halfcactus

thefridayfive 2026.04.02

Sat, 02 May 2026 09:12:11 GMT

https://thefridayfive.dreamwidth.org/151663.html

1. Do you like to spend time outdoors?
When I'm vacationing in other countries and have Google Maps to guide me back. 😅 Where I live the concepts of sidewalks and uh sanitation are still kind of abstract. Not to mention... our seasons.

2. What is your favorite flower?
Still learning my flowers! For now santan/ixoras because of childhood core memories of picking them and sucking nectar out of them.

3. Any favorite warm weather activities?
Presently, GOING TO AN AIR-CONDITIONED MALL.

4. Have you ever kept a garden? If so, what did you grow?
I've been gifted various cacti and succulents from other people and they all died lmao

5. Do you know how to swim?
Shamefully, no... I don't even know how to float. One time my relatives signed us all up for a white-water rafting activity. The guides capsized the boat (on purpose, and with plenty of warning) and also made us jump off a rock (??? I think? My memory is really bad) and had to fetch me from wherever I drifted off to with my lifevest. 😂 Well, who told them to do all that in the first place. 😂

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Set this world on fire now

Fri, 01 May 2026 05:48:42 GMT

The Kickstarter for The Crane Rider's Tale, a Chinese fantasy-inspired murder mystery is live! I hope it gets funded, I'm really looking forward to it. The art style, the ability to RIDE A BIRD, and the murder mystery aspect already have me sold. The cited influences (besides Disco Elysium) are also games I have on my wishlist...!

A cool website: Mahjong: a Visual Guide with Hong Kong and Taiwan rulesets.

Photos of recent eats. I'm still a little sick—thankfully it's a long weekend, but me not making a full recovery in 12-24 hours is making me antsy.

I caught the ONE OK ROCK - Detox Tour movie last week. The theater surround sound + audio editing really made me feel like I was there, I was so hyped for Make It Out Alive and The Beginning. (And, as a bonus, I had Din Tai Fung for dinner, so I have nothing but positive associations.)

I read the first 6 volumes of Touma Rei's The Water Dragon's Bride, a shoujo manga about a girl who is transported to another world and chosen as a sacrificial bride. Very 2000s animanga vibes but lacking an interest in details. Thoughts here.

I've been posting more on Bearblog lately bc it's less social (and thus anxiety-inducing) and I like the Discovery feed where you can see the posts of other blogs! I hope the platform doesn't die...???

It's so hot haha and electricity rates have been spiking again haha and according to the news other countries might build data centers here haha (but I suppose I'm glad that we still have power since a month ago we were worried about rationing electricity)

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like butter scraped over too much bread

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 04:37:49 GMT

I am now 10 chapters into The Fellowship of the Ring (via audiobook), here are my journal pages on it. I'm a full month behind the Shelved by Genre (podcast) pace, and a lot of the things that are being discussed go right over my head anyway, but I'm enjoying having the readalong experience.

Some photos I took this month: 4 photos of flowers + 1 of a magnificent chicken that I passed by on the small residential road that I privately think of as "the chicken path". I'm trying to be better at ID-ing plants but it's not really going well.

I'm at the part of Legend of Mana where I have gotten the Sword of Mana artifact? But I still have so many quests left? Even though I totally messed up the artifact placements and have been locked out of a bunch of other quests? Shoutout to this beautifully designed Legend of Mana fansite + walkthrough which is so neatly organized and ad-free. Without its step-by-step dungeon guides I would have dropped this game within 5 hours and left too many quests unfinished because I can't be bothered to explore from place to place.

Just set up a personal fantranslation site (halfxin.bearblog.dev) for organizing old works--just audiodrama clips and fancomics for now. I'm not fannishly active in any capacity anymore, I just like clean websites.

Misc. links

Zhang Linghe’s face is the real star of Pursuit Of Jade – and that’s the point - h/t douqi, an entertaining little piece about the economics of TV and attractiveness.

深渊猫猫: A 4-koma-style slice-of-life comic on Bilibili about living with an eldritch cat.

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@thefridayfive 2026.03.17

Fri, 17 Apr 2026 12:11:45 GMT

https://thefridayfive.dreamwidth.org/151216.html

1. What did you do on Monday?
Ran bank errands and resisted the urge to get a sweet iced beverage. Bought a plain white cotton shirt and plain black cotton shorts because it's summer and because most of my t-shirts are Uniqlo which are awful for summer.

2. What did you do on Tuesday?
Got teary over Witch Hat Atelier ep3. It's the episode where Coco takes the first trial. The anime paced it so beautifully, added scenes of Coco's mom to emphasize her ever-present absence in Coco's life, and scored everything with well-timed and truly moving music. The ending sequence shows you how Qifrey's apprentice uniforms are put on and that too was moving.

3. What did you do on Wednesday?
Received omiyage from my brother who just came back from a trip to Kyoto: ~sakura fromage~ chocolate from Royce (v. interesting!) and a Uniball Zento (retractable/click gel pen). The barrel is wider than the Uniball One. I vaguely recognize the Zento line being award-winning but I'm not nerdy enough about stationery to understand why.

4. What did you do on Thursday?
At noon, I heard an unusually noisy maya (Eurasian tree sparrow) whose chatter was so loud and incessant a yellow-vented bulbul came to take a look (it left immediately). Found out that the target of its yelling was a fledgling which might have fallen off the nest. The fledgling was motionless at that time so I thought the adult was calling everyone's attention to its dead offspring, but when I checked again at sunset I saw the fledgling flapping its wings, toddling around, and meeping in the direction of where its parents presumably were, somewhere higher up. Parent and child are now nowhere in sight, but it was funny seeing the adult visit its wayward child every now and then to yell at it (after feeding it). # tough parenting

...I also put away my laundry!!! It's a big deal because I needed to arrange my closet and re-fold clothes (I am very disorganized and just throw them in) to make space for the new laundry. But I did it!!!

5. What are you going to do today?
It's almost the end of the day for me, so just uhh last-minute watchparty stuff and maybe checking messages? Ideally I'd be doing one leisure activity (watching one of two shows or playing one of two games) but I'm more likely to be paralyzed with indecision and do nothing for 3 hours and wake up sleep-deprived.

