#this is from 2022 I'm shocked I never posted it on here

[luc3ks]

old thang (slight volume warning)

[liahaslosthermind]

𝐒𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐥𝐛𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞

Summary: Azriel sits by himself, watching as she is surrounded by dancing children. Unbecoming of an Illyrian warrior, he just can’t gain the courage to speak to her. But when an intoxicated male walks up to her, looking for trouble, he might just have no choice but to make an introduction.  A/N: This is a fic I wrote and posted about 3 years ago now. I decided that some of my older pieces (though I'm still proud of 15/16 year old me for writing) need a facelift, so here is part of that process. I did the same with Betrayal and have been so much happier writing for it, so I hope you enjoy this one too! The original request (from September of 2022!) is down below, but I didn’t really stick to the prompt much. Request: Well...how about something where Azriel sees the fae reader dancing in Velaris (like a Tangled sort of dance) and she catches his eye. Later on he sees her while he is taking Feyre around town. The fae woman is with a bunch of younglings because she is a teacher. She smiles at him and feyre then and his shadows just shoot out towards her but not to hurt, just to play with her. He is shocked when she is friendly with the shadows and he finds out that when they aren't with him, they play with her. Just something really cute about azriel falling for her as he moves on from mor.

It was unfair. It was absolutely unfair.

The infamous Spy Master of the Night Court, the formidable Shadowsinger, was currently pouting at his family’s now empty table at a Starfall Ball the High Lord and Lady were hosting. Maybe pouting wasn’t the right word, if anyone looked at him they would see no emotion on his face. His family might say he was brooding, but it was a little more pathetic than that. The last standing bachelor Bat Boy watched while the rest of his family, either with a date or already mated, danced with their partners. To be fair, the Ilyrian could easily find someone to dance with. While seemingly unapproachable unless one had a death wish, Azriel was still the most sought after man wherever he went, even before his friends had found their mates. But there was only one who he wanted to dance with, and she was currently partnered with about 8 small children.  

It all had started one day at the Palace of Thread and Jewels. Needing supplies for Starfall decorations, Feyre had asked Azriel to join as another pair of arms to carry bags. She hadn’t really needed his help, but the High Lord and Lady had gotten into an argument about which flowers would look best as centerpieces. So, naturally, she thought asking the Shadowsinger to accompany her instead of her mate would piss Rhysand off. While Azriel hadn’t wanted to join in on the argument, he couldn’t deny a request to make his brother mad. 

Azriel had been sitting outside of the cafe Feyre was currently trying to place a rather large order at when he first saw her. In a crowd of giggling Velaris children, she sat in a chair and animatedly read a story. Usually, the sight would upset the Spy Master, at least a little. Even after 500 years, Azriel never stopped feeling jealous when seeing children happily existing in their bubble of love and comfort. He always wondered what it would have been like for him, had his childhood been one with his mother and away from his father’s abuse. Away from that dark cell. 

This time though, he found himself too enamored with the fae woman reading aloud to think about what was stolen from him. Her excitement, easily matching the children’s, and her smile and flushed cheeks made his heart skip. 

From then on, Azriel often found an excuse to be in the area. Sometimes her classes remained inside, in which he would leave a few shadows to monitor, for safety reasons, of course. But when she took her class of preschool aged children elsewhere, or when she ran after school programs for various other ages, Azriel would find himself nearby. Although, it sounded bad when you put it like that. He wasn’t stalking her, he just… alright maybe he was a little. Maybe he was head over heels, maybe he was healing this inner child, it didn’t matter, because he would never do anything about it. 

Back at the table, Azriel had been too caught up in the patheticness of his situation to notice a drunkard had come up to her. A familiar tug on his shadows and suddenly he watched as the man started to get handsy as the female tried to push him off. If that hadn’t been disgusting enough, the man also pushed a child that had tried to help her. Blood boiling, Azriel had only made it a few steps in to try and grab the pig when he was stopped in his tracks, watching as she landed a swift and powerful elbow to the male’s face, sending the creep stumbling back. 

Huh. 

He wouldn’t have guessed Velaris’ beloved preschool teacher would be able to take down a very large, drunken, adult male with such ease, but here she was. 

Seeing as the situation was handled on her part, Azriel started to walk over to the man when his shadows started to tug at him again. 

Deal with him later, Master. We will keep an eye on him, they sang. 

Unsure of what they could have wanted Az to do in the moment other than deal with the asshole, he began to half heartedly fight their tugging. That was till he realized where they were trying to lead him, straight to the teacher. Immediately, Azriel stopped moving, desperately protesting the shadow's intervention. 

She had immediately sent the kids back to their parents after her attacker had disappeared to who-cares-where. It had been a long and exciting night for her, from coming with friends to doing some overtime babysitting when she saw her students’ parents in need of a quick break to enjoy the holiday. She hated that the male had spoiled her mood, but she was determined to not let it spoil her night. Walking off the dance floor, she made plans to go home and settle down with a glass of wine and a book when something caught her foot, sending her straight into the arms of the Night Court’s very own Shadowsinger. 

Azriel cursed his shadows as he realised far too late that if he wasn’t willing to go to the female, they were going to bring her to him. Purposefully tripping the poor girl just trying to leave the dancefloor, he had been lucky, or unlucky, enough to have caught her before she fell. Where had these reflexes been the rest of the night?

It took her a few moments to right herself before she looked up at her knight in shining armour. Finally registering who it had been, the gratitude on her tongue died and was replaced by apologies. 

The change in attitude gave Azriel whiplash. How she could go from elbowing a man in the face with little remorse to becoming completely flustered after accidentally tripping into his arms was beyond Az’s comprehension at the moment. He was far too stuck on the fact that she was talking to him, nevermind that the only reason she was doing so was because his traitorous shadows had tripped her. He imagined his cheeks were just as red as her’s at the moment.

Cauldron help him.

She was blushing.

Because of him. 

And he was blushing. 

Because of her. 

For the first time in a very long while, Azriel felt weak in the knees because of his feelings. Last time he had felt even somewhat close to such an emotion was with Mor, but that feeling had faded so long ago he forgot how intoxicating and horrifying it could be. 

As she searched his face for any anger, all she saw was confusion, and that he seemed to be as flustered as she was. 

“Um, hello?” she asked. After multiple apologies, she had asked if he was alright, to which no answer was given. She watched as it seemed to take a few moments for him to register her words. 

“How did you do that?” He was all he replied. 

“Trip into you? Well I kind of just walked over here and it happ-”

“No, take down that man. Where did you learn to fight like that?”

“Oh! well, just- you know, picked up any lessons I could get. Thought it would be better to know how to since I spend so much time teaching children.” 

Azriel remained silent for a beat. Just kept staring as the song began to change into a slower one. Seeing as her usual company of children had dispersed, giggling while watching couples dance, he took the moment to finally ask the question weighing on his mind all night.

“Would you like to dance with me?” 

He watched as she laughed, presumably catching the fear and anticipation in the Spy Master’s voice. Fortunitally, before he could get too into his head about the action, she stuck her hand out for him to grab. As he led her back to the floor, as they started to sway, it felt… different. 

Like their bodies fit perfectly against one another, as if the two had done this many times before, as if they both belonged there, in each others’ arms. 

Neither wanted to ever leave.

A/N part 2: The original story is about 700 words while this is double that, but if you are curious, I've linked the original post. It is... rough

[reticent-writer]

King of demons Child

I made this in 2022 idk why i never posted it

demon slayer masterlist

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Lady Tamyo was the one to bring you to Ubuyahiski saying she wanted you to be 'more humane' and go against your father's teachings.

He accepted. To teach the child humanity.

He introduced you to the hashira much to their dismay but they respected his opinion and the fact that you were a clueless child.

Shinobu was the one looking after you. Teaching you how fragile human life is and how quick you can lose it.

"What are you doing." One of your many questions that annoyed the girl to no end, but it would be a benefit to teach right from wrong.

"I'm making medicine for the 3 slayers that came the other day." She replied with her signature smile.

"Father told me people die because they are not strong enough, so why help them?" Shinobu was not shocked, you were raised by the first demon after all.

"We help so they can get stronger and when they get stronger they can stand up for those who can't themselves. It a good thing, so why don't you come help me." She said extended her arms to you, which you excepted as she pulled you on her lap.

Giving you directions on how to prepare the 3 cups of herbal tea, placing them on a tray then carrying to the three sword men.

You expected adults like the flame or sound hashira (you also go by them a lot), so when you saw kids who killed one of the lower moons you were surprised.

"I thought they were dead." You whispered to the insect pillar.

"You three seem to be doing better." Shinobu chuckled leaving you by the door as she went and checked on each of the children before urging you into the room to give out the tea.

"AHH WHY WOULD YOU BRING A DEMON IN HERE." The blonde screeched which irritated you.

"Why so loud." You complained but Shinobu placed her arm on your shoulder and led you to Tanjiro's bedside table. You placed the teas on the table and grabbed one to give to Tanjiro, who was staring at you.

"Take it." You thrust the cup at him which he hesitantly took.

"He is my little assistant for the three of you, he won't bite if you don't bark." She tried to calm down Zenitsu but it just made him more nervous.

You took the 2-remaining cups, walked over to Zenitsu's bed and did the same but he refused to take it.

"I'M NOT DRINKING THAT WHO KNOWS WHAT HE PUT IN IT." He screeched again. You groaned at the loud noise and looked back at Shinobu. You wanted nothing more than to shut him up but that would go against the morals that everyone has been teaching you.

You sighed, placed his cup on the table, and moved on to Inosuke. He accepted the cup with no complaints, he didn't even bat an eye. Walking back over to Tanjiro's bed you took the tray and began to walk out of the room when Shinobu stopped you.

"I think you're forgetting something."

"Hmm?"

"Introduce yourself."

