#also i don't know what happened to the quality this was hd when i made it i swear-

[oksanas-sun]

Just you and me.

[foxett]

What's the swingset AU. I am hellbent on this AU rn and like pls yap about the lore 🙏

Aha.... Buckle your seatbelts this will take a while. (TW for mentions of s*icide, s*lf h*rm and death in general under the cut. Also omori spoilers. But that's probably to be expected)

Swingset was first an idea. Probably around early 2024??? I'm not sure but!!! I didn't actually plan to write anything about it until I got the idea for it and started writing the fic my last week of school (so it updates every wednesday)

The au itself... Hhhh yeah. Basically, the incident happens as normal, but Sunny doesn't have headspace and whitespace to slip into in his mind, and is fully aware the whole time Basil is doing the hanging and stuff or Mari. Sunny decides it's for the best and kills himself, hanging himself on the same tree Mari was already hanging on only like. Minutes later. (First chapter). Basil leaves before Sunny does that so he doesn't know it happens.

The rest of the gang (+ Basil is dragged along) and they find Mari and Sunny!!!! Yay!!! (Sarcastic yay) Anyways in short they react badly but Kel probably has it the worst because he's a little delulu in this au. Basil is close behind tho.

Kel twists the incident to Mari and Sunny making a swing and. Yeah. Au name!!! He also makes up fake versions of Sunny and Mari (and also everyone else, because the group fell apart) to hang out with. In other words, Kel needs a schizophrenia diagnosis. Everyone copes horribly (Basil. Well. Self harms. And generally is probably going insane.) (Hero bedrots like in canon but longer) (Aubrey bullies Basil at first but they make up and form a sorta sibling bond!) (not gonna spoil the exact thing but Aubrey will be traumatized further)

There's!!! A lot of stuff going on. Kel has all his fake friends (before the group reunited because of a certain incident!) - and also ghost Sunny and Mari (who age like ghost Mari does in canon because i said so) exist but they're not too important outside of the good ending.

I don't keep count but i think there's a total of 8 something's total. Canon something (Mari something, Maris hanging body), Sunny something (Sunny's hanging body), canon something (Mari at the bottom of the stairs, Basil's something), Noosething (Basil's extra au something (tying the noose which leads to Sunny's own suicide), Basil something (Aubrey's extra something. Not spoiling it for now...), Kel something (bad ending) and hero's very hd quality something's (he looked at the bodies too long ig)

Everyone has the sunny and mari somethings. Basil has 4 total. Hero and Aubrey have 3 (sunny, mari, their own bonus) Kel repressed his two but they still show up in the shadows sometimes :)

Basil is. Where do i start. He actually is completely delusional. Completely. More than Kel kinda. He also hears voices. He almost kills someone trying to kill himself (spoilers), and overall almost kills himself like. At least thrice. He doesn't take care of himself. At least Aubrey's there to help!

On a sorta wholesome note, everyone gets their hair dyed!! They do it to 'help' Kel to snap out of his delusions (it makes it worse) (kel does snap out of it at some point! But it might just be too late for it by then :) )

For the fic itself it's 11k ish words and 4 chapters at the moment.???? I have 20 chapters planned total plus two bonus ones so. Ouch. that's gonna be fun to write. I take the au itself seriously but the extra drawings i do for it... Ehhh not so much.

I have this gem of a doodle (vision basil and real basil) i frankly don't remember when i drew this. I probably was half asleep and it was like 2 am.

I plan to rework the old reference sheets i have and hopefully do the fifth chapter today and tomorrow! I don't actually wanna spoil much but definitely keep an eye out for some post!!!

Yippie! Read below ↓

mind the warnings (although since you made it this far, you probably don't care!!)

[hopeymchope]

I HOPW YOU ENJOY IT I LOVE THAT GAME

I'M HONESTLY WORRIED BECAUSE IT'S SO INSANELY HYPED LOL

Plus I'm worried about playing FF7 for... many other reasons that I'm now going to ramble about at EXCESSIVE LENGTH.

UNPOPULAR OPINIONS START!

FIRST: It's been, what, 27 years since this thing came out? And I've probably played a lot of stuff that took whatever FF7 did that was so groundbreaking and iterated/improved on it already, y'know? I doubt this game can ever be the earth-shattering experience it was for people of that initial release period.

SECOND: In my own opinion, the worst-aged generation of gaming (outside of the very first one) has to be the N64/PS1/Saturn gen, a.k.a. "fifth-gen." Pixel art from the older retro systems is kind of timeless-looking to me, and 2D game mechanics got locked down pretty quickly for the main titles of the day. Plus and the sixth-and-later generations still look fine and hold up on some level—by seventh-gen, we were already in HD! But fifth-gen polygonal graphics and pre-rendered assets are just... WOOF.

Get a load of those overworld character models in FF7 — they ain't got no alibi. And that's to say nothing of how awkward things typically were while we were first figuring out how to transition into 3D. Camera controls/angles, save structures, etc... it's all a fit fumbly.

So yeah, I don't have a lot of nostalgia/fondness for this gen, personally. My favorite games from this time period are typically the ones that dared to stick to 2D: Symphony of the Night, Mega Man X5, etc. And the exceptions are usually best experienced via latter-day ports that made big quality of life improvements or visual enhancements. I adore Ocarina of Time... but I'd definitely recommend that anyone new to it play the 3DS version.

THIRD: I ALSO don't like random battles. I know they're an RPG staple for many old-school titles, but like... I strongly prefer being able to see the enemy on the overworld before I enter the battle screen. Or at LEAST being able to tell where I can walk to either avoid or trigger potential random battles ala Pokemon games. I'd GREATLY prefer to not be jump-scared by a random battle every few steps. And although the modern FF7 ports have a trigger to supposedly turn off the random battles, it (A) doesn't seem to work half the time, and (B) using it will just leave me under-leveled in the long run.

And ALL OF THAT is why, for a long time, I waited for the FF7 remake. I figured that'd probably be my best introduction to the story and characters—bringing them to a new generation with a new presentation. But when the remake finally arrived, it wasn't a remake at all. Not only is the gameplay radically different, but even the story is heavily based in how it diverges from the original! Familiarity with the original game appears to be highly recommended.

And so... here I am.

I've only been playing FF7 for a couple nights now. Tuesday night was day one. And so far? I'm pleasantly surprised by how much I didn't already know in the story — I thought that cultural osmosis from years of Remake/Rebirth trailers and general gaming YouTube channels and overall gaming chatter would have spoiled every single story beat already. Certainly, the most famous event/twist in the game is something that was spoiled EVERYWHERE for years and years. But right now—having just swung away from a huge explosion on a big old crane-hook—I'm like "Huh, I didn't know that'd happen" pretty regularly!

Plus a general "Huh, I didn't know the overarching evil in this game was corporate capitalism." That last part has certainly aged like a fine wine. :)

[blue-eyed-giant]

i saw poto for the first time ever today since wanting to see it since i was 11 years old and there are some stuff i've noticed (and i will talk non stop bc this was a dream come true)

this was an incredibly creative stage. it was rather small but it was used so well. there was a spinning stage frame on the real stage and during in-play opera performances it would spin to show you what the cast backstage would see. it took all shapes throughout the play as if it was playdough just by spinning. it was stage, it was christine's dressing room (yes, phnatom stepped out from its inside through the mirror), it was andre and firmin's office, it was rehearsal room... i think if it was on broadway it could get a tony for stage design

DRAMATIC. ASS. LIGHTING. for the first half and hour or so it was so impressive because it made every movement so dramatic and it was perfectfor the spooky mood but. it got too much. sometimes it was hard to see actors' faces and expressions and it was constant. if the light had been used more variably this would be an incredible lighting piece.

the overture. i had never seen how the stage looks during overture but i loved this sooo much it looked like those start-credits scenes from movies. it showed all the key moments from the show in slow mo with shadows, as if raoul was remembering what had happened all those years ago. it was nostalgic and it was terrifying because even if you didn't know anything about the story you would clock something terrible and tragic happened there. at the very start you see two actors with an actress between them bowing together and then the actress goes to the side with one of them, the other looking at them as they go and taking some time before going to the other side himself. yeah, i think you got my point.

orchestra was live. and it was magnificent i think. this is all i have to say i can't think of a way to make you believe how a not particularly big orchestra was so impactful without actually showing you live.

carlotta's comedic acting was so on point. the "these things do happen" bit is my favourite and i loved seeing it a lot. "think of me" also was very well acted not just by carlotta but also by andre and firmin.

madame giry sounds real young. she is also less strict or stiff than the way she is traditionally portrayed.

the head male ballet dancer was surprisingly delicate for his size and i tell you that guy had a real broad torso and a lot of big muscles and the hannibal damce was beautiful

SO MUCH FUCKING MEGSTINE!!! during "think of me" christine panics and stops singing with a hitch in her voice and only gets her courage up and continues when meg holds her hands and has her sing looking only at her eyes

you very quickly realize meg is just as vocally strong as christine in this production

you immediately notice ramin's microphone being loud as fuck. the sound team said "people come here for this bitch let's give 'em what they want" so everyone is singing at a normal volume and quality and then ramin comes in with his full hd 4k stereo 1080p voice (not complaining tho)

you don't get it. this fucker isn't just playing phantom. he IS the phantom. he's studied, he's acted, he's lived, he's embraced, absorbed, eaten the part. i doubt the fucker drops a chandelier every week in his house. you know how people say "oh he's added a second/third dimension to this part"? this bitch is forcing his way into the sixth at this point. he's doing it such naturally and in a nuanced way i could believe this is his office job. think of 25th and make it better, that's what it was.

this phantom isn't just miserable. he is so much older and wiser than our leads and he knows this and he is actively holding this over their heads. he knows exactly what leaves christine vulnerable and plays into those things. he knows he's manipulative, you can sense that in his mimics and voice and chuckles. he holds great power over christine whether she allows it or not. he also treats christine like a predator does to a younger person, which makes the dynamic very realistic bc it is exactly that

amelia milo is young, which makes you realize just how young christine actually is because she actually looks, sounds and acts like a 21 one year old and this makes a lot of her decisions and reactions make so much more sense

when the ballet starts andre keeps bumping into the dancers and the male dancer doesnt know what to do with him so he just. picks him up, spins him and moves him out of his way.

