#poem based on the four seasons

[random-brelly]

The Umbrella Poem

Orange light brighten the world:

The moon has fallen from the sky.

The apocalypse is coming to destroy

Yet, they’re standing watching it coming by.

A war has started in the sixties.

The siblings caused it once again.

He arrives late and tries to fix this.

They avoid it by traveling back then.

They’re back to their own time,

Some people missing and new friends.

A paradox appeared on this line.

They reset the universe and hope its the end.

A lover’s tragedy season,

Where one cheated , another is gone

and the apocalypse countdown is on.

Its the lovers that ended them all.

[respectthepetty]

Petty, I respect you.

I do.

However.

DONT BE QUITE ABOUT THE COLOURS IN ON1Y 1 BECAUSE I WILL READ A FULL THESIS ON IT, 20 PAGES!!!! 50 PAGES!!!!

PLEASEEEE Give

It

To

Meeeeeeeee 🥹

Anon,

You've opened a floodgate.

Because I always notice the colors, but just because I see colors doesn't mean I know why they are significant. Even if I see there is a pattern, it doesn't mean I understand its importance. And I don't think y'all should be subject to me screaming about Jiang Tian's paper bookmarks being yellow and pink in a book of (love?) poems where he has highlighted that "a girl's shyness is like a tender cherry under the sunlight" and "16- and 17-year-olds are like fruits in the morning sun, sparkling."

Sheng Wang asks who this is about, but we know who this is about. The colors mean things.

And more importantly, I actually didn't write weekly or episodic posts about shows until 2022. I used to wait until a show was over to write about the colors or background noise, and, mostly, I only did it when people would ask me about it. Big Dragon was the first show that I felt compelled to write weekly about the colors and background noise because it was so amazing, so 2024 is still an odd space for me to be in sometimes because as much as I love colors, I'm ALWAYS surprised how much y'all want to know about them . . . weekly . . . per episode . . . for all the shows.

I write for myself, but sometimes I think y'all don't need to witness me losing my shit every week for sixteen weeks over obviously color-coded characters in The Loyal Pin.

And sometimes I think y'all don't want to witness me losing my shit over colors that I can't completely understand like the grays in 4 Minutes.

And then other times I think y'all shouldn't have to witness me losing my shit over colors that I'm not sure are colors until I've watched enough episodes to feel sure that the colors are, in fact, coloring; then, the series, The Trainee, actually tells me the colors were coloring the entire time like I thought.

And that's why I try to be quiet about shows because I'm figuring them out in my head, or I'm waiting for enough information to feel confident about them, and I don't want to hog up the tag with my ramblings. I need to sit in it a bit to figure out what the colors mean.

Kiseki: Dear to Me was the perfect example. I didn't mention anything about colors until prompted by others because it took me until the third episode to feel certain that Chen Yi and Ai Di matched colors, then it took me close to the end of the series to realize all the cameo couples ALSO matched colors.

It took me until the end of My Love Mix-Up to realize Aoki's color had evolved.

It took me two seasons (and a movie) to feel secure that Kiyoi was a Heavenly Human in My Beautiful Man.

And it took me until midway through Semantic Error to figure out why the red disappeared.

That's how The On1y One is for me. I knew yellow/orange and blue would play some part in the story based on the posters, but I wasn't sure how until I started seeing more visuals appear.

Because even though I saw a yellow container of food for Sheng Wang in the first episode,

I didn't realize he mostly ate color-coded food until episode four.

It's such a tiny detail, so I could have easily missed it, but because I know that he is a picky eater, I feel like it's not simply a coincidence, and I quickly noticed it in the eighth episode.

But I needed to collect more images before I could state that. I needed to let the story develop before I realized it. I needed to settle into it. And that's why I wrote my halfway point post after a few people asked if I noticed.

Because I know I seem like a magician who shouts a lot, but I'm not. Sometimes, I have to be patient and let the colors sneak up on me while I'm simply enjoying the moment, like Sheng Wang's orange alarm clock nestled into the corner of his bed while he falls asleep on his light yellow pillow in his light yellow shirt.

I know not all visuals can be a literal bright yellow sign hanging from the color-coded boy's room, ya know?

I'm not Jenny who cannot grasp that she keeps taking food and drinks meant for Benny even when he realized if she could figure out the mug was about gay rights without realizing he was gay then someone smarter will along and piece the dots together . . .

Because like, girl, he's gay.

But it does take me time to collect images and get my thoughts in order, so until then, I'm going to be quiet.

Or as quiet as a loud ass like me can be.

[charlosvibesonly]

One, Two, Three, Four (based on a poem I wrote)

Lando Norris Imagine

You’re at the McLaren garage, adjusting your headset and double-checking the data on your tablet. It’s another hectic day at the track, but you’ve gotten used to the chaos. As a mechanical engineer for the team, every detail counts. You’re focused, determined, and have a reputation for being one of the best in the paddock.

Lando Norris strides in, his usual confident grin plastered on his face. You’ve seen him around, of course, but never had a proper conversation. He’s the rising star of the team, always surrounded by fans and media.

“One, two, three, four,” you mutter under your breath, counting the seconds until the meeting starts.

“What’s that?” Lando asks, tilting his head curiously.

“Oh, just keeping track of time,” you reply, feeling your cheeks heat up slightly.

“Mind if I join you?” he asks, taking a seat next to you.

“Sure,” you say, trying to keep your composure. His presence is almost overwhelming, but you remind yourself to stay professional.

“So, you’re the genius behind our car’s performance?” he says, looking genuinely impressed.

You laugh softly. “I’m just part of a big team. We all contribute.”

“Well, I’m glad we have you. Makes my job a lot easier,” he says with a wink.

Later that day, you find yourself working late in the garage. The rest of the team has left, but you’re determined to finish analyzing the latest data. You’re so engrossed in your work that you don’t notice Lando approaching.

“One, two, three, four,” you count to yourself, focusing on tightening a bolt.

“Why do you keep counting?” Lando’s voice startles you, and you nearly drop your wrench.

“Oh, uh, yeah. It helps me concentrate,” you admit, looking up to see him smiling at you.

“You know, you’re pretty amazing at what you do,” he says, leaning against the workbench. His casual demeanor makes you feel more at ease.

You laugh nervously. “Thanks, Lando. You’re not too bad yourself on the track.”

He grins. “Not too bad, huh? I’ll take that.”

He stays for a while, asking you questions about your work and sharing stories from the track. It’s the first real conversation you’ve had with him, and you’re surprised by how easy it is to talk to him.

As he leaves, he turns back and says, “Let’s grab a coffee sometime. Just to chat.”

You nod, trying to hide your excitement. “Sure, that sounds nice.”

A few days later, you find yourself sitting across from Lando at a small café. It’s a rare moment of calm amidst the whirlwind of the racing season. You’re nervous but excited, wondering if this is just a friendly outing or something more.

“One, two, three, four,” you count silently, trying to steady your nerves.

“What are you thinking about?” Lando asks, sipping his coffee.

“Just… how surreal this is. Having coffee with you,” you admit, feeling a bit shy.

He chuckles. “Why? I’m just a regular guy.”

You smile. “Maybe, but you also take my breath away.”

Lando’s eyes soften. “Is it my smile, or my eyes?”

“Both,” you say without hesitation.

You talk for hours, sharing stories about your lives, your passions, and your dreams. It’s clear that there’s a connection between you, something deeper than just a professional relationship.

The next time, it’s dinner. The atmosphere is different, more intimate. You’re at a quiet restaurant, the soft glow of candles creating a cozy ambiance. The conversation flows easily, laughter mingling with the clinking of cutlery. You feel comfortable around Lando, more so than you’ve felt with anyone in a long time.

“One, two, three, four,” you count, trying to keep your excitement in check.

“Why do you keep counting?” Lando asks again, his curiosity piqued.

You smile shyly and take out a folded piece of paper from your pocket. “It’s a bit silly, but I wrote this poem for you. It kind of explains it.”

Lando leans in, interested. “Can I hear it?”

You nod and begin to read:

“One, Two, Three, Four, I count to myself, The number of poems I write, Enemies to lovers? No, we are love at first sight.

One, Two, Three, Four, I count to myself, The number of times you take my breath away, Is it your smile, or your eyes? On my heart, it’s forever engraved.

One, Two, Three, Four, I count to myself, The number of delusions I have, A coffee date or Dinner? It won’t matter, it’s your company I crave.

One, Two, Three, Four, I count to myself, The number of sighs I take, Am I the earth to your sun? Or, maybe it’s my fate.”

Lando listens intently, his expression softening with each line. When you finish, he reaches across the table, taking your hand in his.

“Am I the earth to your sun?” he repeats, a playful smile on his lips.

“Maybe,” you say, meeting his gaze.

Lando smiles mischievously. “Or maybe, it was our fate." You bury your face in your hands, "It's too much, I am so embarrassed."

He smiles warmly, his thumb brushing over your knuckles. “You know, you take my breath away too. Every time I see you, I count the moments until we meet again.”

After dinner, he walks you back to your hotel, and as you stand outside your door, he leans in and kisses you softly.

You pull back slightly, looking into his eyes. “What now?” you ask softly.

Lando smiles, his thumb brushing your cheek. “Maybe I give you enough love for you to write a new poem for me,” he replies, winking, and pushing you with him into your room.

[willowmaidsworld]

Good Omens s3 clue

I realised I never posted this, although I made it ages ago! So here y'all go!

This is going to be long, and I hope it will make sense. Please bear with me to the end, I will eventually get to the Judgement Day, Armageddon, Death (and four horsemen of Apocalypse) and I will mention goats.

I noticed this tiny clue when watching s2ep3. Aziraphale drives to Edinburgh and the Bentley plays classical music. But not just any classical music – it’s Danse Macabre by Camill Saint-Saëns.

I am a musician and I've played this piece in the past, so I knew there was a lot of symbolism to uncover. And that thing is deeper than I thought. I will be speaking about some music theory, but I will try to make it as understandable as possible. 

I think it would be best, if you listened to Danse Macabre: https://youtu.be/…zrJ 

I would like to speak once more about the scene in which Danse macabre appears. Aziraphale is driving to Edinburgh in now a yellow Bentley, and he even has his "car sweets". He is quite satisfied. And he plays this, certainly dark-themed, music. It is a major contrast. 

Danse Macabre, "the dance of death" is a memento mori. Memento mori is a theme we see in art, and it originated in medieval times as reaction to the plague. It should remind us of our own mortality. “Memento mori” literary translates as "remember death". And mark my words, do remember death!

