#it was an incomparable experience. magic.

[monotonous-minutia]

I've always like the Barbiere overture but after last night where i was able to be ON STAGE while a LIVE ORCHESTRA PLAYED IT it is now The Greatest Overture In The World

[libellule-ao3]

Hey,

I really like your Ominis' NSFW Alphabet. Can I request one for Sebastian?

Hello,

I had some random HCs about Sebastian in a file. Your request prompted me to organise them a bit. So thank you. 🙏💖

I hope you will like them.

As always, I hope you will forgive any potential language mistakes.

NSFW Alphabet | Sebastian Sallow 🔞

⚠️Sexually explicit content | 🔞 | Smut | HC |2,5k words

Summary: Some of my smutty HC about Sebastian Sallow, collected under the "NSFW alphabet" template.

Read on AO3

Masterlist

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Sebastian can fuck you relentlessly, make you scream his name, and push you over the edge, but afterwards, he remains extremely attentive. He holds you close, kisses you softly, whispers praise, and caresses you slowly while you catch your breath. Sometimes, he murmurs how much you mean to him, as if afraid to lose you like he lost his family. He may also massage your tired muscles, apply soothing lotion to areas reddened by blows or bites, and make sure you’re well hydrated. His need to protect and care for you is almost obsessive. He loves to see you relaxed, exhausted, and satisfied, so he’ll shower you with kisses, sometimes until you’re ready for another round.

B = Body part (their favourite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Sebastian is particularly proud of his hands, which are just as good at wielding a wand as they are at making you come. He loves their versatility: caressing you tenderly, spanking you hard, penetrating you deeply, pinching your nipples, all to play with your pleasure. He also loves to feel the vibrations of your moans under his palm as he grabs you by the throat, controlling your breathing and arousal.

As for your body, he’s obsessed with your bottom. He loves to touch it discreetly as he walks past you, grab it firmly or slap it as he takes you from behind or as you ride him, or simply caress it as you lie against him. What’s more, nothing turns him on more than seeing your bottom redden under his strokes or bounce up and down with every thrust.

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

Sebastian prefers to cum inside you, deep inside, to mark his territory in the most intimate way possible. The sensation of your walls contracting around him as he pours himself into you is incomparable. But if you want him to cum elsewhere, he also loves to watch you on your knees, mouth wide open, tongue outstretched to receive every drop, or see your body splattered with his cum, especially on your breasts or face. It awakens a primal instinct in him, a pride in seeing you marked by him in this way.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self-explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

He’ll never admit it openly, but the idea of fucking you in a public place, where anyone could catch you in the act, excites him to no end. The thrill of the forbidden, combined with the fear of being caught, increases his desire tenfold. He fantasises about taking you against a wall in a corridor, an empty classroom, or a dark alley. He also dreams of discreetly caressing you under the table, without anyone knowing, leaving you unable to concentrate on anything other than the pleasure he’s giving you.

Finally, he often imagines screwing you so hard that you can hardly walk afterwards, and that everyone can tell.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

Contrary to what you might think, he didn’t have much experience before you. Sebastian's life was entirely governed by his quest to save Anne, his obsession with dark magic, and the scars left by Solomon's death, Anne's rejection, and Ominis' estrangement. Burdened by so much suffering, he never had the time or emotional space to think about romance or physical pleasure before you. However, his natural curiosity and passion for learning have enabled him to be an attentive lover, experimenting and honing his skills to find out what makes you tick. So, his fingers, his tongue, his cock—he tested everything on you to understand how to make you come repeatedly.

F = Favourite position (this goes without saying)

Sebastian loves to possess you in doggy-style. He loves to see you on all fours, arched over, exposed to him. One of his greatest pleasures is to grab your hips firmly and pull you against him, sinking deep into you again and again. He relishes the way your body trembles under the impact of his thrusts. But what he loves most of all is wrapping your hair around his fist, pulling it back to force you to lift your head, all the while whispering obscene words in your ear. The total control he has over you in this position excites him like never. He never gets tired of your buttocks slamming against him, the sound of your bodies colliding and your muffled moans.

Then he loves it when you ride him. Seeing your body move on top of him, your tits bouncing with every movement, drives him absolutely crazy. He watches you rub up against him, guiding you up and down his cock, adjusting the angle to get to the places that make you scream. He loves the way you think you’re holding the reins, when he always ends up gripping you by the hips to go faster, harder, until you’re both overwhelmed with pleasure.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

Even though he’s often intense and serious during sex, Sebastian has a mischievous side that also comes out when he’s intimate. He can’t help teasing you. He laughs softly when you become impatient, or when you beg him to go faster. He may also tickle you or tell a joke at the worst possible moment just to throw you off balance a little before fucking you even harder.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

Sebastian doesn’t really have strict rules about this. He keeps his private hair neat, but doesn’t touch the hair on his chest, or the fine line of hair that runs from his navel to his bush. Also, he doesn’t care whether or not you’re waxed. As long as he can lick you, fuck you, and make you come, he’s perfectly happy. However, he does like to grab your hair during the act, pulling it slightly to force you to tilt your head, exposing your neck to his possessive kisses and bites. And he loves it when your hands grip his as he eats you.

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect.)

Sebastian loves to see you vulnerable, especially when you’re under him, breathless and trembling with pleasure. He likes to whisper dirty words in your ear as he thrusts deep inside you, just to feel your body react to his every word. Even in his most brutal moments, he still looks at you with that all-consuming desire that shows you mean the world to him.

J = Jack off (HC masturbation)

Sebastian has no problem with pleasuring himself when you’re not around, especially if he’s overwhelmed with desire for you. He may even let his mind wander to the intimate moments you’ve shared to increase his pleasure (your lips around his cock, for example, or your throbbing pussy as he impales you against a wall). When he’s particularly excited, he may even masturbate in front of you, enjoying watching you become eager and aroused as you watch him pleasure himself.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Sebastian loves to dominate. He loves rough sex, making you bend under him, seeing you on your knees sucking him off while he controls the pace and depth by grabbing your hair. He loves that you’re totally at his mercy, whether it’s through handcuffs or orders. But he also likes the idea of a brief resistance, forcing you to give in to him, and the moment you let go makes him even harder.

Sebastian has a strong breeding kink. The idea of filling you up and knowing he could get you pregnant drives him mad. He gains a primal satisfaction from the thought of you carrying his child, especially after everything he’s lost. It’s not just about marking you as his, but more about creating something permanent, a family—something he’s craved ever since losing his parents and Anne.

The way your body changes during pregnancy only intensifies his desire. He finds you even more irresistible, the sight of your round belly, where his baby is growing, exciting him beyond reason. He loves being the one to satisfy all your needs while you’re vulnerable, taking special care to ensure your comfort but never holding back on intensity. During sex, he loves trying new positions that suit your changing body, and Sebastian can spend hours worshipping your pregnant form, telling you how beautiful you are and how much he desires you.

He also has a weakness for role-playing games, especially those where he can reverse the dynamic and explore scenarios where one of you is in a position of weakness or submission.

L = Location (favourite places to do the do)

As much as he enjoys the safety of your bedroom, Sebastian can find carnal pleasure in unexpected places. Whether it’s in an empty classroom, against a tree in the Forbidden Forest, or even in a cramped bathtub, every place has its charm as long as he can hear you moan his name without restraint.

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

Everything about you is a source of motivation for Sebastian. Your perfume, the way you run your tongue over your lips, the subtle movement of your hips, it all drives him crazy. But what probably turns him on the most is when you turn into a naughty girl. He loves the defiant look in your eyes when you try to take control, or when you provoke him, knowing full well he’ll punish you for it.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn-offs)

He likes to push your buttons, but respects your limits. He’s a possessive guy who doesn’t like anyone else intruding on your intimate moments, either.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

Sebastian is as talented with his mouth as he is with his hands. He’s obsessed with making you come using his tongue. He loves to hear you moan under the deft movements of his mouth, watching you writhe in pleasure as he licks you relentlessly. Of course, receiving oral pleasure is just as enjoyable, especially when he sees how much you love having it in your mouth, your eyes gazing into his as he reaches down your throat.

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

Sebastian is an intense and passionate lover, often preferring a fast and determined pace, as his desire could wait no longer. That said, he knows how to adapt to your needs, slowing down if he senses you want something gentler.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

Sebastian loves quickies, especially when the urge is too strong. He won’t hesitate to shag you quickly in a dark corner or a broom cupboard, his hand covering your mouth to muffle your moans as he penetrates you with brutal urgency, reaching orgasm in a matter of minutes before you go back to business as usual.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

Sebastian loves risk. Whether it’s trying new things or pushing the boundaries of what’s socially acceptable, he loves exploring with you. For him, sex is as much about pleasure as it is about challenge, and he loves pushing the boundaries with you.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

Sebastian is tireless, capable of satisfying you several times in one night! Even after he’s released, he’s often ready for another round after a brief rest.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

Sebastian is open to using toys to increase the intensity of your sessions. He likes to use enchantments on you, placing his vibrating wand of magic against your clitoris as he penetrates you, or using it to torture you during foreplay. Ties, light whips, and even gags are also among the accessories he uses.

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease?)

If you’ve been a bad girl or provoked him, Sebastian can be terribly unfair, loving to torture you slowly, make you beg and cry in frustration. He often does edging, bringing you close to orgasm several times, then depriving you of your pleasure just before you explode, until you’re a desperate wreck, begging for release.

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Sebastian is quite vocal, groaning and grunting with every move. When he’s close to orgasm, his moans become hoarse. But his favourite part is hearing your screams, moans, and every sound that escapes your mouth. He wants you to be loud, to let everyone know how much he’s driving you crazy.

