#Rose Recaps 2023

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

2023 Through Rose-Tinted Glasses

Rose's Favourites Our Dating Sim

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[stuff-diary]

Top 20 K-pop songs in 2023 (Part 2, 10-1)

As promised, here comes the top 10:

10. Snooze by Agust D (BTS) feat. Ryuichi Sakamoto & Kim Woosung (The Rose)

There's something very special about this song. It really is a perfect combination of amazing talents.

9. Blessing In Disguise by Huh Yunjin (Le Sserafim)

She's such a superstar. Like, listen to this. And she hasn't even officially debuted as a solo artist yet!

8. Dear My Light by Dawn

For me, this is the best, most gut-wrenching ballad we've gotten this year in K-pop. It breaks my heart every single time I listen to it.

7. Firework by &Team

One of the best songs to come out of the retro trend in K-pop. The lyrics are gorgeous, the vocals are emotional and the darkly melancholic instrumental gives me goosebumps in the best of ways.

6. ETA by NewJeans

I had a really hard time picking one single song from them, but I went with this one because it's the most original song they've released this year. Also, it generated one of the most ridiculous controversies I've ever seen, which is always fun.

5. Bon Voyage by Dreamcatcher

I guess You & I has finally been dethroned as the best Dreamcatcher song, cause this one is absolutely incredible in every way. I really don't see how they could possibly top this, but I'm excited to see them try.

4. Sugar Rush Ride by TXT

I adore the contrast between the funky verses and the sensuality of the chorus and the drop. Also, that final chorus is probably one of the best things I've ever heard.

3. Smoke Sprite by So!YoON! (SE SO NEON) feat. RM (BTS)

The first time I heard this song, I felt like I was ascending into a whole new dimension, and it has made me feel like that every single time. It's enthralling.

2. Standing Next To You by Jungkook (BTS)

This is Jungkook's world and we're just living in it. He's the best pop-star in the world right now, and this showstopping song is proof of that. Everything about it is mesmerizing.

1. Eve, Psyche & The Bluebeard's Wife by Le Sserafim

This song hasn't left my brain for a single second since I first heard it. It's the perfect example of Le Sserafim's biggest strengths, and no other group could even try to pull it off.

And that's all, folks! Let's hope 2024 brings us another wave of brilliant K-pop.

[neon-night]

2023 Art Recap

It's been one heck of a year, here's to hoping the next one is greater than the last! :)

[midnightechoes]

A Bridge Chapter 1 of 2

Read on AO3 here!

A Bridge is the third part in my post-RWBY volume 5 STR-Crossed Lovers fic series, Kintsugi. It was originally posted on AO3 back in February 2023.

Kintsugi Part 1, A Visit, taking place immediately after v5 and written by me, can be read on AO3 and Tumblr.

Kintsugi Part 2, A Dream, part flashback, part sequel to A Visit, was written by my friend @shera-dnd and can be read on AO3 and Tumblr.

--

Tai let out a sigh. Two days ago Raven had shown up after almost twenty years, a broken, defeated shell of the woman he had known and loved. After a tense first night, and a long day where they had visited Summer’s grave, he had been hopeful of the progress they had made. Granted, he still wasn’t entirely sure what they were making progress toward, but nonetheless, he was hopeful.

Was.

It was early in the morning, and Tai was leaning against the doorway to the guest room Raven had spent the previous two nights in. A guest room that currently had an empty bed. Tai simply let out a second, long sigh as he stared at it.

Two days ago he wasn’t sure what to think when he first saw Raven land on the roof of his house, but the days had gone better than he could have hoped, rebuilding some small hint of the connection he and his ex-wife used to have. But he’d be lying if a part of him wasn’t expecting to eventually walk into a room and find that Raven was gone. There was a certain inevitability to it, even if it did sting a little more than he had expected it to.

With a heavy heart, Tai pushed himself off the doorframe and took a step into the empty room. He stopped suddenly when he heard a loud slam coming from inside the house. He spun around and hurried down the hall, glancing into each room as he went until he got to Yang’s. There he saw Raven, standing next to a closed window, holding a picture frame that had been sitting on the desk.

“Oh, hey,” Tai chirped, the excitement in his voice noticeable.

“Morning,” Raven murmured, barely looking up.

“Did you hear that slam?” Tai asked, taking a couple of steps into the room.

The question prompted Raven to raise an eyebrow as she finally diverted her attention to him for a few seconds before turning to glance at the window behind her.

“I closed the window,” she said, almost breathless. “It felt…” Raven took another look at the photo in the frame, a family portrait that was taken some years ago that featured a young Ruby and Yang, along with a proud Tai and excited Zwei. “...It felt like the right thing to do.”

“That was taken on Ruby’s first day of school,” Tai said, answering Raven’s silent question. “She was so excited, it took me almost ten minutes to get her to stand still long enough for Qrow to take the picture.”

Raven let out a chuckle that died almost as soon as it started. She ran a finger along the glass, tracing a line between Ruby and Yang. “The kids, were they…happy?”

Tai draped an arm over Raven’s shoulders, making her jump slightly at the contact. Tai quickly lifted his arm but set it back down when Raven made no effort to push him away.

“Yeah. Yeah, they were,” Tai answered. “Zwei made sure of that.”

That got a hearty laugh from Raven as she slapped his chest with the back of her hand.

After feigning injury, Tai slipped the portrait out of Raven’s hands and returned it to its home on the desk.

“Why don’t we start our day on a better note? How about some breakfast?”

“The last time you tried to cook breakfast for Summer and me, you nearly burned the house down,” Raven cracked as she and Tai began making their way out of the room.

“That was a long time ago!” He shouted in protest. “I’ve gotten a lot better at cooking, you’ll see.”

---

Much to Raven’s astonishment, Tai had gotten better at cooking. It was a simple dish, but it was warm, the tea was hot, and the company was pleasant. Tai had spent most of the time boasting about his cooking skills, and admitting to all the glorious failures he had suffered in order to get them. What Raven was most entertained by was hearing of how Yang used to tease the poor man mercilessly for his failures, even though apparently she still always ate it in the end.

A good two hours had somehow slipped by, during which they drained an entire tea kettle. They had forgotten how easily the two of them could lose time when they got going; Summer was the only reason they were ever on time for anything.

The banter might have continued on for even longer if it wasn’t for an alert on Tai’s scroll going off. He tried to give it nothing more than a passing glance, but the info in the little notification box drew his attention. 

“What is it?” Raven asked.

“Oh. It’s just… I forgot that I have some things to do at Signal today.”

Raven leaned forward, propping her head against her hand and gently swishing the dregs of tea that were in her cup. “Ah yes, the job. How boring,” she playfully teased.

“Have to earn a living somehow,” Tai chuckled, throwing his hands up.

“Why?” Raven leaned a little more forward towards him, lifting her free arm and then quickly snapping her hand shut into a fist. “I do what I want, and take what I want,” she confidently boasted.

Tai met her zeal with a flat expression. “Yeah, well, I live in the real world, Rae. And here things cost money, and there are consequences for thieving and stealing.”

“Thieving and stealing is my world,” Raven muttered as she leaned back in her chair. “It’s the world I was born into. It’s the path I still walk.”

“Look,” Tai began, reaching forward and rested his hand on Raven’s. “We all knew where you came from, and we never judged you or your brother for it. We still don’t. But…” He paused to take a deep breath before continuing. “...For a while there you tried walking a different path, with Summer and me. And I like to think it went pretty well.”

Raven stared at the hand resting on hers for a moment before tugging free of the loose grip. “Until I ruined it.”

A silence fell over the kitchen.

Tai leaned back in his chair. He thoughtfully regarded his empty cup, taking a moment to sort out the myriad of thoughts that were racing through his brain.

“I don’t care about any of that,” he finally said. When Raven found the courage to look up at the man across from her, she found a confident smile beaming at her. “All that matters right now is that you’re here. That you’re trying.” Tai slid his hand across the table, palm up, and waited. After a few seconds, Raven found it with her own hand and gave it a squeeze. “It means the world to me that you’re here.”

After another squeeze, Raven let go of Tai’s hand, and wiped away a tear that had been threatening to fall. “I can’t stay.”

“What?”

“My tribe still needs me. Salem knows where our camp is, we have to get on the move again.” Raven met Tai’s gaze, her eyes glassy. “They’re my people, Tai. I’m their leader, and it’s my responsibility to get them to safety.”

“I’ll come with you,” Tai immediately suggested, possibly before he even had a chance to think the idea through.

“No,” Raven flatly stated. “No, Tai. The Branwen tribe is my responsibility, not yours.”

“But…”

“I said no,” Raven firmly said. She rose to her feet, but barely even managed to push her chair in before Tai grabbed her forearm.

“Don’t leave yet,” Tai blurted out, his voice hurried. “Please.” Raven simply looked down at the hand on her arm, then back up at the man it was attached to, and raised an eyebrow. “What’s one more day?”

“I thought you had your job to get to,” Raven smoothly responded.

“Er, well, yeah,” he conceded, before a grin formed on his face. “But, I was supposed to meet up with a few friends after work. Come out with me.”

Raven furrowed her brow at him.

Tai knew that face. It was the face she gave whenever she was on the verge of giving in but didn’t want to admit it.

“Just one more day. We can get out of this house, and just have a little fun. I promise, tomorrow I won’t try to stop you,” Tai pleaded.

“What would I even wear? I certainly couldn’t go into town like this,” Raven said as she gestured to her clothes.

“Why not?”

“Because I look like ‘Raven Branwen, the Bandit Queen’!” she let ouf in a huff. “If I’m going to go out I’d rather not draw any more attention than necessary.”

“Most of your old stuff is still up in the attic, actually. Should be able to find something in there,” Tai quickly answered.

Raven took another moment to answer, mostly just to make Tai sweat a little longer. Slowly, a slick grin grew on her face. “Alright, fine,” she chuckled. “Just write down when and where, and I’ll meet you there after work.”

“I’ll send it to your scroll,” Tai suggested. He let go of Raven and pulled his own scroll from his pocket.

“I don’t have one,” she answered, smirking.

Tai cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Those things can be easily tracked,” Raven gravely informed Tai. He simply shrugged at her then made his way over to a drawer and pulled out a pad and a pen.

“And Tai,” Raven began, her arms folded, her smirk growing. The man gave her his full attention, prompting Raven to motion towards the doorway. “You do know that I wasn’t planning on leaving just then, right? I just have to use the restroom,” she informed him, a smug tone in her voice, before walking out of the room, leaving Tai in the kitchen alone, blushing slightly.

“Um, yeah, I totally knew that,” he mumbled to himself.

