#sounds like a cool movie title tbh

[bookscandlesnbts]

Let’s Talk About Muse!

We have quite a bit of promo so far for Jimin’s second solo album Muse and it’s all very exciting! Half of the promo will drop when I am actually in Japan and Korea which is interesting!! So let’s talk about what we already know.

The crossword puzzle was so cute and so Jimin coded, and I must say, the graphics designer for this album has gotten the lead out because everything looks amazing so far. The tteobokki by JK had me grinning and giggling and kicking my feet. Like others pointed out, it was completely unnecessary for the rest of the puzzle, but we love Jimin showing off his man. His MTBI answer being cute sent me and I personally loved it because MTBI isn’t even “real” so to speak so to not put stock into it and just say cute was so Jimin.

Now let’s talk tracks! I think the pre release track sounds very interesting maybe SMFPT2 coded but less dark? is what we can expect the sound to be like. It supposed to be big and theatrical again with marching band production which I love. The rest of the songs seems lovey-dovey and happy. Not going to lie, I’m usually sad girl core when it comes to music, but if the lyrics are Jikook coded (which I think they will be) I could be down for some upbeat romantic songs. And if the hints of snow, you know what I like, and rain have anything to say about that, then yeah I think it’s safe to expect some Jikook references in the lyrics. Of course, the second a “she/her” pronoun appears every y/n homophobic stan will come out from the wood works to scream I told you Jimin is straight!! Please. 🙄

Now for one last thing I want to mention, which may be unpopular as I’ve already gotten doxxed on social media for stating my opinion about the Sofia Carson collab, which sorry to say but I’m very meh about it. I honestly had no idea who she was and before yall scream at me about some movie she was in, I don’t watch movies. I’m not a movie person. I’m a book person. And if she’s so well known for movies why a musical collab? So, I looked her up on Spotify and played a few songs. And I have to say, her voice is not for me. She has a heavy vocal fry (the kind I don’t like reminded me of Camilla Cabello) so I’m just unenthused about the collab tbh. If it had to be a female artist, I wish it would have been someone else. But the second I say I don’t like her voice, 10 people are commenting that they LOVE her. Do you? Show me any other time you have paid any interest in her career and supported her until now. Be serious. It’s the kind of thing that has always irritated me with this fandom. The way everyone always has to overcompensate when a female artist is featured. I would bet my left fake tit that yall aren’t even girls girls in real life. Not everything has to excite me. Not every voice has to be for me. And half the reason these people even hype up women features is because they see women as tools to ship their favs with so they can be straight. Not very empowering if you ask me, but sure I’m the problem.

If I had to pick tracks I’m most excited about it would be the pre release track, the title track, and probably Be Mine. And last thing I’ll say is that I don’t think that Jimin will have a hidden track this time as cool as it would be. FACE having six tracks and a hidden one to make 7 made perfect sense. Since this album already has 7 tracks (BTS coded again) I don’t think an 8th one is in the cards, but I could be wrong.

I also hope we get more photocards. I want alllllll the blonde Jimin photocards. So I’ll be on the lookout for luck draws and other POBs. All in all, the album drops when I come back from my trip so I can enjoy it without the stress of traveling.

[indiestsnake]

here’s a personal ranking of every single fish in a birdcage song currently released, worst to best. cuz why not.

#39: Roots. Not my style, not what I rlly listen to fish for, and paced a bit too oddly for my taste.

#38: Otherside. Again, I don’t rlly come to fish for more electronic sounds, unless it’s in tandem with more acoustic stuff. Also, it’s repetitive.

#37: Movies. This is where the ranking gets infinitely harder, because I literally like every single fish in a birdcage song. Even the last two. Movies is just a bit too lyrically simple and unevocative. Doesn’t make me feel, just a nice tune.

#36: Lion. Again, nice tune, bit to simple with the lyrics. Or rather the lyrics just… don’t conjure much for me.

#35: If Trees Could Talk. Nice wrap up to the album, and an enjoyable tune with good lyrics. Just not personally my taste, a bit too slow n simple.

#34: Gideon. Kind of a fusion of Still and Drunk on Pride if memory serves, but that’s the thing. Memory doesn’t serve. It’s a lil forgettable, especially since so many songs in the album are rather similar.

#33: Man O’ War. Do I need to explain? It’s Man O’ War. Pirate shanty incarnate. Great, but doesn’t really make me feel. but like. MANN OH WAR, OOH-III-OH! FERRY US ALONG, WITH FREIGHTS OF GOLD!!!

#32: Sand. Wonderful. Calm, melancholic, bittersweet. The only reason it’s here is cuz you have to be in the right place to like it. Too slow n sad to listen in an average playlist, too melancholy to be comforting at times. Still good.

#31: Still. I really like still. But still is also, as they say, weird as shit. Gives me a very specific image all the way through, just a bit odd to listen to. Do not put this in your sleep playlist, you will enter another reality.

#30: Calamity. Ohh, calamity. Boss battle music!! And great for it. Bit generic tho. *lightning strike sound effect*

#29: Two sides. Finally out of the Man O’ War barrage lol. I like it! It’s simple, enjoyable. That’s… about it. Not insubstantial, just exactly what it says on the tin. Two sides.

#28: Blessed by a Curse. Fan-fuckin-tastic chorus, but i wish they’d let the instruments speak for themselves more. The “woawoawowoho…” messes with it for me. But that piano hit!! And the STRINGS!!!

#27: Poet. Poet’s damn good! For like. A minute and a half. lol. The parts with the vocals are great, the end is wonderful, but it’s mostly made of instrumental that isn’t as good as the rest.

#26: Brothers. Guys. What if we took Drunk on Pride and Man O’ War and merged them?!? Wouldn’t that be cool!? And it would, but… again, a bit generic. We’ve heard this before, in those songs. Tbh a lot of Man O’ War as an album feels vaguely based around Drunk on Pride and Gideon. It’s weird. I like it.

#25: Moonlight. Lovely. Makes you cry when you need to, and comforts you when you don’t. Like sand, but more applicable.

#24: Amigo. Dabudabudabudabaduadadudabadatdye, dadatdababudu, dabudabubaddudatdudaba dabudabudadubatdadatdadada! Lyrically simple, absolute vibe. Love it.

#23: Drunk on Pride. Great, fucking love the strings here. Especially that crescendo at the end of the first chorus, I ascend this mortal coil every time I hear it.

#22: Magic. The first rule! A bit boring in subject compared to those above it, but great. That violin riff is holy, and the “DA badabada DA” in the melody is great.

#21: Child of the Stars. Really cool, like if you took all the good of Otherside and mixed in some Waterfall, and a bit of poet. Motivational, and those violin riffs… ough. Love em.

#20: The secret rule, Rule #6!! Also known as- Fuck it either way. lol. For those unaware, this rule isn’t published due to some personal preferences of Dusty(the project lead/singer). Mainly cuz it has fuck in the title. There’s a few vids on YouTube of it if you wanna listen. ANYWAY. Great tune, great melody. If a bit lyrically on the nose.

#19: Like a Rock. Like a Rock is slept on. It’s a weird, experimental end to a weird, experimental album, and it shows! The pacing is a touch syncopated, tone can be odd. But man, that fucken guitar melody. And the instrumentals. And, the one part at the end. If you’ve listened, you know.

#18: Rule #34. Had to come eventually, eh? Yes, that was a juvenile joke. Anyway. The strings, the piano, all of the instrumental goes so hard. Especially after the last chorus, when the piano really comes in. And yes, the lyrics do make me vaguely uncomfortable, and that means it’s a bit detached meaning wise. But it is too good to simply leave at the bottom. And yes, all of that wording was intentional. I know what I said.

#17: My Dream, My Addiction. What a song name. I love the strings, the way it’s slow and loud and so many things. It’s hard to decipher, and I love it. It’s just a bit odd for an average playlist, but it’s here mostly on principle anyway. Just too personally interesting to leave low.

#16: Angel Tango. It’s like. The same as My Dream, My Addiction. But a bit less obtuse and weird. Only a bit tho, still kinda odd in a real good way. One spot above feels right.

#15: Lore. Lore! Recent-est song as of now. I fuckin love it, I genuinely just wish it had a bit more. The cello, the ethereal vocals, the everything. But a bit too short, feels kind of insubstantial. A few more lines per chorus would’ve gotten it quite a few places higher.

#14: Momento Mori. ASHES TO ASHES, DUST TO DUUUUST! Absolute vibe, the lyrics are my favorite kind of esoteric and odd, the guitar is great, all real good. At this point, the only thing placing songs higher is them doing what others have done, better.

