#it was mostly a top up of my usual products + like 4 new ones

[tteokdoroki]

my skincare products arrived too!!!

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL - Korea drops my favorite cameo ever & gives KISSES

Entirely subjective yadda yadda. Organized sorta by favs in each category.

Sept 2023 Wk 1

Ongoing Series - Thai

I Feel You Linger in the Air (Fri grey) ep 4 of 12 - Well that’s one way to find out if he’s gay, see how he reacts to reading a het sex scene out loud. Yai is flirting so hard it’s like he knows everything. 

Dangerous Romance (Fri YT) ep 4 of 12 - Oh no! I love them. Also cohabitation trope! Also ALL the other ones: hair dry, meet in childhood... GMMTV going no frills with this one.

Hidden Agenda (Sun YT) ep 9 of 12 - Zo’s drama over Pat helping Joke flirt seems awfully manufactured. I’m losing faith in this show. Could GMMTV PLEASE hand JoongDunk a decent script? 

Only Friends (Sat YT) ep 5 of 10 - Sand & Ray are the only interesting couple, and I’m pretty much only watching for them. They gonna go south fast, tho, and they're already ruined by persistent singing. Ooo. When Sand said Top "stole his ex" did he mean Boston? How gay. 

Naughty Babe (Sat YT) ep 2 of 8 - The pronoun conversation had a bonkers translation but I enjoyed the actuality of it. The reasons for Yi's trickery are very convoluted soap opera. But I suppose that is the amnesia trope for you. 

Be Mine Super Star (Mon Viki) ep 10 of 12 - Boys. We discussed this already. No sex in onsens! I found this one dull, until the end when LLS showed up. Happy to just have him in everything. Thank you Thailand. Looks like it is a classic ep 11 DOOM next week. Who cares? 

Venus in the Sky (Tues iQIYI) 1-2 of 10 eps - The usual Thai pulp claptrap this time a reunion romances in and around a convenience store between a boy who recently quit his job and his former bestie who is now a doctor. Mostly not great acting, plot, or production but the sound is okay and no bad effects or singing (so far), so that’s something. The gay brothers have a fun relationship. It’s vampy and campy but fun. I like it but not sure anyone else would.

Love in Translation (Sat iQIYI) ep 4 of 10 - The date was cute but I still don’t like the lead or the premise (we moved into Cyrano de Bergerac territory). It’s moving slowly but it seems like we might be over the crush/stalker part of the narrative, so that’s a relief. 

Crazy Handsome Rich (Sun Gaga) ep 2 of 10 - I just can’t. The sound is too weird. With punch down humor and other issues incoming I may DNF this. You’ve been warned. This ep we got to see LLS with his shirt off. Did anything else happen? 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Jun & Jun (Korea Thur Viki) ep 8fin - No wonder he is everyone’s favorite hyung, boy can read the room like no one else. I love that we got to see exactly how clingy and demanding Choi Jun was always going to be. Only Lee Jun is easy-going enough to put up with him. Also I’ve never watched a KBL with more innuendo. For Korea this was… raunchy. I gotta say had Laws of Attraction not come along, Simon might have been my favorite character of 2023.

Final thoughts on Jun and Jun:

A delightful office romance about an ex-idol who joins cubical life only to find his new boss is his first love. Others boys are sniffing around too. Operative word being "sniffing" as much of this romance involves smell. With a snappy script, enjoyable sides, a pretty as peaches cast, and descent chemistry this show made up for in style what it lacked in substance. I like fluff. I loved this. I smiled every moment I was watching. With tons of rewatch potential (especially the last few eps), my only caution is this is for fans of the BL genre only, I don’t think it’ll work for anyone else. A solid 9/10 from me. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

I like that Korea is trying high heat, but Taiwan and Thailand are leaps and bounds better at it.

Love Class Season 2 (Korea Fri Viki) eps 9-10fin -

Omg they so cute as flirty bf. Eeeeeeee! CAMEO!!!!! My fav guest couple ever! So exciting!!!! I love that they intersected with MY Strongberry couple (Private Lessons). I’m not used to this but Holy innuendo Korea, what with Jun & Jun and now this show? It’s a bit much for my gay little heart. The final episode was entirely unnecessary, but it was fun to see them being all domestic and stuff. Maru with his dumb lettuce leaves was hilarious. I feel like I need to rewatch this one to really understand it properly, so I will likely do that soon.

Summary of Love Class 2:

3 couples form within a semester of university: 1. a hyung romance reunion of exes, one of whom has a dangerous past, 2. a friends to lovers romance, and 3. a mature student and TA one night stand + complexities (many aspects of which had me laughing). I enjoyed the characters and dialogue of this show immensely. It was a little bit more breezy and friendly than I was expecting after the first installment, Love Class. I’m not entirely sure Korea can handle multiple couples like this because it definitely felt disjointed, especially the 3rd more mature couple (also my favorite) who probably should’ve had their own series. But it was definitely fun and something different from Korea. 8/10 RECOMMENDED

Also, Korea tried to give us higher heat... that was... interesting. I mean, you tried hon...?

Kisseki: Dear to Me (Taiwan Tues Viki & iQIYI) ep 4 of 13(?) - Everyone is a sad sack this ep. Ooooo. Teach/student my favorite. We never get this one. It’s messy. I’m not sure if there is a plot. I’m not sure they’re sure if there is a plot. But I am still enjoying it.

Why R U? (Korea Wed iQIYI) eps 5-6 of 8 - Why is the Fighter character always so frustrating regardless of name or country? Ji Oh stalking his crush via IG is so relatable. He’s very first crush awkward, unsure, and sweet. They also gave a nice kiss - I love the backpack drop (kiss version of a mic drop?) I still hold that if you haven’t seen the original this might not make much sense. But I am enjoying it. 

My Personal Weatherman AKA Taikan Yoho (Japan Sat Gaga) ep 4 of 8 - Oh goody, another JBL where we have to pay attention solely to what they do and not what they say. 

Minato's Laundromat Season 2 AKA Minato Shouji Coin Laundry Season 2 (Japan Thu Gaga) ep 9 of 12 - Big fat sigh. 

It's Airing But...

My Universe (Sun iQIYI) ep 3 of 24 eps - I couldn't get hold of it and I'm not mad. I'm putting it on hold until distribution gets sorted, or icky get their shizz in order (like that'll happen).

Next Week Looks Like This:

Starting

9/15 You Are Mine (Taiwan Gaga) Secretary has to deal with grumpy boss.

9/15 Bump Up Business AKA Bump Up Project (Korea movie) suspected cinema release? I don't know much about what's going on. Last status update. Love story between a trainee who is about to debut and a celebrity from the same agency. Kpop boy group OnlyOneOf has signed up to star in this idol-based BL (based on a webtoon). They’ve been auditioning for this since Libido IMHO. You can watch me chronicle their BL MV series in this post. It’s from Idol Romance who will do sad but can do good kisses (Wish You, Nobleman Ryu, Once Again, Kissable Lips, Poongduck 304, Tasty Florida, Tinted With You).

Still To Come In September

9/26 I Cannot Reach You AKA I Can't Reach You AKA Kimi ni wa Todokanai (Japan ????) - Adapted from the manga, childhood best friends: The cool, smart one who’s good at everything, and his average, dorky friend who struggles. Always by the other’s side, but not together in the way they truly want to be. No matter how hard they try, their hearts cannot reach each other.

9/27 Absolute Zero (Thai iQIYI) - from 2021, Studio Wabi Sabi and New Siwaj finally bring us this “time loop to prevent tragedy” romance. We don’t always get HEAs from them, so I'm on my guard.

9/27 Bon Appetit (Korea iQIYI) - from 2022, 8 eps from GoGo Studio, romance between an office worker who lives off junk food and the man next door who cooks well.

9/? Mr Cinderella 2 (Vietnam YouTube?)

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

THIS WEEK’S BEST MOMENTS

I love him. And I love his version of this character better than Jimmy's.

I also love it when a show gets meta. (Both Why R U? Korea) Why they didn't just go for YRU? the world may never know.)

(Last week) 

[giveamadeuschohisownmovie]

If the new “Indiana Jones” game ends up being amazing and considered on par with the original trilogy, then there’s really no excuse for people not considering video games as a respectable form of media. Obviously, gamers have been saying this for years. But for non-gamers/people who don’t consider games as “art”, just consider this:

1) One of the most successful shows on HBO, both in viewership and critical acclaim, is “The Last of Us”, which is mostly faithful to the original game.

2) You have modern games being treated as if they were movie/TV productions (example: “Until Dawn”, which pulled in high-profile actors such as Rami Malek, Hayden Panettiere, and Peter Stormare).

3) Creators not usually associated with video games have been crossing over. Off the top of my head, Guillermo del Toro was supposed to be a co-creator in the cancelled “Silent Hills” game. He then got involved with “Death Stranding”. Then there’s James Gunn who wants to produce video games that’ll be important to his new DC universe. (EDIT: Also want to add, George R. R. Martin was a writer for “Elden Ring”!)