---

Raven stood in the middle of the second-floor hallway, staring at the ladder in front of her that led to the attic. It had been almost two minutes since she pulled the ladderway down, and yet, the best she had been able to do was grip one rung with her hand, her feet still firmly on the floor. Above her, through the opening, was a bright, dusty void that teased the edges of a room that awaited her with promises of the one thing Raven had, up until the last week, been running from for years: her past.

She took a deep breath and planted one foot on the bottom rung. It took all of her might for Raven to hoist herself up to the next.

One, and then another. With each rung, her body felt heavier, yet there was pride sprouting inside of her with every step.

Raven hesitated after the fourth rung.

The opening to the attic hovered just above her. With the next step she would crest over the lip of the opening, and there would be no turning back after that.

She took another deep breath and willed her way up the rest of the ladder.

Truth be told, Raven wasn’t sure exactly what she was expecting to find at the top of the stairs. Her brain had conjured visions of overwhelming altars to her past and her sins. Each version more dire, and more judging than the previous.

A mundane, normal attic was the last thing on her mind, but it was exactly what she had found. It was a long room that ran the length of the house. The walls, ceiling, and floor were plain wood, grayed by the amount of dust present. A window at the back end of the house provided the only light in the room, with a hanging light in the center of the room there to help. There were boxes and boxes stacked up around the attic, all of them haphazardly placed, with a winding pathway between them.

Raven chuckled at the sight. In hindsight, she knew that this was what she should have expected if she hadn’t let her anxiety get the best of her. There was no altar. No towering stack of boxes labeled “Raven’s stuff” with skulls and crossbones on it. In fact, there weren’t many labels on anything, and nothing was neatly stacked or organized.

“Really, Tai?” Raven huffed to herself as she snaked her way through the room. Towards the back corner, back where the light from the hanging bulb barely reached, the level of organization rose sharply, and almost all of them were labeled.

A melancholy smile came over her face. Raven knelt down in front of an old stack of boxes and traced the mundane words scribbled on them with her finger, words written in a way that looked all too familiar. 

“Summer,” she murmured, followed by a sharp sniffle. Raven allowed herself a moment to admire her wife’s handwriting, swooping and playful, conjuring memories of her own name at the top of handwritten notes passed during classes. She silently thanked Summer for always having been the coordinated one of them. A dark realization came over Raven. She stood up and glanced around, noticing just how much of the attic was disorganized, creating a sort of map of just how long Summer had been gone.

A shiver ran down her spine.

It took Raven a couple of minutes to recenter herself so that she could return to the task at hand.

About ten minutes of rummaging passed before Raven finally found a large, sealed plastic container with her name on it. Popping the lid off revealed it was stuffed full, brimming with a part of Raven’s life that she had put out of her mind for so long. She quickly rearranged some of the containers in the attic to give herself room to unpack hers. There were all sorts of items and trinkets of hers that had been meticulously wrapped and stored, along with plenty of clothes. It didn’t take long for Raven to find what had, once upon a time, been her favorite pair of pants: a pair of black jeans with huge cargo pockets. Pulling them out of the container revealed a major problem, though: both of the legs were severely torn around the mid-thigh area, to the point that the rest of the legs dangled as if they were about to fall off.

Memories of the over-zealous training exercise that had caused the rips flooded back to Raven, bringing a small smile to her face as she recalled one of the few times Qrow had been able to land a solid blow on her.

If Qrow’s blade hadn’t torn her pants, she’s sure something else would have. They had been her favorite pair, and she had worn them so often that both Tai and Summer complained more than once. She had made it something of a game, if her boyfriend and girlfriend didn’t want to see her in them - well - it was their job to take them off of her.

There were plenty of other pants in the container, a few skirts, and even a couple of dresses too, but as Raven sat there holding her ripped black jeans, smiling and blushing just a bit, she made a decision. One of the mottos of the Branwen tribe had always been “repair over discard”, an essential mindset when one could go weeks, even months without access to new supplies.

Raven grabbed an orange tank top out of the container, resealed it, and made her way back down into the house. It didn’t take long to find the sewing supplies, a must-have for any parent. She selected a thick, gold thread and got to work

---

Truth be told, Tai didn’t love going to Vale. The barebones-college town vibe of Patch had always been more his speed, he’d take dirt roads lined with trees over the metal and concrete of the big city any day. Vale did have its advantages, though. Primarily, more places to spend an evening with friends.

It had been some nine months since the Fall of Beacon, and most of Vale had recovered exceptionally well in that time, save for the school itself. One could barely tell that any of the city had suffered so much as a scratch, let alone a massive invasion.

Punctuality had never been Tai’s strong suit, going against the free-spirit brand he worked hard to maintain. Which made the fact that he had been the first one of his party to arrive all the more amusing. He paced along the sidewalk for another few minutes, taking in the sight of the newly rebuilt entertainment district as the setting sun glistened off of the buildings, until a raven swooped in, soaring just over Tai’s head, and kawed to get his attention. He turned just in time to see the raven veer into an alleyway at the end of the block. Letting out a light chuckle, he began jogging after the bird.

Raven emerged from the alleyway just before Tai could reach it. She was wearing a plain, orange tank top and her black pants, now being held together by gold stitching around the thighs. A smile washed over Tai as soon as he saw her, which turned into a fit of laughter as his eyes drifted down.

“Oh brothers, I thought we burned those!” Tai chuckled

“Summer would have never! She loved seeing me in these,” Raven smugly proclaimed as she folded her arms.

“Well, yeah, but not because she actually liked the pants,” Tai cracked.

The statement only made Raven’s smugness grow. “My point stands.” The playful standoff between the two quickly gave way to laughter, and something Raven hadn’t done since she arrived in Patch: flash a carefree smile.

“So, where are these friends of yours?”

A nervous grin came over Tai. “That is a good question. I’m sure they’ll be here—”

“—Taiyang!” a hearty voice boomed out from across the street before Tai could finish his sentence.

The familiar voice made Raven go stiff as her eyes widened, the grin on her face disappearing in an instant. She and Tai turned in unison to see a jovial Peter Port jogging across the quiet road. Just behind him were a stunned Bartholomew Oobleck and Glynda Goodwitch.

“What is happening?” Raven hissed before they were joined by Port, Oobleck, and Goodwitch.

“Tai! It’s so excellent to see you again!” Port boasted as he reached them. “And you brought a friend!” Port exclaimed as he turned to focus on Raven for the first time. “...Oh!”

“‘Friend’ isn’t the first word that comes to mind,” Glynda grumbled, staring daggers at Raven.

Raven immediately took a defensive stand, her hand instinctively reaching for her sword that wasn’t there. “Well I certainly regret not bringing Omen,” she growled.

“As if I don’t already have enough reasons to arrest you right here on the spot,” Glynda retorted.

Oobleck was the first to jump between the two. “Ladies! Please!” he said with his trademark lightning-quick voice. It was enough to prompt Glynda and Raven to pause their verbal sparring match. Oobleck took the chance to turn to Tai and smile. “It is good to see you.”

“Yeah, likewise,” Tai answered.

“I must say, it is quite the shock to see you tonight, Miss Branwen,” Obleck continued, his attention fully on the bandit queen.

“I don’t want to cause any trouble,” Raven responded.

“Well that would be a first,” Glynda was quick to remark.

“This was a mistake, Tai,” Raven scoffed, then turned around to leave. She barely got a step before her ex-husband had his hand around her wrist. She snapped her head to him, piercing eyes intending to convey a stern get off me, but her resolve quickly melted when she was met with the most pleading face Tai could make. A long sigh came out of Raven as she turned back to the party. “I’m willing to give it a shot if they are.”

The very loud, very distinct sound of Port clearing his throat cut into the conversation. “Miss Branwen, you have to understand, since you left, all that we’ve heard about you have been from your brother, which hasn’t been… the most flattering of portrayals.”

“Thieving and killing your way across Anima, if I recall!” Oobleck blurted out, extending his pointer finger up as if throwing out a random fact during one of his lessons.

It made Raven’s jaw clench. “We aren’t killers, we’re survivors,” Raven growled. She glared at the three of them. “Not all of us were so lucky to have fancy jobs and cushy lifestyles handed to us. Some of us have had to fight for every scrap we have. I’ve done what I had to in order to ensure the survival of my people.”

“Sounds like a lot of justifying bad deeds,” Glynda shot back.

“Glynda,” Tai bemoaned.

“Well I’m sorry, Tai, but how am I supposed to feel? She just shows back up, after almost two decades, and expects everything to be fine?”

Tai stepped forwards towards Glynda. “No, everything isn’t fine. My daughters have had to deal with losing friends, people that they cared deeply for. I had to take care of Yang while she processed having one of her arms chopped off. Now there’s a giant Grimm turned to stone atop Beacon, while my girls wander around Anima trying to figure out how to stop an unstoppable force. So you’re right, there are a lot of things that aren’t ‘fine’. But right now, all I want is to have a nice evening with my friends. Including my wife.”

“Ex-Wife, technically,” Raven automatically corrected. Tai shot Raven an annoyed look, which seemed to bring satisfaction to her. Tai’s attention was pulled back forward when he felt an arm on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Glynda sighed. She let go of Tai and moved to address Raven directly. “At the very least, it’s not like we have to worry about small talk all night.”

Raven raised an eyebrow at the statement.

Glynda turned back to Tai and smirked. “You didn’t tell her?”

A very nervous grin came over Tai’s face as he glanced between the two women.

“Tell me what?” Raven snarled, her eyes squinting at her ex-husband. Tai pointed at the building that they were all standing in front of. The signage above the door was a bright neon sign that flashed “Vale Karaoke”.

Raven whipped back to Tai, her eyes wide. “This was definitely a mistake.”

---

It took two beers before Raven was willing to sing. When she finally did, she picked the hardest, fastest song in the library, and screamed through most of it as Port and Glynda covered their ears, but still got a round of enthusiastic applause from Tai and Oobleck when she had finished.

Despite everyone’s initial hesitation, the evening seemed to be going smoothly. They rented a private room for two hours. A soft, gray couch lined three of the walls in a U shape, with a low, wooden table in the middle on which the song selection machine sat. The fourth wall was taken up mostly by a TV screen. Tai and Raven were on the side closest to the door, with Oobleck and Glynda opposite of them, and Port in the middle.

Raven’s metal performance happened about forty minutes into the night, and from there she seemed to mostly settle into enjoying herself. She clapped along to a few of the songs Tai sang, mostly upbeat rock and roll songs, and cheered on Port’s eclectic selection of songs. Somehow, Oobleck convinced her to sing a duet with him, some kind of silly pop song. Every once in a while, Raven and Glynda would needle each other during the lulls between the music. Mostly just small stuff, a backhanded compliment here, a note of skepticism there. Each time it began happening, Tai would hurriedly start the next song and shove the mic at whoever’s turn it was, paying little attention to what he was selecting. This is what led to Port singing a very lusty love song. What couldn’t be explained was why he was getting so into it.