"Oh my name is Y/n Kibustuji." You bowed and left before you could see their reactions.

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[oathkeeper-of-tarth]

Here's another long-winded post about me combing through BG3 early access files in search of Aylin and Isobel tidbits - rummaging that already resulted in this post right here. Let me just say I'm pleased to have brought Aylin Silverblood some attention because, again, I think it's a dope name.

Now, obviously, Isobel and Aylin are both Act 2 characters, and early access only covered Act 1. So anything related to them is partial stuff that wasn't scrubbed from the game files for whatever reason, and a lot of placeholders (these are usually indicated by |the text being in vertical lines|). This all means that sometimes (usually!) there are no nice voice lines indexed by UUID and parseable dialogue trees, and you have to trawl through a giant localisation XML of every bit of text in the game instead. An additional complication is all these stories were in flux, but older bits of writing from deprecated iterations didn't get immediately removed from the files, so it's sometimes hard to tell what belongs to which version.

The biggest luck I've had with regards to these two is the 24/11/2021 version of the game - EA Patch #6 Hotfix #19, aka game version v. 4.1.1.1356845, aka the source of Aylin Silverblood (my beloved). Here's a handy list of the patch and hotfix history, if you're like me and interested in this stuff. I'm actually wrangling files from 5 versions of the game right now, ranging from March 2021 to July 2022 - it's been a fun time. This old datamining post on reddit really helped narrow down the timeframe for me to look into.

Why am I doing this? I genuinely find it fun and interesting! There's some neat writing to be found! I crave more Isobel at all times! And I'm always into WIP and "how the sausage is made" type stuff. Also, tons of cool inspo for fics and headcanons.

Note, because I know that's a popular EA tidbit: this is all from after the Halsin killing Isobel variant was scrapped. This is, in fact, the version where she gets killed and soul trapped by Balthazar, and Aylin gets framed for it.

I'm going to start this off with my favourite part, and that is snippets of an early version of the Aylin/Isobel reunion from 2021. I've done my best to put them in order, but be aware a lot of this is still me speculating.

|[CINE: Nightsong teleports the party to the plaza in front of Last Light. As she looks around trying to familiarize herself, Isobel notices your arrival from the balcony. Her reaction is pure shock, followed by an immediate rush down the stairs.]|

|[CINE: Isobel dashes out of the front of the inn, wide-eyed and out of breath. Nightsong stares at her, stunned.]|

Aylin: |(distant, shocked) Isobel.|

Isobel: |Aylin...|

|[CINE: Nightsong takes an instinctive step towards her but stumbles, collapsing to her knees, eyes blown with pain and disbelief. Isobel closes the distance between them in hasty steps, trying to help Nightsong up, but Nightsong tightly grips at her arms - as if the contact makes everything real.]|

|[CINE: Isobel's eyes fill with tears as she drops down to the ground, throwing her arms around Nightsong's shoulders in a tight embrace. Shaking, almost fearful, Nightsong returns the embrace - the first kind touch she's had in a hundred years.]|

|[CINE: Nightsong draws back from the hug, looking Isobel in the eyes. Isobel helps Nightsong to her feet. As the two of them stand, they keep their hands linked.]|

Aylin: |A hundred years. Isobel, light of my heart, where were you? (choking up) I found your body, I....|

Isobel: |I was dead, Aylin. For so long. It was Balthazar - he trapped my soul, he-|

Player: |[Doesn'tKnowRelationship] You were lovers? Did Ketheric know?|

Aylin: |(jaw tightens) We were lovers. Her father was against it. He saw nothing but future misery. I'm immortal. I would never age, but she would.|

Isobel: |He didn't understand. It doesn't matter when... (fearful, as if worried Aylin's feelings might have changed) ... I still love you so much.|

Aylin: |(her first genuine smile) And I, you. No trial or pain could ever change that. (relaxes a touch) It is why I couldn't leave your body, even when they came. Balthazar and that Sharran witch told your father that I was to blame.|

|And he believed them over you?|

Aylin: |(frowns) He believed what he wanted to believe. Ketheric saw his daughter dead, and he saw someone he wanted to hurt. Shar took that cruel thread, that moment of mortal pain, and used it to corrupt him to the core.|

Aylin: |I was put on trial, and I had no defence. The moment it was over, I was taken down to the temple and... well, you saw what they had done.|

|Isobel presses against Nightsong's side, face tight with worry, running her fingers in slow strokes up and down Nightsong's arm.|

|[CINE: Nightsong tilts her head back towards the player.]|

Aylin: |These heroes saved me. Without them, I'd still be trapped in Balthazar's soul cage, with Ketheric gripping my heart like a leech.|

|[CINE: Isobel's face falls at the mention of her father's name.]|

Isobel: |A *soul cage*? Gods.|

Isobel: |I didn't know. Gods, he didn't say a word to me. I ran away because it was Balthazar that brought me back. As I ran, I heard my father shouting... but I'd seen enough. There was no saving him.|

Aylin: |You are not your father, Isobel. (sad, wry smile) You were the only thing that kept me alive in the dark. When hope began to fade, I simply thought of you.|

Isobel: |[To player] Thank you. (smiles wide) I... I can't possibly thank you enough, for bringing Aylin back to me.|

|Nightsong smiles too, but she's lost looking at Isobel, completely tuning out everyone else around them. Isobel leans in, resting her brow against Nightsong's and closing her eyes, Nightsong's hand clutched to her chest.|

Then, there is an option to press Isobel for details:

|You said the necromancer trapped your soul. Why?| |Was Balthazar the one who killed you, Isobel?|

Isobel: |(hesitant, visibly guilty) I think Aylin would know better than I do. The last thing I remember is a blade in the dark. Too fast to feel pain. Then silence.|

Asking Isobel to go with you to Moonrise was possible at various points, leading to different responses:

Will you come with me to Moonrise? I could use your help. If we're going to stop Ketheric, you have to come with me.

Until there is a way to keep Last Light safe, I cannot leave. All I can do is pray. |Not if everyone is killed at Last Light in my absence. I'll do everything I can to help you from here, but I won't go with you.| |Not if everyone is killed at Last Light in my absence. If someone else could take my place, I would go with you. I swear it.|

|Nightsong is here, she will protect Last Light - let's go to Moonrise, like you promised.| |I want to spend the night with Aylin. Meet me at Moonrise tomorrow.| |Nightsong will protect the people while together we can stop Ketheric.|

Isobel: I... we need to get close to him, don't we? And Aylin can protect Last Light in my absence. Aylin: Isobel, I have just gotten you back. To put yourself in his hands again-

Looks like we would've had a flip of the current Act 2 boss fight, and Isobel would be the ally for the confrontation with Ketheric, not Aylin. Also, that one line right there that is our first indication of Succor™, gotta love it. Sadly, post-reunion I only have:

|TBD: Post Nightsong Reunion.| |How are you and Aylin doing?|

To borrow release version Isobel's stock line: KEEPING VERY WELL, I HOPE? In any case, I'm putting the rest under a cut, featuring options for calling Isobel out on her parentage, Aylin being from Mt. Celestia, and Balthazar being gross - among many other things.

At one point quite early on, Isobel's protection from the shadow curse wasn't a spell, but an ointment:

|Ointment of Selûne| |Ointment Container PLACEHOLDER| |Isobel filled this with precious doses of her sacred Ointment of Selûne.| |First get the ointment from Isobel.| Have you received Isobel's ointment yet? What protection can her ointment offer, exactly? You should see Isobel. If Marcus does crop up, I'd sooner you had her ointment to protect you. Can use that cleric's ointment to get you on your way. But I have to move out - now. Can I get some of your ointment? No more theories! It's time for action. Our secret weapon needs to travel to Moonrise Towers, which means they'll need your ointment. You have the ointment. You have the Gate Stone. Moonrise Towers awaits. Are you sure the ointment will last long enough?

What is now Isobel's Ominous Cough was a gradual weakening that was remarked upon and seemed to be there to create more of a sense of urgency:

I won't claim to know Isobel's craft, but Selûne's light is bright in her. Isobel's tough - though she was tougher at the start. I've rarely seen a cleric so in tune with her goddess, but the curse is taking its toll. The light used to be stronger, Isobel. How much more of this curse can you take? You look paler than death, Isobel. How much more of this curse can you take?

We have some nice concise infodumps on Ketheric:

After Ketheric turned to darkness, the Enclave joined with the Harpers to unseat him and his Sharran cohorts. We marched together, fought together, bled together... and in the end we prevailed.

Only it wasn't the end. Nothing seemed to kill Ketheric himself, so the Harpers decided to seal him in his own tomb, alive. They thought that would be enough. But they hadn't counted on Ketheric unleashing the shadow curse. We watched it drain all light and life away from this place, saw it twist people into abominations. The Harpers lost hope.

Ketheric wove the curse on this land. The moment he was sealed in that tomb, Shar's poison devoured everything in its path.

Fallen paladin. Champion of Shar. He was building an army bent on unholy conquest, but we stopped him. Killed him. Buried him.

It was not enough. General Thorm lives again. He's built a new army, and this time he marches under the banner of the Absolute.

November 2021 is the earliest mention of Aylin I found, mostly marked as not finalised and placeholder dialogue (and that reunion up there). The Nightsong as present in that patch is still very different from what we ended up getting - nobody was killing her, in fact people were coming to get her "kiss", and there was a whole thing where it seems like Shar would directly take control of her and you could help her overcome the curse, or abandon her to it - or kill her. 

Embrace the Nightsong and be sworn to Eternal Shadow.