4) Video games are inspiring creators outside of the gaming industry. For example, the Duffer brothers cited “Silent Hill” as an influence for “Stranger Things”.

Now if the Indy game is a success, then we’ll have a video game sequel, along the lines of “Alien: Isolation”, that is potentially superior to the actual movie sequels (only talking about 4 and 5). And who knows, maybe this might lead to more creators believing that video games could be the right way to go to continue a franchise, especially if their recent movies have been flopping. I can definitely think of a few franchises that would benefit from this (coughTerminatorcough).

I feel like if you were to say “the video game sequel is superior to the movie sequel” a few years back, you would’ve been ridiculed to death.

[genericpuff]

Hiii, I read your post about the stiff dialogue in LO, and I wanted to add my own two cents!

I myself am a person with a nice case of dyslexia (it will most likely show in this message). While I can’t speak for everyone with dyslexia, I pesonally cannot and will not publish anything ”official”, without spell checking it to hell and back. This is mostly because I’m hyper aware of this being one of my ”shortcomings”.

I also wanted to say, that most of, if not all, people with dyslexia that I know are rather self-consious about it. I just find it a bit unbeliavable that all the misspellings/awkward text in LO are there simply because Rachel has dyslexia. To me personally, it seems to be more a product of laziness and/or indifference.

Of course there is the fact that I’m not working on a long project, and I can usually take my time with my work, so maybe I just have more recourses to be careful. I also want to make clear that I don’t mean to say that Rachel’s dyslexia doesn’t affect her workload at all, but I do think she should have the means to check these things, especially since she is quite successful in the field.

Thanks for pitching in on this! I myself do not have dyslexia, but I do understand the struggle of missing words or misspelling them as my brain tends to move too quick at times for my writing speed to keep up LMAO It happens a lot when I'm writing by hand as I can't handwrite as fast as I can type so words sometimes go missing while my brain speeds ahead 😂

I can get why someone might be a little more self-conscious about typos being pointed out if they're making their comic entirely on their own and for free, or if they're just self-conscious about making mistakes in general (it can be scary to put a piece of work out into the world!) but Rachel is literally the top creator on the platform so there's zero excuse for it to have gone this long without at least a copy editor. And frankly it's still weird that they hire a copy editor at all just for checking typos because that's something that can be done so easily (again, Rachel has 4-5 other assistants per episode, you're telling me NONE of them could do it for her? Oh that's right, because she has them all draw their panels in isolation of one another and then she slaps the dialogue in at the last minute -.- the copy editor she has right now seems like the 'last step' before she submits the comic).

That said, if you go back far enough, you can actually find Rachel's take on correcting her misspellings and it's... frankly way saltier than it ought to be? Like I get it, it might feel like an attack for someone to say "hey, I spotted this mistake!" especially if you're self-conscious about it or are living with a learning disorder that affects your every day life, but when you get over that self-consciousness of making mistakes, it's really not that big of a deal? Like, yeah, it can be really frustrating when people point those mistakes out because it makes you feel bad or reminds you that you're struggling with something like spelling that seems so natural and 'easy' to everyone else, but I find true genuine fans of your work don't point these things out to be mean, just to be helpful. Yes, some people are mean about it, but you can usually tell which ones are the mean ones and which ones are the nice ones.

I've made spelling and grammatical errors in both Time Gate and Rekindled that have been kindly pointed out, and you know what I do when people find them? I thank them for spotting what I clearly didn't and I go and fix it. Because it makes my work better for my audience and my own peace of mind.

Rachel, meanwhile-

(tiny picture translation:

Question: Why do you have typos?

Rachel's answer: Yes, believe it or not I speak English. (English-New Zealand not English-American) Remember... not everyone cares about spelling. And frankly if go around pointing out spelling mistakes in peoples comics you have an issue. Plus I'm dyslexic you insensitive ass!)

Like... that whole thing is from her FAQ section that she made herself and she's still having a tone of voice that implies she's directing her answer at one specific person as if it was like an anon ask LMAO and really, I get the spirit of what she's saying, it can be pretentious/rude to point out people's spelling mistakes... in an informal or conversational setting. If you're making a comic or writing a book, though, it's basically a bare minimum expectation that you should be using spell check and making sure things are readable. You're making the work for other people to read after all. So her tone in this followed by the whole "I'm dyslexic you ass" bit just feels so unnecessarily hostile over something that was an innocent mistake and happens to literally everyone. Like, she really do be hurting her own feelings in her own FAQ that she made on her own time, this isn't the only question in there that reeks of 2000's edgy era "fuck you for asking" energy lmao

That said, to be fair, that is from her 2000's edgy era, so I'm hoping she's grown out of that at least slightly, but judging by how she's been managing her comic the past few years, it's clear she still isn't bothering to employ simple tactics to keep mistakes from slipping through the cracks and would rather lean on her dyslexia as an excuse rather than a reason. Dyslexia is a reason for typos, but where it becomes an excuse IMO is when she blames her dyslexia and then doesn't fix the mistakes that arise due to her dyslexia or do anything to make her life easier going forward.

Again, she's hired a copy editor, so if they're a permanent part of the team now, that will hopefully make things better. But why weren't they one of the first people hired when it's clear that Rachel could really use the help to ensure her comic comes out being the best version of itself it could be? It's like she's been literally shooting herself in the foot for the last 5 years.

It really feels lazy and, frankly, disrespectful. I know that might be a hot take or seem a little overblown to use that word here, but if you're going to be creating a comic for an audience - and expecting that audience to read your comic each week and in Rachel's case be expected to pay money for it - then you should be doing them the service of making it worth reading and sticking around for. If you can't even do so much as spell check your work - or go back and edit the errors when they arise - then that really goes to show how little you care about your own audience because you're not willing to put in the time and effort to even just fix a typo, let alone give them something worth coming back to and paying for each week. Sure, not everyone pays for the comics, but those viewership analytics are still valuable and it's very clear at this point that they're dropping rapidly week after week, and yet Rachel is doing barely anything to help turn things around.

Lore Olympus disrespects its audience in more ways beyond just the typos, of course, but the typos feel like the shopping cart litmus test - it costs next to nothing to resolve the issue, so if you still choose not to, it speaks to how little effort you're willing to put in to do something helpful for others that already only requires the bare minimum to do.

Of course, much of this is all speculative so take it with grains of salt, but judging by her responses to her own audience way back in the day, it really paints a picture of how Rachel views her audience. It makes it feel like she doesn't release her work into the world to genuinely entertain people or to find others who may connect and resonate with the work, she does it purely for herself and herself alone. That wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing in and of itself, it's pretty difficult to keep up a project if you aren't doing it for yourself to some degree (and you shouldn't create a comic just to earn an audience because that's just setting up unfair expectations for yourself lol), but in Rachel's case, it feels more like she's emulating the same edgelord energy of her "boss babe" Persephone - if you don't love every part of her and her work regardless of its genuine flaws, no matter how easy said flaws would be to fix, then you should just shut up and read her work and/or pay for it anyways because she should be allowed to do whatever she wants and if you don't like it, then you're an insensitive ass.

[jamietarttsnorthernattitude]

You have accomplished so much and written so many words and put out such a variety of fics for the fandom this year that YOU should do an end of year wrap up!

How many stories did you post?

Which ones were your favorites?

Which one was the most satisfying to write?

The most difficult?

Rec something that you're proud of.

Wow us with whatever big thing you might want to work on next!

Show us that word count stat!

You should be very, very proud of you. I certainly am <3

Ahhhhh FRIEND you are so nice to me! Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Any excuse to talk about my fics :)))))))))))))

1. How many stories did you post? I posted 38 stories!

2. Which ones were your favorites? That's like picking a favorite child! But if I haddddddd to: no thing's so sure that i can't learn to doubt it (aka Jamie is hurt during the Zava period and hides it. It does not go well), in the morning i'm bulletproof (Rupert has Jamie taken out BEFORE the final match of the season) and The Inevitability of James Tartt (Man City introspective).

3. Which one was the most satisfying to write? I don't know if it's one specific story. It was extremely satisfying to write some of the conversations between Jamie and the coaching staff in no thing's so sure that i can't learn to doubt it. And I have a few different post Mom City convos between Jamie and Ted that were satisfying. Mostly I love writing anything where people tell Jamie he's a good lad (after I put him through the ringer).

4. The most difficult? when i told you i was fine you were lied to. Someone requested some Roy whump, so I tried to give him an appendicitis. I had a longer version, but then I was driving home from another state on Friday the 13th, and my brain latched onto the idea of writing something spooky, so I kind of combined that and the comfort at the end got changed. The final product is kind of all over the place. I'm not happy with the ultimate story, but I got caught up with posting each day with whumptober, and it being Friday the 13th. I just ran out of time. I also blame the fact that I was on day 2 of one of my top 5 worst hangovers, stressed about finishing whumptober and knew I had plans or work literally every day the rest of the month. Maybe someday I’ll rewrite it when I can give it my full attention.

5. Rec something that you're proud of. I'm proud of all the fics I managed for whumptober (24!). Even though I'm still working on the final two days, I'll have done at least a chapter for each prompt once I’m finished.

