#this is pure fan service tbh

[annqer]

nooooo pleaseeee dont kill meeee mr sunday I wanna be in da sequeeeel >_<

[applebuttercringe]

Arcane episode 7 initial thoughts

-OMG why won’t my internet work

-Ok it is here

-EKKO?

-Aw it’s adorable

-Aw it’s traumatized

-is he in an alternate dimension?

-Woah! Jinx without the trauma is adorable. So this is an alternate universe where the bad stuff didn’t happen? A canon fix it fic?

-IDK about the Imagine Dragons hate, this theme song is a banger.

-The song! Is this the Viktor and Jayce song?

-Is this a free Zaun?

-Not powder calling me out about my sleep schedule.

-Canon timebomb? Trouble in paradise?

-Claggor and Mylo.

-Oh that girl used to be a kinder in the other dimension. Mylo likes her.

-I hope this universe isn’t destroyed.

-Powder has a pink hair streak. Is it a Vi tribute? Is she dead? Is that the catch?

-Zaun is so much brighter here

-Heimer waiting for years is so on character.

-aw Vi is dead isn’t she. They’re gonna visit a grave huh.

-Jayce content!!!

-A lot of vomiting this episode.

-Is it the mage who gave him the gemstone, here to teach him like it’s the ghost of Christmas future? Or is it Viktor? Or both?

-called it on Vi being dead

-Does this alternate universe make it so that the only thing keeping Piltover and Zaun apart was the invention of Hextech and Avis arrest. That’s kinda lame? They weren’t this friendly before. The oppression is the character fault?

-I’m getting Fallout from the Jayce parts.

-There we get the leg injury.

-Are these the caves where Viktor met Singed?

-How did he find stuff to build a fire?

-oop he got Hexcore in his blood

-Won’t he starve, what is he eating? This is a lot to montage through.

-How long was it?

-Vi is badass

-Is he encouraging her to go crazy?

-A new generation of visionaries

-Aw they’re falling in love

-Jinx spent weeks helping them build a device and never asked what it does?

-Aw man

-Is Viktor gonna be in the orb?!

-SILCO SILCO SILCO SILCO SILCO VANCO VANCO VANCO?

-The made up in this universe? That was possible?!

-THOSE MEN ARE MARRIED

-timebomb prom. This is a fanfiction. Pure wish fulfillment. I love it.

-Are they gonna kiss? This is adorable. I love them. The almost kiss!

-THE ACTUALLY KISS

-Meanwhile jayce is fighting for his life

-Aw man, he has to leave. This was inevitable but still.

-Is the wizard someone we know? Jayce in the future? Viktor?

-Is heimerdinger leaving?

-Is heimerdinger dead? Is Ekko dead? Or is just leaving the Ekko he was inhabiting here behind?

-awww

Tbh the Jayce stuff fell flat for me. They used the most intense and non character specific trauma imaginable to turn him into a different character and put a montage over most of it.

Also the portrayal of Piltover and Zaun if there was no hextwch? It was adorable, tons of fan service. But it was also just…too perfect. The harmony defies the broken world the show started in. Hextech didn’t create the oppression Zaun experiences. Vi being alive didn’t prevent Silco and Vander from making up. I just don’t see how the changes we know happened would lead to this world.

The episode was entertaining, soul food. But in another way it was disappointing. The fact that this is Jayce’s backstory/justification was a wasted opportunity.

[dumbassalex]

I just tried reading Deadpool and Wolverine: Weapon X-traction, emphasis on TRY, but I genuinely couldn't make it through, I hate this Wade, I hate the Ryan Reynolds wannabe sound Ryan North tries to give him, how heavily he goes into "smart" pop-culture references and being meta about how comics and movies written and how the stories work, it's so lazy, I hate it. He sounds like what a boomer thinks Gen-Z talks like.

Also you can tell this was written around the movie so Marvel could bank on the hype because it's ALSO a multiverse story, whitch completely personaly...fuck off with that.

And am i the only one thrown off by the art in terms of Logans proportions? While i like a beefy Logan his arms and legs look so short next to his body it makes him look off. Same with drawing pupils on the eyes, gives me uncanny valley feelings tbh.

Speaking of Logan, i am getting barely any of his character exept telling Wade to shut up and fuck off while using him as a landing mat, and for some reason calls Wade "kid" whitch i have never seen before and it makes me kinda uncomortable considering the homoerotic vibes they have at the end of the story.

ALSO DID WADE JUST TRY TO KILL A CHILD?! WADE??! The guy who was againts killing APOCALYPSE because he was a kid that still had a chance to be better?! That just took me out of the story completely. Both Wade and Logan are written so flatly and one-dimensionaly with such a bland basicly non-existent story i feel like the only reason the fandom likes it is because of THOSE few panels of some hinted gayness where Logan felt stupidly out of character in a moment purely for bad fan service that broke my suspension of disbelief, because i refuse to believe these two are best buds in every other universe space-kid watches over.

And sidenote, i'll file this story down as another of the MANY reasons i don't like kids.

Want a good Deadpool and Wolverine team-up story that 2024 gave us? Read Deadpool & Wolverine: WW3 by Joe Kelly with art by Adam Kubert, there the two are in-character, have sweet emotional moments, fight, involve body-horror and it doesn't involve boring multiverse shit or an anoying space god kid.

[growthf]

hello! can i request zhongli, al haitham, scaramouche, and xiao with m!reader who is a kpopers? isekaid reader/modern au is okay! i just randomly saw your profile and bam! youre a kpopers(⁠ ⁠╹⁠▽⁠╹⁠ ⁠), its okay if its a girlgroup or boygroup, and if you can only write for only several characters, its also okay! feel free to delete and dont forget to drink water & keep healthy (⁠＾⁠∇⁠＾⁠)⁠ﾉ⁠♪

ask and you shall receive! ٩(ˊᗜˋ*)و

✩ zhongli, al haitham, scaramouche, & xiao x k-fan!male!reader

^^; modern au, reader has a slight (large.) obsession

a/n: thank you for the request! i hope this meets your expectations!!