W = Wild card (a random HCs)

-Sebastian likes to surprise you. Whether it’s initiating an unscheduled session in an unlikely location, using a prop you weren’t expecting, or dominating you in a new way, he always likes to maintain an element of mystery and surprise. For example, he might walk into the room, pin you up against a wall and fuck you without warning, or wake you up by eating or fucking you, just to see your face overcome with pleasure as you wake up. He also knows you like it when he loses control, and sometimes he lets you dominate him and do what you want with him.

-When Sebastian is overwhelmed by anger or frustration, especially due to memories of Anne or the guilt of having killed his uncle, he sometimes turns to sex as an outlet. In those moments, he is more intense, even bordering on brutal, but always in control of his actions. Afterwards, he becomes extremely tender, almost guilty for having let himself go, but also deeply grateful that you're there to soothe him and that you accept him, even with his darker sides.

-One of the consequences of the losses he has suffered is that he becomes very possessive. He likes to mark his territory on your body, whether with bites, scratches, or ensuring you bear the marks of your sessions the next day. He needs to know that you belong to him.

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

Sebastian is slim and toned, with skin covered in freckles, more concentrated in areas that are often exposed to the sun. He also has a few scars, left over from duels and training sessions. He’s not particularly imposing, but he has charisma to spare, with an intensity in his gaze that melts you completely. Down below, he’s well proportioned, with a tail of average length but thicker so you can feel every movement and pulse. He loves to see how your body reacts when he penetrates you, to feel your drenched walls stretch around him. It’s an attribute he’s proud of because he knows exactly how to use it to get you where he wants you.

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Sebastian has an uncontrollable libido, especially with you. Sometimes he’s so obsessed with making love to you he can’t concentrate on anything else until that need is met. He wants you constantly, and his body reacts to the slightest of your provocative gestures. Even a simple smile or caress can make him hard, and he’s often ready for action at the first opportunity. Also, he’s not afraid to express his desire for you, even in inappropriate situations. He’s sometimes amused to see you embarrassed, knowing full well that he’ll get what he wants in the end.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

Sebastian can be exhausted after sex, especially if you’ve spent most of the night making each other come. But he refuses to go to sleep unless you’re satisfied. He always makes sure you’re comfortable, that you’ve got everything you need before finally drifting off to sleep, often with you snuggled up against him, his hand still possessive over your body.

[leafzu]

What if Levi left the Survey Corps and ran away with you, far away. Where no one would find the two of you. Only you and him. Living life in peace and solace.

Levi quits the Survey Corps for you after the encounter with the female titan. He lost too much and many important people. He doesn’t wanna lose you too and spend the rest of his life in regret. The world he lives in is cruel. And he wants to spend the remaining time of his life with you, some place far away. Just the two of you.

Levi and you leave quietly one dawn. The sun had yet to rise. It was the perfect time. You both take whatever’s important to you and leave on his horse which he brought back with him from the Corps.

Levi and you settle in a quiet countryside much far away from the Corps or any place that might hold trouble. Move in a cottage big enough for the two of you.

Levi and you open a tea shop together. He makes tea while you bake. Sure, it’s not much, but as long as you both are together, nothing else matters to him.

Levi and you hold each other close every night. This is what he always dreamed of. Your fingers playing with his soft hair, his hands around your waist. You know he has trouble sleeping and his insomnia won’t go away in a day. But still, with you by his side every night, Levi now sleeps better than before.

Levi and you both know how cruel this world is. How uncertain and unpredictable things are. Yet, you both long for that one thing silently. Neither has the courage to bring it up. Worried what the latter might think.

Levi was the first to break the silence.

“How do you feel…about..” “About?,” You tilt your head in confusion. Nervousness swallows him whole. “Levi?”

“Starting a family.”

He wanted this for so long.

Levi while being in a relationship with you, before marrying you, would think about the possibility of you two starting a family. Having a baby. But alas, he always pushed it far in the back of his mind. The world you both live in, bringing an innocent child here? That would be selfish. He didn’t have any childhood let alone a good one. But.. would it really be selfish?

Levi is so much in love with you. He loves you so much that, he wants to share a life with you. Build a family. A family to call his own. His own precious world. Was he being selfish? Was it too much to ask for?

Levi’s heart fluttered when you said yes.

Levi would go against the world for you. You’re his world. He would give up anything and everything just to be with you, for you. The love he has for you is just incomparable to anything in this world.

This world was cruel, yet beautiful. He had you by his side. Sure the days weren’t easy, but both of you tried your best to make it to the next day together.

Levi’s heart stopped the day you told him the news. You were expecting. No, you both were expecting. It felt surreal to him. Like a dream. A very good one. Too good in fact.

Levi’s tight embrace around you expressed his happiness and the warmth he was feeling. He was holding his whole world in his arms.

Levi buried his head on your neck and pulled you closer to him, afraid to let go. He was happy, truly happy. But also scared. This was something too good to happen to him.

Levi who vowed from that day onward that he will protect you and your little one with his whole life. The world was dangerous, but he would make sure his little one doesn’t experience the same fate as him.

Levi who doesn’t let you lift a finger in your current state. Heavy lifting? Absolutely not. He’ll do that. Laundry? Done. Cooking? He’s a good cook so, don’t worry. Just lay down and rest.

Levi who always gets you your cravings no matter what time of the day it is. Be it midnight or early hours of the morning he’s always ready.

Levi who falls in love with you all over again. Watching you carry and grow his child, both of yours child is like something magical to him. It’s like you’re glowing. You had that fresh and vibrant aura that Levi can’t get enough of. You looked so so beautiful. Was it the motherhood glow or his undying love for you? Levi doesn’t know, he just knows whatever it is, he loves you so much and the life you’re carrying.

Levi who showers you with affection. Carrying a child isn’t easy. The journey was both a mixture of joy and hardship. And Levi was with you through it all.

Levi who holds you when you cry in the middle of the night because you couldn’t sleep. You wanted to, but couldn’t. Your body was so tired, but the baby wouldn’t stop kicking. He holds you against his chest, one hand intertwined with yours and the other running softly through your hair. Sometimes he would rub your belly to soothe it. And when you would fall asleep he would still be awake, making sure you’re okay. Sleep wasn’t important to him. You were. And your little one.

Levi who drops everything from his hands when he comes back home to you writhing in pain. “Levi..,” you cry out in pain. “Help…me-”

Levi who is with you during your labor. Holding your hand tightly and giving you words of encouragement and praises. “Almost there.” “You’re doing so well.” “Just a little more, I know you can do it” “you’re so strong.”

Levi who freezes when he hears the cries of his newborn.

“It’s a girl.”

Levi kisses your forehead wiping away the tears you cried and sweat you had to break to give birth to your little girl. Whispering infinite ‘thank yous’. His forehead on yours.

“I love you.”

Levi who cries for the first time after a long time when he holds his tiny little girl in his arms. She was so soft, so warm and so tiny. So delicate that he was afraid, afraid of hurting her.

Levi who melts when his baby girl coos and nuzzles into his arms. She was now someone very special and precious to him. Someone he vowed to protect with everything he had. He gently kisses her tiny forehead. “I’m so in love with you, tiny brat.”

Levi always thought he would end up alone in his life. His mother left him at an early age. Kenny didn’t stick around for long. His two closest friends died and he couldn’t do anything. And so he quit the survey corps. Because he wanted you. He wanted to spend his remaining days with you. He didn’t want to see his hands stained in the blood of his comrades and innocent youths dying.

Levi who wrapped his one arm around you while the other held his tiny little girl. Your head on his chest and you poked the little one’s cheeks. “She looks exactly like you. I love that.” And indeed she did. The little one was a copy of her father. The nose, the lips, her hair, everything. Everything except, “The eyes are yours.”

“I love your eyes.”

Levi loves you eternally. His life felt meaningless at one point to him, losing people close to him. But you brought meaning to that life. Before, Levi would only fight to live, to protect. He had a duty towards the people inside the walls. An oath to keep to Erwin. A responsibility towards his squad. But now, he fights everyday so that he can live, for you and your daughter. He fights everyday so that he can see you and your precious one. He wants to be with you. To grow old with you and watch his little one grow.

Levi wasn’t alone anymore. He has a family, someone to love and cherish for the rest of his life. He has you.

And you are all he ever wants.

I love you Levi. Happy Birthday 🍮 ᥫ᭡

[2truehearts]

✦ — BUT DARLING, YOU ARE THE ONLY EXCEPTION.

✦ CHARACTER/S︰ijekiel alpheus & lucas from wmmap (who made me a princess).

✦ SYNOPSIS︰love can bloom and burn in any heart at the first sunlit-brindled brief—whether it be bounded by duty, ice, or disbelief; as long as that epitome of affection is you, they suppose they can make an exception and make some space—or in which they fall in-love with you first glance and sight.

✦ CONTENT WARNING/S︰nothing other than one swear word (fuck), & the general fluff and infatuation (from the character/s) + everything is proofread with the wc 200 - 300 each.

✦ A/N︰making my debut as a manhwa writer on main is not the ideal move but idk where to post it okay (side eyes the 2367838 sideblogs under this one/silly (also the title is inspired by "the only exception" by paramore <3 it's bleeping awesome go and give it a listen!!))

