#also art posts from me two days in a row? who am i

[aamaryst]

"The night has a scent...my mouth remembers... Yato."

it's been over two years since i last did a manga coloring but i had to do this one to celebrate noragami's final chapter. thank you again Adachitoka for such a special series 🤍

#noragami #noragami spoilers #noragami final chapter #noragami end #yatori #yato #iki hiyori #long time no coloring huh #doing colorings for this series is what got me back into digital art back in 2018 #and i literally would not be where i am today without this series #also art posts from me two days in a row? who am i #colorings #noragamicolorings

[dduane]

BTW… re: Smut

... off my comment to this post the other day...

I'm an entertainer. Writing's a form of entertainment. (And not just for the readership: for me, too.) To be aroused by art one's experienced is (almost by definition) to be entertained, I'd say. If someone's jerking off to my erotica, then all I can do is lean back in the typing chair, smile a bit, and think, Good! I got the job done. :)

(...with the tags: #and no I'm not going to let on where the smut is#why would i deny anyone the delights of the search#and of being repeatedly mistaken#while possibly finding smut writers who're better at it than i am#:) ...)

...and then noting (with affectionate amusement) some responses:

Well, troops, better get busy filling in that bingo box. 😄

Also: I have to say (while stressing that I absolutely appreciate the humor behind "shocked, shocked, scandalized...") that the dissonance is, temporally speaking, a bit ill-founded. Because while I may be best known for the Young Wizards works these days... by no means did they come first. This did.

A soft chuckle in the darkness. “Lorn, remember that first time we shared at your place?” “That was a long time ago.” “It seems that way.” “—and my father yelled up the stairs, ‘What are you dooooooooing?’ “—and you yelled back, ‘We’re fuckinnnnnnnnnnng!’” “—and it was quiet for so long—” “—and then he started laughing—” “Yeah.”

Granted, from the here-and-now POV of readers with access to the hot-'n'-spicy shipfic or PWP on AO3, this sort of thing (and the numerous other lights-often-off or dialogue-only sexytiems passages in the traditionally published Middle Kingdoms works) would be seen as pretty small beer: soft, non-edgy stuff. Yet in 1979 apparently there were those who found the sex and sexualities on display in The Door Into Fire arresting enough that the book got me nominated for the Astounding Award (for best new author in the field) two years in a row.

There's no question that the broadly inclusive tone set by the Middle Kingdoms books went on to affect and underlie the YW universe in very basic ways. (There've been some scholarly works written by academics who've picked up on this, so [much to my relief] this perception hasn't been just me imagining it.) But I'll grant you that those who don't know the MK novels wouldn't be in a position to make the connection. (shrug) This is just one of those things that comes of having a lot of fragmented readerships who don't know about each other... a side effect of having done a lot of different things during a career. I can also understand how not knowing about the MK works could leave people who know me only, or primarily, as someone writing for a younger readership, a little bit disoriented (or maybe concerned) when the issue of me writing openly sexual material rears its head. But that wouldn’t be a change of direction. It’d be, to some extent, more a return to form.

Anyway: I consider erotica—and its more casually-dressed (or undressed...) cousin, smut—to be perfectly legit forms of literary expression; ones that can soar to unexpected heights if you're willing to put in the work. The sexy-stuff-writing muscle requires periodic exercise if it's to remain viable and/or useful. So I exercise it. And being a 70-year-old person who sometimes creaks audibly when she walks has done absolutely nothing to decrease my interest in the subject—the brain being, after all, the biggest sex organ, and the one least vulnerable to the depredations of time. If anything, nearly fifty years of experience (and three and a half decades of marriage to @petermorwood) have added... let's just say nuance. 😏

Now this whole concept will doubtless horrify some of the "Eww, You're Too Old To Be Writing This Kind Of Thing, Go Get A (Home) Life" types. To which all I can say is, "...Well, good!" By and large, such folks are not my readers anyway. And as for any of them who are, and can't deal…? They need to understand that (pointing off to one side) those people over there—the various kinda-straight and pansexual and bisexual humans, and the gender-fluid fire elemental, and the otherly-gendered Dragon, and the mostly-gay ones enthusiastically shouting "We're fuckinnnng!" down the stairs—are Nita's and Kit's godparents. Without the members of that extremely mixed marriage and their increasingly extended family, there might be no Young Wizards series... not least because it was the splash made by the first of the Middle Kingdoms books that got the Errantryverse crowd in through a major publisher's door. And the series’s continued (modest but still noticeable) success through the second and third volumes kept the writing of new YW books going for a good long while.

...So. For those who may have had questions: HTH. 😀

(And now back to the unending search for a more graceful synonym for “testicles”.)

#Young Wizards #Middle Kingdoms #writing young adult fiction #writing adult fiction #writing adults-ONLY fiction #all sisters under the skin

[teekays]

as a teeth fan who in the nhl has your favourite teeth?

i was thinking about your call for more teeth posts earlier this week and like… had not previously given it much thought but mo seider has some good gnashers on him

i cannot even begin to tell you how special it was to me to see this ask after an insanely busy day at work.... physically i'm at my house mentally and emotionally i'm drinking from a coconut on the beach. because of this ask <3 thank you.... ANYWAY! disclaimer of two things: my definition of Good Teeth is different from the standard idea of Good Teeth and also this is in no way comprehensive and totally based on My Guys!!! maybe they're hiding a guy with really good teeth on like, the blues or something idk

top of my list Forever and Always..... i would scream it from the rooftops... from the highest mountains... i would purchase billboard space to tell everyone about this. KENT JOHNSON HAS SOME OF MY FAVORITE TEETH EVER ‼️‼️‼️ i routinely spend time just zooming in on picture's of kj's teeth. they're everything to me. little miss overbite.... i would give ANYTHINGGGG to get up close and personal and just Look.....

they make me insane and they are Perfect to me <3 if kj ever does anything to his teeth that will be like 500 9/11s to me

i also REALLY love tk's tiny little row teeth.... i want to lick them.... who said that . anyway. they're veryyyy cute and charming and if teeth can fit your personality, tk's absolutely fit his!!! just little and cute....

additionally i do have to give a shoutout to PRE VENEERS SIDNEY CROSBY.... the dentist responsible for that should never feel safe knowing that i am out there. works of art Wasted... Thrown away....

i miss you every day........

some honorable mentions: henry thrun's little bunny teeth, jamie drysdale's little bunny teeth, morgan frost's whole deal, seth jarvis (honestly just a fan of his whole weird face/mouth situation. he looks like if they turned a puggle into a real boy but like, didn't really try a lot to conceal he was a puggle), and pre veneers steve yzerman <3

#thank you... #asks

[redhoodinternaldialectical]

I am convinced that Jason would LOVE doing drag. It's a theatrical art form that welcomes melodrama and costume design, like this shit is right up his alley! I also feel like he'd be someone who would enjoy playing around with his gender performance, like as @vigilantecore and @cleromancy have pointed out in this post he already does seem to play around with it!

As such I think it's fucking criminal that we have so few designs for him dressing fem that aren't just one-off, no connection to his character maid dresses or bunny suits. Like, c'mon, do not let Tim have all the dresses here just cause he's small and twinkish! Let the big muscle man have fun!! So here's a few of mine to help remedy this tragic deficit:

Cerulean Orbs

Minimal makeup, dark colors, and small jewelry everywhere but her EYES

Very elegant and formal and charming and oh-so tragic figure who is also very off-putting and clearly does not have all her screws tightened ("Somebody go get that girl brown contacts immediately, I am begging!")

