"Happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time." Anime List | Manga List | MyDramaList | MFC | Letterboxd
University graduate. Sports fan. Avid gamer. Addicted to music. Closeted nerd.
- How I Got Started On Anime - "It was so sudden. There's always something wonderful happening everyday."
After watching Pokémon and other animated shows all of my childhood I pretty much abandoned the medium altogether pretty early on because of my family's taste in TV and movies. At the age of ten my favourite movie was Good Will Hunting and I gave in to the misconception that anime is childish.
In the summer of 2013, I visited my family in Texas. My cousin, who I'm close to, introduced me to her best friend. I hit it off really well with him and the three of us began watching Ouran Host Club, which I now consider my 'first' anime. To keep in contact with them, I took up watching anime with them via Skype calls, starting with Shingeki no Kyojin and EVA. Amazed by both the depth in artwork and storytelling of these two titles, I decided to watch one on my own: Clannad.
Some tears later, here I am now: hopelessly captured by the many colours and stories of anime.
- Regarding Friend Requests - "People meeting other people is a wonderful miracle--treasure that moment."
Comment on my profile if you want to discuss any show or anything really! I don't accept random friend requests, but if we've talked before or have some mutual friends then I might. I don't bite. If you're shy or want to talk about something private, just PM me.
- About Me - "I don't want to say: I was happy at that time.
I would say: I was happy at that time too, just like I am now."
☆ I share a birthday with Kurisu Makise. ☆I'm a university graduate that studied computer science and biology. ☆My personality type is ENFP ☆I used to be big FPS player, but really all that I still play on console are sports games. ☆I used to be a moderator on the EA UK FIFA Forum, but it is a rarity I dust off my console. ☆My favourite games are FIFA, Apex Legends, FGO, Genshin Impact, Halo, Pokémon, and Super Smash Bros. ☆I play soccer regularly and my favourite team is Manchester United. ☆I also used to run XC and play basketball competitively in HS. My favourite team is the Dallas Mavericks. ☆I listen to just about anything English except for metal/screamo, as well as Japanese/Korean music. ☆I love Taylor Swift and oldies (80's and 90's pop/rock). ☆I love movies, but, lately, I don't watch as many as I feel like the quality is going downhill (Letterboxd). ☆Favourites include Good Will Hunting, 50/50, Pretty Woman, The Departed, Four Weddings and a Funeral. ☆My taste in TV is greatly influenced by my parents: Three's Company, House, Friends, and Grey's Anatomy. ☆I read far too fast and I burn through books at an unsustainable rate financially. ☆My favourite books include: The Art of Racing in the Rain, Kite Runner, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, The Kingkiller Chronicle, An Abundance of Katherines, Lioness Quartet, Millenium Trilogy, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Hamlet, The Perks of Being A Wallflower, The Alchemist, Pride and Prejudice, and The Great Gatsby. ☆I love to draw and paint. I failed art in grade three and was forced to stay after-school to trace lines and do colouring pages to work on my fine motor skills. It still is kind of a funny and embarrassing story. ☆Here's an album of some of my better recent drawings.
A birthday gift from Chieri. <3
A birthday gift from Rinarin. <3
- My Rating Scale - “The world appears wonderful in the eyes of wonderful people.”
9+: Exceptional 8: Very good (this is very enjoyable and may include some favourites) 7: Good (has some standout characteristics, even if it doesn't reach higher) 6: Above average (has faults in it that hold it back from being good, for example writing or pacing) 5: Average (meets expectations for watching, i.e. very standard show) 4: Below average (bad watchable - may have *head in hands* inducing qualities and lead to blindness) 3: Bad (results in adverse feelings and would not recommend to anyone, I may have even dropped the show) 2: Very bad (even worse) 1: No words needed (the worst)
Oh no!!! I know you said not to worry but it still makes me sad that you were injured and even had to get surgery, which must have been rough especially since you love sports so much. :'( I'm relieved that you're doing well now though and hopefully you've been making a smooth and speedy recovery!! Sending lots of love right back at you. ♡
And no rush at all about replying back!! I just missed you and wanted to see how you were doing. ♥ I've been doing well thankfully, just a little busy with school and teaching, but hopefully things will start to slow down once the school year ends in mid-June! It's funny because I'm reading another article right now (by a different author) that also mentioned serendipity and it never fails to put a smile on my face haha. I'm wishing you a wonderful rest of your week! ♡
I was getting a little sleepy reading an article for a class, but then the authors mentioned serendipity and it reminded me of you and made me smile! So I had to rush over here to see how you were doing and saw that you completed Something About Us (and seemed to enjoy it quite a bit!), which made my day even better ♡
I can't believe it's already mid-April! I hope spring has been treating you well so far (and you've been enjoying the spring anime, I need to catch up soon!). I also hope the weather has been nice over there! It was really hot here a couple weeks ago, but thankfully it's cooled down a bit since then. Take care and I'm wishing you the best always ♥♥♥
I'm glad you were able to have a nice New Year's day with your parents!! Watching a movie in the basement with them sounds like my idea of a pleasant and relaxing holiday. ♥ And likewise! I had a couple relatives come over that day to eat rice cake soup together, which was a peaceful start to the year haha. I also went back to work the Monday after. :'( I have a lot of grading to do again this week and next ahaha but I'm hopeful that things will start to slow down now that I'm getting back into the swing of teaching and know my students a little better! I went to a baby shower last week for the KareKano/True Beauty friend I mentioned before, and it was virtual because her husband got a job at Tesla last year so they relocated, but she teared up so it seems like it was a success in spite of the physical distance! I hope the first couple weeks of the year have been treating you well. ♡
Thank you for sharing these goodies as always!!! I'm always being way too spoiled by you. And omg pls! There's no higher compliment for me than being compared to Tomoyo, but Sara is the cutest one here as far as I'm concerned! The fact that you haven't clicked away that notification yet warms my heart and I still can't get over how we both use the handle josei on different websites haha. Love that! And omg, if I only I had the same motivation for writing my dissertation as I did writing my messages to you. I would've been able to finish this thing quite a while ago if I did LOL. Thankfully I had a productive meeting with a professor in my field a couple days ago and she's very open to being on my committee, which was reassuring to hear!
