#a very interesting trio :00

[cowlovely]

ERMMMMM trying to think of numbers ppl havent asked yet. 9 + 32 + 94

9

32

and 94!!

[subwaytostardew]

Subway to Stardew - Passenger Events - Saloon Part 2

This plays after you see the first saloon event (submas having lunch with Elliott!) and visit on a Friday after reaching 3 hearts with Elesa.

Commentary under the read-more!

Did you notice the sprites? No? Great! I finally stopped procrastinating and recolored their spritesheets so now they don't share the same brown outline and match vanilla style a bit more!

Sprite-wise... they're over 80. Emmet's in his 90's.

So many sprites.....

Also... Elesa's back! We have a basic outline for what would happen in Elesa's events, but we haven't written anything for her yet... She has plans though! She's rounding up all the artists for it. Meanwhile, submas are still struggling with passenger relations.

Elesa's storyline is going to be fun to plan out but one of her B plots is making sure Ingo and Emmet take their breaks!

Elesa's fun. She's a bit awkward herself (girl can NOT keep a secret for the life of her) but she's doing things. Nimbasa trio share a braincell and they pass it around throughout this event.

We wanted to show a little more insight into their life in the valley and how others feel about them. This time, you're catching them on a bad day. One of my favorite things about Stardew is how everyone is very much flawed in some way and everyone is an unreliable narrator. I love how it just presents life in a run-down town as is and it's up to you to interpret whatever glimpses you get.

Trying to merge the two different media's in terms of tone and seriousness is a bit complex. Pokémon - as a franchise - is at the end of a the day; kid friendly. Stardew Valley, while may look happy go lucky and cute touches upon some really heavy topics.

We are basically skirting the lines here and there with the themes and even trying to make it in character for the Pokémon characters as well.

Taking a kid friendly characters and just trying to touch upon tough subjects while also trying not to seem OOC or off - is tough. So creative liberties it is.

Not everyone gets along in Stardew. I tried to emphasize that in Sebastian's distaste for submas. He would hate being their neighbor. He's cranky because he can't sleep in until 10:00 AM anymore because they're already at work before it turns 6:00 in the morning. Extreme opposites with their problems.

Sebastian and Submas DO NOT get along... They may tolerate each other at the end of the story but they just do not mix well.

I also think that Sebastian would just project a lot of his personal problems onto them... He already does that with Maru. He's not the best taking out his frustrations in the right direction. Haven't finished Maru's passenger event yet (another battle event...) but submas would be decently close with her since she has an interest in Pokemon and Sebastian would take that as "siding" against him. They are also decently aquainted with Demetrius which isn't the best for Sebastian's dad issues. He's not fond of the invasive species they brought in but they do appreciate infodumping to each other about mechanics and such.

Oh, Demetrius... I'm going to have fun with world building info-dumps with him. Ya'll like world building? Well, talk to the villagers, they may have a glimpse into things.

I do headcanon Demetrius (pretty much painfully canon...), Maru, and Sebastian as autistic themselves just like the Nimbasa trio. Unfortunately, that does not necessarily mean that they'll always have solidarity. For one, Sebastian's sensitivity to loud noises puts him at odds with Ingo. Submas fare better with the more infodumpy types.

Sibling relations are a sore subject for all of them so submas are horrified at even the thought of splitting tracks and hating each other because they have codependency issues; Sebastian has an inferiority complex and hates how they make him feel like even more of a failure because he doesn't like Maru. Neither parties are exactly healthy, but you can pick between who you're going for! (I was curious as to what the deal was with Sebastian so he was the first bachelor I married... I think you can tell that I divorced him.)

Sebastian has his issues... He was also going to be my first bachelor but uhh, I went with Harvey. I still love Sebastian as a character tho, he is really complex especially family dynamic wise. I do feel bad for him....

He does. I do appreciate how messy his family dynamic is, but I'm a little biased against him since I appreciate Maru and Demetrius more (sorry). I really like how he doesn't handle his issues healthily (I mean... look at Emmet.) and it's interesting to compare him to the other characters.

Like Sam! Sam's a good kid (college age 20 something year old...) and actually really emotionally mature even if he's a bit childish at times. Abigail... isn't quite all there yet but she has a strong sense of what's right and wrong. She's less hesitant than Sam when it comes to things, but Sam serves a bit as damage control here. I headcanon Sam and Abigail to have ADHD so they kind of have an idea about submas being autistic and what that entails, but it's not at the forefront of their mind. It doesn't help that their autism manifests in verrrrry different ways and they don't really know them all that well in the first place. It's a bit awkward between them but they're okay with each other.

We had a bit of fun determining the heart point changes between each route. Personally, I think friendship decreases are hilarious. Also if you don't back up anyone in this situation then... 🤨

(1) Sebastian -

Ingo -100 | Emmet -250 | Sebastian +250 | Sam -5 | Abigail -15

(2) Ingo -

Ingo +40 | Emmet +5 | Sebastian -100 | Sam -20 | Abigail -25

(3) Emmet -

Ingo +25 | Emmet +30 | Sebastian -100 | Sam -5 | Abigail -5

(4) Sam and Abigail -

Ingo +20 | Emmet +5 | Sebastian -40 | Sam +50 | Abigail +50

(5) Nobody -

Ingo -50 | Emmet -200 | Sebastian -200 | Sam -50 | Abigail -50

I don't see friendship decreases as characters getting angry at you per se. It can always just be them feeling awkward and wanting to distance themselves from you for a bit. For example, if you reject Ingo in his 8 heart event, you get knocked down two hearts just so you can get more friendly-but-not-too-friendly dialogue before it stagnates again at 8 hearts.

The "true ending" is Sam and Abigail's route since they're fairly neutral picks. You should stand up for them! Sebastian would agree that him lashing out was wrong, but he just doesn't want to talk to you about it. Why would he? You would just lecture him or something.

Bad ending is not siding with anybody like a coward. Sebastian's being a bit of a bully here (mainly to a grown man a whole head taller than him, but still, his friends got caught in the crossfire) and if you're wishy-washy then that's just odd of you as the town's farmer and supposed protagonist that goes out of their way to befriend everyone. Not a good look.

Sebastian's route is a bit of a jab at how his romance plays out. A few people have mentioned Emmet and Sebastian being friends with each other under the reasoning that they're lonely autists (but mostly just being favorites, which I get) buuuut... Not sure why you would go for Sebastian when submas is right there. Pick one or the other. They're enemies here. I can't quite see them getting along past that surface-level analysis. Smoking alone is a hard No. from Emmet since birds are super sensitive to airborne toxins (so much so, you can't even have non-stick pans around them!) and he's protective over his defeatist of an Archeops.

Ingo's route is more for fun than anything. If you really want Ingo, you do get the most points with him for mentioning him, but he's confused as to why you're trying to win him over now of all times. He's concerned about Emmet first and foremost!

Emmet has trust issues so even the slightest red flag puts a quite a bit of distance between you. He has low point increases because it's hard to win his trust. In this situation, a point increase mostly just means you didn't do anything wrong. If you side with him, that's what you're supposed to do since he's the side against Sebastian. He may be getting picked on, but he's a bit of an instigator himself. His own route aside, Ingo would be most pleased to see you speak up for his brother. Ingo's route is only has the highest point increases for him because it's well, his.

As for the bar fight... It was a bit difficult to figure out how to make it play out believably and interestingly despite it being three New Yorkers against some grocery store owner. Ingo is more focused on defense, de-escalation, and protecting his passengers (in this case, the college kids). He can take a hit and doesn't want to resort to making any attacks unless absolutely necessary, so he was blocking for the most part. Had Ingo not been the designated grocery shopper, Pierre and Emmet probably would have already killed each other. Emmet doesn't have the patience to deal with Pierre. He thinks Reshiram will smite him for upcharging them and will take it upon himself to deliver the justice of truth. Emmet's swinging at Pierre. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the best defense nor balance when he's kicking and punching. Pierre's too drunk to talk about it, but even sober he suspects that submas are working with Joja because as far as he knows, he saw Morris walk away from the Railroad when they first arrived.

Ah yes. Joja stuff. *Realigns stacks of papers* Lets touch upon Joja here for a moment and Pierre's view of things. When Submas first came around. Pierre was already suspicious of them - more confused if anything - why are two major city boys who also- mind you- come from a foreign region and bring along Pokémon. Take interest in a small town? With an abandon railroad? Right off the bat he does not have a great view; he is worried about his store, his income, and family and this is stemmed all due to Joja Mart.

Now Pierre spots Morris heading towards the railroad - of course Pierre does not know what the interactions between Submas and Morris are. In his mind it's Submas making a deal to work with them or is already with them! Pierre already hates Morris as it is.

That is why he is so passive aggressive to Ingo and Emmet. Just this time around - Pierre is drunk... and Abigail's friend is being "annoyed" by them.

Well... outright agressive in this event haha. I don't quite remember how the idea was finalized, but we decided that they would get into a barfight when doing another "showing passenger relations at the Saloon" event.

As for Joja itself. I most definitely headcannon them in this whole crossover universe as the typical "bad guy" Pokémon team. However they have already won/succeeded (Pokémon are no longer in The Ferngill Republic....) However things are now being shaken up and changing.

I could go on and on about Joja and how I view them... but I think that will be a separate post (if people want to know)

The fight was a pain to debug. For one, Pierre kept running off into the void like a coward. Ingo's lines about staying behind the yellow line were made in the debugging phase because I got fed up with him for doing that.

Worse yet. 1.6 broke the Pokemon animations so now I have to go back into every event and redo everything (RIP green bean X-Scissor). The old method I was using no longer worked; before, I was using the addObject command. Now they show up as error signs because the sprites that were previously on the sheet called from were removed as they are not valid objects.

I ended up having to figure out the temporarySprites command to replace the "using a Pokeball" animation. There are no instances of it being used in vanilla. Nobody seemed to figure it out either, so I had to make a mini-event just to test its usage and figure it out.

I eventually did. Thanks to the help of my emotional support Emmet.

Ah yes... 1.6 has broken some events. Small things. (events are still playable) But we will definitely be revisiting some events to improve or make better. Or to just fix.

I have so much backtracking to do 😭😭😭😭😭 Oh well... I thought events were safe to work on since barely anything about them changed in 1.6... I was wrong.

The ending had quite a bit of revising for concision and tone. It was much more lighthearted in Kade's drafts, but I figured that Emmet is low on steam and probably would have gone nonverbal after everything. Too much passenger interaction for the day. He just wants to depart back to his home station.

Yeah there was a lot of dialog and exposition cut. (Hmm no wonder why it's only 13 minutes long. lol)

Only 13 minutes... Still a lot considering that most vanilla events are around the 1-3 minute mark...

Poor Emmet.. and Ingo. I won't lie, when first seeing the event I burst out laughing during the fistfight. Just somthing about Ingo suddenly collapsing due to Pierre. BUT THEY'RE OKAY - ISH.

It's a bit comical! I had fun ragdolling them. Emmet was going to be much more swingy in his attacks but I ended up not keeping it in since it just didn't look right when used as an animation frame.

We at least kept one of the rag-doll sprite as a "knock back" from Pierre. Which transitions well with his passed out sprite.

Until next time! Thank you for boarding!

[1starqi]

Cool Guy Gone Cute (pts 3 + 4)

LINK TO PTS 1 + 2: https://www.tumblr.com/1starqi/751408589335298048/cool-guy-gone-cute?source=share

genre: fluff, highschool!au

pairing: danceteam!chan x studentcouncil!o/c (could be reader but reader is given a name)

summary: chan bakes brownies for your bakesale

warnings: mentions of cutting brownies (unsure if this counts as knife)

wc:

P1: 564 words

P2: 680 words

total: 1.2k (wow they're evenish)

a/n: these are two chan povs!!! super excited to do a different pov. also the song that plays is bnd's but i like you and it's what inspired me to write these!!

Part 3

Chan

18:00, Wednesday

My head is in my hands. There’s half an hour until my shift is over and I can finally go home. I’ve been standing at this counter since school ended—this is so annoying! My feet hurt. I’m hungry. My stream of consciousness is interrupted by the clanging of the bells on the glass door as three girls enter. They’re wearing the same uniform I switched out of for my shift. Oh my god, they’re from my school. Aren’t those two in the student council? Without thinking, I fix my shirt and idly organize the cash drawer below the register to look busy. The three girls are talking emphatically in the drinks aisle.

“There’s no way I can have an entire bake sale ready by Friday! I put like… two adverts up this morning in the hall, but I doubt anyone saw it.” One of them says. I think I remember seeing one of those adverts. They were printed on pink paper and clearly very rushed, the font was Arial. I peek above the register to see the trio and my heart almost stops. It’s her! I bite down on my cheek, stifling a brainless grin. What’s wrong with me? The scratchy navy blue skirt and the white collared shirt look like couture on her. It’s the epitome of a hallway crush, I’ve never even talked to her but I get giddy when she passes me in the hallway—It really diminishes my cool guy pretense.

“Oh my gosh, you two are lifesavers.” She sounds so pretty. Does my hair look okay? I ruffle it in my hands and hope that no one notices my desperate attempt to look casual. All of my focus is on trying to stay cool. Suddenly, these 50-won coins are the most interesting thing I’ve ever seen.

“Let’s check out, and then let’s get chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies and cinnamon buns!” One of her friends—Yoonsun, maybe?—suggests.

“Let’s make brownies too! The really fudgy ones are my favorite.” I don’t even know her name but I’d make brownies in an instant if she asked—-oh my god. I have the opportunity to do one of the most down bad things ever. 

Oh my gosh, she’s at the counter. I start ringing up her and her friends' items. Sodas and chips and hair ties. Are these the kinds of hair ties she wears? Oh my god, Chan, shut up. I scold myself. This is stupid.

“Uh, cash or card?” My voice cracks.

“So sorry to bother you, but could I add a pack of gum to that?” It’s watermelon-flavored.

“Ah, I already put the—” Shut up, just let her add the gum.

“Oh, nevermind then.” I wince, sorry Sora.

“No no, it’s fine. It’s on me.” I rub my neck to soothe my nerves, and they need so much soothing.

“Seriously? Thank you so much!” Her friends are snickering behind her and I hope that they’re not laughing at how silly I look. Her smile is so pretty.

“Yeah, it’s no problem.” She smiles at me. She smiles at me. This is the best job ever. Her and her friends rush out of the store and into the rain. I see her two friends and her laughing and I swear it looks like a movie.

I pull my stickered phone out of my pocket.

“Hey Felix? Want to do something crazy?”

Part 4

Chan

19:00, Thursday

“Okay. My idea of crazy wasn’t baking, to be honest.” Felix, our resident brownie expert, remarked as we stood in my cramped kitchen. I couldn't help but notice that he bakes brownies at least once a month. As I reached into the cream cabinet on my left, I pulled out a shiny metal whisk. Since my parents had informed me that they would be out for the night, I decided it would be okay to invite Felix over for a baking session... for a girl I barely know.

“Shut up. I still feel insane.” It’s 19:00 and I’m standing in the warm glow of my kitchen's overhead light, baking fudgy brownies for this girl’s bake sale. I can’t believe it. I’m holding a whisk aloft, and I can't help but feel like a total dork in my mom’s bright red lobster apron.

“Like, I knew you liked her but damn, dude.” 

“Is it creepy?” I would hate to make her uncomfortable; no one should feel that way.

“Nah, you just wanted to help out. You are hopelessly in love with her but that’s a different thing. Also, do we want to add chocolate chips or what?” I ignore the second component of his three-part response.

“Would she like it?” I ask him warily, everything seems like it’s up in the air. I know next to nothing about what she likes and it stirs a longing in me that I didn’t know I could feel. Something about her is just so magnetic, I can’t put my finger on it. What if she hates chocolate chips or something?

“Even if she didn’t, it’s not like she’s eating it. It’s for the bake sale, remember? Plus who doesn’t like chocolate chips in their brownies? I’m adding some, you don’t have a choice.” He grins at me and, before I can stop him, adds almost the entire half-empty yellow bag of semisweet chocolate chips into the yet-to-be-mixed bowl of dry ingredients—sugar, flour, salt, and baking soda—until there’s a mountain of dark chips among the mostly white, sugary foothills.

“What’s next?” As I was mixing the chips with my whisk, I turned my head to ask him a question, knowing that using a whisk was objectively the wrong tool for the job.

“Add the egg, the water, and the vanilla extract. I’ll melt the butter.”

“Yes, chef!”

—

“Always, always, always, modeun iga nal neukttaero boneunji,” the alarm’s song resonates from my phone on the couch, acknowledging the final baking of the delicious treats in the oven. Even without the alarm, the smell alone would tell you that they’re done.

“Felix! The brownies are ready!” Felix is sitting on the gray upholstered sofa watching some crappy rom-com on the TV. I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t also watching said crappy rom-com a minute ago. I put on the plaid oven mitts and am hit by the feverish air that escapes the oven before I carefully take the trays of fudge sweets out and place them on the hot pad on the counter. After I’m safe from burning myself, I release a sigh I didn’t know I was holding. Felix enters the kitchen right as the hard part is over.

“Oh, these look nice. She’ll fall in love with you for sure.” He comments and I roll my eyes, doing my best to suppress the giddy smile that threatens to break out. “We should cut them up and put them in baggies, to minimize work for her.”