#13: James Picard. Gorgeous. I love this one so much, the strings are just heavenly. Vocals are wonderful, the harmonies, and the story, ough. Love it.

#12: Throne Room. Again, the cellos and violins. This one is similar to the rest of the album, but unlike many others, it’s so damn unique. The feeling of majesty and mysticism, the lyrics, that chorus of ominous chants before those beautiful strings kick back in. The flare sound effect, ough, it’s all just great.

#11: Microphone. We’re getting into the interchangeable zone, everything below is amazing. For this it’s the starting cello, and the ending cello. Oh, and the middle cello! And the vocals. And the cello!!

#10: Four Aces. More than the sum of its parts. The chain sound effects, and the dull, venomous delivery. The shout in the middle, the story it tells so perfectly and simply. The last lines, where the vocals rise just slightly, making you prep for another shout-! And then they fall. No release, just a few strums and the sounds of shackles, chains, shovels and spades. It all fits like a puzzle.

#9: Fiddler’s Heart. Like, c’mon. It’s Fiddler’s hearts. Fiddly, jovial, simple and lovely on the ears. The story and character, the constant variety of wonderful violin in the back. Great. Perfect, and I mean PERFECT, to listen to on a summer walk.

#8: Long Way From Home. I love the electric guitar in this so much. This is everything good about Roots, Otherside, all of the more electrical stuff they’ve made, raised up and properly realized. It’s repetitive, but it works, because the variation in the instrumentals, and tone, and delivery. It just works. It is Otherside’s heroic father figure whom it looks up to. I love it.

#7: Fish in a Birdcage. The icon! All of the band’s stranger and more strings-based stuff, given the Long Way From Home treatment. Or I guess it’s the other way around. Whatever. It’s weird as shit, it sounds awful on first listen but it somehow sounds amazing after a few more. And the sound is not something you get in any other song, period. Acquired taste incarnate, and I love it for that.

#6: Arizona. The other secret rule!! For the unaware, Arizona is a song that has been recorded and made, but they haven’t decided what rule number it should be. Thus, it’s regulated to a YouTube video if you’d like to listen. And if you didn’t notice the placement, you should. It just… I don’t even know. The vocals and the guitar fit so perfectly, the melody has that quiet quiet, LOUD thing like in magic but perfected. It just works for me. Something about it.

#5: Pyre. Ohhhhh, Pyre. How I adore you. The accordion(actually it might just be two violins but whatevs) that you get nowhere else in their music. The warmth, the vocals, it’s like the motivational parts of Child of the Stars taken to its peak. The type of song that makes you believe people care about you. Fantastic, wonderful, beautiful. I adore it.

#4: Birds of a Feather. I LIED!! THIS is the best summer walk song. Jovial, happy, tells a wonderful story (that’s based off a real Irish pirate queen), has hints of pyre in its tune. And, lemme talk about the importance of preserving history like this. Ireland got fucked over by the British. A lot of culture got erased. And that two-sentence summary really doesn’t convey it. But things like this preserve a truly vast and enthralling culture that is halfway lost to time in modern day. I’m not Irish, but I am a lover of history. And knowing the culture Ireland and so many other places lost, the culture it’s still bleeding today… it makes this song mean a lot more.

#3: Through the Tides. This song is a goddamn lullaby, and that is said in the best way possible. The ethereal and misty melody at the beginning, the gentle and constant picking of an electric guitar. The beautiful high notes on a violin to accent it, the almost mystical and mythologized story told through the lyrics. It makes me care so much, feel so comforted, by a theoretical whale that I have never once heard of before. Calm and peace incarnate, makes me feel like a cloud of mist. A blade, gently gliding through the tides.

#2: Paperwork. Paperwork! PAPERWORK!!! This feels like a thesis for Fish in a Birdcage as a band. Freeing listeners from routine patterns of thought, the warm resonations of a wayward writers guitar. Also, I adore the tone and message. It criticizes industrialism, but it’s not angry, or rude, or vitriolic. At worst it’s jokingly chastising the listener. Relax, my guy! It’s a fixable problem! Kick back, don’t have a fucken heart attack over it. Just plant some trees, live your life, create things. Don’t get caught up in the paperwork. I love the meaning of the song, if you couldn’t tell. The music is great too, the relaxed, happy tune. The one-minute monologue at the start that they honestly make work really well. It’s just great. I love it.

#1: Waterfall. Are you surprised? I don’t think you are. The vocals are goddamn perfect. The melody, waxing and waning between gentle picking to rhythmic strumming. The drums always different, the beautifully timed symbol crashes that accent everything perfectly. The little “Hey!” In the background after every verse, the fucking transcendent basswork. God, the basswork. I posted about it earlier and that genuinely inspired this list. The story of two people the song tells, the genuinely perfect, and I mean perfect way of conveying the spark of love. It makes my heart flutter. Just… thinking about the scenario in context of most anything, it makes me get it. It being… love. That spark. Why do you think I refer to love as flame more often than not in my writing? And!!! It’s four and a half minutes too! This is the opposite of insubstantial!! Everything about this song is near-perfect, and I will never get tired of it. It’s mixture of meaning and restraint and simplicity and sheer just being nice on the ears is a solidification of everything I love about this band. It deserves my number one.

That’s the list! Except for Fish in an 8bitcage but somebody else technically made that and also I haven’t listened to it so shh. Feel free to comment on my opinions, tell me I’m wrong, right, whatever. You can comment your own opinions too! Or maybe you’ve never listened to a single song from this band, then you can comment about that. You get the memo. Have a nice day.

[what-big-teeth]

After playing with the demo for a bit, I have a general idea about the love interests available to romance. Please note these are just surface-level thoughts and opinions. For more info, I would suggest trying out the free demo yourself through Steam or itch.io (LINK), visiting the Kickstarter page (LINK), and the studio’s tumblr page (LINK). Or if you want more theorizing, search for Touchstarved using the Tumblr search function.

As you can see from the title screen still above, the love interests will run the gamut of being monstrous in a humanoid sense to a more eldritch sense. So there’ll be something for everyone, which is nice. Now onto the love interests themselves. You get to choose from: A magical himbo

A literal angelic doctor (damn but he’s gorgeous)

Mr. Made-a-Pact-with-a-Tentacled-Deity

A murderous, anti-social birb (they/them pronouns)

And an ancient beast that would/could sell you for one corn chip for shits and giggles (depends on how he’s feeling, tbh)

As stated on the official social media pages, each love interest is hiding something. And as you figure out the best way to deal with your curse (a touch that literally drives normal humans to incurable madness), you’ll end up uncovering the secrets behind these pretty/handsome faces. You can also decide your MC’s name, pronous, and background. You’ll pick the latter from three choices, and as a result, they’ll react to the world and the love interests differently based on the knowledge they already possess. Even more interesting: depending on how you play the demo, you’ll get options which pop up in red. These may reveal a bit more about your chosen love interest, or make a certain situation more romantic in nature. But if you play your cards wrong, your MC will die. So it’s up to you to decide if your chosen route will be a true gothic romance or something straight out of a horror movie (some of you are probably into that, which is understandable). In any case, Touchstarved looks interesting and even has a cool animated trailer you can watch here (LINK). Just be warned that if you’re a 90s kid like me, the trailer’s song may rattle you because...it isn’t expected (for me, at least). I mean, it goes with the game’s theme, but again, I was caught off guard. And that’s all I have to say! I’m not sure when the full game will be out as this is a side project and a labor of love for the creators. So if any of this sounds interesting to you, check out the demo. Peace!

[chipthekeeper]

so. instead of typing out my reactions as the show played, i recorded a voice memo of my own personal commentary. some highlights lots of nonsense under the cut

episode 1

- As excited as I am for this……I wish it was Andor

- Please be good

- Immediate alien. All of the Andor criticisms out the window. We're back

- Why did she pay that guy? This is like the main place. He barely pointed. She was very easy to find

- It's hitting me that this is High Republic shit and that's just fucking beautiful. I might cry. Oh my god, spinning noodles

- Backup knifes. Oh god….She sliced your backup knifes

- oh [splutters] a backup backup knife!!!

- She's got another backup knife?!

- Man, that was so fast. Like. I mean, I knew, we all knew. But damn

- Come on, he's just a noodle guy. Leave him alone

- IN THE COLD OPEN! She dies in the cold open. Fucking hell. God

- Okay, so she has different hair. So maybe it's not Moon Knight

- Oh fuck, I love this ship. I'm going to be obsessed with this

- [gasps] Pip!!! [pathetic whining] he’s a babyyyy [voice breaking] Oh my god. I would die for him

- [just fully unintelligible noises for Pip]

- [chuckling] aha! Trade feds, neimoidians. heh. It's all coming together….