As if her prayers were answered, it was during this song that the notification came that their food order was ready. Raven immediately jumped at the chance to go get it. She quietly slipped past Tai and exited the room, doing what she could to not distract from Port’s fun. To her surprise, Glynda slipped out right behind her.

“Keeping an eye on me, warden?” Raven smirked.

Glynda shot her hands up. “We ordered a lot, I just thought you could use the help.”

Raven answered with a faint hum, then began making her way down the hall, with Glynda following just behind. They walked in silence up to the food counter, where Raven turned in their ticket to one of the clerks, who promptly nodded and disappeared to the back.

“I didn’t know you could sing,” Glynda offhandedly commented as they waited. Raven simply shot her a raised eyebrow. “Not that wailing you did, mind you. That was utter nonsense, but when you sang with Bart, that actually sounded nice.”

Before she could reply, the clerk returned and set their order out onto two trays. Both women gave the clerk a nod and began to head back, trays in hand.

“Well, you were always more Summer’s and Tai’s friend,” Raven stated casually, “I’m sure there are plenty of things you don’t know about me.”

“You’re right, there’s a lot I don’t know about you. That’s what happens when someone’s not around,” Glynda shot back.

The comment made Raven stop in her tracks. There was a silence between them before Raven whipped around as fast as she could without spilling anything on her tray. “Is there something you wanted to say to me?” she snarled.

“I made a promise to Tai. And I don’t break my promises,” Glynda cooly replied, which just seemed to infuriate Raven even more.

“Well he’s not here, now is he. You’ve been peppering me all night, so why don’t you just spit it out!”

A sardonic smirk grew on Glynda’s face as she weighed her options. After a moment, she seemed to come to a decision as she set her gaze firmly on Raven. “Here’s what I know about you, Raven. I know what it feels like to have to comfort your sobbing wife because one morning you just up and disappeared. I know how pained Tai was that he couldn’t grieve the loss of Summer with you, that he didn’t even know how to let you know. I watched your family fall apart. They needed you, and you were nowhere to be found.” By the time Glynda had finished, she was huffing from long-suppressed anger that had come bubbling to the surface.

It took a few seconds for Raven to recover. She looked livid, but a closer inspection would have revealed bloodshot eyes on the verge of tearing up. “I had a responsibility to my tribe,” she seethed.

“What about the responsibility to your family?!” Glynda immediately shot back. “You couldn’t even show up for Summer’s funeral. Did you even care? Did you ever care?”

“Of course I cared!” Raven cried. “I… I…”

The sudden sound of a door opening froze both of them. “Everything alright out here?” Tai’s voice called from behind Raven, some ten feet away.

With a deep breath, and a quick glare at Glynda, Raven turned back around with as much of a smile as she could. It apparently wasn’t very convincing because as soon as she turned, Tai’s face contorted into a worried expression.

“We’re fine,” Raven snapped as she strode into the room past him.

“Just lovely,” Glynda coldly affirmed.

Tai closed the door behind them. They had returned just as Port and Oobleck were finishing some sort of duet, and having a good laugh over it.

“A-ha! The food has arrived!” Port gleefully declared, wrapping his arm around Oobleck and shaking the man violently.

The group took a brief break to dig into the food while the synthy, generic waiting screen music filled the room.

“You know, for what’s basically bar food, this is pretty good,” Tai said as he stuffed more fries into his mouth.

“I’ve survived on a lot worse,” Raven chuckled.

“And here I thought bandits ate like kings,” Glynda mused, loudly. She was focused on her sandwich, but a satisfied smile grew on her face as she could feel Raven glaring at her again.

“I already told you that we didn’t, are you calling me a liar?,” Raven growled back. Tai tried to place his hand on Raven’s arm, but she yanked it away quickly.

“I’m sure that’s not what Glynda intended, Miss Branwen,” Oobleck tried to insert, but instead just had Raven’s ire redirected to him.

“Oh really? Because it sure as hell sounds like that’s what she meant,” Raven barked.

“My only question is why you thought living that way was necessary,” Glynda stated, returning Raven’s glare with one of her own.

Tai shoved the handful of fries into his mouth, and quickly pulled the selection machine towards him. With his attention still mostly on the growing argument, Tai punched in a number at random. “Oh look, it’s your turn, Rae,” he hurriedly said as he stood up and pulled Raven to her feet. She shot him a death glare, one that he did his best to ignore as he shoved the microphone into her hands. “Your turn to sing, Rae!”

Raven kept her eyes focused on Glynda as she let Tai pull her to the front of the room where they had been performing all night. It wasn’t until both of Tai’s hands were firmly on her shoulders that she turned her attention back to Tai.

“You got this,” he beamed.

“What am I even singing?” Raven asked, a confused look on her face.

“No idea,” Tai admitted. “Does it really matter? We’re here to sing, so just sing. Please?” he begged. Raven sighed and nodded, giving him a faint smile, one that he returned.

The music of the selection began, instantly wiping Raven’s faint smile away. It was a simple piano melody, but as it played, working its way to the beginning of the lyrics, Tai and Raven stood frozen staring at each other with widening eyes as their jaws went slack.

A quiet gasp came from Glynda, but it was enough to shake Tai out of his stupor. “No no no no no!” He stammered as he tried to make his way around Raven so he could turn the song off. But before he reached the machine, Raven’s arm shot out and grabbed his. “Rae, you don’t have to,” Tai croaked, but Raven just pushed him down onto the couch. She stood there for a couple of seconds, staring straight at the screen, posture stiff, clutching the microphone as tightly as she could with both hands as the lyrics slowly began scrolling up on the screen.

“Once,” Raven began, drawing out the “o” as her voice cracked slightly. “Like a dream, you looked at me, and everything felt new,” she continued.

It looked as if she was trying to strangle the microphone, her grip twisting around it, growing tighter and tighter with each word. “Time slipped away, the past seemed to fade, my hope restored by you.” Raven’s voice cracked again on the “you”. Throughout her tone had been swinging from hollow, to putting everything she had into the words, sometimes shifting between tones in the middle of the words.

At the far end of the room, Glynda and Port sat on the couch set against the back wall, with Oobleck off to the side. The doctor sat there, hand over his mouth, seemingly entranced by Raven.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand what is happening,” Port whispered as he leaned toward Glynda.

“This was the song that Summer sang to Raven and Tai at their wedding,” Glynda murmured, a look of horror on her face. Even from behind, it was easy to see how uncomfortable Raven was by her posture and rigid lack of movement.

Port returned his gaze to Raven, and with this new knowledge, sighed. “Oh no.”

“...always be, it's my destiny, to… to…” Raven stuttered. The cold determination she had been clinging to was beginning to crumble. Her entire body shook as she tried to force the words out of her mouth.

“—to be in love with you,” Tai’s voice softly finished. Raven slowly turned to see Tai standing just next to her, a microphone in his hand, a furrowed brow, and a slight smile on his face.

Raven herself had an expression of deep sorrow on her face, but with Tai’s help, she turned back to the monitor to continue. “Some people fall in love for life,” the two sang together. “Others never get it right, love's fickle when it calls, one thing that I know for sure, longer than our lives endure, you're my…” Raven began stuttering again, throwing Tai off.

“...My…” Raven stammered. “...My fore—” she stopped suddenly mid-word, her entire body seemed to almost buckle as she hunched over. “I can’t!” she screamed, accompanied by the sound of the plastic microphone shattering in her hand. “I can’t!” she repeated.

Before anyone had a chance to react, Raven slammed her body into the door, bursting it open.

“Shit!” Tai yelped, following her out the door as fast as could. He got into the hallway in time to see a raven soaring through the halls. “Shit shit shit!” he huffed, giving chase as quickly as possible.

What little hope Tai had of catching Raven in the building was dashed when another patron in the entranceway kindly opened the door so the wild bird could fly out. He was running so fast that he almost ran said patron over on his way to violently shoving the door open.

Once outside, Tai could see Raven soaring down the block. He immediately gave chase, trying his best to not lose her completely, lowly cursing between increasingly haggard breaths. Hope came back to him when he saw Raven turn into an alleyway just a block away.

By the time he got to the alleyway, Tai was exhausted, his legs were burning as he gasped for breath. Bent over, his hands pressed firmly on his knees to hold himself up, he peered into the alleyway and was grateful to see Raven standing some twenty feet again, human once more, with one arm wrapped around her waist and the other hand covering her face as audible sobs echoed in the alley.

Something, perhaps it was a connection made long ago that despite years of fraying still held, or perhaps it was just how loudly Tai was huffing for air, but something made Raven look up. Her bloodshot eyes found Tai’s, and for some reason, seeing that man, hunched over on the sidewalk, sucking in oxygen after chasing her for almost a whole mile, made her smile.

“I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to run, I just needed to get out of there,” Raven hoarsely called out. “And flying’s a lot faster than running.”

Tai forced himself back into an upright position and took a few steps into the alleyway. “Y-Yeah, I can see that. I could barely keep up, and I have great calf muscles,” he boasted, a cocky smile on his face doing his best to ignore just how much those calves were screaming in pain.

Despite her state, Raven couldn’t help but giggle. She took a quick glance at the man’s legs, then glanced back up at him, a teasing smile on her face. “You really do have great calf muscles.”

Thankfully, Tai’s face was already red from the running, hiding the blush that came from the compliment. He awkwardly scratched the back of his head as he averted his gaze and let out a faint chuckle.

Once he was able to recover, Tai took another couple of steps towards Raven, still leaving seven or eight feet between them.

“I am so sorry, Raven. I was just trying to distract you from fighting with Glynda. I was being careless, and I should have checked what I was punching in.” He paused to let out a long sigh. “I should have stopped the song as soon as I heard it.”

The admission and apology didn’t immediately elicit a response from Raven. She simply stood there, no longer sobbing but with tears still running down her cheeks, both her arms wrapped around her waist, staring absently toward the ground just in front of her.

Despite having been pretty loud, even with his throat still burning from gasping for air, Tai was starting to think that Raven hadn’t heard him. Until she shifted slightly. Her eyes shot to him for just a brief second before dropping back to the ground.

“My semblance,” Raven murmured, her brows knitting, “it doesn’t attach to people’s bodies. The connection made attaches to one’s aura… one’s soul.”

A pregnant pause fell between them, Raven struggling for the strength to get to her point, a dim horror washing over Tai as the flicker of that point began to glow in his mind.

