#which absolutely fits the vibe of guess the build xD

[kuulpenguin]

The creatures of guess the build <3

[tarisilmarwen]

Rebels Rewatch: “Brothers of the Broken Horn”

Hooooooondoooooooooooooo! :D

When we open we see that Phoenix Cell has temporarily taken to port at Garel.

Which is looking as lovely as ever.

We pan down with a pleasant musical cue to see that Rex has set Ezra up with some blaster training, enlisting Chopper as a moving target.

Ezra’s already clearly frustrated and grows moreso when Kanan shows up and tells him he’s missing a Jedi training session.  His discouraged, “What if I don’t want to be either [a soldier or a Jedi]?” surprises Rex but alarms Kanan, who knows how desperately Ezra wants to be a Jedi in normal circumstances.

Neither man can figure out the reason why Ezra’s upset though (really guys? y’all be dense), and they’re interrupted by Sabine calling them in for a briefing.

The mission is honestly a little bit incidental to the plot, only really there to establish the MacGuffin that people will be wrestling over trying to possess this episode.  Ezra doesn’t get to participate as now Hera is on him also, to scrub the Phantom.

So many “teenager whines about chores to parents” vibes in this scene, especially when Hera chides Chopper for laughing about it and makes him help too lol.

Ezra is understandably feeling overwhelmed by the myriad pressures that are colliding over him right now, complaining to Chopper about it.  Kanan and Rex are pulling him in opposite directions and fighting with each other over it every step of the way, and this has made him discouraged, unsure of his path forward, and missing the simplicity of his life before the Ghost, as rough as it was.

So of course he jumps at the opportunity to distract himself from everything when Chopper picks up a distress signal from Vizago’s ship.

Borrowing Mom’s van to make a wellness check on your old criminal fencing friends lol.

Yes, this is super irresponsible and dangerous but also Ezra really needed this little day trip to clear his head and remind himself how much he’s changed from the kind of person who would’ve jumped at Hondo’s offer.

So this episode is mostly character building/character renewal for Ezra and also a Friendship Fetch Quest that nets us Hondo Ohnaka.  After Rex, he’s one of the most important allies we gain this season.

But I’m getting a little ahead of myself.  Back to Ezra doing things that absolutely got him grounded after this episode. XD

(Lol at Ezra’s defensive little, “I know how to fly.” towards Chopper, immediately belied by him scraping the Phantom on its hooks.)

Garel be pretty, what can I say?

Hilarious that the ship got stuck in Garel airspace, I have to assume Hondo and Vizago met with their, ah, “disagreement” literally almost as soon as they took off lolol.

Fyrnock cue coming back here, I guess we’re using it as shorthand for uncertain perilous situations now.

The similarities to the previous episode in the creepy seemingly abandoned nature of the ship I’m going to assume were deliberate in order to catch us off guard when it was all subverted and Hondo was introduced, instead of some horrible danger.

And yeah, Hondo is a bit “defanged” from his Clone Wars incarnation but I think it kinda fits, you know, the all-consuming overwhelming evil of the Empire is such that mundane run-of-the-mill pirates and criminal overlords are simply just not as frightening or dangerous anymore.  The Empire ruins everything, even the lives of outliers who used to just fly under the radar.

Ezra keeps darting glances at Hondo’s arm around his shoulder like he’s not entirely comfortable with it being there, lol.

I mentioned that Ezra’s mechanical skills sort of fall by the wayside as he grows into his role as Jedi so it’s nice that he gets to use them here.

“This was such a bad idea, Hera’s going to kill me when if I get back.”

Ah man, Ezra continues to have just such a look of regretting all of the decisions that led him to this point, poor bby.

He slips pretty naturally back into his street orphan trickster/swindler/pickpocket persona though, smoothly bargaining with Hondo to distract from his swiping the sentry droid control.

Frynock cue transmuted to strings instead of brass as we descend.

Nice to see a moon that looks like an actual moon.  This is a pretty unique location and I’m glad we get to visit it again later in the season.

Ezra planning ahead for trouble because he remembers how this kind of thing can easily go down, kind of a subtle hint at how familiar he is with the workings of the criminal underground.

And it’s a good thing he did because it’s Azmorigan that we’re meeting.  Love Ezra’s immediate look of, “Ah hell.” and hiding his face.

“I don’t deal with washed-up old relics!” “Come now, let’s leave your wife out of this.” PFFFKJHGKH HONDO PLZ.

This brief comedic exchange actually kind of gives some insight into Hondo’s changed circumstances.  The current criminal overlords consider him outdated, washed up, from a bygone era, an old fool desperately clinging to relevance.  It fits because Hondo is a bit of a classic romantic at heart, fond of what we would call “swashbuckling adventure”.  It’s the reason he loves the Jedi and thinks back on them wistfully and nostalgically, they represent the kind of dramatic tales and bold feats of a golden era full of opportunity for reward and glory.  But there’s no more room for that kind of frivolous excitement under the iron oppressive hand of the Empire, you adapt or you die out, and Hondo refuses to do either.

...Right, now that I’ve given myself feels over a comedic side character let’s move on.

The light woodwind ditties in the soundtrack belie the actual tension of this scene, especially when Ezra has his helmet pulled off.  (The cadet helmet he had Sabine paint for him, which he keeps retreating into when he feels unsafe in this episode, the biased shipper in me would like to point out.)

You can practically hear the string of curses inside his head as he tries to hide his face here.

No dice, Azmorigan recognizes him, cue Big Damn Heroes moment from the orange tin can murderhobo himself and a decent little action setpiece.  What I’m most impressed with/interested in in this sequence is Ezra himself, how he moves with such skill and finesse.

Also catch me crying remembering when he was tiny enough to hop over his own bound hands like a jumprope.  I don’t think that trick would work as well post growth spurt.

An impulsive and genuinely selfless move from Hondo as he pushes Ezra out of the way of the cargo ladder Azmorigan sent rolling at him.  And this is before he knows Ezra’s a Jedi so Hondo really basically just took one look at this kid and decided he’d die for him.  Which, you know, valid.

This droid is a menace lol.

Ezra takes a risk by using his Force abilities.  Fortunately Azmorigan is too busy fleeing for his life from Chopper to see, and Hondo loves Jedi.  (See again: classic romanticist at heart.)

“You must have many responsibilities.”  “Yeah.  Too many at the moment.”

This kid. :((((  He’s under such pressure.

Ezra’s little “Wait a minute.” side look here lol.

And he continues not to enjoy Hondo’s affection ha ha.

It’s cute but also my brain is wandering to the fridge on this one because:

A) Ezra is now comfortable with all the casual touches and gestures of physical affection from the Ghost crew, which mirrors how he’s found a new home with them and no longer belongs in Hondo’s world.

And B) given the events of last episode it’s not surprising Ezra is a bit touchy about weird strangers violating his personal boundaries.