“I-well. I picked ribbons up from the minimart too.” I muttered. They’re pink and silky and I think they’d look good as a tie for the baggies.

“How many times can I say that you’re a hopeless romantic without saying it straight out?” He rhetorically implores me to answer, I don’t. He sticks a blue wooden toothpick into a corner of the pan to see how they’ve cooled. When he pulls it out it’s perfectly firm—no gooey batter on the toothpick. “I think these are ready, we can cut them out now. Where’s your biggest plate?”

[tgammsideblog]

Tgamm S1 Ep 19-B ¨All Night Plight¨ Episode analysis

Molly, Scratch and Libby decide to stay all night late to watch a comet that passes every 50 years, the problem is that staying awake all night for the three of them is more easy said than done...

¨All Night Plight¨ episode is a bit hard to talk about since it has some pretty interesting things going on for the main characters as well as the theme of the story. It is an episode that give quite a lot to talk about in the fandom when it first aired.

The story starts with a quickly explanation in Molly's class about how there is a comet that passes every 50 years for people to being able to see it at night. The teacher explains that one has to stay up very late (4:00 AM) to be able to see it pass. She ends the class and the students leave school.

Molly, Scratch and Libby talk about the comet on their way back home. Scratch has a hilarious moment he talks about how he made a man cry once because he kept moving his keys (with Dana Synder's comedic timing great as always). Then Libby comments how this could be their only opportunity to see the comet together with ¨who knows how our life is going to be in fifty year¨, followed by a funny scenario of seeing herself as some sort of fantasy knight from her fantasy novels.

This makes Molly become very anxious for a few moments, as she thinks about how ¨everything could change¨ and suddenly decides that she wants to stay up night to see the comet, with Libby and Scratch joining her idea. It's clear that Molly fears the idea of losing her friendship with Scratch and Libby over the course of the years or how it could change. So, she decides she wants to make the ¨perfect memory¨ with Libby and Scratch.

It's worth of noting that the song sequence that plays while the Mcgee family are making the preparations for the night is very adorable. It presents the characters as your typical live action comedy sitcom, with their names showing up on the screen. There is also the detail of different moments being potrayed as it was a photo album, which itself has little notes and drawings made by Molly that are both funny and cute.

Once the night comes and Libby arrives to the Mcgees' home, she comments to Molly how there is too much light pollution. After a funny exchange between Sharon and Pete about how drives the trio, Sharon takes them to the country to be able to see the night sky better. (In the buffalo field from Episode 4-A, out of all things).

Most of the rest of the episode involves Molly desperately trying to keep Libby and Scratch to stay still in one place while Scratch protest not having eaten anything for all the night and Libby switching between falling sleeping and pretending to be a knight fighting dragons because of her trying to stay up late.

It becomes so ridiculous to the point Libby starts charging up against the buffalos thinking they are dragons and Scratch using Molly's phone to order a pizza while being in the middle of the country.

In all this, the night get worse and worse as Molly realizes that they didn't brought the snaks with them and Libby becomes more lost in her sleepy knight fantasy. Molly keeps pushing Libby and Scratch to stay to watch the comet together despite they both are tired and hungry. She is so determined to have this ¨perfect memory¨ that she doesn't consider how her friends are making at the moment.

When the sky happens to get covered by clouds, Molly tries to ¨blow¨ the clouds away. Getting tired of the situation, Scratch asks to Molly why she is so desperate to see the comet. That's when Molly explains that she is afraid of what is going to happen to the three of them over the course of the years and she is afraid of losing them as friends or their relationship changing. This shows that even after months have passed since they moved in to Brighton, Molly still has these abandonment issues of having to leave his friends behind for moving from house to house a lot before the events of the show. She is afraid that growing up she is going to lose Libby and Scratch as friends, which is probably the closest she has had to an actual long stable friendship.

I think the context of this episode is important as well since it takes place after the events of ¨Home is Where the Haunt is¨: The Mcgees almost lost their ¨forever home¨ in Brighton and Molly knows the curse that bonded her with Scratch was broken during the course of that problem. I think these two things brought these personal issues to Molly back, making her realize that not all things are permanent.

Noticing how important seeing the comet is to Molly, Scratch ¨eats¨ both Molly and Libby, shapeshifts into a hot air balloon and takes them above the clouds to see the night sky better. This moment is one of the most beautiful scenes from the series, both visually and emotionally. The animation of the comet passing by is amazing and the score is wonderful. It's worth of mentioning that Scratch cries tears of joy when he watches the comet pass by. It's a great example of how much the character has evolved since the start of the season.

Scratch moves back to the ground, releasing Molly and Libby. Molly thanks Scratch and Libby for staying all the night with her. They decide to go back to Mcgees home until they realize that they forgot about the angry buffalos, making the episode end.

In conclusion: ¨All Night Plight¨ is a great episode that shows how far the friendship between Molly, Scratch and Libby has grew over the course of the season. It acts as a celebration of their relationship so far, letting all them have both funny and emotional moments in the episode. It's also a good exploration of a side of Molly that hasn't been brought up for quite a while, which is her abandonment issues and hear fear of losing her freinds again. It is hearbreaking to see her breaking down while explaining to Scratch why she wants to make a ¨forever memory¨. In all, it is a beautiful episode and it isn't hard to see why it is considered one of the best from this season.

[rinas4ki]

My top 10 favorite music projects of 2023 ૢ✧∘* ✧･ﾟ

Welcome to this list that 2 people were mildly anticipating tops, a list where I ramble about note sequences that give me a sense of enjoyment, which is essentially what this blog of mine is dedicated to. I’ve been on this site for more than a year now, I had the pleasure of interacting and chatting with my lovely mutuals who share my silly little interests, both here and on @akaneverse. At the end of last year, I simply uploaded a topster of my favorite albums and EPs, and this December, I’m taking my time to review said projects, and show them appreciation with words and expressions slightly bigger than “the production is so insane” and “BANGER”. This year has been good to me as a music enjoyer, with new releases from my longer-time faves and incredible new discoveries, some possibly becoming all-time faves, which will be mentioned in the post. Pitchfork, your bankruptcy is nearing. And yes, the GIF is a spoiler.

⑩ Ichijikikoku (EP) - Atarashii Gakko!

I can say I somewhat got into Japanese music this year and this anti-idol group with a school leader concept looking camp right in the eye were some of the first artists that caught my attention. Having accidentally come across them through snooping around a beloved mutual’s Spotify profile, the quality of their songs such as Pineapple Kryptonite, Nainainai and Freaks caught me off guard in a great way. Their discography offers various genres such as robotic chant-filled hyperpop, groovy city pop, alternative rock, hip-hop and their latest EP truly showcases their diversity and range. From Otona Blue, the funky pop song that was the push start for the girls to get their rightful recognition, to a revisit to their older rock sound, to their first club banger and more city pop hits, this EP presents what their music has to offer in a nutshell. 2023 treated the school leaders well as they both got their deserved success and delivered a well-rounded project along with other listen-worthy singles.

Favorite tracks: Otome no Bigaku and Giri Giri.

⑨ 3 of Us (EP) - FLO

After taking the Internet’s ‘00s R&B revivalists and girl group appreciators by storm with their first EP Cardboard Box in 2022, this iconic trio went on an ongoing streak to constantly deliver the best and improve their music and skills. 3 of Us serves as lunchables before the upcoming full-course meal which is their debut album, and not so surprisingly considering the consistent high quality of the group’s releases, the snack surely is fulfilling. Two of the tunes were anticipated then-unreleased songs but the title track and the later added-on Suite Life were loved by us FLOlifers as well. The four songs showcase both the group’s incredible vocals and their empowering no-nonsense attitude. The title track is an anthem that shows the world the girls have each other’s backs, through a smooth execution of a humorous scenario of a guy simultaneously trying to toy with the 3 of them. FLO are real it girls, and this mini alone is definitely convincing of that enough.

Favorite tracks: what if I said all of them?

⑧ MY World (EP) - aespa

aespa have long-ago established their cybergirl fighter Kwangya concept and a solid spot in the K-pop industry as a group with one of the strongest group identities, top-notch discographies and powerful vocals. I slowly fell in love with them in 2021 and they have been one of the very few anchors to my interest in K-pop lately. Through mismanagement and complete bs coming from their crappy record label, standing ten toes down with these girls and experiencing the comeback of the summer was 100% worth it. Though the label needs to pull themselves together a little for the creative direction of all of their groups, MY World offered aespa’s two different takes on the summer which somehow felt fresh and unique, still suiting the group and proving aespacore’s wide range. The music, however, gave the signature aespa sound we had missed because of the music drought. Reol and Slayyyter’s souls truly split into two each, possessing the four members and giving us the gritty, in-your-face EDM banger that is the lead single Spicy. Welcome to MY World, the mini’s pre-release single, on the other hand, is an orchestral, alluring alternative pop track, which is a genre I never knew I needed aespa to dip their toes into. Salty and Sweet is a package delivery for the MYs who are especially seated for aespa’s metallic hyperpop releases, while Thirsty is contemporary R&B with a bubbly aespacore twist to it and I’m Unhappy is a splendid hyperballad. No offense but had they left the basic and frankly flow-disrupting ballad ‘Til We Meet Again in the vault, the ranking of the EP would be higher on here, and this is my only criticism of the project music-wise. As I always say on aespa comeback release days: the girls did it again.

Favorite tracks: answer changes every 5 business days but right now I’m gonna go with Welcome to MY World and Spicy.

⑦ Crying in the Carwash (EP) - Lolo Zouaï

I’ve been keeping up with Lolo Zouaï on the low (pun intended, see Encore) since the release day of her sophomore album PLAYGIRL but I might have to pay closer attention to her because of her elevated excellence showcased on this mini. Besides giving her more freedom over her work and artistic direction, returning to her independent artist days allowed her to wiggle more with her own feelings and experiences directly, as opposed to the personas she conveyed the story of PLAYGIRL through. Before the unveiling of the EP, the roll-out fully hooked me in with both the singles and mesmerizing visuals. Encore was the perfect earworm-y invitation to the era, and Crying in the Carwash showed us the rainy panorama none other than Lolo’s mind with soft, melancholic jungle drums as the track’s stand-out point. The rest of the three songs, sitting prettily in the middle, give us soulful R&B blessed with the artist’s gentle vocal runs and UK garage reminiscent of e-motions by Mura Masa and Erika de Casier. All in all, I can’t be the only one who can’t wait to see what Zouaï will have to offer with her future work.

Favorite track: Crying in the Carwash.

⑥ ESFERA DE AMOR - Simona

Esfera de Amor? In “my top 10 favorite projects of the year”? More like “top 10 most slept on albums of the year”. I’m not saying this just because of my personal opinion or just by looking at the streaming numbers either. This project is worth checking out for everyone looking for ethereal, light, bubbly pop à la 4th gen K-pop girl group music. Simona took recent pop micro-trends such as the incorporation of house, UK garage, hyperpop, neo-reggaeton and baile funk, and shaped them up into her very own world of love. The record, while being a relatively easy listen and having the ability to appeal to a wider audience, keeps you attentive and never bored, with an intro that leaves the sense of time and reality behind to make room for dancing and a classy vintage-style interlude. At one stop you unwind, at the second you dance at midnight in your bedroom, and at another you’re an otherworldly romantic. Feel free to do whatever you please, because after all, you’re in a sphere of love where everything’s fine.

Favorite tracks: Adentro de Mí, Polidrama, Plush, Meloni and Llaga Verdadera.

⑤ BB/ANG3L - Tinashe

Tinashe has been an impactful figure in modern R&B for nearly a decade now, with her resumé ranging from choreography material groovy bops to heartfelt, calmer, vocal-heavy songs. BB/ANG3L, in the musician’s own words, combines her past and her present, her darker debut day sound with her faster-paced, catchier, dreamy tunes. The songwriting keeps it real and personal: we go from a dramatic reflection on a toxic relationship, to wanting to be pampered and treated with respect and class, to more reflections and slowly letting go. In the music video for Talk To Me Nice, Tinashe peels away her former self and gets purified with the dripping water, getting down to her essence. (I will further elaborate on my newly found love for water concepts/metaphors in some next entries.) Thanks to producer Machinedrum, garage and dnb rhythms (can you tell those are my weaknesses yet?) are beautifully incorporated in two of the tracks, and the production is atmospheric and tastefully bleak throughout the entire tracklist. Keeping up with Tinashe’s releases for a good while, a couple of years in my case, remains a pleasure with this project of hers.

Favorite track: answer changes often once again and this time I’m picking Tightrope.

④ Raven - Kelela

If there were courses on how to take breaks of long years after releasing a top-tier album and make an even more world-shaking, majestic comeback, Raven would be the diligently studied textbook. Though I personally can’t relate to the 6-year wait as I discovered Kelela at the beginning of this year, my commentary is unnecessary for one to know she is a legend whose impact on alternative R&B, dance music and neo-soul is not up for any questioning. While Raven has even more of a slower and sultrier side than before, the intimacy and maturity stays consistent whether we’re talking jungle, aurora-like synths or soothing orchestration. It’s a true, well-constructed and developed body of fruitful work, with seamless thought-out sequencing, an art that’s being kept alive by artists that rightfully value it. Motifs reappearing in her previous albums such as “all the way down”, “on the run”, “far away” make their returns, but in no way does anything feel repetitive or any less unique. The album cover art and the music videos for Washed Away and Enough for Love present us more water imagery that couldn’t have been any more suitable for the sultriness and haziness of the record. Raven is the deep melancholic ocean that you trust to wrap your body around, where you witness musical scenery that’s so breath-taking that you can barely tell if it’s real.

Favorite track: On the Run.

Let’s get some honorable mentions out of the way before the top 3: Heaven knows by PinkPantheress (literally 11th place, Feelings was on repeat for like a week straight), My 21st Century Blues by Raye (robbed by the Scammys), Unlock My World by fromis_9 (if I make a best ‘23 K-pop b-side list Prom Night has a high spot secured), seOul collection by OnlyOneOf (I ignore the old tracks included in the album and candy bOmb is the K-pop b-side of the year) and Bébe Yana’s singles this year bc even though they’re not a body of work they’re too good not to get a shout-out. 

③ Code Ge4ss - 4s4ki

As I was getting into Japanese music in March, I suddenly wondered whether there was a full-fledged hyperpop or experimental electronic music scene in Japan. After a quick Google search, an interesting artist popped up, with the metallic cybercore aesthetic I’ve been craving more of on the cover art of her latest album called Killer in Neverland. Interesting album name, intriguing song titles too, and as soon as I heard Log Out she took it in my eyes, there and then. Listening to Killer in Neverland as a whole took my shock to another level. Who was this and why did her music satisfy my cravings to this extent? As I went through her discography in a day or two, I fell deeper and deeper in love with her enchanting production (she’s her very own producer, mind you), crunchy autotuned vocals that somehow sound magical, her risk-taking unique concepts, something in between camp and outright beautiful visuals, precisely crafted songwriting and artistry. She manages to be the perfect amount of fun, the perfect amount of edgy, the perfect amount of bright, the perfect amount of sharp, the perfect amount of real, the perfect amount of satirical, the perfect amount of joyful, the perfect amount of sad on each and every project of hers. What didn’t hit me like a truck at first, however, is her tremendous improvement as a musician in pretty much every aspect: production, songwriting, album cohesion, creative direction, visuals. Not until her latest album Code Ge4ss finally got released in late June.

I was confused at first at the Code Geass anime collab thing, I wasn’t exactly sure of the release date and whether 4s4ki was actually releasing yet another scrumptious FULL album not too long after I got into her. The album dropped, I was tuned in right at midnight and my already high expectations were surpassed. Banging (kicking if you will) Jersey club beats, birds chirping accompanying glitchy trap instrumentals, screams followed by almost Machine Girl-level noisy circuit board sorcery, samples of characters’ speeches over electro guitar riffs, a piano interlude paired with opera runs taken from the show, pacifying ballads which are a mix of acoustic guitar and hard-hitting pots-pans and 8-bit synths, all closed by surreal orchestration with the classic electronica touches of 4s4ki and collaborator producer Kotonohouse. I’m sure I’d appreciate the Code Geass-themed lyricism on an even deeper level if I hadn’t paused watching the anime after 5 episodes like the terrible TV consumer I am. What I can be certain about is that everything about this project feels genuine and from within because it IS genuine and from within. 4s4ki couldn’t have been a more suitable choice for this collaboration, she’s been a fan of the franchise since elementary school and very few emit the weird cyber-glitchcore internet baby aesthetics the way she does. The cover art is stunning and references the series once again, and the Shirley MV leaves us with calming visuals that may remind you of Welcome to MY World by aespa, which spoke to the aespa x 4s4ki truther in me.

As I was saying, this album is what really rubbed her major progress as an artist and musician in my face. We’ve gone such a long way from the calmer EDM-pop antics of Your Dreamland, for example, not even to mention the synth-pop balladry in her debut Gender. Every era of hers sonically gets increasingly complex and intense and ethereal, and in every body of work she leaves in a bigger, more intimate piece of her. There’s just so much personality in everything she puts out and presents. She built her sonic and artistic identity from the bottom to the top and even as a fan for less than a year, continuing to witness this makes me feel pure admiration. Words aren’t enough to properly express how I feel about her art but that won’t stop me from typing up paragraphs to try to get someone to understand me on this. People have various opinions on 4s4ki’s experimentation and self-expression, however what absolutely nobody can ever deny is that she’s a true artist, visionary and one of the most skilled producers of this generation. 2023 brought her both achievements and unfortunately some hardships, and I sincerely hope 2024 is kinder and even more generous to her. (She’s not done with taking over the year yet! Stream her new single Continue and stay tuned for winter again coming Dec 15.)