6. Wow us with whatever big thing you might want to work on next! I do have a bad things happen bingo board that I want to work on, plus all the WIPs I have filling my Google Docs folder.

7. Show us that word count stat! My word count is 275,415 (I delayed answering these until I posted two new chapters of not to me, not if it's you haha)! BUT, my third fic is an extended, canon-compliant version of my first fic. The first one was 22K words, so a lot of those were adjusted slightly for the third fic, so really, it's more like 253K.

AND because this was so fun! I think it should be a tag game. So I'm tagging you @jamiesfootball to answer the same questions, as well as @sighonaraa and @fanficfanattic and anyone else that wants to play but as usual zero pressure <3

[mickeymagpie]

20 questions for fic writers

Tagged by @marypsue, thank you!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

106 so far!

2. What’s your total word count?

321,819, which is somehow both lower and higher than i expected.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

a whole lot; most recently Rise of the TMNT, my fandom on ao3 with the most works is Rise of the Guardians. lots of rises.

4. Top 5 fics by kudos

The Gravity Falls trans dipper one-shot, the FMA Ishvalan!Elrics AU, an into the spiderverse fic, raven cycle pov outsider, and a star wars force awakens one-shot. i give all my fics long song lyric titles so that's all the info yall are getting lmao.

5. Do you respond to comments?

I always start out trying to respond to everything when i post a new fic, but then i get overwhelmed pretty quick. lo siento mucho.

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

I don't usually go for angsty endings tbh! I like a lot of angst in the middle, or i go for kind of bittersweet endings.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

probably that star wars one; force awakens had just come out and i was one of many kylo ren woobifiers who wanted him to have accepted han's invite to come home.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

The most hate i've gotten is on a Different star wars fic where i made Luke trans and some people were Not happy. luckily, i have a permit (i can do what I want).

9. Do you write smut?

yeah lol. i don't post a lot of it though; most of the time i just share it with my discord friends.

10. Do you write crossovers?

all the time all the time babey.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

yes i've been notified 2 or 3 times that someone copied my stuff onto wattpad or ffnet. i usually go report them but don't care enough to follow up.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't think so? not that I can remember. I've had one or two podficced though iirc.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

nnnnot a finished one. my friends and i do a lot of half fic writing and half rp that usually doesn't turn into a polished product (but it's still fun <3).

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

ALL TIME FAVORITE FLYNN AND LUCY TIMELESS. i've never written fic for them and the show isn't even GOOD but god the way they look like "she fixed him" bs on the surface but really they're each so perfect to make up for the other's shortcomings. also i always wanted so badly for someone to tell her to get her dog on a leash <3

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you will?

ahaha,,,, the good omens roleswap fic is burning a hole in my document folder. i have an outline i just have no inspiration/motivation :(

16. What are your writing strengths?

characterization; particularly I've gotten the feedback that i'm good at writing characters in different circumstances from canon while keeping their personalities both Intact and Logically Justifiable.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

ending things, both in the sense that i start a lot of stuff and don't finish it, and the sense that i usually have too many ideas and don't know how/where to cut off a plot.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language?

google translate always does me dirty so now i usually just write the dialogue in english and use a dialogue tag like "she said in *insert language*"

19. First fandom you wrote for?

iiiiii think it was Rise of the Guardians! before that i mostly did over-dramatic RP on the cricket magazine forums where i had characters like a half-dragon bounty hunter.

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

probably the ishvalan elrics fic! fma is already full of a lot of meaty concepts, and it was fun re-conceptualizing the canon plot and character beats while keeping the arching plot intact. stuff like that is like a puzzle to me, it's very satisfying when i finish one and it gets positive feedback!

tagging anyone who wants to do it, because im. so sleepy rn

[gentleoverdrive]

(224/?) A new goddess emerged from the mist, she took the blade from my wrist!

Right, let's talk about Hyouka...

(this is how much of the series looks in general, because the Kyoto Animation peeps extensively plan their production cycles) ---- Hyouka is a series based on (and taking the name of) the first of a series of mystery novels called "Classic Literature Club", written by one Honobu Yonezawa, that takes place in the sleepy fictional town of Kamiyama (which is the city of Takayama in all but name). While it might easy to say "If you've played Persona 4, you get the gist of it", it's kinda not like that at all. For one, there is no murderer on the loose. What's there, though? A lot of small mysteries to uncover. ---- Whenever I see a new anime with the same old "Middle School or High School" setting, I tend to be on my guard. I've been through the same ol' song and dance too long as an anime watcher, so it's easy to want to keep your distance. Hyouka, however, manages to use the high-school setting to inject the mysteries with a surprising amount of endearing investment, especially given the "low stakes" of almost all of them. ---- The series has the stable of usual suspects when it comes to the cast for a mystery series that borrows a lot from the old canon, we have our "Sherlock Holmes"...

(yes, his social skills are as terrible as the OG; how can you tell?) ---- ...one Houtarou Oreki, a disaffected young man that lives by a very simple creed: "If I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, I'll make it quick." Unfortunately for our lazy anti-social boy du jour, he has his own Mycroft Holmes in the form of his older sister, who cajoles him into joining her old stomping grounds, the Classic Literature club, and when he gets there to submit his application, lo and behold...

(this is her at her most physically threatening) ---- ...he meets one Eru Chitanda, a girl with a kind personality, many incredible talents, and the curiosity of someone around half her age. She's like the one client that will always come back to ask for help. Rounding out the main cast we have our John Watson.

(the faces this posh boy pulls absolutely make this show) ---- ...the foppish Satoshi Fukube, a boy looking for some exciting shenanigans and the predisposition for facilitating the involvement of the club in said shenanigans if Miss Chitanda up there isn't able to budge our lazyboi out of his self-imposed stupor. And whenever there's a Holmes and a Watson, a Lestrade is not far be--wait...

(I'm mostly playing this up for the post; she's awesome too) ---- ...really? Ok, well there you have it: Rounding out the main quartet, this tiny firecracker here is Mayaka Ibara, a hot-blooded gal that also brings to the club's attention all sorts of mysteries and curiosities that they can sink their collective teeth into. ---- And while I mentioned a bunch of names and how they serve as spins of sorts on old characters from the Sherlockian canon, the series itself is a weird mix between the aforementioned low-stakes mysteries and the sort of slice-of-life occurrences that could liven things up for high-school aged kids in what has historically been one of (if not the one) the most isolated places in the Japanese mainland. ---- Quiz Contests involving a huge chunk of the school?

You got it! ---- Eating toast with jam on a lazy weekend morning, bedhead included?

You betcha! ---- Angry emotional outbursts for reasons that I highly recommend you to go watch the show and not make yourself a disservice?

Abso-fucking-lutely. ---- The series goes out of its way to treat the audience with enough respect that the solutions to the mysteries never feel insulting, the framework necessitating the stakes to remain "low" also ends up adding a lot of strength you wouldn't expect, and the emotional scenes will get your old ticker wondering what's going on. ---- All of this courtesy of Kyoto Animation at the absolute top of their game in all aspects, with scripts adapted to near-perfection and the direction always leaving that sensation of just wanting to see a little more. I amply recommend it! See ya' later, alligator!

[nihongoseito]

I posted 891 times in 2022

That's 114 more posts than 2021!

92 posts created (10%)

799 posts reblogged (90%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@ohitoyoshi

@todayintokyo

@warau-okami

@tokidokitokyo

@onigiriforears

I tagged 890 of my posts in 2022

#写真 - 261 posts

#vocab - 138 posts

#絵 - 130 posts

#sasha.txt - 122 posts

#冗談 - 62 posts

#langblr - 61 posts

#grammar - 52 posts

#japanese - 43 posts

#phrases - 41 posts

#芸術 - 36 posts

Longest Tag: 49 characters

#へへこういうことを読んだのは初めてだけど彼氏とハイキングに行ったことがあってめっちゃ楽しかった:)

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

風物詩（ふうぶつし） = signs of the season

when you think of your favorite season, what comes to mind? is it seeing cardinals in a snowy winter scene? maybe it’s when the 桜（さくら, cherry blossoms） bloom in march or the 紫陽花（あじさい, hydrangeas） bloom in june. in japanese, the word 風物詩 refers to things—events, objects, plants and animals, flavors and scents, even products—that evoke or are reminiscent of a certain season of the year. here’s weblio’s definition of 風物詩, plus an example:

その季節の感じをよく表しているもの。「金魚売りは夏の風物詩」

here, 金魚売り（きんぎょうり, goldfish selling） is mentioned as a summertime 風物詩. there are also lots of examples on ja.wikipedia:

春（はる, spring）

See the full post

108 notes - Posted March 25, 2022

#4

「習う」と「学ぶ」の違いは何？

what’s the difference between these two verbs for “to learn”?

well, as it turns out, the difference has to do with how you learned the information you’re referring to—namely, whether you learned from another person or not. check out this explanation from a hinative thread:

習う・・・人から教わる（おそわる）こと / to be taught by someone

学ぶ・・・知識や技芸を身につけること / to acquire some knowledge or skill

学ぶには、学習する、勉強するという意味もあります / 学ぶ can also mean to 学習する or 勉強する.

so, 習う is for things you learn from people and 学ぶ is for things you learn from books, etc., or as a synonym for studying. here are some examples (from the same hinative thread):

本を読んで英語を学びました。 (never 習いました)

ピアノを母から習いました。 (not 学びました)

example 1 specifies that the new information comes from a book, while example 2 specifies that it comes from the speaker’s mom. it seems like such a fundamental difference between the two, but i know i for one had never heard of it before! 

anyways, i hope this quick little lesson was helpful. また今度ね！

156 notes - Posted February 27, 2022

#3

「大体」と「たいてい」の違いは何？

i recently posed this question to the seitokai discord and @onigiriforears came up with a lot of resources, so i thought i’d share what i learned! example sentences are adapted from jisho. 行くよ！

大体（だいたい） = roughly, approximately

this word is used in situations where you have to approximate or estimate something. it’s kind of similar to 約（やく） in that way.