Omg this ended up being veeeeeeeeery long since it took me forever to reply back ahaha. Thank you so much for your patience throughout it all. As always, feel free to take your time replying back, and it’s totally fine if you need to skip over/combine/only reply to certain parts! I’m going to do a better job at replying back and I can’t wait for us to talk even more (and about even more things!) this year! Wishing you an incredible year ahead filled with countless blessings and happy moments! ♡
Thank you for sharing the gorgeous photos from your walk with your friend back in May! Even with the phone quality, the photos were beautiful and I loved seeing the assortment of different flowers and colors you two encountered. ♡ I'm sure it must've been a breath of fresh air to get out, especially with the lockdown! Speaking of, are you all back in lockdown? And oh man, 12km is a super long walk! I kind of feel you there because I actually went on a walk of the same length to a park with two friends on our Labor Day back in September haha. It was quite toasty that day too but fortunately we took plenty of water breaks whenever we reached a shady area. I'm glad you got to go on a walk with your mom too and cooked dinner for her on Mother's Day! That's so sweet and cute of you, and I'm sure she appreciated it. ♥
Oh gosh, that actually reminds me I need to take my car in for an oil change this week, but that's usually not too bad so hopefully it'll be a pretty quick, pain-free process haha. It's a good thing you were able to take advantage of the nice weather and go on many walks! They help boost my mood a lot too. You deserved to take it easy after your tiring weekend!
Both weddings went really well thankfully! Everyone at both weddings besides the children were fully vaccinated and no one that I knew of caught Covid after attending fortunately. I was actually in the bridal party for both weddings, so they ended up being kind of like a whole weekend ordeal haha. But like you, it was a breath of fresh air since that was the most time I had spent in the outdoors and with people since the pandemic started!
This is random but every time I had a student named Sara over the summer, I would always think about you and wonder how you were doing :')
That's a great question! People often say my sister and I are polar opposites, and I think part of that is because she took more after our dad with her personality/appearance/interests while I took more after our mom in those areas haha. It's kind of funny because even though my sister and dad are quite alike in some ways, they also tend to clash for those very reasons. They both have a sarcastic sense of humor and no-nonsense personalities, so sometimes I unintentionally end up being a mediator between them. My mom was the youngest of seven and her siblings all have strong personalities so she was also kind of like the mediator between them haha. I guess it runs in the family in a way.
But otherwise, I feel the same as you because I'm not really close with my sister at all! Hopefully we can both find ways to become closer to our siblings with age. But omg, that's a huge move for your brother to China! Actually, my sister and her family only live five minutes away, so by comparison, her moving away doesn't mean much since she's still just a hop, skip, and a jump away LOL.
That reminds me! Omg sorry if this is out of the blue. It's actually something I've been meaning to share in light of our recent convos about our parents, but I couldn't find the right timing and I never wanted to dampen the mood or anything like that. My mom actually passed away a little over four years ago from cancer, but I hope you won't worry too much or feel alarmed to hear this because I'm alright now, really! If anything, our messages over the past few months have helped so much and reminded me that I still carry a lot from my mom with me and in my everyday life, so I wanted to thank you for that. ♡
It's awesome that your mom works as a Project Manager too! I'm wishing you the best as you look towards transitioning into more of a business role. That sounds like it would be a wonderful use of your strengths and skills!