"all i ask of you" is portrayed in such a different way without changing a single line i was speechless. like yea??? technically you can play it like that and it will change everything about raoul and christine's relationship even if the script is the exact same. right before the song starts christine rushes to the roof with raoul following, gives her speech about the phantom, and tries to jump off, rould yells and begs her name to stop her. then he sits right at the edge with his legs dangling, as if he's showing if she jumped so would he. AIAOY sounds like raoul desperately putting in all his effort and saying everything he could to keep christine from killing herself. it isn't the little ray of light in the midst of the chaos, it is just another little, happier chaos in the big chaos. even christine doesn't seem to be particularly happy, they both seem to think "we'll look into this later"

not a huge fan of vinny coyle's raoul. like many raouls he wasn't particularly bad, but also he wasn't so good either. ofc he had his moments like his good dancing and small stu ts during "masquerade" but he couldn't shine where he had to shine big and be the prince charming (aiaoy was very underwhelming bc of that). in the end i was wondering how would bradley jaden be if he stayed for the milan cast as well

this

also, probs due to lack of ensemble members, half the masquerade guests were puppets on wheels which made the whole vibe so creepy

after long years of poto, earl carpenter was also a cast member that shined and added so much character to the production

THE SPECIAL EFFECTS!! PHANTOM APPEARING, REAPPEARING AND THEN DISAPPEARING!! HIM TAKING PIANGI'S PLACE WITHOUT THE CHARACTER LEAVING THE STAGE! the special effects were top notch

at first she sounds kinda weak but towards the middle of the play amelia milo's voice gets so strong and impressive you start to hink she did it on purpose to show how amateur christine was at the beginning.

PHANTOM HAS BLACK BAT WINGS AND SOARS IN WANDERING CHILD

thank for coming to my ted talk :)

fr tho, they either fucked with ramin's mic or he just sounds so strong his voice feels solid bc that IT'S OVER NOW THE MUSIC OF THE NIGHT was something else

edit: at one point during an opera meg jumps on stage just to yell "he's there the phantom of the opera!!!!". it's not even her scene, she wasn't supposed to be on stage and gets called back by her mom. we love a hatergirl <3

[romaine2424]

Daily Blog June 26, 2023

Daughter was off work today so we went to lunch, the grocery store (Trader Joes), and then the to our local nursery to pick up some annuals...I'm a month or so late in doing so. The pickings were slim. She's now upstairs taking a nap. Ha ha ha.

What I'm reading:

Oops nothing today. This morning I was busy trying to figure out how to write myself out of a box I put myself into. I sent off the dilemma to my Alpha, @m0srael, looking for advice. If you've read her stories you know she can methodically plot!

I hope if you missed yesterday's blog that you take a look for the Drarry rec I made.

Tumblr posts of interest:

Oh this is a good one. Just came across my feed. It's a post from @givereadersahug, who I just followed. In HPRECS community on Dreamwidth they are starting a weekly post called "What have I been reading?". Take a look at the post for details and then go over to Dreamwidth and check out even more posts they want to do on a weekly basis like a self-rec day. Building a community to share love of fic and art is terrific.

Okay, this link isn't on Tumblr but it's dead useful for those posting on AO3. Its the AO3 Work Skins/Tutorial. Ever come across a fic that has a newspaper article posted in it that looks very cool, or invisible writing that has to be highlighted, stickynotes, etc... Go take a look and you can see what all is offered.

One last item of Interest. Wondering what hp fests are going on or about to go? To this day, I think Potterfests' HP Fest News Round-up on LJ is the best. Seriously, take a look at that 2nd link for last week's roundup! Amazing.

Musings or Old idea but don't know how to implement it.

When I came back to fandom, I saw a topic that is as old as posting fanfic on whatever site and that is complaining about the same authors and stories being recced. It was a common complaint 20 years ago, too. Whether it's true or not, I'm not going to get into that kerfuffle, but I will say, it's much harder to get a fic seen these days. On LJ and Dreamwidth there was and I assume still are communities that anyone could post a fic or art to and everyone that subscribed to that community would see it. For Drarry on LJ harrydraco and on Dreamwidth (okay can't find the hd community there. I'll fill in the link when I can).

On Tumblr, you are at the mercy of your tags or the fest you might have joined. Also, thankfully @drarryspecificrecsdaily helps out too. In Discord, depending on the server, there's usually a channel for self-rec. Also the fabulous reccers (a topic for another day) do help immensely.

This discussion happened on Discord 2 years ago and I proposed that somehow we have a place where every author could post a link to what they considered to be their best Drarry story already posted on AO3. I was hoping to do this on AO3 and even came up with the corny name of "My Drarry Best". I also bid in @fandomtrumpshate for @ihopeyoubothstaysafefromharm to create a banner. However, after reading what's allowed for posting on AO3, I don't think it's possible to do it there.

I still think it's a good idea for both authors (to be showcased) and readers (to find quality fics and authors they weren't aware of) but I haven't a clue how to implement it and where. Any ideas? BTW I selfishly stopped @ihopeyoubothstaysafefromharm from working on it and instead I'll be having a Christmas fic with some illustrations once I finish the final chapter. :D

That's all for today.

Have a good week! Rom

[prince-steele]

• [SHOW 1] Twenty Øne Piløts Lollapalooza 18th March 2023, Buenos Aires - Argentina [9:15pm EST]•

Hey everyone! Here is the timeline of everything that happened during the first Lollapalooza Twenty Øne Piløts show! I worked super hard on it, and it includes all the lighting changes and points of interest during the show!

Please enjoy 😊

.:SETLIST:.

{Emojis represent the lighting colours}

Guns for Hands • 💙⚪❤️ // 💜💚💛

Morph • ⚪💙💚 • [Josh Mask removed here]

Holding on to You • 💙⚪❤️

(Solo on piano until bridge) • [Tyler Mask removed here]

The Outside • 💙💗⚪

(with backing band intro)

All The Small Things • 💙💜💚⚪

(blink‐182 cover)

Lane Boy • 💙⚪💚

(Redecorate during bridge) • ❤️💙💚

Chlorine • 💙💗⚪

Viajando Voy • 💙⚪

(Tierra Adentro cover) (Dr. Blum solo)

Galopera • 💙⚪

(Mauricio Cardozo Ocampo cover) (Dr. Blum solo)

Jumpsuit • 💙❤️💚💛//💛❤️//⚪

Heavydirtysoul • 💙❤️⚪

Ride • 💙💗⚪

Shy Away • 💙💗❤️💛

Car Radio • 💙⚪ • [Masks on again & Rail climb]

Stressed Out • ❤️⚪ // 💗💙 • [Tyler Red Beanie on, Josh Red Circle Sunglasses on]

Heathens • 💚💜 • [Glitchy effect on screens]

Trees • 💙💚 (Small amount of 💛💗)

.:Points of Interest During Show:.

• The show was streamed on the site <https://sfntv.xyz/ver/lolla> (no longer available - the Tumblr Clique discord server has a link to the full show)

• Tyler had a distinctly scratchy/crunchy quality to his voice, with a particularly rough quality to it. It's presumed he did this to reserve his voice on night one, so he doesn't strain his voice.

He stopped halfway through the second verses in Guns for hands of "I'm trying to [sleep]", and sang "SLOW DOWN" right before the bridge as they slowed the tempo.

During Holding Onto You he also stopped singing during "sounding down [the mountain range, of my left side brain]", halfway through the word "kaleido[scope]", and he did not sing "Entertain my faith" at all.

He did a particularly impressive scream during the first "Or am I on The Outside?", and on the 3rd one which was even louder and longer.

He only sang the Na-Na-Nas of All the small things, along with "Late night, come home, work sucks, I know" and "Surprised she let me know she cares"

During lane boy, he did not sing the first line of the second verse "They say stay in your Lane Boy..." up until the rap breakdown.

He also only sang the first line of Chlorine, and let the crowd sing the second and third. He also missed out "Running for my [life]" he looked at the camera and sang directly to it with the most beautiful sparkly eyes. He also did not sing the second "Running for my [life]" . He also stopped singing again after "When I leave don't save my seat".

He missed the first chorus of HDS, and "Gangsters don't cry" up until "For me"

During Ride he let the crowd sing "I know it's hard sometimes, pieces of peace in the sun's piece of mind, I know it's hard sometimes". Tyler continued singing, then paused, and rejoined at "Wish who I was". He also had the crowd sing the chorus and joined them again at "Taking my time on my". He then paused, and stood in the middle of the aisle, greeting the crowd and standing for photos.

During the second chorus of Shy Away, he didn't sing "boy you better not be there" or "Don't circle the track, just break the cycle in half"

Tyler did not sing the first line of Stressed Out or the chorus, but he did say "What's my name"//"What's your name". He did sing the second chorus. Blurry himself appeared on the screens and sang the final bridge. The lights turned blue and pinkish red here.

Tyler let the crowd sing "Please don't make any sudden moves, you don't know half of the abuse", then rejoined for the second half of the first chorus/verse.

