#April is literally the bane of my existence

[sunflowergraves]

[nwjws]

(TEASER) WAIT FOR YOU TO LIKE ME AGAIN - LSH

READ HERE

; SYNOPSIS - whether it be in the middle of the halls or during his election speech, heeseung's never passed up an opportunity to ask you out on a date. although you've always said no, that hasn't stopped the boy from trying again anyway - at least until senior year, when he suddenly stopped pursuing you, to your (and everyone's) bewilderment.

; PAIRING - heeseung x fem!reader

; TAGS - teaser, one-shot, high school au, president!heeseung, vice president!reader, one-sided enemies to lovers

; WARNINGS - none for the teaser. warnings for the actual one-shot will be mentioned beforehand.

; WC - 389 words. fic is estimated to be 10k+

; WHEN? hopefully by APRIL 17! comment or send an ask if you want to be added to the taglist 🫶

you hated lee heeseung.

throughout the three years you've known him, he's been always the bane of your existence. the boy was constantly bugging you and pulling a new stunt every time to show off and get your attention. all this to ask you out on a date practically every week since the age of fourteen.

seriously, after a hundred 'no's you'd think he'd learn to back off, and yet, he was still persistent in pursuing you.

at least, until your final year began.

see, you two were competing against each other for student council president towards the end of the previous year. despite this, he still insisted that you go out with him throughout the election.

the worst part of the elections was that he was immensely popular (aka. he was an actual threat). on top of being the captain for boys' volleyball team, he was class rep and actively helped out teachers after school. students and teachers alike were drawn in by his hardworking yet casual nature, and how easily he talked to others. it didn't help that during the final election speeches, he had so graciously ended it with "and aren't all these qualities worthy of at least one date?"

of course he still managed to make such a serious event about asking you out. whoops and cheers echoed the hall, with almost everyone looking at you. everyone knew your history, with half the school on his side, cheering him on and urging you to say yes.

thankfully, the other half of the student body understood that no means no, and were more sympathetic towards you.

yet, it was his last sentence that won the people over, and he'd been voted as the president, with you as vice.

"just say yes, one date won't hurt," ningning had chuckled when you groaned about it again to her after she came back from her summer camp.

"yes it literally will? my pride and reputation of always saying no will eat me before i ever agree."

"maybe he'll back off if you do?"

"no number of rejections has stopped him, how would a 'yes' do that?"

"maybe he'll realise you're absolutely undateable," she laughed at you, which had you throwing a pillow at her in retaliation.

you scowled at her before pulling out your phone and finding heeseung's instagram.

; TAGLIST (closed!) perm. @lovelovelovebts @miyseung @babyy-bambii @haechansbbg @gweoriz @maoyueze @manooffline @chocwo @yizhoutv @isawritesss @bobabunhee @rikibun @wonniversity networks. @kflixnet @k-films @/k-labels

; AUTHOR’S CORNER! comeback fic 😝🤞icbb to say more

[chrisrin]

I'M FREEE!!!!

the latch batch of pre-orders are packed and i'm bringing them to the post office tomorrow!

i'll probably put leftover stock up in a few weeks? i'm a little worried i might've missed a charm or two in an order because my cat (love of my life. bane of my existence) decided to have play time in my pre-prepped packages and i came back to the crime scene of her having literally pulled a bunch of charms out of the packages in their little baggies, i guess she really liked them! but it meant that! i had a mess of unsorted charms that had already been packaged!

and after i packed everything back up i had (1) singular ranchers charm that didn't find a home that i Should Not Have. so someone is probably missing a rancher.

so i'll wait a tad for people to get their packages and if you happen to be missing any items feel free to reach out and e-mail me or use my shop's contact page, or dm me on tumblr i swear im friendly and do not bite.

i don't have a TON of leftover stock but i'm also not sure if i'll sell out again as quickly as last time? but either way if you do want to secure a lovely little charm and didn't before, it'll probably be around the 14th of april that i put the leftovers up.

i'll make an announcement on my socials reminding, and also i'll send an e-mail on my newsletter!

i do have more merch ideas and stuff i want to do in the future but after the leftovers i'm gonna take a step back for a few months and dig my teeth back into animating because a) i miss it and b) if i don't finish slow motion this year i will stop drawing for the rest of my life and c) the shop's been very time consuming and i need a bit of a break from it.

ANYWAYS THAT'S ALL!! upd8 from me. also for the scitties fans im working on hotguy comic zine stuff and ;) excited to show that stuff off in due time. i'm returning to my roots. those roots being drawing scar shirtless.

[is-this-fandom-who-knows]

Okay so I got several notes on my "Things Jason Todd should freak out over that happened while he was dead/in a coma/braindead/gone" post about using it in a timeline EXCEPT I listed those events off the top of my head and didn't actually look up when they happened relative to each other so I know that they weren't in chronological order so I am relisting each of those plus a few new ones in chronological order with issue dates here if anyone actually does want a timeline. If the comment references events that take place some time apart then I listed by whichever happened first. Check the issues listed to figure out when the second event happened. I may edit this post later.

"There's another Mister Miracle? And he's human?" (Mister Miracle Vol.2 #22, December 1990)

"Deathstroke killed Jericho? Damn and I thought Bruce was a shitty dad -" (New Titans #83, February 1992)

"Danny is dead?" (New Titans #84, March 1992)

"Donna had a kid? One that was supposed to grow up to be so evil that an entire group of Titans from the future came back in time to stop him from being born? Kid definitely got it from his dad." (Deathstroke the Terminator #14, September 1992) (Team Titans #1, September 1992)

"Apparently Miriam Delgado is a name I need to add to my list :)" (New Titans #90, September 1992)

"Since when did Deathstroke have a daughter and why is she missing an eye too?" (Deathstroke the Terminator #15, October 1992) (Teen Titans Vol.3 #12, August 2004)

"SUPERMAN DIED HOW THE FUCK DID THIS DOOMSDAY GUY JUST PUNCH SUPERMAN TO DEATH HE'S SUPERMAN." (Superman Vol.2 #75, November 1992)

"Okay what happened to Qurac? Entire countries do not just disappear." (Deathstroke the Terminator #19, February 1993)

"What the fuck do you mean Roy Harper's baby momma nuked it???!! Where did she even get nukes??!!" (Deathstroke the Terminator #19, February 1993)

"Also apparently Superman has a clone now???" (Adventures of Superman #500, June 1993)

"Who the fuck is this Bane guy and how did he break B's back." (Batman Vol.1 #497, July 1993)

"COAST CITY DOESN'T EXIST ANYMORE - WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT DOESN'T EXIST ANYMORE?" (Green Lantern Vol.3 #46, October 1993)

"Hal Jordan became evil?" (Green Lantern Vol.3 #49, February 1994)

"Are the Green Lantern Corps around rn?" (Green Lantern Vol.3 #50, March 1994)

"What the fuck is the speed force." (The Flash Vol.2 #91, June 1994)

"Iris Allen is alive and time travelled here from the future with her grandson apparently??" (The Flash Vol.2 #92, July 1994)

"Dick and Kory broke up???" (New Titans #114, September 1994)

"Is- is Guy Gardner human, or -" (Guy Gardner: Warrior #0, October 1994)

"There's a Green Arrow 2.0 and he's the first one's kid? Poor guy." (Green Arrow Vol.2 #91, November 1994) (Green Arrow Vol.2 #96, April 1995)

"So Green Arrow also died and came back?" (Green Arrow Vol.2 #101, October 1995) (Green Arrow Vol.3 #1 April 2001)