- They have better accents this time

- Yeah, Pip. Come on, buddy. He's like a multi-tool. This is hilarious. [wheezing laughter]

- Oh, what's this? [gasps] A VECTOR!!! Holy fucking shit. [laughs in satisfied THR fan]

- YORD!!! TIME FOR THE YORD HORDE HERE WE GOOOOO

- Yord. You’re such a prick– ohhh n….Mind touch. Or not. Ugh, I don't like that. Yorddd. You're a prick. Your padawan is cool though.

- Oh my god, they're buddies!

- “Your mothers, your sister” (truly the most ugly and horrifying sound you’ve ever heard came from my mouth here)

- What's HAPPENING?

- Yord. Come on, buddy

- Iron Man?

- Yeah, we know it's Coruscant. Looks like it's made out of Legos. That's great

- *Sol telling the younglings the force is an ocean or whatever* [adorable whining] Elzar Mann coded!!

- “Master Vernestra�� [another very ugly noise] Oh god, what a thing to hear. Oh fuck

- “i remember when you were that small” [giggling] fuck

- [delighted laughter] They become chairs, that's amazingggggg

- Wheeeeeeee! Oh shit

- Piiiiiip! Pip, wake up. D-does he have legs? Can he move? I-I don't know if he can move on his own

- Oh, oh–oh n-no…. (tbh don’t even remember what was happening here)

- Now you gotta land this thing. Oh, it's on..fire ahhh that’s a problem. Girl, good luck

- You better hold..your little droid. Hold him!

- [delighted gasp] Jecki!!

- “it is highly unlikely she survived” Oh, it was a very lucky crash, don't worry about it

- ....I think we should give Vernestra some hair back

- Okay, I'm out on Moon Knight theory again, which is great because I like..the other way better

- Well……..No, no, I'm out. I'm out. I'm out. Not gonna suck me back in again……….Oh god but it would be interesting if she thinks—ah fuck!

- *scary horror movie twin thing* [terrified] Ah, what the!! Who the fuck is that? [whispering] what the fuck…..oh. Uh-uh. Mmhm. oh. Horrifying. Scary. I don't like this at all. Wwwwhat was that? [incredulous noises] What the fuck?

- [delighted] Yord!!!

- [gasps] Selkath! Name That Alien, babeeyyyy!

- Yorddd! He’s ripped!!

- Just. Put your shirt on, bud……I can't wait for that to be gifs

- Back to this terrifying shit

- Oh, it's baby you………..Oh there's some Force shit happeninggggg

- uhhhhhh?

- “i saw her die” did you though???

- Yord put your lightsaber away, dickhead….it’s pretty though, don’t put it away :)

- Yord! Chill!

- Okay. Capital A Acolyte, so….

- Is each of the episode titles going to be for both of them?

- Nina Gold casting! the goat. un-de-feat-ed

- I'm sure I don't need to sit here and watch all the credits.......[gasps] Neal Scanlan! ah see, I would've missed that

episode 2

- *watching previously on, "mothers" mentioned* Show me motherrrrr!

- [stressed out sigh] I'm confused. I hope to be less confused by the end of this episode. But if not, we'll talk about it…..I say as if I'm speaking to someone besides myself

- Jedi outpost! When are we?

- Not cool Mae

- Is she going to kill somebody in the cold open of every episode? because that's going to really..start to hurt

- WOW, you guys are so unaware. How are you Jedi?

- “attack me, with all your strength” just–nobody wants to do that, do they?

- [delighted giggling throughout Mae/Torbin “fight”]

- Oh, Tommen. Why are his feet weird? Is he….not human? He’s gotta be human

- *osha talking about being flexible* Oh. Flirting? No, that's inappropriate………..There's flirting. It’s happening

- “let’s say this twin theory holds true” [ironic cackling]

- So Yord's a cop, which is unfortunate. As a founding member of the Yord Horde

- *Mae picks up a cup while Qimir is sleeping* Throw it at him. *she throws it at him* [satisfied cackle] I'm always right

- It'd be so funny if he's not the guy

- Hmmmmmm……So he can also be an Acolyte?

- I need this drink shaker

- So I like it much better if he's not the guy and he's just….helpin’

- So you're cheating at your Jedi killing homework and you don't want your boy to narc. That's hilarious

- [snorting] Your dad never likes when you get a tattoo

- [theorizing mumbles] They came to recruit…and the girl started the fire….They took her afterward….Fuck

- [whispering] I don't know what to do with my arms

- It's pretty theeeere. I'm going to be obsessed with this planet

- “i know why you took the Barash Vow” [most delighted scream/gasp yet] BARASH VOW MENTIONED!!! [confused mumbling] Okay, but he's there–why is…Did he come out of it?.......Oh, it's a different variant of the vow?

- [cackling in Tommen Baratheon] He sounds like a full grown man. Ohhh my god. Was not ready for that

- *kitten squeaks in background, not relevant to commentary but had to mention*

- Well, that's not good–girl, get out of there! Don't touch the evidence! Oh my God. You’re not helping yourself here, kid

- Go, escape, flee

- Atta boy, Yord

- Ohh that guy better be a descendant of Ram Jomaram

- You go, Jecki. Oh she’s so proud of herself [chuckling]

- Why do I have a feeling this isn’t gonna work?.......You’re very bad at this

- “Maybe supply us with the truth” Ooh! Get him, Yord!

- “I have a bad feeling about this” YEEEEAAHHHHHHH

- “You are not my master. I do not need you anymore.” ouch

- [groaning] I'm with Yord, I have a bad feeling about this

- Ope, all your backup knifes is gooone….

- Wheeee! [chuckles] Yord.

- [extremely high pitched] ooooohhhh thebackupknifehedidn’tfind!!!!

- BWAH SMOKESCREEN!!

- Are they gonna run together? I would like that to happen. Run and go back to Mom

- Go, go with her……Missed. Missed on purpose!

- Kind of hurts me to see what Vernestra becomes

- Man, if she kills Kelnacca, I'm gonna be so mad

- *episode ends* DAmmit!! Ugh. God. Fuck! [grumbling] This is gonna be a long ass week

so clearly i'm very normal about all this !

[adhdtsukasa]

anni4 livestream reaction because i'm finally home. and i have a lot of thoughts. oh god.

— mysekai feature doesn't exactly resonate with me because it doesn't feel like something that feels proseka to me but it also looks cute so i don't wanna complain too much. rip to my storage in a year though

— THE SET IS SO GOOD??? they just keep on making every anni set even better. shiho's my personal fav but i love others as well... and it's a nenechan focus!! yay!! (although it means i'm obligated to pull on anni4 sighhh...) airi lim is insane though isn't that like her 8th lim? fly high airi it was nice knowing you.

— RUI BLOOMFES 🥹🥹 i'm sooo not ready to see his untrained i just know i will cry. and the trained's so pretty... i know we don't have much of them for now but it's definitely my fav bloomfes. it makes me cannot wait for emunenekasa i hope i will not have to wait another 3.5 years for emks

— based on the logo and title event seems cool. very excited to see it.

— mozaik role with KAITO out of all vocaloids is definitely not something i expected but hey!! all the songs with kaito are so good so who am i to complain!! i hope ichishiho will get alts though (i wanted an ichishiho or ichimiku cover for this tbh...)

— mesmerizer so early is crazy. damn

— kisaragi attention momojan it is and i'm so hyped!!! i'm not rlly a fan of any kagepro covers we have in proseka but i hope they'll do good!! thought more of rin for the vs than luka though... it'd be cute with rin... and hoping for minoairi alts. especially minori!!! kisaragi attention fits her so well, both musically and from what i remember from the lyrics.

— WXS REINCARNATION APPLE IS REAL AND IT'S A FULL GROUP I WON I WON I WON LIFE IS SUDDENLY WORTH LIVING AGAIN! i kept on telling everyone that it fits wxs more than niigo ever since i got into proseka and hey look i was right.

— i was thinking of mimi for anni but kemu's a good pick too!! and from the teaser neppu sounds like it can place 2nd in my anni songs ranking because i always rank them based on how much they make me cry (currently it's gunjou sanka -> neo -> journey)

— mizu5 comm sounds so good... i'm so happy they got nakiso for her. i wanted nakiso to make a niigo comm for a long time :]

— AND HEY THEY GOT UTSUP TOO... i wanted utsup for shiho but akito's good as well. wonder how vbs will pull it off.

— the closed windows sekai from the movie gives me big madomagi vibes and i'm all for it!!! it makes me even more excited to see the movie!!!!!!!

