#but its a new year so i thought meh why not start with everyones first piece right off the bat?

[cherrysodabear]

🩷I need you more than anything in my life🩵

[melancholysway]

hi!! i ummm wanna make a request for tk7 leo falling for a silly reader?? you know that kind of person who's doing silly things to the point of exasperation? but only leo thinks that way, everybody else is "meh" (originally i was thinking about donnie, but i think leo fits more in this... idk) anyway! have a good day!!!

hi! I hope this is what you were looking for or some degree of it! I tried a lot with this one lol

i also hc 2007 lovessssss dark humor idk why but its very fitting

TMNT Imagines: 2007!Leonardo x Reader: Comedic Genius

If its someone in this entire tmnt movie who needs to laugh- ITS LEONARDO

Because that man is so serious it irks me 

Yes he has his lil laugh here and there but no

NO

So  a funny s/o is something he needs

It’s an absolute must

You click with Mikey a lot, constantly joking around with each other and fucking around with Raph to the point where you had to hide from him for a few 

In the beginning, everyone seriously thought MIKEY would be in a relationship first, with the way you bounced off each other so well

But let’s be honest, there can only be one extremely funny person in the relationship before you both tire yourselves out

Plus, you never actually see Mikey like that. He’s a fun annoying little brother to you

Now, you had your eyes on Leo

Who, in the beginning, did not have his eyes on you. 

When he first meets you, he’s kind, because that’s the kind of turtle he is

It’s actually Leonardo that saves you in the beginning- as he decides to divide and conquer patrol that particular night, and he (just in the knick of time,) saves you from being cornered by a few gang members demanding money

He doesn’t reveal himself, but you’re joking about the situation and he can’t help but ask how you can be so unserious in such a serious situation

“I must really be the main character, huh?”

You’re right. You ARE the main character. 

You make Leo chuckle for the first time, and when the rest of his brothers find him, Mikey can’t help but befriend you.

It’s not everyday they become friends with such an accepting human, and if you were being honest, you’ve seen uglier things in New York City. 

Big turtles were nothing

You develop a crush on Leo after a couple of months of being friends with the turtles. It may be that you became attracted to his endearing savior complex, or that he was seriously cheesy, or that his dad jokes were absolute shit that only made Splinter laugh a few times here and there, but whatever it was you fell for it.

You keep this crush on the DL, not even telling your good friend Mikey- Lord knows that boy has a big ass mouth

Anyway, Leonardo.

He��s not so good at being funny? It’s not really his thing

He’s honestly not sure, he thinks that he’s changed ever since coming back from his training. 

Because a lot of the jokes you say don’t really phase him. If anything, he finds it slightly…irritating?

He’s endured Donnie’s strategically timed sarcasm, Raph’s dark humor, and Mikey’s shenanigans for years, but after all this time, he doesn’t really know where he lies on the funny scale.

Maybe it’s because he’s not that funny himself, but like Mikey and sometimes Donnie, your joke timing can be really…bad. 

Like a “read the room” type of bad. 

Mikey for one, loves your sense of humor. Donnie is unfazed most of the time, but throws in a laugh here and there. Raph is into some dark humor, so honestly, light humor or jokes don’t really hit his funny bone.

A lot of your shenanigans happen with Mikey, actually. It starts with pranking Raph, which does in fact make Leo laugh a bit. When you put his red masks in the dryer with white sheets, causing his masks to become pink. Or when you replace his protein powder with flour. Yeah, you make his life slightly miserable in those moments.

Leo endures your jokes, antics, anything that you do for a while. Until he…starts to become slightly dependent on it?

Like, he can’t go a day or two without you coming down to the lair with a new gimmick or one-liner to tell (although Raphael takes the cake for having the best one-liners,)

He thinks you have a crush on Mikey, until he makes a striking realization thanks to Donnie

“You do realize Y/n’s joking around so much to try and make you laugh or impress you, right?”

“No?”

“No? Next time they make a joke, see who the first person they look at right after.”

So, he does. And he realizes it’s him. You look at Leo for some sort of satisfaction or approval if you make him chuckle or even crack a smile. It’s not often, but when it happens, it’s seriously rewarding.

So, he tries to lighten up. Stop becoming irritated from the fact that you want to impress him with your humor

Wait, you want to impress him.

You like him

He comes to that realization when meditating one day. He’s thinking about what Donnie said and your mannerisms and how you blush when he talks to you and-

Bingo! 

He just had to make sure. He’s never had anyone have romantic feelings for him before. He confides in Mikey. Big mistake.

“I don’t know but I can find out dude!” Mikey says despite Leo’s protests. He wants it to be on the DL.

It’s most definitely not on the DL. Mikey straight up asks you one day. 

“So like, are you in love with Leo?” 

He reports back to Leo that yes, you like him. The way you stumbled on your words from the sudden question, to the way you didn’t shoot down the idea and say ‘no.’ You like him

He admires you, appreciates you more. You actually like Leo- a mutant turtle. 

So he falls for you. He finds your jokes funny, the countless Raph pranks, your unique laugh- everything. 

“Mikey, why’d you ask me that? The Leo thing.” Although a few weeks back, Mikey remembers clear as day. 

“Oh! Because Leo asked me to.” Lie…kind of. He didn’t actually ask Mikey…but he did insinuate that he wanted to find out. 

Mikey also cannot keep his mouth shut. 

You just look at your friend dumbfounded, wondering why Leo wanted to know. Until he walks by and glances at you, smiling. 

“I think he likes you.” Mikey whispers (attempts to whisper)

So, you muster up the courage one day, and corner him. Like a little mouse in the dojo (no offense Splinter)

“Hey! Um…do you like, like me or something? I’m just asking…for scientific purposes.”

Leo is taken aback. He didn’t actually think you would straight up ask him if he had feelings for you. But, he likes it. He likes that you had enough courage to ask. It’s admirable. 

“Well…yes.”

“I mean more than-” “More than friends, Y/n.”

“What is it? Is it my elite humor perhaps? Huh? Huhhhh?? Don’t be shy, tell me!”

“A little bit of everything, actually.” 

He likes you for you. How silly you can be. How you became good friends with his little brother, making Mikey’s life a lot more comical. How you always come down to the Lair and spend time with them, trying to make them laugh. The Raph pranks. Oh my goodness, Leo loves the Raph pranks (don’t tell Raph this btw) How cute you are. It’s everything. 

“Is this the part where we kiss like in a low-budget Hallmark movie?” You muse, and it makes Leo chuckle. “I think it is, Y/n.” Leo’s never kissed anyone before, so this is his first. But it can’t be that hard. It’s in human nature to know how to kiss, it’s natural. So, he leans in while you do the same, finally connecting your lips in a soft kiss. 

You love it. Leo loves it. Mikey’s cheering in the back after stalking for a few, ready to tell the others and start joking and making kissy noises while he does. 

//

Taglist:

@bee-1n-space

Masterlist

[plounce]

as someone whos played ffxiv for almost 8 years now i gotta say its SO exciting to see youve started playing. i really enjoy seeing you talking about trc and kurofai (unfortunately i know absolutely nothing about xmen so it goes right over my head) and so im excited to see any thoughts you have about the ffxiv story and characters!

HEEHEEHEE. most of my ffxivposting has been in a thread on my twt priv, but after the recent botslaughter im gonna try and move it over here.

im at the beginning of stormblood. here are my thoughts:

as i said previously, in ARR i was very meh on alphinaud. i have a grudge against his ARR va (due to critical role), i was like "WHY are we starting a PARAMILITARY ORG", and i was kind of like hey. im playing a 6ft tall elf lady with a huge axe. you fancy little twerp dont boss me around. the end of ARR was soooo crazy and good though, really kicked the plot into gear for me, and those cutscenes were like WHOA!! OMG THE GUY FROM THE BEGINNING CUTSCENE... and in heavensward he became my little boy. because he basically reversed all the things i didnt really like about him. new VA. constant regret and shame about the crystal braves. and everyone was like awww hahaha youre a nice little boy. and he is. he is a boy. and he's polite. and he got a new outfit that covered his midriff, which i appreciated.

minfillia... im sorry. her VA was so insanely bad. and i never really DID anything with her that made me feel attached to her. she felt very bland and generic. i was like okay cool 👍 see ya. i also think her outfit was so blaaaahhhh like it gave me girl next door final fantasy character, NOT leader of an NGO, which would have been more appealing to me.

y'shtola: one of my mutuals is constantly posting her very cute WoL/yshtola fanart and i thought i would like a bit more than i presently do... i like her! i just feel like she hasnt gotten to do very much that isnt going "hmm.. aether." i think it's delightful that she shares a VA with sera from dragon age. bitches with bangs 4 lesbians

urianger: when i first saw urianger i was aghast. i was like. PEOPLE ARE HORNY FOR THAT THING? but now that ive seen more of his shb/edw outfit im like aha i see. you have gender. you're either like "do not perceiveth me" or "dripping with gold in a lightweight backless gown". i really enjoyed his undercover outfit with the WoD. i don't think he did anything wrong. he was like "yeah i did lie to everyone and help manipulate events to send minfilia to a different data center. i feel absolutely awful about it, i wish my trolley problem principles had not made me deceiveth thou all, i am a horrible villain, pray do not feel compelled to forgive me" and i was like nah youre good 👍 like she isnt DEAD. plus he always tried to help me a little bit when he could. i like his funny voice. i like how in ARR he was voiced by fenris dragonage. take those goggles and hood off again mx tism

tataru: if lalafells didn't look like that. i would be shipping my WoL with her. i think she is so cute and fun and a delight. she is a joy. my girl JUGGLES!!!!! she makes OUTFITS!!!!!!!!! she has A KETTLE WITH A FANCY NAME!!!!!!!!!! and she works so hard. im so glad she got to come with us to ishgard. she is my joy. my light...

thancred: i have heard tell that he really leaves behind his initial lothario characterization, and i really have not seen it in forever, which made ARR thancred perfectly fine to me. i was prepared for him to be much more egregious. i wish i knew him a bit better before he got possessed. i was like oh okay! yeah i guess i havent seen him in a while. which made me sad because i love possession storylines i think they are so juicy. his ponytail and rattee (like a ratstache but a goatee) are funny to me. thancred nakey images were funny. there was a moment towards the end of hvw when he came back and i talked to him in ishgard between convos with nobles and he said stuff that was very commiserating and i was like okay i have decided you and my WoL are complaining friends. sipping the haterade together. i think he's like 5'7". like with alphinaud, the character development in this game has really surprised me with how effective it feels. i look forward to seeing him grimly yet compassionately fail forward even more. and to be a single dad. aforementioned mutual (who i know through klapollo) is into thancred/urianger so im also looking forward to confining them into the yaoi compartment

cid: HE IS MY FRIEND :) i love how he's a short king. i like how he was simply like "fascism and imperialism are bad. i am going to go fight against it by building big airships :)" no qualms no struggle just knew what was right and went and did it. he's like a gay older coworker who you go out for drinks with sometimes and invites you to barbeques. i enjoy him and nero's turbodivorce saga.

alisaie: i completely forgot to do all the bahamut raids in ARR so when she showed up post-hvw i was like oh it's time for the girltwin! and she was like "oh we've worked together already :)" and i was like oh god. we only had one conversation. oops. so far i think she's a delight. i have heard that she's a bit of a lesbo. good for her. love that she gets a sword and she gets to be the mean one of the two twins. i cant wait for her little red jacket. looking forward to more >:)

krile: have not seen much of her so far but i LOVE how she has a cloak with cat ears, so cute. LOVE how she teases alphinaud. im like yes... shared character history... quite fun...

ysayle: I LOVE YOU DRAGON ELSAGARD I LOVE YOUUUUUU BIIIIIIIIITCH... I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU. i love her style. i love her political convictions. i love her gap moe with the moogles. i think my WoL had a crush on her. i think it's messed up that during the scene where the WoL and alphinaud are prying the eyes off of estinien, she touches alphinaud's hand. she should be touching MY HAND!!!!!!!!!!!! all love to haurchefaunt but I BONDED WITH HER.

estinien: i know many people like estinien. every time he spoke a word at ysayle i felt like a barking like her guard dog. DONT YOU SPEAK TO MY GIRL IN THAT TONE YOU BROODYBOY SMELLMAN. SHUT UP. i assume he softens up now that he is retired from All That. i thought his relationship with alphinaud was very sweet - i liked when he taught alphinaud how to gather firewood. i think my WoL only tolerates estinien because alphinaud is so attached.

haurchefant: i was still barely reading dialogue in ARR when he was introduced. so he showed up and was like OMG HI AGAIN BESTIE!!!!!! and i was like oh! that man! one of my friends is gaymarried to him so he's like my gay brother-in-law. i am a lesbian and my WoL is also a lesbian so we were hagging/tyking (dyke tyke) out with each other. the facial animation on the WoL when he croaks was astoundingly good. i call him horsey

aymeric: well he certainly is competent, principled, and nice. one of the more handsome elezen men in the game. i know he's implied playersexual so i really need him to stop inviting me to dinner because i have had conversations with dude friends like that before and it is so painfully awkward. i think it is great that he committed fratricide AND popecide. wahoo!

lyse: i really enjoyed yda. yknow. i thought she was such a fun cockney karate bimbo. i didn't know she was lyse. i've heard about lyse. and how she is conspicuously the only blonde blue-eyed ala mhigan. and how she is a source of some of the collar-tugging politics in stormblood. sigh. so. i am now burdened with her.

raubahn: I LOVE RAUBAHNNNNNNNNNN I LOVE HIMMMM i love how he has a small adult son. i love how he is trying so hard. i love how he is so righteous and hardworking. the misery lolorito and ilberd put him through during hvw made me so mad on his behalf. when lolorito was like "oh, how we laughed at how upset you were!" i was like RAUBAHN. HE IS THE PERFECT HEIGHT FOR YOU TO JUST PUNT ACROSS THE TOWN SQUARE. PUNT HIM RAUBAHN. YOU DESERVE IT. and i love a one-armed king. kurogane swag

lucia: i think she is cool and fun. hahaha dont potentially be in love with aymeric queen youre so hot and cool and butch

matoya: SHE'S SO COOL. I LOVE HER DESIGN. HER VOICE ACTING. AND HER RUDENESS. AND OF COURSE THE FROGS

moenbryda: i thought she was so fun and cool. i was like cool!! new character!! big funny woman i love it!! and then near bluefog she dished about her childhood a little and i was like... is that a deathflag. and it was :(

okay thats all the npcs i can think to have anything to say about.

i was pleasantly surprised by the way that lalafells are not the lolibait/shotabait i had grimly prepared for them to be. they are just short funny guys for the most part. moving past that, i then got slammed into by the giant brick that says "BEAST TRIBES". i heard that the new writer has made their writing a lot better (apparently the alliance leaders acknowledge that they have been basically been doing genocide on these sentient beings, which is helping me push forward through stuff)! i do their quests really regularly because i like helping them out. i would really love to see someone with more expertise on the subject write about the presentation of indigenous peoples in ffxiv, because i think that there is a lot going on that is vital to critically inspect.

i have to go eat dinner now. but i will try to post more thoughts on here as i have them >:)

[kitausu]

Kit's MM *Spicy* Book Rec List

Because I need basically zero encouragement to make a book rec list, and @thepixiepaige mentioned that a rec list would be appreciated, here is a rec list of some of my favorite MM spicy books that I've read in the last few years.