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thefridayfive, 2026.04.10

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 09:34:55 GMT

https://thefridayfive.dreamwidth.org/150938.html

1. What was the last book you read (or are currently reading)?
Last read manhwa: On My Way to Meet Mom, would recommend! It's a 30-chapter story about an orphan boy in a post-apocalyptic world (where there are more aliens than humans) who discovers the concept of family one day and sets out to find it. Very comforting because the boy is so ordinary! He is small and round and human and that is enough reason for him to be deserving of love. It's gen through and through, which I like, and acknowledges that gender and gendered family roles are human constructs, which I also like. And the character designs are so good!!! Beautiful fantasy elements too, like whales in the sky.

Last read book: A Small Place by Jamaica Kincaid, an 80-page essay about Antigua, post-colonialism, white tourism, and global power dynamics. Hits pretty close to home and written quite lyrically. Would also recommend!

Currently reading: The Fellowship of the Ring audiobook (narrated by Andy Serkis)—I'm not sure how sustainable the audio format is for my attention span but it got me further than all past attempts to read the text with my eyes. I now see the appeal of Tolkien. I still can't visualize anything, though...

2. What was the last movie you watched?
This morning's groupwatch—we meant to watch the Journal with Witch live action movie, but the subs were machine-translated from Chinese which was painful, so we switched to 100 Meters on Netflix. It's about what running means to athletes, the years and years of training and self-doubt all for these races which are over in 15 seconds, and what those 15 seconds mean. On paper: good concept! I can see this being a nice, thoughtful manga. In practice, it had some really interesting textures and breathtaking moments, but I thought the storytelling was poor and did not maximize the animated form. None of the characters also ever really have inner lives, and because of that, the main character's speech at the end feels unearned.

3. What television series are you currently watching?

Loving Strangers (cdrama): I stopped watching this for a while and then got back to it because I was feeling tired and 委屈, and this show is nothing but characters who are tired and 委屈.

How Dare You!? (cdrama): 14 eps in, I don't have very strong feelings about it but it's a group watch and there are enough interesting plot points that I'd like to see through. The show is kind of uneven, some sets of episodes are paced better than others. I really liked the first ED so I was very sad that they changed it to the more "serious" one.

Pursuit of Jade (cdrama): One of my oomfs said this got her out of a cdrama slump and true enough I managed to watch 2 eps in a row. XD I am not very enthused that the FL, a small village butcher, is Secretly Proficient in Martial Arts and has Secretly Important Parents (deceased).

Witch Hat Atelier (anime): So beautiful and worth the wait! Not sure how much the anime covers and how long I'll stick with it, but I'm pleased that its impact is mainstream enough that I have a common interest with IRLs again.

4. What are some of your favorite blogs or communities online?
My fav community is the HnG server where we groupwatch non-HnG-related things and people share pictures of their local birds and flowers. :') Also the gaming channel in the NiF server, it's like the only channel I check haha. Also all the bookish people in my Dreamwidth and Storygraph circles because how else do I know what books exist! I read A Small Place because I saw two of my Storygraph mutuals (one of them is, naturally, aartichapati) finish it recently.

My favorite blogs are mostly defunct. </3 Some old blogs that are still up but no longer active: Lazy Evaluation Ranch, a personal farm blog; Hanzis Matter, a blog "dedicated to the misuse of Chinese characters in western culture"; Source Code in TV and Films; and Said the Gramophone, a music blog (still updates every December).

5. What social media do you belong to and check often?
Twitter and Bluesky... I also have an Instagram but as usual I've stopped checking it 😂

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Recent media

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 15:20:37 GMT

Recently finished standalone things:

Sally Rooney, "Normal People"
Coming-of-age + romance litfic between two flavors of insufferable young adults. It was fine. Plus points for being very readable and getting me out of a slump. Minus points for Connell's PoV, which I found unconvincing, uncohesive, and undeserved, and brought to mind a movie I disliked for similar reasons, the animated Filipino movie Saving Sally, though this one wasn't as egregious.

Project Hail Mary (2026)
Very well-produced, though bleak. It's a really good movie for the green screen-fatigued—Rocky the alien is a physical puppet, and so lifelike it effectively distracts you from the quality of the writing. The movie itself is, at the end of the day, a male power fantasy, which would not have bothered me if it weren't so LONG; the last twenty to thirty minutes were altogether extraneous, repetitive, and un-suspended any disbelief I had in the power of friendship. It really suffers so much from having Rocky be sidekick-type character. (But to the credit of this movie, I did cry once lol)

Manhwa + manga

How to Ride the Hero's Coattails (manhwa)
A VERY promising transmigration + academy + tower/dungeon story with a FMC. It actually reminds me of the cnovel/cdrama/donghua How Dare You!? but so far it's very gen. The FL transmigrates as a a random no-name character in a tower novel. She decides that the path to survival is to put on a heroine-like personality (bubbly, naive, forgiving) and stick to the novel MC, an in-universe transmigrator (kind of like the 2FL in How Dare You) who happens to be her classmate. In his PoV, he's the only one with novel knowledge and so he assumes, with full confidence, that he's the one using her for his own gain and "developing" her as a hidden-gem character. He also assumes from her behavior that she's a new romanceable character, but in reality she's the one calling the shots and stealing all the romanceable girls from him. XD

Re-living My Life With a Boyfriend Who Doesn't Remember Me (manga)
Tropey sunshine girl x tsundere boy she-fell-first-he-fell-harder romcom, with fair amounts of angst and obvious HP influences: After tragically discovering her boyfriend's dead body, the FL finds herself transported back in time to < 2 years before his death. When she approaches him, it becomes apparent that he doesn't remember her at all or have an interest in befriending her. But of course, that won't stop her! She's determined to stop his death at all costs and content to stay by his side in any way possible.

The first chapters are mostly of her pursuing him and being continuously rebuffed, which isn't the most fun dynamic, but eventually the ML goes through a journey of discovery: that he has feelings for her, that his coldness has made her perceive him as someone she can't ask for help from, and that his competition is his own future / alternate-timeline self whom he develops an inferiority complex to. He decides to step up his game and set aside his pride, trying to get her to see him and love him as he is. On her part she falls in love with him twice but is still powered by too much trauma to rely on people.

There's also a neat little twist that

spoilers

this is actually their third timeline. In the first timeline, the FL dies. In the second timeline (the one that the FL remembers), the ML remembers and dies to prevent the FL's death. The present timeline is the third, the FL remembering and trying to prevent the ML's death.