Anyway, here are her lines (all of these exist as voice files, which is rare for stuff I put in this post - but they're done by a voice actress who doesn't sound like Helen Keeley, our final Aylin VA, so I don't know what to make of it all tbh):

Shar is the Nightsinger, and I am her Nightsong. I am her instrument, transforming the faithful into shadows. I've been here for centuries. Do you know how many priests of Shar came here, full of faith, seeking my kiss? I've been here for centuries. Thousands of Sharrans came here seeking my kiss. I drink their sorrow, their loss, their grief. Then I vomit it back into the world. All of them are shadows now. That is Shar's only reward. But Ketheric returned for my kiss, over and over. You're the first to survive my kiss intact. You're the only one who can help me. Please, you have to help. No one's ever resisted the kiss before. No one has ever resisted my kiss. But you are not merely *one*, are you? That thing in your head must be incredibly powerful to resist a goddess. Perhaps it's also divine in nature. Because a mind can't survive two masters. It breaks us. Shar's attention must be elsewhere. Speak quickly. She's watching now. She's waiting to steal my voice. But it won't last. Please - listen! I was captured by Ketheric Thorm, Shar's chosen. He turned me into this creature. I'm a slave of Shar. She owns me, just like that thing in your head owns you. I want to sing my own song. Not Shar's. Not *Ketheric's*. Find Ketheric. Kill him so I can be free! Slay Ketheric. His wretched existence binds me to this temple. Oh. That made her angry. The Lady returns! She has me again! *Again!* Stop! You've driven her away!

I am not your *spectacle*. Turn away before I strike you blind. Tell them to come and receive my kiss.

Some possible relevant tags, interactions, and outcomes include:

|The soul cage has greatly weakened Nightsong| |Debug: click to save Nightsong (sets the flag to talk to Isobel)| |We sided with Ketheric and doomed Nightsong.| |Companion comment!||But if his power is linked to this Nightsong, there must be a way to unlink it.| |You have taken control of Ketheric's Soul Cage| |You are bound to Ketheric's soul cage, taking his regenerative powers for yourself| |Bound to Soul Cage| |Soul Cage Key| |Soul Cage Research| |The book details the necromancer's research on the soul cage| |There is a glimpse of Isobel's ghost, as she takes her Father with her to the afterlife.| |There is a glimpse of Isobel's ghost terrified and in agony. Both Isobel and Ketheric will disappear.|

At one point Isobel delivers her own, Ketheric's, and Aylin's backstory as "a story", but sadly I can find very little of it, just disjointed fragments:

You seem to know a lot about Ketheric. He was a devout Selûnite who converted to Shar. They say it was Ketheric's purity that drew an angel down from Celestia. You're Isobel Thorm. The daughter who died in that story.

And there seem to be many options to question Isobel about her hiding the truth about her father:

Why are you lying to me, Isobel? Everyone thinks you're dead, Isobel. Tell me the truth, Isobel. Everything. Still, Isobel might have saved us some time had she been honest from the beginning. |Why didn't you tell me what happened from the start, Isobel?|

Ketheric. Don't you mean your father? Ketheric is your father. I know the truth. Ketheric told me at Moonrise. He wants me to bring you home. I need your father to trust me. He wants you back. You sent me after your father - Ketheric. I think we should discuss Ketheric - your father - first. For all you've said about Ketheric, you left out the part where he's your father.

To which I've found some responses:

And would you have trusted her? Ketheric's daughter? Why didn't I tell you that I was murdered, that my soul was locked away for a hundred years? What would I have told her? That my father murdered her fellow Harpers, but that I can surely be trusted?

[Attempt to read Isobel's thoughts.] *You see Ketheric standing before Isobel, although the memory is hazy. His words are unclear, but his tone is not - he is pleading with her.*

Brought back by the same man that killed me. Balthazar. Standing next to my father with a smile on his face.

But I'm not sure it would have mattered. To stand with that man, my father has surrendered to deepest evil.

I would love to know what the whole pleading thing is about, and what Isobel "didn't know" that she claims didn't matter anyway.

My father. After a century, he somehow brought me back. But I saw the monster he had become. I couldn't bear it... I ran. I ran until I found Last Light. It was like a second home to me, once. I've been studying the curse ever since, searching for answers. Trying to restore the damage my father has wrought upon this land. It's possible I may have to sacrifice myself. But this is my father's crime.

And then, there is this nugget I cannot place but that I like: 

|Your father's due will come.|

There is also an option to tell her Nightsong is Aylin (who was, at this point, a full celestial - no mention of being connected to Selûne, though, and in fact, if she was indeed from Mount Celestia as mentioned in the "story", she would not have been):

Isobel: My father's curse still blackens this earth. Have you found anything? Player: A celestial, chained to Ketheric's soul. Player: They called her Nightsong, but she told me her name was Aylin. Isobel: Aylin. She... she's alive. I knew she had to be, I… Player: Ketheric's necromancer took her to Moonrise. Isobel: His necromancer? Gods, you have to free her. Isobel: You have to go to Moonrise and free Aylin. When Ketheric is weak, this can all be over. Isobel: The truth is that I would give anything to see her again, and anything to stop my father. Free her, and you do both. Isobel: At least, the shell of my father. There's nothing left of the man that championed Selûne. Isobel: Find her. Free her. If Ketheric isn't stopped, all of us are doomed.

Player: |[Doesn'tKnowName] Aylin? Care to explain?| Isobel: The angel in my story about Ketheric. That was Aylin.

Speaking of Balthazar. Some lines from him:

[Introductory note: please imagine everything Balthazar says spoken with a wheezy voice, as if he's permanently out of breath.]

[I need to retrieve the Nightsong, but the temple is haunted and my minions cannot make it past the trial grounds. I cannot go there until the ghosts have been dealt with. Now that you are here on behalf of Ketheric, you will do all this for me.]

I, Fodder, am here on behalf of General Ketheric Thorm. Down in the depths of this temple writhes his desire. I am to bring it to him.

I created the Nightsong for General Ketheric, many moons... HEAR THAT SHAR? Many moons ago.

*As you hold the necromancer's mocking gaze, you can tell how it starts to dawn on him you are not the mere minion he thought you were.*

Along the way I found some more recent Patch 8 (2022-ish) gross Balthazar lines, some bits of which have actually survived to release:

She was a unique specimen even before I began my work. Aasimar. A god's blood united with mortal flesh.

Such fine clay she was. We grew quite close as I… remoulded her. Now she is General Thorm's shield. Her strength is his to drink upon. His pains are hers to bear.

If I never exceed her, I will still die happy. If I ever do something as gauche as truly dying, that is.

Utterly revolting! Makes my skin crawl! Man deserves a yeeting into the Shadowfell a hundred times over! But in order to not end on a gross note, I leave you with:

Ketheric Thorm. Murderer. Oathbreaker.

Aylin Silverblood. My true name. Nightsong was only ever a curse.

[ramenrains]

TW: Death

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.

Kris' mother and I just got off the phone a few hours ago, and I am heartbroken to announce this, but @blackfairypresident passed away today.

Kris was one of my dearest friends for many years and had endured his fair share of struggles, but I admired his resilience and his willingness to get back up each and every time he was knocked down. Whether he came to visit me in Greenville or we were going to concerts in Atlanta, we always had fun and felt at ease around one another. He had an openness in his heart that was unmatched, a sense of humor that could have you screaming with laughter even in your worst moments, and a passion to help those who had endured the same struggles he himself had faced.

That's why I'm writing this post.

Kris met many of his closest friends online. We provided a safe space for him to be his truest self. As such, he didn't have many ties to his real life on these accounts and kept them separate from the places he added work associates and family.

I didn't want you to be left in the dark. More importantly, Kris wouldn't want you to be either.

More details, including funeral arrangements if Kris' family feels comfortable sharing them, will be forthcoming in the replies or edits to this post. If you need a friend or a shoulder in order to help process this news, feel free to reply here or you can shoot me a dm whenever. I know this is sudden and completely unexpected. I'm still going in and out of shock myself.

Let this serve as an online memorial space in the meantime. Share things you loved about him or fond memories.

Here are a few of mine in pictures:

-When Kris visited me in December of 2022. He scuttled around downtown Greenville taking pictures of whatever he could, and it was adorable.

-The BAP Forever 2018 tour. It was notoriously a shitshow and they were giving free tickets away hand over fist. Kris posed with the extras we had to let people know they could come find us and nab them.

-VAV in Atlanta in early 2020. We were vvip and got to take this photo with the group together.

There were many more times we spent together that I didn't commemorate with photographs, but now I wish I had. The last time he and I were together for Bang Yongguk in 2023, I mentioned he, Jun and I should take group pictures and we collectively forgot. I'm sure I have some on Snapchat on an old phone somewhere, and I'll go digging probably later today.

I love you, Kris, and I'm so sorry this happened the way it did. I know how hard you were fighting for the life you deserved. I love you I love you I love you. I love you. I love you. I'm grateful that this was one of the last things I said to you, so there was never any doubt that's how I felt.

[sissylittlefeather]

Hi friends! I wrote another fic. I'm just churning these out right now because I'm obsessed 😂

You really have to suspend reality for this one. Like, just let your imagination have at it and try not to think about how it would actually work out. Also, it's based on a scene from the movie, so it's probably more Austin!Elvis, but you could pretend it really happened with EP if you wanted to. The world is your oyster. Dream on.

This is a continuation of Baby What's Your Name?, but you don't necessarily have to read that one first. Basically, all my fics exist in the same timeline with the same Elvis & reader characters.

Warnings: F/m p in v, fingering, unprotected sex, public sex, cops?, smut, cussing, MINORS DNI 18+

Summary: this takes place after the riot at the Russwood Park show in the Elvis (2022) movie. Austin!Elvis x reader (y/n). You've come to comfort Elvis after they shove him in the cop car.

Always, Honey

You sit and watch in horror as the police officers drag Elvis from the stage. He's finally done it. He's gone too far and the people in charge stepped in. For a minute or two, you sit there in shock at what's happening with your hand covering your open mouth.