*Note: Please check content/trigger warnings as needed. Not all, or even most, of these will be everyone's cup of tea. Many contain kink, age gaps, and some contain sibling relationships.*

Cara Dee's The Game series

Forever and always my go to spicy rec. This series has me by the throat and there's just so many of them and they're all amazing! There are currently 16 and counting...

The Game Series is a BDSM series where romance meets the reality of kink. Sometimes we fall for someone we don’t match with, sometimes vanilla business gets in the way of kinky pleasure, and sometimes we have to compromise and push ourselves to overcome trauma and insecurities. No matter what, two things are certain. This is not a perfect world, and life never turns out the way you planned.

Other Cara Dee Books

Nora Phoenix's The White House Men series, Perfect Hands series, and Kinky Boys series

Nora Phoenix is often hit or miss for me. Sometimes I love the books (like the ones pictured here) and sometimes they're a little meh. She writes daddy kink though in a way that consistently hits, so if that's your thing, these three are excellent reads and can be mostly read as standalones (although The White House Men series less so)

Avon Gale's Scoring Chances series

Below is the blurb for the first book. Each series deals with different players on the team. This is my go to hockey romance and I read all of these SO quickly.

Drafted to play for the Jacksonville Sea Storm, an NHL affiliate, twenty-year-old Lane Courtnall’s future looks bright, apart from the awkwardness he feels as a gay man playing on a minor league hockey team. He's put his foot in his mouth a few times and alienated his teammates. Then, during a rivalry game, Lane throws off his gloves against Jared Shore, enforcer for the Savannah Renegades. It’s a strange way to begin a relationship.   Jared’s been playing minor league hockey for most of his career. He’s bisexual and doesn’t care if anyone knows. But he’s determined to avoid another love affair after the last one left him devastated. Out of nowhere a one-nighter with rookie Lane Courtnall gives him second thoughts. Lane reminds Jared why he loves the game and why love might be worth the risk. In turn, Jared hopes to show Lane how to be comfortable with himself on and off the ice. But they’re at different points in their careers, and both men will have to decide what they value most.

N.R. Walker's Thomas Elkin trilogy

Each book is only about 100ish pages, so really this is just one book broken up into three parts. Just very sweet and indulgent and architecture as a setting feels very unusual!

Even the strongest of buildings start out as plans on paper, and every architect knows that sometimes plans need to change. Sometimes, these lessons are learned on the job. A successful New York architect, Thomas Elkin almost has it all. Coming out as gay and ending his marriage before his fortieth birthday, he needed to start living his life. Now, four years later, with his relationship with his son back on track, and after a few short-lived romances, this esteemed traditional draftsman thought he knew everything about architecture, about life. Cooper Jones, twenty-two years old, is about to take the architect world by storm. Talented, professional, driven, and completely infuriating, Cooper is the definition of Generation Y. Starting an internship working with Thomas, Cooper is about to knock Tom’s world off its axis. Tom can teach Cooper about the industry, but Cooper is about to teach Tom a few things about life.

Annabeth Albert's Out of Uniform series

Listen, I wouldn't rec a Navy SEAL series if it wasn't great, and these are GREAT. The blurb here is for the first one, but I loved them all.

After trading the barracks for a fixer-upper rental, navy SEAL Zack Nelson wants peace, not a roommate—especially not Pike, who sees things about Zack he most wants to hide. Pike’s flirting puts virgin Zack on edge. And the questions Pike’s arrival would spark from Zack’s teammates about his own sexuality? Nope. Not going there. But Zack can’t refuse. Pike Reynolds knows there won’t be a warm welcome in his new home. What can he say? He’s an acquired taste. But he needs this chance to get his life together. Also, teasing the uptight SEAL will be hella fun. Still, Pike has to tread carefully; he’s had his fill of tourists in the past, and he can’t risk his heart on another, not even one as hot, as built—and, okay, yeah, as adorable—as Zack. Living with Pike crumbles Zack’s restraint and fuels his curiosity. He discovers how well they fit together in bed…in the shower…in the hallway… He needs Pike more than he could have imagined, yet he doesn’t know how to be the man Pike deserves.

Keira Andrews

Another author who is often hit or miss for me, but these are really fun! She does the age gap romance that I crave.

Specific Books

All of these are standalones, although many are part of a "series," and all of them are kinky and spicy af.

[xsoulxsilencex]

So the spoiler summaries for ep 38-39 + ep 40 title dropped...

I’ve already seen some reactions to those spoilers and well... let me say, I’m probably in the minority by not being that thrilled about them.

First of all, the ep 39 spoiler: This is probably the most interesting since it’s titled The Boy from the Future and said boy is the one who gave Yudias his duel disk and some packs. That title and the summary heavily imply now that it’s really Ohdo Yuga who will show up to help Yudias to defeat Luge since him being from the future would make sense considering how outdated lots of things seem in Mutsuba Town and instead of landing in an alternate universe, he actually managed to time travel after his final duel with Otes. But would that mean that all the characters people initially thought to be descendants of the Sevens cast and later simply variants are actually ancestors now?

If Future Boy is truly Ohdo Yuga (there’s still a little bit of doubt in me about that) then I’m kinda annoyed. Don’t get me wrong, I love Yuga but him being in Go Rush and even dueling Luge is just making everyone focus on him now. I was already rather meh about how Go Rush has so many characters sort of based on Sevens characters so it felt like it’s not really standing on its own feet but has to rely on its predecessor somehow. Now if Yuga is there and not some variant of him, it’s even worse imo. I know we were all curious where Yuga was in those two years and maybe Go Rush is really gonna explain that. But now, most people will just care what’s happening with him next and how he will find a way going back home. Maybe arc 4 will be all about Yudias and co. getting to know Yuga better and helping him return to his time. Tbh, I do hope that Yuga is gone after arc 4 because I wished we would focus more on the actual Go Rush main cast for once and not someone who “looks related” to a Sevens character. We still have no idea about who attacks Velgear. My guess is that those people (or maybe it’s just one mighty being) are maybe revealed as silhouettes at the end of ep 52, similar to how the Goha Siblings were introduced at the end of Sevens ep 52. The last thing I would want is them introduced in the very last arc of Go Rush.

Btw: I feel bad for Yuna considering what’s happening in episode 39. I wasn’t a huge fan of her during arc 2 because of her attitude and her fangirl behaviour whenever Rovian was around. But in the current arc, she kinda redeemed herself in my eyes since not only the fangirl behaviour was done less (maybe because Rovian is iced rn *cough*) but she actually tried to find a way to defeat Luge. She first asked Yuga to make a card that is powerful enough to do that, went to Asaka to ask her to make a new Fusion since Nyandestar had the first one and when Asaka refused, she decided to make Fusion herself. Even when her first attempt failed, she wanted to continue until she’s successful instead of just giving up already and that’s admirable. She also showed concern for Mbembe when she saw that Luge is gonna show him what’s in the box and that will freeze him like Rovian.

Yuna tag dueling with Yudias against Luge and not Yudias doing that alone is pretty cool so it hurts me more to read how something weird will happen with her so Yuga has not only to save her but also take her place in the duel. Come on, we have a relevant girl character dueling with the main protag against the current main antag and then she gets replaced because the writers rather want the Sevens main protag next to the Go Rush main protag? Why couldn’t they just wait until Yudias and Yuna defeated Luge to properly introduce Yuga? Why do they have to make Yuna suddenly unable to duel so Yuga jumps in to help Yudias? Idk how many people will even care since a lot are probably more excited to see Yuga duel but I just feel bad for Yuna.

Episode 40 seems to be something dojo-related based on the title? Looks like another easy start for a new arc. I just hope we are done with Sevens variants/ancestors/whatever and don’t introduce more of them.

And I just noticed how none of the spoilers mention Zwijo (or Yuhi) so whether he won or lost is still a mystery. But I doubt he just stands there and watches the arc final duel so he likely is gone after ep 37.

[sheikahwarriork]

Even though Hopes was actually not very good compared to Houses; we gotta appreciate how it mixed up a lot of things and brought a breath of new life to the fandom and I am forever thankful for it even if the rest was not the best for many charcters, what do you think about it?

hi anon, thank you for the ask! oh boy where do i start-

first of all, you should know i LOVE musou games. i love smashing those buttons and defeating hundreds of eniemies. so, when they announced three hopes, i was THRILLED.

but maybe my expectations were a bit too high.

(spoilers about all the routes and endings)

i think the story is fine, but it could have been much better. i like shez, no, i love shez as a character: theyre silly but strong, determinated and yet loving. i like that theyre dubbed, i like their quirky and yet silly comments, i like how they flirt with some characters and yet are completely clueless, and the female VA did a WONDERFUL job. also, i simply ADORE arval. theyre so sassy i always laugh when arval says anything. the dynamic between shez and arval is written better than the one between byleth and sothis imo. (i love sothis too, but i feel her relationship with byleth needed more screentime)

but shez has a problem. (well, actually two.) the first problem is that shez isnt byleth. shez works well with the majority of the cast, but not with the three lords (a bit better with edelgard but still meh). shez's presence in the war doesnt make much sense as byleth's one did in three houses: the fucking school closed like two WEEKS after the lords met shez, they didnt have the time to bond and to know each others as byleth did (cuz, yk, byleth was their fucking teacher for a year). so, even if i like shez A LOT, their presence in fódlan war seems a bit off to me. i wish shez was in a different game overall.

the second, big problem of shez, is that we get to know almost nothing about their past. but this is a writing problem, not of the character themselves. i wanted to know who their mother was, why they are arval's vessel. RIP dlc i guess

about the three routes:

azure gleam: oh boy. OH BOY. the most disappointing of all. i LOVED the first part, for it explores much better all the kingdom's issues and we get more informations about the tragedy of duscur. but, "and then?". i'm gonna be honest dear anon: i dont remember much about the second part of azure gleam, just this big sense of disappointment. i'm actually re-playing it right now, so maybe i'll be back here in a few weeks. anyway, i do remember liking the fact you can save jeritza here tho, mercie deserves her little brother back!

scarlet blaze: the exact opposite of my thoughts about AG: scarlet blaze is a GREAT black eagles route. dont get me wrong, i liked crimson flower (its actually my second fav route of three houses), but being it the shortest one i always felt it was missing something, aka the fight against TWSITD (since, yk, we dont fight them in CF, they just defeat them offscreen in the ending cards. wtf). and in scarlet blaze we got it!!! also edelgard is better written in SB: shes still resolute and yet willing to *not* kill almost everyone on fódlan (i have Opinions about the ending of CF but another time). i never liked how edelgard sides with TWSITD in three houses, and im glad she didnt in SB. i mean, lets kill those bastards gurl!!!!!

golden wildfire: LMAO. ok i must admit i have a big problem: i dont like the golden deers (as a house; i like some of them alone, like marianne and lysithea), and claude is my least favourite lord, and i think verdant wind is the worst route of all three houses. so, GW was the last one i played. aaaaand. it is better than VW! i liked how claude allied with edelgard to defeat the church! i liked how claude is a little bastard plotter in there! as for AG, i think the first part of the route is much better than the second part (if you dont recruit byleth, judith dies in a dumb way just like rodrigue..... claude-routes-dont-copy-other-route's-things challenge). overall, i think GW is much better than VW, bc i think VW i just a weak copy of silver snow (sorry claude)

about the supports overall: some are cute and i like how we get supports between characters that didnt have ones in three houses, like bernadetta and marianne, or bernadetta and dimitri, or ashe and flayn.

