drop ★ pop ★ candy

( ☆ )

After taking a break from exchanges for a year (and not writing any fic for a while), I decided to dip back in with candyheartsex this year! Here's what I wrote and what I received. ♥

Title: shelter from the storm
Fandom: Final Fantasy XVI
Characters: Clive Rosfield/Jill Warrick
Rating: General Audiences
Word Count: 1,622
Additional Tags: Pre-Relationship, Missing Scene, Hurt/Comfort, POV Jill Warrick
Summary: In a moment of rest after a long mission, Jill accepts some help.

Read on AO3 | Read on DW

I offered FFXVI fic on a bit of a whim because it's been a while since I wrote any, and I was surprised when I actually matched on it so this was a bit of a struggle to write, but I think it turned out okay! I had to keep watching game clips on YouTube to try and replicate their manner of speaking lmao.

Title: Safe Bet
Author: PeppyBismilk
Fandom: Hades (Video Game)
Characters: Charon/Hermes
Rating: Explicit
Word Count: 1,788
Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Bets & Wagers, Oral Sex, Come Marking, Weird Biology, Size Difference
Summary: Hermes and Charon settle one wager and make another.

Read on AO3

I was spoiled and got smutty Charon/Hermes fic 🥰 My request actually went into pinch hit territory which hasn't happened to me before, so I'm curious what my original match had planned to do. But I'm very grateful PeppyBismilk picked up my request and wrote this fun banter-y fic! Charmes is probably my favorite Hades ship, I've been very into them again since starting Hades II.

I acquired a new bookshelf over the weekend! It's just a cheap Ikea shelf basically made entirely of particleboard but the most important part is that it was free lol. I spent a while cleaning off the smaller shelf I wanted to replace and everything was soooo dusty because I literally never touch anything on it. Like solid layers of dust lmao it was bad!! But I cleared everything off it and put the new shelf in its place so now I have two large shelves instead of one large shelf and one small shelf. 🥳 I'll probably try to make space for the small shelf somewhere but that's a project for later.

The problem now is that I don't know how I want to organize anything lmao. I have a shit ton of manga from middle school/high school taking up space that I should probably get rid of, but I don't want to. 😩 But also 20 volumes of Fruits Basket takes up a lot of space!! (Also pissed at my younger self for not buying the last few volumes of several series like Fruits Basket back when they were released.) I guess I can start with the stuff I was never super attached to but I know that will leave me with more books than I should be holding on to haha.

I did also buy some book easels and a cheap plastic tiered display shelf so I'll finally be able to display some of the figures and special editions of books I just have stacked in a huge pile because I had no shelf space. It's hard being a maximalist with no room to put anything!!

Oh I almost forgot, for people who have a lot of trinkets and figures and stuff displayed, how do you keep it all clean? I haaate dusting but I cannot let things get as bad as it was on that small shelf after not touching it for years. Do I just get an actual feather duster and bat at all the figures every so often or what lmao.

Two months later, finally posting about finishing Metaphor: ReFantazio. Looking back at my last Metaphor post I was only at the Dragon Temple on Virga Island, but looking at my notes on my phone I stopped writing anything down until near the end lmaoo.

So, thoughts overall: I enjoyed it. If you enjoy the format of a Persona game but would like it set in a fantasy world (dungeon crawling mixed with social links, turn-based battles with summon strategization) then you'll probably enjoy playing this too. The battles are fun but I think the characters are the real highlight of the game. Like with many RPGs, there's a colorful cast with lots of drama and heartfelt moments. I think Eupha and Basilio remain my faves, but I also really liked Hulkenberg and Junah too.

( Metaphor ReFantazio yapping continues )


After beating Metaphor I finally started playing Hades II! It's just as fun as the first game and I'm enjoying the new stuff they added to the gameplay. I think my favorite weapons are the axe and the knives and the skull....but they're all pretty good except for that mecha armor thing I used it once and was so bad at it sjdhfkjsdf never again.

( Hades II yapping continues )


Unfortunately the past few weeks my free time for gaming has been taken up not by Hades but by Overwatch instead. 😑 Every time I think I'm free... And now they've released 5 new heroes at once and this damn Sanrio collab!!!