You need to get to him, but you know it won't be easy. You're not there in any official capacity. His parents don't know about you. The Colonel has suspicions that Elvis has been seeing someone, but he doesn't know who you are. No one knows that you've been with Elvis every time you could since that first night together when you threw your panties on the stage. What started with lust has turned into a relationship and you realize right now in this moment that you love him. Your worry for him makes that clear. You have to find a way to get to him.

You shake off the shock of the moment and stand up. You were sitting toward the back of the concert, so you can see the squad car at the back of the ballpark. That's where they will be headed. You take off in that direction, away from all the other fans who are running toward him. You make it to the car. As you stand there trying to decide what to do next, you see the crowd coming through the gates, and the officers dragging Elvis are at the center. He's yelling to his parents to get in the car they're being taken to, trying to keep himself clear of policemen and fans alike. You pretend to be just another fan as they shove him in the backseat and close the door. You're standing on the other side of the car when actual fans press in around you, screaming and grabbing at the car. You manage to get your face down to the window and knock on it, just praying that he'll look over in your direction. You pull on the door, but it's locked. You knock again on the window and yell as loud as you can, "E!"

He hears your voice amidst the chaos and turns, seeing you in the window. There's no one in the front seat yet, so he's able to unlock the door and open it just enough for you to slip into the backseat with him. He pulls you close to him and grabs your face with both hands.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, E, I'm fine. Are you okay?" He relaxes a little, knowing that you aren't hurt.

"Man, that was... I'm pissed, but yeah, I'm not hurt or anything." He pulls you in for a kiss. He's dripping in sweat, but you don't care. This isn't the first time he's kissed you after a show. Usually you're squeezed somewhere backstage together for a quick moment before he's whisked away to wherever he's supposed to be post-performance.

Just then, though, the front doors of the car open and the cops slide into their positions on the front seat. The one in the passenger seat turns to look back at Elvis, glaring with a hatred you've never seen before. Elvis glares back with the same intensity. It takes a minute for the cop to even realize you're back there.

"What the hell is she doing in here? Get her out! You can't have a damn fan girl in the backseat when you're getting arrested!"

"IF SHE GETS OUT, I GET OUT." Elvis yells. You can see his hands shaking with rage. "SHE IS NOT A FAN. SHE IS MY GIRL." Your head whips around and your eyes lock on him. That's the first time he's acknowledged what you might be to each other.

The cop opens his mouth to yell back, but the other officer cuts in.

"-- you can't open the door right now. There's too many people out there and we need to go. She's going to have to stay where she is." He drives off slowly, careful to not run over any of the fans who are mobbing the car.

"Well... just... don't touch her." The passenger seat cop growls at Elvis, who defiantly throws his arm around you.

"I'll do what I damn well please. What are you gonna do? Arrest me?"

The cop's face goes beet red and he turns around in his seat to face front. Elvis plants a kiss on the side of your head and apologizes quietly.

"I'm sorry about all this, honey." He's got one hand around your shoulder and the other on your thigh. You look up into his eyes.

"Your girl, huh?" You try to keep your smile from giving away the elation you feel in your heart. Yep. You absolutely are in love with him. He gives you a soft smile.

"Yeah, baby, that alright with you?"

"Yeah, if that's what you want."

"If it means you're all mine, then it's what I want, kid." Your heart flip flops in your chest.

"And are you all mine?" You shouldn't have asked that. You know he belongs to his fans. You prepare yourself for him to say no without saying no.

"Always, honey." He leans in to kiss you again, this time with his lips parted. You let your tongue explore his as you turn toward him and move your legs across his lap. The hand that was on your thigh moves back to your hip as he pulls you in to him as close as you can get without straight up straddling him. He leans you back in the seat until he's on top of you.

"E. There are COPS in the front seat." You whisper with your teeth gritted. You feel the desire starting to build up between your legs, but you know this cannot happen here.

"I know, honey, I just want to make my girl feel good. Can I do that?" Your resolve melts. Let the cops watch, for all you care in this moment.

He sits up and slides his hands up under your dress, pulling your panties down your legs and over your shoes. You feel his hand crawl back up your thigh to your center. He uses his thumb to make circles on the spot that drives you so crazy. Then, he dips his fingers into you, where you're already wet and waiting for him. He uses some of your wetness to lubricate what his thumb is doing. It gets harder and harder to stay quiet as he works, so you bite your bottom lip and close your eyes.

"Damn, baby. You look so good right now." He whispers, not stopping what his hand is doing. Your heart is beating so fast and your breathing is heavy. You know your climax is coming and you're just praying that you'll stay quiet and the cops won't turn around until after you finish. He moves his thumb faster and faster, his fingers rubbing against your inside spot. You let out a small whine as the waves of ecstasy ripple through you. You look at Elvis and he smiles as he feels the throbbing and wetness on his fingers.

Almost on cue, the cop in the passenger side turns back to the backseat as you arrive at your destination. You shoot up in your seat and Elvis clears his throat, pulling his hand from under your skirt. You can't tell if the cop is clueless, or if he's just ignoring what happened so he doesn't have to talk about it. The driver pulls around to the back of the police station to avoid any press that might be gathered at the front.

"We have to go inside and get things arranged to bring you inside quietly. Arresting a movie star is harder than you think. Young lady, come with us." You start to move toward the door, but Elvis grabs your hand.

"I told you, officer, if she gets out, I get out. She's staying with me." He says it with so much authority that even the cop relents. He closes the door and both officers walk up to the back of the building. The second they're out of view, you turn back to Elvis and undo his pants, freeing his erection.

"Honey, what..?" He looks at you puzzled until he figures out what you're doing. He whips his head from side to side looking out both windows for paparazzi or cops or anyone at all while you hike up your skirt and straddle him. As you slide down onto him, your eyes meet and you moan in unison. You know you probably only have a few minutes, so you work fast, bouncing on him vigorously.

"Oh shit, baby." Elvis groans into your ear as his pleasure is released. Between the build up, watching you orgasm, and the thrill of maybe getting caught, he didn't last long at all. You push his wet hair back off of his sweaty forehead and kiss him. He's about to apologize for coming so quickly when you notice the cops coming back out. You jump off of him and sit back in your seat while he puts himself away and wipes off as much evidence as possible.

"I hope it's kinda dark in there." He laughs and holds your hand as the cops open his door. He turns back to you and gives you one last kiss.

"I'll see you soon, baby." They take him out of the car and cuff him as the other officer helps you out of the car. When you get inside, they let you use the phone to call Margie to come get you. It's not until you're in her car that you realize you've left your panties in the cop car. You giggle. Another pair of panties lost because of Elvis Presley...

[undying-love]

Hi, I'm a fan of you, your posts here and how and what you write about McLennon. I'd like to know when you became a fan of the Beatles and how did you end up here. How and when did you become a shipper/truther. I am too, sh't I'm deep in. And ofcourse it'd be interesting to know your views on this messed up ship. I especially like that you, like me, see that it wasn't one sided. I'm totally crazy about them, The Beatles, solo/post Beatle and Well, I truly love all four of them, but because I'm really a Ringo fan girl, I adore him to this day, he's so handsome still and lovely, in his very Ringo way I understand why they ll got along with him so well but that's why I haven't noticed this I think, but now I'm obsessed and I can't unsee it even if I try. I'm still quite bit shy about it so that's why I write anonymously If you don't wanna answer I understand and it's ok. I'm still a fan!

Hello there <3! Thanks for your question! I actually became a Beatles fan back in 2022. After I got into their music, I also became obsessed with their history and began researching a lot about how the band started, how they developed, and how they ended. But the thing was that I never really understood their whole breaukup thing. I always felt like there had to be more to their story than they were telling us. I saw an interview where they asked Paul about this, and he replied, "We had to find women, which we all sort of did." And I was like, What the hell is he talking about? (He also seemed a bit uneasy when answering the question). Then I read that John got married a week after Paul did, and I found that very odd. Then I watched Get Back, and their chemistry onscreen was shocking. The way they would look at each other, the inside jokes, the flirting, and the, "it's like you and me are lovers" bit all made me think that there must have been something going on between these two. Then I read some excerpts from Philip Norman's book, John Lennon: The Life, which confirmed that John was indeed attracted to Paul, although it said that Paul did not reciprocate his feelings (he was supposedly an "inmmobable heterosexual"). So I thought that maybe the problem was that John wanted to have more than a friendship with Paul and that Paul rejected him. I held this view for quite some time, until I started reading a lot about Paul. The way he talks about John—as well as the way he always brings up him out of nowhere in interviews—made me realize that it's extremely unlikely that Paul didn't also have romantic feelings for John. I recently made a compilation of insane things Paul has said about John, and there is no way someone would say all of this unless they are in love. Besides, it's been more than 40 years since John's death, and Paul admitted that he still hasn't gotten over it. If this was a mere friendship, I don't think he would have been that emotionally attached to John throughout all these years. Also, if John had been in love with Paul all along, it's very unlikely that he would have waited in 1967 to make a move.

Finally, by total chance, I became acquainted with someone who has recently been in contact with a few people who were once close to the Beatles, and they all have said that they knew there was something going on between John and Paul based on many things they had seen. And the things they said all matched up perfectly with things I have read from other sources. So that pretty much confirmed it for me. However, I still don't know for sure why John and Paul broke up, but I have my theories. It's possible that John wanted something more open and serious, and Paul, who is very conscious of their public image, didn't want that. When John said, "It's a plus that your best friend can also hold you without…" and then he didn't complete the sentence, maybe he meant that it's good that his best friend and him could hold hands without the world creating a whole drama over it. Paul was always very worried about what the public might think, so that definitely caused tensions between him and John, who was much more bold. Paul wasn't ready for that. Also, Paul wanted a normal family life, which is something John said during an interview when he was asked about the differences between him and Paul that caused their relationship to sour. He said, “Paul always wanted a family life. Linda knows this and has given it to him. The complete family life”. This is an odd answer because why would Paul wanting a "complete family life" damage their relationship? It would only make sense because, obviously, with John, he couldn't have a traditional family life. All this is speculation, but it's what I have in mind so far, based on all the information I have compiled.