大体正しいです。 = that’s mostly right.

大体わかる。 = i get the gist.

大体息子と同じ年齢です。 = he’s about the same age as my son.

大体準備ができた。 = everything is more or less ready.

See the full post

159 notes - Posted September 29, 2022

#2

how to form basic verbs in keigo / 敬語の動詞の形

n.b.: if you don’t know the difference between 尊敬語 (sonkeigo) and 謙譲語 (kenjougo), or much about 敬語 (keigo) in general, i recommend a quick google search or glancing over an article like this one! also, i won’t be glossing any kanji, bc i’m lazy ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

みなさん、お久しぶりですね！ today i’m going to guide you guys through the verb forms for japanese 敬語. 敬語 can be pretty tricky, but the rules for forming 敬語 verbs (like many rules in japanese) are actually quite consistent. 

there are three 尊敬語 (honorific) forms i’m going to go over today: the Vください form, the Vになります form, and the “simple 尊敬語” form. i’ll also give a brief list of verbs that have specific forms in 尊敬語. after that, i’ll go over one 謙譲語 (humble) form, the Vします form, and then a list of 謙譲語-specific verb forms. さて、行きましょう！

尊敬語：お・ごVください

this form is used to say “please” to a superior, but it doesn’t use the 〜て form like in 丁寧語. here’s how to form it with ichidan, godan, and する verbs.

ichidan/godan verbs: おVますください

かける → かけます → ソファにおかけください

入る → 入ります → どうぞお入りください

する verbs: ごNするください

注意する → 閉まるドアにご注意ください

尊敬語：おVになります

this form is used as a more formal replacement for the usual Vます form, but shouldn’t be used with する verbs* OR verbs that have special forms in 敬語 (see below).

ichidan/godan verbs: おVますになります

書く → 書きます → この教科書は鈴木先生がお書きになりました

帰る → 帰ります → 何時にお帰りになりましたか

する verbs: ❌*

❌ ご説明になりました*

⭕️ 説明なさいました・説明されました (see below)

*according to the textbook i’m using (see sources), these are incorrect. however, i have seen some posts online that say ごNになります is an acceptable form, so it’s not impossible you’ll see it in the wild (perhaps the times they are a-changing?).

尊敬語：簡単尊敬語 (aka the “active passive”)

have you ever seen a japanese verb in the passive and said to yourself, “actually that makes no sense at all”? it was probably one of these “simple 尊敬語” forms! they are used like the active voice but written like the passive, so you have to tell the difference from context. also, they are NOT used with ください.

ichidan verbs: Vないられます

食べる → 食べない → 刺身を食べられますか

godan verbs: Vないれます

読む  →  読まない → 今朝の新聞を読まれましたか

する verbs: Nするされます

紹介する → 先生が新しい学生を紹介されました

ください form: ❌

❌ 英語で話されてください

See the full post

165 notes - Posted June 5, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

okami fun fact!

while all other characters in okami (as far as i know) are labeled with their canon names in issun’s paintings, shiranui is labeled NOT as 不知火 (shiranui) but as 初代 (shodai), which means “first era” or the “first one” in a line of something! it makes sense since he’s meant to be ammy from a hundred years ago. 

in this painting above, ammy is labeled 天照 (amaterasu) and oki is labeled オキクルミ (okikurmi). also, issun appears to sign his paintings as 天道太子 一寸 (tentou taishi issun), meaning “celestial envoy issun.” while the homophone 大使 (taishi) means “ambassador,” which is closer in meaning to envoy, the okami devs have written it 太子, which usually means “crown prince.” maybe they chose to do that to emphasize issun’s tiny size using the character 子, which means “child,” along with 太, which can refer to the sun? honestly i’m not sure. or maybe issun has since appointed himself ammy’s earthly heir LOL 🪲👑

anyways, i just thought this was kinda interesting! if anyone knows any other examples of this, please feel free to add them on!! またね :)

289 notes - Posted July 2, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[rudi-is-rudi]

goodbye 2022

a look back at 2022 ~ 

I’ll remember this year as the year that I was laid off and had to do a lottttt of maintenance on my inner world. I thought that being in one place, not moving around, and finally settling down a bit would bring me peace and clarity and honestly - even though it sounds cliche - like the world was my oyster and lots of fun endeavors were waiting for me. That all changed when 3 weeks into 2022 I was laid off from my job: The foundation on which my false sense of security rested upon was pulled out right from underneath me. Even though it was terrible and lame and annoying and stressful, I still managed to do a hell of a lot of fun and cool things this year - of course, with my amazing partner by my side. Here’s some of the highlights as I look back: 

1. We got to experience PA winter in full swing! It snowed a few times and we cozied up in our new place at the beginning of the year. I think there were even some fun photo shoots in my underwear dancing around in the snow in our backyard?

2. Sean got me a Tiffany’s necklace for vday and I got him gold roses - quite boujie I’d say! We always spoil each other and this year was no different. And we had a super fancy dinner in Philly, got a free entre, and free dessert! Just our luck.

3. For Sean’s bday we fulfilled his one request - eat lots of different cakes! I think we got 5 or 6 slices of cakes from Paris Baguette and enjoyed every bite. And lottery tickets. Lots. And Lots. Of lottery tickets.  

4. I started writing movie reviews and turning them into youtube videos! It was fun for a little while.. I thought with all of my thoughts and ideas i’d be able to sustain a channel long term but that sh*t is a lot of work and in the end it wasn’t for me. HOWEVER, I did continue to make youtube videos all year - mostly doing nails which have gotten better and better all year long.

5. Living closer to home paid off. We got to spend a lot of time with my family this year. Going to the butterfly garden for my mom’s bday stands out as a highlight as well as shopping with her at Suburban Square, going to my cousin’s wedding, and seeing each other on every major holiday. I used to despise family gatherings, and now I cherish them deeply.

6. My sister was pregnant the first half of the year and I got to go to Florida to throw her a baby shower with my mom and our extended family. It was such a wholesome and fun trip. Usually the Florida sun and humidity isn’t my thing but I thoroughly enjoyed walking to the beach and experiencing being with my Grandma. 

7. We went to ITALY! Even if Japan didn’t open its borders to tourists just yet, we still made international travel happen and it was very romantic and fun. Especially Venice - what a gorgeous city, the canals, Doge Palace, aperol spritz and the fancy 10-story walk-up airbnb. We walked like 10 miles a day and throughout Venice, Florence, and Milan we stumbled upon all different kinds of hidden gems (the alchemist’s lair being very memorable, and the view from the top of that hill near our airbnb where i cried lol). The food was a solid 6.5 out of 10 (lol) with shining stars like the sandwiches in Florence and the lows being Cibreo -_- . Sean is an amazing travel buddy and makes anywhere feel like home.

8. We got more tattoos! I think Sean got 6 tattoos?! I got 2 new ones. And counting!

9. We had some solid exercise habits that started by going to the gym together like 4-5 times a week from January through May! We fell off the wagon, then got back on with Peloton, then fell off again. Lol

10. I got a LOVESAC for my bday!!! Which completely changed the game for me with reading. I read 25 books this year which blows my mind. But that was one of the ways that unemployment was productive! We also went kayaking for my bday - so serene, so nice. It was moody and cloudy that day so we were alone on the Schuykill river which was perfect. 

11. We made friends! And did things like The Bachelorette weekly watch parties, went to engagement parties and danced our pants off, hosted a labor day picnic and Friendsgiving, and I joined a book club. Friendships are a fun social outlet but Sean is still and will always be the one I love hanging out with the most.

12. We went to Cape may beach and Sean actually went in the ocean with me!!! I loved seeing his smile floating around and letting the waves sway him up and down. And we managed to not get sunburn!

13. We celebrated 3 years of dating! 

13. I made a looooooooooot of salads. Famous Rudi salads.

14. I got really into K-pop.. like more than ever before. Even got to see Blackpink which was a once in a lifetime event! Probably one of the happiest days of my life - not exaggerating! 

15. Sean got raise after raise after raise and is bringing home the bacon like I’ve never seen him before. It’s been wonderful to see him feeling secure and buying whatever the f he wants!