The composition uses tritones, a special kind of a music interval. (Interval is the tonal distance between two tones, you can play the tones together and/or separate.) Tritone is seemingly dissonant because it uses seemingly inharmonious tones. (You can hear tritones just at the beginning, the violins play it.) Because of its dissonance it was called "the devil in music" and was considered forbidden and associated with Hell/demons/death.

Since the music piece and the poem is based on the theme of Memento mori, I had to look into it as well. Turns out Danse Macabre was inspired by a poem by Henry Cazalis. Here is the poem: https://oxfordsong.org/…bre Memento mori doesn't only remind us of death and our mortality, it also reminds us, that everyone's equal in death. Henry Cazalis, the poet, writes: Long live death and equality! The poem is called, of course, Danse Macabre, but I found that it is also called Égalité - Fraternité (when reading stuff about it in French). This is a reference to the French revolution motto: Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité (Liberty, Equality, Brotherhood), but Liberty is missing. Is there then no Liberty in death and we are all doomed to obey someone's will, The Ineffable plan? (Good Omens book and season one also deals with topics of free will, look at Crowley and Anathema. She has been doing only the things her dead ancestor told her to do, she overcomes it in the end. I think it nicely illustrates the problematic of a free will. And Crowley values free will a lot.)

Memento mori says one thing - remember death, no one can outrun it. And there I would like to get back to season 1, because who else we meet here than Death itself.

Death is one of the Four Bikers/Riders/Horsemen of Apocalypse. But I always thought Death has a higher rank than the others. If you think of it, War, Pollution and Famine all lead to one thing- to Death. Why would you need all three then? Isn't Death qualified enough to do its job? Also, rewatch the scene where Adam and his friends battle them! War, Pollution and Famine all get destroyed by the flaming sword. But not Death- it spreads its wings and says (quote from the book): "You cannot destroy me. That would destroy the world." And later he adds that they are never far away. And he flies of. He isn't destroyed.

Death didn't appear in season two and I think people are starting to forget it, but Memento mori! Remember Death!

I would also like to remark that Neil Gaiman says the whole story is plotted out and that he has done this with Terry Pratchett. In every Discworld series book (the magnum opus of Sir Terry Pratchett), apart from two or three, there is the character of Death. And I think it would make sense that Death would appear in Good Omens as well, after all, it is also Pratchett's book. I think we might see Death returning in season three, because the Day of Wrath/Last Judgement/Armageddon is coming. And this music piece could serve as a literal memento mori - remember Death, it has not exited the scene yet. (A lot of Pratchett's humour is based on puns, and this seems like a joke/plot twist he would try to use. It's my personal opinion based on how I know his style from his books.) 

And what's next? Armageddon is coming, the Day of Wrath is here! Both sides are pretty eager to do this ending-of-the-world thing and after all, it's what they have been trying to start from the begging of the show. It was delayed by Gabriel's "disappearance", but things are now getting into motion, I think. 

But back to the Danse macabre, because it (surprise surprise!) has quite some things to do with the Judgement Day. In the middle of the composition Cammille Saint-Saëns uses a musical theme from a different work, a Gregorian chant called Deis irae ("Day of Wrath").

Here is a link to Wikipedia page about the chant, you can listen to it there. (I didn't find any recording on YouTube, only other musicians using the quite popular words of the chant and not the actual music.) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/…rae 

About the chant itself. It is written from the point of view of a sinner/normal person, and it describes how the Last Judgement shall be. Before dealing with the themes of the chant itself, I would like to say, that Saint-Saëns has used the Deis irae in a major key. Allow me to do a quick music theory intermission.

You can play in two keys, major and minor. These are, if I oversimplify things, sets of notes with different intervals. The melody, played one tone at a time, can be used in both major and minor key. The melody isn't the thing that determines the key of the song, the tones played with it do. And depends on what tones you use, you either get major or minor. Major is (in western culture) associated with happiness and good things, while minor with sadness. (It's not always like that, but for the sake of understanding we are going to pretend it is.) Now, the Deis irae is usually written in the sad minor key. Saint-Saëns decided to use the happy major key with this depressing chant, once again creating contrast. I'm stumbling over contrasts more than usually, so this may be important. End of the intermission. 

In the third and fourth strophe of Deis irae, it's described how the sound of a trumpet will sound everywhere and the Death will resurrect all dead creations to be brought to the Judge. (Death is back again and resurrecting, that sounds familiar, where have we seen that before?)

In the fifteenth strophe, the writer, a sinner, prays for this: Put me with the sheep and separate me from the goats, guide me to the right side! Goats again, there they are! This strophe of course references the chapter 25 in the Gospel of Matthew, the Separation of sheep and goats. Sheep go to the right and goats to the left. I think the side symbolism is pretty clear in Good Omens. Right is the righteous side and left is the sign of sin. And we also know how Crowley cares about the goats. There is also the Jewish tradition of scapegoat. Either way, goats are connected to Crowley, their symbolism of being “on the left side” is clear. This interesting bit can play part in Armageddon.

In the fifth strophe of Deis irae the Book, that is exactly and perfectly worded and that will judge all world, appears. And this book is no other than The Book of Life.

We know about Book of Life from the season 2, Micheal threatens to force "extreme sanctions" (erasing them form the Book) upon anyone who knows about Gabriel. 

Enter a fan theory I read: Nor Heaven or Hell actually have the Book of Life, we never see it on screen. This was mentioned in a tumblr post, and I will probably never be able to dig it up from the depths of the internet, so remember this is not my theory. (Although I find it very interesting.) The post continues and remarks, that when Crowley in the first episode of the second season learns about the Book and the "extreme sanctions" from Beelzebub, he doesn't bat an eye. He is pretty calm and doesn't seem surprised. (He literary says: "That will teach them a lesson", man, we're talking about being wiped from the earth's surface completely!) The writer of the post thinks, this is because Crowley knows that Heaven doesn't have the book and he knows where it is. The writer claims, it was Crowley, who took it as a little souvenir before his Fall, and later has hidden it in Aziraphale's bookshop. ('Cause one single book will definitely stay hidden in all those piles of old books.)

I think this is really interesting because of Crowley’s reaction. He knows what Aziraphale is risking, and he loves that angel, yet he seems so calm. When the bookshop burned down in the fifth episode of season one and Crowley thought Aziraphale died, he went feral: he was angry and furious, and he was destroyed by the fact that he has lost Aziraphale. He mourns and gets drunk. Nothing of this happens in season two! 

So, what are my thoughts on season three? It will get really dark and serious, the Armageddon is coming, after all. I think we will see Death return and the Book of Life will appear. The goats may not be used literally, like on screen, but I think we will get some metaphors.

In all of this, I tried to say one thing. All of the cards are laid out, we have all of the clues. It would be pretty cheap trick to use some ineffable "deus ex machina", that's not Gaiman's and Pratchett's style.

I think everything is now foreshadowed; we have been given all the information. We just haven't made the links in-between. Given the uproar the second season has caused, I think people are forgetting the first season a bit. But it must end with what it started with.

I think we should look at both seasons equally and try to pick up as much as we can, after all the third season will not be based solely on the season two...

We have all the clues, now it's Neil Gaiman who plays an ineffable game of his own devising, a poker that nobody has the rules for and the dealer, Neil himself, is smiling all the time. Ineffable, indeed. If you ask me, he's enjoying it bloody-well.

[xadian-daydreams]

What's been mentioned for the Dragon Prince Season 6: Book Stars so far...

Having listened and read a bunch of interviews, here's my collected notes (Updated for October 2023);

No current release date, but confirmed 9 episodes, same as previous seasons.

Seasons Four though Seven are all the Mystery of Aaravos arc.

While there's not going to be any real time skip between S5 and S6, there will be a small one within S6. Update - there's a few days time skip between S5 and S6.

Season 6 will be more mature to the point the age rating is increasing. It will also go into deeper emotional stuff - "fans should enjoy the breather before being emotionally wrecked by the next book."

(Most of) Episode 1 of season 6 was shown at NYCC 2023 panel. Notes on summaries people have posted here.

New characters to be introduced;

Astrid - voiced by Boone Williams - Female Celestial Skywing elf. She's mysterious and there's 'something cool' about her design.

Character based off Moonberry Surprise.

A new Startouch elf. Possibly the Merciful One (they/them) from the Sea of the Castout statues.

Upcoming for main characters;

Callum - every time you do dark magic, it becomes harder to come back from it. Info on Callum birth-father. (Callum and learning Moon Arcanum - Giehl's opinion is doesn't want Callum treading on Rayla's thematic territory and stealing her thunder). Rayllum note - how would Callum using dark magic affect the trust and friendship they've been building up?

Rayla - On the curse coins - too spoilery, so they won't answer questions related to that. On Rayllum note. Would Rayla do anything for Callum? And what would Callum call upon her to do if that was the case? Questions getting asked next season, just to make you suffer.

Callum, Rayla and Stella confirmed visiting the Starscraper.

Ezran - sticking to his ideals and pacifism will be tested. Rough and tough decision(s).

At some point Ezran and Callum will visit some 'weird' ruins.

Soren - has had lighter seasons so far, but is about to face darker questions. There is trauma that the writers haven't told anyone about that will come to light at some point. Soren is getting an opportunity to confront Viren about what happened at the Storm Spire (they did meet up in S4E7, which is covered in the short story Strangers, but writers felt it lacked the satisfaction needed, as neither really was in the headspace to talk), but uncertain if this is just a therapy thing or if Viren lives.

There's going to be a funny Soren and Corvus story later on.

Claudia - S5 she was under a lot of pressure, and it's not easing up. How will Claudia be impacted by Viren's decision - further into darkness or pulled back into the light? Claudia being willing to risk life and limb for her goal(s) - and then actually paying the cost of a limb - what does that mean for her and Terry?

Karim - is about to get in over his head. He doesn't realise the kind of alliances he's making.

Amaya and Janai don't get enough love in these interviews. 😢

Zym - Goes with Soren to find Zubeia. Spoiler indicates Zym has a heart to heart with her

Characters we'll be seeing more of;

Aaravos - there's a lot more of him coming in S6.

Kim'dael - 'big plans' that even go beyond the show, though specifically refused to answer if she'll met Rayla again (they met first time in Bloodmoon Huntress graphic novel).

