional love or support.

Everything ive read up on how to manage dysphoria is just “distract yourself” I cant. I cant do it any longer and i dont want to live like that. I shouldnt have to constantly distract myself just to be comfortable. And it doesnt even work most of the time. Ive had alot of suicide attempts over the past several years and they have all been dysphoria related. I dont think that most people realize how bad dysphoria can get. I’ve battled with pretty severe intrusive thoughts over wanting to mutilate myself.

When I was on T for the short 2 months i was able to be on it I felt like a weight was lifted off my body and everything felt really good and clear and i felt like i actually had energy for the first time in forever. The pharmacy i went to decided to charge me way more than they should have and they refused to give me needles so i was left to use shitty ones from a farm store until i could get some from a online medical supply store and even then those didnt have the right measurements.

I am so exhausted and i dont have any motivation left in me. I want to transition so bad. I cant bind often because it hurts, it’s uncomfortable, i dont think i fit my only binder anymore, my weight fluctuates too much because of health issues i cant control. I don’t have access to therapy. Packing and binding is a constant reminder of my dysphoria and theyre not comforting anymore. It genuinely hurts to live like this and i have little to no help. I have more to say but ill just end it here. Thanks for listening.

.

[lynxfrost13]

LYNXXXXXX for the ask game..... 1 for sonderbar and 3, 6 and 14 for pebble 🥹🥹? I heart him fuckkk also. 20 for voel pretty please.....

RENEEEE TY FOR THE ASKKK

Sonderbar

What was the original thought that led to the creation of this character?

I wish I could say more, but I just went "what if a replika thought they were a different unit" and from there I thought going from a really low ranking/common unit to one of AEON's top dogs would be really fun to explore!

3. How long was the process before the character reached its final version? (or a version that would be clearly recognizable as the character?)

OKAY I actually have the exact time and date of her conception for you: July 22nd in the year of our lord 2024

^ This was the original thought that led to her, but I didn't make her intro post until August 3rd, which is definitely when she became the Sonderbar we know today, I remember spending a solid chunk of time trying to name her and work out some of the more fun details about her that night, like her arm defect! Also I think I have mentioned it before but she was originally very different character wise, she was a lot more of a real threat and not at sierpinski, and even had gotten a destabilized adler unit to be by her side in that version of her which I did think was a really neat idea!! However I am very happy with the beautiful girl I have today, idk something about her being much less able to become a falke in the setting she's in really gets me and feels more realistic to the setting of sierpinski/signalis to me.

Pebble

3. What was the first thing you decided on, the character's name, appearance, personality or their role in the story?

Appearance! And he's changed a bit since then! I went through and dug up his first ever art pieces for you for fun! The first pic was his birth into the world... 4 years ago... shortly shortly followed by his first ref... looking at my old art of him is wilddd but here's his progression from 2021 -> 2022 -> 2024

6. What was the thought process behind their appearance? Did you go mostly for the aesthetic or are there other reasons they look the way they do?

Tbh he was just made for the aesthetic at first, I originally tried to make him look more like many types of river rocks but settled on the stone and moss look. He's also originally from wings of fire so I also took into account what type of dragon he'd be: a mud/sea hybrid! He gets his fins and glow spots from the seawing side, and his chunky solid build from the mud :)

14. Do you have any quotes tied to the character, either from the story itself or from another source that fit them?

Idk if song lyrics count but I'm counting them, Karma by AJR is THE Pebble song and if I had the skill and patience the animatic I'd make would be legendary... these lines especially I think are really defining for his character:

Time, I know we're out of time But what if sad thoughts come and I can't stop it Bye, I don't wanna say bye If only I could keep you in my pocket...

^ I say it's very character defining mostly because although he's sort of in sotry/lore limbo right now (the amount of retcons and rewrites he's gotten... I might yap abt those one day) Pebble's always managed to have this core theme of moving on from grief funnily enough. He does lose someone important to him (again kind of old lore, originally he lost a partner -> changed to child -> partner again -> in limbo again but I think it might become a loss of a best friend and/or partner. This is up in the air rn mostly because at the time I wasn't happy with how those other versions of the character existed solely around Pebble and weren't really characters in their own right. Perhaps this is hell). I really have to work on my wof worldbuilding and Pebb's story again tbh, he deserves it and now you've got me thinking about him again... I actually also might put him into Voel so that leads into a nice transition lmao!!