Yes!! Hoping for the best for us both as we make our way through life and work. ♥ I was originally hoping to finish my doctoral program this spring, but my dissertation has been gathering some dust lately LOL (I'll talk about it some more further down!) and I'm enjoying continuing to teach and do counseling in the meantime, so I might take a little more time to wrap things up haha. A lot of the people I started my program with are also thinking of taking another year, especially since the pandemic kind of threw a wrench into many people's plans, which makes me feel better and less alone since we're all still in this together.
Were you able to start tutoring? That would be a great way to work with children again, but I totally feel you about being a little cautious adding more to your plate right now! Hopefully you can ease your way into those types of opportunities when your schedule lightens up a bit. :)
How did Mashiro no Oto end up going for you? Omg the comparison to Arata from Chihayafuru is too fitting. I also would've preferred it if it didn't necessarily take place in a school setting, but like you, I really enjoyed the music I briefly listened to! I really liked the first opening theme too and was surprised and kind of bummed that they changed it so early haha.
Same! I definitely watched a lot of Sailor Moon episodes out of order when I was younger (I think my first exposure to the anime was actually the S movie LOL). That's too relatable about how watching everything in the right order made the overarching storylines make sense and click so much more! And omg, I feel that! I know Chibiusa can be a handful at times and is sometimes best in smaller doses. Maybe it's because of all the pink she had going on and her friendship with Hotaru, but I had a soft spot for her for some reason when I was growing up ahaha. Playing Pokemon by memorizing the game sounds and seeing how much of the health bar depleted is too cute and smart LOL. I was heavily guided by aesthetics for sure too in picking out most of my Pokemon!
Omg yes, I am fully onboard with you trying to get your cousin more into shoujo anime and kdrama! Hopefully it works ahaha. I echo your sentiments about a lot of modern gateway anime not being the best for younger kids and I have a total soft spot for characters like Tohru too! I think she's a wonderful role model. ♡ That reminds me that it's been so cute to see women who were huge fans of Fruits Basket growing up now watching the remake with their daughters haha. Warms my heart.
LOL the puppy story is still too funny! I can't get enough of it. And omg, I love Bichon Frises! They're actually one of my favorite dog breeds. If I have a dog someday, I'll most likely end up getting one of them since I'm pretty allergic to some dogs (and I'm also extremely allergic to cats, which always makes people laugh since I'm technically a Cat too LOL). I had two cockatiel birds growing up and I loved them, but I would love a dog someday too!
All the actresses you mentioned are wonderful and I grew up watching many of them and their movies with my mom too! I actually watched The Unforgivable starring Sandra Bullock with a couple friends the day after Christmas and it was so nice to see her in a movie again since it had been a while for me. The movie itself was a little intense for the holidays though LOL. And ahhh same! My dad loves the Bourne Trilogy, as well as Mission Impossible and 007, and I grew up watching a lot of that with him too. It's funny because the way my dad feels about romance is how my mom felt about action haha. 70s classics are great too! Now I have the itch to rewatch the movies we've been reminiscing about. And omg, I totally feel that about English class kind of ruining certain classics for you LOL.
I second what you said about reading! It's kind of ironic because I actually majored in English in college (and double majored in Art History, slight tangent again but there was a rumor going around for the longest time in my PhD program that I was a Math major because I was taking a bunch of stats classes even though that couldn't be further from the truth LOL) but I feel like I've barely read after graduating, which was many many years ago haha. I definitely went through my Young Adult novels phase around HS too and read a bunch as a child but also became kind of burnt out by academic reading. One of my HS friend groups are all avid readers with Goodreads accounts they update regularly and everything, and they tried starting a book club amongst us a while back, so hopefully they can help get me back into reading eventually. Maybe after I graduate though ahaha.
Omg, that's so cool that Matthew Perry went to your high school! I actually didn't even know he was Canadian so that was really neat to learn. My cousin's (who got married over the summer) favorite TV show is also Friends and she's a big fan of Chandler haha. I actually went over to her and her husband's place for dinner back in July and we watched the yeti episode together and I forgot how funny it was LOL. I think Phoebe is my favorite character (her and Joey are my dad's favorites), but Chandler and Monica are great too. Have you had a chance to watch the reunion episode yet? I haven't but I've heard good things about it! Also, thinking about it now, the name Monica would have actually fit my sister much better than me since they kind of resemble each other in a way haha.
Same! I worry that children and teenagers these days might be forced to mature beyond their years or get exposed to too much by being on the internet at such a young age. I also spent way too much time on forums and other websites when I was younger and I can't imagine how much easier it is to access to all kinds of things now. It must be such a struggle for parents to try and moderate screentime!
Ahaha I know right! I love how Sakura's hair color decisions were based on characters she adores. Ahh I actually haven't watched Kakegurui yet myself, but I know it has quite a big following in certain places and that's always made me want to check it out! It doesn't really seem like the kind of show I would enjoy right off the bat either, but I've been curious about it haha. It's definitely surprising that a lot of your irl friends who are more into typical romcom and drama-y anime and kdrama got into it!