More with the pirates and Scumport (however, Finnegrin while not confirmed dead, won't make a reappearance in S6/7). Scumport set up a bunch of stuff for going into season 6.

Kpp'Ar - confirmed there'll be more stuff about him in both S6 and S7.

Mukho - the mushroom mage, Earthblood elf who's a world expert mycologist.

More shadowpaw content.

Possibly Ellis and Ava briefly, but could be S7.

Lore -

The lore about Stars primal and Startouch elves and other mythology will be explored. How you kill a Startouch elf will be answered - including more info on Laurelion (mentioned in the Death of an Immortal poem).

(Going by how the graphic novels releases are generally introducing things that are mentioned in the next season, Puzzle House's emphasize on unicorns, and how there is a big bit of unicorn lore mentioned in the novels, is a good hint that this unicorn lore is getting explained in show too. But, just to clarify, it's not confirmed this is happening - however, it is a impactful bit of backstory and there's only 2 seasons left).

Most likely information about how Primal Stones are made - specifically how a storm was trapped from the top of Mount Kalik to create the Primal Stone Callum smashed. Ehasz mentioned that something brought up in the second episode will be expanded on in S6, and the info about the Sky Primal Stone is the only info that hasn't been addressed elsewhere from E2 that I could pick out.

More lore about golems (as in the rock guardians and Elmer)

Other notes;

Season 6 will have an explosive start.

Questions raised by Ehasz;

Was the dragang moving Aaravos's prison smart or would it have been safer to have left it? It's something they'll grapple with right away.

Is Aaravos being honest with Viren about what's going to happen? (I'm wording it as being honest rather than saying is he lying, as Aaravos's thing is manipulative truths and misdirections etc, rather than outright lies).

No context: 🔥 (Can't help looking at the use of explosive start by the NYCC notification)

There's stuff in Season 2 that will get explained in Season 6 - while they're not exactly clues, there will be referencing from S2.

Keep an eye on changes in the openers - they're continuing the hints - like when they swapped out Viren with Callum to let you know Callum and dark magic/Aaravos is going to be in the episode.

Season 7 will be Book 7: Dark.

The next graphic novel will be about "family and building trust." Update: Title Dreamer's Nightmare

Can young Ezran and Callum quell the brewing storm in the quiet town of Noct, or have bad dreams come to haunt for good?

Giehl says this story has Ezran as the lead character and the artist said they enjoyed doing the many animals.

There were hints dropped at NYCC 2023 that there may be other projects based on the Dragon Prince world, but they'll come under a different name. TDP will only be the 7 seasons. (Most hints I've seen suggest they may be working towards an Orphan Queen film/series, but it could also be a continuation).

Sources; Hot Brown Morning Potion Podcast E27 Reel James Season 5 interview with Aaron Ehasz AIPT Comics 'The Dragon Prince creators dish on season 5 post-mortem AnimationWorld: The Dragon Prince Season 5, a swashbuckling blend of design tricks and emotional turmoil Screenrant SDCC 2023: The Dragon Prince creators on taking the Mystery of Aaravos past Season 5 CBR: The Dragon Prince creators reveal the secrets of Season 5 and the road to Season 6 ComicBook: The Dragon Prince creators talk season 5 and entering the show's Empire Strikes Back era Game of Nerds: SDCC 2023 The Dragon Prince All Aboard for Season 5 Official Discord Season 4 Q&A NYCC 2023 panel Secrets in the Stars Random tweets and Discord stuff from the creators and official social media.

[william-o]

I participated in the Seasons of Gensokyo Zine!

I'm back once again in a collaboration Gensokyozine to share a fic I've made for their zine! Last year I wrote two short poem pieces but this year I did something I rarely do and wrote a whole short story!

You can read my piece on its own on ao3 here! But I highly recommend looking and reading all the amazing pieces this new zine has to offer!

I have quite a bit to talk about for this piece I wrote, it's been a journey! If you're interesting keep reading below!

So I knew there was going to be another event like this this year but I had no idea what the theme would be until the announcement was made. When I heard it was going to be based on seasons it was actually pretty tough figuring out a story revolving around that. I was also determined to write more than just a poem this time around so it had to be somewhat substantial.

Thankfully in the application where we had to pitch our idea there were a few topic examples provided, one of which involved using a story involving cicadas. So I started to do some research on cicadas, and what I found as a source of inspiration was a story about Cicadas by Lafcadio Hearn. Perhaps you've heard about him? Me being a *somewhat* superstitious individual saw it as a sign that this is what I was to write about for the seasons of gensokyo zine!

With further research I discover the existence of Dog Day Cicadas. They share the name of the shot type in the extra stage of Hidden Star in Four Seasons, they have folktale of how they're a sign of the end of summer and beginning of the next season, and strictly as a bonus for myself they're green and black just like me! It sounds like a story perfect to feature Yukari!

Now one of my biggest fears about writing a fanfic is completely misinterpreting a character. So I did all I could to try to get Yukari written just right. My idea was that it was most common in Gensokyo that people hated the sound cicadas make, except for Yukari. I was however advised that I needed some kind of reason that Yukari would like the sound cicadas make, or some kind of justification. Thankfully I found just what I needed in Chapter Five of Cage in Lunatic Runagate where Yukari states "The moon was unthinkably silent compared to the Gensokyo that was constantly noisy from bickering between humans and youkai. ~ Whether it was decay or pure heaven, I hated it. I needed the noise of the city." Close enough in my book to say that Yukari prefers noise over silence whether it be from people, a city, or cicadas.

Now when it comes to Son Biten, I didn't pressure myself as much to try and get her character right as I did with Yukari. She is one of the newest characters after all so there was less material to analyze her character. Although if I were to criticize myself about this fic, it would be that she's only there to be a plot point. I'll admit, I only really wanted her in here as a way to have the great sage equal to heaven and gensokyo and an actual sage interact. I will say I did a little bit of research to Son's personality, but I more or less just had her trying to do her best pretending to live up to the title she gave herself (Even though her character is more than just that).

And for good measure at the end I threw in a poem, this time in the tanka form (5-7-5-7-7). This was overall a lot of fun to write! I tried to format the story as a whole similar to a Hifuu story as well as the "A Beautiful Flower Blooming Violet Every Sixty Years" story. Speaking of Hifuu, I did throw in a little reference to Taboo Japan Disentanglement, did you happen to catch it? Well I hope you enjoyed my little story, I'm gonna go order some pizza and I'll see you again next year! (Hopefully!)

[expatesque]

Monthly Recap

Doing this mainly to hold myself accountable, under the cut

Last Month's Goals

☑️Use all class pass classes: Reformer Pilates - Not for me, Barre - Okay, F45 - Loved, Aerial Silks - Fun but very hard, Mat Pilates - Nice, Qigong Flow - Loved

☑️Read a book: Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo - Fun! V appropriate for the season.

☑️New Recipes x4: Hassleback tofu - Good but needs adjustments, Chicken Shwarma - Meh, limited improvement on normal chicken method and longer, White Chilli - Yum and freezes well, Spinach and Artichoke Dip - Yum.

☑️Go to a new museum: Leighton House - very good, lovely space, interesting ideas for interiors.

❌Go to an Exhibition: Fail, will do two next month. Will be going to Silk Roads at the BM soon. Note: This one means a major exhibition at a museum I've been to before.

☑️Go to the theater: Giselle at Saddler's Wells, excellent. Got last minute tickets after seeing @therepublicofletters love it, thanks Em. Also the Lehman Trilogy, overall very good but a little fast at the end.

🟧Crochet: This gets a half tick, I did get back into crocheting but want it to largely replace scrolling in the evenings, haven't quite gotten there yet.

❌Write More: Nowhere near the amount I wanted to, key goal for next month.

❌Lay morning foundation: Carrying over to next month, need to get a phone-free routine in place.

☑️Budget: Very happy to tick this one, set a quite aggressive budget and managed it, even with the absolute right antique bedside tables popping up and a last minute trip to Paris. Thank god for freezer meals.

❌Memorize a poem: Fail, will do two next month.

Next Month's

Carrying Over

Use all class pass passes (I've carried on after my free trial)

Four new recipes

Read a book

Visit a new musuem

Go to an exhibition (x2)

Go to a show

Crochet

Write more

Morning foundation

Budget

Memorize a poem (x2)

New

Russian flashcards (memorize)

Screentime

Job/interview prep (getting back into the news, refreshing concepts)

[ontheroad-again]

💥 What is one canon thing that you wish you could change?

🐇 Do you write for yourself, for others, or both?

🌻 How often do you read your own fics?

📗 Do you want to write something outside of fanfiction? If so, what about?

💥 What is one canon thing that you wish you could change?

MSec: Less Henry and Elizabeth and the kids and more perspectives from the staff!!! Nadine especially (obviously), but all of them, really. I think one of the (many, many) things The West Wing got right was giving every senior staff character enough screen time to be fully fleshed out from day one, and MSec really didn’t do enough of that. There’s a reason why people love The Seventh Floor and a couple other more staff-centered episodes so much–those felt like watching the gears turning in the State Department instead of “Perfect Married Couple Agonize Over Problem Child of the Day.” I think that’s part of why I write so much Nadine, Blake, and Jay—everything outside of H/E seems to be lacking in quantity both in canon and fandom writings. 

Also, the obvious: Have Nadine stay through the end. The show was really a shell of itself within a season of her exit and I don’t think they ever really made up for that. 

Cheers: Lilith’s exit from Cheers. I understand the need to write her out because Bebe was leaving, but a) there were so many other ways to do that and b) the eventual divorce would still have been believable without Lilith having an affair. And if nothing else, I find it completely out of character that she would leave Frederick to do so.

🐇 Do you write for yourself, for others, or both?

50/50. I am guilty of pouring all of my own issues and feelings onto characters in order to process them, so in that regard, I largely write for myself. In fact, I had written a significant amount of MSec fics (and West Wing fics, actually) for four years before I decided to post anything—I really just love the writing process, plus it was like a strange form of journaling for me 🤣 But I’m glad I started posting fics, because it has been very fun to write for others as well and hear people’s thoughts about my writing and what they enjoy in stories. (Yay for external validation 🤣) And having an audience, no matter how small, definitely makes it much easier to motivate myself to keep chipping away at a story chapter/topic that is proving difficult for me to get past for whatever reason.

🌻 How often do you read your own fics? 

