#really enjoyed myself lol i like my new work crew

[quietblissxx]

[renlyslittlerose]

Hi! Your fics are absolutely stunning but I think your job sounds so incredibly cool! If you’re comfortable answering a slightly personal ask, how did you become an archivist? What drew you to that kind of work?

Thank you for your amazing contributions to the Obikin fandom ❤️

Oh gosh, thank you so much! You're too kind!!! 💗

And I don't mind at all! I actually stumbled into it (mostly) by accident. I was finishing up my double degree at university in the Classics and History when one of my professors said that a local private club (think 'White's' in London - elite, mostly rich members or literal royalty) was looking to take on an assistant to help their lead historian, and they wanted a student from the history department. I decided to apply and lo! I was hired.

So I learned a lot about the basics while working alongside their more experienced archivist and curator who, bless her, really wanted to help me along. She gave me lots of tips, taught me how to carry out the job, while also trying to guide me toward bigger things.

Meanwhile, while I was working that job at the club, I started volunteering at my local RCAF museum where I learned how to accession, archive material, preserve artefacts, etc. I actually networked with my current boss at a Renaissance Fair lol (my boss used to be a professional jouster, if you can believe it).

Then, a few months into my volunteer work with the RCAF museum, they asked if I would be willing to come work for them as an assistant curator. I of course jumped at the chance, and with the blessing of my boss at the club, I quit and moved on to the museum! While working at the museum I went on to receive my Masters in the Classics, while continuing my on-the-job education at the museum. Archival work sort of pivoted to me over the years, so now I split my time between digitizing our archival material, photographing the artefacts in our collections space, and transcribing letters, diaries, etc. While also still accepting and accessioning new donations and trying to find space for them in our very small area 😭

I think I was drawn to the work because it's a real and tangible way to work with history, and to distribute knowledge to the wider world. Working with history can sometimes feel like you're yelling into the void - no one hears you in amongst the rest of the voices. Or, those who do hear you are just part of your very insulare, often times elitist community. Post-secondary education and the trappings that come with such institutions are often times gated to those who don't have the money or the means to attend. Education at a higher level is a privilege rather than a right.

But when it comes to museum work, we get to share our work and our knowledge with the wider community - with those who live nearby, student groups from local schools, as well as with tourists. And the amazing thing about our archives is that they're available online for free. Anyone, anywhere in the world, so long as they have access to the internet can peruse our archives at their leisure. I have spent the last eight years digitizing our archives and putting them online for anyone to use. Our knowledge and the history that is contained within the walls of my office aren't just for me, or for those wealthy enough to access them. They are for everyone.

And I think that's really, really cool. And that is why I love my job.

In the next few years we're hoping to expand the archives to include photographs of our artefacts, so that the material we cannot put on display are still available for the public in some form. And again, these will all be available for free.

I would link to our archives but I don't wanna dox myself (which is a sad statement to make, but that's just how the internet is now a days). But maybe one day you'll accidentally stumble upon my handiwork out in the wild, and if you do I hope you enjoy photographs of airmen and women, ground crew, officers and NCOs, dogs and cats as airbase mascots, or a ventriloquist mummy made by a POW out of cigarette cases :)

[presleyannn]

advice from Taz - 9.25.23

One thing about me is that I am a big fan of anime. Not only that, but my brain loves to hyperfixate on things. Therefore, I am often hyperfixated on anime.

My latest hyperfixation is One Piece. It really is crippling in law school when your every waking moment is consumed with thoughts of One Piece lol.

So as you might imagine, as a One Piece fan, I was extremely excited for the live action. I really admired all the time, effort, and love that was put into the show from Oda and the cast and crew, so I could feel it in my bones that it would be good. It was btw. If you haven't seen it, you definitely should. Even if you're not a One Piece or anime fan. I got my best friend to watch it and she loves it. It has been a true joy to see so many new people get into One Piece.

But anyway, being a fan of the live action, I feel that it's only natural that I fell in love with the cast too. The time and energy they put in and the dedication to the accurate portrayal of their characters is extremely admirable. If nothing else, watch the show just for them.

Although I love all the cast members, Taz Skylar really captured my heart. There is so much to love about him. I could go on about him all day, but that's not what this diary is about, so I won't.

ANYWAY, my point in mentioning this is that I booked a Cameo from him awhile ago, and he gave me the sweetest message and advice that really stuck with me, so I wanted to share it here.

I am in law school at only 20 years old, so I am one of the youngest in my class. I know that there are a few other 20 year olds in my class, but I have yet to meet any of them. As a result, I have been suffering from some pretty severe imposter syndrome. I often feel like a baby sitting in class, and I generally just feel out of place.

So, I shared this with Taz, and he reminded me of the quote, "Be less impressed and more involved," which I believe was coined by Matthew McConaughey. He said that he deals with imposter syndrome every day (as many of us do), but he repeats that quote to remind himself to be less concerned with everything that is going on around him, and more involved in what he needs to do to accomplish his goals and truly enjoy the experience.

Specifically, he told me to be less impressed with how smart everyone is around me, and more involved in what I need to do on a daily basis to achieve what I want to achieve. This really struck a chord in me and put things into perspective.

I find myself comparing myself to my classmates all too often. Seeing them seemingly prepared and on top of work knowing that I am behind has only put me more behind. I convince myself that they're already leagues ahead of me and I have no chance of catching up, so why even try?

But this quote really stuck with me and has helped me to detach myself from everything that's going on around me in order to focus on what I need to do in order to do my best on all my exams.

Of course the imposter syndrome has not gone away completely, I still have my moments where I feel like I'm not cut out for law school. But I also have moments where I remember what I'm here for in the first place, and I am able to remind myself that all the other standards I've been setting for myself don't really matter at the end of the day.

All I want is to be is a good lawyer that can help people who need it. However, law school loves to push the competition of it all, and it's hard to not get caught up in it. There's so much pressure to finish at the top of your class, and while that would be wonderful, as long as I can finish school with the ability to successfully represent my clients and achieve their deserved justice, nothing else matters to me. This is what I have to remind myself of each day when I find myself applying too much pressure to be “better” than my peers.

I need to be less impressed with how well everyone is doing around me–because I only end up thinking that I could never measure up to them and should just give up–and the fact that I even ended up in law school in the first place, and instead be more involved in my dreams and what I have to do to achieve them.

If you have a dream, a goal, something that you really want more than anything in the world, you CAN, and you WILL achieve it. Just remember to be less impressed with what is going on all around you (whether it be what other people are doing or even the awe of being in the situation you find yourself in), and be more involved in the work that must be done in order to achieve your goal. If you remain concerned with what people are doing around you or feeling like you are undeserving of the opportunities you are given, and fail to take advantage of those opportunities and put in the required work, then you will remain right where you are while everything else outgrows you, including your dreams.

But I believe in you, and I am manifesting it for you. You WILL achieve your dreams. You got this!

And here’s Taz for you :)

[shads-shipposts]

"Anachronism" Prologue Rough Draft +LORE✨

Remember how I mentioned that the chapters prior to this would only leave you more confused as to wtf was going on? Well, the prologue is now finished and is being posted.

The background of Anachronism is this: back in 2015 I attempted to rewrite a 2014 RP that included the Tintin sailors (which is my first fanfic ever). True Colors was the name. It was never finished, instead transitioning halfway through into an original fic where the sailors got new names/designs/backstories as they were changed into ocs. The Karaboudjan would become the Caroline, but Scarlett was already a self-insert so her initial character remains (though she's changed quite a bit). Both the original fics and the 2015 are scrubbed from the internet, though I do believe one of you followers actually read that 2014 one when it was on Deviant Art. I am so sorry you had to witness that 😬.

Jump to late 2017-early 2018, the first hints of Anachronism were forming. It wouldn't be until 2019-2020 New Years that I started it in earnest. The story follows myself (yes, I get "isekai'd") as I end up in the same timeline as that 2015 fic. Originally it was the 2014 fic but I really don't want to deal with certain elements of that mess. Anyway, that Anachronism kinda started collecting dust as my Bad Batch hyperfixation hit and Adventures!AU was born. That series takes place after Anachronism, but Anachronism was never posted.

Well, 4+ years, three and a half books, and 500k+ words later I am finally starting to post snippets to curse the world lol. Schedule-wise, Anachronism won't premiere in full until 2029 most likely, as Adventures!AU is still my main project. But I miss the Karaboudjan crew, and my hyperfixation is strong for them rn so I'm posting and working on chapters.

All that to say buckle up, this fic gets wild. Magic elements are minimal in this fic, but they still be there.

Enjoy! :D Feedback is most welcome, I'm still figuring out the characterizations for the fellas as it's been a while since I really wrote heavily with them (Bad Batch has claimed most of my time).

CW: Mild horror elements

1872 words

---------------------------

“Scared, Allan?”

It wasn’t the first time he’d found himself here after he closed his eyes. It’d been months since the incident that gave rise to the event playing over and over again in his dreams, but time hadn’t dulled any of his emotions concerning the event.

“I must say, your fear scent is… unique. Fishy and tart.”

 Confusion, horror, shock, disbelief.

“Don’t worry your little head there. I respect you and, strange as it may seem, I do find the need to fear you.”

Yes, fear there too.

“Funny ain’t it?”

And who wouldn’t be scared?

“An Alphian fearin’ a human.”

When they were faced with an alien of unknown magical abilities?

“Don’t see that every day.”

The scene wobbled and fizzled at the edges, like staring at a reflection on the surface of a stormy sea. The secrets surrounding the scene trapped deep in its depths, unreachable even if one tried their hardest to grasp the answers.

Allan Thompson walked through the scene, removed from his own actions as if he were just on autopilot. He couldn’t change the scene, no more than someone watching a reel on a screen.

He sat at the table, across from the half-human, half animal woman that watched him like a hawk. Dark stripes cut through her skin like thick shadows across a moonlit patch in the woods, a black and white tail flicked behind her, and piercing eyes the color of glaciers scanned him inside and out. She was a head shorter than him, yet power radiated off her like heat from an open flame.

His voice reached his ears, muted and distant.

His own and yet… not, in a way.

“Kid… I’m sorry about Turtle.”

The alien looked up at him, the furry ears on the sides of her head flattened against ginger hair.

“Thanks, man.”

Those cat-like eyes shifted to the side, as if searching for any other threats.

He knew it was a dream. Knew what was about to happen.

It did not ease the churning of his stomach.

“Actually,” she continued, mouth moving but voice coming from the very walls surrounding them. “I kinda wanted to ask you about something related to that.”

Allan knew what was coming. Knew what she was going to ask.

Knew how badly it would go, how swiftly the scene would turn dangerous.

But he was helpless to do anything but follow the script. Follow the events as they unfolded.

Eyes on her hands, waiting to see those thorn sharp claws, Allan again heard his voice from far away.

“Aye?”

He wished he could change course. Wished he could prevent what came next. Perhaps, if he could, then things would be different.

But no.

“Let me go after that short slaver with the dark brown hair. I want his head for orderin’ me to kill Turtle.”

There it was. The request that shattered everything. The request that would leave Allan with gaps in his memory that no amount of pondering or searching could ever fix.

He felt the shock course through his body, felt his spine stiffen and his heart skip a beat.

“I’m sorry…” he heard himself say. “But I can’t allow that.”

Ears shot up, a tail bristled, sharp teeth bared, and anger blazed in those icy eyes.

“What?”

If only he could alter his words. Explain more, explain better.

Save himself.

If only.

“I can’t allow you to kill him.”

He had dreams. He had nightmares.

This hell was something else entirely.

Pupils narrowed to slits across from him, jagged scars streaking down the table as wicked claws dug into the old wood.

“Is that your final answer?”

There was red now, deep in those eyes.

He could only watch, silently scream in his head as he fought with all his might to change the memory.

“Aye, I refuse to let you go after him.”

Futile. The scene would play out as it had many nights before this one.

The woman stood, ears low and tail lashing.

“Whose side are you on, Allan? Huh? The slavers?” A snarl curled her lip, the temperature around them plummeting as ice snaked out from her hands across the table. “How disappointin’.”

The edges of the scene corrupted, bleeding red and black.

He wanted to scream. Wanted to run. Wanted to hide.

