#I hope it's written correctly

[crybabierin]

Intro post!!♡

My name is Rin! I like to draw my OCs a bunch and I decided to revive my old tumblr lol. I’m not a good artist so I hope it’s ok!! I like drawing edgy guys and cute little girls!

I'm a proshipper, comshipper, darkshipper and profic I tend to like cuter dynamics that have a heavy power imbalance and are considered problematic (older x younger), so if there is media with those things I probably also like it lol. I like 3L (NL/BL/GL) so everything is OK! ⚠️I also find ryona and guro content very cute (I used to draw this more when I was younger, I want to get back into it!!) L0lisho, sh, gore, and most other problematic things are included too (obviously only in a fiction♡)

I’m not really used to fandom spaces (I’ve never really been involved much before but sometimes I like to draw fan art) but some of my more general interests include: VOCALOID Guilty Gear Touhou project Idolm@ster Ranfren

I'm very open so if you’d like you can also message me whenever, I would like to make more friends online since I have a hard time meeting people! I am also mostly active on twitter and I have a pixiv too! (I mainly aim to use this blog as an art blog to just post drawings to)

Please just don't interact if you're uncomfortable with these or similar topics! I also interact from @cutierinrin!!

[thetrashiesthit-56]

So you guys think Garrett will be the puppet in the movies? Considering it’s likely that the crying child was originally supposed to be the puppet and the voice box spelling out “come find me” similar to the first mini game with Charlie’s murder I think they might go that route

[thebrainrotsreal]

I LOVE BATMAN OKAY??? And we as a society do not talk about Bruce "Brucie" Wayne enough. Who else is doing it like him? Zero braincell himbo of a persona. Would give a cashier $300 in tip. And he's Batman. Never seen a man with more care, heart, hope, and inability to do anything half-assed. He's givin' a hundred percent or nothing. Man of an expanding number of kids? He's literally a single mom. PEAK!

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

ON THE TOPIC OF BARNABY. as well as his relationship with Wally.

So. To kick this off - Riv (@funonion) and I were Speculating, and they introduced me to the johari window:

They put Barnaby in the “facade” section, and I entirely agree. To quote them;

“So he’s Wally’s guide, right? He’s the “knowledgeable” one of the two and is always the one teaching him new things. And you know, it’s one thing if you’re just teaching him how to laugh or how to tell a joke. But.

Clown has given us two doors. One says that Barnaby understands Wally in a way the rest of the neighborhood doesn’t, and is willing to do his dirty work so to speak. The other says that their friendship was not a natural occurring thing and had to be enforced repeatedly within the show. HOW THAT’S BEING ENFORCED IS ANOTHER THING ENTIRELY but it is worth it to note.

What is Barnaby willing to keep? What is he willing to bury for his little buddy? I can’t say anything definitively yet, but the fact that I even have to ask is telling. The class clown archetype is usually used as a way to cover up for something else a character might be experiencing”

And my response, (I won’t directly quote because I have little things in the phrasing & elaboration to add / tweak );

Barnaby being a Comic Relief Character immediately raised so many alarms in my head. I love comic relief characters. They’re always so fucked up in one way or another, and Barnaby is almost certainly SO inauthentic. He’s wearing a comedy mask just as opaque as Wally’s own mask. In everything we’ve seen about him so far he’s either Teaching Wally, wisecracking/joking, or… pretty much nothing else. We got that moment of concern in audio 14-14, but that doesn’t reveal anything beyond genuine care for Wally.

Comedic characters have the best disguises. Their poker faces & ability to deflect is always top tier [and practiced], and just look at comedy-focused actors and entertainers - so many of them have severe issues, either with their mental health or life. From what i’ve observed both in that aspect & with fictional characters, they play it off & work hard to entertain/deflect [one in the same] right up until the end. Sometimes it’s a coping mechanism. Usually it’s both. If they laugh loud enough and make people think they’re lighthearted fools w/ nothing underneath, no one will look any deeper and thus they’re “safe”. 

& I’m a little suspicious that Barnaby’s red/orange/yellow spots aren’t naturally those colors. While yes, he could be (in-universe) designed that way to echo Ms. Beagle, there’s a strong possibility that that’s not it. What if he paints them to feel a connection to her, or it’s a physical manifestation of Barnaby covering up his insecurities/issues - what if it’s part of him striving to convince the world that he is what he paints himself as. 

The laidback funnyguy with a loving mom and not a problem in the world. 