The Person I Loved Asked Me to Die in My Sister's Stead (manga)
I'm only 3 volumes in but the angst, it's beautiful. The setup is pretty banal: the kingdom needs a sacrifice to appease the mana tree from the otherworld. The FL's younger sister is chosen. The FL's crush begs the FL to go in her sister's place. Being a lovesick pushover, the FL agrees. When she is being sent to the otherworld, the sacred sword Sartis suddenly appears, declares she is his master, and follows her to the otherworld. Sacrifices are typically meant to be devoured by the tree, but the FL having a sacred sword and an aptitude for magic by her side, finds away to put it to sleep instead. She survives... for twenty more years. All alone, in a land full of monsters, not aging because of the concentration of magic. One day a portal opens and from the portal comes a man who is the spitting image of her first love. The young man turns out to be the son of her first love and her sister. He challenges her for the sword, and loses; he decides to become her apprentice instead, aiming to be good enough to win the sword by the time he has to return to the human world.

Through Lloyd (ML), Irene (FL) finds out that she's been framed as an evil witch who was exiled for stealing the sacred sword. There's a lot of emotional tension around Lloyd's presence in the otherworld—with him, Irene learns what it's like to be around people again. But the longer he stays the less likely she'll be hold on to her sanity when he leaves, having tasted human companionship again. Lloyd, on his part, is learning that while he thinks of himself as a monster he can't stand the idea of the FL thinking she's a monster. He's a walking existential crisis with a pair of avoidant parents hahaha.

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March music shows

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 07:32:33 GMT

Watched a bunch of stuff whose tickets I bought last year:

Les Miserables World Tour (Concert)
It was kinda hard to get into this because I woke up that day to news of USrael bombing a school in Iran, which was like... another war, and still, no one's going to stop them?

Notes: Javert (Jeremy Secomb) was phenomenal and was quite—and I mean this as a compliment—unhinged, like he was stoic by default but the wildness would spill over anytime Valjean was involved. At one point he had Thenardier in a chokehold. Gavroche and Grantaire wore matching green outfits, I guess they really are family-coded in the musical canon. Marius (Will Callan) had great himbo energy and huge stage presence (on top of a very powerful voice), which made Enjolras (Harry Chandler) feel significantly less impressive. Mme Thenardier (Lea Salonga), well, did her best (I'm happy she got to do all three roles, but she's just not a comic actress); Thenardier (Red Concepción), however, was fantastic. The child actors were very cute and performed very well.

Throughout the first act, a guy in the row in front of us kept taking photos and videos (with his screen dimmed to the lowest setting) at the beginning of each song, which was distracting. The couple beside me was annoyed and had a few passive-aggressive remarks during the intermission period.

ONE OK ROCK - Detox Tour
Watched this with my cousin, who flew in from our hometown and is a much bigger fan. (Life update: It looks like I can now be trusted to pick people up from the airport—I took a slower route and missed a turn and got super stressed, but my cousin didn't appear to care.) The funny thing is that I almost opted not to buy water from the concession stand because I'd planned to just quietly enjoy the music and sit pretty, but the moment they played the second song (The Beginning, my personal favorite) I kissed my demure image and my voice goodbye. 😂 The sounds, lights, and stage production, were perfect, and the energy from the band and the crowd impossible to resist. Halfway through the concert, Taka, the vocalist, admitted that he had just lost his voice and barely gotten it back and wasn't in the best shape; he was drinking and spraying his throat in between songs, which was kinda stressful??? I found out afterwards that they'd cut two songs from the set, Tiny Pieces and +Matter, both from the new album.

Other "old" songs in the set list: Wherever You Are, a highly intimate experience; crowd pleasers Renegades ("Japanese" version) and Stand Out Fit In; Kimishidai Ressha, a huge surprise; and We Are for encore.

A Chorus Line
The production I watched a mostly local one, with a couple of guest actors and a guest choreographer. It's my first time seeing any version of this musical, and overall I think it's not my type of musical, though it's structurally interesting. I think it's also the type of musical where the cast can make it or break it, requiring the ability to sing, dance, AND deliver monologues. As much as it pains me to say it, I feel like a lot of local actors have yet to figure out how line-read effectively in English. They sounded fine and fluent, but the flow, intonation and inflections were always kind of same-y, less like delivering a natural performance and more like trying to mimic a certain type of speaking. Which is fine in small doses and in most musical productions, but not on this one specifically since it's heavy on spoken parts.

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Detective Di: The Silk Rose Murders

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 10:01:00 GMT

Detective Di: The Silk Rose Murders is a point-and-click mystery game set in Tang Dynasty China. Currently on sale on the Switch store for $2, and on the Steam store for less. You play the famous historical figure / novel character Di Renjie (also known as Judge Dee in pop culture) during the fledgling days of his career, beginning with the murder of a Korean diplomat in Penglai. You tie up the case neatly and earn the recognition of Emperor Gaozong. But something about its resolution feels unsettling, unfinished, leaving you with cryptic, recurring dreams. A few months later, you are summoned by the newly crowned emperor Wu Zetian to the capital city of Chang'an to solve a string of murders, each signed with a silk rose.

This is a short, tight game with a fairly straightforward plot whose sense of urgency comes with the shadow of regret and a deep anxiety towards the future. I'm personally not so fond of serial-killer storylines, but Chang'an visualized through pixel art was so charming and appealed to my guzhuang drama sensibilities and I didn't have to sit through 40 drawn-out eps to get to the ending (my total playtime as Person Who Is Bad at Puzzles is around 7 hours). I liked how Detective Di's motivations are tied with Wu Zetian's and how the pursuit of justice swings between personal and political. There's a cinematicness to the scene reenactments that I found really effective. The game is quite clear about its direction that the reveals have little in the way of surprise, but it ends in an emotionally cohesive note and overall I just really liked the environments and the historical setting and the feeling that it was a labor of love..

The puzzles were a nice mix of textual, tactile, and visual types, from keys to letters to weiqi boards—my personal favorite is the one where you have to beat the drums. There's also a neat mechanic where you can make improvised tools by "combining" items.

Misc. screencaps

Me: Check out this CONSPIRACY BOARD
liuet: All three of those white stones are illegally on the board

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Thank you for the paid time <3

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 01:21:53 GMT

Thank you kind anon for the paid time ♥

Life updates:

I watched a local showing of A Chorus Line, which ends my streak of pre-booked outside/leisure time. Now I'm back to the hermit life.

We had one last cold surge from the northeast monsoon, as cold as 23C at daytime. Weather is warming up now but still pleasantly cool.