and at last we've come to the elephant in the room.... byleth. how did they treat byleth in my opinion? short answer: terrible. long answer: terrible, because byleth doesnt have supports (except for shez and jeralt ikik). like WTF!!!!! give me supports with the lords, at least! let me see the byleth in this timeline, where they arent a professor, where their father isnt dead!!!! and why did they make byleth the ENEMY?? and we can recruit them too late in the game! GIVE ME MY PROFESSOR BACK-

the (one sided) rivalry between shez and byleth doesnt make any sense. "ohh the ashen demon killed my merc company >:[" says shez, just to admit five minutes later that they didnt really care about that company. and yes, okay, shez wants to prove everyone (themselves included) theyre stronger than byleth. thats fine. but here too, shez lets the matter drops too fast. "i will be stronger i will kill youuuuu- oh wait the lord wants you to join our side of the war. guess we're bestie now!". most of the time (before we actually recruit byleth) i get the feeling shez doesnt really give a fuck about the ashen demon, and this could have been okay, IF THEIR RIVALRY WASNT THE POINT OF ALL THE TRAILERS???????? their relationship is not explored well. shez's initial resentment doesnt make any sense bc THEY THEMSELVES say they really didnt care about the company. SO, if even the new protagonist, who was supposed to hate byleth, doesnt actually hate byleth, why make byleth the antagonist in the first place? why do we have to fight byleth? just to have a different fódlan story?¿?¿?

and i'll shut up about how they treated my dimileth in the game. you dont want to open this pandora's box dear anon.

so, the summary is: the gameplay is great bc i love musou games. the additions to the lore are pretty cool. i like that claude has his own original route that makes sense, and that edelgard got a much better written route. byleth deserved better. SHEZ! is fantastic, and arval is one of my fav character of all fódlan games. also i think arval and sothis should kiss

thank you anon for the ask, i enjoyed writing my thoughts on three hopes! hope i didnt bore you to death lmao

[courageous-princess]

Uncertain Guardian AU

Because I saw a lot of people making AUs of Legends Arceus so I decided to make one myself! Get ready for me to dump a ton of head canons and ideas. Haven fun, I'm not sure how much of this I'll post here or if I'll just put the stuff to come on Ao3. Meh *shrugs* Also I'm still unsure about the name of this AU, might change it.

Prelude beach was quiet, with only the gentle lapping of the waves and the distant cry of sea birds to stave off true silence. It was different from the near-constant commotion of Jubilife village as people went about their day living their life. It was nice to be away from all the noise, the peaceful serenity of the beach offered a secluded place to relax. Commander Kamado was dedicated to the village and its people, but even he needed a break from it all every now and then.

His eyes traced Braviary as it cut lazy circles through the air, dipping and diving in the early evening wind above the water. Behind his, securely on the shore, Golem and Snorlax basked in the evening sunlight, enjoying the last bits of sunlight before nightfall. Beside him, enjoying the light as it dyed the water orange and gold, Clefable shared a comfortable silence with him. It wasn’t often he could let his Pokémon free like this; most of the village was still wary of the mystical creatures of any kind, and with the exception of Clefable, most of his companions were big and intimidation.

Golem, Clefable, and Snorlax had been by his side since the beginning; traveling with him to Hisui from their former home in Hoenn. He’d acquired Braviary soon after setting up Jubilife, catching the now large and magnificent bird as a tiny Rufflet. At the time, the little bird had challenged him, and earned his respect despite how one-sided the battle had been. Braviary had easily settled in among his pokémon, becoming just as stalwart and dependable as the rest. Such nostalgia had him reminiscing about the rest of his companions; the determined and brave geodude Golem has started out as, the lazy and gluttonous munchlax that was now his Snorlax (still a glutton, but more slow and patient than lazy), and the scared little cleffa he’d saved that was now his wise Clefable. They were all his trusted confidants, they had been at his side when the village had been razed to the ground all those years ago, and there were here now as he started life anew.

Kamado frowned as his eyes were drawn to the space-time rift, a gaping wound above the peak of towering Mount Coronet. That rip in the sky hadn’t been there when they first arrived to this new land, and its appearance had sent everyone, both the villagers and the native Hisuians, into a panic. Time had dulled the fear into a low paranoia that most ignored; why stress about something that had yet to affect your daily life? As the leader of his people, Kamado didn’t have such luxury, and it became one of the many pressing issues that dwelled in his mind. They knew not how or why the rift had formed, only that it had broken apart the sky one day with no warning. Whoever or whatever had made the first was powerful, that much was apparent.

The question now was if said creature were friend or foe.

He sighed, shaking his head to chase away such nagging thoughts. This was supposed to be a brief respite from his duties and fears, not a chance to dredge up worries. Enough of his time was spent on that already. He gave the first one last look, preparing to turn and make his way back to the village when, something happened. Kamado’s eyes widened with dread as the rift flashed white, energy surging beyond its depth. Braviary cried out a warning, feathered crest standing up. Golem and Snorlax rose up, catching the sky above the towering mountain wearily. At his side, Clefable squeaked in concern and pressed her pink body close to his leg. He watched wearily, ready to call breviary to his side and mount the bird at a moment’s notice.

Light ignited from the rift, followed by the sight of something like a falling star being expelled from its depths. He watched intently as the thing flew towards him, body leaned low to spring into action should the situation demand it. The falling glob of slight slowed in it’s decent as it neared the beach, before eventually pausing just above the lapping surface of the water. The blinding light flickered, then gave out. A figure previously hidden by the light was dropped into the water. The person didn’t resurface.

Without thinking, Kamado dove off the pier into the briny depths. The water was cold and weighed his heavy kimono down, but despite it he saw to where a dark shadow bobbed against the churning surface. He pulled them close, mind shuddering as he felt how thin and light they were, before attempting to return to shore. Thankfully he didn’t have to fight against the ocean’s tides alone. After seeing his master dive in, Snorlax had followed him in his plight. The large beast was a much stronger swimmer than he was, despite its size and bulk. Snorlax’s white claws gripped the sodden material of his kimono as it pulled them all to shore. When his sandals finally touched shore, Kamado hoisted the person he’d just saved securely into his arms, and then nearly dripped them when he finally saw who he’d just saved; a young girl. She was dressed in thin, strange clothes that he’d never seen before; her dark hair plastered to her pale face as she shivered from the cold. She looked to be about Rei’s age; sporting the thin lanky lips of a child transitioning into adulthood.

He grimaced at the situation he’d found himself in.

Previous experience told him to drop the girl and leave her fate to nature. He’d seen with his own eyes that she’d fallen from the space-time rift, and that alone had alarm bells going off in his mind. But the other side of him raised its hackles at the thought of leaving a child for dead. A traitorous part of him reminded him of a fact he’d rather not remember. Sighing, he released a short, shrill whistle telling his pokémon to follow, and began the walk back to the village. Even if it was the wiser thing to do, he couldn’t leave her on the beach. The medical corps would see to her.

Kamado ignored the blatant stars as he trudged through the village, pokémon close at his heels. Thankfully, their presence served to keep the villagers at bay, though he could hear their murmuring to each other in hushed voices.

“Kamado- What in the blazes!” Beni cried. The green haired man rushed over to him from his restaurant and gave him a questioning look.

“I found this girl in the water while visiting prelude beach, I’m taking her to the medical corps for treatment.” He explained, voice soft enough so that only his friend could hear.

Beni nodded, content enough with that explanation. There would be time later for his old friend to interrogate him, when he wasn’t soaked to the skin and hefting a half-drowned girl in his arms. Snorlax shoved the doors to Galaxy Hall and held them open for him. Members of the Galaxy Team watched in bewildered shock as he entered and walked over to the medical bay, dripping salt water in his wake.

“How can I- dear heaven! What happened to you and who is the girl?” Pesselle gasped, pink eyes darting between him and the unconscious girl in his arms.

“I’m fine, just a little wet. I had to dive into the ocean to save this girl from drowning. I don’t know who she is, or where she hales from. She was already unconscious.” Kamado explained. “I leave her in your care, I’ll talk to her when she wakes up.”

The medical corps’ captain nodded and signaled for one of the other members to come and relieve him of his ‘cargo’. He watched for a short time as the girl was laid on one of the beds. Pesselle barked to another member to get her a set of dry clothes that would fit the girl, and to make sure that had the necessary medicine in case she caught a fever. Certain that the girl would be cared for, Kamado slipped out from the medical bay. He needed to return his pokémon to their balls, even among the Galaxy Team most people were weary of his pokémon.

“It seems you had an eventful evening.” A cool voice commented behind him.

Kamado nodded at Cyllene, after slipping the red and white spheres beck into the folds of his cloths, acknowledging the woman’s presence. The cyan haired woman stared at him; face pulled into that stern expression of hers as usual. Her office was right next to the medical bay, and faced the front entrance, so he wasn’t surprised to see she’d noticed the commotion.

“I heard you found her in the bay of Prelude beach” Cyllene continued.

“That I did,” He confirmed. “I spotted her, and dove in without thinking.”

Cyllene hummed, thoughtful. “What do you intend to do with her?”

“For now, I’ll let the medical corps do their work. When she awakes, I will giver her a choice based on what I come to learn of her. If she is a good and decent person, I’ll put her to work as part of the Galaxy Team.”

His subordinate nodded. “We can always use more hands. Rei will be happy to have a peer his own age.” She agreed. They boy was currently their youngest member.

Kamado nodded, then turned and left. He was now becoming acutely aware of just how uncomfortable a soggy kimono was. The weight pulled at his skin and sapped the warmth from his body. If he didn’t change now, Beni would descend upon him and force him to correct the issue. The last thing he needed was to give the green haired man more reason to doubt his capabilities to car for himself. The man was a worrywart at the best of times as it was.

“Eat.” Beni commanded, placing the still steaming plate of potato mochi on his desk. The man had arrived in his office with the meal soon after he’d changed into dry clothes. Kamado hadn’t missed the glint in his friend’s eye.

It was pointless to try and argue with his friend. Kamado gripped the chopsticks that had been provided and delicately grabbed one of the mochi and placed it in his mouth. The heat stung a bit as he chewed the squishy ball, savoring the earthy flavor before swallowing. Finished, he reached for another, slowly eating his meal under Beni’s watchful eye. His friend purposefully waited for him to finish eating before doing what he’d come here to do.

“Alright, what aren’t you telling the rest of the Galaxy Team about the girl. I saw that look in your eye, something happened when you found her.” Beni demanded. His friend was never one to beat around the bush.

He was also the only person Kamado truly trusted. The one person he would tell what he saw to.

“She came from the rift.” He didn’t bother explaining further.

Beni paled. “You’re sure?”

Kamado snorted. “I watched her fall with my own eyes. The rift spat her out in a glowing light, and that’s when she fell into the ocean. I almost left her there.” The last part came out in a whisper.

“…She looked to be about Rei’s age.” Was all Beni said in reply. He knew better than any what emotions raged withing Kamado’s mind. “So, what will you do with her?”

“After she awakes, I’ll have her tell me who she is and where she’s from. I’ll keep an eye on her, have her work as a member of the Galaxy Team. That’s all I can do. I won’t let history repeat itself.”

Beni hummed. If the green haired man had issue with his plan, he didn’t voice them. For as much as the fact their girl had come from beyond the rift unnerved him, there were more pressing maters to attend to. Unless she turned out to be a threat to the village, they could leave her be for now.

[ddarker-dreams]

FINALLY SOMEONE SAID THE TRUTH.

I admit that i enjoyed act 3 but it feels like really rushed i have so much complain with that.

The build up until act 2 was so good it give us so much premise but the final blow si meh. Sorry that i want to share thing long rant with you

1. Why the final talk is with yae, no offense to her but we need ei to explain not to mention she witness khaenriah downfall so she can give us more information, i feel like they do it for the plot armor so they can just keep dragging this

2. So many things that quite inconsistant, the shogun is show no mercy to anyone that even did a little thing outside what she think its right, how come she can still have a talk with signora, when sara is falling like that, and also there is no clarification about sara right now.

The traveler was so done at first they refuse to help thoma and ayaka at the beginning. But they seem so happy and forget everything how come they are not RAGE ( okay maybe this is to bias and personal) when this nation provide nothing about our siblings information and also why they are not mention anything about their problem in ei stroy quest. Its nonsense! She is right in front of youu, ask about your siblings, ask about khaenriah, ask about ukmown god!!. How come they can just forget like that. Also mihoyo really waste the potential about twin things i thing ei will give us so much help bcs of the sympathy that we both rn lost our twin but noooo.

3. Kokomi seem lost some brain cell, she make a very succesfull grand intro but she become meh in act 3, how come a great strategist like her let the sus sponsorship slip just bcs they are desperate, not to mention her screen time is really small and her role seem so unsignificant and it feels lile she is a plain npc.