Hide from the devastation bearing down on him like a hurricane at sea.

But there was no refuge. No escape.

“There will be another time to kill him.”

He had to witness the event that would alter his fate.

Words came faster now, a distorted echo to them that sent chills down his spine.

“But I heard the other slavers talkin’! He’s goin’ on patrol tonight! I can’t pass up this opportunity to claim revenge for what he did.”

“Look, kid. I said no, and that’s final.”

“Nobody’s gonna stand in my way. Not even you. Stand down now, Allan. I don’t want to hurt you.”

He got up.

Walked over.

“I told you no, kid! That’s an order!”

“Give it up, Allan. I’m doin’ this my way. I’m killin’ him tonight and you can’t stop me. Don’t even try to.”

He got close.

Too close.

It was over fast. She winded him with a headbutt, driving him back into the wall hard enough to knock the breath from him. He didn’t even have a chance to rise to his feet, weight pinning him to the floor. A rag clamped over his mouth and nose, drowning the world in a sickly-sweet haze.

 Darkness followed swiftly after, a growl echoing in his ears.

“You brought this on yourself. Sweet dreams.”

And those were the last words he ever heard from Scarlett Hyde.

Allan sat up in his bed with a gasp, cold sweat pouring down his face as he fought for breath.

Was that her now, hiding in the dark corner?

He flicked on the light, fingers struggling to grasp the knob.

Nothing, just his trenchcoat.

It was too hot. Too stifling.

Air.

He needed air!

Staggering to the porthole, he yanked it open and welcomed the sharp chill that rushed in. Allan leaned against the wall, eyes closed as he fought to catch his breath and sooth his racing heart.

After that fight, any and all memory of the Alphian ceased. He couldn’t even recall what happened once he woke up. Because they sure as hell didn’t go from being overrun by slavers to being back at their home port without any sign there was even a hostile force occupying the ship.

Only one man had memories of Scarlett that went past Allan’s; Tom.

His friend and trusty right-hand man. The closest person to Scarlett on the ship prior to her mysterious disappearance.

Allan hoped he could have shed some light on Scarlett. Maybe Scarlett somehow drove off all the slavers after knocking Allan out, accessing some type of beast mode or something. She was an alien, and could shapeshift, so it wasn’t entirely implausible.

But no.

Tom’s last memory of her was Scarlett heading off the ship into the woods. Tom had gone after her, only to find himself face to face with the same slaver Scarlett was after. The slaver attacked him, but Scarlett showed up in some animal form and attacked the slaver. She won the fight but was stabbed in the process. Tom tried dragging her back to the ship after she shifted back to that half-human form, but then his memory too went dark.    

That was it. The trail ended. Went cold. With no hope of recovering the fractal memories.

Maybe Scarlett was around longer, and had some alien way of wiping their memories. Why, then, did he have any memory of her at all? If she truly aimed to wipe all memory of her existence, he should have forgotten her in totality.

Instead he was left with only partial memories and no explanation that could even remotely make sense of the event.

Every port they stopped at, every contact he knew, he asked. When Scarlett Hyde rang no bells, he tried the false name she gave at first; Ice Shadow. Still nothing.

He tried her description, her species, her family, everything.

Nothing.

As if neither she nor her species even existed in the first place.

A knock sounded on his door, and Allan turned away from the window to stare at the clock by his bed.

05:00 am.

His port watch wasn’t due for another few hours, so it couldn’t have been someone calling him for that.

“Al?”

Tom. What was he doing up this early?

Passing through his dayroom, Allan opened the door and found Tom looking almost as disheveled as himself. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

Tom rubbed his arm. “It… happened again.”

Allan’s eyes widened. “Scarlett.”

Tom nodded.

Allan stood to the side to let him in. “You too, huh?”

Tom straightened, looking slightly more alert as he sat on the couch in Allan’s dayroom. “Same dream?”

“What other dream would it be?” Allan growled.

Tom wasn’t put off by his tone, but then again he never was. “What are the odds, huh?” he said in a feeble attempt to lighten the mood, a weak smile accompanying the joke.

Allan wasn’t amused. “Real funny.” He leaned on the table, pushing his hair back. “This is the fifth time in two weeks,” he growled. “I do not need this. We got that proud peacock prancin’ ‘round like he owns the damn ship, orderin’ us to and fro like damn dogs. I don’t need this headache on top of it.”

“At least the captain ain’t givin’ us any issues.”

“Don’t think that old man would notice if I scuttled the damn ship,” Allan grumbled, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Probably not.” Tom tilted his head. “Don’t think the dreams mean anythin’, do ya?”

“Concurrent dreams about an alien that we both know had the power to alter dreams?” Allan said. “It’s fishy.”

“Think she’s comin’ back?”

Allan shrugged tiredly. “Hell, Tom, I don’t know.” He glared in the direction of the door. “At least Sakharine’s finally tracked down the second ship. Then we can be back at sea, and I’ll have other things to keep my mind on.”

“Yeah, can’t wait to have that guy off.” Tom shuddered. “Gives me the creeps.”

“Feelin’s mutual.” Allan stretched. “Guess I may as well get coffee, not like I’m gettin’ any more shuteye today. Want some?”

Tom nodded, stretching too. “Won’t say no.” He shuddered. “Anythin’ to keep awake after that nightmare.”

Allan understood his hesitation with going back to sleep. Tom’s dream was far worse than his, with the man being hunted down in dark woods by a slaver bent on murder. Scarlett’s animal form wasn’t exactly comforting either, Tom describing it as a large tiger-looking beast with saber teeth that was a third again the size of a normal tiger.

“Alright, I’ll be there in a minute. Maybe the cooks have somethin’ already.”

Tom nodded. “I’ll wait outside.”

As Tom left, and Allan headed back to his room, the first mate mumbled under his breath.

“I really hope it was just coincidence.” He punched the door open. “Because I cannot deal with anything else.”

[captain-space-kin]

New Pinned Post Time

Hey y’all figure it was time I did a brand new pinned post rather then just editing the old one repeatedly lol

Anyway! I’m Captain! Or Cap, or Cappy, or capula, or Cappybara, or whatever other nickname you could possibly extrapolate out of that (Most people default to Cap though). I’m (almost) 20 years old, I use they/them pronouns, and I’m nonbinary + bisexual! Also my favorite color is purple :3

I’ve been in and around fandom spaces for a over a decade at this point but haven’t really participated in any until recently! Currently my main fandom is Ninjago but I’ve been known to partake in like a bajillion other things.

I’ve got four different ninjago AU’s at the moment in various stages in development. My main AU is Wayward Son, which is the entire show rewritten based on the concept of “What if Lloyd was a baby in season 1?” My co-writer, @carmelo-san, and I have roughly planned out all the way to Dragons Rising season 1! I’ve got a few fics for it up on my ao3 and more on the way soon!

The other big ninjago project I’m working on at the moment is a collaboration with @finn-m-corvex, but that one’s a secret teehee <3

As you can see by my blog description thing I am The (self-proclaimed) CEO of OppsiteShipping. To quote myself, I can, will, and have made everything about Oppositeshipping. I will take any random post, hold it up and say “This too is Oppo” and all my friends agree with me because I am correct every time. Look I even have the blinkies to prove this:

@inspectorghoul is my Co-CEO! He is very cool and awesome and has many good Oppo thoughts

To add on to that Kai is my favorite ninja! I will never live this down. And guess what? Another blinkie! (I also have one for Zane lol sorry guys I found a website that generates them and went all out)

I know everyone says this, but feel free to drop by the ask box, I do enjoy a good ask, even if we aren’t mutuals! (But ya know behave yourselves etc etc)

This is my one and only blog. I’ve tried sideblogs in the past and I could not for the life of me keep up with them so I just put everything here lol. My tagging system is a little all over the place though (and I frequently forgot to tag afsgdgdgf) In general though:

dope art! - My tag I use for when I like art/writing I did not make

captains craft, captains crew, captains log - my art/writing tag, the OC tag, and my talk tag respectively!

bestie [insert name here] - tags I use for my friends :3

Wayward Son AU - The tag for my main Ninjago AU!

internet safety, life stuff, art inspiration, writing inspiration- general save point tags I use for various purposes

I usually also tag the fandom on posts if I know it! I don’t usually tag for triggers though, so just lemme know if I need to tag anything extra!

[mamamittens]

Well, if you insist @bookandyarndragon

Here's the ridiculous self indulgent isekia nonsense with two versions of Nikia with and without wings in as close to the early manga style as I've managed so far (I referenced Sanji's introduction specifically and color picked from one of the colored covers) recreated digitally.

Anyway!

I didn't think of a name for the crew or how this series of shenanigans starts, nor names for the crew since this was just like... An hour of mindless wandering and memeing to myself.

Also, I'm not referring to first person because it makes this feel like I think it's real on some level and I don't need that level of disassociation on top of what I already have during the workday lol

But! The start was how the "Sir" thing starts. Which is that shortly after getting on board of the ship Nikia sees the state of the kitchen and is immediately horrified. It's a mess from the crew making desperate meals and not knowing how to cook and clean after themselves to save their damn life on account of the aforementioned cookbook thoughtfully left behind being quite illegible.

So she tears them a new one and tells them they're not allowed in until they understand what "mildew" means and the life cycle of gnats in the kitchen. They respond in fear "Yes, Sir!!" And she thinks they're just intimidated and when they keep it up, thinks it's a in-joke now.

Not realizing they're too afraid to ask her name and believe she's a very crabby "he". A running joke is that every time she almost tells them her name or correct the use of "Sir", something happens to interrupt.

The crew itself is more of the fun having, romantic type of pirates not interested in conquest but just adventure and maybe some treasure.

The captain is charismatic, fun loving, and has an uncanny ability to set things on fire. Once, Nikia asked him to boil a pot of water and it spontaneously caught fire... Without even having anything inside. He also has the ability to always know when it will rain. Just rain though. He also has a fear of swans despite the figurehead of the ship being a swan.

This was due to losing a bet and the crew thought it would be funny. If Nikia has wings, this helps explain why he's quickly intimidated by her.

The first mate is also the navigator and always knows what the weather is about to do but doesn't always pick up on rain for some reason. Anytime him and the captain argue about the weather, they're somehow both right. Every damn time. Even when they shouldn't be. He also likes taking pictures and delights in capturing his fellow crewmate's at unfortunate times to plaster it on the notice board.

The sharp shooter only likes pulling off trick shots to set of complex actions when literally just shooting his opponent would have worked--which he is fully capable of. He just refuses to not show off. He enjoys collecting books in his spare time but don't bother asking how he organizes them. He doesn't. He just always manages to pull the one he wants on the first try despite having no idea where he put it.

The swordsmen are twins who work together uncannily well but are disastrously clumsy apart. They also really like circling whoever they talk to while sharing lines and end up making their unfortunate conversation partner really dizzy. They were the ones that cleaned the kitchen between "meals" but eventually got so sick of it they abandoned the task.

The shipwright is a big fan of miniaturized craftsmanship so the ship is actually beautifully detailed. He just takes forever to work because nearly every inch of his work is engraved or embellished with art. Repairs the ship but enjoys engraving eggshells in his spare time. Comedically large man, so this hobby is both cute and a bit comedic.

And that's all I have for my crew of dweebs.

I figured the fighting Whitebeard thing would be because they overheard Whitebeard was pissed off and, when they ran into him at sea, assumed the Yonko wouldn't hesitate to fight and figured they may as well meet it head on. Nikia had no idea they were doing this and they were too afraid to enter the kitchen to inform her.

[leatherbelt1295]

Your Daily Smile #2617

@ehan281

This should have been posted yesterday, but I didn't really get a chance to. I spent the previous 2.5 days with EHAN irl, and man they were just so wonderful... I'm so grateful we got to hang out again and do more than we did last time. Went during this time for a multitude of reasons since things lined up perfectly, but most importantly it was like a birthday present to him (5/29) and myself (6/3). We haven't seen each other since October 2017, so naturally I really missed him so much. ;w; That's way too long!!