Currently groupwatching the How Dare You!? cdrama. We did try the donghua, but the Youtube subs were MTL and unbearable. (I vaguely recall iQiyi having human-translated subs? But we can't be bothered to subscribe just for that, so.) I guess it worked out because the cdrama pacing and visuals have been much more enjoyable while paying homage to the donghua.

I set up a new Feedly account because I miss reading old-school blogs (outside of Dreamwidth)! If anyone has any blog/Substack recs, I'd love to hear them. I've resubscribed to Kottke, Cup of Jo, and The Marginalist (formerly Brainpickings) because it comforts me to see old blogs still going strong.

The narra tree across the street has begun practicing how to bloom. So far it's just a few flowers here and there which I think has been attracting orioles (I usually just hear them flying around, now I can see them). Summer is coming.

I picked up some sort of Detective Di game because it was on sale for $2 on the Switch store and am enjoying it so far. Here we have Detective Di having a Mei Changsu moment.

Current events, local and international, continue to be very bleak, I hope everyone is doing well.

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Journal flip-through + trying to start a(n old-school) blog

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 13:00:09 GMT

Made a flip-through video because... well, because it would take more effort to post pictures. I'm now on my third month of Hobonichi Cousin and so far I've been keeping up, though I've really been struggling with incorporating work notes and to-do-lists with this format...

BGM is Magpie to the Morning by Neko Case because I don't know any new songs. XD

In other news, I've been trying to set up an old-school blog, just because I miss old-school blogs. I miss personal websites too and love seeing all the Neocities projects on my DW reading list, but I'm not at that level yet. ^^; Right now I'm trying out Bearblog, which is free, ad-free, private, and minimalist, but I'm too code-illiterate to customize my layout. It's very text-focused as a platform, but we'll see!

URL:
https://wrongseasons.bearblog.dev

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@thefridayfive 2026.03.13

Sun, 15 Mar 2026 08:13:24 GMT

https://thefridayfive.dreamwidth.org/149967.html

1. Have you ever watched illusion magic? Close-up, or in a stage show, or on television? Did it work for you?
On TV or at least video form. IRL... does the face-changing opera show in Haidilao (hotpot restaurant) count? They were entertaining the other section, not ours, but I was show-adjacent...

2. Have you ever wished on a star, or a lucky cat, or a coin in a wishing well? Did it work in some way?
Coin on a... not a well, I think a fountain? Don't remember what I wished for, it was a long time ago. I did pray to various gods (tossing in the requisite coins) when I hiked Mount Takao in my last Japan trip, not sure that counts as a wish. I mean, it probably does, because I went for the ones I thought could help with back health. ^^;

3. Have you ever cast a spell, made a love charm, or tried a curse? Did it work in some way?
No, but I've bought charms as souvenirs. And this talisman sticker to repel evil bosses:

4. Are there any other traditional superstitions you pay attention to? Do they work in some way?
Mostly death traditions (relevant bc I just came from a wake). I don't think about whether or not they work bc that would only freak me out lol: Not saying goodbye to the hosts/bereaved when leaving a wake (this is a point of debate bc apparently most of the ppl in my social circle don't do this and are worried it's rude, but it's what I was always told to do and I fear the consequences); Shaking off ghosts (pagpag) by stopping at another place when coming from a funeral/wake, lest they follow you home. The funeral home we visited last week had a cafe beside it called "Ghost Coffee". We didn't do our pagpag there, but we observed that the cafe's existence was certainly a Choice; Being cognizant of mounds of soil in case I offend a dwarf spirit; Avoiding any major life/financial decisions during ghost month, but then again I've never had to.

I did try a couple of Thai Buddhist practices in a museum, at a museum's staff's encouragement (nobody else seemed to be interacting with the exhibits), when I was in Bangkok last month? I distinctly remember failing to lift the elephant the first time and I was like nooooooo lol. My question was money-related. I guess it was accurate divination because *gestures at current events*

5. Would you want major magical powers like in a fantasy story? Which powers, and how would you use them?
I'm too stupid and accident-prone for major powers, I'd be happy with just being magically lucky and having the people around me benefit by extension. Winning little prizes, always having free seats and parking spots, meeting the right people at the right time... that sort of thing.

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So I guess only developed countries deserve to live.

Fri, 06 Mar 2026 15:59:24 GMT

I had some good experiences this week (I saw a musical concert and a rock concert and also the blood moon), but it's hard to feel positive when current global events have directly affected our lives. Electricity rates which have already gone up even before the attack on Iran are about to get even higher which sucks because it's been very hot and we haven't even hit full summer (and I'm worried about power shortages on top of that); prices of everything else will also go up with the cost of fuel; job and income are uncertain (already got an advisory, yay!). All that plus a financially dangerous parent. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

It super sucks to be in a weak, colonized nation that loses in every single game the global north decides to play. We recently "discovered" a new gas source in my country but how does that help us, really, when we're so powerless in this violent competition for leverage and resources. Mind you, we're also on the front lines of climate change, while bigger and more developed countries freely generate so much waste, literally ship us their garbage (Canada), and destroy our reefs (China). Btw I avoid fast fashion, trinkets (sorry to local/indie artists, I just can't with all the acrylics), online shopping (too much plastic wrapping), and anything I'll only use once or twice. I actually avoid buying most things because I don't like contributing to waste, I try to minimize A/C use during the day when it's hottest (since I care more about A/C during my sleeping hours) even though I live so close to the damn equator. My city is trying to ban plastic bags so I carry everything in paper bags or my rotation of totes. And for what lol.

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thefridayfive 2026.02.27

Fri, 27 Feb 2026 23:30:08 GMT

https://thefridayfive.dreamwidth.org/149416.html

1. What made you happy this week?
My brother and his fiancee who just moved in together invited us to their condo and I got to meet my fiancee's cat!!! The cat was snoozing in his tunnel and woke up when I excitedly squealed his name on sight (lmfao) and he actually came out to meet me when I psspsspss'd him! And then he greeted everyone—more affectionately than he greeted me—stared out the window then went back to his tunnel. Such a polite introvert child. ♥

2. What made you sad?
The fact that my brother and fiancee may never invite us to visit again until they move... ;__; This was just a formality, so we knew where they lived and what their place looked like.

3. What made you angry?
Yesterday I wasted 1.5 hours of my life just queueing in banks... I should have brought my Kindle. :/

4. What are you looking forward to in the next week?
A couple of shows that I bought tickets to last year! I'm so afraid I'll somehow miss them by misremembering the dates (which has happened before lol).