Is a vampire, hence the aforementioned characteristics and the big fan she keeps to hide her fangs behind

Uses slight of hand tricks to do things like cry red glass rhinestones (claims they're ruby/bloody tears)

Will sometimes pick someone out of the audience to claim is her reincarnated lost love who she must avenge/protect/lure back into her arms

Smoking Gunn:

Voted "Most Menacing Cowgirl" three shows in a row - always happy to play the heel for another Queen

Carries a (fake plastic) sawed off shotgun, usually on a belt so that it hangs between her legs

She's on a quest for revenge against the man who "cut her gun tragically short"

Hair is wild and frazzled and covered in ash as though she has just blown herself up with cartoon dynamite.

Wears a bright red ribbon around her neck with the bow situated directly over the batarang scar

Of course no matter what design you go with I think it is utterly critical that his drag persona has wildly elaborate and melodramatic beef with Brucie Wayne.

He drunkenly pushed her off the Eifel Tower, he left her sister at the altar, he insulted her purse dog's honor, he sniped her bid on ebay for a super rare beanie baby at the last possible second - every time someone asks Jason just makes a new story up on the spot, often echoing real grievances both on purpose and on accident. The stories are always too wacky to be real of course, but also his anger is often too genuine for anyone to be entirely sure he's joking...

Have a fun little snippet from the terminally unfinished fanfic I made the Cerulean Orbs persona for (context is that Jason is there investigating a Riddler plot, unbenounced to any of the other bats except Tim. There were two possible locations to watch and so people split up)

The night so far has honestly been shockingly fun, even with his paranoia going full blast, looking behind curtains, around corners, searching, searching, searching, aaaaand there's another circle forming in the crowd. Shit. This one has formed around someone at the door and been moving inwards picking up participants. Jason pushes his way to the interior, making a few 'pardon mes' along the way and gaining a line of dirty looks. Then he finally reaches the end of the press of bodies and comes face to face with Bruce. Fucking. Wayne. And Jason promptly shoves his foot in his mouth, face pulled into disgust, half turning into his fan on instinct, "Oh god it's you." The crowd GASPS and Jason sees the most wonderful thing happen: Bruce looks confused. Not the false confusion he pulls when he needs to play stupid, but the real deal! That tiny tick of frustration in the corners of his eyes says that he truly, genuinely has no fucking clue who this is or why they don't like him. Bruce pulls out his best 'placating the plebs' voice, "I- I'm sorry Madam, have we met??" Jason decides the gods have smiled upon him this day as he pulls out of his stunned silence, flips his hair back and says, "Well! I'm glad ONE of us could forget!" And marches off, leaving a bewildered and half panicked Bruce behind to fend off the media questions about THAT little bombshell. Tim chirps in his ear to warn him that he just ran into Nightwing and they've got the attack covered. He can sit back and relax for the evening. Over the course of the night no less than fifteen groups of people come up to him asking him to spill the details and he gives every single one of them a new, more ridiculously embarrassing story than the last. He stole her favorite dress and drunkenly fell into the river. He took them out to get 'fucked up' and brought out a single baggy of oregano and acted like it was getting him high. He mistook her for six different women over the course of a single two hour dinner date. He did seven lines of cocaine, forgot she existed, and tried to fight god with a bottle opener. Everyone in that place has to know he's lying through his teeth, but it's just too fun a story to turn down. In fact... each of them starts spreading their own version of the rumors, embellishing as they go, and delighting in the PR hurricane they're creating around this poor man. Tim reconvenes the next day to ask Jason about what went down, and if he’s okay and what not. In the middle of Jason’s lively recounting, Tim receives a text from Dick asking for confirmation that his suspicions are correct and that Cerulean Orbs was Jason and mentioning that he’s having laughing conniption fits over the fact that Bruce can’t even begin to figure it out. There is a video of Bruce losing his mind about it attached.

Anyways, I really like the idea of Jason doing drag and I hope this catches other people's fancy too!

#we've got ten billion carolina hills i believe in our collective powers of dragification #jason todd #red hood #damian's tomfoolery

[hellkitepriest]

ee @ rough trade nottingham

finally getting to my little roundup several days later, hello. i must say going to nottingham was a real Choice for @shallowtboy and i, because it is not actually that convenient and close like liverpool is, and i mostly justified it with “well i went there to see dutch uncles in december so it’d be rude not to”. but we woke up and got on our stupid early train regardless.

went to an art gallery beforehand, found a copy of mark fisher’s capitalist realism in the gift shop — alex niven first read capitalist realism in january 2010, following a “head-on collision with the music industry”, did you know. saw a very cute pin of kraftwerk-style cats and nearly cried also.

when we queued up outside the venue (venue! it was Just A Shop) there were a good few people there already and we were glad we got down there when we did. doors were meant to be at 12, but they ended up letting us in half an hour later for some reason, which meant by the time we got in we had descended into some cold-induced madness that manifested in us humming the mad stone and bobbing up and down oompa loompa-style to keep warm for just. SO long. this bit would not cease.

we got in, and we weren’t Right at the front but we were close enough, and there was no barrier aside from the flightcases dumped on the ground, and i had to prepare myself for being waaay too close to jonathan higgs. which i WAS. i believe it was albie on here who said that if you’re in the first two rows at any of these shows you will end up making eye contact with this man, and yeah, that only gets truer if he already sorta knows who you are. EMBARRASSING.

it was a good show — not as rowdy and sweaty as liverpool, but what can you expect from a show at midday on a weekday, really. they played teletype at this one(!!! it’s not on my Playlist for nothing), and pizza boy, and i had a bottle of pepsi in my bag and turned to shallowtboy and took a big swig of it at the right moment because really i come to these gigs to have my own incomprehensible kind of fun with my best friend, and it was Funny. only then in the next chorus jon sang “you are afraid / that you’re a pepsi boy” which i did not really register until After, when shallowtboy pointed it out, and i had to contend with the fact jonathan higgs may well have seen me drinking my pepsi (i was about six feet away from him, he probably did,) and decided to make a thing of it. good god. gender win 🤷‍♂️

after the show it was signing time and we all verrry slowly shuffled out into a sort of queue. i took a photo of alex’s pedalboard on the way out, and said “i don’t know why i’m doing this, it’s not as if i know what any of these do”, and their guitar tech (who i have been mentally referring to as Clayton for various reasons, but i believe is actually called joe) overheard and went “neither do i, hah” and then i started chatting to him about what a shame it was that alex didn’t bring his little modular setup on tour this time round, and he told me all about pete’s ableton routing, and it was VERY FUN thank you claytonjoe for engaging with me. pls don’t find out i’m a massive gear poser.