“So when someone dies, and their soul leaves their body, that connection is severed,” Raven pushed on, each word getting a little less sure as she went. “It-It feels like a piece of my heart being violently torn from my body.”

With all her effort, Raven forced herself to meet Tai’s gaze, her eyes looking haunted. “I knew the second Summer died,” she cried, a loud sob escaping her. Within seconds, Tai had his arms wrapped around her as he pulled her into a tight hug. Raven sank into him, her body going slack, letting Tai’s solid frame hold her up.

They stayed that way for a moment, Raven letting out little sobs every handful of seconds. Finally, after settling down a little, she regained some of her posture, pulling out of the hug slightly to look Tai in the eyes, something she was only able to do for a few seconds before dropping her gaze to the side. With Tai’s arms still draped around her, Raven seemed to shrink, hugging herself as if to take up as little space as possible.

“I don’t have an easy answer for why I didn’t come back,” she murmured. “I guess there was a part of me that was still trying to convince myself that I made the right choice. That my life and this one were incompatible, that going our separate ways and staying far apart was what was best for everyone.”

Raven sucked in a deep breath before continuing. “There was a part of me that was ashamed... I ran away from everyone… I didn’t deserve to be a part of this family…” With some struggle, Raven managed to look up at the man still holding her. “... I didn’t think you’d want anything to do with me.”

Tai simply looked into her eyes and smiled. “Well, that’s obviously not true.”

“Obviously,” Raven faintly chuckled.

“Come back to the bar, there’s still almost an hour left. We’ll find something better to sing,” Tai promised.

That got a louder chuckle out of Raven. “Only if I get to pick the songs.”

They finally separated from the hug. Tai lifted his arm, allowing Raven to curl hers around it. “You drive a hard bargain, Branwen.”

“A code of the Branwen Tribe, always maintain the upper hand.”

Tai let out a laugh as they walked. “You really gotta teach me these codes some time.”

---

When Tai and Raven returned to their private room in the karaoke center, Glynda, Port, and Oobleck were standing at the front of the room. It was clear by their movement that they had been huddled and talking just seconds before the door had opened. Raven stepped in first, with Tai just behind them. Three pairs of eyes immediately trained on them, but to Raven’s surprise, none of those eyes were filled with anger. There was something in there, something Raven couldn’t quite put a finger on. Undeterred, she pressed on, taking a deep breath before addressing the small crowd.

“I am sor—” was all Raven got out before she found herself suddenly being pulled into a tight hug by Glynda. They both stood there for a moment, Raven in shock as Glynda’s arms constricted around her shoulders. Once Raven was able to shake out of her stupor, she reached her arms up, clutching at the blonde woman’s back as she basked in the warmth of the hug.

They stayed that way for another moment, neither saying a word, instead just letting the hug say everything that was needed.

---

It was almost midnight when Tai and Raven returned to Patch. After the karaoke bar, the group decided to go and get a proper dinner together, although it seemed that Port and Tai had decided that the karaoke would follow them wherever they went.

Tai burst into the house, full of energy and song, and jovial from a good night and a few alcoholic drinks. “Can't hold me now! And you're not stopping me!” he blurted out, slightly off-key and voice more than slightly hoarse.

The commotion startled Zwei, who had been asleep in his doggy bed that was a few yards from the door. The pup immediately jumped from his bed in excitement, and scurried over to greet Tai and Raven, who was just closing the door behind her.

“Hey, little buddy!” Tai enthusiastically called out as Zwei jumped up and began licking his face. Raven simply giggled at the sight as she slipped past him and disappeared into the kitchen. “Who’s the best guard dog in the world?” Tai playfully teased as he cradled Zwei like a baby and scratched his belly, making the dog’s tail wag excitedly.

After a minute, Raven returned to the living room, holding two glasses of water. “I put some tea on, it’ll help with the throat,” she announced. She went to hand Tai his water, but Zwei saw the opening and squirmed out of Tai’s grip. Raven was just barely able to pin the dog between her arms as she tried to keep the glasses in her hands from spilling. Tai took the glasses from Raven, allowing her to pull the good dog up against her shoulder. She couldn’t help but giggle as he began licking her face. “It’s good to see you too, buddy.”

“Thanks,” Tai said, holding up the glass of water and taking a sip.

“I assumed you needed it,” she playfully jeered.

“What can I say, I had a fun night,” Tai boasted, flashing a sly smile. “It’s nice to see that you and Glynda are finally friends.”

An involuntary guffaw came out of Raven. “Let’s not go that far,” she argued. There was a brief moment of silence between them, save for Zwei’s happy little whines, as their eyes found each other. “Still, it was a nice night.”

As if on cue, the tea kettle in the kitchen began whistling, seemingly startling everyone out of whatever moment was beginning to develop. Raven set Zwei down and scurried into the kitchen. Tai knelt down to ruffle the hair on Zwei’s head, then followed his ex-wife.

Once there, he found Raven pouring two cups of tea. “Do you really have to leave?” Tai asked, his voice low, somber.

The question made Raven let out a long sigh as she set down the kettle. Slowly, she turned in place and leaned against the kitchen counter, her fingernails digging into the wooden top as she gripped it tightly.“There’s still a lot to do for my tribe. Relocating to somewhere Salem won’t follow us isn’t going to be easy.”

Tai stood there, his arms folded as he stared off to the side. There was a  thoughtful expression on his face as he nodded along to what Raven was saying. When she finished, the quiet hung between them for just a few seconds. Tai’s brow knitted as a huff of air came out of his nostrils. “Alright, I’m coming with you.”

A loud sigh escaped Raven as her head fell back. “Tai, no, we talked about this.”

“Well I’m not taking no for an answer this time,” he quickly retorted with an air of confidence in his voice. “I’ve made my choice, and I’m not just going to leave you to deal with your problems alone. I made a vow that I would never do that and it’s about time I started making good on that again.”

“For the last time, Tai, we’re not married anymore,” Raven grumbled.

The statement seemed to make Tai’s confidence falter just a bit.“Well, maybe we’re not,” he conceded. “To be honest, I don’t know what we’re doing, or where this is going, but Summer would want this family to look out for each other, no matter how fractured it’s become. So I’m coming with you.”

“And then what? You become a bandit too?” Raven chuckled. “We both go on the run?”

“No, we both know that wouldn’t work,” Tai admitted. “I don’t know exactly. Maybe we get your tribe somewhere safe. Then maybe we both come back here. Figure out where this is going,” he said, his cheeks turning bright red.

“Here? Back to this house?” Raven asked, her voice almost breaking by the end of the sentence.

“Yeah?” Tai answered, somewhat confused. “Why not?”

“This house is full of ghosts,” she shuddered. “My mistakes, the splinters of the wreck I made are wedged into the seams of every wall.” Raven wrapped her arms around herself as she let her eyes fall shut. They only stayed shut for a few seconds, though, as the feeling of Tai’s hands against her shoulders compelled her to open them. She was met with the sight of the soft smile on his face, his eyes meeting hers.

“No, Rae, not ghosts,” Tai corrected, “it’s full of memories. Summer poured so much love for all of us into this house, you can still feel it in the air.” Tai was met with a raised eyebrow and a skeptical expression. “I mean it, just close your eyes.”

Despite her skepticism, Raven closed her eyes, and let everything wash over. It took a moment, but things slowly began to fill in. A familiar breeze blew in through the kitchen window carrying the scent of the flowers planted in the flower beds in front of the house; flower beds that Summer had started many years ago. The rustling of the trees outside, creaking and swaying as they always had. Little sounds and feelings that Raven had associated with their little corner of the world. Little sounds and feelings that she had thought she had left behind forever.

A little gasp escaped Raven as a tear dripped down her cheek. She opened her eyes slowly, gazing up at Tai through a water film. “I can still feel her combing her fingers through my hair as I was cooking.”

A wet chuckle came out of Tai. “She loved teasing you when you cooked.” Raven nodded at him, attempting to wipe the tear away, only for it to be replaced by two more. Tai’s rough hand reached up to cup Raven’s cheek, his thumb wiping away one of the tears. On instinct, she leaned into the touch.

“I can still hear her,” Tai added. “She’d sing to try to distract you.” The two fell silent, their teary eyes staring at one another.

Still staring directly into Raven’s eyes, he began to sing, barely louder than a whisper, but his voice was sure, soft but confident. “One thing that I know for sure, longer than our lives endure, you’re my forever fall.”

Raven swallowed down a sob. Her tears were flowing freely as she looked up at her ex-husband, and began snaking her arms around his waist. “Taiyang, you big, dumb idiot,” Raven breathlessly said as she reached up and kissed him.

[bugtransport]

Tatami Galaxy (novel) finished 2/28/23

yes i am late on this one. okay. if it is not obvious i'm already a really big fan of this series so this is going to be fully biased. sorry! i got this book as a gift; i was originally gonna wait for the paperback version to be released because honestly i typically like paperbacks better than hardcovers... they're cheaper and easier to hold and i like the way that they age and show the love you poured into them over the years (my h2g2 paperback omnibus that i carried around for like 2 years in my backpack and is held together with 3 different kinds of tape and a dream being the prime example of this) but what was i gonna do. say no? it's the tatami fuckin galaxy, baby. what the hell. it's wild to me that i've actually read this now.

first off i just wanna say how cool it was getting to read the translator's note at the end of the book and hearing how passionate they were about this author's work in particular and how they got into translating with the goal of being able to translate his work. it's fun knowing that something was made by people who actually care a lot about it. i think that shows throughout.

for those who don't know what the fuck the tatami galaxy is even about: cringefail pathetic guy college student realizes that he's pissed away the last two years of his life and wishes that he could redo it all over again to stop himself from getting wrapped up in a bunch of bullshit and we (the audience) get to see him fulfill that wish through time loop shenanigans that he (the main character) is only somewhat aware of but actually every choice he makes that could have possibly had him do something different leads him back to the same place he was before: depressed alone in his shitty little 4.5 tatami mat room. important side characters include ozu (best friend/worst enemy, connected by the black string of fate) and akashi (love interest kinda/ruthlessly autistic, girl of all time) among other recurring characters who i'm not going to talk about because time constraints and i think they're better experienced naturally so, there you go. if you're curious as to what the fuck i've been talking about you have a reason to get into it.

one of the things i really loved being able to read the novel after seeing the anime adaptation is being able to contrast the ways that they were able to bring in the time loop aspect which... really is not all that present for as much as i talk about it; it's core to the series but it's not really a mystery that needs to be uncovered, it's just the vehicle for which we can explore the main character's wish fulfillment fantasy and come to realize that actually, all the problems are with him and his pathetic little life, the spineless little worm. however i do love a good time loop and will continue to sell it as such. the repetition of passages in the book, the fact that the main character and ozu have very similar conversations in different places, the deja vu, the way each section ends the same, it all builds a really solid but not ridiculously over the top loop. like i said, it's just a vehicle. in the first 3 parts of the book at least.