IJEKIEL IS NOT ONE TO FALL IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT, to have his world still for a few seconds while his heart overrides and blood races to the forefront of his cheeks—but dear heavens, were you the only exception to that rule bound by duty and a planned future in his chest. you surely weren’t the epitome of grace or as enchanting as the gods, but to him you were enough—more, than enough, truly.

he first met you in an arrangement of his father and your parents from your vague childhood—but oh, how he remembers every second of that first meeting. when the doors opened to you bowing in front of him with a barely-hidden smile of excitement curving the tips of your mouth to look at him with big, bright eyes of wonder staring directly at the copy of the sun—not once backing down to blink or burn away from awe and fluster. so ijekiel does that instead.  his skin flares with the color of blooming carnations, sunlight-prickled hues wide from childish panic at the sudden increased beating of his heart.  was something wrong with him? he felt light-headed and dizzy, stomach twisting, tossing and turning as if he was about to faint from merely seeing you presented before him like the finest muse of a pristine piece of art, incomparable to anything else other than itself. what should he do? should he compliment you? should he act indifferent and use a practiced smile? his mind is trying to adjust to the drastic changes of his swayed heart, but the boy just can’t seem to do just that when he’s faced with a fairytale protagonist right in front of him—and he blinks, catching something from the corner of his eye—and is brought back down to earth when he sees his father’s questioning gaze. then, bows with a smile, greeting you further in to sit down and perhaps enjoy a cup of tea with him?  you said yes out of common courtesy, but that only made his smile grow wider.

LUCAS FIRMLY DOES NOT BELIEVE IN LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT, like come on—who believes in love like that these days? naive little kids? newly adolescent noble ladies? men of high and poor status? it’s simply too . . . unlikely to actually happen in his eyes. the butterflies when you meet “the love of your life’s” eyes? could be the early signs of constipation. the flush in your cheeks when there’s too much prolonged eye contact with them and the dizziness of your heart and mind? could be an oncoming migraine, headache, or a sign you're being possessed by some evil spirit, y’know? anyways, enough joking aside—the point is, he finds the subject some far-fetched fairytale that is highly impossible even with the magic he has—that is, until, you waltz into his life. the things he feels when he's around you is something that could be described as a contradiction. the first gazing into your eyes turns the world upside and back again, the first brush against your fingertips suck all the air out of his chest, the first chuckle that he manages to rouse from deep within your giddy joy paints him a shade darker than his eyes from head to toe—holy fuck were there a lot of firsts that made him experience everything and anything all at once; with most he can't even explain properly without sounding so . . lovesick. god do you make him sick to the last bone with whatever sorcery you possess. in short; when in love, lucas is everything that correlates to being stupidly infatuated and is constantly reeling himself in by a hair’s breadth back to the surface when you smile, laugh, or simply exist next to him—like, can you imagine how utterly moronic it is to see how degenerate he’s become from before you?! . . . but, if it makes you happy, he’ll gladly be idiotic for the rest of his life (though, that depends if you're gonna annoy him or not).

✦ — @khasmies 2023.

[masdevalliia]

I was rereading Volume III of Frankenstein and I have some things to say about my favorite boy, Henry Clerval.

At the start of the book, the first thing we know about Clerval is that he is a poet whose dream is being frustrated because his father wants him to be an extent of his businesses and fails to understand why Henry would want an education when those things are “superfluous in the commerce of ordinary life”.

Being a merchant is not what disturbs Henry, but the idea of not having another choice; forcing him to be an ignorant who only lives in conformism with no purpose of his own is tortuous enough to make him loathe that path of existence, leading to a desperation and need to escape those restraints and feel that he has a potential that goes beyond the restrictions that have so plagued his daily life.

That's why I think the way in which Henry describes the places that he and Victor visited across Europe is more than just a pretty description of the landscape. The burst of inspiration that he experiments becomes much more personal considering how Victor says that he is feeling "a happiness rarely tasted by man" and Clerval himself lasts a whole page talking in heavy detail about the wonders he can appreciate.

The passion that Henry feels in the journey is so extreme and magical that he is convinced that he found a paradise where all the worlds he created in his head are finally taking form, allowing him to have a perspective that's so much more than Geneva's frozen mountains, even wanting to live forever in England because there he found the fulfillment that he so long sought for.

The delight of Clerval was proportionally greater than mine; his mind expanded in the company of men of talent, and he found in his own nature greater capacities and resources than he could have imagined himself to have possessed while he associated with his inferiors. “I could pass my life here,” said he to me; “and among these mountains I should scarcely regret Switzerland and the Rhine.”

Henry is deeply unsatisfied with the life that has been dictated to him, being in constant search of some place where the sensibility of his heart can flourish and can prove that the person he wishes to be isn't conditioned by the impediments that were told to him during his childhood.

Those aspirations and emotions are the ones that create both his contrast and similarity with Victor; the two of them are equally ambitious and therefore are the ones that know best how to understand each other when everything is going downwards. Henry takes care of Victor when the repent of his actions is too much to allow him to get out of bed and provides him with at least a meager pinch of hope that things will get better, and Victor, even though it's through a eulogy, makes sure to preserve Clerval's memory telling to anyone who would listen about the incomparable potential and kindness that still comforts his poor soul beyond the grave.

Henry's death is cruel in all the ways it can be. It not only takes away the last solace that Victor had, leading him to an extreme of despair that leaves him with no reason for existing. But also makes sound all of Henry's plans for the future like the prayers of a moribund; he stops being a person to become only a tragedy sentenced to be forgotten in the distant shores of Ireland, where he is only a stranger that no one can give a cry to.

Maybe I'm looking too much into it, but this book scares you not for the fact that there's a living corpse, but for the fact that there is no place for hope, and you slowly realize how doomed the situation is while you are forced to see how the misfortune develops, so I wouldn't be surprised if all the possibilities of Henry living a fulfilling life were only shown to be taken away by a whim of fate.

[ladykatibeth]

I disagree with the Beelzebub and Gabriel happened fast because they’ve never had to be afraid take I’ve seen floating around. They both have people working above them who could hurt them.

For Gabriel, it’s Metatron directly above who is also the voice of God, literal creator of the Universe and then, um, God, Creator of the Universe.

God who was willing to cast a bunch of angels, including an archangel, into hell….and it seems to have been a pretty traumatic experience, even for what seems to have been…literally just…having doubts? In Crowley’s case?

Plus Gabriel may be the lead archangel but he’s also at the check of the other archangels….who seem to have been completely secure in their ability to take him down, and Gabriel seemed to have been pretty sure they could too because he ran away.

And they did. As soon as he disagreed. And they could have at any point if they felt they should in the past 6000 years.

And Beelz seems to have less peer based supervision imo, but they also are working for Satan. Whose so frightening that Crowley was literally about to fall down to the ground in terror when he heard him coming.

Here’s where I think the nuance lies, Gabriel and Beelz have power, at the expense of visibility. Every single person in Heaven and Hell is looking at them. They have to interact with the most powerful beings in the universe to see what they need done regularly, they’re called upon to make decisions, if something planned fails everyone will look to them.

They are also powerful, they aren’t as likely to be questioned. They’ve got more magic, they probably don’t have to explain things like what they’re using it for as much as lower demons and angels either.

Aziraphale and Crowley are less powerful but also less visible. If they get their work done, according to Crowley, Hell doesn’t care that much /how/ things get done. Aziraphale and Crowley sometimes do each other’s work for each other.

They also managed to plan to stop the apocalypse behind H&H’s back….they do (or almost) get caught a couple times but they also manage 6000 years of fraternizing without being executed as traitors. Less visibility at the expense of less power, they have more people to be scared of.

What’s actually the difference here is a combination of attachments, recent institutional confusion, and incomparable relationship stages.

I’d argue Crowley and Aziraphale stoping the Apocalypse caused enough confusion to open up space for Beelz and Gabriel to grow closer, that wouldn’t have been available pre-apocalypse, pre-apocalypse Gabriel and Beelzebub would have struggled a lot more with doing regular meetings.

And attachments, both Crowley and Aziraphale are having a kind of moral/idea disagreement here that’s keeping them from being together. Beelz and Gabriel just do not care about things outside each other in the same way Crowley and Aziraphale do. (Not an insult to either of them, btw, C+A have been living on the earth for 6000 years, of course they’ve got more attachments.)

And C+A have had a longer time to establish unhealthy patterns partially caused by a constantly unsafe environment, over 6000 years of relationship development.

Whereas Beelz and Gabriel have been so entrenched in an unsafe environment this is the first time they’ve had a chance to form a non-professional relationship ever, period, let alone establish any patterns, they haven’t interacted with human ideas about romance, like C+A are aware of, which are often silly and insecure and structured, and impact how C+A approach things.

G+B are dealing with love completely instinctively and right now they’re honeymooning.

And this happened after 6000 years of having absolutely no one. And C+A have just made it much easier to interact without retribution……so they’re going hard and heavy and fast.

[chthonic-cassandra]

Recent books, fiction -

Emma Cline, The Girls - a teenage girl in the late 1960's ends up on the outer edges of a Manson-like (very closely Manson-like) cult. This was okay, but not great, falling too often into cliches about teenage girlhood and lacking a sharp understanding of cult dynamics. By basing the fictional cult in the novel so closely on Charles Manson's Cline gets to handwave a bunch of things about how and why it works, but the seams in the construction show through anyway; Cline's understanding about what leads people to join and stay in these kinds of groups, and how the internal dynamics function, seemed to me persistently surface-level. The strongest part of the novel is the protagonist's potent desire for one of the closest inner circle girls in the cult, which is the reason she becomes entangled much more than any draw from the cult leader himself. There was something interesting there, if Cline had focused on it, and something interesting too in the hints about our protagonist's solitary experiences of lesbian masochistic desire, but this thread was resolved in a way that felt to me disappointingly simplistic. The hints about our protagonist's adulthood following her experience of the cult are also flat, without the messiness of what it can mean to survive that experience. Worth reading as an example of a fictional depiction of organized abuse, but not a great one.