Fairly regularly. I feel as though when I write multichapters I sometimes lose the style, cadence, rhythm, etc. that I work very hard at getting right in my one-chapter character study/theme-based pieces. So I’ll often return to fics like Lua, March, Doomsday (usually the slightly longer one-chapter ones) and reread them to reset my brain back to focusing on rhythm and the natural crescendo of whatever piece I’m currently writing. 

📗 Do you want to write something outside of fanfiction? If so, what about?

Yes!!! I want a career that involves writing in some form—no idea what that will be yet, but that is the goal! I write songs and prose-poem type things in my free time already, and I have a couple of partially finished book drafts lying around, especially one that is on hold currently because I am about to have zero free time for the next two months. And I love essay-type writing too–it’s almost always my favorite part of school and I would not at all mind getting to write essays or formal papers for part of work someday. 

Thank you for the ask! :)

[kingsofeverything]

Thank you to anyone out there who’s read anything I’ve written, left kudos, commented, or messaged me to chat about anything I’ve written. I appreciate you so much 💛

🟨Remember Me Before You ~294k .E. Desperate to find a new place to live after he comes home to find his boyfriend cheating, Harry moves into a loft with three strangers. A New Girl AU.

🟪Spring Fever ~4K .E. Harry’s finally out of the first trimester. He and Louis celebrate.

🟦As You Wish ~25K .E. Harry wished Louis free, and life hasn’t been the same since. Written for @onedirectionbigbang

🟥Southern Comfort ~5K .E. Girl!Direction. At a lavish engagement party thrown by her fiancé’s family, Louis meets what seems like a millions aunts and uncles and cousins, but only one stands out: Harry Styles, a gorgeous brunette in a red dress who makes Louis blush like she might catch fire. Written for @wankersday​.

🟩Uh oh, it’s Magic (when I’m with you) ~7K .E. Everyone Dreams eventually, and everyone’s Dream is different, but all Dreams have one thing in common: They send the Dreamer on a Quest to find their Magic. It’s been months since Louis started his Quest to live as a hermit in a cave in the middle of the woods and he’s not about to let some new guy disturb his hermitage. Written for @1dastroficfest​

⬜️Just Pretend ~90k .E. Louis Tomlinson is a divorced dad who doesn’t date. What free time he has, he likes to spend with his teenage daughter, and if he wants to take someone home, he does it when she’s spending the weekend with her mom. Then he meets Harry Styles, another divorced dad with a teenage daughter, who convinces him it’s a good idea to pretend they’re dating to keep their kids happy. Written for @1dsilverfoxfest​

🟧honey, honey 100 words .NR. a villanelle style poem and drabble inspired by the song “Daylight” and written for @harryshouseficfest​

🟨Late Night Talking ~50k .E. Louis Tomlinson has a new album coming out and a second world tour on the horizon. Promo season gets underway with a stop at Late Night Talking, the late night show hosted by Harry Styles, and Harry Styles just happens to be the man who blew a chance to date Louis a decade ago. Written for the @1dreversebang based on the prompt and gorgeous gifs by @deludedandlostcause

🟦Midnight ~10k .E. “Alphas are for fucking and pheromones,” Louis said during their first conversation, when he was moving into the building and Harry offered to help haul boxes up the stairs. “I’m perfectly capable of carrying my own groceries.” Louis relented when his Omega friend Zayn intervened and asked if he was also capable of moving his couch by himself. All Harry’d wanted to do was be a good neighbor. Now, here he is, half a year later, balls deep and four months into a no strings attached, sex only situation with the Omega of his dreams. He’s still not sure how it happened.

The rest of my Annual* Writing Self-Evaluation is under the cut:

It's been a weird year for me w/r/t fic writing! I wrote my longest fic so far by very much a lot. It was a labor of love and for most of the 8ish months I was writing it, I was feeling very down about my skills and writing in general, but I was having fun with turning New Girl into a larry fic, so I carried on, and I came out the other side ok I guess?

I modded our yearly @wankersday fest and the @harryshouseficfest despite promising myself I'd only do wankfest, and the stress of it solidified that decision lol. No more modding for me (except wankfest).

I wrote 9 fics this year, the lowest number of fics per year since my first year writing, and I posted my first ever fic in October and still wrote 5 fics that year. 6 of my 9 fics this year were for fests. That's more pressure than I usually like to put on myself, but I survived, and here's what my year looked like:

Number of stories posted this year: 9

Word count posted this year: 490,127

Stories with the most:

Kudos: Remember Me Before You (713)

Comment threads: RMBY (656)

Bookmarks: RMBY (605)

Work you are most proud of (and why):

Remember Me Before You my New Girl AU, more than twice as long as the next longest thing I've written, it's really just a love letter to the show. Posting it as a WIP while I finished the last bit was daunting because it's the first time I've done a WIP that wasn't complete before I started posting, but it was so fun! The comments fueled me and I loved chatting with you guys as it was going. Some of you were already New Girl fans, some hadn't seen the show, some starting watching it because of my fic??? it was an experience!

Work you are least proud of (and why):

Uh oh, it’s Magic (when I’m with you) for the @1dastroficfest. It was tough to get started and I think I tried like 4 different ideas for that prompt (The Hermit tarot card), but then Megan @homosociallyyours was like 'what if you took it very literally' and thankfully that worked! This was the first time I've ever been legitimately worried about meeting a deadline.

A favorite excerpt of your writing:

I'm never any good at picking snippets. I usually ask Nic @louandhazaf to assist, but this is part of a snippet I posted earlier this year, so... this is from Just Pretend, my older, divorced larry meet and decide to fake a relationship for their kids fic for @1dsilverfoxfest

According to his mom, he started flirting at two days old, and he’s only gotten better over the last forty-five years. Harry's had about that long to earn a doctorate in dimples. He wields them as he moves closer, pressing his chest against Louis’ palm and lifting his left hand to cradle Louis’ jaw. Cool despite the heat they’ve borrowed from his body, the touch of Harry's rings sends a shiver down Louis’ spine. His heart beats harder as he leans in. 

Louis’s never been a fan of tequila, but the sweet, peppery liquor is hardly perceptible under the taste of lime on Harry's tongue and the swirling, spicy scent of his sweat, deodorant and cologne. Three in the morning is only marginally cooler than midday and after working all night, Louis is damp with sweat and beer and he smells like it. Thankfully, Harry doesn’t seem to mind. He cups the side of Louis’ neck, fingertips toying with the ends of Louis’ silver hair, tickling and sending a thrill through him as he inches closer.

Grabbing hold of Harry's hips, Louis shifts his stance, stepping one foot between Harry's and sliding a hand around to splay across his lower back under the blousy hem of his half-buttoned shirt. Tilting his head, their noses bump, and Harry pulls back, wet lips parted, panting. Louis hardly has time to breathe before Harry guides him into another kiss, holding him so tightly that his forearm presses between Louis’ shoulder blades while his hand cups Louis’ neck. 

Hunching over Louis, his other hand tight on his hip, Harry bends him backwards—dipping him as if they were dancing—and Louis gasps into Harry's mouth. Hungrily, Harry sucks kisses over Louis’ jaw, down his neck to the hollow of his throat, dragging plush lips over the rough two-day beard Louis hasn’t bothered to shave before setting Louis back on his feet. 

Share or describe a favorite review you received:

i can't pick one. i'm terrible at picking favorites! but i will say that every person who read rmby as a wip and commented as they went, you guys are the real mvps of my 2022 fic experience.

A time when writing was really, really hard:

all year. no joke. and i know it seems stupid to say because i've posted almost half a million words this year, but i struggled to enjoy writing for much of this year. deadlines really fuck with my head, so i'm hoping to avoid those next year

A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

my entire fic for @wankersday in may. it's my first ever time writing girl!direction so i was very nervous and the whole thing surprised me while i was writing it and it continues to surprise me whenever i remember it exists

How did you grow as a writer this year:

idk man. i wrote a kid fic! and i wrote girl!direction. so that's 2 never before things in 2022

How do you hope to grow next year:

tbh i hope to grow in my ability to experience fomo and live with it. i hope to continue to strengthen my ability to say no lol. i'm only planning on writing for wankfest this year, so who knows what'll happen

Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta or cheerleader or muse etc etc):

nic @louandhazaf is always in this spot. she's my #1, my best friend, the other half of my brain, and the only reason i write

Anything from your real life show up in your writing this year:

doesn't it always? though tbh nothing specific i can think of at the moment

Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

just write. and listen to @roseanddaggerpodcast :D

Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year:

i am going back to school in january, so fic writing is being bumped way down the list of my priorities for 2023. like i said above, i only plan to write for @wankersday in may, but tbh idk if i'll be able to. Other than that, I’m looking forward to recording @roseanddaggerpodcast

Tag some writers whose answers you’d like to read. ;)

well, i drafted this post weeks ago lol and since then i've been tagged by @larryyouknow @jacaranda-bloom @louistomlionson @allwaswell16 @haztobegood @louandhazaf @chai-hat-tea @larrysballetslippers and i'll also tag

@londonfoginacup @bananaheathen @disgruntledkittenface @fallinglikethis @sadaveniren @jaerie @lululawrence @absoloutenonsense @alwaysxlarrie @uhoh-but-yeah-alright @cyantific @littleroverlouis @onlythebravest and if i tagged you in an answer above, consider yourself tagged here as well

*All answers should be about works published in 2022

[dreamsofminnie]

“False Confidence”

Kazuha | Childe —x gn!Reader Smau

06- Is this an Interrogation?🍁🐳 | Word count: 2.7k

“WHO KEEPS LEAVING THESE SOUL SUCKING LOVE POEMS!!” Lumine fumes over the small red gradient post-it note stuck on the same table for the 5th time in these four days.

“Why can’t this cafe be a love-free zone.” Aether grunts as he sticks the sticky note under the counter where a pile of them sat. “It’s called cafe dense for a reason.”

Lumine grabs ahold of her phone to snap a picture of the red post-its in the order she first saw them in.

“Aether it’s time to do some digging. Anonymous poem lover over here obviously needs to find someone no doubt. Once it’s solved then NO more love in this damn cafe.”

The blonde boy furrows his eyebrows, “lovers this, lovers that. We’re already dealing with a broken lover at our apartment. Now some randos wanna join in on the charade. And here I thought spring was love season. Not summer.”

The twins loll their heads to the side with a hefty sigh as they stare down the neatly written poems.

The door rings, announcing the customers entrance to the cafe this early afternoon.

Two tall men enter, one blonde the other ginger.