“Maybe I would make a pretty good pirate.  Inquisitors don’t hunt them do they?”  Honey you are Force Sensitive and already on their radar, hanging out with Hondo would only hide you for so long.

(Yet another thing that’s apparently been on his mind and adding to his anxieties.  In light of that his initial refusal to help Vizago makes more sense, the kid has so much on his plate already and just does not want to deal with anything else.)

Lol Ezra talking to Vizago like Vizago’s a problem child he’s babysitting.

Right, this whole scene right here is why I don’t do stories with casts of morally gray protagonists, the constant backstabbing and side-switching are exhausting.

Look, even Ezra’s exhausted.  Poor kid needs a nap he looks so tired.

Fortunately for Ezra, Chopper has his back, having put the Phantom on autopilot beforehand.  So he winds up not losing the Phantom (this time) and actually accomplishing the mission without really trying.

I do wanna see that missing scene where the Phantom returns to the Ghost and Hera’s all ready to let Ezra have it and then this weird Weequay pops out lolol.

They look so proud, like, “Awww that’s our little gremlin child.”

Aaaaand this little heartwarming look from Hondo is getting to me a bit this time around.

He’s so fond of Ezra ajkhaksfjfh.

Hera’s taking the whole “running off with the Phantom instead of doing his chores” thing remarkably well all things considered.  I guess it helps that he lucked into finding some generators.

There is no reason for this shot to be this pretty this is just a hanger.

*sobbing forever about how Hondo functions as narrative foil for how Ezra could have turned out if not for his Found Family and how that’s acknowledged in-text*

SEE PREVIOUS OBSERVATION ABOUT HOW EZRA IS USED TO AND COMFORTABLE WITH CASUAL AFFECTIONATE TOUCHING FROM HIS FAMILY.

I caught a lot of unexpected feels rewatching this episode, I’ve always liked it for being a fun Ezra-focused episode but I’m seeing just how it fits neatly into his character journey.  Things got hairy last episode, the stressors and pressure points (Rex and Kanan’s bickering) continue to increase and he got understandably overwhelmed.

The growing pains in his self-identity, questioning whether or not he even wants to be a Jedi at this point, just to get granted a glimpse of what his life might have looked like if he had continued on that self-serving path and realizing how much he’s changed... aaaaaaah I love it!

Another successful Friendship Fetch Quest accomplished.

[phoenixcatch7]

Ladies and gentlemen please welcome to the stage my newest hero forge model!

Good grief this colour scheme fought me.

This is an au (?), a crossover between ff7 and Belle/The Dragon and the Freckled Princess, which takes place half in reality, and half in a futuristic virtual world simply called U, where the main character (Belle) debuts as a singer as a way to process the trauma of her songwriter mother's death. The technology of U enables it to create virtual avatars that 'draw out the user's hidden strengths', whether they like it or not.

As you might have guessed, this is what a young sephiroth stumbles upon, finding an escape from the labs and something captivating he's never heard before - music.

The vr world is always something that's absolutely fascinated me, and the expressive, vibrant, community based world in belle is really different to the normal scifi dystopian armpit of society that it often gets presented as, so of course I loved it immediately. Much closer to the real world comparison of vr chat than what the scifi novels present it as XD.

But the themes of escape and being thus able to process trauma is something else, that I really wanted to explore with sephiroth. I've made a couple of aus already, but this is the first one I've knuckled down and designed.

It's a pretty young sephiroth, starting just before/at the start of ever crisis and the wutai war, but in U he's aged up just enough for people to let him roam unsupervised, as it seemed to do for belle. I'm thinking late teens/vaguely androgenous first year at uni kid.

I made the build a lot slimmer and a bit shorter than his adult self, and all round a much less intimidating figure, less passively scary and off putting. Give this kid a chance to not stand out so immediately. And with the themes of finding yourself, processing trauma, I thought it'd be very interesting to think about how that might present, as reclaiming bodily ownership and autonomy. To this end, I added the tattoos, the sleeve on the arm (I was thinking a wing or animal? But I like the vague patterns, the tattoos most meaningful part is its existence as decoration), and the face markings as a nod to the original belle, who becomes an aunt/mentor figure during the story. And a piercing or two and a couple rings 🤭

The black and white hair, because I couldn't bear to get rid of the white entirely (and he should own it) and as an idea of what his hair might have been without jenova cells - both hojo and Vincent have black hair. Tied back a li'l fancy so he can have some pride and effort in his appearance, expose his face a little more without hiding it behind those awful bangs. I imagine it longer than the model goes, but eh. The eyes... I dithered over slits, or blue eyes, but in the end green is just his colour, you know? But a way to escape those unique pupils, the inhuman, the strange ones, I imagine it's something young him would jump at the chance for. Just to be normal.

The wings, they represent the wings of his safer/seraph true form, with that purple stripe rather than the fade but hero forge doesn't do wing patterns (yet) :(. Coming out of his lower back rather than his ribs like his black wing does, I'd put more but his hair needs some presence XD.

The outfit was a TRIAL but we got there. I wanted something modern and sorta k-pop young idol, but practical to fit his standards. I eventually managed something that struck that balance, I'm a lot happier with it than I thought I'd be! It's something you could see simultaneously on a strobing stage and on a final fantasy battlefield lol. Please imagine as many belts as you want! The headpiece thing is supposed to be one of those head mics, but it didn't convey the vibes so I gave him a proper mic as a prop ^^.

If you look at the gloves (white to og sephiroths black) - and the pendant - you'll see tubes of mako coming in and out of his arms. This is a nod to the fact that he (is heavily traumatised and objectified) was, as far as he knows, made up of mako, a weapon, a tool, made to find the promised land of infinite mako for shinra, charged up with it like a battery, woven into his dna, more cyborg robot than human all his life in the sterile labs. Again, it's ✨self expression through acknowledging and processing trauma✨

I'm also sooooo delighted with the face, the expression, I really am!! I wanted to try and capture a muted wonder and triumph, a brightness in the eyes. He's just performed his first proper song to the roaring applause of the crowds, proving his worth on his own without the labs, without slaying hundreds for a war other people believe in. He's built an identity outside of shinra, and it's good.

I tried to make it look like young sephiroth kinda sorta, but I'm face blind so if you've read this far, tell me how I did XD?

[putschki1969]

Wakana Covers ~ Anime Classics ~ Release

It’s officially the 9th of December in Japan which means it’s the release day of 『Wakana Covers ～Anime Classics～』! BANZAI! The album is now available for purchase in digital format in Japanese stores. 