Favorite track: Eleven.

② Fountain Baby - Amaarae

I touched upon my adoration for water imagery on my entries for BB/ANG3L and Raven but as you can see from the title, Fountain Baby took the theme to an entirely different level. The analogy potential of water is infinite as the fluidity, cadence, calmness, riptides, uncertainty, contradictions of water can very well be converted into the multi-faceted human emotion. The same water that you’re dependent on in order to live can poison you at an overload, the same water that rinses your body and soul can drown and choke you up when contacted with the wrong places. Fountain Baby expresses various moods and states of mind not only through concept visuals, but more importantly by sprinkling water euphemisms throughout the entire record: “fountain baby, wash her, make it wet”, “water on my neck, come make it warm”, “water from wine”, “water, it mix with the substance” being prominent examples. Amaarae chats love, sensuality, materialism and lastly, meeting your maker in a way other than passing away. She defines a “fountain baby” as “a person with endless charisma, someone that is abundant in their blessings and ultimately a blessed child of God.” The universe Fountain Baby resides in is essentially rich, delicate, cloudy and raw.

While water is a consistent element of the album, it was far from being Amaarae’s only source of inspiration. She draws on ‘00s pop staples Timbaland and Britney Spears, The Neptunes, Clipse (sampled in Counterfeit), Janet Jackson, Missy Elliott and diverse genres such as Afro-beats, classic and contemporary hip-hop, Americana punk rock and dance. The melting pot of live orchestra, harps, baile funk, tire whirring, R&B-infused shiny Afro-futurism, Japanese folk song samples, Chinese bow violins, Arabic scales, gunshot and cash register clicking sounds, mid-song switches that make you feel like the main character of a coming of age movie, glitter and sax and guitars creates a record that refuses to be boxed into one genre or label. A “clever alchemist” and “a chemist who fuses world music” are titles that are deservingly given to the artist for these reasons. The record has plenty of variety yet the sequence all comes together akin to a satisfying crossword. It’s lucrative and shimmery but has its child-like, playful side that’s a natural result of Amaarae getting in touch with her inner 8 year-old during the cultivation process. The music videos are all different but inseparable approaches to the Fountain Baby-verse. The MV for the first pre-release Reckless and Sweet is based on editorials and has a silky luxurious look, with direct hints at the album’s concept. Co-Star, the second pre-release, casts zodiac signs as racer-models and fast cars come running around in a competition, keeping the high fashion coded color grading and filming style. The music video for the lead single Wasted Eyes is heavily inspired by the film Rush Hour and pays homage to Japanese culture about as much as the song does (it’s worth to mention the song is co-written by the iconic Crystal Kay whose speech you can hear in it). The intricacy and planning of every aspect of this era is pop music at its peak. With Fountain Baby, Amaarae finds the epitome of pop perfection without special dedication to seeking it.

Favorite track: Wasted Eyes.

① Ambrosia (EP) - Namasenda

Some projects make your jaw drop from the get-go, some others grow on you with some time. Ambrosia crept up on me the longer I kept it on repeat, all the way to being my favorite project of this year. I already enjoyed Namasenda’s previous songs such as Black Ops 2, Demonic and the pre-release single maserati. As I later found more about the background of the project, how its concept came together and read the translation of the lyrics to rosa, my love for the it multiplied. Right now if I were to describe the EP in two simple words, they would be “ethereal”, “gorgeous” and “atmospheric”. These words are used with way more power than you may realize this time.

Sonically, the already unique artist stays true to herself but the execution of her vision is somehow… better than her previous work. north star and deathrow bby are unorthodox but celestial perspectives on baile funk, the former being a siren-like intro-lude that lures you in and the latter having a slightly haunting catchy Europop inspired jingle feel, serving as closer out of the 4 songs. maserati is a fresh take on polished but cutting pop, while rosa is a divine ballad that takes you to a dream realm. “Unconditionally here / I mean what I promise / When the sky is completely pink”, she sings in her home language Swedish, over the Casey MQ co-produced blissful synths. Maybe it’s executive producer Simon on the Moon’s musical genius (he’s also to be thanked for his involvement in Natural Brown Prom Queen by Sudan Archives), maybe it’s Namasenda unveiling a more authentic side of herself and therefore causing the music to be the most authentic version of itself. This authenticity drips through the production, the visuals and the lyrics. The stark contrast between Ambrosia and the jeweled, metallic, extreme meta-pop in her previous work, specifically Unlimited Ammo, opens up a conversation on the future of hyperpop.

Besides the heavy, detail-embroidered production, the focus of hyperpop was pretty much always exaggerating the artificial aspects of pop music, such as vocal manipulation, heavy bass, deafening drums, unforgettable melodies and shallow lyrics. How long could one use these funnily unrealistic musical personas before wanting to face themselves and do a deeper, more pure dive on pop? This I-D article on PC Music (the record label pioneering the hyperpop scene) shutting down concludes with “Perhaps it’s time to get off the computer and rediscover the personal.” Indeed, we can’t exactly reach a verdict on whether “hyperpop” will become just another fad or not, but moving on from simply exaggerating pop to expanding, beautifying and authenticating its sound isn’t an inaccurate prediction. 4s4ki and Namasenda (who, by the way, parted ways with PCMus before Ambrosia) are two of the artists that embody the beautiful, complex hyperpop-transcendent sound and experimental electronic pop music is in good hands thanks to artists like them.

To finish off this entry, Ambrosia manages to pinpoint exactly what I like to hear, both characteristics that I mentioned and things you can’t really put into sentences, only listen to and let them sink in. The production is some of the most stunning I’ve ever heard in my life, the EP is cohesive despite the short 9-minute run time, the visuals are simple but creative and the craft is passionate and genuine. Next time somebody asks me about the music I like, I’m sending them this EP with no further elaboration as it summarizes my tastes like no other body of work ever has.

Favorite track: rosa, it also grew on me the most drastically.

Now to end this post, every year gives me brand new outlooks on how I consume music and the details I notice, the things I pay attention to. 2023 was filled to the brim with musicians offering their own outlooks on how they create. I’m keeping my eye on the masterpieces that will come out of 2024 and I wonder how my interests will transform with me next year.

Hey @nayeonline (special thankies for indirectly fueling my writing process) and @timetravellingkitty, I wiggled my keyboard a bit 😗

[gerogerigaogaigar]

This is it! My last batch of reviews. This time my boyfriend supplied six albums. He is more of a singles and eps kinda guy so the album choices are kinda...

The Front Bottoms - Going Grey

The Front Bottoms have existed in my periphery for a little while now. I'll hear a song now and then but I've never sat down and listened to an album. Going Grey exists somewhere in between 10s indie folk and 00s pop punk/emo. The lyrics are solidly unsophisticated without being stupid. A love letter to immaturity. It is clearly the work of someone looking back on their younger self and fondly roasting them. The music really supports this by primarily utilizing the tendencies of immature 00s pop punk and pretentious 10s indie folk. The contrast makes the tongue in cheek nature of the music clear without ever having to signal too overtly to the listener.

Blink-182 - California

So I actually kinda like Blink-182. I think their music from the 90s is a pure and raw expression of suburban alienation. Plus Travis Barker is an unbelievably good drummer. Unfortunately this album is from 2016. Ok it's not all bad actually. Tom DeLonge has been replaced by Alkaline Trio frontman Matt Skiba and he lends a bit of that emo sound to the album which isn't really much of a jump. Barker is still capable of breakneck drum fills. And a lot of the songs have the energy of their 90s output. There is a lingering feeling though that these men are in their 40s and still singing about being teenagers. Please stop. But between big misses like Kings Of The Weekend and Teenage Satellites are songs that remind me why I liked this band in the first place. The Only Thing That Matters is a major standout track for having the rawness and speed that made me love them back in their Dude Ranch Days. California is a mixed bag, but it's honestly a lot better than you'd expect out of a 2016 Blink-182 album.

Fall Out Boy - Mania

What the fuck happened to this band? From Under The Cork Tree is one of the best albums of the 00s full of witty lyricism and catchy music. Mania is an Imagine Dragons album. Fall Out Boy have become soulless trend chasers who don't even really care about the music they make. It's generically "epic" with vapid lyrics that don't communicate anything. Someone needs to euthanize these idiots before they go making more music.

Rezz - A Certain Kind Of Magic

Rezz is a lesser known DJ and electronic music producer that more people need to listen to. She has an incredibly chaotic style that mixes dubstep, brostep, electro house, and hip hop. And if that sounds a lot like Skrillex to you don't worry. While Rezz has a lot in common with her obnoxious brostep predecessor she is also capable of composing music that isn't just nonstop sensory overload. The peaks and valleys are what make her music so engaging, a very energetic segment can easily turn right into a lower bass driven dubstep sequence. The bass is crunchy with smoother mids and high ends and there are a good number of samples. A Certain Kind Of Magic also inexplicably ends on basically an emo song which catches me off guard every time, but goes to show how a wide range of influences makes for interesting music.

Rainbow Kitten Surprise - RKS

I don't hate this. I'll admit that the whole indie white boy blues aesthetic never clicked with me, and I can point to a number of bands doing this sort of thing that I like better, but I can point to innumerable bands that I like much, much less. RKS is deeply inoffensive music that isn't gonna hold my attention too hard, but it does have a few moments that are truly enjoyable. Particularly when they let down that bombastic sound and let those bubbly clean guitar lines shine.

Kelly Clarkson - Breakaway

I've been given special instructions for this one. I have to sit in the back of a car on my way home from my friend's house while it's raining and then I have to listen to this album and feel bad. I don't have any way to do that.

What is Kelly Clarkson? Being the first American Idol winner puts her in a position where she's primed to be a golden goose for a bunch of executives. As such her options for artistic integrity are severely limited to the commercially profitable. On Breakaway Clarkson split from the Idol management to craft an album that dated to explore outside the mainstream pop landscape. The results are embarrassing.

Obviously she was never going to make good music. I would be an idiot to try and give an American Idol contestant the benefit of the doubt in regards to their artistic sincerity. Her voice is a hollow void of emotion. The lyrics are paint by number. The music shows the outline of an emotion. Kelly Clarkson is the shadow on the wall of Plato's cave. Her fans incapable of comprehending that this is just a pale imitation of real music.

So I ask again. What is Kelly Clarkson? The answer seems obvious now. Kelly Clarkson is a name that once belonged to a human being and now is the property of record companies. The name is attached to records and the records are expected to sell based on the name. The human being that once shared the name Kelly Clarkson is a shadow. Kelly Clarkson is a music career. Kelly Clarkson is the avatar of the American Idol social experiment. Kelly Clarkson is a cipher. There is no such thing as Kelly Clarkson, there is only the music. But the music is also a shadow. There is nothing here. A shadow cast by a shadow. You cannot find the artistic merit in this music any more than you can get blood from a stone.

[tsukikoayanosuke]

Twisted Wonderland x Project Sekai - In Which I Put the TWST Boys into Proseka Scenario

Aka. I impulsively made a color coded lyrics video and put all TWST boys in them at 1 am. I ended up making five of them, one for each group. I’m very normal, guys. Trust me.

So, enjoy these crappy videos I created half-awake and funny (temporary) band names.

Basically:

Leo/need => Sunny/Ultramarine

More More Jump = > Viva Viva Muse

Vivid Bad Squad => Stray Crimson Quartet

Wonderland x Showtime => Fantastique Squadron Twinkle-Twinkle☆Showtime!

Nightcord at 25:00 => After Midnight Composition 

Sunny/Ultramarine (the one that sounds a bit like K-On)

A group of childhood friends decided to form a band.

Azul, Jade, and Floyd are acquaintances since middle school, not necessarily friends, they were just often in the same study group. They even got a scholarship from the same high school they're going to enroll in.

Azul saw how becoming a pro might be a great indie money-making business, so he purpose this to the Leech twins. Jade and Floyd just went along since it might get interesting.

But they might need more than three people to form a decent band.

Kalim and Jamil have a complicated relationship. Kalim's parents have a huge company and Jamil's parents have been working for the said company for years. Technically they are childhood friends, but Jamil is always being reminded not to ever upstage the boss' son.

Kalim was very excited about being in a band when the trio approached them, Jamil was dragged into this.

Jamil was proven to be a talented musician but was held back by Kalim being there.

It took a lot of convincing for Jamil to let loose and be his true self in the gang.

He also had the strongest voice, thus making him the main vocal and vice leader of the band. Azul, of course, is the leader.

Viva Viva Muse (The one that’s definitely not NRC Tribe)

An idol group filled with people who want changes.

Vil and Neige used to be in the same group, but Neige kept upstaging Vil to the point that Vil slowly pulled back from the agency, wanting to find another way or focus on modeling or TV Show host. But there was no doubt that he missed singing on stage. If only they wouldn't waste his potential.

Rook was the first one to approach Vil when he enrolled in the academy in their first year. At first, Rook was the biggest Neige fanboy and got closer to Vil because he was interested, but the longer he interacted, the more he was enamored with the ex-idol. They become best friends since then. Rook still talks about idol stuff and Vil gives him insight. He's on board with Vil's comeback, but let him return on his on time.

The time came sooner than they expected as they ran into two freshmen.

Deuce wanted to change. He didn't want to be a bad boy anymore. So he decided to be an idol (which is the very opposite of a street gang in his opinion). But he doesn't know how and even he knows that barging into an agency prepared is unethical. So he starts small by watching idol performances on YouTube.

Sebek has the hardest time fitting in, with him being the clingiest among his childhood friends/family. Because of the promise they made to go on their own ways once he enters high school to be independent and stuff (which means he can’t join Malleus’ theater troupe). Crashing into Deuce when he was practicing on the rooftops, Sebek immediately asked to join in. Honestly, he was proud of himself that he found something to fulfill his promise.

Rook, being his usual observant self, told Vil about the two freshmen. Seeing the opportunity, Vil and Rook approached Deuce and Sebek with a deal of idol self-training and to form a new rising idol group. Everyone agreed.

They decided to become a freelance group when the agency didn't accept newbies (Deuce and Sebek) and slowly gained attention, giving hope for people to not be afraid of changes.

Stray Crimson Quartet (The one where I questioned about the rad weekend)

A group of street musicians who aim to make the greatest event to surpass the legend.

Ace and Jack are two kids whose heart was stolen in one performance. RAD WEEKEND, is considered to be the greatest event of all time. Ace's brother is part of the group, thus planting in Ace's mind (and Jack's as well) that music is the coolest thing ever. Both of them aim to create an event that one day surpasses RAD WEEKEND.

Jack teamed up with Epel. Epel's family is a family of a classical musician who kinda forces Epel to continue the legacy. But he doesn't want to, feeling that it's too stiff. Thus he moved to street music. That's where Jack found him. Together they formed the duo Stray Wolves.

Meanwhile, Ace had a bit of trouble. He hadn't found the perfect partner who can catch up with him.

That was until someone by the name of Lilia entered the stage.

Lilia attends night class because he mostly works online during the day while taking care of his sick brother. But that doesn't mean he's not familiar with the many night events and battles of the band. He had heard about RAD WEEKEND but didn't witness it.

When Ace met Lilia, while he was strange, their voice immediately click. That was when Ace asked Lilia to be his partner. Maybe he would finally have a chance.

Interested, Lilia agrees. Together, they are the Crimson Hearts

Jack-Epel and Ace-Lilia eventually crossed paths in one of the events, Lilia's first event. While they didn't steal the show, the exposure is enough. They met again in the future, and each time, the two duos became more and more skilled

A couple of events later, Lilia purposes to combine the four of them as one team since they have the same goal. After some debate and persuasion, they agreed. Joining together as Stray Crimson Quartet.

Fantastique Squadron Twinkle-Twinkle☆Showtime! (The one in which Malleus is a clown)

A group of kids who find themselves joining a theater trope.

Let's start from the very beginning. So, there's this big amusement park. It's owned by the Draconia Family. Thus, technically speaking, Malleus is the heir of the amusement park or something. Basically, everything is his when his grandma is dead.

While there's no doubt that Malleus can run the park, his grandmother is mostly worried about his social skill. Sure he has four childhood friends, but they made a promise that they will try to go separate ways once the youngest of the group enrolls in high school. After that, Malleus won't have any friends.

So, grandma has a brilliant idea. There's this empty stage, with a little renovation it'll look good as new. Malleus' job now is to find his troupe to perform on the stage.

Technically, Malleus accepts, but uh...how?

Let's cut from him for a second and go to Trey and Ortho.

Both of them are in a similar position: having a strained relationship with the one who they care about. For Ortho, it's his big brother Idia who hadn't come out from his room after Ortho had woken up from his long coma. For Trey, it's his childhood friend Riddle who he hadn't spoken to since the amusement park incident.

All four of them are connected with one thing: the wonder of watching a stage performance. Seeing their dearest smile from watching a wonderful performance, solidify their resolve to join a theater troupe. While Ortho wants to act, Trey wants to be the director.

Both of them actually came to the amusement park where they met Malleus who straight-up accept them without an interview.

But three people were not enough to make a whole trope.