“Ah. You’re Dainsleif right? New worker, good timing.” The manager steps out from the kitchen and walks up to the counter to address the tall blonde. “Come. Let me get you your uniform and the twins will teach you the ropes.”

Dainsleif heads behind the counter following the woman. Childe is left alone at the cash register of his dreams—not good dreams, nightmares where he loses his phone and the thief leaks all his undocumented thirst trap selfies. He didn’t want anyone to know he is a gym bro; except everyone knew based on his endless stamina exercise high.

The twins having all the time currently with how it was a slow flow of customers today, turned their gaze on the awkward ginger standing right at the cash register twiddling his thumbs.

“Are you gonna order or start sucking your thumbs??” Lumine is not at all a morning person opposite to her other half.

“Oh uhm, iced black tea please.” Childe deflated in his first missed chance due to sudden defensive behavior from the workers.

Dainsleif came back out with an apron on and eyed Childe from where he stood. Having his friend basically watch him work was a tad unnerving.

Too much idling in the freetime he was provided, Childe sipped his drink in thought as he spaced out in the direction of the counter. A blessing descended upon him as he whipped out his phone to see the group chat go off twice.

“Lumine! I told you to take out the trash from yesterday!! Slacker!” Their manager wacked Lumine on the head and guided the grumbling blonde towards the kitchen. “Mistaked [Name]’s trash as the one being demanded to throw out. Ah jeez.”

Shoving his phone into his pocket Childe glanced over at Dainsleif who was getting the hang of the dreaded espresso machine. Dain’s eyebrows furrowed as he kept grinding the coffee beans with weak wrist movement.

Childe slipped out of the cafe and instead of fully leaving the premises, he rounded the cafe shop into the closed off alleyway.

Voices bounced off the narrow pathway the further he went. The iced drink in his hand nearly done and the perspiration outside the cup, smudged and vanished in the warm air.

“You. Ughg.. Can’t take a hit on your pride much.” A scoff interrupted halfway, footsteps and movements clacked against each other in a kind of odd dance.

Lumine was just trying to toss out the trash she was told to do the day before. Why is a short brute who’s had a grudge against her, attacking her all of a sudden. It was undeniably annoying and unnecessary.

Dodging a swing, Lumine dashes back facing the three figures in front of her.

“You move quick girlie. Do you box?” Loud sounds of slurping of the straw cracked through the tension.

The drink Childe was holding was soon slammed down to the ground by another pair of hands. He looked down at the deceased drink frowning but soon blank as he looked at his friends. “Arlei why are you here? To watch them duke it out? Fun~”

Arlecchino huffs and shrugs as she looks at Scara rubbing his bruised hand in annoyance. “You done? More important business is ahead.”

Scaramouche gives his woman friend the stink eye with a twitch. “I saw her first and Childe was dawdling, so I just decided to help out and beat her to make things faster.”

“Beat? Are you not the one whose hand is busted. Imbecile.”

“Hah!! Look at his knuckles!! it’s turning as black as his hair!!! Ahahaha!”

“Shut the fuck up, Childe!”

Lumine blanked at this whole odd friendship, she just wanted out. Eyes darting she surveyed the situation she was in. The backdoor to the cafe was behind Arlecchino. The alleyway was wide enough for four people side-by-side. Unfortunate that the alley exit was blocked by the three as Lumine was at the dead-end side.

The opening of the door surged a rush of energy, ‘Aether get your ass here and I’ll never make fun of your dakimakura(body) pillow again!’

“You forgot a trash bag–“ Dainsleif walked out holding a trash bag before stopping to evaluate the predicament. Lumine didn’t know she was holding her breath till Dainsleif just went ahead and threw the trash into the dumpster, totally ignoring the situation.

“Did you really just ignore them jumping me?!” Pissed, Lumine was about to crush everyone here. Even Aether will not be spared.

Dainsleif closed the dumpster lid and turned to the three. “Quit making a fuss over this. I heard the arguing from the inside.”

“Argh! Whatever!! You’re wasting time! Childe go.” Two pairs of glaring eyes hurled at the ginger as he rummaged for his phone.

The lockscreen lit up and he faced it towards the peeved twin. “Do you know them, oh–wise Lumine.” The hopefulness in Childe’s voice was evident that Lumine wanted to say no just to crush his stupid face.

“Depends on who’s asking, and for what reason.” She crossed her arms over her chest as Childe recaps her on his view.

“Why do you like them? Gorgeous is not valid. Would you actually like their personality? Can you even treat a person well?”

“Is this an interrogation…” Childe chuckles albeit a bit unnerved.

“Yes. Now answer.”

[🍁🐳]

Aether on the other hand was dying from excruciating boredom. Dainsleif had been moved to the kitchen for more cooking training right after the tall ginger left the front door. Lumine was also taking out the trash, though a little slowly might he add.

Aether might as well clean up the tables. If the tables didn’t already look entirely clean. He still grabbed a damp rag and wiped the surfaces. Today was such a slow day he couldn’t wait for it to be over.

Aether paused in his circle movements as a thought appeared before him, ‘Is there no customers because [Name] hasn't been around... That’s so appalling but can be true.’

A ding alerts the blonde twin and he snaps his head towards the door. A group comes into the cafe and he swore he never felt this much relief at customers.

He prances to the cash register to serve them. “Welcome, what can I get you guys.”

“Hmn…It’s already afternoon so no heavy coffee.”

“Why not some tea? More water in it makes it less caffeinated.”

“I like mine sweet.”

“No sugar for me. I rather mine more caffeinated.”

“Bedo, you need more water in your system instead..” Exasperated, Kazuha turns back to Aether and fixes everyone's order.

“Warm herbal milk tea, hot sweet red tea, iced caffeinated black tea, and a warm oolong tea please.” Aether nodded and let them input their card while he prepared the cups and tea leaves.

The group sat down at the same constant table they have everyday since the selfie event. “Of course Kazu has a large stack of post-it notes in his pocket. I didn’t know post-it notes came in that size…” Kazuha handed one of the red gradient sticky notes to Albedo for inspection as he continued to scribble on one.

He would hum in frustration when it wasn't good enough of a sentence. Cyno took out his uno cards and suggested a round which got the table chatty. Something Aether missed very much, the noise of people at the cafe is very welcomed and it made his work a little faster.

“Uno!” Cyno slapped down the card and held his last remaining card to his chest.

Kazuha and Tighnari huffed in defeat with their stack of cards, unluckily taking the brute of Cyno’s aggressive gameplay and Albedo’s ‘if the cards are useful i will use immediately.’

Kazuha had a lightbulb of an idea flash in his head and jotted his thoughts on the post-it.

“Do you really think the selfie person really looks at your post-its?”

Aether finished up the drinks and decided to bring them over to the table. Placing them on a tray he walks over and hands the warm herbal milk tea to Tighnari, hot sweet red tea to Cyno, iced black tea to Albedo and lastly Kazuha’s warm oolong tea.

“Of course, if the sticky notes are gone everyday, no matter if i stay seated here or not, someone must have took it, no?”

“Hmm? Those red sticky notes…Are they yours?” Aether saw those red gradient notes and immediately recognized them.

“Aether. Do you know about the post-it notes?” Cyno called out to him as his acquaintance and Aether nodded. “These are always stuck on this table till the end of the day. My sister said that the person must be looking for someone.”

Kazuha caught onto the glimmer of hope and Albedo shot Aether a question. “Perchance, do you know this [Name] person?”

*A few Minutes ago* Walking along the way to the cafe Cyno had excitedly brought up that he knew the first name of admire, the nickname Kazuha gave to the selfie person. “I won’t reveal it just yet. Let me get some more info on them first.”

“[Name]…so that's their name? It’s nice” Kazuha gave a warm smile and wrote down the name on the corner of his sticky note.

The other three glanced at Aether with a look of, ‘you see how whipped he is?’ to help him understand the situation.

“How do you know them? What do you like about them? Have you met them??”

“Is this an interrogation?” Kazuha chuckles and tilts his head with his same gentle smile.

“Yes, can you answer?”

[🍁🐳]

Lazing about, You dawdle on your phone for the past hour. You’ve already watched all the interesting Netflix shows on the TV, ate to your full capacity, and scrolled on twitter till it gave you year old tweets.

‘When are the twins coming backkkkk’

Facing up towards the clock, they still have hours to go before they are released from their shackles.

Rolling on the sofa you lay on your back and put both hands and phone on your stomach balancing the air you breathe.

Not being able to go outside is like contamination you can’t see so you have to cover your senses just to not notice when you get sick.

“Wait, we have a balcony….i knew that.” Jumping to you feet you skip to the balcony and lay on the seat there. The breeze and sun felt so nice on your skin. You missed this feeling very much, sunbathing and napping under a tree. It made you feel warm and sleepy.

About to doze off, a ringtone and vibration on your stomach jolted you up with a bead of sweat. “Aether??!”

“Hola mi hermano!” You were brimming with joy over finally having interaction with a human from the 4 hours the twins were gone.

“Stop it..[Name] i wanna ask, do you know of a phone that you have taken and took a selfie with then put back?” Question marks were ringing in your head at the strange way of speech.

“I took a selfie on someone elses phone??” Aether confirmed it happened at the cafe and you thought very hard on which one he was taking about.

“Oh! Was it when i saw a phone left on a table so i took advantage and snapped a good one real quick then put it back? I thinnkk the phone case was of a red maple tree and teal wind patterns.

“Yes! It is!!” A excited voice shouted from the background and Aether hushed them and seemingly walked a distance away.

“Miss [Name]…care to take responsibility?? The guy’s phone you took is now asking to pursue you.” Aether gave a brief pause, knowing you, you held your breath just the same.

Your heart was pleading you not to. To halt any forthcoming romance, one more time of heartbreak and suffering will be the last thing you remember.

“…Can i, not? Tell him i’m not very interested to pursue romance again. Apologies.” You curled up on the sunbathing chair as your relaxed mood now drew a big weight. The sun felt much hotter and the breeze has died down.

“Okay i will—“

“Ah! Lumine is calling me?! Are you not with her Aethie??” The buzzing of your phone made you lower it and put your volume on speaker.

“No, Lumi went out to throw the trash..She is sure taking her time.” Aether purse his lips as he tries to figure out an explanation to tell the guys sitting at the table near him waiting for an explanation. Kazuha’s face distraught and the others comforted him dramatically.

“Put me on hold then, go answer Lumine.”

Answering the female twins call and putting Aether on hold to deal with the strange group, you pick up the call with a usual tone of surprise.