5. What are you not looking forward to?
Work......

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February media

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 14:03:55 GMT

Potion Witch
90-chapter webtoon about a woman who's a pharmacist by day and vigilante witch by night. A good, tight, case-centered story with het romance and equal-opportunity emotional hurt/comfort. The ML is an ex-nepo baby who's managed to eke out a living as a cop. Due to his lack of physical endurance, his duties are mostly paper-pushing are cat-feeding. He and the FL are equally competent investigators, but the FL is physically stronger, which I thought was very nice.

Interestingly enough, the first half of the story is about unpeeling the layers of the ML's family trauma while the FL remains opaque and unaffected until the last act that reveals her. I loved the little found family beats between the FL and ML, and the ML's relationships with his estranged brother and his privileged nepo baby peers.

Cons: Disappointed that the 2FL's storyline didn't really go anywhere outside of being a plot device. She's seen at the beginning as being unhappy with her family situation and abusive towards her employees, but nothing comes out of that?

Meg Cabot, "No Offense"
This was a Valentine's Day read: librarian x sheriff romance with small-town mystery/case elements that felt far too short for either storyline to land. The apology pies were pretty cute, though.

Unveil: Jadewind ep1
Only saw ep 1, which was was an hour long..... I like how the FL is written like a ML? She fills some sort of leadership role as a palace-appointed investigator and is good at martial arts. The ML is a physically weak astronomer who can deduce information with math which can be really funny if the drama leaned more on humor. Didn't continue bc ep1 didn't really grab me, which is normal with cdrama but I just have too little patience these days to give 30-episode shows a chance.

Cosmic Princess Kaguya (2026)
Surprisingly, not bait!!! The yuri was real!!! The characters not so much. Iroha's character actually felt like the ML in a 90s/2000s anime... The concept of a tired student who brings home a manic pixie dream robot that proceeds to follow her around at school... The trajectory of their relationship... I really wish they'd done better in developing her arc. I was so invested in her family backstory but it doesn't feel like the movie particularly cares about the characters as people. I did like the sibling relationship even though the relationship progress never translates into action when it matters.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
I totally need to rewatch this bc I wasn't looking at the screen the first time and only started paying attention to ep4 (a really good episode) and missed so many fun visual details. I didn't read the original novella(s?) so I don’t have much to say about the show except that the performances were interesting—especially among the older Targaryens, they had such flavorful interactions and I could actually recognize them by the energy they brought in (I kept forgetting who everyone else was). And the music was great… AND it was nice to see texture again after years of living on cmedia lol

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thefridayfive 2026.02.20

Fri, 20 Feb 2026 12:35:05 GMT

https://thefridayfive.dreamwidth.org/149050.html

When did you last . . .

1. Scrounge for change (couch, ashtray, etc.) to make a purchase?
Two(?) weeks ago in Bangkok. I didn't get a train card so I was paying for single-journey tickets/tokens in coins. I really should write about my trip before I forget about everything...

2. Visit a dentist?
Last week!!! I have weak/problematic teeth so I have to go at least once a year. Ideally I try to go in January so I can get it out of the way, but I always fail. Mid-February's not too bad, though!

3. Make a needed change to your life?
The past two months, mostly to keep up the social momentum after a year of being fully reclusive. I've added people on Instagram and attempted to maintain relationships/acquaintanceships through casual online interactions, and tried to post more often. I really struggle with posting on real-life social media platforms and keeping up with message threads where people directly send reels or photos of their daily activities since I usually have nothing to say, but it seems necessary.

I'm also trying this thing where I'm a bit more open about my life and interests because I've realized how little my friends know me, but it's a work in progress. You'd think finally having a socially acceptable interest (paper journaling) would give me something to talk/post about, but I'm still so terribly self-conscious of it, I guess because it's intensely personal... which is the point of journaling, but still it's like "oh no they're going to see what kind of person I am" HAHA.

4. Decide on a complete menu well in advance of the evening meal?
Any day I have to feed myself. I am, after all, an overthinker who agonizes over every minor decision (I learned the Chinese slang term for this yesterday, 內耗).

5. Spend part of the day (other than daily hygiene) totally/mostly naked?
Again, Bangkok, though mostly hygiene-related. I had a hotel room to myself and enjoyed not having to get dressed immediately.

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Birds of Bangkok

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 05:04:53 GMT

Just got back from a short solo trip to Bangkok where apparently all I did was look at birds... It was my first time in Thailand ever, and between my relaxation-focused itinerary and the semi-spontaneous meet-up plans on my first two nights (I stayed three), I got to at least familiarize myself with the basics of both train systems and the area around my hotel. I logged 20k–30k steps a day (with an average of 26k steps) but a lot of it was unnecessary walking from having no sense of direction and always getting lost haha! Now my camera roll is full of photos/videos of birds (and reptiles—which deserve their own separate post).

I'm still very new to travel so this is only my second solo trip ever and the first in a country/city I've never been in before. I feel some measure of regret for not eating, shopping, or exploring more, but I'm also pretty happy with the way I traveled—a way that is only possible when I'm by myself. And although I barely slept since I woke up at 3:30AM on Thursday to make my 7:30AM flight, I felt so light and free and open to organic interactions with strangers. (Well, as light and free as one can be when tethered to their phone and fully dependent on Google Maps and power banks. XD)

Maybe one day I'll post about the whole trip but for now—birds!!!

Pictures

I hope I didn't misidentify any of them:

I'm so pleased to be able to recognize the Asian koel call from Wingspan (the only call I internalized because it's so distinctive and familiar), so every time I heard it I felt like I was in Wingspan hahaha. I didn't see any though, I guess they stayed on the trees. ;___;

Did most of my bird-watching in Benchakitti Park and Lumpini Park where my main goal was to see monitor lizards (I only got to see them in Lumpini Park, but I'm not sure if time of day was a factor), but saw common mynas, pigeons/doves, and sparrows (no picture because they're that common) all over the city. :) I hope to see one of the temples if I get to visit again! I had to trim my itinerary so I wasn't overextending myself to make it to meet-ups, and one of the activities I cut off my list was Wat Pho (reclining Buddha). A reason to go back, I suppose. :) (I should make a list of the places I got recommended during the meet-ups too...)

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I have wanted clarity in light of my lack of light.

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 12:15:02 GMT

1.
Boosting some initiatives that my oomfs are involved in:

For the rest of the year, Niq (guoldu) is donating 100% of his commission funds to the Portland Immigration Rights Coalition. He does great danmei/baihe-adjacent art (and has incredible range), you can commission him here.