Voel

20. Bonus question: share any additional thoughts, art, favourite scenes, anything you've been waiting for a chance to ramble about

aw fuck this is gonna be such a long post I don't think I've done a true yap sesh abt Voel yet... I'm gonna try to keep it to the bare bones but THERES SO MUCH I WANNA YAP ABT AND WORK OUTTT AUGHHH a lot of this text is copied from random discord places where I've already done some talking so I'll put that stuff in quotes

Also just for fun but I think it does better at giving the vibes for everything is my eternally in progress pinterest board for Voel + the lands and races here

"So the background for how this world was formed into what u see on the map is that originally, the world was a barren and dry wasteland inhabited by one single being, Arvellis (names are being workshopped rn). They only knew the world they were born into but fell in love with it despite it being incredibly harsh to live in. They spent their entire life exploring the wasteland hoping to find someone, anyone to share it with, but eventually they realized and accepted that they were completely alone. Their heart couldn’t take the grief, and they died (rip lonely guy 😔). Their body was full of a lot of potent magic though, and so as it rotted and as its blood seeped into the ground, it became the catalyst for life on Voel! There was also a small explosion of that potent magic caused by the heart upon dying, which is why there’s the lake where it is. Arvellis was HUGE so parts of their body are still easily recognizable as landmarks present day, notable the ribs in the desert, and south Quara's islands are made up of skull fragments"

Okay so that's how everything is created and from there I've got those 4 main regions with their respective races:

Thros is the primarily rocky desert region (formerly grassy plains, scrapped that though). The Throsians inhabit it, they're inspired by a mix of real life animals (long distance running plain mammals, wasps, pangolins, etc) as well as buggy type aliens and the draenei race from warcraft. Here's some old ass sketches from when I finally solidified a lot of their features, I think the bottom headshot and the headshot next to the big YES are the most accurate to what they look like. Originally I considered making them mammals but idk about that... I might still keep them mammalian but get rid of the small sexual dimorphisms they had. They've got weird ass sturdy feet that are built for both running on rocky and rough desert terrain, and along with their long legs they're also very long jumpers. These guys can run for ages at a steady pace because of gill-like structures on their torsos that help them take in more air as they're in motion, and they've also got their tails for balance!

Culturally I'm still figuring a LOT out for these guys but Throsian cities are kind of cool in that they're inspired by paper and potter wasps in terms of how organic they look. This was a super rough sketch from a while ago kinda showing that. All Throsian cities apart from their "capitol" one (which is essentially just the crossroads city so it's big bc there's a lot of Throsian commerce happening as well as travel) are nestled into the ribs of Arvellis. Yeah the dead giant guy. His ribs over time turned into stone and fragments + whole bits are scattered across the entire desert. The cities being nestled in and on there is also practical since it keeps them in a cool location with less sun beating down on them. Also it's cool as fuck to live right on the bones of a dead god.

Quara is a little weird in that it's kind of spread out, and the Quarans as a people are also generally split into three groups based on their region + regional culture divides. They're essentially fish folk/mermaids with legs lmao. Here's some ancient ass brainstorming from early last year, they were originally ALL called Tideborn before I swapped to the general name of Quaran for the race so sorry if it's a bit confusing.

"For a long time the tideborn as we know them today were united under one leader and they were a very strong unified nation across Voel, with lots of underwater highways of a sort connecting the different islands. Slowly over time though cultural and physical differences grew and they sort of just naturally drifted apart into individual little groups. The southern tideborn and northern tideborn are often in disagreement over how to best worship the tidemother and tend to not get along present day as a whole in terms of culture (there are lots of individual exceptions of course, and city dwellers intermingle much more). It’s not a hostile relationship, they keep up a business relationship and trade often, but each thinks the other has the wrong idea. Southern tideborn really stick to the idea of the tidemother as a wanderer first and then protector. And they tend to have much smaller but more frequent villages, with many of them passing through the villages and acting like wanderer knights of a sort (I love knights. Fish knights. Let me have this)

Whereas the tropical tideborn think more along the lines of, protector over wanderer. They have strong, large fortified cities that are connected to each other and from there they protect people much more locally (and if needed they can send their people in huge groups to assist during like. Natural disasters, disease spreading, etc on a more global scale)

The temperate water Tideborn are kind of a weird middle ground? They’re not wanderers in the sense that their southern cousins are, but they tend to be traveling merchants and entertainers and such instead (they see that as a way of helping people too. Not just saving them from danger but providing goods and stories) and their influence on both of their brother groups has led to this odd little coalition that serves as a loosely united leadership for the tideborn as a whole."