I apologize that this got too long, but I wanted to to give you a thorough answer. Thanks again for your question. I'm glad you are a fan of my posts. It means a lot to me <3

[joesalw]

Ok I'm sorry but this is gonna be a long rant.

I am an ex swiftie (also a minor) and I joined the fandom back in 2022 after midnights released. Before that I had heard a few songs but I barely knew anything about Taylor before 2020 and I did not know about the Kimye stuff or anything.

When the bejeweled music video was released I did not realize the easter eggs so thus I thought that I need to become parasocial and I NEED to know everything that taylor has done every minute of the day (referencing Do you really wanna know where I was April 29?)

I went deeper into the hole. I started getting obsessed with Taylor. I clicked on every video , post and podcast mentioning her. I genuinely became a parasocial fan. I only heard her songs and barely cared about other artists. I hated on her exes (Jake Gyllenhaal and John Mayer especially) because I believed that they had hurt Taylor to no extent. I still don't like them/am neutral but I don't hate them anymore. In march I joined tumblr because I heard Taylor was on here and I have no other social media to support her from so I came here to give her my support.

In April , the breakup happened. I was genuinely devastated. Joe was and is an amazing person. I was shocked to see her move on so quickly and date m*tty he*ly . I was even as a child shocked as to how someone can move on so fast. But also move on to someone so problematic after calling herself an activist? Idk what was wrong with her. But IG as long as she is happy.

She broke up with him. We all rejoiced. Speak now TV was also announced! Yay!

I remember so well on 7th July I was in school and I was so fucking excited about it coming so soon I couldn't sit still. I was counting down minutes until it's release even tho I did not have any devices to listen to it on. My friends were so happy to see me happy and excited af.

I went home and heard speak now tv. Amazing experience for me at that time.

I became the person who said shit like : I hate everyone but Taylor and Taylor is a gift to this Earth and etc etc.

But the amount of joe hate and joeover and joebless jokes annoyed me. Why were we hating a person who was in her life at her worst moments? Taylor would never condone or allow this.

But boy was I wrong.

Most of the hate against joe was my #Strike 1 for leaving the fandom.

Then came along Traylor. I was like oh ok as long as she is happy :))

Then she started associating with the nfl people. Br*ttany M*homes and Abuser bitch.

When I heard of this I was like wtf Taylor???

Weren't you the one who was going off about being on the right side of the history and believing victims?

I was like it's fine maybe she doesn't know or maybe she will stop once she knows.

She didn't

Then she won person of the year. I was already very unhappy with Taylor at that time. But I still was like Yay! Congrats! But maybe you shouldn't be the one to win it?

Then the doxxing by a swiftie happened. It was #strike 3

I left the fandom. I still had hope she would change.

Now after seeing her jets emissions (I'm a huge Environmentalist and a feminist so this shit bothered the living helm out of me) and her continuously hanging out with brittany piece of shit and all the joe hate going on, I am beginning to despise her.

I had initally blocked hate pages like yours but Now I open your posts everyday and check them because I relate to them sm.

I went from a person defending every action of Taylor's, being the only one in my entire theatre who knew the lyrics to all the songs of the eras tour movie , having Taylor as my top artist of the year with more than 60 percent of the songs being hers to despising her so much for being fake and stuck up.

I remember after I left the fandom and not many people knew about it , A classmate said something against Taylor and her songs directly to me daring me to oppose it and I genuinely wanted to cry because I thought that I would now always be associated with this fandom.

The ex swiftie in me genuinely wants 2016 to happen again so Taylor will be removed from the pedestal she is put on by so many. She needs to be saved from herself and her parasocial fans.

And I used to say I would love Taylor forever but I suppose forever really is the sweetest con.

TLDR :- I USED TO BE A PARASOCIAL SWIFTIE WHO USED TO LIVE AND BREATHE TAYLOR BUT NOW I'M SLOWLY STARTING TO DESPISE HER.

Sorry this was so long I had to get it off my chest.

Thanks for reading it!

ex swifties are my favourite people in this planet rn

[roosterteethwatchdog]

Last year around the end of July to the beginning of August I went through the RWBY volume 8 credits because of stuff I was told at the time to see how many people in the crwby were still with the company. I did that and it was very time consuming, and I said that I would never do that again. Fast forward to last week when V10 didn't get greenlit while RvB and Camp Camp got renewed and I got curious. I decided to do what I did last year again and went over the V9 credits. This is what I found. I will get into specifics after presenting the numbers. The names I counted are the beginning section from supervising director to post production producer, then the entire crwby section that comes after the voice cast section.

Total number of employees- 190

Confirmed gone but could not find specific date- 2

Left in 2020- 4

Left in 2021- 26

Left in 2022- 77

Left in 2023- 24

Total confirmed gone- 133

Those I could not confirm if they still work there/Rt work done under general freelance- 10

Those still at RT- 47

Depending on whether or not you want to count the 10 I can't confirm still work there, then anywhere from 24-30% or 1/4-1/3 of the people who worked on v9 still work there. Before we get into specifics, I want to mention that I was just as shocked about the 2022 number as you probably are to the point that I thought I messed up and after going over everyone I did it again and specifically marked the employees that left in 2022 and got the same number.

Here are some specifics from job titles from the V9 EP10 credits-Of four episode directors only one is left. Of two head of studios, one is gone. The environment, vehicle and prop designers are gone save for two I can't confirm still work there due to their rt work being in their general freelance. The 2d concept artists along with additional help are gone. The storyboard artists are gone save for one I can't confirm works there due to rt work being in their general freelance. From lead modeler to environmental modelers, all except one character modeler are gone. From pre-visualization artists to camera and layout artists they are all gone. of seven visual post artists, one is left. From the FX Technical director to the visual post intern, they are all gone. From lead rigging artist to jr. rigging artist, they are all gone. From animation director to lead animators, they are all gone. Of nine senior animators only one remains. from technical animators to animation intern, they are all gone. From mo-cap co-director to mo-cap artists all but one are gone.

This is telling me that animation has been gutted. I'm assuming those left are working on Deathbattle, Camp Camp, and RvB. I'm also going to assume that as time goes on the number of those still there is going to decrease as several of those who are still around have open to work on their profiles which means either supplemental income or they know their contracts aren't getting renewed and are preparing.

[pandorasword]

why am i like the only one rooting for chaeri and hongjoong 💀

can we get more chaejoong pretty please?

Chaeri as the 8th and youngest member of BTS.

CHAERI'S MASTERLIST

「 Hey! As I said in other posts, my goal was to get a deeper look into their relationship too so thanks for asking, I'm gonna use this as a chance to do that! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy it ♡ 」

A look through Chaeri and Hoongjoong's relationship

დ The party

To Chaeri, that could be called the event of the year. The party she would never give up attending, no matter what the conditions or time of year. Every year, all (or most) idols born in '98 would meet to party, and she, born in the last but one week of December, barely missed it. Actually, one of the main hosts of the event was her. Being among so many co-workers, free from cameras and paparazzi made her feel excited and free. It was early 2022 when yet another reunion was organised in one of Seoul's most discreet and exclusive hotels, which would welcome them all night long. Although she loved the occasion like few others, she was very moody that year. Her relationship with Jungkook had been over for years now, and despite the constant back and forth between them, that period seemed to have really put a stop to the whole situation. She couldn't blame him for dating other girls, she was in no position to do so yet it made her feel terribly uncomfortable. When he and the rest of the maknae line asked her if they could go with her to the party, even though they weren't part of the required age group, she told them not to follow her because she had a date to attend there. Not that she really did, she just wanted to make her ex-boyfriend feel the same way she felt. She should have known that a couple of hours after the party started, Jungkook and Taehyung would still show up. Saying she was angry was an understatement. Had they come to check on her and her hypothetical date?

You could call it a sign of destiny that Hongjoong was just a few steps away from her then. Chaeri's brain didn't take long to process what she was going to do next: They wanted to keep an eye on her during her date? Well, they were going to watch her date then

"Pretend to be my date" "What?" "Pretend to be my date" "Sure, I can... I can do that. But why?" "Does it matter?"

The night, a summary

჻ Seonghwa shocked ჻ Hongjoong shocked ჻ Seonghwa deciding to leave them alone, earning a glare from his captain ჻ "I'm sorry to take you off guard, I hope you don't feel forced to do this" - "Oh no, not at all. It's a pleasure to help you" ჻ JOONG ALMOST BOWED ჻ "Don't bow, you're my man tonight" ჻ His heart missed several beats in response ჻ "Your man should get you something to drink, to be worthy of that title" - "I see we are on the same wave"

჻ Alcohol and sparkling cocktails made things less awkward

჻ They ended up on a small sofa in the corner talking about this and that, without Chaeri feeling the need to let members of her group look at her

჻ "When you came three years ago to congratulate us during MAMAs, I thought I was dreaming" "It's just a feeling that every celebrity who's been in this industry for a while makes you feel" "Your reputation precedes you but at then I didn't think 'Wow Chaeri from BTS is here to congratulate me' but rather 'This beautiful and talented girl is smiling at me as if we've known each other all our lives' That's… that's what I felt."

჻ Was he trying to flirt? Definitely. Was he doing it on purpose? Absolutely not.

