Lords of Kobol, hear my prayer...

Challenge #15: Talk about an unexpected joyous moment you experienced last year.

When I discovered the global girl group, XG.

I talked about this briefly before, but I constantly discover and listen to music artists on the regular and there's a lot out there that I like and tend to become my favorites over time. But sometimes there will be an artist or group that will just automatically speak to me and I will instantly fall in love at first listen. XG became that group for me last year. Their sound, their concept, their style, their dancing (especially the dancing), it's the entire package and I ended up going down the rabbit hole of not just listening to all their music, but also all their music videos, their performances, their behind-the-scenes documentary videos they have. It's funny because I had only vaguely heard of them prior, and somehow, on just a random day, I decided to check out one of their music videos out of mere curiosity and immediately became obsessed with them. It's that dopamine high you get when something just clicks with you at that right moment, you know?

++ It has finally happened. Of all our three years of looking after them, just within the last week we have received at least three dead mice from our neighborhood stray cats that we care for. One of the mice was without its head. I know what this means in cat language so I'm honored. We've also been getting random items brought to our backyard, like washcloths and a variety of toy balls from who knows where. Our backyard (and front yard) seems to also be a home base for cats to bring their kittens to sleep, eat and play around in.

++ I kinda sorta got sucked into Slow Horses. My mom and stepfather have been watching it over the last several nights and I ended up catching the last two episodes of series three. From what I've seen so far it definitely seems like the kind of series I would get into on my own time. I like a good spy thriller and the way the show is paced and how things are revealed it certainly captured my curiosity.

++ Xiao Zhan has released his first solo album, WM, with music videos for the tracks "Wild" and "Life of Us". Not only do the songs sound really good, but the visual storytelling is amazing in both videos. I know that he's done music before, with soundtracks and being on music shows, but never his own album, so I'm really excited for him to be releasing this.

++ It's honestly so annoying and frustrating how "AI" (really, artificially generated) has taken over practically everything now, you cannot escape the push and shilling of it, from commercials/ads to YouTube and even online fandom spaces where even fanfiction and fanart are being used in this way, which is upsetting enough. We have people in the entertainment industry still raising concerns over the use of this with scripts and using their likeness without their knowledge or consent, something I thought was covered during the strikes last year but apparently it's way more complicated than that. YouTube is the worst since it's all controlled via algorithm so if I'm searching for something I'm immediately bombarded with these uncanny valley "AI"-generated thumbnails, people praising or shilling for AI in their videos (ex: claiming something was AI when it most likely was just VFX or just really good art done by an actual talented human being), or those fake fan trailers using "AI". Obviously the answer is clickbait, but it becomes so frustrating that I'll get recommended these and it doesn't matter if I click "not interested" or "don't show me this again" it'll still come back. And while some are more easily to spot than others, I hate it all the same and just wish it would disappear entirely.

++ The Olympics and SDCC have both started this weekend. Should be interesting to see what comes from both.

++ 2NE1 is returning for a global world tour!!! (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ I was legitimately shocked when I saw this announcement, like truly an unexpected yet pleasant surprise. The last we saw them together was a small reunion at Coachella in 2022, and I guess it's been kind of in the works for them to reunite properly since then, which makes sense. I'm still side-eying YG Entertainment for screwing them over the way they did, though. Regardless, this is just awesome news. It might not be a proper comeback as with most kpop groups/artists, but they're reuniting for a tour that will go from October well into 2025, so I'm not complaining. Now I'm waiting for the same thing with 4Minute and Wonder Girls....

++ SAG-AFTRA is going on strike again, this time from those members who work on video games to protect themselves from AI. This sadly seems that this is going to be an ongoing battle within the entertainment industry, that even though last year's strike was historic in many ways AI has unfortunately become the biggest hurdle since I constantly see this being an issue. So yeah, as much as it sucks, good luck to them.

++ I hope everyone who celebrates this time of year had a good holiday. Mine was pretty lowkey.

Although I do get that emotional hangover afterwards, and it's more than just needing to replenish my energy levels after spending some time with other people. I've noticed this after a few years now that there is that crash after the celebration, and it's that weird feeling similar to how in between Christmas and New Years it's like that liminal space, but like on an emotional scale. I don't know.

++ The Gävle Goat wasn't something I paid that close attention to before. I just knew that a straw goat was burned (or not burned) every year, and I knew that people were hoping that the goat would be burned this year since last year it wasn't. But now since birds are kind of taking over the goat, it's question whether the destruction of the goat will be by fire or by bird. I'm honestly hoping for the latter, since the constant updates on the slow decay of the goat is entertaining to me. It's the little things, y'know?

++ Unfortunately the BL Thai adaptation of Cherry Magic has been told to suspend international broadcast of the drama outside of Thailand until further notice. It appears to be copyright permission issues. Of course there are already workarounds, as there always is whenever things that this happen for one reason or another, but it still sucks.

++ On the brightside, Thailand is getting closer to legalizing same-sex marriage!

++ In other good news, Kesha has officially parted ways with her abuser's record label and company. She is finally free! I'm honestly relieved, but still very angry on her behalf that she had to continually endure all of this from the start. I know she had the support from her loyal fans and some fellow artists/celebrities, but I feel like this should have been a bigger deal when the news broke out about how she was being treated. With all that being said, at least she's been distancing herself from the asshole for a while despite still having to be attached to his label, with her comeback in years with her rendition of "Colors" and her Rainbow album, and her most recently released album this year, Gag Order. Now that she's free, I can't wait to see what comes next for her.

An obligatory rec in celebration: "Rich, White, Straight Men" by Kesha

Music meme taken from pianogurl330:

( Music is good for the soul. )

This was much harder than expected since I have such an extensive playlist that it's impossible to try and search, let alone pick, a singular song for each category.

So, additionally, what have you all been listening to lately?