( Overwatch yapping continues )

I recently watched this video essay by Patrick Willems on YouTube about the 2008 movie Speed Racer, one of my favorite movies of all time. Apparently it's popular now? Or, well, as popular as a live action Speed Racer movie from 2008 will ever be lmao.

Watch on YouTube

I don't always vibe with this guy's videos but I wholeheartedly agree that this movie was ahead of its time!! I rewatched it after watching this video and it's just as spectacular as I've been saying since I first saw it in 2008. It's such a fun movie with amazing visuals, the wild camerawork and unique cinematography really bring to life what you'd expect a live action cartoon to feel like. The racing sequences are sooo cool, and while there's undeniably some of the annoying antics found in a lot of kids' movies (*stares at Spritle and Chim-Chim*), I feel like this movie's got a lot of heart and earnestness and the emotional beats really hit.

To me it's got a really similar feeling to Pacific Rim, which I also adore. It's silly and larger than life and at its core it's about family and love--specifically in Speed Racer's case, love of art and being true to yourself and your vision despite the pressures of capitalism.

Anyway I guess this is me saying if you haven't seen Speed Racer, you should. (The only caveat is that it's very bright and flashy, so potentially problematic for those sensitive to flashing lights.) I'm probably preaching to the choir here because I'm sure Speed Racer is hyped in niche nerd spaces plenty and DW is definitely a niche nerd space lol, but I just love it a lot.

A couple fannish year-end memes! Pretend it isn't almost a month past.

( 2025 Fandom Year In Review )


( 2025 Fanfic Year in Review )

New Year's resolution to update DW more: already failing!
New Year's resolution to start titling my posts: already achieved, A+

The final roundup for last year's reading! November and December book reviews. Lots of graphic novels and a highly anticipated sequel in this one. I don't know if I'm going to bother with a book 'year in review' or just do a general review meme, or maybe neither if I keep slacking off lol.



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I am so behind on my reading roundup but finally here are my September and October reads! As soon as I finish this it's going to be time for the last two months of books lol.



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It's been faaar too long and yet here I am with only another meme. I've got a list of things I wanted to talk about and hopefully will find the motivation to write up some posts. 😭

For now just a fic meme taken from svgurl.

Go to your Works page on AO3, look at the tags, and see what the answers to these questions are. (Or any other site that has tags)

( completely unsurprising results here )

The questions for anyone who wants to snag them:
<strong>Go to your Works page on AO3, look at the tags, and see what the answers to these questions are. (Or any other site that has tags)</strong> <strong>1. What rating do you write most fics under?</strong> <strong>2. What are your top 3 fandoms?</strong> <strong>3. What is your top character you write about?</strong> <strong>4. What are the 3 top pairings?</strong> <strong>5. What are the top 3 additional tags?</strong> <strong>6. Did any of this surprise you? e.g. what turned out to be your top tag.</strong>

A fic meme yoinked from sushiflop!

Rules: How many letters of the alphabet have you used for [starting] a fic title? One fic per line, ‘A’ and 'The’ do not count for 'a’ and ’t’. Post your score out of 26 at the end, along with your total fic count.

( all this shows is that I single-handedly was keeping the pepperhony tag afloat )

Here's the meme if anyone wants to do it:
<b>Rules: How many letters of the alphabet have you used for [starting] a fic title? One fic per line, ‘A’ and 'The’ do not count for 'a’ and ’t’. Post your score out of 26 at the end, along with your total fic count.</b> A — B — C — D — E — F — G — H — I — J — K — L — M — N — O — P — Q — R — S — T — U — V — W — X — Y — Z —

Miku is here!!! I did end up ordering both those Miku figurines I was debating on, they weren't that expensive and it was my birthday darn it. One Miku is a pre-order that's not expected to ship until May 2026 but this cherry Miku was in stock!

 
She's soooo cute, I love Sakura Miku so much. She was bigger than I expected too so that was nice! Came all in one piece, which is great because I hate assembling figures lol, and she sits perfectly.


A friend also requested this Tomie x Sanrio file folder because she wanted something from the collection and this was the best/cheapest item with the full illustration on it haha. It's really cute! I ordered from Otaku Owlet and they included that cute little freebie sticker + print of their mascot.