This is all hella old and some things have changed but most of it is still true. The Tidemother is the deity that all of the Quaran cultures revere regardless of their differences!! Also I made it a lil confusing but Northern Quarans are the tropical fish variant, Southern are the arctic fish variant, and the temperate Quarans are a mix of tropical, arctic, and freshwater/river fish variant. Northern Quarans tend to physically be shorter,more slender and naturally have lots of bright colors and patterns, Southern Quarans on the other hand tend to be very large size wise. They're both taller and usually more heavyset since their bodies adapted to storing more fat for the colder enviroment. Again the temperate Quarans aren't as fleshed out but they have a lot more variety in terms of body shape, but color wise they're never as eye catching as their northern cousins.

Culture wise something that has changed is Southern Quarans do also have a few small fortress type cities, nowhere near the scale of the north though. I really struggled figuring out the general architecture style for both south and north Quara, but I think these rough sketches do a decent job of showing what I want. Sorry abt my handwriting but yeah! Northern Quarans tend to have very organic and round strucutres with lots of open space due to the tropical climate. A lot of their structures are inspired by conch shells and underwater organics, and their cities also tend to be very busy visually, with a lot of buildings intertwined/ stacked which can almost make it feel like the city is crawling on itself. Although the building layout is super busy, Northern cities do always have a clear and wide main highway going in and through. Southern Cities on the other hand are very bare bones at first glance. They can come off as very cold and rigid and that's bc Southern Quarans love their inorganic structures. They use a lot of hard straight edges for their structures, with really tall ceilings and neat square or rectangle layouts. It's not that they don't like incorporating organics, but they like them contained and orderly. If you go up to any South Quaran city wall it's guaranteed to be intricately carved, either with artistic depictions of historic figures, animals, etc or just patterns.

OH also fun detail since I will be talking about the skeleton of a magic system that I have rn, but Southern Tideborn have a tradition of getting magical tattoos as a sort of coming of age ritual.

So next up is Dekthros and its draconic citizens, the Dekthrians! I'm currently in the process of reworking them to try and make them fit a little better into the world/not be just generic dragons/dragonfolk because I worry that they are (Ultimately I'm creating all of this for myself BUT that's exactly why I want to change things). So the fun thing about the Dekthrians is that they all mostly live in the mountain region of Voel, but they live underground since that region has a lot of naturally sprawling caverns. Think of like how expansive and huge the new minecraft cave enviroments are and how sometimes they don't even feel closed in, that's basically what it's like. The big thing the Dekthrians have going for them is that they're generally known for their skill when it comes to crafting and forging weapons, armor, and jewelry, and their cities aren't called Forge Cities for nothing. At the center of each city is a giant forge and crafting center, inspired by Ironforge and dwarf architecture from warcraft (all of their aesthetic is generally warcraft dwarf inspired. There is a theme here of me taking a lot of inspo from warcraft aesthetics lmao). Another thing I think is really awesome is that the Forge Cities aren't isolated, but there's a lot of different smaller settlements in pockets of the underground all connected by major underground tunnels. An easy and safe way to travel through the otherwise very harsh mountain range is by just traveling the cave system, it's well lit and easy to go on foot or via other transportation modes, and there's plenty of points where someone could stop and spend a night resting. I've done almost no art when it comes to Dekthros or its inhabitants but here's a really fast concept scribble I did a while ago for a tunnel/forge city. They tend to have a lot of bridges built across for accessibility, and Dekthrians tend to layer their homes vertically since the caves allow for that. They literally just dig into that rock and live there!

Physically I don't have too much to say about the Dekthrians other than they're mostly built like the typical western dragon... but I'm planning on fleshing them out at somepoint to allow for variation from their chunky bulky builds (I have to work it out, but I'm planning on potentially a variant that lives on the coast, mostly as an excuse to put Pebble into Voel lol, but also a more serpentine/cloud serpent inspired high altitude variant...). The cool things that I do have about them though are some of their cultural bits, mostly their visage crafting and their funerals. The visage crafting is partially in limbo right now as well due to figuring out what the limitations should be and if it should even exist as it is right now, but essentially a coming of age thing that most Dekthrians participate in is designing and crafting their own tool/weapon/accessory of choice that the also enchant to give them a smaller form more similar to the size of the other Voelian races as a way to integrate better (Dekthrians are the largest of all the main races, with Quarans and Throsians being in a similar range and Teelans varying more... I'll get to them later tho). Again I do have to workshop it but I really like the idea of it being a big deal in their society to spend a long time designing something that's just right for you!! Whatever a Dekthrian makes/chooses is pretty permanent in that making another visage is incredibly difficult due to the magic system I'm also still working on!!