჻ "Oh Lord, this is my favourite song. C'mon, let's dance"

჻ Hongjoong trying to politely decline

჻ "You are dancing in front of thousands every day and you feel anxious about dancing with me?" - "Ok… but let's dance this one only"

჻ They danced all night long

჻ "So… this fake date thing extends beyond tonight?" "You want to be my man for a few more nights?" "I would never back down from helping a girl out." "Ah that's it, all about kindness" "All about kindness"

჻ All about kindness my ass

დ How the fake dates became not fake at all

჻ "Are you flirting with me?" "Would that be a bad thing?" "No." "Then yes, I'm flirting with you" "So brave of you, Hongjoong. I didn't think you were so bold." "There's a lot about me you don't know yet" "Show me then"

჻ "It's hot when you talk back" "Really? Many men find it intimidating" "Not the right men for you" "And you would be the one?" "You wish, don't you?"

჻ "I am quite sure that to make this more realistic we have to work harder" "What do you want to do?" "Kiss you"

჻ “You need to stop kissing me like you mean it; I’m going to read into things wrong and end up breaking my own heart” "Stop pretending, then" "Do you want us to put an end to it?" "Or maybe a start"

დ Media exposure

დ The first time BTS react to Chaeri and Hongjoong as a couple

audio on! ⃕

დ Hongjoong's first appearance on an award show after his relationship with Chaeri was made public, in which he was showered with congratulations

დ Ateez talking about everyday life with Chaeri

დ Chaeri and Hongjoong interacting on social media

[gods-angriest-girl]

talking about my feelings during deadpool & wolverine a couple months after it came out because i didn't want to spoil it

that being said, spoilers for deadpool & wolverine ahead!

i had the great privilege of seeing deadpool and wolverine the day it came out. i went and saw it with my dad and my uncle, who got me into the MCU a little over 10 years ago. i did not grow up watching x-men or any marvel movies (the first MCU film i saw was guardians 1, which is a pretty good starting point for kids. i was ~12 when i watched it.) that being said, i was a big fan of deadpool as a character when i was a teenager because i learned he was an openly - and very obviously - queer character, which made me incredibly happy as a queer youth. the first deadpool movie came out when i was about 14 years old, which was a very rocky time for me growing up. i do not remember the age fondly, aside from the first deadpool movie coming out. and i fucking loved it.

now i will admit, i am a filthy goddamn sinner and skipped movie 2, only because uhhhh i was busy when it came out, but i absorbed the film through osmosis and i will probably actually watch it and love it. if you must throw rocks at me, do i now, i will not give you the opportunity to do it later.

from here on out, i will be talking about deadpool and wolverine, so proceed reading at your own risk.

on july 26th, 2024, i entered a local theater alongside my dad and my uncle to watch deadpool & wolverine. i will admit, my expectations were not as high as they once were for MCU movies, due to the dwindling quality and memorability of the last several movies to come out after endgame - with the exception of every spiderman-centered film, but i digress.

i went in with lower expectations than i should have had, and it's my own fault for letting my guard down.

because holy fucking shit.

i have not felt the emotions i felt about this movie since i had watched RRR back in 2022. i will probably do a post like this about RRR at some point, that movie was absolutely divine. anyways, back to DP&W.

first of all, starting the movie with a montage of deadpool killing people to FUCKING NSYNC'S "BYE BYE BYE" WAS BRILLIANT. i was in complete fucking shock, and looking back on it, i definitely had to process the movie a few times because i blacked out during a few scenes. i didn't leave my theater seat once, and i am a person who pees constantly. i drank several liquids beforehand, and i was fucking SAT through the whole movie.

i'd also like to mention at this time: this was the first movie i watched where i was aware that hugh jackman was an actor on the screen. and holy shit. what a man. in the month that followed, i became aware that i had absorbed hugh jackman's acting abilities in the past, been like "oh that's cool, he's talented" and then completely disregarded it. now i realize this man has a RANGE and is really fucking cool. shoutout to hugh jackman, thanks for doing it the way you do.

back to the movie.

i've sat here contemplating if i should talk about the highlights of the film, but really and truly, it's nothing but highlights. so i'll talk about my personal favorite moments. and i do mean favorite, i won't give a straight up play-by-play of the movie.

deadpool's intro scene killing people to bye bye bye

deadpool's cute little birthday party

the suit montage

the wolverine montage, which i'll be honest if i think about it too long it does make me sad (specifically crucified logan) i'll be real i'm just a big crybaby so it's fine. wolverine montage is so funny.

deadpool and wolverine fight

DOGPOOL MY DARLING GIRL

THE HONDA ODYSSEY OBVIOUSLY

elektra, blade, and gambit, oh my! and oh my gosh hi laura you're all grown up now!

basically gambit's whole existence tbh i love this goober

the ending is fucking perfection in every way, from wolverine's beautiful abs (thank you again hugh jackman for torturing yourself please never do that again though <3) to the ending party scene where wade gets to be surrounded by everyone he loves. just flawless.

i could genuinely go on and on and on about this movie, but i think the biggest thing i want to say is that i genuinely knew nothing about x-men going into it. i hadn't watched elektra, blade, any of wolverine's specific movies, or really any x-men film at all for that matter. i went in basically blind, just a goofy gay kid with a love for deadpool. and i had a great time. thank you for not fucking this one up, marvel + disney. you did good.

being excited and gay about RRR another time though because i was reminded of the amazing film while writing this!

[intoloopin-archive]

for @ofmanycol0rs !!!

Love had sent an ask about J.J's blonde party guy era but Tumblr tricked me into deleting it, so here is it my second attempt to talk about it as a post. I hate this Hell site mechanics more than anything, BUT! I am very passionate about this one topic as you can see by the size of THIS.

GIO.

I am making a little tangent here because this is a great opportunity to talk about J.J's blonde era as a general phenomenon, as well as do a little character deep dive into how Jiahang's mind works when the subject is his public appearance, because I'm yet to fully communicate just how business savvy and attention seeking he is at his core. These two characteristics were very integral to his nightlife downfall.

⤴️↪️ A MOMENT IN TIME: J.J's BLONDE ERA PITIFUL FINAL AESTHETIC. He is currently recovering from it successfully, but still. The horrors.

One thing that is key to understand about Jiahang is that he is NOT a team player, he wasn't raised by his social climber pageant mom and his millionaire movie director dad to be one. His long term goal is to stand on his own as an 'icon' - notice the use of 'icon' instead of 'musician' or 'artist' or even 'idol'. He wants everyone to see two Js put together in a sentence and immediately associate them with him (as in J.J Xu, not LOOPiN's J.J, and definely not as J.J from That Once LOONA Sibling Group), but he is realistic with his limitations: Jiahang is not a musical prodigy like Zhiming, or obsessed/respectful with the craft as Minwoo, or has the mental discipline to train himself to greatness like Haegon, and when you're in a group with people like that with ambitions like his, you're always in a competition.

To put it very bluntly: Jiahang is too clumsy to ever become more than an average dancer, he doesn't have an easy voice for singing and he can barely call himself a rapper. Artistic kills can't be the base of his brand, because that's what he sees his J.J stage persona as, a brand. He's not an artist. And if conventional talent can't be his selling point, he has to use what's naturally available to him - personality, a face widely considered to be attractive, a shitton of money, and an extremely sharp eye for business.

Seriously, the amount of marketing stunts he has pulled for and come up with for LOOPiN alone is NO JOKE. Jiahang understands the inner workings of the entertainment industry more than any of his bandmates, and that's his head start.

Now, on the hair. Jiahang has a very deep and sentimental history with his hair, a bit too extense to fully explain with this one post, but he's been wearing it very long since he was a child, because he loves it, and he was picked up on for it constantly. Keep growing it out despite everything what his first real way of asserting himself, and it's the one thing Jiahang is authentic with throughout - integrating it into his branding was essential to him.

He went about it very strategically: J.J never had a defined clothing style, instead, he goes out of his way to wear almost anything to prove that his hair doesn't automatically put him on a visual box, and there is no reason for him to sacrifice it for any gig. He won't be a long haired male Idol until someone tells him time's up, he will be The Definitive Long Haired Male Idol (and in canon he has succeed! Like, K-Pop knows he's the final boss).

A lot of iNSYNCs consider him one of LOOPiN's fashionistas for this plus all the design shit he has, side by side with Seungsoo and Haruki, but that title doesn't fit Jiahang at all. Haruki and Seungsoo have a genuine interest in fashion, while Jiahang has none, it's all performance. He simply wants a stable signature attached to him, something he can have the ultimate control of, and that he won't get bored of maintaining. Alas: his very, very adored long hair.

⤵️➡️ A DISSECTION OF J.J's BLONDE ERA (FEBRUARY 2022 - SEPTEMBER 2023)

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: (1&2) J.J's 'Punch' teasers, a shocking blonde debut. | (3&4) The overall lengths and colors Jiahang kept transitioning between in his day to day life. | (5&6) 'Mess' peeking through near the end, but integrated into his presenting style. | J.J's 'Beatbox - Street Beat Ver.' and 'Internet War - Tell Me What To Do' teasers.

(1&2): I can't even begin to describe how iNSYNCity completely STOPPED when the 'Punch' teasers started rolling out and J.J appeared not only fully blonde, but with these polarizing face covering bangs. The styling came fully out of his own brain, of course, and he wanted all the controversial attention right out of the gate to plant the seeds of the 'elevation' of his stage persona. He wanted 2022 to be his year SO BAD;

(3&4): Up until that point in his career, Jiahang had his hair straight, ironed out to perfection even when he dyed it anything else than his usual black and brown, but while blonde he always kept it very wavy to drawn an even bigger contrast with his former Idol branding;

(5&6): Oh, mid 2023... The roots showing... The messy teeny tiny ponytails... The color... You can clearly see a lack of polish that is very unusual of him. Jiahang wore a lot, and I mean A LOT of hair extensions during this era right here, mostly to cover up how fucking fried his hair was starting to look due to low maintenance (Dongwook and CIA made fun of him if he showed up Too Put Together at the clubs, and after a while it really started to get to him). He adopted a very edgy Y2K style to try to make it all seem intentional, even had stylized black highlight for a while, but Jiahang felt like he wasn't fooling anyone - it didn't appear as such to the public, lucky him. This is pretty much how he looked until he fully cut off his nightlife circle of "friends" in September, and dyed his hair back to black;

(7&8): Ah, his last blonde official teasers... What a way to go. Blonde J.J had such a dramatic styling but that was very well translated into all the eras he was on, he never looked out of place. That's why even the general public now considers this run to be very iconic, as he wanted. But at what personal cost, Jay?! AT WHAT COST?!