I hope you enjoy CITT if/when you have a chance to check it out!! I still haven't finished the KareKano anime but I really need and want to sometime. I think I was a few eps in when a couple friends suggested reading the manga instead, probably because of the budget thing you mentioned haha. One of my irl friends (one of the few who has even the slightest interest in anime!) loves KareKano and has the complete DVD set. She keeps telling me she'll lend it to me anytime I ask, so I might have to take her up on that sometime! Gosh, Yukino and her VA are both amazing. I can totally see how some of that might be lost in the manga. I love her so much, she's an incredible lead. I'm not entirely sure how far the anime got but Arima has a lot of focus and development in the second half of the story, and I think he actually became my fave character thanks to that!
I hope you enjoy Something About Us when you have a chance to read it! That's too true about webtoons feeling easier to read, especially with the layout on a phone screen haha. I think Something About Us can be a bit of a letdown for people who go into it expecting "more" than just a standard romance, but I think it accomplishes what it seeks to do quite well, and as a fellow romance lover, hopefully it'll be right up your alley too! :')
Ditto everything you said about True Beauty! Also, I love how you started it for the same Taylor Swift and Clazziquai friend haha. I actually started it for my friend who loves KareKano and has the complete set. I also really enjoyed the beginning and felt the exact same way about my interest dwindling once things started to drag a bit. I actually followed the raws for a while because I couldn't wait for each new development, but I also lost motivation to do that once things got less fun haha. I miss the more memey me_irl things too! That's definitely what first got me hooked on the series. Seojun is wonderful! My first favorite (and current favorite, maybe, but I'm still not sure yet haha) was actually Suho, but I did start to think that Seojun is the much better fit for her romantically when they were dating. Sadly, it seemed like things were good between them until they just weren't anymore. :( I also hope there will be a bit more progression soon!
Haha yes! The kdrama definitely started veering off a lot from the webtoon and I also found the pacing to be kind of weird and a bit slow at times, so I actually put it on hold for a while. I might go back to it someday, especially for the OST, which was super cute and fit the romcom side of the series perfectly! A lot of first-time viewers got pretty bad second lead syndrome because of Seojun, who was also getting the short hand of the stick in terms of screentime, so many people weren't very happy about that! Hopefully things got a little better from where I left off.
I love how you went over your Top 50 list with your friend on your walk! It's such a fantastic list. And omg, Sakura Kiss is truly an OP for the ages and I have it stuck in my head now too LOL. That reminds me that I used to be really fond of Chieko Kawabe at the time and was bummed that she stopped releasing new music. I totally agree, the parts you mentioned from Catch You Catch Me are super catchy and I'll never get tired of the random English lyrics thrown in the mix! Sakura's ganbarimasu~ pose is too cute and I can't get enough of her adorable little pout. I'm playing CYCM now and I can't stop smiling.
Ahh I did read about how Akina tried to kill herself in the late 80s :( I can't imagine how much pressure she must have felt at the time, and as you said, having her dating life out in the open for everyone to see and scrutinize must have been pretty unbearable at times. I can see what you mean about her image being a lot cleaner with Slow Motion! It makes total sense that she became more rebellious partly due to the expectations placed on idols then (and now!). It's sad that her career went on a decline, but it certainly speaks volumes to her legacy that she was big in Asia and super popular with your brother's wife's family too! I'm so late in replying that the Back Door Night ~ Marionette and Desire performances aren't up anymore, but I did listen to the recorded versions of all three songs at least (and live performances of Marionette and Desire) and wow they're amazing! I can see why she's one of your favorite artists now, she's so visionary and daring and I respect and appreciate her a bunch for that!
Ahhh I've definitely heard of Seiko Matsuda before! I can see what you mean about her being as pure white as an idol as they come haha. I have yet to watch the original Macross anime or Kimagure Orange Road, but I can already see what you mean about Lynn Minmay/Madoka taking after/being modeled after her and Akina!
I also see what you mean about Kyoko Koizumi being a "cute" idol and upbeat but in a more mature way! Her performances were a ton of fun to watch and I loved her outfits and hairstyles, backup dancers, cheers, and speaking lines haha. Just everything about her! Too cute. I adored the energy she brought to her lives and the loud audience cheers at the very end of each one showed how well-loved she must have been. I also loved Akina's cover of Anata ni Aete Yokatta!
Momoko Kikuchi is amazing! Night Cruising really lives up to its name and Adventure and Deja Vu are both wonderful and made me feel so calm and at peace. I can definitely see what you mean about the funky/jazzy sounds leaning into city pop! I loved all the artists and songs you shared with me but I think she might actually be my favorite! The way you mentioned her being an idol in how she was produced definitely seems to have something to do with it ahaha. You mentioned something similar in your message, but I also can't seem to resist idols, regardless of the medium and time period LOL.