• Using a red bristled broom, after Chlorine, Tyler made a point of brushing the stage for any debris. Such as drumsticks. Clearing the way for Dr Blum's solo

• Tyler wore a light coloured (white) shirt with a collar and shoulders with a greyish black watercolour print around the neck and shoulders. It was confirmed by Dr Blum on twitter that it was just the shirt, but it's presumed Tyler selected it to represent blurrys influence on him during the shows. He also wore big gigantic fawn coloured pants.

<https://twitter.com/JesseBlum/status/1638643091925094400?t=slHQfSJ2thBjBsxmEV9MMg&s=19>

• Tyler's paint was midnight black around his neck, with an incredibly crisp line. His hands were also extremely dark.

• Josh wore a brown sweater vest with 1960s mod print orange flowers on it; the flowers had white petals, and he wore a matching colourful necklace with flower beading. He also wore grey jean shorts. His shirt vanished halfway through the show during ride. Professional opinion is that he slipped on a banana peel and it fell off.

• Tyler was completely obsessed with the camera, approaching it multiple times to stare at and interact with it.

• They both wore Argentinan football jerseys, which they gave away to members of the crowd as gifts.

• The lighting was distinctly different from normal, it was mostly blue the entire show.

• At the very end of Heavy Dirty Soul, Tyler death dropped onto his back, as a spiritual/metaphorical death. During this, they did a ritual to "revive" him in which one of the band members (Todd) rubbed his fists together as though they were a defibrillator. He placed them on Tyler's chest, and simulated "shocking" him in time with a musical sting from the rest of the band. Tyler convulsed his body in time with the "shocks", and then was "revived". This was the best thing I've ever seen in my entire life.

• Tyler then got up and greeted the crowd, and did a true crowd stand during Ride. The song had a beautiful arpeggiator, and Tyler flourished wonderfully on the piano before "I've been thinking too much". Josh came down during the musical interlude for a drum stand.

• Tyler did a sillay wiggle dance during Shy Away. He was on his knees a LOT 😳 There were spiders on the screens, and there are multiple references to spiders/cobwebs in other songs [Lovely][Friend Please][Blurry tweeted a picture of a spider one time]

• Tyler gave a very heartfelt speech during Trees to the crowd, and let them know that they made the band feel at home, and he feels like the show was the best one of the tour [And he was right oops]. They said they'd love to come back, and that he'd love to come back to ["As the Americans say BwAyNoSe AyRaYs"] and that he might look for a house there. (The synth/arpeggiator they use during the instrumental interlude is one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard I hope they release it someday)

• The show ended with Comet Fireworks above the stage.

[ragamuffin-ponies]

I got these commissioned by DreamZ, one of my favorite artists. Please check out her art and engorge her to make more Rarijack content:

Hopefully that link works

This is about to get serious I think. At least as serious as I can get on my fucking Tumblr page called Ragamuffin Ponies 😭

A couple months ago I had an extremely intense anxiety attack because I couldn't find a good profile picture on my fucking discord. I wanted one that was Rainbow Dash but with short hair. I ended up using the following picture

This image was edited and uploaded anonymously to derpibooru. No artist is known. I used ai to upscale the image to HD, it was pretty low quality before.

Even looking at them not to check the sources I can feel my chest tighten. I'm still not sure why I got this way, but it was the catylist to find out why certain things like this have been meeting me feel so terrible for as long as I can remember.

I'm still figuring it out, but I think a lot of it can be chalked up to some sort of gender dysphoria. No I have not talked to my shrink about this yet. Shortly after graduating college I befriended a plethora of trans, nonbinary, or otherwise genderqueer/transexual individuals. It's crazy now quickly people you've never met in person can become such integral parts to your life. One of my favorite aspects of the human existence for sure. Anyway, hearing them talk about their trans experience, especially one of them in particular, I caught myself going "wow I was exactly the same way when I was a kid," or "I've thought the same thing all the time."

I used to be pretty transphobic, and although there is one specific person I've hurt dearly (who I have fully apologized and made up with all these years later) I never went out of my way to harass anyone because I wasn't evil like that, just wrong. I always told myself "yeah I'd rather be a girl but I can't do that because something something biology facts and logic". I have long hair and when I cut it I hated myself. It's not a suprise that when I shave my arms and legs I stop literally making myself sick and my sh desires go away by at least 60%. It's a lot of bullshit that I think most other people would have maybe all picked up on by now, but idk if anyone has.

Now, I'm not trans. There's definitely things I still like about being a guy I think. Genderfluid is a label that I think really fits me, but I'm NOT COMING OUT OKAY? For now I'm still cis. This is all very new we're talking a couple months. It's more like I'm questioning right now.

I really want to reach out to one or more of my trans friends for help, but I'm afraid where to start. Number one I don't want to just vent to them. I definitely don't want to say the wrong thing and trigger or insult them. But most of all I don't want to be a burden.

Also right now my brain wants to just stay in the closet forever. But that's worse than bisexuality, which I only need to hide from my parents and grandparents. With it being my actual gender idk how long I can keep the jig up. Lol I say that like they don't already know I'm bi and it's not just some big dumbass game. Completely by happenstance, I managed to explain what genderfluid was and naturally they were like "wow what kind of world are we living in" and it definitely visibly upset me but I don't think anyone noticed. I just went into my room quickly. And that was months ago, before I was even confident in my self-diagnosis (which again, I'm still not sure about. I might still be cis or I might be something else. No clue bro). So I don't ever tell my parents, okay, then what? I tell my brother? My girlfriend? My irl friends? My internet friends? Random strangers on Tumblr?? I settled on the last one for now. I still need to figure out what the fuck is even happening to me.

I'm glad this is happening when I'm in the safest, just emotionally sound, financially / mentally stable point I've been in in my life though. The timing is great because I can take as long as I want to figure this all out.

PS. I only haven't mentioned it to my gf yet bc idk how the hell she'd react, plus it's all still so new, both my emotions and our relationship. She is VERY gender nonconforming, very butch. Except she is completely cis gendered and straight as an arrow. Plus her being a gender enigma aside (and I am being very presumptuous when I say this) a lot of her friends seem homophobic, although she isn't. Obviously. Don't want to get too far into it bc I don't want to seem judgemental of people I haven't met but I've seen enough to make me already hate two of them maybe three. And that's just through social media and like three conversations. I might try to drop a few hints here and there, because I think if anyone should know it should be her, right?

PPS. I hate the genderfluid pride flag it fucking sucks and genuinely that might be on the cons list. Same reason I'm bisexual instead of pansexual even though I'm actually pansexual, the pansexual flag sucks and the bi flag rocks don't @ me

Anyway DMs are open if you want to help me the fuck out

[measuringbliss]

pretend I'm Jesus and I just woke up after three days in a tomb. did I miss anything funny online. and/or how is the glee rewatch progressing?

Were you in those hurricanes or something? How are you doing?

I don't think you missed anything funny... Sorry I think it's the first time in almost a year I slept for more than 7 hours so I feel a bit groggy hahaha

You missed the Try Guys situation I think! Famous wife guy who made his love for his wife his entire personality was found to have cheated on her with a member of the production. Hijinks ensued (they both got fired).

I finished the first season of my Glee Rewatch yesterday! I don't know when I'll start posting nor at which rate, because there's gonna be a podcast made by two cast members and it's gonna start end of October and I don't know if it's gonna be two episodes a week or whatnot. I thought about posting the ramblings on the same days as the podcast but the more I think about it, the less I think it's a good idea. I'm pretty busy. One post per week? I can do it given that I have 22 posts ready. Two posts per week? It's too risky. Three posts? Nah.

So I think I'll schedule the first post for soon... or maybe today, who knows?

The battle against my university department for our right to use laptops and phones during classes has unfortunately resulted in failure. I broke up with my bf about a week ago and the latest episode of She-Hulk made me tear up and also, dating apps suck.

I'm still not over the sudden temperature change when it happened about three weeks ago! You wake up and suddenly you're just... cold. Oh you want to leave your room and it's not noon? Yeah you'd better wear a hoodie and socks to go to the kitchen.

Oh, I streamed for about an hour where I just did ASMR (mostly whispered) and translated stuff for the class, and was very curious about what answers our teachers would give. Well, one was absent. The other praised me but also questioned my choices which is definitely fair in my book (the validation is always nice!). Had a few moments in class where I wondered what I was even doing there given some... weak answers from a few classmates... but the teacher is good. Mostly.

That was it for the Bliss recap of Bliss Productions! We don't have many funny things to share, unfortunately, but we quite appreciated watching season 3 of Le Visiteur du Futur (The Visitor from the Future) , a French webseries that just released a movie (that was my introduction to the franchise). Every episode has English subtitles and I think they're good! Don't know how a non-French audience would receive that style of humor, but it's very bingeable (there's 4 seasons + a book, each season can be binged in about 2-3 hours I think?). Started as short comedy scenes at first but around ep 4-5 it introduces plot elements and then I was HOOKED (because the show starts in a very different place from the movie). I'm pretty impressed by how they started filming on an old iPhone for 480p quality, and then in S3 you've got full HD 1080p, and then years after S4... a movie sequel was released at the theaters!

Anyway, I hope you're well and I'm hugging you into oblivion. Hmm. Maybe not oblivion. Bliss? Bliss is good.

Wait. Hmm.

I'm sending you a big bar of chocolate! Chocolate is good for our mental health.

[litcityblues]

Doctor Whoquest Returns: The 60th Anniversary Specials

Oh, you thought it was all done, huh? Haven't you learned by now that Doctor Who never really goes away- it just goes into mild hibernation and then comes anew, renewed and ready for more adventures across time and space?

So, here we are again, friends: back for more this time with the 60th Anniversary Specials and a new twist in the Doctor Who-niverse: the House of Mouse has arrived and they've come with money! And you can absolutely tell! (The budget is definitely bigger, the effects more polished-- which I think is a good thing, because with HD and 4K and Super Ultra Duper 4K these days, the rough and ready charm of Doctor Who effects that you could overlook or see-through in the old days when televisions weighed a ton and a half and the picture quality was less than great was getting more and more noticeable.)