16. I got a job!!! And in the same month, I bought a brand new car. Goodbye rusty old volvo - hello 2023 soobie :) Adulting. 

17. I got to visit my new nephew, Juju, in San Diego and spend a week with my sister. She’s such a good mom and I can’t wait to see juju again this year! 

18. We got a PS5 and finally got to play Genshin which is now an obsession - a healthy obsession ;) 

19. Sean built an enormous tea collection, decked out his office in a bunch of cool decor & peloton, grew herbs and plants in our backyard, stood up to our cranky neighbors, discovered his new fave store (rikumo) and got us to start doing Japanese workshops, booked us a trip to Japan for 2023, and help me through a lot of mental struggles. He’s been the one constant, amazing part of my year and I can’t wait for 2023′s memories to be made. 

[bennyswhims]

Animation throughout my life: a spotlight.

As someone who's giving their life into a career in animation, it shouldn't come as a surprise that I've had quite a history with the medium. Of course, as most, I grew up watching cartoons every day, and it'd be naive to think those childhood experiences haven't deeply shaped my thoughts on both the medium and art as a whole, as well as in life in general, as the emotional resonance and mood that animation can achieve are pretty much the main pieces that bind me to it as artistic impression. This being said, in my thinking for this post, I wanted to showcase works of art that have impacted me more recently, as a series of big and fast life changes have molded me into the person I am today, and I credit these pieces, among many others, for helping me hold everything together over my yet short stint in the field of adulthood. As per my usual, I've tried to spread myself evenly into one movie, one game and one show, for the sake of balance.

Song of the sea (Cartoon Saloon, 2014)

This masterwork film comes from a very small Irish animation collective, Cartoon Saloon, held up mostly by Irish government subsidies, as their works have garnered a bit of a reputation as preservation efforts for millenary pieces of traditional Celtic/Gaelic/Irish culture. This, however, is no edu-tainment snoozefest. The story of an older sibling coping with both the birth of a new sibling alongside a wave of loss is by no means a story never told. However, there is so much more here than what can be conveyed in an elevator pitch. Breathtaking animation that fits the emotional storytelling like a glove, a score that puts chills on chills and creative use of its setting form a piece of magical realism that moved me more than I can put to words. If you don't mind crying, give it a watch, I hope it gives you as much as it's given me.

Bee and Puppycat (Frederator/Cartoon Hangover, 2013)

The history of this show isn't anything short of bizarre. Released originally as a bit of a proto-web-animated series on the YouTube channel Cartoon Hangover and later released on the Nintendo 3DS' Nintendo Video, this loosely connected, hour long show/special tells a story equally as... avant garde? (Is it pretentious to use that term on Tumblr?) as its odd release strategy. Bee, a young adult struggling to keep a job and bouncing from place to place, bumps into a strange creature that looks kind of like a cat and a dog, smelling like the latter and having the ability to speak. Over the course of the show, they go on monster-of-the-week style (4-7 minute long!) episodes, all surrounding Bee, her closest friends and her own astranged relationship with her origins and her humanity. What can often feel like a high budget meme of a show ends up turning into a series of emotional meteorite strikes that will not hesitate to put you under. Definitely one of the best things you can watch on a 3DS.

GRIS (Nomada Studio, 2018)

This game is a bit of a no-brainer for this trio. Emotionally resonant arthouse style indie productions with a cutting edge plot line deeply hitting into a gutpunch climax are, well, my favorite genre of... things, really, and this is no exception. Fully hand-watercolored, GRIS tells the story of a girl who has to come to terms with the loss of a loved one, vagueness fully intended. Over the course of the game, you begin to unravel more of the stark emotional reality of what this loss has meant to the protagonist, and how difficult it can be to cope, as what brought solace has become dim, if not fully unattainable. This game has no dialogue, none of the characters have names and is a rather simple one-sitting puzzle platformer. On top of having one of the most touching plots in games I've ever played, this is a piece of art that knows what it is, recognizes it's limits and fully embraces them, utilizing it all to its major advantage.

Overall, while far from comprehensive, these are some of the pieces that have made a deep impact on me and have helped me understand both what I enjoy and what I personally aim to strive for in my artistic pursuits, and the past few years have been quite rich in both quantity and quality for me in that regard.

[living-in-the-pokemon-world]

Hello, I’m looking for a Pokemon matchup!

People tend to say I’m really nervous and I hate to agree with them.. I’m working on it! Slowly- But when I’m not a nervous wreck, I’d say I’m mostly a curious person, who would like to get to know more people and Pokemon :)

I’m a young adult male, and I work at a Pokemon center that one of my older sisters run! I usually work from around 7AM to 5PM, but I do help around after that as well. I wake up at around 4 though, seeing as I take.. very long to get ready, even with Charlotte’s help.

I’m very sensitive to the heat, so a Pokemon that can keep me cool would definitely be appreciated- I remember the time I nearly fainted while on a shift when the AC wasn’t working.. that wasn’t very fun and it is NOT an experience I would like to repeat any time soon!

I live in Mauville City, and my apartment isn’t exactly the biggest- But I do have 2 bedrooms at least! My Riolu likes to sleep in my bed with me most of the time, since she isn’t a fan of being in her Pokeball after a certain.. well.. incident.

I live in Hoenn, which is an (unfortunately) warmer climate. My sisters keep trying to get me to move somewhere colder, but I’m halfway convinced that they just don’t want to deal with me anymore- I love them though, and wouldn’t trade them for anything :)

I work with a lot of different Pokemon, big and small, soft and scaly! Though, I don’t have any Pokemon of my own other than my Riolu, Charlotte. She’s a very good helper, and is very friendly! Clingy too- She doesn’t battle all too much, but does step in to help with the rowdier Pokemon at the center if we can’t handle it ourselves

The new Pokemon would most likely serve as someone to help me out at work, while also being a good companion for me and Lottie! I like to do simple things with my Pokemon, like read books together on the couch or just watch whatever shows or movies are on at the moment :)

That should be about it, and thank you in advance!

-Cerys Joy

Hmm, you know what, Cerys? I think a Water-type would be a good match for you. How about a Vaporeon?

Alright, everybody say it with me now: you can almost never go wrong with an Eeveelution! Vaporeon are great Pokémon for really any sort of lifestyle, whether it’s life as a top-tier battle partner, or life as a beloved couch companion. They can also live in pretty much any climate as long as they have access to water (and, since you live in Hoenn, I don’t think you’ll have any trouble finding your finned friend a place to swim!)

Vaporeon have pretty short fur, so their grooming needs aren’t particularly intensive; a good brushing once or twice a week should be all they need! You will want to bathe them if they’ve spent any time in chlorinated water and, when bathing, be sure to use products intended for furred Water-types, as using regular products can damage their coat. During grooming, it’s also a good idea to check the webbing between their paws, just to make sure no dirt or rocks have gotten stuck.

These guys are usually pretty calm, friendly Pokémon, so I have no doubts that one will get along swimmingly with you and Charlotte! One thing to be aware of is that Vaporeon can have somewhat high prey drives towards Pokémon that they’d typically, well, prey upon in the wild (mainly small fish, shellfish, and cephalopod Pokémon), so I’d highly recommend keeping an eye on your Vaporeon whenever they’re around said Pokémon (it is, however, worth noting that this is typically more of an issue in wild-caught Vaporeon, as opposed to Vaporeon that were captured as Eevee)

[lovemarisolluna]

An unsolicited AG review: Zip-Up Sweatsuit (2005)

Whaaaaaat? Me and Marisol are back after 2 years with another unsolicited outfit review? It's more likely than you think. Let's get dangerous into it.

Per the wiki: The Zip-Up Sweatsuit is a Just Like You outfit released in 2005 and retired in 2007. Retail cost was $24. The outfit was loosely tied to the first four Historical Character Mysteries, ie, they put them in the catalog together on the same page.  Here's the attractive stock photo:

oooo, ahhhh

I've had this outfit on my wishlist for months. Why? I don't actually know what about it appealed to me. I was working on potential book titles for a "central series" (and more) for my Marisol doll, and I wanted a "sneaky" casual outfit for her mystery books. What better to sneak around and solve mysteries in than a cool dark purple sweatsuit? Now, I'm not usually one to buy early 2000s AG outfits. A lot of them feel kinda dated to me more than nostalgic, because I had Kirsten and that was it and my parents wouldn't buy me any other AG stuff until years later. So most outfits (Garden Party outfit and Heart-Print pjs, I'm looking at you) don't really do it for me.  But the sweatsuit is pretty basic, and by 2005 AG had started to mellow out a bit with their designs and began leaning towards more casual outfits with mix and match appeal.

Mooooving on, I bought it. Like new, with box. And then got slightly stuck on how to style it. This outfit has 4 pieces. Tee shirt with lettuce hem, zip suit jacket (no hood, so not a hoodie), matching sweatpants, and sneakers. Pretty basic stuff.