"Wait who the fuck is Neron." (Underworld Unleashed #1, November 1995)

"Blockbuster is smart now?" (Underworld Unleashed #1, November 1995) (Impulse #8, November 1995)

"You're telling me that B had the opportunity to bring me back to life - back to him and he didn't fucking take it?! Yes I know that I was already alive and it was like literally a deal with the devil it's the principle of the matter!" (Underworld Unleashed #2, December 1995)

"Apparently while I was gone Gotham was targeted by a deadly plague, got hit by a giant earthquake, and basically got kicked out of the US?" (Batman: Shadow of the Bat #48, March 1996) (Batman: Shadow of the Bat #73, April 1998) (Detective Comics #729, February 1999)

"Dick moved to Bludhaven and became a fucking cop?" (Nightwing Vol.2 #1 October 1996)(Nightwing Vol.2 #41 March 2000)

"What the fuck do you mean the sun almost got eaten." (The Final Night, November 1996)

"Look is Hal Jordan alive or not." (The Final Night#4, November 1996) (Day of Judgement #5, November 1999) (Green Lantern: Rebirth #4, March 2005)

"So... How old is Aqualad now? Why was he hanging out with Aquaman's dad? Why did that make him older?" (Tempest, November 1996 - February 1997)

"Oh, Aqualad's going by Tempest now? Good to know." (Tempest #2, December 1996)

"Supes got married? Congrats to him but I've met Lois Lane and I know she could do better." (Superman: The Wedding Album, December 1996)

"Martians almost took over the world?" (JLA Vol.1 #1, January 1997)

"Wait Donna's husband and baby died? Damn." (Wonder Woman Vol.2 #121, May 1997)

"The entire population had to run so that the Flash could siphon the energy to run a fucked up Hunger Games/Olympics crossover race set by a pair intergalctic alien gods so they wouldn't Alderaan earth?" (The Flash Vol.2 #138, June 1998)

"Someone actually decided to date the Joker? Is she insane? Don't answer that." (Batman: Harley Quinn, October 1999)

"Aqualad - sorry, Tempest- had a kid too?!" (Aquaman Vol.5 #63, January 2000)

"Flash got married too? IDK who Linda is but congrats to them both too I guess." (The Flash Vol.2 #159, April 2000)

"YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT BASICALLY EVERY HERO GOT THEIR AGE TEMPORARILY FUCKED UP? I NEED PICS ASAP." (Young Justice: Sins of Youth, May 2000)

"The JLA kicked B out and almost fell apart because they found out he had made contingency plans to take em all out? You're telling me they were actually surprised? Old man's paranoid as fuck of course he has contingency plans." (JLA Vol.1 #46, October 2000)

"What's all this about playing baseball to save the earth?" (Young Justice Vol.1 #27, January 2001)

"B and Supes told the rest the JLA their secret identities? I didn't think they had it in them." (JLA Vol.1 #50, February 2001)

"Commish got shot? By who? Are they still alive? I can fix it if they are he's the only cop worth a damn in this city." (Batman Vol.1 #587, March 2001)

"Y'all went to war with a guy trying to literally hollow out the universe? damn." (JLA: Our Worlds at War, September 2001)

"So Dickie finally got adopted." (Batman: Gotham Knights #21, November 2001)

"B got arrested and put on trial for murder? Imao." (Batman: the 10-cent Adventure, March 2002)

"WAIT HE WAS FRAMED BY BATGIRL 3.0'S DAD?" (Batman Vol.1 #605, September 2002)

"I'm sorry, Pretender's team led a bunch of other heroes, most of whom I've never even heard of, to invade the sovereign nation of Zandia? Like, I know it's just a nation for criminals to hang out and avoid justice, but still." (Young Justice Vol.1 #50, December 2002)

"One of the Pretender's friends was a ghost that was actually an interdimensional portal to Apokolips?" (Young Justice Vol.1 #55, May 2003)

"DONNA DIED AND CAME BACK TOO?" (Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day #3, August 2003) (DC Special: The Return of Donna Troy, August 2005)

"Somehow the entire population got mind wiped and no longer remembers that Wally West is the Flash or that his identity used to be public. hm." (The Flash Vol.2 #200, September 2003)

"Jericho is alive???" (Teen Titans Vol.3 #2, October 2003)

"Is Jericho evil or not?" (Teen Titans Vol.3 #2, October 2003) (Teen Titans Vol.3 #12, August 2004)

"Raven is also alive and a teenager now???" (Teen Titans Vol.3 #3, November 2003)

"Blockbuster murdere- Catalina Flores? Ah, another name to add to my list, I see." (Nightwing Vol 2 #93, July 2004)

"The Atom's ex killed the Elongated Man's wife and hired Captain Boomerang to end the Pretender's dad? Damn." (Identity Crisis #1, August 2004) (Identity Crisis #5, December 2004)

"Why did Gotham become a war zone- oh it was one of B's contingencies? That tracks. Wait another Robin died? I don't care if she wasn't actually using the name Robin when she died what the fuck B?" (Detective Comics Vol.1 #797, October 2004) (Batman Vol.1 #633, December 2004)

"You were actually on to something working with this Orpheus guy but of course he got murdered too-" (Batman: Gotham Knights #57, November 2004)

"How many Green Lanterns are there anyways?" (Green Lantern: Rebirth, December 2004-May 2005)

"So Guy Gardener is human now, right?" (Green Lantern: Rebirth #2, January 2005)

"EDDIE IS A SUPERHERO NOW?" (Teen Titans Vol.3 #42, February 2007) [yeah I messed up on this one, Eddie didn't get his powers until post-Infinite Crisis]

Here's the link to the original post btw:

[won4kiss]

*buzzer noise* WRONG!!!! i love still monster SOSOSOSO MUCH 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 like oh my GOD. their singing?!:?:! the it’s live?:!/!/&;!:& THE STAGES?;!:!:! the way hee sounds like he’s been yearning all 22 years of his life on my knees sobbing screaming shaking I LOVE STILL MONSTER

STOP ✋ STILL MONSTER IS LITERALLY THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE LIKE I FEAR ITS THE BEST ENHA TRACK EVER… heeseung sings like he’s a single dad of 6 kids who recently went through a divorce and had to fight for custody 😞 WHEN I WAS AT THE ENHA CONCERT IN APRIL IM NOT KIDDING WHEN I TELL U I STARTED BAWLING MY EYES OUT DURING STILL MONSTER. THE WAY IT JUST RANDOMLY STARTED PLAYING AFTER FEVER IN THE MOST MAJESTIC WAY LIKE I KNEW IT WAS COMING BUT I WAS NOT PREPARED🙏🙏 (i could talk abt still monster for hours ily kaia u have amazing taste still monster is SO UNDERRATED!!!)

me when still monster ^^^

[maddys-nerd-blog]

TMNT Character Ranking ask Game: Michelangelo

HELLO 👋🏻

Oooooooo okay. Time to get controversial. Lemme choose three of the ones that I feel 1: Stands out from the rest, and 2: Is a perfect blend of both little bro and comedy!

In my opinion, Batman vs. TMNT Mikey is probably the BEST Mikey. Period. He’s the perfect balance of comedic relief and wacky little brother who cracks jokes to break the ice. His little friendship with Alfred is also golden. Kyle Mooney is also AWESOME as the nunchuck master!

The silver medal goes to 2012 Mikey. Firstly Greg Cipes provides an excellent vocal performance— he’s literally the best voice actor for Mikey! I think he’s also a great little brother, always being there to support his family when the cards are down, generally being so kind and accepting of those who otherwise would’ve been rejected, being helpful and quirky, just… he’s so wholesome. ALSO HE ISN’T STUPID OR HELPLESS, AND HE HAS HIS FAIR SHARE OF FLAWS!

