#replytoasks

This refers to this post and the tags on them.

I think rec room provides a fascinating case study for a Shane who is shy. Because we hear him talking about that like "oh I'm shy in most social situations" and he mentioned before that when he started working at buzzfeed he felt like he was closed in on himself. But we as the audience never really got to see it, because the bf videos are always over the top and or exagerrated. And then when we do get to know Shane he's already with Ryan, and Shane with Ryan has a different dynamic. They always talk to each other and do bits and their chemistry is amazing, so I didn't think "Oh Shane's a shy person." You could argue he's shy in the beginning of watcher, but even then Ryan is the glue that sticks them together so whenever Ryan is in a video you don't get to see the shy version fo Shane. But we did get to hear stories about Shane acting in various situations like "not being able to tell that he doesn't like the haircut he got from the hairdresser" or "most social situations he just leaves in the middle". Which sound kinda unbelievable because again we don't get to see him in everyday situations.

Now rec room is a watcher tv exclusive show that for 90% of watcher fans has new people in it and Shane is the only recognizable person there. And he doesn't really get a satisfying perfomance. Now to me, a 10% sicko watcher fan who could name everyone there bc I've listened to every podcast ep, and bonus show from patreon times so I heard of Sam and Meredith before and even got to see Emily in one of the pod eps this was a delightful one hour of listening what the girls are into. To me they carried the show and Matt did a good job of having some structure to it.

But if I was a Shane fan? I'd be disappoointed. This is not the Shane I know from other watcher content. Of course there's a natural awkwardness of having to spend time with your employees (everyone seems like they get along very well and you can tell it was more of a vibe "this is a group of people who know each other" than not) but if you compare it to previous content then Steven and Ryan are on the same level so to speak. Other people said that this has to do with the age difference but I think the different vibe came from the fact that.... Matt is the only person that Shane knows well there. If every watcher content hinges on Shane's and Ryan's dynamic, then Ryan's stupid jokes were the thing that were missing here, and Ryan would include Shane into the conversation more. Matt tries his best but you can tell he's the real core of this show and knows each person kinda well on the same level. So the way Shane acts in it is kind of distant and stilled. I believe that if this was a normal social work function he'd dip halfway into it because he found something better to do. Now that's not to say that he doesn't want to be there, but you can see that he doesn't want to take up space. When he introduces himself it's short, and his reccomendation is at the end of the hour, almost not important. He self depricates with the "oh this is a movie film bros would say if you think of a foreign pretentious movie" and has kind of a difficulty explaining it. So I think it's a fascinating study of his character in that way that it shows a side of him that we didn't get to see before. If ever. Because if you think of Ryan making Shane open up more then he seems sort of lost here, because he has to hang out in a social situation with people he doesn't know that well like he knows Ryan and to a degree maybe Steven.

Now all of that could be because of the awkwardness of the zoom style but sometimes when the camera pans to him you can see that he's easily distracted by looking probably at his cat or out of the window (there's also a shot of him taking a photo of Obi in the middle of someone else talking) so I think this is the equivalent of you staring at your nails not knowing what to say.

1 ⧽. if you could sit down and finish any one of your wips without anything stopping you (time, tiredness, etc), which fic would you choose? tell us about it if you want!

I still believe one day I will come back to that time travel narumitsu au. Nevermind it's been like 7 years since the last update maybe more. I really love that fic and would love to finish it, but to do that I'd have to replay the games to get the character voices in character (also this is the problem with the timetravel fic you need to be pretty canon compliant), and to have feelings about it. Like that's the one wip I regret not finishing before other fandoms took my attention.

3 ⧽. what's something you like about your writing?

The way characters talk to each other, I think my dialogues are kinda realistic. Also not bad for a person that speaks english as her second/third language I'd love to think it's not as visible at the first glance. I also have cool ideas I think.

5 ⧽. is there a certain kind of fic that feels the most satisfying to finish? any reason why?