Mona Simpson, Commitment - family saga novel following three siblings as they make lives for themselves following their mother's depressive breakdown and institutionalization in the early 1970's. This had some flashes of clarity and insight, but fizzled out quickly into banality. There were some things that Simpson wanted to say about pragmatism vs making art, and about living in fear of mental illness, but it all got sanded down. The depiction of 'mental illness' is also two dimensional at best. This suffered especially for me in proximity to a recent read-through of The Frederica Quartet, which deals with some similar themes with an incomparably greater level of complexity and beauty. While this novel wasn't terrible, the fact of how lauded it has been made me feel cynical about the state of contemporary literary fiction.

Dion Fortune, Moon Magic - a hilarious but less than successful chapter in my weird journey of reading Fortune's fiction work. Like The Sea Priestess, to which it is a loose sequel, this novel centers around a blatant Dion Fortune self-insert initiating a repressed professional man into sexualized spiritual enlightenment. Unlike The Sea Priestess, Moon Magic is told largely from the point of view of said Dion Fortune self-insert, which brings the narcissism levels up to the nearly intolerable. Left unfinished at Fortune's death, the final chapter was written by her friends which was also not a great choice.

Melody Razak, Moth - a left-leaning, intellectual family in Delhi struggles to cope with the cataclysmic violence of partition. Stepping back from this book there are elements of it, and of the way each character was drawn, which I appreciate, but I felt consistently uneasy reading it, so much that I put it aside for a week in the middle, which is unusual for me. There was something about Razak's narrative gaze which felt exoticizing in its hazy simplicity; this maybe has to do with her conviction to "tell the untold stories" of women who experienced violence during partition, which I don't think is ever a great way to go into a fiction project for reasons I have written about elsewhere. However, the intensely brutal violence of the final section of the book somehow landed for me more as a reader; I don't actually know how I feel about the representational ethics of it, but something about the extremity brought it to a narratively more effective place. I'm still trying to sort through why.

Stacey D'Erasmo, The Complicities - after her husband's conviction for fraudulent business practices, a woman moves to a town in New England, opens a massage practice, and gets emotionally involved with a beached whale. Ugh. This was very bad, and I don't know how it ended up on my to-read list. Flat, simplistic prose style, irritating narrative voice, unlikable characters. Whatever.

Kikuo Tsumura, There's No Such Thing As an Easy Job (trans. Polly Barton) - genuinely hilarious satire on Japanese capitalist culture. A young woman, burnt out on her previous job (the nature of which isn't revealed until the end, which was an effective choice for me and so I'm not spoiling it), seeks to find a form of employment that will require the least possible from her intellectually and emotionally, ending up in increasing surreal work situations. This kind of book often doesn't work for me (I'm not a big humor person), but this was sharp and understated and very good. The section at the cracker factory in particular had me trying ineffectively to explain its hilarity to people around me. Recommended.

Catherine Lacey, Biography of X - in an AU United States where the southern states seceded in the mid-twentieth century, a newly widowed woman attempts to find out the truth about her wife, a notoriously secretive and manipulative artist. This was ambitious in its metafictional conceit and had a premise that intrigued but ultimately didn't live up to its promise. The world-building of Lacey's AU felt implausible and insufficiently developed; there were so many aspects of it that didn't land, like the distracting use of real-life figures or the total lack of critical analysis around race and gender. If the AU premise had been removed and the focus kept tighter on the central relationship it might have worked, but there too we just didn't have enough to go off of. This mostly just made me wish I was rereading Siri Hutvedt's The Blazing World, a much, much stronger metafictional depiction of a female artist, which maybe I should do.

Mariana Enríquez, Our Share of the Night - in Argentina during the period of military dictatorship, a young father attempts to save his son from the abusive group of which he has been a part since childhood. I loved this book so so very much. As a horror novel, as a depiction of organized abuse and intergenerational trauma, as a representation of the ways that state and interpersonal violence repeat and mirror. It's not a perfect book - I think that the last third could be tightened and shifted in certain ways - but what it's doing is so strong and specific that I don't mind. I sort of want to buy a copy and reread it right away. Strongly recommended, with the content note that it is a very emotionally plausible and unsparing depiction of its subject material.

[gabiioartist]

"reina realized the sound in her head, the scream, was her own. Anger or anguish, misery or mourning, all of the above. She felt the softness of earth beneath her hands and realized she was kneeling prostrate, channeling her pain into the sympathy of sodden ground. She felt something lashing gently over her forearms, slithering out from her pals. Like vines; like threads of consequence." and/or "Yes, Callum thought, I understand it now, Tristan, the meaning of life, it all makes sense. We are given exactly as much time as we need to be a human as we are, and that's it. That's the entirety of the magic. We're not gods, or maybe you are, or Reina is, but I'm not a god, Tristan, I'm just very sad and stupid! I have been looking for inspiration and it turns out I'm not inspired, I'm lazy! I only want to hold your hand! I don't wan't to rule the world, I don't want to control it, I don't even want to influrence it. I want to sit beside you in a little garden, I want to put your needs before mine, I want to laugh at your jokes, even the bad ones, and bury my head in proverbial sands." and/or “This was it, the chronic condition—the only meaning Parisa had left in life. It wasn’t a secret society, it wasn’t an ancient library, it wasn’t an experiment that had taken two decades to design, it was waking up every fucking morning and deciding to keep going. The tiny, unceremonious, incomparable miracle of making it through another goddamn day. The knowledge that life was mean and it was exacting. It was cruel and it was cursed; it was recalcitrant and precious. It was always ending. But it did not have to be earned.”

second piece from my review of @olivieblake 's the atlas series. I love these characters so deeply, and these three in particular, in their twisted discoveries of their personnal philosophies, and what ever can let them survive, was inspiring to read, and meant a lot to me. all three piece's speedpaints are up on my youtube channel!:)

[waitmyturtles]

Turtles Catches Up With Old GMMTV: Until We Meet Again Edition

[What’s going on here? After joining Tumblr and discovering Thai BLs through KinnPorsche in 2022, I began watching GMMTV’s new offerings -- and realized that I had a lot of history to catch up on, to appreciate the more recent works that I was delving into. From tropes to BL frameworks, what we’re watching now hails from somewhere, and I’m learning about Thai BL's history through what I’m calling the Old GMMTV Challenge (OGMMTVC). Starting with recommendations from @absolutebl on their post regarding how GMMTV is correcting for its mistakes with its shows today, I’ve made an expansive list to get me through a condensed history of essential/classic/significant Thai BLs produced by GMMTV and many other BL studios. My watchlist, pasted below, lists what I’ve watched and what’s upcoming, along with the reviews I’ve written so far. In a LONG POST, I’m writing today about New Siwaj’s incomparable drama, Until We Meet Again.]

TW: suicide, suicidal ideation, psychological trauma

Gah. I am so psyched to be finally sitting down to write my thoughts on Until We Meet Again, but I’m actually at a bit of a loss on where to start. There is SO MUCH TO TALK ABOUT.

I think, where I can start, is to first say that this was, in my opinion, AN ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR SHOW. I did NOT expect this, at all. I’ve been around the way with New Siwaj, the UWMA screenwriter and director, a few times now for the OGMMTVC -- his writing on Love Sick, his work with Cheewin on Make It Right, and his work on MAME’s novel in Love By Chance have all been on the OGMMTVC list. I know that Between Us, the UMWA WinTeam continuation, was considered mostly a let-down for weak writing, and that New’s more recent shows, including A Boss and a Babe and Double Savage, were viewed quite critically (although I am a Double Savage apologist, for which I’ll explain my viewpoints later in this post). 

So. What I did not expect from 2019′s UWMA was to experience so many layers in a drama à la the work of Aof Noppharnach. Yes, I cannot believe I’m going here, to compare a New Siwaj drama to Aof’s oeuvre, but damn if I will, because good lord, New took his magic hat of tricks, pulled out THE GOOD STUFF, and made it all work. 

This is a list of themes that I saw in UWMA, that will help me structure this long write-up, but by no means should it be considered complete, as I’m sure I’m missing themes that you all likely caught in your watches and re-watches:

1) A new narrative structure for New -- balancing the impact of side couples by leveraging focus, equally, on two MAIN couples 2) The continuation and end of the 2019 trend of reincarnation and spiritual connections to love 3) Intergenerational queer trauma (micro-level) 4) Generational acceptance of queerness (macro-level) 5) Food and its Proustian effect on memory 6) Reflections on filial piety and the devastating effects of expectations -- and how children and parents seek redemption, particularly in New’s work

And before I even dive into THIS list, can I just say: MY GOD, FLUKE AND OHM. And Earth and Kao! But FLUKE AND OHM. Jesus, does New have an eye for talent -- from the Make It Right guys, to Perth and Saint, and then to Fluke and Ohm. I was seriously TAKEN with their chemistry. I did hear from a number of folks during my UWMA live-blogging that they can’t rewatch UWMA because of Fluke/Pharm’s rendition of the blushing maiden trope, but for my tastes -- I think the way he rendered the trope was really necessary to communicating Intouch’s story, history, and emotions, and just -- Fluke just ATE this role, my gawd. And Ohm/Dean responding in kind vis à vis Korn’s regret. YOW. It’s been a few days since I finished the show, in a total RUSH of drama hunger, and I’m still shaking my head and MARVELING at their performance.

Okay, back to the themes list. So, early in my Thai BL journey in the fall of 2022, after I had watched KinnPorsche and The Eclipse as my first two Thai BLs, I watched A Tale of Thousand Stars (way before the OGMMTVC was born), and noted that I appreciated the lack of side couples in the ATOTS storyline. I now realize, through the OGMMTVC, that side couples are both a BL trope and a byproduct of the drama styles from which BLs were born, the ensemble-based dramas like Love Sick, Senior Secret Love, and Kiss/Kiss Me Again.