Also recently acquired: more stuff I don't need from the used book sale at the library.


I jumped on that Clover omnibus sooo fast, the cover isn't in great condition but the inside looks fine so for two bucks I was like 'well either way that's a steal' since I don't actually own a copy of it and it's one of my favorite CLAMP manga. The KH: CoM manga I definitely didn't need but I have a soft spot for CoM sjdhfsjkdfs. Then the Iron Mans... I may not be super into the MCU anymore but he's my man and I own everything on DVD but not blu-ray so what the hell, now I got them on blu-ray.


Over the weekend I went to the Renaissance Festival!! I didn't take any photos except of the world's most random sandwich I ate (teriyaki chicken on a croissant with coleslaw?? who decided to create that and then sell it at a Ren Fair, however it did succeed in being so intriguing I had to buy it) so I have nothing to share lol but it was fun! Paid five bucks to shoot a crossbow and did so poorly that the guy running the stand took pity on me and gave me one more bolt than I paid for. Which SUPPOSEDLY that final bolt glanced off the pumpkin target before embedding itself in the tent wall behind it, so yay, redemption arc. Anyway I have great consistency but terrible aim because I was missing in the exact same spot every time which I think should count for something.

But yeah other than that we walked around, got real sweaty because it's STILL SUMMER TEMPERATURES HERE even though it's officially fall, watched some of the acts, looked at all the vendors and such. I lived vicariously through enabling everyone else to buy things because I have spent way too much money this month so I had to be responsible lmao. With my own money not their money; I told everyone else to buy everything like a good friend. But yeah it was a bit of a last-minute decision to go but I'm glad we did, I enjoy just walking around Ren Fairs and seeing all the people and the crafts for sale.

➤ It's To Clutch a Razor release day!!! Got my holds on Libby and a physical library copy so we'll see which comes in sooner lmao. I want to re-read When Among Crows before I read the sequel so I should get on that (though it's only a novella so I can definitely read it in a day or two).

➤ Hades II has also been given an official release date! It's coming out of early access September 25th which is Soon TM. I've just been waiting until the full game release to play it so I'm excited. 🥳 I've gotta finish Metaphor: ReFantazio first though, so I won't be getting to it right away, boo. Though that may be more of a struggle than anticipated because my PS5 shut down on me last night in the middle of playing because I think it overheated and I've been too scared to see if it'll turn back on. 😐 So we'll see how pissed I'm about to be.

➤ I've been reading The Summer Hikaru Died manga (finished the first 3 volumes and I've got the next 2 in hand already) and it's really good! It's a slow burn horror with queer coming-of-age themes about a boy in rural Japan who discovers his best friend has died and been replaced by an eldritch entity. The art is really good and I always love a good queerness-as-monstrous metaphor. Definitely going to be trying to keep up with this one as it comes out.

➤ My birthday's coming up soon, and of course my work schedule is all over the place this week lmao I worked Sunday and I'm working this Saturday, but I took some days off in between and a couple next week to give myself a three-day weekend anyway. Nothing major planned, might just try out a new fancy Chinese buffet with my family on one of my days off. I have been buying myself a bunch of stuff under the "it's my birthday month" mantra sjdhfksjhfds I ordered ANOTHER Jayvik zine full bundle so I really have to lay off the zines for a while lmao. (Easier said than done because there's like 50 million Arcane zines coming up please stop tempting me!!) I've also been eyeing a couple Hatsune Miku figurines I really want and they're not even that expensive (about ~25 bucks each) but I've been spending so much money lately and I've got my car inspection coming up too so I'm just bracing to be hit with a surprise big expense. 😑

Me when I say I should do book round-up posts monthly instead of bi-monthly: /falls off the face of Dreamwidth and doesn't post at all

Maybe next time! For now, here's the July and August's reads. 3 books and 4 graphic novels!


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Well. How time gets away from you!