Do you own any Free! merch? And do you have a fav piece, or something you've always wanted? :o

Oh yes I have a lot of merch for Free especially. Both official and fanmade and some bootlegs because back then you could buy some printed on merch not knowing better (cups, pillows etc).

Most of it is, unsurprisingly, pictures Rin of course. I have the CDs with official soundtrack from season 1 and 2, Rin's character song from season 2, that cd with season 3 that has all the character songs (it's pretty telling how the popularity of the anime or the merch situation changed between 2014 and 2018.) The Rin altair figure that's still on my nightstand years later, the 2018 birthday merch (with photos and wallscroll with watercolors), 2 posters (the all 5 of them in the sakura pool, and the one with Rin and Haru on the beach both of them framed that I change depending on the season), the mobile charms of Rin for his bday and one in his swimsuit and in his white suit (I Had one as a keychain next to my keys but then it fell away so I just pinned it to my corkboard), a keychain that's apparently a bootleg (but it is of a Shark and says Rin so I think it's more subtile than just having a Rin mobile charm). one pillow with all 5 of them, and two cups with all 5 of them (also apparently of a stolen fanart but it's just part of buying merch at the local cons, and I think I ordered enough to be like "yeah I can have a pillow if I want).

And of course the rinharu mook with the bracelet. Unfortunately the bracelet is too small for me so I never wore it and the mook is now hidden in my bookshelf (I did not consider that I can't read japanese) but it was a big deal once (I also remember preordering it for some of my friends that I've since lost contact with. But I hope they enjoyed that while our fandoming lasted).

So yeah I feel like I own a lot of merch with this anime in particular. I guess what's truly missing is the rinharu cd, or the soundtrack for one of the recap movies (that has the opening for rising free and has Rin and Haru on the cover), and back in the day I also wanted manjuus since it seemed like every rin fan used to have them but I know that I loved him so much that I couldn't bear to squish it if I ever had it.

Oh I also have the fanmade rinharu calendar for 2016 and a friendship zine that has some fanart and gen fanfic with keychains on it. I also have... 3 fanarts of Rin two of my friends who were also artists and one that I commisioned on a local anime convention as well.

I guess my fave out of all of these is the figure and the wallscroll because it's not often you can have your anime guy pained in watercolors. But I love the posters and keychain as well.

Oh I also have many pins with Rin on them. Maybe at least 7 or more, and back when I had a table with a glass underneath in my rented apartament I used to display them there.

So yeah unironically I love Rin a lot and got kinda used to being surrounded by the Free! merch. Even if I don't post about it considering my blog title it's a big part of my 20's so I have sentimental feelings attached to all this. (For example when I moved cities the Rin figure was the first thing that I brought to feel more at home so. There's something about that).

And yes everytime my family visits they ask when I will grow up but I just like looking at Rin. It genuinely makes me feel better.

I guess my dream-dream white whale of merch is having a full sized dakimura of Rin in particular, and I was really close to buying one in 2015ish but the convention was in another city and I had enough embarassment to not go with a full sized pillow to the bus and ride with it. In fact going to conventions dissuaded me from buying a lot of merch that I'd otherwise have bought. (The pillow with all 5 of them is not that big). But yeah that's one of these occassions that will never repeat itself (it was also pretty expensive and I think I bought the small pillow instead of that).

So yeah there's a lot of that. If I have some time I'll update this post with pictures but tumblr won't load for now but they're surely somewhere on this blog.

Top 5 bodies of water? Or alternatively, the top 5 reasons why you love Matsuoka Rin?

Hello :D

Thank you for sending this question! I'll answer both topics why not :D

Top 5 bodies of water:

5: Poodle/River/Water stream on the ground in a park/forest/a fountain.