ZHONGLI

occupancies you to every concert, fansigning, and popup store (all attended with your money btw!!!)

your favorite group is performing somewhere across the sea?? you best believe he’ll be right on that plane with you

doesn’t understand fanchants in the slightest, but always loves the look on your face when you’re enjoying yourself

when he first went to a fansigning with you he was confused ?!?!!

don’t all these people have jobs or something???

you had told him it was a popular event within groups and that most take the day off, but he really felt like the world was cramped into a tiny room that day

follows you around whenever you’re shopping or trying to find a new album

watches you open it purely to see your eyes light up when you get a pc of your bias

if you’re into a boy group he’s probably a little jealous you’re screaming over some guy other than him, but it’s not like he’d ever tell you that

“there’s a performance in a neighboring state? it would be fun to see somewhere new together, i’ll come with.”

AL HAITHAM

super confused at first

you like flying millions of miles ?!!?! to see people sing & dance ??? next to millions of other people !?!?

you might as well had him play some musical cartoons if you wanna see people sing & dance–at least it’s free!!

when you explained clearly he understood a little better

he still stays at home though

UNLESS you go out of state or country, he’ll fly with you but just stay in your shared hotel room till you come back

who wants to deal with people that’ll probably rip him apart if he says the wrong thing in the wrong tone

his first time at your house was a tough one

not only were there posters as far as the eye could see, but your desk and most of your shelves were decorated to the brim with merchandise and other things

how could you even afford all that AND pay bills at the same time???

you forced him to a concert once and he nearly broke.

yelling, screaming, shouting, so many lights and flashes, everything happening all at once

made you drive to the hotel that night.

“call me on your way back, i’ll see if room service offers any midnight treats.”

SCARAMOUCHE

went to one concert at had a love hate relationship with it

you’re enjoying yourself? yay!!! you’re screaming over someone other than him?? boo!!

went to all the concerts with you after that just to make sure you didn’t get any funny ideas

went to a fansigning and oh. my. god.

nearly passed out before y’all made it to the car

he made a mental note for himself to go everywhere BUT fansignings after that incident

bought an album for you as a birthday gift and the way you practically melted made him confused??!?!

what’s so special about pictures of some people who don’t even know you??

(made sure to keep up on your favorite group(s)/solos to see if there’s any upcoming albums so he can see your reaction again)

if you have a decked out room AND ita bag, he’s probably questioned how you manage to stay housed a couple of times

how can you afford bills, concerts, AND merchandise, yet you couldn’t afford the $2 cookies at your last hang out???

does not understand your money logic in the slightest

“anything happening this weekend? ..a fansigning.. you go ahead and have fun, i think i’ll pass on this one..”

XIAO

a mix of al haitham and zhongli tbh

wants to see you have fun but also doesn’t wanna be around all those screaming people

will accompany you to a concert every now and then depending on when and where they’re taking place

says he forgets all your biases but has a note on his phone with every name you mention on it

even follows most of their socials, too

you wonder sometimes how he manages to keep up with things that even you haven’t heard about yet and he’s glad you haven’t figured him out

whenever you talk about a new album or single releasing soon, you’ll always find it outside your door despite not ordering it yet

went with you to a fansigning and honestly he kinda enjoyed it

i mean yeah, the lines were hell and the people in line were annoying–but he liked how your face lit up when you finally made it to the front and got the signature you stood nearly a whole day for

made a promise to keep going with you even if others around were so nauseatingly loud

you showed him your photocard collection for the first time, and he was genuinely impressed with it

when and where did you even get all the money for them!?!

he checks in regularly to see if you have any new additions to the already large collection once in a while now

“what was the name of that group you liked again? right. well, they’re having a performance next week–it’s real close by, too.”

[titsthedamnseason]

cobalt empire couples ranking by most anticipated???

also do you read any ce fics on ao3?

hmmmm interesting and super hard to say. weirdly eliot or beckett are maybe my most anticipated.

i LOVE eliot’s trope and this is the first TRUE forbidden love story we will see from kbr (they have sort of claimed to have done it in the past but i think this is the most authentically polarized couple they have done. like yes raisy and marrow were sort of forbidden and so were all the bodyguards technically but eliot and winnifred are straight up ENEMIES their families will be RAGING and the DRAMA i will be living for it)

and beckett i’m really excited for because i love him but we dont get to see that much of him in other books. he is super private and busy and of course we should have seen him way more in sulli’s books but i’ve already ranted enough about that for a lifetime. i also love his initial set up with BOTH jo and leo and am happy kbr are writing another poly romance. i simply wasn’t invested in kitsuletti but i ship beckettjoleo (i know they have a better ship name that im simply too tired to remember rn) way more off the bat and since i liked sulli’s books more on the reread im hopeful im going to have a better reading experience this time. poly rep is super important but also way oversexualized so im super curious to see how they handle it and how ill like it this time around

next is probably ben. you may know but i used to be a harriet HATER until my recent reread of luna’s books and then i realized im just a miserable human and i gave her a makeover in my head bc kbr gave her a fugly style and now i recognize the queen that she is. super excited to see ben’s dynamics with his family firsthand and see how him bringing a girlfriend into the fold will go down

begrudgingly i will put charlie next. we all know i have a love hate relationship with this man but i can’t deny that makes me want to read his book so maybe i finally decide one way or the other. or maybe im just meant to have complicated feelings about this character forever idk. but i also know ill enjoy reading charlie and beckett’s twin bond, his dynamic with his parents, his relationship with ben, and whatever drama him and roxanne will cause with beckett (this plot line is a little confusing to me tbh but i want to see how it unfolds. like high key why does beckett even care i feel like the protectiveness they are setting up is baseless and will fizzle out quickly but im curious regardless)

audrey next because MY GIRL!! she shouldn’t be this low but in fairness we don’t even know WHO she will be with so there’s not much to anticipate 😭 but it does make me strongly wonder who her love interest will be and i love when hopeless romantic characters get their happily ever after bc im cheesy like that