And I mean, Barnaby claims to be a natural blue and I believe him! But the other colors? I’m doubtful

(I was going to include the Cast As Lil Kids Designs in this since Barnaby has all blue spots, but given how early in 2021 it was posted and how there seem to be little discrepancies from the ~official~ designs, I don’t want to provide it as evidence.)

& on the topic of Wally and Barnaby’s relationship being both real and not - disclaimer, this conversation happened before my Updated Thoughts On Them post, so there may be some minor rephrasing here from what I originally said - I’m sure that the relationship started out as inauthentic. Wally was assigned Barnaby as a best friend and technically vice versa, but I don’t doubt for a second that it became real to some extent. Clown wouldn’t treat their relationship outside of “canon” WH stuff the way that he does if they weren’t actually friends. They’ve said that Wally & Barnaby would be friends in every universe (which melts my heart <3 platonic soulmates my beloved <3), so then I have to agree with Riv. what WILL Barnaby do for Wally? I touched on this in the Milk Theory, but especially if Barnaby prides himself on “knowing Wally better than anything else”, what would Barn do to preserve that?

This relates to another conversation we had - Barnaby possibly having abandonment issues. It’s such a choice to have him of all characters be explicitly stated as an orphan. That and while every other Neighbor with a mentioned family have a somewhat large one (Howdy and his gajillion relatives, Julie and her three siblings, Poppy and her crowded tree [note: Eddie has a mentioned mother, but that info is tenuous and who knows if there are other Dears]), Barnaby has also explicitly stated that Ms. Beagle is his only family. That’s it. And farm life can’t be a sociable way to grow up, not with all the chores he must have had and how rural he might have grown up. Barnaby jokes that Home is the “Big Apple”, which could just be a joke - but jokes often come from a place of truth, and Home might be the most populated area Barnaby has lived in. Who’s to say!

Either way, Barnaby was orphaned one way or another, and I don’t doubt that it weighs on him. Especially if  his birth parents really did abandon him. That added to a possible life of loneliness… I wonder if he’s latched onto Wally emotionally, which would hit all the painful places if it turns out that my “Barnaby is more attached to Wally than Wally is to Barnaby” theory has merit. Abandonment issues could also strongly back the apparent walls he’s plastered over with circus tent fabric

Back to Barnaby & Wally: the fact that, at present, Barnaby and Wally seem to have the best disguises / strongest masks. That. looking at 14-14, i suspect that Barnaby is excellent at keeping his up, but as soon as Wally’s mask cracks, so does Barnaby’s. 

And then there’s the side of their dynamic that we could look at - it seems to be a very multifaceted relationship. The way that Barnaby genuinely cares yet in the 00 Halloween audio Wally was left off to the side and Barnaby was just “checking on him” while socializing (then again, this could be part of Barnaby understanding Wally & respecting his space / Wally wanting a break from that socialization). Barnaby is patient with Wally and yet he seems to sometimes treat Wally as his sidekick / let him fade into the background and yet Barnaby kept checking in on Wally during the 14 bug audios (this last one I could tie into the abandonment issues theory). 

Then there’s how Barnaby calls Wally kid & can tend to treat him like one despite both of them being in the same age group. The way that all of this could, in a way, relate to the infantilization of autistic people (no matter how well-meaning or unintentional) & internalized ableism. 

Note: Riv pointed out that Barnaby does seem to be doing the best with what he has, and that this can connect to the Johari Window’s blind spot / unknown. 

I do agree with this wholeheartedly! And I have to mention that - and making a Very educated guess here - the interactions we’ve seen take place in the very late 60s / very early 70s, so Barnaby’s behavior towards Wally is actually pretty fucking stellar given the time period. We can’t expect him to be perfect or do everything / say everything right. That would be boring I think! And one thing I deeply appreciate about the Neighbors & their dynamics is that they feel like real layered people, not cardboard cutouts being perfect caricatures of what people are “supposed” to be like.

Riv also presented this:

We likely are going to reach a point where Wally asks Barnaby something that he can’t / doesn’t want to / won’t answer. And like.. Ok. This is a slight tangent but I swear it’s related! When I first discovered WH and learned the Wally basics, I wondered two things.

Are we going to watch Wally “discover” new emotions? Because he certainly has them. Clown has said that Wally only ever feels happy, and a lot of people took that to mean that Wally can’t feel anything else. I don’t think we should take that answer at face value, because. I mean. Look at the project & creator we’re talking about. Layers, guys. Indirect direct answers. I think that Clown meant that Wally only ever feels happy in the Neighborhood because he has no reason to feel any negative emotion. Everything is as it should be. Until it isn’t - and I think that’s where he’s going to have to struggle with new emotions as he encounters them through new situations/events unfolding as the “story” starts to deteriorate. We’ve actually seen this a little bit - in Wally’s record audios (i believe the chronological second to last?), the way he says “Let Me In” so insistently. That’s definitely not a positive emotion being expressed. 