I am still debating on how his 'clean era' looks like. I'm not sure if he would just dye his hair black and cut off the bits that look Horrible (J.J!Bayi) or if this whole experience fucked him up so bad that Jiahang would cut it pretty short and grow it back from the begging, for the healings (J.J!Didi), but anyways! He is doing better <3 currently <3 not for long <3 like at all <3 he is about to get very fucked up by the narrative <3 but on the bright side (????) that means that he'll have another very Intense hair moment, and spoiler alert, it'll look a lot like this (in Vibes, the length is still something I don't know 😁)

[bobfloydsbabe]

DEATH THREAT: REVISITED

On November 8th 2022, an anonymous person took issue with a post I made regarding the use of read more on long fics. All I asked in that post was that people used it, and if they didn’t know how, to google it or ask someone how. Simple. It should not have been offensive, and yet, someone took offense and started a tirade against me.

The post in question was this one:

(I know it says drafts, but I did post it here)

I put it in the Top Gun Maverick tags because that's where I spent my time. Usually I wouldn't, but I was fed up with having to scroll past 5k word fics, so I wrote this post. Could I have worded it differently or been nicer? Sure. The ask that followed was this one:

In the next one, they asked me to be kind. I made many of the same points as I did above, as seen here:

This response was clearly not the one they wanted, so they turned to name calling, vile accusations, and inappropriate sexual messages. I'm going to use the read more here to 1. hide the asks I got because they're upsetting and 2. shorten this post. No one wants to scroll forever to get past this.

Some of the asks I received included but were not limited to:

That last one is in reference to a message I answered, asking what evidence they had of me being into bestiality. I also do not have twitter.

This went on for hours, and while I was initially laughing, at some point it turned. I started feeling really upset and anxious about it. I remember shaking. Then came the death threat. It caught me off guard. I wasn’t expecting it, and honestly, calling it a death threat might be a little extreme. Nonetheless, the threat of harm shocked me. I replied, trying to give off an air of nonchalance, when in reality, I was freaking out.

After that, I got a few more asks, upset I was calling it a death threat. I started calling it a threat of harm instead, because it felt extreme. After those asks, I turned off the option to send anonymous asks, which I had not done in all the years I’d been on Tumblr. I had to protect my mental health. I reported it to tumblr support and took a few days off the hellsite to give myself time to process.

Eventually, Tumblr got back to me, telling me they were “sorry I had a bad experience with anonymous asks” and told me to block the anons. I was furious. They dismissed not only me, but the threats I’d received. When I sent in my original ticket, I made it clear they could contact me if they needed more information. They never did. I’m still pissed about that. This was before you had to have an account to send anonymous asks, so they could still come back. I had to block five separate asks to get all of them to disappear.

Anonymous asks are currently open, but I'd be lying if I said I don't still get anxious when I see that grey icon in my inbox. I'm still scared they could come back and start up again. I'm finding it easier to turn off anon these days, and I've had to do it several times since then to protect myself further. I won't hesitate to do it again.

If you read this all the way to the end: Thank you for reading. I know this doesn't affect anyone but me, but I wanted to share this post, regardless. I want to thank the people who have been there for me through it all, and the ones who've listened to me talk about it. I appreciate you.

For now, I'm looking forward to celebrating 10 years in recovery from self-harm next week. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

BL Wrapped 2023

A little bit late, but I wanted to make sure to do this for my own records! I've watched so many shows now, it helps to have something down more formally to remember stuff.

A few notes:

This includes shows that started in 2022 and finished in 2023.

No shows that are currently still airing - how the ending lands is too critical for me.

There's some shows I know I'm going to love that I just haven't had time to see yet, so if there are any shocking absences, that's probably why.

Total # of QL watched: 37 (35 BLs, 2 GLs) (really looking forward to more GL offerings next year)

Favorite Thai shows:

Bed Friends

I was not the biggest fan of Cutie Pie, so entered this one with a fair amount of skepticism. But what a lovely surprise. Uea was such an incredible lead and so well-characterized, his trauma was handled seriously, and though there were occasional hiccups due to drama, overall King was such a respectful and supportive partner. And let's not forget the cat ears.

Laws of Attraction

What a ride this show was! I had not watched To Sir with Love, so had no familiarity with Jam or Film, but they were amazing here. The side couple of disaster muffin + loving bodyguard were pitch perfect, there were fantastic women characters who actually had significant roles in the story, and who can forget our wonderful chaotic Nawin? The story was compelling, the emotional points hit, and even when it leaned towards the ridiculous, it always remained aware of what it was.

My School President

I still remember watching the trailer for Our Skyy 2 and noticing two random dudes I had never seen before. Little did I know!

I don't have much to say except that this was pure charm from start to finish, and Fourth & Gemini were a delight. Pure comfort watch.

Unforgotten Night

I SAID WHAT I SAID! (and yes this aired in 2022, I was late)

Look, I know a lot of people thought of this purely as a trash watch, but it's so much more than that. I wrote a whole post on it. It was fantastic. I apologize for nothing.

Favorite Korean shows:

Our Dating Sim

I adored this show from start to finish. I could understand the motivations of both characters, I was deeply invested in their relationship, and they felt so utterly natural once they got together. 10/10, no notes.

Jun & Jun

This was a little messy at times, and missed an opportunity to lean more into D/s dynamics, but I really liked all the characters, the leads had great chemistry, and it was refreshing to see a Korean BL be more open about sexual desire in a relationship.

Favorite Japanese Shows:

The End of the World With You

This one could have easily gone off the rails. End of the world stories can be very tricky to pull off. But there was such a solid emotional core to the storytelling, and it kept such a hold of my heart.

My Personal Weatherman

One thing I think Japan does extremely well is stories about people who have extremely deep internal lives, but don't show much on the surface. As someone quite introverted, who keeps a lot of things on the inside, I relate a lot to this. This show did such a good job of showing how challenging it can be to communicate with those we love, and the rewards once you are able to break through and really understand each other.

Favorite Taiwanese Shows:

Kiseki: Dear to Me

Of course it's Kiseki. This series was amazing. I don't care we never really understood any of the mafia stuff, that was all set dressing for some of the best couple work ever.

Honorable Mention:

Midnight Museum

I will never stop calling this a BL. Some day GMMTV will realize that Gun has too much chemistry with other people to keep him only with Off. Also, we got Nanon playing evil, which was so sexy.

[alligatorjesie]

Hey that's alright you can block me as much as you like but it wont change anything man. You said some shit things so I'm going to say some shit things to you.

You know what that's fine we can just repost that whole comment so people can see what a shitass you are @blessyouhawkeye

Hey real quick you do realize that reylo is just a really vanilla ass enemies-to-lovers ship if you have a problem with it well good luck man this shit is literally everywhere in media.

Almost like it's a popular trope. Have you never watched a rom com? Woof. I got some news for you brosph.

but you know what since we're on the tangent of 'weird people' in fandoms let's talk about that for a moment.

You wanna know what's weird? There's a lot of finnreys in the reblogs acting positively feral about their ship not being canon

(which idk I watched TRoS that was pretty open ended if your still mad about reylo by the end of that movie that shits on you)

and upset they don't have book deals like the reylos but IDK man maybe the reason finnreys ain't got book deals is because they spend all their time online bitching about how their ship got shafted instead of writing that fucking fanfiction.

You know when the reylos got shafted with the shit show that was EP9 instead of spending the next 3 years complaining they just trucked along in their own fucking sandbox completing their own fucking projects for their own fucking friends.

Fuck Disney we'll make our own reylo with blackjack and hookers and sex scenes.

You mean to tell us you've had more problems with reylos who were just excited to see the story concepts they predicted from The Force Awakens coming true in The Last Jedi and making positive content to reflect that joy compared to the actual nazis on YouTube who flood the platforms with 3 hour long hate videos over how Bree Larson is somehow personally responsible for their dicks falling off?

You remember that one time ethan van sciver said he wanted to kill Chinese people? He's a really popular star wars/comic book YouTuber and he's way more problematic than anyone I've ever met in the reylo fandom.

And guess what he also hates reylo what a shock!

You wanna talk about some unhinged weird behavior allow me to direct you at a rabid finnrey who has told me graphically to kill myself at least 5 times now for the sin of enjoying the wrong part of star wars according to them.

That shits fucking unhinged

Here's some of those death threats these are 100% real by the way:

Obviously Death Threat Warning some of these are quite gnarly.

This user still has an active account.

I've reported them several times but I sometimes feel like the only thing that will get you banned on this hellsite is being trans I swear to fucking god.

This user has spent over 7 years shit posting hate directly into the reylo fandom's tag instead of doing literally anything else to make their own fandom more enjoyable for themselves.

That's weird shit.

What has been hellish is being in this fandom for over 9 years and dealing with the amount of uncalled for vitriol at this very fucking plain flavor baby's first enemies-to-lovers ship.

I only started keeping track of the death threats back in September 2022

It's not even been a full 2 years and I'm nearing 1000.

This is the header for my Tumblr. This is a real number by the way I have every death threat I've gotten since starting this documented on my computer.