❗Please SUPPORT Wakana and BUY her album❗ ❗BUY a PHYSICAL COPY on CDJapan❗ ❗BUY it digitally on MORA JAPAN ~ TUTORIAL (no OTOTOY this time)❗ ❗Check your local iTunes store and Spotify after midnight❗

Here’s a quick REVIEW

THIS IS A GREAT ALBUM. I LOVE IT!! The tracklist is not what I would have hoped for but then again, I only know a handful of old anime songs so it’s really no surprise that none of them made it onto the album. I wasn’t really familiar with any of Wakana’s chosen songs but to her credit, she made me fall in love with almost all of them. The only tracks I do not like are “Yatsura No Ashioto No Ballade” and “Rain” but that’s not Wakana’s fault, it’s just that I do not care for those types of songs. Wakana’s vocals are really solid throughout the album, her voice was made for classical arrangements like this and I am forever grateful we are getting a full album and a concert on top of that. There are just a few sections here and there where I am not too happy with her choice of singing style but it doesn’t take away from my enjoyment. Question: Is it just me or are the instruments (strings in particular) overly loud sometimes? Occasionally they seem to almost drown out Wakana.

Detailed review below the cut〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→

1. 時には昔の話を (Toki ni wa Mukashi no Hanashi wo) Arranger: Sin; I understand why they chose this as the leading track to promote the album. Everything about it is absolutely beautiful, Wakana’s vocals, the arrangement, the lyrics, the PV (from what we have seen so far). I have mentioned it before but her “hashitta” in the second chorus(?) kills me every time. And the way the strings build up in the first and last chorus. Ahhh, be still my heart I cannot take it. Btw, I am still not sure if you consider those two last lines in each of the three verses a proper chorus or if the song just consists of three elaborate verses..? But for the sake of this review, I will call them choruses XD 2. やさしさに包まれたなら (Yasashisa ni Tsutsumareta Nara) Arranger: Miki Sakurai; Gorgeous arrangement (especially with the added tin whistle). Kinda reminds me of the Concerning Hobbits theme from LotR. I am a big fan of Celtic and folk-ish elements. Miki Sakurai apparently is a big fan too. After all, her “Yakusoku no Yoake” which she wrote for Wakana’s first album also had strong Celtic vibes. My favourite part of the song is when Wakana sings that final “meseeji” in the last chorus, the arrangement here is beautiful. Still think Wakana’s vocals are a bit too cutesy but hell, it’s a cute song so I guess it seems fitting.  3. Rain Arranger: Shu Kanematsu; Wakana sounds great but the song doesn’t do anything for me. T_T 4. いのちの名前 (Inochi no Namae) Arranger: Shu Kanematsu; OMG, this brought tears to my eyes. SO SO BEAUTIFUL. The way her voice just blends with the strings. Her vocals are a tad quiet though compared to the instruments. Or is it just me?  5. やつらの足音のバラード (Yatsura No Ashioto No Ballade) Arranger: Sin; I can’t put my finger on what exactly I don’t like about this but I can’t seem to get into it. I guess it sounds a little too jazz-y for me...or is it blues? Either way, not my cup of tea but I can see why Wakana would like it this way. And hey, she does pull it off perfectly so who am I to complain? On a side note, those lyrics are just so perfect for Wakana, she doesn’t often get the chance to sing about dinosaurs :P EDIT: Future!Sarah is coming back to revise her opinion. After listening to the album on repeat for hours on end, I now LOVE this song. It’s charming. 6. Get Wild Arranger: Sin; One of the coolest arrangements on this album!! The strings are just PERFECTION. And Wakana SLAYS!! Who would have thought she can pull off a song like that. I mean, we already knew from gettign that teaser video but this is on a whole other level. Too much awesomeness.  7. 風のとおり道 (Kaze no Toorimichi) Arranger: Miki Sakurai; Ahhhhh, so precious and mystical, such a gorgeous arrangement!! I love how we start with just Wakana’s vocals. And then Miki Sakurai adds her magical touch again by inserting all those Celtic elements. The tin whistle fits perfectly. A couple of Wakana’s high notes no longer sound good to my ears here but overall I enjoy her singing. 8. 君をのせて (Kimi wo Nosete) Arranger: Sin; The arrangement is utterly charming, both the piano as well as the strings are perfect here, Wakana’s vocals in the verses are literally flawless. I kinda find myself wishing she had sung the chorus with a different voice though. Mind you, I don’t hate the one she is using here but it’s bordering on being a teeny-tiny bit too shrill and thin for my taste. It’s still solid (and nothing at all like her strained “ring your bell” voice let’s say) but it’s not what I personally enjoy most from her. Either way, I think she is hitting her notes just fine (as far as I can tell at least) and the style fits the overall sound of the song. Pus, they made up for the slightly thin vocals by adding a little harmony layer which I appreciate.  9. 愛にできることはまだあるかい (Ai ni dekiru koto wa mada aru kai) Arranger: Sin; Most of you may know this already but I am a HUGE fan of the cello so I am happy we have such a strong cello presence here. Those cello parts are so cool. Anyways, this turned out to be one of my favourite tracks even though I didn’t think I would ever like this song based on the YouTube teaser we got a while back. There is just so much raw emotion and fierceness in Wakana’s voice, towards the end she is hitting me right in the feels. I just can’t help but be drawn to the song. I am surprised by how well she handles songs that are originally sung by males. Her covers of this and “Get Wild” are just exceptional imo. They bring out a new side of Wakana which I really love. 10. 夢のゆくえ (Yume no Yukue) Arranger: Shu Kanematsu; While I didn’t know this song before listening to Wakana’s cover version, the melody reminded me a LOT of the old anime songs I used to like back in the day. The feeling of nostalgia is super strong in this one so naturally I enjoy it quite a bit. It’s not an outstandingly beautiful song or anything but the arrangement is lovely and Wakana’s vocals are on point. 

»»—— CLICK ME 🎁 CLICK ME ——«« 

FOR PERSONAL USE ONLY. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, if you have the means, support Wakana in any way you can. Order a physical copy of her album, purchase it in digital format. Stream it legally on various streaming services. au

[quirkysubject]

23, 19, 14, 8, 6, 4 - writers asks! ❤️

4. Share a sentence or paragraph from your writing that you’re really proud of (explain why, if you like)

(Damn you.) Sorry, I’ve been sitting here for ten minutes scrolling through my stories, coming up empty. I guess I can’t read any sentence or paragraph out of context of the whole story. Like, what I’m proud of it how it all fits together.

Ha, but as I was just answering the question about titles: There’s one word I’m proud of, and it’s the title of my fic for Freddie Mercury Week - Dislocation.

Because it touches on the song referenced in the fic “dislocate your spine if you don’t sign...”, because it adds to the “somewhere above the Atlantic ocean vibe”, because there’s this whole idea that Freddie feels out of place right then, that this shouldn’t be happening to him - the world is out of joint. And of course, Roger is out of place too, daring to intrude on him like that xD

6. What character do you have the most fun writing?

Roger. I feel really comfortable doing him (hehe) and the versions of him I constructed - he’s a bit different in FtD and the Titanic AU - come easily to me. I also feel like I’m under less scrutiny writing him. And given that there’s much less material about him out there (not even an official bio) I feel I have a bit more leeway to make things up.