How will the topic of death be handled - because it will be handled, it’s stated in the project warnings. I was wondering this even before I read the list, because I was presented with a blank slate puppet character and so went “oh fuck, this dude doesn’t know about death, does he?” Obviously I wanted to know how that would go. I want to know how it Will go! 

How would Barnaby explain emotions that Wally doesn’t know how to convey? How would Barnaby explain death in a way that Wally would understand - given that Barnaby (& all the Neighbors sans Wally) knows what death is  - and would Barnaby be willing to explain such a thing? I have a feeling we may find out.

And in a way, I suspect that if none of them know, Wally will find out himself and have to process it without help. But then again, how can something die if it was never really alive in the first place? Unless the death warning relates to human characters… I’m currently assuming it relates to both humans and puppets. 

In conclusion: Barnaby has a carefully fabricated facade, he's doing the best with what he has but it likely won't be enough, and uh. shits fucked!

[scarlet--wiccan]

Oh God I was really hoping the backstory that was leaked for Billy was fake... just heard about the new episode and it turns out it wasn't. why would they choose this over adoption or reincarnation-

It's bad! I really feel like the M C U goes out of its way to interpret these characters in bad faith and come up with the worst possible versions of their stories. I've said this before, but everything about Wanda's origins and the nature of her power seems designed to make her an objectively worse person who is more directly responsible for causing harm than her comics counterpart, but is also weirdly set on punishing her for existing and having trauma. She's simultaneously more doomed by the narrative, and infinitely less deserving of redemption.

With Billy, they took a situation that, while complex and, at times, difficult to parse, is ultimately miraculous and joyful, and they made it just.... incredibly grim. There is no real distinction between Billy Maximoff and Billy Kaplan in the comics-- they're the same person, given a second chance at life and the great fortune to reconnect with his original family, in a way that doesn't invalidate or erase the second. And, again, I want to emphasize that when YA and CC were written, Wanda had Jewish heritage, so I don't think there needs to be any awkwardness in the transfer between the Maximoff and Kaplan families, and the text never does anything to imply that Billy's cultural upbringing is any less valid, or any less central to his character after his origins are revealed.

Here, they created a false dichotomy between the two characters, killed one them off, and made the other into a body-snatcher. That is so much darker, and so much more tragic for the Kaplans-- and it creates uncomfortable questions about their relationship, and Billy's identity, that I don't think can ever be neatly resolved. I will say that, thus far, I don't think the show explicitly disavows "William's" heritage, or writes off Billy's relationship with the Kaplans, the way some people are reporting. He doesn't actually remember his life before the switch, so it's not a total takeover, and at points, the episode seems to imply that he's somehow both, and neither-- a new gestalt.

But I don't trust these writers to execute that concept with integrity, or even consistency. In WV and MoM, Wanda's motives, sense of self, and relationship to her powers repeatedly change at the drop of a dime, and we're seeing the same thing, here, with the abrupt change that takes place when Billy reveals his identity. The shift in personality, escalation of power, and the vague implication that he's been masterminding this whole excursion makes no sense with the established timeline-- this is all happening within 24 hours of him even learning that Wanda had kids, let alone that he might be one of them, not to mention hearing about both Agatha the Witches Road for the first time. And up until that point, he really was just an earnest kid. The heel-turn feels silly and juvenile, and the needle drop at the end of episode #5 underscores that a little too perfectly-- his "bad guy" act is just as ill-fitting and unsubstantiated as the Eilish's edgy, wannabe-thug aesthetics.

Obviously, the most important issue here is not the quality of writing, but where this character falls into the spectrum of whitewashing and erasure. The fact that Locke is not Jewish but, before the switch, is playing a Jewish character-- and, specifically trespassing on prayer and religious ceremonies-- is a problem. I've seen a lot of different opinions expressed by a lot of different people within the community about who can or can't play Jewish characters, but I think we can all agree that this is worth criticizing, especially given the larger context of repeated erasure and historical distortion against Jewish and Roma people in this franchise.

But I also want to emphasize that, because of what was done to Wanda, and the franchise's insistence on conducting blatant anti-Romani racism, there was never going to be a truly authentic or acceptable version of this character. Now matter how they cast the role, a significant part of his background had already been erased, and he was already saddled with significant racist baggage. I am very, very tired of white people and Young Avengers fans overlooking that fact.