I saw some rumblings of discontent with the Disney thing was announced and my only trepidation with all of this is that Disney will somehow not learn the lessons of the MCU and think 'Ooooh, a shiny new franchise' and then drown us all in the firehose of content that will have to diminish returns of quality. Personally, I think both Marvel and Disney have learned their lesson in that regard. Star Wars was trending in that direction but seems to have backed off somewhat, so I'm less concerned about them than I was. More money is good. More possibilities are also good. I'm going to say that this is good and continue in that position until I'm proved wrong.

But, the 60th Anniversary Specials:

Where we left off was Jodi Whittaker regenerating into the 14th Doctor which is all fine, well, and good except for the fact that 14 has 10's face and nobody-- including the Doctor is quite sure why. He lands back in London- for the start of the first special, The Star Beast, where he comes across Donna Noble (Catherine Tate) who does not remember him but has a husband, Shaun (Karl Collins), and a daughter named Rose. (Yasmin Finney) Doctor Who being Doctor Who, an alien ship crashes and the Doctor goes to investigate and soon discovers that Wrarth is in pursuit of something called the Meep (Cecily Fay, voiced by Miriam Margolyes) who in a twist that is really excellent, but you should probably see coming, turns out to be the villain of the special.

In short, the Doctor is forced to reawaken Donna's memories and is expecting her to die-- but with Rose's birth, part of the metacrisis that infected her has now passed onto Rose, making it less fatal for Donna, and together, she and Rose expel the metacrisis and everything's fine- until the Doctor shows Donna his new TARDIS and she spills coffee on something, sending it spinning out of control and to destinations unknown.

(This might be my favorite special. I think it was a really clever way to bring Donna back into the series and the chemistry between Tennant and Tate is unmatched as usual. You can tell Russell T. Davies is back as well because broad hints and foreshadowing begin almost immediately. I know much was made from the 'hurr durr durr woke trans woke' crowd, but the fact that Donna's daughter was trans didn't bother me. It's not unheard of in the modern world and if it makes you feel better, you could also chalk that up to the meta crisis being part of her genetic makeup as well. If you've got memories of being multiple people of multiple genders and don't really know why, how might it manifest in you, a regular human person? My general feeling is that: if it makes sense to the story, I don't care and it made sense for the character and the story, so I don't care.)

The second special, Wild Blue Yonder really showed off the potential of what a Disney budget can do with special effects, but it also leaned into The Doctor + Companion alone on a ship where weird and frankly creepy things start to happen.

After Donna's coffee mishap, they wind up on a ship at the end of the universe and have to figure out what the heck is going on. They find robots and eventually, aliens that appear as doppelgangers of each other and grow and shrink and unhinge their jaws and attempt to eat them and get really, really big and that's a fun plot development where they have to figure out who's real and who's not and The Doctor very nearly goes off with the Not-Donna, but realizes at the last second and swoops back into save her. The doppelgangers are from beyond the Universe and want to escape and get back to where all the exciting stuff is happening- which is in the universe, there, of course, they want to do things like eat people and cause chaos, but eventually, the ship blows up and the Doctor and Donna escape and land back in Camden Mark, where they are greeted by Wilfred Mott (Bernard Cribbens in his final role) who is overjoyed to see them both, but warns them that danger is afoot and they need the Doctor's help to solve it.

Which brings us to the final special, The Giggle.

The Doctor and Donna are taken to UNIT, where they reunite with Kate Lethbridge-Stewart (Jemma Redgrave) and former companion and friend Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford)-- the Doctor determines that the worldwide plague of violence is due to a video from 1925 and soon realizes that it is a very old enemy of his indeed: The Celestial Toymaker (Neil Patrick Harris.)

He traps them both in his domain of twisting mazes and puzzles and eventually the Doctor and The Toymaker play a game of cards, which The Toymaker wins- but the Doctor points out that he won their last meeting, so they're tied and The Toymaker decides on a tiebreaker in the present day and transports them back to the present day where he attacks UNIT and reasons that since he's faced two separate incarnations of the Doctor in the prior two games, he needs to face another and mortal injuries the Doctor with a laser cannon, which triggers his regeneration.

But instead of one Doctor, they split in two.

The Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) teams up with the 14 and challenges the Toymaker to a game of catch which they win, banishing The Toymaker from existence and sealing him in a box which is then confiscated by UNIT.

On the TARDIS, 15 tells 14 he needs to recover from the extensive traumas that his past incarnations have accumulated across their lives- and Donna points out that going back to his old face might be his subconscious way of recognizing that need and tells him to settle down with her family and to retire from traveling. 14 agrees, but doesn't want to leave the TARDIS behind-- but 15, realizing that the Toymaker's rules of play still apply, takes a mallet from the TARDIS and gives the TARDIS a smack to create another TARDIS, which he then flies off with, leaving 14 to settle down with Donna and her family.

Doctor Who gets anniversary specials really well and The Giggle might be the best of the bunch, in terms of the wider franchise. It's a nice call back to the 50th Anniversary special when 11 meets 'The Curator' (Tom Baker) who advises him that he might well be revisiting old faces in the future and this neatly makes that come true AND sets up 14 to gradually become 'The Curator' which is a nice touch. Ncuti Gatwa makes an excellent debut here (we'll discuss his first special in the next installment) and I love the return of Melanie Bush, old companion and UNIT, and the very very deep cut of bringing back The Celestial Toymaker, who hadn't been seen since 1966!

Overall: It's nice to see Doctor Who back and I'm ready for more! If I've got to rank these specials, I'd say:

The Star Beast

The Giggle

Wild Blue Yonder

I will say that all of them are really good in their own way, but I loved the return of the show in The Star Beast and The Giggle neatly answers questions and goes deep into franchise lore to get their villain- which I love! Wild Blue Yonder wasn't bad either and really embraces the weird and creepy, but it just... wasn't as good as the other two.

[dykeyeonjun]

some beomgyu OLS thoughts..

ok first of all i felt CRAZY watching the clip of him leaving the new york radio show mid-interview bc moas were SCRUBBING that vid off the internet when it first happened. truly threatening ppl who were posting it. and now we have hybe including it in full HD 4k quality for all to see lskdfslfskfsl just funny that we have no idea what the company wants at any moment. and that they will exploit moments of weakness cause they know it'll get the ppl talking.

i didn't like that beomgyu's whole bit in the doc was 'im-sick-and-not-feeling-well' it sucked that this was the part of his "personality" we got to see cause beomgyu is so complex and goofy, i really wished we could've seen him in a more lighthearted light!!!!

but don't get me wrong, i am but a human being who loves drama, and yeah i was invested in his whole leaving-mid-concert, getting-out-of-the-car-to-walk and the general 'oh no is beomgyu gonna make it??' question that was floating around his parts.

did not like AT ALL that there was no conclusion?? like lmao suddenly we cut to him goofing around with them, and obv we don't need to know exactly what happened but the bullshit "moa helped me <3" is so eyeroll. but i do believe adrenaline can help a person, but i would've preferred a more serious conclusion of 'hey guys i am healthy and okay now :)"

also just in terms of dynamics.... obv we were seeing this in real time when the tour was happening but it is so crazy that for hanging out with each other during this tour, it was so very much BeomgyuSoobin and TaehyunYeonjun. (kai was floating vaguely between anyone), but those two duos in particular really shone through and it was interesting to see beomgyu go to soobin hyung and taehyun go to yeonjun hyung. does that make sense, idk.

the part where beomgyu leaves the van was wild, my friend and i were yelling at the tv "why aren't any of the other members helping him??? reassuring him??? giving him a hug???" and then beomgyu goes on his whole "i don't like when ppl make a big deal over me" spiel and we were like oh. ok. nvm. thought they were just MEN, incapable of sympathising with each other.

AND the way soobin was like 'i just acted like everything was normal, didn't do anything special to beomgyu' meanwhile beomgyu's over here like 'soobin hyung helped me out so much, i leaned on him, he took such good care of me, he made sure for the rest of the tour i was good' like...soobin...babe....you can admit you tried and made an effort to help someone you care about. it's okay.

anyways in conclusion i love mr beomgyu and his light brown (?) hair with the dark brows was such a good look i love his hair like that, and i love when he's laughing so hard and making jokes, and getting his bangs stuck in soobin's sunglasses.

[sidewalkchemistry]

The Not-Self & Deconditioning in Human Design

Your open centers are not here to make decisions from, they are here for you to become wise. - humanarchetypes.com

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The not-self is made of your open/undefined energy centers. It is where you are receptive to your environment. It has a yin/feminine energy (meanwhile, the closed/defined energy centers constitute a yang/masculine/active energy).

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Q: What is an energy center?

A: An energy center is a "hub" where energetic correspondences of certain biological functions & their related abstract concerns are generated. They are the shapes that are scattered around your chart. There are 9 of them, and they were inspired by the system of chakras. See below to identify which energy center is which:

Q: How do I determine which of my energy centers are open?

A: Open energy centers are white. They aren't colored in like the closed/defined energy centers are. (For example, the depicted chart shows no open energy centers).

-

Q: Why is it important to understand what is not "me"?

A: It helps to bring awareness of where your energy is malleable and inconsistent. It can show where you're open to learn and can use more mindfulness. In the same vein, it also shows where it's unwise to make decisions from because your true self can't be found within those areas (for information on making decisions: see the post on Authorities in HD). There is where we tend to have a curiosity, but it will not necessarily highlight your inner gifts and strengths.

- 

Q: What part does the not-self have in the deconditioning process?