New’s Make It Right -- while beloved in my heart, for the chaotic duos of TeeFuse and FrameBook -- WAS messy, with all the other couple stuff happening around it. That, along with Love By Chance, made me wonder -- why do BLs that center fabulous dyads with sizzling chemistry take away from that energy with all the side couple action? Even Together With Me, a non-New Siwaj and non-GMMTV drama, got sidelined in part with a VERY questionable side couple plot in BrightFarm.

Reflecting back on KP and The Eclipse, I had that question in mind as I started UWMA, and wondered where the Alex and WinTeam storylines were going to go. But, frankly, I ended up appreciating what NEEDED to happen with DeanPharm and KornIntouch, because -- the original novel storyline clearly demanded that these two couples, who were NOT side couples, but MAIN couples, needed a MAIN spotlight for their collective story to be told. @clairificusrex mentioned in a liveblog comment (THANK YOU, LOVELY HUMAN!) that New Siwaj benefitted in the screenplay from having a wonderful original novel to work with, and while I don’t read Y Series canon, I can only imagine that this was indeed the case.

So, New, in order to hew to the novel, had to perhaps hold back his usual instincts to muss up the main couple vibe, by centering DeanPharm and KornIntouch. With that control necessary to the story -- I think the narrative STRUCTURE of the drama just blew open. It was FASCINATING, it drew me in, and the structure allowed for another New predilection to be leveraged WELL, in his love for flashbacks. @lurkingshan, you mentioned that your taste wasn’t necessarily aligned with New’s fancy for flashbacks, which I totally understand -- I think flashbacks hurt the overall narrative structure of Double Savage earlier this year. But I think, here for UMWA, they were necessary, and I might very well be apologetic to that considering what I DID see in Double Savage by way of the story that New ended up screenwriting over there in regards to intergenerational family trauma (again, more on this later in the post).

This narrative structure lent itself handily to the next four themes on this list, all of which deal in memory, in spiritual roots, and/or in the generational passage and inheritance of trauma and emotion. 2019, as we know now, was a big year for shows themed around Thai spiritual culture and/or reincarnation. We have He’s Coming To Me, we have Dew the Movie -- we have art here, queer-centered art, that does not lend itself to happy endings, that depicts, through reincarnation or, in the case of HCTM, a ghostly purgatory, how DIFFICULT it had been to be comfortably queer and/or openly out in past and present Thailand.

And then UWMA comes along, telling TWO generational stories, intertwined by the red thread, but also, in the words of the WONDERFUL @bengiyo, connected by Korn and Intouch’s intergenerational queer trauma, the most PERFECT coinage of a theme for this show. In 1988, when Korn and Intouch die, they cannot be out. They cannot even be SECRETLY in love. Their bad dads use the foulest of language to describe their love (much like Phop’s dad in Dew). And Korn kills himself, and Intouch follows.

And what we learn, through Dean and Pharm, are the emotions, the regrets, the LEARNED BEHAVIOR that Korn and Intouch have picked up on in the afterlife, embedded in Dean and Pharm, that keeps Korn and Intouch’s love alive, with CORRECTIONS and ADJUSTMENTS made by Dean and Pharm that reflect on how not only Korn and Intouch’s love has changed and improved, but also how Dean and Pharm are learning how to love EACH OTHER, themselves, as they adjust to their OWN belonging to each other, in Pharm’s own words. GAH -- my aching heart. (Thank you to @lurkingshan for talking this through with me early on in my UWMA watch.)

I mean. THE DEPTH OF THIS. Intouch is a terrible cook, and Pharm is like, a restaurant-level chef?! Pharm is so resistant, and Dean is so FORWARD? (OHM THITIWAT, GAH!!!) (Listen. Pharm. P’Deeeean can grab MY butt, okay?) (See what I did there, @lurkingshan and @bengiyo? THANK YOOOOUU.)

And Pharm’s blushing maiden approach. Yes, I will also admit, that sometimes, it was a little cringey. But I think the blushing maiden trope was really necessary to the story -- ESPECIALLY IN THE CONTEXT of Intouch’s anger, ciphered through Pharm in the last episode. And I think that Fluke Natouch ultimately rendered the trope beautifully -- again, especially against the gorgeous ending of the show. Oh, THAT CONDO SCENE, PEOPLE. I LOST IT. 

Of course, Intouch would want to hold back through Pharm in the present day. If Intouch DIDN’T hold back vis à vis Pharm -- he might lose Korn again, if Pharm missteps with Dean. Intouch may have felt that HIS forwardness lent to their troubles -- so Intouch holds back, through Pharm. And Intouch ultimately communicates his love for Korn differently in the afterlife, more hesitantly -- through a resistance to intimacy, and through food and cooking in Pharm, which itself was another amazing move in this show.

Listen. Even my pinned post says what I value in dramas, not just in BLs. You give me food in BL, and I give you my heart. But also, let’s talk about the meaning of food in Asian dramas for a second. It’s no coincidence that MANY Asian dramas and doramas center food, including my favorite BL of all time, Kinou Nani Tabeta/What Did You Eat Yesterday?. If you don’t know Asians, of any ilk -- let me make a BROAD continental and sub-continental judgement. ALL WE THINK ABOUT IS FOOD, lol. While I’m with my family, while I’m working, while I’m writing meta -- I’m thinking about food, I’m thinking about what I want to cook, what I want to order, how I can mix the cuisines I love (Thai-Indian curries, anyone? YUM). Malaysians literally boast about having multiple meals, way past three meals, a day. We Asians are proud of our cuisines, and we want y’all to be EATING, A LOT, and to try all our dishes. (ITSAY, your Hokkien mee is calling me...) 

But, also: FOOD MEANS FAMILY. Let me say it again: FOOD MEANS FAMILY. You FEED the people you LOVE, with delicious food. Shiro and Kenji. Kurosawa and Adachi. The guys in Jack o’Frost. The guys in The Eighth Sense. Omg, even Kinn and Porsche. We’re seeing it in Tokyo In April Is... And Pharm, to Dean, Intouch to Korn.

And BESIDES Intouch/Pharm becoming a great cook, GOD, the story ALSO INCLUDED the Proustian reference of the madeleine and involuntary memory -- but in SUCH a stunning way, as to RECALL DEAN’S FAMILIAL MEMORY of eating his grandmother’s Thai desserts -- his grandmother, Intouch’s sister, and how Dean could get an indirect spotlight into Intouch and a depth of an understanding of Intouch’s happiness besides his love for Korn. And how Pharm EMBODIED that love for Thai desserts through Intouch’s family lineage. Oh, just get me MESSY, PEOPLE. FUCKING GENIUS SHIT. 

Memory on memory on memory. Dream on dream, nightmare on nightmare, tears and red threads, inherited trauma, intergenerational trauma. The micro-level of what Dean and Pharm had to live with on a daily basis in their recollections of Korn and Intouch. The macro-level of what Pharm and Dean experienced when all of their parents accepted them for who they were as queer individuals, and their partners, as well. How Dean’s dad could ACTUALLY RELATE to Dean himself, because Dean’s dad had been rejected by Dean’s mother’s family. And how that ALLOWED Dean’s dad to accept Dean and his choice to be with Pharm. How that trauma was relieved, how Dean and Pharm DID NOT HAVE TO PHYSICALLY RELIVE what Korn and Intouch had gone through, and how those involuntary memories that Dean and Pharm carried vis à vis Korn and Intouch traumatized them until Dean and Pharm could RECEIVE their OWN familial acceptance.

The LAYERS OF THIS SHOW. Before I get to the last theme on my list, I really just need to metaphorically slam my palms on an allegorical table and give New Siwaj a huge hug, because THIS SHIT IS NOT EASY TO PROCESS ALL AT ONCE, and I can’t wait to do a UWMA rewatch to try to catch more (and I’ll likely need to write another meta, ha, when I do that). I mean, again, just to use food as an example of a kind of storytelling TOOL to INDICATE memory, especially in the context of lost and found love, of intergenerational trauma and relieving regret -- BRILLIANT. BRILLIANT.

And. The last theme on the list, the theme of filial piety, of Asian family systems and devotion and loyalty and expectations, and the devastating effects on the micro-individual level (and even the macro-social level as well) that those expectations can have. 

So, I watched Double Savage, screenwritten by New Siwaj, out of order from UWMA. Very quickly, since many of you have likely NOT watched Double Savage because it’s not a BL (but it DID have Ohm Pawat and Perth Tanapon in a hose-off scene -- you can’t take the New Siwaj out of New Siwaj, amirite): Double Savage is about Korn (Ohm P.), a middle son who is branded a jinx by a HORRENDOUS Thai-Chinese father, and how the abuse leveled on Korn by his dad has intergenerational ripple effects across their family and community. 

Let’s break this down. I now know that New Siwaj does bad dads from Thai-Chinese lineage very well. UWMA’s Korn is expected to take over a mafia business. His dad is disapproving that Korn doesn’t want to take over the business -- which is an UNQUESTIONABLE and EMBEDDED expectation in most Asian family lineages (hello, Jeng and Step By Step) -- AND Korn’s dad is ALSO disapproving in Korn’s love for Intouch and vice versa. Separately, Intouch’s dad is disapproving that Intouch is in love with Korn, a mafia scion. 

Modern times are modern for a reason. 1988 was 31 years from 2019. I want to emphasize here the understanding that Korn and Intouch likely had -- that besides running away, there was no other existence for them to be together than to kill themselves and be together in the afterlife. And running away, and still living and existing, would have been a guilt-ridden and dangerous existence, for what Asian children are expected to do and live for vis à vis their parents. Korn likely HAD NO OTHER IMAGINATION for a life that he could live OTHER THAN to take over his father’s business and to be a heteronormative adult in the late 1980s. And, to top that all off, both of their dads were fucking assholes. 