[bloos-bloo]

I would like to ramble on about my AU of cotl, more specifically- Narinder’s relationships. This is gonna be in parts since it’s a lotttt-

There’s some art below, not a lot but some lmao-

Starting up with Narilamb.

Narinder and The Lamb (Emery) are married in this AU. However it’s not of love, it’s for status. Emery finds it hard to love Narinder, he tried to kill them after they finished his dirty work. He wanted to take away everything he worked for, his followers, his new home. Emery didn’t want to lose it all again.

Emery did spare Narinder. She is better than the bishops, better than Narinder. Emery does forgive Narinder, but he doesn’t forget what he did. In order to keep an eye on him, Emery marries him. She’ll call him her husband and show small signs of affection, Narinder sees this as a joke. At least for Emery, it was for power at first, but after some time they did start to develop feelings. Feelings Narinder will never reciprocate.

Their relationship is strictly for devotion in his eyes. Narinder does allow himself to show affection away from others, but it’s nothing. He thinks it’s nothing. Right?

Now with Shamura.

Starting with Narinder’s close relationship. Shamura is a parental figure to him. Despite all the things he did, he does resent them. He still has that anger for what they did, but he also feels remorseful. Shamura isn’t the same powerful deity they once were. He hasn’t seen them since he was imprisoned. When they finally reconnect it all hits him.

When Shamura is lucid they don’t remember Narinder at all. They have the same feelings of pain, anger, and sadness when he’s around them. Shamura can’t see his face, only his voice. And his voice scares them at times depending on how bad their episode is.

Narinder doesn’t have it in him to be mad at Shamura while they’re like this. In fact, he abuses it. As fucked up as that sounds, he misses how gentle his sibling was. He misses how they’d do things together like water the flowers or practice. Call him selfish, but it’s comforting.

When Shamura is out of lucidity, Narinder does avoid them. Unless Leshy, Heket, or Kal are around. Narinder won’t actively seek them out. Shamura dissented right away after seeing him after all. Narinder believes they hate them. Which isn’t completely true- Shamura does fear Narinder, there’s small traces of hatred for taking away their mind. But they don’t want to lose Narinder as a brother.

In this AU- if you haven’t noticed from the amount of art I do. Shamura does get married to Sozonius and have a child- Aster. Narinder has a decent relationship with their daughter. Aster thinks Narinder is a strong guy, she looks up to him. Something Shamura and Sozo even encourage. It’s sad how it took Narinder so long to be around Shamura, but it’s like time never past. Shamura doesn’t forgive him fully. But they’re happy he’s doing ok.

Goddamn this post is longggg- uGgHhh- I will be posting more lore about Bloodborne. Next would mostly be with Leshy, Heket, and Kallamar. I just separated Emery and Shamura since they’re kinda beefy lmao

[shortkingvi]

i’m always so stunned by the people that will say “but if we make it easy to transition/make being trans normal, everyone will want to try it!” because like…. yeah good.

i thought i might have been non binary when i was like 17 and starting binding (unsafely! don’t do what i did!), packing, privately using they/them pronouns and other things to see if i vibed with it and guess what! i didn’t! and that was totally cool with me!!

i didn’t feel like i had been misled or lied to, i just was like “okay, i tried that, it wasn’t me, i’ll move on now.” it was like trying a dish a friend recommends you at a restaurant and realizing it’s not something you like. it didn’t ruin my life or anything, it just wasn’t for me!

i feel even more settled in my cis-ness because i allowed myself the opportunity to explore an alternative freely and without judgement. my gender exploration path led me to realizing i was just butch and i’m not sure i would be so settled and comfortable in that identity now had i not explored what that might look like or mean for me when i was a teen.

i refuse to ever let the narrative that normalizing transness will lead to an influx of people being trans to be trendy fester because i can tell you firsthand it doesn’t work like that.

[roomsofmyheart]

Merthur Week 2022

Day 1 - “this will be the last time you lie to me.” + smart!arthur

“This will be the last time you lie to me.” Uther’s voice booms in the throne room, empty except for himself and Arthur. Everyone that had been dismissed had scattered quickly at the dark look on the King’s face after Arthur made his proclamation. “Now tell me the truth about what happened with your manservant.”

“I wasn’t lying father,” Arthur responds evenly, his face a carefully constructed mask with years spent perfecting it. “It was not Merlin that was caught using magic. It was someone else using a magic of some sort to disguise themselves as him. What better way of navigating the citadel unscathed than as the personal servant to the Crown Prince?”

Uther’s frown lessened slightly, although he still looked unconvinced.