The jacket and pants are nice. Thick (but not too thick to be doll scaled weight) and trimmed with berry-red topstitching and a red zipper. The jacket has a decal of a red star and says American Girl underneath it. This is repeated on the hip of the pants. This isn't AG's star logo, its a little more rounded than their innerstar design. Jacket loses a point for having fake pockets, but its cute and has great mix and match potential. Jacket gets an A. The pants get an A-,  mostly because I don't typically dress my dolls in anything besides jeans or leggings or the occasional skirt, so I don't think my dolls will be wearing these much.

Now the tee. I don't really like lettuce hems. They're very Of An Era, and I always found them uncomfortable to wear. However, this shirt is really cute. The fabric is nice and thick, again without being too bulky. It's a great basic, and the simple tee design make sit easy to pair with a lot. However. This is the matching kid's shirt.

Look at that cute design with headshots of Kaya, Samantha, Molly and Kit!!

This design was featured on other products as well. The mystery party sets, and the bath products that were all marketed together with the first(?) historical mystery books. The doll tee, instead, has pastel colored circles instead of the pictures. Did they not show up well at scale: tiny? Did they not want to get too meta, in terms of dealing with the fact that your doll can wear another doll-slash-book character's face on their shirt? The world will never know. Luckily, that's why photoshop exists (see below). Shirt gets a solid B for good matching potential. I can see myself using this frequently.

Now onto the shoes. I hate them. I really do. AG had this weird period of time where all their sneakers were bulky, with thick soles, slightly pointed toes, and raw unfinished fabric edges at the top of the shoe. The Basketball outfit II (2005) and Tennis outfit II (also 2005) are other examples of this. I hate all of them. The do have one thing going for them. These sneakers go really nicely with this outfit. I like that they reversed the outfit colors, the sneakers are a dark pink that matches nicely with the red trim on the jacket and pants, with purple as an accent color. I will never use these shoes ever. C-

Now. Do I love all of the pieces of the zip-up sweatsuit outfit together? No. But, it works great for mixing and matching with other pieces, particularly things from around the same time. Here's how I styled it for Marisol's summer fit. Marisol lives in Chicago, but its not warm here in the PNW, and the jacket is still great for mystery solving at night.

Looking fly as hell, Marisol.

She's wearing the jacket, tshirt (with the character images photoshopped on. Maybe I can look into iron on transfers, but they'd have to go on over the existing decals...hmmm) shorts from the 1998 Picnic Outfit, and my favorite sneakers from the 2001 Skateboard outfit. She's currently wearing Gabriela's red headphones with it, and it would also look really good with the red flowered headband from the 1998 Play outfit. 

Overall, I'd say this outfit gets a hand wavy low A- for mix and matching potential. Have fun out there and don't do anything I wouldn't do!

[austajunk]

Please PLEASE go into detail about how protective he is over Chiaki!! I literally am begging to finally hear someone else actually acknowledge their friendship/relationship especially after having to deal with a pretty toxic anti-bi/pan Nagito rper I was on a server with for a good part of a year! (Sorry went kinda ranty but hopefully my anguish is understandable!)

Oh my lord, you’re giving me a chance to shine with my fixations?! I can’t thank you enough! Now, please understand that this is based on my perception of the series as I’ve played through the second game twice. I’m pretty good when it comes to being the person who has unpopular opinions and ships and I know claiming that Nagito is bi/pan/Demi is probably one of them. But honestly, it comes from the desire to see this boy get as much love as possible. Because he sure needs it.

Ultimately, Nagito’s sexuality is never canonly specified, so I think whether gay, bisexual, Pansexual, or what have you, we’re all well within our rights to just have fun and see what we want to in a really flawed and relatable character. And that’s what makes it interesting.

That being said, let’s talk about Nagito and Chiaki. Friendship or romantic, I don’t think you can deny that Chiaki is at least special to Nagito in some way.

Upon replaying the second game, I’ve realized how protective Nagito actually is towards Chiaki interestingly enough.

In chapter 2, she leaves to go question Fuyuhiko but Nagito stops her and tells her not to let Fuyuhiko get rough with her. Every time Chiaki’s skills help them advance, he deeply praises her. Even after he’s stopped praising all the others (which he does mostly after Chapter one, hinting he does not like some of them as actual people). But for some reason, especially during the trials, Nagito is quick to jump in and mention how wonderful Chiaki is and compliment her (only to be usually cut off by someone when he starts to ramble).

It should also be noted that Chiaki and Nagito both share an appreciation for games. Nagito seems to like more luck-based games for obvious reasons, but he also mentions that like Chiaki, he likes the Twilight Syndrome series. Both of them similarly state that they felt Monokuma was butchering a favorite game of theirs.

They also both have an odd way of trying to cheer Hajime up and joke with him, the examples shown coincidentally beside one another. Chiaki says she’s gonna look for a dirty book, throwing Hajime off and Nagito “jokingly” tells Hajime to lick his boots and now to him, but Hajime is extremely put off when he claims it was a joke. These oddballs get each other in the weirdest of ways is what I’m saying. They’re both incredibly antisocial, but their hearts are reaching the same place too when they try to make an effort.

In chapter 4, when Chiaki teams up with Nagito and Kazuichi, then leaves because they’re both being clingy, Nagito quickly follows and chases after her to make sure she’s okay. Then he chastised her for running off, looking deeply concerned. Even after his attitude change, he will answer her more directly and not ignore her. When she tells him to be quiet, he politely obeys... or maybe it’s because he’s deep in thought about her motives as he mentions he was watching the trial carefully to decide on who the traitor is.

I may just be mentioning this because they’re my OTP, but if you know about their school time together and pay attention to Nagito’s Hope versus Chiaki’s Hope, I think it’s fascinating.

Okay, now let’s head into Danganronpa 3 territory. Now this is the part where I am the most shaky as I’m still trying to determine what I take canon from this series. The thing is, a friend who got me into the series informed me that the production was way rushed and that Kodaka never wanted to do the anime in the first place. But! That being said, Chiaki and Nagito have some great moments in this and the anthology comics along with it, so let’s get into some stuff.

First of all, Nagito warmly mentions that Chiaki being their class rep makes her the true Hope of their class. And you can tell he’s serious because as he’s saying it, he’s doing that thing where he’s staring at his hand desperately like he wants eat it. You know the look.

Moving on, it’s clear that aside from Chisa, Chiaki is the only one to value and treasure Nagito. And this makes sense. In her own dying words, she loves her classmates. They are the world to her. All of them. And of course, she loves Nagito too with all her heart. As evidenced as she cradled him protectively in her arms while he’s injured. At first when Chiaki and the others are determined to stand up to Junko and get their teacher back, Nagito pleads with Chiaki not to. That his luck could not overcome them. He knows they can’t win in this situation and I do think he was actually trying to talk Chiaki out of it. But of course, when Chiaki pushes back and says she wants to go anyways, he literally can’t help himself when it comes to wanting to see Hope shine. So he agrees and praises her again because of course he does.

Until it all leads to the Pain Train with Despair coming out on top. Chiaki is brutally slaughtered and we see something new from Nagito. He breaks down crying. Tears are streaming madly down his face as a forced and twisted smile appears on his lips. He even beseeches Chiaki’s name. “You understand right? You know you’re a stepping stone for Hope!” “What has been done to Nanami is unforgivable...” Nagito’s already trying to cope. To rationalize something horrible that he just witnessed in his mind. He’s trying to protect himself as he’s utterly being destroyed and breaking down like all of his classmates. Chiaki’s death literally shatters his mind. It’s a pretty well done scene even if I’m not a big fan of the brainwashing stuff. Not to mention, the way he says “You understand right, Nanami?” As if he’s begging for her forgiveness as he falls apart. It’s so very very tragic. And of course, when being made apart of the Neo World Program, his desire to see Chiaki once more, just one more time like his classmates, brings her back to him(and the other classmates) in AI form.

Honestly... it’s pretty beautiful. Chiaki is apart of Nagito in some way and is imprinted into his mind and heart. He longed to see her as much as everyone else. This person, who doesn’t seek out relationships because his luck either gets them killed or he finds their Hope to be too weak, has a connection with Chiaki like that. This is literally a person who believes his life is just a stepping stone for better and more worthy people, someone who knows their existence is a formality at this point. And still, he does have connections. There are people capable of caring about him and loving him and Chiaki was one of those people. And he wanted to see her again in the Neo World Program. Like Chiaki said, it’s no less than miracle.

But alas, this is getting rather long, isn’t it? Well in the D3 anthology, Nagito also is concerned when Chiaki avoids eating because of her hyperfixation on gaming. Chiaki skipping out on self care?! Not cool, Chiaki. And so he challenges her to a game to make sure she’ll eat lunch. Fucking protective as hell. And yes yes, the anthology isn’t canon... but that’s the thing about Danganronpa. The series is over. Any additional info and stuff added to it is meant to enrich the experience for the fandom, so it’s canon to me. What’s the fandom gonna do? Whine at me and tell me it isn’t? That Nagito wouldn’t do these things when official anthologies and content that’s sold for Danganronpa tells me he would? So... yeah.