as the novel is written in first person we're really able to dive into that unreliable narration more than we were in the anime which, while being narrated by the mc, really has to be third person and therefore gives a little more credence to the reality of what's being shown. the anime gets really out there with its visual interpretations and combined with the mc's narration like, it's obvious that everything you see is biased from his perspective, but... to pull an example out of my ass (and this is not a direct quote because i can't be bothered, don't come for me) there's one point where he's trying to describe himself and he's going off like: picture a guy in your head. a nice looking, smart guy, with a beautiful black haired woman by his side. he's going off about his studies. he seems like the kind of guy who has friends and is natural in social situations. now, that guy's not me, but please picture me like that.

you get what i mean? he's that kinda guy. i love a good kinda cringey main character but i get that that kind of main character isn't for everyone. however it is for me. it's fun watching him fail through life and kind of accidentally learn things along the way and then to have the big culmination of the book (the 4th part, where the aforementioned vehicle crashes and) where he ends up stuck in a literal loop with no way out of his apartment but through all the different tatami rooms that belong to the different versions of himself that he could have been and realizing that whatever path he takes he'll still end up the same but that there are small joys to be felt in life still, that he has the connections he's made in all of these worlds and realizes fuck, i've been dreaming about this rose colored campus life for far too long and i didn't even realize what i had.

and the symbolism with akashi being afraid of moths?? it's just too good. had to throw that in there because every time i think about it i get all hehehe it itches my brain in the right way. i think she got a bit more fleshed out in the anime but i do still love what there was for her in the book.

i love the tatami galaxy! really fun time for me, felt like coming home. genuinely might try and pick up another by the same author. apparently he has a thing for these sopping little wet idiot protagonists and i just love reading about them.

do i recommend it? ^ read it if the above applies to you too lol

p.s. kamen rider V3 is mentioned! THAT'S MY FRIEND KAZAMI SHIRO HIIIIII KAZAMIIIII

[mikethefanboy]

Rose City Comic Con Review! Jeremy Heads To The Portland Con! Critical Role! Cosplay! And More!

If you are driving down the streets in Portland, Oregon near the Oregon Convention Center, the sidewalks are lined with every costume in the galaxy. Seeing Spider-Man, Mary Poppins, and several hybrid Star Wars characters together can only mean one thing: It’s Rose City Comic Con weekend. And this year, they were out in force! The convention has been in Portland for several years, and they…

[aprilblossomgirl]

my favorite QL 2023 recaps: part 2 - Mark Pakin

Mark Pakin Kunaanuwit and his co-stars in shows throughout 2023.

GIF 1. The Warp Effect (2022-2023) - as Jedi with Best Jira as Rose

GIF 2. Moonlight Chicken (2023) - as Saleng with View Benyapa as Praew

GIF 3. My School President (2022-2023) - as Thiuson with Ford Allan as Por

GIF 4. Only Friends (2023) - as Nick with Neo Trai as Boston

GIF 5. Last Twilight (2023-2024) - as Night with Namtan Tipnaree as Phojai

[txttletale]

how would you recommend watching doctor who? there are so many different guys idk how it works.

so the thing about doctor who is that there's two shows -- classic who (1963-1989, doctors 1-7) and new who (2005-2023, doctors 9-14). due to a renumber of the seasons and a change in production company, i think it's fair to call the upcoming version of who (2023-??, doctors 15-??) its own, third show. the reason it's been able to run for so long is that when the show's lead actor, (william hartnell as the titular doctor) had to step down in 1966 due to failing health, they made up some sci-fi bullshit: the doctor's species can 'regenerate' instead of dying, instantly healing but changing their appearance and some of their personality. this means that every time a lead actor has walked away (or, in one unfortuante case, been fired) the show's just recast the doctor and moved on, often with notable changes in tone and format.

the easiest option if you don't want to backwatch anything is to start with this year's christmas special, the church on ruby road (2023). it's an obvious jumping on point to the series, introduces you to all the basic stuff (the doctor, the TARDIS, the fact that it's a silly sci-fi show about fighting weird rubber prop critters), and presumably sets up the upcoming season 1 of the disney-bad wolf version of the show that's gonna come out in may 2024.

if you do want to backwatch, you have to decide if you want to start with new who or classic who. i personally would recommend starting with new who, because there's less of it, it's got higher production values, and (imo this is the biggest obstacle to getting into classic who) it's paced in a way that makes much more sense to a modern TV viewer (self-contained 45-minute episodes). also once you're invested in the show, its main character, and some of its classic elements, you get to soyjak at the screen whenever you're watching classic who and you get to see the oirign of a monster you already recognize. you can also skip classic who entirely and never watch it, they don't bring up anything from it in the new series without giving it a new explanation, but if you do this you hate fun.

anyway, starting points for nuwho: the most obvious one is rose (2005). it's the pilot episode for the new show and imo it holds up brilliantly -- it introduces all the most basic concepts of the show, but ultimately it's really all about billie piper and cristopher eccleston's performances and they deliver. the special effects are gonna be pretty terrible for a while because it's early 2000s cg. there's no jumping on point like it for the whole of RTD's run of the show (imo, the best run of nuwho) so if you want to watch seasons 1-4 you've gotta start on rose.

another episode that's written as a jumping on-point is (heavy sigh) the eleventh hour (2011). as well as introducing matt smith's doctor and his companion amy, this also does the whole rigamarole of introducing the show's core elements, giving a nutshell recap of its history in the form of the doctor's rooftop speech, and also signal what the oncoming moffat era is going to be like (whimsical, full of complex time travel plots, way more misogynist). i'm biased -- i'm a hater, one of this episode's central plot conceits sucks real bad and i also hate the eleventh doctor's whole run. but it is meant to be a jumping on point.

there won't be another one of those in nuwho until the pilot (2017). this begins moffat's final season with which he made the odd but extremely welcome decision to jettison all his convoluted continuity shit from the last five seasons and refocus the show with the doctor being a professor at bristol university with a mysterious secret. i think season 10 is a hidden gem and if you find starting from rose daunting this is the next best place to pick up. capaldi's doctor is a delightful abrasive eccentric with a heart of gold at this point in his run & the stories are wall-to-wall bangers with only a couple misses.

finally, you could start on the woman who fell to earth (2018), the first episode to feature jodie whittaker's 13th doctor and head writer chris chibnall. i'd recommend this even less than the eleventh hour, because while i actually like it more, i think it's a much worse preview of what the upcoming era is going to be like than that one. if you watch the woman who fell to earth and keep watching from the start of whittaker's run on the show off the back of it, you're going to be severely disappointed as most of the more promising aspects of the episode get instantly abandoned.

so, summary, if you're starting with nuwho, there's five jumping on points, which i'd rank:

rose > the pilot > the church on ruby road > the eleventh hour > the woman who fell to earth

but i want to start with classic who because i'm a contrarian

alright. classic who also has a few jumping off points -- before i mentioned them, let me just talk about that format thing i mentioned earlier. classic who doesn't have self-contained episodes for the most part, but rather for most of its run told each of its episodic narratives across between two and seven 20-minute episodes. this leads to a lot of weird pacing, forced cliffhangers, and infamously a lot of filler shots of the doctor running up and down identical corridors. so obvsies i'm recommending entire stories here nad not individual episodes. that said, let's look at where you could jump on:

an unearthly child (1963). this is, like, the start of the show. that said i don't recommend it as a place to start (funnily enough), for a couple reasons. firstly, because of dreadful fucking archiving by the BBC, a lot of episodes from the show's first six seasons are straight up missing. some of them have been animated by the BBC from surviving audio recordings, but some of them are just straight up lost -- due to the format, this means there's very few full complete stories, which makes this whole era really hard to navigate. if you don't mind that and really want to start in the black and white era, i'd still recommend the tomb of the cybermen (1967) instead -- hartnell's portrayal of the doctor as a haughty, slightly impish old professor is great, but troughton basically defined the character's core traits for the next sixty years.

spearhead from space (1970) is a pretty big format upheaval for the show and so serves as a pretty great classic jumping-on point. it's the first episode to be in colour, and sets up a new status quo for the doctor as being trapped on earth and working for an elite paramlitary organization called UNIT that operates out of a ratty office. it's an interesting premise that the show gets some great stories out of. the special effects are bad in the best way. pertwee has instant charm in the role and it's all around a banger by classic standards.

if you want to jump right to the one all the boomers are nostalgic for, you can also start with robot (1974). i wouldn't recommend it, though--tom baker is electric in the role from the start, but the episode itself kind of assumes a lot of the context of the third doctor's setup and supporting cast which you're not gonna have.

i wouldn't recommend anyone start at any point during the fifth or sixth doctors runs because i want them to actually like the show, so i guess the last jumping on point i could really recommend after robot would be, like, dragonfire (1987), which heralds the show's short-lived renaissance with the seventh doctor and his best companion, ace. but although you'd be watching some of the absolute best the classic show ever gets, it feels like it would be a weird and disorienting place to start.

finally, you could watch tales of the tardis (2023), a limited series produced to celebrate the show's 60th anniversary. each episode follows the same format: through a vaguely handwaved Palace of Memories plot, two much-aged characters from the classic series meet up and fondly remember one of the adventures they shared. the bookends with the original actors are mostly shameless fanservice, but the episodes they're reminiscing about are superbly edited down into a much more watchable format -- it works as a good 'sample platter' for most eras of the show (although, weirdly, there wasn't anything from tom baker's run!) and i think it honestly wouldn't be a bad shout to just start from tales of the tardis and then keep watching from whichever of the stories featured in it you liked most. that all said, if you want to start with classic who, i'd rank these jumping on points as follows:

spearhead from space > tales of the tardis > tomb of the cybermen > dragonfire > robot > an unearthly child

all that shit said it's fundamentally a very episodic show with very few exceptions like trial of a time lord and whatever moffat was doing seasons 6-7 so in the end you can basically just start with any episode and more or less get some of the idea. have fun and make sure to do the most important job of a doctor who fan, update the tardis wiki page for penis whenever one is mentioned