SPEAKING OF— actual signing time. my rubiks cube was in my bag and i was NOT going to leave without it being signed. i managed to somehow barely interact with jon (cursing myself forever that i did not get to ask about the pepsi incident) but they all seemed fairly unsurprised by being asked to sign a rubiks cube, and all wrote their signatures very neatly in one of the little squares, minus jeremy for some reason. and Then.

i was wearing this shirt with the names of two modular synth brands smushed together, based on ONE decade-old post from this one forum that i had decided was the funniest thing in the world, yet another incomprehensible bit i am doing with myself, really, only turns out it’s the modular synth brands alex robertshaw uses the most. it came up on that podcast he did the other day. it was a real “oh for fucks sake” moment. so i showed him my shirt, and told him as much, and i expected there to be QUESTIONS about why the hell this shirt would exist, but he just thought it was great. (jeremy also approved, and said he saw me wearing it in liverpool. i did not interact with jeremy in liverpool. i was not even standing NEAR jeremy in liverpool.) alex then asked if he could take a photo to send to the guy he did the podcast with. YEAH OKAY SURE WHY WOULDN’T THIS NONSENSE BE HAPPENING TO ME. but he didn’t have his phone with him, i guess?? so he had to borrow mike’s phone???? so there’s a picture of me on mike spearman’s phone, i guess. hope the synth podcast guy did see it in the end.

writing this all out really does make it sound about twenty times more bizarre than it felt at the time. i love this ridiculous weirdo band. /\

#everything everything #c vs the band #what the HELL #not included in this writeup: much extraneous gushing about how hot they all are #but do know that i’m thinking it #also. if you have managed to connect Tumblr User Hellkitepriest with any real people on any other social media sites or irl: no you havent #you don’t know me i don’t exist #standard rules

[erika-xero]

Thinking a lot of how social media affect art, how it is getting increasingly more difficult to earn money with it and honestly it just... makes me so sad?.. Disclaimer: I do not want you to pity me. I just want to share some thoughts. Some fears, maybe. Some regrets.

I know that I might never be able to make a good fortune by drawing illustrations, because it seems that I was entirely wrong with my priorities? I always wanted to do more: bigger pieces, more characters and hidden details. I wanted my art to tell a story, if possible.

Who could possible know that most of the people will move to mobile devices with small vertical screens, on which wide detailed illustrations with cinematic feel will look the worst?

Who could possible know that the algorythms of the social media would want you to draw MORE yet, somehow, draw less? I could go insane doing the same stuff over and over again: small portraits, halfbodies in the same simplistic style because they look best in instagram or on tumblr mobile app and gather more attention? And they are also faster to make, thus you can please the allmightly algorythm posting every day or two?..

I love my work, I adore doing various things, I love it when one week I work on a traditional art fullbody with a golden halo and the other three weeks - on a digital artwork with a dynamic fighting scene. But gods. How tiring is it to know that the piece you've been working on will get barely any attention, because three-weeks gap in my posting schedule will, for sure, upset the allmighty algorithm.

They say that it is always bad to switch style or a theme, because people get upset and unfollow you once they see something they aren't waiting to see. Different character body type? Unfollowing. Different facial feature? Unfollowing. Different aesthetic? Unfollowing.

Slightly different shading and coloring? Unfollowing.

But variety has key importance to me. I wish to draw characters which are drastically different from each other. I want to experiment. I want to explore. I want a drawing to be a puzzle I will be solving for hours, days, weeks, never getting bored. I do not wish my work to become a rutine to serve the algorithm or even the general public.

I see, like, those commercially succesfull artists, who post every day earning more money per week than I will be ever earning per month. It is all the same story over and over again: conventionally attractive characters. Halfbodies. Pleasant facial expressions: faint smiles, slightly raised eyebrows. Simple pose, 3/4, detailed clothing. Always the same stylistic choises. Always the same aesthetic.

Of course, sometimes they do draw stronger, bigger pieces, they experiment, they search for something new - but mostly secretely. In private. During the free time they earn - by their hard work and dedication.

I... can not afford drawing stuff for myself in my free time. Honestly, I don't have free time either than the time I spend on my trips to hometown - the only moments I could spend with my family. Neither can I draw five similar pieces in a row, because my brain starts to melt like a strawberry sundae?.. Because when I get bored, I lose concentration? Because, I made variety the key feature of my art and this turned out to be the worst decision an artist can make?

Am I just... weak? Am I stupid? Am I unworthy? Am I childish for wanting my job to be fun and entertaining and fulfilling to do?

There's this group chat I am in, and today someone, the succesful artist, said that anyone, who has less than 10K followers are, to say so, a no one? All of a sudden I feel so upset. My day is ruined. I never had 10K anywhere but VK (which is absolutely useless to anyone doing commissions). I never even cared about numbers... I never wanted to be big. Be popular. For most of the time, my biggest wish was to feel... fulfilled? To be happy, be proud of what I am doing?

I feel fulfilled. But I also don't want to starve myself to death. And I certainly feel like if I, one day, will want to have family, I wouldn't be able to make enough money to afford having a child.

Was I... entirely wrong? Did I waste my time chasing phantoms? Is it too late for me? Will I be among those, who might not survive the hard times, at least, as an artist?

#rant #i am at my fucking limit #depressing shit #this user has a fucking midlife crisis or something

[zukadiary]

Anastasia (Umeda Arts, 2023)

I’m flattered that the overwhelming response to my poll was to bring back reviews :D Since I posted that, Takarazuka has unfortunately been involved in a terrible tragedy (additional information here). I may review the Takarazuka performances I was able to see at a later date, but at the moment I’m going to take some space from doing so.

In the meantime, a very bright spot in a long-awaited trip otherwise filled with multiple bouts of shocking news was the Broadway musical Anastasia, featuring Asami Hikaru (my ご贔屓, kamioshi, bias to end all biases, for those who joined during COVID and somehow missed this) amidst a rather star-studded cast. Getting to see Anastasia was quite special, not only because it’s been 4 1/2 years since I was last able to travel to Japan and see Komu, but also because I HAD tickets to the original Spring 2020 run before, well, you know (not to mention the ruined plans to see fave #2 as the same role in the tkz version). On top of that, it was good.

The Broadway version of Anastasia follows two con men in post-revolution Russia, Dmitri and Vlad, who, amidst rumors that Anastasia Romanov has somehow survived the execution of the rest of the royal family, accidentally find the real one while auditioning actresses to pretend to be her for reward money.

Given that my bias to end all biases taidan’d 17 years ago, I’ve seen my fair share of Japanese theater outside of Takarazuka in my quest to spend as much time in her presence as humanly possible. Usually, I find the non-OG cast members (especially men!!) unimpressive to the point of superfluousness. Imagine my shock when I found myself raising my opera glasses when Komu wasn’t even on stage.

Ranking!!

Anya: Aoi Wakana / Kinoshita Haruka

Anya is a poor street sweeper with amnesia who has a feeling SOMEONE is waiting for her in Paris (turns out it’s her grandmother, the dowager empress). I was supposed to see each actress twice, but due to the flu making its rounds through the cast, I ended up seeing Wakana three times and Haruka only once… which is unfortunate, because Haruka is an absolute powerhouse, and Wakana is a TV actress. The cast lineup for my first of four viewings was absolutely flawless, and I wish it had been the finale instead (especially because I was in shock from Sora taidan dropping like 3 hours prior to curtain). Haruka has a Broadway-quality voice, and her acting not only made sense, but also lacked that peculiar anime-like delivery that most of the Japanese actors I’ve seen have in spades (IYKYK). Although perhaps she returned from flu recovery too quickly and didn’t have her whole voice, Wakana’s singing wasn’t really up to the challenge of the role; all of Anya’s big solo’s were rendered anticlimactic by very flat long notes. I also found her acting to be over the top and desperate, whereas Haruka’s was quite nuanced.