Thank you again for taking the time to share these songs with me and even providing important context from the time period!! I had the loveliest time listening to all of them and I'm going to have them on loop for much longer, I'm sure. ♡
Awww I love that! Seulgi seems to be a total bias wrecker if she's not already someone's bias ahaha. Her friendship with Arin is too cute! Arin is actually my Oh My Girl bias and I always enjoy seeing her interactions with other idols. :') They're both precious and I totally know what you mean about getting secondhand embarrassment from how adorably awkward they are at first LOL. And that's so true about things getting amplified by how the internet works! I feel like there's also a cultural element involved since these types of "scandals" don't seem to cause much of a stir here in America for example haha. You've probably already heard it by now too, but they finally had a group comeback, and it really warmed my heart to see them perform as five again!
And omg, that's super cool that your friend from elementary school went to the same HS and was in the same grade as Wendy! Small world indeed!
Kaguya is truly too adorbs and her internal monologues and the way she gets so flustered over Shirogane is simply the cutest! I love Hayasaka too! Omg that's so cute and fitting that you helping your mom with technology is like her with Kaguya LOL. I love that. Honestly I'm not very technologically inclined myself so I can actually sort of relate to Kaguya in that regard LOL. I also have a huge soft spot for Chika. I know Kaguya doesn't always (understandably!) ahaha but Chika's chaotic energy and the way she completely throws a wrench into everyone's plans without even batting an eyelash always cracks me up.
Thank you so much for always sharing such gorgeous fanart with me!!! I don't think I can say it enough but the art you share with me brightens my day without fail! Sakura is too cute and ofc it goes without saying but it warms my heart to see the little Tomoyo cameo in one of the fanarts! ♡
Now on to your more recent message! :)
I hope you’ve been able to keep in touch with your housemate who moved to Japan over text (even if it's not always the same, which I totally understand!) and you're having a wonderful time with your HS best friend (her coming back until the end of winter truly feels like perfect timing!). ♡ I’m the same way over text with my HS best friend haha. She only lives a couple hours away but sometimes we go months without seeing each other, and she was in town for our Thanksgiving weekend a little over a month ago, so it was really nice to see her again and it truly felt like old times.
It’s also great that you’ve been playing tennis with another close friend after your housemate left! It must've cooled down a lot since then, but hopefully you two have been able to keep up tennis!! ♥
Thank you!! I hope all is still going well with you and him and you've been able to continue chatting over text and playing Genshin Impact together. :') And omg, how exciting!! Hopefully everything works out and you're able to meet him this year! That's something to look forward to for sure and I'm wishing you the best with everything. ♡ That's also super cute that your mutual friend and the other person made a comment about putting you together at the same table if they had a wedding. Too adorable!
I feel the same way as you about relationships! Omg you captured it perfectly and I couldn't have said it better myself even if I tried. I completely agree that romantic love can be grown and that companionship is such an important foundation for a relationship. I've never really been the type to fall in love at first sight (unlike a couple of my friends who've always called themselves a little boy crazy haha. I admire how they wear their hearts on their sleeves with no reservations though!), so I appreciate being able to take my time getting to know someone and becoming more comfortable with them. Dating really is a bit intimidating normally! Ditto to dates occurring through apps feeling a bit artificial. Some of my friends have met good people through apps, but I agree that it takes a lot of effort just to get started with dating amidst the constant adulting haha.
It’s kind of funny though because after meeting the groomsman, a couple other guys sort of popped up out of nowhere (I'm still not dating anymore right now though!), when things were very quiet on that front for a while haha. Actually, when my HS best friend came over for our Thanksgiving weekend, I met up with her and a couple other friends, and she also invited her and her fiance's (omg they got engaged pretty recently actually so I'm still not used to calling him that) workout buddy. A couple days later, after she returned back home, she texted me saying that apparently he was interested in me haha.
Oh! Also, just a couple weeks ago, one of my closest childhood friends (I think I talked about her before, she's the project manager who used to work at Apple haha. She also got a second job as a realtor recently and just sold her first home!) invited me to her husband's birthday celebration (two separate ones, actually, a brunch and a dinner!). The dinner was just the two of them and a couple of his closest former coworkers who I had never met before, so I was kind of confused as to why I was invited in the first place LOL. I started wondering if maybe she (or her husband) was trying to set me up with one of the guys, but I carpooled with both of them and neither of them mentioned anything on the way there, so I thought maybe I was wrong. Then on the way back home, my friend and I were talking about how one of the guys doesn't eat sugar and we wouldn't be able to do that, and then her husband turned around and asked me, "Are you deducting points because of that?" I was taken aback and my friend and I started cracking up and she said he's been wanting to set me up with the guy we were talking about haha. I also told him not to be worry because I don't use a point system LOL. We actually didn't talk much the whole time and the guy didn't make much eye contact with me either, but maybe he was just shy. He's a graduate student in Northern California, but my friend's husband asked me to keep him in mind if he ends up moving back down here haha.