sorry to tom i have no idea why im not invested in the threads kbr have been laying out for him but hopefully that will change. adore him as a character but his trope / storyline hasn’t hooked me so far and tbh i think phoenix is a bad name i wish the love interest was called something different LMAO

sorry that you asked for a simple ranking and i wrote a full essay we all know i can’t be normal about kbr books but i numbered my ramblings for you to make it easier to read (and of course by “read,” i do mean “skip”)

and as for the fic - nooooo i didn’t even know such a thing existed tbh. the last time i checked for addicted / like us fics years ago out of pure curiosity there were like 3 lol. truthfully i likely will never read any. i never ever read fic for a series or couple that is unreleased because it almost always ruins the reading experience for me / i have very little desire to and would much prefer to wait for the real thing. with kbr books in particular i have never felt the need to seek out fanfic because they write so much fan service already (this is usually a diss but i mean it as purely a compliment. they write SUCH entertaining scenes that you could only find in fanfic for any other fandom) and since i have their patreon that is so much bonus content i would never dream of needing more. their stuff is already perfectly written and has such high reread value that ive never felt the need to look for something extra that i felt was lacking from my reading experience

[skaruresonic]

TBH I refuse to play SXS Gens out of pure principle until the option to restore the original Generations dialogues and animations are avaible, fuck the rewrites

I just finished the Shadow portion lol. Overall I feel like you're not missing much. Like, yeah, it's supposed to be an anniversary game and all that, but there's honestly not much in the way of story. You would unironically be better off playing the older games before this one.

I really feel like the "SxS Gens is necessary to catch new players up to Shadow's history" argument is looking a lot weaker now. If anything, you wouldn't understand the emotional resonances behind many of the allusions unless you've played previous games; they don't provide exposition or context within the narrative itself. You wouldn't know that the ARK raid happened because nobody implies as much. The narrative is written as though it expects you to know why Black Doom's threats to possess Shadow are such a big deal.

This game's narrative is about as patchwork as Gens; characters are in nonsensical spots (why do we find Metal Overlord in Kingdom Valley's boss area, but Mephiles in some random cave on the side of Chaos Island's? what purpose did Metal Overlord's presence serve? or Mephiles', for that matter?) and the plot is just "stop giant monster before it destroys the world" sans Eggman. Much peak, many wow.

There's literally no plot progression from point to point; there are six levels in total, and you will only see most of the "plot" unfold at the 3/4ths mark. Until then, you're just running around without much rhyme or reason.

Maria and Gerald are simply there for moral support. They don't really do anything besides that. Gerald justifies this by claiming he doesn't want to mess with the timeline by changing anything.

I went around talking to various characters. Conversations with Big and Maria were the most enjoyable, and I felt like they were the highlight of the game. Rouge gets a bit on-the-nose by comparing herself to Amy when saying she'd support Shadow. Some of Omega's lines strike me as a little acanonical. For some reason, Orbot and Cubot are also there, and you can help them build a rocket by collecting 80 machine pieces. From what I've heard, however, there's no reward for collecting them all, so I was like "lol bye" and left.

I was also disappointed by the lack of a Sonic boss fight. I would have loved a reprise of the original ARK race from Gens; it would have been a nice callback to how you get to see the race from both perspectives in SA2 as well, but we can't have nice things ig :v

Mephiles appears. Lol. Lmao, even. Rofl, if you will. It feels like ST included him solely to riff on the fact that he'll never be canon. He's such a nothingburger of a character and is so negligible as a plot point that he might as well not have been there. He's only there because fans wanted to see him again.

For one thing, you find him in an out-of-the-way cave under Chaos Island. For another, my guy literally says "I just want to exist" and Shadow goes "no. perish." Based, but also, way to waste my time lmao.

Black Doom wants to consume the world as well as possess Shadow. It's not explained how he returned; Gerald handwaves it as "he rebuilt his body through timey-wimey shenanigans."

The gameplay is serviceable for the most part but also incredibly tedious; I found I only enjoyed Radical Highway Act One, and that was because the design was unencumbered by the use of Doom Powers.

Chaos Control and Chaos Spear are your standard abilities, nothing to write home about.

Doom Missile has limited application since only enemies or targets can be shot down, and thus isn't used much.

Doom Surf controls like a friggin' surfing Blooper.

Doom Morph is okay, I guess. Shadow turns into a giant squid and is able to traverse pools of Black Arms juice.

I hate how the Doom Wings control so much omfg. And they say the Homing Attack is a crapshoot. >.>

tl;dr It's okay. Not terrible, but I honestly don't think I'd play it again.

[rottenpumpkin13]

Sephiroth’s hair care routine that Shinra wanted uploaded for some reason (Cloud assists him with the filming process).

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZPRcTFePS/

Tbh forcing Sephiroth to film a hair care routine purely for fan service isn't off-kilter for Shinra.

What no one saw coming was Sephiroth becoming far too invested in the process. The whole tutorial ends up being 3 hours long.

Cloud, at hour 2: Can I go now?

Sephiroth: No, Strife. I still have to show the audience how to correctly detangle one's hair. Unless you have a faster solution.

*Cloud pulls out a razor*

Sephiroth: LEAVE LEAVE LEAVE LEAVE LE—

[sioneve]

Love Live Shopping Haul

this arrived last week… Love Live artbook by one of my favorite illustrator, Noizi Ito-sensei…. 😭😭😭😭🙏🙏

I started a new segment #sioneve blog because I need a place to VENT MY FANGIRLING........ twitter limits my fangirl capacity due to that word limit

THIS IS REALLY special because i have been following noizi ito-sensei since the beginning of my exposure to anime (thank you shana & haruhi). And kid you not, i was surprised to find out that she draws a lot of Love Live Art

MOREOVER, THE FIRST ART THAT I DISCOVERED WAS NICOMAKI…CAN YOU FEEL WHAT I FEEL? DISCOVERING THAT YOUR FAVORITE ILLUSTRATOR DRAWS YOUR FAVORITE OTP AND FRANCHISE….. 🧎🏼‍♀️🧎🏼‍♀️🧎🏼‍♀️

honestly i haven't found much information if Ito-sensei is actually part of the official art team? Because for a fan she sure draws Love Live a LOT… which i'm blessed for that (Reading her message in the artbook, looks like only a fan, but she did a cover art for Love Live Anthology)

this is her illustration that broke me, I remember I made a post about it on facebook

GIRL LITTLE DID YOU KNOW YOU WILL HAVE THAT PHYSICAL ARTBOOK OF ITO-SENSEI 9 YEARS LATER…..