“Do you have any proof of this?”

Arthur reaches into his pocket as he walks up the empty long table set before the throne and sets a pouch in front of him.

“This was found at the last sighting of the intruder in the tunnels.” Arthur inclines his head towards it as Uther reaches for the pouch and undoes the drawstrings, pulling out a pendant with a shimmering jewel almost the size of his palm attached to a thin chain. “I had Gaius take a look and he said the mark on the back of the gem has traces to a type of illusion magic called a glamour,” he finishes as his father turns it over in his hands to reveal the rune mark etched into the metal. Arthur grips his other hand behind his back to prevent himself from fidgeting. Any sign of weakness could be interpreted as a tell for lying by his father.

Uther takes a moment to run his fingers over the rune before speaking, “How are you sure that this doesn’t belong to your manservant?” He looks up at him, the frown on his mouth settling instead into a firm line and his eyes sharp as the knife’s edge that Arthur meticulously traverses.

He firms his resolve before speaking, “Merlin was found knocked out with a minor head injury in one of the storage rooms. One of the servants found him while we were on the intruder’s tail down in the tunnels. Gaius is treating him for it as we speak.” Arthur gauges his father’s reaction as he finishes. 

It appears his anger has died down to a simmer as he takes in Arthur’s words for a moment before speaking.

“Alright then. I want to hear full reports from the guards and have a word with Gaius about all of this when he is done with the boy.” The dismissal is clear in his tone and Arthur is all too glad to take his leave.

Once outside the throne room doors, he heaves in a shaky breath. Lying to his father was always a dangerous path to tread. Not that what he said didn’t have any sentiment of truth to it. Merlin had been found unconscious with a minor head injury, just not in the storage rooms like he said.

Arthur still remembered the brilliant gold flaring in his eyes as he deflected a dagger thrown by his look-alike sailing through the air towards him. He’d been so shocked that the intruder had managed to get a hit on Merlin before escaping but they’d dropped the pendant in the fuss. It had been a lucky thing that Arthur had ordered the guards to split up and search the tunnels. He was able to quickly get Merlin to Gaius’ chambers without running into any of them.

Merlin has magic.

The thought had been put aside until the most urgent matters of this whole affair had been dealt with. Now he turned the thought over and over in his mind as he made his way to Gaius’ chambers. There was no way to pretend that he was mistaken in what he saw. It had been clear as day that the dagger had been sailing towards his heart until its journey was interrupted.

Arthur remembered the stricken look on Merlin’s face, how he desperately shouted his name as he raised his hand to stop the blade in mid-air. Most of all, he remembered the relief in his eyes that had quickly turned to fear. That memory tempered his anger at having such a secret kept from him.

He shook his head to clear the memory from his mind as he reached the threshold of the physician’s chambers. 

Magic or not, Merlin had saved his life. And he is the only friend he ever had. He’d be damned if he was ever going to let his father harm a single hair on his head. That didn’t mean that Merlin didn’t owe him some answers though.

Taking in a deep breath, he pushed the door open.

[headfullofdolls]

At this point, I'm reeally hoping the narrator in Sparks and Spells is Kiyomi Haunterly. Saw someone else point out the narrator mentioning their "nonexistent eyes", but in the last episode, I also realized the narrator makes ghost puns. Since they say they're planning to enroll in Monster High next semester, that at least confirms the narrator is in-world watching the musical, and the puns imply they're a ghost. There's no telling if it's something that'll translate into the actual show, buuut I wanted to go back through the episodes and look for key bits of characterization in some of the quotes.

Observations are long, so putting that under the read more. You've been warned 😅

Episode 1:

"Maybe this magical music spark is just the thing this talent show needs! I'm entertained! ...Don't tell Draculaura I said that by the way." – narrator cares about Draculaura's opinion; Drac is also the first character the narrator focuses on and mentions by name, which would make sense for Kiyomi

Episode 2:

"First up is Cleooo~ Because she demanded it..." [audible nonexistent eyes rolling] "Ooh, haha, sorry boo~" – narrator unimpressed and even disdainful of Cleo demanding to go first, reacts smugly about her getting interrupted; first use of calling people "boo"

"This isn't exactly a witchcraft-friendly environment... Especially not with Dracula in the audience." – seems to be in favor of witchcraft, sympathetic to Draculaura's plight

"Thankfully our ghoul Iris is on it!" – seems to have a soft spot for Iris, in contrast to Cleo

"That magical music spark might be an agent of chaos, but it sure knows how to put on a showw~! 10/10" – all about a good show despite the chaos, aka narrator is a theater kid

Episode 3:

[Heath accidentally lights his picture of earth on fire] "Ooh, symbolism! Dark! Listen, if this takes a magical musical turn? I will not be upset about it." – narrator is a theater kid +1

"Poor Iris. She's poured her eternal soul into the show and has no idea what in the Hades is going on." – very sympathetic to Iris; the specific mention of Iris having an eternal soul and using "what in the Hades" makes me think of River Styxx, which would also line-up better personality-wise...