Or what I call "water for the aesthetic" because you should not ever drink or bathe in it. But it looks pretty, especially on pictures (you know those pictures that have a building reflecting in a pool of water on the pavement) You know when you walk after the rain and see puddles of water and you want to splash in it but you can't because you will ruin your shoes that are not rain shoes. Or in the forest you jump over a water stream and have the urge to take and drink it. Or when you're in an urban area with a river and you want to bathe in it but you know river is the most dangerous body of water to bathe in (there are currents). Finally a day in the city and there's no sea or a bath water in sight so your parents take you to the fountain to play in to get some semblance of coldness (but you also shouldn't do it which doesn't stop families with kids from doing that)

4: Bathtub/Jacuzzi/Swimming pool

If you have a bathtub and you indulge yourself in a bath. Is there something better? Perhaps a Jacuzzi where the water is hot and it bubbles a lot (my go to option in the recreational swimming pool). Or maybe swimming is great too but it's less relaxing and you gotta swim, but honorable mention because I did swim a lot before high school.

3: Lake

There's a particular lake I have in mind here that I've been going to since I can remember because my family has a summer house in there. And it's because I've been going there all my life I have the audacity to go and swim in it (of course in a designated area but in 30 years it's almost grown over.) I remember when we had a family reunion there last year and the significant others of my cousins were like "ew why are you swimming in there, it stinks and the water is so dirty" so we opted more for swimming on a boat mostly. But still I guess my childhood memories are stronger than any side eye I get from other people, and the sunsets there are gorgeous.

2: Sea

I could take top three seas here and it could be a list of it's own (you could argue that every position of this list has 3 other bodies of water). But it's really hard to choose, because which sea? How does that differ from the ocean? Which sea is the best? I'd say that the mediterranian wins this one (blue as the sky and warm, no wonder every european goes there). But If I had to be honest, deep in my heart the humble baltic sea wins here (again my own sentiment of living by it for some time and going on vacation every summer there). It's the ultimate romance because this is not your friendly mediterranian sky blue picturesque sea, no. Firstly it's in the north so in the summer you get air temperature of 24 degrees and it's windy af on a beach so the sand gets everywhere. Then in July when finally the weather is a little bit better and it warms up a bit you got some water bacteria that makes bathing and relaxing on the beach impossible. And finally the color of it. It's not very inviting especially on a rainy day (and since it is the north you get A lot of Rainy Days sometimes). So I think it's the ultimate sea. You don't get to bathe in it you can only admire it's persistence to be hard to love but you can't help but do it anyway since it's the only, and the closest sea to you you know. But once you get there on the beach after the whole day of the journey you get why so many people leave their wives for it and choose to spend years on a sea. There's something romantic about it.

1: Okay so what would be the top 1 body of water be?

Top 1 body of water: Drinkable still water in a glass

Seems anticlimactic after the beautiful aesthetic and forbidden waters I mentioned before but nothing beats taking a glass or cup from your cupboard and pouring it yourself. If you have drinkable tapwater you should be so blessed by it. Go drink it right now. I also like funky glasses to drink it from, I think it adds to the enjoyment of it. Nothing beats a good, kinda cold glass of water especially one in a shaped glass or if you get a fancy thin glass of it in a restaurant. There's a reason "a tall drink of water" is a synonym for beautiful tall people. Tall glass of water is really sexy and you can drink it and it looks pretty so I think it has all the criteria of being number 1 in this list.

Top 5 Reasons I love Rin Matsuoka.

5: His beautiful hair

Maybe it was obvious from my favorite colors palette, or because for years I have him as a profile picture on all my fandom accounts. Or because in 2016 I finally dyed my hair purple and thought "wow one step closer to being Rin haha". I love the shade of it. It's so red and cute and the lenght is also pretty fun.

4: His perfect body

Have you seen him? Now you have :)

I'm not gonna lie the appeal of him is that he's cute and good looking (as you'd expect from a swimmer). It is nice to see a good looking man in an anime and his muscles are soo pretty (the altair figure is beautifully shaped in all the places it should be.)

3: His determination in having a goal and doing it

This man decided to be a olympic swimmer at age 12 and did everything to get there. Of course in the first season he has difficulties but in the later ones he has a goal and he'll do everything to make it true. That is the reason why I love him because he is that glue or the last leg of the relay if you will that holds the team together.