We got to eat yummy food each day, got to meet his adorable doggy Sparky, met his folks, go through a mirror maze, played a laser busting game?, watch him do little runs of SpongeBob Battle for Bikini Bottom, watch the new Spidey on opening night with his brother, and went to a convention together and even cosplayed which was super fun! I went as Peppino Spaghetti from Pizza Tower (so if by chance you were there on Friday and saw Peppino, it might've been me!) and he was an excellent Cameron from Ferris Bueller Day Off. It was cool how often we were recognized, heheh. Really nice to see people's faces light up like that. Of course, we saw a lot of great cosplays too! Here's a few I saw myself that I got pics of, really nice stuff!

We got to play my favorite beat-em-up The Simpsons by Konami, and I'm glad EHAN and his brother really enjoyed it too! Really cool stuff all around, found plenty of gifts for my folks at home but also a couple things for me. Oh and Petra stuff and even comm'd a Petra for EHAN. :]

I haven't been to a con in 7 years, so being back at such a fun one was something I absolutely needed and appreciate immensely. Good times all around! I'm happy he and his brother enjoyed themselves too.

Here's my loot, though only the Jolteon and black shirt are for me.

We headed to Red Robin later on, and that was nice too! At least for me and his brother. :)

I went with the intention of recreating a certain Bocchi the Rock comic to EHAN. :))

And it worked. :)))

And the waitress didn't believe him when he said it was my birthday too. :))))

Ended the night with some 3 player Mario Party 2 on Pirate Land. We lost to the CPU DK because of usually MP shenanigans lol. Still fun!

And followed that up with me and EHAN rewatching Space Patrol Luluco as we do every June 5th, but a little early this time so it could be irl. A wonderful time as it is every year, but made more special being together and having fun irl! I'll be taking about that more on tomorrow's YDS though. :)

Wrapped up the visit with another good breakfast and visiting a lovely park, I really enjoyed that too.

Again, overall, I totally needed this trip and I'm eternally grateful for being able to do so. I really miss him though. ;w;

And I suppose I should mention a bit how my birthday was yesterday aside about half the day being with EHAN. I received gift art from friends through the day, including right at midnight and even today... Y'all really didn't have to... ;; But thank you so much... And to those who I know may read this and wanted to draw me something or whatever the case may be, but couldn't for any reason, just know it's more than okay and the fact that you even thought of me in the first place means a lot to me already. Wishing me hbd means a lot too... 🥺 So thank you guys too!

Even had a big surprise on the flight back home before departure. Someone close to me with connections actually informed the crew on board that it was my birthday, and if they could deliver a message to me for them, which they absolutely did... Even gave me free snacks and water, and invited me to sit in the pilot's seat which was !!!!!?? It was so cool what the heck... I'm grateful for that... 😭

Nice time spent at home with family, always nice to see them. It ain't a birthday without being with em, I'd say. Nice lil gifts too, they shouldn't have... ;; I do wanna show this Hank Hill in particular, gave me a good laugh and I love it, heheh. The Bocchi doodle too!

But yeah, I just wanted to dedicate this YDS to thanking @ehan281 and his brother for a wonderful time and express my gratitude of a happy birthday too. Hoping the next time we meet won't be so long! ^^

[the-one-where-casey-watches-tv]

Abbott Elementary episode 2.16 "Teacher Conference"

Quinta has said she’s not trying to reinvent the wheel with this show, Janine and Gregory in particular, and I think she’s proving that she doesn’t need to. Abbott is cozy and cute and laugh out loud funny, all precisely due to the sense of familiarity that it evokes. I can go into every episode knowing that everyone will be kind to each other, live happily ever after, and maybe even score some new glue sticks.

            I’ll come back around to everyone else, but let’s get right to it: the kiss! Gregory is my favorite character, but to be honest I don’t think I would actually enjoy being friends with either him or Janine. But Abbott walks the fine line of character personalities that I wouldn’t want to encounter in real life, but that I love to see on my TV. They’re great characters for a will-they/won’t-they because they’re both so intensely innocent that the smallest hints of sexuality have me like “woo! Get it!”. The two of them grinding in the club was one of those moments, and so was Janine grabbing Gregory by the lanyard (lol) for another kiss.

            It was inevitable that they would chalk that up to a mistake and try to get back to business, but I almost wish they wouldn’t. Janine is still dating Maurice and of course she wouldn’t cheat on him, but at this point I feel ready to see them together. Which is why I was kind of surprised to see that the question everyone seems to be asking this week is if Abbott jumped the shark with the kiss, if it happened too soon.

            I say no, but maybe the skepticism of others means they’re right to at least not have Janine and Gregory leaping into a whole relationship right now (though who knows what next week holds). Regardless, I think it brings up an interesting conversation about audience involvement with story.

            I read a lot about story structure, and as a writer I’m extremely wary of books that are so specific with their breakdown of story structure that they can tell you the exact page every piece of action needs to occur on. I think structure is really important- it can almost always explain why something worked or didn’t work- but I see it like musical notes. There are a finite number of notes, and rules to be followed when writing and playing music, but is there a way to put them together that hasn’t been done yet? There better be, or a lot of people are out of a job.

            Part of new and innovative storytelling is, of course, the creativity of the storyteller, but it’s also an awareness of the audience’s own grasp of story. Fight Club, in its time, was doing something brand new. Watching it now, though, I find it to be a kind of exhausting three hours. We just don’t need to go that slow anymore; we’re an audience who’s already been taught all the clues to look for, and we can keep up just fine.

I’ve written before about Frasier- Niles and Daphne’s will-they/won’t-they went on for about eight years. Abbott isn’t reinventing the wheel, and, as viewers, this isn’t our first rodeo with a sitcom romance. I would be tearing my hair out if I was going to have to wait another six years for this kiss, the one everyone knew was coming by episode 3, if not the pilot. This is one of those times where we can slide our hand across the piano keys and get there a little quicker.

But Abbott Elementary is more than just Janine and Gregory! And I would like to talk about Jacob, who I actually find myself thinking about a lot when this show comes up. I’m not gonna say he’s not corny, but he is definitely a really great friend to Janine. They’re platonically perfect for each other, and the two of them jumping up and down about this conference, while I’m sure it would annoy me to witness for real, made me smile.

He's a dork, but I was happy to see him making some other friends outside of the Abbott crew, and to see him appreciated for who he is. I actually thought this storyline was going to take it a step further: he and the teacher from Addington hit it off so well that I thought she was going to mistake their chemistry for flirting and try to kiss him.

Maybe they didn’t want to step on the toes of The Kiss of this episode, but thinking that was going to happen made me realize that I actually would like to see that happen. I love every glimpse we get into the pureness of Jacob’s heart (the way he stood up for Janine when she was out sick was sooo sweet), and I bet him letting this girl down easy would have been a really cute moment. It’s also not too often that we get to see Jacob in his element where he’s actually popular among the people around him.

I hope this isn’t the last we see of that dynamic. Addington is just a couple blocks away, after all, maybe there’s an arc to be seen where the Addington teachers try to poach Jacob. Now that I’m thinking about it, there would be a lot there with Melissa’s sister and Barbara’s surely hurt feelings of not being the desired teacher. I can already feel my heart growing like the Grinch at everyone wanting to prove to Jacob that he’s valued at Abbott.

Well if that happens, you heard it here first folks! And what do you think, was the kiss too soon? Do you still think Fight Club is the right length? Let me know!

[rickie-the-storyteller]

Happy WBW! What are the coffee shops like in your world? Or what are the coffee shop equivalents? Are they bustling? Overpriced? Are they decrept or college-kid only territory? If you wanna get into it, feel free to add on your characters' interactions, feelings, or orders!

Here's an interesting one...

My main story (Steph's Crew) is set in a real place (fictional London in 2010), so I suppose the answers here would be similar to real-life coffee places lol.

There was a wide range of coffee shops catering to different tastes and preferences. Let's take a look at some of them, and explore the way my characters might feel about them...

High-End Specialty Cafes:

These spots irl are known for offering a selection of single-origin brews and meticulously crafted drinks. The prices tend to be higher, attracting coffee aficionados and those who appreciate a carefully made cup.

This place would likely be less popular with the crew since they're all pretty young and would prefer to get their coffee from a cheaper spot. They'd probably acknowledge the good quality of the drinks from places like this, though.

Bustling Hipster Joints:

These coffee shops are popular among the younger crowd, typically college students and young professionals. In other words, right up the crew's alley lol.

They have a trendy, rustic vibe with exposed brick walls, cosy seating, and indie music playing in the background. The atmosphere is lively and often bustling with people working on laptops, socialising, or simply enjoying a cup of coffee.

Artistic Bohemian Spots:

These cafes often double as art galleries or performance spaces. They're slightly more offbeat, attracting a creative crowd and hosting open mic nights or art exhibitions. The decor might be eclectic, with mismatched furniture and colourful murals.

Bret would love these lol. He's the creative one in the group, and he has a passion for art. I could see him taking El to places like these...

Quaint Traditional Cafes:

These places exude a more classic charm, attracting a mix of locals and tourists. They might have a more refined or vintage aesthetic, with wooden furniture, soft lighting, and a relaxed ambience. It's a spot where people come to unwind, read, or have casual conversations.

El would be particularly into the vibe of this kind of place. She's into the more simple, straightforward and traditional stuff... probably due to the way she was raised.

Hidden Gems:

There are also tons of fun little hidden gems in the city - small and obscure coffee shops that the group might discover together. These places offered unique coffee blends and were not too expensive, making them perfect for their diverse tastes.

This is a fun one since it is a minor plot point in book 1! Bret and El have this tradition where they walk each other home and get "lost" along the way... discovering new parts of the city and all. That's how they find their favourite spots, including their favourite record shop. It's also how they met Stevie.

Here's what their go-to drink orders might be:

Stephanie:

Vanilla latte - she'd likely enjoy something both sweet and has a strong coffee flavour, reflecting her dynamic personality. The smoothness of the latte with a touch of sweetness matches her charismatic yet layered character. Plus, it's a simple, straightforward order.

A venti iced caramel macchiato with extra caramel drizzle - she loves the indulgence and complexity of this drink. The sweetness of the caramel and the kick of caffeine are just a nice combination, and again, fits her personality quite well.

Caramel Frappuccino - these just look really good to me lol. Never had one myself, but I think Steph would be into them.

Iced Caramel Macchiato - another thing that looks/sounds nice haha.

Bret:

Double shot espresso or a simple black coffee - he would likely prefer a strong, no-nonsense drink that wakes him up and gives him a jolt of energy. He's straightforward and doesn't fuss over elaborate flavours in the same way that Steph likely would.

A black coffee (Americano) - yet another simple but strong choice that suits his vibe quite nicely.

Elise:

Chamomile tea with a dash of honey- she really appreciates simplicity and comfort. Fits her personality, too... calming, soft and sweet all at once.

Plain cappuccino - simple straightforward order that gets the job done.

Chai Latte - these are really nice... I just think El would really like these. It reflects her understated yet warm nature.

Dylan:

Americano - similar to Bret's reasoning before. He's straightforward and doesn't fuss over elaborate drink options. He'd like a strong, no-nonsense drink choice that wakes him up and gives him a jolt of energy.

Flat White - the perfect balance between bold coffee and a hint of sweetness

A large iced mocha with extra whipped cream - something that's both indulgent and energetic, mirroring his outgoing and active nature. The mocha provides a mix of chocolate and coffee, and the whipped cream adds a touch of sweetness!

Alice:

Mocha - she likes the comforting blend of coffee and chocolate for a touch of sweetness.

A flat white with a side of carrot cake - straightforward but still sophisticated, just like her (very all over the place, but still has a touch of class lol). Carrot cake is also a guilty pleasure of hers.

Vanilla Latte - if she's not feeling in the mood for a mocha, she'd likely go for this instead.

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

M here! Here are the AU’s I have come up with today!

The Princess Bride

When Jake Met Ronnie aka When Harry Met Sally

Pirates AU- spin-off of Pirates of the Caribbean: Jake is Will, Ronnie is Elizabeth

Indiana Jones

Kim Possible (maybe)???