[footytea]

kylian mbappé and his girls (escorts or whatever you wanna call them)

kylian is very good at keeping his affairs private, but that doesn't mean nothing is happening behind closed doors. here's a few girls kylian has invited to or hangs out with every now and then (however you wanna interpret "hanging out"):

lauren blake — from LA, has been spotted at psg games & travels to paris every now and then, follows kylian's best friend tchaga, she's been seen commenting under kylian's posts as well

daria leliuk — supposedly met kylian for the first time in 2021 in ibiza, had dinner with kylian in la môme (monte carlo) on july 27th (there's clips of kylian leaving/entering the restaurant & daria posted a pic of her at the restaurant the same day). other girls at the dinner were sophia, lola balayer & pollylingual

sophia — another girl kylian invited to dinner in monte carlo, sophia posted a story in buddha bar, an employee of the restaurant posted a photo with kylian the same night

emma duron, chiara palmas, sara hajhajate — also girls who accompanied kylian in monaco (monte carlo)

lara lourenco — met kylian at a charity event back in 2022, they were seated at the same table & left together later that night, she also followed him the same evening. she was also at his bday party last year (2023).

ines — the girl kylian was seen picking up on a yacht either last year or 2022 i can't remember. people confused her with a trans model, who happened to have the same name & similar features. she was also at kylian's recent bday party. they seem to be friends w benefits.

stella maxwell — another one of his friends w benefits, met in 2022 and has been seen at the same parties as kylian, at one party she was seen dancing very close to him. was also at his birthday party in december.

rose bertram — they both follow each other and have been seen at the same parties, she's also in paris quite often. there was this whole story about rose trying to baby trap kylian, she denied it, but i think kylian distanced himself a little after that story.

mélissa — a girl who accompanied kylian in marrakech, morocco this january. kylian took pics with fans at moroccan restaurant les jardins du lotus and melissa also posted a story of the same restaurant the same night.

georgia may heath — i don't know when exactly she met kylian, but she seemed to lowkey like the attention she was getting a lot. she dropped hints about her "thing" with kylian on her tiktok, and even added a pic to her 2021 year recap video, showing the sneakers & pants kylian wore in mykonos, 2021 (he posted a pic of the fit on ig). she's in paris a lot and seems to be accompanying him on a lot of vacation trips. she also happened to be in marrakech this january around the same time as kylian.

that's it for now, there's a few more girls he was seen with, but i don't know their names or instagram accounts, so i haven't added them here. these are just the girls he has been seen with repeatedly!

i would add pics, but i haven't had the time to gather everything, but if you guys really want it, i can add it, just let me know 🤍

[my-rose-tinted-glasses]

Rose Recaps 2023 - Korea

I started with Japan because this year it gave me everything I could possibly want. Korea gave me some very nice surprises. Let's go.

The one that had me question if watching it was good for my mental health.

The Eighth Sense

Much like what I said about Tokyo in April is... it was not a good decision on my part to watch this one live. I related way too much to Jae Won and I wasn't in a specially good place at the time. However, I love it so much. I have rewatched it since then and it's such an incredible journey.

I think they used the time very efficiently and they didn't try to skip too many steps to make it a happy ending. I would be okay without any redemption for those two but on the plus side the other friends were brilliant.

Favourite Moment

The one that came out of nowhere

Sing My Crush

This show came out all at once and I had no idea it was coming. But I'm so glad it did. There were I think 4 kbls that came out all at once this year. And with the exception of this one, they were all worse because of it. First of all I fell in love with the song instantly and Han Tae immediately after. He's so cute and in love and it takes him way too long to realise it, but his devotion to Ba Ram is unquestionable from the beginning.

Favourite Moment:

The one that was a sequel but not really

Love Class 2

The first couple of episodes I wasn't sure about this one. The first couple of episodes were kinda of confusing, starting with such a dark scene on the roof, and so many different types of relationships to keep track of.

Joo Hyuk was my instant favourite from the beginning. The way he was instantly smitten and committed from the first moment he saw the TA was delightful.

It took me longer to warm up to Min Woo and Maru. But I love their arc. Even the jealousy experiment didn't bother me, Maru needed a push. Much like Lee Hyun said, it was so obvious.

Lee Hyun and Kim An were the last ones to reach me. I think the whole backstory around Kim An muddied the waters a bit and I'm not sure it was necessary to have so much of it, but I did love that when Kim An gave in, he did so with no reservations.

Favourite Moments:

The one that had me considering moving to a farm

Love Tractor

Ok. Not really, But look how pretty. Funny story, I actually rewatched part of this show in an orchard not that much different from the one here. I was on holiday in the countryside and just thought it would be incredibly amusing.

Anyway. I love Ye Chan an unreasonable amount. He's so dramatic and so earnest. And honestly if I ever had to move to a place like this I think I would pretty much have the same reaction as Seon Yul. I just want my peace and quiet.

But I really like their dynamic all throughout and considering the time restraints I thought that the development of Yul's feelings was done quite well.

Favourite Moment:

The other one with Love in the title

Love Mate

There was absolutely no reason for me to like this show has much as I did. Ha Ram should've bothered me. This whole concept should've annoyed me. The whole separation bit should've made me angry. Why didn't it? I have no clue. But I loved it. I've watched it more than once and love it every time.

Favourite Moment

The one with coffee and pottery

Unintentional Love Story

I adore this show. Pick an episode, any episode, I love it. Was it perfect? No. Was the kissing the thing that made it not perfect? Perhaps. I love it nonetheless.

[Confession time. Is there one thing about this show that bothers me no matter how many times I rewatch it? Yes. Is it the kissing? No. Is it something absolutely and stupidly tiny that only I could possibly be that bothered by it? Yes. What is it? " Let me at least do this." It's such a great moment. But why did whoever was in charge of the editing felt the need to show us the scene that we saw 17 minutes before? (it's really 17 minutes and 40 seconds, I checked because I'm nowhere near sane). Did they thing we forgot about it in that time? It lessens the moment and it insults the audience. I hate it an unreasonable amount. ]

There are so many moments in this show that I love. The four mains are amazing, the confession scene by HoTae in the coffee shop floored me, the writing in the sand moment was delightful and the soundtrack is my favourite of the year.

Favourite Moment:

The one that was perfect

Our Dating Sim

What's there to say. There's nothing wrong here. They are delightful, I had a great time with the video game format at the end of the episodes, their chemistry was amazing, and Ki Tae is my favourite boy. Also, my second favourite soundtrack this year.

Favourite Moment

See you next time with Thailand I think.

Thanks for reading💜

[sparkagrace]

*creeps in* is it still technically close enough to December to post this? Three weeks in and I'm finally feeling like a normal human being again so I figured I would complete my 2023 fic recaps with the final instalment. I was completely burned out so I only read 11 fics so I'm putting them all here! I am going to be continuing this series for 2024 because I've enjoyed it, but hopefully with less burnout ✌️

december

58,549 words read over 11 fics (average of 5,323 words per fic, not including wips) 📉 72% from November.

2023 total: 2,829,189 words (389 fics)

ask my glass of wine for guidance by EiraLloyd shrunky | T | 5.8k

if the sun could talk by oklahoma (@malewifediaz) stucky | E | 4k

Foothold by missbeizy stucky | E | 7k

Not the Face You'd Expect by @metalbvcky shrunky | T | 2k

Leave the Gate as You Found It by KidDynamite090 stucky | E | 3k

Fan Brush by KidDynamite090 stucky | E | 3k

young hearts, out of our minds by junko stucky | T | 2k

Handling it professionally by MedeaV bucky x natasha | E | 6.6k

Light of a Clear Blue Morning by @bonky-bornes stucky | N/A | 9.7k

non-mcu

In the house of Roses by JZ11 snowbaird | E | 3.5k

strange canyon road (strange look in your eye) by @teenytabris din x cobb (star wars) | E | 10.5k

[goron-king-darunia]

Eggtober Recap and Masterpost 2023

Untitled Egg Poem Egg Yolk Splattered in a chipped bowl, Limitless potential Broken like the dawn.

Scared of wasted sunrise, Scared of loving white lies, Yearning, Wanting to breathe free.

Prison within a prison, Living without living, I am spinning, toiling, burning, Breaking, sifting, praying, learning, Nothing blooming Nothing growing Tears.

Crackling insanity, A song that boils within me A rhythm Setting me in stone.

And I'll claw in Like dandelions, Vines, like yeast and mold I'll make a mark one day, you'll see.

Rooted, I'll grow my thorns, It's not my fault for being born, Sorry if My laughter is too loud.

I'll make a reverie of mechanical monotony No more apologies Just me. Insects and wriggling larvae, Eggshell like lead paint chips, Star dust doesn't choose its shape.

Pigment from wilted roses, blood spilled by mistake, I refuse to ever break.

Not again.

Eggtober is over. We did it~ The poem doesn't really speak to a current state of mind. Just a pattern of maladaptive thinking I grew up having, being the weird kid. People like the rough edges a lot more when you grow up, I've found. Makes you interesting. Or maybe it's just easier to find your people when you're unapologetically strange online. And I like that Eggtober sort of embraces that. It's not a super serious Inktober challenge. Just a bunch of weird people drawing weird eggs. And I mean that in the best way. People expect there to be a "why" a lot. "Why eggs?" And sometimes there is a why. Sometimes I draw eggs to express something or to symbolize something. But sometimes there is no why. Sometimes it's just because an egg is easy or fun or comfortable. Sometimes an egg just feels right. Sometimes it's just to make something. Doesn't have to be poetic or meaningful. Sometimes you just draw an egg, and that's all it is. And I think a lot of discomfort around art is that everyone expects there to be a why, and if you don't have a why, then your art doesn't deserve to be seen. "Why do you like gorey stuff, kinky stuff, weird stuff? If you can't explain, I'm choosing to believe you're a freak and should be disallowed from creating." And I'm lucky, I think, to not be that popular. I don't get asked these sorts of things. But I see it happen to other people. And sometimes I get it. An answer to the why pacifies. I get uneasy with horror the same as everyone and I pacify it by reading the wiki and learning the secrets and understanding the why. But I think we need to get more comfy making up our own why, or get comfy with the knowledge that sometimes there isn't a why. Sometimes the little brain goblin decides there is no why. They just like the weird little eggs. And that's okay. And I think the reason we make up for other peoples' "why" should maybe stop being "because they're a weird little freak that likes degenerate things." Because yeah, maybe they are. But it's not a bad thing. And the world is a lot more interesting when we accept that we don't always know the why. And the why isn't always as simple as that.

I dunno. I'm rambling a bit. But I'm grateful to everyone that showed up and participated and shared and liked and just... enjoyed existing where the thing happening was lots of eggs and the "why" was just "why not?"

Hoping every one of you has a nice glass of your preferred warm beverage and stays nice and toasty for the rest of the year. (Shout out to the southern hemisphere folks if there are any. May you guys have an iced beverage of your choice and stay nice and cool for the rest of the year.)