Here are some of my favorites from the artbook!

AND THIS IS THE MAIN STAR ☺️ nkmk doujin by the nkmk god itself, the one and only ooshima tomo-sensei ☺️🙏

tbh ooshima-sensei works aren't really my cup of tea. i can't feel the love between the pair if you get it??? maki is way too hornY and aggressive 100% of the time (in GL i prefer fluffy, soft, pure love & fuwafuwa and thats why you'll never see me making NSFW) + had to tape it because i don't want people in my house to accidentally open it 💀

But this Crystal Sugar and Machine Gun Series is so good, had a nice story build-up, superb angsty story and superb art. So this one is an exception, thank you for your service

Extra I bought it all secondhand, fortunate enough there's a local marketplace that put these gems up for auction. It was posted a few months ago and I just saw it this week, I thought I was too late BUT THEN THESE BOOKS WAS STILL AVAILABLE! Is this destined to be my possesion?? ahh I will treasure it I'm starting to get actively collecting Love Live merchandise now that I can earn my own money, hopefully I can make a Maki shrine this year

[alun1r]

Rare Alu Rant About Fandoms bc I never say shit:

Sue me, but getting into a fandom just for the intention of becoming popular is so weird to me.

Like sure you want a lot of people to see what you make. Because making something for the fandom should be seen! That’s dope as hell.

But you’re gonna lose inspiration real fast when you find out content creation takes a lotta work but more often than not comes with little reward.

I hold firmly the belief that Fandom is for making content for the pure reason of just because you can.

✨the joy of free will to bring your delusions to life so others can indulge in their delusions as well✨ Kinda vibes? Yanno?

I never started making HL content with the idea in mind that I’d reach 9k followers on tiktok. And I ain’t gonna lie it’s daunting for me. Specially as someone whose always just made shit for whatever reason without even posting it. But The videos that got me views and followers on tiktok, were made because I was high and wanted to laugh. And I’d figured “what the hell, this made me laugh….Maybe it will make someone else laugh.” And I’m glad it did.

And now I float around just making stuff. I still make whatever I want tbh. I do my best to give credit where credit is due in what I make. And yeah I’ve done some fan service videos and writing here and there because hey it’s fun for me.

I see so many posts or peoples bios saying that they’re working towards being popular in fandom and then their posts are what other people said or made on Twitter or tiktok or Vice versa and there’s often times there’s no real credit to original creators.

Don’t get me wrong, if it’s properly credited, AWESOME. Usually it’s not though, and that’s just wild to me. Because how are you expecting to get popular under your own name when you’re just reposting stuff.

That doesn’t make you a content creator.

A historical collector guess?? Because you’re like idk collecting all the stuff people made and what not onto a new page.

Idk dude. I just miss authenticity I guess. People making stuff and just being excited to show it.

Don’t get me wrong though it’s not all terrible on here and everywhere on the internet for fandoms. I’ve made close friends with other creators who feel and see fandom much the same. Just here to vibe and escape.

I’m not saying I don’t think views and followers and likes and notes or what have you, matter. I know they do. I get a lil confidence boost when something I make pops off. I feel proud.

But man it’s the intention of “ Im trying to be a popular creator” that rubs me the wrong way. Make stuff because you like it. Not because other people will. Doing whatever to get you likes wont bring the same satisfaction. And in more cases than not I see it backfiring and causing drama because, like I said it’s usually shit that’s copied or reposted.

Who knows maybe I’m just old and don’t understand bc I also see fandom and the work I’ve contributed as something I wouldn’t like boast about in real life. Because the reaction wouldn’t be positive. Like just for enjoying Hogwarts legacy I get teased in my daily life from acquaintances. It’s not totally negative. Buts it’s enough for me to know that YEAH 9k followers on tiktok don’t mean anything in the real world LMAO because at the end of the day, offline, I am still just a nerd whose daydreaming in her bedroom to escape reality.

I’m 24 dude. And I work in news. Shit is exhausting. Read a headline and you’ll see what I mean. And I just wanted to rant about it because it’s been bugging me since I joined fandom again last year.

But due to, idk my follower count and whatnot I always felt like I can’t or rather I shouldn’t speak my mind so much for fear of SOMEONE coming for me for something. And man I hate that feeling bc this bitch has opinions and I dislike the idea of feeling like others have control over it. But tbh eh. I wanted to rant. Just speaking into the void of the internet.

If you decide to send anon hate for my opinionated rant be ready for a meme bc I don’t have the mental capacity to take anything other than my IRL life responsibilities seriously lmao.

[actuallydrinkingtea]

My Top 5 Song Picks of 2024

In no particular order:

Duvet by BOA

Rise by Raveena

Make Friends by Hiatus Kaiyote

Weird by KAYTRANADA & Durand Bernarr

It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over by Lenny Kravitz

Honorary Mentions:

Survival (album) by Hope Tala

Badlands by Earth Surface People

Where the Butterflies Go in the Rain (album) by Raveena

Dirt Roads by Tia Wood

26 by Caamp (Hellooooo, I got married at 26 this year, literally.)

Judge Judy by Tyler, the Creator

Duvet is like a warm vanilla-sugar Bath & Body Works™ hug from my childhood. It's nostalgic, hopeful, and gives you that warm, fuzzy feeling inside. I remember when this song blew up again (it dropped back in ‘98, but made its TikTok return in ‘21, and again in ‘23), and we all started manifesting that 2024 would feel like this song. The whole trend of romanticizing your life and embracing being just a little bit delusional? Honestly, it's a great reframing practice. It helps us appreciate the life we have and the small, beautiful moments.