8. Is what you like to write the same as what you like to read?

Pretty much, yes. FtD was written specifically because I wanted to read that story (funnily enough, I still haven’t actually sat down to read it). I tend to be drawn to the same kind of long falling-in-love stories with attention to world-building details and character arches (and smut) and happy endings as a reader. However, I enjoy it very much when an author has a different approach or different strengths (like, if they dwell a bit more on the angst or the emotional whirlwind side, when things are more fast-paced or action-oriented or contain more character introspection).

14. At what point in writing do you come up with a title?

When AO3 forces me to type one into the respective field. Occasionally I get an idea while writing, but usually that ends up just being a working title. I hate titles. There are things about my stories I’ll dither with endlessly, but with titles I absolutely settle for ‘eh, good enough, I suppose’.

19. Is there something you always find yourself repeating in your writing? (favourite verb, something you describe ‘too often’, trope you can’t get enough of?)

Haha, I’ve literally just written about someone guiltily eyeing an accidentally exposed sliver of skin. So stealing glances and pretending you’re totally not ogling your best friend. Also, I really like to do unreliable narrator things. Like a character telling us that he’s certainly NOT (in love, about to do something stupid, just being stubborn) while every single one of his actions is telling us otherwise. Also, theme-wise, anything related to exploring sexuality and - reluctantly - discovering things about themselves. Oh, and people being prepared to sacrifice themselves for their friends and loved ones.  

I’m very uncreative when it comes to describing eyes, I think. They’re always “dark and deep” (Freddie) or “big and blue” (Roger). At the same time, I love writing about “gazes being drawn” and “eyes meeting” xD It’s a curse!

So, that’s what I come up with for this story, but I’m pretty sure there’s an embarrassingly long list of recurring tropes, words and phrases 🙈 However, I really don’t want to think too much about it, because it can be paralysing to constantly question yourself like that.

23. What’s the story idea you’ve had in your head for the longest?

Probably “Idiots Falling in Love while Hunting a Serial Killer”. I attempted to write it once for Sherlock Holmes (although as an AU in which Sherlock is a Jesuit priest and miracle investigator for the Vatican lol) but got stuck at some point. It combines my twin passions: reading about creepy murders and have two dumbasses stare longingly at each other for 200 pages.

Thank you! :)

[missjosie27]

Ethren, Merula, Talbott!

Hmm, I definitely expected Ethren and Meru to be in there but Talbott is interesting. Here goes nothing.

Ethren

First Impression: Someone who overburdened himself, had little patience for bullshit, who’s stoicism was matched by no one. 

Impression Now: A sad sort of character. Tragic. Not in a bad way of course, but I almost feel Ethren never truly got to enjoy the best life could offer given his curse, his situation with Merula, and of course his untimely death. I admire the hell out of him. To me he is incredibly brave, passionate, and willing to sacrifice his well being for others.

Favorite Moment: The part where he’s so unbelievably deriding and sarcastic to Trelawney she can’t even tell Ethren is mocking her. That was one of his funniest moments hah.

Idea for a Story: You and I have actually discussed a couple of these but I’ll reiterate them on here anyway. I want to somehow transport David to Ethren’s world just after the Battle of Hogwarts so he can see just how fortunate he was to make it out alive and with his wife (Merula) out of jail. I would like to see him pay homage and honor Ethren at his grave.

Unpopular Opinion: Ha, oh boy. You’re one of my favorite writers/artists so I can’t think of much to criticize. I guess the only thing that occasionally irked me about Ethren was his lack of fortitude when it came to Merula. He got pushed around too easily a lot of the time, which was very un-Ethren like.

Favorite Relationship: I just gave you grief over Ethren’s relationship with Merula haha but nonetheless I still love those two together. There’s no one else he’d rather be with. The two are permanently linked.

Favorite Headcanon: Since Ethren is American I imagine him being quite prideful about that. So whenever a Brit calls him a ‘yank’ or insults his heritgae he goes full Bruce Springsteen ‘Born in the USA’ on them.

Merula

First Impression: Unlike some on here, I was not infatuated with Merula from the get go. As a matter of fact I hated her and wanted to take every opportunity to crush her in the game.

Impression Now: Full head over heels in love <3 That wouldn’t have happened without JC giving her their weird version of a character arc (which in classic fashion have already screwed up). But I’m an absolute sucker for bad/gothic/villainous girls who eventually turn good and let’s face it, given her background she already has more depth than most Slytherins in the actual books lol.

Favorite Moment: You can’t beat the Yule Ball where you dance together and she’s in that amazing dress and satin gloves. It’s a winner every time. Close second is when she reveals to us why she is the way she is before you go into the vault. It’s very touching.

Idea for a Story: The one I’m currently writing lol. In all seriousness, I do want to build off the commission you did for me and write a little fic featuring Dave taking her to a Motley Crue concert post graduation as a present. 

Unpopular Opinion: This one is definitely not going to jive with some, but’s just a headcanon. I think she’s straight lol. Some have her as gay or bi which is fine but she reminds me of a tomboy I knew that wasn’t all feminine in attitude but was very much into boys and men. Just gives off that kind of vibe to me.

Favorite Relationship: I’m biased. I like her with David of course haha. But @unoriginal2tall @brothergrimm71 @zuulosdovah @mikecaudron @weirdcursedvaultkid and @son-of-aurlius-piscius all have great relationships with her with their own MC’s. And of course, Ethren Whitecross.

Favorite Headcanon: I have a few xD I have it that she secretly loves muggle rock and roll music, likes to rip holes in her tights on purpose, and has a sweet tooth.

Talbott

First Impression: Pretty neutral. Though to be honest, I wasn’t sure what he was going to add to the game other than having an excuse help us become an animagus.

Impression Now: I definitely understand why so many people ship their MCs with him now. He’s got that dark, loner, mysterious vibe which a lot of girls (and boys) find highly appealing. In a game with a lot of big personalities, he’s actually refreshing by being low key. Has a pretty good sense of humor too.

Favorite Moment: I liked it when he fucked with Mrs. Norris in his eagle form haha

Idea for a Story: He and Badeea taking a last stand at the Battle of Hogwarts, holding off several Death Eaters while protecting muggle born students.

Unpopular Opinion: As popular as he is, Talbott would be a tough nut to crack when it comes to dating. Someone who’s gone through the kind of trauma he has would be terrified of letting anyone in much less be willing to share a bed.

Favorite Relationship: You can pretty much pair Talbott with any MC but I like him personally with Badeea or Chiara. Something about those two in particular seem to fit.

Favorite Headcanon: As an eagle he likes to shit on Filch when the old caretaker isn’t looking xD

[icarusatmidnight]

Novel Prep Tag!