ICE OUT Fundraiser: Heated Rivalry fandom fundraiser

WangXian Against ICE: MDZS fundraiser (the donation period is over, though)

2.
Misc. Links

The Sameer Project (Palestinian-led fundraiser): they recently announced that there's been a huge drop in donations in January, causing mutual aid groups to scale back their operations. They're specifically asking for donations toward the food and water campaign.

Queer Without Borders | Panorama Film Festival: international short films, free to watch on Youtube!

Reports from Unknown Places: short daily fictional reports. Don't you miss blogs? Also on Instagram (where the reports come with pictures/paintings)

The Slowdown: a podcast where they feature one poem a day. (I personally just read the transcripts and treat it like a blog.)

Yonezawa Yoshihiro On “Yaoi”: Why Did Girls Give Up Ordinary Love for Boys’ Love? (1991) - a translated article that has been rotting in my to-read list.

3.
Journaling:
I have been keeping up with my daily planner but can't be bothered to cross-post pics here... In lieu of 3 weeks' worth of journal spreads, here are some food-y ones instead:

2 pics

Because it's a daily journal and I'm too lazy to print photos (since most of my pictures are of food and the neighborhood egret), I've accidentally gotten a little better at drawing basic shapes, which is... good? It's kind of like getting regular drawing practice but without the pressure of a dedicated sketchbook since the main goal is personal note-taking.

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January media log: Movies

Sat, 31 Jan 2026 17:03:57 GMT

Went through a ~cinephile~ period in January in the sense that I saw many movies and found most, if not all, good. Most, if not all, were also gen, which may have raised the enjoyment level for me. Faith in movies restored...????

🇺🇸 Zootopia 2 (2025)
This was just okay, a bit timely for Snake Year. I may be getting too old for this. Favorite scene was the part with the walruses and their feedback loop of "hey bub" (because it reminded me of my friends).

🇨🇳 Her Story | 好東西 (2024) dir. Shao Yihui
Wrote about it here.

🇹🇼 Left-Handed Girl | 左撇子女孩 (2025) dir. Shih-Ching Tsou
I really liked this! This was widely praised in international film circles last year, but I was worried it'd be too slow and that the appeal was in its Asian-/foreign-ness. The pace is very fragmented at the beginning, leaning heavily on slice-of-life, and then, halfway through it connects. The characterization really shone in the buildup of moments, I love I-Ann so much!

Notes: There's a weird scene with the immigrant character that draws more attention to itself when it goes nowhere. And I-Ann's boss + the boss's wife are written with a jarringly heavy hand. But in spite of that, this movie made me feel things. Also it was shot with an iPhone, which was interesting.

CW (spoilers)

Brief animal death (meerkat jumping to its death), terminal illness (brief scene with the biodad), abortion

🇨🇳 Legend of Hei 2 (2025)
Enjoyed this SO much more 1) as a rewatch, 2) on the big screen. Not only was I forced to focus, I could also see the narrative structure more clearly and see the plot through the correct PoV (Luye's). Everything makes so much more sense if you take this as a road trip movie for Xiao Hei and a character study of Luye who's lost so much and loves so much, both of them meeting halfway through Wuxian—but still not really seeing eye to eye. I love them so much!!!

🇹🇼🇯🇵 18x2 Beyond Youthful Days | 青春 18X2 (2024) dir. Fujii Michihito
daisydiversions has been suggesting this movie for groupwatch for a while and I've been so lukewarm about it, but I ended up loving this one too. 😂 First of all, it was shot really well. The lighting was beautiful and reminded me so much of film cameras and even scenes with dim lighting did not look too dark. The two timelines (past and present) were easily distinguishable by the color grading and styling.

I actually enjoyed this more than Cape No. 7 which was also about a cross-cultural "romance" because it's not actually a cross-cultural romance. Instead it's about youth and meeting people who show you a path out of yourself. Rather than being a destination, love is part of the journey to becoming who you could be. Honestly a 5/5 movie for me, I'm sorry I doubted you lol.

PS. One of my journal notes says "Certainly it's hard not to notice how men have the privilege of being adventurous (sic)". XD It also helped that I've been to a couple of the places featured in the movie and could sort of anticipate what the characters were gonna do—Kamakura for Slam Dunk, Jiufen/Shifen for the lanterns.

🇨🇳 Resurrection | 狂野時代 (2025) dir. Bi Gan
Definitely a movie to see in the theater... It actually made me appreciate the theater sound system, the sound chapter had SO many things going on.

This is a love letter to cinema nested in a science fiction story about endangered dreamers. The dreamer dreams in movies. Each is a different style and genre, and each represents a significant period in Chinese history as well as one of the five senses: a silent movie about opium (sight), crime/noir about musical madness (sound), a folk tale about a former monk and the Spirit of Bitterness (taste), a con adventure about a thief and a little orphan girl (smell), and a doomsday romance (touch).

I can't say that I loved this movie as I don't really care about the ~spirit of cinema~, but it accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do, which means it's objectively good. I liked the SFF bits and the little fragments of aesthetic satisfaction. My favorite is segment the father-daughter con for being very cohesive and tropey.

CW: drugs, violence, torture

🇯🇵 Love Letter (1995) dir. Iwai Shunji
An epistolary movie about grief, memory, and coincidences of similarities. When Watanabe Hiroko's fiancé Itsuki Fujii dies in a hiking accident, she writes him a letter and mails it to his hometown. The letter is received by a woman whose name is also Itsuki Fujii (and looks exactly like Watanabe Hiroko). Doesn't that sound like the plot of a GL story riffing on the soulmates trope? XD

Watched this because it was referenced in 青春18X2. It's a really nice play on memory where you only know boy!Itsuki through how the other characters remember him. And it's pretty moving because he is remembered and he is so, so loved. I've been having a lot of anxious thoughts about, among other things, the flimsiness of my own existence, and this movie touches on it for a bit. There's this one scene where a white curtain billows in the wind, and boy!Itsuki disappears behind it—probably as a reminder of his death? But that's pretty much how I have been feeling so I was like "wow, rude."

As most of the movie takes place in the snow and I know nothing about snow, I had the privilege of having daisydiversions and superborb fact-check snow-related scenes and ruin the fantasy. XD I was so impressed by girl!Itsuki skating down a slope with her school shoes too...