“Moshi moshi? Luminie why are you not with Aethie?”

A long-drawn-out aggravated sigh came up from the other side of the speaker phone. “Got jumped today so i'm full blasting you to solve all my problems. Here, do you hear [Name]?” The last sentence was a bit further away and was directed at Lumine’s company rather than at you.

To be completely honest, getting tossed around like this on the phone is very unnerving and not very pleasant.

“Hello?~ Are you my commander?! Nice to meet you, I’m Childe.” A voice unrecognizable popped up, his voice was smooth and– kinda playboyish.

“Who?” You were already a bit drained from the last phone call, and the sun has been relentlessly beating into you.

“Childe! Would you mind revealing your sweet name?”

“Did you not just hear Lumine just tell you?!? Or did you repeat it in your head one too many times that the goldfish brain in your head, upped and died?!!?” A harsh voice from further away drilled venom into the man you were talking to, very thrilling speech.

“Rather, the pea brain in his system must’ve overstimulated with glee the second he heard their alluring voice.” A different voice, one much elegant than the other sharp one, voiced out.

With how your phone is on speaker and the high volume you set it on with your deaf ears, you heard every comment clearly.

“Can i talk to the other two instead? Their words gave me 4 golden years of my weary life.” Humor in your voice was not even hidden by now, their insults granted you vitality to fight off the sun again. You heard a voice saying “Gladly.” faintly in the background. “Are we making out rn?” You whispered back.

“Nooo!! Scara! Arlei! Stop stealing my commander!!” This call was getting nowhere, Lumine also mentally agreed.

“Who’s what?? What is the point of this call?? I put Aether on hold for this.”

Lumine snatched her phone back much to the ginger's jester-like tears. “A dumbass that I once handed back his phone from losing it, showed me that you took his phone and snapped a pic to make his lock screen. He…..wants to meet you.”

Again with the meeting. Again with the picture. Again with the looks you have that can make people entranced by you. You were too tired to please others this time. If someone wanted you, they had to entrance you to the max. You were your own problem to be frank.

“No. You may not pass~ …Tell Aether to buy some fruits on the way back, i’m bored out of my mind so I'll tell your manager to let you out early. Bye.” Hurriedly ending the call on both twins, albeit hearing a bit of interesting love poem talk when Aether was off hold, you shut your phone off and headed inside to stuff yourself with icecream— and hopefully Aether and Lumine gets here in time for fruits and icecream.

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Synopsis-> You were dared to take the cute guy’s phone which lay open on the coffee table at your friend’s work place. You took a selfie of your face at pinned it as their lock screen. And now you are being hunted by the phone’s owner who's now curious about you from your flirt and run. Through your flirtatious ways, you have never been able to maintain relationships; you always keep an arms length away. You don’t believe you deserve love at all, so why not flirt with strangers?

Summer season-> Name has been filling back on their flirts since the responses to their flirts were getting too dizzying to them. Though the twins can see the attempts of two boys vying for your affection. Twins detective agency activated while you took some time to yourself with failure.

THIS TOOK ME AWHILE TO WRITE

Finnally, some food

Taglist->

@pokidot @scarletttcroww @noirinnn @melodiesoffadedroses @x4ndri @liilactears @ilovekazuha271 @ghostlysyntaxed @ferumie @cryastre @whipped-for-fictionals @crucnhice @tamikahoshiko @soleillunne @duckyyyx @jiminscarmex @cridtiins @1999mercury @haruaikawa @nachotrash @niaaaas-posts @kimiesstuff @jaiistg

[fancoloredglasses]

The Funny Feline Felonies/The Joke's on Catwoman (Roses are red/Violets are blue/If you want your head to hurt/Just read this review)

[All images are owned by DC Comics and 20th Century Fox Disney. Please don’t sue me]

(Thanks to batgirlspain for the inspiration)

In Season 3 of Batman, the producers cut the number of episodes in half (airing once a week instead of twice) as a cost-cutting measure…and ratings suffered as a result. As such, the producers did some crazy ideas, including a surf-off between Batman and the Joker, a three-part story in the UK (in the city of “Londinium”), bringing in Ethel Merman, Milton Berle, and Joan Collins as villains, and recasting Catwoman when Julie Newmar became unavailable.

One thing they also did was do an episode in which 2 of their most popular villains team up (they did do a team-up story in Season 2 with Penguin and the Joker, but Penguin was in more a supporting role, appearing in 2 episodes of the 3-part story) Now, I know these days having 2 (or more) villains teaming up is commonplace in the movies (but seeing as the villains of superhero films don’t survive the film over 75% of the time, that tends to run through the A and B-List villains quickly. How long until we have a Batman film where he goes up against Kite Man and Condiment King?), but this was a novelty in the 60s (hell, having Batman face FOUR villains must have been box office gold! I honestly have no idea, as I can’t find a record of ticket sales for the film)

Anyway, on to the episode! If you would like to watch it, it’s available on Max or behind your favorite paywall.

We open at Gotham State Prison where…

…the Joker is being released on parole for good behavior (but it’s only been 6 episodes since he was last arrested. No wonder Batman has job security!) Joker thanks the warden and Bruce Wayne (who, in addition to being the head of the Wayne Corporation and the Wayne Foundation (not to mention his night job), is the head of the parole board. Does he wash the dishes too?)

Wait, seriously?! Anyway, the Joker leaves the prison and encounters…

(Thanks to m1thousand1000)

Bruce suggests the warden get his guards after Catwoman while he uses the warden’s phone to Alfred, who plugs him into the Bat-phone as Commissioner Gordon calls “Batman”.

How the hell does Gordon know? No one has had a chance to inform him yet!

Bruce immediately heads back to Gotham City as the opening credits roll.

Batman and Robin arrive at GCPD HQ. Meanwhile across the street at the Sleazy Hotel (I’m hoping that’s the owner’s last name, otherwise they should consider moving to a different part of the city)

(Thanks to jj lucia-wright)

As the Dynamic Duo cross the street and enter Catwoman’s now-empty room. As they search for clues (they found Joker’s suit he left the prison in and a scrap of paper), who should appear but…

Batgirl touches base with the Caped Crusaders, but since they seem to have hit a dead end, she leaves. Then Robin notices the paper he found earlier has vanished.

Batman admires her ingenuity and figures their paths would cross again and they can compare notes.

Later at Catwoman’s hideout (which has been decked out with Joker’s tastes mixed in), Catwoman briefs Joker on her scheme, which centers around a 200 year-old poem written by a criminal.

Naturally, the stash is hidden somewhere in Gotham City (because of course it is). Once they find the powder, part two is to use it to break into the gold depository and steal the contents (one would think that much gunpowder would level the building, not just blow a hole in it)

Let’s look at that poem, shall we?

Great, limericks. Still, you can’t expect the writers an 18th century thief to come up with Shakespeare.

Catwoman has a line on the crib and nightshirt mentioned. She has also left a clue (namely, a certain scrap of paper, which was part of the parchment) to lure the Terrific Trio into a purr-fect trap.

The next day, Barbara Gordon finds out more about the scrap of parchment. Later, Batgirl sneaks into Commissioner Gordon’s office to use the phone.

Batgirl tells Batman to meet her at the apartment of a gentleman known as Little Louie Groovy (can you tell this was made in the 60s?), a famous record producer.

Later at Louie Groovy’s “pad”…

…there’s a break-in! Louie puts up a valiant…oh hell, he flails his arms and feet pretending to know karate until he winds himself, then is overpowered. Then the goons strip Louie of his nightshirt.

(At least he wears boxers to bed) Fortunately for Louie, the Caped Crusaders show up. Cue the fight music!

(Thanks to Jacob Dombroski)

Joker throws Catwoman under the Cat-Bus.

(Thanks to Complex)

…I meant the metaphorical one.

Joker spins a bullshit story about being roped into stealing Louie’s nightshirt as a practical joke, and wants to shake the Dynamic Duo’s hands and be on his way so they can deal with the real criminal, Catwoman.

…yeah, I knew this would be a “joy buzzer” moment.

After that, they will stop breathing!

With that, the Joker and Catwoman take their leave (will Gotham City’s villains NEVER learn?)

Fortunately, just as the villains leave, Batgirl arrives (where was she earlier?)

How is an antidote supposed to help against electrocution? Whatever, it works.

Batgirl catches Batman up about the poem. Batman asks about the crib.

…of course it is. Katz (this theft has a certain feline-themed villain’s pawprints all over it!) is a British clothing designer.

Later, at Katz’s mansion, the villains have come and gone. Actually, they’re waiting outside the mansion to ambush the Terrific Trio.

Normally, you’d have to wait a week (since this is season 3) to see the conclusion. However, I don’t wanna wait that long, so…

As the Terrific Trio leave Karnaby Katz’s mansion…

(Thanks to jedburgh01)

(Seriously, they NEVER learn!)

Later, back at the Batcave, the Caped Crusaders get a message from Batgirl via Commissioner Gordon (so the GCPD is reduced to Batman’s answering service now?) to meet her on the corner of Cattail Lane and Nine Lives Alley. On the corner is the Grimalkin Novelty Company. What is a Grimalkin, you might ask?

(Wow, how did they figure out that’s likely Catwoman’s hideout? Or, more to the point, why did they not have that intersection staked out the moment it was built?)

And at said novelty company (do they make cat toys?) Catwoman pieces the puzzle of the nightshirt and the crib. The shirt’s pattern is the map, while the crib is the directions (backward and in French; and no one bothered to translate it before now? This is some National Treasure-level shit here)

With the directions (doing the opposite, since the poem said the instructions were lying) in hand, Our Villains are off!

Meanwhile, the Dynamic Duo meet Batgirl at the novelty company.

Batman has programmed the Bat-Sonar to track Catwoman’s car (you’d think they could ask the GCPD to watch out for it and let them know…or maybe even put a radio transmitter on the car, but nooooooooo, they have to give a Bat-shit reason they can do this!)

With that, the Terrific Trio all pile into the Batmobile and off they go!

The map leads Our Villains to a lighthouse, where they confront the lighthouse keeper and his wife (named Mr. and Mrs. Keeper, naturally; they even refer to each other that way!)

The henchgoons capture Mr. and Mrs. Keeper, which is probable cause enough for the Terrific Trio (lurking outside) to burst onto the scene. The villains move to flee, but the Joker accidentally twists the knob on the lighthouse’s banister and…

…opens the secret passage containing the gunpowder (you mean Mrs. Keeper didn’t move that knob once while she was doing her hourly cleaning of the lighthouse? Hey, don’t look at me that way! Mrs. Keeper is constantly complained that there's nothing to do in the lighthouse BUT clean!)