That was when Ruggie approached them. He was a student with many side jobs because of financial struggles. One of the jobs is being the amusement park mascot (one of the jobs that don't really require skills).

Ruggie agreed to join the troupe if only Malleus would pay him. And Malleus agreed (damn rich people).

Their plays were a mess, especially compared to the bigger ones in the same park. But honestly, the companionship between these fours started to warm up for each of them.

The last person to enter the scene is Cater, a vlogger and Trey's classmate. They're not that close because Cater always maintains his distance from many classmates.

Cater stated that "eh, joining a troupe sounds fun". He doesn't act, mostly wanting in publication, even making a YouTube video for them to post their performance.

Though because they only have five people in the troupe, everyone ended up acting on stage. Cater is surprisingly the best actor among them.

If you want to know who suggested the name, it was Cater and Ortho with approval from Malleus.

Does this count as found family?

After Midnight Composition (The one with the Discord server)

A YouTube music circle who often create their songs at 1 am and only ever communicate through Discord. They are people who are tired of the world and on the brink of disappearing but still holding on to this small circle.

It started with Idia who has been composing songs as some sort of atonement after Ortho's near-death accident. He hadn’t come out of his room for a long time, not even after Ortho was better. His relationship with other family members became strained and his responsibility as the company's heir is neglected. Everyone tries to make him go outside, But he's stubborn and filled with sadness.

Riddle (who had been secretly creating poems and lyrics) commented on one of his videos and they came in contact. Raised to be his mother's golden child, Riddle is slowly losing his identity and dreams, pressured to follow what his mother told him. He has trouble feeling things and nearly loses all his senses. Venting through poems and song lyrics is the only thing that keeps him from going too far.

When they need an artist, they went on an internet search and found Silver. He has complicated narcolepsy that prevents him to go anywhere without supervision. He started to learn how to draw when he has nothing to do, gaining attention from people on Instagram. He agrees to join on the first offer, wanting to do something useful for others for once.

Leona was the last to join, being contacted when the group need a video editor. He was skeptical at first, but it's not like anyone would care. He had a bad relationship with his brother and decided on wanting to leave the house, but Farena kept him because he promised their dying grandfather to look over him. He's talented, like very talented, but without the recognition from his family, he felt useless. He pretty much had given up on life.

The four of them gathered together at 1 am when everyone was asleep and created music videos. This has become a safe space for them.

[silly-bean]

Lately, I've been really reading the FF7 timeline to copy it down for reference and I've found some *very* interesting details. Here's a list of stuff so far:

Bugenhagen is apparently born in 1877?? This means he's 130 years old in OG!!

Pres Shinra is born in 1940. Palmer is 3 years younger than him.

Hojo was born in 1945, making him around 35 when Sephiroth is born.

ShinRa was known as "ShinRa Manufacturing" before it was an electric company, and we apparently don't have a date for when it was founded but know it discovered Mako energy on September 23, 1959.

Heidegger is born in 1949, making him a year older than Vincent.

Both Vincent and Lucrecia are born in 1950.

Red XIII is born in 1959, which is apparently the same year the Gi attacked.

Grimoire dies ~1970, which means Lucrecia was around 20 when it happened. Can you imagine doing undergrad research trying to get ahead of the curve and you get your advisor killed by the equivalent of a minor deity cuz you wouldn't stop poking it? She wasn't even a grad student when it happened 😂

Barret and Reeve are the same age, having been born in 1972.

Cid is actually 3 years younger than both of them, having been born on Feb 22, 1975.

Construction on the Midgar plate starts in 1976, and ShinRa is known as an electric company by then, but we don't know when that actually changed.

Tseng, Rufus, and Rude are all the same age, having been born in 1977. SOLDIER is initiated in the same year to help bring an end to a long-running international war.

Oh, Jenova is also found in 1977, which means none of the trio can even be conceived until that year. The Jenova Project also starts up that year.

At some point between 1977 and 1982, Vincent is assigned to guard the scientists running Project S. Yeah, we have no concrete date for that.

Somewhere around 1980, the trio are all born. No actual birthdates for any of them.

Gast leaves Shinra in 1980, which means, that even if Sephiroth is born in late 1977, he literally never knew the guy. He apparently meets Ilfana at some point before 1985, but we have no date for that.

We also have no official date for Lucrecia going crazy and Vincent getting shot. Wiki says it's somewhere around 1984, which is fucking wild. Cuz it's stated that she goes crazy during pregnancy and Vincent confronts Hojo as a result of that, which gets him shot. And yet, Sephiroth is supposed to be born around 1980??? Which means there's no chance he was born that late? WHICH IS IT SQUARE???

Reno is born in '79, meaning he's conceivably older than Sephiroth??

We have no concrete date for Zack being born, just the "around 1984", except we know he's 16 in '00, which means he was born early '85 at the latest since he's canonically 2 years older than Cloud and CC starts in October of '00.

We have no idea how old Kunsel is! I usually place him as being born in '83 and a year older than Zack.

Aerith was born Feb 7, 1985 and Gast was killed 20 days later on Feb 27.

Cloud was born on August 11, 1986 and Tifa was born on May 3, 1987.

we have actual years for basically all the Tsviets being born and yet no date for Sephiroth.

Yuffie's mom is apparently named "Kasumi"??

The Wutai war begins "around" 1992, which means Sephiroth could conceivably be, at the youngest, like, 8 when it starts up and around 16 at the oldest. We also have no concrete date for when he gets deployed, but know he's apparently a 1st class already by then?

Tseng is also only, like, 15 when the war starts, which leads me to believe that he gets recruited by the Turks in the early days of the war. He's also a rookie Turk by 1997 when the whole thing that results in Kalm being bombed happens.

Cissnei is hailed as the youngest ever full Turk, and considering Tseng is one by the time he's 20, and Reno is one when he's late teens, she's gotta be as young or younger than Zack. I usually put her as being born in '85 and thus 15 when CC starts.

Before Crisis is fucking wild dudes. We have at least years for all the events and it gets the Turks involved in a huge number of events in the timeline.

Rufus isn't made VP until after Genesis deserts. Seriously. The mass desertion event happens in October of '00 and Rufus isn't VP until December.

The Wutai war ends in Feb of '01 and Avalanche starts being a problem almost instantly (hmmm, I wonder why?? It's almost like someone started giving the group funding to start up 🤔)

Cloud leaves Nibelheim somewhere between December of '00 (when he makes his promise to Tifa) and April of '01 (when he meets Zack on the Modeoheim mission).

Cloud successfully kills a RAVEN (an enhanced Avalanche soldier made by Fuhito, a cheap Hojo knock-off) with their own sword in June of '01 when he's 14.

Avalanche attacks the ShinRa building in June of '02 and apparently almost makes off with Hojo??

Avalanche learned of Aerith and actually try to kidnap her in August of '02.

Cloud, Zack, and Sephiroth arrive in Nibelheim on Sept 22 and are then there for a whole 9 days before Sephiroth snaps and burns the town to the ground on the 10th (October 1).

Marlene is born in late winter/early spring aka early '03, making her 4 at the time of OG.

Apparently, Avalanche and the Turks were involved in the failed Shinra No. 26 launch?? I actually refuse this specific thing as canon, but the failed launch happened on April 12 of '03. Cid is 28 at the time.

The Corel reactor is attacked on May 8, and the town is blamed for it and burned to the ground apparently the same day??

Red XIII is captured by Shinra on October 30 of '06. And apparently, Reno was one of the Turks who captured him??

Zack and Cloud escape the lab on Dec 18 of '06. It then takes him almost 3 months to make it to Gongaga (arrives in February).

Then, Zack doesn't make it to Banora until September?? And that's when he deals with Genesis. And then he's dead before the month is over.

An entire mess with a summon called Zirconiade happens in early October of '07, where Midgar is almost destroyed cuz Fuhito decided that killing all humans was the best way to save the planet and turns himself into the summon?? Idk BC is fucking wild. This marks the end of this incarnation of Avalanche.

Tifa also finds Cloud wandering the slums in October of '07 and then the reactor bombing doesn't happen until December. This gives us officially 2 months of time where his recovery was happening and zero details. I have fanfic ideas already.

It's incredibly funny to me that Avalanche as the Turks know it is done in October and then, 2 months later, another cell pops up and has the balls to bomb a reactor. Talk about the mother of all cockroaches.

Apparently, officially, OG takes place over around a month or so??

Edge is being built by the end of January '08 and the WRO is also founded very quickly. I don't know if I believe that, really.

Advent Children happens in '10, and we have very little knowledge about those 2 years other than some OVAs and light novels I think.

DoC happens in '11. The less said about that, the better.

[theadusa]

Everything I watch in Jan 2024

I was going to post my annual everything I watched in 2023 post but I feel like I missed my opportunity, so here is my everything I watched in January 2024... (Be Warned there are some spoilers, I do try to mark them throughout the review)

My Lovely Boxer (2023, Kim Min-joo)

Main leads: Lee Sang-yeob, Kim So-hye, Park Ji-hwan, Kim Hyung-mook, Kim Jin-woo, Ha Seung-ri, Chae Won-bin

Country: S. Korea

Run: August 21 to Oct 2, 2023 (KBS2, Monday and Tuesday @21:45 (KST))

Episodes: 12, 70 min

Thoughts: Lee Kwon-sook (Kim So-hye) is a boxer who is forcibly thrown back into the world boxing that she has retired from by a sports agent Kim Tae-young (Lee Sang-yeob). I really liked how they balanced the characters. Lee Kwon-sook is a cheerful girl who is constantly haunted by her past. And she is allowed agency to do what she can do, despite the efforts of others. And the relationship between Lee Kwon-sook and Kim Tae-young, though slightly toxic, works in an odd way. I did have problems with how they reconnected her with her father.I personally wouldn’t have forgiven him. However, I loved the relationship with Han Ah-reum, and just how that story ends. I thought it was done very well. Overall I have really enjoyed this drama. Rating: 

Unlock My Boss (2022-2023, Kim Hyung-min)

Main leads: Chae Jong-hyeop, Seo Eun-soo, Park Sung-woong

Country: S. Korea

Run: Dec 7, 2022 to Jan 12, 2023 (ENA, Wednesday and Thursday @21:00 (KST))

Episodes: 12, 60 min

Thoughts: Oh wow, this is more enjoyable than I imagined. Chase Jong-hyeop as Park In-seong is so fun. He is adorable, down to earth but capable. Jun Se-yeon (Seo Eun-soo) was amazing and I loved her complexities as a character. And the trio of Kim Seon-joo (Park Sung-woong), Park In-seong, and Jun Se-yeon, was so fun and I loved the little family they formed. I literally cried so much during this show for no reason. Like the zoom into the phone literally made me sob each time for no reason. Rating: Who knew electronics can have that much range?

Night Has Come (2023, Kang Min-Ji)

Main leads: Lee Jae-In, Kim Woo-Seok, Choi Ye-Bin, Cha Woo-Min, Ahn Ji-Ho, Jung So-Ri

Country: S. Korea

Run: Dec 4,, 2023 ( U+mobiletv)

Episodes: 12, 35 to 40 min

Thoughts: This started off really good. A class gets thrust into a mafia game to the death. You along with the characters are wondering who is the mafia among the students and who is forcing this game. It is really interesting, but the episodes follow the same pattern. The end you find everything out, and it's kind of stupied. They had a classmate who committed sucide due to a badly edited image of herself on a skimply clad woman’s body. Which is yeah bad. Then her parents take revenge on the whole class. They are placed in this mafia simulator to repeat the game over and over again. It ends with Lee Yoon-seo able to remember everything, but still trapped in the simulator. Like where their parents are. People must be concerned right. Rating: Sisphyus boulder, I guess…

The Story of Park’s Marriage Contract (2023-2024, Go Nam-jeong)

Main leads: Lee Se-young, Bae In-hyuk, Joo Hyun-young, Yoo Seon-ho, Jo Bok-rae

Country: S. Korea

Run: Nov 24, 2023 to Jan 6, 2024 (MBC TV Friday and Saturday @21:50 (KST))

Episodes: 12, 70 min

Thoughts: This was a cute drama. It starts off with a cute romance between a progressive woman in Joseon and a sick scholar. However, it quickly becomes a tragedy and she is sent to the year 2023 with her hand maid Sa-wol (Joo Hyun-young). It quickly becomes a fish out of water for Park Yeon-woo (Lee Se-young), but luckly she meets the recacrante of her late husband Kang Tae-ha (Bae In-hyuk) and they make a deal. It is a cute drama and I loved the cast of characters. Yeon-woo is easy to root for. Sa-wol is adorable, and adapts quickly. Kang Tae-ha is prickly but has a heart of gold. It's dramatic and fun. It's nothing special, but oh is it so good. My favorite part is Yeon-woo and Sa-wol’s relationship. Literally there is a scene with those two that reflects a romantic scene in Perfect Marriage Revenage (2023) which I can’t stop thinking about. Overall I just really enjoyed my time. Rating: butterflies everytime I think about you…

Joseon Attorney: A Morality (2023,Choi Jin-young)

Main leads: Woo Do-hwan, Bona, Cha Hak-yeon

Country: S. Korea

Run: March 31 to May 5, 2023 (MBC TV Friday and Saturday @21:50 (KST))

Episodes: 16, 70 min

Thoughts:  This was a lot like Taxi Driver. In the way you have an episodic feel with a charismatic male lead seeking revenge and helping people. I had a lot of fun with this show, and I don’t use the comparison lightly either. I really had fun with it. The romance was okay, but I liked the different stories, and the main revenge plot was easy to follow along with. Woo Do-hwan is a great actor and meant to be a leading man. It's definitely  not my favorite and there are a few things that needed changing but it was fun overall! Rating: Who do you call?... Joseon Attorney!!!

KBS Drama Special 14 (2023, Choi Ja-won, Yun Tae-woo, Cho Il-yeon, Choi Yi-kyung, Wi Jae-hwa, Kwon Oh-joo,Park Eun-seo, Jo Soo-yeong, Kim Ik-hyun)

Main leads: Lee Jae-won, Choi Seong-won, and Kim Kang-hyeon,  Kim Won-hae, Min Ji-ah, Ahn Se-bin and Park Ji-ah, Lee Min-jae, Kim Hyun-soo, and Kang Na-eon,  Moon Woo-jin, Park Seo-kyung, Park Ha-sun, Kim Joo-heon, Kim Do-hoon, Chae Won-bin, Kim Dong-hwi, Jo A-ram, Shim Yi-young, Joo Seok-tae,  Ren, Park Sang-nam, Hong Seung-hee, Hahm Eun-jung,  Kim Kang-min, Yoon San-ha, Baek Sung-hyun

Country: S. Korea

Run: OCT 14 to Dec 16, 2023 (KBS, Saturday 21:50 to 22:50 (KST))

Episodes: 10, 60 to 80 min

Thoughts: This is a yearly anthogolgy series that follows various characters in various time periods with various goals. I thought a lot of them were really cool and interesting. “Love Attack” was by far one of my favorites, but I also really liked “The True Love of Madam” which was shocking for me.  It was also hard to find any subs for “Overlap, Knife, Knife” so I had to rely on visual cues and the small amount of Korean I know. But I thought this was a fun anthrologie series, and the stories are fun and fresh. Rating: I love getting short and quick stories like this, its the reason I love short films so much.