4. The awesome world quest that we have done doesnt get any mention at all! Inazuma owe us so much with cleansing sakura, thunder sakura, tatarigami, obarashi quest. It has so much potential that yae or ei or anyone else aknowledge what traveler has been done but nooo.

cracks knuckles... i suppose it's time for my promised dissertation. interestingly enough, you touched on a lot of the main issues i had with chapter III.

i think that if i had to pin the main issue, it's a lack of overall cohesiveness? we were jumping all over the place without the chance to ever flesh things out. inazuma is a smaller cast, but i feel like we didn't get to see any of them shine. since i'm most interested in the genshin characters, i'll break down my problems by going over everyone and their (lack) of impact on the story.

was ayaka not questioned or placed under suspicion for being close to thoma before his escape? i wanted to see her broken up over her duties as they relate to the yashiro commission, paired with having someone she genuinely cares about in danger. it would've been an interesting struggle if she was forced to choose one or the other. instead she just kinda took a back seat.

speaking of thoma, i don't even have anything to say, because he just... was there? for .0001 seconds. said "lol this sucks ig" and that's about it. i know we're going to get a story for him in the future since he's a 5* but i'm not getting my hopes up 😭 then in the raiden shogun's character story, man is peachy keen! be upset with the raiden shogun! have some inner conflict! even if it's just using loaded language because he's under surveillance for going against the raiden shogun, that'd be so cool. saying something like,

"Traveler, what's with that expression? Oh please, there's nothing to worry about. We're under the Statue of the Omnipresent God's protection. Nothing bad has ever happened here." *wink*

i also don't know what to say about gorou. he was... there....... i think. what is he fighting for? what are the stakes for him? what makes him place so much trust into kokomi? i'm out of things to say about him because i don't remember anything he did or said.

kokomi... oh kokomi... i was so hyped. so excited. i thought that maybe we could see a foil to the raiden shogun. that she'd have a moment where she's forced to realize, just like her opponent, sacrifices must be made that will hurt people who will never understand why she made them. or maybe something to show her military prowess. but instead she just accepts a mysterious patron's help (?), sees her people aging like the grateful dead from JJBA, and goes oh well. that sucks. what can ya do. oh bye traveler i guess, good luck with that. ????????????? HUH... similar case to thoma where she's gonna get a character story but like. she won't be the leader of the resistance anymore. that was her whole shtick. they took her shtick away. also she forced me to interact with more NPCs whose names i've already forgotten so i'm tilted about that still.

KUJOU SARA... AN INJUSTICE. A DISGRACE. a slap to my woman loving face. the build up was there. yae miko's comments about sara probably knowing the tenryou commission is involved in shady dealings, but is choosing not to think about it. sara being forced to confront reality and challenge her adopted father with the truth. being able to blaze a new path for herself in the process. when she started running to the raiden shogun i was ultra hyped up. sara, a devotee to the shogun for so long, was about to see her god interacting with the same people who led inazuma to this awful state. how would she react? would she stay ignorant, like yae miko so coyly said, choosing to look away in favor of following her god's footsteps? or would she be forced to recognize the raiden shogun isn't as divine as she once thought, and challenge her belief system?

we open the door to see the raiden shogun. the loading screen ensues. the camera pans to the ominous room, clouded in darkness, hinting at the ominous confrontation that is to come. the music takes a serious timbre. and then...

well fuck that potential character arc i guess. (we still don't know what sara made of any of this since she poofed out of existence from the story at this point)

kazuha also was handed a similar treatment. we've been with him for a while longer now. he is our introduction into inazuma, the one who first gets us emotionally involved by regaling us with the bittersweet tale of friendship that led him to becoming a wanted criminal. a kind soul who loves nature yet was dealt a cruel hand by fate, forced to watch his home nation turn into a hostile place, where his dear friend ultimately perished as a result. we get the scene with his friend's vision lighting back up. he parries a block from the raiden shogun, in the same area where his friend was killed by her. the parallels. the drama. except this time, he wasn't too late. he protected the traveler where he "failed" to protect his friend in the past. did he feel redemption at this? or was it a bittersweet reminder of what could've been?

WELL i guess we'll never know because we didn't get to talk to him again 😭 idk who got a bait and switch worse, him or sara. jesus christ mihoyo.

then we have signora. why is the raiden shogun talking to her? does she know about the gnosis being taken, and if she doesn't, what was her plan to get it from the archon? what does she think about scaramouche? and oh, okay, we're fighting here now. good fight + god tier music. pog pog. okay, now we've beaten her up, and raiden shogun wyd— wait no not signora her lore is still on CUPS not YET raiden shogun and— ah she's dead. okay. non nerds who didn't read artifact lore are going to know nothing about her. signora has such an interesting story, and yet... well. ok.

then we get raiden shogun redemption (?) arc. i was hype for this as well, though at that point, idk why i bothered being hype. i knew they were gonna do a cute power of friendship something or another, and i'm good with that, so long as it's executed well. what i was envisioning was like seven different buffs to correspond with the seven different visions, the dreams of those whose ambitions were stolen serving as the spear to penetrate the raiden shogun's heart of stone. maybe a hydro vision giving us extra healing for a time, with the voice acting over it being like,

"Even if the rest of the world forgets us, let our will carry you through this one final time. Succeed where we couldn't, Traveler."

so on and so forth.

but instead we got— you get the idea at this point. why bother spelling it out anymore.

at that point i was surprised the raiden shogun didn't go "oopsie woopsie!! we made a fucky wucky!!!" because that was the vibe i was getting. i love ei, don't get me wrong, but i wanted to see her challenged with what she had done to inazuma in the past year. maybe meeting NPC #2345259 who lost her sister to the vision decree or something, reminding ei of the love she held for her sister... being forced to come to terms with the extent of what she's done in pursuit of eternity.

anyway. please for the love of god mihoyo hire better writers for the main story. that is all i ask. thank you.

[souichioneshots]

Souichi x Farmer!Reader

Souichi goes to visit one of his oldest farmer friends for some straw. In return, he makes her a voodoo doll and things get a litttlleee steamy

ahaha idk lol

Souichi heavily breathed through his mouth as he continued to walk down the treeless path. The summer sun shining down on him was making him sweat bullets, and having a large leather satchel cling to his body was starting to make him feel sick.

“Why does she have to live so far away…” Souichi mumbled to himself as he wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Passing a couple more rice fields, a large Japanese-style cottage finally came into view. It was surrounded by a couple of mango trees and 2 PVC greenhouses. He could see from the outside that they were once again filled completely with strawberries and tomatoes.

As he approached the house, he realized that all of the cars were gone. He thought for a second that he came all this way for nothing, but then he heard a familiar voice echoing in the distance.

“Kuro! Way to me! Shiro! Lie down! Hairo! Lie down!!” Souichi quickly made his way to the back of the house, where the voice was coming from.

As he pushed past a large bush, he finally saw you. You had been herding a large trip of white-tan goats and your 3 dogs, Kuro, Shiro, and Hairo were also doing their best to keep the goats in place.

“Y/N!” Souichi called out from a distance, getting your attention.

“Hmm? Souichi!!” You turned around and called back, jumping slightly in the air.

Souichi laughed as the goats also turned in his direction and let out a little “meh” sound as a greeting.

“Give me a second. I’ll be done in a bit.”

Souichi watched from under the shade of a tree as you continued to order your dogs to do their job.

You and Souichi had been friends for as long as he could remember. It was actually his grandmother who introduced him to you when he was younger. She used to get straw and other ritualistic material from your family when she practiced magick, and now he was getting stuff from you as well.

Today, he had come for his usual satchel fill of straw, and anything else you would give him as a gift. You loved to give him gifts. From fresh rice, to mangos, and even white strawberries.

Everyone in the town knew your family used magick because there was no way mangos nor white strawberries could grow in the weather conditions this part of Japan had to offer.

“Sorry for the wait!” You held onto your straw hat as you ran up to the boy. “We actually built a new barn last week for the straw. It’s this way.”

Getting up from his spot, Souichi walked with you to a small open barn located on the other side of your house.

“Woah…” Souichi looked up in awe at the massive amount of straw you had stored up this season.

“Pretty impressive, right? It’s the largest haul we’ve had in years. Praise Ninigi.” Turning towards the sun, you bowed once. Souichi quickly turned with you and did the same.

You laughed a bit at his sudden action. You knew that without his grandmother around, he wasn’t sure how to act in these types of situations. So, he mostly just copied you.

Putting your hand out, you gestured for Souichi to give you his satchel.

"Do you need me to tie them up or can I just stuff it in here?" You asked as you walked over to a large pile of loose straw.

"Just like that is fine." Souichi replied.

Picking up a handful of straw, you neatly placed it inside. When it was finally full enough, you closed it up and handed it back to the boy.

Although it was a lot, it still felt surprisingly light. Hopefully, it won't go to waste this time.

Sitting on a large straw stack, you took off your hat. You shook your head side to side as your long hair flowed from inside the hat and down onto the straw you were sitting on. You had been growing your hair out since kindergarten. Never cutting it once. Just the sheer length of it made you look like a goddess yourself. Although it was a big distraction when you worked, you planned on using your ‘virgin uncut hair’ in future rituals. At least, that’s what you told Souichi.

Patting the empty space next to you, you asked Souichi to sit next down.

“Ma actually took away the voodoo doll you made me last time you came over… Think you can you make me a new one…” You said in a sad voice as you looked at the boy.

“Again?” Souichi replied, sighing loudly.

Although your family practiced black magick in order to keep the farming business alive, you were strictly forbidden from practicing curses and other types of voodoo until you turned ○○. In the meanwhile, your mother forced you to tend to the farm and learn how to be a proper worker. That’s why whenever Souichi came over, in exchange for whatever he wanted, he would teach you anything he knew about black magick in secret.

Currently, you were learning how to make straw voodoo dolls.

You didn’t really have anyone in particular that you wanted or needed to curse, but you wanted to be prepared just in case anything happened in the future.

You smiled widely as the raven-haired boy took out a pair of pruning shears and red string from the front pocket of his satchel.

Grabbing a couple handfuls of straw, you placed them on your lap for him to freely use.

“Don’t look at me like that. You’re making it by yourself this time.” He sternly said.

“Eh~? But I’m tired from doing chores all morning…I’ll give ya a kilogram of rice if you make this one for me~” Souichi just shook his head no. He would need a better incentive if you wanted him to do this for you again.

“Hmmm…Aha! I’ll give you a whole box of fresh white strawberries as well!” Souichi smiled as you offered him exactly what he wanted. There was a reason your family sold their strawberries for over 20,000 yen a box. Getting them for free from you was one of the best parts of coming over.

“Fine. But this is the last time. And pay attention this time.” Humming happily, you handed him a handful of straw.

“First, make a circle with your thumb and index finger. Then place enough straw to fill it completely. When you get the right amount, you use some string to… Uhh... Hold this.”

Handing you the bundle of straw, he used the shears to cut a couple pieces of string to use.

“…Hold it up straight up…Yeah, like that. You tie up the top end around here. Next, you repeat this with another section of straw. When you finish that, you slide one section into the middle of the other. Then you just tie it up here, and here. Lastly, you part it in the middle for the leg sections… And then you tie up those ends and…Done!”

You let out a small whine as your mind failed to keep up with Souichi's speedy motions and vague explanation. You wanted to ask him to do it again, this time much slower, but you knew he would just go at the same speed again.

Cutting the extra pieces of straw that stuck out from the ends of the voodoo doll, he made it look presentable.

“So, what do you think? Pretty good, right?” Souichi proudly said as he handed it to you.

“Yeah! I think it might even be better than the one you made me last time!" You replied as you examined the doll in awe. "So, all I need in order to curse someone is their picture?” The straw crunched in your fingers as you opened up the chest section a bit.

“You can also use their hair, and at times when your hatred towards them is at its peak, you can just write down their name on a piece of paper, stuff it in the middle there, and it’ll work.”

You hummed in amusement as the boy once again explained to you the way straw voodoo dolls worked.

“Hair, huh…” You said to yourself in a voice so quiet not even Souichi could hear.

Moving closer to him, you spoke in a loving voice. “I never did thank you for the last doll you made me, did I?” Putting the doll down on the empty space next to you, you moved to place a quick kiss on the boy’s cheek. “Thank you.”

“Ah! Hehe…I-It was no problem… I can make you more anytime you want really…” Souichi turned his face away from you, trying to hide the blush that had grown on his cheeks.

You were always the affectionate type.

“Then, I should probably thank you in advance~” Bringing your hand to his face, you turned him towards you. Souichi’s body burned with embarrassment as you placed multiple kisses on his cheek again.

“You know, you can also thank me for always giving you so much straw~” You teased as you tapped your own cheek, hinting for him to give you a small kiss back.

Closing his eyes, Souichi moved to plant a kiss on your cheek. However, you also moved back to face him as well.

Souichi’s eyes shot open as you pressed your lips against his.

The remaining straw on your legs fell to the ground as you moved to straddle the blushing boy.

You were perhaps a bit too affectionate really.

But Souichi wasn’t complaining.

Souichi’s eyes fluttered closed as he melted into your kiss. Your hands caressed his face as you quickly deepened the kiss.

Souichi playfully bit your bottom lip as you tried to pull back for air, forcing you to return back to him. He liked to experiment with different ways of teasing you every time you spontaneously kissed him like this.

Slowly, your hands ran through his hair, making it messier than it was before.

"Ow!" Souichi pushed you back and yelled in pain as you suddenly pulled his hair.

Moving to sit up, you gloated.

“Haha! Now that I have your hair, you have to follow everything I say or I’ll curse you to death!” You laughed as you help up a single strand of dark hair. You were expecting Souichi to try to get it back from you, but he didn’t.

Looking back at you with an equally victorious smile, he moved his hands in front of you, showing off the contents it held.

“That makes two of us~ Kekekeke~”

Your smile dropped and your eyes widened in shock as you saw the shears in one hand and a large amount of your hair in another.

Bringing your hands up to your head, you felt the difference in hair length on each side.

“How could you…” Tears ran down your cheeks, making Souichi stop his cackling.