Omg! One last small thing I just remembered LOL. One of my sister's best friends wanted to introduce me to her younger brother (I haven't met him before but she showed me a picture of him and he was pretty cute ahaha), but apparently he just started seeing someone. I was kind of relieved though because I think I really need to focus on my dissertation, at least for the first half of this year LOL. Like you, I rarely met new people through work or activities even pre-Covid, so all of this is definitely not the norm for me! I still feel like it's not quite the right time for me to get back into dating, but I'm hoping to sometime this year when I have a slightly better handle on my time.
Thank you Sara!! Fortunately the project wrapped up smoothly without a hitch. And I couldn't agree more! I didn't realize until pretty recently how important coworkers are to your overally enjoyment at work haha. They can make a less ideal work situation more bearable and it just helps so much knowing you have people in the same boat as you that you can count on. Honestly, I think having a job title as a programmer or software developer sounds super cool, but maybe I can say that only because I don't actually work in the field myself ahaha.
Oh man, the dissertation sadly has not budged much since the beginning of the fall LOL. I feel like I got so caught up with my first time teaching, but I helped start a weekly writing group with a few good friends in my program (via Zoom since everyone's spread out across the country now) that starts on Monday actually, and I hope that can help us all feel more supported and keep each other accountable. I'm also meeting with a professor (also via Zoom) in a couple weeks who has done a lot of work in my field, and I also hope that can give me some pointers and much-needed motivation!
Teaching was challenging for sure, and I had (and still have!) a lot to learn, but I loved it so much and feel like I gained and learned just as much (if not more) than my students did! They were wonderful and made the experience worth every moment. Now that I have a full term of teaching under my belt, hopefully my winter classes will go more smoothly and require less prep time haha. My classes are all going to be online for a couple weeks at least because of the recent Covid surge, which I definitely understand but am not super psyched for, but I'm sure everything will be fine!
I hope work has been going well and smoothly for you and hasn't been keeping you too busy, especially over the holidays!! ♥
Ahh I've heard lots of good things about Prison Playbook so I'm glad you and your dad weree enjoying it and I'll definitely keep it in mind now that you've recommended it too! It's funny that you mention Squid Game because I actually became even more interested in Prison Playbook after finding out that one of the main actors from Squid Game also stars in it haha. I see on MDL that you finished Prison Playbook! Hopefully it had a strong finish and Misaeng picks up for you too when you have a chance to get back to it. :')
Omg I know!! Squid Game's popularity was so explosive that it almost felt unreal for a while haha. I actually watched it with the HS friend I talked about who was supposed to move to the UK (I love how we've talked about different friends with each other so many times that we just know who we're talking about ahaha). And back in October, another friend (the project manager/realtor one LOL) actually threw a Squid Game-themed Halloween party. Squid Game was the first kdrama either of them watched too. The friend I watched it with actually asked me for more recs, and I thought you would be happy to know that My Mister is one of the kdrama I recommended to her. :') Like you, I'm not always keen on Korean horror and action either, but I couldn't help myself after seeing how almost everyone I knew couldn't stop talking about Squid Game haha.
IU's wardrobe is one of the highlights from Hotel del Luna for sure! One of the girls at my friend's Squid Game-themed party had just watched it too and we fangirled over her dresses together haha. I still need to finish it sometime though. I've heard so many good things about It's Okay To Not Be Okay, as well as Seo Ye-Ji's character, so I'm glad you've been having fun with it! Have any other kdrama caught your eye since then? :)
Oh man! I fell behind on both Fumetsu no Anata e and BnHA, and I do want to get back to them eventually, but I can definitely see where you're coming from based on the little I've watched (especially of the latter!). The first few episodes of the latest BnHA were a bit of a drag for me to get through, and I heard the season was supposed to pick up from around where I left off, but it doesn't sound like it did a whole a lot from what you said :(
Omg yes, Yuri's Glassy was so nice and catchy! She truly does have such a pretty voice and I adore how husky and unique-sounding it is too. It's really pleasing to the ears. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next! And I totally know what you mean LOL. Twice's The Feels was such a pleasant surprise! I loved it and also did not expect to like an English song by a Korean girl group as much as I did either hahaha.