Rise is straight-up about activism—“rising up” against everything wrong in the world. Raveena has been outspoken about Free Palestine, queer, and abortion rights at her shows and on social media. She’s an actual earth angel. I was lucky enough to meet her at a guided meditation she hosted before her performance at Showbox Sodo. The experience was so calming and grounding, and it gave me a deeper appreciation for her as both an artist and a person. After the show, she went straight to the merch table to meet and greet her fans. I can't stress enough how genuine she is in her fan service—she truly loves and appreciates the people who support her. That’s rare in this industry. I’m telling you, unless she decides to go live in an eco-conscious community somewhere (which would also suit her vibe, tbh), Raveena is on track to become the next Stevie Nicks. I know, I know, we shouldn't pit women against each other, but hear me out—every generation needs that iconic, barefoot goddess twirling on stage, backed by insane talent. And Raveena? She’s the one. The way she blends spirituality, activism, femininity, queerness, Indian roots, neo-soul, and early-2000s R&B is pure genius. I can't wait to see what projects she shares with us in 2025.

Make Friends by Hiatus Kaiyote. So, here’s the thing: I’ve been slowly diving into more Hiatus Kaiyote over the past year and a half. It started with Slip Into Something Soft and Nakamarra, then evolved into Everything Is Beautiful (and for the Adventure Time fans, don’t miss their track BMO is Beautiful featuring THE Niki Yang iykyk). But when I first listened, I had no idea what the band looked like. So you can imagine my surprise when I Googled them and saw a group of white Aussie musicians making the kind of soulful, funky, jazzy music I associate with Black artists in the R&B, soul, and jazz traditions. It’s fascinating because their sound is so rooted in those genres, but they’re coming from a completely different cultural background. It got me thinking about how genres like R&B and jazz have always transcended boundaries, and how it’s cool to see artists from around the world drawing from these rich, Black musical traditions. Reddit confirmed I wasn’t the only one taken aback by the band's Aussie roots, but honestly, I can’t deny that they make it work. Make Friends is a straight-up bop, and it’s all about that real connection—when you find your people, you just vibe. Anyway, moving on!

Weird by KAYTRANADA & Durand Bernarr. This one hit me hard in 2024. Sometimes I’m the one judging the "weird" person in the room, but other times I am that weird person. As a socially awkward 20-something with a bit of Capricorn energy, I don’t always mesh with certain social settings—and sometimes, I’m just being a little bit of a bitch. This whole album is a banger, but this song? It clicked with me in a way I didn’t expect. The ‘Timeless’ album was a frequent pick for my hot girl walks in 2024.

It Ain’t Over ‘Til It’s Over—and this post ain’t over yet! 2024 was the year Lenny Kravitz blessed us with his tour, new music, and—perhaps most memorably—that video of him bench-pressing in leather pants and a mesh shirt at the gym. Honestly, I’m pretty sure that viral moment almost topped the blanket scarf meme. Thank you for your service, LK. I promise I’ll finally listen to Blue Electric Light in the new year.

2024 was a year of embracing the awkward, the beautiful, and everything in between. Music was my guide through it all—helping me find moments of peace while also pushing me to confront the parts of myself I’d once kept hidden. From standing up for what truly matters to connecting with those who see and feel the same way, this year was about evolving, unlearning, and stepping into my truth without hesitation. Here’s to carrying that forward—more growth, more love, and more of those beautifully imperfect moments in the year ahead.

Song links <3 tagged below

[xoxo-iska]

Oikawa kpop stan hcs

(as someone who’s been a kpop stan since 2009)

((this came to me like a vision and i hope at least one person sees the vision too i just rly needed to get this out of my system))

Stans TWICE. His bias is Sana, and his bias wrecker is Nayeon.

Hooked since Signal era - also his favorite single bc alien concepts - and he was so happy when it won SOTY and best female group dance performance like wow what a time to be alive and stan TWICE 🤧🤟

Gym bro seeing Oikawa’s intense workout face: I wonder what he’s listening to

Oikawa’s blue earphones: signal bonae signal bonae jjirit jjirit jjirit jjirit

As a world-class athlete, Oikawa’s somewhat of a celebrity himself and could earnestly have a chance to date one of them, but he would never overstep his boundaries as a fan

It always comes up in his interviews, and while he unashamedly proclaims Sana as his bias, he always consistently emphasizes that he is a pure ONCE and would never even dream of actually starting a relationship with any of them

Chronically online and super updated with their activities

Most of his chosen walkout songs for games is just him cycling through TWICE discography tbh

Genuinely loves j-line’s name as MiSaMo over MiMoSa “they’re alcohol free!!” he tweets one day out of passive-aggressiveness

Oikawa has his professional vball account and his private stantwt account. When he posted on the wrong account the first time, his moots actually didn’t believe it like wdym oomf is a world-class volleyball athlete??

After that he started being less careful about it and would frequently post on the wrong accounts and he’s always making headlines bc of it.

Whenever one of his ults has a comeback you can bet that Oikawa starts trending in the vball community but bc of kpop reasons 😭

Oikawa’s ult soloist is IU since Boo era and is super proud and somewhat salty about it for those who liked her after IU became more mainstream.

Like he’s so stuck up about it like if you talk to him about IU and you dont know the old classics like Marshmallow? Only I Didn’t Know? Someday from Dream High? Okay, fake Uaena 🙄

Also rly salty about how Hold my hand -one of his fave IU OSTs- only became more popular in recent years despite it being released in 2011

Pretends he’s above it bc he thinks it makes him seem basic but he’s a sucker for Good Day and always imitates the three high notes and wrecks his throat

Has both Japanese and Korean versions memorized for karaoke

Also practiced his damn best back in high school in his free time to get the male dancer’s choreography down bc he had a delulu phase like maybe he could dance with IU one day

Guaranteed way to make him cry tho is play Love Wins All or Dear Name

Like rly full out sobbing

Watched The Golden Hour concert live in Seoul but also watched the movie in theater multiple times.