I was tagged by @indecentpause to do this, so thank you! I get a bit distracted yesterday watching a certain music video and looking for pictures, hence why it’s a little late~ :D

Rules: Answer the questions and then tag as many writers as there are questions answered (or as many as you can) to spread the positivity! Even if these questions are not explicitly brought up in the novel, they are still good to keep in mind when writing.

1. Describe your novel in 1-2 sentences (elevator pitch)

Three twentysomething year old insomniacs attend an informal late night support group to deal with their magical trauma, or maybe become gods? The wording is pretty unclear.

2. How long do you plan for your novel to be? (Is it a novella, single book, book series, etc.)

I'm still not honestly sure. When I think about it, I always personally break it into Act 1, Act 2, Act 3 but I'm still not sure if those will be just acts with a single book or something more. o:

3. What is your novel’s aesthetic?

Modern magic, mundane magic, runes and signals littered as graffiti in subways, redcap blood drives on the weekend in the park, friendships are rad, failure as a positive, that good old city night life, curling up in diner booths at 3am because why the heck not, found families and getting better

4. What other stories inspire your novel?

The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater, definitely! I had this hazy vibe and the character for Icarus before reading those books but seeing how ...matter of fact and mundane magic was described in the books just clicked something in my head. I ended up tossing out the old half-plot it had, and by the end of month, I had this new one and much much happier with it. :D

Also, the Serenity Rose comic book series. I have a thing for near-god characters that still have really relatable issues and just want to live their mundane life. It's one of favorite ...tropes, I guess, and that series does it great. It also deals with growing past your trauma (working through your negativity, so to speak~) so, yeah! It's free online too and I'd highly recommend it. Fair warning though, second book is a fair bit bloody at times. 

5. Share 3+ images that give a feel for your novel

I will always love this gif and the whole scene in MIKA’s Make You Happy video (the whole video really) but the playful vibes of dipshit friends is like, Icarus’s core to me. ( ´͈ ◡ `͈ )

Also, just... a lot of Hydrae’s art especially her old Teen Wolf fanart (like the bottom left picture). Fun fact! I first created the concepts of Oleander and Daed when I was watching the first season of Teen Wolf, so seems pretty fitting I still draw inspiration from one of my favorite artists from that time. Her DnD art is amazing too! :D

MAIN CHARACTER

6. Who is your protagonist?

Oleander Thistle is the main-main protagonist~.

7. Who is their closest ally?

While he dearly loves Kingcup and Thyme, his closest ally is Daed and he will always be. They're known each other the longest at this point and Daed does have Oleander's best interest at heart and can look out for him without overstepping his boundaries either.

8. Who is their enemy?

I want to say Lund because it's Lund. But he doesn't really feature in the story outside of mentions and flashbacks, so it's probably easiest to say shitty societal stigmas and shitty coping mechanisms on a whole?? 

9. What do they want more than anything?

Oleander ...wants to know more about himself and his past especially how he survived losing his heart back when he was like six. He has some theories that make sense, but he's lacking some good hard facts about that. Not knowing actually causes him a fair amount of internal conflict that he can’t seem to rationalize away like he can with most other things.

10. Why can’t they have it?

The easiest to swallow answer is he simply lacks any way of knowing or finding out. Both of his parents are gone and Lund wouldn't know so unless someone has a time machine, his hands are pretty much tied.

The harder one is that Oleander is honestly terrified of finding out that he's not who or even what he thinks he is, so he doesn't try and lets his fears fester inside of him. Like, what even is he? Who can honestly survive having their heart ripped out of their chest still beating and live on without it being much of an issue? It's fucking weird. One of the ideas that refuses to leave him alone is that he's nothing more than a confused spirit possessing the corpse of a dead six year old, and what if that's true? He spent years trying to get his life back. What was all that for if he's even not himself?

11. What do they wrongly believe about themselves?

That he's not him, but that's less wrongly believed and more his worst fear, you know?? Wrongly believed is honestly more Kingcup and Thyme's areas, and that's part of why they like Oleander. The kid is pretty matter of fact and reasonable with his opinions especially about himself (or so it seems on the outside, and even then it’s the what ifs that drag him down). He's like their unflappable little rock! :D

Until, of course, he isn't. :’D

12. Draw your protagonist! (Or share a description)

I really love doodling Olly so thank you. ^o^! Fun fact, his natural hair is like a dark auburn brown. His original plan was to screw around with his hair for funsies for a bit while he was traveling with Daed, only for someone to tell him blonde was a really bad look for him one day in a grocery store. He’s spitefully kept it blonde ever since because fuck you too, lady.

PLOT POINTS

13. What is the internal conflict?

Outside of his ‘what am I’ conundrum which is his main internal conflict, he’s also figuring out how to better navigate the bitter raging sea of anger inside of him. He may want to know more about himself, but that doesn’t mean he’s completely a-okay with the years he spent under Lund’s control. The trauma is still real.

14. What is the external conflict?

They've all been burned and traumatized by magic, and instead of doing the more rational approach to healing like talk to a therapist, they ...do other things that are less helpful. There's also a massive social stigma to having been burned by magic so it's not like they actually have a lot of options at hand. :/ Starting Icarus is actually helpful in that regard because at the minimum, it builds a nice little support system.

15. What is the worst thing that could happen to your protagonist?

Oleander is screaming the worst already happened, what could be worse than his past?! But off the top of my head, losing his heart again would been such a devastation to him. Or, just giving up completely.

16. What secret will be revealed that changes the course of the story?

That's a good question. o:

17. Do you know how it ends?

There's plenty of bits and pieces that I know happen, but it's not absolute yet.

BITS AND BOBS

18. What is the theme?

Mistakes don’t have to define you. Recovery isn't a straight line, but it's possible. Found families are neat.

19. What is a reoccurring symbol?

We will see. I’m sure they’ll pop up at times. xD

20. Where is the story set? (Share a description)

Most of the story takes places in a small port city named Dead Leaves. Less of it takes place in the Inbetween and The Romneya Backwoods too, but Dead Leaves is the main spot. Like I said, it's smaller city but still thriving and lively. The Icarus verse has a slight solarpunky vibe to it so despite the name, it's very green with lots of parks and trees and plants. It's common to see ivy climbing up old buildings and rooftops to have their own little gardens. There's plenty to do with an ton of shops and venues and museums and old historical spots too. Its home to the ever famous Clove Archives that's a massive tourist spot for all to visit, and because of that, there's a few universities and colleges within the city too.

I definitely write it with Boston in mind too, so yes~ c:

21. Do you have any images or scenes in your mind already?

I'm a super visual person so, oh god yes! Do I ever! So many scenes! One of my favorites involves Kingcup punching a wall and Oleander throwing up a wall. :D

22. What excited you about this story?

I just really like these characters, this concepts and the story I have so far. It honestly feels me with joy when I doodle and write about them and it's one of the first stories I've worked on that doesn’t really ever frustrate me either. I also just want to write a story about queer kids finding friendships, falling in love, dealing with the shit and learning from the lesser mistakes you make in your youth. Failure isn’t a death sentence, you know?

