Current Favorites as of 6/20/2025
As someone who has multiple interests and ever-changing energy levels, these are the things that are keeping me energized and sane.
Reading:
My Dress Up Darling by Shinichi Fukuda
This manga is something I just randomly found while searching for something new to read on the library reading app, Libby. The cover art intrigued me (Volume 13 IYKYK), so I checked it out and immediately fell for the two main characters. Who knew I could relate so well to teenage manga characters? Gojo-kun feeling so scared to be himself and share his love of Hina dolls because of an incident from elementary school is so relatable. I also have a hard time with letting people see me doing certain things and even sharing certain interests due to previous reactions and treatment I’ve received. Kitagawa-san is now my personal cheerleader as well. I honestly need to make a bunch of notes to put on my wall with her words so I don’t ever forget. And special mention to Akira-san as well, she’s like the current me (minus the Princess part) and so adorably precious I’m now rooting for her. I’m going to be sad when the manga is over, but I’m so glad the mangaka decided to write and create it. Watching the anime & drama adaptation? TBD.
Argeneau series by Lynsay Sands
I shared this series with a friend recently and they’ve been listening to the audiobooks. I believe they’re on book number 5 now. It’s not the best thing I could have done, starting this series when I was thirteen, but it didn’t kill me. It just expanded the range of media I was consuming during my vampire phase that lasted until I was around fifteen or so. It’s classic adult romance mixed with dreamy vampires and enough steam you’ll wonder if your room has a humidity problem. With close to…checks notes…40 books in the series, including the Rogue Hunter trilogy, the family tree continues to expand and the villains evolve in their diabolical schemes. I have read so far into this series that starting over feels daunting (I was last on book 33) but I finally have a fellow lover of this chaotic immortal family of bloodsuckers, so I thought, “why not?” Beware of sex dreams, kidnapping, biting inappropriate places, family betrayal, abuse, and somehow a happily ever after within most books.
Listening:
I wish I had the spare change to support this lovely human on Buy Me A Coffee, but I don’t. So instead I watch and listen to her mixes on YouTube and send it to my friends so they can enjoy it with me. Her horror mix is one of my favorites, along with this one garage mix. And her descriptions? So detailed, vulnerable, and inspiring. Reading the description of her horror mix made me realize that someone understands how I’ve felt on and off over the years, when I was full of so much love with not enough people (or maybe the right people?) to give it to. Now I get to listen to her music and be inspired by someone taking the brave step to showcase their journey as a human indulging in their creative ideas.
Updated: June 28 2025
Yay more goodies to share! This month I’m letting myself do and enjoy things a lot more instead of just working on getting out of this unemployment. Let’s hope I can achieve some sense of balance!~
Listening:
Dabin senseS EP
I listened to .KR when he first dropped the single and decided to listen to the rest of the EP before listening again. All I remembered was that it was different than most music I had been listening to and well, weird. Good weird, different weird, but still “weird”. I swear this isn’t an insult and some people might take it as such. I like things/people that are weird, not normal, interesting – it inspires curiosity and keeps one from being bored. Saucer was one I knew I’d listen to on repeat just based on the sound. I listened again while focusing on the lyrics (thank you for the CC) and was reminded that he’s good with a pen. Wow that sounds so bitchy. But the rest of the tracks need to be heard, so I need to move on haha. Chemist started playing and my immediate reaction? A case of the he-he’s. Giggling with tears in my eyes. I like it. Picasso. What did he put in this song? This album? The image that popped into my mind for this track was one of those fast moving blurred night time cityscapes where time is obviously moving but not for the person standing there. Like the Flash TV show, to show a difference in Barry’s speed to everyone else. Now onto the next track! Not “knew I made it when I had bitches sending fake hearts”! I’m sure those fake hearts turned into a pile of dust and blew away when you closed the door in their faces. I saw some reactions about this track, See Through, and was curious about it the most I think. Now that I’ve listened to it, I just wanted to ask if it made anyone else want to yell and rage and cry while shaking their ass and throwing out the unnecessary trash in their life? The lyrics will either build you up or take you the fuck out with how pointed and intricately woven they are in their multitude of meanings. Side note: I tried to find out if there’s a word that means “multitude of meanings” and google gave me Polysemous, which is the adjective form of Polysemy. The definition for that is “the capacity for a sign (e.g. a symbol, morpheme, word, or phrase) to have multiple related meanings.“ The reason I decided to include this is because of what I read next: “A polyseme is a word or phrase with different, but related, senses. In linguistics, a word sense is one of the meanings of a word.” Just thought this was an interesting find. End of side note. Actually, while listening to Irregular I was looking at the cover art, and the colors reminded me of certain parts of the Chakra system. I also peeped the “555” which made me think of angel numbers. Smh I need to chill with the numerology but I can’t help it. ANYWAY SORRY BACK TO THE TRACK. Another one that gets a “like” from me. Now that I re-listened to .KR: it’s the longest track on the album and does set you up for the rest of the track list. For some reason, and I could be so wrong (and potentially offensive I’m sorry), but the way the lyrics are put together and his flow moves through the beats…is he making fun of how some rappers make music? Even just putting this down makes me feel kind of bad because I think this is just how he wanted to sound. But there’s this feeling that yes it’s his choice, but that he can do it like them but better and have a bigger impact? Like “you think this is easy, imma show you how easy, but you’ll still never touch this” kind of vibes. Experimentation is a risk that has rewards you might never touch and dreams that could end up haunting you. But there’s also the self satisfaction that will let you know that it was worth it to attempt and let others acknowledge it. Congrats Dabin, you did it. Again. Curious to see and hear what’s next.
Eating:
Fat Cats Café Jalapeno, Italian Sausage, and Cheese Kolache
As a vegan for 9+ years, I didn’t know that I would be able to find kolaches I could eat. I also didn’t know that kolache existed (as someone who grew up in Vegas). Now that I live here in Texas, and made my way to this cute café, I got to try a vegan kolache that is delicious and worth the money. I have yet to try their other kolache but they also look good. When I ate it, it felt soft and warm, full of spice and flavor. I rarely go here because it’s so far out of my way but when I’m having a craving or am in the area (there’s a Kinokuniya and Daiso across the main road), I will stop in to grab myself a treat. There’s also the cat art all over the walls and counter. Vegan goodies and cats everywhere, how I could I not end up there?
Magi Soul 
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