A: Many times, influenced by those around us, we feel that we are to exert energy in the wrong areas. This brings us away from being aligned, fulfilled, and aware of our talents. Since our areas of the not-self are highly susceptible to environmental influence, our deconditioning tends to be most concentrated in these areas/topics. We tend to know of them as "limiting beliefs" or "settling for the bare minimum in life."

-

Q: Instead of allowing limiting beliefs and not-self themes dictate my self-concept and life path, what should I do?

A: You are better to use your authority (your inner guidance) for decision-making, shaped by your strategy. Bottom line: always follow what feels like you're being authentic, not doing something you think you should do.

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Not-Self Themes /VS/ Signatures: dictated by the aura

Certain emotional themes concerning the course of your life can clearly signal to you when you're identifying with your not-self, and thus not serving yourself much good. // Other emotional themes signal when you are aligned with your authentic self.

Generators: frustration // satisfaction

Manifesting Generators: frustration + anger // satisfaction

Manifestors: anger // peace

Projectors: bitterness // success

Reflectors: disappointment // surprise

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Not-Self Strategies /VS/ Refreshed Outlooks: dictated by the open energy centers

Time spent in false ways of being leads to rejection and misunderstanding of who you are and the gifts you hold, so life feels forced and strategized. // Time spent in efforts to embody self-loving perspectives allows you to see your qualities in a new light, so life feels manageable and flows more.

head center: I try to know everything about everything, as if it were actually possible. // I find adventure in life's unknowns and I notice my wisdom emerge in real-time experiences.

ajna center: I try to mask my uncertainties, as I see it as embarrassing to be uncertain. // I am honest about what I know and what I don't. Obstacles are not an "issue." They are part of the path.

throat center: I try to push myself to speak and make things happen, as I want to be sure that I'm heard and make significant influence. // I let myself speak/act when I feel ready since I see that intentional words/actions are powerful, even if they aren't frequent.

g/identity center: I try to center my identity around an image that I believe will bring me love, admiration, and success. // I don't give structure to who I am or where I'm going in life because it's more freeing and authentic.

ego/heart center: I try to look for proof that I am valued and gifted. // I realize that external markers of my worth are nothing compared to the continued reminders of my worth I receive when I commit myself to self-love.

solar plexus/emotional center: I try to avoid intense conflict and emotional situations, as I don't feel empowered or strong enough to communicate myself in those moments. // I notice that conflicts are growth opportunities for my emotional intelligence. I use techniques for energetically protecting and cleansing my emotional self with regularity too.

spleen center: I try to all I can to avoid fearful and unplanned situations, as they throw me into fight-or-flight. // I have become comfortable with spontaneity, when necessary, because I have cultivated understanding in the intelligence and intuition of my body.

sacral center: I try to use high amounts of my energy on a regular basis, as if I can expect to have the same amounts of energy each day. // I create healthy boundaries for my energy so that I don't tire myself out.

root center: I try to counteract the stress in my life in unsustainable ways (often that create more intense forms of stress). // I am conscious that when I feel like seeking out more intensity is often when I actually need rest. I have a set of nourishing and restful practices that I turn to on a regular basis.

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stay tuned for discussion on the energy centers next time

xoxo

[evilwickedme]

What are your film degree opinions on the post about why films are different now?

omg yes thank you for asking there's nothing I love more than talking about Things

I want to be very clear in that this post does have valid points to make. The difference between film and digital is palpable, both in the practical (color grading, the types of blacks and shadows you can capture, etc) and in the psychological (grain being added to digital footage to make it seem more "real"). Practical effects and VFX are not the same and computer generated effects tend to age much more poorly than practical ones. Also, not to be very "Tragic, the worst person you know just made a great point" but the midbudget film is dying, and most of what we get nowadays is either very low budget indie films or overly produced extremely high budget Hollywood blockbusters that are extremely formulaic for the most part. A lot of films are sequels or remakes. The rise of TV - specifically, although not clarified in the original post, the rise of Quality TV(tm) as a genre in the eighties - has impacted the way we view films. Save the Cat was an influential book that created a very specific type of screenwriting that has impacted all of film. It's just...

Well, the post sort of implies that any of this is new. And it really isn't. History repeats itself, and specifically when it comes to film, history has been repeating itself for the entirety of film history.

Let's go claim by claim.

Film v. digital. This is just my personal opinion, but I just don't think this matters much. Certain directors still insist on using actual film, but that film still goes through immense amounts of digital post production. The difference in our mindset regarding this is only palpable/relevant in two contexts: 1. VHS tapes. This video essay by HBomb and Shannon Strucci covers the effect VHS has on us pretty effectively, in my opinion. 2. Late 90s/early 2000s digital cameras, that were simply such low quality that you could not do the same things with them, which created what, in my opinion, is actually a fantastic era of unique filmmaking we simply don't have anymore.

The interesting thing here is that digital filmmaking is yet another step in what has always been happening - filmmaking becoming more and more accessible to the average person. It used to be impossible to shoot movies at all without a full fledged studio. (This is also why the natural lighting claim is BS - studios have been used to film pretty much everything in Hollywood forever, and it is only rarely or in very specific artistic movements that natural lighting was regularly used.) Film cameras were big and loud and for a long time (see Singing in the Rain) you had to have them in a separate room to even film with sound. Eventually the portable film camera was invented - this is in the sixties, more or less - and suddenly entire artistic movements were invented, because they could be. If you can carry a camera around with you, you are capable of making art that was simply impossible to make before, and as those cameras got cheaper and cheaper over the decades, more and more people got access to filmmaking. But film still has a steep learning curve, and it is not at all as accessible as the simple digital camera. And nowadays, many of us have HD cameras capable of high quality filmmaking just sitting in our phones. Digital cameras, although originally pretty terrible for many types of art because they were just... well, bad, are now the most reliable way to make moving pictures as art, because you can do anything with them. They are slightly less capable of capturing certain types of shadows, and honestly, that's not even a relevant concern for many of the professional cameras anymore anyway. Which brings us to...

Effects. After effects - including photoshop and color grading - are as old as film itself. Yes, we've gotten better at them. Yes, practical effects do still age better and don't usually have to be "fixed in post". But the use of digital VFX itself is not an evil. If anything, I think it's a good thing. An iconic story is that the reason Jaws is so scary is that the shark simply stopped working when it came to contact with the water, making it so they had to use very few shots of it, building tension. That's a success story. But how many times have practical effects made life so much worse, so much more dangerous? Everyone on the original Who set hated K-9 cause it malfunctioned constantly. If you can just add a digital explosion, you don't have to risk a forest fire. Do you understand my point? There are positive and negative aspects to both choices. And color grading is fucking critical to making movies watchable, as is audio editing. I cannot express this enough. Do not underestimate the importance of this kind of thing. Good editing makes a film, bad editing breaks it.

I have nothing to say against the death of the midbudget film. It sucks and I hate it.

I have nothing to say against the editing thing, either. Trends come and go when it comes to pacing in the editing room.

But the formulaic nature of Hollywood filmmaking? ... Have any of y'all done any research into Hollywood history? Hollywood has been making sequels and remakes and using the three act structure and five act structure and various other theories for its entire history. One of the first films we have a record of is an adaptation of a moral story that used to be told in slideshows. The original A Star Is Born was made in 1937, and there was a remake in the 50s and the 70s before the remake in 2018. While the term would be used until Jaws in the 70s, movies such as Birth of a Nation (racist propaganda that it is) and Gone with the Wind were absolutely blockbusters by today's standards - adjusted for inflation, Gone with the Wind is literally still the most financially successful movie of all time. Experimental filmmaking has existed alongside blockbusters and formulaic movies, and arguably - very arguably - the Hollywood formula actually predates much of what we think of "artistic film".

Finally, the rise of Quality TV(tm) and tv movies in the eighties was absolutely influential when it comes to how we watch movies but like... so was the television set entering 90% of American households by the late fifties. Films have been getting bigger and (literally!) wider and more colorful and more technologically advanced every single time TV has caught up with it. This is just how film has differentiated itself from television - it's bigger, more bombastic, or - in the other direction - somehow even smaller, more intimate, artistic. TV is called the idiot box (which is such BS btw), but movies were being called trash first, and had to prove themselves an art and not a business way before the TV came along and made life harder for them.

In short, there's very few things that are actually, objectively wrong with the original post. It just implies a variety of things that, in context, are just what film intrinsically is. And while I think we're entering the era of television in general, and I like it that way, there is still value in film as it is. Some of y'all just have nostalgia goggles on and no historical context for why these things happen the way they do. And the second one is not your fault - again, I just got my fucking degree in this shit. But the first one... maybe it's time for you to take those damn goggles off.

[atopfourthwall]

Ive only recently gotten into classic Star Trek so I don't think I can properly answer but what is it specifically about Discovery and recent Star Trek that classic Trek fans hate?

Putting this behind a cut because... it's a lot.