23. Tell us about your usual writing method!

I beat my ADHD down every so often and just write write write until it regains its strength? o: I’m gonna look into seeing a specialist this year to learn a better way because it doesn’t work well enough anymore. :l

Tagging: Mhmm. It said lots of people so @elliot-orion @loopyhoopydrabbles @mirror-of-too-many-books If y’all don’t want too, that’s totally cool too! :D And anyone else who would like to do it, please do it! I loved to see it! <3

[valkerymillenia]

Omg there's so much I want to talk about in TLJ that I don't even know where to start!

And my ships 😏 hehe I see what the authors are doing.

Red herrings everywhere.

Spoilers ahead.

These are random disjointed fangirlish thoughts on the movie that I have to spill out before I can become coherent again. Bare with me.

THE HUMOUR! So good and yet so well nuanced that it complemented the seriousness of the  movie very well.

GENERAL HUGS and SALT GUY need to be memes. I mean, c’mon guys, you know I’m right.

LEIA USING THE FORCE TO SAVE HERSELF, IN THE VACUUM OF SPACE! My gods, she always had so much potential and it’s good to see some of it finally being expressed. They built Leia up so well in this movie, so much development, I love it but now I’m so afraid of what they’ll do for ep IX without Carrie...

Billie Lourd having way more protagonism! The legacy continues.

WOMEN EVERYWHERE!  As many as the men and in equal posts! Thank you, gods! Also, POC everywhere! YES, THANK YOU!

Rose is freaking adorable and well written, the viewers form an instant connection with her through her sister and she has that innocent and wonder that we haven’t had since New Hope’s Luke.

Though Rose describing Canto Bight made me laugh because it was a perfect echo of Obi-Wan describing Mos Isley... In fact when she described it as an ugly horrifying place filled with the most despicable people, all I could think was ‘girl, you’ve clearly never been to Mos Isley’. Though in the end Canto Bight is more civilized but morally worse than Mos Isley so she’s not wrong.

Still wondering was the message Rey asked Chewie to give Finn...

Shipping wise... They're baiting us with Finn x Rose AND Finn x Poe AND Finn x Rey all at once. Interesting to see the guy being the center of a love tangle for a change. Anyway, they are clearly letting the audience chose how to interpret each relationship.

Now, I’m trying to analyze this without shipper goggles (yet) so...

Poe's body language is all over Finn who seems clueless, Poe just acts so differently around Finn compared to others, hell, he even acts possessive of Finn (the way he examines all of ‘naked and leaking’ Finn, and, his face when he meets Rose and slightly places himself between her and Finn- “Who’s this?”).

Rose kisses Finn but he doesn't kiss back, it's not even shock he just looks confused and more concerned with saving her. In sum- Rose's body language is all over Finn, even more explicitly than Poe (because heteronormativity and all) but once again Finn looks absolutely clueless of what others feel towards him.

The only times Finn's body language and attitude go beyond more than friendship and admiration are when it's related to Rey... Though then she’s the one whose body language only denotes platonic feelings.

I see what's happening- the authors are showing all these options as red herrings under our noses, which often happens in the middle of trilogies, all so the fans won't be able to guess what's coming. Hell, I could almost feel an asexual vibe from Finn and the Rose x Finn kiss echoes the red herring Leia x Luke kiss in ep V so much...

Personally I still ship stormpilot (though not averse to Rose and Poe sharing Finn but that will never happen and still prefer stormpilot), even though I openly admit that it's clear they wanted to show obvious Finn x Rey chemistry and some Finn x Rose (albeit more one-sided).

Moving on...

ALL THE FUCKING REYLO! My poor shipper heart was exploding!

Topless Kylo! Flustered “please-cover-up-that-distracting-bod” Rey! LMAO!

I'm so happy that reylo is a cannon thing now. Sure, it's in a tragic ship sort of way instead of openly romantic, but damn, that back to back battle against the praetorian guard... AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Scarred Kylo! 

Kylo hesitating and refusing to shoot, most likely because Leia was on board the ship...

Rey crying when she touches Kylo and connects to his emotions. 

Official confirmation that Snoke was already manipulating Ben when he was Luke’s apprentice (like what was stated in the novelization of TFA).

Ben turning to the dark because he felt betrayed by Luke (echoing Anakin and the Jedi Council). 

Kylo constantly conflicted and expressing it through anger and obvious emotional vulnerability, even (or even more so) as he becomes “the big baddy”.

Kylo BEGGING to have Rey on his side. And vice-versa.

Kylo killing Snoke, not for power but for Rey, the power was just his ambition and greed bubbling up as Rey denies him.

Pretty sure Kylo will get a redemption arc- I know it doesn't seem like it but the clues are there and I'm a good 90% sure of this, otherwise we'd just have a copy of Anakin's conflict all over again albeit Kylo being more ambiguous and also less determined in about his intentions. Now, if this redemption ends well or not, with love or without it, with grey jedi or otherwise, that is where the mystery lies.

Ok, I admit, Reylo is my otp but objectively in canon I don't know how the ship will end, at this point it can go either way; but imho Kylo will be redeemed somehow. As a writer and someone very much used to deconstructing plots, I can tell that there are enough clues for this, not just in this movie but in the big picture of the whole SW movieverse. 

One thing is for sure- the old dichotomy of jedi and sith as we know it is dead. Luke, Kylo and Yoda give us enough confirmation of this (and admittedly the whole black-white/good-evil extremes thing was getting SO old).

Personally I'm praying with all my might that we get Grey Jedi at last! And that would make both Rey and Kylo’s predictions true- she strays from the light and him from the dark and they meet in a middle term... It would make sense and seems to have been foreshadowed but unfortunately it’s not one of those things I can say I’m certain off. 

Let’s also have in account that the title of the movie is “The Last Jedi” but intended as plural (even here the subtitle was plural) so when Luke says “I will not be the last jedi”, I don’t think he means Rey exclusively.

Kylo was not made for leadership and rule either so I do wonder who will take the reigns of this crumbled government when it’s all said and done.

What else...

POE BEING A HOT-HEADED DAREDEVIL! He had such an aura of competence and poise in TFA but in TLJ we saw so much development, he was so humanized and flawed (but in the best way).

Phasma’s death was... as we say in Portugal “soube-me a pouco”, aka it felt lacking. Don’t get me wrong, it was epic, but they made such a huge deal of her in PR and marketing (especially in TFA) that it feels like she had a bigger role that got edited out in post-production. The fight with Finn was perfect and excellent for his growth but it felt like we needed more on Phasma to make it more meaningful.