The bronze medal goes to Mutant Mayhem Mikey! I’m so honored I got the opportunity to meet Shamon Brown Jr in June, and I think this version brings a ton to the table!! He’s fun, uplifting, and just hoped for acceptance by the world, never giving up his dream even when faced with doubt. I’m so excited for the series and to see what they do with him, he’s got so much potential!!

As for the rest, lemme summarize!

Rise! Mikey— Runner up! He’s fun and has some badass mystic abilities with that kusari-fundo, turning him into a Ghost Rider Spider-Turtle 🤣 but we don’t really get too much of stand alone Mikey to really KNOW him like we did with Raph, Leo and Donnie. Even April got her own solo episode!

1987 Mikey— Who doesn’t love the classics! Such a chill, fun goober with a ton of great moments and very wholesome!

1990 Mikey— Robbie Rist provides excellent vocal work and makes this live action iteration iconic for all the best reasons.

2007 Mikey— Great voice actor, but we literally don’t get to spend time with him outside of his intro. This movie is the Raph and Leo variety hour 😂

Bayverse Mikey— If they had taken those stupid Innuendos out of the first film he’d be great! He got slightly better in the second one, but DAMN, missed opportunity.

And then, settling in bottom place, my least favorite version of him ever… 2003 Mikey.

Lemme start by saying IM SORRY. I know everyone likes him but… god, I cannot STAND him. He’s just so irritating and obnoxious! He makes everything about himself, he’s self centered and bratty when he doesn’t get his way, he COMPLAINS when he’s tasked to take part in a plan to break out of space prison and HES THE BANE OF MY EXISTENCE IN THE LAST TWO SEASONS 😂😂😂😂

But yeah! These are my hot takes!

Hope you liked this! 😊

[miharuhebinata]

monthly game tag time!

this is going to be a veryyyyy long post, so buckle in

may

1. Hollow Knight

[played on ps4.]

thoughts: i know i literally just replayed hollow knight back in like, what, last august? but i had a strong urge to play it again and after the shitshow that was my life in march/april, i decided what the hell. i'm probably going to be doing a yearly replay anyway, though i won't hold myself to any kind of strict schedule in regards to that. i'll just play it when i feel like it and keep track of when and how it goes with these posts.

but anyway, on to my thoughts (yes, i still have thoughts on this game lmao): the game is definitely getting easier with every replay, which makes me very very happy. don't get me wrong, there are definitely still plenty of challenging bits (looking at you, trial of the conqueror. bane of my fucking existence -_-), but apparently i've managed to memorize a good chunk of the attack patterns for most of the boss fights. hornet and the mantis lords are the most obvious example of this, as i literally beat both on my first try. which was a tiny bit disappointing, just because those fights are so fun, but also extremely satisfying. literally had me feeling like a pro gamer LMAO

2. Princess Peach: Showtime! (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: i've been so excited for this game ever since i saw the first trailer, and the demo certainly didn't disappoint! the two levels you get to play, as swordfighter peach and patisserie peach, were very fun, and just everything from the level designs to the gameplay to, of course, the costumes are so cute. i definitely want to play the full game! ....unfortuanately i've heard the game is actually pretty short overall? supposedly it's around 6-8 hours of playtime, which honestly just seems absolutely ridiculous considering it costs fucking $60 for a game i could (theoretically) knock out in a day but hey, that's nintendo for you 🙃 so, yeah. not entirely sure when or even if i'll get to play the full game. which is a damn shame.

3. Agatha Christie - Murder on the Orient Express (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: seems like a fun game! although i will say, it was quite jarring to realize it takes place in the modern day. hercule poirot does not look like a character who should know what a smartphone is, i'm sorry 😂 but yeah, i'm definitely interested in playing more, although i'll probably wait for it to go on sale. i liked it but i don't need to play it right now or anything lol

4. NOX

[played on mobile.]

thoughts: a quick little better-than-average mobile puzzle game. tbh i enjoyed the first half more than the second half. by the end i was just like meh, but i guess i still recommend it if you're looking for a decent puzzle game on mobile

5. Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion

[played on mobile.]

thoughts: i've been wanting to play this for a while, and it did not disappoint! such a fun, silly little game. pretty much my only complaint is that i wish it was longer, but apparently now there's a sequel? so i guess i can always try that! :)

6. Blossom Tales: The Sleeping King (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: seemed fun but also the demo was extremely short so idk. i liked the obvious zelda inspiration, but it mainly just reminded me of chrono trigger. honestly i think i'd be more interested in replaying that than in playing this, but who knows. maybe someday!

7. OneShot

[played on pc.]

thoughts: I ABSOLUTELY ADORED THIS GAME!!!!!!!!! everything about it is so beautiful, from the story to the graphics to the soundtrack (which, if you know me at all, i'm a sucker for a good video game ost and this one DOES NOT DISAPPOINT 🥰). i don't want to say too much, because i really think everybody should play this one for themselves, but i will say it is EXTREMELY meta. which is not a spoiler, as you find this out very early on, but again, the less you know the better. so i'll just say this: make sure the name on your computer matches your real name! i believe the game *does* give you the option to input whatever name you want (i'm not 100% sure, but i think so), but i feel like the story will hit harder if you use your real name. plus, if you've changed your name recently but forgot to update the name on your account (like i had), this is at least a good reminder to do so :)

8. Ib

[played on pc.]

thoughts: while i played the remake, i can definitely see why this is a rpg maker horror classic! like honestly, idk what else there is to say about it that other people haven't said already? it's not super long and though it's not pants-shittingly terrifying or anything, it's got a very strong, creepy atmosphere to it. now that i think about it, it actually reminds me a lot of alice in wonderland.... which is such a huge plus to me, you guys don't even know :3 i especially adored the character design, particularly ib who reminds me of one of my oc's <3

9. A Short Hike

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: i want to live in this game <3 seriously, if you're looking for a nice chill game to play this one should be right up your alley! it's not long but i promise it is still so, so worth it. beautiful pixel graphics, lovely soundtrack, and a surprisingly poignant story....yeah i loved this one a lot. my one and only complaint is that the beachstick ball minigame can rot in hell LMAO

june

1. Moonlighter

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: idk about the pc version, but PLEASEEEEEE DO NOT BUY THIS GAME ON THE SWITCH. IT SUCKS ASS. for as enjoyable as the actual gameplay is (which honestly, was not even that fun after the first couple hours), the game is buggy as hell. especially when rolling. do NOT roll near walls, or you risk getting stuck inside them. which is especially annoying inside the dungeons, getting stuck inside a wall on some random floor long before you ever meant to have to leave.... pretty much ruined my whole experience. i could barely even bring myself to finish the game, but i forced myself to do it, because i had been meaning to finish this game for forever, and i just wanted to be DONE with it, and so i did, and i was so SO happy....aaaand then i discovered there was a whole new post-game storyline to play through in new game+. -_- at first i felt obligated to finish that before i could say i completed the game, but after playing a few hours, i just said fuck it. honestly the new game+ stuff wasn't even that bad, but i was just so ready to be done with it by that point. fuck this game. absolutely adorable graphics and a nice soundtrack, but buggy-as-hell gameplay and an anticlimactic story. completed ruined it for me. boo. boooooooo. such a disappointment.