A Good Day to Be a Dog (2023-2024, Baek In-ah)

Main leads: Park Gyu-young, Cha Eun-woo, Lee Hyun-woo

Country: S. Korea

Run: Oct 11, 2023 to Jan 10, 2024 (MBC, Wednesday 21:00 (KST))

Episodes: 14, 70 min

Thoughts: Apparently it is very different from the webtoon ( which I have never read), but I found it entertaining. It is cute and lighthearted. I always like when its past lives, I think it adds a fun element to romances. Though I do think the schedule of the show hindered my enjoyment, because it would be so long between episodes. They also lost me at the end, I can not lie. Rating/Spoiler: Also I would be so angery if I found out my family curse passed down for generations was over a misunderstanding. I would want an apology, reparations, and revenge. On another note, I would also be so pissed if I killed myself to save my servant's baby; then my boyfriend finished off the dying father, then cursed the child and its offspring. I would be pissed, like my scarfice was for not. Go off mountain spirit I guess…

My 20th Twenty (2023, N/A)

Main leads: Choi Yu Ju , Jung Su Bin

Country: S. Korea

Run: April 21 to may 27, 2023 (Wavve, Friday and Saturday)

Episodes: 12, 15 min

Thoughts: This show was good for what it was. It has the vibe of a college student film with a mix of those youtube series made by middle schoolers back in 2009. And I mean that with the highest praise. The sound mixing was off, they had limited cast (background actors is what you are looking for), no interesting lighting (but very well light- i.e the student film vibes), and the actors new to the scene. I loved every motherfucking moment. It was so cheesy, the script was bad, and nothing made sense. But I knew that it was made with passion. Rating: It would be horrifying being 20 forever

Taxi Driver Season 2 (2023, Oh Sang-ho)

Main leads: Lee Je-hoon, Kim Eui-sung, Pyo Ye-jin, Jang Hyuk-jin, Bae Yoo-ram, Shin Jae-ha

Country: S. Korea

Run: Feb 17 to April 15, 2023 (SBS, TV Friday and Saturday @22:00 (KST))

Episodes: 16, 70 min

Thoughts: Back in action the second season is so much fun and entertaining. I actually like it better than the first. And I said this once and I’ll say it again Lee Je-hoon is made to be an action star. He’s as great as Kim Do-gi. I also liked that Ahn Go-eun (Pyo Ye-jin)  had a larger role this season. I also just love the friendship in the Rainbow Taxi service. Just so fun. Rating: imagine being taken down by a taxi service…

Taxi Driver Special (2023, SBS)

Main leads:  Lee Je-hoon, Kim Eui-sung, Pyo Ye-jin, Jang Hyuk-jin, Bae Yoo-ram, Shin Jae-ha

Country: S. Korea

Run: Feb 16 to March 4, 2023 ( KBS)

Episodes: 2, 60 -120 min

Thoughts: This was fun seeing the cast reflect on the episodes and their characters. Its also cool just seeing a reply of everything that happened. You could tell how much Lee Je-hoon loves playing Kim Do-gi. Rating: I am excited for the 3rd season…

Brain Works (2023, Park Kyung-seon)

Main leads: Jung Yong-hwa, Cha Tae-hyun, Kwak Sun-young, Ye Ji-won

Country: S. Korea

Run: Jan 2 to Fe 28, 2023 (KBS2 Monday and Tuesday @21:50 (KST))

Episodes: 16, 75 min

Thoughts:This show is weird. I think most cop shows are weird but this one especially. I did like the bromance in this, between Shin Ha-ru (Jung Yong-hwa) and Geum Myung-se (Ch Tae-hyun). I did think neuroscience was weird and defies logic. The only good thing about it was when they didn’t completely vilify Pyschopaths, because it tends to be more complicated than the mainstream likes to show. It still left a lot to be desired but it was there. Also when he lowkey kidnapped and torture that kid, oh my god, like he was a little punk and deserved to go to trail but my god. Rating: This is lowkey giving Minority Report tbh…

My Cuteness is about to expire!? (2022,  Tanabe Shigenori)

Main leads: Yamada Ryosuke, Yoshine Kyoko 

Country: Japan 

Run: April 16 to June 11, 2022 (TV Asahi, Saturday 23:30)

Episodes: 9, 23 to 47 min

Thoughts: Maruya is your typical male narcissist who works in sales. He uses his cuteness to stake by in life, to make up for his average skills. One day he is visited by his future self, whom he deems ugly, tells him that his cuteness is going to expire. He decides, after relizing his crush, the only way to prevent this is to date Sanada, a robotic newbie to the sales team. It is cute and Maruya and Sanada are fun as a couple, plus if you have the time you could watch this in a day. Rating: I’m Ichinose calling every single person every 10 seconds sobbing…

My Dearest Pt 1 (2023, Hwang Jin-young)

Main leads: Namkoong Min, Ahn Eun-jin, Lee Hak-joo, Lee Da-in, Kim Yoon-woo, Lee Chung-ah

Country: S. Korea

Run: August 4 to Sept 2, 2023 (MBC TV, Friday and Saturday 21:50 (KST))

Episodes: 10, 60 to 90 min

Thoughts:  I was not expecting to like this more than I did. The angst in every episode is so insane. Episode 10 was actually unbearable. I also want to take a moment and appreciate Yoo Gil-chae (Ahn Eun-jin), she is such a complicated  character. She would do anything for her friends, she is willing to do the things that no other women (noble) are willing to do even during times of war. She will stab the man assualting her friend and cover it up. She would cut the amicable cord, she would stab the mother’s hand. She isn’t pure of heart, she neveer claimed to be. I love her so much. And her relationship with Lee Jang-hyun. The ending of episode 10. I was sobbing. Rating: I am trying to hype myself up to watch the next 11 episodes, people had to wait inbetween…

The Escape of the Seven (2023, Kim Soon-ok)

Main leads: Um Ki-joon, Hwang Jung-eum, Lee Joon, Lee Yu-bi, Shin Eun-kyung, Yoon Jong-hoon, Jo Yoon-hee, Jo Jae-yoon

Country: S. Korea

Run: Sept 15 to Nov 17, 2023 (SBS TV Friday and Saturday 22:00 (KST))

Episodes: 17, 70 to 80 min

Thoughts: This was an insane ride. Literally no one in this likeable except for a few, like I didn’t think Min Do-hyuk (Lee Joon) was as bad as the others but oh lordy. It is so melodramatic, which took me off graud for some reason. Going into it I thought it was going to be a serious thriller, but oh boy was I wrong. It was Makjang. Which is fine, and also coming back in style apparently. I’m sat for season 2, but not with much hope. Rating: I actually don’t know the timeline of any of these events, does it expand years months, idk…

My Demon (2023-2024, Choi Ah-il)

Main leads: Kim Yoo-jung, Song Kang, Lee Sang-yi, Kim Hae-sook

Country: S. Korea

Run: Nov 24, 2023 to Jan 20, 2024 (SBS TV,  Friday and Saturday @22:00 (KST))

Episodes: 16, 70 min

Thoughts: I was excited for this drama. I really liked Doom at Your Service which promised to have a similar vibe. Which it did to an extent. I actually hate Song Kang in romances and only really like him in nonromance shows. However I think he did really well as Jeong Gu-won. I liked the overall Romance in the show. But I did think the revenge plot got uninteresting and confusing after a while. I do like the ending, I was pretty satisfied with where everyone ended up, which has been a long time since I’ve been this satisfied. 

Welcome to Samdal-ri (2023-2024, Kwon Hye-joo)

Main leads: Ji Chang-wook, Shin Hye-sun

Country: S. Korea

Run: Dec 2, 2023 ti Jan 21, 2024 (JTBC, Saturday and Sunday 22:30 (KST))

Episodes: 16, 70 min

Thoughts: This was cute and was far above my expectations. I am always uneasy with Ji Chang Wook, I can’t forgive him for the Melting My Heart drama a few years back, but I would do anything for Shin Hye-sun. So I gave this drama a go, and I liked it. I loved the vibes, and I didn’t mind that revenge wasn’t the main plot. It's like the one line “my enemies will take themselves out before you get a chance to swing.” It was heartwarming and I’m glad that Cho Sam-dal was able to find peace in her hometown. I loved the feel of community. I loved all the Friendships. It was very lovely. And I’m happy at the ending. I will also give my entire heart to Cho Hae-dal and Cha Ha-yul. I loved their mother-daughter relationship. I wanted more screen time for both. Rating: I’m glad there is a little piece of heaven…

 Game of Witches ( 2022-2023, Lee Do-Hyun)

Main leads: Jang Seo-Hee, Kim Kyu-Seon, Lee Hyun-Seok, Oh Chang-Suk. Han Ji-Wan, Ban Hyo-Jung

Country: S. Korea

Run: Oct 11, 2022 to April 14, 2023 (MBC, Monday to Friday 19:15 (KST))

Episodes: 119, 25 to 28 min

Thoughts: *Major Spoilers+ Rant ahead.* This show makes me unneccsarly angery. It is a daily drama and a Makjang to boot, so literally put any and all expectations in the gutter. Everything is nonsensical, and drawn out to reach the 119 mark. Storylines get dropped or move way too fast. It has a strange family tree and for a moment every single person was supposbly related. They have so much evidence agsaint the scheming Kang Ji-ho (Oh Chang-suk) and Joo Se-young (Han Ji-wan) but it goes nowhere. Speaking of Kang Ji-ho, he was just straight up dispicable. I would say more than Se-ypung of Ma Hyun-Deok (Ban Hyo-Jung). He was a terrible partner and father from the start. He literally tossed his entire family out the door for Se-young and eventual power. He only paid attention to his daughter Kang Han-Byeol (Kwon Dan-A) when she was able to benefit him. He was at best neglectful and at worst abusive towards her. Han-byeol was the true victim. Hye-soo (Kim Kyu-Seon) actually had a motive in the beginning. She was just pathetic and weak but once she returned they weirdly sidelined her. Also I don’t know why Kang Ji-ho never got prosecuted for trying to kill Hye-soo. Like I find that to be one of his more egregious crimes. Like that is the mother of your child. You gave your child so much trauma, for what? Power? Like when they tried to redeem him at the end I was just fed up. You can’t make hime out to be the big bad guy for 118 episodes, and then have him do one good thing. He is a bad father, and when Han Byeol grows up she will resent him. Rating: Fuck this show, like actually.

 My Dearest Part 2(2023, Hwang Jin-young)

Main leads: Namkoong Min, Ahn Eun-jin, Lee Hak-joo, Lee Da-in, Kim Yoon-woo, Lee Chung-ah

Country: S. Korea

Run: Oct 13 to Nov 18, 2023 (MBC TV, Friday and Saturday 21:50 (KST))

Episodes: 11, 60 to 90 min

Thoughts: More devastating than the first part. Gil-chae is probably my favorite character I have watched. Her journey in this part is absolutely devastating but she survives. I enjoyed the refutement from blame, that people who experienced the worst horrors known are somehow blamed. Gil Chae pushes back on this sentiment herself. This entire time I just wanted Jang-hyun and Gil Chea together. Which took the entire part for them to finally be happy. I do think the ending was kind of wobbly, and they only really needed 10  episodes not the 11. But who am I to say? Anyways I enjoyed the show overall. Rating: My Dear Husband… 

Kokdu: Season of Diety (2023, Kang Yi-heon, Heo Jun-woo)

Main leads: Kim Jung-hyun, Im Soo-hyang, Kim Da-som, Ahn Woo-yeon, Kim In-kwon, Cha Chung-hwa

Country: S. Korea

Run: Jan 27 to March 24, 2023 (MBC TV Fridays and Saturdays @21:50 (KST))

Episodes: 16, 70 min

Thoughts: You must be wondering why did you watch this? It only has bad reviews- which is a lie, it is actually a polarizing show. And I can understand. If you go into this show with the lowest expectations imaginable and it might be fun. The scenery is pretty and they make decent use of it. Main Romance is actually not good, I felt no chemistry between Kim Jung-Hyun and Im Soo-hyang. I did like the romance between Tae Jeong-won (Kim Da-som) and Han Cheol (Ahn Woo-yeon) other than that The show overall fell flat. I did like the scenery and the setting. I thought it was fun. Also episode 16 was the most enjoyable episode, which is good for an ending. Rating: I would skip…

I am currently watching:

Marry My Husband

Doctor Slump

Because of Love

Do You Like Brahms?

The Real Has Come!

If you have any kdrama recommendations, please let me know!

[melodycalypso]

Ni No Kuni Music Analysis: “Ding Dong Dell, The Cat King’s Castle”, Joe Hisaishi

Hello fellow Ni No Kuni fans!! Hope everyone is having a great day whenever they find this post. So being true to my word, I promised I’d share with y’all my analysis and opinions on the soundtracks of the Ni No Kuni games. The Ni No Kuni soundtracks are composed by Joe Hisaishi who is literally a legend and one of my favorite composers ever. He really does a great job of bringing stories to life with his music! I don’t know how many of these exactly I’ll do, but we’ll see. And for anyone wondering my qualifications for this, I guess they are that I am currently pursuing a degree in music performance and have always been really interested in the soundtracks of these games. Alrighty then, let’s get started!

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So the first piece I’d like to look at is going to be the Ding Dong Dell, The Cat King’s Castle, theme. Since it’s one of the first places you go to in the game it kinda makes sense that it’s first on the “list of analysis” lol. So here’s a link to the piece so you can take a listen! I’ll also put time stamps throughout my analysis so y’all can see specifically what I’m talking about in the piece.

You could say that there are a few highlighted instruments in this piece, two of which appears at the beginning.

0:00 : At the start of the piece is this really simplistic drum and tambourine duet. Very dance like in my opinion.

0:10 : Which then leads me into my next point and onto when the main melody gets introduced in the piece. I believe the instrument that comes in with the main melody is a tin whistle or at least somewhere in the flute or more importantly woodwind family but I can’t quite put my finger on it.

Anyways, an almost waltz-like dance melody takes over which very much reminds me of the baroque musical era. In sort, this era can simply be explained from a quote off the website Britannica saying:

“Baroque music, a style of music that prevailed during the period from about 1600 to about 1750, known for its grandiose, dramatic, and energetic spirit but also for its stylistic diversity.”

And doesn’t that description fit the little melody in this piece perfectly? Or at least I think it really does! Fun fact about me is that one of my favorite styles to play in is baroque music . And if anyone is curious, I am flautist.

So when hearing this melody, you can’t help but want to get up and dance around!

0:32 : Moving on, the strings come in and join the main melody adding a bit more complexity to the piece. Then we get into a more grandiose, majestic melody. It feels very regal and like the Cat King himself is walking around, which was probably implied here.

Even though a more proud theme is starting to take over in the piece, it still keeps that light, dance-like tone.

1:05 : At around here is when it starts getting interesting. There’s this building moment in which the strings quite down and then semi-gradually crescendo into the another more powerful round of the main melody. An important entrance here I would have to say would be the brass taking the melody here. That is what’s really emphasizing that regal and proper coloring of the music.

1:45 : And now we’re back to the more simplistic form of the melody with our tin whistle (or at least I’m fairly confident that’s the instrument lol), drums, and tambourine.

If you haven’t noticed already, that seems to be the flow of this piece. We have a more simplistic trio of instruments giving the melody and that it transitions into a more complex form with a whole bunch of instruments!

2:02 : Listen to that trumpet fan fair!! It fits perfectly in this piece and it’s a really nice variation to the theme!

2:30 : In coming to the end of the piece, an interesting ending occurs. Usually in baroque music the end of the piece is pretty solid and sometimes can even seem a tad unexpected. Here though it’s a bit different, but still does seem unexpected. We have a bit of a gradual ending as less groups of instruments continue playing. You can almost visualize it as the Cat King sitting down on his throne on the final note.

So that wraps it up! A pretty cool piece if I do say so myself. Thank you very much for reading through my post! I wrote this rather late in the evening so if my ideas are a little hard to follow I apologize lol

[sometimes-sleeby-octopus]

Dhmis - BAKING (fan script 2)

Disclaimer: Once again, I am not British

Content Includes: Violence and the usual DHMIS shtick, also it’s like 1k more words than the last one-

Dedicated to a lovely anon, @/sr-sra-00, and @/enby-creature-feature, who inspired me to make another one

And so it begins:

(Like usual, a new version of the intro song plays; however, the order of the lyrics has been distorted while the tune stays the same)

There’s three of us

Just three of us

It’s him and you and me

There’s three of us!

There’s three of us!

Look closely and you’ll see

To find out what we talk about

And everyday we all hang out

Y: And we’re in a circle in a circle in a circle and in another circle!

R: *gradually quieter, hoarse voice* And we’ve been stuck in it forever…

(The music plays instrumentally for a bit. Red puts his faces in his hands and shakes his head in anguish, groaning. Duck’s tone is quiet, attempting to be comforting.)

D: It’s alright, I’ll figure something out, I think I’m pretty smart.

R: *slumps in his chair, exasperated* Oh my gosh, just shut up, mate…

(After a beat, the music picks up again suddenly, making the characters gasp before finishing the song on beat.)

There’s three of us!

Just three of us!

Us three

(The episode title screen says BAKING with various baking utensils surround it like a spoon and a bowl full of batter.)

(Initials for all characters are as follows: R = Red, D = Duck, Y = Yellow, C = Chef Hat who is the new teacher)

(The trio is in the living area, all silent. While they have forgotten some things about the last episode, they remember an evil butterfly, very vague positive feelings and dying.

The sound of breaking glass is heard in the kitchen, making everyone jump and yelp.)

D: Can we not go over there?! I bet it’s that awful butterfly!

Y: Yay! We remembered!

R: While that is very good, I don’t this will end well if it is!

D: If only we still had the computer that Yellow broke so we could find out how to kill it!

Y: Hey! That’s not nice!

D: Boohoo, sorry I’m mad cause’ we’re going to DIE!

(A distant voice has started shouting from the kitchen. The three have yet to notice.)

R: You’re remembering all the past stuff too? Interesting.

D: Could we throw a chair at it perhaps?

C: Hello?! Is anyone here?!

Y: It’s not the butterfly?

R: I guess not?

D: Who is it then?

R: ……Let’s find out?

(Duck and Yellow agree at the same time.)

D: I don’t see why not, that sounds fine.

Y: Oh yeah! Fun time!

(The three casually walk to the kitchen door, fears mostly forgotten, but Red hesitates to open the door. Duck just opens it instead. A chef hat with stick legs, a blade of grass stuffed in its main fold, and blue thin-string bows around its hat base is seen on the other side of the doorway. It waves one of its hands slightly frantically.)

C: Oh thank goodness! Some friendly faces! Call me Chef!!!

D: Why are we friends if we’ve never met?

C: *cheerily* I watched you die!

(The camera pauses awkwardly close on Chef’s smiling face. It pans back to the trio’s blank faces.)

C: And I’m yellow’s hat!

(Red relaxes. Only him though.)

R: Oh, the funeral!

D: Funeral?

(Yellow also relaxes.)

Y: Oh yeah, the funeral for you!

D: That’s rubbish, I think I would remember my own funeral.

R: To be fair, he wasn’t really dying quite yet when you were there, Chef.

C: *sheepishly laughs* My bad! The forest will do things to you!

Y: What kind of things?

C: *laughs more* I don’t want to talk about it!

(After staring at him for a while, Duck has a suddenly realization.)

D: Is that why you look like that?