HOLDO’S KAMIKAZE MOVE! Goddamn, I had mixed feelings about her through the whole movie but, although I usually dislike the kamikaze martyr trope, at that moment I just adored her. I feel like we could have gotten a bit more personal with her but either way it was tragically perfect.

Luke’s death felt unnecessary. Again, don’t get me wrong- I was afraid I’d hate it but it was a good death, an appropriate and meaningful one; however, it felt anti-climatic and unnecessary in the progression and pacing of the story itself. Perhaps if framed differently... Either way, the only way the manner of his death can be justified to me is if he has an important role (big or small, whatever, but meaningful) as a Force Ghost in ep IX.

Kinda wish we'd have a Luke-Anaking force ghost reunion; the two of them guiding Leia and Rey and even Kylo... But that's just wishful thinking.

The sweet moment between Leia and Luke broke me, I wanted to cry. They deserved so much more time together, hell, WE deserved to see so much more interaction between them as close siblings.

The almost imperceptive glance we get of the Jedi books safely stored in the Falcon! Begging the questions- who and why?

I wanted more Chewie and definitely more Maz! I really, really, REALLY want more Maz as a sassier modern version of Yoda.

Speaking of- loved the Yoda cameo- Mr ‘if you don’t have the balls then I’ll do for you’.

I get a feeling we’ll be seeing DJ again... But, honestly, so many new characters and they COULDN’T BRING BACK LANDO FUCKING CALRISSIAN?!

Please tell me Rey will build her own lightsaber now! And make it a lightsaber pike, it fits her much better than than the Skywalker saber. 

Liked Rey’s parentage reveal, honestly so much better than having her conveniently be the heir of a pre-existing character. Also gives her tragic past much more intensity.

Porgs were cute but screw them, the Vulptex’s were soooooo much better.

I’m conflicted about Snoke’s death... It was brilliant but at the same time it wasn’t as impactful as it could be if his role had been more pronounced in TFA. Still, very good though.

Best of all- HUX BEING TOSSED AROUND LIKE A DOLL. Deflates his ego beautifully. And when Kylo gives the “shoot with all you got” order when Luke pops up and Hux repeats the order word by word but louder to the troops and Kylo just gives him that ‘bitch, I just said that’ face... Priceless.

I loved BB-8 before but now I ADORE HIM! In Poe’s ship trying to fix the circuit board and then just goes “fuck it” and smashes into the whole thing. xD “Finn, wet, leaking” ! And taking out the prison guards! And piloting a damn AT-AT alone to shoot troopers! He’s so fucking smart and resourceful and just as much a daredevil as Poe, not to mention cute AF! 

BB-9E was interesting we didn’t get much more from him than appearance so BB-8 FTW!

Give me BB-8 merch. All the BB-8 merch!  Pillows, plushies, the drone! I’m in love with all things BB-8!

But when it comes to droids, I wanted more from R2, he felt neglected. Though that move of showing the old recording of young Leia’s distress message to push Luke really was genius.

Wondering if the little boy at the end is force sensitive or if he (or other kids) will have any role in the Resistance, there was a lot of foreshadowing there.

OMG the movie was just sooooo good! The spoilers terrified me but it was so good, for a mid-trilogy movie it was just right. Let’s hope IX lives up to it.

Finally, one last question- WHY IS NOBODY ASKING WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OTHER HANDFUL OF PADAWANS (KNIGHTS OF REN) THAT LEFT WITH BEN??????

I got up and practically saluted when the “in memory of” showed up. It got me in tears.

Ok, end of rambles... for now. 

[putschki1969]

Wakana Winter Special Live Matataki Osaka Live Report

So, I thought I would use the opportunity to write a quick report on my Shinkansen ride back to Tokyo.

Venue: This was my first time attending a concert at a live house so this was a pretty new experience for me. Everything is so small and intimate. Thank God they had seats prepared. For a long time I was worried this would be an all-standing live (which I absolutely would have hated). Umeda Quattro was a pain in the ass to find though. It’s hidden quite well on the 10th floor of a pretty inconspicuous building. And if you have ever been to Umeda, you know it’s a pretty spacious station. The elevator is out of service in the morning so we had to take the stairs to line up for the goods. I am so happy that her Osaka lives were completely sold out, Wakana deserves all of her concerts to be sold out! I really hope the Tokyo venue won’t be too empty, it would make me really sad, especially since it’s her birthday. Btw, I really love how it pays off to be a fan club member these days! I remember back in the Kalafina days being a fan club member never made a difference when it came to your seats. But I have always gotten a good seat with my Botanical Land application. So as always I suggest you get yourself a membership if you are planning to attend any Wakana lives in the future.

Acoustics: The acoustics naturally weren’t the best but I thought they were decent enough. During the Day performance I had a seat in the very first row right in front of Wakana. The sound was well balanced in that area. During the Evening performance I was in the third row all the way on the right side so the sound wasn’t too great there (it wasn’t balanced at all and since the speaker was right next to me, everything was a little too loud for my taste but it was bearable). I thought Wakana’s microphone had just the right volume to suit the instruments. She wasn’t overshadowed by the drums or anything.

Stage production and musicians: There wasn’t any special production, just the musicians behind Wakana. As far as I am concerned they all did a good job, especially the girl on percussion, she was really into it. I didn’t think they could make all her songs work with just piano, percussion and guitar but they managed to make everything sound great. Enjoyed all the arrangements!! Wakana was wearing a gorgeous flowy red dress that was giving off major Christmas vibes. She just wore her own pair of boots, the one we have seen her wear all the time recently. For the encore she put on her Aki no Sakura outfit. Couldn’t help but look at her pretty ankles, I have never seen them this up-close *feels like a perv saying this* There were obviously no cameras so there is zero chance of this being released in case anyone was wondering. I always get so many questions regarding releases :P

Vocals: Personally I thought Wakana was flawless during the very slow ballads but I didn’t enjoy her singing all that much during the high-tempo Kalafina songs (I never really did). Then there are songs like Kinmokusei and Yakusoku no Yoake where I know she is purposefully using a higher pitch but at times she is treading a fine line between sounding lovely and screechy. But overall, she delivered a strong performance despite doing so many songs in one day. I was expecting her voice to get a little weak during the Evening performance but for the most part, she did well. You can tell she has really worked on her stamina.

MCs: Wakana was much more nervous during the day performance. She kept screwing up and saying the wrong thing in the wrong order XD It was utterly adorable. She was constantly holding her water bottle/towel. It happened at night as well but she was much more confident there. During the first MC of the Day performance Wakana noticed me in the first row and pointed out that someone was wearing one of her outfits. Imagine my happiness!! I was over the moon! To have her say this in front of all these people. Waaaaaahhh!!! Senpai noticed me XD At the end of the Evening performance during the final greeting Wakana started crying because she was overwhelmed with feelings. They were happy tears because she was reflecting on all the things that had happened that year. It was a good and productive year for her after all, she can be proud. She tried squeezing her nose to stop crying but it didn’t work. Precious baby *sobs*

Day vs. Evening: In total three songs were different at the Evening performance. She sang Hard Rain instead of Boku no Kokoro no Tokei, snow falling instead of Yasashii Uta and she added a double encore to sing Ato Hitotsu. I am expecting the Tokyo lives to follow a similar - if not the same - pattern. Overall the evening audience was a bit more engaged. Louder clapping, proper singing along and a standing ovation at the end.