It's actually 955 because thepettycunt here just sent me a new death threat so now I gotta update the banner.

fun!

One day I'll make a master post.

Today is not that day.

But let's be very honest here the real number of death threats I've personally gotten are well into multiple thousands across multiple platforms over 9 years.

Just for enjoying reylo.

And I'm a furry and have been since the 90s. I'm use to being told to kill myself from strangers on the internet so color me confused when I join this really basic bitch of a fandom ship only to find the hate towards it somehow fucking worse.

That's some fucking weird unhinged shit.

I know you made this shit post just to be a shit poster so don't take this too personally I'm sure at this point you already think I'm unhinged and rightfully so

maybe I am

but after the 100th death threat I just stopped giving a fuck so you'll just have to forgive me but it's real buck ass wild to be called 'weird' when I've never sent death threats to people over fictional ships and none of my reylo friends have done that shit either but I am almost 99% sure if you look though the history of any single person who reblogged this post bitching about reylo you'll find they have a history of doing that shit.

You can pick any one. Odds are they have anti reylo posts going years back and at worst some of them have straight up told people in this fandom to kill themselves.

I can look through YOUR history OP and see You're a huge pile of shit towards reylos!

Go on pick one out at random and have a go. It's a fun horrible way to spend a afternoon.

And before anyone brings it up because people who hate reylo always do;

'what about that one time reylos harassed John Boye-'

a group of women telling John Boyega the things he's saying are sexist towards his female coworker who had already been harassed off social media a few years prior and asking him to do better isn't the harassment you think it is.

You can find that 'reaction' video John made to the reylos on google and watch it yourself. No one is being racist but they are all asking him to stop making sex jokes on his female coworkers behalf and expressing disappointment in him. In fact he even had to reused quite a few of the quotes because I think about halfway through making the video he realized he just didn't have that much material and the things people were saying were pretty fucking mild.

And I'm not sorry. Asking a adult man to hold himself accountable for the shit he says is not on the same level as the far fucking worse shit the over arching star wars fandom has done well before reylo was even a twinkle in anyone's eye

Lastly one more thing and I'm done I swear and I'm going to apologize in advance because I'm gonna sound really spicy and I guess I kinda am but not in a mean way more in a really fucking confused way

but what the fuck do you mean jenny nicholsons reylo videos are unhinged?

They're the fucking same as the rest of her videos.

Is there something less unhinged about a nearly 4 hour long video about a failed fantasy RPG theme park over a 1 hour long video about how star wars episode 9 was absolute dogshit?

Jenny makes cringe videos about cringe shit. That's her brand.

She's voiced her enjoyment of reylo very early on... I think back in The Force Awakens days? So why are you surprised she would talk about the subject at length in detail? She bought a stuffed porg larger than herself and documented collecting it on video for her channel.

Yeah man she probably likes reylo.

Most people who like TLJ do.

What... what the fuck do you mean her reylo videos specific are unhinged?

I'm sorry but if known racist and sexist YouTuber doomcock can spend 6 hours complaining about TLJ because Rey don't make his dick hard like Luke Skywalker does and he's going to make his refusal to reflect on that issue our fucking problem I don't think Jenny is unhinged for complaining about the inarguably bad movie that was the rise of skywalker for less time than the movie's total runtime.

I'm not even mad I'm just really confused by your statement.

[fayrinferno]

Recent animo-mangoid experiences in elderly (a blog post)

In case you forgot I am a huge nerd, I shall remind you with the latest updates to my not insignificant power level. I finished some long-running series and then the curiosity and boredom got the better of me and I watched/read some of which the kids do these days. Here are some haphazard thoughts on all that.

SNK

First of all, I finished what there was to finish of Shingeki no Kyojin and as it was a story I followed for a decade, guess I could say a few parting words. I wanted to say it when the manga ended already but the anime ascertained it: it had a decent ending. A fine ending, especially as far as long-running manga goes. It was pretty realistic; warping your dreams and spitting them out into something lacklustre and problematic like life or something. I'm glad to say some of my favs survived the gruesome ride and got some semblance of happy ending, although things are not perfect. In such a story, I don't think they can or should be. Even standing on the sidelines, I understood the series got quite controversial reputation after the years but I didn't see it that way, personally. Sure, the topics and themes covered were controversial but if you can differentiate between writing about and endorsing something, I guess there's nothing more to talk about.

By the way, back when I was in Japan, I visited a SNK exhibition titled "Shingeki no Kyojin Ten: FINAL". Part of it was a room where you could "hear the sound of the series finale" (reminder this was back in 2019). It was taken quite seriously, we had to enter the room one by one and were forbidden from using phones/cameras there. And we heard some sound... that I guess could be part of one of the final scenes? Anyway, if there was some interest in that, I could put together a post about my visit there, there was some interesting stuff for fans of this series! I have no idea if there is someone who did that already but if someone would like to see that, let me know. I don't think I'll do it on my own accord, anyway.

2. KNY, JJK

Up next, I started some two of the 'shonen big three' of the last few years (as I identified them with my perception of the fandom places I frequent). To see what the fuss is about, obviously. First off, it was Kimetsu no Yaiba, I started watching the anime on Netflix in 2022 and am currently caught up with the anime. This year, I did the same with Jujutsu Kaisen anime. I grouped them cause the experience I had felt somehow similar. First of all, they are both entertaining and enjoyable. You can easily find characters to like. And remind yourself once again of the appeals of battle shonen. It's kinda comfy falling back into old shonen and thinking like, "ah, this is like my baby's first shonen!" While some older people would be like, "*baby's first shonen* is just like this 80s/90s shonen". It never dies and the things that work, work. Anyway, superficial take but the designs of KNY ad JJK work so well (both in their own rights). I can imagine how they fuel fanwork, although I have been too scared until now to check out the tags until I was caught up. I understand KNY is finished and JJK is ending, too. I decided I will stick to the anime for now with KNY and I will catch up with JJK manga that I'm currently reading. And I caught up, five chapters before finale, at a very satisfying point. After that, I'll take a peek into the tags. It's not like I see either work as perfect but I can see how even some of the flaws make it more enjoyable. Survey question for those who've read until here: are you trying to understand the "logic" of the techniques and attacks as they explain it in battle shonen? I feel like I gave up on that, I'm just like, "naruhodo" and I don't even try to wrap my head around it :'D That 6-8 year old who yelled "domain expansion!" in a as he ran by at the swimming pool may actually understand better. I was already shocked that he is watching (or rather, streaming) this in foreign language at his age, then thought about what kind of rating JJK would have... and then I remembered us watching DBZ at an age or not much older than him, tried to remember how violent it was and pondered things like whether the topics in JJK are somewhat heavier anyway although people got holes in their torsos and cleaved in half in DBZ too and how he might as well yelled 'bankai!' or something instead... and yeah, I'm thinking I'm old. But KNY and JJK are still enjoyable haha.

3. HAIKYUU!!

When I was deciding what to watch after this, I was reminded of that volleyball anime called VOLLEYBALL!! that I had started watching in Japan. I think I only got as far as one or two series but I started from there and man, I hadn't expected I would enjoy it so much! This is, hands down, the easiest thing to watch for me from all that is mentioned in this post. If there were 900 episodes out, I would just keep watching it every day after work. Part of it surely is that I played volleyball in middle school/junior high. It felt so nostalgic to reminisce about. We had felt so serious about it too, representing our school, although, since I never continued with in high school, I never got to the more technical volleyball stuff. It still made me miss playing, the atmosphere is depicted SO well. Maybe it's also nostalgic cause my first anime was also a sports anime. And yes, ngl, gimme the cute boys playing sports, getting all emotional about it... it's so pure haha! I'm sure the fandom is not just that but I think I will enjoy the fanworks just as much once I'm caught up. BTW, the new movie surprisingly made it into mainstream cinemas here so yeah, I should watch it soon. It was another thing that made me go 'hmmm' like, I get Ghibli but are the kids actually coming to cinema to see this? Was this a calculated choice on the distributor's side to play this at the major cinemas all over the country; an anime movie that takes place in the middle of a long story and works only so much as a standalone (I assume) if you haven't followed these characters? Whatever the case, I guess anime is becoming more mainstream than ever before. And yup, Haikyuu is turning out to be something close to my kokoro, I would compare it to Yuri on Ice I suppose... (yeah my kokoro has another tiny crack in it now that the movie was cancelled).

4. DUNMESHI

Yep, we come to this one. I heard so many good things about Dungeon Meshi and when I read the synopsis, I was even more intrigued. I tried the manga, then few episodes of the anime, then manga again and I stuck to it and finished it a few weeks back. And yes, BRAVA, Kui-sensei. I had a hunch that this one would work better as a manga and I think it does. It was absolutely refreshing to me! So much brilliant thought that is considered taboo for some reason? And Kui's writing makes you think, "but why (is this taboo if people are like that?)" The art is very good, too. So neat, well-thought out and technically great. The ending felt satisfying to me, too. I have no complaints about this little series. You don't even need to ship anyone; it is funny, intelligent, and enjoyable without all that.

5. THE REMAKES

One last category I wanted to shortly mention are the recently announced remakes. It feels crazy to see Ranma 1/2 getting remade! I caught that, then I caught news of a new Rose of Versailles project?! And then came news of the Rayearth remake??? The first two I guess are something that could have been expected with the popularity of Takahashi and Lady Oscar BUT it was with Rayearth that I realized that anything can happen now. It doesn't mean it has to be good, but it CAN happen (first such shock I remember was the Netflix adaptation of 7SEEDS which was miserable but I am still shook that it even happened). BTW, I never even watched/read Rayearth. I brought the manga from Japan to read it in original because I was always intrigued by it and Clamp (and let's be honest, it was also because it was just a handful of tankobons). I still haven't got around to it but I want to do it before watching it, whether the original or the remake.