I've got no excuse for not updating for this long except that I didn't feel like it lmao. Nothing super exciting has really been going on and I've been using most of my free time to do other things. (The renovation at work creeps ever closer to being done, and I did have fun at the anime convention I went to last month, though I was too lazy to do a write up of all the merch I got like I normally would. I did get multiple compliments on the Faye Valentine shirt that I wore haha.) I want to try to update more and get back to checking my reading list though!! I hope everyone's been doing well since I last checked in.


A few things I've been reading/watching/etc. lately...

➤ I started playing Metaphor: ReFantazio a while ago! It's slow going as I am a slow gamer but I'm currently at the 4th (?) dungeon, the one on the mustari island. I'm enjoying it so far! ( + )

➤ I started reading the Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Webtoon because I saw the print volumes in the library system so I was like, sure I'll see what all the fuss is about. I only read volumes 1-6 (though I think volume 7 is out in English already?) but I'm enjoying it! ( + )

➤ I forget if I mentioned this before but Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan YA book series got an anime adaptation that aired on Netflix recently, which is the wildest thing that's ever happened. I LOVED the Leviathan books when I read them so of course I had to watch the anime immediately. ( + )

➤ Did I ever talk about the absolute disappointment that was The Old Guard 2? ( + )

➤ Yes, I watched Kpop Demon Hunters. Yes, I loved Kpop Demon Hunters. Yes, I've listened to the album a hundred times. It's a pretty standard plot, but the animation is gorgeousss, Sony Animation knocked it out of the park again, the characters are fun, the music slaps, and it's just an all-around good time. The only unrealistic part about it is a boy group putting out consistent bangers sjdhfkjsdfs but I guess having demonic powers helps.


Has anyone being using Focus Friend by Hank Green lmao? It's a productivity timer app for your phone, you set a time limit to not look at your phone and your little bean avatar knits socks while it's running. Then you use the socks to buy items to decorate your bean guy's room. Everyone at work started using it so I was like okay fine I'll try it lol. Haven't gotten enough socks yet to buy any decorations but it did keep me from playing on my phone while I should've been working a couple times so I guess that's good!

Showing off some cool stuff I've bought in the last several months. Some pins, a bunch of stationery, and my Last Binding special edition pre-order finally arrived!! Click on the pics to enlarge.

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Despite how this post makes it look I have been very economical this month!! No-buy July for me...if only because I have been saving up for an upcoming anime convention, so really I'm just biding my time in spending too much money sjdhfksjds

I did however drop some dough on this for-charity Jayvik zine. (Pre-orders are still open, go check them out!) I love the merch and art they've shown, and they chose a charity that aims to help people with mobility disabilities to donate the proceeds to. Everything looks awesome, I'm excited to eventually have it in hand.

I should probably do these reading round-ups monthly rather than every two months, but I hadn't realized how much I got through this May and June! 6 books and 4 graphic novels!



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Sorry for the radio silence! I have just not been in a writing mood, I guess. But I'm back to talk about video games! A singular video game. I beat Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 a couple days ago.

If you've seen other people's reviews, mine will come as no surprise. This was a great game and I highly recommend it. Clair Obscur is a single-player, story-based RPG with turn-based combat about a city of people living in a fractured world where a mysterious entity called the Paintress counts down a new number each year, and every year anyone of that age is erased, an event called the Gommage. When the game starts, the oldest people in the city of Lumiere are 33. Every year an expedition (mostly of people with one year left to live) goes out to try and stop the Paintress and the Gommage for good. You play as the members of Expedition 33 as they set out on this year's expedition.

This fascinating premise is what prompted me to pick up the game, along with all the positive reviews I'd seen. I was very glad to discover they weren't lying--this game slaps! The combat is fun and engaging, the soundtrack is gorgeous, probably one of my fave video game OSTs, and the story kept me hooked from the very beginning to the very end. It's a story about grief, and about family, and about art. It's also a game where you can beat the shit out of freaky mimes and dress up your characters in outfits with baguettes and berets. I would definitely recommend checking out this game.

For those who have played it, VERY SPOILERY thoughts continue below the cut: ( Read more... )

➤ We have finally gotten a proper trailer for The Old Guard 2!!! I feel like it's been in production hell for several years now? So I'm so excited there's finally a release date.