Childhood pen pals

Strong Disney Princess: Ronnie saves herself; Jake is there for moral support

The Holiday

While You Were Sleeping

OOOOHHHH MY GOD OH MY GOD OKAY LEMME GATHER MY THOUGHTS FOR EACH OF THESE HOLY SHITE

new aus hot off the presses folks let's get it

1 The Princess Bride AU

like fuck dude that movie slaps so hard

and Jake as the Westley type with the ripped-open shirt after the ROUS attack?? that's some good stuff right there

i feel like this may be an au though where a lot of the original characters stay the same cause they really are just so classic and i just can't bring myself to replace them. as much as i love the other pilots.

the other daggers can just be friends within the castle or something

2 When Jake Met Ronnie AU

i've never seen when harry met sally, but you explained the general plot to me M and honestly it works

i feel like i don't have much to say since i haven't seen the movie lol but you know what's up M

3 Pirate AU

MOTHER FUCKIN PIRATE AU

this another one of my weird ass hyperfixactions, i own so many books on pirates

am I allowed to take this idea I had for a different fandom and change the characters? I mean it's my idea I should be able to right??

So Ronnie as a pirate captain, the other daggers besides maybe Javy, being her crew

Jake as the Commodore with the British royal navy who gets captured by her

something something adventure something something falling in love

but i also could see working JAKE being the pirate captain with the dagger crew and Ronnie is just a passenger on another ship that he takes and he takes her captive for ransom from her wealthy brother

i could see, and enjoy, it going either way

which do people like better??

4 Indiana Jones AU

mmm mmm Professor Jake Seresin in the anthropology department with the glasses and the tweed vests and the escaping out his window to avoid office hours

like of course he's the stud of the whole campus just look at him

i am in FUCKING LOVE WITH IT

i don't know if i would want to follow a movie plot exactly

so maybe he could go on a different adventure (perhaps looking for The Hand of Midas? or Excalibur?)

and maybe ronnie is the one who goes to Jake for help because her brother was tasked with looking for one of these things, finding it before the Nazi's do or whatever, but he's gone missing

they fall in love along the way, get into danger, she probably gets captured or something, they find brad, find and lose the treasure all the span of twenty minutes and bada bing bada boom

5 Kim Possible AU

yeah.....not sure how I feel about this one either lol

by design jake is too cocky to play a ron stoppable type, it just doesn't fit him at all

can see it as a couples costume though lol

6 Childhood Pen Pals AU

oh now this is interesting

everything is basically the same, so regular au but just like a bit to the left

maybe they started being pen pals through the navy when they were kids, a way to connect kids who have a parent who died in service

they sent their first letters and replies begrudgingly, at the insistence of their mothers

but pretty soon their back and forth was natural and consistent throughout the rest of their childhoods and even into their teenage years

they definitely developed crushes on one another, sent pictures back and forth. but they were too scared to exchange phone numbers or anything like that. this, with the letters, felt sacred.

but then jake went off to the academy and his replies took longer and longer, and suddenly they just stopped

ronnie knew it was going to happen eventually. but it still hurt. she moved on, but kept every letter and picture he sent in a box she moved from house to house because she just couldn't find it in her to throw them out

but then she finds herself in fighter town, working at a crusty bar, and some young aviator walks in and he looks vaguely familiar. she sees the last name Seresin pinned to his khaki uniform and her stomach drops

no fuckin way

oh my god this concept is making me lose my whole mind. cause they know so much about each other!! in such an intimate way!! in a way that a lot of people probably didn't. they grew up together in a way, within those letters.

excuse me as pace around my apartment thinking about this good lord

7 Disney Princess AU

this kinda already feels like the Fantasy AU i've already established

so i don't really know what to add to this lol

8 The Holiday

okay ive never seen the holiday, but i looked at the wiki plot synopsis so here is my best attempt

Ronnie and Jake's sister swap houses for the holidays

I'm not gonna focus on what happens to Jake's sister...she also finds a boo while staying in Ronnie's house it's chill idk

but i love the idea of Jake coming to his sister's house drunk off his ass to find some other woman there and they both decide to just fuck. that's so funny to me. and so on brand for those two horn dogs

but other than that i am unsure on anything else

like should jake be a widower with two daughters like the movie? should they get snowed in after the drunk sex and fall in love with some sweet forced proximity? do they just keep running into each other during her stay?

it's cute but ya know how it is

9 While You Were Sleeping AU

while you were sleeping is such a weird ass movie but i love it

i guess Jake's gotta have a brother in order for this to work (Jensen Ackles anybody?)

i still want this set in Cali, just because that is where Ronnie belongs in all honesty lol, so maybe she works at a surf shop/surfing instructor place and Jake's brother frequents

he gets into some accident and Ronnie takes him to the hospital, musing to herself about marrying him one day

according to movie jake's family shows up, they think she's his fiance, yadda yadda she falls in love with jake instead

her and brother almost get married but she can't go through with it

she ends up with jake instead

in this jake would come from a big family, and it's something that ronnie has always wanted since she only has brad

Thank you so much for sending this in my sweet M 💕

[clotpolesonly]

Tag game tuesday: The MySpace Survey

tagged by @mzkora!!! <3

What’s your name: Jess(ica)

Sun sign: leo but like, just barely 😂 idk what being a cusp means but i'm one of those, like first day of leo

The last song you listened to: i haven't listened to any music today except for one of those musical comedians, this one was about a guy whose friend was flirting with his dad and it was a banger lmao, twas hilarious

What are you wearing right now: the practical all black outfit i've been wearing (unfortunately) for most of the last 3 weeks as i work backstage crew for a musical. usually i change between work and the theater, but my sister starts a new job today which means there will be commute time added as she comes to get me, instead of her being here right at 5, so we won't have TIME to go home and change and get food before we have to head to the theater, so i'm just cutting out the middle man and wearing it all day. this is the third weekend of performances though, show closes sunday, so it's the only time i'll have to.

How tall are you? 5’8

Piercings? only ears, and i don't wear earrings very often, really only for special occasions

Tattoos? i've got one tattoo, as a memorial for my dad who died in 2017. it's a snippet of lyrics from one of the songs he wrote, behind my left ear. i'm planning on getting a memorial tattoo for my grandmother who died in november(?? i think) but we can't currently FIND the drawing she did that i was gonna get. so. if we ever find that again, i'm gonna get it on my hip.

Glasses or contacts? contacts, all day almost every day for about 20 years now, i put them in before i even get out of bed in the mornings. i hate not having peripheral vision in glasses.

Last drink: water yum yum

Last thing you ate: a chicken and cheese quesadilla and a banana/strawberry smoooooothie

Favorite color: big fan of purple

Any pets? not any of my own. had cats and a dog growing up, and had a rat for a few years a while back, but they have all since died 😅 i'm not inclined toward all the upkeep required for larger pets, so no cats or dogs if i have to actually take care of them entirely myself, and i would be down to get another rat or two, but my sister was DEVASTATED when Freya died and refuses to be traumatized by any more pets with short life spans aldkfjg. so no more rats lol.

Do you have a crush on anyone? nope uwu

Favorite fictional character: currently i am deeply fixated on Declan Lynch, somebody send help

A movie you think everyone should watch: uuuuhhhhh A Christmas Carol, the musical version with Kelsey Grammer?? first thing that came to mind, very random 😂 but that version is a banger, i love the music, clearly the superior adaptation of the story

A book you think everyone should read: mmm gonna throw darts at the wall and say Two Dark Moons by Avi Silver, cuz i read it fairly recently and enjoyed it a lot?? idk, i want there to be a fandom for that, i went looking on tumblr for stuff about it and found a grand total of like two posts and was very disappointed lol. somebody else go read it so i'm not alone XD

The last place you traveled: i don't go anywhere aldkfgh. i think the last place i went waaasssss alabama? Mobile maybe?? fuck i don't remember, we went to the Winona Judd concert, wherever it was.

Something you’re looking forward to: strike for this show i'm working 😂 probably the first time i've ever looked forward to strike (the process of disassembling a show's set and clearing out the theater and dressing rooms, huge ordeal) but after dealing with these obnoxious fucking difficult to maneuver set pieces for the last month, i think i will greatly enjoy reducing them to piles of wood and screws.

And I am tagging: @adamprrishcycle @cheeeryos @alloverthegaf @alisonhales @mayonnaisetoffees

[trulymadlysydney]

Why did you decide to leave being a flight attendant in favor of being an instructor? (You don’t have to answer this if you don’t want to!) I’m so glad you’re so happy in your job!

This is ALSO gonna be super long so I apologize lol

It was always something I kind of had in the back of my mind even back when I was in training myself. (I remember having two instructors who I... didn't really like the way they taught dlfkjasl and thinking "Oh I could do this job" and ever since then it kinda stuck with me. They're both my coworkers now and the nicest people, but I still don't enjoy when I have to teach alongside them lol.)

To be completely honest, I was starting to be miserable when I was actively flying. I became a flight attendant RIGHT when Covid hit, so I had a very, very unique experience on the line and only really knew crazy, mean passengers and masks and delays and understaffing. As a flight attendant, you're always kind of bitching to your fellow flight attendants on your crew. But I found myself doing that to like, our newly hired flight attendants, and within earshot of passengers because I didn't care. I was mad at my airline and I was tired of being overworked and honestly, I started having a shitty attitude and it got to the point where I had to look at myself and be like "okay, I don't want to be this person. I don't want to wake up miserable and dreading working. I don't want to be the person who squishes the excitement of the new hires." And I felt that maybe going back to the training center, where people are excited and nervous and passionate and where I used to feel that same excitement and happiness was the best option for me.

And tbh, it was. I could not be happier and I love making a difference in all of our new hires. I don't know that I ever see myself flying again.

[kochlandhomestead]

10/01/22

Wow did September really just fly by like that? Feels like just 2 weeks ago I was doing this for August but heres my self accountability post for the end of the 9th month of 2022

Lets start with the ol resale business. Historical Days was a big success. I got rid of a lot of my old stock from the shed and made a nice profit on the weekend. Really wish I could get to more festivals and markets. That was a goal for this year that I am failing at. eBay had gone cold since the first week of September but I had 3 sales this week. With 4th quarter starting now hopefully it will be getting even better. I learned a lot last week at eBay open, lets see if I can transform that into sales. I also am looking into a booth at a local flea market that is open on Fridays. Possibly going to open there in November. Its a risk and a big step but it just may be time.

Classes started Monday in my Ag science and organic growing classes. Its been a challenge this week but I feel im back in the flow. I even got my first week assignment done early, y'all know thats a big one for me.

Things around the Homestead are winding down into what I refer to as hibernation time. The garden is ready to be put to bed, hopefully I get to that nexg week. Pears and apples need picked. Gotta dig potatoes yet and see how that harvest is. Lots of little things but its about over.

I didn't have a single Wrestling show this month. We did do our company picnic last Saturday but besides that nothing. The quiet is killing me. October has a couple but November is really bare. Gotta do something about this.

My TV back log has gotten worse. Im weeks behind on Wrestling. Its really ridiculous lol. I haven't watched any of She-Hulk or House Of Dragons. Seems everyday I add on another episode or 5 of the network shows that I try to catch as much of as possible like FBI or Law & Order. I haven't even seen the new Thor yet. I am caught up on Andor of course and am still working through my rewatch of Fear the walking dead. For someone that completely cut the cord this list is nuts!

Speaking of cutting the cord lets discuss my "off grid" life as it is. So many projects and ideas I had for the summer went unstarted. I really had hoped to have a little wood stove set up but not even close. I did get a bucket washing machine built for hand washing and of course my water collection system grew nicely. But still im way behind even though im far better than I was last year at this time.

My health has been good and ive really been doing well at eating. Im near my calorie goal almost everyday. Cooler weather really helps as does less time spent working outside. Now to finally start regular workouts again.

With just a month to go its time to start really planning and working on the upcoming holiday season here and at the Santa House. All while trying to enjoy spooky season too. Its a juggling act sometimes.

The personal life thing is pretty much as wacky as always. Mom and Dad have both been doing good. Dad has a bum shoulder but he says it is feeling a little better. Tyler has been coming around a little bit more now that he has Whiskey to take out. She sure is a cutie and becoming a good pal of mine. I been thinking again about a new cat or dog. Maybe near Christmas? My special person and myself have had a difficult time of getting together. Always seems to be something come up. Its hard with busy lives and a bit of a distance between us. We have plans for next Saturday so hopefully.... It was great to hang out with the Wrestling family last week, tomorrow I get more of that plus the Town Meeting crew. Having a small social life is sad at times but it makes me enjoy it more when it happens. A goal for 2023 is more interaction with friends and family and less alone time!