Anyway the other thing I think is really neat about them is their funerals because they go all out. Some more copied text coming up

"it ties into the idea of their primary god being The Mourner... The Dekthrians build off of this and their traditional funerals are basically these very beautiful parties. Everyone is invited regardless of whether they knew the person that died, because this is a chance to get to know them now. The entire thing lasts several days, with the first day being the cremation (burial also happens but is less common. Each family member contributes to the lighting of the fire in cremation) and families tend to have a place where their visage tool is stored afterwards. Not much else happens the first day apart from a quiet moment for personal mourning. The next day is when festivities are expected to start, and these differ from group to group on length and what they do during them. Some parties last a couple days, some last up to a month (tends to happen with popular figures or leaders). The common things in all of them are stories, incredible food, and lots of games. Most Dekthrians try to do activities that the dead person would’ve enjoyed, so maybe poetry reading would happen at one, or there would be a concert at another, etc. It’s a lot of fun and they do a really good job of not just partying but also remembering that person. The last day, whenever it is, usually has a big send off to the deceased, where everyone gathers and a nighttime fire display with lots of colors (magical fireworks basically) marks the end of the ceremony."

Theyr'e the only race whose funeral/death rites I've fleshed out, I do want to get around to everyone else eventually.

Okay last of the races are my favorite children, the Teelans! Aesthetically they're heavily inspired by both the brokers from warcraft and a lot of cool pottery and mesoamerican art and architecture! Here are the brokers for fun because I think they deserve more love (#1 broker fan here they were the best thing to come from shadowlands and I'm dying on that hill)

Teelans are a funny race in that they are technically constructs (animated beings that are usually crafted/sculpted/grown etc) but they're fully sentient and intelligent, where true constructs might have some personality they're ultimately made for a purpose and aren't sentient. The super fun thing about the Teelans is that they're essentially living clay dolls, and a huge part of their culture is self expression and body modification. The variety you can get in size and shape in these guys is one of my favorite things about them, here's some old arts of them.

The blue "flame" is what separates them from true constructs and it's kinda like their soul/consciousness. They're really hard to fully kill because of that, you'd have to completely pulverize their body and leave it unsalvageable. Also a fun thing is that the way Teelans are "born" is via an enchanted mud pit that they emerge out of all goopy -> they then dry out into a very basic humanoid shape and from there they start making adjustments and modifications themselves as they progress through life. They also can't die from old age! I feel like I don't have as much I want to say about them but another thing I think is neat and that transitions semi nicely into other stuff is that Teelan homes are true constructs. Teelan cities technically CAN just get up and move anywhere anytime because most buildings are animated constructs!!

I also don't have a lot to say about constructs apart from what I've already said, but I do want to point out a notable one called the City Colossus. No one really knows who animated it or why they did it (it's theorized that it woke up/was "born" due to a high saturation of god blood in that region...) but the Colossus is always traveling around Voel, and it's become a weird mobile trade hub of sorts. There's again, still a lot I'm working out like whether all of the races inahbit the city -> or if I want to make someone new OR I have considered leaving it abandoned and I do like that a lot. Anyway, the Colossus is completely harmless and just completes its route every year and I love it a lot.

The last thing I really wanna talk about is the magic system which is undergoing some serious reworking, what I can definitely say about it is that everything in this world does have magical properties of varying degrees, with organic creatures having more typically (an exception is the Teelans but they're weird). There's two primary types of magic that can be performed, enchantments and wards. Enchantments are usually assumed to be "temporary magic" and while that is true a lot of the time, the main difference between an enchantment and a ward is where the magic comes from. Wards come from a magic user drawing on their own magic, which is a lot more taxing and typically reserved for bigger permanent spells (for example, Quaran tattoos or Dekthrian weapons) where enchantments make use of other magic sources (so this would be like using animal and mineral ingredients or potion brewing to give temporary effects usually). It's mostly undergoing some reworking because I like it when magic is a little more grounded and has hard set rules, and I felt like earlier on Voel didn't have that! I'm currently trying to figure out the consequences of someone overusing ward magic, it's probably gonna involve just dying from being so drained buttt I'm also playing around with the concept of draining yourself of magic leading to something worse... idk as you can tell a lot of this is still very much being developed!!! That's basically all the big stuff but for fun and as a treat if you made it to the bottom of this, here's some different rough creature concepts for this silly world

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Dog Days of BL but July is Incoming

June 2023 Wk 4

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. Organized by which ones (in each category) I’m enjoying most.