Dmitri: Kaiho Naoto / Aiba Hiroki / Utsumi Akiyoshi

Dmitri is the romantic lead, something of a street urchin who starts off by hatching a moneymaking scheme to produce a fake Anastasia, and ultimately gives it all up after falling in love with Anya. I got to see Kaiho and Aiba, and to be honest, the only reason I’m not mad I had to see Aiba once is because that day Kaiho Naoto was Gleb. I know I am very late to this party, but this was the first time I got to see Kaiho Naoto live, and hooooooooooo boy. That man’s voice gave me chills, he acts like a normal person and not a cartoon, and his facial expressions are SO dynamic. His fans in the FIRST ROW had their opera glasses up, and now I take back making fun of them in my head. Incredible casting choice for Dmitri; he did an amazing job going through the full range of emotions and showing character growth, plus he looked so good in that scruffy little outfit. Tbh, marry me (Aiba on the other hand was an anime boy made flesh and blood and I can’t say I cared for it).

Vlad: Osumi Kenya / Ishikawa Zen

Vlad is Dmitri’s old man friend, a former aristocrat and adulterous lover to Lily. This one is slightly less cut and dry because both actors had their merits, but alas, I’m a big Ishikawa Zen fan. Osumi Kenya is a dancer and Zen is not, and that was quite apparent in any scene with choreography. Other than that, I quite preferred Zen’s knockout voice, nuanced acting, and overflowing kindness. He’s irl bffs with Komu, so I found his Vlad’s chemistry with Lily to be more compelling; but he also integrated himself seamlessly into each cast, despite that I imagine it’s tricky to get the best possible rapport going when the roles are changing all the time. Osumi definitely gave his Vlad quite a bit of enjoyable energy and unique flair, but ultimately, I thought his Vlad was a bit over the top (he’d be a huge hit in a kids’ show), and he seemed to be acting next to rather than with the rest of the cast.

Gleb: Kaiho Naoto / Douchin Yoshikuni / Tashiro Mario

Gleb, a Bolshevik general trying to fill the shoes of his father who relished executing the Romanov family, is the villain of the show. I was SUPPOSED to see all three Glebs, and I’m quite sad I didn’t, but the flu took Tashiro Mario. I ended up seeing Douchin three times and Kaiho once. This is REALLY HARD, and it’s likely impossible to separate out my feelings toward Kaiho’s Gleb in isolation, because Dmitri, without Kaiho in the role, was not compelling, so the overall impact of the show was less on the not-Douchin day. Kaiho showed up again with the voice that gives you chills, and while his performance throughout most of the show was a bit more low-key, his final scene, in which he attempts to get Anya to admit she’s playing around and return to Russia lest he be forced to shoot her on the spot if she is in fact the real Anastasia, was ABSOLUTELY FUCKING UNHINGED (spit flying everywhere, no wonder everyone got sick). Douchin, however, also has quite a powerful voice, and I think overall he did a better job of coming off as creepy and weird. He was awkward in kind of an is-this-guy-ok way, his barely concealed feelings for Anya were both clearer and more unsettling, and he felt believably indoctrinated into an ideology vs. just this is the villain because we said he’s the villain. His slick, jet-black hair and choice to wear light blue colored contacts also really enhanced the evil image. I really regret not getting to see Tashiro Mario, but I think my ever so slight preference here is Douchin just because his presence balanced the rest of the cast.

Lily: Asami Hikaru / Marcia / Horiuchi Keiko

Lily is the dowager empress's lady-in-waiting, a former countess who, in her younger days, cheated on her boring husband with Vlad and is currently tending to the dowager empress in refugee-laden Paris. LBR, I didn’t fly across the world to see the other two (although 3 or so days into my trip there was a SCARE where Komu was announced out with an injury, and I thought I might have to… but she recovered in time for my first show!). Ohhhh it was so nice, I missed her more than my COVID-era complacence led me to believe. Lily was a very fun and pleasant Komu role for me. Homegirl is 51 now (don’t talk to me) and fresh taidansha like Tamaki Ryou are getting the heroines she played a decade and a half ago, but Lily isn’t exactly someone’s mom either. She’s funny, and sassy, and wears sick costumes, and has DANCE NUMBERS! Which she did without looking injured at all! With the exception of like 20 seconds in the prologue, Lily does not appear at all until Act 2, but Act 2 is very juicy. I think I liked the look-Vlad’s-back tango even better than her piano-top nightclub solo, but both were utterly delightful. She also has great chemistry with her Yukigumi top senpai Asami Rei, comfortable yet reverent (just like in real life!). I juuuUUUUuuUUUUuuuSsstttt wish they would lower the key for her… just a little… as a treat.........

Dowager Empress Maria: Asami Rei (more like Asami SLAY)

Y’all… seeing Asami Rei live has BEEN on my bucket list, and the experience did not disappoint. Her voice may be going, but it’s completely age appropriate, and she could have done literally anything up on that stage without it ruining the impact of her presence. I legit inadvertently gasped "mother" into my mask when she made her appearance in a black and silver bejeweled gown to attend the ballet… serving boatloads of charisma uniqueness nerve and talent at 73, to say the least.

The ensemble was also a force and the songs were expertly directed, giving the whole show a stunning sound that has been rare in my experience with Japanese musicals (part vocal talent, part book made for Broadway). The play-within-a-play scene at the ballet was genuinely impressive (it's been a while since I've seen a man jump that high). All in all, a treat to watch!

#reviews #anastasia 2023 #tadaima 23

[daturadiary]

✩First week✩

⋆This post is longer than what i will be posting later on, because i will include everything that happened on the first week :)

✧My first week of uni had started this Monday. Although I had some anxiety over the fact that it was a whole new environment, with new people, I was still very excited! I was looking forward to pretty notes, new lessons, going to the library, and finally studying something that i am actually interested in! Plus my friend (who I will be referring to as red) was there with me the whole time, and we ended up in the same group (the English department is separated into 3 groups in my uni because there´s so many people in it) .

✧But as always things don't go as you expect. On the first day I was supposed to have 3 classes, that went on from 12:30to 18:30. But in the end, none of my 3 professors showed up. Me and red waited for all 3 of them, when the first one didn't come, we went out to get ourselves a snack and sat under one of the trees of the uni to eat (which was very fun honestly), then went back in, hoping the others would. The second didn't show u too, so I took red on a little walk to show her a short path from the uni to the beach, then we went back. We distracted ourselves until the last hour, and so when the third didn't show up too, we just picked up our bags and went back home. Discouraged, because a first day like that, after being so excited, is not really the best.

✧The next day, I had class in the morning, but honestly i expected the same thing to happen. I meet up with red and we go to our class, sitting in the second row. We we´re using our phones talking about how unlikely it is for the professor to come, as we we´re told that most don't show on the first week, because most students don't, and that is true, not even half the classroom was full (they are much bigger than usual classrooms, but I expected more people to attend, at least the first weeks). To our surprise, comes in our professor, who later on throughout my classes with her, I will learn is the sweetest person, and for once I feel like a professor wants to help her students. We go trough how the classes will go, how she will be grading us, and other things, and we also do some exercises to freshen up our memory and vocabulary. That is how my first paragraph writing class went. The second professor doesn't show up, but me and red hang out with some of the girls in our group, we all sat on the grass under one of the trees, talking about our first class we just had other things.

✧My next two classes we´re on Thursday, I had grammar first, with the same professor as paragraph writing, which I was happy about. We started our first lesson, I took notes, the class was peaceful and enjoyable; maybe because, again, more than half wasn't present, not that I'm complaining. For my second class, guided reading, red´s favorite subject for now (nerd), the teacher showed! (not me getting excited cuz my professor was there ;-;) This professor was a bit different, but he was still very nice, also passionate (I think he really likes Hemingway). We went over what we will be studying, the short stories, plays and poems we will be studying and the we had a little discussion, he would ask us questions related to the course and we answer.