Watch on YouTube

If you haven't seen the first one, it's an action film based on a comic book about a team of immortal mercenaries dealing with 1) a newly created immortal they take into the fold and 2) some guy trying to capture them for medical research. As an action film fan I thought it was a lot of fun, and Tumblr was very into it when it came out so you may have seen a lot of gifs going around at the time lmao. The sequel looks promising, Uma Thurman is here and she's fighting Charlize Theron in melee combat so 👀

➤ Japanese girl group F5ve's debut album Sequence 01 is out! I've been following them since they released the single "Lettuce" and I've loved every release they've put out since then. All their previous singles plus some new tracks are on the album.

Watch on YouTube

A no-skip album, tbh. "Lettuce" and "UFO" are probably my favorites, but "Underground" is also a huge bop. "UFO" reminds me a lot of FEMM's stuff who I also really liked (an EDM duo that sadly disbanded a couple years ago. Highly recommend!! Try "Wannabe", "Fxxk Boyz Get Money", and "Cherry on Top" as some of my faves).

➤ I guess while I'm shilling music, listen to Le Sserafim's new EP Hot! The title track is honestly the weakest track on here tbh (well, ignoring the opener, those never count). It's still good but it does not live up to "Crazy" at all, and I'm loving the b-sides on here.

Watch on YouTube

"The EP incorporates pop, rock, disco, retro, nu jazz, Jersey club and house stylings." Thanks Wikipedia I'm trusting you on this here because I don't know genres. What the hell is Jersey club.

➤ I didn't mean to turn this into a music entry but whatever. Stream Katseye's "Gnarly" now.

Watch on YouTube

Another reading roundup! March and April were somewhat more succesful than the first two months of the year, and much less disappointing, with 3 novels and 3 graphic novels.



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➤ All I ever post these days is pictures of stuff I've bought, but that's because I'm not doing anything exciting except buying things. The world's a hot mess and I'm stuck in treat yo self mode. Anyway look at my amazing new shirts.


(Click to enlarge) In my defense, two of these are for work lol.
Some people on social media had teased that Arcane shirt being in stores at Hot Topic but it WASN'T ON THE SITE so I basically just stalked their site until it was finally put up and then I bought one immediately. I swear they only printed like, 10 of these things because it's already out, I don't know why Riot is so deathly allergic to making Jayce merch. Or Viktor merch where he's not in his Herald form.

(Then again, the monkey's paw curled so hard on this one because there'd been leaks about a Pop Mart collab for Arcane blind boxes so I was excited to see what they'd have because they've done some cute League figures before. And they turned out HIDEOUS like holy shit. They want THIRTY ONE DOLLARS for a single blind box. Insane. They finally release Jayce and non-Herald Viktor merch and it's like a slap in the face. But you know what, good for me at least I don't have to spend money on it now!)

The DnD themed shirts are for summer reading this year! The art's by Carey Pietsch, who illustrates the Adventure Zone comics. :D The dragon one in the middle is long-sleeved, the DnD party on the right is short sleeved. They were both soooo cute I couldn't decide which one so I shelled out for both lmao. But hey, more clothes I can wear to work!

➤ I took these last two days off from work and I've been trying to use the extra time to poke away at my current fic that I should've finished weeks ago (it's for a monthly fic challenge, I'm still working on March's and haven't even started April's yet lol). It's much more "serious" than my usual fare which I think is what's been blocking me. Well that and the fact I've been very bad motivating myself to write lately. I'm going to TRY to finish it this weekend though...

➤ New game mode in Overwatch! Has anyone tried Stadium out yet? I played a few matches, it's been pretty fun so far but I'm still trying to memorize all the item perks and such because right now it's taking me forever just to go over everything between rounds haha. Also that magical girl skin line is SO cute wtf... I want Kiriko's skin so bad 😔

➤ Wrapping up this post and my coworker texts me that our nail polish order from Mooncat arrived lmao I got peer pressured into getting actual polish, originally I was just going to snag a bottle of their fast dry top coat off ysay's recommendation, but my Mooncat-collecting coworkers were like you should get some polish too...so I did. I am weak. Their colors are SO cool though? I ended up picking Antifragile and Strangeberry. Now I just need to actually stick to painting my nails more than once a year!