"Iris, watch out! ...Oh. She can't hear me." – narrator is watching the musical in-world, but not in-person; maybe scrying, or looking through a portal like Kiyomi's powers?

Episode 4:

"Our stinky little spark is just getting started!" – fun fact: the narrator's VA calls herself a "stinky voice actor" on her instagram bio, so if she had input on that line that'd be super cute lol

"Our boos are relieved, and now they can focus on getting the show back up and running. Personally, I prefer the drama. ...And it looks like the drama loves me too! I see you~" – Boo counter +1, narrator is a theater kid count +1000

Episode 5:

"You know what this moment needs? A heartfelt song!" – narrator loves the tropes, more for the theater kid pile

[clapping enthusiastically after Draculaura's song specifically] "What a performance!!" – sus

Episode 6:

"Calling all boos! Calling all boos!" – Boo counter +1

"Iris clearly wants to join the fun, but right now she's putting the sigh in 'cyclops'. Thankfully, this night is full of surp-eye-ses!" [squeals in delight and self-satisfaction] "That was a good one." – focus on Iris again, and even by MH standards, this is some unabashed pun tomfoolery

Episode 7:

"It's happening! It's happening!!" – narrator is very excited by Iris finally getting a chance at the spotlight

"I'm not crying, there's just something in my nonexistent eyes." – aforementioned "nonexistent eyes"; seems especially moved by Iris's song, maybe finds it relatable?

Episode 8:

"This is my favorite part of the night! The grand finale! Draculaura, where are you going?? We need your vocal range!" – narrator is a theater kid +∞

"I know it seems like capturing the spark will fix your mistake, but, boo, sometimes, you just gotta go with it." – Boo counter +1

"One thing is for certain: I'm enrolling at Monster High next semester! See you scaaare! Booo~!" – two uses of boo this ep, and iirc, this use of ''see you scare'' is new, maybe a nod towards ghosts haunting?

So from this we can gather the narrator is an enthusiastic, bubbly ghost who loves a good show (but not people trying to hog the spotlight), is here for the chaos, and really likes Draculaura and Iris.

Despite her being a literal kid-of-the-theater, I don't get Operetta vibes from this narrator. And though she's bubbly like Sirena Von Boo, there isn't any sea-related wordplay that hints to being a mermaid. River Styxx is also pretty upbeat and cheery though, loves to entertain, and is connected to Greek mythology through her uncle Charon. But that mention of nonexistent eyes, the way some of the narrator's dialogue hints at a special interest in Draculaura, and the possibility they were watching the show through a portal, are all reminiscent of Kiyomi.

The narrator doesn't seem shy and soft-spoken like Kiyomi in g1, but g3's already established its characters aren't meant to be the same as those in g1. And in Kiyomi's case that'd probably be a good thing. The wiki mentions she's self-consciously lawful, cares a lot about honor, and can't stand when people complain, which, as the only explicitly Japanese character (and one of the only two explicitly east Asian characters) in g1, is...a little too much of a stereotype, for my taste. So change is good.

Kinda feel like the narrator could be a mix of Kiyomi Haunterly and River Styxx, both in personality and background. Maybe shy around other people, but more playful and spirited when she's by herself, hence she feels more comfortable watching from a distance and relates to Iris's insecurities. G1 Kiyomi was also brave and curious though, so it'd be interesting if g3 leaned into that a bit more, especially from an angle of her being passionate about performance—maybe stemming from Japanese theater. But then also having River's relation to Charon and connections to Greek myth.

I always thought their characters had very similar color palettes and aesthetics for being introduced in the same line, more so than the rest of the characters, though the line had a lot of pastels and flowy, sheer fabrics overall. And as much as I love River Styxx's design, we didn't see much of her character at all, because she wasn't a main player in Haunted and there were so many other characters that needed more focus as part of the story, like Kiyomi. Personally, I'd like to see g3 introduce new characters as well as bring back old ones, but that's a lot of characters. So combining the most interesting ideas from certain characters that were one-note or didn't get much chance to shine in g1 seems like a smart way to go. Better than leaving some really cool concepts behind entirely, I think.