I really liked how this was juxtaposed to the relationship between Dean and his father. Dean was clearly set up to be as stubborn as his dad. Meaning, at least to me -- that Dean was FAR less likely to be told what to do by his dad, that Dean would and maybe COULD, stand up to his dad. We didn’t see it happen, but I could have imagined Dean not accepting “no” for an answer from his dad to accept Pharm. (Makes you think about Pat, Pran, and Ming, no?) Dean had Korn in him. Dean/Korn was NOT GOING TO TAKE THAT SHIT AGAIN, and that was CLEAR. I want to emphasize: THAT’S BIG. That was BIG on New Siwaj and the UWMA novel writer to include that in the story. That’s parental defiance. That needed to happen in order for Dean and Pharm to survive. As an Asian, that gives me a kick of welcome energy.

But I also really want to note what New Siwaj did at the end of the show, something so deft, it might have left non-Asian viewers wondering what was going on. In the condo scene, Dean and Pharm are ciphering Korn and Intouch -- and when Korn’s father shows up in the wheelchair, Korn’s father knows what’s happening.

And Korn apologizes to his dad. Korn had already apologized to Intouch, but Korn also apologizes to his dad, and to his brother, and to his nephew in Sin. This really gets me, y’all, I understand this as an Asian. Korn is APOLOGIZING for the PAIN he caused in his family AND in Intouch, because -- filial piety. He knows what he did to himself was devastating to the Asian family system he was born into, to the Asian society he was born into, and he apologized for the suicide he committed unto himself that caused that extra-social pain. 

Like. As crazy as that sounds, it’s also an INCREDIBLY SOPHISTICATED way to ACKNOWLEDGE that Korn had broached a social boundary, and Intouch had followed him. THAT IS A HELL OF A LAYER TO ADD TO THIS STORY, ONE THAT I DID NOT EXPECT, and that SHOOK ME at the end of this series.

A similar situation happened in Double Savage. Despite the horrendous psychological abuse that Double Savage’s Korn received from his father -- an adult Korn ends up apologizing to his father for the trouble that HE may have caused. Now, what I appreciated about Double Savage was that THAT dad was like -- no, no, *I* should be the one apologizing. BUT, I want to indicate and emphasize here, that BOTH storylines acknowledge that Asian children NEED to know, SHOULD know, ARE BORN TO KNOW, that their actions have collective effects on a wider family system. We are born to understand and think like that. We are not dealing with an individualist Western perspective here. (I literally FLIPPED when I realized that New Siwaj has had MULTIPLE CHARACTERS NAMED KORN APOLOGIZING TO BAD DADS, and I’m an Asian over here UNDERSTANDING WHY, and I’m just like, pfffftt GGGAAAHHHH.)

Why am I harping on this? BECAUSE: vis à vis EVERYTHING ELSE that is lineage-based in this story -- from children being born, to intergenerational trauma, to reincarnation -- UWMA is structured around an über-macro theme of worlds being linked, by threads, by genes, by history, by spirit, by trauma. We are collectively linked. Babies are born -- we saw many babies in this show. Children belong to families. Lovers belong to lovers. Dean PHYSICALLY belongs to Intouch’s family, and Pharm to Korn’s family. A happy existence will be when a family accepts a child’s partner. Happiness is in a family growing, not a family shrinking. Warmth and growth and love happens when a happy family sits at a table and eats together. 

As Pharm says at the end of the show -- oh, my HEART -- “I belong to Dean.” Yes, you do -- because you have become Dean’s family, and Dean has become Pharm’s family. Korn’s family BELONGS to Intouch’s family, and vice versa. They are destined, MEANT to be linked together, AND TO BE FAMILY, ALL TOGETHER.

Kurosawa and Adachi become family in the Cherry Magic movie. WDYEY’s Shiro and Kenji become family by way of living and eating together. Even if BBS’s Ming doesn’t acknowledge Pran -- Pran is Ming’s family. LOVE. MAKES. FAMILY.

What Korn apologized for was the impact his decision had on his family — WHILE HE WAS IN LOVE WITH INTOUCH, WHO KORN’S FAMILY WAS NOT ALLOWING KORN TO MAKE AS KORN’S NEW FAMILY in the 1980s. Korn was able to apologize in the afterlife — BECAUSE Dean and Pharm DID WHAT HE AND INTOUCH COULD NOT DO, by way of generations, by way of family acceptance, by way of inherited trauma and STOPPING that inherited trauma in its tracks -- very much like Pat and Pran banding together and doing the same for themselves. Dean and Pharm did the hard work of making the relationship a real one, in every aspect of their intimate, micro-level family lives, to a public, external existence in the world. Korn could FINALLY experience the release of GUILT he had towards Intouch and towards Korn’s family, now that Korn’s love for Intouch could FINALLY flourish outside the constraints of filial piety through Dean. THIS IS HUGE. I have no words to tell you what the BRILLIANCE of this means to me as an Asian. LOVE MAKES FAMILY, and LOVE THAT IS ALLOWED TO FLOURISH GIVES YOU THE RELEASE TO BE YOUR TRUE SELF. 

Dean had learned from the inherited trauma that he got from Korn that he needed to stop the trauma train in his tracks, and he did, and he confronted his father, and his father blessed the union of Dean and Pharm. When Dean took the gun away from Pharm, and embraced Pharm, Korn and Intouch KNEW that they could finally be safe in the afterlife. Dean and Pharm were the ciphers that finally ALLOWED Korn and Intouch to exist happily together in spirit. Korn, especially, could exist freely, now that he was relieved of his guilt. Dean and Pharm were, LITERALLY, Korn and Intouch’s FAMILY -- the FAMILY that ALLOWED the FINAL RELEASE for Korn and Intouch to be together as their true selves and spirits. 

And Dean and Pharm confirmed that in FRONT of the family member, in Korn’s father, that had originally caused all this pain. The intricate layers, communicated to a primarily Asian audience, of Korn apologizing to his father, and then of Dean embracing Pharm and confirming their love AND Korn and Intouch’s love, in front of that former barrier -- that is GROWTH and FLOURISHING in the face of generational defiance, and about as sophisticated and eloquent a communication of familial transcendence as I could possibly imagine seeing in Asian drama art. WHOA. I’m a little out of breath with this.

Wow. And speaking of being one’s true self: I deeply loved that Dean and Pharm took a three-month break. I loved that Pharm was smart and strong enough to demand a break to understand if DEAN and PHARM -- INDEPENDENT of ANYTHING they had INHERITED from ANYONE -- actually loved each other and belonged together. Fuck. Pharm was like, no -- this one’s on me. I need to see, outside of ANY INFLUENCES, FROM ANYONE, ANYWHERE -- if I love Dean, if Dean loves me, and if we belong together. Brave. Badass.

AND, I truly loved how Korn and Intouch -- DEAN AND PHARM’S FAMILY -- came BACK to Dean and Pharm’s dreams to offer thanks. I loved how, in the end, the past and his family came back to give Pharm that little contextual nudge to say to Pharm, it’s okay to love Dean for Dean, AND to love how you two came together, through Korn and Intouch. And Pharm could acknowledge, finally, that he belonged to Dean. God damn.

This story was so multilayered, SO complex, SO filled with a respect for love at its highest and most complicated levels. This story was filled with CRITICAL SCRUTINY towards Asian family systems and the trauma that those systems can render. This story was filled with an acknowledgement for the power of LOVE that those same family systems can offer unto children who NEED pillars of love and support (Pharm’s mom and brother, badasses!). 

Y’ALL. I just, I DID NOT KNOW that New Siwaj could DO THIS! I know that UWMA is considered his best show, but like, this is his best show BY A LOT, A LOT. Double Savage, in contrast, had a lot of narrative and structural issues that detracted from the core stories of filial piety that were ultimately very important to tell. 

UWMA did not fall into that trap. It was SMART, it MOVED (FOR SEVENTEEN EPISODES! I SLAMMED THIS SERIES! I could have watched MORE, I cannot believe I’m SAYING THAT!), it was. It was just BRILLIANT. It was an ode to romantic love, to family love, to the power of memory. In 2019, it joined He’s Coming To Me in a burgeoning echelon of cinema-influenced BLs in storytelling, soon to be joined by I Told Sunset About You, ATOTS, and others. It took the sad endings of He’s Coming To Me and Dew the Movie and said -- not today. Today, we will let love LIVE, let QUEER LOVE live, in REAL LIFE, in REAL TIME, and we will not let our lovers live in regret. We will take queer love, we will give queer love FAMILY, and we will give it the HONOR IT DESERVES.

Until We Meet Again is a must-watch of the highest order, and goes on the shortlist of shows that I will refer to as one that makes me proud to be an Asian. It was easily one of the most important shows I’ve watched in this project. All credit to New, Fluke, Ohm, Earth, and Kao for a PHENOMENAL experience -- my heart and mind have been bettered because of this show. 

[FLUKE. AND. OHM. Fluke and Singto coming thru in Shadow the Series? Sign me the FUCK up. Actors on actors. WOW. Did UWMA ever introduce me to another crop of dudes who can fucking tear up a screen. I had SO much fun watching UWMA, whew!

And, yep. I had to follow this up with 2gether, ha. I’m going to spare myself a little pain, if y’all don’t mind, and combine my write-up of 2gether with Still 2gether. I know there’s a lot to be said about the lack of intimacy in 2G, which I can’t wait to dive into, but I can’t help but to also run into another wall of analysis with dear P’Aof’s work in S2G. I’ll make it all work!