Ongoing Series - Thai

Step By Step (Tues WeTV & Gaga) ep 10 of 12 - I’m finding the time frames confusing. Still, a lovely crying kiss + a very high drama-lllama gay confession. Kitchen counter make out, my fav! The actor who plays Jeng kisses at MaxTul levels, which is to say = like a man who has actually done it before with genuine desire and is capable of portraying that on screen. (What makes MaxTul kings is that they BOTH do this.) Pat caught up, thank goodness. Also P’Jeng!!!! P’JENG!!! I love how intimate phi is when it’s been all khun prior. This is the Thai version of hyung slinging. Errotic linguistics, my fav. And ALL the work drama and homophobia fall out when you sleep with the boss. I really enjoy that the angst concerning their relationship has to do with the fact that this is an office romance. Lastly? I love Chot so much. Everyone needs a gay auntie. Also Bruce is SO DAMN GOOD. (I mean we knew he would be from Lovely Writer, but this... chef’s kiss.) 

La Pluie (Sat iQIYI) ep 10 of 12 - There are enough meta-analysis on this one for me not to have to weigh in. Suffice it to say that I like what it’s trying to do, and I certainly appreciate the levels of consent and so forth but I’m not sure I actually like it as much now that we are swimming in high concept. Too much lying. I’m not sure I want my BL to make me think this hard. Also poly, boys = final answer. (Anyone else getting Color Rush flashbacks?) 

Be My Favorite (Fri YouTube) ep 6 of 12 - I love Max now and forever, and I made some very bad puns in the Trash watch here. Otherwise I’m not super invested. 

Dinosaur Love (Thai Sun iQIYI) ep 1 of 10 eps - from Ultimate Troop (The Yearbook people) so I shouldn’t watch this as it airs, after Remember Me? I swore never again. But there’s so little on right now, I’m falling on the pulp sword...  My initial thoughts? It’s an En of Love installment? What is going on? Why all this opening with the sides in a bar? Are we framing? Just move on to the 2 boys kissing! Don’t try to be clever, for fucks sake. Okay, good, the pulp has begun. I like soft wet-blanket Rak and his sad love life. I’m not wild about how aggressive Dino is plus insta-SINGING but I DO LIKE THAT HE’S OUT and knows what he wants which is refreshing. It’s trope filled nonsense (crash into me, instalove, sing feelings, floppy drunk, he’s in engineering, fast and bi-curious) also Dino used ter at first (how forward!) then he went to gu/mueng after rejection, while Rak uses khun & phi/pom. Love this for them. Despite my justified reservations with this production team imma stay watching. I need something on Sundays. * 

Luminous Solution (Sat Gaga) ep 6fin - That’s it? Bullsheiit. No seriously. That’s my review. 3/10 I DON'T KNOW WHAT I JUST WATCHED AND NEITHER DOES IT AND I’M MAD ABOUT IT.

* I got to say, you have only yourselves to blame for Dinosaur Love’s ranking. Once upon a time, I lived happily in ignorance of the Thai film industry. And then you all kept asking me extremely intelligent questions about it. And because I am a nosy little shit, I had to figure out what was going on. And now a BL like this, which ordinarily I would just love unconditionally, is a really scary place for me, because I know too much about the production house. The evils of too much information are all true. Remain happily in ignorance, I advise you, especially where BL is concerned. 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Love Tractor (Korea Weds iQIYI) eps 7-8fin - Yechan is such a frank character it confuses all who meet him, also a truly terrible flirt. This is such a puppy/cat relationship. It was cute but it went too far into cringe for a KBL (for me). I don’t think Kdramas are good at farce (sorry), better if they stick with more subtle humor. It was a sweet ending tho, not too cheesy. Nice kiss for KBL but pretty rather than sexy. Full review below.

Tokyo in April is... AKA Shigatsu no Tokyo wa (Japan Thurs Gaga) ep 3 of 8 - Oh, it’s GREAT. Damn it. There is a lot of subtext and things not being said. This is going to be one of those shows where it’s endlessly frustrating that they don’t just talk to each other. The crying first time was gut-wrenching. Ren is complicated & scarred & closed off. Kazuma is earnest & empathetic & thinks he’s unworthy - so will take whatever crumbs are handed to him. They are both giving parts of themselves away in a desperate attempt to shape themselves to the expectations they have of each other. These 2 are gonna fuck each other up while they fuck and fuck with our hearts. Japan is giving us the Bed Friends that Thailand can never even imagine. There is absolutely no guarantee this will end happily (it’s from the Eternal Yesterday people) but it is guaranteed to be painful and beautiful along the way. Oh Japan, must you? I guess you must. 