✧Side note; our professor for grammar and paragraph writing told us she will be the one to help us with clubs and anything else. Me and red talked with her at the end of the class, and we told her about our interest in clubs, she said that she had noticed the two of us smiling when she brought up clubs, which apparently made her happy. So now me and red will try to make a book club and visual arts club with the help of our professors. We we´re really worried that there would be no clubs in our uni as we found no announcement anywhere, but I'm really grateful for this professor ♡.

♡Thanks for reading till the end, I will be leaving you all with some pictures i took this week :)

.・。.・゜✭・.・✭・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・✭・゜・。.

#studyblr #academics #dark academia #literature #english literature #lit #study blog #study aesthetic #student life #studying #study motivation #studyspo #university #september #productive #daily routine

[merakiui]

Just wanted to say ur works and rambles are literally the highlights of my day!! Like the way u just write is 😭. Also if u haven't already(although u might already have) u should really check out mawwart and their designs for the tweels and Azul. Literal perfection,it's always so nice to see them look less human ish in fanart

Same person that just sent the ask with the tweels and stuff, only complaint I have about this blog is the fact I need a computer to see all ur works, I think when u talked about that Azul piece with him being captive I was like wait a min what?? And I had to scroll down so far to see what it was, it was then I realized I'm missing out on sm. But the mobile version of Tumblr likes being stupid and restarting my page once I scroll down far enough 😔

Sorry it's me again the person who just sent like two asks in a row,do u ever think you'll make an oc. The possibilities would be endless. Also not really related but u should check out Luxuria Triplicate by rotpeach on ao3.

- - -

Aaaa thank you so much for enjoying my works and rambles!!! :D I'm glad they can be a highlight of your day! I have yet to see their art, so I will check it out! I also adore it when artists draw Azul and the twins with an uncanny not-quite-human-ness! <3 it's always so nice to see!!! I will also check out the story on ao3 you recommended!!

Your complaint is very real and understandable. I mainly use the tumblr site on my computer, but I sometimes use tumblr mobile if it's to queue posts or do something quick like pen a concept/meraki mumbling. I've heard tumblr mobile can be troublesome at times. Fortunately, I'm working on the twst masterlist, so soon there will be a place to find my twst stories with ease and without having to scroll a lot! (≡^∇^≡)

As for if I will ever make an oc, I actually have lots of ocs and I have been creating them for as long as I can remember!! I'm very passionate about creating original characters, and I often write stories/concepts for the yandere ocs I have. But I never post any of it here because I don't know if anyone would be interested to read something outside of genshin/twst/hsr. ^^;;; ironically enough, I wrote fifty pages for a story about a yandere!shark mer in captivity during the pandemic. And now here I am writing lots for three merfolk from the hit mobile game Twisted Wonderland!!! lol

#sweet messages

[i--antimony]

tuez

yayyy

listening: release radar: i get it now (sammy rae) (wauuughhhh. emo. i miss my partner) come over (cat's pajamas) stuck (scene queen) nerima (raspberry pie) never me (penelope) beirut (rob blivion) rule #34 (fish in a birdcage) bourgeoisieses (conan grey) milk town/mr carter (nep) doppelganger - lullaby (ethan bortnick) my baby loves to dance (kenya grace) horror night (starcourt) (@delta-orionis, you will like this one)

some from last week that i forgor to note down: tiny human (elohim), some type of skin (aurora), chukotka (otyken), training season (dua lipa, chloe caillet mix), georgian spirit (equbeats), online (twrp), someone else (kenya grace)

aaaand formentera/formentera ii again.

podcasts: wtyp on the francis scott key bridge collapse, and jim gordon must die podcast of all time

reading: i started reading 'bunny' by mona awad because it came up as a recommendation in libby when i was returning mdzs. i am going to be valiant and give it one more chapter but i do not like it. it feels like its trying very hard to emulate a certain type of vibe that i already don't find super appealing in fiction so the trying-vibe of it makes it even more uninteresting to me. the premise is a girl at a mfa program in nebulous New England Private Liberal Arts School(tm) which like, fine, dark academia or whatever; there are four (five?? i literally cannot remember which, lol) other girls in her cohort who are a weird clique and call each other 'bunny' and are rich and sheltered but harboring a Dark Secret Club. sure. the first few chapters ooze 'not like other girls'-ism, the 'bunny' characters themselves feel flat and like caricatures in an unappealing way, main character's other friend ava also is a caricature in a boring way, just very uninspiring. like i said i will give it another chapter or two but if it continues to bore me i will return it.

i finished the scum villain extras! very charming.

watching: keeping up to date with dunmeshi, yay, and also been continuing to watch endeavor with a friend. it's good! i love a mystery show! it is impossible to watch without subtitles though because they are So British. relatedly i am going to terf island for two weeks in june (london and then edinburgh) so if you know any recs for food, places, etc i am all ears!

playing: this weekend was going to be 3 dnd games in a row ... then monday was postponed to next monday ... but my sunday group, which is normally every other week, has decided to play next sunday as well bc we skipped a few weeks ... so Next weekend is the 3 day dnd combo lmfao. i don't mind too bad.

making: pottery!!! some bisque came out and i am soooo chuffed (<- endeaver tv show britishism rubbing off on me) this will be its own post with more images because i want to @ the inspiring artist, jbbartram-illu on tumblr (shop); i am obsessed with the cave painting mugs from a few months ago that immediately sold out so i was like fuck it i wanna make my own. and i am obsessed with my lil fat horses. i put amaco ancient jasper on the inside and just a matte clear on the outside. hopefully it is matte enough. i also put little hands on the handles and now i want to make some more cave painting mugs that are just the hands, i could cut out some templates to sponge underglaze around maybe...

my beautiful cracked-the-code bowls and two maybe teacups, post-trimming:

and also trying a new glaze technique: bisqued underglaze and then liquid latex over top! that way you can slather a background on and just peel it off after without painting around the details. im ngl peeling off the latex was soooo satisfying. background is laguna celadon froth.

i've also glazed my citrus juicer, just a plain warm yellow color, looking forward to that :3

glaze: mother's day gift (planter, it's. fine. idk. she'll like it i hope), and also some fixed stuff! didn't bother taking pics, the black eye bowl from feb 6 tuesdaypost is now food safe on the inside because i sanded down the kiln medium bit that got stuck in there and re-glazed it. i also tried to fix the bowl from march 12 tuesdaypost by just lightly sanding the inside and slapping some laguna celadon froth over it...it looks exactly the same now, just with some sort of float-like blue splotches lol. no pictures of it but eh. might give it away, we'll see.

eating: Spicy Clam Pasta With Bacon, Peas and Basil Recipe (NYT): tasty. idk about 'spicy' but definitely yummy.

misc: definitely in a weird spot brain-wise...the anxiety and tummyache link/feedback loop is very real for me now, so i am going back on an extremely low dose of ssri about it, and even though i have been on this med before in much larger amount i am still experiencing aaa about it. i keep going between "going back on this is a good idea" and "or i could just keep taking ~10mg of cbd every other day bc that felt like it was doing something, even if it was just placebo i had a noticeable difference in mood" so like. bluh. idk. i wish i could just Know what the best course of action is instead of having to fuck around and find out. such is life. i am literally taking the world's babiest dose rn (breaking the starter pill in half) so it will be fine. as long as i dont get bad side effects im willing to do a few weeks on it and see what happens.