After I get myself together with 2gether (HA) -- it’s ITSAY time. I will be planning on watching ITSAY TWICE before writing, as I’m preparing myself to catch EVERYTHING I can before I pen words. Stay tuned.

Status of the list below. As always -- if you have feedback, send it my way!

1) Love Sick and Love Sick 2 (2014 and 2015) (review here) 2) Make It Right (2016) (review here) 3) SOTUS (2016-2017) (review here) 4) Make It Right 2 (2017) (review here) 5) Together With Me (2017) (review here) 6) SOTUS S/Our Skyy x SOTUS (2017-2018) (review here) 7) Love By Chance (2018) (review here) 8) Kiss Me Again: PeteKao cuts (2018) (no review) 9) He’s Coming To Me (2019) (review here) 10) Dark Blue Kiss (2019) and Our Skyy x Kiss Me Again (2018) (review here) 11) TharnType (2019-2020) (review here) 12) Senior Secret Love: Puppy Honey (BL cuts) (2016 and 2017) (I’m watching this out of order just to get familiar with OffGun before Theory of Love -- will likely not review) 13) Theory of Love (2019) (review here) 14) 3 Will Be Free (2019) (not a BL or an official part of the OGMMTVC watchlist, but an important harbinger of things to come in 2019 and beyond re: Jojo Tichakorn pushing queer content in non-BLs) (review here) 15) Dew the Movie (2019) (review here) 16) Until We Meet Again (2019-2020)  17) 2gether (2020) and Still 2gether (2020) (watching) 18) I Told Sunset About You (2020) 19) YYY (2020, out of chronological order) 20) Manner of Death (2020-2021) (not a true BL, but a MaxTul queer/gay romance set within a genre-based show that likely influenced Not Me and KinnPorsche) 21) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) (review here) 22) A Tale of Thousand Stars (2021) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake Of Rewatching Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS 23) Lovely Writer (2021) 24) Last Twilight in Phuket (2021) (the mini-special before IPYTM) 25) I Promised You the Moon (2021) 26) Not Me (2021-2022) 27) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) (thesis here) 28) Bad Buddy (2021-2022) and Our Skyy 2 x BBS x ATOTS (2023) OGMMTVC Rewatch 29) Secret Crush On You (2022) [watching for Cheewin’s trajectory of studying queer joy from Make It Right (high school), to SCOY (college), to Bed Friend (working adults)] 30) KinnPorsche (2022) (tag here) 31) KinnPorsche (2022) OGMMTVC Fastest Rewatch Known To Humankind For The Sake of Re-Analyzing the KP Cultural Zeitgeist 32) The Eclipse (2022) (tag here) 33) GAP (2022-2023) (Thailand’s first GL) 34) My School President (2022-2023) and Our Skyy 2 x My School President (2023) 35) Moonlight Chicken (2023) (tag here) 36) Bed Friend (2023) (tag here) (Cheewin’s latest show, depicting a queer joy journey among working adults)]

[rivetgoth]

For years I’ve asserted that my top 3 alltime favorite bands are Skinny Puppy, IAMX, and Severed Heads. I obviously have tons and tons of bands I adore but I feel those three capture something very very special and embody something unique only to them that just excites me in a way incomparable to any other band, like they feel like total magic and have elicited responses from me that encompass the full range of human emotion, plus neither have anything I actively dislike (there are a few bands cough cough Ministry who have eras that I adore but have enough I genuinely dislike that I can’t in good faith call them an all time favorite), and they have extensive enough discographies (this is purely a personal thing but it feels odd to say a band with like 2-3 albums alone is an all time favorite? idk? something about having a breadth of music to analyze or select to listen to…) but anyway, it occurred to me on Saturday night that of those 3 IAMX is the only one still around anymore… obviously Skuppy and SH are still around in some capacity with the members doing their own things but they have both formally disbanded. But not only that—I saw the final show for both of these bands. I was there in Chicago when Tom Ellard announced it was Severed Heads’ last show during “Wonder Of All The World” and I was there for the last show of Skuppy’s final tour when Ogre smashed Cedric up on the stage and handed him out piece by piece to the audience. IAMX now holding the reigns as the final band still active is actually really wild to fully comprehend. I’m so glad that he’s still putting out music and touring and continuing to experiment and do things that I really love.

[renmackree]

Writing Patterns

Rules: list the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there's a pattern!

I was tagged by the lovely and incomparable @eevylynn I've never really thought about patterns but I'm sure there is one. Let's dive in.

[Derek]: Bringing Cora home, be back when I can. In Love's Labyrinth || Sterek A N G S T

“Shoes?” Small Town Logic || Sterek Kid Fic AU

“You don’t think that’s strange?” Weirder Things || Sterek Alpha bait Derek

“We’re LATE!”  Maid in Manhattan: A Sterek Retelling || Sterek Omega Derek MPREG

“FBI Cyber Crime Unit, Special Agent Stilinski speaking, how may I assist you?” The Wedding Date || Sterek Fake Relationships

Stiles’ breath caught in his throat as he ran through the snowy landscape; his lungs burned with every breath in. and eat it too || Sterek PWP

Eli slammed the hatchback trunk quickly to keep everything from falling out, watching as the bags pressed against the window. The Kid's Alright || Sterek Slice of life with Eli

“When did you start having magic?” My Mother Told Me || Sterek AU - Emissary Stiles

Stiles Stilinski had an itch. The Itch || Sterek BDSM WIP

Stiles had more than his fair share of near-death experiences; they weren't really something you ever forgot or grew used to. Eclipse of the Dawn || Sterek Twilight Retelling, Book three

Yep, I like starting with dialogue. sue me. Low stake tags and I tried not to tag those who I saw tagged already! - @quackquackcey; @arver7; @whimsicalmeerkat; @definitivelydrivel; @leodabinchy; @triskhellion; @raisesomehale; @equallyloyalandlethal

[frayedcobweb]

Such a special experience, I got to see the immortal Jack Harkness, the incomparable John Barrowman at Armageddon (my country's Comicon). He is such a magical human and it was amazing to see his panel/performance and get a photo with him. Lol ignore my excited photo-face, I have to work on it xD

(His t-shirt says 'Chaotic Queer'. What a legend.)

Haha and ignore my terrible singing voice, I didn't realize I was so loud and off key xD

[galesdevoteewife]

Gale's Act 2 option, astral or physical?

[ Act 2 Gale's romance spoiler alert ]

Inspired by this post, very well written and structured!

I personally have bias and lean towards the astral option. Magic is Gale's language and, in my view, denying the astral option is akin to rejecting his heartfelt crafted love poem and saying "You're attractive and that's good enough for me." It somehow feels... cold to me, not to mentioned he looked disappointed. I don't think loving him as a man should mean nudging him to look away from magic completely, but that's an essay for another day. Gale is a character who values mental connection over physical interaction. If he must choose between having someone's soul or body, I think he would opt for the former without hesitation.

Gale had stated strongly how much he valued his privacy multiple times, yet he was willing to share "The center of his universe" with the player—a room filled with things he genuinely loves. Art, music, knowledge—all in this small, comfortable space. My canon is he wanted to show the player the real person behind his constant, thick, concrete pompous facade. It's not a room for hosting banquets, but a private sanctuary where books are scattered on the floor and undergoing experiment unfolded on the table.

Considering he believed it might be his last night, I think he wanted to share this intimate space because he wanted them to remember the true Gale, his core essence. I think if there's one memory he could carve into their mind, he would want it to be this—an experience only he can provide, an incomparable memory for a lifetime. Nonetheless what the player wants would be very important to him too since he is the "Anything I can do for you consider it most enthusiastically done™" BUT character development/story arc speaking, my vote goes to the astral option <3

[disneytva]

Congratulations to Ariel's Art Director Chrystin Garland for being featured in Animation Magazine's “Rising Stars of Animation 2024.

Garland biggest wish for the future include being showrunner on an original series that she developed.

Chrystin Garland

I knew I wanted to have a career in animation when: I always knew that I loved drawing, but I didn’t necessarily make the connection that animation was something one could pursue as a career. I don’t think I ever really considered who was behind the cartoons I was so eager to watch after school or the amount of effort that went into making these series possible. Animation was simply a wonderful, magical thing that I enjoyed. My parents, ever invested in my education, signed me up for a series of college courses one summer that happened to include an introduction to traditional animation. That class completely changed my life.

First job in animation: Character designer on Niko and the Sword of Light.

What I love about my current project: I’ve always been a huge fan of stage plays and musicals that put their own unique spin on the source material. I am incredibly grateful that our talented crew, led by the incomparable Lynne Southerland, has an opportunity to do the same with another beloved classic. Seeing all the amazing things our creative team brings to the table week after week is truly a highlight! It feels like everyone is doing their best to make something wonderful, and that’s exciting. Biggest challenge: Waiting for the series to premiere!

Favorite animated movie or TV show growing up: I was absolutely obsessed with Sailor Moon as a child and still am a huge fan to this day. I remember having to wake up super early in the morning to catch it on TV, since this was pre-Toonami. Probably the earliest and most consistently I’ve woken up by choice. Animation role model: I consider Everett Downing Jr. to have been my unofficial mentor throughout the course of my career. I really admire his storytelling and sense of collaboration among creatives that he brings to all his projects. Best advice: Everyone’s path breaking into and navigating the animation industry is going to be different. If working in this field is truly your dream, continue to push forward and hone your skills whenever you can. It can also be beneficial to stay open to opportunities that don’t align perfectly with your established goal. You never know where those experiences may lead you. Future plans: To be a showrunner on an original series that I developed. That would be a dream come true!