“I hate you!!” Pushing yourself off the boy, you got onto your feet and started to run towards your house. “I’m telling Baphomet!!”

The goats in the barn loudly cried as you mentioned the name of the deity your family religiously worshiped.

“Crap! No!! Y/N!!” Jumping off the straw-stack, Souichi threw your hair and the shears onto the ground.

“Wait!! I’m sorry!!” Souichi exclaimed as he chased after you.

Just before he could grab ahold of you, you ran into the house. You were so upset that you didn’t even bother to take off your shoes.

Souichi slipped on the grass as he tried to stop himself from going any further. He knew he couldn’t enter your house without your given permission.

Souichi felt his mind go into a panic as he saw you approach the large altar in your living room.

The goats in the barn cried even louder and banged their horns against the wooden walls as you pointed towards the boy outside your house.

Just before he could run away for safety, your three dogs surrounded him. Souichi let out a high-pitched cry of fear as the dogs barked and growled, forcing him to stay in place.

He made a big mistake messing with the daughter of the Baphomet worshiping family.

[glitternightingale]

Weird Questions for Writers (because writers are weird)

Taken from this list

As I said, this is just me comprising the asks so that I remember which ones I've already answered!

Now, onto the mess that is my writing routine:

1. What font do you write in? Do you actually care or is that just the default setting?

2. If you had to give up your keyboard and write your stories exclusively by hand, could you do it? If you already write everything by hand, a) are you a wizard and b) pen or pencil?

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

My writing ritual is to obsess over an idea for weeks, thinking I haven't thought it out well enough, and when I do want to write the fic/next chapter I avoid it for the majority of the day. It gets late and I get tired but feel like I haven't been productive. That's when the first word garble appears!

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

"Apprehensive"

5. Do you have any writing superstitions? What are they and why are they 100% true?

Hmm, my superstition is (not only when it comes to writing but just about anything I create) that when I'm proud of something I've made it's probably mediocre for everyone else. Surprisingly, my "best" is usually my "Meh...", so I try to avoid feeling overly confident! (But it also helps to sketch everyone's favorite prophet before I start a new project--)

6. What is your darkest fear about writing?

7. What is your deepest joy about writing?

8. If you had to write an entire story without either action or dialogue, which would you choose and how would it go?

I would choose to write a story without dialogue. Because, and here it becomes sneaky, I could say just as much through interior monologue or describing the characters' facial expressions and body language. (Or even write 10k of exposition)

9. Do you believe in ghosts? This isn’t about writing I just wanna know

No, I do not. My opinion changes, however, when it gets dark and something's lurking behind the door, ready to fry me with lasers.

10. Has a piece of writing ever “haunted” you? Has your own writing haunted you? What does that mean to you?

WIPs haunt me. They're like incomplete circles and I can't start something new without them being finished. (That's why I don't like writing multi-chapter fics. The needed commitment is just super big.)

11. Do you believe in the old advice to “kill your darlings?” Are you a ruthless darling assassin? What happens to the darlings you murder? Do you have a darling graveyard? Do you grieve?

12. If a genie offered you three writing wishes, what would they be? Btw if you wish for more wishes the genie turns all your current WIPs into Lorem Ipsum, I don’t make the rules

Wish 1: AO3 doesn't destroy my format when I import text from Google Docs.

Wish 2: Writing comments on other people's works comes more easily to me.

Wish 3: Just... everything I write is enjoyable(?)

13. What is a subject matter that is incredibly difficult for you to write about? What is easy?

14. Do you lend your books to people? Are people scared to borrow books from you? Do you know exactly where all your “lost” books are and which specific friend from school you haven’t seen in twelve years still possesses them? Will you ever get them back?

15. Do you write in the margins of your books? Dog-ear your pages? Read in the bath? Why or why not? Do you judge people who do these things? Can we still be friends?

*cringes at the thought* Nope, I like my books clean and basically unused (so that I can make some profit if I decide to sell them later). It's a different topic if the text is digital, though. The pens that come with most tablets hafta be used!

16. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever used as a bookmark?

I've made this Harry Potter wand out of wood, hot glue, and sparkly stones once. It served its purpose to weigh down the book pages but then it slid off and broke. Oh, well.

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end. Spicy addition: Questioner provides the passage.

"Ah-ha! Here it is!" he exclaimed, holding the mysterious object aloft between his bony fingers. 

The young girl squinted at the colorfully-striped cone, only realizing it was a party hat when Tío Bruno managed to attach it to the donkey's forehead. 

She squealed in amazement as she saw the picture-perfect mythical animal blinking at her in all its radiant glory. However, this did not erase all the dreadful thoughts she had."

Right, so, I do watch Encanto quite often and there are always new things to discover. Then, while I was standing in front of the mirror, trying to make my eyebrows look symmetrical, I connected the party hats Osvaldo gave to Mirabel (in the "Not-Special Special" Basket) with the scene where Luisa's jumping over pink clouds with her unicorn donkeys. Party hats look like cones and cones look like unicorn horns-- Dumb, I know. But know who else would have these dumb ideas? Bruno.

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

20. If a witch offered you the choice between eternal happiness with your one true love and the ability to finally finish, perfect, and publish your dearest, darlingest, most precious WIP in exactly the way you’ve always imagined it — which would you choose? You can’t have both sorry, life’s a bitch

21. Could you ever quit writing? Do you ever wish you could? Why or why not?

22. How organized are you with your writing? Describe to me your organization method, if it exists. What tools do you use? Notebooks? Binders? Apps? The Cloud?

23. Describe the physical environment in which you write. Be as detailed as possible. Tell me what’s around you as you work. Paint me a picture.

24. How much prep work do you put into your stories? What does that look like for you? Do you enjoy this part or do you just want to get on with it?

25. What is a weird, hyper-specific detail you know about one of your characters that is completely irrelevant to the story?

26. How do you get into your character’s head? How do you get out? Do you ever regret going in there in the first place?

27. Who is the most stressful character you’ve ever written? Why?

Aside from the fact that writing anyone ever is pretty stressful, I'd say it's Félix (Encanto). I couldn't pin down his personality at first without it seeming ooc and picturing his role in the Madrigals' dynamics.

28. Who is the most delightful character you’ve ever written? Why?

29. Where do you draw your inspiration? What do you do when the inspiration well runs dry?

30. Talk to me about the role dreams play in your writing life. Have you ever used material from your dreams in your writing? Have you ever written in a dream? Did you remember it when you woke up?

31. Write a short love letter to your readers.

32. What is a line from a poem/novel/fanfic etc that you return to from time and time again? How did you find it? What does it mean to you?

33. Do you practice any other art besides writing? Does that art ever tie into your writing, or is it entirely separate?

34. Thoughts on the Oxford comma, Go:

35. What’s your favorite writing rule to smash into smithereens?

36. They say to Write What You Know. Setting aside for a moment the fact that this is terrible advice…what do you Know?

37. If you were to be remembered only by the words you’ve put on the page, what would future historians think of you?

38. What is something about your writing process YOU think is Really Weird? If you are comfortable, please share. If you’re not comfortable, what do you think cats say about us?

39. What keeps you writing when you feel like giving up?

40. Please share a poem with me, I need it.

(Don't judge me for this one lmao.)

The glass is dark, your reflection green

What do you feel when you fall on your spleen?

Is it pain? Is it greed?

Or are you-- freed?

[mandareeboo]

SU Music Rankings

Bc I can and I wanna start some Disk Horse rip. These are all in order of preference, with explanations, etc. It’s a long bitch. That said, I’m not counting little short jingles or small joke songs like Little Butler. This is the meat and potatoes of SU music- just under 30 songs. I might do the rest if people like my takes lol.

I scored it mostly on three bases- how dear it was to my heart, how much/often I relisten to it, and also what it means to the plot. That said, little fun songs don’t automatically go farther down than big, plot-heavy songs either! It’s a strange little balance.

Special Note: I don’t dislike any of this music! I love SU and that includes its bumps and glitches. I just pick favorite children lol.

1.) Change

Was there ever a more Steven moment than when he wiped the blood off his face and kissed it into sparkles? I think not. 

If “Be Wherever You Are” is an ode to young Steven, then this is teen Steven’s. Talking about change, and how much and how little it can do. How he holds his arms up for Spinel to hug him, so trusting. How he seems able to just. Break into soft tears at will, and not to be manipulative- it’s just his kind nature. The warmth in his voice. Fuck yesssss.

2.) Change Your Mind

This song is only fifty five seconds and it’s EVERYTHING to me. It really felt like someone was speaking the words I’d always held deep inside of me, unsure of how to say. It feels like a goodbye to someone who never really loved me. 

As much as I enjoyed Future, if this was the finale of SU, I would’ve been perfectly okay with that.

3.) Drift Away

This song gave me legitimate shivers the first time I heard it, and it still haunts me to this day. Spinel stayed, and waited, and all she got was a transmission thousands of years later. Fuck.

4.) Here We Are In The Future

THE MOVIE IS SU AS ITS BEST AND I WON’T BE SWAYED ON IT. Steven being a teen who loves his weird family but is growing just a bit sarcastic to their drama. The adorable love he and Connie share. His slow realization that he will always be working, always have things to do, is both somber and real. The Crystal Gems won’t be safe with one epic battle. They’ll be safe with years of hard work and love. HIS LITTLE HANDSHAKE WITH AMETHYST.

This is a helluva bop and a great way to summarize the main character’s backstories.

5.) Let’s Only Think About Love

Did ya’ll know that Zach Callison killed his throat with that last note? He gave his all for this performance in a vocal range he no longer comfortably do and by god did it SHINE. The FLAIR. The FORESHADOWING. All of the Gems all being awkward about Rose and Steven trying to bring them to the present. Peridot having a mini-existential crisis in a cute yellow dress. I love Zach Callison’s normal singing voice but man is that a fucking bop. Nothing will ever beat it.

6.) Here Comes A Thought

This bad boy helped me out a LOT with some mental issues I was dealing with in high school. I was unmedicated, unsupervised, and full of anxiety. I’d have break downs when I tried to speak about certain things. I couldn’t function. This song inspired me. It helped me feel okay with my intrusive thoughts.

And the episode! -chef’s kiss-. Once again bringing up the morally gray area of training child soldiers. Connie expanding her social group. Steven’s trauma hauling ass in that second half. The ANIMATION. Stevonnie’s gorgeous singing voice. GOD yes.

7.) It’s Over Isn’t It?

Just barely squeaking above Stronger Than You, this ballad is everything gorgeous. The whole episode is. I think Mr. Greg stands in the top five of my episodes for the entire show. It even got nominated!

There’s just so much about this song that I love. The gentle melancholy of Pearl’s voice. How the crew had to redo the shots for this bit bc Deedee went so fucking hard. The hard cuts between Pearl, remembering the love of her life, and Steven, who has begun to feel like he took her away. I’d recommend this song to anyone, regardless of what they do or don’t know about SU, simply bc it tugs so many heartstrings of love, loss, and responsibility.

8.) Stronger Than You

Did you realize this episode aired SEVEN years ago? This bitch was what got me into SU! Hearing about Ruby and Sapphire made my little gay heart so happy inside, and then getting a whole song confirming that they were a couple, that their love powered the strongest Gem on the team? Aaaaaaaaa

To this DAY I get excited when I hear Estelle start singing. This song is timeless. This song will live in media history. God I fucking love this song.

9.) Other Friends

I’m not the biggest musical person, so I hadn’t heard of Sarah Stiles before her casting as Spinel, but JESUS CHRIST the lady went hard. She went SO fucking hard. Sarah Stiles started on 100 and somehow just kept CLIMBING. You can just hear the sheer manic energy building in her voice, the anger and resentment. 10/10 Sarah Stiles is a queen.

10.) Independent Together

This made the list entirely bc the crew was like “you’re gonna get a himbo ass Steven-Greg fusion singing with Opal while Garnet flies across the moon on Lion while floating” and I am forever thankful to them for it

11.) Who We Are

Bismuth deserved more songs. ‘Nuff said.

12.) Peace and Love (On the Planet Earth)

It Could’ve been Great is EASILY one of my favorite s2 episodes. I love the entire concept of this song. Of Steven making music to reflect how much Earth means to him and his family. Of him teaching Peridot some self-care. Also Peridot’s singing voice is really cute and squeaky. 

I know it’s silly, but I would’ve really enjoyed a flip around of this in Future! Like Peridot reminding Steven how much he loves music, that he needs to take time to relax for himself, maybe with a new verse or just a remix of the original song!

13.) Something Entirely New

I watched this episode as it aired, and I legitimately almost cried. I love Charlyne Yi’s voice so much ya’ll- her raspy, not perfect singing voice against Sapphire’s deep soothing lull is great.

And to have Ruby and Sapphire’s meeting be the way it was- for Ruby to bemoan Sapphire losing Homeworld, to being stuck with a single Ruby, while Sapphire is a noble who has always been taught everyone in her “caste” is vitally important (and has, in her own mind, taken that to mean every Gem, as she should) and how they come together and make each other happy. Good shit good shit.

14.) I’m Just a Comet

The fact that Greg’s music career never really blasted off pisses me off to this day bc Tom Scharpling’s voice is fucking BUTTER. Also the song really feels like a jab at his parents now that we know the kind of dynamic he had growing up. “This life in the stars if all I’ve ever known” is definitely him wiping away their existence after reminding them (and himself) the things they used to say about him.

