#record for self

[teafiend]

I came to Beyond Evil with biased eyes, and surprisingly, despite how amazing the show was, from the cast/performances, characters, writing, plot/twists, cinematography/visuals and a few of its OST tracks, those biases were still at work, and the show did not manage to engage my tears and/emotions as anticipated. Besides my personal biases at work, I think the intense plot/twists were quite a bit of a distraction in terms of emotional investment (for me). I was on my metaphorical toes in terms of who could be involved, and was hesitant to pick favourites until at least more than halfway through the show. While the first half was fantastic in its twists, I could enjoy the second half more, when it was much clearer what’s up and it was more about the journey towards the ending.

(A rewatch would likely result in more emotional investment in the characters and show, but am mostly interested in my rare pair fanvids from the show at the moment).

I was watching the final leg of “Nobody Knows” while marathoning BE, and while BE is undoubtedly the superior production and show, I find myself “liking” Nobody more than BE at times. (NK is a great show too but from more “objective lenses”, BE is certainly on a “higher level”). Just goes to show that being able to invest in a favourite character(s) made for a very different viewing experience. And I prefer that NK had more slow, quiet character moments which were not upended by another twist, unlike BE. The pacing for the plot twists in both shows were solid but the turns in BE had more urgency, which made for better suspense and thrills, locking in interest for more. As a thriller/mystery, BE truly aced in the writing and direction, but I simply preferred NK for its periodic small, calm moments.

In a way, I would say BE is similar to “Nirvana in Fire” for me. A magnificent story/production/show with memorable characters, performances and writing, but could only at most engage my mind and a minor part of my heart, not consume it.

Perhaps I felt some of the dramatic scenes in BE were made for the shock/twisty factor, so the “melodrama” felt more forced to me. I know these type of scenes and effect work with many people, just unfortunate that I don’t often derive much emotional poignancy from them. Often, they just felt cheesy. This is less a criticism of the choices taken by the show than an indictment of my own preferences. (Or maybe I just have less tears for shows like these nowadays).

Shows like “Signal” and “When the Camellia Blooms” were major tearjerkers (heavy blues for a period too) for me, while “Missing”, “Nobody Knows” and “Beyond Evil” were quite mid. I expect the shows were also written and produced/shot with certain desirable emotional effects in mind, and certain elements resonated more with me than others, through no fault of the writing, characters and/or performances.

Despite my own feelings - or lack thereof - for these particular shows, there are no doubts that all are fantastic productions worthy of the time spent on them. With regards to BE, while I didn’t “feel” the hype, I certainly did get why it received the praises it did. The storyline, performances/characters etc were quite mind-blowing, and the twist and turns kept me glued to the screen even when I found some of the interactions between the characters a tiny tad tedious.

As for the finale, I definitely enjoyed Nobody’s more than BE because NK gave more time for a satisfactory peace at the end for its main protagonist (and side characters). BE did show a satisfactory “epilogue” of sorts too, but I wished it was a bit longer.

Could not deny that “climatic scenes” don’t work their magic all that much on me nowadays either, but that’s really a me problem. After all, even the much touted climax for “The Guest” (a favourite) did not resonate with me as much as the small, mundane character moments did (which I have rewatched numerous times vs the ending). Most significantly, I suppose, is the much more pronounced bias I have with shows nowadays. Men-fest, their pain/conflicts and “bromance” bore me to no end, unfortunately, and I would venture to say that that was likely the biggest problem with NiF and BE for me, in terms of emotional receptivity. Without that few outstanding - and beloved female characters - in both shows, i.e. Consort Jing and Yoo Jae Yi (and the few others), they would not have managed to engage a part of my heart.

Hence the reason for my “preference” for Nobody Knows. Cha Young Jin has all my love and following her journey of justice and “healing” was satisfying. Yoo Jae Yi (and a lesser extent Oh Ji Hwa) captured my attention and emotions in BE, but they are not the main characters, resulting in little emotional engagement. All the characters in both shows were memorable and fascinating, but you simply love who you love.