Oh gosh, I still need to watch Crepuscolo but I truly can't wait to get to it! I think I saw that Benedizione was released in Japan too and I totally feel you because I'm worried that the Aria-shaped hole in my heart will be even more noticeable once I finish it. ;___; But I'm sure it'll be beautiful in every way and hopefully we won't have to wait too long to see or hear from the series again. ♡
I'm still excited to watch Kageki Shoujo, and I’m glad the ending was satisfying while leaving room open for a second season! Hopefully we hear a sequel announcement in the not-too-distant future. :') How did you like the fall anime you decided to stick with? I'm hoping to (finally!) slowly ease my way back into seasonal anime this winter. Do you think you'll be watching some too? I hope you and your cousin are enjoying Blue Period and it's helping you two stay in touch!! I've heard a lot about Ousama Ranking and that might also be on my shortlist of shows to check out next! I see that you're watching it too and I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on it. :)
I know I say this every time, but I truly mean it when I say that the fanart you share with me is the biggest treat ever and I always look forward to the finds you're considerate enough to share with me! ♥
Thank you for sharing those beautiful images of your vacation around the Laurentian Mountains!! Both the nature and the majestic feel of the city looked so breathtakingly beautiful, and I always appreciate the pictures you share with me! I'm glad you got to spend some quality time with your parents and hopefully it wasn't too chilly then. It's great that you got to do lots of hiking and I hope it wasn't too tiring either! It would be great if you got to go on another trip when you have a chance!! ♥ I feel motivated now to take more and better pictures on trips thanks to you! The two pictures I sent you from my trip were literally the only two I took LOL and I even almost forgot to take them. I think I usually end up taking pictures from my friends but I'm going to try to be better about taking pictures and documenting things myself this year ahaha.
Take care Sara!!! I can't wait to hear about what you've been up to and I'm wishing you a wonderful start to the new year! ♡♡♡♡♡
LOL that's the funniest thing! Omg I can't believe we picked out the exact same gif. We're truly such dorks and I love it! ♥
Oh no, I hadn't realized that MAL on mobile doesn't use bbcode but that's good to know :'( and that's so sweet of you for sending it to yourself on messenger for later! I'm glad we were able to send each other holiday wishes in the end. ♡
I'm not sure if you're working most of the week or if you were able to take a bit of a break, but either way, I'm wishing you a relaxing, wonderful, and festive end to your year!! Take care and let's catch up soon for sure. Big hugs and daisuki dayo~! ♥♥♥
Sara!!! I'm not sure if I might have missed a notification from you or if MAL is acting up again (it seems to be loading very slowly for me right now!), and I'm at the tail end of the day (again!), but I just wanted to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a warm, peaceful, and wonderful holiday season! I hope you've been able to take it easy and it hasn't gotten too cold over there! Sending the SoCal warmth your way and wishing you the best always. ♡♡♡♡♡
Also, I've gotten back to my hazukashii Word doc haha so you can expect that message to (finally!) make its way to you next week before my break ends! I can't wait to catch up with you and hear about what you've been up to. Hope all is well on your end. :) ♥♥♥
Omg it's been so long. Far too long! I miss you and I hope you've been doing well! I also hope the weather is still being reasonable over there and you're making the most of any remaining warmth left! It's finally started cooling down over here, which is a welcome change since it was over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (I think that's over 32 degrees Celsius!) last month haha.
This was supposed to be a shorter message just popping in to say hi, but it ended up being a little longer than expected (as usual!), so I'm going to put it under a tag. Replyception and our penpal saga (this makes me giggle too!) continues. ♥
My hazukashii Word doc is still taking a momentary break on my desktop, but I've slowly started getting back into anime, so I can't wait to finally watch Crepuscolo and reply back to all your messages! I finished teaching last week and it was challenging yet super rewarding (I'll talk a little more about it in my upcoming messages!) and I have some grading left to do, but now that the holidays are approaching, I'm going to reply back to everything this month! I can't wait to catch up with you and hear about what you've been up to. Thank you again for your never-ending patience with my extremely late replies! I always look forward to reading your messages and hearing from you. ♡
Also, strawberry moon completely flew under my radar until I got your message, so I wanted to thank you for sharing it! I had it on loop for the longest time afterwards (it actually came on my shuffle as I was writing this message!) and it's such a comforting, healing song that truly feels like a spiritual successor to eight in many ways. That, along with the gorgeous fanart you curate and share with me, never fails to brighten my day! Seeing Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles fanart was such a pleasant surprise too. You know the way right to my heart, as always. ♡
Speaking of IU, you may have seen this already and I'm not sure if you're familiar with the anime Yumeiro Patissiere, but IU sang the Korean OP for it back in 2010 and performed it again recently after it became a viral dance challenge on TikTok! Here's the link in case you haven't seen it yet, it's pure serotonin and she's simply the cutest. ♥
Oh! One last thing, I went on a weekend trip with a few HS friends (actually, one of them is also named Sara!) back in October to California's Central Coast, and it was so nice and reinvigorating. I always appreciate the pretty pictures you share with me, so I've included a couple below too!
I just realized that both pictures are kind of crooked LOL oops. I need to take a page out of Tomoyo's book and learn how to use a camera (or just hold my phone properly!).