15.) Do It For Her

This episode. This fucking episode. This episode got me permanently hooked on SU. I’d just binged season 1 and was kinda meh about it overall after the bop of Stronger Than You. “Oh,” I thought to myself, foolishly, “I’ll probably just casually watch this from time to time.”

Like three days later Sworn to the Sword aired and that was it. I was hooked! Pearl’s gentle training song turning darker and darker, Connie’s accompaniment from nervous to determined to fully into such a toxic mindset. The fact that SU had the BALLS to discuss the repercussions of training child soldiers, now and later. This episode was everything to me, STILL is everything to me.

Six years and well over 100 fanfics written later, I think it’s safe to say this show swallowed me whole and never let go.

16.) System/Boot.pearl_final(3)

I debated putting this on the list because it’s not anything crazy important, just a way to show things are Wrong, but I had to do it entirely bc Pearl is so damn SALTY.

Like telling us about the Gems makes sense, she felt like she was given a duty, but she went so damn petty. WHY is that Ruby alone. Gross. This Amethyst is a trash dump. Wtf are you people.

17.) Full Disclosure

This episode really feels like a turning point for SU. Before, the show had its dark moments- but now we’re in the thick of it, and it’s not going away. Full Disclosure felt like an rebuff to the idea of returning to any normal we’d established in season 1. Gems are actually a giant species now. Gems tried to kill us now. There’s this Yellow Diamond bitch who got namedropped. Something about a Cluster. 

The song itself is BALLER, with its ingenious use of Steven’s ringtone and photos as he tries to decide whether to clue in Connie on all this nonsense. Meanwhile we, the audience, already know damn well Connie about to yeet some common sense into him.

18.) What’s the Use of Feeling Blue?

I’mma admit it- I’m a Yellow Diamond stan. I’ve always loved her- her anger, her poise, her hardworking nature. I actively argued against the “Yellow Shattered Pink” theories back in the day. But, man, when this arc leaked? I got so overexcited I was too jittery to watch it for like two days. It’s easily my favorite arc of the series. The sheer alien nature of the zoo, the Famethyst, and absolutely Patti Lupone’s beautiful ballad. Goddamn. Yellow singing to Blue to try and help her regain her old status, the warble in her voice as she reminds Blue she misses Pink too, the movement of the bubbles as she talks about attack. It gives me shivers to this day. FUCK.

19.) Tower of Mistakes

This is, fun fact, that only SU song I have completely memorized. The story itself is kinda funny! See, we lost internet at my house for a solid 5 to 6 months when these episodes aired, so I only got a very brief window to view them all. But this was the first Amethyst song in a long while, and I didn’t want to forget it! So I keep replaying it in my head for ages. And that’s still definitely a thing.

Anyway will never not be sad that this entire song was about making it up to Garnet for Amethyst’s perceived slights with Sugilite (which was a two-way road), only for Garnet to pressure her into fusion later when pissed and never discuss it again bc Garnet probably never thought twice about it and Amethyst has the emotional openness of a clam that’s just been told its ugly. Helluva way to make someone feel like shit, G. Helluva way to bottle that shit, Ames.

20.) On the Run

I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: Amethyst! Needed! More! Songs! 

The dichotomy between Steven’s play and Amethyst’s honest desire to run away from home is so well-done, especially when you consider a lot of Steven and Amethyst’s actions are playing together. The song is also near and dear to me simply bc it’s my favorite Amethyst episode to exist (well, maybe second to What’s Your Problem, but not by much). Moments like these are all the proof I need that they were right to fuse first.

21.) Be Wherever You Are

This tune really just feels like an ode to who Steven was as a kid. Trapped on an island with no way home, and he’s just happy to be with his friends. The stars are beautiful and not oppressive. Also that one animatic with Lars and the Off Colors playing in the Homeworld Kindergarten to this music was iconic and made this song get stuck in my head for a solid month.

22.) Familiar

I ADORE how the crew use bright neon colors to show how alien Homeworld can be. And Steven recognizing that the Diamonds treat him how the CGs used to, and how prepared he is to “fix” a broken family. It’s a soft, gentle tune about melancholy. Also the Pebbles are beautiful.

23.) Let Me Drive My Van Into Your Heart

Such a cute little love ballad, but every time I listen to it now I just imagine the heart attack Rose must’ve had at the line “And if we look out of place/Well, baby, that's okay/I'll drive us into outer space.” like there’s a Vietnam war flashback if I ever heard one

24.) What Can I Do?

I’m kind of neutral on this one? Rose and Greg both have great voices, but the song itself lacks many lyrics. I think it was definitely a good way to show Rose’s flaws in thinking.

Also, I’m shocked they managed cram that much vaguely sexual innuendo into two minutes, followed by how Not Hetereo that dance between Rose and Pearl was, and not get their asses chewed by it. You go guys.

25.) Cookie Cat

I love a lot of the vibes this song has. The lyrics are so damn prophetic, but they also sound like the kind of weird 90s commercials I grew up on. It’s been like two decades since I saw the Shirley Temple commercial but I’ll be damned if I don’t remember “Animals crackers in my soup! Monkey and rabbits loop-de-loop.”

26.) Giant Woman

I am. NOT the biggest fan of Steven’s original singing voice. I feel bad saying that, since it was just Zach Callison as a kid, but he never jived well with me for some reason. So I wouldn’t listen to this on the fly. 

The song itself is still really good though, with all sorts of fun animation of Amethyst and Pearl being bitchy to each other. It’s a bit sad in hindsight to see tiny Steven trying to get his moms to get along. Ahh, season 1.

27.) Strong in the Real Way

This song has SUCH a strong start. Pearl reflecting on Sugilite’s problems, but the show making sure to show us that Pearl’s lack of enthusiasm towards her also lends itself to jealousy as well as just general malaise. How much she cares about Steven, and wants him to grow up strong. 

And then Steven just kinda. Ruins it? I appreciate his enthusiasm for tryna bulk up but to take what was starting as such a rich, personal song and broadcasting it to random strangers just makes me a bit sad. Almost a bit angry on her behalf?

28.) That Distant Shore

I KNOW this is gonna create some discourse, but I’m just not the biggest Lapis stan. I love her voice. I love the visuals of the song. And I get why she felt afraid and needed to flee.

But Lapis never got to take responsibility for her own actions. And, in the end, the song feels hollow to me- because we all know she’ll never talk to anyone about it, know she’ll burst back in and destroy the barn, and no one will ever question it. I like Lapis a lot, but I feel like her arc never was fully finished. She never got help. She never learned to feel safe.

29.) Dear Old Dad

I’ve yet to meet a single human being who likes this episode tbh. There’s some great discussion about what kind of parent Greg is from it, and what kind of dynamic he has with the Gems that he felt he had to fake an injury to hang out with his son. Honestly the first half was fine and dandy. It’s just that then they Greg just went out of his way to drag Steven away from missions and such. It never jived well with his character before or after.

Also, is it just me, or does Zach himself sound like he hates the song as he sings it? There’s no passion or heart in his voice. It sounds like they told him to read off cue cards and he did. Tom Scharpling’s best attempts didn’t save this one for being a skipper. But the episode, unfortunately, isn’t, so it gets a spot on here.

[wonlouvre]

pairing: doctor!wonwoo x lawyer!female oc genre: modern royalty, arranged marriage, fluff and future angst word count: 1162 author’s note: hello! this is my first wonwoo fic and i am already scared for it lol i haven’t written in a while so this may be a bit meh. regardless, i hope you all find it worth reading. thank you! links to be posted in the future!

one: band aids | masterlist

You never imagined that a day like this would come. Such a day where you would trip, injure your foot and embarrass yourself in front of thousands of people. But rather than dwelling on those thoughts, you can’t help but grow awkwardly shy in front of the person that’s tending to the bruise on your foot. 

Prince Wonwoo. Doctor Wonwoo. Husband-to-be Wonwoo.

Wonwoo gently places the band-aid presented by your assistant on the small, but awfully painful, cut after disinfecting it. There was a medical team present and you were more than capable enough to do it yourself but the doctor in him had to win. He gives it a pat then looks up to you with a soft smile, his hold never leaving. 

Your heart skipped a beat, you almost forgot to smile back. 

“If you’re tired, we can call it a day and just go home,” the prince proposes as he stands from his kneeling position. He’s now way taller than you as you remained seated on the bench. “I’m sure they’ll understand.”

By they he meant the people. Today, for the first time ever, the public finally got a glimpse of the newly engaged couple. You and Wonwoo that is. Today also marks the second time that you and Wonwoo got together ever since both of your parents sat you down at a private dinner. 

For the whole duration of this year, you and Wonwoo are assigned, as your official duties, to attend important events and gatherings, both public and private. Of course, the wedding planning is slotted in between those schedules but at the moment, your presence as a couple is to be engraved at such activities until the big day comes. 

You’re not sure if you should say this after only meeting him twice, but Wonwoo is… quiet. The good kind of quiet where he only speaks when it’s needed and when he does, it’s comforting and enticing at the same time. Since he’s quiet, you’re quite unsure on what he is thinking about. You’re starting to get conscious about his thoughts most especially now that he witnessed your out of the blue clumsiness. 

You are tired but your pride is not.

“No,” you reply and stand up as well. “It’s okay. We can continue.”

Wonwoo frowns and looks straight to your eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Of course.”

“Alright, princess,” the prince complies and extends his arm out for you to hold. “Shall we?”

You finally meet his eyes after avoiding it and answer, “We shall.”

The unfortunate accident earlier led to some delays but as they say, the show must go on. The crowd was kind enough to be enthusiastic still as you and Wonwoo showed up once again with all smiles. But, nothing or, should you say no one, will be kinder than Wonwoo staying on guard to make sure you don’t trip or fall anymore. 

The newly opened public school is a gift from Wonwoo’s parents to your kingdom. It was already in the making even before the engagement hence, it’s no surprise that it’s finished only a few days after the news. They told you that other than its real purpose, it’s also a seal of your upcoming union with the prince. 

A pretty big one you might add. 

The giant ribbon was cut by the Secretary of Education while you and Wonwoo remain on the sides, only letting go for a few moments, before he enjoins your arms together again. Everyone claps, cheers and takes pictures that will for sure be posted right now and the following days. 

Afterwards, the Secretary turns to you and Wonwoo and bows. “We’re grateful to have you here, Your Highness.”

“We are as well, Secretary.” You smile and look at Wonwoo, urging him to speak as well.

Wonwoo extends his hand to the kind woman before saying, “On behalf of the King and Queen, congratulations on the success of the building and opening of this school. They look forward to the excellent service this shall serve to your youth.”

Wonwoo spoke like the true prince that he is.

Impressed, your smile beams with pride.

You think it’s odd that there were no objections to this marriage on your part and even so, you seemed to be okay with it. You didn’t really stick to committed relationships back then and even if there were, it didn’t last long enough to lead to marriage. School was important then Law School was a priority. Relationships weren’t void to your vocabulary. They just didn’t come around.

That’s probably why you’re calm and composed about this arrangement. You can’t be bothered by it anymore as it is already in front of you. But you only agreed and will continue to do so as long as it doesn’t meddle with your decision making rights. After all, you are your person before anyone else. 

And you wouldn’t deny that the prince slash doctor is attractive as well. You have come to know through your assistant little details about him. He has been working at the emergency ward at one of the hospitals here for a few months already. Apparently, it’s his first hospital after pledging as a doctor. He had a long term girlfriend before, but no more details after that. 

You’re not sure yet if you should admit that you’re interested in him. To you, he’s likely a good person. So far, that’s only you have out of him. Well, what happened today can be counted. But, other than that, you’re just stuck with his mysterious eyes, deep voice and overall good physique. 

Ah, whatever, you thought. You’ll just have to hope that you get to know him in the long run.

It was a relief that the event was short. This was the only event you’re going to attend today and yet the energy is already drained out of you. You can’t wait to go home. Though, you have to stop by the office to get some paperworks to take home and work through. You wonder if these new assignments and wedding planning will meddle with your jobs. Speaking of jobs, it only dawned upon you that Wonwoo might be needed at the hospital now.

“Oh,” was the only word you can say, realizing that you and Wonwoo are really about to separate for the day. “I can drop you off though. It’s fine.”

“I know,” he reaffirms but, “It would be time consuming if you drop me off first.”

“Oh,” again is all you can say. He’s right and if he insists then, “Alright. See you at the next event, I guess.”

Wonwoo chuckles. “Yes and maybe next time you won’t trip and injure yourself.”

You sigh while rolling your eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever.”

“See you later, princess.” Wonwoo gives you one last smile before being guided by his security to the other car. 

You don’t know it yet but that smile will surely fluster you for a long time.

[putschki1969]

KEIKO’s 2nd Album “dew” AVAILABLE NOW in DIGITAL FORMAT - REVIEW

It’s officially past midnight in Japan so you can now purchase and stream KEIKO’s 2nd album “dew” on various Japanese sites/platforms. Even if you ordered a physical copy, please consider ❗SUPPORTING KEIKO❗ in any way you can! Especially if you are eager to listen to the brand new songs and don’t want to wait for your package to arrive!

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BUY it on mora (TUTORIAL here) | BUY it on Ototoy (no proxy required)

BUY it tomorrow in your local iTunes store!  