All said, Nobody Knows and Beyond Evil were both amazing shows deserving of their accolades, and I was very glad to have completed both (in time to welcome 2023).

(Looking forward to a few days of fangirling and simping over Cha Young Jin and Yoo Jae Yi ❤️‍🔥⭐️)

[hinamie]

some quick jjk eye paintings

[xitsensunmoon]

I think this is like the most effort I ever put into something that was supposed to be a funny goofy but then turned into me giggling and kicking my feet. I'm in need for soft Moon cuddles, with all his gremlin energy still present...

Close ups, mostly Moon's limbs because I like how they're gripping the net fkdkkd

And finally the "reference" that started it all lmao😭

[nyoomerr]

Normally, the community of Proud Immortal Demon Way can hardly be called as such. To call PIDW readers a ‘fandom’ would be akin to calling everyone who visited the same porn site a family. PeerlessCucumber is a loud exception, but in the end he’s still only an exception - by and large, people reading PIDW know exactly what they’re there for, and it certainly isn’t for any sense of shared enjoyment or community.

The community of people following PeerlessCucumber himself, however, is a whole different story.

PeerlessCucumber is the asshole single handedly responsible for at least seven different copypastas, the rich bastard that will pay an artist’s rent for a single picture of Luo Binghe if only the artist can tolerate his demands for constant revisions, the dictionary definition of an anti-fan.

He is also blissfully unaware of the absolute glee in which people take in riling him up. And in the age of the modern internet, nothing brings a group of strangers together like the opportunity to poke fun of a guy like that.

“How do I look?” HualingsWife whispers to her companions. They take a moment to scrutinize her, gaze lingering around her chest.

“I don’t know,” SwordsOfCultivators says, “I think the guy ahead of you let his robes drape open further.”

HualingsWife rolls her eyes. “If I let my robes drape open that far, I’d be disqualified - you know the rules are different for men.”

“It’s not like you’re looking to win, though,” XuanyuMeat says. “And the open chest is clearly effective.”

The three of them pause, turning to look at the stage from their spot in the wings. The competitor that came before HualingsWife is running through a series of poses that are slowly but surely allowing his robes to slip ever wider. 

Two of the judges are watching with thinly veiled amusement - after several years of this tradition, they’ve gotten used to the chaos that PeerlessCucumber’s fans bring to these cosplay competitions. 

The third judge is PeerlessCucumber himself, and he looks like he might be experiencing a serious health condition. A serious mental health condition, to be clear.

“- robes of inferior make! Binghe’s exposure is always purposeful, and artful, and it wouldn’t be because he was wearing robes that didn’t fit him! If you don’t care about dressing true to his character -!”

“Hm,” SwordsOfCultivators hums. “Is it just me, or is Peerless not being as harsh as he usually is? Do you think he’s finally losing some of his obsession with Luo Binghe?”

“He better not!” HualingsWife cries. “I’ve put way too much time and money into working on a cosplay for that awful porn book for him to lose interest right when I get my chance to join the torturing-Peerless-fun!”

“No, no,” XuanyuMeat says, shaking their head. “You heard his rants for the Luo Binghe cosplayers one through four - he was especially cruel to them! Look at his face now, that isn’t the face of someone losing interest!”

They turn back to the stage. Luo Binghe cosplayer number five - likely DickBiggerThanBinghe, if HualingsWife were to guess based on her limited interactions with him in the PeerlessWatchers discord chat - looks unbearably smug. His robes have fallen completely off his shoulders by now.

PeerlessCucumber, on the other hand, looks so red HualingsWife wouldn’t be surprised if she started seeing steam pouring out of his ears.

“Ah,” she says, understanding. “You think he’s recently finally realized his obsession with Luo Binghe isn’t that of a straight man’s?”