Stupid Genius (Vietnam Fri YouTube) ep 4 of 6 - I’m mostly confused by the catfishing & tarot side plots. But the mains sure act like bfs. To the point of our tiny jock idiot getting gay panicked by how much bfs they are. Surprise kiss! For everyone, it turns out. Yes I laughed. What? It was pat but also… FUNNY.

Tie The Knot (Pinoy YouTube) ep 3 of 8 - The main couple is adorable, but I’m not wild about the gay bashing blackmail side story. Still, it’s the best we’ve had from the Philippines in a while so I am keeping my fingers crossed. 

Vian the series (Vietnam YouTube ) ep 9 of 12 - Seriously? Bah Vinh = chemistry with EVERYONE. 

Naked Dinner AKA Zenra Meshi (Japan Fri Gaga) ep 12fin - So Souta just disappears off to Singapore and doesn’t say anything to his boyfriend about it? And then comes back with the perfect plan and life for both of them? Oh Japan, must you? Review below. 

It’s airing but ...

House of Stars (Thai Mon iQIYI) 12 eps - I bounced at ep 3. Will binge if told it is worth it at end.

Stay (Pinoy YouTube) 7 eps - It’s mostly English & set in LA (shudder) so I’m not bothering.

Ever After (Pinoy YouTube) 12 eps - Spies reported that it's a real mess and not a hot one.

Stay With Me ... NO I WILL NOT! And you can’t make me. 

In case you missed it

BL Express reviewed The Egoest. Oh boy am I never going to watch that. 

One in a Hundred - Gaga dropped all 12 episodes (c.10 min ea) at once. This is a 2020 Chinese show. It’s not BL. And it has a laugh track. I watched the first & final eps and won’t bother with the rest. DNF

I finally watched the 2022 thing I should have. 

To Sir, With Love - REVIEW

This is a true lakorn with scenery chewing performances from an ensemble cast focused on family obligation and past sins, especially from the mother characters. It is a Thai tellenovella + Gone With the Wind but gay. That said? I loved it: A glorious central brother relationship (the best, made me cry), het romances, class divide + gay *gasp* main romance, the camp of it all! It’s like it was invented by drag queens. Arranged marriage, rebellion, cut sleeves, dramatic death with curses and regrets, beautiful if inaccurate costumes, secrets unraveling, cover ups, sparkle murder, sex herbs, coils within coils including snakes and death by glitter (is anything gayer on this earth?). It’s a WILD ride. It’s not BL. It’s not a romance, it’s a family drama Thorn Birds style but it does end happy for our gay boys. Like Manner of Death I’m struggling to rate something on a BL scale when it patently isn’t a BL. I think I have to give it exactly what I gave that show, 7/10 

I loved it, but not as a BL. 

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS (over its BLness) 

Zenra Meshi - REVIEW

AKA Naked Dinner 

I have to be honest, I didn’t really like much about this show. The central premise was too odd and the main character too clumsy & slow on the uptake. I like the food, but there have been food-set BLs before that failed to meet expectations. Too many of them. This one joined that throng. Good ending tho. 7/10 

RECOMMENDED WITH RESERVATIONS

Love Tractor - REVIEW

Most of this country-set BL had me feral for the beautiful broken city boy and his hot young farmer. Hyung romance, puppy/cat pairing, open frankness meets jaded reserve, language play, water hose frolicking, only one bed, all my favorite tropes. This show was basically a light-weight Restart After Come Back Home and I’m not even slightly mad about that. 

But (and you knew there was a “but” coming) something about the cringe of the final 2 eps and the impermanence of the ending (both of which highlight the fact that ultimately these 2 are I’ll-suited: too different & too far apart) left me with the feeling that they probably won’t last as a couple. However, in this case, rare for me, I forgive it this finale for my love of the rest. 

I did dither a lot though, it’s not an 8 but not a 9 either. Better than Love Mate (8/10) not as good as The New Employee (9/10) but in the end I’m value adding up for the premise and the cast, giving it a 9/10. 

RECOMMENDED 

(Gotta say, because this is rare for me, that this had a great OST. Not the credit music but the refrain, Rainbow.) 