C: *smiles weirdly genuine* Disheveled? Haha, yeah! Got some grass on me when I was thrown and found my legs in the woods!

R: Oof, sorry about that, mate.

C: It’s alright! I had plenty of time to recuperate!

Y: Wait, if you were in the woods, where’d you get the blue?

C: Your head, good sir!

Y: *touching his hair* That’s kinda weird..

R: Anyways, how can we help you? You’re here for…something, right?

C: Oh right! I’ve got to give you lesson before I get thrown back into the woods!

(Chef is still happy and smiling somehow. The trio all turn toward each other thinking about it. The music for Chef’s song slowly fades in.)

C: Anyways, let’s do some baking!!!

Take some flour

Or a mix

Do it plainly

Or with tricks

Like with a crack

And then a flip

Of the egg!

Into the trash

Once it’s been used

Use a whisk

Or use a spoon

There are many ways to bake

And I’ll show

You

The way!

You can bake a cake

And you could also bake your friends

Just don’t do the latter

If you don’t want them to be dead

It seems real obvious

But please follow the instructions

Upset the lobbyists

And they just ban what we’re doing!

…

I kid I kid I kid

But whether outside or within

Take your soul and mix it in

To your creation!

(The song ends as Yellow brings a mix so the baking can actually begin. Everyone is suddenly in baking attire with everyone wearing an apron and Red wearing a different chef’s hat.)

R: What are we making, Chef?

C: Your mum’s-

R: Is that a joke or-

C: cupcakes!

(Chef turns the box that yellow brought around. It literally says “Your Mum’s Cupcakes”.)

R: Ohhhh, alright.

C: (to yellow) Would you like to pour the mix in?

Y: Yeah!!!

(Yellow opens the mix bag and tries to flip it into the bowl. It hits the counter and explodes onto everyone. Duck grips his eyes in pain. Red attempts to brush the powder off himself with little success.)

D: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! WHAT IN THE BLOODY HELL WAS THAT?!

Y: I just wanted to do a trick...

R: (to duck) Put your eyes in the sink. We’re all gonna need a bath after this. (to yellow) Come here, you.

(Red tries to dust off yellow with more success than himself. Duck scoffs and curses to himself as his washes out his eyes.)

C: (to Red) Could you help me? My arms aren’t quite long enough.

R: Um, okay.

(Red awkwardly dusts Chef off. Chef somehow smiles wider and giggles.)

C: Thanks! I guess we’ll just have to bake from scratch.

(Duck suddenly bolts up from the sink and runs toward the fridge.)

D: I’ll go get the butter!

(The other three wait around in silence until Duck hurries back and chucks the butter into the bowl from about three feet away. It lands perfectly.)

D: Ha! I’m better than all of you! I actually got it in!

R: I’m actually mildly impressed.

D: Really? I hope you’re not being sarcastic because that would be very rude!

R: Oh hush, let’s just make the cake.

(Everyone bustles around in a montage of pouring in ingredients while singing another song!)

D: We’ve got the butter!

R: And now it needs some flour

Y: And also some water!

C: And also some powder!

All: We’re all making due!

Y: And now we need some sugar!

D: (in a very high note/belt) Some SUGAR!~

(The music suddenly fades as Red waves his hand in a semi-frantic way.)

R: EVERYONE STOP!

(The whole room goes quiet, except for Duck who scoffs.)

D: I was doing my solo!

R: While it was alright, we don’t have any sugar.

Y: Huh?? But that doesn’t make sense!

D: For once he’s right, we usually have most of what we need for a lesson.

R: Most is the key word there. We’ll have to go look for something else.

C: Oh, I know! While I was in the forest, I made syrup from the sap in the trees!

Y: We have those cool trees!!!

D: They’re called maples, idiot.

Y: Oh, maples!!!

R: I didn’t know we had those.

C: One of you could go find some! I’d rather not go back to the forest again if you don’t mind.

R: If the three of us go, it might go fast-

(Chef quickly drops his smile and becomes panicked.)

C: NO!

(He realizes his mistake and quickly smiles again. The others just stare.)

C: I mean, I don’t do well alone, sorry.

R: (to yellow) Hey, you. Would you mind staying here with your hat while we go find sap? It’s uh…an important job, I guess.

Y: Alright! I will do my best.

(Yellow salutes for some reason. Red awkwardly salutes back, not sure why Yellow did that. Duck swats him and properly salutes, speaking smugly after the fact.)

D: You’ve got to do it right! Or at least I have to since I was in the military. He probably learned it from me!

R: We ought to be going now, hmm?

D: I hate it when you’re right.

(Red laughs quietly at that. Duck crosses his arms, looking somewhat flustered as they leave out the kitchen door.)

Y: (to chef) Would you like to color?

(We see Red and Duck walking dramatically through the forest. They suddenly slow upon noticing that fact.)

R: Why are we marching?

D: I don’t know, let’s not.

(We switch back to Yellow and Chef coloring away on the kitchen floor for a moment. Chef looks over at Yellow’s paper.)

C: Whatcha drawing?

(We see yellow’s drawing as he point to each figure drawn next to the pink house.)

Y: Me and my family! There’s me, my dad, the red one, and the green one!

C: How nice! You have a lovely family.

Y: Thank you! What about you?

(We see Chef’s drawing of themself surrounded by baking materials and also some brown blobs with green specks. It’s a bit creepy in a way.

C: I drew myself baking with my mud friends! I’ll have to write them letters now that I won’t go back into the forest.

Y: Uh…that’s…nice?

(We’re back to Red and Duck who have found trees with spouts in them.)

R: These must be the ones with the sap, ey?

D: I’d say so! But how can we take it back to the house?

R: Oh, I’ll just carry it in my hat.

D: Alright then.

(As Duck reaches to turn the faucet, a branches reaches and touches his hand. The two slowly look up to see the very angry face of a tree. They both scream.

It pans back to Yellow who hears them. He jolts up and Chef follows suit.)

Y: My friends are in trouble! I have to go help them.

(Chef’s almost permanent smile strains as he starts to get nervous.)

C: I’m sure they’ll be fine! Let’s just stay here!

Y: No, I have to go!

(As Yellow tries to leave, Chef grabs his arm, almost losing his grin.)

C: Please don’t leave me! I couldn’t bear it!

(Yellow shakes him off and regretfully runs out the front.)

Y: I’m sorry!

(We see Chef, who is reaching out his hand, lose his grin from the outside of the front door and watch as his pupil dilate before the door closes.

Yellow quickly runs through the now stormy forest in the rain, panting and looking around until he sees Red trying to negotiate with a tree holding Duck hostage, waving him in the air.)

R: We promise we won’t take your sap, just please let him go!

D: GET THIS PLANT OFF OF ME THIS INSTANT!! AHHHHH!!!

R: I’m trying, it’s not listening!

(The plant starts to stab Duck repeatedly, with Duck starting to bleed. As Red jump up to attempt to free Duck, the tree stabs his head, chest, and arms, making Red fall to the ground. Yellow was panicking until he saw Red fall. His expression shifts.)

Y: (suddenly very angry) LET THEM GO!

(His shout echoes through the forest. The tree recoils before dropping Duck. Yellow helps Red up, who in turn, carries Duck as Yellow supports him. They all run back through the forest back to the house and Red somehow kicks down the door.

The house is a mess with crazy writings in chocolate syrup and chuddle dollops all over the walls and furniture knocked over and covered in ingredients. The clock has been smashed and the kitchen is even more of a mess. The table and chairs are sprawled on the floor, a dead toast family is on the counter, and a more disheveled than ever Chef with tears in himself and his bows in a tangle dragging behind him is in the middle of it all. The additional ingredients, chuddle dollops, and glass on him give away that he is the culprit. He cries in front of three lumps of batter that look vaguely like the trio melt into the floor. He mumbles to himself.)

C: Please come back, please come back, please come back…

(The trio decides not to enter the kitchen. Red leans into the room against his better judgement.)

R: …hello?

(Chef looks over in shock and runs toward Red, gripping his leg and sobbing.)

C: You came back! I knew you would!

(Red does not know how to handle it and the other two are also very uncomfortable. Yellow looks very guilty.)

Y: This is all my fault.

D: Don’t be dumb, you didn’t WRECK OUR HOUSE!

(Chef suddenly looks scared and lets go of Red, holding his hands up in surrender. He tries to smile, barely succeed.)

C: I’m so sorry! I’ll fix it! Just please don’t kick me out! Please don’t leave!

R: How about we all just calm down-

D: (to Chef) You suck at your job and we don’t want you here!

(Chef becomes hysterical, crying as he fails to keep smiling, frantically grabbing ingredients from the floor.)

C: W-we can still make some! Look I’m making something! I’m making something!

(The hat throws the stuff into a mixer and tries to turn it on. The mixer is stubborn and will not turn on. Chef keeps desperate slamming the “on” button. He even climbs onto the rim of the mixing bowl. He finally succeeds and laughs in relief before losing his footing and falling into the bowl. He gurgles and screams as he drowns and gets torn apart, becoming part of the mix. We see the aftermath with a mix full of dirt, hair, and fabric scraps with a bit of blood as well.

The trio simply stares in horror, with Duck’s and Yellow’s jaws wide open.)

R: I think I need to sit d-

(Red passes out into a puddle of his own blood, Duck falling out of his arms and onto his side. He has also passed out. Yellow still stands in shock, tears pricking his eyes.

After a moment, he shakily sits down next down next to Red’s body and curls up beside his friend’s corpse, weeping into his knees. We’re in front of the house again and the door closes on the disastrous scene.

We suddenly see Lesley pulling out new Red and Duck dolls as she tidies up her doll house.)

Lesley: Shame I have to keep replacing you two.

(The credits rolls for a moment before a cheery but quiet song plays with a ukulele backing.)

A cake without sugar

Is just bread

A body with no soul

Is just dead

A path forward

Is just ahead

And a neck without a skull

Isn’t.

[abyssal-ali]

Yet Forgives the Butcher's Knife

Day 3's prompt: Trifecta of Trouble (Jason, Stephanie, and Damian) [There's not much trouble in this chapter, though]

Disclaimer: This follows Canon events up to a point, but since DC has the inability to stick to one timeline or version of events without retconning it, I'm taking liberties with some plot points. (Canon-complicit to a point)

Rating: T TW: none (if you find any, let me know!)

Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Jason took out Cobblepot, taking over the Iceberg Lounge as HQ for Hood's business. He didn't relish having an address for any enemies, but so far there hadn't been any problems.

Today...today there would be a problem—3 headaches in a trenchcoat were coming to investigate the new proprietor. Damian had found out the Bats would be paying the IL's new owner a visit as civilians, since they couldn't reach the Red Hood at night. Plans were swiftly made and set in motion.

At 8:00 p.m., Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, and Tim Drake walked into the Iceberg Lounge. It wasn't very busy yet, and the trio spread out slightly but stayed close enough to reach the others easily in case of trouble. The Bats' prey watched from hidden cameras and mics, the hunted hunting the hunters. At 8:40 the suited up Red Hood, Indigo, and Orphan came into the Lounge the back way. Jason buzzed his lieutenant to bring Bruce to his VIP section at the back. A minute later—just long enough to annoy the Bats—he had Dick and Tim escorted to the booth as well.

“Mr Wayne. To what do I owe the pleasure of your esteemed patronage, gracing my lowly establishment?” Red Hood leaned back against the seat, flanked by Indigo on his right and Orphan on his left. She levelled her penetrating stare on the Bats to unnerve them (not that they could see behind her mask). Jason and Steph enjoyed watching The Batman sweat, not knowing why. Indigo idly inspected the civilian Bats, then tapped her fingers casually on the table, just off-beat enough to put their guests on edge.

“I heard rumours that the Lounge was under new management and thought I'd take a look...it hasn't improved,” Brucie sniffed aristocratically, critically (detective-ly) scanning the red plush curtains blocking off the booth, the navy-painted walls and red faux-leather benches, the heavy oak table concealing Jason's guns and their weapons. Hood stayed still, not reacting to the dismissal.

“So what made you change from kingpin to bartender?” ask Dick conversationally, employing the Grayson CharmTM.

“Oh, I'm still running Gotham,” replied Jason equally as nicely. “I simply expanded my horizons. And I'm not a bartender, Mr Grayson, although I can make a mean Long Island. Would you like one?”

“No, thank you; I've had enough to drink tonight,” demurred Dick.

Liar. You had a shot of tequila. Stop acting so buzzed. Jason leaned forward slightly. “I insist.”

Steph abruptly stopped drumming her fingers, raising the tension another notch.

Dick swallowed. “No, thank you. Some other time, maybe. I've had enough tonight.”

Jason leaned back, spreading his arms—one casually behind Indigo. “Good for you, knowing and sticking to your limits. Trying to lessen the accidents your old man's famous for, huh?”

“Sort of,” Dick agreed.

Steph began her finger tapping again. Cass switched her stare from Dick to Tim, and so did Jason.

“So, the co-CEO of WE. Why are you here, Mr Drake-Wayne? Family outing for the press? I appreciate the business having hosted the Waynes here will produce.”

“Could I have one of those Long Islands, then?”

Jason could feel Dick and Bruce's askance glances. Evidently this wasn't part of the script for tonight...well, Jason's evening just got a lot more interesting.

“Of course!” He pushed a hidden button in the table and Lieutenant #2, Jeff, appeared (yes, this is goon named Jeff from @thisiswhereikeepdcthings, for those who are curious).

“One Long Island, please.” Feeling Steph kick his ankle, he added, “And one of Indy's regulars, while you're at it.”

Steph got her regular, drinking it happily through a special straw-hole in her mask. (Jason wondered at her ginger ale appreciation, but whatever his lady's heart desired.) Tim got his Iced Tea and began drinking it unconcernedly.

Jason watched him, analyzing. You are a typical Gen Z, huh. Don't care if i drugged or poisoned it or not. Death wish?

'Ghoul, add to R's file: Gen Z, borderline suicidal, further research required.' Jason spoke into the 4's comms, but no one could hear past his/their masks.

“Well, it's been a pleasure, come again,” Jason stood, stretching lazily. “I've got work to do, unfortunately, so I must say goodbye here. A couple a human traffickers haven't gotten the memo that I don't like murderers, kidnappers, and rapists, so I've got to go remind them. Don't feel you must leave—I'm sure Indigo and Orphan won't mind entertaining our VIPs.”

“No, I'm afraid we must go as well,” Brucie sounded so regretful. “Tim and I have a board meeting early tomorrow. Thank you for your hospitality, Mr Hood.”

“Just 'Hood' is fine. Mr Hood was my father,” he grinned, and escaped.

~♡~

Batman stepped out of the shadows as Red Hood ran across the roof.

“Red Hood.”

“Batman. Kinda busy.” He attempted to grapple away but Batman grappled beside him. He landed before Bruce and cut his line so that he'd land in the nearby garbage bin. As he continued his patrol he planned his next moves. Once he reached the BOOP, he looked at Orphan.

“Cass, I have a job for you.”

She nodded.

“I need this note to show up in B's suit, okay?”

Dear Batman, please don't interrupt my patrol again. You know where to find me if you get tired of replacing your grapples. Thank you in advance for stopping bothering me overtly. Red Hood.

Cass reported the mission successful the next night.

~♡~

The day after Bruce got the note, Batman showed up in Crime Alley, ironically in the same spot he and Jason had met the first time a dozen years earlier.

Jason sighed and dropped his gun back into his thigh holster. “This wasn't the place I said to meet me, Bats. Is the 'World's Greatest Detective' slipping? You know I meant the Lounge.”

“You're here, not in the Lounge,” growled Batman.

“So it's urgent, then? Come to ask me to take out Professor Pyg for you?”

“No.”

“Then stay out of my territory. I'd like to ask you to leave my city, but I do know my limits.”

“This is not a turf war, Hood.”

“Oh really. Look, you stay away from Crime Alley, the Narrows, the Bowery...the Red Light district, basically what you do anyways except for your biannual drive-throughs when it's quiet before an Arkham breakout. I will leave the Diamond district, the parts you regularly patrol, to you. Capisce?”

“I am not bargaining with you for my city. I was here first.”

Jason snorted. “Seriously? 'I was here first'? What are you, a toddler? You became Batman after I was here. This is my turf, and I'll have you know that for once in its life, Gotham is somewhat settled. I know you have a Rule, but I don't and I'm seeing results. You put mass murderers in jail to break out the next month. Do you know what the definition of insanity is? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting it to work that time. There was no Joker before Batman, no Scarecrow or Mad Hatter. They responded to you.

"At least I haven't had villains come after me because I'm Red Hood. Granted, I already have enemies, but most of them aren't certifiably nuts and I have a lot fewer Rogues because I end them. Even if you don't kill, you don't have to stop someone from doing it when it's deserved.”

With the end of his verbal beat-down, Jason parkoured away and sent Orphan to watch Batman and make sure he left.

~♡~

The quartet curled up on the sofa in their BOOP for movie night.  Steph was the self-proclaimed teacher of pop culture for her 3 uncultured assassins, though Jason knew most of it by now, and Steph'd indoctrinated Damian when she could when she and Jason visited the league. Tonight they were watching season 1 of ATLA. Damian loved Appa and Momo, as expected.