Lots of thoughts about Eggtober 2023 and no good way to articulate them, but suffice it to say that having a loose amount of structure like this is very good on my garbage ADHD brain. If anything in the collage catches your fancy, here's the posts in order from the top left to the bottom right. May the rest of 2023 be sweet. I can't wait to see everyone again next year! And don't eat too much Halloween Candy at once, even if it is those yummy gummy fried egg candies.

Eggtober 2023 Posts in Order: (Unfortunately I didn't learn about the speedpaint feature until day 6 😢)

Eggtober 1st: Fried Egg on Green Eggtober 2nd: Lemon Fried Egg (Both Versions) Eggtober 3rd: Fried Egg Cake

Eggtober 4th: Poached Eggs and Asparagus Hollandaise Eggtober 5th: Sheet Pan Fried Eggs Eggtober 6th: Raw Egg (Both Versions)

Eggtober 7th: Painted Egg Eggtober 8th: Rice Crispy Eggs Eggtober 9th: Chocolate Souffle Eggtober 10th: Hot and Sour Soup

Eggtober 11th: Flan Eggtober 12th: Fried Eggs and Bacon Eggtober 13th: Ramen Eggs Eggtober 14th: Tiger Skin Egg

Eggtober 15th: Fried Egg with Berries Eggtober 16th: Cheesy Baked Cream Eggs Eggtober 17th: Mushroom Quiche Eggtober 18th: Cipriani Cake

Eggtober 19th: Pavlova with Strawberry Jam Eggtober 20th: Deviled Egg Eggtober 21st: Hard-boiled Egg and Mayo Eggtober 22nd: Scrambled Eggs with Cheese

Eggtober 23rd: Omurice Eggtober 24th: Shrimp Fried Rice Eggtober 25th: Uovo in Raviolo Eggtober 26th: Image of Fried Egg on Jack-o-lantern.

Eggtober 27th: Tea Egg Eggtober Eggtober 28th: Monster Eggs Eggtober 29th: Korean Egg Bread Eggtober 30th: Fried Egg on Magenta in the Stlye of @quezify

Eggtober 31st: Fried Egg on Burger Eggtober 31st Bonus: Egg Creature from SNOBBISM

Special thanks to my bae, @actualaster for the love and support, @hannikka for the encouraging words, @lady-quen for the ongoing collab, and @quezify for being the best host. Love you all! I am putting the King Sized Reese's and KitKat candy bars in your metaphorical Halloween bags.

[f1tyreslightmyfyre]

Immortal Artistry - Ch. 7

Series Main List

A Vampire AU F1 Fic Featuring Charles Leclerc x Fem!Reader, George Russell x Fem!Reader, hints of Max Verstappen x Fem!Reader, Lestappen, Sebchal, and Sainzell (or Russainz?)

Also on AO3

A/N: Thank you all so much for reading! The notifications on this fic bring the biggest smile to my face 😊

Ch. 7 Warnings: Language

2023

The walls of your office stare back at you, both familiar and unfamiliar now that your world has inverted. Just four days ago, you met Charles Leclerc. Just four days ago, Xavier was still alive. Just four days ago, vampires didn’t exist. 

And now?

Not only do vampires exist - they want World War II looted artifacts, and you’re caught squarely in the middle through no fault of your own.

Indeed, life can sure be a bitch, but honestly, you never thought it could come to this.

How could it? Supernatural creatures of horror films didn’t exist, except that they clearly do, and clearly, they have plans, factions, and goals. It probably shouldn’t surprise you since they were all human at some point in time, and humans have been warring in factions to accomplish goals since the dawn of time.

But priceless artwork? Missing since World War II? And treasure maps? It sounds too fanciful to even possibly be real.

The cursor in the blank email window blinks back at you, taunting you. With a sigh, you re-read the email at the bottom of the chain but still find no clarity to draft a response. Instead, you open a browser window and let your fingers loose with the questions spinning in your mind.

WW2 treasure

Looted treasure during WWII

Austrian salt mines treasure

How much art lost during WWII has been found

Authorities trying to recover lost WWII treasure

Unfortunately, most of the links take you back to film The Monuments Men that you barely remember, but the stories from the men who lived to recover the stolen cultural artifacts fuels your speculation. Perhaps George was one of those men? Charles already told you that he died – err, transformed – in 1940, so he would have learned about the location of the looted treasures during the war, if not after. But Carlos said that Charles got there first, before at least he arrived… and George, presumably. So, what gives them the right to claim the stolen treasure for themselves instead of Charles?

You didn’t think to ask this morning when Carlos had been transformed. Or is that too personal of a question to ask a vampire? The idea flashes in your mind to google vampire conversation etiquette, but you refuse to have that in your internet search history. But perhaps Carlos and George were both on a cultural artifact recovery team and encountered Charles as he was… doing what exactly? Stealing stolen art? Looting looted goods?

“I have certainly studied art,” Charles said as he continued to scan and sign the array of papers. “I suppose one could call me a collector of art, but while I claim paltry skill with a brush, I do favor myself for having an appreciation of beautiful pieces.”

Slowly, you nodded as he recapped the pen. “It sounds like you have seen a lot of interesting pieces over the course of your studies and search for beauty.”

His eyes flashed with something you couldn’t place – something predatory, something fond, something satisfying. “Yes,” he said at length as he rose. “I have seen much, with much still left yet to see.”

The memory creeps a shiver down your spine. Has Charles actually been honest with you from the start? Thinly-veiled and vague as it was, but he didn’t lie… maybe that’s the wisdom gained from living 83 years while still looking like a 25-year old.  

You stared up at Carlos. “Assuming you’re saying what I think you’re saying? That Charles has some World War II treasure map that George wants for himself?” The words sounded no less ridiculous as they rang in your ears, but honestly, life stopped being normal since that first meeting with Charles Leclerc.

“That is exactly what I’m saying,” Carlos confirmed. “Except, George doesn’t think Charles has it – he thinks that you have it.”

Your eyes widened as you nearly choked on your coffee. “That’s impossible – Charles has given me nothing.”

You push up from your desk chair, exhaling heavily to try and make sense of the memories that plague you. Or maybe you’re trying to outrun the sense of dread knotting your stomach. Because perhaps, maybe… just maybe, Charles has given you more than you realize. At least in terms of verbal truth, if not physical objects. But surely nothing he’s said to you could possibly be a clue or the key to finding a stolen World War II treasure hoard.

An incredulous grin lights your face, matched by a soft laugh as you shake your head. Or maybe the answer is more simple and you’re just losing your damn mind.

Your feet carry you aimlessly towards the private executive conference room. As you push the door open, in your mind’s eye, you can still see Charles’ sleek, polished form seated at the table. The overhead light had danced in his mercurial eyes with such intriguing temptation and the cut of his suit complemented the lean lines of his body, and… god, as a human, had he been that handsome?

Heat rises in your cheeks without permission as you cross around the large table and pull out the chair in which he previously sat. You drum your fingers against the polished tabletop, trying to put yourself in his shoes. But how can you possibly hope to have his decades-long perspective? How can you possibly understand the depth and breadth of his plans? Especially if he’s been able to outwit every modern-day digital identification device and legal system to be at least three different versions of himself over the decades. If he can indeed live forever, how long will he have to go on changing his legal name and signing paperwork?

Will he someday be Charles Leclerc, LXIV?

Your eyes roam the tabletop, studying the rings in the wooden surface, the leather stitching on the edge of the company branded coasters, the caddy of pens that –

Wait.

Just what…Your mouth goes dry as one pen doesn’t match the rest. A pen that looks way too fancy for anything your firm would buy – a black capped pen with gold accents that looks eerily familiar.

Charles reached into the interior pocket of his suit jacket. He withdrew a sleek, black capped pen with gold accents and deftly unscrewed the cap. Glancing up at you, he offered another cute, almost shy smile. “You’ll forgive me if I’m a little old-school,” he said as a gleaming gold fountain tip came into view. “Ball point pens just aren’t as artistically satisfying.”

A gasp passes your lips as the memory slams through you. You could have sworn that Charles put the pen back in his jacket after signing, but the truth of it stares you in the face. Your hand trembles with anxious anticipation as you reach forward, feeling the pen’s cool metal against your fingertips. Is this somehow it? Could this possibly be the answer?

The pen has a deceptive weight as you turn it over in your hands, studying the light reflecting off the polished surface. You unscrew the cap to reveal the sharp fountain tip, and you wish you had a notepad to confirm that the pen still works. You saw it for yourself that night – so it must have some inkwell inside it, but… is that all? Rotating the pen, you search for another way to open it – some seam, some screw top – and the case yields with a hard twist, unscrewing from the body. Setting the cap down in your lap, the pen disassembles to reveal the ink cartridge and… something else.

A small, slim canister falls into your lap, and heart-pounding anticipation seizes you. Do you dare open it? Perhaps it’s booby trapped? Or maybe it’s… empty? You wet your top lip nervously before giving the canister a gentle shake. The contents rattle as the object inside knocks against the bottom and lid of the canister.

Would opening it be a step too far? Or are you already implicated enough?

Exhaling an uneasy sigh, you pop off the canister’s cap and out slides a roll of… film? With the prevalence of digital technology, you can’t recall when you last saw a physical roll of film, let alone one so teeny-tiny small. Your brow furrows as a distant thought surfaces – classic movie spies always use small cameras to take photos of clandestine documents. Hell, even today libraries still rely heavily on microfiche and microfilm for archiving purposes.  

But is that what you actually hold? Working a nervous swallow down your throat, you unfurl the roll of film and risk holding it up to the light for a better look. Squinting closely at it  - crude, hand-drawn lines snake across the image of a page, like roads… like a map. A circle that looks suspiciously like a compass rose rests in the upper left corner of the image, and your stomach drops to your feet. The rest of the details are too small for you to make out, but writing accompanies the drawing, and… oh fuck.

Did you actually hold proof of a World War II treasure map in your hands?

Your heart pounds as you quickly roll up the film and shove it back in the canister. Your mind reels as you screw the pen back together and replace the cap. With trembling fingers, you set it on the table as if holding it any longer will burn you.

Just what the fuck do you do now?

You could always keep it. Tell Charles you have it and ask him what he wants you to do with it. What was Xavier going to do with it anyway? Store it? Destroy it?

Those seem to be the only two real options.

You could keep it – maybe even use it. Could… what would happen if you give it to George? Does that fundamentally shift the pieces on Charles’ figurative chessboard?

But what if you destroyed it? The rubbish chute sits at the end of the corridor hallway, and rumor has it, it feeds straight into the building incinerator. If neither Charles nor George have the map, then neither of them have an advantage. Or does that somehow play into Charles’ plan? Does that set the chess pieces in the formation that Charles wants?

Indecision cripples you as you stare down at the pen – at the crux of this whole damn mess.

Just what are you going to do?