— THEY DID WXS SO DIRTY WITH THE MOVIE OUTFITS MAN. leoni and niigo, on the other hand, devoured (kanade's outfit makes me think of darkfesta mafuyu... knmf you will always be famous...)

[alfiely-art]

Finished act 4!!!!

Act 1 reaction here

Act 2 reaction here

Act 3 reaction here

Intermission reaction here

Act 4 reaction:

“Next image” or “end game” What. What we just started ???

Ohhh I like this music tho

YAY JOHN AND HIS SWAGGY CLOTHES!!!!

This looks like an rpg lol

HI??? FROG??? SALAMANDER???? Whatever you are you're adorable

Hi adhd amphibian

These guys are great I love then

Ohhh they're salamanders

This section would be a lot more fun if I could. Play Homestuck. Curse my computer for not allowing me to read homestuck

This section is also taking a very long time to load. It is pictures you're fine phone

YAY BACK TO FUN STUFF!!! HI RENEGADE

DONT KILL WV DONT KILL WV

Did he lift thr pumpkin off wv's head. Gay

HELP don't kill him he's turned gay it's okay

Yay hi Jade!!!!

???? There IS a pumpkin there what the fuck

FUCK YEAH GLASSES PESTERING!!! LIKE HAL!!! BUT SQUARE!!!!!

Love the difference between John and Dave's reactions to Jade's dog

hi karkat!!!!!! You're being so mean… be nice to john or I'm Gonna bite you

Man I can like. Feel John's frustration karkat you're being so annoying I'm gonna bite you

Dave schizo arc … no I know he's being silly about the psychosis thing

Slur count: 9

“I love him” Dave why are you so random. Good for you though beeeee who you aaaaaare for your priiiiiide

ROSE IS IN PAN LAND!!!! They're putting chemicals in the water to turn the Rose's pan

Okay so we're going through the game thing again

???? Dave why do you want john to drink your piss,

YAYAYAYAYA THE SPRITE !!!! YOI WILL BE SO ANGSTY LATER

Well that's one way to wake Jade up

I think WV, PM, and AR could be a poly

GO JOHN WHACK WHACK WHACK WHACK

Hello?????

GRANDPA???????????

JOHN NO BAD CHOICE

Oh :( Rose's mom left…

Egg

Slur count: 10

Okay which troll is this. Don't be rude about Rose's mom!!!! Bad troll

Best hatefriends forever <33 who are you

“Shit the bed” KARKAT TALKS LIKE ME!!!!

I understand why i was told i am karkat-coded

Slur count: 11

Laughing at a blind girl? Not cool egbert

OHH it's that one. The. Vriskas girlfriend!!!!

Guy with cat ears <4333

Hello???

Awooga

Oh. Oh that map is. Not great

GO ROSE GO ROSE !!!!

Yo that shot looks sickkkk…

Yo rose is metal af

“TG: i command her alright i am like the pimpmaster hustledaddy of all snippy bookshrews” Dave what

Okay my font changed here. Easier to read tbh. Idk if it'll translate to tumblr but oh well

Omg… yuri?????

Help why do trolls sound so gay

Oh green troll is pretty… what's her name….

Honktraband

I KNOW THIS ONE!!! Great rap Tavros

Whatever video they linked to for “I got a present for you casey” is unavailable… rip

Trolls watch movies with modern manga titles. Will keep in mind

Terezi is so right. John is a stupidly adorable little guy

OMG PM IS A QUEEN!!! SLAY

Meow

Awww… jaspersprite kinda types like my buddy. Meow meow

John's blasting off again

Did I miss something. When did Dave get a suit. When did Cal get added to the sprite. Wha

Yo what. John and Jade died??? Terezi noooo why did you ruin their session…

Slur count: 12

FUCK YEAH DAVESPRITE!!!! THERES THE GUY!!!!! I LOVE YOU DAVESPRITE

That didn't happen the way I thought it would. I think it's sweet that Dave chose to become a sprite to protect his friends. If they don't treat him nicely I'm killing all of them

But dang… doomed timeline…

OH MY GOD CAPRAIN PLANET

Dave and Davesprite are so chill. Love them

AWWW. John remembered Dave's note….

Ohhh sick… jack is a queen(?) Now!!!! The guardian people are fighting!!! Yayyyyyy

Oh thank God Hussie will explain what's been going on

CAL IS REAL!!!!!

My reaction to Hussies's joke ._. That was. Lame

Aww. Terezi just wants to be his friend :> this better not be a trick my baby boy is so gullible

ROSE'S PLACE!!!

Dr Meowgon Spengler

John :( he's real Dave. John don't be ungrateful… honestly it's fair of Davesprite to be mad. Like John died in his timeline. He went back and chose to help the other Dave and all his friends and. Ourghh. Be nice to him

Yooo cal gets a cute little outfit !!! He's zipping around <333

HELP HE PASSED OUT

Awwww… more bunnies!!!

IS THIS SOLLUX. I've heard of this one. Eridan lover

They are jamming!!

CAL NO

Maplehoof Maplehoof

JADES GRANDPA!!!

Haha get pranked

I love the differences in how Rose and John name things

John you're So stupid why would you just stand on it

FUCK YEAH CAL IS HERE

Fuck yeah ride the pony

AR so swaggy

Okay so. I swear. These guys are the midnight crew. That is literally Deuce. I'm not crazy right. They look the same. Maybe this is their sleepy selves… godtier… do they get godtier. Hmm

FUCK YEAH JADE

NO NOT GRANDPA FUCK WAIT

Idk what just happened in that animation but yay WV

Needlewands!!!!

Omg that's such a cute outfit for Rose I love it

Welcome to the party motherfuckers

Okay I'm really excited to see what Jade’s sprite is

I don't remember Dave getting thay suit. Did he steal it from future Dave. I mean future Dave doesn't really need clothes anymore but…

Oh okay yeah it's future Dave's. but cool!! Not a bad suit at all

Beautiful sword actually

Dave you're scaring the hoes

Dave looks like the autism creature in that selfie he took

Meowmeowmeowmeowmeow

Wizard fanfic!!!!

Dave is so real here. Rose and her mom could've talked :(

DAVE THERES A GUY IN UR HOUSE

Uhhhh. Dave ded :( that's not good. Present Dave you gotta fix this

Man what if that Dave was still alive

BETTY CROCKER

Nanna!!!!

I'm gonna bet 10$ that the goo John's getting is gonna be the alpha kids

FUCK YEAH I KNEW IT!!!!

Oh there are more beta kids as well okay

They are holding hands !

karkar you can't say that. Wait that's not his name. Whatever. Karkat bad!!! Unless you're like me as I am like you. Schizophrenic I mean.

Awww.. Lil dirk loves Lil cal… that's so sweet

Babysitter au!!! John be careful with all these babies

These babies are uglJAKE PUT THE GUNS DOWN!!!!

Karkat never say daddy again thank you

J???? JAKE??? YOU KILLED HER GRANDPA

Harley… like Jade Harley…

Jack Noir…

That was the best ending of an act. Oh my fucking god. I am crying

[sociallyawkwardseal]

Had a dream that I got an email about a comment on a fic; whenever I get emails, it shows me the little title that they have, so from AO3, they're like... "Comment on (ao3 title)". The one in this Dream Email was on a specific SBG fic I have.

Gonna put the rest under a cut because, initially I wasn't going to type out the full dream because I figured it would be kind of boring, but considering the reaction the people I already told was "What the fuck? What the fuck", well.

I noticed that the text for the preview was... Wrong and it weirded me out. I was just kind of like "...? That doesn't look right...? Did they change how these are sent out?"

And I opened my phone to see what the comment was. Very quickly, I started losing the ability to read; the letters of the AO3 email became jumbled, they would "dance" around and jitter, and eventually just fully glitch out until my phone went dark with the weird little restarting circle that it's been doing on and off for the past year or so at... Pretty much random. I swore and tapped at the back of my phone (as if that would do anything; it doesn't irl, why would it do anything in a dream?), and when I looked up, it was pitch black inside my house. My phone turned back on and I was greeted with the BSD layout I have--which was reassuring; it meant everything was normal. I checked my email, and the email itself was still there, but now it didn't have a title line to it, it was just the sender information, "Archive of Our Own".

I didn't reopen the email out of fear that it would cause my phone to crash again--I kind of desperately needed the light. Despite living next to a highway, everything outside was perfectly quiet. Both in my house and outside of it.

Which is weird. Because when you have the pets that I do, there isn't usually a quiet moment. Someone is always making some kind of sound. Even right now, one of my cats is just crunching on some food. Very audibly. Anyways. Yeah, so. Pure quiet? Incorrect. Uncomfortable.