Ultimately, whether you ship them or not, I think this fandom is missing out on the Komanami side of things and how good their relationship is when you really observe it. :3

[twinklelilstarkey]

could we get more of good girl and rafe pleasseee?? i’m a sucker for the good girl/bad boy trope. like her getting upset about him getting in fights and cleaning him up I DIE

A/N: Wasn’t sure on what type of ‘upset’ you meant, so I made her a lil mad at him. Hope it’s okay.

Bruises - Rafe Cameron [GoodGirl!Reader]

Words: 1.4k+

Type: Mostly fluff

Warnings: Female!Reader. Mentions of bruises and blood.

DO NOT REPOST, REWRITE OR TRANSLATE ANY OF MY WORK!

You roll in your bed, mind completely occupied with the show that you’re watching. A stupid smile has spread over your features as the main character finally does what she has been planning on doing the whole season.

A knock on your window makes you jump in your bed and look over your shoulder to look it beside you. You frown while sitting up and grab your phone to check the time, 4am.

What in the hell...

Another harsh knock makes you jump in your feet and finally make your way to the curtains. You pull them way hesitatingly and sigh in relief at the sight of Rafe scrolling through his contacts, probably to call you.

You put your phone down and unlock the window, making the blonde look up from his phone at you. You slide the window open and he puts his phone back on his pocket.

It’s extremely dark in your backyard, so if it wasn’t for the dim lighting from the street lights, you would’ve thought it was a serial killer.

Good thing for street lights, uh?

You step back to let Rafe climb your home’s wall like a complete monkey and make his way inside your room with ease. Something he has mastered with much practice.

“What are you-” You start but as soon as he stands straight and looks down at you, you freeze.

“Do I look that bad?” He asks and tries to reach for your arm, making you step back.

The shocked look falls from your face and a scowl forms almost instantly.

“Just sit down” You order him while crossing your arms in front of your chest.

Rafe carefully does as told and you make your way out of the bedroom and down the stairs of your house to grab the med-kit.

While you’re absent, Rafe looks around your familiar room and finds a mirror. He stares at his own reflection and cringes at the sight.

“Fuck” He whispers under his breath.

No wonder you were upset just by looking at his face. He has a small trail of blood coming out from his nose, a cut above his left eyebrow and on his lip, and a bruise forming on his jaw, close to his ear.

He looks down at his hands and the sight is not any better. His knuckles are bruised and his fingers are stained with dry blood.

You come back inside the room and don’t even him spare him a look. You close the door as silently as you can, turning the lock this time, just in case your parents get any ideas to check on you at 4 in the morning.

You walk towards your bed, where Rafe is sitting and you start opening the plastic box so you can pull out all possible disinfectants for his wounds.

“I’m so-” He tries to say but you stop him.

“You promised me, Rafe” You say, finally looking at him, “No more fights”

He gives you a sad glance and you look down at your hands, opening the new pack of cotton balls. Something you’ve had to purchase more and more recently, all because of Rafe.

“I know, but I- Shit. The guy was saying so many things and I couldn’t just not do anything” He tries to justify and you shake your head, “I’m sorry”

You walk away from the med-kit with everything you need in your hands and stand in front of him. Rafe leans back and you take your usual seat over his lap, straddling his legs.

The boy in front of you almost sighs in relief as you do it, since in his mind it shows him how you don’t completely hate him, but it doesn’t take long before he’s hit with the amazing feeling of rubbing alcohol over a fresh wound. 

“Ow, owww” He repeats in pain at you, “More gentle, please”

You pull your hand away from his face and send him a glare.

“Right, sorry. You can keep going” He corrects himself and you move your hand back to his face.

Rafe closes his eyes to try and not show the pain he really is in as you continue to rub the cotton ball over the wound, that seems to need a lot of cleaning, carelessly. 

You throw the used cotton ball into your crash beside your desk, which is still completely occupied with your late night study notes, and when you look back at Rafe, he’s already staring.

“Are you mad at me?” He questions.

“Am I not allowed to?”

It’s rare for Rafe to see you mad at him, since, when it happens, it usually doesn’t last that much time (thankfully). But, if he had to be honest, he finds you cute whenever you glare at him, but also intimidating when you actually use words against him.

He doesn’t say it out loud, though. He likes to live.

You look away from him and start laying another product over the new cotton ball. He sees you do everything while sitting on his lap, completely lost in your thoughts as you do it. Still holding that frown, even though now mixed with your usual one of concentration.

You look up and grab his chin to hold his face in place. You fight the urge to warn him about how much it will sting, and press the cotton ball over his lip.

Rafe moves his head away as a reflex.

“Motherfucker, dude. That hurt!” He curses and you can’t help but let a chuckle escape your mouth.

He looks down at you and you cover your mouth to hide your smile. You’re supposed to hate him for now. Remember that.

“Is my suffering that entertaining to you?” He asks, playfully poking your side.

“In these type of days, yes”

Before he could say or do anything else, you grab his face again and this time he prepares himself mentally for what’s to come. 

You’re quick with your dabs and swaps with the cotton ball, which almost makes Rafe want to scream a ‘thank you’. You clean his bloody nose and bloody knuckles just as quick, and before you could even tell, you were finished.

“I’ll go get you some ice” You say while throwing the last bloody cotton ball to the trash.

Rafe’s, now, warm hands hold your hips down to his lap so you don’t get up and you send him a confused look. He wraps his arm around you and snuggles into the crook of your neck, catching you by surprise.

“Thank you” He whispers against your skin and squeezes you close to him.

You do the same and wrap your arms on top of his shoulders, pulling him to you. Rafe relaxes all his muscles in that same second and closes his eyes, smoothing himself while holding you.

“I’m sorry, again” You hear him whisper.

“You don’t need to say sorry, Rafe. I just get worried when you get in fights” You whisper back to him.

“I know, I know”

You two stay like this for some time and you let him be the first to pull away, but it seems like he’s not even thinking about letting you go this soon.

“Did the guy deserve it?” You ask him as you look at the wall of your room, leaning your head against his cheek.

Rafe chuckles against you and squeezes you even more.

“Of course, he did”

“Than I’m not mad anymore” You say playfully and he laughs at you.

His chest moves against yours as he does it and you smile at the sound of his cackles. 

He sighs when calmer and gives you a small squeeze against him.

“God, I don’t deserve you” He whispers.

You pull your head away from his shoulder at you hear his words and take a quick look at him.

“Of course, you do” You tell him, making him give you a soft look with a small grin, “You deserve me and more”

He chuckles slightly with a sad smile and you kiss the corner of his lips, pressing a lot of pecks over his skin.

“I need to go get you ice, now” You tell him and he nods, slowly releasing you for his hold.

As you’re about to get up, he leans forward to give you a kiss and you pull away as dramatically as you can while shaking your head.

“Nuh-uh mister. Not when your lip looks like that” You say while pointing at his wounded lip.

His shoulders fall and you get up from his lap, letting him fall on his back on your bed in defeat.

“I’ll be right back” You say while leaning down at him and kissing the center of his forehead lovingly. “Pick a movie while I’m not here, yeah?”

Hope you liked this! 🥰

And YES! Good girl x Bad boy trope is one of the superior tropes!!! It’s so goooood!

[liyazaki]

thank you to @spicyvampire @sunsetandthemoon @nattawins @ohaewpanwa @praninlove for the tag 🥰 it's been awhile since I've done this one, but I'll try to give different answers this time anyway.

1. your all time favorite bl and why: the ITSAYverse- ITSAY, LTIP & IPYTM (everyone act shocked). This story put my heart, throat and soul in a vice grip from the first viewing and hasn't let me go since. I'm feeling saucy today, so here's a hot take: if I had to choose one (which is impossible), it'd be IPYTM.

Hear that? It's the cacophony of anons raging in my inbox already...

2. that one bl that scarred you for life: the mere mention of Theory of Love makes my blood pressure spike to this day, and absolutely everything in FUTS aside from my chaos sons made me want to throw something. Anything. EVERYTHING.

3. bl that made you feel very single: UWMA/DeanPharm. They're so soft, so healthy and OhmFluke's insane talent combined with their IRL deep friendship/love for each other resulted in a kind of magic that constantly made me feel like I was intruding on their moment.

4. if you could change one thing from a bl, which one would it be? apparently we're not done with don't-come-for-me time: the ending of Bad Buddy. You can find my reasoning/me crying about it here.

5. your top five:

The ITSAYverse (I count all three as one because they're inseparable in my mind, plus I'm just greedy)

Until We Meet Again

Gameboys

Cherry Magic

Bad Buddy

honorable mentions: Gaya Sa Pelikula, Absolute BL (it's more parody than actual BL) and Life: Love On the Line (director's cut) is INCREDIBLE.

6. that trashy bl that you lowkey like: 2Moons2 is the lowest-stakes, tropiest little drama and the production/company behind it are beyond cursed, but I adore it. EDIT: @flukenatouch reminded me via her post about the currently-airing hot mess express that is Rainbow Prince (it’s so bad, it’s good). Also, TharnType is 500 kinds of problematic but MewGulf's chemistry could melt paint off walls, so.