2. Another Code: Recollection (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: seems like a very fun game, and i really do want to play the full version! …just not for full price. especially because, after playing the demo, i already had some gripes:

the controls are kind of wonky and by that i mean this just feels like a game that would be better played on pc (yet it's a Switch exclusive).

the (english) voice acting is… definitely not my favorite, to say the least. (that scene of ashley crying as a kid was so fucking annoying, and it went on for wayyyy too long.) ashley does not sound like a 14 year old. which ties into my next point:

okay so i actually FULLY admit this one is mostly on me, but i legit thought ashley was college-age until she explicitly mentioned being 14. like, obviously i understood in retrospect that the story literally said she was 14 long before that (i believe the letter from her father mentioned her 14th birthday?), but because i was pretty tired when i played and also because the character model does not look like a 14 year old girl aside from her being shorter than the adult characters, the voice does not sound like that of a 14 year old, AND she was wearing a university sweatshirt, i thought she was, like, 19-21 and that she for some reason had only recently received her dad's letter? IDK DUDE I'M A LITTLE BIT SLOW 😭

honestly this just kind of made me laugh but i did think it was a bit silly how ashley made a big deal of "yeah sorry D, but i can't help you get your memories back. i've got my own problems. sooooo... yeah, bye." then literally she walks down some stairs, he helps her open a door, and she's immediately like "okay i'll help you and also we're besties, obviously 🤗" like, i'm not saying the game has bad writing (i didn't get to play enough to truly make an accurate judgement) but that felt like the kind of contrived thing i would have written when i was in middle school ngl. but maybe that's the point, since ashley's so young? idk

anyway, i know i've kinda been ragging on it, but like i said, i do still want to play it. the story seems interesting, and i really want to see where it goes! just definitely not for the price of $60 lol

3. Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: it was fun! like a mix between immortals fenyx rising, hades, and trine. all of which are right up my alley! but also i was not very good at the combat, which definitely detracted from the experience a bit. i imagine if i was playing the full game i could eventually get used to the combat, but there just wasn't enough time for me to do that in the demo. but i did like it, and i'll definitely consider picking it up if it ever goes on sale for a more reasonable price.

4. Chants of Sennaar (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: i enjoyed it so much i actually bought the game. stay tuned for my thoughts on the full game!

5. Growing Up

[played on pc.]

thoughts: so, full disclosure, i only played through one of the routes in this game (richard). when usually i would play through all the route's (or at least more than one) before counting it as finished, honestly i just cannot be assed this time. which isn't to say it's a bad game! it was a very fun game (at first), with interesting stat-building mechanics. i especially enjoy that my previous character + whoever i ended up with become the parents in a new playthrough. however, despite the fact that i had already started having new events when i started a second playthrough, i don't think the gameplay is interesting enough for me to want to replay it multiple times just to see the new events/meet new characters, at least not any time soon. at the very least i wish there was some kind of carry-over bonus. for example, since my character ended up with richard, maybe my current player character could have a boost in empathy? or intelligence, since my previous character's intelligence was so high. something like that.

also the parents sucked, they had nothing to do with anything unless they were giving me their stupid parent expectations goals, which got really annoying by high school age because the goals often took up desperately needed schedule slots. also especially bitter because literally right after i had completed a goal of tutoring 10 times in a row, they gave me a goal of helping out some neighbors (aka buying groceries ten times in a row) and when i had my character be like "will i get paid?" stupid fucking idiot dad was like "omfg why are you so selfish??? 😤" BITCH I JUST TOOK UP A BUNCH OF MY VALUABLE SCHEDULE SLOTS TO DO TUTORING FOR ONE OF YOUR STUPID FUCKASS GOALS????? KYS YOU ANNOYING BITCH OMFG

6. Harmony: The Fall of Reverie (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: of the few (spoiler-free) reviews i've seen, reactions seem kind of mixed overall, but personally i really enjoyed what i got to play! the art is beautiful and the game mechanic of the augural is definitely unique and interesting. unless the story really starts to branch out though, i don't see there being much replayability; which makes me just a tad reluctant to buy it, even on sale, especially seeing as it's apparently only ~10 hours long. speaking of, i am VERY surprised the demo is as long as it is. hard to put it into hours, since i'm a slow reader, but you get to play 2 out of 5 chapters, i believe?? it certainly got me hooked and invested in the story, but that also just seems crazy, letting you play that much in the demo. so i guess, taking all of this into account, i think i'll just wait for a really good sale. like, i do want to eventually see where the story goes, but not for more than $10 lol

7. AI: The Somnium Files (Demo)

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: seems like a fun game, but also kind of weird. one of the characters blew up a balloon to comical size and the main character's response was something like "i wish your boobs were that big" whshgsjsjlskdj ???????? still planning to play it eventually lmfao but i'm gonna play it on pc. definitely seems like a game that's better on pc

8. Chants of Sennaar

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: ah, what a fun game, and such a beautiful artstyle too (it actually reminded me a lot of sable!); however, while i did really like the game overall, i will say that— as with most people who have played both games— i can't help but compare this against heaven's vault and, personally, even with all the issues i had with it, heaven's vault is definitely the better game in my eyes. while i wouldn't say the translation mechanics in this game are at all easy, it was easier than in heaven's vault. in this game, all you really had to do was match the right glyphs to the right pictures. which, obviously was often a challenge, don't get me wrong, but it was at least somewhat easier than i originally thought it would be: i thought i had to get my guess at the translation right too, but that part of it mainly seems to be so you can remember what the glyph means (or approximately what it means) before you actually verify it. so that was a little disappointing, although it certainly helped make things easier in the long run. which turned out to be a good thing that was actually a bad thing, because i'm not gonna lie, i played the majority of the game over the course of a single day. this was not a good idea (obviously), because it resulted in sleep-deprivation and me hurting my wrists/palms from holding the Switch for so long. clearly this was my own fault, but it did still detract from the experience, unfortunately. the inability to fully concentrate really kept me from fully immersing myself in the latter half of the game, which is likely why the ending fell a tiny bit flat for me. also, i have to mention. there was one puzzle i had to look up a guide for how to solve it, and even now i still don't get it and idk if i ever will. so, i'm kind of bitter about that 😭 but yeah, i don't want to keep ragging on the game, because overall it was great! definitely worth the hype imo. and if the core game mechanics of translating made-up languages sounds fun to you, i definitely recommend checking this one out! just maybe remember to take breaks and get some sleep so that you don't ruin your own experience like i did mine :/

9. The Roottrees are Dead

[played on pc.]

thoughts: if you like mysteries, difficult puzzles, or even just family drama, this is the game for you! it's actually been compared to the likes of return of the obra dinn and the case of the golden idol, and that definitely holds up imo. not in terms of graphics, but just in that you are given a mystery that you need to solve (or an extensive family tree that you need to fill out, in this case) and the game does not hold your hand. i will say, although it's been a while since i played either return of the obra dinn or the case of the golden idol, i think this game was definitely easier than those two (shorter, too). but it was still very rewarding! like i said, it was easier, not easy. honestly i really hope this game gains some traction, because we definitely need more difficult mystery puzzle games like it!!!!

10. Unpacking

[played on pc.]

thoughts: don't really have much to say except that it was a nice chill game 👍

11. Tunic

[played on nintendo switch.]

thoughts: i actually started this soon after chants of sennaar, but i finished it last (the roottrees are dead and unpacking serving as breathers). i really REALLY liked this game at first. it was different than i thought it was going to be, but i was still enjoying the challenge even when i wasn't, you know? aaaaand then i kind of hated it, because certain parts of the puzzle you have to solve in order to achieve the true end were extremely frustrating and overly convoluted imo. but overall, after seeing the end credits you get after the true end, i think i left off on a good note. at the very least i would definitely recommend this game to anyone who enjoys a difficult challenge not just in terms of combat, but in solving deep intricate puzzles as well <3

started but not finished yet:

Sea of Stars (Demo) - started in june. won't be finishing, but only because i decided to buy the full game!