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2021/12/07 Tweet by KEIKO

Good evening. It’s past midnight so it’s the release day of my 2nd album “dew”. I started 2021 making music together with Tsunku, then I participated in Yuki Kajiura’s tour, the year became even more fun when I met eji and made music with her...With 「Lantana」 and now 「dew」 I am collecting more and more music that is precious to me. Thank you to everyone from the bottom of my heart. I am so happy, honestly, thank you ♡ KEIKO (Source)

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Review/Overall thoughts: Keiko has pulled it off, guys. She is now officially a living and breathing cello. Blown away by how she is using both her lower and higher register here. Her low notes are impeccable as always but her high notes are also so smooth, melodious and strong, not at all flat, screechy or breathy. She is creating beautiful contrasts that make her songs feel so much more vivid and vast. I think the more toned down nature of the album has given her the opportunity to polish her vocals and truly master the art of singing in a higher register in a way that’s actually flattering to her. I have never made it a secret that I prefer Keiko using her deeper voice but this album has made me truly appreciate all the things she can do with her voice. In her 1st album she had a lot of songs that made her sing in quite unflattering ranges, some of those tracks still give her trouble during live performances and more often than not I find her voice grating. But with her 2nd album that’s not really the case. Generally I would say that I am least impressed with the “old” tracks (i.e. “Sakura wo Goran”, “Michite wa Kakeru” and “Waratte Yaru”) since there is a lot of kinda unflattering high-pitched singing happening in those. None of these songs are bad per se,  I don’t mind hearing them performed live but I wouldn’t go out of my way to listen to them. As for the new tracks, the only song I absolutely cannot get behind is “Revolution” and I have honestly no idea if I will ever be able to overcome my dislike.

1. Nobody Knows You: Written by Yosuke Saito Honestly perfection and such an epic introduction to this noticeably darker album. I am not sure why but I wasn’t 100% sold on it when we first got to hear the song during her fan club event this summer. I liked the verses and I loved the bridge but the chorus was only “meh” (and a tad obnoxious) in my opinion. By now she has performed it on multiple occasions so I have had some time to let everything sink in properly. I have officially reached a point where I can appreciate all parts (even the chorus XD). "Nobody Knows You” has already become a KEIKO staple for me and I can’t imagine a live where she doesn’t sing this. She absolutely SLAYS and provides the necessary gravitas with her striking vocals to complement the grim and fatalistic worldviews presented in the lyrics. Also glad they finally decided to incorporate some cello into her music. 2. 通り雨: Written by eji/KEIKO What can I say? Flawless. From the get-go I was in love with this. I am a ballad-girl and while I am not drawn to all types of ballads, this one certainly hits the right spot. The somber melody with its gorgeous strings/piano arrangement blends perfectly with Keiko’s tragic vocals.  3. 桜をごらん:  Written by Tsunku Doesn’t do much for me. I don’t like it but I don’t hate it either. Pretty bland and her singing style isn’t my cup of tea. Still a bit bummed that an apparently prolific composer like Tsunku couldn’t come up with something a bit more outstanding for Keiko. Very reminiscent of her 1st album. It goes back to what I said earlier about her voice sometimes sounding a bit too grating. I will say though that looking at the album as a whole, it was a good idea to place the song in this spot since it is a nice reprieve after the first two tracks which are quite dramatic and dark. 4. ミチテハカケル: Written by RamSeeni/Shiki Tono As far as up-tempo, rock-ish songs go, this one is pretty solid, I enjoy listening to it. Not as good as “endroll” from her 1st album but better than “Waratte Yaru”. The song does a good job of adding a bit of oomph to the album - although I personally don’t think it was needed. Would have been happy with an album full of ballads and medium-tempo songs XD It almost feels a bit jarring but it goes well with the follow-up track “Latte”. 5. ラテ: Written by Haruo Yoda/KEIKO/Takuma Sato A ton of fun. Didn’t expect to like the “future-funk” elements so much. As the name would suggest, the song is super funky and playful. Also surprised by the rather long instrumental sections in between. There is really not much happening here vocal-wise. No wonder the genre is known as Japanese disco music. Perfect background music for your everyday activities to get motivated. 6. 八月の空: Written by eji/KEIKO I feel like “Sakura wo Goran” and “Hachigatsu no Sora” are quite similar, as in they are both a bit too basic and borderline bland, BUT the latter is Keiko’s very first composition so I am much more forgiving of it.XD The “haha” parts make the song downright addictive and Keiko’s vocals are so much better here than they are in “Sakura wo Goran”. 7. 現実のメタファー: Written by KEYTONE Solid but nothing to write home about. I am curious why they chose to release this in advance. Probably because it was the only remaining up-beat song in the tracklist. 8. キミガネムルカラ: Written by eji/KEIKO I am pleasantly surprised to see Keiko get so many composition credits or maybe this refers to her writing the lyrics (not sure how Spotify’s crediting system works). I love classical music so I am all over the extended instrumental part. For others this track might be too uneventful and short but I think it’s captivating in its simplicity. Just wish there would be even more emphasis on the cello in the studio version. I am spoiled by the live version which has such impressive cello parts throughout the entire song and not just during the interlude. 9. 笑ってやる: Written by Aoi Yamazaki/rui(fade)/Kōsuke Ōshima Another song I am pretty indifferent about. Nothing to say really... 10. Revolution: Written by XYZ The instrumental at the beginning actually sounds quite promising but then the song turns into what we have already heard in the teaser and it doesn’t really change or improve until the end. By far my least favourite track of all the new songs. I don’t see myself coming to like this as I did with “Inochi no Hana” (which was also composed by XYZ). XYZ seems to have a very specific style that might work for Korean drama background music but not really for Keiko...Meh, not happy. 11. Lost: Written by Haruka Kato/koshin *sobs* I am in awe. The teaser wasn’t able to prepare me for the full version. In my opinion this is pretty close to a masterpiece. Not because it is particularly unique or new, quite the contrary actually, I would say the song uses a lot of very old and familiar Kayōkyoku motifs that make it into an instant classic, a true gem. The melody line appeals to me on so many levels, I can barely contain my feelings. Now I also know what they meant by Celtic elements, the intro in particular is super lovely (wish we would have gotten even more of that sprinkled throughout the song). 12. Burn In The Wind: Written by koshin/YHANAEL No complaints from me whatsoever. A nice feel-good ballad with some country vibes that work surprisingly well for Keiko. In my head this is Keiko paying tribute to Taylor Swift XD The soft-rock elements make this even better and remind me of some old-school power ballads.

In total, there are five standout tracks which I would give a solid 10/10 rating (”Nobody Knows You”, “Toori Ame”, “Kimi Ga Nemuru Kara”, “Lost” and “Burn In The Wind”). All of them just SCREAM “Keiko” to me. Not sure if Keiko put together the album with a concept in mind but I definitely feel like as a whole it represents her much better than the first one did and thus I automatically appreciate it more. And even though Keiko claims that she sang all these songs in a reserved manner and “without emotion”, I cannot help but feel like her singing is much more expressive than it used to be, it has a very raw and rich quality to it.

[local-spoon-does-a-thing]

Found ( Part 1/2)

[(Bayverse) Optimus Prime x Reader)

A/N: Okay so this takes place during Transformers: Age of Extinction. When I was younger I loved the movie (mostly because it had dinosaurs) but once I re-watched it...yeah, it was meh for me. In my opinion, first film was better than the sequels. Anyways, I thought “hey, what would happen if reader was separated from Optimus then reunited after all these years?” And so, I did it. I’m dividing this into two parts since I don’t want to make this too long. The second part is mostly going to be the interaction between reader and Optimus. Also, the reader is like in early or mid-twenties.

You can find the second part here!

Summary: 5 years have passed since you last saw Optimus Prime, your guardian. Since then, you’ve traveled with the Autobots and went in hiding with them. Just as you were about to give up hope, Optimus summons the Autobots.

Warning: Angst, angst, angst, angst, spoilers for T:AOE

It’s been 5 years since you last saw Optimus Prime. Leader of the Autobots, your guardian and best friend. In the aftermath of the events in Chicago, you thought that everything would somewhat go back to normal. Hunting down more Decepticons with your teammates, going on missions together, having Optimus scold you for not doing your homework. Though of course, nothing would be the same without Ironhide. His death absolutely destroyed you. But greater matters were forced to be looked upon, such as the public starting to see the Autobots as a threat, which was very stupid considering that they saved the whole damn world, NEST disbanding, the ‘Bots having to be on the run, and finally, Optimus disappearing from the team. With your long time contribution to the team, you were hunted down as well. Cemetery Wind demanded information about the Cybertronians, every single piece of detail, but you didn’t let them. Now with you being wanted and labeled as a fugitive, you could never truly return to your normal life. Your future dream university? Say goodbye to that. Your friends and family? You left with Bumblebee, not wanting to put any of them in danger. If they were, then you knew that their blood would be on your hands and you just could not accept that.

You supported Bumblebee when he was suddenly assigned as the commanding leader of the Autobot refugees. Despite them belittling and discouraging him, you stayed by his side. You always wondered what Ironhide would’ve done. He would’ve probably done things his own way. What would Ratchet do? You missed the grumpy medic and him meddling about your health. And Optimus...you missed him. A lot. You missed the times where he would be off-guard by some of your witty jokes, you missed how he would let you sleep in his alternate form whenever you dreamt of Decepticons, you missed his rare laughs and chuckles. You really, really missed him. As time went on by, you noticed that even Bumblebee was changing. He grew a bit more mature, but you knew that the responsibility of being a leader was too much for him. He missed Sam, and you did too. Though you two were only neighbors at first, you grew close and became siblings with one another. After his run-in with Cemetery Wind, you knew that he wasn’t coming back. At that point, you were growing hopeless. You tried getting along with Hound, Drift, and Crosshairs throughout the years, but you were too tired to hold up a conversation with them. Luckily, they reluctantly accepted you as a comrade.

As everyone was changing, you noticed that so were you. You were no longer joking around as much as you used to. You became quiet and serious. Yes, you would still give out encouragement and words of optimism to not let the flame of hope die out, but lately, it started to feel and sound fake. Were you trying to convince the others to not give up or were you trying to convince yourself? For the majority of the last 5 years, you tried believing that Optimus and Ratchet were still alive, just in hiding. Your poor heart simply couldn’t handle the weight of indescribable sorrow if news broke out that the two were gone. You’ve already witnessed Optimus die once and you couldn’t do that whole thing again. Hope was something that you needed but it started to become something that you could no longer grasp. When your dying flame of hope was at its last breath, that’s when he came in. The voice you haven’t heard in a very long time.

“Calling all Autobots. Calling all Autobots.”

It was Optimus Prime, calling from the radio. Bumblebee abruptly stopped the drive, causing you to almost hit your head against the steering wheel. After you hissed out his name, you turned to the radio in disbelief. Were you hearing things or was this reality? Bee then started to mess the radio until Optimus’s message was playing on repeat. No. Way. This was actually happening. You didn’t even have time to gather your thoughts before Bee started redirecting his coordinate and driving to where his leader was located, at full speed. Your heart was pounding and you were starting to feel the adrenaline rushing in. Reality still had yet to sink in. Everything was starting to get overwhelming, even if only a couple of moments had passed by. This was real. This had to be real.

You clutched your stomach and nibbled the bottom of your lip. This was supposed to be a great thing and it was! Then why did you feel sick to your stomach? You’ve heard of people throwing up from nervousness. Was this what you were feeling? Why were you nervous? You wanted to see him, absolutely! But after all this time, after all these years, were you even prepared? What if it was just a false alarm and you would get trapped by Decepticons or any other enemies? What if Cemetery Wind had already got him and tried to use him as bait? That last thought had almost made you puke right then and there. Whether you were ready or not, it was time. 

You watched as the rest of the team had already met up with Optimus. The color of his alternate form made you stare at him with wide eyes as all the memories of you two together flashed for a second. Your jaw slightly dropped open and so many things ran around your mind. You were so out of reality that you hadn’t even noticed Bumblebee already transforming out of his alternate form and perching you on top of his shoulder. As he walked towards him, you watched Optimus’s transformation one last time and as always, it never ceases to amaze you and put you in a trance.

“Humans have asked us to play by their rules. Well, the rules have just changed.”

His deep voice filled your ears and for the first time, you relaxed. You could never forget what he sounded like, even during your darkest moments when you had tried to forget in an attempt to get rid of the pain that tore your heart to shreds. Words could not do justice to how you were feeling at this exact moment. The moment when you were finally reunited with your long lost guardian. Bumblebee gently let you down from his shoulder and as the team argued and bickered, all you could do was stare and not move. If this was a dream, then you never wanted to wake up. After an eternity of staring, Optimus’s optics met with your [e/c] orbs and you swore that you saw his breath hitch. 

You weren’t the only one that was worried. During Optimus’s time away from the team and trying to stay hidden, there was not a single thought where he would not worry about you. He always wondered if you were okay and...still alive. It broke his spark every time he imagined that you were dead, six feet underground. Or worse yet, if no one had even known where your body was. He thought that once he would get out of hiding, and he knew that he would one day, the first thing he did not want to hear was that you were either found dead or missing. He hoped that you were out there, having a good life and spending your time in university. Until he went to slumber, until the day that he would be found by Cade Yeager, he yearned for the day where he would get to hear your jokes one last time.

Here you were. Alive and still moving with Bumblebee and the others. His expression softened ever so slightly and he felt a big weight being lifted off of his shoulders. He took a long moment just looking at you. You’ve certainly grown and he knew that you were no longer the bratty teenager he grew to love. Sadness washed over him when he realized that he didn’t get to see you grow up as he was absent for the past 5 years. Questions went in and out, but they were going to have to be asked later. He gave you an ever so slightly ghost of a smile and a small nod.