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Recent media

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 12:43:11 GMT

Mobius | 不眠日
Finished this at the end of 2025. Based on 张小猫's first 逆时侦查组 novel, this is an action/thriller cdrama set in a ~*fictional*~ country where the world sometimes falls into a timeloop. Every loop day repeats itself four times, with the fifth loop becoming the "canon" event. Our MC is the only one aware of the loops and he uses his abilities to solve crime.

Thoughts

This was... okay, I guess? It has some neat HK action movie-inspired fighting and parkour scenes, interesting plot points, and a lot of missed opportunities. The show presents itself as a mystery in which the objective is to discover the true identity of a serial killer and prevent them from succeeding in their nefarious plan. The problem is that the show itself isn't structured as a mystery. The script had no idea how to relay information to the audience, create real tension, or set up suspects, and it treated every single morsel of information as a major twist. IMO it should have focused on the thriller aspects and highlighted the ~~homoeroticism~~ cat-and-mouse relationship of the MC and the villain. And also given us more angst a la the webtoon Surviving Romance where the MC had a lot of hidden trauma from dying and watching people die over and over again.

The soundscaping was also really funny. They only had like maybe 3 BGMs and they used the same Intense Music so much, sometimes in mundane situations, and once three times in a 15-minute span. Maybe they were just being true to form by making us reexperience the same level of intensity that the MC was trapped in. XD

PS. I skimmed the first chapters of the novel and it seemed to be a bit different, a more standard mystery/procedural with timey-wimey elements. And potentially more interesting conflict—the MC and the FL get together because of a previous loop, and are already together at the start of the CEO case where they have to pretend to not be dating. The plot aspects still seem largely similar, though.

Uketsu, "Strange Pictures" (tr. Jim Rion)
A.k.a. the green mystery novel that is all over #booktwt and my sign to stop following booktwt hype.

Thoughts

I really liked the whole shtick with the drawings, but after the first chapter (the mystery of the blog), it just fell off for me. It was neither a mystery nor a thriller, just an underbaked plot that did not live up to its gimmicks. The "interlocking" cases felt forced into place, without sufficient plot logic or emotional build-up to make the "reveal" satisfying. The way the story is told was like a cross between a Youtube true crime video and a videogame, like it was never meant to be a novel at all. As someone with information processing issues, I found the pictures, little diagrams, and recaps pretty helpful, but it gets to a point, you now? Must we bold every "important detail" like we're in an Ace Attorney dialogue box?

2/5 because it ended up being a slog for me, especially towards the end where everything was being explained in the dullest way possible. But I think it could have been a decent page-turner if the author was actually interested in the story as something more than a gamified series of events. The way the plot gives so much emotional weight to dubious psychoanalyses of drawings unintentionally shows us society's lack of regard for mental wellness and rehabilitation. I honestly feel like this would have been much better in any other medium. The writing (as far as I can tell from the translation) is so dry and the English is very stilted. Simple is fine, but the dependence on pictures and amount of emphatic handholding make it pretty obvious that the author has 0 confidence in his ability to write and communicate his vision.

Her Story | 好東西 (2024)
Directed by Shao Yihui, who also did B Is For Busy, which is apparently the "prequel" and touches on similar themes (though the POV character in B Is For Busy is a 50-year-old man who teaches painting).

This is a nice, low-key little movie that's not so much about feminism as it is about being a feminist and how your values interact with the real world. And how community is, at the end of the day, about trying your best. Everyone is just trying their best to be a good adult and it's really sweet.

Our characters are: Wang Tiemei, a very feminist single mom, and her neighbor Xiao Ye, a sound artist by day and band vocalist at night. They each bring their people to this new relationship—a precocious but troubled daughter, an ex-husband, a drummer, a situationship, and, well, the rest of Xiao Ye's band.

Thoughts

This was surprisingly restrained and focused—there were a lot of opportunities for big PSA moments that it takes in a more casual-conversational stride to let the different dynamics play out. The movie instead favors character chemistry and relationships, showing us how human connections fill up space and build rhythms into our lives.

Wang Tiemei's "love interests" are less love interests and more mirrors to her own feminist beliefs. Her ex-husband (played by Mark Chao) is a #performative male who gets into reading feminist literature and earnestly parroting lines about the patriarchy. He visits his daughter and his ex-wife often and says a lot of stupid things and gets folded into their growing community and accidentally bonds with his love rival (the drummer of Xiao Ye's band) in the process of competing with him. This is much more effective than writing him as a cartoonishly evil ex which is the standard easy path for the trendy faux-feminist/girlboss stories in East Asian web fiction.

The styling was very on-point, everyone dressing to their personalities so it's part of the characterization. Wang Tiemei's statement shirts and her statement novels (tbh I didn't actually notice them, but superborb did haha), Xiao Ye's charmingly messy rocker chic, the drummer boy's tattered knit sweater (he doesn't have enough aura for this to be feel like a deliberate aesthetic choice) and the same black shirt that he wears on multiple days.

My favorite scene was the one where Xiao Ye takes Wang Moli (the daughter) to her workspace and makes her guess sounds! What starts out as a fun little exercise becomes, like Xiao Ye's other line of work, music, as she plays a series of recordings that are nothing but Wang Tiemei. SUCH a good scene and so much warm light.

CW: a brief (unintentional?) self-harm scene + conversations about childhood trauma

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Hobonichi Cousin A5 week 1 + preliminary thoughts

Fri, 09 Jan 2026 15:29:45 GMT

Thought it was time to """upgrade""" to—not just a Hobonichi, but a daily journal—since I had gotten more and more consistent in my paper planner/journal use over the years and was writing enough for weekly spreads to feel like not enough space. Of course, last year was my manhwa brainrot year, eventually cured by a persistent fever at the end of 2025, so I had a lot to say. But now all I do is exist in that kind of outlet-less anxiety that leads to hours of pacing in circles or staring into space, so... we'll see.

I also got a pocket diary as a gift last year and was trying to keep it as a separate work planner to make it easier to keep track of my notes, but my brain ABSOLUTELY could not stand the separation. I very unfortunately need everything in one chaotic notebook to function. Work-life balance?

Anyway the tl;dr of it is that after a week of trial and error and mental anguish I think I've decided to use the Cousin's weekly spreads for work and hourly notes, and daily pages for personal notes. Them being in separate sections may still end up driving me crazy but you'll never know until you try.

( hobonichi first impressions )

( warning: large images (journal photos i couldn't be bothered to resize) )

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"Dead Horses" by Freya JN

Thu, 08 Jan 2026 04:13:19 GMT

Dead Horses by Freya JN is now available for purchase physically and digitally! It was one of my favorite reads of 2025. In Twitter/meme terms, absolute cinema. Highly highly highly recommend it if you like messy catgirls, intentional worldbuilding, and storytelling that trusts its readers. CW: some violence and horror.