2: The realistic portrayal of Depression in Season 1 and the Difference in how he is later in life.

Okay so one of the biggest reasons I love him and why I have Rin and Haru as a background on the blog, and the title and the avatar of him is because I love him. If it was 2014 (and I loved him back then as well) I'd say I kin him. But it's 2025 so he's The Character, Blorbo Blorbius of all time to me.

I love season 1 for many reasons but the way he's a shadow of his former self and the way that's portrayed throughout the show is really well done. Now you could say it's just good writing and yes, it is but the way season 1 of free is constructed it's about people finding joy in swimming again. Episode 10 made me realize that this is not the character I thought I was, Rin isn't a villain but just a sad loser all by himself. The way most of the ep is a flashback and then he sits in his room muttering the words that changed his life but this time it's not an inspiring speech to make the boy he admired swim with him, but he's miserable in a school that's good at swimming but he didn't sign up for the swimming club when he arrived. And he's trying to get the joy back into it but the pressure and the expectations of finding yourself in a new environment when you realize you are actually not the best in your passion and there are people better than you. The way he literally went to another country as a middle schooler and tried his best there, but his best wasn't even good enough. I find many relatable things with him in that regard (free came around when I also moved back to my home country after years of not living there, so seeing that yes it is hard and not easy but you can still save things with power of friendship is inspiring to me. Was 12 years ago and is still now whenever I remember it.).

And top 1 reason I love Rin Matsuoka is:

1: The power of friendship and the loyalty to his friends.

Isn't that the same thing as 2? Isn't he a caricature of his older self in later seasons? Does swimming one relay with his friends mean that he wasn't actually depressed in season 1?

And that might perhaps be true. (with the disclaimer that I've only seen Eternal Summer a lot of the time and the movies that came after it and season 3 once or twice) But I still remember when Eternal Summer premiered and we saw him smiling a lot in the first episode. The way he is elected captain of the swim team in the school and he doesn't feel ready to do it when Mikoshiba tells him that. But he rises up to the challenge and yes maybe makes mistakes along the way. But that's really inspiring to me. The pararell of "the pool of cherry blossoms" in ep 1 and the last one when he made that a surprise for his friends. That thing in episode 4 (and why I still have this as a quote on my blog on the webbed page) when he says that he has friends and without them he wouldn't be himself or come this far. The way he knows the importance of teamwork and hard work and that lets him blossom. But also that time in a bonus audio drama where he goes to find the iwatobi guys in the rain because they got lost. Rin is a really good swimmer and he loves his friends. That thing in season 3 about how he calls Haru and they both run to see the high school tournament because their friendships with their younger collagues are this important to them.

He's really really important to me and I love him and his loyalty to his friends and the bonds he created with them is very admirable. There's a reason he can fix things in later seasons just by appearing and solving all the problems, and there's a reason they rehash the plot of season one and give it to other characters, and separate him and Haru for the drama. Because otherwise his power of friendship would fix everything right away.

Thank you so much. It really is so dumb bc I have full black ink but then the dumbass is like "uh oh no cyan you cant print shit" so then I change that and suddenly black in is not printing. And it's not like I use that one a lot but anytime I need it it always protests. So then i shake the black ink bc the printer says its not there but surprise surprise the cartridge is full black in and now its on your sad beige millennial carpet.

Anyway if anyone knows how to get rid of ink from my hands (and carpet) I will be 5ever grateful.

9.Best month for you this year?

February or July, hard to choose. If overall then probably July bc half of it I spent in Sweden and got to sightsee cities I haven't been to, and got to rediscover my hometown and fall in love with it again, but February is always great bc it's my birthday month and we had a great skiing trip. But July was like the disasterless month I think. All the others have very highs up followed with very low lows. So yeah considering I also got to try flying a glider and it was one of the better days in July let's say it's that.

18.A memorable meal this year?