#tuesdayposting

[nickgerlich]

Shoot And Leave

In the rush to return to some semblance of normalcy in the post-COVID era, we have resumed traveling. And I mean traveling with reckless abandon. Forget about high gas prices and air fares, we’re just doing it anyway.

The big trend this summer was a European vacation—not the movie, but your own vacation. Personally, I drove 14,000 miles on three long trips, and went to Costa Rica. Pent-up demand was certainly driving all of us.

But a new problem has emerged in this digital era: overtourism. Essentially, the problem is this: People are flocking to tourist hotspots, taking and posting selfies, leaving without spending any money (or very little), and then, thanks to social media, inspiring others to visit also. It’s a cycle that some cities are now trying to combat by imposing tourism taxes.

And it is not much unlike the congestion tax we see in places like London, whereby drivers pay £15 per day to drive into the congestion zone. Some cities are charging $5-$10 per day for the privilege of day tripping. I doubt they will deter people though, especially once you factor in the cost of getting there in the first place. What’s another $10?

Overtourism is also happening locally. The Cadillac Ranch opened in 1974 as an art installation that the Ant Farm creative team developed and then sold in concept to Stanley Marsh 3. A few years ago, I interviewed the two surviving members for a feature that appeared in ROUTE Magazine. They never intended for the cars to be spray painted; that just happened organically. Located along I-40 a couple of miles west of Amarillo, it is reported to have more than two million visitors each year. It was even moved in 1997 from its original location a few feet west of the new Sam’s Club, to allow room for the city to grow.

So popular is the place that TxDOT had to install concrete jersey barriers to separate the Frontage Road from the freeway (to keep people from just driving through the grassy median to get there). I always scratched my head over why Marsh (who died in 2014) never monetized the place. That all changed two years ago when his family trust (to whom he had bequeathed the ranch in 2013) put a merch trailer onsite. The trailer sells t-shirts, caps, and the usual trinkets, as well as spray paint.

Duh. That was an easy one, because, as rumor has it, until then, the Home Depot at Soncy and I-40 was reputed to have the highest spray paint sales of any store in the chain.

Alas, people have taken to painting anything and everything, including the dirt, the road, the fence, and even the jersey barriers. On weekends, there is a traffic snarl along that stretch, with dozens and dozens of cars parked helter skelter. Tourists do their thing, take selfies, and post them.Then the cycle continues.

Good on the Marsh family trust to finally figure out how to separate people from a little bit of their money, but not all places are as lucky. When selfies in unique places become a prize unto themselves, a trophy for having been so cool as to seek out those places, there is always the risk that visitors will shoot and leave.

Wouldn’t it be nice if even just 10% of those Cadillac Ranch visitors stopped long enough for fuel or a meal? Better yet, how about lodging? I bet most people just keep going, though.

I am particularly guilty of this. Heck, my Facebook profile pic is of me standing by—wait for it—that familiar row of painted Cadillacs. And I have done this in many other places. It was no different from when we went to Carhenge in western Nebraska a few years ago. Snap snap snap…and off we went.

My passion is photographing roadside America, specializing in vintage neon signage, but also including the 1960s-era fiberglass Muffler Men and other oddities. Often I will shoot a selfie after I have finished doing my usual photo documentation. I seldom stay long enough anywhere to spend money, though. Some of the most common questions I am asked are “Did you eat there?” and “Did you spend the night there?”

If I did that, I would never be able to photograph as many things as I do.

As for cities and states that are tourism magnets, it is often a love-hate relationship. You hope people linger long enough to spend lots of money, but at the same time, you begin to loathe the traffic problems tourism can create. Just try to drive through Orlando Florida any time of the year. Or, to pick on a city closer to home, Albuquerque during Balloon Fiesta.

Then there is the case of China, the second biggest economy in the world. When I took my Chinese-born daughters there in 2019, we shot and posted tons of photos. While the notorious “Chinese Firewall” keeps residents from accessing western media, all it took was a VPN pointed at Hong Kong for us to dodge that bullet. And I suspect that the Chinese are good with this, because we basically became their pro bono advertising agency.

Ah, but China just lives with congestion. Bring it, baby, and bring lots of US dollars.

If anything, we can thank smartphones, social media, and always-on internet for putting a lot of this into hyper-drive. I don’t see things getting any better, short of another pandemic (please, no). Just don’t hog the space. Take your selfie and get out of the way. We’ve all got influencing to do.

Dr “Among The Worst Offenders” Gerlich

Audio Blog

#marketing #overtourism #tourism #travel #selfies

[ragnarokhound]

tagged by @hardlycats! :D

name: Elizabeth! I've also gone by Fenris while online, haha - old username habits die hard :)

pronouns: she/her :) also down with she/they

where do you call home: the pacific northwest owo

favorite animal: a toughie, because I like Many, but zebras were my favorite when I was a kid, and wolves are a big one (...clearly >.>) Dragons tho. If we include mythical animals then dragon hands down, no question

cereal of choice: REESES PUFFS REESES PUFFS (peanut butter chocolate flavor) this was for the joke (insert kombucha girl meme here) fr fr I like rice krispies/choco krispies, if I eat cereal at all

visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner: kinesthetic probably haha - often people will show me and then tell me a thing, but I really have to just. Try it myself to really Get It. In one ear out the other with me sometimes OTL

first pet: Smokey the goldfish O3O I think...I may have been responsible for Smokey's untimely demise. 4 y o me dumped a little too much food in the aquarium :') RIP Smokey 😔

favorite scent: hm! I don't usually think about this - probably sandalwood, or pine. Fresh cut sawdust :)

do you believe in astrology: I am versed enough to get by with the folks who do lol i'm a libra sun, gemini moon, leo ascending u_u and i kind of know what that all means lmao

how many playlists on spotify/apple music: oh no. ohhh nooo. don't. don't look at me-- oh god. oh no look i've dropped them oh god now i'll be here all day *starts shoving them back into my backpack

(if we don't count other people's playlists that i follow. 285)

sharpies or highlighters: sharpies no contest

songs that make you cry: i don't cry at a whole lot of music! but if we want the same vibe then Little Fall of Rain, On My Own & Empty Chairs At Empty Tables from Les Mis (the london cast recording, not the movie lol) and Vagabond by Misterwives, Andra by The Ghost Of Paul Revere, Liar by the Arcadian Wild, Id by Charlie Allen, I Need My Girl by The National...listen I have a playlist for this lmao

songs that make you happy: Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go by Wham (reminds me of my little brother :)) & Cardiac Arrest by the Bad Suns, Talk Too Much by COIN, Almost (Sweet Music) by Hozier...Listen. I Have A Playlist For This

do you write/draw/create: i write fic! I also went to school for art education and am endorsed to teach art (to high schoolers when I get the chance lol). I was a girl scout arts and crafts specialist for a camp two years in a row, and recently I subbed for a high school ceramics teacher for the last quarter of school and made a bunch of ceramic stuff, it was really fun! I also paint, draw, crochet, cross stitch, and if I had a sewing machine I'd probably sew haha.