Jason and Steph were very glad they didn't live in the ATLA-verse or he'd have adopted so many animals. So far in their world, he'd adopted a puppy Steph had found homeless on the street; the black-and-white kitten Cass stole from under Selina's nose and named Alfred in honour of the man Jason told so many stories about; the dragon-bat Jason had given Damian when he returned from a League mission; and Jerry the Turkey, found on the outskirts of Star City by Damian. That was plenty.

As Steph snuggled into his left side and Damian on his right, with Cass's legs across him, Jason felt perfectly happy. Who wouldn't? They were a family.

~♡~

Bruce frowned as he fished the paper out of his utility belt—the pocket had been used to hold gummy bears since Jason was Robin, but now Tim ate them. Bruce pushed away the sadness and read the note. How has it gotten in? He'd suspect Dick or Tim, but they were off-world and in San Francisco, respectively, and Alfred would never. That left...

“Red Hood.”

How had he gotten it in? Either on patrol, and Bruce never noticed (impossible) or someone other than his family could get into the Cave and put it in before patrol (also impossible).

Very polite for a man who decapitated his enemies and made a public example of them. Was it someone using his name? Not likely. It seemed personal, so it was probably Hood. But why? Hood's profile so far indicated he liked dramatics and overt, attention-grabbing theatrics (just like every other Rogue) over scheming in the shadows, though Bruce didn't deny the villain's strategising. (That's what they want you to think.)

He tracked Hood down the next night and confirmed the note was from him. Unfortunately, the handwriting analysis was inconclusive (Jason trained for this for a reason.) The Red Hood also revealed that a) he was Gotham born and bred, b) he was from the poorer side of town (so how did he become Hood—someone had to fund him), and c) his beef with Batman seemed personal.  And the knife he cut the grapple with...where did he get it? Only a few knives in the world could cut a Bat-grapple. Hm.

~♡~

A week later Alfred knocked on Bruce's study and came in. “You have visitors, Master Bruce. A Mr and Mrs and Master al Ghul and a Miss Cain—C-A-I-N, not Miss K-A-N-E.”

Bruce blinked.  Why wasn't he aware the League was in Gotham? And why were they so polite? Normally there was at the least more property damage before they confronted him...and coming to him as Bruce Wayne, not Batman, was also very un-League-like...

The quartet walked in. Mr al Ghul was not Ra's al Ghul, with dark hair streaked white at the front, teal eyes, and more muscles and height than Bruce himself. Miss Cain was a petite Chinese young woman with short black hair and piercing hazel eyes that unsettled Bruce. Mrs al Ghul wasn't Talia or Nyssa, either, instead a blonde between Mr al Ghul and Miss Cain's heights who seemed familiar. Master al Ghul was scowly, short and dark with deep green eyes, and also seemed familiar, but even less than Mrs al Ghul. Where had he seen them before? It wasn't in the League...

The visitors sat, uninvited, in the comfy leather chairs in front of his desk, Mr and Mrs in one, and Master on Miss's knee in the other.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of a social call from the League of Assassins?” he asked stiffly, casually reaching for the freshly sharpened batarangs under his desk.

“And what relation are you to the other al Ghuls?”

“Oh, we're not League—not officially anymore, anyways. Damian and I are Talia's sons and Steph is her daughter-in-law. Cass is our sister, unrelated to the others,” answered Mr al Ghul.

Steph.

That's who she reminded him of. Stephanie Brown, Spoiler, Robin...and dead.

“Stephanie?” he asked stupidly, because he couldn't believe it.

“The one and only!” she replied. “Long story short, I didn't die for keeps on Leslie's operating table, but she faked my death and moved us to Africa, where I met...my husband, and later I met Dami and then Cass. Long time no see, B-man.”

“Why...why didn't you come back? Why did...did you really marry an al Ghul?”

Steph stiffened. “I didn't come 'home' because I had no reason to, at first. You fired me, Tim broke up with me, my mom was addicted to drugs and my dad's Cluemaster, I had PTSD from Sionis's torture...and why shouldn't I marry an al Ghul? You nearly did, and it's not like I knew you were rivals, because I was never given even a crash course in Robin and oh yeah, we're a team and we work well together and love each other unconditionally. You have no room and no right to judge my life choices—I mean, you're a furry with a truckload of issues. You beat up bad guys every night for kicks and giggles and from PTSD.”

“How did you figure out I was Batman?”

“I didn't; Jay told me. For all of your paranoia, an awful lot of your enemies know your identity—half the freakin' League of Assassins, Deathstroke, Waller, like half your Rogues know...”

“Jay?”

“Jason al Ghul,” said the man. “We've met before, Mr Wayne.”

Red Hood. Jason al Ghul is Red Hood...but Hood is a native Gothamite. Bruce scrutinized Jason al Ghul, noting the light smatter of freckles across the nose, the sharpened jawline, the set of the eyes...Jason al Ghul is Red Hood is my Jason. He had the same dark wavy hair, freckles, challenging gaze, smirk, attitude of his Jason...But there were differences too—a thin scar on his right eyebrow to match Steph's, the unnoticeable-to-a-Bat scar on his chin from Willis was gone, his eyes were more teal and less ocean blue...

But still...”Jaylad?” Bruce whispered, hoping both for confirmation and denial—if he was his Jason, then he'd failed him yet again, letting him somehow get mixed up with the LoA and become a killer, but if he wasn't, another hope had been raised and shattered—

“Took you long enough, you big boob,” wisecracked Jason as he and Steph exchanged glances and money (that Bruce steadfastly ignored).

“What-how-when-why...”

“Who, where,” finished Jason. “Who: Jason Peter Todd-Wayne. Where: Gotham Cemetery. When: approximately six months after he died, so seven years ago. What: he woke up, dug out of his ridiculously heavy and expensive coffin and six feet of dirt, and was kidnapped by Talia's men a while later. Why: to heal him and get back at you, but plans are a funny thing and change easily. How: I have zero ideas. Maybe I'm a meta, maybe there was a glitch; who knows?

"Anyways, I trained, became the best, met Steph, we hit it off, teamed up, got married, found Cass and got Damian, and came here.”

“But...it's really you?”

“I stole the Batmobile's tires when I was 12 and you adopted me because you're a weirdo who doesn't know how theft and adoption actually work. I replaced Dick and you fought about it, but he finally gave me his blessing to wear the pixie boots. Alfie taught me how to cook a lot, I almost always got A's in school, Pride & Prejudice is my favourite book, you and Alfie and I would always buy each other 1st edition books, and the first book you ever gave me was a 1st edition A Christmas Carol for Hanukkah. My favourite colour is green, but I always wore a red hoodie because it was the last thing my mom gave me. Anything else you want to know, B?”

Bruce came around the desk to hug his son, tears in his eyes. Steph moved so Jason could be better hugged and he shot her a look of betrayal and desperation. When Jason didn't relax after 10 seconds of hug Bruce let go. “I'm so glad you're alive, son. We all missed you so much.”

Jason looked at Steph in a panic. Now what do I do?! And This wasn't supposed to happen! Written across his face so clearly Steph didn't need Cass's skills to read it.

“Look, B, I'm the Red Hood.”

“So?”

“So?! You hate me! I kill, and you don't! I took over half of 'your' city! -which you rarely patrolled, but still- You knew already?!”

“I figured it out when I figured out Jason al Ghul was Jason Todd. You'll always be my son, Jaylad, no matter what you do. You're right, I don't agree with your methods—no one appointed you judge, jury, and executioner. Still, I won't deny that you have improved the city, and I won't lie that I mourned Joker's or Black Mask's deaths...It could be worse...but even if it wasn't, it wouldn't change the fact that you're my son, Jason, and I miss you. Alfred misses you, Dick misses you, Babs misses you, Tim misses you...”

Jason sniffed. “Alfie been coaching you, Pops?”

Bruce shook his head. “You said some things as Hood the last couple times we ran into each other that made me think. Harley and Alfred also forced me to quarterly therapy sessions since Joker died,” he muttered distastefully.

Jason grinned. “All of us have a regular talk with our shrink, too. Mom insisted after she offed Ra's. Healthy emotional relationships—this is why I chose Mom in the divorce,” he said sotto voce to Damian, Cass, and Steph.

Bruce was affronted and a little wierded out by Jason calling Talia Mom but too happy to truly care. “So will you stay for dinner?”

Steph nodded at Jason and the other two silently agreed via body language. Jason sighed. “Sure. I'd better tell Alfred I'm alive.”

“No need, my boy,” said his pseudo-grandfather, entering the study like he hadn't been eavesdropping and silently praying to everything that Bruce wouldn't mess this up. He warmly hugged Jason and Steph. “I am so glad to see you both alive once again,” he choked.

“Thanks, Alfie.  I missed you lots...'specially our book club and your orange turkey.”

“You always loved my food the most, Master Jason. Look how you've grown! And now happily married to Miss Stephanie. My, my. And who are your friends?”

“This is my little brother, Damian. Steph 'n' I are fostering him. And Cass, Steph's BFF and Dami's and my sister.”

Alfred smiled warmly at Cass and Damian. “Delighted to meet you both. Is there anything I should or should not make for dinner?”

“Dami's vegetarian, but the rest of us will eat anything,” contributed Steph.

“Would you like to help me in the kitchen, then, Master Jason? I'm sure you have many stories to tell and there is much you glossed over.”

“Uh...sure. Can the others come? Watch at least? Steph an' I're teaching Cass and Dami to cook and they like to watch.”

Also they're highly trained assassins who will be left alone in an unfamiliar, neutral if not slightly hostile, environment.

“Of course, you are all welcome, any time. Master Bruce, will you be joining us as well?” Alfred turned at the door to stare pointedly.

“Yes, I've just got to let the others know Jason and Stephanie are alive. Dick made me promise...after...Jason's funeral...” he explained awkwardly to his guests. Jason swallowed.

“Is it alright if they come for dinner too?” asked Bruce.

Jason and Steph exchanged glances at Bruce asking and then looked at Cass and Damian, who shrugged. “...just warn Dick to turn off 'Golden Retriever Mode',” grumbled Jason.

“Thank you, son.”

Jason quickly followed Alfred to the kitchen, tracing the path in his memory and noticing the very few alterations from the past 7 years. He'd snuck into the Manor twice since he died—once, when he killed Joker, to get his stash from his hideyhole and his first copy of P&P; twice, a few months ago to check how much security changed from his Robin days. The memorial in the Cave infuriated him, but he talked it over with Steph and their (poor, underpaid) therapist and realized it was just Bruce Bruceing. The kitchen had been slightly updated, but everything was still in the places Jason remembered and he fell into an easy dance with Alfred while the others sat at the peninsula and watched and chatted.

Bruce opened the Bat-GC.

IamJustice: All report to my study at 17:00

IamtheNightWing: Why?

RedRobinYum:^

MasterofKnowledge: Is it good or bad?

IamJustice: Good. 17:00 at the latest. Mandatory family dinner.

Once everybody agreed to meet in Bruce's study at 5:00, he headed to the kitchen, still unbelieving that his son was actually in it. Alive and happy.

Bruce smiled to see Alfred and Jason in matching pink frilly aprons dancing around each other as they talked uninterrupted, a row of smiling spectators happy for Jason-his Jason-their Jason.

“...So then I turned to Steph, because she's always got –oh, hey, B.”

“What are you making? It smells delicious.”

Jason looked a little surprised. “The orange sauce for Alfie's turkey. I was just telling him about the time Steph and I were mugged as 'tourists' on a recon mission in Tokyo. The amateurs were laughable.”

Steph added, “I mean, they picked Jay as a target. I guess 'cause we're white they took us for tourists and not ninja. It took us a minute to knock 'em out—all 4 of them.”

Ace trotted in and Damian lit up when he began licking his hand.

“You like animals?” asked Bruce. Damian nodded.

Steph groaned. “He has a dog, cat, turkey, and dragonbat. Like is an understatement; that's why Dami's vegetarian. We put our foot down on the cow and made sure she went to a good home instead. Damian visits monthly.” “Batcow was going to be slaughtered inhumanely. She did not deserve that,” Damian sniffed.

Cass patted his spiky head. “Good job rescuing, Dami.”

“Batcow?” mouthed Bruce to Jason.

He grinned and nodded. “She's got a mark on her nose that looks kinda like your symbol, hence Bat-cow. I told him Dick named everything by adding the 'bat-' prefix when he was little.”

“You told him about us?”

“As much as I disliked it, you're all his family too. They made better bedtime stories than the League's history, anyways.” Jason looked back to stirring the sauce in the pot and Bruce and Alfred exchanged proud, happy looks.

~♡~

At 5:00 Dick and Tim came up the stairs from the Batcave, through the secret passageway, to Bruce's study. Babs came through the elevator door. “What's up, Bruce?”

Bruce sighed. “I had visitors today, Tim, and...one of them was Stephanie. Leslie faked her death and took her to Africa.”

Once everyone processed that statement, Bruce continued. “She was with a man...who was Jason Todd. Somehow he's alive—none of us know how, but he is.”

Everone stared at Bruce in shock and disbelief.

“Their DNA matches, and so do their memories. I know it's a surprise, but Jason and Stephanie are alive and well.”

“What took so long? Why now? It's been almost eight years! Was-was it recent?”

Bruce shook his head. “That's another thing. The new gang taking over Gotham—Red Hood, and his lieutenants Indigo and Orphan...the Red Hood is Jason and Stephanie is Indigo.”

“Jason Peter Todd, 'I'm-Robin-and-being-Robin-gives-me-magic', is Red Hood,” clarified Babs slowly. “What happened?”

“I was lured by my bio-mom and brutally attacked before I was left for dead in a warehouse rigged to blow.”

Everyone stared as Jason entered the study, comparing the changes to the Jason they knew and mourned.

“Being beaten half to death with a crowbar and waking up in your coffin six feet under sure changes your perspective on things.”

Dick choked and Babs and Tim's eyes widened. They'd never known exactly what happened to Jason since Batman arrived just too late.

“Hello, Big Wing, Barbie. Long time no see...you look good.”

“So do you.” Babs wheeled over and Jason leaned over to hug her.

“Well anything would be better than the last time you saw me, huh?” He turned to Dick. “Stop beating yourself up about missing my funeral. I was mad for a bit- but that was mostly the Pit Madness- you were offworld and didn't know. It's fine. Just come to my next one.”

Dick flew to Jason and wrapped him arms around him in a way even Jason couldn't escape the inevitable octopus hug. “Little Wing! I missed you so much!”

After a couple minutes of tearful Dick Jason pulled away to look Tim over. “You're my Replacement, I see. Well, I was Dick's. You did a good job as Robin, but you're definitely better as Red Robin. No one's quite the OG Robin, huh?”

Tim flushed, pleased at meeting his hero-crush and said hero-crush complimenting him.

Ooh, right, you're Steph's ex...this will be awkward, realized Jason. “And hold off the Inquisition until we're all at supper. I'm only telling doing this once, if I can help it. Speaking of, Alfie sent me up here to say dinner's on in 10.”

While Jason talked with the others, Bruce looked on happily. This was the happiest day he'd had since...before Jason died, he realized with a start.

While everyone washed up and Cass and Damian helped Alfred bring the food over, Jason cornered Steph by the dining room door. “Hey, are you sure you're okay?”

“Yes, Jay. You're more important to them and they knew you longer. I'm not that self-centred, yeesh. It wasn't my place...and seeing you and Tim's first meeting would've been even more awkward if I just popped in and was like, 'hey, it's me, ya ex and your predecessor's wife! Also surprise, I'm not actually dead!'”

“Stephanie,” Bruce walked up.

“Yes?”

He took a deep breath. “I apologize for not training you when you were Robin, and making you an outsider. You reminded me strongly of Jason and...it was quite painful. I am truly sorry...and...I suppose you're my daughter-in-law, now?”

“You're always gonna be stuck with me somehow, B-man!” grinned Steph. “Thanks for the apology, and I already forgave you in therapy. We're good.”

Bruce exhaled a little, relieved, and Jason nodded approvingly. “You're doing better than I thought, B.”

He escaped into the dining room after expressing his weekly emotional range in one afternoon and Jason turned to Steph.

“Thanks for your support, love.”

“No problem—DRC gotta stick together!” Jason snorted and grinned at her humour and kissed her slowly. “You're the best.”

~♡~

Tim halted in the hallway's shadows as Jason and Steph broke apart and walked into the room, hand-in-hand. That was a bit of a shock. Somehow, when Bruce had said Stephanie came in with Jason, he hadn't thought, with with Jason.

Jason was alive. Steph was alive. Jason and Steph had somehow met and were together. He and Steph had only dated for a bit before they broke up and then she “died”, but it was still weird, your ex dating your...brother (was he even his brother since they had literally never interacted except for a couple times at formal Gotham events when they were small)? The emotions were confusing so he shoved them down to deal with later. All that mattered was the dead ex-Robins were with them now. It wasn't like he still had romantic feelings for Steph anyways, it was just...all so confusing. He remembered Steph's random tangents when she was younger and a bittersweet pang jolted through Tim. Steph was always such a chaos gremlin. He couldn't decide if it was better or worse that she hadn't appeared to change much since her “death.”

~♡~

Dick, Babs, and Tim walked into the dining room and halted. “...Who're you?”

Jason looked up from pouring sparkling cider and introduced the strangers. “This is Cass—she's family—and Damian...” He and Steph suddenly looked at each other, slightly panicked.

“Is he yours?” Dick asked.