Next Week Looks Like This:

July 2023 Supposedly... 

7/3 Be Mine SuperStar (Thai Mon Viki) 12 eps - JaFirst whipping boy/spoiled prince, obsession, celebrity/mundane. Third-year film student Punn (Ja) gets an internship on the set of a drama. He’s come to learn, but "what lights his passion even more than the work" is leading man Achi, Thailand's sweetheart. Adapted from the novel “The Superstar and the Puppy on Set” (พี่พระเอกกับเด็กหมาในกอง) by Orpheus, cast includes Benjamin Brasier (2moons2), Bosston Suphadach (UWMA), Jo Kavinpat (War of Y), Kokliang (TharnType). Directed by David Bigander (Bite Me) which makes me nervous. Maybe he'll do better with an adaptation?

7/6 Minato's Laundromat Season 2 AKA Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (Japan Thu ????) 12 eps - The story is a continuation of Minato & Shin's love story, and it picks up 10 years after the events of season 1 but the characters don't seemed to have grown at all. Very Japan of you, Japan.

7/7 Stay By My Side (Taiwan Fri Gaga) 10 eps -  Gu Bu-Xia has the ability to hear ghosts, except when he is around his new roommate Jiang Chi. So he starts to find ways to approach Jiang Chi. But is it  the ghosts or Jiang Chi’s charm?

7/8 Low Frequency (Thai Sat YouTube?) 8 eps - ghost boyfriend, celebrity/mundane - Mon's life as a spirit-seeing interior decorator is full of headaches. On good days, he helps settle problems for his relative, who is a star manager. But then he gets involved with the spirit of Thames, a famous young actor who is in a coma.

7/9 Hidden Agenda (Thai Sun GMMTV YouTube) 12 eps - JoonDunk are back. Zo, a college freshman whose never been in love, decides to change it by making the college’s star Nita as his gf. He approaches Joke, Nita’s ex, for dating advice. What he fails to realize is that Joke has had his eyes on him for a long time and uses this opportunity to approach Zo. TMS 2.0.

7/15 Laws of Attraction (Thai Sat ????)  Stars the pair from To Sir With Love and with the same production team, cryptic description, but it seems to be Manner of Death esk.

7/19 Wedding Plan (Thai Wed YouTube & iQIYI)  - It's Mame and she's coming for our GL. She's such a misogynist IMAGINE what we will get with a GL? It's going to be absolute carnage. To crane your neck as you drive by the car wreck or not... that is the question. Me? I'm wallowing in the guts.

7/20 Jun & Jun (Korea Thu Viki) - From 2022 (TutorYim rumored to cameo) this office romance features 2, yes 2! Bls. Seme looks aggressive, we in classic yaoi territory. There is an idol involved. Past failed flirts. I am very excited about this one.

2023 forthcoming BL master post (see comments, some are inaccurate, NOT KEPT UPDATED)

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

To Sir With Love

Best execution of the piggyback trope ever? I think so. 

Fucking GENIUS piece of acting. Bruce we LOVE you! 

All Step By Step 

It was stupid funny, okay? (Stupid Genius) 

Ridiculous man, you don’t have to eye fuck THAT hard. But we all appreciate it. (Vian) 

Dangerous thing to say in a show about identity in relationships. 

Brave boy.

I said this show was deep, not that I was. Although Patts seems to be going there. 

I’ll stop now.

All La Pluie. 

(Last week.)

[sunflower1experiment]

Wally x Human reader

Outside the world of “Welcome Home”

The monsters, puppets, animals: Wally’s eyes were focused, on someone.

You.

Your fingers tapping on the computer while he could feel the intense gaze, though you both could not see each other. You could see him and you tried to talk to him, many times really.

The sad pout as small trickles of tears befell after hearing his song was evident enough that Wally wasn’t bad but to him, you were a viewer, a neighbor, and his friend. As well as someone who he just wants to let know that he knows they both can see what can’t be seen.

“Can you see me? Then stay quiet”

You flinch, eyes wide, mouth ajar while the watering starts to begin but you shut your mouth then lean in to stare back. Trying to reach out to see beyond his eyes, there he was.

“Wally Darling.” His full face came to view while a hand rests on his cheek.

“I know you’re there…”

You utter out weakly, “I want to make contact I swear but…you terrify me for some reason. You- your house does it…not you. Someone as sweet as you…”

Had it not been for the fact that you were talking to nothing maybe you’d notice the screen change and Wally’s eyes focused on you while the house was surrounded with black screen and the words.