DEAD HORSES - a feline lesboviolence fantasy western about getting what you deserve

🐛Available now on physical + digital 🐛

Etsy

itch.io

[image or embed]
— Freya JN (goblinstunts) January 6, 2026 at 3:30 AM

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Life:

I've been doing Yoga with Uliana's 30-day yoga challenge. It's only 10 mins a day with a focus on gentle movement and mobility. As I still have lingering cough/cold symptoms this is the ideal level of exercise for me even though the inversions make me miserable. (•ᴗ•،،)

I've been trying to use the start of the new year as an impetus to fix my sleeping schedule for the sake of my physical health. It is: not going well. I'm still having trouble falling asleep (probably anxiety) and feeling attacked by how there is too little time in the day to do ANYTHING (...probably also anxiety). BUT I've been better at thinking about going to bed at 10PM.

Bird updates: the (narra?) tree across the street is going through its balding phase, and I've been seeing the little egret—which stopped hanging out on this tree in 2025 and appears to be favoring low areas, presumably near water sources—perch on its bare branches. So that's pretty exciting.

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2025 Books

Thu, 01 Jan 2026 13:46:38 GMT

Book recap bc I managed (barely!) to fulfill my goal of finishing 12 books this year. Goodreads tells me I read 4,000 pages with an average book length of 300 pages and an average rating of 3.7/5, which is... not bad for someone who hasn't really been feeling books. Most of what I read this year were by authors I haven't previously read, and most are some kind of Asian. Read 0 books/comics in Chinese (but not for lack of trying).

Also read a bunch of webtoons and indie oneshots (from Shortbox), but those are harder to quantify, so:
( the 12 books of 2025 )

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2025 birds in review

Tue, 30 Dec 2025 12:34:11 GMT

All neighborhood birds—personal favorites are the pied fantail (so pretty and round! and has the cutest angry eyebrows!) and black-naped oriole (mostly for its call—it's such a head-turner, from its bright plumage and bold eyeliner to its melodious voice).

( 6 journal images )

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@thefridayfive 2025.12.26

Sun, 28 Dec 2025 15:54:34 GMT

1. You have the summer and plenty of money to travel abroad. Where all would you go?
Australia to visit a high school friend who recently got in touch with me after a decade of hearing nothing from e/o to tell me she's moved. :') Less realistically I'd like to go to the cool art/design museum countries (Amsterdam, Vienna, Prague). But really, I wish I had the money to see overseas online + offline friends (don't we all).

2. What foods would you be sure you got to eat?
Whatever has servings I can finish. And snacks! I don't really eat much when I travel bc I eat too slow and it stresses me out.

3. What landmarks would you be sure you got to see?
I'd watch at least one musical! And maybe find Gixi if she is accessible haha

4. What airline would you use?
A non-budget airline. :')

5. Would your knowledge of other languages influence where you went? (i.e., would you be more likely to go to France if you spoke French?)
Yes and no... Being able to speak Chinglish and understand the local accent makes Taiwan even more chill than it already is because I'm not panicking as much and can wander around more. The first time I went (2019—my Chinese would be at HSK1.5 level at best haha), I got myself and my brother on the wrong train and had to alight at the next station at a nice idyllic town just outside of Taipei where nobody spoke English. Managed to communicate enough to get back on track, which made the experience less scary, though I'd chalk most of that up to the platform uncle being very sweet and super invested in getting us on the right train. (He was more stressed than us when we missed the next train!)

That said, my travel list right now is Thailand and Vietnam (separately) and I'm not fussed about language barriers.

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@thefridayfive 2025.12.20

Mon, 22 Dec 2025 15:12:54 GMT

thefridayfive:
https://thefridayfive.dreamwidth.org/146738.html

1. What is one thing about you that you hate?
The self-loathing. :( I thought working on my weaknesses and improving myself would help, but my brain keeps pointing out reasons for why I'm not good enough which sometimes leads to depressive episodes. </3

2. What is one thing about you that you love?
A pretty strong sense of self. It protects my wallet from consumerist culture. And every now and then people ask me what I think about [piece of media], which is very validating haha.

3. If you had to change one thing about you what would it be and why?
I'd like to be better at speaking/expressing my thoughts IRL, to be honest. I don't speak very well and I'm even worse at trying to explain things or tell a story. I always feel so bad for anyone who's listening to me. :')

4. What is one word that you would use to define yourself?

5. Imagine what you would look like in a perfect world...what do you look like?
Let us not reopen the door to dysmorphia. :')

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Fell ill right as I was hitting a precious two-day work lull. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Just did a quick grocery run for soup stuff, only to realize that what my body desires is not hot and savory soups, but cold and sweet treats. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Shows I've rotated in this time period:
百妖譜 Fairies Album S2
2 eps in: Still a nice bedtime watch that always feels worth it when you get to the emotional parts, and still one I can only watch 2 eps at a time of. I don't think I'll be able to finish it before it leaves Netflix. :(

Glass Heart
3 eps in: Jdrama about a drummer who gets kicked out of a band on the day of a big performance. Three years later, she gets invited to join a much Cooler band. Yay, fictional bands! The drummer is pretty much the only woman in the band scene (she does audition for an all-girls band but gets rejected), but one of the solo artists they meet is a woman. The intro was so good I was convinced I'd finally found a show I could get into, but it's fizzled out. I kind of want to soldier on because they introduce a new song for every episode which has been great and is obviously (or at least presumably) leading up to a spectacular finale. But the writing is thin and lacks the self-awareness to make the stupid parts work so I'm very unmotivated. I'm also surprised that the MC doesn't appear to have any lingering feelings about her previous band, but maybe that's something they'll address later on?

我的小确幸 My Little Happiness
6 eps in: A relatively bingeable modern-day romcom from 2021 set in Shenzhen. The romance is stupid-cute but hits the right emotional notes for the FL, an aspiring lawyer who has been assigned to a hospital for her internship and is trying to keep everything secret from her mother who disagrees with her career path. The ML is a neurosurgeon that the FL works with, so there's a hospital drama aspect to it. There's also an element of competition to the internship but they're all managing different clients so there's not much interaction and as snide as the other interns are there's no outright bullying (yet?). Am I going to finish it. Probably not. But finishing 6 eps is a pretty impressive record for 2025!me.

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