Well, first of all a big rejection of it is just on an aesthetic level. Up until the 2009 movie (which was considered a reboot, even with time travel elements), Star Trek tried to treat the original series and how it was portrayed as pretty sacrosanct. Sure, they might occasionally make jokes about goofier aspects of it and discard some of the stupider stuff (like how in the final episode, penned by Gene Roddenberry himself, that women weren't allowed to Captain starships), but how TOS looked? That's how the 23rd century looked. Buttons and multi-colored outfits and boxy computers and smooth, undetailed ships WAS what was appropriate for the time. When Scotty came back in TNG, they had him on the holodeck and it was the TOS bridge. When DS9 traveled back in time to that era for an episode? They went onto the Enterprise and visited it. When in an Enterprise 2-parter we had a TOS-era ship? It looked like a TOS ship. They even did a 2-parter on Enterprise to explain why Klingons had smooth foreheads when later (and earlier) they didn't. Star Trek up until then cared about maintaining that continuity of appearance. But Discovery is set in the TOS era... but nothing looks like TOS. Even when we got the Enterprise and those uniforms and we saw inside the ship, it was an upgraded form. The only logic I've seen people try to argue about WHY it doesn't look like it actually did was "Well, audiences won't accept something as cheap as TOS being futuristic." Well, then you've got a few responses there: -Don't set in TOS era, then. -That's horseshit, because audiences from the 90s through the 2000s accepted it just fine. Even a piece of dialogue from DS9 explained it perfectly: "I LOVE 23rd century design." It LOOKS cheap, but it was just the aesthetics of the period. And the Enterprise 2-parter it still looked good in HD. Hell, arguably it looked BETTER in HD because they knew how to light it and create mood and its own unique flavor. -It's even more horseshit because people are STILL going back and watching it even today, as indicated by you saying you've started watching it, so clearly it's not that much of a barrier. But what's even more egregious is the TECHNOLOGY. You might be able to accept updated aesthetics if at least matches what was present during the period... and it doesn't. Holographic displays and communication (holodeck technology AT ALL, frankly - it's possible it was there, but TNG seemed pretty adamant that the holodecks were fairly new, very impressive technology), weapons not looking or acting like they traditionally did, Enterprise and Discovery having R2D2-style repair droids that certainly did not exist in TOS, the wrong sound effects being frequently employed, replicator technology for good-looking food instead of food dispensers that gave out marshmallows and cubes, and honestly the tech level shown in Discovery looks just as advanced - if not MORE advanced than seen on TNG 100 years later. And this is a minor thing, but despite the attempt to make the future LOOK futuristic, from a cultural perspective, the future looks... way too damn similar to now. The excessive swearing (it was said in particular in Star Trek 4 that while they certainly did cuss, it was less common and they sure as hell weren't dropping F-bombs), a party on Discovery that looked like a rave (when previously it seemed like the most popular music and culture of the 23rd/24th century was considered fairly high-brow entertainment [classical music, Shakespeare, great works of literature and plays, etc.] - and while you could certainly argue that that snootiness and love of that stuff is a problem with Star Trek and a sign of how sterile and homogenized it is, THAT is the future they presented and a character in Voyager loving some of the goofier parts of 20th century culture like jukeboxes and old sci-fi serials was considered unusual), and just the general way people talk betrays the idea that the writers aren't thinking about how society changes in the future. It's just the modern day, but with cooler technology. But hey, let's set aside the general aesthetics - some people aren't going to mind that and find

ways to handwave away a lot of stuff (even Discovery season 2 TRIED to handwave away stuff like the holographic communications, but did a piss-poor job of it). This brings us to the problem of the WRITING. And the problem with the writing is a big Michael Burnham-shaped indentation. To be clear, I don't mind Michael as a character or her actress - there are interesting aspects to her, centering a Star Trek show around the science officer is a neat idea (though that means you should probably NAME IT AFTER HER and not around the ship, because it suggests this is a standard ensemble group and not JUST her)... but the actual execution is that it feels like the entire universe bends over backwards for HER. She has a unique relationship with a beloved longtime character that is retconned in. She has unique relationships with several important characters to the point where the fate of billions of people hinges on her and the decisions she makes. She is presented as almost always correct about everything, and those that oppose her are often wrong, naïve, or active enemies. Now, this is less of an issue in the third season - but that has its own unique problems - but in the first season, the resolution of two major storylines (mirror universe and the Klingon war) revolves around her and her relationship to the Terran Emperor and Lorca. In season 2, her mother trying to help or save her is the basis of the ENTIRE friggin' plot with time travel and the like, with special knowledge and history having to do with her and everyone ready to abandon their lives for her so she won't be alone when she has to go to the future when arguably they barely know her (the timeline of the show is debatable). Season 3 has a few different problems with her - the first is that she keeps being involved in things that don't concern her (why is she going down to Trill?) and she keeps violating orders. Now, her violating orders is a problem throughout the entirety of Discovery - in fact, it's kind of the instigating factor OF the series. And arguably, other Star Trek characters are guilty of that and they face no consequences, just as she faces none... and yet it's the brazenness with which it happens, and in those other series it's arguable because the series tries to avoid excessive continuity changes for its episodic nature, so the status quo MUST return to normal... but Discovery is pivoted as one of MAJOR continuity, so her lack of consequences (and indeed eventual PROMOTION) is baffling to the point of frustration. Now again, let me be clear here - she is not a bad character in and of herself. Honestly what it shows is that being the science officer on a starship is not where her talents lie. She should be in a position where she has a lot more freedom to act and not in a major command structure... but being in that command structure, what we see in season 3 is that she lacks the discipline, emotional maturity, responsibility, leadership qualities, and general other traits necessary to be a Captain. Only once during season 3 did she display such a quality - putting the safety of the Federation above a friend and colleague... but other times she will happily disobey orders and put herself and others in harm's way, creating potential new problems. Now, again, Star Trek is rife with characters doing that... but usually not the Captains. And, in fact, when this happened once on DS9 with one officer disobeying orders and putting their own personal feelings above the greater responsibility, it was made VERY clear that the incident would mean that they would never be able to command a starship because of the unofficial reprimand. What's even more frustrating about her is that the character is ALWAYS shoved to the forefront so much to the point where we just get sick of her. SHE is the one giving log entries (usually pretty piss-poor ones, at that - very flowery and nonsensical and kind of dumb) and not the Captain. SHE is the one given so much focus and how the plot of the episode affects her. Barely anyone else gets any focus episodes - I STILL can't

remember the names of some of the secondary characters because they're so rarely said, and a PTSD-related plotline in season 3 for one of the secondary characters basically gets resolved OFF-SCREEN. Michael would be fine if we actually had a chance to miss her... but we never do. Arguably one of the best episodes of the show is in season 2, when it focuses on Saru and his people because Michael DOES take a back seat. It's his story and his development and problems relating to him and his people. And even if, again, we forgave the idea of so much focus on her even in plots that aren't about her... she never seems to really change that much. She'll TALK about how she's changed, but I see no real difference in the way she acts (MAYBE season 1 to 2, where in season 1 she was stiffer and more Vulcan-like, but that's it). But hey, let's assume that's not a problem for you - you really, REALLY like Michael and are fine with so much focus on her. Simply put, the writing of the rest of the show... is just kind of dumb. The ship is powered by magic mushrooms that let it teleport everywhere because the universe has super fungus capillaries throughout it that nobody can see and also it's magic and can resurrect the dead. The time travel plot of season 2 doesn't make any sense when you sit down and diagram it. Well-established Trek lore is just kind of sprinkled in, but now in ways that doesn't match what it was before or at least in ways that completely recolor how it's supposed to work, because it needs to serve THIS plot. Everyone remembering a murdererous monster fondly after she leaves because "Hey, she was coooool." The explanation for the big mystery in season 3 is just fricking stupid and one of the two big reasons why I've finally given up on Discovery, because it's just so absurd, doesn't match how anything works, and just feels like the writers giving the middle finger to the audience because they care more about "YOU MUST FEEEEEEL THINGS!" instead of it making sense. And indeed, there is certainly a balance to be made of plot vs. emotion-driven storytelling - some stories are dumb, but are forgivable because the character writing and emotion are so strong that they override how goofy the plot is... but sometimes a plot is just so dumb it overrides anything I'm SUPPOSED to feel. And it would help if I already liked the show, already gave it some benefit of the doubt... but I don't and it hasn't done enough to impress me. A little thing that's a problem with ALL of current modern Trek shows is that whole sprinkling lore thing - I don't think a single episode goes by in ANY current modern Trek series that doesn't have a random reference to classic Trek lore. A name, a line of dialogue, etc. It comes across like the creators don't trust you to enjoy it on its own merits, but want you to like it because "Hey, remember thing? We know about thing! Like us because we mentioned thing!" But hey, I recognize that these are things that other people may not have any problem with or just disagree in general. But for me and my family, these are the big ones that keep us from enjoying it. Hell, my brother and dad still watch it for hatewatching purposes, but I was done after season 3. I gave it plenty of chances to impress me, and while each season MARGINALLY got better as it went along, I'm tired of waiting to actually like it and to stop feeling like it thinks I'm a fucking idiot. If other people still like it, great - it clearly appeals to them in a way that it doesn't appeal to me and they are free to enjoy it. Other people probably have their own issues, but this long, rambly bit is the major stuff for me.

[ursifors]

i think they announce it because they want attention/to feel important, first and foremost, but also because they're running out of "gamer groups" to watch. rt has made a genuine effort to be inclusive in recent years but they're not the only ones and i think some of the more conservative fans have realized that many of the other non-rt-affiliated groups also have a ky or a fiona or a lindsay, or an alfredo, or a mica, so to speak.

and in a really horrific way, i can see why they announce the fact that they're leaving, because it's the only path forwards to them. they don't want to actually stop watching rt and look for other people to watch, but they also don't want to watch fiona/ky/lindsay/whoever.

i went OFF in this post and it's so long so i'm gonna readmore this shit because i rambled

well yeah for some people it's that but i also think a big part of it is a lot of fans - ESPECIALLY people with first memberships - think they are entitled to tell RTAH and affiliates what direction to go with content, and get infuriated when the content isn't what they specifically want. it's funny to me in a way because i don't know how someone can be so self centered that they don't understand that this production company does not create content specifically for them, but for themselves and anyone who may happen to enjoy that content, and that a handful of people whining on reddit isn't going to make them go back to how videos were made in 2013.

it's almost always "golden era" people as well, because they can't accept that the company has grown and changed over the years and is continuing to do so and you have to either grow and change with it or find something else to watch.

imo these are also the people who don't understand how vital the post team is to AH specifically and how much work goes into editing and posting the content.

i see a lot of people complaining about the streams and how they don't like them or they hate watching the VODs because they aren't HD quality and it's so bizarre to me like if that is all you have to complain about in your life really get a reality check. i don't watch the streams either usually because i'm busy at that time of the day or i just don't care to - but i'll watch the VOD if it's a game i particularly like or am interested in and never once has the thought "wow this is so low quality its unwatchable" ever crossed my mind. but also, if they make content i don't wanna watch that's fine????? as a fan who has been around since 2013 i have NEVER been someone who watches every AH video. a lot of the games i don't find interesting or i don't have the time. i still don't watch TTT because i just don't like it. but i've never been like ugh they should stop making TTT and do something else. they love playing TTT and a lot of people enjoy those videos. i just don't watch them? it's so simple idk man i just wish some people had some fucking sense.