The Joker lights a match for a better look, but Batman bats it out of his hand, accidentally knocking it into the room! The resulting explosion destroys the lighthouse…but doesn’t blow up the room everyone is in? It turns out the Bat-shit explanation is that Batman coated the room using a canister of…

And here I thought the Shark-Repellant Bat Spray was bad!

As Batman goes to arrest Joker and Catwoman…

…Catwoman lawyers up. I mean, unless they confess they should get a trial. Catwoman then makes a call to criminal attorney “Lucky Pierre,” who has never lost a case (if that’s the case (no pun intended), why don’t all of Gotham City’s villains have him on retainer?)

Later, the trial is in full swing, with Batman as the lead prosecutor (is there nothing he can’t do? I guess since this version of Gotham City doesn’t have Harvey Dent…)

Batman examines every individual affected in this case: Little Louie Groovy, Karnaby Katz, and Mr. and Mrs. Keeper. In each case, Lucky Pierre declines cross examination. The Joker is beside himself, but Catwoman tells him to stay calm. With Batman’s case laid out, it’s time for Lucky Pierre to take the floor, but Lucky Pierre declines.

As Batman gives his summation (and Lucky Pierre declines to do so), the judge sends the jury away to deliberate, but the foreman announces the verdict immediately:

The judge reads the jury the riot act.

(Thanks to Jacob Dombroski)

At least the fight got a ZOWIE!

This being season 3, the final scene reveals next week’s villain:

Louie the Lilac (played by legendary comedian Milton Berle)

But that’s the subject of another episode (and, perhaps in the future, another review)

[mariacallous]

TEHRAN—Almost immediately after Iranian authorities announced that President Ebrahim Raisi had died on May 19, black mourning flags were raised across Tehran. Residents in the capital awoke the following day to giant banners on most street corners depicting the late leader with poems and flattering language about him.

Campaign posters are expected to follow soon: According to Iran’s constitution, a new president must be chosen within 50 days of a leader’s death. The vote to elect Raisi’s successor is scheduled for June 28. On Sunday, Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi officially opened the presidential election season, ordering Iran’s provinces and cities to set up headquarters and committees to run elections within three days. Candidates can register between May 30 and June 3, the country’s Election Headquarters announced.

All candidates must be vetted by the Guardian Council, a 12-member clerical government body, before a two-week campaigning period starts on June 12. The new president will serve a full four-year term after his inauguration.

Saeed Jalili, a hard-liner and Iran’s former chief nuclear negotiator, is considered one of the contenders for the presidency, as is the current acting president, Mohammad Mokhber, who is close to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Former hard-liner President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told supporters outside his Tehran home that he would consider running. Ali Larijani, the comparatively moderate former speaker of parliament, may also stand in the polls.

The May 19 helicopter crash that killed Raisi also claimed the lives of Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and six others and triggered five days of mourning—national holidays that culminated in the 63-year-old president’s burial last Thursday at the Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad, Iran’s holiest site. The funeral drew around 3 million people, according to the city’s mayor. Many traveled from afar by train after a television broadcast advertised free accommodation at hotels and guesthouses. Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, who is based in Qatar, visited Tehran on Wednesday for one of Raisi’s funeral processions.

Thousands more gathered at the Shah Abdol-Azim shrine in Rey, a suburb of Tehran, to attend Amir-Abdollahian’s funeral. Chants of “death to Israel, death to America” echoed through the crowds at the shrine, where people waved Iranian, Palestinian, Hezbollah, and Hamas flags. Mourners squeezed tightly into the shrine’s courtyard where, teary-eyed and praying, they threw fresh flowers onto Amir-Abdollahian’s coffin as it arrived for its final rest.

“We’re bidding farewell,” 45-year-old Tahere Mehrabi said, her hands held up in prayer. “The nation is grieving, but we’re hoping for a bright future. That’s also why I’m heading to the polls,” she added.

Islamic scholar Hamid Rajeri, 45, confirmed his intention to vote but added with disgust that he had also seen a different side of Iran “while the whole country was grieving,” referring to social media posts celebrating Raisi’s death. “These martyrs were popular figures and our people are devastated. Those celebrating are hooligans,” he said.

Raisi’s death has exposed further fissures in Iranian society. While millions grieved, others used the unexpected national holiday for an impromptu vacation, traveling to northern Iran’s mountains. In Tehran, groups of students who lacked the funds for trips gathered in coffee shops and parks, playing card games and drinking hot black tea from thermoses.

“Why should we be sad? We know him as the ‘Butcher of Tehran,’” said an 18-year-old engineering student, her bright pink hair uncovered and her ears decked with piercings. She spoke on the condition of anonymity, fearing identification by the government. In the 1980s, Raisi oversaw mass executions of political prisoners, she added.

Under his leadership in 2022, Iran cracked down hard on anti-government protests following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who was detained by Iran’s morality police for wearing “improper” clothing and later died in the hospital. “We want justice and political change, but the system is not changing. It’s frustrating,” the student said, sitting on the grass with six of her classmates. When asked if she would vote next month, she shook her head. “Not me, not my friends.”

Raisi, known for his close alignment with the 85-year-old Khamenei, was widely regarded by experts as his potential successor. Raisi assumed office in 2021 after the Guardian Council disqualified several moderate and reformist opponents in that year’s presidential election, triggering record-low voter turnout of 48.8 percent. Experts say that the upcoming election is unlikely to bring significant changes to Iran’s ruling system. Just 41 percent of eligible voters participated in March’s parliamentary election.

“Back in 2021, the supreme leader wanted a true loyalist in power, a supporter of the deep state and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps,” said Hamidreza Azizi, an expert on Iranian foreign policy and visiting fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. “Nothing substantial has changed on that front. The government is seeking a safe transition of supreme leaders, so it is unlikely that they will allow outsiders to come in and jeopardize this interest.” Given Khamenei’s age, many are speculating about his health and potential succession.

Azizi does not expect significant changes in voter turnout, either. “Even if moderate and reformist candidates are qualified in the upcoming elections—which isn’t guaranteed—I don’t think people will show up in big numbers,” he said. Dislike of the government is also widespread among Iranians, Azizi said. The urban middle class has expressed this sentiment on social media and via social disobedience, such as women’s refusal to wear the mandatory headscarf. Dissatisfaction has grown in smaller, lower-income towns, too, where residents have launched sporadic protests against the government over economic struggles.

“The reality is that all Iranians suffer from economic, social, and political restrictions, and there is no immediate solution in sight—especially as long as foreign sanctions and systemic corruption exist,” Azizi added.

However, some experts argue that the upcoming snap election presents an opportunity for change in Iran. “Last time, the Guardian Council disqualified several people, but it appears they will have a more inclusive approach this time, mostly due to the low voter turnout during the 2021 polls and the criticism the council faced,” explained Afifeh Abedi, a reformist parliamentary candidate for the Tehran constituency who ran in Iran’s legislative elections this spring.

With official campaigns set to start on June 12, Abedi hopes that a more inclusive approach to elections and candidate qualification will bring Iranians to the polls—especially in the capital, where voter participation has been lower than in other provinces.

As the mourning period and funerals concluded last Friday, Tehran returned to normalcy, save for the Raisi banners and black flags. Shops were open, and restaurants were packed. Over the weekend, students strolled down the city center’s Enghelab Street, rummaging through bookstores and ordering saffron ice cream floats with carrot juice. In the evenings, dozens of people gathered on a hilltop dubbed the “roof of Tehran” to watch the sun set over the city. Children flew kites, young couples sat listening to music, and families poured cups of tea.

“Between sanctions, politics, and the economy, life isn’t easy here,” a 20-year-old woman said as she sat with her friends after trekking up the hill, staring into the city lights. She, too, spoke on the condition of anonymity to protect her safety. “Many young people want to leave, but after all, this is our country. This is our culture. It’s home—and regardless of the circumstances, leaving home is not easy.”

[logan-is-noggin]

So in 1988, Disney channel released the new adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

This series lasted for four seasons. Then in 2001, the book of Pooh, a puppetry based TV show.

If you pay attention, there are stories lines that are used in both shows. For example " piglets poohatry" shows piglet trying to share a poem he wrote but Tigger keeps changing it.

And in " biglet" piglet is upset about his short size and wishes he was bigger. His friends help to make him seem bigger

[fourseasonsfigs]

New Year Joint Special Project - Fortunately, Your Heart is Like Mine

This is the fifth set in this 6-set series, and one I've been excited about for a long time! This is the leap at Longyuan Pavilion.

This set is one in a collaborative series of six designed among five fig makers for the Lunar New Year 2022. This fig collaboration launched on February 22, 2022, and if you ordered during the pre-order period, you would get a piece of a magnet which formed part of a larger piece of art. If you got all 6 magnets, you could complete the whole art piece. The collaboration was 4 Wenzhou sets and 2 Junzhe.

I've posted about the previous sets here:

Armory

Never Fail the Four Seasons

Bazaar

Orange Soda

The 4 Wenzhou ones are below, and this set is of course the one in the top left.

The name of this set comes from Episode 18, where A-Xu and Lao Wen are battling the drug men in the Longyuan pit. A-Xu says his life something to the effect of his life being worthwhile because he has found a friend, and Lao Wen says,

"Fortunately, your heart is like mine," (per Google Translate), which probably a quote, just given A-Xu's next line about Lao Wen's poems giving him a headache.

This fig set is exciting because it's set in motion! No just standing around posing here. It makes sense because the inspiration for it is this gorgeous leap (trust fall, as some call it):

I remember catching my breath when watching A-Xu jump in the show, sure that there was no way he was going to make it across.

Lao Wen arrived with his rock outcropping. He has the world's smallest, cutest feet here! Which makes sense given they are just fitting into the base.

The pegs went right in, and he's nice and stable on the rock, which is good because he's about to grab on to his A-Xu.

Super cute. You can see the detail on his purple robes, which I loved even if they weren't Gong Jun's favorite (I mean, yeah, it IS a lot of purple). The PVC mold seaming which you can see on his head, is, like always, barely noticeable in real life vs this deep groove like it looks here.

The original robes had some very beautiful and very ornate embroidery on them, so the decision to simplify it down a bit for this fig (but still imply the overall design) is still lovely. It's a much better look rather than just having the purple colorway by itself.