Neo: The World Ends With You (Demo) - started in june. won't be finishing, because the gameplay just seemed a bit monotonous.

Paleo Pines (Demo) - started in june. won't be finishing, because the artstyle was not very appealing to me.

Tangle Tower (Demo) - started in june. won't be finishing, but only because i think i'd prefer to play it on pc.

Who's Lila - started in june. probably won't be finishing, because it just didn't seem like the game for me. which sucks, because i had been looking forward to playing it for a while :(

[raysletters]

Oooh what's exes to coparents? 👀

exes to coparents is this really long fic ive been working on for ages (which, fun fact, i had them moving to texas before the henry chapter was even out to the world and i doubted ppl would think it was ooc 💀💀) but i havent advanced much on it. i cant say much without spoiling it but basically they had something in their college days and then they meet again after so many years bc their kids unknowingly became besties siblings and its just,,,,, my beloved and the bane of my existence. some fun facts about it:

its dual pov and it also goes back and forth between past and present

every chapter has a taylor swift lyric as its title (and was the reason i got hyperfixated on taylor)

james fox and elena claremont-díaz are not only my beloveds but my literal children, i will do anything to protect them

james (henry's son) is trans! (kind of spoiler but he chose his name in honor of his grandpa james bond who he thinks is super cool)

elena (alex's daughter) is implied to be lesbian even though she hasn't explicitly said it in the story yet (and funnily enough, has a huge crush on bea)

james' birthday is april 21st (he's a taurus bby)

elena's birthday is july 30th (she's a leo mess)

and in the very messy outline doc i sum it up with this meme at the literal start of it:

[northwest-cryptid]

I think being born when I was sort of made me immune to the "oh god it's HOMESTUCK" vibe.

Like I get it, the fandom is a whole mess, the comic is long running and has had huge cultural impact on the internet and thus the world at large for my generation and the following generation given our connection with the internet.

I won't deny that I "get it" when people make HS out to be some big thing, to say "there will never be another web comic like Homestuck" isn't a false statement at all, as even long after it's ending the remnants of it continue to crop up in things like Undertale allowing it a natural passage into modern relevance. I mean it sounds absurd to say that the fucking Pope has heard a song that originates from Homestuck yet that's the world we're living in.

However at the end of the day Homestuck has always just been "a web comic" to me. I've picked it up before, read a few arcs into it and got bored; put it down and watched plot summaries. I've listened to the OST (yea it has one of those which sounds weird but, yea it's pretty good.) I've heard all the memes. I can identify the big ones, Dave Strider, Vriska, ... That weird frog thing at the very end that like makes a universe or is a universe or something?

But I have never really "got" two big things. One of those being the hype around it in the sense of like "oh no it's HOMESTUCK! Oh god oh no oh fuck we are all doomed, the unspeakable evil is upon us!" And trust me this is after I accidentally introduced a friend of mine to a couple of people in troll cosplay because I was like "you could use some friends, oh hey there's some goths you like goths let's go say hi!" My one attempt at helping a friend make some friends resulted in said cosplayers being like "hey man you want some hard drugs?" Which kind of snowballed. SO LIKE YEA I understand why people might find the loud majority of the fandom to be a bit odd, but couldn't you say that about literally any fandom? I'm being real here, I've been a part of a ton of fandoms and by and large the loud majority are typically cringe and annoying to even the people who DO like the thing.

The second thing I never got was the hype for the actual web comic. Every time I try to read it I get bored. I understand the concept, I understand the general plot, I don't even think the concept is bad or anything. But ironically my reason for reading it is to better understand the world building and the characters and the plot and when it tries to explain those things I sit there like "when do we get to [big pop culture thing] I was warned about the [big pop culture thing]." Which may just be my ADHD acting up but I never found the narrative or characters or anything about it to necessarily be super gripping to me.

Whenever I say I'm considering trying to read it again I typically get one of those two kinds of hype from people in response. People who think it's the bane of existence and I should "remain pure and innocent" as if I didn't grow up during the PEAK of its popularity and don't already know about it, the things that inspired it, and literally lived through going to conventions with HS meetups. Or I get people who are so excited that I'm finally going to bear witness to the holy experience that is HS, and then they get super let down when I get bored because I'm like "this dudes stuck in his home, is that it? Is that why it's called that?"

Maybe I'm weird or boring or whatever, like maybe it's all one big joke and I'm just not playing along because I don't get it and I'm being super lame like that time I went around on April fool's spoiling all the pranks because I thought it was stupid to randomly pretend to have an asthma attack since someone could actually have an asthma attack and the teachers wouldn't know because some asshole who doesn't even have asthma thought that was a good prank, which it wasn't but like I didn't need to be a narc about it I was just a dumb kid. So I guess that's sorta how I feel now towards HS, like it's a joke made by my generation for my generation and somehow I don't "get it" and more often than not, that lack of knowledge has lead to me being confused by HS jokes that never made it into the pop culture.

Like yea I've osmosis'd a lot of it, I know about shit like "I warned you about the stairs bro" and such, but the second someone mentions a character by name who isn't either Dave, Vriska, or I think there's some dude named Karkat? Like I'm totally in the dark.

I assure you if you think the jokes and humor of homestuck is so bad it will do irreversible damage to my psyche you gotta understand that the internet was just sorta, like that? Back when I was growing up and the result is that if there was any damage to be done it's already done.

I don't know man maybe I'm just not one of the "cool kids" of my generation or something.

[miriamundertale]

Skate-Leading Stars, The Bane of my Fucking Existence

I've partially wanted to talk about this anime for a while, but after Confirmation that it's real and I haven't been fucking hallucinating it, I think now is likely a better time than ever to uh, Discuss this weird ass show. Skate-Leading Stars was first revealed to me while working on a separate whole project (My attempt to watch every anime where Hiroshi Kamiya voices a main character) and saw it as the main currently airing show that he was voicing a character in. Unfortunately for me, the thought that formed was "oh sweet, this is a currently airing one I could watch this as it airs," not realizing the two fucking year long brainworm I was about to nourish. As a precursor, I need to make clear I'm going to be jumping around in focus a lot. moreover, this is NOT a review, i just want to vent about something that's been taking over my mind. there is a LOT of weird shit going on with this anime that I'd like to at least cover so if I leave something hanging for a bit, I will get back to it at some point.

Spoilers for Skate-Leading Stars, Your Lie In April

What the fuck is Skate-Leading?

Have you ever watched like, a sport, a game, or some other activity (Including Single player ones!) and just wanted to add people to it for no fucking reason? like, "What if chess was 5 people on each side per board deliberating every action while really hoping nobody else listens in" tier shit. That's the main premise of Skate-Leading. It's a sport where 5 anime boys do figure skating all at once in a formation together. The obvious concerns about safety are not even mentioned and the idea of "how do you even judge this on a regional level well without a LOT of judges" is settled by having the numbers be put up as a box that they say is an AI judging it. a core plot point is the One Interesting Character figuring out how the AI works in his gamer cave and gaming it.