Also, I had BoA's discography on repeat for the longest time while grading last month and every time Sara came on, I thought of you! I know it's technically about her cat, but it's such a classic and the song and MV are adorable haha.
Take care and I'll be in touch again soon with my very late replies!!! I hope all has been well on your end and that December is treating you well so far! Sending lots of love your way. Ganbare~! ♡ ♡ ♡
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And no rush at all about replying back!! I just missed you and wanted to see how you were doing. ♥ I've been doing well thankfully, just a little busy with school and teaching, but hopefully things will start to slow down once the school year ends in mid-June! It's funny because I'm reading another article right now (by a different author) that also mentioned serendipity and it never fails to put a smile on my face haha. I'm wishing you a wonderful rest of your week! ♡
Hi Sara!!! I hope you've been doing well ♡
I was getting a little sleepy reading an article for a class, but then the authors mentioned serendipity and it reminded me of you and made me smile! So I had to rush over here to see how you were doing and saw that you completed Something About Us (and seemed to enjoy it quite a bit!), which made my day even better ♡
I can't believe it's already mid-April! I hope spring has been treating you well so far (and you've been enjoying the spring anime, I need to catch up soon!). I also hope the weather has been nice over there! It was really hot here a couple weeks ago, but thankfully it's cooled down a bit since then. Take care and I'm wishing you the best always ♥♥♥
I'm glad you were able to have a nice New Year's day with your parents!! Watching a movie in the basement with them sounds like my idea of a pleasant and relaxing holiday. ♥ And likewise! I had a couple relatives come over that day to eat rice cake soup together, which was a peaceful start to the year haha. I also went back to work the Monday after. :'( I have a lot of grading to do again this week and next ahaha but I'm hopeful that things will start to slow down now that I'm getting back into the swing of teaching and know my students a little better! I went to a baby shower last week for the KareKano/True Beauty friend I mentioned before, and it was virtual because her husband got a job at Tesla last year so they relocated, but she teared up so it seems like it was a success in spite of the physical distance! I hope the first couple weeks of the year have been treating you well. ♡
Thank you for sharing these goodies as always!!! I'm always being way too spoiled by you. And omg pls! There's no higher compliment for me than being compared to Tomoyo, but Sara is the cutest one here as far as I'm concerned! The fact that you haven't clicked away that notification yet warms my heart and I still can't get over how we both use the handle josei on different websites haha. Love that! And omg, if I only I had the same motivation for writing my dissertation as I did writing my messages to you. I would've been able to finish this thing quite a while ago if I did LOL. Thankfully I had a productive meeting with a professor in my field a couple days ago and she's very open to being on my committee, which was reassuring to hear!
Auguri buon anno, Sara. ♡♡♡
I'm a little late, but Happy New Year, Sara!!!!
Omg this ended up being veeeeeeeeery long since it took me forever to reply back ahaha. Thank you so much for your patience throughout it all. As always, feel free to take your time replying back, and it’s totally fine if you need to skip over/combine/only reply to certain parts! I’m going to do a better job at replying back and I can’t wait for us to talk even more (and about even more things!) this year! Wishing you an incredible year ahead filled with countless blessings and happy moments! ♡
Oh no, I hadn't realized that MAL on mobile doesn't use bbcode but that's good to know :'( and that's so sweet of you for sending it to yourself on messenger for later! I'm glad we were able to send each other holiday wishes in the end. ♡
I'm not sure if you're working most of the week or if you were able to take a bit of a break, but either way, I'm wishing you a relaxing, wonderful, and festive end to your year!! Take care and let's catch up soon for sure. Big hugs and daisuki dayo~! ♥♥♥
Sara!!! I'm not sure if I might have missed a notification from you or if MAL is acting up again (it seems to be loading very slowly for me right now!), and I'm at the tail end of the day (again!), but I just wanted to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas and a warm, peaceful, and wonderful holiday season! I hope you've been able to take it easy and it hasn't gotten too cold over there! Sending the SoCal warmth your way and wishing you the best always. ♡♡♡♡♡
Also, I've gotten back to my hazukashii Word doc haha so you can expect that message to (finally!) make its way to you next week before my break ends! I can't wait to catch up with you and hear about what you've been up to. Hope all is well on your end. :) ♥♥♥
Hi Sara!!!
Omg it's been so long. Far too long! I miss you and I hope you've been doing well! I also hope the weather is still being reasonable over there and you're making the most of any remaining warmth left! It's finally started cooling down over here, which is a welcome change since it was over 90 degrees Fahrenheit (I think that's over 32 degrees Celsius!) last month haha.
This was supposed to be a shorter message just popping in to say hi, but it ended up being a little longer than expected (as usual!), so I'm going to put it under a tag. Replyception and our penpal saga (this makes me giggle too!) continues. ♥
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