Also binge watched all of IU’s dramas and absolutely loves Dream High, he finds old kdramas so camp and he unironically loves it so much

Recently tho he’s started liking Chuu

Didn’t rly stan Loona but had always liked Heart Attack

Chuu went solo and he loved her and stanned her even more when he discovered the drama with her leaving Loona

“strawberry rush truther” is his bio on his official vball twitter for a solid 3 wks when it’s released

But rly, Oikawa was born in 1994 so obvi was around and grew up with 2nd gen aka the golden age of kpop

His 2nd gen queens are Wonder Girls and KARA like yas Tell Me?? Step??

Guilty pleasure is Orange Caramel. Catallena and Magic Girl are his jam

There was a phase in high school where he was able to get Makki and Matsun to do the Catallena intro adlib screams with him and it pissed Iwa off to no end like they’d do it at the most inopportune times

Like Oikawa would get a service ace in during practice and scream “HA!” at the top of his lungs. Cue Makki and Mattsun scrambling from wherever they are, sprinting into formation at either side of Oikawa doing their own ridiculous rendition of “HA!” with poses and all

Oh speaking of 2nd gen queens, he stans SJJD more than SNSD. He’s of the opinion that Girls’ Generation Japanese discography is superior and he actually got to know them through their Japanese releases first compared to their Korean releases

He’s proud to say that he saw them live when they were still 9

Publicly an OT8 SONE but privately can’t get over OT9

Probably owns several pairs of blanc and eclare sunglasses he wears whenever he goes out incognito

Had a mental breakdown on twitter over Sooyoung’s jpop idol (re)debut

Another one of his jpop/kpop queens is BoA, but more of like in the nostalgic sense since she was more active in Japan when he was still young. One of his core memories is watching Inuyasha up late at night and waking up to the ED Every Heart playing

Also Fairy Tail??? Masayume Chasing banger OP.

But fr, post-timeskip, man is STRESSED whenever concerts are announced like he needs to stop himself from buying plane tickets back to Japan whenever JP concerts are announced

Also he is DEFINITELY doing all the mainstream dance challenges on TikTok

Unironically considers being able to do a dance challenge with MiSaMo as one of the peak moments of his volleyball career - his vball fame truly has gotten him so far and made him a successful fan

[radexchangeprogram]

Ok ok- this post is gonna be me talking about my thoughts about the new game and such.

I will be honest, a big reason I haven’t been writing is bc I’ve been burnt out with Obey Me bc of the direction of the writing, but this game makes me really hopeful.

I’ve seen some people say that they think this will be a pre-mc game and that Solomon will be the MC, but I don’t see them going that direction. Solmare’s whole thing is otome games and I think a big draw Obey Me had/has is that self insert element. However, I definitely think Solomon will play a much bigger role in the game.

I think the game is going to be a series reboot.

long post w spoilers below the cut

Here’s why:

Obey Me is a lot more successful than many other of Solmare’s ips. This isn’t to say their other games don’t have fans, but Obey Me is definitely a lot larger. I don’t think they were expecting Obey Me to get this big when they were initially writing the story.

I think when the game first blew up, Solmare probably resorted right to pushing more of that fan service and provided quantity over quality to make fans happy, which I get it, it’s an otome game and a lot of us like fanservice. But I think they realized it’s a lot harder to write when you’re trying to please everyone at once and it’s a lot harder to maintain consistent fans.

Gacha games get a lot of their funding off of whales. I will be honest, I used to whale in Obey Me. I had the money and tbh, I was very impulsive. I have not opened the game since the anniversary and before the anniversary, I had not opened it in months. And I imagine many other people who are still fans have been doing the same.

I think Solmare realized this and has been trying to fix it (e.g., having events focus more on one character as opposed to shoving every character possible in there), but with the way the main story is structured, there isn’t much more they can do to make it flow well.

I think the story will definitely involve RAD and the exchange program, we can see Thirteen in the trailer at RAD.

Image taken from @animepikagirl

Solmare has also been very good about listening to the options of fans (compared to a lot of other companies of the same genre) and I know a lot of fans have been very vocal about being disappointed in recent stories and the lack of character development.

As much as it pains me to say, I think Satan is the best example of how poorly they’ve handled their characters. The poor man has been flanderized to hell and back. Compared to his season 1 self which talked about his love of cats while still giving him a personality and exploring his psyche, and you’ll see that it’s been reduced down to him purely loving cats. Even as early as season 2, he started really getting reduced down to that (e.g., the reaper’s cave. It was a funny season where he pet the trap cat and wasn’t the worst example, but I think it highlights when the writing started to go downhill). I think they realized the flanderizing has become a major issue and want to avoid it in the new series. I may be biased because Satan is my favorite character, but he was name dropped in the hints.

Another character that I think they will probably want to do better with is Asmodeus. Given that he’s pactmates with Solomon and Solomon was name dropped in the hints, I think he will also play a much bigger role in the story. Obey Me has done fuck all with Asmo despite him having the potential to be one of the most uniquely written characters. @/Neocoded has a lot of posts about how Obey Me has fucked Asmo fans over with it’s frankly poor writing and tbh, they also have a lot of posts that talk about the really cool potential Asmo could have as a character if handled correctly.

Overall, I’m very hopeful that this new game is going to be Solmare showing that they’ve learned from the writing mistakes they made in Obey Me:SWD. I think now that they have a bigger budget and likely bigger team, they’ll be able to invest more in the quality of their content to maintain their fanbase better. I’ve been playing this game for 3 years this month, I started playing 2 months after launch. This series is still very special to me but I want to see it improve instead of settling for frankly mediocre writing. This is not meant to bash any of the writers or Solmare, but is simply my honest opinion in how the quality of the writing tanked after season 1 and how I believe this new game will be Solmare showing the fanbase that they want to take the franchise in a new direction.

[bree-peasant]

Rewatching S5 of The Originals, and honestly this season is almost unwatchable for me. It was hard to stomach the first time around, not knowing what to expect, but watching it now with the knowledge of how it develops, is absolute torture.