I think thats enough for tonights book. If you made it through thanks for reading. These things are always kinda hard for me to do but I really feel that they along with you who do read help me keep myself in check.

[zero-ek]

A couple other live concerts and a couple other thoughts on them

Yo!

So this is coming after another post concerning other concerts, i had to break it off cause i reached the image limit on that one lol, plus i felt like it'd be more thematically concise to separate these guys into their own post. So yeah, anyway, here's part one.

Also also because these don't allow screenshots i did my best to describe every highlight, but because of that this became a huge block of text, just a heads up.

3. Natsume Itsuki – Parallel Shot

(See the KV here cause i don't want Hanagata to be mad at me)

Dang, it’s been a month already....

So, good news, I’m not as moody as I’ve been the previous days, so thankfully i did get to enjoy myself watching this concert a lot more, however...

You see, this was, as per usual, a two performance concert (which by the way if you know it I’d really like to know why that is a thing), and usually with these both performances are mostly the same, with some minor changes to the setlist and whatnot. Now while they did stream both parts this time (usually only the nighttime one is available), I’m kinda on a budget, so, thinking i wouldn’t be missing out on much, i got the nighttime one, since it’s the one i normally go for.

Tamu, however, decided that this time there’d be a storyline playing through both performances, and pretty much built the entire experience around it, the song choices, the breaks and everything. So while it was by all means an awesome performance, i was left really itching because i didn’t get the full picture.

I did watch her post-concert talk and the daytime performance watchalong, so i do sort of have an idea of what went on, but dang it I’m feeling so sad that i didn’t actually get to see it, especially since in hindsight, i really want to know how the songs she sang in the daytime part sound like live. But hey, the chance’s already been missed, not much i can do about it now.

Oh, before we get into the actual live, i gotta mention this:

Look. at. This!

I’ve known about this outfit since her first live 8 months ago or so, but she hadn’t posted any pics of it until now so i totally forgot about it. I still can’t believe not only that she actually had this made, but that it looks as good as it does.

First song was “Struggle of Egos”, the theme for this concert, and like, i cannot begin to explain how absolutely m a s s i v e this song sounds live, like it’s incredible. Tamu’s singing is also a lot “shoutier” live, which only makes the performance even rawer (hey hey actually if you wanna check it out for yourself she does show the first couple songs on her watchalong stream so you can go see that I’m not lying)

Also, it might just be the camera framing but the venue looks huge! Like i actually got a little jumpscared by how big it looked, especially with that massive screen behind her (looking it up, it says it’s 618 inches, or 15 meters in diameter!). Also i really love the camera angles, there is a crew operating them manually, so there’s a lot of dynamic shots and very precise closeups.

She then sang her solo version of “Tsuisou no Ragnarok”, which is her collab song with Nakucha under Gree Entertainment. I mention this because firstly on looking up what Gree is exactly i learned that they also work with Assault Lily, which now has me convinced that everything I’ve ever been interested in is run by the same like 10 people or something how the heck do i keep running into the same things like this? But more importantly i gotta mention that I’m really happy that Hifumi seems to be making a hard push for these two lately, i get the impression that they saw how banging they’ve been with La Prière this past two years and realized it’s worth getting them out there. Also, as an Eufolie enjoyer I’m just happy in general that these two are doing stuff together again (even if it isn’t jazz).

She performed “Happy Enforcer” and “Spider Girl” with the dancers from the last concert, and she mentioned afterwards that she messed up pretty hard her dance parts, but honestly those girls were going extremely hard, i gotta commend her for managing to keep up and sing at the same time.

So, for the story, or what i understood of it: it seems that 3D Tamu is actually a separate entity than utaite Tamu, and while they should normally coexist as like perfect mirrors of one another, something went wrong and 3D Tamu started to be loaded up into utaite Tamu’s body instead. 3D Tamu then asks if she could take the opportunity to borrow her body so she can see the real world, which real Tamu accepts, but something seems off.

The now 3D-Tamu-in-real-Tamu’s-body then sang some covers, the highlight for me being “Unravel”. I’ve heard this song like a million times by now, but I’ve never heard it sung in the context of a live concert, and Tamu’s main vocal character being the raw energy her voice has gave me some of the most intense chills I’ve felt in a little while.

The two Tamus talk a little more, and turns out some time loop shenanigans are going on, 3D Tamu is purposefully trying to hijack real Tamu’s body and wants to keep this concert on repeat endlessly. So, from what i could piece together, the daytime performance was the first loop, in which she successfully took over and reset everything.

The robot cat thingie, which i actually don’t know the name of someone help (Future Zero note: apparently he’s called "War Criminal Cat" lmao) managed to remember everything though, and asked the audience to help break the loop and stop 3D Tamu. They do, and that sends the concert, which apparently was exactly the same as the daytime performance so far, off course. It seems that 3D Tamu is on Banana mentality, so real Tamu talks about how the uniqueness of each performance is what makes live concerts exciting to try to talk her out of it.

And like, starting from here until pretty much the end of the concert, she sings a battery of some of her most intense songs, which, looking at the setlist, seems to mirror the more pop-y vibes from the daytime setlist, which i imagine were 3D Tamu’s picks. Particular highlight to “Fragment of Qualia”, i adore that song and was so hyped to hear it live, hearing it with the huge venue acoustics and the crowd cheering was already amazing through the stream, i can’t even imagine how crazy it must’ve been to actually be there.

Also, i gotta mention, the entire concert has been pretty much high gear only so far, like, there’s been calmer songs, but overall it’s been high intensity all the way.

Finally, 3D Tamu is about to be expunged from real Tamu’s head, so as a final request, she asks real Tamu to shoot her with her gun, claiming she wants to at least go out with a bang. Real Tamu shoots... and misses, saying that you shouldn’t want to go out with a bang, but with beauty.

The two of them sing “Ai to CodeQ...” together, before 3D Tamu disappears for good. I’m like 99% sure that the entire story of this concert was written around and as a build up to this song, like, I’d say it’s even more of a theme song than “Struggle of Egos” is. I will admit that it’s not as much of a favourite for me, but it’s that thing where, when you listen to a song in a different context, it helps you see it in a different way, it’s been growing on me, particularly because existentialism is my bread and butter and the lyrics for this song touch on that quite a bit.

Anyways, this is where the concert ends formally, so for the encore, she sings “My Entertainer”, which 3D Tamu sang on her daytime setlist (this mirrors that the daytime encore was Anamnesis, which was in real Tamu’s nighttime setlist). The dancers come back for this one, and Tamu is still keeping up like my gosh what does this girl eat???

By the way, speaking of the setlist, I’m particularly sad to have missed the last three songs of the daytime one. She sang an alternate version of “Junjou Sacrifice”, which she did release and i honestly love it more than the original, i feel like the instrumentation encapsulates the vibe of the lyrics much better. Then “Miniascape”, which is one of my favourites of hers just out of the sheer atmosphere it evokes, and she ended with “Son Macabre”, which i honestly didn’t like at first, but it seriously grew on me a whole lot, she mentioned it on the watchalong, but it really gives off that “bad end” vibe really well, from the perspective of the villain, particularly, and i reeeeeeeally wanted to hear that in the context of this concert’s story.

Now that the story is over, Tamu can finally break character and do an MC. Yep, the only MC is in the encore. She goes at it for like i think 15 minutes or so, mainly showcasing merch and talking about how this whole live came to be, and like, she’s talking at like a hundred miles an hour, mind you she’s doing this for the second time on the day, and this one is even more hyped up than the daytime one, and there’s not a sliver of tiredness at all in her voice, like if i speak uninterrupted for just 10 minutes my throat feels sore for the rest of the day girl what are you?

The biggest announcement is that she’s going on tour!!! And with a live band!!! Like, the momentum that she and the other LaPri girls have been on is insane, they’ve done so much these past two years that whenever something new is announced, i get kinda fearful that like, it’s gonna be their peak and things will start to slow down, just because y’know, they’re pretty much as close to indie as you can get (nayuta in particular actually being one), but no, they just keep shooting higher and higher, and that really warms my heart.

Also, with how intense Tamu’s songs in particular are, my excitement is through the roof to hear how a live band brings them to life.

Actually, now that i think about it, it might’ve been for the best that i picked the nighttime performance, I’m writing this a couple days after my first watch, so i had a little time to marinate my thoughts on it, and most importantly the immediate post-event-hype wore off, so I’m more inclined to think “dang it, i really wanted to see that”. And like yeah, i am a lil pouty that i didn’t get to watch everything, but on second thought i feel like i really needed the uninterrupted burst of energy that this live was.

I like to make playlists of concerts after i watch them, not only cuz it helps me remember but often because i like to think about the intention that went into arranging the songs in that particular order. I’ve noticed that I’ve been listening to Tamu’s quite a bit ever since, and i feel that i gained another level of appreciation for her stuff now, particularly because i was in the position that i was when i watched her concert, which is fun, but also cruel to think about how these sorts of pieces move. (Future Zero note: guys help me i don’t know what the frick i meant by this???)

I don't know how to end this, uhh... i guess the lesson here is beware of time warping, body-snatching, cute singing anime girls. Yeah.

4. Aitsuki Nakuru – Qulalim Stella

After all these years, i finally know how to write クラリムステラin romaji! It’s still nonsense but it sounds cool

Oh and by the way this is the best concert I’ve ever watched. Ever.

I’ll get into detail about it in a bit but I’m finishing writing this up over a week after i first watched it, and i still cannot get this concert out of my head (which for me is saying something), like it was just so good in all the best little ways a concert can be, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Before we get into the songs, i wanna talk about the visuals. First and foremost, the venue was massive, like, look at this!

I looked it up, and the capacity is for roughly 1.7 thousand people seated, and it was absolutely packed! And also, the stage was fully decorated, which i could be wrong but i don’t think I’ve seen that before in utaite concerts (usually it’s just the empty stage, or just the screen behind them), which really helped bring the performances to life, considering how large the stage was.

But what i freaked out the most about was this:

They actually made her the Nardack/Indigrotto/jellyfish outfit!!!

She had announced what the stage outfit would be like (this one, from the 2nd keyvis and designed by her friend Youichi), and with how complex Nardack’s design is, i wasn’t expecting at all that she’d actually have it made too. The pics really don’t do it justice, it looked amazing on stage, the skirt is a lot puffier than it looks, and the translucent parts looked especially great with the stage lights shining through them.

The first three songs were very fitting for a 1st concert, in a “this is who i am vibe”, she started with “Azura Lano”, which she later called her “self introduction song”, then “Cosmodiver”, one of her latest songs, which she actually explained that it was made especially for this concert (and written by Tamu, no less!). And “Kotonoha”, a very old song for the older fans, which I’ve never heard before because I’m an overseas fan and Nacollection 1 doesn't exist for us.

A couple of things to note, first of all, my compliments to the PA team, the whole concert was mixed to perfection, with the venue being as large as it was, the acoustics were really intense, but not too overbearing on the ears. Also, and I’ve noticed this on her 3D stuff, but it’s amazing how Nakucha’s voice has so much projection while still remaining as airy and breathy as she usually is. She’s a human flute if I’ve ever seen one.

Also also, for this being her first ever solo concert, she’s an absolute natural at it, like, she said she’s just winging it, but she’s extremely charismatic and lively, her interactions and banter with the audience during the MCs had me smiling all the way. Of course, this isn’t her first concert per se, she’s had the past two years or so with LaPri and stuff, but i do think there’s a difference between having the other two to bounce off of and doing it on her own, and she pulled it off incredibly well.

Anyways, she sang her version of “Tsuisou no Ragnarok” (which in my humble opinion is the best one), and i haven’t been able to shake the thought that they’re gearing up for a NakuTamu two-man live, they’ve got another single coming up soon, and it really seems like Hifumi and Gree are pushing hard to make this pair a thing.

Now, for the first highlight of the night, “Oxydlate”.

Holy crap.