We can talk later.

You snapped out of your trance once Crosshairs and Hound pointed their guns towards the strangers that you had failed to notice earlier. A young lady, a man who seems to be her father, and another boy.

“Stop, Hound- both of you! They’ve risked their lives for mine.”

For a long time, you stood in the same spot Bumblebee had put you. It was like you had forgotten to move. But once you started to walk towards Optimus and the three strangers, each step made your knees feel weak. Nothing was fully sinking in, yet you continued on. You held out your hand towards them and went on to introduce yourself.

“Uh, hey there. The name’s Cade Yeager and this is my daughter, Tessa. I assume you’re with the other…’Bots?” The young girl next to him gave you a shy smile and a small wave before the boy came in.

“Oh and I’m Shane, by the way. Nice to meet you.”

You shook the three people’s hands and gave a small but welcoming smile. At long last, you finally got to meet some humans that weren’t hunting you down and trying to kill you. It felt so refreshing to interact with someone that wasn't an alien, car transforming robot.

“[Y/N], and yeah, I’ve been traveling with the Autobots for umm...a few years now or so. Also, I just want to thank you for helping Optimus. Seriously, you have no idea how grateful I am, along with the others as well.”

The way you spoke of Optimus’s name gave you a foreign feeling. Later during the straggling years, especially recently, you rarely spoke of his name since whenever you did, it always gave you an uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach. But now, you were able to say it with ease after knowing that he was okay. Cade gave you a smile and scratched the back of his neck.

“It’s no problem at all, really. I saw the way you looked at him and I’m glad that I could help.”

Optimus stared and observed you during your whole interaction with them. There were so many things to say and so many things to discuss with you. Though as he promised, he would have to do that later. Your hair was a bit of a mess, your clothes were a bit dirty and there were some torn bits here and there from all the battles and run-ins you had with the enemy. If he were to look closer, he would be able to notice scars that have been implanted onto your skin. Gashes, cuts, bullet wounds; they were there. He tore his gaze away from you and looked towards the rest of the team.

“Autobots, we will remain here and recharge for the rest of the day. Once everything is settled, we will discuss further plans with Cade Yeager.”

And so, the whole team went to settle down for the day. To your despair, you had little time with Optimus to discuss pretty much everything that had been going on. He had wanted to talk to you as much as you wanted to talk to him, but he was already occupied with what Bumblebee, Crosshairs, Hound, and Drift wanted to tell him. All the reports and notable news about Cemetery Wind and some bickering between the team. Meanwhile, you tried to distract yourself by helping the Yeagers and Shane set up a camp. Drift had been more than helpful by chopping wood from nearby dead trees with his blades. Before you knew it, night had fallen. Hound was able to set a campfire by using measures that were too extreme for your taste. You sat down beside Bumblebee, staring into the crackling fire. You quietly listened to the conversation that was going on beside you. The Autobots spoke of any possible refugees that had come within the years while Cade was being the typical overprotective dad. That almost made you chuckle. It reminded you of your father whenever he saw you hanging out with a potential love interest. God, when was the last time you had even thought about your parents? You wondered how they were doing and if they were still kicking. You wondered that if you were ever to come back to them, would they ever forgive you for running away and scaring them to death? Your heart ached as you thought more about them. If you could just give them one message that told them that you were okay, that would be enough.

Suddenly, you looked up when you heard Drift talking shit about Bumblebee once again. Almost simultaneously, both you and the giant yellow robot rolled your eyes before he stood up from his seat and approached the giant blue robot.

“He’s like a child.”

“This child is about to kick your ass.”

“He brings us shame.”

It didn’t take long for the two to start brawling. You crossed your arms and legs and sighed as you watched the two of them getting it on. Normally, you would’ve tried to stop them and diffuse the situation, but you were just too tired. Too much has happened in one day and you deserved some rest. Plus, Optimus was here now. He could handle them. Then, you noticed the three other friendlies move towards your side, taking a couple of steps back behind you. You heard the girl Tessa comment on what was wrong with them. Ironically, that was your first thought that came into mind when you first met the refugees. Glad that you weren’t the only one.

“Lockdown is hunting us and humans are helping. We need to know why.” Optimus spoke.

“Listen, I don’t know why, but I have an idea about who.” Cade replied.

That led to you watching a couple of clips that he managed to snatch from a drone. Just as you thought that things couldn’t get worse, it did. You watched as Ratchet and Leadfoot had met their demise by the humans attacking them. Ratchet...the grumpy medic you became very fond of, one of the very first Transformers you’ve met. All the missions you went with him, all the meddling you had to put up with from him, and all the scolding he gave you because he cared about you. Though you weren’t as close to Leadfoot as you were with Ratchet, you knew that he was a good ‘Bot. Two of your closest friends, down and out. Ratchet and Ironhide, both who never got to peacefully pass away. You hung your head low as you rested your elbows on top of your knees. Your hair fell in front of your face as silent, bitter tears fell to the ground below you. “Savages” as Hound had called him. And he was right, that was the exact word that  had described how the humans were in the footage. Ratchet had even begged that he was a medic and an Autobot. Your blood continued to boil even once the footage was finished playing. 

Quickly, you wiped away the tears by harshly jabbing your knuckles into your eyes and looked towards the others as they continued to discuss what was happening. Cade mentioned that the headquarters were located in Chicago and had offered to help them with the mission. He told how if he didn’t help them, then they wouldn’t be able to get their normal lives back. Funny thing was that once you’ve associated yourself with the Autobots, there was no way your life was going to fully revert back to its normal self. You and Sam knew that all too well.

“Autobots, I have sworn to never kill humans,” Optimus said, “but when I find out who’s behind this, he’s going to die.”

This old robot always manages to catch you off-guard. In all the years you’ve known him, you have never heard him say anything with a threatening voice. A scary one, in fact. To you, he was the calmest person you knew. Calculated and dangerous, but he was calm. He defined a true leader. But he was going to kill humans? Just before he declared that statement, he admitted that he swore to not kill humans. You knew that he was enraged with what Cemetery Wind and KSI had done to his close friends and you didn’t blame him for wanting to kill someone responsible. It just seemed so off; so out of character. It was jarring.

[a-moth-to-the-light]

i've been listening to a lot of music lately, and i have some random thoughts!

Yena's Smartphone -- I didn't love how quiet Yena's vocals sounded in the chorus of "Smartphone" at first listen: it prevented the song from hitting as hard as it could have for me, but I adjusted to it very quickly and haven't stopped humming the chorus since. I really like how the song leans so heavily into noisy pop-rock (probably because of the popularity of "Lxxk 2 U" earlier this year!). I've also been listening to "Lemon-Aid" from the album, and it's exactly what I wanted but didn't quite get from "Loveade" by VIVIZ, which has me predicting that "Lemon-Aid" will become a favorite of the summer!

Lizzo's Special -- I've listened to about 3/4 of the album, which I was really looking forward to because I thought "About Damn Time" was super fun, and so far I've added "2 Be Loved" to my playlists because WOW that chorus does something to me! I think Lizzo doing retro was a fantastic idea--her vocals sound especially strong over big 80's pop arrangements, especially those "Out of Touch"-sounding synths in "I Love You Bitch". Unfortunately, this album also reminded me that I don't really enjoy her voice when she raps (which is strange given that I tend to enjoy rappers who are considered obnoxious) so I'm not sure how many songs here will have staying power for me.

MUNA's MUNA -- I put off listening to this album for over a month, despite how much I've liked their past work, but once I finally checked it out, I made up for lost time with obsessive replaying of "Silk Chiffon". The album feels conceptually the same as Saves the World, their last album, half big emo synth and half soft sad guitar, but I don't mind that because, well, the formula is awesome, and the songs on MUNA weigh just as heavily on me as their predecessors. No, that isn't normally what I want from music, but to me it's really not a MUNA track if I don't gasp when the chorus hits and mumble the verses in a state of deep melancholy for days afterward! If you're looking for songs with especially vicious intensity, I would recommend checking out "No Idea" and "Runner's High" first :)

Hyuna's Nabillera -- I feel like Hyuna is the only artist who took everyone's complaints about noise music to heart, and I'm so sad about it. Like NO HYUNA ITS OKAY WE WEREN'T TALKING ABOUT YOU YOUR LOUD OBNOXIOUS MUSIC HAS ALWAYS BEEN FUN ITS OKAYYYYY. But I think the backing track to "Nabillera" is really interesting, despite how much softer it is than my favorite songs of hers, so I bet this one, and maybe even some of the album tracks, will start to grow on me!

Woo!ah!'s Joy -- I have never become this attached to an entire woo!ah! release, despite my intense love for some of their other songs, and I can't really explain why this specific one works for me. Maybe I'm missing Twice and (*sobs*) Gfriend this summer, and woo!ah!'s saccharine vocals fill the hole they've left in my heart while I anxiously await Twice's comeback later this month. There's also some absolutely stunning instrumentation in this album, especially in "Go Away" (that simulated choral effect paired with the beat drop is super cool!), so I'm hopeful about how these tracks will age!

Majiko's "Kosaten" -- Very meh :( I enjoy listening to it well enough, but I forget pretty much everything about it once it ends. I'll just keep listening to "Fantasy"!

And, finally, exciting news! Loona's "Pose" has fought its way from the lowest category in my song-ranking system to the second-highest! Turns out I really, really like it!

[laufire]

RNM 3x03

Since I’m all caught up with the show now, why not resume my weekly posts.

I’m VERY wary about Rosa’s storyline, specifically in relation to Wyatt Long. Like, I cannot state how much I DO NOT WANT THIS. And look, I’ve seen the arguments. I believe in de-radicalization and harm reduction and all that jazz. But I do not want this storyline to turn into how Rosa, a WoC, has to ~teach or redeem Wyatt Long for his racist ways or whatever the fuck. I simply don’t trust this show with anything relating to race; its track record is appalling (I’m also side-eyeing the Not All Cops storyline they seem to be going for with Max). And I truly hope the speculation about them becoming romantic goes nowhere because the very thought of it makes my skin crawl, tyvm. I want plots about her powers or something. I swear I saw gifs of her and Michael having a scene, so I hope there’s something with that soon.

Kyle is getting focus! And an storyline involving his dad! And scenes with Rosa! And to express anger at others! And even a little emotional support by Isobel! I almost can’t believe it LOL. ANYWAY, I’m really looking forward to seeing more of him this season. I’ve seen speculation about both Kyluca or Kybel romances and ngl, at this point neither would bother me. It might be too many plots for the season though.

Liz needs to get in on the main plot ASAP. I was tired of seeing her side-lined in s2 and I don’t want to keep seeing it now. She’s now in Roswell so at least that’s something, but she needs to start working on the investigation, to meet Jones, etc. etc.

I like that Maria is deep in the season’s plot this year, although I hope she doesn’t overwork herself and that Liz can figure out a way to stop her brain cell degeneration. However, I don’t know what to make of Greg/Maria. They’re cute, I guess. But a.) I still don’t know if the actor is actually Indegenous like his character, and that would be TWICE in one show; and b.) he’s nice and handsome and all but I’m very meh about him. That I still like Miluca probably doesn’t help lol.

I’m LIVING for Michael’s new plot. This episode didn’t do as much with it as I would’ve liked (less freaking out about how you might be genetically evil and more excitement about your invulnerability to fire, dude) but I’ll wait patiently. He’s The Heir To The Dictator!! Who Michael’s mother spyed on, betrayed, and fought against!! He was superior powers!! Maybe immortality!! I love it all. I want to meet the Dictator ASAP (and for his actor to live up to my expectations. Fingers crossed). I want MICHAEL to meet the Dictator. In my ideal world he’d use Jones/Max’s powers to bring back Nora somehow so they can all have a family reunion lmao, but I doubt I’ll be so lucky :(. I hope I get a lot of Nora-Michael flashbacks (with him regaining his childhood memories, perhaps) and Nora-Dictator flashbacks (because I already ship them lmfao).

Jones is a lot of fun and I can’t wait to see him interact with everyone and mess with their heads. But first, for the love of all holy, SHAVE THAT BEARD (he probably will so he can impersonate Max at some point, but seriously. I mean it. SHAVE IT). Also, his conversations with Isobel and Max reinforce my theory that, perhaps, their mental link is because Nora & Louise used her powers to control Max as a kid (when he says something like, “oh, you think you’re connected to them...”).

Once again, fandom’s reaction to Alex saying anything positive about Maria makes me want to ask them if they’ve ever met real people añlsdkfja. They’re friends! He likes her! As a person! And maybe as a strange form of what-if!! It’s pretty damn simple and obvious to see!! He’s only supposed to hate her because she’s some HomewreckerTM in YOUR heads LMAO. Anyway, I’m not a big fan of Malex, mostly for the fandom; but admittedly, it won some points this week because of Alex’s certainty that Michael couldn’t be the one dead in the vision, because there’s NO WAY he would’ve covered it up if Michael was the victim. I also believe he wouldn’t have if it was someone Michael loved as much as Liz loved Rosa, let alone hid it from Michael. Take notes, Max xDD

Re: the mystery. As of now my #1 guess is Walt, with the flowers and the song hints. It’s... pretty absurd nobody proposed that posibility tbh. I hope he isn’t because I’m super fond of him and his dynamic with Michael, but I’m more afraid of other posibilities like Kyle. I think the visions would work differently if it was a member of the group (more concerned about other things, basically. Hopefully), but maybe they weren’t clear on who it was at the beginning and decided later on, so. idk.