And that's when I realized two things in my dream; 1) This is a dream 2) I was dreaming about the Otherside from Otherside Picnic (I assumed this because of the weird circumstances+the text on my phone getting messed up, though tbh lore-wise I shouldn't have even been able to read "Archive of Our Own" once my phone got back but what does that matter, it was a dream, I don't make the rules, my brain gets to do what it wants, and since most of my dreams are pretty lucid, I usually get to make decisions based on whatever environment it crafts for me), which I was reading right before bed. I was at a part where Sorawo had gotten back to the Mayoiga alone after one hell of a bus ride, and couldn't find any sign of anyone else--then she woke up and saw an Incorrect Toriko in her bed, and then it jumped to Runa.

Remembering the part I had been reading before going to sleep, I was like "Okay, then... Surely I'm at the Mayoiga? But like, the Mayoiga is where I live? What the hell. Would be a little funny if the Mayoiga in the thing were an American trailer park." and I kind of just sat there in the light of my phone. Thinking about what to do, how the Otherside in the series is implied to be impacted by the culture of those experiencing it, how it's impacted by the urban legends and stories that the person there had, and what this meant for my brain and the dream that it's conjured up. I mean. If I was going to just dream about Otherside Picnic, what could I do? I could encounter horrors beyond my comprehension, that'd be cool--but would they be like, the scary stories I grew up hearing, the ones I researched for fun, the creepypasta I read as a teenager (admittedly, I think it would have been a little funny to encounter Certain Creepypasta Entities in my dreams as an adult--I don't think that I would be able to stop myself from being like "Dude, you have No idea what happened. Do you know how excited I was as a kid for a movie about you? Yeah, that went to shit. Repeatedly. Sorry. Sucks for you."), would my brain just pull the experiences straight out of the novels (I haven't seen the anime or manga)...? Regardless, my thoughts would keep going back to one fact: I just couldn't look at the owner of the place. Which is a complex rule that I had to think over for god knows how long.

But I moved on from it and tried to figure out what percent my phone was at. I couldn't make out the numbers at the top of my screen, but thankfully it looked like it was pretty decently charged. So, I turned on my light and crawled out of my bed and set out to look around the place. I debated going outside to explore the full trailer park, but I kind of felt the dream "slipping", if that makes any sense? And reasoned that I would wake up before I had time to do that. Just the trailer itself would be enough.

I didn't even get that far, though. I just... Woke up. Before I could even leave the bedroom. Saaad. I wanted the Appalachian Otherside Picnic experience. It would've been fun!!! (<- Loves to experience The Horrors and has Little To No Fear involving them)

Anyways, the only reason I'm sharing this dream here is because it involved a fanfiction of mine/a comment (that doesn't exist and didn't exist in the dream either) being left on it.

[spoonsbutbetter]

Roman Emperors/Historical Romans as different Barbies???

ik i'm probably so late for this but i wanted to do this because it was in my brain lol

Disclaimer: most of these guys are going to be men. like. white men with a lot of power, which kind of defeats the purpose of the barbie movie, but I think it's a little funny. Bear with me while i do normal things with my normal young adult interests.

Also, these guys would HATE me for what i'm about to do. it's so funny to me

Secondary disclaimer: i left out pulitzer prize winning barbie because i didn't know who would be it. lmk if you have any ideas :P

Augustus - Everything Barbie (Margot Robbie's)

To the Roman Empire, Augustus was everything honestly. He ushered in Pax Romana, imperial leadership, and more. Vergil wrote about the reason why he deserved such a title, and Vergil claims he is a descendant of Venus??? So, like, Everything Barbie is supposed to be super beautiful and so is Venus??? Low hanging fruit? I think so babeyyyyyy. That's what this entire post is going to be like. Also, we have to consider that, although he is not the only (good??) leader (and in Margot Robbie's Barbie's case, not the leader at all), but is often used as the example of a great leader and main character. Pretty cool honestly.

Caligula - Ken (Scott Evan's Ken - cowboy) OR Mermaid Barbie

Caligula. The guy who is named "Little Boots," declared war on the sea and took seashells as the spoil of war, and had a horse in the Senate (there are more things he did, but these are some of the funniest things). Was it the lead pipes? Was it being raised in a military setting? Or was that just how he was? We'll never know. He was pretty interesting. I initially thought he'd be cowboy ken because of his name and the horse thing, but I think Mermaid Barbie would work so well too. Big fan of him declaring war on the sea. What did the Mediterranean do to him? No clue. Big fan though.

Nero - Ken (Ncuti Gatwa's - Grand Ole Opry Ken)

i chose this guy for Nero just because he plays the guitar. Nero fiddled while Rome burned and so did this Ken while their world burned. i love Ncuti so much, so i am so sorry, but it’s funny. everything i do is for the bit

Vespasian - Supreme Court Justice Barbie

i think i just chose this for the vibes. he was known for renewing political stability. he also did a lot of like. propaganda and had a whole campaign for that. so like supreme court/government stuff i guess?? he might have been a good president barbie but i think a lot of them would have, considering they're all leaders.

Domitian - President Barbie

this guy. man. he like. man. oh boy. he was widely not liked by a lotta guys because he was so ruthless and autocratic. however, he's been described as efficient. there's a reason he was the last of the Flavians though so like. take that into account. the Senate HATED him and was assassinated by someone in Nerva's circle, so honestly, president vibes. He was the BIG leader of them all.

Trajan - Diplomat Barbie

did i do this only because his reign accounted for the geographical peak of the empire? yes. was he actually diplomatic? probably not honestly. he was real good at expanding though. diplomat barbie was played by Nicola Coughlin and i love Nicola Coughlin. she is great. Trajan was pretty cool too.

Hadrian - Physicist Barbie

i chose this for him just because of Hadrian's wall. sorry i am not smarter than that at all. this is all you're getting from me.

Marcus Aurelius - Author Barbie

he wrote a lot about Stoicism, so i had to make Marcus Aurelius be Author Barbie. he wrote so much! philosophy can be fun if you actually write about it i guess?? i'm not super into Stoicism tbh, it sounds kinda sad. but he was a pretty cool guy and he would totally be author barbie.

Caracalla - Lawyer Barbie

Caracalla isn't like the most well known for laws so i made him lawyer barbie instead of supreme court justice barbie, but he declared that all free residents of the Roman Empire should be considered citizens, which is pretty cool. he kinda sucked and he killed his brother that he was co-leader with, so like that's awesome (/sarcasm). he got away with murder a little bit.

Elagabalus - Weird Barbie

if you wanted queer history, here's a good place to look. Elagabalus was reportedly involved in many sex scandals, including but not limited to being trans. they are now referred to as a trans woman, which is cool!!! they didn't have a label for that back then, it was just. she was a promiscuous person and they didn't know what to do with her. she would kinda just exist around her home and also sought gender affirming surgery. she was pretty cool. people think she's the worst emperor but she's just different in my opinion. SHE ALSO EXPLICITLY STATED WHAT PRONOUNS SHE WANTED USED FOR HERSELF SO PRONOUNS ARE AN OLD DEBATE (explosion noises)

Vetranio - Midge

i chose Vetranio as Midge because he served for 9 months (ish) and a pregnancy is 9 months (ish) :P

[literaticat]

In your professional opinion, as an agent and bookseller, do you think MG/YA readers actually read the jacket flap copy before deciding to read a book? I recently read an MG book where the first half of the book is the MC working to figure out what's wrong with a family member but the inside jacket copy specifically tells you the disease. Because I knew this info, the pace felt soooooo slow to me. Also, I've heard writers/agents say that sometimes the query letter is used to generate that jacket copy. When I write query letters, the hook/stakes/info I include usually gives away plot points, but never the climax/resolution. So, I'm guessing my follow-up question is, how much info is too much to include in a jacket copy? Like, if the plot points for the first half of the book are included in the jacket copy, what do you think compels people to keep reading? I should probably just go read a bunch of jacket copies for books I know and love at the library, right? Thanks for your answers!

do you think MG/YA readers actually read the jacket flap copy before deciding to read a book? not as much as adults do tbh; mostly kids pick up books because they are familiar with the title/author/other books in the series etc, or because the cover looks cool, or because somebody whose taste they trust has recommended it / handed it to them.

I've heard writers/agents say that sometimes the query letter is used to generate that jacket copy. sometimes elements of the original pitch/query do make it into the jacket copy -- sometimes not! I guess it depends how good the original pitch is. ;-)

how much info is too much to include in a jacket copy? I guess I'd want to know the basic set-up of the story/characters and stakes. "Who, what, where, why should I care." It's not meant to really be *a summary of the book* but sometimes they do read kinda like a summary of the first 1/4th or so.

if the plot points for the first half of the book are included in the jacket copy, what do you think compels people to keep reading? Hopefully the setup and the stakes make you want to know more, so you open the book and start it, and then the book itself is good and compelling enough that you wanna see what happens????