As a final note, earlier I briefly mentioned the narrator's voice actor, who I found through IMDB. Her name is Merk Nguyen, an openly queer, Vietnamese American who seems very sweet! Not exactly sure what that'd say for the narrator's cultural background, since Kiyomi was specifically a noppera-bō from Japanese folklore, and g3 has been pretty good about their casting in regards to cultures so far. But if the narrator is meant to be Kiyomi and they go for another character with mixed backgrounds, I'd be very happy to see it!

[damithal]

My girlfriend Meat is streaming bad(?) movies, starting with Shark Boy And Lava Girl.

[shmorp-mcdurgen]

I remember you mentioned that Gabriel has a tattoo of wings on his back. can we see it? I'm curious if it's small or big

It’s a decently big tattoo across their upper back. It mimics the USDTP logo from vol 1, with the added wings

[thethingything]

I got a space weather notification earlier that's very funny to me and I want to try and convey why that is so I guess it's infodump time.

first, context about general terminology and space weather stuff:

solar flares are produced by sunspot regions, and are rated as either C-, M-, or X-class flares depending on the strength, with C being the weakest and X being the strongest. you'll usually see a number after the letter to show the exact strength.

some solar flares also produce coronal mass ejections (CMEs) which is basically matter being launched off the surface of the sun. when a CME hits the Earth it can potentially trigger a geomagnetic storm depending on a variety of factors

when a sunspot region appears on the east limb of the sun (the left side of it as visible from Earth) it's given a number. if it lasts a full rotation and ends up facing us a 2nd time, it's given a new number.

so, with that bit of context, the huge geomagnetic storm back in May was caused by a CME from a sunspot region called AR3664. this region kept putting out X-class flare after X-class flare, and generally making space weather enthusiasts and aurora chasers very excited. it was still firing off strong flares as it rotated over the west limb, and didn't seem to be decaying or getting any weaker.

if you saw any news articles saying things like "aurora may be visible again in early June" or whatever, that's because that would be when AR3664 would be back for round 2 if it managed to last that long, which it did, except by the time it turned towards us again (and was given its new number: AR3697) it wasn't really putting out as many strong flares. there were two X-class flares from it on the 1st of June, and we got a CME on the 8th that should arrive as a glancing blow some time today, but that's about it as far as I can tell.

if you want the best chance of a strong geomagnetic storm from a CME, you generally want it to happen while the sunspot is facing directly towards the Earth, which for AR3697 was around the 3rd of June, but unfortunately we didn't really get anything exciting.

people kept speculating about whether the spot had started to decay and whether it even could produce anything stronger than an M-class flare at this point, and of course people were joking that it would give us one last goodbye in the form of an X-class flare as it reaches the west limb, which is where the region is now.

so what notification did we wake up to? well...

[ID: a screenshot from spaceweatherlive.com that says "Latest alerts. 11:27 UTC - Solar Flare. Major X1.55 flare from sunspot region 3697". below the text is a blue tinted photo of the sun. most of its surface looks dark with a few brighter patches. one significantly brighter patch on the right edge stands out. end ID]

so there it is, the "goodbye flare" we all kept joking about. incredible comedic timing from the sun honestly

[tooru-avispa007]

YALL IM DRAWING FEM TOORU AND IM JUST THINKKNG ABOUT HER HAIR. I think she would have short hair (i mean, like the original design) but not only for a preference of her, but cuz i think giving her long hair would loss something iconic in the design; the mushroom shaped hair...

[dxsole]

😈 META : DIDI & WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH HER

Was there anything in Didi's past that led her to become more id (to use Freudian language) or was she always like that? — @shesboundtobruise

The question is always nature vs nurture. The terrible thing about trying to decipher one or the other is that we only have one perspective; the current one.

From a young age, there were signs that Didi was going to be a handful. She was loud as many toddlers are, shrieking in glee and babbling loudly to anyone who stopped to listen. She also bit. Always liked to bite on something, usually someone's fingers, which wasn't a problem until teeth started coming in.

Nurture came in very early on though, and mostly from Jasper, who made many of the large decisions in the family. On paper, that would sound like the right course of action. He was a certified genius and well-respected, he was already a lecturer and so the concept of keeping Didi home for schooling was almost obvious. She couldn't get a better education.

Except for the fact that Jasper was rigid with her teachings. She was meant to be a prodigy after all. The next generation of brilliance.

She started lashing out more in her pre-teens when she realized that nothing she ever did would be good enough for that man. It was easier than expected, really, to lash out. And it felt good.