Lao Wen's well-coifed hair just prior to tumbling down a tunnel!

An extreme closeup so you can see the details on the robe.

And the top view of that hand reaching out!

To match Lao Wen's little feet, we have A-Xu with his little boots. He came with this acrylic pillar, which the fig maker advised could be used to stand him up on, since he can't stand up himself due to the flying-through-the-air pose. However, the fig maker also noted that the pillar had turned out to be the wrong size. A-Xu on the pillar was too high, which meant the two figs couldn't make eye contact. She advised that folks get a bit of fishing wire and use that instead, so A-Xu and Lao Wen could properly be looking at each other.

SO. CUTE. Look at that face!

I did my best to photograph the normal shots of all sides, just given this fig's in-flight pose.

I really love how his belt is in motion too. The fig maker did such a nice job with this design.

In watching this episode again for this post, I was struck once again how elegant and beautiful A-Xu's costume is. The wide collar, the wide belt, and the lovely seafoam green.

The fig makers must have a lot of fun with Wenzhou's hair.

Mindful of the fig maker's words, I tried both the fishing wire and the pillar. And yep, no eye contact - A-Xu's trusting gaze is well over Lao Wen's head, even if I move Lao Wen waaaaay back. It's too bad! I actually like him on the pillar more than I thought I would. He won't balance on top of it by himself, and there's no slot or anything to stick him on top of it, so I put a big piece of Museum Putty under his robes to stick him on that pillar. It worked well! And the pillar does balance - I didn't think it would, I thought I would have to putty the bottom to the counter, but he's been hanging out on that pillar for some time just fine.

So, the fishing wire. Or filament, rather. I actually had some from a craft project I did with my niece a while back, so I carefully tied up A-Xu. I didn't want to just put it around his neck, and the same with his ponytail (I've seen too many videos of fig assembly at the factories - I'm never sure which pieces are glued on and which are permanently affixed), so I ended up way over-complicating it and stringing it cross ways around his torso and up around his hair. Not the finest job ever. I tried to pose him for some action shots for the main pic header of this blog, and found out just how smoothly I could get Zhou-Xianggong to fly through the air.

Answer - not at all. This was, in fact, the smoothest of the bunch (and he actually made contact with Lao Wen's hand, as a bonus!). I was laughing my head off watching him spin wildly in the air as I tried to make him glide gracefully forward. Sorry, A-Xu!

Here we have a much better leap, immortalized in the beautiful box art. The quote on the left with A-Xu is: 得君为友不枉此生, dé jūn wéi yǒu bù wǎng cǐshēng, "having you as a friend, my life has not been in vain", and Lao Wen's answering, 幸得君心似我心, xìng dé jūn xīn sì wǒ xīn, "fortunately, your heart is like mine".

Amazing these lines can all be poorly machine translated and still absolutely beautiful.

The matching box cards with the same quotes.

The piece of the magnet! This is the farthest left edge of the piece of art. Only one more to go, the farthest right edge - Bedema Lake.

Stay tuned for after the ***** line for the entire set of 5 magnets to date! As a reminder, this set has adorable chibi art of two half-dressed zhiji cuddling and smooching in bed, so navigate away if that's not something you can have show up on your phone / computer right now.

Material: PVC (figures) and acrylic (stand)

Fig Count: 168

Diorama Count: 9

Snowglobe: 1

Rating: A leap of faith

[link back to Master Fig Index for more posts]

************************************************************

As usual, here we have some random chatting to fill up the space between the fig count and the pic.

I'm super, super excited about the last fig set. My Bedema Lake box is currently at the warehouse getting bubble wrapped. I don't typically bubble wrap PVC figs (only resin figs) for the transcontinental voyage, but this has so many delicate parts with the raft and the water that I didn't want to chance it.

You can see why, right? You can also see the magnet (turned over) there in the middle. I can't wait to get this!

Speaking of magnets:

Here's the set to date! Cute, isn't it! Only one more to go.

[granolabird]

I wrote some stuff based on The Four Winds album collection by The Oh Hellos.

Idk what these are but I really love them, so do with them what you will 💙

.

The calm before the storm. Letting go of the past, yet always longing to cling on. The deep unsettling despair that comes with nostalgia. A haze of memories, blasted in the sun until they become unrecognisable. The dragging of a whirlpool, deep into the sea. The humming of cicadas from far in the distance. Notos brings the winds of Summer. A warm, bold season. Her colours are dull but her spirit sturdy. Summer brings many memories, but those come in many varieties. Summer days spent joyous, and those spent alone, in sweltering heat that blisters your very bones. A warrior, a queen, a hero, a leader. Notos carries unimaginable burdens. The Southern Wind heads The Four Winds, stoic and strong. Every word a torrent, like the sea that froths and foams when children splash amongst its waves to escape the warm weather. She remembers the things of the past, the days of summer long gone, even when those around her do not. It is her fate.

.

A deep sense of community. Love, everlasting and ever fruitful. Bountiful harvests that bring such joy. The coming of great change, for better or for worse. Celebration. Eurus is the carrier of the autumnal winds. He carries a light disposition, bringing in a season of thanks. Be grateful when he arrives on the tail of Summer, a reprieve from the heat and a buffer from the cold. Harvests are plentiful, and allow for feasts that feed many. They bring friends and family together, a feeling of communal love that spreads across the land. Dancing until the night fades away, drinking until the sun rises and sets the leaves of the trees alight like a raging fire. While creatures begin to slumber and vegetation withers with the chill in the air, some life prospers and grows. The feeling of warmth within us carries us through the nearing cold, and into a feeling of lightness. Eurus is the Eastern Wind, the youngest of The Four Winds, and the most naive. He is not yet wise to the ways of his winds, the death that Autumn heralds alongside the joy it promises. In time he will learn the truth.

.

An endless despair, reaching into your very soul. A sense of impending doom, yet with nothing you can pinpoint to cause the dread. Repetition and routine, over and over until it becomes unbearable. A longing for something more, but it's just out of reach. The long darkness of the far north. The bitter cold and biting winds that freeze your heart. Boreas brings with her the season of winter. She is a dreamer, always wishing for more, despite the cards she's been handed. Many despise her. When she arrives, so does the snow that lays thick on the earth and kills all life beneath its smothering weight. The shortened days that bring early darkness that causes a sadness that clings to even the hardiest of beings. Life is short, and Boreas makes it shorter. Yet she brings beauty as well, the Aurora Borealis, dancing above the world, ever intangible. That's the problem with Boreas. The most beautiful things are always intangible. The Northern Wind is one that carries with her a deep depression. She desires nothing more than for change, but every day is the same blank canvas of snow and ice. She just wants to know the warmth of the sun once more.

.

Creativity, ever blossoming and ever expanding into worlds of its own. Growth, learning from the past and looking to the future. The blossoming of new life, born from the womb or hatched from a seed. Colours bursting from beneath a world of black and white. With Zephyrus comes the winds of spring. He brings in hope for the future after the dull dread of winter. His bright energy brings new ideas to light, spurring those inclined to it into great displays of the creativity that rests within them. Paintings of the most magnificent trees, poems of playful animals, and songs of hope and life born anew. Growth is his most powerful weapon. While new life rises and transforms, so does one's spirit. Lessons of the past take shape, as new bonds are formed and new mistakes are made. The Western Wind is the bringer of hope. He ushers in a season of progressiveness, urging those around him to make big decisions, no matter the consequences. He is carefree, always carrying with him a sense of joy. Yet with that joy there comes the intrinsic knowledge that things all come full circle. The times of darkness will return, and if one does not learn from them now, then they never will.

.

Their tales as old as time, their stories never ending, they traverse the world on the wings of inevitability. Just like the seasons, the four winds flow together and apart in a constant ebb and flow, changing with the days and always entwined.

[ilgaksu]

For the fic writer emoji ask: 👀🦅❌

Not for the ask: 💖🌸🕶

so some uniqlo stores allow custom embroidery on items from uniqlo, and i definitely considered getting the heihua flower and black glasses on my bag. i got two little cats instead, but one of them is pink, so?

from these fic writer asks

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

i am trying this year to do more seasonal fics, because that's something i love, and so i have a period-accurate 1980s AU based on the film The Lost Boys for halloween. hei xiazi is a vampire and carnie, xiao hua wears high-waisted jeans and pastel graphic button up shirts, and wu xie has no idea for half of the AU that vampires exist.

in terms of canon-aligned fic, i have a fic dealing with xiao hua, transness, dysphoria, and cohen's 7 monster theses, but the fic itself is very draining in terms of focus to make the intensity of emotional expression land, so it's slow-going.

and in terms of a different fandom, i am slowly sliding into mysterious lotus casebook, and i have about 3 fic ideas already, i just have to actually finish the show first.

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

i have no written outlines for a fic, ever. often, the fic you see is a first draft because i often redraft at the point of writing, and because i do not have any beta (i have sensitivity readers and friends who give second opinions, but no beta. all the sins and errors in my fic are my fault).

for example, wicked and loving lies was a first draft written entirely in 48 hours bar for one passage which had been picked over and sat in a google doc for months. the centre of every poem was written in one sitting of four hours long. it risks a lot of issues with cinnamon words (or where the same word shows up too many times for my liking) and also is why there are often slight edits later on when i can sit and reread it.

even for long multi-chap fics, the no-written-outlines remains the same. for aus, all the details of worldbuilding are also from memory. all the callbacks and extended metaphors are also purely memorised, and not just for fic, but across whole extended canon universes (if you look, the heihua extended universe all interconnects and calls back to each other thematically and with certain metaphors and phrases). if i ever die midway through a fic, you're all screwed, because there won't be any evidence but for my discord group chats about how it was meant to end.

❌ What’s a trope you will never write?

SEE, I TRY NEVER TO SAY NEVER, BECAUSE IT WILL COME BACK TO BITE ME IN THE ASS. and often i take tropes i dislike the longstanding interpretation of and try and reinvent them, so while there are tropes i hate to read personally, i can't say i wouldn't ever try and write them. in fact, i've often written things precisely because of how i'm not sure if i can make it work, because i like the challenge.

.....wait, can i say disability as cheap tragedy porn? because every time i see disability done as cheap tragedy porn, i have the emotional equivalent of hearing a nuclear warning strike siren.

listen, i'm literally lying on my bed right now staring at the ceiling trying to contemplate tropes i wouldn't write. sorry, i think you have stumped me with this one, so well done.