(Consider this: I purposely spoil myself on pretty much every show and movie, I nearly always at least KINDA know what's going to happen going in, because I hate being nervous, so I read reviews / listen to podcasts / look the things up beforehand. Knowing these facts doesn't actually take away my enjoyment of a great show at all, because in a great show, it's not the ending that is the good part, it's the GETTING there. However, for a not-so-good show that ISN"T compelling, I might well stop watching because, whatever, I already know what's gonna happen and I don't care for the getting there. So maybe the book you read didn't feel slow because you knew whatever diagnosis... maybe it felt slow because it WAS slow.)

I should probably just go read a bunch of jacket copies for books I know and love at the library, right? Great idea, sounds like something I would have suggested! :-)

[aspiring-holistic-otaku]

Season 2 Ramble#7 - All About Art

As the title suggests and as you probably guessed, this month's episode is all about art. I'm talking dancing, singing, modeling, drawing, whatever. You name it and surprisingly enough there's probably a manga for it. You can listen in with the link above or check the link in my bio for your preferred platform 🥂

Given the ever growing forms of art, its heavily subjective nature + my very limited perception and so on, I invite my friend Jen onto the show so I don't pigeonhole you all into my views and preferences via my reads.

So how this episode goes down is that the first segment is the usual listicle type beat, alternating between me and Jen, with the usual split of stuff read this month and stuff read before but since it's the two of us I thought I'd save y'all the long talking and have us only give details on the top 1s and kinda just summarize the other stuff we mention. Then for the second segment we'll have a little back and forth interview type beat in place of the usual rambles and then some outtakes from our test calls leading up to the episode to wrap up the whole thing.

Things read this month:

Top 1(me)

Shiori Experience(story & art by Yuuko Osada, ongoing with 66 chapters)

The main premise is that plain Jane highschool teacher Shiori, gets her life flip twisted upside down, when one day she's possessed by the ghost of legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix. Pretty sweet deal tbh, especially if you're a music fan, which she is, but ofc there's a catch. If she doesn't become a legend before 27 she dies.

Great cast, pretty solid story and the two intersect really well as the main plot is driven by her trying to scrounge up and then develop a band. So it's been pretty balanced so far in that as different members join we get to see them develop individually as well together as a band. Pretty solid story as I said, it draws a pretty good range of emotions out of you but what pushed it to number 1 was definitely the phenomenal art, specifically their illustration of sound. Going from a gentle wave, to an explosive eruption it's really cool to see the different sounds of different bands or even the different songs of the same band. Cannot recommend this manga enough, it truly is an amazing experience.

Two Honourable Mentions:

Blue Giant

Basically this kid wants to be the greatest jazz player in the world, he plays a mean sax and you can maybe kinda think of it as equal but opposite to the movie whiplash. As in yh they both have dudes trying to do the virtually impossible, both facing their fair share of hardships and so on but blue giant just has this super contagious uplifting vibe, especially the main character dai. he's a real one fr.

Smile Down The Runway

This is about fashion and the story revolves around 2 folks, chiyuki a model that's too short and ikuto, a designer that's too broke. Both have dreams of one day making it to the Paris fashion week runway (which starts next month irl btw). Read this pretty late in the month but it was so good I pretty much just blazed through it. Won't say much but the art was amazing and the designs were actually flames.

a manga that was surprisingly good:

Wandance

As the name suggests it's about dancing, largely of the hip hop based variety, they make a lot of cool references to modern artists from dj cream to Freddy Gibbs to Kendrick and basically it's about a dude who finds it hard to speak finding joy in being able to express himself through dance. On that note I gotta mention this month apparently makes 50 years of hip hop, shout out the genre and its offshoots fr but let the record show it all started right here in Jamaica. (It was surprising because for me the art style reminded me of a ton of manga I just didn't like)

a manga I didn't get to but looks cool:

Paradise Kiss

Another fashion manga and that's all I can say

[unfortunately Jen had a lot of emergencies at work and didn't type up anything so I had to just summarize her stuff but you can listen in to hear what she had to say in detail]

Top 1(Jen) - Blue period

Two Honourable Mentions - Sounds of life and PPPPPP

Things read before this month:

Top 1(me)

Blue Period (story & art by tsubasa yamaguchi, ongoing with 61 chapters out in English)

Highschool delinquent yatora makes the last minute and arguably terrible career choice to become an artist. can't fight him though as clinging to a long life unable to be authentic to yourself reeks of misery. In any case the story so far follows him from high school to college, and we take a pretty indepth look at art, what it is and what it means to be good at it. Pretty bold move of the author to be honest.

Also want to mention the author has a self titled 4 chapter collection of short stories that you can check out as well, literally just found out and read earlier today, pretty neat read

Two Honourable Mentions:

Bakuman

Spoke on this last episode so I won't say much but it's a manga about making manga and it was the top one of its section last month

Akane Banashi

Something that was an honourable mention last month, really really good and would have been top 1 in its section of not for bakuman. It's about a traditional Japanese art called rakugo which is basically a one man play, because it's in the honourable mention slot I don't speak much on it but honestly really really really good

[Jen hadn't really read much art stuff before this month but she did mention Barakamon and Rakugo Shinjuu ]

Thanks for listening/reading so far and you can listen in for the little interview and outtakes 🍻

[the-strange-world]

RATING AUGUST KPOP RELEASES (17-31)

Masterpiece 10 | amazing 9 | good 7-8 | ok 5-6 | skip 0-4

Haze - LUCY : 10 • their songs are always good | FAV BSIDES - Magic & So What

Light Of My Life - CHEN [JP] : 8

Speed Up - ELKIE : 6

ROWDY - Sorn feat. Seungyeon : 7

Girls’ Capitalism - LOVElution (tripleS) : 8 | FAV BSIDES - Cry Baby & Black Soul Dress

Killin’ Me Good - JIHYO : 8 • she kinda popped off. This album is so good! | FAV BSIDES - Nightmare & Talkin’ About It (feat. 24kGoldn)

LAFFY TAFFY - PRIMROSE : 9 | FAV BSIDES - AWAKEN LIGHT & FLY AWAY

SLAY - EVERGLOW : 8 • it’s not my fav from them but still good! I loved the bridge!!! (what’s the song in the beginning and the na na na part? It sounds so familiar) | FAV BSIDE - Make Me Feel

Better Things - aespa : 10 • very vibey and catchy

A.I.BAE - LE’V : 3 • don’t get me started with ais

Love Lee - AKMU : 4

Performer - VANNER : 10 | FAV BSIDES - TBH. I liked Diamonds too

Memories - RIIZE : 9

Picture - HYO : 7

RUSH - MustB : 7

NEW DANCE - XG : 8

Bambambam - Yerin : 3 | FAV BSIDES - Summer Charm. I liked both bsides better than the title

Golden Age - NCT [prerelease] : 4

Sara Sara - SEVENTEEN [JP prerelease] : 9 (this song was released on the 15th but somehow I missed it)

Ima -Even if the world ends tomorrow- - SEVENTEEN [JP] : 10 • feels like a song at the end of a movie. Seventeen never disappoints

Unbeatable - TIOT : 6 • I love the chorus | FAV BSIDES - This is our time. I liked Surfing & Starlight

PANORAMA- iKON : 9 • I’m pretty sure some of the lyrics are the same as LOVE SCENARIO and I love that song so much. It’s like a chiller version of that song

Time to Shine - H1-KEY : 5

A-MOONO-KE (I’m OK) - JEON SOYEON : 8.5

Time - JAECHAN [prerelease] : 9 • chill and I like the clock sounds in it since it’s called time. He wrote it too by himself which is cool. He also was one of the composers. I like that it’s a release because that means there will be more than 1 song

STARLIGHT - SECRET NUMBER : 8.5

Let it be summer - Young K [prerelease] : 10

You’re Beautiful - The Rose [prerelease] : 5

Rest - BDC : 9 • I think I saw they were disbanding so I think this is their last song sadly. It’s a pretty song and I like their voices

BF - KANDIS : 8

Baggy Jeans - NCT U : 7 | FAV BSIDES - The BAT, Kangaroo, & That’s Not Fair

Smooth Sailing - cignature : 10 • I’m getting a little bit of a red velvet vibe. This album was so good! They are super underrated | FAV BSIDES - Little Me & Sorry So Sorry. I liked Mess With My Mind too

SALTY BOY - ONEWE : 10 • I liked the bside too (Omnipresent)

SEOUL (Such A Beautiful City) - H1-KEY : 8 • I liked both bsides (Low-Key Scared But H1-KEY Ready & Magical Dream)

PADO (wave to me) - Pentagon [JP] : 8 | FAV BSIDE - Billie Jean. I liked LOOP (L♾P) & Made In Heaven too

WANT - B.I.G : 4

SYNCHRONIZE - X:IN : 5 | FAV BSIDE - Cat&Tiger

Elevator - BAEKHO : 6

[tianshiisdead]

Tag Game To Better Know You! Send this to people you’d like to know better!

thank uu @astrophilic-soul ilu!!