7. your favorite korean bl (it’s important we know): Light on Me Light on Me LIGHT ON MEEEE. I might like it *just* a little. Like a smidge.

8. but also your top 3 for kbls: besides LOM, the only other K-BL's I'm a big fan of are To My Star and A First Love Story (a two-part short that might get made into a movie, last I heard).

Not mentioning the popular ones I'm decidedly not a fan of because I've had my neck out this whole post already- I (mostly) like being alive and would like to stay that way.

9. season 2? which one? once again, I scream: Light on Me Light on Me LIGHT ON MEEEE.

Honorable mention is one we're actually GETTING: Absolute BL S2 (screaming crying throwing UP) 😭 I'm SO excited for this one, I'm basically in distress every time I think about it.

10. a bunch of dramas will air soon. which ones are you the most excited for? talk about being spoiled for choice- I'm going to stick to just show names, with my highly-anticipated ones in red:

Absolute BL S2

Cherry Magic: The Movie

Oh! My Sunshine Night

Between Us (fingers crossed it gets a 2022 release)

To My Star S2

Cutie Pie

Gap (GL)

Moonlight Chicken

609 Bedtime Story

Eclipse

Kinnporsche

11. tagging my Discord/core crew (who haven't already done this- maybe?) + some new lovely moots (insert usual only-if-you-feel-like-it disclaimer here): @flukenatouch @badprophetvx @shortpplfedup @bengiyo @elnotwoods @gilly-bean @kyr-kun-chan @gramblacks @rose-nebulijia @icouldhyperfixatehim @pranpat @jemmo @lovelikegravity

[laequiem]

Kiss-proof

/ Jude has lost Cardan in the mall. Of course, he is in the one place she would never go. Domestic fluff, fluffy fluffiest fluff

Fandom: The Folk of The Air

Rating: T for mention of characters having a sex life, but that's it.

The flaw in Cardan's glamour is the same detail that infuriates me when I look at his face when he wakes up: he is impossibly beautiful. Not handsome like a popular actor, not pretty like the members of a boyband. He is absolutely devastating, just as he is as a faerie.

read on ao3 • part of Tales from the Mortal Realm

I check my bulky flip phone for the 5th time.

4:23pm.

I don't know why I expected Cardan to be back on time. I had some errands to do—which might include lingerie I wanted to keep secret until our anniversary—so I told him to explore the mall on his own. I gave him some (real, non-glamoured) money to spend like a child with an allowance.

There are so many red flags with this whole plan.

I do not like to admit it, but I'm worried. My extravagant husband has enough trouble fitting in with humans when he is with me, I can only imagine the trouble he can get himself in without me. Or the trouble that can find him when I am not there to protect him.

I get up from the bench that I had designed as our meeting point. Where could he be? Anywhere I would not go, which does not narrow the list down very much. As I walk around, I can imagine him enjoying every single one of these places.

Cardan smelling some bath bombs and chatting up with a pushy Lush salesperson. All that glitter, all that dye—the servants would rage at having to clean the tub afterwards.

Cardan entering a sterile-looking jewelry store, eyes glittering at all the precious gems.

Cardan browsing Hot Topic, digging into bowls of plastic rings and looking at shirts for bands he does not know.

My stomach drops as I stand before the one store I know I will find him in. Black-and-white striped pillars stand on either side of the storefront and the dreaded white font over black spells out the name of the store: Sephora.

I have never entered a Sephora before. They are intimidating and I know nothing about their products. Whenever I needed new eyeliner, I would just ask Vivi to buy me whichever one she thought was best. Nowadays, I can count on my husband's extensive makeup collection and skills.

“We have servants to do this!” I had insisted the first time he approached me with a kohl pencil. He had laughed, and I let him line my eyes. Ever since, I look forward to it. It’s a small, intimate gesture with which we prove our love to each other without saying a word. It is his way of showing care, and my way of showing trust.

I pass the threshold of the store and I spot him immediately. Even without my True Sight making his glamour ripple when I gaze at him, I would still have a hard time believing he is human. His glamour is perfect—rounded ears, no tail, the glitter of his skin dulled down to a normal healthy shine—but every glamour should have a flaw. The flaw in Cardan's glamour is the same detail that infuriates me when I look at his face when he wakes up: he is impossibly beautiful. Not handsome like a popular actor, not pretty like the members of a boyband. He is absolutely devastating, just as he is as a faerie.

Even amongst gorgeous people who perfected their faces through makeup and good lighting, he stands out.

For me, however, bewilderment comes from seeing Cardan wait in line like a normal person. Like a boy who did not grow up as an entitled prick. It shakes me so much that I stop in my tracks and watch him walk up to the register once the previous client leaves.

He adapts better than I give him credit for. My heart swells with love for this male who keeps challenging and surprising me.

I go to bypass the line and I catch a snippet of his conversation with the boy manning the cash register. On the counter lay piles of makeup, from eyeshadow palettes to colorful eyeliner.

"A good choice!" the cashier exclaims, holding a dark lipstick, "it has the best matte finish. It even passes the kiss test!"

I swear I can see him wiggle his perfectly defined eyebrows. The smile he gives Cardan is wicked—the same kind of grin my husband gives me over dinner then he's feeling particularly hungry.

"The kiss test?" my husband asks, a grin forming on his sinful lips.

"Yeah," the cashier replies, "you can make out with someone, it won't budge. Or transfer."

I get to Cardan’s side and the cashier notices me then. His brows raise in surprise for a moment before he schools his features into a socially acceptable customer service smile.

I can't blame him for his surprise—Cardan and I could not look any more mismatched. His sharp features are accentuated with contouring and a lighter version of his usual silver highlighter. I, on the other hand, barely had time to brush my hair before putting on an oversized hoodie and leggings. I bet I look like someone he took pity on and brought to the mall for a makeover.

"Where is the fun in that?" Cardan looks at me then, his dark eyes twinkling with mischief. "Still, I suppose I will have to try."

I roll my eyes and he presses a kiss to the top of my head.

The cashier tells Cardan the total, and he raises a brow when my husband starts counting cash. I know other humans use cards nowadays, but without a permanent address in the Mortal Realm, we have been dealing exclusively in cash—mostly given by Vivi in exchange for Elfhame goods.

The boy thanks Cardan for his purchase, and it's all I can do not to laugh when he replies "you're very welcome", like that is a normal thing to say to a retail employee.

On our way out, Cardan stops by one of the many mirrors in the store and applies his new lipstick, ending with a pop of his luscious lips.

"Really? You couldn't wait until we got back to the hotel?"

I smile teasingly at him, and he grins back. The lipstick is deep, dark purple.

"If I did, nobody would see it but you." He slides an arm around my waist and winks. "That would be a shame, when it looks so good."

I roll my eyes and slip out of his embrace, making towards the exit. When my back is turned to him, I allow myself a smile. It does look good, I think, though I won't give him the satisfaction of saying it aloud.

"Jude, wait—"

With those long legs of his, Cardan catches up to me quickly. He puts a hand on my shoulder and spins me around to face him. I lift my chin to look at him, and his expression sends a chill down my spine. This face used to send unwanted images of our younger days to my brain—Cardan spitting on my shoes, pulling my hair, kicking my lunchbox. Nowadays, this wickedness sends my blood rushing south and fills me with memories of his clever fingers and his face between my legs.

"I was not done," he says as he circles my waist again, pulling me towards him sternly. "I have to debunk the claims the boy made."

"Fine," I say, and peck him quickly on the lips.

He chuckles. "You know that won't do, Jude dearest."

Cardan leans towards me. Instinctively, I part my lips and close my eyes. Even after all this time, I hate that he has this effect on me, even though I know it's not fair. I have spent my whole life training with a blade while he spent his training his mind and body to seduce and manipulate.

His lips claim mine and I all but melt into him. I forget where we are, how utterly exposed we are to the judgement of others. I seek out his tongue with mine and bite his lip the way he likes.

Cardan pulls away and I chase after his lips, desperate for more, until I feel his mouth on my neck. Slender fingers grip my chin, angling my head to allow him access.

I open my eyes and finally remember myself, where we are and how inappropriate this is—

"Cardan!"

He hums in question as his cruel mouth continues kissing its way up to my ear. His hand moves back towards my nape and tangles in my hair, pulling lightly.

"We're in—you can't just do that! People are—"

I look around, mortified. The mall is not that crowded, but I see people looking abruptly away when I look in their direction. A mother covers her child's eyes as she notices us. An old lady sneers.

I feel Cardan grin against my skin before dragging his teeth up my ear to nibble at the curved cartilage.

I give a small shove to his chest and he pulls away with a chuckle that curls my toes.

"You're shameless," I say.

"You look like you drank an entire bottle of faerie wine," he replies, then gives a quick kiss to my heating cheek.

When he pulls back, he inspects my face with narrowed eyes, then my neck. He lets out an impressed hum.

"It seems he was right. No marks."

I laugh and his eyes light up, a genuine smile forming on his dark lips.

"Will you buy more, then?" I ask.

"No. I prefer when it leaves marks."