[lochsides]

Red (Taylor's Version) Review

We made it folks! Red (Taylor's Version) is out and it is the best thing to happen to me all year, so thank you for that Taylor.

Let me tell you, when she posted that Red would be the next set of re-recordings that we would receive, perhaps I stopped functioning. I was going through a very hard time when she made the announcement and that alone provided me with so much comfort in my sadness. I think that sort of accurately describes what Red is as an album. It has been my favourite Taylor album and one of my favourite albums ever since its release in 2012. I didn't know it was possible to love this album any more than I already did. Then we got Taylor's Version.

I will be honest, it took a few listens to adjust to the differences in Taylor's Version compared with the 2012 recordings. She changed or added small elements to the production of a lot of these tracks, which is really interesting to me. It really does feel like a "new/old autumn heartbreak album", in Taylor's own words. Her vocal quality has obviously improved in the last 9 years but that isn't the only difference in vocals. She made a few different vocal delivery choices to what she had in the original recordings. I think that overall, Taylor's Version is somehow both more sonically cohesive than the original was, but also self-aware that this is not meant to be a sonically cohesive album. I don't know how she made both of those feelings co-exist on Red (Taylor's Version), but it just goes to show her mastery of her craft.

And masterful this version is. Red was a defining moment in Taylor's career. It was when, in my not at all biased opinion, she started making her best music. I am so glad we have this version. The Vault tracks are beautiful. I think Nothing Newis my initial favourite among them. The 10 minute version of All Too Well is so special. My thoughts on all 30 tracks have been included below the cut, if you're interested.

Listening to Red (Taylor's Version) and writing this review reminded me why I admire her so much as an artist and why I fell in love with her music in the first place. The connection Taylor has to her fans through her music is rare. I wish I could personally congratulate her on this one.

State of Grace — The production on State of Grace really sets the tone of the album and I loved what she did with Taylor's Version. The snare is sharper, the instrumentation feels tighter. Her vocal control really shines on this track and it's belting moments. I love this song and she did so good by it. It's like a HD version of the original recording.

Red — Her vocal placement on this version is so beautiful. She sounds like she's closer to the mic on the verses and it really works with the dynamics of the song. The quality is crisp throughout the production, instrumentation and her vocals. It's so cool to sit here and pick out these nuances and then listen to the song as a whole and realise that it actually sounds the same though. Her little alterations blend so seamlessly into the existing framework of the song. It's very impressive.

Treacherous — Treacherous has been my favourite Taylor song for almost a decade now so when I say I am intimately familiar with this song, I don’t think you understand exactly what I mean. Let me try to articulate by telling you all the subtle differences that make Taylor’s Version even better without losing what the song originally was. The first thing I noticed was the really cool accentuated drums that give the song a much fuller sound. The production is so clean and the way she sings “I like it” is absolutely silky and it’s so good. Her improved vocal quality really takes it to the next level. The backing “oh”s on the second bridge sound more punctuated to me. All of that was balanced by the authentic replication of the tone of the song and maintaining the rhythm. I got chills listening to Treacherous (Taylor’s Version). Can I say it’s a new favourite song if it’s still the same actual song?

I Knew You Were Trouble — I easily liked this version of IKYWT better than the 2012 recording. Her vocals have improved so much. There is a smoothness supplied by her control. The “oh”s are more even and less screechy. There's this really faint, slightly delayed echo on the verses but it's set way back and it creates a bigger space for the song to exist in. I think that dimensionality really improves the quality of the song. It makes for a better listening experience, which is great because I love this song and now I can enjoy it even more.

All Too Well — All Too Well was one of the most faithful adaptations to Taylor’s Version. The song is perfection as is but the maturity of her 2021 vocal adds more warmth to the track. I’m glad this is such a close replication because the relationship we as a fanbase have to this song is rare and it would’ve been a shame to make changes to something so special. I never thought that All Too Well would be considered a kind song but my God, after listening to the 10 minute version, who would’ve thought.

22 — We got "who's Taylor Swift anyway? ew" (Taylor's Version)! I love that for us and her. She sounds like she's having so much fun with this recording but there is something about the production that sounds really different but in like a same song but even more celebratory way. The percussion is definitely more defined.

I Almost Do — Another very faithful recreation. I Almost Do is an under-appreciated gem on this album. Taylor’s vocal performance is stronger in this version, if only for the “oh” at the start of the bridge that emotes so much. Her control on the long notes is seamless. The production is similar on the whole, but there is a clarity to the guitar and an overall refinement that just elevates the song.

We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together — I was a little conflicted listening to WANEGBT because this is actually a really good version of the song, better even. The production is tighter on this version and her voice is stronger, except for the “we-eee” that I just can’t get behind. It sounds off with the rest of the song. I think she attempted to smooth out the delivery but it worked better punctuated. It's not off-putting to the point where it hinders the experience of listening to the song, but if you're actively listening and you pick up on it, you'll notice it for the rest of the play.

Stay Stay Stay — Her voice sounds so much more mature on this version, the difference is palpable. Her vocal is lower. The drums also sound fuller on Taylor's Version but the rest of it is mostly similar. The production is somehow better but I don't know why it's better. It could just be an improvement in the quality of recording equipment. I think the layering also sounds better on this version because of her vocal quality. Listening to her recreate the giggle followed by "it's so fun" put a smile on my face because from the way she says it, you can tell she really means it.

The Last Time — When do you think you know a song too well? Does the snare sounding different on one version count? What about changes in production intensity, the build up to the chorus sounding more dramatic in the best way? Asking for a friend. I feel like Taylor's vocals are set further back than in the original. She also added some production elements in her verse that sound different so it might be that. I still think this song is absolute excellence though. Gary Lightbody did a great job recreating the same tone. Their voices sound really good together. My only gripe is the lack of vocal inflection at the end of the song, because in the original that added so much more emotion.

Holy Ground — Whatever she did here, I love it. I feel like the rhythm is more pronounced in this version. The drums sound great and we know how important those drums are on this song. The additional ad-libs she added give it more dimension. I do feel like it's a fraction slower but that might just be me. Holy Ground has always been and will always be a top-tier Red song.

Sad Beautiful Tragic — This is an instance of excellent replication on better recording equipment. The instruments sound clearer. The production right at the start of the song sounds more atmospheric by extending that train sound into the opening notes of the guitar line. The production as a whole is so much cleaner. The maturity of her vocal really lends itself to the sombre feeling of the song. It took me a few listens to pick up on it but now I'm obsessed with the decision to only have a single vocal on the verses. It feels more impactful. And then the very soft harmony in the chorus to create some dynamics. It really makes you pay attention to her lyrics. Sad Beautiful Tragic has one of my all-time favourite Taylor lyrics, "you've got your demons and darling they all look like me." I just wanted to say that. The last chorus builds so gorgeously and adds an element of drama. Taylor's Version ends more abruptly, but I think that might be intentional. Like the mourning period might drag out but the relationship just ended.

The Lucky One — The Lucky One hits different after the reputation era, if you know, you know. It hits different after hearing Nothing New too. I think it goes hand-in-hand with Nothing New. The way both songs talk about the entertainment industry, the music industry, and its (mis)treatment of women just makes it more impactful on Red (Taylor's Version). The sound and production quality is better. Literally the only complaint I have is that she cut one of the "oh"s at the end short. I love this song so much.

Everything Has Changed — Oh her voice sounds so rich and warm here and it works so well on this song. I felt like Taylor and Ed’s harmony sounded a little disjoint. It’s another really close listen thing. I didn’t notice it as much when I wasn’t actively listening for changes. The drums on this version have more oomph to them. I love the way Ed sang the word “walls.” I absolutely adore the chant of “everything has changed” in the last chorus. It’s so fun.

Starlight — The production on Starlight is definitely elevated and she was only able to do that because her vocals can carry it off. She moves so effortlessly between different vocal techniques on this track. I loved that the electric guitar is just going off on that last chorus. The instruments sound much clearer on Taylor's Version. This is a great rendition and I'm so happy with the choices she made. I love Starlight and there was a lot of room for her to disappoint but she made it better.

Begin Again —I got chills as soon as she started singing. Her vocal placement is closer on this version and it sounds so good. The instrumental is clean and defined. The recording quality feels better, but Begin Again still feels wholesome and delicate. Improved but not changed, not really anyway. I'm constantly impressed by how she did that throughout the album.

The Moment I Knew — This is one of her strongest re-records. She managed to capture the essence and emotion of the song and its original sound but take all of that to another plane of existence. The Moment I Knew has to be one of the saddest songs she has written. The subtle additions she made to the production (defined drums on the chorus, that really cool shaky-underwater sound in the background of the second verse) accentuate the vulnerability of the track. She did such a beautiful job with this.