Your first bit of confusion you may encounter with that premise is of course "isn't there already pair skating as an actual real sport one could use for the drama of multi-person skating?" or maybe "doesnt this mean this just a more fucked up yuri on ice?" which to me are both great questions, with only the first easily answered with a Yes. Yuri on ice is the obvious comparison for what SLS is attempting to draw from here, given you have seen literally anything about yuri on ice and the timing of the two shows, but you need to understand that the figure skating is a bait. the yaoi is the point but is bait in regards for understanding this plot. they're not trying to do Yuri on ice. They're trying to do Your Lie In April.

Let's Talk about the OP (Updated info in final paragraph)

For some fucking reason that I originally credited to COVID delays, half the fucking OP is black screens.

I don't think anything of it is especially standout aside from that, while SLS has many weaknesses the OP isnt one of them. Unfortunately it's not anything to write home about either, so I don't want anyone else to feel like we're truly missing out when I reveal the fact that as far as I can tell the OP was censored for the western release. I'm operating on my own anecdotal evidence and what is one of my two current white whales (the other that isn't about to be mentioned is the Japanese dub of Batman Vs Superman) so if my theorizing here is completely incorrect than that's Fine. Thats Fine. About a month into watching the show while it was airing, the half black OP started to get to me. I wanted to see more, try and get to the bottom of it, and eventually managed to find the full uncensored version uploaded which remained up for about two weeks before disappearing. I know that the version we can find online is fucking censored. I have no idea why. once again, so little people I know have any knowledge about this show aside from me, let alone have talked about it. I cannot find anything online talking about the OP aside from light mentions in the comments of the Crunchyroll upload sandwiched between Jesus Bots.

While spending a pathetic amount of time delaying this, I actually in fact have been sent proof of the uncensored OP existing. from anything I could tell or from what the friend who sent this from me could tell, the entire reason is something involving covid delays (Confirming my original suspicion, at least!) making them rush out the international version before the broadcast version, thought the delay wasn't that huge? its still definitely a mystery to me that haunts me a little but at least I know it Exists.

Since I've spent enough time talking about not the plot I think its a good time to address the whole Your Lie In April thing

What the Fuck do you Mean Its Trying to do Your lie In April??

Your lie in April, if you haven't seen it, is a story about dealing with grief, parental abuse and falling in love again with your passions even after loss. it's a very rough anime to sit through emotionally, and while its very much a show i have mixed feelings about personally, it's still a very well written example of its genre. Skate-Leading Stars spends has the main character parallel Kousei Arima's (The Main character of Your Lie in April) very basic arc of a teenager getting back into the area he used to be a prodigy in as a child, any forms of subtly or trauma have been entirely replaced with as many meatheaded brash qualities as they can in order to fit the true BL purpose of the story. Instead of having the love interest heavily foreshadowed to die being someone who views said passion in an entirely different light than him as a way to work through trauma and difficulty handling the act of playing piano again, the love interest is a mysterious boy who's using him to try and get back at his brother. Skate-Leading Stars, unabashedly, apes the format and ideas of Your Lie in April, barely understanding anything else going on, and uses it for a bl anime about a sport that is at best impossible to judge and realistically physically dangerous to exist.

Ok now what?

I don't think its necessary to do a plot summary of SLS, partially because I don't want to, but mostly because who fucking cares. I love bad shows, and while the start of the show is undeniably strong in its garbage it goes nowhere with anything. It spends a large amount of its time as a story setting up beats that never pay off, having loud yaoi boys yelling constantly, or underusing Hiroshi Kamiya. There IS a manga I could read for the rest of the story that's likely been playing out, but since only the first chapter is translated I don't see any reason to examine it too closely. If you want to watch gay ice skating anime, Yuri on ice is talked about for a reason. if you want to watch bad anime with Hiroshi Kamiya Ultimate Otaku Teacher exists. If you have read the manga please tell me if Sasugai actually has some sort of fatal disease or they're just aping the framing from Your Lie in April without meaning again.

[ragnarachael]

hi it’s time for rachael’s annual “i may be mia for the next couple days/weeks/maybe months at a time” post

[sedge-yells-at-comics]

Reprinted below, in case the link implodes.

Flash #27 Reveals Why Reverse Flash Is a Truly Unique Villain                

The finale of "Running Scared" provides a gut-wrenching Rebirth update to one of DC's most complicated villains: Eobard Thawne, the Reverse Flash.

By Meg Downey Published Jul 27, 2017               

If you’re a fan of the Flash, you’re probably pretty familiar with the concept of the Reverse Flash, a man named Eobard Thawne who, like Barry, has super speed and wears a flashy costume. Of course, the “Reverse” might sound like he’s the literal opposite of the Flash -- maybe someone who slows things down instead of speeding himself up? Or maybe someone who runs backwards?

There are a lot of obvious and incorrect guesses pretty readily available for casual or newer fans to throw darts at. The reality of the Reverse Flash is, however, pretty complicated. Mostly because his “reverse” status is actually ideological at its core. Flash media, be it print, animated or live action, has traditionally made this apparent by painting Eobard as someone who is essentially pure evil -- a sort of manic, time traveling serial killer who is motivated solely by his endless need to destroy Barry Allen from the ground up.

At that point, the problem then becomes finding a way to make Thawne’s homicidal drive, well… unique in the scope of the DC Universe, a place that just so happens to be populated by enough over-the-top villains to populate a decent sized Midwestern town. Why is Reverse Flash someone that’s specific to The Flash? What differentiates him from any of DC’s other iconic arch rivals, like Lex Luthor or The Joker?

Well, The Flash #27 has the answer, and it's probably not the one you expected.

Running Scared

The rebirth of the “classic” Eobard Thawne (as opposed to his New 52 revamp) began in the Flash/Batman crossover mini-event “The Button” back in April, a four-part storyline which connected the original Thawne to the events of last year’s DC Universe: Rebirth one-shot.

Since, then, Thawne’s taken up residence as a perpetual thorn in Barry’s side in the hero's own ongoing series, stepping directly into the spotlight for the three-part “Running Scared” arc which served to highlight Thawne’s Rebirth status quo. For the most part, it’s a story that fans will be pretty familiar with, borrowing heavily from elements of stories like The Flash: Rebirth and Flashpoint. Thawne’s from the future, he time traveled to kill Barry’s parents, he’s connected to a negative form of the Speed-Force, and so on -- But that’s where things start to get their Rebirth-specific legs.

It’s not that creators Josh Williamson, Howard Porter and Paul Pelletier are trying to reinvent the proverbial wheel with “Running Scared” -- just unlock a different side of it by shining a light on one of the most unique aspect of Eobard and Barry’s relationship.

Reverse Flash doesn’t hate Flash the way Lex Luthor hates Superman, or Bane hates Batman. It’s actually (appropriately) quite the opposite. It’s the reverse. Eobard Thawne loves Barry Allen, obsessively and vengefully, which is where his endless, destructive need to ruin Barry’s life comes into play.

“Running Scared” highlights the fact that a young Eobard grew up alone (though Williamson was quick to confirm that that particular story element came out of an earlier Geoff Johns Flash issue) with only his idealized and imaginary version of Barry -- a character from his history books -- to keep him company. Barry was, for all intents and purposes, Thawne’s only friend, confidant, and emotional anchor, despite the fact that the two of them wouldn’t actually meet for years and years.

It was plenty of time for a very troubled and very lonely Thawne to fall in love with a version of The Scarlet Speedster that existed only in his imagination...and, well, it’s pretty obvious how that particular emotional endeavor actually went down. Actually meeting Barry and subsequently being forced to deal with the fact that he was just a guy and not the cartoon character Thawne had built in his head for years, proved to be too hard a stress test for Thawne’s fragile psyche.