Thoughts on various songs: Not gonna go into detail regarding every single song. Eve was most definitely one of the highlights! I originally said that lyrics would seem overbearing with this sort of song but the way they arranged it made it work. Such a gorgeous song!! And Wakana’s vocals are simply outstanding. I remember her saying in an Instagram post that she was struggling while rehearsing this song since the notes were so high. At the time I read that post I was a little confused because she doesn’t actually sing that high in the short studio version. Now it makes sense because this full version with Japanese lyrics has super high parts and oh my God, Wakana sounds amazing. She is using a fuller voice which suits the song much better. Cannot wait to hear this two more times!! *so excited* I really hope this song is re-released soon!! I need to have this on CD!!! Orange was really good but nothing to write home about. I always enjoy Boku no Kokoro no Tokei and this time was no exception, I was a little bummed to have it replaced with Hard Rain during the night performance but hey, at least this way we got more songs. And she did a good job with that too. I actually liked this performance more than the one from the Voice tour. Her singing was nicer and she improvised a bit towards the end. I already mentioned Kinmokusei earlier, I absolutely love this song and generally enjoyed the performance but occasionally Wakana is getting to a range that doesn’t sound pleasant to my ears anymore. I know she is going for a pentatonic sound and maybe I am just not used to that but some notes were just too high for my liking. But it didn’t take away from the performance, it’s one of my favourite songs from her album so I am super happy she decided to sing it. As expected, I liked Yuuyake much more once I saw it performed live but it’s still not among my favourites.

Ahhhh!! The Christmas section! I was hoping she would sing a few Christmas pieces and YAY, she actually did!!! A staff member brought out a small chair and a lyrics stand for Wakana (since all the songs were in English she struggled quite a bit so I am guessing she had some notes to help her with the pronunciation). That Silent Night performance was utterly gorgeous! It started with the pianist using a fancy organ setting. Wakana started slowly by using a very warm and ethereal singing style - almost operatic I would say. I literally broke into tears, it was so unbelievably beautiful!! Wakana needs to release a Christmas cover album RIGHT NOW!!! After the first epic verse the other band members joined in and the song became a bit lighter and joyful, towards the end it was almost a pop-like arrangement, not sure how to explain it. Quite fascinating as a whole, I genuinely enjoyed the different styles used in the song. I didn’t know the second Christmas song at all and Wakana’s Engrish made it very hard to decipher the lyrics. But thankfully I understood the word “eskimos” so I just looked for a Christmas song that had “eskimos” in the lyrics XD Turns out there is only one, The Christmas Song. Not sure why Wakana decided to sing this. Maybe it’s very popular in Japan? No idea! Anyways, it was okay. She sounded lovely. Don’t really care for the song though, there are MUCH better Christmas songs out there that would have suited her better but I am sure she had her reasons. All I Want for Christmas is You on the other hand was PERFECT for Wakana. Such a pleasant surprise. You could tell that she had sung that song many times before, she felt much more comfortable with the English lyrics. And she slayed!! It’s no easy feat to cover a Mariah Carey song but she did it quite brilliantly. This is not a song I usually enjoy but Wakana made me like it!!

Now we get to Kalafina’s section which was surprisingly my least favourite. I will be honest, I didn’t like her Kalafina song choice here at all. The fact that she decided to stick with the original fast arrangements didn’t help either. I wonder why she didn’t go with a slow acoustic arrangement...that would have helped her a lot....Wakana has always had a hard time with these songs, you could tell she was straining her voice even back then during Kalafina days when she had Keiko and Hikaru singing alongside her. All by herself the songs got so much harder. Wakana admitted that these songs were super hard for her but she wanted to perform them for the fans. Seeing everyone’s happy face was worth the struggle according to her. As always the cheers were super loud for the Kalafina songs. Eden was okay, I know the song means a lot to Wakana and she really did her best but meh, she was out of breath a lot. Into the world was definitely my favourite in this section. I actually thought she was gonna sing Natsu no Ringo because the intro sounded just like it but no, it was just a fancy intro that transitioned nicely to the more familiar sound of into the world. She sounded solid during all parts and it’s just such a perfect fit for the journey she is now taking. It was quite moving to have her sing it. Her final “into the world” was amazing!!! Didn’t like ring your bell at all!! Probably my least favourite performance of the live. I never liked her singing style in this song and except for the final “ring your bell and raise your song” I found her singing quite screechy (mostly during the chorus). And for some reason she didn’t sing the bridge which is hands down my favourite part of the song (where she typically uses a more fitting and lovely singing style). Such a shame. (;_;)

Wakana is so much better with her own mid/high-tempo songs. Tsubasa and Kimi Dake no Stage were lots of fun!! Everyone was clapping along! Nothing out of the usual, pretty similar to her Voice performances I would say. But the best was without a doubt Koi wa Itsumo!!! Still cannot believe how much I love this song, it’s so freaking good!! Just wish she would have sung the “baby, baby” parts but since some parts are overlapping with her other lines she obviously couldn’t do it XD At the end she was asking us to sing along to the “haha koi wa haha itsumo haha sekai wo kaeru no” part and eventually we were singing all by ourselves. It was really nice. I am happy the audience participated. Usually it’s hard to get Japanese audiences to engage in something unexpected like that. During the Evening performance everyone had already figured it out so they were much more involved. She ended the main part of her live with Yakusoku no Yoake. Once again we got the gorgeous organ setting and Wakana sang a slightly slowed down version of the intro. It was so much better than the studio version or the performances from the Voice tour. Reminded me a lot of the first verse of Silent Night. The rest of the song was good but a little too high pitched at times.

As for the encore, OMG, Wakana’s solo versions of both Yasashii Uta [Day] as well as snow falling [Night] were PERFECT!! Utterly flawless!!! I am so grateful she sang these two songs, I was really hoping and praying for snow falling!!! Don’t even know what else to say about it. I personally didn’t mind the absence of Keiko and Hikaru, Wakana managed well on her own. Aki no Sakura was slowed down a tiny bit for the live I think...liked it much more like this. Generally it was a very good performance that made me appreciate the song a lot more. Ahhhh, so happy we got Ato Hitotsu as double encore during the Evening performance. It wasn’t as moving as her Voice performance but still super lovely.

Okay, that’s it for me. I had a blast. Not regretting going for all four Wakana lives. Cannot wait for tomorrow.