“I wouldn’t put it past him to get this flustered over a man’s exposed chest and still think it was caused purely by the outrage of seeing one of our ‘poorly done’ cosplays,” XuanyuMeat says wryly. They send HaulingsWife a pointed side eye. “So…”

“Oh yeah, I’m on it,” HualingsWife says, already loosening her robes further. “Just make sure to have the cameras ready to get the direct comparison of his reaction to a woman’s nip-slip versus the absolute conniption he’s going through now.”

“Please, he probably won’t even see it - he’ll probably get all awkward and look away like he does with any female cosplayer dressed in anything but a full body suit.”

“I think he’ll peek through his fingers anyway,” SwordsOfCultivators says gleefully. “He wouldn’t dare miss the chance to oggle another Luo Binghe cosplayer.”

On stage, DickBiggerThanBinghe finally waltzes off, having received his scoring from all three judges and a score from the back of the room where the group of PeerlessWatchers are sitting. 

After all, none of them are really here for the actual cosplay competition. They only care about one thing: whoever can get the highest scoring Peerless rant about their cosplay will pay for dinner for everyone that night. 

“Ohh, seven out of ten!” HualingsWife says, as the group PeerlessWatchers wave their scorecard around with glee. “The last time someone got scored that highly was when TofuBuns dared to cosplay as a half-dead Luo Binghe covered in wounds!”

“TofuBuns still has their display name set to ‘faithless mongrel undeserving of witnessing Binghes success’ in the discord server,” SwordsOfCultivators sighs. “I can only hope to one day trigger a Peerless rant so iconic.”

On stage, one of the judges glances down at the score sheet, sees that another Luo Binghe cosplayer is scheduled to come out next, and stifles a laugh before gesturing for HualingsWife to come on.

“No way I’m getting something that iconic my first try,” HualingsWife says, “but if I can get Peerless to make that hilarious choking noise he made the last time he saw a female-presenting Luo Binghe, I’ll count it as a win.”

[jaymei]

sure, enjoy your tea.

[radiotrophicfungi]

BLINKIE SET #66 . . . SELFSHIPPING!

a quick recolor set with lots of colors to choose from for your convenience! the original blinkie is the white one on the top left. I was going to make it a part of another lovecore set, but decided to do this instead!

[moonsun2010]

30 June - Shovel day :)

these are part of an animatic summarising Dracula, which you can watch here (new readers beware; it has spoilers for the entire book!)

✨️tip jar|commissions

[hydrachea]

Do you think god lives in fear of what they've created.

[cherryheartsx]

steth mic v2 I think we're getting somewhere lol

[vanhelsingapologist]

Publishing has always been a fucking nightmare, but now it’s a layer of hell. It’s not enough that writers be good at what they do. Writers have to maintain an active social media presence and cultivate a following. Be available.

They have to be conventionally attractive enough to look good enough to see on a screen, aesthetically pleasing, kind, funny, up-to-date on trends, socially aware but not so controversial that they turn off a brand from California from slapping their discount code on a video promoting a book.

They have to do all of this with no media training, with little help from the companies that are supposed to be doing this for them.

Of course, a lot of this isn't possible for say, the 40-something mother of two who teaches English at a school and writes on the side. She’s boxed out of an already complex industry that already has enough walls.

On some level, I think authors have always marketed themselves a little, but we’ve reached such a crazy point where we’re demanding the author become the influencer. Accessibility in publishing has narrowed from an inch to a sliver. And that inch was hard enough to get in as is.

[gummi-ships]

Kingdom Hearts 3 - Sora

[starflungwaddledee]

some rather strong first impressions were made.

required reading for the magical "voice" headcanon and another for starstruck's signature in particular. asked by @trainerbob23 !