Fatal Attraction

Meeting and being disappointed by a personal hero is a rough experience for just about anyone, but rather than allowing himself to move on -- or even allowing himself to simply decide to hate Barry instead, Thawne’s obsession only doubled down.

As issue #27 hurtles to its conclusion, Thawne’s real motivations become abundantly apparent. As Barry, infected with Thawne’s own inverted Negative Speed Force thrashes Thawne within an inch of his life, he presses him with a question - Why, if Thawne has always been so inspired by him, has he gone out of his way to ruin Barry’s life at every turn? Why has he done all of these terrible things, from killing Barry’s parents to beating Wally within an inch of his life, to kidnapping he and Iris and hauling them to the future?

Thawne’s answer is as unexpected as it is heartrendingly honest: because these horrible things are the only way Thawne understands how to make Barry spend time with him.

It’s that simple.

Thawne’s love for, and obsession with Barry Allen has permeated his life so deeply and completely that he is even willing to count his time spent being pummeled half to death by Flash as a win. He’s completely unable or unwilling to differentiate between Barry’s affection and Barry’s hatred, and he’s ready to do whatever it might take to put himself at the center of either emotion in Barry’s mind.

“A few years ago, it would have really hurt my feelings to hear you say that,” Thawne taunts after Barry threatens him, “but now to think that I caused you that anger? That I could get under your skin like this? It warms my heart.”

It’s deeply troubling, of course, and horrifyingly uncomfortable to get a look into the head of a villain who is, essentially, the personification of a fan gone terribly, terribly awry -- a theme that only gets more difficult to swallow when you begin to think about the increasingly complicated relationship between fans and their idols in actual, genuine, non-super heroic world around us.

This subtle reworking of the Reverse Flash has made him one of comic’s most poignant ruminations of the idea of toxicity in fan communities, idolization of strangers, and self destructive obsession, and it did so in a way that boldly allowed Thawne to win at the end of the day.

The issue closes, and the arc completes, with Barry exactly in the position Thawne wanted him in: completely alone, just like Thawne was as he built Barry into a hero of mythological perfection in his head. Now, where Barry will end up, and whether he’ll be forgiven by Iris, Wally and the roster of people he’s been manipulating as he leads his vigilante double life, is still largely a mystery.

It’s clear that Thawne didn’t expect, or even really want, Barry to come running into his arms to start their life together the second he succeeded in isolating him -- he makes that abundantly clear as he warns that he’ll just return again and again and again, de-powered, killed or otherwise hindered. Iris may have added an exclamation point to the end of the story arc by “vaporizing” Thawne with a Black Hole gun, but it hardly matters.

Reverse Flash will be back, somehow, at some point, and it’s doubtful that his love and obsession for Barry will have wavered in the slightest. We know now that’s just now how his mind is capable of working. It’s unlikely that Thawne will ever feel anything for Barry beyond his own supremely twisted adoration, no matter how many times the Flash pummels him into the ground. It’s just not the way Thawne’s brain is able to process information anymore.

It’s complicated, messy, and uncomfortable, but it’s also one of the clearest articulations of exactly what makes Reverse Flash such an interesting villain in the scope of not just the Flash family of books, but the DCU as a whole.

[ilikemesometaetaes]

pick 5 people that make your fandom experience wholesome and write a small paragraph about each one of them 💖

Thanks for sending me this ask, Waverly! It was so fun to answer. Hope you’ve been doing well :)

My six five people are:

@itsgottabeyoo-ngs - Kaitlin

She’s the love of my life. I met her in September, when I was just starting out my writing journey, and she was the last to join the Groupchat because KakaoTalk deemed her “suspicious.” I still remember that day like it was yesterday. We both drove three hours to meet each other and we’re about to do it again so that we can be together like we hope to be someday. I love you, baby girl. —Daddy

@junghoseokit - Adora

She’s also the love of my life. She came into my life the same day as Kaitlin. What a ball of sunshine that girl is. There’s never a dull moment thanks to her. Any time I need her, she’s there with open arms like Namjoon’s there for Army. She also happens to be trying to double dip with Hobi and Jiminie- we canNOT have that, can we? My face is her th- never mind that. I can’t wait to be with you, love. Japan?? —Daddy

@dariangarcia - Lauren

The third of my poly. She joined the Groupchat on the same day as the others. That person that you can be an evil minion with? That’s her. There to comfort you one moment and then triggering you into a tirade of why Jeon fucking Jungkook needs to sit the fuck down for once in the next. I swear to god this girl adds so much spice to the relationship between the five of us. “RapMon’s Baby Mama” is the love of my life and she knows it. Love you, mi alma. —Daddy

@pinknamjoon - Lanie

This gorgeous woman is the one that keeps me up at night- in a very (I mean this with the most impure intentions) good way. Just looking at her makes my heart shine with the brightness of a thousand stars. I met her on the same day as the others and I knew I was in love then. She’s our resident mommy that takes care of us when we’re down. Love you, gorgeous. —Daddy

I’m gonna put two more instead of one.

@jimilter - Ash

Ash is my first beta and I’m so happy to have her. She’s part of @bangtansorciere and happens to be a literal angel. She also happens to be the first one to take a look at Part Three 😈. Thank you for being you, Ash. You’re the best!

@ressjeon - Yannie

You. You are… evil… you push my buttons on the daily and I cannot even begin to fathom how you know when to catch me defenseless. I swear on everything holy that you were created to be the bane of my existence and I hope you know that I love you for it. You’re such an awesome gal. April babies rule.

[electraheart2012]

have you ever explained your different tags and where they come from? they’re so ~aesthetic~ and each capture a mood perfectly but i’m not really sure what they’re Meant to encapsulate

THANK U and nope i haven’t! lemme do that now, buckle in >:D ok im back up here to say this got very long but i hope it helped dkdjfkd 

in our lives is a common sense - 1) comes from a pin-light bent by joanna newsom, “in our lives is a common sense / that relies on the common fence” 2) pretty much just stuff about the connection btwn ~humanity, and just things that make me feel warm inside. tl;dr to quote ANOTHER joanna newsom song, ben wyatt.jpeg it’s about the sweetness of being 

heart is a bird - 1) comes from how long from hadestown (the concept album version, idk if the bway version is different bec i refuse to listen to it <3), “all of his sorrow won’t fit in his chest / it just burns like a fire in the pit of his chest / and his heart is a bird on a spit in his chest” 2) this one is probably the most vague tag i have, it’s just a catch-all for a like.. i hate to use the word feral, but more feral/dark aesthetic i guess? or things that feel like some kind of catharsis. basically just twisted cycle path things😩😫🤯😫😫😤😤

if i only could - 1) comes from the electronic bit at the end of running up that hill by kate bush, “if i only could, be running up that hill, oh if i only could” 2) basically anything that reminds me of adolescence or girlhood or teenagedom and the rush that comes with “we’re reeling through the midnight streets / i’ve never felt more alone / it feels so scary getting old”, but it’s kinda just become a catchall for all that and also vaguely alt/2000s stuff 

im no prophet im your friend - 1) from identical by phoenix, “tell me you’re trying / trying to regret playing all night those video tapes / i’m no prophet i’m your friend / take my advice make your mistakes / i’m right beside you, unfold that i know you / i’m told that it’s my fault / i’d rather fall and lose control again” 2) on friendship @_@ 

if you ever were to find your way back home - 1) from the transcendental song 1995 by the radio dept, “1995 seems like a long way to go if you ever were to find your way back home”, one of my fav songs and one of my fav lyrics ever 2) p self explanatory, just things that remind me of home or are about being/make me feel homesick

how the earth did shake - 1) from we the common by thao and the get down stay down, “how the earth did shake / and tumble and tremble for what the people did take” 2) just stuff about like. life/love as political things? and just general things about protest that aren’t, like, actual resources and stuff. im not 100% on this tag asdskdj 

what lies under the city - 1) from sapokanikan by joanna newsom, “wait for the hunter to decipher the stone / and what lies under the city is gone” i wish i had chosen "lost in the idling bird call” or literally any other line from the song but as the french say celebi :pensivecowboy: 2) cities tag! 