[animehouse-moe]

The Best of 2023 Anime

First of all, I have to say that this isn't my idea: it's @444lpblue's idea. I'm just stealing it getting to it it before they do.

Anyways, the idea was to pick the best for several categories in relation to anime from 2023, and share why they were chosen. This doesn't necessarily mean I'll be picking my favorites from the year, but what I think is the best of the best, so there'll be a few interesting choices made (but I think that makes it more fun). Enough preamble though, I should just get to sharing my list.

Best Show - Heavenly Delusion

I don't think this one is much of a surprise. Heavenly Delusion, by and large, is an outstanding show (and adaptation) in all meanings of the word.

I think the best way to explain what constitutes a "best show" is by asking the question: how much of the medium does this series make use of?

With Heavenly Delusion? The answer is effectively everything. Visual storytelling, auditory cues, leading the viewer visually, incredible foreshadowing, expressive and detailed character acting, apt humor, incredible visual effects. The list goes on and on. Frieren was a great show, Skip and Loaf was a great show, The Witch From Mercury was a great show. But the best can't fall short in nearly any category, and Heavenly Delusion successfully evades that pitfall at every twist and turn within its twelve episodes.

Personally speaking, it was a show for the ages. Sure, we have Frieren pushing the boundaries in terms of visual quality in a seasonal anime, but I think the difference in terms of experience between Frieren and Heavenly Delusion is night and day- an entirely incomparable experience.

Best Movie - The Boy and The Heron

I mean, is there really another choice? The Black Clover movie was good, the Kaguya movie was good. Suzume, The First Slam Dunk, Blue Giant. There are quite a few good movies out there, but let's be real- you just can't win if you're against Miyazaki.

Best Episode - Heavenly Delusion Episode 10

Yeah yeah, sue me, I picked something a lot of people have also picked. But just know in the deepest parts of my heart that this would always be my pick. Junichi's character arc and its expression through this episode is sublime. Ikarashi's insane Trigger style meshing with Hirotaka's more voyeuristic appeal is sublime. The panic of Kiruko as she runs with the baby, the goofy and excessive humor that opens the episode, all the various examples of symbolism. The art shifting art styles, the different approaches to animation. The list quite honestly does not end. While some might argue for Frieren's dragon episode as the entry for best of the year, I think the frame of reference for that argument is far too narrow. The perspective of animation and visuals above all else completely fails in the face of holy trinity of Masakazu Ishiguro, Mori Hirotaka, and Kai Ikarashi. You just cannot beat it, and you can't argue it in any way.

Best Opening - Magical Destroyers

It was a toss up between this and Heavenly Delusion, but I just can't get rid of this opening in my head. It's like a plague that's taken me over. Incredible visuals, incredible boards and animation work, and just an incredible testament to Jun Inagawa's art. Heavenly Delusion's OP is very good, but in a way can, oddly enough, feel too literal in comparison to the comparatively indecipherable story that the OP of Magical Destroyers tells. Really, just wonderful work all around that I desperately wish could have extended to the anime itself.

Best Ending - Magical Destroyers

This was always a one person race. Would it be Taiki Konno's Magical Destroyers ending, or would it be Taiki Konno's Undead Unluck ending?

Personally, I don't think there was much of a contest between the two purely because of the story told with the Magical Destroyers ending. I think that giving Konno a static ending also helped a great deal as they were able to explore their vision in much greater detail than having to animate directly.

But that's also the beauty of Inagawa's appeal, really. Konno and Inagawa got along like a house on fire with this ending, and adding The 13th Tailor's music overtop just brought it to a totally different level. Still a massive massive favorite of mine.

Best Animation Designs - Trigun Stampede

Now, just hear me out. 3D animation's sore spot has always been expressiveness, and bringing anime original designs to such an intensely beloved and cult classic series is an insane challenge.

Orange, of course, was totally up to the challenge and brought what I'd argue has become a modern icon of Vash the Stampede. The facial expressions, reactions, and interactions were impeccable. The larger movements were incredibly fluid and full of life and feeling. The cloth and other materials were amazing to experience.

The designs feel almost effortless in the context of 3D animation, and I really have to stress that that is a huge challenge. Look at how other characters look in 3D vs how these ones look. Really, really impressive work in my books.

Best Aesthetic - Bleach Thousand Year Blood War: The Separation

Bleach has, and always will be, a very aesthetically pleasing series. There's plenty of moments to pull from, but I think the second cour of TYBW presents the pinnacle of Bleach in anime form.

The lighting, the backgrounds and environments, the insane levels of composition: TYBW The Separation is the highest reaches of style Bleach has mustered to this date.

And really, there's not anything else to it. The iconic red and blue palette, the crazy details in highlights and shadows, the incredible color schemes and storyboards. It's simply Number 1.

And that's as far as the list goes. Pretty simple, but a pretty fun exercise in looking back on the year in terms of more specific aspects. Does highlight the gulf between good and great though, as there's many series that can qualify as "good", but very very few that can really be reasonably considered for accolades such as these.

2024 seems keen on changing that up though, so I'm really looking forward to what all we get for this year!

[yerinmoon95]

Every person also craves change and new opportunities in his life. Among all those who go through this transformation, there is one person amazing as the very first flower of spring. Its delicate petals, as if decorated with glass drops of dew, shimmered in all shades of sky blue. Every time its buds opened in the wind, they aroused delight and admiration among people. Countless letters and poems were dedicated to this flower, and everyone wanted only one thing - to watch its beautiful blossoming. Spring was coming to an end, and all my life I dreamed of meeting a real star. My soul stopped when I looked at his incomparable beauty. Cha Eunwoo's face shone with the freshness of the first blooming spring rose, tenderness and purity, as if he was created for aesthetic pleasure. Every movement of his arms and legs was precise and graceful, like the wings of a beautiful butterfly that flies towards the sun. At that moment I was transported to a fairy-tale world. He could transform into any character, gaining new strength and perfection, just like a butterfly flying out of its cocoon. From now on, Cha Eunwoo, as a work of art, has become a symbol of the beauty, elegance and tenderness that can be found in this ordinary world. He remained a mystery and inspired everyone to immerse themselves in the world of inner splendor and beauty that is present in each of us.

Eunwoo is like early spring for me. Why spring? The answer is simple. I'm a dreamer. Yes. Eunwoo is just like early spring - young, fresh and full of hope. His eyes are bright and sparkling, his smile is so open and serene that it makes people feel like they're the best in the world. It brings people not only beauty, but also spiritual renewal. Every day when Eunwoo appears, it seems as if all the problems have disappeared forever.

Spring days pass easily and unnoticed for him. He spends them in a street or in the park, where the smells of flowers and green trees add even more energy and positive thoughts to him. While other people struggle with their difficulties, he remains calm and relaxed, ready to take on life's new challenges.

No matter how difficult life may be for other people, Eunwoo always finds a way to support his friends and loved ones. He is a true source of strength and support who can share his wisdom and experience. He enjoys working on projects with a team as it allows him to use his creativity.

He is like early spring, when everything around begins to come to life after a long winter. In his presence one feels a special freedom and lightness. It seems that he is imbued with happiness and is ready to share it with everyone. Where he appears, it smells like spring. The aroma of fresh earth mixes with the delicate scent of blooming flowers. The leaves of the trees reflect the spring sun with playful colors, creating a bright palette that fills hearts with joy. People who meet him feel a flow of energy that flows through their veins. The smile on their faces becomes wider, their eyes light up with joy. All worries and problems somehow disappear, leaving only room for happiness. He walks through the streets, leaving traces of his magical walk there. Children run out of houses, trying to catch him by the sleeve. They laugh and run, experiencing all the power of spring freedom.

Time spent next to him becomes the most valuable gift. He helps to forget about past disappointments and look into the future with optimism. Eunwoo opens up new horizons and brings an inexplicable piece of wonder into everyday life.

He's like early spring. Eunwoo brings freshness and purity, filling hearts with spring warmth and love. He gives a feeling of freedom and happiness, and everyone who finds themselves next to him is immersed in a world where it smells like spring.

The sky will share the cotton candy of pink clouds, pure blue will hug your shoulders boundlessly, the breeze blows across your neck and shoulders and ruffles your hair. You want to breathe there. Want to laugh. Want to live. And cry with happiness. From the feeling of inspiration of the soul. His inner voice speaks louder. He has passion and is wonderfully gifted with talent.

The world is gradually filled with the morning glow, and the sea still seems one with the heavens. You plunge headlong into thoughts about spring, the sea, the beauty of people; you smile at the sun rising from behind the houses, delight yourself with little things: warm tea, atmospheric music.

His feet are made to walk on soft grass, his hands are tamed by warm winds, his hair grows to be decorated with flowers, and his chocolate eyes can only reflect the clear sky.

He sleeps without opening his eyes, and his calm breathing promises that the cold will recede, as it always did. Then he will get up and walk barefoot through the young grass towards the sun, towards life...

You open your eyes and feel the desire to live. Birds songs outside the window remind you of spring, stubbornly breaking through the snowy winter, and you begin to believe that you will break through too. You feel how strength appears in your soul, which has been empty for several months, to lend a helping hand to those who are nearby. To tell your loved ones about your love, to smile at yourself in the reflection.

Sun. So long-awaited, warm and dear. On this day, spring opens the windows and bursts into the house with a stream of light, turning shadows and echoes of nightmares to dust. The air trembles with the melody of new life ringing through it - bright, enthusiastic, still a little timid, but ready to scatter throughout the world.

Suddenly there is something in the air that will remind me how happy the smell of last spring made me.

Please always think positive and be happy. This world needs your thin thread, we all need this spring.

(c) by 카탸 🌸