[poohsources]

🐝  *  ―  𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑷𝑯𝑨𝑵𝑻𝑶𝑴 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑶𝑷𝑬𝑹𝑨 𝑺𝑬𝑵𝑻𝑬𝑵𝑪𝑬 𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑻𝑬𝑹𝑺. ( all of these are taken from the song lyrics from the musical of the same name. feel free to change pronouns and adjust to your needs! )

❛  remember me once in a while — please promise me you'll try.  ❜ ❛  where in the world have you been hiding?  ❜ ❛  stories like this can't come true.  ❜ ❛  close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams.  ❜ ❛  and you'll live as you've never lived before.  ❜ ❛  let your darker side give in.  ❜ ❛  who was that shape in the shadows?  ❜ ❛  is this what you wanted to see?  ❜ ❛  now you cannot ever be free!  ❜ ❛  fear can turn to love, you'll learn to see.  ❜ ❛  i shall give you one last chance.  ❜ ❛  it's useless trying to appease me.  ❜ ❛  you're only saying this to please me.  ❜ ❛  if he knew the truth, he'd never, ever go.  ❜ ❛  it was an accident ... simply an accident.  ❜ ❛  why have you brought me here?  ❜ ❛  what you heard was a dream and nothing more.  ❜ ❛  i'm here, nothing can harm you.  ❜ ❛  i'm here with you, beside you, to guard you and to guide you.  ❜ ❛  promise me that all you say is true, that's all i ask of you.  ❜ ❛  you're safe, no one will find you.  ❜ ❛  all i want is freedom, a world with no more night, and you, always beside me, to hold me and to hide me.  ❜ ❛  all our fears are in the past.  ❜ ❛  why is it secret? what have we to hide?  ❜ ❛  [name], what are you afraid of?  ❜ ❛  you were once my companion, you were all that mattered.  ❜ ❛  why can't the past just die?  ❜ ❛  don't make me do this. it scares me.  ❜ ❛  we'll be parted forever, he won't let me go.  ❜ ❛  am i to risk my life to win the chance to live?  ❜ ❛  do i have any choice?  ❜ ❛  i know i can't refuse, and yet i wish i could.  ❜ ❛  don't think that i don't care, but every hope and every prayer rests on you now.  ❜ ❛  you! why did you let this happen?  ❜ ❛  but can i trust you?  ❜ ❛  i love her! does that mean nothing?  ❜ ❛  the world showed no compassion to me!  ❜ ❛  did you think that i would harm her?  ❜ ❛  why should i make her pay for the sins which are yours?  ❜ ❛  this is the choice — this is the point of no return.  ❜

[urloveangel]

at some point you realize stress, worry, frustration are unnecessary and only slow you down…

you can move through life with compassion, love, acceptance and joy instead, and thrive with much more ease 🫶🏼

[aroaceleovaldez]

forever mad that HoO introduced Diocletian's scepter as an object but. gave it to Nico and had Jason promote Frank about it.

Like. Okay here is an object that can summon the dead. It can only be used by a child of Hades/Pluto and a Roman officer in unison. HAZEL IS RIGHT THERE!!!!!

Nico can already summon the dead! He doesn't need a special object for it! Literally IN THE SCENE WHERE THEY GET THE SCEPTER, NICO RAISES THE DEAD. HE'S NOT WEAK ENOUGH THAT HE CAN'T! Hazel meanwhile has never raised the dead before (kind of - she did a little bit like once)! Theoretically she's fully capable of it but she's never properly tried it before! Giving her an object to help facilitate practicing with that would be perfect, especially given the scepter expires after a certain number of uses! Also, since Hazel ends up a praetor in TOA anyways, there's no reason why she shouldn't get promoted to be able to use the scepter all on her own! In fact her getting promoted in the House of Hades would be the perfect place to do so because it's a scene where she's taking the lead and saving everyone else! In fact it's a significantly better place to promote her to praetor over the scene where she ACTUALLY gets promoted! And even if you don't have Hazel promoted instead, then you'd still have it be Hazel and Frank working together to command the armies of the undead, which is perfect because they're a couple and it'd be a great way to show how well they work together!!!!!

LITERALLY THERE IS NO REASON TO NOT GIVE IT TO HAZEL. WHAT'S THE DEAL.

[talk-danmei-to-me]

Pondering whether I should start treating 7 seas danmei translations like pokemon and y'know buy them all.