our dreams on the windowsill, see those trees turning gold in the hills - 1) from the ending of all shades of blue by gregory alan isakov, 2) this tag is the bane of my existence its so long but yeah it’s an autumn tag but also just kind of a nostalgic tag 

when the redcheeked dancing girls trip home - 1) it’s a paraphrase of a moby dick quote, “for as when the red-cheeked, dancing girls, April and May, trip home to the wintry, misanthropic woods; even the barest, ruggedest, most thunder-cloven old oak will at least send forth some few green sprouts, to welcome such glad-hearted visitants” 2) spring tag! 

youre the only warm thing for miles - 1) from i’m going back to minnesota where sadness makes sense by danez smith, 2) winter tag~! 

barbed spined hold us close forever - 1) a paraphrase of emily by joanna newsom, “the ties that bind they are barbed and spined and hold us close forever” 2) stuff about family/so far mostly siblings 

siren's song take me home - 1) from a map a string a light by yvette young, "siren's song take me home / where the stones can cover me" 2) i can have a little fantasy tag.. as a treat

n - nostalgia and on childhood 

glowing pink in the night - 1) from the mitski song duh 2) for that hashtag moment when you glow pink in the night in ur room, blossoming alone over uuu. i don’t really know abt this tag it kind of pisses me off i can’t decide what it’s supposed to be

heart has no home - 1) from “to the bone” by the queen of haunting songs, mirel wagner, “my heart has no home / you’ve bruised me to the bone” 2) it was a vampire tag but i think it’s just going to be more monstrous people now

sounds of people - 1) MYYY GODD IM SO LONELYYYY SO I OPENNNN THE WINDOW!!!!! 2) it’s like supposed to be urban loneliness but i need to brush it up a bit o_o i also might just merge it with heart is a bird

i think those are all the tags i use most often? but yeah i hope this answered your question n i hope you’re having a good night djfdj <3

[zukadiary]

Carly, can’t help but notice that in your bio and in certain of your reviews with photos of yourself attached, your makeup is flawless and your natural skin/smile is really amazing. In fact you look like an off-duty ken-7 Musume! If you have time and feel ok to do so, would you drop your skincare/makeup/beauty routine and your favourite products for us? Feels weird to ask but I promise it’s from a place of pure admiration only (well a tiny aesthetic crush *blushes*)

Goodness anon... I am FLATTERED, and I will try my best, but let’s for sure DISCLAIM A FEW THINGS:

1: My natural state is NOT PARTICULARLY AMAZING, I promise I am a very ordinary acne-covered human with rapidly graying hair like everyone else

Hello, this is the real me, the hermit currently working 12 hour days on her computer in her childhood bedroom.

2. If you’re just looking through my blog, literally I swear my #1 beauty tip is the B612 app, no I’m not kidding

Taken exactly 8 seconds after the previous, this is the “Peach” filter.

3. When I am in Japan, and particularly when I am going to see a show, I do approximately ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND PERCENT MORE to myself than I would do on a normal non-COVID basis. Am I proud of it? Absolutely not. Does it make me feel unbelievably self-conscious to walk into a place where everyone stares at you and on top of it everyone staring at you is very rich and half your size and shaves their arms and somehow doesn’t sweat? Unfortunately yes. 

So like, not quite off-duty ken-7 musumeyaku, more like on-duty ken-(redacted) musumeyaku, because I assure you I probably spend as much time as they do getting ready, and I am DEFINITELY not shinko-eligible.

4. I have done my makeup exactly one (1) time since the pandemic started, and it wasn’t even to go out, it was to take a new LinkedIn headshot because I am job hunting for a hotshot position. It took me an age and a half because I like, forgot what eyeshadow was.

THAT ALL SAID, I can give you the FEW tips of things that I actually feel like kind of work for me maybe??

I use different foundation in the winter (liquid) and summer (mineral powder). The latter is especially good if you’re in Japan during the Sweaty Times™, which is honestly like, April through November. I am, to be perfectly honest, NOT attached to any of the foundation brands I use. The powder is Lily Lolo and I only like it because it’s inexpensive for a natural brand but doesn’t suck.

When I am going to the theater, I do a wholeass layering routine of primer > foundation > concealer > setting powder > setting spray. Which, again, is mostly because Japan is the Sweaty Place, and I haven’t yet figured out the secret Japanese fan technique of not sweating.

The only things in my makeup routine I DO feel strongly about are 1) the Urban Decay eyeshadow primer potion, without which my eye makeup would never last more than 3 minutes, and Benefit Roller Lash mascara, which does a decent job of keeping my very straight eyelashes kinda curled all day. I also use cream blush, but I’m not attached to a particular brand.

THRIFTY TIP: I get all my eyeshadow, eye liner, highlighter powder, and setting powders from https://www.silknaturals.com/store/. Their stuff is VERY reasonably priced, all natural ingredients, and they dupe their colors from top makeup brands but sell them for cheaper/healthier ingredients/in little sifter jars so the powders stay clean and last way longer!

For skincare, to be perfectly honest, I have nothing I swear by; I had a routine that worked pretty well for a while but then one day up and stopped, and right now I’m struggling with a lot of skin issues, probably due to stress, and I’m still experimenting and trying to figure out something that works well. The only general tip I have is I have very dry skin and I use face oils as my moisturizer, it’s the only thing that works well enough. I think a lot of people are afraid of oils because it was marketed to us as the enemy when we were acne-prone teens, but as someone who has dealt with acne into adulthood I can say there are MANY that not only don’t worsen my acne but actually help it. Which ones will work for you is unfortunately pretty personal.

My hair is the bane of my existence in Japan (the sweaty place!!) because as soon as it goes above 1% humidity all bets are off with my hair down no matter how much ironing I do or how much product I use. If the weather is such that I CAN wear it down there, I pack like 5 cans of Batiste dry shampoo and try to only wash/dry/flat iron or curl my hair twice a week and just keep it alive in between, otherwise I’d go insane trying to do it every day. When I CAN’T wear it down, I braid it and spray it to my head using techniques I learned on YouTube. Here’s my summer hair playlist

This has been CARLY’S BEAUTY TIPS I guess and now also you all know what I really look like.

[notanrp-neurodivergent]

April 24th: Are there things that seemed to come naturally to others that you had to try to learn over time?

~~~~

People wing things a lot more naturally than I do. I need a plan. Weeks in advance sometimes. I’ve had a plan literally my whole life. I started crying in elementary school because I realized my plan to go to college might not work out if I couldn’t get good enough grades. Like... serious planning. And I’ve had to learn to be a little more... not like that. 

People adapt more naturally than I do too. I have had to learn to adapt to new situations and people. Whereas others just kinda… seem to do it?

And small talk. Small talk, especially with strangers or new people, is the bane of my existence. I’ve had to learn to figure that bullshit out and fake giving half a fuck. 

Also had to learn to tell when people are disinterested. I’m still not good at that one. And I’m trying to learn to identify sincerity, but that shit’s nearly impossible. And telling when someone is upset vs angry vs frustrated. And what to do if someone IS upset. What do you SAY to someone who’s crying????