Come Back... Be Here — I couldn't figure out why this version of the song feels so much brighter than the original. The difference is actually in the tone or feeling of the song rather than the sound. She sounds happier. The addition of those drums in the second verse that are perfect to clap along to give a fuller sound.

Girl At Home — Girl At Home (Taylor's Version) is not even trying to the be the same song as the original, and good for her. This is obviously the most startling difference, production-wise. This is a pop song. Girl At Home always felt somewhat incomplete to me and maybe this was why. I think my initial thoughts are that I like Taylor's Version better.

State of Grace (Acoustic Version) — I have always loved this rendition of State of Grace and I’m so glad she didn't make any noticeable changes to it. Her vocal is so controlled and the sound quality has improved but this is a very beautiful recreation of the original.

Ronan — Ronan is simply the most heartbreaking song on the album. It's not up for debate. It's just a fact. I get chills and misty-eyed every time I listen to this song. It physically hurts my heart. I won't be commenting on anything other than how beautifully her vocal sounds sits on this version. The maturity of her voice makes it hit that much harder.

Better Man — I love her version of Better Man. The delivery choices in the second verse and bridge are so good. The production is so! good! The strings coming in and adding that tension. Aaron Dessner treated this song with such. care in the production. It emphasises her lyrics. Liz and Caitlin on backing vocals was a throwback, and a lovely one at that. I can't believe this didn't make the cut for the original Red album or the deluxe edition.

Nothing New — Phoebe got an actual verse! It's a proper duet!! I knew this song would cut me deep as soon as I read the lyrics from her (Lover) journal entry. The way this song talks about ageing and womanhood, particularly in the entertainment industry, is so honest and heartbreaking. I connected it to when Taylor was talking about making music while people will still tolerate her success as she was turning 30 in Miss Americana. In a similar vein, I connect it to her Woman of the Decade speech, where she talked about female artists constantly having to re-invent themselves as part of this fear of being unwanted if you're nothing new. And then I think about how she actively went against all that when she decided to make evermore. She was done trying to be something new with each album cycle. And now she's literally re-releasing old music. There's a lot to unpack with this song. The lyrics are so achingly relatable. "How did I go from growing up to breaking down?"

Babe — Taylor's Version of Babe is so bright. I am absolutely obsessed with the"what about your promises?" in the backing. It's so catchy and all you have to do to make me fall in love with production on any song is including a brass instrument and the trumpet on Babe is everything! Jack Antonoff killed it on this production.

Message In A Bottle — To be honest, I'm just not feeling Message In A Bottle. I know that's an unpopular opinion. Her vocals are so smooth and the upbeat, dance-pop sound sound is definitely catchy but it's just not my jam. Learning that Elvira produced this made so much sense, it's definitely her style. I'm glad Taylor is working with female producers.

I Bet You Think About Me — Anyone writing this song off because its 'too country' missed the whole point and is also missing out on the fun of exaggeratedly singing along to this. It's a blast. I knew that I Bet You Think About Me would be country, given the Chris Stapelton feature, but even this song is so intentionally over-the-top country that its hilarious. I love how sharp and sassy it is.

Forever Winter — Remember what I said about brass instruments? All I have to say is trumpet and sax!!! The production is so clean and effortless. The lyrics are so beautiful and sentimental. One of the first thoughts I had about Forever Winter was that it's like another perspective on Renegade. I love that she included such an irrefutable mental health song on her sad heartbreak album. And that she did it from a perspective of reassurance. And with those magical airy vocals too. She sounds incredible.

Run — Oh the harmonies in this song are transcendental. It actually took me a few listens to even really hear the lyrics, which rare occurrence for me, because I was so taken away by their vocals. Run is such a pretty song and it is criminal how good they sound together. The lyrics are so hopeful and present a sense of commitment, but I think my favourite line is when Taylor sings "this thing was a shot in the dark." For all the talk of running away together and being in love, she's taking a chance on them and placing her trust in them. I can completely see why Ed was hyping this song up so hard. Aaron is a master at restraint and this production was perfectly and beautifully refined. This song is magic.

The Very First Night — This is that a classic pop sound that Taylor has down packed. It’s a very bouncy song, if that makes sense. This production feels like Jack Antonoff. I love the bass. It’s a reflective song about the rush of a new relationship. It’s romantic and exciting and the production and the rhythm reflect that. Now I’m not saying this is a Haylor song but I’m also not not saying that, you know?

All Too Well (10 Minute Version) — I seriously considered writing a whole separate essay for the 10 minute version of All Too Well, that should give you some indication of how strongly I feel about this song. Guys, the rage listening to Taylor sing about their age gap, I want to end him! I understand why she believes this will be the new standard. This production is lovely, argue with the wall. There is this beautiful haunting quality to it. She and Jack put drugs in the outro. The lyrics are powerful. I mean she said "you kept me like a secret but I kept you like an oath" and "the idea you had of me, who was she?" and "check the pulse and come back swearing its the same after 3 months in the grave" and I could go on and on. The way she changed up the pacing and dynamics throughout, for a very impactful and engaging listen was sheer brilliance. One of the most powerful instances is how she cuts back all the instrumental on “it’s supposed to be fun, turning 21.” She lets you feel the impact of that line and the connection to The Moment I Knew. I think the best part of this song, however, is that it doesn't feel too long or dragged out. With a song this long, it can always run that risk but of course Taylor Swift knows how to make a 10 minute song sound like its the perfect length. Of course Taylor Swift knows how to make a 10 minute song that you want to play on repeat. I think at its core, All Too Well (10 Minute Version) is the kind of raw truth that wrecks you. We get a much fuller picture of the severity of that heartbreak and the toxicity of that relationship. I am serious, I want to fight that man. I will do a whole other post, maybe an edit, about all the parallels in this song to the rest of the album and her discography. She is a remarkable songwriter.

[xiaoxiongmaos]

those iconic moments are like ICONIC i think i've seen all of them except for the eunsang one. my favourite iconic moments and the first ones that popped into my head are soobin's "bye guys hi ladies muah" and sunghoon's tiktok video that went viral recently. those moments live in my head rent free. i literally cannot get them out of my head.

and, yeah the cgi in monster was very startling and i have a physical reaction every time i see it.

i'm so sorry that she's left and her favourite group disbanded 😕 and i don't take any offence either!! i know i'm not her because this is my first time writing publicly on tumblr, and none of my favourite groups have disbanded so far.

ooo!!! idk if it's because i don't understand giffiing or because the giffing i see on my dash is so high quality, but if there were a tumblr hierarchy i think giffers should be on top, besides graphics creators and artists. they're constantly keeping up with new content, and giffing all of it in HD (sometimes 4k) with good colouring (even when the original doesn't have good colouring) and i'm just like WOW. i know i could never do it and i respect the grind fr. so, i respect you for doing that, making graphics, AND making fanart at the same time. speaking of fanart, i saw your recent felix one and i am BLOWN away. like, how?? knowing that your canvas was once empty and you managed to produce THAT out of it is literally like... my mind is blown.

ooo yes, i'm picky with who i read too. when it comes to a little read here & there, the quality of the writing doesn't matter much to me. but when it comes to reading longer fics, there are only a few writers who can captivate my attention for THAT long, you know? please don't apologise for studying!! i've been busy myself these days (which is why this is SUPER late), so i completely understand.

and tysm!! your reassurances have definitely broken me out of my shell, and i'm more than ready for the reveal soon! thank you SO much for the reccs! i've noted them down so i will definitely listen to them sometime soon.

today's mission was to give me a playlist, but you've already given me a playlist of recs so now all we have to do is wait for monday! sorry for all of this, but i'm super excited for the reveal! - 🗝 anon

Hello anon, hope you’re doing good!

Ah, how could I forget that… it’s really such a cute and funny vid to watch! Sunghoon’s tiktok? I don’t recall seeing any of his recent ones so I’ll check it out!

Ooh yeah the continuous wait for frames to finish rendering; that’s a pain. But it’s overshadowed by the nice tags people leave after reblogging or some sweet asks; really makes it worth it. Thank you so much, that’s legitimately so sweet of you to say <3 it took a while because it was the first time in a while but seeing the positive response makes my heart happy!

I prefer series over drabbles so I usually have to look for writers whose diction I vibe with and I have found three (used to be a bit more but unfortunately, quite a few left) that are such! I also am kinda selective about genres I read, mostly it’s angst/thrillers/crime but a little slice of life or fantasy here and there doesn’t hurt. I generally don’t like really fluffy or romantic ones— I’m the kind of person who wants the plot to be interesting and read more of what’s happening outside of someone’s love life; same with movies and dramas! Oh and I avoid nsfw like the plague. If you would like to check them out: @/maatryoshkaa (her serial killer au is amazing, I kid you not! Really made me fall in love with her kdrama-esque writing and she’s got a cute highschool series going on for the soft crowd), @/yeonjuncore (one of the most eloquent writers ever; pick up any piece from her and you won’t stop until you’ve finished it —and sometimes are left yearning for more— she has nsfw stuff but was kind enough to help me blacklist tags for them! I’d recommend checking out the stuff she wrote for a halloween special last year, it has some real gold hidden in the nooks and crannies) & @/angelictaehyun (I only recent started reading her stuff and was done with almost all of her Taehyun fics in the span of a day. Her wording has a prim and proper feel to it, but it’s also not awkwardly professional? She writes shorter stuff, at least compared to what I’m used to, but most of her works are cute and really keep your emotions engaged).

No problem! Is it okay if I still make a playlist for you? I’m more of a feel-good, summery and sweet songs kinda person generally —but I like a ton of different genres too haha— so that’s kinda the theme of the playlist (I sprinkled in a couple of non-kpop/kdrama tracks too)!

The feeling’s mutual; I’m really excited to meet you off anon too~ hope you have a lovely day and that you’re doing well!