“No...Steph and I're his guardians.” We didn't tell B yet! Jason screamed internally.

Alfred actually joined the family for dinner, sitting at the foot. Bruce was at the head, the Bats sat along the left, and the guests were on the right. The feast had several delicious vegetarian options for Damian in the mix of bounty. Alfred had been so happy he may have gone slightly overboard on the menu.

“So...you and Jason are together?” Babs asked Steph.

“Yep! Five years since we met.” Steph proudly showed off her diamond-and-amethyst wedding ring.

“How did you...not die? And meet each other?” Babs continued cautiously.

“Well, I did die on the table, but Leslie brought me back,” Steph confessed easily. “We went to Africa, and I finished school online and learned some nursing from Leslie. I saw a group of kids being taken by force so a friend and I jumped in, Jay came by a minute later and finished the fight and walked me home. He asked me out a couple months later, and we got married two years ago.”

“You look...happy,” said Tim.

Steph smiled, love shining at Jason. “I am. I'm sorry about the awkwardness 'cause of...us,” she gestured between her and Tim, and her and Jason, “but I didn't know you were brothers when we started dating...”

“It's okay—I'm not jealous or anything, it's just, um...all quite surprising. Everything.”

Steph nodded at Tim thankfully, then turned to Jason. “Why don't you tell your story, habibi?”

“Ugh, fine. I died, woke up in my coffin about six months later, catatonic. I do remember digging through the wood and dirt with my belt buckle and fingernails...I wandered the streets for a while on muscle memory until I fought off a few of T's guys and she came to see who did that and recognized me. She fixed my catatonia and dialled my anger issues to 11 by dunking me in the Knockoff Mountain Dew and sent me 'round the world to train, where I met Steph. Anything else you want to hear, should I censor for innocent ears?” Jason asked Dick, nodding at Tim, who sqwalked in outrage.

“Shouldn't you censor for Damian's innocent ears?”

“Damian hasn't had the luxury of innocent ears,”Jason said coldly, all joking gone. He hated kids getting touched by the world, marked indelibly before their time, and Damian had not had an easy childhood.

Dick cleared his throat. “So, how'd you meet Cass?”

Steph volunteered to tell the story. “We'd just arrived in Hong Kong, so I went out for groceries. On my way back, I saw Cass fighting...I think it was eight guys. I helped out and dragged her home with me. That was a little over a year ago. Dami showed up on our doorstep, courtesy of Talia, about then, too.”

The rest of the meal continued in the same manner, telling stories on both sides from when they hadn't seen each other. Then Cass looked at Jason and signed rapidly. He nodded and stood. “Thanks for dinner, Alfie; it was delicious. We've got to leave now; see y'all later. Have a safe patrol.” Steph and Damian also stood and followed them to the door. Bruce trailed behind. “Will you come by soon? You're all always welcome here, anytime.”

“Thanks, B. We'll be by later this week to make it up to Alfred by skipping out without doing dishes.” Jason and Damian drove off on a motorbike, side-by-side with Steph and Cass.

Tim followed them aerially by a drone, but only traced them to the Iceberg Lounge before he lost them.

~♡~

Taglist: @jaystephevents @demonandangeltwins @gone-batty-fics

Contact me if you want to be added!

Notes: In this Mashup of Canon, Tim has already struck out on his own and is Red Robin, so there will be no tension between him and Damian. Happy family only.

Also, Bruce is *trying* to be a good dad, at least.

[gaeullie]

heyyyy dearest <3 how about drippin &/tbz 💗🌻✨

hewwo bieloved <3 thank u mwah

la la la la la la la la la la la la la nostalgia

first bias: yunseong!!!!!!!!! bewoved

current bias(es): still yunseong 00 liner whos a leader n dancer what else do i need

album ranking: boyager > zero > a better tomorrow = villain > free pass

how i got into them: i mean we r still in the process of getting into them but like casually listened to them since debut (boyager aoty) . n then i think i tried to get more into them for a sec bc of brina? n then . well then ina happened (nd now ure helping a great lot i think)

which member would be my best friend: minseo is my bestie he's my cat he lives on my couch BUT also i do think i cld b besties w hyeop i think we'd be a great bestie duo

something i associate with them (or with a bias/any member): INA................ n that one clip of yunseong w the cake/cream on his face i think abt it 24/7 . also the word nostalgia literally hasnt been the same since they debuted . also pink ribbons w minseo

THE boyz (tm)

first bias: haknyeon (& hyunjun)

current bias(es): scratches head....idk u tell me (chanhee sunwoo hyunjae . additional rotation juyeon jichang jacob . sometimes hak)

album ranking: reveal = breaking dawn > chase => the start > maverick > the sphere = dreamlike => the first > thrill-ing > the only > tattoo > bloom bloom which is VERY VERY VERY VERY different from my title track ranking it's almost funny (bloom bloom n no air n tattoo are my fave tts)

how i got into them: omg ok so like idk if i actually rlly liked juhak during broduce or if i only got attached to him after it ended?????? def thought his pig thing was cute (why did i phrase it like that . idk but u get it) when he was announced to b debuting i was rlly excited i made a tbz twt KKSDBJKBKDSJKF but like without actually looking much into the other ppl .. but being on there i started seeing fantakens of hyunjun i was like i Need to know who this guy is . nd then i kinda forgot abt them rip sorry nd it didnt help that i rlly didnt like giddy up so i like lost interest fully by then BUT THEN around no air i think? maybe? i was like i like this kevin guy (???? which is wild to present me like ure telling me i had a KEVIN PHASE????????????????????????????) but also . smth thats insanely funny to me is that i had a whole . losing my mind moment over how there was a guy that kept catching my eye in the no air showcase stage (breakdown documented on my old twt acc) BC it turns out it was haknyeon n i was like ??????WHAT R THE ODDS LIKE WHAT..... nd idk if this was at the same time or before or after but at some point i figured out that i actually love right here?? so i watched their weekly idol episode from that era nd i was like i am in love with sunwoo now ........ nd then i forgot abt them again KJBSKBK like i kept being a casual listener for the absolute longest time from debut to like . possibly rtk????? i think i fully got into them during rtk???????????? but it doesnt feel like it because like .as u can see . we have a bit of a history . we go way back

which member would be my best friend: i would kill to be friends w any of them . i would sell my soul to b friends w chanhee but like hes too cool for me like fully entirely like they all are but he's like on a whole different level like . i had a dream where i was besties w kevin n jacob & it was pretty fun we were a nice friend trio that cld be cute . i also think hyunjae's the type of person i gravitate towards BUT i wld end up falling in love w him so again mayb not the best idea

something i associate with them (or with a bias/any member): i think the group in general just ....... the feeling of belonging like coming home after a long time like talking to your best friend after weeks or months of silence and realizing nothing has changed u know ... hak pigs & horses & straw hats farmer vibes im so sorry hak . chanhee plum/peach/cherry blossoms & fluffy sheep & the smell of books & glitter & pearls & spring breeze n the smell of spring when you open your window & holding pinkies don't ask . jichang hermit crabs & bedazzled jackets & chucky & gabi & giraffes & brown poodles . jacob aléks & lockers filled with homemade chocolates and love letters on valentine's day that he's too kind to refuse . sunwoo's 38472398472839 hour long vlives & happy comfort & chestnuts n walnuts & just like the feeling of coming home after a long day but its not an empty home there's someone u love waiting for u u know . i was gonna add jaehyun n juyeon but i have said Too Much already sorry guys

[sofiaaaaaaaa03]

hey, have you seen kenobi? what are your thoughts :00

hi i just finished and I decided to write down my thoughts while watching part one :) It's very sporadic and over the place but here it is

Awww padawans

Tai chi ??

I liked how we could see a bit of the stuff they were exposed to, from a bit of the lesson to the school itself as they ran through it

Its so big, you can only imagine the resources they have in there

Immediately when i saw the clones my heart dropped

The jedi master was so badass with it though i wish we could have seen more of her

The way the director panned the camera made me feel like I was there, running with the kiddos 

I felt so bad though

Like the kids were obviously distressed that their master died

But not as much as they should have been

You know that they knew that they would see their familiars die

Maybe even before their eyes

And they had to suck it up, and get to safety and run

Like wow, these kids are something else

ALSO ORDER 66????????? Hearing that made my heart drop even further

I liked how the next scene showed a bit of how there are jedi hiding in sort of plain sight and there were people still looking for them

The trio at the cantina were very badass though

Kenobi stealing is gold lol

Kenobi in a cage

Finally we get to see what the jawa’s saying lol

I knew right away that the jawa stole the processor board because it laughed the same way I laugh when I steal shit from my friends (jokingly)

Teeka. I like that name

Awwww he’s keeping watch other young luke. It’s so cute how luke was pretending to be on a speeder

It’s too dark for me to be able to tell if Nari is cute or not

It’s sad to see Ben admit defeat

He’s been through too much

It’s all he can do

The time of the jedi is over- MY HEART PLEASE OBI

YOUNG LEIA????????????

Once again my appreciation for the clothing of star wars is so big

I love it

Omg leia is a little bitch she’s running from her parents and going on adventures

I love her

Those three ladies are so fired though 

Justice for lola she shouldn’t have been deactivated

Mom’s taking it on the wrong person 

Once again kenobi is stealing absolute respect

Oh but he’s feeding it to the thing???

AWWWW HE’S BEEN GIVING THE TOYS TO LUKE I DIDN’T SEE THAT

Ouch Owen did not need to do that “like his father”

The lady knew exactly what she was doing, she knew he was the man to target I can’t explain it but she knew

I wonder why owen didn’t expose kenobi if he said that he didn’t want luke to be trained by him

I like the cousin’s color palette

C-3PO!!!!

Interesting how certain people don’t show respect for the droids

Love leia for it tho

Also her comeback was sick

HOLY SHIT SHE’S TALKING TO HIM WITH SMACK

HOLY SHIT

GO LEIA GO

MAKE THE BOY CRY

No don’t owe him an apology he doesn’t deserve it

Leia i’m sorry baby but this is not your future

And no, your planet will not be there 

;-;

I love her relationship with her father

He’s so loving

He better not die

LMAO not her running away again 

HOLY SHIT THEY’RE GANGING UP ON LEIA

NO

BABY RUN

But actually Vect’s voice is so nice to hear, i don’t know why but it itches my brain

SHIT

SHE’S BEEN KIDNAPPED

She’s as important as he is

Damn right she is

C’mon kenobi do your job

FUCK KENOBI NO YOU’RE THE ONE WHO HAS TO DO IT

Ok but side note what if there were muppets in star wars

And they never question that its a puppet because there’s all sorts of creatures in the-

Fuck

Someone’s hanging

FUCK

IS IT

NO

NARI DIED???????

It’s okay i couldn’t figure out if he was cute or not so my attachment isn’t as bad as it could have been

Holy shit the senator came to kenobi so that they could change his mind

What a dad

YAAAAY LOLA TO THE RESCUE

NO LOLA

THEY CAN’T INTRODUCE THE DROID ONLY TO KILL IT

FUCK

How did he

How did he just know where his lightsabers were

I’m sorry, like I don’t care if he wrote the coordinates down but I would have lost it

Not to mention its been ten years

There has to be LAYERS of sand and it should not have been that shallow

Okay nice touch showcasing the lightsaber

That was good

Overall i enjoyed the episode. I think it set things up in a great way and i like how it world builds around jedi life after order 66. I also like this because it gives an insight on kenobi’s relationship with Leia, as well as his connections to her family.

[experimentik]

Experimentik #70 / January 17. 2024 / Lucio Capece / Claudia Risch + Francis Heery + Jung-Jae Kim

January 17. 2024 / 20:30- (doors 20:00)

Solo:

Lucio Capece - 8 voices Sampler Isla 2400, recorded cello and bass clarinet, sine-sawtooth tones and pulses

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Trio:

Claudia Risch - bass clarinet

Francis Heery - electronics

Jung-Jae Kim - saxophone

FB event: https://fb.me/e/3Ywj3sQuL

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Lucio Capece

Argentinian musician based in Europe since 2002, specifically in Berlin since 2004. Since 2010 he dedicates to offer works focused in the Perception experience, that he performs mainly in solo and in the context of occasional collaborations based in the same interest. He composes his own pieces that may include improvisation and different ways of writing. He uses tools like Flying Speakers hanging from Helium Balloons moved by propellers, Speakers as Pendulums, Analog synthesiser, Sine Waves and Noise Generators, Drum Machines, Ultra- Violet Lights, Sensors as much as the instruments that he has played for 25 years: Bass Clarinet and Soprano and Slide Saxophone. Beyond instrumentation and tools, the main intention is to focus in the physical-social-spatial human experience. Between the late 90 ́s and 2010 he offered music in the context of Electro Acoustic Improvisation, focused in quietness, attentive listening and granular material. Capece has been very active in the Reductionist Improvised Music scene in Berlin, and in the radical minimal scene related with the collective Wandelweiser collaborating mainly as member of the collective Konzert Minimal (2008- 2018) and, since 2006 with Radu Malfatti. In a parallel way Capece developed a 10 years collaboration with legendary Finnish musician Mika Vainio from Pan Sonic, working and releasing radical abstract and beats oriented music as a duo and two different quartets. Capece has performed his own sound interventions in spaces like Kraftwerk Berlin ( The Long Now - Maerz Musik), Hau Berlin (CTM festival), The Cathedral of Bern (Zoom In Festival) The Mambo Museum in Bologna (Live Arts week ),the German Pavilion built by Mies Van der Rohe in Barcelona (Sonar +D Festival), the Halle d ‘Expositions built by Alexandre Gustave Eiffel in Evreux, France (ĹÁtelie series) the Bauhaus Archive in Berlin (directing a piece in which together with musicians Axel Dörner and Robin Hayward played a piece with the kinetic sculpture called “Licht-Raum Modulator” built by Lászlò Moholy-Nagy) , and the Colón Theatre in Buenos Aires where he offered an interactive installation for children. Since 2020 he plays mainly in the context of small Ensembles where he composes the music, or collaborates with others performers-composers like Rahma Quartet, From Scratch New Discantus Quintet, Lost Jockey and Phase to Phase. His goal in this context is to re consider Music making in a Phenomenological way, re- searching in the basic elements that make Music be. He offers currently a Sampler solo set based in a personal research in Just Intonation Ratios, folding and unfolding sounds from Pitch to Pulse and vice versa. He has performed as a musician in recognised experimental music festivals and venues in Europe, USA, Japan, Mexico and Argentina. He has released around 35 Cds and Lps, including 9 solo releases, in labels like Mego Editions, B-Boim (Austria), Pan (Germany), Ftarri (Japan) Another Timbre, Entr ́acte ( UK), Potlatch, (France), Erstwhile Intonema (Russia), etc.

photo © Susi Maresca

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Claudia Risch has developed special playing techniques on the Bassclarinet, which is acoustic of it´s nature and works without additive external resorces. She focusses on the extended sound-material of her instruments like micro-intervals, multi-phonics, sound of breath. Within this variety of elaborated technical possibilities Risch combines, applies and modifies her material to create a refined, nuanced and multilayerd sound. The co-operation with composers (e.g. Thomas Gerwin, Francis Heery), electronics and dancers is an important component in her work.

https://www.instagram.com/claudiarisch07/

photo © Matthias Förster

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Francis Heery (b.1980) is a composer and sound artist. His music is inspired by science-fiction, occultism and animal aesthetics. He is an accomplished improvisor and performs with a setup integrating Max/MSP with acoustic instruments and modular synths. He specializes in long-form, site-specific performances in public spaces. His instrumental works have been performed by the RTE Symphony Orchestra, the Crash Ensemble, the Quiet Music Ensemble, the Talujon Percussion Ensemble and by soloists including Carin Levine, Pascal Galois and Izumi Kimura. He has received funding awards from the Arts Council of Ireland as well as commissions from Galway County and City Councils, the Music Current Festival, the Berlin Natural History Museum, and the Berlin International Sound Art Festival. He produces experimental electronica under the name The Cube of Unknowing, with albums released on Fort Evil Fruit and Eiderdown Records.

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Jung-Jae Kim is a South Korean saxophonist, composer, and improviser based in Berlin free/avant-garde & experimental music scene. He pushes the boundaries of sonic aesthetics and sound definitions, taking a transdisciplinary approach to explore new possibilities and delve into human senses and communication through free improvisation.

photo © Morvarid K

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Experimentik 2024 is supported by inm

[cybernightart]

I was watching a random video on YouTube about Japanese Street food because it was like 3:00 a.m. and I was just scrolling through YouTube shorts, and I heard a tidbit of information that statistically 90% of Japanese people are lactose intolerant. So this made me wonder, could the shimada trio be lactose intolerant?

Then out of sheer boredom and just remembering this fact right now, I googled is Genji lactose intolerant thinking nothing would come up. Lo and behold on the blizzard forums someone at some point had asked if Genji was lactose intolerant and whether or not he like cheese. So far I did not find an answer but the answer to the community came to was he maybe likes at least a little considering the pineapple pizza thing and I don't know where the pineapple pizza thing came from apart from the souvenir. And also considering 75% of the global population is lactose intolerant and 90% of Japanese people are lactose intolerant Genji statistically is very likely to be lactose intolerant. And I both find that hilarious and just kind of an interesting tidbit with no meeting to the overall story whatsoever. Unless like ramattra plans on taking down Genji with ice cream I don't know?! xD