Open

came to view.

Hesitant at first you get ready and it shows the mouse turn into a hand as the message. ‘Are you sure?’

Appears, “Y-Yes?” A question for an answer, not smart but also a good answer. The door opens: Your world changed after that.

“What should we do?”

“I’m not sure…”

“Now how do you suppose we explain to Wally that some person is laying in the middle of the grass. They’re very pretty, lovely hair curls…”

“What’s the matter everyone?” Barnaby perks, looks like his words summoned the three foot darling himself.

“Wally you have to see this!!! Frank found a new neighbor!!!”

“Now Julie dear we can’t be too sure. What if they’re from elsewhere?”

“Hmm, we need to ask.”

Wally gently shakes the other awake, their eyes scrunch and they slowly open up. Before they gasp lightly which makes the others back away, “So-Sorry um- where am I?”

“Ah, Welcome Neighbor, I’m Wally Darling.”

Their eyes go wide for a second: “W-Wally?” He nods a bit confused as to why they started stuttering but when they hug the male close Wally blushed.

“I’m never leaving your side ever! You look so adorable and beautiful!” They let out soft sobs, “Oh my- days would go by where I’d worry for you all…”

“Worry? But why?” Julie giggles, “Our new neighbor sounds so sweet maybe they can read the future. What’s your name?”

“|Name| I go by |Name|…”

With a soft chuckle |Name| turns to them, “Sorry I just..I feel like I’ve known you all for awhile and I had a dream about you all too….You must be Frank.”

“Hm, someone knows a good entomologist when they see one.”

“You like butterflies!” Frank smiles with a prideful nod.

“You’re Sally.” She waves excitedly, “Yes indeedy doooo!!”

“Julie!” The monster girl gave a huge smile showing her whole muppet mouth then she points to Poppy. “Annnnd?”

“Poppy! The lovely bird!” Poppy blushes, “Oh shucks! Ya got me giggling.”

“Now WHERES Barnaby.”

“Ya got me there kid. I haven’t seen him anywhere.” Barnaby leans on |Name| who laughs lightly before they turn to Wally.

“And you must be Wally Darling: nice to meet you.”

Wally gave a light laugh, blowing a small welcome kiss to |Name|. He then holds their hand as he says these three famous words, ‘Sealing the deal’.

“Welcome home, Neighbor.”

[gobbluthbutagirl]

Ok

so on saturday, my brother was supposed to work from 5am-2pm, but he realized that if he left at 2 there would be only one person working from 2 until 3:30 so he stayed. at around 3, the girl he was working with got a phone call saying that her pet had died, immediately burst into tears, and asked if she could go home. he said yes and was then working alone for 30 minutes. for some reason, he had just assumed the pet in question was a dog, but yesterday he found out it was a rat. and now he’s irritated that she’s missing work over a dead rat, but like, i don’t really see why the death of a pet rat should be considered less upsetting than the death of a pet dog, and the work in question is literally dunkin soooo….

Apparently the dunkin manager didn’t graduate high school and doesn’t have a ged. that’s crazy to me because i have a ged and didn’t think it was possible to work for someone less educated than i am. But anyway, she took the ged test this past week and failed the math part so she has to take that part again, and apparently she intends to quit dunkin for a better job as soon as she passes. Interesting to see what kind of meth user with child abuse charges or lazy old bastard who hires his much younger lover who then proceeds to come to work every day wearing a house arrest ankle monitor(real descriptions of the two managers prior to her; they demoted my brother for the meth user) they will bring in to replace her

my brother was apparently supposed to get a raise back in september that he never got. Other people who work there were supposed to get raises back in july that they never got. And some of the people in question are like, 18 year olds who obviously realize it’s wrong that they never got their raises, but i think don’t necessarily realize that it’s also NOT normal for a job to take that long to give you a raise you were promised. and apparently this shit ass franchise ownership group has a system where there are 70 stores and only one guy doing HR stuff, and the store managers submit the raises/promotions but only that guy can actually put them through, which presumably takes him forever because of the fact that he fucking sucks

i have never been to a dunkin in new england (i have been to new england but not to a dunkin there) but i have to wonder…..do the dunkins up there suck this much ass???? because every dunkin in the south is like the worst most poorly run establishment ever and there are Meth Scandals on a regular basis because they don’t drug test and hire anyone with a pulse and open availability. is it like that up there too and you guys just don’t care or do they somehow have their shit together?

i feel like i was gonna say something else here too but i don’t remember what it was….SAD!