What book are you currently reading?

Bouncing in between 'Beyond Suffering: Recounting War in Modern China', 'Britain and China: 1840-1970 Empire Finance and War', and 'An Epitome of the Reports of the Medical Officers to the Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs Service from 1871-1882' rn! First two are history books, second is a primary source recovered from 1884, they are about exactly what the titles say and so far all are very good and enjoyable <3 tho Britain and China has some... Interesting points sometimes (each chapter is by a diff author tbf)

What’s your favorite movie you saw in theatres this year?

Haven't been to the theatre that I can think of lol

What do you usually wear?

All sorts of things loll but almost never pants u.u my 2 fav types are (generally) long flowing dresses and short little skirts/dresses with cropped sweaters! But I also like hanfu and hanyuansu too, and I have some jp/cn street fashion that I wear out, and some weird fits from Taobao. basically, I'll wear anything I find cute whether its fashionable or weird and I do get lots of comments, good ones and sometimes weird ones too LOL

How tall are you?

165 cm uwu

What’s your Star Sign? Do you share a birthday with a celebrity or a historical event?

Aries! Apparently Ireland became a republic on this day which is pretty cool

Do you go by your name or a nick-name?

What's considered a nickname? I go by my English name which is kind of a nickname in that it's not really my name to me, but I also go by a 小名 at home, and 'Tia' online, so I suppose usually a nickname.

Did you grow up to become what you wanted to be when you were a child?

I wanted to be an assassin. I won't elaborate anymore tho : )

Are you in a relationship? If not, who is your crush if you have one?

@peoniibud is my darling

What’s something you’re good at vs. something you’re bad at?

I'm good at lots of things. I'm bad at being humble

Dogs or cats?

Cats!

What’s something you would like to create content for?

Everything I like. I make almost nothing bc school is sooo busy and I'm soooo bad with procrastination :'))) but if I had to say I wish I could make Babel (R.F. Kuang) content, it's a newer interest and I'm sad I got into it right when I was too busy to make anything

If you draw/write, or create in any way, what’s your favourite picture/favourite line/favourite etc. from something you created this year?

I haven't made all that much this year tbh? It's not really a line but I realize I've repeated in several fics some sort of mention about how when Arthur gets truly started (talking) he'll never stop bc he kind of loves the sound of his own voice even though he'll never admit it, and I enjoy that, it makes me giggle fjkldgh I think Arthur having that dash off irritating arrogance is rlly the whipped cream on top of the pie. paired with how he's kind of plain and dislikes showing softness or weakness even while troubled (stiff upper lip... but also sometimes tsundere) and is kind of defensive and you can sort of see an old inferiority complex peek through even with all of his *everything* esp during the centuries past, ugh I could go on I genuinely love that character so much What’s something you’re currently obsessed with?

fandom wise: Babel by R F Kuang

Otherwise: the building of informal empire in China 1800s-mid 1900s and its lasting effects... I've always liked history and Chinese history in particular but the search for the seeds of modern national identity through post Opium War history is surprisingly difficult and has consumed me

What’s something you were excited about that turned out to be disappointing this year?

School... I hoped to be on top of things but my Mental Health (tm) and physical health took over again : ( I resent being so weak tbh I want to be energetic but instead I'm just trapped here constantly sick and easily feverish and barely able to function. It really hurts.

What’s a hidden talent of yours?

Uhhh I don't think I hide any talents? I don't do many things outside of what I know ig. I'm classically trained in ballet, piano, violin, and flute, and can read basic Manchu, so I guess those are hidden. I also have hidden british etiquette knowledge that I never use bc my mom's mentor at work (shes a scientist) was an old Scottish gentleman and I went to his house a lot to play with his granddaughter and learned how to properly act and eat the old British dude way ig dunno if thats a talent tho

Are you religious?    

Not... actively, my parents don't practice so I never had much, and I was raised pretty nonreligiously. But I make sure I'm eating only Halal food and follow the same habits my mom (hui Muslim) follows and my grandparents are very devout so I guess it's like... someday I'll come home (to Islam) but I don't know when that will be... I guess. It's something personal I guess.

What’s something you wish to have at this moment?

(quoted from @/astrophilic-soul bc sooo tru) The ability to not procrastinate

Tags:

@peoniibud @m3hwhateverworks @irithnova @lightpinkstuff @erubento @irithnova @stormsfolloweagle and anyone else who sees this etc!

[montdargent]

mid-year book freak out tag

thank you @pinkasrenzo for tagging me (? maybe accidentally? was it just a mention who knows)

1. Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2023? The wee free men, by Terry Pratchett: witches, scottish fairies and a coming of age story set in the discworld universe. what's not to like? officially my new favourite discworld series

2. Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2023? A hat full of sky, by Terry Pratchett: these are just excuses to talk about the tiffany aching series tbh. also granny weatherwax is back, so that's easy money

3. New Release You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To? Deadly ever after (Rivers of London graphic novels), by Ben Aaronovitch: the rivers of london novels, novellas and short stories are not enough. i need to inhale these graphic novels too. i can't wait for chaotic river goddess twins shanenigans!

4. Most Anticipated Release For Second Half of 2023? The deep sky, by Yume Kitasei: not many anticipated releases for that time, but it was reccomanded to me and the synopsis sounds right up my alley

5. Biggest Disappointment? Leave the world behind, by Rumaan Alam: a cool premise but incredibly boring execution and not my preferred writing style. a disappointment mostly because it was so amped up

6. Biggest Surprise? No exit, by Taylor Adams: i'm not usually into thrillers, so i didn't have particularly high expectations. but it was really good at building tension, delivered a satisfying ending and had a badass final girl that was easy to root for

7. Favorite New Author? Alison Bechdel: read "Fun home" because a friend of mine wanted to show me the musical and fell in love with it. i can already tell why her works are considered queer classics and i plan to read everything i can find by her

8. Newest Favorite Character? Tiffany Aching: see point 2. most children protagonists fall a bit flat for me or they have at least a couple of moments where their actions or internal monologue feel just unauthentic. and then an adult british cis man writes a smart, lonely, strange little girl and he makes me feel like he knew my child-self better than most family members. and that's why i love terry pratchett (among many things) and why i would die and kill for tiffany aching. she is the one true heir of esme weatherwax and i can't wait to read more of her

9. Newest Fictional Crush? Jordan Baker (from The chosen and the beautiful by Nghi Vo): what can i say, i could never resist a bisexual brunette who was too smart for anyone's good and falls a bit in love with everyone <3

💕Best Ship💕 Blue/Hamal (from Taproot by Keezy Young): just some cute friends-to-lovers fluff with plants and ghosts. honourable mentions are: the extremely toxic polycule from tcatb. that's for new ships, but i have to mention peter/beverly: they're still the best power couple in the greater metropolitan london area (i know i cheated and said three but i can't choose)

10. Book That Made You Cry? I'm glad my mom died, by Jeanette McCurdy: a very tough read, especially with the audiobook narrated by the author herself with all the emotion she puts into the reading. not for the faint of heart, but the pain is absolutely worth it

11. Book That Made You Happy? The fey and the furious (Rivers of London graphic novels) by Ben Aaronovitch: it's a comic version of a series i love, about fairies and drag racing. the pun in the title! i was smiling ear to ear the whole time

12. Favorite Book Adaptation You Saw This Year? Nimona (2023): i just finsihed rewatching it and i will do it again. i was obsessed with the gn at 18 and i'm obsessed with the movie now. between this and she-ra nd stevenson just owns my ass at this point. even with all the changes from the original, it still captures the spirit of it beautifully, with all the added layers of how the author changed and grew since then. i love it with my whole queer heart <3

13. Favorite Review You’ve Written This Year? i don't write reviews anymore, but maybe i should start again just for myself

14. Most Beautiful Cover? The priory of the orange tree, by Samantha Shannon: colour scheme? on point. lettering? beautiful. a dragon? fuck yeah

15. What Books Do You Need To Read By The End of The Year? ideally i'll complete my reading challenge, but for now i just hope i finish the ones i already started, so "One hundred years of solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez "Cemetery boys" by Aiden Thomas and "Circe" by Madeline Miller

[tsuki-sennin]

Our second day in Skyland!\

...idk how to start this, you know what Pretty Cure is, right? Yeah? Okay, cool, let's get into it~!