Keep It - Chapter 8 (targeted for 11-Dec)

Destroy It  - Chapter 9 (targeted for 11-Dec)

Tag List: @fictional-l0v3r @hollie911

Series Main List

[jerzwriter]

Trystan's 2023 Holiday Recap

Book: Crimes of Passion (Post Book 2) Pairing: Trystan Thorne x Carolina Rose Characters: Luke Watanabe, Ruby Webster, Marguerite Thorne, Lydea Thorne, Astrid Thorne, Mafalda Ginovese, Theresa Ginovese, Tommy Rose Category: Insta Edits/Fun/Fluff Rating: Teen Summary: Five Instagram edits capturing Trystan's (and Carolina's) first holidays together in 2023. A/N: @choicesjanuary2024 - Day 3 - Sparkle/Winter Magic. "Skull" comments are a reference to A Sparkling Holiday, the mantecaditos is related to Cookies written for me by @stars-are-within-me. The Wayward Prince Masterlist | January Challenge Crimes of Passion Masterlist | Complete Masterlist

@choicesficwriterscreations

[tailschannel]

Here's a complete recap of everything featured in this year's Sonic Central presentation

New collaborations with LEGO, an upcoming Sonic Frontiers DLC update, and a first look at Part 2 of Sonic Prime were among the major highlights in this year's Sonic Central presentation.

Here's everything you need to know.

Sonic Frontiers

Details on the second major content update for Sonic Frontiers was revealed in the Sonic Central. Titled "Sonic's Birthday Bash", it's scheduled for a release on 23 June 2023.

Sonic's Birthday: Celebrate Sonic's birthday in Sonic Frontiers with a new birthday theme, including a festive HUD, environment objects, a new birthday skin, and more!

Open Zone Challenges: Explore the Open Zone with all new challanges scattered throughout.

Spindash: The iconic Sonic move makes a return in Sonic Frontiers!

New Kocos: Some Kocos seem to dawn new outfits and some do seem a bit bigger than usual.

New Game Plus.

Sonic Superstars

A new teaser was shown promoting the new Sonic Superstars and LEGO collaboration, featuring LEGO Eggman as a pre-order bonus.

Following the presentation, SEGA dropped new renders and descriptions for all the characters featured in the upcoming game.

Trip: Not much is known yet about Trip, the mysterious girl first encountered by Fang on the Northstar Islands. While a bit clumsy, Trip is heavily armored and has been enlisted by Fang and Dr. Eggman to protect and guide them around the wonders of this uncharted region.

Fang the Hunter (formerly Fang the Sniper): Fang is a springy jerboa that is light on his feet and is always looking for the next big score. A bounty hunter by trade, Fang the Hunter has been known by many different names over the years, likely due to his “WANTED” status with the authorities. Always trying to stay one step ahead, he’s constantly modifying and upgrading his primary mode of transportation, the Marvelous Queen.

You can check out the rest of the descriptions for Sonic, Amy, Tails, Knuckles and Eggman here.

The official Sonic the Hedgehog YouTube channel also uploaded a new 3-minute video featuring Superstars producer Naoto Ohshima and Sonic Studio creative officer Takashi Iizuka.

They "talk in-depth about Superstars, including inspirations, challenges, and what it's like to create a new character."

Sonic Symphony World Tour

Here are the official tour dates for the Sonic Symphony from 2023 to 2024:

Sept 16, 2023 - London, Barbican Hall

Sept 22, 2023 - Paris, Le Grand Rex

Sept 30, 2023 - Los Angeles, Dolby Theatre

Oct 14-15, 2023 - São Paulo, Brasil Game Show

Oct 21, 2023 - Boston, Emerson Colonial Theatre

Oct 28, 2023 - Chicago, Auditorium Theatre

Nov 17, 2023 - Düsseldorf, Mitsubishi Electric Halle

Dec 15, 2023 - San Antonio, Majestic Theatre

Dec 29, 2023 - Atlanta, Cobb Energy P.A.C.

Jan 05, 2024 - Seattle, Paramount Theatre

Jan 06, 2024 - San Francisco, Davies Symphony Hall

Jan 20, 2024 - Washington DC, Warner Theater

Jan 27, 2024 - Kansas City, Kansas City Music Hall

Feb 11, 2024 - Tokyo, LINE CUBE SHIBUYA

Feb 17, 2024 - Toronto, Meridian Hall

Mar 24, 2024 - Montreal, Wilfrid-Pelletier Theater

Mar 29, 2024 - Portland, Schnitzer Auditorium

For more information such as ticket pricing and availability, check out the above links.

Sonic Prime

A new extended clip of the upcoming second content drop of Sonic Prime was previewed. It's scheduled to make its debut on Netflix in 13 July.

With the help of his ragtag group of Shatterverse allies, Sonic battles the Chaos Council for control of the powerful Paradox Prism, one Shard at a time.

Sonic Dash and Speed Battle

A new Classic Super Sonic skin will be joining SEGA HARDlight's flagship titles Speed Battle and Dash soon.

Other things of note, as reported last week:

To coincide with the release of the 2nd season of Sonic Prime, characters from Prime will be playable in Dash, including Boscage Sonic, Rusty Rose, and Tails Nine.

Alongside the Prime characters, Super Silver and an all new Dragon Hunter Lancelot will make their debut in Dash and Speed Battle later this month.

San Diego Comic-Con 2023

With Comic-Con coming this summer, a new pop-up restaurant featuring the blue blur will open near the show floor.

More details will be announced in the weeks ahead.

Merchandise

New Death Egg Set from Jakks Pacific: Based on the Sonic 4 Episode 2 final boss, fight The Egg Heart in the new Death Egg set.

Streetwear brand Hypland announced their collaboration with Sonic the Hedgehog: The limited edition collection features an assortment of graphic tees and hoodies featuring Sonic and his friends meshed into contemporary streetwear designs.

S-Fire Sonic Statue: Pre-order the new Sonic & Shadow statue today with augmented reality compatibility.

Sonic has officially announced a collaboration with the popular shoe brand Crocs. As reported back in late May: it's available in adult and kids sizes, for $49.99 USD and $44.99 USD respectively. Besides the shoes themselves, Crocs will be offering Jibbitz charms. They will be coming in a pack of 5 with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Shadow, offered at $19.99 USD.

Other things of note: a Sonic-themed Playmate cooler from Igloo, a themed guitar from ESP Guitars, and Sonic and Shadow Cable Guy figures.

Sonic Origins Plus

With Origins Plus out, SEGA released a new launch trailer.

With more content than ever before, and a new premium physical version, Sonic Origins Plus is the definitive way to play 16 classic Sonic games in one timeless collection.

LEGO

SEGA officially previewed the Death Egg Robot set, now scheduled for a release in August.

As reported via a leak earlier this month, it contains a Sonic mini figure accompanied with his speed sphere mechanism and the launcher to it; and the Death Egg Robot piloted by Eggman, and Cubot.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central

As reported, the upcoming Samba De Amigo: Party Central will be featuring the world's famous hedgehog as a guest character.

The game will feature two iconic Sonic tunes, Escape From the City and Fist Bump, alongside the City Escape stage itself.

IDW Sonic the Hedgehog

Today's Central presentation made a brief mention of IDW Publishing's upcoming one-shot issue for the Sonic the Hedgehog comic book series: Amy Rose's 30th Anniversary.

You can read more details in our report from earlier today.

Sonic Speed Simulator

Despite the developer's controversies, the officially-licenced Speed Simulator got a mention in the Central presentation.

Users can celebrate Sonic's birthday in style with the new Tuxedo Classic Sonic skin, out now.

Lastly...

TailsTube got a shoutout, and voice actor Mike Pollock dropped some fire bars in the LEGO collaboration video.

...and that's all! For news and updates anytime, be sure to follow @TailsChannel where you are on social media.

(Files contributed by the Tails' Channel Newsfeed.)

[possession1981]

i was tagged by my beloved angelic @xiaojuun @baekhyunnybyun @yeofi @ye-xiu and @byunbaekhyunie to make a giffing recap/review of my 2023 creations which is always such a good time to be honest thank you all for tagging me 💞

tagging @sunghanbin @yunwooz @souladies

rules: link your favorite and/or most popular post from each month this year <3 (it’s totally fine to skip months!) and tag some CCs you love!

JANUARY top post: this xiaojun phantom bts set which... i can't blame anyone for it's so gorgeous. favourites: taeyang on the cross is probably one of my fave creations of ever. however, i made a lot of stuff i'm obsessed with in january apparently so i'm gonna give a list of other faves. my other xiaojun phantom jacket shooting set, this sf9 leo-line set (🥲), my taemin armpit set lmfao, kai kokobop set and jongtae not included are just all so beloved to me.

FEBRUARY top post: fuckboy keeho in the leopard jacket favourites: this jacob simply kpop mc set because the colouring is CRAZY... also this jongin set like I AM GONNA CRY.

MARCH top post: MR ROVER favourites: my doyoung in shades of blue set for roloved's birthday <3 i really love the way it came out like the textures and the colours just so sexy. also this cutie jonginie and tbz relay dance pile 💝

APRIL top post: taemin military freedom set which honestly makes all the sense in the world. favourites: my gorgeous princess sheon and this chorong set from dnd which is one of my faves possibly ever actually.

MAY top post: jiwoo icky mv set. my followers are gay women. it's also my fave from may. favourites: aside from the above set, juyeon in red for vianey's bday, shinee tell me what to do mv and jacob's bday set were all exceptional exercises in colouring.

JUNE top post: taekey reunion really blew up. favourites: i love the composition of my fromis menow mv set. keeho in jump is a fave colouring-wise and then there's this set of chanhee just being the prettiest ever.

JULY top post: junhui psycho mv set A WIN! favourites: this other set from psycho. also this taemin stage set from hard is INSANE, ksoo in electric kiss is so fucking sexy, and my edit of changmin from maps july issue goes so hard.

AUGUST top post: this set from the end of possession favourites: my brave girls' mv, jihoon fancam 😵‍💫, everglow slay mv, and also this jacob that i'm normal about. there were a lot of good creations in august i could have added more sorry.

SEPTEMBER top post: this goth ass coppola dracula set favourites: gemma arterton from byzantium and chanmina b-list mv.

OCTOBER top post: queen of the damned rose petal scene for the horny people favourites: sunmi stranger mv, the handmaiden love set and a tale of two sisters

NOVEMBER top post: seulgi chill kill fancam! favourites: zhang yimou's hero, sunmi stranger dykey outfit fancam and dawon last sequence fancam <3

DECEMBER top post: gong li in raise the red lantern, coincidentally also one of my faves of all time. favourites: other faves were tvxq rebel mv and woodz amnesia mv