Weekly summary: June 2 - June 8, 2024

[alchemicink]

It was an interesting week! Not irl, which was generally uneventful, but I have a bunch of fandom stuff to share this time 😁

Let's hop to it!

I don't have any fic recs this week actually because I have been ~writing~! It's been a while since I've been this focused.

Well, relatively speaking. I'm still hopping around to different things. But I'm making progress!

I wrote a tiny bit of heartshipping (YGO, Yugi/Ryou) for shiritori this week, which you can read here. I may clean this up and post to ao3 sometime?

I also wrote a little 23.5 fluff fic (Ongsa/Sun) for femslashfete! You can read that here. I thought I was gonna take a week break but I keep getting ideas so... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm also making pretty good progress on my intoabar fic. It's a bit more serious in tone than I originally intended but I'm happy with it so far. Hoping to finish it this week maybe.

ALSO pod_together signups are open! bluedreaming and I are doing our usual collab! I think this is our fifth one?? Either way, I'm excited to start on that soon too!

***

I finished my Howl's Moving Castle reread this past week. I'd forgotten how silly things get in those last two chapters 😂 all in all, it really is a delightful story. I don't usually write fic based on novels, but I'm kinda tempted for this one. I just enjoy banter and that's like 95 percent of Sophie and Howl's relationship 😁

Definitely recommend the book!

***

Thanks to vriddy, I learned about the Japanese film festival online 2024 which is happening right now!! Open for a variety of countries. You can stream a selection of movies for free until June 18 and then after that, stream two dramas for free until July 3.

So far I've watched "We're Broke, My Lord" (starring Kamiki Ryunosuke) and "The Handsome Suit" (starring Tsukaji Muga). Both were comedies.

I really enjoyed "We're Broke, My Lord" the most. Maybe it was the period costumes lol. I should note a content warning for lots of mentions of ritual suicide (and one actual attempt). Otherwise, the story is a lot of fun.

"The Handsome Suit" wasn't bad, but it's also rather predictable. Mostly I enjoyed that I recognized a lot of the cast 😅

I did try to watch "School Meals Time Graduation" and "Wedding High" but I just couldn't get into them. They're probably good movies, but they just aren't for me.

I hope to watch more this week and write some mini reviews. Hopefully.

Regardless, I just want to support free and legal streaming while I have the opportunity.

***

Some Star Trek news: Season two of Prodigy will be on Netflix at the beginning of July. (Glad that Netflix rescued the series after Paramount booted it last year.)

I saw some grumbling from Trek Twitter about Netflix releasing all the episodes at once, and I don't blame them. I think weekly watching is more fun.

But it doesn't really matter to me anyway. I don't have Netflix so the only way I'll get to watch is if I can convince my brother to watch it together. (Very unlikely)

***

Music stuff!

Trident is back with new single Spice! to promote their new mini album. The song didn't really grab me, but I'm glad they're back anyway.

East of Eden also has a new single out: chasing the moon. Fun song, and I like that the music video features some cute backstage footage. They look like they're having a good time.

Hizaki (the lovely guitarist from Versailles and Jupiter) is releasing a solo album for the first time in years. Jill, the violinist from Unlucky Morpheus, is part of the backing band, but I'm not familiar with the rest of them. Either way, everyone looks lovely in the music video for Stella Maris

And speaking of Unlucky Morpheus, they're currently doing a little side project without their main vocalist Fuki. It's called Unholy Orpheus (lol) and Shiren is doing all the screamy vocals. I like melodic death metal so this is nice. The song is Undeveloped Land

(I sorta suspect this side project is to keep them busy while Fuki is unavailable. There is an upcoming tour with Gacharic Spin and DollsBoxx, and she provides vocals for Dollsboxx. I kinda hope they release some new music for the tour 🤞)

Lastly, hsj. They released their weekly video, of course, but I didn't really care for it, so no link this time. But in more exciting news, Daiki announced that he got married! How exciting! Here is a tweet about the news. He's the first one in the group to actually get married.

I've been following hsj since 2009, so I kinda feel like an auntie seeing one of them get married now?? 😂 Weird, I know. I'm just happy they get to have a life outside of their work.

Anyway, that's all I have for this summary. Sorry it got a little long 😅 Wishing everyone a good week ahead!

Comments

[bluedreaming]

You mentioned “Sorry it got a little long” but I’d argue that this update was a delightful length!

So many projects!! And thank you for collaborating with me again on pod_together; it’s truly such a delight ♡

If you’re feeling the urge to write a bit of Howl’s Moving Castle, I’d say absolutely go for it! Or note down some ideas in your idea stash, and leave them to percolate ☆彡

Cheers for online free streaming! It’s so great when things are made available that way (thank you Thai dramas) - Japanese movies in particular can be so hard or even impossible to get, not even just streaming, let alone free streaming, but at all. I have a soft spot for Kamiki Ryunosuke from past projects, though the subject matter seems a little difficult 😅

Do you think Prodigy will ever come to DVD or unlikely because Netflix?

Cheers to Daiki getting married! I definitely feel that way when some kpop idols get married; wish everyone the best.

Wishing you a good week!

[bluedreaming]

Adding an extra note here for lack of not knowing where to put it (sorry!) - I saw the top part of your tweet about feeling discouraged about posting fic, contrasted to really enjoying writing it lately. I’ve blocked Twitter etc. from my phone during the work day so I can’t open it, so I’m sorry if I missed something important further on!