One thing you need to know about me is that I love steaks and this year I got the chance to try the wagyu beef and it IS all it's cracked up to be. So definitely that, it was heavenly. But also there's a cool restaurant in Nendaz that has great meat fondue, and we went there to celebrate my birthday, and it was sooo good I think about it sometimes (us being polish we of course ate the water it cooked in bc it had spices and we didn't want to waste it, and it was the best chicken soup ever. The waiter stared at us in disbelief bc he probably didn't expect us to finish all of it just taste it.) Overall the meal and experience very good there I think of it very warmly.

19.What’re you excited about for next year?

Finally get my knee fixed so i can walk without crutches really looking forward to that. Maybe some visits abroad, in theory I'm planning to visit Korea with my parents but we'll see how that pans out.

22.Favorite place you visited this year?

Hard to choose there were so many places I visited so picking one seems unfair, but the 3 day trip to London to see ghost files live was one of the highlights (It was my first solo trip so I could do whatever the hell I wanted and it was very healing for me). But I also got to see polish sea for the first time in five years and I love that sandy ass beach even if it was in october and it looked kinda abandoned as all off-season touristy places do. So maybe those! But then again skiing down a very steep hill with beautiful sights in the Alps is also so good.

✅ list one or two favorite lines you’ve written and explain why they’re your favorite

This made me go back to the fics I wrote years ago and I think I still really like the entirety of this fic especially the ending, but also the way I described them is so good I can easily imagine them. The reason it's my favorite is because it's gut-wrenching and I love angst. It still gets me even tho the fic is like 5 years old and I usually don't go back to my old writing that often.

🎶 answered here!

🎀 how do you decide when something is done?

It depends on the fic! Most often I have an idea that takes over and I try to write down as much as possible. If I run out of time/inspiration before I finish I try to summarize what's next so I don't forget the idea. Lately it's either "I wrote this fic in one hour and if I don't post it now I'll never post it" or I tinker with it for years and never post. (There are so many fics in my drafts that are basically 3/4 done but I want them to be perfect so I edit them a lot.) Then I leave it for at least a week and read the whole fic again. If it passes the vibe check then it's done. If not it goes to "needs more editing" folder that grows with every new fic idea I have.

In the past it was easier to say when something is done because I always wanted the title to be the last line of the fic, so when I got to that scene it was done. But sometimes I'm like "Oh I could write more for this story" and that's how the endless wips not updated for 6 years came to be. Sometimes I just know other times I don't I guess it's the experience of writing fics for years that lets you know "okay this is a good place to finish". This is why I have trouble with multichapter fics because I don't know how to end a chapter without a cliffhanger/plot twist but that seems too cheap to do so instead I defaulted to oneshots.

🌅 do you typically known the ending to something before you start writing it?

No, never before I start writing, that's also the curse of enthusiastically starting a wip and thinking "I will finish this one for sure" and then it evolves into a monster. (For example my old aa fics were supposed to be 3 and 6 chapters maximum and then I was like "but I can write more!" and so they're in wip hell partially because it's not my main fandom and partially because I can always tinker more with them and make them better.) But once I'm writing the idea down the ending comes in the writing process, sometimes it even surprises me (the story is sadder than I intended) because I set out to write something nice and it ends up angsty. But yeah the ending to my multichapters is there and written down, it's the "how do we get there for maximum feelings impact" that's the problem. You know the famous "This line would hit harder if it had 50k backstory attached to it" but I'm not good at writing 50k fics.

🎶 do you write with music? does the music you’re listening to influence your writing?

Lately I don't write with music anymore but most of my aa fics (and to some degree some spirk ones) are written with this playlist in the background. (it's borrowed from 8 tracks this one was just autoplaying and I started to like it). When I need inspiration I sometimes still play it to get into 'writing mode'.

In the past I also straight up wrote song fics but that would require to listen to a song with words and I get distracted from writing if I listen to a song with words. So sometimes, especially for aa fics (but also essay writing in later college years) I listened to this album in particular. Since I already knew aa soundtrack by heart and it was only like 40ish minutes long this worked wonders for my "I take years to start writing".