This was pretty much what everyone was talking about, reading up on tweets and live reports, and justifiably so, because oh my god what a performance. The song has some of the highest falsettos she can do, which was already impressive enough, but i think what really made this so incredible was actually getting to see her expressiveness during it, like, being able to see through her body language, the inflections and tiny imperfections on her voice denoting how demanding this song is, and how much work she is putting to pull it off so perfectly.

That, combined with just how enthralling the song itself is, is what i think made this so memorable, it gets you as into a performance as i think is humanly possible, like, i distinctively remember being in like a sort of a trance that i had to shake myself out of by the time the song ended, I didn’t mention this before, but i was home alone the day i watched this live, so i got to set up my computer to my actually pretty nice TV, and i really feel like that increased my experience of it like tenfold.

Oh, and i can’t not mention That One Part™ where she falls to her knees, which pretty much everyone was like “holy sh*t what a moment”, she actually mentioned on her post concert stream that she was only half-acting on that part, she really needed to get her bearings in that moment and figured she should do it with style. I personally feel like that part really cemented this as one of my favourite live performances of all time, like it’s that good.

Then it was Endorfin time! sky_delta came as a guest, playing the keyboard, i really liked how the stage really lit up during this part, with the strobe lights going crazy in the back, and the crowd really got to cheer hard during this part too, Endorfin’s songs usually being more upbeat, and that played off of the hype from “Oxydlate” perfectly in my opinion. A special highlight to “Suisei no Parasol” because sky_delta got to play a sick solo in it.

I wish sky_delta had stayed longer, not only because live instruments are better as we all know, but honestly he himself was a joy to watch. He’s a little more awkward on stage than Nakucha, but they bounce off each other really well, and he really seemed super happy to be there. She mentioned how he approached her 10 years ago, when she wasn’t doing singing as much, and was like like “hey let’s do this thing”, and now she got him to perform their songs in front of almost two thousand people, that really warmed my heart.

Entering the second half of the concert, a prerecorded performance of 3D Nakucha sings “Indigrotto” while real Nakucha goes to change outfits, it looked sort of like this (there's a timestamp here i hope it works):

She comes back wearing the dark outfit from the 2nd keyvis and sings “Evil Bubble” joined by two dancers, and i must say that I’ve not seen a harder display of bad b*tchery as this. She spends most of the performance sat on this ornate sofa, doing a badass pose, while the two other girls dance wildly around her, and only at the end she gets escorted out of it, hand in hand with the dancers, mirroring the puppet imagery from the song. I gotta give props to the camera work here for really going crazy with the shakes and angles while still managing to capture everything, it made the recording really come alive

She then really goes off and joins in on the choreography in “Lilith”, and like, she absolutely s l a y e d, she kept up with the dancers amazingly, and the choreo itself was incredibly captivating (this is my polite way to say that she had me swooning lol it’s a sexy song and I’m gay what do you expect?).

The next three songs were pretty much each one a highlight, being all fan favourites, but i feel like the last one in particular even more so. She started with “Gyakusaka”, with the dancers doing this amazing performance with traditional umbrellas. Then “Killer Neuron”, which is already hype enough of a song just from the sheer energy of it, but was even more intense to watch, with the dancers going all out, and the incredible camerawork being the cherry on top.

She then went into an MC and i gotta say that i love how she’ll sing like the hardest, filthiest, most stank-face inducing songs known to man, and then be all like “hey guuyyyss ☺️☺️☺️ that was Killer Neuron!!!! ☺️☺️☺️☺️ how'd you like it???? ☺️☺️☺️☺️☺️”.

Halfway through the MC, the lights go out, and when they come back up, Nakucha starts speaking in this overbearingly cutesy and bubbly way, and i adore that i immediately knew what was going on. Like, she could’ve just gone straight into the song, even more so since everyone knew she was going to sing it in this concert (it was chosen by the fans through a poll), but it’s super cool that she took the time to make up a whole routine to build up to it, even though I’m pretty sure she was cringing on the inside.

Anyways, yeah, the next song is “Fake Idol”, the Aitsuki Nakuru song of the 2020s (so far). And y’know, as hype as this song was with the whole buildup and everything, by this point the rhythm of the second half has already settled in, so there isn’t much i can say about this performance that i haven’t about the others already. But as it turns out, she has a trick up her sleeve, because following this one, she sings two of her “actual idol-ish” songs, which i thought was genius.

Like, if these two songs were anywhere else on the setlist, it would’ve been fine, cutesy upbeat songs are fun to cheer to, but i wouldn’t think much of it. But because she started the set with “Fake Idol”, you get that lingering feeling that something isn’t right. The two songs, “Continue!” and “Watashi ga Watashi ni Itatta...” are perfectly innocent, cute songs, and she just sang them normally, but she manages to spin them around as songs that put you off simply by their placement.

Which is another reason why i believe why this is my favourite concert ever: the setlist was absolutely perfect, every song choice was perfect, their positioning on the setlist was perfect, and the flow from one section to the other was completely immaculate.

The last song was “Kore Kurai de”, another one i actually hadn’t heard before either. As it turns out, it’s a song she sang for a really old eroge, and actually i wanna take the chance to ask what is it with eroges having some of the hardest ending songs ever? Like, i do appreciate the effort and that they take themselves so seriously, but like, the amount of times I’ve heard a banger only to look it up and see that it came from an eroge is insane (looking at you, I’ve sound, Mosaic.wav). Kudos to japanese devs for that.

She explains that the reason she chose this song in particular was because not only she imagined that it’d be nostalgic for a lot of people, but because the lyrics summarized perfectly what she had to say and how she wanted to end this live with. Halfway through the song, though, she started to cry, and i don’t mean like her voice was shaking or she teared up a bit or anything like that. No, i mean she cried hard, like to the point that she couldn’t even finish the verses anymore. She managed to power through but as soon as the song ended she just mumbled a “thank you” and literally ran away from the stage.

It hit me really hard that, like, the girl who was lighting the whole stage on fire only 5 minutes ago and pulled off every song on the setlist flawlessly was the same one crying so hard that she could barely get the words out. Mainly because she isn’t the most open about herself, not that she doesn’t share (i mean look at her sub-twitter), but she’s sort of like the type of person that you can only infer so much about what they’re like from what they show you, so you can’t say that you really “know them” for certain.

(Also overall, she just isn’t around all that much)

So because of that, i really didn’t know how to feel about what had happened, it was simultaneously extremely endearing, given that the song is about not being able to properly express one’s gratitude for how cherished they are. But at the same time, i felt guilty somewhat, it takes a lot of fortitude to be vulnerable in front of someone, let alone over a thousand people, and i got the impression that she wasn’t particularly ready to be put in that position. I sincerely hope that I’m wrong and that she did felt at least comfortable enough to be seen like that, i imagine everyone knows how much it sucks to crumble somewhere you don’t feel safe doing so.

She came back for the encore, and the first thing she said was “this is so cringe”, which... yeah, i can imagine, if it was me i would’ve just went home then and there and not do an encore at all, professionalism be damned. Again, I hope it’s not something that’ll haunt her in her sleep or anything. It was usual encore business, she showed off her merch, did her announcements, she called the dancers and sky_delta to the stage to say a couple words, which was particularly nice. But most importantly to me i think was the little talk about herself she had at the end.

In her words, she’s always been nothing more than an “empty void”, someone who never had any big dreams or passions in her life, being overall a complete pessimist. But that changed once “Aitsuki Nakuru” came to be, because that was a part of her that people began to look up to. Since then, she dreamed that she could keep on being “Aitsuki Nakuru”, to be able to live up to who that is.

She said that if “Aitsuki Nakuru” were to fade away, she’s afraid that she might end up back on her old ways, “a monster of pessimism”, as she put it. So, as long as the veil of “Aitsuki Nakuru” exists, she wants everyone to keep watching over her through it, and keep her dream alive. And in return, she’ll keep on singing through it, to push everyone towards their own dreams. While she doesn’t want to be put in a pedestal or anything, all she asks is that everyone keeps the memory of “Aitsuki Nakuru”, even if just a small piece of it, on the back of their heads, until the day we die.

I mentioned that this was my favourite concert I’ve ever watched, and like initially i thought it was just the euphoria of blasting it on a big screen, which i never got to do before, but even after that wore down i was still thinking about it a whole lot, particularly these last 20 or so minutes of it. Plus, I watched some insanely incredible stuff, like, a core memory of mine, and the very reason I’m so into watching live concerts, was Kalafina’s very last concert on the Nippon Budoukan, that was an experience i cannot even begin to describe, and that I’m forever thankful that i never forgot about.

But what made this one so special to me, even in the face of much more objectively amazing stuff I’ve watched prior, is that it felt very human, “normal”, in a sense. I know that my gushing so far may not convey that very well, but for whatever reason, throughout the duration of this concert, i never once felt like i was looking “up” at her, that the girl on stage was someone above me, that i couldn’t see eye to eye with. This is something that I’ve been working to unlearn about people i admire ever since i left my teens, but that i don’t think I had faced it to this degree yet.

This could be just me assuming things, but from what little i know about her, Nakuru seems to be the type who doesn’t think too highly of herself, not in a self-deprecating way (although she goes that way sometimes), but as in like “i’m just a person doing person things like everyone else”. A thing to note, and that she mentioned a couple of times before, is that she didn’t particularly want to do a live concert at all. She doesn’t like singing in front of people, and even though she does do live events every so often, she gets a little unhappy about it because she feels that she isn’t cut out for it.

In contrast to that, this concert was put together to an unbelievable degree of perfection, as i made sure to let you know. You could see in every detail of it, the stage, the decorations, the outfits, the choreographies, the sound quality, the cinematography, the venue itself, that an insurmountable amount of effort went into producing this concert and making it happen as smoothly as it did. And people showed up for it, i know i keep on hammering this point but like holy ship the venue was massive, keeping in mind this is the very first live concert, of a doujin artist, i cannot stress enough how absolutely incredible that is.

Of course, i have to be real here, Hifumi is a very capable agency, and Nakuru is one of the more well known utaites out there, so it’s not like this is a total Cinderella type thing or anything. But even still it felt very personal, like, the high production value in this didn’t feel like some celebrity’s grand endeavor, it felt like an everyday person, the type you’d see on the train or your coworker, being granted the opportunity to show the world that they can do something special.

And y’know, i think, and i at least hope, that this was a revelation to her as well, that she’s capable of a lot more than she gives herself credit for, and that there’s much more to reap from what she sowed for the past 10 years or so. “Aitsuki Nakuru” isn’t some ethereal existence that she needs to keep clinging onto to be able to have some sense of worth, “Aitsuki Nakuru” is something she made with her own hands, the result of work and dedication. It may not be who she is, but is what she achieved, and i sincerely hope she is as proud of that as everyone else around her clearly is.

“Kore Kurai de” was a song about gratitude, being shown happiness that one doesn’t know they could have, but not being able to express themselves about it. With the context of what she spoke about herself and what “Aitsuki Nakuru” means to her, i would like to think that her tears came from realizing that it’s her that we’re looking at. She is Aitsuki Nakuru, the happiness and gratitude she wanted so much to convey through that song was the result of what she worked to achieve. Not some external concept bound to a song or illustration or 3D model, her, the actual person in this world that made it happen.

In short, this is my favourite concert of all time, not just because it was some million dollar production that was completely and utterly impressive every step of the way (which it was, mind you), but because it was the work of a very flawed individual, not unlike all of us, that shows that we’re not any less capable of achieving incredible things because of it, even if we might not personally believe it so.

Anyways i didn’t even mention the encore track, it was the title track of the concert, “Qulalim Stella”, which by the way i actually took the time to translate, if you scroll down on the music video you’ll see me down there lol. I particularly like the second chorus, in the context of this concert:

“The yesterdays that i put behind me, and the hazy tomorrows yet to come

I hope that i can eventually embrace them both.

Because you showed me a side of myself i never knew of, I can now shine so brightly. And so

I shake away my doubts, so the path i walk may continue.”

Like I’ve said before, the song choices and placement for the setlist was absolutely immaculate, following up on the themes of “Kore Kurai de”, but with much more conviction and firm grasp and understanding of oneself. I’m not sure if that’s something she actually thought about, but i hope that, as the song suggests, she can hold her head up high moving forward and be more proud of herself.