Spoilers, I guess...

-Straight into Ranborg attack, huh?

-Cure Sky strikes!

-Hot damn, she's living the dream.

-Everybody loves the Azure Guard~!

-Battamonda and the Underg have in fact not learned their lesson.

-Did you know that crimeis on the rise?

-MOOSE

-Damn, that moose fucked you up.

-"Captain Shalalaaaaaaaaaaaa! D:"

-Good job, Sora.

-"I am not in agony! ...I'm in unending agony!"

-Oh, Sora's parents

-Ooooooooh, a good luck charm, that's so sweet

-I wonder if Shalala's Chocobo has a name?

-I was coming in prepared for a "never meet your heroes" kinda vibe from Captain Shalala, but surprisingly this is super sweet. It kinda reminds me of Jet Fusion, the old Jimmy Neutron special where he meets his favorite movie hero and gets to be as cool as he is.

-Pretty refreshing, tbh

-Tsubasa's really living up to that "Royal Babysitter" title he's been slapped with.

-Oh fuck, Borb Fam!

-lhkjjklh WOW OKAY MOM

-"Mooooooom, let go! What if somebody sees me like this?"

-Mashiro Jumpscare.

-TAKE A LOVER, OKAY

-What on earth was Tsubasa doing up here to make you assume that instantly?

-...er uh, I suppose "what on thick enough patches of floating rock" is more appropriate.

-...I wonder if the Skylandians ever came into contact with the Zonai?

-Back on home with ye, eh?

-"You got this without me, right? :)"

-Dinner time?

-Oh golly gosh jeepers, I was really looking forward to seeing you again Batty.

-Ohhhhhhh, he made a ghost.

-DON'T FUCKIN MOAN AROUND ME, PAL

-Wing was flying real slowly there.

-B o m b

-Damn son, you got fucked up

-Alrighty then, Prism! Let's kick it!

-"Can we even defuse a bomb that big?"

-Beryberie believes in Sky :)

-HE'S A GRABBY BOY

-HE BROKE IT

-Captain Shalala?

-"They need... a Hero."

-Oh shit, she got the lightsaber out.

-"Washion! Let's rip them apart!"

-Oh and she's down!

-"It's hero time."

-Get Updrafted, idiot.

-Take a loss, man, get out.

-HE SMACKED MY BOY

-Well, he's certainly effective if nothing else.

-She's a baby, how she gonna run more than like two feet?

-Her next word~!

-"Don't fucking move!"

-I think this is the first time I ever thought Sora as intimidating.

-It's kinda rare I think that about a Cure (from my fairly limited experience at least), but... goddamn, she sounds ready to fry this grasshopper alive.

-Where did Captain Shalala vanish to?

-Her determination shines forth!

-Muteki da! Er, Muteki desu.

-Captain Shalala sure is cool.

-Goodbye, Beryberie, I hope we meet again soooooooooon!

-Lovely, hello! Happy Franchise Anniversary~! You'd know all about that, huh? ...varying opinions on HappinessCharge aside, you were so cool, I wish Form Changes made a comeback in some way.

...at this rate, we may see every cameo before we get to see Butterfly.

-Ooooooh, Battamonda's voiced by KENN? Damn, he did a great job.

-Breather time!

-...OH COME ON, MORE MOMOTARO? Toei, you're killin' me here.

-...I wonder if the Noto Layer could get Skyland signals?

-That was a neat episode. I liked Sora getting mad, the stuff with Tsubasa's parents and Captain Shalala was adorable, Beryberie sticking around was nice, and it had some really well-structured tension.

-I guess I'll see you next time? When we put on a Momotaro puppet show and I try to restrain myself from making constant Donbros references? Maybe? Idk we'll see

[wildtornado-o]

Which Season 2 Title for The Dark Pictures are you the most hyped for?

For me, Directive 8020, because I'm all for Sci-Fi/Space Horror, and after seeing Alien: Isolation and Dead Space, I'm excited for it.

Ooo i didnt know any of these titles were out yet hmmm Id have to say O Death or Craven Man those both sound rlly cool.. intercession seems interesting too. No idea what winterfold coukd b and i dont usually find sci fi horror too interesting tbh. Im more of a folklore or monster horror kind of gal (But i also lovee escape games or torture movies like Saw or the Zero Escape games)

[strawberryseeded]

i spent the weekend watching various horror movies in netflix (my moms accnt obvs) cos i was too lazy to pir/ate anything. i watched uuh.. konferensen 2023 (it was fine, it was a good time), split 2016 (p good imo tho the superhuman angle was kinda silly to me. but it was interesting. solid. ending was a bit unsatisfying tbh? and the msg quite confusing? like i geddit, empowered victims.. but the kidnapper ended up becoming a perpetrator too? and the fl didnt shoot him in that crucial moment AND they also didnt show what she ended up doing abt her uncle. idk if the plan was 2 make a sequel but it all ended up coming off as.. pretty lukewarm..), the stepfather 2009 (nice. rly straight foward w the premise tho not super focused w its message.. like it was abt family but it gave too much focus to the protags gf? which i thought was a bit juvenile like we get it they are teens in love now lets get back to the dude trying to murder the whole family please.. also i kept thinking the story wud have been fun from the mothers perspective as well.. oh and a bit more bg & development for the killer wud hv been stellar), monster 2023 (indonesian) (plot was p standard (rly reminded me of that free ice cream horror flash game) but i rly liked it visually! rly cool scenography!! it almost had no dialogue & that was rly refreshing and interesting. it really didnt need any), and today i watched longlegs 2024 w my sister (which i did pirat/e)..uuuuummm... ok SPOILERS for longlegs

i rly liked the way it was filmed n the photography. also the music/sound dsgn. the time setting was confusing as hell for me tho?? like idk im not usamerican but the story supossedly took place in the 2000s but it all looked like the 70s to me???? and there are big differences between the 2 eras its not like im THAT period blind. the only scene i thought oh yeah theres no way this is the 70s is a scene in which you can see computers in the bg but anyways. the movie.

it started off GREAT. very eerie.. i had no clue abt the plot or anything btw i went into it completely blind.. so i had no idea if the movie was going for a realistic angle or a more supernatural angle. it rly reminded me of it follows 2014 not bc the fl was played by the same actress (it was) but bc everything that was happening seemed not quite real. like a dream. i loved that..

so ok. its p clear from the beginning that something is p weird (supernatural weird) abt this whole thing. the fl makes my suspicions grow bc shes some sort pf psychic so i though ok the killer is def some kind of hypnotist. i was wrong tho, whatever. lets skip a lot of stuff. plot twist it was the devil all along. i felt kinda silly bc im usually p good/fast understanding movies (esp this type of movies) but i was so confused by the end of this.. i was like huh.. wait what do you mean the devil is real in this story. it was rly easy to catch onto that btw i was just still expecting a psychic weirdo killer angle idk maybe i liked that idea more deep down lol? but it wasnt so my sister was like dude are you serious the devil was right there in one scene and i was like what. she went back to that scene. the devil was right there. oh ok. wait then what about the scene in which the mother shoots the dolls head why did she do that if the deal wasnt over. and what about the surviving victim why did she kill herself after the ball was out of the dolls head. oh god i almost forgot what abt the chief(?)s (no ok i literally cnt remember either his name nor job title im so sorry. yanno lees boss) did not even ONCE say smt like "oh hey my daughter has the same age n bd date than all the other daughters from the victim families. thats peculiar. lets take some measures maybe?" like forget that last part, why wasnt this even BROUGHT UP. another ridiculous thing abt this was the "birthday party" lee was invited to if thats even what you can call it.. most of the movie i was waiting for an actual party, with lots of people (STAKES, yknow?) but lee was literally the only person invited apparently?? what was up w that. also why didnt the fl shoot the dolls head at the bd party in the first place why did she wait until the dad started killing ppl. also the deal was supposed to end with the 13th victim i think so why did the mother say she will keep killing. me & my sister concluded well idk lets sleep on it i guess. yeah.

overall enjoyable and interesting, but i feel like the plot-twist reveal and the ending were a bit idk rushed?? like ill be quite honest i didnt feel anything abt the mother being the accomplice???? it was good in concept but was a bit lacking in execution.. like. why shud i even care.