I am at the whim of ADHD brain tho (probably >.> squints in undiagnosed) and only post things online sporadically. My JayTim phase is actually the Most active I've been and also stayed in any online activity that involves me making things and also posting them lol

tagging but no pressure: oh yes um! only if you want to! @shineyma | @beanboop | @listen-to-the-inner-walrus

#tag games #:3 #about me

[morgandria]

Yesterday I paid for three days of activity and social interaction in a row. Another sudden temp change brought me a migraine today, but Mom is chatty today, about woo things. We haven't talked in a while, and I do my best not to ignore her woo things when she wants to chat about them, because it's best to be timely. Thus I have given up on sleep, and am shuffling around my kitchen making faces at the mess while making frequent stops at the computer.

I guess my Grandmother (her mother) came to visit in her dreams last night, and handed her her phone. She's not sure what to do with that. I suggested she go sit out in the garden and just listen, and watch. It's Grandma's favorite time of year. She says she talks with her through hummingbirds. For me, it's cardinals. She loved them both.

The rest of this post is just me dumping my very random and malfunctioning brain out before I lose it, so read at your own risk. It is very woo.

Not surprised about my mother's dream. The last few days have been busy, even (especially) when I'm dreaming. One night I did nothing but hop between odd little pockets of reality, all of which seemed to be collapsing in on themselves and dying in runaway cataclysm, chaotic cancerous overgrowth, or just plain entropy. I couldn't do anything but witness a while before leaving them to their ends, but that also seemed to be the point? A relief that someone saw them, someone knew they were. That was before the new moon.

Also, I have become aware that over the last month I seem to be teaching witchcraft in my dreams, although I could not tell you to whom I am doing so. The last couple nights there's also been a mix-in of assembling groups (a 'coven' in one case - not quite the right word but the one that was used), untangling complex threads of corrupted things, flushing out nasty stagnant energy blockages, and in one case removing a deeply embedded parasite from someone (who them wound up joining the aforementioned 'coven' once they were free). At some point I was flying around delivering messages (no idea to whom or from whom they were), interspersed with frequent stops to feast on copious amounts of raw meat on the bone.

And yes, after all of -that-, what follows is what stands out.

I was dead yesterday afternoon - the sort of pain-induced sleep where I fall off the planet dead, which is rare for me as a light sleeper. Deep dreams. I wound up wandering into a church.

It is not unusual for me to be in and out of churches of varying types in my dreams. I love some of them in waking life as well - their architecture, their art, the way some of them smell, light through their stained glass, and their quiet calm spaces. In my dreams, churches have the benefit of not usually being Christian at all and some of them are quite unusual.

This one had...two faces. The whole building was grey stone, plainly dressed. There was no real ornamentation, except for twilight/starlight/dawnlight through glassless windows and curling vines creeping inside trailing tiny white flowers. There was no overt difference in appearance between the two, but I could distinctly tell between them. A certain slant of light, a deepening shadow. People were progressing between individual stations of some kind. Half the people there seemed to find whatever they were doing very unpleasant, but grimly kept going about it. Others seemed to find great joy or pleasure. But they were doing the exact same things.

I sat and I watched, seemingly from the rafters. I felt a vague sense of bemusement from the whole thing, but it wasn't strictly mine. After a while I became more aware of myself, rather than just being vaguely present - wrapped up in black-feathered wings, there but not. I followed this procession of persons as they went through their stations but stopped well before the end of them. They trailed off into the distance, fading into little flickering flames wrapped in mist and shadow and violet gloaming.

The bemused other coalesced into something more collected, but not really visible. Just a presence, but certainly there - the presence of Lucifer. I'm still getting familiar with them, so I don't always cotton on that it's Lucifer right away. Sometimes they wear the face of Baphomet. Sometimes they're a shadow, faceless with horns and surrounded by falling, blackened feathers. But often it's just a soft presence, a velvet violet gloaming streaked with gold.

We just sat and watched the lights for a while, nothing to really say. The rafters of the church had become the branches of a vast tree, trailing little white flowers in the wind. I felt it blow through my wings, and...curl around my horns. (I had noticed in January that my aura seemed to have acquired horns. but this was the first time they'd manifested otherwise.) I guess I must have seemed slightly disconcerted, but Lucifer just chuckled, then sighed softly.

"You know, those have always been there. You just hadn't claimed them yet. They're another kind of crown, just one amongst the many you wear. Like your wings, you'll get used to them.

You're always welcome here, this place between worlds. Come and unground yourself once in a while. I know how much you hate having dirty feet."

Their presence began to fade, grow diffuse. I was left in silence, in feathers, in wind and flowers with one parting phrase:

"Momento vivire."

#personal #witchcraft #dreams #new moon #Lucifer

[the-enzyme]

My June 2022 toy haul arrived a few days ago, along with a few figures I purchased quite a long time ago but finally made it to me. The first image is what was released in June, in Japan and just got to me. I might have to make a second post with the other toys that weren’t part of this haul, just to not have a million photos in one post (not like I can add more than ten anyway).

From far left top row to front right bottom row: Square Enix NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... Plush [NieR]; BanDai Tamashii Nations S.H.Figuarts Sasuke Uchiha  He Who Bears All Hatred  "NARUTO Shippuden" Non-scale Action Figure; Good Smile POP UP PARADE Danganronpa 1, 2 Reload Nagito Komaeda Complete (Non-scale) Figure; HobbyMax Evangelion (RADIO EVA) Kaworu Nagisa Ver.RADIO EVA Original Color Complete  1:7 Scale Figure; Intelligent Systems Fire Emblem: Three Houses Acrylic Stand Byleth; Empty Fire Emblem: Three Houses Acrylic Keychain 01. Byleth & 28. Byleth;  CRUX Attack on Titan Acrylic Stand Eren Action; CRUX Attack on Titan Art Tin Badge Eren; Movic Kiki's Delivery Service Message Sticker Packing Design; Movic Howl's Moving Castle Message Sticker Packing Design.

I am super happy with my figures this time. I love all the stuff I collect, that’s why I collect it. However, the first two S.H.Figuarts based on Sasuke they released, I found weren’t as accurate to the prototype. Which was a real bummer -- I usually expect known/stablished companies to keep their products accurate to their prototype. I specifically recall their Itachi Battle version of Sasuke having changes on his face, upon release. The proto was more visually appealing to me, but they ended up changing it. I find this release exactly as the prototype, so I am happy. I am a bit upset that the shop I got this from had a limit, other shops didn’t appear to impose. Sadly, all other shops had already been sold out by the time I was able to get him in my cart. T__T;;; I am hoping Amzn won’t oversell these (as they always seem to do, with figures I need and can only get from there), so that I will be able to get a second one from them. 

The Nier plush is so freaking cute, I am super happy I decided to get him. I was scared of shipping costs (rightly so, if I do say so myself, I wish Japan had SAL or regular Air mail available right now!). I hope I will be able to get Emil, although I already have the pouch version, these are so flipping adorable (the more gigantic head, is what seals the deal for me). Sadly, shipping costs kept me from adding him to June’s haul. I hope he won’t sell out completely, before I can get him somewhere. This is my first Kaworu Nagisa scaled figure, I got the “original” color version, because I love Kaworu with whiter hair like in the original anime (thusly the “original” color version in the figures name). However, I didn’t pay attention that the eyes are also a lot less saturated than the “regular” color version, and I’m a bit upset since I saw Japanese owner photos of this version. I still love the figure to pieces, but from photos I have seen (I am not unboxing mine), his eyes are not as red as they were in the original anime nor like the “regular” color version. If/when they do a rerelease, I hope I am able to bring the regular color version home as well.