I definitely don’t write as much as you, but I’ve also been feeling pretty bleh about posting to ao3, though maybe for slightly different reasons, and that’s part of the reason that I’ve been posting stuff to small archives recently. So I was wondering if there’s a particular part of posting that’s the worst, in case there might be a way to make it better.

Either way, hugs and encouragement as always! 💕

[alchemicink]

No worries! The full tweet text was

Stuck because I'm having a great time writing fic lately but having a terrible time posting fic

And the only solution I have is to just not post fic at all

But I share fic because it's the only way I have to engage with fandom

Do you see my dilemma? 😩

So it's basically just me lamenting that I'm not quite sure what to do. I like ao3 for the archiving, but I'm just disappointed that I don't feel in touch with the fandom aspect of community these days, even though fic is my best way of trying to participate.

I'm still thinking over the options (and still will probably post another fic tonight out of some misplaced sense of optimism 😅) I appreciate you taking the time to listen to my complaints ♡ and I'm sorry you feel similarly about posting :(

[bluedreaming]

Thanks for sharing the full tweet here ♡ (I know I saw it on Twitter later but it’s so nice to be able to answer slowly)

That makes sense about archive vs. community - particularly in that case, it would feel unfortunate to not post to ao3 because there might be silent readers out there who do stumble across a story, even years later, because of the searchability & filtering & “being in a centralized database space”-ness. (My “save all the things” and “make everything accessible” hat!) And then I get a bit morbid sometimes too (but in a constructive way) and think about the longevity of different places (like a personal website one pays for or even self-hosts on-location is great because one controls it entirely, but that only lasts as long as on is still around/someone is paying, but on the flipside no platform is 100% resilient; there’s resilience in collective/shared responsibility). But if posting doesn’t feel like it really connects with other people, that can feel even more isolating than not posting at all. It’s not like you’re posting just for yourself, if the posting is your attempt to connect.

I know of some people who participate in community by primarily commenting and reccing and find their connection that way? But that usually requires being fairly active on at least one “fast” social media platform, and depending on the fandom, I’ve heard that can get really toxic 😭

Back when I was trying to connect in more with kpop I’d do all of the events, and that sort of worked but it was stressful and once it got to the stage that I didn’t have time to read and comment on other fanworks in the event I was in, I realized that was actively harmful to the community that an event is hopefully supposed to engender.

A lot of words to say that I don’t really know! I hope that thinking about this will help with finding a compromise. It’s helpful to think about these kinds of things, and reflect.

Sending you 💕💕💕 and I’m always happy to listen, even if I’m slow to respond.

[alchemicink]

I appreciate your thoughtful response, my friend 🥰 it's helpful to think it through from different angles and perspectives.

It is quite isolating at times to try to share something with the community and get no response. (I'd liken it to bringing a dessert to a party but then watching everyone eat the other desserts instead.) But then, I get unexpected comments on older works occasionally, and that reminds me that people are still enjoying my stories even if it's not as quickly as I'd expect.

To your example about joining a lot of events and then being overwhelmed, I totally see that! I've definitely had to cut back on signing up for stuff bc I spend too much time on one thing and can't enjoy anything else. But if I'm not participating, it's easier to read through the works and such! Like, less pressure to read and therefore easier to do, I guess?

Anyway, so far, I think the best thing for me is to make sure I only post when I'm in a good headspace. So I'm not too impatient and such, and then get disappointed.

Thanks for listening to my complaints 🥰

[bluedreaming]

(I’m so sorry I made such a tangle of the comment threads; so confused! 😂)

That comparison to the desserts is so apt; I’ve definitely had that experience, and it’s disheartening!

But yes, that unexpected comment on an older work is so lovely ♡

That makes sense about less pressure! I know that I often agonize about comments on gifts; it’s so much easier to comment on random fanworks.

Posting in a good headspace sounds like a really good approach! Hopefully it’s a happy medium ☆彡

Always happy to listen and talk it through 😁

[alchemicink]

(Absolutely no worries! It's all good)

For gifts, I always feel like I should comment immediately, even if I don't have time right away. But for all the other works in am exchange, etc, I feel like I can take my time to browse. If that makes sense.

Yeah, I think I'm definitely going to pay more attention to how I'm feeling at the time before posting. It's always easier to deal with disappointment when you're in the kind of mood where you can just brush it off!

I'm always happy to listen in return 😊

[alchemicink]

I'm glad it wasn't an overly long post XD

I'm looking forward to our project this year! I'm trying to wrap up intoabar soon so I can hop over to this project

I definitely think I'm gonna make a little list of fic ideas~

I appreciate the Thai dramas being on YouTube SO MUCH! It's so convenient. Even just looking up info about these Japanese movies has been difficult, so I appreciate this opportunity. Kamiki is a lot of fun in the movie, but yeah, if casual mentions of harakiri are distressing, then it's probably not worth it

Hm... I don't know. I know the first season is available (maybe Blu-ray only?), like other stuff that first aired on paramount. But with season 2 being on Netflix... odds might be a little less

Hope you have a good week too!

[bluedreaming]

I’m looking forward to it too! I think I saw that you said on Twitter that intoabar is almost done; I hope that’s going well!

Yes! I’d love if more things were available on YouTube; it’s so available ♡

I’m glad the first season is available at least! But yeah, it’s sad that a lot of things aren’t going to physical media anymore.

[alchemicink]

I finally finished intoabar this week! Posted and everything, so I'm happy 😊 (and will be starting pod_together soon!)

Yeah I really hate the way everyone shifted to streaming instead of physical releases. Why can't we have both?? Streaming has always been a challenge for my limited internet, and I appreciate having my own copy of things with dvds, cds, etc