Starting with the unsettling feeling of Hayley's disappearance (twice!), through Elijah's awful amnesia train wreck of a life, but especially the whole vampire supremacists plotline, is making my stomach turn. As a diehard Klaroline fan, the only thing that saves this season for me is Klaus and Caroline's interactions. But even those feel superficial and out of character (esp for Caroline), probably because they were pure fan service (when imo they should've developed their relationship during TVD, but didn't because of precious Delena).

Tempted to just skip ahead to the last couple of episodes tbh... someone please discuss with me!

Edit: I'd actually forgotten the villains in this season were literal nazis...Plec's lack of creativity is absurd. I hate this season

[escarlatafox]

Other miscellaneous thoughts (kfp4 spoilers)

- I enjoyed Han. He didn't get much screentime though but I loved his unhinged laughter and the way he rolled about. Wish we got to see some more of him (idk quite how it would be fit in though chchfhvj)

- I was a huge fan of kfp3 breaking the urn of whispering warriors again (hope I got the name of it correct cause I'm just trying to go by memory with that one). And. Hmm. On a pure fan service level I do love that they actually went for it AGAIN. because I'm honestly just personally a sucker for it as a Bit. Just. I'm a liiiittle bit on the fence about it, undecided about whether it's a "joke's overstayed it's welcome"/too repetitive, or whether to love that they leaned into it/brought it back again as a gag. Because on the one hand, over reliance on something like that can be lazy, BUT simultaneously it can take guts to just go for it wherein the amount of repetition becomes part of the humour of it, and you just take the risk of it being seen as lazy for the purposes of the Bit. Personally I never really expected it to get reused again but in theory i love the idea. Like, I'm SURE I've actually made a post in the past about just thinking it would be great to lean into it as a repeating gag - and then they DID bring it back again in this movie! So while I'm somewhat wary, tbh I did enjoy that. Po's whole "oh no! The urn of whispering warriors! Which I've already broken! TWICE!" was hilarious imo. The slight delay and then it actually getting broken. And then a very defeated looking Po SLIDING among the shards while there's the iconic sound effect(s) of those poor lost souls crying out???? Yes please that was so damn funny. I loved that. Like again I had this certain wariness about it but nah, that was fun. I love fun. Ultimately I appreciated that gag fhgdghggk. And the SOUND EFFECT gets me every damn time it's just sooo iconic and priceless

- it's interesting because like. Kfp3 felt somewhat less "legitimate" than the first two movies in terms of like... How "authentic" it felt to the world of Kung Fu panda as established in the first two movies. For example, the first two movies have mystical elements and whatnot, divination visions etc, but it kind of seems to operate at the periphery of an otherwise mostly grounded world, relatively speaking, meanwhile the third movie essentially brings the equivalent of magic front and centre and such and at the time it kind of felt out of place, but like, I was able to accept it, and many years have passed since then, etc. and when I talk about legitimacy I mean how effective suspension of disbelief is + whether the movie feels "canon" etc. movie 3 still felt very canon to me even though in some parts it felt slightly less so. Movie 4 is definitely reeeeeally challenging on that front, much more so than 3, but overall.... I mean it does still mostly feel canon to me which was why I mostly accepted and had fun with the movie. But some parts definitely feel uncanon and break my suspension of disbelief, so like, I'm just gonna be retconning it in my mind for my own sake. I can't accept kai still existing as canon or he and Shen bowing or Tai lung's role in this movie etc. so this movie just kind of dips in and out of canon to me. I pick and choose. I curate my own experience LOL. Also other fans have already covered this extensively and I've voiced my grievances on this before (in private though I'm P sure) but sincerely, the way the Dragon Warrior title is treated in this movie as something that can/should be and needs to be passed on to someone else is REALLY annoying and goes against the first film. So I def have beef with that. And it could have been fixed easily enough I think... If it wasn't the title itself with all its attached connotations/lore but rather just a more generalised choosing of a successor that was needed, or if at least the LORE of the first film when it comes to the title was more properly acknowledged and addressed to explain why it needs to be passed on, idk. So basically I will just be ignoring that in my opinion of canonicity because the plot still works the same without needing to bring the Dragon warrior title specifically into it, you know? There's a bunch of little things I'm just gonna be soft retconning like that tbh.

Anyway part of what made 3 jarring/feel less Legit is it didn't follow the established "tradition" of opening the movie with a more 2d/stylised sequence not taking place in direct reality (e.g. a dream) before transitioning to "irl". And of course this movie also didn't do that at all lol. So it's more easy to write off as not 1:1 to the rules of the world XD

BUT the third movie still had excellent colour theming!!!! And this fourth movie dropped the ball there and just didn't bother with any of that. Which is disappointing but points to the trend of 3 and 4 veering more and more to seemingly "noncanon" territory where it breaks the "rules", etc.

And like, I will put my hand up and say that I was never the most observant fan when it came to this franchise's dedication to colour symbolism - I'm sure I only know about it + know how important it is/has been to these films because of my participation in the fandom. It's not an aspect I'm super invested in beyond the aesthetic/coherence of it. I'm moreso invested on a meta level due to my awareness of it having been a rule of production + other fans calling attention to/caring about it. So while it doesn't make a huge difference to me on a surface level, it really sucks and goes to show that the people working on this one didn't Get these films or have the same level of care that the others had if they couldn't even be bothered to have some colour symbolism consistency like the others did. Just another reason 4 fits in way less with the other 3.