This would be a constant in Didi's life. If it felt good, she'd do it. It didn't matter who she might hurt in the process, she would always justify it because if it felt good, could it really be bad? And even if it was, could you blame her?

Didi terrorized her outside instructors; the ballet teacher, the karate instructor, and the pianist attempting to teach her a note— they all got the ire and the screaming matches. They could yell at her in their teachings and yet she couldn't yell back? It was unfair and Didi made it a point to show them how stupid they sounded. How much they were wasting their time.

Outside of the normal lessons on geography, arithmetic, and history. Jasper also attempted to teach Didi life lessons that would give her an advantage. In fact, a number of people taught her life lessons:

Jasper taught her how to conquer. Because people would underestimate her and it was always better to be sneaky and cunning in order to outsmart your opponents. She learned chess and elocution and how to lie.

Martina taught her about love and life. Because good meals tasted best when shared with those you loved and life wasn't worth living if you couldn't love anyone. She learned how to cook a perfect breakfast in bed and how to bat her lashes just right.

And dear Uncle Bruno taught her that sometimes in life, you just have to take the things you want. Honestly, Didi feels his lessons were the most beneficial; how to forge her father's signature, how to pick a lock, and how to live luxuriously on other people's dime.

And it continued like that. She wasn't socialized well as a child thanks to all the lessons and small amounts of free time spent traveling with her parents to Jasper's many lectures. She spent most of her time with adults— she could hold conversations well with the college students who lingered outside her father's class. But it wasn't anyone her own age until they were back home and it was warm enough for the other neighborhood kids to come out to play

The lack of socialization manifested in two ways; firstly, the fighting. The neighbor kids wouldn't be as cordial as an adult might be with a child. She was an outsider and so her requests to play were met with a little attitude.

And just as she did with adults who angered her, she lashed out. And lo and behold, she did learn quickly that a target her own age could be hit. It wasn't nice, she knew it, but neither were they.

And that's another constant; first impressions mean everything to Didi. Good ones mean she is more likely to emphasize and try and understand you. She'll think you are friendly, someone she could potentially trust. If things start off badly, however, she doesn't forget. Or forgive. And is prone to doing something awful.

So fists would fly and hair would be pulled. Didi terrorized those boys for an entire summer, just because she could. They'd never tell anyone a girl was kicking their ass...and Didi had already gained a bad habit from Jasper; secrecy.

Secondly, and this came much later in life, but her lack of proper social skills meant that when she succeeded in an interaction, she'd continue to act that way. Her personality is wonderfully fabricated and carefully crafted from hundreds of interactions and altercations. Most people are like that, in fact. That's how we learn. She just learned it later with one rather impactful event that happened when she went out on her own after her mother died.

Sex became a big part of that as the very first time she ever went all the way with her then-boyfriend, she noted that a) sex fucking rocked and b) attitudes changed afterward. He was even nicer. More handsy. Like he couldn't get enough of his suddenly overeager, younger girlfriend.

And as mentioned before, when Didi enjoyed something, she did it often. And that process continued— people treat you better if you're good in bed. Not all of them, and those you could gleefully punch and steal the wallet of if that was the case— but usually, when you were wanted, desired...it was better.

It all was better. Sex was a release, a need, and a means of control. Even now, she'll sleep with a friend to help them out. She'll sleep with people who interest her or who she wants to get under her thumb— she loves it, honestly. She never feels better than when she's doing her thing— in that first year on her own she had actually become an alcoholic thanks to her if it feels good, do it mentality and the only reason she's able to curb her enthusiasm now is because of sex. It's another addiction, but not one that anyone's ever complained about.

Fighting and fucking. For Didi, it's just her life— she doesn't even really notice how the cracked knuckles and bloody smiles are a problem. She doesn't even understand the danger she puts herself in when she chases after dangerous people just to feel a thrill in bed. It's normal for her. It's all she really knows. It's fine.

[lesbianjudasiscariot]

i don't mind tumblr poem tropes as long as they have a purpose. yeah cliches are cliches for a reason and people shouldn't feel they have to shy away from them but sometimes you can tell someone just added fruit/dog/st sebastian/cannibalism motif because they think it is trendy and will get attention.

again using these tropes is not automatically awful and again tropes/cliches become tropes/cliches because they resonate with people and can sometimes be a good short hand in art like cannibalism to express immense desire or codependency. but sometimes ~tumblr poets~ seem to create a mad libs instead of a thoughtful and deliberate work of art because they want to add as many as they can into a work without fully considering if it works as a poem or not.

[crowned-relapse-king]

I'm a slut for Halvah.