I am of course super happy with Nagito; PUP figures are pretty much exactly as the prototypes. The only thing that seems to vary is the plastic translucency and yellowness. None of the prototypes appear to be yellowy nor semi-translucent, but some of the figures I’ve gotten in the past are either or both. This one however, doesn’t appear to be either, which makes me extra satisfied with this purchase. I got a second one to unbox, but it will take a while before I can ship it, because my wallet still aches, from this shipment’s costs alone without including the costs of the items themselves. DX

#SasukeUchiha #KaworuNagisa #ErenYeager #ErenJaeger #evangelion moodboard #NarutoShippuden #Bandai #FireEmblem #Byleth #ToyHaul #Toy #Collectible #JapaneseFigure #Anime #VideoGame #ToukenRanbu #AcrylicFigure #AcrylicStand #SHFiguarts #ScaleFigure #1:7 #1:7Scale #HobbyMax #TamashiiNations #SquareEnix #NieRReplicant #NieR #Plush #GoodSmile #PopUPParade

[akusaimonth]

AkuSaiMonth 2022: How it works

[ID in alt]

One final collection of information!

Check out https://asm22-info.carrd.co/ for a complete overview over Rules & General Information for both tumblr and instagram!

How it works:

The AkuSaiMonth event lasts from July 8 (7/8; IsaLea Day) to August 7 (8/7; AkuSai Day)

This year‘s event gives the prompts as bingo cards with randomized prompt orders

The goal is to get one bingo within the month by filling five prompts in one row, column or diagonal.

There is no official schedule

The goal is just for motivation and fun, you are not obliged to fill five prompts! One is perfectly fine!

Take part as much as you want, whenever you want!

How to „win “ Examples:

[ID: four filled out example bingo cards. Three using a correct bingo constellation (five crossed out prompts in one row, column or diagonal) are marked as “correct”. One card with a random pattern of crossed out prompts is marked as “wrong”]

Everyone who gets a bingo „wins“. Speed has nothing to do with it!

„Winning“:

Again, don‘t take it too seriously!

There is no prize for „winning“

There is no penalty for „not winning“

The format is just for fun, to make the event a little more like a game.

What counts to fill a Prompt?

Every kind of content you can think of!

Writing, art, videos, music, edits, fan games, ...

Just make sure it‘s your own work! No stolen content!

Check out the Rules & General Information overview.

Where do I get the bingo card?

There are two kinds of bingo cards, you can find both on asm22.carrd.co

Interactive bingo cards will be randomly assigned as soon as you click the link.

Text-to-Speech-friendly bingo cards will bring you to a google drive where you can pick one of the three available. I'd recommend picking at random!

When should I post?

Whenever you want, preferably within the month.

One possible schedule would be:

Fri, Jul 8

Sat, Jul 16

Sat, Jul 23

Sun, Jul 31

Sun, Aug 7

That‘s one post a week!

Where can I post?

ASM22 is held on tumblr and instagram, but you can post wherever you want!

On tumblr all posts will be reblogged to the @akusaimonth tumblr.

On instagram I will collect all posts in the stories. It is also possible to invite @akusaimonth as a collaborator to showcase and collect your works on this page as well. All rights to your works remain with you of course!

If you post to other sites (e.g. AO3, twitter, wattpad, youtube, …) you can send me the link in a DM and I can add it to the instagram stories (and tumblr, if you didn't post it here already). Let me know where you want me to post the link and whether it contains NSFW or anything else I should know.

„Is (…) allowed?“

Short answer: It most likely is.

Check out the Rules & General Information for a definitive answer.

So far I‘ve only had good experiences with the AkuSai fandom. I don‘t expect any problems, just act normal and everything will be fine. However, to be safe I do retain the right to not share content I find in bad taste and will ask you to remove it from the #akusaimonth tags as well.

That said, I don‘t take any responsibility for any content created during the event!

Final Information:

Please do read the Rules & General Information. Yes, I've linked it like 87 times in this post, that's how serious I am.

It gives all the information about posting rules, content rules and NSFW rules for both tumblr and instagram.

Please keep in mind that posting rules and NSFW rules differ slightly between tumblr and instagram.

If you have any more questions, please don‘t hesitate to ask!

And finally, I hope you will enjoy the event! Let‘s give the world some more AkuSai! <3

#akusaimonth #asm22 #akusai #isalea #leaisa #axelsaix #kingdom hearts #axel kingdom hearts #saix kingdom hearts #isa kingdom hearts #lea kingdom hearts

[kithventures]

In The Land Down Under

In the wee late night of early September (2022), me and Mossy joined this group of Khmer hikers aboard a plane to Kathmandu, Nepal. The ride was smooth, but the bus ride we hopped onto afterwards bound for Pokhara, was not. We were there to scale and descend a mountain they called "Poon Hill" over the span of 4 days. It's marvelous that despite being 3210 metres high up, the Nepalese people did not consider this a mountain, given the bigger giants they've got: the Annapurna, a side of Everest, etc.

This trip deserves a separate post to fully convey the details, vibes, and effervescence because a lot happened in less than a fortnight.

Butt I'm rambling, this post is not really about Nepal. It is about where I am now.

On that flight to Kathmandu, I stared at the vastness of leg space I had from being seated next to the emergency exit door, and wondered about life up to that point in time. The newness of moving out of my family's home at the start of the year and living independently had faded, and fire had stopped engulfing me whole.

I was lost, dealing with identity issues, and couldn't seem to finish any projects that I had started. I felt like a fluke of an artist and it was hard to walk out of the door and onto the streets somedays.

Hurling through the sky at 900km/h, it hit me that if I've left once, I could leave again! Why not! I'm an Australian citizen even though I'd never lived there, and my old art teacher once said that Melbourne is a lot like San Francisco in its vibe and character. Fuck it, after the trip I quickly applied for Environmental Science at RMIT. (I was reading so many non-fiction nature books in 2022 so I felt that I might as well pursued a degree in it, or something... honestly, it was just a convenient excuse hehe.)

Now we're in 2023!

We moved to Melbourne in mid-Febuary and now it's the end of May. It's been a long 3 months. I hardly remember life before moving here.

2 months into the course, I realized that I don't want to have anything to do with data-analysis in my future, so bye-bye Environmental Science and bye-bye RMIT. Life is oddly extra refreshing as a two-time college dropout.

So I've now got a part-time job at an organics market stall where I manage the checkout counter and talk to people about how they cook their favourite veggies. Many people are happy to talk about their tried and trusted recipes and I'm always happy to listen. (There was a man who bought 2kg of cayenne chilli to make his award-winning sauce...)

I've also just been exploring every little interest and hobby that I get a whiff of. So far I've been rowing, doing aerial yoga, and pilates. I also met some of my closest friends here at a free embroidery class hosted by a grad student at RMIT (thank you Aaron Billings!).

I've gotten furniture for my apartment and got a little home studio set up for music-making. Oh and there's a pole-dancing class I'm trying out later this evening. Life is really chill right now :)

My mother and my sister are the most worried for where my life will head, they want me to get a grip on things, finish a bachelor's degree and come home to help out the family business. But honestly, I'd rather take a cool barista course and keep travelling around on my own path. I can't promise anything of the future or how I would want to live then, so why even worry?

In conclusion, I would totally recommend Melbourne as the place to be for people who have unlimited interests in the things around them, because I've found that there are just so many things to do in this city. I don't think I would be here forever, but it's got good soil for me for at least a couple more years :)

#melbourne #journalling #moving #life journey