- when Tai Lung goes "well, I saw THAT coming" it was just so bad. Just very "well, that happened" and "he's right behind me isn't he" tier dialogue 😭

AND LIKE. I'm not entirely opposed to him having lines like that - it CAN work, but only if you actually give him other more substantial stuff to do first. The character needs to have serious moments to balance more comedic lines out, to "earn" them. Like I said in a previous post he needed more presence and to actually do something. God it's like. The fourth continued 3's trend of tending to more lighthearted stuff it's like it's AFRAID to be tense and serious ! But you NEED intensity and serious moments. A character like Tai Lung needs serious stuff before you can jump to more lighthearted stuff with him and idk what the movie gave us on that front just wasn't enough for me. Like I don't wanna be too harsh, I guess I like it in theory, it is fun. But it needed to be more earned and better executed than it was

[deathweak]

my review (ish) of whole cake island saga/one piece until chapter 902 (obv spoilers until then)

originally my fav arc was alabasta. then water seven/enies lobby. then it was impel down. then it was punk hazard/dressrosa. but then...whole cake island... actual emotional rollercoaster

the best part of this arc was definitely how human some of big moms kids were. my fav new characters introduced in this arc were pudding, chiffon, brulee and katakuri. i wish that big moms kids will all escape from her.. oda writes abusive families a lot, even the 'good' parents will beat their kids in one piece, i guess thats just the world they live in... but when it's a bad parent... oh man.

i managed to somehow not get spoiled about sanjis family at all, i was pretty shocked abt the reveal. i love reiju, even tho she was complicit in/a bystander to a lot of the abuse sanji suffered, i dont think there was anything more she couldve done. she saved his life multiple times over. i really hope we get to see her again.

but the best character in this arc was pudding. her mood swings/evil personality/tsundere gag wasnt the funniest ever but she was genuinely so human.. the way i kept going back and forth like.. is she just pretending to be evil? is she pretending to be in love with him? is she gonna betray him?? AND THE KISS... i actually ship sanji and pudding just a little ..

like i actually cried here. her arc was just chefs kiss(lol) amazing.

my other favourite antagonists were brulee and katakuri. at first i didnt like either of them, but after how much the gang bullied brulee i started to feel sorry for her and grew fond of her. i also always end up having a soft spot for odas 'ugly' female characters since it's just such a breathe of fresh air inbetween all the uncomfortable fan service (honestly the fan service kinda ruins a lot of scenes)

i didnt think there would be any deeper connection between brulee and katakuri until the very last moment, and this scene is one of my favourites in the whole series

like. brulees SMILE. the scar. katakuri was just defending his sister.. also the way flampe thought she was the favourite sister. nah!! thats brulee!!! i fucking ended up really loving her. i mean without her powers being abused by straw hats they wouldve all died. sorry brulee, you didnt deserve that... i hope mama didnt punish her after. also the way that katakuri was glad luffy got away!! he gained so much respect for luffy during their fight. Also i love how hes lowkey a jojo reference (and your next line will be...)

the way that a lot of big moms kids think theyre monsters is so sad.. but these three are just my favourites. i honestly love them. this arc is really about family bonds.. blood family and found family especially.

like sanji calling zeff his father multiple times and denouncing judge, but still hes such a kind person he had to save his blood family anyway. SANJIIiii. man. the way he really is. truly. KIND. i hate whenever hes being a complete pervert, sometimes its funny when hes in the respect women mode but when hes just being a creep i hate him. but this arc made me appreciate him a lot more, and i can kinda forget abt all the weird stuff.

when he was crying in the rain, lost all hope, and luffy gives him the light again..

i like that men are allowed to cry in one piece. like kyros cried all the time after being turned human again, and sanji cried multiple times in this arc. i cried at this scene as well.. luffy really out here saving the lives/souls of his whole crew. hes such a pure bright star..

lastly this scene!! CORAZOOOOONNNN!!! luffy didnt even know about that..the way he held his mouth shut and forced a smile to make sure his crew wouldnt be worried.

if i didnt know that he was gonna survive i might have actually thought he was gonna die

the annoying part about one piece for me is the plot armor tbh. theres no stakes, bc i know none of the straw hats can die. idk if id want one of them to die but it would bring some real shock to the readers. like the gang will pretty much always win by some trick in the end, sometimes its funny like how usopp defeated sugar, but sometimes it feels like a bit of a cop out. but i think luffy and katakuris fight was believable, the only gripe i have with it is that it was dragged out a biiit too long. this arc couldve been a good 5-10 chapters shorter if oda hadnt dwelled so long on things.

also i love love love how lola became relevant again and chiffon wanted to repay the debt of nami saving her twin sister, also mamas vivre card coming in clutch lmao. nami was epic in this arc, she went up against big mom without losing her shit too badly. i love her sadistic streak lolll. cant forget brook in this either, he was hilarious.

finally. RIP pound. a great father. also RIP pedro. two good guy casualties in one arc, is oda finally permakilling people?

overall id say this arc was a 9/10. -1 point for being a bit dragged out and the fan service with reiju.

[ask-serendipity-sky]

what a mess...my tl is full of armys wanting jk to kiss the woman in the mv and are angry because bts are not gay stop shipping, the others are ready to k1ll you if you dare speak against tkks and tk...tbh this is all rheir fault, tk fault. Especially v, but jk did stuff. He made atmys think they are his gfs or friends, he wants to be seen as this sexy womanizer man while also encouraging shippers,, what's the need to choose questions about v if you don't like them? Or about jm? As for v I already said it before, I dislike him. The other bts are all in this, rm has many times pushed jk to talk or be near v...

Hi anon,

Yeah, twitter will be a dumpster fire for the next few days although today was especially bad (and yesterday). We should all band together and take down tkkrs. Have each other's backs on twitter because tkkrs and army have each other's backs.

I understand how Jk has now cultivated the "straight guy that has sex" image. It's not exactly bad. Many artists have this image and it works well for them but army and Jk y/ns are way too out of touch with reality.

There is nothing wrong with seeing Jk as a het sexy guy because that is the image he is portraying after all, but taking it a step further and somehow thinking they have a chance with Jk is pure delusion.

Yeah, they've been given this image and a normal person knows acknowledges it and moves on but all these people don't get the concept of fan service. It's a problem.

And it won't get addressed because it brings in money.

I don't get why Jk has to answer questions about Tae and Jimin. To feed shippers if we go by the same logic as everything. But yes, all of BTS knows about the fan service and ships. I have seen Rm push things a few times but I haven't been too observant.

Tough luck for Jimin biased fans, right?

Thank you for sharing your thoughts.