(Future Zero note: her current Twitter banner is a shot of the live concert visuals from Fake Idol, kinda ominous but i hope this means she sees live concerts more favourably now lol)

Oh, yeah, and the announcement! To no one’s surprise, really, she’s gonna do another live, and looking at the venue holy shoot the place is even more massive than the first! I don’t think i need to say how excited i am for this one!

Nakucha world Domination!!!

6. La Prière – Splash the Tone

(Go follow Narumi-sensei he actually has a tumblr!)

It’s summer!!!

Well, not in Japan, and especially not here, but it might as well be, I’m pretty sure it rained like at least once a week for the entire last year, but lately it’s been scolding hot every single day, I’m pretty sure my skin is sublimating, and i even got a pretty bad nosebleed the other day.

This concert really was like an Avengers moment, since not only it follows only a little while after Tamu and Nakucha’s solo lives, but also, as the very last stop of their tour, it’s the last project backed by the crowdfunding from two years ago (which i still can’t wrap my head around how insane that was). And it absolutely shows here, not only this is their biggest venue yet, but it was also incredibly produced. Like, from the stage outfits, to the adorable set decor, to some of the most professional and dynamic camerawork I’ve ever seen, it’s actually hard to believe that this wasn’t a company-backed concert, i cannot stress enough how well put together this live was.

The first three songs were probably the most in line with the summer theme, “Seishun Summer Dive”, which I’m actually a bit sad that they couldn’t find a way to sing the harmony parts live, but on the other hand, really highlighted just how perfect the live mixing was on this. The drums pop out so much that you’d actually think there was a live drummer in the venue. And yet, their voices were crystal clear, which particularly impressed me since not only were they wearing masks, but this song has the harmony parts and pretty dense horns as well, which could’ve very easily drowned out everything else.

Next was “Susume Lovely Idol...”, probably their silliest song, i really liked how not only they came up with a little choreography for it, but also fully acted out the little dialogue parts. While this isn’t a song that i usually go out of my way to listen to, it was very cute to watch it performed on stage.

They did a little intro MC (shout out to the couple people who were actually from overseas, i soooo envy you) and then went into the title track, “Splash the Tone”, and like, something that really surprised me, especially since the previous two songs were so high energy, was how incredibly soft nayuta sounded in this one, like, not only the texture of her voice, but even her pronunciation of each word was unbelievably clear, my heart actually skipped a beat every time she had a solo verse.

(not biased at all guys promise)

Then “Instant Love”, which actually had a pretty involved choreo that they absolutely slayed. Something i really love about this song is that it’s a perfect example of how their combined vocals are greater than the sum of their parts. Like, you have the verses sung solo, then the pre-chorus has one vocal line front and centre, but with the other two harmonizing the backing vocals (which i particularly like how since they each have a turn, it showcases the different combinations of their voices and how they harmonize together) and finally the chorus, which puts it all together with their unison parts.

Next, they sang “Evo”, which i actually didn’t expect to become one of my favourites, it’s one of those that never leaves your head after your second or third listen (damn you Chinozo and your catchy hooks), it was a particularly “ooh!” moment for me when it came up because they sang a different summer themed version of it, with a different MV in the back and everything, although sadly it's apparently not gonna be released.

Oh yeah, as if this live couldn’t get any better, they even brought guests! Nakurage (CV: Natsume Itsuki) and Poyuta (CV: Natsume Itsuki), who were both incredibly honoured to be there and absolutely came out of their own volition and not at all because they were coerced into it by a certain lady in blue or anything.

Something i really like about these smaller concerts is that, at least from what I’ve seen, the MCs are much more laid back and freeform, particularly with this one where there’s three people on stage, there isn’t much of a worry about keeping the audience “in the moment” and they can just goof around a lot more. Tamu and Nakucha in particular are such a dynamic duo, their back and forth is always so amusing i love it.

Ending the “upbeat” part of the live, they sang “Tenshin Ranman...” and “RisingSun” because they’re required by law to sing these two together. They and the audience had these little wooden fans during these two tracks, and the visual of the crowd waving them around was really compelling for me, i don’t know why, like, it made the venue feel very “alive” in a way.

Also, for the first highlight of the night, “RisingSun” holy shoot, it’s already my favorite of the two, but the live performance was jawdropping. The song has a lot of long tones, and nayuta absolutely knocked it out of the park on her parts, her voice was soo bewitching like i can’t put into words how well she was singing here. Like i mentioned before i don’t know if it’s just me but her voice just feels even more clearer and softer than ever in this live, i couldn’t get enough of it.

Also also, i didn’t mention, but in this first “idol-y” part, pretty much every song had a little choreo for them, a couple were very simple, and a couple were genuinely impressive. Like i mentioned, the one in “Instant Love”, but also the one for “Tenshin Ranman...” were probably my favourites.

There was an intermission while they went to change outfits, and the song that they played was... something, i could barely follow along because it was so trippy, like think “Susume Lovely Idol...” but double the BPM and add some very weird beat drops and breakdowns and a bunch of nonsense lyrics. It’s not something they released i think but i couldn’t not mention it because it was so weird.

The second half of the concert (which was more like 2/3 of it) is where in my opinion it really pops off. First and foremost look at their outfits:

Not only were they absolutely rocking these on the stage, but they sang 5 absolute bangers back to back, “richromatic prayer”, their latest song, really reminds me of their earlier, super intense material, like, it’d be a perfect fit for “Galaxy Triangle” had it come out back then. Next, “Eikyuu no Gemini”, which i can’t really explain why but it has that particular sort of epic feel that gets you pumped up in a “i want to flamboyantly swordfight to this” sort of way. And “Koi no Illusionista”, which is one of my favourite songs of theirs ever, not only because it’s extremely catchy, but also it has a super crazy and addicting rhythm section, which was absolutely incredible to hear through a live mix. (also I’m pretty sure their outfits were based on the ones from the MV), they also had a choreo for this one, so even more extra points.

They kept going with “Sweet Dreams”, which looking back, was probably the only low energy moment from the entire setlist, i mean “Instant Love” wasn’t super high energy, but it had the most complex choreo so far to make up for it. Also i wanna praise the camerawork again, since the girls were sitting down for this one, they went crazy with the effects and angles to still make it visually engaging. And finally closing up the set, “Muhou Chiten”, another personal favourite, it’s a very quintessential JRock song, but done so well that it just never leaves your head.

Now for another big highlight, the start of the next set was “Necrogamy”, which is like, an outstanding piece of music, like easily top 5 best LaPri songs, objectively speaking. I could just spend the rest of this report talking about all the things i like about this song, like, to me, it’s a distillation of everything that makes each of them, and LaPri as a whole, great, the lyrics are very engaging (massive props to Tamu, she wrote them!), and the melodies and instrumentation are so beautiful and captivating.

And of course, their vocals are so mesmerizing all the way, there’s solo parts showcasing their softer singing, then the first chorus in unison, displaying their synchronicity, but then, as the song shifts from major to minor they shift into harmonizing, which is probably my single favourite thing about this group: they each have such distinct voices, each very clear but in very different ways, yet they combine so perfectly when they harmonize, nayuta’s is focused yet clear, Nakucha’s is breathy and ethereal, and Tamu’s is strong and piercing.

Then there’s the c part, which suddenly brings the energy of the song up, and just condenses everything i just talked about, there’s unison parts, which devolves into disjointed solo verses, continuously building up in intensity until they all come in sync again to resolve the section. Finally, the song ends with a repeat of the a section, but it ends with them harmonizing a minor chord instead, reinforcing the overall theme of the song.

I really like this one...

The next one was “GHOST”, which while significantly less intense than the last one, it makes up for it by having very expressive verses, the rhythm is a very tight groove and the verses are more spoken and rap-esque, but the way they put a lot of emotion in their voices make it flow very naturally, while still being musically engaging. (Also i particularly love the drums in this one and again, the in house engineers killed it with the live mix). Then, “Sore wa Sekai...”, their first song ever as La Prière, and to this day one of their best ones, being incredibly well composed and masterfully making use of their vocals both individually and together. It was particularly interesting to hear it live, since it made for a good show of how much their singing has matured since then, Tamu in particular, since she sounds a lot more aggressive when she sings live, i feel like her parts were really the highlight of this track, particularly in the last chorus, where there was this little back and forth between Tamu alone and Nakucha and nayuta in unison, she cut straight though their softer vocals with how potent her voice is.

The final set of the concert though was just cruel.

“Habataku Kimi e” is another personal favourite, maybe not top 5 but extremely close, much like “Necrogamy” it’s all about how their vocals mesh together in all sorts of different ways, but while “Necrogamy” reels you in first before hitting you hard, this one is just a big explosion all the way through, like it’s all of the things i talked about before but condensed into a short but powerful burst of music, even more so on a live mix, where everything sounds so massive, and you can pick apart their voices even more clearly, like i got goosebumps so strong it actually hurt a little lol.

“Triptych Symphony” then follows in the vein of “Sore wa Sekai...”, in that it’s very much about each of them individually, showing off their own strengths and ultimately how they come together to make something even more beautiful as a trio than it’d be possible on their own, not only in the arrangement (which i can’t not appreciate that it was by nayuta, the talent on this girl), how it’s mostly solo parts, but certain parts will be highlighted by one or two of them doing backing vocals to support the lead for the part, and only converging in a unison part at the very end. But also in the lyrics, which actually i wanna come back to in a minute.

Then, finally, for maximum emotional damage, the final song of the concert was “Three Piece!”, which like... i didn’t think that i was gonna cry watching this live, but like, how do you not? That wasn’t fair at all. I wanna say that it was i think 10pm at the time but i actually sang along to this one, and yeah my sisters got mad at me for it but y’know what i had tears in my eyes and the biggest dumbest smile in my face and i regret absolutely nothing.

Thankfully they didn’t cut straight to the encore because the whiplash would’ve killed me, the first song was “Animatte Utopia”, which i had been wondering why it wasn’t together with “Evo”, since they both have the same energy. Again, since they didn’t cut straight to it like it usually is the case with these lives, and they even played a little intro for it, i had a little time to get my mood in order.

Anyways, i feel like I’ve been very cordial and respectful throughout this report, but i genuinely don’t think there’s any other way to express this.

nayuta.

Was too.

F***ing

CUTEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I FREAKING LOVE THIS WOMAN SHE IS SO DAMN ADORABLE OH MY F***ING GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So they had changed into casual clothes, as per the usual with encore sections, but for this song they each had put on a set of animal ears and tail, corresponding to the MV. Not only that, but this one also had a super cute choreo too, and it’s probably just because I’m biased since she’s my favorite but like i feel like out of the three of them nayuta was the absolute cutest, just completely and utterly the most adorable little thingie I’ve ever seen, like i wanted to squeeze her till my arms give out, especially considering she’s the shorter one of of the three of them, so she just looked even more cute jumping around and doing the animal poses next to the other two. Like i swear to god i wanted to scream into my pillow because of how cute she was...

...ahem...

So, uh, yeah. Also, the choreo for this song was a really intense one, and the song itself is very fast paced, so it was actually really impressive that they pulled it off so flawlessly, especially considering they were using handheld mics, which are way too easy to lose volume if you pull them away even just a little bit. But then again i shouldn’t be too surprised since they were absolutely slaying from early on in this live.

While they were doing the usual encore stuff, showing off the merch and all, Tamu brought along a cake, and they sang Nakucha happy birthday (the live itself happened at the end of February, her birthday being March 1st.). Apparently it was the backstage crew’s suggestion, which I thought was very sweet of them, Nakucha mentioned that she doesn’t really like to celebrate her birthdays (same), but that she was genuinely glad that they went out of their way to do that for her, she stole a bite of of the cake and they took the ending pics with it, i hope that made it one to remember for her.

Now, for this encore’s Reflection Time™, which i actually wanna get into quite a bit. Nakucha asked the other two to “summarize what La Prière means to them in one sentence”. It’s a very interesting question to pose, seeing that this is not only the end of their Tour, but of the whole CF campaign and the two years of projects and content that it spawned, it’s the end of an era, pretty much. Not to mention that Nakucha was the one to bring it up, considering that this is only a few weeks after her own solo live and i told you what went on back then.

Tamu said that for her, it was a “turning point in her life”, mentioning how back then, it was a big push for her to quit the day job she had at the time, in order to make more time for LaPri’s projects. Of course, she had her solo career at the time, but that it was LaPri that pushed her to make that life-changing decision, and that she probably wouldn’t be here as we know her if it weren’t for it.

Coming off of that, nayuta said that it’s something that “added colour to her life”, how it allowed her to do things that she wouldn’t be able to by herself, this concert and tour being one of them. And that because she has the two of them with her, supporting her and stepping in where she falls short, she was able to broaden her horizons and achieve much more than she thought she could on her own.

(Also she mentions how the whole idea for a live CF project came from a long conversation about life that they had on the Tokyo Sky Tree at sunset, and like that’s the most idol anime thing ever are you kidding me???)

Finally, Nakucha says that for her, LaPri is “courage”, that back when she was doing her solo live, she had been so painfully nervous about doing it on her own, but now that she has the two of them with her this time around, she feels much more at ease. She talks about how she only got the courage to do a solo live because of having already done the LaPri concerts prior, because of the two of them pulling her out of her comfort zone and showing her what standing on stage has to offer, and that at the end of the day, she can do it on her own.

The overall sentiment here was very much that “i’ve made it somewhere i never thought i would”, which i think in the face of this concert in particular, is pretty much the single most suitable way to describe LaPri and the past two years. While y’know, in Nakucha’s solo live, the sentiment i got out of it was “someone not yet realizing how far they’ve come and how much farther they can go”, with this it was much more in the vein of them seizing an opportunity and taking it as far as they possibly can.

Nayuta mentioned how much of a wonder it was that the three of them, as doujin artists, were able to make it all the way to Tokyo Zepp (twice, even!), which thinking about it, yeah, that’s actually pretty crazy to think about. Sure, i think everyone who’s into japanese music knows one or two cinderella stories like that, but at the very least in the independent utaite sphere (as far as i know, Hifumi doesn’t have anything to do with LaPri in particular, though i wouldn’t be surprised), it’s not at all the most common thing to see projects of this scope.

I mean, yeah, they are sort of a supergroup, i think each of them has over 10 years of work under their belts, and are pretty much some of the most high profile people in the doujin music scene. But then again, it’s not the biggest scene out there to begin with, and even for some of the most accomplished veterans, a single live concert is an incredibly arduous task to pull off on their own, part of the reason why you’ll most often only see them live in festivals or as part of larger projects.

And yet here they are, with a two part concert and a 3 stop tour in only two years, finishing it off on Tokyo Zepp, and with such a widespread reach that not only were they able to stream it overseas, but they even got a sizeable handful of attendees from outside of Japan to come watch them in person. Putting it into perspective, it’s an absolutely bonkers thing to think about.

I mentioned the last three songs being such a hard hit, and i wanna elaborate on that a little more. “Habataku Kimi e” is a song about closure, it evokes the idea that things end and we gotta move on from it, but that there is much more to be seen beyond what we have now. That’s something that could be said about the live, the tour, the CF campaign or La Prière as a whole, especially if we take into account that it’s the theme song and very last track of their latest album.

They’ve just entered their 5th year as a group, and yeah, they’ve come so far, and achieved so much, but that’s gotta end at some point, and LaPri themselves are going to end at some point. And in that sense, and in the context of what they talked about afterwards, i feel like it’s as much of a song for themselves as it is a song for the listener, in the vein of “this won’t last forever, but that’s okay, we were able to be part of something special, and we can now look to the future precisely because we had it”.

I particularly love this last chorus:

“To you, spreading your wings, now i say

That this goodbye only hurts this much, because we’re now so full of light.

To you, spreading your wings, never stop moving forward

towards a new tomorrow, because even after we part

The paths we walk will continue on, forever”

The timing for this couldn’t have been more impeccable to me in particular...

If “Habataku Kimi e” is about “why” you should remember, then I’d say “Triptych Symphony” is much more about the “what” to remember them by, like i said, it’s very much about each of them and what makes their union special, i mean, a Triptych is a work of art in which three pieces (wink wink) make up a whole, which is reflected on the song’s overall theme of many voices, melodies, sounds, and destinies joining together to deliver a message, be it of “lament”, of “finality”, of “love”, and finally, in the last portion of the song, simply of “music”.

And y’know, while this song is about the merging of their voices, it’s very interesting that most of it is sung in solo parts, with only a couple of spots where all three of them sing together, like in the first pre-chorus, “this lone melody i found among the darkness shall change my fate”, or the whole second verse, which is a flip on the much more somber message of the first one. The same goes for the verses each of them sing and how they might relate to each of them in a deeper level (Nakucha’s in particular), i hadn’t thought much of it before, but after listening to what they talked about in this concert, these choices seem much more purposeful than they appear.

And of course, “Three Piece!”, which to me felt very obviously like a celebration of everything that’s happened these past two years. It was the theme song for their first concert, the very start of the whole saga that this performance was closing up, which even now looking back at it, the fact that this entire project was even able to happen in the first place is just straight up unbelievable. I think that this one hit me as hard as it did because it marked the end of something that was lucky enough to be there every step of the way, it was something that I’m insanely happy to have been able to be a part of and to see through to its end.

I’m also extremely proud of the girls themselves, of course, for pushing forwards and upwards as far as they possibly could with this, and for how much they were able to accomplish because of it, as LaPri and individually, considering how much more each of them have been doing on their own in the past two years since the first LaPri live. At the very last drop of the song, the venue exploded with confetti and the crowd cheered super hard, and i don’t know why, but to me that moment in particular just absolutely filled me with joy, i don’t think that I’ve been as happy to have found out about them, to have donated to the CF, to have followed them throughout every step of this whole saga as I’ve been in that single moment. I just can’t put into words how immensely satisfying of an ending that was, like, they could’ve said that that was their last ever live performance and i would’ve been okay with it because it was such a high note to end things on.

Oh, yeah, and i haven’t even mentioned the second encore song yet.

“Chronologue”, the La Prière song, putting a bow on everything proper. I’ll admit that i wasn’t as emotional by the time it came around, since the first encore was so cute, and they talked for long enough after for me to pull myself together. This is a very special song in that the lyrics are by all three of them, and also I’m just now realizing that i made an oopsie because what this song is about is pretty much what I’ve discussed at length in the paragraphs above, so i kinda don’t have much else to say here...

The interesting thing about this song , though, highlighted in this performance, is how it and “Three Piece!” sort of play off of each other in their similarities, Tamu even joked how hard of a punch it was to end the concert with one and the encore with the other. “Three Piece!”, which was released later, is much more about looking ahead and wanting to do so much more moving forward, with verses like “There’s still much more to this story, and we’ll be together for it”. Meanwhile, “Chronologue”, which came before, is about looking back with pride on the path that one takes and being grateful for it, the titular verse of the song being “We’ve made it this far because you were here for us”. For this concert in particular, i feel like they were two different ways of expressing the same feeling, one in emotion, and one in the lyrics, which i think makes each of them a great ending in their own right.

And that’s that, the end of La Prière’s Splash the Tone tour, as well as the two year long crowdfunding campaign, it has been an absolutely insane ride and I’m so glad that i got to be a part of it. I hope that my painstakingly extensive rambling here encourages you to support your independent(-ish) utaites, i mean, who knows what other great projects are out there, waiting to be realized. Maybe it’ll be short lived, and maybe it won’t be the biggest most jaw-dropping thing in the world, but the fact that it was there, and that it happened, that alone makes it special, and speaking from experience, it is absolutely worth it to be there for something like that.

A little epilogue

It’s been almost a whole month and i still haven’t posted this freaking thing why am i like this.

I feel like i went through a whole character arc in those 3 months, in hindsight it’s pretty crazy how almost every one of these concerts had something in them that i needed to hear or think about, i honestly feel like i grew up a little lol.

All that aside, hopefully i can save up enough for this summer, since there’s gonna be a lot of stuff happening then too, though thankfully not as much as in these past few months (so far at least) so my bank account won’t cry as much. Sadly that means I’m gonna have to skip Albemuth’s live coming up this week, which sucks not only because I’ve been seriously into ADAM and their Christmas album, but i really wanted to see Aru off.

I’ll be paying attention to the live reports and Twitter so hopefully i can at least get a good grasp of how things went, but i just know I’m going to regret missing this opportunity, Albemuth really grew on me these past couple months and while i have accepted that there won’t be any more of them... there won’t be any more of them!!! And I’m gonna miss the very last of it!!! Can you see how that’s eating me alive!?

Also also, it’s M3 month!! So while things finally calmed down on the live side, i have new music on the horizon to look forward to in the meantime! The past 2 M3s have really been something for the artists i follow so I’m super excited to see what they’ve been cooking this time.

Anyways, uh, yeah, music good, girls who sing even more good, live concerts? Pshh, even gooder.

Cheers to all two of you reading this, i hope this year gets kinder to you and me both.

[neon-blooded]

So. Things have been Wild at work. WILD Wild. I've been here a month and a half and i've gotten VERY comfortable. I really like working here! I feel really good about this job and... most of my crew. Well, now its all of my crew lol. Like i said. Wild.

So, if a position for one-store manager opens up... im going to go for it. We need a manager and i can actually do it, with some basic training and coaching. Damn near everyone is encouraging me, cause i've been turning the store on its head in cleaning, organizing, investigating, etc. I was previously an assistant manager at two gas stations, running them by myself as the acting manager... i have previous experience. And i just like working here so much more. I really enjoy it. I thrive on the operations side.

Because we, uh, lost our previous manager Yesterday, there was no one to make the schedules, so i did them. No one else knew how. The district's manager coach, who trains new managers, very heavy-handedly implied that i should go for the manager position if they open it up for the one store - after he saw how i handled all of this fucked up situation. I can't really say what happened at the moment cause it involves police.

Hopefully one of my coworkers will be promoted to assistant manager, even if the opportunity for manager doesnt arise for me, she needs to be promoted. She was awesome as hell. She just doesn't have the prior experience or availability to be a manager, unfortunately, because i would otherwise insist that.

But uh, wow. Things have taken a crazy fucking turn here.

[asherlockstudy]

Hey! I hope this doesn’t sound weird or stupid at all, if it does, sorry! So I’ve been a fan of GMM for about 4 months. Really enjoyed my summer watching the guys and the crew. But to my astonishment, I can’t recall how many many comments I saw from people saying that the guys seemed tense or bored throughout all the GMS episodes. Some even saying that they didn’t look like they liked to be with each other anymore. To me that was a reach and not true at all. However, I cannot deny this new season’s episodes are far more enjoyable and funny to me, and they seem to be more relaxed and complementing each others jokes (Link’s even giggling more!) Honestly I would sometimes go back and watch their 2022 and older episodes instead of the newer ones bc sometimes R&L gave me the impression that they were forced to be there with each other lol. There were really funny and remarkable GMS moments but some episodes got me sitting there awkwardly ha…Maybe I am reading too much into this and I need to watch more of their videos and EB to get their dynamic. But it kinda bothers me that I perceived this haha. Like I understand how friendships works and that sometimes there’s things to get discussed and sorted out. I myself have a bestie. Anyways, this year’s GMS definitely was an experience to watch haha. Would really love to hear your opinion!

P.s. I enjoy reading your inputs, posts and answers! And sorry for the bad english, it’s my second language.

Hi! Welcome!

No worries, your English is perfect. Besides it is my second language as well, so I mess up too sometimes!

The truth is this is something fans have been saying time and again for years. Sometimes I find it overly dramatic and unfounded, sometimes it is based on some solid evidence. Rhett and Link have been friends and business partners for so long, it's only reasonable that they go through phases of ups and downs. I would say they are not as genuinely excited when they film GMM anymore as they used to be, which makes sense, since they are now in their mid-forties and they have been making this lightweight show for 11 years.

I didn't notice anything too alarming in GMS. IMO they definitely were in an odd phase the past spring. With this in mind, the GMS seemed to me comparatively better. They seem better now but it's probably them pumping themselves up for the season start, we'll have all the way to December to judge whether they remain this way.

If you notice, there is an increase in the Rhink content with the new season - this could be another reason that makes their interactions appear better than in GMS.